India has urged the world community to take advantage of the strengths that India possesses in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) instead of resisting it. "World has to recognise India's strength and should also take advantage from it," said Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha at the fourth India-European Union (EU) summit being organised by CII and FICCI, in New Delhi. "BPO is in the interest of the company and consumer as they would be able to provide services at a lower cost and become more competitive, Sinha said. "Its not charity because of which the foreign companies outsource India has definite advantage on account of cheap labour cost and better human capital," he added. He asked European businessmen to shed their old image of India and added that things have changed here and it is "now a happening place" opening bright prospects for a partnership with a "new India". In a message, Italian Prime Minister and European Council President Silvio Berlusconi, who called off his visit to India following gastrointestinal problem, said the India-EU summit was a "new decisive step forward in relations between India and Europe." Sinha said both sides hope to achieve bilateral trade target of 35 billion euros by 2005 from the current level of 25 billion euros, and 50 billion euros by 2008. "It is a challenge which can be met," he said.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, November 29, 2003

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Brand India is the current buzzword. The Ad Asia conclave in Jaipur gave it currency. For a start, India is now well acknowledged internationally for its large cadre of technical personnel and low cost labour force. This is, however, seen by foreign companies as offering us a competitive advantage in only those segments that do not require extensive physical infrastructure and which are not encumbered by regulation: software services, call centres, design work etc. What is not appreciated, however, is the progress that has recently been made in developing our physical infrastructure. Telecom and highway construction has attracted the most attention but sizeable investment has also gone into ports, terminals and storage facilities. Five years back, for instance, IOC alone incurred over US$100 million in demurrage charges because of inadequate berthing facilities. This is no longer the case today. Much more needs to be done, no doubt, but if this level of investment continues then there is no reason why footloose MNCs looking for the cheapest location should not consider India as a possible manufacturing hub. This is a peg that could be developed. Another peg might flow from the paradoxical benefits of licence raj. During this era capacities were sub-optimal, capital was scarce and suppliers had to make do with sub-standard machinery. The legacy of operating under such circumstances is, however, one, a strong and resilient mid management cadre capable of handling the most complex of tasks including systems optimisation across the full value chain; two, a unique mechanical skill pool capable of not simply running factories on "bubble gum and wire " as they had to often during the licence raj but also now with modern machinery to world class standards. And three, manufacturing clusters around the Mumbai-Pune belt, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, which notwithstanding the smallness of individual units allow for considerable scale economies. A third peg is our potential to support high-end niche activity such as biotechnology. There may be many such pegs but the underlying message should be that Brand India has the potential combination of technical and managerial capital, physical infrastructure and regulatory environment to allow MNCs to produce world class products at well below world class prices and to thereby secure significant competitive and cost advantages on a regional and global scale.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 28, 2003

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Survival of the fittest, the cliché has percolated down to the small spinners as well. The last two years have witnessed a clutch of modernisation projects from small mills involving over 1.2 million spindles. With 90% of India's SSI spindelage or 2.7 million spindles located in south India, the upgradation buzz is louder here. Observers said, mills have chosen three distinct paths for the transition. About 50 units opted for end to end machinery modernisation spending over Rs. 2.5 crore each. Another 150 units preferred the selective change whereby they would pick and modify several processes in phases. Observers estimate this mode would have cost each mill about one croe. Ninety units have voted for limited modernisation costing around Rs. 40-50 lakh, changing only the key processes.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 28, 2003

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Even as India is among the top five countries in the world on the employment parameter, Indian business owners exceed the global average as far as profitability expectations in 2004 are concerned. The optimism of the Indian business owners has gone up from 45 per cent in 2003 to 65 per cent for the year 2004, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Owners' Survey. According to Grant Thornton India country director, corporate finance, Vishesh C. Chandiok, "The companies interviewed in India have demonstrated an increasing trend on all the business expectation parameters - turnover, selling prices, exports, employment, profitability and investments in buildings, plant and machinery as compared to last year." Thanks to the upswing in economy activities, the employment prospects have improved in most countries. India, along with the United States, Australia and Turkey have shown maximum optimism about employment opportunities. The Grant Thornton global survey, conducted amongst business owners across 26 participating countries, also indicates that 17 per cent of the companies expect exports to rise.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, November 28, 2003

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A Bangalore-based software company has acquired 52 per cent stake in a leading Italian software security company, Steam. The takeover of the company would give the Indian company an edge in software security as the Italian company is known the world over for its network security software, including the ability to trace calls of anti-national and anti-social elements. The company is also talking to Reliance Infocomm and Bharti Televentures to sell broadband solutions and has bid for BSNL and MTNL tenders.

