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Index
Index
Contents
President’s Message ............................................................................................................................... 4
From the Secretary General’s Desk ......................................................................................................... 5
Happenings at IACC ................................................................................................................................ 6
US investments in India ........................................................................................................................ 34
P&G to invest Rs. 244 crore in Indian arm ...................................................................................................................... 34
Michigan based Amway to invest Rs. 150 crore more in Tamil Nadu plant ................................................................... 34
Ford to invest $2 billion in India, will create thousands of jobs: Kumar Galhotra.......................................................... 35
GE Energy invests $24 Million in Welspun’s solar project .............................................................................................. 36
Headquartered in Texas, AT&T to buy out Mahindra in telephony venture .................................................................. 37
India’s Investments in U.S ..................................................................................................................... 38
Mumbai based Cipla to lead $21Million investment in Washington based Chase Pharma ........................................... 38
Mahindra & Mahindra opens factory in Michigan.......................................................................................................... 39
Snapdeal aims US public float in less than 2 years ......................................................................................................... 39
Indo-US Corporate News ...................................................................................................................... 40
Infosys wins $100-million contract from Microsoft ........................................................................................................ 40
Coke to beef up portfolio, enter dairy segment in India ................................................................................................ 40
Cadbury investing heavily in sales to expand market in India ........................................................................................ 41
Motorola to stick with e-commerce route ..................................................................................................................... 42
Gartner: Government IT spend in India to reach $6.4 billion in 2014 ............................................................................ 42
Headquartered in Wisconsin, Harley-Davidson dominates the big bike segment ......................................................... 43
Cygnett Hotels ties up with Jameson Inn ........................................................................................................................ 43
Jet Airways to buy 50Boeing 737 Max planes................................................................................................................. 44
Ecommerce marketplace: Flipkart, Amazon, eBay use digital literacy as a bait to draw in more sellers ...................... 45
UST Global acquires Milwaukee-based Kanchi Technologies ......................................................................................... 46
Dell goes to small towns for PC sales; plans to double store count ............................................................................... 46
Wal-Mart to engage with new, stable govt .................................................................................................................... 47
Colors extends US coverage with Verizon FiOS TV ......................................................................................................... 48
In the News: ......................................................................................................................................... 49
Obama Looking Forward to Working with New Indian Government ............................................................................. 49
US imports from India hit a new all-time high ................................................................................................................ 50
India becomes biggest foreign buyer of US weapons ..................................................................................................... 50
Kerry congratulates Sushma, discusses re-energizing ties ............................................................................................. 51
Kathleen Stephens named interim US Ambassador to India .......................................................................................... 52
New Visa Services Provider Cox & Kings Operational from May 21 ............................................................................... 53
Science, technology studies priority for both India, US: Nancy Powell .......................................................................... 53
US senator John McCain congratulates Modi on electoral success................................................................................ 54
'America is an important market for us' ......................................................................................................................... 55
Narendra Modi has opportunity to bring new energy to Indo-US ties: American lawmaker ........................................ 56
India ranks No 3 on US’ Green Building Council list........................................................................................................ 57
Obama praises Singh’s role in fostering ties ................................................................................................................... 57
Mango exports to US likely to rise by 42% this year....................................................................................................... 58
US appoints Indian-American Jawahar Kaliani to key Treasury Department post ......................................................... 58
India chapter of Sikh American Chamber inks MoU with US-based UP Global .............................................................. 59
US lawmakers, Indian-Americans congratulate Modi .................................................................................................... 60
Pentagon official to lead defence trade dialogue with India .......................................................................................... 61
Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs signs MoU with Grant Thornton ........................................................................... 62
Calendar of IACC Events for 2014 .......................................................................................................... 63
Indo-US Trade Statistics ........................................................................................................................ 66
2014: U.S. trade in goods with India ............................................................................................................................... 66
2013: U.S. trade in goods with India ............................................................................................................................... 66
India – US Trade Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 67
International Buyer Program, 2014 Trade shows ................................................................................... 68
How to reach us: .................................................................................................................................. 69
President’s Message
Dear Member,
Finally, a stable government is in place at the centre. It should mean many things. First, the so called policy paralysis that
has crept into the administrative apparatus on account of the complexities of a coalition government should be a thing
of the past. Secondly, the mandate of the people is loud and clear. They want a government that lays focus on
governance and not polemics. Thirdly, the have voted for a corruption free and an apparatus that takes care of their
development needs. Viewed against these parameters, the present government under Mr. Narendra Modi has a
daunting task before it. That is compounded by the interplay of huge expectations of the masses from the new
government. They expect the prices to be brought under control, growth impulses to be restored and large scale
employment to be generated in the foreseeable future. Undoubtedly, these are tall call, especially when the world
economy is still not out of woods.
How do we address these complex tasks? In my congratulatory message to the Prime Minister and his council of
ministers, I have pledged the whole hearted support to the new government in the nation building task. As a partner in
progress, that has been our motto for quite some time. But being a specialized organization, promoting economic
partnership between two largest democracies of the world, we have an added responsibility in nurturing he partnership
between the two economies to a higher level. A few areas can be flag marked in this regard. First and foremost is
promoting partnership in sectors lie infrastructure, technology, energy, education, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and IT
and also a host of other areas, where there are huge potentials. The government has made it amply clear that it is
adopting a growth model, where private sector is given paramount importance. That augurs well in bridging the so
called trust deficit between the government and the private sector. History is replete with examples how such
cooperation can work wonders not only in creating wealth and also in sharing it equitably.
Secondly, the government should create a platform for continuous dialogue with all stakeholders for development
works. For instance, there are many problems being faced by the industry relating to high cost of finance, acquisition of
land for development works, delays in decision, lack of coordination between centre and states, particularly relating to
introduction of GST, huge backlog of cases in the various courts etc. These issues need amicable solution in a given time
frame. There are many unfinished reform agenda before the nation, which have been caught in the web of polemics for
one reason or the other. Foremost is the further reform in the insurance sector to promote greater inflow of FDI into the
country. Also, greater degree of opening up is needed in the realty sector, particularly in housing to meet the large
demand that has been unmet for quite some time. Also, the role of regulator has to be redefined and greater autonomy
has to be granted to this body to bring about greater degree of transparency and accountability among various players.
I have only mentioned about some of the issues that we are facing. There are several other issues that have to be ironed
in partnership with stakeholders. A pertinent question arises: what is the role of the organizations like ours. We have to
permeate the development impulses across the country by creating a platform for extended dialogue and action. That
way, we have also a daunting task ahead of us.
Chella K Srinivasan
National President, IACC
From the Secretary General’s Desk
Dear Members,
The new government has taken office at a time when the economy is seemingly in an upswing. The sagging stock market
has made a smart recovery. FIIs are investing heavily in Indian stocks and debt instruments in anticipation of a fast
recovery. Exports are picking up, bringing down the current account deficit to a record low. Yet, we have to carefully see
the impact of the relaxation accorded to gold imports, after the new government came into power, by the RBI.
Admittedly, the surging import of gold was the major reason for the widening gap between imports and exports.
The industrial landscape in the country is not in the pink of health. Slowdown has affected the whole lot of industries at
varying degrees. Most severely affected sector is the small and medium sector, which has to be the backbone of any
dynamic economy. Many such units have closed down and many are on the brink of closure. We have to rejuvenate
them to create newer employment opportunities, across the board. A few other segments that need close look for quick
job creation is agriculture and agri-based industries like food processing.
There has to be continuity in programs; the decisions taken by preceding government in good faith should be followed
by the successive dispensations. A total reversal of the reform process that has been initiated by the previous
government should be avoided.
I welcome you to read this issue of the newsletter, which includes most recent news, trade-related information, and
activities at IACC. It also includes a list of our forthcoming events, for which we look forward to your participation and
active involvement. We have our flagship events lined up in the upcoming months, including the 10th Indo-American
Trade Excellence Awards in Mumbai, Green Tee Golf Invitational Tournament & Networking Dinner in Bangalore, IndoUS Fellowship Night & Indo US Ventures Possibilities in Media & Entertainment in Kolkata, and Annual Fellowship Night,
Indo-US Legal Summit, and Indo-US Economic Summit in New Delhi.
