HDFC Bank expands its branch network

The country's second largest lender HDFC Bank in a bid to increase its footprint has opened 275 branches in the current fiscal taking its total network to 2,000. The bank had a total of 1,780 branches by the end of December 2010 compared to its distribution network of 1,725 branches in 779 cities as on March 2010. About 220 branches were added to the network in the last few months.

Besides having an overseas presence in Hong Kong and Bahrain, the bank’s reach after the opening of new branches has crossed 1,000 cities. As per the annual report for 2009-10, the bank opened over 300 new branches during the year. The bank's focus on semi-urban and under-banked markets continued, with 68 per cent of the bank's branches now outside the top nine Indian cities.

The bank, which has over 1.8 crore customers, acquired Centurion Bank of Punjab leading to the integration of 404 branches in 2008. Recently, HDFC bank has won the 'Best Retail Bank in India' award for the fifth year in a row beating a host of other competitors in Asia Pacific, Middle-East, Central Asia and Africa on a range of parameters.

HDFC Bank has also paid higher advance corporate tax for the fourth quarter. The company has paid Rs 500 crore as advance corporate tax, higher by 66.67% as compared to Rs 300 crore paid during same quarter last year.

ICRA assigns LAAA (Stable) rating to the bank facilities of Power Finance Corporation

Credit rating agency, ICRA has assigned the rating of LAAA with ‘Stable’ outlook to the Rs 31,500 crore (enhanced from Rs 28,000 crore) long term borrowing programme for the financial year 2010-11 of Power Finance Corporation (PFC). The rating agency has an outstanding rating of LAAA with ‘Stable’ outlook on the various outstanding long term bonds and long term bank borrowings, an outstanding rating of MAAA (pronounced M triple A) on the fixed deposits programme and an outstanding rating of A1+ (pronounced A one plus) on the Rs 5,000 crore Commercial Paper / Short Term Debt programme of the corporation.

The highest credit quality ratings assigned by the rating agency continue to reflect the company’s majority sovereign ownership and its strategically important role in the implementation of various Government of India (GoI) schemes for the development of the power sector such as Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP’s) and the R-APDRP scheme.

PFC provides large range of financial products and services like project term loan, lease financing, direct discounting of bills, short term loan, and consultancy services for various power projects in generation, transmission, distribution sector as well as for renovation and modernization of existing power projects.

Glenmark Pharma’s arm discovers IND enabling studies of NBE

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals SA (GPSA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals India has discovered and initiated IND enabling studies of a Novel Biological Entity (NBE) lead candidate, GBR401 and anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody. GBR 401 is developed completely in-house by Glenmark’s Biologics Research Centre located in Switzerland.
The disease areas primarily targeted by GBR 401 are lymphomas and leukemia’s of B-cell origin. Lymphomas are cancers originating from the lymphatic system. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), a type of B cell lymphoma, is the most common form of blood cancer.
GBR 401 shows great promise to emerge as a valuable therapeutic option to treat patients affected with B-cell malignancies. GBR 401 has demonstrated strong anti-tumour potency and anti-proliferative apoptotic activity in several in-vito and in-vivo studies. CD19 is known to be expressed earlier and more broadly in B-cell development than CD20, the latter being the target of the world’s second largest selling anti-cancer biotech product rituximab whose annual 2010 sales were in excess of %6 billion.

Welspun Corp bags orders worth Rs 1,182 crore

Welspun Corp the second largest line pipe company in the world, has won pipe orders worth Rs 1,182 crore (approx 155 KMT) largely from international clients. These new orders are likely to be executed over a period of one year.

With the addition of these orders the current order book of the company stands at Rs 6,153 crore (approximately 932 KMT for pipes and external plate orders of 40 KMT) without excluding the orders being executed in Q4 FY 2011.

The company will continue to open newer avenues and deliver superior customer value and sustain the leadership position in the world markets.

