* AUTOMOBILE: Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 12,622 vehicles in December, down 12.2% on year.
* AVIATION: Directorate General of Civil Aviation may hire flight operations inspectors on a contractual basis to stave off a threat of downgrade by Federal Aviation Administration.
* BANKS: Have proposed a reduction in the number of free ATM transaction a month to five - irrespective of whether you are transacting at your own bank or not.
* COAL: Ministry of Coal has issued notice to Sakhigopal Integrated Power Co for slow progress in developing the Bankhead block. Ministry will approach the Cabinet Committee on Investment to speed up development of blocks where no cases are pending.
* DEFENCE: The Ministry of Defence has scrapped the 36-bln-rupee helicopter deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland.
* ENERGY: The government has hiked the price of non-subsidised cooking gas by 220 rupees per cylinder. Comptroller and Auditor General of India will audit the three power distribution companies in Delhi starting Jan 1, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said. Dubai-based Coal & Oil Group, building a 1,200-MW thermal plant in Tamil Nadu, will invest about 100 bln rupees to increase the capacity to 2,800 MW.
- A consortium of Gujarat State Petroleum Corp, HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORP and OIL INDIA has decided to relinquish two of its exploration blocks in Egypt , citing viability issues. Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corp will hike employee salary, which will cost the company 2.52 bln rupees every year.
- Power ministry will float a Cabinet note on the proposal to disintegrate power supply from distribution network by the end of the month. Asian Development Bank's private sector operations department plans to extend a loan of $80 mln to BSES Rajdhani Power.
* EXPORT: The government will allow shipments of dimethylamine hydrochloride, sodium cyanide and sodium fluoride chemicals provided exporters give proper
details of the deal.
* FINANCE: Employees Provident Fund Organisation plans to implement a unique number for provident fund holders in the next 4-5 months.
* GOVERNMENT: The government has urged Odisha government to make it mandatory for the state-level public sector undertakings to procure at least 20% of their product and service needs from small and medium enterprises.
* GOVERNMENT: President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill.
* HOSPITALITY: US-based Westin hotels will enter the Kolkata market by mid-2015.
* INVESTMENT: US-based private equity major Advent International is in talks with Hyderabad-based Laurus Labs to buy a stake in it. Essel Finance plans to float a Shariah fund for foreign investors in real estate with a $100 mln corpus.
- Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has indicated further liberalisation of the FDI policy in the coming weeks. The government may push state run-firms to buy stakes in each other, in order to revive its floundering disinvestment programme.
* INSURANCE: Bajaj Allianz hopes to close the current financial year with around 6 bln rupee profit and a premium income of over 47 bln rupees.
* MINING: Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee is readying to put on auction an additional 4-5 mln tn of iron ore dumps. The MB Shah Inquiry Commission has estimated the size of illegal iron ore mining in Odisha at 600 bln rupees.
* PHARMA: Ahmedabad-based online pharmacy store drugneed.com is aiming to raise close to $3 mln-$4 mln from private equity funds for future expansion plans. Government is considering a proposal to amend Drugs and Cosmetics Act's rule 122 (E) to include products with new drug delivery systems under the "new drug" category.
* POWER: After Delhi , Maharashtra government also plans to reduce electricity charges, and has set up a committee to to look into the issue. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has formally opened a case against Adani Group's power assets for alleged over-valuation of capital equipment for power projects.
* REAL ESTATE: Xander Group may be close to clinching a deal with a Bengaluru-based developer for acquiring a significant stake in a commercial retail space being developed on the Bannerghatta Road for close to 4.5 bln rupees.
* REGULATORS: RBI said that NBFC and microfinance institutions may assign zero risk weight for the portion of loan which is guaranteed by the Credit Risk Guarantee Fund Trust for low income housing. RBI has granted status of a qualified central counterparty to Clearing Corp of India in the Indian jurisdiction.
* STEEL: Domestic producers have raised prices by up to 1,500 rupees a tn to offset rising input costs and higher freight charges. Posco India 's mega steel project in Odisha has received a crucial revalidation of its environmental clearance for the plant.
* TECHNOLOGY: SriCity, an integrated business park, is planning to raise $30 mln from private equity investors, and plans to invest 2.5-3.0 bln rupees every year on infrastructure development.
* TELECOM: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India says complaints against pesky messages down to 11,000 per month now. TRAI Secretary Rajeev Agrawal said that telecom department hasn't accepted the sector regulator's recommendations on implementing full mobile number portability.
- Telecom department may lower spectrum usage fee for telecom operators to 3% of the annual revenues to end the stalemate over introducing a uniform spectrum usage charge regime.
* TRANSPORT: The ministry of urban development sanctioned 1,080 buses to 7 states under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.
