US$ 575 billion investment opportunity in transport infra in next 5 years: Kearney

According to a report, transport infrastructure sector in India holds an investment opportunity of US$ 575 billion in the next five years. There has been advancement in transportation landscape over the last two decades, but much remains to be done to meet the increasing demand now and, in the years, ahead, as per the report by management consulting firm Kearney.

The report titled 'Harnessing the opportunities in India's transportation infrastructure' said, "Roads and Railways constitute 80 per cent of the total investment opportunity driven by investments in flagship projects such as Bharatmala Pariyojana, Dedicated Freight Corridor, High Speed Rail, etc".

Though, factors such as delays in land acquisition, clearance, constraints in funding for infrastructure projects, lack of efficient dispute resolution mechanism were identified as major challenges in realising the investment opportunity.

"Significant opportunities exist in various transportation infrastructure in India, prioritizing the most important ones is of paramount importance.

"Although there are obstacles to realizing the vast potential, these challenges can be overcome with a concerted and coherent strategy across the key stakeholders: government authorities, concessionaires and contractors, and financial institutions," said Mr Manish Mathur, Partner and Head Asia Pacific, Transportation and Infrastructure Practice for Kearney.

The report also added the key steps for overcoming the difficulties and maximizing the opportunities as the government authorities need to focus on identifying the right funding model, confirming robust cash flow management with comprehensive viability assessment, and enabling a vibrant ecosystem of concessionaires and contractors while designing their transport infrastructure development strategies.

Strategic partnership between the concessionaires and contractors will benefit in identifying the right markers for decision-making and ensure the quality and timeline of project delivery with the increase in infrastructure investments and greater participation from the private sector.

The report added about financiers, "In addition to re-evaluating the risk-reward spread in the infrastructure sector, financial institutions should collaborate with government authorities and concessionaires to develop innovative products for financing."

"With a concerted effort, today's challenges can be transformed into an opportunity that will not only boost organic growth, drive job creation, and aid a whole gamut of industries but also help fulfil one of the most basic tenets of economic and social activity: mobility to serve the common good," added Mrr Mathur.

 

Kearney is a top global management consulting firm with offices in more than 40 countries. The firm focusses on strategic and operational CEO-agenda issues facing businesses, governments, and institutions around the globe. The firm was founded in 1926 and has been ranked among the top management consulting firms globally.

In Asia, Kearney India is among the largest and fastest growing Kearney units and works across industry verticals consisting Automotive, Aerospace, Industrial Goods, Transportation, Consumer Products, Retail, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Metals & Mining, Chemicals, Communications, Media, Technology, IT & BPO, Private Equity, among others.

Siemens AG sells 24 per cent stake in Indian unit for Rs 8,520 crore to group firm

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, the German conglomerate, sold shares worth over Rs 8,500 crore (US$ 1.21 billion) in its listed Indian subsidiary Siemens Ltd, amounting to about 24 per cent stake, to another group firm Siemens Gas and Power Holding BV.

The parent company of Siemens Ltd, which is listed in India, is Siemens Aktiengesellschaft.

Although, there was no official word from the company, but reports indicated that Siemens AG was in the process of carving out its gas and power business, which had dragged its overall performance, into a separate subsidiary.

As per the block deal data available on the BSE, Siemens Aktiengesellschaft sold 8,54,68,862 shares of Siemens Ltd at an average price of Rs 996.9 (US$ 14.14) apiece.

At this price, the transaction is valued at Rs 8,520 crore (US$ 1.21 billion) and the shares sold in the block deal amount to about 24 per cent stake.

Siemens AG held 71.70 per cent stake in Siemens Ltd, while another group firm held 3.3 per cent stake, taking the total promoter stake to 75 per cent as of March 2020.

Dr Harsh Vardhan participates in NAM Health Ministers' meeting through VC; Highlights the doctrine of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam'- the whole world is our family

Shri Hardeep S, Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare participated in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Health Ministers’ meeting through video conference, here today.

The meeting was chaired by Mr Ogtay Shiraliyev, Minister of Health, Republic of Azerbaijan.

