Tata Nano to cost Rs9,000 more from 1 November

Tata Motors today announced an average Rs9,000 increase in the prices of its small car Nano, covering all three variants, beginning 1 November 2010. The company said the increase has been necessitated by the steep increase in input costs over the past two years.
"The average increase is about Rs9,000 (ex-showrooms), with prices varying from city to city and model to model," the company said in a release.
Tata Motors has started open sale of the Tata Nano in Kerala (from August 2010) and Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal (from October 2010).
The company has tied up customer financing with 39 banks, NBFC, cooperative and gramin banks for the Nano. Under these tie-ups, the Tata Nano can now be owned at an EMI of less than Rs3000, the company said in a release.


Tata Motors, which unveiled the `Nano' concept in January 2008, announced its commercial launch in March. The Tata Nano is BS-III compliant and comes with an all-new 2-cylinder aluminium MPFI 624 cc petrol engine mated to a four-speed gear box and will be available in three variants.


The Tata Nano is currently manufactured at the company's new dedicated plant, at Sanand in Gujarat. The Sanad facility will produce 350,000 cars at full capacity.


The Nano offers a spacious interior for a small car and can comfortably seat four adults. With a length of just 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6 metres, the Tata Nano has the smallest exterior footprint for a car in India but is 21 per cent more spacious than the smallest car available today.

The Nano is available in three variants  - Nano Standard (BSII and BSIII), which is available in three colour options, single-tone seats, and fold-down rear seat; Nano CX (BSII and BSIII), which has five colour options, with heating and air-conditioning (HVAC), two-tone seats, parcel shelf, booster-assisted brakes, fold-down rear seat with nap rest; and the Nano LX: (BSIII), with features of CX plus complete fabric seats, central locking,  front power windows, body coloured exteriors in three premium colours, fog lamps, electronic trip meter, cup holder in front console, mobile charger point, and rear spoiler. Many of these features are not available on current entry-level small cars in the country.

At Rs 16cr, costliest car of the world drives into India

It is the ultimate in exclusivity and holds an aspirational value, even for the growing list of billionaires in India. Bugatti Veyron, the fastest and perhaps the most expensive car in the world, debuted with a jaw-dropping ex-showroom price tag of Rs 16 crore, making India the only market globally to sell the world's cheapest (Nano) and the most expensive car. 

Bugatti drove in the Veyron's 'Grand Sport' model that boasts of a top speed of 407 kmph (bettered only by Veyron's other variant Super Sport that has clocked 431 kmph) and can race from 0-100 kmph in only 2.7 seconds. 

The model joins the list of crore-plus car brands to hit India as companies make a beeline to tap the rapidly expanding list of millionaires and billionaires. Others like Bentley, Maybach and Rolls Royce are already present in India, though the Bugatti's Rs 16 crore price tag dwarfs their range. "Bugatti is not a car, it is a piece of art. And to maintain the exclusivity and the enigma around our cars, we produce only limited numbers of a model," said Guy Caquelin, Bugatti's marketing manager for the Middle East, Europe and India.



Read more about Bugatti and See the gallery of Bugatti at http://masterspick.blogspot.com

Jet Airways registers a profit of Rs 1.24 cr in Q2

Emerging out of its losses, private-carrier Jet Airways today posted a net profit of Rs 1.24 crore in the second quarter, but the Naresh Goyal-led group, including the no-frill carriers, posted a loss of Rs 5 crore, which was much less than before. 

Riding high on the increasing passenger load factor, Jet group's total revenue rose by an impressive 31.2 per cent to over Rs 352 crore, with its international operations accounting for almost 60 per cent of the total earnings and domestic operations accounting for the rest. 

While the full-frill carrier alone reported after tax profit of Rs 1.24 crore, which was way above the net loss of over Rs 40 crore last fiscal, the post-tax losses of its no-frill carrier stood at Rs 5.75 crore compared with Rs 12.4 crore last year. 

The growth in capacity that Jet introduced in the market matched with its revenue earnings. While the average seat per kilometre grew by 22.6 per cent, the revenue per kilometre rose by 23.3 per cent, according to the Q2 results. 

