• Indian Tech Drives Autoworld
• Bicon to Bring Cancer Drug by Year End
• IFC Looks to Cash in on India's Carbon Financing System
• Mr Hotmail Plans $2 Billion Nano city in Haryana
• 'India's Nuclear Powerss Superior to Many'

• Indian Brains Fuel Voice SMS Soluntion
• Special Group on Semiconductor to be Launched
• India on Way to Becoming Biotec Studies Hub
• India, US ink Deal on first Green Thermal Plant

Smart technologies for smart cars. And a lot of it code-written in Bangalore, Chennai or Gurgaon. As cars turn high-tech, India's proving it can stay in the race. From infra-red vision in headlamps to in-car Bluetooth applications, Big Auto is turning to India for top-of-the-line technology. Auto MNCs have been wiring back-office functions to India including supply chain management and procurement functions for their global operations. What's new is the tech edge in the latest round of sourcing. A host of OEMs due for an India debut are looking at both component and IT sourcing as part of their regional strategy. Applications like Bluetooth in car, remote diagnostics services and new systems that seek to improve safety on roads are being outsourced to India." Wipro Technologies has eight automobile clients and a 1,000-people team developing applications for global car majors. Genpact's BPO has around 1,000 people engaged in finance, accounts payable, analytics, supply chain management and procurement tasks for global auto makers. Says Pramod Bhasin, President & CEO, Genpact, "We do everything from complex inventory modelling to managing customer service and warranty." Genpact expects to have about 3,000-4,000 people engaged in auto related processes over the next few years. Nissan is one of Genpact's clients. Its India-based team caters to Nissan's North American operations. Says Neeraj Garg, director-marketing & sales, Nissan Motor India, "We have done IT deals in India based on availability of high skills and competencies. As per Nissan policy, every opportunity to do business in a better way would be explored from time to time (for the Indian market)." Adds Peter Kronschnabl, president, BMW India, "India is a leading market in IT and we will definitely have a look at that segment for India sourcing. But I assume, when I buy from SAP or Microsoft, that's also Indian in many ways. Currently, we source software from a host of suppliers like IBM and many of them have a strong presence in India." Others like DaimlerChrysler India use India's IT capability as part of its global strategy of sourcing according to a region's competence. Says Bala, "Wipro has been involved in projects where we are targeting to achieve a reduction in IT transaction cost per car sold by a dealer by 60% over the next three years of engagement with the client. This engagement will also result in reduction of non-value adding IT infrastructure cost per automotive dealer by 70%."

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 20, 2006

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Engineers working at the Mumbai and Gurgaon development centres, of the United States-based roaming services provider, Roamware, have perfected a cost-effective technology to send short voice messages as easily as one sends short message service (SMS) text messages from a mobile phone now. Unlike the voice mailbox option that many cell phone users in India can activate, when they are unable to accept an incoming call, Voice SMS can be used as a cheap and less intrusive option, to contact a person. A lot of words - and the emotion - can be packed into a 30 second or one minute Voice SMS: something that is painfully slow to achieve by tapping out a text message limited to 150 characters or so, said Avnish Chauhan, Roamware's San Jose (California)-based senior vice-president (engineering), during a telephonic briefing for The Hindu on Tuesday. It will be specially meaningful in galloping new telecom markets such as India, where many of the new subscribers in the rural areas, may not be comfortable with text-based messaging. Just five years old, Roamware has created a niche for itself in the telecom tools arena with a number of products sharply focused on reducing the cost and hassle of roaming services, and currently serves 200 networks and 520 million users in 85 countries. Chief Executive Bobby Srinivasan adds: ``Voice SMS overcomes barriers of language, literacy and etiquette, without needing any additional infrastructure from the provider or any change to the mobile hand set.... `talk and listen' is any day a great improvement on ``type and read.''

