AAPI: July 2022

DELHI, 20th JULY 2022

Index of this Newsletter

INDIA

INDIA & THE WORLD

21. Metro rail projects to offer ₹80,000 cr ($10,6 bn) opportunity for construction cos: Icra
22. Foxconn chairman Liu meets PM Modi; looks at semiconductor manufacturing with Vedanta
23. Indonesia stands for comprehensive partnership with India: INDEF, Jakarta
24.1. US becomes India's largest trade partner, is India-China trade decoupling?
24.2. Alternative to SWIFT: NPCI plans to take the UPI system to 32 million NRIs
25.1. An opportunity for forging partnerships in cutting-edge technologies and green energy
25.2. Heal in India: Govt to ease visa norms and boost medical infra in 17 cities to attract more foreign patients

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DELHI, 20th JULY 2022

NEWSLETTER, 20-VII-2022

INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

1.1. Transforming education in govt schools to make students globally competitive: AP Minister Botsa Satyanarayana

ET Gov. 9 jul. 2022

In the last three years, the Andhra Pradesh government has spent over Rs 52,000 crore under various initiatives for upgrading the infrastructure in schools and improving learning outcomes.

In the last three years, the Andhra Pradesh government has spent over Rs 52,000 crore under various initiatives for upgrading the infrastructure in schools and improving learning outcomes. All these dedicated efforts are intended to bring in a radical transformation of school education with a long-time objective of preparing the students of Andhra Pradesh for global citizens with a bright future.

As part of its ongoing efforts, the state government has supplied the energized textbooks with QR code which represents the e-content. Teachers and students are utilizing the e-content through the DIKSHA platform. Smart TV was provided to 10,961 Foundational Schools. The government entered into an MoU with Byju’s for their online content free of cost.

“The Andhra Pradesh government's motto is to transform education in government schools to make students globally competitive. To address the learning gap, and to ensure appropriate class-specific learning outcomes among students, blended learning is proposed. Providing the best quality education to every student in government schools is the vision of the Chief Minister. Several initiatives such as Jagananna Ammavodi, Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Jagananna Gorumudda, Mana Badi Nadu Nedu, and curriculum reforms are taken in this direction,” says Botsa Satyanarayana, Minister for Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh, in an exclusive interview with ETGovernment.

Edited excerpts:

The NEP 2020 is nearly two years old now. What is the status of the implementation of the NEP in Andhra Pradesh?

The NEP 2020 came up with recommendations for both school education and higher education. Regarding school education, the Andhra Pradesh government has already put in several dedicated efforts to bring in a radical transformation of school education and several activities have already been taken up in line with the recommendations of NEP 2020.

Early childhood care and education are addressed by introducing PP1, and PP2 in all Anganwadi Centres and developing a curriculum on the guidelines issued by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Foundational Literacy and Numeracy are being ensured by the reorganization of schools into six categories i.e i) Satelite Foundational School (PP1,PP2), ii) Foundational Schools (PP1,PP2, Classes 1 and 2), iii) Foundational Plus (PP1, PP2, Classes 1 to 5), iv) Pre-High School (Classes 3 to 7/8), v) High Schools (Classes 3 to 10) and vi) High School Plus (Classes 3 to 12) based on a 5+3+3+4 structure duly ensuring appropriate Teacher Pupil Ratio, bilingual textbooks, workbooks and teacher training. Curriculum and pedagogy are refined with 21st-century skills.

Teachers are being positioned as per the TPR. Learning for all is ensured duly addressing the educational needs of the deprived and school complexes are strengthened for effective governance and efficient resourcing.

During the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, state governments have adopted innovative methods to ensure continuity in education. What has been the experience of Andhra Pradesh in this regard?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a huge learning loss reported globally and the survey such as ASER and NAS validated the same. The Andhra Pradesh government has supported the 10th class students through video lessons, Doordarshan Television and radio lessons through All India Radio. Even though online classes are conducted, there is difficulty among students in attending virtual classes due to the non-availability of digital devices and networks. Based on this experience state government is taking steps to introduce digital learning in schools. Access to digital apps like Byju’s, Tabs, and Digital Classrooms are taken up.

Technology adoption is transforming the public education system. According to you, which are the new models, you have adopted?

The Andhra Pradesh government's motto is to transform education in government schools to make students globally competitive. To address the learning gap, and to ensure appropriate class-specific learning outcomes among students, blended learning is proposed. Providing the best quality education to every student in government schools is the vision of the Chief Minister. Several initiatives such as Jagananna Ammavodi, Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Jagananna Gorumudda, Mana Badi Nadu Nedu, and curriculum reforms are taken in this direction.

How are you pursuing technology adoption?

The Andhra Pradesh government has supplied the energized textbooks with QR code which represents the e-content, teachers and students are utilizing the e-content through the DIKSHA platform. Smart TV was provided to 10,961 Foundational Schools and the government entered an MoU with Byju’s for their online content free of cost. Digital infrastructure such as an interactive panel is planned in each classroom of high school to access the content provided by Byju’s as well as the e-content available with the department. Smart TV is proposed to all the remaining Foundational Schools. Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) for students is planned to address the learning diversity, speed and style of individual students. Interactive Flat Panels with digital content are also proposed in High Schools.

What are your priorities for this fiscal year?

Our top priorities for education are providing the best quality education to students, ensuring adequate infrastructure in schools, teacher capacity building, nutritious food to students and continuous academic monitoring through child tracking. This financial year, the state government has allocated Rs 27,000 crore to school education. Student attendance is being ensured by Jagananna Ammavodi. Teaching-learning material is being supplied with Jagananna Vidya Kanuka. A nutritious Mid-Day meal is being served with Jagananna Gorumudda. School Infra is being ensured under Mana Badi Nadu Nedu.

In the last three years, the government has spent over Rs 52,000 crore under various initiatives for upgrading the infrastructure in schools and improving learning outcomes. All these dedicated efforts are intended to bring in a radical transformation of school education with a long-time objective of preparing the students of Andhra Pradesh for global citizens with a bright future.

1.2. Praggnanandhaa: How India is emerging as a chess powerhouse

BBC News, Soutik Biswas, India correspondent

"I just want to hit the bed," R Praggnanandhaa said early on Monday after defeating Magnus Carlsen, the highest-ranking chess player in the world, at the Airthings Masters, an online rapid tournament.

The frail-looking 16-year-old boy from India's southern city of Chennai is no stranger to success. At 10, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest International Master in the history of the game. Two years later, in 2018, he had become the world's then second-youngest chess grandmaster.

Now the prodigious teenager had achieved his "biggest dream" by becoming only the third Indian to trump the 32-year-old Norwegian grandmaster.

Praggnanandhaa, or Pragg as he's popularly known, belongs to a generation of young Indians who embody the country's growing influence in chess, a sport that has its origins in a two-player Indian board game from the sixth century. It's no mean feat in a country of 1.3 billion people feverishly obsessed with cricket.

Chess in India: Why is it on the rise? Chess fever in India over world championship

India has 73 grandmasters now, up from 20 in 2007. Two of them are women. Among them is Koneru Humpy, 34, the former Women's World Rapid Chess champion. She won the title in December 2019 after a two-year maternity break.

Three of Praggnanandhaa's peers are among the most promising players of his generation - Nihal Sarin, 18, a speed chess master and the 2019 Asian blitz champion; Arjun Erigaisi, 18, whom five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand calls one of India's "best hopes"; and Dommaraju Gukesh, 15, who became the second youngest grandmaster in the history of the game in 2019.

Praggnanandhaa has already attracted worldwide attention. "At an age when boys would trade an arm and a limb for endless hours of gaming, he has perfected the art of stillness and focus in a sport that's anything but a teen favourite," Susan Ninan, who covers chess for ESPN India, noted in a presciently titled 2018 article, The boy who could be king.

Praggnanandhaa's mother Nagalakshmi travels with her son to his international tournaments

His forehead smeared with sacred ash, Praggnanandhaa appears to be a nerdy, shy teenager. But looks can be deceptive.

"Pragg is one of the most ambitious chess players of his generation. He knew that chess was going to be his life when he was eight years old. He's always thinking of chess," says his coach RB Ramesh. Ramesh has been coaching him since he was seven years old.

The son of a bank manager father and homemaker mother, Praggnanandhaa is also a "very friendly and jovial young man", Ramesh said. He loves playing table tennis and cricket with friends in Chennai, and watches Tamil language comedies on TV. When Ninan visited him at his home in 2018, she found him glued to TV news, listening to a reporter crunch figures about an ongoing election. "[Watching] just like that... it's interesting," he told her.

Before the pandemic, Praggnanandhaa spent 15 days a month on the road, travelling around the world for tournaments. It helps that he doesn't have to attend school every day, and goes for classes before exams. He and his sister, Vaishali, who's a member of the Indian women's team, are first-generation chess players. Their mother travels with Praggnanandhaa around the world with a rice cooker, making her son's favourite Tamil dishes during tournaments. "We are trying to get him acquainted with other cuisines," Ramesh said.

Like many others of his generation Praggnanandhaa took up chess inspired by Viswanathan Anand, who revolutionised the sport in the country.

Today, India has seven players ranked among the top 100 in the world. Anand, 52, is still ranked highest (16) among the seven. When he won his first world championship title in 2000, traffic came to a standstill and a Victorian-style horse drawn carriage took him home from the airport in Chennai.

Two decades later, the game is thriving

Some 50,000 chess players are officially registered in India. But at least a million people are playing local tournaments all over the country, reckons Bharat Singh Chauhan, the secretary of All India Chess Federation. Among them are Uber and auto-rickshaw drivers, and construction workers who sign up for free entry tournaments and take a shot at getting a World Chess Federation rating.

The federation, mainly run by former players, runs 20 national championships, beginning from Under-7, every year with a prize money of 20m rupees (£197,000; $264,000). This year, India is hosting 12 international tournaments.

During the pandemic when board games could not be held, more than 10,000 players participated in countrywide online championships. This week, the first on-board national championship in two years gets underway in the northern city of Kanpur with 200 players - including 25 grandmasters - in the fray and a prize money of 3m rupees.

Chess can possibly never be a popular spectator sport and may even come across as boring to people who don't follow it. But this year, India plans to launch a chess league - on the lines of the massively popular Indian Premier League - with six to eight franchises owned by business houses. Demand is growing at such a fast clip that there aren't enough trainers.

"There are so many players now that we are running out of trainers. All former chess players have training jobs," Chauhan said.

Ramesh, Praggnanandhaa's coach, is an example. A former Commonwealth chess champion, he retired from playing and gave up his job with a state-run oil company to open a coaching school in Chennai in 2008. Today, more than 1,000 students - between 7 and 18 years old - from all over the world take lessons there. A third of the students are given free lessons because they cannot afford it.

"Indian kids are very driven, diligent and hardworking. The main reason the game is progressing in India is we have more qualified trainers as grand masters and good players are becoming teachers themselves," Ramesh said.

Yet, India also has a long way to go before providing equal opportunities to all deserving talent, believes Pravin Thipsay, a grandmaster. He talks about a top grandmaster who still doesn't have an employer and a sponsor. State-run oil companies and railways, he says, have hired ranked chess players but the prize money in tournaments is usually still below their modest salaries.

India clearly needs more deep-pocketed sponsors to fulfil its chess potential. "We need more support for everyone," Thipsay says. For its enormous talent pool, India has just seven players in the global top 100: Russia, a chess powerhouse, has 23.

But for now, Praggnanandhaa is hogging the chess spotlight - again. "He believes he is at the beginning of his journey and he has a lot more to achieve," Ramesh said. "You will hear more about him in the future".

2. Good Dose of Research from India

The Economic Times, 3 jul. 2022

From AstraZeneca to Pfizer, big pharma companies are banking on India’s data and IT chops for cutting-edge R&D.

When a deadly coronavirus had the world in its grip two years ago, scientists were faced with an uphill task of finding a vaccine—and fast. A team of gritty virologists at Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca were also in the thick of it. Before the year was out, it was clear their work would help rein in Covid-19. A recent Lancet study has found that vaccines prevented as many as 20 million Covid deaths worldwide in the first year of their launch.

In India, AstraZeneca’s partner Serum Institute of India produced Covishield, a vaccine that played a key role in this. But there was another Indian connection.

While the pandemic raged, hundreds of staffers from AstraZeneca’s team in India worked tirelessly, feeding inputs to researchers in the UK, Sweden and the US. They had a clear mandate: become the tech-driven backbone for regulatory and medical data for vaccine development.

The usually quiet premises of the global capability centres of AstraZeneca in Chennai and Bengaluru transformed into a hub of activity, with teams from data science, IT, regulatory, clinical and supply chain working on mission mode. Processing granular information from clinical-trial sites across continents, they provided precious insights that fast-tracked the vaccine development, which would otherwise have taken years.

The Indian team’s efforts and rigour have reaped rewards beyond the vaccine. In April, AstraZeneca added more heft to its Indian outfit, rebranding it as a Global Innovation and Technology Centre in recognition of its increased drive on innovation.

AstraZeneca isn’t the only drug giant tapping India. Pfizer has just opened a lab in Chennai, while Novartis, Roche, GSK and Abbott are also banking on India’s expertise in data analytics and clinical development to help them navigate regulatory processes and bring new drugs to the market.

“From making sure that the supply chain is geared to handle the vaccine technology, to complying with regulatory requirements, we had a huge role to play in bringing the vaccine faster to the market,” Siva Padmanabhan, MD, AstraZeneca India, tells ET Prime.

While the spotlight during Covid-19 was on UK and US researchers, AstraZeneca’s Indian unit quietly worked in the background. They were decrypting data from trial sites. This was a critical step as any error could cascade into delays the world could not afford. While in normal circumstances, vaccines in clinical trials are labelled with a fixed shelf life, for the Covid-19 shot AstraZeneca had to come up with a solution because clinical trials and their reviews by government agencies were being conducted parallelly. In industry parlance, this is known as ‘rolling reviews’, a sparingly used process. “We had to find tech solutions to fix the shelf-life issue. We devised a code for every vaccine vial that could be scanned. That would help us track its movement,” says Padmanabhan.

Another significant role of the Indian team was in providing information to regulatory agencies on adverse events — where a drug or a vaccine causes unexpected side-effects. “Since the number of adverse events for a vaccine could be thousands of times more [than drugs], the tech ecosystem had to scale to accommodate that. Within weeks, we rebuilt the systems to handle that magnitude of work. Without the support from India, such a gargantuan exercise could have been tough,” adds Padmanabhan.

THE MORE THE MERRIER

While AstraZeneca has grown its innovation support systems in India over the last eight years, similar moves are being made by other pharma giants.

Pfizer has announced that it has set up a global drug-development centre in India. The company’s first such unit in Asia, it is located in the research park of IIT-Madras. It has been set up with an investment of `150 crore and houses 250 scientists and technicians.

The capabilities of Pfizer’s centre include development of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished dosage forms (FDFs) of differentiated products. APIs are raw materials for medicines and finished dosage forms are medicines.

