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Thursday 20 April 2017

NEWSLETTER, 20-IV-2017












LISBON, 20th April 2017
Index of this Newsletter


INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC. 


1.1. Maharashtra to grow at 9.4% in 2016-17: Economic Survey
1.2. PM launches GNFC’s cashless/less cash township model across 12 States
2.1. Cabinet approves National Health Policy 2017
2.2. IISc India’s best educational institution in HRD ministry’s NIRF rankings
3.1. 10 multi-modal hubs likely under transport master plan
3.2. Why India needs a new logistics network
4.1. India needs Rs43 trillion ($646 bn) of investment in infrastructure, next 5 years: Jaitley
4.2. India adds record 5,400MW wind power in 2016-17
4.3. From darkness to light: How Telangana turned power surplus in just three years
5.1. India seeks to jump 40 places in World Bank’s Doing Business rankings


– AGRICULTURE, FISHING and RURAL DEVELOPMENT


6.1. This Inspiring 12-year-old girl’s Bee-Saver-Bot could make her an international robotic champion!
6.2. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare supports potato growers in Uttar Pradesh
6.3. PM expresses joy, on PM Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries crossing 2 crore in number
7.1. Basmati rice exports likely to grow to Rs 22,000 crore ($3,4 bn) in next fiscal
7.2. The cheese revolution
7.3. Onion exports triple over FY16 after govt sales push
8.1. Centre to build 10 million houses under PMAY-G by 2019
8.2. Bonanza for home loan seekers as govt offers interest subsidy for those earning ₹6 lakh-₹18 lakh
8.3. The Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri Venkaiah Naidu today launched 352 housing projects in 53 cities
9.1. India's longest highway tunnel (9,28 Kms) to be inaugurated on April 2
9.2. Dream of 'Har Ghar Jal' will be realized by 2030: Tomar
10.1. Sanction of 101 New Integrated Cold Chain Projects
10.2. Horticulture exports jump in Apr-Feb
10.3. Coca-Cola ties up with FSSAI to train 50.000 street food vendors


– INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURE


11.1. A record 47,350 kms of PMGSY road constructed in 2016-17
11.2. Will India’s commercial real-estate market get it REIT?
12.1. Indian auto-component aftermarket to touch Rs 75,705 crore ($13 bn) by 2019-20
12.2. Brand Akai looking to set up manufacturing facility in India
13.1. Pharma stocks take a beating on renewed US FDA scrutiny
13.2. Our biologics business is expected to continue on its strong growth trajectory: Biocon CMD
14.1. Being healthy is the new cool, says Pepsico India's Deepika Warrier
14.2. Amazon to invest US$ 515 million in food retail biz
15.1. Ola pilot project: Electric cabs across major cities in three months
15.2. SC bans sale, registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1


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


16.1. Indian M&E industry to grow at 13.9% CAGR to reach Rs 2,419.4 billion ($37 bn) by 2021: FICCI-KPMG report
16.2. Overwhelming response from investors to SME offers in FY17
17.1. Walmart to open half of 50 new stores in UP, U'khand
17.2. Future Group to expand affordable fashion retail format
18.1. Eveready looking beyond batteries to boost growth
18.2. Flying high: Air India sees bookings to US double after laptop ban
19.1. Vodafone-Idea team takes No 1 spot; to battle Airtel, RJio
19.2. Airtel to buy Tikona's 4G business for Rs1,600 crore ($ 245 Million)
20.1. Shell opens technology hub in Bengaluru
20.2. OMCs to invest ~90,000 cr ($13,9 bn) on fuel upgrade


INDIA & THE WORLD 

21.1. What is the fix for India?
21.2. The cost of bad governance
22.1. 100 cities, million opportunities
22.2. The next phase of economic reforms
23.1. SAIC signs deal with General Motors to take over Halol plant
23.2. Narendra Modi’s Israel visit: The view from Arab palaces
24.1. India and Bangladesh to sign US$ 9-billion investment pacts
24.2. Rich Keralite, poor Kerala conundrum
25.1. India’s wasted tourism potential
25.2. Foreigners visiting India for Medical Treatment


* * *

LISBON, 20th April 2017

NEWSLETTER, 20-IV-2017



INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC. 


1.1. Maharashtra to grow at 9.4% in 2016-17: Economic Survey 
Business Standard | Mar. 20, 2017 

Mumbai: Achhe din for the BJP-led government in Maharashtra are here. According to the Economic Survey for 2016-17 presented in the state legislature, the gross state domestic product (GSDP) for 2016-17 is expected to grow by 9.4 per cent compared to 8.5 per cent in 2015-16. 
The surge in growth is largely due to a 12.5 per cent growth in agriculture, 10.2 per cent in electricity gas, water supply and other utility services and 10.8 per cent in services. 
The state economy will grow faster than the Indian economy, which is expected to grow by 7.1 per cent in 2016-17. 

State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said he hoped Maharashtra would achieve double-digit growth in the coming years and it would continue to retain its pre-eminent position in the national economy due to skillful fusion of technology, social structure, infrastructure backed by natural and human resources along with an organised method of production. 
However, the rise in debt stock continues to be a matter of concern as it is estimated to be Rs 3.56 lakh crore in 2016-17 against Rs 3.20 lakh crore a year earlier. 
This is 15.7 per cent of the GSDP, within the limit of 22.1 per cent laid down by the 14th Finance Commission. The state’s interest payments will be Rs 28,220 crore against Rs 26,217 crore. 
The state government’s revenue expenditure, especially on wages, pension and interest, is estimated at Rs 91,924 crore in 2016-17 against Rs 90,092 crore a year earlier. On the other hand, capital expenditure is set to grow by 17.1 per cent to Rs 46,309 crore against Rs 39,714 crore in 2015-16. 

Notwithstanding the Centre’s decision to withdraw currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 on November 8, revenue receipts during April-December 2016 increased by 11.4 per cent to Rs 1.40 lakh crore. 
The per capita income has grown by 11.4 per cent to Rs 1,46,399 in 2015-16 against Rs 1,32,341 in 2014-15. Maharashtra is second only to Karnataka, whose per capita income stands at Rs 1,48,485. 
The agriculture and allied sectors are expected to grow at 12.5 per cent in 2016-17 against a decline of 4.5 per cent in 2015-16. The growth in agriculture alone is estimated at 19.3 per cent against a decline of 10.3 per cent in the previous year. 

During the kharif season of 2016-17 the area under cereals is expected to grow by three per cent, pulses by 28 per cent and oilseeds by six per cent while the area under sugarcane will fall by 36 per cent and cotton by 10 per cent. However, the production of cereals is likely to increase by 80 per cent, pulses by 187 per cent, oilseeds by 142 per cent and cotton by 83 per cent while the production of sugarcane will fall by 28 per cent. The area under rabi crops will be five per cent less than the previous year. The area under cereals will decrease by 16 per cent and oilseeds by 24 per cent while the area under pulses will rise by 22 per cent. Ironically, the Economic Survey is silent on farmer suicides, which are continuing unabated. 
The Economic Survey has not provided the actual area irrigated in 2016-17 citing revision in the process of collection of data. Under the state’s flagship Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan (Water Conservation Project), 4,374 of 6,202 villages have been made water neutral and 11,82,230 thousand cubic meters of water storage was created in 2015-16. 

Industrial Investments 

According to the Economic Survey, the state continues to be the favoured destination by attracting 19,437 industrial proposals worth Rs 11.37 lakh crore between August 1991 and November 2016. Of these, 8,664 projects (44.6 per cent) with an investment of Rs 2.69 lakh crore have been commissioned while 2,107 projects worth Rs 87,701 crore are under execution. The state’s share in industrial proposals nationwide was 17.9 per cent and in investment 10 per cent. 
The state has approved 488 mega projects with an investment of Rs 3.79 lakh crore till December 2016. During the Make In India week in February 2016, the state signed 3,018 MoUs with a proposed investment of Rs 8.04 lakh crore. However, the Economic Survey has not disclosed the present status of those MoUs. 

Social Sector 

Status According to the Maharashtra Human Development Report (MHDR) 2012, the Human Development Index (HDI) of the state is 0.752. Mumbai comprising Mumbai city and suburban districts taken together has the highest HDI of 0.841 whereas the tribal dominated Nandurbar in north Maharashtra has the lowest HDI of 0.604. The literacy rate is 82.3 per cent and the literacy rate for Scheduled Castes is 79.7 per cent and that for Scheduled Tribes 65.7 per cent. Mungantiwar said that the government proposes to increase the literacy rate especially of the 10th passed out in the coming years. 

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


1.2. PM launches GNFC’s cashless/less cash township model across 12 States
BusinessLine | Virendra Pandit, 15 Apr. 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, launched in Nagpur a cashless/less cash township model, developed by Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (GNFC), across 81 townships in 12 States.

These townships will deliver 250.000 cashless transactions per day, translating into 90 million cashless transactions in a year. GNFC’s township at Bharuch in Gujarat became India’s first cent per cent cashless township after demonetisation.
The 81 townships included 56 in Gujarat and 25 in other States that have chosen to follow the cashless or less cash model. GNFC facilitated the model across these States under the auspices of National Institution for Transforming India Aayog, said Rajiv Kumar Gupta, Managing Director, GNFC, here.
National Institution for Transforming India Aayog had appreciated GNFC’s initiative and model of cashless townships and advised the Central ministries and CMDs of 300-plus central PSUs for adopting this model quickly.

The 81 townships include those of central public sector companies such as ONGC, Indian Oil, NTPC, SAIL, BHEL, NMDC, CRPF, BSF and Police Lines and private sector townships like Reliance, Essar, Adani, Birla Aditya, Welspun spread across 12 States, including Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Chhatisgarh.
“Trends that have emerged from PwC’s study on Impact Assessment of GNFC’s cashless initiative clearly show that going cashless is a step in the right direction for our country due to the significant socio-economic benefits. This initiative offers financial inclusion, cashlessness as a lifestyle, better parental control, women’s empowerment and social upliftment using technology,” said Gupta.
As per the PwC study of GNFC’s cashless initiatives, for over 96 per cent of farmers, cashless resulted in cost savings arising from fewer trips to fertiliser shops and discounts on cashless transactions. Electronic transactions resulted in better money management for over 90 per cent farmers.
It further found that 92.3 per cent of households believed there was a significant reduction in the use of cash resulting in more convenience when transacting for daily activities.
Going cashless had become an effective tool for parents to have a better control over their children’s expenses. Around 98 per cent of households said they saved time on cashless transactions.


2.1. Cabinet approves National Health Policy 2017 
Press Information Bureau | Mar. 17, 2017 

A huge milestone in the history of public health in India: J P Nadda It provides policy framework for achieving universal health coverage, and is patient-centric and quality-driven: J P Nadda. New Delhi: Terming the Cabinet approval of the National Health Policy 2017 as a huge milestone in the history of public health in the country, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Shri J P Nadda said that it seeks to reach everyone in a comprehensive integrated way to move towards wellness. Shri Nadda added that NHP 2017, which is patient-centric and quality-driven, provides the much needed policy framework for achieving universal health coverage and delivering quality health care services to all at an affordable cost. The Union Health Minister stated under the guidance of the Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, the Health Ministry has formulated the National Health Policy 2017, after a gap of 14 years, to address the current and emerging challenges necessitated by the changing socio-economic and epidemiological landscapes since the last National Health Policy was framed in 2002. 

Shri Nadda said that “The Policy recommends prioritizing the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions. The roadmap of this new Policy is predicated on public spending and provisioning of a public healthcare system that is comprehensive, integrated and accessible to all. Further, it advocates a positive and proactive engagement with the private sector for critical gap filling towards achieving national goals. It envisages private sector collaboration for strategic purchasing, capacity building, skill development programmes, awareness generation, developing sustainable networks for community to strengthen mental health services, and disaster management”. The Minister added that the Policy advocates financial and non-financial incentives for encouraging the private sector participation. 
NHP 2017 seeks to promote quality of care, focus on emerging diseases and invest in promotive and preventive healthcare. It addresses health security and make in India for drugs and devices. The Policy has also assigned specific quantitative targets aimed at reduction of disease prevalence/incidence, for health status and programme impact, health system performance and system strengthening. It seeks to strengthen the health surveillance system and establish registries for diseases of public health importance, by 2020. It also seeks to align other policies for medical devices and equipment with public health goals. 

Elaborating on the salient features of the NHP 2017, Shri Nadda said that the Policy advocates a progressively incremental assurance-based approach. The broad principles of the Policy are centered on professionalism, integrity and ethics, equity, affordability, universality, patient centered and quality of care, accountability and pluralism. It aims to achieve the highest possible level of good health and well-being through a preventive and promotive health care orientation in all developmental policies, and to achieve universal access to good quality health care services without anyone having to face financial hardship as a consequence, Shri Nadda added. 

There is a sharpened focus to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritize the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions- investment in health, organization and financing of healthcare services, prevention of diseases and promotion of good health through cross sectoral action, access to technologies, developing human resources, encouraging medical pluralism, building the knowledge base required for better health, financial protection strategies and regulation and progressive assurance for health. The Minister also said that the Policy emphasizes reorienting and strengthening the public health institutions across the country, so as to provide universal access to free drugs, diagnostics and other essential healthcare. 
The Policy positions primary healthcare to be comprehensive and universal. It also seeks to ensure improved access and affordability of quality secondary and tertiary care services through a combination of public hospitals and strategic purchasing in healthcare deficit areas from accredited non-governmental healthcare providers, achieve significant reduction in out of pocket expenditure due to healthcare costs, reinforce trust in public healthcare system and influence operation and growth of private healthcare industry as well as medical technologies in alignment with public health goals. 

As a crucial component, the Policy proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time bound manner. It envisages providing larger package of assured comprehensive primary health care through the ‘Health and Wellness Centers’ and denotes important change from very selective to comprehensive primary health care package which includes geriatric health care, palliative care and rehabilitative care services. It advocates allocating major proportion (up to two-thirds or more) of resources to primary care followed by secondary and tertiary care. It also aspires to provide at the district level most of the secondary care which is currently provided at a medical college hospital. In order to provide access and financial protection at secondary and tertiary care levels, NHP 2017 proposes free drugs, free diagnostics and free emergency care services in all public hospitals. The Policy envisages strategic purchase of secondary and tertiary care services as a short term measure to supplement and fill critical gaps in the public health system. National Health Policy 2017 affirms commitment to pre-emptive care (aimed at pre-empting the occurrence of diseases) to achieve optimum levels of child and adolescent health. It envisages school health programmes as a major focus area as also health and hygiene being made a part of the school curriculum. 

In order to leverage the pluralistic health care legacy, NHP 2017 recommends mainstreaming the different health systems: better access to AYUSH remedies through co-location in public facilities; Yoga would be introduced much more widely in school and work places as part of promotion of good health. 
Under a ‘giving back to society’ initiative, the new Health Policy supports voluntary service in rural and under-served areas on pro-bono basis by recognized healthcare professionals. It also advocates extensive deployment of digital tools for improving the efficiency and outcome of the healthcare system and proposes establishment of National Digital Health Authority (NDHA) to regulate, develop and deploy digital health across the continuum of care. 

There is also a strong focus on improving regulatory mechanisms recognizing the need to regulate the use of medical devices so as to ensure safety and quality compliance as per the standard norms. 
Government of India formulated the Draft National Health Policy and placed it in public domain on 30th December, 2014. Thereafter following detailed consultations with the stakeholders and State Governments, based on the suggestions received, the Draft National Health Policy was further fine-tuned. It received the endorsement of the Central Council for Health & Family Welfare, the apex policy making body, in its Twelfth Conference held on 27th February, 2016. 

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


2.2. IISc India’s best educational institution in HRD ministry’s NIRF rankings
Livemint | Rozelle Laha, 3 Apr. 2017

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore has emerged at the top of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) that rates Indian higher educational institutes on the basis of their performance.
The second edition of the rankings, compiled by the ministry of human resource development, lists seven Indian Institutes of Technology among the top 10—Madras (2), Bombay (3), Kharagpur (4), Delhi (5), Kanpur (7), Guwahati (8) and Roorkee (9). Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, clinched the sixth and the 10th positions respectively in the ranking based on five broad parameters—teaching, learning and resources (0.30 weightage); research and professional practices (0.30 weightage); graduation outcomes (0.20 weightage), outreach and inclusivity (0.10 weightage) and perception (0.10 weightage).

In March, IISc clinched the eighth position in “Best Small Universities” in the world in UK’s Times Higher Education (THE) ranking topped by California Institute of Technology (Caltech), US, this year. It became the first and only institute from India to make it to the top 10.
Institutes in disciplines of engineering, management, universities, colleges and pharmacy were ranked in NIRF 2017. A total of 724 institutes participated in this year’s survey.
The NIRF was approved by the MHRD and launched on 29 September, 2015.

Miranda House in Delhi best college in India, 6 from DU in top 10 rankings
IIT Madras retained its position as the top engineering institute in the country followed by IITs in Bombay, Kharagpur, Delhi and Kanpur.
IIM Ahmedabad clinched the top spot among management education institutes. IIMs in Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow and Kozhikode made it to the top five positions. IIM Bangalore was the number one in the management domain last year.
IISc Bangalore retained its position as the top university. Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru, and Jadavpur University Kolkata filled the next four spots in the universities category.
Six Delhi University colleges featured among top 10 colleges in the ranking. These are Miranda House (1), Shri Ram College of Commerce (3), Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College (5), Lady Shri Ram College for Women (7), Dyal Singh College (8) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College (9). Apart from these, Loyola College, Chennai is the second best college as per the ranking while Bishop Heber College in Tiruchirapalli is in the fourth spot, St. XavierRs.s College, Kolkata in the sixth spot and The Women’s Christian College made it to position 10.

HRD ministry to give more funds to institutions with better ranking
Jamia Hamdard, NewDelhi, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Mohali, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chandigarh, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hyderabad are the top five pharma colleges in the country, the rankings revealed.
In the previous edition of the rankings, Manipal College Of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Manipal, Karnataka, was best pharmacy college.


3.1. 10 multi-modal hubs likely under transport master plan 
Economic Times | Mar. 28, 2017 

New Delhi: The Narendra Modiled government is working on a Rs 10 lakh-crore ($153,6 bn) National Transport Master Plan that will provide seamless movement of freight and passengers across multiple modes of transport. 
This is the first time that the country will have a National Transport Master Plan, which will be jointly developed by the ministries of road transport and highways, shipping, aviation and railways. The plan will include construction of multi-modal transport hubs that will have railway stations, light railway stations (metro) and bus terminals under one roof. 
“National Transport Master Plan (NTMP) will be a strategic framework and investment plan for sustainable development of the transport infrastructure,” a draft note on the plan said. 

“It will forecast the future transport demands and projected infrastructure and service requirements, and will develop a framework of a transport strategy and investment plans to meet the demands as well as the tools for implementation,” the note said. 
The roads ministry plans to develop 10 such hubs across the country in partnership with railways and shipping ministries. “The construction work for these hubs, which are still in the process of being identified, could be given to National Highways Authority of India,” a government official said. 
Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari and railway minister Suresh Prabhu are working to have such a plan in place. 
The shipping ministry's Sagarmala project, which focuses on port-led development of the country, will have several such multi-modal hubs under it. The Sagarmala project includes setting up of coastal economic zones and providing last mile connectivity, which will also involve construction of expressways connecting these multi-modal hubs. 

Recently, Gadkari told ET about the integrated logistics policy his ministry was working on. The railway ministry is also developing its own national railway plan under the transportation master plan to identify deficiencies in rail infrastructure across the country and suggest ways to overcome the same after considering the efficiency of existing and planned transport infrastructure. 
At a recent event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his government was not merely looking at roads and railways as independent modes but was focusing on development of the transportation sector in entirety. The Prime Minister said that the government has allocated Rs 3 lakh crore for the next financial year for the development of transportation and infrastructure sectors in the country.

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


3.2. Why India needs a new logistics network
Livemint | 21 Mar. 2017

An integrated multi-modal approach is necessary for reaping the benefits of GST and Make In India

One of the central promises of the new goods and services tax (GST) that is set to be rolled out in July is that it will allow companies to restructure their supply chains once the domestic market is truly integrated. It is hard to see how the production structure can be improved radically unless India builds a new logistics network to allow inputs, components and finished goods to move across the country seamlessly. The success of the flagship Make in India programme is also critically dependent on a modern logistics network.
The man who will have to put in the plumbing necessary for it all to work is Union road transport and highways, shipping and ports minister Nitin Gadkari.

In his last budget speech, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said: “An effective multi-modal logistics and transport sector will make our economy more competitive. A specific programme for development of multi-modal logistics parks, together with multi-modal transport facilities, will be drawn up and implemented.” This programme—talked up by Gadkari last week—aims to shift from India’s current point-to-point logistics model to a hub-and-spoke model. This will entail setting up 35 multi-modal logistics parks at a cost of Rs 50,000 crore, developing 50 economic corridors and inviting investment from the states and private sector. Crucially, this will all be done with an integrated approach that will utilize railways, highways, inland waterways and airports to create a transportation grid that covers the country.