Courtesy: The Hindu, April 19, 2006

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Biotech major Biocon said on Monday that it expected its drug for treating head and neck cancer to hit the market by the end of the current financial year. "It (the drug release) should hopefully be by the end of this year", Biocon chairman and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said. She said BIOMAb EGFR, a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of solid tumours of epithelial origin such as head and neck cancer, had one through the required clinical development time-line. "It's now for the regulators to look at the data and approve it. We are just in the process of compiling the data and filing it (before regulators for approval). We will file it next month", she said. According to Biocon officials, the drug is engineered to specifically target and block the epidermal growth factor receptor responsible for the proliferation of cancer cells. "BIOMAb EGFR will spearhead Biocon Pharmeceuticals' foray into proprietary products for cancer therapy", a company official said. "It is estimated that the incidence of new cancer cases in India is about 700,000 annually, of which nearly 2,30,000 are tobacco-related and occur in the head and neck region". Earlier on Monday, union finance minister, P Chidambaram inaugurated Biocon Biopharmaceuticals, the company's multi-product biologics facility on the city outskirts. Biocon said monoclonal antibodies are emerging as the fastest growing segment, especially in oncology and auto- immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and lupus. The current global market size of monoclonal antibodies is $15 bn, which is expected to double by 2010.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 17, 2006

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The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Semi-Conductor (Special Interest Group) SIG will be launched here on April 16. Minister of State for Defence M. M. Pallam Raju will formally launch the group. TiE is the premier Silicon Valley organisation and a global non-profit organisation focused on promoting entrepreneurship through mentoring networking and education. TiE helps budding entrepreneurs through advice guidance and assistance from successful and experienced entrepreneurs and professionals. J. A. Chowdary, President, TiE SIG, will be spearheading its activities in India. There are about 30 companies located here, which are engaged in the semiconductor and embedded technology area. The objective of TiE SIG is to transform itself into a pan-India SIG to deliver greater value to all participants through participation by members from the semiconductor industry across the country. Initially, TiE SIG will be headquartered here with the core group and the executive committee comprising senior members of the semiconductor industry across different chapters in India. TiE's strength is its network through 42 cities in nine countries that consists of many participants in the entrepreneurial ecosystem - successful and experienced as well as budding entrepreneurs, venture capital firms, angel investors and service providers. The semiconductor boom in India is on and has already attracted FAB players to make investments. Andhra Pradesh is witnessing hectic activity in this sphere with SemIndia Ltd. and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) unveiling their plan to set up India's first $3 billion advanced semiconductor fabrication (FAB). Nanotech Silicon India had already commenced its effort to build its FAB project in the State earlier. There are many other leading "Fabless Semiconductor Companies'' such as Cypress Semiconductor, ATI, PortlPlayer and Dell which are likely to announce their expansion projects in India.

Courtesy: The Hindu, April 16,2006

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The International Finance Corp (IFC) is betting big on India's carbon financing system. It is exploring the possibility of partnering with private banks in the country to cash in on financing companies to trade in Certified Emission Reduction (CERs) The carbon credit market in India is estimated at 1.5bn tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions of a global market size of 5.5bn tonnes. "The carbon financing system in India is amongst the best. This is amply reflected in the volume of projects in various stages of the CDM approval and registration process," said Sameer Singh, Environmental & Social Specialist, IFC. "We recognize this as a growing revenue stream. India is a growing market for carbon trading rivalled only by countries like Brazil and China," said Rajesh Srivastava, MD, Head of North India, Rabo India Finance. India has over 100 companies that are ready with clean technologies to bring down the emission levels of greenhouse gases and sell CERs to developed countries. This is the largest portfolio for any country signatory to the United Nations Framework of Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). Under the Kyoto Protocol, between '08 and '12, developed countries have to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to an average of 5.2% below the 1990 level. They can also buy CERs from developing countries, which do not have any reduction obligations, in case their industries are not in a position to lower the emission levels themselves. India is the world's sixth largest emitter of carbon dioxide with its present share in global emissions estimated at 6%.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 12, 2006

