Learnt about fabrics, designs in India: Tommy Hilfiger

Tommy Hilfiger, world famous for his classic American designs, has a deep connection with India. Over three decades back Hilfiger started his career, not in America but in an export house in New Delhi. He got funding to start the Tommy Hilfiger brand not from Amercians but the Indian Murjani Group.

He came to India 35 years ago. "I have learned about fabrics, tailoring, the make, embroideries, how to make incredible fashion here in India," he told CNBC-TV18. The American design guru says Kurta Pajamas are his favourite Indian wear and he wears them during summers.

On taking Indian fashion abroad, Hilfiger says Indian influence can be seen in his designs. He infact also started designing women's kurtis and says they sold very well.

For him, Sonal Kapoor is the ultimate Bollywood star. He says she is a part of the Hilfiger family and shares a nice relationship with her.

Below is the verbatim transcript of Tommy Hilfiger's interview with CNBC-TV18's Nayantara Rai.

Q: What is your take on India?

A: I came to India 35 years ago. It was my first design journey. When I was actually dreaming of building a brand I came to India and I designed my very first collection here. So, I have learned about the fabrics, the tailoring, the make, the embroideries, how to make incredible fashion here in India for many years and what I also learned was that I can get anything I want. I can manufacture anything I need here. I am importing a lot still and when I started opening stores here 10 years ago I really found that the young Indian people wanted the same fashion that we are selling worldwide.

Q: What about taking Indian designs overseas. Have you ever done that or thought about it?

A: I have Indian influence in my designs worldwide every day. Whether I do paisleys or embroideries or madres or checks or plaids many of it is made here. We have a very big export business out of India and I maybe one of the largest apparel designer manufacturers exporting from India in the world.

Q: Which is your favourite Indian garment?

A: Kurta Pyjama.

Q: Do you have a pair of Kurta Pyjama?

A: I have many pairs.

Q: Do you sleep with those. It is supposed to be a good nightwear?

A: To be honest with you I have them for the summer and I wear them on a hot day and I end up sleeping in them.

Q: Do you think you will ever sell Tommy Hilfiger's Kurta Pyjamas around the world?

A: I have put Kurtas in the line for women and they did sell out very well. This was four seasons back. We had embroideries on them but for men who are wearing jeans and casual wear would rather not wear Kurta Pyjamas.

Q: Would you like to style any Bollywood stars?

A: Sonam Kapoor is sort of the ultimate. She is not only a Bollywood star but she is a Hollywood star, she is a fashion star and actually she is a wonderful person. So for me she is the ultimate and I know she likes our clothes, I know she has worn them before and she plans to wear them in the future. So we have a very nice relationship. She is in the family, she is in the house of Hilfiger so to speak. So we are very happy to be associated and collaborate with her.

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IPR issue vital for India, US pharma space: Sanjay Puri

Prime Minister will meet US President Barack Obama later today as he heads for the Washington leg of his visit. Will he talk tough on visas and IPR? Sanjay Puri who heads the alliance for United States and India business shared his expectations.

Prime Minister will meet US President Barack Obama later today as he heads for the Washington leg of his visit. Will he talk tough on visas and IPR? Sanjay Puri who heads the alliance for United States and India business shared his expectations.

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Modi invites Indian-American business leaders to India

A stable business environment and investment in human resources are some of the issues highlighted by a group of Indian-American corporate leaders during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who invited them to come to India and teach business and entrepreneurship.

A stable business environment and investment in human resources are some of the issues highlighted by a group of Indian-American corporate leaders during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who invited them to come to India and teach business and entrepreneurship.

In the over one hour-long meeting at a hotel where Modi is staying, the distinguished Indian-Americans discussed with him ways to enhance their contribution in human resource development and research activities.

The group of around 10 top Indian-Americans including Chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology group Romesh Wadhwani, Cognizant CEO Francisco D'Souza, President and CEO of Adobe System Shantanu Narayen, President, University of President Houston Renu Khator, Harvard Business school Dean Nitin Nohria, CEO Harman International Inc Dinesh Paliwal, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Developer Division S Somasegar and President of Carneig Mellon University Subra Suresh.

Official sources said they were very upbeat about opportunities for growth in India and made various suggestions about possible avenues for consideration. They also spoke about usual requirements for stable business environment and need for investing in human resources in India.

Emphasising on his ambitious 'Make in India' as well as the 'My Govt Digital Platform' projects, Modi spoke about the importance he places on the digital initiatives and innovations as well as research.

He invited them to come to India and teach during their vacations.

Before he embarked on the US trip, Modi launched the 'Make in India' campaign rolling out a red carpet to industrialists, both domestic and international, inviting them to make India a manufacturing hub that will help boost jobs and growth.

The My Govt Digital Platform initiative was launched in July with an aim to help citizens contribute in governance by giving their opinions and views on important issues.

There are multiple theme-based discussions on 'MyGov' where a wide range of people can share their thoughts and ideas.

For those who wish to go beyond discussions and wish to contribute on the ground, MyGov offers several avenues to do so. Citizens can volunteer for various tasks and submit their entries.

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Watch: Modi addresses world leaders at UNGA

On his 5-day trip to New York, his first since taking charge as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is expected to make his first address to the United Nations General Assembly today.  

His packed schedule includes 35 meetings - he will be meeting US President Barack Obama, leading industrialists and other prominent members of the Indian American community.  

The Prime Minister has already met the mayor of New York city earlier this morning, followed by a visit to the United States National Cancer Institute.  

Before addressing world leaders at the UNGA, PM Modi will also be paying his respects at the 9/11 Memorial. He will also conduct bilateral meetings with the leaders of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

On Sunday, Modi will address prominent Indian-Americans at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York.  

Ahead of his Madison Square Garden address, fans congregated at the spot, cheering for Modi, some claiming that they had been waiting for him ever since he was denied a visa. Organisers also claimed that even though 40,000 people had applied to attend Modi's address, tickets could only be given to 18,000.  

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently staying at the iconic New York Palace Hotel. Modi's day is going to start with a trip to the museum that has been built on the 9/11 site here- a museum that was built in the memory of all those who had died when the 9/11 terrorist strikes had taken place here.  

Also when Modi starts addressing the UN General Assembly session, he is bound to talk about the security scenario which prevails globally. US President Barack Obama already said that the biggest threat to the international community is from the problem of Islamist extremism.  

Narendra Modi's speech is therefore, going to be looked at very carefully by all world leaders both on the security front as well as the economic front.  

The other important aspect of this meeting is the business of economics. On this trip Narendra Modi is going to try hard to sell the India story. Prominent American businessmen and industrialists opine that India is high on hope. India has assured a lot in the past but has never delivered. What is left to be seen is whether, Narendra Modi can do that since he is trying to position himself as the chief executive officer on this trip.

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Vizury: Bringing brands closer to online markets

On the Big League, Young Turks catch Bangalore-based big data analytics firm Vizury that has grown 25 times in the last two years and is not too far from an IPO.

On the Big League, Young Turks catch Bangalore-based big data analytics firm Vizury that has grown 25 times in the last two years and is not too far from an IPO.

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Kingfisher secures stay against UBI's wilful defaulter tag

KFA and its erstwhile directors had filed a writ in Calcutta HC against UBI and others, challenging the constitutional validity of the RBI master circular on wilful defaulters as well as the ex-parte decision of UBI's grievance redressal committee.

Kingfisher Airlines  announced that it has secured a stay from Calcutta High Court on the decision of the grievance redressal committee of the  United Bank of India which had earlier declared the airline and its directors as wilful defaulters.

UBI has been directed to file its affidavit-in-opposition by November 3 and the petitioners have been asked to file their reply one week thereafter. The next date of hearing is November 10, 2014.

Commenting on the stay granted by the court, Prakash Mirpuri, Vice President-Corporate Communications, Kingfisher Airlines, said: "We had earlier stated that we would legally challenge the wrongful decision of United Bank of India and that we have great faith in the judiciary in our country. We will legally defend our position on all allegations going forward." 

Kingfisher Airlines along with its erstwhile directors had filed a writ petition in Calcutta High Court against UBI and others, challenging the constitutional validity of the RBI master circular on wilful defaulters as well as challenging the ex-parte decision of UBI's grievance redressal committee.

The matter was listed for hearing on Friday (September 26) before Justice Debangsu Basak. After hearing counsel for the petitioners and the bank, Justice Basak passed an order in which he held that, prima facie, the bank acted in breach of the principles of natural justice by not making over the documents referred to and relied upon by it to KFA prior to the hearing. Thus, not enabling KFA to make an effective representation against the charges/allegations made against them in relation to being declared wilful defaulters.

Kingfisher Air stock price

On September 26, 2014, Kingfisher Airlines closed at Rs 1.87, up Rs 0.06, or 3.31 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 6.84 and the 52-week low was Rs 1.72.

The latest book value of the company is Rs -166.59 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was -0.01.

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Corporate Governance: Shareholder activism on rise

Corporate governance in India Inc has been improving over the last few years. And experts say an increase in shareholder activism has been a key factor. CNBC-TV18's Sajeet Manghat and Kritika Saxena share the details of the latest world rankings compiled by the Asian Corporate Governance Association.

The rise in instances of shareholder activism in India has not gone unnoticed.  According to the latest report by the Asian Corporate Governance Association, this rise has been instrumental in pushing India's corporate governance score to 54 percent, from 51 percent 2 years ago.

