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BPTP outbids DLF, bags Noida plot for Rs 5,006 crore

New Delhi, March 11: It is the mother of all land deals. Delhi-based real estate developer BPTP has won the bid for a 95-acre commercial plot in Noida for Rs 5,006 core, outbidding realty giant DLF.

"It's a competitive bidding. We outbid DLF by 10 per cent," BPTP Managing Director Kabul Chawla told reporters after winning the bid.

Other leading players Omaxe and Ansal were also in the fray.

BPTP's land deal is the biggest in the country so far in the value terms. Earlier last year, Unitech had bagged 1,750 acre in Vizag for Rs 3,350 crore, and in another big-ticket deal the company had won a 340-acre in Noida for Rs 1,582 crore in 2006.

The country's biggest real estate developer DLF had clinched a 38-acre land deal in the national capital for Rs 1,675 crore.

Chawla said the company would invest over Rs 3,000 crore on construction to develop a "commercial city" comprising office, retail, hotels and service apartments.

The Delhi-based company bagged the land in Sector 94 along Noida and Greater Noida Expressway from New Okhla Industrial Development Authority.

Chairman of the bids evaluation committee, Noida Development Authority Yash Pal Singh said, "today we opened the bids and BPTP has emerged as the highest bidder with Rs 1,30,207 per sq mt against the reserve price of Rs 77,000 per sq mt. We will offer the land to them very soon."

The reserve price of the land was about Rs 3,000 crore, Singh said.

Ansal was not qualified in the technical bid while DLF and Omaxe bid for the land with Rs 1,17,000 per sq mt and Rs 80,100 per sq mt respectively, he added.

Giving details about the project, Chawla said the total saleable area in the project, which is expected to start in 6-9 months, would be 10 million sq ft.

Chawla said the company was required to pay 25 per cent of the land cost at present which comes to about Rs 1,200 crore. This would be funded through 80 per cent internal accrual while 20 per cent would be debt component.

The remaining amount will be paid in 16 instalments in over eight years, Chawla said.

The company is open to rope in partners for this project. "We can have some synergy partners in the future. But nothing has been finalised yet," he said.

BPTP has a land bank of over 2,000 acre, of which 1,500 acre is in Faridabad. The company is expecting to post a net profit of Rs 300 crore over a turnover of Rs 1,250 crore in the current fiscal.

Tata Comm representative to chair global wireless body

Mumbai, March 12: Tata communications on Wednesday said its representative Prateek pashine would chair the global wireless body, Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA).

The company has been elected to lead the WBA and its Vice President - planning, retail business - Prateek Pashine has been appointed as the Chairman of WBA, Tata Communications said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

"It is an honour for Tata communications to be given this responsibility. The company, which has the largest number of wi-fi hotspots in India and is also currently rolling out India`s largest Wimax network, will now further leverage on this experience to help evolve global wireless standards," Prateek Pashine said.

The WBA was created to drive the adoption of wireless broadband technologies and services around the world by developing a common commercial, technical and marketing framework for wireless network interoperability.

Tata communications is the only Indian Telecom company to be a part of this prestigious industry forum and Pashine is the first Indian to hold this position, the company said further.

"Tata communications has been the pioneer of internet services in India and continues to be an important player in the Indian wireless broadband market which has the potential to replicate the success story of Indian mobile market," said Julie Ragbourne, head - consumer products, British telecom and outgoing Chairperson of WBA.

Frontline stocks witness sharp correction
13 Mar, 2008, 1618 hrs IST............................

MUMBAI: Equities saw across the board selling on Thursday. However, major selling was seen in the frontline stocks. The Bombay Stock Exchange was down over 770 points or 4.7 per cent to 15,350.

At 4pm, Hindalco Industries was down 8.19 per cent at Rs 175.80 on BSE. It touched a high of Rs 188.85 and low of Rs 172.50. Total volume traded quantity was 15,89,057 shares.

