Indian Economy-News & Updates

[Ruag]

Although Indian economy is in shape tht it can afford a bit higher gas price...is this a long term solution??..... I don't think so....first Liquifing a gas to fill ship containers and then di-liquifying it at Dahej Gas terminal is not good solution...I still fill gas pipeline is a way better solution....

Dude.. fossil fuels are never going to be long-term solution in the first place. Either we meet our current energy demands by shipping gas or by constructing pipelines, we need to invest on renewable sources of energy and hope that nuclear fusion power becomes feasible within the next 4 decades or so.

 

[warlock21]

Dude.. fossil fuels are never going to be long-term solution in the first place. Either we meet are current energy demands by shipping gas or by constructing pipelines, we need to invest on renewable sources of energy and hope that nuclear fusion power becomes feasible within the next 4 decades or so.

well I am listening this crap from my school days.... and I yet to see anything like this....In oil and Gas sector ... the thumb rule is... companies and countries don't invest in exploration untill and otherwise the price of them(fossile fuel) go at roof tops.... exploration project have high gestation period.... due to which to make it economically fissible ... high price starts supporting investment in exploration... so when ever price goes higher .. new discoveries made and price come down...

u need not to worry abt oil and Gas.... it will remain till our great grand childrens born....

 

[Ruag]

well I am listening this crap from my school days.... and I yet to see anything like this....In oil and Gas sector ... the thumb rule is... companies and countries don't invest in exploration untill and otherwise the price of them(fossile fuel) go at roof tops.... exploration project have high gestation period.... due to which to make it economically fissible ... high price starts supporting investment in exploration... so when ever price goes higher .. new discoveries made and price come down...

u need not to worry abt oil and Gas.... it will remain till our great grand childrens born....

We'll see.

 

[Skeptic]

World Bank approves $4.3-bn loan to India


World Bank approves $4.3-bn loan to India

BS Reporter / New Delhi September 24, 2009, 0:58 IST



The World Bank today approved four loans worth $4.3 billion (about Rs 20,631 crore) to help India finance its infrastructure programmes and further strengthen the capital base of state-run banks. The approved loan includes a a budgetary support of $2 billion for capital infusion in select public sector banks to help them maintain credit growth.

This is a crucial time to support India. While the worst of the crisis seems to be behind us, doubts linger about the strength of the comeback, partly because the strength of the global recovery is uncertain,” said Roberto Zagha, World Bank country director for India.

The approval also includes a $1.2-billion lending for the government-run India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) that will provide long-term funds to public-private partnership (PPP) projects in road, port and power sector.

“The infrastructure sector needs funds for over 15 years. Highway and power constitute 45 per cent of infrastructure requirement. Such projects will be funded by this loan,” IIFCL Chairman S S Kohli said.

The government has estimated that public sector banks will require at least $4.8 billion during 2009-11 to maintain credit growth over the medium term. For the infrastructure sector, the Planning Commission has estimated that an investment of $500 billion is required during the Eleventh five-year plan (2007-12).

The World Bank loan also includes $1 billion loan for PowerGrid and $150 million for improving water supply and sanitation project in 2,600 villages of Andhra Pradesh.

“The loan will enable PowerGrid to strengthen the existing transmission system as well as expand the Indian national grid which will help the government achieve its objective of ‘Power for All by 2012’,” said S K Chaturvedi, chairman, PowerGrid.

The loans to the banking sector and PowerGrid have a 30-year maturity including a five-year grace period, whereas the loan to IIFCL has a maturity of 28 years including a grace period of 7.5 years. The loans will be disbursed in a single tranche after January 1, 2010.

The World Bank also said although there was uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, current trends suggested a growth rate of 5.5 to 6.5 per cent for 2009-10 was realistic.

BS Reporter somehow tickled me...

 

[EjazR]

TCS bags Rs 140 cr AP network project- ITeS-Infotech-The Economic Times

MUMBAI/HYDERABAD: Tata Consultancy Services on Wednesday said it has been awarded a state-wide area network (SWAN) project from the Andhra Pradesh government, which targets to connect the state’s headquarters with all 23 district offices in the state to increase efficiency in government functioning.

Andhra Pradesh IT secretary Sameer Sharma said the size of the deal would be about Rs 140 crore. This is the largest such contract in the country and will be based on the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model, that is typically used in infrastructure projects for five years, TCS said in a statement.

