• Gujarat setting up global finance-tech hub
• Fun Business
• India's investment in US surprisses $2 bn in 2006-07: rerport
• India among 'most challenging' destinations for expats: Survey
• Mittal Group Keen to Invest US$ 2.8 Billion in Bangladesh
• ONGC discovers five gas reserves in May in North East
• Canada may ban Terminator seeds

• India has 1 lakh millionaires
• India to become handset super-power
• India to become 2nd Largest Economy of World by 2050
• India's deals abroad set to scale $35b
• India's ONGC Made 5 Huge Discoveries
• Dell India eyes $500-m PSU, education space
• India will need 500,000 IT professionals in 5 yrs: Karnik

It almost sounds like a set of numbers straight out of Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Just one lakh people in India account for at least one tenth of the country's GDP. In 2006, India had 1,00,015 people with a personal net worth in excess of at least $1 million (Rs 4.1 crore) each, according to the World Wealth Report. This, incidentally, does not include the value of the homes they live in. In 2005, there were just 83,000. What it means is this: Last year, the number of Indians getting richer grew at 20.5% as against the Chinese at 7.8%. This, in spite of the fact that the Chinese economy grew at 10.7% last year against India's 9.4%. It makes Indians the second fastest growing bunch of wealthy people in the world after Singaporeans, who grew at 21.2%. The report prepared by Merill Lynch and IT consulting major Capgemini said Indonesia was growing at 16% and stood third. Strong economic expansion, robust foreign direct investments and growing confidence in the Asian region helped swell the ranks of Asia's rich, the report said.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Jun 29, 2007

Back to Index

Gujarat is setting up a Rs.30 billion ($735 million) finance and technology hub which will be the state's "gift to the nation", Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday. At the foundation stone lying ceremony for "India's first integrated global financial and technology city" - called the Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City - here, Modi said: "Keeping with the image of the Gujarati entrepreneurship, skill and business acumen, the globally benchmarked financial service city will consist of an international financial city segment, a domestic finance segment, a technology park and an integrated township with ancillary support." He invited Gujaratis abroad, who form a sizeable section of non-residential Indians (NRIs), to invest in the ambitious project. "We are offering you high quality financial service at reasonable cost. So here is a 'gift' to your business. Your contribution can make Gujarat an attractive destination for financial tourism," he said. The high-tech wired city is being built on a 500-acre plot on the banks of the Sabarmati river, 8 km from Gandhinagar. Its first phase will be completed by 2010. The project is being developed by the Gujarat Urban Development Company Ltd (GUDC) and leading finance firm Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services Ltd (IL&FS). "The GIFT is expected to generate 150,000 direct employment opportunities in the white collar sector of finance professionals, chartered accountants, stock brokers and lawyers besides thousands of IT experts. It will also give indirect employment to 900,000 as maintenance personnel," Modi said. As many as six investors from India, Britain, Japan and Singapore on Thursday signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with IL&FS to develop over 2 million square feet of floor space in the financial city. "GIFT is designed as the hub of global finance industry that would provide back-office and support service to Mumbai, the financial capital of the country," said IL&FS chairman Ravi Parthasarathi. With the annual growth rate in double digits, Gujarat is seen as a prime mover of Indian economy.

Courtesy: www.newindpress.com, June 29, 2007

Back to Index

by Rashmi Pratap

Apart from being the world's fastest growing telecom market, India is also emerging as a handset super-power as more manufacturers set up base in the country. India is expected to register a handset production of over 51 million units this year to record the highest growth in the Asia-Pacific region, technology research firm Gartner has predicted. India produced nearly 31 million mobile phones in 2006 worth about $5 billion. This represented the largest contribution to overall electronics production revenue and to the total available market for semiconductors. For 2007, it has forecast that handset production will increase by 68% in units and 65% in value terms. "Looking ahead, we expect production volumes to reach nearly 95 million units and to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% between 2006 and 2011," the report said.

