-->

Monday 20 June 2016

NEWSLETTER, 20-VI-2016

LISBON, 20th June 2016
Index of this Newsletter



INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC. 



1.1. Barring TN (Tamil Nadu), all States get on GST (Goods and Services Tax) bandwagon
1.2. PM wants taxpayer base doubled to 100 million
2.1. 10,4 million people skilled in 2015-16 under Skill India Mission; a quantum leap by 36.8% since last year: Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy
2.2. Chennai entrepreneur on ‘Time’ magazine’s list of 10 millennials changing the world
3.1. After efficiency of Saligao (GOA) waste plant proven, another will be in Curchorem
3.2. Big-bang reforms in 6-7 months: Suresh Prabhu
4.1. At 7.9% in Q4, India is still ‘fastest growing’ economy
4.2. India is going to be an overwhelmingly domestic story: Paul Gruenwald
5.1. Tata Power expects renewable energy to contribute 30-40% to portfolio by 2025
5.2. Government gives nod to proposals worth Rs 17,300 crore in electronics sector


– AGRICULTURE, FISHING and RURAL DEVELOPMENT


6.1. Microfinance portfolio grew 84% in FY15
6.2. Cabinet approves setting up of India Post Payments Bank
7.1. Marine exports may miss $6 bn target on weather woes, global slowdown
7.2. Government to establish 250 agro-processing clusters all over India
8.1. Govt targets record 270.1 million tonnes of foodgrain production in 2016-17
8.2. Good monsoon to boost rural economy, growth: Goldman
9.1. India among top 5 green energy markets in 2015: report
9.2. 117 Villages Electrified last week ; 7,991 Villages Electrified till date under DDUGJY
10.1. Back to Bharat: A techie leaves coding to milking
10.2. Vibrant rubber plantations vital for tyre industry: Mammen


– INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURE


11.1. The Raman Effect and the scattering of Wi-Fi!
11.2. A League of extraordinary minds
12.1. Boston Scientific to make India biggest product development hub outside US
12.2. Automation puts techies’ jobs at risk
13.1. Indian Space Research Organization to launch record 22 satellites on a single rocket
13.2. HP, Lenovo, Acer, EMC & IBM in fray for govt's National Supercomputing Mission
14.1. Foxconn looks at Odisha's Gopalpur for setting up unit
14.2. Shell says will expand investments in India
15.1. ‘I want to bring a bit more Cha Cha Cha into our stores’ (BATA)
15.2. Nandan to launch ₹500-crore terry towel unit


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


16.1. Stemcell milestone: Stempeutics ready to roll out ‘regenerative’ medicine
16.2. We need to be a highly specialised niche company in life sciences(Take solutions, Ltd
17.1. Amazon to invest US$ 3 billion more in India ops
17.2. We are in India for the next thousand years: Tim Cook
17.3. Apple opens its first development centre in India in Hyderabad
18.1. What has changed for Infosys with Vishal Sikka
18.2. Tech Mahindra to acquire UK-based Target for US$ 164 mn
19.1. Scoot seeks flying rights to add more flights for India
19.2. India's first start-up hostel opens doors in Bengaluru
20.1. Global oil giants eye India's retail fuel market
20.2. Media, entertainment industry to hit US$ 40 billion by 2020: PwC


INDIA & THE WORLD 

21.1. USFDA to share details of rejected exports with India
21.2. Nearly half of all heart attacks are ‘silent’
22.1. Tata Motors in talks to set up car unit in Iran
22.2. India, Iran and Afghanistan sign historic three-way transit accord
23.1. US firms pledge US$ 45-bn investments
23.2. India's e-commerce sector to see nearly 10 million sellers online by 2020
24.1. Tata Motor's JLR opens its first wholly owned SUV factory in Brazil
24.2. Bharti, Singtel team up for global enterprise network
25.1. Govt to relax visa rules further in bid to boost services exports
25.2. New aviation policy frees up the skies


* * *

LISBON, 20th June 2016

NEWSLETTER, 20-VI-2016


INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC. 



1.1. Barring TN (Tamil Nadu), all States get on GST (Goods and Services Tax) bandwagon 
BusinessLine | 14 Jun. 2016 



The Empowered Committee on Goods and Services Tax (GST) has reportedly reached a broad consensus on the much-awaited tax reforms at a meeting here on Tuesday. 
The committee will meet again in July to discuss the revenue-neutral rate and decide the fine-print of dualcontrol issues between the Centre and the States. 
According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who is chairing the committee, only Tamil Nadu raised concerns against the GST rollout plan. 
While neither Jaitley nor Mitra clarified the reasons behind the opposition, finance ministers of at least two major industrial States said Tamil Nadu had concerns about revenue loss and wanted a separate disputeresolution body on GST.

Representing Tamil Nadu, minister KC Veeramani, who was the first to speak at the meeting, also submitted a representation before the committee. 
Another finance minister from a major State, however, didn’t find much merit in Tamil Nadu’s objection. “Concerns for revenue loss are not exclusive to Tamil Nadu. Also, the GST council is created for dispute resolution so there is little point in demanding another body,” he said. 
Calling the meeting as a “significant move” towards implementation of GST, Jaitley said he was hopeful that the Bill would be passed in the monsoon session. The Bill has already been cleared by the Lok Sabha. “Virtually every State has supported the GST, except one,” Jaitley told newspersons. According to him, “the Centre will give constitutional guarantee to compensate States for revenue loss, if any, for a five-year period,” up from the initial proposal for a three-year safety blanket. The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal was pushing for this. Jaitley also reiterated that the government is flexible on imposition of 1 per cent interState levy. 

Finance Ministers of producing States such as Haryana, Telangana, Gujarat and Punjab told BusinessLine that concerns over revenue loss notwithstanding they support GST. 
Punjab estimates the loss at ₹4,000 crore a year against tax on agriculture produce. Petroleum products, alcohol and tobacco were out of the purview of today’s discussion on GST. 
Etela Rajender, Finance Minister of Telangana, said: The Centre should look at compensating States beyond the five-year period (75 per cent of revenue loss for the sixth and seventh years and 50 per cent for later years). Rajender, however, insisted that Telangana will bat for GST. 

No rate cap 
According to Jaitley, there was “complete consensus among States against imposition of a constitutional cap on the rate of GST as contingencies might arrive.” Congress demanded a cap at 18 per cent. Mitra later clarified that the proposals received so far recommend rates ranging from 17 to 26 per cent. “A decision on the final rate is expected in the July meeting of the Empowered Committee,” he said. 
Jaitley did not give any deadline for the implementation. However, he is hopeful of rollout in April 2017. After Rajya Sabha’s clearance to the Bill, State Assemblies have to clear the SGST proposals. The integrated GST (IGST) legislation is also required. 


1.2. PM wants taxpayer base doubled to 100 million 
BusinessLineK R Srivats | 16 Jun. 2016 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked taxmen to double the taxpayer base (for income-tax) to 10 crore and build a “bridge of trust” (vishwas ke sethu) with the people so that tax collection targets could be achieved without coercion. 
In the first such instance of a Prime Minister addressing top tax administrators directly, Modi identified five pillars — revenue, accountability, probity, information and digitisation (RAPID) — that would help improve efficiency of the tax administration. 

Taxmen as ‘mentors’ 
Inaugurating the two-day ‘Rajasva Gyan Sangam’, an annual conference for tax administrators, Modi wanted taxmen to adopt a “soft and sober” approach with the citizenry and remove the fear of harassment in their minds. 
Tax officers should behave like “mentors” and not treat all taxpayers as evaders, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia later quoted Modi as saying. 
Adhia said Modi had conveyed to taxmen that the people of India are inherently honest and that they need to be supported with easier procedures for tax compliance. 
“If you (tax department) build trust, people will contribute to nation-building and pay their taxes, and you will be able to achieve the target,” Modi said. 
To buttress this point, the Prime Minister cited the case of nearly one crore Indians voluntarily giving up their LPG subsidies. 

As many as 15 officers from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) interacted with the Prime Minister on various issues faced by them in their regular work, Adhia said. Briefing newspersons on the Prime Minister’s address to tax administrators, Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance, said the five pillars of RAPID would serve as a guideline for the taxmen. 
Sinha said the Prime Minister felt that ramping up the taxpayer base to 10 crore is feasible, given that India had nearly 25 crore households. 
Even if one were to exclude 15 crore households engaged in some form of agricultural activity, it should be possible to widen the taxpayer base to the level desired by the Prime Minister, he said. Sinha also clarified that no timeline has been set for achieving the 10 crore taxpayer base.

Officers’ suggestion Describing the Prime Minister’s address as “motivating” to tax administrators, Adhia said that tax officers made several suggestions. 
One tax officer suggested that India should look at enacting a ‘Tax Facilitation Act’ at the Central level, he said. 
The Revenue Secretary also said that the current dilemma among tax officers on whether to give priority to “tax enforcement” or “taxpayer-friendly measures” was also conveyed to the Prime Minister during the interaction. 
Sinha said the taxmen were advised not to have any trade-off between tax enforcement and implementing taxpayer-friendly measures. 


2.1. 10,4 million people skilled in 2015-16 under Skill India Mission; a quantum leap by 36.8% since last year: Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy 
Press Information Bureau | Jun. 01, 2016 

New Delhi: On the occasion of completion of two years of inclusive growth and development under the NDA government, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy here today said that more than 1.04 Crore youth have been trained under the Skill India Mission in the year 2015-16 which is 36.8% higher than the previous year’s recorded data. In the current arrangement, 60 percent of the trainings are directly under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship while 40 percent are across other Central Ministries. 
The Minister said that Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), which was launched on July 15, 2015 by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, alone has witnessed more than 20 lakh people, of which 40 per cent are women candidates, being trained in their choice of skills. 

Shri Rudy further elaborated on the endeavors and achievements made under the Skill India programme saying that in the last two years, the skill training and development ecosystem has seen transformational change through concerted efforts in terms of initiatives such as PMKVY, new ITIs with private/ industry partnership, infusion of new ideas and finance through World Bank assistance, a paradigm shift in entrepreneurship education and development, amendments in Apprenticeship Act for increasing opportunities for the youth etc. He said, together, these have for the first time, brought in a new focus to skill development in the country. 

The Minister said, at another level, there has been a consistent effort on coordination and convergence of innumerable schemes run by various Ministries and Departments across sectors and States, so as to bring them in conformity with the national standards, common norms and local requirements. He said, a slew of policy level changes have been introduced with the launch of National Skill Development Policy and Mission as well. Today, Shri Rudy said there are more than 1500 courses that have been aligned to National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF). 

Emphasizing the need to have better connect of skills with employability, Shri Rudy mentioned that provision of a skilled workforce is a pre-requisite for a growing economy and success of various other initiative of the government such as Make in India, Digital India, Smart Cities, rapid highway constructions etc. and his ministry will ensure endeavors in this direction. He said, there have been MoUs with Central Ministries (including Railways, Defence, Health, Telecom, Power, Coal) to leverage existing infrastructure and opportunities for skill development across sectors. He said, 52 Skill Centres in Railway premises have been identified so far, of which 12 are already operational. 

The Ministry has also created a new model for skilling of retiring defence personnel to meet the trainers demand in the ecosystem and has successfully completed a pilot with 56 IAF officers and provided them with training and placement letters. 

Listing the achievements further made in the last two years, Shri Rudy said, the number of ITIs in the country has increased from 10,750 in May 2014 to over 13,105 in May 2016 and these will be further scale up to 18000 by September this year. More than 1141 new ITIs have been added and 1.73 seats have been increased in the last one year. MSDE has also enabled the opening up of 5 new RVTIs for women in skill development. 

The Minister stated that the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is aiming extensive modernization of the existing ITI ecosystem and establishment of new ITIs and Multi Skill Training Institutes (MSTIs), so that more and more people get skills of recognized standards which will help them become more employable for the industries. The MSTIs will be set up in the unserved areas/blocks to improve the outreach of the Skill India initiative. 

He also said that his Ministry is working towards the establishment of one Model Skill Center in each district of the country, which would be operational in more than 500 districts by March 2017. These will be high quality centers which will help make skill development aspirational and accessible. 
In the private skill ecosystem catalyzed by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), 11 new Sector Skill Councils have been added making it to 40 sectors now and an additional 151 training partners have joined the ecosystem making the total to 267 partners. 
The formation of the proposed National Skill Certification Board will result into a new era of training, assessment and certification where both government and industry will collectively enable a joint framework for quality skill training and certification. 

Shri Rudy also emphasized the need for promoting entrepreneurship in the light of Stand Up India and Start Up India announced by the government. He said his ministry will work to deliver Entrepreneurship, Education and training in 2200 colleges, 300 schools, 500 government ITIs and 50 Vocational Training Centres. Aspiring entrepreneurs will be connected to mentors and credit markets. 
Till date 482,079 entrepreneur trainings have been done by National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD). 83 percent of these have been trained through digitized entrepreneurship Orientation Programs.’ 

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


2.2. Chennai entrepreneur on ‘Time’ magazine’s list of 10 millennials changing the world 
PTI, BusinessLine | 8 Jun. 2016 

A 30-year old Chennai-based entrepreneur has been named by Time magazine to its 2016 list of “10 millennials who are changing the world” for helping people to use phones in their native language, and thereby allowing access to critical services. 
Umesh Sachdev, along with his college friend Ravi Saraogi, is the founder of Uniphore Software Systems. The Chennai-based start-up creates software that allows people to interact with their phones and access services such as online banking by communicating in their native languages, Time said in its profile on Sachdev. 
Uniphore’s products, which include a virtual assistant that is able to process more than 25 global languages and 150 dialects, are being used by over five million people, mostly in India. 

Good intentions 
“Phones can help increase financial inclusion or help a farmer get weather information,” Sachdev said in the Time profile. 
“But you need a way for people to interact with the technology out there,” he said. Time said through the software, Sachdev is building bridges and helping “hundreds of millions of people cross the divide between the digital and the real world by harnessing the power of speech.” 
It said Sachdev found the solution to a problem that phones didn’t allow rural Indians to interact using their mother tongues. 

Others on the list 
The list also includes Simone Biles, an Olympic gymnast, and cave explorer Francesco Sauro, 31. Sauro has become one of the most renowned explorers of this generation after he located caves with vivid violet lakes and minerals crystalised in the shape of eggs hidden within the Auyan-tepui tabletop mountain in the rainforests of Venezuela. 
Syrian refugee Firas Alshater, 25, who is helping Germans accept refugees, “one smile at a time” was also on the list. Alshater makes videos on YouTube that invite Germans to take a closer look before passing judgment on the new arrivals, Time said. 


3.1. After efficiency of Saligao (GOA) waste plant proven, another will be in Curchorem. 
Goacom Newsclips | 30 May, 2016 

Panjim: The newly-constructed Solid Waste Management Plant, the first of its kind in the country, was inaugurated on Monday, Goa Statehood Day, by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, addressing the gathering, said that the ultra-modern waste management plant is based on German Technology under the Make in India Programme which is Asia’s biggest and most ambitious project.“The treatment facility planned is a state-of-the-art, modern facility based on the Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) process with proper segregation, recovery of recyclables and bio-methanation technology. The waste treatment technologies have been borrowed from different parts of the world. The machinery that has been installed has come from Germany and Italy,” he said. 

Mr Parrikar, during whose chief ministership the plant was planned, asked the authorities to gear up for another such project in Curchorem. “Depending on the success of this plant I request the Science and Technology Department to start work on the Curchorem plant,” he said. At a special briefing on the occasion, the media was informed that the facility will have minimum human intervention, enclosed sheds, and computer-controlled equipment for handling different types of input material. The functioning of the plant and selection of technology has been done on the basis that all issues of odour, unsightly garbage mounds and leachate generation are addressed and handled with the aim of minimising the same. He said the electricity produced in-house from the organic fraction of the waste will be used to power the plant’s operation. 

Composting and maturation of dewatered sludge will help produce manure. Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, speaking to reporters, said the inauguration is just half the work done and it was now the responsibility of the panchayats and government to get the garbage to the plant. “The chief minister has written to the panchayats to get the waste segregated but it isn’t possible and the government has to now step in and put up garbage stations on main roads of every village from where the garbage can be collected,” Lobo said. He also said the government needs to give a truck to each panchayat with leachate tanks so that the garbage is brought to the station in a segregated and scientific manner. DyCM Francis D’Souza, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, Science & Technology Minister Alina Saldanha, Panchayat Minister Rajendra Arlekar, GSIDC chairman Dr Pramod Sawant, vice-chairman Sidharth Kunkolienkar and Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar were also present. [H] 

Addressing the gathering at the Saligao-Calangute plateau, Parrikar said that “the land acquisition for the plant was done in just 12 days’ time, and the process was completed on December 31, 2014, which is a record, before the new land acquisition rules came into effect on January 1, 2015. No land has been acquired after the new rules on land acquisition have come into force.” “Opposition to the plant made me go ahead with it. After some people went to court, I thought of bringing perfection to the plant,” he said. Parrikar said that he personally went and saw a plant in Germany, adding a delegation was also taken to study garbage plants in Germany, Italy and Austria. 

