AAPI: 2015

INDEX of this NEWSLETTER

INDIA

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NEWSLETTER, 20-XII-2015

INDIA

- GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURE, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

1.1. Cos put safety first for women in field work

TNN, Lubna Kably | Dec. 1, 2015

MUMBAI: The value of gender diversity at workplace has been well recognized. But India Inc is often stumped by challenges that crop up when women employees are deployed in the field, especially in semiurban and rural areas. Be it activation officers in a telecom company or salespersons in an FMCG firm, women employees do face challenges relating to security or even availability of sanitation facilities.

As a result, there are not many takers among women for field work. "Women participation in such jobs is stagnant. Women's hiring for sales-related functions has slowed from about 13% prior to December 2009 to an average of about 10.5% since then. Also, such growth has been observed at the entry level; only a handful of them aspire to move up the sales ladder," says Rituparna Chakraborty, senior VP, TeamLease Services.

Now, with an eye on diversity and to ensure that they are equal opportunity employers, many companies are walking that extra mile to meet the needs of women employees engaged in field work. "In one of our open houses, a woman employee mentioned that she doesn't drink water (sometimes during the entire day) when she is out on the field as she doesn't have access to a clean hygienic toilet. This was an eye opener," admits Suvamoy Roy Choudhury, director-HR at Vodafone India.

Over the past four months, Vodafone has worked with its distributor network and today nearly 2,000 safe and hygienic toilets are available benefiting 3,000-plus women employees across the country, including at A2 locations (the touch point for activation field officials), Vodafone's mini and rural stores. Many Vodafone units have used google maps to tag toilets on the beat plan of a woman employee and provide it to her. Several remote areas, such as Tawang, a snowcapped mountainous region in Arunachal Pradesh, more than 300 km away from the nearest town of Tezpur,have also been covered. More than 600-plus distributors have joined up 'Project Comfort' as this initiative is called. Vodafone has set down certain cleanliness parameters that each toilet needs to adhere to and the distributor could spend between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 monthly for maintaining cleanliness. "We have agreed that whenever we deploy a woman in a new location, we will ensure there is a toilet every 25-30 km," adds Choudhury.

"When it comes to safety, we see larger companies handle it systematically. For instance, by having an embargo on work timings or using GPS systems for ensuring safety during travel," adds Chakraborty.

Companies such as Godrej, P&G and ITC vouched that safety is of paramount importance. "We look beyond entitlements in our travel policies, rent cars via approved agencies only and encourage women team members to team up with male field officers or area sales managers during market visits in certain areas," says Rahul Gama, head-HR at Godrej Consumer Products.

Sonali Roychowdhury, HR director at P&G, adds, "From a rigorous due diligence on all potential travel locations to customized safety guidelines, our 'travel-safe' policy ensures our employees are well equipped."

Says Chandana Ghosh, head-HR, FMCG Trade Marketing and Distribution, at ITC, "We ensure quality accommodation and transportation arrangements for women employees on the field. There is also a high degree of sensitization about women safety among the field staff. During the training periods, when exposure is being given to non-metro markets, they are normally accompanied by reliable male colleagues."

Some companies prefer to rely on local hires for rural or semi-urban markets, thus mitigating some of the challenges involved. "In the semi-urban markets, we, through an intermediary party, indirectly employ local women as our beauty associates to market our range of skincare products to local beauty parlours. They understand the local sensitivities and know the challenges of their market environment," says V Krishnan, executive director-HR at Dabur.

1.2. Hiring activity sees 9% jump in Nov; outlook bullish: Naukri

PTI, The Hindu, BusinessLine | New Delhi, Dec. 16

Online hiring activity registered a 9 per cent growth in November over the corresponding period last year and apart from IT/ITeS and banking sectors, others are also charting steady revival, says a Naukri.com report.

According to the leading job portal, recruitment activity continued its upturn, in spite of the fact that there has been a slight slowdown in the growth rate of jobs this month, owing to festivities.

“The job market continues to head north with a 9 per cent year-on-year growth in November, post an impressive 25 per cent growth on (October and November) base,” Naukri.com Chief Sales Officer V Suresh said.

“Apart from sectors like IT/ITeS and Banking that seem to lead the growth, good news is the slow but steady revival of the non IT sectors. Looks like good times are ahead for the jobseekers,” Suresh added.

Sector-wise, telecom industry recorded the maximum rise in hiring activity (61 per cent). Similar trends were also seen in the IT-Software, ITES, banking, healthcare, media and retail industries.

Apart from the growth in demand for marketing and advertising professionals, the demand for professionals in BFSI, ITeS, IT-Software and pharma recorded a year-on-year increase up to 20 per cent, 19 per cent, 12 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively during November.

Meanwhile, demand for professionals in top management grew by 20 per cent in November, the report added.

City-wise, all metros registered a stable hiring activity during November. Hyderabad led the pack and recorded a year-on-year increase in hiring activity to the tune of 24 per cent during the month.

Hyderabad was followed by Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai in terms of hiring activity.

2.1. World Bank approves US$ 1.5 billion to support 'Clean India' campaign

IBEF | Dec. 17, 2015

Washington: The World Bank has approved a loan of US$ 1.5 billion to Government of India for its Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Support Operation Project which is aimed at ensuring all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation and end the practice of open defecation by 2019. The loan will be disbursed over a five-year period and is for a tenure of 18 years. The World Bank has extended this loan with a view to strengthen the implementation of the Swachh Bharat initiative of Indian government, which will thereby result in significant health benefits for the poor and vulnerable in the rural areas.

Mr Onno Ruhl, World Bank country director for India appreciated that the two important components of the project are incentivising good performance by states and focussing on behavioural changes. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) will play the overseeing and coordinating role for the programme and support the participating states.

The World Bank has also planned to provide a parallel US$ 25 million technical assistance to build the capacity of select state governments. The assistance to states will help them implement community-led behavioural change programmes targeting social norms to help ensure widespread usage of toilets by rural households.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

2.2. India among top 10 countries on corporate responsibility reporting rates: Survey

TNN, Surojit Gupta | Nov. 25, 2015

NEW DELHI: The Asia Pacific region has overtaken others on corporate responsibility reporting rates, with India among the top 10 countries with the highest rate of CR information, a survey by consultancy firm KPMG showed on Wednesday.

More companies (79%) now report on CR in Asia Pacific than in any other region, followed by the Americas (77%) Europe (74%). This growth has been driven by a surge of CR reporting in countries such as India, Taiwan and South Korea, where increasing amounts of reporting requirements and guidelines have been introduced.

The ninth edition of the survey analyses reporting from 4,500 companies across 45 countries, and offers advice on leading practices in corporate carbon reporting and how these companies measure up against key criteria. Published in the run-up to the upcoming annual UN Climate Talks (COP21), where expectations are high for global agreement on reducing carbon emissions, the report also focuses on the quality of carbon reporting among the world's 250 largest companies (G250).

"It is encouraging to see that India is leading, with all top companies reporting on CR, but we can see through this survey that the quality of Indian reports can improve further," said Mritunjay Kapur, partner and head of risk consulting, KPMG in India.

The report highlights that the overall rate of CR reporting worldwide continues to grow, with around three quarters (73%) of the companies now reporting on CR versus 71% in 2013.

Compared with the G250 companies, the current rate of CR reporting for these companies stands at 92%. Over the last four years, this has fluctuated between 90 and 95 per cent; the report expects the rates to remain at this level for the foreseeable future.

"Today, all of the largest Indian firms report on CR, compared with just 20% of companies in 2011. Last year the government made it mandatory for large companies to report on CSR projects undertaken and to disclose details, including the spending on these projects, in their annual report," said Santhosh Jayaram, director - Climate Change and Sustainability, KPMG in India.

"This, combined with Business Responsibility Reporting (BRR) requirement for top 100 listed entities from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has pushed the rate of CR reporting in India to the highest in the world." said Jayaram.

The report states that G250 companies are now under ever increasing pressure to cut their carbon emissions as the global economy shifts slowly, but steadily, towards a low-carbon (and eventually zero-carbon) model.

Although four out of five G250 companies identify climate change and carbon as material issues and report on their carbon emissions, surprisingly, some big companies in sectors known for high emissions do not identify the same as material issues, and do not report the same, according to the survey.

In terms of the quality of reporting, European companies lead, with reporting scores at an average of 62 out of a possible 100 considering they report more data on carbon emissions than companies in other regions, as well as provide more information on their progress against carbon reduction targets.

In the Asia Pacific region, Australian companies lead in carbon reporting quality, with an average score of 65. Well over half (56%) of the companies worldwide do so, compared to only 20% in 2011,driven mainly by regulation in many countries, including the 10 countries with the highest rates of CR disclosure in financial reports.

The survey said the trend for companies to include more non-financial (social and environmental) information in annual financial reports is expected to continue as CR information is also increasingly becoming relevant to stakeholders' understanding of a company's true value to society.

3.1. Road, rail projects get a boost

TNN | Nov. 19, 2015

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Wednesday authorized the road ministry to clear projects up to Rs 1,000 crore on its own, besides empowering it to take appropriate measures, including compensation to developers where delay is not because of them. It also approved increased budget allocation for the Munger railroad bridge over the Ganga. The Cabinet also cleared big-ticket rail projects relating to doubling and construction of new railway lines costing over Rs 8,000 crore.

After the package on FDI, the focus on infrastructure was another important step taken by the government post Bihar verdict, and appears to reflect the anxiety to speed up delivery. The Cabinet also allowed separation of land and construction cost of road projects to empower the road ministry to clear more projects without going to the Cabinet where the cost escalation is due to higher compensation for land. The decisions will help the road ministry revive 34 key highway projects.

"The Cabinet has taken a very bold decision to allow the ministry of road transport and highways to go into the merit of each case and extend the tolling period wherever delays are not attributable to the developer," said power minister Piyush Goyal, expressing hope that the decision will fast-track highway projects. An official statement said, "The Cabinet has given its approval for authorizing NHAI to allow extension of concession period for all current projects in BOT (toll) mode that are languishing during the construction period due to causes not attributable to the concessionaire."

The Centre also cleared enhanced cost estimate for construction of a rail-cum-road bridge over Ganga in Munger in Bihar with Rs 2,774 crore, reiterating its commitment for the development of the state.

As per revised cost estimate, railways and road ministry will contribute Rs 1,247 crore and Rs 1,527 crore respectively.

The proposal also takes note of the possibility that the cost of land for road approaches may increase in future as the Bihar government has "not yet initiated" acquisition proceedings for construction of the 14 km-long rail-cum-road bridge.

Announcing the decision, Goyal said the project was sanctioned 14 years ago and accorded the Centre's approval during the NDA government in 2003 but in the last 10-12 years, there was not much progress.

Aiming to enhance railway infrastructure, the Cabinet approved four rail line projects in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at a cost of around Rs 8,351 crore.

The Cabinet cleared projects for doubling of 189.278 km Kottavalasa-Koraput railway line costing Rs 2,977.64 crore, doubling of 164.56 km Koraput-Singapur Road line costing Rs 2,361.74 crore and 110.22 km Jagdalpur-Koraput line with a cost of Rs 1,839.02 crore.

These projects are crucial for enhancing railways' freight business which will help in raising revenue.

3.2. Japan to lend Rs 5,479 crore for Chennai, Ahmedabad metro projects

HT Business | Nov. 30, 2015

NEW DELHI: Japan will give development assistance loan worth Rs 5,479 crore to India for Chennai and Ahmedabad metro projects, the finance ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The agreements were signed by S Selvakumar, joint secretary, department of economic affairs, and Yutaka Kikuta, deputy chief of mission of Japan to India, last Friday.

While Rs 4,410 crore will be provided for the Ahmedabad metro project, Rs 1,069 will be given for the fourth phase of the Chennai project.

The first phase (29.621 km) of the Ahmedabad metro project is expected to cost Rs 9,327 crore in March 2014 prices. The Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA), a special-purpose-vehicle (SPV) and a 50:50 venture of the central and state government, is in charge of the project. It had sought for a Rs 5,900-crore loan from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), a Japanese body providing financial assistance for several metro projects in India.

