Hero MotoCorp to roll out two-wheelers in United States

Come next summer and Hero MotoCorp will roll out its two-wheelers in the United States and Canada in perhaps the most ambitious move in the top Indian bike-maker's race to become a global player.

Hero has appointed its American technology partner Erik Buell Racing as the exclusive distributor and plans to eventually set up manufacturing and assembly plants in the North America in due course, a top trade insider privy to the development told ET.

A "soft launch" of Hero two-wheelers was held last month at the inaugural American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo) in Orlando, Florida, where Hero displayed some of its popular brands such as Hunk, ZMR, the updated HF Deluxe Eco, Splendor Pro and the Pleasure scooter, the person said on condition of anonymity. "Specific details on the range to be offered and pricing details have yet to be determined," the person said.

Pawan Munjal, managing director and CEO at Hero MotoCorp, confirmed to ET last week that a soft launch of its debut products has been made in the US.

At AIMExpo, EBR had issued a press release that quoted Munjal as saying: "EBR will be distributing Hero motorcycles in the United States and Canada on an exclusive basis starting summer of 2014.

"When contacted, the Hero MotoCorp spokesperson said it's too early to share any specific information in this regard. "We will make an official announcement at an appropriate time and will share our plans for the North American market at that time," the person said.

The person quoted earlier said the company is exploring the possibility of setting up assembly units in North America. "If the volumes are good, then it does make business sense to assemble the products locally," the person said. In an interaction after announcing the purchase of a 49.2% equity stake in EBR, Munjal had told ET that the US market holds promise for Indian two-wheelers.

"While the US is primarily seen as a market for heavier bikes, I am convinced that smaller two-wheelers in the range of 100cc to 250cc can also be successful in the US and other North American markets," he had said. "Our fully-owned new overseas subsidiaries such as the one in the US and in the Netherlands will play important roles in our future overseas acquisitions and investments.

"The American two-wheeler market is dominated by big bikes with over 600cc engine displacement. Harley Davidson, Ducati, BMW, Triumph, Yamaha and Honda are the main competitors in the market. Hero is investing $25 million for acquiring EBR stake through its newly incorporated and wholly-owned American subsidiary HMCL (NA). It has already invested the first tranche of $15 million.

This equity partnership was the first definitive indication of Hero's intentions to explore the North American markets," the person quoted earlier said. Munjal is personally driving the new products agenda at Hero and has given a clear brief to the R&D team to develop new models for global customers, the person added.

Since charting its solo journey in 2011, Hero has been expanding its global footprint. It has already commenced its operations in new markets such as Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras in Central America, Peru in Latin America and Kenya, Burkina Faso and the in the African continent. It has set up its first Africa assembly plant in Nairobi, Kenya.

In his 'Vision 2020' for the company, Munjal wants Hero two-wheelers to be available in as many as 50 countries across the world by 2020.

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France 24 TV channel signs up with DD, Dish TV

New Delhi: International news channel France 24 has signed new distribution agreements in India and will be now available as a free-to-air channel on Doordarshan’s DTH platform, DD Direct + and Dish TV. It started broadcasting its English version this month.

The company said the new deals would make the channel available to 31 additional TV households, increasing its reach to nearly 38 million TV households in the country. It was earlier available to about seven million households who received the channel through cable networks.

Marc Saikali, Director of France 24, said the channel’s English version was moving into the heart of Indian society and would offer special programming covering political, economic and cultural news in the country.

Eric Cremer, Vice President- Distribution, France 24, added that the channel hopes to increase the reach to about 50 million TV households by next year.

Based in Paris, France 24 is a news channel that is broadcast to about 222 million homes around the world in French, Arabic and English.

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Knorr-Bremse sets up truck braking systems plant in Pune

Pune: German manufacturer Knorr-Bremse has set up a new plant in Pune to make complete braking systems for trucks. It has also established a technology centre for engineering design in the city.

Set up with an investment of €14 million, the facility will address the needs of the domestic market as well as serve as the leading plant worldwide for automatic slack adjusters, said Klaus Deller, a board member at Knorr Bremse. Deller is responsible for the commercial vehicle business globally.

The greenfield plant can build braking systems for 80,000 trucks per year, and production is scalable, Deller said. Referring to the current slowdown in the Indian CV segment, he added: “We don’t care exactly when the demand will pick up, but we know it will pick up. And when it does, we will be there.”

India, at present, accounts for 2 per cent of the company’s global revenue. The target is to double this in the next three years, Deller said.

Knorr-Bremse’s Technical Centre India will have over 200 engineers working on global development projects for both truck and rail systems. The building also houses a software centre for the company’s rail division.

The German company’s entry into the Indian CV component market was via a joint venture with Tata Auto Components (TACO). The alliance was broken around five years ago with the former buying out TACO’s stake. Following this, it has set up its own expanded manufacturing facility.

Later this week, Knorr-Bremse is set to open its greenfield plant for railway systems in Faridabad.

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Whistling Group to set up university in Gujarat in tie-up with Oxford arm

Ahmedabad: In what could see University of Oxford's foray into Indian education scenario through its wholly owned subsidiary Isis Innovation, the renowned institution has tied up with Whistling Group for a private university in Gujarat. To come up in an area of over 50 acres in its first phase, the varsity will be based out of the auto hub of Sanand near Ahmedabad.

The Whistling Group, an industrial group created by Gujarat entrepreneur Parag Shah, has signed a consultancy agreement with Isis Innovation Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford. To be called 'Whistling University', the new university will offer postgraduate training in alternative energy, conventional energy and management, and will establish its own research programmes, aiming to become a national hub for innovation.

"It aims to be an independent, world-class university that will provide an opportunity to a number of under-privileged students who cannot afford or access world-class education, and will promote women's participation in the field of alternative energy. The new university will also establish a policy think tank to influence strategic decisions in the field of energy, environment, and sustainability on a global scale," said Parag Shah, chairman of the Whistling Group.

Isis Innovation Ltd is the technology transfer company of the University of Oxford, which manages consultancy work carried out by the University's experts. The agreement is the first such agreement Isis Innovation has signed in India. Isis Innovation will be engaged as a lead consultant to advice on the creation of an 'Innovation Centre' to facilitate translation of knowledge from the university.

"Oxford University has no plans in the foreseeable future to offer full degree courses anywhere other than Oxford itself, and so has no plans to establish an overseas campus. However, the university has identified increasing global cooperation as a key objective of its 2013-2018 strategic plan. This agreement between the Whistling Group and Isis will broaden overseas ties. We anticipate that the project will make a positive contribution to providing energy security for India," said Loren Griffith, Director of International Strategy at Oxford University.

The Whistling University will offer B.Tech, M.Tech, BBA, MBA, LLB, PhD and post doctoral work programs with the help of both Oxford sourced faculty and Oxford trained Indian faculties. According to Aviruk Chakraborty, director of Whistling Sun Education Pvt. Ltd., the Oxford arm will also offer 100% placement assistance in its eight year long exclusive partnership with the group, after which Isis can enter into partnership with any other group in India.

"We will invest around Rs 290 crore over next four years through 25% equity and 75% debt and will have a fee structure comparable to that of other private universities. We will be applying for a university status under the Gujarat Private Universities Act, University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). We will begin the academic session of the first phase within a year from getting the university status with a batch size of 500 students," said Chakraborty.

In its full strength in the seventh year since inception, Whistling University will have a full-time faculty strength of 400 and a total student strength of 4,000.

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BPCL to invest $4 billion to raise refining capacity

Kochi: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has lined up investments worth $4 billion (around Rs 25,340 crore today) to increase its refining capacity, a top executive of the state-run company said on Monday.

Capacity expansion and innovation are imperatives to sustain in the present-day business environment, S. Varadarajan, Chairman and Managing Director, said at the Refinery Technology Meet here.

The company had earlier said it would increase its refining capacity from the current 30.5 million tonne a year to 47.5 mt by 2016-17.

The three-day meet, a national conclave of petroleum refinery experts, opened here on Monday with a call to enhance refinery performance to improve margin.

The 18th RTM, jointly organised by the Centre for High Technology and BPCL will see the participation of around 700 delegates and international experts in the petroleum industry.

In his inaugural address, Vivek Rae, Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, underlined the need for energy security in India considering the over-dependence on crude imports.

The Petroleum Ministry along with other ministries is taking efforts to enhance energy security through exploration, he added.

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Govt to set up joint task force to develop services sector

New Delhi: The Government will set up a joint task force for the services sector together with the industry to prepare an action plan for the development of the sector and increase services exports, according to Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

Agreeing to the industry’s suggestion of setting up a National Services Competitive Council on the lines of National Manufacturing Competitive Council, Sharma said “We have to have a forum to address the varied needs of the sector and to identify training and other needs of each vertical.”

He was speaking at the ‘Services Conclave’ jointly organised by CII and the Centre for WTO Studies.

The two-day conclave focuses on ways to boost the domestic services industry and increase India’s share in the $4-trillion global services trade from the present 3 per cent.

The Minister said the services sector exports, by and large, were from verticals such as IT, ITES and BPO sectors. There was a lot of scope to diversify in segments such as animation, media and entertainment, legal servicing, architecture, healthcare, tourism and medical tourism.

Sharma asked industry representatives to come forward and help the Government, to take up at various international forums the need for more liberal movement of skilled persons under Mode 4 of World Trade Organisation rules. Often movement of skilled persons is confused with immigration, though such movements are temporary in nature, he said

The Minister also asked the industry to explore new markets such as Africa to boost India’s export of services.

“Even for services sector we need to look at other major markets. We have a strong presence in North America. Regions such as Africa have huge opportunities and there you can be more cost competitive,” he said.

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Knorr-Bremse sets up truck braking systems plant in Pune

Pune: German manufacturer Knorr-Bremse has set up a new plant in Pune to make complete braking systems for trucks. It has also established a technology centre for engineering design in the city.

Set up with an investment of €14 million, the facility will address the needs of the domestic market as well as serve as the leading plant worldwide for automatic slack adjusters, said Klaus Deller, a board member at Knorr Bremse. Deller is responsible for the commercial vehicle business globally.

