India puts South Asia on growth path: World Bank

WASHINGTON: With India expected to contribute much to new global energy demand in the next two decades and rising savings, South Asia is on the path toward sustainable economic growth, according to a new World Bank-IMF report.

But most countries around the world will fall short on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight globally agreed development goals with a due date of 2015, warns the report released Tuesday ahead of the World Bank- International Monetary Fund meetings this weekend.

Though much of the world is set to cut extreme poverty to half by then, prospects are gravest for the goals of reducing child and maternal mortality, with serious shortfalls also likely in primary school completion, nutrition, and sanitation goals, it said.

"In this Year of Action on the MDGs, I am particularly concerned about the risks of failing to meet the goal of reducing hunger and malnutrition, the 'forgotten MDG'," said Robert B Zoellick, president of the World Bank Group.

Source: Economictimes

Noting that South Asia has positive adjusted net saving, a necessary condition for sustainable economic growth, the report said the region is likely to halve by 2015 the number of people without access to safe drinking water, but will not achieve the same target for improved basic sanitation.

'The Global Monitoring Report: MDGs and the Environment - Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development' stresses the link between environment and development and calls for urgent action on climate change.

"This year's high level meetings in connection with the MDG halfway point provide an opportunity to agree on priorities for action and milestones for monitoring progress," said Zia Qureshi, lead author of the report.

While South Asia accounted for less than six percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions in 2000, India today is third among the top 10 emitters of industrial water pollution, with emissions of over 1.5 million kg per day, Outdoor air pollution places both adults and children at risk in South Asia. This is an acute problem in urban areas of fast-growing economies like India.

Earlier snowmelt and the loss of glacial buffering in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas will affect the seasonality of water supply for large segments of India's population, the report said.

The report warns that developing countries stand to suffer the most from climate change and the degradation of natural resources. To build on hard-won gains, developing countries need support to address the links between growth, development and environmental sustainability.

"Developing countries need more foreign aid and domestic resources to reach the MDGs. High economic growth and a stable macroeconomic environment remain essential for reducing poverty and increasing investment in health and education," said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF managing director.

Though the overall aid landscape is expanding, official development assistance (ODA) - estimated at $103.7 billion in 2007 - has stalled, the report said.

To meet the G8 promises to increase aid by $50 billion by 2010, ODA must expand, it said noting that new donors like China and India are growing in size and importance.

With stronger efforts by the countries themselves and their development partners, most MDGs remain achievable for most countries, the report says. With this in mind, the report lays out an integrated six-point agenda, with strong, inclusive growth at the top.

The agenda also calls for more effective aid, a successful outcome to the Doha round of trade talks, more emphasis on strengthening programmes in health, education and nutrition, and financing and technology transfers to support climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Indian tycoon Tata plans to invest $15 bln in Brazil

BRASILIA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Ratan Tata, chairman of India's Tata Group, plans to invest about 15 billion U.S. dollars in Brazil, local media reported Monday.

"Brazil has a huge potential market. I am naturally attracted to it," said the Indian tycoon, owner of a massive company made up of nearly 100 enterprises and an annual revenue of more than 50 billion U.S. dollars.

Tata has a well-informed staff of nearly 20 executives in Brazil to decide exactly where he will make his investments, the report said, adding that he is especially interested in the areas of ethanol, beverages, automobiles and metal production.

He also wants to build a nuclear power plant in Brazil and is looking for partners, the report said.

Italian automaker Iveco will participate in the production of pick-ups and trucks for Tata Motors in a plant in Sete Lagoas, a city in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

Last month, Tata Motors announced its 2.3-billion-U.S. dollar purchase of luxury British car icons Jaguar and Land Rover,

Tata Motors also plans to manufacture the Safari, its best selling sports utility vehicle in India, on Brazilian soil.

Source: Mathaba

Tata Communications' shares fall 12% on Flag dispute

MUMBAI: Shares of Tata Communications on Tuesday plunged nearly 12 per cent on bourses, following the Hague district court's decision favouring Flag Telecom in a dispute over access to Flag Europe Asia cable landing station in Mumbai.

Tata Communications touched an intra-day low of Rs 475 before settling at Rs 479.45, down 11.43 per cent from yesterday's close on the Bombay Stock Exchange. On National Stock Exchange, the scrip closed 11.50 down at Rs 479.45, after falling to a low of Rs 475.

A total of 13.96 lakh equity shares of the company changed hands at both the bourses.

