Manipal Group ties up with Durban University of Technology for cooperation in education & training

New Delhi: Manipal Group, with the assistance of FirstRand Bank, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Durban University of Technology in South Africa to foster collaboration between the two institutions in the areas of health sciences, teacher training, online education, business management, engineering, design architecture and the areas of testing and assessments, FirstRand said in a statement.

"We are happy to partner with the Durban University of Technology to expand its efforts in growing the education and skills base in South Africa. The parallels between the youth of India and South Africa are very strong. Both countries have vibrant and energetic youth hence it is imperative that this energy is harnessed and channeled in a positive manner so that it contributes to the economic and social well being of the country, Dr Vinod Bhat, pro vice chancellor, Manipal University, said in a statement.

Mahendren Moodley, CEO of FirstRand in India added: "FirstRand will continue to use its unique position as the only African banking group in India to identify partnerships that will benefit South Africa as a whole. We see many more opportunities for the Manipal group on the African continent."

Manipal Group is a client of FirstRand in both South Africa and India. According to Mahendren Moodley. The MoU, although small in scale, is an important catalyst for the Manipal Group to further expand its business into South Africa.

Yamaha opens fifth global R&D centre in India

New Delhi: Japanese two-wheeler major Yamaha Motor Company (YMC), which on Tuesday announced the establishment of Yamaha Motor Research & Development India (YMRI) at its Greater Noida facility, is looking at leveraging India as a procurement hub to source components for its two-wheeler operations globally. India would be the fourth regional procurement hub for Yamaha worldwide after China, Japan and the Asean.

Yuh Motoyama, senior general manager, engineering section (motorcycle business operations), said, “The research and development (R&D) unit is an integrated development centre, the second such for Yamaha globally. The vendor base in India is strong and cost-competitive and the potential to source parts from here for our operations globally is very promising.” YMC had inaugurated its first integrated development centre in Asean in Thailand last year.

Besides purchasing, YMRI would work closely with engineers at the Yamaha headquarters in Japan to develop low-cost models.

“YMRI is the fifth foreign R&D facility for Yamaha. Every centre has a mandate. While the unit in Taiwan concentrates on developing products in the 150-cc category, the centre in Italy focuses on developing two-wheelers for the European market. While platforms would continue to be made in Japan, YMRI will modify them to create low-cost products for the domestic market”, added Motoyama. The ‘root model’ can then be altered for exports to markets in Africa and Latin America.

Toshikazu Kobayashi, managing director, YMRI, said, “Our aim is to develop the lowest-cost model and parts in the world. Our aim is to develop a low-cost bike at around $ 500 for both the domestic as well as exports markets.”

He, however, declined to specify a timeline for launching the product in the Indian market. Yamaha’s move is a part of its strategy to expand its footprint in the mass commuter segment in the country.

Yamaha, at present, has marginal share in the low-cost commuter segment with the YBR110 and Crux which together sells around 4300 odd units every month. The segment accounts for over 65 per cent of motorcycle sales in India.

Additionally, to enhance its presence in the domestic two-wheeler industry India Yamaha Motor (IYM) will launch a new scooter every year till 2016. Hiroyuki Suzuki, chief executive officer and managing director, IYM said, “We intend to sell one million units by 2016 and grab 10 per cent of the domestic two-wheeler industry. In the scooter segment, we will launch one new product every year to attain market share of 20 per cent in the same period.”

In the current financial year the company is eyeing sales of 710,000 units, which is an increase of around 45 per cent over the 490,000 units sold last fiscal. While 500,000 units will be sold in the domestic market, the remaining numbers would come in from exports.

TCS to acquire French firm Alti for Rs 533 cr

New Delhi: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services provider, today said it would acquire France-based Alti SA for euro 75 million (around Rs 533 crore) in an all-cash deal.

The impact of the announcement was evident on the company’s stock, which rose two per cent intra-day on BSE to Rs 1,512 a share, before closing at Rs 1,497 — up 1.1 per cent.

The acquisition, one of the largest for TCS in continental Europe and one of the first by a large Indian IT player in France, signifies how the firm wants to increase its presence in the region beyond the UK.

BNP Paribas was TCS’ sole advisor for the deal.

Alti SA is a privately-held company, owned by its management and two private equity funds — CM-CIC LBO Partners and IDI — which supported its growth from a revenue base of euro 64 million (around Rs 455 crore) in 2007 to euro 126 million (around Rs 895 crore) in 2012. The firm is considered among the five top system integrators of enterprise solutions in France. Its key customers include several top French corporations in banking, financial services, manufacturing, utilities and luxury sectors.

