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LIC forays into realty
Tata Steel in talks for £3.5 bn loan
Consolidation likely in telecom sector
Cotton exports capped at 55 lakh bales
New norms to curb stock price volatility
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Hike in gas price to hit GAIL venture
FII inflow crosses $2.5 bn in Aug
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LIC forays into realty
Chandigarh, September 3 Official sources informed TNS that it has been decided to develop these properties and lease out so that a regular income is assured to the corporation, while it builds its assets in the real estate sector. The corporation has already invited expression of interest from professional consultancy organisations for consolidating their real estate portfolio. The consultancy entails feasibility study, including techno-economic viability assessment of expected growth potential in sectors like commercial, housing and retail for fresh acquisition. The corporation had been acquiring land in major tier I and tier II cities for the past two years. The strategic business unit of LIC, Estate Management division, has acquired properties in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Chennai, Kanpur, besides Mohali, Amritsar and Ludhiana in Punjab. The idea, say officials here, is to invest money in high growth sector like real estate, so that better returns can be offered to policy holders and LIC can diversify its asset base. It is learnt that while one lakh square feet of residential property is being developed in Borivilli, Mumbai, about 80,000 square feet of property in Vastrapur in Ahemdabad is being developed for commercial use. In Kolkata, LIC is constructing a shopping mall on five acres of land. Besides, the property in Mohali, which was procured by the corporation in 2008 for a whopping Rs 465 crore, is being developed into a shopping mall-cum-commercial area. An investment of over Rs 500 crore is estimated for developing this 9.6 acres of land in Mohali. Sources said no decision had yet been taken on the best use option for the property acquired in Ludhiana and Amritsar. But the work on this is underway and these properties will be developed soon, said officials. They said besides making fresh acquisitions, the insurer also intends to develop existing vacant plots and redevelopment of old properties, especially in Mumbai and Bangalore. Chandigarh unit eyes 20% growth
The Chandigarh division of the LIC is eyeing over 20 per cent growth in collection from first premium and pension products during the current fiscal. The company is looking at a collection of Rs 645 crore from new premium and Rs 150 crore from pension products, said senior divisional manager, Chandigarh, Raghupal Singh. He said during the first five months of this fiscal, LIC has posted a growth of 114 per cent in terms of premium collection at Rs 292 crore by selling 1.10 lakh policies. He added that LIC has set up a centralised office called Metro Area Service Hub at Zirakpur to render better services to customers. |
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Tata Steel in talks for £3.5 bn loan
New Delhi, September 3 BNP Paribas SA, Credit Agricole CIB, HSBC Holdings Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc are among the banks that may lend £2.5 billion over a period of five years, it said. According to the report, Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, Standard Chartered Plc and ING Vysya Bank Ltd may also provide funds to Tata Steel. Quoting people familiar with the development, Bloomberg said that State Bank of India may arrange a £1 billion loan over a period of seven years. — PTI |
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Consolidation likely in telecom sector
New Delhi, September 3 With the government having set regulations that any company with a licence must meet deadline for commercial launch of services, number of startup telecom operators are finding it difficult to begin operations. There are at least six new telecom operators, who bagged licences in January 2008, but missed several deadlines for launching commercial services. Analysts say with these operators facing penalties for not rolling out the services, they could either sell their spectrum to already established operators or look for mergers with them. According to reports, the government is also looking at ways for these startup operators to make an exit from the sector in the backdrop of their expressing inability to begin operations. The move comes in the wake of some of the new entrants, including Swan Telecom, approaching DoT for surrendering their licences and spectrum. The official, who is in the know of development, said the matter would be taken up by the Telecom Commission. The commission may soon decide to allow new operators to surrender 2G spectrum and avail of refund of the money they paid in January 2008. Incidentally, the DoT has powers to cancel licences of companies in the circles where they have not launched services even a year after getting the licence. The reports also said the DoT was examining proposals that will allow many of these new entrants to sell out or exit, paving the way for a possible consolidation in the 14-player market. The analysts point out that with possible heavy penalties looming on these operators and the government willing, there could be a spate of mergers or acquisitions. The government may consider allowing new companies to merge with larger operators, shortening the three-year lock-in period during which the promoter of a new company is barred from selling out. |
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Cotton exports capped at 55 lakh bales
