Hong Kong/Mumbai, March 5
Anadarko Petroleum Corp and Indian billionaire Venugopal Dhoot have launched the auction of a 20 percent stake in a Mozambique gas field that could fetch US $4.5 billion, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Rovuma offshore field is a hot property after recent discoveries boosted Mozambique's gas reserves to around 150 trillion cubic feet, enough to supply world number one importer Japan for 35 years. The east African country is expected to eventually compete with Australia and Qatar as a major provider of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia.

Last year Thai state oil company PTT Exploration and Production PCL trumped Royal Dutch Shell Plc in a hotly contested battle for Cove Energy Plc and its 8.5 percent of the field. The $1.9 billion price tag for Cove implies the stake now on offer could fetch about $4.5 billion.

Dhoot, who controls consumer electronics to mobile-phone services conglomerate Videocon Group, is leading the process and has hired Standard Chartered and UBS to handle the sale, the sources added. Both banks declined to comment.

First round bids are due on March 14 after an information memorandum on the sale was sent to potential bidders in early February, one of the sources said.

US oil and gas explorer Anadarko is the operator of Mozambique's offshore Area 1 with a 36.5 percent interest, while Japan's Mitsui & Co is the second-biggest holder in the block with a 20 percent stake.

State-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp and a unit of Dhoot's Videocon Industries own 10% each, while PTT has an 8.5% interest and Mozambique's state-owned ENH 15%.

Shares in Videocon Industries, which has a market value of $1.2 billion, rose as much as 4.6% on Tuesday, outpacing a near 1% gain for the BSE Sensex.

"The move to monetize its holding in the Mozambique gas block to reduce debt is a positive trigger for the company and the stock," said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities. "That's a good asset and it should get a good valuation."

SUITORS: PetroChina, Shell and Exxon Mobil Corp are among suitors expected to submit indicative proposals, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

State-owned ONGC and Oil India are considering a joint bid for the 20% stake, two separate sources said. The companies would hire an adviser once they decide on bidding, one of the sources said. — Reuters

New Delhi, March 5
The confidence of urban consumers continued to be low in February as concerns over rise in prices of essential commodities dampened spending sentiments, says a study by financial services provider BluFin.

BluFin's Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) stood at 38 points in February, showing no improvement over the previous month's number despite moderately less pessimism about employment and inflation.

The index is a key 'aggregate' indicator that assesses the pulse of urban Indian consumers with regard to the economy, spending behaviour and employment. It reflects pessimism at below 50 score and optimism above that.

The study is conducted among 4,000 urban consumers in 18 Indian cities, including metros and smaller cities.

"With retail inflation rising for the fourth consecutive month and with food inflation at 14.08%, the survey reveals that consumers are increasingly postponing their decisions on discretionary spending, especially with regard to the purchase of consumer durable goods.

"The uptrend seen in prices of basic necessities is a cause for concern as the problem is more supply side driven," BluFin CEO Rashid Bilimoria said.

Consumer sentiment on spending, at 22.6 this month, has declined by 0.8 points from January, the study said adding a revival in willingness to spend would be key for the overall Consumer Confidence Index to rebound.

A subindex, which rates employment sentiment, has reflected increased pessimism about jobsacross the country. The employment sentiment improved by 0.6 points to 44.5 points in February. "Although the levels still indicate pessimism, a perceived improvement in job availability and job security seems to have triggered a marginal uptick," the study said.

Similarly, the index which measures inflation sentiment rose by 1.6 points in the current month on increased comfort with borrowing following a cut in policy rates by the RBI and expectations of further rate cuts. However, with a weakening sentiment around general price levels, the index score of 25.5 remains in the pessimistic range. — PTI

New Delhi/New York, March 5
The total net worth of India's 55 billionaires has fallen marginally to US $189 billion (over Rs 10 lakh crore) in the past one year, but even half of this amount exceeds the country's total fiscal deficit.

According to the annual list of world's billionaires, published by US business magazine Forbes, India has 55 billionaires with a total net worth of $189.1 billion.

