BSE to remove RCom, Infra from Sensex

MUMBAI, INDIA: The Bombay Stock Exchange said it had decided to exclude mobile operator Reliance Communications and power utility Reliance Infrastructure, both controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, from the Sensex.

The companies will be replaced by state-run Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, and leading drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries in the main 30-share index, the exchange said in a statement on Friday.

The changes will be effective from August 8, the exchange said, without giving a reason for the move.

Shares in Reliance Communications, India's second-largest mobile operator, and Reliance Infrastructure are the two worst Sensex performers this year - down 35 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively, while the main index has fallen 12 per cent.

Shares in Coal India, in which the government sold a 10 percent stake last year for $3.4 billion in the country's largest ever IPO, is up 25 per cent, while Sun Pharmaceutical shares have risen nearly 2 per cent so far this year.