Following are the important business news carried by leading financial dailies on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009.

Economic Times

Pramod Jain makes hostile takeover bid for Dalmia`s Golden Tobacco
Golden Tobacco, a company promoted by Delhi-based industrialist Sanjay Dalmia, is facing a hostile takeover attempt by investor Pramod Jain, who does not want the company`s assets to be encumbered after Dalmia defaulted on loans to a host of lenders. The company`s open offer will commence on December 30 and close on January 18, 2010, subject to the clearance by market regulator SEBI.

ONGC-Mittal merge trading JV with exploration
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Thursday said that its energy trading joint venture with steel tycoon Lakhsmi Mittal will be merged with their exploration tie-up, but did not tell why it failed to make equity contribution in the venture. ONGC had in 2005 formed two joint ventures with Mittal – ONGC Mittal Energy for acquisition of oil properties and ONGC Mittal Energy Services Ltd for trading and shipping of oil and gas, including liquefied natural gas.

OVL gets nod to invest $70 mn in Brazil block
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved additional investment by ONGC Videsh (OVL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, for its offshore oilfield in Brazil. ONGC Videsh owns a 15% stake in the BC-10 block in Campos basin in the Latin American country.

Business Standard

BHEL may have power venture at Nano`s Singur site
There is a flicker of hope for Tata Motors` abandoned Singur site. A team from government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) today visited the place, along with state government officials, for a possible project with the West Bengal Power Development Corporation. BHEL general manager S C Mittal was accompanied by WBPDC managing director Debashis Sen. The team also met Tata Motors representatives at the site.

RIL questions RNRL`s demand for gas without plant
Reliance Industries (RIL) on Thursday questioned in the Supreme Court the demand of brother Anil Ambani-led RNRL for the immediate supply of gas from the K-G basin, saying that it cannot be done in the absence of the proposed power plant as per the agreement reached between them.

JK Paper lines up Rs 15 bn expansion
JK Paper Mills, a leading paper manufacturing company located at Jaykaypur in Orissa`s Rayagada district, proposes to double its capacity to 250,000 metric tonne per annum at an investment of Rs 15 billion. The expansion plan also envisages increasing the pulp making capacity of the unit to 200,000 tonnes and replacing the existing captive power plant (CPP) with enhanced capacity.

Live Mint

L&T will sell Satyam stake to raise funds worth USD 65 mn
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) will raise USD 65 million (Rs 3.02 billion) by selling one-third of its stake in Mahindra Satyam on Friday, a television channel said on Thursday. L&T will sell 27 million shares in Mahindra Satyam at Rs 112.50 each, CNBC-TV18 reported, without citing any sources.

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