The greenfield plant can build braking systems for 80,000 trucks per year, and production is scalable, Deller said. Referring to the current slowdown in the Indian CV segment, he added: “We don’t care exactly when the demand will pick up, but we know it will pick up. And when it does, we will be there.”

India, at present, accounts for 2 per cent of the company’s global revenue. The target is to double this in the next three years, Deller said.

Knorr-Bremse’s Technical Centre India will have over 200 engineers working on global development projects for both truck and rail systems. The building also houses a software centre for the company’s rail division.

The German company’s entry into the Indian CV component market was via a joint venture with Tata Auto Components (TACO). The alliance was broken around five years ago with the former buying out TACO’s stake. Following this, it has set up its own expanded manufacturing facility.

Later this week, Knorr-Bremse is set to open its greenfield plant for railway systems in Faridabad.

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Biocon setting up Biotech Training Institute in Bangalore

Bangalore: BioconBSE 1.08 % said it is setting up an institute in Bangalore to train graduates in skills required for finding employment in the fast-growing biotechnology industry. Starting January 2014, the institute will offer a 16-week certificate-programme in partnership with California-based Keck Graduate Institute.

"There is a dearth of skilled expertise in this space, which inhibits our ability to innovate and work on deep domain experiments. Biocon Academy aims to bring world class training programs for biotech students in India through customised programs," said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson and MD at Biocon. "Given the growing stature of India's life sciences industry, both Biocon and the Indian life sciences sector as a whole will benefit greatly from this collaboration."

The programme-with a course fee of Rs 6 lakh-will cover areas including molecular biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, bio-pharmaceutical quality assurance and introduction to US FDA and European Laws.

India's biotech sector currently is valued at $11billion, growing at an average annual rate of more than 20% over the past ten years. Every year roughly 40,000 biotech students graduate from 725 institutions.

Starting with a batch of 30, the academy aims at enrolling over a hundred students in a year's time. These graduates will find job opportunities in Biocon and other leading biotechnology companies. Biocon has invested about 10 crore in this initiative. This will also include scholarship of up to 75% of course fee on the basis of merit.

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Centre plans 4 solar UMPPs of Rs 90,000 crore

These projects are planned in Rajasthan (4000 MW), Gujarat (4,000 MW), Kargil (2,000 MW) and Ladakh (5,000 MW)
Mumbai: The Centre has proposed four ultra mega solar power projects (UMPPs). These would be in Rajasthan (4,000 Mw), Gujarat (4,000 Mw), Kargil (2,000 Mw) and Ladakh (5,000 Mw). These would cost Rs 90,000 crore.

Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy, said the per Mw capital cost has been estimated at Rs 6 crore against the existing Rs 7-7.5 crore. The per unit rate is estimated at Rs 5.50.

'"The one in Rajasthan would be developed on an engineering procurement and construction (EPC) basis. For this, public undertakings Bharat Heavy Electricals, Solar Energy Corporation of India, Power Grid, Hindustan Salt and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments will form a joint venture company.”

According to Kapoor, BHEL which will be a lead company in the proposed JVC, will manufacture solar panels needed for Rajasthan project.

Kapoor informed that the first phase of 1,000 MW of Rajasthan UMPP is expected to be operational in three years while the entire project in seven years. The land has already been identified. He said the power to be produced from Rajasthan UMPP will be sold to Solar Energy Corporation which will trade it to various distribution companies.

As far as Gujarat UMPP is concerned, it will be developed with five to six companies. However, Kapoor said the Centre has yet to finalise details in this regard. Further, a lot of private developers have desired to develop 1,000 MW to 3,000 MW on their own.

However, it won't be possible as the project will be tendered, he added. According to Kapoor, transmission is a major issue for the development of Kargil and Ladakh UMPPs.

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PepsiCo to invest Rs 33k cr in India by 2020: Nooyi

Bullish on the India story, company plans to double manufacturing capacity
New Delhi: PepsiCo Inc, along with its partners, would invest $5.5 billion (Rs 33,000 crore) to double its manufacturing capacity in India by 2020, Indra Nooyi, chairperson & CEO of the food & beverage company, announced on Monday.

With arch-rival Coca-Cola’s plan to invest $5 billion in the country by 2020, announced in June last year, PepsiCo’s announcement means India will have received $10.5 billion in investments from the two global giants by the end of this decade.

Nooyi, on a two-day visit to India, revealed her company’s plans after a meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Later, she said in an interview: “Here, we will make investments in innovation, manufacturing, infrastructure, selling & go-to-market strategy and agriculture — in both food and beverage segments. This will double our manufacturing capacity by 2020.”

Explaining her bullishness on India, she added: “We are making this investment as we believe India’s fundamental story is still sound. The demographic dividend is there, the middle-class is growing. India will remain among very important markets for PepsiCo. Today, it is among the top 10 markets for us; I believe it will keep moving up. So far, we’ have only scratched the surface of the long-term growth opportunities.”

VIDEO: PepsiCo to invest Rs 33,000 crore
Last year, Nooyi’s counterpart at Coca-Cola, Muhtar Kent, had announced an investment of $5 billion in the country by 2020. He had said the move would help India climb two notches for Coke to become the fifth-largest market for it in terms of volumes.

Both PepsiCo and Coke, since their respective entries into India in 1990 and 1993, have invested about $2 billion here. PepsiCo India has 42 bottling plants in the country, while Coke has 58.

However, India’s Rs 30,000-crore soft drinks market, where more than 1.2 billion cases are sold annually, still offers the two global giants scope for major expansion. This is because the per-capita annual soft drink consumption in the country stands at a low 20 servings, compared with the international average of 94. Also, these beverages are currently available at only a fourth of the country’s eight million retail outlets.

While Coke controls Sprite and Thums Up, the top two soft drink brands in the country, PepsiCo’s Pepsi is the third. But the latter’s thrust on the foods segment and organic brand-building — through Pepsi, Lay’s, Kurkure, 7UP, Slice, Mirinda, Mountain Dew and Aquafina — help it raise an estimated Rs 1,000 crore of annual retail sales.

Also, through NourishCo, its joint venture with the Tatas, the company is targetting the lower end of the market, where pricing is key.

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‘Closet consumers’ of luxury goods an emerging class in India: CII report

New Delhi: The past 10 years of economic growth has given rise to a new wealthy class in India —‘closet consumers’— who are a major force behind the country’s luxury market growth, according to a report.

Published by the Confederation of Indian Industry and marketing firm IMRB International, the report, titled ‘The Changing Face of Luxury in India’, focuses on identifying and understanding India’s closet consumers. These are new generation entrepreneurs, senior corporate executives, farmers who have sold their land to developers and the BPO generation that lives with parents and has money to splurge.

Despite their newfound riches, the report indicates that there is an inherent middle class mindset among this class, even as they can no longer be classified as middle class based on their income.

“The inner conflict between a middle class mindset and the globally rich income level, between conspicuous consumption and a level of luxury is what we call the ‘closet consumer’,” says the report.

It also gives an overview of the luxury goods market, which has witnessed a growth of 15 per cent over the past three years and is estimated to have reached $7.58 billion (around Rs 48,000 crore today) in 2012.

Luxury products have grown the fastest at 22 per cent compared with luxury services at 15 per cent and luxury assets at 9.4 per cent – primarily contributed by slow growth in luxury real estate.

It is luxury categories such as apparel and accessories, perfumes, fine dining and automotive that have contributed to this growth, the report says, adding the Indian luxury market still accounts for almost a negligible 1–2 per cent of the global luxury market.

Industry experts believe multiple factors are contributing to the slow growth – low priority status assigned to luxury goods by the Government, lack of adequate range of luxury goods and service levels that are below par. They also believe Indian culture dissuades customers from flaunting their wealth. Yet they are optimistic about the above factors changing in the coming years and predict that the luxury market will boom in India over the next few years.

Closet consumers are cost-conscious and seek “value” even when buying luxury products. And their definitions, symbols of luxury are often in variance with conventional ones, the report adds.

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RBI allows investors to invest in credit enhanced bonds up to $5 bn

Investment permitted up to $5 bn within overall limit
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to allow various investors to invest in the credit enhanced bonds up to a limit of $5 billion within the overall limit of $51 billion earmarked for corporate debt, said RBI on Monday.

These investors include Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) registered Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) and long term investors registered with Sebi – Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), multilateral agencies, pension/ insurance/ endowment funds and foreign central banks.

Earlier RBI had said that these parties may purchase, on repatriation basis, government securities and non-convertible debentures (NCDs) / bonds issued by an Indian company subject to norms and limits as prescribed by RBI and Sebi from time to time.

The present limits for investments by FIIs, QFIs and long term investors registered with Sebi in government securities and corporate debt stands at $30 billion and $51 billion, respectively.

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TechM wins deal from Australian firm

Mumbai: Tech Mahindra Ltd has secured an outsourcing deal from Australian financial services firm Perpetual to provide registry services.

As part of the contract, the Mahindra group company will provide technology support for several superannuation and pension products of Perpetual.

“We are looking to see a complete refresh of registry IT infrastructure and applications which will allow us to focus on our core strengths,” Paul Statham, acting Group Executive of Perpetual Investments, said in a press statement. The agreement covers both administration and technology services.

Though the size of the engagement was not disclosed, it is believed to be a multi-million dollar deal. News reports in the Australian media indicate that Perpetual will make 50 roles redundant and transfer a number of positions to the Indian software services company. The Sydney headquartered Perpetual is an investment and trustee group that specialises in investment products, financial advice and corporate service.

The Tech Mahindra scrip hit its 52-week high on BSE before settling at Rs 1,674.05, higher by 5.94 per cent than previous close.

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GE to make India a manufacturing hub for its global markets

Hyderabad: US-based diversified conglomerate General Electric Co says the huge talent pool and lower manufacturing costs in India will drive the company’s plan to make the country a manufacturing hub for its global markets.