Even though India continues to rank 7th among the 11 countries covered in the report, the ACGA notes that going purely by individual country scores, most Asian countries have shown a marked improvement in governance standards.

India's score has also been helped by the regulations in the new Companies Act 2013, including better regulations for board resolutions, rotation of auditors, shareholder e-voting and minority approval for board resolutions.

However, the report says risk factors include slow enforcement of regulations, the delay in IFRS convergence, potential conflicts of interest for controlling shareholders and the lack of board independence.

The report also says that the biggest change seen over the last couple of years is the greater role of proxy firms in shaping the corporate landscape, thanks to growing acceptance by institutional investors. But of course, the rise in overall score would not be possible without Indian companies moving towards better disclosure and governance practices, and efforts to de-leverage.

Leading the race in these areas are Tata Motors, Hindalco and Tata Steel, all of which have see a rise in scores. But the report also shows that companies like ACC, Ambuja, Infosys and Cadila have actually scored lower over the last two years.

As it points out, corporate governance standards for MNCs have declined. This is attributed to rising interference by parent companies through increasing royalties and M&As.

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SP raises outlook of 11 FIs;maintains -ve for Syndicate Bk

The ratings on Syndicate continue to reflect the 'very high' likelihood of government support for the bank and the bank's average domestic business franchise and satisfactory funding and liquidity position.

Standard and Poor's today warned that it could downgrade rating of crisis ridden  Syndicate Bank if itd asset quality deteriorates. The global rating agency has issued a similar warning for  Indian Overseas Bank (IOB). While it has maintained its negative outlook on these two banks, the agnecy raised the rating outlooks on 11 Indian banks and financial institutions to stable from negative.

These include, Bank of India, HDFC Bank , ICICI Bank , IDBI Bank , Indian Bank , IDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank , Kotak Mahindra Prime,  State Bank of India and Union Bank of India . "The negative rating outlooks on Syndicate and IOB reflect a possible weakening in these banks' asset quality and capitalisation," the agnecy said.

S&P said it could downgrade Syndicate if the bank's asset quality deteriorates to below industry average levels or if the pre- diversification risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio falls below 5 percent, which may happen if the bank grows aggressively and is unable to support growth with sufficient capital infusion.

"We could revise the outlook to stable if Syndicate can sustain its asset quality in line with industry levels," it however added. The ratings on Syndicate continue to reflect the 'very high' likelihood of government support for the bank and the bank's average domestic business franchise and satisfactory funding and liquidity position.

Syndicate's low earnings diversity and moderate capitalisation temper the ratings. In August, Syndicate Bank Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) S K Jain was arrested for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to enhance credit limits of Bhushan Steel and Prakash Industries. His service was terminated. Referring to IOB, the agency said it could downgrade IOB if the bank is unable to raise sufficient capital to support growth, such that its RAC ratio dips below 5 percent.

Syndicate Bank stock price

On September 26, 2014, Syndicate Bank closed at Rs 113.95, up Rs 6.55, or 6.10 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 179.10 and the 52-week low was Rs 66.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 27.93 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 4.08. The latest book value of the company is Rs 189.63 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.60.

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MCX board approves new pact with FTIL for tech support

On September 17, the commodity markets regulator FMC had said the exchange can launch new contracts for three months January, February and March of 2015 after if it signs a fresh technology deal with FTIL.

Commodity exchange  MCX today said its board has approved a new agreement with Jignesh Shah-led  FTIL for availing technological support and services, paving the way for the bourse to launch new contracts for January-March period of 2015.

MCX, which is already using the technology provided by its erstwhile promoter Financial Technologies (FTIL), is likely to sign a new agreement in the next few days. On September 17, the commodity markets regulator FMC had said the exchange can launch new contracts for three months January, February and March of 2015 after if it signs a fresh technology deal with FTIL.

In a filing to BSE, MCX today said the Board has approved "the master amendment to principal agreements to be entered into between MCX and FTIL for availing technology support and managed services on such terms & conditions as contained therein". Pursuant to this agreement, MCX would continue to avail technology support and managed services from FTIL, it added.

In a separate filing, FTIL also informed that its board also approved the amendment to principal agreements to be entered into with MCX for continued provisions of software support and managed services. "It is also to be noted that by entering into the above said agreement, the companies have completed all the condition precedents of share purchase agreement with Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) as disclosed on July 20, 2014," FTIL added in the filing.

Sources said MCX has renegotiated the agreement with FTIL as the earlier contract was proving to be expensive. In 2013-14 fiscal, MCX paid about Rs 60 crore to FTIL for giving technological support and services to the exchange. Under the new agreement, MCX will pay lesser than this amount, sources added. Meanwhile, the regulator, however, had made it clear that the exchange will be allowed to roll out contracts for all 12 months of 2015 once the full divestment of FTIL in MCX takes place as per the regulatory norms.

MCX has been seeking permission to launch fresh contracts for 2015 but the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had warned that it would not allow new contracts unless FTIL brings down its 26 percent stake to two per cent as per its order dated December 17, 2013.

MCX India stock price

On September 24, 2014, Multi Commodity Exchange of India closed at Rs 774.35, down Rs 27.95, or 3.48 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 895.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 362.95.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 22.75 per share as per the quarter ended March 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 34.04. The latest book value of the company is Rs 258.07 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 3.00.

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India can make it to top 50 of World Bank ranking: FICCI

Watch the interview of Sidharth Birla President, FICCI with Nayantara Rai on CNBC-TV18, in which he shared his views on Modi governments "Make in India" campaign.

Watch the interview of Sidharth Birla President, FICCI with Nayantara Rai on CNBC-TV18, in which he shared his views on Modi governments "Make in India" campaign.

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NPPA powers not withdrawn, says Government

In a statement, the government said the internal guidelines issued by NPPA on May 29, 2014 and its orders on July 10 to fix prices of 108 formulation packs of anti-diabetic and cardiovascular drugs have been challenged in Bombay and Delhi High Court.

Government today said it has not withdrawn powers delegated to NPPA but only internal guidelines issued by the drug price regulator to cap prices of non-scheduled drugs have been rolled back. In a statement, the government said the internal guidelines issued by NPPA on May 29, 2014 and its orders on July 10 to fix prices of 108 formulation packs of anti-diabetic and cardiovascular drugs have been challenged in Bombay and Delhi High Court.

"The Union of India and NPPA which have been made respondents, after careful consideration in consultation with the (ministry of) Law and Justice had decided to convey to the Hon'ble Courts that the guidelines dated 29.05.2014 are to be withdrawn," the statement said.

It further said: "The government has neither withdrawn the powers delegated to NPPA on 30.05.2013 nor NPPA has been directed to withdraw the orders dated 10.07.2014." On May 29, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had issued internal guidelines, which sought to fix prices of non-scheduled drugs in various therapeutic areas, including cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes -- the MRP for which exceeds 25 per cent of simple average of medicines in those groups.

The guidelines also sought to control the launch price of non-scheduled formulations by capping the price of any new brand at par with the price of the highest brand in the segment. It had also stated that in cases of shortages of scheduled and non-scheduled formulations, prices may be examined on case to case basis for price fixation or revision under para 19 of DPCO 2013.

These initiatives were taken up by the NPPA drawing on the special provision provided by the paragraph 19 of Drugs Price Control Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013) that allows it to fix ceiling price of a drug under extra-ordinary circumstances, "if it considers necessary so to do in public interest". The government statement said consequent to notification of National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy-2012 (NPPP-2012) on December 7, 2012 and notification of Drugs Price Control Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013), the powers of the Government were delegated to NPPA on May 30, 2013.

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Don't see any reason for coal price to rise: Ex-CIL chief

"Coal India's price will naturally remain a benchmark. I see coal prices decreasing," former chairman of Coal India Partha Bhattacharya said.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18 former chairman of  Coal India Partha Bhattacharya shared his reading on the Supreme Court's verdict of de-allocating coal blocks allotted since 1993.

Below is the transcript of Partha Bhattacharya's interview with CNBC-TV18's Nayantara Rai.

Q: In your opinion if it comes down to Coal India having to take over some among these 46 blocks will it be able to manage the captive mines given the fact that it requires a lot of bandwidth to manage them?

A: Coal India's mines are scattered throughout the coal-bearing states in the country. So everywhere where these captive mines are there around that place Coal India mines are there as well. So I don't see too much of a problem for Coal India to take over these mines and run, I don't think that is a big problem.

Q: If these mines are auctioned what is going to be the impact on the cost of coal. What happens to the user industry, let's not forget that is linked to these captive mines, isn't there going to be a cost escalation which will then have to be passed on to the consumers?

A: Ultimately, cost is directly or rather inversely related to the extent of competition in the system. If there is a substantial amount of competition among large players and a lot of coal is produced coal is not in a shortage situation and Coal India is already there as a large player. Coal India's price will naturally remain a benchmark and nobody can afford to sell it at higher than that price. Rather prices will tend to come down.

I don't see any reason for prices to go up and more importantly in that kind of a situation this import of 180 million tonnes of coal that has been witnessed last year and is going to grow up further that scenario will change.

So our exposure to imported coal will cease and the price difference between imported coal and domestic coal will continue to be there for some time. I don't see a reason why the cost of coal in India will actually increase, through competition it may actually decrease.