India is continuously making efforts to obtain bilateral and multilateral funding to meet this financial requirement, the finance ministry statement said.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

3.3. Adani Ports keen to enter Maharashtra, AP, Karnataka and foreign nations

PTI | Dec. 6, 2015

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Adani Ports is keen to complete its own 'Sagarmala' dream by having presence in the three key states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, apart from setting up trans-shipment terminals in Southeast Asia and East Africa, a top company official said.

Adani Group, which began work on its first international trans-shipment container port at Vizhinjam near here yesterday, now operates nine ports which would have an installed capacity of 490 million tonnes (MT) by the next fiscal. With this, the Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) becomes the country's largest ports operator in the private sector.

The Gautam Adani-led company would be closing the year with having handled 144 MT cargo out of its present installed capacity of 390 MT.

The company has set a target of exceeding 200 MT of cargo handling by 2020 at an investment of Rs 9,000 crore, but it is likely to achieve it by 2018.

"Our focus will be having presence in these three states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, so that our nine ports are better served and our own 'Sagarmala' plan is fulfilled.

"We are also keen to have trans-shipment terminals in Southeast Asia, especially in Myanmar and Bangladesh, and also in East Africa, so that these facilities can serve the upcoming Vizhinjam facility, which can compete on cost with the Colombo and Singapore ports, which handle more than 80 per cent of the country's international trade," Karan Adani, Executive Director of the APSEZ and son of group Chairman Gautam Adani, told PTI here.

The government has embarked on an ambitious project of port development across the country's over 7,000-km-long coastline and named it as the 'Sagarmala Project', for which it has committed Rs 70,000 crore in investments.

On the poor performance of the Vallarpadam trans-shipment terminal, which is the country's first such facility, Adani said, "If you charge more than double the rates at Colombo (120 per cent more), what do you expect?"

4.1. Tata trusts fund free virtual school of Khan Academy

TNN | Dec. 7, 2015

MUMBAI: Khan Academy and Tata trusts have teamed up to build a quality, free virtual school. The philanthropic arm of the Tata Group has granted an undisclosed sum to the academy, a non-profit set up by US-born-and-based math whiz Salman Khan — whose mother is from Bengal and father from Bangladesh — to develop courses for Indian learners.

For the next five years, Khan will build a platform, adapt Indian courseware and scale up to provide free access to education to students in India. The first two years will focus on designing a set of educational resources for middle and low-income students in urban India with an early focus on math and science that is

aligned to local curricula. Additional content will be developed in the next three years. It may also get into the test preparation space as it has done with SAT in the US.

"I forget the exact sum, but we will support the academy with all that is needed to be done in India," said Tata Group's chairman emeritus Ratan Tata. Talks are also on with some celebrities with wide reach to promote this idea of worldclass free education.

A Hindi portal has rolled out. "We have a large body of work and when we build our team in India, we will start with developing content creation capacity. We have English videos that we will subtitle and also some will be dubbed. But we are looking for other Sals here," said Khan, who is often described as the first global rockstar teacher.

Khan Academy will set up office in Delhi and this partnership will look at hiring Indian teachers and teach in Indian languages through videos that are mapped to the Indian education system, especially NCERT textbooks. "We are not challenging the traditional means of classroom education, but we do want to catalyze new classrooms for the 21st century," said Khan.

"The Prussian method of schooling has been prevalent since the 19th century. We have to adapt to new methodologies for the 21st century."

(On December 4, The Times of India carried a detailed interview with Khan headlined "Salman's India dream: Coaching 450m in 10 years".)

4.2. HRD ministry ties up with Tata group firms for IIITs under PPP mode

Livemint | Dec. 14, 2015

NEW DELHI: The human resource development ministry on Saturday tied up with private companies, including Tata Motors Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and real-estate firm Hubtown Ltd, to open three Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) through a public-private partnership.

The three IIITs, which are expected to produce quality IT manpower to the country, will be coming up in Nagpur, Ranchi, and Pune, the HRD ministry said on Saturday.

For IIIT Ranchi, Tata Motors and TCS are the partners. IIIT Nagpur will come up in partnership with TCS and engineering solutions company ADCC Infocad, and IIIT-Pune in partnership with Hubtown Ltd and technology solution provider M/S Roltas.

State governments will provide land for all the institutions.

The three IIITs will start operation from 2016-17 academic year with 120 students each from make-shift campuses. Admissions will happen through joint entrance examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Institutes of Technology.

With Saturday’s announcement, the total number of IIITs in PPP mode has gone up to 16, leaving 4 more to be set up for which scheduled has been fixed in the month of January 2016, the ministry said.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

5.1. Indian start-ups scripting impressive growth story: US entrepreneur

TNN, Smita Mainkar | Nov. 19, 2015

INDORE: Unites States has shortage of trained information technology (IT) experts, asserted San Francisco-based writer and entrepreneur Emily Hubbell on Wednesday. Impressed by Indian start-ups on her first visit to Indore, Emily met many brains behind it.

Indore Entrepreneur Network (IEN) in association with National Entrepreneur Network (NEN) organised a learning session on 'From founder to thought leader' for city-based start-ups. Speaking to TOI, Hubbell said, "It's amazing to see talent of women entrepreneurs and their expertise. Indian start-ups are of global nature and their skills can be used to pair up with United States. As a founder, it is necessary your business should get proper marketing and efforts should be made to look for opportunities for venture growth."

Addressing the gathering, she said, "For a founder, it is necessary that he or she should share knowledge with everyone. Try to create contacts and share your expertise which will increase visibility of your business. Expertise in engineering field in India is amazing and entreprenuers here are working on innovative ideas everyday. Tech start-ups need lots of funding and in India, culture of entreprenuership is booming." "Indore has an amazing talent of IT experts. Work ethics in India is highly impressive and really smart. The US lacks such people. Women entreprenuers working here have huge talent and will show an extraordinary growth in future," she said.

5.2. Pfizer, IIT Delhi set up incubation centre for healthcare innovations

TNN, Ranjani Ayyar | Nov. 24, 2015

Pharma major Pfizer and IIT-Delhi on Tuesday launched an incubation accelerator initiative co-created by Pfizer and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT). The programme will be open to Indian individuals and startup companies.

The accelerator will address two components. For innovators seeking comprehensive support to translate their healthcare ideas into patents, the programme will provide two years of residential incubation at IIT Delhi, funding of up to Rs 50 lakhs for each innovator, mentoring support from IIT Delhi's faculty, access to infrastructure and prototyping laboratories, IP search and filing services, guidance from Pfizer's experts, venture capitalists and other industry linkages.

For innovators who have a ready proof of concept and are seeking to obtain a patent, the programme will provide access to IP attorneys and services and cover the patent fee.

Pfizer's funding through this programme will be unencumbered. All rights on the innovations will be owned by the innovators and they will be free to commercialize their patents as they desire.

S Sridhar, executive director, Pfizer India, said: "Pfizer promotes a culture of innovation and encourages this creative endeavour globally. Our Innovation and IP Programme with IIT Delhi will promote, celebrate and reward innovations and advancements in healthcare that are born and brought up in India for the benefit of our people. In doing so, our effort aligns with the government's stated priority of creating a vibrant innovation ecosystem in the country and enhances the creation of intellectual property. I invite innovators in India to take advantage of this programme and bring their healthcare inventions to life."

The programme will invite two rounds of proposals during the year 2015-2016. Call for proposals for the first round will open from November 27, 2015 until January 15, 2016.

Applicants can submit their proposals on the FITT website. An independent panel of subject matter experts established by FITT will review and shortlist the potential incubatees.

The Technology Business Incubator Unit board at IIT-Delhi will make the final selection of individuals and startups that that shall receive the grants and be incubated at IIT-Delhi.

5.3. Microsoft to incubate 500 start-ups in 5 yrs

Business Standard | Dec. 10, 2015

NEW DELHI: With long-term plans to create a viable and profitable business out of the booming start-up sector in India, Microsoft Ventures plans to incubate 500 start-ups in the next five years.

Most of them are either start-ups working on Internet of Things (IoT) or independent software vendors that would help in the 'Digital India' and 'Smart City' initiatives. According to Microsoft, there are around 4,500 tech-based start-ups in India.

Microsoft Ventures, a global initiative to help and incubate late-stage start-ups, has seven accelerators globally in Germany, China, the US, the UK. In India, it has one in Bengaluru.

According to Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice-president of Microsoft's Developer eXperience and Evangelism, Microsoft Ventures India helps around 20 start-ups in a year. "If you add three partner accelerators we work with, the per-year number goes up. We get applications from 1,000 start-ups in India alone every year," he said.

Guggenheimer said most start-ups Microsoft is working in India are working in the IoT space.

"One of our main objectives is to build good ISVs (independent software vendors), build software for smart cities for India and outside of India. Several of the states have already reached out to us for Smart City projects."

Microsoft is also working with start-ups that are working in the fields of sensor technology, infrastructure for transportation, water usage, medical care, emergency response, and air quality, among others.

In the long run, the company plans to organise meet-ups of start-ups with various state government so that it can work together on 'Smart City' initiatives. The company plans to work with the start-ups being incubated in their accelerator programme in the near future and hopes to turn them into customers.

"In the short term, start-ups are not important in our growth and expansion. In the long run, some of them would be successful. Part of what we are doing is build a good relationship with next-generation leaders and software developers of companies who will be customers at some point of time," added Guggenheimer.

According to Microsoft, India is the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world and the fastest growing. It recently opened an office in San Francisco called The Reactor, which is a space used as a touchdown point for alumni from the accelerator programme. It was opened in mid-October this year.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

6.1. 'For Google, India to be bigger market than US by next year'

Business Standard | Dec. 17, 2015

NEW DELHI: Sundar Pichai, global chief executive at Goggle, the giant search engine, believes India will become a bigger market for the company than the US sometime in the middle of 2016.

In an interaction with half a dozen journalists here on Wednesday, he said it was not only with regard to the use of Android-based phones that India would scale ahead of the US. There were also many areas of technological development where India would become Google’s first market for experimentation and trial, before launch in other markets.

“We developed the offline version of YouTube in India, tried it here, and are now taking it to other countries,” Pichai said in his first media address since taking over as Google global head in August this year.

Alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur, who joined Google in April 2004 within days of the company launching Gmail, he said it was an emotional experience to come to India and launch these initiatives here.

Elaborating on the Google Loon project, which envisages the use of floating balloons to transmit data to devices using the internet, Pichai said the company was working with data carriers like phone service providers to roll out the new facility. Google believes in a systems approach and would follow through the processes in India as well, he said. Google Loon would essentially derive its advantage from these balloons, which would be like floating towers and naturally work more effectively in less densely populated areas.

Innovation would continue to be the platform on which Google would work, he said making payments more effective was now a big focus area. He hoped India, too, could exploit its potential as an innovation hub. For this, he emphasised the need for an education system to encourage creativity, and taking the risks. Aadhaar, the biometrics-based identity system launched by former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, he said, was foundational.

On net-neutrality, Pichai said the principle was critical for growth and innovation. Google endorsed it, since it underlined the core internet principle of a free and open environment.

The values of diversity were universal and applied to the US as much as to India. Pichai said this in response to a question on what he felt about the intolerance debate in India, amid his recent comments criticising anti-Muslim views coming from some US leaders.

Earlier in the day, Pichai announced Google would work with the Indian Railways to provide free Wi-Fi at rail stations, launching the first such service at Mumbai Central next month. Pichai also said his company was making Google products work better for Indians.

New initiatives would include a lighter version of search results on webpages, creation of a virtual keyboard, making it easy to type in 11 Indian languages, launch of offline maps providing real-time navigation of roads and searches for locations without a data connection, and adding the facility of panoramic images for 250 Indian monuments.

Pichai also announced that in the first quarter of 2016, Google would release a feature called ‘Tap to Translate’ that would allow instant translation of any text on an Android phone.

Google has developed many applications and customized features to meet India’s language diversity.

Here is a look at some:

Tap to translate: To be released early next year; to help rural and semi-urban population translate messages in the vernacular into English, and vice versa
Translation of text on any format: To transliterate texts on images to a preferred language, making it convenient for tourists and foreigners to understand signboards or shop names
New virtual keyboard: To type in 11 languages
Panoramic imagery of Indian monuments: Images of 250 Indian monuments to Google Maps and Google Cultural Institute; in some a 360° view is available
Google stream line search: Offers fast loading even on limited connectivity

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

6.2. Pichai comes calling, unveils slew of Google products for India

The Hindu, Business Line, New Delhi | Dec. 16, 2015

No visit by a top corporate leader to the National Capital is complete without meeting the powers that be. Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s visit was no different.