Courtesy: The Statesman, November 27, 2003

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After Tata Motors' successful bid for Daewoo's commercial vehicles unit, it is now Ashok Leyland's turn to look for pickings abroad. The company is planning to expand its presence beyond India and is "actively" looking at acquisitions, both "synergistic to the company" as well as in the form of "stand-alone ventures". In an email interview to ET, Mr Dheeraj Hinduja, vice-president, Hinduja Group said: "We would like to definitely expand Ashok Leyland's scope beyond India and our product and corporate strategies are being shaped in that light. Currently Ashok Leyland has assembly operations in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Egypt and is awaiting a "decision on its bid for the South Africa Taxi Recapitalisation project," Mr Hinduja said.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 27, 2003

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The world economy is not so gung about its prospects. Turnaround in US is still to be pronounced, EU is logging one of its worst years and Japan's woes appear unending. The overall negative mood didn't escape the atmosphere at the opening plenary session of the India Economic Summit, which commenced today at the capital. The idea of India and China, the two fastest growing economies in the world currently, was also thrown up as possible growth engines for the world economy. Talking about India, he referred to infrastructure, privatisation and manufacturing as the three key areas to focus. "Given the size of Indian economy only services cannot sustain its growth and manufacturing needs to get stronger," he said. Commenting on the state of Indian economy, Rahul Bajaj, said that the changes in world economy will further bridge the wage gap between the western world and countries in developing world. "This will benefit us and create problems for the west. He added that even though India and China account for only 8% of global economy with high growth rates and the outsourcing story they can pull out the world economy out of its slumber.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 27, 2003

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India, Inc. is busy scripting a global story. A spate of recent acquisitions indicates that corporate India is starting to think beyond the domestic market. Last week, India's largest forging company Bharat Forge acquired German firm Carl Dan Peddinghaus GmbH (CDP) for €28 million (Rs 153 crore). Barely three days after this, another forging major, Sundram Fasteners, struck a deal to acquire UK-based forging company Dana Spicer. Earlier the Reliance Group had struck a $207-million deal to acquire Flag Telecom, a troubled undersea cable operator. Some Indian groups, such as the Aditya Birla Group, have always had a global perspective. In the late Nineties, Tata Tea had acquired Tetley, a global brand. But these used to be one-off examples. Among IT companies, Wipro and HCL Technologies have made a number of small acquisitions over the last 2-3 year and TCS, the software arm of the Tata Group, is said to be on the look-out for acquisitions. What has changed recently, analysts say, is that the pace of overseas acquisitions, particularly by old economy companies, has picked up dramatically over the past year.

Direct investments made by Indian companies abroad amounted to $1048.78 million (Rs 48.13 billion) during the year 2002-03, according to statistics released by RBI on September 30. The logic for global acquisition usually goes beyond the obvious reason of expanding market share. It's sometimes the power of a brand that drives acquisitions. Asian Paints, which had been setting up greenfield units to expand its global presence, took over Singapore-based Berger International this year to leverage on the brand value of the acquired company. Berger, the Singapore firm's paint brand, has helped Asian Paints to establish its presence in some big markets of the world like Thailand and the Middle East. Asian Paints has concluded two more overseas acquisitions in the last 10 months.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 27, 2003