As we continue to serve as a much needed link between the business communities of the two countries, we look
forward to your association with us in our events and initiatives, as well as your suggestions on ways to improve our
relationship with you.
With regards,
Atul Vyas, Acting Secretary General
Happenings at IACC
Head Office
IACC supports Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Summit (ADMS) 2014 in Bangalore
"Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) was a supporting partner for the Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing
Summit (ADMS) 2014 organized by Aeromag and Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI) in
Bangalore on April 4-5, 2014.
Dr. K. Tamilmani, Director General (AERO) DRDO was the Chief Guest for this event. A host of eminent speakers such as
Dr. C.G. Krishnadas Nair, President SIATI, Mr. Stephane Lauret, CEO, SAFRAN India Pvt Ltd, Dr. Mike Hennell, Founder &
Technical Director, LDRA, Mr. Sunny Jerome, Managing Editor, Aeromag Asia, Air Cmdr.(Retd) Joseph Varkey, Secretary
General , SIATI , Mr. Venkata Subramaniam, CEO, System Aids graced the occasion. This two-day event was attended by
delegates from private industries, Defence PSUs, and DRDO labs."
Dr. K. Tamilmani, DG (Aero) DRDO inagurating the ADMS 2014 by lighting the lamp. Wg.Cdr (Retd) Venugopal Menon,
Air.Cmdr.(Retd) Joseph Varkey, Dr. Mike Hennell are also seen.
Dr. K. Tamilmani, DG (Aero) DRDO delivering his keynote address during ADMS 2014.
West India Council
IACC conjointly organized a fond farewell cocktail and dinner reception to U.S. Consul General Peter Haas on
May 20, 2014
The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, AMCHAM India, U.S.-India Importers’ Council, U.S.-India Investors’ Forum
and Visit USA Committee, jointly organized a fond farewell cocktail and dinner reception to U.S. Consul General Peter
Haas on May 20, 2014 beginning 7:30 p.m. in the Banquet Hall of MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) Club, Bandra Kurla
Complex, Bandra, Mumbai.
The Consul General has lent excellent support to all the five organizations during his tenure in Mumbai to advance the
Indo-US economic agenda. The farewell was in expression of thanks and gratitude to him. The co-hosts and heads of all
five Organizations stated their journey and experience working with Consul General Haas on their respective projects
and initiatives. They unanimously complimented CG on his prompt, approachable and positive attitude towards all
requests from them in the past three years. They acknowledged the wonderful cooperation and perpetual efforts from
CG Haas which resulted in even stronger ties between India and the United States of America. They closed their remarks
by wishing CG Haas and his family the very best for an equally successful term in Paris.
A new and imposing Chapter in Indo-US Trade Relations is also beginning. The future of India, with an extraordinarily
stable government which will be in power soon, is brighter than it has been ever before, with undoubted prospects of
Indo-US trade relations reaching a new high. These prospects are going to keep the Consulate and the Indo-US
associations extraordinarily busy. Their working together will gather a new momentum and new meaning.
The event was exceptionally well attended by members and special invitees from all hosting organizations.
Mr. Nanik Rupani, Regional President, IACC-WIC sharing IACC’s experience working with Consul General Haas. Looking on are (From
left to Right) Mr. Timothy Earl Madden, Member of Amcham’s National Executive Board, Dr. V. Rangaraj, Chairman, USIIC, Mr. Peter
Haas, US Consul General, Mumbai, Dr. Bharat Singh, Chairman– USIIF and Mr. Manoj Gursahani, President, Visit USA Committee
US Consul General Haas thanking all the co-hosts for organizing the farewell reception and sharing his memorable journey of 3 years
in India, with the audience
Ms. Rakhi Panda, Regional Director, IACC-WIC felicitating the US Consul General by presenting a bouquet of flowers
Audience at the event
A program on “Investing in US” in Mumbai on May 14, 2014
Indo American Chamber of Commerce in association with Ashok Maheshwary & associates organized a program on
“Investing in US” in Mumbai on May 14, 2014. Mr Nishith Desai, Founder & Managing Partner of Nishith Desai &
Associates gave welcome address and introduced Mr. Amit Maheshwari, managing partner at Ashok Maheshwary &
Associates, an accounting firm in India with International presence, Mr. Thiru Govender, Shareholder at Elliott Davis, one
of the largest accounting, tax and consulting services firms in the Southeast, Carolina that ranks among the Top 50 CPA
firms in the U.S. and Mr. Rukshad Davar, Managing Partner at Majmudar & Partners, law firms representing the who’s
who of banks, companies, and financial institutions.
Mr. Maheshwari spoke about Indo-US relationships that have intensified in recent years and also about how their
company’s bilateral tie up with Elliott Davis can help Indian companies looking to expand footprints in US. Mr. Thiru
Govender provided an overview of his company and gave a presentation on “Investing in the US” which focused on the
US market, reasons to enter US and exit strategies. Mr. Govender answered numerous questions from the attendees
and explained about the considerations to keep in mind while planning expansion in US. Mr. Rukshad Davar gave a brief
presentation on Mergers & Acquisitions and Foreign Exchange.
The program was a great platform allowing attendees to get firsthand information on their queries related to
investment in US.
(From Left to Right) Ms. Rakhi Panda, Regional Director, IACC-WIC, Mr. Amit Maheshwari, Managing Partner, Ashok
Maheshwary & Associates, Mr. Nishith Desai, Founder & Managing Partner, Nishith Desai & Associates, Mr. Thiru
Govender, Shareholder, Elliott Davis, and Mr. Rukshad Davar, Managing Partner at Majmudar & Partners
(From L-R) Ms. Rakhi Panda, Regional Director, IACC-WIC, Mr. Amit Maheshwari, Managing Partner, Ashok Maheshwary &
Associates, Mr. Nishith Desai, Founder & Managing Partner, Nishith Desai & Associates, Mr. Thiru Govender, Shareholder, Elliott
Davis, and Mr. Rukshad Davar, Managing Partner at Majmudar & Partners.
Panelists answering questions during the Q&A
Mr. Rukshad Davar giving presentation on Mergers & Acquisitions and Foreign Exchange
Participants at the event
Gujarat Branch
Seminar on Investing in USA on May 13, 2014 at Hotel Park Plaza, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) Gujarat Branch, in association with Ashok Maheshwary & Associates and
Elliott Davis organized a Workshop on” Investing in USA” on 13th May, 2014, at Hotel Park Plaza, Ahmedabad.
Mr. Pankaj Bohra – IACC, Chairman Introduced Mr. Amit Maheshwari, Managing Partner - Ashok Maheshwary &
Associates, and Mr. Thiru Govender, Shareholder- International practice, US India practice Leader, Elliott Davis to the
audience. Mr. Amit Maheshwari, briefed about the Indian companies which plans to expand their footprints across the
globe, US is the most attractive destination to do business.
The conference was addressed by Mr. Thiru Govender, Shareholder- International practice, US India practice Leader,
Elliott Davis, one of the largest accounting, tax and consulting services firms in the Southeast, Carolina that ranks among
the Top 50 CPA firms in the U.S.
Mr. Govender Spotlighted on US trade. Mr. Govender highlighted on the opportunities to expand in the North America
and present the following topics for Investing in US along with bankers like: Overview- Considerations of Business with
US & Reasons for entering the U.S Market; Entry to the US Market- Income Tax Environment, tax structures & incentives,
Legal Environment and Contract Issues to be aware, Financial markets, access to funding and cash repatriation &
Different employment and visa structures; Exit Strategies/options- Financial & Tax implications & Legal.
