AAPI: May 2021

DELHI, 20th MAY 2021

Index of this Newsletter

INDIA

INDIA & THE WORLD

21.1. IBM quarterly sales growth highest in over two years on cloud strength
21.2. Foreigners needed to fill Singapore tech jobs crunch, says central banker
22. HCL Tech signs multi-million-dollar deal with Japan’s UD Trucks
23. No wires or towers: Satellite broadband promises to be the next big thing in India
24.1. Mphasis to establish nearshore centre near London, expects to invest GBP 25 million
24.2. Infosys to create 1,000 jobs in UK to fuel post-pandemic growth
25. India, EU agree to boost ties in digital, energy, transport and people-to-people programmes

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DELHI, 20th MAY 2021

NEWSLETTER, 20-V-2021

INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

1.1. Amidst the pandemic, India achieved new milestones in Rural Development; In FY 2021, 18,5 million persons have been offered work under MGNREGA; 52% higher than the same period in FY 2019

Press Information Bureau, May 18, 2021

Even though rural India has been hit by the 2nd wave of raging COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Rural Development has ensured that the development works across the country should not be affected. During the period, the country has witnessed speed and progress in various schemes under the ministry. Apart from the developmental works, the Ministry has also trained nodal persons at state, district and block level to tackle the COVID-19 situation in rural areas.

Despite COVID-19 pandemic, 1.85 crore persons have been offered work in May 2021 under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The work offered is 52% higher than the one offered during the same period in May 2019, which was 1.22 crore persons per day. As on 13th May 2021, 2.95 crore persons have been offered work in FY 2021-22 completing 5.98 lakh assets and generating 34.56 crore person-days. The accomplishment has been achieved despite casualties either through death or infection among the operating staff at all levels, including those in the front line.

To fight against COVID-19 in rural areas, training has been provided to trainers on COVID-19 appropriate behaviours, vaccination and vaccine hesitancy and encourage good health-seeking behaviours and immunity building measures from 8-12th April 2021 under Deendayal Anyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). Under the initiative, 13,958 state, district and block level nodal persons trained as master trainers in 34 SRLMs, 1,14,500 Community Resource Persons (CRP) trained by master trainers and 2.5 Crore women SHG members trained by CRPs. State and district nodal persons have also been trained for capacity building and social development on COVID-19 management under DAY-NRLM.

With an aim to provide relief and generate employment, Revolving Fund and Community Investment Fund amounting to approximately Rs. 56 Crore (US$ 7.64 million) released to women Self Help Groups in FY 2021 as compared to approximately Rs. 32 crore (US$ 4.37 million) in the same corresponding period in FY 2020. Online trainings have been continuing for the staff and community cadres on farm and non-Farm based livelihoods and promotion of Agri-Nutri gardens by SHG households has also been continued in this period.

Despite lockdown across over 20 States/UTs and resultant difficulties in availability and movement of men, machine and materials, this year highest length of road has been completed in the comparable period over the last 3 years. The Cumulative Physical Progress and The Cumulative Expenditure under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) from 1st April to 12th May Period are 1795.9 Km and Rs. 1693.8 respectively in FY 2021 much higher than the previous years in the same corresponding period.

Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin scheme like other rural development schemes has been severely affected by COVID-19 pandemic, however, due to streamlined workflows the Ministry has been able to log an expenditure of Rs. 5854 crore (US$ 798.85 million) in this financial year as compared to Rs. 2512 crore (US$ 342.79 million) in 2020-21 and Rs. 1411 crore (US$ 192.55 million) in 2019-20, which are 43% and 24% respectively of the 2021-22 expenditure in the comparable period.

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

1.2. How can infrastructure companies cope with reverse migration?

ET Gov., May, 13, 2021, Harish Sharma

The lockdown and the subsequent migration of labourers has been unfortunate for the entire infrastructure industry, says ED-REPL of Rudrabhishek Enterprises Limited, Dr. Harish Sharma.

The harsh memories of the previous year’s lockdown due to Covid-19 and the subsequent reverse migration had not yet faded from our minds and it has started all over again. Due to the surge in the Covid-19 cases across the country, the partial or regional lockdowns are already being implemented by the state governments and local authorities. Uncertainties related to availability of work and wages are again pushing a considerable portion of workforce to retreat to their native places.

The reverse migration is bound to impact every sector of the economy, however due to its labour-intensive nature, the infrastructure sector will be the most effected one. Life and business, however, cannot stop for ever. Businesses either need to adapt to the changing dynamics of the market or be prepared to perish. Infrastructure companies need to take early action to combat the situation arising due to the reverse migration of the labourers. They need to think about both short- & long-term measures and prepare themselves for any future Covid-19 like situation. Let us examine what infrastructure companies can do to tackle the ongoing crisis.

Invest in automation

Automation is the means of reducing dependency on manpower. Automated machines can do the work of several people alone. These machines are also faster and more efficient. They also minimise human error and reduce wastages. However, these machines cost a fortune and need skilled manpower to operate them. They also need timely maintenance. Before investing in automation, companies need to make sure to train personnel to operate and maintain them. It is advisable to conduct a proper cost-benefit analysis prior to investing in these machines.

Provide for safe accommodation

In the budget 2021, government announced incentives for affordable rental housing for migratory workers. Since migratory workers are an important asset for any infrastructure company, organisations should consider investing in safe and hygienic living conditions for them. This might seem easier, however, this could be the most effective and long-term way of checking reverse migration.

Providing workers with work assurance

Workforce is the most important resource of any organisation. Therefore, organisations should strive to retrieve their employees. It might be nearly impossible for most infrastructure companies to stop reverse migration in case of a total lockdown in the country as most people give priority to the safety of themselves and their families and absence of work defeats the purpose of their stay at the work places. In the likely event of reverse migration, the best an infrastructure company can do is to give work assurance to their workers on their return. This will not only provide a sense of job security to the workers but also ensure the availability of workers when things get back to normal. Alongside the above mentioned initiatives, it is utmost important to take all possible measures to ensure heath-safety of workforce, which should boost confidence in their minds.

The Covid-19, the lockdown and the reverse migration all have been unfortunate events for the entire infrastructure industry. It creates multiple issues in supply chain management, cost overrun pressure and construction activities. However, these are the testing times which will decide who will remain and who will perish. It is a time when companies need to think out of box and try to mitigate the harm done by the reverse migration. Companies need to be far sighted and plan not only for today but also for the future.

(Dr. Harish Sharma is ED-REPL at Rudrabhishek Enterprises Limited. Views are personal.)

2. DCGI approves anti-COVID-19 drug developed by DRDO for emergency use

Press Information Bureau, May 10, 2021

An anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad. Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. Higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID-19 patients. The drug will be of immense benefit to the people suffering from COVID-19.

Pursuing Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s call for preparedness against the pandemic, DRDO took the initiative of developing anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of 2-DG. In April 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, INMAS-DRDO scientists conducted laboratory experiments with the help of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and found that this molecule works effectively against SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibits the viral growth. Based on these results, Drugs Controller General of India’s (DCGI) Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) permitted Phase-II clinical trial of 2-DG in COVID-19 patients in May 2020.

The DRDO, along with its industry partner DRL, Hyderabad, started the clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in COVID-19 patients. In Phase-II trials (including dose ranging) conducted during May to October 2020, the drug was found to be safe in COVID-19 patients and showed significant improvement in their recovery. Phase-II was conducted in six hospitals and Phase IIb (dose ranging) clinical trial was conducted at 11 hospitals all over the country. Phase-II trial was conducted on 110 patients.

In efficacy trends, the patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than Standard of Care (SoC) on various endpoints. A significantly favourable trend (2.5 days difference) was seen in terms of the median time to achieving normalisation of specific vital signs parameters when compared to SoC.

Based on successful results, DCGI further permitted the Phase-III clinical trials in November 2020. The Phase-III clinical trial was conducted on 220 patients between December 2020 to March 2021 at 27 COVID-19 hospitals in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The detailed data of phase-III clinical trial was presented to DCGI. In 2-DG arm, significantly higher proportion of patients improved symptomatically and became free from supplemental oxygen dependence (42% vs 31%) by Day-3 in comparison to SoC, indicating an early relief from Oxygen therapy/dependence.

The similar trend was observed in patients aged more than 65 years. On May 01, 2021, DCGI granted permission for Emergency Use of this drug as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. Being a generic molecule and analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in plenty in the country.

The drug comes in powder form in sachet, which is taken orally by dissolving it in water. It accumulates in the virus infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. Its selective accumulation in virally infected cells makes this drug unique.

In the ongoing second COVID-19 wave, a large number of patients are facing severe oxygen dependency and need hospitalisation. The drug is expected to save precious lives due to the mechanism of operation of the drug in infected cells. This also reduces the hospital stay of COVID-19 patients.

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

3.1. Centre aims to bring digital healthcare services soon: NHA chief

ET Tel. Apr. 24, 2021, Muntazir Abbas

"We are having a registry of healthcare providers, hospitals and laboratories, and together with them, we can develop a platform for health services delivery to achieve the objective of the national digital health mission," the official said.

The Centre is likely to launch the digital delivery of healthcare services together with private sector stakeholders within the next 1 to 2 years with pilot programs underway in as many as six Union Territories, a top government official said.

"We are looking forward to implementing the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) rigorously. Digital technologies have shown us the way. We will be able to bring all stakeholders onto the platform in 1 to 2 years' time, and are currently doing pilots in six Union Territories," Ram Sewak Sharma, chief executive of the National Health Authority (NHA) told ETTelecom.

On August 15, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious nationwide health program, and said that the initiative will bring "revolution" in the healthcare sector, adding that one health ID would contain medical information of patients.

Sharma, further said that such an initiative could be a win-win situation where private hospitals would have an access to medical records, and would be able to increase their reach, and provide services to rural India without having any physical presence.

The IT-focussed national program has a capacity to conduct 500,000 consultations every day, and has already created nearly 200,000 unique IDs for pilots in Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Andaman & Nicobar, Ladakh, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Lakshadweep.

The second wave of contagious Covid-19 outbreak has, however, exposed the country's poor healthcare infrastructure with the daily viral cases surpassing 300,000.

"We'll do a lot of evangelising," Sharma said, adding that the artefacts or electronic products such as Aadhaar, e-KYC, digital signatures and digital lockers together with payment gateway like Unified Payments Interface (UPI) could help in creating digital medical records.

Medical service delivery, according to him, would be a paradigm shift in the healthcare sector, and that could open up new opportunities for private practitioners.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, India's healthtech industry is likely to touch $5 billion (about Rs 37,500 crore) by 2023, according to a recent Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)-Praxis study.

The National Health Authority or NHA which is the implementing agency of the national health mission and prestigious Ayushman Bharat Yojna, said that the technology-backed intervention would boost vaccination initiative, and could effectively check a gap between demand and supply.

Sharma further said that a robust and scalable ICT system would establish eligibility, identity and priority to ensure safe dosage administration to eligible persons.

The agency's CoWIN app operates and manages the nationwide Covid vaccination program with registrations for the third phase for those above 18 years of age, opening up from April 28.

4.1. Opinion: Opportunities for urban land redevelopment in India

ET Gov. May 04, 2021, Ved Prakash Dudeja

Huge tracts of surplus land of government departments and PSUs like Railways, Ministry of Defence, BSNL, Air India, etc., in all the major cities of the country offer a great opportunity to start a chain reaction of development of urban spaces required for the future needs of the country.

The urban land redevelopment refers to the reorganization of the urban land from low-density residential use to high-density commercial development. It is usually accompanied by upgradation of the existing infrastructure to support up-zoning. The objective of urban redevelopment is to restore economic viability through commercial activities. The subsequent redevelopment leads to the creation of amenities to enhance customer experience, aids in employment generation and boosts the local economy. It is also in line with the urban redevelopment plans for shaping the new India.

In the past few years, the government has undertaken several initiatives such as Smart Cities, Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) to rejuvenate the urban landscape in India. The redevelopment adds another dimension to urbanization in India.

The Union Budget 2021-22 also prioritizes infrastructure as the bedrock for economic revival in the post-pandemic world with the allocation of Rs 102 trillion over five years for the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for various infrastructure projects across sectors such as roads, railways, ports, airports, urban, power, telecom, etc.

This is an opportune moment for India to undertake redevelopment as it strives to enhance its attractiveness as a global hub amid clarion calls for Aatmanirbhar Bharat. It is also a step forward towards achieving the dream of a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024.

The first step in the process of urban land redevelopment is to identify suitable hotspots for redevelopment. The next step is to identify the objective of redevelopment and shortlist appropriate entities to undertake the process. Over the past few years, the PPP model has emerged as a viable development option, as it combines the strengths of both entities. An appropriate benchmarking model must be devised to inspire further redevelopment.

