Mumbai: After the civil nuclear agreement, India and the US are pursuing an alliance in the coal sector. Both the countries, which met recently in New Delhi, are considering encouraging equity partnerships with offtake in expansion projects, long term offtake arrangement and equity in new projects.
India’s premier coal producer, Coal India (CIL), has identified 142 new projects, comprising 35 under ground (UG) and 107 opencast (OC) for ultimate capacity of 380.22 million tonnes with an estimated capex of $7.7 billion.
Besides, CIL is setting up 20 washeries with a capacity of 111.1 million tonnes, with estimated capex of $510 million. India is expected to have a coal production of 447 million tonnes by the end of the 11th plan and 633 million tons by end of the 12th plan. According to Centre’s estimates, the coal shortage is expected to be 85 million tonnes by end of 2011-12.
The alliance is crucial to tackle constraints in exploration of coal. Of 277 billion tonnes geological reserves, only 110 billion tonnes reserves are in “proved category”. Besides, there are problems and constraints in underground mining, mainly because of use of old technology, and labour-intensive processes and safety issues.
A coal ministry official told Business Standard, “In equity model, it is proposed to acquire stakes in operating mines or greenfield coal blocks and import produce from such acquisitions to India. In the off-take model, it is proposed to enter into long-term offtake contract (10 years) with coal companies for procurement of imported coal. USA has been identified as a preferred country for both the equity and off-take models.”
At present, Coal India (CIL) is in an advanced stage of creating strategic alliance with a large US company through the “equity model”. In “off-take model”, several US coal companies have qualified to participate in the final stage of the process and price bids shall be shortly invited from those coal companies.
The official argued: “Thermal coal exports from USA at a competitive price can potentially bridge India’s demand-supply gap. Competitive model for maritime freight needs to be explored for making the landed cost of US coal in India attractive. Indo-US bilateral platform can be leveraged to sensitise stake holders at the government level to create an enabling situation for CIL to strike deals with US coal companies. Several responses were received from US-based coal companies. Discussions are in progress with Peabody, and Massey Energy Corporation.”
US side may come up with new technologies and expertise to take part in mechanisation of UG mines, keeping in view the production, productivity, safety and economics.
India and US are also looking at financing of capacity building and skill development in the area of geospatial technology application in mine land reclamation for sustainable coal mining in India.
Besides, funds can be available to develop core competence of technical experts through training and site visits to make them capable of taking inferred decisions for addressing land reclamation challenges.
Success in my Habit
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
BRICS to trade in own currencies
China: The settlement in local currencies will be subject to national laws.
India on Thursday agreed to an arrangement to facilitate and expand the system of settling in local currencies all trade transactions among members of the BRICS group of countries. The agreement followed consultations among development banks representing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, held here with a view to strengthening the BRICS inter-bank cooperation.
At $4.6 trillion, the five BRICS countries account for almost 15 per cent of global trade volume, but trade among them is only about $230 billion a year. The expanded system of settling trade in local currencies would boost intra-BRICS trade, a senior Chinese government official said.
While the China Development Bank led the discussion at the meeting, held concurrently with the BRICS Summit, the Exim Bank represented the Indian side. A key element in the new arrangement, a senior Indian government official explained, was that the settlement in local currencies would be subject to national laws.
The annual BRICS development banks’ meeting, that began here yesterday, also formalised three other cooperation arrangements among the member countries. To start with, the participating banks agreed to enhance co-operation in cross-border investments and financing of companies and projects.
The development banks also agreed to take pro-active steps in expediting capital market reforms in the BRICS countries, particularly with regard to issuance of bonds and listing of stocks. India, the officials said, would play a major role in this area as it has one of the most developed and active capital markets within the BRICS region.
The fourth element in the inter-bank co-operation mechanism pertains to the development banks’ commitment to promote exchange of information on financing and investments.
The absence of an established system of flow of financial information among the BRICS countries has hindered faster growth of intra-BRICS trade and investments.
The BRICS countries are the most representative countries among emerging markets. The combined population of the five countries is close to three billion, accounting for 43 per cent of the world total. Their combined gross domestic product, or GDP, is $11 trillion, or 16 per cent of the world’s total GDP. Their GDP share in the global pie, however, goes up to almost 25 per cent when compared against their GDP on a purchasing-power-parity basis.