TCS had previously won three similar projects to manage infrastructure in Chattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar. The SWAN project will allow the Andhra Pradesh government to start and run various e-governance projects and citizen services and is scheduled to be rolled out within 12 months. TCS, as per BOOT model, will maintain the contract for the next five years. “This SWAN project is yet another initiative of the government to bring a wider array of government services to the common man,” Mr Sharma said.

The network will enable the state government to have video conferencing facility across government offices and also enable government offices to communicate and conference with each other over VoIP (voice over internet protocol). This will reduce communication expenses. Various e-governance applications, such as RTO, healthcare, education, municipality, will be on this network backbone.

“We will lay a state-wide network of IT infrastructure and set up common service centres for people to take advantage of e-government services,” said TCS VP Tanmoy Chakrabarty. The company will also set up a network operations centre and helpdesk to monitor the facility and services.

TCS has implemented e-government projects such as NREGS, Arogyashri, APonline and value-added tax for the Andhra Pradesh government in the past.

 

[EjazR]

India - Japan FTA talks
India, Japan to start fresh talks on 29 September - Economy and Politics - livemint.com
New Delhi: India and Japan will start a fresh round of talks on a free trade agreement on 29 September after discussions in January remained inconclusive because the countries failed to find common ground on a few contentious issues.

India wants greater market access for its pharmaceutical firms, while Japan has been pressing for a bilateral agreement on government purchases.

But India is unlikely to agree to a mutually preferential treatment in government procurement, as a study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) commissioned by the commerce ministry has found that Japan would hold a comparative advantage in this regard. “Though a final decision is yet to be taken, in view of the Unctad study, we may not negotiate on the government procurement front,” a commerce ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

The government procurement market in India has been estimated at 5.8% of gross domestic product, according to Unctad, which translates into some $34.22 billion (Rs1.6 trillion) worth of contracts every year.

Japan is a signatory to a voluntary multilateral agreement on government procurement brokered by the World Trade Organization (WTO). India has not signed this agreement.

It essentially means that—if government procurement is included in the bilateral trade agreement—Japanese companies will be treated at par with Indian firms when the Indian government calls for bids. But when the Japanese government does so, Indian firms will have to not only compete with Japanese firms but also with companies from all those nations that are part of the WTO agreement, including the European Union, the US and South Korea.

Smoother access for Indian drug companies in the Japanese market is also expected to figure prominently in the forthcoming talks later this month.

“Easier access for Indian pharmaceutical companies to the Japanese markets remains a major unresolved issue as Japan does not recognize US Food and Drugs Administration certification for Indian drugs,” said Manav Majumdar, who looks at trade issues at industry lobby group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. “It is still stressing on clinical trials to be carried out in Japan before the drugs are imported from India.”

Discussions between the two countries on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement began in January 2007 and they have since held 11 rounds of talks, the last being in January this year. The negotiations have been delayed because national elections were held in both India and Japan, in April-May and August, respectively.

Besides government procurement and medicine market access, issues regarding technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures also remain unresolved. Technical barriers to trade refer to regulations and voluntary standards that set out specific characteristics of a product, such as its size, shape, design and packaging, before it enters a marketplace. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures are meant to ensure food safety and animal and plant health measures.

The Unctad study has also found that Japan’s gains in a bilateral trade agreement are expected to be concentrated in sectors such as paper and paper products, chemicals, industrial machinery, batteries, electrical appliances, communication equipment, electronic equipment, motor vehicles, railways, construction services, transport services and financial services.

India could get market access into sectors such as farm, mineral and pharma products, rubber, plastic and wood products, textiles and clothing, ceramics, iron and steel products, non-ferrous metal and products, architectural services, engineering services, communication and information services, among others, the study said.

In 2007, imports in India from Japan were valued at $6.1 billion and India’s exports to Japan were $4.1 billion.

 

[eastwatch]

Dude.. fossil fuels are never going to be long-term solution in the first place. Either we meet our current energy demands by shipping gas or by constructing pipelines, we need to invest on renewable sources of energy and hope that nuclear fusion power becomes feasible within the next 4 decades or so.

Geothermal heat is a renewable source of energy. There is geothermal heat only below 6 km of soil surface in the region starting from the foot of Himalayas and stretching to the northern part of Thailand. This is a fault zone, and is prone to frequent earthquake jolts. Nevertheless, this energy in the Indian NE can be converted to electricity.

India has the technical and monetary strength to make best use of this heat. When water is pumped down the pipe, the heated water in the form of steam will come up. This steam can then be used to generate power.

