Indian Economy-News & Updates

[foxbat]

India's GDP = $1883 bn with a growth rate of 7% = $132 bn added to economy annualy
Pakistan's GDP = $170 bn with a growth rate of 2% = $3.4bn added to economy annualy

Thus India adds 78% of Pakistan to to it's economy annualy.


Indian govt. budget = $300.2bn
Pakistans govt. budget = $28 bn

Indian military spending = $40bn which is 13.3% of the budget.
Pakistan military spending = $6.5bn which is 24% of budget.

Economy of Mumbai = $210 bn
Thus Mumbai's GDP is 124% the size of Pakistan's GDP.

Why Bring Pakistan into a discussion about Indian economy...?

 

[Anish1]

Just saying that we are more than 10 TIMES THE WHOLE OF PAKISTAN.

Even Dhaka has a bigger GDP than Karachi now.

 

[Dance]

Danger of a structural slowdown in India

The first estimate of the size of the Indian economy in fiscal 2012 (FY12) was put out by the Central Statistics Office this week. It made for sober reading. The bean counters said that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.9% this fiscal year, the slowest pace in three years. The latest data release confirms what has been well known for quite some time: the Indian economy is rapidly losing momentum.

The most important question is whether the current year will be an aberration or India has settled on a lower growth trajectory. The risks of the latter outcome are increasing. The earlier dreams of sustaining a double-digit growth trajectory seem illusory now. To understand why, we should look at another set of data released by the government statistics office on 31 January, which did not get adequate attention.


That data gives us a good idea what has been happening on the ground, specifically the savings and consumption behaviour of households, firms and the government in FY11. The most important takeaway is that the Indian savings rate is falling. At 32.3% of gross domestic product, it is 4.5 percentage points lower than its peak in FY08. The investment rate has also fallen in tandem by 3 percentage points. The difference between the domestic investment rate and the domestic savings rate is the current account deficit, or net capital inflows, as any introductory macroeconomics textbook will tell you.
Lower rates of savings and investments tend to pull down the trend growth rate, unless there are significant increases in productivity. There is now reason to believe that India may have to live with slower growth unless there are important policy reforms.

Slicing the savings data provides clues about what has gone wrong.

Household savings seem to have gone down because families have less money to put away in a year of high inflation. But household savings have been fairly stable if one looks at the numbers over seven years. Yet, inflation has led to a change in household portfolios, away from financial savings towards physical savings in terms of real estate and gold. Policymakers may term this irrational behaviour, part of an almost religious desire to stock up on physical assets. But the portfolio choice is rational, since real estate and gold have proved to be better hedges against high inflation than bank deposits or equity shares.

The news, as far as corporate and government savings go, is even more worrisome. The savings rate of companies is down 1.5 percentage points from its pre-crisis high, an indication that balance sheets have deteriorated.

The government savings rate is down a massive 3.3 percentage points, and even that has been masked by the one-off windfall from the auction of 3G telecom spectrum; else, the fall in the government savings rate could have been as high as 5 percentage points. This is directly linked to the deterioration in the government’s fiscal balances, especially the large revenue deficit.

Remember that all these numbers are for the previous fiscal year, not the current one. It is quite possible that matters have worsened even more in the current year. That leaves the economy facing a structural problem.

There does not seem to be adequate pools of domestic savings to support the sort of investment activity required to sustain economic growth of close to double digits, which was a sort of national hope not too long ago, even if the investment climate magically improves.

What can be done? One obvious way out is to use more foreign savings, aka capital inflows. But India already has a high current account deficit at a time when the global economy continues to be at risk from a sudden crisis of confidence. Depending on foreign inflows to finance a greater share of domestic economic growth is a high-risk strategy, especially as the quality of capital inflows has worsened, thanks to policies to pull in more short-term debt.

The more attractive option is to seek to raise domestic savings and investment rates. As mentioned earlier, the main problem here is not savings by households and companies. The main problem is the fall in government savings thanks to the sharp rise in the revenue deficit. In other words, fiscal mismanagement—which is inextricably linked to the political strategy of the United Progressive Alliance—has led to a situation that puts the long-term India story at risk.

It is quite possible that the government will give some sort of spin to the current growth trend by arguing that it is impressive given the state of the global economy or that the battle against inflation is being won. These will be half-truths.

The forthcoming Union budget will be crucial, not only for the signals it sends on economic reforms, but about the credibility of the fiscal correction that will be promised for the next year. Too much commentary seems to be treating the loss of economic momentum as a cyclical issue. That is a mistake. What India is facing right now could well be a structural slowdown.

