Top headlines: RIL to invest Rs 5.9 trn in Gujarat; BPCL gets a price tag

Business Standard brings you the top headlines on Thursday

RIL to invest Rs 5.95 trn in Gujarat for green energy, other projects

As part of Investment Promotion Activity for the now-postponed Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2022, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Gujarat for a total investment of Rs 5.95 trillion.

The MoU entails an investment of Rs 5 trillion in Gujarat over the next 10-15 years for setting up a 100 Gw Renewable Energy Power Plant and Green Hydrogen Eco-System development in order to make the state net zero and carbon free. Read more

Vedanta puts $12-bn price tag on privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum

Vedanta Group is willing to spend $12 billion to acquire India’s state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp., an asset sale that’s among the nation’s biggest and which has faced delays in completion.

“We’re not going to bid aggressively, but we will put the right price,” billionaire chairman Anil Agarwal said in an interview in Riyadh on Wednesday. “The market cap of the company is about $11 billion to $12 billion, so this is the amount of investment we’re looking at.” Read more

Govt expects to open LIC IPO issue by mid-March: Report

Life Insurance Corporation, India's largest insurer, is likely to file a draft prospectus as early as end of this month and begin issuing public shares by mid-March, one government and two banking sources with direct knowledge of the matter in New Delhi and Mumbai told Reuters.

The listing of LIC is set to be India's biggest ever IPO, with the government aiming to raise up to Rs 90,000 crore ($12.18 billion) from its stake sale. Read more

Britain, India aim to finalise free trade agreement by year-end

Britain and India formally launched free trade agreement talks in New Delhi on Thursday with the aim of wrapping up a deal by the end of the year that could boost annual bilateral trade by billions of pounds.

Britain has made a deal with India one of its post-Brexit priorities as, free from the European Union's common trade policy, ministers look to gear trade policy towards faster-growing economies around the Indo-Pacific region. Read more