It is an ambitious plan and a necessary one for multiple reasons. For one, efficient transportation and logistics are important for boosting India’s competitiveness. They reduce transport time and costs, of course—but they also reduce cost of production by minimizing the need for large inventories. This means less capital required for warehouses, insurance and the like. Second, while the conventional view of demand in the logistics sector states that it is derived demand, growth in transport and logistics enterprises can create markets for other goods. Third, efficient logistics networks can reduce divergence in regional growth. Fourth, as the last Economic Survey points out, inter-state trade flows in India stand at a healthy 54% of GDP.

Reducing friction via improved logistics could boost this. And lastly, while the demand for transport grew at around 10% annually in the 1990s, it has accelerated since. Failing to keep pace will hamstring everything from the manufacturing push and attempts to boost farmer earnings to the benefits of urban agglomeration economies.
The main hurdle so far has been that India’s logistics and transport sector has developed in silos. This has resulted in overly complex regulation and administrative procedures as well as missing modal links and an inefficient modal mix. As of 2008, the mix was 50% of total freight flow via roads, 36% by rail, 7.5% by pipelines, 6% by coastal shipping, 0.2% by inland waterways and 0.01% by airways. The ratios may have shifted somewhat since then but they are unlikely to have changed substantially. This is a pity: Transport by rail and inland waterways is far more cost- and time-efficient than transport by roads, for instance, and should account for high proportions of the freight flow.

Gadkari’s integrated policy is thus essential, pulling together the Narendra Modi government’s planned road and rail dedicated freight corridors and suggesting a solution to the long-running lack of last-mile connectivity for India’s ports. It also offers more scope for boosting the use of technology than development in silos would. Containerization, for instance—shipping freight across modes in standard containers—would enable live tracking via chipped containers. This in turn would enable greater security and predictability, as well as providing the granular data that is important for business projections and policymaking alike.

An integrated multi-modal policy is not a new idea. In 2014, the national transport development policy committee had written in its report to the erstwhile Planning Commission that India should have “a single unified ministry with a clear mandate to deliver a multi-modal transport system that contributes to the country’s larger development goals”—standard operating procedure for other large economies and India’s major emerging economy peers. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is now looking to deliver on the multi-modal aspect of that recommendation. But it should not lose sight of the unified ministry goal. The BJP’s electoral dominance, and thus reduced reliance upon coalition partners, gives it more scope to consolidate the clutter of ministries gumming up the works—across sectors—than any government has had in decades.
And here’s a thought. This is an opportunity for states to compete for hosting the logistics hubs and reaping the economic benefits. Will it be Nagpur and Varanasi that dominate the network or cities in centrally placed Madhya Pradesh or entrepreneurial Gujarat? The Modi government has made competitive federalism a plank of its economic agenda. This is a chance to see it in action.


4.1. India needs Rs43 trillion ($646 bn) of investment in infrastructure, next 5 years: Jaitley 
Livemint | Apr. 03, 2017 

New Delhi: India has a huge unmet need for investment in infrastructure, estimated to the tune of Rs43 trillion or about $646 billion over the next five years. 70% of which will be required in the power, roads and urban infrastructure sectors, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday. 
Speaking at the inauguration of the 2nd annual meeting of New Development Bank by the five member BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) countries, Jaitley said in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), the overall growth is picking up, although growth prospects diverge across countries. “But there are newer challenges, most notably a possible shift towards inward-looking policy platforms and protectionism, a sharper than expected tightening in global financial conditions that could interact with balance sheet weaknesses in parts of the euro area and increased geopolitical tensions, including unpredictable economic policy of USA,” he said. 

Amidst the challenges, Jaitley said lie the opportunities with the estimated unmet demand for infrastructure investment in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) is gargantuan, estimated at above $1 trillion a year by the World Bank. “Most importantly, the EMDEs need to carry out this huge investment in a sustainable manner. The established MDBs are now capital constrained, and with their over emphasis on processes, are unable to meet this financing challenge. A Bank like the NDB is well poised to step into the void,” he added. 
Chinese finance minister Xiao Jie speaking at the event said BRICS countries should work towards reforming the global economic system since voice of the emerging economies that contribute 80% of global growth remains “gravely inadequate” in multilateral institutions. 
Jaitley said India has proposed projects worth about $2 billion for NDB funding, which he hopes will be taken up by the Board expeditiously. “We shall work with the NDB to develop a strong shelf of projects in specific areas such as Smart Cities, renewable energy, urban transport, including Metro Railways, clean coal technology, solid waste management and urban water supply,” he added. 

In the annual meeting, the five member board of governors will deliberate on Bank’s strategy for the next 5 years, including issues such as the Bank’s capital, loan portfolio and expansion of Membership. “The uniqueness of NDB should lie in faster loan appraisal, a lean organizational structure resulting in lower cost of loans, a variety of financing instruments, including local currency financing, adoption of country system whenever possible and flexibility in responding to the needs of the clients. These are the elements which would make NDB truly a “new” institution, and make it distinct from older MDBs (multilateral development banks),” Jaitley said. Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.


4.2. India adds record 5,400MW wind power in 2016-17 
Livemint | Apr. 03, 2017 

New Delhi: India added a record 5,400 megawatts (MW) of wind power in 2016-17, exceeding its 4,000MW target. 
“This year’s achievement surpassed the previous higher capacity addition of 3,423MW achieved in the previous year,” the ministry of new renewable energy said a statement on Sunday. 
Of about 50,018MW of installed renewable power across the country, over 55% is wind power. In India, which is the biggest greenhouse gas emitter after the US and China, renewable energy currently accounts for about 16% of the total installed capacity of 315,426MW. 
During 2016-17, the leading states in the wind power capacity addition were Andhra Pradesh at 2,190MW, followed by Gujarat at 1,275MW and Karnataka at 882MW. 

In addition, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana and Kerala reported 357MW, 288MW, 262MW, 118MW, 23MW and 8MW wind power capacity addition respectively during the same period. 
At the Paris Climate Summit in December, India promised to achieve 175GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. 
This includes 60GW from wind power, 100GW from solar power, 10GW from biomass and 5GW from small hydro projects. 
It also promised to achieve 40% of its electricity generation capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030. 
In the last couple of years, India has not only seen record low tariffs for solar power but wind power too has seen a significant drop in tariffs. In February, solar power tariffs hit a record low of Rs2.97 per kilowatt hour (kWh) and wind power tariff reached Rs3.46 kWh. 
Even though wind leads India’s renewable power sector, it has huge growth potential. According to government estimates, the onshore wind power potential alone is about 302GW. But there are several problems plaguing the sector. 

For instance, the government has been concerned about squatters blocking good wind potential sites, inordinate delays in signing of power purchase agreements, timely payments and distribution firms shying away from procuring electricity generated from wind energy projects. In January, the ministry held a meeting with the states to sort out these issues. 
The ministry has also taken several other policy initiatives, including introducing bidding in the wind energy sector and drafting a wind-solar hybrid policy. 
It has also come out with a ‘National Offshore Wind Energy Policy’, aiming to harness wind power along India’s 7,600 km coastline. Preliminary estimates show the Gujarat coastline has the potential to generate around 106,000MW of offshore wind energy and Tamil Nadu about 60,000MW. 

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


4.3. From darkness to light: How Telangana turned power surplus in just three years
BusinessLine | V Rishi Kumar, 11 Apr. 2017

The power sector has improved dramatically due to changes brought about by the Centre and good management by the State. With enhanced generation and efficient distribution, the State is gearing up to meet demand of up to 10,000 MW this summer

From a power-deficit State in June 2014, when it came into being, Telangana has managed to tide over the crisis situation by augmenting capacity and bridging the gap with purchases. It is now gearing up to meet peak demand of up to 10,000 MW during the ensuing summer months.
From a deficit of 2,000 MW in 2014, Telangana is on course to becoming a power-surplus State like Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. This transformation would not have been possible but for enhanced generation, efficient distribution and demand side management.
When the State was formed, the total installed capacity was 6,574 MW and power shortage was at 2000 MW. In the last 33 months, the State added 4,190 MW. Significantly, by next year, 4130 MW of additional power will be available.

D Prabhakar Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of TS Transco, told BusinessLine, “This transformation would not have been possible but for the support of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, timely decisions and teamwork in the sector.”
“There will be no problem for supply during summer as we have capacity to meet demand of up to 10,000 MW. Already demand is gradually coming down from the rabi crop in the agriculture sector. The demand is likely to slip to a little over 8,000 MW,” Rao explained.

Purchase constraints

In 2014, even if the State wanted to augment power purchase, the transmission corridors were fully booked and there was no facility to procure power from power -surplus regions. Factoring the constraints, a high tension power line from Wardha in Chhattisgarh up to Maheshwaram via Dichpalli, in Telangana was proposed.
PowerGrid completed the line ahead of schedule. This enabled Telangana to procure power from any part of the country. However, it has already contracted to buy 2,000 MW from the power-surplus Chhattisgarh.
The State electricity regulator has fixed the power purchase price at ₹3.90 per unit, which includes ₹2.70 as fixed cost and ₹1.20 per unit as variable cost. This price works out cheaper than the average cost of supply of power in the State at ₹4.51 a unit in 2016-17 and projected cost of ₹4.45 per unit in 2017-18.

During 2013-14, in the unified State of Andhra Pradesh, industrial consumers faced power holidays of up to three days in a week and no supply during peak hours. Domestic consumers faced up to six hours of power cuts and the farm sector had erratic supplies as against promise of seven hours per day.
Since the State’s formation, there is no power cut on any section of consumers. The industry gets round-the-clock supply and the agriculture sector too gets nine hours of power in two spells. The latter is aided by the addition of solar power capacity. Efforts are on to double the generation capacity of solar power, from about 1800 MW now. Telangana is projected to have installed capacity of about 3,800 MW of solar power by June 2018 as PPAs have already been inked with the developers.

Open access

In the last couple of years, the demand side issues too have changed. These have enabled the State utilities meet the energy requirement. The open access offered to industrial consumers enabled them to purchase power from other merchant power sources and from the spot exchanges. The cost of power procured too is lower than what the State now offers for industries. As against ₹5 a unit and above, the spot exchange supply sometimes works out to as low as ₹3 a unit.
Devendra Surana, FICCI Chairman in Telangana, said, “The power sector has improved dramatically in the State due to changes brought about by the Centre and good management by the State. In addition, while the open access offers a channel for industries, the State needs to look at the cross subsidy part.”

As per the perspective plan, in the next three years, the State expects the capacity to be about 16,306 MW. The additional capacity will come from 800 MW at KTPS, 1080 MW at Bhadradri, 4000 MW from NTPC, 800 MW more from Singareni Collieries, 4000 MW from Yadadri, 800 MW from central generating stations and 1000-2000 MW from Chhattisgarh. In addition, the State expects to add about 3800 MW from solar power and 90 MW from hydel power, all seeking to ensure that the demand-supply gap is well addressed and State becomes surplus.


5.1. India seeks to jump 40 places in World Bank’s Doing Business rankings
Livemint | Asit Ranjan Mishra, 20, Mar. 2017

India wants to reach the 90th rank in World Bank’s Doing Business rankings for 2017-18 and 30th by 2020, in its endeavour to improve ease of doing business

New Delhi: India is targeting an ambitious 40-notch jump in the World Bank’s Doing Business survey this year. Last year, its rank rose by just one place to 130 in the survey that measures the ease of doing business in various countries.
According to an output-outcome framework document prepared by the government, India wants to reach the 90th rank in 2017-18 and 30th by 2020.
“Better rank in ease of doing business and greater awareness about opportunities in India in manufacturing sector would lead to growth in the manufacturing sector,” the document said.
Department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) secretary Ramesh Abhishek said the targets are feasible.

“We are hoping to do extremely well in five categories: starting a business, construction permits, paying taxes, trading across borders, and resolving insolvency. We are already in the top 50 in three parameters out of 10. We are facing challenges in two criteria: enforcing contracts and registering property because of the complexity involved,” he said.
India was ranked within the top 50 countries in parameters such as protecting minority investors (13th), getting electricity (26th) and getting credit (44th), among the 190 countries surveyed. India’s worst rank was in dealing with construction permits, where it was placed 185th. It ranked 136th in resolving insolvency, 138th in registering property, 143rd in trading across borders and 172nd in both paying taxes and enforcing contracts.
Arindam Guha, partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, said it will be an uphill task to achieve the targets since it involves many stakeholders other than the central government.

“Government has to proactively pursue with the state governments and local bodies as well as the Supreme Court and high courts for necessary reforms. Between Delhi and Mumbai, the former has been an underperformer though the latter has picked up in recent times, especially in dealing with construction permits. This may prove to be a drag on India’s overall ranking,” he added.
This year’s budget allocated Rs272.48 crore under the scheme of investment promotion that will be spent on launching a 360 degree awareness campaign for better ease of doing business ranking and to attract investment in 25 sectors selected under Make in India.
DIPP has also involved the National Productivity Council and the United Nations Development Programme to conduct user feedback to evaluate the effectiveness of its reform measures.
To break into the top 50 in the World Bank ranking, India needs to set up fast-track commercial courts, dispose of cases quickly with minimum adjournments and establish e-courts for electronic filing of complaints, summons and payments, a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Ease of doing business: DIPP calls for fast-track commercial courts

Aiming to make it easier to do business in India, finance minister Arun Jaitley in his 2017-18 budget presented on 1 February promised to simplify labour laws and abolish the foreign investment and promotion board (FIPB).
Jaitley announced legislative reforms to simplify, rationalize and amalgamate existing labour laws into four codes—wages, social security and welfare, industrial relations, and safety and working conditions.
The finance minister said a road map for scrapping the FIPB that scrutinizes foreign investment proposals will be announced soon as part of the government’s financial sector reforms.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the centre plotted an eight-point strategy to make it easier to do business in India. Departments will now hold stakeholder consultations for feedback on reforms undertaken, and also engage with respondents to ensure the reforms are implemented at the ground level. Each department will review progress every week in carrying out the necessary reforms.


– AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT


6.1. This Inspiring 12-year-old girl’s Bee-Saver-Bot could make her an international robotic champion!
Lucy Plummer, The Better India | 14 Apr. 2017

Kavya Vignesh is hoping to represent India at the First Lego League – European Open championship in Denmark, and collaborate with the Indian government she returns. It’s all in a day’s work for this twelve-year-old.

Not many people can claim to have a resume as impressive as that of Kavya Vignesh. A graphic designer, an engineer, a robotics champion and a keen environmentalist and nature-lover, and all at the age of 12.
With her latest development, the Bee Saver Bot, Kavya is now hoping to save the world’s endangered honey bees.
Honeybees are one of the planet’s most neglected heroes. It is held that for one out of every three bites of food we eat, we have pollinators like honeybees to thank for it. Cross-pollination helps at least 30 percent of the world’s crops and 90 percent of our wild plants to thrive. Without bees to spread seeds, many plants—including food crops—would be endangered or extinct.
A research study conducted by students of Science College at Paoni in Bhandara reported a 20-30% increase in the productivity of various crops due to bee-pollination making honey bees incredibly valuable to Indian agriculture.

Despite this, honeybees are commonly thought of as pests or as predators and so when presented with honeybees near their homes or other public places many people tend to call pest controllers, who usually burn the hive, killing thousands of the bees. Upon learning of this Kavya was compelled to take action.
“We chose honey bees, because they are mostly overlooked. Bees are mostly killed by us humans through pesticides, colony collapse disorder and many more ways,” Kavya said in the
Using a combination of robotics and hi-tech components, Kavya has developed a robot that removes honeybees safely and carefully without harming them or humans.though vital to our food chain, honeybees are mostly over-looked.
Commenting on her robot, Kavya added, “this solution can save millions of bees from getting hurt and actually relocate them back to bee farms from where they can be back on the fields where they contribute so much to our food chain.”

The Bee Saver Bot has been named Lightning McQueen and will be built with Lego Mindstorms EV3, the third generation robotics kit in Lego’s Mindstorms line. The prototype is a quadcopter — a flying drone with a 3D camera which scans the hive and the surrounding area to gain 3D measurements. These measurements are fed into a CAD-CAM software which will then design the shape of the enclosure needed to cover the hive along with the bees.
The design is fed into a wood-based 3D printer, which prints a biodegradable, breathable, and reusable enclosure. The quadcopters will then go up again near the hive. Two arms will enclose the hive while a third arm will use a sharp blade to slice off the hive from near the wall and seal the enclosure. The enclosure is then transferred to a vehicle to be transported to the nearest bee farm.
Kavya began practicing robotics at the age of nine, during a summer vacation where her mother enrolled her in classes with RoboClub. In a short space of only three years, she already has two robotic championship wins to her name (Delhi Regional robotics champion 2015 and 2016). This year may see Kavya become an international success as she takes her honey-bee saving robot to Denmark’s international robotics championship event in May.

Kavya and her team, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, will travel to Europe to compete in First Lego League – European Open Championship in Aarhus. They are India’s youngest ever team to qualify for the event. These young innovators will battle it out alongside almost 200,000 other children aged between 9 and 16 years from 60 countries worldwide. They will be judged on their skills in construction, programming and presentation of ideas and solutions.

Upon her return to India, Kavya is hoping to collaborate with the government authorities working with the bees in India and ask them to use the Bee Saver Bot. Kavya hopes that her robot will improve bee-keeping in India.
To enable her to participate in this event, Kavya has been raising funds through her crowdsurfing page, which you can access here. Not only does she aim to help her team become India’s youngest world robotics champions but she also hopes to be an example to other young people by inspiring them to believe in themselves and follow their dreams.


6.2. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare supports potato growers in Uttar Pradesh 
Press Information Bureau | Apr. 12, 2017 

New Delhi: The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has approved the procurement of potato under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) in Uttar Pradesh for the crop season 2016-17. A maximum quantity of 1,00,000 metric tonne (MT) of potato may be procured under the scheme by the State Agency. The purchase will be made at Rs. 4,870/- per MT. The Ministry will provide an additional Rs. 1217.50/- per MT or actual whichever is less for overhead expenses, such as transportation charges, mandi tax, and godown charges. 
Purchase centres/areas will be decided by the state government in consultation with the state agency. The MIS will be implemented by the state agency. The Potatoes will be purchased from the Cooperative Societies, farmers’ organizations or directly from the farmers to eliminate the possibility of middlemen taking advantage of the scheme. The state government will ensure that the produce is purchased from genuine farmers only. 

The procured stocks will be disposed of in the open market to ensure maximum realizable price. If necessary, this can also be sold to processing units within the state. The state agency would also make efforts to export the procured potatoes after processing. 
In order to avoid recycling, the stock would not be sold in the same market / state from where it has been procured during the period of the scheme. However, if the prices are better it can also be sold, locally. Barter payments or payments in kind to farmers for procurement won’t be allowed. Payment to farmers as far as possible will be made through non-cash transaction and receipts for sales must be through banking channel only, preferably through Demand Draft. 

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


6.3. PM expresses joy, on PM Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries crossing 2 crore in number 
Press Information Bureau | Apr. 05, 2017 

New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed joy, on PM Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries crossing 2 crore in number in less than a year. 
"Matter of immense joy and pride that the number of beneficiaries of PM Ujjwala Yojana has crossed 2 crore in less than a year! 
Ujjwala Yojana is guided by a strong commitment to bring about a qualitative change in the lives of poor women. 
I congratulate all beneficiaries of Ujjwala Yojana and those who are working round the clock to ensure its success", the Prime Minister said. 

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


7.1. Basmati rice exports likely to grow to Rs 22,000 crore ($3,4 bn) in next fiscal 
IBEF | Mar. 30, 2017 

Mumbai: India's exports of basmati rice may rise to Rs 22,000-22,500 crore (US$ 3.39-3.46 billion), with volume to around 4.09 million tonnes (MT) in 2017-18, backed by a rise in average realisations, as per Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA). Mr Deepak Jotwani, assistant vice-president, ICRA, expects the exports in 2016-17 to be near Rs 21,000 crore (US$ 3.23 billion) with a volume of around 4 MT. The basmati rice industry experienced moderation due to declining international demand, after peaking at Rs 29,300 crore (US$ 4.51 billion) in 2014-15; however the demand witnessed some stabilisation in 2016-17. He further stated that a rise in paddy prices and resumption of imports by Iran could give a boost to exports and drive growth in the industry going forward. 

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


7.2. The cheese revolution
Livemint | Deepti Unni, 24 Mar. 2017

One of the world’s oldest dairy traditions is cultivating a brand new culture. Meet the men and women behind India’s quiet cheese revolution

In 2014, newspapers reported that archaeologists working on a site in the Taklamakan desert in north-western China had discovered mummies from the Bronze Age, dating back to 1615 BC. This wasn’t particularly remarkable, except that these mummies had clumps of cheese around their necks and chests. They seemed to have been buried with a bit of food to see them through to the afterlife. And so, the world’s oldest preserved cheese had been found.
Chances are, as you were reading that story, the word “cheese” would have brought to mind a slab of Amul processed cheese. You weren’t thinking of a whey-soaked ball of mozzarella, wobbly in your palms, or a disc of baked Brie, its buttery gold heart begging to be scooped with a cracker.

