GST meet on July 21

New Delhi, July 18: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to meet state finance ministers on July 21 to discuss constitutional amendments needed to roll out the proposed goods and services tax from the next fiscal. State finance ministers are likely to bargain for some flexibility in the new indirect tax regime as they fear their fiscal autonomy will be impacted by the uniform tax structure. The finance minister is also likely to discuss the compensation package for states for any loss of revenue because of the implementation of the goods and services tax.

Sebi norms

Mumbai, July 18: A Sebi panel has recommended increasing the open offer size from 20 per cent to 100 per cent in any listed company. Sebi may also consider abolishing payment of non-compete fees, which are paid by acquirers to the target firm’s promoters in lieu of a commitment for not entering the same business. To attract more retail investors to the stock market, Sebi plans to make application forms simpler and shorter for public offers, including IPOs.

OVL move

New Delhi, July 18: ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has turned down an offer to buy L.N. Mittal’s stake in a Kazakhstan oil company after its request for data on the project did not elicit any response. Mittal Investments Sarl had in 2007 bought half of Russian Lukoil’s 50 per cent stake in Caspian Investment Resources. Two years later, it started looking for an opportunity to sell the stake and offered it to OVL.

Fortis aid

New Delhi, July 18: A consortium of Indian and foreign lenders led by Axis Bank is arranging the funds required by Fortis to finance its deal with Singapore-based hospital chain Parkway Holdings if it is finalised.

RBI rates

New Delhi, July 18: Economists polled by industry association Ficci expect a 0.25 per cent hike in the policy rates by the Reserve Bank on July 27 as there is no hope of inflation moderating in the next few months.

Stock show

New York, July 18: Indian stocks trading on American bourses collectively witnessed a value erosion of $5 billion last week, with Infosys Technologies accounting for nearly half of the total losses.