New Delhi, March 28
The rupee hit an 8-month high today closing below the psychological barrier of 60 to the US dollar as the record showing of the Sensex for the fifth straight day and inflows of more than $3 billion in March alone in the stock markets boosted the Indian currency.

This was the biggest quarterly gain for the rupee since the September quarter of 2012. The Indian currency resumed higher at 60.18 per dollar as against the last closing level of 60.31 at the forex market and firmed up further to break the crucial 60-level to trade at 59.90 in late afternoon trade, a level last seen in July 2013.

Fuelled by the hope rally of a new government at the Centre, the BSE benchmark Sensex scaled a new high for the fifth straight day today but ended a little lower at 22,339 points, up 115 points, its fresh closing record.

The NSE Nifty also shot up by 54.15 points to a record closing high of 6,695.90, after hitting a life time high of 6,702.60 intra-day.

Naveen Mathur, associate director, Commodity & Currencies, Angel Broking, said the appreciation in the Indian rupee will continue till the election results are out.

Mathur said the rupee has appreciated strongly in the past few trading sessions, largely due to strong inflow of foreign funds into Indian equities on the back of positive sentiments both on economic front and anticipated political scenario.

Foreign inflows into Indian equities are around $3.29 billion for the month of March till date. Positive data on current account deficit along with fiscal deficit is one of the major factors boosting prospects for the Indian rupee. Selling of dollars by exporters and custodian banks is also acting as a positive factor for the domestic currency, Mathur said. While the appreciation of the rupee is good for the economy and sentiment, exporters are worried that it will dent their business.

Anupam Shah, chairman of EEPC India, said recently any further increase in rupee value against the US and other hard major currencies will further dent India's exports which had somehow managed to sail through the troubled global markets in the past 6-7 months, partly helped by the currency depreciation.

Shah said the rupee has traversed from being the worst performing currency among the emerging economies to the best performing one. However, in the bargain, the competitiveness of the Indian exports has been dented to the extent of 10% in the past seven months.

New Delhi, March 28
Reliance Industries (RIL) will continue to sell natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields at the current rate until the next government decides on a revision in prices.

Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily approved continuation of the existing rate of $4.2 per million British thermal unit until the new government, which will be in place in May, decides on implementation of the Rangarajan formula.

He deferred the new pricing regime, which would have almost doubled gas rates from April 1, following advice from the Election Commission, the Oil Ministry sources said.

The delay will not have a material bearing on 85% of the gas produced in the country as firms such as ONGC can continue sales at $4.2 per mmBtu on existing contracts.

However, new contracts needed to be signed for KG-D6 as RIL's current sales pacts expire at the end of the month.

Sources said RIL and buyers of its KG-D6 gas settled most issues on the new sales pacts after a meeting called by the Oil Ministry.

Urea plants had flagged about 10 issues, including duration of the contract and supplier liabilities, in the new Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) that RIL had proposed for the period starting April 1.

"Most of the issues have been resolved, barring one or two," a ministry official said.

RIL agreed to a five-year validity for the new GSPA, like the current one. It previously offered three-month contracts in line with the new gas pricing policy, where rates would have changed quarterly, based on average international hub prices and the cost of imported LNG in the preceding 12 months with a lag of one quarter.

This had been opposed by the 16 fertiliser units that buy KG-D6 gas.

To continue supplies from April 1, RIL has forwarded a simplified GSPA term sheet to buyers that would be valid till it is replaced by the GSPA.

The key features of the GSPA term sheet include a clause allowing buyers to pay only for the quantity supplied. — PTI

New Delhi, March 28
The RBI’s decision to defer the implementation of Basel-III capital regulations by a year to March 2019 will give relief to banks, especially the nationalised banks, from issuing hybrid tier-I capital next fiscal, India Ratings said today.

Shares of state-run banks today surged in the range of 3% to nearly 5% after the RBI extended deadline for meeting Basel-III norms to March 2019.

"The RBI’s deferral of the Basel-III implementation deadline by a year has eased the pressure on banks to issue hybrid tier-I capital in FY15," the rating said in a report.

"This is a practical outcome of the current limited investor appetite for such instruments and we believe the new deadlines do not dilute the spirit of Basel-III," it said.

According to an earlier estimate by the RBI, banks, led by state-run lenders, need close to Rs 5 trillion in fresh capital, of which Rs 1.75 trillion will be in core capital, to meet the stringent norms under Basel III.

Broking house Prabhudas Lilladher said in a report RBI has relaxed Basel-III phasing by 1-year considering asset quality and profitability challenges of banks.

While eventual capital raising needs do not change, we estimate 45% reduction in FY15-16 capital raising for public sector banks due to RBI’s relaxation. This is a shot in the arm for PSU banks which were capital-constrained as significant book-value dilutions were being factored into valuations which could partially reverse.