DLF was down 7.96 per cent at Rs 652.95 on BSE. The high was Rs 711.95 and low was Rs 638. Total quantity traded was 11,81,768 shares

Reliance Energy was down 7.92 per cent at Rs 1210 on BSE. The high for the day was Rs 1300 and low was 1200.10. The total quantity of shares traded 8,99,345 shares.

Bharat Heavy Electricals fell 6.97 per cent at Rs 1,868.05 on BSE. The total quantity traded is 1,71,105 shares. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 1,980 and low of 1855.

Reliance Communication declined 6.60 per cent to Rs 502.90 on BSE. Around 19,00,203 shares changed hands in the counter. It touched a high of Rs 527.85 and low of Rs 500.

Tata Steel plunged 6.06 per cent at Rs 707.50 on BSE. The total quantity traded was 10,44,045 shares. It touched a high of Rs 756 and low of Rs 701.

-T searches in seven places in Mumbai
13 Mar, 2008, 1359 hrs IST............

MUMBAI: The income tax authorities on Thursday conducted raids at seven places in the city, a senoir official said.

The searches include the residence of big-time diamond merchant Bharat Shah, he said, without divulging any further details.

The searches were still progressing, he added.

US govt selects Arcelormittal for Energy Star award

Washington, March 13: Recognising its contribution to environment protection through energy efficiency, the US government has selected Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal-led Arcelormittal for its "Energy Star Partner Of The Year" award.

Arcelormittal will be the first-ever steel company to get Energy Star award, while another Indian-run company Pepsico, the global beverage giant led by Chennai-born Indra Nooyi, was conferred this honour in 2007.

The past Energy Star award recipients also include auto giants Ford and Toyota, pharmaceuticals major Merck, fast food chain McDonald`s, American retail major JC Penney and defense equipments maker Raytheon.

Arcelormittal will be presented the award by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) here on April 1.

The `Energy Star partner Of The Year for Energy Management` award is given by the EPA and the US Department of Energy for companies making outstanding contributions to protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.

Arcelormittal said in a statement that in late 2005 it was challenged to cut energy intensity by six per cent over a three-year period, using 2005 as the baseline. This equates to a reduction of 192 million dollars in energy costs by 2009.

Arcelormittal energy committee was established in 2005 with representatives from every US facility and each facility was responsible for setting energy reduction goals at their respective plants.

In January 2006, it launched a three-year Arcelormittal energy reduction initiative that provided an energy plan for the immediate future aiming to cut Arcelormittal`s energy and carbon intensity and, at the same time, improve its bottom line.

Sensex falls 770 pts, ends at 6-mnth low

Mumbai, March 13: The stock markets collapsed across the world on Thursday and the benchmark Sensex on the Bombay Stock Exchange tanked over 770 points to close at six and a half month low of 15,357.35 points.

Marketmen said an onslaught of selling by funds gripped the markets as fears of recession in US, the world`s largest economy, were further augmented and the latest data of industrial growth in India also painted a gloomy picture.

Besides, the US dollar tumbled to the record low level against the yen since 1995, dampening the market sentiments across the world, they noted. Almost all the Asian markets were trading lower on Thursday.

The 30-share Sensex, which commenced the day on a weak note, tumbled by 770.63 points to 15,357.35. The lowest closing recorded before today was on August 31 at 15,318.60 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also dropped by 258.40 points to 4,623.60 as most of the heavyweight stocks led by banking sector yielded significant ground.

The BSE barometer touched the day`s low of 15,228.99 and a high of 15,873.28 points.

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, only Hindustan Lever escaped the battering with a minor gain of 70 paise Rs 222.45.

The government had yesterday released the data which said industrial growth had plunged to to 5.3 per cent for January from 11.6 per cent in the same month last year, indicating cooling in economy,

Traders said the market sentiment was further hit by the weak global markets on concerns that the US Federal Reserve would need to do more to solve the credit crisis.

