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Embassy of India, Riyadh |
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Issue 13 ♦ December 2005 |
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India Biz News |
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- A snapshot of India’s economic scene |
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Foreign investors upbeat on India
إ تجاه المستثمرون الأجانب إلى الهند
November and December are traditionally considered lean months for
investment. But a sharp rise in the number of foreign institutional investors
(FIIs) and the general expectation that the forthcoming calendar year could
bring good returns, has changed all this. Over the past three years, the stock
markets have expanded the maximum in these two months. Traders also say that
the emergence of India as an asset class for most FIIs is likely to see this
trend gaining more strength in the years to come. Foreign investors have been
increasingly investing in India, lured by an economy which is expanding at the
rate of 7-8% a year and an equity market that is considered the second best in
Asia, after Korea. These investors have already pumped in $8.5bn so far this
year, which is more than the $8.4bn invested in the whole of last year. The
market also points at the changing composition of the FII basket as another
reason for the change in the trend. “Some years ago, most FIIs were either from
the US or UK. Now, the companies from Japan, Korea, the Nordic countries and
elsewhere, want to invest in India. So norms of investing have also changed,”
says a senior official with a leading FII that has spent many years in India.
Indian manufacturers beat global Peers
يتغلب المنتجون الهنود على نظرائهم في العالم
INDIAN manufacturing companies, often overlooked as a competitive force in the global manufacturing arena, are quietly enjoying gross profits and sales growth rates that are nearly twice that of global manufacturers, according to preliminary findings of a global benchmark study by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Deloitte's study in India suggests that local manufacturers are enjoying average sales growth of 15%, compared with 7% for their global peers. They are delivering gross profits (earnings before interest and tax) averaging 16%, compared with an 8% global average. The study found some resonance with industry leaders. Vikram Kirloskar, vice-chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motors, says that while there are still many hurdles for Indian manufacturing to become as competitive as, say, China's, there are quite a few encouraging features in India as well. Taking the example of the automobile sector, Kirloskar says the very fact that India produces a million passenger cars and over seven million two-wheelers makes it a market where manufacturers can achieve economies of scale much faster than in many other emerging markets.
India to be world's 3rd largest car market by 2030
الهند ستكون ثالث أكبر سوق سيارة في العالم بحلول عام 2030م
India will become the world's third largest automobile market by 2030, says US-based consultancy Keystone, a subsidiary of LaSalle Consulting Associates. behind just China and the US. An ageing population and increasing costs of ownership will see auto market shrinking in Japan, Korea and Europe while increasing per capita income will fuel the two Asian giants' growth, it says. Over the next quarter century, emerging markets will replace the mature markets of America, Europe and Japan as the primary driver of sales growth and will account for 69% of industry sales and 87% of vehicle registrations. Over the next 25 years, more motor vehicles will be sold than in the entire history of the industry, the report says.
Global IT, telcom majors to spend over $ 8 billion
استثمار أكثـر مـن 8 مليار دولار مــن قبـــل الشــركات العالـميــة الكـبـرى في مجال تقنية المعلومات والاتصالات
Setting the stage for a massive foreign investment inflow, global IT and telecom giants including AMD-SemIndia, Microsoft, Nokia, LG, Ericsson and Cisco have committed investments of over $ 8 billion in India over the next 3-5 years. These investments cover the entire gamut of IT services and telecom equipment manufacturing. In one week alone India notched investment commitment of $ 5.75 billion from three IT heavyweights - Intel, Microsoft and AMD. While AMD announced an agreement with SemIndia to supply technology for a proposed $ 3-billion chip-making facility in India, Intel said it would invest $ 1.05 billion over five years for expanding a Research and Development (R&D) centre at Bangalore, marketing, education and community programmes and a new $ 250-million Intel Capital India Technology Fund. Microsoft Corporation announced an investment of $1.7 billion in R&D, education, governance and productivity to be spread over the next four years.
Engineering and construction companies register substantial increase
تشهد الشركات الهندسية والإنشائية الهندية زيادة أساسية
Indian engineering and construction companies are seeing a substantial increase in their order books as infrastructure projects gather pace. Order books have increased across the board for all the large engineering and construction companies. On an aggregate basis, it has gone up to 2.4 times FY05 sales, indicating a busy schedule for the next two years at least. While power companies had been in the thick of action due to projects under implementation, construction companies seem to have caught up with an increase of 60% in their non-executed order books in the past six months. Several Government/public sector orders, which were in the pipeline, have finally been released. For engineering and construction companies together, the order book has grown by 18.2%. Excluding BHEL, which has been operating at an order book close to three years' sales for last few quarters, the rise is 35%.
