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India
Emerges As New Auto Hub
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An
increasing number of global car
makers are outsourcing their R&D
and engineering requirements to
India to take advantage of the country's
improving capabilities and low costs.
Mr Rohan Pusalkar, executive director,
Indo Schottle Auto Parts said, "Companies
like Bharat Forge have led the way
and shown how even difficult and
complicated markets like China can
become customers. This is specially
so in auto parts, where there is
higher value addition possibility
and assemblies, where there are
several stages of manufacturing
which necessitate extra handling
and use of more labour and have
export potential." He further added,
"The potential world requirement
of auto components that India can
cater to is estimated by experts
to be more than $30 billion and
needs an investment of more than
$50 billion in capital equipment
and infrastructure. The government
on its part needs to be a major
catalyst by providing excellent
infrastructure setup and transparency
in government-related transactions
and interfaces." Looking at these
cost cutting advantages, many global
automakers like BMW and the German
auto-maker Volkswagen AG, are moving
their manufacturing operations to
India. Czech car manufacturer Skoda
also intends making its Aurangabad
plant in India as its manufacturing
and export hub for the South Asian
region. General Motors also plans
to make India an export base. For
Hyundai of South Korea, India is
the exclusive hub for exports of
its Santro. Maruti Udyog has been
a sourcing base for Suzuki Motors
for a long time. Japanese and Korean
car manufacturers such as Toyota
Motors have announced plans to invest
over $89 million along with mini-vehicle
producer Daihatsu Motor in setting
up a factory in India to produce
100,000 small cars per year by 2007
whereas Hyundai and Honda are actively
looking to setup a new plant in
India.
Courtesy:
The Asian Age, August 30, 2005
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to Index
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Nokia
To Make India Global Network Ops
Hub
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Global
mobile vendor Nokia plans to open
a Global Networks Operation Centre
in India by the end of the year,
strengthening its focus on one of
the world's fastest-growing telecommunications
markets. The centre will perform
network operation tasks primarily
for selected operators in the Asia
Pacific region as well as Europe,
the Middle East and Africa as part
of Nokia's managed services offering.
The location of the site, which
will initially employ up to 100
people, will be unveiled at a later
date, company's Executive Vice President
and General Manager (Networks) Simon
Beresford-Wylie said here. It is
the latest investment by Nokia in
the vibrant Indian market, continuing
a decade-long relationship that
started with the first-ever cellular
call in India, which was made on
a Nokia mobile phone and a Nokia-deployed
network. "Given Nokia's strong commitment
to its expanding services business,
plus the positive experience it
has enjoyed in India as both a growth
and services market, the decision
to locate the operation center in
India was an easy one to make,"
Simon Beresford-Wylie says. "The
Networks Operation Centre is a firm
step towards further enhancing our
global reach to better serve our
customers. We are aligning with
their needs to keep costs in check
and improve the services they provide
in an ever-tougher market," adds
Bosco Novak, Senior Vice President
for Services, Networks, Nokia. Nokia
has contracted managed services
with 34 clients in 28 countries,
and has provided operating services
for over 20 operators globally,
helping them with the day-to-day
tasks of running their networks
so they can focus on bolstering
their business offerings.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, August 26, 2005
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Desi
Honchos're Rocking Global, Inc.
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After
hogging the limelight as a storehouse
of top-notch management talent,
Indians are now setting global company
boards ablaze. The latest to hit
the headline is Vyomesh Joshi, the
high profile head of printer business
in Hewlett Packard who joined the
Yahoo board last week. Other top
guns include Goldman Sachs Partners'
Sanjeev Mehra, who sits on the BurgerKing
board, Intel Capital's Arvind Sodhani,
who is on the Nasdaq board, and
Pepsi's Indra Nooyi, who graces
the boards of Pepsi and Motorola.
It's not just US-based Indians.
Residents are also making waves.
Our very own hotshot banker, Deepak
Parekh, is on the board of Singapore-based
telecom company Singtel, besides
doing directorial duties in many
Indian companies. "Many Indians
have an established track record
at the highest levels in industry.