It is noteworthy that there are several challenges in the process. Redevelopment entails heavy investment. The Niti Aayog estimates that India requires investment worth Rs 40 trillion until 2030 to revamp its infrastructure. The role of the private sector and the new-age funding instruments such as InvITs (infrastructure investment trust), TOT (toll-operate-transfer), securitization cannot be underestimated in meeting the financing gap. Sustainability is another aspect that deserves due consideration.

Redevelopment should be based on an effective urban model that puts the needs of the disadvantaged majority at the forefront and hedges the urban environment responsive against ecological vulnerabilities. It should abide by all environmental norms and incorporate green features such as the use of solar energy, rainwater harvesting, space utilization for optimum sunlight, terrace gardens and much more.

The active participation of all stakeholders through extensive engagement is also the key. Furthermore, any redevelopment should entail a bottom-up approach with the involvement of the people at the grassroots.

The redevelopment is indeed an important task of translating the urban development vision into reality. It results in better land use and augments the sources of revenue generation within existing cities and their peripheries. It also upgrades the region in tune with the requirements over time and enhances the region's attractiveness in terms of industrial development and investment.

Sustainable redevelopment in tier 2 and 3 cities will bridge regional disparities, curb emigration and ease problems of congestion, pollution and urban sprawl. Some of its other benefits include a fillip to tourism and retail development and improvement in the quality of life of citizens. It is also in line with sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Huge tracts of surplus land of government departments and PSUs like Railways, Ministry of Defence, BSNL, Air India, etc., in all the major cities of the country offers a great opportunity to start a chain reaction of development of urban spaces required for the future needs of the country.

The burgeoning population and urbanization will put pressure on existing resources such as land, housing, water and electricity supply in cities. Redevelopment is a prudent way forward to address these issues and makes cities livable for the generations to come.

The author is Vice Chairman, RLDA. Views are personal.

4.2. ADB commits $3.92 billion loan to India for 13 projects

PTI, May, 15, 2021

The Asian Development Bank on Friday said it has committed a record USD 3.92 billion in sovereign loans for 13 projects to India

The Asian Development Bank on Friday said it has committed a record USD 3.92 billion in sovereign loans for 13 projects to India, including USD 1.8 billion in COVID-19 related projects to support the government's pandemic response. As part of the pandemic support to India, the Manila-headquartered multilateral agency said it has provided emergency assistance to contain the disease and establish social protection measures for relief to the poor and other vulnerable groups.

ADB also approved financing to help the government improve equitable access to comprehensive primary health care in urban areas. This is ADB's highest-ever annual lending commitment to India since the start of its lending operations in 1986, it said, adding it has also committed USD 356.1 million through its non-sovereign operations to India, including three COVID-19 support projects.

"Going forward, ADB stands ready to provide additional resources to address India's many COVID-19 related challenges, including funds to expedite the country's ongoing vaccination programme and build the health system's resilience against future shocks, with supplementary support to protect small businesses, and underpin education and social protection," said Takeo Konishi, Country Director for ADB in India.

It further said throughout 2020, ADB continued its regular assistance to energy, transport, urban development, and public sector management in India.

As per the ADB's release, among the new projects committed in 2020 include USD 500 million to build a high-speed 82-kilometre Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit system corridor; energy sector loans to strengthen distribution network in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Meghalaya and to build a 120-megawatt hydroelectric power plant in Assam.

In the urban sector, ADB approved loans for sustainable urban development in secondary and smaller towns in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

ADB also granted funds to support the West Bengal government's fiscal consolidation programme. Through its project readiness financing, ADB committed funds to provide Tripura and Himachal Pradesh with capacity development support for planning and designing.

5. IBM unveils 2-nanometer chip technology for faster computing

Reuters, May 06, 2021

For decades, each generation of computer chips got faster and more power-efficient because their most basic building blocks, called transistors, got smaller.

The pace of those improvements has slowed, but International Business Machines Corp on Thursday said that silicon has at least one more generational advance in store.

IBM introduced what it says is the world's first 2-nanonmeter chipmaking technology. The technology could be as much as 45% faster than the mainstream 7-nanometer chips in many of today's laptops and phones and up to 75% more power efficient, the company said.

The technology likely will take several years to come to market. Once a major manufacturer of chips, IBM now outsources its high-volume chip production to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd but maintains a chip manufacturing research center in Albany, New York that produces test runs of chips and has joint technology development deals with Samsung and Intel Corp to use IBM's chipmaking technology.

The 2-nanometer chips will be smaller and faster than today's leading edge 5-nanonmeter chips, which are just now showing up in premium smartphones like Apple Inc's iPhone 12 models, and the 3-nanometer chips expected to come after 5-nanometer.

The technology IBM showed Thursday is the most basic building block of a chip: a transistor, which acts like an electrical on-off switch to form the 1s and 0s of binary digits at that foundation of all modern computing.

Making the switches very tiny makes them faster and more power efficient, but it also creates problems with electrons leaking when the switches are supposed to be off. Dario Gil, senior vice president and director of IBM Research, told Reuters in an interview that scientists were able to drape sheets of insulating material just a few nanometers thick to stop leaks.

"In the end, there's transistors, and everything else (in computing) relies on whether that transistor gets better or not. And it's not a guarantee that there will be a transistor advance generation to generation anymore. So it's a big deal every time we get a chance to say there will be another," Gil said.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

6. IIT-Bombay develops irrigation management model to save water on commercial farms

ET Gov., Apr. 21, 2021

The experimental solution uses short and medium-range weather forecasts to help farmers plan their irrigation schedules.

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) and the US-based University of Maryland, in collaboration with grape farmers from Nashik, have developed an irrigation management model that saved between 10% to 30% water on commercial farms.

According to a press statement released by IIT-Bombay, “The experimental solution uses short and medium-range weather forecasts to help farmers plan their irrigation schedules.”

“The use of operational and medium-range weather forecasts in irrigation management across India has been limited because they typically cover a much larger geographic area. This does not help farmers who own small plots of land. Factors like varying rainfall within an area and heterogeneity of soil, among other minute differences in agro-climactic conditions, also make it hard to effectively use the weather forecast,” said Subimal Ghosh, professor at the department of civil engineering, IIT-B, and corresponding author of the study.

To address these lacunae in farm-scale water management, the researchers tied up with grape farmers at Sahyadri commercial farms in Nashik, who have been using sensors to gather soil moisture data going back at least five years. They first developed a water balance model to compute daily evapotranspiration, runoff and leakage for two test plots. This is also called an eco-hydrological model since the purpose of it is to avoid water stress to crops, the statement read.

“Because farmers don’t have high-resolution weather forecasts, it may result in non-judicious use of water. For example, during the monsoon season, the forecast may say that it will rain for the next three days, but a farmer will still water his crops on the off chance that it does not rain at all. So the net effect is that more water than necessary is being used,” said Raghu Murtugudde, professor at the University of Maryland, and co-author of the study.

“Previously, the farmers whom we worked with on this study were using a tank hydrology model, where the rootzone areas of the crops are thought of as a holding tank for water. When the level falls below a certain level, they irrigate more. This has maintained yield very well,” said Ghosh.

However, this method does not account for changes in the soil moisture that may occur due to the weather, which is the gap that researchers have attempted to bridge, the statement informed.

“We have used a different algorithm to analyse the weather forecast information concerning the empirical soil moisture data, and past rainfall distribution in the area, to develop a set of probable scenarios that may occur during the forecast period. This helps farmers to plan how much water to release and when,” said Ghosh.

“We found that using the proposed framework, irrigation water use can be reduced by 10-30% as compared to that resulting from the conventional strategies used by the farmers, without significant loss in crop yields, by almost always maintaining the soil moisture at or above the prescribed threshold,” the authors have noted in their study.

The researchers are currently planning to expand the study to other farms in Maharashtra. The challenge in scaling up this intervention would be in establishing a large network of devices to monitor soil moisture across farms in an area, the statement said.

You also need to work with the farmers to get them to trust your data. This is why we have co-produced this study with farmers, to demonstrate usability and credibility, added Murtugudde.

7. Farm truths hidden in barley to beer trade

MINT, 16 May, 2021, Sayantan Bera

In the winter of 2019, Chamkor Singh, a well-to-do farmer from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, fell for the words of a local trader and commission agent. That year, Singh decided to bet big on malt barley, a cereal that is used to manufacture beer. After all, Singh was promised a bonus of ₹100 over and above the minimum support price (MSP). The high returns prompted him to take over 30 acres of land on lease. Four months later, his hopes came crashing down.

Instead of the promised ₹1,625 per quintal, Singh sold his harvest to the same agent at a discount of ₹300. It was a take it or leave it offer. Singh did not know who the actual buyer was, nor did he have any means to enforce the contract, which was verbal. The only evidence he had was a receipt for the seeds that he had purchased from the agent for planting.

Months later, he reacted in a way farmers often do—by slashing the area under barley to less than a fifth of the previous year’s acreage. That was the winter of 2020. A similar strategy was adopted by hundreds of other farmers in Rajasthan, a leading grower of barley, prompting prices to shoot up to ₹1,800 per quintal in April this year.

This roller-coaster ride is common to barley, a commercial grain that is used as an animal feed and also to manufacture high-value items like beer, whiskey and health drinks. Farmers in India grow less than 2 million tonnes of barley in a year—compared to say over 100 million tonnes of wheat. But the vagaries of this minor cereal, in a nutshell, capture a glaring market failure—the inability of commercial buyers to guarantee remunerative prices to growers, or even the semblance of a will to nurture a long-term relationship.

In a way, it also goes to show why farmers have such deep distrust toward markets. Growers from the desert state of Rajasthan would rather stick to wheat—which consumes more water and fertiliser—than plant barley. The main reason: wheat prices are steady due to assured government purchases. So, farmers sow barley only on land which is severely water-starved and where a crop like wheat is impossible to grow—a phenomenon best described as a Hobson’s choice: apparently a free choice, but one without any real alternative.

Last September, India passed three new laws to liberalize agriculture markets, introduce contract farming and amend the decades-old Essential Commodities Act in order to incentivise post-harvest storage and processing. The objective was to wean farmers away from cereals like rice and wheat, where assured minimum support prices distort cropping patterns. On paper, the new laws made sense: Why not align cropping patterns with market demand?

8. How this logistics firm modernized its operations

ETCIO, Apr. 21, 2021, Nikhar Aggarwal

Stellar Value Chain, a 100% cloud business, has implemented a new warehouse management system to boost its tech quotient.

Stellar Value Chain Solutions has been well invested in technology for a long time but the company is now embarking on the advanced phase of its technology transformation with a new warehouse management system.

“We don't differentiate between technology and business which is why we have a single team that looks at implementing key initiatives. The other way we support the tech team is by understanding the amount of investment that is available, and as much as it is needed. We are aiming to build technology ahead of time so that as we scale up, we can have a readiness from a technology side, also as much as on the infrastructure and the other human assets,” Deven Pabaru, CEO, Patel Roadways – Stellar Value Chain Solutions said.

Stellar’s business is 100% based on cloud, right from warehousing management to transport management, it is all hosted on Oracle Cloud. Their ERP solution is hosted on Oracle Fusion. The entire back-office automation, collaboration, and networking platform are on Zoho which is a complete cloud-based platform. The company does not have anything which is server-based or which requires in-house hardware.

“We are a born-digital company with the cloud as a backbone. The cloud model gives us flexibility, scalability, and the capacity to innovate new tech projects. Any project implementation is almost 50- 60% faster in a cloud environment than in physical infrastructure. With any new project, we don't have to worry about building an in-house team to manage the infrastructure. Cloud is one of the most beneficial decisions which is supporting us in every possible way especially amid WMS deployment,” Pabaru highlighted.

As they started growing, the company had to take a very conscious call of going on a large-scale WMS (Warehouse Management System) platform.

While implementing a modern warehousing solution, tech teams have to balance between the IT maturity of their customer and the IT maturity of the product that they are implementing. In the case of Stellar, challenges were minimum but the tech team faced a hard time in managing their customer’s IT maturity levels and dependencies.

“Infor came up with a modern cloud-based solution but both the customers for whom we were implementing had slightly lesser maturity in terms of their tech platform. Hence integration between Infor and customer’s ERP was the only key area where we faced challenges. We have to manage customer expectations, handle change management and bring in the data from the ERP to come into our WMS and send data back from our WMS to their ERP was the only challenge,” Chinar Deshpande, Group CTO & Head of Innovation & Incubation Cell, Stellar Value Chain Solutions said.

Deploying WMS supported the company’s vision to service the country with efficient, affordable, and reliable logistics solutions. Post deploying the Infor WMS solution, Stellar gained the efficiency of real-time tracking and managing transport vehicles from the warehouse to the delivery endpoint. From vehicle scanning to moderating temperature inside it, the company is reaping the benefits from this project implementation.

