India Newsletter 05.2013

India Newsletter | 1

INDIA NEWSLETTERPublished by the Embassy of India, Vienna

Year 3 | Issue 29 | May 2013

Featured IndustryCONSUMER MARKETS

2 | India Newsletter

News

QUICK FACTSSnapshot of last month’s Highlights

Funds raised in the primary

market of India reg-istered an increase of 44 per cent at Rs 34,000 crore (US$ 6.22 billion).The water purifier market in India

is expected to touch Rs 7,000 crore (US$ 1.28 billion) by 2015 from the current market size of Rs 3,200 crore (US$ 585.09 million).

The number of mobile banking

transactions in In-dia doubled to 5.6 million worth US$ 114.72 million in January 2013 from 2.8 million trans-actions worth US$ 35.06 million in January 2012.Qualified institutional place-

ment (QIP) was India Inc’s most-favoured fund-raising route in 2012-13, with US$ 2.75 billion being raised through 43 deals in the first 11 months of 2012-13.

India’s carpet ex-ports stood at

US$ 1 billion in 2012-13 (growth of over 12 per cent).

Indian Railways carried 1 billion tonne (BT) of revenue earning

freight traffic during the financial year 2012-13.

India’s Forex re-serves rose by

US$ 1.19 billion to reach US$ 293.84 billion on April 12.The direct-to-home (DTH) mar-

ket in India is expected to touch US$ 5 billion by 2020 from US$ 1.5 billion in 2012.

The aggregate cash balance

of India’s top four IT firms-TCS, In-fosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies-stood at US$ 8 bil-lion as on March 31, 2013.Private non-financial firms regis-

tered an increase of 23 per cent at Rs 42,700 crore (US$ 7.89 billion) in net profits during the third quarter of 2012-13.

Indian yogurt industry is expected to touch US$ 222.26 million by

2015, up from the current level of US$ 138.88 million.

India Inc is ex-pected to offer

average salary in-crements of 11.3% during FY14.

Credit extended by Indian banks’ branches operating abroad grew

by 27 per cent to Rs 4.45 trillion

(US$ 82.63 billion) in 2011-12.

The total production of raw coal in India during 2012-13 stood at

557.5 million tonne (MT).

India’s share in the global casting

industry has dou-bled in last decade to over 10 per cent in 2012.Foreign institutional investors (FIIs)

have invested over US$ 11 billion

in the Indian market so far in 2013.

India’s tea export earnings increased by 19.91 per cent at US$ 731.58

million in 2012-13 from US$ 610.14

million in 2011-12.

India’s exports are expected to

grow to US$ 329.7 billion during 2013-14, register-ing a growth of 10 per cent.India’s gems and jewellery exports

are likely to grow by up to 15 per

cent in 2013-14 from Rs 212,638.9

crore (US$ 39.6 billion) in 2012-13.


IndIAn MInISTer oF CUlTUre vISITS GrAZFrom our Embassy

STATeMenT by The IndIAn PhArMACeUTICAl AllIAnCe on The oUTCoMe oF The novArTIS CASe In The SUPreMe CoUrT oF IndIAOfficial Statement

Articles

Indian Minister of Culture, H.E. Chan-dresh Kumari visited Austria from April

5-8. During the visit, the Minister met the Austrian Federal Minister of Education,

Arts and Culture H.E. Claudia Schmied and visited the conservation centre at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna as well as the exhibition “India of the Ma-

harajas” currently on display at Schloss

Schallaburg. Some impressions of her

visit:

The Supreme Court of India uphold-ing the refusal by the Patent Office to

grant a patent to Novartis for the beta-polymorphic form of imatinib mesylate. This is a landmark judgement that will serve to set at rest the controversy that was raised regarding the scope of section 3(d) in the Patents Act, which is a crucial safeguard against the extension of patent monopolies of known drugs and the con-sequent delay in the availability of afford-able generic versions.

Imatinib is on the National List of Essen-tial Medicines and is an important drug in the treatment of several cancers such as certain blood and stomach cancers. The decision of the Supreme Court will come as a relief to patients suffering from these dreadful diseases as several Indian companies including Cipla, Ranbaxy and Natco can continue marketing imatinib at a fraction of the cost of the Novartis product.

The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry (IPA) supported the refusal by the Patent Of-fice to grant the patent to the beta-poly-morphic form of imatinib mesylate.

The interpretation of section 3(d) was the crux of the controversy. Section 3(d) prohibits the grant of patents to new forms of known substances, unless the new form results in enhanced efficacy over the known substance. The purpose of the section is to ensure that patent monopolies are not extended and gener-ic versions delayed, unless the new form

results in enhanced efficacy.

The first patent for imatinib and its salts, including the mesylate salt, was applied for by Novartis in Switzerland in April 1992 and thereafter in other countries. No application could be filed in India as drugs were not patentable at that time. Over five years later, in 1997, Novartis filed its first application in Switzerland for the grant of a new crystalline form of imatinib mesylate – the beta-polymor-phic form. This application was also filed in India in 1998. By this time, India was accepting patent applications for new medicines, in conformity with the TRIPS Agreement and these applications were to be examined for grant after 2005.

The Patent Office rejected the patent application of Novartis for the beta-polymorphic form of imatinib mesylate on various grounds in 2006, including that a patent could not be granted for the beta-polymorphic form under sec-tion 3(d) as it did not have any increase in efficacy over the previously known substance. Novartis appealed the rejec-tion of the patent by the Patent Office before the Intellectual Property Appel-late Board (IPAB) in 2007, but the appeal was dismissed in 2009. Aggrieved by this dismissal, Novartis went up to the Su-preme Court which has now confirmed the rejection of the patent.

P:01/04/13


Articles

ShAre oF exPorTS In IndIA’S overAll GdP rISeS To 17.7%From the Ministry of Commerce and Industry

IndIAn SoIl MeeTS AUSTrIAn vIne rooTSToCKSA game changer for the wine industry

By the next fiscal, importers will find it difficult to dump poor quality wine

in Indian market, as the Union Ministry of Food Processing is planning to create standards for wine industry based on global best practices. The standards will help the Indian wine industry create ‘In-dian brands’ and reach new markets in Europe, Asia and North America.

Standards will codify grape varieties, alco-hol content, fermentation processes, hy-giene standards and viticulture practices for the wineries.

MARKET SIzE

The Indian wine market is growing annu-ally at about 30 per cent with revenues of about Rs 800 crore. Wineries produce about 17 lakh cases a year, while another three lakh cases are imported every year. The wine market was depressed for past two years but it is now on the upswing.

GLOBAL STANDARDS

The wine standards would be notified by the Food Safety and Standards Au-

thority of India, while the actual ground-work would be done by Ministry of Food Processing, Indian Grape Processing Board and National Research Centre for Grapes.

Joint Secretary U. Venkateswarlu, Minis-try of Food Processing, told that Indian wineries find it difficult to sell their prod-ucts in overseas market because they have not been able to produce wines to the global standards.

On the other hand, importers unload poor quality in Indian market because the Government has not set any quality parameters for these wines.

The new standards will address this in-congruity in the market, he said.

FARMERS TO GAIN

Venkateswarlu also said that Indian grape-growing farmers stand to gain, as the standards will also define wine con-centrations in bottles.

