India's largest non-ferrous metals and mining company, Sterlite Industries, yesterday raised $1.5 billion from a follow-on sale of US-listed American depositary shares ADS that it will use partly to pay for the development of a commercial power generation business. The deal was timely, not only because it was launched on a day when the Dow Jones index rallied 3.1%, but because India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged before his re-election in May to boost investments in the power sector to meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity.
It also comes on the back of a surge in the Indian stock market since early March, which after a slight correction over the past six weeks,...