Welspun Corp is engaged in manufacturing of pipes. The company was declared the 2nd largest steel pipe producer in the world (Large Diameter) by Financial Times. The company is among the top 3 SAW pipe company in the world according to CLSA Asia Pacific Market Research.

Welspun Corp has posted a net profit of Rs 146.52 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 whereas the same was at Rs 166.83 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, down 12.17%.

Puravankara Projects launches Purva Midtown Residences

Puravankara Projects launched a new mid segment property which institutes the idea of Smart Living - Purva Midtown Residences in East Bangalore. The total project value is Rs. 135 crore and this launch follows the launch of Purva Windermere, a luxury project in Chennai.
This property comprises a total of 307 apartments which is centrally located off Old Madras Road, near C.V. Raman Nagar on a 4.2 acre land parcel. The mix of 2 and 3 bedroom apartments are ranging from 1208 sq. ft. to 1677 sq. ft. and are the epitome of comfort, convenience with an elegance attached to it. These apartments have been designed keeping in mind the double income working population of Bangalore.
Recently, Puravankara Projects has launched a new luxury property - Purva Oceana - in the most premium location on Marine Drive, Kochi. Purva Oceana which is strategically timing the launch closer to completion will be ready for occupation shortly. Purva Oceana, a 12 storied building, with 2 levels of parking, is located on the picturesque Marine Drive waterfront overlooking the Bolgatty Palace and the Marina.
Since inception in 1975, Puravankara has one mantra for success, part from this, values like uncompromising business ethos, focused customer centric approach, robust engineering, in house Research and Development has created the leading real estate brand

Ruchi Strips & Alloys completes its slump sale of the steel business

Ruchi Strips & Alloys has transferred its steel business as a going concern to its wholly owned subsidiary - RSAL Steel. The result of slump sale of the steel business was declared on March 05, 2011 following the ordinary resolution passed through postal ballot.

The key benefit envisaged from the hiving off the steel division is to enhance the potential to raise further funds and attract an investor for the growth of business and/or combining with a larger entity/strategic partner.

Ruchi Strips manufactures cold rolled full hard (CRFH) coils as per international standards, suitable for manufacturing of galvanized sheets of different applications. Cold rolled closed annealed steel (CRCA) coils & sheets of international standards, suitable for automobile application.  

Gloster Jute Godown Mill in Bauria reports fire incident

Gloster has reported an incident of fire at one of its Jute Godown Mill at Bauria in West Bengal on March 29, 2011 causing damage to raw material stock and the godown. The fire came under control in the early morning on March 30, 2011 but fire fighting is under way.
The company has further informed that the operations of mill are not disturbed and work is going on normally. The extent of damage/loss is yet to be ascertained and company has adequate coverage of insurance for the properties/ stock.
Gloster is a professionally managed company engaged in the manufacture of jute and allied products. The company presently has two business units along with one Captive Power Plant (CPP) which is used as standby situated in the district of Howrah.

Titan Industries shine on its retail arm planning to invest Rs 200 crore in next fiscal year

Titan Industries is currently trading at Rs 3,875.50, up by 32.50 points or 0.85% from its previous closing of Rs 3,843.00 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs 3,850.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 3,953.95 and Rs 3,836.35 respectively. So far 1,06,833 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 4,244.00 on 11-Nov-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs 1,827.25 on 31-Mar-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 3,953.95 and Rs 3,492.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 17302.95 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 53.41% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 19.00% and 27.58% respectively.

The jewellery retail chain arm of Titan Industries - Tanishq, is planning to set up around 15 showrooms in various parts of the country with an investment of Rs 150 - 200 crore in the next fiscal year.

The area of proposed showrooms would range from 3,000 sq ft to 20,000 sq ft, including four to five large showrooms spanning total area of over 8,000 sq ft each. The largest of the upcoming outlets would be a 20,000 sq ft showroom in Mumbai.

The company had recently launched its sixth showroom in Chennai, at Chromepet. With launch of the new showroom in Chennai, Tanishq retail chain presently has 123 exclusive boutiques in 76 cities. The new showroom in Chennai, of 4,000 sq ft, would provide a range of traditional Bengali jewellery, wedding jewellery in plain gold, diamonds, polki and kundan. The new showroom would also provide facilities including Karatmeter, a device to measure the purity of gold, for its customers.