To reach those concentrations, some

wineries will have to source additional grapes from the farmers, he said.

Chairman of Indian Grape Processing Board Jagadish Holkar said that sparkling wine from Champagne region in France is in great demand and has become a geographic indicator.

UNIQUENESS

In the same way, wine from Nashik and Sahayadri region of Maharashtra can also reach customers globally “provided we define what is so unique about our wines,” he said.

Holkar, who is also the Chairman of Fla-mingo Wines, said for setting the stand-ards, wide-ranging consultations with all the stakeholders of the industry is un-derway.

Advice from expert bodies in Australia, New zealand, European Union and the US has also been sought.

Mr. Raghavendra Gowda, owner of Al-pine Wineries, does finally presents

his excellent wines in Austria. Not only the name is a bridge between Austria and India. The young entrepreneur is trusting in the knowhow and experience of the Austrian Wine Industry.

SETTING FOOTPRINTS ON INDIAN SOIL

It started as an experiment with 50.000 plants from Austria, which were planted in the beautiful Mysore-Mandya region in 2005. After a successful study for their adaptability to the now acknowledged Kaveri Valley, twelve noble grape varieties (six red and six white) were selected and planted in a further 100 hectares with 650000 plants from Austria .The win-ery itself has been entirely designed in Austria, and is almost entirely imported from Europe - pre-fabricated puff-panels for the building, a Europress wine press from Germany, Burgenland wine tanks, an automatic bottling line, and liquid glycol chilling system and automatic tempera-ture control system, both from Austria. The present capacity of 800,000 liters can further be increased to 1.2 million liters by adding storage tanks.

When Stephane Derenoncourt got in-volved in 2008, the second section of 100 hectars was developed and planted, us-ing the very latest technology and equip-

ment. “Stephane is the best thing that could have happened to Alpine Winer-ies,” says Raghavendra. “His knowledge of vines and wine, and contacts in the wine world are just fantastic.” Stephane con-sults 100 winery all over the world. In-cluding some big vigs such as Hollywood director Fransis Ford Coppala from the movie “The God Father” Fame.

THE LONG WAY TO SUCCESS

After travelling internationally, Raghaven-dra was introduced to good wine in his 20s, since then he only dreamt of owning his own vineyard. Mr. Gowda has spent 13 years setting up what is probably the most technically advanced vineyard in Asia. Along the way he’s become an ex-pert in viticulture and has done path-breaking research in the selection of ap-propriate rootstock and vine clones best suited to his rich red loamy soil.

Raghavendra had a vision to create the largest and best winery in India and he has done everything right, hired the best winemaking consultant, and spent time and money establishing the best possi-


Articles

ble winery in Asia. His vision shows to be correct, receiving great response by international wine experts.

AT THE END TASTE MATTERS

The first vintages (2010, 2011) are im-pressive, 3 reds, and 3 whites at three different price and quality levels – basic, regular, and reserve, sold under ORO, VINVIVA Classic and VINDIVA Reserve.

VINDIVA Reserve: Valley of Dreams Cab-ernet Shiraz, 2010

Ruby garnet color; intense nose of raspber-ries, hawthorn berries and spices. Very ex-

pressive flavors with a long, elegant finish.

VINDIVA Classic: Cabernet Shiraz 2011

Ruby garnet color; intense nose of raspber-ries, hawthorn berries and spices, very flavor-ful with a long, elegant finish.

ORO: Cabernet Shiraz, 2011

Ruby garnet color; intense nose of raspber-ries, hawthorn berries, coffee and spices. Very concentrated flavor with a long, strong finish.

VINDIVA Reserve: Valley of Dreams Chenin Blanc, 2010

Yellow-green color; intense nose of vanilla, cinnamon, and tropical fruit; juicy and soft on

the palate with a long, salty aftertaste.

VINDIVA Classic: Chenin Blanc, 2011

Yellow-green color; ripe aromas of gooseber-ries and white currants, a hint of exotic fruit, lots of intense fruit components finishing with magnificent acidity.

ORO: Chenin Blanc, 2011

Yellow-green color; ripe aromas of gooseber-ries and white currants, lots of intense fruit components finishing with magnificent acid-ity.

For More TASTe See www.Al-PInewInerIeS.CoM

FAIry TAleS FroM IndIA. “IndIa of the Maharajas” wIth all Its rIch colours Is the focus of the annual exhIbItIon at the low-er austrIan renaIssance palace schallaburg untIl 10 noveMber.As published on the NEWS Magazine (pg. 18-19, 25 April 2013). Translated by Lukas Kajagi

There is an Indian proverb, saying: “Guest is God.” Three words that are a testa-ment to the sincere and cordial hospi-tality of the Indian subcontinent. These three words also precisely describe the programme at Lower Austria’s most splendid Renaissance palace this year.

The 60th annual exhibition at Schallaburg focuses on “India of the Maharajas” until 10 November, introducing it to the pub-lic. It shows a world of complex contra-dictions: immeasurable wealth, splendour and oppression on one hand, spirituality, peacefulness and creativity on the other.

A BREATH OF ExOTICISM

The mixture of the above elements paired with the smell, taste, colours, rhythms and sounds of the Far East brings 500 years of world history to the 1,300 square metres of the Schallaburg. From the Indian point of view, of course,

but also from the European vantage point as inspiration has always been mutual. For example, the exhibition explains how the 2000 diary pages of Austrian Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand were made dur-ing his “Grand Tour” of India in the late 19th century. The life of the revolution-ary, Mahatma Gandhi, the man who top-pled the British Empire in India with his nonviolent resistance, is documented in as much detail as the thrilling role of women in the time between the striving for freedom and concealment.

In addition to historical aspects, the Schallaburg is also a colourful stage for splendour, grandeur, pearls and diamonds. And a hot spot for family adventures and cheerful festivals.

Celebrate like the Maharajas is the motto of the “Kerala Festival” on 18 and 19 Au-gust as well as the “Great Family Festival”

on 21 and 22 September and the grandi-ose finale of the annual exhibition on 10 November, the “Divali Festival”.

More festivals and details on the exhibi-tion can be found here: www.schallaburg.at


Articles

ShAre oF exPorTS In GdP InCreASeS Indian Foreign Trade

IndIAn eConoMy IS exPeCTed To Grow AT 6.4% dUrInG 2013-14 By Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Panel

world bAnK SeeS IndIA GrowInG AT 6.1% ThIS FISCAl As reported by the World Bank

Share of the export sector in gross do-mestic product (GDP) have increased

from 14% in 2009-2010 to 16% in 2010-2011 and 17.7% in 2011-2012, announced commerce minister Anand Sharma.

“Exports have always played an impor-tant role in the economic development of most countries. This is evident even in Indian case from the continuous upward movement of%age share of merchandise exports in the overall GDP of India from 13.9% in 2009-10 to 16.0% in 2010-11 and 17.7% in 2011-12,” Sharma said.

Sharma also said that the government keeps a tight vigil on trade balance and

current account balance. “An aggressive product promotion strategy for high val-ue items that have a strong manufactur-ing base is the main focus of the overall growth strategy. The core of the market strategy is to retain presence and mar-ket share in traditional markets, move up the value chain in providing export prod-ucts in the developed country markets and open up new vistas, both in terms of markets and new products in these new markets.”