According to observers, the company is banking on India because chemists here are known for their skills in cutting down steps in manufacturing process that lead to savings.

S Sridhar, country manager for Pfizer’s India operations, tells ET Prime in emailed responses that the company would establish one of India’s most advanced R&D labs.

Surinder Kher, who has led several clinical-research outfits and is now an advisor at Bioquest Solutions, a Bengaluru-based consulting organisation, says the Pfizer facility set in a premier academic institution is an apt example of industry collaboration. But he says Pfizer’s centre should not be confused with a facility for pure-play research and innovation: “It will be a formulation-development centre like any generic drugmaker and most likely work on APIs. One of the reasons could be to de-risk its supply chain from China’s dominance.”

S Aparna, secretary, department of pharmaceuticals, hopes Pfizer’s centre will cater to the “larger national objective to improve availability, affordability and access to drugs throughout the world from India”.

Pfizer’s Sridhar believes by bringing the development of APIs and formulations under one roof (in India), his company will be able to speed up the journey from drug development to delivery. Globally, Pfizer plans to introduce 25 new therapies over the next three years, with focus on hospital products and anti-cancer drugs. If Sridhar’s plans work, the Chennai centre can serve several of these therapy areas. “This centre focuses on small molecules (these are chemistry-based drugs, unlike biotechbased drugs commonly referred to as large molecules), including solid doses and sterile injectables. While it will cater to products across Pfizer’s portfolio, including innovative medicines, value-added generics and generics, there is a strong emphasis on our global hospitals business, which develops injectable products for patients admitted in hospitals,” he says.

However, industry experts seek to temper the enthusiasm. A senior industry official says, “To talk up the new plans is opportunistic and one that serves its own objectives in a competitive environment.”

Besides AstraZeneca and Pfizer, there are other big names looking to benefit from India’s data and clinical expertise. In May, New Jersey-headquartered Merck, referred to in India as MSD, launched a centre in Pune with an investment of $16 million. British drugmaker GSK set up a capability centre in Bengaluru in 2020 that employs 2,000 data scientists and clinicians. The staff strength is projected to double in the next five years.

Among the earliest to invest heavily in India was Swiss drugmaker Novartis. It set up a sprawling campus in Hyderabad over a decade ago. Now, the company is digging deeper. Sadhna Joglekar, head of the global drug development operations in India, says over the last five years, Novartis spent more than $300 million on its R&D centre.

The Swiss company Roche has established two technology and digital centres in India. The Roche Information Solutions Centre in Pune is one out of the four that specialise in data and digital products, algorithms for imaging solutions and performance optimisation. “We had 120 people at the end of 2020 and are projected to grow to 300 by the end of this year,” says a senior Roche spokesperson. The other unit, Global Analytics and Technology Centre of Excellence in Chennai, serves as an extended team for Genentech and other Roche affiliates. It provides real-world information on newly launched medicines, commercial analytics, forecasting, automation and market access.

Chicago-headquartered Abbott has taken a different approach. At its centre in Mumbai’s Goregaon, it focuses on creating solutions that cater to local market needs even as it works on select projects for global markets. ET Prime has learnt that at least three more global drug makers are in the final stages of exploring investments to build bases for data management and clinical research support in India. At the end of the day, priorities shift with changes in business dynamics. As more companies set up data and clinical-development centres in India, the ability of its specialists will also be put to test. For now, data is the new fuel, and India will ride on it.

3.1. India targets $350 billion of services exports this fiscal

IBEF, Jul. 7, 2022

Despite global market challenges and recession worries, India's service exporters are targeting US$ 350 billion in exports in the current fiscal year, a 37% increase over last year. They are banking on the post-pandemic resurgence of major industries like tourism, hotel, and entertainment. They claim that this will assist to reduce the growing trade and current account imbalances.

However, the services exports industry is seeking government assistance and incentives under the new foreign trade strategy, which is expected to be presented in September, according to DG, Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) Mr. Abhay Singh. India’s services exports in the fiscal year 2021-22 set an all-time high of US$ 254 billion despite the travel and tourist, aviation, and hospitality industries being badly damaged by the epidemic.

According to World Trade Organization forecasts, India's services export market share increased from 3% in 2010 to 3.5% in 2019 and 4% in 2020 and 2021.

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

3.2. India set to have 70-80 million 5G phones by the end of 2022

IBEF, Jun. 23, 2022

According to a report by Counterpoint Research, India is expected to have 70-80 million 5G smartphones by the end of 2022 as brands double down on the next-gen technology with spectrum auctions around the corner.

The brands are aiming to push more smartphones in the Rs. 10,000–15,000 (US$ 127.69-191.54) bracket by the end of 2022 to appeal to a bigger mass of consumers and boost smartphone adoption.

According to Counterpoint data, smartphones supporting 5G priced under Rs. 15,000 (US$ 191.54) had a share of 6% till April, 2022. The shift towards 5G support is also a result of chipset manufacturers allocating more capacity to 5G chipsets, with 4G chips being in short supply.

India is set to auction the 5G spectrum starting late July in 2022, with services expected to start rolling out by end of 2022.

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

4. How electronics sector can be the next big thing for Indian MSMEs

ET Gov. 15 July 2022

Seventy percent of the 50 most innovative global companies have a research and development centre in India.

Before embarking on anything, it’s always a good idea to look at the opportunities and the problems. Manufacturing in India is a tale of contrasts. We have a population of 1.3 billion, and our tech talent is known across the world. Seventy percent of the 50 most innovative global companies have a research and development centre in India. As per the Gartner Digital Workplace Survey India is the most digitally dexterous country in the world, followed by the UK and the US, due to having the largest Gen Z workforce. So, we have the unique opportunity to design and manufacture electronics with our huge skill base. And yet the share of Indian products in the Electronics sector has been declining because of the entry of foreign made products. Out of approximately $180 billion of electronics goods which are consumed in the country, approximately 92% are from global brands and the share of Indian electronics products in this fast-growing sector is miniscule 8%.

We need to start indigenizing fast to achieve Atma Nirbharta in electronics. India has a target of $400 billion electronic production by 2025, as per the National Policy on Electronics (NPE) 2019. For the growth of sustainable economics, we need to gradually move from just manufacturing electronics goods for global brands to creating Indian Designed products and Indian Brands.

The pandemic forced companies to rework plans and made us a start-up nation. We are now the third largest start-up nation in the world followed by the US and China. Almost all companies pivoted towards digital, to scale up and succeed. In contactless times, it was the only way to maintain contact, for work or for social engagements. This digital technology intensity is now seeping into all important sectors of economy and electronics holds huge potential for the MSME sector.

MSMEs can become the bulwark of growth of Indian Electronics Products and Indian Brands. We have nearly 6.3 crore MSMEs, and they contribute around 30% towards GDP through domestic and international trade. Electronics Products Design and Manufacturing has a ripple effect in the economy that leads to job creation in several other allied sectors as well, creating demand for skills manpower, components, transportation, storage, repair and recycle.

To compete with the established global brands, in addition to innovative technology, the look, feel and user experience of our homegrown electronics products must be of global quality. It is well proven in the technology world that the customer prefers to buy well designed and engineered products. One other feature which is very important in India is to make products repairable and upgradable with the possibility of being refurbished. Right from the design stage, these products must have innovative technology, an attractive and user-friendly design and the repairability/upgradability features to create unique space for themselves in a competitive global market. This way, the products will have longer life, create less e-waste and Components of old products can be harvested to use in other products. For that we need MSMEs to think about all these aspects from the design conception itself.

As an example, tablets have become a very good tool for imparting online education during the pandemic. But if you look at the global products in this space the products are very difficult to open, leave aside repair and upgrade. If an affordable tablet is provided to the student with repair and upgrade features it can serve his need for 5 years rather than the typical life-cycle of 3 years and the same device can become a gateway for digital inclusion for the whole family.

Moreover, repairing and servicing goods is part of India’s culture and creates huge employment, as we tend to not easily discard objects once they malfunction but try to repair them. Lady of the house will always prefer to repair an old mixer rather than throwing and buying a new one. We have a thriving desi repairing network. At any corner of the country, it’s easy to find a repair electric goods or mechanic to fix a car that has stopped working in the middle of the road, or mend any malfunctioning household item. If Indian MSME’s can make products which are repairable/upgradable and make the repair sector more organized the country and society can reap huge benefits.

MSMEs thus have a huge opportunity in both creating innovative products with repair/upgrade features and also creating businesses which can take-up repair/upgrade in an organized way. Such designed and manufactured in India products that can be repaired and get into product circularity by refurbishment will be a winning situation for all—saving energy, saving resources, reducing e-waste and uplifting societies. To become a $5 trillion economy and a global economic powerhouse by 2025, it is important to lift the local and small businesses. The repair economy is worth $100 billion. MSMEs can easily capitalize on this space, and build the country’s electronic ecosystem.

(The writer is CEO, EPIC Foundation & President, VLSI Society of India)

5.1. Ministry of Tribal Affairs partners with Meta to digitally skill 10 lakh tribal youth in India

ET Gov. 30 Jun. 2022

The tech giant launched the second phase of the 'Going Online As Leaders' (GOAL) programme that will aim to digitally upskill, connect and empower 10 lakh youth and women from the tribal communities of the country.

Meta (formerly Facebook) on Tuesday extended its collaboration with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to provide digital skill training for 10 lakh tribal youth and women in India.

"Digitally empowering India's tribal communities would contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of the country and an important step towards creating a flourishing community of tribal leaders," said Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda.

"In the second phase, we will reach out to 10 lakh women and youth entrepreneurs and will also create a platform for more than 50,000 self-help groups and 10 lakh families associated with 'TRIFED' to take their products global," the minister noted.

The programme will also include 'Facebook Live' sessions in nine languages by master trainers on topics like anti-scamming education, staying safe online, how to combat misinformation and being a good digital citizen.

"We are deeply inspired by the stories of some of the tribal leaders who benefitted from the first phase of 'GOAL' that we kicked off in 2020," said Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India (Meta).

"India's massive digital transformation can be complete when even the most vulnerable communities of our society are digitally empowered," he added.

"Goal 2.0 will further enable lakhs of tribal women and young people to gain from the programme," said Anil Jha, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Tribal population constitutes about 8.6 percent of the total population in India.

5.2. Job opportunities in EV sector growing, women climbing to the top: Study

Navhind Times, 11 jul. 2022

The Indian electric vehicle (EV) sector is witnessing a 108% employment growth over the last two years and Bengaluru leads in the talent location, finds a survey.

As per the survey done by the recruitment and staffing company CIEL HR Services, metro cities are witnessing large participation in the EV segment. And Bengaluru is the hottest location for EV talent with 62% of job postings in this region, followed by 12% in Delhi, 9% per cent in Pune, 6% in Coimbatore and 3% in Chennai, the survey notes.

According to the study, there has been a significant employment growth and the average growth in employee numbers stands at a whopping 108% over the last two years.

The survey, titled ‘Latest Employment Trends in EV Sector 2022’, was conducted for an employee base of 15,700 spread over 52 companies.

It revealed that the engineering function dominates the EV sector, followed by operation, sales, quality assurance, business development, IT, human resource and marketing.

Leading EV players have hired 2,236 employees over the last six months. Women, who have their presence in almost all the sectors across India, are climbing their way up in the EV segment. Different EV companies like Kinetic Green, Mahindra Electric Mobility, Convergence Energy Services Limited, OBEN Electric Vehicle and Ampere Vehicles have women in top management positions, CIEL HR said.

Commenting on the findings, Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO, said, “We have always been working towards understanding hiring strategies, employer demands and workplace trends across different industries from across India. The insights from the study will help companies in strategic decision-making related to the talent ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, with Tesla registering phenomenal growth over a year, the electric vehicle shipments grew 79% year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter of 2022 to reach 1.95 million units, says a new report.

According to market research firm Counterpoint, of these, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 73% and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) for the rest.

“With EVs comprising just 12% of the total passenger vehicle shipments during the first quarter of 2022, there is a lot of scope for expansion. Fresh players are entering the market to benefit from the opportunity,” senior research analyst Soumen Mandal said in a statement.

“To counter new entrants, existing players are using leading-edge technologies to have improved battery, superior IVI system, and higher levels of ADAS in their EV models as major selling points,” Mandal added.

Tesla is currently the global EV market leader. The company’s shipments grew 68% YoY in the first quarter and are expected to cross 1.3 million units by the end of 2022.

BYD Auto emerged as China’s top EV seller during the first quarter. Its EV shipments increased by a whopping 433% YoY to reach more than 0.28 million units. China remained the market leader in EV shipments, followed by Europe and the United States. China’s EV shipments increased 126% YoY in the first quarter of 2022 to reach more than 1.14 million units from just 0.5 million units in the first quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, the multi-level car parking that will soon be operational at the Chennai International Airport will have five charging stations for electric vehicles apart from a multiplex, food courts, and retail outlets. According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the 2.5 lakh sq ft multi-level car parking with a capacity to accommodate over 2,000 cars will come into operation next month.

The car parking will also offer commercial options including retail facilities, food courts and five multiplex for visitors. Visitors driving to the car parking can pre-book for the EV charging slots and make payments on the dedicated app, AAI said.

- Agriculture, Fishing and Rural Development

6.1. Humble rice bran becomes hot commodity as India scours for edible oils

The Economic Times, 24 Jun. 2022

Rice bran oil accounts for a small portion of overall veg oil consumption in India but is one of the fastest-growing among edible oils, industry officials say, and production and imports are set to increase to meet the demand.

Rice bran has become a sought-after commodity in India as the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils tries to overcome an edible oil shortage caused by global supply disruptions.

A by-product in rice milling, rice bran has been traditionally used for cattle and poultry feed. In recent years, oil mills have started extracting rice oil, which is popular among health-conscious consumers but historically more expensive than rival oils.

The recent rally in global edible oil prices fueled by Indonesia's restrictions on palm oil exports and disruptions to sunflower oil shipments from Ukraine has wiped out rice bran oil's traditional premium over rival oils. That has triggered a surge in demand for bran oil which has similar taste properties to sunflower oil.

As sunflower oil imports plunged from Ukraine, consumers started replacing it with rice bran oil, said B.V. Mehta, secretary general of the International Association of Rice Bran Oil (IARBO). India usually fulfills more than two-thirds of its sunflower oil requirements through imports from Ukraine.

"Because of COVID-19, I was looking for healthier food options. I first used rice bran oil for health benefits six months ago and since then I've been using it," said Aditi Sharma, a Mumbai-based homemaker, who switched to rice bran oil from sunflower oil.

"It tastes good and is good for health as well," Sharma said, referring to the oil's cholesterol-lowering and anti-oxidative properties.

In India, rice bran oil is now trading at 147,000 Indian rupees ($1,879) per tonne compared with sunflower oil at 170,000 rupees.

Rice bran oil usually commands around a 25% premium over other oils, but in recent months has been cheaper than imported vegetable oils, making it more affordable for the masses, according to data compiled by Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA).

