Events to watch today 05/11/2013

Reliance Industries (RIL) has refused to sign an Oil Ministry-sponsored resolution rejecting a revised investment plan for the main gas fields in the KG-D6 block, saying it does not reflect deliberations on the issue. The KG-D6 block oversight panel headed by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) had on October 1 considered the reasons stated by RIL for lowering reserves in the producing Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas fields in KG-D6 to 3.4 trillion cubic feet from 10.03 tcf approved in 2006. The Oil Ministry nominee on the panel, called the Management Committee (MC), disagreed with the geological reasons put forth by RIL for cutting the reserves and the drop in production to 10 million standard cubic meters per day from 54 mmscmd achieved in March 2010.

State-owned Coal India (CIL) has produced 35.03 million tonnes (MT) of coal in October, missing its target for the month. The company’s output target for the month was 40.82 MT. The company also missed its off-take target of 41.55 MT during the month. CIL’s actual off-take in October was 35.51 MT. However, no reasons were given by the company for missing both the output and off-take targets. Against the output target of 247.45 MT in the first seven months of the current fiscal, CIL produced 235.51 MT of coal. The company’s off-take from April-October was 259.87 MT, while the target was 268.78 MT. CIL, which accounts for over 80 percent of the domestic production, contributed 452.5 MT of coal in the previous financial year compared with the target of 464 MT. The Coal Ministry has set a production target of 482 MT and off-take of 492 MT for CIL for 2013-14.

FMCG major Dabur India has forayed into the packaged milk fruit-shake market in the country under its Real brand. The company has test launched the new product in select markets of Delhi and Punjab and plans to roll out in other parts of the country soon. The brand - Real Fruit Shakes - has been test launched with a single variant, Mango Shake and will be offered to consumers in two packs - 200 ml for Rs 25 and 1 litre for Rs 105. The company plans to extend the Real Fruit Shakes range shortly with the addition of other fruit and milk combinations. Real is an over 15-year-old brand of Dabur and has a dominant share of the branded fruit juice market in India.

Maruti Suzuki India may reduce its diesel engine supplies from Italian carmaker Fiat by about half, partly because of the slowing demand for vehicles and partly because the country's largest carmaker plans to fully utilize its own plant to make the same engine. Maruti had entered into a three-year agreement to source 1.3-litre diesel engines from Fiat India's Ranjangaon plant in 2011. Fiat engines are used on its popular models such as Swift, Dzire and Ritz. In 2011-12, Maruti sourced about 100,000 engines from Fiat. While it had come down slightly last fiscal due to slowing demand, this year the order may be 40-45% less. Earlier this year, the company had shut the third shift at its diesel engine plant at Manesar due to falling demand.

Buoyed by good festive season sales last month, the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp is looking to better its last year's mark of selling over one million units in just two months of October and November. The company, which retailed over 1.1 lakh two-wheelers on the day of Dhanteras this year, is banking on its new refreshed versions of existing models and traction from rural market to push sales. Hero MotoCorp had sold a total of 1,031,520 units in October-November period last year. This year, in October, the company reported 18.17 percent rise in total sales at 625,420 units.

Country’s largest drug maker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is set to take its complex generic drug Fondaparinux sodium injection to Canada and two other emerging markets. Dr Reddy’s is expected to file for approval in up to four additional territories in 2014. Alchemia, an Australian pharmaceutical company which has marketing tie up with the city-based drug maker, also expects Dr Reddy’s to launch Fondaparinux in Canada in the coming months. In July 2010, Dr Reddy’s had signed an agreement with Alchemia and as per the agreement Dr Reddy’s will pay to Alchemia a royalty on sales at an agreed proportion. Fondparinux is used for treatment and prevention of deep vein thrombosis and is sold under the brand name Arixtra by GlaxoSmithKline.

Wilmar International, a Singapore-based agribusiness group, has initiated talks to buy a stake in sugar refiner Shree Renuka Sugars. Wilmar is keen on buying a majority stake in the Indian company, which is looking at various options to ease its Rs 8,400 crore debt burden. Shree Renuka had borrowed to part-finance its acquisition of two loss-making sugar companies in Brazil in 2009-10. It had bought Vale Do Ivai SA Acucar E Alcool in 2009 for $82 million (Rs 380 crore according to the then exchange rate) and Equipav SA Acucar E Alcool in 2010 for $329 million (Rs 1,500 crore then). If Wilmar, one of the world’s leading producers of palm oil, buys a majority stake in Shree Renuka, it will pave the way for its entry into important sugar markets, such as Brazil and India.

Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland has reported 15 percent decline in sales at 6,803 units for October 2013. The Chennai-based heavy vehicle major had sold 7,997 units during the same month of previous year. The company witnessed 18 percent decline in commercial vehicle sales (excluding its small commercial vehicle DOST and Stile) at 4,093 units last month from 4,964 units sold in October, 2012. Sales of DOST and Stile also declined by 11 percent at 2,710 units in October 2013 against 3,033 units sold during the year-ago period.

Bharti Airtel has sought additional stocks of Apple's latest smartphone models, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, amid unprecedented demand, but the Diwali weekend is delaying efforts to replenish stocks. India's largest mobile phone operator and its smaller rival Reliance Communications (RCOM), began selling the hugely popular smartphones in the country through bundled offers on November 1 and 2, respectively, but retail chains stated that on Friday that Apple's premium iPhone 5s model was completely sold out less than 24 hours after its retail launch, while the iPhone 5c model has become the fastest-moving model in stores and was expected to be sold-out during the weekend. Consumers could buy the base models of both iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s for no upfront payment, if they bought it with RCOM’s bundled offer. They would need to make monthly payments of Rs 2,599 and Rs 2,999, respectively, including unlimited voice calls and data usage. Bharti Airtel, on the other hand, offered the iPhone 5S and 5C to Indian customers with monthly rental plans that will effectively reduce the cost to consumer by Rs 12,000 over a year. Bharti Airtel will offer 50% discounts on monthly rental plans beginning from Rs 300 and going up to Rs 1,000.