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Moving in line with currency fluctuations, India's garment exports to the European Union (EU) have increased by 20% to $1,249m during the first seven months of the current fiscal while exports to the US and Canada have declined. According to latest data available with the government, exports to the US declined by 11% during April-October '03 to $1,069m. The Indian rupee has been appreciating against the dollar during this period while the Euro has moved up against the dollar as well as the rupee. Overall garment exports to all quota countries during April-October stood at $2,417m, a marginal increase of 3% over the corresponding period of the previous year. In rupee terms, exports to all quota countries (the US, EU and Canada) during the first seven months of '03-04 stood at 603m pieces valued at Rs 11,196 crore. Exports to the EU stood at 366m pieces valued at Rs 5,787 crore. The marginal increase in volume of exports and the decline in dollar value of these shipments is significant since India is looking at major gains when the quota regime for garments is abolished.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 27, 2003

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Chennai, November 25: India has for the first time achieved a share of one per cent of total U.S. imports in 2002 and improved its ranking from being the 22nd largest supplier to the American market to the 19th largest supplier.

At the same time, total Indian exports (merchandise plus services, mostly of information technology) to the U.S. have been increasing at a much faster pace than U.S. exports to India, with the result that the trade gap in India's favour has widened to $10.3 billion (about Rs. 47,000 crores) from $7.9 billion. (Indian exports to the U.S. last year totaled $17.5 billion, and imports $7.2 billion, as compared to exports of $14.5 billion and imports of $6.6 billion in 2001).

Courtesy: The Hindu, November 26, 2003

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Mumbai: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) has emerged the number one contender for Sri Lankan petroleum company Ceypetco with a $101m bid, which is 26% more than the next highest bid of $80m, which came from East West Corporation, a local Sri Lankan bunkering company.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 26, 2003

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London, November 24: More than 100,000 British financial services jobs are likely to be lost to overseas locations, such as India and China, as insurers and banks struggle to cut costs.

An official for the financial services consultancy, Troika, said that up to 20,000 jobs had already been moved to India, or less than five per cent of back-office staff in life and pensions, general insurance, retail and investment banking and mortgage and credit-card processing.

At least 40,000 jobs in the life and pensions and general insurance industries and 60,000 in banking are likely to be moved abroad within five to seven years, he said.

Coupled with the advent of cheap global communications and the emergence of skilled workers in developing nations, the temptation for companies to shift jobs abroad was high.

More efficient processes are likely to include outsourcing and off-shoring to India and South Africa, where costs are roughly £10 per policy, as opposed to £30 plus in the UK.

Courtesy: The Statesman, November 25, 2003

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Mumbai: SBI Capital Markets - the merchant banking arm of State Bank of India, is considering an option of expanding its presence in international markets.

The company is debating the option of going international on its own strength or by entering into alliance with foreign company which may not result in a equity tie-up.

"SBI has a large presence abroad which gives us some expertise on rules governing different markets abroad. This gives us an edge over other domestic players in the industry. It will be easier for us to set up offices in the countries where we have presence," said Indrajit Gupta managing director & chief executive officer at SBI Caps.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 25, 2003

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Highlighting megs-projects like the golden quadrilateral project and the north-south east-west highway corridor, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) applauded the country's rising competitiveness with regard to foreign investments coupled with massive infrastructure projects.

"The government is certainly speaking in one voice on the issue of infrastructure development and such projects will certainly go a long way in improving the country's image abroad in regard to adequate infrastructure," CII president Anand Mahindra said on the margins of the India Economic Summit 2003.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, November 25, 2003

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New Delhi: The domestic steel industry has caught global attention. International players like Baosteel of China are making the rounds in India to enter into strategic partnerships with Indian steel companies.

The objectives are to add new capacities in China, enter into long-term contracts for the supply of iron ore and sell steel plant equipment to them. Baosteel is one of China 's largest steel producers and steel plant equipment manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Indian steel producers, mainly Tata Steel and Ispat Industries, are also looking at opportunities abroad to expand. Sources said Tata Steel is scanning options across Ukraine, Uzbekistan, China to add new capacities.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 25, 2003

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Is India a domestic demand story? Not really, if you look carefully at corporate sales growth numbers. The Indian economy is becoming more globalised, with exports growing faster than domestic sales for the past three years.