Competitive prices boosted rice bran oil consumption since March and has encouraged companies to extract more oil.

Sharma said that even if premiums returned, she would still buy rice bran oil for her family of four.

FROM BY-PRODUCT TO MAIN

The demand for rice bran oil has become so strong that it has flipped the economics for rice millers, who are now prioritising bran oil output.

"For rice mills, instead of by-product, now rice bran has become a main product," said Puneet Goyal, chief executive officer at Ricela Group, the country's biggest producer of rice bran oil.

To meet rising demand Ricela is planning to increase oil refining capacity to 750 tonnes per day in the next two months from 600 tonnes, Goyal said.

With a vegetable oil shortage, oil mills are ready to pay record high prices for bran, said B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association.

Rice bran prices have jumped to 30,000 rupees to 36,000 rupees per tonne compared with paddy prices of around 19,000 rupees, which is milled for rice extraction.

However, a shortage of oil processors in all rice milling areas remains a key limiting factor on bran oil supply, as rice bran must be processed into oil within 48 hours of being separated from chaff in order to be fit for human consumption.

Only 55% of bran is currently processed, with the remainder going to the lower priced feed market.

Even so, with several oil processors maximising output, the country is on course for record bran oil production of 1.05 million tonnes this year, up from around 950,000 tonnes in 2021, which should help India reduce imports of rival oils.

GROWING DEMAND

Edible oil consumption in India trebled over the past two decades as the population rose, incomes increased and people started to eat out more.

The country consumes around 23 million tonnes of vegetable oil per annum, with nearly 13 million tonnes coming from imports. Locally-produced bran oil can meet about 5% of overall vegoil consumption.

Companies such as Adani Wilmar, Emami and Cargill's Indian unit have launched their own rice bran oil brands to meet rising urban demand.

Rice bran oil brands have become popular and consumer acceptance has been rising, said Himanshu Agarwal, executive director at Satyam Balajee, India's biggest rice exporter.

"This new segment is just growing," Agarwal said, adding that companies previously offering mainly palm, soybean, sunflower and rapeseed oils were now launching rice bran oil products.

Even institutional buyers such as PepsiCo and Haldirams are increasing use of bran oil for frying, said Goyal of Ricela.

But local supplies are not enough to cater to rising demand.

"A few companies are importing rice bran oil from Bangladesh, but even Bangladesh has limited surplus for the exports," said IARBO's Mehta.

6.2. India's banana exports jump 8-fold in 9 yrs; Piyush Goyal says 'making world go bananas'

Business Today Desk, 12 jul. 2022

India’s banana exports have jumped manifold in the past nine years, confirmed Union Minister Piyush Goyal in a tweet.

The minister, in a tweet, said that the banana exports jumped 703 per cent in value terms from Rs 26 crore in April-May 2013 to Rs 213 crore in April-May 2022. “Making the world go bananas,” he said.

“India’s banana exports grow 8 fold in 9 years during the April-May period. The rising exports benefit our farmers immensely while enhancing India’s agricultural exports earnings,” he said.

India is the world’s leading producer of bananas with a share of around 25 per cent in total output. Around 70 per cent of the country’s banana production takes place in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Exporters are assisted by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export and Development Authority (APEDA) under various components of its scheme, including infrastructure development, quality development and market development. It also conducts international seller meets and virtual trade fairs with importing countries to promote agricultural and processed food products.

Moreover, India will export bananas and baby corn to Canada. In April, the National Plant Protection Organisations of India and Canada held negotiations, following which Canada approved the entry of fresh bananas from India with immediate effect. “This decision of the Government of Canada would immensely benefit the Indian farmers growing these crops and would also enhance India’s export earnings,” the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare said.

The ‘Jalgaon banana’ that has the Geographical Indications (GI) certification since 2016, was also exported to Dubai for the first time.

7. Bengaluru strongest startup ecosystem in India: Global index

ET Gov. 23 Jun. 2022

At the city level in the Asia Pacific region, Bengaluru is 3rd best ecosystem after Beijing and Shanghai. Bengaluru ranked No.1 in India and in South Asia.

Bengaluru is the “strongest startup ecosystem in India” and 8th globally, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index (GSEI) by Israel-based StartupBlink.

The Index has been updated annually since 2017 and is the world’s most comprehensive startup ecosystem ranking of 100 countries and 1,000 cities globally. The GSEI is built using hundreds of thousands of data points processed by an algorithm which takes into account several dozens of parameters.

The Karnataka capital’s ranking in the global startup ecosystem has been going up since 2020. It was ranked 14th in 2020 and 10th in 2021, according to the report.

In this year’s rankings, among Indian cities, Bengaluru was at number 1. Globally, New Delhi ranks 13, Mumbai is 17, Pune is 90, and Hyderabad is 97.

“Think Startups, & automatically one thinks of Namma Bengaluru. We have improved our ranking in The Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2022 (@StartupBlink). Our entrepreneurs and innovators are making the city proud! Our government is with them, supporting them every step of the way,” Dr Ashwathnarayan CN, Minister for Higher Education, IT & BT, Science & Technology; Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, Government of Karnataka, said.

Ranked 8th, Bengaluru is the “strongest startup ecosystem in India, increasing by two spots this year and solidifying its position in the global top 10 cities”, the GSEI report stated. Bengaluru also ranks at number 1 in India, and 1 in South Asia.

In the country-wise rankings for 2022, India is among the top-20 startup ecosystems globally and has been ranked 19th, while in the Asia Pacific region, it is 4th after Singapore, Australia, and China.

At the city-level in the Asia Pacific region, Bengaluru’s startup ecosystem has been ranked the 3rd best, improving its position by two spots this year, and is behind Beijing (1) and Shanghai (2), according to the GSEI report.

While Bengaluru's rank in the Asia Pacific region remained unchanged at 3rd, its relative position definitely improved. Last year, Shanghai's score was 66% better than Bengaluru’s score. Now, this gap has been reduced to less than 12%, thanks to the good performance of Bengaluru and less impressive results in Shanghai, the report noted.

Consequently, Bengaluru is now well positioned to “overtake Shanghai next year as the 2nd highest ranked city in the Asia Pacific”, the GSEI stated.

Bengaluru overperforms in Edtech and Transportation with a global rank of 5 in both sector-wise startup rankings. The city is ranked 12th in Ecommerce & Retail, ranked 12th in Software & Data Ranking, ranked 14th in Foodtech, ranked 19th in Hardware & IoT and ranked 20th in Fintech.

Bengaluru houses 364 education startups, 128 transportation startups, and 126 ecommerce & retail startups as per the StartupBlink- Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2022.

In India, Bengaluru holds the top rank, followed by Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad.

Giving an overview of the startup ecosystem of the country, the global report said, “India is a country of great potential considering its population size and cost effectiveness in business operation. The country has established itself as a world leader in technology services and in the past few years, it saw a boom in unicorns.”

“India’s growth trajectory in the startup scene is truly impressive and can be attributed mainly to its domestic market size and a huge IT industry. India's startup ecosystem is not only a growth engine for its economy. If successful, startups will transform India’s productivity and will change the country beyond recognition,” the GSEI report stated.

8. India exported nearly 30 lakh tonnes of wheat in 2022: Govt

IBEF, Jun. 23, 2022

The government has exported nearly 30 lakh tonnes of wheat in 2022 so far and is considering requests from several nations for the supply of the grain.

To preserve domestic availability and prevent price increases, the government earlier on May 13, 2022 suspended wheat exports. However, the government would allow wheat export to other nations on a case to case basis.

One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme has been implemented across India now with Assam being the last state to implement the scheme, said Mr. Sudhansu Pandey, Food Secretary

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

9. T-Hub 2.0 opens with a capacity to house 4000 start-ups, world's largest facility

ET Gov. 30 Jun. 2022

T-Hub’s new innovation campus is T-shaped, with a total built-up area of 5,82,689 sq ft, making it the world’s largest, the second largest being Station F based in France.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday dedicated the T-Hub 2.0 facility, world’s largest innovation campus in Hyderabad, to young Indians across the country. T-Hub’s new innovation campus is T-shaped, with a total built-up area of 5,82,689 sq ft, making it the world’s largest, the second largest being Station F based in France.

The new T-hub facility has been built at a cost of Rs 400 crore with state government funds. T-Hub phase-II, which is five times bigger than the first phase of T-Hub established in 2005, will have the capacity to house about 4,000 start-ups.

Speaking on the occasion, the CM said "we have created a world-class entity at T-Hub to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. Our state’s startup policy is progressive, it has helped forge fruitful partnerships with both corporates and academia. Around the fulcrum of T-hub, we promoted sister institutions to support different requirements of an entrepreneur and today all of these institutions also, namely We-hub, T-Works, TSIC, RICH, and TASK, have become champions in their own right, he said. He said T-Hub was founded to bring in the best talent from across the country to nurture a startup ecosystem. T-Hub has now become a national role model. It has impacted over 2000 entrepreneurs and seen 1.19 billion US dollars raised in funding by T-Hub startups.

It has facilitated connections with venture capitalists and angel investors, establishing a brand name synonymous with innovation, he said. Phase 1 of T-Hub showed us that there is a huge appetite for entrepreneurship among the youth in India. We felt we must capitalize on this appetite. That we must provide them with the best support from the startup stakeholders and give them a space for high-quality incubation and acceleration. Three years ago, our government decided to invest in the 2nd phase of T-Hub. This the new facility is five times bigger.

Our aim is to incubate the next generation of startups that would one day be strong pillars for our Indian economy, the CM said we hope that through T-Hub these startups can strengthen their entrepreneurial spirit and bring global recognition to our state and the country with their accomplishments. We want Telangana to be known as the start-up state of India. Our state’s start-up ecosystem is valued as among the top 10 global ecosystems in affordable talent. It is among the top 15 startup ecosystems across Asia in attracting funds. In 2021, the startup ecosystem of Telangana was valued at USD 4.8 billion, he said.

New T-Hub facility focuses on internationalization and capacity building: IT Minister KTR

Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday said the new phase of T-Hub (Technology Hub) will have an enhanced focus on internationalisation and capacity building with new foreign partnerships with Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

Speaking at the unveiling of the World’s Largest Innovation Campus in India ‘ T-Hub-2.0 at Madhapur-Ryadurgam Knowledge Park in Hyderabad, Mr KTR said ‘that over six years, T-Hub has become a credible icon from India across the world for entrepreneurship and innovation. Telangana Government’s progressive startup policies and ease of the business environment have flourished into strong partnerships with global corporations and academics, he said.

The idea of T-Hub which started as an Incubation centre is now the world’s largest innovation hub that has scaled up over 1000 startups and aims to further impact thousands more startups in the near future, the Minister said. T-Hub aims to impact at least 20,000 startups through its various program interventions in the next five years, he said T-Hub’s large-scale incubation and acceleration activities will include both early revenue and early-scale companies.

The new building, which was inaugurated by Telangana CM will have the presence of international partners from Japan, Korea, and Dubai, among others, he said. With a strong representation of technology at its core, T-Hub is built in a T-shaped structure spread across a total built-up area of 5,82,689 sq. ft and 10 floors. The building is a microcosm of the innovation ecosystem, which will include startups, corporates, investors, academia, and national and international ecosystem enablers, he said.

T-Hub was built on the approach of hybrid work models and new industry parameters, he added.

In a bid to introduce a revolution in the IT sector, the state government launched T-Hub-1 in the initial days of the new state of Telangana in 2015. T Hub had registered a phenomenal success with 1,200 start-ups. To reflect the vision and ideas of the state IT and Industry Minister KT Rama Rao, the government developed the T-Hub 2.0.

T-Hub CEO Mahankali Srinivas Rao said the innovation campus will bring together all the startup ecosystem stakeholders to create sustainable businesses with a special focus on verticals like EV/ Mobility, Healthtech, Enterprise tech, Gaming and Artificial Intelligence. It will continue to establish Telangana as a centre for technology and innovation at a global level, encouraging new technologies, guiding entrepreneurs, and creating investment opportunities.

10. Private, government entities invest Rs 3.57 trn in new projects in Q1FY23

IBEF, Jul. 4, 2022

The June quarter (April-June 2022) saw a rise in new project investments from both private and government organisations.

According to data from project tracker Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the overall cost of new projects was Rs. 3.57 trillion (US$ 45.17 billion) for the three months ended June 2022. The amount in March 2022 was Rs. 5.9 trillion (US$ 74.65 billion). The cost of new projects can change depending on the season.

The most recent figures for the quarter ending June 2022 are 21.4% higher than Rs. 2.94 trillion (US$ 37.19 billion) in the quarter ending June 2021.

Projects of over Rs. 87,000 crore (US$ 11 billion) were finished in June 2022. The completion rate was 22.5% greater than it was in 2021. The value of stalled projects decreased by 39.4% to almost Rs. 20,000 crore (US$ 2.53 billion).

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

- Industry and Manufacture

11.1. AEPC to take 140-member delegation to 3 countries next month for boosting apparel exports

IBEF, Jun. 16, 2022

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) is taking a 140-member delegation to the UK, Japan and the US next month to promote outbound shipments of the sector as these countries account for about 40% of apparel exports. In July, the delegation will attend three international trade shows: Pure London, India Tex Trend Fair (ITTF), and Sourcing at Magic in the United States, according to AEPC.

The advantage of AEPC's participation is that it will improve the position in the UK market ahead of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to lower tariffs, said Mr. Naren Goenka, Chairman, AEPC.

In 2021, UK imports from India totalled US$ 1.09 billion, up 12.6% from 2020. Compared to knitted garments, woven garments have a significantly higher level of acceptance in the UK.

Indian apparel exports to the US in 2021 stood at US$ 4.5 billion, registering a growth of more than 40% compared to 2020.

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

11.2. Desperately seeking talent: What India Inc recruiters really want

Mint, 4 Jul. 2022, Devina Sengupta

The April-June quarter registered a 61% increase in jobs on Shine’s jobs portal, compared to the preceding quarter—that is, the number of job postings went up by 1.6 times.

NEW DELHI: After a two-year covid lull, India Inc is hiring in greater numbers. For job seekers with the right set of future-proof skills, that’s a windfall. Companies realize that talent is in short supply and are willing to go the distance—from double-digit pay hikes to healthcare benefits to looking beyond metros to hire candidates.

That’s the picture of the job landscape thrown up by a study by Mint-Shine.com, ‘Talent Insights’ (Shine.com is a subsidiary of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint). The April-June quarter registered a 61% increase in jobs on Shine’s jobs portal, compared to the preceding quarter—that is, the number of job postings went up by 1.6 times. Information technology (IT), BPO/call centres and recruitment services are the sectors that have generated most new jobs over the last three months.

Hiring is back in business

The first quarter of FY21, when the second wave of covid was raging, had registered fewer postings. Since then, most of the sectors have shown an increased demand for workforce with companies opening up, and either returning to physical office or adopting a hybrid model. Sectors like hospitality, which had faced the heaviest brunt of the pandemic, are beginning to revive. (To access the full report click here).

