Indian Economy - News & Updates - Archive

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Bombardier lands $590M contract to build cars for New Delhi subway

Rail backlog $27B U.S., analysts say. 340 units to be assembled in India plants

ROBERT GIBBENS,
The Gazette, Canada
Published: Friday, July 20

Bombardier Inc. is deepening its footprint in the burgeoning mass transit markets of Asia with an order worth $590 million U.S. to build 340 subway cars for the New Delhi Metro Rail Corp. in India.

The subway trains will be mostly produced in Bombardier's Indian plants with deliveries from late 2008 through 2010 - in time to beef up public transit for the Commonwealth Games due to start in October 2010 in New Delhi.

Analysts estimated the order brings Bombardier Transportation's net backlog of rail equipment orders to well over $27 billion U.S. The transportation unit's orderbook is normally larger than aerospace's.

The contract was announced just after the Metronet consortium rebuilding two-thirds of London's Underground (subway) ran out of cash and went into creditor protection.

Bombardier denied reports its $6-billion (U.S.) contract to build subway trains, renovate older equipment and provide long-term maintenance, is in danger. It said Metronet's new administration has said all existing contracts will be honoured.

The New Delhi Metro's network is being expanded by a 60 kilometres, covering its north-south and east-west lines. The city has a population of 16 million.

"We've been operating in India for 35 years and we want this contract to set the standard for other mass transit projects we're pursuing in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi, Chandigarh and through India," AndrE Navarri, president of Bombardier Transportation, said in a statement.

The stainless steel car bodies, bogies and propulsion systems for the first units will be made in Bombardier plants in Germany and Sweden with final assembly in India. Later, the Indian plants will take over almost full production. Bombardier is one of the first private companies chosen to build rail vehicles in India.

The 340 cars will form four-car trains with a capacity of 1,480 passengers each. Design is being done by Bombardier's engineering centre in Hyderabad, working with its Swedish plant. No details of contract financing were disclosed.

Bombardier says it is the world's leading supplier of subway trains. Its equipment is rolling in New York, Toronto, Paris, London, Berlin, Bucharest, Stockholm and Shanghai, as well as Montreal.

It was the first Western firm to build trains in China and it is a big supplier to Indian Railways.

"China, India and Russia, the world's fastest-growing economies, are opening up to foreigners - and Bombardier, Alstom and Siemens are moving right in," an industry analyst said. "Five years ago, those markets were mostly reserved for state-owned manufacturers. "

 

[Bushroda]

India, Japan To Give Final Shape To Delhi-Mumbai Corridor
Friday 20th of July 2007

Indian and Japanese officials will meet in Tokyo next week to finalise the financing of the $9 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project (DMIC) to be jointly built by both governments, a senior official said.

'Both the countries would have a joint task force meeting in the coming Monday and Tuesday in Tokyo to finalise the project development fund that would finance the DMIC,' Ajay Dua, secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), told reporters here on the sidelines of an event.

Dua also indicated that the fund would be launched next month during the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

During the visit to Japan, the Indian officials are also expected to meet representatives from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and other financial institutions to explore various options of funding the project.

The DMIC entails development of infrastructure along the 1,483-km dedicated freight corridor linking India's two metros that includes building of airports, setting up of several agro-processing parks and special economic zones, creating 4,000 MW of power generation facility and constructing two ports in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

 

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Intel's technology helps Indian SMEs save costs
www.chinaview.cn
2007-07-22 20:58:29

NEW DELHI, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Intel Corp launched a new processor technology to help India's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to reduce their operational costs, Indo-Asian News Service reported on Sunday.

The company's Indian subsidiary has developed a new processor -vPRO - and an upgraded version of Centrino pro-processor for managing the services of SMEs.

"Info tech firms such as Wipro, 3i and Zenith are building application and services on the vPRO platform to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) reduce operational costs and consume less power," Intel South Asia Director Narendra Bhandari said at a conference here.

"The new processors will transform the business client platform and manage the IT infrastructure remotely," he said.

 

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Healthcare requires over $200 bn investment
IANS
Sunday, July 22, 2007 15:53 IST

NEW DELHI: Access to quality healthcare in India is gradually diminishing, and to solve the crisis the sector would need an investment of about $202.75 billion over the next five years, says an industry body.

