New Delhi: Exports from special economic zones grew 17 per cent to Rs 2,60,973 crore during April-December 2011 from Rs 2,23,132 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year, according to a statement by the Export Promotion Council for Export-oriented Units and SEZs (EPCES) on Tuesday.
Total SEZ exports during 2010-11 had grown 43.1 per cent to Rs 3,15,868 crore, Mr Jatin R. Mehta, Chairman, EPCES, said. As on December 31, 2011, investments into SEZs were Rs 2,49,631 crore, while these zones have given direct employment to 8,15,308 people. So far, 584 proposals for setting up SEZs have received the Government's formal approval.
Of this, 381 SEZs have been notified and 148 SEZs are operational as on December 31, 2011.
Mr Mehta said the EPCES has urged the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, to restore exemption from minimum alternate tax (MAT) for SEZ units and developers.
The imposition of MAT on SEZs has led to a fall in investments, the council said.
The EPCES has also asked the Finance Minister to revamp the EOU scheme by favourably considering the recent recommendations of a Government panel.
The share of EOU/SEZ sector to national exports was 34 per cent during 2010-11.
Success in my Habit
Thursday, February 9, 2012
IBM keen on investing in mid-segment storage products
Bangalore: IBM is investing in developing storage products for mid-segment and lower segment clients in Tier-2/ Tier-3 cities in India and is focusing on increasing its presence in smaller cities.
“We are putting a lot of effort into the mid-market clients. We are investing in more products in the low and mid areas, and these organic products that IBM has developed… not just OEM,” Ms Laura Guio, Vice-President for Storage Sales in Growth Markets, toldBusiness Linerecently. “One thing IBM is doing is taking the technology and feature function richness of an enterprise solution and pushing it down the stack. For those who don't have the investment power invest in the enterprise solution but want the bells and whistles. As they invest in this, our solution helps them ride up the continuum,” Ms Guio said.
“What we need to focus on is helping clients understand in the mid-space,” she added.
Products & requirement
According to her, people initially were willing to buy storage space but then saw the other costs that came with buying space. Products such as V7000 were suitable for such small-term requirement, she says.
With India being the fastest growing in IBM's bunch of 149 ‘growth markets', the company is working on developing more products such as IBM Storwize V7000, suitable for small and medium business as it helps manage data flow reduces storage rack space.
In this context, the company is also planning to expand aggressively into smaller cities across the country and leverage the market with the help of business partners.
“We are putting a lot of effort into the mid-market clients. We are investing in more products in the low and mid areas, and these organic products that IBM has developed… not just OEM,” Ms Laura Guio, Vice-President for Storage Sales in Growth Markets, toldBusiness Linerecently. “One thing IBM is doing is taking the technology and feature function richness of an enterprise solution and pushing it down the stack. For those who don't have the investment power invest in the enterprise solution but want the bells and whistles. As they invest in this, our solution helps them ride up the continuum,” Ms Guio said.
“What we need to focus on is helping clients understand in the mid-space,” she added.
Products & requirement
According to her, people initially were willing to buy storage space but then saw the other costs that came with buying space. Products such as V7000 were suitable for such small-term requirement, she says.
With India being the fastest growing in IBM's bunch of 149 ‘growth markets', the company is working on developing more products such as IBM Storwize V7000, suitable for small and medium business as it helps manage data flow reduces storage rack space.
In this context, the company is also planning to expand aggressively into smaller cities across the country and leverage the market with the help of business partners.
Tulip sets up Rs 900-cr data centre
Bangalore: Enterprise data services company Tulip Telecom has established a 9 lakh sq ft data centre ‘Tulip Data City' here, the world's third largest data centre, at a total investment of Rs 900 crore.
“The company has made an immediate investment of Rs 230 crore and has secured loans for Rs 50 crore from leading banks,” Lt Col H.S. Bedi, Chairman and Managing Director of Tulip Telecom, said. The company is planning to raise another Rs 250 crore through debt, Rs 250 crore through equity and will fund the rest using internal accruals, he added.
“We might also look at strategic partners for the business,” he added. With more companies moving to professional data centres for their storage needs, the telecom company expects the entire facility to be occupied in three years.
Rs 600-cr orders
Tulip Data City, the 100 per cent subsidiary data centre of Tulip Telecom, currently has orders worth Rs 600 crore from IBM, NTT and HP.
“About 20 per cent of the data centre has already been booked by three customers and we expect it to be fully contracted in three years,” Lt Col Bedi said. Tulip Data City expects to earn revenues of Rs 1,000 crore once the data centre is fully operational.