"Choosing Infor as a long-term partner is one of our wise decisions. We did evaluate several global vendors with an Indian presence based on various factors, some of which were cloud availability, flexibility, scalability, and more. We did explore the market, evaluating vendors such as SAP, etc. The decision of investing in Infor WMS was backed by the fact that the solution is cloud-enabled which is a rare tech aspect in the market of WMS products," Deshpande added.

The company has been able to automate the supply chain for its customers which includes analytics, end-to-end visibility, and more. Repackaging, bulk order scanning, barcoding, evaluating transportation options, and many other critical operations are now conducted digitally with low to zero manual intervention.

Future is expensive but innovative

Stellar is already working on some optimization problems and tech use cases that can help in their supply chain business.

“Today there is no easily implementable system that exists which has a single warehouse and a transportation unit combined as one single optimizer. So we are already working on some of these optimization problems and we are actively doing POCs, etc. and we will back it up with required investments. We believe that it is time to see a warehouse and a truck as a discrete element and something that is not out of date. We have to look at the world as a single unified view and how can we get an entire supply chain, including the consumer on one end, and the factory on the other end in a single system, which is seamlessly talking real-time, because of the need for speed is paramount today and is the only way to reduce costs,” Pabaru said.

According to him, the unfortunate part of the supply chain is that the company will try to reduce cost at the unit level. He believes that the system cost has to come down and technology has a very big role to play in weaving that solution together.

“Our business leadership team is completely glued to the latest technology, and the tech team has never faced issues in covering the management for any kind of tech investment. There’s no need to go and convince the management, it's the other way around. They are chasing the tech team to come up with newer initiatives and trying to bring innovation. We are bullish on tech investments and soon, we are going to explore technologies such as IoT, Blockchain, AI/ML, etc. We are already working on several modern tech projects and sometime soon we are going to advance our current technology maturity,” Deshpande concluded.

8.2. India's processed food products exports witnessed a growth of 26.51% during April-February2020-21, despite challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic

Press Information Bureau, Apr. 26, 2021

Notwithstanding challenges faced by COVID-19 pandemic, India’s export of processed food products has witnessed a growth of 26.51%in Rupee term during April-February (2020-21), compared to the same period during the previous year (2019-20).

The total value of export of processed products was Rs. 43,798 crores during April-February 2021 as per the quick estimates.

Major processed food products exported from India include pulses, processed vegetables, processed fruits and juices, groundnuts, guar gum, cereals preparations, milled products, alcoholic beverages, and oil meals.

Value added products such as processed vegetables, alcoholic beverages, and milled products have witnessed a robust growth of more than 40% in April-Feb (2020-21) compared to same period in the previous fiscal (2019-20).

The export of miscellaneous processed items including Indian snacks, sauces, starch products, vegetable flours, malt products etc and pulses grew by 36% and 33% respectively in the first 11 months of the current financial year (2020-21). Considerable exports growth was achieved for the cereals-based products (18%), processed fruits and juices (12%) and Groundnut (7%). The export of oil meals rose by 96% in current fiscal (April-Feb).

Despite COVID-19 pandemic disrupted trade around the world, the overall growth of 26.51% achieved in export of processed food products of APEDA scheduled products due to concerted efforts and initiatives taken to facilitate export from India.

According to Dr. M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, this trend of increasing exports of processed food products is likely to continue in the next financial year (2021-22). Increase in demand of Pulses, Processed fruits and vegetables, Milled products, cereals preparations and other processed items is seen especially from Middle East, Far East, USA and UK markets.

For boosting agricultural and processed food products exports, APEDA initiated series of measures including virtual buyer seller meet, product promotion meeting, webinars, creation of products specific export promotion forums, ensuring market access through organizing exports promotion activities, MOUs with key stakeholders, extending financial assistance for exports promotion and promotion of GI products.

Virtual Buyer Seller Meet: To leverage on the opportunity arising out of COVD 19 pandemic situation, APEDA organized virtual buyer seller meets in association with Indian Missions abroad, promoting exports of APEDA mandated products. More than 25 BSMs were organized since March 2020 with Singapore, Russia, GCC Countries, Sweden & Latvia, UAE, Kuwait, Indonesia, Switzerland, Belgium, Iran, Canada, USA, Thailand, South Africa, Bhutan, Australia, Oman, Saudi Arab and Germany. The virtual buyer seller meets have generated interest among the importers and the exporters have informed that these interactions have generated trade enquiries from many countries.

Product Promotion meetings & webinar: Regular interactions are organized with the trade to understand the difficulties faced at each level in supply chain of exports for taking up with the concerned organizations for resolving the issues. Meetings have been organized with the exporters, food processing industries, ICAR institutes, NPPO and state agriculture departments. Issues emerged have been taken up with the concerned agencies for early solutions.

Products Specific Export Promotion Forums: Products specific Export Promotion Forums (EPFs) were formed to facilitate export in association with stakeholders across the entire production and supply chain.

Opening up market access &export promotion in International markets: APEDA has played an important role in opening up of new market for agricultural products in the recent past such as Canada, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Portugal, Indonesia, Iran etc. Export promotion in International markets such as Indonesia led to increase in quota for exports.

MoUs with various stakeholders for enhancing Agri exports: Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) have been signed with NCUI, NCDC, NABARD, ASCI, QCI, IIT Delhi, ICFA, SFAC and TRIFED and AFC India Ltd. for mutual cooperation to address issues emerging in the AEP in respective States. MoUs are also being signed with agricultural universities and ICARs for enhancing quality exports from the country.

Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Promotion Scheme: Financial assistance under Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Promotion Scheme of APEDA for the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework was provided under Scheme for infrastructure Development, Quality Development and Market Promotion.

Export promotion of GI products: APEDA has taken initiative to promote exports of products which registered with Geographical Indications (GI) certification in India by organizing Virtual Buyer Seller Meets with UAE and USA in association with the Indian mission abroad. APEDA is continuing with the initiative of conducting Virtual Buyer Seller Meets (VBSM) with potential importing Countries to popularize the GI products of major Agri commodities potential for export.

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

9. How Mahindra Logistics is aiming to improve efficiencies using ML and cloud

ET CIO, May 03, 2021, Bhragu Haritas

Founded more than a decade ago, Mahindra Logistics Limited (MLL) is an integrated third-party logistics (3PL) service provider, focusing on supply chain management and enterprise mobility.

With 17,800+ employees and 475+ corporate customers across India, Mahindra Logistics Limited (MLL) pursues an asset-light business model, providing customized and technology enabled solutions that span the entire supply chain and people transport operations.

The company has created a warehouse management system that has end to end visibility of the warehouse operations using paperless hand-held terminals (HHT) based operations. With real time visibility of inbound operations (Gate-In, goods received note a.k.a. GRN, a system guided Put away) and real time order processing (Order status, system guided HHT based picking, loading) Real-time inventory information (days of inventory, ageing).

In the transportation space, Mahindra Logistics is trying to transform the entire transportation platform by first connecting all its vendor partners who provide the firm transportation as a service (TaaS).

“We have created a platform where customers can connect and provide these services online. We are additionally optimizing the customers’ transportation by finding the right transport management system [Oracle Transport Management (OTM), ShipX, Mpodd (created in-house) TMS)], where we are trying to optimize transport requirements in terms of the cost reduction and minimize truck requirement,” said, Shailesh Sultania, CIO, Mahindra Logistics.

The organization has a team of over hundred tech professionals and the digital platforms used are a mix of in-house and third-party developers.

Becoming a data-driven organization

MLL wants to become a fully data-driven company, and according to Sultania, advanced data analytics will play a key role in helping the company get there.

For example, MLL uses analytics to identify the ‘Backhaul’ opportunities for its transportation services. This is helping cut costs and improve asset (Truck) utilization.

The 3PL services provider also does Dynamic ETA (estimated time of arrival) using machine learning of past data of similar trips in the same lane. The machine learning model calculates a dynamic ETA, which predicts very accurately that when that vehicle reaches a particular destination or when the goods will be delivered to the customer.

In the coming months, Sultania will also be focusing on creating a centralized data lake and get deeper into more advanced analytics across the board.

Additionally, facial recognition-based attendance systems have also been implemented for all warehouse and production line workforce. It gives real-time info of resources available at each site, their total working hours etc.

Moving apps on the cloud

MLL is transforming into a cloud-first business, moving all its IT applications to the cloud.

Currently, Mahindra Logistics has a hybrid IT setup, including a mix of applications/workloads running in the company's own data center as well as on the cloud.

Sultania believes that cloud is a more scalable, more flexible and more accessible model. And that is why MLL relies on strategic cloud partners such as Oracle to run its business smoothly.

“This will give us the flexibility of onboarding a customer or integrating with any customer faster, whereby our services are available on the cloud or on the web-accessible from any part of the world,” he said.

The company’s customers come with their own unique requirements and their own set of systems which needs to be integrated.

“From a technology standpoint, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides a platform where we can interface or connect to any system very easily because they come with pre-built APIs with most of the standard ERPs and other key systems. And the monitoring of the message between MLL and the customer is also seamless and can be monitored real time and action can be automated,” added Sultania.

10. Union Agriculture Ministry has allocated Rs. 2,250 Crore for realizing the huge potential of horticulture sector in 2021-22

Press Information Bureau: May 11, 2021

Keeping in view the huge potential and role of the horticulture sector in increasing farmer’s income, the Government of India has allocated Rs. 2,250 crore (US$ 306.80 million) for development of horticulture sector during 2021-22.

To further promote and for holistic growth of the horticulture sector in the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has provided an enhanced allocation of Rs. 2,250 crore (US$ 306.80 million) for the year 2021-22 for ‘Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture’ (MIDH), a centrally sponsored scheme. The Ministry is implementing MIDH with effect from 2014-15, for realizing the potential of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew and cocoa. The allocation is significantly higher than the previous year allocation. This allocation has been communicated to the States/UTs for preparing Annual Action Plans.

Government intervention in the horticulture sector has led to the situation wherein horticulture production has surpassed the agriculture production in the country. During the year 2019-20, the country recorded its highest ever horticulture production of 320.77 million tonnes from an area of 25.66 million hectares. As per the 1st Advance Estimates for 2020-21 the total horticulture production in the country is 326.58 lakh MT from an area of 27.17 lakh ha.

MIDH has played a significant role in increasing the area under horticulture crops. Area and production during the years 2014 – 15 to 2019 – 20 has increased by 9% and 14% respectively. Moreover, the mission has boosted best practices to be followed in farms which have significantly improved the quality of produce and productivity of farmland. The initiative of MIDH has not only resulted in India’s self-sufficiency in the horticulture sector but also contributed towards achieving sustainable development goals of zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, no poverty, gender equality etc.

However, the sector is still facing a lot of challenges in terms of high post-harvest loss and gaps in post-harvest management and supply chain infrastructure. There is tremendous scope for enhancing the productivity of Indian horticulture which is imperative to cater to the country’s estimated demand of 650 Million MT of fruits and vegetables by the year 2050. Some of the new initiatives like focus on planting material production, cluster development programme, credit push through Agri Infra Fund, formation and promotion of FPOs are the right steps in this direction.

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

- INDUSTRY & MANUFATURE

11.1. Partnership with Gogoro to bolster Hero’s EV business

Mint, 23 Apr. 2021, Malyaban Ghosh

The tie-up with Gogoro will help Hero set up a lithium-ion battery-swapping stations network across the country, which is considered a more cost-effective way of operating electric two- and three-wheelers

Hero MotoCorp’s recently announced strategic partnership with Taiwanese company Gogoro Inc. can be considered one the most significant steps taken by the management in the last few years. It could help the firm stay relevant in the competitive two-wheeler market in the coming years. The partnership will help Hero establish a network of lithium-ion battery-swapping stations in India for two-wheelers and the two companies will also jointly develop electric vehicles, a segment in which Hero is lagging compared with Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor Company and some startups.

Also, entry-level two-wheelers, where Hero is the market leader, is expected to be the first segment to switch over to electric in the coming years, according to experts. Hero has not managed to launch an electric vehicle on its own till now. Hence, the success and failure of the new collaboration may have a lot of influence on Hero’s business in the coming days.

How will this partnership help Hero?

The tie-up with Gogoro will help Hero set up a lithium-ion battery swapping stations network across the country and this technology is largely considered a more cost-effective way of operating electric two- and three-wheelers. The Union government is also promoting this technology to boost sale of electric vehicles in India. Both companies will also get together to develop compatible electric vehicles for the domestic market, which will help Hero establish a foothold in the electric two-wheeler space.

How has the electric two-wheeler market evolved as of now?

Total sales of electric two-wheelers in the domestic market stood at just 143,837 units in FY21 and Hero Electric, a company owned by Naveen Munjal, is the market leader in the space. In FY20, sales were marginally better at 152,000 units. The electric two-wheeler market is also dominated by a bunch of startups such as Ather Energy, and Okinawa Auto Tech. Unicorns such as Ola Electric—a subsidiary of ride hailing service provider, Ola—also plan to make a grand entry into the segment with their products.