Vote of Thanks was delivered by Mr. Jaimin Shah- IACC, Sr. Vice Chairman. Members found the programme very
interesting and they were full of praise for the speakers & presentation as it was highly beneficial for them for their
business. The programme was followed by Lunch.
Mr. Pankaj Bohra, Chairman, IACC Gujarat Branch introducing the speakers
Chairman Mr. Bohra welcoming Mr. Thiru Govender, US India practices Leader, Elliott Davis
Mr. Jaimin Shah (Sr. Vice Chairman) welcoming Mr. Amit Maheshwari, Managing Partner - Ashok Maheshwary & Associates
Mr. Govender, giving the presentation
“Guidance to Establish Business in USA” on May 09, 2014, at Field Marshal Auditorium, Rajkot
On May 9, 2014, Indo American Chamber of Commerce & Greater Rajkot Chamber of Commerce jointly organized an
Interactive seminar on “Guidance to Establish Business in USA” at Field Marshal Auditorium, Rajkot. Dr. Sudhir Shah, a
renowned advocate and expert on the visa formalities of the US was the keynote speaker. Dr. Shah, practicing Advocate
is the profounder of a theory of migration which he has termed as “Theory of Legislative Restraint”. He has more than
30 titles on the subject of USA Immigration Laws to his credit.
Dr. Shah shared his knowledge and experience in many areas, including immigration, taxation, corporations, agency
partnership, contract preparation transactions, trusts and estate laws. He also briefed which facts should be clear when
we go for visa interview? What is the difference between immigrant & nonimmigrant visa etc. With Indian companies
globalizing their operations, they must aspire for business development in the US.
He provided solutions for how a corporation can have their employee’s placement in the US through L-1 visa, N-1 visa,
H-1, B1/ B2 and the most important visa EB-5 visa. The interaction was very helpful as Dr. Shah interacted with
participants on one to one basis. The program was very well attended by people who were represented by various
industries. The programme was followed by refreshment. The event was covered by print and electronic media.
Mr. Pankaj Bohra, Chairman, IACC Gujarat Branch, giving welcome speech.
Mr. Sudhir Shah during the interactive session
President Mr. Dhanshuk Vohra, GRCC giving introduction
speech
Mr. Sudhir Shah releasing his Book on US Visa
North India Council
Talk by Dr Jamuna Pai, World renowned Cosmetic Physician & Chairperson & Founder – Blush Clinics – 22nd
May 2014
IACC-NIC, Luxury Lifestyle committee organized an exclusive talk by Dr. Jamuna Pai, World renowned Cosmetic Physician
& Chairperson & Founder – Blush Clinics on May 22, 2014. Mrs. Madhu Arora was the Franchise Owner Blush Clinic
Delhi. Mrs Aruna Sethi welcomed the members and guests present during the event and briefly gave the introduction of
Dr Jamuna Pai. Dr Pai was India’s leading cosmetic physician for over 20 years. She received the prestigious Indira
Gandhi Priyadarshini Award and also the Doordarshan Sahyadri Hirkani Award for her pioneering role in the field of
cosmetology in India which was today one of the fastest growing sector. .
Dr. Pai made a presentation on various international techniques available in today’s world of modern cosmetologist and
also made everyone aware of the latest technology available in the sector of future growth.
Mrs. Aruna Sethi, Chairperson, Luxury & Lifestyle Committee, IACC, NIC delivering the welcoming remarks
Dr. Jamuna Pai making the presentation
Audience at the event
Workshop on Investing in US – 12th May 2014
Indo American Chamber of Commerce in association with Ashok Maheshwary & associates organized “Investing in US”
workshop in Delhi on 12th May 2014. Mr. S. K. Sarkar, Chairman, financial Services Committee, IACC, gave the welcome
address. He covered the important topics as Education, Disasters, Capital and labor movement, cyber- security.
He then introduced Mr. Amit Maheshwari, Co-Chairman, Trade Development Committee of IACC, NIC and Managing
Partner at Ashok Maheshwary & Associates, an accounting firm in India with International presence and Mr. Thiru
Govender, Shareholder at Elliott Davis, one of the largest accounting, tax and consulting services firms in the Southeast,
Carolina that ranks among the Top 50 CPA firms in the U.S.
Mr. Amit Maheshwari spoke about Indo-American relationships that have intensified in recent years and also about how
their company’s bilateral tie up with Elliott Davis could help Indian companies looking to expand footprints in US. The
workshop was then addressed by Mr. Thiru Govender who provided an overview of his company and gave a
presentation on “Investing in the US” which focused on the US market, reasons to enter US and exit strategies. He also
answered the questions of the attendees and explained about the considerations to keep in mind while planning
expansion in the US. The workshop was a good platform that allowed attendees to get firsthand information on their
queries related to investments in the US.
(L-R) Mr. Thiru Govender, Mr. S K Sarkar, Mr. Amit Maheshwari
Participants at the event
Mr. Thiru Govender making the presentation.
(Extreme right) Mr. Atul Vyas, Acting Secretary General, IACC proposing vote of Thanks.
Varanasi Branch
Interactive Meeting with Chief Commissioner Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax, on May 29, 2014 at the
Auditorium of AICMA, Kaleen Bhawan, Marydapatti, Bhadohi
Federation of India Export Organisation (FIEO) organized an interactive session on 29th May, 2014 at Bhadohi jointly with
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, (IACC) Varanasi, All India Carpet Manufacturers’ Association (AICMA), Bhadohi
and Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC), Bhadohi. Sri Chander Bhan, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise
and Service Tax (Lucknow Zone) was the Chief Guest and key-note speaker. Sri Sanjay Rathi, Commissioner of Customs,
Central Excise and Service Tax, Allahabad and other senior officers were also present on this occasion.
President of the AICMA, Bhadohi Sri Onkar Nath Mishra, IACC, Varanasi Chairman Sri Arun Agrawal and President of
CEPC Shri. Siddh Nath Singh heartily welcomed the chief guest on behalf of their respect organizations and expressed
the hope that his interaction with exporters of this region shall remove all doubts and confusion prevailing in the minds
of carpet exporters. To set the tune of the programme, Sri Ravi Patodia, Ex-President of AICMA and member of IACC,
Varanasi put forward various problems before the panel for discussion and submitted a Memorandum to Mr. Chandra
Bhan.
In response to the problems put forwarded, Sri Chander Bhan said that this is not a valid excuse on the part of the
exporter for not submitting necessary documents to Department on the pretext of ignorance of applicable rules and
regulations. It is obligatory for an exporter to fully comply with official procedures of service tax.
Addressing to the demand to withdraw notices, Mr. Bhan said that no government officer is empowered to change
lawful procedure. This prerogative lies only with the Parliament of the country. However, Mr. Bhan advised the
exporters that the memorandum submitted by them will certainly sent to the concerned ministry for its consideration.
To cut expenses of representation, Mr. Bhan suggested that exporters should pool up their resources instead of
representing their cases individually.
A brief session of question-answer followed after clarifications from the chief guest. Mr. Bhan advised all to submit their
problems to the Department which will be sorted out at the earliest. Mr. Bhan assured the exporters that the
Department is there to help, assist and encourage exporters in their activities and not to create hurdles in the path of
their progress. This assurance came as a great moral booster and was widely applauded by the participants.
On this occasion CA Mukul Kumar Shah, Sri Ahsan Khan, Sri Debashis Mukherjee, Mr. Shubrato Kumar Paul, Mr. Chandra
Mani Maurya, Mr. Niyaz Ahmad, Mr. Raj Kumar Bothra, Mr. Mahendra Kumar Srivastava etc. IACC, Varanasi; Mr. Ravi
Patodia, Mr. Tanvir Husain, Mr. Vinay Kapoor, etc, AICMA, Bhadohi and Mr. Siddh Nath Singh, Chairman, CEPC and other
industrial association were present and took active part in discussion.