India on Thursday agreed to an arrangement to facilitate and expand the system of settling in local currencies all trade transactions among members of the BRICS group of countries. The agreement followed consultations among development banks representing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, held here with a view to strengthening the BRICS inter-bank cooperation.
At $4.6 trillion, the five BRICS countries account for almost 15 per cent of global trade volume, but trade among them is only about $230 billion a year. The expanded system of settling trade in local currencies would boost intra-BRICS trade, a senior Chinese government official said.
While the China Development Bank led the discussion at the meeting, held concurrently with the BRICS Summit, the Exim Bank represented the Indian side. A key element in the new arrangement, a senior Indian government official explained, was that the settlement in local currencies would be subject to national laws.
The annual BRICS development banks’ meeting, that began here yesterday, also formalised three other cooperation arrangements among the member countries. To start with, the participating banks agreed to enhance co-operation in cross-border investments and financing of companies and projects.
The development banks also agreed to take pro-active steps in expediting capital market reforms in the BRICS countries, particularly with regard to issuance of bonds and listing of stocks. India, the officials said, would play a major role in this area as it has one of the most developed and active capital markets within the BRICS region.
The fourth element in the inter-bank co-operation mechanism pertains to the development banks’ commitment to promote exchange of information on financing and investments.
The absence of an established system of flow of financial information among the BRICS countries has hindered faster growth of intra-BRICS trade and investments.
The BRICS countries are the most representative countries among emerging markets. The combined population of the five countries is close to three billion, accounting for 43 per cent of the world total. Their combined gross domestic product, or GDP, is $11 trillion, or 16 per cent of the world’s total GDP. Their GDP share in the global pie, however, goes up to almost 25 per cent when compared against their GDP on a purchasing-power-parity basis.
Direct tax mop-up at record Rs 4.5L cr
New Delhi: The government has collected an all-time high income tax of Rs 4.5 lakh crore in 2010-11, at least Rs 4,000 crore more than the revised budget estimate of Rs 4.46 lakh crore.
This is in addition to all-time high refund of Rs 72,000 crore that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made till March 31, 2011 by clearing backlogs.
In previous years, the tax collection figures were bloated by delayed refunds, giving a wrong picture to net direct tax collection. The early refunds have also saved the government nearly Rs 4,500 crore towards interest payments.
In Nagpur, while addressing the passing out of 63rd batch of Indian Revenue Service officers, CBDT chairman Sudhir Chandra said, "Direct taxes collection by the end of financial year 2010-11 stood at Rs 4.50 lakh crore against a revised target of Rs 4.46 lakh crore."
Chandra has issued instructions to all I-T formations to immediately clear all pending refunds and has given them an extended ten days till April 20 to make refunds to taxpayers.
Delhi has cleared 82,000 refunds between April 1 and 10; Jaipur 35,343; Ahmedabad 33,610; Chennai 30,158 and Pune 19,522, clearing all the backlog. But, taxpayers in Mumbai are not as fortunate with more than two lakh refunds pending till April 10.
Officials in the Mumbai commissionerate have refused to abide by the finance ministry's diktat and have gone slow on refunds. It has cleared nearly 7,000 refunds between April 1-10. In contrast, relatively smaller formations such as Baroda and Hyderabad cleared more than 15,667 and 18,174 refunds respectively during this period.
This is in addition to all-time high refund of Rs 72,000 crore that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made till March 31, 2011 by clearing backlogs.
In previous years, the tax collection figures were bloated by delayed refunds, giving a wrong picture to net direct tax collection. The early refunds have also saved the government nearly Rs 4,500 crore towards interest payments.
In Nagpur, while addressing the passing out of 63rd batch of Indian Revenue Service officers, CBDT chairman Sudhir Chandra said, "Direct taxes collection by the end of financial year 2010-11 stood at Rs 4.50 lakh crore against a revised target of Rs 4.46 lakh crore."
Chandra has issued instructions to all I-T formations to immediately clear all pending refunds and has given them an extended ten days till April 20 to make refunds to taxpayers.
Delhi has cleared 82,000 refunds between April 1 and 10; Jaipur 35,343; Ahmedabad 33,610; Chennai 30,158 and Pune 19,522, clearing all the backlog. But, taxpayers in Mumbai are not as fortunate with more than two lakh refunds pending till April 10.