 

[Spitfighter]

Rural India powering economic growth

Brajesh Upadhyay
BBC Hindi

Jobs for work programme in Indian village
The jobs for work programme has put money in the hands of villagers

Indian telecom executive Abhinav Trivedi has travelled to remote villages and dealt with armed retailers in regions known more for bandits than their markets.

"We sold phone connections in areas where life moves at a snail's pace," says Mr Trivedi.

But business has been brisk.

His phone company boosted its revenues because of a rise in sales in these farming villages.

Experts say while the world economy is reeling under recession, India's continuing economic growth has been fuelled by its farm economy - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has projected growth of "six percent plus" for the financial year to March 2010.

Major force

Government ministers believe the rural market will be a major driver for future growth.

Man using a mobile in India
The mobile telephone market is taking off in rural India

Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of telecom company, Bharti Group, says people in rural India now aspire to buy all the good things their urban counterparts have enjoyed.

No wonder corporate India is now deploying some of its brighter recruits to conquer these hinterlands.

Experienced, dynamic and university educated professionals like Mr Trivedi are at the forefront of the campaign.

"What I learnt at management school was of no use in these areas. It's the field experience that counts," says Mr Trivedi, who was rewarded with international holidays for his efforts.

He says he met people who had never travelled outside their village, had never seen a train and using a mobile was something they found technically challenging.

"I told them there are just two buttons - one green (to receive a call) one red (to disconnect) - and that worked for them," says Mr Trivedi.

Close to 70% of India's billion-strong population live in villages.

Over the last decade or so, the reach of television has ensured exposure to a more prosperous urban lifestyle and companies are learning fast to tailor their products to meet these new demands.

Pre-paid mobile phone top-up cards now sell for 10 rupees (20 cents), shampoo and toothpaste pouches for 50 paisa (two cents).

Further up the supply chain, cheap washing machines are now available throughout rural India as are sophisticated cooking stoves and heavily discounted Reebok shoes.

Ajay Gupta works for a website that deals with companies working in the rural sector and says more than half of the demand today is for fast moving consumer goods, especially in the telecom sector.

"There has been no evidence of recession on incomes in this sector," he says.

Boosting incomes

Analyst Gopal Naik says successive good monsoons and higher prices for agricultural output over the past few years have boosted rural purchasing power.

Indian village
Nearly 70% of Indians live in villages

This, in turn, had helped kept the economy chugging along.

"It was a mix of both luck and some serious effort to invest in the social sector by the government that made it happen," says Mr Naik.

In the past four years there was an almost 15% rise in the Minimum Support Price (MSP), the price at which government purchases produce from farmers. This put more money into their hands.

The national jobs for work scheme has helped as it generated employment in the rural non-farm sector as well.

The Wall Street Journal recently said rural income in India will rise from around $220bn in 2004-2005 to US $ 425bn by 2010-2011.

But can the rural economy continue to thrive after a number of states have been hit by drought?

Analysts like Gopal Naik say despite the drought in certain areas, villagers living off irrigated farms would be enough to earn, spend and sustain growth.

Clearly, India's rural economy has never looked so rosy.

 

[advaita]

Geothermal heat

India has the technical and monetary strength to make best use of this heat. When water is pumped down the pipe, the heated water in the form of steam will come up. This steam can then be used to generate power.

My hindu views prevent me from taking out what I have not put in. I know sounds stupid.

But hey, much much better then Geotherm is the wind option. Indians have a fine technical experience. Abundant materials to build these. Money is too often considered a limiting factor but for businesses it never really is. And to top it all, very difficult to bomb out in times of war.
I am partial towards wind for immediate future and for Solar in longer term (10 years plus perhaps).

 

[EjazR]

The Hindu : Business : India-Russia trade target set at $20 b

MOSCOW: Confident of achieving the $10-billion trade target by next year, India and Russia have now set the more ambitious goal of doubling the two-way turnover to $20 billion by 2015.

Hailing the healthy growth of Indo-Russian commerce at about 30 per cent a year since 2005, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said that India and Russia had turned the challenge of the global crisis to advantage as bilateral trade continued to grow despite the 10 per cent decline world-wide.

Mr. Sharma is leading a 70-member delegation of Indian business leaders to the third Russian-Indian Forum on Trade and Investment.

According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, who opened the one-day forum here on Tuesday, Indo-Russian trade increased by 17 per cent in the first half-year and is expected to grow to $8.4 billion by the end of 2009.