The NAM Summit is being organized at a time when the international community has been faced with a pandemic which has disrupted lives and livelihood of millions of people around the world. NAM expressed its concern at the global threat posed by COVID-19 and resolved to fight it with proper preparedness, prevention, resilience-building, and greater national, regional and international collaboration.

The address delivered by Dr Harsh Vardhan is as follows:

“Mr Chairman, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen!

I would like to begin by congratulating the Chair, the Minister of Health for the Republic of Azerbaijan for organizing this important and timely Conference.

This is undoubtedly an unprecedented time in our planet’s history. COVID-19 has claimed more than three hundred thousand (3,00,000) precious lives, infected over four million and snatched away the livelihoods of billions. Let me express my heartfelt condolences to those families across the world who have lost their near and dear ones to this deadly disease.

Mr Chairman, COVID-19 has made us realize that we are more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. It has made us realize that the man-made challenges that our planet faces today - such as Climate change and public health emergencies - can only be faced together, not when we are divided. It requires collaboration, not coercion.

The present pandemic crisis also reminds us that the global institutions of governance need to become more democratic, transparent and representative to be credible and effective, and a reformed multilateralism is the need of the hour.

On its part, India has been fighting the COVID battle with a firm political will. Our Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has ensured speed, scale and determination in the handling of this crisis. India took every possible step to ensure that we contain the spread of the virus. We also ensured that focus on COVID should not mean neglect of patients of other diseases.

Armed with a political will to ensure that we defeat this dreadful disease, 1.35 billion Indians came together to honor the decisions on nationwide lockdowns that have kept our mortality rate down and contained the spread of the disease. Our policy of micro Identification, mass Isolation and quick Treatment reaped good dividends in preventing large scale spread and deaths due to COVID-19.

Although India has a robust healthcare system, we swung into action and added capacity in terms of infrastructure as well as manpower. With a fleet of 10,000 dedicated COVID hospitals and Care Centers and a trained healthcare workforce of over two million, there was no looking back.

As we care for our citizens, we have also extended help to other countries. In our immediate neighborhood, we have promoted coordination to counter COVID-19 and organized capacity building by sharing India’s medical expertise.

India is living up to its reputation as the pharmacy of the world, especially for affordable medicines. Besides meeting our domestic needs, we have provided medical supplies to over 123 partner countries, including 59 members of NAM. We are taking active part in the global efforts to develop remedies and vaccines.

We remain sincerely committed to solidarity among the NAM Member States to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. During the video conference of NAM Contact Group on 4th May, Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi expressed our country’s solidarity with not only the NAM countries but with the entire world as we believe in the doctrine of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ - which means that the whole world is our family.

Mr Chairman, I would like to sum up by saying that as developing countries, it is our people that stand to be the most profoundly affected by these changes. We must all realize that our destinies are linked like never before. India looks forward to a collective journey, of constructive deliberations, cooperation and collaboration in the spirit of solidarity and fraternity that characterizes NAM.

Before I close my speech, let me honor those who have honored mankind. Let us all stand up to clap for all frontline COVID warriors - our doctors, our nurses, our paramedics, our sanitation and security staff, our army, police and paramilitary forces, our journalists, all those who are putting their lives at risk for us, and for their families who are sending their members to the battlefield with all the risks. They have taught us a lesson, and that lesson is; to never forget that human welfare must be the basis of all economic growth.

Thank you.”

Coir Geo textiles gets nod for Rural Road Construction

Coir Geo textiles, a permeable fabric, natural, strong, highly durable, resistant to rots, moulds and moisture, free from any microbial attack, has finally been accepted as a good material for rural road construction.

Coir Geo textiles will be used for construction of rural roads under the PMGSY-III says a communication from the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency under Union Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.

Speaking about the development, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of MSME and Road Transport & Highways, who has been behind the move to explore alternative usage of coir fibre, has said, "This is a very significant development as we have now been successful in deploying coir geo textile in road construction. The decision will give a big boost to the coir industry especially in these difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic."

