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Rupee hits six month low against dollar

Mumbai, March 07: Continuing its weakness after a brief pause, the Indian Rupee hit a nearly six-month low of 40.52/53 against the greenback on Friday on good dollar demand from banks and oil companies amidst the softening of US currency and sluggish stock markets.

The Indian unit has not seen this level since September 17, 2007 after resuming weak at 40.37/39 a dollar compared to its last close of 40.29/30 a dollar. Earlier last month, the rupee had breached the 40-mark level against the dollar for the first time in five months.

The domestic currency has depreciated after gaining by about eight paise in the last two sessions.

Forex dealers said banks and oil refiners bought dollars even as Asian stocks fell to their recent lows after global oil prices held near record highs keeping overall pressure on dollar.

Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark Sensex tumbled by more than 560 points, or 3.42 per cent while Asian indices dipped by about 1.0 to 3.0 per cent in early trade.

Govt to release Rs 2,615 cr for subsidised loans to farmers

New Delhi, March 07: The government will release Rs 2,615 crore to state-owned banks and other financial entities to ensure that farmers get short term crop loans at subsidized rate of seven per cent during 2007-08.

The decision, taken at the union cabinet meeting today, would benefit farmers who avail short term crop loans up to Rs three lakh, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi told reporters here.

The amount, to be released to PSU banks, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Banks and NABARD, would be used to refinance to RRBS and Cooperative Banks at concessional rates so that farmers get short-term loans at seven per cent.

The Centre gives two per cent subvention in this regard.

The cabinet also gave approval to release of 50 per cent share of union government at Rs 50 lakh, for establishing a regional rural bank in the Union Territory of Puducherry, to be sponsored by Indian Bank.

The issued capital of the RRB would be Rs 1 crore.

Punj Lloyd-led consortium bags $500 mn project in Malaysia

Mumbai, March 07: A consortium led by engineering construction company Punj Lloyd has bagged a nearly USD 500 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) Sabah Sarawak gas pipeline project in Malaysia.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange Punj Lloyd said, the project was awarded by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of PETRONAS, the state oil and gas major in Malaysia.

The scope of work involves engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of an onshore natural gas pipeline from the proposed Sabah oil and gas terminal in Kimanis, Sabah to Petronas liquefied natural gas complex in Bintulu, Sarawak state and associated facilities.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 304.15, down 7.06 percent on the BSE.

Reliance eyes Rs 15,000 cr from electronics biz

New Delhi, March 07: Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Retail is open to partnering international players in case FDI is allowed in durables and electronics segment, from where it eyes business worth over Rs 15,000 crore in 3-4 years.

"If the government allows FDI in consumer durables and electronics sector, we will closely study and evaluate options to tie-up with foreign players to strengthen our position in the market," Reliance Retail Consumer Durable IT and Telecom (CDIT) President and Chief Executive Ajay Baijal told reporters.

The pre-Budget Economic survey had mooted allowing 100 per cent FDI in specialised retail chains like luxury brands, consumer durables and semi-durables, besides allowing a share for foreign equity in all retail trade.

Baijal said such partnerships would be viable as the international players possess expertise because of their global presence, while Reliance enjoys a strong brand name in the country.

The company is targeting to capture about 10-15 per cent of the estimated Rs 65,000-70,000 crore electronic goods market. "The segment is growing at around 20-25 per cent annually, and we would be happy if we have a market share of about 10-15 per cent in the next 3-4 years," he said.

At this rate of growth, Reliance Retail could be touching a turnover of Rs 15,348 crore in the next three years.

"It would be very easy for international players like Sony, LG and Samsung to perform here (India) as they have global linkages. In case of a partnership, the international company can bring in expertise like assortment planning, customer handling and supply chain, while Reliance has a wide retail presence, brand value and customer connect," he said.

GSS America sees 950 mn rupees profit

Mumbai, March 07: Software services firm GSS America Infotech Ltd expects to post a net profit of 950 million rupees on a revenue of 5 billion rupees, a senior official said immediately after its listing.

The share debuted NSE 5 percent lower than the issue price at 380 rupees on NSE on Friday. The stock opened at the issue price of 400 rupees on BSE, according to the exchange`s Web site.

"Not including inorganic growth, we are looking at 5 billion rupees of topline," Bhargav Marepally, managing director and chief executive officer said on the channel.

GSS America raised 1.4 billion rupees from sale of 3.5 million shares in February, which is 25.11 percent of the company`s post-issue capital.

The company, which offers IT infrastructure service, plans to use the funds in setting up a delivery centre in Hyderabad, offices overseas besides buyouts.

"I do not want say we are recession-proof, but again IT infrastructure management forms the backbone of most of the organisations", Marepally told the channel, in reference to its large dependence on the U.S. market.

"Presently, our Dubai and Singapore offices are... catching up... There are a couple of deals in the pipeline," he said.

The company, which is also looking at acquisitions, touched a high of 479.90 rupees on the BSE and were trading at 428.50 rupees, 7.06 percent higher than its issue price.

Lists at Rs 400 on the BSE

GSS America Infotech on Friday got listed at its issue price of Rs 400 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The scrip opened at Rs 400 and touched a high of Rs 479 on the BSE.

On the National Stock Exchange the scrip opened at Rs 380 and touched a high of Rs 540 within minutes of opening.

In terms of volume over 20.26 lakh shares changed hands on both the bourses.

The scrip was later trading at Rs 443.65 on the BSE and Rs 445.20 on the NSE at 10.22 am.

GSS America has listed 1.33 crore shares on the bourses.