Gates presses for relaxing `arbitrary` H-1B visa cap

Washington, March 13: Describing the cap on H-1B visas as "arbitrary and counterproductive", Microsoft chairman Bill Gates demanded a revamp of US immigration policies to allow skilled foreign technology workers from India and other countries to come in greater numbers on temporary visas.

Taking up cudgels for H-1B visa seekers, a good number of who are from India, Gates argued that hiring an `A`grade student from India creates spin-off employment for `B` and `C` American students.

"Microsoft has found that for every H-1B hire we make, we add on average four additional employees to support them in various capacities," said Gates, who once said that if he had his way he would scrap the H-1B visa system entirely.

The current base cap of 65,000 H-1B visas is "arbitrarily set" and bears no relation to the US economy`s demand for skilled professionals, gates told a House of Representatives panel on science and technology.

Saying that US position as the "global innovator" is at risk, Gates said there is a deficit of Americans with computer science degrees. Federal quotas on H-1B visas have long been a sore spot for Microsoft and other US technology companies.

Appearing before the panel at a time when US lawmakers cutting across party lines are hammering away at the "abuses" in the H-1B visas and outsourcing in general, Gates took on Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California who said there is "no excuse" for keeping out "`B` and `C` American students" just because there was an "a student from India".

Gates said when companies like Microsoft hire top foreign engineers, they create jobs for `B and C American students` around them.

The Microsoft founder told lawmakers that the immigration system would have to be revamped in such a fashion so as to allow more number of people to get into America on H-1B visas and it did not make sense for a bright foreign student to be educated using American tax-payers money and then sent home on some immigration requirement.

"It makes no sense to educate people in our universities, often subsidised by US taxpayers, and then insist they return home," Gates said.

"Today, knowledge and expertise are the essential raw materials that companies and countries need in order to be competitive. We live in an economy that depends on the ability of innovative companies to attract and retain the very best talent, regardless of nationality or citizenship.

"Unfortunately, the US immigration system makes attracting and retaining high-skilled immigrants exceptionally challenging for US firms," Gates said.

He said Congress`s failure to pass high-skilled immigration reform has exacerbated an "already grave" situation.

"For example, the current base cap of 65,000 H-1B visas is arbitrarily set and bears no relation to the US economy`s demand for skilled professionals. This situation has caused a serious disruption in the flow of talented graduates to US companies."

In his formal statement to the committee, Gates made the point that Microsoft was unable to hire one-third of the foreign-born candidates it wished to hire because of too few H-1B visas.

Because an H-1B petition generally can be filed only for a person who holds a degree, when May-June 2007 graduates received their degrees, the visa cap for fiscal year 2008 had already been reached, he pointed out.

Accordingly, US firms will be unable to hire those graduates on an H-1B visa until the beginning of fiscal year 2009, or October 2008

US gold hits $1,000 record high on down dollar, up oil
Thursday March 13, 8:35 am ET


NEW YORK - U.S. gold futures rallied to a record high of $1,000 an ounce on Thursday, fueled by a combination of a weakening dollar, strong investment demand and inflation fears due to rising crude oil prices.
At 8:27 a.m. EDT, the active contract for April delivery was up $17.30 or 1.7 percent at $997.70 an ounce. Just minutes earlier, it had hit an all-time high of $1,000 on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange

Wall Street Heads for Sharply Lower Opening on Global Worries About Health of US Economy ..............
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street headed for a sharply lower opening Thursday amid mounting concerns about the health of the economy and as gold rose to $1,000 an ounce for the first time.
Ahead of the opening in the U.S., Dow futures were down 145 points, or 1.2 percent, at 11,979, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures were down 21.30, or 1.63 percent, at 1,288.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 20.00, or 1.15 percent, to 1,714.75.

The government said retail sales fell by a worse-than-expected 0.6 percent in February, rather than showing the 0.2 percent gain Wall Street had expected.