Banmali Agrawala, President and CEO, GE South Asia, said its coming plant at Chakan, Pune, is the first major step towards this direction.

"The Chakan plant is expected to be operational by the middle of next year. We will use the facility to manufacture a range of products for our global markets," he told reporters here on Friday.

The Rs 1,000-crore plant will produce diversified equipment for the aviation, energy, oil and gas and transportation sectors.

The $150-billion revenue multinational, which has interests in capital goods, technology and financial services, is now present in 164 countries, earning more than $1 billion revenue each from at least 40 countries and more than $100 million from 60 countries. Agrawala said GE will also start exporting healthcare devices from its Bangalore plant as part of the strategy to make India a manufacturing hub.

The Bangalore plant will make an array of “super-value products”, including ultrasound machines, ECG units, maternal and infant care equipment, which will be exported to Africa, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

He is of the view that India can become a global manufacturing hub, provided the government takes certain policies and cuts regulation.

“We have enough talents here. The government should not see India as a manufacturing hub for India alone, but for the world.

“It should accordingly change its policies and not have excessive regulation. It should play the role of a facilitator.” amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

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Reliance Power to commission second unit of 660 mw at Sasan in December

Mumbai: Reliance Power will commission the second unit of its sasan ultra mega power project ( UMPP) in December after it successfully lit-up the boiler for the unit, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Groups said Friday.

The company had bagged three of the four UMPPs of 4,000 mw each awarded by the government but Sasan is the only one where work has progressed. In March 2013, the first unit of 660 mw at Sasan was commissioned.

The company has already started production of coal from the coal mines attached to the Sasan project.

Reliance Power has an operational capacity of 2,545 mw. At the time of its initial public offer in 2008, R-Power had planned to set up power plants with a combined capacity of 28,200 mw across India, fuelled by coal or gas as well as hydropower. Since then, the company has added a few new projects but also abandoned some. It later revised its capacity addition target to 25,000 mw by 2015, but it now expects to add 20,000 mw by 2020, given the slowdown in the industry.

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India and Japan to strengthen their cooperation in the maritime sector

New Delhi: India and Japan have decided to further strengthen their cooperation in the maritime sector as a part of the overall robust bilateral relations. The two countries agreed to enhance their interaction through the existing forums and through port-to-port exchanges.

These issues came up for a discussion between the Union Minister of Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan, who is on an official visit to Japan and his Japanese counterpart Shri Akihiro Ohta, Minister of land, Industries and Transport & Tourism, Government of Japan.

Shri Vasan explained the developments that were taking place in India in the Ports sector and assured Shri Ohta that concerns regarding infrastructure and connectivity of ports are being addressed expeditiously. In particular, he said that the ports in Ennore and Chennai are catering to the Japanese car exporters like Toyota and Nissan who have so far exported about 42000 and 300000 cars respectively from these ports.

During the talks, Shri Vasan thanked the Japanese government for its support to various Indian Ports and infrastructure projects through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). He also mentioned the possibility of JICA assistance to VOC Port at Thoothukudi for the upcoming Outer Harbour Project.

Japanese Minister Shri Ohta, while acknowledging the existing cordial relationship between India and Japan, assured that Japan will carry forward the momentum. He also thanked Shri Vasan for his efforts in this direction and expressed Japan’s interest in shipbuilding and recycling industries in India.

Shri Vasan later visited the Yokohama port where he was received by Shri Nobuya Suzuki, Deputy Mayor of Yokohama city and Shri Masaharu Ikegami, the Vice Director General of the Ministry of Land, Industries and Transport & Tourism, (MLIT) Government of Japan.

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Airtel launches 3G services in Bangladesh

Mumbai: Airtel Bangladesh, a unit of Bharti Airtel, has launched 3G services in Bangladesh’s Dhaka and Chittagong cities.

“We are excited to offer innovative products and affordable prices for our 3G services with highest speed, innovative contents for all segments, which will mark a major milestone for Airtel in Bangladesh. As the country ushers in an era of high speed mobile telephony, it will be Airtel’s endeavour to be at the forefront of this growth story,” Airtel Bangladesh Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Chris Tobit, said.

“We will continue with our philosophy of bringing unique and world-class services, which will provide value for money for our customers backed by the latest technology. With this offer, I believe Airtel will capture a unique position among its customers in terms of communication in the form of entertainment, infotainment, edutainment, m-health, m-commerce etc.”

Airtel 3G data packs are available for Bangladeshi taka (BDT) 15 for 15 MB. Video calls between Airtel to Airtel customers will be levied at BDT 1 per minute.

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HDFC Bank launches rural financial literacy initiative in Kerala

New Delhi: HDFC Bank Ltd has launched its rural financial literacy initiative in the village of Palakkad Marutha Road, in Kerala, under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

HDFC Bank will conduct financial literacy camps in 39 rural and semi-urban branches across Kerala. As per instructions from the RBI, these branches will serve the Malampuzha block in Palakkad district and the Mathilakam block in Trichur district of Kerala. The camps will enable both adults and school children from 234 Panchayath wards in 26 villages to attain a conceptual understanding of financial products and services.

This initiative is in line with the RBI's recent circular which recommended that banks should scale up financial literacy efforts in rural areas through their branch networks.

HDFC Bank will use the Financial Literacy Guide, provided by the RBI as the standard curriculum while conducting these camps. This material is currently available in Hindi and English.

HDFC Bank has gone a step further in Kerala and is the first bank to translate the guide into Malayalam, which is the local language. This has been done in consultation with the RBI and will greatly increase the impact and efficacy of these camps in Kerala will allow the participants to understand the material in the language they are most comfortable with.

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Rs 100-cr science city project for Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Science and Technology, an autonomous body under the State government, has submitted a proposal to set up a Rs 100-crore science city on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

While the State government is to share Rs 40 crore, the Centre is likely to bear the rest of the cost. “The Centre is considering the proposal and we hope to get the approval soon. We already have a 20-acre plot for the project,” Y. Nagesh Kumar, Member Secretary, told media persons on the sidelines of a CII meeting with Innovation Norway delegation here today.

The council was floated by the State government in 1986 to formulate measures to foster the spirit of science at all levels of society, especially among students, teachers and academicians, apart from transferring new technologies from the laboratories to the field.

The proposed Science City would house interactive exhibits on various topics of science, ranging from astronomy to biology, a planetarium and galleries.

It has also planned a Centre for Creativity within the science city, which will be a facilitator for innovators, including research scholars and teachers. “This centre would cost about $ 50 million. We are in talks with Innovation Norway to participate in the setting up of the centre,” Kumar said.

The council is setting up the second Regional Science Centre at Warangal, after the one in Vijayawada. “The Warangal facility being set up at a cost of Rs 5 crore is expected to be ready next month. It will house science exhibits that will explain science in pictorial forms to the youth,” he said, adding that there were proposals to set up a sub-regional science centre at Rajahmundry at a cost of Rs 5 crore.

Earlier, a delegation from Innovation Norway, which funds and facilitates research in innovative technologies, interacted with industrialists, scienctists and entrepreneurs.

Ole Johan Sandvaer, Regional Director, said Innovation Norway was present in 35 countries, including India. “We are increasing focus on India. We will be opening our second Indian office in Mumbai in the first quarter of next year,” he said.

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CRI Pumps opens unit in China

Coimbatore: Pump manufacturing major CRI Pumps has opened its subsidiary – CRI Pumps Shanghai Co Ltd — in China. This is the pump major's sixth foreign subsidiary company. It has one subsidiary company each in Brazil, South Africa, the UAE, Spain and Turkey.

The Chinese subsidiary is expected to become fully operational in about a month’s time.

G. Soundararajan, Vice-Chairman, said the investment in the China facility would be around $6 million.

CRI China would focus on industrial, mining, process industries, pressure boosting systems, building services segment and projects in the first phase, he said.

“We acquired the industrial pumps business of UK-based Pumps & Process Systems about a year ago. We will be leveraging this acquisition for entering the China market,” he told Business Line.

On the company's foray into China, he said: “Mcilvaine survey has estimated the pump market in China at $8.4 billion by 2015. Around 13.5 million units of various types of pumps are sold there in a year. The market there is undergoing a major transition and we intend to leverage our strength and capitalise on the developments”.

On the company's performance, he said: “Our turnover last year was Rs 1,025 crore, of which Rs 170 crore was from our international business. Exports are growing at 35-40 per cent now. We are targeting to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,300 crore this fiscal, including Rs 230 crore from our international operations.”

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Chocolatier Mars brings Galaxy to India

New Delhi: Mars International India, which imports and markets its chocolate brands in India, is scouting for locations to start manufacturing here.

The company, which so far has been focussing on growing its Snickers brand, launched its tablet chocolate brand Galaxy in India on Thursday.

Asked about plans to start manufacturing its chocolates in India, M.V. Natarajan, General Manager, Chocolate business, Mars International India, said the company was evaluating suitable locations and could start manufacturing in the next 2-3 years.

“We are looking at India as a long-term opportunity. We will continue to evaluate opportunities for manufacturing. Local supply will be a critical focus,” he added.

The company expects Galaxy to fuel its future growth in India. Raghav Rekhi, Marketing Director, Mars International India, said India was one of the few markets where tablet chocolates constituted nearly 50 per cent of the estimated Rs 5,000-crore chocolate market, which is growing at 20 per cent compounded annual growth rate.

“Galaxy is one of our biggest brands globally. It is not just about transporting a global product into India. We have focused on tailoring the product for the Indian market, making the brand accessible at the right price point, bringing in innovation on packaging based on Indian consumer’s insights and supporting it by the right communication plan and distribution which ensures that the quality of the product is maintained,” he added.

The company has roped in actor Arjun Rampal and television actor Sapna Pabbi to endorse the brand.

Galaxy chocolate is currently available at Rs 15 and Rs 40.

Natarajan said the company would continue to evaluate opportunities for other price points and sizes. The brand will be available across the key urban regions in the next 4-6 months.

The company has been looking at various strategies to grow its market share in India. Earlier this year, it launched vegetarian Snickers, keeping the Indian consumer in mind.