Danger of a structural slowdown in India - Views - livemint.com

 

[foxbat]

Jat mara tab jaaniye, jab tehrvi ho jaye..

Predictions are a dime a dozen...

 

[ironwarrier]

Danger of a structural slowdown in India

The first estimate of the size of the Indian economy in fiscal 2012 (FY12) was put out by the Central Statistics Office this week. It made for sober reading. The bean counters said that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.9% this fiscal year, the slowest pace in three years. The latest data release confirms what has been well known for quite some time: the Indian economy is rapidly losing momentum.

The most important question is whether the current year will be an aberration or India has settled on a lower growth trajectory. The risks of the latter outcome are increasing. The earlier dreams of sustaining a double-digit growth trajectory seem illusory now. To understand why, we should look at another set of data released by the government statistics office on 31 January, which did not get adequate attention.


That data gives us a good idea what has been happening on the ground, specifically the savings and consumption behaviour of households, firms and the government in FY11. The most important takeaway is that the Indian savings rate is falling. At 32.3% of gross domestic product, it is 4.5 percentage points lower than its peak in FY08. The investment rate has also fallen in tandem by 3 percentage points. The difference between the domestic investment rate and the domestic savings rate is the current account deficit, or net capital inflows, as any introductory macroeconomics textbook will tell you.
Lower rates of savings and investments tend to pull down the trend growth rate, unless there are significant increases in productivity. There is now reason to believe that India may have to live with slower growth unless there are important policy reforms.

Slicing the savings data provides clues about what has gone wrong.

Household savings seem to have gone down because families have less money to put away in a year of high inflation. But household savings have been fairly stable if one looks at the numbers over seven years. Yet, inflation has led to a change in household portfolios, away from financial savings towards physical savings in terms of real estate and gold. Policymakers may term this irrational behaviour, part of an almost religious desire to stock up on physical assets. But the portfolio choice is rational, since real estate and gold have proved to be better hedges against high inflation than bank deposits or equity shares.

The news, as far as corporate and government savings go, is even more worrisome. The savings rate of companies is down 1.5 percentage points from its pre-crisis high, an indication that balance sheets have deteriorated.

The government savings rate is down a massive 3.3 percentage points, and even that has been masked by the one-off windfall from the auction of 3G telecom spectrum; else, the fall in the government savings rate could have been as high as 5 percentage points. This is directly linked to the deterioration in the government’s fiscal balances, especially the large revenue deficit.

Remember that all these numbers are for the previous fiscal year, not the current one. It is quite possible that matters have worsened even more in the current year. That leaves the economy facing a structural problem.

There does not seem to be adequate pools of domestic savings to support the sort of investment activity required to sustain economic growth of close to double digits, which was a sort of national hope not too long ago, even if the investment climate magically improves.

What can be done? One obvious way out is to use more foreign savings, aka capital inflows. But India already has a high current account deficit at a time when the global economy continues to be at risk from a sudden crisis of confidence. Depending on foreign inflows to finance a greater share of domestic economic growth is a high-risk strategy, especially as the quality of capital inflows has worsened, thanks to policies to pull in more short-term debt.

The more attractive option is to seek to raise domestic savings and investment rates. As mentioned earlier, the main problem here is not savings by households and companies. The main problem is the fall in government savings thanks to the sharp rise in the revenue deficit. In other words, fiscal mismanagement—which is inextricably linked to the political strategy of the United Progressive Alliance—has led to a situation that puts the long-term India story at risk.

It is quite possible that the government will give some sort of spin to the current growth trend by arguing that it is impressive given the state of the global economy or that the battle against inflation is being won. These will be half-truths.

The forthcoming Union budget will be crucial, not only for the signals it sends on economic reforms, but about the credibility of the fiscal correction that will be promised for the next year. Too much commentary seems to be treating the loss of economic momentum as a cyclical issue. That is a mistake. What India is facing right now could well be a structural slowdown.

Danger of a structural slowdown in India - Views - livemint.com

7% is not a bad rate of growth and we will come back to 9% inshallah in 2012. just wait and watch..

 

[Anish1]

Danger of a structural slowdown in India

The first estimate of the size of the Indian economy in fiscal 2012 (FY12) was put out by the Central Statistics Office this week. It made for sober reading. The bean counters said that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.9% this fiscal year, the slowest pace in three years. The latest data release confirms what has been well known for quite some time: the Indian economy is rapidly losing momentum.

The most important question is whether the current year will be an aberration or India has settled on a lower growth trajectory. The risks of the latter outcome are increasing. The earlier dreams of sustaining a double-digit growth trajectory seem illusory now. To understand why, we should look at another set of data released by the government statistics office on 31 January, which did not get adequate attention.