Mr. Arun Kumar Agrawal, Chairman, IACC, U.P. Branch, Varanasi
(L-R) Mr. Siddh Nath Singh, Chairman, CEPC, Chief Guest Mr. Chander Bhan, Chief Commissioner of Custom, Central Excise and
Service Tax (Lucknow Zone), Mr. Sanjay Rathi, Commissioner of Custom, Central Excise and Service Tax, Allahabad, Mr. Onkar Nath
Mishra, All India Carpet Manufacturers’ Association, Bhadohi, Mr. Arun Kumar Agrawal, Chairman, IACC, U.P. Branch, Varanasi
Address by Mr. Siddh Nath Singh, Chairman, CEPC
Participants of the Programme
East India Council
A Presentation on ‘Health Care Awareness’ on May 02, 2014.
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce organized a presentation on ‘Health Care Awareness’ in association with
Pushpanjali Medi India Pvt. Ltd on May 02, 2014 at the Pushpanjali Centre. Mr. Richard Craig, US Principle Commercial
Officer, graced as the Guest of Honour.
The programme aimed to create awareness amongst our members about the preventive methods of diseases due to
improper lifestyle which is followed by various working professionals as well as improper eating habits consisting of low
calcium diet. Studies reveal that Joint Stiffness, Osteoporosis and Varicose Veins, Diabetes, Hypertension, due to lack of
exercise and long duration of standing or sitting postures, work pressure leading to irregular hours causes considerable
pressure on the venous system and even anatomical deformities through short presentations and advise medical
experts. The curative technology was mostly from US.
The programme was meaningful and well received.
(L-R) Mr. M. Nezamuddin, Centre Coordinator; Mr. P.K Sethia, Director, Pushpanjali Medi India Pvt. Ltd; Mr. Vikram Swarup, National
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2 Vice President, IACC; Mr. Sudipta Das, Regional President IACC, EIC; Ms. Madhusree Daityari Regional Director, IACC- EIC
Guest of Honour Mr. Richard Craig, US Principle Commercial Officer giving his address at the programme on ‘Health Care Awareness’
Audience at the programme ‘Health Care Awareness’
South India Council
Tamil Nadu Branch
IACC supports Safety India 2014 held on May 26-27, 2014 at Hotel Leela Palace, Chennai
Safety India 2014, the conference and exposition offered a rare opportunity to meet with hundreds of safety
professional from across India with global representation. The event also offered an atmosphere focused on education
and networking with a shared purpose of advancing Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) to save lives.
Safety India 2014 supported by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce held on May 26-27, 2014 at Hotel Leela Palace,
Chennai was organized by American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). At the Opening Ceremony Mr. Ashish Wig,
Chairman, Infrastructure Committee, IACC – New Delhi took part along with other distinguished guests.
The Conference aimed to bring together safety professionals across the globe to share case studies, best practices and
new trends in the OSH field. Various topics at the Conference include:
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Global Leadership Forum on Occupational Safety & Health.
Safety Management Systems.
Port & Road Safety.
Occupational Safety & Health Strategies.
OSH Excellence.
Behavior –Based Safety.
OSH Training.
Construction & Petrochemical Safety.
Global Trends in Safety & Health.
The ASSE India Chapter instituted & presented Awards to the best safety professionals. Eminent speakers from various
industries presented their papers at the Conference. More than 150 participants across the globe attend the
Conference and benefitted.
Speaker Mr. Sudhir Houshing, CEO, Roads Business, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd addressing the gathering. Mr. Ashish Wig, Chairman Infrastructure Committee, IACC - New Delhi chairing the conference.
Mr. Ashish Wig, Chairman - Infrastructure Committee, IACC - New Delhi. Presenting Momento to the speaker Mr. Sudhir Hoshing,
CEO, Roads Business, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.
Mr. K.N. Sen, Head HSE Hydrocarbon Construction & Pipelines, L & T Hydrocarbon Engineering, President ASSE India chapter
presenting momento to Mr. Ashish Wig, Chairman - Infrastructure Committee, IACC - New Delhi.
IMG_0114 - At the Construction Safety session Speaker Mr. Nirupam Mukherjee, Global Safety Engineering Manager, Praxair Inc,
China addressing the gathering.
Mr. K.N. Sen, Head HSE Hydrocarbon Construction & Pipelines, L & T Hydrocarbon Engineering, President ASSE India chapter
presented Bouquet to Ms. Sujatha Ravishanker, Regional Secretary, IACC, Tamil Nadu Branch in the closing ceremony of Safety India
2014 on May 27, 2014.
Andhra Pradesh Branch
A Symposium on “Emerging Trends in Food Security” May 30, 2014 at Hotel MariGold, Greenlands,
Hyderabad
The event mainly focused on Food and its scarcity that would arise if the global warming is not taken into consideration
seriously. The event had 25 participants from various food processing and Agricultural industries.
Mr. Ravi Vishnu, Chairman, IACC-Andhra Pradesh branch
welcoming the participants & Speaker
(L-R) Mr. Ravi Vishnu, Chairman, IACC-Andhra Pradesh branch;
Dr. Kalpana Sastry, Joint Director, National Academy of
Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) and Mr. Aditya
Margam (Vice Chairman)
The participants listening the presentation
Bangalore Branch
Workshop on “Investing in US” on May 20, 2014 in Bangalore
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in association with Ashok Maheswary & Associates organized a successful session
on Investing in US at the Grand Galaxy Hall, Fortune Select J.P. Cosmos, Off Cunningham Road, Bangalore on May 20,
2014.
For the Indian companies that plan to expand their footprints across the globe, US is the most attractive destination to
do business in. The conference covered topics as: Entry to the US Market and Exit Strategies / Options.
Mr. Vasanth Kini, NEC Member introduced and welcomed the speakers - Mr. Amit Maheshwari, Managing Partner,
Ashok Maheshwary & Associates; Mr. Thiru Govender, CPA, Shareholder - International Practice, US India Practice
Leader & and leading the Gateway to India at Elliott Davis and Mr. N. Raja Sujith, Partner and Head of South India,
Majmudar & Partners, International Lawyers, Bangalore.
Mr. Amit Maheshwari, Managing Partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates; Mr. N. Raja Sujith, Partner and Head of South India,
Majmudar & Partners and Mr. Thiru Govender, CPA, Shareholder - International Practice, US India Practice Leader - Elliott Davis
Mr. Thiru of Elliott Davis, presentation initiated with the various aspects to be taken into considerations for doing
business in the US, like, Business Strategy; Customer Relations and Legal Consideration. He also informed the
participants about the reasons for entering the US market. The speaker gave information about Charlotte- the largest
city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, relating to demographics, labor force, logistics, accessibility, business costs and
sector wise information as IT, manufacturing, education, training & research. The session gave complete insight on tax
structure.
In addition to this, Mr. Raja Sujith gave some background on outbound M&A activity, foreign exchange and key trends,
issues for Indian acquirers. He threw some light on current status of the Indian economy. The session covered following
topics - Reasons for outbound investment; outbound investments from India; Landmark acquisition abroad by Indian
companies; Foreign exchange regulations and Competition Law.
Participants enjoying the informative session
The event was a dynamic forum which benefitted the participant’s especially who were looking to expand in US, one of
the largest economies in the world. The speakers were very open to hear the concerns and questions of the audience
and answering to their each question.
Mr. Manpreet Sachdeva, CEO of Elite Group, delivered vote of thanks. Mr. Vasanth Kini, Mr. Manpreet Sachdeva and Mr.
Srinivasa Murthy of U. S. Commercial Services presented bouquets to the speakers. The event concluded with the
luncheon networking.
Building World Class Capabilities in Manufacturing - Friday, May 16, 2014 at Hotel Matthan, Bangalore
The manufacturing sector in India may be in a vulnerable position due to the continuing slowdown owing to various
factors and hence a cause for concern, yet, it has the potential for unlimited growth if tapped in the right direction. The
sector just needs adequate support and effective policies if it has to grow in a healthy way. And if manufacturers are
creative enough to utilize every small opportunity to develop and expand, both the manufacturing sector and the
nation’s economy will be on the path to recovery.
