INDIAN ECONOMIC NEWS

GDP growth in FY11 at 8.1%
According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the Indian economy is expected to grow by 8.1% in 2010-11 driven by an anticipated expansion in agriculture, industry and service sectors. NCAER's agriculture projection for the current fiscal year stands at around 4%.

India to produce more MNCs than any other country: PwC
India is expected to produce the highest number of new multinational companies (MNCs), overtaking China as the emerging world's largest such source. Over 2,200 Indian companies are likely to open operations outside the country over the next 15 years, says a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on emerging MNCs.

Solar energy to get a boost
The government of India plans to produce 20 million Mw of power using solar energy said director, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy A K Singhal.  Speaking at a seminar on 'Renewable Energy: Options For Heating and Lighting' organised at Basaveshwar College of Engineering in Bagalkot, he said the production process will be completed in three phases.  The first phase of work will see projects being completed for producing 100 million Watts of solar power by 2013. The Union government is planning to produce nearly 20 million Mw of power from solar energy.

Industrial output likely to scale 15% in March
Industrial output is expected to rise 15% in March, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said, marking the fourth consecutive month of strong growth. The official data for industrial production will be released on May 12. The strong core sector growth in March had already suggested robust industrial activity, but there are apprehensions that the growth rate may moderate as interest rates rise. The new wholesale price index (WPI) index with a revised base year and more products is expected by July this year, Mr Sharma said. The core sector comprising the six infrastructure industries had logged a strong 7.2% growth in March. These sectors have a 26.7% weight in the index for industrial production and are considered a good advance indicator of factory output growth.

$75 billion global risk capital to flow into India: IDG
India is set to be the next big market for global risk capital, according to data collated by early stage venture capital firm IDG Ventures. The firm estimates that $75 billion of private equity and venture capital will flow into India over the next five years, nearly double the $40 billion capital that came into the country between 2004-2009. Over half this capital inflow will go to new businesses in sectors such as information technology services, manufacturing, healthcare, engineering and construction, while nearly a tenth of the money is expected to fund early stage, high-risk ventures in the technology segment.

India's wind power draws global majors
A long coastline, low installation costs and ready local availability of key raw materials have all made India a favourite destination for offshore wind power, with global majors such as Areva, Siemens and GE queuing up to explore opportunities in the country. High-profile investors such as Vinod Sethi, private equity major Blackstone and new clean technology funds have already invested in offshore wind energy companies planning for India, as this sector is expected to offer electricity tariffs at 40% less cost than that from traditional sources.

Government approves 23 FDI deals worth US$ 517.12 million
The government has approved 23 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals worth over US$ 517.12 million, including the proposals of broadband services provider Tikona Digital Network Pvt Ltd and auto components maker Bharat Forge Limited, according to an official statement. Tikona Digital Network is likely to capture the highest FDI of US$ 254 million from convertible debenture and share sale. Kalyani Group company Bharat Forge proposal is expected to raise US$ 128.1 million by issuing warrants to overseas investors. The medical device maker Opto Circuits India Limited's proposal worth US$ 83.7 million has also received approval.

India becomes seventh largest shareholder in World Bank
India will have a larger say in the affairs of the World Bank as it has become the seventh largest shareholder in the multilateral lender with 2.91% voting rights. India's shareholding in the Bank had been declining since 1970s and the trend has been reversed for the first time in a generation. The development committee of the World Bank, which met on 25th April in Washington, decided to increase the financial capacity of the Bank and the role of developing countries in its governance. There is an overall shift of 3% voting share in favour of developing countries, bringing their total vote share to 47%. The change will give emerging nations more say in how the bank is run and how its funds are disbursed.

Private equity funding touches US$ 1.9 billion in first quarter of 2010
The amount of private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funding in India touched US$ 1.9 billion in the first three months of 2010, according to a report by global consulting firm, Deloitte. This funding came from 88 transactions, with an average deal size of US$ 22.1 million.

