Business News

• Lemon Tree in pact endosulfan protest
• Sebi to start toll-free helpline for investors
• Oil price rise to affect India’s Growth

Lemon Tree in pact endosulfan protest

Hospitality firm Lemon Tree Hotels has tied up with the USbased investment firm Warburg Pincus Llc to enter into the the real estate sector.

The Indian company is planning to invest over `1,400 crore to launch housing projects in India. Lemon Tree has formed a 51:49 joint ven ture--Oceanus Real Estate Pvt.
Ltd--with Warburg Pincus for the hous ing projects.

“The joint venture with Warburg Pin cus will develop at least three to four affordable housing projects in Gurgaon,“ Lemon Tree Hotels chairman and managing director Patu Keswani said.

Sebi to start toll-free helpline for investors

Capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will set up a tollfree helpline to respond to queries of investors and help them track the status of their com plaints.

The investors, according to a strategic action plan approved by the Sebi board earlier, will be able to communicate in their own languages.

The investor awareness and educa tion plan also includes a webbased cen tralized investor grievances tracking sys tem to help investors track their com plaints. The proposals to establish a hel pline for investors and have a grievances tracking system, among others, were approved by Sebi in a board meeting held in February.

Oil price rise to affect India’s Growth

A rise in global oil prices by $10 (`433) per barrel would reduce India's economic growth by 0.2 percent age points and also affect the country's current account deficit, Goldman Sach said.

“A VAR (valueatrisk) analysis sug gests that a $10 increase in oil would reduce GDP growth by 0.2 percentage point,“ Goldman Sachs said in its latest edition of `Asia Economics Analyst'.

India imports three quarters of its annual oil and gas requirements, with the West Asia and North Africa region contributing to a substantial chunk of it.India's import bills amount to $18 billion.

Global oil prices have almost doubled in the past one year. Brent crude, one of the benchmark index, was trading at nearly $124 on 23 April.