Business

Passenger car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) Tuesday announced merger of a diesel engine manufacturing company with itself and said it would focus on the diesel car segment to meet growing demand.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday asked banks to reduce non-performing assets (NPAs) for the financial health of the sector.

“I am happy that banks have taken up the challenge to reduce NPAs and made a record recovery against prudential write-off in the last quarter ending March 2012… I urge you to deploy various tools at your command for containing and rolling back NPAs in accordance with the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India,” Mukherjee said during a meeting here with chief executive officers of public sector banks and financial institutions.

India’s industrial output grew by a meagre 0.1 percent in April due to a contraction in capital goods and dip in manufacturing and mining sectors, government data showed Tuesday, underlining the need for a monetary stimulus to revive growth.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee voiced disappointment at the numbers and said there is a need to take measures.

“I am disappointed … we shall have to take some steps which signals positivism,” he said while addressing a meeting of chiefs of public sector banks.

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Tuesday gained as much as 194.79 points amid hopes of a rates cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on weak industrial output data in April.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,570.51 points closed at 16,862.80 points, up 1.17 percent or 194.79 points from its previous close of 16,668.01 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 16,897.42 points and a low of 16,553.47 in intra-day trade. The BSE midcap index rose 36.89 points while the smallcap index rose 17.74 points.

Expressing disappointment over dismal 0.1% industrial growth rate in April, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the government would take steps to give positive signals to the industry.

“I am disappointed. Industry has not yet picked up. Negative sentiments are there… We have to take steps to give positive signals (to the industry)”, he told reporters here.

Industrial production growth rate slowed down sharply to 0.1% in April from 5.3% a year ago, due to contraction in capital goods and dip in manufacturing output, reflecting the sluggish state of the economy.

Industrial production growth rate slowed down sharply to 0.1 per cent in April due to contraction in capital goods and dip in manufacturing output, reflecting the sluggish state of the economy that may prompt RBI to cut lending rates.

Growth in factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was 5.3 per cent in April last year.

The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, grew barely 0.1 per cent, as against 5.7 per cent in April 2011, according to the official data released on Tuesday.

Infotech Enterprises Limited, a leading global engineering services company, has signed an MoU with University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun. The MoU was signed in the presence of Chairman and Managing Director, Infotech Enterprises Limited BVR Mohan Reddy by President, Global HR and Corporate Affairs B Ashok Reddy, and the UPES Vice-Chancellor Dr Parag Diwan in a ceremony held at Manikonda facility of Infotech, here today.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Monday “necessary steps” are being taken to put India back on the growth path and the economy would turn around in fiscal 2012-13 that began April 1.

“I am expecting a turnaround in growth this year,” Mukherjee said, addressing the annual conference of chief commissioners and directors general of Income Tax here.

“We are taking all steps to increase GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth.”

The gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2012-13 is likely to be less than 6.5 percent, an industry body said Sunday adding that the government should announce implementation of another 50 large projects on an urgent basis.

“The poll results clearly indicate deteriorating business sentiments and expectations,” Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The BSE benchmark Sensex logged its best weekly gain of the calendar year by rising 754 points on fresh buying from operators and investors on hopes of interest rate cut by the apex bank, coupled with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s thrust on infrastructure sector.

Fresh capital inflows from foreign funds into the equity market and a stable rupee against the dollar also boosted the market sentiment.

“Hopes of a rate cut from RBI in the forthcoming meeting (June 18) led to good bounce back,” a broker said.

After the pension sector reform bill was put on the backburner following opposition from key UPA partner Trinamool Congress, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tonight said the Centre would discuss the matter with that party.

“We shall discuss this (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011) with TMC and its chief Mamata Banerjee. They have written wanting further discussion. So, let us discuss,” Mukherjee told reporters here with reference to a letter from Trinamool general secretary and Railway Minister Mukul Roy to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and to him yesterday.

China has pledged a $10 billion loan to support economic development in the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

A two-day meeting of the heads of the six member SCO concluded here Thursday. It comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The leaders called on the international community to work for peaceful co-existence and sustainable development.

President Hu Jintao has called for the establishment of a development bank, food security cooperation and trade and investment promotion, Global Times reported Friday.

Snapping a four-day gaining streak, a benchmark index for Indian equities markets was trading 0.52 percent down Friday afternoon due to profit booking in banking, consumer durables and automobile stocks.

The weakness of the rupee also affected market sentiments. It weakened by 21 paise to 55.15 against the dollar.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), was ruling at 16,562.57 points – 86.48 points or 0.52 percent down from its previous close at 16,649.05 points.

