Business

Bangalore, September 08: Some 33 percent of South Africa’s coal exports are expected to go to India this year and the proportion may rise to 40 percent in 2010, a consultancy group said.

Dirk Fourie, Vice President at Wood Mackenzie Africa said that while South Africa is able to export as much as 72 million tonnes of coal this year, due to rail constraints, it might only be able to ship less than 65 million tonnes.

“Our forecast is that some 33 percent of that could go to India this year…next year it could be more, up to 40 percent,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.

London, September 07: Kraft Foods said it was determined to pursue Britain’s Cadbury, which soared in value after it snubbed a $16.7 billion bid from the U.S. group, reinforcing hopes of a broader-based pick-up in merger activity.

Analysts said North America’s biggest food group might have to raise its offer by up to 40 percent after shares in the world’s No.2 candy and chocolate maker increased by almost half on news of the approach, settling at just under 800 pence compared with Kraft’s 745 pence-per-share pitch.

Kolkata, September 07: The projects proposed by Infosys Technologies and Wipro in a township just outside the state capital has been scrapped, the West Bengal government informed the two IT majors on Monday.

The projects were to come up in the proposed IT township at Rajarhat near Salt Lake but had become controversial in recent weeks following allegations that land sharks had been involved in acquisition of plots there.

Mumbai, September 07: Nagarjuna Construction Co on Monday said it has concluded a qualified institutional placement (QIP) to raise Rs.367 crore.

The company has allotted 27.73 million equity shares of Rs.2 each at Rs.132.46, aggregating to Rs.367.35 crore to investors.

The QIP proceeds wil be utilised for squaring off short-term debt and new projects, said managing director A. Ranga Raju.

—Agencies

New Delhi, September 07: Dalda, the iconic Indian brand once synonymous with hydrogenated cooking mediums or “vanaspati ghee”, has been given a new identity and makeover after 75 years with its re-launch here as an edible oil with healthier proposition.

“Bunge understands that India and Indian consumers have changed significantly in the last few years,” said Adhiraj Sarin, managing director for India operations for the New York-based Bunge that acquired the Dalda brand in 2003.

New Delhi, September 07: Indonesia’s power expansion programmes offer Indian companies a good investment opportunity, according to Purnomo Yusgiantoro, the South-east Asian country’s energy and mineral resources minister.

Indonesia is set to launch 10,000 MW accelerated power expansion programme-its second-aimed at beefing up electricity generation from new and renewable energy sources, Yusgiantoro told a business meet here on Monday.

Bangalore, September 07: Networking major 3Com Corp has bagged an order from French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen to provide its new enterprise networking switches for local area network infrastructure, the company said on Monday.

“Our energy-efficient switches will help Citroen reduce network installation and usage costs by about 60 percent and improve performance for new applications,” said 3Com general manager Bernard Etchebarne in a statement.

—Agencies

New Delhi, September 07: The Halol plant of auto manufacturer General Motors India has won the prestigious National Safety Award in the motor vehicles category, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The annual award, instituted by the Directorate General of the Factory Advice Service and Labour Institute (DGFASLI) under the labour and employment ministry, aims to encourage accident prevention and safety promotion programmes.

—Agencies

Bangalore, September 07: A high-level Indonesian delegation, led by its energy and mineral resources minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, visited state-run Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) last week to assess its manufacturing capabilities for infrastructure development, especially in mining and construction sectors, the company said Monday.

BEML chairman and managing director V.R.S. Natarajan appraised the visiting delegation of the facilities, technologies and products for infrastructure development in Indonesia, the company said in a statement here.

—Agencies

Mumbai, September 07: Reserve Bank Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty on Monday allayed fears of excess liquidity in the banking system saying it was just ‘adequate’.

“In our view, it is adequate liquidity (in the financial system),” Chakrabarty said, when asked if there was excess liquidity as feared in certain quarters.

The apex bank will take necessary measures if it finds that the liquidity is excess in the system, Chakrabarty said while talking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

Mumbai, September 07: Key indices of the Indian equities markets, buoyed by renewed buying interest and stable markets elsewhere in Asia, closed at their highest levels in 15 months Monday.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 15,739.27 points, closed at 16,024.85 points (provisional), up 335.73 points or 2.14 percent higher than Friday’s close.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, hit a 15-month high to end at 4,787.55 points, up 2.29 percent.

Mumbai, September 07: Tata Steel Ltd, the world’s No. 8 steelmaker by output, said on Monday that August steel sales at its Indian operations rose 25 percent from a year earlier to 492,000 tonnes.

The local operations contribute about a quarter of the group’s total annual global capacity of 30 million tonnes, which includes Corus, Europe’s second-largest steelmaker.

The strong performance came on the back of an 81 percent jump in sales of long products, used in construction, from a year earlier.

Mumbai, September 07: The initial public offer of state-run Oil India on Monday got subscribed 91 percent within an hour of opening of the issue.