There is a solution for the problem! There are some pioneering Indian and Multinational Corporations that have ‘bucked
the trend’ by building world class capabilities in manufacturing, showing a determination to last long by planning strong.
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce gave an opportunity to the participants to listen to some of these trendsetters
who have shown the courage to swim against the tide and triumph by organizing an event on “Buildign World Class
Capabilities” on Friday, May 16, 2014 at Hotel Matthan, Bangalore. The industry leaders from automotive, aerospace,
heavy engineering and hi-tech sectors shared their insights and answered questions in the forum. The event triggered a
switch which turned on the ideas within the participants.
Mr. Javaji Munirathnam, Committee Member of IACC- Karnataka Chapter, welcomed the participants at the event. The
participants were run through a small video of what IACC is all about and how they could benefit out of the various
activities of IACC.
Mr. Javaji Munirathnam, Committee Member of IACC- Karnataka Chapter, welcoming the guests
The event was well received and attended by 200 participants of known organizations like Aditya Birla Group, Biocon
Limited, Caterpillar India Private Limited, Christ University Institute of Management, Deloitte, Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited, ISRO, Kennametal India Limited, TATA Technologies, Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, etc. , to name a few.
The event started with Dr. S. Devarajan, Senior Vice President, TVS Motor Company’s presentation. His session focused
on ‘Enhancing Competitiveness through Technology in Product development and manufacturing – a systems approach’.
He said that we are all in a highly competitive environment and we should use to add value and delight the customer. He
made the participants aware of the current situation and how to get competitive advantage; automobile and autocomponent industry; challenges and the need; technology and innovation based on product and process design, product
development, manufacturing. He gave brief history about his organization. His talk also focused on manufacturing and
quality concepts. With the help of graphical images and data, he said that India is expected to achieve mass motorization
status in 2018. In many ways, the Indian Automotive Market is unique like - Harsher operating conditions pose unique
challenges for product conceptualization, design and development: Road inadequacy and quality, High Traffic density,
Poor Fuel quality & variety (Gasoline, Diesel, CNG & LPG); Manufacturing complexity higher despite lower volumes
compared to global standards- Large product portfolios; Product obsolescence and huge demands of the market; Firms
able to maintain profitability even at low volumes. The key challenges facing the industry are need to make money; no
control on the final product price; no control on the input prices; only 20 % under our control- but increase in salary…
wages. The areas of innovation are product design, product development and process design and proving. The learning
for the audience from his presentation was- Customer focused innovation should be done towards competitiveness;
relating innovation not just to technology but economics and effectiveness; impact of time compression for future
projects all of which has a rupee value not found in P&L directly and the key thing to be done is a sufficiently deep
analysis of BOTH success and failure factors so as to never repeat the same mistake again. Learning to innovate is the
difference between an innovative and competitive and an average organization is not in the ingredients that it contains
such as technology and knowledge. It is much more the recipe which uses the familiar ingredients in an unfamiliar way;
and brings about an end product that delivers greater, and possibly unprecedented, value. Various ways of enhancing
Global Competitiveness through technology are - link product design towards the requirements of the market and
adding value to the customer; monitor the progress of this Value at every stage of the project; apply JIT (Just in Time)
and TPM (Total productive maintenance) but with total Flexibility to meet the various fluctuations and demands of the
market; flexible…flexible…flexible…and give best value to the customer.
Dr. S. Devarajan, Senior Vice President, TVS Motor Company presenting his session
Mr. M. Maheshwar Rao, I.A.S., Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director of Industries & Commerce graced
the event as a Chief Guest.
M.Maheshwar Rao, I.A.S., Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director of Industries & Commerce, Chief Guest of the
evening, addressing the gathering
Prof. Pankaj Chandra, Former Director of IIM- Bangalore delivered the Keynote address. Prof. Chandra’s presentation
was all about reconfiguring manufacturing differently. He made the participants aware about the various reasons that
industry gives for weakening of manufacturing like, rising production costs and rising competition. His session also
included the fundamentals of post-industrial economy: innovation & entrepreneurship. Innovation in manufacturing supply chain assets: product (design & r&d/patents), technology (process/patents), people (skills, problem solving
abilities, innovation, industrial relations), factory (layout, process flow, materials coordination, conversion, productivity),
distribution, branding, marketing. He informed the participants that to bring in innovation in an organization, one should
focus on - high value end; production end and market & channels end. Prof. Chandra highlighted in detail on
entrepreneurship. He gave his views on structure of competitiveness based on the size of the firm- Large Firms: compete
on cost; Small Firms: compete on variety and innovation/new products, sciences & technology driven product & process,
higher skills/SME are not supposed to be low cost alternatives but new product/process developers – these is a
structural problem in Indian industry; Current SME: compete on arbitrage (some legal and some illegal); low on
compliance, low wages, low technology, product portfolio that lends itself to cost competition (where SME is not
structurally strong and which will see higher competition from exports); Product Portfolio Is Outdated – they are being
replaced in the consumer market. His presentation also comprises about the requirements of the enterprises.
Prof. Pankaj Chandra, Former Director of IIM- Bangalore addressing the keynote session
The event then moved on to the much awaited Panel Discussion, comprising eminent panelists – Mr. T R Parasuraman,
Deputy Managing Director, Kirloskar Toyota Textile Machinery Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. V.Ramesh, Senior Vice President, Toyota
Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd; Mr. Surendra M Vaidya, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Godrej Precision Systems;
Mr. S Raghavan, Advisor to Group Executive Chairman, Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) and Mr. Arvin Baalu, Vice
President, HARMAN International. Mr. A N Chandramouli, Managing Director, Starrag India Pvt. Ltd., moderated this
engaging panel discussion lasting an hour.
Mr. Chandramouli, Moderator of the panel, initiated the discussion and all the panelists gave their views on the topic
with respect to their experience and their respective organizations.
Panelists: Mr. T R Parasuraman, Deputy Managing Director, Kirloskar Toyota Textile Machinery Pvt Ltd.; Mr. V.Ramesh, Senior Vice
President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd; Mr. Surendra M Vaidya, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Godrej Precision
Systems; Mr. S Raghavan, Advisor to Group Executive Chairman, Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) and Mr. Arvin Baalu, Vice President,
HARMAN International. Moderator: Mr. A N Chandramouli, Managing Director, Starrag India Pvt. Ltd
The panelists gave their various thoughts on Innovation in manufacturing and how to build world class capabilities in
manufacturing.
The event concluded with a talk by Mr. Rahul Sehgal, Director– Business Consulting & Strategy - Manufacturing, Energy
& Infrastructure, Siemens Industry Software (India) Pvt Ltd. on ‘Manufacturing Solutions for Automotive Industry’. Mr.
Rahul Sehgal mentioned that the automotive industry is going through changes, emission reduction regulations forces
OEM’s to comply with new designs. Consumers are shifting to smaller cars and diesel engines as they are more cost
effective and less polluting. Daimler for example sold 40,000 smarts in NA in the last months of 2008 (till Oct.).
Increasing purchases of smaller cars by choice or incentives (tax credits) will reduce OEMs profits (lower margins) and
resources available for R&D spending. He also focused on some of the automotive manufacturers’ challenges Commonality (less models more variants); Emission Reduction; Higher demand for product quality; Mix Model
Production (Tools, process and equipment); Cost control, reduce non value added tasks and Reduced time to market:
design, commissioning and ramp up. His session threw some light on key DM automotive solutions and investment
areas. The speaker also covered typical discrete manufacturing survival strategies. He said that business dynamics are
changing rapidly, manufacturers must adopt new strategies and integrated launch and flexible utilization of
manufacturing assets are keys to efficiency.
Mr. Rahul Sehgal, Director, Siemens Industry Software (India) Pvt Ltd
The event saw a lot of interaction from the audience, who were quite keen to know the various challenges and benefits
in the manufacturing business.
