Business News - March 2010

Renault-Nissan Alliance has set-up a car manufacturing plant at Oragadam in Kanchipuram district near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Fortis Healthcare has announced the largest overseas acquisition by an Indian company in the healthcare space, buying the entire 23.9 per cent stake held by TPG Capital in Singapore's Parkway Holding Ltd for Rs 3,119 crore. The acquisition will form Asia's largest hospital chain.

Mukesh Ambani has retained the title of being the world's richest Indian for the second consecutive year, with a net worth of $29 billion, in the Forbes list of wealthiest people on earth. The list is topped by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim ($53.5 billion). Mukesh has been ranked fourth in the list. Besides, two Indian women, Savitri Jindal (rank 44) and Indu Jain (rank 354), have been named in the list. Walmart's Christy Walton is the world's richest women and is placed 12th in the list.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon's CEO, Anu Aga, CEO of Thermax, Kiran Nadar, collector of contemporary Indian arts, and Rohini Nilekani, wife of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani are featured in Forbes' list of Asia-Pacific's most generous personalities.

Pramit Jhaveri has been appointed as the head of Citigroup India.

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to rename NACIL—National Aviation Company of India Ltd—as Air India Limited. NACIL was formed after the merger of Air India with Indian Airlines on August 27, 2007.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has joined hands with global sports major IMG to develop and manage sports infrastructure in India.

Ford Motor has launched its maiden small car in India, the Figo.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has received approval to set up operations in India. ANZ's re-entry into India comes ten years after it sold its assets in the country to Standard Chartered.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has decided to open a new overseas branch in Singapore. LIC already has overseas branches in London, Fiji, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

L&T has bagged a project worth Rs 2,035 crore from ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals to set up an aromatics complex at Mangalore special economic zone.

TCS has inked a five-year deal with Malaysia Airlines for end-to-end IT infrastructure services.

Mumbai has been named among the world's top 10 billionaire cities by the Forbes magazine. Mumbai (ranked 7th in the list) is home to the 20 riches Indians. The list is topped by New York, followed by Moscow and London.

National Stock Exchange (NSE) has decided to begin trading in futures contracts of Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P500—the two key indices of the US market. This will allow Indian investors access to the American market.

Aryan Cargo Express is India's first international cargo airline. It was given permission on March 9, 2010 to start scheduled operations.

NTPC has inked a MoU with Gujarat Power Corporation for setting up renewable energy power projects of 500 MW in the State.

Bharti Airtel is set to become a large global player with its purchase of Zain Africa's operations for an enterprise value of Rs 49,000 crore.