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RBI unveils norms for foreign banks to set up wholly-owned units

Mumbai: Foreign banks that want to set up operations in India will have to do so through an independent subsidiary. This means they cannot operate as a branch of the parent bank.

The Reserve Bank of India has announced new guidelines with a view to ring-fence the local operations of foreign banks from adverse developments in their home countries.

However, the RBI will allow some foreign banks to operate in India as a branch of their parent bank.

The wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) model will be compulsory for banks which have complex structures, are perceived as systemically important and belong to jurisdictions which give preferential treatment to deposits of home country.

Currently, foreign banks as a group are entitled to open 12 branches in India every year, according to WTO commitments. India has usually allowed a higher number.

The new dispensation will probably help foreign bank branches proliferate — provided, of course, their countries have reciprocal arrangements for Indian banks in their territories.

Old foreign banks that set up shop prior to August 2010 (such as Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered and DBS) will have the option to continue operating as a branch of their foreign parent, but they will be “incentivised” to convert into WoS.

To prevent foreign banks from dominating the banking system, the RBI said that it will put in place certain restrictions. Requiring foreign banks to get RBI’s prior approval before getting liquidity infusion from their parent bank would be one such condition.

The initial minimum capital for a WoS will be Rs 500 crore, which foreign banks would need to bring upfront; this applies to even existing foreign banks which wish to convert.

Further, the RBI said that the WoS will be required to meet Basel-III requirements (9 per cent Tier-I capital) right from Day One. For the first three years, the WoS will have to maintain Tier-I capital at 10 per cent.

The Priority Sector Lending (PSL) requirement will be 40 per cent for WoSs, such as domestic scheduled commercial banks. Existing foreign bank branches converting into WoS will be given “adequate” time to comply with the PSL targets.

Branch Operations
On opening of new branches, the RBI has sought to bring the WOSs on a par with domestic banks.

They will be allowed to open branches in Tier 1- centres without taking prior permission from the RBI provided at least 25 per cent of their branches are opened in un-banked rural centres (Tier 5 and Tier 6).

Board of Directors
The RBI also mandated that at least a third of the directors should be independent of the management of the subsidiary in India, its parent or associates. It also wants at least a third of the directors to be Indian nationals resident in India.

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Mumbai top most city in internet penetration

New Delhi: Move over Bangalore, the much touted IT city, it's Mumbai which has the highest penetration of internet users in the country. Mumbai with 12 million internet users has emerged as the top most city, followed by Delhi with 8.1 million internet users and Hyderabad with 4.7 million internet users. Chennai with 4.5 million internet users and Kolkata with 4.4 million internet users are fourth and fifth respectively, according to a statement by Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

Bangalore, with 3.8 million users is sixth in internet user penetration. In 2012, Mumbai had 8.3 million internet users, while Delhi had 8.1 million internet users. There were 3.6 million internet users in Hyderabad in 2012, while Chennai had 3.4 million internet users and Kolkata had 3 million internet users.

With 47 per cent y-o-y growth, Kolkata, however, registered the highest growth of internet users among all the top cities in India. Mumbai with 45 per cent y-o-y growth is second while Bangalore with a growth y-o-y of 43 per cent is third. Pune, with a growth of 37 per cent is fourth while Delhi with a y-o-y growth of 35 per cent is fifth.

Ahmedabad, with y-o-y 26 per cent, registered the lowest growth rate among the top eight cities.Overall, the the top 4 metros have a 37 per cent penetration of Active Internet Users.

Among the other 4 Metros, Hyderabad leads the charge with a penetration of 37 per cent Active Internet Users. Coimbatore with a 40 per cent penetration leads in the Small Metros category.

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India, US launch agri training programme with Africa

Hyderabad: The US and India have launched the third India-US-Africa triangular agricultural training programme at the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE).

This partnership, supported by the US Government’s global hunger and food security initiative ‘Feed the Future’, aims to improve agricultural productivity and support market institutions in Kenya, Liberia, and Malawi.

A total of 180 African agricultural professionals will be trained over the next two years at MANAGE in Hyderabad and Chaudhury Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) in Jaipur.

The US Consul General in Hyderabad Michael Mullins said that, under the strategic partnership between the Governments of India and the United States to improve agricultural productivity in Africa, the triangular engagement will “leverage India’s experience, expertise, and resources, as well as share innovations and technologies to address food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty in the three African countries.”

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Fertiliser firms to get special bank credit of Rs 5,500 cr

New Delhi: The Government has approved a Special Banking Arrangement (SBA) for fertiliser companies against the subsidy due for the current financial year.

“The arrangement will help fertiliser companies get Rs 5,500 crore from banks as loan. Interest will be charged at the rate of 10.5 per cent. The Government will bear 8 per cent interest, while remaining has to be paid by the company,” a senior Government official told Business Line. This kind of arrangement was also made last year when Rs 5,000 crore bank loans were availed.

Later in the evening, Government sources said that the State Bank of India was not ready to lend at 10.5 per cent. “Instead, it is asking for 10.85 per cent rate of interest,” a source said while added that there will be meeting with bankers on Thursday. This is 60-day credit in lieu of the subsidy due. While the industry estimates an additional subsidy of Rs 30,000 crore in the current fiscal, the Fertiliser Ministry in September had sought Rs 12,000 crore from the Finance Ministry under SBA to clear the subsidy arrears. Now, the final arrangement is even lower than that.

The industry feels that the present arrangement will partially ease the liquidity crisis. It will help in clearing subsidy arrears for domestically produced urea in June and July, sources said. All eyes are now on the second supplementary demand for grants during the winter session of Parliament.

For fiscal 2013-14, the Government had reduced fertiliser subsidy to Rs 65,971.50 crore from the revised estimate of Rs 65,974 crore in 2012-13. Of this, the Government is expected to provide Rs 15,544 crore as subsidy for imported urea, Rs 21,000 crore for domestically produced urea and Rs 29,426 crore for decontrolled fertilisers, including di-ammonium phosphate and muriate of potash and other complexes.

Meanwhile, a senior official said the Finance Ministry was unlikely to agree to significant additional money in the second supplementary demand for grants keeping the fiscal deficit target in mind. The Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has repeatedly said that every effort will be made to keep the fiscal deficit within the budgeted target. There is already additional allocation for the petroleum sector with more expected, while revenue collection is still below the target.

However, tracking the approval of banking arrangement, shares of fertiliser companies edged up to close higher on Wednesday. Shares of Chambal Fertiliser closed higher at Rs 38.85 gaining 2.78 per cent, while Coromandel International rose 0.67 per cent to end at Rs 219.45. Shares of National Fertiliser gained 0.62 per cent to close at Rs 24.30.

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Vasan-led team heads to Japan to promote Indian ports

Chennai: Indian ports hope to work with their counterparts in Japan to increase capacity utilisation here.

G. K. Vasan, Union Shipping Minister, will lead a delegation to Japan to discuss with the Government and business community there for increased utilisation of Indian ports, especially Chennai and Ennore.

He will be in Japan from November 7 to 12 at the invitation of Akihiro Ohta, Minister of Land, Infrastructure Transport and Tourism, Japan.

The delegation members include Vishwapati Trivedi, Shipping Secretary, and M.A. Bhaskarachar, Chairman, Ennore Port Ltd (EPL). The delegation will visit ports of Yokohama and Nagoya to explore operations and technologies in these two ports. The Minister will hold discussions with Japanese funding agency JICA to fund the Outer Harbour project of VOC port, Tuticorin, according to a press release issued by EPL.

There are around 240 Japanese companies, including Toyota, Mitsubushi, Isuzu, Nissan, Toshiba and Metal One, located in and around Chennai.

The Japanese Government has also expressed interest in developing the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor, as part of the Penninsular Region Industrial Development.

Ennore port has been identified as a main logistic hub in industrial corridor development. JICA has already commenced the study, the release said.

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India, US launch agri training programme with Africa

Hyderabad: The US and India have launched the third India-US-Africa triangular agricultural training programme at the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE).

This partnership, supported by the US Government’s global hunger and food security initiative ‘Feed the Future’, aims to improve agricultural productivity and support market institutions in Kenya, Liberia, and Malawi.

A total of 180 African agricultural professionals will be trained over the next two years at MANAGE in Hyderabad and Chaudhury Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) in Jaipur.

The US Consul General in Hyderabad Michael Mullins said that, under the strategic partnership between the Governments of India and the United States to improve agricultural productivity in Africa, the triangular engagement will “leverage India’s experience, expertise, and resources, as well as share innovations and technologies to address food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty in the three African countries.”

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Bharti Airtel to acquire Warid's Congo-Brazzaville operations

Mumbai: When it couldn't forge a merger with Africa's leading asset MTN, Bharti AirtelBSE -0.81 % did the most natural thing, it settled for second best - Zain Africa. Making a combined entity with $13 billion in revenue, the deal was huge. Bankers, lawyers and telecom officials lined up to be a part of history in the making.

Analysts conjured astronomical profit figures - since the company projected a roughly one-year break-even on the Africa business. The options for Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile phone operator, at the time seemed limitless.

Three years down the line, like many businesses in recent times, things haven't quite panned out as per plan. Africa's profit is ever elusive, the $9-billion debt burden is beginning to weigh, and losses are dragging overall profits. The diversion from the Indian market has started to show. This, at a time when the Indian market appears to be taking steady steps towards a recovery.

So, when Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced an acquisition in Congo, most voices said this is a step to right some of the wrongs in recent times.

Bharti entered into an agreement with the Warid Group to fully acquire Warid Congo. The company declined to disclose financial details. While brokerage PhillipCapital (India) pegged Warid's revenue at $80-90 million, industry experts estimated the acquisition to be worth $100-120 million ( 620-750 crore).

Earlier this year, Bharti had acquired Warid's Uganda operation, and back in 2010, it had bought a majority stake in the company's Bangladesh telecom business. The latest acquisition will result in Bharti Airtel leading in the Congo market by number of subscribers - 2.6 million post acquisition - and taking out Warid, the number three operator that had been raising competitive intensity by reducing prices in the market.

