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India News Clips
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India: Land of
Opportunity ?
There May Be An Impressive Economy
Boom In India, But There’s Still A Way To Go.
Excerpts from New Civil Engineer: Article by Tushar Prabu- a
director of Pell Frischniann
India’s economy is booming, thanks to services, which accounts
for 60% of the country’s GOP, and massive growth in disposable
income. Car registration is rising at 10% per annum and air
travel at 25%; 12M homes, 600 shopping malls, 8,000 offices
and 200 townships
— not to mention hotels, hospitals and schools— are slated for
construction by 2010. Overall, GDP growth is 6% over the past
five years and rising.
The only real threat to the country’s future growth offers the
greatest opportunity for civil engineering: infrastructure.
Infrastructure in India is like the country’s weather
according to Mark Twain. “Everybody complains but no one does
anything about it”. Transport is conjested, power is erratic,
water is unavailable and pollution is intense.
But much is being done: 6,000km of road building is underway,
as is construction of three metro systems; 12 seaports; two
upgraded airports; 22,000km of oil/gas pipelines; 80,000 MW of
thermal/hydro/nuclear power… but it’s happening too slowly.
The dead hand (and fingers) of the Indian government are
typically involved in the procurement process and years get
lost.
Nonetheless, infrastructure construction will continue as the
government struggles to increase supply
— typically, now through PPP-style contracts — in order not to
throttle the larger economic picture. It’s not too late,
therefore, for new firms to enter.
Many entry strategies involve local joint venture (iv)
partners; after all, who would enter a new country without a
local guide? Ironically, the received wisdom often doesn’t
bear out: many exits are caused by the same local partners.
Poor due diligence, lack of shared culture, breakdown of trust
are the usual culprits.
Indeed, all the UK consultants who have succeeded in India—
Pell Frischmann, Atkins, Jacobs, Scoffs and Motts all have
more than 350 staff— have bought and/or grown 100%-controlled
subsidiaries.
Making money is not easy either. Indian engineering is well
established and the market is fiercely competitive. Some
clients recognize the need to import certain skills, however,
and opportunities do exist for international firms on projects
that are specialist (airports, retail, biotech), large
(townships), or involve intemational clients
(developers/operators). To succeed, however, requires patience
and cultural flexibility. Even among Indian clients who aspire
to be world-class, their behaviour and contracts are generally
anything but.
Moreover, given much lower local fee levels, few clients are
prepared to pay for a full international service.
International firms, therefore, must team up with local firms
to be competitive — typically, the international firm provides
the world-class concept and the local firm the rea
The difficulties of this arrangement can be underestimated
—for a start, Indian clients are demanding and expect frequent
interaction with their designers. Moreover, locals are
suspicious of the value added by international firms,
particularly when they successfully futfilled their client’s
requirements on their own in the past. No wonder then that so
many Jvs break down.
Indeed, the trend is in the opposite direction. Lical fee
levels are rising and the leading “local” firms
— both Indian and international subsidiaries — are upgrading
skills and competitive advantage. Some are even venturing
abroad. The challenge, therefore, for those wishing to enter
India is to establish brand identity and local presence. Only
then will they find clients who pay promptly, treat them right
and make them money over the long term. |
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'Per Capita Income To
Touch $4,000 By 2025'
November 7 2007 01:11 IST- PTI
MUMBAI: Finance Minister P
Chidambaram has said that he expects the country’s per capita
income to touch $4,000 by 2025 shattering all forecasts by
global economic pundits.
"A BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China form the BRIC nations)
report has forecast India’s per capita income would touch $800
by 2010 and $1,149 by 2015. We have exploded this assumption
as our per capita income has already touched $1,000 this year
and expect it to touch $4,000 by 2025," Chidambaram said after
releasing a book, ‘We are like that only: Understanding the
logic of consumer India, by Rama Bijapurkar. Today one cannot
get a farm labourer for below Rs 80, a carpenter won’t be
available for less than Rs 150 and a senior mason will charge
Rs 200. People are demanding and getting more.
This aspiration is driving consumption which will make India a
middle income country in the next 15-20 years, he said.
"India is a fast-changing market driven by people’s
aspirations to lead a better life. This aspiration is breaking
down class and caste barriers," he said.
"India is a fast-changing market which cannot be captured in a
series of articles, essays or books. By the time a book is
written, edited and published, much of what has been written
would become outdated. This makes India an exciting place to
be in," he said. |
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Would Be Indian
Immigrants Follow Hannibal’s Trail !
CHAMONIX (France), Nov 2:
Thirty illegal Indian immigrants travelling in “inhuman
conditions” were stopped while crossing the French Alps in a
small truck, border police said on Friday. “They were packed
together, standing up, in inhuman conditions in an area of
less than six square metres. It was horrible,” said head of
the border police.—AFP |
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Indian Ministers Told To
Shun Dalai Lama Ceremony
From:
http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/03/int7.htm
NEW DELHI, Nov 2: The
Indian government has quietly told government ministers to
stay away from a felicitation on Saturday of the Dalai Lama,
Tibet’s spiritual leader and China’s thorn in the flesh, a
news agency said on Friday.
The move follows a “fruitful” recent visit to China by Ms
Sonia Gandhi, head of India’s ruling UPA coalition which is
supported by communists. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too is
due to visit China early next year.
The Dalai Lama is to be felicitated on Saturday by the Gandhi
Peace Foundation, the All-Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for
Tibet and the Core Group for Tibetan Cause for receiving the
US Congressional gold medal, the highest civilian award in the
United States.
Rediff.com news portal said the top secret letter is being
viewed as a clear signal that New Delhi does not want to rub
the Chinese on the wrong side, especially at a time when
Sino-Indian relations are on a high following Ms Gandhi’s
visit to Beijing last week.
The letter, sent by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, made
it clear that the felicitation is ‘not in conformity with the
country’s foreign policy’ and hence did not warrant the
presence of any member of the Cabinet.
Former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral is to felicitate the
Dalai Lama while Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is listed
among the speakers. Ms Dikshit too is unlikely to attend,
rediff said.
India has played host to the Dalai Lama since he fled his
homeland in 1959 following a Chinese crackdown on dissident
Tibetans in Lhasa.
But it does not formally allow political activities by Tibetan
exiles settled here. |
Goan Voice designed and compiled by
Demerg Systems India,
Campal Trade Centre, Next to Military Hospital, Campal,
Panjim, Goa-403001
Tel: +91 832 2420797 Email:
info@goanvoice.ca
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