“Segregation of garbage has been a major problem. Garbage needs to be segregated at source before being sent to the plant. After 15 days, the plant will be certified, and the next plant will be set up at Cacora in Curchorem. The government has not spent any money on the plant. The Hindustan Waste Treatment Private Ltd will operate the plant for 10 years, and after that it will be handed over to the government,” he added. “The plant has cost Rs 145 crore, and will handle 100 tonne of garbage every day. The garbage handling capacity could be increased to 400 tonne if required. The government will pay Rs 2.5 crore to the company, and Rs 7 crore every year for its maintenance. More such plants will be set up in India depending on the success of this plant,” he said. Stating that during his tenure as Panaji MLA, he had started the STP, and today there are 600 such plants all over India, adding at that time it was the first of its kind in India. 

Parsekar said that the some have a bad habit of opposing the projects, and added that “we had to face opposition for garbage treatment plant, Mandovi bridge and Tiracol bridge projects. ”He further said that the trial runs were conducted at the plant for 8 to 10 days, and added that during that time, the panchayat members witnessed the working of the plant. “Tourism has become the main source of income in the state and as such many hotels and shacks have come up. Lot of garbage is being generated, which was not the case some 25 years ago. Even the honorable High Court has directed the village panchayats to take care of their own garbage. With this plant coming at the Calangute plateau, every village panchayat should collect the garbage generated, and send it to the plant. D’Souza, speaking on occasion, said that “everyone should work to resolve the garbage disposal issue. Presently people are just dumping the garbage in nullahs, rivers and roadsides. 

”Saldanha said that “Goa is known for its cleanliness. But of late, locals and tourists are complaining about garbage. This plant will treat garbage from 24 villages in north. ”To keep a check on plastic waste, the Minister for Science and Technology said that every business community will have to register themselves with the village panchayat and pay Rs 48,000 yearly for keeping carry bags, and added that if found not registered, the business establishments will be fined. Earlier, the Defence Minister unfurled the National Flag and inspected the guard of honor and inaugurated the plant. Dr Sawant welcomed the gathering, while director of Department of Science and Technology Levinson Martins proposed the vote of thanks. [NT] 


3.2. Big-bang reforms in 6-7 months: Suresh Prabhu 
Times of India | May 19, 2016 

New Delhi: Railway minister Suresh Prabhu said big-bang reforms, including restructuring of the Railway Board, will happen in 6-7 months. In an interview to Mahendra Singh, he said questions were being raised about the pace of project implementation because he was focusing on implementation unlike his predecessors who just made announcements. 

Excerpts: 
There is a fall in railway passenger traffic, freight is also declining. Are you concerned? 

Railways is losing high-end traffic to air and low-end passenger traffic to roads. We are trying to address it by expanding the network and launching more products (train services) like Humsafar, Tejas and Uday. 

What do you have to say about slow pace of reforms? 

Big bang reforms like restructuring of railway board, accounting reform and setting up of a regulator are in the works. All are in process and will become a reality in 6-7 months. Lot of things are happening in the background. As far as restructuring is concerned, the process for unification and rationalisation of cadres has been initiated. Railways will approach the cabinet soon as the process for merger of cadre involves UPSC. The next step will be creation of posts of member (passenger business) and member (freight). The selection process for general managers and divisional railway managers is going to be changed. The ministry has written to the Appointments Committee of Cabinet. 
A draft proposal for railway development authority, whose mandate was widened from just tariff regulator, has been prepared and suggestions have been invited from different stakeholders.

Many believe the pace of project implementation is slow. 

Railways has seen the highest-ever increase in spending since independence. It saw 85% increase in capital expenditure. The time taken in tendering process has come down. In DLW Varanasi the processing time for procurement tender has come down from 500 days to 88 days. Now, the emphasis is on commissioning projects rather than completion. If the speed is slow, how will we achieve commissioning of 7 km of tracks every day which was 4.3 km per day in the last six years.

Two locomotive factories at Madhepura and Marhora, which were announced long ago, were approved and contracts awarded. In Madhepura, bhumi pujan was done. DFCC will be completed as per schedule in March 2019. 
There is talk about implementation because we are not just announcing projects like other railway ministers in the past. We are also implementing projects on the ground. Once, former PM V P Singh told me a story about an MP who visited his constituency only once in five years. When Singh asked why, the MP said in this case there was only one complaint about not coming but if he visited often, there would be lots of complaints related to jobs, schemes etc. 

What are the achievements of the rail ministry? 

We have changed the track of railways' thinking. Railways is doing what it needs to do like laying of tracks, doubling and tripling of lines. We got detailed project reports prepared and gave approvals to 77 projects that were languishing for a long time. Focus is also on customer satisfaction. Lot of improvement has been made. I am happy, but not satisfied. Lot still needs to be done. For the first time, railways started real time 24x7 public grievance system through Twitter. We are trying to provide assistance to passengers, but can't meet demands like starting new trains or laying new tracks. We managed funding for railways. Private players have started showing interest. Projects worth around Rs 40,000 crore involving private sector are under implementation. For the first time, we were able to raise funds through extra budgetary supports. 

We formed jointed ventures with states. This is not just cost sharing, it is a move towards cooperative federalism. Also, the allocation for states increased 2-3 times in case of states like Odisha. I have initiated institutional changes in railways such as delegation of power and decentralization to infuse transparency. Regulator for the sector is in an advanced stage. 
We have also started restructuring of railway board. Two new directorates, mobility and non-fare revenue, have been set up. Eight new multi-functional missions will be set up soon. 
We have taken a lot of IT- related initiatives. TCS has been engaged for enterprise resource planning to integrate freight, passenger, human resources and administrative operations across the country. We have initiated accounting reforms which were pending since long. 

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


4.1. At 7.9% in Q4, India is still ‘fastest growing’ economy 
BusinessLine K. R. Srivats | 31 May 2016 

Tuesday brought more birthday cheer to the NDA government that has just completed two years in office. Two critical macro data points—GDP growth and core infrastructure performance—released on Tuesday reflected a rosy picture of an economy that was firing on all cylinders.

Cementing India’s pole position as the fastest growing large economy in the world, the country’s fourth quarter GDP growth stood at a higher-than-anticipated 7.9 per cent, official data showed. 
Powered by a strong show in refinery products’ output and electricity generation, the eight core sector industries’ saw output growth of 8.5 per cent in April 2016. This was higher than 6.4 per cent growth in March 2016 and contraction of 0.2 per cent in April last year. 
The March quarter GDP of 7.9 per cent was the best quarterly growth performance for the Indian economy in 2015-16, and was much higher than the downward revised 7.2 per cent growth in October-December 2015. Indian economy had recorded 7.5 per cent and downward 7.6 per cent growth in first and second quarter, respectively. 
For the entire 2015-16, the economy grew at a five-year high of 7.6 per cent, in line with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) advance estimate of 7.6 per cent in February this year. 
India continues to maintain its lead over China, which as the world’s second largest economy grew 6.7 per cent in January-March 2016. 

AGRI BOOST 
As expected, agriculture revived in March quarter registering 2.3 per cent growth, against contraction of 1.7 per cent in the same quarter last fiscal. A good Rabi harvest and some base effect aided this performance. For the entire 2015-16, the sector grew 1.2 per cent, a tad above 1.1 per cent growth put out in the advance estimates in February this year. This upward revision is on account of use of third advance estimates of crop production released by the Agriculture Ministry, the CSO said. 
As per the third advance estimates, foodgrain production was 252.23 million tonnes in 2015-16, higher than the tentative estimate used for compiling the advance estimates. 

FINMIN THRILLED 
Encouraged by strong GDP growth in 2015-16, the Finance Ministry on Tuesday said it expected GDP growth rate to go up to 8 per cent in the current financial year. 
“We should work toward seeing this (GDP growth) number grow. We are focusing on capital spending in infra and social spending,” Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said. 
“Monsoon will help agriculture production boost rural spending and productivity, he said, adding that “we should hope for things to be better. Parameters are looking good”. 
The Finance Ministry also said in a statement that fiscal parameters are very robust and in line with the Budget projections for 2015-16. 
“Together with GDP growth of 7.9% in Q 4 of 2015-16 and 7.6% in the whole of 2015-16, India continues to remain a bright spot in world economy with robust macro economic and fiscal parameters”, the statement added.. 
Meanwhile, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das tweeted that fiscal deficit of 3.9 per cent achieved in 2015-16 was “bang on target”. Revenue deficit of 2.5 per cent was better than 2.9 per cent in 2014-15, pointing to effective budget and fiscal management by the government. 

MANUFACTURING
Manufacturing grew 9.3 per cent in fourth quarter, against 6.6 per cent growth in same quarter last fiscal. For the entire 2015-16, the sector grew 9.3 per cent, against the growth of 9.5 per cent in the advance estimates. Private corporate sector growth (which has a share of around 69 per cent in the manufacturing sector), as estimated from available data of listed companies with BSE and NSE, was at 10 per cent at current prices during 2015-16. 
The mining sector, too, recorded a growth rate of 8.6 per cent in the fourth quarter, against 10.1 per cent growth in same quarter last fiscal. For the entire 2015-16, the sector grew 7.4 per cent, higher than 6.9 per cent growth in the advance estimates. The upward revision is mainly on account of use of latest available private corporate results. 

EXPERTS’ TAKE 
Anis Chakravarty, Lead Economist and Partner, Deloitte in India, said the latest data point to an economy that is still on the path to recovery but is showing signs of growth in certain sectors. However, the figures also showed that while consumption was moving up, investment levels were still low, he added. 
With crude oil moving up and a possible Fed rate hike on the horizon, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to be on hold in its upcoming policy, Chakravarty said. 
Aditi Nayar, Senior Economist, ICRA Limited, said healthy corporate earnings in some sectors in the justconcluded quarter supported manufacturing gross value added growth, despite the decline in volumes revealed by the Index of Industrial Production. 


4.2. India is going to be an overwhelmingly domestic story: Paul Gruenwald 
Livemint | May 25, 2016 

New Delhi: India has the potential to grow at around 8% in the medium term and it will remain relatively insulated from the volatile global economy, said Paul Gruenwald, chief Asia-Pacific economist at S&P Global Ratings. In an interview, Gruenwald said that the Narendra Modi government needs to pass the constitutional amendment required for the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and continue with structural reforms. 

Edited excerpts: There are conflicting signals about the performance of the Indian economy. How do you think the economy is doing? 

The GDP (gross domestic product) numbers are not quite right in any country. But what we look at is the composition of growth and whether things are generally heading in the right direction. 
We can say for India, things are heading in the right direction. What we were looking at before was urban private consumption, which did not look to be sustainable to us. But now, it is getting some more support from investment; it looks like you are going to have a good monsoon season; the government picking up the pieces a little bit on structural reforms; India is benefiting from low oil prices. 
So, when you put all those together, we think India’s growth is going in the right direction. We would like to see around 8% growth in the medium term. So, all of these things coming into play, we are reasonably confident about that. I don’t want to get into a debate whether growth is 7% or 7.5%, but it looks reasonably high; it looks like it is broadening. Overall, we are pretty happy with the trajectory of the economy. 

How do you see the government’s performance in the past two years in office? 

We have a pretty favourable opinion. As I mentioned, structural reforms like the bankruptcy code, financial inclusion. If he (Modi) gets the GST, if he streamlines the bureaucracy, it is going to help. More favourable FDI environment, having states compete with each other—his home state Gujarat is like a leader in innovation—all these things make sense. 
Governments have political constraints, so obviously he has got to work with the opposition in the upper house even though he has a large majority in the lower house. Directionally again, the government is in good shape. 

How do you think the increasing uncertainty in the global economy will impact India’s growth? 

India is actually in a relatively good position; it is not that dependent on the rest of the world. India is mostly a domestic story. If it can broaden the consumption story from urban to rural, get some investment behind that, India, of all the countries we cover in Asia, is one of the least exposed to the ups and downs in the global economy. 
The markets may cause some problems like a few years ago, but global economy and China’s economy may go up or down, but India’s economy will remain relatively insulated, though not fully insulated. 

What does the rebalancing in China mean for India? 

We recently did a paper on that. We started looking at the trade links, the percentage of exports of each country that go to China, and India is actually at the lowest in Asia. So, the trade link does not seem particularly strong. We can tell a story where China becomes a more consumption-led economy, with a rising middle class, demand for services where India competes. 
There may be some opportunities on the upside for India, we have to see that. Probably less so on the investment side or the supply chain side. That is going to stay within China and South-east Asia. I don’t think too much of that is going to migrate to India. 

But India is hoping to gain in low-end manufacturing as China becomes more expensive. 

We have to think which sectors. China is getting expensive in textiles, clothing, footwear, low-end electronic components and things like that. We see those migrating to the Mekong and South-East Asia region. Bangladesh is also benefiting. I don’t have any evidence of it migrating to India. 
Maybe, it is the distance. Also, India is a $2-trillion economy. Moving the needle in India is going to be a lot more difficult than in Bangladesh. So, I would say India is going to be low to moderately impacted from China becoming expensive in some of those low-end industries. 

Many experts think the world may have passed the phase where a country like India can replicate the Chinese example of an export-led growth strategy. Has India missed the manufacturing bus? 

I don’t know if we have really passed that phase. It depends on what we mean. If we mean a big boost in world trade is going to help a bunch of emerging market economies, including India, it is probably not true because global trade growth looks structurally lower. 
India’s position as a services exporter with some manufacturing is probably a better place to be in, if you are rising a little faster than the rest of Asia. India is not going to have an export-led growth like a small, open East Asian country. It is too big. Big continental countries usually do not have export-led growth. 

But what about China? 

China never got a lot from exports. That story was a bit hyped. Export was definitely part of the story. But exports never contributed anything more than a quarter to Chinese economy. If India gets a couple of points’ contribution from exports, then it would be great. Exports are going to be a small to moderate growth driver for India; it cannot be a big growth driver. India is going to be overwhelmingly a domestic story. That is where the focus has to be. 

The relatively high growth rate of India has its cheerleaders and detractors. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan recently urged not be complacent with the ‘fastest-growing economy’ tag. What do you think? 

Most emerging markets would love to have 8% growth, even the big ones. Brazil’s economy, which is roughly of India’s size, is contracting now. Putting up a 7.5% growth rate is a fabulous number. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. But I can understand where Rajan is coming from. He has done a good job at RBI and he knows not to be complacent. 

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


5.1. Tata Power expects renewable energy to contribute 30-40% to portfolio by 2025 
BusinessLine V Rishi Kumar | 27 May 2016 

Tata Power Limited has a carved out a separate subsidiary for renewable energy and expects non-fossil fuels to contribute about 30-40 per cent of its total portfolio, up from 20 per cent earlier. 
The company plans to pursue its acquisition-driven growth as it seeks to achieve an installed capacity of 20,000 MW, up from 9,213 MW, which includes 1,704 MW of clean energy. 
It has consolidated its renewable portfolio under a wholly-owned subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL). The transfer of the renewable energy business to TPREL will enable it tap different and competitive sources of capital to fund its growth plans. 

Capex plans 
Anil Sardana, MD and CEO of Tata Power, in an e-mail told BusinessLine, “For the next three years, the company has sketched out a capex at the rate of ₹2,500 crore per annum. The capex plans will be commensurate to growth plans, as has been shown at the recent capacity additions in Mundra and Maithon.” He added, “The company continues to evaluate all possible opportunities – both through organic and inorganic development. Our recent acquisition has been a 30 MW wind farm in Sangli, Maharashtra. We are constantly on the lookout for new and exciting opportunities.” 

Power sector reforms “The power sector has undergone a lot of reforms under this government. The business confidence has improved. 
“Innovative schemes like dollar denominated tariff, fund raising through Green Bonds, revision of Standard Bidding document, UDAY scheme for distribution are some of the enabling policies that have ushered the investment confidence of the sector. The Amendments to the Electricity Act will hopefully bring in much needed impetuous to the distribution sector and help developers,” he said. 


5.2. Government gives nod to proposals worth Rs 17,300 crore in electronics sector 
Economic Times | May 20, 2016 

New Delhi: The government has cleared 74 investment proposals worth Rs 17,300 crore in the electronics manufacturing sector. 
"Out of 195 proposals, entailing an investment worth Rs 1.21 lakh crore, we have approved 74 applications amounting to Rs 17,300 crore," Ajay Kumar, additional secretary in the department of electronics and IT (DeitY), told ET. 
Kumar said 94 proposals are at different stages of approval while 27 investment proposals have been declined due to "lack of communication" between the department and the private firms which submitted them. 