"Warid was desperate enough to sell, with an agreement of a staggered payment," a banker, who asked not to be named, said, as being number three in a four-player market is a bad situation to be in. For the transaction, Bharti did not empanel a negotiating banker; its in-house team managed the deal. A note by brokerage Goldman Sachs said that these "small acquisitions will help reduce competition, improve scale and could help Bharti leverage more on scale benefits."

In its recently-announced quarterly result, Bharti Airtel reported Africa revenue at $1.1 billion ( 6,860 crore) and it is yet to make a net profit. A person familiar with financial details said, "Warid Congo is itself a loss-making entity, so there will be profit dilution in the first year for Bharti." However, with pricing power and scale in Congo now in the hands of Bharti Airtel, the acquisition should make the combined entity stronger, he added.

A banker who had worked with Bharti at the time of the Zain deal said, "The Zain deal did not give Bharti the kind of scale needed to make economies work."

Bharti Airtel had hoped to transpose the India model and leverage its learning here in Africa. It took with it partners like IBM to deploy technology; it has an uncompleted plan to separate the tower assets. Bharti also took price wars that the Indian market saw between 2008 and 2012.

Unfortunately, the lay of the land was too different in Africa. Customer loyalty was harder to break. Local regulations made ownership changes and bringing in managing partners for towers, for example, unfeasible. Not only was there a power problem in Africa, but transporting fuel to keep off-grid towers running was an additional expense for Bharti.

Privately, top Bharti executives admit that Africa is taking more time than expected to turn around, but have stood by their decision to have entered the continent. "Strategically, Bharti is hoping to get optimal scale now," said another banker. It had initiated talks to buy Essar Group's Yu Telecom in Kenya, but those have not fructified so far.

Manoj Kohli, managing director and CEO (international), Bharti Airtel is known to have said the company will consider a string of pearls acquisition approach in Africa, meaning more small acquisitions are likely to be lined up.

The company recently received cash from the Qatar Foundation and is expected to get more fund infusion, filling its coffers for more buys. The company has also said that it may be interested in buying some assets in India, even though analysts suggest there is none truly suited to Bharti Airtel.

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Videocon-BPRL venture strikes oil in Brazil block

Videocon has stated discovery is of more than 200 net feet of high-quality pay in pre-salt reservoir, with a total hydrocarbon column now established at 460 feet in BM-C-30
New Delhi: Videocon Industries on Tuesday announced a fresh discovery at an appraisal oil well at its Brazil block, BM-C-30, in which IBV Brasil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharat PetroResources (BPRL) and Videocon Industries, has a 25 per cent working interest.

BPRL is the foreign arm of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL). In a statement to the BSE exchange, Videocon stated the discovery was of “more than 200 net feet of high-quality pay in a pre-salt reservoir, with a total hydrocarbon column now established at 460 ft”.

This was announced in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s third quarter operations report. US-based Anadarko owns 30 per cent in the block, as its operator, Devon Energy Corp, holds 25 per cent. SK do Brasil has another 20 per cent.

Pradeep N Dhoot, the Dubai-based director of the global exploration and production business of Videocon Hydrocarbon Holdings Ltd, said: “The notable success of the appraisal well has added to the hydrocarbon resources already indicated in the said block and is a further addition to the discoveries in our Brazilian concessions in the Sergipe Basin and Espirito Santos.”

Videocon’s stocks were down 1.1 per cent to Rs 177.35 at the BSE on Tuesday.

The Indian joint venture had acquired stake in the block from Canadian major EnCana Corporation, for about Rs 1,300 crore in 2007. Soon after, oil was discovered in the Wahoo field by Brazilian major Petrobas.

Recently, the company had announced a significant oil discovery in an ultra-deep water block off Brazil, where BPCL and Videocon hold 40 per cent interest. Petrobas, the operator in this block, had confirmed the Farfan-1 oil discovery in the Segipe-Alagoas basin last month.

Andarko estimates the Wahoo region shows similar characteristics to the nearby Jubarte 1-ESS-103A well, Brazil's first producing pre-salt field, having recently achieved reported initial rates of 18,000 barrels a day of light oil.

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India's Mars Orbiter launched successfully

New Delhi: India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also known as Mangalyaan, lifted off successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 2.38 pm on Tuesday. It is India’s first interplanetary mission to planet Mars and if successful, would make Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) the fourth space agency to reach Mars after Roscosmos, NASA and ESA. The project, costing Rs 450 crore (US$ 72.6 million), is the cheapest and low cost mission to Mars and at the same time establishes India’s self-reliance in the area of space technology in the world.

It is important to note here that this was the first time that an Indian spacecraft had been sent out of the Earth’s gravity. The mission would demonstrate the technological capability to reach Mars orbit and carry out experiments. The Polar Space Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C25 placed the Mars Orbiter spacecraft very precisely into an elliptical orbit around Earth. The spacecraft is set to travel for 300 days, reaching Mars orbit in 2014. The instruments on board are aimed at taking 360 degree panoramic pictures of Mars and asses minerals on the planet. Additionally, the instruments will assess what kind of atmosphere once existed on Mars and the level of water on the planet. However, the most important experiment is to check the presence of methane that can indicate what kind of life existed on Mars, if at all.

Overall, 58 space missions have been planned for the 12th Plan period–33 satellite missions and 25 launch vehicle missions. Interestingly, the two important highlights for this mission were that it was the longest PSLV mission (44 minutes) while the previous missions lasted for around 18 minutes, and this was the silver jubilee lift-off of the PSLV. Out of the 25 launches, 24 had been successful in a row.

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India-France trade can take a quantum leap: Exim Bank

For instance, India can supply aircraft parts to France, says the study
New Delhi: Bilateral trade ties between India and France can improve dramatically if both countries identify the potential sectors of trade, according to a study by the Export-Import Bank of India.

“To enhance India’s share in the import basket of France, the sixth largest global importer, the strategy would entail identification of potential items of India’s exports to France,” the study, Potential for Enhancing India’s Trade With France, noted.

For instance, India can supply aircraft parts to France. Globally, India exported around $1.7 billion worth of aircraft parts in 2012, but the exports to France were worth only $37 million, the study pointed out.

Ditto with petroleum products. While France’s imports from India has risen sharply from $2.2 million in 2001 to $1.4 billion in 2012, accounting for 3.8% of the former’s imports, there is enormous potential to further enhance such exports to France.

Total trade between the two countries grew by almost five times to $10.2 billion in 2012 from $2.2 billion in 2001. While France’s exports to India rose from $910 million in 2001 to $4.2 billion in 2012, its imports from India also improved significantly from $1.3 billion to $5.9 billion in 2012, according to the study.

India’s ranking as one of France’s significant trading partners is much lower than the latter’s share of 1.7% of India’s global exports in 2012. France is India’s 14th largest trading partner.

India has gained considerable visibility in only three main items of France’s global imports - apparels and accessories, leather goods, and textiles. However, India’s share is marginal in the case of other major import items of France.

“Some of these items are amongst India’s leading export items in the global market; this highlights India’s export capability of these items,” said Eximh Bank.

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Suven Life gets 2 product patents for NCEs

Hyderabad: Suven Life Sciences Ltd has been granted two product patents, one each from the US and Japan, for its New Chemical Entities (NCEs) for the treatment of disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases.

The granted claims of the patents include the class of selective 5-HT compounds discovered by Suven and were being developed as therapeutic agents.

“They are useful in the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Huntington’s disease, Parkinson and Schizophrenia.

With these new patents, Suven has 15 granted patents from the US and seven granted patents from Japan. Products out of these inventions may be out-licensed at various phases of clinical development like at Phase-I or Phase-II.

“We are very pleased by the grant of these patents to Suven for our pipeline of molecules in CNS (central nervous system) arena that are being developed for cognitive disorders with high unmet medical need with huge market potential globally,” Venkat Jasti, CEO of Suven, said in a release on Tuesday.

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India's Mars Orbiter launched successfully

New Delhi: India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also known as Mangalyaan, lifted off successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 2.38 pm on Tuesday. It is India’s first interplanetary mission to planet Mars and if successful, would make Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) the fourth space agency to reach Mars after Roscosmos, NASA and ESA. The project, costing Rs 450 crore (US$ 72.6 million), is the cheapest and low cost mission to Mars and at the same time establishes India’s self-reliance in the area of space technology in the world.

It is important to note here that this was the first time that an Indian spacecraft had been sent out of the Earth’s gravity. The mission would demonstrate the technological capability to reach Mars orbit and carry out experiments. The Polar Space Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C25 placed the Mars Orbiter spacecraft very precisely into an elliptical orbit around Earth. The spacecraft is set to travel for 300 days, reaching Mars orbit in 2014. The instruments on board are aimed at taking 360 degree panoramic pictures of Mars and asses minerals on the planet. Additionally, the instruments will assess what kind of atmosphere once existed on Mars and the level of water on the planet. However, the most important experiment is to check the presence of methane that can indicate what kind of life existed on Mars, if at all.

Overall, 58 space missions have been planned for the 12th Plan period–33 satellite missions and 25 launch vehicle missions. Interestingly, the two important highlights for this mission were that it was the longest PSLV mission (44 minutes) while the previous missions lasted for around 18 minutes, and this was the silver jubilee lift-off of the PSLV. Out of the 25 launches, 24 had been successful in a row.

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NMDC to set up pilot gold processing plant in Tanzania

Kolkata: In its maiden gold mine venture, NMDC, India’s largest iron ore miner, is setting up a pilot plant in Tanzania for processing the yellow metal at an investment of around Rs 50 crore.

In February last year, the East African country had granted NMDC four gold mining leases for an area of 38.83 sq. km for 10 years.

After mining part of the area for more than a year, the company is setting up the pilot plant, which will be upgraded to a full-fledged gold processing facility in the near future, a senior official told Business Line. The plant would be able to process 100 tonnes per hour of gold bearing ores, added the official, who did not want to be named.

It has also been pursuing untapped gold-bearing assets in Australia on some 560 sq. km through its majority controlled Legacy Iron Ore Ltd.