Washington, March 28
The world's largest retailer Walmart has sued credit card giant Visa for more than $5 billion for conspiring with banks to fix fee that merchants pay for accepting Visa card payments.

In the suit filed this week in Arkansas, where Walmart is based, the retailer said Visa worked with some of the largest US banks "to illegally fix the interchange fee and inflate the network fee that Walmart and other merchants pay on Visa charge card transactions." It said Visa and the banks worked together to set rules that prevent retailers from protecting themselves against such fee.

Walmart said the banks agreed with Visa to establish one inflexible interchange rate regime, and suggested this prevents it from any ability to negotiate what would be a market rate.

"Visa has used its price-fixing schemes to establish, maintain and enhance its long-held market power," said Walmart in the suit.

The suit also accused Visa of issuing its cards with "inherently insecure" magnetic stripe technology, making it easy for thefts and fraud, and yet using its market power to shift the costs of fraud losses to merchants.

Walmart said even though it is the country's largest merchant, it could not just refuse to accept Visa cards, because that "would result in an unacceptable decrease in sales." Walmart said it had suffered "enormous damages" in excess of $5 billion between 2004 and 2012, the period covered in the suit. — AFP

New Delhi, March 28
Infosys today announced that its top decision-making body, the executive council, will be dissolved effective April 1, 2014.

Also, the firm appointed nine executive officers, which include executive chairman NR Narayana Murthy, CEO and managing director SD Shibulal, vice-chairman S Gopalakrishnan and CFO Rajiv Bansal.

In a regulatory filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Infosys said: "As reported previously by the company, executive council of the company will be dissolved effective April 1, 2014. Pursuant to this, effective April 1, 2014, the company will have nine executive officers." In January this year, India's second largest software services exporter had announced the move to dissolve its top decision-making body with effect from April 1.

The other Infosys officials who have been appointed as executive officers are Board Member Srinath Batni, newly appointed presidents Pravin Rao and BG Srinivas, chief risk officer and company secretary Parvatheesam K and group head (HR) Srikantan Moorthy, it added. — PTI

New Delhi, March 28
Ajay Shriram, chairman and senior managing director of DCM Shriram Ltd, has been elected president of CII for the year 2014-15. He succeeds S Gopalakrishnan.

DCM Shriram and the group has a turnover of Rs 5,700 crore. The business portfolio of the group comprises agri businesses, chloro vinyl businesses and value-added businesses. He is actively involved in various industry associations and educational bodies. He is the chairman of the governing body of Shri Ram College of Commerce and a trustee of SOS Children Villages of India.

Sumit Mazumder, vice-chairman and managing director of TIL Ltd, is president- designate of CII for the year 2014-15. 

BRIEFLY

BP, Niko seek arbitration over penalty for less output
New Delhi: British energy giant BP and Niko Resources of Canada have served arbitration notices on the government, joining partner Reliance Industries in the fight against the levy of penalties for KG-D6 gas production falling short of target. They filed separate arbitration notices earlier this week, a move that will help them benefit from revised natural gas prices in the next financial year. — PTI

NTPC’s solar plant in Odisha begins operations
New Delhi: NTPC said on Friday its 10 MW solar power plant in Odisha has started selling electricity. The power purchase agreement has already been signed with Damodar Valley Corporation for the plant. — PTI

Bharti Telecom hikes stake in Airtel to 43.72%
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Friday said Bharti Telecom has bought 57.14 lakh shares of the company for Rs 171.92 crore through various market transactions. Bharti Telecom stake in the company has now been raised to 43.72%, the company said. — PTI

Nokia, WWF launch mobile app for Earth Hour 2014
New Delhi: Nokia has joined hands with nature conservation body WWF India to launch WWF Renewables Market, an official app for Earth Hour this year to promote the use of renewable energy. Earth Hour, during which lights will be switched off for one hour tomorrow at 8:30 pm local time, is expected to see participation in over 7,000 cities and towns across 152 countries.— PTI

Nalagarh Industries Association office-bearers
Solan: Vinod Khurana, MD of Khurana Oleo Chemicals, was unanimously elected president of the Nalagarh Industries Association on Friday. Other office-bearers of the association are: BS Thakur general secretary; Rajnish Sharma treasurer; Harish Aggarwal main patron; Karanjeet Singh patron; and Anil Sharma press secretary. — TNS 

State Bank of Patiala opens 1,200th branch 
Chandigarh: The State Bank of Patiala (SBoP) opened its 1,200th branch at Model Town, Panipat, on Friday. It was inaugurated by SA Ramesh Rangan, managing director of the bank. Gurnam Singh, general manager (retail network), Chandigarh, was also present. This is the 225th branch of the bank in Haryana and 11th in Panipat district. — TNS