According to the study, sectors like IT (16%), hospitality (10%), energy (8%), engineering and construction (7%) and banking and financial services and insurance (BFSI, 9%) were among the top recruiters in FY22. Broking, shipping and automation saw the largest jump in the number of postings in FY22 compared to FY21—863%, 603% and 594%, respectively. In the data available for the first quarter of FY23 so far, the top sectors by number of job postings were: IT (21%), BFSI (16%, of which banking and financial services comprised 9%, and insurance 7%), BPO/call centres (10%), and recruitment services (9%).

What’s on HR wish list

The hiring frenzy is good news for employees. Human resources (HR) heads Mint spoke to said that companies are having to come up with measures and incentives to attract new employees while ensuring their balance sheets do not take a hit.

But which employees have an edge in the market? “Demand for digital professionals with relevant skill sets and experience in 2022 will be high. High churn in the IT services sector will ensure round-the-clock hiring this year," said S. Venkatesh, group president-HR of RPG Enterprises, which employs about 30,000 people.

The Shine study highlights that sectors like aviation, manufacturing and telecom saw the number of job postings dwindle in FY22 versus FY21. But the travel sector, battered by the pandemic, is picking up as tourism and office travel resume. The increase in the number of airlines—with the return of Jet Airways, Air India going to the Tata family, and the forthcoming Akasa Air—will add a spurt in aviation hiring too.

The automotive sector appears to be on a revival mode after the last two years in which factories shut down, and vehicle production was hit by high input costs and shortage of semi-conductors. “We are actively scouting for quality and talent at various levels for different functions, including advance engineering, product development, purchasing and supplier quality, supply chain, operations and commercial functions," said Ravindra Kumar, president and chief human resources officer, Tata Motors.

The auto major employs 52,000 people and is in search of people with skill sets suited for the ACES (autonomous, connected, electric and shared) transition in mobility that leads to a future of driver-less cars, ride-sharing and electric vehicles. “ACES sums up the four technology-driven megatrends that will determine the future of the automobile industry and, accordingly, we are looking for people who bring skills and knowledge in these areas," Kumar told Mint.

Telecom, too, saw a decline of about 49% in the number of job postings in FY22 compared to the previous year but the upcoming 5G auctions, production-linked incentive schemes and setting up of telecom gear and phone-making units will add to the workforce count.

A spurt in hiring in consumer electronics is expected, and companies like Panasonic India are looking for candidates with prowess in artificial intelligence (AI). “Demand for new-age skills such as automation is on the rise. Here, AI and IT-enabled profiles are gaining prominence. IT security and infrastructure profiles, too, are becoming important as most of the organizations are looking at digital transformation as hybrid models for work emerge," said Adarsh Mishra, chief human resources officer, Panasonic India.

With 13,000 plus employees, Panasonic India is optimistic about 2022 as the year of “normalcy". “Hiring in the first quarter gained momentum as, after two years of Covid, all sectors are looking forward to 2022 with a hope to recover and close business targets," Mishra added.

Shine also conducted a survey of 538 HR executives across different sectors. According to the study, digital marketing was the most sought-after skill with 37.2% of the employers on the lookout for that talent. Those who are well versed with IT, Python, cloud computing-like skills fell into the second-most wanted bracket (30.1%). The scramble to get into the digital mode, across sectors and sizes, is stoking the demand for certain tech skill sets. AI and machine learning (ML) skills got the third largest votes at 19.3%.

The 538 HR executives who took the survey were asked to choose the most sought-after job profile—primarily out of data scientist, cloud architect, and block chain engineer. 50.2% of those surveyed chose data scientist, while the other top profiles were cloud architect (20.3%) and blockchain engineer (9.9%).

The survey focused on getting the respondents’ priority order out of these three skills; other possible skills in demand were clubbed under “Others", which got 13.4% votes.

“Keeping with the industry trend, we have witnessed a huge surge in demand over the past year. New and emerging technologies have gained prominence. Cybersecurity, SAP, cloud engineering, and data analytics have been the top skills in the recent past," said SV Nathan, partner and chief talent officer, Deloitte India.

Back to office

April-June quarter was also the time when most corporates rolled out their hybrid or back-to-office policies. The HR executives quizzed in the study showed an increased preference for work from office—48.1% preferred heading to office. About 39.6% preferred the hybrid model of work where employees were asked to head to office only on scheduled days of the week.

To return to physical office or not has been much debated in the corporate sector. While those in certain roles like IT can have more options of logging in from homes, the retail, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries need their workforce in physical spaces.

Nevertheless, it’s an employee’s market. To get candidates agree to the employer’s terms is a challenge for India Inc. “The short-term challenge is to get talent that is ready to deliver immediately. Today, there is a shift from attracting talent to inducting talent as candidates are available to take up assignments but ready to work only on their terms. Getting people back to office is another challenge as most candidates now want to work from home," said Mishra of Panasonic India.

In sectors facing 20% plus attrition levels, companies are rolling out double digit pay hikes to retain talent. A third of those studied said that their firms were rolling out 20% hikes; sectors like start-ups, IT, BFSI, where attrition is high, are expected to roll out higher increments.

But merely upping salaries is not enough to cope with threats of the ‘Great Resignation’. Many are relying upon benefits and welfare programmes such as flexible work options, better insurance, healthcare and mental health policies, and more stock options as retention measures.

“For example, our internal learning platform, Cura, functions much like popular OTT platforms, offering professionals anytime, anyplace, any subject learning, all personalized as per their preferences, that builds their domain expertise, as well as emotional intelligence," Nathan of Deloitte told Mint.

Panasonic said that the long-term challenge is to keep talent engaged “as post-covid people are getting restless". “At the workplace, there is a shift in focus from ‘what we do’ to ‘why we do, what we do’. People are seeking for a clear purpose for their efforts," Mishra said.

CRISIL estimates 30% of new roles are digital-based. The firm has noted that the past 15 months has seen a surge in demand for tech skills, without a corresponding rise in supply.

“We have been deploying a multi-faceted approach—enhanced intake at the base of the pyramid, curating hire-and-train models, added emphasis on internal job mobility, employee referrals, second careers for women as a channel, and hybrid work model as an added flexibility," said Anupam Kaura, president and chief human resources officer, CRISIL.

Some like Tata Motors are retaining their workforce by offering them opportunities to work on projects in areas beyond their current roles. The passenger and commercial vehicle maker has noted a shortage of ‘experienced’ talent in auto-electric and electronics area.

For many of these firms, the startup sector with its new-age benefit programmes, hefty stock options and flat hierarchy is seen as a threat. Ironically, the startup sector over the six months has retrenched about 11,000 employees. The many rounds of layoffs are mainly in the edtech, fintech and healthtech startups, which have been hit the most by the current liquidity squeeze and have over-hired during the last two years of the pandemic.

“In addition to it, we also have a supply challenge. The education curriculum from ITIs to MTech needs a revision to ready graduating students for the ACES world. Then there is a challenge of upskilling the existing workforce so they can continue to be relevant and contribute," Kumar of Tata Motors added.

Beyond metros

The need for immediate talent also has pushed companies to hire from tier II and III cities. Idukki (Kerala) saw a six-fold jump in job postings in FY22 vs FY21. Some of the other non-metros which saw an uptick in job postings in FY22 compared to FY21 include Panaji (402.8%), Kanyakumari (371.4%), Ambala (350.9%) and Erode (354.3%).

In the survey, as many as 50% respondents picked Bengaluru as the “leading job market in India", followed by Mumbai (19%), Delhi (17%), and Hyderabad (8%). However, 81% respondents acknowledged that hiring in non-metro cities had risen recently. More than half of them (51%) attributed this to the ability to work remotely. This was even more pronounced among startup respondents (63%). Large multinationals are scouting for talent in smaller cities as the pandemic has thrown up a chunk of the skilled workforce who are reluctant to live in expensive cities, or travel far to reach workplaces. In addition, these workers come cheaper than if they lived in the metros.

“The report covers not only hiring trends across geographies and sectors, but also softer aspects such as talent attrition and salary increments. We aspire to keep evolving this over time and bring more relevant insights to the broader HR fraternity and job-seekers alike," said Akhil Gupta, chief executive officer of Shine.com.

12. French aircraft OEM Safran to set up MRO facility in Hyderabad with US$150 million, to open JV in Bengaluru

ET Gov. 7 Jul. 2022

The MRO facility through the direct foreign investment of US$ 150 million in Hyderabad is expected to create 500-600 highly skilled jobs.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with the CEO of Safran, Olivier Andriès in New Delhi on Tuesday.

A high-level delegation of the French company Safran Group led by its CEO Olivier Andries called on Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday. Safran is one of the leading original equipment manufacturers of advanced aircraft engines for civil and fighter jets.

During the meeting, the CEO of Safran briefed the Union Defence Minister on their company’s plans to set up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India for the overhaul of LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines in use by Indian and foreign commercial airlines. The MRO facility through the direct foreign investment of US$ 150 million in Hyderabad is expected to create 500-600 highly skilled jobs. The facility will be able to overhaul over 250 engines per year in the beginning.

The CEO also briefed the Union Defence Minister on their plan to inaugurate this week Safran Aircraft Engines and Safran Electrical and Power India Pvt Ltd set up in Hyderabad and Safran-HAL Aircraft Engines as a joint venture in Bengaluru. Safran aircraft engine, Hyderabad, with an investment of Euro 36 million and located on 10 acres of land in the Hyderabad SEZ, will produce parts and components for advanced aircraft engines including rotating seals.

Safran Electrical and Power India Pt Ltd will produce harnesses for civil and fighter jets. The joint venture between Safran and HAL is for the production of rigid piping for aircraft engines including helicopter engines. The joint venture is expected to hire 160 new highly skilled personnel.

The CEO of Safran outlined his company’s long-term plan for the co-development and co-production of advanced jet engines and transfer of technology as per the existing policy of the Government of India. He briefed Rajnath Singh on the capabilities of Safran in areas of technology beyond aircraft engines.

Union Defence Minister noted the great importance India attaches to the strategic partnership with France. He welcomed new facilities in Hyderabad and the joint venture in Bengaluru. He invited Safran for more co-development and co-production projects in India, in tune with ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ of the Government of India. “We are a big market. However, we are increasingly focused on making in India for addressing the needs in a competitive manner and supplying to friendly foreign countries. You can leverage all the competitive advantages India offers, including the cost advantages and availability of trained manpower,” he said. Union Defence Minister asserted that both countries can contribute to each other's capability building.

13. Omega Seiki Mobility opens new EV manufacturing unit in Pune

Business Today Desk, 23 Jun. 2022

End-to-end mobility solutions provider Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM) on Thursday announced the opening of a new integrated manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune.

Omega Seiki Mobility opens new EV manufacturing unit in Pune

The firm, in an official statement, explained that with an investment of $25 million the unit will have a production capacity of 6000 electric three-wheelers per annum. It added that the firm would ramp up the manufacturing capacity to 30000 units in the next three years.

OSM will be developing and manufacturing its Cargo Electric Vehicle Range: Rage+, Rage+ Rapid, Rage+ Frost and Rage+ Swap and Electric Passenger Vehicle Stream at the Pune facility.

The new EV manufacturing unit at Chakan is spread over 50,000 sq. feet. The company will employ 250 plus personnel. The Pune facility is the fourth manufacturing unit of the company, with the other three located in IMT Faridabad.

Speaking on the launch of this new manufacturing unit in Pune, Uday Narang, founder and Chairman, OSM, said, "The opening of our Fourth manufacturing facility marks another important milestone for Omega Seiki Mobility commitment to growing our business in India." He added that the facility will play a global distribution network which should leapfrog the firm into a market-leading position in EVs in India and overseas.

"We have an order book of 50,000 plus cargo electric three wheelers. We have set up this facility to meet the growing demand of the market. The Pune facility will help us to aggressively expand our operations in the West of India" added Narang. "At Omega Seiki Mobility we work on Hub and Spoke Model as cost of transportation is very high. We will be launching four more manufacturing facilities in the next 2 years," added Narang.

OSM stated that a large part of its commitment is to decrease the carbon footprint by reducing the wastes and emissions associated with the manufacturing process. To this end, the new OSM manufacturing unit in Pune will have automated manufacturing systems for logistics and material handling, fabrication and painting, assembly and quality assurance.

The company explained that these systems have been designed keeping in mind green and sustainable manufacturing processes while ensuring the best worker ergonomics and maximum process efficiency.

14.1. Indian media, entertainment industry may touch Rs 4.3 trn by 2026: Report

IBEF, Jun. 24, 2022

According to a report by global consulting firm PwC, the Indian media and entertainment industry will grow at an 8.8% CAGR and reach Rs. 4.30 lakh crore (US$ 54.93 billion) by 2026. According to the report, digital media and advertising will drive growth through deeper penetration of the internet and mobile devices in the domestic market, while traditional media will maintain steady growth. By 2026, TV advertising is expected to be worth more than Rs. 43,000 crore (US$ 5.49 billion). After the United States, Japan, China, and the United Kingdom, India will be the world's fifth-largest TV advertising market.

By 2026, India's OTT video services are expected to be worth Rs. 21,031 crore (US$ 2.68 billion), with subscription-based services accounting for Rs 19,973 crore (US$ 2.55 billion) and transactional VOD accounting for Rs. 1,058 crore (US$ 135.18 million) (video on demand).

Over the forecast period, the population size and widespread use of mobile-led Internet video will drive rapid growth in the OTT market. The adoption of 5G, in particular, will enable low-latency services such as OTT video streams, greatly boosting the sector.

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

14.2. NIPUN: Upskilling of construction workers launched to train for overseas job opportunities

ET Gov. 23 Jun. 2022

Over one lakh construction workers will be trained in partnership with the NSDC under DAY-NULM.

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri at the launch of the 'National Initiative for Promotion of Upskilling of Nirman workers (NIPUN)' in New Delhi on Monday.

Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday launched an innovative project for skill training of construction workers called ‘NIPUN’ (National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers).

The project is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under its flagship scheme of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) to train over one lakh construction workers, through fresh skilling and upskilling programmes and provides them with work opportunities in foreign countries.

Puri also interacted with some construction workers on the occasion, and presented them with safety helmets. The minister said that the transformational impact of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) has definitively reduced the vulnerability of urban poor households by providing upskilling and employment opportunities to urban dwellers, especially the youth. He said that the spirit of entrepreneurship has been encouraged and supported by giving urban workers access to self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities. This initiative will enable Nirman workers to be more proficient and skilled while making them adopt future trends in the construction industry by increasing their capabilities and diversifying their skill sets, he added.

While emphasizing that the skill sets in the construction industry to be advanced on war footing, the minister said so far we have not been able to achieve what should have been done. The construction industry has been investing in skilling but it has not spread horizontally across the industry. Therefore, the initiative taken by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in this regard is really praiseworthy and should expand to cover larger number, he sadi, adding that skill and productivity goes hand-in-hand. The ministry also undertook technology challenges which led to implementation of six Light House Projects in a record time wherein technology and local material was used to construct sustainable green buildings.