Where does Hero stand in EVs?

Hero has showcased its concept electric two-wheelers over the last few years but has not yet launched them commercially. Hero MotoCorp has already invested in Ather Energy, an electric scooter manufacturer, while its promoter, Pawan Munjal, has invested in Ola Electric through his family trust. The company has invested in roping in talent to develop electric technology at its research and development centre on the outskirts of Jaipur.

None of India’s leading two-wheeler manufacturers though has been commercially successful with electric vehicles yet, and the scene is dominated mostly by startups. For Bajaj and TVS as well, volumes have been minuscule compared with the combustion engine ones. These manufacturers, though, are expected to have an upper hand when they scale up the production of their electric products since they have strong brand value, extensive dealer network and an existing set of customers.

How have experts reacted to the decision of Hero MotoCorp?

According to analysts of ICICI Securities, Gogoro is a global leader in urban battery swapping and smart mobility innovation. This partnership could aid acceptance of Hero’s electric products, as capital cost of customers could be reduced significantly (around 30-40%) as vehicles can also be sold without a battery.

“We believe battery-as-a-service (BaaS) could be an additional revenue stream for the JV; access to this in future can be offered to other OEMs, too. Recently other OEMs, such as Honda, Yamaha, KTM, and Piaggio, had also announced setting up a consortium for swappable batteries. We believe this JV is likely to work alongside other HMCL EV investments (Ather)," they added.

11.2. TVS NTORQ crosses 100.000 sales mark in international markets

IBEF, May 18, 2021

On Monday, TVS Motor Company announced that its NTORQ 125 scooter had sold one lakh units in international markets.

The scooter is currently available in 19 countries throughout South Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and ASEAN, and features some industry first innovations such as Bluetooth connectivity.

TVS Motor Company Director and CEO, Mr. KN Radhakrishnan said, “This accomplishment reaffirms our dedication to growing the TVS NTORQ brand by setting new standards of creativity and inspiring customers.”

The BSVI 125-cc scooter is available in three different models: Disc, Drum, and Race Edition.

The scooter has a race-tuned fuel injection system, as well as a completely digital speedometer with navigation assistance, a top speed recorder, an in-built lap timer, phone battery strength indicator, last parked place assist, service reminder, and trip metre.

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

12. Indian electronic repair market can create over 5M jobs: MAIT

IANS, Apr. 25, 2021

The electronics repair market in India can help generate over five million direct jobs, with a potential to generate revenues of $20 billion per annum, a new report has emphasised.

New Delhi: The electronics repair market in India can help generate over five million direct jobs, with a potential to generate revenues of $20 billion per annum, a new report has emphasised.

According to MAIT, the apex body representing the ICT and electronics manufacturing sector in India, the repair and calibration of electronic subassemblies and products is a $100 billion industry worldwide.

"High costs of repairing electronic goods in developed countries like the US and Europe are compelling the corporates to send goods overseas, where such repair services are provided at lower prices due to both skills and cost arbitrage," said the report titled 'Electronic Hardware Repair Services Outsourcing' (ERSO) launched at the Electronics and Telecom Manufacturing Summit 2021 (MAIT-ETMS).

The report made recommendations to the Centre to streamline and simplify procedures to make India a repair and refurbishment hub for IT and electronic products.

"The electronics repair industry has the potential of becoming an emerging sector for employment growth in India. With the right regulatory support from the government of India, the domestic repair service sector in India can experience a tremendous boost," said Nitin Kunkolienker, President, MAIT.

"It will, thereby, generate valuable Forex revenue as well as create employment, especially during these COVID-19 times, which has made millions of Indians job-less," he added.

The report highlighted background on the regulatory landscape and emphasised bottlenecks and difficulties being faced day to day by the repair units in India, such as various regulatory approvals, import/ export restrictions, investment and Infrastructure cost, lack of skilled workforce and technology, e-waste related constraints, etc.

"The initiative to make India an electronics repairs outsourcing hub is the next sunrise sector for the country with the potential to generate over 5 million new direct jobs and attract investment from across the globe," the report mentioned.

13. MeitY selects 19 companies including Dell to extend incentives for making IT hardware in India

ET Gov. May 04, 2021

A total of 19 companies have submitted their applications under the production linked incentive scheme (PLI) for IT hardware which was notified on March 3, 2021. Incentives are applicable under the scheme from April 1.

Ravi Shankar Prasad says, “we are optimistic and looking forward to building a strong ecosystem across the value chain and integrating with the global value chains, thereby strengthening electronics manufacturing ecosystem in the country.”

The electronics hardware manufacturing companies that have applied under category 'IT hardware companies' include Dell, ICT (Wistron), Flextronics, Rising Stars Hi-Tech (Foxconn) and Lava.

The other 14 companies have applied under the category 'domestic companies' which include Dixon, Infopower (JV of Sahasra and MiTAC), Bhagwati (Micromax), Syrma, Orbic, Neolync, Optiemus, Netweb, VVDN, Smile Electronics, Panache Digilife, HLBS, RDP Workstations and Coconics. These companies are expected to expand their manufacturing operations in a significant manner and grow into national champion companies in IT hardware production, according to MeitY.

The PLI scheme extends an incentive of 4% to 2%/1% on net incremental sales (over base year of FY 2019-20) of goods under target segments that are manufactured in India to eligible companies, for a period of four years (FY 2021-22 to FY 2024-25).

In his address marking the conclusion of application window under the scheme, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics & IT, Communications, Law and Justice said that PLI scheme for IT hardware has been a huge success in terms of the applications received from global as well as domestic companies engaged in manufacturing electronics hardware products. Industry has reposed its faith in India’s stellar progress as a world class manufacturing destination and this resonates strongly with Prime Minister’s clarion call of AtmaNirbhar Bharat - a self-reliant India.

The minister further said that “we are optimistic and looking forward to building a strong ecosystem across the value chain and integrating with the global value chains, thereby strengthening electronics manufacturing ecosystem in the country.”

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visionary initiatives like the Digital India and “Make in India” programmes, India has witnessed an unprecedented growth in electronics manufacturing in the last five years, he said and added that the National Policy on Electronics 2019 envisions positioning India as a global hub for electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) by focusing on size and scale, promoting exports and enhancing domestic value addition by creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally.

After the success of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme in bringing investments in mobile phone (handsets and components) manufacturing, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the PLI scheme for IT hardware products. The target IT hardware segments under the proposed scheme include laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers (PCs) and servers. The scheme proposes production linked incentives to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the value chain of these IT hardware products.

Over the next four years, the scheme is expected to lead to total production of about Rs 1,60,000 crore. Out of the total production, IT hardware companies have proposed a production of over Rs 1,35,000 crore, and domestic companies have proposed a production of over Rs 25,000 crore.

The scheme is expected to promote exports significantly. Out of the total production of Rs 1,60,000 crore in the next four years, more than 37 percent will be contributed by exports of the order of Rs 60,000 crore.

The scheme will bring additional investment in electronics manufacturing to the tune of Rs 2,350 crore.

The scheme will generate approximately 37,500 direct employment opportunities in the next four years along with creation of additional indirect employment of nearly three times the direct employment.

Domestic value addition is expected to grow from the current 5-12% to 16-35%, according to MeitY.

With the demand for electronics in India expected to grow manifold by 2025, the Union Minister expressed confidence that the PLI scheme and other initiatives to promote electronics manufacturing will help in making India a competitive destination for electronics manufacturing and give a boost to AtmaNirbhar Bharat. Creation of domestic champion companies in electronics manufacturing under the scheme will give fillip to vocal for local while aiming for global scale.

14. 40 million Indians to upgrade to 5G within a year of commercial launch: Ericsson

ET Tel., May, 12, 2021

Interestingly, fixed-wireless access (FWA) is being seen as a potential opportunity for 5G in India, with a third of urban users finding 5G home broadband to be ‘extremely relevant’, according to the report. They are also willing to give up their existing fixed broadband provider.

NEW DELHI: 300 million consumers worldwide could upgrade to the fifth-generation or 5G technology in 2021 including at least 40 million customers in India within the first year of 5G being made available, according to an Ericsson ConsumerLab report.

The trials for the next generation are yet to commence in the country,

5G which will bring low-latency applications and open up new cases as well as revenue streams is being perceived as an improvement over its predecessor-- the 4G technology, and this is reflected in consumers’ upgrade intentions too.

In fact, the report said India has the highest rise in intention to upgrade with 67% of users expressing an interest to take up 5G when it is available, rising annually by 14% percentage points.

Consequently, Indian consumers are willing to pay 50% more for 5G plans with bundled digital services, as against just 10% premium for 5G connectivity.

With this, the early adopters have a set of expectations as well. 70% of potential early adopters of 5G in India expect higher speeds than 4G, while 60% expect innovation in pricing from telcos such as 5G data sharing between family members or across devices.

Additionally, it was observed that 5G is already triggering new user behaviors. In addition to reducing Wi-Fi usage, early adopter 5G users also spend an average of two hours on cloud gaming, and one hour on augmented reality (AR) apps when compared to 4G users.

Further, the report predicts consumers will spend 7.5-8 hours/ week on extended reality (XR) apps by 2025.

Interestingly, fixed-wireless access (FWA) is being seen as a potential opportunity for 5G in India, with a third of urban users finding 5G home broadband to be ‘extremely relevant’. They are also willing to give up their existing fixed broadband provider.

It highlighted that by the end of 2020, increased awareness of service and value benefits could have resulted in 22 percent more smartphone users with 5G-ready handsets upgrading to 5G subscriptions.

“Given that Indian Service Providers are preparing for 5G deployments, the Ericsson ConsumerLab study throws up some interesting consumer insights towards 5G that will help them encourage 5G adoption and meet consumer expectations,” said Nitin Bansal, Head of Ericsson India and Head of Network Solutions Ericsson South East Asia, Oceania & India.

The report--Five Ways to a Better 5G--is based on the consumer sentiment and perception in 26 markets--including the US, China, South Korea, and the UK, according to the report. It covered 1.3 billion smartphone users globally, including 220 million 5G subscribers.

15. The Start-up Maestro: Rahul Monie

ET CIO, May, 11, 2021, Dhrumil Dhakan

A CIO, a startup founder, and an avid coder, Rahul Monie Chief Technology Officer & Chief Information Security Officer at AbsolutData Research & Analytics Solution, is a lot rolled into one.

Born in Baroda, during his IAF father’s posting in the city, Rahul Monie’s student life was full of traveling to different cities like Kanpur, Deolali, Hasimara, Gorakhpur, and many more, before finally settling in Delhi for the longest period. In the capital city, he finished his early schooling at The Air Force School.

Although he considered himself to be an average student, there was a lot that he learned during that time, with all the traveling and changing schools, he reminisces, “But what it did teach me was how to get along with people, adapt to different kinds of people, different cultures very quickly and learn and understand the interesting things about different cultures across the country,” Monie said.

Even though Monie, who’s now the Chief Technology Officer & Chief Information Security Officer at AbsolutData Research & Analytics Solution, does not claim to be excellent as a student, he remembers having an active interest in electronics and technology even as a student, so much so that he opted for electronics as a vocational subject during his school time.

He credits his early interest in electronics to his electronics teacher, who helped him develop a strong base for the subject, and computers to his father, who was one of the few people in the Indian Air Force part of the initial core computer team. “I kind of grew up with punch cards and 132 column coding sheets. Those days everything used to be hand-coded, then punched on to cards, and then transferred on to the machines,” he said.

After completing his engineering in electronics, he started his intensive post-graduate diploma course through an Indian company named Aptech, which had a partnership with the National Computing Center (backed by the British Govt.) where he learned the ropes of programming and database concepts. This is where he realized what would be his career path.

After finishing the diploma course, Monie landed an entry-level job at the cultural section of the French Embassy in Delhi where his responsibilities varied from coding to fixing machines and much more. Since he was a part of the French Embassy, he had the opportunity to talk to a lot of important dignitaries such as IAS officers, French filmmakers, and many senior officers. “So, a lot of people interaction skills, understanding of how to get things done, how to interact, deal, convince people, apart from the routine computer & IT kind of stuff,” he added on the things he learned at his first job.

Even when he was still a student, Monie always had the idea of starting something of his own and working for himself at a time when start-ups were still not ‘invented’ in India. He managed to fulfill this vision in ‘90 when he started a business of his own with a few of his friends and was able to get a hardware maintenance project from the French Embassy, where he worked previously.

After running the start-up, which they named WeMadeIt, for a successful 4-5 years, where they managed to get a contract from a Dubai-based company, Monie decided to move on for better career prospects.

After his first stint with his start-up, he got the opportunity of heading the IT department of the British Council Division in India. He was responsible for installing the CAT-5 network on their computers, which they used as electronic typewriters, large-scale deployment of Windows NT, implementing an accounting system, among numerous other achievements.