India's healthcare situation requires a much faster growth rate as it would require about 2.2 million beds and the investment needed for that is almost $77.9 billion, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said in a presentation to the government.

FICCI has suggested a five-pronged PPP (public-private-partnership) model to bridge this huge deficit.

"Unfortunately, at present there is a lack of regulatory framework and the sector attracts sub-standard private healthcare providers and quacks, there is slow implementation of the accreditation process that impacts the quality of healthcare, penetration of health insurance to larger population, shortage of adequately trained healthcare professionals leading to poor quality of service delivery," FICCI said.

"Absence of infrastructure status and appropriate incentives restricts private sector entry into rural and semi-urban areas."

The study also shows that even though 72.2 percent of India's population lives in the rural areas, 80 percent of doctors, 75 percent dispensaries and 60 percent of hospitals are in the urban areas, making it nearly impossible for the rural people, especially poor, to avail themselves of quality healthcare services.

The chamber has suggested attracting private investment in the sector, including foreign direct investment following the PPP route and expanding medical education and training, thereby promoting India as a global hub for quality and affordable healthcare services.

It has also urged that the sector be granted industrial status, making provision for soft loans from public sector banks and reducing customs duty on medical equipments.

To promote India as a healthcare hub, FICCI has suggested bilateral initiatives like a Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO) between Britain and India, business-to-business facilitation for British and Indian companies for medical equipment and mutual recognition of medical degrees among others.

 

[Bushroda]

Railway station modernisation plans may be delayed
Mamuni Das

The Railways has pointed out that passenger access to railway stations is much easier than airports and that two work on different parameters.

New Delhi March 14 Indian Railways' plans to modernise its stations may be delayed with the Planning Commission asking Railways to change the manner in which it has been pursuing the issue.

The Railways had decided that it would define the detailed design parameters for passenger facilities with the help of renowned consultants and then invite developers to build the station as per the design. However, the Planning Commission now wants Railways to define broad parameters only and let developers design the stations, as was followed in the airport modernisation plan.

Railways' case

The Railways has pointed out that passenger access to railway stations is much easier than airports and that two work on different parameters. In this backdrop, developers are more likely to give less priority to creating passenger facilities, curbing revenue generation for the station developer and operator, it says.

Moreover, the Railways says that its method has been adopted in the modernisation plan of several stations worldwide, including London's Victoria station, the Dubai Metro, China's Shenzhen, Melbourne's Southern Cross, Berlin's Central station, Paris' St Lazare, Milan's Central Railway Station and Turin's Central Railway station in Italy.

Service portfolio

Since the Railways had decided that it would invite engineering consulting firms to advise it on preparing a detailed design report including that of passenger operational area, it has already short-listed world-class consultants for the New Delhi Railway station after a technical qualification round.

It has recently technically qualified about seven firms for providing advisory services that include the Italy-based Grandi Stazioni SpA Via, Chinese firm East China Architecture and Design Institute (ECADI) and the UK headquartered Mott Mac Donald. However, the entire process may now get delayed with the Planning Commission wanting a change in the method.

The Railways has identified about 18 stations to convert them into world-class ones. The tentative list includes New Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Station (Mumbai), Howrah, Chennai Central, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mathura, Pune, Patna, Secunderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. It has sought status reports from the engineering, mechanical and commercial departments in-charge of the stations.

 

[Bushroda]

Bright future for white revolution

Amul's real strength lies in the network of its 2.5 million milk farmers organized through 12,000 cooperative societies in the villages of Gujarat.

Faced with increasing suicides by indebted and desperate farmers in various parts of India, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched an ambitious Rs 10,000 million National Milk Scheme. To provide farmers with sustained income to tide over the difficult times marked by recurring droughts and occasional crop failure.

In fact, the white revolution in India became a reality after farmers' cooperatives were floated by the Anand-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1960s. Thanks to the vision and endeavours of V Kurien, who as the head of the NDDB gave an impetus to the dairy revolution in the country, that was instrumental in transforming India into the numero uno milk producer in the world.