That data gives us a good idea what has been happening on the ground, specifically the savings and consumption behaviour of households, firms and the government in FY11. The most important takeaway is that the Indian savings rate is falling. At 32.3% of gross domestic product, it is 4.5 percentage points lower than its peak in FY08. The investment rate has also fallen in tandem by 3 percentage points. The difference between the domestic investment rate and the domestic savings rate is the current account deficit, or net capital inflows, as any introductory macroeconomics textbook will tell you.
Lower rates of savings and investments tend to pull down the trend growth rate, unless there are significant increases in productivity. There is now reason to believe that India may have to live with slower growth unless there are important policy reforms.

Slicing the savings data provides clues about what has gone wrong.

Household savings seem to have gone down because families have less money to put away in a year of high inflation. But household savings have been fairly stable if one looks at the numbers over seven years. Yet, inflation has led to a change in household portfolios, away from financial savings towards physical savings in terms of real estate and gold. Policymakers may term this irrational behaviour, part of an almost religious desire to stock up on physical assets. But the portfolio choice is rational, since real estate and gold have proved to be better hedges against high inflation than bank deposits or equity shares.

The news, as far as corporate and government savings go, is even more worrisome. The savings rate of companies is down 1.5 percentage points from its pre-crisis high, an indication that balance sheets have deteriorated.

The government savings rate is down a massive 3.3 percentage points, and even that has been masked by the one-off windfall from the auction of 3G telecom spectrum; else, the fall in the government savings rate could have been as high as 5 percentage points. This is directly linked to the deterioration in the government’s fiscal balances, especially the large revenue deficit.

Remember that all these numbers are for the previous fiscal year, not the current one. It is quite possible that matters have worsened even more in the current year. That leaves the economy facing a structural problem.

There does not seem to be adequate pools of domestic savings to support the sort of investment activity required to sustain economic growth of close to double digits, which was a sort of national hope not too long ago, even if the investment climate magically improves.

What can be done? One obvious way out is to use more foreign savings, aka capital inflows. But India already has a high current account deficit at a time when the global economy continues to be at risk from a sudden crisis of confidence. Depending on foreign inflows to finance a greater share of domestic economic growth is a high-risk strategy, especially as the quality of capital inflows has worsened, thanks to policies to pull in more short-term debt.

The more attractive option is to seek to raise domestic savings and investment rates. As mentioned earlier, the main problem here is not savings by households and companies. The main problem is the fall in government savings thanks to the sharp rise in the revenue deficit. In other words, fiscal mismanagement—which is inextricably linked to the political strategy of the United Progressive Alliance—has led to a situation that puts the long-term India story at risk.

It is quite possible that the government will give some sort of spin to the current growth trend by arguing that it is impressive given the state of the global economy or that the battle against inflation is being won. These will be half-truths.

The forthcoming Union budget will be crucial, not only for the signals it sends on economic reforms, but about the credibility of the fiscal correction that will be promised for the next year. Too much commentary seems to be treating the loss of economic momentum as a cyclical issue. That is a mistake. What India is facing right now could well be a structural slowdown.

Danger of a structural slowdown in India - Views - livemint.com

7% growth is far better than 2% growth.

 

[Shaurya]

India eyes business with sanctions-hit Iran

NEW DELHI: India Thursday said it would send a “huge” trade mission to Iran to explore business opportunities created by sanctions imposed by the West over the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear programme.

The European Union earlier this month agreed to an embargo on Iran’s vital oil exports as part of an intensifying US-led campaign aimed at forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear programme.

“We will be mounting a mission to Iran at the end of the month to promote our own exports. A huge delegation will be going,” Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters in New Delhi.

The delegation will include government officials and representatives from trade and industry, he said.

Iran is India’s second-largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, providing around 12 per cent of the fast-growing country’s crude needs.

India says it will abide only by UN sanctions not implement those by individual nations or groupings.

The country has been examining ways to step up trade with Iran amid trouble in settling its oil bills from Iran as a result of the sanctions campaign that is drying up banking routes.

India’s Economic Times reported on Thursday that New Delhi had proposed paying for crude imports with wheat exports to the Islamic Republic.

Indian government officials said large business opportunities had opened up in Iran in wake of the US and European sanctions.

“If Europe and the US want to stop exports to Iran, why should I (India) follow suit? Why shouldn’t we tap that opportunity?” an unnamed government official was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

India believes large export opportunities are available in the food sector, including tea, wheat and rice; pharmaceuticals; iron and steel and infrastructure projects, officials said.

