• India International Trade Fair concludes
• India paradise for foreign shoppers
• India climbs to 15th in world ad ranking
• Forbes 40 India
• 'India can he a major player in international pharmaceutical market'
• China, India in furious growth tango

• Hindustan Latex world's largest condom maker
• Now go 'set-jetting' in Britain, Bollywood style
• Govt promoting India as preferred tourist destination
• Property in India: Eastern uprising
• A downturn
• 'India fastest growing biz intelligence market in Asia'

Public sector Hindustan Latex Ltd (HLL) here has become the world's largest condom manufacturing unit by acquiring the capacity to produce one billion condoms a year. "HLL has achieved the mark after adding a new plant with an annual capacity to produce 237 million more condoms," the company's chairman-cum managing director, Mr M Ayyappan said. Inaugurating the new plant today, the Union health minister, Mr Anbumani Ramadoss said the HLL would continue to be the captive unit of the Centre for two more years as per the Cabinet decision to enable it to get 75 per cent order of the Union government's requirements. "As part of its diversification programme, HLL had been made the promoter of a Vaccine and Medical Equipment Park at Chengalpet near Chennai where the company had been allotted 500 acres of land for the purpose," he said. HLL would also start a diagnostic facility service centre in Delhi as a pilot project. "If the same was found to be successful, it would be extended to other parts of the country," he said. The infrastructure wing of HLL had taken up the work of upgradation of medical colleges in Salem, Puducherry, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Patna and Rishikesh, Mr Ramadoss said.

Courtesy: www.thestatesman.net, November 28, 2007

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The India International Trade Fair (IITF), which is increasingly becoming a global platform for exhibitors to showcase their goods, concluded here Tuesday. Over three million people visited the fair, which was based on the theme of processed food and agro industries this year. Millions thronged the fair to buy jewellery, household goods, electrical appliances, spices and a whole range of valuable and semi-valuable items. In an effort to attract global investors this year, the IITF, which opened on Nov 14, kept two days exclusively for business. Special meeting rooms and business lounges were arranged to encourage more business. "Apart from large number of businessmen from all over the country, around 1,152 overseas delegates from 90 countries visited the fair," the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) said in a statement. Kerala bagged the gold medal for the best state pavilion while the silver medal went to Punjab. In North Eastern State Pavilion category, Meghalaya received gold while Manipur received the silver medal. Among the central government pavilions, the ministry of water resources received gold medal, the ministry of power silver medal, and a special commendation was awarded to the ministry of health and family welfare. Keeping a tight vigil, the Delhi Police deployed nearly 1,500 personnel and installed at least 50 closed circuit television cameras. At least 144 people were arrested and 62 detained for various offences, including theft, picking pockets and harassment to women during the two-week long trade fair. The police also recorded a 100 percent success ratio by restoring 118 missing persons to their anxious families, an official statement said. Countries that participated in this year's IITF included Britain, the US, Australia, Singapore, Germany, China, Afghanistan, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Egypt, Taiwan, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, UAE, Holland, Iran, Indonesia, Kuwait, Vietnam, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Spain, Turkey and Thailand. Compared to 36 countries last year, this year the IITF has attracted foreign exhibitors from as many as 44 countries, representing over 100 companies.

Courtesy: www.mediaforfreedom.com, November 28, 2007

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We all know of "jet-setting", but what on earth is "set-jetting"?
That is the latest jargon of the travel and tourism industry and, in simple words, means tourists travelling to the sets and locations of popular Bollywood and Hollywood films in Britain. "Set-jetting is a great way of marketing a destination and Britain's popularity as a location for many of the biggest films has helped VisitBritain to lead the way in capitalising on this 'screen magic'," Tom Wright, chief executive of VisitBritain, the national tourism agency that has a dedicated office in Mumbai. "If the right film is chosen, it acts as free advertising for a destination, location or attraction; shown to millions of people around the world and whenever they watch the DVD. "Showcasing destinations through film helps maintain the enduring popularity of our beautiful landscapes and countryside, centuries of history, iconic characters, actors and actresses and literary greats." On any given day, several Bollywood films are shot in Britain. The importance of the overseas market has grown exponentially in recent years, with several films raking in as much as 50% of their profits from the British and US markets alone. Diaspora themes strumming the heart strings of millions of Indians living abroad are woven into films that go on to become blockbusters, such as 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' (1995) and 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum' (2001). The sector has grown so much in recent years that Britain's tourism officials have come up with a 'Bollywood map' of Britain, depicting the locations where prominent Indian films were shot. Now British officials have launched a film tourism campaign coinciding with the release of Indian director Shekhar Kapur's 'The Golden Age', starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Clive Owen. The sequel to Kapur's earlier film 'Elizabeth', the film on the life of Queen Elizabeth I features a wealth of English locations. Tourism officials expect it to draw international and British visitors to iconic and heritage attractions throughout Britain. A dedicated website, www.visitbritain.com/goldenage, features a downloadable map of locations, film synopsis and link to the trailer, six different touring itineraries, a picture gallery and inspirational information on Britain's 'golden age of now' for contemporary art and culture.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. November 28, 2007