“This acquisition underlines our long-term, strategic commitment to France, which is the third-largest IT services market in Europe. The acquisition would help us serve our clients in France and across Europe more comprehensively, with an expanded set of services and solutions, bringing the best of TCS to French corporations,” said TCS CEO & MD N Chandrasekaran.

TCS has managed to acquire Alti for a discount to its revenue, reflecting the valuation pressure several European companies are facing. “Valuations of European firms, especially in France and Germany, are very attractive. And, the IT firms sitting on cash piles would make use of this opportunity. If you look at comparable multiples of these firms today, those are very low,” said an investment banker on the condition of anonymity.

The acquisition would give TCS a large presence in Europe — France, Belgium Switzerland and Algeria — with an employee base of 1,200.

India Inc's average IT budget to cross $12 mn

Mumbai: India is one of the fastest-growing IT services markets in the world, with three-quarters of large Indian enterprises planning to increase IT spending in 2013, with an average IT budget of $12.2 million, according to a survey by Gartner.

According to Gartner, Indian service providers have an opportunity to capitalise on planned increases in IT spending among Indian enterprises in 2013.

Between June and September of 2012, Gartner surveyed 1,523 large enterprises (those with more than 1,000 employees) to determine their IT spending plans. Within the survey, 153 respondents were in India.

“Indian companies' IT priorities in 2013 are the cloud (particularly infrastructure as a service [IaaS]), virtualisation, data center consolidation and IT modernisation,” said Arup Roy, research director at Gartner.

He further said: “Approximately 10% of spending in 2012 was allocated to external services; and 14% of this was on cloud related initiatives. Similar ratios are expected in 2013. There is a greater inclination towards private cloud contracts, more than in any other market this year.”

About 30% of large Indian companies said that control of IT budgets is shifting toward business units, including marketing, the CFO office and lines of business. As budget control shifts occur, when all budgets become IT budgets, service providers must take a multipronged approach and not target only CIOs.

In line with the trend observed in other countries, the biggest IT spending in India was in the communications industry, followed by banks and securities. As banks embark on their next phase of transformation into more competitive, customer-friendly institutions, key opportunities are likely to come up in the areas of core banking systems and upgrades/ integration with other peripheral systems. Near-term opportunities in the banking sector will be in the areas of collections, contact center services, business intelligence (BI), mobility and IT outsourcing (ITO).

Relatively poor spending in the vertical industries of insurance, government and utilities set India apart from other countries. Nevertheless, these markets are likely to offer strong opportunities for service providers. Some of the largest IT deals are starting to come from central and state government. Specifically, opportunities are emerging in state and central government bodies that relate mainly to efficiency, transparency and e-enabling projects for citizen-facing services, as well as workflow-related projects.

“In most organizations the IT department controls the budget, which is centralised, but some control is shifting. This is more or less in line with other emerging and mature markets“ said Roy.

India to boost its bilateral trade with Germany

New Delhi: Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, is keen on enhancing trade and investment ties with Germany, and said that as "we continue to take steps to boost domestic investments, attract foreign investors and spur the economy back to its long term potential of eight per cent growth."

Mr Singh is looking forward to Chancellor Angela Merkel's support for an early conclusion of a balanced India-EU broad based trade and investment agreement, the PM said in his closing statement before boarding the flight for Berlin for the second India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultation (IGC), where he is accompanied by Ministers of New and Renewable Energy, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Commerce, Industry and Textiles, External Affairs, and Human Resource Development.

Germany is considered a key partner for India in areas like infrastructure, manufacturing, science and technology, higher education, vocational training and clean and renewable energy, according to Mr Singh.

Germany is India’s largest economic partner in Europe and one of the key global partners for trade, investment and technology. Indo-German bilateral trade had recorded an increase of 18.4 per cent and reached €18.37 billion in 2011. However, due to global economic slowdown, bilateral trade witnessed a dip of 5.5 per cent in 2012.

Mr Singh, on his visit to Germany plans to explain the German leadership the steps and the reform process that have been taken up by Indian Government in order to improve the investment climate and make India a favourable destination for investors.

“We will also discuss our shared interests in United Nations Security Council reforms and a broad range of global developments, including with respect to Afghanistan, West Asia and the Asia Pacific region,” he said in his closing statement.

"I will also propose that Europe keep it's door open to Indian investors and professionals," Mr Singh said adding that Germany plays a key role in the global economy and in particular in the stability and growth in the Euro zone which has an important bearing on the Indian economy. "At a time of persisting global economic weakness and uncertainty I look forward to discussing these issues with Chancellor Merkel."

Further, Mr Singh plans to meet President of Germany Joachim Gauck and participate in the closing ceremony of the ‘Days of India in Germany’, which was organised to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Germany.

