The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Rupee slide halts after suspected RBI intervention New Delhi, December 28 The Indian rupee ended off lows on Wednesday, recovering most losses after suspected RBI intervention, but global risk aversion meant the Indian currency would remain under pressure in the near term, dealers said. Foreign funds have been pulling out of shaky stocks and oil refiners who import about three-quarters of India's crude consumption have been heavy buyers of dollars in recent sessions to meet monthend obligations. The rupee closed at 53.07/08 to the dollar, after touching a low of 53.44 in the day. It was pulled back 0.6% from 53.30 levels towards the end of the session after the suspected intervention. It closed at 53.015/025 on Tuesday. "Lots of selling from state-run banks was seen at around 53.30... it has to be the RBI, no one else would sell like this," a senior dealer with a foreign bank said. In recent sessions the RBI has imposed curbs on banks' trading limits to help rein in speculation on the currency, which hit a record low of 54.30 on Dec.15, were also keeping volumes low in the local forex market, they said. For details of steps taken by the Reserve Bank of India to curb the rupee's volatility and boost dollar inflows, see: "It (RBI intervention) seems to have worked so far, but nobody's jumping to buy the INR, just more cautious shorting it," said Chin Thio, senior FX strategist, BNP Paribas in Singapore. "The rupee will remain weak for the) same reasons that brought it here — large current account deficit, worsening fiscal deficit and capital outflows," Thio said, who sees the rupee at 52 to the dollar at the end of the first quarter of 2012. — Reuters
	Falling Re to shave Rs 40 bn off Nifty cos in Q3: Crisil Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 28 The recent depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar has resulted in foreign exchange losses worth Rs 48 billion in the July-September quarter for Nifty companies – wiping off close to 8 per cent of their profit before tax, according to a research by Crisil. This represents one of the highest aggregate forex losses in a single quarter, given the sharp rupee depreciation and nearly threefold rise in foreign debt of these companies over the past five years. With the rupee continuing to depreciate against the dollar, Crisil Research expects foreign exchange losses of these companies to remain high at around Rs 35-40 billion in the October-December quarter. In the July-December period, the rupee has depreciated by nearly 18 per cent against the dollar. “Demand for dollars increased due to repayment pressures on private foreign debt and the rising import bill. But supply failed to keep pace as foreign inflows dwindled due to rising risks in the eurozone. The resultant mismatch led to the sharp fall of the rupee,” said Crisil chief economist Dharmakirti Joshi. A Crisil research analysis of the effect of the rupee’s steep depreciation on Nifty companies (42 companies considered, excluding financial services companies) revealed that, at an aggregate level, these companies reported foreign exchange losses of about Rs 48 billion in the July-September quarter — which was around 8 per cent of their total profits before tax of Rs 572 billion. The foremost reason for these foreign exchange losses is the high levels of foreign currency debt, which needs to be reported using the closing exchange rate. The cumulative foreign currency debt of the Nifty companies considered in the analysis is an estimated Rs 1.5 trillion, which is around 24% of their total outstanding debt, as per the latest available company annual reports. The hedging policy of these companies also plays a role in determining their foreign exchange losses, as the derivative instruments are market-to-market. At a sectoral level, sectors such as oil refining and marketing, telecom, and steel have high gearing ratios and over one-fourth of the debt of companies in these sectors is foreign currency denominated. Moreover, in case of oil refining/marketing, a significant portion of the inputs, i.e., crude oil, is dollar denominated.
