Indian Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Bushroda]

Do you know when Skybus will properly start running in Goa? I know why it was stopped, the accident during the test run, i went to Goa as well. But do you know when the safety tests will end and services actually start?

They eventually plan to connect north and south goa with it.

Malay, your answer is here in this post

http://www.defence.pk/forums/95219-post764.html

For everything that our engineers want, government is ready to show the middle finger be it Konkan Railways or DRDO.

 

[Bushroda]

Germany's SAP to invest $1B in India
Agence France-Presse
08/28/2007

BANGALORE, India--German software giant SAP said Tuesday it was proceeding with plans to invest one billion dollars by 2010 in India, where it doubled its corporate customers in just one year.

The company has designated India a strategic hub and said a major portion of the investment would go towards expanding its global services and support centers in Bangalore and Gurgaon, a New Delhi suburb.

The Indian operation is the largest research and development hub and support center outside Germany for the Walldorf-based firm, which is adding clients at a record pace in the world's second-fastest growing economy.

"Markets like India are at an inflection point when it comes to the adoption of technology by businesses of all shapes and sizes," chief executive officer Henning Kagermann said in a statement.

"It took us nine years in India to reach the 1,000 customer mark, and only one to double it," added Kagermann, who has brought SAP's entire executive board on its first visit to the country.

The visit reflects the rising importance of the country to SAP "both as a vibrant market as well as a technology development and services-support delivery center," the company said.

 

[Bushroda]

Those outsourced jobs are coming back, but now the boss is in Bangalore
John Murrell
SiliconValley.com, CA

After years of watching U.S. jobs flow to the cheaper labor markets of Asia and India, we’re starting to see some backwash. Wipro Technologies, the global services arm of Indian outsourcing company Wipro Ltd., announced plans Monday to open a software development center in Atlanta that will employ 500 people within three years and may grow to double that. The positions will be for engineers and software developers, and Wipro and Georgia are working together to make sure that local talent gets hired.

Wipro, facing wage inflation for engineers and unfavorable currency conditions, picked Atlanta after looking at 600 sites in the U.S. (”We got a little carried away,” said Chairman Azim Premji), basing the choice on factors like the presence of colleges, airline access and retired military personnel with valued technological skills. Working with Georgia’s Board of Regents and its job training program, the company already has started collaborating with Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University. Georgia had been courting Wipro for four years, largely thanks to the efforts of Jagdish Sheth, a longtime adviser to Premji who sits on Wipro’s board and is also a professor of marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Said Sheth, “For the first time, this shows that it’s not going to be sufficient to take the work to India. We have to invest in the United States.”

“The work we’re doing requires more and more knowledge of the customers’ businesses, and you want local people to do that,” said P.R Chandrasekar, president of Wipro Tech. “The Atlanta center is an investment that will help Wipro’s existing customers as well as help address new business opportunities.” On the drawing board are two more U.S. centers, possibly in Texas and Virginia. “India’s economy is now getting into the next phase,” said Ash Thakker, chairman of the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce. “It is truly becoming a two-way type of trade. It’s jobs, revenues, goods and services for both India and the United States.”

 

[Bushroda]

Business software maker SAP says customers in India doubled in past year
International Herald Tribune, France
August 28, 2007

NEW DELHI: SAP AG, the world's largest business software maker, said Tuesday it has doubled its customers in India to 2,000 in the past year, driven by demand from small and medium enterprises.

The German company also announced a partnership with Indian outsourcing company Wipro Ltd. to jointly conduct sales promotion programs and implement SAP's software applications in mutually agreed regions and markets.

SAP aims to reach 100,000 customers worldwide by 2010, of which 15,000 would be in India.

"The unprecedented growth that we are seeing from India is one of the best examples of how our 2010 strategy translates into action," said Chief Executive Henning Kagermann.

Growth in countries like India and China will be crucial to SAP's long-term goals, Kagermann said.

"Markets like India are at an inflection point when it comes to the adoption of technology by businesses ... it took us nine years in India to reach 1,000 customers, and only one (year) to double it," he said.

India's economy is growing close to 9 percent annually and businesses here are increasingly adopting modern technologies.

SAP makes software for payroll, client orders and other business processes, competing against companies such as Oracle Corp.