The district court of the Hague, Netherlands had upheld the decision of the arbitration panel that VSNL, now renamed Tata Communications, must allow Flag Telecom access to Flag Europe Asia cable landing station in Mumbai.

Flag Telecom (now known as Reliance Globalcom), a subsidiary of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Telecom, wanted access to Mumbai landing station of Flag Europe Asia cable (FEA), a submarine fiber optic cable that runs from England to Japan, for the purpose of enhancing its capacity.

FEA, also called as landing stations, passes through 15 countries. In India, it is routed through Tata Group's Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which controls its 'Mumbai landing station'.

With technological advances, Flag Telecom is now in a position to enhance the capacity of cable system from 10 Gbps to 80 Gbps and for this it needs access to Mumbai landing station.

But VSNL's stand was that under the construction and maintenance agreement between the two, it was not obliged to grant access to Flag. Flag had thus taken the matter for arbitration before International Chamber of Commerce.

Source: Economictimes

Global warming threatens to flood Manila – WHO

FRANKFURT: The German luxury car making group BMW sold a record 350,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2008, it said on Monday, pointing to a boom in demand in India.

BMW reported overall sales of 351,787 units, an increase of 5.7 percent from the first quarter of 2007, a statement said.

Domestic rival Mercedes-Benz said it sold 320,000 vehicles in the same period.

The biggest increase for BMW was in India, where there was a leap of 800 per cent to 862 cars. Strong sales increases were also reported in Russia, China and South Korea, all of which turned in rises of almost 40 percent.

Sales fell however by 9.2 percent in the United States, which nonetheless remained the biggest single market with more than 68,500 cars bought in the three month period.

Source: Economictimes

Three Indian Americans are among the 200 CEOs of large public companies who received an average of over $11 million compensation in 2007. Besides Indr

Three Indian Americans are among the 200 CEOs of large public companies who received an average of over $11 million compensation in 2007. Besides Indra Nooyi and Vikram Pandit, Rajiv L. Gupta of Rohm and Haas is one of them.
Gupta’s package was $7.3 million, cash pay being $2.8 million, according to the CEO pay tabulated yesterday by The New York Times based on proxies filed by companies.
Muzaffarnagar-born, IIT educated, Gupta took over as chairman and CEO of the Pennsylvania-based chemicals multinational in 1999.
For Nooyi, chief of PepsiCo, the total annual package was $14.7 million, with a cash pay of $4.9 million, stock awards and option awards making up the rest.
Pandit, who took over as chief of Citigroup only in last December, received a total of $3.2 million, out of which a huge chunk of $2.9 million was in stock awards.
The highest compensation - a whopping $84 million - went to Johan Thain, chief of Merrill Lynch, while Rupert Murdoch of News Corp took home $24 million. Steven Jobs of Apple chose to take only a token $1. Even the richest man in the world, Warren Buffett, took only $175,000 from his company, Berkshire Hathaway.

Source: Bahrain Tribune

Satyam to invest Rs 250 cr to open 104 screens by 2010

NEW DELHI: Multiplex chain Satyam Cineplexes plans to open 104 screens across the country in the next two years entailing an investment of Rs 200-250 crore.

"We have already acquired 65 screens at Haridwar, Rohtak, Mysore, Greater Noida, Ludhiana, Gurgaon and Jalandhar. We will spend between Rs 200-250 crore on our expansion," Satyam Cineplexes Managing Director Deven Chachra said.

The multiplex chain, which currently operates 12 screens in three multiplexes in the national capital, now plans to go for lease model.

"We plan to have all the cineplexes in malls as the retail prices are going through the roof. This is very different from our current model wherein we own all our three cineplexes," he said.

Satyam plans to raise funds for expansion from either private equity or strategic alliance.

"We are looking for strategic alliance with overseas players as well for funding our expansion," he said, adding that nothing has been finalised yet.

"We would hit the bourses in next three years if we raise the capital through equity," he said.

On the back of the expansion plans, the company hopes that its revenue would increase from Rs 48 crore in the last financial year to Rs 325 crore by 2011.


Satyam is targeting tier II cities in the country instead of having more screens in the metros. This is mainly because of the high real estate prices in the metros.

Commenting on the future of the cineplex industry in the country, Chachra said, "We expect increased consolidation in the industry in the coming 3-5 years. Today, owner of a single multiplex is in the same boat as some time back an owner of a single screen was. Most of such guys would be acquired."

