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KNOWLEDGE |
| Europe a growing market for Indian IT |
Europe could be a smaller but growing market for outsourcing for Indian IT companies perturbed by the U.S. government's stated antipathy towards outsourcing. Gilbert van der Heiden, Research Director, Gartner, specialising in outsourcing, has said that "While Asia Pacific, including Japan, is the most interesting market for India, several members of the European Union can be outsourcing partners. But, Indian IT service companies need to understand the cultural and business needs of individual countries." The U.K. was still a strong market, followed by the Nordic/ Scandinavian nations like Sweden and Denmark the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) grouping, each with varying market growth, he said. While the U.K. was forecast to spend $160 million on outsourcing by 2011, Germany could spend $125 billion, France $92 billion and Italy $50 billion. The Nordic countries might together invest $63 billion this year, Mr. Heiden said. Benelux may spend $59 billion and was considered a growth market for IT services.
"While some Indian companies such as HCL and TCS already had a footprint in the Nordik countries, others need to make their presence felt and cultivate potential clients who no longer look at only call centres but look for value-added services," he said. IT firms had to be prepared for stiff competition over pricing in Europe, he said. The privacy and data security concerns have to be addressed even more than in other markets. "Europe has at least 36 regulators monitoring the security and privacy aspects, reflecting the concerns of the potential customers. This is where Indian companies offering cloud computing services have to tread carefully and study the rules framed by Data Privacy Authorities in each country and understand the complexities involved," Mr. Heiden said.
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HCL Tech inks 5-yr pact with Electrolux |
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IT major HCL Technologies has signed a five-year IT infrastructure management contract with home appliances maker
Electrolux. As part of the deal, HCL will support Electrolux's workplace services including proactive monitoring and management of network, servers, IT security and end-user computing environment in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia. HCL will deliver these services through its centres in India and Malaysia. It will also provide multilingual helpdesk services in English,
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Vietnamese, Thai and Bahasa (Malaysia and Indonesia). "We wanted to offer standardized service to Electrolux operations in Asia Pacific without increasing costs. In HCL, we found a partner that understands standardisation of services and has an ability to support the business locally across the region," Electrolux Group Chief Information Officer Bertil Norberg said.
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EU and India launch biotechnology and health pilot programme |
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India and EU Member States have launched NEW INDIGO, a Networking Pilot Programme (NPP) on biotechnology and health. Their objective is to establish a joint infrastructure for advanced research in this growing and significant field. NEW INDIGO ('Initiative for the development and integration of Indian and European research') has received almost EUR 2.5 million under the 'Horizontal actions and measures in support of international cooperation' (INCO) priority of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
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Govt to spend 16 pc more on school education |
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The union budget for 2010-11 has pegged an outlay of Rs Rs 310.36 billion for school education, an increase of Rs 42.36 billion from 2009-10. "In addition, states will have access to Rs 36.75 billion for elementary education under the 13th Finance Commission grants for 2010-11,.The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 creates a framework for legal entitlements for all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years to education of good quality, based on principles of equity and non-discrimination. In recent years, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has made significant contribution in improving enrollment and infrastructure for elementary education. About 98 percent of habitations are now covered by primary schools.
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IndiaCan to set up over 100 vocational centres |
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To cash in on the growing vocational education sector, IndiaCan - a 50:50 joint venture between New Delhi-based learning solutions company Educomp and UK-based Pearson - will open more than 100 centres next month that will offer vocational courses on sales, basic IT, accounting, retail and spoken English. Of this, 40 centres will be owned by the company, rest will be on a franchisee-based model. IndiaCan's education centres will be spread across tier-II and tier-III cities, and the course will last between three and six months. "There's a huge demand for sales, IT and retail professionals at the entry levels," said Sharad Talwar, CEO, IndiaCan.
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TCS bags £600mn UK pension deal |
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Software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is all set to bag a £ 600 million outsourcing contract from the UK Government for managing a state-sponsored pension scheme that is still in the works. UK's Personal Accounts Delivery Authority has stated that TCS has emerged the successful bidder for a ten-year arrangement to 'set up' and 'administer' the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), a scheme to be launched by 2012.NEST, which is being designed and implemented to augment the existing employer-provided schemes, is expected to benefit nearly six million British citizens, when it becomes fully operational."The contract is divided into two stages and runs for 10 years, with possible extensions for up to a further five years. The first stage will run to October 2010, allowing TCS to begin the activity required to set up and administer NEST,".