“India is one of the very few countries with whom Russian trade is growing, rather than declining this year,” Mr. Zhukov said. Addressing the forum held in Moscow’s newest and choicest hotel, Ritz Carlton, Mr. Sharma warmly recalled the massive economic aid the Soviet Union extended to India in the post-independence years.

“We deeply appreciate your support and help in building the foundation of India’s public sector industry,” Mr. Sharma said. “The concept of a planned economy laid in those years is still very relevant today”.

Even though the strategic partnership pact between the two countries was signed in 2000, India and Russia have been strategic partners ever since Indian independence, he said. Despite the recent growth, Indo-Russian trade is still a fraction of the two countries’ commerce with China and many other counties.

Russian Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina lamented the fact that bilateral trade accounted for less than one per cent of either country’s foreign trade basket.

Both sides called for diversification of trade into high-tech areas, such as IT, bio- and nano-technologies and non-conventional energy.

Speaking at the forum, Vladimir Yevtushenko, whose multi-billion dollar conglomerate, the Sistema Group, forayed into the Indian mobile communications market through a tie-up with the Shyam Group, said the joint venture, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, was growing at a rate of five lakh new customers a month and looked set to become an all-India provider of 3G voice and data services next year.

“Today, we are the biggest foreign investor in India,” the Russian IT tycoon said.

Sistema Shyam has offered the Indian government to build a national crisis-management centre, set up a “safe city” programme for Delhi and plans to diversify into space communication services on the basis of the Glonass, the Russian analogue of the U.S. GPS.

 

[rajeev]

Geothermal heat is a renewable source of energy. There is geothermal heat only below 6 km of soil surface in the region starting from the foot of Himalayas and stretching to the northern part of Thailand. This is a fault zone, and is prone to frequent earthquake jolts. Nevertheless, this energy in the Indian NE can be converted to electricity.

India has the technical and monetary strength to make best use of this heat. When water is pumped down the pipe, the heated water in the form of steam will come up. This steam can then be used to generate power.

I wish that India-Bangladesh become friendly nation and have open borders like India has with Nepal. Also, that we have road and rail links to Burma and ASEAN. That would be huge boost to both countries.

 

[Ingis]

Toyota Plans to Make Car Engines in India​

NEW DELHI -- Toyota Motor Corp., plans to start manufacturing car engines in India to price its vehicles competitively and also utilize the low-cost manufacturing skills in the South Asian country, said a senior executive at its local unit.

The world's biggest car maker by sales volume also plans to export from India a new small car that is likely to be introduced by December next year, Shekar Vishwanathan, deputy managing director, commercial, at Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd., said by phone.

Toyota Kirloskar, which is 89% owned by Toyota and the remainder by India's Kirloskar group, began operations in December 1999.

"Our eventual plan is, when we get to a critical minimum volume, to have a manufacturing base for engines and transmissions," Mr. Vishwanathan said over the weekend.

Toyota will start producing engines in India when its annual local production touches 250,000 vehicles a year, estimated around 2013, Mr. Vishwanathan said.

Toyota will introduce its maiden small car in India by December next year, he said. The car will be produced at the company's upcoming 100,000-unit-a-year plant on the outskirts of Bangalore, at the site of its current factory.

Toyota's first small car in India will likely help the Japanese auto maker to boost its presence in a market where it currently trails companies such as Suzuki Motor Corp., General Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co.

Sales of Toyota cars and sport-utility vehicles fell 10% during April-August 2009 to 21,729 vehicles, giving the company a 3% share of India's passenger-vehicle market. In comparison, total passenger vehicle sales in India grew 12% in the same period to 716,594 units.

Toyota produces the Innova multipurpose vehicle, Corolla Altis sedan and the Fortuner SUV at its existing factory. The company also imports the Camry sedan and Land Cruiser Prado and Land Cruiser SUVs.

Small cars comprised nearly three-fourths of the 1.22 million cars sold in India in the year ended March 31. That has led Toyota, Ford Motor Co., General Motors, Nissan Motor Co., Volkswagen AG and other global auto makers to either make small cars in India or announce plans to do so from next year to tap this growing market.

Suzuki Motor and Hyundai Motor are using India as a key manufacturing hub for small cars, while others such as Nissan and Ford plan to export cars to utilize the low-cost manufacturing skills in the South Asian country.

Toyota sources the engine and transmission for the Innova from Thailand, while the Fortuner's engine is also sourced from Thailand, Mr. Vishwanathan said.