"In the long run, we would just have 3-4 operators owning 500-1000 screens," he added.

Eventually, Satyam is also planning to get into production of films. "If things go as per plan, we should be able to enter the film production business in another two years time. That is our eventual goal," he said.

To enhance the experience of the cine goers, Satyam has also started various services such as SkyBox, a 12-seater elevated box area with extra facilities like blankets.

He agreed that Satyam is little late in executing its expansion plans since other major cineplex players have already increased their screens manifold.

Source: Economic Times

Booming Indian tech sector expects further growth

The Indian technology industry is expected to generate around $64bn (£32bn) in revenues in 2008 — 33 percent growth — making a significant impact on the country's economy.

Services and software exports are expected to contribute around $41bn, with the domestic market generating more than $23bn, according to Indian technology industry body, Nasscom.

The Indian technology industry is aiming to hit total revenues for software and services of $75bn by 2010.

But Nasscom's 2008 Strategic Review shows the growth of the industry has had other benefits besides lining the pockets of India's mega-corporations.

As a proportion of national GDP the Indian technology sector will hit 5.5 percent in 2008, up from just 1.2 percent in 1998. It is also expected to contribute a net value to the economy of up to 3.9 percent.

The Nasscom study found the industry has also fuelled a 36 percent increase in direct exports and boosted direct employment by a compound annual growth rate of 26 percent over the past decade.

And, by the end of the 2008 financial year, almost two million Indian workers will be employed in the technology industry.

The industry has also contributed to an increase in consumer spending — for every rupee earned by the Indian technology-business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, an additional rupee is spent in the economy.

The influence of the sector on other parts of Indian life is also felt through contributions to community initiatives, human-resource development, education, health and empowerment in business.

The technology industry has also fuelled the growth of private-equity and venture-capitalism funding and spurred entrepreneurship.

Som Mittal, Nasscom's president, said the industry is on track to exceed its 2010 targets but still needs to resolve issues around talent, manpower and infrastructure.

Nasscom chairman Lakshmi Narayanan said the increase in revenues "reinforces the confidence of global corporations in India".

Narayanan, also vice-chairman of Cognizant, said the Indian IT-BPO industry is poised for broad-based growth, strengthening its position as "the primary sourcing location" for software, IT infrastructure and business process-related services.

Source: ZDNet

With Jaguar and Land Rover, India strides onto the global stage

NEW DELHI - To understand India's economic rise, look to its cars.

The iconic Indian automobile of a generation ago was the Ambassador, a noisy, boxy clunker that was ubiquitous despite its ungainly 1950s style.

Compare that to the newest Indian-owned line of cars, the famously sleek and sophisticated Jaguar, which Tata Motors, India's biggest auto company, purchased Wednesday, along with Land Rover, in a landmark US$2.3-billion deal.

The vehicle upgrade could be a metaphor for the transformation the entire country has gone through in recent years, as the so-called "License Raj" - the stifling state-run socialist system widely blamed for shackling India's economy - came to an end, giving rise to a new middle-class whose appetite for consumption has reshaped India and spurred a national economic boom.

Now, Indian companies are taking that money and shopping overseas for acquisitions as part of a strategy meant to announce India's arrival on the global stage, break into new markets and keep the profits rolling in.

"It's a matter of survival," said Ashutosh Goel, an analyst with the brokerage firm Edelweiss Capital. "To succeed and thrive you have to be a serious global player and not only focused on the domestic market. You can't remain a purely Indian player."

Nearly all the leading corporations here - including Reliance Industries Ltd. and outsourcing company Wipro Ltd. - are looking overseas, and news of Indian acquisitions of brands from Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa has become common.

Many see the newfound assertiveness as a reflection of the general feeling in India that the once-stagnant underachiever now belongs among the international elite.

"Indian companies have been in the mood for overseas purchases for a few years now and that coincides with the boom in the economy and the general feel-good factor here," said Anjana Menon, an editor at Mint, a leading Indian business newspaper.

At the same time, the robust economy and looser regulations have attracted widespread foreign investment, increasing competition here and forcing Indian companies to expand overseas to seek sales, analysts said.

Beyond Tata Motors, the crowded car market includes the Maruti Suzuki Ltd. - majority owned by Japanese automaker Suzuki Motors Corp. - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Ltd., Japan's Honda Motor Co. and U.S. automakers Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.