Today, NABARD will join hands with NDDB for implementing its milk plan in 326 districts spread across the country. Notwithstanding, the steady increase in milk production in the country, there is still a huge potential for boosting milk production as the per capita milk consumption of milk and dairy products is dismally poor compared to global standards. Moreover, dairy products offer a huge export potential.

Together both NABARD and NDDB will support a range of activities at the field level with a focus on milk production, its handling, processing and marketing of dairy products in all the 326 selected districts of the country. With the demand for milk expected to touch around 172-million tonnes in 2021-22. Plainly, to meet this huge demand, milk production would need to be boosted by 4 per cent per year.

Meanwhile, a feeling is gaining ground that as there is a daily income in milk, wherever the farming community has taken to dairying as a secondary occupation, suicides have not been reported. Clearly, the NABARD sponsored milk scheme supported by NDDB seeks to increase milk productivity and optimize the cost of production by providing institutional credit to support quality breeding of the milch animals.

Today the daily per capita consumption of milk in the country is little over 250-ml as against 106-ml when "Operation Flood" was launched three decades ago. Also, the dairy industry has emerged as a single largest contributor to the Indian economy with as many as 80-million farming households involved in dairy related activities. With 12-million farmers spread over 176 districts of the country actively participating in the dairy cooperative movement initiated by NDDB, the future of the while revolution in India appears bright.

According to the Indian dairy industry analysts, India has the potential to become one of the leading players in the export of milk and milk products as the country has the geographical advantage of being located close to major milk deficient countries in Asia and Africa. Significantly, the major importers of milk and dairy products such as Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malayasia, Philippines, Japan and UAE are located close to India. Thus, this could help India tap the export potential to these countries.

Further, in a significant development, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), based in Anand, is planning to roll out 10,000 Amul parlours across the country over the next three years. Today, Amul products stand out as a by- word for quality dairy products not only in India but in various parts of the world.

"The time has come for us to make direct contact with the consumers and to ensure that we are not exploited or squeezed out in the market by the big players," said a GCMMF spokesman. Adding, "we will open 10,000 parlours by 2010." More than 1,000 such parlours are already operational in various parts of the country.

Described as a billion dollar cooperative, GCMMF is quite bullish about its future prospects. "We have already joined the US$1-billion club and have set a target of US $2.5-billion by 2010" averred the spokesman of GCMMF. Today, Amul products are sold around the world. The USA, S.E. Asia and W. Asia are Amul's major consumers.

Besides, export of various Amul products to markets like West Asia, USA and Europe has increased by 15 per cent over the last two years. The GCMMF is also exploring new, potential markets in the Asia-Pacific region which includes markets like Japan and Australia.

Amul's long term marketing strategy is centred round the premise that the upwardly mobile cash-rich middle class consumers in India are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of health food and dairy products. All said and done, Amul's real strength lies in the network of its 2.5 million milk farmers organized through 12,000 cooperative societies in the villages of Gujarat.

All the 13 district milk cooperatives in Gujarat use Amul as the brand name for the packaged milk and other dairy products. Interestingly, GCMMF first introduced butter in 1956, cheese in 1970, ice cream in 1996 and today boasts of a wide range of milk products including srikhand, curd, flavoured milk and butter milk.

Thus, the Anand-based prime milk cooperative which took off in 1946 with a view to end the exploitation of dairy farmers by the middlemen is today a major force in the Indian dairy industry. Currently, the GCMMF processes around 5-million litres of milk per day. Amul today is not just a brand. But "represents the entrepreneurial spirit of the Indian farmers and the national commitment of self reliance and development of human resources and values based on a sustainable development process" says Verghese Kurien, the architect of the white revolution in India.

Amul is now a leader in baby food, dairy whiteners, cheese and ice cream. It holds more than three-fourth of the market share in butter. In order to stay competitive it has made a massive investment on technology upgradation. By all counts, Amul is hopeful of boosting the milk production in arid areas of Gujarat. Its hopes are based on the greening of Gujarat by the Narmada water in the near future.

Milk production in India is now close to 100-million tones a year. Since mid-1990s, India has retained its position as the biggest milk producer in the world. Driven by the growing disposable income and changing lifestyle, the demand for dairy products in India is on the rise. Sources in GCMMF point out that changing lifestyle characterized by urbanization, dietary habits and impulse buying have heightened the demand for dairy products in most parts of the country.