Pichai started his day with ‘Google for India’, addressing app developers and business partners and showcasing the company’s strategy. He was also taking forward what he had committed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September — Internet for all.

While the morning session saw Pichai giving a 15-minute talk to those who matter for his business, the latter part of the day saw the rather relaxed Google chief calling on the ministers for IT & Telecom and Railways.

Pichai discussed issues such as free public Wi-Fi in railway stations, Internet access for women, and expanding headcount in India.

After his meeting with IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Pichai said: “We are very excited as the Minister has talked about working together for rural BPOs. We are also keen to look at ‘Internet Saathi’ along with the Common Service Centres (CSCs).”

He said that the company was focussed on expanding the base of Google products to offer them in more Indian languages. With 500 million users expected to come online in India by the end of 2017 , the company is working to make its products work better for Indians.

Addressing the media, Prasad said: “Internet Saathi, whereby they want to reach about three-lakh villages, to train Indian women in particular through their mobile Internet, is a good concept and I have directed CSCs to become a partner in it. For their Loon project, in principle, we have agreed for a final project in partnership with BSNL.”

“Certain issues of security etc, and harmony with the department of Civil Aviation have to be done,” Prasad added.

Pichai will meet the Prime Minister and the President on Thursday after his chat session (#AskSundar) with students at Shri Ram College of Commerce.

6.3. Google to partner telcos for Loon: Pichai

The Hindu, BusinessLine | Dec. 16, 2015

Sundararajan Pichai, first interviewed at Google on the April fool’s day of 2004. The internet company had just announced the launch of Gmail so when he got asked about the product at the interview, he wasn’t sure if it was a fool’s joke. It was not until the fifth round of the interview, when someone actually showed him the product, Pichai realised that he was witnessing the beginning of a profound shift in how things were going to be on the web.

Pichai was able to answer all questions on Gmail in the interviews that followed and got a job offer. “Until then Larry (Larry Page, Google co-founder) used to interview personally but I went in at a time when he just couldn’t do it anymore. I got into Google because Larry didn’t interview me,” Pichai said while sharing his initial experience with a group of Editors in New Delhi.

The Chennai-born, IIT grad has come a long way over the last 10 years to become the CEO of the internet company. Pichai shared his views on a wide range of issues at the Editors’ roundtable.

Excerpts:

What is the status of Project Loon? Recently, there was a statement made by the Indian IT Minister that Loon may not work due to interference with cellular frequencies.

We have had many meetings with the government about Loon. We have been testing in other countries like Indonesia. We have tons of data to show that it doesn’t cause interference. The foundation is that we partner with carriers (telecom operators). It’s early days and we are following through the process. For many carriers, it can supplement areas where they don’t have coverage. These are like floating towers. We are in a stage where we are showing things like how long we can keep the balloons up, how long we can control them and how accurately we can move them.

Facebook is also experimenting with drones. How does the Loon compare with that?

We have been thinking about how to get connectivity. Loon is focussed on rural areas or for example, during natural disasters, areas that go off-line. Loon is perfect in such situations. You are trying to get bits around and you can do it many ways. Be it balloons or drones, instead of laying fibre, you can do these much better.

So people are trying to find out the right model. We are investing into project Titan — flying aerial vehicles and balloon is one way to accomplish that. It’s incredible that everyone is doing this because we have to figure out the next breakthrough in this area.

How does India compare to the US when it comes to hiring and overall Google plan?

In Bay area in the US, we have about 10,000 people. India is at 1,500. The way we work is that we can build products with 5-6 people that can scale up to the world. India is second-biggest market when it terms to traffic.

In terms of Android, India will be the top market next year. In the past we have thought about building products in the US and bringing them into India. Now, we realise when you do stuff in India you think through things which you otherwise wouldn’t so you end up making products that are better. Taking YouTube offline was done targeting India and now it’s rolled out in 77 countries.

What are your views on Net Neutrality and issues like Zero Rating?

Net neutrality has been hugely critical to the way internet developed. We won’t be here without a strong, free, open internet. So, we are committed to net neutrality. As we evolve, it is important that the core principles of fairness and openness need to stay. It is important that governments and community think about a level-playing field and are pro-user.

All this won’t be a debate if there’s plentiful broadband available.

Views on freedom of information debate…

Freedom of information is important, internet is designed for information. People make videos in India and get 60 per cent of views outside India. That’s a great example of free access to information. Every time there is a change in technology people worry and debate. Society needs to debate in a healthy way. Benefits of free information strongly outweigh the cons.

Has the ease of doing business in India improved?

It’s got better and it should get even better. The positive is that when people are constrained it inspires creativity and when you have constraints you have to think about innovation. Compared to the US, it’s still a lot difficult to build here in India.

Google has announced investments for start-ups. How is this going to play out?

We see it as symbiotic. These are people building stuff on top of our platform. We view it as a win-win situation.

We want to see creativity, more innovation on our platforms. This benefits us too.

What’s happening in India and China will have an impact on the future of internet.

7.1. Nestle sells 33 million packs of Maggi in 10 days

PTI | Nov. 20, 2015

NEW DELHI: Nestle India has so far sold 3.3 crore packs of its instant noodles Maggi in 350 towns across India since the relaunch of the product last week, five months after it was banned by central food safety regulator FSSAI.

In an analyst presentation, the company said it was selling Maggi at 1.2 lakh outlets through 724 distributors.

On the financial implications of the ban on Maggi, Nestle India said it had to bear an exceptional cost of Rs 476.2 crore, which included cost of destroying 34,663 tons of the noodles. Nestle had relaunched Maggi noodles in the market on November 9, 2015 after fulfilling conditions set by Bombay High Court which lifted ban imposed by FSSAI and Maharashtra FDA.

According to the company, the ban had impacted 3.97 lakh wheat farmers and 15,000 spice farmers besides over 10,000 employees of its suppliers. It had also impacted its 3,000 contract workers also.

With Maggi back in the market, Nestle India said it is now aiming for "bring back double digit growth" and "back to stability".

7.2. Danone plans to serve 'mishti doi' in Europe

TNN, John Sarkar | Dec. 3, 2015

Danone Groupe has begun a review of its media agency business in more than 20 global markets, including North America. A spokesman for the U.S. division, known as Dannon, confirmed the global review, but declined to elaborate. Dannon's portfolio in the U.S. includes the namesake yogurt brand, Stonyfield, and Evian water. The Paris-based company currently works with Havas Media in North America, and with Omnicom Media Group and WPP's GroupM network of agencies in various markets abroad.

NEW DELHI: Bengal's 'mishti doi' may soon compete with French creme brulee. A staple for joyous Bengali occasions, the sweet yogurt could find its way to European dinner tables as French dairy giant Danone is piloting a reverse innovation project to launch desi dairy products in some of its international markets.

At present, the company's R&D department in France is studying the recipe of mango lassi, a flavoured yogurt-based drink. While lassi could make it to retail shelves first, mishti doi could be one of the other yogurt-based contenders to follow soon, said people familiar with the matter.

"There is a big similarity between food habits of people in France and India. Along with the tendency of using fresh ingredients to prepare meals, people of both countries are heavy yogurt users," said Laurent Marcel, MD of Danone India. "The texture of lassi could be very attractive to European palates. Exotic food that can double as healthy alternatives is a big global trend now." Other than taking desi flavours global, Danone also plans to bring in products from its global portfolio.

The company will launch ready-to-serve custards soon. "It's a global innovation. In India, people find it difficult to prepare," Marcel said. The company has also applied to the FSSAI, the country's apex food regulator, for product approval of several brands from its nutrition portfolio. Danone started its dairy business here in 2010 and nutrition business in 2012 after the acquisition of the nutrition portfolio from Wockhardt Group. Since then, it has brought in its international range of flavoured yogurts and its UHT and fresh dairy innovations tailored for the Indian market such as mishti doi, 'chaas', lassi, 'dahi', flavoured yogurts and smoothies. Marcel, who recently took over as MD of the company, calls it 'Indovation'. "For instance, Protinex, a protein supplement for all age groups, now comes in elaichi and vanilla that are popular Indian flavours," he said."Danone's reverse innovation move could be a boon for the Indian diaspora who stay abroad. There are at least 50 sweet shops selling mishti doi in London. They are mainly run by Bangladeshis. And not only Indians - look at how desi dishes such as chicken tikka masala and others have taken the world by storm. Nowadays, Michelin-starred Indian chefs, who run restaurants abroad, are big hits," said an industry expert.

Interestingly, mishti doi has recently become the go-to ingredient for ace Indian chefs such as Manish Mehrotra of Delhi-based Indian Accent, arguably the country's finest restaurant. With Mother Dairy's mishti doi, Mehrotra has cooked up Mishti Doi Cannoli, a smooth variant of the Sicilian pastry.

8. An Umbrella Scheme 'Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries' with an outlay of Rs 3000 crore Proposed- Radha Mohan Singh

Press Information Bureau | Nov. 23, 2015

NEW DELHI: Union Agriculture and Farmers welfare Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh today here inaugurate the “World fisheries Day-2015”. Shri Singh on the occasion said that “considering the importance and growth potential of the sector, and considering the need for effective implementation of different schemes, the Ministry by merging all the existing schemes, has proposed to formulate an umbrella scheme ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’ with an outlay of Rs. 3000 crore. This umbrella scheme will cover inland fisheries, aquaculture, marine fisheries including deep sea fishing, mari-culture and all activities undertaken by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) towards realizing “Blue Revolution”. Minister further said that a “focused approach of this nature shall lead to ushering in Blue Revolution through an integrated development and management of fisheries and aquaculture sector and would ensure sustained acceleration and intensification of fish production beyond the projected annual growth rate.”

Union Minister on the occasion felicitates some of the fishers/fish farmers who have come from different states of the country and released a souvenir. Minister of State Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Shri Ashok Kumar Angurana and secretary DARE, Dr. S. Ayyappan was also present on the occasion.

Full text of the speech:

“Fisheries are an important sector. Fisheries supports livelihood of almost 1.5 million peoples in our country. India is one of the leading producers of fish in the world, occupying the second position globally in terms of production.The contribution of Indian fish to the food basket of the world has been substantial. In this context, reflecting the priorities of our government towards the development of fisheries sector, during the last year on 21stNovember, 2014 we celebrated the World Fisheries Day for the first time in the country. And I am happy that today again, we all are here to celebrate theWorld Fisheries Day.

After Independence, fish production has been increased from 7.5 lakh tonnes in 1950-51 to 100.70 lakh tonnes during 2014-15, while the export earnings of 33,441 crore in 2014-15 (US$ 5.51 billion), equalled about 18% of the export earnings from the agriculture sector. Our overall fish production has crossed 10 million tons with a growth rate of over 5 % and today we are ahead of all countries except China. The export earnings of Rs. 33,441 crore in 2014-15 (US$ 5.51 billion), equaled about 18% of the export earnings from the agriculture sector.

Coming to Aquaculture, India is the second largest producer (42. 10 lakh tonnes) of fish from aquaculture which contributes about 6.3 per cent to global aquaculture production. Keeping the recent developments and trends in fish production in view, and the previous Plan periods, it is expected that a growth rate of about 8.0 per cent can be achieved in the inland sector. The future demand for fish and fishery products has to be mostly sourced from aquaculture and culture based capture fisheries in reservoirs.

During the last two years, through National Scheme for Welfare of Fishermen, assistance has been provided for construction of 5583 fishermen-houses, training to 7720 fishermen, insurance assistance to 48 million fishermen, and assistance is provided to 7.34 million fishermen under the savings-cum-relief scheme during the fishing ban period. In these two years, approximately 4,000 traditional fishing boats have been modernized, and 7363 sea safety kits have been distributed. Nation Fisheries Development Board (NFDB)has provided assistance of Rs. 5751.18 lakh for construction of 10 wholesale markets,24 retail fish-markets,and has financed for 16,719 mobile fish-vending vehicles. NFDB has provided assistance of Rs. 1832.55 lakh to 18 statesfor seed-stocking,cage and pen-culture.NFDB has also provided assistance of Rs. 1211 lakh for ornamental fisheries and for construction of 458 backyard hatcheries etc. Apart from this, the Government has planned for providing assistance of Rs. 530 crore for construction of new hatcheries, ponds, cages etc. under NMPS and RKVY.

