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KNOWLEDGE |
| HCL bags $200m deal from UK co |
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HCL Technologies has bagged a service contract worth $200 million from Equitable Life Assurance Society. The contract, which starts in March 2011, seeks to deliver cost benefits to Equitable Life's policyholders through the transfer of core processing and support activities required to run its closed book of business. HCL will be providing end-to end solutions including policy administration, finance, actuarial services, IT operational support and call centre services. Equitable Life expects to make cost savings of about |8 million in the first full year of the contract. HCL will receive £8 million by March 2011, as it begins work towards the implementation of the project.
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UBS unit buy is double bonanza for Cognizant
Cognizant Technology Solutions's acquisition of UBS' back office in India gives the IT vendor a double benefit, in the least.
It would help strengthen its Europe focus and gain expertise in servicing clients in the capital markets arena. UBS' India centre specialises in investment banking, asset management and wealth management, treasury management, equity research and analytics covering skill sets in BPO, KPO, IT services and remote infrastructure management services. Cognizant has increased the focus on Europe steadily in the last three years or so- 55% of its revenues come from Europe |
Ericsson inks training pact with 12 colleges |
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In a first of its kind initiative by the company, Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has signed a pact with 12 engineering colleges for providing a telecom certification programme. Ericsson experts would provide 40 hours of Web-based training, 30 hours of training and interactive seminars covering contemporary technology - 2G, 3G, IP, multimedia, and VAS fundamentals.
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The institutes are Amity School of Telecom, Noida; Institute of Technology & Management, Gurgaon; NIT Hamirpur; Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Rajasthan; LNMIIT, Jaipur; VIT and Cummins COE for Women, Pune; DA IICT, Ahmedabad; MS Ramaiah, Bangalore; VIT, Vellore; NIT, Durgapur/ Jadavpur University; and BEC, Shibpur. The programme aims to help bridge the gap in the availability of skilled telecom professionals in the country, deploy industry-ready talent pool, reduce resource deployment time and strengthen industry-institution link," according to Mr Gowton Achiabar, President, Ericsson India .
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Lancaster University in tie-up with G D Goenka |
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Lancaster University has tied up with the G D Goenka World Institute to set up a 68-acre campus in Gurgaon to offer six courses - three undergraduate and three postgraduate.Around 295 students have taken up their places at the GD Goenka World Institute University and will receive a Lancaster University degree on completion of the course. The undergraduate programmes are BA (Hons) Economics, BA (Hons) Business Economics and BBA (Hons) Business Studies of which the last one is most popular," said Lancaster University's vice-chancellor Professor Paul Wellings.This year, Lancasters Management School will deliver undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in India and a Global MBA from January 2010. The campus can accommodate 5,000 students and the MBA course will be a premium fee course.
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Scotland, India deal to improve higher education |
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The Universities of Scotland, which consists of 14 Scottish universities as well as six institutions which offer higher education in special works, and the Association of Indian Universities, which consists of 281 Indian universities, have entered into a MoU ensuring better collaboration in higher education. The deal will improve student and faculty exchange programmes. Indian students wishing to pursue higher education in Scotland will be awarded more scholarships. The MoU also provides for more internships, as well as better prospects for research and development. With a world-class educational system, Scotland is actively seeking to support India's goals of significantly growing its education sector, enhancing research and development capabilities and skilling its workforce to boost sustainable economic growth. According to the Scottish officials, around 13% of Indian students who go to the UK for higher studies are enrolled in Scottish universities.
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Tebodin Consultants sets up office in Chennai |
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Netherlands based Engineering consultancy major, Tebodin Consultants & engineers has set up an office in Chennai as part of expanding its operations in India. The company is focused on offering services in the field of project management, design & engineering, procurement and construction management under one roof. The Chennai office of Tebodin has 40 consultants and there are plans to have 400 in three to four years. It will focus on oil & gas and manufacturing companies. It will serve major Indian clients like ONGC, Reliance and Ford India. The JV is involved in the current $500 million expansion of Ford.
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INVESTMENT AND BUSINESS |
Michelin inks MoU with TN govt for tyre plant |
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French tyre giant Michelin and the Tamil Nadu government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) . Michelin will invest Rs 40 billion in setting up a truck and bus radial facility in Tamil Nadu. The proposed facility, spread over 290 acres, would be constructed at Thervoy Kandigai, near Chennai and will employ about 1,500 workers from local communities. "India holds tremendous potential for the Michelin Group in terms of establishing a world class manufacturing facility," Michelin President (Africa-India-Middle East) Prashant Prabhu said.