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INVESTMENT AND BUSINESS |
Indian businessmen urged to invest in Britain |
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Britain's recession is as much an opportunity as a threat for foreign investors, according to British High Commissioner, Sir Richard Stagg, who encouraged Indian businessmen to go global with their companies and pitched Britain as the best place to start. Sir Richard pointed out that the fact that nearly 600 companies had already invested in the U.K. signalled how attractive an environment the U.K. is. He admitted that the U.K.'s challenge was to maintain its position as the biggest inward investment market in Europe and concluded by saying that Britain saw the arrival of investment from India as "critical" to the U.K.'s growth. Gayathri Sriram, Chairperson, CII Chennai zone, stressed the potential for Indian businesses to invest in the U.K. beyond the traditional interest in manufacturing, including infotainment, e-publishing and green industries. India is the second-largest foreign investor in the U.K. and improving foreign direct investment flows into the U.K. is hot on the British government's agenda.
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Tube Investments buys controlling stake in France's Sedis Group |
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Tube Investments of India, part of Murugappa Group, manufacturer of bicycles, precision steel tubes, cold-rolled steel strips, cold-roll formed sections and industrial and automotive chains, has acquired a controlling stake in Sedis Group, France, in order to strengthen the industrial chains business. TII has directly picked up 77% in the holding
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company, Financiere C10, from financial investors (75%) and other shareholders. The management shareholders of Sedis will retain the balance stake and be associated with it for three years. Sedis is a leading manufacturer of industrial and engineering class chains in France and possesses a product range covering the requirements of a whole range of industries, including the high-growth infrastructure sector.
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Hindustan Dorr buys UK engineering firm |
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Construction and civil engineering firm Hindustan Dorr-Oliver Ltd has acquired Sheffield-based heavy engineering company DavyMarkham. The UK firm is involved in the design, manufacture and assembly of large equipment used in mining, power generation, oil, gas
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and nuclear sectors. Hindustan Dorr will invest in DavyMarkham for new plants and equipment and expand the UK firm's sales and marketing infrastructure into India. DavyMarkham's managing director and financial director will continue in their current roles.
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Tata Motors:JLR gets 340 million pound loan from EIB |
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Indian vehicle maker Tata Motors has received a 340 million pound loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for its Jaguar Land Rover unit. The loan was structured with guarantee support from banks. Credit Suisse worked as lead arranger for the deal. State Bank of India also played a role in the facility, providing a guarantee along
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with Bank of India and Bank of Baroda. Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are providing additional guarantees to meet EIB credit requirements.
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Carrefour set to enter India |
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French retailer Carrefour, which has been looking to crack the restrictive India market for seven years, plans to kick off its operations in the country this year by setting up a wholesale business. The company also said it was in talks with local firms as potential partners, but declined to name them. Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, will join mega retailers such as top-ranked Wal-Mart and Germany's Metro AG in operating so-called cash-and-carry ventures in India. "Carrefour
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Gamesa sets up wind turbine unit in Chennai |
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Gamesa, a Spanish company specialising in sustainable energy technologies, mainly wind power, announced the launch of its operations in India, with the setting up of a subsidiary, Gamesa Wind Turbines Pvt. Ltd.With the inauguration of this plant in India, Gamesa now has 31 production centres in Europe, Asia and the U.S., with a workforce of over 7,000 employees. The Chennai factory will manufacture reliable and cost effective G 58/850 kW wind turbines, suited specially for the Indian grid and wind conditions. It is equipped with a production capacity about 500 MW
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annually and employs more than 100 people. Gamesa would produce all the components that were needed for a wind turbine in India except blades. Gamesa Wind Turbines would focus on the Tamil Nadu market. So far, the company had set up two wind farms in Theni (85 MW) and Coimbatore (50 MW) in Tamil Nadu. The total investments in these two centres were about Rs. 5 billion.
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Nokia Siemens bags $700m deal from Bharti Airtel |
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Global telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks said it has bagged a $ 700 million contract from Bharti Airtel for network expansion and upgradation. NSN will expand and upgrade Airtel's 2.5G network in eight circles to increase the telcos network capacity by 50 per cent. In addition, the company will ensure that Airtel's core network is 3G-ready and enable fast rollout of
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3G services at a later date. The contract includes network planning, implementation and project management, handling of local logistics and materials, as well as system integration for the base station sites.
