Think India Foundation

'CCI scrutiny of foreign takeovers may not be effective'

New Delhi : Ministry of corporate affairs is exploring possibilities of amending the Competition Act to exempt deals in the sector from the current turnover and deal size thresholds

The government’s attempt to strike a balance between public health concerns and need for foreign direct investments (FDI) by empowering the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to monitor all foreign takeovers of Indian drug firms may have no impact. Experts feel all domestic takeovers, irrespective of the turnover, deal size or the status of the acquirer, need to be brought under strict scrutiny. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Is Sonipat-Kundli region another Gurgaon in the making?

With realty prices soaring in Delhi in recent years, action is shifting to the suburbs and the satellite towns. Affordable property prices, proximity to the metro city, enhanced infrastructure and the availability of spacious residential and commercial spaces are the key factors driving the growth of these towns and suburbs.

And one such fast-developing region is the Sonipat-Kundli region in Haryana. In fact, the Sonipat-Kundli region has developed so fast in the past few years that some industry observers have already started viewing this region as the next Gurgaon in the state. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

A sustainable makeover for NCR

Delhi : Germany, India pledge funds for environmental urban infrastructure development

The agreement with Germany will help towards a better NCR. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

To boost the environmental sustainability of fast-growing towns in India's National Capital Region (NCR), the German Government-owned development bank KfW has signed a loan agreement worth 100 million euros (approximately Rs. 700 crore) and a financing agreement for project development and capacity building grant of 1 million euro (approximately Rs. 7 crore) with the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB).

The Agreement was signed in New Delhi by Naini Jayaseelan, Member Secretary, NCRPB and Mr. Uwe Ohls, Director General Europe and Asia of KfW, in the presence of Prabodh Saxena, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Cord Meier-Klodt, acting Ambassador of Germany to India. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Builders feel investor heat, bite buyback bullet

Some are funding it from internal accruals, while many want to avoid the put option

Mumbai : Thursday was a big payday for Deutsche Bank (DB), which ended its tumultuous relationship with the Mumbai-based Lodha Group. For DB, the exit was a windfall — a neat 55 per cent profit in four years.

Such buybacks are rising. Indian real estate saw 14 such private equity (PE) exits, worth $457 million (around Rs 2,285 crore) in 2011. Of these, promoters bought out existing PEs or other financial sponsors in eight deals, according VCCEdge, the research platform of VCCircle. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Students need this boost

If political parties do give free laptops to high school students if elected to power, it could be a major game-changer in education. The digital divide between urban and rural areas as well as social groups would narrow. E-learning would also expand, improving the overall quality of education. It might seem surprising that regional outfits in UP, Punjab and, earlier, Tamil Nadu have been the prime movers of this innovative idea. But that's possibly because they have a better idea of the fast-changing aspirations of the electorate in the era of globalisation.

Some may argue that the AIADMK's assembly poll success on similar promises last year pushed other political groups to follow this trend. What's wrong in that? After all, Tamil Nadu had also pioneered a radically inclusive school education programme, innovating with the midday meal scheme later replicated in the rest of the country. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Water purification business attracts over Rs 500 crore in PE

The inability of the state to deliver on basic services has nurtured many a business: inverters and bottled water, to name just two.

A third one is beginning to flourish: water purification and waste-water treatment. As the state increasingly relinquishes these functions to the private sector, and even discusses the idea of privatising water supply, companies in this business are seeing a likely suitor: private equity (PE). Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Boost financial instruments, discourage gold imports: Assocham

Mumbai : Encouraged by the government’s intention to categorise gold as a holding asset not to bring in circulation, the premier industry body Assocham has urged the government to encourage formal financial instruments to make the investment more productive. A senior government official had recently said that gold is a holding asset which increases massive strain on investible resources.

Terming the current gold import as huge burden on the balance of payments, Assocham’s secretary general D S Rawat said. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

PPP not successful in Metro projects: Report

JAIPUR: Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Metro projects has not been very successful, suggests a report on Innovative Financing of Metro Rail projects. This report was sent by the government of India, ministry of urban development to Rajasthan chief secretary and managing director of the Jaipur Metro Rail Project (JMRC).