ETIG analysed sales data for 550 large companies for the past six financial years (1998 to '03). Between them, these companies comprise over 75% of sales for the listed corporate sector.

The sample excluded banks and other financial companies. The data clearly shows that exports have emerged as a significant engine of growth for the Indian corporate sector- exports have outpaced domestic sales by at least 10 percentage points over the last three years; exports have added at least one percentage point to total corporate sales growth over each of the last five years.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 25, 2003

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Telecom equipment exports have risen by 233 per cent in 2002-03, according to the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC). Most of the growth comes from exports to the United States and Canada, which rose by 919 per cent over 2002-03, but South Asia remains the biggest telecom importer.

"The USA and Canada are the second largest export destination of telecommunication equipment from India, mainly driven by items like intercoms, transmission apparatus and satellite communication equipment. This rise will help achieve the USD $50 billion mark in IT exports by 2008," said ESC Executive Director, D K Sareen.

A meagre RS 13 crore-worth of telecommunication equipment was exported in 2001-02, to the US and Canada, but in 2002-03, the exports touched RS 132 crore.

The ESC hopes to contribute significantly towards meeting the Information Technology export target of USD $50 billion by 2008, based on this encouraging performance. But Hong Kong, Singapore and other South-east Asian nations are the major importers of Indian telecom equipment. The exports to these countries during 2002-03 was RS 162 crore, an increase of 470 per cent ,compared to the previous year, when the export clocked RS 28 crore. The third largest destination is Africa, where India sent telecom equipment worth Rs 73 crore during 2002-03 as compared to Rs 31 crore in 2001-02, registering a 133 per cent growth. The Middle-East,, is the fourth largest export destination for telecom equipment, accounting for RS 53 crore. Exports here went up by 131 per cent during 2002-03 as compared to the previous year, when exports hovered around Rs 23 crore. Export to EU countries during 2002-03 was Rs 37 crore, followed by Russia and CIS countries at RS 36 crore.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, November 24, 2003

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Mumbai: UK'S largest life insurer Prudential is looking at India as an offshore centre for higher-end jobs, over and above its call centre operations. The company has already outsourced a specific project to India, which involves switching 4m policyholders from cash collection to a direct debit process to improve cash management.

In an interview with ET, Jonathan Bloomer, group chief executive, Prudential said he found the quality of people a major attraction for investing in India. "The biggest risk is that the trainers from UK do not want to go home. They say that they like working with the quality of people that we have recruited here and are asking to stay back."

Encouraged by the initial success he said there was a possibility of looking at India for higher-end jobs such as accounting and payroll. "

On the new specific assignment that has been outsourced to India he said that until now Prudential in UK had followed the practice of collecting door-to-door premium - a task that was outsourced to a separate entity. "The company we outsourced to ran into financial troubles so we have taken a view to switch the policyholders to direct debit. Three years ago we would have had to do that out of UK. Now a better place to do that is from Mumbai," he said.

Unfazed about the backlash against transferring jobs out of its home country, Mr Bloomer said that the government and unions are recognising that insurance companies have to do it to retain their competitive edge. He feels that the concerns about local job losses is a passing phase, similar to the one experienced with manufacturing. "More and more people recognise it as a trend. In the 80's it was manufacturing. It happened. The UK survived, as more jobs were created in other businesses," said Mr Bloomer.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 24, 2003

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In a bid to grab first-to-file status for six months of marketing exclusivity, Indian pharmaceutical companies are expected to dominate the regulatory filings of DMF (drug master file) and ANDA (abbreviated new drug applications) with the US Food and Drug Administration.

In the last quarter, there were more DMFs filed by the Indian companies than by the non-Indian companies at FDA. As per conservative estimates, Indian companies are expected to file more than 112 ANDA in 2003 as against only 40 ANDA filed in 2001. And these numbers compare well with the total of 392 ANDAs filed with FDA in 2002.

Even in the case of DMF filings by the Indian companies as a group, the number was astronomically high in the first half of 2003. In the first six months they have already filed 58 DMFs compared with total filings of 50 in 2001 and 86 in 2002.