The company, which had entered the capital market with a public issue of 34.97 lakh equity shares last month, had raised Rs 140 crore.

It would utilise the issue proceeds for setting up a global delivery centre at Hyderabad and meeting working capital requirement. The firm already has two global delivery centres in the US, besides Hyderabad

Tele to sell up to 49% stake in tower company

New Delhi, Mar 07: CDMA player Tata Teleservices will divest up to 49 percent stake in its tower subsidiary wireless Tata Telecom Infrastructure Limited in the next two months.

"We will sell 26-49 percent stake in our tower company to a strategic investor. We have already started negotiations regarding this and the deal is likely to be completed by the end of May," Tata Teleservices (TTSL) managing director Anil Sardana told reporters.

He said the company has shortlisted 15 strategic investors for selling the stake. The players include Quippo, GTL and others.

Asked about the valuation of the tower arm, he did not give any figure, but said if not better, the valuation would be similar to their competitors because of the quality of the towers.

TTSL has over 10,000 towers, while Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) has 3,500 towers.

On the listing of TTSL's tower subsidiary, Sardana said it would be decided after the strategic stake sale.

"We will also add 3,000 towers every year for the next five years," he added.

The company, which has recently got approval for offering GSM services, would continue to focus on CDMA segment for providing data services.

"CDMA is a very good technology for providing data services, we will continue to focus on it," Sardana said.

Tie-up with Virgin mobile above board: Tatas

New Delhi, March 07: Under attack for a tie-up with the UK's virgin mobile for its telecom operations, Tata Teleservices on Friday said the deal was absolutely transparent and within the laws of the country.

"The tie-up for Virgin mobile services is above board and completely in compliance with the laws and regulations of the country," Anil Sardana, managing director of Tata Teleservices (TTSL), told reporters here.

Sardana also admitted that the company had received a communication from the Department of Telecom (DoT), seeking clarifications about the contours of the deal and TTSL had sent its reply on march 5.

Although he did not divulge the commercial details of the deal with Virgin, he said there was absolutely no scope of Virgin entering the country as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).

"Network belongs to us... Billing will be done by Tata Teleservices and revenues will come to us," he said, adding that the tie-up is only for using Virgin brand on exclusive basis to expand into segmented sections.

Within two days of launching the services to attract the youth, Sardana said 500 subscribers had come on board.

The GSM operators lobby COAI had sought DoT's intervention to seek clarifications on Richard Branson's Virgin group's entry into the Indian mobile segment.

The COAI had alleged that the tie-up was nothing but entry of Virgin as MVNO which was not allowed as per the country's existing license terms and conditions.

Citing Virgin mobile's presentation, Cellular Operators Association of India director general T V Ramachandran said there was no mention of Tata Teleservices or the Tata Indicom brand in the entire presentation nor was there any information regarding the capacity in which Virgin mobile is entering the Indian mobile market.

Irked by such sharp criticism from GSM operators over its tie-up with Virgin, Tatas had also launched a counter-attack asking the government to clarify the role of foreign partners that are being engaged by a host of domestic players for network management.

Asked whether Tatas were open to roping in Virgin as an MVNO once the services are allowed, Sardana said "we have no such talks with them (Virgin). Once the decision is taken by the government, we shall look into it."

RBI according high priority to contain inflation: Reddy

Mumbai, March 07: Concerned over rising inflation, Reserve Bank Governor Y V Reddy on Friday said the Central Bank would continue to focus on price stability while trying to achieve the objective of economic growth.

"In the Indian context, considerable weight is currently accorded by the RBI to price and financial stability while recognising its twin objectives of growth and stability", he said while speaking at the International Symposium on "Globalisation, Inflation and Monetary Policy" in the French capital of Paris.

Reddy further said that the apex bank, "in the recent years, successfully articulated a self-imposed tolerance limit of five per cent on headline inflation."

The inflation rate, however, has crossed the tolerance limit, touching 5.08 per cent for the week ended February 23.

Justifying the RBI's continued focus on inflation, Reddy said, "the large segments of the poor tend to reap the benefits of high growth with a time lag, while rise in prices affects them instantly."

He further said that there are "acute policy dilemmas arising from global food and energy prices as also from financial market turbulence that need to be factored in evolving appropriate policy responses."

Reddy also said that structural transformation, dominance of public sector and "notable prevalence of administered interest rates make the tasks (of controlling inflation) particularly complex."

Pointing out that monetary policy recognises the growing importance of global factors, he said domestic developments would continue to play a dominant role in the policy making.

Forex reserves touches USD 300 bn

Mumbai, March 08: India`s foreign exchange reserves have crossed the USD 300-billion mark for the first time, taking just 11 months to swell by USD 100 billion to the new level.

"It is mainly the revaluation which has taken place in major currencies like yen, pound and euro which has led forex reserves to cross usd 300 billion mark," development credit bank senior forex dealer Navin Raghuvanshi.

Euro has appreciated by 2.4 per cent as of February 29 compared to a week ago while pound has improved by 1.4 per cent, contributing to the rise.

Though the yen has depreciated by about 2.2 per cent, the large reserves of euro and pound have helped inflate the reserves.

The forex reserves soared by a massive USD 6.625 billion in the week ended February 29 to stand at USD 301.235 billion as against USD 294.610 billion a week ago.

The foreign currency assets increased by USD 6.261 billion to stand at USD 291.250 billion, the Reserve Bank data said.

Foreign currency assets expressed in us dollar terms include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as euro, sterling, yen held in reserves.

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