In August last year, Kagermann announced an investment of about US$1 billion in India by 2010 to expand research facilities and tap more customers.

The Walldorf-based company has since designated India as its "strategic hub" in the Asia-Pacific region and built a new global service support center in Gurgaon, an industrial town adjoining New Delhi.

The company already operates a research center in Bangalore in southern India.

Under the partnership pact with Wipro, the Indian company will set up a new laboratory at SAP's existing research center. That laboratory will be used for testing SAP software and conduct joint innovations, a Wipro statement said.

Scores of companies in the United States and Europe are increasingly shifting software development and research work to India, where technical workers are available at much lower wages.

 

[Bushroda]

Myanmar, India finalizing river transportation project
People's Daily Online, China
August 28, 2007

Myanmar and India are in the process of finalizing a river transportation project and once it is formally endorsed by both sides, the project will start implementation, local media reported Tuesday.

The Kaladam multi-modal river transportation project, which also involves the building of the Paletwa border road, was raised during Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam's state visit to Myanmar in March 2006 with the Indian side being committed to extend a 10 million U.S. dollars' line of credit for the project.

The Kaladam project will cover upgrading of waterways along the Kaladam River and Sittway port in Western Myanmar's Rakhine state, the Flower News said.

Besides, the project will also cover upgrading of both motor roads and waterways in those parts in northwestern Chin state to enable Indian cargo vessels along the Kaladam river in Sittway's eastern bank to berth at Paletwa where a high-standard port is to be built through which a highway will also be built to enable access to the border area of Myeikwa in the state for commodity flow to India's Mizoram state, the report added.

Meanwhile, proposed by India, Myanmar is also making feasibility study to build a deep-sea port in the country's southern coastal Tanintharyi division to facilitate maritime trade with neighboring countries.

The prospective Dawei deep-sea port project stands one of the priorities among future programs of the seven-member Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ( BIMSTEC) which now comprises Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

Moreover, Myanmar is also conducting survey to build still another deep-sea port on the Maday Island in Kyaukphyu, western coastal Rakhine state, to serve as a transit trade center for goods destined to port cities of Chittagong, Yangon and Calcutta.

Relations between Myanmar and India have been growing during the past few years with cooperation in all sectors, particularly in those of trade and economy. The Indian statistics show that Myanmar-India bilateral trade reached 650 million U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2006-07 which ended in March, up from 557.68 million dollars in 2005-06.

India stands as Myanmar's 4th largest trading partner after Thailand, China and Singapore and also Myanmar's second largest export market after Thailand, absorbing 25 percent of its total exports.

Myanmar figures also show that India's investment in Myanmar had reached 82.57 million dollars in four projects as of the end of 2006, out of Myanmar's total foreign investment of 14.4 billion dollars since late 1988.

 

[Bushroda]

Nissan agrees Indian vehicle deal
BBC, UK

The Indian motor company, Ashok Leyland, and Nissan of Japan have agreed to form a partnership to produce Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs).

They aim to make 100,000 vans a year in Indian factories for both the domestic market and export.

Correspondents said the deal underlined Nissan's growing commercial interest in India, where demand for vehicles and trucks is rising fast.

Much of that is because of the country's strong economic growth.

"Our LCV business and overall expansion into India represent two of the biggest growth opportunities for Nissan in the medium and long term," Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's president, told the Reuters news agency.

The Japanese firm is eager to increase its presence in India to benefit from relatively low labour costs and an economy growing at around 9% a year.

 

[Bushroda]

India – The next superpower?
Peter Leslie
The Vail Trail, CO
August 29, 2007

World View

One hundred and fifty years ago, Indian rebels were massacring British men, women and children in a vicious war of independence, with little mercy shown by combatants on either side. The rebellion was ruthlessly suppressed, the last Moghul Emperor forced into exile, and for the next 90 years the British government replaced the East India Company as rulers of India.

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the Indian independence that was eventually achieved in August 1947. And since that time, India has been the world’s largest democracy.

Recently, India, the world’s second largest country, with a population of more than 1.1 billion (almost four times that of the United States), joined the trillion dollar club — a club with only 11 other members with economies exceeding this amount. This reflects an economy that has been growing very fast in recent years and is currently growing at an annual rate of more than 9 percent.