While the state government is planning to bring phase-II, (Ambabari to Sitapura) a 24 km stretch on PPP model the report states a study of global experience in Urban Rail Transits provisioning shows that (PPP) in Metro projects has not been very successful. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

See and learn

Children understand better when they see than when they read. If technology can be made an enabler to let children study subjects with a visual dimension added to books, learning is faster and consequent dropout rates of students also decline. 

“Computers bring about a dramatic change from the mundane process of learning at school and reduce dropout rates, as seen in pilot projects we have conducted in Karnataka. Using networking technology, teachers and students can see each other real-time. While kids from multiple villages can see and hear one another on a screen, they also take the same class together. Every child is audible and visible in the different classrooms,” explains Aravind Sitaraman, president, inclusive growth, Cisco. Read more

Source : educationtimes.com

Trai role crucial post-2G ruling

New Delhi, DHNS : The post–Supreme Court ruling on the cancellation of 2G spectrum allocated to telecom firms in 2008, the role of telecom regulator, Trai has become important on how it moves forward to restore investor confidence in the Indian market in allocating airwaves through the auction route.

One of the major objectives of Trai is to provide a transparent policy environment to the telecom sector. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

Kalinga Nagar, Bolangir identified as probable manufacturing hubs in Orissa

Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar : Orissa has identified the Kalinga Nagar industrial cluster in Jajpur district and Bolangir in the economically backward KBK (Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput) region as probable locations for development of National Manufacturing and Investment Zone (NMIZ) envisaged under the National Manufacturing Policy of Government of India (GoI).

The proposed NMIZ needs to be developed on a contiguous patch of 5000 hectares of land as mandated by the policy. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Healthcare sector will offer enormous growth opportunities

There are plenty of investment opportunities in the healthcare technology space but most have long gestation cycles and challenging business models

I for one was glad when we bid 2011 goodbye. There was hardly anything to be positive about in the year gone by, what with a scam a day, the rupee at an all-time high and our gross domestic product (GDP) growing the slowest among the Bric (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries. However, we are off to a much better start this year with some key verdicts from the Supreme Court on the 2G case that has sent a strong message that even powerful politicians and top business houses are not above the law. Additionally, the judgement in favour of Vodafone in the capital gains tax case is a positive development.  

In my interactions with my global investor friends, I notice their faith in the Indian judicial system is renewed and they are slowly back to feeling cautiously optimistic about India. As Raghuram Rajan, professor of finance at Chicago University’s Booth School of Business and economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said at Davos last week, we need to aim for at least 8.5-9% GDP this year and only then will we end up with 7-7.5%. Read more

Source : livemint.com

Equipment sourcing rule likely for IT, telecom

New Delhi : In an initiative that could prompt foreign telecom equipment majors such as Huawei, ZTE and Ericsson to set up base in India, the government is working on a Cabinet note to make it mandatory for all information technology (IT) and telecom public sector units to source 30 per cent of their purchases from domestic equipment makers.

Work on the note has started following a proposal by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the IT department. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Britain begged India to accept aid money: Telegraph

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last year asked the UK to cease giving aid to the country’s booming economy, but relented after being begged to take the money for fear of “grave political embarrassment”, reports the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

“We do not require the aid. It is a peanut in our total development exercises [expenditure],” Mukherjee told the upper house of Indian parliament, during question time, adding that the government wanted to give it up. Read more

Source : minivannews.com

Make tourism a priority sector: Nirani

BANGALORE: Major and Medium Scale Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani on Friday said tourism should be made a priority sector in Karnataka. Speaking at the inauguration of UGC sponsored National-Level Seminar on ‘Karnataka as Global tourist Destination- Challenges and Opportunities’ here, he said efforts should be made to preserve historic monuments and flora and fauna. In fact, Karnataka has some of the best tourist locations in the country and it is important to attract foreign investment.