Announcing the second quarter results, Jet CEO Nikos Kardassis said the company not only achieved the best on-time performance, but offered multiple products to suit the unique needs of customers. 

"Our ability to expand market share in a highly competitive market augurs well for the future, as it clearly reveals that Jet Airways is fast emerging as the airline of choice from and to the Indian subcontinent," he said. 

The Jet Group has maintained its leadership position in the Indian aviation industry, with the highest market share of 26.9 per cent for the quarter ending September, while its on time performance stood at 84 per cent for the quarter. 

"With the introduction of new service from Mumbai and Delhi to Colombo and Delhi to Milan by the year end, Jet Airways is set to further consolidate its dominant market leadership as the preferred airline," Kardassis announced. 

While Colombo flights would be launched on November 5, the operations to Milan would begin from December 5. 

Jet Airways currently operates a fleet of 90 aircraft, which includes 10 Boeing 777-300 Extended Range planes, 12 Airbus A330-200s, 54 next generation Boeing 737-700/800/900s and 14 ATR 72-500 turboprop aircraft. 

While international operations of Rs 186.8 crore accounted for 59.5 per cent of total revenues, the domestic operations worth Rs 127.18 crore accounted for 40.5 per cent. 

The buoyancy in Indian domestic travel market has been fuelled by a healthy GDP growth and increased business confidence, Kardassis pointed out.

ICICI Bank's UK, Canada subsidiaries witness flat growth

Private sector lender ICICI Bank has been witnessing a flat growth from its subsidiaries' operations in the UK and Canada and will be adopting a measured stance when it comes to expanding in these markets that are yet to come out of the global economic slowdown. 

"Our business has been flat from both the markets (Canada and the United Kingdom)," the bank's Chief Executive, Chanda Kochhar, told reporters on a conference call after the announcement of the bank's Q2 results. 

The bank has earned profits of USD 8.5-million and USD 7.5-million from the Canadian and UK subsidiaries respectively, she said. 

In the backdrop of the weak recovery, the bank will be going slow on investments in the markets and also with disbursing advances, Kochhar added. 

Commenting on other subsidiaries, the bank said that its life insurance vehicle ICICI Life maintained its position as the largest private sector life insurer with a 10.9 per cent increase in new business premium to Rs 1,344-crore in the July-September reporting quarter.

BHEL Q2 net up 33% to Rs 1,142 cr

State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) today registered a 33 per cent growth in its standalone net profit at Rs 1,142.28 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, over the same period last year. 

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 857.88 crore in the July-September quarter last fiscal, BHEL said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. 

Net sales of the Bangalore-based firm rose to Rs 8,328.41 crore from Rs 6,625.21 crore in the same quarter a year ago, it added. 

Shares of BHEL were trading at Rs 2,475 per piece on the BSE , up 0.95 per cent from the previous close.

Reliance Industries Gains, Hindalco Falls; India's Sensex Index Fluctuates

India’s benchmark stock index fluctuated. Reliance Industries Ltd. rose while Hindalco Industries Ltd. fell.

Reliance Industries, the nation’s most valuable company, gained the most in a week. Hindalco, the biggest aluminum producer, dropped for the second day as raw material prices declined.Housing Development Finance Corp., a mortgage lender, lost 1.6 percent ahead of a Nov. 2 Reserve Bank of India monetary policy decision that may increase borrowing costs.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 16.34, or 0.1 percent to 19,924.70 at 12:09 p.m. in Mumbai after swinging between gains and losses at least eight times. The measure, which has lost 1.2 percent this week, is set for its first monthly decline in five.

“The mood is cautious ahead of the next week’s monetary policy” meeting said D.K. Aggarwal, who manages about $100 million as chairman of SMC Wealth Management Services Ltd. in New Delhi.

The gauge has gained 24 percent from a May 25 low and is the best performer this year among the world’s 10 biggest stock markets. Foreign investment into local stocks has risen 70 percent this year, making the Sensex the most valuable benchmark in Asia. On Oct. 14 the index was 19 points short of the record closing high of 20,873.33 and has declined since then.

