Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma visited South Africa on 21-22 September 2012 for bilateral meetings with his counterpart. During his visit, he also called on President Jacob Zuma and discussed global and regional developments and areas of bilateral cooperation. President Zuma conveyed his deep respect for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi and mentioned that there was a meeting of mind between the two countries and they had common approach on issues of global importance. He mentioned that South Africa will be hosting the next BRICS Summit next year. Minister Sharma informed him that India was preparing to host the IBSA Summit in June next year. Minister Sharma emphasized the need for early conclusion of the India-SACU Preferential Trade Agreement as it would complete IBSA-SACU-Mercosur trilateral.
Earlier in the day, Minister Sharma met Rob Davies, South African Trade Minister. Both Ministers expressed satisfaction at the fact that the bilateral trade had crossed US$14 billion last year and that we would be able to meet the target of US$ 15 billion this year itself, well ahead of the 2014 timeline. They also took stock of the ongoing India-SACU negotiations on Preferential Trade Agreement. Both Ministers noted the growing private investments on both sides. Indian companies had already invested over US$ 8 billion in South Africa.
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Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Mahindra Insurance Brokers ties up with LeapFrog
Bharat Doshi, executive director & group chief financial officer of Mahindra & Mahindra and chairman of Mahindra Finance, said despite substantial growth in rural areas, markets in rural India were still under-served. “Considering our large network and LeapFrog Investments’ experience in regions like Africa and Asia, we believe we would be able to have a different approach to serve that market,” he said.
“The goal of the new partnership would be to introduce new suites of products for people who don’t have any access to insurance services. The first product in the offing would be health insurance. A pilot study has already been initiated by the two parties for health insurance,” said Andrew Kuper, president and founder of LeapFrog.
Through this initiative, MIBL aims to be India’s leading insurance broker by 2015. Doshi said the partnership was a step towards MIBL’s expansion in the insurance sector. Ramesh G Iyer, managing director, Mahindra Fina-nce, said as a non-banking financial company, MIBL already knew the cash flow of its customers. Now, it would focus on increasing its presence using customer insights.
“Now, our focus, through MIBL, would be on offering additional rural and livelihood products at affordable prices. The key is to make people understand insurance is a security product, not an investment product,” Iyer said.
This is LeapFrog’s second investment in the Indian market in a year. In September 2011, it had invested Rs 67 crore in Shriram Credit. As an impact investment fund, LeapFrog targets both robust financial returns and significant social impact. Currently, about eight million people across six countries in Africa and Asia have access to LeapFrog products.
Italy's Maschio Gaspardo Group enters India
The company has invested Rs 200 crore in this facility and will invest additional Rs 100 crore in the next five years.
At the beginning the Pune plant will manufacture at the beginning rotary tillers, mulchers and seeders for the domestic market.
The annual capacity of this plant is 20,000 units. Initially, it will manufacture over 500 machines per month. Maschio Gaspardo group specializes in the production of agricultural machinery for tillage, sowing, seeding, landscaping, forage-making, sprayers and crop care. It has also set up an R & D centre in India. Over 60 per cent localization has been achieved in this plant and remaining will be imported from Italy and China. The Pune plant will currently employ 120 people and will be increased to 250.
To start with, the new plant will manufacture products for Mahindra & Mahindra and New Holland India. Plans are also underway to serve the needs of Maschio Gaspardo Group's other global customers, by providing local supply to their India and Asia Pacific facilities. It has already sold over 17 thousand units to Mahindra and Mahindra since 2010. Gaspardo had a partnership with M & M for its OEMs.
Commenting on this, Alessio Riulini, director, Maschio Gaspardo India, said, “The growing importance of Indian agricultural market gives this country a central position in Maschio Gaspardo Group’s global strategy. Pune is an ideal location for our new plant because the city provides a strong infrastructure and a rich talent pool of skilled workforce in the manufacturing sector. Our new plant represents a key milestone in Maschio Gaspardo Group’s long-term vision of investing in fast growing markets and aligning our manufacturing footprint with the needs of our global customer base.”
