Daily News Roundup - Oct 29 2009

Tata Steel and Australia’s Riversdale Mining have approved the development of a US$270 mn coal mine in Mozambique with first production scheduled in next year (ET)
India Cements is set to acquire a coal mine in Indonesia for around US$20mn. (BS)
BHEL has bagged an export order worth Rs 2.1bn for a 126mw gas turbine generating unit from the Sultanate of Oman (ET)
NTPC is likely to sign gas sales and purchase agreement (GSPA) with RIL for the supply of two mmscmd of gas needed for its Northbased power projects such as Anta, Auraiya, Faridabad and Dadri in December (ET)
M&M has unveiled a brand new light commercial vehicle "Gio" and priced it at Rs1.65lakhs (ET)
SpiceJet may raise upto US$50 mn through sell of shares to fund expansion and start international flights (ET)
HCL Infosystems will have to give up two large IT contracts worth over Rs 17bn to BSNL (ET)
SAIL has obtained a 20-year iron ore mining licence in Chhattisgarh (ET)
BOC India to invest Rs6bn in setting up an air separation unit (ASU) at Tata Steel’s plant in Jamshedpur. (BS)
Sasken Communication Technologies has acquired the product portfolio, some customer contracts and certain assets of the US-based Ingenient Technologies Inc. (BL)
NTPC may import coal directly next fiscal. (BL)
Intel is in talks with leading Indian telecom companies like Tata Communications, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications for minority stake that could bid for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum to be auctioned by the government in January 2010. (BS)
US drug major Pfizer is likely to buy the biotech business of Wockhardt for a hefty premium of Rs1bn (ET)
EMAMI Group, has forayed into homoeopathy sector by acquiring Kolkata-based M Bhattacharyya & Co Private, one of the country’s earliest homeopathy companies (ET)
Creditors have asked the promoters of beleaguered Vishal Retail to tap investors to expand the equity capital. (BS)
Madras Cement has decided to go slow on its proposed investment in a sugar mill and is likely to bring in a partner. (BL)
Subir Gokarn, a chief economist of Standard & Poor’s has been appointed as the new deputy governor of the RBI (ET)
The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is seeking approval to implement a finance ministry order to invest up to 15% of the fund in equity. (BS)
Core sector growth in September dipped to 4%.(BS)
Banks have approached RBI to allow loan write-offs to be treated as part of the 70% loan loss coverage mandated by the regulator. (BS)
The RBI is inclined to encourage takeover of weak/sick urban co-operative banks (UCBs) by domestic scheduled commercial banks (SCBs). (BL)
The Power Minister has said that India is exploring the option of leasing coal mines in Australia to tide over domestic coal shortages. (BL)
The government is likely to fix the benchmark sugarcane price for the 2009-10 season at about Rs 130 a quintal, the price which mills will be mandated to pay to farmers for buying it (ET)