"We are starting from a small base and in the next five years, we will see high growth. Over six million users are being added every month and there is a captive local market for mobile manufacturers," Gartner Group principal research analyst Ganesh Ramamoorthy, who authored the study, told ET. Low mobile penetration and favourable government policies are driving mobile phone original equipment manufacturers to set up manufacturing facilities in India.Nokia started its unit in Chennai in January 2006 and produced a record 25 million handsets in the first year of operation. The vendor is also exporting mobiles from India to Sri Lanka. Motorola and electronics manufacturing service vendors (EMS) like Foxconn and Flextronics have also set up plants in India. Gartner said though the world's top five handset makers will retain a major share of production volume, it expects local manufacturers to capture up to a fifth of India's overall mobile phone production volume by the end of 2011. "We believe that growing demand for low-cost and ultra-low-cost mobile phones and the need for EMS vendors to reduce their revenue exposure to Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, for whom they are now manufacturing in India, will contribute to the growth of local-brand mobile phones in the Indian market," said the report. However, Mr Ramamoorthy had a word of caution. "Most of the components are imported today. For local handset manufacturing to continue to grow, you need to have local component manufacturing," he said. Another key challenge will be to keep handset prices low, as Indian consumers are very price sensitive. This will be achievable by gaining access to low-cost, feature-rich and local-specific chip designs, as well as a strong distribution network. Key stakeholders in the mobile phone industry value chain can provide this, so local manufacturers must look to form alliances and partnerships with them in order to succeed, it said.

Courtesy: www. economictimes.indiatimes.com, June 27, 2007

Back to Index

Entertainment could be the best business proposition going. According to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) report, India and China are set to drive expansion of the global entertainment and media (E&M) industry to $2 trillion by 2011. BRIC countries will be responsible for 24 per cent of this growth, with India and China as the principal contributors. India's E&M market is experiencing a tearaway 18.5 per cent annual growth, the highest in the world among major markets. The country is clearly in the throes of a consumer boom. With rising disposable incomes, people have more to spend on leisure and entertainment. An increase in advertising spend, which stands at a mere 0.34 per cent of GDP in 2006, could boost the ongoing expansion of India's E&M industry, which encompasses newspapers, magazines, TV content, TV distribution, radio, broadband Internet, films, video games, amusement parks and more. Given that India has the potential to become a big E&M player - as it is in IT today - concentrated efforts must be made to make this sector of the economy internationally competitive. E&M is being transformed by the advent of digital technologies and the PwC report says that half the expected industry growth will be generated through online and wireless technologies. Regulation of broadcasting, cable and Internet distribution networks must take account of technological convergence, thanks to which phone, TV and broadband Internet services can soon be provided together in one gadget. The policy framework must not be biased against any particular media format, and there should be a level playing field between public and private sector players. Piracy also needs to be addressed, for which legislation needs to be beefed up and enough empowered officers deployed in the field to check piracy. Bollywood will find Hollywood taking the battle to its home markets by dubbing its products in Hindi or other regional languages. Indian movie-makers will have to respond by making films that are internationally acceptable beyond the Indian diaspora markets. Bollywood doesn't yet have its equivalent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a film made with an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors that grossed $130 million in the US market. When that happens, Indian soft power will be a force to reckon with in the world.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, June 26, 2007

Back to Index

Goldman Sachs in its report has quoted that India will emerge the 2nd largest economy throughout the globe. India will emerge as the 2nd largest economy throughout the world by the year 2050, ahead of US, said Goldman Sachs in a statement that Economics Times published on 24 January 2007 broadening the estimates of the prospects of India in its October '03 research paper �. According to the report productivity growth in India will help the country sustain above 8% growth until the year 2020. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of India will exceed France, UK and Italy by the mid of next decade (that is around 2015). It will then surpass Japan and Germany and then finally the United States ahead of the year 2050 to become the 2nd largest economy following China. Growth acceleration of India since 2003 has shown a structural upward trend and not a simple cyclical upturn, as per the research arm of Goldman Sach in a global research paper that was released on 22 January 2007. The paper wrote that nearly 50% of the total growth was driven by the productivity growth and will likely continue for next few years as well. Between the years 2007 and 2020, GDP per capita of India is expected to quadruple. The escalating growth rate will signify huge demand here, since the people of India will also use up additionally about 5 times car and 3 times crude oil. The contribution of India to the growth of the global economy will also continue to increase, as per the report. RNCOS report on India Retail Sector Analysis (2006-2007)� notifies, The economy of India has shown a healthy growth during 2003-2006. The GDP growth rate of the country almost crossed 9% mark during the year 2006. The retail industry of the country has received a strong boost due to this steady growth in its GDP. There has been a continuous rise in the personal income as well as household consumption in the country. The GDP of India is expected to rise further in the years to come.� This research reports on India Retail Sector Analysis (2006-2007)� also addresses some interesting issues for today's global business environment. The key questions answered in this report include: what is the current market size and scope of the organized retail in India; what & where are the growth prospects and issues related to the industry; what are the factors driving growth in this sector; what are the opportunities & challenges faced by retailers in India and so on.