Along with its economic strength, India has the world’s second-largest standing army with a total troop strength of around 2.5 million (1.3 million active and 1.2 million reserve), has nuclear weapons, and the world’s fifth-largest navy that includes one aircraft carrier (and a second under construction).

The 90 years of direct British rule gave India an excellent network of roads, railways, canals and irrigation works, large-scale capital investments in shipping and mining and well-developed commercial agriculture. An education system in English, English law and a functioning civil service created suitable conditions for the growth of industry and enterprise; and the integration of India into the world economy.

But India’s economic strength and status as a potential superpower is relatively recent. The first 40 or so years following independence were years of sluggish economic growth.

Following independence, India’s socialist leaders imposed strict government control over private-sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment. A cumbersome central bureaucracy developed a huge and inefficient public sector, with business regulation, and central planning, import substitution, inept industrialization and state intervention in financial and labor markets.

However, starting in the early 1990s, economic reforms that reduced government controls on foreign trade and investment gradually opened up India’s markets. And the availability of large numbers of English-speaking, highly educated people willing to work for one-quarter the hourly wage of equivalent U.S. workers made India a logical choice for international companies seeking to outsource workers, especially in such fields as call centers, data entry and software development.

According to consulting firm Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, the average computer programmer in India costs $20 per hour in wages and benefits compared to $65 per hour for a comparably qualified and experience American.

While large numbers of Indians still live on subsistence agriculture or on starvation wages in the slums of the big cities, there is a growing middle class — estimated at 250 million to 300 million — that shows an ever-increasing appetite for consumer goods. The Indian auto market reached one million cars in 2003-04 and this could easily treble by 2015. Indian manufacturers are going global with multi-billion dollar acquisitions that bring them into the league of Fortune 500 companies; and some are already world leaders in their sectors.

In recent months we have seen numerous cases of poor quality control by Chinese companies necessitating expensive recalls of defective or dangerous products and a ban on exports to the U.S. of certain human and pet foods. This may provide an opportunity for India to build on its large numbers of highly skilled and experienced managers and engineers and a vast pool of low cost, unemployed or under-employed workers. If India can be relied on to sell high-quality products, it could well take advantage of China’s recent missteps.

Investing much more in the manufacture of consumer goods for both local consumption and export could help sustain India’s economic growth and provide a major competitor for China. And because India’s population is growing faster than China’s, we might soon see India as both the largest country in the world and one of the most powerful.

This possibility has major implications for U.S. foreign policy in Asia and for the balance of power in the region. We are lucky that Indian-U.S. relations have never been better. This and future administrations should ensure that this continues.

Peter Leslie is the former CEO of the United Nations Development Office. He lives in Vail.

 

[khanbhai]

China is next in line accept it
i have been to india many times it is just like pakistan same kind of people same type of culture
the only difference is population

 

[Bushroda]

Amma Yaar, atleast look at who is the author. It ain't from an Indian source. Now, when half the world media speaks of India becoming the next Super-power then it can't be just a hogwash. I know most people out of their insecurity & jealosy would point to the weakest numbers with 300 million poors etc, etc... But still, it isn't that these facts and figures are hidden from the international press. They are just as much aware(or probably more) of India's situation as members here. There are more to this super-power thingy than just having a strong military and sound economics. The fact is even at half the China's GDP India can become a super-power along with China.

 

[Bushroda]

Indian hotel industry sees sunny days ahead
Aveena Lopes/Business & Economy News Bureau
Thursday August 30 2007 03:13 IST

MUMBAI: : What was previously an industry that was overlooked and underestimated has now got everyone's attention glued to it.

Although surprising for a country that is blessed with natural beauty as well as historical treasures, tourism in India almost always took the back bench which also never gave enough market to hotel industry, but not so in the recent times which has seen quite the contrary.

This is why we see so many global names are scrambling to have their names imprinted on the Indian soil. "The hotel industry is doing extremely well currently and all the sectors of the hotel industry, be it the luxury segment, budget segment or leisure, are doing fine.

Moreover, the industry is doing well not only in the metro cities but also in Tier I and II cities. Since the growth is happening in all the sectors, this augurs well for the industry," says Delyse Braganza, VP, Sales and Marketing, The Orchid.