Coal India stock price

On September 24, 2014, Coal India closed at Rs 351.35, up Rs 16.80, or 5.02 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 423.50 and the 52-week low was Rs 240.50.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 20.04 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 17.53. The latest book value of the company is Rs 26.04 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 13.49.

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'Modi's visit to herald new chapter in Indo-US ties'

"This US-India relationship is very important for both the countries and therefore both the countries are putting good importance to the visit," Minister for environment Prakash Javedekar said.

Minister for environment Prakash Javedekar is already in New York to do the ground work for the Prime Minister's visit . Speaking to Bhupendra Chaubey, Javedekar said Modi's visit will herald a new chapter in the relationship between the two countries.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview

Q: What are you expecting from this visit?

A: The world is very eagerly waiting to listen to the new leader, the leader who has won the largest democratic mandate in the world and therefore people are eager to listen to him because the world thinks that India has arrived.

Q: But you don't think that all the rough edges which existed between Prime Minister Modi and America they don't matter now?

A: Past is past. For America everything is business and they understand what are the opportunities and they also understand that here is a leader who takes decision.

Q: Can we expect some real hard decision on the economic front coming out by the end of this trip?

A: Yes, definitely. This US-India relationship is very important for both the countries and therefore both the countries are putting good importance to the visit.

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Ratan Tata bats for cheaper cars, low-cost manufacturing

Ratan Tata the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons today rooted for the idea of promoting low-cost manufacturing in the country. Tata received the GIL Visionary Leadership Award for life time achievement hosted by Frost and Sullivan.

Ratan Tata the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons today rooted for the idea of promoting low-cost manufacturing in the country. Today, Tata received the GIL Visionary Leadership Award for life time achievement hosted by Frost and Sullivan. Tata compared the size of the automobile markets of India and China where India is lagging behind to make his case for cheaper cars.

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No plan to take LIC Nomura Mutual Fund public: LIC chairman

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the nation's largest financial institution, has ruled out taking its mutual fund subsidiary LIC Nomura Mutual Fund public. "We have no plans to list our mutual fund arm LIC Nomura MF, since the business has not grown the way we wanted. It is yet to be scaled up and I don't think, we can get a good valuation at the current level," LIC Chairman Surya Kumar Roy told PTI in an interview.

LIC Mutual Fund was set up in April 1989 and LIC, the single largest domestic investor in the market managing assets over Rs 17 trillion, holds a 45 percent stake in the venture.
In January 2011, it roped in Japanese financial powerhouse Nomura which holds a 35 percent stake at present. The remaining 20 per cent stake in LIC's mutual fund business, is held by LIC's home finance arm LIC Housing Finance.

Also Read: Very bullish on banks, pharma, metals & IT, says  LIC's Roy

Blaming the withdrawal of entry load for the poor state of the mutual fund industry, Roy said that the domestic mutual fund industry is still in a "crisis". "Unless you incentivise agents and brokers, there is no reason for them to sell a product. However, that is not
happening now," Roy said. It may be noted that in August 2009, the then Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman C B Bhave had abolished entry loads for mutual funds agents.

Though present SEBI Chairman U K Sinha partially incentivised mutual funds agents in July 2011 by allowing mutual fund houses to pay agents from their fund expenses, the ripple effect of the crisis due to abolition of entry loads, continues to haunt the mutual fund industry, he said. "The biggest problem facing the mutual fund industry is that retail investors keep away. It is still a corporate-driven industry. Unless retail investors come into the market, you cannot really say there is real depth in the market," Roy, who took charge on July 1, 2013, for a five-year term, said.

He said the mutual fund industry continues to grapple with challenges and is searching for a growth trigger. He said LIC Nomura MF's assets under management have come down to a low of Rs 10,000 crore from a high of over Rs 70,000 crore in its heydays.

This is despite the record overall assets under management of the industry crossing Rs 10 trillion in May on the back of a stock market rally. Asked whether the new government plans to take LIC itself public, Roy said that he has no idea. "Being LIC's owner, it is upto the government to decide at what level and how its ownership has to be maintained," he
said.

LIC plans to invest more than Rs 3 trillion this fiscal, mostly in government bonds, while Rs 55,000 crore would be invested in the equities market this fiscal, he said.

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NPPA withdraws price control guidelines of 108 formulations

NPPA had capped prices of 108 cardiac and diabetes drugs on July 10.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has withdrawn guidelines for price control of 108 formulations, which was issued under para 19 of the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO).

NPPA had capped prices of 108 cardiac and diabetes drugs on July 10. Invoking para 19 of DPCO, NPPA had extended price control to drugs outside of National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). Pharma lobbies had contested NPPA order in Bombay High Court

Also Read: NPPA asks drug makers to register for online database

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No plans to tie-up with pvt cos for retail expansion: BPCL

Rival Hindustan Petroleum, which is the second largest OMC player, recently said it would be keen to tie up with private players like RIL or Essar for sharing their idle retail infrastructure.

Country's third largest oil marketeer Bharat Petroleum Corporation ( BPCL ) has ruled out tying up with private players, saying the PSU has enough capabilities for expanding its retail presence on its own.

Rival Hindustan Petroleum, which is the second largest OMC player, recently said it would be keen to tie up with private players like RIL or Essar for sharing their idle retail infrastructure.

"We have no plans to engage with private players to share their retail infrastructure for marketing as we are hopeful of taking on competition on our own. We don't see any brand synergy in doing so and also we have enough capabilities to invest more in retail expansion," BPCL chairman and managing director S Varadarajan told reporters here over the weekend after the AGM.

The chairman said BPCL had opened more than 900 outlets last fiscal, taking the company's total retail network to over 12,500, the company will open more outlets, but did not specify a number.

It can be noted that private players like Reliance and Essar Oil with thousands of outlets have shut down marketing following the government refusal to free diesel prices after the 2006 oil spike. But with diesel being sold at market price now, they are likely to re-enter marketing now.

HPCL chairman and managing director Nishi Vasudeva had earlier this month said her company would like to tie-up with private players for convenience and to save on capital expenditure, but added nothing had been finalised yet.

Currently, oil firms are selling diesel at 35 paise above market rate as the government has not allowed them officially to cut prices. There have been reports that it may formally announce diesel deregulation post-October 15 assembly elections. .

BPCL stock price

On September 19, 2014, Bharat Petroleum Corporation closed at Rs 656.15, down Rs 6.25, or 0.94 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 722.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 297.25.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 70.90 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 9.25. The latest book value of the company is Rs 269.11 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.44.

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MMRDA plans to monetise Bandra-Kurla Complex land parcels

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which had shelved plans to sell its land parcels due to the slowdown in the real estate sector, is planning to raise funds through such deals.

After almost five years, city planning authority MMRDA plans to put a few Bandra-Kurla Complex area land parcels on the block to finance various projects.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which had shelved plans to sell its land parcels due to the slowdown in the real estate sector, is planning to raise funds through such deals.

"We are undertaking large infrastructure projects which require huge investments. We have been leveraging funds and using the same money we have. But now it is the time to decide what is our requirement of funds and decision on land deals need to be understood and taken in this context," MMRDA additional metropolitan commissioner Sanjay Sethi told PTI.

Large projects undertaken by the MMRDA include the Rs 23,136-crore Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ underground corridor, the Rs 28,900-crore Dahisar-Bandra-Mankhurd Metro and the more than Rs 30,000-crore Wadala-Teen Hath Naka metro project.

MMRDA plans to sell off its G-Text block, which is around 22 hectares, in phases, and expects nearly Rs 4.5 lakh per square metre, sources said.

"For almost five years, we did not do a single deal because the market was not favourable and we thought we would not get the right price for our land. However, now things are improving. At the same time BKC has now reached that position where we can auction the space for residential and commercial development," Sethi said.

To attract investor interests and get premium pricing for its land bank, MMRDA also plans to transform the BKC into a 'smart financial district' to strengthen its brand value, for which it has invited Expression of Interests (EoI).

However, he said that the decision on the same would be taken only after the new government is formed.

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Hike: India's very own messaging app

Catch Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder of India's very own messaging app, Hike messenger in an exclusive chat.

Catch Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder of India's very own messaging app, Hike messenger in an exclusive chat.

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SILA: Facility project mgmt services provider for realty

Watch brothers Sahil and Rushabh Vora who decided to move from high flying careers in investment banking to starting up a facility and project management venture for the realty sector – SILA.

Watch brothers Sahil and Rushabh Vora who decided to move from high flying careers in investment banking to starting up a facility and project management venture for the realty sector – SILA.

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Vijay Mallya shouldn't continue on USL board: IiAS

Kingfisher Airlines and directors declared as wilful defaulters would not be able to borrow from banks in the future. They would also lose director-level positions in companies and criminal proceeding could be initiated against them, if warranted, to recover the money.

The continuation of Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a 'wilful defaulter', on United Spirits board would constrain the company from raising debt in the country, according to proxy advisory firm IiAS. The firm has advised  United Spirits Ltd's (USL) shareholders to vote against the proposal to re-appoint Mallya as director on the board. Earlier this month,  United Bank of India had declared Kingfisher Airlines, its promoter Vijay Mallya and three other directors as wilful defaulter citing alleged diversion of funds.