Mr. Sarbajit Ghose, CEO of Laguna Clothing Pvt Ltd and Sr. Vice Chairman of IACC- Karnataka Branch delivered vote of
thanks.
Mr. V Srinivasan, Ex- Chairman of IACC Karnataka Branch, Mr. Rabindra Srikantan, Chairman- IACC, Mr. Sarbajit Ghose,
Sr. Vice Chairman- IACC, Mr. Munirathnam, Branch Committee Member, Mr. Rohan Joshi, Branch Committee Member
and Mr. Vasanth Kini, National Executive Council Member of IACC presented bouquets and mementoes to the speakers
and panelists.
The event was sponsored by Siemens Industry Software (India) Pvt. Ltd., TVS Motor Company, TATA Teleservices and
ASM Technologies Ltd. There were also display of 3D printers at the venue by df3d and CADD Centre India Pvt Ltd The
event provided a good opportunity for the IACC members to meet and get informative inputs from the speakers. The
event was extremely well attended by all –large, SME and MSME companies. The guests enjoyed every bit of the event,
and one could visibly see its effect through the networking and discussions that were happening during dinner and
beyond.
Session on “Prevention of Sexual Harassment: Litigation versus Mitigation” – Friday, May 09, 2014
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce- Women’s Business Council organized a session on “Litigation versus Mitigation”
on April 11, 2014 at ASM Technologies Ltd and continuation of the same topic was followed on May 09, 2014 at SAP
Labs India Pvt Ltd, Whitefield, Bengaluru.
Speakers from Trilegal - Ms. Swarnima and Ms. Aathira Menon, briefed the participants on the topics covered in the last
session and continued the session on analysis on Sexual harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition
and redressal) Act, 2013.
Ms. Swarnima and Ms. Aathira Menon from Trilegal
The session made the participants aware of how to deal with the complaints based on the days of incident or inquiry.
The session was supported by few case studies which helped the audience to understand the topic in depth and more
easily.
POSH committee of every organization should focus on few additional requirements: Time bound enquiry, Modify
service rules, monetary compensation for victim, Punishment for false complaints, Annual reports, Penalties for noncompliance. The companies should concentrate on formulating a policy; Including sexual harassment as a misconduct
under service rules; Setting up an internal complaints committee and displaying the order constituting the committee;
Displaying the penal consequences of sexual harassment; Conducting training programmes for committee members;
Organizing workshops and awareness programmes for employees; Setting up processes to ensure annual reports have
mandatory disclosures and that they are submitted on time.
Participants involved in the interactive session
The session was very interactive and informative. A whole lot of debate took place on the topic with respect to the
personal views and experience on sexual harassment at workplace. Event was successful based on the feedback from
the participants.
The session was very well received and attended by participants of known organizations like, ANZ Operations &
Technology Pvt Ltd, Intuit, Tata Consultancy Services, Volvo and Yahoo!, etc to name a few.
US investments in India
P&G to invest Rs. 244 crore in Indian arm
World’s largest consumer goods manufacturer Procter and Gamble (P&G) plans to invest about Rs. 244 crore in its
unlisted Indian arm P&G Home Products this year. This investment is a part of its overall commitment to take on
competitor and the country’s largest fast-moving consumer goods firm Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) in terms of product
portfolio and reach.
While, P&G India’s overall sales are estimated at Rs. 6,000 crore, HUL is almost four times bigger at Rs. 26,000 crore. But
they both compete in several key segments such as detergents, hair and skin care where HUL by far is the market leader.
P&G India, in a board meeting held last month, had decided to issue 31.68 lakh of shares of 10 each at a premium of Rs.
760 to its $32-billion parent company. The fresh funds earmarked for India takes P&G's total investment in the country
to around Rs. 1,000 crore in the fiscal ended March 2014.
While the company declined to comment on the development as it was in a silent period, it is understood that the funds
would be used for capital expenditure, increasing the company’s marketing activity, innovation and expanding its
distribution network in the country.
Mass offerings
P&G India has reported double-digit growth consistently in the last few years with its brands Whisper, Pantene, Oral B,
Vicks, Gillette, Ariel and Tide. But still, it has not been able to catch up with HUL due to its premium offerings. Analysts
feel P&G is more into the value game unlike HUL, which has products in the mass-end such as Wheel and Lifebuoy.
P&G's increased investments could be to enter the market with more mass offerings and also to raise its advertisement
spends. The company also plans to revisit its ‘Project 2-3-4’, which is aimed at doubling the number of Indians who use
its products, trebling per capita spending by Indians on its products and quadrupling net sales in India by 2015.
Copyright © 2013, Kasturi & Sons Ltd., Chennai All Rights Reserved.
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Michigan based Amway to invest Rs. 150 crore more in Tamil Nadu plant
Direct marketing consumer goods major Amway India has decided to increase its proposed investment in its Tamil Nadu
facility, with more production lines to manufacture its complete range of nutrition and beauty products. According to
Anshu Budhraja, Chief Operating Officer, the company will invest Rs. 150 crore over and above the originally proposed
Rs. 400 crore in the manufacturing facility that is coming up at Nilakottai near Madurai. It is expected to start
commercial production by the end of 2014, and scale up to full capacity by October next year.
The company was allotted a 50-acre plot by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu, and it initially
submitted a proposal to set up nine production lines for nutrition, cosmetic and oral-care products. It now proposes to
add three more lines. With the proposed addition, the plant will produce 34 nutrition and 77 beauty products with an
annual installed capacity for over 2 billion tablets and soft-gel capsules; 7 million canisters of drink mixes, 25 million
tubes, jars and bottles of personal care products, and 60 million tubes of Glister toothpaste.
Foreign facility
The facility, constructed by Shapoorji Pallonji Construction, will be Amway’s first owned facility in the country and
second outside the US, the first being in China. The Rs. 2,200-crore FMCG player has more than 140 stock keeping units
under five product categories — personal care, home care, nutrition and wellness, cosmetics and ‘great value’ products.
It currently sources all of them from seven contract manufacturers.
Product sourcing
The new facility is meant only to cater to the domestic market and to get better control over manufacturing of
healthcare products. “Amway will continue to source products from the existing contract manufacturers too,” said
Budhraja.
Ford to invest $2 billion in India, will create thousands of jobs: Kumar Galhotra
Kumar Galhotra learnt to drive in a Premier Padmini in Chandigarh. Now, as Ford Motor Co.'s vice president for
engineering, he owns a Mustang. But he rarely uses Ford's best-selling sports car for his daily commute. That's because
he's test driving either Ford cars or those of the competition all the time.
One of the key people at Ford after global CEO Alan Mulally and head of global product development Raj Nair, Galhotra
fought jetlag on Monday to speak to ET in New Delhi about the company and the industry in general, ahead of the Auto
Expo. Since joining Ford in 1988, Galhotra has held various positions in product development and product strategy
before moving into his latest role in August last year, reporting to Nair.
Galhotra is responsible for the engineering of all cars, trucks, SUVs and crossover vehicles for the Ford and Lincoln
brands. Galhotra and Nair have to deliver on the One Ford strategy, which is to develop one product for the global
market. Meanwhile, the company seems to have consciously hired talent from around the world - Egypt-born Ehab
Kaoud is chief designer for Ford North America and chief procurement officer is Hau Thai-Tang, who is of Vietnamese
origin.
In India, Ford is building two new factories for engines and cars in Sanand, Gujarat, in addition to the Chennai plant.
Galhotra, making his third to India within a year, sees more trips in the offing given Ford's belief that India by 2020, will
be an annual market of 7 million cars, up from 2.5 million last year. Excerpts:
On learning to drive
Oh yes. I learnt to drive in a Premier Padmini. We used to call it Fiat back then. The markets have come a long way since
then. And it's got a long way to go. We think India can touch 7 million units by 2020. Tastes have changed. Consumers
are very savvy. They are very worldly. I think there is a tremendous opportunity to be here. We started with Figo, which
is a big volume car and then we launched the Fiesta, which is in the niche segment for the enthusiaist and the EcoSport,
a big success. We want to just build on this momentum. We showed the Figo Concept today.