	Japan urges stronger ties with India Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 28 Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Wednesday Japan could contribute to India’s rapidly growing manufacturing sector. A total of 421 Japanese companies have established their presence in India and created 150,000 jobs. India and Japan need to establish firm partnerships and enter a new era of economic cooperation to capitalize on mutual complementarities, Noda said while addressing the joint business forum organized by industry chambers Assocham, CII and FICCI. “We need to step up cooperation at all levels. In the economic sphere, there are mutual complementarities with India. Japan can contribute a lot by entering into a new era of partnership,” said Noda, who is leading a 27-member business delegation. Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma said both countries need to work closely to address current global challenges and have a defining influence in Asia and beyond. The two-way trade can reach a level of US $25 billion by 2014, up from $13.82 billion in 2010-11. Sharma said Japanese firms have a major opportunity in India’s infrastructure and manufacturing. The country plans to invest $1 trillion in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) to build infrastructure. The Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor and dedicated freight corridor are the most ambitious infrastructure projects conceived so far which will have integrated townships. At the same time, the national manufacturing policy aims to boost production in sectors like electronics hardware, information technology, agro food processing and green power technologies. The Japanese government is committing $4.5 billion for implementation of this project. On the other hand, India has great capabilities in healthcare sector and its pharmaceutical industry can participate in Japanese health programmes, said Sharma. Assocham president Dilip Modi said the time is ripe to strengthen bilateral cooperation in environment, energy, education, healthcare and high technology investments. He added Indian industry was keenly looking forward to implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that will help both countries realize their full potential in trade and commerce.
	RIL slips below Infy in market weight again New Delhi, December 28 IT major Infosys on Wednesday pipped Mukesh Ambani-led corporate giant Reliance Industries again as the most influential company in the Indian stock market, with a higher weightage on the Bombay Stock Exchange barometer index, the Sensex. At the end of Wednesday's trade, Infosys commanded a Sensex weightage of 10.53%, higher than Reliance Industries Ltd's 10.32%. A higher weightage corresponds to a greater influence on the day's movement in the Sensex, whose gain or loss in a session is determined on the basis of changes in the share prices of the 30 Sensex stocks. Infosys had first dislodged Reliance Industries from its long-held top position on December 12 and thereafter a situation similar to game of musical chairs was on display between the two for more than a week, as they pipped each other on numerous occasions in terms of the BSE Sensex weightage. The weightage of each Sensex stock changes daily, as per the value of their free-float market capitalization or value of non-promoter shares that are freely available for trade. In the past one year, RIL has underperformed the market benchmark considerably with a decline of over 30 per cent, while the stock performance of Infosys has been much better with a fall of less than 1 per cent in the same period. The Sensex has fallen by about 20 per cent in past one year. Infosys' free-float market value today stood at Rs 135,725.67 crore, higher than RIL's 133,009.06 crore. Infosys shares gained 0.7% in a weak market today, while Reliance Industries stock dropped by 1.95%. However, Reliance Industries remains the country's most valued company with Rs 241,834.66 crore of total market cap, including the value of promoter shares. In comparison, Infosys is ranked fifth with a full market cap of Rs 159,677.26 crore. — PTI
	Decision soon on additional equity infusion in Air India New Delhi, December 28 A decision on additional equity infusion in Air India is likely soon with the civil aviation ministry moving a cabinet note on the matter, even as the ailing carrier planned to conclude a debt recast package with its bankers by mid-March next year. Confirming the circulation of the note, official sources said the cabinet may take up the issue within the first fortnight of 2012. Speaking on the national carrier's debt recast plans, they said the bankers have sought an extension of the provisioning norms over a five-year period. Maintaining that the lenders have requested for extending provisioning norms so that the provision could be spread over extended financial years, Air India officials said the issue "has already been taken up with Reserve Bank of India and the reply is awaited". The officials also maintained that Air India had the "full support" of its lenders to conclude this arrangement within 120 days of the RBI approval, that is before the middle of March next year. The Air India officials said the finance ministry has not rejected the debt recast plans, contrary to reports. — PTI
