Indian Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Bushroda]

This is probably the greatest piece of news for Mumbai
____________________________________________
Privately owned and operated local train in Mumbai soon
7 Jun, 2007 l 0032 hrs ISTlDevraj Dasgupta/TIMES NEWS NETWORK

MUMBAI: The privatisation train is gathering momentum, quite literally. After years of talking about it, the ministry of railways has finally given Western Railway the green signal to invite private players to own and operate an air-conditioned local train in Mumbai.

Over the years, more and more cities have been privatising their municipal services — from the sweeping of streets and garbage collection, to healthcare, water, power and even fire stations. But inviting the private sector to run a service that forms the very spine of life in a metro like Mumbai has a deeper significance.

The train, to be run in partnership with coompanies which will own, maintain and operate it, will be introduced on a pilot basis on the 32-km Churchgate-Borivli section. The Railway Board has cleared the proposal. If things work to plan, the AC shuttle could be a reality by early next year, say sources.

When the idea of an AC train was proposed from within the railways a few years ago, it was laughed off as unviable.

The railways even turned down a similar proposal from the Maharashtra government citing the unmanageable 'super dense crush crowd' in the suburban section. Now, the railways has strategically decided to go the public-private participation (PPP) route. "If the railways does it on its own, there will be issues of crowd control, offering subsidised tickets and high capital expenditure on maintenance," said a senior ministry official. A private player, though, will have the option to price tickets at market rates, appoint additional staff to check ticketless travel and bear maintenance expenses by entering into a long-term contract with the railways.

 

[Contrarian]

Why has Neo's participation in this thread diminished since a while?

Neo...i thought you lived for this stuff man. Why arent you posting?

 

[Bushroda]

India Property 2007 is back by popular demand in Dubai & London

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) and Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) have announced the dates of India Property 2007. Organized by the official body of the Indian Real Estate Industry, CREDAI and MCHI, this exhibition will be held at Dubai, Renaissance Dubai Hotel from June 14 – 16, 2007 and London, Olympia Conference Centre from July 20 – 22, 2007.

[ClickPress, Wed Jun 06 2007] The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) and Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) have announced the dates of India Property 2007. Organized by the official body of the Indian Real Estate Industry, CREDAI and MCHI, this exhibition will be held at Dubai, Renaissance Dubai Hotel from June 14 – 16, 2007 and London, Olympia Conference Centre from July 20 – 22, 2007.

This exhibition will be the 8th Property Show to be held in Dubai since 2002, and the 4th one in London since 2004, aims at attracting foreign investments from NRIs and other investors and users to explore the vast opportunities available, be it residential housing or commercial buildings or plots and bungalow, from the booming Indian real estate industry.

Said Mr. Rajni S. Ajmera, President, CREDAI, “With the boom in the economy, Indian Real Estate has emerged as a Global destination for world’s top construction companies, architectural firms and allied industries seeing the huge growth potential that it offers. In line with the growing interest in Indian reality, these property shows facilitate an interaction between NRIs, reality investors and developers, all under one roof, wherein they get to know firsthand the types of properties available, loan options and other formalities required, in finally procuring their property back home.”

Sharing his views on India Property 2007, Mr. Nainesh Shah, Chairman, International Exhibitions, MCHI, said, “Indians settled abroad are one of the most influential and prosperous communities in the global economic development and we are glad to provide them an opportunity of being part of INCREDIBLE INDIA – making of a success story, by investing in Indian Real Estate, which is today, the growth driver of the Indian economy.”

According to Mr. J.S. Augustine, Co-Chairman, International Exhibitions, MCHI said, “The interest levels amongst NRIs have increased many fold in the last 7 years. NRIs have benefited immensely through our exhibitions and have bought peace of mind by making the right choice. We are proud that we have played a key role in facilitating such a process for the NRI community at large and we strive for bettering this year on year.”

Today, with the real estate in India booming and the government’s open door policy for inviting foreign direct investments into the country, there has been a spurt of Indian property fairs held abroad targeting NRIs there, to invest in properties back home. In this scenario, it becomes important to differentiate between Industry organized property exhibitions like the ones held by CREDAI-MCHI and the other property exhibitions held by fly by night operators, event companies, dot.com companies, organizers of trade shows, consumer shows, lifestyle shows etc.

Industry organized property fairs offer NRIs a wide range of properties, from leading and established developers who have a more organized feedback mechanism and maintain a high standard in quality of construction and delivery. This is due to their responsibility as well as interest in the overall growth of the housing sector. Finally, an NRI gets 100% assurance on his investments and peace of mind whilst buying a property back home, at an official property exhibition.

