SECTORS ALERT – 08.07.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 08.07.2014

* AGRICULTURE: The southwest monsoon continued to be weak with the
country receiving 6.3 mm of rainfall, 28% below the normal weighted average of
8.8 mm.

* COAL: Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said the government has no plans to set up
an independent pricing authority for coal.

* GEM & JEWELLERY: RBI has announced easing of norms for lending for import
of rough, cut and polished diamonds.

* GOVERNMENT: Food Corp of India has sought 100 bln rupees more under
Ways and Means Advances from the government in the current financial
year. The Centre has approved minimum pension of 1,000 rupees per month
under Employees' Pension of Scheme 1995 run by the Employees' Provident
Fund Organisation.

* INSURANCE: Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has written to all chief
ministers inviting suggestions to evolve a suitable insurance product for farmers.

* INFRASTUCTURE: Ministry of Civil Aviation may tweak norms to allow
greenfield airports to be developed within 150-km radius of existing
ones. Airports Economic Regulatory Authority says airport builders are "gold
plating" airports with unnecessary and expensive fittings.

* INTERNATIONAL: BRICS nations to formally announce the setting up of a
$100-bln fund, which will help member nations tide over a current account deficit
crisis. Deals worth 380 bln rupees were signed between India and the UK on
Monday.

* LAW: The Centre plans to amend the Factories Act, 1948, in a bid to revamp
labour laws.

* RETAIL: Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, has decided to exit
India, less than four years after it opened its first store in the country.

* STATES: The Telangana cabinet expansion will be completed by this month-end Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar said. The Maharashtra government has put
on hold its decision to delist onions and potatoes from agricultural produce
market committees.

* TECHNOLOGY: The government has set up an inter-ministerial group to
examine the potential of Global Positioning System-Aided Augmented Navigation
for use in non-aviation sectors.

* TELECOM: Vodafone Group is hoping the government will either reverse the
2012 retroactive amendment to income tax laws or make it prospective in the
budget. Department of Telecommunications will implement 21 pending policy
issues including the merger of Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone
Nigam.

* TOURISM: Foreign tourist arrivals in India rose 9% on year to 0.492 mln in
June.

SECTORS ALERT – 25.06.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 25.06.2014

* AGRICULTURE: Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh said that the government is fully
prepared to face any probability of drought in the country due to weak rains.

* AVIATION: Air India is likely to see a 4-5% growth in revenue with its formal
induction into Star Alliance, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said. Civil
Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has said that there has been no decision taken on
privatising Air India.

* BANKING: PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK, ALLAHABAD BANK, and FEDERAL
BANK have shown interest in taking over the Rupee Co-operative Bank, Harshvardhan
Patil, Maharashtra state cooperation minister said. HSBC Holdings' arm HSBC Private
Bank Suisse SA will sell a portfolio of its private banking assets in Switzerland for $12.5
bln to LGT Bank.

* CORPORATE: Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank has invited bids for sale of assets
of two sugar mills--Pad Dr VV Patil SSK and Ninaidevi SSK. Kinetic Group and Ikaros
Solar Group have formed a JV company, Ikaros Kinetic Solar, to provide solutions for
low capacity solar photovoltaic installations. Corporate affairs ministry has invited views
from various stakeholders on easing norms for private companies under the Companies
Act 2013.

* ENERGY: The go vernment is mulling a price hike of liquefied petroleum gas and
kerosene in small dozes of 5 rupees per cylinder and 0.50-1.00 rupees a litre each month.

* EXCHANGES: Suspension or debarment of brokers by stock exchanges will not lead
to suspension of the broker in commodity exchanges, Forward Markets Commission said.
National Spot Exchange has completed 70.48 per cent financial closure for e-silver
investors, benefiting most in this category. National Spot Exchange has urged banks to
refrain from extending credit to its defaulters.

* GOVERNMENT: Broadcasting Minister Javadekar met set-top box manufacturers in
an effort to kick-start the process of produce them locally. Ban on milk and milk
products imports from China extended by one more years to Jun 23, 2015. The external
affairs ministry has said that 17 Indians have been rescued from the conflict zone in Iraq
with assistance from local authorities. The environment ministry is in process of framing
new guidelines on contentious issue of "inviolate area" that has restricted mining
activities and held up infrastructure projects worth billions.

* INFRASTRUCTURE: Road Minister Gadkari has expressed dissatisfaction over the
performance of Border Roads Organisation and said the roads organisation will not be
awarded any new projects till an audit has been conducted. Government has approved
road projects worth 200 bln rupees in Jammu & Kashmir, worth 150 bln rupees in the
north-east, and worth 50 bln rupees in flood-torn Uttarakhand.
The government, in partnership with Japanese investors, plans to set up a finance
corporation with a corpus of 1 trln rupees to fund projects in the road sector.

