Change of guard at Hotel Leela: Nair steps down

Indian hospitality veteran captain CP Krishnan Nair today stepped down as chairman of Hotel Leela-Venture , the company he founded in 1981.

Captain Nair will be succeeded by his eldest son Vivek Nair, who has been elevated by the company's board to be chairman and managing director.

The board has honoured Capt Nair by appointing him as the "Chairman Emeritus" of the company with effect from today. The board has also approved the appointment of Capt Nair's younger son, Dinesh Nair, as co-chairman and joint managing director.

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Response to NTPC issue satisfactory: Divestment Secy

The government today said it is satisfied with the response to NTPC 's share sale and expects to garner more than Rs 11,500 crore from the offer, the biggest disinvestment mop up so far this fiscal.

"The government is satisfied with the response to this (NTPC) offer. We expect more than Rs 11,500 crore from the issue," Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur said after the offer closed for subscription.

Govt's $2.1bn NTPC share sale fully covered

The total demand received is for 132.84 crore shares and indicative price is Rs 145.91. Thus, the offer has been subscribed 1.7 times, he said.

Sharing further details, Mathur said there was good participation from foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

"One FII has bid for 1,000 crore shares in the early hours of the trade. More order inflow came in towards the end of the day. Individually, FIIs have put in $50—100 million," he said.

The government had fixed the floor price for the 9.5 per cent stake auction of NTPC at Rs 145 per share.

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Kingfisher woes could hit funding for other airlines: DVB

India could be "shut out" of the market for aircraft finance if carriers such as troubled Kingfisher Airlines fail to return planes they cannot pay for, a senior banker told Reuters on Wednesday.

Kingfisher - owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya - is estimated to owe USD 2.5 billion to banks, staff and suppliers, and its grounded aircraft are at the centre of airports', banks' and tax authorities' scramble for assets.

Wolfgang Driese, chief executive of Germany's DVB Bank , which is a major supplier of specialist transport industry loans, said India should step up efforts to show assets can be repossessed when bills go unpaid.

"Otherwise it (India) would shut itself out of the market," he said.

DVB Bank has sued the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Kingfisher Airlines to have two planes de-registered, a possible first step towards recouping its funds.

"If we are unable to repossess the aircraft, we will not underwrite new business in India," DVB's Driese said. This was likely to send a signal to other banks, he said.

The warning raises industry pressure on Indian aviation authorities to prevent a crisis over Kingfisher, crimping the ability of other fast-growing airlines to take delivery of the latest generation of jets.

The head of International Lease Finance Corp, one of the world's largest lessors, told Reuters last month India could see its aviation ambitions curtailed if it did not provide a "safe harbour" for assets risked by foreign suppliers.

"There are several countries in the world, where we are not doing any business as asset arrests prove impossible or just too time-consuming," DVB's Driese said.

The DGCA must deregister the DVB-financed Airbus planes, now in Istanbul, before the bank can put them to use or lease them out.

Kingfisher has 33 scheduled passenger planes registered in India, according to data from the DGCA. It had a fleet of 64 a year ago, when it was India's No. 2 carrier by market share.

Debt-ridden and with no customers, Kingfisher posted a 7.55 billion rupees loss in the three months to December 31 as its planes sat idle, creditors circled and regulators rebuffed the Indian airline's revival plans.

Aircraft are mostly paid for on delivery, meaning any shortfall in funding could affect the handover of jets on order from manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing .

Europe's Airbus has a total of 384 aircraft on order from India that have yet to be delivered, according to end-December data. For its U.S. rival Boeing, the figure is 107 aircraft.

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Central Bank to raise Rs 2,046 cr capital next month

Public sector Central Bank of India will raise capital up to Rs 2,046 crore by mid-March through a preferential allotment route as part of the capital infusion by the government.

"We will raise capital up to Rs 2,046 crore by mid-March through a preferential allotment," Central Bank of India Chairman and Managing Director Mohan Tanksale told reporters here on the sidelines of an event organised by the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC).