The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange retreated 0.1 percent to 5,979.35. The BSE 200 Index declined 0.2 percent to 2,534.59.

Reliance gained 1.4 percent to 1,096.85 rupees, the biggest advance since Oct. 21. NTPC Ltd., the biggest power producer, added 1.7 percent to 197.25 rupees.

Hindalco lost 1.1 percent to 214 rupees. Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd., the No. 1 copper and zinc producer, decreased 1 percent to 168.75 rupees. Tata Steel Ltd., the biggest producer of the alloy, retreated 1.5 percent to 594.7 rupees.

Copper declined as much as 1.2 percent on the London Metal Exchange on concern that a recent rally in prices slowed purchases in China, the world’s largest consumer. Aluminum in London fell 1 percent.

Tata Motors Ltd., the biggest truckmaker, dropped 2.9 percent to 1158.6 rupees after Chief Financial Officer C. Ramakrishnan said profit margins “will be under pressure” as costs are building up. He was speaking in an interview with CNBC-TV18 today.

Housing Development fell 1.6 percent to 681.35 rupees.

The Reserve Bank of India will raise its two main interest rates by a quarter percentage point each, according to most economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Borrowing costs have been increased five times this year to cool inflation.

Overseas investors were net buyers of Indian equities for a 41st day on Oct. 27, the longest streak on record, according to the nation’s market regulator.

Global funds bought a net 977 million rupees ($22 million) of shares, extending this year’s record inflows to 1.135 trillion rupees, the Securities & Exchange Board of India said.

Central bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao warned this week that near-zero interest rates in developed nations are fueling “speculative” capital flows into emerging markets, heightening the risk of asset bubbles.

RBI allows banks to trade in currency options

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday allowed banks to be trading and clearing members of exchange-traded currency options subject to fulfilling of conditions related to net worth, capital adequacy ratio, and net profit, among others.

"All other scheduled commercial banks are permitted to participate in the exchange-traded currency options market only as clients," the Reserve Bank of India said in a release

The National Stock Exchange (USE) and the United Stock Exchange (USE) will go live with trading in currency options in the dollar-rupee pair from Friday.

Noose tightens as I-T raids 60 offices of Games vendors

The income-tax department on Thursday carried out raids in several cities across the country as they targetted many companies that had bagged the Commonwealth Games contracts. 

Over 300 I-T officers raided on almost 60 premises throughout Thursday in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkota, Bangalore and Jamshedpur as they conducted simultaneous raids in various locations since early morning. 

Sources said, major contractors, who had benefitted from the contracts, thanks to the Organising Committee's decisions, were under the scanner. Among the companies raided were Satya Prakash Constructions, which had done a significant part of the landscaping contracts, and Shiv Naresh Sports that had supplied synthetic track surfaces and sports accessories like tracksuits. 

The I-T teams have seized several documents, including many pertaining to the contracts and sub-contracts executed by these companies for the Games. Companies involved in landscaping and beautification of venues, street lamp supply and track and sports equipment suppliers were among those targetted. 

Sources said, the I-T returns of the companies are also being examined. 

This is the second round of I-T raids in connection with the CWG scam. 

On October 19, the I-T had raided companies that had won the overlay contracts, including firms owned by BJP leader Sudhangshu Mittal and his relatives. The overlay contract was worth over Rs 700 crore. 

The IT raids come at a time when several other agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, Central Vigilance Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, along with the V K Shunglu committee are investigating the Games' contracts that were executed by various contract.

Cairn India profit trebles on higher output, prices

Cairn India posted a record profit in the second quarter after boosting output and prices to meet rising demand. Net profit rose to Rs 1,585.08 crore in Q2 FY11 against Rs 469.51 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. The company's income from operations stood at Rs 2,686.42 crore in the quarter under review against Rs 229.78 crore in the year-ago period.

Cairn India MD & CEO Rahul Dhir said, “The first full quarter of sales through the pipeline to refineries has generated significant revenues from the Mangala field in Rajasthan. Cairn India’s development and operational efficiency has allowed it to quickly ramp up production to the currently approved plateau of 1,25,000 bopd with the potential to produce oil at an even higher rate from the Mangala field.”Cairn India shares were down 1.07% to close at Rs 318.60 on the BSE.

