* BANKING: Banks' loan and deposit growth rose sharply in the fortnight ended Mar 22, but remained below the indicative RBI projection for 2012-13 (Apr-Mar). ICICI BANK, HDFC BANK and AXIS BANK could face regulatory penalty for lax internal governance.
* CAPITAL GOODS: Japan 's Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co plans to start procurement of manufacturing equipment and engineering functions in India in 2013.
* ECONOMY: A senior official of the India Meteorological Department has said there are no threatening signals for India 's 2013 southwest Monsoon as of now.
* ENERGY: Government is in the process of giving clearance to 12 coal blocks in the next one month. The oil ministry plans to allow existing operators to explore shale oil and gas in their own blocks. The government is setting up an Indian Energy Insurance Pool with a corpus of 20 bln rupees to provide insurance to domestic refineries that have been refused cover by European re-insurers for processing Iranian crude.
* FINANCE: Two of India 's biggest accounting firms--Haribhakti & Co and DB Desai & Co--have joined forces to create a company with 50 partners and 1,250-strong workforce.
* GEMS AND JEWELLERY: GITANJALI GEMS says gold demand in India has gone up in the last few months despite efforts by the government to curb demand.
* GOVERNMENT: Comptroller and Auditor General of India has come down heavily on Gujarat government and state public sector firms for causing a 5.8-bln-rupees loss to the exchequer after the state gave "undue" favours to some large corporate entities.
* MEDIA: Business Standard Ltd has is in talks with Delhi Press Group to sell its 17-year-old automobile magazine.
* PHARMA: The government is looking to expand the span of drug price regulation to 348 drugs included in the National List of Essential Medicines to improve access to cheaper medicines.
* PRIVATE EQUITY: American PE fund Carlyle Group will raise a fund in India and launch a non-banking finance company to catch up with rival firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
* REALTY: A consumer forum has ruled that parking space that comes with a flat cannot be sold by builders to a party that has not purchased the flat.Maharashtra government plans to hike stamp duty by 1% from Oct 1. The government is considering allowing foreign direct investment in low-cost housing projects, subject to a host of conditions, including lock in period and minimum capital requirement.A Maharashtra government undertaking has floated a tender inviting consultants to assist in a bid process for selecting real estate developers for Dharavi Redevelopment Project in Mumbai.
* RETAIL: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is likely to take up Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA's 105-bln-rupee investment proposal in the next 15 days.
* TRADE: Free-Trade Agreement with the European Union is likely to figure prominently in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's three-day visit to Berlin starting Apr 10. The Foreign Trade Policy may announce incentives of about 30 bln rupees, including an amnesty scheme for traders who have defaulted on their export obligations.
