Kolkata: Tata Motors Ltd will take about a year to vacate the 645-acre plot leased out to it in Singur by the West Bengal government, according to the state’s commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen, and this in turn could jeopardize the state’s plan to allot it to a Chinese auto maker.
After Tata Motors decided to move its small car factory from Singur to Gujarat, the West Bengal government offered the plot to First Automobile Works Ltd of China, which plans to manufacture small cars, buses and trucks in the state.
—Staff Writer
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Mubadala denies giving funds to Jet Airways
Mumbai: Jet Airways (India) Ltd gained as much as 7.6% intraday in Mumbai trading after reports that the airline got a Rs1,000 crore loan from Mubadala Development Co.
However, shares of the company closed down 2.14% at Rs184.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
In Abu Dhabi, the state-owned Mubadala Development Co. denied the reports that it was in talks to take a stake in Jet or to provide funds for the airline. Mint and the ‘Business Standard’ said the airline was in talks with Mubadala about funding Rs1,000 crore while another paper said the airline was in advanced negotiations to sell a 10% stake to Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings to raise Rs250 crore.
“No,” Waleed Al Muhairi, Mubadala’s chief operating officer told ‘Reuters’ by phone when asked if the reports were true.
—Bloomberg & Reuters
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Sama Airlines starts Damman-Mumbai flight
Mumbai: Saudi Arabia’s Sama Airlines on Wednesday launched its low-fare flight between Damman and Mumbai, while Malaysia’s low-fare carrier AirAsia announced it will start daily flights beginning next month from Kuala Lumpur to Tiruchirappalli in Kerala.
“The addition of Mumbai as Sama’s first destination in India and 11th international destination overall, is a part of our strategy to meet the huge demand for low-fare travel between Saudi Arabia and India,” said Andrew Cowen, CEO of Sama. The carrier will operate three flights every week on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. The basic round-trip fare will be Saudi Riyal 199 (about Rs3,600), excluding taxes. Meanwhile, AirAsia has announced a promotional fare of Rs699 (excluding taxes, one-way) between December 2008 and July 2009. AirAsia, along with its subsidiary AirAsia X, is also looking at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi over the next 18 months.
—P.R. Sanjai
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StanChart buys office space in Mumbai
Mumbai: Standard Chartered Plc., the UK bank that gets most of its profit in Asia, said it acquired 147,000 sq. ft of office space in Mumbai’s emerging business district of Bandra-Kurla as it seeks to grow in Asia’s third biggest economy.
The London-based bank declined to disclose the price. It may have paid about Rs750 crore for the space in a new building, ‘The Economic Times’ reported on Wednesday.