On adapting to customer needs
The EcoSport is a sub-four metre car and so is the Figo Concept, which is going to be a sub-four metre. So we design our
products based on customer needs. It's clearly that simple.
On rapidly evolving technology
We do that (driverless cars) for parallel parking now and now we are working on a technology that can do perpendicular
parking. Lots of low velocity collisions happen in traffic jams, where people are following stop and go traffic. At some
point, drivers lose concentration and run into each other. The active city stop feature won't allow that, the car will stop
automatically even if the customer is not putting his foot on the paddle.
We have smart cruise control. In this case, you don't set a particular speed; you acquire the target vehicle, and then
maintain the speed. We intend to keep building on semi-autonomous features as more and more technologies become
available, so we are assessing, more and more technology options. A lot of legal issues, technological issues,
infrastructure issues need to be resolved, before we get to truly autonomous driving.
On the 2008 crisis
We made a very conscious decision to continue to invest in our future, and you see the results of that in our product
portfolio. Even through the crisis, we continued to invest in our future, which is fundamentally our future product plans.
On future products
We don't discuss our engineering budget. I can tell you we have committed to invest $2 billion in India and about a
billion of that is in Sanand in the two plants that we are building, the engine plant and the assembly plant, and we will
create thousands of jobs and that plant is going to be a key part of our future growth in India and as well as our exports
strategy. That is a very big commitment in terms of dollars and we have made similar commitments in China, Asean, so
we are focused on our future.
On Raj Nair
Raj is an absolutely fantastic guy to work for, he is a great leader, who is technically knowledgeable and he is very
knowledgeable of multiple markets. He has worked in Europe, North America and Asia so he has a very global mindset
and a brilliant guy.
On working at Ford
Ford has a fantastic culture in that sense, rewards merit. It is a merit-based system, if you perform, if you deliver you will
be rewarded. It is a very diverse company, Raj is obviously in a very senior position, I am very fortunate to have a cool
job in the company, and our global head of our purchasing is a Vietnamese American, so there are people from all over.
Alan Mulally himself has come from a completely different industry (Boeing) and he has been a great leader. So the Ford
culture itself is a very collaborative and very much based on meritocracy.
Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
GE Energy invests $24 Million in Welspun’s solar project
GE Energy Financial Services is making its first investment in a solar power project in India.
It is pumping $24 million into a 151-megawatt solar photovoltaic power project that Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt
Ltd (WREPL) had put into operation in August last year.
The Neemuch project in Madhya Pradesh — one of the world’s largest solar plants — powers 624,000 homes and
mitigates an estimated 216,372 tonnes of carbon emission annually.
High radiation
This project is located on an 800-acre site in Neemuch, which sits on a 500-metre-high barren land ridge in Madhya
Pradesh. WREPL’s project has reached a capacity utilisation factor of 26 per cent. The site receives among the highest
levels of radiation in India.
Power from the project is sold to the Madhya Pradesh state utility. “The combination of our renewable project
development expertise and GE’s financial strength and risk management will help achieve the ambitious goals set by the
Government to expand the use of renewable energy in India,” said Vineet Mittal, Vice-Chairman, WREPL.
Raghuveer Kurada, business leader for India and South-East Asia at GE Energy Financial Services, said GE Energy Financial
Services’ investment in Welspun Renewables’ solar project will help realise the potential for the development of solar
power in India.
Headquartered in Texas, AT&T to buy out Mahindra in telephony venture
US telecom company AT&T will acquire the 26 per cent stake held by the Mahindra Group in their joint venture in two
tranches.
AT&T, which currently owns a 74 per cent stake in AT&T Global Networks Services India, will increase its holding to 98.67
per cent by the first transaction and then to 100 per cent. The value of the deal is not known yet.
Long-distance telephony
AT&T Global Networks provides long-distance telephony services to large enterprises in India, including bandwidth for
carrying data traffic across multiple locations using a global network of terrestrial and under-sea cables. The company
competes with the likes of BT, Verizon and Tata Communications for the enterprise communications market. AT&T also
had investments in Tech Mahindra and Idea Cellular, but exited these two companies.
The move to increase stake in the long-distance telephony arm comes after the Government allowed 100 per cent FDI in
the telecom sector. A number of other foreign telecom companies, including UK-based Vodafone and Russia’s Sistema,
have taken advantage of the new norm.
AT&T has sought the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to buy out Mahindra’s stake in the
venture. Mahindra holds the stake through Mahindra Telecommunications Investment Pte Ltd.
In the application made to the FIPB, AT&T has explained that the transaction has been divided into two tranches to
comply with the Companies Act, 1956 and the Private Limited Company and Unlisted Public Company Rules, 1999, under
which a company can buy back only 25 per cent of equity shares in a financial year.
According to Government sources, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has expressed reservation in giving
clearance to the second transaction because AT&T has not explained how the balance 1.33 per cent will be transferred
from Mahindra.
“The application states an appropriate methodology for transfer of shares will be adopted, but the company has neither
made the methodology clear nor the resulting FDI inflow. Hence, this transaction is not clear,” said a senior DoT official.
Therefore, the DoT has told the FIPB that approval may be given to increase stake to 98.67 per cent for the moment.
Sources said AT&T may be asked to explain the transaction details to the FIPB.
Raising stake
AT&T currently owns 74 per cent stake in AT&T Global Networks.
This will be increased to 98.67 per cent in the first lot and then to 100 per cent subsequently.
The value of the deal is not known yet.
The US firm has sought approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for the deal.
Copyright © 2014, The Hindu Business Line. All Rights Reserved
India’s Investments in U.S
Mumbai based Cipla to lead $21Million investment in Washington based Chase
Pharma
The company is investing along with Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners and New Rhein Healthcare LLC.
Mumbai-based drug major Cipla Limited has invested $1.5 million in US-based drug development company Chase
Pharmaceuticals Inc. to pick up 14.6 per cent, the company informed the stock exchange recently. According to the
announcement, the company will invest $ 4.5 million more in Chase Pharma after the completion of milestones. The
total investment committed in the company is $21 million. Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners and New Rhein
Healthcare LLC are investing along with Cipla Pharma in the deal.
“We want to bring affordable medicines where we identify an unmet patient need, in a way that leverages Cipla’s
formidable technology, device and development capabilities,” said Subhanu Saxena, MD & Global CEO, Cipla Ltd.
Cipla Pharma has made this investment through its investment arm Cipla New Ventures which is headed by Chandru
Chawla. This investment will come in two phases which will support Phase 2a and Phase 2b clinical trials of Chase’s lead
drug CPC 201 for treating Alzheimer’s disease.
For Chase Pharma, which raised its earlier round of funding from US-based Brain Trust Accelerator Fund, this is a series B
round of investment.
Chase Pharma, which is headquartered in Washington DC, is focused on developing novel approaches to improve
treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. At present, it looks at improving efficacy, safety and tolerability of existing Alzheimer
medications. The company was founded in 2007 by Thomas Chase, former scientific director at National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and Kathleen Clarence-Smith, former head of CNS development at Sanofi.
Apart from this investment, Cipla will collaborate with Chase to develop this drug. If the drug is successful, the company
will provide low-cost access to Chase’s lead drug in India and South Africa.
According to the release, India has over 5 million patients who suffer from dementia, most of who also suffer from
Alzheimer’s. The numbers are expected to double by 2030. The disease currently costs $203 billion to the US with
projections to reach $1.2 trillion by 2050.
The development comes in the wake of a trend of consolidation in domestic and international pharmaceutical space.
The recent developments in this segment include Sun Pharma acquiring Ranbaxy in $3.2 billion deal and Ahmedabadbased Torrent Pharma acquiring domestic formulation business of Elder Pharma for Rs 2,004 crore.