Over the last few years, though, a curious series of circumstances has conspired to replace the processed cheeses at the top of our minds, and in speciality stores and restaurants across urban India, with hand-crafted Cheddars, mozzarellas, Gruyères, Bries and fetas, all made locally. Cheesemakers have enthusiastically embraced Make in India.
Last year was Anno Uno for cheese in India—local cheesemakers came to public notice as we discovered cheeses that had been living in the shadow of paneer. The spread was everywhere—in newspapers, magazines, listicles online, long-form musings, interviews with chefs. Cheese found itself lumped with food fads—cupcakes, frozen yogurt, cronuts, nut butters, molecular Indian gastronomy, artisanal coffee, craft beer, sourdough bread. Some of these had their 15 seconds of fame; some lingered.

So is artisanal cheese a food fad? Physicist-turned-cheesemaker Aditya Raghavan rolls his eyes. “Dairy is so important to India; we have all been consuming it from such a young age. This is not a big leap. Bread, cheese and coffee are more fundamental than, say, cupcakes. It won’t just disappear.” Raghavan should know. The 36-year-old has spent the last three years chasing cheese across the country, helping artisanal cheesemakers set up factories, overseeing and fixing production lines, troubleshooting, cheesemaking, learning and documenting obscure dairy practices and, essentially, being the consultant the fledgling Indian cheese scene didn’t know it needed.
India is the world’s largest producer of milk. According to the Economic Survey 2015-16, the country produced 146 million tonnes of milk— that’s 18.5% of the world’s total output. A September USDA Foreign Agricultural Service report expects milk production to increase to 160 million tonnes. We churn it into butter, culture it into yogurt, slowly caramelize it to make khoya. Cheese though—cultured, rennet coagulated—seemed to have largely escaped our purview.

This puzzled cheese expert Will Studd—you know him as the man behind the show Cheese Slices on TLC or from his battle with the Australian government to import raw-milk cheeses into the country. “The question that fascinated me was, why does this country have only one cheese? I know there are a few others, but essentially one cheese—paneer.”

One factor, Studd says, is the religious connotation of using animal rennet—the enzyme that separates milk into curds and whey, the first step in cheesemaking—which comes from the stomach of two-week-old calves. To extract the rennet, the calf has to be killed. That alone doesn’t explain the lack of cheese varieties in the country, however. “India was one of the first countries to develop a culture of preserving butter, maybe 2,000-3,000 years before Europe, in a very sophisticated way, but didn’t develop cheese.” The answer is practicality: India’s tropical climate doesn’t allow for bacterial preservation. “The reality of ghee is it doesn’t matter if it’s hot or cold, it keeps. And it fulfils its purpose for cooking.”

Amul was the first company to make an attempt at an Indian processed cheese in the early 1960s. “Protracted and arduous pioneering research went into the formula for making a standardized Indian variety of Cheddar cheese, once again belying expert opinion, which stated that it could not be made from buffalo milk,” Ruth Heredia writes in The Amul India Story (1997). “Easier, said some experts, to get shoe polish from it, and, indeed, the earliest experimental samples did taste a bit like wax polish.”

Amul’s cheese—easy to melt and store—would go on to flood the market. Today, the processed cheese market is dominated by brands like Amul, Britannia, Gowardhan and Mother Dairy, which make variations of processed Cheddar, hard mozzarella “pizza cheese” and cream cheese, but smaller players like Exito Gourmet (Impero) and Dairy Craft have waded into the market, too, with fresh mozzarella, ricotta, mascarpone, scamorza and Cheddar.

Yet, cheese still only accounts for a fraction of dairy product sales. In 2014, retail sales of packaged dairy products in India were estimated at $10.2 billion (about Rs66,700 crore now) by market research firm Euromonitor—cheese accounted for about $244 million of this.

Rise of the local fromagère

The early 1990s saw the rise of a few local cheesemakers. Film-maker Mansoor Khan, director of two blockbusters, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, moved to Coonoor in 2003, where he has been making Gouda, Colby, Gruyère, halloumi and more on his farm Acres Wild. In Pune, ABC Farms, established by Rohinton Aga, Adi Bathena and Eruch Chinoy (hence the name ABC) and now run by Sohrab Chinoy, has been producing versions of Gorgonzola, Cheddar and mozzarella for over 30 years. ABC Farms’ owner claims they sell 10 tonnes of cheese a month, or about 300kg a day on average, to Vivanta By Taj—President in Mumbai, Marriott Suites in Pune, and Sun N Sand hotels in Mumbai and Pune. Acres Wild produces 8-10kg a day and only sells at two stores in Coonoor.

Then there is Caroselle Dairy Products Pvt. Ltd Kodaikanal. Bengaluru-based Mukund Naidu quit engineering studies in 1991, moving to a farm in the Tamil Nadu hill town. “In those days, we were out in the boondocks, about 17km from town in a hilly area. Access to transport was minimal and we found it difficult to ship fresh milk to town every day, so we decided to make some cheese.” Naidu and New Zealander David Hogg set up the cheese unit and are suppliers of European-style artisanal cheese to a number of restaurants in the south. “I was one of the first people to make ‘pasta filata’ mozzarella in India, way back in 1994,” says Naidu. This soft Italian mozzarella, made by stretching hot cheese curds, is not the same as the industrial version that is made hard enough to grate over pizzas and pastas. “I showed it to chefs back then who had no idea what to do with this ball, how to apply it to their dishes,” laughs Naidu.

All that changed with the Internet. Cheesemaking is now just a click away and a search for a mozzarella recipe on YouTube throws up no less than 300,000 results. You could be making cheese in less than an hour. It’s how Mumbai-based Prateeksh Mehra learnt to make his versions of Brie and Camembert.

Mehra, a commercial food photographer, caught the brewing bug in 2014, when the craft beer craze in the country was cresting. “I used to play around with cheese and beer pairings when it struck me that the process of making beer was very similar to that of making cheese.”

Much in the way he learnt his brewing—online—he began to teach himself about cheeses. Soft cheeses in particular caught his fancy, partly because he didn’t have a lot of patience, he says. “Hard cheeses, like Cheddar, need at least six months to reach maturity, and that’s a long time to wait to see if it has comes out right. If not, it’s six months of work gone to waste.”

He roped in his brother and began making a Brie-style cheese, something no cheesemaker was doing in India then, and which would take just over three-six weeks to mature. They surprised themselves with the result—a soft rind Brie with a profound buttery note, without the faint ammoniac tang of French Brie de Meaux. They marketed it at the BBC Good Food Show in Mumbai in 2014, found a few interested chefs, and it took off. Today they sell in units of 150g for Rs300 each under The Spotted Cow Fromagerie brand. The brothers make almost 250kg of cheese a month in the basement of their home in suburban Mumbai, supplying to chains such as Indigo Delicatessen and Salt Water Café in their city, and Toast & Tonic in Bengaluru.

Travel is the other factor that’s influencing both the consumption and production of cheese. Well-travelled customers are now demanding the same quality of cheese they eat on their trips abroad. Cheesemakers are applying the knowledge gathered abroad to meet this demand.

Mansi Jasani, who was pursuing a master’s in food studies at New York University, signed up for a three-day cheese boot camp at Murray’s Cheese, New York’s best-known artisanal cheese retailer. “I learnt about different styles of cheese, milk chemistry, cheese chemistry, how it’s made, terroir... basically everything related to cheese. After those three days, people around me were done, they were cheesed out. I, on the other hand, was like, where can I eat more?” She quit studies to focus on cheese and landed a three-month internship at Murray’s, where she was put to work in the cheese caves. “My daily chores were cleaning, vacuum packing, unwrapping cheeses, sorting them, turning the harder cheeses…and on my birthday, they let me have the cheese trier (an instrument that lets you take a sliver of cheese out to test its ageing without cutting out a slice) to try any four cheeses in the caves. It was the best day of my life.” That was also when she realized that though she enjoyed cheesemaking—she currently sells chèvre, or goat cheese, from her home in Mumbai—what she wanted to be was a cheesemonger, to curate, collect and sell cheeses made by local cheesemakers and help develop a cheese culture. In 2014, she founded The Cheese Collective, which curates cheeses from across the country and supplies it to parties, corporate events and restaurants. Now, she is in the process of setting up her own cheese cave and factory in Lonavala, near Mumbai.

Grating issues

Challenges have remained pretty much the same since the early days of Indian cheesemaking. Cold-chain logistics remain the weakest link in the supply chain. Cold-truck breakdowns, unreliable shipping and a total lack of knowledge at food stores has hobbled the reach of these cheeses. Stephen Kairanna, who owns the Nadur Goat Farm, about 25km from Udipi, and who, with his wife Priya, began selling goat’s milk feta in 2016, found that the cheese leaving his factory was not the one reaching customers. “I put my cheeses in a reputable chain of high-end food stores and found that they weren’t even refrigerating it. As a result, customers would eat cheese that’s gone off and imagine that’s what it really tastes like. They would obviously never buy it again.” Last year, he began shipping it directly to interested customers and restaurants, so he could control the quality.

Lack of customer knowledge is still a major hurdle in retailing local cheeses. “I have got a lot of strange questions from people over the years,” says Jasani. “One of the more popular ones is, ‘Is there egg in this cheese?’”

Arbitrary government regulations have actually helped local cheesemakers though. In 2011, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) decreed that animal-rennet cheeses could not be imported—this accounts for the majority of cheese produced in Europe. “We have a bunch of issues importing cheese with certain ingredients into India. It’s not country specific, but there are certain parameters and guidelines defined by the FSSAI regarding the source of rennet used in making cheese, ingredients used, and various other factors, due to which restrictions come in play,” says Swasti Aggarwal, food strategist at the Foodhall chain of stores that stocks both Indian and imported cheeses.

FSSAI regulations also decree that milk and milk products imported into the country must be heat-processed to kill bacteria, which automatically disqualifies raw milk cheeses. “Once that happened, it eliminated about 80% of the world’s repertoire of good quality cheeses, because it’s just not made that way; it changes the nature of the product,” says chef Manu Chandra, the man behind the Monkey Bar gastropubs and Bengaluru’s Toast & Tonic. “So what we’re inundated with is a lot of supermarket style, highly processed variants of famous cheese. Instead of a beautiful French Brie, you will get a Danish pasteurized pack that, like a McDonald burger, you could leave out for three years and nothing would happen to it.”

Local cheesemakers were happy to step in to fill this void, and restaurateurs were happier paying a premium for local cheese made right than using lower-quality imported cheese.

And yet, while we’re all celebrating the rise of the small great Indian cheese industry, Raghavan sounds a note of caution. “I’m not convinced I want to be a cheesemaker in India; I have travelled all over Europe and eaten and made cheese there and I don’t think it’s possible to make that quality of cheese here.”

It’s not just the quality of milk, or the terroir, he says. “They (Europeans) have a tradition of dealing in raw milk. In India, everything we do with dairy is boiled.” This culture of boiled milk hasn’t made Indians vigilant about raw milk and inculcating it in the farmers who supply the milk is difficult. “Who am I to go tell a farmer, ‘Do it like this, your parents were wrong?’”

The other factor is the use of vegetarian rennet. “Vegetarian rennet is made in a laboratory and you train bacteria to produce chymosin, the active enzyme, and the way it deals with the proteins in milk lends it some bitterness and when you make enough cheese or taste enough cheese, you can feel it. Anything you do to fix that changes the cheese.”

He also doesn’t see small farmers and dairy owners being able to sustain themselves on cheese alone. The working model is to have a hybrid dairy, one that makes yogurt and supplies milk, alongside the cheese. We have a long way to go, Raghavan says, before we can even think of competing with international cheeses.

Over the last two years, however, there has been a steady push by restaurateurs towards local produce and greater respect for home-grown ingredients. Trends like foraging and slow food have found enthusiastic proponents here. So while restaurateurs are happy sourcing from Indian cheesemakers, they’re also looking to revive lesser-known Indian cheeses.

Chandra, for instance, shaves smoked Bandel, an intensely salty, crumbly cheese that he sources from Kolkata, over sourdough toasts. Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, at his Armenian restaurant Lavaash By Saby in Delhi, serves a cheese platter composed entirely of indigenous cheeses—salted and smoked Bandel and a sharp Kalimpong. At Bombay Canteen in Mumbai, Thomas Zacharias serves topli-nu-paneer, a Parsi cheese with a wobble like the lightest panna cotta. And at Mumbai’s Masque, a farm-to-fork restaurant that leans heavily on foraging, chef Prateek Sadhu is bringing back kalari, a “pasta filata” cheese from Jammu, not unlike mozzarella, that he grew up on. Well-known chefs abroad have been vital in driving food trends, so the great push for local cheese could possibly come from our own well-known, home-grown chefs.

In the meantime, though, we can revel in our local cheeses and hope that in a few decades, we will have a lovely Indian cheese of our own to be buried with and bamboozle scientists with in the future. Somebody please remember to pack the crackers.

***

The Spotted Cow Fromagerie, Mumbai
Prateeksh and Agnay Mehra produce Bombrie, Camembay and Rombay, versions of French and Italian bloomy rind cheeses like Brie, Camembert and robiola. These are available on Thespottedcow.in and also retail at Foodhall Mumbai.

Himalayan Cheese, Srinagar
Dutchman Chris Zandee works with local Gujjar and Bakarwal pastoralists to make Gouda, Cheddar and the local kalari and build a sustainable, community-based business in Kashmir. Order these on Himalayancheese.com or from Foodhall stores.

La Ferme Cheese, Puducherry
Originally started to supply handmade, artisanal cheeses to the residents of Auroville, La Ferme’s products today are available in speciality shops all over the country. These all-natural cheeses are made from milk supplied by local farms and include styles of Cheddar, Parmesan, feta, Gruyère and a pungent auroblochon. Buy them on Auroville.com.

Vallombrosa Cheese, Bengaluru
Authentic buffalo mozzarella, bocconcini and burrata are turned out daily by the monks of the Vallombrosa Benedictine order on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Set up by Father K.L. Michael in 2004 to take advantage of India’s buffalo milk production—the largest in the world—and to sustain the monastery, these are now available at some of the country’s finest restaurants, and retail stores in Bengaluru. For more details, visit Vallombrosacheese.com.

Flanders Dairy Products, Delhi
Sunil Bhu brought a little slice of Belgium to Bijwasan, on the outskirts of Delhi, when he set up Flanders Dairy in 1991. They now produce flavoured Gouda, goat’s cheese, mozzarella, mascarpone, ricotta, scamorza and kwark that retails from their own cheese store, The Cheese Ball, on Lodhi Road. For more details, visit Flanders-dairy.com.

***

‘Desi’ cheese
Get to know a few local varieties across the country

Chhena
Bengal owes the Portuguese a great food debt. When they first made landfall on the east coast of India and discovered they couldn’t get their beloved cottage cheese here, they set about making it by acid-curdling milk and treating the curds to form three different kinds of cheese. Chhena, that ubiquitous base of Bengali sweets, is made by splitting milk—just like ‘paneer’—then kneading the curds until it becomes soft and pliable, to be shaped into ‘rasgullas’ and ‘sandesh’.

Bandel
Also, in the east, the ‘chhena’ is pressed to form circular discs, then salted and dried to form its savoury cousin Bandel, a milky, chewy cheese. This is also smoked for a deeper, stronger-flavoured Bandel.

Chhurpi
A cheese that’s travelled across the Himalayas, ‘chhurpi’ is made from yak milk, specifically yak buttermilk. Much like ricotta, the buttermilk is boiled until the milk solids separate from the whey, before it’s drained to make soft ‘chhurpi’. To preserve it though, it’s drained further, then pressed under weights till it forms a hard, chewy mass.

Kalari
Native to Udhampur in Jammu, ‘kalari’ or ‘maish krej’ is a soured milk cheese that uses a hot pan to stretch the curds and shape it into ‘chapati’-like discs. These are then sun-dried, so it’s hard on the outside, but still moist inside.

Kalimpong
A hard, crumbly, mild-flavoured cheese that shares similarities with Gouda, Kalimpong was made by a priest in Sikkim. It’s sold locally in Sikkim, though if you are lucky, you may land a bit of the 10kg made by four families in Kalimpong and retailed every day in Kolkata.


7.3. Onion exports triple over FY16 after govt sales push 
Business Standard | Apr. 11, 2017 

Mumbai: Onion exports have almost tripled in 2016-17 following the government’s decision to push sales of the vegetable overseas at higher prices. 
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (Apeda) estimates onion exports at 2.39 million tonnes in April-December 2016. Ajit Shah, president of the Horticulture Exporters Association, said 150,000-200,000 tonnes were exported every month thereafter, taking overall onion exports to a record 3 million tonnes in 2016-17. 
“The Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) was initiated when onion prices were Rs 2-2.5-a kg in the Lasalgaon mandi in Maharashtra. Farmers were not harvesting onion at that price. The MEIS arrested the fall and onion prices recovered to Rs 5-5.50 a kg. This price covers the cost of production, farmers need more to sow onion in the next season,” said Hansaraj Patil, a farmers’ representative in Lasalgaon.

Faced with a sharp decline in onion prices on expectations of a bumper output, the commerce ministry extended the MEIS to onion. The scheme allows exporters to obtain a 5 per cent credit on the free on board (FOB) value of onions. 
The MEIS was initiated for onion in August and extended periodically. According to a notification dated March 31, the MEIS benefit will be available till June 30. 
India is exporting onions to Sri Lanka, the Far East, the Middle East and other markets where prices are higher than in local mandis. 
According to Apeda, the per unit value realisation for onion in the country was Rs 14,109 per tonne in 2016-17, 36 per cent lower than the previous year’s Rs 22,691 per tonne. Shah said onion exports would continue till June. 
The agriculture ministry estimates India’s onion output six per cent lower at 19.7 million tonnes in 2017-18. 

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


8.1. Centre to build 10 million houses under PMAY-G by 2019 
Press Information Bureau | Mar. 31, 2017 

New Delhi: The Government today said that it has approved the construction of 1 crore houses with the financial implication of Rs. 81,975 crore for the period 2016-17 to 2018-19. The Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Ram Kripal Yadav said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha that as per provisional figures of Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011, approximately 4 crore rural households face housing deprivation. After accounting for the houses that were constructed under Indira Aawas Yojana, IAY and State sponsored housing schemes since 2011, it has been estimated that 2.95 crore more houses, with an anticipated variation of ± 10%, would need to be constructed to achieve the objective of ‘Housing For All’ by the year 2022. 

In the first phase (from 2016-17 to 2018-19) one crore houses are targeted for construction under Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana-Grameen, PMAY-G. Targets for the remaining period (till 2022) will be decided after verification and finalisation of permanent wait lists, based on SECC 2011 data by all States/UTs. Shri Yadav said that to provide technical support in achieving the targets of “Housing for All” a National Technical Support Agency (NTSA) for Rural Housing shall be set up at the national level. 
The Minister informed that to achieve the objective of ‘Housing for All’ various features have been incorporated into the scheme architecture of PMAY-G, some of which are as below: 

(i) Availability of sufficient financial resources both in the form of budgetary support and borrowing from NABARD to meet the expenditure for construction of houses. 
(ii) Electronic transfer of assistance under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to resolve problems of delayed payments and expedite completion. 
(iii) Comprehensive online monitoring through the scheme MIS-AwaasSoft. 
(iv) Inspection and Geo tagging of houses, through the mobile app- AwaasApp by beneficiaries to reduce delays. 
(v) Increasing number of trained rural masons through Training, Assessment and Certification. 
(vi) Setting up of Programme Management Unit (PMUs) at state and sub state level to review progress on a daily basis, provide requisite technical support and facilitation and plug gaps in implementation using administrative funds available under the scheme. 

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


8.2. Bonanza for home loan seekers as govt offers interest subsidy for those earning ₹6 lakh-₹18 lakh
BusinessLine | 23 Mar. 2017

Home loan applicants with annual incomes from ₹6 lakh to ₹18 lakh per annum will be eligible for interest subsidy on housing loans.
The subsidy has been enabled under the new Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for Middle Income Groups (CLSS-MIG) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
The scheme has been envisaged for one year. In a press statement, the government said, “Those who have been sanctioned housing loans and whose applications are under consideration since January 1 this year are also eligible for interest subsidy.”

Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu said, “Large scale incentivisation of affordable housing will boost real estate sector, resulting in employment generation as well.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier announced an interest subsidy of 4 per cent on housing loans of up to ₹9 lakh for those earning up to ₹12 lakh per year. Modi had also announced a subsidy of 3 per cent on housing loans of up to ₹12 lakh for those earning up to ₹18 lakh per year.
In the guidelines, the tenure of loan has been capped at 20 years. The total interest subsidy accruing on these loans amounts will be paid to the beneficiaries up front, thus reducing the burden of Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI). The total interest subsidy to be paid to MIG appliants on a ₹9-lakh loan comes to ₹2.35 lakh and on a loan of ₹12 lakh, it comes to ₹2.30 lakh per beneficiary.

Interest subsidy will be provided on loans for construction or acquisition of a house with a carpet area up to 90 sqm by those earning ₹12 lakh per annum. Those earning up to ₹18 lakh per year can avail themselves of the subsidy on a purchase of a house with a carpet area up to 110 sqm.
Small Finance Banks and Non Banking Finance Company-Micro Finance Institutions also have been recognized to function as Primary Lending Institutions to widen the scope of implementation of CLSS (MIG) in addition to Scheduled Commercial Banks, Housing Finance Companies, Regional Rural Banks, State and Urban Cooperative Banks for accepting applications directly from beneficiaries and advancing loans under the scheme.

National Housing Board (NHB) and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) have been designated as Central Nodal Agencies for implementation of CLSS.
These agencies would then reimburse the interest subsidy to Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs) based on the loans advanced to beneficiaries by PLIs. PLIs include Scheduled Commercial Banks, Housing Finance Companies, Small Housing Banks, State and Urban Cooperative Banks, Regional Rural Banks and NBFC-MFI.
Beneficiaries eligible for interest subsidy under CLSS can directly apply to the lending institutions. After verification of applications, the lenders will sanction loans and then claim subsidy from the nodal agencies.


8.3. The Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri Venkaiah Naidu today launched 352 housing projects in 53 cities 
Press Information Bureau | Apr. 10, 2017 

This is the First largest private investment initiative in affordable housing 
The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) members to invest over Rs.38,000 cr to build over two (2) lakh affordable houses 
Over one lakh units to be built in Maharashtra, 41,921 houses in National Capital Region, 28,465 in Gujarat, 7,037 in Karnataka, 6,055 in UP 
Cost of construction of these houses to be in the range of Rs.15 lakh to Rs.30 lakh per house. 

New Delhi: The Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu today launched 352 housing projects in 53 cities in 17 States across the country with an investment of over Rs.38,000 cr to build over two lakh (2) houses..
These housing projects to be taken up by the members of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) across the country is the first major private investments initiative into affordable housing. These projects were launched at a function in Gandhinagar, Gujarat today. As per the details furnished by CREDAI today, the cost of construction of these affordable houses will be in the range of Rs.15 lakh to Rs.30 lakh with average cost of construction coming to Rs.18 lakh per house. 
The event was held in the backdrop of several initiatives by the Government of India to promote affordable housing for Economically Weaker Sections, Low and Middle Income Groups including sanction of ‘infrastructure status’ for the housing sector. The new President of the CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India) took charge of the confederation at the glittering function attended by the Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Vijay Rupani, Gujarat Deputy CM Shri Nitinbhai Patel, Gujarat Minister of Urban Development Sh Shankar Chaudhary, outgoing President of CREDAI Sh Gitambar Anand and more than 3000 delegates from across the country. 

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Venkaiah Naidu complimented CREDAI and its members for coming forward to invest in affordable housing projects and assured them that his Ministry and Central Nodal Agencies like the National Housing Bank and HUDCO will extend full cooperation in reaching the benefits prescribed under PMAY (Urban) to the beneficiaries who join the projects launched today. 

Details of affordable housing projects launched today for implementation are:
Shri Naidu said while Mahatma ensured political freedom for our country, Sardar Patel ensured its unification, Shri Modi is now working on giving content and real meaning to these accomplishments through building a New India. 
The Minister said such a New India has no meaning if we don’t ensure houses for all and that too in a specific time frame. He said that the Prime Minister Shri Modi has set the year 2022 as the deadline for roofing all Indians. 
Shri Naidu said that within a short span of just 21 months since the launch of PMAY(Urban) in June, 2015, his Ministry has earlier approved construction of 17.73 lakh affordable houses for urban poor with an investment of Rs.95,660 cr in 30 States and Union Territories.. 
For building these houses, central assistance of Rs.27,879 cr has also been approved, he said.

These approved projects are to be executed with assistance from central and state governments and beneficiary contribution under the four components of PMAY (Urban). Under this urban housing mission, central assistance in the range of Rs.1.00 lakh to Rs.2.35 lakh will be provided to each beneficiary. PMAY (Urban) was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on June 25, 2015. 
The Government of India on December 31, 2017 extended the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme component of PMAY (Urban) to Middle Income Groups with annual incomes in the range of Rs.12 lakh to Rs.18 lakh under which interest subsidy of 4% and 3% on housing loans will be provided. With this, beneficiaries belonging to EWS, LIG and MIG with annual incomes up to Rs.18 lakh have been brought under the ambit of PMAY (Urban) opening up substantial investment opportunities for developers both at the bottom and middle of the pyramid. 

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


9.1. India's longest highway tunnel (9,28 Kms) to be inaugurated on April 2
Economic Times | Mar. 23, 2017 

Mumbai: India's longest highway tunnel at Chenani Nashri, between Udhampur and Ramban in Jammu & Kashmir is all set to be inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi on April 2. 
The 9,28 km tunnel that has absorbed a sum of Rs 2519 crore in its construction, forms part of the proposed widening of National Highway 44 (old NH-1A) from Jammu to Srinagar will be inaugurated at 3 pm. 
The tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in India boasting of features like Integrated Traffic Control System (ITCS), Video Surveillance System and FM Rebroadcast System, among others and will reduce travel time by approximately two hours, apart from promising fuel savings to the tune of 27 lakh per day. 

"The tunnel has multiple economic gains as connectivity in the remote area can help transform the life of this neglected region in the hills. The credit goes to previous planners for having mooted this tunnel," S P Singh, senior fellow at the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT) told ET. 
However, Singh added that the delay in the time for construction and the subsequent cost escalation could have been avoided. 
The project has been dubbed as a "state of the art engineering marvel in the most difficult terrain pf Himalayas". 

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


9.2. Dream of 'Har Ghar Jal' will be realized by 2030: Tomar 
Press Information Bureau | Mar. 23, 2017 

Centre allocates Rs 25,000 Crore to tackle problems of Arsenic and Fluoride in drinking water in four years. 

New Delhi: Government today launched National Water Quality Sub Mission on Arsenic and Fluoride to provide safe drinking water to about 28,000 affected habitations in the country by March 2021 with an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore. Inaugurating the mission here in collaboration with the States, the Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that while West Bengal is badly affected by the problem of arsenic, Rajasthan suffers from presence of fluoride in drinking water with serious health hazards. He said, there are about 17 lakh 14 thousand rural habitations in India, of which about 77 percent have been provided with safe drinking water of more than 40 liters per person per day and about 4 percent of the habitations are suffering from problems of water quality. The Minister assured the participating delegates that there will be no discrimination of funds against any state to address the twin challenges of drinking water and sanitation. Ministers of Drinking Water and Sanitation from 12 States participated in the National Workshop on Water for All and Swachh Bharat. 
Shri Tomar said that Government is committed to providing tap water on a sustained basis in every household by 2030 as per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for which Rs 23,000 crore of central fund will be required annually till the target is achieved. The Minister said that the dream of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ cannot be realized without the involvement of the citizens. He said that there are about 2,000 Blocks in the country with an acute shortage of surface and ground water sources and called for conservation of water on war footing through convergence of schemes like MGNREGA. 

Dwelling on the issue of Swachhta, Shri Tomar said that sanitation coverage has increased from 42 percent to 62 percent since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, SBM in October 2014. He said, apart from Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala which are ODF (Open Defecation Free) States, 4 to 5 more States can become ODF in next six months. So far, 119 districts and 1.75 lakh villages have become ODF and the Centre has announced to incentivize the states for their timely progress. The Minister informed that since the launch of the SBM, more than 3.6 Crore toilets have been constructed in the rural areas and 16.41 lakh toilets were constructed under MGNREGA. He said, when we are seeking to transform India into a 21st century economic giant: open defecation and garbage cannot be part of this vision. 
Shri Tomar along with the Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Ramesh Jigajinagi launched Water APP on the occasion. The Minister also gave away prizes to various state governments for exemplary work done in the areas of sanitation and drinking water. 

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


10.1. Sanction of 101 New Integrated Cold Chain Projects 
Press Information Bureau | Mar. 28, 2017 

New Delhi: India is one of the largest food producers in the world and is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables yet only 2.2% of our fruits and vegetables are processed. India requires affordable cold storages and cold chains at every food producing hub in the country. While existing cold storages are concentrated in few states and roughly 80 to 90% are used for potatoes, India has a long way to go. MoFPI is building National Cold Chain Grid in the country so that all food producing hubs are connected to cold storage and processing industries. 
Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been constantly involved in setting up new cold chain infrastructure which has both cold storage and processing facilities. The Ministry had announced sanction of 30 Cold Chain Projects in May, 2015. Today Ministry announces sanction of 101 new integrated Cold Chain Projects spread across the country. These projects are for fruits and vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, marine, poultry, ready to eat/ready to cook sectors. 

The Ministry is focusing on creating Cold Chain infrastructure by strategic planning which eventually builds Cold Chain Grid in the entire country. This will help in realizing the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for doubling of farmer’s income. It will also reduce wastage in agri supply chain and will create huge employment opportunities. 
The scheme of Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure provides financial assistance up to Rs. 10 crore for entrepreneurs. 
These 101 new integrated cold chain projects will leverage total investment of Rs. 3100 crore for creation of modern infrastructure for the food processing sector. The total expected grant-in-aid to be released to these projects is Rs. 838 crore. 

The 101 new Cold chain Projects will create additional capacity of 2.76 lakh MT of Cold Storage/Controlled Atmosphere/Frozen Storage, 115 MT per hour of Individual Quick Freezing (IQF) capacity, 56 lakh litres per day of Milk Processing, 210 MT per batch of Blast Freezing and 629 Refrigerated/Insulated vehicles. These Integrated Cold Chain projects will not only provide a big boost to the growth of food processing infrastructure in the concerned states but also help in providing better prices to farmers and is a step towards doubling of farmers’ income. The infrastructure will also reduce wastage of perishables, add value to the agricultural produce and create huge employment opportunities especially in rural areas. 
Creation of above Cold Chain Infrastructure and other necessary infrastructure would go a long way in further expanding and strengthening required food processing infrastructure in the country which shall create short, consistent and compressed supply chains from producers to processors, retailers and exporters and give major boost to fruits and vegetables processing, milk processing and non-horticulture food processing in the country. 

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


10.2. Horticulture exports jump in Apr-Feb 
Business Standard | Apr. 10, 2017 

Mumbai: India is stepping up horticulture (fruit and vegetables) exports with improvements in quality and a focus on a market-specific approach. 
The data compiled by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) show India’s exports of fresh fruit have jumped 20.95 per cent in volumes and 17.4 per cent in value during the period between April 2016 and February 2017. 
This shows a sharp reversal in trends until last year, when importers overseas were monitoring the quality of horticulture products from India. Many buyers in the European Union and West Asia had suspended imports of fruit and vegetables from India on grounds of quality. 
Horticulture has a 10 per cent share in India’s agri and processed food exports recorded by Apeda. 

“India has become quality-conscious. Indian horticulture products like fruit and vegetables were not allowed in a number of countries earlier. For example, grapes and mangoes from India were not exported to the European countries. But, market access has been provided now. Most importantly, Indian exporters are focusing on organic products, which have greater demand overseas and also fetch higher realisations. All these have helped India perform well. Still, India is nowhere near its potential and we can look forward to a big jump in horticulture exports,” said Ajay Sahai, director-general and chief executive officer, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). 

India’s exports of fresh vegetables declined to 699,600 tonnes in 2015-16 from 953,731 tonnes in 2013-14. “We have been working closely with farmers in Maharashtra. We train and help them to adopt the best technologies in cultivating grapes. Over the years, we have been able to build a strong farmer outreach programme, having moved up from 12 growers in 2004-05 to more than 600 today. Each year, we are seeing an increase in the number of farmers approaching us for advice in cultivating exportable grapes,” said Ashok Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer, Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd, an agri arm of Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M). 

The entry of large companies including M&M into the farm-to-fork business has helped grapes exports. India’s fresh grapes exports shot up to 156,218.34 tonnes in 2015-16 from 107,257.81 tonnes in the previous year. “Apart from fresh fruit, India must explore exports of processed horticulture products,” said a senior industry official. 
India’s exports of cereals have declined or witnessed marginal growth with shipments of basmati rice falling by a marginal 3.4 per cent in volumes and over 14 per cent in value in the period between April and February. Exports of non-basmati rice, however, rose by a marginal 2.2 per cent and 4.94 per cent in volume and value terms, respectively. 

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


10.3. Coca-Cola ties up with FSSAI to train 50.000 street food vendors
Livemint | Sounak Mitra & Sakshi Gupta, 27 Mar.2017

Coca-Cola India has tied up with FSSAI to train 50,000 street food vendors over the next three years in food safety, hygiene and waste management

New Delhi: A sector regulator and the companies under its watch aren’t usually partners. The regulator frames the rules and ensures that companies abide by them. But Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), believes companies can join hands with the food regulator in its primary task—ensuring safe food for every Indian.
Towards that end, the local unit of American beverages company Coca-Cola Co. formally signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FSSAI on Monday. Under the agreement, Coca-Cola India will train 50,000 street food vendors, irrespective of items they sell, over the next three years. The vendors will get training on how to prepare safe food, ensure hygiene, and in waste management.

Coca-Cola and FSSAI are now finalizing the curriculum for the training. The field training will start next month in Ludhiana, Punjab. Training retailers is not new for Coca-Cola. It has, in the past 10 years, offered training to about 350,000 retailers in India, but has never trained street food vendors, said Venkatesh Kini, president (India and South West Asia), Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola is not alone. Nestle India Ltd, the local arm of the Swiss packaged food company whose single-largest revenue earner Maggi instant noodles was banned by FSSAI in 2015 for about six months on safety concerns, has recently worked with the regulator to train 700 street food vendors in Goa.
“Besides Nestle and Coca-Cola, we are also working with companies like ITC Ltd, Mondelez India, TetraPak, Jubilant FoodWorks, Yum Brands, among others, for different projects related to nutrition and food safety,” Agarwal said.

While cigarette-to-biscuit maker ITC is working with FSSAI to ensure nutritious food at about 10,000 schools, Mondelez is working on ensuring safe food and nutrition at 40 underprivileged schools in north Delhi besides the points of sale in the retail market, according to the regulator. Like Coca-Cola, for most of the companies, these activities will be part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives.

For the past few months, Agarwal has been vocal about FSSAI’s aim to ensure safe and nutritious food for every Indian. In September last year, it initiated a special programme to promote safe food at all places including homes, schools, offices, eateries and even religious places while commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The regulator had, in January, said it aims to make use of fortified wheat flour, fortified edible oil and double fortified iodized salt mandatory for mid-day meals by December 2019 and in the public distribution system (PDS) by January 2020. Last week, FSSAI said in a statement that all major edible oil makers in India have agreed to add vitamins A and D to make their products fortified within the next three months.
According to the regulator’s estimates, fortification of edible oil with added vitamins A and D will increase manufacturing cost by 10 paise per litre.
The regulator had finalized standards for fortified rice, wheat flour, milk, edible oil and salt in January.

– INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURE


11.1. A record 47,350 kms of PMGSY road constructed in 2016-17 
Press Information Bureau | Apr. 05, 2017

New Delhi: A record 47,350 kms. of PMGSY road was constructed during 2016-17. This is the highest construction of PMGSY roads in a single year, in the last 7 years. While, 25,316 kms. of PMGSY roads were constructed in 2013-14, road construction in 2014-15 was 36,337 kms and in 2015-16, it was 36,449 kms. A release issued by the Ministry of Rural Development states that during the period 2011-14, the average rate of construction of PMGSY roads was 73 kms. per day, which increased to 100 km per day during 2014-15 and 2015-16. For the year 2016-17, a record of 130 kms. per day has been achieved, which is the highest average annual construction rate, in the last 7 years. The release further added that 11,614 habitations were provided connectivity by construction of 47,350 kms. of PMGSY roads during 2016-17 (an average of 32 habitations being provided connectivity every day). In terms of number of habitations connected with PMGSY roads, 11,606 is highest ever in the last 7 years. 

With a view to reduce the “carbon footprint” of rural roads, reduce environmental pollution, increase the working season and bring cost effectiveness, PMGSY is aggressively encouraging use of “Green Technologies” and non-conventional materials like waste plastic, cold mix, geo-textiles, fly-ash, iron and copper slag etc. in rural roads. 4,113.13 kms. of PMGSY roads were constructed using “Green” technologies, in 2016-17. This is substantially higher than 2,634.02 kms. achieved during 2014-2016 and 806.93 kms. achieved during 2000-2014. 

To ensure quality assurance, the field inspections of PMGSY works by National Quality Monitors (NQMs) were increased. 2016-17, witnessed a record no. of 7,597 NQM inspections compared to 6,516 inspections in 2015-16, 5,226 inspections in 2014-15 and 2,977 inspections in 2013-14. Out of 7,597 works inspected only 8.21% works were found to be of “Unsatisfactory” quality in 2015-16. 

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


11.2. Will India’s commercial real-estate market get it REIT?
BusinessLine | 24 Mar.2017

Seen as a big opportunity, with country’s rent-yielding office inventory touching 537 million sq ft, worth $70 billion.

The much awaited Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) listing is inching closer to reality and India has rent- yielding office inventory of 537 million sq ft worth over $70 billion.
According to a joint report by KPMG, Naredco, Hariani & Company and Knight Frank, titled ‘REIT-able Space in India: A Closer Reality’, $121 billion or 1.73 billion sq ft occupied commercial real estate across office, retail and warehouse segments could potentially benefit from the REIT opportunity
According to the report, the Indian real estate market, which is supported by a strong economic growth, a large portfolio of completed commercial real estate projects and a conducive investment climate, offers a big opportunity for REITs.

In the case of office and retail, approximately 537 million sq ft and 75 million sq ft respectively is REIT-able area located in the top seven cities of Mumbai, NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. In the case of warehousing space, the all-India estimate is approximately 1,127 mn sq ft.
Globally, the return on equity traded REIT has bettered that from leading stock markets indices over the past 10 years. The five-year returns for REITs ranged between 7 and 16 per cent globally. With Japanese and Malaysian markets providing returns of 8-10 per cent, expectations from Asian economies are on the rise In Asia, REITs debuted in Japan followed by Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea. Japan and Singapore are the market leaders in Asia for REITs. More than 20 countries now have REITs or a similar structure. Since, its birth in the US close to five decades ago, the REIT market has mushroomed across the globe.

Rajeev Bairathi, ED and Head of Capital Markets, Knight Frank India, said: “While on the one hand, REIT would help developers unlock value from their leased out assets and generate much needed capital, it would also provide a much needed entry and exit vehicle for the global institutional investors looking to invest in non-residential real estate assets in India.”
Ameet Hariani, founding & Managing Partner, Hariani & Company said, “Indian REITs will help to split the bill on real estate investments. Developers divesting through REITs can get in and out of developments quickly. Investors can also make lower-ticket investments in property through REITs. Last year saw a considerable easing up of Indian REIT regulations. It’s time for investors, developers and owners to get in on the REIT action.”


12.1. Indian auto-component aftermarket to touch Rs 75,705 crore ($13 bn) by 2019-20 
IBEF | Mar. 24, 2017 

New Delhi: The Indian automotive component market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.5 per cent, and reach Rs 75,705 crore (US$ 13 billion) by the year 2019-20, according to a study by Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA). The segment has been valued at Rs 56,098 crore (US$ 8.4 billion) in the financial year 2016-17, which comprises of the two and three wheeler segments valued at Rs 12,038 crore (US$ 1.84 billion), passenger cars at Rs 18,970 crore (US$ 2.9 billion), commercial vehicles Rs 19,748 crore (US$ 3.02 billion) and tractors Rs 5,342 crore (US$ 816.54 million). The growth estimates are in sync with the targets of the Automotive Mission Plans 2026, according to which the auto component aftermarket could reach Rs 1.79-2 trillion (US$ 27.36-30.57 billion). 

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


12.2. Brand Akai looking to set up manufacturing facility in India
BusinessLine |, Meenakshi Verma Ambwani, 24 Mar.2017

Consumer durables brand Akai, which re-entered India last year, will look at setting up a manufacturing facility in India in the next three to four years.
The company soft-launched its products last year and is focusing on ramping up its product portfolio and distribution in the country.
It has already launched a range of products, which includes LED TVs, air-conditioners, washing machines and air-purifiers.
These products are currently being made by contract manufacturers. “We want to ensure we have a presence across segments and offer the complete portfolio of consumer electronics products. This is crucial to make a mark in the Indian consumer durables market,” said Anurag Sharma, Director, Akai India.