The facility was inaugurated by Mr Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications and IT. “The future will be decided based on who owns the data, and currently, a large part of our data is owned outside India… so it is extremely important to have a data centre here,” Mr Pilot said after the inauguration.
Tulip Data City is Tulip Telecom's fifth data centre and Lt Col Bedi said that once this centre takes off, the company could consider bringing other data centres under this. The servers at Tulip Data City consume about 100 MW of power in peak but it is still lower than where the servers were earlier used where they consumer about 130 MW power, Lt Col Bedi said.
The company draws 20 MW from the Bangalore Electricity and Supply and Company and is planning to source the remaining power from other entities, he said.
“The company has made an immediate investment of Rs 230 crore and has secured loans for Rs 50 crore from leading banks,” Lt Col H.S. Bedi, Chairman and Managing Director of Tulip Telecom, said. The company is planning to raise another Rs 250 crore through debt, Rs 250 crore through equity and will fund the rest using internal accruals, he added.
“We might also look at strategic partners for the business,” he added. With more companies moving to professional data centres for their storage needs, the telecom company expects the entire facility to be occupied in three years.
Rs 600-cr orders
Tulip Data City, the 100 per cent subsidiary data centre of Tulip Telecom, currently has orders worth Rs 600 crore from IBM, NTT and HP.
“About 20 per cent of the data centre has already been booked by three customers and we expect it to be fully contracted in three years,” Lt Col Bedi said. Tulip Data City expects to earn revenues of Rs 1,000 crore once the data centre is fully operational.
The facility was inaugurated by Mr Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications and IT. “The future will be decided based on who owns the data, and currently, a large part of our data is owned outside India… so it is extremely important to have a data centre here,” Mr Pilot said after the inauguration.
Tulip Data City is Tulip Telecom's fifth data centre and Lt Col Bedi said that once this centre takes off, the company could consider bringing other data centres under this. The servers at Tulip Data City consume about 100 MW of power in peak but it is still lower than where the servers were earlier used where they consumer about 130 MW power, Lt Col Bedi said.
The company draws 20 MW from the Bangalore Electricity and Supply and Company and is planning to source the remaining power from other entities, he said.
GVK's arm awards Rs 1,937-cr road contract to LandT
Hyderabad: A subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd, and construction major L&T have signed a pact for execution of a Rs 1,937-crore order for a road project in Madhya Pradesh.
The GVK group has awarded the contract to L&T to execute the road project on design, engineering, procurement and construction basis of a four-lane road of Shivapuri-Dewas section of National Highway-43 in Madhya Pradesh spread over a stretch of 235 km. According to the arrangement, the project has to be completed in 27 months.
This road project is part of the phase IV of the National Highway Development Programme. This road project is among three mega projects of NHAI. L&T is associated with all of them.
The project is being implemented by GVK Shivpuri Dewas Expressway Pvt Ltd, a step-down subsidiary of GVK. The concession agreement for the project was signed last month with National Highways Authority of India. The concession period for the project is for 30 years including construction period of 30 months.
The GVK group has awarded the contract to L&T to execute the road project on design, engineering, procurement and construction basis of a four-lane road of Shivapuri-Dewas section of National Highway-43 in Madhya Pradesh spread over a stretch of 235 km. According to the arrangement, the project has to be completed in 27 months.
This road project is part of the phase IV of the National Highway Development Programme. This road project is among three mega projects of NHAI. L&T is associated with all of them.
The project is being implemented by GVK Shivpuri Dewas Expressway Pvt Ltd, a step-down subsidiary of GVK. The concession agreement for the project was signed last month with National Highways Authority of India. The concession period for the project is for 30 years including construction period of 30 months.
Cochin Shipyard delivers vessel to Norway
Kochi: The public sector Cochin Shipyard delivered a Platform Supply Vessel —Skandi Hawk— to DOF Rederi II, AS, Norway.
This is the third of the high-tech offshore vessels that have been constructed and delivered by CSL this financial year.
The Protocol documents of the ship were signed by Mr Vinayakumar P, Director (Technical), on behalf of Cochin Shipyard, and Mr Terje Rabben, Project Manager, DOF, on behalf of the owners.
The vessel is of the PSV-09 CD type designed by STX OSV Norway and is classed under the Rules and Regulations of Det Norske Veritas and is flagged under the Norwegian regulations.