Higher farmgate prices for raw milk are spurring dairy farmers to increase the milk production through the upgradation of the genetic stock of their milch animals. The creation of a country-wide milk grid through quick transportation and efficient storage, has also given a boost to the milk production in the country.

According to a study by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the continuing expansion of the milk processing facilities in the private sector, the need to sustain fluid milk supplies during peak seasons and firm prices could lead to the increased milk yield in the country. In addition, the increased demand for value added dairy products and growing private sector investment in the dairy sector are conspiring to give an impetus to milk production in India.

 

[Bushroda]

The Indian connection
PASSING THROUGH: Phil Lawrie
Shuchi Bansal / New Delhi July 23, 2007

Phil Lawrie, AlJazeera Network’s global distribution head, cherishes his Indian connection. His grandmother was an Indian married to a Scotsman and his mother was born near Delhi.

However, the 36-year-old AlJazeera director sheepishly admits that he’s visiting the country for the first time. Lawrie is here to negotiate distribution deals with cable operators and direct-to-home platforms to carry AlJazeera’s English news channel, once it gets landing rights in India.

The Arab media network had applied to the information and broadcasting ministry about six months ago to allow its English channel into the country. The channel is still waiting for government approvals.

Emphasising the importance of India in AlJazeera’s scheme of things, Lawrie, who joined the broadcasting network 20 days ago, says: “There are two strategic markets that we need to develop: India and the US. That this is my first business trip since I joined AlJazeera underscores the importance of the Indian market for the network.”

India is key because it is an economy of one billion people and is on its way to becoming an economic force to reckon with in the world economy. “Besides AlJazeera is the flag-bearer of free speech. And it makes sense for it to be present in the world’s largest democracy,” says Lawrie.

If Lawrie is losing sleep over delayed permissions for landing rights in India, he’s clearly not showing it. However, he admits that changing people’s perception about AlJazeera being an Al Qaeda mouthpiece is a huge challenge.

“AlJazeera English already reaches 100 million homes worldwide. It covers the developing world in great depth and counter-balances the Western perspective. It is a fantastic product to sell,” says Lawrie, who’s worked with CNN for six years.

Prior to joining Aljazeera and relocating to Doha (Qatar), Lawrie was advising Discovery. However, media was not his first love as he’d worked in the financial services sector for the first six years of his career.

But the self-professed “news junkie” didn’t think twice before moving to Turner Broadcasting System in the UK when CNN offered him a job. He managed the channel’s distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

If Lawrie’s to be believed, the company’s pitch to channel distributors in India has evoked an overwhelming response, especially in Kerala and Kolkata.

“Not only are people asking when we’ll go on air, many news channels have approached us requesting sharing of content,” he says. Is a co-branding deal with a local player, a la CNN-IBN, also on the cards? “It is too early to talk about such partnerships but we have been getting queries,” he smiles.

Funded by the Emir of Qatar, AlJazeera launched an Arabic news and current affairs channel in 1996 and later added a host of other channels such as sports, documentary and a children’s channel to its bouquet.

The English language channel was launched in November 2006. Though the network makes money from subscriptions and advertising, it is still to turn profitable. “That’s the way media businesses are. Profitablity is about five years away,” says Lawrie.

However, once AlJazeera comes to India, Lawrie is planning to exploit new media for business as well. For instance, the opportunity that the 180 million mobile phones in India offer, excites him.

True, a majority of them would still not be multimedia ready, but as the population of sophisticated handsets grows, the medium could be exploited to generate revenue, he feels.

 

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Strong FII inflow may strengthen rally on the bourses:Experts

Mumbai, July 22 (UNI) Experts are of the opinion that the ongoing liquidity driven rally is likely to continue on domestic bourses in the week ahead, since corporate results announced so far have been encouraging, with the only exception of the information technology (IT) sector.

It may be noted here that key first quaterly (Q1) results, scheduled next week, are Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Maruti Udyog, while Reliance Industries (RIL) will announce their results during the weekend, on Saturday. ONGC unveils Q1 results on Wednesday, while Bharti Airtel and Maruti Udyog will follow suit on Thursday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex gained 292.83 points last week to settle higher at 15,565.55, while the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty advanced by 61.50 points to 4,566.05, as buying momentum continued at higher level fuelled by strong global markets, healthy inflow from foreign funds, easing fears of interest rate hike and anticipation of robust first quaterly (Q1) June 2007 results.