Government approves establishment of National Knowledge Network
The government has given its nod to the establishment of the National Knowledge Network (NKN) which proposes to connect 1500 educational institutes around the country through a high-speed data communication network. The establishment of the network-with an outlay of US$ 1.32 billion-was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI). The NKN would be implemented over a period of ten years by the National Informatics Centre. The network will feature 25 Points of Presence (PoPs) as well as 600 secondary PoPs and is expected to stimulate collaborative research, specialised resources and knowledge-sharing. The NKN will have a scalable architecture and will feature an ultra-high speed core, with speeds in multiples of 10 Gbps, which will be complemented by a distribution layer.

Port traffic keeps on surging
With economic activity picking up in Europe and across many other countries, Indian ports have registered growth for the seventh consecutive month in February over the corresponding period last year. In February, the major ports handled cargo of 45.8 million tonnes, 1.3% higher than the 45.2 million tonnes in the corresponding month in 2009. For the 11-month ended February 2010, ports recorded a cargo growth of 5.5% compared with the same period in the 2009 fiscal, according to data from the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

Global hotels home in on India
Number of branded hotel rooms set to double to 200,000 in three years; foreign brands to have lion's share. India is expected to double the number of branded hotel rooms from 100,000 now in just three years. Leading the pack are global hotel chains, which will add over 300 hotel properties (an estimated 55,000 rooms) in the country by 2013. Accelerating economic growth and the huge gap in demand and supply (the shortage is estimated at 150,000 rooms) are the main triggers for several international hotel brands - Intercontinental, Hyatt, Hilton, Starwood, Marriott, Fairmont Raffles and Four Seasons, to name a few - to strengthen alliances with local players. Over 40 new international brands will invest around $11 billion (about Rs 50,000 crore) in the next three years, industry estimates show.

IT / Telecom / Biotech News
Indian domestic BPO market to grow 25% in 2010: Gartner
The Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) market has rebounded faster than its global counterparts. The domestic BPO market is expected to grow at 25 per cent in 2010 to touch $1.2 billion (around Rs 5,400 crore) by 2011, said a Gartner study. The domestic India BPO services market grew by 7.3 per cent year-on-year in 2009, primarily due to the global economic uncertainty, which led to some price and volume pressures. According to research and advisory firm Gartner, the BPO market in India is estimated to grow 19 per cent through 2013 and grow to $1.8 billion (around Rs 8,100 crore) by 2013.

US healthcare reforms to spawn $20-billion market for IT players
The Bill, which proposes to create Electronic Health Records (EHRs) for all Americans by 2014, is expected to open up a $20 billion market opportunity for Indian IT services firms like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Firstsource and MindTree. Obama's plan proposes to allocate $150 billion to healthcare. Of this, nearly $20 billion is proposed for healthcare IT alone, most of which is expected to be spent on EHRs. Indian IT firms are expected to participate in EHR implementations, upgradation, integration of databases and inter-operability. They could also build solutions to assist the US healthcare industry to prevent leakages and reduce costs and waste.

Kaspersky to invest $2 millon in India operations
Russian information technology security software provider, Kaspersky Lab, will be investing $2 million (approximately Rs 9 crore) in its India operations at Hyderabad during the next financial year, said its managing director (Asia Pacific) Harry Cheung. The privately-held over $500-million company, which currently has three employees on its rolls at its Hyderabad centre, is planning to hire 120 more in FY11, besides looking at setting up a 100 people-strong call centre to support the entire Asia region.

Bharti, Zain $10.7-billion deal sealed in Amsterdam
Bharti Airtel took a big step towards fulfilling its international ambitions with a deal on Tuesday to acquire most of the African assets of Kuwait's Zain Telecom. The $10.7-billion deal, including $1.7 billion of Zain's debt, was signed in Amsterdam, the base of Zain's African unit. With Zain Africa's 42 million customers, Bharti Airtel will have 179 million subscribers, making it the world's fifth-largest mobile phone operator.

Cipla ties up with Stempeutics for stem cell therapies
Cipla, the largest domestic drug manufacturer, has tied up with the Manipal Group-promoted Stempeutics Research to market stem cell-based therapies. Cipla will fund Rs 50 crore within the next two years to conduct clinical trials and to further develop two products being worked on by Stempeutics. Cipla will further invest to develop more products and in return will get marketing rights on a transfer pricing basis during commercialisation, said B N Manohar, president, Stempeutics.