However, NMDC’s main focus is on iron ore exploration in Australia rather than gold or coal, sources said. Legacy Iron Ore said fieldwork at its Mt. Bevan iron ore project in Western Australia targeting the so-called direct shipping ore would begin this week. Direct shipping ore, or DSO, can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces.

Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, NMDC has also been trying to explore gold assets.

Decade-long efforts
NMDC’s exploratory efforts in the north-west part of Tanzania for more than a decade are going to bear fruit now. Between 2000 and 2003, it had carried out gold exploration in north-west Tanzania at a cost of around Rs 7 crore.

It identified rich deposits of gold in Siga Hill area in Kahama district and Bulyang'Ombe area in Nzega district. The company has recently been granted retention licence at Siga Hill and prospecting licence renewal for Masabi East area.

The NMDC board had decided to take up the mining project in Bulyang'Ombe I and II fields first for development. Initial studies revealed that Bulyang'Ombe I had a prospect for good concentration where gold values were, although erratic, shown a maximum of 7.2 gm per tonne (g/t), which is close to the top quality standard of 8 to 10g/t set by the World Gold Council.

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World Trade Centre to be set up in Chandigarh

Chandigarh: New York-based World Trade Centre Association (WTCA), part of the global network of WTCs across the globe - covering New York, Dubai, Chicago, Amsterdam and 320 other locations - will establish a WTC Chandigarh to connect Indian MSMEs with their international counterparts across industry domains.

This was announced by Eric Dahl, CEO, World Trade Centre Association, in Chandigarh recently during an interaction with industry members at the PHD Chamber.

Addressing the industrialists, Dahl said, "WTC Chandigarh will be developed as a Grade A+ state-of-the-art facility encompassing office spaces, conference facilities, auditorium, retail and exhibition area."

WTC Chandigarh will ensure that the legacy of entrepreneurship in Punjab is taken forward by connecting MSMEs to their international counterparts across industry domains. Also on offer will be a venture accelerator centre (V@C) to support a large start-up segment in the state. This will be achieved in conjunction with various trade bodies and chambers of commerce already operating in the region, especially the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, added Dahl.

Calling it a step towards empowering the large entrepreneur base in Punjab, Dalip Sharma, regional director, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, committed his organisation's support in the effort to promote trade and business in Punjab and the northern region.

"The timing of the announcement to establish WTC Chandigarh could not have been more apt, when Punjab is gearing up to hold its first-ever Investment Promotion Summit on December 9-10. The two-day event will host business heads and representatives of more than 2,000 companies from across the country and even abroad," said Sharma. "Together, these will help bring in lots of investment to Punjab."

WTCs across the world are known as symbols of growth and prosperity serving the local region. Each WTC connects its tenants, members and partners to the rest of the globe through this trade network. SMEs, start-ups and corporates have all benefited by this reciprocity.

"We propose to establish WTC Chandigarh in association with Spire, a leading infrastructure developer from Delhi NCR, while the local partner in the project is IFM," said Dahl.

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Three MSMEs to receive Rs 42 crore from UK govt

The companies receiving the UK Samridhi funds are Glocal Healthcare System (Rs 24.6 cr), Gramco Infratech (Rs 14.7 cr) and Shikhar Dairy (Rs 1.9 cr)
New Delhi: Three Indian MSMEs will receive £4.2 million (Rs 42.38 crore) from the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) for expansion of their businesses, which are related directly or indirectly to the lives of poor people.

The companies receiving the UK Samridhi funds are Glocal Healthcare System (Rs 24.6 crore), Gramco Infratech (Rs 14.7 crore) and Shikhar Dairy (Rs 1.9 crore), according to the website of the Federation of Indian Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (FISME).

Through the Rs 400 crore (£40m) Samridhi Fund, DFID will extend support to the businesses which directly affect the poor as producers, consumers or workers, over seven years, across eight low-income Indian states.

DFID, in association with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), has envisaged the creation of the Samridhi Fund to provide capital to social enterprises that can deliver both financial and social returns, in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

The primary focus of the fund is to invest in the MSME sector and provide financial assistance to companies that have projects with a developmental impact. The fund, managed by Sidbi Venture Capital, is the first in India to focus on development projects in low-income states.

Glocal Healthcare System will use the money to operate a chain of affordable hospitals benefitting 1.2 million rural patients in low-income states by 2020; Gramco Infratech will build agricultural warehouses to provide storage and value added services to more than 3,000 farmers every season in MP; and Shikhar Dairy will set up a professionally managed dairy that will allow 300 landless rural poor to own cows and a dairy in the Jhansi district of UP.

Funding for three other businesses in India is being finalised and is to be announced shortly.

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Indo-Japan trade set to grow further

Hyderabad: Indo-Japan bilateral trade is set for further growth with increased focus on areas such as agriculture, food processing and bio-technology, according to Masaki Takaoka, deputy mayor of Miyoshi City.

Indo-Japan bilateral trade reached $ 18.61 billion last fiscal against $18.43 billion in the previous year, he said at a seminar on ‘Business Opportunities in Agriculture in Japan’, organised by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce ad Industries here today.

Exports
India’s exports to Japan were $6.1 billion and imports from Japan were $12.51 billion, he said, adding that India’s primary exports to Japan were petroleum products, iron ore, gems and jewellery, marine products, oil meals, ferroalloys and inorganic/organic chemicals.

India’s primary imports from Japan have been machinery, transport equipment, iron and steel, electronic goods, organic chemicals and machine tools.

“Japanese FDI into India has increased to $2,786 million in 2012, showing an increase of 19.8 per cent over the previous year,” he pointed out.

Takaoka said: “Japan is the largest bilateral donor to India. Japanese Official Development Assistance has been supporting India’s efforts for accelerated economic development particularly in the infrastructure sector. Cumulative commitment of ODA till March 2013 reached ¥3807.763 billion on commitment basis.”

The Japanese delegation included Katsuaki Hirata, Chairman and Director of Hirata Farm, Rama Bhadra, President, ASA Bhanu Japan Centre, Tsuyoshi Uesugi, Advisor of Miyoshi International Relations Association, Takayoshi Takehara, Deputy Chairman, Miyoshi City Council, Hiroyuki Kohmura, Associate Professor, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Hiroshima Prefectural University, Toshihiro Tominoi, Executive Director, Japan Agricultural Cooperative and Kosho Toyoshima Manager, Industrial Development Department, Miyoshi city.

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IIMC and Queensland University of Technology sign International Cooperation Agreement for training & capacity building

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi and Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia have signed an an International Cooperation Agreement to collaborate in academic programmes and in frontier areas of research in Media and Communication. The agreement was signed by Shri Bimal Julka, IIMC Chairman and Secretary I&B Ministry and Prof. Peter Coaldrake, Vice Chancellor, Queensland University of Technology here today.

The agreement envisages bringing ICT in academic programmes in a significant way. Both the institutes have agreed for the development of joint venture projects and also for opening avenues for developing a collaborative doctoral programme to benefit students and faculty. The bilateral cooperation agreement also envisages organization of joint academic and scientific activities, such as courses, conferences, seminars, symposia or lectures, exchange of staff and students and exchange of materials and publications of common interest.

One of the core areas of the agreement is to facilitate Training of senior and mid-level Indian Information Service officers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), especially in use of modern technology and social media for providing information about government policies to stakeholders. The objective is to ensure skill development of IIS officers in critical areas of the changing media landscape.

This is the first agreement signed by IIMC seeking international collaboration and partnership with a foreign university. The agreement aims to facilitate a two-way value added training and capacity building programme in the field of Mass Media & Communication.

This cooperation agreement shall be valid for five (5) years from the date of signing. It shall be reviewed six (6) months prior to expiry and may be renewed for a further term by mutual agreement.

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BHEL bags Rs 2,500-cr contract from Neyveli Lignite

New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged its first order in the power business sector for the current fiscal. The power sector constitutes 80 per cent of the public sector company’s total business. The company has bagged a Rs 2,569-crore contract for supplying steam generator package to Neyveli Lignite for two thermal units of 500 MW each. These machines will be set up for the 1,000-MW thermal power project in Neyveli, Tamil Nadu. This order was bagged amidst stiff international competitive bidding. This development comes at a time when the performance of eight core industrial sectors recorded a growth of eight per cent in September. In the past, Neyveli placed orders to BHEL for its 2x500 MW Tuticorin, 2x250 MW Neyveli and 2x125 MW Barsingsar projects, all after international competitive bidding. “With this order, the customer has reposed confidence in the company’s technological excellence as also its capability in executing power projects of this magnitude,” a statement issued by BHEL said. As on June 30, 2013, the company’s order book was around Rs 1.08 lakh crore. It got total orders worth Rs 31,650 crore in 2012-13, an increase of 43 per cent.

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IL&FS Engg bags Rs 675-cr deal

Hyderabad: IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd has received a letter of award from Neelkamal Realtor Tower Pvt Ltd for the construction of ‘Orchid Heights’, a residential project at Byculla in Mumbai.

The Rs 675-crore contract, for two high-rise buildings, is to be completed in 39 months. With this project, IL&FS will make its entry into the Mumbai construction arena.

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Uttar Pradesh government gets investment proposals worth Rs 9,608 crores

Lucknow: The efforts of the Uttar Pradesh government to attract investments have started bearing some fruits, with the state getting fresh investments in the industrial sector to the tune of Rs 9,600 crores since April 2012. This is apart from the investment which is coming in real estate, construction, power plants, PSU's, roads and expressway projects.

The Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner, Alok Ranjan said that investments worth Rs 1,519 crores has already been made by various groups and another Rs 8,089 crores is under various stages of implementation. Together the total investment would amount to Rs 9,608 crores.

Among those who have made fresh investments are Godfrey Phillips in Meerut, Wave Industries in Saharanpur, Superhouse Ltd in Noida, DCM Shriram in Meerut, Parle Agro in Ghaziabad, Ultratech Cement, Shahi Exports, Moser Baer Solar.