''The 30-share BSE index has hit 12 all-time highs in 15 sessions so far this month, including one on Friday. Besides good corporate earnings in a fast growing economy, the rise in the value of the rupee against the US dollar has attracted foreign funds in a big way. Foreign Institutional Institutions (FII) inflow in the first half of this month reached a whopping Rs 21,451 crore (till July 19). The large inflows this month are also due to FII subscription to initial public offerings (IPOs) of realty major DLF and ICICI Bank,'' market analysts explained.

Receding fears of rising interest rates have also aided the surge on the domestic bourses over the past few days. Inflation is hovering at a little above 4 per cent. Inflation has remained below the RBI’s targeted level of 5 per cent in recent weeks. It fell to a 14-month low of 4.03 per cent in mid-June, this year. Annual inflation had hit 6.69 per cent on January 27 this year, the highest in more than two years, economists observed.

''The trend in other Asian markets will continue to have a bearing on domestic bourses this week. Asian markets may open on a subdued note early next week after China raised interest rates on Friday in the latest of a series of tightening steps aimed at keeping inflation in check and preventing the world's fourth-largest economy from overheating,'' a section of analysts cautioned.

The respective announcement came after trading hours in key Asian markets including the Chinese markets on Friday. The People's Bank of China ordered an increase of 0.27 per cent in commercial banks' benchmark one-year deposit and lending rates.

''The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council on Monday projected India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 9 per cent in 2007-08. It has warned that the constraints posed by farm and power sectors may make sustaining this level difficult in the years ahead. In its report, the Council expected inflation to remain close to 4 per cent,'' economists said.

Ahead of the rate hike by China, the MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan hit a record on July 20 on the back of strong earnings, including South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics, market participants said.

 

[Bushroda]

India flies to the top league in aviation

An integrated plan to speed up the work on the airports needs to be put in place

The pressure on airports for parking, maintenance, handling and other services will increase manifold.

Led by Air India, the airlines in India have kept the order books of aircraft manufacturers overflowing for the next three to five years. Even according to the U.S based Boeing, the Indian aviation market needs 856 new planes over the next 15 to 20 years. Air India rewrote history by ordering the largest number of aircraft ever for Boeing — 68 new planes at an estimated cost of $11.6 billion.

Assuming that different airlines — public and private alike — split their orders equally between America’s Boeing and the European Airbus Industrie, each of them can secure orders for about $36 billion at current rates.

Along with the defence and nuclear sectors of the country, which are now offering the best markets in the world today, the aviation sector has now emerged a top flier. But all this puts the pressure squarely on the aviation infrastructure in the country — an issue that Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel highlighted in a recent interview to this newspaper.

Following Air India, Indian Airlines placed an order for 43 Airbus aircraft of different models. With the two national carriers already going through the process of merger on August 1, Air India, the new merged entity, will fly out its first 777 Boeing on its direct flight to New York. The airline’s order with Boeing will bring to its fleet a complement of the “Dreamliner” - 787.

Market consolidation

Similarly, Kingfisher has booked to become the country’s first airline to acquire the Super jumbo Airbus A 380. Every airline in the country — from Air Deccan and Spice Jet, to Paramount Airways, IndiGo, and Jet Airways — firm orders for supply of new aircraft from one of the two aircraft majors. To meet their current market demand, most airlines have taken aircraft on lease.

At a time when mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have become the market trend even in the aviation sector, Air India and Indian Airlines integrate to become potentially one of the largest airlines in the world. Jet Airways has already acquired Air Sahara, while Kingfisher appears set to not only take a 26 per cent stake in Air Deccan, but also perhaps make it a subsidiary. Airline sources argue that these M&As A help consolidate the market and ensure economy of scales. Considering the fare wars in the market already, each airline wants to trim costs, rationalise operations, and synergise the handling to keep down the overheads to remain competitive.

With such large fleets of aircraft to be added to an already burgeoning aviation scenario, the pressure on airports for parking, maintenance, handling, and other services will increase manifold. The question now is whether the Government, the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Airports Authority of India, the airlines, State governments and the existing airports in the country are preparing for this explosive growth. The kind of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities required by 2020 or so must also be taken into account in this overall plan.