The minister said that dedication to the nation of the main tunnel and five underpasses of Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project in New Delhi on Sunday by the Prime Minister underlines the new template of the Central government showing that world class project can be competed in a record time. The Minister also announced that the Central Vista Avenue will be opened in next few days. He said that the construction industry is a significant contributor to the nation’s GDP and we are proud of world class construction being undertaken in the country. He said that the NIPUN project will enable the construction workers to seek better job opportunities, increase their wages and even pursue overseas placements an indication of a new eco-system.

How NIPUN works

DAY-NULM is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, being implemented since 2014-15, with the aim to reduce poverty and vulnerability of urban poor households in the country by enabling them to access self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in an appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), the nodal agency under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India, will be the implementation partner for the project NIPUN.

The project implementation is divided into three parts - training through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) at construction sites, training through fresh skilling by plumbing and infrastructure SSC and international placement through industries/ builders/ contractors. Onsite skill training will be provided to approximately 80,000 construction workers through industry associations under the RPL certification, co-branded with MoHUA, while about 14,000 candidates will receive fresh skilling through plumbing and infrastructure Sector Skill Council (SSC) in trades having promising placement potentials. The courses are aligned with National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) and will be imparted at accredited and affiliated training centres. Under NIPUN, it is also envisaged that NSDC will place approximately 12,000 people in foreign countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE and other GCC countries, MoHUA said in a press release.

Project NIPUN will also facilitate and support convergence with related line ministries. Meanwhile, NSDC will be responsible for the overall execution of training, monitoring and candidate tracking. It will provide trainees with ‘Kaushal Bima’, a three-year accidental insurance with coverage of Rs 2 lakh, digital skills such as cashless transactions and the BHIM app, orientation about entrepreneurship, and EPF and BOCW facilities. A project committee with members from both NSDC and MoHUA will be formed under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary-cum-Mission Director, DAY-NULM to oversee and monitor the project, it said.

The construction industry is poised to become the largest employer by 2022 and needs 45 million additional skilled workers over the next 10 years. To fulfil this mission, the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) and the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) have joined Project NIPUN as industry partners and will identify training job roles of aspirational value in the construction sector in collaboration with the SSC, the ministry added.

15. India manufacturing exports to hit US$ 1 trillion by FY28, says report

IBEF, Jul. 14, 2022

According to a report by Bain and Company, India's manufacturing exports are expected to touch US$ 1 trillion by FY 2028 driven by production capacity expansion, government policy support, heightened M&A activity and investments.

According to the report titled "The Trillion-Dollar Manufacturing Exports Opportunity for India," the growth would primarily be driven by chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textile, and electronics industries, which have been scaling up and expanding into new export markets.

India’s manufacturing exports stood at US$ 418 billion in FY22, rising at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 15% over the last two years.

Despite possible recessionary and inflationary pressure, fundamentals for India’s manufacturing sector remain strong. The mega-trends will continue to play out during the course of this decade which will accelerate India’s manufacturing-led exports, said Mr. Deepak Jain, partner at Bain and Company and co-author of the report.

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

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

16.1.Apollo Hospitals becomes first in the Asia Pacific and second in the world to be recognised for its digital influence in patient care

Finacial Express, 21st Jun. 2022, Sushmita Panda

HIMSS announced on Monday that Apollo Hospitals has achieved Stage 6 accreditations for three HIMSS digital maturity models – the Digital Imaging Adoption Model (DIAM), the Outpatient Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (O-EMRAM), and the Infrastructure Adoption Model (INFRAM). Significantly, it is only the second healthcare provider in the world to attain the Stage 6 DIAM certification, as per company sources, while the first is a hospital in Florida.

According to its press statement, during its DIAM validation, Apollo Hospitals was commended for its use of biomarkers, molecular imaging, and mapping software. It also showed finesse in using graphs and dashboards to understand and manipulate data.

Apollo Hospitals, which operates over 70 private hospitals with more than 12,000 beds across Asia, recognizes the “severe” shortage of healthcare delivery infrastructure worldwide, with the only way to meet this need being the deployment of “effective technology” for healthcare delivery.

Meanwhile, the group’s patient portal was found to be “one of the finest examples of patient communication” during its O-EMRAM validation. Its patient app features multiple functionalities, including payment options, appointment setting, health monitoring and device integration capability.

Additionally, Apollo’s hospital information system was deemed intuitive and easy to use. Assessors found that the organization has good examples of device integrations for vital signs monitoring. Apollo Hospitals also reported no unplanned downtime in the past five years; HIMSS noted that this demonstrates the effort they put into IT security.

Moreover, Apollo Hospitals said that it went through the HIMSS digital maturity assessments as it provided them with a framework to ensure its digital backbone is top-notch and guided by global best practices.

“This is not just about the maturity of the digital backbone but also the model of effective adoption of the solutions, and thereby demonstrating that an organization can be effectively managed and sustained by consistent and well-coordinated consumption of digital solutions. We are striving to ensure that we can provide personalized care to every individual guided by technology that ensures that we are operationally effective, sharply focused on quality of service, and non-compromising on achieving the highest standards of clinical outcomes bundled with the hallmark of Apollo’s tender loving care,” Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals said in a statement.

“Apollo has continued to show commitment and consistency in advancing their digital health capabilities to ensure that they can leverage the full potential of digital technology to continue driving optimal patient outcomes. Having already achieved Stage 6 in both the O-EMRAM and INFRAM, Apollo has now become the first in the APAC region and second in the world to achieve DIAM Stage 6, which is truly an amazing feat and a testament to Apollo’s commitment,” Simon Lin, HIMSS VP and Executive Director for Asia-Pacific stated.

16.2. India's investments in AI to cross $880 mn by 2023: NASSCOM report

IBEF, Jun. 27, 2022

According to NASSCOM's most recent study on the AI Adoption Index, investments in India's artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities are expanding at a CAGR of 31.8% and are expected to reach US$ 881 million by 2023.

Despite the fact that global investments in AI have more than doubled in the past year, India's portion of these investments is still only 1.5%. India starts from a lower base compared to its global peers, and despite its high growth, the country will still represent just 2.5% of the global investments in 2023.

By 2025, AI will add US$ 450-500 billion in value to India's GDP. According to the report, more than 60% of this is anticipated to originate from the industries of consumer goods and retail, banking, financial services & insurance, energy & industrials, automobile manufacturing, and healthcare.

Predictive analytics and chatbots are the most often used AI applications in India.

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

17.1. India’s sports business to hit $100 billion in 5 years: Report

IBEF, June 22, 2022

According to a new report, the sports sector in India, which includes media rights, apparel, sports nutrition, and sports equipment, is expected to grow fivefold to US$ 100 billion by 2027, up from US$ 27 billion in 2020. According to a report by brokerage firm Anand Rathi Investment Banking, the Indian Premier League (IPL), with over nine million viewers, has successfully commercialised and scaled.

Furthermore, the Indian sports media market was worth US$ 1 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to more than US$ 13.4 billion by 2027. According to the report, India is one of Asia's largest manufacturers of sports goods and equipment after China and Japan, and the sports goods market was worth US$ 4.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to US$ 6.6 billion by 2027.

Furthermore, it stated that the Indian sports apparel market was worth US$ 14 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to US$ 21 billion by 2023, with menswear products driving the growth.

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

17.2. Airlines scramble for cabin crew, pilots as talent war hits the sky

Mint, 05 Jul. 2022, Devina Sengupta

Domestic traffic is expected to reach 130-140 million passengers in the current financial year, though a tad less than the levels seen in FY2020. With the recruitment drive likely to intensify amid rising fuel costs, airlines may take a hit on their profits

MUMBAI : The crowded skies over India have set off a talent war like never before, with the upcoming launch of Akasa Air, return of Jet Airways under its new promoters and the Tata Group’s takeover of Air India.

With the new promoters of the two major airlines and the new entrant going all guns blazing to rope in the best for a perfect take off, incumbents are scurrying to retain their top pilots and cabin crew with bonuses and pay hikes to thwart attempts at poaching.

Industry experts, however, fear the addition of new planes and increased demand for pilots will force carriers to hire foreign pilots, which in addition to rising fuel costs, will dent the balance sheets of aviation companies.

“The airlines do not have time to build talent and will need to hire from the market. In this case, the existing leader will face the brunt. There will be some form of retention bonus rolled out and marginal hikes for the top talent," said Nitin Sethi, chief executive officer of human capital business at consulting firm Aon India, told Mint.

Sethi said that expat pilots will be hired but their numbers will not be as high as 7-8 years ago as airlines will walk a tight rope between talent costs and high fuel prices.

The talent tussle will heighten as Air India, Jet Airways and Akasa Air conduct recruitment drives.

According to a PTI report, 55% of IndiGo’s domestic flights were delayed on Saturday as a large number of cabin crew members took sick leave.

The report linked their absence to recruitment interviews scheduled by Air India on that particular day.

Both IndiGo, India’s top airline by marketshare, and Air India did not respond to queries sent on Monday.

The talent war is likely to intensify, specially for cabin crew and pilots.

“Expect significant inductions in cabin crew and flight crew. Constrains around pilots is likely to be serious in 1-2 years. Movement of pilots and cabin crew will follow a logical industry trend but shift from weaker to stronger airlines is not surprising," said Kapil Kaul, CEO for Indian subcontinent and the Middle East at aviation consultancy CAPA.

Airlines, both new and old, are conducting regular recruitment drives to attract talent.

“Today we have close to 400 employees across all our functions. For the next several months, we will add approximately 175 additional employees per month," said Vinay Dube, founder and CEO at Akasa Air.

“We expect to fly around 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023 with an employee strength of close to 2,000 employees," said Dube.

Akasa Air, backed by billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, expects to start scheduled commercial flights later this month.

Route expansions are also propelling more recruitment. Air Asia conducted recruitment drives last Thursday to support its network expansion to Lucknow with daily direct flights connecting Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Goa.

According to the Indian Aviation Outlook FY2023 by CAPA, domestic traffic is expected to reach 130-140 million passengers this financial year though a tad less than the FY2020 levels. International traffic is expected to reach 55 to 60 million passengers, around 20% below the pre-covid levels.

For some, the nostalgic tug of getting back former employees is also leading to uptick in hiring.

For instance, Jet Airways received more than 2,000 applications after opening up posts on social media on 24 June for former cabin crew.

“In the last six months (since January), we have received more than 10,000 unsolicited applications in addition to the ones we have received for specific openings. We will soon start hiring for operational roles other than cabin crew in alignment with our business plan, once we have made a decision about our aircraft choice. Many operational roles depend on the aircraft we choose to operate with," Nakul Tuteja, vice president, human resources and administration, at Jet Airways said last week.

18.1. Centre to launch 'One Nation, One Dialysis' programme soon

ET Gov. 28 Jun. 2022

The high cost of Dialysis care leads to financial catastrophe for practically all families with such patients.

Aligning with the concept of one nation and one service, the Centre is planning to launch yet another service titled ‘One Nation, One Dialysis’ under the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme under the National Health Mission to facilitate the dialysis facility to needy patients anywhere in the country, announced Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya in Chennai on Sunday.

Dr Mandaviya also informed, “The Central Government has allocated more than Rs 2,600 crore for the health of Tamil Nadu under National Health Mission and Rs 404 crore for medical infrastructure advancement under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission.”

According to official information, in the Budget speech 2016-2017, the Union finance minister announced the launch of a National Dialysis Programme under Public Private Partnership at District hospitals. Every year about 2.2 Lakh new patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) get added in India resulting in additional demand for 3.4 crore dialysis each year. The high cost of Dialysis care leads to financial catastrophe for practically all families with such patients. With the substantial gain in quality of life and extension of progression-free survival for patients, families continue to stretch financially to make large pocket spends. It has been felt that both in terms of provision of this important life-saving procedure close to the community and also for reducing impoverishment on account of out-of-pocket expenditure for patients, a Dialysis program is required.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, who is on a two-day visit to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, visited the Tamil Nadu government's Multi Super Speciality Hospital in Chennai and witnessed the Robotic Surgery Facility and Early Pregnancy Screening Centre. Dr Mandaviya also virtually laid the foundation stone of CGHS Wellness Centre and Lab at Avadi. Further, he interacted with trauma care patients and those with severe sports injuries who are being treated with advanced tech-based surgeries and biopharma therapies at the Multi Super Speciality Hospital. Tamil Nadu Health Minister M Subramanian and State principal secretary, Health and Family Welfare, and higher officials participated in the event.

Addressing the gathering, Union Minister Dr Mansukh said the Tamil Nadu Government's Multi Super Specialty Hospital is the only centre with 2 surgeon consoles and congratulated the state for achieving the goal set for MMR and IMR well ahead of the rest of the states.

Covering 1.58 crore families in Tamil Nadu, under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, 75 lakh people have availed of the benefits, he added. Stating that the COVID vaccination status in the Southern state has reached 11 crores 26 lakh doses with 94 % being first doses and 82% comprising second doses, the minister mentioned it as a commendable feat.

Speaking about the Nikshay Mitr Abhiyan a TB Patient/Village Adoption’ scheme, he said around 50,000 patients suffer from TB in Tamil Nadu. However he appealed to the people to extend their support to this scheme as only 5% of them have given consent, while 35% have not accepted it as yet. “Only with your support, like in COVID, can we overcome together this hurdle to the nation’s progress”, he reiterated.

He also said under the Ayushman Bharat -Health and Wellness Centress programme, so far 7,052 Ayushman Bharat -Health and Wellness Centres (as on June 2022) are functional in the state against the target for 9,135 Health and Wellness Centress till December 2022. Till now, 542.07 lakh (upto March 2022) screening tests have been done in these centres for Hypertension, Diabetes, Common cancers etc, he added.

Dialysis programme

Every year about 2.2 Lakh new patients of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) get added in India resulting in additional demand for 3.4 crore dialysis every year. With approximately 4,950 dialysis centres, largely in the private sector in India, the demand is less than half met with existing infrastructure.

Since every Dialysis has an additional expenditure tag of about Rs.2,000, it results in a monthly expenditure for patients to the tune of Rs 3-4 Lakh annually. Besides, most families have to undertake frequent trips, and often over long distances to access dialysis services incurring heavy travel costs and loss of wages for the patient and family members accompanying the patient.

This, therefore, leads to financial catastrophe for practically all families with such patients. With the substantial gain in quality of life and extension of progression-free survival for patients, families continue to stretch financially to make large out-of-pocket spending. It has been felt that both in terms of provision of this important life-saving procedure and also for reducing impoverishment on account of out-of-pocket expenditure for patients, a Dialysis program is required.

18.2. e-Hospital management system to integrate 36 govt medical colleges for efficient healthcare services delivery in UP

ET Gov. 23 Jun. 2022

Establishment of HMIS will provide a reliable and cost effective mechanism for better monitoring, management, planning and decision making for effective health service delivery.