So, it's a natural progression for
them to have board-level seats,"
Arvind Sodhani, president, Intel
Capital, told ET. He is currently
on the important management compensation
committee in the company board.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, August 24, 2005
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Dozen
More In Billion Dollar Club
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UB,
Essar, Murugappa and Asian Paints
are among the new entrants. Riding
high on the bull run in the stock
markets, a dozen business groups
have joined the $1 billion market
cap club over the last one year.
At on Tuesday's market price, this
takes the total number of business
groups in the elite club to 27 from
15 in August last year. The list
of the new entrants includes Vijay
Mallya's UB group, the Lalit Mohan
Thapar group, the Murugappa Chettiar
group, Nicholas Piramal, Essar,
Wockhardt, Godrej, the Jaiprakash
group, the RP Goenka group, the
BK Birla group, the Nusli Wadia
group and Asian Paints. The aggregate
wealth of 27 business groups with
a market cap of over $1 billion
appreciated by 68 per cent to $128.87
billion (Rs 561,633 crore), compared
with $76.66 billion (Rs 334,089
crore) a year ago. Of these business
groups, 13 reaped the benefits of
the bull run the most with their
market caps doubling in a year.
The UB group showed 197 per cent
rise in its market value to $1.77
billion (Rs 7,729 crore) from around
$600 million (Rs 2,605 crore) last
year. The total market value of
the Murugappa group appreciated
by 184 per cent to $1.26 billion
(Rs 5,504 crore), Godrej by 163
per cent to $1.04 billion (Rs 4,540
crore), Thapar by 158 per cent to
$1.53 billion (Rs 6,655 crore) and
the RPG group by 151 per cent to
$1.02 billion (Rs 4,453 crore).
Three Indian business groups --
Reliance, the Tatas and Bharti --
have a market cap of over $10 billion
each. The Reliance group tops the
list with a market cap of $28.20
billion. Even after the split in
the group, the Mukesh Ambani wing
tops with a market cap of $24.1
billion. The Tata group ranks second
with a market cap of $19.89 billion
and Sunil Mittal's Bharati group
ranks third with a market cap of
$13.79 billion. The next in the
ladder are the AV Birla group ($6.87
billion), Ranbaxy ($4.83 billion),
Shiv Nadar ($4.40 billion), Bajaj-Mukand
($4.34 billion) and the Sterlite
group ($4.19 billion). Among individual
firms, two UB group companies --
United Breweries Holdings and UB
Engineering -- have seen their market
prices appreciating by over 1000
per cent over the last one year.
Among other group companies, United
Breweries gained by 483 per cent
to Rs 554.10 (Rs 95.10) and McDowell
& Co by 412 per cent to Rs 320.75
(Rs 62.70).
Courtesy:
Business Standard: August 24, 2005
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Indian
Banker Makes His Way To Top Of Citibank
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A
top Indian banker has been named
CEO of Citigroup's international
operation, affirming the growing
clout of Indian corporate, management
and financial honchos who have migrated
to the international playing field.
Ajay Banga, 45, an IIM Ahmedabad
alumnus who joined Citigroup in
India only in 1996, will succeed
Marjorie Magner, chairman and chief
executive of the company's Global
Consumer Group, who is leaving after
what has been a continuous bloodletting
that has resulted in the exit of
several top executives. Banga will
share his job with Steven Freiberg,
who was named CEO of the groups
North American operations. Both
will report to the Citigroup CEO
Charles Prince. The promotion will
make Banga the top-ranked Indian
in a group that has drawn scores
of managers from the Indian talent
pool, as have many international
banks and multinationals in recent
years. It also puts him in line
for the very top job. The highest-ranking
Indian in Citigroup till his recent
retirement was Victor Menezes, who
started as a Citibank trainee in
1972 and rose to become the bank's
president and senior vice-chairman
of Citigroup. He was briefly in
line to succeed Sandy Weil as chairman
of the group before he was eclipsed.