The recent surge in the export income of Indian pharma companies has boosted them to aggressively enter into other regulated and unregulated market. The export shares have risen by 12 percentage points in the last five years to 40 per cent in financial year 2003.

The ascendance of Indian pharmaceutical companies in the global generic space is becoming broad-based with increasing participation of the mid-sized companies. "This is borne by the growing number of DMF filings on the part of Indian companies. About 10 Indian companies have made more than 10 DMF filings up to the second quarter of 2003 (cumulatively, the first 10 companies have filed 272 DMFs). This includes Cipla - 53, Ranbaxy - 48, Dr Reddy's - 44, Wockhardt - 32, IPCA -- 19, Unichem - 19, Neuland -16, Cadila - 15, Lupin - 14 and Shasun -12.

However, sharp deceleration in the patent expiries beyond 2007, is expected to impact Indian companies in the long term. According to Morgan Stanley, patent expiries are likely to decelerate from around $13 billion per annum currently to $3 billion post-2007. This implies a sharp reduction in the market demand post 2007.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, November 24, 2003

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Pune: Hamara Bajaj is set to be global Bajaj, starting with its Asean markets bike venture, a three-wheeler manufacturing plant in Indonesia, and then in Latin America.

"We will set up a small manufacturing plant for three-wheelers near Jakarta, in Indonesia, in the next few months," Rajiv Bajaj, joint managing director, Bajaj Auto (BAL), said.

The plant will be operational by the next fiscal. BAL has set itself a target of selling 3,000 units in the first year, 2004-05. This unit will also manufacture bikes, exported as CKDs, later. However, this is a venture separate from its Asean bike foray. (Can Bajaj be global player in the two-wheeler market?)

BAL will export completely knocked down kits (CKD) of three-wheelers to Indonesia, to a company which is to be set up with a local partner, PT Abida Rajja. Here, it will source some products locally, weld and paint the bodies.

Explaining the rationale for two separate ventures, Mr Bajaj said, "The motorcycle venture in the Asean region will be separate from the three-wheeler company in Indonesia because they both address different markets, products and priorities. In the three-wheeler venture, we need to think of just our product; for bikes, we have to think of Kawasaki and take them into consideration, since they sell there," he said.

Pointing to the strengths of BAL, he said, "We have high quality, competitive prices, emission levels and fuel economy which match the best in the world."

While exports are expected to form 10% of BAL's sales in '03-04, the world market comprises 30 million.

"For every one bike we sell here, we should sell five abroad. The global market is the next big challenge," he said.

Determined to take the Bajaj brand globally, Mr Bajaj said they will not sell as components, where the name does not appear. Hence, he said they are still evaluating a strategy to export engines ranging from 250-650 cc. He had first outlined this as a medium-term policy for product extension for engines of up to 250 cc, at the company's annual general meeting (AGM) in 2002.

In view of BAL wanting its brand to be visible, Mr Bajaj said they could export components to Kawasaki but not to others.

Driven by profitability, not numbers, BAL will, therefore, concentrate on exports, bikes especially the high-end ones, and three-wheelers.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 24, 2003

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Offshoring, the process by which a well-paying IT job in, say, Dayton, Ohio, becomes a much lower-paying IT job in Bangalore, India, has been spreading terror through America's cubicle farms recently.

But even as jobs go to India - this week, AT&T was the latest big firm to talk of shifting a chunk of its work force there - Indians are hiring in America. This month, two Indian conglomerates, the Godrej Group and the Essar Group, each said they were to buy a struggling American call-centre firm.

Wipro, an Indian IT services firm, has announced the purchase of two small US-based consultancies. Scandent, another Indian group with interests in the IT industry, has bought a minority stake in North American Benefits Network, which administers company health and benefits plans. Other firms flush with cash, such as Infosys, a big rival to Wipro, are said to be seeking deals.

Pawan Kumar, chair of vMoksha, a young Indian IT firm, thinks that the Indians face a bigger challenge managing their acquisitions in the US than experienced US multinationals face in India.

