The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	FII in Coal India beats yr’s inflow Issue subscribed over 15 times; inflow at Rs 1.2 lakh cr New Delhi, October 21 Coal India Ltd IPO has attracted a whopping inflow of about Rs 1.20 lakh crore from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), more than the record Rs 1.08 lakh crore (about $24 billion) they have invested in the Indian stocks so far this year. Although about 90 per cent of the funds are estimated to flow back after the IPO is over, the inflows have been impacting forex as well as the stock markets. Sensex has fallen since the public offer opened on October 18 as CIL issue diverted funds from other equities, while the rupee has strengthened. The state-owned Coal India Ltd's (CIL) initial public offering (IPO) is the country's biggest share sale so far, with the government looking at garnering up to Rs 15,400 crore by selling 10 per cent stake in the world's largest coal producer. Bidding for the mega IPO closed yesterday for qualified institutional buyers, which includes the foreign institutional investors, mutual funds and insurance firms. And for the portion reserved for them, the issue was oversubscribed by a whopping 24.70 times. Even at the low end, the inflows are higher than what FIIs have infused — Rs 1,08,379.60 crore during the entire year so far. This year's inflow of Rs 1.08 lakh crore (USD 23.77 billion) is the highest ever investment made by FIIs in a single year. The huge FII inflow for the CIL issue has surprised many analysts, who were expecting around Rs 70,000 crore to come in from this segment. Money/forex market dealers were expecting some temporary volatility or strength in the currency during this period. — Reuters
	UID shortlists firms for service provider Girja Shankar Kaura/TNS New Delhi, October 21 The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has short listed nine information technology service companies for the managed services provider (MSP) contract. The selected firm or firms would play a crucial role in the roll out of the UID programme, which is under experts’ scrutiny. The nine short listed firms include Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra. The contract for the MSP is estimated to be worth around Rs 2,000 crore. Under the new branding the ‘Aadhaar’ scheme was launched on September 29 at Shahada in Nandurbar district in North Maharashtra . A 12-digit unique number will be provided to every citizen of the country. The number will be given to 100 million people by this fiscal and will cover around 600 million Indians by 2014. The firm will also be responsible for the roll out of the 600 million Aadhaar numbers. These companies will first give their proposals for implementing and managing the central information data repository of UIDAI. The bidding process will start soon thereafter. The MSP vendor will have to provide a system and be involved in the de-duplication process. That means every time someone sends a biometric print, the systems need to match these and get back to the person in real time.
	Power Grid FPO on November 9 Mumbai, October 21 State-run transmission company Power Grid Corporation of India today said its over Rs 8,000-crore follow-on public offer will be launched on November 9. “The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on October 20, 2010, have approved the red herring prospectus (RHP) for follow on offer of PowerGrid ... According to the RHP approved by the board ... opening of bid (would be) on November 9,” the company said. The bid would close on November 11 for institutional investors and on November 12 for retail and non-institutional bidders. The company is planning to raise 10 per cent fresh equity, while the government is likely to offload 10 per cent of its 86.36 per cent stake in PowerGrid. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its nod to the follow-on offer by PowerGrid on July 22 this year. — PTI
	Toyota recalls 1.5 mn cars in US, Japan Tokyo, October 21 Toyota today announced a safety recall of about 1.5 million vehicles worldwide to fix a brake fluid leak that it warned can gradually diminish braking performance in the cars. The world's largest auto maker, which was battered by a global safety crisis earlier this year, said it would voluntarily recall 740,000 cars in the US and almost 600,000 in Japan to fix the problem. It was also recalling 50,000 autos in Europe, 60,000 in China, 30,000 in Australia and 50,000 in other Asian nations, said a Toyota spokesman in Japan. He said that no accidents had been linked to the defect. Toyota is recalling the cars to repair a flaw in which ‘a small amount of the brake fluid could slowly leak from the brake master cylinder’, which would lead the brake warning lamp to illuminate, the company said. If at this point the brake fluid is not replaced, ‘the driver will begin to notice a spongy or soft brake pedal feel and braking performance may gradually decline,’ Toyota USA said in a statement. The autos affected are the 2005-2006 models of the Avalon, the 2004 through 2006 non-hybrid models of the Highlander, the Lexus RX330, and the 2006 Lexus GS300, IS250 and S350 vehicles, Toyota USA said in a statement. US owners of affected vehicles will be notified by early November, it said. In Japan, Toyota announced it would recall more than 600,000 cars spanning 13 models, including the Crown, Mark X, Lexus IS and GS, according to filings submitted with the transport ministry. — AFP
	Nokia to slash 1,800 jobs worldwide Helsinki/New Delhi, October 21 The world's largest mobile phone maker Nokia will axe 1,800 jobs worldwide as the company embarks on streamlining its smart phone business. The move comes at a time when its new CEO Stephen Elop is exploring ways to bolster its market share, especially in the smart phone segment, which has been hit by competition from rivals such as Apple. Nokia, which has significant presence in India, today said it planned to simplify its Symbian Smart phone business as well as services organisation and certain corporate functions. “The plans are expected to result in a reduction of up to 1,800 employees globally,” the firm said. The company also announced a profit of 322 million euros for the September quarter. In the comparable period, it had a loss of 913 million euros. Nokia's Symbian smart phone sales have been dented by offerings from rivals such as Apple, Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) and HTC. In Symbian smartphones segment, Nokia would look to renew product creation and reduce the time taken for the same to reach the market. "This includes expanding the use of common tools for application development, streamlining software development, simplifying and consolidating operations and placing greater focus on adding value to consumers," the statement noted. Further, the cell phone maker would effect changes in its services organisation, mainly aimed at providing ‘more compelling Ovi services to consumers’. — Reuters
	Badal assures rice millers on relook at policy Ruchika M Khanna/TNS Chandigarh, October 21 Punjab may soon relook its mega industrial projects policy for rice mills. The policy has been inviting a lot of criticism for allegedly promoting monopolistic practices. It favours large rice millers, rendering the business unviable for small and medium -scale rice millers, millers say. Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal today assured a delegation of the Punjab Rice Millers Association that he would consult his team of officers to see how the policy can be re worked on, so that it does not harm the business interests of the small and medium rice mills. The move follows a two-day strike by 200-odd rice shellers (who mill basmati). Naresh Goel, president of the Punjab Rice Millers Association, said that the Punjab government was promoting the setting up of rice shellers under its mega industrial projects policy. “Small units face the risk of extinction. Since mega rice projects get fiscal concessions of up to 11 per cent, they can buy rice cheap and sell it at a high cost. This renders the business uncompetitive for smaller units,” he said. Till date, two rice shelling units have been set up under the policy. At least six other proposals are pending under the policy. These units (with an investment of Rs 100 crore or Rs 25 crore in case the unit is located in the border area) get a complete waiver of market fee (2 per cent), rural development fund (2 per cent) and Punjab Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF- 3 per cent) and VAT (4 per cent). On the strength of these waivers they are wiping out small millers. “We now buy paddy from Haryana, where we are saving 3 per cent on PIDF. With this, we are able to contain some loss, though the state government is loosing on VAT, market fee and rural development fund. So, it is also in the favour of the state government re-look the mega projects policy,” said N R Garg, a rice miller from Sangrur.
	Corporate Results TVS Motor Q2 net surges on better sales, margins Mumbai, October 21 TVS Motor Co, India's third largest two-wheeler maker, on Thursday said second-quarter net profit more than doubled on higher sales and lower costs. "The product mix was better and the fixed costs as a percentage was lower," HS Goindi, president, marketing, said. Higher motorbike and three-wheeler volumes in the quarter drove sales and profits, he added. Goindi also said TVS Motor had taken a price hike of up to 1.5 per cent on various models in September and would take a call on another price hike during the current quarter. ACC Q3 net dips 79 pc Cement major ACC Ltd today announced 79.2 per cent decline in net profit during Q3 FY 11 due to lower clinker and cement production. The company's consolidated net profit declined 79 per cent to Rs 86.31 crore for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010 as compared to Rs 415.51 crore in the same period last year. The company's sales turnover decreased 15.3 per cent to Rs 1,759.18 crore in Q3 FY 11 compared with Rs 2,077.38 crore in the same period last year. The company said that its performance during the quarter suffered a setback in terms of volume and profitability. TCS Q2 net up 32% The country's largest software firm Tata Consultancy Services today reported 32 per cent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,169.21 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. “It has been a quarter of superior performance across the board, driven by volume growth of over 11 per cent. In uncertain economic conditions, our results are a milestone on the path to strong demand recovery,” TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran said. Allahabad Bank net up 20% State-owned Allahabad Bank today reported a 20.6 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 402.5 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, on the back of robust growth in net interest income. It had a net profit of Rs 333.5 crore in the same quarter of the last fiscal, Canara Bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. — Agencies