similar trend is noticeable in other
financial institutions such as HSBC,
Standard Chartered, American Express,
and Merrill Lynch. Banga began his
business career as a management
trainee with Nestle in 1981. He
spent the next 13 years in a variety
of assignments spanning sales, marketing
and general management. He later
joinedPepsiCo, in its Restaurants
Division and launched Pizza Hut
and KFC in India. After joining
Citigroup in 1996, he worked in
London and Brussels before moving
to New York and going on to his
current job as executive vice-president
of the Global Consumer Group and
president of the Retail Banking
in North America organisation.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times: August 24, 2005
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Who
Says 'Made in India' Cars Don't
Rock
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The
sports utility vehicle (SUV), Scorpio,
by Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M)was
awarded the 'Car of the Year 2003'
CNBC Auto Car Auto Awards. This
Rs 4.65- 6.19 lakh price range car
was a sort of Renaissance in the
domestic utility vehicles market
with its refreshing, contemporary
design and relatively improved build
quality. According to automobile
manufacturers' data, the premium
utility vehicle segment grew at
approximately 14 per cent up to
June 2002. With the launch of Scorpio,
the growth rate from July 2002 to
March 2003 rose to about 51 per
cent. Between April 2003 and March
2004, the segment grew by 33 per
cent. But for a vehicle in its class
and size, the Scorpio is a fairly
frugal vehicle offering a mileage
of about 11 kmpl for a mix of in-city
and highway driving.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, August 23, 2005
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But
India Management Beats China: Newsweek
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India
possesses a competitive advantage
over China when it comes to the
quality of business managers that
may well decide who leads in the
future in the economic race between
the two neighbours, a media report
has said. "Though India entered
its period of free-market reform
only in the early 1990s -- a full
decade after China -- it was never
as closed to the world. India has
long had a large private sector,
a network of Western-style business
schools and a globe-trotting elite
of English-speaking executives,"
the article published in the upcoming
issue of Newsweek said. According
to the report, though China had
a large number of business firms,
"It has too few experienced managers
for even the elite firms". Consulting
firm McKinsey & Co. estimated that
even the relatively small number
of Chinese companies trying to expand
abroad would need up to 75,000 internationally
experienced leaders if they want
to continue to grow over the next
10 to 15 years. India, the article
noted, now had 600 management programmes
graduating 5,000 students a year.
China had only 95 programmes, which
were struggling to grant degrees.
It also helped that Indian businesses,
unlike Chinese ones, operated in
a basically capitalist democracy
for decades. Almost 50 per cent
of India's GDP was from its private
sector, compared with 33 per cent
in China. Indians have also faced
the discipline of a stock market
for much longer. The Shanghai Stock
Exchange was shut down in 1941 and
did not reopen until 1984. In contrast,
the Bombay Stock Exchange, established
in 1875, was the oldest in Asia,
the article said. "India has a longer
history of businesses," Gabriel
Hawawini, Dean of Insead, Europe's
top business school, was quoted
as saying. "For generations, it
has had a culture of family-run
enterprises.Moreover, Bakul Dholakia,
the Dean of IIM Ahmedabad, said
that "What makes Indian business
graduates different from others
is that about 60 to 70 per cent
of the MBAs in India are engineers,"
blending technical and managerial
training." Nandan Nilekani, the
CEO of software firm Infosys was
quoted as saying that Chinese managers
"think large scale, have tremendous
drive and are quick at execution,
but lack experience dealing with
global stock markets, marketing,
profitmaking and communicating a
vision." However, many experts expect
the Chinese to catch up fast, the
article said. Partha ghosh, a former
principal partner at mckinsey &co.
And an adviser to India's Finance
Minister, said China was producing
the "path-breakers, willing to take
on the top challenges of the world,
even if the world doesn't know their
names. That's something for India's
slick managers to ponder."
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, August
23, 2005
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All
Indian Villages To Have Telecoms
Links By 2006
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India,
home to the world's fastest growing
major mobile market, will connect
all its more than 600,000 villages
through telecoms links by 2006,
the junior telecoms minister said
on Monday. At the moment, only 540,000
villages are connected. Shakeel
Ahmad told a seminar in the eastern
city of Kolkata, the industry would
connect the remaining 60,000 villages
by 2006.
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, August
23, 2005
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It's
The Season For IIT Alumni To Reconnect
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AFTER
setting up the first management
school within an IIT in 1993, founder
and chairman of infoUSA, Inc, Vinod
Gupta is now investing $1m to set
up the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual
Law at IIT Kharagpur through the
Vinod Gupta Charitable Foundation.
"As India becomes an important player
in various sectors of the new economy,
intellectual property protection
is increasingly important. From
products to processes, Indian industry
will have to be more and more patent
and trademark savvy, going forward.