In comparison, India had 48 billionaires with a collective net worth of $194.6 billion a year ago.

An analysis of Forbes rankings of Indian billionaires shows that just 10 richest from the country together command a total wealth of over $100 billion — a figure higher than the estimated fiscal deficit of about $95 billion for the financial year ending this month. India's fiscal deficit for FY2013 is estimated at little over Rs 5 lakh crore or 5.2% of the country's total GDP.

Forbes has ranked Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani, with a net worth of $21.5 billion, as richest from India for sixth year in a row.

While there are only three Indians in the global top-100, the overall list has 55 billionaires this year from the country. This number has grown from 48 in 2012. It was 55 in 2011 as well. Lakshmi Mittal, the second richest Indian has a net worth of $16.5 billion. — PTI

New Delhi, March 5
The Standing Committee on Finance has recommended that the government should put in place a mechanism to fix a ceiling on interest rates chargeable by housing finance companies (HFCs) and other institutions lending for housing and related activities.

In its report on the National Housing Bank Amendment Bill, the panel, headed by Yashwant Sinha of BJP, said there was no definite mechanism available for regulating interest rates on home loans. Therefore the government and NHB should put in place a system so that a ceiling is fixed.

The panel also said that government should ensure that HFCs lend a stipulated portion of loans to lower income groups. This scheme could be on the lines of stipulated agriculture lending or priority sector lending by public sector banks, it added.

According to the finance ministry, there is a gap of Rs 2 lakh crore for low income housing and the projected requirement for 2012-17 is Rs 6 lakh crore. During 2007-12, public sector banks and HFCs have disbursed Rs 2 lakh crore in home loans upto Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 lakh crore for loans upto Rs 1 lakh.

The committee is of the view that the bill, which proposes to transfer the registration and regulation of HFCs from NHB to the Reserve Bank of India, is an expedient move which would enable the NHB to give undivided attention to supervision of HFCs and ensuring better credit flow to the housing sector in the country.

However, the panel has cautioned on parallel regulations giving concurrent powers to the Reserve Bank and National Housing Bank. It said some of these clauses need to be reworked so that HFCs are not subjected to unnecessary dual or parallel supervision.

New Delhi, March 5
The largest ever overseas bond issue by an Indian telecom player raised by country’s largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel has got over subscribed by 9.5 times helping it raise $ one billion.

The 10-year unsecured notes had a coupon of 5.125 % per annum and were launched by Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.

In a statement issued here, Bharti said, "It's wholly-owned subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV has priced the US $1billion 5.125% guaranteed senior notes due 2023".

The notes were nearly 9.5 times over-subscribed with an orderbook aggregating $9.5 billion from high quality investor accounts, it added.

The Bharti statement added that this is the "largest ever issuance from an Indian telecom company and one of the largest orderbooks for a USD issuance out of Asia".

"We are extremely pleased with the strong interest shown by top global investors in Bharti's inaugural bond issue," Bharti Group Treasurer Harjeet Kohli said. The firm will use the net proceeds to primarily its existing debt.

New Delhi, March 5
DLF Ltd, India's biggest property developer, said its board of directors will meet on Wednesday to consider the sale of shares to institutional and retail investors to comply with the minimum public shareholding rules.

DLF, 78.58% owned by its founders, is seeking shareholder approval for a share sale by June to meet the market regulator's requirement of having at least 25% public shareholding, which is mandatory for listed companies.

The New Delhi-based developer, founded by billionaire K.P. Singh, is expected to sell about 81 million shares, raising about Rs 20.31 billion according to Reuters calculation based on its share price of Rs 250.70 as of Monday's close.

Shares in DLF, which builds homes and offices predominantly in north India, have surged more than 10% since the beginning of the year, outperforming the BSE Sensex, which is down about 2%. However, the company's shares are still trading at a significant discount to its life-time high of Rs 1,208 in January 2008.

At 11:04 a.m., shares in DLF, valued by the market at $7.76 billion as of Monday's close, were trading 1.6 percent higher at 254.65 rupees, outperforming the Sensex's 0.5 percent rise. — Reuters