BRIEFLY

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) President and Vice-Chairman of the Bharati Telecommunication and Airtel mobile, Rajan Bharati Mittal (2R), Beijing Olympics gold medalist and Commonwealth Games ace shooter Abhinav Bindra (R), Chairman of Yashraj Films Yash Chopra (2L) and Ficci Secretary General Amit Mitra launching its new logo, in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Vedanta Al refinery plan fails to get nod
New Delhi: Days after its plan to mine bauxite from Niyamgiri Hills was turned down, Vedanta Resources has received yet another blow with the evironment mnistry rejecting its $5.8 billion expansion plan for alumina refinery in Orissa, citing violation of green norms. The London-based metals giant had plans to increase the production capacity of the refinery in Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district from the current 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 6 mtpa. — PTI

Essar Hypermart on expansion spree
Chandigarh: Essar Hypermart, the retail arm of Essar Steel, plans to open one hypermart at Amritsar and five new expressmarts at Patiala, Bathinda, Pathankot, Srinagar and Mandi, by the year-end. Girish Rao, CEO, Essar Hypermart, said that the company planned to have its retail footprint through 120 new hypermarts and 650 new expressmarts across the country. The CEO added that an online sales module had been launched in Maharashtra and Gujarat on a trial basis, and would be launched across the country by March next year. The company hopes to shift 10- 15 per cent of its sales online by next year. — TNS

Hero Honda to set up unit in HP
Shimla: Hero Honda has approached the Himachal Pradesh government to provide them 2,000 bighas in the industrial estate. The company proposes to set up its fourth manufacturing unit at Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh. Industries minister Kishan Kapoor said that the company had chosen Himachal Pradesh from among 10 states. He added it underlined the emergence of Baddi as an important industrial town in the region. — TNS

Amway targets 20 % growth in HP
Shimla: The country’s largest direct selling company Amway has drawn up a plan to raise its annual turnover to Rs 2,500 crore by 2012, an increase of over Rs 1,000 crore over a period of 3 years. The company had set up a manufacturing facility with an investment of Rs 55 crore to treble its production to help achieve the target. The company invested Rs 151 crore in India, of which Rs 26 crore had come in the form of FDI. Its Himachal Pradesh had also been impressive and by the end of the current year its contribution to the turnover was likely to cross the Rs 10 crore. It paid taxes of Rs 1 crore to the state exchequer. — TNS