He added, “Indian market requirements are very limited as compare to USA or Europe as field sizes, conditions of soil, power of tractors are lesser than other markets. The new plant will aid Maschio Gaspardo Group to achieve its aim for 2012; to exceed 280 million USD turn over.”
Dr Reddy’s launches Amoxicillin tablets, capsules in US market
The product is a bio-equivalent generic version of Amoxil (Amoxicillin) tablets, capsules, and oral suspension.
Officially launched on September 17 in the US, Amoxicillin tablets (500 mg and 875 mg), capsules (250 mg and 500 mg), and oral suspension (125 mg/5 ml, 200 mg/5 ml, 250 mg/5 ml, and 400 mg/5 ml) are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).
In a press release, the Hyderabad-based pharma major said the Amoxil brand and generic tablets (875 mg) has US sales of approximately $22.2 million, capsules ($67.2 m), and oral suspension ($89.5 m), for the 12 months ended June 30, 2012 quoting IMS Health.
Dr. Reddy’s Amoxicillin tablets will be available in bottle counts of 20 and 100; Amoxicillin capsules in bottle counts of 100 and 500 and oral suspension in 200 mg/5 ml and 400 mg/5 ml, in three counts of 50 ml, 75 ml, and 100 ml.
Amoxicillin oral suspension in 125 mg/5 ml and 250 mg/5 ml will be available in bottle sizes of 80 ml, 100 ml, and 150 ml.
9 road projects of Rs 11,600 cr get nod
New Delhi: Government on Thursday approved nine road projects, which are estimated to cost around Rs 11,600 crore and to be executed by state governments on public private partnership (PPP) mode. These projects, which add up to 1,226 km, are at an advance stage of bidding in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The finance ministry provides 20% of the total project cost, and another 20% assistance comes from the highways ministry to make these ventures financially viable in the form of viability gap funding (VGF), which was devised by the Centre in 2005. The finance ministry has approved Rs 2,295 crore under VGF and Rs 500 crore will be disbursed this fiscal.
The approval was granted by the Empowered Committee headed by economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram. Sources said raising concern on poor bidding of highway projects, Planning Commission's deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has recently written to the highways ministry to hold talks with the contractors. Government has set an ambitious task of awarding 9,500 km highway during this fiscal. Construction is on track, but awarding has left a lot to be desired.
The finance ministry provides 20% of the total project cost, and another 20% assistance comes from the highways ministry to make these ventures financially viable in the form of viability gap funding (VGF), which was devised by the Centre in 2005. The finance ministry has approved Rs 2,295 crore under VGF and Rs 500 crore will be disbursed this fiscal.
The approval was granted by the Empowered Committee headed by economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram. Sources said raising concern on poor bidding of highway projects, Planning Commission's deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has recently written to the highways ministry to hold talks with the contractors. Government has set an ambitious task of awarding 9,500 km highway during this fiscal. Construction is on track, but awarding has left a lot to be desired.
India and United Kingdom ink MoU on Urban Regeneration and Development
Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Urban Development and Dr. Vince Cable, the British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills signed an MoU on Urban Regeneration and Development in London today.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Kamal Nath expressed appreciation of the urban regeneration works carried out in London and felt that India could benefit from the British experience. The Minister also highlighted the immense challenges and opportunities in the urban sector in India. He informed that India would soon launch the next phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and that the Government of India is keen to encourage PPP in urban sector especially in larger cities. He invited the international firms including British firms to participate in the process.
Shri Kamal Nath stated that both India and Britain would benefit from the MoU, as it would provide an enabling platform for the officials, professionals and business leaders to meet and share knowledge and best practices in the urban sector. He expressed the hope that this joint declaration would lead to enhanced cooperation and deepen the engagement between the two countries.