India has over 8000 Km. of coastal line and nearly 2 million Sq Km of EEZ and half a million Sq Km. of Continental Shelf. From these marine resources, India has an estimated fisheries potential of 4.11 million tons. Similarly, 3.0 million hectares of reservoirs, 2.5 million hectares of ponds and tanks, 1.25 million hectares of brackish water area, cold water resources of hilly states and all other inland fishery resources offer a production potential of about 15 million tons. Against this potential, the production from inland sector was 6.58 million tonnes during 2014-15. In this context, optimum utilization of resources becomes pivotal to achieve the targeted production.

So far, our country could not utilize the existing aquatic resources; however, the annual growth rate of above 5% in fisheries is indicative of the immense potential of the sector in the coming years. It is against this backdrop that we want to harness all possibilities for intensive and integrated development of fishery sector.Providing nutritious food and gainful employment are the foremost challenges in the country today. Through fisheries, these two requirements can be fulfilled.

While the required financial support is being provided to the farmers, fishermen and entrepreneurs connected with the fisheries sector through various ongoing programs namely, Centrally Sponsored Schemes, National Fisheries Development Board, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana etc. still, enhancement of productivity and production are the key challenges in achieving the targeted production.

Realizing the great scope for the Development of Fisheries, the Hon’ble Prime Minister has called for “a Revolution” in the fisheries sector and named it as “Blue Revolution”. It visualizes “Creating an enabling environment for an integrated and holistic development and management of fisheries keeping in view the sustainability, bio-security and environmental concerns”. The Blue Revolution, encompassing multi-dimensional activities, focuses mainly on increasing production from aquaculture and fisheries resources, both inland and marine. The vast fishery resources offer immense opportunities to enhance fish production through aquaculture-system diversification, species diversification, proper management, introduction of new and advanced technologies in both marine and inland sector, adoption of scientific practices and application of suitable fish health management strategies etc.

I believe that various ICAR research institutes as well as other research organizations in India have been able to develop new technologies which have the potential for enhancing productivity and production of various aquaculture and fishery resources. To make this happen, technology has to be brought to the doorstep of the user community. I urge fisheriesscientists to promote the activities for capacity building and training of the fishermen, and encourage use of new technologies enthusiastically on the ground. With a view to focus exclusively on fish production and productivity, hygienic handling and processing, value addition and marketing of fish and fishery products we have also established the National Fisheries Development Board at Hyderabad as an autonomous body under our Ministry.

Let me also emphasize that while focusing on production, there is also a need for value addition, processing, hygienic handling and promotion of domestic fish marketing including mobile fish vending units for ensuring remunerative prices to the producers along with good fish for the consumers.

I am happy to know that as part of World Fisheries Day, the DAD&F have invited eminent experts, scientists, progressive fish farmers and fishers and entrepreneurs engaged in fisheries sector and interested entrepreneurs to have first hand interaction. I have also had the honor to felicitate some of the fishers/fish farmers who have come from different states of the country. I wish that all the relevant information and knowledge available during this event should be fully availed of by fishers, fish farmers and other stakeholders to enhance their understanding on various issues of the fisheries sector. They should also take suitable advice and guidance from experts in the field.

I thank the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries for successfully organizing this ‘World Fisheries Day’ and the National Fisheries Development Board as a sponsor of this event and I wish the whole event a grand success. I thank and extend my best wishes to all of you.

Thank you.”

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

9.1. Basic urban infra investment plans for 102 cities approved under AMRUT

Press Information Bureau | Nov. 27, 2015

NEW DELHI: 5 states to spend Rs.3,120 cr in improving water supply, sewerage networks, storm water drains, urban transport and parks State Annual Action Plans for 2015-16 for Haryana, Chattisgarh, Telanagana, Kerala, W. Bengal cleared.

Total investment of Rs.11,654 cr so far approved under Atal Mission for 272 cities

Seeking to improve basic infrastructure in urban areas, the Ministry of Urban Development today approved an investment of Rs.3,120 cr for enhancing water supply, sewerage network services, storm water drains, non-motorised transport and availability of public spaces in 102 cities, under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

An inter-ministerial Apex Committee chaired by Shri Madhusudhan Prasad, Secretary(Urban Development) approved State level Annual Action Plans for 2015-16 with an investment of Rs.438 cr for Haryana which has 18 Amrut cities, Rs.573 cr for Chattisgarh (9 cities), Rs.416 cr for Telangana (12 cities), Rs.588 cr for Kerala (9 cities) and Rs.1,105 cr for West Bengal which has 54 Atal Mission cities.

Total investment in water supply projects in 58 mission states will be Rs.2,386 cr, sewerage projects-Rs. 495 cr in 17 cities, Storm water drains- Rs.106 cr in 9 cities, Urban transport-Rs.61 cr in 9 cities and Rs.72 cr for development of parks and green spaces in all the 102 cities.

The Apex Committee approved investments in different basic urban infrastructure areas as proposed by respective state governments. Ministry of Urban Development will provide an assistance of Rs.1,540 cr which is about 50% of total project expenditure approved today.

With today’s approvals, the Ministry has so far cleared a total investment of Rs.11,654 cr in 272 Atal Mission cities for improving infrastructure for ensuring water and sewerage connections to all households in Atal Mission cities besides enabling water supply as per the norm of 135 litres per capita per day for urban areas etc.

At present only about 50% of urban households are provided with water connections and water supply is about 75 lpcd. Availability of sewerage connections is very low. Atal Mission seeks to bridge this deficit.

As per the State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) for 2015-16, presented by the Haryana Government, water supply at present in all the 18 mission cities is below the norm for urabn areas. It is only 43 litres per capita per day in Jind, 88 lpcd in Sonipet and a maximum of 130 lpcd in Gurgaon. In other mission cities of Rohtak, Ambala Cant, Thaneswar, Sirsa, Hisar, Palwal, Karnal, Yamuna Nagar, Kaithal, Bhiwani, Ambala City, Rewari, Panipat, Bahadurgarh and Jagadhari, present water supply is in the range of 102 lpcd to 127 lpcd.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

9.2. 15 Smart City Proposals from 7 States received by UD Ministry; Rajasthan first to do so

Press Information Bureau | Dec. 15, 2015

NEW DELHI: Investment of Rs.6,457 cr proposed in 4 smart cities in Rajasthan over 5 years; greenfield city near Kota 1.81 crore citizens participated in preparation of smart city proposals; 25 lakhs on MyGov.in Proposals to be evaluated based on implementation framework, result orientation, citizen participation, SWOT analysis based strategy, city vision and goals.

Rajasthan Government, the first to submit Smart City Proposals to the Ministry of Urban Development has proposed a total investment of Rs.6,457 cr over the next five year for developing Ajmer, Jaipur, Kota and Udaipur as Smart Cities. This includes Rs.2,403 cr for Jaipur, Rs.1,493 cr for Kota, Rs.1,300 cr for Ajmer and Rs.1,221 for Udaipur. While a greenfield city will be developed near Kota, the remaining 3 cities will undertake retrofitting based area based smart city development schemes. All four cities will implement technology based Pan-city solutions.

Under Smart City Plan for Jaipur, 600 acre area comprising of walled city on either side of the axis between Badi Chopad and Choti Chopad and extended up to Albert Museum will be taken up for retrofitting including sustainable mobility corridors, smart civic infrastructure and promotion of heritage and tourism at an estimated cost of Rs.1,583 cr. Pan City Proposals to be taken up include Multi Modal Public Transit Operation and Management Centre with introduction of Smart Card and technology based solid waste management and Public Information System at a cost of Rs.820 cr.

In Ajmer, retrofitting will be taken up over an area of 1,334 acres in North and West parts of Anna Sagar Lake to promote infrastructure, green building and safety and security at a cost of Rs.925 cr. Pan City Solutions for improving urban mobility and traffic & transportation management and City e-governance will be taken up at a cost of Rs.375 cr.

Smart City Proposal for Udaipur proposes Rs.880 cr investment in retrofitting of 828 acres for improving sewerage, power supply and conservation of buildings and heritage. Under Pan City Proposals, Rs.341 cr will be spent on providing intelligent Transport Management Systems and Citywide Smart Utilities.

Kota has proposed greenfield extension over an area of 395 acres at a cost of Rs.1,045 cr besides Pan City proposals at a cost of s.438 cr for smart waste management and smart corridor.

Under Smart City Mission Guidelines, retrofitting is to be taken up over a minimum area of 500 acres of already built up area to rectify the core infrastructure gaps. Redevelopment of a minimum 50 acres by demolishing an existing built up areas to be rebuilt with a fresh layout plan is stipulated. Greenfield development got to be over a minimum of 250 acres to ease the pressure on the existing city.

Smart City Plans for 15 cities from 6 states and Puducherry have been submitted to the Ministry of Urban Development. These were:

Rajasthan : Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer and Kota
Punjab: Jallandhar
Jharkhand : Ranchi
West Bengal : New Town Kolkata, Bidhannagar and Durgapur
Kerala : Kochi
Karnataka: Davanagere, Tumakuru, Hubli-Dharwad and Shivmogga
Puducherry- Oulgaret.

Tomorrow is the last date for submission of Smart City Proposals to the Ministry of Urban Development.

98 cities that have been included in the Smart City Mission have a total population of about 130 million which accounts for 35% of total urban population in the country.

Further to the emphasis on citizen participation in preparation of smart city proposals, 1.81 cr citizens in mission cities have contributed to the same which accounts for 14% of urban population in theseAnchor cities, which is statistically considered as good.

MyGov.in has been widely used for promoting citizen participation with about 25 lakh citizens contributing to formulation of proposals.

On the receipt of all the Smart City Proposals, expected by tomorrow, the Ministry of Urban Development will set in motion the second state of ‘City Challenge Competition’. Under this, proposals will be evaluated based on Implementation Framework (30 weightage), Result orientation (20%), Citizen Participation (16%), Smartness of Pan City Solutions (10%), Strategy based on SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of city (10%), City vision and goals (5%), Quality of city profiling including identification of Key Performance Indicators (5%) and Processes followed (4%).

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

10. Cabinet approves Central Legislation to declare 106 additional inland waterways as national waterways

Press Information Bureau | Dec. 10, 2015

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to carry out official amendments in "The National Waterways Bill, 2015". The amendments are based on the recommendations of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and comments of State Governments. It provides for enacting a Central Legislation to declare 106 additional inland waterways, as the national waterways. After the inclusion of 106 additional inlands waterways to the existing five national waterways, the total number of national waterways goes upto 111.

The number of waterways to be declared as new National Waterways is now proposed as 106 and adding the existing NWs, the total number of National Waterways in the bill goes up to 111. The following changes have been effected in the original list of 101 waterways that was introduced with the National Waterways Bill 2015, on 05.05.2015:- 10 waterways of Kerala have been omitted, 17 waterways have been merged with the existing waterways and 18 waterways (5 Karnataka, 5 Meghalaya, 3 Maharashtra, 3 Kerala, 1 each from Tamilnadu and Rajasthan) have been added, thus, making a total of 106 waterways that have been finalized for declaration as new National Waterways in addition to the 5 existing waterways. In order to carry out these changes, an official amendment to the National Waterways Bill, 2015 will have to be moved in the Lok Sabha in the current Session of Parliament.

Declaration of the above additional 106 waterways as National Waterways would not have any immediate financial implications. Financial approval of the competent authority for each waterway would, however, be taken based on the outcome of the techno-economic feasibility studies etc. that are being undertaken by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) currently. IWAI will develop the feasible stretch of National Waterways for shipping and navigation purpose through mobilization of financial resources.

The declaration of these National Waterways would enable IWAI to develop the feasible stretches for Shipping and Navigation. The right over the use of water, river bed and the appurtenant land will remain with the State Government. In addition, other benefits to States are: fewer accidents, less congestion on roads, cheaper mode of ferrying passengers, reduced logistics costs in cargo movement and development of adjoining areas.