In the September quarter, the gross production of the operating units was 1,65,385 barrels of oil equivalent per day against 60,480 boepd in the same period last fiscal. Working interest production was 94,304 boepd compared to 18,638 boepd in Q2 FY10. The average oil price realisation in Q2 FY11 was $69.5 per bbl compared to $69.1 per bbl in Q2 FY10. The gas price realisation in Q2 FY11 was $4.5 per thousand standard cubic feet (mscf) compared to $3.9 per mscf in Q2 FY 2009-10. Average price realisation per boe was $67.8 in Q2 FY 2010-11 compared to $59.6 in Q2 FY 2009-10.

In Rajasthan, the company completed one year of successful production from the Mangala field and sold more than 16 million barrels (mmbbls) to domestic refiners to date. It saw rapid and safe Mangala field production ramp-up to its currently approved plateau rate of 1,25,000 bopd (barrels of oil per day).

Meanwhile, Cairn India raised Rs 2,250 crore in July-September period by issuing unsecured non-convertible debentures to repay existing (rupee) loans and for other general purposes, it said Thursday. “The proceeds of this financing will be used to fund repayment of the existing (rupee) loan and other general corporate expenses,” the company said in a statement.

“This access to the Indian debt capital market is a first for Cairn India, which received subscription from a wide range of investors consisting of mutual funds and insurance companies,” the statement said.

IIM-Kozhikode, IIT-Kanpur to partner with Yale

The Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Management- Kozhikhode on Thursday entered into a partnership with the Yale University for academic leadership development programmes. Under the programme, vice- chancellors and deans will be introduced to best practices of institutional management in the United States.

The partnership is part of the knowledge initiative launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barack Obama during Mr. Singh's visit to the U.S. in November 2009.

It aimed at advancing the cause of higher education in the country and “addressing the problem of leadership vacuum” in the sector, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after president of Yale University Richard Levin, Director of IIM-Kozhikode Debashis Chatterjee and Director of IIT-Kanpur Sanjay Dhande signed a memorandum of understanding.

The partnership will take effect from January next, with provision for two new centres of excellence in academic leadership at IIM-Kozhikode and IIT-Kanpur. The partnership will begin with a term of five years.

Mr. Sibal said that a six member committee, with equal participation from the three partnering institutes, would determine the norms and qualifications for participation in the leadership programmes. The first programme would take place in 2011 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Dr. Levin, longest serving president of the Yale University with his tenure spanning 19 years, said the programme, in the initial phase, would be launched on a modest scale and would train 30 to 40 vice-chancellors on their campus.

Yale was also closely working with China on a similar partnership programme.

Dr. Levin praised the government's efforts in introducing the Foreign Universities Bill. He, however, noted that Yale had no plans to set up a campus in India. He supported efforts for bringing in reforms in the higher education sector.

Dr. Levin felt allowing foreign institutes to operate in India would ultimately benefit students.

Mr. Sibal expressed his confidence that the country would certainly attract top class universities, if not global brands such as Yale and Harvard.

Indigo to connect to new destinations

Low fare airline IndiGo, riding high on a bottom of the pyramid approach, is planning to expand its operations in Kolkata. The fastest growing airline is planning to connect to new destinations such as Agartala, Thiruvanthapuram, Kochi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. The company is also planning to start its international operations from Kolkata in the next 300 days to locations like Singapore, Bangkok, Dhaka, Malaysia.

“Kolkata is a very important market for us. Our load factor out of Kolkata is 87 per cent, where as out national average is 81 per cent. So we want to give more focus on this market and expand our operations. In fact, eastern region itself is a very important market for us. We have flights operating in north eastern states, Bihar, Agartala etc. So we have decided to increase flight frequencies from Kolkata to already existing destinations like Ahmedabad, Chennai etc and add new destinations like Jaipur, Kochi etc,” said Aditya Ghosh, president, IndiGo.

The company is also planning to launch flights from Coimbatore to Chennai and Delhi.