The OIL IPO, which is the second stake sale by a PSU company after NHPC last month, received bids for over 2.40 crore shares as against 2.64 crore shares on offer, as per data available on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The oil explorer is planning to raise up to Rs 4,982 crore through the IPO, which would close on September 11. OIL will be listed on the bourses on September 29.

London, September 07: Britain’s Cadbury, the world’s second biggest confectionery group, has rejected a USD 16.7 billion bid approach by Kraft Foods Inc but North America’s biggest food group still hopes it can clinch a deal.

Kraft said on Monday it had offered 300 pence in cash and 0.2589 new Kraft shares for each Cadbury share in the hope that it can create a “global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals” with combined revenues of about USD 50 billion.

Mumbai, September 07: India’s economic growth could slow to 6 percent from 6.3 percent in 2009/10 dragged by contraction in agricultural growth, Nomura said in a recent note.

The government expects Asia’s third largest economy to expand by 6.3 percent in the current fiscal year and the central bank sees it growing by 6 percent with an upward bias.

Nomura cut its 2009/10 agriculture gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 2.2 percent from 3.5 percent due to deficient monsoon rains.

New Delhi, September 07: Switzerland expects to conclude an agreement with India next year that would allow New Delhi to trace Indian tax evaders holding Swiss bank accounts, a report on Monday said.

India’s Congress-led government has been under Opposition pressure to get details of accounts held by Indian citizens in the country’s secretive banking system.

Switzerland’s Vice-President Doris Leuthard said she was confident a deal could be struck between the two governments.

“I think next year this new treaty can be accomplished,” she was quoted as saying by a news agency.

New Delhi, September 07: The second and third quarters of FY’10 are unlikely to see the economy expanding at the pace it did in April-June period, but that does not warrant a downward revision of growth forecast, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday.

The government estimates that the economy would grow by more than six percent this fiscal. While the first quarter growth was a healthy 6.1 percent, the numbers for the following two quarters are expected to be inadequate.

New Delhi, September 07: With the global “economic winter” being far from over, the UN body UNCTAD on Monday projected much lower growth of five percent for India in 2009 against official and RBI forecasts of above six percent in the current fiscal.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its Trade and Development Report,2009, expects Indian economy to expand by five percent in 2009.

Perth, September 07: Oil prices fell below USD 68 a barrel on Monday on concerns that high unemployment in the United States, the world’s top energy consumer, will weigh on demand.

But analysts said a weak US dollar, combined with a firm equities market, would help limit oil’s decline.

US crude for October delivery fell 46 cents to USD 67.56 a barrel by 2359 GMT. The contract settled 6 cents higher at USD 68.02 a barrel on Friday.

London Brent crude fell 39 cents to USD 66.43 a barrel.

London, September 07: Banks will have to set aside more profits as a cushion against hard times and face limits on how much debt they can run up under proposed new global rules agreed by top central bankers and regulators on Sunday.

The new framework for bank supervision and risk management follows a call by Group of 20 finance officials on Saturday to tackle bank capital requirements and make sure financial institutions insure themselves better against market upheavals and economic downturns.

Beijing, September 07: China’s top 500 companies outperformed their US counterparts for the first time last year, a survey conducted by a business group has revealed, as the financial crisis wreaked havoc in the United States.

Net profits at the nation’s highest-performing firms totalled USD 171 billion in 2008, compared to USD 99 billion for the US firms, according to the survey by the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC).

The business group has compiled a list of China’s top 500 companies, similar to the Fortune 500, since 2002.

Shanghai, September 07: General Electric Co (GE.N) is confident about winning contracts to supply engines to China’s big aircraft project, the company’s China chief said on Monday.

“The fact that we are on the first plane…gives us confidence. But the thing that gives me most confidence is that I am very sure of our aircraft engine product. I think we have the best product,” GE’s China President Mark Norbom told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry event.

–Agencies

New Delhi, September 07: As the clock strikes noon, the hungry murmur of the children at the government school in Frazer Town, Bangalore, is broken by the arrival of the blue pick-up truck. The kids chorus “Akshaya Patra” as large stainless steel vessels are unloaded from it and the call for lunch goes out. Most of these children are from families where a square meal is not guaranteed every day.

New Delhi, September 06: Gold prices are likely to hit a new high of Rs 17,000 per 10 grams in next the 2-3 weeks due to rising demand from investors and a weak US dollar, analysts said.

The price of the precious metal reached a seven-month high of Rs 15,780 per 10 grams in the domestic markets on September 3. On the same day, it also touched an almost seven-month high of $999.5 an ounce (28.34 grams) in the global markets.

New Delhi, September 06: Fearing opposition by employee unions, the government is considering listing telecom major BSNL on bourses by issuing nominal fresh shares and may shelve plans of directly divesting its equity for the time being.

Repeated attempts by the government and also management of the PSU have failed to bring the different associations to consensus on divesting government stake even as they (employees) have been lured with employees stock options at an attractive terms.