Greater Noida, February 6
Country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) stole the show at the Auto Expo on the second day as it unveiled its latest offering in the compact car segment ‘Celerio’ with an automatic transmission priced at Rs 4.29 lakh and Rs 4.59 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor with Hero MotoCorp CEO Pawan Munjal at the launch of new range of bikes at the Auto Expo 2014 in Greater Noida on Thursday

The ‘Celerio’ is priced between Rs 3.9 lakh and Rs 4.96 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The manual transmission models (four) are priced between Rs 3.9 lakh and Rs 4.96 lakh, while the auto gear shift variants (two) are priced at Rs 4.29 lakh and Rs 4.59 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Celerio Auto Gear Shift variants will have the flexibility of both manual mode and auto drive mode in the same car, with a simple shift of gear lever.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited chief operating officer (marketing and sales) Mayank Pareekh said the automatic transmission had been developed keeping in mind the Indian psyche.

Jaguar Land Rover’s latest award-winning products also made their Indian debut. Among the star attractions, the Jaguar F-Type Coupe was unveiled by India’s racing driver Narain Karthikeyan and the Range Rover long wheelbase by Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra.

The all-new BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo was also launched today. Locally produced at the BMW Plant in Chennai, it will be available across the country from March.

Mahindra and Mahindra unveiled an electric sports concept car, named Halo, along with the much-awaited Mojo 300 cc motorcycle.

With the three new launches, Hero Motocorp is looking at expanding its product portfolio in the 100 and 150cc scooter market.

UM Motorcycles from America also confirmed that they will enter India in the latter half of the year through its products in the 200 to 230cc bikes, competing with the likes of Royal Enfield.

Auto component maker JBM Group launched a low-floor city bus 'Citylife', with a project investment of about Rs 500 crore.

The bus 'Citylife' will be manufactured in the company's Faridabad and Kosi (Uttar Pradesh) facilities. These plants have the capacity to deliver 2,000 units per year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (TKM) unveiled the new Etios Cross. It is on display along with the new Corolla Altis and all other Toyota exhibits.

New Delhi, February 6
The Cabinet today cleared UK-based Vodafone's proposal to buy out minority shareholders in its Indian arm for Rs 10,141 crore, the single largest foreign investment in the telecom sector.

After this, Vodafone India will be the first telecom operator in the country to be fully owned by a foreign company.

"Vodafone proposal has been approved," a senior minister attending the CCEA meeting said.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had on December 30, 2013, cleared the proposal of CGP India, an indirect Mauritian subsidiary of Vodafone International Holdings BV, to hike stake to 100% from the present 64.38%.

Since the proposal was worth more than Rs 1,200 crore, it had to be referred to the Cabinet.

Last year, the government had allowed 100% FDI into the telecom sector.

The telecom major, which holds a 64.38% stake in the Indian unit, will buy remaining outstanding shares from minority shareholders — Ajay Piramal and Analjit Singh. Piramal holds an 10.97% stake while Singh, who is Vodafone India's non-executive chairman, holds 24.65%.

Greater Noida, February 6
Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore over the next three years towards infrastructure upgrade, product development and capacity expansion.

The company is also planning to introduce 8-10 new variants and upgrades of its products this year.

"Adding new products is a continuous process...We have grown consistently over the past few years. We plan to invest Rs 5,000 crore over the next three years to continue this momentum," M&M chief executive — Automotive Division Pravin Shah said.

He added the investment will be made to enhance capacity and infrastructure as well as development of new products.

Talking about new manufacturing units, he said the company is exploring new locations for expanding capacity.

"We are introducing new vehicles, new models and so, expansion of capacity has to happen. We are in conversation with the Maharashtra government and if we get the things (incentives) we are looking for, then we will expand the capacity there itself," Shah said. — PTI

Chandigarh, February 6
Employees of public sector banks will go on a two-day nationwide strike from February 10 as unions and management have failed to reach a consensus on wage revision.

"The conciliation meeting before the Chief Labour Commissioner between the unions and the Indian Banks Association (IBA) failed to find an amicable solution," said Parmod Sharma, deputy general secretary All India Bank Officers’ Confederation.

Staff of public sector banks had gone on a day’s strike nationwide on December 18, as discussions with the IBA on wage revision had failed on December 14. The wage revision of public sector bank employees has been due since November 2012.

There are 27 public sector banks in India with staff strength of about 8 lakh.

New Delhi, February 6
As bidding for the 2G spectrum continued from Rs 50,000 crore on the fourth day, bidding for the Delhi circle became hot with the bidding amount touching almost Rs 640 crore, up almost Rs 70 crore from the bid amount which ended yesterday.

As 28 rounds of bidding came to a close, it was apparent that mobile revenue in three cities — Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata —would drive the government revenue in the present round of spectrum auction. Delhi circle saw frantic activity today while Mumbai and Kolkata remained stagnant at yesterday’s pricing, indicating a lower interest from the operators in these circles.

With the more efficient 900 MHz spectrum, besides the 1,800 MHz spectrum, being offered in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the operators were wanting to garner the airwaves in this band and the main fight, it seems, has now filtered down to three telecom operators — Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone.

The provisional winning price per block for the 900 MHz band at the end of round 28 for Delhi telecom circle touched Rs 639.24 crore, up from Rs 574.08 crore yesterday. It was Rs 530.73 crore on Tuesday and Rs 428.92 crore on Monday.

Mumbai bid price did not see any change and remained stable at yesterday’s price of Rs 563.09 crore on Wednesday. It was Rs 552.05 crore on Tuesday and Rs 473.24 crore on Monday.

Kolkata wireless business bids also remained stagnant at Rs 192.71 crore.

BRIEFLY

PowerGrid Q3 net profit narrows to Rs 1,042 cr
New Delhi: PowerGrid Corporation on Thursday reported a decline in net profit at Rs 1,042 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, due to costlier borrowings. Total income from operations rose to Rs 3,684.55 crore from Rs 3,368.93 crore in the year-ago period. — PTI

Jet Airways’ shares gain nearly 11%
Mumbai: Shares of Jet Airways closed with nearly 11% gains today after Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways got the Competition Commission's approval to buy 50.1% stake in Jet Privilege Pvt Ltd, a customer loyalty programme unit of the Indian carrier. After surging 13.15% to Rs 239.15 in intra-day trade, Jet’s stock finally ended at Rs 234.45, up 10.93% on the BSE. — PTI

Engineers India FPO gets lukewarm response
New Delhi: The government's 10% share sale in Engineers India through follow-on-public offer (FPO) route received lukewarm response on the first day of issue on Thursday. The issue received bids for over 6.33 lakh shares, accounting for 0.02% of over 3.36 crore shares on offer till 1600 hrs on Thursday. — PTI

Syndicate Bank launches ‘Synd Disha’ scheme
Chandigarh: Syndicate Bank has launched a new term deposit scheme ‘Synd Disha’. Under the scheme, deposits will earn a 9.25% interest for 444 days tenure. An additional interest of 0.5% will be given to senior citizens. This scheme is open till March 6 and applicable to domestic NRE/NRO term deposits of 444 days for amount less than Rs 10 crore. — TNS

Sony sells VAIO; to cut 5,000 jobs globally
New York: In a move aimed at reinventing itself and cut losses, consumer electronics giant Sony on Thursday said it will sell its personal-computer business and cut 5,000 jobs to save $1 bn annually. — PTI