Courtesy: www.freshplaza.com, June 22, 2007

Back to Index

Indian companies invested over $2 billion in the US in 2006-07 and completed a total of 48 deals with the firms there, says a report. The IT and ITES (IT-enabled services) industries have accounted for 48 percent of the 48 deals, including mega deals taking place in other sectors such as pharma, hospitality, agro products and automotive industry among others, according to a study jointly done by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and global professional services firm Ernst & Young. Indian outbound deals crossed $15 billion in 2006 and it is expected that by 2007 the value could surpass $35 billion. Also, during the first nine months of 2006, Indian companies have announced 115 foreign acquisitions worth $7.4 billion, a seven-fold increase since 2000. According to the report, the companies that have clinched the top five deals during the period are Tata Tea, ONGC Videsh, Tata Coffee, Indian Hotels and HOV Services. "Over the last decade, Indian companies belonging to diverse industries have been gradually gearing up to become emerging multinationals. Leveraging the nation's comparative advantage of knowledge, Indian companies have grown through acquisitions, built best-in-class competency and become large-scale players," the report says. It also stresses on the fact that Indian investments abroad are not always done by large business conglomerates but are largely driven by several of Indian small and medium enterprises. One of the main factors that have acted as a catalyst for such enormous deals is the growing confidence among Indian companies coupled with the willingness to take risk. Also, India Inc is now well-equipped to acquire overseas companies because of the regulatory development that has taken place due to the government's liberal measures and various monetary relaxations provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with the growth of foreign exchange. In the BPO (business process outsourcing) space, the report said, Indian companies are now increasingly opening up units in the US providing opportunities of large-scale employment there, giving rise to a 'reverse outsourcing' trend.

Courtesy: www.mangalorean.com, June 18, 2007

Back to Index

India Inc's shopping-spree across the globe is at an all time high and will continue to be robust even in 2007, says a report by Ficci and Ernst and Young. The total outbound deals, which were valued at $4.3 billion in 2005, crossed $15 billion-mark in 2006 and it could well breach the $35-billion level this year, the report on 'Direct investments in the Unites States of America by Indian enterprises' said. According to the report, IT and ITeS have emerged as the front-runners in outbound investment from India to the US, accounting for 48% of the total 46 deals worth over $2 billion in 2006-07. "The US has emerged as a dynamic market for Indian companies, which are likely to invest about $10 billion in that country by 2010," says Amit Mitra, secretary general, Ficci. Besides the bigger deals, small and medium enterprises also made acquisitions in areas like IT, ITeS, pharma and healthcare, irrigation, electricals, automotives, textiles, telecom, paint, paper and gems and jewellery that were in the range of $20-60 million. While majority of deals took place in the IT & ITeS sector (48%), pharma and healthcare (9%) and gems and jewellery (7%) are the others two sectors that individually contributed more that 5% of the total number of deals. "Greater activity would be witnessed in the small and medium enterprise segment in next few years," he added. The investments were primarily driven by increased profitability, cost advantage, increased willingness of corporate India to take on risk, a liberal regulatory stance of government and exposure of domestic companies and their management to the US companies, says the study. Management practices and maturing of the corporate sector in terms of fundamentals and competitiveness were the other reasons fuelling the growth in outbound deals, it said. For the first time ever the total value of outbound deals exceeded that of inbound deals in the first half of 2006.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, June 18, 2007

