Top 10 Indian business news

Here’s a look at this week’s top 10 Indian business news.

Sensex passes psychological barrier of 19,000, ends the week at 19,339.90

Sensex rallied over 300 points on Thursday to end at 19,170.91 amidst positive sentiment regarding the government being able to pull off FDI in retail and Goldman Sachs reportedly upgrading India’s status from market-weight to overweight. The index rose by 168.99 points on Friday to close at 19,339.90, toppling a 19 month high in the process.

Suzlon Energy Ltd, Videocon Industries Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd, Unitech Ltd and Strides Arcolab Ltd were the top 5 Group (A) weekly gainers on BSE according to Rediff Money.

Suzlon Energy Ltd to restructure debts worth Rs. 11,000 crore

Suzlon Energy Ltd struck a deal with lenders to restructure approximately Rs. 11,000 crore of its debt. Reports of the debt recast propelled the world’s 5th largest wind turbine maker’s stock price 28.62% during the week, eventually closing at Rs. 19.55 on Friday.

Jaguar Land Rover launches 2013 Range Rover in India for Rs. 1.72 crore

Jaguar Land Rover launched a new version of the Range Rover at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 1.72 crore.

"The new Range Rover is one of the most iconic vehicles from the JLR portfolio. The global reveal of the vehicle took place in September this year. As India is our priority market, now we are introducing the model here" said Scott Dicken, Brand Manager, Range Rover. The SUV will have a diesel variant powered by a 4.4-litre V8 twin-turbo diesel engine and a petrol version powered by a 5.0-litre V8 petrol engine.

Depending on the specifications and variant, ex-showroom prices can reportedly stretch up to Rs. 1.92 crore.

Flipkart launches eBooks on Flyte

India’s leading e-tailer Flipkart started selling eBooks on Flyte, its digital store platform. The eBooks can be purchased, downloaded and read on the dedicated Flyte eBooks app on android devices. Users can preview up to 10% of an eBook before buying after which they can be purchased and downloaded instantly. The purchase can be downloaded on up to 6 devices.

ReGen to invest Rs. 450 crore for manufacturing facility in Udaipur

Domestic wind energy player ReGen is setting up a wind turbine manufacturing facility in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The company will reportedly invest Rs. 450 crore in the plant and will also manufacture generators and wind towers in the same facility.

IOC planning Rs. 30,000 crore refinery in Gujarat or Maharashtra

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd plans to set up a 15 million tonnes refinery at the cost of Rs. 30,000 crore on the west coast, possibly in Gujarat or Maharashtra, according to reports.

"We have commissioned Engineers India to do a configuration and location study for the west coast refinery" said Rajkumar Ghosh, Director, IOC. A detailed feasibility report will be commissioned once the study by Engineers India comes through.

PVR Cinemas’ Cinemax takeover deal finalized, acquires 69.3% stake for Rs. 395 crore

PVR Ltd acquired 69.3% stake in Cinemax India Ltd for Rs. 395 crore. News of the deal pushed PVR Ltd’s stock price up 18.11% to Rs. 301.70 while Cinemax Ltd’s stock rose 6.3% to Rs. 190.55. With PVR Ltd’s 213 screens and Cinemax India Ltd’s 138, the Ajay Bijli led group became India’s largest multiplex operator.

BHEL executing order worth Rs. 3,395 crore from UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam

BHEL is executing an order worth Rs. 3,395 crore in Uttar Pradesh for UP Vidyut Utpadan Nigam. According to reports, the order is being executed by the state owned engineering giant at the Anpara thermal power station in Sonebhadra district, UP.

"The scope of work for BHEL includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of Boiler, Turbine and Generator Package along with associated auxiliaries, some balance of plant and civil works" said Praful Patel, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

CSLA sells stake in Apollo Hospitals for approx Rs. 494.95 crore

CSLA (Mauritius) reportedly sold 70.11% of its stake in Apollo Hospitals for Rs. 824.92 per share. The global brokerage services group sold about 60 lakh shares of the leading hospital chain, taking the total value of the deal to approximately Rs. 494.95 crore.

HSBC’s takeover of RBS’ India arm lapses

A proposed takeover of RBS’ Indian retail and commercial banking operations by HSBC failed after the agreement was initially announced in 2010.

"Consistent with RBS’s strategic objective to reduce or exit its non-core assets and businesses, it will begin to wind down its retail and commercial banking business in India, whilst meeting all customer obligations" said RBS in a statement as news of the failed deal came through.

Security Mechanism in place for CAT exam this year.

IIMs use biometrics to prevent CAT applicants from cheating, reports the Business Standard. CAT 2009 will be conducted between November 28 and December 7.

To avoid a repeat of the Common Admission Test (CAT) paper leak in 2003, the Indian Institutes of Management(IIMs), which conduct the exam usually, spend a tense few months to ensure there are no leaks and glitches. This time around, aided by technology and a professional examination conducting company, the IIMs are confident there will be no security breaches.

Prometric, the company that bagged the contract to conduct the computer-based examination this year has a security mechanism in place which will help the IIMs manage over 2 lakh applications received this year. Also being introduced is capturing of biometric information which will ensure that no fradulent motives like writing the exam twice or using a proxy candidate can be used.

It is learnt that despite the instructions given to students in the CAT bulletin, nearly 1,000 applications every year get rejected by the IIMs due to discrepancies in the forms of which a few of them are suspected to be deliberate.

“Till last year, there were cases where the photographs would not match or candidates would not attach their photographs while applying for hall ticket. Since there were chances of somebody else appearing as proxy for these candidates, the institute used to reject such cases. On an average, the institute used to come across 100-200 such cases involving photographs,” said a source.