"The government is giving tremendous importance to this (electronics) sector," Kumar said, adding that the enthusiasm among private firms is such that some are even willing to diversify their business to include electronics. 
The Centre, through its 'Make in India' programme, aims to fuel domestic manufacturing of electronic products in order to cut imports to zero by 2020. It is currently in talks with various large companies which are eager to establish production units in the country. 

Chinese companies alone are expected to invest $2-3 billion (Rs 13,400 crore to Rs 20,100 crore) in the Indian mobile manufacturing sector over the next two years, according to the Indian Cellular Association. The National Policy on Electronics (NPE) aims to attract $100 billion (Rs 6.5-lakh crore) worth of investment and generate employment for nearly 28 million individuals. It entails setting up of at least 200 electronic manufacturing clusters by 2020. 
The government, according to Kumar, is providing incentives to private firms to support capital expenditure, skill development, intellectual proprietary rights (IPR) and exports. 

Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is driving the initiative, recently said the ecosystem for electronic manufacturing is being created and if further more is needed, the government is open to new policy guidelines. On FDI approval in defence beyond 49% on a case-to-case basis, Kumar said the sector has the capability to attract huge investment and is highly dependent on the electronic equipment sector. 
"Defense electronics is another big area which is likely to see an upward trend in next two years," the department's top official said, adding that the government is also focusing on agricultural electronics and is funding various projects in this segment. 

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. Microfinance portfolio grew 84% in FY15 
Business Standard | May 23, 2016 

Kolkata: Higher size loans and buoyed bank funding helped microfinance institutions (MFIs) to increase their gross loan portfolio by 84 per cent in 2015-16 to Rs 53,233 crore, against Rs 28940 crore in FY15, according to data from Micrometer, a quarterly report on sectoral performance. 
Notably, this portfolio expansion happened even as one of the biggest micro lenders, Bandhan, was elevated to a bank. Bandhan used to account for almost a fifth of the MFI portfolio. 
About 60 per cent of the loan portfolio of MFIs was concentrated in urban and semi-urban areas in FY16. Five MFIs, all to convert into Small Finance Banks, were among the top 10 lenders in terms of gross loan portfolio last year. These were Janalakshmi, Ujjivan, Equitas, ESAF and Utkarsh. All of them aggressively grew their portfolio in the past year. 

Janalakshmi emerged as the biggest MFI in terms of loan portfolio last year, at Rs 10,983 crore, up 194 per cent over a year before. 
“Two major factors led to the growth in portfolio. First, there was a 45 per cent increase in borrower base. Second, the Reserve Bank increasing the (permitted) size of micro loans helped the industry,” said Ratna Vishwanathan, chief executive of Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN). 
After the RBI regulation which increased the lending limit for MFIs from Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000 per borrower in April 2015, the average loan amount disbursed per account last year was Rs 17,805, against Rs 14,731 in FY15. The number of MFI clients increased from 22.6 million in FY15 to 32.5 mn in FY16. 

Debt funding to MFIs increased by nearly 55 per cent, with banks and finance institutions lending Rs 33,706 crore in FY15-16. The average cost of funds for MFIs as on this March was around 14.8 per cent. 
"There has been a return of confidence in the microfinance sector, and as a results, banks are now coming forward to lend. Hence, there is enough flow of fund," said Manoj Kumar Nambiar, managing director, Arohan Financial Services and president of MFIN. 
Southern India still accounts for a major 35% of the loan portfolio, followed by western and northern region, which each accounts for 25% of the portfolio. Interestingly, with the exit of Bandhan from MFIs, the share of eastern India’s portfolio reduced to 19%. In FY14-15, east accounted for nearly 28% of the MFI portfolio.

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


6.2. Cabinet approves setting up of India Post Payments Bank 
Press Information Bureau | Jun. 02, 2016 

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for setting up the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) as a Public Limited Company under the Department of Posts, with 100% Government of India (GOI) equity. 
The total expenditure involved in this project is Rs 800 Crore. All citizens, especially 40% of the country's population that is outside the ambit of formal banking in the country will benefit from this project. The project will be rolled out in the entire country in a phased manner. 

The IPPB will obtain banking licence from RBI by March 2017 and by September 2017, its services will be available across the country through 650 payments bank branches, linked post offices and alternative channels riding on modern technology including mobiles, ATMs, PoS/ m-PoS devices etc and simple digital payments. 
The proposal will further the cause of financial inclusion by providing basic banking, payments and remittance services and facilitate financial services like insurance, mutual funds, pensions and access to credit in tie-up with third party financial providers with special focus on rural areas and the unbanked and under-banked segments. It will generate new employment opportunities for skilled banking professionals and will generate opportunities for propagating financial literacy across the country. It will create the largest bank in the world in terms of accessibility and in time, will encourage the move towards a less cash economy. 

Background 
Setting-up of the IPPB to further financial inclusion was one of the budgetary announcements during 2015-16. The Department of Posts had obtained the "in-principle approval" of the RBI in September 2015 to set up the India Post Payments Bank. The India Post Payments Bank will leverage the Department’s network, reach, and resources to make simple, low-cost, quality financial services easily accessible to customers all over the country. 

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


7.1. Marine exports may miss $6 bn target on weather woes, global slowdown 
BusinessLine V. Sajeev Kumar | 19 May 2016 

India’s seafood exports seem to have missed the $ 6 billion target in FY16 mainly because of global volatilities, anomalies in aquaculture production and depletion of ocean catches. 
The sector ended up with only $4.5 billion worth marine exports in dollar terms against the $5.5 billion registered FY15. In rupee terms, it registered only ₹29,000 crore against the previous fiscal’s ₹33,000 crore. Provisional figures available with Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) says that there was also a drop in quantity terms, as the figure stood at 9.25 lakh tonnes against 10.5 lakh achieved in the previous financial year. 

Attributing global recession, low catch, currency fluctuations as reasons for the dismal performance, MPEDA sources said that the agency would soon come out with the final statistics in marine products exports after compiling the figures received from other centres. 
V.Padmanabhan, National President of the Seafood Exporters Association told Business Line that “the figures may not be encouraging compared to the previous year. However, there is no need for a concern, as exports in most of the sectors are on a downward curve due to compelling international factors. Marine products exports are in a better state comparatively”. 

Citing slowdown in European markets and last year’s floods and cyclones in Tamil Nadu and Andhra for the gloomy performance, he told Business Line that inclement weather has considerably affected aquaculture production, which constitutes a major chunk of India’s seafood export basket. This has resulted in the declining of unit price of shrimps especially Vannamei varieties, impacting turnover of several seafood companies. The dwindling catch from the sea due to climatic changes, over fishing also added fuel to the problem. 
According to Padmanabhan, the rise in production cost is a major threat to farmed shrimps in the country. He urged the government to take stringent action against unauthorised hatcheries, which supply low quality seeds to farmers, as it considerably contributed a drop in production in aquaculture farms especially in the East Coast. 

However, he is confident of increasing the aquaculture output at the highest level especially with the active support extended by the Union Commerce Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu in solving the issues of various stakeholders including quarantines, multiplication centres hatcheries, exporters, feed manufacturers, farmers etc. 
Andhra Pradesh, he said, is preparing an action plan with time line in co-ordination with SEAI and other departments responsible to implement them. A committee is being constituted to develop a strategy and action plan covering all types of fish/shrimp for integrated development considering both short term and long term, he said. 
Referring to the depletion of ocean catch resources, he said SEAI is taking up the matter with Union Agriculture and Commerce Ministries for the enforcement of a Fisheries Conservation Policy to enable a sustainable coastal fishery resource to be followed by all the nine coastal states. '


7.2. Government to establish 250 agro-processing clusters all over India 
IBEF | Jun. 03, 2016 

New Delhi: The Government of India is looking to set up 250 small agro-processing clusters across the country, at an estimated cost of over Rs 5,000 crore (US$ 743.5 million), as told by Ms Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing. The Food Processing Ministry plans to invite both public and private players in the project after getting the required approvals. The blue print shows that small agro-processing clusters will be established near producing area of any specific fruit or vegetable. The government will also provide subsidy of up to Rs 5 crore (US$ 743,533) per cluster to those who establish small processing cluster near any specific fruit or vegetable anywhere across the country. 

This will enable to take the food processing at doorstep of the farmers, which will help to raise their income and at the same time reduce wastages and control rise in prices. The Minister further stated that over 3.2 million tonnes of food processing capacity has been established in last two years, which is helping farmers to realise better income for their produce and helps in keeping the prices of perishable goods under check. Government has also sanctioned 37 Mega Food Parks, out of which eight have been operationalised, and 134 cold chain projects, out of which 81 have been completed till date. 

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


8.1. Govt targets record 270.1 million tonnes of foodgrain production in 2016-17 
Livemint | May 26, 2016 

New Delhi: Driven by hopes of a good monsoon, the Centre has set an ambitious target of producing a record 270.1 million tonnes (mt) of foodgrains in the crop year beginning June. The government’s target for 2016-17 is 7% higher than the 252.23 mt of production estimated for 2015-16. 
The ambitious target is even higher than India’s record foodgrain output of 265 mt in 2013-14. Last year, the government had set a target of 264 mt (2015-16), which eventually fell short by 12 mt—according to the third advance estimate released earlier this month—and is likely to be revised downwards due to lower wheat output. 
Similarly, for 2014-15, the centre had set a target of 261 mt that eventually fell short by 9 mt. In 2013-14, owing to a good monsoon, India had surpassed its foodgrain production target of 259 mt by over 5 mt. While 2014 and 2015 were both deficit monsoon years, India is expected to witness above-normal rains in 2016. The June-to-September southwest monsoon which irrigates more than half of India’s crop area will be 106% of the long-period average, the India Meteorological Department forecast last month. 

“The government is only taking into account the monsoon forecast but prices too play a crucial role as to how much farmers will produce,” said Ashok Gulati, agriculture chair professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, Delhi. 
Gulati further said that during 2013-14, farming was profitable and average returns were between 20% to 30% for most crops. “Prices have collapsed now and returns are even negative for some crops,” he said, adding, “without sufficient hike in support prices (at which centre procures foodgrains from farmers to supply under the subsidised public distribution system) farmers will not see an incentive to produce more. The government is too optimistic. It should be pragmatic and know that if wishes were horses, beggars will ride.” 
According to the figures released on Wednesday, India’s pulses production is targeted at 20.75 mt in 2016-17, 21.6% higher than the estimated 17.06 mt produced in 2015-16. Target production for pulses—India imports nearly a quarter of its domestic consumption—is higher than the best-ever production of 19.25 mt achieved in 2013-14. 

Similarly, target production of wheat is 96.5 mt for 2016-17, higher than the estimated 94mt crop size in 2015- 16, and surpassing the highest-ever wheat crop of 95.85 mt in 2013-14. 
Target for oilseed production, for which India is heavily dependent on imports, is set at 35mt, 35% higher than the 25.9 mt estimated for 2015-16. 
Targets for cotton output is set at 36 million bales (of 170kg each) for 2016-17, compared to 30.5 million bales estimated for 2015-16. 
While approving the targets for the upcoming crop year, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said that despite two consecutive drought years, production of foodgrains went up in 2015-16, and the target for 2016- 17 is ‘ambitious’ as ‘a good monsoon is expected in the coming months’. 

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


8.2. Good monsoon to boost rural economy, growth: Goldman 
Business Standard | Jun. 14, 2016 

New Delhi: Two consecutive years of drought have taken a toll on rural household incomes. But an 'above normal' monsoon, as predicted by India Meteorological Department (IMD), could boost rural demand. This, in turn, could have a cascading effect on overall economy. 
If the rural economy grows by one percentage point, it could potentially boost overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth by up to 70 basis points over two quarters, says a new report by Goldman Sachs. The report, which was released on Monday, has pegged India's GDP growth at 7.9 per cent in the current financial year and at 8.1 per cent in FY18. 

According to the report, while "the direct impact of an increase in rural growth is between 45 and 50 basis points, the higher impact (70 basis points) suggests positive spillover effects via the urban economy." 
These effects operate through several channels - "increased purchasing power of rural consumers raising demand for urban-produced goods, ample food supply for urban areas and increased agricultural exports," says the report. 
As data on the rural economy is rather sketchy, the study looks at eight indicators to get a sense of rural growth. These are two-wheeler sales, household kerosene consumption, tractor sales, agriculture loans, power demand, yarn production, agriculture exports and government expenditure on rural areas. The study expects a "cyclical upturn in the rural economy during FY17." 

Other analysts also expect consumption to grow steadily once the proceeds of the Pay Commission and the effects of good monsoon play out. The report also finds that higher rural growth could also potentially decrease headline inflation by 40 basis points, presumably due to easing of supply constraints. Though in the interim inflation may edge upwards owing to demand pressures.
But sounding a note of caution, the report says while an above-normal monsoon could boost rural growth, the key to sustained growth lies in boosting rural investments. To this end, the report identifies a three-pronged approach that relies on boosting agricultural productivity, diversifying sources of rural income and urbanising rural areas. 

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


9.1. India among top 5 green energy markets in 2015: report 
BusinessLine G BALACHANDAR | 1 Jun. 2016 

The 2015 global renewable energy development had a strong Indian flavour to it, with India being ranked among the top five nations in new investments, and in the top four as regards creating jobs in the green energy sector. 
Emerging markets broke the record in 2015 by committing larger investments than developed nations. China led with more than double the investment of the next largest investor, the US, followed by Japan, the UK, and India, according to a report by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (Ren21). While China, the US, Japan and the UK maintained their positions relative to 2014, India moved up to displace Germany, which saw a sharp drop in investment. 
India’s investments in renewable energy sector increased to $10.2 billion in 2015, when compared to $8.3 billion in 2014. The new investments saw growth for the second consecutive year, aided by a jump in utilityscale solar power financing, which reached $4.6 billion, up 75 per cent over the previous year – a direct result of the Indian government’s increased focus on renewable energy, it pointed out. 

Asset finance 
Also, $4.1 billion of asset finance was invested in wind power, an increase of 17 per cent from 2014. Record capacity-addition also led to strong growth in new jobs. Considering all renewable energy technologies, the leading employers in 2015 were China, Brazil, the US and India. Globally, the green energy sector has created about 8.1 million jobs. China created about 3.5 million, followed by Brazil at 9.18 lakh, the US at 7.69 lakh and India at 4.16 lakh. 
The calendar year 2015 saw substantial activity in the Indian solar and wind power markets as the ambitious renewable energy targets are translated into concrete policy frameworks. 
Central and State auctions for solar PV contributed to the installation of 2 GW in 2015, and to an impressive pipeline of 23 GW. 
Employment in solar PV expanded by 23 per cent in 2015, and jobs in the wind sector also rose. 

Major challenge 
However, congestion in the grid will be most immediate challenge for India’s solar sector, and for scaling up solar power capacity to achieve the target of 100 GW by 2022. 
India installed about 2.6 GW, surpassing Spain’s capacity to rank fourth globally for total wind power capacity, with nearly 25.1 GW in 2015. But, the sector added less capacity than expected, largely due to shortage of available transmission capacity. 


9.2. 117 Villages Electrified last week ; 7,991 Villages Electrified till date under DDUGJY 
Press Information Bureau | May 31, 2016 

New Delhi: 117 villages have been electrified across the country during last week (from 23rd to 29th May 2016) under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY). Out of these electrified villages, 18 villages belong to Arunachal Pradesh , 26 in Assam, 23 in Jharkhand, 1 in Rajasthan, 6 in Madhya Pradesh , 3 in Uttar Pradesh , 5 in Bihar, 2 in Chhattisgarh, 11 in Odisha and 22 in Meghalaya . The progress of ongoing electrification process can be tracked on http://garv.gov.in/dashboard 

An update on ongoing electrification process 
In view of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s address to nation, on Independence Day, Government of India has decided to electrify remaining 18,452 unelectrified villages within 1000 days i.e. by 01st May, 2018. The project has been taken on mission mode and strategy for electrification consists of squeezing the implementation schedule to 12 months and also dividing village electrification process in 12 Stage milestones with defined timelines for monitoring. 

7,991 villages have been electrified till date. Out of remaining 10,461 villages, 455 villages are uninhabitated. 6,739 villages are to be electrified through grid, 2,911 villages to be electrified through off- grid where grid solutions are out of reach due to geographical barriers and 356 villages are to be electrified by State Govt own. Total 1654 villages were electrified during April 2015 to 14th Aug 2015 and after taking initiative by Government of India for taking it on mission mode, 6,337 additional villages have been electrified from 15th August 2015 to 29thMay, 2016. In order to expedite the progress further, a close monitoring is being done through Gram Vidyut Abhiyanta (GVA) and various actions are also being taken on regular basis likereviewing the progress on monthly basis during the RPM meeting, sharing of list of villages which are at the stage of under energisation with the state Discom, identifying the villages where milestone progress are delayed. 

