Event of the week: Reliance Power IPO

THE WEEK AHEAD

Reliance Power kicks off the largest fund mobilisation exercise through an initial public offer (IPO) this week, which will also see some important results announcements, notably from Reliance Industries, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services.

The week begins with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in China and ends with his British counterpart Gordon Brown landing in the country.

Internationally, you could watch out for what Apple's Steve Jobs will unveil at the Macworld conference, which runs through the week in San Francisco. Last year he had announced the iphone. Here are the main events to watch out for during the week.

Monday, January 14
Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) to hear complaints filed against the proposed IPO of Reliance Power Ltd - an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group company - a day before issue opens for subscription.

Delhi High Court to hear cellular operators petition on a stay against crossover technology Ficci and Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals organise "Speciality Chemicals Conclave 2008" in Mumbai. Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals to inaugurate the event.

International Vice-Chancellors Conclave brings together VCs from 25 universities across the world. HRD Minister Arjun Singh will inaugurate the conclave which runs until 16th January at IIT Mumbai.

Launch of Grameen Capital India Ltd in Mumbai - a joint venture of Grameen Foundation, USA, and ICICI Bank which will buy loan portfolios of micro-finance institutions in India via structured securitisation transactions. Alex Counts, president, Grameen Foundation, USA, Sanjay Nayar, CEO Citigroup (India), Bindu Ananth, president, IFMR Trust, and Nachiket Mor, president, ICICI Foundation, to be present.

First Robotics and Animation conference organised by CII in New Delhi. Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal to speak at the conference.

Tuesday, January 15
Reliance Power IPO: The largest IPO of the country, aimed at mobilising up to Rs 11,500 crore, opens for subscription. Each share is available in a price band of Rs 405-450, with a Rs 20 discount for retail investors.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati "inaugurates" the Ganga Expressway at Balia in the morning and at Greater Noida later in the day, on her birthday.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations organises an open-house meet with director general of foreign trade, R S Gujral, in Delhi.

Bharti Axa Life Insurance to launch its first pension plan in New Delhi India-Indonesia business meeting organised by CII in Mumbai. Includes interaction with Indonesia's trade minister and accompanying business delegation.

Vedanta's two-day business summit dubbed "elements 2008" begins.

Wednesday, January 16
TCS results: Tata Consultancy Services, the country's largest software exporter, announces October-December results Lecture by Dr Raghuram Rajan, former chief economist, International Monetary Fund, on "The future of the IMF and the World Bank" in New Delhi.

Partnership Summit with the theme "Emerging Consensus: Inclusive & Sustainable Development" organised by CII in Gurgaon begins. Key speakers include Prime Minister of Hungary, Commerce minister Kamal Nath, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, Airtel's Sunil Bharti Mittal and Analjit Singh, Chairman of Max Group of Companies.

Thursday, January 17
Fuel price hike: The group of ministers on fuel prices, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, meets for the first time to discuss a hike in the retail price of petrol and diesel.

Reliance Industries, owner of the world's third largest refinery, to announce its October-December numbers, including the keenly watched refining margins for the quarter.

Interaction with Dan Warmenhoven, CEO, Network Appliance Inc on "Leadership Challenges in Building a High Growth Company" organised by CII at Mumbai.

Friday, January 18
Wipro results: India's third biggest software exporter to announce its quarterly numbers.

Electrama 2008 - the international exhibition on electrical and electronics industry - kicks-off in Mumbai.

Conference on "The changing dimensions of service tax" organised by Assocham in Delhi. Speakers include service tax commissioner Gautam Bhattacharya and chamber president Venugopal N Dhoot.

Conference on model rules for agricultural produce marketing organised by Ficci in Delhi, where Agriculture Minister Sharad Power is slated to speak.

Sunday, January 20
Gordon Brown visit: British Prime Minister begins a two-day visit to India, his first since becoming prime minister.