INDIA INC.

READIES BIG BONUS AS SLUMP HANGOVER DRIFTS OFF

Companies in sectors as diverse as IT and banking & financial services are getting ready to give bonuses as they look to retain and woo key talent, buoyed by the prospect of promising days ahead. Companies such as Infosys, Genpact, EXL Services, Maruti Suzuki, Fiat, PepsiCo India, Dabur and ICICI Bank will soon start paying bonuses, with many of them dishing out compensation of up to 150% of the variable pay.

VERY FEW TAKERS FOR NEW IPL TEAMS The much-awaited selection of two new Indian Premier League teams turned out to be a damp squib on Sunday as the governing council of the tournament decided to change the bid documents disappointing those such as Videocons Venugopal Dhoot and the Adanis who had been tipped to emerge as owners of the new teams. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, tersely said some terms in the bidding documents needed to be changed. In particular, potential bidders were uncomfortable with one of the preconditions which required them to have a net worth of $1 billion. This condition will now be dropped.

WE AIM TO RETAIN AND CREATE VALUE FOR CUSTOMERS: GM General Motors is betting big on markets like India as the beleaguered US carmaker looks to regain the top slot in the global auto market. Tim Lee, president of General Motors international operations (Asia, Latin America, Africa and Middle East), believes that the creating value for customers in terms of price, reliability and durability and reestablishing the Chevrolet brand will be the key for the revival of the carmaker known for its big cars and SUVs. Mr Lee is on his first visit to the country where GM is in an overdrive after the recent launches of Chevrolet beat and Cruze.

EICHER IN TALKS WITH VOLVO TO BROADEN TIES Indian commercial vehicle maker Eicher Motors is in talks with Volvo Group to broaden their equal stake joint venture by tapping the Swedish truck and bus majors global distribution network, said a top Eicher executive. We are in discussions to tap the global distribution network of certain parts of Volvo, said Eicher MD & CEO Siddhartha Lal, adding that his company will enter new markets jointly with some Volvo group companies. Eicher will play the role of a price warrior in developing markets, which are volumes-driven, helping Volvo take on lowpriced rivals from India and China, he said.

RBI ORDERS SPECIAL AUDIT OF BANK OF RAJASTHAN The Reserve Bank of India has ordered a special audit of the accounts of Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) following investigations into irregular dealings by the private sector bank. The regulator has appointed Deloitte Haskins & Sells to audit the banks lending policy among other things while the parent accounting and consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has been hired to audit the information security system of the bank. Special audits are rare and directed by the RBI only under exceptional circumstances. A week ago, BoR made news after RBI imposed a Rs 25 lakh fine on the bank following a string of violations.

KATHRYN BIGELOW PIERCES GLASS CEILING AT OSCARS After The Hurt Locker made a clean sweep of the Oscars, it is unlikely that anyone is going to forget the 58-year-old director in a hurry the first woman to win the Best Director trophy in the 82-year history of the Academy. Theres of course the entirely expected carping from Avatars vast legions of fans, furious at science fiction being left at the door again. And Quentin Tarantino fans furious about Inglourious Basterds, reckoned to be the directors best movie so far, not securing top honours.

GOVT MAY CUT STAKE FOR SBI TO MOP UP FUNDS The government has taken the first step to let the countrys largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) mop up substantial funds from the stock market. On Monday, it moved a bill seeking Parliaments nod to reduce the government shareholding in the bank to a minimum of 51% from the current threshold of 55%. The passage of the bill will give SBI the headroom it has been waiting for years to raise more equity capital from the market. At the current price of SBI shares, this would mean a mobilisation of Rs 20,000 crore.

BSNL PLANS TENDER FOR 50M LINES State-owned BSNL is working on a new GSM tender for 40-50 million cellular lines,company executives with direct knowledge of the developments told ET.Last week,following a string of controversies,BSNLs board had decided to cancel $10 billion tender for 93 million GSM lines,the largest ever telecoms equipment contract globally. The 93 million lines tender was issued in 2008,but controversies,court cases,government intervention and probe by vigilance authorities all ensured that BSNL cancel the tender thereby impacting expansion

VROOM: CAR SALES AT RECORD HIGH IN FEB February witnessed record car sales in India as consumers preponed vehicle purchase anticipating a rollback in tax cuts that brought down car prices over an year ago.But automakers and analysts believe the high growth rate will get moderated in the coming months due to the twin impact of hike in car prices due to new emission norms as also rising cost for financing a vehicle purchase.

SONY SET TO LAUNCH COUNTRYS 1st 3D TELEVISION Sony Corporation will bring in Indias first three-dimensional television on Tuesday,to be closely followed by others like Samsung,LG and Panasonic within weeks as 3D TV has become the new buzzword in the consumer electronics industry.While the prospect of watching Hollywood blockbuster Avatar or live telecast of Indian Premier League matches yes,IPL chairman Lalit Modi has it in mind in 3D in ones own living room may excite anybody,the truth of the matter is as of now there is little or no 3D content available for television viewers in India.And the little content available in international market would appeal to a negligible section in the country.

RS PASSES WOMENS BILL WITH HELP FROM BJP,LEFT

History was created in the Rajya Sabha when it voted by an overwhelming majority a bill to reserve a third of seats in the Lok sabha and assemblies for women after the government ignored possible threats to its stability.In the 245 member house with an effective strength of 233,the bill required the backing of atleast 155 members and the UPA had a clear support of 165.The bill seeks to reserve for women 181 of the 543 seats in the Lok sabha and 1370 out of a total of 4109 seats in the 28 state.

