Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy has pledged conditional support for Reliance Industries' (RIL) plans to raise gas output while a state-controlled panel approved the budget for the KG-D6 block, signaling some improvement in the thorny relationship between the ministry and the company. The government-led management committee (MC) of the Reliance-operated block approved the budget for KG-D6 for the past two fiscal years, which had been pending for a long time, and gave consent to $1.06-billion expenditure for 2012-13. The government took the conciliatory approach after RIL agreed to share D6 accounts with the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India. However, management committee has not yet approved the declaration of commerciality (DoC) of D-29, D30 and D31 gas discoveries because of some technical reasons but expressed willingness to give the company time to resolve the issues raised and allow it to develop the fields.

Coal India has agreed to pay penalties of 1.5%-40% depending on the extent to which it fails to supply the committed quantity of coal to power plants. Coal India board also agreed to pool imported and domestic coal supplies provided all existing consumers and stakeholders agree to the proposal. However, approval of the Central Electricity Authority and buyers such as the Railways is needed because price pooling would raise costs of coal for existing plants and raise power tariffs by about 8 paise per unit. Only 25% of the cost of imported coal will be pooled and divided equitably among all power producers. The remaining 75% of the cost of imported coal would be borne by the power producers who consume the coal.

Country's largest power producer NTPC has suffered a generation loss of 14,000 MW at the time of grid failure last week, which affected half of the country's 1.2 billion population in over 21 states. The state-owned company would have been able to generate as mush as 14,000 MW if the Northern, Eastern and North-eastern grids had not failed. NTPC plants including Singrauli (2,000 MW), Rihand (2,500 MW), Dadri (1,820 MW), Auriya (652 MW), Anta (413 MW) and Badarpur (705 MW) were hit by the collapse. The company generates about 650 million units of electricity in a day. NTPC suffered 13 billion units of power in the last fiscal due to scarcity of buyers and is anticipating a similar situation this fiscal as there are no buyers. NTPC which currently generates close to 40,000 MW plans add about 20,000 MW in the next five years.

DLF, the country's biggest real estate developer, expects to close sale of three non-core assets, which will help pare its debt by about 5,000 crore, by the end of the current fiscal. The sell-off process for Aman Resorts, Mumbai mill land and wind power business is in the pre-closing diligence stage. The developer's debt stood at 22,680 crore at the end of June. DLF on Monday reported an 18.29% year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June, as it was weighed down by costly finance and slowdown in home sales. Finance cost for the quarter was up 25.6% to 623 crore from 496 crore in the year-ago period. During the quarter, DLF realised 369 crore from sale of stake in Adone Hotels, which helped reduce debt by 45 crore. The company had raised 1,774 crore through asset sales in 2011-12.

Jet Airways hopes to shortly hive off its loyalty programme JetPrivilege into a wholly-owned subsidiary in an effort to create a new revenue stream to complement topline which it plans double over the next two years. The company hopes to make a final decision on creating loyalty programme into a separate company in the next 45 days. It also hopes to double revenue from our ancillary business to around $300 million from $170 million last fiscal. The leading private airline recently initiated several measures to boost its revenue stream from the non-ticketing segment, which includes co-branding with several entities like banks, mobile phone operators, hotels and restaurants. Jet, which reported a surprising profit of Rs 36.4 crore in the June quarter after being in the red for the previous five quarters, has around 2.8 million members under its frequent flyer programme JetPrivilege. Besides, Jet Airways and HDFC Bank launched a co-branded credit card, which offers a slew of benefits and rewards to frequent flyers of the country's largest airline. Jet's alliance with the second-largest private bank comes after the airline terminated its 12-year association for co-branded credit card with foreign lender Citi in May.

Tata Motors has supplied five mine-protected vehicles to Jharkhand police that will help in improving the combat capability of the force. The Tata MPV is based on modular flexibility and integrates V-shaped hull blast protection technology, which is ideally suited for security operations. The Tata MPV will protect its occupants from threats like ambushes and sudden violent attacks, powerful explosive mines and heavy gunfire. The vehicle has high levels of mobility with combat survivability. The completion of this order comes close on the heels of another order received from the Maharashtra State Police to supply 32 MPVs, which the company has executed.

IDBI Bank has launched an online portal - IDBI Samriddhi - to facilitate investors to invest in certificate of deposits issued by IDBI Bank. Both individual and institutional investors can avail of this facility. At the same time IDBI Bank offers 7% and 9% for three and one year fixed deposits. The minimum investment in certificate of deposit is pegged at Rs one lakh. Earlier this year in January 2012, IDBI Bank had launched an online platform to trade in government securities for retail investors. On standalone basis, the bank has posted a rise of 27.53% in its net profit at Rs 427.34 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, as compared to Rs 335.10 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 12% to Rs 6786.81 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 6059.83 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2011.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories has launched Montelukast Sodium Tablets (10 mg) and Montelukast Sodium Chewable Tablets (4 mg & 5 mg), bioequivalent generic versions of SINGULAIR tablets and Chewable tablets, in the US market on August 06, 2012 following the approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) of company's ANDA.  The company's Montelukast Sodium Tablets in 10 mg and Montelukast Sodium Chewable Tablets in 4 mg and 5 mg are available in bottle counts of 30 and 90. The SINGULAIR tablets and Chewable tablets brand had US sales of approximately $3.6 billion and $1.14 billion, respectively for the most recent twelve months ending March 2012 according to IMS Health.

Thomas Cook, India's largest integrated travel and travel related financial services company has launched 26 Foreign Exchange Branches and Gold Circle Partner (franchisee) outlets across the country. This is also a reiteration of its intent to enhance its distribution via presence in Tier II and III regional markets. The company's pioneering legacy as the inventor of travellers' cheques (1874) continues today, as Thomas Cook India's Foreign Exchange business reaffirms its position as undisputed market leader and its customer-centric focus to ensure reach of its diverse product-service portfolio right to the customer's doorstep.

Tata Steel has started the feasibility study on two Canadian iron ore mines, with estimated 5.6 billion tonne reserves, as it aims to buy stakes to feed its European operations. It has inked pact with Canadian firm New Millennium Capital Corporation (NML) for conducting the study, a very preliminary step to assess the potential of the mines. The result of the feasibility study with regards to LabMag and Kemag projects will come by the end of this year or early 2013. Both the companies are likely to enter into a binding joint venture agreement upon the successful completion of the feasibility study and Tata Steel electing to develop one or both of the deposits. As per the agreement, Tata Steel and NML will hold 80% and 20% stake, respectively, in the proposed joint venture.