SECTORS ALERT: 07.09.2012

[rupeedesk]

* AUTOMOBILE: VE Commercial Vehicles has planned a 10-bln-rupee investment to upgrade capacity and launch new products.Ford Motor is plans to export engines built in India to Europe . 

* AVIATION: Air India will receive its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft Saturday. 

* BANKING: The Cabinet has approved release of 109.01 bln rupees as interest subvention for short-term crop loans in FY13. Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C. Rangarajan has said cash reserve ratio as a credit control instrument must be used only under extraordinary circumstances. RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha has said the economy is slowing and the stress on asset quality of banking system has increased.

* COAL: IST Steel & Power, a company new to the steel business and owned by the sons of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Prem Chand Gupta applied for a coal block when he was the union minister for corporate affairs, and bagged it a month after his tenure ended. The director of Central Bureau of Investigation, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the Chief Vigilance Commissioner are expected to coordinate their action over the controversial allocation of coal blocks, before the matter is taken up by the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee.

* ECONOMY: Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council's Chairman C. Rangarajan expects inflation at 7% by March. 

* GOVERNANCE: Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal has said the Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011, is likely to be tabled in Parliament in winter session.  Heavy industries and steel and power ministries have opposed stake sale in state-run firms, even as the finance ministry targets raising 300 bln rupees via sale of government shares in public sector undertakings. 

* INFRASTRUCTURE: STATE BANK OF INDIA has seen weak loan demand from infrastructure companies so far in 2012-13 (Apr-Mar). 

* METALS: A Supreme Court panel has recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into illegal exports of iron ore from Bellikere in Karnataka. Vedanta Aluminium has sent a notice to the Odisha government, seeking temporary closure of its 1 mln tn refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi from Dec 5. 

* JUDICIARY: Supreme Court has ruled that local courts have no jurisdiction to pass interim orders in disputes when there is an arbitration proceeding going on in an overseas location. 

* MONSOONS: Rainfall in the country was above normal for the second consecutive week in the week ended Wednesday. 

* MUTUAL FUNDS: UTI AMC's board has proposed the name of Sunil Mehta, who heads the local unit of insurer AIA, as its new chairman and managing director. 

* OIL AND GAS: An appellate tribunal has issued notices to INDIAN OIL CORP, HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORP, and BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP on a petition filed by RELIANCE INDUSTRIES and ESSAR OIL alleging cartelisation in pricing of petroleum products. Mumbai police have been alerted by the intelligence services that terrorists may target refineries of HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORP and BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP, located in Mumbai. 

* REGULATORY: Securities and Exchange Board of India plans to relax the collateral requirements for foreign institutional investors that invest in the domestic market to improve investor sentiment.  Reserve Bank of India has expressed its discomfort with the Life Insurance Corp of India for holding more than 10% stake in STATE BANK OF INDIA. 

* SHIPPING: Government has relaxed the Cabotage law for the International Container Transshipment Terminal at Vallarpadam in Kerala for three years.

* TAXATION: Central Board of Direct Taxes is hopeful of achieving 2012-13 direct tax collection target. Central Board of Direct Taxes head has said that no rash decisions would be taken on the controversial budget proposals--the retrospective tax amendment and General Anti-Avoidance Rule. 

* TELECOM: Telecom Commission may finalise six key policy issues related to new mobile licenses that will be issued post the upcoming auctions, at its meeting today.  Leading international mobile telephony service providers skipped the pre-bid conference that was expected to clarify all issued related to the upcoming second generation mobile telephony spectrum auction. Foreign Investment Promotion Board has deferred a decision on Uninor's 12-bln-rupee rights issue. 

* VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS: Mumbai-based venture capital fund Nexus Venture Partners has raised 15 bln rupees for its third fund, and will now manage a corpus of nearly $600 mln.

By RUPEE DESK

rupe...@googlegroups.com