State-owned Air India has opposed changes to guidelines of ownership and control that will make it easier for a foreign entity to fully own an airline in India. Private airlines have already opposed the proposed changes.

Two Air India executives that Business Standard spoke to confirmed the airline had conveyed its opposition to the proposed changes to the civil aviation and commerce ministries. The development could dampen the government’s zeal to relax norms in order to attract foreign direct investment.

New Delhi: To counter threat from Reliance Jio, state-run telecom firm BSNL on Thursday launched a new plan that offers 2 GB of 3G data per day and unlimited calling within its network for Rs339.

“The benefits customer will get under the Combo STV (special tariff voucher) of Rs339 are unlimited calls in BSNL network and unlimited data with fair use policy of 2 GB per day with validity of 28 days,” BSNL said in a statement. The offer is limited for 90 days.

New Delhi: Waaree Energies Ltd, one of India’s largest solar module manufacturers, has appointed consulting firm EY to raise around $100 million.

The fundraising effort comes in the backdrop of falling solar power tariffs because of plunging prices of solar modules. Module prices are expected to extend their drop in 2017 as global supply exceeds demand.

Telecommunication major Idea Cellular has reportedly sought higher valuation for its equity at above Rs 134 per share in the proposed merger with Vodafone India, even as the negotiation between the two to unite their businesses are close to finalisation, CNBC TV18 reported on Thursday citing unidentified sources. The price sought by Idea is at about 19% premium to its Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 112.9.

Idea is reportedly insisting on valuing its equity at base price of Rs 134 per share for further negotiations, since it was the price at which it last issues shares in a qualified institutional placement in 2014, CNBC TV18 reported.

Indian Oil Corp became India’s first refiner to buy light sweet Hibernia crude from Canada’s largest oil company, doing the deal after the opening of the arbitrage for Canadian oil to flow to Asia. A decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output strengthened Middle East benchmark Dubai against other regional markers, allowing oil from the Americas and Europe to be shipped to Asia at competitive prices. Production in North America, led by U.S. shale output, is increasing after supply cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC countries pushed oil prices to above $50 a barrel.

GUWAHATI: State-owned ONGC may shift its proposed new basin to Cachar in Assam from Agartala, where initial work had already begun last year.

The ONGC board is likely to take a decision on the upcoming second basin of North East in the next six months.

MUMBAI: Larsen & Toubro's electrical and automation unit has bagged an order worth Rs 500 crore Qatar Rail Company (QRAIL) for Phase 1 of Doha Metro, the engineering major said in a release on Thursday.

The order will be executed by L&T Electrical & Automation FZE (LTEAFZE), the competency centre for L&T Electrical & Automation's automation business in UAE. The order entails supply, installation, testing, integration, commissioning and maintenance for five years for 37 stations.

The Sensex rebounded by over 206 points and the NSE Nifty scaled a life-time high of 9,153 (rpt) in opening trade on Thursday amid a firming trend in global markets after the US Fed hiked the key lending rate. The Federal Reserve, as expected, raised the benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, but gave a more dovish outlook for future hikes.

The telecom tribunal on did not stay Reliance Jio's free promotional offer, but asked regulator Trai to "re-examine" issues relating to the approval granted to the operator to continue with the freebies.

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), in its order today, asked Trai to apprise it of the "outcome and findings of the examination" within two weeks.

Application for H-1B work visas, which is highly popular among Indian IT companies and professionals, for financial year 2018 can be filed from April 3.

Unlike previous years, the official announcement by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not say till when it would continue accepting the H-1B petitions.

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