Monie spent 3 years at the British Council Division, where he helped them set up one of India’s best internet facilities for the library members at that time. Later, he got the opportunity to join Microsoft Consulting Services India, responsible for the North and East region of the country. Around the Y2K period, Monie managed to start another start-up with a few of his colleagues from Microsoft which, unfortunately, did not work out the way they wanted.

“We tried to incubate a couple of companies, did some interesting work...but sadly nothing came out of it because 9/11 happened and then everybody moved away from any kind of investing...so we closed shop,” he recollects on his second stint with start-ups.

After this setback, Monie joined Comsat Max in Delhi, where he was responsible for setting up data centers from scratch. Along with that, he was also responsible for setting up a hot disaster recovery solution. A couple of years later, he got the opportunity to join a medical equipment manufacturing company based out of Chandigarh for another 2 years before leaving to start another start-up.

Monie started the start-up with a couple of his friends, which built a complete end-to-end foreign exchange solution, which catered to European Union banks. As the company started doing good, they got an offer to buy them, and they accepted to do so. Later, Monie joined another start-up as the director of engineering.

After a few years, he started another start-up with his friends, named Agile Factory that dealt with automating government - public interactions. While the company had its business going on in Europe, its operations were running in India. When the start-up was acquired by a larger company, Rahul moved to another one started by his friend that dealt with e-commerce marketplaces for employees, so they did not have to look for individual customers but companies would bring the customers in bulk.

They ran the operation successfully for around 2 and a half years before they were bought out by a much larger group, trying to do a similar thing. It was in February 2012, that Rahul joined his current organization as the CTO and was even appointed as the CISO later in the years when the need for cybersecurity arose.

“When I joined Absolutdata, it was a mix of...bits and pieces, it was a start-up which had grown really big but everything was still done with jugaadbaazi kind of a scenario,” Monie adds on how his journey has been with Absolutdata ever since joining, and how much it has progressed till now, “...So just before the pandemic started, we had moved 100% to the cloud...so that was the complete journey...from a bunch of machines sitting in the server room to a scenario today where the operations guys can get a server provisioned for themselves in about 20 minutes flat”

Having seen the evolution of computer technology throughout his career, Rahul has faced his fair share of challenges through the years, “Challenges across the last thirty-odd years really have not changed...it’s a question of getting people to understand and see how sensible computing helps them perform better, to put in a nutshell...that challenge has not changed before it was from the perspective of ‘why do I need a computer?’ to now ‘why do I need to do it again...the human psyche part has not really changed,”

Convincing people to use computing powers sensibly is what he considers to be the real challenge even after all these years of service.

“The ability to create a start-up and sell it successfully...all these bits and bobs...almost each individual assignment has been like an achievement in a different sense, I won’t take one particular thing and say, this is like a wow factor,” Monie said on the achievements of his career.

When not working on cybersecurity and coding, Monie is an avid cook, doing so on a regular basis. Driving long distances is also something that he does to combat the stress, even though the pandemic has not allowed him to do so for a long time. Although, the most successful stress busters for him have been his two dogs.

Even though he has worked numerous start-ups throughout his career, and is even working quite successfully at one, he still does not rule out the possibility of starting one again if situations allow it.

“Live life, do what you want to do…I’ve never stopped myself from doing something that I really want to do,” Monie said.

15.2. LG Group to spend over $100M for advanced AI tech development

IANS, May 17, 2021

LG Group said on Monday it will invest more than $100 million for the next three years to establish massive high-performance computing infrastructure for advanced artificial intelligence (AI) development.

Seoul, LG Group said on Monday it will invest more than $100 million for the next three years to establish massive high-performance computing infrastructure for advanced artificial intelligence (AI) development.

LG AI Research, the group's AI R&D hub, plans to develop a "hyper-mega AI" system resembling a human brain that can conduct comprehensive and independent learning, decision-making and actions by processing massive amounts of data.

To set up such an AI system, LG will establish top-class computing infrastructure that can perform 95.7 quadrillion calculations per second.

In the second half of the year, LG plans to unveil its hyper-mega AI system that has 600 billion machine learning parameters, more than triple of that of GPT-3, currently the world's largest autoregressive language model created by U.S.-based OpenAI.

Parameters play a similar role as synapses in the human brain that connects neurons to learn and memorise information. Bigger parameters mean better AI intelligence, reports Yonhap news agency.

While GPT-3 can create essays and have conversations like humans, LG said its advanced AI system will be able to not only learn languages but also understand images and videos with enhanced data inference capabilities.

LG AI Research, which is joined by 16 group affiliates, including LG Electronics Inc., also plans to develop an AI model with trillion-scale parameters by the first half of 2022.

LG believes its advanced AI system will be useful in various areas from customer counselling to production development. The group is also pushing to develop an AI model that can perform sales activities related to B2B customers.

The conglomerate, which also owns the country's top chemical firm LG Chem Ltd., plans to utilise its AI system to find new materials in the field of batteries and light-emitting compounds.

It expects the AI model to analyse massive amounts of chemical studies and patents and set up a comprehensive database for new materials, which can lead to development of better electric vehicle batteries and highly efficient TV displays.

The group said it also plans to apply its AI solutions to development of cancer treatment vaccines and environment friendly plastics.

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

16.1. Upskill, the only solution to AI skill crisis

ET CIO, Apr. 19, 2021, Riya Pahula

As the field of AI constantly evolves, creating a skill gap in the industry, it is necessary for companies to upskill their existing employees

Businesses are witnessing significant traction on AI – through transformation of existing business models, operating models, channels, propositions and also innovations in business models. All of this is driving significant demand for professionals who can work on AI algorithms and have relevant skills. As of now, the demand side fairly outstrips the supply base of skills in this domain. And this is what is being termed as the "AI Skill Crisis".

According to Max Life Insurance's internal observation of recruiting AI talent, the company found that for every single professional, there are at least three opportunities available. However, on the other hand, an average open AI role takes two months to find the right candidate and fitment in an organization. This is the scale of the AI skill gap we are witnessing today.

AI as a domain does require certain expertise – experience of certain platforms, technologies, concepts etc. Hence, there is a learning path that people need to go through which takes time. It is not just the learning but also applying that learning through real-world projects. While there is a good supply of talent, we are possibly seeing a lag because it's taking time for all those gears to start turning and the talent pool to build up.

“There are essentially only three sources of talent. Upskilling your existing resources, hiring resources, which are bringing in native AI expertise and capabilities and the third source is short term/ extended talent on a project to project basis or case-by-case basis. Since we cannot meet the entire demand through any one of these levers, upskilling will definitely help here to bridge this shortage,” said Sushant Rabra, Partner, Digital Consulting, KPMG in India.

As the field is constantly evolving, it is necessary for professionals to upskill. At senior levels, apart from official training and understanding of AI technology, we also need a high degree of collaboration and evangelization across teams to enable the adoption of AI strategy into mainstream operations. At the leadership and senior levels, upskilling is key for bridging this gap. Once the senior leadership has been up-skilled to understand AI technologies, they play a pivotal role in driving the AI culture that empowers the tech and AI teams. This helps with much faster implementations and adoption throughout business processes.

How to Upskill talent in AI

To upskill AI talent, organisations must look at sources of talent beyond technology. There are people with functional or business knowledge who can be trained and who could create value for the organization through AI. 30-40% people who are trained on AI are non-technology professionals and are coming from other domains. Spread the net wider, don't only look at IT, look in business as well.

1. Creating a learning culture:

In the tech world and especially in the field of AI it is critical for all of us to continue to upskill ourselves to remain relevant. At the same time, we are all busy professionals already, and these upskilling initiatives take time, focus, and energy. This makes it even more important to keep learning as and when possible

“We are Max Life Insurance, have provided online AI learning platforms and training by tying up with platforms such as Coursera and exposing the AI training meant for all levels of staff. We also set up workshops on leveraging the cloud stack conducted by our cloud partners . We have tried to provide an environment and tools where the teams can constantly test, experiment, and learn through building AI solutions,” said Suhail Ghai, EVP & CTO, Max Life Insurance.

2. Practical application of knowledge/skills:

People tend to forget 80 percent of what they learn if there is no opportunity to apply the knowledge/skills on a regular basis. Therefore, it is important for businesses to create an environment where employees can apply their knowledge.

“We at PayU, have partnered closely with employees and their managers so that together we create opportunities for the student to apply the newly gained AI knowledge in a safe learning environment. Sometimes this means collaborating on an existing AI project or starting their own mini-project, sometimes this means mentoring someone else on AI but it can also mean transitioning into a new AI-related role,” said Priya Cherian, Chief People Officer, PayU.

3. Creating a guiding star:

Leaders can look at the future of their business in 5 years, where AI would have a role to play. Depending on their sector, they can create an AI NorthStar which will guide their actions over the next 2-3 years and what is it they want to do on that. From there, leaders can derive the technology and talent requirements and drive that like a program in the organization.

The AI skills shortage is widely acknowledged as the most significant impediment to AI's full potential. Cherian added that according to recruitment firms, it was estimated that the shortage of employees skilled in AI, ML, Blockchain, and other disruptive technologies could go up to 200,000 in 2020. And the number may have increased in 2021. Hence employees - existing and potential - need to be upskilled and trained extensively to address this gap.

While the companies try to solve the challenge of the AI skill crisis through upskill, they should not forget that the future is not going to be restricted to being technology professionals.

“AI talent could also be a business process or a functional professional who wants to build allied expertise in this domain. Given the way these AI platforms and solutions are evolving, you need not have very deep technological expertise to create use cases in that. Hence, we would possibly see a confluence of these skills in the way roles of the future are defined. For example, a supply chain professional in the future may be expected to have certain exposure to AI in that domain as well,” said Rabra.

16.2. DRDO develops AI tool for COVID detection in chest X-rays

PTI, May 08, 2021

This would be utilised by 5C Network, the country's largest digital network of radiologists, with support of HCG Academics, the statement said.

DRDO has developedan Artificial Intelligence algorithm that can detect the presence of COVID-19 disease in Chest X-rays. Named ATMAN AI, the tool was developed by DRDO's Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), with the support of 5C Network & HCG Academics.

The ATMAN AI is an artificial intelligence tool for chest X-ray screening as triaging tool in COVID-19 diagnosis which is a method for rapid identification and assessment of lung involvement, according to a statement issued by HCG Academics on Friday.

This would be utilised by 5C Network, the country's largest digital network of radiologists, with support of HCG Academics, the statement said.

Triaging COVID suspect patients using X-ray is fast, cost-effective and efficient.

"It can be a useful tool especially in smaller towns in our country owing to lack of easy access to CT scans," it said.

This would also reduce the existing burden on radiologists and make CT machines being used for COVID be utilised for other diseases and illnesses owing to overload for CT scans, it said.

The novel feature namelyBelievable AI, along with existing ResNet models, has improved the accuracy of the software and being a machine learning tool, the accuracy would improve continually, the statement said.

Chest X-Rays of RT-PCR positive hospitalised patients in various stages of disease involvement were retrospectively analysed using Artificial Intelligence (Deep Learning & Convolutional Neural Network) models by an indigenously developed deep learning application by CAIR-DRDO for COVID - 19 screening using digital chest X-rays. The algorithm showed an accuracy of 96.73 per cent, it said. Director of CAIR, DRDO, U K Singh was quoted as saying:The development of ATMAN, an Artificial Intelligence- based diagnostic tool for Chest X-ray screening is a part of DRDOs effort to help clinicians and partners on the frontline to have the tools they need to rapidly diagnose and effectively treat COVID-19 patients." Given the limited testing facilities for coronavirus, there is a rush to develop AI tools for quick analysis using X-rays.

The tool would help in automatically detecting radiological findings indicative of COVID-19 in seconds, enabling physicians and radiologists to more effectively triage the cases, especially in an emergency environment", he added. CEO of 5C network Kalyan Sivasailam said,We are excited to develop Atman AI for COVID detection in Chest X- rays.Utilising the algorithms for chest X-ray is an effective triaging tool which can be accessible to the common man in remotest districts of this country."

"This will have a significant impact on timely care and appropriate treatment," he said

With the ongoing second wave of infections, this application can help with a more directed and focused approach, the statement said. 5C Network, which is connected to over 1,000 hospitals across the country, would now make ATMAN available to state- run and private hospitals, it was stated.

17.1. Amazon posts record profits amid pandemic boom

Reuters, Apr. 30, 2021

Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, shoppers have relied increasingly on Amazon for delivery of home staples, and the company sees this trend continuing post-pandemic, particularly for groceries.

Amazon, one of the biggest winners of the pandemic, posted record profits on Thursday and signaled that consumers would keep spending in a growing U.S. economy and converts to online shopping are not likely to leave.

While brick-and-mortar stores closed, Amazon has now posted four consecutive record quarterly profits, attracted more than 200 million Prime loyalty subscribers, and recruited over 500,000 employees to keep up with surging demand.