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


10.1. Back to Bharat: A techie leaves coding to milking 
BusinessLine AJ Vinayak |  8 Jun. 2016 

After serving Infosys for 15 years in India and abroad, Shankar Kotian thought of starting something of his own a few years ago. 
With the experience and expertise, he could have come out with a start-up in technology field. But, he chose to venture into the real field in rural India in 2013. 
The eight-acre farm and dairy at Moodu-Konaje village near Moodbidri town of Dakshina Kannada district is his work platform now. 

Like a start-up 
Explaining his journey from coding to farming during BusinessLine correspondent’s visit to his farm, he said it was like launching a start-up for him.
 After preparing the business plan, he knew that dairying is going to be profitable. “I also knew that it will take time to break-even,” he said. Then he had two choices — one was slow ramp up of the venture, and the second one was a big bang implementation of his plan. 
Since he had zero experience in farming and dairying, he adopted slow ramp up of his venture. With five cows he began his dairy farming journey in 2013. It was a tough first year for him, as he had to oversee the construction of dairy, rearing of cows and other farm activities. 

Kotian, who rears 39 cows now, said that dairying will help him earn money from this month onwards. In May, he had 10 cows that had calves.
 For the last six-seven months, it was no-profit, no-loss proposition. Now, Kotian supplies 200 litres of milk a day to the milk cooperative society in his village. 
On the reason for choosing dairying, he said milk is the only product where the farmer gets nearly 80 per cent of the retail value. Since it is being operated on a cooperative model, there is no middleman in marketing the product, he said. 
As Kotian’s farm land is located on a slope, he decided to make best use of the elevation. Accordingly, he established the dairy on the top of the slope. This helped him to supply slurry and waste water collected from the dairy to the farm land located on the lower portion of the slope through gravitational force. He started growing elephant grass on the lower portion of the slope to meet the requirement of his cows. 
He constructed a water pond in the lower most portion of the slope for rainwater harvesting. 
Kotian said that gobar gas plant attached to the dairy meets the kitchen fuel requirements of his family and labour quarters. 

Apart from using slurry for his farm, he sells the excess slurry for arecanut plantation owners. Last year, he sold around 150 loads of slurry with each load measuring around 2,000 litres. 
A firm believer in organic farming and Subhash Palekar’s natural farming, he is not using chemical fertilisers or herbicides/pesticides in his farm. Apart from dairying, he also cultivates vegetables and paddy. 
Asked was there any apprehension when he opted for dairying, leaving a plush job in a tech company, Kotian said he had strong backup from the family, especially from his wife. “We were ready to downgrade our lifestyle also,” he said. 
Kotian, who spent two-thirds of the 15-year Infosys journey in overseas assignments, said he enjoys dairying the most as he is his own boss here. 


10.2. Vibrant rubber plantations vital for tyre industry: Mammen 
BusinessLine V SAJEEV KUMAR | 3 Jun. 2016 

The decline in natural rubber production has been a key concern for the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), with the figure hitting a 20-year low to fall below six lakh tonnes in FY16. Since availability has appeared to be a major issue in the last couple of months, the industry has conveyed its intention to go for more imports if the situation does not improve. 
At the same time, ATMA has extended support to government programmes aimed at increasing the domestic industry’s production, productivity and quality as it strongly believe that a vibrant domestic rubber plantation sector is crucial to have a thriving tyre industry. 
In an e-mail interaction, KM Mammen, ATMA Chairman, pointed out that the industry has conveyed its anxiety on falling domestic production as well as quality in a series of meetings with the government and the Rubber Board, even though the channels for natural rubber imports are wide open. The industry is going through a very difficult time, with a significant decline in export of truck, bus and car tyres. 

Edited excerpts: Despite production taking a hit, planters say that the tyre industry is apathetic to domestic rubber growers’ concerns and opting for cheaper imports. How do you view this? 

It is a rather unfortunate perception. Throughout the last two years, domestic natural rubber prices have been ruling much higher than international prices and yet the entire production has been picked up by the industry with exports being almost nil. This amply underscores the tyre industry’s allegiance to the domestic natural rubber sector.
 Tyre companies are charged with importing natural rubber, but imports are essential to bridge the widening gap between domestic production and its demand. In the last fiscal year, production was just about 55 per cent of domestic consumption. The tyre industry is, therefore, compelled to look at imports to run manufacturing facilities although domestic sourcing is always preferable if quality in adequate quantities is available. 

The planters’ association (UPASI) has sought a curb on imports as they are far more than the domestic deficit. What is your response? 

Rubber Board figures reveal a different story. In FY16, the production-consumption gap in natural rubber has been 4.2 lakh tonnes. But the imports in the same period have been to the tune of 4.5 lakh tonnes. Where are the indiscriminate imports as alleged by the planters’ associations? 
In fact, imports need to be liberalised to increase the competitiveness of the domestic industry by extending duty free to the extent of the domestic deficit. However, the Centre has continued with stiff import duties of 25 per cent. 
Besides, there have been other restrictive provisions like pre-import condition, reduction in the export obligation period and port restrictions. While there are stiff duties on import of rubber as a raw material, tyres can be imported at 6 per cent or even at nil rates of duty under various trade agreements. Tyre production in India is bearing the brunt of an inverted duty structure and the absence of a level playing field. 

Why has the tyre industry’s natural rubber consumption slid when the sector is doing well? 

No, the tyre industry is passing through difficult times. The production of commercial vehicle (CV) tyres, which account for more than 60 per cent of the industry turnover, contracted in FY16. Farm tyre production has also come down significantly. While the auto industry, especially the CV segment, is witnessing a revival, a contraction in tyre production is certainly a matter of concern.
Imported tyres are meeting significant demand while capacity utilisation in India, which was 90 per cent two years ago, has come down to 65-70 per cent. This does not augur well for manufacturing in India. The domestic availability crunch coupled with restrictions on natural rubber imports are also affecting tyre exports. 

Is the tyre industry’s emphasis on quality of domestic natural rubber just hype? 

The world has come to expect a lot from the automobile ecosystem such as better products, more fuel efficiency and safety, while being environment friendly. The tyre industry, being an integral part of the auto value chain, is no exception. 
Keeping with the times, tyre technology has moved ahead in the last few years. Tyres need to meet regulatory and consumer-driven challenges from enabling higher fuel efficiency to meeting the most stringent safety standards. 
The quality of materials that go into tyre manufacturing therefore need to be world class. 
On quality, it is pertinent to mention that while the production profile continues to be dominated by sheet rubber in India, all major rubber producing countries have shifted to block rubber for various advantages. It offers lower power usage (per unit of output), improved handling systems at tyre plants and consistent quality. As a result, over 90 per cent of the global trade in natural rubber is dominated and driven by block rubber. 
India needs to align with these practices 



– INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURE


11.1. The Raman Effect and the scattering of Wi-Fi! 
BusinessLine Chitra Narayanan | 14 Jun. 2016 

Two tiny villages in Tamil Nadu will get networked to the world on June 20, which will be observed as World Wi-Fi Day. 
These are no ordinary villages. Mangudi (also called Agaramangudi) and Purasakkudi, which are about two km apart from each other, are where two of India’s Nobel Laureates hailed from. 
Indeed, villagers here will show you around the ancestral homes of Sir CV Raman, who got the Nobel Prize in 1930, and his nephew Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who got the coveted honour in 1983. These hamlets in Thanjavur district may have produced two of India’s top physicists, but they still do not have Internet connectivity. 
Chennai-based firm Microsense, an Internet and WiFi solution provider, is now bridging the digital divide at these villages. 

“The catalyst is World Wi-Fi Day. We were asked by the Wireless Broadband Alliance to do some activity to connect the unconnected and we picked these two villages,” says S Kailasanathan, Managing Director, Microsense. 
According to him, Microsense zeroed in on these two villages because they were little-known despite producing two Nobel laureates. He reached out to Sir CV Raman’s relatives, who felt it was a great idea and were supportive. “Connecting up villages, whether Mangudi or any other, is a step in the right direction,” says Radhika Ramnath, the Nobel Laureate’s grand niece, who confesses that she has not been to the village. The Wireless Broadband Alliance is a global organisation that is championing the adoption of wireless broadband all over the world. Its members include leading telcos, companies like Google and Intel and tech companies such as Cisco and Microsoft. “They work with cities, governments, and service providers like us,” says Kailasanathan, an IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta alumnus. 
Microsense, founded by Kailasanathan and his IIM Calcutta peer Rajiv Talwar, has been providing communication services in premium hotels since 1987. 

Challenging task 
Since as early as 2000, Microsense has been providing Wi-Fi (the technology took off globally in 1999 with Apple as market champion) and broadband services to hotels, and is now expanding into residential colonies and enterprises. 
But equipping these tiny villages with Wi-Fi has not been without challenges. For starters, there was no broadband connection from where Microsense could provide Wi-Fi. 
“We started out by contacting BSNL,” says Kailasanathan. Then they thought of lifting it off Airtel’s mobile towers. “But even that tower had no capacity,” he says. 
Finally, Microsense had to set up point-to-point wireless links. Now, practically the whole of the village has been sewn up. 
So how will the villages, where the primary occupation is agriculture, use the Wi-Fi facility? “Certainly the children will benefit from the Internet as an educational tool and that’s the primary focus now,” responds Kailasanathan. “But as we go forward, we intend to focus on the needs that the villagers themselves come up with,” he says. Kiosks with computers will be set up for the villagers to use. 
The story goes that when Sir CV Raman got his Nobel Prize in 1930, he wept because his country did not even have its own flag and it was the Union Jack that was being waved. Similarly, his native village remains pretty much unacknowledged. Will Wi-Fi succeed in putting Mangudi on the global map? 


11.2. A League of extraordinary minds 
BusinessLine Chitra Narayanan | 3 Jun. 2016 

Collaborative culture has been the buzzword at workplaces with companies desperately trying to break silos between design departments, coders, marketers and so on to fuel innovation. Now it’s percolated down to colleges in Ahmedabad. Meet A-league - a social collaborative platform - conceived by IIM-Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship that is bringing students from diverse streams and campuses of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar together. 
Among others design students from NID, fashion technology students from NIFT, marketing communication students from MICA, management students from IIM-A, coders from Dhirubhai Institute of Information and Communication Technology have come together on this platform to network and learn from each other. The idea is to create a lot of creative tension and fuel entrepreneurship. 

One Campus 
“It’s modeled on the One Campus initiative of some top US universities,” says Ashwini Joshi, VP Ecosystem Development at Centre of Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship. “Ahmedabad has some of the top institutions in the country and we wanted to bring these diverse campuses together to collaborate and learn.” Last year a small step was made by bringing together students from different campuses over garba celebrations, musical nights and pizza parties to break the ice. This was soon stepped up by getting the Aleaguers to participate in ideothons and hackathons. As Joshi points out, to give a fillip to innovation and entrepreneurship silos need to be broken and disciplinary boundaries crossed. So at the ideothon, each team had to include students from different institutions, and pitch a business plan. 

Gujarat Accelerator 
The larger idea is that the A-league will emerge as a sourcing platform for accelerator programmes at CIIE. A regional focused Gujarat Accelerator has been set up at CIIE along with SAP Labs. For the first batch which passed out recently, there were 168 registrations, of which 20 were shortlisted and finally eight made the cut. The next batch will begin soon and Joshi hopes that by promoting it across A-league they will be able to pull in more applications this year. More colleges in the region are now being drafted into the A-league. A-league’s motto is: “When talented meet more talented people some cool things are bound to happen.” Well, let’s see what cool new start up ideas come out of this talented league. (The writer was recently in Ahmedabad at the invitation of SAP Labs) 


12.1. Boston Scientific to make India biggest product development hub outside US 
Livemint | Jun. 13, 2016 

Hyderabad: US-based medical devices maker Boston Scientific Corp., plans to make India its biggest research and development (R&D) hub outside the US, as it plans to develop devices such as stents, catheters and pacemakers at its Gurgaon facility for the Asia Pacific, Middle East and African markets. 
“As one of seven strategic global R&D sites for Boston Scientific, the R&D center in India has the potential to be the largest outside of the US,” said Prabal Chakraborty, vice president and managing director at Boston Scientific Company India Pvt.Ltd, the Indian unit of Boston Scientific. 

“The R&D center will focus on developing products to meet the clinical needs in high-burden diseases specific to emerging markets in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions, and to serve as a global product engineering site,” Chakraborty said. 
Boston Scientific said it plans to roll out products from this facility by 2017. 
The company which had global sales of around $7.48 billion in 2015, is seeking to expand its market share and increase sales through geographic expansion, especially in high-growth emerging markets such as India, with rising coronary angioplasties resulted from a surge in cardiovascular diseases. 

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


12.2. Automation puts techies’ jobs at risk 
BusinessLine Venkatesh Ganesh | 9 Jun. 2016 

Prakash Mahalingam, a 32-year-old techie working for one of the large software exporters, gets up every day with work-related anxiety. He has been performing well, but his worry can be traced to the speed at which his team of a dozen people (who used to manage and update IT security for a multi-billion-dollar American bank) has been shrinking. “Our team has come down from 12 to 3. In my six years, I have not seen this kind of reduction,” he says. 
Mahalingam's anxiety is slowly spreading across the 3.7-million-strong IT workforce, driven by the fear of automation. Automation, it is feared, will render around 40 per cent of the workforce redundant in the next three years. 

New technologies 
Infosys has been vocal about plans to embrace automation and artificial intelligence, besides other newer technologies. Post-automation of certain operations, Wipro is already in the process of moving some 4,500 engineers into different projects. “We will release 4,500 employees from some projects… they can be reskilled in the latest technologies,” said Saurabh Govil, Chief HR Officer, Wipro. 
But at other IT and BPO multinationals, large numbers of employees are being asked to leave. According to analyst firm Sanford Bernstein, IBM is looking to lay off 14,000 employees, rendered surplus by automation. 
While Indian companies are not so quick to lay off staff, employees whom BusinessLine spoke to said they are typically redeployed in other projects, but that a lot of them eventually opt out. 

This development in a sector known to create jobs is sending shockwaves among employees and those waiting to make a career in IT. Kunal Sen, Senior Vice-President at temp staffing company TeamLease, terms the hiring situation grim and scary. 
“In the future, companies will hire fewer people and look more for leaps in productivity,” he adds. Others, like Siddarth Bharwani, Vice-President at Jetking Infotrain, expect shockwaves in the middle management level, which will have to undergo extensive re-skilling. 
According to IT industry insiders, hiring was all right when the going was good. But as the operating environment gets tougher, client expectations are changing. “Clients tell us that if they don't get 30 per cent savings, they are not interested. Automation is one way of achieving this,” says Dinesh Venugopal, President – Digital and Strategic Customer, Mphasis. 

Bats for automation 
Optimists argue that automation could speed up the growth of the $143-billion sector into newer areas, and lead to demand for a new kind of workforce. Samson David, Senior Vice-President and Global Head for Cloud, Infrastructure and Security at Infosys, draws a parallel with the times when cars replaced horse carriages. “Didn't the car industry grow manifold?” he asks, adding that the kind of scale that automation brings in is unparalleled. 
Automation will not take away all the jobs because you will still need someone to build and monitor robots, says Kamal Karanth, MD, Kelly Services & KellyOCG India. 
Still, for those like Mahalingam, who can feel the tectonic plates of employability rumbling beneath their feet, the loss of even a few jobs is a worrying prospect that cuts too close to the bone. 


13.1. ISRO-Indian Space Research Organization to launch record 22 satellites on a single rocket 
IBEF | Jun. 17, 2016 

New Delhi: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launching a record 22 satellites on a single rocket next week, thereby demonstrating their ability to compete with commercial space flight companies run by billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. It will be the biggest single launch by India, trailing Russia’s 33 satellites launch in 2014 and NASA’s 29 the year before. 
It will carry satellites from the US, India, Canada and Germany and will be launched from Sriharikota on June 20, 2016. Most of the satellites will observe and measure the earth’s atmosphere. However, it also includes an earth observation satellite to capture light invisible to the naked eye. Currently, India has about 35 satellites in orbit for broadcasting, navigation, scientific exploration and weather monitoring. 

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


13.2. HP, Lenovo, Acer, EMC & IBM in fray for govt's National Supercomputing Mission 
Economic Times | Jun. 02, 2016 

New Delhi / Pune: India is opening up its supercomputing programme to the private sector for the first time, prompting interest from some of the world's largest makers of personal computers and reflecting a new mindset that is open to partnerships outside the government. 
The likes of Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Lenovo, Acer, Dell owned EMC Corporation, and IBM are in the fray for the government's National Supercomputing Mission which involves a network of super computers which can help strengthen India's research and predictive capabilities in areas such as weather and climate modelling, biology and disaster management. 