	OilMin refers RIL marketing margin issue to EGoM New Delhi, December 28 The petroleum ministry has asked a ministerial panel to decide if Reliance Industries can charge a marketing margin over-and-above the government-approved sale price for KG-D6 gas. The issue of the $0.135 per million British thermal unit marketing margin charged by RIL "to cover for the risk and cost associated with marketing of gas" has been referred to an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, official sources said. The oil ministry, which had long held that the marketing margin was a bilateral issue between the buyer and seller of gas, referred it to the EGoM after user industries like fertilizers sought a clarification on the legality of the levy. In addition, the Central Vigilance Commission had in September asked the ministry to furnish reasons why it was not involved in fixing the marketing margin. The ministry's technical arm, the directorate general of hydrocarbons (DGH), too, had opined that RIL should share a part of these earnings with the government. The DGH wanted the marketing margin to be added to the gas sales price of $4.20 per mmBtu and profit-sharing between the contractor and the government to happen at the combined rate of $4.335 per mmBtu. At present, RIL and the government split profits at the gas sales price of $4.20 per mmBtu after deducting the project cost. Sources said RIL has contested DGH's view, saying the marketing margin was a cost levied beyond the gas delivery flange and as such, was not regulated by the production sharing contract . The contract provides for fixation of the gas price at the 'delivery point', the point at which an upstream operator transfers custody of gas to a marketing and transportation agency. That point for the eastern offshore KG-D6 gas is Kakinada, in Andhra Pradesh, and the government had in 2007 approved a gas price of $4.205 per mmBtu at the delivery point. State-owned gas utility GAIL India also charges up to $0.18 per mmBtu as a marketing margin on gas it transports and none of it is shared with the government. — PTI
	Investors lost Rs 20 lakh cr in stocks this year New Delhi, December 28 In a departure from big gains in the past two years, investors saw around Rs 20 lakh crore of their wealth eroded as Indian equities tanked in 2011 because of inflation, high interest rates and the uncertain global growth environment accentuated by the eurozone debt crisis. In addition, the rupee fell to historic lows against the US dollar, hitting the country's import bill. The bellwether indices of the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange fell by over 26 per cent during the course of the year, touching new lows. The 30-scrip BSE Sensex was down by 5,334.01 points, or over 26%, at 15.175.08 on December 20, against last year's close of 20,509.09. Similarly, the 50-share Nifty witnessed a hefty fall of 1,590.30 points, or 25.92%, to 4,544.20 on December 20 from last year's close. There has been some recovery since then, with the Sensex closing at 15,873.95 and the Nifty at 4,750.50 on Tuesday, but market experts say investors remain cautious on India. Globally, the deepening European debt crisis and a historic downgrade of US creditworthiness hit the economic growth sentiment. Besides, political turmoil in the Middle East pushed up global crude oil prices, adding to inflationary pressures and pushing up the country's import bill. FIIs, the main drivers of the market, turned negative on Indian equities this year and after having injected a record Rs 1,33,266 crore, or over $29.36 billion, in 2010, pulled out Rs 2,497.50 crore, or $318.00 million, from equities till December 19. — PTI
	Sensex slides 0.9%; banks, Reliance drag New Delhi, December 28 The BSE Sensex shed 0.9 percent in thin trade on Wednesday, a day before monthly derivatives contracts expiry, dragged by a sell-off in banks, on worries over worsening asset quality and slowing credit growth, and Reliance Industries. "During the last one hour, we saw some buying and short covering coming in ahead of expiry, cutting the overall losses," said Kishore P. Ostwal, chairman and managing director of CNI Research, referring to the derivatives contracts expiry on the NSE on Thursday. The main 30-share Bombay Stock Excange index closed down 146.10 points at 15,727.85, with 18 of its components declining. The benchmark, which fell 0.6 percent on Tuesday, opened relatively flat and dipped as much as 1.3 percent on the day. — Reuters
	DLF, partner sells Pune IT SEZ to Blackstone Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 28 DLF Limited, India’s largest real estate company, today announced that the company along with its joint venture partner Hubtown Ltd have sold 100 per cent of their shareholding in DLF Ackruti Info Parks (Pune) Ltd for Rs 810 crore. The stake is being sold to an entity controlled by real estate fund affiliated with the private equity major Blackstone. DLF and Hubtown held 67% and 33% equity shares, respectively, in DLF Ackruti Info Park. DLF Ackruti owned a notified IT/ITES SEZ located in Pune. “The above transaction is in line with the DLF's continuing objective of divesting its non-strategic assets,” said the DLF spokesperson.