Officials in the Mumbai commissionerate have refused to abide by the finance ministry's diktat and have gone slow on refunds. It has cleared nearly 7,000 refunds between April 1-10. In contrast, relatively smaller formations such as Baroda and Hyderabad cleared more than 15,667 and 18,174 refunds respectively during this period.
Obama picks another Indian-American for key Government post
New Delhi: The US President Barack Obama has named Geeta Pasi, an Indian-American, as US Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
A graduate from Duke University and masters in French Studies from New York University, Pasi currently works as the Director of East African Affairs in the Africa Bureau at the Department of State. Before this, Pasi held the post of the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy Dhaka from 2006-2009.
Pasi has also served as Deputy Principal Officer at the US Consulate General in Frankfurt; Political Chief at Embassy Accra; Human Rights & Consular Officer at Embassy Bucharest; and Political and Economic Officer at US Consulate Douala. One of her postings was as Political Military Officer at the US embassy in New Delhi.
Pasi has also worked in Washington as Desk Officer for Afghanistan and for Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. She was also a Line Officer in the Executive Secretariat.
President Obama, while announcing his intention of nominating Pasi and three more people for important administration posts said, “I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have agreed to join this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead”.
A graduate from Duke University and masters in French Studies from New York University, Pasi currently works as the Director of East African Affairs in the Africa Bureau at the Department of State. Before this, Pasi held the post of the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy Dhaka from 2006-2009.
Pasi has also served as Deputy Principal Officer at the US Consulate General in Frankfurt; Political Chief at Embassy Accra; Human Rights & Consular Officer at Embassy Bucharest; and Political and Economic Officer at US Consulate Douala. One of her postings was as Political Military Officer at the US embassy in New Delhi.
Pasi has also worked in Washington as Desk Officer for Afghanistan and for Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. She was also a Line Officer in the Executive Secretariat.
President Obama, while announcing his intention of nominating Pasi and three more people for important administration posts said, “I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have agreed to join this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead”.
Time-bound clearance for new projects
New Delhi: India could soon be an easier place to do business. The government is set to launch a project that will not just provide entrepreneurs the opportunity to seek all clearances for starting business at the click of a mouse but is also going to guarantee approvals in a specified number of days.
In all, around 35 approvals from authorities ranging from municipalities, state government agencies and the Centre are required to start a business. These could include registration under the Companies Act and the Shops & Establishment Act to registration for VAT and with the Income Tax authorities.
Infosys, which was selected two years ago to execute the project, is expected to help the government roll out the project in Andhra Pradesh by the end of the year, minister of state for commerce & industry Jyotiraditya Scindia told TOI. "This will be an additional window, especially for smaller companies and start-ups. All we are trying to do is put everything together without affecting the functioning of any of the agencies," Scindia said.
Though the e-biz portal, which is being tested, would also deal with export and import related registrations, a separate platform for trade is being developed. While states such as Delhi had shown interest, Andhra seems to have stolen a march for the moment.
For long, India, despite its attractiveness due to a large market and cheap labour, has ranked poorly in terms of ease of doing business. In International Financial Corporation's Doing Business Report 2011, India was placed 134 among 183 countries. When it came to starting a business, it was ranked even poorly at 165, as it took 29 days to complete 12 procedures. In terms of dealing with construction permits, it was at the 177th position since it took 195 days to get 37 permits.
Though the government has been trying to improve India's ranking for the last few years, it is only now that things seem to be falling in place. The commerce and industry ministry is also piloting the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) to help businesses speed up the closure process, where India ranked 134th as it takes seven years to complete the formalities.
To begin with, in the proposed National Manufacturing & Investment Zones, the government has proposed a faster mechanism for settling the assets of a sick company. For instance, to settle labour dues independent of those of creditors, companies might be asked to purchase job loss policy from insurance companies to provide compensation for a specified number of days for every year of service rendered. Alternatively, a sinking fund could be maintained at the zonal level.
The NMP is in the final stages with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scheduled to meet ministries over the next few weeks, officials said. But that would still leave the government with the task of enforcing contracts where India has a poor track record. The IFC report ranked India at 182 among 183 countries. But that's expected to be taken up only in the next phase.