Also Read: BSE,NSE to shift 2 UB group cos to restricted trade segment

Kingfisher Airlines  and directors declared as wilful defaulters would not be able to borrow from banks in the future. They would also lose director-level positions in companies and criminal proceeding could be initiated against them, if warranted, to recover the money. "... until this matter (regarding wilful defaulter) is resolved, Vijay Mallya continuing on the board will constrain USL's ability to raise debt from the Indian financial system," IiAS (Institutional Investor Advisory Services) said in a report.

USL is a Diageo subsidiary and can access funds support from its parent company. However, this is not an optimum way of doing business, it added. The annual general meeting of USL is scheduled for September 30.

United Bank stock price

On September 19, 2014, United Bank of India closed at Rs 45.65, up Rs 0.10, or 0.22 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 61.65 and the 52-week low was Rs 23.40.

The latest book value of the company is Rs 64.81 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was 0.70.

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Tech Mahindra aims to clock USD 5 billion revenues by FY17

The company crossed USD 3 billion in revenues by the end of 2013-14 (from USD 2.6 billion in 2012-13) with nearly USD 500 million profit after tax.

Tech Mahindra , India's fifth largest software services exporter, is on track to become a USD 5 billion dollar company by fiscal 2017, a top company executive said today.

"So far as the business is concerned, it is good. Outlook is positive. It is not only for us, it is for the industry also. That's a good sign. Let's hope (we achieve USD 5 billion revenue goal). By the grace of God... we should be heading to that number. By 2016-17, there is a possibility that we will achieve our stated objective," Tech Mahindra Executive Vice-Chairman Vineet Nayyar told reporters on the margins of an event.

The company crossed USD 3 billion in revenues by the end of 2013-14 (from USD 2.6 billion in 2012-13) with nearly USD 500 million profit after tax.

On the current deal pipeline, he said the infotech major bagged large contracts which helped it clock USD 3 billion revenues last fiscal. "We have been doing big deals. To reach USD 3 billion (in FY14) was not easy. Reaching USD 4 billion or USD 5 billion will be tough. But let's see we will achieve."

Nayyar was there to participate in an industry-academia interface programme organised at an engineering institute established by Mahindra Group and Ecole Centrale of Paris.

Asked about the cases filed against the company for the acts committed by promoters of scam-hit Satyam Computer prior to its acquisition by Tech Mahindra, Nayyar said they are in touch with the government and expect positive outcome. "We are always in continuous dialogue with the government. If the government sees the way we see it, then hopefully there will be a solution. We are quite confident that the government does not have a legal case (against us) and we will contest it (if there is any)."

The cases filed by agencies such as Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax against Satyam Computer, arising out of the 2009 accounting fraud at the erstwhile firm, continue to haunt the IT major.

Mahindra Group took over Satyam Computer after a multi-billion dollar corporate fraud, committed by its founding-Chairman B Ramalinga Raju, came to light. Tech Mahindra still faces some of the legal cases linked to the scam.

Tech Mahindra stock price

On September 19, 2014, Tech Mahindra closed at Rs 2474.60, up Rs 45.65, or 1.88 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 2521.80 and the 52-week low was Rs 1278.55.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 111.03 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 22.29. The latest book value of the company is Rs 364.94 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 6.78.

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Cipla licenses rights for innovative product to Salix

"Under the agreement, Cipla has granted Salix exclusive rights under certain patent applications in the 'Rifaximin Complexes' patent family controlled by Cipla," the company said in a statement.

Drug major Cipla  today granted a license to US-based Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc giving exclusive rights for certain patent applications of its 'Rifaximin Complexes', currently under drug development stage.

"Under the agreement, Cipla has granted Salix exclusive rights under certain patent applications in the 'Rifaximin Complexes' patent family controlled by Cipla," the company said in a statement. The grant is on a worldwide basis, excluding the countries of Asia (other than Japan) and Africa, it added.

Commenting on the development, Cipla USA and Canada CEO Timothy Crew said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Salix Pharmaceuticals and to expand on our existing license to Salix to introduce rights to the 'Rifaximin Complexes' patent applications."

Salix is required to make an up-front payment and, upon achievement, additional regulatory milestone payments to Cipla in respect of the new license agreement, Cipla said without sharing details.

"Salix also will pay a royalty on net sales of products covered by the 'Rifaximin Complexes' patents licensed to Salix," it added.

"This deal signifies our ongoing commitment to provide access to innovative treatments to patients worldwide," Cipla MD & Global CEO Subhanu Saxena said.

Generally, Rifaximin is used as an antibiotic. Last year the company had announced the expansion of its existing collaboration with Meda by granting global commercialisation rights for a proprietary combination nasal spray product (fluticasone and azelastine) Dymista, Cipla said.

Cipla stock price

On September 18, 2014, Cipla closed at Rs 620.25, up Rs 10.50, or 1.72 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 639.05 and the 52-week low was Rs 366.70.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 15.51 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 39.99. The latest book value of the company is Rs 125.69 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 4.93.

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Cipla grants Salix rights for Rifaximin

Commenting on the development, Cipla USA and Canada CEO Timothy Crew said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Salix Pharmaceuticals and to expand on our existing license to Salix to introduce rights to the 'Rifaximin Complexes' patent applications."

Drug major  Cipla today granted a license to US-based Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc giving exclusive rights for certain patent applications of its 'Rifaximin Complexes', currently under drug development stage. "Under the agreement, Cipla has granted Salix exclusive rights under certain patent applications in the 'Rifaximin Complexes' patent family controlled by Cipla," the company said in a statement.

The grant is on a worldwide basis, excluding the countries of Asia (other than Japan) and Africa, it added. Commenting on the development, Cipla USA and Canada CEO Timothy Crew said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Salix Pharmaceuticals and to expand on our existing license to Salix to introduce rights to the 'Rifaximin Complexes' patent applications."

Salix is required to make an up-front payment and, upon achievement, additional regulatory milestone payments to Cipla in respect of the new license agreement, Cipla said without sharing details. "Salix also will pay a royalty on net sales of products covered by the 'Rifaximin Complexes' patents licensed to Salix," it added.

"This deal signifies our ongoing commitment to provide access to innovative treatments to patients worldwide," Cipla MD & Global CEO Subhanu Saxena said.

Generally, Rifaximin is used as an antibiotic. Last year the company had announced the expansion of its existing collaboration with Meda by granting global commercialisation rights for a proprietary combination nasal spray product (fluticasone and azelastine) Dymista, Cipla said.

Cipla stock price

On September 18, 2014, Cipla closed at Rs 620.25, up Rs 10.50, or 1.72 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 639.05 and the 52-week low was Rs 366.70.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 15.51 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 39.99. The latest book value of the company is Rs 125.69 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 4.93.

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Jet Airlines seeks more time to pay pilots' salary arrears

Jet Airways  management assured its pilots of legal help today to deal with DGCA notices to them, even as it sought more time to pay salary arrears worth Rs 100 crore, sources said today.

The assurance to pilots came after a meeting between the two sides at the airline's headquarters here today, airline sources told PTI today evening.

"At the meeting, we requested the management to support us on various notices served to our colleagues by the aviation regulator. The management responded positively to our request," sources said.

The management also said that it would "reconsider" internal warning letters to a dozen odd pilots, which were served to them for various counts in the recent past, sources added.

It may be mentioned here that earlier this month, the DGCA had cracked down on nearly 140 Jet Airways pilots for continuing to fly without clearing mandatory bi-annual exams and issued show-cause notices to the airline, questioning its pilot training programme.

Notices were issued to pilots, as also Jet's Chief Operating Officer and Training Chief, on the basis of an audit of its training programme by a three-member DGCA team. The meeting, which lasted for nearly six hours, was attended by the Jet Airways Group Chief Executive Hameed Ali, Chief Executive (Designate) Cramer Ball, Senior Vice President for Flight Operations Nikihil Ved and Senior Vice President for Human Resources Samar Srivastava from the management side, while five members from the National Aviators' Guild represented the pilots.

Sources also said that the management sought more time to clear salary arrears of pilots amounting to Rs 100 crore, since it is working on modalities of the payout.

"The management said that it will pay the arrears but needs some more time to work out modalities," sources said.

Jet Airways stock price

On September 17, 2014, Jet Airways closed at Rs 223.15, down Rs 1.45, or 0.65 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 414.70 and the 52-week low was Rs 210.25.

The latest book value of the company is Rs -196.11 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was -1.14.

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IKEA to tap big India cities first, then continue expansion

In a chat with CNBC-TV18's Farah Bookwala Vhora, IKEA's India chief Juvencio Maeztu talks about the progress IKEA is making in India, how IKEA will tweak its business model to suit Indian preferences and how it intends to increase the USD 500 million worth of sourcing it currently does in India.

There has been much talk about when Swedish furniture maker IKEA would open its doors in India. IKEA, which has committed Rs 10,500 crore to India, is said to be looking for large land spaces to set up its first outlet, which is reported to come up in Hyderabad.

In a chat with CNBC-TV18's Farah Bookwala Vhora, IKEA's India chief Juvencio Maeztu talks about the progress IKEA is making in India, how IKEA will tweak its business model to suit Indian preferences and how it intends to increase the USD 500 million worth of sourcing it currently does in India.

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Voda, govt agree to extend date for choosing 3rd arbitrator

Following arbitration notice by Vodafone in the Rs 20,000 crore tax case, the government had appointed former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti as its arbitrator. Vodafone's arbitrator is Canadian lawyer Yves Fortier.