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Eco-tourism, adventure or medical tourism and pilgrimages, India is drawing foreign tourists by the droves. Thanks, especially, to the variety of Indian textiles and expert craftsmanship, the country is becoming a major shopping destination as well. And it's not about shopping at cheap rates; "made-in-India" products are no longer cheap. It is the uniqueness and quality of Indian products that are the main attractions. "The diversity of Indian fabric and handicrafts is what that counts. The emergence of Indian fashion and designers internationally has also contributed to the trend," said joint secretary, Tourism, Ms Leena Nandan. The growing number of shopping malls and improved transport system appears to have influenced the choice of India as a shopping destination. "India is seen as a modern country where one can go for repeat visits. The feedback we have received from foreign tour operators makes it clear that a growing number of tourists are choosing India as their shopping destination," Ms Nandan said. A leading fashion jeweller, Ms Punita Trrikha, said since Indian fashion designers have done well internationally, it's natural for foreigners to look towards India for quality work. "After all foreigners, too, want to have variety like us. Many of my clients come twice a year to shop here," Ms Trrikha said. The owner of Vaish, a popular lifestyle store, Mr Ashok Vaish said foreign tourists are happy to get their suits stitched in India, as they can't get the same quality of work even for double the price in their country. "At first, India was considered down-market, but an image transformation is taking place. Now, India is seen as a place where you can get quality," Mr Vaish said. He said fashion stores in foreign countries can't match Indian craftsmanship and expertise. "Here, customers get full attention. "This is something that one can't get even at exorbitant costs in those countries," Mr Vaish said.

Courtesy: www.thestatesman.net, November 27, 2007

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To promote India as a preferred tourist destination, the government has lined up a series of promotional activities through its India tourism offices overseas, Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. In a written reply, Minister of Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni said these promotional activities are aimed at increasing the visibility of Indian tourism products and promote India as a preferred destination in the overseas markets. These include advertising in print and electronic media, outdoor advertising at prominent locations, on trains, buses and taxis, participation in fairs and exhibitions, organising seminars, workshops and road shows, publication of brochures, joint advertisement support, familiarisation tours of tour operators and travel media. In another reply, the minister said the government provides Central Financial Assistance to North Eastern states for development of infrastructure, information technology, large revenue generating projects and for organising fairs, festivals and events.

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

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Indian advertising has just scaled a new high. India has moved up six notches from 21 to 15 in the list countries with the highest advertising awards, according to the Gunn Report of 2007. India has moved ahead of China, New Zealand, Mexico and South Africa, among others, to notch up a total of 39 points for award winning campaigns in Print, TV and Interactive. In addition to this, HappyDent Palace, one of the most awarded commercials from this year, made it to the top 10 most awarded commercials in 2007. The Gunn Report is an annual rating of creative work based on the awards won by advertising agencies in nearly 60 different award shows. Donald Gunn, the author of the Gunn Report, had been with Leo Burnett for over 35 years. The country with the most awarded advertisements is the US, which nudged ahead of the UK in 2007. Besides HappyDent, only one other Indian ad made it to the most awarded list. Ogilvy & Mather's ad for Indian Association for Adoption, which was the 12th most awarded print campaign of 2007. The most awarded TV ad was Sony Bravia's Paint ad, created by Fallon, while the print honours went to Clima Bicycle Locks, created by Leo Burnett Bangkok. As a result of creating two highly awarded ads, both McCann Erickson and O&M have made it to the list of most awarded agencies globally. McCann stood joint 22nd while O&M stood joint 45th. Says McCann Erickson India chairman and NCD Prasoon Joshi: "We were certainly expecting to score high because we've performed very well and got global accolades. But we didn't expect to see HappyDent in the top 10." Mr Joshi felt that the work from Indian agencies was improving but everyone would have to do consistently good work to be able to move into the top 10 next year. Also making an entry into the list was Equinox Films, headed by Ram Madhvani. Equinox was joint 17th with a total of nine points for the most awarded production houses. Ram Madhvani retains his 11th place as the most awarded director. This year, the Gunn Report has also included interactive as a category to evaluate creative performance for agencies, and a few Asian countries haven't had enough to show in this category. Had India been evaluated on Print and TV scores alone it would have been ranked 13th. The most awarded agency for 2007 went to TBWA/Chiat/Day (New York) which was ranked a lowly 43 last year while BBDO retained the most awarded agency network for 2007, making it five wins out of nine Gunn Reports.