The school of intellectual law will
work towards educating lawyers in
this specialised area. The fact
that it is located within the IIT
system will make it relevant for
corporates and corporate lawyers
who wish to specialise in the patents
area," Gupta, who is an alumni of
IIT-KgP, told ET. He was in India
to announce the setting up of the
school and to attend the IIT-KgP
convocation ceremony. "The institute
will transform classroom knowledge
into action by creating relevant
corporate situations. It will provide
world class legal education leading
to a post-graduate degree in law
and later doctorate programmes.
IITs are recognised as world class
institutions and I'm confident that
IIT Kharagpur will beckon talented
inidividuals to create a winning
opportunity out of this challenging
new discipline," Gupta said.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, August 22, 2005
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New
Frontiers In Mobile March
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A
cellphone rate of 60 paise per minute
for both local and STD calls, a
monthly rental of Rs 100, SMS at
5 paise per message and no roaming
charges: is this a make-believe
world for mobile phone users? Whether
this is a mere chimera or an actualising
Utopia depends on a crucial factor
- regulatory intervention. When
the country's first cellphone service
was launched in Calcutta on August
23, 1995, the call rate structure
was a huge deterrent: with an outgoing
call rate of Rs 16 a minute and
an incoming call rate of Rs 8 a
minute and cellphones costing Rs
15,000, there were few people ready
to jump on to a new revolution in
communications. Ten years on, rates
have fallen, new services like SMS
have been added and the subscriber
base has swelled to over 41 million.
Four major decisions have contributed
to the phenomenal growth of the
Indian cellular industry: the switchover
from a fixed cost to a revenue sharing
regime with the government in 1999,
the introduction of a free incoming
call regime, the lowering of tariffs
and facilitating low entry through
pre-paid services, and segregation
of long distance charges as origination,
termination and carriage charges.
Beginning next year, India is aiming
to increase the subscriber base
by 3 million every month.
Courtesy:
The Telegraph, August 22, 2005
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Henry
Ford IV Comes To Himachal With a
$300-m Ski Village
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For
the fast-growing Indian jet set,
the fabulous ski slopes of St Moritz
in Switzerland may soon be passe
with Alfred Brush Ford, great grandson
of Henry Ford, keen to invest over
$300 million to develop a ski village
in the Dhauladhar mountain ranges
above Manali in Himachal Pradesh.
The Ford proposal to develop a world-class
ski facility, designed by experts
from Vail, Colorado, has been cleared
by the Virbhadra Singh government.
The company set up for this purpose,
Himalayan Ski Village (HSV), will
submit a detailed project report
next month. After getting an environmental
impact assessment from the Bhopal-based
Indian Institute of Forest Managment,
the company plans to launch the
project next year. The company plans
to develop world-class ski-slopes
between Kothi and Jagat Sukh, north
of Manali, with gondola ski-lifts
that will cater to the well-heeled
adventure tourists. A 600-room five-star
hotel, 300 chalets, food courts,
handicraft village, theatre complex,
convention centre and even a sanatorium
for hospital tourism will come up.
The architecture will be on the
lines of Bhimakali Temple of Sarahan
in Virbhadra Singh's Rampur constituency.
The business model of the project
envisages three per cent of the
total revenue as royalty to Himachal
Pradesh - it works out to more than
Rs 30-50 crore of what the state
government earns from tourism now.
The state gets around seven million
tourists every year and the number
is growing by 25 per cent annually.
John Sims, Managing Director of
HSV, said their project would set
the benchmarks for eco-tourism in
India.
Courtesy:
The Indian Express, August 21, 2005
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Japanse
Banks See India As Land Of Rising
Sun
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If
you thought Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corporation shutting shop in India
signalled a slowdown in Japanese
banking activity in the country,
then you are mistaken. Quite contrary,
in line with its peers in portfolio
investment in the Indian equity
market, Mizuho Corporate Bank of
Japan has been successfully expanding
its foothold in India, primarily
leveraging on the Indo-Japanese
trade relations. It has not only
made business for itself, but has
also managed to convince almost
60-65 major Japanese corporates
to set up manufacturing or marketing
base in India. Most of the Japanese
corporates earlier used to focus
only on China owing to cheap labour
costs. Ken Ito, chief executive
officer of Mizuho in India, said
the number of corporates looking
at India had gone up to almost 60-65
against five to six Japanese firms
earlier. The list of corporates
includes big names in auto sectors
such as Honda, Toyota and Yamaha,
as well as those in home appliances,
pharmaceuticals, communications.