Back to Index

With a booming global economy driving overseas postings to a record level, India along with its emerging market peers China and Russia has emerged as one of the "most challenging" locations to work for expatriates, a new study shows. Over two-third of the multinational companies (MNCs) reported an increase in the number of international assignments in 2006, while as much as 65 per cent of the MNCs plan to ramp up their overseas postings this year, according to an annual Global Relocation Trends Survey released today. The reported increase for 2006 is a record high level in the 12-year history of the survey, published by GMAC Global Relocation Services. A booming global economy is driving a sharp surge in the number of overseas postings, even as the financial and cultural strains of an international assignment are taking their toll on spouse, children and families, the survey said. Among other findings, the survey revealed that "China, India and Russia were the primary emerging destinations. "However, these countries have also emerged as "the most challenging locations for expatriates," primarily due to the issues like housing and living costs, immigration challenges, payroll and employment-related concerns. With the share of total revenue generated from outside of a company's headquartered country rising, the demand for experienced international management talent has never been greater. This has tilted the balance in favour of expatriates as firms heavily rely on them to fill gaps in critical skills, transferring technology and promote corporate culture, it added. Nearly two thirds of MNCs intend to send even more employees on foreign assignment this year-the onus is clearly on firms to motivate employees as an increasing number are turning down international assignments, the study pointed out. The survey, which tracked 180 companies with a worldwide head count of more than 8.4 million people, also noted that 10 per cent of assignments were not completed due to expatriates returning from their assignments prematurely. Asked to name the principal reasons for early returns from assignments, family concerns (32 per cent) topped the list, followed by accepting a new position within the company (23 per cent), early completion of the assignment (14 per cent), career concerns (6 per cent) and cultural adjustment challenges (4 per cent), GMAC said. Not only does this make the job of finding suitable candidates one of the most critical business challenges for companies today but also the workers that are willing to relocate. However, women-who form 20 per cent of the expatriates-are found to be more open to the idea of accepting overseas assignments, it noted. Human resources professionals believe that overseas assignments have a positive effect on employees' careers as 31 per cent of those surveyed said an international assignment leads to faster promotion. Twenty seven per cent reported that (overseas assignments) makes it easier to switch jobs. Companies also feel that expatriates are attractive recruitment targets because of their international experience, the survey added.

Courtesy: www.business-standard.com, June 12, 2007

Back to Index

Indian oil and gas major ONGC has made five oil and gas finds in eastern offshore and North-East, where 3-4 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves have already been established. ONGC made second discovery in Mahanadi basin in MN-DWN-98/3 block in east coast of India, about 60 km off Paradeep coast (in Orissa)," a company press release said today. R.S. Sharma, chairman and managing director, said after the meeting that these discoveries were very significant for ONGC as the discoveries had taken place in new formations and might lead to many more exploration prospects in the near future. The company has so far drilled five wells in Mahanadi Basin and made the first discovery in 2006. It, however, did not say the reserve potential in the new discovery. ONGC produced 99,840 cubic metres per day of gas and 91 barrels per day of condensate from Uppidi-1 well in Block-1B in Krishna Godavari basin, off the east coast. The block was awarded to ONGC prior to advent of NELP in 2000. -neftegaz.ru