Capt Ganesh Karnik, MLC,said, “If one has to really promote tourism in Karnataka, they should first find out the weaknesses and come up with a solution to solve it. He added that a tourist from abroad who does not wish to spend exorbitantly for accommodation, would be appalled at the hygiene and maintenance of the place. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

‘Cities are growing, but not facilities’

Bangalore : Cities are going to be the engines of growth for India, which is advancing faster than other countries, said DrIsher Ahluwalia, chairperson of High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure.

“At present, 37.7 crore of the country's population lives in cities. By 2031, this number is expected to grow to 60 crore,” she said. Read more

Source : dnaindia.com

PMC bid to better sanitation in Patna city

PATNA: Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has readied an integrated project to process and dispose of solid waste.

"We will invite private parties for door-to-door collection of garbage," PMC commissioner Pankaj K Pal told TOI on Thursday. Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (BUIDCo) is preparing the tender. "It will be floated by February 15," said BUIDCo's MD Anupam Kumar Suman. Read more

Source  : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Rise in telecom tariffs likely, say analysts

MUMBAI : There were wide ranging reactions from telecom sector analysts to the Supreme Court's verdict in the 2G case.

It is good news for established incumbent operators and in the short term there is likely to be some increase in tariffs, said Mr C.S. Benoy, Director, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia and Middle East. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

Building a new urban India

A recent opinion poll sponsored by this newspaper, across the country's biggest eight urban agglomerations, found even the best rated among them barely making it to a rating of 'average'. The frequent sloganeering about Delhi soon becoming "the world's most beautiful city" or Mumbai "a global financial hub" appears straight out of the famous British serial 'Yes Minister'. There, Sir Humphrey Appleby underscores the law of Inverse Relevance - the less you intend to do or are capable of doing something, the more you have to keep talking about it.

What Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata are left to mean to an ordinary citizen is crime, grime and chaos; vast wastelands of miseropolis. Our cities keep bearing the brunt of traumas such as an Uphaar blaze in Delhi or the AMRI inferno in Kolkata. Monsoon downpours paralyse Delhi by waterlogging year after year, much like they turn Mumbai into a familiar cesspool along with its potholed roads and gridlocked traffic. Fires, floods, even terror can benumb any of our cities any time. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MP Govt to lease out 700 hectares for tourism projects

Khajuraho : In a bid to attract and encourage private investment in the tourism sector in the state, the Madhya Pradesh government will lease out 700 hectares of land for tourism-related projects. The land will be leased through open competitive bidding for a period of 30 years. Speaking at the first Tourism Conclave organised jointly by Madhya Pradesh Tourism and FICCI at Khajuraho, Vinod Semwal, Principal Secretary - Tourism, Madhya Pradesh, and Pankaj Rag, MD, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corp., said that the state intended to engage private investors in a proactive manner.

Of the 700 hectares identified, Semwal said about 450 hectares will be earmarked for projects based on the PPP model. Regarding the poor state of roads connecting various tourist destinations, he said that the Public Works Department is working hard to improve the roads and is updating the Tourism Department on a day to day basis. He added that the government currently has various incentives for private investors, including luxury tax exemption for a period of five to eight years for new hotels. Read more

Source : travelbizmonitor.com

Coimbatore Corporation to implement round the clock drinking water scheme

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation will implement a 24x7 drinking water distribution scheme under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission ( JNNURM) at the cost of Rs 595.24 crore.

The corporation council passed a resolution on Monday that the old corporation areas (not including areas which fall under corporation limits under the expansion scheme) would soon get 200 million litres of drinking water every day from Siruvani and Pillur scheme. Chennai-based consultant Pitzner Engineers Private Limited had made a detailed project report. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Panel suggests setting up task force to speed up PPP projects

Proposes govt spending of Rs.5.6 trillion over 10 years; ombudsman to resolve issues arising during project execution

An expert group looking into ways to modernize the railways has recommended setting up a task force to expedite public-private partnership projects (PPP)involving investments of at least Rs.10,000 crore.