Courtesy: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com, November 17, 2007

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Top developer Emaar, having taken Dubai skywards, is now doing the same for india, says Ginetta Vedrickas. We may scoff at India's recent reputation as the land of the call centre, but behind this rise is another success story: the property explosion. The Indian economy is enjoying a heady boom, nudging 10 per cent annually, and the demand for houses among its rising young middle classes on higher incomes, thanks to call centres and IT outsourcing, has caught the eye of international developers. Emaar Properties, the developer responsible for the transformation of Dubai, is spearheading India's changing property market through its partnership with India's MGF Developments. "We plan on building 100,000 homes here over the next five years, making us India's largest developer," says Emaar-MGF's managing director, Shravan Gupta.

According to Paul Rogers, of Emaar's British subsidiary, Hamptons International, non-resident Indians are snapping up Emaar-MGF's developments. "This is a massive market in the UK," he says. "There are 1.3 million NRIs here and they are buying 'back home' with the intention of use for holidays. Many have family there or are buying for investment. The economy is booming, and it's easy to see why it is a strong investment." Hamptons currently restricts sales to NRIs but it believes that the residential market will soon open up to foreign buyers. Investors are chasing the "next city to boom" as property values across India soar by up to 100 per cent in hotspots such as Hyderabad. With 60 per cent of the population under the age of 35, increased exposure to western culture is producing a new Indian middle class which no longer wishes to live within extended families. Instead they want the executive-style homes they have enjoyed while working or training abroad. One recent buyer is British-born Jags Johal, who lives in Hertfordshire. Jags, 33, has paid £62,000 for a three-bedroom apartment at Mohali Hills, a gated community built by Emaar near Chandigarh in the Punjab, where he has family. "I want my kids to have Indian holidays where they can experience all the great things we have in the UK," he says. Jags, a software tester, recalls "boring childhood holidays in villages where we didn't do or see much". By contrast, Mohali Hills has communal pools, tennis courts and even a nearby McDonald's. "It's a great base from where we can see family and explore the city or rural villages nearby," he says. Outside Delhi, the new suburb of Gurgaon is home to many multinationals and much sought-after by buyers seeking respite from the capital. Here, Emaar is building the 18-storey towers of Palm Drive on a 37-acre site. Prices start from £222,500 for three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartments which have high-quality fittings and access to a gym, spa, pool and tennis courts. Emaar is also building in Hyderabad, nicknamed Cyberabad since many IT companies are relocating there from Bangalore. Near Microsoft's smart new headquarters, Boulder Hills is a five-star golf resort with 260 villas and no fewer than 3,000 apartments. India's future starts here.