New Delhi, September 3 "It has been decided to cap the exports of cotton at 55 lakh bales in 2010-11 (October-September) season... that means no exports would be permitted beyond the ceiling," the official said, adding that shipments would be permitted from October 1. One bale of the natural fibre is equal to 170 kg. Cotton exports last year stood at 83 lakh bales. The decision to permit unrestricted exports of 55 lakh bales was taken at a meeting between Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, Agriculture Secretary P K Basu and Textiles Secretary Rita Menon here on September 1, he said. Cotton production in 2010-11 is projected at a record 330 lakh bales, he said. Last season, the production was 295 lakh bales. In the wake of increased exports and rising prices, the Centre during April-May this year had imposed export restrictions on cotton, including an export duty of Rs 2,500 per tonne and suspension of the registration of new export contracts, besides restrictions on shipments under the licence regime. However, while most of the curbs have been lifted, exporters still have to register their overseas contracts with the Textiles Commissioner. The registration process is scheduled to start from September 15, the official said. The Textiles Commissioner will not register any contract after 55 lakh bales have been exported, he said. Cotton cannot be exported without registration. — PTI
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New norms to curb stock price volatility
Mumbai, September 3 In addition, trading in these shares will have to be settled between buyer and seller without a clearing house for the first 10 days, SEBI said. This means that intra-day trading cannot happen in these shares for the first 10 days. SEBI said in case of a merger, demerger, amalgamation, capital reduction/ consolidation, "The trading shall take place in Trade-for-Trade segment for first 10 trading days with applicable price band while keeping the price band open on the first day of trading." Trade-for-Trade Settlement means that transactions will be settled between buyers and sellers without a clearing house. In this kind of settlement, intra-day trading is not possible, since one has to take or deliver securities for every trade. Explaining the provisions, SMC Capitals Limited Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said the price range in trading of a concerned scrip on the first day of listing post-merger, demerger or capital changes will be taken as the band for trading over the next 10 days. SEBI said the circular will not apply to "original scrips, on which derivatives products are available, or included in indices on which derivatives products are available." Explaining this provision, Thunuguntla said trading in only fresh shares, that will emerge after the merger, demerger or capital restructuring, will have to follow these rules in case the scrips are eligible for futures trade and options. Scrips that are only traded in the cash segment will have to follow these rules, he said. The market watchdog also directed that trading in scrips of all companies where at least half of the non-promoter holding is not in a digital form will have to be in the trade-for-trade segment. SEBI said the move is aimed at "moderating sharp and destabilising price movements in shares of companies to encourage better price discovery and to increase transparency in the securities market." — PTI
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Hike in gas price to hit GAIL venture
Guwahati, September 3 According to sources, the BCPL, which is being constructed at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh district, has informed the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India, that the subsidy would be increased to nearly Rs 3,680 crore if the price of natural gas is not lowered. The construction of the project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh way back in April, 2007. Earlier, only Rs 910 crore was earmarked as feedstock subsidy to the PSUs for the first 15 years of operation of the project. BCPL has already entered into gas supply agreement with the OIL and ONGC at the price of Rs 1,920 crore per thousand standard cubic meter (SCM). The Centre’s decision to raise the price of natural gas is bound to increase power tariff in North-Eastern states mostly dependent on gas-based thermal power plants. It will also adversely affect some ongoing mega projects. The price of gas has been increased from Rs 2,112 to Rs 5,152 per thousand cubic meter. About 48% of total power generated in the N-E is from gas-based thermal projects. The state-owned North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (Neepco) has already hiked the price of power generated by it. A delegation of power ministers from the Northeast has already made a representation to the Union Ministers of Power and Petroleum and Natural Gas, demanding a rollback of increase in price of natural gas through a “special package” to the region. “Increase in the price of natural gas would also have a negative impact on industries and some mega projects that are coming up in the backward region. Corporate houses often show reluctance to invest in the region for the not very comfortable security scenario in spite of generous concessions granted in the North East Industrial Policy.
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FII inflow crosses $2.5 bn in Aug
New Delhi: Maintaining their bullish stance for the third month in a row, global fund houses made a net investment of Rs 11,685 crore ($2.5 billion) in Indian equities in August.
As per the data available with SEBI, FIIs purchased shares worth Rs 62,187.50 crore, while they offloaded equities worth Rs 50,500.40 crore during August, resulting in a net investment of Rs 11,687.50 crore. With the August inflow, the total investment made by FIIs in the local stocks now stands at Rs 60,447 crore ($13.1 billion) so far this year.
— PTI |
Honda unveils new Splendor New ULIP products Forex reserves
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