While Nissan has already set up
its base in India, the other new
entrants include Japanese business
conglomerate Mitsui Metal, Sanyo,
and pharma major Eisai. Japanese
Telecom major Nippon Telegraph (NTT)
is also in the process of entering
the Indian market. For the India
corporates, those who are actively
involved in imports from Asian countries
like Thailand and Singapore, the
bank is offering derivative products
including currency and interest
rate swaps. Loan syndications is
major activity for the bank which
it had pioneered two years back
by aggressively buying the Indian
corporate papers in the primary
and secondary international bond
market. Ito said the bank's portfolio
in loan syndications for Indian
corporates has gone up to $600 million
from $100-150 million two years
back. It proposes to open a new
branch and is on a hiring spree
to recruit Indian professionals.
Currently it has a capital base
of Rs 150 crore.
Courtesy:
Business Standard: August 18, 2005
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India
Emerges Third-Most Profitable Equity
Mart
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The
BSE Sensex beat almost all its peers
in Asia and Europe to stay on top,
resulting in 56 per cent gains from
August last year. The continuous
inflow from foreign institutional
investors (FIIs) seems to have worked
wonders for the domestic capital
market. While the Sensex is climbing
new peaks every day, the Indian
capital market has emerged as the
third most profitable market in
the world, posting 56 per cent gains
from its yearly low hit in August
2004. The BSE Sensex beat almost
all its peers in Asia and Europe
to stay on top, considering the
clime from the yearly lows to yearly
highs. The only two countries which
outdid India on this count were
Argentina and Indonesia. Argentina
topped the chart posting an annual
return of 75 per cent, while Indonesia
was next in line gaining 64 per
cent. In the past one year, the
Sensex hit an all-time high of 7843.77
points, rising from a low of 5022.29.
The 2821 points swing resulted in
a 56 per cent gain. The Argentina
index hit a high of 1619.26 points
and a low of 924.11 points in the
corresponding period, the difference
being 695.15. The Indonesian benchmark
index hit an year's high of 1195.55
and a low of 728.35, a difference
of 467.20 points. The Mexico and
South Korea markets posted 52 per
cent and 50 per cent gains from
their yearly lows. The Mexican Index
had swinged between a high of 14897
and a low of 9789. But based on
the current market index, the gains
are a notch lower at 50 per cent.
The South Korean Index is currently
hovering around the yearly high.
The index has risen from a yearly
low of 751.26 to a high of 1129.92.
But if the more recent trends are
any indication, the Indian equity
market is soon poised for more surprises.
Global indices are coming off their
yearly peaks while India seems to
be holding on to its gains. If we
take the take the figures of all
the global indices as on 11 August,
the gains on Argentina index from
the yearly low was lower at 63 per
cent. The index had closed at 1509.23,
the difference from its yearly low
being 585.12 points.
Courtesy:
Business Standard: August 18, 2005
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Freedom
In The 90s: India Inc Lives The
Global Dream
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It
is fascinating to note that the
leaders of Indian big business consciously
chose to subordinate their capitalist
instincts to a largely nationalist
vision on the eve of independence.
The doyen of Indian industry JRD
Tata had then said, "State control
of industries and even ownership
of some industries was not to be
seen from a narrow capitalist point
of view." JRD, like other prominent
industrialists like GD Birla and
Walchand Hirachand, had argued that
state-led investments were the need
of the hour if India were to catch
up with the other developed industrial
economies. This vision became part
of a comprehensive Bombay Plan which
prominent Indian entrepreneurs prepared
for Jawaharlal Nehru. "I quite realise
that government help and National
Planning are the essential pre-requisites
for our goal of industrial emancipation,
" Walchand Hirachand had then said.
It was this vision that drove the
Nehruvian strategy of creating the
commanding heights of economy in
the public sector in the subsequent
decade. While this strategy seemed
relevant then, it degenerated in
the subsequent decades into a neta-babu
regime which sought to stifle Indian
entrepreneurship. Surely, JRD and
others had not bargained for a degenerative
bureaucracy and political class
presiding over the worst from of
Licence Raj. Indira Gandhi strengthened
the licence raj and took it to new
heights, much to the chagrin of
India's big business, which could
not expand capacity without the
permission of the government. Indian
entrepreneurs truly got freedom
from this licence raj only in the
early 90s when India made a small
but decisive beginning to go global.