In yet another step towards creating a transparent and efficient mechanism, and to manage multiple institutions seamlessly, an e-Hospital management system will be implemented in about 36 medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh.

Through the e-Hospital management system, the delivery of healthcare services will be simplified and will aid in hospital management which covers the complete treatment cycle of OPD/IPD as well as will integrate clinical, administrative, and billing/insurance activities.

The Medical Education Department has made complete preparations for the implementation of the paperless system in the state medical colleges, government institutions, autonomous institutions, and autonomous state medical colleges.

In the first phase, the system has been implemented in about nine medical colleges of the state in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Jhansi, Meerut and Agra.

According to the Medical Education Department officials, preparations are in full swing to implement the e-hospital management system in 36 state medical colleges. With the implementation of this system, while on one hand the management, leadership, network, functioning and administration of the hospitals will improve, on the other hand all the information related to the patients will be recorded through a unique ID number. Pre-recording of case history and information in the hospital will bring great relief to the patients.

Out of 36 medical colleges and institutes in the state, e-Hospital developed by NIC is operated in about nine medical colleges and institutes, in which registration, billing, and other activities are being done online. Preparations are on to sign an MoU after getting the approval of the government on the proposal prepared by C-DAC for Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) in 22 medical colleges and institutions of UP. Besides, proposals are being made and sent for implementation of HMIS in other five medical colleges and institutions.

All the medical colleges of the state will be integrated with the HMIS. In addition, Hospital Management System software is also set to be implemented soon, which will provide online information about the presence of medicines in medical colleges and the attendance of doctors, paramedical staff and employees.

Establishment of HMIS will provide a reliable and cost effective mechanism for better monitoring, management, planning and decision making for effective health service delivery, said a government spokesperson.

19.1. DST scientists get breakthrough in developing solid-state batteries that charge faster and cost cheaper

ET Gov. 27 Jun. 2022

Replacing the liquid electrolyte in a conventional Li-ion battery with a ceramic solid electrolyte and simultaneously replacing the graphite anode with a metallic lithium anode could enable safer Li-ion batteries that also last long on a single charge.

A liquid electrolyte-based Li-ion battery with a lithium anode (left) could be susceptible to battery fires. The solid-state Li-ion battery with a lithium anode is safe and charge faster with the lithium insoluble interlayer approach proposed by the researchers.

Researchers have developed an innovative interfacial engineering approach to enable fast charge-discharge rates in solid-state lithium metal batteries. They have found that nanoscopic refractory metal layers like Tungsten could improve the performance of these batteries which are crucial for purposes like electrical mobility, according to the Ministry of Science & Technology.

Conventional Li-ion batteries employ a graphite anode, a liquid electrolyte, and a transition metal cathode. However, the liquid electrolytes are flammable and degrade at high temperatures leading to poor battery life and in extreme cases lead to battery fires. Replacing the liquid electrolyte in a conventional Li-ion battery with a ceramic solid electrolyte and simultaneously replacing the graphite anode with a metallic lithium anode could enable safer Li-ion batteries that also last long on a single charge, the ministry said in a press release on Saturday.

However, a long-standing challenge with solid state batteries is the growth of lithium dendrites that short circuits the cells and this is accentuated during fast charging.

Based on extensive fundamental electrochemical measurements performed over several hundreds of solid-state half cells and subsequent nano-characterization, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) realized that dendrite growth was a manifestation of a deeper fundamental process: diffusive growth of lithium voids that are forming during discharge. The researchers identified that the growth of lithium voids during discharge leads to dendrite growth during charge.

The team consisting of Vikalp Raj, Victor Venturi, Varun R. Kankanallu, Bibhatsu Kuiri, Venkatasubramanian Viswanathan and Naga Phani B. Aetukuri found that at the edges of the microscopic voids, Li-ion currents are concentrated. The currents at these edges are around 10,000 times larger than average currents in the cell. Hence it is necessary to impede void growth to prevent dendrite growth.

Experimenting with an ultrathin layer of refractory metals between the lithium anode and the solid electrolyte, the researchers noted that tungsten is an ideal candidate to impede lithium vacancy motion due to its low solubility for lithium and therefore delay void growth. They collaborated with researchers from Carnegie Mellon University to corroborate their work through computational methods.

Facilities created under the Materials for Energy Conservation and Storage Platform (DST-MECSP) program, Technology Mission Division (Energy, Water and Others), Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the DST-IISc Energy Storage Platform on Supercapacitors and Power Dense Devices has been pivotal in taking the work forward. The work is published in Nature Materials.

The researchers acknowledged the support from to Dr Ranjith Krishna Pai, Scientist ‘E’ (TMD-EWO), DST and (Late) Dr Sanjay Bajpai, Former Head (TMD-EWO), DST for conceptualizing this program which brought several essential facilities for energy research under a single roof and Dr Anita Gupta, Head (TMD-EWO), DST, for extending it.

The team now intends to build on this advance to develop full solid-state cells that could enable charging in less than an hour, offer up to 1000 or more cycles while withstanding high temperatures of 45 ºC or higher outcompeting conventional Li-ion cells at a cost that is at par or lower than the cost of conventional Li-ion cells.

19.2. IGSS Ventures to invest over Rs 25,000-crore in Tamil Nadu chip project

Financial Express, 2 Jul. 2022, Anish Mondal

IGSS Ventures, the Singapore-based technology investment holding company that enables development and commercialising of hybrid semiconductor technologies, on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tamil Nadu government to set up a semiconductor high-tech park in the state. The company will be investing Rs 25,600 crore in the project in the next five years, generating direct employment for 1,500 people.

The MoU with IGSS Ventures comes close on the heals of Tamil Nadu government’s efforts to bring in Foxconn into semiconductor manufacturing space. Officials from Guidance, the nodal agency for attracting foreign investments into the state, recently held meeting with Young Liu, chairman, Foxconn in Delhi to discuss the company’s expansion plans in electronic segment in Tamil Nadu and its entry into emerging sectors such as EV and semiconductors.

According to the MoU, IGSS Ventures will also provide indirect employment to 25,000 persons through various projects such as circuit designers, vendors selling manufactured products, vendors selling secondary products and outsourcing and testing semiconductors, which will be present inside the proposed park.

The group is planning to set up the hi-tech park and a semiconductor fab unit in a land spread across 300 acres. The unit is expected to come up at Vallam Vadagal in neighbouring Sriperumbudur district.

IGSS Ventures is a group of companies involved in semiconductors and its sister concerns Innovative Global Solutions and Services, IGSS GaN, Compundtech are involved in semiconductor research and in establishing semiconductor fabs.

The Tamil Nadu government, had in 2020, released an electronics hardware manufacturing policy aimed at increasing the state’s electronics industry output to $100 billion by 2025. The policy objective was also to enable the state to contribute 25% of India’s total electronic exports to the world by 2025. It was also targeted at attracting at least two major fab investments to Tamil Nadu in the next three years.

20.1. IT Has to Fix the Talent Problem

The Economic Times, 4 Jul. 2022

Synopsis

How Indian IT companies are managing staffing volatility as recession looms in major markets.

Many in the HR departments of India’s IT companies might recall a toy from their childhood. It was a palm-sized wooden or plastic plate with a circular maze grooved into it. The challenge was to manoeuvre half-a-dozen tiny steel balls through the maze to the circle at the centre by deftly tilting the plate. The IT industry’s experience with staffing during the past two years is reminiscent of the ball-in-a-maze challenge.

In March 2020, as the pandemic was just taking hold, Indian IT companies braced for demand to plummet. Salaries and promotions were frozen. Almost every firm saw headcount shrink. Barely six months later, they did a U-turn. As demand soared, IT companies began hiring everyone they could.

The sharp swings in talent management in the Indian IT sector mask an increasingly complicated issue: the industry is in the grips of two seemingly contradictory talent problems?

Indian IT is facing a tremendous shortage of talent that is going to continue?

There is an overabundance of fresh engineers who lack skills and, as a result, have not seen a substantial pay hike in over a decade. In fact, factoring in inflation, several freshers have seen their worth shrink.

These problems are as old as the industry, but they are now getting worse. IT companies have always adjusted to technology shifts, but now the pace of change has accelerated. Clients want to shift to the cloud, pay only for what they actually use, secure their data that is now stored all over the world, and run small experiments (that could become big deals in the future) — all of this while saving money used to run their core IT systems.

IT companies have a long experience of hiring freshers and bringing them up to scratch. But this doesn’t come cheap. With clients wanting all kinds of cost reductions, the old way of training freshers has become too expensive. The companies had hoped to automate a great deal of the work previously given to freshers and had slowed fresher hiring from 2017 to 2020. This worsened the talent shortage during the pandemic.

The IT industry sets the benchmarks for talent management in the country. When margins and growth were high, the sector could maintain benches of undeployed employees to cope with potential demand. But as margins came under pressure, the industry had to move to just-in-time hiring as much as possible. Now, as the industry faces the prospect of a slowdown in its major markets, just as it had hired hundreds of thousands of new employees, companies are looking at new ways to manage their talent.

“The old ways of hiring worked when we were a fast-growing industry. Now we have matured, growth has moderated and we all have capital-return promises to fulfil. We don’t even have the privilege of promising onsite opportunities to thousands of employees,” says a senior executive with a large IT services company. “The industry has grown up and changed. Talent management will change, too.”

A new deal for IT workers is taking shape — from building offices in smaller cities to keep costs and attrition in check, to redesigning engineering-college curricula to fix the fresher problem.

THREE PILLARS

In their yearly strategy sessions, IT companies look at three parameters to determine hiring. The first is demand — how much work will likely come their way. The second is attrition — how much do they have to hire to replace employees who have left. The industry calls this “backfilling”. The third is margins — employees are the main asset for IT companies and also most of the cost. Hiring more freshers, who are paid less than `4 lakh a year, and less senior talent helps lower costs. IT companies call this “pyramid management”.

During the pandemic, IT companies had to hire both for demand and backfill (most IT companies now have attrition rates at over 20%). They gave thousands of promotions, bulking the middle of the pyramid, and hired tens of thousands of freshers to widen the base. Needless to say, this was extremely expensive, and margins dropped across the sector.

Now IT companies are facing the prospect of a recession. Industry giant Accenture has forecasted weakerthan-expected revenue for the current quarter, and analysts are predicting slower growth and lower profitability ahead.

“It will be hard to pass on the additional costs they have incurred through the large wage increases they recently granted. This will likely impact the margins of the firms,” says Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of IT consultancy Everest Research.

To defend the already weak margins (even though the rupee is at an alltime low), IT companies are going to end some pay-related excesses from the pandemic days.

“The hikes have been very high in the last two years. Variable pay has been 100%. Even performance appraisals have been easier because we did not want to forcibly let go of too much talent. That is going to change,” says an executive with an Indian IT company counted among the top five. HR heads at IT companies have already talked about looking at “pyramid management” as a way to support margins. That essentially means replacing expensive mid-to-senior talent with cheaper junior talent, which IT companies now have in large amounts. Apart from these quick, short-term levers, IT companies are looking at slower-to-impact but longer-term changes to fix their talent problems.

SMALL CITIES, SUBCONTRACTORS

For years, IT companies had been talking about moving to smaller cities. Now, the shift is accelerating. Cognizant used to have Coimbatore mostly to itself, but now vies for talent with Accenture and IBM. Infosys has said it is also opening offices there, apart from Vizag, Kolkata and Noida. “These new centres being established in tier-II and tier-III locations may not grow to tens of thousands of employees, but have the potential to grow to thousands. Because attrition in some of these locations is quite low, it helps companies retain talent and manage margins better, as they do not need to frequently backfill employee churn , ” says Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, partner at tech advisory firm, Catalincs. Ramamoorthy was a long-time executive at Cognizant and held the position of India chairman before he retired.

IT companies are also looking to hire “gig workers” to manage some of the drastic movement in demand. “For some reason, ‘subcontracting’ is seen as a bad word. There are 25-26 million people in the industry, of which, 7-8 million are subcontractors, part-timers as well as gig and contingent workers. Dipping into this talent pool gives companies enormous flexibility,” says Ramamoorthy, who believes that more part-time and gig workers will find place in companies’ talent strategies.

FRESHER TRAINING

While fresher salaries haven’t increased in well over a decade and are not going to change a great deal anytime soon, making freshers more productive is something the industry has given serious thought to. Tata Consultancy Services created a curriculum for engineering students, which was approved by the AICTE and piloted in three colleges in 2018. The curriculum, called TCS— Computer Science and Business Studies, is a four-year programme, so the first batch will graduate in July. The programme has since been expanded, with about 7,500 students pursuing this course in 63 institutes.

Some companies have gone further. HCL Technologies has an early career programme called TechBee for people looking for jobs after Class 12. They undergo a 12-month training for entrylevel jobs. After completing the training, the starting salaries range from `1.7 lakh to `2.2 lakh. HCL Tech says more than 5,000 students have participated in the programme since it was launched.

“Many companies are getting freshers trained in colleges themselves. I know of several companies that train final-year students, for example, on the Salesforce Trailhead learning platform. These students join companies at a much higher salary. You are going to see similar changes starting from campuses themselves,” says Ramamoorthy.

20.2. Indian home chefs go global

Mint, 2 Jul. 2022, Avantika Bhuyan

Self-taught cooks from the diaspora are running supper clubs and pop-ups, appearing on food reality shows and writing cookbooks to clear myths about Indian cuisine being spicy, greasy ‘curry’

In 2020, a dish called “Pasta not Pasta” was showcased on MasterChef Australia. It was chef Helly Raichura’s playful take on the Gujarati staple khandvi, and the contestants had to recreate it at her exclusive supper club, Enter Via Laundry, in Melbourne.

While global audiences may have heard of the Indian-origin chef for the first time, her supper club has been quite the institution in Melbourne since its launch in 2018. With a mere 20 covers, Enter Via Laundry has a waiting list of 9,000 people. “They all bring a plus-one, so that means 18,000 people,” says 36-year-old Raichura, a former human resources professional who grew up in Ahmedabad and moved to Australia in 2007.

Across the world, self-taught cooks of Indian origin such as Raichura are running supper clubs, pop-ups, organising food fests, writing books, appearing on food reality shows and taking Indian regional food beyond the communities to which they were earlier confined. By bringing home-style food to the table, they are celebrating dishes that carry a whiff of their ancestral towns and cities—changing perceptions of Indian food as a homogenous entity comprising greasy, heat-laden dishes served with condiments.

Home cooks and chefs abroad are creating a more nuanced understanding of Indian cuisine, building on the foundation put in place by trained chefs such as the late Floyd Cardoz, Sriram Aylur, Vineet Bhatia, Atul Kochhar, Vikas Khanna, Sameer Taneja, Chintan Pandya and Manish Mehrotra. Since the 1990s, such chefs have worked relentlessly to change perceptions, bringing Indian dishes into the realm of haute cuisine with their beautifully plated, layered and complex dishes. Their food is served in critically acclaimed restaurants in the US and UK, such as Junoon, Benares and Kanishka.