The Prime Minister confirmed that India remains committed to a close, cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership with Germany.

The IGCs, first held in May 2011 in Delhi, provide a useful forum for discussions on the full spectrum of bilateral relationship and have helped advance Indo-German cooperation in a broad range of areas.

India is expecting a “strong political thrust” from Germany, a key member of the 27-nation European bloc for early inking of the India-EU pact, according to Ranjan Mathai, Foreign Secretary.

“We are of the view that early conclusion of India-EU agreement will open up new economic opportunities to both sides and certainly that applies to the way we approach our economic engagements with Germany.

“The negotiations have reached an advanced stage and in fact there will another round of negotiations on April 15 when it will be taken forward. We will certainly be discussing the matter with the German side. We expect a strong political thrust from Germany for an early conclusion of the agreement”, according to the Foreign Secretary.

Shivshankar Menon, National Security Advisor, who is also the part of the delegation, will address security-related issues and hold a strategic dialogue during the visit. On the Afghan situation, the Foreign Secretary said, “We have had interesting exchanges with Germany. As you know, Germany is a part of the ISAF and it has had a contingent in Mazar in the past. As the drawdown continues, Germany like the other countries would like to ensure that the future of Afghanistan is not marked by uncertainty and instability.”

India and Germany will also hold talks on the Group’s proposal on UN Security Council reforms, as the two countries are part of G-4 (Brazil, India, Germany and Japan). “And while considering the G4 proposal, we will, of course, be looking at the modalities in which it can be taken forward, which means also considering ways in which we can deal with those groups within the UN system who have a different view,” according to Mathai.

Mr Singh, the PM will be hosted for dinner by the German Chancellor and the next morning he will be accorded a Ceremonial Welcome at the German State Chancellery after which he will jointly chair the IGC with Merkel. In the evening, the Prime Minister will attend the wrapping up of “Days of India in Germany” cultural events.

As part of the celebrations, various events were held from May 2012 to March 2013, under the four themes — Connecting Minds, Connecting Capabilities, Connecting Ideas and Connecting Cultures.

TVS Motor, BMW tie up to tap technology, market access

Chennai: TVS Motor and BMW AG's motorcycle division announced a deal on Monday to jointly develop bikes that would give the Indian automaker access to BMW technology as it looks to stem its falling market share.

The long-awaited deal should help TVS revamp a dated product pipeline at the company, which has struggled to compete with a recent ramp-up in activity from Honda Motor and Yamaha Motor and could also help BMW gain a foothold in the world's second-largest bike market.

TVS Motor and BMW will develop a series of motorcycles for the 250-500 cc segment. This would mark the entry of India’s fourth-largest two-wheeler company into the above-250-cc two-wheeler space.

For the German premium two-wheeler maker, the agreement is part of its global realigning strategy, which includes a foray into the sub-500-cc segment.

The agreement involves both companies offering individual vehicle derivatives, which would be sold through their own distribution channels across the globe, said Venu Srinivasan, TVS Motor chairman and managing director.

As part of the agreement, TVS Motor would invest ^20 million in India, said Srinivasan. Initially, TVS would develop two products in India---one product for TVS and the other for BMW to sell in global markets. The first product is expected to be launched in 2015.

Srinivasan said while BMW brought technology and products to the venture, TVS would leverage its supply chain expertise and its ability to develop small products in bulk.

Yaresh Kothari, research analyst (automobile), Angel Broking, said in the long term, the tie-up would be positive for TVS Motor. About 95 per cent of India’s motorcylce market is accounted for by the 150-cc segment or segments with engine capacities lower than 150 cc. While the margins in the above-150-cc segment are high, volumes are low — in the near term, there would be no impact of the tie-up on TVS Motor’s ranking, Kothari said.

Stephan Schaller, president, BMW Motorrad, said globally, the company was realigning the two-wheeler business. The company planned to enter the sub-500-cc segment and foray into emerging markets with smaller capacity products and core offerings, he said., adding, “This is an important step towards more profitability and sustainability.”

The tie-up comes at a time when TVS has been losing market share to Honda Motor and Yamaha. For 2012-13, TVS reported a fall of six per cent in sales, compared with a four per cent rise recorded by the overall industry. Experts say it would be difficult for TVS to regain the market share lost to Honda. The Chennai-based company’s two-wheeler sales fell from 1,80,274 units in March 2012 to 1,62,507 units in March 2013.

German software firm enters CAD market

Mumbai: German software company Graebert is entering the Indian market for computer aided design (CAD). According to a press statement, the company has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Graebert India Software (Noida), to market the ‘ARES’ software. According to a 2011 report from research firm Technavio, the CAD software market in India is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 26 per cent till 2014. Graebert is keen to collaborate with Indian software companies and channel partners to introduce cost-effective products for CAD users in India, said Mr Wilfred Graebert, the company’s Chief Executive Officer.