Also on the anvil are plans to start international operations — south east Asian countries — from Kolkata. “We will very soon get the in-principle approval to fly international. The idea is to attract the huge tourist population, which fly to these places every year,” Ghosh said.

At present, the company is operating 207 flights every day across 22 destinations. IndiGo, with a market share of 16.4 per cent as per company figures, also looks to expand its fleet size “We will have 34 aircrafts in our fleet by the end of this calendar year. By next calendar year we are planning to have a fleet of 48 aircrafts” said Ghosh.

IndiGo has managed to grow its net profit more than five times to Rs 550 crore in 2009-10. The unlisted airline cited lower costs and higher revenues but did not furnish further details. “There is a substantial growth in revenues. We also added more aircraft and as a result of this our available seat kilometres measures (ASKMs) have gone up by 28 per cent,” Ghosh said. IndiGo’s revenue increased 35 per cent to Rs 2,664.5 crore for the year.

GSK Pharma Q3 net rises 12%

Drug major GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd expects to launch Revolade, a drug for low platelet counts and Votrient, for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, in the first quarter of the forthcoming year.

The drugs have received approvals from the regulatory Drug Controller General of India, GSK Pharma's Senior Executive Director, Mr Mehernosh Kapadia, told Business Line, after the company's board meeting on Thursday.

The company's growth in the third quarter ended September 2010 has been in line with expectations, he said, with patented drugs, vaccines and mass products contributing to the robust growth. Vaccines grew 34 per cent in the quarter under review, he said, adding that global supply issues had “substantially” been addressed. Vaccines account for about 10 per cent of sales. And drugs under price control accounted for 25 per cent of sales. Between the company's new product launches and in-licensed products, growth in the months ahead is also expected to be along projected lines of 15 per cent, he said.

On the controversy regarding the $750-million payment by the parent company to settle civil and criminal charges following the manufacture and distribution of low quality drugs from its Puerto Rico plant – Mr Kapadia clarified that there was no connection to the India operations.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharma shares were marginally up on the BSE, at Rs 2,261 on Thursday.

Marketwatch:Nifty ends lower ahead of F&O expiry; Bharti, HUL down

Indian markets ended a choppy session on a weak note Tuesday, ahead of October F&O series expiry. Metals, banks and PSU stocks were under pressure while auto and FMCG ended modestly higher.

According to analysts, rollovers to the next series have been lower as FIIs await crucial economic and political events in the US. 

“Ratio of FII to market-wide OI has been around 77-79% on higher side while 64-66% on lower side. At this point of time low FII/Marketwide ratio of 66% suggests caution since Nifty gains have been insignificant in current month even though being near the recent highs.

On the Nifty options side, the highest open interest on calls is 6200 while 6000 on the puts suggest a range of 6000-6200. 

Open Interest for at-the-money Nifty November calls are surprisingly low at the moment considering the fact that maximum theta or time value can be extracted by shorting both calls and puts a few days before the start of fresh series,” said Arun Mewawalla, AVP, Technical & Derivatives, Quantum Securities. 

Trend for November series is likely to be dictated by important US economic data like US GDP on Oct 29, US manufacturing data on Nov 1, US House of representative elections and US Fed meet which may give direction on Quantitative Easing. 

“Investors should wait and watch until the above given factors unfolds,” Mewawalla added. 

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 6082, down 23.80 points or 0.39 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 6120.25 and low of 6074.65 in today’s trade. 

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 20,221.39, down 81.73 points or 0.40 per cent. The index touched intraday low of 20189.30 and high of 20344.68 

BSE Midcap Index was down 0.42 per cent while BSE Smallcap Index inched 0.22 per cent higher. 

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Metal Index fell 1.21 per cent, BSE Bankex declined 0.84 per cent and BSE PSU Index slipped 0.77 per cent. BSE Auto Index moved up 0.86 per cent and BSE FMCG Index advanced 0.50 per cent. 

Bharti Airtel (-2.57%), HUL (-2.43%), Cairn India (-2.37%), Tata Steel (-2.31%) and BPCL (-2.29%) were the top Nifty losers. 