The expeditious declaration of National Waterways and its subsequent development will enhance the industrial growth and tourism potential of the hinterland along the waterway. This will also provide an additional, cheaper and environment friendly mode of transportation throughout the country.

Background:

Inland Water Transport is considered as the most cost effective and economical mode of transport from the point of view of fuel efficiency. One horse power can carry 4000 Kg load in water whereas, it can carry 150 Kg and 500 Kg by road and rail respectively. Further in a study as highlighted by the World Bank, 1 litre of fuel can move 105 ton-Km by inland water transport, whereas the same amount of fuel can move only 85 ton-Km by rail and 24 ton-Km by road. Studies have shown that emission from container vessels range from 32-36 gCO2 per ton-Km while those of road transport vehicles (heavy duty vehicles) range from 51-91gCO2 per ton-km.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

- INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURE

11.1. Launch of Technology Acquisition and Development Fund under National Manufacturing Policy

Press Information Bureau | Nov. 20, 2015

NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Commerce & Industry (I/C), Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, launched on 18.11.2015 the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) under National Manufacturing Policy being implemented by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion(DIPP). TADF is a new scheme to facilitate acquisition of Clean, Green & Energy Efficient Technologies, in form of Technology / Customised Products / Specialised Services / Patents / Industrial Design available in the market available in India or globally, by Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

While launching this Scheme, the Commerce Minister hoped that the Scheme would facilitate acquisition of clean & green technologies by micro, small and medium units across the sectors and thus, bridge the technological gap at an affordable cost.

The Scheme is conceptualised to catalyse the manufacturing growth in MSME sector to contribute to the national focus of “Make in India”. Under the Scheme which would be implemented through Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA), a joint venture company, support to MSME units is envisaged by the following:

I. Direct Support for Technology Acquisition - Proposals from Indian industry will be invited for reimbursement of 50% of technology transfer fee or Rs. 20 lakhs, whichever is lower.

II. In-direct Support for Technology Acquisition through Patent Pool - Financial support will be provided in acquiring of technology/Patent from across the Globe based on applications received from MSMEs. Technology/Patent will be licensed to selected companies, with a mutually agreed value and the selected companies will get a subsidy of 50% of the mutually agreed value or Rs. 20 lakhs.

III. Technology / Equipment Manufacturing Subsidies: The fund will support, via subsidies, manufacturing of equipment / machines / devices for controlling pollution, reducing energy consumption and water conservation. The manufacturing units will be provided with a subsidy of up to 10% of capital expenditure incurred on new plant & machinery subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lakhs.

IV. Green Manufacturing – Incentive Scheme: The scheme will facilitate resource conservation activities in industries located in NIMZ through the introduction of incentive/subsidy schemes for energy/ environmental/ water audits, construction of green buildings, implementation of waste treatment facilities and implementation of renewable energy projects through financial support under the TADF.

The guidelines for the Scheme envisage providing assistance to units in MSME sector owned by Indian residents.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

11.2. Daimler needs many hands for B'luru R&D centre

TNN, Shilpa Phadnis | Nov. 29, 2015

BENGALURU: Mercedes Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI), a captive unit of the $154-billion German automotive major Daimler, plans to more than double its headcount in Bengaluru to 6,000 by 2020. The Bengaluru centre is already Daimler's largest outside Germany.

MBRDI's 2020 roadmap is to integrate digitalization across the entire value chain from design to manufacturing. Digitalization is a strategic theme anchored in all divisions of the company, including for its employees through an internal social network called Daimler Connect -a cross-discipline and hierarchy-independent exchange created to foster innovation across Daimler employees globally.

The digitalization strategy is also encouraging MBRDI to explore synergies with Indian startups. This initiative is modelled on the lines of its recent engagement with startups in Berlin through Betahaus or coworking office space, where startups collaborate with Daimler's Stuttgart employees to develop innovative solutions for transport. Around 200 startup founders in Berlin participated.

Manu Saale, CEO of MBRDI, said India was a vital cog in Daimler's digital transformation initiative. "Somewhere it was said: Go digital or go home. We are doing more than just CAD (computer-aided design) and CAE (computer-aided engineering). Once the design in CAD is ready, we test it digitally. We do crash tests digitally, we compute the load cases digitally. We look at the stiffness and durability of components digitally . So the product lives in the computer for longer than before," Saale said.

This reduces the time-to-production and costs significantly . The Bengaluru centre provides a range of engineering capabilities including CAD teams that are involved in designing subsystems like chassis and powertrain.

Saale said with the automotive industry working towards connected cars and autonomous driving, the company seeks to hire experts in mobility and big data. He said it was quite a challenge to find the right talent.

12.1. Volkswagen India starts export of Vento to Argentina

PTI | Nov. 18, 2015

NEW DELHI: Volkswagen India has started exporting its locally-produced mid-sized sedan Vento to Argentina which will be sold as 'Polo' in the South American country.

Volkswagen Argentina will sell Vento manufactured at Pune plant as the Polo with a 1.6-litre petrol engine with five-speed manual as well as six-speed automatic gearbox, the company said in a statement. "We have been exporting to numerous markets across Asia, Africa and North America. By entering Argentina, now we not only continue our endeavour to deliver top notch products around the world, but also establish ourselves in a new region and a market which has a strong Volkswagen presence", Volkswagen India President & MD Andreas Lauermann said.

The auto major has been the market leader in Argentina for 12 consecutive years with a market share of almost 22 per cent, the company added.

Volkswagen India started exporting cars from its Pune Plant in 2011 with the first export market being South Africa. Since then, the export operations of Volkswagen India have expanded to over 35 countries across Asia, Africa, North America and South America.

Additionally, Volkswagen India also exports parts and components of its cars to Malaysia which are assembled there for the Malaysian domestic market.

12.2. Volkswagen to roll out India-specific compact sedan next year

PTI | Nov. 25, 2015

NEW DELHI: German car major Volkswagen AG today said it will roll out an India-specific compact sedan next year from its Pune plant and has invested Rs. 720 crore in the development of the new model.

With the investment in the new compact sedan, which has been specifically designed and developed for India, Volkswagen will add a new model to its product portfolio.

The production of the compact sedan at Volkswagen's Pune plant is scheduled to commence in the first half of 2016.

"We are following a long-term investment plan in India and with our latest investment we have reaffirmed our confidence in this growing automotive market," Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd, President and Managing Director, Andreas Lauermann said in a statement.

The investment of Rs 720 crore is towards development, setting up new equipment and ramping up the production of the new compact sedan.

This is a part of the Rs 1,500 crore investment that was announced by Volkswagen India at the beginning of 2014.

"This is the second step of investment after the engine assembly plant a year ago. Additionally, we will continue to invest further in increasing our productivity and efficiency," Lauermann said.

The Pune-based plant is getting ready for the production of the new model with changes and installation of new equipment.

The world-premiere of the new sedan is scheduled at the Auto Expo in February 2016.

"With our new compact sedan, we will focus intensively on the specific requirements of our Indian customers," Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, Director, Michael Mayer said.

With the latest investment in the new compact sedan, Volkswagen has now invested around Rs 5,500 crore in India at the Pune plant since it started its operations in 2007.

Currently, about 3,200 employees are working at this manufacturing facility where the Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid are being produced.

"With the ramp-up of the new model, we will add more manpower and also create more jobs at our suppliers' end," Lauermann said.

13.1. Bosch opens manufacturing facility at Oragadam near Chennai

TNN, Ranjani Ayyar | Nov. 20, 2015

CHENNAI: Bosch India inaugurated its 15th manufacturing facility in India on Friday at Oragadam near Chennai. Spread over two acres of land, the plant will manufacture products for Bosch's Power Tools business division.

Steffen Berns, managing director of Bosch Ltd, said, "In line with our local-for-local strategy, this plant will cater mainly to the requirements in India with a small share of exports to Asia, Middle-East and Africa." "The new local manufacturing facility of our advanced Power Tools will enable us to produce innovative and high quality products at competitive cost to meet the region-specific demands of our customers in India. The new location also provides us with more options to ramp up capacity in the medium-term based on the needs of the Power Tools business," he said.

The new facility will manufacture products such as angle grinders, impact and rotary drills, rotary hammers, marble cutters, air blowers including motors for all the tools.

13.2. Canadian auto components maker Magna opens two factories in Sanand

Livemint | Dec. 10, 2015

Sanand, GUJARAT: Canada’s Magna International Inc. on Wednesday said it has started production at two facilities in Gujarat’s Sanand, which will supply auto parts to Ford Motor Co. in India. The facilities are located in a suppliers’ park next to Ford’s assembly plant in Gujarat’s Sanand.

Jim Tobin, chief marketing officer and president of Magna Asia said it was a multi-million dollar project with scope for expansion, without specifying the investment in the two units.

The company currently has 285 manufacturing locations globally, of which 11 are in India. “About 116 plants across the globe supply to Ford. We are looking at the next phase of growth to come from India,” Tobin said.

Magna is a global strategic components supplier of Ford. The US-headquartered automaker earlier this year started production from its factory in Sanand, which it has built for an estimated investment of $1 billion.

Tobin said the Indian automobile market is estimated to grow from 4 million units currently to about 12 million units by 2030.

At one of the new Sanand facilities, Magna assembles and provides just-in-time deliveries of complete seat systems for Ford. The 215,000-sq. ft plant is expected to employ approximately 200 people at full production, building approximately 240,000 complete seat systems per year.

Both units will together employ around 600 people. As for the seating systems plant, it will have an initial capacity to make car seats for 240,000 cars per year that can be expanded to 500,000 car seats per year on a two-shift basis.

At the second facility in Sanand, Magna will build body and chassis systems for Ford.

While the new plants reflect business awards for vehicles that are built from global-platform architectures, they also help position Magna for further growth in India as vehicle production expands.

Sanand, located about 40 km from Ahmedabad, has emerged as a major destination for automakers, after Tata Motors decided to relocate its factory to Sanand in 2008 to build the Nano after facing protests at its original site in Singur, West Bengal.

Companies that have followed Tata Motors’ footsteps in the last seven years include Ford India, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd and Honda Cars India Ltd.

The Sanand-Hansalpur-Vithalapur region, which houses Suzuki’s upcoming car plant, is part of a proposed cluster of automobile and textile industries on the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor. The region has seen investment proposals of Rs.20,000-25,000 crore in the automobile manufacturing sector.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

14.1. Titan to launch smart watches with HP

Livemint | Nov. 24, 2015

BENGALURU: When times change, the time keepers must change too.

With its watch business facing sluggish growth and new buyers turning to connected wearables, the four-decade-old Titan Co. Ltd on Monday said it will launch a range of smart watches along with HP Inc.

The new watches will arrive in select domestic and international markets in the next couple of months.

The entry into the smartwatch category is the next step in Titan’s journey as a lifestyle company, said S. Ravi Kant, chief executive at the company’s watches and accessories division.

Traditional watchmakers across the globe are stepping up to the challenge as technology giants such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Group carve out a new category of smart watches. Watch manufacturer Fossil reportedly spent $260 million to acquire Misfit, maker of wearables and Internet-connected devices.

The move also coincides with Titan’s move towards becoming a more digital company as it aims to woo younger, tech-savvy shoppers. Earlier this year, it launched digital Sonata watches under the SF brand.

The retailer’s stores are also expected to be digitally integrated as it hopes to sell its watches and jewellery products across multiple retail channels.

Innovation from HP Inc. “is helping fashion-forward brands infuse technology into their designs to give consumers the stylish timepieces they want but that are more connected and responsive,” said Sridhar Solur, general manager, wearables and smart platforms at HP Inc.

In the quarter ended 31 September, Titan’s watch business that includes brands such as Sonata and Fastrack saw a marginal growth in sales. Sale of watches grew 4.4% to Rs.546 crore. For the year ended 31 March, net income at the company’s watch business stood at Rs.1,926 crore up 7.2% from the previous year.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs.376.70 up 1.39% on the Bombay Stock Exchange at 1:50 pm on Monday.

About 52 million watches are sold in India every year.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

14.2. JV with Titan marks Montblanc's second coming to Indian market

Livemint | Dec. 04, 2015

NEW DELHI: Titan Co. Ltd, India’s largest watch maker, has decided to start the retail operation of its joint venture with global luxury brand Montblanc International, the company informed BSE on Thursday.