According to the World Trade Organi-zation (WTO), India’s share in the to-tal global merchandise exports has in-

creased from 1.48% in 2010 to 1.66% in 2011 but decreased to 1.60% in 2012, Sharma added.

Exports fell by a depressing 1.76% last fiscal to $300.60 billion from $305.9 billion due to a severe drop in demand in the European and American markets. In 2012-13, the country’s trade balance stood at an unprecedented $190.91 bil-lion compared to $183.4 billion in 2011-2012.

On the other hand, the current account deficit during April-December 2012-13 stood at 5.4% of the GDP over 4.9% in the corresponding period in 2011-12.

The improvement in performance of agriculture and manufacturing sec-

tors is expected to boost the economic growth rate to 6.4 per cent in 2013-14 from 5 per cent during 2012-13, accord-ing to Prime Minister’s Economic Advi-sory Panel.

“Economy will grow at higher rate from now. We projected growth rate of 6.4% in the current fiscal”, said Mr C Rangara-jan, Chairman, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC), during the release the Economic Review for 2012-13.

The improvement in the growth rate in the current fiscal, will be on the back of better performance of agriculture, indus-try and services sectors, he added.

The agriculture sector is expected to grow at 3.5 per cent in 2013-14 as com-pared to 1.8 per cent during previous fis-cal. The industry and services sectors are expected to grow at 4.9 per cent (3.1 per

cent in 2012-13) and 7.7 per cent (6.6 per cent in 2012-13) respectively.

The policy and administrative actions such as the recently constituted Cabinet Committee on Investment can help over-come obstacles in the speedy execution of projects. The existing rates of invest-ment should enable us to grow at 7.5 per cent to 8 per cent over the short term, a return to higher levels of savings and in-vestment can take India back to the very high levels of growth, said Mr Rangarajan.

If India grows at 8 per cent-9 per cent per annum, “we will graduate to the level of a middle income country by 2025,” he added.

The PMEAC has projected higher in-bound foreign direct investment (FDI) at US$ 36 billion during 2013-14. The net FDI inflow in 2012-13 was US$ 18 billion (US$ 26 billion inbound and US$ 8

billion outbound). Outbound FDI is also

expected to increase, resulting in net FDI

inflow of US$ 24 billion in 2013-14, high-

lighted the PMEAC.

The action taken by the Government

of India to speed up project clearances

since September would be visible in the

current fiscal, said Mr Rangarajan.

The Government of India will have to

maintain an attractive return in financial

assets for bringing down the demand of

gold. The price and subsidy reforms in

petroleum products is also needed to be

completed to control oil import bill, he

added.

“Non-food manufacturing inflation re-

mains around the comfort zone. As in-

flation comes down, it will create more

space for monetary policy to support

growth,” he said.

The World Bank sees India regaining economic momentum and recording

6.1 per cent GDP growth in the current fiscal.

Growth is expected to increase further to 6.7 per cent in 2014-15, the World Bank said in its latest India Development Update, a bi-annual report on the Indian

economy.

The 6.1 per cent growth forecast for 2013-14 is much higher than the five per cent growth estimated for 2012-13.

The World Bank’s optimism stems from positive data points in the recent months in the areas of manufacturing, inflation

and better export numbers, said Denis Medvedev, Senior Country Economist, World Bank, India.

Despite the current downturn, long-term prospects remain bright for India, said Martin Rama, World Bank’s Chief Econo-mist for the South Asia Region.


Articles

IndIA-AUSTrIA bIlATerAl TrAde rePorT For 2012Preliminary results as published by Statistik Austria

IndIA’S exPorTS lIKely To Grow 10% In 2013-14By Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Panel

Austrian imports from India de-creased slightly by -0.91% in 2012.

While virtually all major sectors of Aus-tria’s imports from India have registered a decrease in trade, Organic Chemicals and Machinery/Equipment marked an in-crease by 53.7% and 16.7% respectively, being the main positive trends observed

in the period. While in 2011, the chemi-cals sector was on a negative path, the reverse trend indicates that the Indian in-dustry is gaining momentum in Austrian imports.

As far as exports to India are concerned, the decrease in trade was much steeper,

registering a drop by 23,4% with consid-erable slowdown in all major sectors and significant increases only in exports of railway technology and copper, both of which are assumed to have been boosted by the bilateral agreements signed by the two nations in the Railway field in late 2011.

The PM’s economic advisory panel today projected about 10% increase

in India’s exports to $329.7 billion dur-ing the current fiscal in view of some im-provement in the global growth situation.

In the 2012-13 fiscal, the merchandise exports stood at $301 billion.

The Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) report said the im-ports may touch $542.7 billion during the current fiscal, from $501.1 billion in 2012-13.

“Growth of merchandise exports, val-ued in US dollars, is disappointing, from the period starting in the second half of 2011-12 and continuing through 2012-13,” it said.

The trade deficit is expected to increase to $213 billion in 2013-14, from $200 bil-lion in the previous fiscal, the report said.

It said the biggest export casualties in 2012-13 are engineering goods, man-made textiles and ready-made garments.

“The two important import-intensive export categories gems & jewellery and refined petroleum products also fared poorly,” it said.

The pattern of India’s merchandise trade is undergoing a structural shift, the re-port said, adding that the rest of Asia, Africa and Latin America are becoming an increasingly important part it’s trade portfolio.

“Global growth although projected to pick up in 2013 would continue to re-main at modest levels,” it added.

Further, it said the share of exports to the European Union has declined from 21.1% to 17% during 2006-07 to 2012-13. The share of north America dipped to 14.1% from 16.2% in the same period.

“Exports to Africa, including all constitu-ent regions of the continent, have risen steadily. Major export markets in the sub-Saharan region are South Africa, Ken-ya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ghana and Mauritius.

“In North Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Sudan are the most important destinations for exports. All of them have seen strong ex-pansion,” it added.

Further, it said that while there has been some improvement in exports to Taiwan, shipments to Japan and South Korea have fallen.

“We have FTA arrangements with Japan and South Korea and it seems that there is considerable potential which remains to be developed. This must be seen as a near term challenge from the facilitation side by Government, and as a business proposition for industry,” it said.

India’s exports to ASEAN countries fell by nearly 12% in 2012-13, “which is a matter of concern”.

“This was a rapidly growing market in the previous two years and is a region where we have entered into FTA and have a range of common interests and logistic advantages,” the report said.


Articles

Car multinationals like Ford, Hyun-dai and Volkswagen are using cut-

ting edge technology and practices to save power and water resources in their plants in India, where both are in serious short supply. Ford Motor Company is expanding its 3-wet paint capacity by 50 % this year, adding the environmentally friendly paint process, which is already in use in its Maraimalainagar plant in the outskirts of Chennai, to four more plants on three continents. The actions will re-duce CO2 emissions by an estimated

30% at those facilities.

Ford India’s Chennai plant is the first Ford car plant in the world to use the 3-wet high-solids paint technology. The plant also does heat recovery by utiliz-ing exhaust heat air to heat fresh air, and propane gas has been introduced as a fuel in its ovens instead of diesel, making for an environment-friendly paint process. According to Ford, the 3-wet high solids technology has resulted in VOC emis-sion coming down by 23%, the best in

the Ford Asia Pacific region. It has also reduced dock-to-dock time by 40% and CO2 emission by 21%. Water consump-tion has come down by 15000 KL/annum and the energy saved in the paint shop - 27.6 million kWh/annum - is enough to power almost 12,000 households in Chennai for a year, or to light up the entire Chennai street lights in night for almost 4 months.

