The Mint Report for 9 July 2012

Norwegian telecom company Telenor is formally on the lookout for a new partner in India. Two people familiar with the development have told Mint that the company has hired Citi Global Markets India to find a new partner. Telenor wants to control the new venture by holding a 74% stake in it. Telenor’s existing partner, Unitech, has been resisting Telenor’s attempts to end their joint venture. Their dispute is now with the Company Law Board and the Delhi high court. Back in February, a Supreme Court decision cancelled more than a hundred telecom licenses including 22 belonging to the joint venture.

While Hero MotoCorp may have large stocks of unsold motorcycles lying around, the company wants its new production to charge full speed ahead into festive season. Hero has already asked parts suppliers to tool themselves up to make 600,000 units in September. Those numbers might seem surprisingly ambitious, but Hero MotoCorp has already said it plans to sell 1.1 million two-wheelers during the festive season. Still, the company has about 50,000 unsold units waiting at its plants.

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And Indian markets tumbled on Monday, with sentiment going sour and investors bracing for corporate earnings later this week. The Sensex dropped 129 points to 17,392. And the Nifty fell 42 to 5,275.