NTPC STOCK follow-on offer to hit market tomorrow

The country's largest power producer NTPC's follow-on public offer to raise about Rs 8,500 crore opens tomorrow and will be closed on
Friday.

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), in its meeting on February 1, has decided the floor price of the FPO at Rs 201 per equity share.

The government is divesting five per cent stake in NTPC through this FPO.

After the five per cent stake dilution, the government's holding in the power utility will come down to 84.5 percent from the current 89.5 percent.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had in October 2009 approved sale of five percent stake of the government in NTPC.

The government has already appointed ICICI Securities, JP Morgan, Citi and Kotak as investment bankers for the issue. The proceeds from the FPO would go to the Investment Fund that finances social sector schemes.

After NTPC, Rural Electrification Corp is also expected to hit the market before the Budget. Mining giant NMDC's offer will come around March 10 while that of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam towards the end of March.

International calls using VOIP IN UAE soon

The two telephone operators in the UAE will soon offer the service that allows customers to make international calls over the internet.

Officials at etisalat and du said that the network of each respective company is ready to make the service available before July of this year, reported the local Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm.

Both companies are awaiting final approval and instructions from the country's telecommunications regulator, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

The TRA's approval will provide rules regarding pricing and procedures.

The daily reported that it is expected that the new service would offer cheaper pricing of international calls in comparison to what is currently available in the market.