State Bank of India on Thursday slashed interest rates on fixed deposits in select maturities by 0.25 percent, a development that is likely to be followed by other banks.

The bank has decided to revise its retail term deposit interest rates with a reduction of 0.25 percent for tenors up to 240 days, State Bank of India (SBI) said in a statement.

After the revision, the interest rate on 7-179 days fixed deposit would come down to 7 percent from 7.25 percent.

Interest rate would be 7 percent for 180-day term deposit, down 0.25 percent.

Spurred by the government’s steps to push infrastructure development and an appreciating rupee, stocks rose for the fourth straight day on Thursday with BSE Sensex climbing 195 points to a one-month high of 16649 amid investors betting on fresh stimulus by global central banks.

After gaining 434 points yesterday, the 30-share index opened with a 100-point gain on strong Asian cues.

Battling a sharp dip in output at its showpiece gas field, Reliance Industries on Thursday announced plans to invest Rs 100,000 crore across energy, retail and telecom businesses in the next five years to double operating profit.

RIL aims to increase revenue from retail business by as much as six times in 3-4 years and is targeting a ten-fold increase in sales from its shale gas business in the US, Chairman Mukesh Ambani told company shareholders here on Thursday.

HCL Technologies Ltd today announced the opening of its Global Delivery Centre for business process outsourcing (BPO) services in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines.

This centre which will employ 400 professionals, expands HCL’s Integrated Global Delivery Model (IGDM) to create global delivery capability for its clients, the IT firm said in a statement here.

HCL will leverage Philippine’s time zone advantage to service a growing number of its global BPO customers in financial services, healthcare & pharma, MPE and other industries, the statement said.

Reliance Industries today announced investment of Rs 100,000 crore in core businesses of petrochem and oil and gas as well as in new sectors of retail and telecom, to double operating profits in 4-5 years.

Addressing company shareholders, RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said new projects in petrochemicals and refinery business would come online in the next 2 to 3 years.

Investments in refinery downstream would add 30-40 per cent to margins while retail business would be a significant and profitable business for RIL within 3 years, he said.

Seeking to dispel the impression of policy inaction, the government is likely to give a push to pension sector reform by approving changes in the proposed PFRDA Bill so that it can be taken up by Parliament for the passage in the Monsoon session next month.

The government may incorporate a proposal in the PFRDA Bill to ensure assured returns to pension fund subscribers, sources said, adding that this would be in line with the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance.

Funerals, betting and gambling have been exempted while almost all other services will be taxed from July 1.

Under the new Service Tax regime, only 17 services are in the negative list, which means they will not be subjected to tax.

The government has widened the definition of ‘Services’ to bring in more activities under the tax net. At present, 119 services that come under ‘positive list’ are levied.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said his government will remove all bottlenecks in the infrastructure sector and create an environment for investment to revive the India growth story.

“In these difficult times, we must do everything possible to revive business and investor sentiment,” Singh said, reviewing core infrastructure sectors like aviation, power, transport, shipping and coal with cabinet colleagues in charge of these portfolios.

Two months after hiking the freight, railways have increased the parcel and luggage rates by 25 percent on all goods with immediate effect, in a move that is expected to add to the inflationary situation.

With the action, the railways aims to mop up Rs 370 crore as additional revenue in the current fiscal. Railways have earned Rs 1600 crore from parcel and luggage in 2011-12.

A Chinese company will invest up to $3 billion to develop resorts in Russia’s North Caucasus region.

“Our counterparts visited the Dagestan republic and cities of Derbent, Sochi, and Arkhyz, and we have signed a nearly $3 billion investment agreement,” Akhmed Bilanov, head of Northern Caucasus Resorts which operates the tourist cluster, said Tuesday.

Bilanov added that China’s Dalian Wanda Group Corporation may also invest in projects in the Moscow and St. Petersburg regions.

Department of Science & Technology, Government of India and Andhra Pradesh State Council of Science & Technology (APCOST) has made all necessary arrangements, through out the state, for safe viewing of the fabulous event of Venus Transit tomorrow. Transits of Venus across the disk of the Sun are among the rarest of planetary alignments, an official release said here today. Indeed, only seven such events occurred since the invention of the telescope and till the beginning of the 21st century (1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and 2004).

US stocks gained Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average snapping a four-day losing streak, as investors felt heartened after a better-than-expected service report.

When the market closed, the Dow Jones industrial average added 26.49 points, or 0.22 percent, to 12,127.95. The Standard & Poor’s 500 added 7.32 points, or 0.57 percent, to 1,285.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 18.10 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,778.11.