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Siemens signs contract with Power Grid |
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Siemens Ltd, has received a contract from the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) to construct a new 765/400kV sub-station at Meerut and augmentation of sub-stations at Mandola (UP) and Balabgarh (Haryana). Siemens will supply the high-end technology products such as circuit-breakers, current transformers, capacitor voltage transformers, disconnectors, surge arrestors and solutions like sub-station automation, a press release issued here stated. The order will be
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commissioned in January 2011 and has a value of more than Rs 1-billion . Siemens Ltd, in which Siemens AG holds a 55.18 per cent of the capital, is the flagship listed company of Siemens AG in India and is a leading provider of industry and infrastructure solutions.
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British consortium to build roads in India |
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A group of key British construction companies has set up a consortium to build roads and highways in India. The consortium comprises more than 20 leading British firms and is likely to enter into joint ventures or special purpose vehicles (SPV) with indian partners to help facilitate India's ambition to build 20 km of highways per day over the coming years. The consortium will work in a range of areas, including reform of the certification and licensing procedure, road safety, financing and construction.
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India keen to conclude FTA with EU by 2010-end |
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Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said that India would work for concluding the comprehensive trade opening pact or the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union by the end of the year."We have made substantial progress on the trade, investment issues and other concerns. We are now looking at concrete issues to narrow down our disagreements and work in the positive direction. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is keen that the FTA with the EU is concluded within 2010," Mr. Sharma said here.Talks for an India-European Union FTA started in 2007. Eight rounds of negotiations have been completed till now, with both sides narrowing down disagreements on a number of issues, including definition of trade and investment.
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India-EU FTA gets flak in Europe |
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Intellectual property (IP) in trade agreements could endanger the poor man's access to affordable medicines, according to a veteran member of the European Parliament. David Martin, a Scottish Labour Party member of the European Parliament has expressed concern over data exclusivity - a key IP provision, which is a part of the free-trade agreement (FTA) being negotiated by India and EU. This provision can delay entry of generic medicines to the market and could have repercussions not just for India, but also those countries to which India supplies generics, said Martin. In 2008-09, according to data from the ministry of commerce and industry, India exported pharma products worth Rs 395 billion , with African countries being major importers. International humanitarian aid organisations like Medecins Sans Frontieres buy more than 80% of their requirement for AIDS drugs, and 25% of drugs for malaria, TB, and antibiotics from India, said Leena Menghaney, project manager, India, Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. While Article 10 of the draft FTA would impose on India the obligation to grant data exclusivity, Article 9.3 would compel India to extend the monopoly accorded by a patent for up to 5 more years (in addition to the current 20), to compensate for the time required to get the marketing approval for a medicinal product.
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India expects trade with Hungary to touch $1bn |
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India has mounted a big diplomatic and economic push to strengthen bilateral ties with Hungary with an eye on further improving its ties with the European Union, its largest trading partner. Hungary is set to assume the presidency of the European Union in 2011. "Hungary's membership to EU (in 2004) has added a significant dimension to our overall relationship. We also look forward to Hungary's Presidency of the EU in 2011 and would be happy to learn of any initiatives that Hungary proposes to take, particularly in the economic area," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said at the India-Hungary Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation in Budapest. Hungary has been an important trading partner of India with two-way trade growing five folds between 2005 and 2008 to reach $700 million mark, though it dropped 15% in 2009 due to the global demand slowdown. Both countries are exploring options to boost the bilateral trade to $1 billion by 2012.
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Schneider Buys Zicom Electronic Units For Up To 2.25 billion |
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Schneider Electric India , (SEI), the wholly owned subsidiary of French firm Schneider Electric Industries, has acquired two business segments of Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd, a Mumbai-based electronic security solutions provider. SAS will pay up to Rs 2.24 billion for this acquisition, which includes debt. The transaction would make Zicom debt-free with some cash in hand to pump into its new businesses. The company will foray into alternative energy and aerospace engineering.