Sharma’s firm Hometech Digital Pvt Ltd, a Paras Group company, has launched brand Akai in India under a licensing deal with the Japanese company.
“We will be ramping up our AC portfolio by bringing in inverter ACs soon. Besides, we hope to foray in the refrigerator segment by early next year,” he added.
The company has ramped up its distribution in most of the Northern region and is expanding to other States such as Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. It aims to have over 200 distributors and presence in about 2,000-3,000 retail points by the year-end.
“We hope to reach a critical mass and achieve a threshold level by the end of 2018. Once we achieve this, we will look at setting up a manufacturing unit in India,” he added.
The company is also awaiting clarity on the GST framework before it starts scouting for a location for the manufacturing facility.
The company has earmarked investments worth ₹200 crore for the next two years on marketing, developing the distribution and after-sales service network.
“We aim to clock a turnover of over ₹750 crore in the next two years,” Sharma said.


13.1. Pharma stocks take a beating on renewed US FDA scrutiny
Livemint | Isha Trivedi, 21 Mar. 2017

Divi’s Lab and Dr. Reddy’s troubles with US FDA indicate Indian pharma firms face a long and uphill struggle to meet quality standards in world’s largest drug market



Shares of pharma firms, including Dr Reddy’s, Wockhardt, Sun Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, Lupin and Cipla, plunged on Tuesday after the US FDA imposed an import ban on a Divi’s Labs unit in Visakhapatnam. Graphic: Subrata Jana/Mint

Mumbai: The latest regulatory troubles of Divi’s Laboratories Ltd and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd indicate Indian drug makers face a long and uphill struggle to meet quality standards set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US, the world’s largest drug market.
Shares of pharmaceutical companies plunged on Tuesday after the US FDA imposed an import ban on a Divi’s Labs unit in Visakhapatnam.
Television channel CNBC-TV18 also reported that the 13 observations received by Dr. Reddy’s for its Duvvada oncology formulations plant from the US FDA on 8 March contained some repeat warnings from a letter issued in 2015, indicating the company had failed to resolve the issues.
Divi’s Labs stock plunged by the 20% daily limit, while Dr. Reddy’s declined 5% to a new 52-week low. Shares of Wockhardt Ltd fell 2.5%, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd shed 1.1%, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd retreated 1.7%, Lupin Ltd 0.85% and Cipla Ltd 0.5%.

Pharma industry needs to adopt more IT tools to upgrade quality standards
Dr. Reddy’s had completed remediation work and sought FDA re-inspection of all the three plants that were issued warning letters in November 2015. The regulator found lapses at both the Duvvada unit and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) plant at Miryalaguda in Telangana during the re-inspection. The company’s API unit at Srikakulam is likely to go through re-inspection before March-end.
“Even after the remediation work, the plants remain non-compliant. This raises concerns over the ability of Indian pharma companies to overcome such issues. For Divi’s Labs, the kind of lapses that were observed, it is like opening a Pandora’s Box,” said an analyst who did not wish to be named.
The observations at Divi’s Labs unit related to lack of proper controls over computer systems, the research and development division allowing activities inconsistent with manufacturing norms and improper maintenance or falsification of records.
Compliance issues such as these have persisted for the past few years as a number of drug manufacturing units in India were found to be violating good manufacturing practices prescribed by the US regulator.
These issues have eroded earnings and dented the image of Indian drug makers in the global market. In 2016, the BSE Healthcare Index declined 13% after gains of 15% in 2015 and 48% in 2014.

Is Indian pharma finally out of intensive care?
While some facilities such as Cadila Healthcare Ltd’s Moraiya unit, Lupin’s Goa unit, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd’s Ankleshwar unit and Cipla’s Indore unit managed to resolve compliance issues, companies such as Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s, Wockhardt, Divi’s Lab, Ipca Laboratories Ltd, Alkem Laboratories Ltd, and Unichem Laboratories Ltd continue to face regulatory hurdles.
Last week, Sun Pharma said the US FDA had decided to lift an import alert on its Mohali unit in Punjab, which the company inherited from Ranbaxy Laboratories after its acquisition in 2015. However, three other plants, which originally belonged to Ranbaxy, are still under an import ban and Sun Pharma’s own facility at Halol in Gujarat has received a warning letter from the US regulator.
“Investors have become cautious. The scenario is different for different companies. So we need to watch US FDA developments on a case-to-case basis and not generalize it as a trend for the industry,” said Surya Patra, an analyst at PhillipCapital India.
Because of the gravity of the situation, industry lobby group Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance formed a Quality Forum in 2015 to help companies improve quality standards. Leading drug makers have introduced measures such as automation of processes, focused on quality, and deployed information-technology tools to upgrade standards.
“Indian companies have to go through this learning curve and I believe they are learning fast. I think some of the companies will be able to come out of these quality issues in the next two-three quarters but for some, it will take longer,” said Ranjit Kapadia, senior vice-president at Centrum Broking.


13.2. Our biologics business is expected to continue on its strong growth trajectory: Biocon CMD
BusinessLine | Venkatesh Ganesh/K Giriprakash, 24 Mar. 2017

‘In Q3 of 2017, we saw 61% growth in this segment driven by insulins and biosimilar MAbs’

If an investor had invested in Biocon’s stock in March 2016, his returns would have been 230 per cent a year later. India's largest biotechnology company has shown strong performance on the back of growth in biologics and small molecules business, high licencing income and steady growth of its listed subsidiary Syngene. In an interview with BusinessLine, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Biocon’s Chairman and Managing Director shares the company’s growth plans. 

Excerpts:

In the last few quarters, small molecules and biologics business have been growing steadily. What can it be attributed to?

It is due to a combination of factors. The small molecules business reported revenue growth of 24 per cent (to ₹390 crore), led by good business traction in India, Europe, LatAm and NAFTA for statins, immunosuppressants and specialty products. A strong demand for Rosuvastatin API post it getting generic in the US market (the drug is used to treat high cholestrol) as well as the acquisition of new customers for statins and immunosuppressant API’s provided a fillip to the business.

Regarding your recent announcement on Pegfilgrastim, in case it gets approved, in which markets will you get commercialisation rights?

Mylan (which has a partnership with Biocon) has exclusive commercialisation rights for the proposed biosimilar pegfilgrastim in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and in the European Union and European Free Trade Association countries. Biocon has co-exclusive commercialisation rights with Mylan for the product in the rest of the world. The acceptance of our BLA for proposed biosimilar pegfilgrastim for review by USFDA once approved will enable commercialisation of this product in the US market by Mylan.

How does the margins play out considering that Biocon talks about affordable treatment and has partnerships with companies like Mylan?

Biocon and Mylan’s partnership strives for a shared commitment to provide access to high-quality and affordable biologics to patients across the globe. For example, in the third quarter of 2017, we saw robust 61 per cent growth in biologics business driven by both insulins and biosimilar MAbs gaining traction in Japan and key emerging markets. The insulins business grew on the back of an expansion in commercial footprint and increased traction in some of the key emerging markets. We expect our biologics business to continue on its strong growth trajectory as we ramp up sales of our generic insulins and biosimilar MAbs (monoclonal antibodies) through deeper push in existing markets and opening new markets in the medium term. Additionally, the commercialisation of the Malaysia plant is expected to augment our capacities which will enable us to address growing patient needs globally.

Some time ago you launched your pre-filled disposable insulin pen (Glargine). How is it faring?

We launched it in Japan in the second quarter, where it continues to do well with increase in market share. Our recent contract with the Malaysian government to be serviced over a period of three years is to supply rh-insulin cartridges and re-usable insulin pens under the government’s Off-Take Agreement (OTA) initiative. The (Malaysian) government is seeking to encourage local manufacturing of new pharmaceutical products thus lowering the country’s reliance on imports and also enhancing the exports potential. We see several such opportunities.

How many biosimilar drugs are there in the pipeline?

We have 10 biosimilars in the pipeline and their combined market opportunity is $60 billion. The four most advanced biosimilar programs namely, Insulin Glargine, Trastuzumab, Pegfilgrastim and Adalimumab, have an addressable market size of $30 billion globally at 2015 reference product pricing. Biocon has among the largest and most diversified portfolios of biosimilars, spanning monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), generic insulin and insulin analogs and other recombinant proteins. As a front-runner in the global biosimilars race, we will initially expand our footprint in the emerging markets and subsequently in developed markets.


14.1. Being healthy is the new cool, says Pepsico India's Deepika Warrier
Vinay Kamath, BusinessLine | 23 Mar. 2017

Company launches idli, dosa, upma and khichdi ready-to-cook packs with high oats content

Pepsico India has upped its nutrition quotient with the launch of ‘Made in India, for India’ innovations with its Quaker Oats and Tropicana brands. To parlay healthier, nutritious and tastier options, Quaker has ventured into the breakfast space with the launch of the ready-to-cook range of Quaker Nutri Foods, which will churn out oats-infused idlis, dosas, upma and khichdi.
The packaged products contain, apart from oats, dietary fibre, protein and selenium, which helps support the immune function. “The new trend is that health is the new cool and younger consumers are more interested in targeted nutrition. There’s also more awareness of what nutrition really means. Customised offerings are important for them, and so is the morning meal, as they have control over what they can eat while the rest of the day they would be busy at work,” explains Deepika Warrier, Vice-President, Nutrition Category, Pepsico India.

WHO recommendations

Tropicana Essentials is a functional juice platform; its first variant is fruit & veggies, which provides the health benefits of phytonutrients without any added sugar. While WHO, she says, recommends consuming five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, a study found that Indians consume only 3.5 servings. A 200 ml pack of Tropicana Essentials can deliver one serving of fruit and vegetables.
As Warrier explains, given the rushed lifestyles of urban consumers today, there is a need for healthy options in easy-to-adopt formats. “Our focus while creating the new platforms has been to provide solutions to nutritional requirements while ensuring consumers enjoy a great taste experience. The Quaker Nutri Foods range will have up to 40-50 per cent of oats and will be priced starting at ₹40 for a 40 gm pack. Tropicana is priced at ₹30 for a 200 ml pack and ₹75 for a 500 ml pack.


14.2. Amazon to invest US$ 515 million in food retail biz 
Business Standard | Mar. 24, 2017 

New Delhi: Global e-commerce major Amazon is aiming to enter the food retailing sector in India with investment plans of $515 million over the next 5 years. 
Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday confirmed the company’s investment plans while adding that Metro Cash & Carry has also shown interest in food retailing. 
Back in January, Amazon had filed its application with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Online players Grofers and Big Basket also have also submitted FDI proposals regarding retail trading of food items. 

While Amazon is one of the major e-commerce players in India, Grofers and Big Basket are into online grocery space. 
Last year, in June, the government allowed 100 per cent FDI in multi-brand food retail, including through e-commerce. However, the food products have to be produced, processed or manufactured in the country. 
However, while the move has drawn little interest from international retail players so far who have complained that just having “food only” stores was not a viable option. 
Multinationals including Walmart and French retailing major Auchan Group have indicated their interest in investing in the country if the government allows “food plus” in foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, official sources said. While the Food Processing Industries Ministry wants FDI rules to be eased in multi-brand retail and allow food retailers to sell non-food items to the tune of 25 per cent of all shelf products, other ministries including DIPP are examining the matter, a senior government official said. 

On this note, Badal said the government will have to sort out the debate by November, this year when her ministry plans to organise the World Food Festival. 
Of the Rs 30 lakh crore retail pie in India, food constitutes Rs 4 lakh crore. The food processing sector received $5.76 billion in FDI equity inflows from 2010-11 to 2015-16, according to government figures. In the current financial year, till December incoming FDI reached 663.23 million. 
Badal added that the government plans to establish a National Food Grid to boost processing level of farm produce and reduce wastages by compressing gaps in supply chain. For this, a number of mega food parks, as well as cold chain projects are being approved. 

Japanese firms plan Indian units 
A number of Japanese companies have shown interest in setting up units for food processing, an official said. “Japan is keen to source its requirements from India. It already sources 40 per cent of products from abroad,” the official said.

Companies like Ajinomoto, Marubeni Corporation and Calbee are seeking investment opportunities in states. Kagome, the world’s largest producer of tomato-based foods like ketchups, is among these. 

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


15.1. Ola pilot project: Electric cabs across major cities in three months
Livemint | Amrit Raj & Utpal Bhaskar, 27 Mar. 2017

Ola’s move to introduce electric cabs can boost sales of electric cars, which have failed to take off despite attempts to promote them through govt incentives
Mahindra and Ola have a partnership wherein the former will finance vehicles for more than 40,000 of Ola’s drivers by 2018.

New Delhi: ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs cab-hailing service Ola, will shortly introduce fully electric cabs on a pilot basis in major Indian cities.
“There is a lot of focus on electric vehicles. We shall be rolling out electric cabs in top cities in three months,” Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ola, said in an interview.
The move is expected to boost sales of electric cars, which have failed to take off despite attempts to promote them through government incentives. Sales of electric vehicles rose 37.5% to 22,000 units in the year ended 31 March 2016 from 16,000 in 2014-15; only 2,000 of these were cars and other four-wheelers, according to lobby group Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles.

Agarwal said Ola will shortly identify the cities where the pilot project will be launched. Any decision to scale up the rollout of electric vehicles will be taken on the basis of the feedback it receives, he said.
The move comes against the backdrop of SoftBank Group Corp. chairman Masayoshi Son’s statement in December that Ola, in which the Japanese company is an investor, may introduce a fleet of 1 million electric cars in partnership with an electric vehicle maker and the government. Mint reported this on 3 January.
Son met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also shared the idea with him. “He was excited about it,” said Son, who wants to reach the 1 million electric cars target in the next five years. SoftBank has invested up to $500 million in Ola.
Any shift to electric vehicles will help reduce atmospheric pollution and fuel imports. India’s energy import bill is expected to double from around $150 billion to $300 billion by 2030.
The government has been trying to push the sales of electric vehicles for a long time. It has set an ambitious target of selling six million electric vehicles by 2020.

Some manufacturers, with the support of the government, formed a consortium to build an electric vehicle platform and components. But companies such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Ford India Pvt. Ltd pulled out of the consortium leading to its collapse.
Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, which was also a part of the consortium, along with Tata Motors Ltd, has been steadfast in its pursuit of the electric-vehicle market. It already has the E2O and Verito electric vehicles in its portfolio, and plans to build luxury electric cars along the lines of Tesla Inc. under the Pininfarina brand.
But Pawan Goenka, managing director of the Mumbai-based company, said in a recent interview that luxury electric cars wouldn’t boost sales volume in the segment.
“That’s not where the volume will be and that’s not what will make a difference to our country. Difference will come from all taxis becoming electric. Difference will come from Olas and Ubers making only electric vehicles (a part of their fleet). That will make a difference in environment, CO2 (carbon dioxide) emission and pollution,” Goenka said.
To be sure, Mahindra and Ola have a partnership wherein the former will finance vehicles for more than 40,000 of Ola’s drivers by 2018. It also includes offers of discounted Mahindra vehicles, attractive financing with zero down payment and low interest rates, and comprehensive maintenance packages.


15.2. SC bans sale, registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1
BusinessLine | 29 Mar. 2017

Automobile manufacturers have just two days — Thursday and Friday — to clear their stock of BS-III compliant vehicles, with the Supreme Court on Wednesday refusing to extend the March 31 deadline.
The health of the citizen is more important than the commercial interests of the automobile industry, the apex court observed while banning sale and registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1.
“On and from April 1, such vehicles that are not BS-IV compliant shall not be sold in India by any manufacturer or dealer, that is to say that such vehicles, whether two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler or commercial vehicles will not be sold in India by any manufacturer or dealer on and from April 1,” a Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta ordered.
The Court further prohibited all the vehicle registering authorities from registering BS-III vehicles on and from April 1 under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

“All the vehicle registering authorities under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 are prohibited from registering such vehicles on and from April 1, 2017 that do not meet BS-IV emission standards, except on proof that such a vehicle has already been sold on or before March 31,” the Court directed.
When the verdict came for this almost decade-long contentious issue, there was a mixed reaction from the auto industry. While some supported the move, some said the government should give manufacturers some more time to clear the inventory. Some also said that the oil industry should be ready with the BS-IV fuel first.
“Auto industry has been ready with BS-IV manufacturing since 2010. However, the sale of BS-IV vehicles was not possible, nationwide, due to lack of BS-IV fuel. Auto industry is law abiding and is in full compliance with the emission norms set by government that stipulates date of ‘manufacturing’,” said Vinod K Dasari, President, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Running a BS-IV vehicle with BS-III fuel can cause severe problems to some vehicles, Dasari said.

Seek more time

Auto manufacturers had argued that they were entitled by law to manufacture BS-III vehicles till March 31, 2017. They had not violated the law. So, the sale and registration of these vehicles should not be prohibited after April 1 and that they should be given reasonable time to dispose their stocks. They submitted that they were saddled with a stockpile of 8.24 lakh BS-III compliant vehicles.
But the Court did not pay heed to this. The Court, in fact, asked why manufacturers decided to sit back and not take proactive steps despite knowing way back in 2010 that BS-IV norms would kick in by April 2017.
Some of the companies like Maruti that had already started preparing since 2010 will be at an advantage. Tata Motors said it is assessing the impact of the order on its BS III inventory at both the company’s and dealers’ end.

“We have reduced our inventory significantly in the past few months with the aim to minimise our stakeholder losses. However, environmental protection will take precedence over temporary financial benefits,” said Pawan Munjal, Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Hero MotoCorp.
The Supreme Court also observed that SIAM had submitted data on the manufacturing and sale of BS-III vehicles on a monthly basis from January 2016 and told the court that the companies were holding stock of around 8.24 lakh such vehicles, including 96,000 commercial vehicles, over six lakh two-wheelers and around 40,000 three-wheelers.
The Centre too had favoured aloowing companies to sell the existing stock of BS-III vehicles.
However, the Court agreed with the arguments of its amicus curiae, who said that allowing their sale after April 1 would be a cause for “potential health hazard” for millions of people. The Court pointed out that the new fuel was “cleaner” and the oil refineries had spent about ₹30,000 crore since 2010 to produce it.


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


16.1. Indian M&E industry to grow at 13.9% CAGR to reach Rs 2,419.4 billion ($37 bn) by 2021: FICCI-KPMG report 
Economic Times | Mar. 22, 2017 

Mumbai: The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry is projected to grow at a faster pace of 13.9% CAGR over the period 2016–21, with advertising revenue expected to increase at a CAGR of 15.3% according to the FICCI-KPMG Media and Entertainment industry report 2017. 
The report was released by on the inaugural day of the three-day annual media conclave FICCI FRAMES. According to the report, 2016 was a mixed bag for the M&E industry and while the digital ecosystem penetrated further into the citizens’ day-to-day lives and opened up new avenues of consumption and revenue, it was time for introspection for many parts of the industry. 
For instance, television experienced slower growth due to a lacklustre year for subscription revenues, which have faced headwinds owing to continued challenges around digitisation and its intended benefits flowing through the value chain. 

Print, meanwhile, continued to experience a slowdown in growth rates, as English language newspapers continued to be under pressure owing to rising users’ interest in digital content, while films had a disappointing year with a near flat performance. 
Incidentally, led by digital, some of the traditionally smaller sub-segments of the industry registered impressive growth in 2016. Rising internet and broadband penetration, declining data charges, coupled with the proliferation of internet enabled mobile phones, led to data consumption levels increase manifold, driven by offers by the new entrant, Reliance Jio, which were quickly followed by major competitors Idea, Vodafone and Airtel. This phenomenon has led to a sustained advertiser interest in digital, resulting in a strong performance by the sub-segment in 2016. Digital has also positively impacted the relatively smaller sub-segments, such as gaming and music — which registered impressive growth too. 
With OTT platforms continuing to see major traction, digital Video-on-Demand (VOD) and television could see harmonious co-existence for the near future, feeding off each other’s strengths, the report predicts. 

Television sector 
As per the report, Television is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.7 per cent over the next five years as both advertisement and subscription revenues are projected to exhibit strong growth at 14.4 per cent and 14.8 per cent, respectively. The sector had witnessed slower growth in 2016 - at 8.5 per cent - primarily due to a lacklustre year for subscription revenues and a speed bump in advertisement revenue growth The long-term forecast for the segment remains robust due to strong economic fundamentals and rising domestic consumption coupled with the delayed, but inevitable, completion of digitisation. 
The rising share of FTA channels may, however, partially pull down the long-term subscription revenue forecasts, the report said. 

Print media 
Print is projected to continue its growth at 7.3 per cent, largely on the back of continued readership growth in vernacular markets and advertisers’ confidence in the medium, especially in the tier II and tier-III cities. However, rising digital content consumption is perceived to be a long-term risk to the industry. 
Print revenue growth rates continued to register a slowdown, clocking a 7 per cent growth in 2016 as English language newspapers continued to be under pressure. Regional language newspapers though continued to show strong growth. 