The Indian government and Vodafone have mutually agreed to extend the deadline for appointment of the third arbitrator to resolve the Rs 20,000-crore tax dispute case with UK telecom major Vodafone.

"Our arbitrator and Vodafone have mutually agreed to extend deadline for appointment of third arbitrator," a top government official said.

The last date for finalising the name of third arbitrator in the Vodafone case dispute is September 17.Following arbitration notice by Vodafone in the Rs 20,000 crore tax case, the government had appointed former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti as its arbitrator. Vodafone's arbitrator is Canadian lawyer Yves Fortier.

Recently, the government has appointed New York-based law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle as its counsel in the Vodafone tax arbitration case.

Vodafone International Holdings B V in April had served arbitration notice under the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (BIPA) between India and the Netherlands for resolving the dispute.

The case pertains to capital gains tax dispute related to the acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa's stake in Hutchison Essar by British telecom giant Vodafone in 2007.

Although the Vodafone won the tax case in the Supreme Court, the then UPA government amended the tax laws with retrospective effect to recover the dues.

While the basic tax demand was Rs 7,990 crore, the total outstanding, including interest and penalty, is estimated to have risen to Rs 20,000 crore.

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No plans to withdraw A380 from operations: Emirates

"A380 (aircraft) is here to stay...We have the approvals from the authorities," Emirates vice president for India and Nepal, Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said in a response to a query.

Gulf carrier Emirates, which is the second carrier operating jumbo aircraft A380 to India, today said it has no plans to windrow the plane from operations.

"A380 (aircraft) is here to stay...We have the approvals from the authorities," Emirates vice president for India and Nepal, Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said in a response to a query.

Ahmad's assertion came after a section of media had reported that the Dubai-based airline may suspend its A380 operations to India.

He said that A380 was a flagship product for the Emirates and has received a wide acceptance from the customers all over.

Emirates is the world's largest Airbus A380 operators. Singapore Airlines was the first carrier to operate the Jumbo Airbus plane on India routes when it launched one flight each to Delhi and Mumbai from Singapore on May 30.

Emirates followed the suit by deploying A380 on its Mumbai route from July 21.

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Any revenue from TriZetto will add to guidance: Cognizant

Cognizant on Monday said it will acquire US-based TriZetto Corporation for USD 2.7 billion in an all cash big-ticket deal, a move that will help the IT services firm tap the lucrative healthcare IT software and solutions market for revenue synergies.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gordon Coburn, President, Cognizant said revenues from TriZetto will add to incremental guidance, no matter how big or small. "TriZetto's margins are comparable to us; this is a topline play," he says.

He expects TriZetto deal to close by Q4 of the current fiscal along with all regulatory approvals."US healthcare clients are desperate to cut costs and therefore, there cannot be a better time than today to buy TriZetto," he told the channel.

Cognizant-TriZetto combine can compete for larger deals, adds Coburn. Experts too believe that in terms of grabbing the healthcare pie, the firm may race ahead of Accenture, IBM, EMC and Capgemini, if the deal goes through.

Below is a verbatim transcript of the interview

Q: Can you break up the financial structure of this deal. It is a USD 2.7 billion deal, you have taken a financing of around USD 1 billion but the deal will be done in cash. Can you give us a break up of how you are funding this deal and how much of your cash reserves are you dipping into? You have a cash reserve of around USD 3.8 billion.

A: We are paying about USD 2.7 billion of cash for the deal. Obviously that is cash that is based in the United States. We have approximately USD 4 billion of cash on our balance sheet but that money is spread around the world. So, we do expect to take out about USD 1 billion in financing and the remaining USD 1.7 billion we will pay from our cash reserves that obviously leaves our balance sheet in very healthy shape to ensure that we the stability our clients are looking forward at. We continue to conservatively manage our business and it also leaves us cash available to continue with our share repurchase programme that we know is important to our investors.

Q: You have said that you will be completing the deal by Q4 of 2014. So, is it safe to say that the revenues from the deal will start coming in from Q1 of 2015 and can you tell us on an annual basis what is the kind of incremental revenue addition that you are expecting from this deal?

A: We expect the deal to close in Q4. We might get a little bit of revenue in Q4. Our guidance excluded any revenue that came from TriZetto. So, if we get any revenue that would be incremental.

TriZetto is currently for the last 12 months did a little over USD 700 million of revenue on a last 12 months basis. We would certainly expect growth in calendar 2015. We haven't given specific numbers but as we said we think a combination of TriZetto's organic growth combined with the significant revenue synergies that we see over the next five years, we think that will be about USD 1.5 billion plus of revenue synergies. Some of that will kick in 2015. So, for next year we would expect that revenue from TriZetto plus the synergies would be neutral to positive to Cognizant's overall growth rate.

Q: Would this possibly mean that you may hike up your guidance for 2014 because you had given a guidance before the deal. So, is there a possibility that by Q4 of 2014 we could see a revision in your full year guidance?

A: I think that entirely depends on when the acquisition closes. If we get some revenue from TriZetto in Q4 that will certainly be incremental to any guidance we have already given. Obviously we don't know the exact date that it will close.

Q: Can you give us an idea about the kind of approvals that are required and the timeline? Q4 is the higher limit that you are looking at or is there a possibility it could trickle into 2015 as well?

A: We think it is highly unlikely that it would roll into 2015. At this point we fully expect that the transaction will receive the necessary government clearances and remaining accounting things that have to be done post close during Q4 of calendar 2014.

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IDFC to begin setting up of holding co soon: Lall

The city-based IDFC recently completed its process to bring down the foreign holdings to meet the regulatory requirement of converting itself into a bank, the licence for which was bagged the infra lender in April along with the Kolkata-based microlender Bandhan.

Infrastructure finance company IDFC , which recently raised Rs 1,000 crore through QIP, will soon start the process of transferring its assets and liabilities to a new holding company as part of transforming itself into a bank.

"The next step (after QIP) in the process of opening of the bank is transferring the assets and liabilities on the IDFC's balance sheet to a subsidiary which will become the bank," IDFC chairman Rajiv Lall told reporters on the sidelines of an annual banking summit organised here by Ficci this evening.

The city-based IDFC recently completed its process to bring down the foreign holdings to meet the regulatory requirement of converting itself into a bank, the licence for which was bagged the infra lender in April along with the Kolkata-based microlender Bandhan.

The central bank has made it mandatory for all those NBFCs and other financial sector players which bag banking licences, to surrender their existing business by transferring the assets and liabilities into a non-operative financial holding company.

This stringent demand made some of the leading NBFCs like Tata Capital and Mahindra Finance to withdraw their application in the run-up to the licensing process that came after 11 years and saw just two out of the 24 applicants passing the RBI test.

"With Rs 1,000 crore which was raised, foreign ownership such as FIIs, FDI, NRIs, has come down to within the statutory limit that has been imposed upon us as part of the regulation to transform us into a bank," Lall said. He said that the foreign holding which was earlier 51 per cent has come down to 49 per cent now.

When asked why the QIP was offered at discount, he said, "the cardinal rule of raising capital is that the people you raise it from should be happy. So it is always good to leave a little bit of money on their table and not try to extract the last penny from investors. So in that spirit we gave a small discount and it was a very successful issue."

IDFC stock price

On September 15, 2014, IDFC closed at Rs 147.70, down Rs 1.35, or 0.91 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 166.70 and the 52-week low was Rs 86.35.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 10.78 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 13.7. The latest book value of the company is Rs 96.96 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.52.

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Zydus Cadila sets Rs 10,000 cr sales target by FY16

The Ahmedabad-based company has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 450 crore this fiscal. It has presence in the US, the European Union, Brazil, Mexico and exports generate half the revenue.

Homegrown drug major Zydus Cadila has set a target of clocking a consolidated turnover of over Rs 10,000 crore by FY'16.

"We will have a revenue of Rs 10,000 crore in FY16. We closed last fiscal with a revenue of Rs 7,208 crore," Zydus Cadila Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director Ganesh Nayak told PTI here.

The Ahmedabad-based company has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 450 crore this fiscal. It has presence in the US, the European Union, Brazil, Mexico and exports generate half the revenue.

Meanwhile, its consumer products arm Zydus Wellness , which makes the Sugar Free, is looking at a foray into adjacent categories like jams and biscuits in the future.

Also Read: Margins to scale up to 20% by FY15-end, says Dishman Pharma

The sweetener brand Sugar Free has a 93% market share in the sugar substitute category that is estimated at Rs 250 crore and growing at 12%.

"There is an opportunity to get into adjacent categories if you think of Sugar Free. So anything that is potentially served with sugar whether it is jam or biscuits or any product, could be substituted with a sugar-free version.

"The category penetration of sugar substitution per say where we are competing today is as low as 15%. There is lot of unfinished business and lot of growth to be had in current category. We are thinking about related categories and growth opportunities but we would rather address the immediate growth opportunity which lies within our range," Zydus Wellness Managing Director Elkana Ezekiel said.

Meanwhile, Ezekiel said the company is going slow on its low-calorie soft-drink Sugar Free D'lite, launched in 2003, as it is not doing well and is practically off shelf.

"In the overall scheme of things and in terms of percentage to our turnover, Sugar Free D'lite has been relatively small. We have not done much with it recently and we don't have an aggressive plan for it now. It is not a business where we could get to scale up and something we want to hold on to," Ezekiel said.

Zydus Wellness had reported a sales revenue of nearly Rs 430 crore last fiscal.