Post the capital raising, the tier-I capital of the bank will go above 8 percent with a capital adequacy ratio of around 12 percent, he said. With this, the government ownership in the bank will near 84 percent.

The Finance Ministry had last month finalised over Rs 12,000-crore capital infusion plan for public banks which have low core capital base.

Referring to an RBI panel report which has suggested setting up a `gold bank', Tanksale said this would help in monetising the precious metal into productive asset. The idea of setting up a 'gold bank' would be a step in the right direction, he said.

Earlier, speaking on the state of economy and challenges faced by the banks, Tanksale said rise in bad loans along with slow credit growth to productive sector remained areas of concern for the banking industry.

He underlined the need to reduce the fiscal deficit and current account deficit. Central Bank posted a 59 percent jump in net profit at Rs 180 crore in the December quarter.

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Apollo Hospitals to form a family council

There is a lot happening at Health-care major Apollo Hospitals . On the cards is a new transformation agenda that will be announced in the next 30 days.

The agenda will clearly define Apollo Hospitals' growth and expansion plans from 2015 to 2018. As per this plan, Rs 3000 crores will be invested in 30 new hospitals.

People key to govt, pvt sector boost to healthcare: Reddy

As the third generation of the family enters the business, a family council is being formed that will make the succession smooth.

Talking about the importance of a family council Sangita Reddy, Executive Director - Operations, Apollo Hospitals said, "Many things run on family basis but as you grow larger and the third generation starts coming into the business, it is good to document and make some of these ideals sacrosanct. It is primarily to sanctify value system of organization."

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New products needed to drive motor biz: ICICI Lombard

Innovative distribution channels and products along with customer information repository for the industry are required to increase penetration of motor insurance, a leading private general insurer said today.

"We need more innovative products and distribution channels as traditional channels have failed to spread the insurance net beyond a point," Amitabh Jain, motor underwriting head at ICICI Lombard General Insurance, told reporters here.

He said around 40 per cent of cars and 70 per cent of two-wheelers are said to be uninsured in the country. "The number of uninsured vehicles are so huge that an estimated 40 per cent of cars and a whopping 70 per cent of two-wheelers do not have an insurance cover."

The general insurer said there is an urgent need for having a consolidated industry data and detailed risk information about customers in the motor insurance segment. On health insurance, Jain said though this segment had seen significant growyh in the recent past, it is yet to catch up with low and medium income peers.

He said a major headway has been achieved among rural population in the recent past, but urban poor are still neglected in the health insurance landscape.

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Vodafone representative meets FinMin officials

Vodafone India non-executive Chairman Analjit Singh, on Monday, met Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose in an attempt to resolve the Rs11,200-crore tax liability issue related to the British firm's acquisition of Indian telecom assets of Hutchison Whampoa.

"We met the Revenue Secretary today," Singh told reporters but did not provide any detail when asked if a resolution was in sight.

"...that is difficult to say. But we are willing and positive and that is why we are here," Singh said.

Vodafone has been slapped with an income tax demand notice of Rs 11,200 crore on its 2007 acquisition of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa's stake in its Indian telecom business.

The government is likely to announce some steps to deal with the issue in the Budget for 2013-14, which will be unveiled in the Lok Sabha on February 28.

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SABIC Research-GE India Tech deal gets CCI green signal

Fair trade watchdog CCI has approved the proposed acquisition of GE India Technology Centre's certain assets and equipment by SABIC Research, saying that the deal won't adversely impact competition.

The deal will help SABIC Research and Technology in R&D activities to support its group business.

In its order dated January 30, Competition Commission of India (CCI) said that "the proposed combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India".

CCI noted that both SABIC Research and GE India Technology are the service providers to their respective group entities.

"...the assets, which are being acquired by SABIC Research and Technology pursuant to the proposed combination, are used by GE India Technology Centre for rendering R&D services to other GE Group companies and as stated in the notice, SABIC Research also intends to use the assets for rendering R&D services only to the SABIC Group companies," CCI said.