Films 
While the film sector had a disappointing year with the growth down to a mere 3 per cent, the report said that this segment is expected to bounce back and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 7.7 per cent, as the revenue streams broaden, driven by the growing depth of regional content, expansion in overseas markets and higher contribution of digital revenue streams.
However, slow growth in screen count, along with inconsistency in content quality would act as the primary limiting factors for the sector. 

Digital advertising 
Digital advertising is expected to grow at a CAGR of 31 per cent to reach Rs 294.5 billion by 2021, contributing 27.3 per cent to the total advertising revenues by that point. 
As digital infrastructure continues to develop and data costs are driven down, digital consumption is likely to become more frequent and more mainstream. The resultant growth in investment by advertisers, supported by evolution of the audience measurement technology, is likely to drive growth over the next five years, predicts the report. 

Animation & VFX 
The animation and Visual Effects (VFX) industry showcased a growth of 16.4 per cent, largely led by a 31 per cent growth in VFX industry, which grew on the back of an increase in outsourcing work and the growing use of VFX in domestic film productions. 
During 2016-21, the segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR of 17.2 per cent, largely led by the continued growth in outsourced services and the swelling use of animation and VFX services in the domestic television and film space, respectively. 

Out of Home 
While the Out of Home (OOH) segment registered a slowdown in growth rate at 7 per cent – primarily due to the impact of demonetisation – long-term indicators remain positive. 
As per the report, the OOH is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11.8 per cent primarily due to development of regional airports, privatisation of railway stations, growth in smart cities, setting up of business and industrial centres, and growing focus on digital OOH. 

Radio 
Radio is expected to grow the fastest amongst the traditional sectors at a CAGR of 16.1 per cent, with operationalisation of new stations in both existing and new cities, introduction of new genres and radio transitioning into a reach medium. 
In 2016, Radio registered a 14.6 per cent growth led by volume enhancements in smaller cities, partial roll out of Batch 1 stations and a marginal increase in effective ad rates. 

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


16.2. Overwhelming response from investors to SME offers in FY17
BusinessLine | 29 Mar. 2017

Fiscal 2016-17 was a bumper year for public offers by small and medium companies. According to data compiled by Prime Database, there were as many as 78 SME IPOs which collected a total of ₹807 crore in FY17, as against 50 IPOs raising ₹311 crore in FY16.
In fact, this is a huge increase from FY12 when there was just one issue which raised ₹7 crore.
An SME IPO last week by Udaipur-based Bohra Industries mopped up more than ₹80 crore, after its offer was subscribed 3.23 times. The issue also saw the first-ever investment by a foreign portfolio investor in an SME IPO.
On the main-board, there were 25 companies going public this year and they collected ₹28,211 crore from the market, almost double that of the ₹14,500 crore raised via this route last year.

Dip in OFS via exchange 
On the whole, 2016-17 witnessed ₹51,288 crore through the public equity markets, 5 per cent higher than ₹48,991 crore that was raised in the preceding year. Including the public bond market, however, the total for the fiscal stood at ₹80,741 crore, down from ₹82,803 crore the previous year.
According to Prime Database, offer-for-sale through stock exchanges, which is for dilution of promoters’ holdings, saw a major decrease from ₹19,822 crore raised last year to just ₹8,390 crore this year. This too was accounted for primarily by the government’s divestment at ₹6,374 crore (76 per cent of the overall amount).

The largest OFS was that of NHPC in April (₹2,735 crore). Meanwhile, already listed companies continued to raise funds from institutional investors through the QIP route, with 22 companies mobilising ₹13,871 crore, a minor fall from the ₹14,358 crore raised in the previous year. The largest QIP of 2016-17 was from YES Bank raising ₹4,907 crore, accounting for 35 per cent of the total qualified institutional placement (QIP) amount.
As for divestments, 2016-17 was the best ever year with ₹40,997 crore being raised by the government, which was 90 per cent of the revised targeted amount of ₹45,500 crore and 73 per cent of the original target of ₹56,500 crore for the year. Buybacks of Nalco, MOIL, NMDC, CIL, and BEL constituted the lion’s share of divestment with proceeds to the tune of ₹15,645 crore.
According to Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, Prime Database, 2017-18 also looks promising, with 13 companies holding SEBI’s approval to raise over ₹9,230 crore and another 10 companies wanting to raise about ₹16,736 crore awaiting SEBI approval.


17.1. Walmart to open half of 50 new stores in UP, U'khand 
Times of India | Mar. 27, 2017

New Delhi: Global retail giant Walmart is looking to locate nearly half of its 50 stores in the country in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as it seeks to ramp up operations in the cash-and-carry segment, while also eyeing food retail if the government eases the norms. 
Sources told TOI that Walmart, which currently has 20 stores across the country, is planning as many stores in the two northern states, where BJP recently swept to power. In addition, the US retailer plans to open 10 stores each in Maharashtra (where it currently operates its 'Best Price outlets in Amravati and Aurangabad), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Walmart is looking at two more stores in Lucknow in addition to Ghaziabad, Noida, Kanpur, Allahabad, Haridwar, Dehradun and Haldwani. With each store providing direct and indirect employment to 2,000-2,500 persons, the company may end up creating over 40,000 jobs in UP and Uttarakhand. 

The sources said that retailer, which parted ways with Bharti a few years ago and had put its store expansion on hold for a while, sees enormous opportunity in UP and Uttarakhand where there is little competition from others (such as Metro AG and Reliance) operating in the cash-and-carry format. Cash-and-carry stores are wholesale outlets, which are only allowed to sell to retailers, canteens and hotels. 
"Our commitment to the country is very deep and we are growing our footprints in India further by opening 50 more cash-and-carry stores in next few years across key focus states, including AP, Telangana, UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra etc. Our development team is growing this store pipeline for last couple of years and we're confident of continuing our contribution to the creation of thousands of skilled jobs, helpings kiranas, farmers & SME suppliers succeed through our cash & carry business," a Walmart India spokesperson said in response to a questionnaire from TOI. 

The 50 new stores will be opened over the next three-to-four years. So far, the company has developed hubs, which are its focus areas. For instance, Punjab, Haryana, UP and Uttarakhand comprise the northern cluster, the second one includes Andhra and Telangana with the third one in Maharashtra. 
Walmart is, however, awaiting clarity on the food retail guidelines as it does not want to limit itself to domestically produced and manufactured food products. With the government looking at relaxing the rules, the Walmart spokesperson said: "As we've said earlier, allowing 100% FDI in food retail is a very progressive step, but having a certain percentage of non-food items in this policy will make it economically viable." 

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

17.2. Future Group to expand affordable fashion retail format 
Economic Times | Mar. 20, 2017 

Kolkata: Future Group plans to open 80 new stores for its affordable fashion format FBB this fiscal to grow the store count which at present is 300, said group CEO Kishore Biyani. 
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Biyani said the retailer plans to sell 23 crore units of garments by next year March and expects it to grow to 80 crore units by 2021. "Next fiscal, we are targeting Rs 10,000 crore sales from fashion and we expect much of it will be driven from Kolkata," he said. 
Biyani said he expects prices at FBB will plunge by 3-5% every year as the retailer gains scale in operations and backend. He said around 40% of the group's revenue is driven by fashion. 

Future Group launched its largest FBB store in Kolkata. The group is on an expansion spree in Kolkata and soon plans to set up a Central store over 1.5 lakh square feet in Rajarhat. Future Supply Chain Solutions has also just set up an integrated apparels and general merchandise distribution centre at Burdwan, near Kolkata. This will serve all the Big Bazaar and FBB stores located in West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and North Eastern States. The facility is spread over 2.6 lakh square feet. 
Biyani said the new distribution center at Burdwan will enable the group to reduce complexity, increase productivity and offer better services to customers in the Eastern region. "Our aim has always been to come up with better processes and technology that enables us to operate seamlessly," he said.

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


18.1. Eveready looking beyond batteries to boost growth
Livemint | Soumya Gupta, 5 April 2017

Eveready is restructuring packet tea vertical and has launched home and kitchen appliances, even as sales from lighting business have doubled

Mumbai: Eveready Industries India Ltd is betting on its lighting business to try and make the company less dependent on its century-old battery division.
Eveready Industries managing director Amritanshu Khaitan said sales from the lighting division have doubled. The quintessential battery maker—famous for its tagline “Give Me Red”—is restructuring its packet tea vertical and has launched home and kitchen appliances, including fans, cooking stoves, and water heaters last year. Last month, the company announced it will sell air purifiers.
“A brand that is 110 years old needs to keep doing initiatives to remain young,” Khaitan said in a phone interview. “A new category like air purifiers may not contribute a lot to turnover but it will help extend the brand.”

Eveready has been trying to reduce its dependence on its mainstay battery business, that contributes Rs800 crore, or 60%, to the firm’s top line.
“We have a 50% share in the batteries market, but the total market is small, only Rs1,500 crore,” Khaitan said. “With lighting, fans and kitchen appliances, we are addressing a nearly Rs25,000-crore market.”
Khaitan said these segments are expected to grow 10-15% per year.
Eveready reported Rs1,323 crore revenue in FY16 and its current market capitalization is Rs1,977 crore. In Q3 of FY17, Eveready reported a year-on-year revenue growth of 6.3% to Rs344.7 crore and a 20.3% rise in profit before tax to Rs28.55 crore.
Eveready’s lighting business doubled from Rs150 crore in 2014-15 to Rs300 crore in 2016-17, and Khaitan expects it to bring in Rs500 crore in the next two years.

“We are a single brand company so the amount we need to invest in brand building in a new segment is relatively much lower,” Khaitan said. “A case in point is lighting. With our brand campaigns in the LED space, we have managed to break into the top 3 with limited expense as compared to a new entrant like Syska which would have spent 3-4 times our budget.”
Khaitan said Eveready spent Rs25-30 crore in marketing its line of LED bulbs, nearly half its total allocated budget for advertising and promotion.
“We are using 50,000 electrical (goods) outlets from our existing battery network that goes deep down in rural India, reaching villages of even 5,000 population,” Khaitan said. “That gives us a competitive edge. In the past 18 months, we have added another 25,000 outlets in more urban markets.”
Khaitan said the company will expand its lighting business with luminaires—light fixtures with a body and a bulb socket—and with LED-based tube-lights.

Analysts said although Eveready is making the right moves, it might find growth in the lighting business challenging. “Eveready is a good brand and it has introduced luminaires in its lighting vertical, which is a high-margin business”, said an analyst, requesting anonymity. “Eveready has also been shifting from plain vanilla bulbs to LED,” he added.
“However, sales from CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs are falling as the country shifts to LED. With more competition and increased commoditization, margins in the LED business are also falling,” the analyst added. “LED sales may not be enough to compensate for Eveready’s fall in revenue from CFLs.”
Meanwhile, Eveready is also pushing growth in its small appliances business. Along with lighting, the company is now investing in marketing the appliances business.
“In the current year, we have plans to promote both lighting and appliances business,” Khaitan said. “Our TVCs (television commercials) will be for lighting and will be pan-India. But with appliances, we will focus on selected print media ads that target the north and the east to communicate our entry into this segment.”
While bulbs and lighting have found a ready distribution network in Eveready’s existing batteries business, the company is building a network for appliances from scratch.

“We are building a completely new network with an entirely new sales team,” Khaitan said. “We found the DNA for appliances does not go with an FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) distribution network.”
Eveready is currently sourcing its appliances in equal volume from vendors in China and India, marketing them under its brand name. Khaitan said the firm does not plan to manufacture appliances on its own until it can identify a product category that is growing rapidly.
Appliances will be crucial in driving the company’s growth over the next two years, a report by Karvy Stock Broking said in January. The firm has found traction in the “northern and eastern parts of India where kitchen and heating appliances have taken off well along with ceiling fans”, the report said. The report added Eveready will focus on building a dealership network for appliances in southern India, moving away from the northern and eastern Indian markets where it dominates.


18.2. Flying high: Air India sees bookings to US double after laptop ban
BusinessLine | Varun Aggarwal, 3 Apr. 2017

The laptop ban on certain flights to the US, especially from Gulf ports such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is turning into a big boon for national carrier Air India.
According to Air India sources, bookings to the US have doubled from 150 a day to 300 in the two weeks since the ban was announced.
The hardest hit from the ban is Dubai-based Emirates airline, which is trying to ensure that passengers are able to use their laptops till the boarding gate.
Air India has also been able to take advantage of the situation by increasing fares by about ₹10,000 on an average.

The US-bound flights are also the most profitable ones for the airline with high occupancy and significant returns. For example, operating a flight from Delhi to San Francisco and back costs Air India about ₹1.8 crore while the airline earns ₹2-2.5 crore.
Air India in fiscal 2017 earned over ₹3,200 crore from the US operations alone, growing at about 17 per cent year-over-year, out of its overall revenues of ₹16,200 crore from flight tickets across the globe. With the ban coming into place, the airline expects the revenue to grow much faster as it is seeing several business travelers from the Gulf coming to India to fly to the US.
Air India flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi are already running at over 83 per cent capacity as against less than 75 per cent capacity before the ban.
“The US is definitely one of the most profitable sectors for us. The laptop ban will surely help us grow further on the route as business travelers who are spending 14-17 hours on a flight need to work on their laptops. We would be adding more connections to the US in the next one year,” Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India, told BusinessLine.


19.1. Vodafone-Idea team takes No 1 spot; to battle Airtel, RJio
BusinessLine | 20 Mar.2017


Video: Idea, Vodafone announce merger
Battle lines for a new round of telecom wars have been redrawn with Vodafone and Idea Cellular announcing a merger to create the largest mobile operator in the country, with a net worth of ₹1.5 lakh crore.
The merged entity will not only be the largest telecom operator in terms of subscriber base, it will be the biggest in terms of revenue as well as spectrum holding.
It will have nearly 400 million customers, 35 per cent customer market share and 41 per cent revenue market share, trumping market leader Bharti Airtel. The two operators on their own were struggling to keep pace with the investments made by Airtel and new entrant Reliance Jio.
For consumers, the consolidation would mean more tariff wars as the industry settles down to five large players: Vodafone-Idea, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, RCom-Aircel-Sistema and BSNL–MTNL.

Long-drawn affair 
The Vodafone-Idea deal will be done in two phases spread over five years. In the first phase, Vodafone will become a 50 per cent shareholder in the merged entity. Aditya Birla group will hold 21 per cent, while Malaysian investor in Idea Cellular, Axiata, will hold 10 per cent and the public, 19 per cent. The Birla group will then purchase a 4.9 per cent stake from Vodafone for ₹ 3,874 crore, at ₹110 a share. This will increase the Birla stake to 25.9 per cent, while Vodafone will hold 45.1 per cent.
In the second phase, the Birla group will have the right to acquire an additional 9.5 per cent stake from Vodafone, at ₹130 a share. If this option is exercised, both Vodafone and Birla group will own 35.5 per cent each.
If the Birla group does not buy the additional stake, Vodafone will sell the stake to a third party to bring its stake at par with that of the Birla group.

Awaiting approvals 
The first phase is expected to be completed by 2018 with all regulatory approvals in place and the second phase by 2022. In the interim, Vodafone will give up part of its voting rights to ensure equal representation on the board from day one. Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the Chairman of the merged entity. While the post of CEO and COO will be decided jointly, Vodafone will get to pick the CFO.
Idea will contribute all of its assets, including its standalone towers and its 11.15 per cent stake in Indus Towers. Vodafone India will include its standalone towers but exclude its 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers.
The agreed merger ratio implies an enterprise value for Vodafone India of ₹82,800 crore and an enterprise value for Idea’s mobile business of ₹72,200 crore. The merged entity will subsume Idea’s net debt of ₹52,700 crore as on December 31, 2016, and Vodafone’s debt of ₹55,200 crore.
According to the companies, the merger will help them save $2.1 billion through operational synergies and efficient staffing.
The transaction faces many regulatory challenges and will take almost a year to conclude. The merged operator will breach the spectrum holding cap in five circles in the 900 MHz band and two in the 2500 MHz band, and likely breach the revenue market share cap of 50 per cent in 6 circles.

RJio effect 
RJio has launched an audacious plan to eat into incumbent operators’ market share through cheaper data tariffs and free voice calls for life. This has forced rivals to dramatically slash tariffs. Harsh Jagnani, VP - Sector Head, ICRA Ltd, said, “Pressure created by RJio’s launch and the subsequent pricing competition has pushed the telecom industry to consolidation. The merged telco should also benefit from operational synergies, which will allow it to curtail some expenses.”
Mayuresh Joshi, Fund Manager, Angel Broking, said: “With data pricing still competitive and operators fighting to regain subscriber and revenue market share, pricing pressures will continue.”


19.2. Airtel to buy Tikona's 4G business for Rs1,600 crore ($ 245 Million) 
Livemint | Mar. 24, 2017 

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel Ltd has agreed to buy Tikona Digital Networks Pvt. Ltd’s 4G business, including its broadband wireless access spectrum and 350 cellular sites in five telecom circles, the country’s largest telecom operator said on Thursday. 
The deal size is “approximately Rs1,600 crore”, Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing Mint had on 18 March first reported that the Bharti-Tikona transaction could be in the range of Rs800-1,000 crore. Tikona has some debt on its books, which Bharti Airtel will assume, so the overall deal value is close to Rs1,500-1,700 crore, the report said. 
“Tikona currently has 20MHz spectrum in the 2300 MHz band in Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh circles. Airtel plans to roll out high-speed 4G services on the newly acquired spectrum in the five circles immediately after the closure of the transaction,” Bharti Airtel said. 

According to the agreement, the acquisition of the 4G business in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and Himachal Pradesh will be undertaken by Airtel, while in the Rajasthan circle, it will be accomplished through its subsidiary, Bharti Hexacom Ltd, the statement said. 
The deal would be another step in the process of consolidation set off by the aggressive pricing strategy of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, which entered the market in September. Tikona bought 20 MHz of 4G airwaves in the 2300 MHz band in the 2010 auctions in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, UP (East), UP (West) and Rajasthan for Rs1,058 crore. 
Bharti Airtel has limited 4G airwaves in the 2300 MHz band in circles where Tikona, a Mumbai-based network solutions provider, holds spectrum. For example, in UP (East), UP (West) and Rajasthan, it has no airwaves in the 2300 MHz band. In Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, it has 10 MHz each. 

“The proposed acquisition will enable Airtel to fill BWA spectrum gaps in the 2300 MHz band in Rajasthan, UP (East) and UP (West), thereby securing a pan-India footprint in the band. The deal will significantly bolster Airtel’s spectrum position in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, taking its overall BWA spectrum holding to 30 MHz each in these circles,” the statement said. 
On completion of the transaction, Airtel will have 30 MHz in the 2300 MHz band in 13 circles, giving it a tremendous advantage in handling the surging data demand, it added. 
The move comes less than a month after Airtel said it would acquire the Indian operations of Norway’s Telenor ASA to strengthen its presence in the 1800 MHz band. The transaction gave it access to 44 million customers (increasing its user base to 307 million), 43.4 MHz of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band and 20,000 base stations. 

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


20.1. Shell opens technology hub in Bengaluru
BusinessLine | Anil Urs, 1 Mar.2017

Shell on Friday opened its new major technology hub in Bengaluru - a 52 acre, custom built technology centre - that can house up to 1,500 experts, who would collaboratively work on worldwide innovative energy projects.

The Bangalore Shell Technology Centre is one of the three main technology hubs in Shell’s global network of R&D centres, with the other two located in the Netherlands and the USA. 
The new centre houses a variety of technical experts, laboratories and technology demonstration units. It is home to a wide spectrum of technical disciplines and has specific expertise in fields such as liquefied natural gas, subsurface modeling, data analysis, engineering design, bitumen, distillation, water technology and enhanced computational research.
The centre is also helping pioneer efforts - using its IH2 (waste to fuel) technology - to turn forestry, agricultural and municipal waste into transportation fuels, with a new demonstration plant being built at the site.
The facility was opened by Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, along with Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador of Netherlands to India, R V Deshpande, Karnataka Minister for Industries, and Krishna Byregowda, Karnataka Minister for Agriculture.

Speaking on the occasion, Dharmendra Pradhan said: “India has an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the world's incremental energy needs in the years ahead. Shell is developing a waste to fuel technology called IH2 at the Technology Centre in Bengaluru that takes only a few minutes to achieve what nature requires a million years to do. This IH2 technology can be one of the game changers that can make my country a net exporter of energy. 1500 young scientists of Indian origin who will work at the Shell Technology Centre Bengaluru are India's contribution to meeting the world's energy requirement.”

Harry Brekelmans, Shell’s Projects & Technology Director, present at the centre’s inauguration said: “Innovation and technology are vital to providing more and cleaner energy solutions for a growing world population. We consider R&D a fundamental part of Shell’s past and future success. Therefore, we continue to invest in people, projects and facilities, such as this high-tech hub Successful innovation, however, is more than just making balanced investments. Collaboration across different disciplines and with other sectors externally is a key enabler of successful innovation. And collaboration is essential to meet our biggest challenge: timely development and deployment of the best and affordable energy solutions, for today and for the future as the world transitions to a low carbon energy system. Our new Bangalore technology hub brings together the right people in a city that is synonymous with innovation.”