Looking at some of the existing airports can hardly be reassuring. Be it in New Delhi or Mumbai, Bangalore or Chennai, Hyderabad or Thiruvananthapuram, the congestion at the airports and the terminal buildings during peak hours defies an early solution.

Unless the massive programme to redevelop the New Delhi and Mumbai airports, complete the greenfield airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore, expand and modernise the Kolkata and Chennai airports, besides fast-tracking the modernisation and expansion of 35 non-metro airports is expedited, the confusion is bound to become confounded. Add to this the demand by more and more international airlines to operate more flights to India, and to more centres in the country, the picture becomes even more complex.

Need for integrated plan

Given this pace of growth and the ballooning air traffic — both international and domestic — an integrated plan to speed up the work on the airports and train the requisite manpower required to propel this growth needs to be put in place. A task force of efficient ministers, officials from different agencies involved in this challenge, and airline representatives should be asked to look into all these aspects and ensure that the aviation infrastructure falls into place at least within the next five years – in the XI Plan.

 

[Bushroda]

Plan afoot to make entire Delhi Wi-Fi
23 Jul 2007, 0126 hrs IST,Abantika Ghosh,TNN

NEW DELHI: Taking a cue from cities like Bangalore and Pune, the Delhi government is planning a Wi-Fi future for the city. The city government's information technology department is exploring options to ensure Delhiites have wireless net access on laptops. Bangalore is already Wi-Fi enabled, while Pune and Kolkata are on their way to attaining the status.

But Delhi may take a march over other Indian cities as the government is looking at the latest WiMax technology which ensures high-speed internet access on the move.

The IT department will soon issue advertisements seeking expressions of interest from infotech companies. It is currently busy doing homework. This includes a "tentative" plan to make use of the already existing broadband and GPRS networks of mobile service providers to ensure complete wireless connectivity.

A senior IT department official said, "We are looking at a model that integrates all the existing technologies like GPRS, Wi-Fi and broadband. We are also looking at WiMax, which is the latest in the field. The final decision will be taken on the basis of the economics involved. But right now, our focus in on providing high-speed internet connectivity to all in an unwired way. This will come at a cost. But once the government enters the picture, the cost of internet access for an individual will come down drastically."

Originally a brand name licensed by the company Wi Fi Alliance to describe the embedded technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN), the common use of the term Wi-Fi has now been broadened to mean generic wireless interface of mobile computing devices like laptops and palmtops. It is a short-range system covering many hundreds of metres. It uses a licensed bandwidth to provide access to a network — typically used by the end-user to access their own network, which may or may not be connected to the net.

 

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India Wrestles Inflation Under Control
Ruth David, 07.22.07, 11:03 PM ET
FORBES, NY

MUMBAI - Inflation in India for the week ending July 7 remained steady at an annualized rate of 4.27%, the same as the week before, as the prices of some foods fell. However, industrial oils and wheat and maize moved up.

With inflation below the central bank’s ceiling of 5% for the fiscal year through next March, analysts said it is unlikely to hike interest rates at the next policy meeting on July 31.

Media reports quoted Finance Minister P. Chidambaram as saying crude and commodity prices would be on a watch list, but there weren’t immediate plans to tighten monetary policy.

Tackling inflation has been a key goal of the central bank this year. Inflation hit a high of 6.8% in January, but has receded since, as the Reserve Bank of India tightened lending rates and increased banks’ cash reserve ratios to suck liquidity out of the system. Inflation dropped to 4.03% last month.

The government also reduced fuel prices and import duties on a host of products to help tame inflation.

Indian agricultural production has been flat for the last few years, while demand has been increasing as incomes rise, pumping up food prices.

The Reserve Bank’s battle against inflation has meant letting the rupee appreciate as it tries to mop up liquidity from foreign investment into the rapidly expanding economy. Foreign direct investment was $17.7 billion in fiscal 2007, up from $7.7 billion the previous year. The currency has appreciated close to 10% against the dollar since the beginning of the year to 40.32.