The vessel, with Grade II Dynamic Positioning features, has been assigned the ‘CLEAN' design notation by DNV, signifying the highest levels of environmental compliance.
It can accommodate 62 persons meets the requirements of COMF class, signifying high comfort levels due to special arrangements to minimise noise and vibration levels.
This is the third of the high-tech offshore vessels that have been constructed and delivered by CSL this financial year.
The Protocol documents of the ship were signed by Mr Vinayakumar P, Director (Technical), on behalf of Cochin Shipyard, and Mr Terje Rabben, Project Manager, DOF, on behalf of the owners.
The vessel is of the PSV-09 CD type designed by STX OSV Norway and is classed under the Rules and Regulations of Det Norske Veritas and is flagged under the Norwegian regulations.
The vessel, with Grade II Dynamic Positioning features, has been assigned the ‘CLEAN' design notation by DNV, signifying the highest levels of environmental compliance.
It can accommodate 62 persons meets the requirements of COMF class, signifying high comfort levels due to special arrangements to minimise noise and vibration levels.
TCS inks multi-million euro deal with car rental co Europcar
Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services said it has signed a multi-year, multi-million euro contract with Europcar, a car rental company in Europe.
The European company's IT subsidiary Europcar Information Services has selected TCS to manage IT services development for its French operations, said a statement from the Indian company. TCS did not specify the exact size of the deal.
For TCS, this strengthens its presence in France and marks expansion of its travel, transportation and hospitality industry unit, said the statement. This unit has over 4,000 consultants and works with over 50 customers worldwide.
Mr Kumar Narayanan, Director and Country Head of TCS France, said, “This partnership with Europcar is part of the development of a strategic relationship with industry leading companies in France.”
TCS said it provides services to over 20 French companies, a majority of which are part of the CAC 40 Index. Its stock gained by over 2 per cent on the BSE, to end at Rs 1,191.95 on Monday.
The European company's IT subsidiary Europcar Information Services has selected TCS to manage IT services development for its French operations, said a statement from the Indian company. TCS did not specify the exact size of the deal.
For TCS, this strengthens its presence in France and marks expansion of its travel, transportation and hospitality industry unit, said the statement. This unit has over 4,000 consultants and works with over 50 customers worldwide.
Mr Kumar Narayanan, Director and Country Head of TCS France, said, “This partnership with Europcar is part of the development of a strategic relationship with industry leading companies in France.”
TCS said it provides services to over 20 French companies, a majority of which are part of the CAC 40 Index. Its stock gained by over 2 per cent on the BSE, to end at Rs 1,191.95 on Monday.
Hospitals check into hotels as medical tourism booms
Bangalore/Chennai: The boom in medical tourism is encouraging hospitals and hoteliers to strike alliances with each other.
Industry estimates peg the market size of medical tourism in India, which is growing at over 25 per cent annually, at over $2.5 billion. The segment's growing business potential prompted the ITC group to set up the 58-room Fortune Park Lake City business hotel at the Jupiter LifeLine Hospitals complex in Thane, near Mumbai, to serve medical tourists.
Mr Suresh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, ITC's Fortune Park Hotels, says the hotel is a pilot project “to evaluate and explore avenues in medical tourism for the brand.” There are plans to launch similar projects in other cities.
A Bangalore-based hotelier says patients from a nearby hospital, with which there is a tie-up, account for 5 per cent of the hotel's monthly inventory. “There is a steady business from this avenue and we expect it to grow because they come at a higher ARR (average room rate),” says the hotelier, who did not want to be named.
It's a win-win for all. Though hospitals typically do not have any revenue-sharing model with hotels, the arrangement works well for hospitals as they get their rooms freed up for other patients, says Mr Saumyajit Roy, Associate Director – Strategic Consulting (Education, Healthcare and Senior Living), Jones Lang LaSalle India.
For instance, Fortis Hospitals has tie-ups with guest houses which ensure pick-up and drops for patients and their attendants who get special rates and discounts. “These guest houses are located close to the hospitals — they are functional, reliable and supportive of the needs of the patients and their attendants,” says Mr Anas Abdul Wajid, Head, Sales and International Business, Fortis Healthcare, whose revenue and volumes from foreign patients are growing at 40 per cent year-on-year.
Apollo Hospitals, too, explores similar tie-ups with neighbourhood hotels. Mr Jacob Jacob, Chief People Officer, Apollo Hospitals, says the hotel staff is familiar with the needs of patients and their families.