In all, around 35 approvals from authorities ranging from municipalities, state government agencies and the Centre are required to start a business. These could include registration under the Companies Act and the Shops & Establishment Act to registration for VAT and with the Income Tax authorities.
Infosys, which was selected two years ago to execute the project, is expected to help the government roll out the project in Andhra Pradesh by the end of the year, minister of state for commerce & industry Jyotiraditya Scindia told TOI. "This will be an additional window, especially for smaller companies and start-ups. All we are trying to do is put everything together without affecting the functioning of any of the agencies," Scindia said.
Though the e-biz portal, which is being tested, would also deal with export and import related registrations, a separate platform for trade is being developed. While states such as Delhi had shown interest, Andhra seems to have stolen a march for the moment.
For long, India, despite its attractiveness due to a large market and cheap labour, has ranked poorly in terms of ease of doing business. In International Financial Corporation's Doing Business Report 2011, India was placed 134 among 183 countries. When it came to starting a business, it was ranked even poorly at 165, as it took 29 days to complete 12 procedures. In terms of dealing with construction permits, it was at the 177th position since it took 195 days to get 37 permits.
Though the government has been trying to improve India's ranking for the last few years, it is only now that things seem to be falling in place. The commerce and industry ministry is also piloting the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) to help businesses speed up the closure process, where India ranked 134th as it takes seven years to complete the formalities.
To begin with, in the proposed National Manufacturing & Investment Zones, the government has proposed a faster mechanism for settling the assets of a sick company. For instance, to settle labour dues independent of those of creditors, companies might be asked to purchase job loss policy from insurance companies to provide compensation for a specified number of days for every year of service rendered. Alternatively, a sinking fund could be maintained at the zonal level.
The NMP is in the final stages with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scheduled to meet ministries over the next few weeks, officials said. But that would still leave the government with the task of enforcing contracts where India has a poor track record. The IFC report ranked India at 182 among 183 countries. But that's expected to be taken up only in the next phase.
Sebi set to regulate private equity
New Delhi: Private equity funds, hitherto unregulated, are set to come under Sebi regulations. The market regulator has already started work on regulating private equity players and guidelines would be issued shortly, economic affairs secretary R Gopalan said.
He said the regulations would be on the lines of venture capital funds, which are also regulated by the Securities & Exchange Board of India.
The venture capital regulation requires mandatory registration with Sebi and enjoys the status of a qualified institutional buyer. The proposed regulations from Sebi come at a time when internationally, there are concerns over private pools of capital such as private equity. In fact, in the past, RBI had also talked about regulating private equity. It has already spoken of tightening the norms for bank-sponsored funds.
Regulatory concerns increased following the global financial crisis as private equity and hedge funds were seen to be lacking transparency.
Even before the 2008 financial crisis, multilateral bodies such as International Monetary Fund and the OECD had expressed concern, especially regarding leverage.
In India, over the years, private equity has gained in significance as they invest in smaller companies and exit when they gain in size, often at a hefty premium to their investment value.
Venture intelligence data shows that private equity investment in the country rose 57% to $3.3 billion during January-March 2011. The inflows come on the back of nearly $9 billion invested by PE funds in Indian markets in 2010.
In contrast, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought $1.3 billion worth of Indian equities in March, after selling $2.2 billion in January and February, translating into net outflows of $900 million during the first quarter of the current financial year.
The guidelines would also help clarify some of the concerns that private equity investors have while investing in India.
Inset:
The government is going to soon start work on converting physical assets owned by Indian households into financial assets.
While India enjoys high savings rate, estimated at 35%, a McKinsey study had found that less than half that amount goes into financial assets such as fixed deposits and equities.
In fact, in 2008 (the latest period for which data was collated), real estate was the most preferred investment option with 35% of the savings finding its way into this asset class followed by currency (7%) and gold (5%). Among financial assets, deposits were the most preferred option (18%), followed by insurance (12%).
Economic affairs secretary R Gopalan said at a CII conference on Saturday that the government was taking up the task of encouraging individuals to invest in financial assets.
He said the regulations would be on the lines of venture capital funds, which are also regulated by the Securities & Exchange Board of India.