Courtesy: www.telegraph.co.uk, November 17, 2007

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India's 40 Largest Companies
Around the start of every winter, Indians worship the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, as part of their biggest festival, Diwali. This year, some of the companies on our India 40 list had plenty of reason to celebrate, with their market capitalization as much as tripling in a stellar bull run. Infrastructure, energy and banking companies dominated the rankings, as demand boomed in these sectors. India's largest company by market value and our list-topper Reliance Industries saw its market capitalization go from $30.7 billion since the last list to $91.54 billion this year. The company run by billionaire Mukesh Ambani had a more modest rise in assets, from $21.70 billion to $30.67 billion. Oil and Natural Gas Corp.--at second spot--saw market capitalization nearly double to $61.81 billion from $31.4 billion. But its assets rose faster, from $18.6 billion to $33.7 billion. India's benchmark Sensitive Index (Sensex) has gained 41% this year, as foreign investors pumped around $17 billion into the markets. Domestic companies are seeing strong growth as a rapidly expanding middle class fuels demand for consumer goods and takes bank loans to invest in homes and vehicles. This year, 13 banks made the list, with State Bank of India topping the sector rankings at No. 3. The country's largest private lender, ICICI Bank (nyse: IBN - news - people ), came in a close second at No. 5, up one spot from last year. Others on the list included HDFC Bank (nyse: HDB - news - people ), Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda. Infrastructure companies also fared well, powered by an increase in state spending on roads, ports and airports as well as rising construction demand for homes and businesses. The government estimates it will need close to $500 billion over the next five years to ramp up infrastructure, a key roadblock to the growth of the economy, which rose 9.4% for the year ending on March 31.

Larsen and Toubro, India's largest engineering company, which won a $1.4 billion contract this month to modernize an overcrowded airport in Mumbai, came in at No. 15, a seven-point jump from last year. Capital goods business Bharat Heavy Electricals gained 10 spots to No. 13. India's largest real estate developer by value, DLF, was a new entrant, at No. 26. The New Delhi-based company raised a record $2.5 billion in an initial public offering in June. Real estate business Unitech is another newbie, at No. 36. Construction company Grasim Industries moved up seven spots to No. 27. Another sector that grew at a gallop this year was telecom. India is now the world's fastest-growing telecom market, adding around 7 million subscribers every month. Market leader Bharti Airtel was at No. 9 on the list, up two spots from last year. New entrant Reliance Communications was at No. 10. Both firms are investing billions of dollars to expand networks, especially in untapped rural areas. Software services companies, for several quarters the darlings of domestic investors as outsourcing from the West multiplied their profits, lost a little shimmer this year. A rupee that appreciated around 12% against the U.S. dollar since January cut into revenues from their main market of North America. Rising wages and high attrition costs compounded the woes. India's largest software services company, Tata Consultancy Services (other-otc: TACSF - news - people ), fell two spots to No. 11. Wipro (nyse: WIT - news - people ) came in at No. 16, compared with its No. 12 ranking last year. But Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies (nasdaq: INFY - news - people ) managed to hold its own, gaining one spot to No. 14 on the list. Another casualty of the rupee's appreciation: Adani Exports, No. 37 last year, fell off this year's list, replaced by newcomer Central Bank of India. Automobile companies haven't had a stellar year either. The central bank's tightening monetary policy prompted banks to increase interest rates, cutting into the markets for heavy commercial vehicles (between eight and 35 tons) and passenger cars that are financed mainly by loans. Bajaj Auto dropped off this year's list, while India's largest carmaker Maruti Udyog fell one spot to 31. Tata Motors (nyse: TTM - news - people ), which controls 65% of the commercial vehicle market, was at No. 22, compared with its ranking at No. 10 last time. Truck maker Mahindra and Mahindra fell five spots to No. 33. Despite the sector setbacks, this year's India 40 list tells the story of a flourishing economy consolidating its position on the global map. And with a domestic market place of a billion-plus people, 60% of them under 30 years old, the boom is unlikely to falter anytime soon. We ranked the 40 largest companies headquartered out of India using Thomson Financial's Worldscope database. They were judged on sales, profits, net assets and market value--each metric equally weighted. We excluded publicly traded subsidiaries with greater than 50% ownership of company stock and/or figures consolidated by the parent company from the rankings.