The move comes more than a year after the Rs 11,791-crore company got a nod from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to open stores under the single-brand retail investment policy in India.

As part of the venture, Titan will open five Montblanc boutiques in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune in the next three months. Montblanc sells premium pens, leather products, watches, perfumes and jewellery.

The move will help Titan diversify into accessories and lifestyle market. It will also help the retailer that owns the Tanishq brand of gold jewellery diversify its premium offerings.

“With Titan’s strong position and Montblanc’s luxury offering across its portfolio, there is no doubt that the maison’s appeal and success will only continue to grow,” said Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of Titan.

The move comes at a time when sales at the company’s jewellery and watches business are witnessing tepid growth amid weak consumer demand.

Titan Co. Ltd’s net profit for the quarter ended 30 September dipped 39% to Rs 145.4 crore, lower than market estimates. Sales dropped 25% during the quarter to Rs 2,654.8 crore from Rs 3,564 crore in the year-ago period.

For Montblanc, it will be a second coming to the Indian market. Previously, since the 1990s, it used to sell its products through a distribution arrangement with ex-cricketer Dilip Doshi’s company Entrack International.

Montblanc is part of Swiss luxury jewellery and watch company Richemont SA. Through its subsidiary Montblanc Services B.V. Netherlands, it owns 51% of the venture with Titan.

Shares of Titan fell 1.42% on Thursday to close at Rs 371.85 apiece in Mumbai trading, while the benchmark Sensex lost 0.89% to close at 25,886.62 points.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

15.1. Aditya Birla Group to expand textile value chain initiative

PTI | Dec. 5, 2015

COIMBATORE: Aditya Birla Group will scale up and further expand LIVA Accredited Partners Forum (LAPF) — an initiative to improve the textile value chain — by reaching out to more players from rural hubs and small towns across the country, a top company official said.

"This is an attempt to bring all textile stakeholders on a single platform and promote innovation and quality, and make India the world's leading cloth manufacturing hub in line with the Make in India strategy," president Consumer Insights and Brand Development of the Group, Prakash Nedungadi said.

"India has the potential and can compete with any country including China," he said at a Stakeholders' Conclave here on Friday.

This initiative is not just limited to cities, but will also include small towns and rural players, he added.

The conclave, involving over 200 leading textile players mainly from the southern states, was held as part of its efforts to support design development, technical skills, marketing and buyer link support, under the LAPF initiative.

"This is a unique unity for quality. We have 320 members on board and the forum plays a key role in improving the value chain through critical support," senior vice president, Sales and Marketing (India, Saarc, Far East) of the Group, Ashwin J Laddha, said.

Birla Cellulose, the pulp and fibre manufacturing division of Grasim, a leading player in Viscose Staple Fibre industry with 93 per cent share market share, has tied up with Mumbai-based Netcarrots to implement a customer relationship marketing programme for the stakeholders, he said.

LAPF members include spinners, weavers, knitters and fabricators, with major participation from textile hubs such as Tirupur, Erode, Ludhiana, New Delhi, Kolkatta, Surat, Bhiwandi, the company said in a statement.

The LAPF programme is linked to Birla Cellulose's fibre brand LIVA, which was launched in March this year, in line with the group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla's vision of establishing connect with the end consumer.

The company has also tied up with Bombay Textile Research Association to undertake quality improvement programmes and stringent audits for the partners, the statement added.

15.2. Gururaj gets Foxconn, Flipkart, Accel backing

TNN. Samidha Sharma & Shilpa Phadnis | Nov. 30, 2015

Mumbai/Bangalore: Ravi Gururaj, a serial entrepreneur-turned-investor who heads Nasscom's Product Council, is back donning the entrepreneur's hat. Gururaj's latest venture QikPod, which is ready to go live, has roped in a stellar set of financial and strategic investors, including the Taiwanese manufacturer of Apple iPhones, Foxconn, Silicon Valley venture fund Accel Partners, Flipkart and Delhivery. These investors are pumping $9 million, or about Rs 60 crore, into QikPod's first round of funding, one of the largest cheques to come in for a yet-to-be-launched startup.

Gururaj, one of the most recognizable faces in the country's startup ecosystem, is setting up a network of fully automated, self-serve lockers in residential complexes, office compounds, cafes and kirana stores across the country, starting from Bangalore, to ease the delivery process for online retailers. Gururaj told TOI that QikPod's network and services will be made available to all couriers and e-commerce companies in the country.

Gururaj's idea is to help e-commerce players overcome the problem of failed deliveries, a pain point for most e-tailers globally, making the last-mile logistics less complicated. QikPod is poised to create greater consumer convenience and substantially reduce last-mile delivery costs, along with the benefit of cutting carbon emissions through shortened and fewer delivery routes, Gururaj told TOI. QikPod plans to install 50,000 lockers across the country which can be set up in varying sizes, starting from a low-footprint 10-compartment column to hundreds of compartments across a large parcel locker room. These can be installed in the receptions and lobbies of apartment buildings and offices as well as in retail locations such as coffee shops and grocery stores. The service is currently free to consumers as well as for locations and sites that wish to install and host a locker.

Gururaj said, "I had always planned to jump back into building a venture, but took a while to identify a tangible, valuable and large growing problem area where I could build an innovative company." He said the new venture won't impact his role at Nasscom where he will continue to serve on the executive council and as chair of the product council.

"There is a dire need for a more convenient shipping alternative to home delivery to sustain the high growth in e-commerce and hyperlocal categories. A connected locker is a simple and effective solution to this problem. For consumers, there will be no more hassles of payments, returns, coordinating timings with delivery staff, and for the e-tailers, this will finally enable true economies of scale," said Prashanth Prakash, partner, Accel Partners.

In India, Amazon, the e-commerce behemoth, uses kirana stores and other pick-up points in an indigenous improvisation on Amazon Lockers, which the company operates in the US and some other markets. Amazon Lockers act as self-delivery locations to pick up parcels from. Others like hyperlocal delivery player Roadrunnr launched 'Mailbox' recently to help cater to the problem of missed deliveries for its e-commerce clients. Indian e-commerce industry is likely to cross the $100-billion mark in terms of sales over the next five years, from $17 billion at present, according to an Assocham-PricewaterhouseCoopers study, and would require a robust delivery and logistics backend to reach that scale.

Gururaj has earlier founded five ventures, two of which were acquired by Nasdaq-listed US technology companies. He founded VMLogix, a virtualization management solution for private and public cloud, which was acquired by Citrix in 2010.

15.3. Taiwan’s Wistron follows Foxconn to make in India

TNN, Pankaj Doval | Nov 25, 2015

NEW DELHI: India is on the radar of global electronics manufacturers. After the entry of top contract manufacturer Foxconn, it's the turn of another Taiwanese company, $20-billion Wistron Corp.

Wistron, which makes devices for companies such as Blackberry, HTC and Motorola, has partnered homegrown telecom retailer and manufacturer Optiemus for making mobile devices.

The two companies will be manufacturing the devices at a new factory in Noida in Uttar Pradesh with an investment target of $200 million.

"We will start with an annual capacity of 18 million devices, and plan to ramp this up to 100 million over the next three to five years," Ravinder Zutshi, MD of Optiemus, told TOI here.

"The government's 'Make in India' campaign, coupled with the country's growing consumption, makes an excellent case for the Indian manufacturing sector to emerge as a global hub across sectors."

HTC's entire portfolio of devices will be made in this factory and Zutshi — former deputy MD with Samsung's India subsidiary — said there are plans to contract-manufacture for other companies too. "This is just the beginning. We are in discussions with other players as well."

The entry of Foxconn and Wistron is a major boost to the government's plans to make India a global electronics manufacturing hub. While hiking import duty, India has doled out sops for companies to boost manufacturing in the country, and hopes to counter China's dominance in manufacturing through such investments.

Foxconn has already announced aggressive plans for India and could contract-manufacture devices for Apple. "This would be a great example of make in India with a Taiwanese company entering into a JV to make mobile phones, TVs not only for the domestic market but to capture share in rest of the world," Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion secretary Amitabh Kant said. He said China is a leading manufacturing destination because of investments made by Taiwanese companies.

"This JV will contribute in further developing the manufacturing eco-system in India. I believe this JV will lead to setting up of various facilities across the country. It should manufacture all brands in India."

Robert Hwang, president and COO of Wistron, said the company is looking at a big opportunity in India. "We are excited to enter the world's fastest growing smartphone market with Optiemus. We are confident that by leveraging each other's strengths, we will be able to bring innovation and value at a faster pace to the end-consumer."

- SERVICES (IT, R&D, Tourism, Healthcare, etc.)

16. Mahindra to buy Italian car designer Pininfarina

Business Standard | Dec. 15, 2015

MUMBAI: Mahindra & Mahindra and Tech Mahindra agreed to buy Italian car designer Pininfarina SpA in a deal worth about euro 168 million ($185 million), underscoring the Indian vehicle maker’s international ambitions.

M&M, together with its affiliate Tech Mahindra, would form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to acquire 76 per cent stake in the indebted Italian firm. While Tech Mahindra will own 60 per cent in the SPV, M&M will own the remaining share. Both companies would pay euro 25.3 million (Rs 186 crore) to buy Pininfarina’s promoter Pincar’s stake. Further, the SPV would make an open offer of euro 20 million (Rs 147 crore) to the public shareholders of Pininfarina to acquire the remaining stake in the Italian firm.

“The legendary high-end design credentials of Pininfarina will significantly enhance the design capabilities of the entire Mahindra group,” Chairman Anand Mahindra said in the statement. “Given the increasing design sensibilities of today’s consumers, product design will greatly influence customer choice.”

The takeover of Pininfarina, the creator of numerous Ferraris including the 458 Spider roadster, marks the latest international expansion by Mahindra following its acquisitions of South Korean carmaker Ssangyong and the motorcycle unit of French auto manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen. The designer already cooperates with Mumbai-based Mahindra on sports utility vehicle (SUV) development and worked with it on the Halo electric sports-car concept unveiled last year.

Pininfarina, which has been unprofitable for 10 of the past 11 years while struggling with debt, shut a floundering division that built cars for other manufacturers three years ago. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2016. Mahindra was advised by Rothschild & Co, while EY advised Pininfarina.

The buy-out of the 85-year-old firm will help Tech Mahindra, India’s fifth largest information technology firm, strengthen its engineering services business.

Tech Mahindra will also benefit from the designer’s focused presence in Italy and Germany, hotbeds of European automotive manufacturing, as well as in the US and an emerging automotive market, China. It also augments Tech Mahindra’s transportation, aerospace and industrial design offerings. For Pininfarina, the acquisition will mean an ability to leverage Tech Mahindra’s presence across 90 countries and access to about 780 customers.

In September this year, Tech mahindra had joined hands with Ericsson, EBS and TomTom, and came up with a connected car solutions for the automobile makers. The solution features built-in analytics capabilities to manage recorded information from a vehicle and its sensors. It also enables service providers and manufacturers to deliver a range of services such as remote diagnostics, roadside assistance and emergency calls. It also delivers infotainment, news and location-based information inside a car.

Following the deal, Pininfarina will remain an independent company with a separate listing in Milan. Paolo Pininfarina, a grandson of the company’s founder, will remain chairman.

Pinfarina is “a jewel,” Tech Mahindra’s chief executive Chander Prakash Gurnani said at a press conference in Turin. “It will continue to be polished. It will continue to be built better now we have the financial muscles to build it.”

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

17.1. Zydus launches diabetes drug at Rs 7/day, 1/6th of MNCs' price

TNN | Nov. 21, 2015

MUMBAI: Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila is launching an anti-diabetic drug, teneligliptin, at an aggressive price of Rs 7 per day, almost 1/6th the price at which the established gliptins by MNCs are sold. The company said the pricing of the "breakthrough' drug, Tenglyn, is aimed at "making it affordable and accessible to diabetic patients".

The drug is priced one-third of the price charged by other domestic companies, including Glenmark Pharma and Ajanta, which are selling the same drug, teneligliptin, for around Rs 20 for a day's therapy. Experts say with competition, prices of these drugs could come down later, but as of now companies are "waiting and watching" the development.