Ford, which was the first automaker to implement the 3-wet high solids solvent

India is increasingly becoming the pre-ferred hub when it comes to research

and development (R&D) operations of MNCs across the globe. Companies like Yamaha, Kyocera and VMware are the recent ones to strengthen their R&D operations in the Indian market. While Yamaha and Kyocera have announced the establishment a new global R&D centre

in the country, VMware has earmarked an investment of US$ 120 million to boost its R&D operations in the Indian market.

India is already the IT/ITeS hub for about 125 of the Fortune 500 companies and by 2015 it is expected that close to 50 per cent of the Fortune 500 compa-nies will have their centres in India. The

growth is expected to create at least an opportunity worth US$ 1 billion for the Indian service providers.

With the world’s second largest pool of scientists and engineers and a strong do-mestic market, India offers a right mix of talent and opportunity to MNCs across the globe.

Japanese two-wheeler major Yamaha Motor Company (YMC), which on

Tuesday announced the establishment of Yamaha Motor Research & Development India (YMRI) at its Greater Noida facil-ity, is looking at leveraging India as a pro-curement hub to source components for its two-wheeler operations globally. India would be the fourth regional procure-ment hub for Yamaha worldwide after China, Japan and the Asean.

Yuh Motoyama, senior general manager, engineering section (motorcycle busi-ness operations), said, “The research and development (R&D) unit is an integrated development centre, the second such for Yamaha globally. The vendor base in India is strong and cost-competitive and the potential to source parts from here for our operations globally is very promis-ing.” YMC had inaugurated its first inte-grated development centre in Asean in Thailand last year.

Besides purchasing, YMRI would work closely with engineers at the Yamaha headquarters in Japan to develop low-

cost models.

“YMRI is the fifth foreign R&D facility for Yamaha. Every centre has a mandate. While the unit in Taiwan concentrates on developing products in the 150-cc cat-egory, the centre in Italy focuses on de-veloping two-wheelers for the European market. While platforms would continue to be made in Japan, YMRI will modify them to create low-cost products for the domestic market”, added Motoyama. The ‘root model’ can then be altered for exports to markets in Africa and Latin America.

Toshikazu Kobayashi, managing direc-tor, YMRI, said, “Our aim is to develop the lowest-cost model and parts in the world. Our aim is to develop a low-cost bike at around $ 500 for both the domes-tic as well as exports markets.”

He, however, declined to specify a time-line for launching the product in the In-dian market. Yamaha’s move is a part of its strategy to expand its footprint in the mass commuter segment in the country.

Yamaha, at present, has marginal share in the low-cost commuter segment with the YBR110 and Crux which together sells around 4300 odd units every month. The segment accounts for over 65 per cent of motorcycle sales in India.

Additionally, to enhance its presence in the domestic two-wheeler industry India Yamaha Motor (IYM) will launch a new scooter every year till 2016. Hiroyuki Suzuki, chief executive officer and man-aging director, IYM said, “We intend to sell one million units by 2016 and grab 10 per cent of the domestic two-wheeler industry. In the scooter segment, we will launch one new product every year to attain market share of 20 per cent in the same period.”

In the current financial year the company is eyeing sales of 710,000 units, which is an increase of around 45 per cent over the 490,000 units sold last fiscal. While 500,000 units will be sold in the domes-tic market, the remaining numbers would come in from exports.

Ford ChennAI PlAnT The FIrST In The world To USe eCo-FrIendly 3-weT PAInT TeChnoloGyIndian Technology Hub

IndIA: The PreFerred r&d hUbBy The India Brand Equity Foundation

yAMAhA oPenS FIFTh GlobAl r&d CenTre In IndIAResearch and Development


Articles

borne technology in 2007, currently has eight plants in North America, Asia Pa-cific and Europe, equipped for using the process to paint vehicles. That will ex-pand to 12 plants in 2013 and then to additional facilities worldwide over the next four years.

The 3-wet process derives its name be-

cause three layers of paint are applied one after the other before the prior coats have been cured. The process elimi-nates stand-alone primer application and a dedicated oven required in the conven-tional process that was used before. Ad-vanced chemical composition of 3-wet paint materials allows for the three lay-ers of paint -- primer, base coat, and clear

coat - to be applied while each layer is still wet without baking in between. “The 3-wet paint process is significantly more advanced than conventional technologies in applying durable paints in a high-quality, environmentally sound and cost-efficient manner,” said Bruce Hettle, director of manufacturing engineering.

A visit by a delegation of Indian angel investors, paid for by the Canadian

government, is the latest example of the importance Canada places on expand-ing business ties with India. In the first programme of its kind, Canada recently hosted seven Indians, drawn from the in-cubator and venture capital sector across the country, on an Entrepreneurship Eco-system Mission that took the team to Montreal, Toronto and Waterloo, the city where Canadian technology company BlackBerry is headquartered.

“This mission aimed to raise awareness of opportunities in India for Canadian start-ups, provide an overview of the In-dian innovation ecosystem to Canadian stakeholders, as well as to encourage collaboration between Indian and Ca-nadian start-ups and entrepreneurs, and between support and acceleration struc-tures,” said a spokesman for the Cana-dian high commission in New Delhi.

The team toured innovation hubs in the three cities, and met with Canadian angel groups, influential incubators and startup accelerators as well as legal experts. The visit was timed to coincide with the an-nual Communitech Leadership Confer-ence in Waterloo, a tech community gathering where speakers this year in-cluded BlackBerry’s President and CEO Thorsten Heins, and Patrick Pichette, Chief Financial Officer of Google.

Puneet Vatsayan, Co-Founder and Chair-man of The Hatch, a leading incubator for startups, was a member of the delegation. The Chandigarh-based Vatsayan, who is also a board member of the Angel Inves-tors Consortium, said several factors are behind the drive to increase interaction between start-up ecosystems in India and Canada. “First is, Canada has discov-ered India. Second is, entrepreneurship has become cool in India, which was not the case earlier,” he said.

While the Canadian government is look-ing to enable an environment that would provide a soft landing spot for young Canadian start-ups in India, Vatsayan says there is also a high appetite among Indian angel groups to do deals outside India, and particularly in Canada, given its repu-tation as a nursery for technology and a large pool of venture ready entrepre-neurs. This is true for many mature mar-kets, but Canada has the added advantage of being undervalued. “If I went to Silicon Valley and saw a good team and a good product, that team may be valued at $10 million. But the same thing would be val-ued at $1 million, maybe $2 million or $3 million in Canada. So, as an investor, that piques my interest,” says Vatsayan.

Prashant Gulati, an angel investor and serial entrepreneur based in Dubai and with sizeable investments in India, was also in Toronto around the same time as the Indian team, to explore opportuni-ties in Canada. The Canadian government was doing a lot to encourage start-ups, he observed, having evaluated half a doz-en proposals in a visit lasting less than 48 hours. Gulati, who is also a co-founder of The Hatch, said the time was right for the two countries to work together. “It looks like Canada and India are made for each other because Canada is very immigrant-friendly and a lot of Indians or people of Indian origin have chosen Canada as their place of work,” he said.