M & M RECALLS EXECS FROM RENAULT JV Mahindra & Mahindra the maker of tractors and SUVs whose foray into factors in a joint venture with Renault has been marred by spat over management control has starred calling back some of its top executives in the JV to head functions in the parent company, clear indication that the agreement with the french company could be nearing an end. Top Officials said both sides have been unable to agree on matters relating to product development, innovation and pricing.

IOC ,ONGC TO RAISE FUNDS TO MAKE UP FOR SUBSIDY LOSSES IOC and Explorer ONGC plan to raise funds selling shares to shore up their depleted finances as they prepare to face competition from private companies following the Governement Initial steps towards doing away with subsidies on petroleum products. The biggest hurdle on the disinvestment plan is the pricing policy in both petroleum fuel and natural gas that impacts the bottom line of IOC and ONGC.The timing of the offering will thus depend on when the government is able to put a fair pricing policy in place for both fuel and gas.

FORD DRIVES INTO SMALL CAR SEGMENT WITH FIGO Fod india has entered the small-car race with Figo, pitting itself against existing models of market leader Maruti Suzuki,General Motors,Volkswagen and Hyundai.Two more global auto giants,Nissan and Toyota , have announced their plans to launch cars in India priced in the Rs 4 lakhs range. Joe Hinrichs ,President Ford said the company wanted to make India its regional centre excellence for small car engineering and manufacturing.

SLUMP-HIT AUDI EYES INDIA FOR RELIEF With a sharp decline in the market for luxury cars,German luxury carmaker Audi AG is betting big on Asia after its net profit slipped 39% in 2009.Underlining the broad shift towards expanding Asian markets,the ingolstadt-based companysaid China and India will be the key drivers of its future growth.

STEEP PRICING : QIBS NOT KEEN ON NMDC OFFER NMDCs share sale received bids for 20 % of the offer on the day 1 as overseas investors baulked at the steep valuation which may force the governement to rethink its pricing strategy for upcomming issues next year if it has to meet the fundraising target.The bids on Tuesday ,mostly from the Government-owned Life Insurance Corporation and state-run bank such as Bank of Baroda,were at the bottom end of the Rs 300-350 range set for bids.

DOMESTIC STEEL PRICES MAY HARDEN FURTHER Domestic steel prices may harden further early next month on account of raising input cost and robust demand from automobile and construction sectors,a senior Tata Steel Executive said. Cost of raw-material,including iron ore and cooking coal,is expected to go up 25-30% in April.This, in turn,may force steel companies to pass on the increasedcost burden to end usersAmithabh Panda,chief of procurement at Tata Steel,told mediapersons at a conference organised in the capital on Wednesday.

SBI MAY TAP RETAIL BOND MARKET NEXT YEAR SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said that the bank is looking at tapping the retail bond market next year with a 10 year issue , although initially, the issue size may be as small as Rs 50100 crore.If it urns out well ,we may think of raising more money through this route.We do not require capital immediately;it is only one of the options we are looking at ,he said , speaking at the side lines of a seminar organised by Confederation of Indian Industry(CII).

REWANT TAKES CHARGE OF ESSARS N AMERICAN OPS

Rewant Ruia, the youngest scion of the Ruia family and his father, Ravi, are leading a drive to globalise the refinery-to-retail conglomerate which is planning to raise $3 billion (Rs 13,500 crore) through a possible listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), 21 years after the groups first tryst with the stock markets, when it sought to list the shares of its steel company in India.

STATE TO PROVIDE FREE LAND FOR UPCOMING RAILWAY LINES

The Karnataka government has offered to provide land free of cost for some of the upcoming railway projects in the state, especially those for which it shares cost with the railway ministry. The state is implementing five projects on a cost-sharing basis and the free land offer is a stimulus to speed up the railway connectivity in Karnataka, said a government official. In the recent Railway Budget, the ministry has proposed eight new projects which will add 892 km of tracks to the network in the state. A few projects under the cost-sharing basis are Hassan-Bangalore new line and Kadur-Chickmagalur-Sakleshpur new line.

FORTIS TO BUY TPGs 23.9% IN PARKWAY

Fortis Healthcare announced on Thursday that it is buying private equity firm TPG Capitals 23.9% stake in Singapores Parkway Holdings for $685.3 million (Rs 3,080 crore),supplanting Apollo Hospitals as Asias largest hospital chain.

49 INDIANS IN WORLD CLUB OF MILLIONAIRES

Indians are doing rather well in that most envied league of people who are spectacularly successful in the pursuit,preservation and perpetuation of wealth.Two Indians Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal rank among the five wealthiest individuals in the world in the annual billionaire rankings by Forbes magazine.

BOSCH MAY LOCK OUT SECOND BANGALORE UNIT

The management of Bosch,the Indian subsidiary of Germanys Bosch group and the manufacturer of automotive components,declared on Thursday that the firm is considering a lockout at its second plant if the situation does not improve.

VODAFONE ACCUSES TATA TELE,RCOM OF OFFERING 3G SERVICES

Escalating the war of words over spectrum,Vodafone Essar has now alleged that Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices have already launched third generation (3G) services and therefore should be charged higher levies that are applicable to 3G operators. Telecom companies that offer third generation services are required to pay a higher spectrum usage fee.

NEW SONY MOTION CONTROLLER TO SLOW NINTENDO

Sony has a new message for Nintendo Wii gamers: Come join us.The Japanese maker of the PlayStation 3 unveiled Thursday its highly anticipated motion controlling system,as it takes aim at Nintendos dominance in the gaming sector.With the PlayStation Move, Sony hopes to lure gamers who have outgrown Nintendo,which launched the Wii in 2006 and became the first to introduce motion-detecting controllers.

Chethan Krishnan Hari V. Menon Rijin Azeez P.P Shinaj E.K Jathin. O Latheef. K Shamna. K Shilpa. K