Business events that rocked India in 2008

The global economic downturn made 2008 an unforgettable year. It had its usual share of ups and downs for India Inc. Here's a look at some of the events that shaped the year. Although the events listed here do not list all the big-ticket happenings of the year, they capture a major part of the goings-on in the Indian corproate world in 2008 to give the reader an overall picture
January 10, 2008: Sensex touches its highest ever level of 21,206.77 points during intra-day trading. However, all was not hunky dory for the Indian stock markets. As soon as news of slowdown in the global economy, along with the collapse of many a financial giant, swept the world, the Indian markets tanked. They fell like there was no tomorrow. From a level of 21,000, the markets today stand at just above 10,000!
January 10, 2008: 'Nano' is born. The world's cheapest car costing Rs 1 lakh (Rs 100,000) unveiled at 9th Auto Expo in Delhi by Ratan Tata.
Ratan Tata, while unveiling the Nano, said: "The car will meet all current safety norms and all emission criteria. The pollution it will cause will be lower than 2-wheelers."
The car, he said, is smaller than a Maruti 800, but has 21 per cent more volume or space inside than the 800. He said that the dealer price of the car will be Rs 1 lakh, plus value-added tax (VAT) plus transport charges.
The car's dashboard features just a speedometer, fuel gauge, and oil light. The car does not have reclining seats or radio. The shock absorbers are basic.
It will sport a 30-litre fuel tank and 4-speed manual gearshift. One of Nano's three versions will come with air conditioning, but will have no power steering. It will have front disk and rear drum brakes. The company claims mileage of 23 km per litre.
The car, which was to be launched in mid-2008, will now be launched sometime in 2009
January 15, 2008: India's largest IPO by Reliance Power to raise Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion) opens. The issue closed on January 18 but was hammered in the market on debut. The company issued bonus shares to retain investor confidence.
March 26, 2008: Tata Motors announces agreement with Ford Motor to acquire Jaguar Land Rover for $2.3 billion.
June 4, 2008: In the highest ever price raise, the government announced a Rs 5 a litre increase in petrol, Rs 3 on diesel and Rs 50 per LPG cylinder together with customs and excise duty cuts to combat spurt in global oil prices.
The reason for the hike was the price of oil rising in the global markets to $147 per barrel leading to heavy losses for state-run Indian oil companies.
However, on December 6, the government reduced prices of petrol by Rs 5 and that of diesel by Rs 2 a litre following the huge drop in global crude prices. Crude now costs $47 per barrel in the global market. It had fallen to $39 per barrel a month before rising to these current levels.
June 11, 2008: Japanese drug firm Daiichi Sankyo acquires control of Ranbaxy [Get Quote] for over Rs 22,000 crore (Rs 220 billion) -- essays biggest Indian pharma industry deal.
August 8, 2008: South Korean steel giant Posco gets approval from Supreme Court to go ahead with its Rs 51,000 crore (Rs 510 billion) steel project in Orissa after getting environmental clearance.
August 21, 2008: Rising prices of food items like fruits, vegetables and milk pushed up inflation to 12.63 per cent for the week ended August 9 from 12.44 per cent a week ago.
This was a 13-year high for the inflation numbers in India. Inflation was 4.24 per cent during the corresponding week in 2007.
Inflation, however, has now dropped to 6.38 per cent.
August 21, 2008: Apple's iPhone makes India debut.
September 15, 2008: Lehman Brothers collapses, marking the savage financial tsunami which led to dozens of banks across going bankrupt, and pushed the entire global economy into a tizzy from which it will take at least two years to come out. Many business have shut shop, millions of jobs are being lost even now, and the stock markets across the globe have plummeted like never before.
The subprime bubble that burst in United States in 2008 as a result of greed, fancy financial derivatives, and lack of proper regulation has caused unprecedented havoc across the world. The current financial crisis the said to be the worst ever to hit the globe.
October 3, 2008: Tata Motors pulls out of Singur, where it planned to set up the mother plant for Nano at an investment of Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion).
October 7, 2008: Tata Motors announces that the new Nano plant will come up at Sanand in Gujarat at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion). Earlier, on October 3, Ratan Tata had announced that the Tata Motors' prime project for the Nano has been pulled out of Singur in West Bengal following the problems caused by protesting politicos led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
October 13, 2008: ICICI Bank was the target of some major romours. Following some reports, investors feared that their deposits in the bank were no longer safe.
However, the government assured that there was no problem with the bank, whose shares tumbled more than 20 per cent on October 10 due to the rumours.
Coming out to clarify the matter, ICICI Bank chief executive K V Kamath said that the bank had no liquidity problem as it has Rs 90,000 crore (Rs 900 billion) in government securities.
Asked whether ICICI Bank is being targeted, Kamath said "you spread a rumour the stock reacts... someone is trying to build a vicious circle...there is an organised attempt to spread rumour."
Explaining about the safety of depositor's money, he said, "I assure you they are safe... we have a cash adequacy ratio of 150 per cent of the normal requirement... the bank is liquid."
October 15, 2008: Jet Airways lays off 1,900 of its employees in various work profiles. Two days later, company Chairman Naresh Goyal orders reinstatement of all the sacked employees.
November 24, 2008: These are extraordinary times. Analysts have described the events of the last few days as the worst financial crisis ever to have hit the world. Imprudent financial decisions, fed by greed and bad luck, have seen global financial markets collapse.
The bankruptcy, sale, restructuring and merger of some of the world's largest financial institutions has caused cataclysmic disruptions in the international stocks and money markets.
Even as the dollar strengthened, the Indian rupee began to fall alarmingly. The Indian currency fell to its lowest ever of 50.60 to the dollar during trade on November 24.
To put things in perspective, the rupee was trading at about 39.40 to the dollar in January this year.
December 12, 2008: The Indian industry saw its output shrink for the first time in 15 years with a 0.4 per cent year-on-year decline in October, as the impact of the global economic downturn deepened in the country.
From a dazzling 12.2 per cent growth in October last year, industry recorded a negative growth of 0.4 per cent in October this year, partly due to a dip of over 12 per cent in India's exports.
And if that were not bad news enough, Commerce Secretary G K Pillai has said that industrial production for November too appears to be slowing down.
Policy makers said the fall was bigger than expected even as they exuded confidence that the December 7 stimulus package would arrest any further decline. Industrial output had last fallen in April 1993.
December 16, 2008: India's fourth largest IT firm Satyam Computer announces acquisition of Maytas Properties and Mytas Infra for $1.6 billion.
December 17, 2008: Satyam calls off acquisition after angry shareholders protested. Since then, four of the company's independent directors have quit.
December 25, 2008: World Bank says Satyam barred from doing business with it for eight years; Reliance Petroleum commissions its 580,000 barrels per day refinery at Jamnagar.
December 31, 2008: Stock market benchmark Sensex closes trading for the year down 69 points at 9,647.31. It had peaked to 21,206.77 points in January.
The Indian economy itself which was on a high through the first half of 2008, began to feel global heat. With the United States and many European nations slipping into a recession or a major slowdown, India�s growth rate, Indian stock markets, company performance, exports, industrial output, rising inflation -- all put serious strain on the Indian economy, forcing the government to lower its growth projections.
The government announced economic stimulus packages to the tune of $5.8 billion, even as the Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates to infuse more money into the economy and revive some sectors -- like real estate, automobile, exports, textiles -- that were down in the dumps. Resource: http://specials.rediff.com/money/