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India is rapidly moving from being a label extension support centre to being included in global pivotal studies and the growing generics industry is boosting the flow of pharmacokinetic studies to the country. In this scenario, Indian companies are busy identifying areas of comparative advantage and leveraging them to compete globally, states "The Global Biotechnology Report 2006" brought out by Ernst & Young. The next big step for India will be in products, as most current research programmes will bear fruit by the end of the decade. This global expansion would be driven by domestic innovation, competitive costs, availability of valid data, and viable business models that have already been tested in India, he added. However, efforts to expand India's highly skilled labour pool will be critical to the industry's growth. A comprehensive strategy is needed for giving an impetus to education in all aspects of biotech to provide a clear mapping of educational and industrial opportunities. The "Global Technology Report" adds while stem-cell research has raised some debate in the West, huge investments have been flowing to India in this field. Similarly, the strategic emphasis in India has now shifted to developing new vaccine delivery systems instead of just manufacturing vaccines in bulk to maintain cost competitiveness. Changes are also occurring upstream through enhanced capabilities in conducting research on discoveries, and downstream, primarily in the capacity to manufacture biopharmaceuticals.

Courtesy: Business Standard, April 12, 2006

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Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia will launch a "Nano City" in Haryana. The project, to be set up in collaboration with the Haryana government, is likely to attract an initial investment of $2 billion. Addressing reporters in Chandigarh, Bhatia said silicon technology had become obsolete and nano technology represented the future of IT and bio-technology. "The objective of our effort is to recreate the vibrance of Silicon Valley in Haryana," said Bhatia. He said he shortlisted Haryana due to the initiative taken by the state government and added that he was considering some other states to launch new projects, but "Nano City" was exclusively for Haryana. Bhatia said. Principal Secretary of Haryana and Financial Commissioner, Industries, PK Chaudhary, who was also at the press conference, said a location-specific study of the project would reveal the volume of investment needed. He added that "Nano City" would offer the best Internet connectivity, state-of-art institutes and world-class infrastructure. A concrete project report would be prepared in three months, he added. Chaudhary said the state government expected this proposed city to provide, apart from nanotechnology, bio sciences, software product development, next-generation Internet products, and materials research. "We foresee the creation of world-class research establishments on the lines of US universities and research and development centres of companies that have been the centres of innovation, to carry out multi-disciplinary and collaborative research with Indian centres of excellence, in this city. We will also aim at setting up a fast track mechanism for getting the required approvals," he added.

Courtesy: Business Standard, April 5th,2006

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Notwithstanding hurdles in the Indo-US civil nuclear power deal, India became the first country to participate in the FutureGen project, when it signed an agreement with the United States on Monday to build and operate the world's first coal-based power plant without any carbon emissions. The 950 million dollar project aims to produce electricity from coal after removing and sequestering carbon dioxide.The Framework Protocol, signed by Power Secretary R.V. Shahi and US Assistant Secretary of Energy Jeffrey D. Jarret, follows the decision taken during the visit of President George W. Bush last month.". The plant would be built by FutureGen Industry Alliance and the process was on to locate a site for the project. "It makes us proud to say that India is the first government member in the prestigious project. The government will contribute 10 million dollars in this," Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said. The project, expected to be commissioned by 2012, could also see participation by Indian companies, Shahi said. It will be the first plant in the world to simultaneously produce both electricity and commercial-grade hydrogen from coal. The project will emit virtually no airborne pollutants, solid wastes would be converted to commercially valuable products and carbon gases would be captured before they escape into atmosphere, a release from the US embassy said.

Courtesy: The Hindustan Times, April 4th,2006

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Describing the Indo-US nuclear deal as a 'win-win situation' for both the countries, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Union government R Chidambaram on Friday said India's technology prowess in the nuclear domain was superior to the stagnated ones of many other countries. "The world needs us just like we need them. It is a win-win situation," Chidambaram said. India and the US had on March 2 this year reached an understanding to implement the landmark nuclear cooperation deal to meet the growing energy requirements of the country. "In many other countries, including some developed ones, nuclear technology has stagnated. But in India, it is growing at tremendous pace. It is a good deal, considering the global level of expertise we have," Chidambaram said. The agreement, which has to be ratified by the US Congress, ensures supply of nuclear fuel for India's nuclear energy programmes in exchange for permitting international inspections of its civilian reactors. Under terms outlined by officials of both governments, India can keep eight of its 22 existing reactors under wraps as military sites.

Courtesy: www.financialexpress.com, April 01, 2006

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