Amazon said it expects operating income for the current quarter to be between $4.5 billion and $8 billion, which includes about $1.5 billion in costs related to Covid-19. Shares rose 4% in after-hours trade.

Throughout the pandemic, the world's largest online retailer has been at the center of workplace tumult, with a failed attempt by organized labor to unionize an Amazon warehouse in Alabama and litigation in New York over whether it put profit ahead of employee safety.

Amazon's business has largely been unfazed by the developments. Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said a jump in Prime subscriptions, consumers' embrace of grocery delivery amid COVID-19 and an improving economy worked to Amazon's advantage.

"Habit. Good quality grocery. Stimulus checks," Pachter said. "They're going to thrive."

Slower sales growth in the current period relative to the last quarter reflected a tougher comparison to last year, when lockdowns were in full swing, Pachter said.

CEO Jeff Bezos touted the results of the company's cloud computing unit Amazon Web Services (AWS) in a press release, saying, "In just 15 years, AWS has become a $54 billion annual sales run rate business competing against the world's largest technology companies, and its growth is accelerating."

The plaudits were a nod to Andy Jassy, AWS's long-time cloud chief who will succeed Bezos as Amazon's CEO this summer. Amazon announced a deal for Dish Network Corp to build its 5G network on AWS last week, and the division increased revenue 32% to $13.5 billion, ahead of analysts' average estimate of $13.2 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Brian Olsavsky, Amazon's chief financial officer, said businesses increasingly wanted to outsource their technology infrastructure to AWS.

"We expect this trend to continue as we move into the post-pandemic recovery," he said.

Adding to Amazon's second-quarter revenue will be Prime Day, the company's annual marketing blitz. Amazon disclosed the event will take place in June rather than July, as is more typical, to reach customers before they head on vacation.

Grocery sales anchored by Amazon's subsidiary Whole Foods Market remain a bright spot, too. Olsavsky called grocery "a great revelation during the post-pandemic period."

The company's first-quarter profit more than tripled to $8.1 billion from a year ago, on sales of $108.5 billion, ahead of analysts' estimates.

Ad sales growth

Amazon saw its stock price nearly double in the first part of 2020 as it benefited from the pandemic. This year, however, it has underperformed the S&P 500 market index. Its shares were up about 8.5% year to date versus the index's 13% gain.

Spending on COVID-19 and logistics has chipped away at Amazon's bottom line. The company has poured money into buying cargo planes and securing new warehouses, aiming to place items closer to customers to speed up delivery. It said Wednesday it planned to hike pay for over half a million employees, costing more than $1 billion - and it is still hiring for tens of thousands more positions.

Olsavsky said Amazon was still working to restore one-day package delivery rates to pre-pandemic levels.

He told reporters the company intends to increase spending on video content this year as well. Consumers have been watching content for more hours on Amazon, Olsavsky said.

While far behind ad sales leaders Facebook and Alphabet's Google, Amazon is growing its ad business because brands' placements often result directly in sales, reaching customers who are on Amazon with an intention to shop.

Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com, said, "Outside of its core retail and cloud units, advertising revenue is increasingly becoming another substantial growth driver for Amazon."

Amazon said ad and other sales rose 77% to $6.9 billion, ahead of analysts' estimate of $6.2 billion.

18.1. How robotics is changing the face of healthcare: Dr Yugal Kishore Mishra

ET Health, May 04, 2021

By Dr Yugal Kishore Mishra, Chief Of Clinical Services, Head Of Cardiac Sciences And Chief Cardio Vascular Surgeon, Manipal Hospitals, Dwarka, New Delhi

The medical scenario has transformed drastically in the past century – from modernised equipment in OPDs to the dawn of Robotic-Assisted Surgeries, we now live in a tech-driven world. Artificial intelligence-enabled computer vision and data analytics have transformed health robotics, expanding capabilities into many other areas of healthcare.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitals and clinics started to deploy robots for a much wider range of tasks to help reduce exposure to pathogens. As a result, it is now clear that the operational efficiencies and reduced risk levels offered by robotics in healthcare offer value in many areas. Robots are now used not only in clinical settings to support health workers and enhance patient care but also in the operating rooms.

Robotics is revolutionising the healthcare industry in countless ways, and we simply can’t get enough of how mankind is, medically, headed to a new direction. Take a look.

1. Surgical Robots

Surgeries can be daunting – be it the pain, prolonged recovery period or scars left behind – patients often fear the idea of undergoing a surgical procedure. However, with the introduction of robotics, all three concerns of a patient are addressed. Moreover, the robot-assisted surgeries offer higher precision and control. One such example of a surgical robot is the Vinci surgical system. This allows the surgeon a high definition 3-D view of the surgical area and also robotic instruments that can bend and rotate much more than a human hand to provide greater levels of precision. This ensures that the operation is minimally invasive and patients can recover much faster.

2. Microbots

Microbots are devices that can go inside the human body and heal whatever problems are within the body. These robots can directly enter the bloodstream and reach any place inside the human body in seconds. These microbots have a thickness just slightly larger than the human hair, and they can travel across a variety of liquids such as blood, lymph nodes, or even the liquid in the eyes which sounds very icky but can be very helpful.

3. Nursing Robots

A nurse’s duties, just like a doctor’s, never halt. To support their duties, a Venipuncture robot can be put to use. It is stressful when a nurse needs to obtain your blood for some tests but cannot find the vein so has to stick in the injection needle again and again. The venipuncture creates a 3-D image of the patient’s blood vessels using infrared and ultrasonic imaging which makes it easier to find the right vein and stick the needle.

5. Robot Exoskeletons

Exoskeletons are robotic and mechanical devices that can be worn by humans to extend their strength and allow them to do things they wouldn’t be able to do normally. Exoskeletons are very useful for surgeons who have to stand for long hours during 10 or 12-hour surgeries. These exoskeletons help them not to become so tired which also increases their concentration in the surgery. Another application of exoskeletons is for people who have spinal injuries for some other injuries that hinder their complete range of motion. They can help partially paralyzed people learn how to walk and aid in their rehabilitation.

The Takeaway

It is a no-brainer that robotics with their endless array of applications can soon become an integral part of the healthcare industry. They can help doctors and nurses with their duties efficiently, provide access to healthcare in remote areas, and improvise ways to treat diseases and injuries. And all these changes are only the beginning as robotics is just getting integrated into healthcare.

Robotic surgeries allow surgeons to perform many types of complex procedures with more precision, flexibility and control than is possible with conventional techniques. Unlike in traditional and laparoscopic surgeries, the surgeon does not hold surgical tools himself. The surgeon controls the arms while seated at a computer console near the operating table. The console gives the surgeon a high-definition, magnified, 3-D view of the surgical site. The surgeon leads other team members who assist during the operation.

Also, robotic procedures allow the surgeon to remain seated, minimising physical strain, fatigue and thereafter possibility of errors during the procedure. Furthermore, due to fewer and smaller incisions, patients do not have to go through excessive blood loss during the surgery. Risk of infections is comparatively lower, and the recovery time is also shorter. And while it’s a work in progress development, we are yet to see what more robotics can do to change the face of healthcare in the near future.

(DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the authors and ETHealthworld.com does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETHealthworld.com shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person/organisation directly or indirectly).

18.2. Synechron to hire up to 2,000 professionals to boost India plans

IBEF, May 18, 2021

Synechron, a digital transformation consulting firm, announced plans to recruit up to 2,000 individuals to expand its India operations in Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Chennai.

Furthermore, the company stated that it will focus to fill job openings in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

Mr. Hareesha Pattaje, Managing Director and Delivery Head India, Synechron said, “This year has seen tremendous growth in India, particularly in digital transformation initiatives across various BFSI clientele. Although we will be looking for individuals with robust domain knowledge, we would also be looking for trained individuals with 4 to 10 years of relevant experience.”

Business analysts, java full stack, data engineers, UI/UX specialists, angular/react, Cloud & DevOps, automation engineers, and agile coaches are among the key skills the organization is reportedly seeking for.

Mr. Pattaje added, "We are also bolstering our talent pipeline, who are routinely cross-skilling and upskilling themselves, to be positioned in appropriate roles."

Synechron successfully completed two acquisitions within six months of each other. Citihub Digital, a technology consulting company for the financial services industry, was the first acquisition, and the second acquisition include Attra, an Australia-based technology services and solutions provider that caters to industries such as payments, banking, and finance.

Mr. Faisal Husain, Co-founder and CEO, Synechron, said, “Synechron has always been successful in providing solutions to our customers worldwide, who are massively investing in digital transformation to enable their end customers to conduct business more effectively and intelligently.”

The corporation increased its global operating locations to 22 in 2021 from 18 in 2020 and has over 10,000 employees and generates > US$ 650 million in annual revenue.

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

19.1. Serum Institute of India leads cross-sector Indian investments into UK

Press Information Bureau, May 05, 2021

Downing Street announced that the Serum Institute of India would invest GBP 240 million (US$ 332.38 million) in the UK to expand its vaccine business and open a new sales office, creating thousands of jobs, as part of a GBP 1 billion (US$ 1.38 billion) India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership that will create about 6,500 jobs in the UK.

The news came ahead of a virtual summit between Prime Ministers Mr. Boris Johnson and Mr. Narendra Modi, on Tuesday.

Serum Institute of India, a Pune-based vaccine manufacturing firm, led by CEO Mr. Adar Poonawalla, is one of nearly 20 Indian companies to announce major investment plans in the UK this week, including sectors such as healthcare, biotech, and software services. It was also announced that the Serum Institute of India (SII) has begun phase one trials of a nasal coronavirus vaccine in the UK.

Downing Street stated that clinical trials, R&D, and possibly vaccine production would all benefit from Serum's investment. This will help the UK and the rest of the world in combating the coronavirus pandemic and other deadly diseases. In collaboration with Codagenix INC, Serum has begun phase one trials of a one-dose nasal vaccine for coronavirus in the UK.

Mr. Poonawalla, who is now in London and has indicated at plans to increase vaccine production outside of India, called his meetings there "excellent."

On Twitter, he wrote, "We will work even harder and improve India's battle against COVID-19."

Another notable Indian healthcare investment is a GBP 59 million (US$ 81.71 million) investment by biotech company Global Gene Corp over the next five years. It will build 110 high-skilled jobs in the UK, the majority of which will be located at the Human Genome Project's Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridge.

Prime Minister, Mr. Johnson said, “I'm delighted that Global Gene Corp has agreed to join the legions of Indian companies that have invested in the UK, bolstering our healthcare sector and accelerating economic growth.”

Mr. Sumit Jamuar, Chairman & CEO of Global Gene Corp, said, “The aim of the investment is to bring an "exponential leap" into the future of healthcare through genomics – from drug discovery to precision medicine – a mission that will be "much more important" in the coming years.”

He added, “With the Genome UK plan, the UK is at the forefront of the genomics movement. To realise our vision, we are excited to invest in cutting-edge capabilities at the intersection of genomics and machine learning.”

Invest India CEO Mr. Deepak Bagla said, “We believe that in line with Prime Minister Mr. Modi's vision of National Healthcare Mission and Ayushman Bharat, the genomic revolution will have a significant effect on the lives of billions of people. This revolution will be made possible by Global Gene Corp.

Other Indian investments announced include Q-Rich Creations at GBP 54 million (US$ 74.79 million), that would generate 667 jobs in UK; I2 Agro at GBP 30 million (US$ 41.55 million), generating 465 jobs; Wipro at GBP 16 million (US$ 22.16 million), generating 500 jobs; Mastek generating 357 jobs; and Sterlite Technologies at GBP 15 million (US$ 20.77 million), generating 150 jobs.

Some of the others on the list of Indian investments include Route Mobile at GBP 20 million (US$ 27.70 million); Cron Systems at GBP 20 million (US$ 27.70 million), generating 100 jobs; Skillmine at GBP 11 million (US$ 15.23 million), generating 100 jobs; SNVA Ventures at GBP 10 million (US$ 13.85 million), generating 200 jobs; CtrlS Data Centers at GBP 10 million (US$ 13.85 million), generating 100 jobs; Que Processing Services at GBP 10 million (US$ 13.85 million), generating 100 jobs; TVS Motors-Norton generating 89 jobs; Prime Focus Technologies generating 70 jobs; and Goila Butter Chicken at GBP 3 million (US$ 4.15 million).

According to Downing Street, the announcement of over 6,500 new jobs in the UK and GBP 1 billion (US$ 1.38 billion) in new trade with India, is based on company commitments and figures from UK-India exports and investments, as well as robust involvement from Department for International Trade officials.

Morningside Pharmaceuticals, which is discovering, developing, and licencing new pharmaceutical drugs; Polymateria's biotransformation technology, which enables plastics to become completely biodegradable, in a deal worth GBP 75 million (US$ 103.87 million) in UK exports over the next five years; CMR surgical in a contract worth GBP 200 million (US$ 276.98 million) generating 100 new UK jobs; Kloudpad with critical hardware and software bespoke data centres, contract worth GBP 15 million (US$ 20.77 million); and Drone surveying equipment and AI technology from Vidrona.

