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By Nora Chopra Union Defence Minister AK Antony is Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s new hatchet man. It seems Sonia Gandhi has found a replacement for Pranab Mukherjee.Antonyis all set to be the leader of Lok Sabha and can even be made deputy PM if Pranab-Da moves over to Rashtrapati...
NEW DELHI: With the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) talking tough on enforcing the 25 per cent shareholding deadline, companies facing the heat have started turning to the finance ministry for an extension. Senior finance ministry officials confirmed the development but strongly declined the possibility of extension...
NEW DELHI: Exports fell for the first time since the 2009 global financial crisis in March this year, as demand weakened in the US and Europe. Exports dropped 5.7 per cent to $28.6 billion from the same period a year earlier. Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar warned in January that...
HYDERABAD: In June 2008, when Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo acquired Ranbaxy Laboratories, Daiichi’s chief executive Takashi Shoda said, “Acquisitions are more attractive than alliances,” setting the stage for more Indian companies to be taken over by their powerful European and American counterparts. But, today, Big Pharma thinks otherwise. With...
MUMBAI: The government and Reserve Bank of India are working on changing rules to give corporates more leeway in repaying foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) that have turned into millstones in a dismal market. With stocks of many companies trading well below the conversion price, the authorities are revisiting...
NEW DELHI: India is speeding up its efforts to sign an agreement for importing gas through the US-backed $10-billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. At the same time, it is going slow on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) project that would have moved huge quantities of gas from the south Pars field...
NEW DELHI: Cairn India has sought government’s permission to sell crude oil to Reliance Industries’ refinery in the special economic zone (SEZ), putting the oil ministry in a fix because such supplies are regarded as deemed exports, which are forbidden by the production sharing contract. The oil ministry has...
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSPL) and three public sector oil companies — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) — have entered into joint venture agreements for setting up three cross-country natural gas transmission pipelines. According to a statement...
NEW DELHI: State-owned National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) plans to float an open tender for the additional gas capacities it requires to upgrade three plants, two officials independently said. Both the officials—one from the fertilizer ministry and the other from NFL—declined to be identified. NFL plans to float the tender...
MUMBAI: Bharat Oman Refineries, a company promoted by state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation with equity participation from Oman Oil Company, is raising $140 million (Rs 737 crore) of external commercial borrowing for its refinery project at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. BORL will raise the US-dollar term loan at an annual...
NEW DELHI: Oil marketing companies are losing Rs.518 crore per day on sale of diesel, kerosene and domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), government data showed Tuesday. Oil retailers are expected to lose Rs.13.91 on sale of each litre of diesel in the first fortnight of May, while under recoveries...
NEW DELHI: Indian government-run insurance companies have agreed to give limited cover to local ships for carrying Iranian oil, helping the energy-hungry country import reduced volumes from sanctions-hit Tehran from July, a Shipping Corp of India director said on Tuesday. “We have in writing from General Insurance Corp that...
KOLKATA: Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) has challenged in Calcutta High Court the arbitration process initiated abroad by its private promoter The Chatterjee Group. The company has filed a suit today seeking injunction on the arbitration case Purnendu Chatterjee is now pursuing at The International Court of Arbitration under the International...
CHENNAI: London-based oil marketing company Gulf Oil International Limited, part of the Hinduja Group, is planning to set up a lubricant plant in south India. The company has set its sights on Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for the proposed plant, which will attract an investment of around Rs...
ATLANTA/HOUSTON: Delta Air Lines Inc is bringing some jet-fuel production in house, breaking with US carriers’ reliance on outside providers, by acquiring a refinery that Phillips 66 had targeted for shutdown. The world’s second-biggest airline will pay $180 million for the complex in suburban Philadelphia, according to a statement...
PERTH: Australia has embarked on a major expansion and investment programme for putting in place massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure with around $170 billion worth of current and new projects taking shape. Already the fourth largest exporter of LNG in the world, Australia is the third largest LNG...
MUMBAI: Considering the growing need for imports due to constraints in the availability of domestic coal, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), in an advisory, has told all power-generating companies, power project developers and power equipment manufacturers that boilers, including auxiliaries, should be designed for a 30:70 blend ratio, in...
NEW DELHI: Government issued show-cause notices to 10 firms, including Reliance Power’s Sasan, Tata Power, Hindalco and Grasim Industries asking reasons for delay in developing coal blocks and warned that the same may be cancelled if explanation is not given in 20 days. “You are called upon to show...