The government’s plan to privatize Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) is unlikely to be completed by the end of the fiscal year because of the time required to get regulatory clearances for the transaction. It has to go to the Competition Commission of India, which will take some time. Since it is a listed company, the winner has to make an open offer, which will also take time.

Mrs Bectors more than doubled on market debut on Thursday capping a string of robust initial share sales this year despite the ongoing pandemic. The stock closed at ₹594.20, a whopping 106.31% premium over its issue price of ₹288, after opening at ₹500 on the NSE. This was the last stock market listing for 2020 and also one of three initial public offerings (IPO) to double on debut.

All segments of trading will be close on the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange on December 25 on account of the Christmas holiday. Wholesale commodity markets, including metal and bullion, will also remain shut, while the trading activity will not be seen in the forex and commodity futures markets too.

MUMBAI: The Nifty could move toward a new high of 13,924 if it breaks and sustains above the record high of 13,777.50, having come within kissing distance of it intraday on Thursday, derivative data show. Some analysts are not ruling out a dip before the market makes a tryst with a new high. Nifty’s range next week based on the 13,700 call and put value is 13,476-13,924.

NIIT Ltd said its Board has approved an up to Rs 237-crore buyback proposal at Rs 240 per equity share. "...the Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held on December 24, 2020, has inter-alia approved a proposal for buyback of up to 9,875,000 fully paid-up equity shares of the company...for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 2,370,000,000," a regulatory filing said.

The promoter group of Prime Focus Ltd on Thursday said that they have entered into an agreement with Credit Suisse to acquire a 33.12% stake in the company at a price of Rs44.15 per share aggregating to Rs463 crore. This transaction will in turn trigger an open offer by the promoters to acquire another 26% stake in the company from public shareholders at the same price of Rs44.15 apiece.

Reliance Industries Ltd entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 50% shares held by IMG Singapore Pte. Ltd in IMG-Reliance Ltd, for a cash consideration not exceeding ₹52.08cr. IMG Singapore Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMG, holds 50% of the share capital of IMG-R. Post completion of the acquisition, IMG-R will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, and become rebranded.

NIIT Ltd on Thursday said its Board has approved an up to Rs 237-crore buyback proposal at Rs 240 per equity share. "The Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held on December 24, 2020, has inter-alia approved a proposal for buyback of up to 9,875,000 fully paid-up equity shares of the company...for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 2,370,000,000," a regulatory filing said.

Cadila Healthcare on December 24 said the company is planning to initiate Phase III clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D in around 30,000 volunteers upon receiving necessary approvals. The company said its vaccine was found to be well-tolerated and immunogenic in the Phase I/II clinical trials. In the Phase II study, of ZyCoV-D had been tested in over 1,000 healthy adult volunteers.

State-owned CIL's coal allocation to the power sector under the special e-auction saw a 5.9 per cent rise to 17.96 million tonnes (mt) in the first eight months of the current financial year. Coal India Ltd (CIL) had allocated 16.95 mt of coal during the April-November period of the previous financial year, according to the coal ministry's monthly summary for the Cabinet.

SBI Life Insurance Company on Thursday said it has acquired nearly 9% stake in non-banking finance company Paisalo Digital for about ₹186.20 crore through the open market. SBI Life has acquired a total of 38,00,000 equity shares equivalent to 8.99% at Rs 489.99 per share for a cash consideration as an ordinary course of business on the stock exchange on December 24.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on December 24 said it has cancelled the banking licence issued to Subhadra Local Area Bank Ltd, Kolhapur, citing problems in the way the bank was run. The licence has been cancelled under Section 22 (4) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the order is made effective from close of business on December 24, 2020, the RBI said.

Disinvestment-bound Air India's pilot unions have rejected the paltry 5% rollback in their salary cuts and warned of "industrial action" if there is no "substantial" reversal in their pay cuts. In April, Air India had reduced its pilots’ salary by up to 70 per cent to partially offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its finances.

Vedanta Resources Ltd has raised its stake in its India listed unit, Vedanta to 55.11% by buying from open market shares worth Rs 2,959cr. VRL bought 18.5cr shares at a price of Rs 159.94 per share, the company said in a statement on its website. It made the purchase through block deals. The purchase of shares in the open market helped the firm raise its stake in Vedanta to 55.11% from 50.13%.

Telecom operators Airtel and Vodafone Idea have submitted to Trai the details of segmented or concessional offers that were made to subscribers, and the regulator is in the process of examining the information. The move assumes significance as Trai, in early December, had directed the telcos to submit various details of 'segmented' offers made to users, to disclose to sector regulator.