Firms upbeat on growth

New Delhi, Oct. 25: Companies are upbeat on the country’s economy and projects growth in the range of 6-7 per cent this fiscal, a CII survey said. However, slackening global demand remains a major concern. The industry’s optimism was also expressed in the business confidence index that rose 7.4 points to 66.1 points for the October-March period compared with a 2.4-point increase during the first half of the fiscal, according to the survey.

PSU stake sale

New Delhi, Oct. 25: The government will divest stake in PSUs only if the conditions are favourable and good money can be raised, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has said. He refused to list the number of PSUs for divestment and indicate the percentage of share that would be offloaded .

Satyam probe

New Delhi, Oct. 25: A CBI team has left for Mauritius and the United States to probe the alleged diversion of funds by Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju to these countries. Funds were re-routed back to India via European countries as “investments” in nearly 300 alleged fictitious companies floated in the name of his relatives.

Maruti engine

New Delhi, Oct. 25: Maruti Suzuki will launch two of its best selling models — Alto and Wagon R — with a new generation engine as it prepares to meet the April 2010 deadline of stricter emission norms.

Voith buy

New Delhi, Oct. 25: German engineering firm Voith has acquired the entire stake held by its joint venture partner Larsen & Toubro in Calcutta-based firm Voith Paper Technology for an undisclosed amount.

Attrition rate

New Delhi, Oct. 25: India Inc saw an attrition rate of 13.8 per cent amid economic uncertainty, according to a survey by Hewitt Associates. Most Asian companies have continued to experience double-digit voluntary employee turnover rate.

Oil bids

New Delhi, Oct. 25: BP Plc said it did not bid for Nelp-VIII on the basis of technical assessment of the blocks on offer. This is an apparent rejection of theories that top energy firms did not bid because of the oil ministry’s policies.