The company has an installed base of over four million users in 180 countries, the statement said.

India, location of choice for MNCs' information technology units: Zinnov

Bangalore: Multinational captive centres in India are increasing their capacity, according to consulting firm Zinnov.

In a white paper, Zinnov estimates that 50 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies will have their captive centres in India in the next few years, working on tasks related to business processes, technology, HR and others for their parent companies.

Zinnov attributes this trend to the fact that in the last two years, 10 IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) centres of Fortune 500 companies set up operations in India. It said India is home to about 200 wholly-owned IT and ITeS centres of multinational companies, thus making it the most preferred offshore destination as compared to 120 other offshoring locations across the globe.

IT modernisation
“Reasons like IT modernisation and rethinking ways in which legacy technologies (like Mainframe computing) can be used are driving this,” said Sundararaman Viswanathan, Manager – Consulting, Zinnov. He added that other reasons such as cost advantages and presence in an emerging market are influencing these MNCs to set up centres in India.

The report added that banking and financial services companies leverage India the most for their IT and ITeS operations and there are close to about 45 such MNC centres last year. Retailers such as Walmart, Tesco and financial institutions such as Northern Trust have added to their India headcount in the recent past.

Further, healthcare and life sciences is emerging as a large category amongst the MNC centres.

Companies such as Royal DSM and Sigma Aldrich recently opened their service centres and existing players such as Novartis and Cerner have grown their India centres in the last few years. Currently India is the IT / ITeS hub for about 125 of the Fortune 500 companies.

Losing momentum?
However, industry watchers feel that despite a large share of MNC captives, the country is losing momentum.

Companies have shifted out of India due to mediocre management talent and an inability to be at the forefront of innovation, said an analyst from a multinational consulting advisory firm who did not wish to be named.

India Inc's March abroad investment at $1.88 billion

Mumbai: Indian companies invested $1.88 billion (around Rs 10,260 crore today) in other countries last month, up from $1.65 billion in February, according to the Reserve Bank of India. Companies committed the money by the way of equity, loans and issuing guarantees to their wholly-owned subsidiaries and joint ventures in foreign countries.

The majority of money was invested in the form of guarantees. Companies issued guarantees worth $1.46 billion, while they had equity contribution of $217 million and gave loans worth $201 million.

Major companies that invested in foreign countries include Escorts Ltd, Videocon Industries Ltd, ILF&S Group and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Videocon Group, in two different transactions, issued guarantees worth $853 million in its subsidiary Videocon Hydrocarbons Holdings Ltd. This company, which is into mining and agricultural activities, is located in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Sea. ILF&S gave guarantees worth $105 million to its subsidiary ITNL International Pte Ltd in the US.

Glenmark invested six different countries in March. Its biggest transaction among the six was the $60.58 million investment it made in its subsidiary Glenmark Holdings SA, located in Switzerland. Out of the $60.58 million, $57 million was in the form of guarantees, while it gave a loan of $3.58 million to this company. Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Russia and Venezuela are the other countries where Glenmark invested during the month.

India among best cement markets in Asia, says Holcim

Mumbai: Holcim, the Switzerland-based cement major, says India is among the robust of markets in Asia. It has said so at a time when the country's cement sector faces rising costs and poorer-than expected demand, despite this being the peak construction period.

The company operates in India through group companies ACC and Ambuja Cements. It has said its outlook for Asia continues to be positive and that India, Indonesia and Philippines rank among the most promising growth markets. Its latest annual report says prospects for the construction industry are very good in these countries, given the high demand for infrastructure expansion projects, as well as the need for low-cost housing.

Both ACC and Ambuja sold more cement in calendar year 2012, primarily in the first half. "In response to mounting inflation, the (Indian) government postponed a number of infrastructure projects in the second half, and higher interest rates reined in demand for commercial and industrial buildings," the report said.

Holcim is expanding its production capacity in India. ACC plans to raise this from the existing 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 35 mtpa, in a phased manner till 2015. As part of this project, a new plant at Jamul in the state of Chhattigarh is under process. Also at Jamul, grinding capacity is being replaced. Part of the clinker produced in Jamul is earmarked for the expanded Sindri grinding plant (in Jharkhand) and for the new grinding plant in Kharagpur (West Bengal).

ACC and Ambuja have a combined capacity of 57 mtpa, around 16 per cent of India's overall cement making capacity of 360 mtpa.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the shares of ACC closed weaker today at Rs 1,127.90, down 0.1 per cent. Ambuja’s closed at Rs 168.20, up 2.4 per cent.