Automation industry to grow at 20%-25% per annum:
النمو المتوقع بنسبة20%-25% سنويا في صناعة تصميم السيارات
With automation emerging as a focus area for not just large integrated manufacturing industries but even for medium and small units, the Rs 40,000 million Indian automation industry is hopeful of growing at 20%-25% per annum for the next few years. The fortunes of the automation industry would be driven
"significantly" by the metals industry comprising steel, aluminium, copper and zinc. With the capacity of the steel industry expected to go up from 38 million tonnes (mt) per annum at present to well over 100 mt over the next decade, the automation industry is very "upbeat" about its growth prospects over the next few years.
Pharma overseas buys top US$ 400 million
تتصدر شركة فارما, ماوراء البحاربمبلغ 400 دولار أمريكي
Sun Pharma, which emerged the highest bidder for acquiring the assets of Able Labs in the US with US$ 23 million, may provide the perfect topping to a year in which Indian pharma companies have already notched up overseas acquisitions worth an all-time high of US$ 400 million. In 2004 the corresponding figure was US$ 155 million. Analysts say Indian companies are leveraging their cost competitiveness in sourcing bulk drugs and easy access to funds like never before. The aim is to tap overseas markets, expand the geographical reach and enhance the intellectual property portfolio needed to survive in the post-patent era. The total worth of overseas acquisitions for this year has been buoyed by the single biggest overseas acquisition ever by an Indian pharma company, that of Docpharma in Belgium by Matrix Laboratories. Dr Reddy’s takeover of Roche’s API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) unit in Mexico and Ranbaxy’s acquisition of Spanish Efarmes SA were also notable.
Intel plans US$ 500-m investment in India
ترغب شركة إنتيل في استثمار500 مليون دولارأمريكي في الهند
Intel Chairman Craig Barrett is expected to announce an investment of US$ 500 million in India.While half of this investment is expected to flow into Intel's research lab and marketing division, the rest will be used for developing a community personal computer in tie-up with Xenitis. Intel and Xenitis will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the low-cost PC project. The PC which is likely to be priced at Rs 11,000, would be the cheapest machine with an Intel chip. It will also be available in eight languages. “Under the MoU, Intel will make an upfront investment of $250 million for a low-cost PC project,” senior Xenitis executives told Business Standard. Intel, which has spent $700 million in the last seven years on its India operations, will spend the bulk of the remaining $250 million on its Intel India Development Centre (IIDC) in Bangalore. It is the company's biggest design centre outside the United States. The company also proposes to significantly increase the head count at the Bangalore centre from the current level of 2,800 employees.
Foxcon plans US$ 1 billion investment in India
ترغب شركة فوكسكون في استثمار 1 مليار دولار أمريكي في الهند
After Nokia, a top Taiwanese telecom component and accessories manufacturing company, Foxcon, is planning to invest close to US$ 1 billion in India. Japanese company Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation is also planning to enhance the capacity
of its Haldia-based Purified Terepthalic Acid (PTA) plant to around 8,00,000 tonnes. BMW was also close to finalising its plans to set up a manufacturing facility in India and the board of Mitsubishi would meet soon to approve plans to enhance the capacity of its PTA plant at Haldia from 375000 tonnes to 800,000 tonnes.
India spends Rs 1,470 million for Expressway
تصرف الهند 1470 مليون روبية هندية في مشروع الطريق السريع
The
Central Government has released Rs 1,470 million to acquire land for the
construction of Western Peripheral Expressway.. The Haryana state Government
also plans to develop a state-of-the-art global corridor along the
Kundli-Manesar- Palwal Western Expressway in the
National Capital Region passing through Haryana and encircling Delhi. It is aimed at attracting investment in the State by developing world class infrastructure facilities to meet the investors’ dreams and needs. This Corridor would also help in boosting the economy of the State.
Some Important Websites:
Ministry of External Affairs : http://meaindia.nic.in/
Ministry of Finance: http://finmin.nic.in
Ministry of Commerce and Industry:http://commin.nic.in
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) : www.ciionline.org
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) : www.ficci.com
India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) : www.indiatradepromotion.org
Trade-India.com : www.trade-india.com / Indian Exporters : www.indianexporters.com
Exporters India : www.indiamarkets.com
/ India Mart : www.indiamart.com