Tata Motors, Bharat Forge and General Dynamics have forged an alliance to bid for the $11 billion (Rs 78,000 crore) project of making combat infantry vehicles for the Indian Army under the Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) Programme. Responding to a query, Tata Motors said: We confirm partnering with Bharat Forge for local manufacturing of guns, ammunition and such other elements of fire power that form part of the FICV Programme.

With two of the front runners, Tata Motors and Bharat Forge, joining hands, the number of total bidders has come down to nine from 10. The alliance now stands higher chances of making it to the final three prototype manufacturers, bids for which were given on Monday, according to a senior Bharat Forge executive.

Qatari fleet owner Halul Offshore Services Co. WLL has cancelled two of the 10 offshore oil exploration support vessels it ordered from L&T Shipbuilding Ltd in 2012 and 2013 as oil firms cut back production to deal with a steep fall in crude prices, reducing demand for vessels that supports oil rigs and platforms.

A spokesman for Halul Offshore confirmed the cancellation of two anchor handling, towing, supply and standby vessels (AHTSVs) with a bollard pull of 150 metric tonnes (mt), each costing $20 million.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), a corporate proxy for the investment cycle in India, has seen its shares fall 34.64% since 1 April and its faltering performance has forced analysts to cut earnings forecasts for 2015-16 and 2016-17 by as much as 21%.

Yet, the company believes that it can get back on track.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shares gained over 5 per cent on Monday after the engineering and construction giant reported a 19 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,034.8 crore for the quarter ended December 31.

At 11.43 am, L&T shares were trading were trading 4.20 per cent up at Rs 1148.50. The scrip opened at Rs 1125.00 and touched a high and low of Rs 1159.00 and 1120.00, respectively, in trade so far.

Engineering and infrastructure firm Larsen & Toubro's (L&T) third quarter consolidated net profit increased by 19 per cent to Rs 1,035 crore against Rs 866 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, aided by Other Income and lower finance cost. However, it was marginally short of Bloomberg consensus estimates of Rs 1,040 crore.

The major miss was at the operating level as Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) was down eight per cent to Rs 2,650 crore from Rs 2,890 crore and the margin contracted by 180 basis points to 10.3 per cent against 12.1 per cent. Margin was hit by employee and sales and distribution expenses.

Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said its consortium with Sojitz Corp of Japan has won a Rs 1,213 crore project from Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL).

“The Railways Unit, a part of the transportation infrastructure business of L&T Construction, has won a major order worth Rs 1,213 crore from the DFCCIL,” it said in a statement.

After its information technology (IT) services business, engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has set the ball rolling to take its fully-owned subsidiary L&T Technology Services public, by elevating its chief executive and expanding its board of directors.

L&T Technology Services, which provides engineering and R&D services to global corporates in diverse sectors, such as aerospace and defence, has elevated its Chief Executive Keshab Panda as the CEO & MD apart from inducting Kumar Prabhas, its chief operating officer (COO) to the board as an executive director. Panda who joined L&T in 2009 from Tech Mahindra (formerly Mahindra Satyam) as Head of Americas, was until recently heading L&D Technology as the Chief Executive.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is in talks with the Ahmedabad-based Adani group to sell its power plant in Punjab at an estimated value of around Rs 3,000 crore. If the deal gets through, it will be Adani's third acquisition of a power project in 17 months.

A banker said the talks with Adani are at an advanced stage. However, no decision has been taken yet as due-diligence is currently on. The acquisition will play an important role in Gautam Adani's plan to become India's biggest power producer and port operator in India.

The heavy civil infrastructure business of L&T Construction, along with its joint venture partner, Daewoo E&C of South Korea, has won an order worth Rs 3,115 crore from the Bihar State Road Development Corporation Limited (BSRDCL).

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract involves design and construction of greenfield six-lane extra-dosed cable bridge over Ganga river near Kachchi Dargah in Patna district on NH-30 to near Bidupur in Vaishali district on NH-103.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said its construction arm has won orders worth Rs 1,247 crore across business verticals.

"The construction arm of L&T has won orders worth Rs 1,247 crore in the buildings and factories and power transmission and distribution businesses," the engineering and construction major said in a BSE filing.

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