Thread: Indian Economy

Forex reserves rise $675 m

Mumbai , Aug. 4

The forex reserves have increased by $675 million due to an increase in foreign currency assets.

According to the Reserve Bank of India's Weekly Statistical Supplement, the reserves rose by $675 million to touch $164.023 billion for the week-ended July 28. In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $689 million to $163.35 billion.

Foreign currency assets increased by $673 million to touch $157.071 billion during the week. Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as euro, sterling and yen.

The euro traded between $1.2590 and $1.2747. According to a forex dealer with a private bank, "During the week, the euro strengthened due to which the forex reserves showed an increase," said the dealer.

There was an FII inflow of around $237.1 million to the equity market during the week under consideration.

Gold reserves remained unchanged at $6.18 billion. The reserve position in the IMF increased by $2 million to touch $765 million.

India has become key R&D centre, says Dell

Hyderabad , Aug. 10

For Ms Susan E. Sheskey, Chief Information Officer of the $54-billion Dell Corporation, India has become a strategic centre for research and development. It has come up with a series of products now being deployed globally.

As CIO of an IT major, whose eCommerce volume is more than Amazon, Google and eBay put together, and handling over 1,200 products, she has a mandate of bringing in savings of nearly a billion dollar this year (about Rs 4,500 crore).

On a visit to India, Ms Sheskey spoke to Business Line on how Dell has distinguished itself from competitors in leveraging information technology. "At Dell, IT is business," she says to highlight how the company has used IT to bring in efficiencies internally and pass on the benefits to customers globally.

She is in India to oversee the current staffing and the development work at its centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad, which account for over 20 per cent of its global R&D team.

Taking pride in the India development centres, she said the engineers here had created Integrated Dell Desktop, which provides a single point interface for various operations Dell executives handle globally. `The White papers we have created have incidentally become reference points for Microsoft and Accenture'."Traditionally, Dell has developed IT within the organisation. We have developed our own enterprise resource planning system, and built various features that support our diverse requirements. The eCommerce solution that the Indian team has developed provides a 360 degree view of the customer that provides deep insights into patterns. This effectively aligns IT with business goals," she explained.

Logistics tool

Now the Indian design teams are working on a new logistics solution that would be deployed in various locations across the globe which would help streamline the business.

Dell has grown significantly in India over the last few years and now employs about 12,000 people. It has three broad areas — Dell International Services (which provides customer support, sales among others, employs about 9,500 people in four locations), Dell IT in Hyderabad and Bangalore and Dell R&D and Dell India Sales arms.

When asked if some of the products Dell developers have created internally, would be productised and marketed globally, she said, "as of now the focus is on internal use, but may be some time later, we may consider this option."

Forex reserves up by over $1.7 b

Mumbai , Aug. 11

The forex reserves have jumped by over $1.7 billion to $165.795 billion. This is the third consecutive week that the kitty has seen accretions. In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $675 million to $164.023 billion.

According to the Reserve Bank of India's Weekly Statistical Supplement, the reserves rose by $1.772 billion to touch $165.795 billion for the week ended August 4, mainly due to revaluation of foreign currency assets and fresh FII inflows.

Foreign currency assets increased by $1.394 billion to touch $158.465 billion. Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as euro, sterling and yen.

The euro traded between $1.2752 and $1.2835. "There was a change in value of currencies as the euro had strengthened against the dollar. This reflected in an increase in forex reserves during the week under consideration. The value of gold also appreciated during the period," said Mr K. Harihar, Head Treasury, Development Credit Bank Ltd.

FII inflows

"There was a resumption in FII inflows and the export performance was also favourable," he said. The FII inflow was around $131.8 million into the equity market during the week.

After remaining unchanged for the past two weeks, gold reserves increased by $377 million to $6.557 billion.

The reserve position in the IMF increased by $1 million to touch $766 million.