The venture capital regulation requires mandatory registration with Sebi and enjoys the status of a qualified institutional buyer. The proposed regulations from Sebi come at a time when internationally, there are concerns over private pools of capital such as private equity. In fact, in the past, RBI had also talked about regulating private equity. It has already spoken of tightening the norms for bank-sponsored funds.
Regulatory concerns increased following the global financial crisis as private equity and hedge funds were seen to be lacking transparency.
Even before the 2008 financial crisis, multilateral bodies such as International Monetary Fund and the OECD had expressed concern, especially regarding leverage.
In India, over the years, private equity has gained in significance as they invest in smaller companies and exit when they gain in size, often at a hefty premium to their investment value.
Venture intelligence data shows that private equity investment in the country rose 57% to $3.3 billion during January-March 2011. The inflows come on the back of nearly $9 billion invested by PE funds in Indian markets in 2010.
In contrast, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought $1.3 billion worth of Indian equities in March, after selling $2.2 billion in January and February, translating into net outflows of $900 million during the first quarter of the current financial year.
The guidelines would also help clarify some of the concerns that private equity investors have while investing in India.
Inset:
The government is going to soon start work on converting physical assets owned by Indian households into financial assets.
While India enjoys high savings rate, estimated at 35%, a McKinsey study had found that less than half that amount goes into financial assets such as fixed deposits and equities.
In fact, in 2008 (the latest period for which data was collated), real estate was the most preferred investment option with 35% of the savings finding its way into this asset class followed by currency (7%) and gold (5%). Among financial assets, deposits were the most preferred option (18%), followed by insurance (12%).
Economic affairs secretary R Gopalan said at a CII conference on Saturday that the government was taking up the task of encouraging individuals to invest in financial assets.
New Telecom policy to ease M&A rules
New Delhi: The existing stringent merger and acquisition rules will be eased in the new telecom policy that will be in place by the year-end, communication minister Kapil Sibal said on Monday. The move is aimed at bringing in much-needed consolidation in the hyper-competitive 14-player telecom market. Sibal did not divulge details regarding the relaxation of M&A rules.
"But, the number of competitors should not be allowed to fall below six in each circle," he said. Sibal said telecom licences should be renewed for 10 years compared with 20 years currently, and said companies must submit applications for new permits at least 30 months prior to the expiry of their licences.
At present, telcos hold separate permits for each of the 22 circles in the country and these are valid for a period of 20 years. The government gave away mobile permits from mid-90s. About 11 mobile phone companies will have to renew their permits between 2014 and 2021. Reiterating his earlier announcement, Sibal said the new policy would also de-link the allocation of telecom licences from mobile spectrum. Currently, mobile permits come bundled with start-up airwaves.
The minister also proposed a series of reforms to address all issues related to airwaves, including the formulation of a National Spectrum Act to govern all allocations of this scarce resource. Retired Supreme Court Judge Shivraj Patil will head the committee to draft this Act, he added.
Spectrum is at the centre of almost all the controversies in India's telecoms industry.
"By separating spectrum from licence, spectrum is no longer the bottleneck for someone to enter in the industry and offer services. In terms of pricing, ideally spectrum should be auctioned. The National Spectrum Act would have to refine the entire spectrum allocation, valuation and pricing process. But they must keep in mind that there are existing players that have invested huge monies. It will be a balancing act." Analysys Mason India director Kunal Bajaj said.
External agencies, such as private auditors, the comptroller auditor general of India, better known as CAG, or even the telecom regulator TRAI, to do regular audits of spectrum usage by the industry, Sibal said, and added that other proposals such as sharing of radio frequencies amongst operators were also likely to be part of the new policy.
The minister also emphasized that the government will ask telcos to pay for spectrum based on a market-driven mechanism, an indication that the telecoms department (DoT) will implement regulator's Trai's latest recommendations and ask GSM telcos to pay for all 'excess' airwaves they hold on a retrospective basis.
"But, the number of competitors should not be allowed to fall below six in each circle," he said. Sibal said telecom licences should be renewed for 10 years compared with 20 years currently, and said companies must submit applications for new permits at least 30 months prior to the expiry of their licences.