Alok Ranjan said that two big investment proposals of Rs 900 crores are also on the verge of being finalised.

Sampraksh group proposes to invest Rs 700 crores in Kanpur Dehat to set up a food processing plant.

PTC Industries has also submitted a proposal to invest Rs 200 crores to set up a manufacturing unit at Lucknow.

Managing Director, PTC Industries, Sachin Agarwal said that they have already tied up funds and arranged land for setting up the unit and are waiting for the go ahead from the government. PTC Industries would manufacture components for super critical applications in power plants, turbines, ships, nuclear plants etc. Agarwal said that it would be world class modern plant which will be set up in Lucknow and most of the components manufactured would be exported.

He said that they were confident of setting up of the plant within two years and have already arranged 20 acresof land for the project.

Apart from these projects, the Akhilesh Yadav government is in the final stages of setting up of an IT Park in Lucknow for which several leading names have shown interest. The government is also taking steps towards awarding the Lucknow-Agra Expressway contract.

At the recently held CII Invest North 2013 in August at New Delhi, the government had also received preliminary proposals for setting up projects worth Rs 22,000 crores in diverse sectors like consumer goods, solar power, auto parts, sewage treatment plant and education. Alok Ranjan said that these projects were also being fastracked and the concerned groups have been asked to submit detailed project reports.

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CAG becomes member of UN audit panel

New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India Shashi Kant Sharma has been elected to the coveted United Nations Board of Auditors for a six-year term. India defeated the Philippines with a convincing margin in the election to the panel. India got the support of China and Pakistan in the elections.

A statement from the CAG’s office said out of the 186 votes cast, India got 124 votes and the Philippines got 62.

India will replace China beginning July 1, 2014. The CAG of India will now get access for audit of the UN organisations, including the UN Headquarters. “He, along with other two members of the board will also be responsible for audit of UN bodies like UN Peacekeeping Operations, UN Development Programme, UNICEF, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Environment Programme, UN Human Settlements Programme, UN Women and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,” the release said.

It added that Sharma took keen interest for the post and canvassed the Ambassadors and High Commissioners and briefed them about the Indian Auditors. India was earlier in the Board for six years from 1993.

The United Nations Board of Auditors audits the accounts of the United Nations organisation and its funds and reports its findings and recommendations to the UN General Assembly through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. The Board of Auditors is completely independent and is solely responsible for the conduct of the audit.

The General Assembly appoints three members to the Board of Auditors. The members of the Board have joint responsibility for the audits. The present members of the Board of Auditors are from Britain, Tanzania and China.

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Kerala to build ties with Victoria Govt

Thiruvananthapuram: The Australian province of Victoria will send a high-level delegation to Kerala in February 2014 to look at ways of boosting mutual cooperation on various fronts.

This will be the first time it engages Kerala, says Howard Ronaldson, Secretary, Department of Development, Business and Innovation, State of Victoria.

BUSINESS SESSION
He announced this at a session organised here by hosts Group of Technology Companies (GTech), industry body of software companies in Kerala.

Ronaldson is leading a Victorian Government delegation on an exploratory visit here. During the two-day visit, it will meet with senior officials here to discuss the road map for cooperation. “This is expected to assist in the two-way flow of goods, services, people, ideas, capital and culture,” Ronaldson said. P.H. Kurian, Principal Secretary-Industry and IT, Kerala, hoped to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Victorian Government early next year.

“This would put on fast track various engagements that we have initiated between the two States,” Kurian added.

V.K. Mathews, Chairman, GTech, observed that both States stand to gain from the collaboration. On the one hand, companies in Victoria will benefit from the quality of talent and innovative solutions on offer here.

Anoop P. Ambika, Secretary, GTech, also spoke during the business session in which at least 24 IT companies from Technopark were represented.

The visit by the Victorian delegation was a follow-up to an earlier visit of a Kerala IT delegation led by GTech to various Australian States early this year.

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Pharma market valued at Rs 72,069 crore: CII-PwC report

Mumbai: The Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) is currently valued at Rs 72,069 crore as against Rs 65,654 crore in 2012.

Though the market value has seen an increase, the sector overall has experienced a slowdown with its growth going down to 9.8% from 16.6% in 2012. This slowdown can be attributed to the new drug pricing policy and the regulatory interventions over the last year, according to the CII-PwC report, 'India Pharma Inc; Changing Landscape of Indian Pharma Industry.' The report released at the CII Pharma Summit in Mumbai on Thursday.

The industry is witnessing additional challenges like delays in clinical trial approvals, uncertainties over the FDI policy, a uniform code for sales and marketing practices and compulsory licensing. The slowdown is also evident from the number of new product launches, which has gone down from approximately 1900 in year 2010 to 1700 in year 2012. The contribution of chronic therapies to the IPM has gone up from 27% in 2010 to 30% in 2013. Chronic therapies (cardio, gastro, CNS and anti-diabetic) have outperformed the market for the past four years and are growing at a rate of 14%, faster than the acute therapies (anti-infectives, respiratory, pain and gynaec) which grew at 9.6%. This essentially translated in an overall slowdown in 2013, highlighted the report.

Dr Rajiv Modi, Chairman - CII Pharma Summit 2013 & CII Gujarat State Council and chairman and Managing Director, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, said, "India has had an efficient pharmaceutical industry, which has been making affordable drugs not just for the Indian markets but has also been exporting them to the world. The sector is currently experiencing slow growth. Henceforth, both the Indian and foreign companies operating in India will have to device suitable strategies in order to be in the top 10 global markets by 2020."

Sujay Shetty, leader - pharma and life sciences, PwC India said, "The economic environment in India is tougher now than ever before. While pharma companies focus their attention on measures to combat the growth slowdown, they will need to work with the government and other stakeholders to discuss and resolve regulatory challenges. Resolving the impasse with clinical trials is critical both for patients and India's ambition to innovate."

According to the report, India is perceived as an attractive destination for clinical trials but has been marred with genuine concerns. Clinical trials are an inherent part of the drug development process and cannot be dispensed with. The continuing search for new therapies and cost-effective alternatives to existing therapies will be realised in practice only after comprehensive clinical trials.

The clinical research industry in India needs to work closely with the government to create a regulatory mechanism that allows scientifically sound and ethically correct trials to be conducted so that the benefits of clinical trials can be brought to patients in India.

The industry is also facing stricter regulations on manufacturing and quality practices in the domestic as well as he international markets. Indian companies will have to raise their compliance to US FDA regulations as they drive their major share of exports from the US market.

The implementation of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy 2012 by the Government of India has resulted in margins erosion from 20% and 10% to 16% and 8% for retailers and stockists, respectively. This decrease in the stockist margins led to a significant uncertainty among many stockists regarding the feasibility of staying in business due to lower profitability post the margin reduction.

The report released at the CII Pharma Summit in Mumbai added that innovation facilitated by technological advancements is an integral part of the pharmaceutical industry and all the leading Indian companies are investing hugely in research and development (R&D). The report suggested a convergence of four key technologies called SMAC to drive innovation: Social Networking, Mobile Computing, Cloud Computing & Analytics.

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Germany farm gear maker to turn India an export hub

New Delhi: German farm equipment maker Lemken GmbH, which specialises in pre-harvesting implements such as reversible ploughs, plans to make India its export hub to cater to markets in Asia and Africa.

Lemken, which set up a manufacturing unit in Nagpur with an investment of Rs 60 crore last year, expects to start exports to south China and African countries from next year, said Anthony Van Der Ley, CEO, Lemken GmbH.

The 232-year-old German firm also plans to set up a small design team of about eight engineers in India taking advantage of the engineering skills here to customise its products for the local market.

“We are looking at India from a long-term perspective and the market here holds a major potential,” Ley said.

In its first year of operations, Lemken India sold over 350 hydraulic reversible ploughs, which cost around Rs 1.8 lakh each, almost three times higher than mechanical ploughs. Lemken’s equipment is used along with tractors.

The company is targeting to sell 1,000 ploughs next year and also plans to introduce other equipment such as disc harrow, which is used to cut, mix and mulch soil and seed drills among others.

“We use a highly specialised alloy boron steel that enhances the life of our equipment to a great extent, making it more expensive than conventional ones,” said Arvind Kumar, MD and CEO of Lemken India Agro Equipment Pvt Ltd. Currently, Lemken’s products are sold in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, while the company is looking at other States such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

Kumar said the Government should look at extending subsidy, being offered to farm equipments, to technology-intensive farm implements, such as hydraulic reversible ploughs to give a push farm mechanisation.

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India could be major manufacturing hub for JC Bamford Excavators

London: UK-based construction equipment maker JC Bamford Excavators Ltd is set to expand its product portfolio in India to cater to the domestic and export market.

The company, the world’s largest manufacturer of backhoe loaders, is adding manufacturing capability with a view to making India a major manufacturing hub for fully-built equipment, engines and parts. India has emerged as a strategic location for the potential it holds, as well as to serve markets such as South Africa and Malaysia, said Anthony Bamford, Chairman of JC Bamford.

“India accounts for a significant chunk of the business and this is expected to go up as infrastructure growth picks up,” he said.

New plants
As its new plants get commissioned in Rajasthan next year, the company is looking at rolling out more products from India. Apart from backhoe loaders, where it is the market leader, JCB India manufactures excavators and compactors. One out of two construction equipment sold in India is made by JCB, according to the company. It plans to widen it range, specifically in telescopic handlers, forklifts and excavators.

Referring to the potential for construction equipment in India, Bamford said the nation’s infrastructure segment is facing challenging times as the economy is passing through a tough cycle. But there is huge potential for growth. From a global investor perspective, Bamford said there seems to be some vacuum in terms of overall policies and their implementation in India. While the Finance Minister and the RBI have done well, there could be a phase of tepid growth due to elections next year, he added.

“At JCB, we are optimistic the Indian economy and the construction sector will get better. While most economies around the world struggled during the 2008-09 global economic crisis, India handled it the best,” he said.

JCB India expects construction, road building, earth moving and waste management to drive demand for its equipment.