So the new economic policies brought
new freedoms to the Indian entrepreneurs.
Indian business became aggressive
in this phase.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, August 17, 2005
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India
Gets a New Spin On Tourist Circuit
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India
is not just about the Taj. Stung
by the mystique of Indian weavers,
foreigners are all out to explore
the country's textile traditions
in the remote areas of Bhuj (Gujarat),
Sanganer (Rajasthan), Nuapatna (Orissa)
and Pochampalli (Andhra Pradesh).
'Textile circuits' have become one
of the unique selling propositions
for tour operators who offer their
customers something beyond the famous
Golden Triangle of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur.
A New Zealand-based tour operator
selling a South Indian textile tour
package for approximately $4,600
has named it 'Silk and Spice'. The
company claims that the package
is completely sold out for '06 and
one can book only for '07. The 28-day
trip starting from February 11,
'07 includes air transport from
Europe to a tour of the three states
- Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
Kerala - in an air-conditioned bus.
Domestic operators are also offering
various choices to foreigners. One
of the famous circuits in the east
is Bhubaneshwar-Nuapatna-Barpali-Sonepur-Bolangir.
The package promises to make you
familiar with 'ikat' (tie and dye)
and 'tasar' silk weaving. Another
popular sector offered by domestic
tour operators is Mumbai-Bhuj-Jamnagar-Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Jaipur-Agra-Delhi-Mumbai.
Priced at around $2,000 for 16 days
and 15 nights, the package includes
visits to historical places, forts,
cultural destinations and other
places of entertainment en-route.
There is also an increasing trend
of fashion students and textile
professionals visiting textile clusters
of India. Students from LDT Nagold,
a Germany-based fashion retail school,
and Amsterdam Fashion Institute
have tied up with Delhi-based Pearl
Academy of Fashion, which organises
visits for foreign students to textile
clusters, apart from explaining
them Indian weaving and processing
techniques.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, August 17, 2005
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India
Has 94% Of Global Workforce Of Diamond
Industry: Gemmology Official
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Chief
Secretary of the Gemmological Institute
of India, K.T. Ramachandran, said
on Tuesday that a highly skilled
and trained workforce is necessary
in the field of jewellery management,
as India is the fastest emerging
jewellery markets in the world.
He was speaking at the inauguration
of the induction programme of the
degree course, "BBA in Jewellery
Management," at the Manipal Institute
of Jewellery Management, a unit
of Manipal Academy of Higher Education
(MAHE), here. Mr. Ramachandran said
the Indian retail jewellery market
for gold jewellery is the largest
in the world. On an average, 800
tonnes of gold is utilised every
year. The retail jewellery network
provides customised jewellery to
customers and it is undergoing a
change with the emergence of malls,
supermarkets and branded stores,
he said. Branded jewellery items
are on the rise with over 40 brands
already in the market, he added.
De-beers and Rio Tinto, the world
leaders in mining and distribution
of diamonds have already pitched
their tents in India with a view
to extend support to the domestic
diamond jewellery market, Mr. Ramachandran
said. India is the third largest
consumer of diamonds, which only
shows the purchasing capacity of
the middle-class, Mr. Ramachandran
said. With the growth of the jewellery
industry in India, infrastructure
in terms of technological support
and manpower development is the
need of the hour, he said. Indian
gem industry cuts and polishes 60
per cent of world's rough diamonds
by value and 80 per cent of rough
diamonds by volume. India cuts and
polishes nine out of 10 diamonds
sold in the world market. It is
estimated that the Indian diamond
industry employs over 10 lakh artisans,
which is almost 94 per cent of the
global workforce of diamond industry.
The Indian gem industry has many
small and medium scale business
houses. There are many modern factories
being set up for jewellery manufacturing
in the free trade zones around the
country, Mr. Ramachandran said.
India has not attained a reasonable
market share in the jewellery business
of the world so far. But the beginning
has been impressive. Jewellery export
increased from $ 150 million in
1990 to $ 2.76 billion in 2004.