The person selected to head the task force should be at the level of the chairman of the Railway Board, the panel has recommended to the government. For smaller projects, it has suggested constituting a three-member committee to fast-track decision making. Read more

Source : livemint.com

Urgent challenge to create 600 m jobs over next decade, says ILO

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently warned there is an “urgent challenge” to create 600 million jobs over the world in the next decade as one in three workers worldwide are either unemployed or living in poverty.

According to the annual report on global employment by the ILO, the world faces the “urgent challenge” of creating 600 million productive jobs over the next decade in order to generate sustainable growth and maintain social cohesion. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

VMC to finish 5 projects

Vijayawada : The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) hastened development works under the JNNURM as the project tenure will conclude by March 2012. The VMC so far spent Rs.904 crore for the development of infrastructure and construction of houses in the city since 2004. The VMC has designed 20 projects at a cost of Rs.1,422.67 crore from 2004 to 2012 March. The civic body completed nine projects and is trying to complete another five projects by the end of March 2012. Two housing projects are unlikely to be grounded due to land acquisition problem.

In all, 12 projects were taken up under the Urban Infrastructure Governance (UIG) at a cost of Rs. 679 crore and eight projects planned at a cost of Rs. 743.31 crore under the Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) for the development of slums. JNNURM works started in 2004-05. Government of India’s share is Rs. 414 crore and state government’s share is Rs. 158 crore of the total cost. Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

Time ripe for financial institutions to invest in housing: Selja

New Delhi: Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja Monday said time was appropriate for the banking sector and other financial institutions to play a greater role, along with the government, to provide affordable housing to the poor.

Delivering the keynote address here at an international seminar on "Growth and stability in Affordable Housing Markets", Selja said there has been a steady growth in the housing finance companies in India who are serving as dedicated outlets for the housing credit delivery. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

India needs huge infrastructure investment: FM

Chicago (IBNS) : Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that India needed a huge infrastructure investment boost in the 12th Five Year Plan to accelerate and sustain growth in the country.

During his ongoing visit to Chicago, Mukherjee said, "Rapid development of infrastructure is the key to sustain high growth and strengthening the domestic growth dynamics of our economy. Read more

Source : indiablooms.com

Starbucks to enter India, targets 50 outlets by year-end

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp will open its first coffee shops in India in August or September, a year later than originally planned, and aims to have 50 outlets by year-end through a tie-up with the Tata group, the country's biggest business house.

Culver, president, Starbucks China and Asia Pacific attends a news conference in Mumbai (DANISH SIDDIQUI, REUTERS / January 30, 2012)

The Seattle-based chain, known as much for the trendy urban lifestyle it represents as its costly cups of coffee, enters a market with a fast-growing middle class and plenty of competition in the small but fast-growing coffee segment. Read more

Source : chicagotribune.com

Costlier land, infrastructure to hike Vizhinjam port cost by 60%

The cost of developing India's largest deep-water port at Vizhinjam in Kerala has risen by 60% because of escalating land and infrastructure costs, a top port official said on Wednesday.

The port, planned as a container transshipment hub with a capacity to handle 4.1 million TEUs a year, will be built on the so-called landlord model, where the state government will set up the infrastructure and invite an operator to run the port. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Mega drinking water project off to a start

MADURAI : Boomi puja held for Rs. 784 crore scheme

By 2014, all habitations in Madurai district will get protected river water for drinking purpose on execution of the Melur Comprehensive Water Supply Scheme.

The work for the Rs. 784-crore scheme formally commenced at Melur here on Friday. The Melur, MLA, R. Samy, and Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board officials, including its Chief Engineer, B. Gothandaraman, were present at the bhoomi puja held at Gandhi Park. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

MNC's now prefer Noida over NCR; planned townships, access to Delhi cited as reasons

Noida has been seeing an increase in the number of multinationals setting up base here. This has resulted in a large-scale migration of skilled and unskilled workers to this place. Infrastructure has developed in tandem - wide roads, big commercial centres, and institutions - which have lifted the stock of this place among developers, end users and investors.