Bilateral trade between India and Iran is around $13.6 billion, of which Indian exports account for just $2.74 billion.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, during a recent US visit, said it was impossible for energy-hungry India to “reduce the imports from Iran drastically”, he said.

“Iran is an important country for India despite US and European sanctions on Iran,” he said.

India eyes business with sanctions-hit Iran | Business | DAWN.COM

 

[ironwarrier]

Danger of a structural slowdown in India

The first estimate of the size of the Indian economy in fiscal 2012 (FY12) was put out by the Central Statistics Office this week. It made for sober reading. The bean counters said that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.9% this fiscal year, the slowest pace in three years. The latest data release confirms what has been well known for quite some time: the Indian economy is rapidly losing momentum.

The most important question is whether the current year will be an aberration or India has settled on a lower growth trajectory. The risks of the latter outcome are increasing. The earlier dreams of sustaining a double-digit growth trajectory seem illusory now. To understand why, we should look at another set of data released by the government statistics office on 31 January, which did not get adequate attention.


That data gives us a good idea what has been happening on the ground, specifically the savings and consumption behaviour of households, firms and the government in FY11. The most important takeaway is that the Indian savings rate is falling. At 32.3% of gross domestic product, it is 4.5 percentage points lower than its peak in FY08. The investment rate has also fallen in tandem by 3 percentage points. The difference between the domestic investment rate and the domestic savings rate is the current account deficit, or net capital inflows, as any introductory macroeconomics textbook will tell you.
Lower rates of savings and investments tend to pull down the trend growth rate, unless there are significant increases in productivity. There is now reason to believe that India may have to live with slower growth unless there are important policy reforms.

Slicing the savings data provides clues about what has gone wrong.

Household savings seem to have gone down because families have less money to put away in a year of high inflation. But household savings have been fairly stable if one looks at the numbers over seven years. Yet, inflation has led to a change in household portfolios, away from financial savings towards physical savings in terms of real estate and gold. Policymakers may term this irrational behaviour, part of an almost religious desire to stock up on physical assets. But the portfolio choice is rational, since real estate and gold have proved to be better hedges against high inflation than bank deposits or equity shares.

The news, as far as corporate and government savings go, is even more worrisome. The savings rate of companies is down 1.5 percentage points from its pre-crisis high, an indication that balance sheets have deteriorated.

The government savings rate is down a massive 3.3 percentage points, and even that has been masked by the one-off windfall from the auction of 3G telecom spectrum; else, the fall in the government savings rate could have been as high as 5 percentage points. This is directly linked to the deterioration in the government’s fiscal balances, especially the large revenue deficit.

Remember that all these numbers are for the previous fiscal year, not the current one. It is quite possible that matters have worsened even more in the current year. That leaves the economy facing a structural problem.

There does not seem to be adequate pools of domestic savings to support the sort of investment activity required to sustain economic growth of close to double digits, which was a sort of national hope not too long ago, even if the investment climate magically improves.

What can be done? One obvious way out is to use more foreign savings, aka capital inflows. But India already has a high current account deficit at a time when the global economy continues to be at risk from a sudden crisis of confidence. Depending on foreign inflows to finance a greater share of domestic economic growth is a high-risk strategy, especially as the quality of capital inflows has worsened, thanks to policies to pull in more short-term debt.

The more attractive option is to seek to raise domestic savings and investment rates. As mentioned earlier, the main problem here is not savings by households and companies. The main problem is the fall in government savings thanks to the sharp rise in the revenue deficit. In other words, fiscal mismanagement—which is inextricably linked to the political strategy of the United Progressive Alliance—has led to a situation that puts the long-term India story at risk.

It is quite possible that the government will give some sort of spin to the current growth trend by arguing that it is impressive given the state of the global economy or that the battle against inflation is being won. These will be half-truths.

The forthcoming Union budget will be crucial, not only for the signals it sends on economic reforms, but about the credibility of the fiscal correction that will be promised for the next year. Too much commentary seems to be treating the loss of economic momentum as a cyclical issue. That is a mistake. What India is facing right now could well be a structural slowdown.

Danger of a structural slowdown in India - Views - livemint.com

dude dont forget that economy of your whole country = economy of Delhi or Mumbai and overall indian economy is 12 times the size of pakistan economy. the gap is widening. I know you pray to Allah everyday during Namaz that india stops developing, all missile tests fail and stuff, but that aint happening ....

 

[Shaurya]

No restriction on trade with Iran: India

Few days after Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India will not scale down its petroleum imports from Iran despite U.S. and European sanctions against the Islamic republic, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said there is not restriction on Indian companies doing trade of commodities with that country.