Corporate News
Fortis buys 24% in singapore healthcare giant
Fortis Healthcare today announced the largest overseas acquisition by an Indian company in the healthcare space, buying the entire 23.9 per cent stake held by TPG Capital in Singapore's Parkway Holding Ltd for $686 million (Rs 3,119 crore). Fortis is India's second-largest healthcare provider after Apollo Hospitals and Parkway is Asia's biggest hospital operator by sales. The acquisition would form Asia's largest hospital chain with over 10,000 beds across 64 hospitals in six countries.

Ashok Leyland to invest Rs 2000 crore (US$ 448 million)
Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland is planing to invest around Rs 2,000 crore (US$ 448.6 million) over the next two years. Over the period, planned capex incurrence would be Rs 1,200 crore (US$ 269 million) and investments in joint ventures (JVs) around Rs 800 crore (US$ 179.5 million).

Renault to invest in car engine facility in India
French auto maker Renault, is planning to set up an engine and transmission facility in India with Nissan, its partner. This new plant is expected to come up adjacent to the vehicle manufacturing complex of Renault-Nissan at Oragadam, near Chennai.

Bombardier to open support office in Mumbai
Bombardier Aerospace is opening a regional support office in Mumbai from April to cater to the needs of its business aircraft costumers in the country. This will be the company's fifth new support office for the business jet customers in the past three years worldwide. The other four are in Tokyo, Sydney, Shanghai and Munich.                                         

Wave launches its first manufacturing facility in Pune
WAVE (Worthington Armstrong Venture) a manufacturer of suspended ceiling grid launched its first manufacturing facility in Talegaon near Pune. This company is a joint venture between Armstrong World Industries Inc. and Worthington Industries Inc.

Steriltie Energy signs agreement with Evonik Energy Services India
Sterlite Energy Limited, a subsidiary of the London based Vedanta Resource Plc has signed an agreement with Evonik Energy Services India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Germany based Evonik energy Services GmbH for operation and maintenance of its 4x600 MW unit independent power plant (IPP) at Jharsuguda in western Orissa. The four units of the 2,400-MW (4x600 MW) are in final stages of commissioning with the first unit expected to become commercially operational by May 2010.

Xerox Corp opens India Innovation hub in Chennai
Xerox Corporation - a $22 billion global enterprise for business process and document management - has opened its India innovation hub at the Olympia Technology Park in Chennai.  It is based on the concept of "open innovation" and will bring together Xerox scientists and engineers with leading Indian academic institutions, research labs and industry partners. Its initial mission is to develop document management solutions that are relevant to emerging market countries and contribute innovation to solutions and services delivery.

RIL, IMG launch JV to build professional sports biz
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and US-based sports marketing company IMG Worldwide have joined hands to build a professional sports business in India. The equal joint venture between the two would also manage entertainment businesses. The new company, IMG Reliance, would set up sports facilities across the country to train athletes, thus developing the sports market. The model would be similar to the one followed in mature sports and entertainment markets such as the US. The companies plan to create and operate major sports and entertainment assets.

 Forthcoming Events in India

Gears Motors & Controls Expo
May 6-9, 2010, Mumbai
http://www.biztradeshows.com/ 

India International Sign Show
May 7-9, 2010, Mumbai
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Automotive Engineering Show
May 14-17, 2010, Chennai
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Communications India
May 20-22, 2010, Bangalore
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Global Investors Meet
June 3-4, 2010, Bangalore
http://www.advantagekarnataka.com/

International Rice Pro-Tech Expo
June 11-13, 2010, Punjab
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

All Food Tech
June 11-14, 2010, Bangalore
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

AgriTech 2010
Exhibition cum Seminars
June 15-18, 2010,

Angrau University Campus
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad,
http://www.card.org.in/

India Tyre Expo
June 25-27, 2010, Chennai
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Security India 2010
July 8, 2010, New Delhi
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Sugar Asia
July 9-11, 2010, New Delhi
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Helthtex 2010
July 16-19, 2010, Bangalore
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Automation Asia
July 23-26, 2010, New Delhi
http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Safe 2010
4^th International Exhibition & Conference on Internal Security
July 28-30, 2010, New Delhi
Organized By: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

Venue: NSIC Exhibition Complex, New Delhi
http://www.biztradeshows.com/  

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