Five months after investor activism forced Tata Motors, the country’s biggest automotive manufacturer, to do a rethink on the pay offered to its senior management, the company is again seeking shareholder approval on remuneration to two executive directors (EDs).

The two are Ravindra Pisharody and Satish Borwankar — whose packages were contested by shareholders and proxy advisory firms when the company posted a loss at the standalone level last year.

Benchmark indices are trading lower, amid weakness in their Asian peers, dragged by losses in information technology and oil shares. Further, contraction in Index of Industrial Production for October to 4.2% also dampened sentiment.

At 9:30 AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 121 points at 27,241 and the 50-share Nifty was down 28 points at 8,196.

General Motors will raise car prices to the tune of 1 per cent from January 1 to offset its input cost pressure, the company said in a release today.

The Delhi-based company will be joining the league of Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra who raised their prices in the range of 1-2 per cent last month.

Markets opened flat on Wednesday with Tata Motors leading the gains in early trades along with select index heavyweights.

At 9:19AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 6 points at 28,450 and the 50-share Nifty was up 4 points at 8,529.

HSBC India Services PMI for November 2014 is due on Wednesday. Adjusted for seasonal factors, the headline HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell to 50 in October, from 51.6 in September.

Tata Manza, the only mid-size sedan sold by Tata Motors, is struggling to keep up with the competition, fueling possibilities of a potential withdrawal from the market.

Just 776 Manzas were sold by the Mumbai-based company in first six months of this year, marking a fall of 26% when compared to the same period last year of 1,054 units. This makes an average monthly volume of 130 units.

Markets continued to trade firm in late noon trades led by rate sensitive shares on hopes of a rate cut by the central bank and index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

At 2:15PM, the 30-share Sensex is up 333 points at 28,772 and the 50-share Nifty has gained 109 points to trade at 8,604.

With Adani Power acquiring the 600-Mw Korba West plant from Avantha Group, Tata Power will soon become a distant second in terms of the largest private power producers in India. The Gautam Adani-promoted Adani Power is set to become the country’s largest private power producer, with an installed capacity of 11,040 Mw.

Currently, Adani Power has operational capacity of 8,580 Mw, against Tata Power’s 8,613 Mw. But the Ahmedabad-based Adani Power’s capacity will soon be enhanced, with an expected announcement of the commissioning of the fifth 660-Mw unit at Tiroda in Maharashtra. Besides, it had acquired the 1,200-Mw Udupi plant from Lanco Infratech in August. Once the Udupi and Korba acquisitions are completed, Adani Power’s total installed capacity will stand at 11,040 Mw. It further has the ambition to take it to 20,000 Mw by 2020.

Tata Power will soon become a distant number two in private sector power production with Adani Power acquiring the 600 MW Korba West unit from Gautam Thapar-led Avantha Group. The billionaire Gautam Adani-promoted company is set to become the largest private sector power producer with installed capacity of 11,040 MW.

Currently, Adani Power has operational capacity of 8580 MW against Tata Power’s 8,613 MW. But it is soon going to announce the commissioning of the fifth unit of 660 MW at Tiroda in Maharashtra. Besides, the completion of the acquisition of 1,200 MW Udupi plant from Lanco Infratech and 600 MW Korba West unit will take its total capacity to 11,040 MW.

With the new government remaining steadfast on overhauling safety regulations followed by car manufacturers, companies fear that the 10-15% upward revision in prices will adversely impact sales.

They say that a price increase upwards of Rs 35,000 per vehicle for an airbag fitment will lead to shrinking affordability levels among buyers, adversely impacting sales.

Benchmark indices are trading in a tight range with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone. After touching record highs in the opening trades, markets slipped on account of profit booking at higher levels.

By 10:25, the Sensex was lower by 3 points at 28,160 mark whereas the Nifty dipped 8 points at 8,418 levels.

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