The Canadian high commission in India started planning the mission early this year. The programme had been in the works after last November’s visit to In-dia by Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper. During the visit, Canada’s Min-ister for International Trade Ed Fast had inaugurated the Canada pavilion at The Hatch’s incubator in Chandigarh.

The Harper government has consistently promoted the expansion of trade ties with India. The two countries are cur-rently negotiating a Comprehensive Eco-nomic Partnership Agreement, scheduled to be finalised by the end of this year. The Canadian finance minister’s annual Budg-et speech on March 21 singled out the agreement as one of the priorities for his government’s trade agenda.

While neither side expects to see im-mediate results or deals from the first Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Mission, Vatsayan said the interest level was high among Indian investors. According to the spokesman of Canada’s high commission in India, among the objectives of the mis-sion was to “create understanding of the start-up ecosystem in each country, and increase the likelihood of cross-border projects and collaboration”. Mission ac-complished, says Vatsayan: “Are they look-ing at Puneet Vatsayan cutting a check of $50,000 or even $100,000? I don’t think so. What they are more concerned with is that all of us go back - and we’re very influential in our own ecosystems - and that’s when action starts.”

CAnAdA eyeS IndIA AS STArT-UP deSTInATIonInternational


Articles

India and Germany inked six key MoUs including that for putting together 7

million for next four years towards joint research in the field of higher education and a pact for a soft loan of 1 billion for strengthening the green energy corridor.

A pact to promote German as a foreign language was also signed by the two sides following the 2nd round of inter-govern-mental consultations in Berlin.

Under pacts signed, both Germany and India have committed to 3.5 million each towards working on joint research and innovation programmes.

According to officials, under the strength-ening of German language collaboration, currently 30,000 children in Kendriya

Vidyalaya are learning German and under the pact they will try to increase the ca-pacity.

A pact regarding the establishment of green energy corridor was also signed besides one in agriculture and establish-ment of a working group in infrastruc-ture, cooperation in standardization, con-formity assessment and product safety.

Under the pact for the green energy cor-ridor, the grid system in several states will be used to transmit energy produced by renewable and non-conventional means.

Another pact for India-German civil se-curity research was also signed.

Minister for human resources develop-

ment Pallam Raju, who is accompany-ing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on three-day bilateral visit here, said the two countries knew each other’s strengths and have identified some areas for the joint research.

The human resources development min-ister also said Germany has been on a “very sound technical footing” because of which there were many programmes assisted and handled by Germans in both IIT Chennai and IIT, Mandi.

According to official data, around 4500 Indian students are pursuing various courses in Germany, while around 800 German students are studying or doing their internships in India.

Luxembourg-headquartered cutting tool maker CERATIzIT S.A. plans to

make its second plant in Bengal an ex-port hub for other Asian markets. It cur-rently has a local arm – CERATIzIT India Pvt Ltd (a 95 per cent subsidiary), which operates its first plant in South Kolkata. The new plant is located at Uluberia,

nearly 40 km west of Kolkata and will cost around Rs 100 crore. The company said that the unit would export 40 per cent of its products to China and other Asian countries.

“Once this unit becomes fully operation-al, we will export to our sister firms in China and other countries such as Indo-

nesia, Singapore and Malaysia. The plants in India and US could be export hubs for some of our products,” Thierry Wolter, Member of the Executive Board of CE-RATIzIT S.A., told reporters. The com-pany’s products are primarily meant for the automotive, aerospace and transport sectors.

With the Indian retail sector hav-ing opened up to foreign players,

it is Swedish retailer Rusta that has now announced its plans to set up its opera-tions in the country. While the company has been sourcing finished products from India for the past one decade, the furni-ture and leisure products manufacturer has now come up with plans to set up its office in India as also up its imports from the country.

”We are very positive about India. India is a huge country and we realized it had to contribute to our growth more than what it is currently,” said Goran Wester-berg, CEO, Rusta.

The company, which has been sourc-ing goods worth $10 million from India until now, will now increase the same to around $40 million per year as well as increase its manpower as it seeks to buy products directly from suppliers now.

“”We realized that running our business by way of third party agents was not a sustainable model...obviously we will grow in terms of the number of offices here too,”” Westerberg said.

The $450 million company deals in a wide range of products including furni-ture, decorative items, home textiles etc. While the company currently has stores only in Sweden, almost 50% of its prod-ucts are sourced from other countries in Asia and Europe.

With the new investments in place, West-erberg said India will rank as the compa-ny’s second biggest market for sourcing after China in the next few years. Cur-rently India remains at the tenth position, ranking after China, Indonesia, Vietnam and others. Almost 45% of products for the company is being sourced from Chi-na.

Despite the government allowing 100%

foreign direct investment ( FDI) in the

single brand retail sector, the company

said it is not keen on setting up its stores

in the country. Even as opening of the

sector will provide India with the neces-

sary skills and competence, Westerberg

said the company will first explore Scan-

dinavian countries for expansion before

looking at Asia.

”We are looking at India as a long term

market. It is a huge challenge to get

known here, both as an importer and a

retailer,” he said.

Rusta currently has 67 stores in Sweden

and plans to add 10-12 stores every year.

The company has five offices in Asia, in-

cluding in China, Bangkok, Shanghai and

now India.

IndIA, GerMAny SIGn SIx new PACTSInternational

lUxeMboUrG Tool MAKer To MAKe benGAl An exPorT hUb International

SwedISh reTAIler rUSTA SeTS UP IndIA oPerATIonS International


Foreign tourist boards are gearing up to meet the growing number of Indians who are travelling abroad and splurging. Start-ing direct flights is the first step.

Never mind the sluggish economy and poor sentiments, there’s good news from the world of travel and tourism. India has emerged as the world’s fastest-growing outbound market and in absolute num-bers it is second only to China. The num-ber of Indians travelling overseas is set to rise from around 15 million today to 50 million by 2020, according to Tourism Australia.

This will mean a big growth in spending overseas. According to a recently re-leased Amadeus-Frost & Sullivan tourism industry report, Indians travelling to Asia-Pacific alone spent $13.3 billion in 2011. This figure is set to zoom to $91 billion by 2030, making Indians the second-big-gest spenders, after China, in the world on overseas travel.

Not surprisingly, the world is taking note. Tourism Australia hopes to get 300,000 Indian tourists by 2020. South Africa Tourism Board too says India has be-come one of the key tourism generating nations for their country. Indian tourist arrivals to Thailand crossed the 1-million mark for the first time in 2012.

Thai Airways have recently started di-rect flights between Delhi and Phuket and Mumbai and Phuket to cater to the surging demand from Indians looking for wedding destinations and holidays. “Di-rect flights are a good precursor to the growth in tourist numbers,” says Deep Kalra, founder, Makemytrip.com.

The introduction of direct flights be-tween India and Istanbul has led to a sharp rise in Indian tourists travelling to Istanbul, Kalra notes. Spotting demand, Turkish Airlines today connects many Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad with Istanbul.

TRAVEL TO MEET FAMILY

In pre-liberalisation days, with little dis-posable income and fewer options, holi-days for most middle-class Indians were about visiting friends and families in India. It is a trend that is playing out well over-seas among globetrotting Indians.