Today, home cooks, both in India and abroad, are making everyday regional cooking more accessible to all, irrespective of nationality, and using every medium from videos to social media to do it. “People in the UK now broadly know the difference between northern, southern and Gujarati food. They are watching Indian food programmes, recipes on TikTok and YouTube, reading recipes in online blogs and cookbooks, and cooking more Indian food from scratch,” says Sejal Sukhadwala, a London-based food writer and author of The Philosophy Of Curry. “It’s a chicken-and-egg situation: You could say that the shift has come from people becoming more knowledgeable, or because Indian home cooks are putting out more information that has led to more response.”

Indian food has never been more popular. According to the Australian Chef’s Pencil magazine, Indian food has emerged as the second most popular international cuisine on Instagram in the last 12 months. It has the fastest growth rate in hashtags, 41%, among global cuisines, and is inching towards overtaking Italian food. 2021-22 has seen more than 3.3 million hashtags, such as biryani and panipuri.

Social media has played a huge role in giving Indian-origin voices a global platform. Sydney-based home chef Bhavna Kalra, 43, says Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have made it possible to go beyond butter chicken and roganjosh, and talk about dishes like dal pakwan and Sindhi kadhi. “Social media has its perils but it has changed a lot for Indian food. Fifteen years ago, most Indian restaurants abroad followed the same template. Now there is so much diversity in the conversation around the cuisine,” says Kalra, who moved to Australia 12 years ago. Today, she curates cooking experiences as the founder of The Modern Desi Co, an offshoot of her very successful food blog, Just A Girl From Aamchi Mumbai.

Trained chefs and home cooks have different audiences and unique spaces, explains Chetna Makan, 44, a Kent-based author and UK-based Guild of Food Writers’ Recipe Writer of the Year for 2022. “If I want a memorable meal, I will head to their restaurants (of chefs like Bhatia). However, if I want to cook at home, I might not look for recipes from fine-dining Indian restaurants,” she says. That’s where the food bloggers, recipe writers and social media cooks find their following.

On Facebook or Instagram, you get a glimpse of the person’s lifestyle, cooking values and influences. There is a human connection. “A lot of women home cooks are coming to the fore. That is important as women are taking power back in a male-dominated industry. They test recipes and can work around childcare. They do supper clubs and pop-ups, especially if the budget is tight, they don’t have the capital to open a restaurant, or simply if they want to showcase the cuisine of the region their family is from,” says Sukhadwala. And social media as well as technology have made it easier to cater to orders from a larger number of customers.

These home cooks are also tapping the trend of making things from scratch—for Indians, an age-old practice. “A lot of this change has to do with the pandemic. Brick-and-mortar restaurants no longer represent a level of security. If you don’t want to take that level of risk and yet wish to dip your feet in the industry waters, you can start with pop-ups and supper clubs,” Sukhadwala adds. The past few years have also seen people leaving the daily grind to follow passion projects in food.

Sukhadwala cites Asma Khan as the biggest example. Khan did not know how to cook until she moved to Cambridge in 1991 and longed for the food she had grown up eating. While she pursued a PhD in British constitutional law at King’s College London, she started borrowing recipes from her aunt, mother and family cook. Soon after, Khan began hosting supper clubs at home. As the popularity of her food soared, she had to move the supper clubs out of her home, to a pub in Soho called Sun and 13 Cantons.

There has been no looking back. Khan has authored books, started a restaurant, Darjeeling Express, in 2017 and is the first British-Indian chef to be profiled on the Netflix series Chef’s Table. The Darjeeling Express will close on 4 July and hopes to reopen elsewhere. Khan’s journey has served as an inspiration for thousands of self-taught cooks across the world. “There are now more opportunities for supper club hosts in the UK. Some venues in London don’t have permanent chefs. They collaborate with supper club hosts, giving out residencies, spanning a night to six months. The possibilities have increased. Khan herself made it a point to invite women home cooks to host supper club days at the Darjeeling Express,” says Sukhadwala.

Priya Deshingkar, professor of migration and development at the University of Sussex, UK, runs the popular Maharani supper club in Brighton. Though she was born in London, her parents shifted to Delhi when she was two. When she got married, she moved to Hyderabad. “When I finally returned to the UK in 2009, I started the supper club. I was passionate about food and wanted to share that with people,” says Deshingkar, who prefers not to disclose her age. The supper club, now in its ninth year, has become popular with guests not just from Brighton but from London as well.

Some of her popular dishes include an old Delhi-style biryani, burrah lamb chops and chaat items such as dahi bhalle. “I don’t cut corners. Even the chutneys are made from scratch,” says Deshingkar, whose family is from Maharashtra. Her deep understanding of cuisines from Maharashtra, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh is reflected in her menus.

Deshingkar charges £40 (around ₹4,000) for a three-course meal, which includes a starter, a main course with a number of dishes, dessert, and ends with a Delhi-style chai. It is as much a social event—filled with conversations—as a food one. “Sometimes members of the Indian diaspora are even more conservative than those in India. Then there are the others, who want to integrate and blend in, so they abandon their Indian identity,” explains Deshingkar. Amazed that some third- and fourth-generation Indians have no knowledge of Indian food, she says her supper clubs and pop-ups are as much for the “white British public” as for the members of the Indian diaspora.

Young chefs in India, who have championed Indian food at home, have also played a role. Earlier, culinary school students in India aspired to cook European food. “But when the chefs of many leading restaurants in India, ranging from Masque and The Bombay Canteen to Indian Accent, started championing Indian produce, we got a chance to appreciate the vastness of our cuisine through their food and stories,” explains Sonal Ved, Mumbai-based author of Tiffin: 500 Authentic Recipes Celebrating India’s Regional Cuisine and Whose Samosa Is It Anyway?. As Indians, she believes, we can choose what we want to portray about our cuisine to the world. “Do we want to harp on our long history? Do we want to talk about modern usage of age-old ingredients? It’s going to be a group effort to write this definition,” she adds.

In turn, when home cooks from the Indian diaspora see regional diversity being feted, they feel a greater urge to move beyond “curry”. Makan says she was shocked when she moved from India to the UK in 2003 and saw what was being sold as “Indian food”. “The curry-house idea of food is not how we eat at home,” says the former fashion-industry professional. Through her books, Chetna’s 30 Minute Indian, Chetna’s Healthy Indian Vegetarian and Chai, Chaat And Chutney: A Street Food Journey Through India, she has tried to correct some of these notions.

Makan worked in a clothing retail business in Kent when she first moved to the UK. She didn’t like it. When she took maternity leave, Makan knew she would not go back. She and her friends used to watch The Great British Bake Off. “I used to bake regularly, so my friends urged me to apply. Even when I got the call, I didn’t think I would end up making a career out of food,” she says. After she reached the semi-finals of the show in 2014, she thought about writing a book. “At that time, there was no book that combined Western bakes with Indian flavours. The Cardamom Trail was unique in that sense and the book did really well,” says Makan.

Then came the book on chaats, an attempt to show people that Indian street food was not just samosa. For those who thought Indian food was unhealthy, she came up with healthy vegetarian recipes. “Today, with social media, my audience has expanded. I have more followers from the US. Surprisingly, I have a lot of followers from back home in India as well. I don’t need to tell them how to make aloo gobhi. But I have had touching responses like: My mom used to make it like this. She passed away and I have been cooking her recipes and missing her,” she says.

The interest in Indian food is definitely growing, says Kalra. When she moved from Mumbai to Australia 12 years ago, the only Indian food available was a version of the British curries. “Now, a home cook does some amazing Bengali food, especially desserts. I am seeing some Malwani cooking; lots of people are doing pickles. There is a small ecosystem here now,” she adds.

Kalra holds a full-time job as a project manager at an IT firm, and conducts cooking classes on weekends. “A lot of participants have never cooked Indian food from scratch. They don’t know the concept of bhoono, which is so integral to Indian cuisine. So, I have to make things simpler.” She describes it as an experience for six-eight people, where she talks about the history of a dish and places ingredients in the context of migration and identity.

“I make something as simple as a chhole. It comes to them (non-Indians) as a surprise that chickpeas can be freshly boiled instead of being eaten out of a tin,” says Kalra. Her style veers towards convenience and comfort. She wants to clear the misconception that all Indian dishes require 20-plus ingredients.

Krishnendu Ray, professor at New York University, who focuses on food studies, immigration, ethnicity and cultural sociology, finds it heartening that the one-dimensional association of curries and heat is crumbling. Western norms about “good food”, derived from French and Italian methods and standards, are changing. “(There is a) move away from dominant Western notions that ingredients should taste of themselves. South Asian, Swahili, Chinese and South-East Asian dishes often reveal the importance of aromatic intensity and layering that are incompatible with outdated presumptions—for instance, that the green bean ought to taste only like a green bean and not like coconut, curry leaf and mustard seed to be counted in the temple of culinary culture,” he says.

REALITY TV CHEFS

Indian cooks, or those of Indian origin, making it to the last few rounds or winning food reality shows are adding to the global appeal of Indian food among non-Indians. The most popular examples are Makan at The Great British Bake Off and Justin Narayan and Sashi Cheliah winning MasterChef Australia. Their success has prompted people from other nationalities to understand Indian cooking. All of them make it a point to highlight their origins or heritage. Cheliah often celebrated his Tamil origins on the show. “I hail from Madurai and the dishes I create represent both my roots and the current place that I live in,” says Cheliah, who is currently touring four Indian cities for the World on a Plate pop-up at The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts.

MasterChef Australia, now in its 14th season, is the show largely credited with “the increasing global visibility of Indian-ish cuisine”, explains Ray. In the current season, being streamed on Disney+ Hotstar and featuring a mix of new and returning contestants, restaurateur-chef Sarah Todd made bhelpuri—and the judges couldn’t stop raving about its complexity. To an Indian, it is a surprise to see a simple street food snack being celebrated, but to audiences around the world, bhelpuri was a revelation.

Todd first appeared on MasterChef in 2014, after a successful stint as a model and training at Le Cordon Bleu London. Since then, she has opened restaurants in Goa and Mumbai and splits her time between India and Australia. Today, when she talks about xacuti and falooda, audiences listen, take notes, scout for recipes on the internet and try to replicate the dishes at home. Todd says it is exciting to have the opportunity to share the complexity of Indian food on a global platform.

When she first appeared on MasterChef Australia, she had dreamt of opening a modern Indian restaurant. “Thankfully, I didn’t go ahead with that. I travelled around India for eight years and soaked up the nuances of regional Indian food. Today, I am taking Indian flavours to whichever country I go to. I combine those with local influences to make the dish more recognisable to the palate of the people in that country,” says Todd, who will host Indian pop-ups in Australia later this year as well as a food and travel show on Assam.

Be it the UK, US or Australia, there are subtle differences in the way home cooks explore regional dishes. The UK is a more evolved market, with greater opportunities for pop-ups and supper clubs. In Australia, the emphasis is on demystifying Indian cooking by sharing recipes and techniques. In the US, the focus remains convenience. Quick, non-fuss recipes, which don’t require many gadgets or an elaborate shopping list, are the norm. That’s what makes home cooks like Meeta Arora of Piping Pot Curry so popular. Through her website and social media, she showcases simple home-cooked food using gadgets such as the instant pot and air fryer.

Arora, 41, grew up in Mumbai and moved to the US in 2006 for work. She pursued a master’s in management science and engineering at Stanford University from 2010-12 and was working as a product specialist at a software firm in California when she decided to start a food blog, five years ago, to dispel misconceptions about Indian food. “One of the triggers was when a colleague said, ‘I can’t have Indian food every day, it’s so creamy and has so many calories,’” she says. “People lead such busy lives, they need easy recipes.”

Arora does live sessions on social media and plans to host in-person meet-ups soon. People are particularly interested in vegan and vegetarian recipes, and Indian food has variety in this context. “What helps is that there are a lot more grocery stores carrying specialised Indian ingredients as well.”

A SENSE OF NOSTALGIA

Deepa Paticheri, a Puducherry-based culinary anthropologist, has been observing this global rise of the Indian home chef closely. She feels it’s natural for people to want and recreate flavours from back home to relive the nostalgia of their mum’s food. “Nostalgia is driving food both in India as well as abroad. People in India talk about their grandmother’s recipes. Abroad, third-fourth generation people want to recover the traditions of a world that is lost. The impetus and context are different,” she says. “There is a lot of chronicling and documentation happening. It starts with my home, my recipe. But the individual is just one part of the concentric circles and the conversation then moves on to my region, my state,” she says.

Whether it is pop-ups or YouTube videos, one is seeing a playful streak emerge. There is no pretension and definitely no fusion. The new approach is to recreate Indian flavours using local produce from the region the chef lives in.

At Enter Via Laundry in Melbourne, the menu is dependent on seasonal produce, much like it is in India. “I try to use natives like finger lime and blood lime. Back in Bengal, a jhol is made with eggplant, but in our kitchen we make it with beautiful black oyster mushrooms. Instead of hilsa, I use murray cod, which is a beautiful fatty river fish. Local crustacean, marron, replaces the king prawns in malai curry,” Raichura explains.

The supper club has acquired a new form at a permanent restaurant space in Carlton. It will continue to highlight inspiring regional food, stories and company on a shared table in an intimate environment.

When Raichura moved to Melbourne, she would make fancy food like pastries and dumplings. Soon, though, she started delving into the treasure chest of regional Indian food. “When I got here, I changed the way I spoke and dressed to fit in. But I think I have rebellious streak within me. I was missing home so much and decided to embrace the Indianness in me. Even at the restaurant now, I wear salwar-kameez,” she says.

The major influence at her supper club is migration, which has lent a global touch to the cuisine. The kitchen is run by three chefs and the menu changes every week. “I think being self-taught has an advantage. You have the old sense of hospitality that was prevalent in Indian homes. Some of the best foods back home were cooked on special occasions. I want to keep that sense alive,” says Raichura, who is focusing on Bengali food for the moment and will then move on to Kashmiri cuisine.

Sukhadwala cites the example of the London-based Jikoni, run by Ravinder Bhogal, which doesn’t pretend to be traditional Indian. “It is influenced by her travels, of hailing from a Punjabi Sikh family and being brought up in Kenya,” says Sukhadwala. Bhogal too is a self-taught cook. Originally from the beauty industry, she took part in a TV competition, The F Word, judged by celebrated chef Gordon Ramsay, in 2007.

The universe of Indian food looks eclectic and vibrant. Home cooks from the diaspora are picking up specific threads—street food, Ayurveda-based recipes, spice-led bakes, vegan dishes—to lend Indian voices to international trends. In the coming years, one hopes to see the conversations becoming more specialised; say, a cooking app on fermented foods from a specific region, a video series on plant-based menus or a pop-up on zero-waste cooking of Indian food. Someday, it would be great to hear the differences between steamed cooking en papillote and in a paturi being debated upon in a corner of Australia. The future may well have a nuanced Indian touch.

