EUROCHAMBRES is co-organising for the second time the Global India Business Meeting taking place in Belfast (UK) on 23-25 June to debate a wide range of issues related to the Indian economy.

Poul V. Jensen, Director of the European Business Technology Centre will participate in a dialogue on planting the seeds of low carbon growth.

Register now with EUROCHAMBRES or EBTC and get 50% discount on the standard fee!

Global India Business Meeting programme

Indian IT companies, Tatas’ recent purchase of French firm Alti could be the prelude to a long-awaited European acquisition spree. Experts believe.

Europe seems to have become the new favorite destination.

\A number of Indian software firms have made acquisitions in the European Union off late, Notwithstanding Europe’s stringent labour laws and high operating costs.

Besides the Tata, Geometric acquired 3Cap Technologies for 11 million euros in January.

Last year, Infosys acquired Swiss consulting company Lodestone for $350 million, while Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp acquired six small IT services companies that were part of Germany’s C1 Group for an undisclosed sum.

Commenting on the trend, deal tracking firm Mergermarket’s global head of technology, Pamela Barbaglia, said: “EU targets would help Indian companies enhance their R&D, sales and after-sales capabilities. In addition, top tier companies would benefit from a deeper EU presence, which would reduce their dependency on the US.”

Ms Barbaglia further said that “Tata’s recent purchase of France-based Alti on April 8 could be the prelude to a long-awaited European acquisition spree.”

According to leading assurance, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton India partner of transaction advisory services, Raja Lahiri: “For Indian IT players, US has typically been the largest IT market. However, given the overall growth pressures in the US, Indian IT players are focusing to grow non-US business, specifically Europe business”.

Source – PTI

Scania takes the next step in India with the introduction of Scania buses and coaches, with full parts and service support via the worldwide Scania service network.

The Scania Metrolink is a purpose-designed coach for luxury intercity or charter travel in head-turning style.

The Scania Metrolink introduces a new level of performance, driveability and handling in the Indian market, all based on renowned Scania virtues such as robust design, maximum passenger safety, leading fuel economy and a long and trouble-free service life.

Says Mr. Anders Grundströmer, Managing Director Scania Commercial Vehicle India and Senior Vice President Scania Group.

“It is with great pride that Scania makes India the first market worldwide to enjoy the benefits of the Scania Metrolink, a new range of intercity coaches, with a distinct Scania character, bristling with state-of-the-art technology. Scania has been at the forefront, developing new coach concepts and technologies during more than a century. It gives us great pleasure to now bring the world-renowned Scania buses and coaches to India. Our products are known for their outstanding fuel economy and high uptime, and ensuring low operating costs. “Scania Metrolink is a premium product that is completely in line with Scania's mission to be a trusted partner for the transportation industry in India.”

Offered in three models, the Scania Metrolink is styled to stand out as a premium product, featuring the established Scania ‘wrapping T’ styling motif that sweeps from the front into the window line along the sides. First deliveries to customers will take place in mid-2013 and assembly of complete coaches will start at Scania's new facility in Bengaluru in early 2014.

India is second only to China in terms of steel production. In the last 5 years India’s production grew by 33 percent, thus making it behind China among the top 5 steel producing nation.

World Steel Association (WSA) data has revealed that China’s production grew by 39 per cent during 2008-2012, India’s by 33 percent and India’s production grew constantly in the last five years from 57.8 MT in 2008 to 63.5 MT in 2009, 69 MT in 2010, 73.6 MT in 2011 and 76.7 MT in 2012,

China, which produces nearly half of world’s steel, had output of 512.3 MT in 2008, 577.1 MT in 2009, 638.7 MT in 2010, 694.8 MT in 2011 and 716.5 MT in 2012. World’s steel production grew to 1,548 MT in 2012, up from 1,341 MT in 2008, recording a growth of 15 per cent.

Russia, which holds the fifth rank in the world order of steel production in 2012, had clocked a mere three per cent growth in output during the last five years.

In 2008, it had produced 68.5 MT and in 2012, it stood at 70.6 MT.

Japan and the US, which occupy the second and third ranks respectively since 2010, have, in fact, produced less steel in 2012 than what they had produced in 2008.