Earlier this week, Credit Suisse analyst Shailesh Jha said the rupee would breach 40 and hit 39 against the dollar by the end of March 2008. The Reserve Bank is in the midst of a “regime change” in terms of thinking about the rupee, believing now that rupee appreciation is beneficial for tempering inflation and will have a limited impact on overall export growth, Jha said.

 

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Swanky German rail coaches to replace present ones in a big way
From our ANI Correspondent

Danapur (Bihar), July 22: The days for brick red or blue coaches of the Indian railways are numbered as swanky and state-of-the-art German coaches are being inducted in a big way.

The German coaches, which first came to India in the year 2000 and were used in the Delhi-Lucknow 'Swarna Shatabdi Express', are now being manufactured at Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala in Punjab.

Plans are now afoot to soon induct the coaches, equipped with modern amenities in the Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express, and 17 coaches have already arrived at a yard in Danapur railway yard.

This happened after the responses about the new coaches were 'encouraging' both from technicians and passengers. Two trains, Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata Rajdhani Express trains were fitted with these new coaches earlier.

The coaches were initially imported, but are now being jointly manufactured under the technology transfer clause of the agreement that Indian Railways signed with German firm ALSTOM-LHB in 1995.

Apart from looks the coaches have several safety facilities. They are made of fire retardant material and have disc brakes attached for the safety of the passengers.

"The new coaches take care of three parameters - passenger amenity, safety and transport economics. State of art technology has been used in the coaches and has quantum jump," said Animesh Sinha, a senior mechanical engineer posted at Danapur railway station.

The toilets in these coaches match with those in aircrafts having pneumatic control container, which would discharge the waste outside the station only.

The new coaches are equipped with hot cases and deep freezers, and are provided with four emergency windows and spring-loaded doors.

India's rail network, the largest in Asia, carries more than 15 million people daily - more than the combined population of Norway and Sweden - but its safety record often comes in for criticism.

According to government estimates, the return on rail investments is nearly three times that of other transportation investments.

 

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Hospital-on-rails to serve rural poor
Peninsula, Qatar
7/13/2007 8:57:59

NEW DELHI • A hospital-on-rails that will travel through India's rural hinterland was launched here yesterday, promising to bring free up-to-date medical and even surgical treatment for millions with little access to them.

The new train replaces the Lifeline Express that had been launched in July 1991 by Impact India Foundation in collaboration with Indian Railways and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

The coaches were redesigned and restored to be a fully functional, air-conditioned hospital, equipped with all modern diagnostic and medical facilities, including training facilities for up to 50 paramedics.

Surgeries are conducted during its four-six week stay at a particular location. Each five-week stop costs around Rs 2 million.

The train is equipped with three operation tables, modern surgical equipment and accessories, kitchen, restrooms, sterilisation equipment, recovery room for the patients, audiometric/ophthalmic room and X-Ray room.

The project is funded by Impact UK, charitable organisations, Indian corporate houses and individuals.

According to the Impact India website, the train's services include surgical interventions to restore movement to polio and orthopaedic patients, cataract operations as well as preventive treatment in the form of immunisation, administration of nutrients and creating health awareness among the deprived in rural and semi-urban areas.

The original Lifeline Express was formed using four used coaches given by the railways. The coaches in the new hospital on wheels were manufactured at the Indian Coach Factory, Perambadur.

 

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Airports to turn into all-in-one aeropolises
24 Jul, 2007, 0431 hrs IST,Nirbhay Kumar, TNN

NEW DELHI: You may not attend a wedding at an Indian airport anytime soon (in 2005, over 450 marriages were solemnised and officiated at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport). But you can look forward to spending an eventful day at an airport without going anywhere near an aircraft — maybe a movie, a piping hot meal or some shopping?

Airports are vying with each other to go beyond flight operations. Call it an aeropolis or aerotropolis — that’s the buzzword in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Nagpur. With city centres, plush hotels, convention centres and banks, the airport projects in these centres aim to become self-contained cities.

The airport city theme is gaining ground with greenfield airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore providing enough scope even as the proposed cargo hub at Nagpur plans to include a special economic zone besides logistics facilities and a township.

Not to be left behind, the joint ventures modernising Delhi and Mumbai airports are also planning to host hotels, retail space and entertainment options. A similar attempt is expected by smaller airports as the government goes in for upgrade of 35 non-metro airports.