Its skincare brand EverYuth recently launched a facewash in Re 1 sachets and the company expects it would help in increasing sales in rural areas with its attractive pricing.

EverYuth enjoys a market share of 2.7% in the Rs 1,450-crore face wash segment, 91% in the peel off category that is valued at Rs 75 crore and 32% in the Rs 175 crore scrub category.

After getting off to a rocking start, EverYuth had gone on to become the second largest brand in the category in 2009 but has since slipped to a trickle.

Zydus Wellness stock price

On September 12, 2014, Zydus Wellness closed at Rs 640.30, down Rs 2.15, or 0.33 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 676.20 and the 52-week low was Rs 435.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 23.23 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 27.56. The latest book value of the company is Rs 83.32 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 7.68.

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Kingfisher loan default only a 'trickle': Vinod Rai

As industrialist Vijay Mallya fights his wilful defaulter tag, former CAG Vinod Rai has said Kingfisher Airlines ' loan default is just a "trickle" and the overall problem of huge bad loans at public sector banks can be blamed on 'cronies' using connections to borrow money.

Rai, who was the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) during 2008-2013, has also stressed the need to understand the trend of non-performing assets of private sector banks being very low in comparison to that of public sector lenders.

Observing that cronies have neither the domain knowledge nor the financial strength to deliver, Rai in his new book has said that they use their connections to borrow from the banking sector, especially from public sector lenders that are prone to manipulation.

"This is the underlying reason for non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks going up manifold," he has written in the book titled 'The Dairy of the Nation's Conscience Keeper — Not Just An Accountant'

"Stories of Kingfisher Airlines and Bhushan Steel  are only now emerging in trickles. The amount that has gone into corporate debt restructuring is another story; it contains all the marquee names," he said.

On September 1, state-owned UBI declared Kingfisher Airlines, its promoter Vijay Mallya and three other directors wilful defaulters . Kingfisher owes about Rs. 7,000 crore to 17-banks consortium, led by State Bank of India .

Last month, a consortium of banks ordered a forensic audit into the books of account of cash-starved Bhushan Steel , which has total exposure of about Rs. 40,000 crore to lenders.

The move came close on the heels of the arrest of Bhushan Steel Vice Chairman and Managing Director Neeraj Singal by the CBI in an alleged cash for loan scam involving Syndicate Bank Chairman SK Jain.

According to Rai, the Reserve Bank of India data showed that gross NPAs of public sector banks increasing to 3.61 percent, which by all standards marked unprecedented high levels in 2013.

"Even if we were to accept the argument that these banks had to advance money in difficult times, why is it that the NPA of private sector bank is only half this percentage? It does not require much analysis to ascertain the reasons," he noted.

Further, the former CAG has raised concerns about the appointment process at public sector bank boards.

"Many of those who bemoan the malfeasance that has crept into appointment processes, are aware of the names of the nominee government directors on public sector bank boards, and the absence of 'fit and proper' criteria for their nomination.

"However, few take steps to correct the situation. Somewhere, someone will have to take the bull by the horns. The process cannot be delayed by even a day," Rai said.

Kingfisher Air stock price

On September 12, 2014, Kingfisher Airlines closed at Rs 2.52, down Rs 0.02, or 0.79 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 6.84 and the 52-week low was Rs 2.06.

The latest book value of the company is Rs -166.59 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was -0.02.

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NRI investment in Indian realty may rise 35%: Survey

Property developers are expecting a 35 percent surge in real estate enquiries from NRIs (non-resident Indians) with Bangalore turning out to be a favourite, according to a survey by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

To tap the growing interest, which comes at a time when the global economy is stabilising and India is showing strong signs of revival, real estate companies here are pulling out all the stops by conducting property shows, exhibitions and opening overseas representative offices.

Developers are also expanding their existing distribution chains and entering into strategic partnerships to encourage investors from this cash-rich segment, the industry body said.

The survey was conducted among nearly 850 real estate developers in Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Dehradun, Chennai etc.

Bangalore was the most favourite property investment destination for NRIs, followed by Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Goa, Delhi and Dehradun, the survey showed.

Also read:  Mumbai realty prices see modest appreciation in Jan-March

The enquiries are primarily coming from NRIs residing in the UAE, the US, Singapore, Australia, the UK, Canada and South Africa.

This year, demand is more for the high-end property and commercial buildings, developers say.

"With the revival in global economy, especially in the United States and Europe, people are more optimistic and looking for property to invest in."

"Both small and big developers are focusing on the NRI base in the US, the UK and Asia Pacific region this year," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

As per the findings of the survey, Ahemdabad (32 percent) continued to be the most stable market in terms of demand and absorption of both residential and commercial spaces.

NRIs consider Ahmedabad as a safe place to invest in, with lenient government regulations for property investments. Pune was at the third position (30.5 percent), as per the survey, whereas Chennai (28 percent) was at the 4th spot and Goa (23 percent) at the 5th place.

In Delhi, there has been a 21 percent rise in enquiries this year as opposed to last year and a majority of them have been for the residential segment.

Catering to the growing demand in the high-end segment, Delhi has also emerged among the promising markets for real estate, the survey showed.

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Spectrum sharing, trading guidelines by year-end: Prasad

In July, telecom regulator Trai had recommended allowing sharing of all categories of radiowaves held by operators including those allocated at the old price of Rs 1,658 crore or assigned without auction, a move that could help companies significantly reduce cost of providing mobile services.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the guidelines for telecom spectrum trading and sharing will be in place by the end of the year.

"Guidelines will be in place by end of year on spectrum trading and sharing," Prasad said at the press conference marking the first 100 days in the ministry.

In July, telecom regulator Trai had recommended allowing sharing of all categories of radiowaves held by operators including those allocated at the old price of Rs 1,658 crore or assigned without auction, a move that could help companies significantly reduce cost of providing mobile services.

Trai had suggested that all access spectrum in the bands of 800/900/1800/2100/2300/2500 MHz will be sharable provided that both licensees are have spectrum in the same band.

At present, telecom operators have been allocated radiowave frequencies in 800 MHz (CDMA); 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz (GSM 2G/3G); 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz (4G) for wireless telecom services.

Operators are allowed to share passive infrastructure like mobile towers, which has helped them in reducing operational cost but not active infrastructure like spectrum.

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Maruti to roll out LCV project on a limited scale

Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India plans to roll out its light commercial vehicles (LCV) project on a limited scale, a top company executive said today.

Country's largest car maker  Maruti Suzuki India plans to roll out its light commercial vehicles (LCV) project on a limited scale, a top company executive said today.

"We will begin the LCV project on a very limited scale and take the initiative forward by understanding the marketing and sales experience. We will slowly roll out it as we do not

want to rush into it. The commercial vehicle sector is a new sector for us," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman RC Bhargava said on the sidelines of SIAM Annual Convention.

Last month, in an interview to PTI, he had said Maruti plans to launch one ton LCV, which is in the same segment as Tata Ace and Mahindra Gio and Ashok Leyland's Dost, by next year.

MSI will have a separate sales and service network for the LCV.

"We are in the process of setting up sales and distribution network for LCV because you cannot sell LCVs and cars from the same outlets. The customers are different, facilities required are different," he had said.

When asked what kind of growth he expects this year, Bhargava said: "I expect that our company will continue to grow in double digits this year."

Bhargava also remained bullish about festive season sales. He said: "Normally we see an improvement 20-25 per cent in sales during the festive season so we expect that the trend will continue this year also."

He also expressed satisfaction on the functioning of the Modi government.

"I think the government has made a very good beginning, but this is totally unrealistic (to expect a quick revival), as the economy had really gone into such a decline over a period of time and so many ills had crept into the entire system...lack of governance, lack of implementation...so it will take much longer than 2-3 months to bring about a change," he said.

When asked about the discounting trend followed by the industry to push sales, he said: "While we are growing at double digits, rest of industry is not growing so well. And there are many companies which are not growing at all. If there is discounting being done by some companies then other have to follow suit."

On its upcoming model Ciaz in mid-sized sedan segment, Bhargava said: "We hope this car will do better than what we have achieved in the past."

When asked if the company has set a voting date to get nod from its minority shareholders' to let parent Suzuki Motor Corp own and invest in its Gujarat facility, he said: "We have not yet determined the date of voting."

Maruti Suzuki stock price

On September 12, 2014, Maruti Suzuki India closed at Rs 2971.15, up Rs 54.50, or 1.87 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 2978.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 1301.65.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 96.45 per share as per the quarter ended March 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 30.81. The latest book value of the company is Rs 694.45 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 4.28.

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Can't protection auto industry forever: Commerce Secy

In a veiled warning to the domestic auto sector, the Commerce Ministry today said it cannot continue providing protection to the industry while duty barriers are coming down all over the world.

In a veiled warning to the domestic auto sector, the Commerce Ministry today said it cannot continue providing protection to the industry while duty barriers are coming down all over the world.

"...we have to look at to what extent the present tariff protection to the auto sector is sustainable...we will have to question ourselves on the sustainability of a long-term tariff protection plan particularly in an environment where every country is bringing down tariffs," Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said here.

He was speaking at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) annual convention.

India is protecting the domestic auto industry from overseas competition while signing free trade agreements with different nations and groups.

Kher said while negotiating trade agreements one has to keep in mind the overall interest of different sectors.

