PRESS DIGEST - Indian Business News - Aug 21

MUMBAI, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Indian newspapers carried the following stories in their print or Web editions on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES (www.economictimes.com)

* The federal government plans to raise the foreign direct investment limit in cable and direct-to-home (DTH) modes of distributing telecast signals to 74 percent from 49 percent.

* Securities and Exchange Board of India is considering a proposal to allow fund houses to offer insurance cover and to collect premiums from investors.

* Reliance Retail, part of Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), has issued strict internal guidelines on unnecessary expenditure as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

* The Central Vigilance Commission is examining a decision by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation to outsource management of funds to four asset management companies -- Reliance AMC, HSBC AMC, Prudential ICICI and State Bank of India (SBI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research).

* Italian fashion house Grotto SpA is exploring options to exit its equal joint venture with apparel retailer Raymond Ltd (RYMD.BO: Quote, Profile, Research).

* Several hotel chains and developers including ITC (ITC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), Royal Orchid (ROYL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), DLF (DLF.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and Parsvnath (PARV.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) are bidding for UK Dawnay Day's four-star hotel chain, Ten Hotels, and other real estate assets in India. The deal is valued at 5 billion to 7 billion rupees.

BUSINESS STANDARD (www.business-standard.com)