* AVIATION: Directorate General of Civil Aviation may hire flight operations inspectors on a contractual basis to stave off a threat of downgrade by Federal Aviation Administration.
* BANKS: Have proposed a reduction in the number of free ATM transaction a month to five - irrespective of whether you are transacting at your own bank or not.
* COAL: Ministry of Coal has issued notice to Sakhigopal Integrated Power Co for slow progress in developing the Bankhead block. Ministry will approach the Cabinet Committee on Investment to speed up development of blocks where no cases are pending.
* DEFENCE: The Ministry of Defence has scrapped the 36-bln-rupee helicopter deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland.
* ENERGY: The government has hiked the price of non-subsidised cooking gas by 220 rupees per cylinder. Comptroller and Auditor General of India will audit the three power distribution companies in Delhi starting Jan 1, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said. Dubai-based Coal & Oil Group, building a 1,200-MW thermal plant in Tamil Nadu, will invest about 100 bln rupees to increase the capacity to 2,800 MW.
- A consortium of Gujarat State Petroleum Corp, HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORP and OIL INDIA has decided to relinquish two of its exploration blocks in Egypt , citing viability issues. Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corp will hike employee salary, which will cost the company 2.52 bln rupees every year.
- Power ministry will float a Cabinet note on the proposal to disintegrate power supply from distribution network by the end of the month. Asian Development Bank's private sector operations department plans to extend a loan of $80 mln to BSES Rajdhani Power.
* EXPORT: The government will allow shipments of dimethylamine hydrochloride, sodium cyanide and sodium fluoride chemicals provided exporters give proper
details of the deal.
* FINANCE: Employees Provident Fund Organisation plans to implement a unique number for provident fund holders in the next 4-5 months.
* GOVERNMENT: The government has urged Odisha government to make it mandatory for the state-level public sector undertakings to procure at least 20% of their product and service needs from small and medium enterprises.
* GOVERNMENT: President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill.
* HOSPITALITY: US-based Westin hotels will enter the Kolkata market by mid-2015.
* INVESTMENT: US-based private equity major Advent International is in talks with Hyderabad-based Laurus Labs to buy a stake in it. Essel Finance plans to float a Shariah fund for foreign investors in real estate with a $100 mln corpus.
- Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has indicated further liberalisation of the FDI policy in the coming weeks. The government may push state run-firms to buy stakes in each other, in order to revive its floundering disinvestment programme.
* INSURANCE: Bajaj Allianz hopes to close the current financial year with around 6 bln rupee profit and a premium income of over 47 bln rupees.
* MINING: Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee is readying to put on auction an additional 4-5 mln tn of iron ore dumps. The MB Shah Inquiry Commission has estimated the size of illegal iron ore mining in Odisha at 600 bln rupees.
* PHARMA: Ahmedabad-based online pharmacy store drugneed.com is aiming to raise close to $3 mln-$4 mln from private equity funds for future expansion plans. Government is considering a proposal to amend Drugs and Cosmetics Act's rule 122 (E) to include products with new drug delivery systems under the "new drug" category.
* POWER: After Delhi , Maharashtra government also plans to reduce electricity charges, and has set up a committee to to look into the issue. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has formally opened a case against Adani Group's power assets for alleged over-valuation of capital equipment for power projects.
* REAL ESTATE: Xander Group may be close to clinching a deal with a Bengaluru-based developer for acquiring a significant stake in a commercial retail space being developed on the Bannerghatta Road for close to 4.5 bln rupees.
* REGULATORS: RBI said that NBFC and microfinance institutions may assign zero risk weight for the portion of loan which is guaranteed by the Credit Risk Guarantee Fund Trust for low income housing. RBI has granted status of a qualified central counterparty to Clearing Corp of India in the Indian jurisdiction.
* STEEL: Domestic producers have raised prices by up to 1,500 rupees a tn to offset rising input costs and higher freight charges. Posco India 's mega steel project in Odisha has received a crucial revalidation of its environmental clearance for the plant.
* TECHNOLOGY: SriCity, an integrated business park, is planning to raise $30 mln from private equity investors, and plans to invest 2.5-3.0 bln rupees every year on infrastructure development.
* TELECOM: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India says complaints against pesky messages down to 11,000 per month now. TRAI Secretary Rajeev Agrawal said that telecom department hasn't accepted the sector regulator's recommendations on implementing full mobile number portability.
- Telecom department may lower spectrum usage fee for telecom operators to 3% of the annual revenues to end the stalemate over introducing a uniform spectrum usage charge regime.
* TRANSPORT: The ministry of urban development sanctioned 1,080 buses to 7 states under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.