This growth has a lot to do with tourism, which portrays a bright future with the entire industry expected to grow at astonishing rates of 20-25 percent until 2017. Even reports by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) state that India is expected to be the third fastest growing country in the world in the travel and tourism sphere.

Ashish Salian, Accommodation Manager, Kohinoor Continental Hotel attributes this growth to our growing economy saying, "India's economy is growing at a fast pace complimented by a sudden scope for a large potential of foreign direct investment pouring into the country. Also in terms of manpower, the Indian workforce is noted for their quality service."

The booming economy too has not only done well for the foreign names but even boosted the confidence of the local players as well. The recent positive growth of the Indian rupee against the dollar has the Indian big guns in the hotel industry daring to make notable changes in their ongoing systems.

The Taj Group of Hotels along with its counterpart the ITC Group have both chosen to shift their tariffs to domestic currency rather than their previous dollar tariffs.

This move would help the Indian players right from the luxury hotels, 5 star hotels as well as budget hotels to 'make hay while the sun shines' cashing in on the comparatively stronger position of the Indian rupee. "This a positive move for the industry that will help all the players even the guest house business.

Moreover this move would also see our foreign reserves going up which is obviously good not only for us but for the entire country as a whole," says Ashish. Surely the hotel industry is getting the much needed push. Contrary to sceptic this growth might be here to stay, at least for a long time to come as asserted by Asish.

"We're expecting a resounding performance from the industry for at least the next 10 years with growth rates as high as 10-15 percent every year. This growth would be in terms of the number of people going abroad and returning back as well."

With every indication pointing only towards growth, and a positive demandsupply relationship building up, Indian customers can look forward to a whole lot of pampering because our industry certainly looks geared up for it!

 

[Bushroda]

India's GDP grows 9.3 pc in Q1
31 Aug 2007, 1203 hrs IST,PTI

NEW DELHI: Continuing the upswing on the strength of the good showing by manufacturing sector, the economy grew by 9.3 per cent during the April-June quarter of the current financial year.

Even though the growth in the first quarter is marginally less than 9.6 per cent recorded during comparable period last year, the economy has done commendably well as it comes on top of high 9.4 per cent growth recorded during 2006-07.

As per the data released by the government on the performance of the economy, the manufacturing sector grew by 11.9 per cent which is lower than 12.3 per cent recorded during the first quarter of 2006-07.

Indian economy grows 9.3 percent in Q1, beats forecasts
ABCmoney.co.uk, UK
Published : Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:23

NEW DELHI (Thomson Financial) - India's economy expanded by 9.3 percent in the first quarter, beating forecasts, underpinned by strong performances by industry and services, official data released Thursday showed.

The first-quarter growth topped analysts' expectations of 8.9 percent expansion and outstripped growth of 9.1 percent in the previous quarter.

India has the fastest-expanding major economy after China, fuelled by an increasingly high-spending middle class.

The drivers of the economy are 'consumption led -- rising incomes and a growing middle class,' said Deepak Lalwani, partner at London investment house Astaire and Partners.

The latest figures reflect robust industrial production, sustained growth in services and a solid farm performance, economists said.

The economy could be impacted from the next quarter onwards by monetary tightening, they said.

The central bank, which expects growth of 8.5 percent, began tightening monetary policy in 2004 to tame prices.

Inflation is currently at 4.1 percent, well below the central bank's 5.0 percent annual target and down sharply from a two-year peak of nearly seven percent in early 2007.

Some analysts have said the central bank could start cutting rates towards the end of the year as long as there is no flare-up in inflation.

Many said India's solid industrial and service sectors will protect the economy against a major hit from the global liquidity squeeze triggered by the US subprime credit crisis.

The exposure of the Indian banking sector to the subprime woes is limited, they said. But some warned that the subprime turmoil could cause a 'significant' slowdown if it persists for more than a few months.

They said the acceleration in Indian growth over the past few years has been primarily driven by a favorable sustained appetite for global risk and that if that dries up, the economy could lose out on investment capital.

 

[Bull]

9.3 % is a damn good figure, infact anything about 8 is good.

 

[Bushroda]

GoI has set 10% growth rate for the 10th Five-year plan & has a history of failing to meet targets. In that context 9.3% is still a moderate start. As the effect of rising interest rates takes place in the next quarter the annual growth rate would subside to around 9%. Unless we grow over 10% for the remaining four years, like everytime we are bound to miss the target this time aswell. Achieving 10% growth rate would be a steep hill to climb unless farm sector somehow miraculously achieves a 5% growth rate for the remaining years. So, pray the rain gods and hope for the best.

