Tata Motors has surpassed Reliance Industries to become the most valuable corporate brand in India, with its brand valuation growing 172% since 2009 to $8.45 billion, while Reliance's brand value fell 10% to $7.04 billion. In other news, SEBI tightened rules around warrant issues by promoters to prevent self-enrichment, and the Department of Disinvestment plans to increase the quota for retail investors in forthcoming public sector share sales following strong retail demand in the Coal India IPO. Bharti Airtel and Aircel are interested in buying Qualcomm's yet-to-be-launched wireless broadband business in India.

1. 10th Weekly News
From 25oct-31oct

2. Tata Motors pips RIL to emerge as India’s top
brand
The Tata Motors-Jaguar-Land Rover combine, with a
valuation of $8.45 billion, has over taken Reliance to top
the list of the 50 most valuable corporate brands in India.
The brand valuation of Tata Motors-JLR grew 172% over
its 2009 value of $3.1 billion when it was at No. 5 in the
pecking order
Reliance, the petrochemicals-to-retail major, saw a10%
erosion in its brand value at $7.04 billion, down from $7.8
billion in 2009.

4. Sebi issues ‘warrants’ to rein in promoters
THE Securities & Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, on
Monday tightened the rules governing warrant issues, which
in the past allowed promoters to enrich themselves when the
markets soared, but get away lightly when they crashed.
The market regulator has promised to frame guidelines that
will give holders of Indian Depository Receipts an even
footing in rights share sales, after Standard Chartered Bank's
rights issue disappointed investors by excluding them from it.
If the promoters don’t exercise warrants by the stipulated
date, they won’t be eligible for any share or warrant purchases
for the next 12 months.

5. Small investors may get bigger share in PSU
floats
THE department of disinvestment
plans to pitch for a higher quota
for retail investors in forthcoming
share sales at state-run
companies, as it looks to use the
buzz generated by the Coal India
IPO to take equity culture to
Indian households.
Existing norms stipulate that at
least 35% of the shares offered in
a book-built share sale, where
investors are asked to bid in a
pre-decided price band, must be
reserved for retail investors.
The retail portion of the Coal
India offer was subscribed 2.31
times, providing a fitting
backdrop for an increase in the
quota for retail investors.

6. Bharti, Aircel keen to buy Qualcomm biz
BHARTI Airtel and Aircel Cellular are interested in buying the yet-
tobe-launched Indian wireless broadband business of Qualcomm
Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile phone company, is primarily
interested in Qualcomm’s airwaves and permits for Delhi,
complementing the 3G frequencies it won in the circle earlier this
year, the executives said. Aircel, a unit of Malaysia’s Maxis
Communications and the country’s seventh-biggest operator, has
shown interest in the Mumbai and Kerala circles.
Qualcomm had sought a minimum of 5,000 crore for its airwaves
and permits in Mumbai, Delhi, Haryana and Kerala. It paid 4,913
crore to win the licences in an auction in June.

7. BIG REASON STEEP PRICING
FII biggies cashing out on listing gains
FUNDS run by Citigroup,
Morgan Stanley and
Goldman Sachs are among
those that sell shares on
the listing day to reap the
riches from initial public
offerings (IPOs), contrary
to popular perception that
top institutions are long-
term investors.
Most recent listings have
plunged below their IPO
sale prices, partly due to
these funds cashing out,
and also because of the
unsustainable valuations
at which they were sold
compared with their
earnings and revenues.
Although IPOs are
drawing record
subscriptions, many
believe that the sale of
shares by institutions may
be an indication that they
are not convinced about
owning these shares for a
long time, given the
valuations.

8. Simpler subsidy maths to jazz up ONGC,IOC
floats
INDIA’S largest share sale—
Indian Oil Corp’s (IOC) Rs
19,000-crore issue—as well as
Oil & Natural Gas Corp’s
(ONGC) offering next year will
get a shot in the arm as the
government is preparing to
make its ad hoc subsidy-
sharing scheme more
systematic and transparent,
making the blue-chip energy
firms more attractive for
institutional investors.
ONGC and Oil India, which
gain when crude prices rise,
are asked to share the subsidy
burden of oil marketing firms
such as IOC when fuel prices
are not increased in step with
rising crude oil prices to keep
inflation under control. But
the government’s decision on
the extent to which upstream
firms share the losses in fuel
retailing can be unpredictable
and opaque, making large
equity investors edgy as they
are unable to get a grip of the
companies’ earnings outlook.

10. TEMPORARY RELIEF RBI TAKES TWIN
STEPS
Cash-strapped banks borrow record 1.31 L cr
BANKS borrowed the
highest ever from the
Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) to tide
over cash crunch,
which forced the
central bank to resort
to temporary
liquidity-easing
measures to calm the
panic triggered by
lower government
spending and
customer withdrawal
ahead of Diwali.
Lenders stung by the
outflow of funds
from the system, also
due to the biggest-
ever initial public
offering by Coal
India, borrowed 1.31
lakh crore to meet
fund requirements.
Faced with an
unprecedented
demand for funds,
RBI opened a second
window during the
day under the
Liquidity Adjustment
Facility, or LAF,
through which it
either absorbs excess
liquidity or injects
funds to ease
shortage

12. Reliance clocks best quarterly net in 3 years
RELIANCE Industries, India’s biggest
company by market value, reported a
28% rise in quarterly net profit, in
line with street estimates, and sees a
positive outlook as strong demand in
emerging markets and modest
economic recovery in developed
economies is likely to boost sales for
the oil and petrochemicals major.
Quarterly profit rose as it pumped
more natural gas, processed more
crude oil at its refineries and shipped
out more fuel from its export-focused
plant at Jamnagar, earning more
dollars for each barrel it refined.
In the June-September quarter, when
the spotlight shifted to growth and
acquisitions from a long-running
dispute between chairman Mukesh
Ambani and his estranged brother
Anil, Reliance’s quarterly profit leapt
to the highest in about three years,
while turnover rose 22.8%.