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Burberry in Indian foray |
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Burberry, a 153-year-old British luxury brand, is setting up a joint venture with Indian fashion retailer Genesis Colors for a renewed focus in the Indian market, and hopes to receive the government clearance by the end of this week. Burberry runs its two stores in India through a franchisee arrangement with Media Star Pvt Ltd. It will terminate the franchisee deal once the joint venture gets government approval.
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Burberry will invest £2.1 million for a 51 per cent stake in the venture that has targeted a net turnover of £33 million by 2018-19, across 21 stores in the country. Burberry plans to sell formals and casuals for both men and women, sportswear, swimwear, lingerie, childrenswear, raincoats, hosieries and accessories such as bags, jewellery, sunglasses, watches and cosmetics. In India, Burberry hopes to repeat its success in China where its already operating 44 stores and enjoying double-digit growth in revenues.
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Essar may seal refinery deal with Shell in a month |
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Ruias-promoted Essar Oil is likely to seal the deal with Royal Dutch Shell to buy its three refineries - two in Gemany and one in the UK. Both the companies have reached consensus on several issues regarding the deal and supply and product offtake agreements have been signed.
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The German refineries have an aggregate capacity of around 200,000 barrels a day while the UK refinery's capacity is 272,000 barrels. Shell has said it plans to sell around 15% of its global refining capacity, or around 6,00,000 barrels a day, as part of a restructuring exercise. Tight margins and falling fuel demand have prompted many big oil companies to offload European and US refineries.
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Severfield-Rowen announces Indian venture |
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Thirsk-based structural steel maker Severfield-Rowen has signed its second joint venture in India. Severfield-Rowen announced that an agreement had been reached between JSW Severfield Structures and SMD Asia to jointly establish a structural metal decking business based in Mumbai and Bellary, India. JSW Severfield Structures is a 50/50 joint venture company formed between
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Severfield-Rowen and JSW Steel in November 2008 for the design, production and erection of structural steelwork to principally service the Indian markets.
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India's Power Trading Corp (PTC) picks UK's Ashmore for joint venture |
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Power Trading Corporation (PTC) India Ltd has decided on UK's Ashmore Investment Management Ltd as joint venture partner for its private equity foray. In a filing with the stock exchanges, PTC said, it had raised Rs 5 billion (£64 million) through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) in May for setting up a third party fund.
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Ashmore, which manages assets across emerging markets, already has a presence in India. It has investments in companies like Broadband Pacenet and Quality Care India. It also operates the $80-million Alchemy Ashmore, a joint venture with Alchemy Partners LLP. This fund has investments in apparel retail firm Numero Uno Clothing and Kerala-based NBFC Manappuram Group.
India-Sweden sign pacts
India and Sweden have signed two Memoranda of Understanding for enhancing cooperation in the fields of Defence and environmental protection. The two MoUs were signed after talks between the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and his Swedish counterpart, Mr Fredrik Reinfeldt,. Mr Reinfeldt, who was in New Delhi to attend the Tenth India-EU Summit, has said developed countries have a vital role to play in curtailing the effects of global warming. He also strongly pitched for an agreement on a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol at the Copenhagen talks in December and said the absence of a clear deal would mean lack of infrastructure to tackle climate change. An FTA between the EU and India could improve market access for goods and services, covering all trade except for public procurement, which India is reluctant to include in the pact. India is also concerned, among other things, about costly certificates for exporting fruit to the EU and conformity procedures
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Tata snubs UK govt, rejects 10m pound loan |
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Indian conglomerate Tata Group has rejected a £10 million British government loan, which was supposed to be used for developing an electric version of one of its existing models. Tatas, owner of premium car brands Jaguar and Land Rover and steel maker Corus, has told the government that it does not want the money.
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Lord Mandelson, the business secrtary, had last month announced the loan (£10 million), saying that Britain was backing Tata's research into electric cars. The money was awarded as part of the Automotive Assistance Programme (AAP), a scheme that was designed to help the car industry overcome the worst of the recession and foster investment in new technology. The £10 million government loan was designed to bolster a £25 million investment by Tata Motors, in its European Technical Centre based at Warwick University. The Warwick technical centre was set up in 2005 to develop technology to be used in Tata cars manufactured in India and give the group access to European automotive talent. It is working on a European version of the Nano, the affordable so-called "people's car", which was introduced in India last year.