"Building these super computers requires huge facilities which we don't have," said Rajat Moona , directorgeneral of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, referring to the capabilities of CDAC, the Indian Institute of Science and other government agencies. "At present we are in talks with a lot of companies and will soon go to the RFP (request for proposal) stage etc." He said that in the past CDAC has procured some hardware and software from private companies, but private players haven't built a super computer in India. 
Approved by the Union Cabinet in March this year, the Rs 4,500-crore mission hopes to bolster the country's supercomputing prowess by adding 70 super computers to a national grid. India currently has only 10 super computers and is ranked 74th in global supercomputing pecking order which is led by China. The world's fastest supercomputer is China's Tianhe-2. 

HP, Lenovo, Acer, EMC & IBM in fray for govt’s National Supercomputing Mission A proposal from 2013 says that the plan is to build a total of 73 super computers in India. The aim is to finish building these machines within seven years from now. 
Sanjay Virnave, country manager of enterprise, server and storage at Acer, told ET that his company, which works with the Taiwan government on super-computing has created a separate team to work on this in India. "The fact that they are open to roping in private firms is a very a positive shift in mindset," said Virnave. So far, two formal meetings have been conducted by department of electronics and IT (DEITY) and CDAC for initial discussions with interested players and an official selection process is expected to begin soon. 

"We have been in touch with the government, and it is great that they are building it in partnership with the private sector. The government doesn't need to invest in technology from ground zero when they have multinationals having global R&D facilities around it," said Lenovo India MD Rahul Agarwal . IBM declined to comment. 
Rajesh Janey, President, EMC India & SAARC said that his company is keen to partner with the government on this project since it has a specialised product for super computers that takes care of their storage needs. Moona said that the idea to part-procure super computers from private players ties in well with the government's Make in India initiative. 

For instance, the chips will have to be imported as nobody manufactures them in India but components like server-board assemblies, cooling solutions, power supply and storage systems can be manufactured in India. CDAC will retain design control of these super computers. 
An expert group has been set up under Alok Bhattacharya of the Jawaharlal Nehru University and it will look at the applications for the super computers. Out of the total Rs 4,500 crore earmarked for the project,Rs 2,800 crore will come from the ministry of science and technology and the rest from the ministry of communications and IT. 

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


14.1. Foxconn looks at Odisha's Gopalpur for setting up unit 
Business Standard | Jun. 14, 2016 

Bhubaneshwar: Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturing company, is considering Odisha, among others, to set up its manufacturing facility. 
In 2015, Foxconn had announced it would set up 12 factories in India, creating one million jobs. A team from Foxconn has already visited the industrial park at Gopalpur where Tata Steel is the anchor tenant. The industrial park spreads over 3,500 acres of land. 

PLANS IN THE STATE 
  • A team from Odisha govt visited Taiwan in Oct 2015, Foxconn evinced interest 
  • Foxconn has sought 1,000 acres for Odisha unit 
  • Odisha has rolled out incentives for electronics investors 
  • It’s giving additional incentives on capital investment subsidy, human capital investment subsidy, power, water and interest subsidy 

“Foxconn has visited the industrial park at Gopalpur and has shown interest to put up a facility. The company has asked for 1,000 acres of land. The location has surplus land and it can be offered to Foxconn,” said Pranab Prakash Das, Odisha's minister for electronics and information technology. 
It needs to be mentioned that Foxconn’s engagement with the Odisha government is still nascent and the company is yet to spell out the scale of investment or the range of products it intends to manufacture in the state. 
The state government considers Gopalpur as an ideal port-based location for Foxconn’s manufacturing unit. It will also offer it the advantage of proximity to the Visakhapatnam port. 

“Foxconn officials had evinced interest in visiting Odisha and explore the opportunities during a state delegation visit to Taiwan to attract investments in the electronic system design and manufacturing sector in October 2015,” said an industry source.
 Foxconn had started negotiations towards the middle of 2015 for making Apple’s iPhones in India. In August 2015, the Taiwanese electronics major signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government to set up an electronics manufacturing plant at an investment of $5 billion for five years. 
Foxconn is keen to invest on manufacturing, energy and e-commerce sectors in the country. It has kicked off local production of mobile handsets for Chinese brands Gionee and OnePlus at Sri City, 575 km from Hyderabad. 

The Odisha government, meanwhile, has been making frenzied efforts to lure investors in the electronics manufacturing space. 
The state government has already declared a special incentive package scheme to lure investments in electronics by giving additional incentives on capital investment subsidy, human capital investment subsidy, power incentives, water incentives and interest subsidy over and above the promises made in the Information and Communications Technology Policy-2014. 
Investors with investment exceeding Rs 200 crore and offering employment potential of 500 would be entitled to 25 per cent investment subsidy on capital investment, subject to a ceiling of Rs 50 crore. Further, if their project is financed by public sector banks, the state government would offer an interest subvention of five per cent. 
The state information technology department has also been renamed as the department of electronics and information technology. 

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


14.2. Shell says will expand investments in India 
Livemint | May 19, 2016 

New Delhi: Royal Dutch Shell Plc. will be committing further investments in India after its February merger with BG Group Plc., a spokesperson for the oil and gas company said. 
Shell has so far invested around $1 billion in its India operations. 
A Shell India spokesperson said by email, “We have a long history in India and have consistently looked to expand our investments. I can assure that our overall approach towards investment in India remains positive.” Shell announced its merger plans with BG Group in April 2015 and completed the same in February 2016. On Monday, Shell India announced the appointment of Nitin Prasad as its new chairman after Yasmine Hilton retires in September. 

Shell is one of the few international oil companies in India present in the downstream and midstream segments. With BG Group’s assets in tow, Shell becomes an upstream player too through the Panna Mukta and Tapti (PMT) oil and gas fields where Shell now partners Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). 
Shell holds a 30% interest in the mid and south Tapti gas fields and the Panna/Mukta oil fields, while ONGC holds a 40% stake and RIL 30%. 
Production from the PMT fields has been falling and Shell and its partners may have to invest around $1 billion to arrest it. Added to this will be extension to the production sharing contract (PSC) that the consortium has been seeking for the past few years. The PSC expires in 2019 and for further investments to be viable and attractive it would have to be extended by at least five years, an ONGC official said. 

“No decisions will be taken about specific locations where BG had operations until we have a good understanding of their potential. We look forward to entering into a close dialogue with the government about the future of the operation, and any areas of uncertainty, as soon as we are in a position to speak with some authority,” Shell added in the emailed reply. 
Another asset added to Shell’s portfolio is the country’s second largest compressed natural gas (CNG) retailer Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL). 
MGL is in the process of launching its initial public offer (IPO) of around Rs.1,200 crore shortly. Shell India and state-owned GAIL (India) Ltd, the promoters, will sell 12.5% each in the IPO. The promoters currently hold a 49.75% stake each in MGL, while the Maharashtra government holds a minor 0.49% stake. 

MGL sells CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in Mumbai and its adjoining suburbs. It has 128 CNG filling stations in Mumbai and greater Mumbai and 45 in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Panvel. Last month, Shell said it is nearly doubling its headcount to 1,000 at its Shell Technology Centre Bangalore, (STCB) to insource more work. The centre is one of its three global hubs for technology, after Houston and Amsterdam. 
STCB provides access to Indian talent and resources to Shell worldwide. The STCB currently employs around 900 engineers. 
Shell is also the only global oil company to have a fuel retail licence in the country. The company has a marketing licence from the centre to set up a network of up to 2,000 fuel retail stations in India. Currently, about 77 Shell fuel retail outlets are operational. 
Through its Rs.3,000-crore Hazira Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage and re-gasification terminal with a capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum (mpta), the company is a significant player in the downstream segment. 
The terminal is being expanded to 7.5 mtpa by March 2017 with the capacity to be further expanded to 10 mtpa. 
Royal Dutch Shell through its unit Shell Gas holds a 74% stake in Hazira LNG, while Total Gaz Electricite France, a unit of France’s Total, holds the remainder.

Shell also has a 26% stake in building the Kakinada LNG terminal on the east coast. AP Gas Development Corp., a joint venture company between the Andhra Pradesh government and GAIL and GDF Suez hold 48% and 26% equity in the project, respectively. 
“It is a good time to be in India. It is the largest consumer market in all segments of energy and Shell is in a good position to gain significantly from the Indian market,” said an energy consultant at a large consulting firm on condition of anonymity, as he is not allowed to talk to the media. 

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


15.1. ‘I want to bring a bit more Cha Cha Cha into our stores’ (BATA) 
BusinessLine Sangeetha Chengappa |  3 Jun. 2016 

Bata, recently opened its 1,101{+s}{+t} store in India, in Bengaluru’s high street, Brigade Road, its largest flagship store in South India spread over 10,000 sq ft offering 2,000 styles. BusinessLine caught up with Bata Global CEO, Alexis Nasard, who was in the city to inaugurate the store to find out about his plans for the brand in the India market. 

Excerpts: Does India, where Bata has been present for over 84 years, feature among your top markets? 

India, Italy and Chile are our top three markets. India is our number one market in terms of our existing business and potential business. When you look at the progression of India’s population, the proportion of people who are entering the middle-class and if you look at the sheer breadth of our offerings in shoes and our price points, the probability that India will continue to be our top market is very high. India will always be a top priority in terms of capital investments and from an operational standpoint for us. 

Bata has lost its former glory to other multinational shoe brands like Nike, Reebok, Adidas, especially in athletic shoes and school shoes. How do you plan to restore that? 

Bata is a very successful brand in India and continues to be so. While we are known for our comfortable footwear, the need now is to keep rejuvenating our consumers with new design-inspired styles which are cool, chic and aspirational, while still being affordable to our young consumers. We are committed to being a design-driven shoe brand offering new styles every month in our bigger, flagship stores and will be talking to our consumers a lot more than we did before. Our brand is all about ‘Surprising Affordability’ and it’s a brand which is talking to consumers who have grown up with Bata over the years. While we want to stick to that consumer, we are also looking to recruit younger consumers into our line up today, because, as you rightly pointed out, the youth have a lot of temptations in the market in the athletic footwear and school footwear categories. 

What are the categories in India where you see growth opportunities? 

In the last three days, I have visited 20 of our stores and find that trendy sandals and ballerinas for women are doing great business. Shoes for weddings and holidays, where we do not have a significant presence, but, where we are doing very well right now, is a big growth category in India, and is an area where we can differentiate ourselves with design. Bata shoes can be elegant and comfortable. I refuse to accept the notion that these are mutually exclusive propositions. And the nugget we will crack in India and have already started the process is to convince and show women through our products, that it is possible. 

Bata, in India, is perceived as a family brand, who is your core customer? 

We make shoes for men, women, children and also offer athletic wear. However, women consumers dominate globally. Our core customers are young people between 30 and 40 years in Europe. In India, it would be 25-35 years because of the age of the population, who are relatively trendy and who have aspirations for styling themselves. We want to be the shopping moment for the young female consumer, which is what I call in French a ‘Moi’ moment or “Me time.’ One of the key insights we discovered when we talked to young female consumers is that one of her biggest frustrations is that she doesn’t have time for herself because of family constraints, her job, children, it’s not easy. We want to be the retail brand where she spends a little bit of that Moi time. 

What is your vision for the India market and what innovations are your introducing? 

We have clear revenue targets for India which are ambitious, but achievable. We want to create a retail and brand proposition that will put a smile on our customers faces in India. While innovations have been the preserve mostly of athletic footwear, we are introducing innovations in daily wear, formal wear and casual wear. 
The innovations are in the areas of flexibility - when you walk a lot the sole cannot be rigid. Second area is, shock absorbability, which makes a big difference to comfort levels, and third, high heels that are both comfortable and stylish, which we achieve by rebalancing the weight that the woman has on her shoes. This is just a sneak preview. There’s a lot more coming. I want to bring a bit more Cha Cha Cha into our stores. 


15.2. Nandan to launch ₹500-crore terry towel unit 
BusinessLine Rutam Vora |  23 May 2016 

Gujarat-based diversified textile player, Chiripal Group, is setting up a Rs. 500-crore terry towel facility in Ahmedabad district with an initial capacity of 10,696 tonnes per annum. 
The wholly-owned subsidiary, Nandan Terry Pvt Ltd, will begin commercial production from December this year, a top company official said. 
According to insiders, the towel manufacturing unit Nandan Terry Pvt Ltd will soon be brought under the denim unit of the Group named Nandan Denim Ltd, thereby making it a diversified textile company. However, process for the same has not yet started. Nandan Denim is listed on stock exchanges with shares trading around Rs. 154. 

With its eyes set on the overseas market, the company has chalked out a strategy to market terry towels in USA, Germany, UK, Italy, France, Romania, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, besides other regions. However, India's exports to these markets have been on the decline since 2013-14 from Rs. 950 crore to about Rs. 727 crore in 2014-15 and Rs. 590 crore in 2015-16 (till February 2016), DGFT data showed. The company believes to reverse the trend by penetrating into new markets like Latin America and Africa with a right mix of product and competitive pricing. 
"We have planned a total investment of Rs. 503 crore, of which 70 per cent will be debt portion. The financial closure has been achieved and we expect commercial production to start from December this year," said Vishal Chiripal, director, Chiripal Industries. 

The company has acquired 30 acres of land at Dholi Integrated Textile Park, Dholi near Dholka in Ahmedabad district. 
"About 95 per cent of the production will be exported. Once commissioned, we expect to achieve a turnover of Rs. 400 crore from this plant in the first year of operations," Chiripal told BusinessLine. 
As part of its business diversification strategy, Nandan Terry plans to install 80 airjet looms with a towel manufacturing capacity of 10,969 tonnes per annum, with room to double the capacity. The unit will also have a spinning capacity of 24,408 spindles and 960 rotors. 
To meet its in-house requirements of textile verticals, Chirpal Industries is also setting up 48,960 spindles for the manufacturing of cotton yarn with an investment of Rs. 306 crore. The new facility will come up at Dholi Integrated Spinning Park near Ahmedabad. Chiripal Industries has a total turnover of Rs. 850 crore. The spinning facility will help the company increase its turnover to Rs.1,100 crore by the end of fiscal 2016-17. 


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


16.1. Stemcell milestone: Stempeutics ready to roll out ‘regenerative’ medicine 
BusinessLine PT Jyothi Datta | 6 Jun.2016 

After nine years in the works and 15 months to get regulatory approvals in India, Stempeutics is set for a limited rollout of its regenerative medicine Stempeucel, touted to be a milestone for the company and science in the country. 
It is an inflection point for the biotech industry, BN Manohar, Stempeutics Chief Executive told BusinessLine, after the company got a limited approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to sell its cell-based therapy. 

Stempeutics is part of the Manipal Education and Medical Group, and drugmaker Cipla entered into a joint alliance with it in 2009. Its product Stempeucel is the fifth off-the-shelf stemcell product to be approved in the world, the company says. 
The product is made from stemcells taken from healthy volunteers and is used to treat Critical Limb Ischemia due to Buerger’s disease — where blood supply to the lower extremities of the body is cut off. This happens due to smoking or fatty deposits and so on and is characterised by severe pain and ulcers, leading often to amputation, company representatives explained. 
The regenerative properties of the product helps develop new blood vessels and improve blood flow, Manohar says, adding that it is an unmet medical need. The product has potential in conditions like the diabetes foot, he indicated. 

Clinical trials 
It is an “orphan drug” indication, which means the illness prevalence may be low, with no product to treat it. The limited approval, a first time where the Government has okayed a product after Phase II trials (to check safety and efficacy) would mean it needs to be given to 200 more people. Full approvals should be by 2018, Manohar says. 
Commending the DCGI’s “bold decision” to give a limited approval on this new biological entity, he said, it has taken nine years from bench to bedside. Even the first phase of clinical trials (the products first exposure to humans) was done in India. 
Coming at a time when clinical trials are viewed with suspicion, Manohar agrees it was a “struggle” but they worked with the regulator, and gradually, the guidelines for stemcell and cell-based therapies were also put into place. Explaining the process, Manohar says that healthy volunteers are put through a battery of tests, 29 to be precise, to check for infectious diseases etc. Stempeutics’ “unique” technology helps isolate the particular cells they are looking for, culture them and scale up, he says, adding that three donors contribute about one million dozes or vials. 
Stempeutics is evaluating whether it would make the product on its own or tie-up with contract producers like Syngene, he said. 

Cipla’s new ventures 
Sharing Manohar’s optimism on the product, Cipla’s head of New Ventures, Chandru Chawla, said this was the second product from the venture, the first being cosmetic anti-ageing product Cutisera, a year ago. “But this one’s a drug, a one-time injection,” he said, that has shown in 110 patients that it significantly reduces the pain and improves the ability to walk in the stated medical condition. With the roll-out still being “work in progress,” there was no clarity on the product pricing. 
Stempeutics officials have in the past indicated that it would be sold at about $2000. 
The product requires several skills to take it global, said Chawla, adding that they were looking at partnerships for distribution in different markets and intelligent capital to grow it further. 
Other investments from Cipla’s new ventures, include the US-based Chase Pharmaceuticals, whose product targeting Alzheimer’s is entering Phase III trials, he said. 
Cipla’s biotech venture is also looking at new partnerships and to raise capital, he indicated. In fact, the company’s consumer care business, incubated under New Ventures had taken a similar path and attracted investments last year from the Fidelity Growth Partners. The health tech space was another segment the company was watching, Chawla said, of an area getting much attention from other pharma big-guns, including Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. 