While the government is expected to invest Rs 12,000 crore in modernising airports over the next five years, current estimates indicate private investors and developers would pump in Rs 24,000 crore.

“We want to build everything at the Delhi airport, providing all the civil amenities — from a business centre to shopping complex. So, if a traveller wants to have a meeting and wants to return to his/her destination the same day he/she can do it,” said a spokesperson for Delhi International Airport.

“We had invited expressions of interest from property developers and investors for building hotels of various sizes and categories, ranging from economy to luxury. We have got responses from about 50 developers. After shortlisting the potential bidder, we would award the contract within a month for the first phase of the work,” he added.

The Hyderabad and the Mumbai international airports are also scheduled to get luxury hotels, convention centres and speciality restaurants by 2010. The Accor Group, for example, is planning a 309-room business hotel at the Hyderabad airport.

“Revenue earned from non-aeronautical activities at some of the airports such as Singapore and Hong Kong are significant. In some cases, they are higher than traditional aeronautical income. Many more new facilities, such as hospitals, speciality retail outlets, are planned,” said an industry expert.

Many new facilities not directly related to air travel can now be seen at airports, added an airport source. “Non-aeronautical revenue as compared to aero is currently 25-35% of the total revenue. But in the years to come, it would increase to 50%, if not more,” KPMG executive director Rajeev B Batra said.

 

[Bushroda]

Indian farmer seeks to be monsoon proof
Gulfnews
By Chinmay Chaudhuri, Staff Reporter
Published: July 24, 2007, 00:06

The Indian farmer awaits the advent of the monsoon clouds every year with the eagerness of a would-be father. Every drop of rain rings the bell of prosperity in his ears and he starts counting his fortunes. He is forced to look up to the skies for divine blessings because the ground realities are the negatives he has to fight to earn his meagre living.

But this year the monsoon has been very unkind and has added much to the woes of the hapless Indian farmer. The death toll of over 500 apart, heavy rains lashing several parts of India have washed away crops and eroded almost three feet high soil from the farmlands. Experts say it indicates farmers can resume work only after about four months. Some have been totally devastated because the rains have rendered their land barren.

Any damage to agriculture deals a big blow to the Indian economy. The sector may account for only about 25 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), but it supports nearly 57 per cent of the population. According to a study by economist Arvind Virmani as much as 45 per cent of the variation in India's GDP over the last 50 years can be explained by the fluctuations in rainfall.

But what has the government done to protect its farmers from the vagaries of the monsoons? Little or nothing. One thing is common to all political parties that have occupied the hot seats in New Delhi - all have taken the surest way to secure farmers' votes by promising them protection from the calamities of nature. Unfortunately, mother nature still calls the shots.

Every budget spotlights on providing better irrigation and infrastructure, cheaper farm credit and insurance, better research, etc. But all those assurances appear to be false promises once the target of grabbing the power centre has been achieved. The government wriggles out of its responsibilities by one way or the other by citing either political or financial compulsions. One oft-cited excuse is: it is not the duty of the government alone. The private sector too must come forward to help the farmers.

Recently, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said in his meeting with the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, that the government hoped the private sector would supplement the public investment in agro-exports sector, pitching in greater investments than ever before. The government is seeking private investment in agricultural sector to develop cold chains, warehousing and transport facilities.

The Consultative Committee members stressed the urgent need to set up recognised laboratories whose certifications are accepted globally for export purposes. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Developments Authority said it would set up 12 centres across the country at a total cost of Rs25 billion for handling of agro-perishable exports. But don't all these come after the son of the soil is sure of his crop?

The government is supposed to provide the correct timing and intensity of the monsoons, farm loans at minimum interest rates, good seeds and extend all help to the farmers when their crop fails.

The burden of farmers' welfare has probably been too heavy, so the government is calling out for private help. The private sector cannot be called a shirker because a study shows the share of the private sector in capital formation in agriculture is approximately three times (in percentage terms) more than the public sector.

Asking the private sector for help in improving agricultural infrastructure is fully justified. But what about its own responsibility? When will the farmer see only prosperity in the monsoon clouds? The hapless soul is still waiting for an answer.