Courtesy: www.huliq.com, June 9, 2007

Back to Index

After the Indian industrial giant Tata Group, the UK-based Indian giant Mittal Group is also keen to invest in Bangladesh. A high level delegation of the Mittal Group, led by its Managing Director VK Mittal, arrives here tomorrow (Sunday) on a two-day visit to formally place a US$ 2.8 billion investment offer to the caretaker government. The Mittal delegation will fly to Dhaka on a private aircraft Sunday afternoon and leave the capital on Monday afternoon. The Mittal Group is one of the largest business conglomerates in both India and United Kingdom (UK) with US$ 28 billion investment in 27 countries across four continents - Europe, Asia, Africa and America.The Group has already expressed its keen interest to invest in different sectors in Bangladesh through its local agent GRH Bangladesh Limited, which is now arranging the visit of the industrial giant's top executives. The sectors included in the UK-based Indian business group's investment plan are energy, power generation, coal-mine development, and production of ethylene dichloride, caustic soda, LPG (C3) LPG (C4) and hydrogen.The investment in energy sector, particularly in gas exploration and power generation, would get top priority if the group is given a chance to invest in Bangladesh, Syed G Dastagir Nishad, chairman of GRH Limited, the local agent of Mittal Group, told UNB.He said the Mittal Group is set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Board of Investment (BoI) seeking to materialize its investment plan and explore business in Bangladesh.During its stay in the capital, delegation chief VK Mittal, who leads the Global Oil and Energy of the Mittal Group, is expected to call on President Iajuddin Ahmed, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed, Energy Adviser Tapan Chowdhury and some influential policymakers of the government.The Mittal delegation will be accompanied by the group's director for international business affairs Javed Pasha, a former minister of Pakistan.After its merger with Europe's top steel manufacturer Arcelor, the Mittal Group's ArcelorMittal became the world's number one steel producer with 320,000 employees in more than 60 countries.ArcelorMittal has led the consolidation of the world steel industry and today ranks as the only truly global steel maker with plants in 27 countries.ArcelorMittal is also a leader in all major global markets in varied fields, including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging.Its industrial presence in Europe, Asia, Africa and America gives the Group exposure to all the key steel markets, from emerging to mature. ArcelorMittal key pro forma financials for 2006 show combined revenues of USUS$ 88.6 billion. Its production was equivalent to around 10 percent of world steel output.It is currently listed under the legal entity Mittal Steel NV on the stock exchanges of New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia.

Courtesy: www.energybangla.com, June 09, 2007

Back to Index

PC maker Dell India has set up a new dedicated division and created a specialised product portfolio to tap the $500-million government and education market in the country "We have formed a new vertical - government and education- to win businesses in the government, public sector enterprises and higher education space. We have also readied the product portfolio, including a full range of laptops and notebooks, X86 servers and projectors. Our Chennai plant, which is on track, would further add to our competitiveness in catering to this market," said Dell India country head Rajan Anandan. The government and education market is growing at a CAGR of 50%. According to industry estimates, government and public sector enterprises would account for 20% share of the domestic PC market. "There is greater IT implementation in PSUs now, the defence IT expenditure is also rising and with the e-governance initiatives taking shape across the country, we see great opportunity in the market," added Mr Anandan. Dell has started providing its products including PCs and servers to the Indian Railways, the Tamil Nadu government undertaking, Elcot, and Union Bank of India. It is now looking at enhancing presence in the market and tying up with national and regional system integrators for installation. The Rs 2,000-crore Dell India witnessed a growth in revenues of over 50% and volume growth of 70% in 2006. "While large IT/ITeS companies will continue to provide the largest chunk to our revenues, we have been steadily expanding into other areas. Two quarters ago, we entered the home and small business space. The government and education space is the next opportunity," said Mr Anandan. Dell recently inaugurated its R&D centre in Bangalore, its largest outside its main Austin facility, and a centre of excellence for Dell's enterprise solutions and products. According to IDC figures, the domestic IT market clocked revenues of Rs 61,761 crore in 2006 and is expected to touch Rs 1,16,177 crore by 2010.

Courtesy: www.infotech.indiatimes.com, June 07, 2007

Back to Index

Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) has made a new record by making five discoveries of natural gas reserves during the month of May this year.According to an official release the new discoveries are at MDW-4A Well in Mahanadi Basin, Disangmukh-3 discovery in Sibsagar, Panidihing-6 discovery near Brahmaputra River, Kunjaban-2 discovery in North Agartala and Uppidi-1 in KG Basin.ONGC made a second discovery in Mahanadi Basin in about 60 kms off the Paradeep coast. The Well MDW-4A at a water depth of 1087 metres produced gas with a high flow potential, through straddle packer from a depth of around 1800 metres. The block has been bid by ONGC exclusively without any partners under NELP-I. The flow rate of oil is highest among the discoveries in the northeast region. Oil is of very good quality sweet crude with API gravity of 33 and pour point 300 degree Celsius.