16.2. We need to be a highly specialised niche company in life sciences (Take solutions, Ltd) 
BusinessLine TE RAJA SIMHAN  6 Jun. 2016 

HR Srinivasan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Take Solutions Ltd, is proud of the company achieving its first milestone of ₹1,000-crore in annual revenue during 2015-16, since inception in 2000. Starting off as a civil servant, Srinivasan worked for Shriram Group, before turning an entrepreneur with focus on Supply Chain Management (SCM). But Take’s focus has shifted to the emerging Life Sciences sector to provide niche services on clinical data, regulatory compliance and drug safety systems for over 150 global pharmaceutical companies. Out of the total 1,500 employees, nearly 400 are doctors, and many are PhDs and biostatisticians. “Achieving ₹1,000 crore involved a lot of effort, mid-course correction and reorganisation. From this base, we should triple our revenue in four to five years,” Srinivasan told BusinessLine in an interview. 

Excerpts: When was the mid-course correction? 

Two years ago, we felt the margin from supply chain business was under pressure. 
We decided to deploy capital in life sciences, which was more profitable and would help in creating more shareholder value. Our revenue in the 2014 fiscal year was higher than in 2015. However, in 2015, we decided to correct the mix of business. 

What is the margin now? 

Currently, it is 22 per cent of the EBIDTA. Two years ago, with 15-16 per cent, we couldn’t do with just turnover on declining margins. It would not have helped in creating of shareholder value. So, we took a leap. 

What’s the revenue mix? 

Today, 75 per cent of the revenue is from life sciences; 22 per cent from supply chain and 3 per cent from other businesses. The life sciences business may become even more dominant, and we may even become a pure life sciences player. 

You started as a civil servant, became a specialist in SCM, but are now fully focussed on life sciences? Why did you leave your core competency? 

It is important to recognise what will create shareholder value and act accordingly. My core competency was in supply chain. But, now my responsibility as Managing Director is to create shareholder value. 

What made you choose life sciences? 

It has a lot of domain centricity and enormous amount of entry barriers. It is at the confluence of both core science and IT. When we entered the life sciences sector, we were looking more at IT. 
Somewhere along the line, we got involved in the core science. We started making regulatory submissions, started doing clinical data management and safety reporting. We felt that the value addition we were making to the customer was enormous. We need to be a niche and highly specialised company in life sciences. 

Does the US continue to be a strong market? 

The US is our lifeline, contributing 75 per cent to our revenue; Europe about 15 per cent, and countries like Singapore, Korea and Australia the remaining 10 per cent. Our demand environment is pushed by regulators. Once the regulator gives instructions, pharma companies have no choice but to comply. 

Is there any new domain that you have added? 

We have added three new domains. One is regenerating medicine or stem cell therapy. 
The second is biosimilar, which is going to be a big domain in the future. Out of the top ten selling drugs in 2005, only one was biologic and nine were chemical compounds. 
In 2015, six were biologic and four were chemical compounds. What generic is to innovator chemical compound, biosimilar is to biologic. As biologics come off patents, biosimilars will be very important in addressing the issue. The third is diagnostic imaging and noninterventional studies. These are our areas of focus and there will be new vistas driving growth over the next five years. 

How would you describe India as a market? 

Currently, the market is for generic companies and that too for their regulatory submissions abroad. There are too many companies involved in clinical trials. 

What is your order book? 

For the first time, it crossed $100 million as on March 31. W
hat are your expectations for 2016-17? 
Our organic growth will be 20-23 per cent. On top of that, if we come across any inorganic opportunity, we will look at it in the life sciences sector. 


17.1. Amazon to invest US$ 3 billion more in India ops 
Livemint | Jun. 08, 2016 

Bangalore: Amazon.com Inc, the world’s largest online retailer, said it will invest another $3 billion in India after the company exhausted its earlier investment pledge of $2 billion, piling pressure on local rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal to keep raising fresh funds. 
Amazon’s additional investment highlights the ultra-aggressive rate at which it is spending on discounts, advertising, logistics and other things to achieve its ambition of becoming the largest e-commerce company in India. 
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the $3 billion investment plan, reported earlier on Wednesday by Reuters, which quoted Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos at an event in the US attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

In July 2014, Bezos announced the company will pump in $2 billion into India over time. That announcement was seen as an open challenge to local rival Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce firm, which had announced just one day earlier that it raised $1 billion from Tiger Global, Naspers and other investors. 
Analysts and investors in India believed Amazon would take a few years to run through that money, but the company shocked the market by burning through the cash in less than two years. 
Since Bezos committed $2 billion, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd (Amazon India) has already received roughly Rs 12,080 crore from, documents with the Registrar of Companies show. This is apart from the company’s cash infusions in its logistics unit Amazon Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd and Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd, Amazon’s joint venture with Catamaran Ventures. 

Mint reported on 4 April that Amazon India has almost doubled its authorized capital to Rs.16,000 crore, exceeding its massive capital commitment of $2 billion made in July 2014. 
Amazon’s additional investment plans raises the stakes for Flipkart and Snapdeal to keep raising fresh funds at a time when investors have soured on e-commerce. Mint reported on 14 April that Flipkart and Snapdeal are struggling to attract investors at their preferred valuations. 
Amazon launched in India only in June 2013, years after Flipkart (2007) and Snapdeal (2010). Yet it is now neck-and-neck with its two local rivals in the ongoing race at the top of India’s e-commerce market that is expected to grow to $60 billion by 2020 from $4.48 billion in 2014, according to UBS AG. 
Amazon is desperate to succeed in India, the last big e-commerce market in the world, after losing out in China to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. 

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


17.2. We are in India for the next thousand years: Tim Cook 
BusinessLine Thomas K Thoms,  | 19 May 2016 

Apple is not only looking to scale up its India game-plan to improve its sales but also as an investment destination. In an exclusive interaction with BusinessLine, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said that the facilities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad are only the beginning of what’s to come. 
“We have thought through many areas (of investment) and we will move ahead in all these areas. “What we have announced in Hyderabad and Bengaluru are just a couple of initial things, there’s more coming. We are committed to India,” Cook said in his first interaction with an Indian media organisation. Asked if Apple would consider manufacturing iPhones in India, Cook said that it would be a logical move over the long term. “We are looking at India as a partner across (segments), not just for any one area. Manufacturing is something we will logically look at.” 

Pre-owned phones 
On the controversy around selling pre-owned phones, Cook said he would urge the Centre to come to an agreement. “If you think about automobiles — brands like Lexus and Mercedes have been selling certified preowned cars. We have this programme (of selling pre-owned phones) in the US and in most parts of the world. “When they are sold, they are sold with warranty, just like a new product. We would never sell a product that we didn’t think was right,” he said. 

Tie-ups with telcos 
Cook said that he was not chasing top market share in India but would partner with telecom operators to enhance the quality of services. 
“We are in India for the next thousand years. Our horizon is very long. We are focused on best, not most. So, it doesn’t bother me that we don’t have top market share,” he said. 
In the US and other markets, Apple gets a significant part of its sales through partnerships with telecom operators. In India, it has not been able to push through this model. 
During his visit, Cook is meeting a number of operators to see if Apple can work with telcos to improve network quality. 
“I see a great technical collaboration between Apple and main carriers in India to make sure the iPhone works incredibly on those networks. 
“The feedback I have thus far is very positive on that. We push really hard, in some ways they think we are crazy, but they love it as well that someone is pushing them hard to work together to solve the most difficult problem.” 

China comparison 
Asked if India could be as big as China for Apple some day, the Apple chief said that all the ingredients are in place for India to grow exponentially. 
“I see a lot of positive things happen in the country and more will happen. 
“From GDP point of view there is no doubt in my mind that India will set new records. I can feel it will happen,” Cook said. 


17.3. Apple opens its first development centre in India in Hyderabad 
Livemint | May 20, 2016 

Hyderabad: Apple Inc., the maker of iPhones and iPads, on Thursday opened its first development centre in India in Hyderabad, which will work on Apple Maps, the company’s digital maps and navigation service. 
Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who is visiting India for the first time, opened the facility in Hyderabad, which will employ 4,000 people. The company did not specify how much it would invest in the facility. 
Not all of the 4,000 employees at the facility will be on the rolls of Apple. A majority of the workforce at the facility will be employed by Noida-based RMSI Pvt. Ltd., which provides geospatial and software services. Apple is partnering with RMSI, an authorized reseller of Google Earth Enterprise and Google Maps, according to its website, for the Apple Maps project. 

“Apple is focused on making the best products and services in the world and we are thrilled to open this new office in Hyderabad which will focus on Maps development,” Cook said in a statement on the website of Apple, the world’s biggest company by market value. 
The Maps product of Apple got off to a rocky start when its rollout in 2012 mutated landscapes and led people to incorrect addresses, leading to firing of then Maps product head Richard Williamson and then iOS head Scott Forstall. 
The Maps fiasco also prompted CEO Cook to issue an apology and ask customers to use digital cartography products of rivals such as Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Nokia Oyj. Google Maps is the world leader in the digital maps category. 

Apple has since worked on its Maps application, updating and adding features such as 3D views and tools to help customers find convenient places to shop, eat and explore nearby areas. It also added Transit feature with iOS9 to help people in 300 cities navigate using a combination of trains, subways, buses and walking. “Apple is one of the most innovative companies in the world and we are very proud they chose us to partner with for this important project,” Anup Jindal, CEO of RMSI, said. “We are experts in geospatial data and we will be hiring thousands of people from the local area to support this effort.” 

 Amit Rishi, marketing head of RMSI refused to comment on the nature of the company’s engagement with Apple. Companies like Google and Yahoo, apart from local players MapmyIndia and SatNav Technologies, have developed online maps out of India. “That makes a natural choice for India to be a place where they would like to have this kind of development centre. If you look at it, Apple is looking not just on device sales but if you look at service part of it, it is $16 billion, and Maps plays a critical role in that,” Ashootosh Chand, executive director and leader of digital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers India, said. “It is strategic in nature and I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep doing more software out of India.” 
Without revealing details, Cook said the company would “introduce” more universities and partners around Hyderabad to Apple’s platforms as the company scales its operations. Anand Bhaskaran, an Apple spokesperson, could not be reached on phone for more details. Media was not allowed to cover the inauguration of Hyderabad facility. 

Apple on Wednesday said it will open an app design and development accelerator in Bengaluru, India’s startup hub to help developers build apps for its platforms. Across India, Apple supports over 640,000 iOS app developer jobs and other positions related to the iOS ecosystem. 
Cook’s visit to India comes at a time Apple is looking at emerging economies to spur sales to offset stagnating growth in mature markets in the West and in China. 
Apple had its first double-digit year-on-year decline during January-March quarter with iPhone sales down 14% globally, technology researcher Gartner Inc. said in a report on Thursday. 

“I view India as where China was maybe 7-10 years ago from that point of view, and I think there’s a really great opportunity there,” Cook told analysts in a recent earnings call. More than a billion smartphones will be sold in India over the next five years, according to technology research firm Counterpoint. 
While India is projected to become the world’s second biggest smartphone market, experts say it will be longdrawn game. Average selling price of a phone in India is very low compared to the US or China, and a vast majority of the country’s population is slowly warming up to the smartphone ecosystem dominated by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Micromax Informatics Ltd., Lenovo Group Ltd. and Intex Technologies (India) Ltd. 

“That’s a long term story,” Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner said. 
Many people in India are only now buying their first smartphone or have bought their first smartphone over the past 2-3 years, graduating from Rs.5,000 feature phone sets. “You cannot expect all of them to buy Rs.50,000 phone. It will be second or their third smartphone where you could see some of them willing to spend a higher price for a smartphone,” he said. 
The company’s plan to import and sell cheaper refurbished iPhones to court price-conscious Indian consumers was rejected by the government because it could lead to electronic waste dumping in the country. Besides, it could have disrupted the government’s Make in India initiative that promotes local manufacturing. The Telangana government invited Apple to set up a manufacturing facility and offered land to the company to set up its campus in Hyderabad on the lines of Google and Amazon.com Inc., which are building their biggest campuses outside the US in the city. 

But the company doesn’t seem to have any immediate plans to manufacture out of India. Telangana information technology minister K.T. Rama Rao told Mint that Apple has not conveyed its decision but could consider the state when it eventually makes up its mind to open a company-owned facility in India. 

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


18.1. What has changed for Infosys with Vishal Sikka? 
BusinessLine | Rajalakshmi Nirmal | 23 May 2016 



In the annual report for 2015-16 that was released last week, Infosys reported that its CEO and MD – Vishal Sikka took home a fat pay of ₹34.3 crore in 2015-16 (excluding the variable pay of ₹14 crore for 2014-15 that was paid in 2015-16). This was higher than the previous year’s ₹18.56 crore. Sikka’s salary hike is a good 85 per cent while the increase in the median employee remuneration (MRE) was a mere 6.4 per cent. 
Yawning gaps between pay packages of top bosses and employees are not a new trend within corporate India. Last year, a BusinessLine study on India Inc’s CEOs pay had revealed that for a fourth of Nifty companies, the CEO/MD’s salary was in the range of 75-100 times of the average worker. Infosy’s Sikka’s pay which is a good 658 times of MRE, is one of the many outlier firms in the Nifty pack, where the pay-gap ratio is way above this range. 
But is Sikka’s pay justified? Details that form part of the annual report show that the company saw revenue grow 14.1 per cent and net profit increase 8.5 per cent in 2015-16. The company’s stock price went up 9.8 per cent. 
Sikka took over as Infosys’ CEO and MD in August 2014 when the stock’s valuation was inching lower every quarter. Between 2010-11 and 2013-14, Infosys recorded an annual growth of only 11 per cent vis-à-vis TCS’ 18 per cent. When September 2014 quarter numbers were released, the first quarter after the new CEO stepped in, analysts were still not sure if things would improve as the revenue guidance for 2014-15 was kept unchanged at 7-9 per cent (dollar revenues) which was half of what TCS was likely to deliver. The March 2015 quarter result, three months later, as it turned out, was a damp squib. 
But, things have changed in the last four quarters. All leading indicators now signal a turnaround in the company.

Turnaround 
Sikka’s focus on innovation, use of design thinking to create proposals for clients plus the re-skilling of man power and leveraging of automation tools (thanks to Panaya acquisition) has helped improve delivery and competitiveness. 
Attrition in the recent March 2016 quarter was 12.6 per cent, down from a year ago of 13.4 per cent and way lower than 21.1 per cent in the September 2014 quarter. 
Employee utilisation stands at 80.1 per cent, up from 78.6 per cent in the same quarter last year. 
In 2015-16, the company added a total of 325 new clients (gross) - higher than the last five year’s average of 200 clients a year. The total contract value of large deal signings in 2015-16 was $2.79 billion, 45 per cent up over the previous year’s $1.927 billion. 
Revenue growth for the full year 2015-16 was 13.3 per cent in constant currency terms, ahead of both its own guidance (10-12 per cent) and market estimates. For 2016-17, the company has given a revenue guidance of 11.5-13.5 per cent (in constant currency). 

‘To do’ list 
Infosys also outdid TCS last fiscal. TCS recorded a constant currency growth of 11.9 per cent. 
There is still, however, a long list of things to be done. In its vision 2020, the company has indicated that it wants to hit target revenue of $20 billion at 30 per cent EBIT margin and revenue productivity of $80,000/person. 
To achieve this, the company would have to grow revenue at a CAGR of 19 per cent plus and pull up more margin levers. 
The revenue per employee stands now at about $48,963 and EBIT margin in the March 2016 quarter was 25.5 per cent. 
Profit margins have been improving over the last few quarters, but, given the rising pricing pressure, Infosys needs to further improve onsite-offshore mix, employee utilisation and productivity. Infosys Information Platform and Infosys Automation Platform have seen about 220 and 125 engagements in 2015-16 with about 3,900 full-time employees freed up due to automation. If these numbers continue to improve, margins may also edge up. 


18.2. Tech Mahindra to acquire UK-based Target for US$ 164 mn 
Business Standard | May 30, 2016 

Pune: Tech Mahindra, India’s sixth-largest IT (information technology) services and solutions company, on Friday announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Target Group as it strengthens its presence in the BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) space. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of FY17, subject to regulatory approvals. The total value of the acquisition is £112 million (or $164 million or Rs 1,100 crore) and an adjustment for surplus cash up to £8 million. 
Target Group is a provider of business process outsourcing and software solutions. Its fintech platform manages assets in excess of £24 billion. Tech Mahindra will pay £64 million upfront and a deferred consideration of up to £16.28 million in 2017. In addition, the company is also rolling over 7.6 per cent equity value into the Target Group, at present worth £6.8 million, which will be paid out in 2020 as a second deferred consideration depending on the performance of the company during 2017-2019. 