* METALS: The government is looking at working out a mechanism for single-window
clearance to steel projects in the country, Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.

* MINING: States that have put in place adequate environmental protection rules with
regard to small mining projects of less than 5 ha would now be exempt from taking the
Centre's clearance, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: The government is likely to raise the number of drugs deemed
essential and subject to price caps.

* POWER: State-owned bulk power purchaser Gridco has drawn flak from the
Comptroller & Auditor General of India for irregular collection of power dues from the
distribution companies.

* RAILWAYS: The Railways has decided to partially roll back the hike in passenger
fares for suburban train systems, with no hike applicable to second class suburban
ordinary fare up to a distance of 80 km.The Railways is likely to carry out electrification
of around 2,200 km of its tracks this financial year.

* REGULATORY: Reserve Bank of India has appointed an administrator at Mumbai- based Kapol Co-operative Bank from Jun 20.

* TELECOM: The government will challenge the telecom tribunal's order clearing the
3G intra-circle roaming pacts between operators.

* WEATHER: India Jun 24 rainfall 2.7 mm, 61% below normal.

SECTORS ALERT – 24.06.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 24.06.2014

* AUTOMOBILE: Japan's Honda Motor Co is planning to invest 40 bln rupees to build
an automobile manufacturing plant in Gujarat, its third in India.

* BANKING: The Competition Commission of India has approved the proposed
takeover of Indian business of HSBC Oman Bank by Doha Bank.

* ENERGY: The Delhi government has said all three transmission lines in the city, which
had been damaged during the storm on May 30 have been fully repaired. India is set to
start negotiating with Russia on the extension of a $30-bln gas pipeline Moscow plans to
build to China till the Indian border.

* GOVERNMENT: Gujarat government announced a 100-day agenda, which includes
empowering women's self-help groups, employment generation, and clearing of all
pending cases in land revenue department.

* MINING: A senior level delegation from International Coal Ventures, a joint venture
set up with STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA, COAL INDIA, Rashtriya Ispat
Nigam, NMDC and NTPC as promoter companies, is touring Mozambique to assess
some of the coal assets which are currently under its radar.

* REGULATORY: Reserve Bank of India said banks are obliged to share any data
sought by special investigation team. The central bank has issued a series of timelines for
regulatory approvals to bring transparency and clarity in regulatory framework. The
Department of Banking Operations and Development will give approval for bank
licences to private players within 90 days after the independent external advisory
committee submits a report on the application.
RBI has detailed a 45-day timeframe for issuing approvals by its departments to various
applications from existing and new players in financial services, including non-banking
financial companies.

* STEEL: The 6.5% rise in railway freight rate has led to an increase of 300 rupees a tn
in the prices of steel products at major spot mandis across the country with traders
considering an additional increase of 700-1,000 rupees a tn next week.

* TELECOM: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has floated a paper on the
regulation of platform services for television. Vodafone India has increased the mobileinternet rates for its pay-as-you- go 2G and 3G customers to 4 paise per 10 kB from 2
paise.

* TEXTILES: The government is planning to strengthen the Textile Upgradation Fund
Scheme to help the industry come out of financial worries of the last couple of years.

SECTORS ALERT – 23.06.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 23.06.2014

* AVIATION: The global airline alliance Star Alliance will meet in
London today to decide on Air India's induction into the 26-member
global airlines' grouping which could give the company the facility
of seamless travel to over 1,200 destinations.

* BANKING: The government is likely to give a roadmap for setting up
holding companies of public-sector banks in the Union Budget.

* FERTILISERS: RASHTRIYA CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS and GUJARAT
NARMADA VALLEY FERTILIZERS AND CHEMICALS have together commissioned
SBI Capital Markets to find Iranian partners for a urea plant they want to build in Iran.

* GOVERNMENT: A government panel has recommended treating all foreign
investment of 10% or more of the paid-up capital in a listed company
as foreign direct investment. The Centre is not going to increase the price of domestic
liquefied petroleum gas or kerosene on account of the recent spurt in global crude oil rates following the crisis in Iraq.

* INFRASTRUCTURE: Shiv Sena has said that Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation is capable of building the Gorai-Nariman Point coastal road on its own.

* INSURANCE: The Life Insurance Corporation of India has conveyed to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that it is against listing on the stock exchanges.

* LAW: Indian law firms are poised to recruit more advocates to handle mergers and acquisitions and capital markets as they see activity in these areas resuming with the advent of the new
government.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: The government is planning to bring in a legislation that would take into consideration pricing models for medicines across the US, European Union, China and 14 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

* POLITICS: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has said he is willing to take up any responsibility given to him by his party,  reacting to speculation of a possible change of guard in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party has said the government was doing its best to deal with the "economic legacy" left behind by the United Progressive Alliance government and was working hard to get the economy back on track.

