New Delhi, November 25
Iran’s nuclear deal with the Western countries had the immediate impact of lowering crude oil prices and lifting the stock market and will in the near future also lead to easing of oil supplies and boosting exports from India.

The BSE Sensex rose by 387 points as global crude oil prices trended down by 2% to $108 a barrel after a breakthrough agreement between the Western powers and Iran on its nuclear programme which will ease sanctions.

Indian markets were today among the best performers globally as the oil import burden has been putting huge pressure on the economy, current account deficit and in turn pushing up inflation.

The rupee gained 37 paise to 62.50 against the dollar today after global crude oil prices dropped. At the forex market, the rupee opened strong at 62.67 a dollar from the previous close of 62.87 and moved in a range of 62.44 to 62.70 before ending at 62.50.

While the sanctions on Iran to export oil in larger quantity have not been lifted yet, it has had an impact of sentiment on global crude oil prices and also boosts the possibility of greater economic engagement with Iran.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma indicated that more steps would be taken to boost economic engagement with Iran. ”As far as economic engagement with Iran is concerned, it has a huge potential to grow manifold and we will take all those measures which can improve our trade with Iran”, he said.

Ficci president Naina Lal Kidwai said any step that makes it easy for Iran to engage economically with the rest of the world would help India in sourcing oil imports from Iran.

Exports and boosting bilateral trade is another area where Indian companies see huge potential. “We will also see possibilities for exporting our manufactured and other goods to that market, including pharma, IT, electronics, automobile spare parts and food processing. This relief will benefit Indian companies in promoting bilateral trade between India and Iran, which at present is around $15 billion”, Kidwai said.

Assocham president Rana Kapoor said the deal would not only reduce India’s import bill as energy prices ease but also make a big difference to inflation.

Kapoor said India’s total exports to Iran were merely $3.7 billion in 2012-13, much less than potential, under the impact of sanctions. “Our imports of crude oil from Iran can give us better supply leverage, while increased production would bring down prices,” he added.

London, November 25
Liquor giant Diageo's $2-billion United Spirits buyout hit a regulatory hurdle today after UK fair trade watchdog found it to be anti-competitive, forcing the company to offer selling bulk of Whyte & Mackay business.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) would have a fresh look at the Diageo Plc-United Spirits Ltd deal in the wake of a new proposal made to sell bulk of Whyte & Mackay business to address the competition issues in the British whisky market.

In the UK, United Spirits' subsidiary, Whyte & Mackay, is primarily active in the supply of whisky, besides being a player in other spirits, including vodka.

The regulator said the merger may lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the supply of blended whisky to retailers.

OFT came to the conclusion after analysing evidence including data on consumer switching between brands, economic modelling and internal documents.

Vijay Mallya-led United Spirits had snapped up Whyte & Mackay for about 595 million pounds (then nearly Rs 5,000 crore) in 2007.

A leading distiller of Scotch whisky, Whyte & Mackay's brands include The Dalmore, Isle of Jura, Glayva, Fettercairn, Vladivar vodka and Whyte & Mackay blended Scotch.

Chris Walters, OFT's Chief Economist and Decision Maker in this case, said the two companies are leading suppliers of blended bottled whisky in the UK, especially to supermarkets and other large retailers.

"Our investigation considered a wide range of evidence and we concluded that the likely loss of competition could give rise to higher prices for retailers, and ultimately consumers," he said. — PTI

Mumbai, November 25
The SBI today said it has constituted an internal panel comprising two managing directors to probe the corruption charge against its Deputy MD Shyamal Acharya, who has been asked to go on leave a day after his residence was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"We have been informed by the CBI that Shyamal Acharya, Deputy Managing Director and group executive (mid corporate groups) of our bank is being investigated. Acharya has been asked to proceed on leave," the SBI said.

SBI said it stands committed to probity in its dealings and assured that it will continue to hold highest standards of honesty and transparency in its operations. Yesterday, the CBI registered a case against Acharya, ex-SBI additional general manager KK Kumarah and chairman of Worlds Window Group Piyoosh Goyal for alleged graft in disbursing loan of over Rs 100 crore.

Meanwhile, the CBI today conducted searches at the Mumbai residence of Acharya and claimed to have seized gold and jewellery worth Rs 67 lakh. — PTI

New Delhi, November 25
The country's largest private electricity producer Tata Power and eight other companies have submitted preliminary bids for the proposed 4,000 MW ultra mega power project in Odisha.

"Nine companies — NTPC, Tata Power, NHPC, Adani Power, JSW Energy, Jindal Power (an arm of Jindal Steel and Power), Sterlite Infraventures, CLP India and Larsen & Toubro have submitted their applications in response to the Request for Qualification (RFQ) for the project," PFC said in a release. Power Finance Corporation is the nodal agency for UMPPs. — PTI

New Delhi, November 25
Even as the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom has decided to go ahead with the recommendations of the Telecom Commission, on spectrum base price for the forthcoming auction, it put off some of the other important issues for the next meeting.

These include the decision on the quantum of spectrum to be sold in all the bands and also the critical point of the proposed mergers and acquisition (M&A) policy which has also been cleared by the Telecom Commission.

Officials in the Telecom Ministry said the issue of M&A norms, which forms part of the new telecom policy and could bring about consolidation in the telecom sector, would be taken by the EGoM in the next meeting.

The EGoM would also decide on the quantum of spectrum to be put up for the auction. The DoT would also write to the regulator for the new 800 Mhz band price this week.

This issue is also critical as on the last occasion when the government held the auction, it had held back some spectrum, inviting the ire of the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the sale of the spectrum due to the 2010 2G spectrum allocation scam.

BRIEFLY

Industry bodies tie up with Deutsche Messe AG
Gurgaon: The NCR Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Manesar Industries Association have joined hands with Germany-based Deutsche Messe AG, which organises fairs and exhibitions of products internationally. These industry bodies have signed the MoU with Hannover Milano Fairs India Pvt Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Deutsche Messe. The associations will take part in the four-day international event, “World of Industry-India 2013”, being organised by Hannover Milano Fairs in New Delhi on December 17. — TNS

BSE to include Axis Bank in Sensex; shares up over 3%
Mumbai: Shares of Axis Bank rose over 3% on Monday after the BSE said it will include the company in its benchmark index, Sensex, with effect from December 23. After a bullish opening, shares of the bank further gained 2.89% to Rs 1,115.50 on the BSE. At the NSE, the stock went up by 3.16% to Rs 1,116.55. Axis Bank will replace Jindal Steel & Power Ltd in Sensex. — PTI

Max Life Insurance forays into e-commerce
New Delhi: Max Life Insurance has forayed into e-commerce by launching Max Life Online Term Plan. The plan is designed to provide comprehensive protection through three different death benefit options - the tax-free level or increasing monthly income in addition to one-time sum assured and the traditional option of one-time tax-free sum assured. The plan also offers a "comprehensive accident benefit" rider, which provides added benefits not only for death but also on dismemberment due to an accident. — IANS

RBI to launch CPI-indexed bonds by December-end
New Delhi: The RBI said on Monday it will launch CPI-indexed bonds aimed at protecting the savings of retail investors from the impact of price rise by the end of next month. — PTI