Target had a revenue of £51 million in 2015. The acquisition strengthens Tech Mahindra’s financial service practice by access to a platform that helps automate end-to-end processes in lending, investments, and insurance. The acquisition would boost Tech Mahindra’s capabilities and allow it to capture a larger share of the £45-60 billion annual spending by UK financial service companies on software and services, said the company. 
The acquisition catapults Tech Mahindra to one of the top three processors in UK financial services for certain complex lending and investment product categories. It also strengthens Tech Mahindra’s European presence and adds several new clients. 

"The Target Group’s disruptive proprietary platform significantly enhances our fintech offerings. This acquisition will make us a formidable player in the UK, with over 50 major financial institutions as clients. We look forward to welcoming Target Group’s employees into the Tech Mahindra family,” said C P Gurnani, managing director and chief executive officer, Tech Mahindra. The acquisition is in line with Tech Mahindra's strategy of expanding its fintech capabilities and adding platforms to play aggressively in financial services. Headquartered in the UK, the Target Group has 740 employees and a client franchise including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, specialist lender Shawbrook, and Yorkshire Building Society. 

As part of the agreement, Tech Mahindra has agreed to purchase 100 per cent of the shares of the Target Group, which will remain a stand-alone entity retaining its brand. The entire management team at Target will stay with the business and continue to have full operational responsibility. 
Paddy Byrne, chairman, Target Group, said, “The Target Group has been focused on building expertise in the lending, investments and insurance sectors, becoming a market leading player in each of our verticals. We have delivered significant growth over the last four years, with the support of our current shareholder, Pollen Street Capital. We now look forward to the next stage in our growth. By joining with the $4 billion Tech Mahindra, it will allow us to serve our clients better, greatly expanding the solutions and services we provide.” 

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


19.1. Scoot seeks flying rights to add more flights for India 
Livemint | May 25, 2016 

Chennai: Scoot Pte, the low-cost airline from the Singapore Airlines Group, which started flying from Singapore to Amritsar and Chennai on Tuesday, said it wants the Indian government to open up traffic rights to tap growing demand. 
Foreign airlines need flying rights—called bilaterals—from the Indian government to add more flights or to fly more cities. “We want as much as possible,” said Bharat Mahadevan, India head of Scoot. 
“There is a huge amount of latent demand that can’t fly because there are no seats. We had to pull Tiger out of Chennai to accommodate Scoot; as only certain number of seats can be operated per week out of Chennai. We have completely used up our rights in Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and that is why we are focusing more on the tier 2 cities, where there are no restrictions,” said Mahadevan. 

Scoot takes over the Singapore-Chennai daily service from short haul low-cost carrier Tigerair, expanding capacity to Chennai for the SIA group with its new Boeing 787 dreamliner. Singapore Airlines has been operating a daily flight from Chennai for the last 15 years. “This hasn’t grown and has remained as one flight per day. So, we would definitely want more traffic rights given to us to fly to metro cities,” said Mahadevan. 
Singapore Airlines Group also owns full service airline Silk Air and Tigerair. All of them fly to India. Tiger Airways was delisted earlier this month from the Singapore Exchange after parent SIA bought out its shareholders. 

Scoot has started flying thrice weekly to Amritsar and plans to add one more flight from July. It will also commence Singapore-Jaipur services four times per week from October. 
“India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and Scoot is excited to present exceptional value,” said Leslie Thng, chief commercial officer for Scoot and Tigerair. 
“We don’t compare IndiGo and SpiceJet as our competitors. People like Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Air India Ltd who operate bigger aircraft and full service are our competitors. It’s very different when you fly on a big aircraft and on that aspect, Boeing 787 will be the true differentiator,” said Mahadevan. 
Scoot executives are betting on their wide network. “We offer a huge network. We are targeting destinations like China, Australia, Bali which no other low cost carrier can do,” added Mahadevan. 

“We won’t be able to fill out our seats with such a big aircraft just by flying between Chennai-Singapore. But when we have passengers to other destinations like— Australia, Hong Kong, China, etc., then the load factors will automatically improve,” said Mahadevan. 
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), India is projected to be the world’s third largest air passenger market by 2031 with a total of 367 million passengers by 2034, an extra 266 million annual passengers compared to today. 

With Scoot’s entry, Singapore Airlines Group will be present in all four spaces— premium (Singapore Airlines), full service (Silk Air), low cost (Tiger Airways) and low cost-cum-medium haul (Scoot). 
The India-Singapore route has been tough for international airlines. AirAsia X and Jetstar Asia had to discontinue Indian operations owing to losses. IndiGo, run by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, had to realign its IndiaSingapore flights. 
Scoot offers no-frills, seat-only fares and charges products and services separately. The airline operates widebodied Boeing 787 planes, also known as Dreamliners. 

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


19.2. India's first start-up hostel opens doors in Bengaluru 
Livemint | May 26, 2016 

Bengaluru: At the newly opened Construkt Startup Hostel, a young woman sprawled on a sofa that looks suspiciously like a bathtub peers intently at her laptop. 
“We pulled that out of one of the bathrooms and remodelled it,” laughs Shashikiran Rao, the co-founder and head of business development at Construkt. “It is a bit of a take-off from the Archimedes story: we wanted a spot where people can jump up and say ‘Eureka’.” 
Located in one of Bengaluru’s biggest start-up hubs Indiranagar, the three-storeyed building that houses the hostel is painted a cheery orange and white “because these are the Construkt colours”, says Rao, adding that the hostel is an extension of its core philosophy: to forge connections and celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship. 

“Construkt has been in the start-up community space for the last four years now. We started off with a festival which is recognized as one of the largest festivals and have been experimenting with the counter-culture experiences,” says Rao, who started Construkt Media in 2012 along with Karan Bahadur. 
A visit to Berlin last year sparked off the idea of the hostel. 
“Although I knew no one there when I arrived, I made a lot of friends when I reached out to the entrepreneurial community. It helped me see the place so differently,” says Rao. 
When he returned, Rao conducted a small survey “of founders of start-ups and realized that there was a requirement of at least 18,000 room nights per year”, he says. 

Inspired by the backpacker hostel culture,â€Å Construkt decided to create a space that not only offered a costeffective boarding facility but also created touch-points for the community to interact in the city often described as India’s Silicon Valley. 
“Backpackers come together and travel together,” says Rao, “We took that inspiration and matched it with the hacker community and called ourselves the hackpackers.” 
Work started on the 3,500 sq.ft rented place last November—doing up the place cost around Rs.22 lakh, says Rao—and doors were officially thrown open on 9 May this year. 

A dizzying medley of colour greets you in the lounge and dining area—low settees and stools in orange, green, blue and yellow are clustered around small tables; a bright blue sofa (yes, the same bathtub one) is upholstered in an equally bright yellow—the same shade as the curtains; a large spray-painted chest doubles as a centre table; patterned throws and rugs cover the floor while colourful striped cushions add an extra zing to the space. 
“There is a lot of jugaad here —it is all recycled or upcycled,” Rao says pointing out that the stools, in their former life, were once spools on which industrial wire was entwined. 

A winding staircase leads you to the rooms beyond—NASA posters, smart quotations and pictures of icons like Tagore, Jobs and Da Vinci greet you as you walk up. The four multiple-seater bedrooms, priced at Rs.850/night, are equipped with orange bunk-beds, storage space, bathrooms, whiteboards and writable walls and come with access to a self-catering kitchen, free wi-fi, laundry space and plenty of coffee. 
“The entrepreneurial community is a very creative one, and we wanted this place to reflect that,” explains Rao. 

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


20.1. Global oil giants eye India's retail fuel market 
Reuters, BusinessLine | 3 Jun. 2016 

Global oil majors including Saudi Aramco and Total are keen to enter the retail fuel market in India, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday. 
India could be a lucrative prize for the world's oil majors as they seek outlets for their gasoline and diesel. India posted the fastest oil demand growth in the world in the first quarter of 2016 and is replacing China as the driver of growth globally, the International Energy Agency said in its latest report. 
“Saudi Aramco is eager to enter the Indian market, we are finding ways to help them,” Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in Hindi in a live telecast on a government web site. 

India, the world's fourth-biggest oil consumer, recently offered Saudi Aramco a stake in refineries and petrochemical projects. 
Saudi Aramco wants to expand globally and is looking at potential joint ventures in several countries, including Indonesia, India, the United States, Vietnam and China, chief executive Amin Nasser told Reuters in an interview in May. 

Plans to expand 
Fuel marketing in India has turned profitable after the government ended decades-old control over retail prices. 
Pradhan said local private oil refiners Reliance Industries and Essar Oil have started opening their mothballed fuel outlets and are adding new ones to expand business. 
French major Total and European major Royal Dutch Shell that have a limited presence in India are also keen to strengthen their presence, Pradhan said. 
“Shell officials recently met me and informed about their plan to expand the retail network in a big way in south India,” he said. 
The ministry has agreed to grant a licence to BP to market jet fuel in India. “There is a possibility they (BP) may expand into the Indian retail sector,” he said in Hindi. 
Essar Oil is still working to complete a deal to sell a 49 per cent stake in its 400,000 barrel per day Vadinar refinery in Gujarat to Russian giant Rosneft. 
“Rosneft, rich with oil and gas, wants to join Indian markets,” Pradhan said. 


20.2. Media, entertainment industry to hit US$ 40 billion by 2020: PwC 
Livemint | Jun. 09, 2016 

New Delhi: The Indian media and entertainment sector grew 12% to reach $25.13 billion (Rs.1.68 trillion) in 2015, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2016-20. The industry is expected to exceed $40 billion by 2020, growing at an average annual rate of 10.3% between 2016 and 2020, said the report released on Wednesday. 
“Given India’s overall growth in GDP (gross domestic product) and PCI (per capita income), it is not surprising that India is amongst the top 10 markets for growth in the sector. Although, in India, traditional media like newspaper publishing and cinema has always shown strong growth, we expect that even in terms of absolute total spend, it should get into the top 10 in the early part of the next decade,” said Frank D’Souza, partner and leader, entertainment and media, PwC India. 

“What would be more interesting, however, is how rapidly India would catch up with global trends, where traditional media is finding it hard to remain relevant, and the digital sector is leading the growth trajectory and consequently bringing in continuous disruptions. That will all depend on how quickly the Indian digital/broadband ecosystem matures, and how the Indian players adapt and drive business models in what would be a rapidly changing environment for consumption of data/content fashioned largely by India’s under- 35 population,” he added. 

While in terms of admissions, India currently rules the roost as the largest cinema market in the world, and is expected to remain so till 2020, China is inching close and is expected to overtake India in about four years. In 2015, admissions stood at an estimated 2.04 billion, and in 2020 are predicted to rise to 2.8 billion, a annual average growth rate of 6.6%. 
Box office revenue in India stood at an estimated $1.64 billion in 2015 and will rise to $2.74 billion in 2020, growing at an average rate of 10.9%. 

In terms of multiplexes, India remains underserved. At the end of 2014, there were around 11,200 screens in the country as a whole—a small number given the population and the appetite for cinema, said the report. “This will continue to be a challenge. Issues such as a high tax structure, where multiplexes pay approximately 45% of revenue in tax, and exorbitant real estate prices will slow down growth in this area,” said D’Souza. Moreover, the thousands of single-screen cinemas that traditionally dominated this industry have disappeared as a result of the multiplex boom, making it even more challenging. 
Indian television advertising revenue grew consistently throughout the global recession. According to the report, India is likely to be one of only seven countries to achieve double-digit growth over the forecast period at an annual pace of 11.7%. This will generate revenue of $5.54 billion in 2020, compared with $3.19 billion in 2015. 

The growth in television audience reach had resulted in a shift in overall advertising budgets towards television. 
Paid-search Internet advertising revenue is, and will continue to be, India’s largest Internet advertising subcomponent over the forecast period, according to the study. Paid search grew 26.7% in 2015 from the previous year, reaching a revenue of $211 million. With a forecast 18.5% compound annual growth rate over the next five years, paid-search Internet advertising revenue is expected to rise to $492 million by 2020. Online spending on display ads in India has witnessed strong growth in the historic period and revenue has almost tripled since 2011, reaching $200 million in 2015. 
As far as the Indian print industry is concerned, it managed to buck the global trend. Globally, magazine, book and newspaper publishing combined registered a near flat or negative growth. However, Indian publishing remained one of the fastest growing the world, on the back of factors such as demographics, increasing literacy rates, educational needs and a strong desire to consume news and content in local languages, combined with nascent digital/broadband penetration. These factors were expected to fuel growth and keep it relevant over the 2016-20 period. In 2015, the overall publishing revenues were at $6.13 billion, an increase of $302 million over 2014. 

Beyond the data on key sectors, the report also looked into major trends that would have an impact on the media and entertainment industry globally. “Our analysis of national entertainment and media markets globally reveals an almost perfect correlation between the relative size of the under-35 population and growth in entertainment and media spending—confirming that younger consumers are now the primary drivers of global growth,” said D’Souza, explaining that this trend seemed to debunk the age versus wealth argument when it came to content consumption. 
“Despite having more wealth and disposable income, an older person has limited time to consume content,” he explained. 
According to the findings, countries with young populations such as India, Brazil, Pakistan and Indonesia, among others, are likely to grow three times faster as compared to other countries. 
Content will continue to be king and drive growth in this sector. While it is easy to assume that content is becoming more globally homogeneous, with the launch and adoption of services such as Netflix, experts maintain that the reality is that content is being redefined by consumers who also want local content. 
Moreover, globally, the ability of consumers to design and curate their own media diet has been one of the most powerful trends to emerge in the industry. But the bundle is far from dead, with video and cable incumbents—initially slow off the mark—now fighting back by offering their content on an integrated omnichannel basis, on TV, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, said D’Souza. 
The other major trend reported by the study was the emergence of hybrid business models. Where the entertainment and media market would also include technology companies racing to become hybrid content companies, and traditional publishers evolving the other way to emerge as hybrid technology companies.
“This underlines how the growth of technology and digitization is acting as a centripetal force—breaking up existing relationships; pushing large, generalist entities to give way to smaller specialists; and allowing smaller, nimble competitors to beat out incumbents,” said the report. 

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



INDIA & THE WORLD 


21.1. USFDA to share details of rejected exports with India 
BusinessLine Amiti Sen | 19 May 2016 

In a move that will enable India take early remedial action on exports rejected by the US, the Export Inspection Council of India is signing a confidentiality agreement with the US Food and Drugs Administration for prompt sharing of crucial information related to the rejects. 
Details of all Indian products that are rejected, the reason for rejection, appeals filed, if any, and the final action taken by the US will be supplied to the Export Inspection Council (EIC) by the US Food and Drugs Administration (USFDA) without delay, a Commerce Ministry official told BusinessLine. 

“The confidentiality agreement, to be in place soon, will allow us to keep a real-time tab on what is happening to our exports and also enable us to try and rectify things as soon as a problem arises so that number of rejections goes down,” the official said. 
The EIC and USFDA already have a MoU in place to develop opportunities for cooperative engagement in regulatory, scientific, and technical matters and public health protection that are related to the food products the countries regulate. 
A 10-point agreement was signed by the Drug Controller General of India and the former commissioner of the USFDA Margaret Hamburg for cooperation on regulatory matters during her visit in 2014. 

At present, while India does get to know when a food consignment gets rejected in the US, it does not get to know immediately the details of who the exporter is and what exactly is being objected to by the US. 
“It is not always due to poor quality that an item faces rejection. Other factors such as not meeting the labelling requirement or the packaging requirement also lead to exports getting rejected. If we know exactly what has gone wrong immediately, and not after a gap of four-five months, we could help the exporter to rectify the situation,” the official said. 
As per information available on the USFDA website, the agency has refused entry to 11,664 Indian products which includes medicine, bakery products, fried snacks, spices, basmati rice, fisheries and herbal products, over the last five years.

But, Indian officials say that the actual number is lower as the website sometimes double-counts and also does not make corrections when some consignments are eventually allowed after appeals are filed. 
“Once the confidentiality agreement is in place, we will have a more correct picture with us of the actual number of rejections although the USFDA website will not make any changes in the way it records data,” the official said. 
USFDA has similar confidentiality commitments – a document that sets up the legal framework for FDA to share certain kinds of non-public information with FDA counterparts in foreign countries and international organisations – with at least 75 agencies spread across 30 countries, according to its website. 
While most of its partners are in developed countries, the USFDA has also signed confidentiality agreements with agencies in developing nations such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Israel and Mexico. 