Originally Posted by santosh tiwari

three Indian companies were among “50 FABULOUS companies of Asia-Pacific region” in 2005. None from Pakistan. Interestingly only one from china.
http://www.forbes.com/2005/09/28/asi...ab50_land.html
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/37/Country_1.html

u forgot to look at hong kong companies.. though referred saperately they are still chineese..

Originally Posted by santosh tiwari

The only weakness of india is her poor infrastructure. This is rubbish that Mr Prime Minister just said india need $150bn for improving infrastructure and level to other Asian countries like Thailand. If india willl even try to level other asian countries in next 6-7 yers, they will have made a better infrastructure till then. India need atleast $500bn investment in infrastructure in next 6-7 years to level countries like china or middle order countries like malaysia to maintain the pace.

indian investment in infrastructure last year was around 47 B $. ( increase from 21 B $ in 2-3 years)..
the pm wouldnt have said a 150B$ figure for infrastructure would be some specifit sectors of infrastructure.. just to give a glimpse of plans ahead of use.. only road sector will add another 50K km of highways by 2012 at a cost of 2 lack crore..i.e. some 40+ B$(source today's hindu.. comments of minister for roads, shipping etc)..
the investment cycle has just started.. even railways will be similar sums of money..
and so will shipping..

Shipyard buzz lures corporates

Ship building has emerged as a favourite investment option for corporate India. Lured by the flood of orders in shipyards across the world and the 30 per cent subsidy element, quite a few big companies have queued up to enter the booming ship repair and building business.

“All shipyards across the world are booked till 2009, forcing shipping companies to shelve their vessel acquisition plans. It makes sense for new players to enter the business," analysts said.

Some of the majors entering the ship building business are Larsen & Toubro, the Adani Group and the Pawan Kumar Ruia Group. Existing players like Bharati Shipyard and ABG Shipyard are also increasing capacity.

Bharati Shipyard, apart from its three current yards, is planning a fourth in Mangalore at a cost of Rs 500 crore. ABG Shipyard, which has a yard in Surat, is setting up another one at Dahej at a cost of Rs 450 crore.

Kandla Port Trust (KPT) and the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) are also planning ship repair complexes. While KPT is planning a Rs 400 crore ship repair complex, GMB is inviting private partnership for developing repair yards.

L&T has forayed into ship building by securing a contract from the Netherlands for construction of four ships valued at over Rs 440 crore. The vessels will be built at its new shipyard that will be part of the company's engineering complex at Hazira.

"At present, L&T is scouting for deep-water facilities in the Indian coast to set up a second mega shipyard. The proposed investment towards this project is over 1,000 crore," a L&T executive said.

According to sources, L&T is close to finalising Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) as a suitable site and has submitted a report to the ministry to build an international size shipyard.

The Pawan Kumar Ruia Group has already applied to the West Bengal government for 1,500 acre land for setting up a dry dock for ship manufacturing. It is likely to float a special purpose vehicle for shipbuilding with leading global players.

The Adani Group is also planning a mega ship building and repair complex at an estimated cost of Rs 1,500 crore. Under the National Maritime Development Programme, the ministry of shipping is planning to set up two international size shipyards, one on the east coast and the other on the west.

"A committee has been set up under the chairmanship of Indian Ports Association (IPA) chief to identify locations and suggest measures to facilitate construction of shipbuilding yards," a government official told Business Standard.

OVL Mittal lines up $2 bn for Nigerian oil blocks

Company has paid around $125 mn as a signature bonus for the two Nigerian blocks.

OVL Mittal Energy Ltd may invest between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in the development of two off-shore deep-water blocks that it had bagged in Nigeria this May.

The company plans to start production by 2010, and is currently working on an exploration plan for prospecting the blocks. The blocks are estimated to yield 6.5 lakh barrels of crude oil per day.

“The development plans for the Nigerian blocks are being prepared along with OVL Mittal. We hope to begin production within three to four years,” RS Sharma, chairman and managing director, ONGC said.