Teneligliptin, a third-generation new oral anti-diabetic drug, was first launched by Glenmark in June, priced aggressively at nearly Rs 20 for a day's therapy (Rs 7,263 per year). As against this, all gliptins being sold in the market are priced around Rs 45 for a day's therapy, taking the cost of treatment for patients to nearly Rs 16,500 per year. With the Zydus launch, diabetics who are prescribed the gliptin can expect to make more savings. The company has been able to offer the drug at the "affordable price because of its indigenous cost-effective API (raw material) it uses", a Zydus official told TOI.

Gliptins have shown promise in achieving glycemic control without deteriorating beta cell function and is one of the most recent advancements in diabetes care and management, the company said. Research in the field of anti-diabetic therapy seeks to address the problems of hypoglycemia, GI side-effects, lactic acidosis, weight gain, CV risks, which pose a major challenge in the treatment of diabetes.

The economic burden of diabetes is high in India as most patients pay out of pocket, and due to lack of medical reimbursement. Worse, the cost of treatment also includes consultation, investigations, drugs, monitoring, complications, while the complications related to the disease may increase it substantially. However, since the molecule has not been used extensively right now across the world, it's safety data needs more scrutiny, doctors say.

Overall, the oral anti-diabetic market in which teneligliptin is the new entrant, is valued at approximately Rs 5,000 crore, increasing at 20% per annum, while the gliptin family is at Rs 1,200 crore, growing at 25%.

17.2. Sun Pharma gets USFDA approval for anti-cancer drug Gleevec

The Hindu, Business Line, Our Bureau, Mumbai | 4th December 2015

India’s largest drug maker, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, has received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to make generic copies of Novartis AG’s blockbuster cancer drug Gleevec.

The generic version of the drug will be launched on February 1, 2016. These tablets have annual sales of about $2.5 billion in the US and are indicated for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia.

The Sun Pharma subsidiary, being the first to file an Abbreviated New Drug Application for generic Gleevec, is eligible for a 180-day marketing exclusivity in the US, giving the company a headstart before other pharma companies also start manufacturing the same drug. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd has also entered a settlement with Novartis and will launch its drug after Sun Pharma’s drug hits the market.

Big bucks

“On a conservative basis, the product can easily contribute sales of around $250-300 million during the six-month exclusivity and a net profit of around $75-90 million during the period. The product can easily enhance the earnings per share of the company in FY2017 by 8-9 per cent,” said Sarabjit Kour Nangra, VP Research, Pharma, at Angel Broking.

In May, Sun Pharmaceutical had inked a settlement with Novartis that led to the dismissal of lawsuits opposing the Indian company’s submissions seeking to sell a generically similar version of Gleevec (Imatinib mesylate) tablets in the US.

The cancer drug comes in 100 mg and 400 mg tablets and currently costs nearly $9,000 for a month’s treatment in the US. The generic is expected to be much cheaper although Sun Pharma did not disclose the pricing.

“It is a big development for Sun Pharma, considering the large market for Gleevec. However, such approvals have now become common place among Indian pharmaceutical companies,” said D Shah, Secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance.

Novartis’ blockbuster drug contributed $4.7 billion in sales last year and was its best-selling drug, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Sun Pharmaceutical stock jumped 6 per cent on the NSE on Friday before closing about 4 per cent up at ₹755.40.

18.1. New solar lamp claims to shed brighter light for longer duration

TNN, Bella Jaisinghani | Nov. 20, 2015

MUMBAI: A manufacturer of solar devices claims the days of the kerosene lamp are numbered with the launch of its solar home light.

Solar energy product company Greenlight Planet has introduced a lamp called Sun King Pico for Rs 499. "For households that spend Rs 200 per week on kerosene to light their dim, smoky lantern for light, this one pays for itself in three weeks," it says.

The firm claims that after a full day of solar charging, the lamp yields six hours of white light that is three times brighter than that shed by a kerosene lamp. When the battery runs low after six hours of 'turbo mode' bright light, the built-in microchip switches the lamp to its low-power mode, providing additional hours of backup light. "For most families, an $8 solar light is a major household investment," said Greenlight Planet's founder and CTO Patrick Walsh. "With the Pico, we have introduced the most durable, most affordable solar home light designed to serve off-grid families for many years after purchase."

Unlike lamps which use inexpensive epoxy-based solar panels, this one is made using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) technology, designed to withstand heat and rain.

18.2. The billionaire who wants to power India

The Hindu, Business Line | Chitra Narayanan, Nov. 27

He made his fortune with 5-hour Energy, a smash hit caffeinated drink. Now billionaire Manoj Bhargava is turning his energy to a stationary bicycle that can meet a rural household’s electricity needs for 24 hours.

“I have graduated from five hours to 24 hours,” says the Lucknow-born, US-based entrepreneur as he launched his machine Free Electric in Delhi on Friday.

The ingenious invention — a stationary bicycle with reclining seats that fully charges an attached battery when pedalled for an hour — can power light bulbs, a fan, a cellphone, and even perhaps a low wattage TV. Estimated to cost ₹12,000-15,000, Free Electric will be manufactured in India and the US and hit the market by March next year.

But can a poor Indian household afford this? Bhargava suggests that an entrepreneur can act as an electricity utility by purchasing one bicycle and power up several batteries that he can supply to villagers at a nominal cost.

He has pledged 99 per cent of his wealth (estimated at $4 billion) to finding solutions that will meet the energy, water and healthcare needs of the world’s poor. For this, he set up Stage 2 Innovations, an invention shop that took two years to produce Free Electric. The next launch will be The Rainmaker, a water purification machine that can make saltwater potable. Also in the works is an artery widening machine that cures angina. For a man who funded electoral candidates in Michigan and was labelled by the US media as “the political kingmaker nobody knows”, Bhargava is surprisingly dismissive of governments and says will not look to them or to NGOs to push his solutions.

“Non-profits are horribly inefficient. Though they are not as bad as governments,” he says, stressing that the most efficient way to reach the end consumer is through “for profit” channels. He is also pushing the solution in India through 30,000 volunteers who are part of his ‘Billions in Change’ movement.

Bhargava also brushes aside charities, though he donates to them. “I cannot fix India that way. Nobody can,” he says. That’s why he says he decided to invest $200 million in a company that will invent for the poor.

Will this fix India? He looks doubtful — but says at least this is a cleverer way to impact 700 million people.

19.1. Infosys Finacle teams with Oracle to offer Finacle on Oracle Cloud

TNN, Shilpa Patankar| Nov. 23, 2015

BENGALURU: Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, has launched Finacle as a managed service on Oracle Cloud. This offering will enable banks globally to leverage Finacle's industry-leading solution suite, along with other enterprise-class applications hosted on premise or in an external environment, to gain agility and cost efficiencies. With this offering, Finacle becomes one of the first comprehensive banking platforms to be available as a managed service on Oracle Compute Cloud.

The offering will enable banks of all sizes to run enterprise-class banking applications such as payments and core banking on the cloud. Finacle on Oracle Cloud will offer a choice of no-maintenance cloud infrastructure that can be used on demand for infrequent and seasonal activities such as development, testing, and training. Finacle clients can also use the managed service for production environments with the new Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service, for utmost resilience. A pre-integrated suite of solutions will help clients minimize costs, complexity and efforts of implementations. Finacle's clients can now reduce infrastructure and application management costs, and service customers efficiently across channels, with a real-time platform.

"Up to now, the banking industry has been wary of adopting cloud solutions. The combination of Finacle and Oracle allows financial institutions to benefit from the flexibility and scalability of the cloud with confidence," said Michael Reh, EVP and CEO (designate), EdgeVerve. Banks can choose to leverage the entire banking platform as a managed service or can use specific services such as payments. The service ensures that banks always have the latest Finacle capabilities available-on-demand to keep pace with changing consumer expectations.

Thomas Kurian, president -product development, Oracle, said, "Infosys Finacle and Oracle have been working together for over a decade now. With the Oracle and Infosys Finacle offerings, banks across the globe can take advantage of the latest Finacle stack along with our industry leading enterprise cloud infrastructure."

19.2. Nasscom going big on start-up warehouse

Business Standard | Dec. 08, 2015

NEW DELHI: Working on making Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Start-up India' campaign a success, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) on Monday said it would be opening four more tech start-up incubation centres in different parts of the country by March.

At present, the sector body is running three such centres, which it calls start-up warehouses in the country.

"Several state governments have been in talks with us for opening more start-up warehouses. The government of Maharashtra plans to open two start-ups in Mumbai, as well as in Pune. We have a relationship announced with T-Hub in Hyderabad and the government of Haryana has given us space in Gurgaon. We will have four more such hubs in the next three to four months," said Rajat Tandon, vice-president, Nasscom 10,000 Start-ups.

Started in April 2013, 10,000 Start-ups is an ambitious attempt by Nasscom to scale up the system by 10x in the next 10 years.

The initiative brings together key stakeholders of the system, including start-up incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, support groups, mentors, and technology corporations.

It has received 11,000 applicants, of which 1,100 start-ups have been short-listed and 150 have been able to receive funding.

The programme is supported by founding partner Google for Entrepreneurs, and industry partners Microsoft Ventures, Kotak, IBM and Amazon Web Services.

According to Nasscom Start-up Report 2015, within one year, the number of start-ups in India has grown 40 per cent, and this number is expected to cross 4,200 by the end of 2015.

With over 100 per cent growth in number of PE/VCs/Angel investors along with a 125 per cent growth in funding over last year, the Indian start-up ecosystem has risen to the next level.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

20.1. Global mobile app companies head to Bengaluru seeking top talent

Times of India | Nov. 30, 2015

BENGALURU: Some of the global next-gen mobile companies are making Bengaluru their new home. Applift and Glispa of Berlin, Airpush of the US, and Alibaba-backed Quixey, through its Dexetra acquisition, have checked into the city, and are seeking to attract top developer talent. Bengaluru has one of the largest pools of engineering talent for mobile app development.

Ad platform Applift, part of the Berlin-based Hitfox Group, has set up an R&D centre in Bengaluru that is the largest outside its home base in Berlin. The company, which counts Practo and Myntra as customers, has 70 employees and is planning to hire another 60 by May next year. Applift helps companies like Zynga and Makemytrip acquire users for their apps; they help advertisers to re-engage with loyal and paying users for their mobile apps.

It recently hired former Goldman Sachs executive Rohan Patil as its MD for India. "We see India as a strategic point to grow our R&D team. We have over 25 Indian internet companies as long-standing clients," said Tim Koschella, founder and global CEO of Applift. The company, which has raised over $5 million from investors including Hasso Plattner Ventures, acquired Bengaluru-based mobile ad buying platform Bidstalk earlier this year.

Quixey, dubbed as the search engine for the mobile app world, acquired Bengaluru-based startup Dexetra last year. It plans to hire another 50 people here. Quixey, which has raised $135 million in funding led by Alibaba and Softbank, recently rolled out a global product, called Launch, from India. Launch is an Android app that pulls up everything you need on your phone from people, messages, etc, with one tap.

"Many Indian consumers are mobile-first. China has gone through that hump. The Indian market is ripe for discovery and we believe if we can get that experience into the hands of new mobile users, we can change the way they experience mobile," said Tomer Kagan, co-founder and CEO of Quixey.

US-based mobile ad network Airpush has over 250 employees in Los Angeles and Bengaluru and is expanding its footprint here. More than 150,000 apps and advertisers rely on Airpush to deliver targeted mobile ads.

Berlin-based digital marketing and mobile ad startup Glispa has Flipkart as an important client in India. It also works with Baidu and OLX. Flipkart has used Glispa's native ad solution to get users to install its app, as also its solution to track how many of them became loyal users over time. Native ads blend into the content of the app and tend to be less irritating for users.

The action in the mobile ad space has picked up because such ad spends are expected to grow rapidly. Research firm eMarketer estimates that in India, this spend would grow from $23 million in 2013 to $943 million by 2018.

"Development centres in India are looking beyond the obvious skills. They are looking at product managers and architecture skills. That's a much bigger comprehensive package. The evolution of the ecosystem is a reflection of the sophisticated talent pool that's available here," said Ravi Narayan, director of Microsoft Ventures in India.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

20.2. Airtel to invest Rs 60k cr in 3 years on network

Times of India | Dec. 01, 2015

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel on Monday announced a three-year Rs 60,000-crore investment road map for boosting telecom network capacity, a move coming at a time when Mukesh Ambani prepares to roll out 4G services under his Reliance Jio venture.