Tanishq is a prominent jewellery brand of India and a division of Titan Industries.  It pioneered the concept of branded jewellery and ornaments in India. Tanishq, India’s largest, most trusted and fastest growing jewellery brand, offers traditional as well as trendy designs in gold, diamond and platinum. 

KEC International soars on bagging new orders worth Rs 801 crore

KEC International is currently trading at Rs 84.80, up by 3.70 points or 4.56% from its previous closing of Rs 81.10 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs 83.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 86.25 and Rs 80.60 respectively. So far 2,62,242 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 123.40 on 30-Jul-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs 70.30 on 22-Mar-2011.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 86.25 and Rs 74.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 2108.12 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 41.65% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 43.13% and 15.22% respectively.

KEC International, the flagship company of PRG Group has bagged new orders worth aggregating Rs 801 crore in the areas of Transmission (domestic and international) and cables.

In India, the company has secured three orders from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) aggregating Rs 224 crore and one order from state utility Aptransco worth Rs 84 crore on Turnkey basis. In International markets, the company has bagged order aggregating worth Rs 386 crore from Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United States and Brazil.

The company has won supply orders for extra high voltage power cables, high tension, low tension and telecom cables from various customers worth Rs 107 crore.

KEC is in the business of manufacture of transmission towers and erection and laying of power transmission lines on an EPC basis. It is a global leader in the power transmission engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business. The company is one of the largest Power Transmission EPC companies in the world.

Smartlink Network makes new high on getting nod to sell its structured cabling business

Smartlink Network Systems is currently trading at Rs 83.75, up by 5.45 points or 6.96% from its previous closing of Rs 78.30 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs 80.30 and has touched a high and low of Rs 93.95 and Rs 76.00 respectively. So far 2294949 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 93.95 on 31-Mar-2011 and a 52 week low of Rs 40.50 on 31-Mar-2010.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 93.95 and Rs 65.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 249.94 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 67.33% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 0.02% and 32.65% respectively. Smartlink Network Systems has received its board’s approval for the sale of the structured cabling business comprising of manufacture, sale and marketing of structured cabling products carried on by it, under the brand name - Diglink - hereinafter referred to as the (Digilink Business) to Schneider Electric India.
The Digilink Business together with its respective assets and liabilities shall be transferred to Schneider, as a going concern on a slump sale basis, on a cash free and debt free basis, for a total consideration of Rs 503 crore.
Smartlink Network is engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing and marketing of advanced networking, broadband, digital, voice and data communications solutions. Company caters the global networking and connectivity needs of digital home consumers, small office professionals, small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprise environments

HDFC Bank rises on expanding its branch network

HDFC Bank is currently trading at Rs 2,360.00, up by 22.15 points or 0.95% from its previous closing of Rs 2,337.85 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs 2,345.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 2,370.00 and Rs 2,345.00 respectively. So far 10,535 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 2,518.00 on 04-Oct-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs 1,785.00 on 25-May-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 2,370.00 and Rs 2,197.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 110188.70 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 23.40% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 40.23% and 18.90% respectively.

The country's second largest lender HDFC Bank in a bid to increase its footprint has opened 275 branches in the current fiscal taking its total network to 2,000. The bank had a total of 1,780 branches by the end of December 2010 compared to its distribution network of 1,725 branches in 779 cities as on March 2010. About 220 branches were added to the network in the last few months.

Besides having an overseas presence in Hong Kong and Bahrain, the bank’s reach after the opening of new branches has crossed 1,000 cities. As per the annual report for 2009-10, the bank opened over 300 new branches during the year. The bank's focus on semi-urban and under-banked markets continued, with 68 per cent of the bank's branches now outside the top nine Indian cities.