"We have consciously over the last several years by creating a tariff protection have nurtured the industry and I think the point has come when the automotive plan needs to look at to what extent we want to continue with that and how do we want to bring it down to some kind of global at par," he said.

The negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and the 27-nation European Union got stuck mainly because of duty reduction in the auto sector. EU demanded significant duty cut in the sector.

"When we look for a preferential trade relation, we clearly can't have a win-win all in our account...do not look for a relationship in a trade agreement where it will be one way flow," Kher said.

However, he assured the industry that the ministry would announce incentives to boost exports.

"In the foreign trade policy (FTP), the auto sector will receive export incentives. The assurance I want to give you is that the sector will remain a beneficiary of the incentive programme under the FTP," he said.

The FTP is expected to be announced early next month.

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Dunkin Donuts to enter Chennai Hyderabad mkt by next year

It made its entry into India in 2012 and now two years down the line, the world's leading donuts, baked goods and coffee chain, Dunkin Donuts is launching it's 36th outlet in Bangalore. The company is clearly on expansion mode and plans to increase its presence across the south in the next one year.

It made its entry into India in 2012 and now two years down the line, the world's leading donuts, baked goods and coffee chain, Dunkin Donuts is launching it's 36th outlet in Bangalore. The company is clearly on expansion mode and plans to increase its presence across the south in the next one year. At a time when there is a slowdown in the food segment, Jubilant Foodworks, which bought Dunkin Donuts to India, hopes that with the new government in place, things will turn positive.

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SBI MF aims at Rs 90,000 cr AUM mark, top 5 ranking by FY15

SBI Mutual Fund is eyeing entry in the top-5 club of the domestic mutual fund sector by financial year 2015.

SBI Mutual Fund is eyeing entry in the top-5 club of the domestic mutual fund sector by financial year 2015.

"We are hoping to end the year with Rs 90,000 crore AUM from Rs 77,000 crore now. With this, we would like to be one of the top five MF companies," SBI MF managing director and CEO Dinesh K Khara said here today.

SBI MF ranks sixth in the MF industry currently.

Speaking at the launch of three-year close ended SBI Equity Opportunities Fund Series-I in the East, Khara said, "I am pacing accordingly for the top five league."

He said the AUM gap between its immediate competitor was around Rs 17,000 crore, which had come down to Rs 9000 crore.

SBI Mutual ED & chief marketing officer D P Singh said they are targeting in excess of Rs 1,000 crore in collection from this first close ended equity fund since 2010.

"We have opened 51 new branches in January taking the number to 161, to expand our reach to retail investors. These new branches will act as hub and spoke model with independent financial advisors and distributors," Khara said.

Speaking about the fund, the company said, the fund will invest in a well-diversified portfolio of equity and equity-related securities across market capitalisation and sectors.

"We have identified about six sectors and 40 stocks for this fund. The fund will remain open from September11-25," Khara said.

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Skoda Yeti facelift launched at Rs 18.63 lakh

Skoda India on Wednesday launched its upgraded Yeti at Rs 18.63 lakh (ex-Maharashtra). There are two variants and both are available only in the Elegance trim.

Škoda's versatile SUV is a straightforward representative of its segment, with character and simplicity, said a company statement, adding that Škoda has now extensively redesigned the Yeti to adapt the brand's new design language.

Yeti has always been a very unique product offering for India. While other Skoda cars, namely the hatchback and entry sedan are quite a bit like its sister brand Volkswagen's cars, the Yeti stood out as a standalone offering in the compact luxury SUV space.

The Yeti will be offered with two diesel engines for the Indian market -- the 2.0 TDI/81 kW mated to a five-speed manual transmission and a 2.0 TDI/103 kWall-wheel drive fitted as standard mated to a manual six-speed gearbox.

"The refreshed models in our line-up reflect the new phase of Škoda India, promising products that are more practical with timeless appeal, extremely high safety standards and the latest technologies. To complement our ongoing model offensive we will focus on the overall ownership experience with the brand and will continue to retain customer satisfaction as top priority in India," said Sudhir Rao, Chairman and Managing Director, Škoda Auto India.

The Yeti was awarded five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test in 2009 for its exemplary safety features. Systems such as ESC including ABS, braking assistant and a robust body designs well as a state-of-the-art chassis guarantee optimum active safety. Off-road, the car's smart all-wheel-drive contributes to safe driving behaviour. In terms of passive safety, passengers are protected by a system with 6 airbags, five three-point safety belts, and five head restraints.

"The redesigned Škoda Yeti incorporates the new Škoda design language and preserve's the car's extreme versatility and multi-functionality. The Yeti has been significantly revamped to give it a more striking and impressive appearance. Behind the new improved look, the Yeti like all SUVs still has the rugged appeal and exudes strength and agility. High safety standards & comfort features along with its off-road capabilities, makes the Yeti a reliable partner in the city and off the road", said Pawel Szuflak, Director, Sales, Service and Marketing, Škoda Auto India.

Yeti Elegance 4×2 is available at Rs 18,63,382 (ex-Maharashtra) and Rs 18,99,000 (ex-Delhi), while Yeti Elegance 4×4 has been priced at Rs 20,14,471 (ex-Maharashtra) and Rs 20,53,600 (ex-Delhi).

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Maha govt cluster redevelopment policy: Boon for realtors?

The Maharashtra government has finally put an end to the confusion over cluster redevelopment projects. The state's cabinet has cleared the cluster redevelopment policy, and opened up over 1,000 land parcels in South Mumbai for re-development, reports Manasvi Ghelani.

Call it a gambit ahead of the state elections -- but Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has given real estate developers in Mumbai some reason to cheer for.

His cabinet has passed new rules, which now allow developers to pursue the redevelopment of any dilapidated building, cessed buildings, or, for that matter, any state or MHADA-owned buildings that have been standing for more than 40 years.

But it's not just the 1,000-1,500 land parcels this policy unlocks that has developers cheering. The state has kept the floor space index unchanged at 4 -- meaning developers have a lot more land to cash in on.

Also read: Why Kalyan-Dombivli will drive Mumbai's realty market now

Says Rohit Poddar, managing director, Poddar Developers, "You can argue that it wasn't viable economically in the previous FSI. And that it's more economically viable [now] so you see more project initiatives being taken up."

In a bid to boost re-development, the policy has also reduced the level of consent required from flat owners in a building to 70 percent, from the earlier 100 percent.

But developers say that the rule mandating an 18-metre wide road access area in redeveloped projects could be a bit of a problem.

"As far as the 18-metre accessibility area is concerned, that would certainly be a challenge in my opinion. And I'm not sure how this is going to be addressed from a practical perspective," Poddar says.

The rule mandating a minimum re-developement area of 1 acre, or 4,000 square metres, however, has not ruffled feathers. People who own property in plots up for re-development have not been left in the lurch either.

The policy says that developers will have to rehabilitate them with flats that these tenants will own outright. These should have a carpet area not less than 27.88 square metres.

And if the project exceeds 10 hectares, a tenant's new flat should be an additional 30 percent in carpet area.

All said and done, the developers won't have an easy time. The policy says that no clusters shall be identified for redevelopment without an impact assessment study covering the load on infrastructure and necessary amenities.

Also, the bombay high court is yet to decide on identification criteria.

Says Ajay Nair, chief project officer, Omkar Realtors, "I believe the High Court ruling will come up on October 6. Once that order clears this cluster redevelopment, each individual cluster that approaches for redevelopment opportunity will actually submit an impact assessment study, which will be reviewed by the BMC. And upon that clearance, and the recommendations added by these people, we would then see the schemes being fruitfully progressed upon."

Experts say the real benefits of this policy will be visible only six months down the line, and while the positives may come in the form of an uptick in demand and lower prices for customers, the quantum is still up in the air.

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Biocon buys back GE Capital's stake in Syngene for Rs 215cr

Drugmaker Biocon today acquired GE Capital's entire 7.69 percent stake in its research services subsidiary Syngene International for Rs 215.38 crore.

Drugmaker  Biocon today acquired GE Capital's entire 7.69 percent stake in its research services subsidiary Syngene International for Rs 215.38 crore.

The company, which had sold the stake to GE on October 31, 2012 for Rs 125 crore, has paid almost double to buy back this stake.

"Biocon Research Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Biocon, has entered into an agreement with GE Equity International Mauritius, a subsidiary of GE Capital Corporation to purchase the latter's investment in Biocon's research services subsidiary, Syngene International for an
agreed consideration of Rs 215.38 crore," the company said in a BSE filing.

Syngene offers integrated drug discovery and development services with capabilities in medicinal chemistry, biology, in vivo pharmacology and toxicology.

It has an expert team of over 1,500 scientists to support the research and development programmes of global pharma, biotech and nutrition companies.

Biocon stock price

On September 09, 2014, Biocon closed at Rs 502.05, up Rs 1.20, or 0.24 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 553.70 and the 52-week low was Rs 319.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 15.84 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 31.7. The latest book value of the company is Rs 120.89 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 4.15.

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Tata Sons FY14 revenues shrink, declares 800% dividend

Tata Sons, the Tata group's holding company, has seen revenues shrink in FY14. But that hasn't stopped it from declaring a dividend of 800 percent for the year, and hoping to increase this payout in FY15.

But for that, the company, which depends solely on dividend paid to it by its group companies, says these companies will have to step up performance, report CNBC-TV18's Sajeet Manghat and Payaswini Upadhyay report.

