Daily News Roundup - Sep 6 2011

Mahindra & Mahindra has raised prices by up to 2% for its entire range of products last month to offset the impact of high raw material rates. (FE)

BHEL has bagged a Rs13bn contract from NMDC for handling raw material at its steel plant at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh. (BL)

Neyveli Lignite Corporation plans to invest Rs402bn to build power plants in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. (BS)



Tata Consultancy Services has put in a US$500mn bid to acquire a controlling stake in Lufthansa IT systems, the captive information technology unit of the Frankfurt-based airline. (ET)

Infosys has replaced a key official handling immigration issues with a veteran specialist from rival Wipro. (ET)

Tata Motors has launched Indigo e-CS VX, claiming it to be the most fuel-efficient sedan in the country with a mileage of 25 km per litre. (FE)

The Hero Group of automobile makers announced its foray into the hospitality sector. Its first property is expected to come up in Gurgaon by the end of 2012. (BS)

Ashok Leyland Ltd total vehicle sales in August fell 3.5% to 7,218 vehicles from 7,480 a year ago. (FE)

Maruti Suzuki produced 200 cars at its Manesar plant, at which the company is facing labour troubles, four days after it started the second unit at the factory. (ET)

A week-long standoff with workers at its factory in Manesar on Delhi's outskirts has forced Maruti Suzuki to stop bookings of the all-new Swift, which have breached the 90,000-mark in a fortnight since launch. (ET)

ONGC has mounted its maiden modular rig on its Mumbai High oilfield platform RS-12. (BL)

Ranbaxy Laboratories has launched generic esomeprazol tablets, used for treating ulcers, in the United Kingdom. (ET)

NTPC has accepted the assurances of Reliance Infrastructure’s distribution arms and withdrawn its threat to black out large parts of Delhi because of non-payment of bills. (ET)

Housing Development Finance Corp floated its version of fixed rate home loans matching ICICI Bank’s, in the battle for market share when high prices slow demand for homes. (ET)

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has entered into a patent suit settlement agreement with Pfizer over the latter’s cholesterol lowering drug ‘Lipitor’. (FE)

NCC Ltd has announced that the company has secured new orders aggregating Rs6.2bn. (BL)

Suven Life Sciences Ltd has secured four product patents, three from Australia and one from New Zealand, for its New Chemical Entities. (BL)
Economy Snippets

The cabinet has approved the draft Land Acquisition, Relief and Rehabilitation Bill with changes that take away some of the farmer-friendly features it boasted of and some of the teeth industry was concerned about. (BS)

The railways are likely to effect a midterm rise in passenger fares. The railway board has sought the political go-ahead for a hike of 8 to 12%. (BS)

The Indian textile industry has protested against the government move to allow duty-free access to garment exports from Bangladesh. (FE)