 

[Bushroda]

Why has Neo's participation in this thread diminished since a while?

Neo...i thought you lived for this stuff man. Why arent you posting?

His participation has only just dimished whereas your participation has actually gone to zero. C'mon man, post some stuff. I sometimes feel like I've hi-jacked this thread.

 

[Neo]

I've posted here but Happy Feet is keeping us updated now.

 

[Bushroda]

Indian real estate to get $6 bn in FDI
VARUN SONI
Posted online: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 at 0335 hours IST

NEW DELHI, JUNE 5: Realty equity deals worth $30 billion (Rs 1.32 lakh crore) are in the pipeline for the current year across all Asian markets. One-fifth of these investments ($6 billion) will find their way into the Indian real estate market alone. This, however, is still lower than what Japan and China (expected to garner $9-10 and $6-7 billion, respectively), are expected to get.

According to a report by property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle on rising FDI in real estate, an estimated $10 billion foreign investment is expected to enter the Indian real estate sector in the next 12-18 months.

For the most part of the 1990s, FDI inflow into the Indian real estate sector was at $2-3 billion a year. In 2004 -2005, it was recorded at $5.6 billion, and reached its peak in 2005 -2006 at $7.2 billion.

More than a dozen overseas private equity firms such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Blackstone Group are looking at investment opportunities in the Indian real estate market.

Morgan Stanley recently closed a deal worth about $150 million with Oberoi Constructions in Mumbai. Meanwhile, the Nakheel Group in Dubai entered into a $10 billion deal with DLF for residential projects in Tier I and II cities.

According to Abhishek Kiran Gupta, senior manager, research, JLL, there are many reasons why foreign investors are flocking to India. “Among others, investors are attracted to the strong commercial property yields across metros, the high capital and rental value appreciation and the availability of quality supply in the country.Also, there has been an increase in confidence in India’s growth story among investors, with the fast-growing economy set to become the second-largest economy ahead of the US by 2050,” he says.

In fact, the growth of the real estate sector is expected to continue with strong IT/ITES, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and corporate demand driving the office sector. The growth rate for the retail market is expected to be around 35%, with organised retailing currently at a mere 3%.

In spite of entry barriers and low land bank availability, about 94% of capital investment in real estate is being deployed in Tier I cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. “This can be attributed to multiple reasons such as comparatively lower risk associated with these cities and developed Tier I real estate markets in terms of developers and occupiers. We expect total investments across Tier I cities to increase as a result of the growing demand in these locations in the next two to three years,” says Gupta.

 

[Bushroda]

Malaysian Tourism Industry Skyrocketing with Contribution from India
Press Zoom, Global News Service

Malaysian tourism industry is proving to be an economy driver for the country. It is receiving tourists from all over the world, particularly India as disposable income of its citizens is rising stupendously.

(PressZoom) - According to a recent report “Opportunities in Malaysian Tourism Industry ( 2007-2009 )” by RNCOS, it has been observed that Malaysia tourism industry is growing by leaps and bounds in terms of both inbound and domestic tourism. As per estimates, the total tourist arrivals in the country will grow at a CAGR of over 6% from 2007 to 2011.

India accounts for a large section of the tourist arrivals in Malaysia. During January to July 2006, global tourist influx in Malaysia shot up by around 5.5% ( over 10 Million tourists ) while the share of Indian tourists alone jacked up by over 19% ( over 0.15 Million ). Due to this whopping number of tourist arrivals, India became the ninth largest market for Malaysian tourism industry.

The Malaysian Tourism Board has revealed the figures of Indian tourists visited Malaysia last year. According to these figures, 279,000 Indians went to Malaysia in 2006 and 400,000 are expected to visit this year. A survey of departing visitors showed that Malaysia’s advancement, beauty, repute of being a shopping destination, easy accessibility and safety alongwith multitude of tourist attractions, including theme parks, golf courses, and eco-tourism offers value for money.

Arif Mohammed Noor, Tourism Director, Malaysia, reported that tourism industry is the second largest contributor to the economy of Malaysia. “Given the large disposable income of people in India and the growing urge of a holiday destination, we are confident that the response from India will be tremendous”, said Mr Noor, as reported by ASIA TIMES on May 4, 2007.

As per the RNCOS report “Opportunities in Malaysian Tourism Industry ( 2007-2009 )”, tourism is one of the most thriving industries in several countries around the world and Malaysia is no exception. Malaysian tourism industry generates a significant share of foreign exchange for the country ( it is second only to manufacturing sector ). Because of the immense benefits the industry is giving to the country, the Malaysian government is also committing its resources on its development. Since the past 12 years, the industry has been promoting its tourism industry both at local and international level through specifically engineered promotional campaigns.