At the least, these foreign purchases should help tackle a growing image problem. As Indian firms have sucked jobs out of the US, worries have grown in India about a protectionist backlash in Washington, DC. Work visas are harder to come by for travelling Indian programmers.

Indian firms also worry about US government use of data-protection and homeland-security laws to thwart business. Nasscom has retained Hill & Knowlton, a big PR firm, to help manage politics and the press in the US and Britain (where offshoring is also a hot issue).

Their goal, says Harris Miller of the Information Technology Association of America, an industry lobby group, is to convince Americans that they are not just Indian companies but global firms, with a local face here.

Courtesy: The Times of India, November 23, 2003

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Mumbai: Bharat Forge Ltd. (BPL), India's largest auto components exporter, has acquired Carl Dan Peddinghaus GmbH, (CDP), one of the largest forging companies in Germany. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BFL and GDP was signed in Ennepetal near Duseldorf, Germany on Friday. This acquisition catapults BFL as the second largest forging company in the world.

BFL has not disclosed the deal size, only saying that CDP was a profitable enterprise and recorded sales of Euro 116 million for the year ended December 31, 2002.

In an asset purchase deal, BFL will be acquiring 100 per cent of the fixed assets, inventory, and business of CDP, Germany, through suitable SPV, with effect from January 1, 2004.

Courtesy: The Indian Express, November 23, 2003

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New Delhi, November 21: Reliance on Friday announced international Short Messaging Service (SMS) at a special introductory price of Rs. 2 as against the prevailing rate of Rs. 5 per SMS charged by cellular companies. The service will be available to 159 countries including the U.S., Canada and major European countries. The service is subject to SMS configuration on the network of other receiving operators, cautioned the company. Customers need not register for international SMS separately and these messages can be sent even customers who do not have an ISD connection.

Courtesy: The Hindu, November 22, 2003

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Bangalore: LG Electronics, the fifth-largest cellphone manufacturer in the world, is targeting a turnover of Rs 600 crore from its mobile division in its first year of operations. The mobile division was officially launched on Thursday. The company unveiled two GSM handsets for the Indian market - G5300 for Rs 13,290 and G7030 for Rs 18,990. Kwang-Ro-Kim, managing director, LG Electronics India, told ET that the company has plans to launch laptops in India by January next year though he declined to divulge pricing details.

When queried whether LG has plans to set up manufacturing facilities for mobile phones in India , Mr Kim said that the company is exploring opportunities for the same and will decide upon in due course. Company officials added that a handset manufacturing facility involves around Rs 30-40 crore worth additional investment into the existing facility at Greater Noida.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 21, 2003

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Kolkata, November 20: A delegation of select Italian companies, including technicians and experts, is visiting West Bengal to evaluate possible ventures to be realised individually or in partnership among various public and private boards and international organisations. It would focus on the future of water resources and solid wastes.

Promos, special agency of the Milan Chamber of Commerce, has decided to strengthen awareness for the need to develop new water and wastes schemes in West Bengal. The delegation would be on a three-day visit to Kolkata beginning 21 November.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Mr Roberto Pormigoni, Governor of Regione Lombardia and Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal chief minister, last June, has been a milestone in this process.

Courtesy: The Statesman, November 21, 2003

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The latest quarterly results are a continuation of the good run as far as growth in profit is concerned. What is remarkable this time round is that the topline too has grown in double digits. Data available for 2,761 companies show that the fall in interest costs and a booming `other income' have, once again, contributed significantly to the bottomline of companies.

Before going into the details, we take a look at the overall results for the September '03 quarter. Sales of all companies have vaulted by nearly 11% over that of the corresponding period of the previous year. At the same time, other income has continued to increase. It has risen by 43%. Significantly, taken together, the rise in other income and the fall in interest costs account for more than the rise in net profit for all the companies.

In fact, the growth rate of `other income' for the April-September '02 period as compared to that of a year earlier is 27%. It rose marginally during the second half of the year to 28%, but in the latest half year, it has crossed the 37% mark. This is a very significant rise considering that the base is also rising. In fact, the rise here accounts for nearly 65% of the rise in total profit during the intervening period.