The spike in gold prices -- hitting $1,000 an ounce for the first time in electronic trading Thursday, according to Dow Jones Newswires -- underscores investors' nervousness as investing in the precious metal is often regarded as a defensive move. Gold prices recently changed hands up $15.60 at $996.10 an ounce.

The developments weighed on already weaker stock market futures contracts that were lower amid a further decline in the dollar.

Markets in Asia and Europe fell Thursday, taking their cues from the performance of U.S. markets Wednesday, when Wall Street gave up its euphoria over a central bank plan to bail out the credit markets. The Dow Jones industrial average closed with a moderate loss Wednesday following its 416-point gain on Tuesday, but the decline was clearly a signal from U.S. investors that they were no longer so sure the Federal Reserve plan to pump $200 billion into credit markets would fix the many problems in the U.S. economy.

Meanwhile Thursday, the dollar hit a 12-year low against the Japanese yen and also fell to another new low against the euro, which rose to $1.56 for the first time. And oil prices, whose relentless ascent have fed inflation worries, continued to rise.

Light, sweet crude rose 32 cents to $110.24 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

That all sent global stocks reeling. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index tumbled 3.3 percent Thursday to its lowest in 2 1/2 years. Markets in Europe were all down more than 1 percent.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.42 percent from 3.44 percent late Wednesday.

Analysts in the United States noted Wednesday that the U.S. housing market remains in tatters, while inflation is a growing threat to consumer spending that is already showing signs of weakness. While the Fed's plan to make more money available to financial institutions can help, it won't solve the many deepening economic problems in the U.S.

The dollar's slide is of particular concern because it is helping to send commodities prices including oil to greater highs -- in turn feeding the growth of inflation.

The Fed's Open Markets Committee meets next Tuesday and is widely expected to lower interest rates, with many analysts forecasting a drop of 0.50 percentage point. However, in the past few weeks investors have been questioning whether another rate cut will also help the economy.

The decline in retail sales for February was unnerving for investors because consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

A pullback among consumers worried about jobs, falling home prices or rising energy costs could hasten the economy's slowdown.

In other economic findings, the Labor Department said that the number of workers seeking unemployment benefits was unchanged last week. Last week unemployment concerns sent a wave of unease across Wall Street when the government said that employers cut payrolls by 63,000 in February, the second straight month of losses. Many economists regard back-to-back declines in unemployment as a sure sign the economy won't be able to avoid recession.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.95 percent in morning trading, while Germany's DAX index slid 2.44 percent, and France's CAC-40 lost 2.41 percent.

More Indian companies eye Nasdaq listing

New Delhi, March 13: An increasing number of Indian companies are looking to get listed on leading US bourse Nasdaq, even as volatility continues to plague the global markets.

"Many foreign companies are waiting to get listed on the exchange. There are also Indian entities among them," Nasdaq vice-chairman Michael Garver Oxley told reporters.

However, he did not reveal the exact number of foreign or Indian firms waiting to be listed on Nasdaq.

Oxley is also the co-author of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which outlines regulation of financial practice and corporate governance for publicly listed firms in the US.

Meanwhile, Nasdaq managing director (Asia Pacific) Ghanshyam Dass said Indian companies across all sectors are looking for possible listing.

According to him, the firms include those from information technology, pharmaceutical and retail sectors.

"We are talking to some companies regarding the possible listing on Nasdaq but we cannot reveal the names," he added.

Currently, the Indian firms listed on Nasdaq include it Bellweather Infosys Technologies and internet firms Rediff.com and Sify Technologies.

While Infosys and Sify were listed on Nasdaq in 1999, Rediff got into the exchange in 2000.

In 2006, Infosys became the first Indian firm to be included in the coveted Nasdaq-100 index.

More than 3,100 companies are listed on the bourse and among them about 335 are non-US firms from 35 countries representing all industry sectors.

Further, the daily trading volume is over two billion shares, shows the data available on Nasdaq website.