Maruti (3.98%), Reliance Capital (3.53%), ITC (1.63%), Jaiprakash Associates (1.47%) and DLF (1.37%) were amongst the gainers. 

Market breadth was negative on the NSE with 1703 losers against 1586 gainers. 

European markets were in the red while Wall Street is likely to open flat. At 4:50 pm IST, Dow Jones futures was down 0.03 per cent, S&P 500 declined 0.03 per cent and Nasdaq was up 0.04 per cent.

Tata Docomo 3G services to be priced reasonably

Tata DoCoMo, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices (TTL), which is all set to launch its 3G services this Diwali, is focusing on reasonable pricing, quality of network and bringing in NTT DoCoMo's 3G leadership to India to make head-start.

The company expects a full blow 3G in India in the next three years and is investing heavily in customer educations about 3G and customer acquisition.

Four things bound to change with 3G are content, connectivity, cloud and its contextual part, feels Deepak Gulati, executive president, mobility, TTL. “Pricing will be simple and based on our promise of 'pay per use' model. 3G will not be a price game but a quality and content game,” he added.

Japanese telecom major NTT DoCoMo, a world leader in 3G technology, is working in tandem with Tata Teleservices for launching 3G in India. “NTT has been assisting us right from the start in our 3G preparations. They bring in a world of knowledge in this field and this knowledge transfer has been very useful to us. They will also be at the frontier in innovating applications and content for us,” said Gulati.

Tata Docomo to launch 3G services on Diwali

Here's a festive gift from the Tata stable. Tata Docomo, the GSM arm of Tata Teleservices, is set to become to first private telecom operator to launch 3G services in the country this Diwali. 

The 3G network will be rolled out across nine telecom circles where Tata Docomo has a licence, in partnership with Japan's NTT Docomo, the global leader in the 3G space. "We will bring products and services that will redefine the Indian telecom experience. Tata Docomo's commercial launch of 3G operations will ride on the back of game-changing products, applications and services," said a company official. 

While 3G as the next-generation of mobility does bring with it better voice clarity, fewer call-drops and faster Internet speeds; the impact it is likely to have on consumers lives is much greater than any of these improvements alone. It will enable richer commun-ication with friends and family, make the device a gateway to a world of information and entertainment purely for personal consumption, and assi- st the user with a host of location-based services, he added. 

NTT Docomo is committed to bring various 3G products and services that give Indian customers a flavour of tomorrow
.

Airtel to launch 3G by end of 2010

Bharti Airtel today said it would launch high-speed third generation (3G) mobile data services in two months.

The telecom operator, which earlier this year won 3G spectrum in 13 circles for Rs 12,295 crore, said it was in the process of rolling out the networks. Bharti is in talks with other operators to ensure seamless roaming in 3G. The 13 circles constitute 68 per cent of Bharti’s revenue market share, the company said.

“3G services will mark the beginning of the next phase of India’s telecom growth story and elevate the telecom sector on a par with most advanced markets in the world,” Sanjay Kapoor, CEO (India and South Asia) of Bharti Airtel, said.

Tata Teleservices, which was the first to announce its 3G launch date, will roll out the services on November 5 in nine service areas. Vodafone Essar will launch 3G in nine circles in January-March and plans to spend up to $500 million within two years.

Besides meeting the growing demand for high-speed surfing and wireless entertainment, Airtel will introduce a suite of products in mobile commerce and health segments. Analysts said the 3G launch was likely to boost Bharti’s revenue amid falling call tariffs for basic services.

Bharti will be deploying high speed HSPA networks of Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network and Huawei.

3G Auction would help Indian Economy : Pranab Mukherjee

Speaking at the annual Economic Editors Conference in Delhi on Oct 26, Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee stated that auction of 3G and broadband spectrum and disinvestment proceed would help Indian economy to meet its expected growth.

For thb current fiscal in 2010, Mukherjee nailed the economic growth at 8.25-8.75 per cent.

Though the finance minister assured the economic growth, but he also informed that food prices would continue to drive inflation for some time.