Tata Sons has felt the full force of the various challenges that its group companies have had to deal with through FY14, and this shows in the holding company's balance sheet.

Profits after tax fell 18 percent to Rs 3,053 crore, as revenues came in 5.6 percent lower at Rs 5,429.19 crore.

This fall in revenues can be ascribed to lower dividend payments by many of its group companies.

While dividend from  TCS and Tata Investment Corporation remained flat, payments from its associate companies fell 29.3 percent to Rs 616.6 crore.

The revenues also include subscription to brand equity of Rs 453.29 crores, higher than the Rs 365.70 crore rupees in FY13.

But despite lower revenues, Tata Sons has not cut back on its own dividend payment.

So FY14 saw it declare a dividend of 800 percent, or Rs 8,000 rupees per ordinary share -- which works out to Rs 323.22 crore rupees.

In addition, Tata Sons has paid its preference shareholders dividend to the tune of Rs 340.2 crore.

FY14 also saw the book value of its investments rise to Rs 45,406.96 crore, from Rs 42,376.75 crore.

The value of its listed investments, however, declined to Rs 19,582.05 crore, from Rs 20,382.70 crore.

The book value of its crown jewel -- TCS -- stands at just Rs 146 crore. But a big reason for the decline in value of listed assets is the declassification of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra, which ceased as an associate firm.

Speaking of TTML, Tata Sons has booked a write-off against the investment in TTML to the tune of Rs 100 crore. So TTML's book value has declined to Rs 685.6 crore.

However, the value of Tata Sons' unlisted investments stood at Rs 19,600.20 crore, against Rs 18,874.60 crore.

FY14 also saw Tata Sons invest Rs 25.50 crore in Tata-SIA Airlines, and Rs 15.03 crore in AirAsia India.

Now Tata Sons has infused capital in some of the new businesses but one of the biggest expenses came when it increased its investment in its UK trading arm Tata Limited.

These capital infusion exercises pushed Tata Sons' long-term borrowings to Rs 14,505.55 crore, from Rs 13,270 crore in FY13.

As FY15 goes, the holding company can look forward to higher expenses.

For one, its aviation ventures will need a lot more money as they take to the skies. And two: the unravelling of its partnership with Docomo.

The exact exposure that Tata Sons will have to bear cannot be determined. But should a final notice from Docomo to exercise its right to sell come through, the buyback by Tata Group could see Tata Sons having an exposure of around Rs 4,140 crore -- that's a big chunk of the group's total potential exposure of Rs 7,250 crore.

So if the group is to help Chairman Cyrus Mistry keep his promise of more value to shareholders, each of them will have to do much better in FY15.

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SAT stays Sebi penalty on Satyam's Raju; upholds ban

Sebi on July 15 this year barred Ramalinga Raju and the four others from accessing the market for 14 years and asked them to return Rs 1,849 crore in unlawful gains with 12 percent interest, in total a disgorgement amount of over Rs 3,000 crore.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal today stayed the Rs 1,849-crore penalty that Sebi had slapped on the founder-chairman of Satyam Computer Services, B Ramalinga Raju and four others, but upheld a ban on them from accessing the markets.

The tribunal posted the matter for further hearing in December, when it will decide whether to admit the pleas of the Raju brothers and others against Sebi order.

The tribunal asked Sebi to explain why such a large amount was imposed as part of a disgorgement order and to file an affidavit stating its position by November 7. The tribunal also asked Raju and four others named in the scam to file counter-affidavits by December 15.

The four others facing the prohibitory orders are Raju's brother B Rama Raju (the then managing director of Satyam), Vadlamani Srinivas (ex-chief financial officer), G Ramakrishna (ex-vice president) and VS Prabhakara Gupta (ex-head of internal audit).

Following the Sebi order, the Raju brothers had moved the SAT last Friday.

Sebi on July 15 this year barred Ramalinga Raju and the four others from accessing the market for 14 years and asked them to return Rs 1,849 crore in unlawful gains with 12 percent interest, in total a disgorgement amount of over Rs 3,000 crore.

Sebi asked them to pay up within 45 days of the order, closing five-and-a-half year long probe into the country's biggest corporate fraud.

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USE merger to help BSE push liquidity to market: CEO

The merger of the United Stock Exchange (USE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will result in the former's promoters, many of whom are banks, become owners of BSE, BSE CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan told CNBC-TV18's Aastha Maheshwari.

Although in a minor way but this will bring some sort of ownership framework into people's minds.

Ashish Kumar Chauhan

MD

BSE

The merger of the United Stock Exchange (USE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will result in the former's promoters, many of whom are banks, become owners of BSE, BSE CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan told CNBC-TV18's Aastha Maheshwari in an interview.

The merger has already received approval from the Competition Commission of India.

"Although in a minor way but this will bring some sort of ownership framework into people's minds and it will go a very long way in supporting BSE which has been trying to ensure that it is able to provide liquidity to every type of markets," Chauhan said.

"Also, the USE's members who were not members of BSE would also be able to now trade on BSE."

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BSNL, MTNL merger likely by July next year

The much-awaited merger of telecom PSUs, BSNL and MTNL , is likely to take place by July next year as the two companies look at synergising operations by offering services as a single entity.

At present, BSNL offers services in the whole country, except Delhi and Mumbai. MTNL provides telecom services in these two zones.

"The deadline of June-July 2015 has not been officially commissioned to the organisation but the merger is likely to take place in the time frame," BSNL Director (consumer
mobility) Anupam Shrivastava told PTI.

He added there are some matters which need to be sorted out before the merger takes place which include the salary issues and debt on MTNL books.

"Commercially it makes sense for the two companies to merge as it will lower the tax outgo. Currently, BSNL is billing MTNL and vice versa for services for which both are
paying taxes. If it becomes one entity, the tax outgo will be less," Shrivastava said.
He, however, said before the merger, there are some issues which need to be resolved.
Shrivastava said the first issue is that MTNL is a listed company and the government has to see how it can be merged with BSNL. One option could be that the government buys back MTNL shares, he said.

"Second thing is the salary difference between the two firms. The salary of MTNL employees is higher than BSNL, so that issue needs to be sorted out," he added.

The other issue is about debt on MTNL books, which is a big concern for BSNL.
Shrivastava said in order to resolve the issue, the government can provide a soft loan to the new entity.

On the merger, Minister of Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a interview to DD News, "There is an idea on consideration, we have not taken a final call."
Prasad said as of now the companies must be revived. "I personally monitor the functioning of both these departments as to how many towers are functioning, the names of chief general managers are there, their mobile numbers are there, talk to them directly...so monitoring is done at my level also," Prasad said.

Prasad had also met the senior management of BSNL and MTNL recently to discuss the blueprint for reviving the loss-making PSU telecom companies.

The total debt of the two firms has increased to Rs 21,208 crore at the end of June 2014.
The public sector firms are also losing market share. The market share of BSNL has been reduced to 12.3 per cent at the end of May 2014 from 13.27 per cent at end of March 2012 whereas that of MTNL stood at 4.83 per cent at May-end, 2014.

In 2012-13, MTNL recorded a net loss of Rs 5,321.12 crore on annual revenue of Rs 3,428.6 crore. BSNL losses, as per unaudited results, stood at Rs 8,198 crore for 2012-13.

MTNL stock price

On August 22, 2014, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam closed at Rs 34.65, up Rs 0.85, or 2.51 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 39.10 and the 52-week low was Rs 10.15.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 132.51 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 0.26. The latest book value of the company is Rs 80.01 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.43.

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Mexico's Cinepolis eyes Rs 1200cr sales from India by '17

Mexican multiplex chain Cinepolis is aiming to clock Rs 1,200 crore in turnover from Indian operations by 2017 as it expands presence across the country. The firm, which has over 80 screens in the country, expects India to account for 10 per cent of global revenues by that time.

"Presently, India contributes around 4 per cent of our international revenue (outside of Mexico). It would increase... we expect it to be more than double, nearly to 10 per cent by 2017. Roughly, about Rs 1,200 crore," Cinepolis India Managing Director Javier Sotomayor told PTI.

Cinepolis expects its global revenues to touch USD 2 billion by 2017, he added.
Headquartered in Morelia, Mexico Cinepolis is world's fourth largest movie theatre circuit, operating more than 3,000 screens in 11 countries.

The company also plans to pump in about Rs 1,500 crore over the next three years to increase its screen count to 400 by December 2017. Sotomayor said the firm has already invested Rs 400 crore in its Indian operations.

"Our global strategy is to keep on expanding internationally. Now, Cinepolis has 20 per cent of revenues and about 17 per cent of the bottomline (coming from
international operations). We expect the ratio to go 35 per cent in the years to come," Sotomayor said.

In India, Cinepolis has selected top 40 cities for setting up screens over the next three years. "The ultimate goal of Cinepolis is to be leader of this market. For that, we have selected a list of cities, which include Tier I and II cities -- top 40 cities of India where
we would be expanding," he said.

On addition of new screens, Sotomayor said: "The target which we would have for organic growth is 400 screens. We would finish this year with 130-plus making us the one of the top players in the industry".

Cinepolis, which started its India operations in 2009, has presence in major hubs as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

"In next 12 months, we will have presence in all metros, including Kolkata where we would open this year, Chennai and NCR. At the same time, we would be opening (screens) in  another tier II and III cities like Guwahati and Muzzafarpur," Sotomayor said.

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