Reliance Industries (RIL) has slashed natural gas reserves in its main production gas fields in the Krishna Godavari basin D6 block by 70 percent to 3.10 Trillion cubic feet (Tcf) due to unforeseen geological surprises. RIL had estimated 10.3 Tcf of recoverable reserves in the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) gas field in the KG-D6 block. D1&D3, the biggest of the 18 finds RIL has made in the deep-sea block in Bay of Bengal, had begun production in April 2009 and had produced 2 Tcf of gas during past three years. MA oilfield in the same KG-D6 block was estimated to hold 681.4 Billion cubic feet (Bcf) of recoverable gas reserves and RIL has now revised the numbers to 788 Bcf. The fall in output was because one-third of the 18 gas producer wells in D1&D3 fields ceased to produce gas due to water/sand ingress in well bores.

Adani Power hopes to start construction of three projects having total capacity of over 7,200 MW, once various sectoral issues, including coal shortage are sorted out. The three projects are 1,320 MW Chhindwara project in Madhya Pradesh, 3,300 MW Bhadreshwar and 2,640 MW Dahej plants, both in Gujarat. Together, these projects have a total generation capacity of 7,260 MW. All would be coal-fired plants. The company would seek higher electricity tariffs while signing power purchase pacts for the three projects on account of increased import duty on equipment. On July 19, the Cabinet had approved 21 percent duty on imports of power equipment, a move that was aimed at providing a cushion for domestic companies such as BHEL against cheap imports.

Infrastructure player Punj Lloyd has bagged a Rs 330 crore order from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for process facilities & utilities at an upcoming crude oil storage cavern in Mangalore. This is the first cavern project for the Group and has been awarded by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves (ISPR), a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil Industry Development Board, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The project, located near Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, is scheduled to be completed within a period of 29 months. The scope of work for the project involves engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of systems for crude oil receipt, pumping out, metering, recirculation, heating, waste water treatment, utilities production, flaring and operation buildings.

IL&FS Engineering and Construction has bagged two power projects worth Rs 142.17 crore. The company has won a Rs 115 crore project from IL&FS's subsidiary IL&FS Tamil Nadu Power Company for supply and erection of 400 kV DC transmission line at Cuddalore. The project value for the line, which connects the Cuddalore thermal power project to Power Grid's pooling station at Nagapatnam, is expected to be completed in 18 months. The second contract worth Rs 27.17 crore was awarded by Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam for supply, erection and commissioning of 132 kV bays on turnkey basis. The scope of the project involves procurement of plant, design, supply and installation of 132 kV substations in Badli, Machraulli, Garnawapi, Bhattu Sotter villages, and 2 X 132 kV base at 132 kV substations in Beri and Aherwan villages on a turnkey basis. The project is expected to be completed in 12 months.

Leading two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto launched an upgraded version of its 650-cc sports bike, Kawasaki Ninja, priced at Rs 4,99,834 (ex-showroom) in Delhi. The latest version follows the launch of the Ninja 650R introduced in June 2011. The company has so far sold 3,000 units in the Ninja family, which was first introduced in 2009. The auto firm claims to be the leader in the sports bike segment with a market share of 65 percent in the Rs 2 to 5 lakh two-wheeler category. After the Kawasaki Ninja 250R and the KTM 200 Duke, the new 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650 is the third premium sports motorcycle model introduced in the country by the domestic auto player.

Reliance Capital plans to globalize its operations in the next 3-5 years and expand its customer base 2.5 times to 50 million in this period. The plans include increase in Reliance Capital's customer base from 20 million to 50 million, expansion of distribution reach from five thousand to 25 thousand cities and towns and increase in the number of business partners from half a million to one million. Reliance Capital would globalize operations by leveraging its domestic experience and capabilities to expand its asset management and wealth management businesses in emerging markets across the world. The company which is present in businesses like insurance, mutual fund, brokerage, commercial and home finance and investment banking among others, maintained its focus towards improving operating performance in 2011-12 despite a backdrop of slowing economic growth in the country and tough global environment. Besides financial services, Ambani-led Reliance group is present in businesses like telecom, power, infrastructure, media and entertainment.

Infosys has been selected by the Department of Posts for its Rs 700 crore project to help India Post transform its banking and insurance operations cross 1,50,000 post offices in the country. Under the agreement, Infosys and India Post will embark on a transformational initiative, which encompasses financial services system integration. This project, estimated at Rs 700 crore, aims to transform India Post into a technology-enabled and autonomous market leader, by revolutionizing its financial operations and end-user services.

State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is close to announcing a significant discovery near the Mumbai High fields, which may increase output in the region by 25,000 barrels per day. The discovery awaits formal scrutiny and assessment by the directorate general of hydrocarbons (DGH) and the company will make an announcement only after regulatory approval. The new discovery would be ONGC's biggest in recent years. It has also discovered vast reserves of natural gas in the prolific KG Basin, adjoining Reliance's D6 block. The government has given ONGC more time to appraise the discovery. The latest oil discoveries will almost double the reserve from satellite fields, a cluster of fields close to the main Bombay High field, from 50 million tonnes to 100 MT, while daily output would rise from about 35,000 barrels per day to about 60,000 barrels.

Maruti Suzuki India's loss is rivals' gain. About half a dozen entry-level sedans will hit the Indian roads this festive season even as Dzire, the country's top-selling sedan, has gone out of production due to a lockout at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant following labour unrest. Tata Motor's Indigo Manza CS, GM Chevrolet Sail, M&M's Verito compact, New Ambassador, Renault Scala and Ford Fiesta are all likely to be rolled out in the coming weeks as carmakers vie to take the place of Dzire. Existing entry-level models such as Toyota Etios, Hyundai Accent, Tata Indigo CS and Chevrolet Avio too will be aggressively marketed as their toughest rival is already out of stock. Maruti had more than doubled the sales of Dzire to 58,371 units in the first four months of the current fiscal, almost four times more than its nearest competitor Toyota Etios' 15,556 sales. But labour unrests, which led the death of a manager, forced a lockout at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant that manufactures Dzire and Swift.