According to the Amadeus-Frost & Sul-livan report, a high 43% of leisure trav-ellers from India say visiting friends and relatives (VFR) was the main reason be-hind their overseas travel.

Partly this has to do with the growing di-aspora â€” estimated by the government at 25 million but Kalra puts it at around 100 million. The VFR travellers behave dif-ferently than standard vacation travellers, says Ankur Bhatia, director, Amaedus In-dia. “They travel for longer periods, and typically do not book hotels but stay with friends and relatives,” he says.

ExTENDED WEEKENDS ABROAD

Weekend holidays in nearby hill stations are passe. Now with direct flights to a number of foreign tourist destinations, Indians would rather spend their extend-ed weekends overseas.

Short-haul direct international flights â€” anything around five hours of flight time â€” are seeing the biggest growth, says Kalra. Maldives, Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE and Dubai are some of the impor-tant emerging destinations.

The fact that it is cheaper to travel and holiday in Thailand than in Kerala, and stay in better hotels, is a big incentive. Also noticeable is the fact that Indians are taking more frequent holidays.

According to the Makemytrip data, while Indians would typically take an interna-tional holiday once in 18-24 months five years back, the frequency is now once in 12-18 months.

NEW NICHES, CUSTOMISED OFFER-INGS

Of course the demand for packaged tours offered by companies like Cox & Kings is growing among Indians travelling overseas for the first time. But more and more globetrotting Indians are turning experimental, looking to customise trips, opting for offbeat destinations and newer experiences.

According to the Amadeus-Frost & Sul-livan report, while the number of solo women and senior Indians (65 years-plus) travelling overseas is still a small

category in both the business and leisure

segments, it is likely to grow many fold

by 2030.

Women business travellers, today pegged

at 25% of the total, are set to rise by

891% by 2030. And senior travellers, cur-

rently pegged at 1.3 million, are set to

rise to 7.3 million by 2030.

There is a small but growing category of

Indian food lovers, says Himmat Anand,

founder of Tree of Life Resort, who is

a travel industry veteran having worked

with Sita Travels and Kuoni India.

“Earlier, it was an afterthought. But now,

food is becoming very important, espe-

cially at the upper end,” he says. All this

means that the companies in travel and

tourism will have plenty of opportunities

to differentiate themselves and custom-

ise their offerings to lure international

travellers from India.

GROWTH AT THE TOP AND BOP

Experts see two categories of Indian

travellers growing â€” at the top end and

the bottom end â€” as incomes rise. This

isn’t true just for India but Asia Pacific at

large.

From around 700 million people in the

middle class in 2011, the number is set

to touch 2.1 billion by 2030, signalling the

rise of what is called the consuming class

(annual household income of $5,000

plus). The biggest chunk of this growth

will come from China and India.

India’s middle class, the report estimates,

will grow from the present 5% to 50%

by 2030. Similarly, HNIs are expected to

grow six fold by 2030 â€” from around

0.2 million in 2011 to over 1.2 million by

2030. This segment will fuel growth at the

luxury end of the market.

oUTboUnd ToUrIM MArKeT FroM IndIA GrowSEmerging trends in tourism

Interview


Indians have been the most confident consumers globally in the fourth quarter of 2012, revealed a recent study by Niels-en. Consumer confidence in the country increased two points to 121 in Q4, 2012 from Q3, 2012.

Indian consumer markets – broadly cat-egorised into rural and urban markets – are majorly being driven by factors like favourable demographics, higher dispos-able incomes, rising middle class, govern-ment support, internet revolution and digitisation.

McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) states that cities in India could generate 70 per cent of net new jobs created to 2030, produce around 70 per cent of the na-tional gross domestic product (GDP), and bring about a near four-fold increase in per capita incomes across the nation.

Meanwhile, the Indian rural market has gone far-ahead of consumer products and agri-input marketing. “A large part of the rural Indian market is under-penetrated and presents good opportunities,” said Siddhartha Roy, Economic Advisor, De-partment of Economics & Statistics, Tata Group. Total rural income, which is now at around US$ 572 billion, is projected to reach US$ 1.8 trillion by 2020-21, ac-cording to him.

The InTerneT bUG

A survey by Google India has recently shown that 7 out of 10 Indian buyers make a comprehensive online research before entering a store and know the ex-act brand and model they want to buy. Easy access to internet has given birth to the concept of ‘research online and shop offline’ which is substantially influencing the consumer behaviour in the country. The pan-India survey also showed that internet affects behaviour of buyers across all type of cities and hence, com-panies are looking at options wherein they could engage buyers online about their products and offerings. While inter-net is impacting buyers’ decisions in tier-II cities, mobiles are emerging as a strong medium.

Another study conducted by global se-curity technology company McAfee has noticed that many Indians are planning to shop online this holiday season, using in-ternet and mobile phones. About 70 per

cent of the respondents said they would shop online.

ConSUMerS drIve lUxUry SeGMenT

The Indian consumer, especially the ur-ban clan, is a big force behind the growth of luxury brands in the country. India’s luxury market is pegged to touch US$ 14.73 billion by 2015, according to indus-try projections, from an estimated US$ 8.21 billion in 2013. India is already play-ing host to several foreign fashion brands, including Italy’s Gucci, Salvatore Ferraga-mo, Versace, Armani, Ermenegildo zegna, Tod’s and Boggi Milano, which sell their products through local partnerships. Premium fashion houses like Moschino and Alberta Ferretti, Pollini, Gattinoni, Byblos and Scorpion Bay have initiated their entry strategy and partner search operations according to Luxury Connect, a Delhi-based marketing firm that works exclusively with luxury brands. Italian luxury fashion brand Prada SpA is also in talks with various prospective partners for an India entry and has even studied the market in advance.

Expanding class of high net-worth indi-viduals (HNIs) in the country is the ma-jor attraction for these brands to enter India.

reCenT develoPMenTS/ In-veSTMenTS

• To acknowledge the fast growing online consumer base, Multi Screen Media (MSM) has recently launched its video-on-demand service ‘Sony LIV’. The new offering aims at pro-viding ‘entertainment on the go’ for young India. Apart from enhancing the way entertainment is consumed in India, this user-friendly and in-teractive application is also a great platform for brands to strengthen their engagement and interaction with young consumers. The Sony LIV application is available globally for free, online on sonyLIV.com and for download on major App stores – iTunes and Google Play

• French food company Danone’s In-dian subsidiary Nutricia Internation-al (specialising in baby and medical nutrition), has revealed its growth plan for India wherein it intends to

double its sales over 2013-16 first, by consolidating the local brands (which it acquired from Wockhardt nutrition) and then, introducing se-lect brands from Danone’s inter-national nutrition portfolio (based on its understanding of the Indian market). Nutricia’s baby nutrition portfolio comprises of brands such as Farex, Dexolac and Nusobe. The baby food market in India is growing at an annual rate of 15-20 per cent and the company is vying for a major share in the same

• US coffee chain Starbucks, which opened its seventh store in the country (in New Delhi) considers India among the top five global mar-kets for its growth in the long term. Starbucks entered India in October 2012 and plans to grow its business aggressively, expand stores, make in-vestments and offer locally relevant innovations. Currently, its stores op-erate under an equal joint venture (JV) partnership with Tata Global Beverages called Tata Starbucks Ltd

GovernMenT InITIATIveS

The Indian Government is majorly con-cerned about the development of rural markets and hence, keeps introducing policies and initiatives to encourage their growth.