As per the PMGSY new technology guidelines for road construction, 15 per cent length in each batch of proposals, is to be constructed using new technologies. Out of this five per cent roads are to be constructed using IRC accredited technology. The IRC has now accredited coir Geo textiles for construction of rural roads.

As per these instructions, five per cent length of the rural roads under PMGSY-III will be constructed using Coir Geo textiles. Accordingly, 164 Kms of road will be constructed using coir geo textiles in Andhra Pradesh, 151 kms in Gujarat, 71 kms in Kerala, 328 kms in Maharashtra, 470 kms in Odisha, 369 kms TN and 121 kms in Telengana. Thus 1674 km road will be constructed using Coir Geo textiles in 07 states for which there will be a requirement of one crore sq. mtrs of coir Geo-textiles, estimated cost of which would come to Rs 70 crore (US$ 9.93 million).

The decision opens up a huge market potential for Coir Geo-textiles in the country and will be a boon to the COVID-19 hit Coir Industry.

Government of India launches scheme for 100 per cent solarisation of Konark sun temple & Konark town

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has taken up the complete solarisation of Konark sun temple and Konark town in Odisha. Speaking about the Scheme, Shri R K Singh, MoS(i/c) for Power and MNRE has said, "Government of India  launched the Scheme with an objective to take forward the Prime Minister’s vision to develop the historical Sun temple town of Konark in Odisha as 'Surya Nagri', to convey a message of synergy between the modern use of solar energy and the ancient Sun Temple and the importance of promoting solar energy", .

The Scheme envisages setting up of 10 MW grid connected solar project and various solar off-grid applications like solar trees, solar drinking water kiosks, off-grid solar power plants with battery storage etc with a 100 per cent Central Financial Assistance (CFA) support of around Rs 25 crore (US$ 3.55 million) from Government of India through Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE). Implementation of this Project will be done by Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA).

The Scheme will meet all the energy requirements of Konark town with solar energy.

Indiabulls Housing raises Rs 1,030 crore via bonds on private placement basis

Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd has raised Rs 1,030 crore (US$ 146.12 million) by issuing bonds on a private placement basis.

According to the company’s regulatory filing, on May 18, 2020, the company allotted 10,300 secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures of face value Rs 10 lakh (US$ 14,186.4) each, aggregating to Rs 1,030 crore (US$ 146.12 million), on a private placement basis.

The coupon rate on the bonds with three years tenor is 9.10 per cent per annum (payable annually).

Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance closed 10.87 per cent down at Rs 118.85 (US$ 1.68) on BSE on May 18, 2020.

Ministry of Tourism organises 20th webinar titled 'Uttarakhand Simply Heaven' under

The 20th session of the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series on 16th May 2020 titled “Uttarakhand Simply Heaven” highlighted the potential of tourism in Uttarakhand’s two regions namely Kedar Khand (Garhwal Region) and Manu Khand (Kumaon Region) and touched upon the popular destination like Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Hemkhund Sahib and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Valley of Flowers.

This webinar session was presented by Dr PushpeshPant, an eminent scholar, Food Historian and an expert in International Relations, Ex-Professor of JNU, Mr Ganesh Saili a renowned author, notable photographer and an authority on the history of Uttarakhand and Mr Shashank Pandey, a certified outbound trainer, MD of Aspen Adventures, Rishikesh. The session was moderated by Ms Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism and

Uttarakhand’s Adventure Tourism Potential such as river rafting at Rishikesh and Pittoragarh, winter sports and skiing in Auli, Paragliding at Tehri Dam and Kaushani, innumerable options for trekking available such as Chopta and Pindari Glacier and India’s highest bungee jumping facility in Rishikesh were highlighted by the presenters.

Besdies adventure activities, the session also presented options for experiencing the best of nature by paying a visit to the oldest national park of the country- Jim Corbett National Park, Rajaji Tiger Reserve and UNESCO site of Nanda Devi National Park-exploring the rich diversity of flora and fauna of Himalayan Region.

Uttarakhand’s immense opportunities for developing and exploring rural tourism offerings, the best options for homestays wherein one can experience and feel the real hospitality of the people serving the best of local cuisine also was highlighted by the presenters.