The market research report provides a detailed analysis of tourist arrival ( both Intra and Extra ASEAN ), inbound and outbound tourism, expenditure statistics, medical tourism landscape, transportation, accommodation situation in the country, etc.

 

[Bushroda]

GCC investment in india 'poised to grow'
Gulf Daily News

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Investment Company (KIC) is forecasting a substantial increase in GCC investment in India over the next three years.

A majority of this investment will be focused on the real-estate sector in the country, which is poised to grow by over 700 per cent in the next 10 years, says KIC.

"According to reliable research, the transactions in the Indian real-estate market are expected to grow from the $14 billion to $102 billion in the next 10 years, said KIC asset management division assistant general manager Raed Al Saleh.

" This growth is being driven by favorable demographics, growing purchasing power of the over 200 million strong Indian middle-class, increased levels of professionalism in the real estate sector and the favorable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) related reforms initiated by the government to attract global investors."

"During the last couple of years, several large institutional investors have been making high value investments in India and we expect to see a steady rise in such investments."

Energy City India (ECI), a project by Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House, is the second Energy City in a series of energy focused business clusters planned across the Middle East and Asia.

It will occupy a prime site of 600 acres in Navi Mumbai (New Mumbai), the master-planned, satellite city to Mumbai, the financial and business hub of India.

The project will be located within a few kilometres of Navi Mumbai's upcoming new international airport, which upon completion will be both the largest and busiest in Asia.

The project site is also located along the Mumbai-Pune expressway, which is being developed by the Government as a key business corridor.

"The Energy City model has proven to be immensely successful, with its flagship project Energy City Qatar, being almost completely sold out," said Mr Al Saleh.

"Having been associated with GFH on the Energy City Qatar project, we are glad to be extending our partnership to Energy City India and the $395 million Energy City India equity raising now offers regional investors with an excellent opportunity to benefit from the high growth figures of the Indian economy."

The private placement initiative, which is currently under way, is open to both institutional investors and individuals and has a minimum subscription level of $250,000, with subsequent investments in multiples of $50,000.

The Energy City cluster concept provides a complete business infrastructure to both local and foreign oil and gas producers, as well as downstream refiners and producers and businesses involved in shipping, energy trading and support services.

The first of these business clusters, Energy City Qatar, was announced in March last year and is being developed in the Lusail area of Doha in Qatar.

GFH raised over $500m from regional investors to fund the development of the Qatar project's infrastructure.

The project has achieved its initial targets and is now progressing towards the construction of site infrastructure ahead of construction of the buildings.

 

[Bushroda]

eThekwini signs MoU with India's business-leaders
BuaNews, South Africa

The eThekwini Municpality has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), sealing their commitment to work together to promote the interests of the manufacturing industry.

"The CII is a powerful voice representing some of the biggest conglomerates in the world. This memorandum of understanding will solidify the relationship that we share with Indian Industry," said Deputy Mayor, Logie Naidoo at the signing late last month.

Mr Naidoo is also Chairperson of the city's Economic Development Committee.

The focus is on attracting foreign direct investment that would grow economy of both our countries, and empower and integrate Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the manufacturing industry.

Shipra Tripathi, Director Head Africa, CII at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding said: "The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding is going to strengthen the economic tiers between eThekwini and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

"This relationship will help a lot of SMME's and emerging businesses and ensure that Indians learning and knowledge of business is translated into a plan of action for South Africa and eThekwini Municipality."

The intention is to position eThekwini on the manufacturing map of the world and to develop manufacturing advisory centers where manufactures could go to for assistance and advice.

Both parties undertook to:

 strive towards the development of direct contacts and partnerships between business communities and will assist in the identification of potential partners through the organisation of business seminars

 jointly develop Manufacturing Advisory Centres and organize training programmes and workshops on a continued basis to promote mentorship, capacity building and skills transfer and

 enhance the productivity and efficiency of small business in the Municipality by conducting training and carrying out Consultancy.

The aim is to achieve Manufacturing Excellence and overall business development in the Municipality.

Funds have been earmarked by eThekwini for the development of the Manufacturing Advisory Centres and a Centre for Manufacturing Excellence.

The CII would serve as an advisory for the effective use of the Fund and will also identify and promote special schemes of relevance to the manufacturing sector in the Municipality.

The CII works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government through advisory and consultative processes.