'Trade has been healthy between the two countries and whatever is exportable has always been going. There has not been any restriction on Indian companies doing trade of commodities with that country,' Mr Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

He made the remarks when asked to comment on the issue of increasing exports to Iran so as to make payment to be settled by a barter system.

India has been facing difficulties in making payment of oil imports from Iran in view of UN and U.S. sanctions against Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

India imports 12 per cent of its oil from Iran.

Earlier in Chicago on Sunday, Mr Mukherjee said, 'It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically, because among the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economies, Iran is an important country amongst them.' 'We (India) imports 110 million tonnes of crude per year. We will not decrease imports from Iran. Iran is an important country for India despite U.S. and European sanctions on Iran,' he told reporters at the end of his two-day visit to woo U.S. investments to India.

India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, is Iran's second-biggest oil client after China.

Few days after Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India will not scale down its petroleum imports from Iran despite U.S. and European sanctions against the Islamic republic, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said there is not restriction on Indian companies doing trade of commodities with that country.

'Trade has been healthy between the two countries and whatever is exportable has always been going. There has not been any restriction on Indian companies doing trade of commodities with that country,' Mr Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

He made the remarks when asked to comment on the issue of increasing exports to Iran so as to make payment to be settled by a barter system.

India has been facing difficulties in making payment of oil imports from Iran in view of UN and U.S. sanctions against Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

India imports 12 per cent of its oil from Iran.

Earlier in Chicago on Sunday, Mr Mukherjee said, 'It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically, because among the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economies, Iran is an important country amongst them.' 'We (India) imports 110 million tonnes of crude per year. We will not decrease imports from Iran. Iran is an important country for India despite U.S. and European sanctions on Iran,' he told reporters at the end of his two-day visit to woo U.S. investments to India.

India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, is Iran's second-biggest oil client after China.

No restriction on trade with Iran: India - Tehran Times

 

[Anish1]

Pakistan's 7th largest trading partner is India.
India accounts for 1.4% of total exports and 4.3% of total imports.

Pakistan does not figure into India's top 20 trading partners.

Pakistan total trade is $65bn (25bn export + 40bn imports)
India's total trade is $750bn (300bn export + 450bn import)

Plus all of Pakistan's allies
1.China
2.UAE
3.USA
4.Saudi Arabia

These are India's top 4 trading partners.

India is UAE's largest trading partner over 16% of all UAE foreign trade done with India.
China is India's largest trading partner. In 2012 the mark is going to cross $100bn in bilateral.

India is the 3rd largest investor in Saudi Arabia.
US-India military ties being built.

Looks like pakistan's going to be aloof VERY soon.

 

[luckych]

India's domestic IT spend to reach $36 billion by 2015: Zinnov

India's domestic IT spend to reach $36 billion by 2015: Zinnov - The Economic Times


Domestic IT market is expected to be $36 billion by 2015 driven by higher adoption in small amd medium business segment, says a study by market research firm Zinnov.

The report states that the country is home to around 50 million SMBs of which 10 million are technology-ready.

"Overall domestic IT spending is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12 per cent to reach $36 billion by 2015. SMBs at the same time will grow at a CAGR of 15 per cent contributing $15 billion by 2015," Zinnov said in a statement.

Increased adoption of PCs by SMBs is also another significant factor that will fuel the growth of this sector.

"Four million SMBs in the country are using personal computers which is expected to grow at 30 per cent from 2011 to 2015, resulting in doubling the base of SMBs with PC," Zinnov study titled 'Indian SMB ICT Adoption Insights' said.

It added that five lakh SMBs in India have websites and two million SMBs are accessing the Internet.

According to the study, the addressable opportunity of 10 million SMBs will continue to increase during 2011-2015 as more firms realise the necessity of organising themselves with the help of technology.

Further, splitting the SMB market in India, the study finds that retail is the single largest vertical by addressable opportunity with an overwhelming two million firms ready for technology adoption and expansion.

"Around 1.9 million professional services firms are second in the list followed by 1.2 million manufacturing enterprises and 1 million Hotels and Restaurants," it said.

By 2015, retail will stand at 2.5 million, followed by professional services at 2.3 million, manufacturing at 1.6 million and 1.1 million hotels and restaurants.

Zinnov study identifies lack of technology know-how, unclear return on investments, cluttered product portfolio, high cost for technical support and investments made in legacy systems as main roadblocks that SMB sector in India face.

 

[Shaurya]

Good to hear this:

Indian business leaders report lower stress: Study

KOLKATA: Stress level in business leaders has increased at its lowest pace since 2005, according to a latest research.

The study, conducted by accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton, reveals that only 42% of Indian businesses felt an increase in stress levels as compared to 56% last year. The study was conducted amongst 6,000 businesses globally.