Ms Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General concluded the session stating Uttarakhand ‘Dev Bhoomi’, the Land of Gods is a mesmerizing destination for tourists of all tastes. It is a multi-faceted destination, i.e. from being a sacred and religious site to be an adventure land with rich biodiversity in its purest form.

The Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series sessions are conducted with active support of National e-Governance Division (NeGD) of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) for those who had missed these webinars, the sessions are now available on the https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbzIbBmMvtvH7d6Zo_ZEHDA/featured and also on all social media handles of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

The next episode of the webinar scheduled Tuesday 19th May 2020 at 11.00 am, is titled ‘Photowalking Bhopal’ and participants can join the webinar be registering at https://digitalindia-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wLHXyRTGTrK3Vb-ljK8sxQ

Dr Harsh Vardhan participates in the 73rd World Health Assembly through VC

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, participated in the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) through Video Conference and highlighted the timely, graded and pro-active measures taken by India towards COVID-19 management.

Union Finance Minister announces several initiatives to boost Education Sector

Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman has announced several initiatives to boost education sector on 17th May in New Delhi. The Minister said that investing in the human capital is equivalent to an investment in productivity and prosperity of the nation. The present pandemic situation has presented new challenges and several opportunities for our education system.

The Minister highlighted that the education sector has taken this opportunity to plan several interventions, particularly in the area of adopting innovative curriculum and pedagogies, concentrating energies on the gap areas, being more inclusive and integrating technology at every stage, to usher in a new era of focussed investment in the human capital.

Finance Minister further said that the government is committed to ensuring learning for all, with equity, so as to cover all students at all levels of education and in all geographical locations, even in the remotest parts of the country.

Union Human Resource Development Minister ‘Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank’ expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for giving priority to education sector. He also thanked Union Finance Minister for the initiatives and hoped that they will transform the education system and bring out holistic development of students of the country.

Shri Pokhriyal said that the “One nation, one digital platform” and “one class one channel” will ensure that quality education material will reach the students present in farthest areas of the country. He said that the initiatives will boost the access and equity in education and improve the gross enrolment ratio in the times to come. He also said that due consideration is being given to the Divyang children also and the measures will usher in a new paradigm in the creation of New India.

Union Finance Minister announced the immediate set of initiatives in this direction includes:

1. A comprehensive initiative called PM e-VIDYA will be launched which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education. This will enable multi-mode access to education, and includes: DIKSHA (one nation-one digital platform) which will now become the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content in school education for all the states/UTs; TV (one class-one channel) where one dedicated channel per grade for each of the classes 1 to 12 will provide access to quality educational material: SWAYAM online courses in MOOCS format for school and higher education; IITPAL for IITJEE/NEET preparation; Air through Community radio and CBSE Shiksha Vani podcast;  and study material for the differently abled developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube. This will benefit nearly 25 crore school going children across the country.

 

2. In this time of global pandemic, it is vital that we provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for mental health and emotional wellbeing. The Manodarpan initiative is being launched to provide such support through a website, a toll-free helpline, national directory of counsellors, interactive chat platform, etc. This initiative will benefit all school going children in the country, along with their parents, teachers and the community of stakeholders in school education.

 

3. Government is expanding e-learning in higher education – by liberalizing open, distance and online education regulatory framework. Top 100 universities will start online courses. Also, online component in conventional Universities and ODL programmes will also be raised from present 20 per cent to 40 per cent. This will provide enhanced learning opportunities to nearly 7 crore students across different colleges and Universities.

 

4. There is a need to promote critical thinking, creative and communication skills, along with experiential and joyful learning for the students focussing on learning outcomes. The curriculum must be rooted in the Indian ethos and integrated with global skill requirements. Therefore, it has been decided to prepare a new National Curriculum and Pedagogical Framework for school education, teacher education and early childhood stage to prepare students and future teachers as per global benchmarks.