* RETAIL: The Competition Commission of India has fined Tesco 30 mln rupees for delaying mandatory submissions.

* TRANSPORT: The government will hike passenger rail fares by 14.2% and freight rates by 6.4% from Jun 25.

* TELECOM: The Telecom Ministry has sought additional funds of 69.97 bln rupees in the Budget for various projects that are to be rolled out during the current fiscal.

SECTORS ALERT – 19.06.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 19.06.2014

* AUTOMOBILES: A new lawsuit says General Motors Co should compensate millions
of car and truck owners for lost resale value, potentially exceeding $10 bln. The
commerce department has circulated a draft Cabinet note that seeks to offer unilateral
entry to vehicles from Bangladesh.

* AVIATION: Air India has dismissed 47 members of its cabin crew and issued show- cause notices to 20 more on grounds of absenteeism.

* BANKING: Ratings agency ICRA has pegged Indian banks' credit growth at 14-15%
for 2014-15 (Apr-Mar), higher than the 14.7% achieved in the previous year.The RBI has
said that banks must disclose data on sector-wise advances along with their financial
results.

* CAPITAL GOODS: General Electric will unveil to the French government and unions,
an improved offer for Alstom. NDA government is drawing up a 100-bln-rupee plan to
boost localization of at least 10 key technologies in the capital goods sector.

* CONSUMER DURABLES: India's Bureau of Energy Efficiency is set to announce
new energy saving ratings for high-end air conditioners and refrigerators, which
manufacturers say, will perk up the market for premium products even if it leads to a 10- 15% hike in prices.

* CORPORATE: Mahindra Group plans to consolidate all its agri-business units into a
single entity, sharpen its focus on pulses and diversify into new businesses such as dairy
products, fruit juices and processed foods.

* DISINVESTMENT: The finance ministry is working on a road map to divest stake in
seven companies including Coal India, Steel Authority of India, MMTC, NMDC, NHPC
and National Aluminium Co.

* E-COMMERCE: Ibibo Group is in talks to sell Gaadi.com to Sequoia Capital-backed
Cardekho for $11 mln.

* ENERGY: With delays in regulatory nod and gas price revision frustrating its attempts
to reverse falling gas output from Krishna Godavari-D6 field, BP chief Bob Dudley met
petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan to press for early decisions. The government
expects oil prices to rise as high as $120 per barrel for several months because of Iraq
crisis potentially driving a hole of at least 200 bln rupees in the Budget. The petroleum ministry has proposed that higher gas price as per the Rangarajan
formula could be allowed only for incremental production over and above the current
levels as a alternative to applying the formula unconditionally from Jul 1.

* GOVERNMENT: Home Minister Rajnath Singh has sought issuance of National
Identity cards to citizens at the earliest.External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed
Akbaruddin confirmed that 40 Indians were kidnapped from near the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The government is open to higher foreign direct investment in some sectors like defence
and railways, but does not favour FDI in multi-brand retail.

*HIGHWAYS: The National Highways Authority of India will resume work on drafting
a note seeking an overhaul of the existing model concession agreement.

* INFRASTRUCTURE: Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari hinted at changing the Land
Acquisition Act. The ministry of rural development has proposed to make it mandatory
for states to spend at least 60% of the MGNREGA money on creating infrastructure
linked to agriculture.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: Ministry of Commerce has rejected a fresh proposal by the
Health Ministry seeking a compulsory licence for production of a copy of its patented
blood cancer drug, Dasatinib. Bayer has signed a $14.2-bln acquisition loan backing its
purchase of US-based Merck's consumer care business.

* PRIVATE EQUITY: PE investors are hesitant to put money into the renewable energy
sector due to various issues such as uncertainties around policies and tariff.

* RAILWAYS: Freight volume grew about 5% for Apr-May but passenger volume fell
1.3% over a year ago in the same period. The government is moving swiftly to allow
foreign direct investment in railways.

* REGULATORY: Securities and Exchange Board of India in its board meeting today is
expected to discuss steps that may provide a boost to the markets and ensure safe and
easier investment procedures for investors.

* STATES: Amid fears of rise in onion prices, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb
Jung has announced a number of steps to check onion and potato prices in the state.

* TELECOM: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recused self from the Vodafone case tax
dispute as he had advised the company as a lawyer. A high-powered panel set up by the
telecom regulator is likely to recommend allowing more than two operators to pool and
share both 2G as well as 3G airwaves in a circle. Vodafone India will start trials for 4G
services later this year. The department of telecommunications has decided to publish a
roadmap for auction of spectrum in the 700-1800 MHz bands for investors to plan
participation and invest in the telecom sector'.The Centre has reversed the stance of the
United Progressive Alliance government in the multi-crore 2G spectrum allocation scam.Vodafone India hopes to gain significant ground in the commercial segment with a range
of telecom solutions targeting enterprises spanning small and medium enterprises sector
with a global presence and the public sector.