21.2. Nearly half of all heart attacks are ‘silent’ 
Press Trust of India, BusinessLine | 22 May 2016 

Nearly half of all heart attacks may be ‘silent’ and display no obvious symptoms, but significantly increase the risk of death, according to a new study. 
A heart attack does not always have classic symptoms, such as pain in the chest, shortness of breath and cold sweats, researchers said. 
It can occur without symptoms, which is called a silent heart attack (when the blood flow to the heart muscle is severely reduced or cut off completely). 
“The outcome of a silent heart attack is as bad as a heart attack that is recognised while it is happening,” said Elsayed Z Soliman from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre in the US. 

“And because patients do not know they have had a silent heart attack, they may not receive the treatment they need to prevent another one.” 
Researchers analysed the records of 9,498 middle-aged adults already enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, a study analysing the causes and outcomes of atherosclerosis — hardening of the arteries. 
They examined heart attack differences between blacks and whites as well as men and women. Over an average of nine years after the start of the study, 317 participants had silent heart attacks while 386 had heart attacks with clinical symptoms, researchers said. 
They continued to follow participants for more than two decades to track deaths from heart attack and other diseases. 

Researchers found that silent heart attacks made up 45 per cent of all heart attacks and increased the chances of dying from heart disease by three times. 
They also found that silent heart attacks increased the chances of dying from all causes by 34 per cent and were more common in men but more likely to cause death in women. 
Symptoms of silent heart attacks appear so mild that they are barely noticed, if at all. They are detected later, usually when patients undergo an ECG. 


22.1. Tata Motors in talks to set up car unit in Iran 
PTI, BusinessLine | 23 May 2016 

Tata Motors is in talks with a local manufacturer here to set up a joint venture for assembling its petrol cars in Iran as it looks to tap the fast growing market that has just emerged from sanctions. 
Tata Motors is talking to Iran Khodro Company for a joint venture to assemble knocked down units of the petrol versions of its models, including the latest compact car Tiago, Bolt and Zest, which are powered by the company’s new Revotron petrol engines, sources said here. 
Knocked down version of the cars will be imported and assembled at Iran Khodro’s manufacturing facility after adding local contents like tyres and batteries. 

Tata Motors will use Iran Khodro’s sales network to sell the cars. 
The branding will be of Tata Motors and Iran Khodro will be just a contract manufacturer, they said, adding that Tata Motors will start assembling in Iran in less than two years. 
Initially, Tata Motors is looking at 1 lakh cars a year, which will be gradually ramped up. Production at the factory, which may be located in suburban Tehran and Masad, is slated to begin by 2018. 
Iran Khodro had earlier this year renewed its partnership with French manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen. Iran Khodro Company (public joint stock) was founded in August 1962. Starting with contract manufacturing of sedan ‘Paykan’ for British firm Rootes in 1966, it has manufactured for France’s Peugeot as well as the Tondar 90 sedan (Renault Logan). It manufactures several Chinese models now. 

Peugeot had earlier this year signed a contract with Iran Khodro to start a joint venture that will make three new models. 
Peugeot’s January 2016 deal marks its return to Iran after a four-year absence. 
Iran Khodro, which is 14 per cent-owned by the Iranian government, was Peugeot’s former partner before the French company’s decision to shut down its operations in 2012 in the wake of international sanctions. 
Before 2012, Peugeot would send parts, which then were assembled in Iranian plants. 


22.2. India, Iran and Afghanistan sign historic three-way transit accord 
Economic Times | May 24, 2016 

New Delhi: India, Iran and Afghanistan signed trilateral pact on Monday for the strategically located Chabahar Port that would give New Delhi much-needed access to Kabul, Central Asia and beyond in absence of transit rights through Pakistan. 
"The agenda for economic engagement is a clear priority for us. We stand together in unity of our purpose," Modi said at the trilateral summit of Iran, India and Afghanistan held in Tehran, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also flying down in a show of solidarity. 

"Today, we are witnessing a creation of history," the Indian PM said as he pitched to carve out "new routes of peace and prosperity" for the three countries. Modi said Afghanistan would get an "assured, effective and a friendly route to trade with the rest of the world". 
"The Chabahar agreement will expand trade, attract investment, build infrastructure and create jobs for our youth...It is a place to realise the importance of curbing radicalism, removing the shadows of terror and spreading the sweetness of familiarity between our people," the PM said. 

Earlier in the day, following the Indo-Iran bilateral summit in Tehran, the two sides signed 12 pacts, including two agreements for India's participation in the expansion and operation of the Chabahar Port. Modi said the bilateral agreement to develop Chabahar, in southern Iran, and the "availability of about $500 million from India for this purpose is an important milestone" in relations between the two countries. 
The two countries also signed a number of agreements in technological, petrochemical, cultural and railways sectors as Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held consultations on defence partnership and combating threats of terrorism, radicalism, drug trafficking and cyber crime. The two sides agreed to enhance interaction between defence and security institutions on regional and maritime security, including Afghanistan. 

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


23.1. US firms pledge US$ 45-bn investments 
Business Standard | Jun. 09, 2016 

New Delhi: Setting aside the regulatory concerns that businesses such as Apple, Walmart or Amazon have faced in India, American companies have promised to invest at least $45 billion (Rs 3 lakh crore) over the next two to three years. The commitment came at a roundtable interaction in Washington DC between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 20-odd chief executive officers on Tuesday night. 
Modi, who had wooed top Silicon Valley majors during his US trip last year, spent 90 minutes last night with CEOs representing companies in sectors spanning new economy to entertainment, energy to telecom, food to pharma. He told them investor confidence has returned as India is scripting a new growth story. 
“We will continue to make our tax policies more predictable. We have made major strides towards predictability by signing a number of Advance Pricing Agreements with the United States. At the same time, like the US, we are cracking down on tax evasion and unfair tax avoidance,’’ he said. 

US firms pledge $45-bn investments The top stars betting big on India were Rupert Murdoch’s STAR group and Jeff Bezos-led Amazon. Amazon committed a fresh investment of $3 billion, in addition to the $2 billion it announced in 2014. “I can assure you it’s only the beginning. It’s day one, like we say it at Amazon,’’ Bezos said. 

STAR, with interests in TV, entertainment and web wants to invest another $5 billion in the country in about three years. "We see huge potential in the Indian market and have been one of the largest foreign investors in India and the largest in the media and entertainment sector," said Uday Shankar, chairman and CEO of STAR India. 

US India Business Council (USIBC) president Mukesh Aghi said American Tower Company and Emerson are the other companies to have made big investment announcements at $4 billion and $1 billion, respectively. Aghi told Business Standard that the meeting with Modi “was held in a positive environment”. Industry concerns related to riders in the guidelines for foreign direct investment in e-commerce and those linked to mandatory local sourcing in retail that blocked Apple's plans to set up fully owned stores were not discussed, he said. 
USIBC, which organised the interaction, said $45 billion was a conservative estimate and the amount could double keeping in mind the National Democratic Alliance’s “initiatives in Digital India and other economic reforms.” 

Modi addressed the council’s 41st annual leadership summit, where he interacted with the business heads including Cisco’s John Chambers, Bezos, Abbott’s Robert Ford, American Tower Corp’s James Taiclet, Boeing’s Marc Allen, Cigna’s David Cordani, Lockheed Martin’s Marillyn Hewson, Mastercard’s Ajay Banga and Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi. The Indian side was represented by Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shanghvi, Tata Consultancy Services’ N Chandrasekaran, Wipro’s Abidali Neemuchwala and Tech Mahindra’s C P Gurnani. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Naushad Forbes and president designate Shobana Kamineni were there too. 
Chambers, who’s also USIBC chairman, said that in September 2014, member companies had indicated an investment of $41 billion over a two to three year period. “Today, I am happy to announce that in less than two years, about 20 per cent of USIBC member companies have already invested $28 billion.” 

He said the pace of investment would accelerate in the next two to three years. Expressing confidence that the country will remain the fastest growing economy over the next five years, he said, “Prime Minister Modi has rapidly become the model for not just developing countries, but the entire world.” Modi in turn invited American companies to join the India journey. “It is a journey with exciting possibilities of not only building a better balance sheet for your company but of building a better India, building a better America, and building a better world.” 

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


23.2. India's e-commerce sector to see nearly 10 million sellers online by 2020 
IBEF | Jun. 16, 2016 

Mumbai: Over 10 million sellers are expected to be online by 2020 in order to cater to the growing consumer base in India. The internet users in India are expected to more than double to 650 million users from the current 350 million users, according to Mr Nitin Bawankule, Industry Director, Google India. With increasing number of internet users, there will be huge growth in the customer base on such platform in the next four years, which will require e-commerce players to think about customer acquisition and ensure supply chain efficiencies. He also stated that beauty and personal care, lifestyle including home and furnishings, and fast moving consumer goods are the three categories that must focus on integrating their online and offline distribution to ensure seamless customer service. 

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


24.1. Tata Motor's JLR opens its first wholly owned SUV factory in Brazil 
IBEF | Jun. 16, 2016 

Shanghai: Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the luxury unit of Tata Motors Limited, has opened its first wholly owned Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) factory in Brazil, which will produce the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque SUVs for sale across the country. The plant is company’s first wholly owned facility outside its home market of the UK and aims to increase local sourcing of components and reduce the impact of currency fluctuations on JLR's profits. JLR will buy parts such as seats, chassis and powertrain assembly from local suppliers in Brazil for the factory. 

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


24.2. Bharti, Singtel team up for global enterprise network 
Business Standard | Jun. 15, 2016 

Mumbai: Singapore Telecommunications and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to deliver high-speed, secure enterprise data network coverage in the Asia-Pacific, West Asia, Africa, Europe and the US. 
The two companies have combined their resources into one network to provide data connectivity in 325 cities across the world through 370 points of presence (PoP). This will form one of the world’s largest Internet Protocol Virtual Private Networks (IP VPNs).
 Singtel’s 200 PoPs in 160 cities and Airtel’s 170 PoPs in 165 cities in India, Africa and West Asia will form a new network that offers a connectivity backbone across Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. 
“Joining forces makes sense. By tapping into one another’s infrastructure we enhance each other’s capabilities,” said Lim Seng Kong, managing director of global enterprise business at Singtel Group Enterprise. 

“With its wide coverage of cities in India, this network paves the way for our international customers to enter one of the world’s most vibrant economies. Conversely, this partnership also opens the door for Indian companies to expand abroad,” he said. 
"By combining the two networks, we provide integrated, fully-managed and secured networking service to help multinational corporations simplify their communications needs. Businesses only need to deal with a single contract and customer helpdesk on the back of one network to manage their communications across multiple countries," he added. 

Under the strategic alliance, the newly created global network will enable multi national enterprises streamline their operations across different regions by using high-bandwidth business applications such as cloud applications, unified communications, video conferencing and software-defined networking solutions. 
Through this partnership, while Singtel strengthens its lead as the largest IP VPN provider in Asia Pacific with strong domestic data network in Australia, India and Singapore, for Bharti Airtel, it bolsters the the company's enterprise offering. 

"This association will strongly enhance our value proposition for enterprise customers by offering them a wider global reach and the largest reach within India under a single platform," said Manish Prakash, Director for Strategic Ventures at BhartiAirtel adding that the new arrangement is expected to benefit companies in the pharmaceutical, IT and IT-enabled services as well as financial services segments, which are branching out to international locations rapidly. 
"Combining this unified customer service together with a very high network availability and reliability, customers can have the assurance of operating over a stable network," he added. 

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


25.1. Govt to relax visa rules further in bid to boost services exports 
Livemint | Jun. 08, 2016 

New Delhi: The government is working to significantly liberalize its visa regime, including allowing multipleentry tourist and business visas, as part of an effort to increase its services exports. The prime minister’s office on Tuesday held a meeting with secretaries from the commerce, home and external affairs ministries to discuss the issue. 
If implemented, this will amount to further liberalizing the e-tourist visa regime rolled out for 150 countries in November 2014 by the Narendra Modi government. 
Other visas such as short-term business visas, medical travel visas and visas for least developed countries are also expected to be eased. 

Commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that visa restrictions are impacting business and trade. “These are the irritants we want to remove. However, there are also security constraints and there are countries with whom we want to be cautious,” she said. 
The relaxation of visa rules is part of India’s efforts to boost its services exports. While services contribute 57% to India’s $2 trillion economy, the country’s net services exports amounted to a meagre $73 billion in 2013-14, in which software alone accounted for $69 billion. 
India has a share of 3.4% of the global services trade, while China has a share of 4.6%. 
Sitharaman said that at the informal meeting of trade ministers of 30 members of the World Trade Organisation on 2 June on the sidelines of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development meeting in Paris, WTO director general Roberto Azevedo agreed with India’s proposal for having a trade facilitation agreement in services like the one inked at the Bali WTO ministerial for goods. 
“We have been asked to submit a proposal which will then be taken up by all member-countries. We don’t know how negotiations will pan out on this, but we certainly don’t want to make it a subject of give and take,” Sitharaman said. 

India believes that setting global standards on trade in services under the WTO will help make visa regimes in developed countries more transparent and less restrictive for its skilled professionals. India has threatened to drag the US to the WTO over its higher and discriminatory visa fee regimes for Indian software professionals. India is also pushing for greater market access in services through the ongoing negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement. It is also trying to build an institutional framework for collecting statistics on trade in services. 
In a report released on Tuesday, New Delhi-based think tank Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, which is working with the commerce ministry on devising the mechanism, said India requires a robust framework for data collection and reporting to understand global and bilateral services trade patterns and accordingly design its negotiating strategies. “A robust database can also help design exportlinked subsidies under the foreign trade policy of the department of commerce,” it added. 

Another commerce ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that while the earlier view was that India should liberalize its visa regime only on a reciprocal basis, now the ministry is in favour of an unilateral liberalization of India’s visa regime. 
“We are missing out on around $80 billion of exports value due to our restrictive visa regime. We should push for our own national interest. It needs a mindset change,” he added. 
What India is also using as an argument is what Indonesia has done recently. The country recently extended its free 30-day visa on arrival to citizens of 169 countries. The move is part of an effort to boost its economy through tourism with a target of 20 million visitors by 2019. 

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


25.2. New aviation policy frees up the skies 
Our Bureau, BusinessLine | 15 Jun. 2016 



Opening up the skies to greater competition, the government on Wednesday scrapped an almost-decade-old restriction that cramped new airlines from flying international, and introduced a scheme to make air travel more affordable on non-metro routes. 
The Cabinet approved the revised Civil Aviation Policy, which does away with the so-called ‘5/20’ rule and liberalises existing players’ choice of international destinations, besides imposing a cess to pay for subsidised flights under a Regional Connectivity Scheme. 
The 5/20 rule had stipulated that a carrier must have completed five years of domestic operations and have a fleet of 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly abroad. Now, new airlines, including the likes of Vistara and AirAsia India, can fly international, subject to certain caveats to cater to domestic demand. 

“All airlines can commence international operations provided they deploy 20 aircraft or 20 per cent of total capacity (in terms of average number of seats on all departures put together), whichever is higher, for domestic operations,” Aviation Secretary RN Choubey said after the Cabinet meeting. 
The move had been expected ever since the NDA government took charge in 2014. While the existing players were opposed to scrapping the 5/20 rule, newer players argued that it inhibited competition in the aviation industry. 
Reacting to the news, AirAsia’s Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes tweeted, “Big day for Indian aviation… Of course I think 20 aircraft is too many…almost an end to vested interests…” 
The policy also allows the existing carriers to select international destinations in a more liberal manner. An open skies policy will be implemented on a reciprocal basis for SAARC countries and countries beyond 5,000 km from Delhi. Airlines from such countries will have no restriction on flights to India, and Indian carriers can have as many flights as they want to such countries. 

The policy also proposes a Regional Connectivity Scheme to make flying more affordable in Tier II and Tier III cities. It proposes to cap airfares at ₹2,500 per flying hour at unserved airports. The scheme envisages revival of airstrips/airports as no-frills airports at an indicative cost of ₹50-100 crore. For this, it prescribes a cess on domestic routes to subsidise regional connectivity. Choubey said: “In 10 days, the scheme will be put in the public domain.” The scheme will come into effect in the second quarter of 2016-17. 
The scheme will be executed only in those States that reduce VAT on aviation turbine fuel to 1 per cent. The scheme suggests slashing landing and parking charges to make flying more affordable from and to these nofrills airports. 

Of the cess, which will be borne by passengers to finance Regional Connectivity Fund, Choubey said: “It will be a very small levy”. 
Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, said that since this is a demand-driven industry, States will need to come forward and make use of the monetary help under the scheme. As many as 50-80 no-frills airports can be developed under this initiative, he added. The aim is to increase the frequency of flying among passengers. “We want domestic ticketing to grow from eight crore in 2015 to 30 crore by 2022,” Choubey said, adding that it is achievable, given that domestic ticketing had grown 22 per cent last year. All domestic scheduled airline operators, including helicopter operators, will be free to carry out self-handling at all airports. Hiring of employees through manpower suppliers will not be permitted. 


* * *