At present, telcos hold separate permits for each of the 22 circles in the country and these are valid for a period of 20 years. The government gave away mobile permits from mid-90s. About 11 mobile phone companies will have to renew their permits between 2014 and 2021. Reiterating his earlier announcement, Sibal said the new policy would also de-link the allocation of telecom licences from mobile spectrum. Currently, mobile permits come bundled with start-up airwaves.
The minister also proposed a series of reforms to address all issues related to airwaves, including the formulation of a National Spectrum Act to govern all allocations of this scarce resource. Retired Supreme Court Judge Shivraj Patil will head the committee to draft this Act, he added.
Spectrum is at the centre of almost all the controversies in India's telecoms industry.
"By separating spectrum from licence, spectrum is no longer the bottleneck for someone to enter in the industry and offer services. In terms of pricing, ideally spectrum should be auctioned. The National Spectrum Act would have to refine the entire spectrum allocation, valuation and pricing process. But they must keep in mind that there are existing players that have invested huge monies. It will be a balancing act." Analysys Mason India director Kunal Bajaj said.
External agencies, such as private auditors, the comptroller auditor general of India, better known as CAG, or even the telecom regulator TRAI, to do regular audits of spectrum usage by the industry, Sibal said, and added that other proposals such as sharing of radio frequencies amongst operators were also likely to be part of the new policy.
The minister also emphasized that the government will ask telcos to pay for spectrum based on a market-driven mechanism, an indication that the telecoms department (DoT) will implement regulator's Trai's latest recommendations and ask GSM telcos to pay for all 'excess' airwaves they hold on a retrospective basis.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
India offers a huge business potential, says Buffett
Bangalore: For a man who does not like to look back in life, India, though a missed opportunity, still offers a huge potential. For Mr Warren E. Buffett, Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway, India is a country which is on the move.
In what could be indicative of possible investments from the octogenarian-billionaire, he told a gathering of top-notch corporate leaders that Berkshire Hathaway was always available for big-ticket investments. “At some point in the next six months or two years or five years, when some large Indian corporation looks for a permanent new home, and believes that Berkshire Hathaway is the best place in the world,” it is important “they don't forget me”, emphasised Mr Buffett, addressing an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Mr Buffet who is visiting India for the first time, said, “India is a very big country with large number of very significant businesses. There should be all kinds of opportunities for many of the Berkshire companies to participate in India.” In fact, in the last 48 hours he has even openly admitted of being a late entrant to India, indicating that there could have been missed opportunities.
Not willing to miss out on the country's potential in the future, Mr Buffett fielded questions from corporate leaders like Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies; Mr Vikram Kirloskar, Vice-Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar; Mr Raju, Managing Director, GMR Infrastructure, even as he urged them to pledge for philanthropy.
On the prospects for India and China, Mr Buffett said that both these countries were now working smarter and exploding in terms of opening up human potential. “It's not as if these countries are working harder than before, just that they are working smarter and responding to the needs of their societies,” he added.
Mr Buffett told the attentive and visibly excited audience that he was enormously lucky as a person, “with the right sort of wiring” that worked really well in a capitalistic society like the US, which was a “wonderful place to be born in”. He said that he got the right opportunities in life, better compared with his two sisters', and exposed as he was to “extraordinary human beings”.
“Personally I would much prefer not to be born rich,” he said but would like to be born with ‘certain talents' which are useful to the society so that he could lead a good life.
“Never have my heroes let me down,” he said, adding that his father and his first wife were his biggest influences in life.
In what could be indicative of possible investments from the octogenarian-billionaire, he told a gathering of top-notch corporate leaders that Berkshire Hathaway was always available for big-ticket investments. “At some point in the next six months or two years or five years, when some large Indian corporation looks for a permanent new home, and believes that Berkshire Hathaway is the best place in the world,” it is important “they don't forget me”, emphasised Mr Buffett, addressing an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Mr Buffet who is visiting India for the first time, said, “India is a very big country with large number of very significant businesses. There should be all kinds of opportunities for many of the Berkshire companies to participate in India.” In fact, in the last 48 hours he has even openly admitted of being a late entrant to India, indicating that there could have been missed opportunities.
Not willing to miss out on the country's potential in the future, Mr Buffett fielded questions from corporate leaders like Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies; Mr Vikram Kirloskar, Vice-Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar; Mr Raju, Managing Director, GMR Infrastructure, even as he urged them to pledge for philanthropy.
