VENTURE CAPITAL POST

China and India signed 26 business deals worth more than $22 billion in areas including renewable energy, ports, financing and industrial parks, an Indian embassy official said on Saturday.

Major banks wary of heavy U.S. penalties will be reluctant to restore ties with Iran even if sanctions are lifted in a possible nuclear deal, bank executives and advisers say, likely denting Iran's ambition to attract foreign investment to revive its crippled economy.

Uber is testing cash payments in India as the online taxi-hailing company seeks a stronger foothold in a country where many fewer people have credit cards than internet connections.

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the holding company of India's Tata conglomerate, has acquired a stake in Xiaomi Technology [XTC.UL], a deal that is likely to bolster the Chinese phone maker's presence in the world's third-largest smartphone market.

When Afghan President Ashraf Ghani makes his first official visit to India next week, it will be a chance for New Delhi to regain ground lost to regional rivals Pakistan and China and push interests including trade routes and arms sales.

Leaders of Asian and African nations called on Wednesday for a new global order that is open to emerging economic powers and leaves the "obsolete ideas" of Bretton Woods institutions in the past.

Gold buying in the world's top two gold consuming countries remained slow this week as premiums in China improved only slightly and those in India slipped as the global benchmark stabilised at $1,200 an ounce.

World oil markets will not see a significant rise in Iranian supplies for up to five years even if the OPEC member and world powers clinch a final nuclear deal by end-June, Fatih Birol chief economist and future head of International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) plans to triple exports from India with a $1 billion plant that will be one of its most heavily automated in Asia, offsetting slower sales inside the country with a push to sell more local production abroad.

Uber Technologies Inc, the online ride-hailing company, has entered into a "strategic partnership" with India's Times Internet, as it looks to expand operations in its largest market outside the United States.

Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd may scrap plans to invest in Indian online marketplace Snapdeal, technology website Recode reported, citing a person who was familiar with the matter.

A possible deal over Iran's nuclear program that would phase out economic sanctions against Tehran is unlikely to flood world markets with more oil any time soon, despite Iran's declared intention to claw back market share lost because of the curbs.

Two Indian firms could get a boost from tech majors in what might turn out to be the first direct investment in the country by Google Inc and Alibaba. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is in talks with Indian online marketplace Snapdeal over a potential cash investment,

Saudi Arabia overtook India to become the world's biggest weapons importer in 2014, a year when global defense trade rose for the sixth straight year to a record $64.4 billion, research company IHS said on Sunday.

China's defense budget this year will rise about 10 percent compared with 2014, a top government official said on Wednesday, outpacing the slowing economy as the country ramps up investment in high-tech equipment such as submarines and stealth jets.