Founded over 111 years ago, it is India's premier business association, with a direct membership of over 6300 organisations from the private as well as the public sectors, including small to medium enterprise.

It has indirect membership of over 90 000 companies from around 336 national and regional sectoral associations. - BuaNews

 

[Bushroda]

Vedanta mounts $1.6bn power call
By Tom Stevenson
The Telegraph, UK
Last Updated: 1:02am BST 06/06/2007

Copper and zinc miner Vedanta Resources is raising $1.65bn (£829m) through a share issue in the United States and Japan by its main subsidiary Sterlite Industries. The proceeds of the offer will be used to fund a move into power generation and to buy back a minority shareholding in its zinc business from the Indian government.

A company spokesman said the company was raising the funds through Sterlite because it is the Mumbai-quoted subsidiary which holds an option to buy out the Hindustan Zinc minority.

Vedanta had indicated that it would raise new funds last August when it said it was planning a strategic move into India's fast-growth power generation market. Since 1990, India's power generation capacity has increased by 130pc as the country attempts to expand its creaking infrastructure to keep pace with its blistering economic growth.

Last week, government figures showed that the Indian economy expanded by 9.4pc in the year to March. India has been plagued by power shortages and the situation is expected to get worse, with consumption forecast to rise by 233pc over the next 25 years.

The 125m shares in the Sterlite offer represent 18pc of its shares in issue and will dilute Vedanta's stake from 76pc to 63pc.

Vedanta's shares rose 5p to £15.55 yesterday - capitalising the group at £4.47bn- more than five times the 270p low they reached after a disastrous flotation in 2003. Questions about the company's corporate governance and the power wielded by 53pc shareholder and chairman Anil Agarwal saw the shares slide from a flotation price of 390p.

Soaring metal prices and strong results have seen them recover sharply.

Revenues rose by 76pc in the year to March to £6.5bn on the back of buoyant demand from China and India.

 

[Contrarian]

His participation has only just dimished whereas your participation has actually gone to zero. C'mon man, post some stuff. I sometimes feel like I've hi-jacked this thread.

Your doing such an excellent job mate that i feel there is no need for me to post

Plus, i have exams, etc, so i'v been lo on the forum for a while now. Will resume the cocaine induced posting pattern soon, when the exams are over.

Anyways, Neo's postings are equally important. It represents the views in the Pakistani media. So therefore, Neo should post a lot as well.

 

[Bushroda]

Kingfisher to Order More Airbus A380s
Bloomberg

June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., the only Indian customer for the Airbus SAS A380, plans to order five more of the superjumbos this month, becoming the latest carrier to increase orders for the delayed aircraft, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The carrier also intends to order five A340-600s and five A350s at this month's Paris Air Show, said the people, who declined to be identified because the order has yet to be announced. The entire contract is valued at about $3.6 billion based on list prices.

The orders are a boost for Airbus, whose project to create the world's biggest passenger jet has fallen two years behind schedule and caused three consecutive losses at parent European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. Kingfisher, a two-year-old carrier founded by billionaire Vijay Mallya, will use the 555- seat A380s to challenge Air India on routes to New York.

``The bet on this aircraft is that it will bring down fares on routes between key cities,'' said Anish Desai, an analyst at ABN Amro Asia Equities Ltd. in Mumbai. ``That would help spur demand.''

Airbus will announce orders at the show for ``every type'' of plane it makes, Chief Executive Officer Louis Gallois said yesterday. Nandini Verma, a spokeswoman for UB Group, which owns Kingfisher, declined to comment.

A380 Orders

Kingfisher ordered five A380s and took options for five more in June 2005. The carrier plans to operate daily flights from New Delhi and Mumbai to New York with the planes. It expects to get its first one in 2011, Mallya said in May.

``Kingfisher has to buy new planes to add more routes and increase its market share,'' said Amitabh Chakraborty, a Mumbai- based analyst at Religare Securities Ltd. ``There is a tremendous amount of latent demand in India that needs to be serviced by the carriers.''

The airline would be the fourth A380 customer to place additional orders for the plane. Emirates Airline, the largest A380 customer, ordered four more in May, raising its backlog to 47. Singapore Airlines Ltd., set to be the first A380 operator, and Qantas Airways Ltd. both raised their orders last year.

Airbus has firm orders for a total of 160 A380s from 14 customers, Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy said May 8.

A380 deliveries have been delayed because of problems related to the installation of the superjumbos' 300 miles (480 kilometers) of wiring. EADS will spend 2.5 billion euros ($3.38 billion) fixing the plane. Shares of EADS fell 0.3 percent in Paris to 22.83 euros. The shares have fallen 12.5 percent so far this year.

