India Cements, which is heavily into debt to finance its Raasi Cement takeover, has asked shareholders subscribing to its Rs 160-crore rights issue to pay up the final instalment by March 27, failing which a 15 per cent interest will be charged on outstandings. "The board decided to call the balance amount immediately, as it will help us clear off a major chunk of institutional dues by March 31," finance chief VM Mohan said on Wednesday.

Reliance PTA case adjourned 19th time

The CBI case against Reliance Industries and its chairman Dhirubhai Ambani in the alleged back-dating of letters of credit for PTA imports in 1985 was on Wednesday adjourned to June 18. This is the 19th adjournment in three years after the CBI filed two chargesheets in the case in January 1996. The FIR was filed in November 1985. The cases relate to alleged back-dating of LoCs by the accused for the import of PTA worth Rs 180 crore to get around the cut off date whenthe product was brought under limited permissible items from the OGL.

Maruti 800, Zen hold fort

Maruti 800 and Zen have emerged as leaders in the passenger-car segment, clocking sales of 13,747 units and 4,718 units in February, according to industry sources. In the Zen segment, Santro follows with sales of 2,400-odd units. The Fiat Uno recorded remarkable sales of approximately 1,500 units as against 603 units in January.

UB to up capacity at Kalyani

UB Breweries plans to hike its beer-production capacity to 24 lakh bottles per month from 18 lakh bottles. According to general manager Jayant Basu, the expansion is expected within 12-18 months. The plant manufactures Kalyani Black Label, Kalyani Black Label Strong and Kingfisher for the domestic market and Tajmahal Lager Beer for the US market.

Akai's fresh domestic foray

After backing out of a not-so-cordial alliance with Baron International, Akai Electric of Japan has staged a comeback through its new partner, theVideocon group. The proposed 70:30 joint venture, christened Akai India, will also mark the Japanese major's entry into the washing-machine segment, as also the growing digital video-disc segment.

Nil application for repos

The Reserve Bank of India did not receive any application at the 3-day 6 per cent fixed-rate repos held on Wednesday, an official press release said.

Government borrowings

Government borrowing during 1999-2000 will not be more than stipulated in the budget, RBI deputy governor SP Talwar said on Wednesday. The budget has proposed to keep Centre borrowing at Rs 57,461 crore during the year.

`Bond yields to boost bottomlines"

A recent drop in bond yields will improve bottomlines of banks in 1998-99 through lower depreciation provisions and write-backs of provisions made earlier, bankers said on Wednesday. Bond yields dropped 20-30 basis points after the RBI cut the bank and repo rates on March 1.

Markets closed

The principal markets, including theBombay Stock Exchange, call money, forex, bullion, oils, cotton, sugar, metal and spices will remain officially closed today on account of Gudi Padava.

Core status for renewable energy

The Centre is likely to grant infrastructure status to the renewable-energy industry shortly, a Government official said on Wednesday. "Before the Finance Bill is taken up for consideration, we will be able to grant the status to the sector," said ministry of non-conventional energy sources advisor Ajit Gupta.

Goldman plans to go public

Goldman Sachs, Wall Street's last big private investment bank, on Wednesday laid out plans to end its 130-year-old private partnership and become a public firm through a $3.45-billion common-stock offering. The issue, which was put on hold last year after its profits were bloodied by trading losses and market turmoil, comes alongside a 16 per cent rise in first-quarter pre-tax profits to $1.19 billion.

Credit Suisse reports $2 bn net

Credit Suisse Group onWednesday reported a higher-than-expected net profit for 1998 of $2.1 billion, despite investment-banking losses of 1.86 billion francs stemming from Russia's financial crisis.