The MoU envisages promotion of cooperation in the areas of sustainable master planning; transport planning; land economics; heritage management; regeneration governance; Regeneration capacity building and public private partnership financing arrangements.
Shri Kamal Nath also participated in a business roundtable organized by the UK India Business Council. The roundtable was attended by leading infrastructure companies such as Aecom, Arup, Balfour Beatty Plc, HOK, JCB, Mott MacDonald etc. Shri Kamal Nath also met Mr. George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer UK.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Kamal Nath expressed appreciation of the urban regeneration works carried out in London and felt that India could benefit from the British experience. The Minister also highlighted the immense challenges and opportunities in the urban sector in India. He informed that India would soon launch the next phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and that the Government of India is keen to encourage PPP in urban sector especially in larger cities. He invited the international firms including British firms to participate in the process.
Shri Kamal Nath stated that both India and Britain would benefit from the MoU, as it would provide an enabling platform for the officials, professionals and business leaders to meet and share knowledge and best practices in the urban sector. He expressed the hope that this joint declaration would lead to enhanced cooperation and deepen the engagement between the two countries.
The MoU envisages promotion of cooperation in the areas of sustainable master planning; transport planning; land economics; heritage management; regeneration governance; Regeneration capacity building and public private partnership financing arrangements.
Shri Kamal Nath also participated in a business roundtable organized by the UK India Business Council. The roundtable was attended by leading infrastructure companies such as Aecom, Arup, Balfour Beatty Plc, HOK, JCB, Mott MacDonald etc. Shri Kamal Nath also met Mr. George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer UK.
Gamesa to supply wind generators to Indo Rama Renewables
This marks the entry of Indo Rama into the renewable energy market.
The order from Indo Rama Renewables involves supply of 15 wind mills, G97-2.0 MW units, which Gamesa will erect and commission in Jath, Maharashtra, by December end this year, according to a press release from Gamesa.
“The Indo Rama Renewable contract strengthens the Gamesa 2.0 MW portfolio in Maharashtra,” said Ramesh Kymal, Chairman and Managing Director of Gamesa in India.
“The company is fast emerging a market leader with the Gamesa 2.0 MW platform among the growing IPP segment.”
The release quoting Vishal Lohia, Executive Director, Indo Rama Synthetics, said, “Indo Rama has made its entry into the Indian renewable energy arena with the 30 MW order for Gamesa 2.0 MW turbines in Maharashtra. This is the first of several investment plans that have been chalked out, we have aggressive plans to be a leading renewable Independent Power Producer (IPP) and an active participant in the Indian renewable energy platform.”
Renew Power
To Gamesa, this contract comes weeks after the announcement of the single largest 75 MW order with another IPP, ReNew Power, in Maharashtra.
India contributed 14 per cent of Gamesa’s total sales in the first half of 2012.
International calls set to become cheaper on new TRAI rule
New Delhi: International long distance call charges are set to come down with the telecom regulator introducing a new measure that will intensify competition in this segment. TRAI has allowed telephone users of one operator to use calling cards issued by another operator.
For example, a Vodafone user will now be able to make calls to the US or UK using Reliance’s global calling card. Until now, a Vodafone subscriber was forced to make ISD calls using only Airtel’s network.
The new system also opens up the game for foreign giants such as BT, AT&T and Orange which can now sell their voice calling cards to retail and enterprise users in India. These multinational firms, at present are offering only data services to large corporates.
TRAI has directed all operators to open up their access networks to enable customers to make the choice and use calling cards of other players.
According to industry watchers, this could trigger a price war in a segment, where tariffs have remained flat over the past few years. In addition, consumers could also get dynamic pricing on various international routes. An operator with more traffic to the Gulf region could offer cheaper calls than another player which has heavy traffic on the US route. Although there are 27 companies in the country with a licence to offer international long distance services, most of them are not offering voice calling facility to retail users. That’s because the telecom company which owns the subscriber does not allow another operator to give access to their services. As a result, ISD tariffs in the country have not declined for many years. A call to the US, for instance, is priced at around Rs 7, which has been at the same level since 2008.