KIGG systems – smart metre test benches for power delivery companies; CyanConnode – GBP 18 million (US$ 24.93 million) deal; GoZero Mobility – GBP 3.2 million (US$ 4.43 million) deal for e-bikes; Agvesto – GBP 3 million (US$ 4.15 million) deal; Revolut expansion into India; CDE Asia – GBP 500,000 (US$ 692,457.50) deal; and Bio Goods Laboratory – biopharmaceutical finished products for rare bleeding disorders, are among the others.

The export agreements also cover the expansion of British video game developer Kwalee in India; Astropol – colour and additive solutions for the vinyl, non-vinyl, and related additive industries, worth GBP 12 million (US$ 16.62 million); Surgease – worth GBP 14.9 million (US$ 20.64 million); and Oxvent – worth GBP 20 million (US$ 27.70 million), among others.

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

19.2. Tech giant IBM to start office in Kochi soon

ET CIO, May 09, 2021, Shenoy Karun

Software technology giant International Business Machines Corp (IBM) will be opening a large office in Kochi soon and by the time its new facility is fully functional, post-Covid, the company will have a new name — Kyndryl.

KOCHI: Software technology giant International Business Machines Corp (IBM) will be opening a large office in Kochi soon and by the time its new facility is fully functional, post-Covid, the company will have a new name — Kyndryl.

The IBM signboard will be in Kochi only for a few months more, before assuming the new moniker Kyndryl.

Globally, IBM’s ‘managed infrastructure services’ business is being spun-off into an independent new company named Kyndryl, with its headquarters in New York. This new firm will continue with the original IT infrastructure business of IBM and it will enable IBM to focus on more profitable business areas of cloud services and artificial intelligence (AI). However, there are chances that the transition might be delayed for a few months more, until the end of the calendar year.

When asked about the ongoing hiring, a senior official with IBM’s corporate communications team commented, ''Hiring is part of IBM’s Business As Usual (BAU) process. Our workforce decisions are made to best support our clients on their journey to adopting an open hybrid cloud platform and AI capability''.

She also shared an FAQ on Kyndril which said, “Throughout 2021, and until the spin, IBM will continue to invest in Kyndryl to ensure it maintains its leadership position in the market and can capitalize on the changes taking place to innovate in managed services”.

“IBM India is expected to open their larger office during Q2 or Q3 of the current financial year. But, by the time IBM India will be spun-off into a separate company with a new name. Hence, you will in effect not get to see the name IBM on the signboards in Kochi,” a source in the know of the things said.

The firm already had been using “NewCo” as a placeholder name in their contracts with the external contractors, the source said.

However, the transition might be delayed for a few months more, until the end of the calendar year.

IBM is already present in Kochi at Centre A Offices, a premium business centre on MG Road, which houses their coordination office in Kerala with less than five people. Recently, the company had listed a huge number of vacancies for Kochi on their website, fuelling speculation that the opening of the Kochi office is imminent.

According to sources, British real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield had been in the search for a facility for IBM that could accommodate 400 people initially and then expand to 600 to 800 seats in the future.

It was two-and-a-half years ago that IBM first started scouting in Kochi for a property that could seat five to six people. Then they came back again eight or nine months ago, leasing a co-working space on MG Road.

A search on IBM India’s career page throws back 457 positions in Kochi, on their website.

“This is part of the company’s expansion into smaller cities – tier 2 & 3 cities – including Kochi,” another industry source said.

Sources hinted that the company will be opening in Infopark.

When contacted a senior official with the state government’s technology parks said that IBM might open the office, but there are details yet to be worked out.

“IBM’s plans are still up in the air. They have already set up a base outside the park [Infopark], a small place, and it is not hundred percent clear to me what exactly their plans are,” the official said.

20. Cognizant makes 28,000 campus offers for 2021

ET Bureau, Dia Rekhi

The company also raised its revenue growth forecast to 7-9% for fiscal year 2021

IT services provider Cognizant said on Thursday that it had made over 28,000 campus offers from across the country to meet growing demand.

The company also raised its revenue growth forecast to 7-9% for fiscal year 2021, or 5.6-7.6% in constant currency terms. It has guided for 10.5-11.5% growth in the second quarter. Teaneck, New Jersey-based Cognizant follows a January-December financial year.

“We have upped (campus hires) to 28,000 plus. That's what we offered in 2021,” said Rajesh Nambiar, chairman and managing director of Cognizant India. “We remain very confident in Cognizant standing as a magnet for skilled talent and a great place to build a career.”

Nambiar said there had been a meaningful increase in the company’s brand perception in recent quarters, especially in the talent market.

“Our campus acceptance rate amongst all India's top engineering colleges has risen more. And now it's roughly about 81%. It's up 10 percentage points since 2019," he said, warning however that the bigger issue facing the company is not attracting talent but losing them.

“Today, we do not have an issue in terms of attracting talent, but we're also losing talent, which is the biggest issue," he said.

Cognizant’s total attrition rate (quarterly annualized) in the January-March quarter stood at 21% compared to 19% in the previous quarter. Voluntary attrition stood at 18% in the first quarter, the company said in a statement.

The reason for Cognizant's high attrition rate is because the market for digital talent is getting competitive, Nambiar said, adding that since it is building that talent, the IT leader has become a 'target' for rivals. However, the marketplace will settle down as the current attrition rates are a temporary phenomenon, he added.

“Our Q1 attrition rate was actually within the historic range," he said. “It wasn't too off the charts. Our daily resignation trend has actually increased in the past quarter. We peaked in March. But on a positive note, our resignations slowed down significantly in April, and it continues to slow down.”

Cognizant is stepping up internal efforts and further investing in employees through trainings, job rotation, and through targeted salary increases and promotions, Nambiar said.

“We're also shifting to a quarterly promotion cycle to all the billable associates and ramping up our hiring capacity by adding hundreds of recruiters,” he added.

There is, however, a demand-supply imbalance for talent across hyperscale, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and also digital engineering - like full stack engineers, or in the data space with artificial intelligence and machine learning, he said.

The current work-from-home environment does not build a sense of community, and is also fuelling the high attrition rates, he added.

Meanwhile, the company’s digital revenue rose about 15% year-over-year. Its revenue from this vertical climbed to 44% from 39% in the same period last year.

“We entered 2021 with a very strong backlog, our pipelines continue to be strong. What it also means is that when the pipeline is strong, our backlog is going to be strong. Booking actually grew by 5% year over year and that's a very nice indication,” Nambiar said.

“And what is also interesting is that within the 5% in booking, if you look at the digital portfolio, and broadly our priority areas are what we call digital background, that is actually outperforming the total company booking,” he said.

The company deployed about $700 million on acquisitions, share repurchases and dividends in the first quarter. Cognizant announced four acquisitions - Linium, Servian, Magenic and ESG Mobility, during the period.

India and the World

21.1. IBM quarterly sales growth highest in over two years on cloud strength

Reuters, Apr. 20, 2021

Sales from IBM's cloud computing services jumped 21% to $6.5 billion in the quarter. The 109-year-old firm is preparing to split itself into two public companies, with the namesake firm narrowing its focus on the so-called hybrid cloud, where it sees a $1 trillion market opportunity.

International Business Machines Corp recorded highest quarterly sales growth in more two years and beat Wall Street targets on Monday, boosted by its bets in the high-margin cloud computing business.

Shares of the Dow component, which have gained nearly 6% so far this year, were up more than 3% in extended trading.

Finance chief James Kavanaugh said cloud spending by clients in retail, manufacturing and travel industries in the United States was picking up after the initial pandemic-driven slump.

Sales from its cloud computing services jumped 21% to $6.5 billion in the quarter. The 109-year-old firm is preparing to split itself into two public companies, with the namesake firm narrowing its focus on the so-called hybrid cloud, where it sees a $1 trillion market opportunity.

Big Blue recorded a sales decline in global technology services, its largest unit, but that was largely offset by a rise in revenue in the remaining three units, including a surprise growth in the business that hosts mainframe computers.

Mainframe saw strong traction from the financial services industry, where its banking clients shopped for more capacity as trading volumes soared during the retail trading frenzy, CFO Kavanaugh said.

"I am glad to see that strategic projects, which are IBM's bread and butter, are coming back," said Patrick Moorhead, analysts at Moor Insights & Strategy, adding that systems and global business services growth was a surprise.

"This is a good start to the year for the company who is all-in on the cloud."

Total revenue rose nearly 1% to $17.73 billion in the quarter, beating analysts' average estimate of $17.35 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net income fell to $955 million, or $1.06 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $1.18 billion, or $1.31 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.77 per share, beating market expectation of $1.63.

21.2. Foreigners needed to fill Singapore tech jobs crunch, says central banker

Reuters, May 04, 2021

Singapore is emerging as a regional tech hub but headhunters say it faces a severe talent crunch as more firms move in.

A boom in technology jobs across all sectors in Singapore and a shortage of tech workers means the country will have to rely on foreigners to fill the gap, Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Tuesday.

Singapore is emerging as a regional tech hub but headhunters say it faces a severe talent crunch as more firms move in. This is partly because of government policies to tighten foreign hiring to offset falling Singaporean employment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Singaporeans make up just over one-third of the estimated 25,000 tech workforce in the local financial sector, Menon said during a webinar on job opportunities in the financial services and tech jobs in the industry.

"The competition for tech talent is economy-wide as more sectors embark on digitalisation," said Menon, adding that the pipeline of local tech graduates wasn't enough to fill the vacancies.

The city-state, an Asian base for many multi-nationals and banks, is home to global companies such as Facebook and Alphabet's Google, while ByteDance and Zoom are hiring aggressively in the country of 5.7 million people.

The large mismatch between demand and supply of tech workers meant that "we have to continue to depend on foreigners to fill the growing vacancies for technology jobs over the next few years," Menon said.

"If we tighten this inflow excessively, it will impair not just the competitiveness of our financial centre but dampen the prospects for creating good jobs in the future, especially for Singaporeans," he said.

Singapore also needs to build a strong pipeline of local tech talent by involving financial institutions, individuals and the government, the central banker said.

The Singapore government has imposed tighter immigration curbs but also said it must remain open to overseas talent.

Effective this year, Singapore rolled out a new work visa for foreign executives of tech firms.

The country's total employment in 2020 shrank the most in more than two decades.

22. HCL Tech signs multi-million-dollar deal with Japan’s UD Trucks

ET Bureau, Apr. 19, 2021

Under the contract, HCL Technologies will deliver end-to-end IT transformation — spanning digital platforms, agile digital application development, migration, support and maintenance and digital workplace services — for UD Trucks.

New Delhi: HCL Technologies Ltd. has signed a multi-million-dollar deal with UD Trucks Corp. to accelerate the digital transformation of the Japanese commercial vehicle solutions provider.

Under the contract, the Indian IT services firm will deliver end-to-end IT transformation — spanning digital platforms, agile digital application development, migration, support and maintenance and digital workplace services — for UD Trucks.

The financial terms of the contract were not revealed.

“Migrating infrastructure and business-critical applications is of strategic importance to UD Trucks in our accelerated digitalisation journey,” said Satish Rajkumar, senior vice president (digital solutions and IT) at UD Trucks.

Recent changes in its operational structure have required UD Trucks to build and migrate to its own dedicated IT environment, while at the same time ensuring service continuity.

“As automotive brands look to accelerate their digital transformation and embrace the cloud, they need a partner like HCL to successfully navigate the complexity of IT ecosystems and have a digital foundation ready for the future,” said Pankaj Tagra, corporate vice president and head-Nordic & DACH at HCL Technologies.

23. No wires or towers: Satellite broadband promises to be the next big thing in India

ET Tel, Apr. 26, 2021, Kalyan Parbat

Some of the biggest global names – including OneWeb, SpaceX and Hughes - are betting big on the opportunity to deliver satellite-based fast internet services - anywhere, anytime.

It is super-fast and does not need wires or towers to connect to the world wide web. Satellite broadband promises to be the next big thing and a slew of big names are ready to roll it out as early as next year, reports ET’s Kalyan Parbat.

Imagine sitting in a remote mountain village north of the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh and chatting with colleagues in Delhi or Bengaluru over an uninterrupted video call. Or, watching a Clint Eastwood western on a laptop in the Andamans – without using a cellular network or wired broadband.

This may soon turn into a reality once satellite broadband connections are rolled out across India, likely as early as next year.

Some of the biggest global names – including OneWeb, SpaceX and Hughes - are betting big on the opportunity to deliver satellite-based fast internet services - anywhere, anytime.

OneWeb, co-owned by Bharti Global and the UK government, is launching high-speed satellite internet services in the country by mid-2022.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX Technologies is looking to do the same next year with a maze of satellites.

