India

General Motors Co. will cede a majority stake in its China passenger-car venture to partner SAIC Motor Corp., while forming a new partnership with the Shanghai-based company to sell low-cost vehicles in India, Bloomberg reported. GM agreed to transfer 1 percent of Shanghai General Motors Co. to SAIC, China’s biggest carmaker, the companies said in a joint statement today. That will boost SAIC’s holding to 51 percent. They will also form an equally controlled venture in the first quarter of next year to make and sell small cars and mini-commercial vehicles in India.

The chief executive of US automaker General Motors has apologised and expressed "deep regret" for the company's handling of a sale of its subsidiary Opel to Canadian manufacturer Magna and Russian investment bank Sberbank, a deal that was aborted last week, the Press Trust of India reported. GM CEO Fritz Henderson expressed his "deep regret" for shocking the nation and provoking outrage among government leaders, trade unions and Opel workers by making an unexpected announcement last week to cancel the deal and instead to keep Germany's second largest car manufacturer under its fold.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged on Sunday to spend more on health care and education and make it easier for foreign investors to take part in India’s $1.2 trillion economy, The New York Times reported. At a World Economic Forum meeting, Mr. Singh said that public sector spending on health care would more than double, to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, and education spending would increase to 6 percent. The government “should have done a lot more in both areas” in recent years, he said. Under Mr.

ING Groep NV will become a mainly European bank following the dramatic overhaul of its business announced Monday, which includes spinning off its insurance activities and raising €7.5 billion in a rights issue, Dow Jones reported. "ING will be a dominant mortgage, savings and commercial bank in the Benelux and other parts of Europe, but also will keep its presence in growing Asian markets like India and Thailand," Chief Executive Jan Hommen told reporters. As part of a plan to satisfy E.U.

India’s central bank took the first step toward withdrawing its record monetary stimulus as inflation pressures build, ordering lenders to keep more cash in government bonds, Bloomberg reported. Stocks fell the most in two months after the statement spurred speculation the Reserve Bank of India will boost borrowing costs by year-end, eroding corporate profits. Today’s shift also signals intensifying global concern about consumer and asset-price increases, with Norway tomorrow forecast to follow Australia in raising rates this month.

India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced plans to borrow a record 4.51 trillion rupees ($93 billion) to fund budget spending on roads, power and aid for the poor, Bloomberg reported. Stocks, bonds and the currency slumped. Unveiling the budget for the year to March 2010, Mukherjee said India’s fiscal deficit is expected to widen to a 16-year high of 6.8 percent of gross domestic product from a revised 6 percent. Indirect taxes will be streamlined through a goods and services tax, he said in his speech in New Delhi today.

India’s Economic Survey today prescribed a new bankruptcy law for ensuring speedy disposal of insolvency petitions, the Business Standard reported on a Press Trust of India story. At present, the country does not have any separate bankruptcy law. But, the provisions of bankruptcy are included in the Companies Act, 1956.

Beijing is diversifying its overseas investments and pressing U.S. officials for an "exit strategy" from the ultra-loose fiscal and monetary policies that China fears will eventually inflate away the value of its U.S. bond holdings and fell the dollar. But China's pragmatic policymakers also know there is no practical alternative to the dollar as the world's main reserve currency.

The European Commission said on Friday that it had launched an in-depth investigation into the restructuring of Belgian-French financial group Dexia, Reuters reported. The Commission said in a statement it intended to make sure the restructuring plan would guarantee the long-term viability of the group, hit hard by the financial crisis. But the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union also authorised guarantees worth $16.9 billion from the Belgian and French governments to aid in the sale of FSA, the bank's U.S. subsidiary.

Australia’s ailing car industry has taken another blow, with Albury manufacturer Drivetrain International Systems falling into receivership with debts of $30 million to $40 million, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Production has been suspended for a week, with the company’s 400 workers stood down. Receivers and manager Stephen Longley from PricewaterhouseCooopers will assess the company’s financial position and attempt to sell the business as a going concern. Production is expected to resume next week in a reduced form.