Bamford expressed confidence JCB will grow at a higher pace than the country’s economy.

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India’s first integrated national transport portal launched single window application to plan seamless bus travel- Shri Oscar Fernandes

New Delhi: Shri Oscar Fernandes, Minister of Road Transport & Highways launched India’s first integrated National Transport Portal “www.busindia.com” here today. Speaking on the occasion Shri Fernandes said busindia.com will address the need of a single window application, like IRCTC, through which users can seamlessly plan their bus travel including stop overs, changing routes, multi-trips and round-trips. He said with this launch that busindia.com now becomes the largest online bus ticketing system in the world. Now bus travel will become a whole new experience for people all over the country and even people outside India, he added. This will go a long way and will set an example to several other initiatives that bear potential to implement online services in the G2C space, the Minister added.

The Minister stated that India is a land of a vast middle class and this puts India in a great spot of advantage globally progressing as a nation. In India trains are widely used and the IRCTC website has over 55 lakh hits per day with over 2 lakh unique visitors and over 1 lakh tickets booked, he said. The number of bus users is at least six times more in number than the ones that use train services. This shows the depth and potential of connectivity bus services has in India.

While the site itself is intuitive and easy to book on a PC and even a mobile device, Road Transport Ministry is constantly working towards making travel in India more pleasurable and more integrated for commuters. There are plans of integrating busindia.com with IRCTC in the future wherein people can combine their train and bus journeys together and in the process travel far and wide in the country. It will then be a very unique experience for everyone.

Congratulating everyone involved in this process. Shri. Oscar hoped for more such initiatives and innovations that keep Transport Sector ahead of others , effective and efficient. The Minister commended the efforts of Radiant Info and Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) in identifying gap and addressing it with the launch of busindia.com. Radiant Info is a name in the Transport sector with credentials and success in implementing online ticketing solutions to several of State Transport Units is well known and their effort in this area is.

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NRI remittances touch a new high at $6.5 bn

Mumbai: Remittances by non-resident Indians (NRIs) saw a 27 per cent jump at $ 6.5 billion (Rs 39,991.9 crore in present valuations) between January and September this year, as against 7 per cent growth during the same period last year.

UAE Exchange, the Abu Dhabi-based money transfer firm which manages 10 per cent of the total remittances in India, has witnessed a sharp increase in the money flow in September.

The festive season is expected to boost the flows even further. “We have seen a sharp spike in remittances, as expatriates took advantage of record low levels on the rupee,” said Promoth Manghat, vice-president, global operations, UAE Exchange.

Festivals such as Eid, Onam, Diwali and Christmas fall in the period between September and December.

RBI’s special window to attract dollar deposit flows, valid till November 30, has also led to high foreign currency remittances.

Strengthening of the US dollar against most other currencies, particularly the Indian rupee, is another key driver. “The festive season will also add at least 10-12 per cent to the spurt in global transaction volumes to India, which we expect to touch a record $8.5 billion in 2013. This will increase our market share further to 12 per cent of the total remittance volume of $71 billion into the country, as estimated by the World Bank.”

Average transaction volume has risen by about 27 per cent this year and average transaction size has risen by 7 per cent.

Kerala’s remittance revenue has touched Rs 75,000 crore, surpassing its annual target in the first six months of the year.

The state contributes the largest share of remittance flows, with 33 per cent of total volumes, to UAE Exchange.k

UAE Exchange has the largest network of branches with 700 outlets in 30 countries. It plans to take the number to 1,000 in the next three years.

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IRDA allows insurers more flexibility to invest

Mumbai: Insurance companies will now have more leeway to invest in sectors such as IT and pharma. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has increased the sector specific exposure limit for investments by insurers from 15 per cent to 20 per cent of their total investment.

Hitherto, insurers, both life and non-life, were permitted to take an exposure in a specific sector up to 15 per cent of their investments (which includes debt and equity), with the exception of banking and financial services where the limit is 25 per cent and infrastructure where there is no exposure limit.

According to IRDA investment norms, at any point of time, insurers are permitted to have excess weightage beyond 15 per cent in only one industrial sector (except BFSI and infrastructure sectors).In a circular issued on Wednesday, the regulator observed that the industrial weightage vis-a-vis the benchmark indices is dynamic and at present the IT industry contributes more than 15 per cent to the benchmark indices. As the weightage keeps on changing from time to time, the regulator said it has decided to give general permission to have a further exposure of 5 per cent in one industrial sector (not applicable to BFSI).

“This was a long pending request from the industry. We will be now able to allocate more funds to other sectors such as IT and pharma, which have been performing very well,” said the chief investment officer of a private life insurer.

For raising the investments in a specific sector, insurers are required to take prior permission from their board.

IRDA also relaxed norms for fixed deposit investments in the promoter group of insurance companies.

“Considering the representations from the industry and the Life Insurance Council, we have decided to permit fixed deposits, as stated in the regulations, in promoter group scheduled banks within the 5 per cent limit prescribed for Promoter Group subject to the overall limits,” said the regulator.

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Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy (PPP) for pharmaceutical central public sector enterprises

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved the Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy (PPP), for a period of five years.

The renewal of the PPP aims at ensuring optimum utilization of the installed capacity of the pharma CPSEs. It would not only provide necessary fillip in reviving these CPSEs, which are ailing but also ensure availability of quality medicines at low prices to the masses besides ensuring drug security of the nation.

The salient features of the Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy (PPP), are as follows:

i) Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy in respect of 103 medicines would be valid for a period of five years from the date of issue of orders by Department of Pharmaceuticals.

ii) Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy will extend only to Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) under the administrative control of Department of Pharmaceuticals such as Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL), Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited (BCPL), Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Limited (KAPL) and Rajasthan Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (RDPL) and their subsidiaries where Government of India owns 51% or above shares.

iii) This would be applicable to purchases by Central Government departments, their Public Sector Undertakings, and Autonomous Bodies, etc. This would also be applicable to purchase of medicines by State Governments under Health Programmes funded by Government of India such as the National Rural Health Mission etc.

iv) The pricing of the products would be done by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) using the cost based formula, as mentioned in the Drugs Price Control Order, 95. A uniform discount of 16% would be extended to all products. All the taxes, whatsoever, would have to be passed on to buyers.

v) Annual revision of prices would be linked to Wholesale Price Index as per provisions contained in Drugs Prices Control Order, 2013.

vi) The procuring entity would purchase from pharma CPSEs and their subsidiaries subject to their meeting Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) norms as per Schedule 'M' of the Drugs & Cosmetic Rules.

vii) In case pharma CPSEs and their subsidiaries fail to supply the medicines, the procuring entity would be at liberty to make purchases from other manufacturers. If the pharma CPSEs or their subsidiaries fail to perform as per the purchase order, they would also be subject to payment of liquidated damages or any other penalty as per the terms of the contract.

viii) The list of medicines may be reviewed and revised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals as per requirement.

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India Inc raises Rs 1.70 lakh crore in first half of the current fiscal

Mumbai: Indian corporates raised Rs1.70 lakh crore through commercial papers (CPs) during the first half of the current fiscal. A total of 169 issuers raised this amount, which was down 15% from Rs 2.01 lakh crore raised by 184 issuers in comparable period of the previous fiscal, a report by Prime Database, the country's premier database on primary capital market, noted.

CPs are unsecured money market instruments issued to raise short-term funds with maturity period of less than one year. According to Pranav Haldea, MD, Prime, fund raising through CPs, which had witnessed a lot of buoyancy in the last two years, nearly dried up after RBI in mid-July raised the lending rates by 200 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point) under the marginal standing facility, which is a penal lending rate.

"This had pushed up the short-term rates by more than 300 basis points, making it unviable for companies to borrow from the markets," Haldea said. The subsequent easing of short-term rates has again led to companies going to the CP market in place of higher-cost borrowings from banks, the report said. "Funds raised through CP, which were at Rs 36,702 crore in June but fell to Rs 29,520 crore in July and further to just Rs 7,652 crore in August, saw a reversal of trend in September with Rs 18,684 crore being raised," he said.

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Scania sets up assembly plant in India

New Delhi: Sweden's Scania Commercial Vehicles has set up an assembly plant in India to manufacture about 2,500 heavy haulage trucks besides 1,000 inter-city buses and coaches annually at a factory near Bangalore. Currently the localisation is 18% for trucks and 100% for bus bodies, the company said, adding that initial investments will be Rs 250 crore.

The facility will serve as the company's head office and centre for all commercial operations . The operations will consist of final assembly of trucks with bodywork and building of complete coaches along with a service workshop and a central parts warehouse.

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Railway Ministry sets up High Speed Rail Corp.

New Delhi: The Railway Ministry has formed a High Speed Rail Corporation, which will evaluate ways to implement high-speed train projects in India.

Incidentally, this is not the first such body announced by the Ministry. Earlier, the Ministry had announced formation of a High Speed Railway Authority to do a similar task. According to Ministry officials, both organisations will co-exist.

“The two institutions will co-exist. HSRA will be under the Ministry of Railways to form standards on ticketing, tracks, rolling stock, while HSRC will be under Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd and will be an institution that will do ground level work,” said Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar. Kumar also added that HSRA is a medium to set technology standard, “but we need not wait for HSRA, as we have Railway Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), a body which sets such standards.”

However, an official press release of Railway Ministry stated that HSRC (and not HSRA) would undertake project activities such as preparation of project related studies and technical standards high speed rail corridors.

Kumar avoided a clear reply on which body will come first: HSRA or HSRC, but indications are that HSRC will be operational first.

Safety measures
Meanwhile, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said that while it is good to have high-speed railway systems, India should not rush into adopting some high speed rail technology just because it is cheap. It is important to be aware of the safety aspect, he said.

“Today, we have started the process. Later on its terms and condition, appointment of members, other things will be decided,” Kharge said.

Indicating that full costs of high speed rail technology may not be clear upfront, he added, “One should not buy horses because horse shoes are freely available. We should not get even if it is available free. Some time they sell it to buyers saying it is cheap. We should think whether it suits or not even if it is free or cheap.”

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