Gopal Vittal, the CEO of Bharti Airtel, said the company will invest to improve the quality of voice and data services to its customers. "There still are problems with the network...We are still not where we need to be," Vittal said as he outlined steps to improve network quality which include setting up of 1.6 lakh new base stations over the next three years.

The investments are also being made at a time when the government has taken a serious view over deficient mobile services as problems such as call drops and poor internet quality hamper customer experience.

The entry of Reliance Jio, the ambitious high-speed telecom and entertainment venture of Ambani, is expected to further fuel competition in the domestic telecom sector as Ambani is likely to offer data-intensive services at relatively lower price points. Bharti Group chairman Sunil Mittal recently said the entry of Jio is expected to shake up the sector and fuel competition.

Vittal said the company plans to meet most of the investment through internal accruals and cash reserves. The programme is being made as part of 'Project Leap'. "We are confident that this new initiative will deliver a truly differentiated customer experience and reinforce our commitment to build a future-ready network."

Mittal said that Airtel currently has spectrum capacity for most of its requirements, adding that there are a few gaps which the company will fill in when the need arises. "The larger outcome of this investment is to improve voice, and broadband services."

He also said that over-thetop (OTT) companies that offer voice over the internet should be regulated by the same rules as mandated for mobile companies. "I have always maintained that there should be same service, same rule principle."

The company will expand its mobile broadband coverage to all towns and over 2.5 lakh villages by March 2016. In three years, Airtel plans to offer mobile broadband to over 5 lakh villages in the country.

The company plans to deploy over 1lakh solutions (product services) through a combination of Wi-Fi hotspots, small cells and indoor solutions. To serve the growing demand of data services in India, Airtel will also cumulatively deploy more than 5.5 lakh km of domestic and international optic-fibre network.

"Airtel will swap its legacy networks and base stations over a three-year period and replace them with smaller, more compact and efficient technologies that will significantly improve customer experience," Vittal said. The company also plans to reduce its carbon footprint.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

INDIA & THE WORLD

21. Isro launches six Singapore satellites aboard PSLV-C29

Livemint | Dec. 17, 2015

NEW DELHI: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Wednesday launched six satellites of Singapore aboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C29) on Wednesday from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

With this, the national space agency completed 50 launches from Sriharikota since 1979.

The primary satellite TeLEOS-1 is Singapore’s first near-equatorial orbit earth observation satellite and is made by Singapore Technologies Electronics Ltd. It will be used to capture one metre high resolution satellite imagery.

The other five satellites will be used to carry out environment monitoring, remote sensing, high-resolution photos and videos and scientific measurements.

“On this 50th launch, we have a country that is celebrating its 50th year of independence and we are putting six of their satellites into orbit,” said A.S. Kiran Kumar, chairman, Isro.

The six satellites were placed into different orbits. With this launch, Isro’s commercial arm Antrix has successfully launched 57 foreign satellites. This year, Isro launched satellites for the UK, the US, Canada, Indonesia and Singapore.

“PSLV is striding forward in its unbroken march of success and has completed its 31st consecutive successful mission today. We have taken up (this particular launch) in the month of November when the weather vagaries usually set over this region,” said P. Kunhikrishnan, director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. “This year, we have completed 17 commercial launches from other countries that reaffirm Isro’s commitment and potential to be a major player in the global space market.”

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

22. Temasek to buy Care Hosp for 1.8k cr

Times of India | Dec. 15, 2015

MUMBAI: Temasek Holding is set to acquire majority shares in Hyderabad-based Care Hospitals, the country's fifth largest private healthcare network, for around Rs 1,800 crore in what is possibly the largest M&A deal in domestic healthcare delivery sector, people directly familiar with the matter said.

Singapore investor Temasek is in the final stages of buying the 73% stake held by US-based private equity Advent International, which is due for announcement in the next fortnight. The transaction values Quality Care India, which runs 17 hospitals with 2,400 beds across nine locations under the Care brand, at over Rs 2,250 crore.

In October, TOI had reported that Temasek and Middle East fund Abraaj Capital were the final bidders vying for the acquisition. "Temasek's offer moved ahead of Abraaj and is poised to win but for unforeseen last-minute hurdles," one of the sources cited earlier in the report said. A team of medical professionals led by Dr B Soma Raju will continue to retain minority shares. Investment bank Moelis & Co is advising Advent on the sale process.

Temasek was partnering with TPG Growth for a joint bid initially, but has decided to strike the deal on its own now. Temasek's offer topped the rival bid from Abraaj Capital. Advent is expected to net slightly over two-times return from its investment in Care. Advent, which initially invested $110 million for a 60% stake, pumped in more money to help Care's expansion plans and increased its shareholding in the company. The hospital chain is poised to add 600 more beds in the near future through greenfield and brownfield expansion, taking the overall count to 3,000 beds.

Advent International declined to comment, when contacted. Temasek too declined to comment on speculation. "The healthcare services witnessed tremendous investments in regional corporate chains over the last 3-4 years. The industry is still heavily fragmented and we will continue to see global investors driving consolidation," said Sunil Jain, MD, Sprout Capital, a boutique investment banking firm.

Temasek holds minority investments in Gurgaon-based Medanta Hospital and cancer care specialist HealthCare Global Enterprises.Healthcare deals returned with some vigour this calendar with Asia's largest hospital network IHH Healthcare acquiring Global Hospitals for Rs 1,284 crore and taking 51% stake in Hyderabad-based Continental Hospital for Rs 300 crore, as reported by TOI earlier. Max Healthcare acquired BK Modi's Saket City Hospital in Delhi for undisclosed amount, striking another consolidation deal.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

23. Infy joins Elon Musk in backing artificial intelligence venture

Business Standard | Dec. 14, 2015

BENGALURU: Infosys has joined a few global technology companies and entrepreneurs to support a non-profit research venture into artificial intelligence.

OpenAI, which was launched on Friday, is supported by Amazon Web Services; Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla; and Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal. Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, and Sam Altman and Jessica Livingston, both from Y Combinator, have also committed to the funding. "In total, these funders have committed $1 billion, although we expect to only spend a tiny fraction of this in the next few years," the newly formed company announced in a blog post.

The founders of the initiative have roped in Ilya Sutskever, a former Google research scientist, as research director. Greg Brockman, a former chief technology officer at payments startup Stripe, has joined as chief technology officer.

"We believe AI should be an extension of individual human wills and, in the spirit of liberty, as broadly and evenly distributed as is possible safely," OpenAI's blogpost said.

"Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return," it added.

Artificial intelligence has been a pet subject of Infosys Chief Executive Officer Vishal Sikka, who also holds a PhD in the subject from Stanford University.

After he joined Infosys in August last year from German software maker SAP, Sikka is trying to steer the company back to industry-leading growth by using artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and other automated tools.

"There are concerns these days that AI is going to replace us. My deeply held belief having studied this (subject) for several decades is that AI can be a great amplifier of our ability," Sikka had said in a keynote address at the Oracle OpenWorld at San Francisco in October this year.

As a part of its funding commitment, the quantum of which was not disclosed by Infosys, Sikka will join the initiative as an adviser. Elon Musk and Sam Altman will co-chair the company.

"As a non-profit, our aim is to build value for everyone rather than shareholders," said the OpenAI post. "Researchers will be strongly encouraged to publish their work, whether as papers, blog posts, or code, and our patents (if any) will be shared with the world. We'll freely collaborate with others across many institutions and expect to work with companies to research and deploy new technologies," it added.

IN THE OPEN

Many technology majors are making their artificial intelligence technology open source, to accelerate development:

Google: Shared underlying code of its AI engine TensorFlow
Facebook: Shared designs for computer servers, code-name Big Sur, it has built to run AI algorithms
Microsoft: Distributed machine-learning toolkit (DMTK) on GitHub
BM: Transferred its SystemML machine-learning software to Apache Software Foundation, which supports open-source projects

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

24. Africa holds promise for Indian companies: ECGC

The Hindu, BusinessLine, M Somasekhar | Hyderabad, Dec. 17, 2015

There is renewed interest in Africa for Indian industry participation and hence the opportunity should be utilised, said M Senthilnathan, Executive Director, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation.

The ECGC is ready to give the necessary push to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to explore the growing scope in many African nations. These countries are looking to India after their experiences with China.

The Chinese companies that execute major projects tend to bring expertise and labour from back home. Hence, the locals do not benefit much, he explained. In contrast, Indians tend to utilise local labour and collaborate easily, thus generating participation and benefits. This has caught the attention of policymakers there.

The recent Africa Summit in New Delhi, where heads of 54 countries participated, has helped take things forward, he told BusinessLine on the sidelines of a seminar here on Wednesday.

On the issue of falling exports, especially of petroleum products, traditional gems & jewellery, and engineering goods, Senthilnathan listed a couple of reasons: . slowdown in the main export markets of the US, Europe and the UK; and fall in iron ore prices and the crude oil rates impacting exports in value terms.

Earlier, speaking at EXIM Conclave 2015, organised by the CII-Telangana State, he urged Indian companies, especially SMEs, to be bold and enter the world markets, learn the nuances and take risks as the returns are high.

In his address, Krishna Ella, MD of Bharat Biotech, said simple strategies are required to boost exports. He wanted Indian consulates abroad to help companies promote their business. He narrated his experience of how a foreign diplomat told him that his job was to ensure that their companies do good business in India.

Similarly, the Centre’s focus on skill development, Ella said, is much needed and must be implemented. A skilled youth can turn into an entrepreneur, which in turn can lead to innovation.

The CII-Telangana Chairperson, Vanitha Datla, said Indian companies were poor at marketing, though they had good products and the country has large and rich resources to exploit. The necessary changes in export policy could help encourage SME exporters.

25. Modi, Abe sign US$ 35-bn pact

Business Standard | Dec. 14, 2015

NEW DELHI: Christmas arrived early in India, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday presenting about $35 billion to take the strategic partnership between the two nations to a new height.

Abe said his country's ties with India had witnessed the dawn of a new era from politics to economy as well as defence ties, as India and Japan inked 16 agreements.

Japan committed to provide a "highly concessional" loan of $12-15 billion at 0.1 per cent interest to help India build its first Shinkansen, or high-speed train, from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. It put in place a 'Make in India' fund of $12 billion for Japanese business persons keen to invest in India. The two sides also signed a broad agreement to cooperate in the civil nuclear energy sector.

At a meeting of the India-Japan Business Leaders' Forum on Saturday morning, Abe lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for contributing to "ease of doing business" in India, while the Indian PM thanked his "dearest friend" for assisting the amazing speed with which Japan has undertaken projects to invest in India in the last year.

In September 2014, during the Abe-Modi summit in Tokyo, the two sides had agreed that Japan will invest $35 billion in five years. "The figure had surprised many at that time, but today, within a short time span, unimaginable progress has been made, and the contours of investment are visible on the ground," Modi said.

Abe likened Modi to the Japanese Shinkansen. "PM Modi's speed of implementing policies and reforms is like the Shinkansen and his reform agenda is as safe as the Shinkansen," Abe said in Japanese.

Their delegation-level talks a little later at the Hyderabad House lasted an hour. The 44-point joint statement issued after the meeting focused on strengthening economic and strategic ties. The high point for the Indian side was the memorandum of understanding (MoU), on civil nuclear cooperation.

A FIRM HANDSHAKE

India and Japan signed 16 pacts, some of which were:

Developing Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shinkansen, or high-speed train
Comprehensive technological cooperation in railway
MoU on civil nuclear cooperation
Transfer of defence equipment and technology
Cooperation in the energy sector between NITI Aayog and the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan
Forest management
Japan also expressed interest to develop 11 industrial townships
India will offer "visa on arrival" to Japanese citizens from March

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

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AAPI

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Thursday 17 December 2015

NEWSLETTER, 20-XII-2015

INDIA

- GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURE, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

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INDIA & THE WORLD

NEWSLETTER, 20-XII-2015

INDIA

- GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURE, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

INDIA & THE WORLD