The bank, which has over 1.8 crore customers, acquired Centurion Bank of Punjab leading to the integration of 404 branches in 2008. Recently, HDFC bank has won the 'Best Retail Bank in India' award for the fifth year in a row beating a host of other competitors in Asia Pacific, Middle-East, Central Asia and Africa on a range of parameters.

HDFC Bank has also paid higher advance corporate tax for the fourth quarter. The company has paid Rs 500 crore as advance corporate tax, higher by 66.67% as compared to Rs 300 crore paid during same quarter last year.

Welspun Corp zooms on bagging orders worth Rs 1,182 crore

Welspun Corp is currently trading at Rs 204.20, up by 6.00 points or 3.03% from its previous closing of Rs 198.20 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs 204.90 and has touched a high and low of Rs 212.40 and Rs 202.10 respectively. So far 177357 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 295.70 on 07-Apr-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs 144.35 on 18-Jan-2011.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 212.40 and Rs 196.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 4228.46 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 41.08% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 32.75% and 26.17% respectively. Welspun Corp the second largest line pipe company in the world, has won pipe orders worth Rs 1,182 crore (approx 155 KMT) largely from international clients. These new orders are likely to be executed over a period of one year.
With the addition of these orders the current order book of the company stands at Rs 6,153 crore (approximately 932 KMT for pipes and external plate orders of 40 KMT) without excluding the orders being executed in Q4 FY 2011.
The company will continue to open newer avenues and deliver superior customer value and sustain the leadership position in the world markets.
Welspun Corp is engaged in manufacturing of pipes. The company was declared the 2nd largest steel pipe producer in the world (Large Diameter) by Financial Times. The company is among the top 3 SAW pipe company in the world according to CLSA Asia Pacific Market Research.

Puravankara Projects gain on launching Purva Midtown Residences

Puravankara Projects is currently trading at Rs. 111.00, up by 0.40 points or 0.36% from its previous closing of Rs. 110.60 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 111.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 113.00 and Rs. 110.55 respectively. So far 2,703 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 145.25 on 27-Sep-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 76.40 on 01-Jun-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 118.80 and Rs. 101.25 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2397.82 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 89.96% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 8.46% and 1.57% respectively.

Puravankara Projects launched a new mid segment property which institutes the idea of Smart Living - Purva Midtown Residences in East Bangalore. The total project value is Rs. 135 crore and this launch follows the launch of Purva Windermere, a luxury project in Chennai.

This property comprises a total of 307 apartments which is centrally located off Old Madras Road, near C.V. Raman Nagar on a 4.2 acre land parcel. The mix of 2 and 3 bedroom apartments are ranging from 1208 sq. ft. to 1677 sq. ft. and are the epitome of comfort, convenience with an elegance attached to it. These apartments have been designed keeping in mind the double income working population of Bangalore.

Recently, Puravankara Projects has launched a new luxury property - Purva Oceana - in the most premium location on Marine Drive, Kochi. Purva Oceana which is strategically timing the launch closer to completion will be ready for occupation shortly. Purva Oceana, a 12 storied building, with 2 levels of parking, is located on the picturesque Marine Drive waterfront overlooking the Bolgatty Palace and the Marina.

Since inception in 1975, Puravankara has one mantra for success, part from this, values like uncompromising business ethos, focused customer centric approach, robust engineering, in house Research and Development has created the leading real estate brand. 

Deepak Fertilisers gains on establishing its global foot print

Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals is currently trading at Rs. 165.60, up by 6.95 points or 4.38% from its previous closing of Rs. 158.65 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 162.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 167.80 and Rs. 161.00 respectively. So far 56,486 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 212.40 on 03-Nov-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 102.15 on 25-May-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 167.80 and Rs. 152.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1402.02 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 42.61% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 21.14% and 36.25% respectively.

Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation (DFPCL) proposing to “go global” is accordingly working  towards setting up 300 kpta TAN plant is South Australia in the State of Australia to enable the state to realize its ambitious growth plans in resource (minning) and infrastructure sectors. This would be first such plant in SA and will provide cost-effective TAN supplies primarily to local end users. Beyond supplies, the company will also bring in deep knowledge base of products application engineering in mines.