Japan’s production fell to 107.2 MT in 2012 from 118.7 MT in 2008. Similarly, production in the US slipped to 88.6 MT in 2012 from 91.4 MT, the WSA data revealed.

Source – PTI

Nearly 40 billion euro transferred by migrants to their country of origin in 2011.

Read more at Eurostat

50 European companies participated in the four Flagship Missions of the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) held in November and December in India.

The Missions consisted of fully packed programmes, including site visits, business-to-business meetings and high-level networking with government officials.

New business deals were signed through reinforced understanding of challenges and opportunities in the Indian market and strengthened contacts between EU and Indian counterparts.

Out of the 176 countries, this year Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has ranked India at 94th position.

The international transparency committee has said that it has devised new parameters to check the level of corruption in a nation against the method they used last year.

As Transparency International is evaluating the positions through a different formula beginning this year and hence this cannot be compared to last year’s ranking.

India was ranked at 95th position last year. a “slight improvement” in the index.

On a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) , India has a score of 36, which is a result based on an average of 10 studies including World Bank’s Country Performance and Institutional Assessment and Global Insight Country Risk Ratings.

India was ranked 72 among 180 countries for the first time in 2007 and since then the country’s rankings have been showing a decline. While India was placed at 87 in 2010, the position was 95 in 2011.

If we talk about the neighbouring countries Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh fared much worse than India when it came to corruption in public sector undertakings. Sri Lanka and China are ranked 79 and 80 respectively.

Denmark is placed at the top spot with a score of 90 while Finland and New Zealand follow very closely. Countries that occupy the bottom ranks in the index are Myanmar, Sudan Afghanistan, Somalia and North Korea.

Source – Agencies

India today exuded confidence of achieving the USD 100-billion bilateral trade target set with China by 2015 and hoped the issue of New Delhi’s widening trade deficit with Beijing will be addressed.

“The target of USD 100-billion bilateral trade would not be difficult to achieve by 2015,” Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Asit Tripathy said.

He said both nations should strive to attain a sustainable balanced trade, which is currently in favour of China.

Tripathy was speaking at the inauguration of the “India Show” in Beijing, where more than 80 Indian automobile companies are participating.

The exhibition is being organised by CII in association with Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Indian Embassy in Beijing at the China International Auto parts Expo, which is in progress, CII said in a statement.

Besides, CII has sent a 19-member business delegation to China to discuss ways to strengthen trade and investment ties between the two countries.

In 2011-12, the bilateral trade between the two countries stood at USD 75.45 billion. While India’s exports were at USD 17.90 billion, imports stood at USD 57.55 billion. Thus, the trade deficit between the two nations stood at USD 39.65 billion in favour of China.

Indian Ambassador to China, S Jaishankar, said the economic cooperation between India and China in the last decade has been a remarkable story.

“While this is heartening, it has posed its own challenges in terms of a trade deficit, which is difficult to sustain or to defend. Market access for Indian companies (in China) is a major concern…,” he said.

Also, he said, a number of Chinese auto manufacturers are contemplating projects in India.

CII President Designate S Gopalakrishnan said Indian companies, operating in areas like manufacturing and IT, are also investing in China.

He added that more than 200 Indian companies are currently present in China. These companies apart from tapping the domestic market have been using China as their base to produce for other markets.  

Source – Financial Express

India and China – - the two leading emerging economies – - are experiencing roughly 10 times the economic acceleration of Industrial Revolution, a top American official has said, noting that this is resulting in tectonic shifts in global commerce.

The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Michael Camunez said while Europe took two centuries to double its economic output per person, US took 50 years, India, having more than a billion populations – - achieved it in 16 years.

“The Industrial Revolution, hatched in the mid-1700s, took two centuries to gain full force — Britain, the revolution’s birthplace, required 150 years to double its economic output per person; in US locus of the revolution’s second stage, doubling GDP per capita took more than 50 years,” Camunez said in American National Standards Institute.

“A century later, when China and India industrialized, the two nations doubled their GDP per capita in 12 and 16 years, respectively,” he said.

Moreover, Britain and US began industrialization with population of about ten million, whereas China and India began their economic takeoffs with populations of roughly one billion (each), he said.