Noida has obviously benefited from the urban stress being faced by Delhi, which is under pressure from a lack of space, sky-high property prices, and a large population . The prominent developers who have helped in the growth story of Noida include Jaypee, Amrapali, Prateek Group, Gulshan Homz, JM Housing Ltd, Earth Infrastructures Ltd, Ajnara India Ltd, etc. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Cities in transformation: Towards an intelligent future

Are cities about to die?

This is what many people were thinking just a few years ago. Back in the 1990s, scholars speculated about the impact of the ongoing digital revolution on the viability of cities. The mainstream view was that, as digital media and the Internet had killed distance, they would also kill cities. Technology writer George Gilder proclaimed that "cities are leftover baggage from the industrial era" and concluded that, due to the continued growth of personal computing, telecommunications and distributed production, "we are headed for the death of cities".

In actual fact, this is exactly opposite to the view that has shaped our conversations as part of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council 2011. Starting in Abu Dhabi - and during our discussions leading up to Davos - we have observed that cities have never prospered as much as they have over the past couple of decades. China is currently building more urban fabric than has ever been built by humanity. Since 2008, for the first time in history, over half the world's population lives in urban areas and, according to some estimates, there is a US$40 trillion opportunity in global infrastructure investment, mostly urban. Read more

Source : nationmultimedia.com

Modi: Bihar to enhance renewable energy

The Bihar government is committed to work towards development of renewable energy (RE) and ready to provide various incentives to investors in this regard.

Deputy CM Sushil K Modi while releasing the report, ‘Empowering Bihar — Policy Pathway for Energy Access’, made this statement here at a function held under the banner of Greenpeace India. Read more

Source : eco-business.com

Tamil Nadu to get 1.8 lakh housing units in the next five years

1.43 lakh units for economically weaker sections: R.Vaithilingam

One of the stalls at the exhibition at Municipalika that got under way on Monday in Chennai. Photo: S.S.Kumar.

The State will get an additional 1.85 lakh housing units in the next five years at a cost of Rs.17,230 crore. Of these, 1.43 lakh units would be for the economically weaker sections, R.Vaithilingam, Minister for Housing and Urban Development said on Monday.

Speaking at the inauguration of Municipalika, ‘10 international conference and exhibition on good urban governance for safe, healthy, green, inclusive and smart cities', he said 39,000 units were for other income groups divided into low, medium and high. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

NW zone water pipe leakages to cost AMC Rs 43.24 L

Ahmedabad : In a bid to repair leaking water pipes in the new west zone, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is planning to put forward Rs 43.24 lakh proposal in front of the standing committee.

The civic body has come across many cases of leakages in the PVC pipelines used for water supply in various wards like Vejalpur, Sarkhej, and Jodhpur, laid by Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. "Unlike other zones, there is no staff to maintain and repair the water supply lines in this zone, as there was no such mechanism in erstwhile Nagarpalika," said Jatin Patel, chairman of AMC's water supply and sewerage committee. Read more

Source : dnaindia.com

Home ministry to have limited say in investments

New Delhi : To whittle the veto power wielded by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over investment proposals, the government will frame rules and guidelines and rewrite several laws in the next two months.

Top government sources confirmed that a subjective, anecdotal, case-by-case approach to a raft of investments that were stuck seeking mandatory ‘security clearance’ will be revisited. The process began with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board nixing the home ministry’s security concerns about a proposal by Verizon Communications — a telecom company headquartered in the US. The ministry had reservations about Verizon being allowed to set up shop in India, as the company shared data with US’ law enforcing agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and its India arm might as well be required to do so. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Curbing net will scare away investors, believes Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

India is in danger of scaring off investors if it presses ahead with measures that restrict the freedom of expression on the internet, the founder of Wikipedia has warned. 