Courtesy: www.newkerala.com, June 07, 2007

Back to Index

India's information technology sector would require nearly 500,000 professionals in the next five years to cater to the growing needs of this booming industry, Kiran Karnik, president National Association of Software and Service Companies said on Wednesday. Currently, the industry required 300,000 professionals, however the number was expected to nearly double with the sector being poised for huge growth, he said during the inauguration of the country's first IT finishing school. Though the institutes churned out a huge number of engineering graduates, the industry was left with less than 300,000 professionals to hire from, since many of them turned entrepreneurs, some sought jobs overseas while others opted for higher studies, Karnik said. It was not only shortage of numbers that was a matter of concern but also the quality being churned out. "We have been expressing our concern on human resource position in terms of quality. Several graduates lacked polish and there was huge gap in the areas of soft skills like communication, articulation, and team work," he said. Applauding the setting up of the RIIIT finishing school at Mysore, he said such a finishing school would result in the development of industry-ready professionals. The need of the hour was not only to ensure that the education process turned more responsive to industry needs but also to rope in industry personnel in curriculum drafting and training process. He also called for liberating education from its current bureaucratic regulations and encourage private players to enter the field. The education sector could be modeled on the lines of the health sector, which is booming with the entry of many private players, Karnik said. He also called for setting up of special education zones, liberated from bureaucratic regulations and based on pure market forces. "We need to look at innovation and explore different avenues," he said, adding that such ideas could be experimented and their viability tested. Karnik said that he was not in favour of the government completely withdrawing its role from the education sector but encourage public private partnership on the education front. Earlier, speaking to reporters, he said that the appreciation of the rupee was a matter of concern to the IT sector. The rupee had appreciated nearly eight to nine per cent in the last four months, which was impacting the industry.

Courtesy: www.inhome.rediff.com, June 06, 2007

Back to Index

Terminator seeds, which have already been outlawed by India and Brazil, now face similar treatment in Canada. Agriculture critic Alex Atamanenko introduced a private member's bill Thursday to ban field-testing and commercialization of terminator seeds, which allow the seed maker to control future generations of the plant. These seeds make use of what is generally called "terminator technology," which is one form of Genetic Use Restriction Technology (GURT). The simplest form of GURT merely ensures that the second generation of seeds cannot be used for planting. An activating gene introduced into the plant triggers a toxin gene during germination. The second generation seed fails to germinate, forcing the farmer to buy new seeds for each season. A sneakier version allows biotech companies to control whether or not particular traits express in the second generation of plants. The second generation of seeds will sprout - but you won't get those wonderful traits you wanted, like resistance to disease or large yield, unless you pay the biotech company for a special chemical to spray on the plants, activating those genes. You don't need to be a science fiction fan to start thinking about ways that this could go wrong. For example, what if these plants begin to crossbreed with other varieties - and pass on their terminator technology? I don't want to be forced to make a deal with a biotech company to make sure I have plants. (There have been a variety of cases in which hybrid crops have been planted next to fields of normal plants, and then cross-bred - or replaced - the normal plants.) "Terminator technology" applied to plants is bad enough, but what if (some years from now) you go to your doctor for a cure that involves a useful genetic modification - and are then told that this trait can be passed on to your children for a price? This sounds to me like DRM (Digital Rights Management) for plants. DRM schemes for music, for instance, are intended to prevent owners from creating a "second generation" (that is, copies) of the original recording. Science fiction writer Jack Vance wrote about an entire planetary culture obsessed with protection of its biological intellectual property rights in his 1954 story The Houses of Iszm. The Iszic used their knowledge of plants to create enormous house trees that grew large pods for living space. The Iszic developed intensive security and surveillance systems (like sentry trees) to make sure no one stole a female plant, which would break their monopoly. The sphincter expanded and Farr stepped dubiously into the chamber...the pod was thirty feet long, opening on a balcony with a waist-high balustrade. The walls and domed ceiling were tufted with trefoils of a silky green fibre; the floor was heavy with plum-coloured moss; quaint lamps grew out of the wall. There were four magenta pod-chairs against one wall.

Courtesy: www.livescience.com, June 06, 2007

Back to Index