20.2. OMCs to invest ~90,000 cr ($13,9 bn) on fuel upgrade 
Business Standard | Apr. 03, 2017 

Bhubaneswar: Oil marketing companies (OMCs) will be investing Rs 90,000 crore by 2020 on fuel upgradation programme. 
“The oil companies have spent more than Rs 28,000 crore after 2010 which is in addition to Rs 35,000 crore that was already spent till 2010. They will further spend Rs 28,000 crore by 2020 for meeting the BS-VI specifications which will take the total investment to Rs 90,000 crore only on fuel upgradation programme itself," said K D Tripathi, secretary, ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas at the launching of BS-IV grade fuels across the country. 

“Our fuel quality standards have been gradually tightened since the mid 90’s. Investing on fuel quality improvement was critical to the success of the vehicular emissions programme. Our refineries have achieved the target with the introduction of advanced technologies with significant capital expenditure”, he added. It may be noted that the fuel upgradation programme took off with the notification of vehicular emission norms for new vehicles in 1991. BS 2000 (Bharat Stage 1) vehicle emission norms were introduced for new vehicles from April 2000 and this was followed by BS-II emission norms for new cars in Delhi from 2000 and extended to the other metros in 2001. BS- III was implemented in phases during 2005-2010. The current BS-IV fuel with 50 ppm sulphur was introduced in year and today, it covered the entire country. 

However, the government, in 2016, has decided to meet the international best practices to leapfrog directly to BS-VI norms by skipping BS-V altogether by April 1, 2020. 
There are about 23 oil refineries in India with a combined capacity of 230 million tonnes per annum. “Today, we begin a new era of clean transportation fuels that will benefit 1.25 billion citizens of our country by substantially reducing pollution levels in our cities," Dharmendra Pradhan, minister of state for Petroleum and Natural Gas said. 
He also complimented the OMCs- Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) for working in unison to launch the BS-IV grade fuels as per the schedule.

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. What is the fix for India?
Livemint | V. Anantha Nageswaran, 20 Mar.2017

India’s political leaders should reflect on what Mexico’s equally fractious political system managed to achieve and on whether they have it in them to emulate them

One of the good things about the recently concluded elections to five state assemblies is not the decisive victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh. In general, leaders do not take risks to do the right things from a position of strength and the BJP is strong now. They do so from a position of weakness, when their backs are to the wall.
But what is decisively good, as several have noted already, is that the people of Punjab looked into the abyss and turned back. They did not choose to empower a political party that sought to play the game of radicalism and schisms in a sensitive border state. The challenge for the national parties that have won in the five states—the Congress came close to forming the government in Goa and Manipur—is to use the mandate to advance the national agenda. Are they up to it?

Well, it happened in Mexico between 2012 and 2014 after its current president got elected. This and a few other interesting stories are featured in “The Fix”, a collection of leadership achievements from around the world, chosen and narrated by Jonathan Tepperman, editor of Foreign Affairs.
It so happens that the selection by Tepperman features only male leaders. The chosen leadership interventions—“pushing those in charge to set aside ordinary politics and conventional policymaking and to think big”—had come in crises. That has always been the case and it is universal.
India had a similar opportunity in 2014 but leaders in the BJP did not think that they had inherited an economic crisis. Inexplicable economic growth numbers, including upward revisions for UPA (United Progressive Alliance) years, have diluted the sense of crisis and the urgency of addressing it. Other countries were luckier. Their leaders grabbed the opportunity.

One of the remarkable stories is that of the “pact” that the Mexican political leadership achieved, paving the way for unprecedented legislative reforms in a wide range of areas. The NITI Aayog that organized a couple of lectures as part of its Transforming India series for government leaders should invite the current president of Mexico for the third lecture.
Charismatic Enrique Peña Nieto belonged to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which had ruled Mexico for a very long time before ceding power to the opposition and had made a comeback in 2012 with a narrow margin of victory. All the political parties realized that they had to do something to change the script of mindless confrontation. Interestingly, PRI had to prove that it had learnt its lessons from the wilderness it had endured for 12 years from 2000 to 2012 and the opposition parties felt that they had to recapture the confidence of the people so that they could be trusted to govern again, if the need arose. What followed was extraordinary.

They met on a daily basis for about six months or so from July 2012 and negotiated a “pact” of legislative and other policy reforms that they could agree on. It was not smooth sailing all the way through. Many in the opposition accused the negotiators of selling out. Some suspected the good faith of the ruling party that had a bad history of governance in its 71 years in office up to the year 2000. But, even as the circle of participating individuals in the negotiations expanded, the talks remained confidential. That lent credibility to the process. Then, the president announced the negotiations and the conclusion of the “pact” in December 2012.
In the next year and a half, the country proceeded to announce some “eighty-five far-reaching changes (generally with 80% legislative support) in several areas such as education, banking, anti-trust and elections as well as to the criminal code and transparency standards; they even increased tariffs on junk food to fight Mexico’s fast-growing diabetes epidemic”. There was no sequencing of needed changes. They were pursued in parallel.

It was not as though the process was not in danger of being derailed. The president proved equal to the task at least on two occasions. They bear the stamp of a leader who could transcend his own party pressures and, more importantly, his and others’ egos. First, he announced policy changes in areas that were the priorities of the opposition before that of his own party. Second, when the opposition alleged foul play by the ruling party in a local election somewhere, the president cancelled a scheduled press conference, fired those responsible and then did something more. He “attached a provision drafted by the opposition PAN (National Action Party) to the pact that reinforced political reforms by extending term limits; created a new, more powerful election monitor and imposed stricter rules on campaigns”.
In the last two years, Mexico has been buffeted by a crash in the global price of crude oil and other scandals have marred the presidency. But the legislative changes remain and will help Mexico shine when favourable conditions return. In the meantime, India’s political leaders—not just in the ruling party—should reflect on what Mexico’s equally fractious political system managed to achieve and on whether they have it in them to emulate them. They do not have to look too far for an opportunity to demonstrate their maturity. The issue of how to extricate the Indian banking system from the crisis of non-performing loans is the best place to start. Nation over the next election. The choice is clear.


21.2. The cost of bad governance
BusinessLine | J Mulraj, 7 Apr. 2017

In the 1980s, India and China were nearly at the same level of per capita GDP. Between then and now, China’s GDP has jumped to over five times that of India’s. Thanks to this and allied factors, China has gained greater clout than India on the global stage and a larger budget for military expenditure.
The main reason for this state of affairs is the abysmal governance of the then government (Congress, for the most part), which lived in the past instead of preparing for the future. Some examples.
India had a Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices Act (MRTP) which was abolished only in 1970 and which stunted the growth of Indian companies, which were, in comparison to global peers, pigmies. Other countries, meanwhile, were encouraging the growth of their own companies. Apple Inc was set up just six years later and is, today, the most valuable company in the world, with a market cap of $761 billion.
In 1990, VP Singh’s government introduced the Mandal Report, reserving 27 per cent of government jobs for backward classes. Demand for being termed backward, to gain a reservation quote, continues till today, and time which could be used to find ways to enlarge the job pie is spent trying to divide a shrinking pie. What were other countries doing? Amazon was set up four years later, in 1994, and is today a world leader with a value of $421 billion.

The growth of Indian companies was also stunted by restrictions placed on their ability to price their shares according to the market. India had a Controller of Capital Issues, which used an antiquated formula to determine the price of shares during an IPO which was ludicrously low. CCI was abolished only after SEBI was established, in 1992 due to the crisis caused by the foolish remark that the ‘coffers were empty’.
Meanwhile, six years later, Google was born and is the leading search engine, with a valuation of $431 billion.
Add up the value of these three companies and you get $1.6 trillion, just short of India’s GDP of $1.8 trillion. Whilst India was messing up its economic life, the world went ahead, creating world-class companies, products and jobs.
This government thus has the unenviable task of cleaning 70 years of dust accumulated under the carpet. It has taken several good decisions and needs to do lots more. We also need to keep a proper perspective and not become complacent.

Good, but long way to go
For example, the government has announced an ambitious and commendable target of 60 per cent of our energy needs coming from renewable sources. The news of an addition of 5.5 GW of solar capacity last year, the highest ever, was celebratory, as it ought to be. But, when juxtaposed with the 34.5 GW added by China, we have a long way to go and can’t become complacent. We would not have been so far behind had we embarked earlier on economic reforms, rather than living in the past and devoting time on those issues.

Clean Ganga project
Even when we have planned resources for a good cause and allocated resources for it, things don’t get done. The ambitious $3-billion project to clean up the Ganga is stuck, and most of the money unspent, because of poor follow up.
(The writer is India Head, Euromoney Conferences. The views are personal.)


22.1. 100 cities, million opportunities
BusinessLine | Muthukumar K. 1 Par. 2017



The Centre’s Smart City Mission means big business for companies in the housing, energy and transport segments. We shortlist likely winners
“The future of India lies in its villages,” said Mahatma Gandhi. Self-reliant villages formed a sound basis for just, equitable and non-violent order, he believed. Decades later, his ardent follower Narendra Modi thinks otherwise. He is pinning hopes on building a better India through ‘smarter’ urban cities.
About 25-30 people are expected to migrate every minute from the rural areas to the cities in search of better livelihood and lifestyles. By 2050, about 843 million people are expected to reside in the urban areas — accounting for about 50 per cent of the overall population.
The Smart City Mission of the Centre is part of the overall game plan to accommodate the massive urbanisation that is expected in the future — by modernising the existing mid-sized cities.

What is a smart city?
‘Smart City’ is a relatively new concept. While there is no specific way to define it, the most popular is from Frost and Sullivan. The research and consulting company defines Smart Cities as those built on smart and intelligent solutions and technology that lead to at least five of the following smart objectives — smart energy, smart building, smart mobility, smart healthcare, smart infrastructure, smart technology, smart governance, smart education and smart citizen.
Smart energy, for instance, could be introduced using digital technology for optimal management of demand-supply situations or theft detection. Smart building, in turn, controls aspects such as lighting and temperature in an energy-efficient way through automated infrastructure.
As recently as in 2011, there were no smart cities in the world. However, there will be 26 of them by 2026, according to Frost and Sullivan estimates. Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney and Amsterdam will be among them, while there will be none from India. Yes, you read it right, none.
Indian cities have got a long way to go before they qualify as ‘Smart Cities’; may be another 15-20 years. The Indian government’s Smart City Mission (SCM), which is essentially a five-year game plan, is actually just one baby step towards forming Smart Cities in the real sense.
However, the good news is that the SCM is already gathering steam. Round 3 of the “competition”, as it is called — which recently invited proposals from various cities – will soon short-list 40 more cities,taking the overall tally to 100 cities.

Investment boom
The Centre proposes to develop 100 smart cities over the next five years with overall budgetary plan of about ₹1,00,000 crore. It will be investing ₹100 crore every year for the next five years in each of the short-listed 100 cities.
Additionally, it will spend nearly ₹50,000 crore under the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme over the next five years.
Its investments — which are just the tip of the iceberg — will be routed through special purpose vehicles (SPV), floated in each of these cities. On an average, it currently holds about 20 per cent in such SPVs, for the 60 short-listed cities.
Another 80 per cent of funding will come from the State government, PPP (Public Private Partnership), existing Central or State schemes, loans and other sources. In all, about ₹5,00,000 crore of project investments is expected from SCM, according to Jones Lang Lasalle — opening a door of big opportunity for the private sector.
Most of the projects, about 85 per cent, are area-centred projects. They focus on local area issues instead of implementing it throughout the city. As per the Ministry of Urban Development, ₹1,30,000 crore worth of projects have been awarded and are invarious stages of implementation.
A cursory look at the project plans of 60 cities shows that the plan content varies drastically with the needs of cities. For instance, in Ahmedabad, it’s largely about township development, while NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) fixes the niggling power issues. While Pune focusses on transport, Raipur looks toward developing local market.
Moreover, while some are greenfield projects, others are retrofits. However, there is some method in the madness. Basic amenities such as housing, water, electricity, transport as well as infrastructure remain the major focus. For the sake of analysis, we will classify projects into housing, transport, energy, technology & infrastructure and water & waste management.
For the benefit of investors, we have looked at the nature of SCM projects in major cities and identified listed entities that could benefit from it.

Housing
Housing is the biggest opportunity emanating from SCM. For cities of Surat, Ahmedabad, Thane, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Bhubaneshwar, it is the single largest project. However, the nature of projects differs. While in places like Surat, the focus is on affordable housing, in Indore, it is about slum redevelopment.
The relatively better-off cities of Ahmedabad and Thane focus more on township development to accommodate more people into the city. In Chandigarh, it’s a mixed bag with about ₹4,000 crore going towards property development — residential, office, retail and hospitality.
With 40 more cities expected to get qualified for Smart City funding, the opportunity for residential housing is huge. Moreover, improved urbanisation will result in more people moving into the city, triggering demand for more houses.
Moreover, the ‘satellite towns’ around these Smart Cities will be a good opportunity to develop affordable housing. With the recent Budget doling out ‘infrastructure status’ to affordable housing projects, many real estate players are jumping on the bandwagon.
Godrej Properties is our preferred choice in this segment. It has pan-India presence and has developed properties in many of the Smart Cities, including Ahmedabad, Kalyan-Dombivali and Thane.
Moreover, it is looking at affordable housing projects, which could benefit from SCM initiatives. Not the least, with a reputed brand name and good execution skills, it has the capability to bag key SCM projects.

Energy
Many of the cities have taken up energy-based projects in a big way to address power shortages. NDMC is looking at spending about ₹1,500 crore in building smart grid for efficient energy management. It is also investing into alternate energy by building 40-MW solar power plants at a cost of ₹430 crore.
Belagavi (erstwhile Belgaum) is also betting big on alternative energy. It is investing about ₹200 crore each into solar rooftop panelling and wind power generation to generate power of 30 MW each.
It also plans to lay underground cables worth ₹300 crore and install smart meters to ensure two-way communication between the meter and the central system — for efficient monitoring and billing. About 131 million smart meters are to be installed across the country by 2021, according to Government estimates.
Many of the cities, including Raipur, are installing SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), which will gather data in real time from remote locations to enable central control of equipment and monitoring of conditions. Relatively better-off Chennai is looking at cutting power costs by installing street light monitoring system (worth ₹250 crore) across the city.

Siemens and Honeywell Automation are our recommended bets in the energy space. Siemens is a global player in building smart cities over the last 10 years, with New York and Vienna being prime examples. It has already floated a consortium with global technology vendors to bid for Smart City projects in India. Moreover, it is business as usual for the company. Under the R-APDRP (Restructured-Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme) of the Government of India, Siemens has been installing Smart Grid solutions in several cities in India for many years now.

Honeywell Automation, which globally earns half of its revenue from energy-efficient products and related activities, is another player that is expected to benefit from SCM projects relating to energy. Opportunities in energy are diverse — from service and asset management, software development and installation of equipment. These two players, with diverse experience, are better poised to bag the opportunity.

Transport
Transport is another big focus area for many cities, including Pune, Raipur, Thane and Great Warangal. SCM projects relating to transport broadly address issues of high travel demand, last-mile connectivity, traffic management and transit. Investments into development of back-bone infrastructure and transport systems are also common.
Pune is looking at faster transit by investing ₹210 crore into BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), while another ₹500 crore goes towards developing back-bone infrastructure. It is investing heavily towards roads and road widening as well as into buying of 100 electric buses.
Thane, on the other hand, is looking at launching a new railway station, improving road junctions as well as providing multi-modal facilities at various junctions in the city. Great Warangal, in turn, is looking at redevelopment of state bus stands and multi-level parking.
Also, to reduce the carbon footprint, many cities are introducing electric rickshaws (e-rickshaws). As against the regular autorickshaws that run on CNG or petrol, e-rickshaws will be powered by batteries charged from solar power.
Also, the focus is to manage high travel demand by promoting non-motorised transport (NMT) by making footpaths and spaces for riding bicycles. Coimbatore, for instance, is investing ₹50 crore in the bicycle sharing system. Chennai and Bhubaneshwar are investing heavily into intelligent traffic management system. This will monitor and regulate traffic on a real-time basis using video surveillance and incidence management and simulations.
Some of the offbeat beneficiaries of this could be the bicycle manufacturers. In Singapore, already, people cycle their way to nearby railway stations and neighbourhood centres, which is the way forward for aspiring Smart Cities. Players such as Atlas Cycles and Tube Investments are well-entrenched in the bicycle market.

Water and Waste management
Smart waste management could be classified as that relating to waste handling, its sorting and segregation, transportation and its disposal. Sensor-based collection, for instance, helps identify the status of bins and optimise pick-up routes and schedules. Automated waste collection systems, in turn, reduce the need for manpower.
Indian cities going the smart way are focussing either on waste handling or its intelligent transportation. Lucknow, for instance, is spending about ₹300 crore towards sewerage lines while Bhagalpur invests another ₹120 crore towards building an underground sewerage system. Many others are going for RFID tagging of waste collection vehicles while cities such as Kanpur are spending a little bit on building public toilets.
In the case of water, SCM project opportunities could be from building water sources, its storage and purification, distribution and its discharge & treatment. Smart water metersinstalled at the consumer level will help detect usage levels and price it according to the extent of usage. A ghost pipe detection systemwill detect theft.
NDMC is spending about ₹200 crore towards water and waste-water management, while Kanpur is investing ₹70 crore towards water metering and strengthening of its existing water supply network.
Many of the smart cities are also building infrastructure to manage storm water, rain water harvesting as well as lake rejuvenation. Thane, for instance, is spending ₹240 crore towards lake and waterfront development, while Faridabad is spending ₹45 towards revitalising its Badkhal lake.
Thermax, which provides water and waste-water treatment plants including recycling, is expected to be a major beneficiary from the above mentioned projects. VA Tech Wabag, a market leader in water treatment solutions in industrial water, desalination as well as waste and drinking water, is another of our favourites.

Technology and Infrastructure
ICT (information and communications technology) plays a critical role in the building of Smart cities. According to Nasscom estimates, anywhere from 10 to 15 per cent of the total project investments or about $30-40 billion is the opportunity for software companies over the next five years.
For instance, in the case of citizen services, technology plays an integral role by providing access to online citizen engagement and participatory process. Provision of Wi-Fi services at public places and online service delivery are other ways. Moreover, ICT plays a key role in improving city governance by building city command and operations centres. Many of the cities have lined up huge investments in this space.
Since software development is crucial for remotely controlling water and power systems, NIIT Technologies is our favourite in this space with its specialities in digital analytics and infrastructure management services. It recently launched ‘geodesign’ , a Geographic Information System framework for planning smart cities in India. For more details on NIIT Technologies, see ‘Firm Calls’ page.
Jabalpur and many other cities are looking at significant investment in optic-fibre cable. Electricity companies also extensively use optical fibre cables for monitoring and control purposes. Sterlite Technologies, which has a 40 per cent market share in the domestic optic fibre/cable space, is expected to benefit from such projects.
Infrastructure is another big opportunity that involves diverse activities — road and flyover building, development of city centre, lake development, river bridges and so on.
NBCC, the only public sector Infrastructure player, is expected to be a major beneficiary, eyeing 15-20 of the 100 smart city projects in the country. Over the next five years, it is expected to increase its order book levels to ₹1,00,000 crore (it is ₹70,000 crore today), growing its revenues at the rate of 25-30 per cent annually. Moreover, players like Siemens and Larsen & Toubro too are expected to benefit from a range of infrastructure-based projects.


22.2. The next phase of economic reforms
Livemint | 5 Apr. 2017

The Narendra Modi government now needs to focus on the economic policy reforms India needs over the next decade

The Narendra Modi government has done well to push ahead with key economic policy reforms that had been left on the table by the previous regime. The legal decks have been cleared for the new goods and services tax (GST) after the parliamentary vote last week. India now has a new monetary policy regime that is focused on inflation control. The new bankruptcy code will help deal with what Arvind Subramanian has described as the problem of capitalism without exit. The Fourteenth Finance Commission has given fiscal muscle to the idea of cooperative federalism. The Modi government has also dealt with the administrative tangles that almost ruined the Indian economy—ranging from the way natural resources were being allocated to the mismanagement of the food economy, to defence modernization.
The few men who matter in this government need to be asked a plain question: What now?