The Grant Thornton study shows Asia-Pacific is the most stressed region with net 44% reporting an increase in stress over the past 12 months, but this too is down from 58% in 2010. Even in distressed Europe, where the focus of economic turbulence resides, the net increase in stress has declined from 40% in 2010 to 22% this year.

"What we are seeing from our clients across the globe is more effective management of this economic volatility and uncertainty," says Grant Thornton India senior partner Munesh Khanna.

"Businesses have learned to analyse risks better, factoring them into their performance, and are setting themselves more realistic targets. And, of course, some businesses are faring well despite the bleak economic backdrop," he said.

In India, 31% businesses specify that reaching performance target is the main causes of stress followed by competitor activities (15%) and volume of communication (12%). Factors such as office politics (7%) and work/life are (6%) are at the bottom of list.

Business leaders in India prefer holiday (40%) as the best way to relieve stress followed by home and outdoor entertainment. In contrast, globally the best method to relieve stress is by exercising or playing sports.

Executives in countries like Japan, China and Thailand take the least holidays and hence report biggest increases in stress. Conversely, business leaders in the Netherlands, Russia and Denmark took the most days off in 2011 and reported the lowest increases in stress.

Indian business leaders report lower stress: Study - The Economic Times

 

[Shaurya]

India's tea pickers push for better wages

Indians are known for their appetite for a good cup of chai — or tea — and the country is one of the world's leading producers. India's historic tea industry is going through a technological revolution that is paying benefits to landowners and distributors, and workers are starting to push for a share of the wealth.

India's tea industry
According to the Indian Tea Board, there were 159,190 tea plantations in India, comprised of small and large growers, when it did its last industry report in 2007.

At that time, India's tea industry employed 1.26 million workers, about 635,000 of them women.

One area where the pickers are making progress is in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, in the famed Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. CBC's Priya Sankaran and photographer Pawel Dwulit visited the tea growing region near the city of Siliguri to speak to workers and managers in the groves.

India's tea industry is modernizing its distribution systems, adopting things like e-commerce auction systems to better market what it produces. India now exports nearly half a billion dollars worth of tea worldwide, and its sales to Canada alone equal almost $5 million a year.

Workers sing as they pluck tea leaves in a field at the Bagdogra Tea Estate near the city of Siliguri in West Bengal, India. ((Pawel Dwulit))
But relatively little of this money goes to the people in the tea fields. The workers spend eight hours a day in the hot sun and must pick at least 20 kilograms of tea leaves to earn a daily wage of a little less than $2 — a low income even in a country where an estimated 300 million live in poverty.

"It's not like $2 in Canada, that is true," says Rajnikanta Verma, the former Indian High Commissioner to Ottawa. "But $2 in India, the way prices are, is still really very, very low. You cannot maintain a family, give them nutritious food, give them health and education, and have any standard of living."

Now the pickers are organizing and starting to demand better wages.

The Bagdogra Tea Estate, a family-owned operation that produces about 1 million kilograms of black tea a year, was one grove hit by a strike last year. Its owners quickly offered modest wage increases to get the pickers back to work.

"We strike because we are paid very little and work hard," says picker Marisia Bada through a translator. "We are striking to get our pay increased. We work from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 pm. We have to earn to eat."

India's tea pickers push for better wages - World - CBC News

---------- Post added at 02:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:30 AM ----------

India is coming to Hollywood, and planning to stay.

The India-based Reliance MediaWorks -- a division of the media giant Reliance Group that has funded DreamWorks -- is moving its headquarters to Los Angeles and looking to expand within the industry in production services.

“The objective is not to be small, but to be a big, industrial-sized player,” said Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun, in an interview with TheWrap. ‘We don’t want to position ourselves as a company driven out of India. We want to be based out of L.A. We’re a large, global entity.”

Having surged to $200 million in revenue in the past several years, the company is focused on growth and on getting attention in the United States. Arjun believes that MediaWorks could double its revenue again in the next two years.

It’s an ambitous goal, but MediaWorks is kind of on a roll.

Reliance MediaWorks already operates the largest theater chain in India, with 550 screens across the region, and runs the largest digital restoration and film processing facility in India, employing 1,500 people.

But Arjun believes there is room for more expansion in Hollywood, despite the movie industry’s many structural challenges in the digital age.

He will focus on providing visual effects -- computer graphics, animation and digital mastering -- and media services, which essentially means coding content for a variety of platforms in the digital age, such as mobile phones and tablets.