Adds Mr Roy: “It's not only patients from foreign countries. People in India who need long-term treatment also use this wellness eco-system.” Most international patients are from Africa, SAARC and West Asia. Patients requiring higher-end tertiary care are now coming to India for cardiology, orthopaedics, neurology, oncology and organ transplants. Affordability of treatment is a big woo factor — treatment in India costs just 10-20 per cent of what it costs abroad.
Industry estimates peg the market size of medical tourism in India, which is growing at over 25 per cent annually, at over $2.5 billion. The segment's growing business potential prompted the ITC group to set up the 58-room Fortune Park Lake City business hotel at the Jupiter LifeLine Hospitals complex in Thane, near Mumbai, to serve medical tourists.
Mr Suresh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, ITC's Fortune Park Hotels, says the hotel is a pilot project “to evaluate and explore avenues in medical tourism for the brand.” There are plans to launch similar projects in other cities.
A Bangalore-based hotelier says patients from a nearby hospital, with which there is a tie-up, account for 5 per cent of the hotel's monthly inventory. “There is a steady business from this avenue and we expect it to grow because they come at a higher ARR (average room rate),” says the hotelier, who did not want to be named.
It's a win-win for all. Though hospitals typically do not have any revenue-sharing model with hotels, the arrangement works well for hospitals as they get their rooms freed up for other patients, says Mr Saumyajit Roy, Associate Director – Strategic Consulting (Education, Healthcare and Senior Living), Jones Lang LaSalle India.
For instance, Fortis Hospitals has tie-ups with guest houses which ensure pick-up and drops for patients and their attendants who get special rates and discounts. “These guest houses are located close to the hospitals — they are functional, reliable and supportive of the needs of the patients and their attendants,” says Mr Anas Abdul Wajid, Head, Sales and International Business, Fortis Healthcare, whose revenue and volumes from foreign patients are growing at 40 per cent year-on-year.
Apollo Hospitals, too, explores similar tie-ups with neighbourhood hotels. Mr Jacob Jacob, Chief People Officer, Apollo Hospitals, says the hotel staff is familiar with the needs of patients and their families.
Adds Mr Roy: “It's not only patients from foreign countries. People in India who need long-term treatment also use this wellness eco-system.” Most international patients are from Africa, SAARC and West Asia. Patients requiring higher-end tertiary care are now coming to India for cardiology, orthopaedics, neurology, oncology and organ transplants. Affordability of treatment is a big woo factor — treatment in India costs just 10-20 per cent of what it costs abroad.
Sebi eases preferential allotment norms
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the capital market regulator, today lifted restrictions on broad-based institutions, such as insurance companies and mutual funds, subscribing to preferential issues of companies. The decision was taken at its board meeting in New Delhi today.
According to earlier regulations, these institutions were not allowed to participate in preferential allotments if they had sold holdings in the issuer companies in the preceding six months. Further, on allotment, they were required to lock in their entire pre-preferential holdings in such companies for a period of six months from the date of preferential allotment.
Both these restrictions have now been lifted. “It has been decided to exempt insurance companies and mutual funds, which are broad-based investment vehicles representing public at large, from regulations related to sale and lock-in of their pre-preferential shareholding in issuer companies,” Sebi said in a release. However, the lock-in on shares allotted in the preferential issue, will remain unchanged.
Peerless Mutual Fund MD & CEO Akshay Gupta said: “The move will benefit some of the larger asset management companies (AMCs) that already have significant holdings in companies and want to increase those further through preferential allotments. At present, not many AMCs participate in preferential allotments.”
Quantum Mutual Fund Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Patel added: “The move to ease preferential allotment norms will help promoters more than AMCs, as their investor base will increase. Mutual fund houses will now be able to invest in companies, even if they had sold shares in the companies in the past six months.”
Other key decisions
Amendment to MF Advertisement Code: To provide more flexibility to mutual fund houses, Sebi has decided to amended the advertising code to make it principle-based. “The definition of advertisement shall be broadened to include all forms of communication that may influence investment decisions of any investor,” the regulator said.
“Under the current advertisement code, there are many restrictions. More than 40 per cent of the ad space gets wasted on disclaimers and information that investors don’t even read. I hope the new code would give us more flexibility and reduce the disclaimers, so that we can advertise our products properly,” said Gupta.
PMS investment limit increased: The market regulator has increased the minimum investment amount under portfolio management services from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. Further, portfolio managers have been asked to ensure segregation of holdings in individual demat accounts in respect of unlisted securities, too.