On the prospects for India and China, Mr Buffett said that both these countries were now working smarter and exploding in terms of opening up human potential. “It's not as if these countries are working harder than before, just that they are working smarter and responding to the needs of their societies,” he added.
Mr Buffett told the attentive and visibly excited audience that he was enormously lucky as a person, “with the right sort of wiring” that worked really well in a capitalistic society like the US, which was a “wonderful place to be born in”. He said that he got the right opportunities in life, better compared with his two sisters', and exposed as he was to “extraordinary human beings”.
“Personally I would much prefer not to be born rich,” he said but would like to be born with ‘certain talents' which are useful to the society so that he could lead a good life.
“Never have my heroes let me down,” he said, adding that his father and his first wife were his biggest influences in life.
TCS, Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies on hiring overdrive
Chennai: The hiring numbers of IT majors leave nothing to doubt about how far the companies have left behind the recession.
From the quarter ended March 31, 2010 to the one ended December 31, 2010, the top 5 IT majors in India--Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant , Infosys , Wipro and HCL Technologies .-together clocked a staggering figure of 1,14,038 net additions in terms of headcount. This stands in sharp contrast to the net addition figure of 47,462 in the corresponding year ago period.
Net addition subtracts the number of people leaving the company from the gross additions, and, therefore, is a better indicator of the actual increase in staff numbers.
"It reflects the buoyancy in the market. 2009 numbers show the uncertainty and the low sentiments prevailing at that point. Companies are feeling a lot more confident now and can afford some redundancy in anticipation of big projects which wasn't the case earlier," said E Balaji, MD and CEO, MaFoi Randstad, a HR consulting firm.
The numbers have shown a marked increase for each of the big IT companies. The net addition of TCS for the period from March quarter to the December quarter in 2010 was 37,260 which is almost double the figure of 19,311 clocked in the year ago.
Cognizant's net addition numbers increased from 16,700 in 2009 to 25,557 in 2010. Much bigger increases were seen for the other 3 IT majors-Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies. The same numbers for Wipro for instance, increased from 3,977 in 2009 to 16,745 in 2010; for HCL Tech, the number rose from 670 to 16,579; and for Infosys, from 6,804 to 17,897.
"During recession, companies weren't recruiting freshers. So there was a deficit, especially at lower levels. So what is happening now is that companies are replenishing the stock, with freshers accounting for a big part of it. The higher attrition in the current buoyant mood in the market is also playing a role in increasing these hiring numbers," said Amitabh Das, CEO of Vati Consulting , a recruitment firm.
Not only are the companies compensating for the lull in hiring, they also anticipate bigger and more valuable projects in the coming times. They are building up bench strengths to handle the bigger size and variety of projects they expect to come their way.
From the quarter ended March 31, 2010 to the one ended December 31, 2010, the top 5 IT majors in India--Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant , Infosys , Wipro and HCL Technologies .-together clocked a staggering figure of 1,14,038 net additions in terms of headcount. This stands in sharp contrast to the net addition figure of 47,462 in the corresponding year ago period.
Net addition subtracts the number of people leaving the company from the gross additions, and, therefore, is a better indicator of the actual increase in staff numbers.
"It reflects the buoyancy in the market. 2009 numbers show the uncertainty and the low sentiments prevailing at that point. Companies are feeling a lot more confident now and can afford some redundancy in anticipation of big projects which wasn't the case earlier," said E Balaji, MD and CEO, MaFoi Randstad, a HR consulting firm.
The numbers have shown a marked increase for each of the big IT companies. The net addition of TCS for the period from March quarter to the December quarter in 2010 was 37,260 which is almost double the figure of 19,311 clocked in the year ago.
Cognizant's net addition numbers increased from 16,700 in 2009 to 25,557 in 2010. Much bigger increases were seen for the other 3 IT majors-Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies. The same numbers for Wipro for instance, increased from 3,977 in 2009 to 16,745 in 2010; for HCL Tech, the number rose from 670 to 16,579; and for Infosys, from 6,804 to 17,897.
"During recession, companies weren't recruiting freshers. So there was a deficit, especially at lower levels. So what is happening now is that companies are replenishing the stock, with freshers accounting for a big part of it. The higher attrition in the current buoyant mood in the market is also playing a role in increasing these hiring numbers," said Amitabh Das, CEO of Vati Consulting , a recruitment firm.