India and the World

21. Metro rail projects to offer ₹80,000 cr ($10,6 bn) opportunity for construction cos: Icra

IBEF, June 22, 2022

According to a research report by ICRA, metro rail projects are expected to generate Rs. 800 billion (US$ 10.26 billion) of opportunities for construction companies over the next five years.

In India, 15 cities have operating metro networks with a total length of 746 km (several of which are undergoing network extension), while another seven cities have metro projects with a total length of 640 km. Apart from that, 1,400 km of metro rail projects with a total value of US$ 2 trillion are in the approval/proposal stage.

Due to the limited number of companies in the sector, the competition intensity has remained moderate, with no signs of aggressive bidding as seen in other infrastructure segments such as roads and railways.

“Given the Government’s thrust for infrastructure development, the metro rail network is likely to witness 2.7 times expansion in the next five years, said” Mr. Abhishek Gupta, sector head & assistant vice president, corporate ratings, ICRA.

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

22. Foxconn chairman Liu meets PM Modi; looks at semiconductor manufacturing with Vedanta

ToI, 23 Jun. 32022, Pankaj Doval

NEW DELHI: Global electronics contract manufacturing major Foxconn’s top officials met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Taiwanese company outlined plans to expand its India operations, looking to enter the semiconductor business with Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta group.

Modi met Foxconn chairman Young Liu and said he welcomed the company's plans for expanding its electronics manufacturing capacity in the country.

"Glad to meet Young Liu, Chairman, Foxconn. I welcome their plans for expanding electronics manufacturing capacity in India, including in semiconductors," the PM said in a tweet.

"Our push for EV manufacturing is in line with our commitment of Net Zero Emission," Modi said.

Liu also met Vedanta Group's global managing director of display & semiconductor business Akarsh Hebbar to discuss the roadmap of their proposed electronic chip manufacturing plant and its location.

Vedanta and Foxconn had signed a memorandum of understanding in February to form a joint venture company for India. Vedanta will hold 60% equity in the JV, while Foxconn will own the rest.

"Foxconn chairman Young Liu met Akarsh Hebbar… in New Delhi to discuss the next steps for their proposed partnership to manufacture semiconductor chips in India," Vedanta said in a statement.

According to sources, both discussed the location of setting up their semiconductor plant, which will be announced soon.

This is the first joint venture in the electronics manufacturing space after the government announced an incentive scheme for semiconductors and display manufacturing.

Vedanta is planning to invest around $15 billion in a phase-wise manner over the next 5-10 years to build displays and semiconductor chips in India.

The JV will look at setting up a semiconductor manufacturing plant in the next two years.

Liu also met Telangana IT and industries minister KT Rama Rao where they discussed Foxconn's plans of expanding its footprint in India.

Rao invited Foxconn to explore investment opportunities in the state.

23. Indonesia stands for comprehensive partnership with India: INDEF, Jakarta

IBEF, Jun. 24, 2022

On June 20, 2022, the Centre for Global Affairs and Public Policy hosted a round table discussion on G-20, the Indo-Pacific, and the Regional Economic Order: Collaborative Synergies between India and Indonesia at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. A panel of policy experts from India and Indonesia addressed two sessions at the event. Executive Director – INDEF, Jakarta, Dr. Tauhid Ahmad stated during a session titled Exploring Synergies in the G-20 that data protection in Indonesia is a major issue that requires the government to develop a cohesive policy to address. He also stated that Indonesia supports an all-encompassing partnership with India.

The Roundtable discussed the profound changes that have occurred in regional architecture as a result of the emergence of new constructs such as the IPEF; its engagement with G20 priorities; and the critical role that India and Indonesia can play in contributing to the IPEF and G20 agendas. Panelists agreed that IPEF is a vision of the future that will improve regional and global trade, open partnership, and scaling on larger platforms, emphasising the importance of stakeholder collaboration. They also stated that IPEF is an example of the growing number of flexible global engagement arrangements that countries are pursuing, such as FTAs focused on specific goods and services and loose regional groupings with open membership rules.

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

24.1. US becomes India's largest trade partner, is India-China trade decoupling?

The Economic Times, 24 Jun. 2022

India's major exports to the US include polished diamonds, pharmaceutical products, jewellery, light oil and petroleum, frozen shrimp, cosmetics and more. India's imports from the United States are mainly oil, liquefied natural gas, gold, coal, recycled products and scrap iron, large almonds, etc.

India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry latest data shows that the US has become India's largest trading partner, exceeding China with bilateral trade reaching USD 119.42 billion.

From the breakdown data, India's trade exports to the US increased from about USD 51.62 billion in the previous fiscal year to USD 76.11 billion, while imports increased from about USD 29 billion to about USD 43.31 billion.

The data also shows that the bilateral trade volume between India and China in the 2021-2022 fiscal year is about USD 115.42 billion, an increase of about 1/3 from the USD 86.4 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Among them, India's exports to China are about USD 21.25 billion, and its imports to China are about USD 94.16 billion. It is reported that the trade volume of imported goods from China is increasing, and the top 100 imported items each have an import value of more than USD 100 million. Indian experts believe that India's dependence on China for imports of manufactured goods shows no sign of easing.

The statistical data of China and India are different, which leads to differences in the trade volume figures announced by each of them.

Chinese data shows that China is India's largest trading partner from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018 and 2020-2021. In addition to China, the US and the UAE were once India's largest trading partners.

China has not always been India's largest trading partner, and this is not the first time that the US has become India's largest trading partner. For a long time, China and India have maintained a relatively large trade deficit, while India has maintained a trade surplus with the US. Therefore, India has always regarded the US as an important export market.

In the light of the above facts, it is pertinent to examine what really happened to the US-India trade? Will Chinese products decrease in India? Will China-India trade and economy weaken?

India imports items ranging from small screws to large TVs, refrigerators and mobile phones are mostly Chinese products. These Chinese products are of high quality and low price and are almost unmatched by other countries. They are very popular among Indian consumers, and even the utensils for Indians to worship gods and various decorative flowers, bags, shoes and hats, etc. come from China.

China is often used by the Indian media to illustrate the way Chinese goods "invade" India. In particular, mobile phones and consumer electronics are the most obvious because of their cost-effectiveness and affordability.

Whereas, most of the US exports to India are energy products and agricultural products, China's exports to India are mostly manufacturing products, giving the impression that Chinese products are occupying the Indian market.

But, in more invisible situations, such as in emerging information fields, the US dominates. Such as e-commerce Amazon, search engine Google, social media Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, etc.

The continuous strengthening of US-India trade relations is due to both the epidemic and India's attempt to "decouple" from China. However, the security factor occupies a critical position, that is, with the help of the "China fear" mentality at home and abroad, India has accelerated the substitution of Chinese industries.

India wants to leave China aside, attract capital from the US and other countries, undertake high-tech enterprises, and deeply participate in the global supply chain to promote the great development of India's domestic manufacturing industry. However, at present, the fundamentals of China-India economic and trade cooperation have not changed.

24.2. Alternative to SWIFT: NPCI plans to take the UPI system to 32 million NRIs

IBEF, Jul. 7, 2022

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the company that built India’s digital payments backbone, plans to make it less expensive and simpler for the 32 million Indians who live abroad to send money back home.

Indians living overseas remitted US$ 87 billion in 2021, the biggest inflow for any country tracked by the World Bank. According to Mr. Ritesh Shukla, CEO, NPCI International Payments Ltd., the remittances market, where it costs US$ 13 on an average to send US$ 200 across borders, is ripe for disruption.

Successful overseas forays by NPCI would give India a home-grown alternative to SWIFT, the Belgium-based cross-border payment system operator.

About 330 banks and 25 apps including Alphabet Inc.’s Google Pay and Meta Platform Inc.’s WhatsApp, share NPCI’s unified payment interface, which has helped make instantaneous digital transactions a US$ 3 trillion market in India.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) established NPCI in order to facilitate quicker, easier, and more affordable retail payments. In order to rapidly transact with vendors and send money between friends or family, a user only requires a virtual payment address.

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

25.1. An opportunity for forging partnerships in cutting-edge technologies and green energy

ET Gov. 27 Jun. 2022

PM Narendra Modi receives warm welcome by Indian diaspora on landing in Munich, Germany to participate as a special invitee at the G-7 Summit from June 26-27 on Sunday.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi flies to the German Alpine resort of Schloss Elmau as a special invitee to the G-7 Summit meeting from June 26 to 27 along with other leaders of the global South such as Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa, he will be aware of the opportunities for forging closer partnerships to gain investment, technologies and additional climate financing.

India will bring a fresh perspective on the narrative of the global north on climate change, carbon pricing, pandemic prevention, issues related to Intellectual Property, global food security and public stock holdings. As an active participant in many other divergent, plurilateral groupings like the Quad, I2U2, and BRICS, the Summit will further establish the indispensability of India in any noticeable North, South, or North-South platforms when it comes to searching for solutions and their implementation.

The priorities for the German G-7 Presidency are acceleration of global energy transition, economic stability and transformation, pandemic prevention and control, sustainable investments and infrastructure and promotion of shared values of democracy, and rule of law.

G-7 members comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the US currently represent close to 45 percent of the global GDP and more than 10% of the world's population. In addition to addressing economic issues, the G-7 has become a forum for consultation where common grounds are being found for major global challenges.

India had attended the Outreach Sessions of the G-7 Summit in 2003, continuously from 2005 to 2009, 2019, and in 2021. For its Presidency, Germany has adopted the motto of 'Progress towards an equitable world'. Germany would like to send a strong signal in support of international responsibility, steps that G-7 can take to strengthen multilateral cooperation and to develop specific responses to global challenges along with the five partner countries and nine invited international organisations -- ILO, IEA, IMF, OECD, WB, WHO, WTO and UN, besides the EU.

The G-7 has taken some important decisions with regard to global food security, supply chain resilience, digital and net zero transitions which will require substantial investments but also widespread support from countries like India, which not only has an interest but will also be an indispensable partner in the implementation of these initiatives. The main document expected to be endorsed during the summit by the G-7 and the partner countries is on "resilient democracies". There will be an inevitable overhang of the Russia-Ukraine issue, even as the G-7 and partner countries and organisations try to move forward on some challenging issues facing the world today.

Germany and the US are leading the G-7 proposal for consultations on Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) with India, Argentina, Vietnam, Senegal and Indonesia, on the lines of a partnership established with South Africa in 2021, which was focused on climate finance. India would like a tailor-made JETP to be more focused on technology aspects -- technology transfer and finance, information exchange as well as relevant investments covering proposals for 'Make in India'.

Some of these proposals could include re-skilling and training of mine workers; establishment of a green hydrogen hub in India; green energy corridors; sustainable and affordable bio-fuels; Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) and sequestration; offshore wind energy generation; energy storage; creating low carbon steel, cement and concrete; flexibilisation of thermal power plants; advanced solar thermal technologies; energy efficiency technologies in the entire value chain; and electric vehicles and transportation.

Discussions at the G-7 Summit will focus on climate, energy and health as well as on advancing food security and gender equality, with particular focus on Global Alliance for Food Security put forward by Germany. Prime Minister Modi will speak at both these sessions and is expected to highlight the contribution of India and its position as a major democracy and food supplier and a responsible member of the international community with remarkable climate action and transition plans towards net zero.

India needs to highlight a technology-focused, India-specific Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), and a development partnership with the G-7 in supply chain resilience and diversification, education and skill development, emerging technologies and digital transformation. The bilateral meetings of the prime minister with some leaders of the participating countries on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit is an opportunity in forging and strengthening existing partnerships in cutting-edge technologies, investments, climate resilience, digital economy, electric mobility, strengthening manufacturing, and helping in the rapid transformation of the Indian economy.

25.2. Heal in India: Govt to ease visa norms and boost medical infra in 17 cities to attract more foreign patients

ET Gov. 28 Jun. 2022

Through 'Heal In India', the government aims at positioning the country as a global hub for medical and wellness tourism, and a destination of choice for quality healthcare services.

The government has drawn up a plan to augment the medical infrastructures of 17 cities, which see an inflow of a lot of overseas patients for treatment and wellness therapies, in a bid to boost medical travel as part of its 'Heal in India' initiative.

Besides, the health ministry is working on easing medical visa norms and other requirements for patients and their companions from 44 countries identified based on the number of patients visiting India, and the quality and cost of medical treatment there, official sources told PTI.

These are predominantly African, Latin American countries and also members of the SAARC and Gulf Cooperation Council groupings, they said.

Through 'Heal In India', the government aims at positioning the country as a global hub for medical and wellness tourism, and a destination of choice for quality healthcare services.

The Union Health Ministry is collaborating with Tourism, Ayush, Civil Aviation ministries, hospitals and other stakeholders to build a roadmap to connect overseas patients with healthcare facilities in India to boost medical travel.

As part of executing the initiative, a nodal agency -- Medical Value Travel Council -- co-chaired by the health and tourism ministries has been formed to create an institutional framework for streamlined integration of all stakeholders, official sources said.

According to estimates, the medical tourism market which was valued at USD 6 billion in 2020 fiscal is expected to more than double and reach USD 13 billion by 2026.

Thirty-seven hospitals including 30 in the private sector across 17 cities in 12 states have been identified for promoting medical value travel, a source said.

The cities that will be targeted in phase one of the initiative are New Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Gurugram, Bangaluru, Amritsar, Kochi, Coimbatore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guntur, Alappuzha, Guwahati, Chennai, Chandigarh, Vellore and Hyderabad.

"Based on target countries, more language interpreters can be provided at airports and hospitals. One-stop centres may be set up at the identified airports for queries related to medical travel, transport, boarding and lodging among others," the official source said.

The health ministry, in collaboration with the National Health Authority, is also working on developing a portal as a one-stop shop for services provided by medical travel facilitators and hospitals with an interface for foreign patients.

The portal will display standardized package rates based on the classification of hospitals and different systems of medicines including modern and traditional systems.

It will also have a grievance redressal section as well as an option to submit patient feedback and testimonials.

There will also be a mechanism to track patient journey by creating a unique health ID under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission framework and monitor service delivery in identified health facilities in India, the source explained.

Elaborating on India's potential and advantages as a healthcare industry, the official source said Indian medical practitioners have high-quality medical training and are fluent in English.

"Also the cost of treatment in India is two to three times lesser than in most countries. Medical treatment in India is 65 to 80 per cent cheaper than in the USA. Also, India offers Ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy," the source explained.

Bangladesh, Iraq, Maldives, Afghanistan, Oman, Yemen, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania account for about 88 per cent of the total international patients visiting India. Bangladesh alone accounts for 54 per cent of the total medical tourists.

Treatment for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and kidney ailments are most sought after by foreign patients in India.

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AAPI

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Tuesday 19 July 2022

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NEWSLETTER, 20-VII-2022

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

- Agriculture, Fishing and Rural Development

- Industry and Manufacture

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

India and the World