The government of SA has indentified a potentially suitable site for the project, which will be the subject for further feasibility study. The site is close to a deep sea port and nearby city having a long established industrial history with complete infrastructure, skilled workforce etc, thereby providing the project with a more favorable cost competitive construction and operating environment compared to many parts of Australia.

This positive step from the government of SA will enable the company to proceed with the Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR), Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study and other statutory clearance in the course of next 12-15months and the project will be completed 24 months thereafter. The estimated cost of the projects is around $350 million. While the project is expected to bring in significant socio-economic benefits to the region, the SA state and Australia as a nation, it will enable DFPCL to establish a global foot prints.

FII DII DATA 31/02/2011

Net Index Futures (769), Net Stock Futures (-292), Derivative Market: Total Open Interest (Rs 1,65,995 cr), Stock Futures Open Interest (Rs 36,067 cr)

Indian ADRs Update 31/03/2011

 INFOSYS Up 0.0 (0.0%), WIPRO Up 0.2 (1.4%), ICICI BANK Up 0.6 (1.3%), HDFC BANK Up 1.6 (1.0%)

Global Markets update 31/03/2011

DJIA Up 71 (0.6%) NSDQ Up 19.9 (0.7%) FTSE 100 Up 16.1 (0.3%) Asian Markets as on 8.45 AM  NIKKEI Down 2.88 (0.03%) HANG SENG Up 45.7 (0.19) SGX NIFTY Up 2

Super Spinning Mills wholly owned subsidiary acquires Elgi Building Products

Super Spinning Mills wholly owned subsidiary - Sara Elgi Arteriors acquired 58.32% of equity share capital of Elgi Building Products, a leading manufacturer of PVC extrusions used in the manufacture of UPVC doors and windows.
With this acquisition Elgi Building Products became a subsidiary of Sara Elgi Arteriors and thereby step down subsidiary of Super Spinning Mills. Super Spinning Mills also holds the balance of 41.68% of equity share capital of Elgi Building Products.
Super Spinning Mills commenced operations with the manufacture of grey, gassed, mercerised and dyed cotton yarn. Today, the company has carved a niche for itself on the textile map of country.

Prism Informatics to acquire GOD Barcode Marketing

Prism Informatics has entered into agreement with the promoters/owners of GOD Barcode Marketing mbH (GODBM), Germany for acquiring 100% stake in the company. The acquisition highlights the continued focus by Prism Informatics on strategic acquisition.

The investment of Prism Informatics in GODBM will bring many new competencies and the possibility to deliver those solutions not only to Germany but also to Europe.GODBM is a technology and service provider with key focus in the logistics and supply chain domains, serving clients for close to three decades. The acquisition is expected to strengthen supply chain and logistics domains within these verticals and will allow Prism to grow their clientbase and leverage cross selling across established clients in diverse geographies.

Recently, Prism Informatics has won a contract for Business Intelligence from 'The Mega Home Store - @home, India'. The company will implement Business Objects and Business Warehouse for @home.

Prism Informatics is a mid-sized software development company. Prism's focus has been on delivering cutting edge software solutions coupled with building client relationships. Promoted by Pradeep Kothari, a young technocrat, the Prism team is constantly on the endeavor to contribute to the success of the organization.

AP Paper Mills, M&M, Ashok Leyland and Tata Global Beverages to hog limelight today

Paper sector is likely to be in limelight today, as in a surprising deal International Paper Company, the US based paper and packaging giant, has bought 53.5% in Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills from its promoters for around Rs 1160 crore, the valuation comes well over 175% from its closing in previous session.

Mahindra & Mahindra plans to take 100 of its top vendors to South Korea in May as it aims to integrate sourcing operations and launch Ssangyong's products in India.

Tata Motors, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, will invest around 50 million pounds in its research & development base in the Midlands over the next two years, in a vote of confidence for UK manufacturing.

