GAIL India to fund Rs 500 cr to its subsidiary

GAIL Gas today said its parent company GAIL India would give Rs 500 crore for funding its four ongoing city gas projects in the country. "The company came into existence with a seed capital of Rs 200 crore from GAIL India. We would get around Rs 500 crore over the next five year for our four ongoing city gas projects in Meerut, Dewas, Sonipat and Kota," GAIL Gas Chief Executive Officer M Ravindran told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here. He said: "Our debt requirement for these four projects would be close to Rs 180 crore. Since our parent company has cash surplus, we are not exploring the option of infusion of fresh equity for raising the money from the market." When asked that if it is a cash surplus company then why GAIL India raising money from the market, he replied, "Our parent company has been raising money for trunk pipelines projects which are obviously very capital intensive. This is not the case with city gas projects which require Rs 150-200 crore depending on the size and population of a city." About the progress of the four city gas projects, Ravindran said, "These four city gas projects are already on. We hope to start some supplies in the four cities during January to March next year." The four city gas projects in Meerut, Dewas, Sonipat and Kota were awarded to the company in June last year. Out of 220 city, where city gas projects would come up by 2020, the company is eyeing around 60 per cent of those (132 cities). The company is aiming at bagging 75 city gas projects by 2011 through competitive bidding process, Ravindran said

Govt invites bankers to manage NTPC stake sale

The government has invited proposals from merchant bankers to manage the government's proposed 5 percent stake sale in leading utility NTPC, which could fetch about $1.9 billion at current market prices. The proposals must be made by Dec. 3, the government said in an advertisement in the Economic Times newspaper. The invitation is also for a 10 percent stake sale in unlisted state power producer Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam.

No strong inflow measures now - PM adviser

India can absorb nearly $100 billion of dollars in capital inflows, nearly double for what is on track this year, before it needs to take strong restrictive measures, one of the prime minister's top advisers said on Tuesday. "At the moment I don't see any strong measures to control capital inflows," C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, told Reuters in an interview. "But if the flows become very strong, then we could take some action to restrict some of the inflows." "If it touches close to $100 billion, then that is the time when we really need to act. But at the moment I think that all the indications are that the total capital flows during the current year would be $57-$60 billion, and that is manageable." Any initial curbs would be on speculative funds in sectors such as real estate and borrowing abroad to spend at home. "I would really say that the restrictions may be imposed only on those capital flows which are considered to be speculative. added Rangarajan, one of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's closest advisers. Rangarajan's statement came after Brazil and Taiwan have taken steps to curb hot money inflows, and other governments are keeping a watchful eye on inflows, wary that they could fuel asset price bubbles. Economists have said the Indian government may need to impose restrictions on capital flows at some point to head off volatility in the stock and commodity markets.

Japanese major, JSW Steel plan mutual shareholding

Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Steel is collaborating with JFE Steel Corporation, the world's sixth biggest and Japan's second largest steelmaker, for a manufacturing and mutual shareholding agreement

IFCI plans to offload stake in 16 firms

IFCI, the Delhi-based non-banking finance company, plans to sale stake in 16 companies across the sectors, including, iron and steel, granite, hotels, food and electronics. Stake of these companies came to IFCI through project finance. In some cases, units were not offering buyback and we are offering this to public for recovering our investments, senior IFCI official said. It will sale stake in three hospitality companies, including Hotel Paraag in Bangalore (stake at 8.48 per cent), Mela Hotels in Ghaziabad (4.05 per cent). It plans to exit from Sun Granites Exports where it has 16.37 per cent. Banking analyst with an Indian broking house said the present signs of industrial and economic turnaround should help IFCI to get better valuation for its holdings.

DCB raises Rs 81 cr through QIP issue

Development Credit Bank (DCB) today said it raised Rs 81 crore by private placement of shares with qualified buyers. After the qualified institutional placement (QIP), the promoter group’s — Aga Khan Fund of Economic Development (AKFED) — holding in DCB came down to 23.11 per cent from 26.22 per cent earlier, Development Credit Bank said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Amrit Banaspati rises 20%

The stock gained 20 per cent upper limit of circuit filter closed at an all-time high of Rs 92.85 on hopes that the government might re-impose custom duty on edible oils. The food price index was up 14.55 per cent for the week ended November 7 according to official figures released on Thursday. The poor South West monsoon and floods in South India and Maharashtra in early October caused heavy damage to agriculture including oilseeds crop.