If one looks at the different sectors which have performed well, then on the topline front, the honour for the highest growth in percentage terms goes to the traditionally large exporting sector of diamonds and jewellery. Its sales have crossed the Rs 1,700 crore mark, registering a rise of 48%.

The other industries with good growth rates are speciality chemicals with 42% and even computer hardware at 37%. If we turn our attention to the areas with the largest sales/income in absolute terms, then the position has been mixed. Oil and gas (8%) and banks (1%) have disappointed while fertilisers and pharma at 15% have beaten the average. But the star performer is the large steel sector with a growth rate of 35% in net sales. Other old economy sectors like heavy engineering, automobiles and construction also figure in the growth charts backed by booming demand.

On the profits front, considering those sectors which have recorded a net of more than Rs 100 crore, light and heavy commercial vehicle players top the charts with a growth of 148%. They are followed closely by inorganic chemical companies with a rise of 90% in profits. Some of the other sectors with big gains here are mining and minerals, automobile ancillaries, electronic companies, banks and software companies.

In addition, there are also some sectors which have turned around from a loss to a profit in the current quarter. Large steel companies have reported a profit of Rs 909 crore after a Rs 444-crore loss. Fertiliser companies, after a loss of Rs 75 crore, have recorded a Rs 122-crore profit. Other steel companies (like those making alloys/bars, etc.) and makers of synthetic textiles have both returned to the black after having red ink in their books last year.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 21, 2003

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Some unwarranted tears have been shed over the recent deceleration in merchandise export growth to an annualised 10%. The fact is that service exports are overhauling merchanidse exports like an express train. Exports of computer software grew at 38 % in dollar terms in the first half of the fiscal year, a heady performance. Even IT hardware exports rose 13.3%. Tourism and communications are other service areas where exports are booming, but we have no current data available on that. Software export trends alone show that India is not going to run short of dollars in a hurry. Indeed the RBI is going to have a job preventing the rupee from appreciating.

We can look forward to strident growth in software exports in the next few years. The very success of software will bring a flood of dollars that makes the rupee appreciate against the dollar, and so squeezes the margins of all exporters, especially merchanidse exporters. So nobody should be surprised if manufacuring exports perform only modestly. This is no cause for alarm. The secret of rising productivity is that it enables you to stay competitive even with an appreciating currency, which brings benefits like cheaper imports and cheaper capital. Ultimately, prosperity comes only when exports are fuelled by rising productivity rather than devaluation.

Courtesy: www.economictimes.com, November 21, 2003

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Boeing, the $54 billion company, has set up a subsidiary in India and is looking at outsourcing its research and development.

The story lies in India's capabilities in science and technology. Senior vice-president Thomas Pickering, who was formerly US Ambassador to India, told CNBC-TV18, that the company is looking at making investments in IT and R&D in the country.

"Boeing does a lot of work in IT and that could be one area we could expand our presence, because we like what we see and what we are doing in India.... R&D is a good opportunity... we have already had teams out looking at aeronautical engineering," he said.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, November 21, 2003

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Mumbai: Day Zero of the summer recruitment process at India 's premier B-school, IIM Ahmedabad has seen some big names in investment banking make their presence felt. On November 15, IIMA played host to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers, UBS Warburg, JP Morgan Chase and HSBC among others.

These firms picked up 36 first-year IIMA students for their offices in London, NY, Tokyo, Singapore and HK. The numbers add up to nearly double the overseas investment offers at all other B-schools in India put together, says IIMA. Of these recruiters, four were exclusive to IIMA. Goldman Sachs took as many as 11 interns.

The second-highest number of offers came from Lehman Brothers, which took eight students. Merrill Lynch took six interns, Morgan Stanley two, UBS Warburg two, Deutsche Bank three, JP Morgan Chase two, HSBC one and IFC (World Bank) one.

On its very first day of recruitment, IIMA claims it has already garnered more overseas internships than any other Indian B-school. More overseas offers are expected to come in as the campus gears up for Day One on November 30. Summer recruitment at IIMA takes place only on free weekends so as not to interfere with classes.