In 2007 Reliance MediaWorks acquired Lowry Digital, a film restoration company based in Burbank that also provides digital post-production services and has worked on movies from “Avatar” to “The Social Network.” (Lowry is up for an Oscar for scientific achievement for the development of a noise-reduction system for images.)

Arjun hopes to own the post-production market. “We look at Hollywood as the front-end of our business,” said Arjun.

The company started in India as a film processing service, with about $20 million per year of business. After Reliance bought a controlling interest in the core Adlabs company in 2006, the company grew its revenue tenfold, and began to focus on horizontal expansion, dominating the film printing business.

It’s no secret that the parent company, Reliance Global, is focused on creating a long-term presence in Hollywood. The company threw millions of dollars into development deals with A-list talent -- from Tom Hanks ond own -- and has put several hundred million dollars into DreamWorks.

According to the company, Reliance MediaWorks Burbank has developed sophisticated proprietary software that delivers high-tech results for restoration, remastering, SD to HD upconversions, large format films, new production emergency work, 3D correction and 2D to 3D conversion.

The company’s body of work includes film restoration for classics like "Citizen Kane," "Singin’ In The Rain," "Casablanca," "Sunset Boulevard," the Indiana Jones trilogy, the early "Star Wars" films, twenty James Bond films, and numerous classic Disney animated films.

India's Reliance MediaWorks Stakes a Claim in Hollywood | Reuters

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Every fourth acquisition in Germany is from India
By KR Sudhaman Feb 11 2012

Indian companies top the list of emerging economies acquiring German firms, acting German ambassador to India told KR Sudhaman in an interview. Excerpts:

Do you subscribe to the view that Indian companies are looking at acquisitions in Europe and in Germany in the face of rising insolvency in the continent due to the debt crisis?

If you permit me to say the characteristic of German investment in India is that German companies are here for long time. This shows that they believe in long-term partnership. German investments are not hit and run. They are strategic and long-term. So in general very smart investment.

Germany by the way is very successful country now because 10 years ago it took the right decisions on labour reforms as it was facing a crisis at that time. India also started reforms during a crisis in 1990s. More precisely, Indian companies have analysed the market and they have found very good climate in Germany.

So you think the climate is good for Indian companies to look for acquisitions in Germany?

Per unit labour cost is one of the lowest in Germany and this is one of the reasons for success of German companies. This makes production per unit very competitive in Germany. It is because of labour efficiency and technology. Employees have contributed greatly to the long-term health of the companies. Indian companies have understood that. I have very interesting figure. When you take emerging markets, India is now on top of emerging markets investment in Germany. inEvery fourth acquisition in Germany is by an Indian. India is on top followed by Russia and then China among emerging economies.

Which are the sectors that Indian companies are looking at in Germany?

The sectors are software, automotive and renewable energy. Suzlon is a very good case in point. India ranks 12th in greenfield and brownfield projects in Germany. Ten important Indian projects in Germany since 2003 are Suzlon Energy, Kalyani group, Jet Airways, Hexaware Technologies, Firepro systems, Dabur India, Veauli Engineers, Ensoft Informatics, Orient Autocom Stamping, and Bharat Fritz Werner.

Why do you think Indian companies are looking at Germany?

The reason is that I see a lot of similarity in business mentality. Like in Germany, it is family business in India. They go for strategic acquisition.

Are Indian companies spread all over Germany?

There are 280 Indian companies spread over 16 federal states in Germany as of 2010. They employ about 13,000 people.

Apart from Germany, which are the other countries in Europe where Indian companies are looking at acquisition?

In general, I believe in India’s opening up to markets in Europe and global markets. India should go step by step to acquire companies and not rush into it. A cautious approach should be adopted. But the potential is enormous.

How do you see Indo-German economic cooperation moving forward?

We have a target to achieve $20 billion bilateral trade, which we hope to achieve this year. This is only one step. The potential is much more. There are 1,500 German companies in India giving direct and indirect employment to half-a-million Indian people. Germany is strong in auto and auto components and clean energy. India is also strong in those areas and there is a lot of potential for bilateral cooperation. India and Germany can also cooperate in skill development. Germany is strong on vocational education. The German model of dual education, that is combining theory with practical training, will be very useful in helping India realising skill development of 500 million people by 2022. We have now lowered the criteria for issue of blue card that provides permanent resident status to migrants. Now any Indian, who completes education in Germany, can stay for one more year without a job. Now there are several universities in Germany where Indian students can pursue their graduation, post graduation and Phds in English. There has been 25 per cent increase in Indian students in Germany last year.

Are Indian companies preferred to Chinese companies in Germany?

India and Germany have a lot of things in common. Both the countries believe in democracy. There are similarities in values. Indian companies can also look at East Germany for investments. East Germany has state-of-the art infrastructure and it is a place to invest for Indian companies.