India's jewellery exports were up
by 42 per cent in 2004 over the
last year. K.V.M. Varamabally welcomed
the gathering. Vice-Chancellor of
MAHE, H.S. Ballal, inaugurated the
new course. Vinod Bhat, Registrar
of MAHE, was present.
Courtesy:
The Hindu, August 17, 2005
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Your
Postman Is Now a BPO Exec
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The
neighbourhood 'dakiya' is now a
BPO worker. India Post has struck
major outsourcing deals with Citibank,
GE Money, Reliance Infocomm and
Tata Indicom to verify the addresses
of their potential customers. The
deals are estimated to fetch Rs
3,000 crore for India Post. The
outsourcing activities that postmen
will now perform include address
verification of credit card applicants
and customers of post-paid telecom
services , besides direct mailing
services to target customers in
select areas. For free-loaders,
those days of enjoying credit cards
and mobile phones through fraudulent
means will now be over. Once the
postman is asked to verify your
name and address, it will become
rather tough to pull a fast one
on him. The very fact that a local
person will be doing the verification
should be enough to keep dodgy customers
at bay. "We have a network of 1,55,000
post offices in every nook and corner
of the country, which can be used
for carrying out outsourcing work
of this scale. Of this total, 1,37,043
are in rural areas and 16,411 are
in urban areas. Besides, our postmen
know each and every person in their
respective areas," a senior India
Post official told ET. For credit
card and telecom companies, signing
up should bring genuine relief.
There have been many instances of
private finance companies facing
problems with bogus customers using
fake addresses to take loans. Companies
used to contract private agents
to verify... address details of
customers, but that had serious
shortcomings as agents had to depend
on second-hand information themselves.
In the deal with Citibank and GE
Money, India Post will carry out
the entire verification process
for their credit card services.
The companies would be able to make
use of the vast experience and contacts
of the local postman. That's a unique
and individual database. India Post
network has postmen on every beat.
One beat comprises around 250 households.
On an average, a post office serves
an area of 21.4 sq km and a population
of 5,502. Each postman is expected
to know sufficient details about
every family in his beat. Add to
that his easy access to these households,
and you know why he is the most
credible source of information for
companies that can't afford to go
wrong, say officials in India Post.
The outsourcing deals with private
telecom operators Reliance Infocomm
and Tata Indicom will also operate
on similar lines. The two are outsourcing
applications received for post-paid
connections to India Post, which
in turn will channelise them to
the respective post offices for
verification.
Courtesy:
The Times of India, August 17, 2005
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Manufacturers
Prefer India To US In FDI Stakes
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India
has displaced the US to become the
second-most attractive destination
for foreign direct investment (FDI)
among manufacturing investors, as
per A T Kearney's latest FDI Confidence
Index rankings. The rankings are
based on an annual survey of chief
executive officers, chief financial
officers and other top executives
of Global 1000 companies, conducted
by the Global Business Policy Council
of A T Kearney. Telecom and utility
investors, for instance, upgraded
India from the fifth place to second.
At the same time, the US was displaced
from the top-most position down
to the fourth place, just after
Hong Kong. China gained immense
ground and swapped places with the
US, up from fourth to the first,
the survey stated. Overall, India
has moved up three notches from
the sixth place last year to the
third as the most attractive FDI
destination. The perception gap
between the US and India is, however,
fast closing. Against China's index
of 2.03, India ranked marginally
behind the US at 1.4, against the
latter's 1.45. The US National Intelligence
Council's study also identifies
India as the new economic star of
the 21st century along with China.
This explains the eight-fold rise
in FDI inflows into India over the
last decade. The $1-billion Holcim-ACC-Gujarat
Ambuja deal is a pointer to the
FDI potential India enjoys today.
In 2004-05, India attracted higher
FDI at $7.5-8 billion, up from $4.7
billion in the preceding fiscal.
India witnessed massive growth in
M&A deals in the first half of 2005,
with aggregate deals valued at $6.9
billion against $2.9 billion in
the corresponding period last year,
stated PWC. Compared with telecommunications
and information technology, majority
of the deals in 2003-04 took place
in manufacturing. "India has witnessed
the second highest growth in M&As
after Japan," it added.
Courtesy:
Business Standard: August 16, 2005
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'India
a Better Model Than China'
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