 

5. A National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission will be launched, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy in Grade 3 by 202 For this, teacher capacity building, a robust curricular framework, engaging learning material – both online and offline, learning outcomes and their measurement indices, assessment techniques, tracking of learning progress, etc. will be designed to take it forward in a systematic fashion. This mission will cover the learning needs of nearly 4 crore children in the age group of 3 to 11 years.

India's online video market to touch US$ 4 billion by 2025

The online video market in India is estimated to reach US$ 4 billion by 2025, with subscription services contributing more than US$ 1.5 billion while advertising accounting for US$ 2.5 billion.

The major contribution will be by Google’s YouTube, followed by Disney+ Hotstar.

Disney+ Hotstar is the streaming service owned by Disney India and has potential to acquire 25 per cent of the total online video revenue pie by 2025.

Details of these projections are given under a report titled India Intelligence and Insights: Disney+ Hotstar: The Future of India’s Largest Premium Digital Video Platform brought out by independent research and consultancy services firm Media Partners Asia (MPA).

“In the current COVID situation, audiences are spending more time online and OTT platforms have almost doubled their viewership. This viewership trend is likely to continue at least for a few years. Hence, advertising on the services is likely to surge in the coming years as they increasingly become the choice for content consumption," said Mr Anita Nayyar, head, customer strategy and relationships, ZEE5.

As per the report by FICCI-EY media and entertainment industry report 2020, television advertising in India, on the other hand, is estimated to reach Rs 388 billion (US$ 5.1 billion) by 2022.

“The pay economy for online content will be successful if we work with quality content, and price it in the right manner," said Mr Vishnu Mohta, co-founder of Bengali video streaming platform Hoichoi. “It would happen because the COVID pandemic has catapulted OTT growth by some five years. Things that people would have expected to see in 2025, might happen now."

Mr D Girish, vice-president, strategy at documentary streaming service DocuBay added that the current crisis has expedited the adoption of digital platforms by a large percentage of content consumers.

He added, “SVoD is not dependent on advertising spends by brands that are among the first to be impacted whenever there is a certain corporate or economic downturn; however, greater digital adoption also opens the door for a larger turf for AVoD monetization than in the past."

According to MPA, Disney+ Hotstar could reach 93 million paying subscribers by 2025 at monthly ARPUs (average revenue per user) under US$ 1. Thus, taking subscription revenue to US$ 587 million by 2025 while advertising sales could reach US$ 314 million.

Though, any impact from new services such as gaming or expansion to south east Asia was not considered in report.

The effect of COVID-19 will be seen on the revenue of advertising market with TV bearing the brunt while digital video will also come under pressure. There is no exception by the Disney+ Hotstar’s advertisement packages.

Although, Disney+ enjoyed the benefit of subscription through the first half of 2020 from its launch in April 2020. Regardless the absence of the popular IPL cricket tournament, Disney+ contributed meaningfully to premium tier subscriber growth and remained churn positive through the period, as per MPA analysis.

According to the report, the strengthen of the platform includes sports, local originals, Hollywood entertainment and its super aggregator strategy. In order to increase subscribers, drive viewership and stay ahead of aggressive global and local competition, the company must sustain and accelerate the pace of its investment in product innovation, content creation and acquisition as well as retain its key sports rights. It must also develop new features and services including gaming and the aggregation of more local live and on-demand content.

It was rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar earlier this year, pricing, content mix and tech are main pillars of the Disney+ Hotstar strategy, added the MPA report. Pricing plays the important role as India’s large pay-TV universe only pays US$ 4 per month for a wide range of live TV channels, including sports and entertainment. Annual offers at attractive rates have been the key to creating an online subscription business at scale. Disney has three distinct offerings – Disney+ Hotstar VIP, Disney+ Hotstar Premium and an ad-supported basic tier. The VIP plan is available for Rs 399 (US$ 5.66) a year while the premium subscription comes for Rs 1,499 (US4 21.26).

Disney+ Hotstar’s major differentiation has been its vast aggregation of premium local and international entertainment and sports, driving its present-day addressable market to 100 million plus subscribers.

Disney+ comes with content bundled from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.