What could be the future areas of cooperation between the two countries?

We will have one interesting investment soon. TUEV is a setup involved in technical verification. For example, every technical unit, say a car, will be certified.

A pilot project is likely to be started in New Delhi for certification of cars. TUEV did a similar project in Turkey after which road accident deaths got reduced. This may not be a big investment but an important one. In Railway signalling too, there is something in the offing.

Every fourth acquisition in Germany is from India | mydigitalfc.com

 

[Shaurya]

India against more sanctions on Iran

India and the European Union (EU) made progress on their Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement and nominated minister-level monitors to push for its early finalisation but it was discussions on regional issues, especially Iran and Syria, that took centre stage at their annual summit here on Friday.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy proclaimed that the EU was against a military solution to resolve the Tehran-West standoff over Iran's nuclear programme and asked India to use its leverage with Iran to “bring it back to the negotiating table.”

“So, we are not working for any military option...We are working for a diplomatic solution to get Iran back on the negotiating table and we, according to our analysis, only bring them back to the table under pressure and under sanctions,” he said defending the latest round of sanctions announced by the U.S. and the EU.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh advocated dialogue rather than coercion. He admitted to “problems” with Iran's nuclear programme but said New Delhi viewed Tehran differently from the West — as a close friend and important source of energy to India.

Dr. Singh also indicated India's aversion to a conflict in the Middle East over the Iran question, pointing out that the country wanted peace and stability because of the large number of its nationals (over 60 lakh) working in the Gulf countries.

Iran is India's second largest source of crude but the West has frequently leaned on institutions and countries, ranging from the Asian Clearing Union to Turkey, to cut off the payment route. This has forced India to constantly look for new avenues to pay Iran for approximately Rs. 5,000 crore worth of crude it imports every month from that country.

While the two sides differed on Iran widely with India not in agreement with the West over its plans to impose more sanctions, which are not approved by the United Nations, they seemed to be on the same page on Syria. A joint statement released after the summit also saw both sides adopting a mild formulation on Pakistan.

There was no immediate resolution of complaints by Sikh passengers that they were being asked to take off their turbans during security checks, an insistence which they see as humiliating.

On Syria, the EU and India wanted the world community to back the Arab League's formula for bringing back stability in the country. This solution was brought to the U.N. Security Council but was vetoed by Russia and China, which felt that the West was trying to do another Libya in Syria, a crucial swing country in West Asia.

The joint statement supported a democratic polity in Pakistan and as against India's usual insistence on inserting a line that speaks against those providing sanctuaries to terrorists, settled on stressing the importance of Pakistan to cooperate with countries in the region to eliminate terrorism and dismantle terrorist networks. The statement also wanted an early start to talks on the Fissile Missile Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), which is being resisted by Pakistan.

On Sikhs being asked to take off their turbans during security checks at some EU airports, the statement simply “took note” of their difficulties and “acknowledged the need for effective aviation security measures and discussed the ongoing development of new technologies and methods of addressing security concerns taking into account the dignity of the individuals involved”.

 

[Shaurya]

IDBI bank to launch India's first infrastructure fund

NEW DELHI: State-run IDBI Bank will launch the country's first infrastructure debt fund (IDF) to raise $5 billion for building roads, ports and airports. Such debt funds, announced in the budget 2011-12, can be floated through non-banking finance companies (NBFC) or as trusts. They were proposed two years ago by a panel led by HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, which had suggested an initial corpus of 50,000 crore.

IDBI Bank has sought Reserve Bank of India's approval for an NBFC, which will have a capital base of 1,000 crore. The bank will hold 30% stake in the NBFC and the rest will be held by some state-run banks and Life Insurance Corporation of India, said a top banker involved in the process. The new entity under the relaxed norms can provide long-term debt of over 25,000 crore in the infrastructure sector.

IDBI Bank chairman and managing director RM Malla declined to comment.

According to current guidelines, IDFs can raise funds from investors, primarily domestic and offshore insurance and pension funds, trusted sources for long-term finance.

The fund established under a trust will be a mutual fund that will issue units and will be regulated by Sebi while a company-based fund will be a non-banking finance company that will issue bonds and will be regulated by the RBI.

An IDF-NBFC can invest in public-private partnership projects or schemes that are in operation for at least a year. It is required to have a capital adequacy ratio of 15% but its exposure in these projects will have risk weight of 50%. As a result, an IDF-NBFC needs to maintain a capital adequacy ratio for only 50% of the loan given to such companies.

IDBI bank to launch India's first infrastructure fund - The Economic Times