font color=”#FF0000″ size=”3″>Tata set to clinch Jaguar-Land Rover deal: Indian conglomerate Ta><tas are the top choice for buying the US auto giant Ford’s iconic British brands Jaguar and Land Rover, according to a media report here.

L&T in power business: L&T has entered into a joint venture agreement with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for setting up a manufacturing unit in India for super-critical steam turbine and generator facility, investing about Rs 880 crore and having a product configuration catering to plant capacities ranging between 500 Mw and 1,000 MW. L&T also has a joint venture with Japan’s Toshiba to manufacture power plant equipment in India.

L&T to pump in Rs2,000 cr in 3 shipyards: Engineering and construction company Larsen & Tuobro has shortlisted three locations for its next shipyards on which the company will invest up to Rs2,000 crore.

LG India to invest over Rs 1,100 cr: LG Electronics India Ltd, the local unit of South Korean consumer durables maker, will invest over Rs 1,100 crore in the next three years.

Tatas world’s 3rd most accountable group: The Tata Group, easily India’s most respected business house, has been named the world’s third most accountable and transparent company by Britain’s One World Trust. The report ranked GE number 1 and GlaxoSmithKline number 2 among the most transparent and accountable companies.

India Inc signs deals worth $68.32 b in 2007: India Inc was on a shopping spree in 2007, striking deals including merger and acquisition (M&A) and private equity investment worth $68.32 billion against $28.16 billion last year, a rise of 142.61 per cent, according Grant Thornton’s Dealtracker.

Boeing signs $1 bn outsourcing deal with HAL: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a $1 billion (Rs3,949 crore) manufacturing outsourcing contract with American aerospace major Boeing over ten years.

Danone enters Indian market: French dairy giant Group Danone kicked off its joint venture with Yakult of Japan to manufacture probiotic drinks in the country and has already invested Rs 136 crore in setting up a dairy product manufacturing facility in Sonepat, Haryana.

India sees 10% growth by 2012: Economy could be growing by 10% a year by 2012 with the right set of policies, but the US sub-prime crisis might trim exports and capital flows.

Welspun acquires Portuguese bath rug firm: Welspun India, a home textiles firm and a part of Welspun group, has acquired 76% stake in Portuguese bath rug firm, Sorema-Tapates e Cortinas de Banho at an enterprise value of Rs 60 crore.

Direct tax mop-up rises 42.5%: The Centre’s tax kitty continues to swell. Direct tax collections grew 42.5% for the period April-December to Rs 1,64,407 crore, compared to Rs 1,15,377 crore during the same period last fiscal.

ONGC joins Fortune’s most admired list: Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) has become the first Indian company to feature in Fortune magazine’s annual list of the world’s most admired companies.

Tata Motors to display Rs 1 lakh car next month: The four-door car, which will have a rear engine and seat at least four passengers, is expected to go on sale in the later part of 2008. According to the company chairman Ratan Tata, the car will be the least polluting vehicle on the Indian roads and meet necessary safety standards.

Tata Motors` Rs 1 lakh car a trendsetter: Tata Motors’ Rs 1 lakh car would represent a paradigm shift in the low-cost transport segment, not only in India, but across the whole world, said R A Mashelkar, the former chief of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

ISRO plans colony on moon: In what may well be the first step towards establishing the first “human colony” on the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is examining the possibility of establishing a robotic set-up or unmanned mission on the moon.

Wal-martisation of healthcare: Narayana Hrudayalaya performs close to 30 open heart surgeries and almost an equal number of catheterisation procedures a day, which is eight times the average at other Indian hospitals.

Taj expressway: The Rs 2,250-crore Taj Expressway project, which envisages a six-laned 165 km stretch connecting Greater Noida to Agra, would reduce travel time between Delhi to Agra from the current four hours to around two hours.

Auto part investments to treble in 3 yrs: Domestic auto component companies are investing Rs 30,000 crore to cash in on the automobile boom. Automobile capacity in the country will double from 2.2 million unit per annum to 4.4 million by 2010.

India Pistons to invest Rs 200 cr: Following the announcement of its 50:50 joint venture with the Germany-based Mahle GmbH, auto component manufacturer India Pistons is drawing up an expansion programme involving an outlay of about Rs 200 crore over the next 2-3 years.

Aurobindo to invest $1billion: Hyderabad-based pharma company Aurobindo Pharma, which has plans to emerge as a billion dollar company by 2009-10, is enhancing its presence in Europe by investing $100 million in phases.

Mahindra World City: New Chennai, one of the first private SEZs to come into operation in the country, expects to attract investments to the tune of $1-1.5 billion over the next five years. It also expects to generate job opportunities for over 50,000 people during this period and houses three sector-specific SEZs – information technology and electronic hardware, apparel and fashion accessories, and auto components.

India ‘rules’ IBM: IBM Corp’s expansion in developing countries shows no sign of relenting. The technology company revealed that it now has 73,000 employees in India, almost a 40 per cent leap from last year.

India growing as preferred destination for clinical trials: India is growing as a preferred destination for global clinical trials and research, with the market being estimated to reach $1.5 billion by 2010, which may trigger a shortage of around 30,000 to 50,000 clinical research professionals by then.

PC market grows by 25%: IDC The Indian notebook PC market grew almost 85% to cross the 500,000 shipments mark in a single quarter, according to IDC’s India Quarterly PC Tracker, Q3 2007.

CII to pool in India Inc`s education initiatives: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is bringing all industry initiatives in education on one platform.

Israeli firm to invest $2 b for building township in Jaipur: Fishman Holdings, a leading Israel-based firm is planning to invest $2 billion in a project in Jaipur to build a four million square metre township.

Dupont’s R&D centre to conduct crop research: DuPont’s first research & development centre in India, which is coming up in Hyderabad early next year, will for the first time see basic research in areas like crop genetics head to an offshore centre. The Indian centre, which has some 300 scientists, will deal in developing biotech traits and technologies that will be incorporated into multiple crops for the global market.

Indians key to next billion mobile users: Although only about one in 20 of the world’s first two billion mobile subscribers live in India, as many as one in every four of the next billion subscribers will be an Indian, a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said.

Under the shadow of slowdown, Indians are moving ahead to bloom. Let the new year bring a new drive to move faster towards the goal of ‘propsperity for all’.