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Elgi acquires French firm |
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Elgi Equipments Limited (EEL), Coimbatore-based manufacturer of industrial compressors, has announced the acquisition of Belair SA - France, engaged in assembly, sales and service of industrial compressors, piping, fittings and accessories. The acquisition has been valued around €700,000 . Belair operates on the compressors to the industrial segment with about 3 per cent of the French market. It is located at Alby Sur Cheran, in the southern part of France, about 100 km South of Lyon .The sales of Belair are €6.5 million per annum and it has 34 employees.
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TOURISM |
| UK sees an increase of 10 pc Indian travellers in 2010-11 |
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The British government is expecting a 10 pc increase in Indian travelers to the country in 2010-11. A weaker pound, increase in business travel and more overseas students are attributed as the reason for the increase.
According to the British tourist authority, Visit Britain, country head, Paramjit Bawa the growth of visitors was inevitable. "The pound has weakened by 10-12 % vis a vis the Indian currency even as there is no tariff change in hotels and other institutions in Britain. Also, we expect student visas to increase this year," he said. As per him the number of Indian visitors traveling to Britain was at 3.80 lakh in 2009, which was an increase of about 4% over the previous year. From 2000-2006 there had been an increase of more than 25-25% in Indian tourist, which was hit by the global recession and stringent visa rules. The visitors included leisure tourist, business, students and visiting friends and family tourist. "Our long term goal is to achieve one million visitors from India per year within the next 8-10 years," he said.
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URBAN EXCELLENCE |
Paris Mayor for close cooperation with Delhi |
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The city of Paris has offered to work closely with Delhi Government in diverse fields like waste management, building low-cost houses and tackling the challenge of climate change. The offer was made to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit by Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanöe. Delanöe requested Dikshit to identify at least four civic issues to start cooperation between the two cities. He further offered to sign an agreement of cooperation with Delhi. There is enough scope of cooperation in the field of waste management, low-cost housing and developing battery-operated vehicles to overcome pollution level, Delhi Government officials quoted him as telling Dikshit. The Mayor said people of Paris take Delhiites in high esteem and they are taking keen interest in India's composite culture. French Ambassador to India Jerome Bonafont was also present in the meeting.
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Draft policy favours Karnataka Urban Renewal Mission |
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The Draft Urban Development Policy for Karnataka has suggested the establishment of the Karnataka Urban Renewal Mission to focus on infrastructure development in small and medium cities.Dr A. Ravindra, Advisor to the Karnataka Chief Minister on Urban Affairs, said that not all the cities in the State are eligible for funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Renewal Urban Mission (JNNRUM) scheme. In such a situation, a Karnataka Urban Renewal Mission would help give proper attention to those cities that are now outside the ambit of JNNRUM.The establishment of Karnataka Urban Renewal Mission is taken up as agenda for action in the draft Urban Development Policy for Karnataka. The draft policy has also suggested the establishment of metropolitan planning committee for Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad and Mysore, and district planning committees in other areas.
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JNNURM benefits Kochi
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Jointly funded by the Centre and the state to give governance and infrastructure development in urban cities a renewed thrust, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) projects are proving to be a blessing for Kochi. The civic body is planning to complete 11 major projects under this scheme by 2011. The project components include solid waste management, water supply, sewerage, surface water drainage, basic services for urban poor, urban road transport, procurement of city buses, Railway overbridges and e-governance. As per the norms, the Centre will provide 50 percent of the project cost while the state and the civic body will have to bear the rest. So far projects worth Rs 735.95 crore have been sanctioned for the city.
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Clinton Foundation inks pact with Rajasthan govt for solar parks |
The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), a programme of US-based William J Clinton Foundation, has joined hands with Rajasthan government to set up solar parks in the state. Each solar park will serve as a concentrated zone of solar development in Rajasthan and will included 3000 to 5000 Megawatts of solar generation as well as manufacturing over a period of time. The state government has identified Badi Sid & Kansingh Ki Sid in Jodhpur and Bhadla in Jaisalmer for developing these parks. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that the agreement signed between State Government and Clinton Foundation would help the state to receive more benefits of Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission."Rajasthan would be able to become leading state of the country in electricity generation from solar power in the coming years," he said.
The foundation is setting up similar plants in California, South Africa and Australia and Gujarat in India. It has recently signed an agreement with Gujarat government for setting up 3000-MW solar plant along border districts of Kutch and Banaskantha.
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