ICICI has sanctioned Rs 34,220 crore and disbursed Rs 19,225 crore, recording a growth of 38 per cent and 22 per cent respectively in fiscal 1999. This is in sharp contrast to a 75 per cent growth in sanctions and a 41 per cent growth in disbursements registered in 1997-98.

FIPB nod to Satyam, Alcatel

FIPB on Monday gave a go-ahead to Satyam Infoway to float ADRs worth Rs 208.75 crore, besides allowing Alcatel of France to buy out Modicorp's stake in a telecom equipment manufacturing joint venture.

Sonata net jumps 75% to Rs 9.75 cr

Sonata Software has posted a 75 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 9.75 crore on a turnover that grew 48 per cent to Rs 126.47 crore in the year ended March 31, 1999.

BHEL net up 2.34% to Rs 569 crore

Bharat Heavy Electrical's net profit has increased by 2.34 per cent to Rs 569 crore in 1998-99. It has posted a 4.5 per cent increase in turnover to Rs 6,765 crore. Bhel's eastern regionalunit has recorded a turnover of Rs 300-crore, 97 per cent up from the previous Rs 152 cr.

Sundaram Clayton Q4 sales rise 25%

Sundaram Clayton's sales grew by 25 per cent to Rs 52.72 crore for the last quarter of 1998-99. Sales for the year netted Rs 161.36 crore.

Panel okays IOC, Gail share selloff

The core group on divestment approved the sale of 40 million IOC shares and 180 million Gail shares during the period from April to June, government sources said. It also approved the retail offer of VSNL and Concor shares at market prices.

Ministry favours MRL, IOC merger

Petroleum ministry has favoured merger of MRL with IOC while accepting Sengupta panel recommendations. It has circulated a cabinet note on mergers of sole refineries with oil marketing companies to prepare them for deregulated local oil market, sources said.

Glaxo, Monsanto tie up

British multinational Glaxo has entered into a pact with US giant Monsanto for distributing the latter's internationalsweetener brand, Equal, in the country. Equal is an aspartame-based sweetener and its taste profile is closest to sugar.

India Cements NCD

India Cements plans to issue non-convertible debentures to swap its takeover funding. It plans to come out with NCDs at a rate of 14 to 14.5 per cent to prepay the ICICI loan it availed through debts for the the Rs 445-crore Raasi acquisition.

MRPL undecided on stake in pipeline

The board of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals is still undecided on its participation in the equity of the Mangalore-Bangalore pipeline to be commissioned by Petronet India in 2002. MRPL has been offered a 26 per cent stake in the project.

Grasim Industries, SIV cut output

Hit by poor offtake in demand, two players in the viscose staple fibre industry, Grasim Industries and SIV Industries, cut output. The combined production of the two firms came down to 12,078 tonnes in February 1999 from 13,026 tonnes in November 1998.

BKPL in Rs 35cr deal withThermax

BSES Kerala Power has entered into a deal with the Pune-based Thermax for leasing equipment for the Rs 452-crore combined cycle power plant it is setting up near Kochi. As per the deal, Thermax will supply heat recovery steam generator to the IPP for 15 years at a cost of Rs 35 crore.

Allergan targets 20% market share

Allergan India, a joint venture firm of US-based Allergan and Nicholas Piramal India, has said it targets a 20 per cent share of the Rs 200 crore ophthalmic pharmaceutical market within the next two years.

Butterfly group eyes Rs 200cr sales

The Butterfly group is targeting a turnover of over 200 crore in two years. Group managing director VM Lakshminarayanan said the company will achieve the target by launching new products and starting ventures in Russia and Mauritius.

Sensex up 22 points

Sensex closed 22.58 points higher at 3463.77 points on Monday on buying support from operators and fresh purchases by FIIs.

Panel moots rollingsettlement

The Sebi-appointed committee on uniform settlement cycle took a turnaround and recommended introduction of rolling settlement in stocks which have moved to the mandatory demat trading mode.

Rupee dips to 42.74

Rupee went to a low of 42.72/74 against the dollar on large early corporate dollar purchases caused by an uncertain political situation before closing higher at 42.67/69 on Monday. Forward premiums inched up, tracking the rupee's weakness in the spot market, dealers said. The six-month forwards ended at 6.99 per cent, up from 6.97 on last Friday. Bond prices extended gains in evening trade on hopes of an impending cut in banks' cash reserve ratio.

bEscrow account facility for NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India on Monday said NBFCs holding public deposits will be allowed to park an amount equivalent to the outstanding public deposits along with the present value of future interest rate differentials -- between the yield on investment and the obligation of the company topay the rate of interest -- in an escrow account.

Banks face medium risk: Moody's

Local banking system faces "medium risk" of not being able to achieve Y2K compliance on time, international credit rating agency Moody's has warned.