Ajay Shriram Takes Over As New Cii President

Industry body CII has elected Chairman and senior Managing Director of DCM Shriram Limited Ajay Shriram as its President. Shriram succeeds Infosys Executive Vice Chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan as the new President. He is the Chairman of the governing body of Shri Ram College of Commerce and a Trustee of SOS Children Villages of India. DCM Shriram group has a turnover of around Rs 5,700 crore. The Group is into agricultural, chloro vinyl and value added businesses. Shriram obtained a Bachelors degree in Commerce from Sydenham College, Mumbai. He has attended various training & management development programmes in India and overseas, including the Programme for Management Development at the Harvard Business School, USA.

AXIS Bank Launches ‘Kisan Card’

Axis Bank has introduced its own card which is aimed at helping farmers access liquidity round-the-clock. The bank, the third largest from the private sector space in the country, launched the “Kisan Card” through which a farmer can withdraw up to Rs 1 lakh per day from automated teller machines (ATMs), it said in a statement. The card will be offered to agrarian customers on their cash credit crop loan accounts and will also help them reduce the interest burden as the interest payments start after drawal of the money, it said.

Leapfrog Invests $29 Million In IFMR Capital Finance

US-based Leapfrog Investment has bought a minority stake in financial services provider IFMR Capital Finance for $29 million (Rs 174 crore). IFMR helps microfinance firms, small businesses, affordable housing companies and commercial vehicle financiers raise money on the debt markets. “We act as a bridge between high quality debt issuers in the financial inclusion space and capital markets,” Kshama Fernandes, chief executive officer of IFMR Capital, said in a statement. The non-banking finance company raises debt financing for these companies in these segments through a variety of instruments, including securitisation, collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) and loan guarantees which are then traded on debt capital markets.

L&T Wins Housing Contracts Worth Rs 1,981 Crore

Construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has won contracts worth Rs 1,981 crore in the housing sector including a major order in Bangalore. “The Buildings & Factories Business of L&T Constructions has won new housing orders worth Rs 1,981 crore in March 2014,” the company said in a filing to the BSE. The scope of work involves construction of 24 towers and 271 villas. The towers will comprise two basements and a ground floor with levels varying from 18 to 29 floors. The other order pertains to construction of a residential township in Gujarat with 134 housing units on turnkey basis. The project is scheduled to be completed in 42 months.

Engineers India Limited Pays Interim Dividend To Government Of India

Engineers India Limited has paid Rs.81.64 crores as Interim Dividend to Government of India for the Financial Year 2013-14. The Interim Dividend is @ Rs. 3.50 per share of the company (of the face value of Rs. 5/- each). Government of India holds 69.23 per cent of the paid up share capital of the Company. The dividend cheque was presented to Shri Saurabh Chandra, IAS, Secretary to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) by Shri A K Purwaha, C&MD, EIL on March 24, 2014. On this occasion, EIL Functional Directors, Government Director on EIL Board, other senior officials of the Ministry and Company Secretary of EIL were also present.

GAIL Signs Mou With Chubu Electric Power, Japan

GAIL announced that during the Gastech Conference being held in Seoul, South Korea, the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., Japan (Chubu) on Friday. Under the MoU, GAIL and Chubu shall mainly explore possibilities for collaboration in the area of joint LNG procurement. Besides, the two companies will also seek to collaborate on shipping optimization. Chubu and GAIL are large LNG importers having considerable synergy between their LNG business profiles.

NTPC Plans To Import 15 Million Tonnes Of Coal

National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has set a target of importing as much as 15 million tonnes of coal in the next financial year (2014-15). “For 2014-15 our plan is to import 15 million tonnes of coal. It depends on the supply by Coal India. If they supply more, we can bring down our import target,” NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury told reporters at an event. NTPC currently has an installed capacity of 42,964 MW, of which more than 37,000 MW is coal based. The company plans to add 14,000 MW of capacity in the 12th Plan period (2012-17).