Courtesy: www.forbes.com, November 12, 2007

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The statistics issued by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), that from 2000 onwards, the age group for property registration for personal use in majority of cases had gone down to 30 to 38 years, from the earlier 55 to 58 years, is not surprising. Young Indians have been financially empowered by the tremendous growth in IT and IT-related industries like BPOs, the financial sector, aviation and hospitality sectors. However, sectors that ride on the cheap rupee are in trouble and this will have a ripple effect on the earnings of the young. The IT industry is one such example. It employs 2.5 million people, of whom nearly one lakh could be in the Rs 10 lakh-plus income bracket. Most of the young people, even as young as 25 years, who can afford to own a house are those working in the information technology sector. Banks are willing to give them loans as they have a long term horizon. While the pinch will not be felt immediately, it will be in a few months if the rupee continues its strong rally. Some say it could be Rs 37 to a dollar by mid 2008. For one, sources in the know in the IT industry say that when it's appraisal time the hikes will not be as generous as they used to be. Earlier the hikes used to be on an average 13-14 per cent. This will be cut down dramatically if the rupee continues to strengthen. This will particularly affect the third party players who provide services to other clients. Captive companies will not be affected so much as they are part of a worldwide network. The young people who work in BPOs whose clients are mostly in the United States and dealing in dollars, are most vulnerable. They are big spenders on gadgetry and gizmos. The rupee is not only making this sector uncompetitive, but it is also affecting the export-intensive textiles and ready-made garments' sectors which employ millions of blue collar workers. The rupee has appreciated to about 39.50 to a dollar from Rs 46-47 in six months, and with exports down, thousands of blue collar workers have already lost their jobs and their purchasing power.

Courtesy: www.asianage.com, November 07, 2007

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By leveraging the resources and indigenous knowledge on hand, India can emerge as a major player in the international pharmaceutical market, according to T. Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The strong presence of certain domestic pharmaceutical units has brought down the prices of anti-AIDS and bulk drugs considerably, he said. Mr. Ramasami was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function held at Annamalai University in Chidambaram near here on Thursday. The pharmaceutical industry was the greatest and the most visible growth engine, he said.

Courtesy: www.therapeuticsdaily.com, November 03, 2007

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W1 The market for Business Intelligence (BI) platforms in India has grown by 35.6 per cent in 2005-06, making it the fastest growing geography for business intelligence in Asia. In the period, SAP grew at 70.3 per cent to replace Microsoft as the largest BI vendor in India and relegated Business Objects to the third position, a research from Gartner Inc said. According to Gartner, BI platforms provide the infrastructure and tools to enable users to build applications that facilitate decision making and help organisations learn, understand and improve their business. Business Intelligence revenues in India grew to $16.4 million in 2006 from $12.1 million in 2005. However, the Indian BI market is less than 4 per cent of the total Asia Pacific (including Japan) market. In APAC, the BI platforms market grew at 16 per cent in 2005 to reach $491.8 million in 2006, with Japan accounting for more than half of the overall market.

Rising demand
Since India is currently in the implementation wave of business applications platforms such as enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and supply chain management, the demand for business intelligence platforms will continue to rise. In fact, Indian enterprises show a strong preference for products like database management systems or application servers with BI capabilities embedded into the application, said Mr Bhavish Sood, Principal Analyst, Gartner.

Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com, November 02, 2007

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In all probability, by the end of this year China's national income will overtake that of Germany' making it the third largest economy in the world, after Japan and the US. This event underlines the furious pace at which the centre of global business activity is shifting to somewhere in the middle of Asia. Income in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is expected to overtake that of the richest nations--United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy--much earlier than investment banking major Goldman Sach's original projection of 2050. Goldman Sachs now believes that India's GDP will catch up with that of the US in 2050, by when China is projected to be a $70.71 trillion economy, a staggering 84 per cent bigger than the US. The economic dynamics and challenges of the two fast growing economies of Asia, however, differ considerably. According to projections, growth of the working age population in China will halt at 2020 and decrease thereafter. India, on the other hand, will face the challenge of creating jobs for its growing working-age population for considerably longer. "Overall, in comparing the two countries, one can say that China is way ahead of India when it comes to physical infrastructure and the labour market. However, in areas such as banking system, judiciary and the media, India is ahead of China," said Shahin Kamalodin of ABN Amro. In recent times, however, Indian entrepreneurs have displayed enough gumption to take on the world and raced ahead of their counterparts across the Great Wall. According to Thomson Financial, Indian companies have acquired foreign companies worth $22 billion till October 19 this year, almost double the value of acquisitions made by Chinese companies. India's economic success, however, will critically depend on overcoming the structural bottlenecks. "India's economic dualism is stark, with less than 3 per cent of its workforce employed in the formal private sector. India needs to rapidly absorb workers out of agriculture, into manufacturing and services," said Mark A. Dutz, senior economist with the World Bank. At present, the European Union's size is far ahead of other countries, with a GDP of $15.6 trillion in 2006. But with an annual growth rate of 1.8 per cent over 2002-2006, productivity is stagnating, and falling in some countries.

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com, November 01, 2007

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