India is set to raise about $260 million from a sale of 5 per cent stake in Power Finance Corp Ltd, after the share auction received bids for more than twice the number on offer.
New Delhi was selling about 66 million shares in Power Finance as part of a target to raise as much as $11 billion from divestment of its stakes in state-run companies this fiscal year.
The sale was subscribed more than 2.3 times, according to stock exchange data. At the indicative price of Rs 254.30 per share, the sale would fetch the government Rs 16.78 billion ($261.24 million). Retail investors will get a 5 per cent discount to the cut-off price.
The proceeds from the asset sale programme are critical for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's plan to narrow the fiscal deficit to 3.9 per cent of gross domestic product in the 2015-16 fiscal year that began in April.
The government has missed its divestment target for the last five years in a row.

#TheChosenOnes, a first-of-its-kind customer experience campaign conducted by Tata Motors, saw 20 lucky respondents visiting the award-winning manufacturing facility at Sanand, Gujarat, to watch their GenX Nano roll out from the assembly line.
The two-day event commenced with #TheChosenOnes arriving with their families and friends at the Ahmedabad airport on July 6, 2015, and checking in to Novotel hotel, where they were welcomed with a special evening of entertainment, along with a surprise host -- VJ Jose of MTV fame. Ice-breaking activities, a musical surprise in the form of Taal Inc., and followed by a sumptuous dinner buffet, was the first day's activity list.
On day 2 #TheChosenOnes were taken to the Tata Motors manufacturing facility at Sanand where after a quick welcome note by TaMo officials they were taken on a tour of the plant, through the Press Shop, the paint shop and into the TCF, where the assembly of the GenX Nano takes place. Here they got to see how each and every part of the car is put together and the strict security checks.
Next stop, the roll-out area, was where #TheChosenOnes got to see their very own car roll out for the first time. A key and birth certificate with the name of their choice for the car was then handed over to them.
A test drive later, followed by lunch, the car was theirs to take home, as well as an experience of a lifetime.

Infosys plans to set up a 7-MW solar plant at its Hyderabad campus.

The move is a step in achieving the goal set to meet the entire electricity needs through renewable sources in the next few years, the company said in a statement.

It also claimed that Infosys' Hyderabad campus is the first in India to have radiant cooled commercial building, with the biggest comparison of HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) system in the world.

"Daylight and vision panels in the buildings ensure that over 91 per cent of occupied spaces have natural light and all employees have access to views, adding to comfort and productivity," it added.

Appropriate water treatment technologies have been set up to treat the water coming from the sewage treatment plant thus making it suitable for the cooling tower requirements and  treated waste water is used for the entire cooling tower at the Hyderabad campus, the company said.

 

 

Western and West Asian insurance specialists see Iran as an appealing $8 billion market in the wake of its nuclear deal with world powers, though uncertainty over when sanctions on Tehran will be lifted means they are treating the country with caution.

Eight out of 11 insurance and reinsurance specialists who responded to questions emailed by Reuters this week said Iran was an attractive or very attractive market, especially in the marine and energy sectors.

Responses were on an anonymous basis due to the sensitivity of the issue.

While several said they expected to have entered the Iranian market by the end of 2016, others said it was hard to say due to ongoing concerns about how and when sanctions might be repealed.

Under the accord reached in Vienna on July 14, Iran will be subject to longer-term curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the removal of US, UN and European Union sanctions.

The Enforcement Directorate, probing the money trail of multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam, would issue the seventh attachment order within 10 days, an official of the agency said.             

The Reserve Bank is likely to maintain a status quo on rates in its third bi-monthly policy meet on August 4, taking into account 'poor rains' and will go for a 50 basis points rate cut in early 2016, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report said on Monday.
The global financial services major said it is important that the Western and Southern India that grows oilseeds, pulses and raw cotton gets monsoon rains as this region is slipping into a drought even as overall rains have improved.
"We see cropping at risk if rains do not revive in the next two weeks," BofA-Ml said in a research note adding that 'poor rains pose a temporary inflation risk'.
BofA-ML noted that the Consumer Price Index-based retail inflation will fundamentally remain on the RBI's under-6 per cent target and the Wholesale Price Index-based inflation may persist in deflation till October.
"We continue to expect the RBI to pause on Tuesday, on poor rains and cut 50 basis points in early 2016.
"However, we expect Governor Raghuram Rajan to strike a dovish note to keep the door open for further rate cuts if inflation continues to be in control," the report added.

Facebook Inc plans to scale up its service to offer free basic Internet on mobile phones, an executive said, after introducing the application in 17 developing countries over the past year.   

French auto major Renault on Monday signed Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor as its brand ambassador to promote its range of vehicles in India, including the upcoming entry level small car Kwid.

Renault is celebrating its fourth year anniversary in India this July and is progressing towards a new and dynamic phase of growth in India.

This association will leverage the versatility and legacy of both Renault and Kapoor, Renault India said.

The partnership is timed with Renault's next phase of growth in India, as Renault is looking to significantly increase its presence pan India, it added.

"Together with its product offensive strategy that has been strategically planned to meet this objective, there is also a firm plan to aggressively expand the dealership footprint, and reach 280 sales and service outlets by the end of next year," the company said.

Shares of Reliance Industries on Monday fell by over 1 per cent on profit-taking amid an overall weak broader market even as the company reported highest quarterly profit in seven-and-a-half years on strong refining and petrochemical margins.

The stock opened the day on a positive note but later fell by 1.24 per cent to Rs 1,012.25 on BSE.

At the NSE, shares of the company were down 1.31 per cent to Rs 1,011.55.

On Friday, RIL had reported a standalone net profit of Rs 6,318 crore (Rs 63.18 billion) or Rs 19.5 per share in April-June quarter, which was 11.8 per cent higher than Rs 5,649 crore (Rs 56.49 billion) or Rs 17.5 a share in the same period a year ago.

 

The government will consult the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) before taking a decision on the formation of a proposed interest rate-setting panel, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told Reuters on Monday.  

The first trailer for documentary Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine has arrived.

Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, the documentary highlights the life of the late Apple co-founder, reported Ace Showbiz.

Combining old footage and new interviews, the movie centres on Jobs' private and personal life and how he became a brilliant technology maker.

The trailer opens with Jobs wearing his iconic turtle neck top with a pair of blue jeans in an expo.

"Thank you for coming. We're gonna make some histories together today," Jobs said.

Not only Jobs' wonderful career, the documentary also exposes his dark side.

"His stuff was beloved, but it wasn't that he was beloved," someone says in voiceover.

Produced by Gibney and Viva Van Loock, the movie is slated to hit theaters on September 4.

Retirement fund body EPFO has decided to invest around Rs 410 crore (Rs 4.1 billion) in exchange trade funds every month during the current fiscal.

"EPFO can invest around Rs 410 crore in exchange traded fund every month during this fiscal.

The body has planned to invest 5 per cent of its incremental deposits every month," a senior EPFO official told PTI.

In the present scenario, the EPFO has received an average monthly incremental deposits of Rs 8,200 crore (82 billion) during this financial year so far.

Thus, 5 per cent of incremental deposits comes to around Rs 410 crore (Rs 4.1 billion).

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's apex decision making body the Central Board of Trustees' headed by the Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya had decided in March to start investments in stock market.

However, it was assured to the trustees in the meeting that being cautious about the volatile nature of stock market and with no prior experience of such investments, EPFO will start with investing in ETF during the current fiscal.

The government will not react in a "knee-jerk" manner on a report by a special investigations team that suggested greater oversight of money laundering in stocks, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday.