July 30, 2010: India's largest cement producer, UltraTech Cement, plans to add 9 million tons (mt) of new capacity over the next three years to meet the requirements of a rapidly growing domestic economy. For this, the company is looking to spend $1.8 billion, as per a recent Reuters report.

July 30, 2010: Lanco Infratech Ltd (LITL) announced that it has bagged a contract from Maharashtra State Power Generation Co Ltd (Mahagenco) for Balance of Plant (BOP) package for three new units of 660 MW, each being set up for Mahagenco's Koradi thermal power plant near Nagpur.

July 30, 2010: It is nearly 10 days now since several foreign shipping lines slapped congestion surcharge at Jawaharlal Nehru Port but the port authorities and the container train operators serving the port deny there is congestion, and therefore delays.

July 30, 2010: The move by the Karnataka government to ban iron ore exports from its 10 ports to contain illegal mining is snowballing into a major controversy with the exporters.

July 30, 2010: State-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) today registered an 11.5% fall in first-quarter net profit at Rs 1,177 crore due to higher input costs, lower sales and increased cost on employees.

July 30, 2010: Essar Oil today said it was looking at the retail fuel assets BP had put for sale in five to six African countries. BP plans to sell assets worth up to $30 billion over the next 18 months to fund the mounting costs of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

July 30, 2010: Global copper mine performance deteriorated further in the first part of this year, offering no prospect of relief for hard-pressed smelters and extending one of the key bull drivers of the refined copper market.

July 30, 2010: National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) sold 7,500 tons of aluminium ingots at a premium of $92.50/ton over the average LME cash price on a cost, insurance and freight basis, a company source said on Wednesday.

July 30, 2010: Pinning hopes on developing economies for its future growth, ArcelorMittal has said that it expects to start work on one of its Rs 1.3 lakh crore India projects in early 2011.

July 30, 2010: Essar Oil today said it will begin gas production from its Raniganj CBM block in West Bengal by September and will achieve peak output in late 2012. "Production will begin this quarter... either by end-August or early September," EOL Head of E&P Shishir Agrawal told reporters.

July 30, 2010: Essar Oil, Australia's Arrow Energy and Great Eastern Energy will invest $158 million in seven coal bed methane (CBM) blocks, for which contracts were signed with the government today.

July 30, 2010: Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Power does not figure in the first six companies that will get gas on priority from Reliance Industries' KG-D6 when output from the block goes beyond the current capacity of 60 mmscmd, a power ministry official said.

July 29, 2010: Steel behemoth ArcelorMittal is planning to study a spinoff of its stainless steel unit to present shareholders. This will allow the business to pursue growth, believes the company, according to a Reuters report.

July 29, 2010: Reliance Industries will be able to generate natural gas at peak capacity from its deep-sea field only by March 2013, as per India's oil secretary, S. Sundareshan. This means a delay of almost two years, according to a recent Reuters report.

July 29, 2010: A fresh cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG), bought by public sector Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPC) through the spot market, arrived at Hazira in Gujarat yesterday, the company said here.

July 29, 2010: The country's crude oil production rose 6.8% in June based on higher output from Rajasthan fields operated by Cairn India.

July 29, 2010: The Orissa government today halted the land acquisition process for the proposed Rs 51,000-crore steel plant near here, to be developed by Korean company Posco, after facing stiff opposition from villagers.

July 29, 2010: Iron ore exporters are increasingly looking at the domestic market as demand for the ore witnessed decline on the back of sluggish demand from China, one of the major buyers of Indian ore.

July 29, 2010: The global prices of natural rubber will remain steady in the medium term on account of tight supplies and growing demand.

July 29, 2010: Iron ore miners in Karnataka are adopting a wait-and-watch approach over the Karnataka government's reported move to ban exports from ports in the state.