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INDIA INTELLIGENCE REPORT
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Foreign Direct Investment hike proposed for
the insurance sector Birlas
opt for out-of-court settlement:The Birlas have finally broken
their silence and appear to have extended the olive branch by
announcing that they are willing to go ahead with an out-of-court
settlement with Mr R.S. Lodha.
SEBI
amends ESOS
norms: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has
amended the Employee Stock Option Scheme (ESOS) and Employee Stock
Purchase Scheme (ESPS) guidelines to include provisions of mandatory
disclosures of employee compensation cost using fair value of
employee stock option and purchase schemes. Corporates
prefer bank deposits: Anticipating
a hardening of interest rates, corporates have begun unwinding their
Government securities holdings in a bid to avert losses. Sources
said most of these corporates had bought into these securities last
year as part of their treasury management Agro-chemical
firms pin hopes on exports:
If domestic sales get affected on poor rains, the companies could
look at the overseas markets.Officials of agro-chemical companies
say that the prospects for the current kharif sowing season appear
far from bright. Sowing has been affected in states of Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other northern states
due to lack of adequate monsoons. Tata
Steel makes profit:In spite
of experiencing what was a very difficult period for the steel
industry, given the spiraling input prices, Tata Iron & Steel
Company Ltd. (Tata Steel), has announced a significantly improved
performance for the quarter ended June 30, 2004 with a net profit of
Rs. 745.49 crores. ONGC,
Reliance in Business Week list: Eight Indian companies including
the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Reliance
Industries Limited (RIL) have found place for the first time in `The
Global 1000 List' of BusinessWeek in terms of market value. Infrastructure
perks up: The
infrastructure sector perked up in the first quarter of the current
fiscal at 5.4 per cent against 4.7 per cent over the same period
last year despite poor growth in the cement and steel sectors. The
improved performance was largely due to a steep 12.6 per cent rise
in the oil refinery sector. New
stock option norms: The
Securities and Exchange Board of India has amended its guidelines on
Employee Stock Option and Purchase Schemes (ESOP and ESPS) to
provide for mandatory disclosures, pricing and appointment of
merchant bankers. Housing
as priority sector advances:
The Reserve Bank of India today said banks can classify investments
in mortgage backed securities (MBS) under housing loans as priority
sector advances subject to certain conditions. HLL
beefs up corporate relations:
Amid reports of squeezing margins due to price wars, FMCG behemoth
Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL) has decided to focus on strengthening
corporate relations in Delhi for which it has given the charge to
Shubhabrata Bhattacharya.
Hyundai
aims high: Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) is confident of
achieving a production level of 2.5 lakh units a year in its
manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu in the current year. The
company is bullish on its growth and aims to become the top revenue
earner in the car segment by the end of the current calendar year. Tyco Global
to be acquired: The race to acquire the US-based Tyco Global Network is gaining
speed. While the Tata run-Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) has |