Equity Snapshot

ECONOMY NEWS

> India's economy is growing below its potential and the time has come to be more systematic with development programmes, finance minister said.
> From Apr.1, the ceiling rate on central sales tax (CST), a tax on inter-state
sale of goods, would come down from 4% to 3%.
> The country’s external debt stock shot up by US$ 6.19-bln in the quarter ended Dec 2006 to US$ 142.66-bln on the back of a sharp increase in commercial borrowings by corporates and also due to rise in non-resident India (NRI) deposits.
> The Centre`s fiscal deficit in Apr-Feb 2007 (eleven months) touched a level of Rs 1,218.17-bln. This represented 80% of the full year’s fiscal deficit target of Rs 1,523.28-bln.
> In an attempt to ensure that players with deep pockets enter the domestic airline sector, the Government has made the financial norms for scheduled airline operators more stringent.
> Prices of medicines, which would get patent protection in India in due course, would be sold cheaper than their lowest international price.



CORPORATE NEWS

> Bajaj Auto reported a 10% dip in motorcycle sales during March, this year, at about 165,500 units, compared to the same month, a year ago.
> Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) and Reliance Inds (RIL), signed a gas transportation agreement to transport 11 MSMCMD of natural gas.
> Hero Honda Motors registered a 11.2% increase in sales as against the previous fiscal year. The company clocked sales of 277, 915 two-wheelers in the month of March 2007, thus ending the financial year 2006-07 with a cumulative tally of 33,36,756 units.
> The Visakha refinery of HPCL set a new record by achieving throughput of 9.2 million tonnes during 2006-07.
> Moser Baer said its unit had bought a 40% stake in Slovenia-based Solarvalue Proizvodnja d.d. from Solarvalue AG.
> NDTV Group, concluded overseas placements of about US$ 100-mln for its new entertainment channel, NDTV Imagine
> Tata Coffee opted out for the race to acquire Canada’s leading coffee company Van Houtte, finding the valuation too high.