In a bid to make economic development inclusive, the Indian Government has ini-tiated many schemes and programs that aim at improving the standard of living in India villages or rural areas. For instance, the Government launched a time-bound business plan for action called Bharat Nirman for enhancing the infrastructure in hinterlands. Under this program, action is proposed in the areas of Water Supply, Housing, Telecommunication and Infor-mation Technology, Roads, Electrification and Irrigation.

Apart from that, the Government is con-sidering enhancing the authorised capi-tal of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to Rs. 20,000 crore (US$ 3.71 billion) from Rs. 5,000 crore (US$ 928.49 million). The in-crease in authorised capital is aimed at enhancing the operations and broadening the scope of activities of NABARD.

Industry

ConSUMer MArKeTS IndUSTryIndian Industry Sector Close-Up


roAd AheAd

India is emerging as the third largest in-ternet market and its e-commerce busi-ness is likely to touch Rs 4,000 crore (US$ 742.76 million) in 2015 against Rs 1,200 crore (US$ 222.83 million) at pre-sent.

Also, with mobiles becoming a major medium for advertising and content de-livery, every three out of four users in the country are expected to access the net through a mobile phone by 2015. During 2012-22, cumulatively around US$ 500 billion of ad spend is expected to happen on mobile phones, according to industry estimates.

Moreover, companies in the last decade have positioned tea and coffee as rec-reational products, which have majorly attracted younger population. Growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent, it is expected to touch Rs 33,000 crore (US$ 6.13 bil-lion) by 2015 from the current level of Rs 19,500 crore (US$ 3.62 billion) (in 2011), according to recent study by Assocham. Domestic coffee outlets, which have a lot of appeal for the new generation, are set

to double over 2012-15, majorly driven by the foray of global players such Star-bucks and Dunkin’ Donuts in India.

FAST MovInG ConSUMer GoodS

The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment is the fourth largest sector in the Indian economy. The mar-ket size of FMCG in India is expected to grow from US$ 30 billion in 2011 to US$ 74 billion in 2018.

The FMCG sector in India generated rev-enues worth US$ 34.8 billion in 2011, a growth of 15.2 per cent as compared to the previous year. Over 2006-11, the sec-tor’s revenues posted a compound annu-al growth rate (CAGR) of 17.3 per cent. Food products is the leading segment, ac-counting for 43 per cent of the overall market. Personal care (22 per cent) and fabric care (12 per cent) are the other leading segments.

Growing awareness, easier access, and changing lifestyles have been the key growth drivers for the sector. Rural de-mand is set to rise with rising incomes and greater awareness of brands.

The Government of India has been sup-

porting the rural population with higher

minimum support prices (MSPs), loan

waivers, and disbursements through the

National Rural Employment Guarantee

Act (NREGA) programme. These meas-

ures have helped in reducing poverty in

rural India and have thus propped up ru-

ral purchasing power.

With rise in disposable incomes, mid-

and high-income consumers in urban

areas have shifted their purchasing trend

from essential to premium products. In

response, firms have started enhancing

their premium products portfolio. Indian

and multinational FMCG players are lev-

eraging India as a strategic sourcing hub

for cost-competitive product develop-

ment and manufacturing to cater to in-

ternational markets.

Industry


Business

FdI In IndIA: AUToMATIC vS. GovernMenT APProvAl roUTeBy Dezan Shira

This article was extracted from Dezan Shira & Associates’s publication entitled “India Briefing”. For further corporate assistance, consider contating Dezan Shira & Associates, a specialist in foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in emerging Asia. For further details or to contact the firm, please email Mr. Olaf Griease under [email protected] or visit www.dezshira.com


Interview

Japanese investment bank Nomura is not too worried about the negativity that

seems to have engulfed businesses in India. The bank, which is helping Tata Steel raise funds in Singapore, and has the largest number of employees outside Japan in India, wants to increase presence in the country, says Atsushi Yoshikawa, CEO Nomura Whole-sale and COO Nomura group in an interview. Edited excerpts:

Q: India has proved to be a frustrating market for a lot of global financial firms. How do you see the Indian market?

A: Nomura’s long-term strategy is to be the best global investment bank based in Asia. We want to be a bridge between Asia and the rest of the world. The larg-est number of employees Nomura has outside Japan is in India. That shows our commitment to this country. We under-stand the challenges regarding the fiscal account balance, deflation and the need for balanced growth and see there is a strong will to handle them. India has two

very strong characteristics - first is the growth itself. The other thing is the qual-ity of top government leaders and corpo-rate management teams.

Q: Foreign investors have been worried about tax issues, impending elections and general business environment...

A: Atsushi Yoshikawa: If you take a quar-ter-on-quarter view, you will have chal-lenges. We take a 10-year view.

Q: Will you be looking at acquisitions to expand in India?

A: Atsushi Yoshikawa: I would rather grow organically. I am very happy about what we are doing today. And I don’t like disturbance caused by an acquisition. I would rather like to attract good people and grow business.

Q: Japan was one of the earliest investors, but Koreans companies have been more aggressive in India. Do you see a greater interest in India now?

A: Atsushi Yoshikawa: It was easier for

Japanese investors to understand some of the other geographical regions, but recently the interest is very high. When finance minister P Chidambaram came to Japan recently, there was very high in-vestor interest. More than hundred top-notch quality investors gathered to listen to his persuasive story.

Q: There is a great divide on ‘Abenomics’ and monetary stimulus from Japan...

A: Atsushi Yoshikawa: In Japan, Abenom-ics is boosting the economy and creating investment opportunities. Prime Minister Abe has been very vocal. He has done a great job. Business is welcoming his de-cisiveness. The same is true of the new BOJ Governor Kuroda. They are both good at communicating with the market. The private sector is changing its view on the economy and that will lead to a bet-ter tomorrow for Japan. Abenomics will work and Japan will write the prescrip-tion for how to emerge from a long-term slow-growth environment.

Soon after the announcement that Unilever would increase its stake in its Indian unit Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) to 75 per cent, James Allison, head of mergers and acquisitions and investor relations, Unilever, tells Dev Chatterjee why the company is launching a $5.4-billion offer for HUL share-holders. He also addresses speculation that the open offer is in response to the falling stock, resulting from concerns on increased royalty. Edited excerpts:

The open offer took investors by sur-prise, as today, the HUL stock soared 18 per cent. What are the reasons for the open offer? And, why now? Many analysts are saying the offer is being made to sup-port the falling HUL stock.

The long-term growth potential of emerging markets is central to our strat-egy — already, about 57 per cent of our turnover comes from emerging markets. With this offer, Unilever aims to increase its investment in an attractive country within this region. This represents an-other step in Unilever’s strategy to in-vest in emerging markets and increase its exposure to countries that offer great

long-term, structural growth potential, through population growth and rising per capita income. We are making the of-fer today, after both companies have an-nounced results and all the information is available to our shareholders.