Hughes Communications India, the local arm of US satellite maker Hughes Network Systems, is also ready to invest in a $500 million satellite and pump in $300 million more on ground-level gear to deliver such connectivity.

Star wars

There is growing buzz around satellite broadband and the far-reaching implications of the internet-from-space race.

“The future is probably shifting now. If you extrapolate this 10 years from now, will there be ground networks at all? Who knows?” Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal told ET in a recent interaction. “Every month you will see a launch; we need to send 650 satellites; they will go up by April 2022. Then, we’ll be up and running. This will be nothing but telecom in space.”

OneWeb is in constant touch with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and regulators to ensure all approvals for market access and landing rights are in place before it goes live in India, Mittal’s UK-based son Shravin, the managing director of Bharti Global and the one responsible for driving the group’s satellite business, told ET separately.

SpaceX is already offering a beta version of its Starlink satellite internet service on pre-orders.

This comes with a refundable deposit of $99 (more than Rs 7,000) in India.

The Starlink beta service has even been opened up for pre-orders to potential customers in remote trans-Himalayan zones such as the Keylong-Leh road in the high-altitude Lahaul valley.

Once operational, the beta version alone will pack data speeds of 50-150 Mbps, which will increase sharply once more satellites are put into orbit, according to Starlink’s website.

So, why are these marquee names keen to enter the satellite broadband business in a country with a 63% reach of 4G services and one of the lowest mobile data rates in the world?

While existing telecom networks have largely delivered broadband connectivity to consumers in urban and suburban areas, industry experts say the Covid-19 pandemic painfully revealed how millions in India’s rural and remote corners still do not have access to fast internet or reliable mobile connections.

“SpaceX’s Starlink high-capacity, high-speed, low-latency satellite network would advance the goal of delivering broadband connectivity to all Indians, particularly those without access now or in the near-term to broadband services, traditionally available only to customers in urban and suburban areas,” said Patricia Cooper, VP (satellite government affairs) of SpaceX, responding to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's paper on broadband speeds.

Nearly 75% of India’s rural population do not have access to broadband since many locations go without cellular or fibre connectivity, according to the estimates of the Broadband India Forum (BIF), which represents OneWeb, Hughes, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Qualcomm.

Hence, powerful next-generation satellite systems are being touted as a viable alternative to connect the unconnected.

One reason why the likes of OneWeb and SpaceX are “attracted to the new stirrings in India's satellite broadband space is that satellite networks can be rolled out and scaled up a lot faster and more cost-effectively than terrestrial mobile/broadband networks, especially to connect a sizable chunk of the population living in remote and inhospitable regions,” says Mahesh Uppal, a telecom analyst and director of Com First (India).

Satellite internet players also do not have to worry about securing right-of-way clearances which typically slow down terrestrial broadband network rollouts.

Last year, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would create a level-playing field for private satellite builders, satellite launchers and space-based service providers under its new space communication policy, which would ring in a predictable regulatory regime.

Once the ‘Open Space’ policy is fully operational, satellite broadband services can be a $500 million-plus near-term market opportunity, the Satcom Industry Association (SIA-India) says.

At present, satellite broadband services in India are a primarily B2B play with a market size of roughly $100 million.

Satellite broadband is a key connectivity solution – for banks with numerous branches in remote areas where mobile coverage and wired internet are unreliable or even small and medium enterprises operating in far-flung regions.

The biggest potential money spinner - in a B2B scenario - is to use satellites to boost mobile broadband coverage in rural areas where there is not enough mobile towers or terrestrial backhaul links via fibre networks, industry executives point out.

“We believe satellite broadband can provide the vital ‘backhaul’ or connectivity between mobile towers and a telco’s core mobile network in rural areas to ensure uninterrupted mobile coverage in such regions,” K Krishna, vice president and CTO at Hughes Communications India, told ET.

The revenue opportunity is significant.

Each remote tower would need at least 20 Mbps to deliver cellular backhaul via satellite.

Since every Mbps of satellite connectivity can garner an average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 16,000-Rs 20,000 a month, the potential monthly ARPU for a satcom operator providing such connectivity in a remote area can be as much as Rs 3.2-Rs 4 lakh per month.

Prohibitive costs

However, satellite broadband will not see mass consumer traction like mobile services unless satellite internet rates crash.

At present, these services are priced at around $15-$20 per GB in India, about 22-30 times higher than the $0.68 charged per GB for mobile data.

There are several reasons why this is so.

Satcom operators in India have no access to high-throughput satellites offering 100-500 Gbps of bandwidth. This is because most conventional satellites (with low transponder capacity) are run by Isro and offer only a maximum 12 Gbps. These are largely reserved for government programmes, hampering commercial satcom services.

Satcom players also cannot lease bandwidth capacity directly from foreign satellite operators.

They have to go via the Department of Space (DoS), which pushes up final leasing costs by around 15-20%, including a withholding tax component.

“Hughes provides satellite broadband services to consumers in many markets, but for this service to be viable and successful (in India), the input cost of capacity has to be substantially lower than what it is today,” Krishna says.

Current leasing costs “are in the range of Rs 75,000 per Mbps per month, which is 10 times the global average of Rs 7,500,” he says.

The rates will fall sharply only if a satellite service provider is able to control every cost element, like in the mature satellite markets.

In the United States, satellite companies like SpaceX, Hughes or Viasat own, operate and launch satellites. They also directly deliver satellite internet services to consumers. This is akin to telcos who buy spectrum, roll out networks and offer mobile services.

In India though, the case is different.

A potential satellite broadband operator will first need to lease bandwidth at a higher cost through DoS. They will then have to separately seek a VSAT permit from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) or enter into a third-party pact with an existing VSAT permit-holder before offering satellite internet services. Multiple intermediaries end up hiking the cost of services.

Further, bandwidth leasing agreements are only for a year or less despite a satellite’s 15-year lifespan. This artificially increases costs due to the uncertainties around foreign satellite capacity utilisation, making satellite broadband rates unaffordable.

Industry experts say such leasing contracts should be for a minimum of three years. India’s dependence on foreign satellite operators will not disappear overnight, they say, since Isro satellites meet only around 50% of the country’s needs.

India is working on building high throughput satellites -- offering more than 100 Gbps bandwidth capacity -- but there are no timelines yet.

“There is an insatiable demand for broadband connectivity, but there simply isn’t enough domestic satellite capacity to serve this growing demand in India,” says Anil Prakash, director general, SIA-India.

Isro did not reply to ET’s detailed queries, while questions to OneWeb and SpaceX also went unanswered.

Pricing of satellite broadband services can plunge to as little as $1 per GB -- on par with global rates -- if satcom operators can directly lease bandwidth from foreign operators and access very high-throughput satellites.

Going forward, satellite broadband can become the backbone for networks of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, smart factories, utilities and other systems that require complex machine-to-machine communications, according to brokerage CLSA.

The satellite industry is also hopeful that the government may allow 100% foreign direct investment through the automatic route.

The industry though is wary of DoS’s current combined role as licensor, market regulator and satellite operator. This, they say, is leading to a conflict of interest with private satellite makers and satcom service providers.

In its recent submissions to the government on the draft satcom policy, the VSAT Services Association of India has suggested that DoS’s role should be segregated.

BIF is also of the view that DoS must only evaluate proposals for authorisation of satellite capacity. It should not be a party in commercial contracts between satellite operators and service providers, it says.

24.1. Mphasis to establish nearshore centre near London, expects to invest GBP 25 million

PTI, May 04, 2021

Mphasis expects to create close to 1000 UK jobs, to begin with

Bengaluru-headquartered IT solutions provider Mphasis said on Tuesday it is expanding its footprint in the UK with a special focus on digital transformation initiatives in banking & insurance, by establishing a nearshore centre, outside of London.

Mphasis expects to create close to 1000 UK jobs to begin with; invest over GBP 25 million upfront towards establishing the centre, and provide upskill and training in both digital transformation as well as domain expertise in the UK banking & insurance segments. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quoted as saying in a company statement: "Trade and investment between the UK and India is creating good jobs and sustaining livelihoods in both of our countries. I'm very pleased thatMphasishas decided to join the legions of Indian companies investing in the UK, boosting our tech sector, and driving economic growth."

"I am excited to elevate our presence in the UK to support future growth, improve operating agility, flexibility and harness local capabilities towards bolstering our offerings over the long term," CEO and Executive Director, Mphasis, Nitin Rakesh, said.

Focused on the insurance market, this centre aims to deliver the best technology and insurance operations services to clients through innovation in operational, technological, and service excellence, the statement added.

24.2. Infosys to create 1,000 jobs in UK to fuel post-pandemic growth

ET Bureau, May 04, 2021

The new hires will work in the digital space, including cloud computing, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, open source technologies and enterprise services, to support some of the world's largest organisations navigate their digital journeys, a statement said.

Infosys has announced its plans to hire 1000 employees in the UK over the next three years, thereby reinforcing its commitment to supporting the country’s economic recovery and growth.

New employees would be working at the cutting edge of innovation in the digital space, including cloud computing, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, open source technologies and enterprise services to support some of the world’s largest organizations navigate their digital journeys, said the company in a press release.

Infosys said the investment in UK talent reinforces its dedication to strengthening UK-India relationship.

The Bengaluru-headquartred IT services company would provide critical training and mentoring opportunities for the fresh hires.

The new employees would join a world-class workforce spanning Infosys’ design studio in Shoreditch, its innovation center in Canary Wharf and proximity centres in Nottingham and other client locations across the UK, said Infosys.

To ensure a diverse talent pool and support the upskilling of the industry’s future leaders, a large proportion of the workforce will be hired from recently graduated students from leading colleges and universities in the UK.

The company will also hire experienced professionals from technology and consulting with deep sector expertise who will be able to support local businesses in their digital journeys and lead a robust workforce for the future.

“This investment from Infosys is a vote of confidence in the UK and its technology sector and will help that sector scale new heights – creating the jobs of the future. We need more firms like Infosys with a commitment to investing in people to help the UK build back better,” Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, was quoted saying.

Salil Parekh, chief executive officer, Infosys, said, the company’s commitment to the UK is to support both recovery and growth through digital acceleration, hiring new talent, and supporting the development and reskilling of existing talent to meet evolving economic demands. “While the talent gap has been looming, the events of the past year have exacerbated the need for vital digital skills as businesses have rapidly accelerated their digital transformation. Bridging the digital divide and making quality digital education accessible to every citizen are vital to the establishment of a robust future workforce, and the UK’s economic recovery,” said Parekh.

25. India, EU agree to boost ties in digital, energy, transport and people-to-people programmes

TNN, May, 11, 2021, Surendra Singh

They will explore new opportunities via quality infrastructure, socio-economic benefits from sustainable growth, shared norms and values.

To strengthen their relationship, India and the European Union on Saturday agreed to advance the implementation of the actions set out in the EU-India Roadmap 2025 and foster new synergies to jointly contribute to a safer, greener, cleaner, more digital, resilient and stable world.

To boost the partnership, India and the EU have agreed to work together for a transparent, inclusive and rules-based connectivity between them and jointly work on regulation and support for private investments in physical infrastructure across all sectors: digital, transport, energy and people-to-people programmes. They will explore new opportunities via quality infrastructure, socio-economic benefits from sustainable growth, shared norms and values.

In the digital sector, both will aim for strong and secure connections, submarine cables, satellite networks, 5G connectivity, cross-border payments and plan to use their own navigation systems like Galileo and NavIC for emergency warning services. The partnership will include CITIIS (City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain) support for implementation of India's smart city mission, Varanasi Smart City Project (EFKON), contribution to Indian governmental toolkit (policy, technology, economy) for deployment of advanced digital network technologies in India and collaboration between the EU and Indian Space Research Organisation.

In the energy sector, both are planning for PPPs in EU eco-city projects involving public lighting, waste-to-energy project, rooftop solar facility in Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune, Italian private investment in Gujarat wind power, Germany's euro 1.7bn investment for 7700km transmission lines, EIB-SBI euro 25m equity for renewables and energy efficiency and joint research projects on smart grids and storage, and also work with International Solar Alliance.

To boost partnership in the transport sector, EU plans investment of euro 3.5bn in railway or metro projects in Lucknow, Bengaluru, Pune, Bhopal, Kanpur, Nagpur; planned metros in Agra, Surat and Ahmedabad, Italian cooperation with National Infrastructure Investment Fund and possible new air routes for enhanced direct air connectivity among other projects.

In the science and research field, EU and India are aiming at innovation partnership connecting 100 incubators, India-Denmark green partnership, Horizon 2020, promotion of two-way academic mobility among other programmes.

The combined market size of India and the EU is 1.8 billion people and their combined GDP is Euro 16.5 trillion. With Euro 78bn trade in goods in 2019, the EU was India's largest trading partner in 2019 and second largest export destination.

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