Not only are the companies compensating for the lull in hiring, they also anticipate bigger and more valuable projects in the coming times. They are building up bench strengths to handle the bigger size and variety of projects they expect to come their way.
Mobile VAS to clock Rs 55,000 cr in sales by 2015
New Delhi: Mobile value-added services will generate Rs 55,000 crore in sales by 2015, more than double the Rs 18,000-crore figure currently, consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a report. The present student community will be the largest consumers of value-added services in the next four years, the study revealed.
It also adds that new the new generation of content users will demand more entertainment and utility-based services. As students become tomorrow's working class, capable of high income & high propensity to pay, they are likely to generate incremental revenue of Rs 14,677 crore in 2015.
The consulting firm had sampled 1,050 respondents across Delhi , Mumbai , Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai , Bhubaneswar, Kochi, Ahmedabad , Pune and Kolkata , for its study. PwC projects the working population to make up around 50% of the subscriber base, which is expected to be around 1.2 billion in 2015, therefore increasing revenue flows.
Entertainment services such as live sports, music, regional language content and Bollywood movies will be adopted by masses because people are most willing to pay for entertainment services compared to all other categories of VAS. The survey focuses on 30 value services across entertainment, information, communication and m-commerce points out multilingual content, application support around languages, killer applications and readiness of handsets could drive in a very high quantum of revenues from VAS.
But to tap this opportunity, mobile operators, content creators and handset manufacturers will have to collaborate to create a large array or services for a market driven by localised content, it adds. As these different stakeholders collaborate and compete for the same pie-share, the industry will witness tectonic changes, says PwC India executive director consulting Sivarama Krishnan.
Essential medical services on VAS could open up another opportunity after mobile banking for content creators and mobile operators. Medical advice VAS has the capability to allow the deprived sections of society to access quality medical advice at an affordable price. Issues related to ease of use and data privacy would have to be taken into consideration to make these services effective revenue streams, the report adds.
The survey also highlights how most Indian mobile operators would have to increasingly rely on VAS, which will drive up revenues. Mobile tariffs in India are one of the lowest in the world and hyper-competition will not allow them to rise in near future. These operators are adding more customers from rural India. However, minutes of usage per subscribers and ARPU , are falling quarter-on-quarter due to lower paying capacity and usage patterns.
It also adds that new the new generation of content users will demand more entertainment and utility-based services. As students become tomorrow's working class, capable of high income & high propensity to pay, they are likely to generate incremental revenue of Rs 14,677 crore in 2015.
The consulting firm had sampled 1,050 respondents across Delhi , Mumbai , Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai , Bhubaneswar, Kochi, Ahmedabad , Pune and Kolkata , for its study. PwC projects the working population to make up around 50% of the subscriber base, which is expected to be around 1.2 billion in 2015, therefore increasing revenue flows.
Entertainment services such as live sports, music, regional language content and Bollywood movies will be adopted by masses because people are most willing to pay for entertainment services compared to all other categories of VAS. The survey focuses on 30 value services across entertainment, information, communication and m-commerce points out multilingual content, application support around languages, killer applications and readiness of handsets could drive in a very high quantum of revenues from VAS.
But to tap this opportunity, mobile operators, content creators and handset manufacturers will have to collaborate to create a large array or services for a market driven by localised content, it adds. As these different stakeholders collaborate and compete for the same pie-share, the industry will witness tectonic changes, says PwC India executive director consulting Sivarama Krishnan.
Essential medical services on VAS could open up another opportunity after mobile banking for content creators and mobile operators. Medical advice VAS has the capability to allow the deprived sections of society to access quality medical advice at an affordable price. Issues related to ease of use and data privacy would have to be taken into consideration to make these services effective revenue streams, the report adds.
The survey also highlights how most Indian mobile operators would have to increasingly rely on VAS, which will drive up revenues. Mobile tariffs in India are one of the lowest in the world and hyper-competition will not allow them to rise in near future. These operators are adding more customers from rural India. However, minutes of usage per subscribers and ARPU , are falling quarter-on-quarter due to lower paying capacity and usage patterns.
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