Deep policy reforms do not happen overnight. They are usually preceded by many years of preparatory work within government as well as outside it. The battle to introduce the GST has taken nearly 17 years. The transition from an eclectic monetary policy framework to one focused on inflation control was also preceded by almost a decade of intense debate; the Reserve Bank of India had set up a technical advisory committee for monetary policy in 2006. The path to new bankruptcy regulations that would help release capital blocked in failed enterprises was also not an easy one. Even the terms of reference were given to the Fourteenth Finance Commission in early 2013.
That is true of the 1991 economic reforms as well. The rethink on Indian economic policy began in the late 1970s with the setting up of three government committees—the first, headed by P.C. Alexander, on trade reforms, the second, by Vadilal Dagli, on controls, and the third, by L.K. Jha, on indirect tax reform. There was further work done on various policy fronts in the next decade as well. The Seventh Five-year Plan authored by a team led by Manmohan Singh argued in favour of a switch from a blind focus on capital investment to one that gave importance to higher productivity through the technological upgradation of Indian industry.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has now replaced the Congress as the hegemonic force in Indian politics. Modi would like his party to rule the country for several decades. The Prime Minister has also spoken about how India should become a $10 trillion economy by 2032. What are the next generation of economic reforms that India needs to achieve this goal? Can adequate jobs be created in the formal sector during this long transition? How can high growth be maintained in a sluggish global economy? What needs to be done to secure macroeconomic stability over the long run? How can new technology be used to rethink the contract between citizens and the state?
These are not questions for the next quarter or even the next phase of the business cycle. A lot of strategic thought needs to go into the issues before adequate policy is designed. One can find such strategic thinking in the Chinese system. The Planning Commission used to apply its intellectual capital to structural issues before it degenerated into an imperious watchman of spending programmes. The NITI Aayog is now tasked with the job. The Modi government now needs to look beyond its administrative achievements to focus on what economic policy reforms India needs over the next decade.

There have undoubtedly been some attempts. Modi had to backtrack on difficult reforms in the land and labour markets. The task has now been left to the states. But the Prime Minister deserves credit for at least putting his political capital to work in such tricky areas. The committee headed by N.K. Singh has looked at crafting a new fiscal policy framework. The Bimal Jalan committee has done the same with expenditure management. The impending introduction of GST should allow the government to focus on the other half of tax reforms—the shelved Direct Tax Code.

Planning is thankfully dead. But governments, like all organizations, need to think strategically for the long term. The introduction of GST will bring to an end an important phase in Indian economic reforms that began at the turn of the century. The government now needs to think about the next phase. Unfortunately, there is not enough evidence of such thinking as yet.


23.1. SAIC signs deal with General Motors to take over Halol plant 
HT Business | Apr. 06, 2017 

New Delhi: China’s largest automaker SAIC Motor Corp has signed a deal with General Motors to buy its GM India’s Halol plant in Gujarat, the company said in a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The company did not disclose anything more on the agreement in its Shanghai filing. 
The Shanghai-based manufacturer and the American giant had been in talks regarding the handover of the plant, where GM India started making Opel cars in 1996, and Chevrolets from 2003. The facility with an annual production capacity of 110,000 volumes was underutilised over the last few years due to its falling sales and failure to revive with no good product mix. 

Last year, Detroit-headquartered General Motors pulled back its $1 billion investment in India amid falling sales and consequent plunge in market share. The company will end operations at the Halol plant on April 28. SAIC, formerly Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation, will take over the plant’s operations as it plans to enter India soon. The Competition Commission’s had already given approval to SAIC Motor HK, part of China’s SAIC Motor Corp, in January this year to acquire certain assets of the Halol plant. 
In China, SAIC Motor Corp makes cars in joint ventures with General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG in addition to own-brand vehicles. The company in its Shanghai Stock Exchange filing also reported a 7.4% jump in 2016 profits, though missing its own expectations marginally. 

Meanwhile, General Motors India will continue making cars at its Talegaon factory near Pune which has annual capacity of 170,000 volumes. The Chevrolet India-parent last month also signed a three-year wage agreement with 2,500 workers of the Talegaon plant. Under the wage pact for the period April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020, the average salaries of the employees will go up by Rs 22,000 at the end of the period. Detroit is also taking a good second look at GM’s India plans now, since none of its recent products have failed to steer a turnaround for the company. 

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


23.2. Narendra Modi’s Israel visit: The view from Arab palaces
Livemint | Bobby Ghosh, 28 Mar. 2017

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Narendra Modi. If the Indian prime minister does hear from Arab rulers before his Israel visit, it may very well be in the form of requests to convey cautious felicitations.
When Narendra Modi visits Israel this year, it will be remarkable for two reasons: first, that it will be the first visit to the Israeli state by an Indian head of government; and second, that it will in all likelihood raise no eyebrows—never mind hackles—in the Arab world.
The exact dates for the trip have not yet been announced, but it has been known for some weeks now that it will happen this summer. And yet, no Arab state has voiced any displeasure, not publicly, and not even through diplomatic back-channels.

This is nothing short of astonishing to anyone who, like your humble servant, grew up in the India of the 1970s and 1980s, when it was routine for New Delhi to join the Arab chorus of condemnation for Israel at Tel Aviv’s every turn.
Whether it was because of India’s need for Arab oil, or because there were so many Arab members of the benighted Non-Aligned Movement, or because the Jewish state was tied to the US while New Delhi was chummy with the USSR, or simply because so many in this country genuinely sympathized with the Palestinian cause, a succession of Indian governments avoided diplomatic relations with Israel.

If you had told me then that an Indian Prime Minister would one day be making an official visit there, I would have laughed you out of the room.
But that prospect is no longer surprising: the two countries began building close ties in the 1990s, and are now locked in a tight embrace of economic, defence and security interests.
What is astonishing, though, is the absence of even a murmur of protest from India’s friends in the Arab world. West Asian diplomats quizzed by my colleagues at Hindustan Times have shrugged off the idea of Modi’s visit as a matter of realpolitik. One expressed the mild hope that the Prime Minister might also visit the West Bank, to show some solidarity with the Palestinians, but acknowledged that this is unlikely.
One reason for the Arab pococurantism over deepening Indo-Israeli relations is a resigned acceptance that the two countries have much in common, including their enemies, in the shape of Islamist terrorism.
Another is a profound sense of Palestine fatigue in Arab capitals, whether on account of the interminable and intractable nature of the problem, or because other Arab peoples—Syrians, for one— are making a more pressing case for sympathy.

Yet another reason for the lack of concern among Arab governments for India’s friendship with Israel is that many of them would themselves like an accommodation with the Jewish state.
Countries like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have for some time now reportedly been making quiet, behind-the-scenes contact with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, and the frequency has grown since January 2016, when the US and other major powers signed a nuclear treaty with Iran.
Arab leaders have determined that Shia-ruled Iran represents an existential threat to their Sunni-dominated regimes, and recognize that, in this, they have a common cause with Israel. Netanyahu’s trenchant tirades against the theocracy in Tehran have an enthusiastic audience in Arab palaces.
This is especially true in Riyadh and Manama, where the threat of Iran is felt most keenly. The Saudis are terrified that Iran will stir up trouble in its eastern province, where there is a large Shia population—and where a great deal of the country’s oil lies below the ground.
Spooked by Tehran’s encouragement of the Houthi militia that controls much of Yemen, the Saudis have led a Sunni-Arab coalition in a protracted military misadventure in the heel of the Arabian Peninsula (the Houthis are nominally Shia).

Bahrain’s Sunni rulers, meanwhile, feel Iran’s breath on their shoulder as they continue to suppress their Shia-majority population.
The Sunni states had long banked on the US to forestall the threat from Tehran, but the nuclear deal—Iran agreed to scrap its nuclear ambitions in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions—has left them scrambling for succour elsewhere.
Russia, the most obvious alternative, is seen as being on Iran’s side, with Moscow offering Tehran billions of dollars’ worth of military hardware.
China has said it would like the Israeli-Palestinian issue resolved, but has shown no interest in playing umpire between the Shias and the Sunnis.
That leaves Israel, which is not only hostile to Iran, but has its own arsenal of nuclear weapons with which to menace the mullahs in Tehran.
But Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and most other Arab states have no formal relations with Israel: most of them don’t even acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.
For six decades, their propaganda machines have portrayed the Jewish state as an abomination, and have normalized anti-Semitism among their citizenry.

The rulers of these states cannot now afford to be seen breaking bread with Israel, and so can only play a form of diplomatic footsie—or rely on sympathetic intermediaries to ferry little notes between them.
So, if Modi does hear from Arab rulers before his visit to Israel, it may very well be in the form of requests to convey cautious felicitations. And it’s just conceivable that Bibi Netanyahu will want Modi to carry a message for Saudi King Salman, who is expected to visit New Delhi later in the year.


24.1. India and Bangladesh to sign US$ 9-billion investment pacts 
Business Standard | Apr. 10, 2017

New Delhi: Agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth $9 billion of investments into Bangladesh will be signed between the Indian public and private sectors and the Bangladeshi side on Monday. The 12 agreements will include an MoU of $2 billion in investments in the Bangladeshi power sector by Adani Power, a subsidiary of the Adani Group. 

Agreements on the anvil 
  • 12 MoUs worth $9 billion in investments in Bangladesh to be signed on Monday 
  • These include one MOU of $2 billion for investments in the Bangladesh power sector by Adani Power 
  • Agreements by Reliance Power and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam 
  • Agreement between Container Corporation of India and Container Corporation of Bangladesh 
  • India committed a $4.5-billion line of credit for implementation of infrastructure projects in Bangladesh 
Agreements will be signed for investments in Bangladesh by Reliance Power and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam. An agreement will also be inked between the Container Corporation of India and the Container Corporation of Bangladesh. 

The agreements will be signed in the presence of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, currently on a four-day visit to India, at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event here on Monday. 
On Saturday, India committed to a $4.5-billion line of credit for implementation of infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, and another $500 million for Dhaka’s defence procurements. In all, the two sides signed 22 agreements across an array of sectors. 
By the end of the Bangladeshi PM’s visit, as many as 34 agreements would have been signed. This is the third line of credit to Bangladesh in the past six years, and the largest. 
For this line of credit, Delhi and Dhaka have identified 17 infrastructure projects. These comprise upgradation of three ports, one airport, new power transmission lines and railway lines. 

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said on Saturday the message was that “India has a very positive and effective infrastructure development assistance programme”. 
He said there was a lot of emphasis from the ministry of external affairs for faster delivery on projects. In October 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited Dhaka and promised Chinese investments worth $20 billion. 
Nearly all of India’s neighbours complain of Delhi being laggardly, as compared to the Chinese, in executing its infrastructure projects. Some of the bigger investments by Indian companies will be in the power and energy sectors. India supplies 600 Mw of power to Bangladesh through two existing interconnections at Bheramara-Baharampur and Tripura-South Comilla. Another 500 Mw will be provided by India through the Bheramara-Baharampur interconnection. 

The two sides have agreed to set up additional interconnection between Bornagar in Assam and Parbatipur in Bangladesh, and also Katihar in Bihar, for power evacuation facilities from which Bangladesh can draw 1,000 Mw of power. 
The two sides are also discussing supply of 340 Mw from various NTPC stations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday he hoped more Indian private sector investments in Bangladesh’s power sector would follow, including possibilities of joint ventures. 
On Sunday, Hasina visited Ajmer Sharif to pay her respects at the shrine of Khwaja Moinudding Chishti, a 12th century Sufi saint. She concludes her visit on Monday evening. Her party, the Awami League, said on Sunday they planned a felicitation for her successful visit to India. 
Also, however, in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s opposition leader Khaleda Zia accused Hasina of “selling out” the country to India, to translate into reality a “dream of staying in power for life”. Zia, 71, and Hasina, 69, are known as the ‘Battling Begums’ for a bitter rivalry for over three decades. 

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


24.2. Rich Keralite, poor Kerala conundrum
Livemint | Biju Dominic, 12 Apr. 2017

Despite an inflow of Rs1 trillion, Kerala is one of the least industrialized states in India and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Why?

Kerala, which gets more than Rs1 trillion in remittances from its emigrants, has an empty state treasury. Despite this large inflow of money, Kerala is one of the least industrialized states in India and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Why?
The quantum of remittances that flowed into Kerala is almost three times the money that flowed into Maharashtra, four times the inflow into Tamil Nadu and almost 10 times the inflow into Gujarat in the form of foreign direct investments. While these states have managed to build a strong, growing economy, why is it that the huge cash flow into Kerala has not turned into productive investments in the state?
According to studies by the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, conspicuous consumption is the hallmark of a Kerala emigrant. The majority of remittances that flowed into Kerala over the past several decades have only been used to build dead investments like palatial houses and owning depreciating assets like automobiles and consumer goods. Kerala clocks one of the highest sales of luxury cars in the country and is the biggest consumer of gold. Although the profile of the Kerala emigrant has changed over the years, from low-skilled and illiterate to more educated professionals, the tendency to spend their hard-earned salaries on ostentatious living continues.

Behavioural economics could provide an explanation for this sad state of affairs in Kerala.
Professor Richard Thaler of The University of Chicago Booth School of Business put forward the concept of mental accounting to explain how humans deal with money. Mental accounting refers to the tendency of people to separate their money into separate mental accounts based on a variety of subjective criteria, like the source of the money and intent for each account. Unlike what was believed so far, money is not fungible, that is money does not easily move from one mental account to another. The propensity to spend is influenced a great deal by which mental account the money belongs to. So, the money one gets as bonus is spent differently from the money one gets as salary. Or, in other words, the decision on where the money goes or where it is spent depends greatly on where the money comes from.

How does the theory of mental accounting explain the life of a Kerala emigrant?
Let us take the example of nurses from Kerala. Close to 60,000 of them work in places like the US, Europe and the Gulf. The median salary of a nurse in India is about Rs2.5 lakh per year. The median salary of a nurse in the US is about $71,000. The median salaries of nurses in any of these countries comfortably allow them to fit into the middle-class lifestyle of that country.
But the moment an emigrant nurse lands in Kerala, a huge transformation happens. Thanks to currency arbitrage, a salary that would have allowed the person to enjoy the lifestyle of a middle-class household in the country of work, now suddenly gets transformed into an income equivalent to one of the highest-paid professionals in India. This is more like a windfall gain. How does this sudden increase in the perception of one’s income affect one’s spending behaviour?

A 1994 study by Hal R. Arkes, Cynthia A. Joyner and Mark V. Pezzo has shown that people have a greater marginal propensity to consume from windfall earnings than money earned through normal work. Another study in 2009 by John Beshears and Katherine Milkman found that people are more likely to spend windfall money on non-routine purchases. A 2012 study in rural Tanzania by Lei Pan and Luc Christiaensen has shown that money earned through windfall gains is more likely to be spent on non-basic consumption of goods like alcohol and tobacco than basic consumption goods or education. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the windfall gains the Kerala emigrant receives from currency arbitrage are spent on building palatial houses and buying luxurious consumer goods.
Windfall gains normally happen when someone gets an unexpected monetary gain by winning a lottery or getting an unexpected inheritance. Windfall gains are normally transitory in nature. The windfall gains of a migrant Keralite too are transitory. They happen only when he is in India, away from his place of work. Only on those occasions does the mental account look far bigger than normal. Once he goes back to his place of work, he goes back to his normal self.

This insight that where the money goes depends on where the money comes from is a universal insight that guides one’s financial behaviour. It was also found in the behaviours of Indian mutual fund investors and the millions who opened new bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).
The government of India is focusing a lot on building a robust infrastructure for direct benefit transfer. No doubt this infrastructure will ensure that the money meant for the poor will no longer be gobbled up by the corrupt middlemen. But this is only half the job done. The government needs to ensure that the money that reaches the poor does not end up in liquor consumption or other wasteful expenditure.
It is here that the learning from the behaviour of the emigrant Keralite—that the source of funds or any perceptions about the source of funds affects one’s spending pattern—holds a lesson for policymakers. How does one frame the source of the money in our direct benefit transfer programme so that the money received goes into the education of the girl child or for buying healthy food for the whole family?
Biju Dominic is the chief executive officer of Final Mile Consulting, a behaviour architecture firm.


25.1. India’s wasted tourism potential
Livemint | 10 Apr. 2017

The sector could generate significantly more foreign exchange earnings, if India could get its act together

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) travel and tourism competitiveness index, released last week, showed that India had moved up 12 places and now ranks 40th among 136 nations globally. The report also noted that this was the largest leap made by any country in the top 50, thereby making India, with its rich and diverse cultural heritage and natural beauty, a prime candidate to lead the so-called Asian century in travel and tourism. So much for potential—but will India deliver?
The numbers tell a complex story. On the one hand, foreign tourist arrivals have been on an upward trajectory at least since the turn of the century. According to the ministry of tourism, India hosted 8.89 million tourists last year compared to only 2.65 million tourists in 2000. But when compared with other countries, India’s performance leaves much to be desired. For example, while India hit an all-time high last year, it was still nowhere close to France, which topped the list of foreign tourist arrivals with 84.5 million visitors. The US (77.5 million) was second, followed by Spain (68.2 million), China (56.9 million) and Italy (50.7 million).

Europe’s dominant position on the list can be explained through the Schengen agreement, which allows citizens of member states to travel freely across international borders. The US too has a visa-waiver agreement with most European Union countries as well as a handful of others for easy access. But what about non-Schengen states like China—or, for that matter, Turkey (39.4 million tourists in 2015), Mexico (32.1 million) and Russia (31.3 million), all of which have significantly higher tourist numbers than India?
India’s foreign exchange earning from tourism has followed a similar pattern. In 2015, for example, India earned more than $23 billion in revenue from international tourism, a significant hike from the $3.5 billion it made in 2000. However, the US earned $204.5 billion from international tourists and China $114.1 billion, in 2015—making India’s $23 billion seem like chump change.

However, parsing the numbers more carefully shows that while overall revenue from tourists in India is low because of fewer visitors, the average revenue per tourist is actually quite high. For example, while the average tourist spends about $2,639 in the US, she spends about a comparable $2,610 in India and about $2,005 in China. In France (and this is generally true for other European countries as well), the number drops to $543 per tourist.
This is because a large chunk of the tourists visiting France are other Europeans with Schengen privileges on short trips from across the borders. But while such tourists add to the numbers, they don’t always spend a lot of money. In contrast, when a French or German tourist takes a long-haul flight to India for what is ostensibly a well-planned holiday, they tend to stay longer and spend more money. For India, this is not as much a success story as much as it is an indication of a missed opportunity: When they are here, tourists are clearly willing to spend; but they are simply not coming here in adequate numbers in the first place.

Is this because of India’s many problems, such as cumbersome visa regulations, bad travel infrastructure, poor sanitation, collapsing law enforcement systems and concerns about women’s safety? On each of these counts, India ranks poorly on the WEF index. Five-star luxury—given the high revenue per tourist—may shield visitors somewhat from these issues but it cannot get rid of them entirely. Yet another factor at play here is the large number of business tourists (who expectedly are high-spenders) that India gets vis-a-vis leisure tourists, which somewhat skews the narrative. It is worth asking then: Is India getting its fair share of budget travellers especially since it is otherwise one of the most affordable travel destinations? Are middle-class tourists, who want a certain degree of comfort and hassle-free travel but cannot afford to go the five-star route, staying away?
If true, that is another challenge for India as it will have to prepare for the changing profile of the international tourist. As the WEF report notes, foreign travel is no longer a luxury enjoyed only by wealthy Westerners. The lowering of trade barriers and the rise of the middle class in many emerging economies mean that North America and Europe, which have dominated the travel markets till now, may give way to international travel from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Currently, India receives the maximum number of tourists from the US, followed by Bangladesh, while regionally, Western Europe and North America make up for a large chunk of the country’s foreign tourists—at 23.42% and 18.62% in 2015, respectively. South Asia tops the list with 24.25% but that is to be expected given that it is India’s neighbourhood. What is of concern though is that other regions that are expected to send out tomorrow’s tourists don’t seem to have India on their radar. In 2015, only 8.72% of India’s foreign tourists were from South-East Asia while East Asia made up 6.92%, West Asia 5.20%, Eastern Europe 4.12%, Australasia 3.89%, Africa 3.66% and Central and South America, 0.88%.
The silver lining here is that all these regions, except Eastern Europe, have been sending more tourists to India than before and the government is also cognizant of the fact that a lot more needs to be done on the home front. It has started with liberalizing the visa regime which is expected to improve the numbers quickly. But that’s only the first step. Making it easier to visit India won’t do much when being a tourist in India is replete with problems.

How do you think India can become more tourist-friendly? Tell us at views@livemint.com


25.2. Foreigners visiting India for Medical Treatment 
Press Information Bureau | Mar. 23, 2017 

The number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India on Medical Visa in the past three years is as below:


In order to simplify and speed up the procedure of obtaining Visa for tourists coming to India for medical purposes, the Government of India has extended the facility of e-Medical Visa. Other measures taken by the Government to facilitate the tourists coming through e- Medical Visa are as below: 
  • Extension of duration of stay for upto 6 months may be granted on case to case basis on merits of each case by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO)/Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) concerned. 
  • Triple entry will be permitted as against single entry earlier. 
In case of emergency, if Medical Visa is recommended by an accredited hospital in India, Indian Missions/Posts abroad should decide on such request within 48 hours of getting the application.

This information was given by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (Independent Charge) in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. 

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

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