Stocks to watch: ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Dalmia Cement, Tata Power, Rel Infra, DLF, Ranbaxy

MUMBAI: The telecom regulator's proposed new rules for the sector have been greeted with anger by mobile phone companies, which said the cure that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) wants to administer is worse than the disease.

Many cellphone operators warned that any move to implement these recommendations without consultations could result in legal challenges. Shares of telecom companies like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and others are likely to remain volatile in today's session.

New accounting rules have brought down the capital of the country's second-largest lender, ICICI Bank. The bank's tier-I capital, which comprises equity and free reserves, is down by Rs 1,130 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010, due to changes announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on treatment of securitisation exposures and special reserves.

The Water Technology Business Unit of construction major Larsen & Toubro secured an international order of Rs 850-crore from Public Works Authority, Qatar, for advanced waste water treatment and urban reuse.

Dalmia Cement, which recently brought in private equity major KKR as an investor, plans to acquire a sugar mill and is in talks with two companies in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Yet another legal battle between Tata Power Company and Reliance Infrastructure to win maximum consumers seems to be on the cards with TPC openly refusing to accept the state government directive asking it to continue its 358 MW supply to RInfra. All indications are that TPC may take the courtroom route to solve the problem.

Concerned over the delay in getting clearance from the Centre for its IT SEZ in Chennai, India's largest listed developer DLF has decided to pull out of the project, communicating the same to Tamil Nadu government.

Godrej Consumer Products is reported to be in talks with private equity investors Carlyle Group and Blackstone, as well ChrysCapital and Standard Chartered Private Equity to raise $125 million.

Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, a state government-owned oil and gas major, is close to merging unlisted unit Sabarmati Gas with its gas distribution subsidiary, GSPC Gas, to increase its presence in the gas distribution business in Gujarat.

French equipment maker Alstom and Indian software exporter Infosys Technologies have announced the expansion of their strategic partnership in areas of global research and development, engineering and engineering IT services.

Ranbaxy Laboratories, has said it expects a net profit of Rs 460 crore in 2010, even as it reported a bottomline twice that in the first three months ended March 2010. The company attributed its subdued forecast to uncertainty over the exchange rate between the rupee and the dollar.

Cadila Healthcare has entered into a licensing and supply agreement with Abbott Laboratories that will help Abbott gain the rights to at least 24 Zydus products in 15 emerging markets where Abbott has a strong and growing presence.