SECTORS ALERT - 19.05.2014

SECTORS ALERT - 19.05.2014

* BANKING: Bank deposits grew 14.8% on year and credit growth increased 13.8% on
year as on May 2, as per RBI data. Bank loans that are not non-performing assets but
could turn problematic vary between 4% and 8% of total advances of public sector banks.

* ECONOMY: Standard & Poor's said reform initiatives taken by the new government in
the next two-three months may have a significant impact on India's sovereign credit
rating.

Moody's Investors Service said the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party-led National
Democratic Alliance in the 16th Lok Sabha polls is likely to sustain investor sentiment
that recently boosted equity indices and rupee. Investment bank UBS remains bullish on
Indian equities after the sweeping win by National Democratic Alliance in the general
elections, and has set a target of 8000 points for the Nifty for 2014.

* FMCG: Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, better known for its Amul
brand, plans to invest 40 bln rupees in two years on expansion.

* GOVERNMENT: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh submits his resignation to
President Pranab Mukherjee, bringing to a close two successive terms of the
Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

* POLITICAL: Congress party is likely to undergo a revamp in today's Congress
Working Committee meeting.

* RAILWAYS: The railway ministry has put on hold its decision to hike passenger fare
and freight rates.

* REGULATORY: RBI has eased norms on raising foreign currency funds from indirect
equity holders. More than 30 entities, including brokers and high net worth individuals,
have come under Securities and Exchange Board of India's lens for unusual trading
activity on the Friday, the day Lok Sabha election results were announced.

Central Bureau of Investigation will quiz SEBI chairman U.K. Sinha and former head of
SEBI M. Damodaran in connection with a preliminary enquiry to probe granting sanction
to FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGIES (INDIA) and MCX-SX. Department of Telecom has
suggested amendments to Indian Telegraph rules which will aallow it to get enforcement
powers to test mobile phones for radiation.
 * RETAIL: Walmart India has said it will engage the new government and continue to
focus on its cash-and-carry business.

SECTORS ALERT - 16.05.2014

SECTORS ALERT - 16.05.2014

* AUTOMOBILE: Mercedes-Benz launches ML 63 sports utility vehicle at 149 mln
rupees.

* AGRI: India's tea output is estimated to have risen 11% on year to 52.49 mln kg in
March mainly due to a surge in production in Assam and South India.

* AVIATION: AirAsia India has not ruled out flying to any domestic destination in India
in the future and is also open to flying abroad if regulations permit. AirAsia will invest an
additional $20 mln in its Indian airline venture this year. AirAsia plans pan-India
presence by year-end. Karnataka Cabinet clears the proposal of Kempegowda
International Airport Ltd to hike the user development fee charged from domestic and
international passengers.

* ECONOMY: Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has said the central
bank is comfortable with the progress made so far on its disinflationary glide path.

* MEDIA: English news channels witnessed significant spurt in viewership during the
run-up to the 16th Lok Sabha elections. Direct-to-home TV broadcast service provider
TataSky has hiked subscription rates by up to 8% on its select long-duration as well as
monthly packs from this month.

* MONSOON: Is likely to hit the Kerala coast behind schedule on Jun 5, India
Meteorological Department said.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: AstraXeneca Plc chief executive Pascal Soriot said that he
would engage with Pfizer Inc if the price was right and the risks posed from forcing the
British drug maker's operations into th US company's new three-unit model were
addrerssed.

* REGULATORY: The RBI has made "prudential contingency plans" to infuse liquidity
into financial markets in case an unexpected election result Friday leads to market
volatility, Governor Raghuram Rajan said. The RBI is not directly involved in bringing
back black money and it is primarily a function of the government, Governor Raghuram
Rajan said.

The RBI is wary of excessive volatility in the rupee and will try to minimise volatility in
the currency, Governor Raghuram Rajan said.SEBI has outlined a risk management
framework for foreign portfolio investors, mandating a stricter margin requirement for companies, individuals, and family.

* RETAIL: Top durable retailers such as Crome, Next, Reliance Retail's Reliance Digital
and Future Group's eZOne seem to have finally cracked the private brand business after
struggling with their in-house brands till just a couple of years ago.

* TELECOM: ZTE Corp fears the subscriber-linked formula that Bharti Airtel will use to
pay for Loop Mobile would significantly reduce the final sale amount, thus not leaving
enough in the hands of the Khaitan-owned telecom co to be able to pay what it owes to
the Chinese equipment vendor.

* TRAVEL AND TOURISM: Fewer people have gone on foreign holidays this summer,
choosing to stay in the country to cast their votes and then wait for the outcome of Lok
Sabha elections.