“Raising the PMS limit was long overdue. The move will benefit the mutual fund industry. As portfolio managers, who have better incentive structures, used to lure relatively small high networth individuals (HNIs) away from mutual fund houses. This will bring back a lot of investors to mutual funds,” said Patel.
Reservation for holders of convertible debt securities: Sebi has clarified that reservations to convertible debt holders in rights and bonus issues shall only be available to compulsorily convertible debt holders.
According to earlier regulations, these institutions were not allowed to participate in preferential allotments if they had sold holdings in the issuer companies in the preceding six months. Further, on allotment, they were required to lock in their entire pre-preferential holdings in such companies for a period of six months from the date of preferential allotment.
Both these restrictions have now been lifted. “It has been decided to exempt insurance companies and mutual funds, which are broad-based investment vehicles representing public at large, from regulations related to sale and lock-in of their pre-preferential shareholding in issuer companies,” Sebi said in a release. However, the lock-in on shares allotted in the preferential issue, will remain unchanged.
Peerless Mutual Fund MD & CEO Akshay Gupta said: “The move will benefit some of the larger asset management companies (AMCs) that already have significant holdings in companies and want to increase those further through preferential allotments. At present, not many AMCs participate in preferential allotments.”
Quantum Mutual Fund Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Patel added: “The move to ease preferential allotment norms will help promoters more than AMCs, as their investor base will increase. Mutual fund houses will now be able to invest in companies, even if they had sold shares in the companies in the past six months.”
Other key decisions
Amendment to MF Advertisement Code: To provide more flexibility to mutual fund houses, Sebi has decided to amended the advertising code to make it principle-based. “The definition of advertisement shall be broadened to include all forms of communication that may influence investment decisions of any investor,” the regulator said.
“Under the current advertisement code, there are many restrictions. More than 40 per cent of the ad space gets wasted on disclaimers and information that investors don’t even read. I hope the new code would give us more flexibility and reduce the disclaimers, so that we can advertise our products properly,” said Gupta.
PMS investment limit increased: The market regulator has increased the minimum investment amount under portfolio management services from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. Further, portfolio managers have been asked to ensure segregation of holdings in individual demat accounts in respect of unlisted securities, too.
“Raising the PMS limit was long overdue. The move will benefit the mutual fund industry. As portfolio managers, who have better incentive structures, used to lure relatively small high networth individuals (HNIs) away from mutual fund houses. This will bring back a lot of investors to mutual funds,” said Patel.
Reservation for holders of convertible debt securities: Sebi has clarified that reservations to convertible debt holders in rights and bonus issues shall only be available to compulsorily convertible debt holders.
RBI allows pvt banks to conduct govt business
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to allow all private sector banks to undertake Central and state government business, which is still a forte of public sector banks and three large private players, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.
Banks earn a fee while working as an agent of the central bank for collecting revenues as well as disbursing the payments under various schemes. At present, the three private banks are allowed to undertake government business in a limited way but RBI now said all the private lenders will be treated at par with their public sector counterparts.
“It has been decided that all private sector banks will now be considered eligible to handle any Central or state government business (where RBI pays agency commission) at par with public sector banks,” RBI said in a notification.
According to the regulator the move is aimed to enhance the quality of customer service in Government business through more competition, improving customer convenience by increasing the number of customer service outlets and broad basing the revenue collection and payments mechanism of governments.
RBI said those banks interested to handle government business need to be appointed as agents of RBI. For this purpose, it said government may work out the arrangement with the bank and send the proposal to the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) for examination. The CGA, in turn, will forward the recommendation the central bank and then RBI will formally appoint a bank as an agency bank.
Banks earn a fee while working as an agent of the central bank for collecting revenues as well as disbursing the payments under various schemes. At present, the three private banks are allowed to undertake government business in a limited way but RBI now said all the private lenders will be treated at par with their public sector counterparts.
“It has been decided that all private sector banks will now be considered eligible to handle any Central or state government business (where RBI pays agency commission) at par with public sector banks,” RBI said in a notification.
According to the regulator the move is aimed to enhance the quality of customer service in Government business through more competition, improving customer convenience by increasing the number of customer service outlets and broad basing the revenue collection and payments mechanism of governments.
RBI said those banks interested to handle government business need to be appointed as agents of RBI. For this purpose, it said government may work out the arrangement with the bank and send the proposal to the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) for examination. The CGA, in turn, will forward the recommendation the central bank and then RBI will formally appoint a bank as an agency bank.
Monday, February 6, 2012
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