Pact with Asean

New Delhi, Oct. 23: India is trying to bridge the differences over a free trade agreement with Asean and “strike a deal” before the 10-nation bloc goes for a summit, likely to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, between November 17 and 20. “We have put our best offer on the table. However, the offer of Asean is not enough. On their side, they want us to cut duties on products such as palm oil, pepper, tea and coffee,” commerce secretary G.K. Pillai said.

RIL find

New Delhi, Oct. 23: Reliance Industries (RIL) will club eight more gas discoveries to the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 finds that will be developed by July 2008, to raise output from its KG-D6 block.

BSNL move

New Delhi, Oct. 23: Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) will invest Rs 60,000 crore in the next three years to expand its GSM, broadband and WLL services. The move will help it achieve the top position by 2010.

Gas pipeline

Washington, Oct. 23: India is committed to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, said finance minister P. Chidambaram.