The TRAI is examining a number of other aspects in the long distance telephony segment, including ways to bring competition in the cable landing station segment. There are 12 undersea cables landing on Indian shores but most of the landing stations are controlled by just two players — Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications. According to other ILD players, this has kept the landing charges artificially high which in turn is adding to the bandwidth cost.
For example, a Vodafone user will now be able to make calls to the US or UK using Reliance’s global calling card. Until now, a Vodafone subscriber was forced to make ISD calls using only Airtel’s network.
The new system also opens up the game for foreign giants such as BT, AT&T and Orange which can now sell their voice calling cards to retail and enterprise users in India. These multinational firms, at present are offering only data services to large corporates.
TRAI has directed all operators to open up their access networks to enable customers to make the choice and use calling cards of other players.
According to industry watchers, this could trigger a price war in a segment, where tariffs have remained flat over the past few years. In addition, consumers could also get dynamic pricing on various international routes. An operator with more traffic to the Gulf region could offer cheaper calls than another player which has heavy traffic on the US route. Although there are 27 companies in the country with a licence to offer international long distance services, most of them are not offering voice calling facility to retail users. That’s because the telecom company which owns the subscriber does not allow another operator to give access to their services. As a result, ISD tariffs in the country have not declined for many years. A call to the US, for instance, is priced at around Rs 7, which has been at the same level since 2008.
The TRAI is examining a number of other aspects in the long distance telephony segment, including ways to bring competition in the cable landing station segment. There are 12 undersea cables landing on Indian shores but most of the landing stations are controlled by just two players — Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications. According to other ILD players, this has kept the landing charges artificially high which in turn is adding to the bandwidth cost.
Future Group buys convenience store chain Big Apple for Rs 62 crore
Apple stores into its KB's Fair Price stores - the group's neighbourhood store format - to consolidate its operations in the NCR, one of its largest market in the country. The country's largest retailer closed the deal through Future Ventures India LtdBSE -0.88 %, the investment arm of the group which builds and operates innovative and emerging businesses.
"The acquisition will help Future Group to significantly grow presence in the convenience store format in NCR where it already operates 100 KB's Fair Price neighborhood stores and have a ready operational and administrative infrastructure," a person close to the deal said, requesting anonymity.
Big Apple is owned by Express Retail Services Ltd, which sells groceries and food products for over six years. The Big Apple stores generate annual revenue of around Rs 120 crore and is a debt-free company.
Incidentally, Future group has recently transferred its 180-plus KB's Fair Price stores from Pantaloon Retail India to Future Consumer Enterprises, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Ventures. While Express Retail Services will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Ventures, there are possibilities that it might be later merged into Future Consumer Enterprises to consolidate the convenience store operations under a single holding company.
Big Apple has direct tie-up with farmers in Haryana, Rajasthan, HP and Uttar Pradesh, which provides consumers with uninterrupted and qualitative product supply, according to the company website.
HCL Tech signs five-year deal with Freescale
HCL will be managing desktop support, computer, storage, database, telecom (network and security) and process automation. It will deliver services to Freescale across 20 countries, handling a user base of 19,000 employees spread across 80 locations.
Freescale will also leverage HCL’s global delivery centres in Poland and Shanghai for multilingual helpdesk support. It will develop more resilient systems, optimise its operational costs, increase visibility into IT operations, experience reduced technology complexity and drive innovation to existing and new initiatives.
“HCL will be sharing our vision of building a robust and agile IT environment required to keep pace with the growing technological innovation demands of the business and creating new ideas and technologies for the next generation opportunities,” Hal Yarbrough, Director of IT Infrastructure at Freescale Semiconductor, said.
HCL Technologies infrastructure services division (ISD) manages mission critical environments and handles over three million devices for over 1.7 million end users.
The ISD business contributes 26 per cent to the overall revenue of $4.2 billion as of June 30.
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