Challenging Boeing

Winning an A350 order from Kingfisher would also boost Airbus's bid to challenge Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner. The Toulouse-based planemaker has 13 firm A350 orders compared with 567 for the Dreamliner. The Boeing model will begin commercial service in 2008, five years before the A350.

Qatar Airways pledged to order 80 A350s last month. It expects to sign the final deal, valued at $16 billion at list prices, at the Paris air show, which starts June 18. Singapore Airlines has also said it will order 20 A350s, though it hasn't signed a firm order. Airlines usually receive discounts for large orders.

Kingfisher, which began flights in May 2005, now operates 30 planes. It aims to win customers from Jet Airways (India) Ltd., the nation's biggest domestic carrier, and state-run Indian Airlines Ltd. with new aircraft and in-flight entertainment systems.

Kingfisher's parent, UB Group,, also agreed to buy a 26 percent stake in Deccan Aviation Ltd., India's biggest low-fare airline, on May 31, because of rising demand in the world's second-most populous country. India's air travel market may grow sixfold to 180 million passengers by 2020, the government said in April.

Indian Growth

Seven airlines, including four low-fare carriers, have started flights in India in the past four years and five more have sought approval to tap rising demand for travel in the world's second-fastest growing major economy.

``It's really just the beginning of the Indian aviation sector,'' said Peter Harbison, managing director of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, in a phone interview from Sydney. ``Despite everything that has happened in the last two to three years, we have only just started to scratch the surface.''

Indian carriers have ordered more than 450 planes costing $30 billion from Airbus and Boeing in the past four years to tap rising demand for air travel. Airlines in the country may buy another 1,110 planes valued at $105 billion by 2025, Airbus said Dec. 7.

 

[Bushroda]

I've posted here but Happy Feet is keeping us updated now.

Your doing such an excellent job mate that i feel there is no need for me to post

Thanks Guys, Its just that I feel more comfortable in posting news than actually discussing a topic which needs an analyzed reply & serious input of thoughts though I do participate in discussions on occasions when I have time in my hand.

Plus, i have exams, etc, so i'v been lo on the forum for a while now. Will resume the cocaine induced posting pattern soon, when the exams are over.

I wish you all the very best for your exams & hope that you do great. BTW, what are you studying?

 

[Contrarian]

Computer Engineering

 

[Bushroda]

First-ever futures trade in Indian rupee launches today on Dubai bourse
Matthew Brown (Bloomberg)
LiveMint.com, Wall Street Journal

The market is outside the jurisdiction of the Reserve Bank of India, which places curbs on trading in the rupee

Dubai: The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) will on Thursday begin offering the world’s first exchange-traded futures contracts in Indian rupee, helping companies and investors hedge against risks.

The contracts, linked to the future value of the rupee and settled in euros, will trade in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, David Rutledge, a director at DGCX, told reporters in Dubai on Wednesday.

The market is outside the jurisdiction of India’s central bank, which places curbs on trading in the rupee, he said.

“We think there is a real commercial need for this product,” Rutledge said. “Anyone involved in international trade with a rupee currency risk” might be interested, he said. A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at a set price for delivery by a specific date.

Trading on a futures market is a more transparent alternative to the so-called non-deliverable forwards (NDF), which are derivatives contracts arranged by banks.

Trading in such rupee-based contracts averaged about $500 million (Rs2,050 crore) a day in the second quarter of 2006, according to the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.

The rupee climbed 8.8% this year on increased capital flows as Asia’s fourth-biggest economy expanded at the fastest pace in almost two decades.

Derivatives are financial instruments derived from stocks, bonds, loans, currencies and commodities, or linked to specific events like changes in the weather or interest rates.

Forwards are agreements to buy assets at a later specified date. An NDF is typically settled in dollars and involves no physical exchange of other currencies.

The DGCX contract, to be traded on Dubai’s two-year-old commodities exchange, will compliment the NDF market, Rutledge said. Dubai is India’s third biggest trading partner.

“The advantage of an exchange-traded contract is that it is accessible at a low cost, and is transparent,” Rutledge said.

Banks offering NDFs “can hedge some risk” through the DGCX contract, he said. “It will be easier for them to offer NDFs.”

DGCX is a joint venture between the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, Financial Technologies India Ltd and Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd, according to the DGCX website.

Its first product was a gold contract, which began trading in November 2005, and has since been followed by silver, currencies, including the pound, euro and yen, and fuel oil. DGCX’s steel futures contract will debut on 27 June.