Production in India Surges

Mayank Mehta, Chandrasekhar Atreya and Sanjay Barot
11 Jun, 2010
New York City

India

[R]5:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in Mumbai traded higher for a third day in a row after industrial production soared 17.6% in April. Reliance finds new oil field in Cambay. HFCL Infotel wins broadband wireless license.[/R]

The Sensex Index in India increased 142.87 or 0.84% to 17,064.95 and CNX Nifty index rose 34.20 or 0.67% to 5112.80. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 23 rose and 7 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,620 stocks advanced, 1,177 declined and 100 were unchanged. Capital goods and banking stocks also were firm. But, telecom stocks fell.

Rupee edged higher 22 paisa to Rs 46.73 against one dollar.

India’s industrial production which measures outputs at factories, utilities, and mines, rose at a better-than-estimated rate of 17.6% in April, after gaining a revised 13.9% in March from a year earlier, said the statistics department in a statement in New Delhi today.

Manufacturing index advanced 19.4% and electricity output rose 6% in April, the statement said.

India’s Commerce Ministry is scheduled to release the wholesale-price inflation data at noon on June 14.

Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s biggest company by market value made its sixth discovery of oil in a 635 square kilometer block located in the Cambay basin about 130 kilometers from Ahmedabad, the company said in a statement today.

The significant discovery in the block owned entirely by the company is being assessed by the firm for its viability in order to increase domestic fuel supplies. India is currently importing 75% of its crude oil requirements.

HFCL Infotel, a fixed-line service provider paid Rs 12,848 crore license fee for pan-India license in all 22 regions offered on sales, the Department of Telecommunications said in a statement today.

Eleven companies including Bharti Airtel Ltd, and Qualcomm Inc, were competing for two bandwidth slots in each of the 22 regional zones in the auction for the BWA spectrum. The spectrum would allow the successful bidders the use of new technologies like WiMax, a wireless broadband technology.

Aircel Ltd, won eight regional licenses for Rs 3,438 crore.

U.S.-based solar energy company, American Capital Energy on Thursday announced joining hands with MSM Energy to float a 50:50 venture company, ICE Solar to provide photovoltaic solar engineering, procurement and construction services to the Indian market.

“The venture would entail an investment of Rs 2,000 crore over the next three years, “ said the CEO and President of American Capital Energy, Tom Hunton, while addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

NTPC and Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd, have finalized plans to manufacture about 5,000 megawatt of power equipment annually and hope to secure nearly Rs 7,000 crore worth of orders by the end of the year.

NTPC BHEL Power Projects, in a presentation to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises on Thursday in New Delhi, outlined a capital investment of Rs 6,000 crore to become a leading player in the field of power generation equipment.

Essar Energy, the integrated energy company announced that following the quarterly review of the FTSE’s U.K. Index series, its shares would be included in the FTSE 100 index of leading shares listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, from June 18.

Gainers & Losers

ARSS Infrastructure Projects Limited rose 3.55% to Rs 1,250.85 extending gains for the fourth consecutive day, after the company recently secured an order worth Rs 114.49 crore from Rites, Nagpur.

Bharti Airtel Limited fell 3.75% to Rs 274.55 on profit booking after the stock surged 11% in the preceding two trading sessions.

Cairn India Limited rose 1.33% to Rs 301.05 after crude oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on June 10.

Eicher Motors Limited surged 15.62% to Rs 921.75 after the company''s joint venture firm VE Commercial Vehicle said it will invest Rs 288 crore in Pithampur plant for production & final assembly of Volvo''s new global medium-duty engines.

HDFC Bank Limited rose 1.54% to Rs 1,943.60 after the company’s ADR soared 5% to $144.07 on the New York Stock Exchange on June 10.

Idea Cellular Limited fell 1.63% to Rs 54.40 on reports the company did not win broadband spectrum in any of the 22 zones in an auction.

Insecticides (India) Limited fell 4.27% to Rs 176.90 on profit booking after surging 15.46% on June 10.

Jet Airways (India) Limited rose 0.83% to Rs 499.55 after the airline posted record passenger load factors in May.

Panoramic Universal Limited rose 3.44% to Rs 165.50 after the company fixed June 22 as the record date for a 5-to-1 bonus issue.

Reliance Industries Limited rose 3.03% to Rs 1,046.25 after the company announced its sixth oil discovery in one of its exploration blocks located in the Cambay basin in Gujarat.

Tata Metaliks Limited fell 3.85% to Rs 145.00 on profit booking after surging 20% on June 10.

Tata Tea Limited rose 2.56% to Rs 1,101.50 after the company fixed July 2 as the record date for a 10-for-1 stock split.

The South India Paper Mills Limited surged 13.78% to Rs 94.55 after the company said its board will meet on July 29 to consider issue of bonus shares.

Wipro Limited rose 0.71% to Rs 646.50 after the company said it received a 10-year contract to manage the information-technology infrastructure and data centers of T.V. Sundaram Iyengar & Sons.