International companies are interested in more than selling just cars, however. Coca-Cola Co., which was booted out of India in the 1970s to make way for the local brand Thums-Up, came back in 1993, after the economy opened to foreign investment, and now owns the former rival. In gleaming new malls across India, customers can choose between German washing machines, Korean air conditioners and Japanese televisions.

Tata Group, the country's oldest and largest conglomerate, is the most striking example of an Indian company on an acquisition spree. With roughly 100 companies in everything from salt to software, it has led the charge that has made India an international player.

The group has emerged from its own economic doldrums with high-profile moves like the purchase of British steelmaker Corus Group for $13 billion, as well as tea, hotel and automobile companies.

Tata's acquisitions have sparked an outpouring of national pride.

"The Empire Strikes Back!" was one of many headlines Thursday that trumpeted the purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover, brands founded in Britain, India's former colonial power.

The economic rise can be traced back to 1991, when India began shifting toward a market economy. The boom was led by the outsourcing and technology sectors, which forged a connection between Indian companies and overseas markets.

The new opportunities gave rise to an educated and ambitious middle class, which has lustily embraced consumer culture.

"The middle class Indian from a decade ago was more of a saver and he's a spender now," said Menon. "There's a generational shift and there's more money in people's wallets and they're freer to spend."

Companies like Tata have reaped giant profits that freed them to pursue acquisitions. In five years through March 2007, Tata's annual group sales more than doubled to $29 billion, not including Corus Group. The capitalization of its 27 listed companies rose six-fold, to $78 billion

"Bankers are looking where they can put their money and (Tata is) a sure thing, they're not even a bet," said Tarun Das of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Tata announced the Land Rover and Jaguar acquisition with very little fanfare, apparently anticipating anti-India backlash. In a sign of how the times have changed, Indian companies that once lobbied the government for protection against foreign competition now find themselves battling protectionist sentiments abroad.

Tata is paying Ford with a 15-month, $3 billion loan but expects to replace that financing with a mix of equity and debt during the next several months, said C. Ramakrishnan, Tata's chief financial officer.

Some analysts are skeptical about how the luxury brands will fit into Tata's portfolio and whether going into debt to pay for the deal makes sense amidst fears of a global recession.

But many of Tata's big-ticket acquisitions were derided initially and went on to be praised by analysts. It's other purchases include Britain's Tetley Tea, Boston's Ritz Carlton Hotel, Eight O'Clock Coffee, Glaceau flavoured waters and South Korea's Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co.

Other corporations looking overseas include the Aditya Birla Group, which has bought companies in cement, metals, telecommunication and textiles. Last year, Reliance Industries bought Malaysia's leading polyester producer, Hualon Corp, while Wipro bought New Jersey-based Infocrossing Inc.

"Every large and small Indian company is looking at overseas corporations," said analyst Goel.

Source: The Canadian Press

Indian shares fall 3.1% on growing inflation worries

Mumbai: Indian shares dropped 3.09 per cent on Friday, hurt by a jump in inflation to its highest in more than three years and worries about how policy steps to rein in prices would affect already-slowing economic growth.

Reliance Industries led the losses in the main index, and fell three per cent to Rs2,322.20. Top infrastructure firm Larsen and Toubro ended down 5.7 per cent at Rs2,686.35.

State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals slumped 6.9 per cent to Rs1,634.10, extending losses after reporting a lower-than-expected profit as higher wages and raw material costs pinched margins.

The annual inflation rate rose to seven per cent as at March 22, well above market expectations and the highest since December 2004, data showed.

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"The overall sentiment is down in the market and it knows that controlling inflation will remain a challenge," said Chetan Shah, senior portfolio manager at Religare Securities.

The 30-share BSE index fell 489.43 points to 15,343.12, with 28 components falling, its lowest close since March 24.

The index, which is down 24.4 per cent this year, fell 6.3 per cent on the week, its fourth fall in the past five weeks.

HSBC cut its targets for the main index, known as the Sensex, to 17,500 at the end of 2008 and to 21,000 by the end of 2009, adding there were downside risks to earnings growth in Asia's third-largest economy.

Fears of a tightening in monetary policy shook financial shares, with top mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp falling 6.8 per cent to Rs2,275.95.

Top private lender ICICI Bank fell 3.1 per cent to Rs763.70 and State Bank of India shed 2.1 per cent to Rs1,605.35. The sector index ended down three per cent.

The 50-share NSE index fell 2.61 per cent to 4,647.00, its lowest close since March 24, taking its losses for 2008 to 24.3 per cent.

Source: Gulf News