According to the regulator, SABIC Research is a company incorporated in India and is engaged in R&D activities in chemicals and polymers supporting the business units of the SABIC Group -- a producer of commodity-grade plastics as well as high-grade engineering thermoplastic products.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), based in Saudi Arabia, indirectly holds 100 percent shares in the entity.

Meanwhile, GE India Technology part of US conglomerate GE and provides IT enabled services and R&D activities among others to the group's entities.

Following the execution of an "Asset Transfer Agreement" between GE India Technology and SABIC Research on December 17, 2012, a notice for approval of the deal was filed with the regulator on January 11.

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Vodafone seeks allotment of spectrum won in Nov

Alleging delay in allocation of airwaves, Vodafone India has asked government to "immediately allot spectrum" for 14 circles secured in the November 2012 auction for which it has already made required payments. The company has also sought clarification if the 20-year licence period will commence from date of actual allotment of the said spectrum, pending allocation of airwaves.

In a letter to Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar, the company said, "We call upon DoT to immediately allot us the spectrum acquired by us through auctions, for which payments have already been made and LoIs (Letters of Intent) were issued." "The reason for the delay in the allotment of spectrum is on account of the fact that it is still being used by operators whose licences were cancelled vide the Supreme Court judgement dated February 2, 2012," Vodafone said.

Operators like Idea, Videocon, Uninor are "on the same frequency band" in circles like Assam, Haryana, J&K and Odisha which was "awarded to Vodafone" in the auctions held in November 2012, it added. Vodafone has won spectrum in 14 circles in the November auction for Rs 1,127.94 crore. "As per the existing guidelines, Vodafone India has made a payment of Rs 372.22 crore under the deferred payment option route on November, 22, 2012," the letter said.

Stating that as the spectrum is yet to be assigned to it, Vodafone has sought clarification on commencement of the 20-year licence period. As per the notice inviting application (NIA), the issue of LoI shall be taken as the effective date for reckoning of the licence period.

"In context of, the pending allocation of spectrum and continued use of spectrum by other license operators, DoT may immediately clarify and confirm that the period of 20 years for which the right to use the spectrum has been acquired by the licensee through this auction will be reckoned from the date of actual allotment of the said spectrum," the letter said.

Also Read: Vodafone seeks withdrawal of auction guidelines

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Assocham asks govt to fast-track Jet-Etihad deal clearance

Industry body Assocham asked the government to expedite mandatory clearances to give effect to the proposed Jet-Etihad deal and launch fresh efforts to revive the grounded Kingfisher Airlines . The government should "ensure that all the mandatory clearances from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and even from RBI should be given expeditiously so that a refurbished entity takes off with a renewed vigour," it said.

Assocham said: "After the Etihad-Jet deal, fresh efforts should also be made to revive the grounded Kingfisher Airlines." "After all, public money worth several thousands of crores of rupees is locked and the stakeholders - be it banks, employees and promoters - all are the losers," it said. Observing that Indian aviation industry was witnessing early signs of revival, Assocham said the proposed deal for Etihad Airways to pick up stake in Jet Airways would "infuse new lease of life" in the troubled Indian aviation sector.

The industry has been navigating headwinds from the economic slowdown that led to slump in passenger traffic and spike in operational costs, it added. "Induction of capital by Etihad, one of the most efficient airlines of the world will not only improve the financial position of Jet Airways, but would also bring several operational benefits as well as give an extended reach to the Indian carrier," Assocham said.

The two airlines are expected to clinch the deal soon and apply for approval of the stake sale deal to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) of the Finance Ministry. Assocham said the proposed deal would also send positive signals among global investors who want to invest in different sectors of the economy.

It said Etihad has in the last two years picked up strategic stakes in several global carriers like Virgin Australia, Air Seychelles and Aer Lingus. "In a way, Jet would become part of the big Etihad reach all around the world," Assocham said. However, the chamber said, a lot more needs to be done both from the industry and from the policy perspectives.

More News From Aviation Space: Small investors, HNIs hike KFA stake;FIIs bring it down

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