Corporate Announcement

State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd lowered borrowing costs on Tuesday and more banks looked set to follow suit, heeding a call by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan. Earlier on Tuesday, RBI, in its monetary policy review, kept the policy rate unchanged at 7.5%, but mentioned that it was still waiting for its two interest rate cuts this year, by 0.25 percentage points each in January and March, to be passed on by banks to their clients.

The government plans to offer subsidy of up to 50 per cent of the capital expenditure or Rs 1 lakh per seat, whichever is lower, for setting up business process outsourcing (BPO) units in small towns and villages.

India's wheat production in the 2015-16 crop marketing season that started from April might fall four to five per cent from the initial estimate of 95.76 million tonnes (mt) because of unseasonal rain, which also means the country might have to dig into its reserves to meet domestic consumption. "According to initial reports, received from various states after unseasonal rains... the estimates show wheat production could drop by four to five per cent this year,"Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said, while addressing a conference on kharif crops here.

The Union government has finally approved the setting up of a regulator to protect home buyers and improve the credibility of the real estate sector in a move towards ridding India of the tag of being one of the world's least transparent property markets. The cabinet on Tuesday approved the amendments to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) bill, 2013, to create a uniform regulatory mechanism across the country.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved two significant foreign investments in the pharmaceutical sector, leading to investment worth Rs 4,187 crore in Aurobindo Pharma and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

A new estimate of the last major oil and gas discovery made by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in the D6 block off the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin pegs the reserves lower. The best-case reserve estimate of MJ1 discovery is 1.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to Niko Resources Ltd, a partner of RIL in the D6 block.

Supreme Infrastructure India today said it has bagged a Rs 2.1 bn contract from National Highways Authority of India for widening a road in Punjab.

VRL Logistics is coming out with an IPO which will give a partial exit to private equity investor New Silk Route, and help it pay off some debt and buy additional fleet. The compmany will raise Rs 1.2Bn through a fresh issue of shares, besides an offer-for-sale by New Silk Route and promoters for over 17.1mn shares, which will garner Rs 3.5Bn. It has fixed a price band of Rs 195-Rs 205/ share.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has announced that its US subsidiary, Promius Pharma has announced filing of three NDAs - New Drug Application (NDAs differ from regular ANDA filings - as it involves some clinical trials to modify the existing generic drug). The three filings relate to therapeutic areas of psoriasis, rosacea, migraine. They are also the first set of NDA filings from the large basket of products which DRL is working on.

The government has fixed the floor price for the proposed 5% stake sale in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) at Rs. 315 per share. Retail investors will get a 5% discount. 

Madras HC dismissed petitions filed by a Chinese consortium challenging evaluation of tenders for Tamil Nadu Govt power projects. The order was given to BHEL.

 

Oracle Corp In Talks With Indian Govt To Invest In Digital India. Drive See Opportunities In Smart Cities, Policy Management & Data Warehousing Eyeing Acquisitions Amongst Cloud & Digital Cos In India.

 

Coal India & NTPC have agreed to end their dispute on coal sampling, an outcome that could be related to having a common minister for power and coal. 

Aurobindo Pharma board Approves QIB to infuse equity upto 7% (Rs. 2165 Cr) in company.

 

Spicejet withdrew from the Delhi HC saying it has arrived at a settlement with the foreign entity

 

HDFC Bank Cuts Lending Rate By 15 bps To 9.85% Effective April 13.

 

Ceat Tyre plans to raise Rs. 250 - 300 Cr and mandated Kotak Investment Banking as advisor.

 

ICICI Bank cut base rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 9.75 percent. The revised base rate will come into effect from April 10. The current base rate is 10 percent.

 

Cabinet approves Real Estate Regulator Bill (DLF, Unitech, HDIL, Indiabulls Real etc in focus)

 

NTPC is planning to acquire a plant with up to 4,000 MW capacity for about Rs. 20,000 Cr.

 

ING Vysya Bank Shares Shall Be Suspended w.e.f April 16

 

GMR Infra rights issue closes today.