After three years of joint working, Ashok Leyland Nissan vehicles, the 50:50 JV between ALL and Nissan Motor, has unveiled its first light commercial product, 'Ashok Leyland Dost'. The 1.25 tonne payload capacity vehicle is to hit the market in the second quarter of 2011-12.

PepsiCo India's joint venture with Tata Global Beverages is set to launch a glucose-based beverage next week. Lehar Gluco Plus, a lemon-flavoured , noncarbonated drink, will be rolled out in pockets of Maharashtra through a pilot project and will be priced at Rs 5.

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp may skip April naphtha exports from Hazira port for the third month in a row due to a delay in start up of a mooring facility.

US-based International Paper said it has entered into agreements with the promoters of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills (APPM) to buy their 53.5 per cent stake for USD 257 million (nearly Rs 1,150 crore).

Close on the heels of closing Rs 60-crore securitisation deal with a non-banking financial company (NBFC), SKS Microfinance - the largest microfinance institution in the country - has completed another deal worth Rs 550 crore with two banks.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has questioned the valuation and structure of the high-profile deal cut by private lender Axis Bank last November to buy Enam Securities-an influential Dalal Street brokerage and investment bank.

Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto, the two largest motorcycle manufacturers in India, are getting embroiled in a battle for the fast-growing premium two-wheeler business. The BM Munjal group company wants to step up efforts to counter falling market share in the premium segment.

India's premier bank, State Bank of India, inaugurated its first affordable housing loan cell in Mumbai, which will provide a platform for its customers to interact with the bank.

Kerala-based Muthoot Fincorp, the flagship company of the Muthoot Pappachan Group, announced its foray into the housing finance segment after securing licence from National Housing Bank (NHB).

At a time momentum is building to allow foreign players into front-end retail, Future group and Walmart have met at least five times in the past four months, raising the possibility of an alliance between India's largest retailer and the world's largest retailer. If the alliance fructifies, it could reconfigure organised retail in India.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a proposal for Rs 4,500 crore foreign direct investment (FDI) in Hero Investments, one of the main shareholders in the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda, by two private equity firms.

Computer maker HCL Infosystems announced its foray into the tablet space, with launch of its ME range of tabs starting at Rs 14,990.

India's largest IT exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will expand operations in Europe in sectors like healthcare.

Tata Chemicals introduced its water purifier brand 'Tata Swach' in the Gujarat market as a part of the week long celebrations post the World Water Day.

Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma is going in for large-scale automation of its manufacturing processes as part of a corrective action plan to reduce manual intervention.

With an aim to increase the productivity and an income of farmers, the major agro chemical and Seeds Company in the country- United Phosphorus (UPL) has taken a novel initiative for farmers since the past one year.

Alpine Global Premier Properties Fund, a diversified, closed-end management investment company, today bought around 426,000 shares in Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals.

Housing Development Finance Corp plans to raise at least 2.5 billion rupees through 5-year bonds at 9.6 percent. The issue opens and closes on April 7 and ICICI Bank is the sole arranger of the deal.

Hotel Leelaventure will invest Rs 100 crore to upgrade its property in Goa this year and is looking to expand presence in India by opening new company-owned properties and taking up management contracts.

Japan's NTT DoCoMo is to buy into Rs 3,000 crore rights issue by Tata Teleservices, set to be announced this week.

Broadcasting majors STAR India and NDTV Group have signed a pact, where STAR India's ad sales team will now handle the advertising sales function of NDTV news channels.

Karur Vysya Bank is in the process of opening its three new branches at Tirupattur and Chengam in Tamil Nadu and Ramanagara in Karnataka.

Energy Development Company in consortium has bagged contract worth Rs 20 crore for design, detailed engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing, commissioning and putting into commercial use of turbine, generator and associated equipment in respect of Kumbhe Hydro Electric Project (1 x 10 MW) from the Government of Maharashtra.

Public sector lender United Bank of India on announced that it will foray into merchant banking and loan syndication business by this year-end.