At a meeting with prime minister’s principal secretary Pulok Chatterjee, private power sector honchos, including Anil Ambani of Reliance Power and Cyrus Mistry of Tata Power, demanded that the power sector be exempted from service tax by including it in the negative list.

A host of issues, including gas allocation for power projects, high coal prices and implementation of coal supply agreements by Coal India, were among the topics that came up for discussion, sources said.

The government last week ordered state-run Coal India Ltd. to import the fuel if needed to increase supplies to power companies after the industrialists urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to help ease shortages. Singh set up a panel headed by Pulok Chatterjee, the principal secretary at his office, to find solutions to problems faced by utilities, including the higher costs of importing coal.

China, India and Japan are planning cuts of at least 10 per cent in Iranian crude imports as tightening US tightening U.S. sanctions make it difficult for the top Asian buyers to keep doing business with the OPEC producer.

Saudi Arabia is the biggest oil supplier to India, the world’s fourth-biggest oil consumer, and is the only oil producer with significant spare capacity to replace any fall in supply from its regional rival Iran.

All the sources have direct knowledge of the matter but asked not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media. A BPCL spokesman declined to comment.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia offered additional barrels to India earlier this month after Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Riyadh could increase production by about 2 million barrels per day (bpd) almost immediately. reuters

Sealink has filed numerous other lawsuits against major banks over billions in residential mortgage-backed securities it bought. A summons was filed Tuesday by Sealink Funding Ltd, an Irish entity that oversees risky RMBS, in New York state Supreme Court.

Sealink claims the purchases were based on faulty offering materials, including misrepresentations of underwriting standards. It seeks damages or to have the purchases rescinded.

Commenting on the big strides on social development front, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi also said the literacy rate increased from 47.0 per cent in 2001 to 63.8 per cent in 2011, registering a growth of 16.8 per cent during the decade and this decadal raise is the highest among all the states.

Modi said in vegetable production, the state holds the top position in the country as the productivity of potato increased from 17,180 kg per hectare in 2008-09 to 18,410 kg.

The State Investment Promotion Board approved 603 project proposals till date which involves a total investment of more than Rs 48,000 crore and employment of 1.85 lakh persons.

Modi said the revenue surplus of Bihar government increased from Rs 2498 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 6272 crore in 2011-12 and the capital outlay increased systematically from Rs 5211 crore to Rs 11,447 crore during the same period.

When contacted, a company spokesperson said: “We have received overwhelming response for this project. The company got more applications from customers than the number of flats it offered.”

The proposed township – DLF Garden City - will be spread over sectors 86, 87, 90, 91 and 92 (new Gurgaon), and will comprise of group housing, commercial and plotted development.  The Garden City will have plotted development projects, namely The Primus, Regal Gardens and New Town Heights, besides housing a commercial complex — Galleria 91.

The Garden City will have plotted development projects, namely The Primus, Regal Gardens and New Town Heights, besides housing a commercial complex — Galleria 91.

When contacted, a company spokesperson said: “As of now, DLF has ongoing development of group housing colonies in over 100 acres at sectors 86, 90 and 91, and 3,200 apartments are under construction.”

Last week, DLF had said its net debt declined by Rs 169 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal to Rs 22,758 crore and it expects to raise about Rs 6,000 crore by March 2013 from sale of non-core assets for debt reduction.

To add to the ailing airlines’ woes, Finance Secretary R S Gujral told reporters that the bank accounts of Kingfisher Airlines remain frozen. The accounts were frozen by income tax authorities last week leaving the carrier with little cash and forcing it to cancel more than a hundred flights since Saturday.

Time seems to be running out for  Kingfisher after the DGCA pulled up the ailing carrier to come up with a realistic flight schedule saying it cannot compromise on safety. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has ruled out any bailout plans for KFA as it is a private carrier. I-T authorities had earlier frozen the airlines bank accounts.

Mincing no words in its Review of the Economy for 2011-12, the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council asked the government to rein in fiscal deficit, raise indirect taxes, cut diesel subsidies and check rising current account deficit to bring the economy back on a higher growth trajectory.

The diesel price was last hiked in June, 2011. However, the government had cut excise and customs duties to cushion the impact of the price rise, thus, sacrificing an annual revenue of Rs.38,000 crore.

Referring to inflation, which has remained at a higher level in 2011, he said it would moderate to 6.5 per cent by March-end and 5-6 per cent in the next fiscal. While the retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 7.65 per cent in January, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation was 6.55 per cent

Etisalat has 16.7-lakh subscriber across 15 circles.

DB Group was among a number of Indian companies with no telecom experience that bid for mobile licences and then sold stakes in their cellular ventures to foreign investors, including Etisalat and Norway’s Telenor, for hefty sums.

Raja, senior government officials and top executives of DB and other companies are among nearly 20 people facing charges over the scandal.

Etisalat paid $900 million for its stake in the Indian mobile operation, and said it invested a similar sum developing the venture. Etisalat DB was the 14th largest out of 15 players.

In 2007, Hershey invested $60 Mn in the JV for 51% stake by acquiring entire 40% stake of IL&FS, 5% from Godrej Industries’ 48% stake, and 6% from A Mahendran’s 12% stake.

The JV is valued between Rs 550 crore and Rs 600 crore, the i-bankers added. How much IL&FS pays is still being hammered out; those familiar with the transaction point out that the final sum will include a controlling premium and fresh funds for growth. \

About Godrej Hershey

Godrej Hershey (GHL) operates in Food and Beverages space. Formed in 2007, a Joint Venture (JV) between The Hershey Company (USA) and Godrej Group, GHL operates in multiple categories such as confectionery, beverages, and grocery items.
Nutrine Confectionery company, one of the leading players in confectionery market, was acquired by Godrej in 2006, and forms a key portfolio for Godrej Hershey today. The Nutrine portfolio has products like Maha Lacto, Maha Choco, Nutrine Eclairs, Nutrine Lollipop, Nutrine Santra Goli, Aasay, Kokanaka and Honeyfab in the hard candy, éclairs, toffee, lollipop and roll formats. The confectionery factory is located in Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh).

The Beverage portfolio consists of Jumpin (Fruit Drinks), Xs (Juices and Nectars) and Sofit (Soya Milk). Sofit is the market leader in the niche but fast growing soyamilk market. The Hershey Chocolate syrup was added to the beverages portfolio in 2008. The beverages factory is located in Mandideep (Madhya Pradesh), and is one of the largest tetrapak units in India.

India’s Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has raised about Rs 95.6 crore from 12 cornerstone investors, the company said, ahead of its initial public offering of shares that aims to raise as much as USD 134 million.

MCX, which will become the first Indian bourse to list its shares on an exchange, is offering about 6.4 million shares in the IPO in a price band of Rs 860 to Rs 1,032 a share. The public sale opens on Wednesday and will close on Friday. Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Citigroup (C.N) and India’s Edelweiss Capital (EDEL.NS) are the bookrunners for the share sale.

The anchor investors that bought shares in the pre-IPO sale include BlackRock Global Funds, Deutsche Securities, Kuwait Investment Authority Fund, Credit Suisse, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and Tata AIG Life Insurance, the filings showed.