“Thus the two leading emerging economies are experiencing roughly ten times the economic acceleration of the Industrial Revolution, on 100 times the scale — resulting in an economic force that is over 1,000 times as big,” Camunez said.

Camunez said according to a recent report of McKinsey Global Institute by 2025, the consuming class will swell to 4.2 billion people. Consumption in emerging markets will account for USD 30 trillion — nearly half of the global total.”

India is home to as many as 7,730 ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals whose combined wealth amounts to a whopping USD 925 billion, says a study.

According to the world ultra wealth report 2012-13, by Wealth X, a global wealth intelligence and prospecting company, India has 7,730 UHNW individuals, of which 109 are billionaires.

However, in the corresponding period last year there were as many as 8,215 with a total wealth of USD 980 billion.

The Wealth-X analysis shows there are 109 billionaires in the country and this group represents the top 1.4 per cent of the UHNW population, and controls 20.5 per cent of the total fortune attributable to the ultra wealthy segment.

On average, these billionaires are worth close to USD 1.7 billion each.

Since India’s GDP growth continue to moderate and the Indian equity markets, which have significant impact on the local UHNW population, declined by 8 per cent during the measuring period and the Indian Rupee declined by 25 per cent affecting the UHNW population and their wealth.

In India, the lowest tier of the UHNW group represented by those worth USD 30 million to USD 49 million is the largest group, making up 45.7 per cent of the total UHNW population in India. They have a combined fortune of USD 125 billion, or 13.5 per cent, of the total wealth of the India’s ultra affluent.

The study focuses solely on persons with a net worth of USD 30 million and above (after accounting for shares in public and private companies, residential and investment properties, art collections, planes, cash and other assets).

The Wealth X study further said there are 5,775 Indians having wealth between USD 30 million and USD 100 million, and nearly 845 have wealth between USD 100 million and USD 200 million.

Between USD 200 million and USD 500 million, there are 855 Indians, while in the range of USD 500 million to USD 999 million, there are 150 Indians, the study said.

Source – Agencies

Stora Enso has signed an agreement to establish a joint venture called Bulleh Shah Packaging (Private) Limited with Packages Ltd. of Pakistan.

Stora Enso’s initial shareholding will be 35% with a commitment to increase the shareholding at the agreed value to 50% at a later stage subject to certain conditions being met. The joint venture will include the operations of the Kasur mill and Karachi plant currently owned by Packages Ltd.

The joint venture will to a large extent provide packaging products to key local and international customers in the fast-growing Pakistani market. The joint venture will employ about 950 people and its sales are forecast to be USD 130 million (EUR 99 million) in 2012.

The agreed value for 100% of the joint-venture company is approximately USD 108 million (EUR 83 million) on a cash and debt free basis. The total consideration can be up to USD 125 million (EUR 96 million), including an additional maximum performance compensation based on the financial results of the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2013. As part of the agreement, both parties are committed to a substantial USD 135 million (EUR 103 million) investment programme during 2013 and 2014 to develop the business further. The joint venture is EPS accretive and will over time after the new investments exceed Stora Enso’s ROCE target of 13%.

“This is an example of Stora Enso’s investments in value-creating growth markets. The Pakistani market, with growing demand for packaging products and paperboard, offers an attractive growth opportunity for us and the joint venture will enable us to increase our capability to serve our key customers,”says Mats Nordlander, Executive Vice President, Renewable Packaging Business Area.

The joint-venture transaction is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2013, subject to competition and regulatory approval and other customary transaction conditions.

The European Business and Technology Centre in India (EBTC) offers plenty of interesting business opportunities over the coming months.

Four Missions on the agenda: Environment (29-31 October), Biotechnology (5-9 November) Energy (7-9 November) and an event on Transport (5-8 December).

Several conferences are also taking place in the EU and India.

Additional information and registrations for the events are available on the EBTC website

State oil company PetroSA and Indian oil and gas exploration company Cairn India Group signed a farm-in agreement for crude oil and natural gas exploration in the Orange Basin on the west coast of South Africa in Cape Town on Thursday.

The agreement is for the offshore area on the north western border between South Africa and Namibia, which covers an area of 19 922 square kilometres.