Jimmy Wales cautioned India against taking a "huge step backwards" by putting fetters on companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. (AP Photo)

Jimmy Wales, who is leading the charge against proposed US legislation that the internet industry says restricts free speech, cautioned India against taking a "huge step backwards" by putting fetters on companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Small town, big spends

Non metro cities hold tremendous potential for marketers

Coimbatore skyline. Photo:M. Periasamy

Don't dismiss the small towns. That's where the big pockets are, when it comes to quantifying the purchasing power of the country. Recent research has shown that cities such as Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore and Pune have three quarters or more of the affluence levels of Mumbai.

This is precisely why marketers are rushing towards smaller towns. Their enthusiasm, according to a MART study, is also triggered by the availability of adequate land at a reasonable price. These towns have the advantage of low construction costs and lower rentals. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

For the first time Bihar to have industrial survey

Patna: The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar seems to be in a mood to actually reshape the landscape of the state by transforming it into a developed one, something which has not happened for ages. 

According to reports, in March the state will have its first survey of industrial units to assess the industrial scenario and to frame measures to attract investments. Read more

Source : pardaphash.com

Revival in investment in India key to recovery in growth: Morgan Stanley

In India, structural measures are needed to help boost private investment. India will continue to have strong support from favorable demographic trends, as the age dependency ratio (proportion of non-working age population to working age population) will continue improving until 2040, according to UN projections.

This warrants a rise in investment to GDP, which would help to generate productive capacity, and is crucial to kick-start a virtuous cycle of faster growth in productive job creation - income growth - savings - investments - higher growth, without a rise in inflation challenges. Read more

Source : myiris.com

Pangs of paribartan in West Bengal

Suo motu declarations are as valid as appraisals by external agents; by that reckoning, the eight-month-old government of chief minister Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal has delivered on each of the campaign promises as listed in the manifesto and the Chief Minister is confidently asserting “touch me if you can”, which is a paraphrase of a Bengali idiom that describes towering, spectacular achievement.

In her own estimation, Ms Banerjee has solved the “burning” problems that was the legacy of the CPM-led Left Front government — the land acquired for the car factory in Singur has been returned to “unwilling” farmers in law; the Maoist insurgency in Jangalmahal has ended and the people are “laughing” instead of “crying”; the fissiparous Darjeeling movement has been tamed; industry is eagerly exploring the investment opportunities created by the change of regime and reforms in education have been successfully launched by gifting to the Presidency University a mentor group that is working overtime to convert a down-at-heel institution into a world-class one. There are other achievements too: minority students have been distributed scholarships and madrasas have been mainstreamed. Peace and harmony is back in West Bengal instead of the chaos and violence that prevailed earlier. The stage is set for the state to stride ahead and wipe out the past. Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

States seek less Centre schemes

New Delhi : State governments on Wednesday urged the Centre to reduce the number of centrally-sponsored schemes and transfer funds to autonomous bodies only through them.

Some of the states also made their apprehensions clear about sharing any financial burden for implementing the Food Security Act. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Worldly Wise: Explore sustainable transport solutions

2011 was a year when we were able to witness and become aware of major geopolitical changes and economic disturbances

2011 was a year when we were able to witness and become aware of major geopolitical changes and economic disturbances. But, it was also a year when very discreet yet dramatic changes took place, the world's population turned seven billion. In 40 years, our planet will be inhabited by nine billion, with two out of every three people living in cities. This accelerating urbanisation creates unparalleled challenges for governments.

The World Energy Council (WEC), in its ‘Global Transport Scenarios 2050' report, envisions that total fuel demand in all transport modes could grow by up to 88 per cent by 2050, depending on the level of government intervention. Read more

Source : gulfnews.com

Rail-port public-private links hit down signals

Financing, loan rates & road connectivity issues come to fore railways mull changes in rules to promote investor interest

New Delhi : Indian Railways’ initiative to ease infrastructure bottlenecks by connecting inland cargo lines and ports through public-private-partnership (PPP) projects has run into rough weather for many operators.

