25 Business Capsules

Date: 26 th May, 2008

1. Reliance Communications (RCOM) of India may soon open talks with South Africa’s MTN for an alliance.

2. As per the initial reports MTN wants RCOM to transfer its 66 % shareholding to MTN.

3. After the transfer RCOM will become MTN’s largest shareholder by having a stake of 34 % in MTN.

4. However in such an alliance RCOM will become a subsidiary of MTN.

5. Talks between Bharti Airtel and MTN ended when MTN wanted Bharti Airtel to become a subsidiary of MTN.

6. The Indian government is planning to sell petrol at the market prices.

7. If petrol is sold at the market price in India then petrol will become costlier by Rs 16 –Rs 17.

8. RCOM has decided to buy Vanco which is a UK based Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).

9. The buyout will be 100 %.

10. Vanco has operations in about 200 countries.

11. Reliance industries Ltd may start is expected to start to start drilling in the KG block in the current year.

12. Vedanta Group is planning to set up a 5mt steel plant in Orissa (India).

13. To set up the steel plant Vedanta Group is in talks with 3 partners: Japanese, Indian and a European.

14. Vedanta Group is considering either to buy back all the shares in Madras Aluminum Company Ltd. (MALCO) or to dilute its five percent share.

15. Vedanta Group has 80 % share in MALCO.

16. Singapore is the largest container handling port of the world.

17. The throughput of the Singapore port has risen and at present it is 27.9 million TEUs.

18. Shipping Corp of India Ltd is planning to borrow $1.3 billion in order to purchase 28 vessels.

19. Export from India in the fiscal year 2007-08 which ended on March 31st was $155.5 billion.

20. The export had increased by 23% from the last year.

21. Imports too have increased by 27% in the fiscal year 2007-08. .

22. Import for the fiscal year 2007-08 was $ 236 billion.

23. Andhra Pradesh (AP) aims to increase the production of rice by 30% by 2011-12.

24. At present AP produces 1 lakh tonnes of rice which would be increased to 1.3 lakh tonnes by 2011-12.

25. In the year 2007-08 India produced

· Wheat:76.78 million tonnes.

· Rice: 95.8 million tonnes.

· Sugarcane:27 million tonnes