It is currently in the initial stages of exploration after PetroSA acquired a 1500 square kilometre three-dimensional seismic survey in 2009.

The Orange Basin is an emerging hydrocarbon province, with the potential of oil and gas discoveries, and Block 1 will serve as an anchor exploration asset in South Africa, according to PetroSA.

Cairn India will hold a 60% interest in the block, through its wholly-owned South African subsidiary, and will be the operator, with PetroSA holding the remaining interest.

This falls in line with PetroSA's ambitions to grow into a leading integrated African energy company.

"The company seeks to nurture strategic alliances with experienced international companies across the oil and gas value chain. The partnership with Cairn India starts an exciting new chapter and represents another positive development in that direction," the company said in a statement.

"We are delighted to join hands with one of Asia's most successful exploration companies. Cairn India brings with it extensive geo-technical and operating capabilities that will combine very well with our experience and understanding of the region," said PetroSA vice president for new ventures, Everton September.

"We have a shared mindset, and together are extremely well placed to realise the full potential of Block 1."

Cairn India Director for Strategy, P Elango, said his company was pleased to partner with PetroSA. "This is an important first step for the company's growth beyond the Indian subcontinent."

"We see an attractive opportunity to leverage our capabilities in a rapidly emerging area and aspire to build a wider business in the region," he said.

India is a promising nation for the world today.  Despite, the low growth rates of 6.5% last year and lower growth rate projection of 5.5% this year, the future seems to be hopeful yet challenging. 

A young nation that promises much more than what is evident in the figures. It is unable to achieve its

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A recent survey shows that employees in India are willing to compromise on the salary front for a more pleasant work environment and job security.

According to Randstad India’s latest global Workmonitor Survey 2012, about 82 per cent of the employees surveyed in India attach a premium to pleasant colleagues, which is the second highest in the world after China and is well above the world average of 60 per cent.

The survey is a quarterly review that tracks jobseekers confidence and provides a comprehensive understanding of job market sentiment and trends relating to the employment market across 32 countries.

The survey also reflects that employees in India work to live rather than live to work, which is on par with the global average.

The survey also stated 54 per cent of the respondents felt that the financial performance of their organisation was currently under pressure. This is slightly above the world average of 42 per cent.

The survey is a quarterly review that tracks jobseekers confidence and provides a comprehensive understanding of job market sentiment and trends relating to the employment market across 32 countries.

The survey also reflects that employees in India work to live rather than live to work, which is on par with the global average.

The survey also stated 54 per cent of the respondents felt that the financial performance of their organisation was currently under pressure. This is slightly above the world average of 42 per cent.

Business investment is picking up especially in emerging market economies including India, notwithstanding a bleak economic outlook, says a survey by Grant Thornton.

According to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), 45 per cent of businesses in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) plan to increase investment in research and development over the next year, compared to just 18 per cent in the G7.

Similarly, 47 per cent of BRIC businesses plan to increase investment in plant and machinery over the next 12 months, compared to 37 per cent in the G7.

“The results indicate an interesting trend, while businesses in developed economies are sitting on their cash, their emerging market counterparts are investing in their future,” Grant Thornton India LLP Partner Munesh Khanna said.

This focus is apparent in some of the fastest growing markets globally: Compared to three months ago, 15 per cent more businesses in China are now looking to increase investment in research and development.

If this investment trend continues, developed economies could find their competitiveness eroding as against emerging economies, Khanna believes.

Overall the proportion of businesses looking to increase investment in new buildings has risen from 15 per cent to 21 per cent over the past 18 months, and in plant & machinery from 35 per cent to 38 per cent.

Moreover, businesses are also investing more in their employees — 68 per cent plan to offer pay rises over the next 12 months, compared with 51 per cent in 2010.

“Global economic uncertainty is weighing on short-term business growth prospects. However, it is encouraging to see dynamic businesses willing to adopt bolder, long-term growth plans,” Khanna added.

This strategy is not about immediate returns in terms of revenues and profits, but rather investing in their long-term growth and competitiveness.

“Even in tough times, businesses need to be forward thinking, keep pace with their competitors and invest in the future of their companies,” Khanna said