The Fortuner's transmission is sourced from a separate joint venture in India between Toyota and the Kirloskar group. The joint venture produces manual transmissions, mainly for exports.

"Once we are able to ramp up volumes, it is in our interest to establish an engine and transmission plant (in India) to have economies of scale," Mr. Vishwanathan said.

Toyota's small car will be a newly developed model and it plans to produce 70,000 units of the vehicle in 2010, Mr. Vishwanathan said. It plans to increase the production to 100,000 units by 2011, 150,000 by 2012 and 200,000 by 2013.

Mr. Vishwanathan said improved quality standards of India's auto-parts companies have given confidence to Toyota to export the small car from the country.

"The supplier base is good in India," he said. "It is growing in stature and credibility. The quality levels have caught up with global standards."

He said Toyota Kirloskar has raised its vehicle production to 200 units per day from 70 in October last year when the global economic downturn crimped demand worldwide.
Toyota Plans to Make Car Engines in India - WSJ.com

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So... more and more companies are lining up to set up auto manufacturing plants in India.

 

[Gabbar]

India to announce National Solar Mission​

New Delhi: The Indian government is likely to announce that 15 per cent of its new energy capacity addition would be from renewable resources by 2020. The announcement is likely to be made ahead of the United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen at the year end.

Government sources say the prime minister's office (PMO) is preparing a draft on a national solar mission that is likely to be announced on 14 November. With an envisaged installed solar generation capacity of 20,000 MW, 100,000 MW and 200,000 MW in 2020, 2030 and 2050, respectively the mission will aim at making India a global leader in solar energy.

The government is expected to allocate Rs85,000-Rs105,000 crore to support the mission over 30 years.

Sources suggest that the mission would aim at achieving tariff parity with conventional grid power in the period 2017-2020.

Industry experts say that a 15 per cent target ought to be acceptable to the industry, which was actually looking at sourcing at least 20 per cent from renewable resources by 2020.

Developed nations are under immense pressure from developing nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

India unveiled a detailed roadmap to phase out the ozone-depleting greenhouse gases hydrochlorofluorocarbons on Tuesday.

 

[bones20]

This is my favorite thread. Only creativity and positivity. Ill minded can only gape in awe.

 

[Ingis]

India set to be global leader in tech services: Forbes​

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India is set to become a global leader in technology services as software companies move up in the value chain, while the weak dollar has hurt the U.S. economic recovery, the Chairman and CEO of business publisher Forbes said on Saturday.

"You have to make the distinction between pumping in money in immediate emergency response to the near collapse of the financial system and when the immediate crisis is over," Steve Forbes, 62, told Reuters, when asked what he made of the U.S. government's response to the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression.

"This year I think the U.S. government has made a number of mistakes that has slowed the recovery. They've not reduced taxes ... in terms of the dollar, they have not stabilized the dollar. They've weakened the dollar which hurts business investments, hurts the flow of capital and small businesses," he said.

"So the government is prolonging the crisis - we should have had a strong recovery instead," Forbes said, adding that not enough was being done for job creation.

The pace of economic growth in India proved that the country was able to weather the crisis well - but the government would have to work to make the economy grow further, he said.

The Indian economy rose 6.7 percent in 2008/09, while it is expected to rise 6 percent in the current fiscal year.

"India should continue the liberalization that began in 1991, including simplifying the tax code and reducing tax rates, and allowing more overseas investments into India," he said.

He said the bureaucratic procedures should be simplified to facilitate entrepreneurs. "One step - done!"

India also needed to reduce the hurdles to building infrastructure, he said.

While it would take decades for India to become a competitor to the U.S. it had the capacity to be global leader in certain areas such as technology services.

"They are global players in certain areas, they will be leaders," he said. He said that companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, India's top software exporter and its smaller rival Wipro were already undertaking complex software projects.

After the Indian government opened up the media sector to foreign investment several overseas publications, including Forbes have made their entry into the country. The Indian edition of Forbes was launched earlier this year in a joint venture with the Network18 group, which also runs business news channel CNBC TV18.

Forbes said he was encouraged by the positive response to the magazine in India and some more products such as Forbes Lifestyle and Forbes Women would be launched some months down the line.

In response to a question on U.S. President Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009, he said, "there were no achievements...I think it was more a reaction to George Bush's foreign policy."

India set to be global leader in tech services: Forbes chief | Technology | Reuters