The call rates opened at 4-5 per cent, but later dropped to 0.50 per cent at the close. Three-days money was offered at 5-6 per cent and one-day money at around 4.75 per cent, dealers said. Securities Trading Corporation of India (STCI) business turnover was only Rs 100 crore at a weighted average rate of 2.40 %, an STCI funds manager said. The rate is a weighted-average of the total borrowing and lending transactions by STCI during the day. The Reserve Bank of India mopped up Rs 5,916 crore at the three-day fixed-rate repos auction.

Delays cost $ 40 m to Hinduja project
NEW DELHI: The six-year delay in issuance of centralcounter-guarantee for the 1040 mw Vishakhapatnam power project has cost its promoters Hinduja National Power Company, a hefty 40 million dollars, top company sources said.When contacted, president of the group, G P Hinduja refused comment on the extent of losses due to the delay and said "we had no option but to accent the centre's decision after we have gone through the drill in the last six years." The government is likely to give counter guarantee to the 1.2 billion dollar fast track project within ten days as most of the pending issues relating to fuel supply were sorted out by finance minister Yashwant Sinha at a high-level meeting with concerned ministries on Tuesday.

Mibor-linked bonds grow in popularity
MUMBAI: Indian corporates are increasingly pricing their debt issues pegged to call money rates, with the Mumbai Inter-Bank Overnight Rate (Mibor) emerging as a popular benchmark, dealers said on Friday. The Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) is the latest to announcea non-convertible debenture (NCD) issue with a Mibor-linked yield. It has floated an issue of non-convertible debentures for Rs 250 million, offering a spread of 2.25 percentage points over Mibor. The issue opened on July 1. Mibor was developed and introduced by Reuters in September 1997.