Companies were set up as special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to implement the projects after the policy came up in early 2000. But firms that overestimated traffic projections are now facing difficult times. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

NAC draws up plan for shelters for over 3 lakh urban homeless

NEW DELHI: The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council has recommended a Rs 4,250 crore programme to provide shelters and other amenities to homeless in Class 1 cities in the country. 

The council has suggested the National Programme for Shelters and Other Services for Urban Homeless to set up 6,800 permanent shelters for around 3 lakh homeless - 15% of the estimated population of people living in the open across urban India. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Delhi, Mumbai slip in APAC realty rankings, B'lore holds on

New Delhi : Delhi and Mumbai have slipped in an Asia-Pacific (APAC) real estate investment opportunities list for 2012 owing to economic and inflationary issues, says a joint report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC.

The report, titled, 'Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia-Pacific 2012', found Delhi and Mumbai dropped from fifth and third place in last year's list of real estate investment prospects to 12th and 15th position, respectively, in 2012. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

No shortcuts, please

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began 2012 by delivering two significant speeches. He spoke at the Indian Science Congress on January 3 and on January 10, released a report by some NGOs and corporates on the status of hunger and malnutrition in the country. Though the two speeches were on divergent issues,put together, they convey a disturbing approach towards realising India's potential. 

Invoking the legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (whose 125th birth anniversary is on December 22, 2012) and Satyendranath Bose (the elusive search for a sub-atomic elementary particle bearing his name, Boson, that may revolutionise humanity's understanding of our universe, continues at the CERN laboratory's Large Hadron Collider experiment), the PM ended by candidly admitting that India's spending on scientific research and development (R&D) is "too low and stagnant". At present, we spend less than 0.9% of our GDP on R&D. The PM bemoaned that China has left us behind on this and urged that we should spend at least 2% of our GDP on R&D by the end of the 12th Plan period. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Out with the Old, In with the New

Key trends like BYOD, broadband, 4G, etc, are going to define the Indian telecom industry in 2012

Trend #1: BWA/4G Rollout: Wait and Watch

Sluggish adoption of third-generation mobile services and rising questions about return on investments in the country's overcrowded telecom sector will push the launch of fourth-generation (Broadband Wireless Access) mobile services further into 2013.

Telecommunication Service Providers (TSPs) will continue to aggressively promote 3G services, build volumes, and stabilize returns during 2012 and use the learning before committing further resources to the as yet nascent 4G/BWA ecosystem. Specifically, the device and content pieces need to come together to make the go-to-market viable for the operators, and at the same time offer a compelling proposition to a user. Read more

Source : voicendata.ciol.com

JnNURM to cover several new cities

Investment to be upped to Rs 2 lakh cr

The Centre is working on a new Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) that will see more cities covered by the infrastructure improvement project, with a massive hike in investment.

The Union Urban Development Ministry has started working on the new modified scheme, as the current JnNURM scheme launched in December  2005 will end on March 2012. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

Public-private initiative planned to promote Hubli as investment hub

BANGALORE : A new public-private platform is planned to promote Hubli-Dharwad region as the next investment destination in the State. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Hubli Chapter has come forward to help promote the twin city in various national and global meets.

The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister and Dharwad district-in-charge Minister, Mr Jagadish Shettar, addressing a TiECon 2012 session on ‘Taking Leap From Rs 100 crore to Rs 10,000 crore: Pune Story and Hubli Road ahead,' said, “The district administration will support the public-private initiative and help bring together authorities, entrepreneurs and eminent personalities to promote Hubli-Dharwad as the next investment destination in the State.” Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

Andhra Pradesh inks MoUs for Rs.6.5 lakh cr investment

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh garnered investment proposals worth about Rs.6.50 lakh crore during the Partnership Summit 2012 which concluded here Friday, signalling that the state was a safe business destination after two dismal years wracked by political instability.

"I am sure all the doubts in the minds of investors with regard to the recent happenings have been cleared," said Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com