Q: Just six months ago, the HUL stock was trading at Rs 583, compared with Unilever’s offer of Rs 600 a share. Why do you think its a fair offer for sharehold-ers?

A: The offer is being made at a premium of 26 per cent to the one-month average price, 25 per cent to the average price last week, and 29.5 per cent over the mandatory floor price required under Indian regulations. We think this is a fair price.

Q: Why is Unilever spending so much cash? What kind of a growth story does Unilever see in India?

A: As we’ve said earlier, India is a key country for Unilever, and we consider its long-term growth potential to be attrac-tive.

Q: Would Unilever aim to go private once

the stake rises to 75 per cent? The mar-

kets are betting the stock price would

exceed Rs 1,000.

I cannot comment on what the market

is speculating. There is no plan to de-list

HUL. HUL is a flagship company in India,

and we believe keeping it listed is attrac-

tive. It attracts hundreds of thousands of

retail shareholders, who are important to

our business.

Q: Indian institutions such as LIC and

foreign investors such as Aberdeen are

saying they would not sell their shares at

this price and the offer is being made in

response to the share price collapse post

higher royalties to 3.15 per cent by 2018.

What do you think?

A: This is our final offer. We will not ex-

ceed Rs 600 a share. Minority sharehold-

ers, too, aren’t happy. They are saying

after tax, the offer is not good enough.

Again, this is our only and final offer.

AbenoMICS IS PoSITIve For The reGIonInterview with Atsushi Yoshikawa, CEO, Nomura Wholesale and COO Nomura Group

we ConSIder IndIA’S lonG-TerM GrowTh PoTenTIAl Interview with James Allison, head of mergers and acquisitions and investor relations, Unilever


InTereSTed In vISITInG A TrAde Show In IndIA?In case your company is interested in visiting a tradeshow/B2B event in India, be it one listed here or

another one that came to your attention, get in contact with us via [email protected] to get more information about possible assistance/subsidies.

Trade Shows & Events


lIbrAryThe eMbASSy’S lIbrAry IS oPened

MondAyS And wedneSdAyS FroM 11AM To 1PMwithout appointment. For scheduling an appointment outside the opening hours,

please contact the information assistant under [email protected] or 01 505 8666 33

bUSIneSS CenTreThe eMbASSy’S bUSIneSS CenTre IS oPened

dAIly FroM 11AM To 1PMwithout appointment. For scheduling an appointment outside the opening hours,

please contact the commercial wing under the contacts given below.Marketing Officer: [email protected] or 01 505 8666 30

Marketing Assistant: [email protected] or 01 505 8666 31

Announcements

STUdenTS welFAre oFFICerMr. Pawan T. Badhe, Third Secretary in this Embassy has been designated as Officer to look

after welfare of Indian Students in Austria and Montenegro. His contact details are: Tel: +43-1-505866614 Email: [email protected]


The Union Territory of Puducherry comprises of four coastal regions

viz- puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yan-am. puducherry and Karaikal are situated on the East Coasts in Tamil Nadu, Yanam in Andra Pradesh and Mahe on the West Coast in Kerala.

Puducherry is the Capital of this Union Territory. It is on the east coast about 162 kms south of Chennai (Madras) lo-cated on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. There are no hills or for-ests in this region. The main soil types in this region are red ferrallitic, black clay and coastal alluvial.

Away from the hustle and bustle of big city, Puducherry is a quiet little town on the southern coast. The unmistak-able French connection,the tree lined boulevards,the quaint colonial heritage buildings, the spiritual scene, the endless stretches of unspoilt virgin beaches, back-water, a surprising choice of restaurants serving a melange of cuisines, provide a heady mix that draw travellers from near and far. It is the perfect place to come to if you wants to take the pace of life down a few notches.

Puducherry is a unique place. Many feel that it has a distinct spiritual vibration. Stories of resident sages come down through its history from the earliest days. The nickname “Pondy” sums up this shared feeling of belonging, of having come home.

Tourism

PUdUCherryIndian State/Union Territory Profile

For More InForMATIon on IndIA ToUrISM:

India Tourism FrankfurtBaseler Str. 48 / D-60329 Frank-

furt Tel: +49 (69) 242949-0

Fax: +49 (69) [email protected]


IndIAn MovIe evenInG: ra-one - Superheld mit herzFriday, May 24th, 18:00 | Indian Embassy Business Centre (1st Floor, Kärntner Ring 2, 1010 Vienna)

Genre: Action / Adventure

Directed by: Anubhav Sinha

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Ka-poor, Armaan Verma & Arjun Rampal

Released: 2011

Duration: 156 Minutes

Language: Hindi

Subtitles: GerMAn

Image Quality: hd

Synopsis: Originally from India, Tamil-speaking Shekar Subramaniam lives a middle-classed life abroad along with his wife, Sonia, and a school-going son, Prateek. While Sonia is busy writing a book on converting all female-related exple-tives to male, her husband is employed with Barron Industries, where the owner insists his staff come up with a plan to launch the ultimate video game or else he will change his organiza-tion to a restaurant and hire them as waiters. Hoping to create a super-hero, Shekhar instead faces criticism from Prateek - who hopes to instead see a kick-ass villain. This conversation does change Shekhar’s thinking and he sets about to create an indestructible villain, calls him Ra.one (pronounced as in Lankeshwar Ravan) and its arch-enemy G.One (Jeevan). Prateek will have to regret passing on this idea on to his father - for soon their lives will be shattered when the shape-shifting Ra.One will find a way to enter the real world, kill Shekhar, possess the body of the latter’s colleague, Akaashi, and is all set to do away with Prateek.

Due to limited capacity, seats will be given on a first come, first served basis. Therefore, you are highly encouraged to reserve your seats online at www.indi-anembassy.at or via phone at +43 1 505 866633 (Ms. Lily John).

India in Austria

bollywood MovIeS In AUSTrIAAt the UCI KINOWELT Millennium City (Wehlistr. 66,1200 Vienna)

release date: May, 3rd

For more information, showtimes, reservations and tickets:

www.uci-kinowelt.at/Millennium_City

release date: May, 31st (same release date as in India)


India in Austria

IndIAn dAnCe dAySSaturday 18th May & Sunday 19th May | Heldenplatz, 1010 Wien


India in Austria / Overseas Indians

oTher evenTSMore Information below

dIreCT AdMISSIon oF STUdenTS AbroAd (dASA) To Under-GrAdUATe enGIneerInG ProGrAMMeS In IndIAMore Information below

nAvAGrAhA - 9 PlAneTenRadha Anjali & Natya Mandir Dance CompanyWhen: June 7th and 8th, 19:30

Where: Interkulttheater, Fillgradergasse 16, 1060 Wien. More information under www.natyamandir.at

Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) Scheme of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Gov-

ernment of India aims to facilitate admission for Foreign Nationals / Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) / Non-Resi-dent Indians (NRIs) for UG and PG in Engineering / Ar-chitecture / Planning and PG program in Management in NITs/IIITs and other premier centrally funded institutions in India. Ministry of Human Resource Development has entrusted the organization of DASA 2013-14 admissions to NITK Surathkal.The online portal for the undergraduate admission was launched on April 1, 2013 and the PG admission portal was launched on May 1, 2013.

More details on the programme could be found at www.dASAnIT.orG

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Documents

India Newsletter 05.2013