Techno Electric acquires Simran Wind Project

Techno Electric & Engineering Company, a listed company with Rs 486 crore of revenues in 2008-09, is acquiring Simran Wind Project. Simran is listed in Suzlon Energy 2008-09 Annual Report as a company which is a promoter group entity. Techno Electric is an engineering, procurement and construction company with a focus on the power sector. During the half year ended September 2009, its revenues rose by 11% to Rs 272 crore and its net profit increased by about 60% to Rs 58 crore.
 

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Exide stock falls 5% after equity dilution news

The stock price of battery manufacturer Exide Industries was holding up well on November 18, pretty close to its 52-week high of Rs 124.

But in the afternoon at around 1:30pm IST the Exide stock started sliding and closed the day 5% lower than its Tuesday’s close.

The reason? The market didn’t seem pleased with the news that the company would raise Rs 500-600 crore, by way of equity or convertibles, through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) to qualified institutional buyers.

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Inflation at 1.34% in October; may touch 3% in November

The base effect that held inflation to near zero levels has ended. Higher inflation also coincides with a period when the government has changed the frequency of inflation reporting from weekly to monthly. Now, only the primary articles (fuel and agricultural products) are reported on a weekly basis. Manufactured products’ inflation will be available only on a monthly basis. October 2009 is the first month after the reporting frequency changed. Till now, inflation rates have been hovering around the zero mark and even turning negative, due to a high base effect in the previous year.
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Shree Renuka Sugars buys Brazilian sugar company for $82mn

Indian companies have gone and acquired companies abroad in several sectors such as software, chemicals, FMCG, metals, engineering. But in the sugar sector, we have not seen any major foray abroad.
 
Shree Renuka Sugars has become the first sugar player to acquire a company in Brazil, the largest sugar producer and exporter in the world with India being the largest consumer. In recent times, India has relinquished its status as a sugar exporter, and the rising demand has made it an importer.

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Rail freight rises: core sector in good shape

India’s goods traffic movement is a good lead indicator of how some core sectors are performing. Coal is shipped by rail. Steel plants transport ore and other raw materials to their plants, and transport finished steel back by rail. Other key commodities being transported by rail include fertilisers, foodgrains and crude oil. An increase in freight traffic either indicates higher demand for raw materials (coal is used by power and steel plants) or higher production because shipments are going up.
 

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GVK Power buys Unique’s 12% in Bangalore airport

GVK Airport Developers Pvt Ltd, GVK Power’s wholly owned subsidiary, paid Rs 484.6 crore for the acquisition. Flughafen Zuerich will continue to hold 5% stake in BIAL. Earlier in October, Unique had said it would divest 12% stake in BIAL to an existing shareholder or a new strategic partner in order to forge a strong development partnership for the next expansion. Unique will continue to remain the operator of the airport and have a board seat.

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Tourist arrivals recover, hope on horizon for industry

There has been a steady improvement in tourist arrivals in recent months, minimising the sharp decline that was visible earlier. In October 2009, tourist arrivals dipped by just 0.9% to 4.48 lakh numbers. This is much better than the 4.1% decline in September and 8.6% in August. Typically, the next few months will be the peak season for foreign tourist arrivals and a good season will bring relief to the tourism and travel industry.
 

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