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India aims to attract $6 b European FDI in textile sector |
In a first government-industry synergy of efforts, a high-level trade delegation has made a two-phase visit to Europe, covering five major countries in a move to attract $6 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) by 2015 into the country's textile sector.
Idia's textile industry requires an additional investment of $24 billion by 2015 to maintain a high growth rate of eight per cent.In the first phase, an industry delegation led by Dayanidhi Maran, Minister for Textiles him visited Switzerland, Italy and Turkey from October 26 to November 3 to conduct road shows in Zurich, Switzerland where they interacted with major textile machinery manufacturers such as Beninger (processing) Reiter (spinning), Jacob Muller (warping and weaving machine) and high-end fabric manufacturers Weisbroad-Zuerrer Ltd. In Milan, Italy, the delegation held talks with Miroglio (yarn, fabrics and garments), Marzotto (high-end woollen fabric and suiting), Gruppo Coin (apparel and retail), Vincenzo Zucchi (Home textiles), Radici group (fibre) and Zegna (high-end menswear and sportswear). In Istanbul, Turkey, the delegation interacted with representatives of Bilsar (designing and production of shirts), Yunsa Yunlu san.Tic.A.S (woollen and worsted menswear fabric, home and office furniture fabric). In the phase two, the delegation toured Frankfurt, Germany and France from November 23 to 26 to attract investment in technical textiles.
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Think London invites investments |
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Now is the time. Rents are down, talent is available cheaper, the exchange rate is favourable and Olympic Games are less than two years away with thousands of business contracts waiting to be awarded.Welcome to London, says Think London, the city's official foreign direct investment facilitation agency. Making a pitch for investing in London , Mr Paul Bromelow, Global Sales Director, Think London, noted that this "window of opportunity" would be only temporarily open, for about 12 to 18 months, and would disappear as the UK climbs out of recession. He noted that there were 1.9 million highly qualified workers in London, a city that saw its rank fall from eight to 27 in the list of most expensive cities in the world. Property rents have fallen 38 per cent over 2008 levels, he said. While the 2012 Olympics provides a business opportunity - as over half of the 75,000 contracts are still to be awarded - the Games will also leave the city a legacy, in the sense that the Olympics would spur digital and clean-tech opportunities.
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India is top offshore choice for European firms: Report |
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India has become the top offshore destination for European enterprises traditionally thought to be shy of sending work to the country, a recent report by Forrester Research said. Forrester's survey of 300 European enterprises shows that more than 60 per cent of firms intend to send their work to India. This count is more than any other obvious single country or grouping of countries - for example the CIS region or Central Europe, the report said.Forrester also said that European companies plan to increase their India spend substantially. Nearly 50 per cent of the firms that currently offshore or plan to offshore in the next 12 months plan to increase their spend on Indian resources. Twenty per cent of these firms plan to increase their spending by more than 10 per cent of what they spent in 2008.
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EU drags India into WTO against taxes on wines |
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The European Commission (EC) has raised the issue of discriminatory taxation on the import of wines and spirits in some of the Indian states by seeking consultations with India under the rules and procedures governing the settlement of disputes of the WTO.
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The European Commission has complained to the WTO that major Indian states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have levied duties on foreign liquor which are not imposed on similar domestic products. These levies, it said, deny national treatment to the imported products in violation of the WTO rules.
In a fresh submission filed with the WTO, the EU delegation to the WTO has also complained against "discriminatory practices" of the state-owned Andhra Pradesh Beverages Corporation (APBCL) and of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) while supplying and distributing wines and spirits. As per figures calculated by the EU, incidence of taxes on foreign liquor is as high as 200%-790% of the sale price, depending on the type of liquor in India and its price and also the state in which it is being sold. The ``erring'' states account for more than half of wines and spirits consumed in India.
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EU parliament wants India, China to commit to emission targets like developed states, |
The European Parliament (EP) has called on the European Union to contribute towards developing countries' mitigation efforts and adaptation needs in fighting climate change by not less than 30 billion euro per year by 2020. In a resolution adopted by 516 votes to 92, with 70 abstentions, the EP said any international agreement at the Copenhagen climate summit in December should ensure that:
- developed countries significantly reduce their emissions collectively , at the high end of the 25-40 % range by 2020 and a long-term reduction target of at least 80% by 2050 compared to 1990;
- developing countries as a group limit their emission growth to 15 - 30% below "business as usual" but, given their economic weight, China, India and Brazil should commit themselves to targets similar to those of the industrialised countries.