 

[Bushroda]

Hot time to buy in Mumbai
Assetz News, UK
4th September 2007

Those looking to invest in property in India as the country experiences a protracted economic boom will find plenty of great investment opportunities in Mumbai, the director of Property-Abroad.com, Les Calvert, has stated.

Mr Calvert said now was "definitely" a good time to invest in off-plan property, as the city was experiencing considerable growth. "We have a couple of developments in Mumbai that we've seen grow just in the last couple of months by about twenty or thirty per cent," Mr Calvert noted.

As Indian property booms, developers are getting more attuned to changing needs and requirements, Reuters reported this week. The news agency noted that across the country, domestic house prices surged over the last two years, pricing the middle classes out of the market. Now they have dropped by 20 per cent.

Explaining that prices had greatly outstripped increases in wages, Hari Krishna, of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said: "Many developers are rationalising prices across the country and certain sets of people are saying there's a need to focus more on either the luxury or the mass market."

As it is, the Mumbai market is increasingly focused on the tourist market, according to Mr Calvert, who stated that "the general environment surrounding Mumbai has always been of interest to the tourism market".

He added: "Certainly the culture of the city in general is attracting more and more tourism and there are more and more people jumping on the bandwagon [in terms of] investment and buying holiday homes there."

Of course, to get the tourists in there must be good access, which Mumbai can already provide with one international airport. But a second airport, the Navi Mumbai airport in the Kopra-Panvel area, is expected to be handling over ten million people by 2010.

Mr Calvert said this will boost investment "tremendously", adding that new airports tend to act as catalysts for development in the surrounding vicinity, causing property prices to "shoot up" and improving infrastructure.

Mumbai's existing airport is also undergoing change, with Mumbai Newsline reporting today that a new domestic terminal is to be built, which will open in December 2008, while a revamp of the airport may lead to another terminal being axed to create space for taxiways.

The city formerly known as Bombay is undoubtedly undergoing rapid change. As property needs change, new infrastructure emerges and new airport facilities are built on the back of a booming economy, the opportunities are there for shrewd investors to make significant returns.

 

[Bushroda]

India's retail sector key for jobs growth - industry forum
FORBES, NY
09.04.07, 7:46 AM ET

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - India's retail sector is expected to expand rapidly in the next decade and provide jobs to the country's staggeringly large young population, industry experts said on Tuesday.

'The biggest boon for India is that 890 million people are under 45,' said V. Vaidyanathan, executive director at India's second largest bank ICICI Bank, at the India Retail Forum 2007 in the financial hub of Mumbai.

India's retail sector is still largely closed to foreign investment and is dominated by millions of mom-and-pop stores that oppose the entry of firms like US-based Wal Mart or France's Carrefour.

Local grocery chain Reliance Fresh, owned by the Reliance Industries conglomerate, last month faced a backlash from smaller traders last month, which led the country's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, to order them to shut stores.

But with a population of 1.1 billion and rising incomes in the fast-growing economy, retail has become a major focus.

'The story of India is still full of opportunities -- it is definitely a huge blue ocean,' said Vaidyanathan.

He said that over the next decade, 'projected growth for the retail industry is 12 trillion rupees and this is expected to triple in the future.'

The growth in retail will create three-and-a-half million job opportunities, he added.

But spiralling real estate prices, poor food processing and storage facilities and lack of training may slow growth, said Arun Nanda, executive director with automobile firm Mahindra & Mahindra.

Currently, India allows single brand retailers to open stores, but larger retail chains must give an Indian partner local control.

Indian telecom firm Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart have already agreed to a 50-50 joint venture for a new chain of wholesale stores in India to serve small retail shops.

Eight to 15 initial stores are planned, with the first expected in late 2008.

But most companies are focused on the fragmented market for everyday retail items.

'Food and groceries, clothing and accessories will lead growth in India's retail boom,' said Vinod Sawhny, president of Bharti Retail said at the conference.

'In coming years, India's retail growth areas will shift towards health, education and entertainment, indicating a better lifestyle.'