The company had paid around $125 million as a signature bonus for the two blocks in Nigeria.

Once oil is discovered, the joint venture will have to enter into a production-sharing contract with the Nigerian government.

OVL Mittal is also setting up a 15-million-tonne (MT) refinery on a build-operate-transfer basis in Nigeria.

In the event of the blocks not yielding any oil, the Nigerian government will supply crude oil to the refinery at prevailing international prices.

OVL officials said the investments would be in tune with the actual discoveries made in the blocks. “The investments will be massive, and can be increased if required,” they added.

OVL Mittal Energy Ltd is a joint venture between ONGC Videsh Ltd and the Mittal group, which was formed in 2005.

While SBI Caps has a 2 per cent stake in the JV, OVL holds a 51 per cent stake in the remaining 98 per cent, with the leftover 49 per cent of the 98 per cent stake lying with Mittal Investment Sarl.

Reliance pitches for Kerala port upgrade

Reliance Industries has proposed to develop the Rs 4,500-crore Deepwater International Container Trans-shipment Terminal at Vizhinjam in Kerala.

The company has already submitted a proposal to the Kerala government in this regard.

Confirming this, sources close to the development said RIL’s plan to develop the trans-shipment terminal was aimed at supplementing its Rs 25,000-crore retail foray. If it gets the green signal, the company is likely to rope in an international operator to construct and operate the terminal.

While RIL executives declined to comment on the issue, Kerala government officials said, “it’s premature to offer a comment.”

The Vizhinjam terminal, a deep-draught port and trans-shipment hub, would help RIL integrate the supply chain and logistics requirements of its retail initiatives, as well as its special economic zones (SEZs), the sources said.

The RIL proposal comes at a time when the Indian government has denied security clearance to Chinese firms — Kaidi Electric Company and China Harbour Engineering Company — which won the mandate for developing the port along with Mumbai-based Zoom Developers.

Apart from RIL, major shipping players, including Maersk, Port of Singapore Authority, Gammon India, and Dubai Ports World have evinced interest in the trans-shipment terminal.

“The Vizhinjam project is on the international shipping route close to the east-west shipping axis, with a natural depth of 20 metre, and close to the sea coast. This will substantially reduce the transportation costs of any company,” industry analysts said.

Air Sahara to launch 66 new flights

Friday, 18 August , 2006, 08:34

New Delhi: Air Sahara announced that it would be launching 66 new flights connecting 14 new destinations within the country and abroad in the next four months.

Addressing a press conference, the Air Sahara President, Alok Sharma, said the airline planned to operate daily flights on several new routes including Delhi-Kochi-Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi-Kolkata-Port Blair.

New flight routes

The airline also planned to start services to tourist destinations such as Jodhpur, Khajurao and Udaipur from different cities across the country.

"We will also be further strengthening our position on the Delhi-Hyderabad and Delhi-Kolkata sector so as to be the largest airline operating on these routes," Sharma said.

In addition, the airline would be launching daily non-stop flights on the Delhi-Colombo-Male, Delhi-Kolkata-Dhaka and Delhi-Guangzhou sectors shortly.

The airline, which is tentatively looking to start operations to Colombo on October 31 and to China from November 7, has also shown an interest in operating to Pakistan.

"We have sought the Government permission to operate flights to these international destinations. We see no problem and should get the permission in normal course," Sharma said.

Initially, the airline plans to utilise a Boeing 737-800 aircraft to launch the China flight. "Guangzhou is in the southern most part of China and is about five hours flying time from Delhi. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft should easily be able to complete the flight," Sharma added. Similarly, asked about the Colombo flight, Sharma said it would leave Delhi at about 10.30 a.m. and return by about 8 p.m.

Aircraft

The airline is to utilise the two new Boeing 737-800 aircraft that would join the fleet in the next four weeks and make better use of the existing fleet to launch the proposed 66 flights.