The EP's expectations for the Copenhagen summit include an ambitious and legally binding agreement that will require emission reduction targets for developed and developing countries as well as funding commitments and sanctions for non-compliance.
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France looks to double bilateral trade with India |
The French are focusing on a host of initiatives to boost Indo-French cooperation. For one, efforts are on to double bilateral trade. The target is to double the numbers from around 6-to-7 billion euros now to 12 billion euros.
French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said the increase of trade figures would have been probably achieved as per the target had the recession not come in the way. "Now, we hope to achieve it by around 2012," Mr Bonnafont said.
France is also placing thrust on collaborating with India on civilian-nuclear front. "After all, one must remember that France is a leader in the infrastructural sphere which includes the civilian-nuclear area," Bonnafont said. Dwelling on investments, he said France not only wants to invest in India, "it also wants India to route investments into France."
The French government is also seriously on the lookout to "treble" the community of Indian students in France. "We want to show to the students here that France is an alternative opportunity. Yes, I admit that French as a language is a hurdle for Indian students. But, we are putting a major thrust on attracting students from here. This exercise is being carried out by centres called Campus France which we have set up in various locales in India.
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TOURISM |
| Festival of France in India |
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The Festival of France in India will unfold from December 2009 and continue upto February 2010 covering 18 cities. It will embrace exhibitions, concerts, literary meetings, film festivals, debates, conferences, food fests and economic, educational and scientific exchanges. France will also participate in the Calcutta Book Fair.
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Kerala Tourism takes part in French Mart |
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In its effort to make inroads into the French market, Kerala Tourism showcased its products at the International French Tourism Mart, IFTM TopResa in Paris. Kerala Tourism's decision to participate at TopResa was taken after conducting road shows there in the last four years. France is the number 2 source market for Kerala. Over 50,000 French nationals visited Kerala in 2008, a 9 per cent growth over the previous year. Before visiting Paris, the delegation staged a TopResa road show in Brussels, where they met 109 buyers. Belgium is the 16th largest source market for the State.
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URBAN EXCELLENCE |
| 14 civic bodies take up waste management |
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At the first International Conference on Solid Waste Management (IconSWM) held recently, nearly 14 municipality bodies in the country came forward to undertake solid waste management projects, involving Rs 240 million investment, in the next three years. The projects would be taken up by the urban local bodies and monitored by the three nodal bodies, CQMS, the Air and Waste Management Association of India and the Central Board for Workers' Education (under the Ministry of Labour).Out of the 14 municipalities undertaking the projects, eight are from West Bengal while five are from the southern regions like the municipalities of Tirupathi and Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Karwar, Srirangapatnam and Mysore (Karnataka). One municipality, Mandavinagar, is from Gujarat. Some of the major projects to be undertaken were conversion of solid waste to organic fertilisers (Kamarhati Municipality), waste dumping clearance (Tirupathi), integrated solid waste management (Durgapur), collection system efficiency (Karwar), vermiculture and recycling of paper (Mandavinagar) collection and segregation of waste and compost manure, construction of compost plant including separate disposal of biomedical waste.
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Infrastructure cos sign $4.2 b loan pacts with World Bank |
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Representatives from the Government of India, India Infrastructure Finance Co Ltd (IIFCL), Power Grid Corporation and World Bank signed loan agreements for three projects amounting to $4.2 billion . IIFCL will get $2.1 billion in two parts. The first part consists of $1.195 billion
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long - term finance for infrastructure projects, which will come from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The second is a grant of $5 million for the capacity building of IIFCL. The amount is expected to be disbursed by September 2015. The IBRD loan is a variable spread based on six monthly LIBOR. The loan duration will be for 28 years with a grace period of 7.5 years. The Banking Sector Support Loan will be an IBRD loan of $2 billion. It will form a part of the series of measures to stimulate the economy by assisting public sector banks in maintaining credit growth to contain the adverse effects of the slowdown on employment and poverty. The World Bank loan is a variable spread loan and is based on six monthly LIBOR. Its duration is for 30 years including a grace of five years. This will provide capital funds to the public sector banks over the next two years to enable them to meet the credit requirement of the economy. Also $1 billion of the Fifth Power System Development Project will be financed by the World Bank. The project aims to strengthen the transmission system in order to increase reliable power exchange between the regions and the States of India. The project is expected to be completed by June 30, 2015.
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