Stating about the gross tax revenue growth and proceeds from the spectrum sale, Mukherjee also hoped that economic growth of India would surpass 9 percent in near future.

ING Life launches new ULIP

ING Life Insurance today launched a new Unit Linked Insurance Product-ING Prospering Life which meets wealth accumulation and protection needs of the customers, a top official today said. 

The new ULIP comes with a host of customer benefits, including 5 fund options to choose from, Automatic Asset allocation and unlimited switches with partial withdrawls free of chrage, T K Uthappa, Director- Sales ING Life Insurance told reporters here. 

The product offers an annualised premium ranging between rs 48,000 and rs 96,000 and is competitively priced against other long term investment options, he said. The sum assured is an amount 10 times the annual premium at inception for those below the age of 45 and 7 times the annual premium at inception for those above the age of 45. 

The minimum top up premium is rs 5000. During April-September last year, the company sold 1.37 lakh policies while it was only 1.12 lakh policies during the same period this year. Admitting an industry 'degrwoth', he hoped that by march 2011 they would succeed in improving on this by at least 50 per cent. 

Kerala accounts for only 5 per cent of its business of 60 per cent from South India. The company was looking at at 20-25 per cent growth in business from south India and 15 per cent from Kerala thsi fiscal, he said.


(ET)

Sensex sheds 82 points on Profit Booking

Stock market benchmark Sensex on Tuesday shed 82 points on profit booking, mainly in banking and metal stocks, amid weak global sentiment. 

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share barometer, that rose 137 points in the last session, ended at 20,221.39, down 81.73 points, or 0.40 per cent. 

The wide-based 50-share Nifty Index of the National Stock Exchange finished 0.39 per cent lower at 6,082. 

Marketmen said profit booking at existing higher level and the concerns of a possible rate hike by the RBI in the first week of next month weighed on investor sentiment. Session was also choppy as F&O settlement is due this week. 

"Market continues to be in a sideways consolidation after last month's stellar rally. The indices were unable to sustain the early gains as investor sentiment remained muted amid lack of incremental triggers," IIFL Vice President (Research) Amar Ambani said. 

Metal and banking stocks were the worst hit, while a rise in consumer durables, automobile and FMCG space cushioned some of the losses. 

Tata Steel dropped 2.6 per cent and was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack. Sterlite Industries, which posted a 5 per cent rise in Q2 profit, declined 0.09 per cent. Hindalco fell 1.56 per cent and Jindal Steel 1.34 per cent. 

There were also some concerns in the market participants after the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee ruled out putting controls on FII inflows into the equity market as of now, but said that RBI may intervene to check the rupee appreciation if needed. 

This year, the FII inflows have already reached USD 24.48 billion. Of this, FIIs pumped in USD 6.11 billion, about 25 per cent of the total inflow so far, in the month of October alone. 

Financial was another sector that witnessed heavy selling pressure, with SBI dropping 1.84 per cent, ICICI Bank 0.93 per cent, HDFC Bank 0.56 per cent and HDFC 1.3 per cent. 

"Investors are worried ahead of RBI policy meeting, where the central bank may announce a hike in key policy rates," Unicon Financial CEO Gajendra Nagpal said. 

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd, however, came in as help and capped some of the losses. The scrip settled 0.56 per cent higher at Rs 1,096.50. 

Auto stocks too helped at some extent. With a jump of 3.5 per cent, Maruti was the top gainers in the BSE-30 pack. Tata Motors rose 0.61 per cent and M&M 0.30 per cent. 

Analysts said, heavy demand during the festive season may help the automakers to record good sales this month. 

In the 30-Sensex pack, 17 stocks ended with loss, while 13 scrips closes in the green. 

Some other major losers of the day included Bharti Airtel that fell 2.42 per cent, and its rival RCom by 1.73 per cent. HUL fell 2.21 per cent, ONGC by 1.62 per cent and BHEL, 1.4 per cent. 

Global cues were not supportive either. Key indices across the world were under pressure. In Asia, the China's benchmark index Shanghai lost 0.32 per cent and Japan's Nikkei 0.25 per cent. Europe market, too, were down during the afternoon session