YK Hamied promoted Cipla has been on a consolidation phase and made some key acquisitions, including that of South
Africa-based Cipla Medpro Africa Ltd for $512 million last year and Mumbai-based Meditab Specialties for $28.45 million
in 2010.
Mahindra & Mahindra opens factory in Michigan
Company did not disclose the investment for setting up the two units
Utility and tractor vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra has inaugurated a factory and a research centre for electric twowheelers in Ann Arbor, Michigan, US. With an initial capacity to produce 9,000 vehicles annually, the plant will assemble
its first electric two-wheeler later this year; the capacity can be increased to 20,000 a year later. The company did not
disclose the investment for setting up the two units.
Christened Genze, it is the first electric vehicle from the company after it entered the two-wheeler segment in 2008. In a
few months, M&M will launch the scooter in the US. The company says it will give a top speed of 48 kilometres an hour
and a range of 48 km on a full charge. M&M has not said how much the Genze would cost, though certain reports expect
it to be around $3,000 (Rs 1.8 lakh), about six times the price for the e-bike sold in India, with higher top speed and
greater range. Genze will be the first its kind in the US. Owning or using the vehicle will not require a licence in most
states there, the Mumbai-based company said.
Anand Mahindra, chairman, said, "The North American Technical Center and Genze represent important disruptive
product incubators for the Mahindra group." A single-seater and powered by a lithium-ion battery, the Genze comes
with a seven-inch weatherproof touchscreen instrument panel. It also has an under-seat cellphone and laptop charger.
The Genze was conceived in the Silicon Valley and tested & assembled in the US.
Copyright © Business Standard Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Snapdeal aims US public float in less than 2 years
In February this year, Snapdeal raised $133.77 million led by existing investor eBay Inc.
Delhi-based Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd, which runs the online marketplace Snapdeal.com, is targeting a US public float in
12-24 months, according to a report in The Economic Times, citing its co-founder Kunal Bahl. "We are building for the
long term and, given our rapidly increasing scale, IPO is looking like a foreseeable path. It is likely to happen in 12-24
months," Bahl said.
According to media reports, Flipkart has an IPO in the pipeline but a timeline has not been drawn up by its two founders
Sachin and Binny Bansal. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has filed for an IPO, in what would be
the biggest tech firm going public in the US after Facebook. Alibaba, which will apply for listing both on the NYSE and
NASDAQ, has disclosed in its filing with the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it is looking to raise $1
billion but this number could grow up substantially as it is seen as a placeholder amount.
Snapdeal was started as an online deals site and later it pivoted to a full-fledged horizontal e-commerce company via a
marketplace model in September 2011. Presently, it boasts of over 5 million products from more than 30,000 sellers
across the country. It claims to have achieved a growth rate of 600 per cent in the last one year. Snapdeal has been
expanding its reach and categories, making acquisitions, introducing services commerce by launching an education
marketplace and strengthening last-mile delivery systems. Recently, it acquired Doozton.com, a curated and sociallynurtured fashion shop that offers hand-picked fashion-finds and seeks to help people make better shopping decisions
and discover fitting apparel. Last May, the company had acquired Sequoia Capital-backed Shopo.in for an undisclosed
amount. A year earlier, it had bought online sports goods retailer Esportsbuy.com Snapdeal announced its foray into
services commerce and launched an education marketplace on its portal, which enables consumers to access a range of
test preparation material, certificate courses, classroom training and online courses.
In February this year, Snapdeal had raised $133.77 million (Rs 830 crore) led by existing investor eBay Inc with
participation from other existing investors, in the third-biggest funding round in an Indian tech firm. This took total
funding for Snapdeal to $237 million across five rounds.
Indo-US Corporate News
Infosys wins $100-million contract from Microsoft
Infosys has won a $100 million (approximately Rs 600 crore) multi-year IT outsourcing contract from Microsoft. Infosys
will provide infrastructure and application support, desk-side services and manage its internal IT services.
The contract is a renewal of an existing contract with an expansion in its scope, sources familiar with the development
said. The renewal happened a few months ago.
An Infosys spokesperson said, "We do not comment on client matters." An email sent to Microsoft didn't elicit a
response.
In April 2010, Infosys bagged an outsourcing deal from Microsoft to manage its internal IT services globally. As part of
the deal, Infosys managed Microsoft's IT help desk, and provided desk-side services and infrastructure and application
support for multiple centres around the world. "Infosys had then announced a three-year outsourcing contract with
Microsoft worth more than $100 million. Under the contract, Infosys was to establish a service excellence office to help
Microsoft implement various standards and processes," said Peter Bendor Samuel, CEO of IT research and advisory firm
Everest Group.
The older contract was an attempt to consolidate work from multiple vendors to a single service provider. In June 2009,
Infosys was awarded a $10 million, three-year BPO contract by Microsoft to provide back-end support including data
processing.
Infrastructure management services are a big area of opportunity for Indian IT service providers with plenty up rebids
expected. Globally, $114 billion worth of IT contracts are set to expire in 2014, up 4% from 2013 and up 19% from 2012,
said IT advisory firm ISG. Infrastructure contracts are expected to be of a total value of $48.6 billion this year.
"Infrastructure management constitutes a large opportunity in two vectors -- automation of services in remote
infrastructure management, and applications moving to the cloud," said Siddharth Pai, president in outsourcing advisory
firm ISG's Asia Pacific region.
Coke to beef up portfolio, enter dairy segment in India
Beverage giant Coca-Cola India is betting on a bevy of new launches to go one up on its rival PepsiCo in the coming
season. On the anvil is a low-calorie variation of Coca-Cola called Coke Zero, a relaunch of its energy drink Burn and a
pan-India launch of its dairy-based drink Maaza Milky Delite.
Interestingly, senior executives at the Atlanta-based company are unfazed by the fact that Diet Coke, a sugar-free soft
drink, is already present in the market. "In taste, Coke Zero is nearly identical to Coca Cola, something that Diet Coke is
not. It was created with young adults in mind. Its look, positioning, communication is very unlike a diet drink and
therefore a lot of young adults, go getters identify with the brand," Venkatesh Kini, head of Coca-Cola India told the
media.
Though diet drinks currently have about 1% share of the carbonated soft drinks market in India, Coca-Cola is banking on
its new product to become a potential game changer in the category when it is introduced in the second half of this
year. Launched in 2005 globally, Coke Zero is estimated to be the seventh largest carbonated soft drink in the world
today by retail value.
However, Coca-Cola's trump card might well be its foray into India's dairy segment with its milk-based drink Maaza Milky
Delite. After being test marketed in Kolkata, the beverage made from milk and mango pulp will now be rolled across the
country in 200-ml tetra packs that will be priced between Rs 15 and Rs 18. "Since, it's a milk-based product we wanted
to make sure that it can withstand India's extreme weather conditions. The inputs from our experiment in Kolkata made
us go back to the lab and develop a product that could survive without a cold chain," said Kini.
Kini also confirmed the relaunch of the energy drink Burn that had met with a tepid response after it was introduced in
2009. "We were selling Burn at select outlets in Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad since we were importing it.
Now, we are producing it locally, so you will see us launching it across 15 other cities," he said.
Burn is sold for Rs 75 for a can and is the company's second energy drink after Shock that was launched in 2001. While it
failed to impress Indian palates, Burn is set to compete with Tzinga and Red Bull among others, in the country's Rs 600crore energy drink market.
Cadbury investing heavily in sales to expand market in India
Cadbury brand owner Mondelez International is investing heavily in sales and route-to-market expansion in India, a
priority market for the American food giant where sales have slumped to their lowest since 2005. "We increased our
sales infrastructure with one lakh visicoolers in the market and the company took big strides by expanding into rural
India and reaching seven states in 2013," a spokeswoman for Cadbury India said.
According to data provided by Mondelez, its India business grew in the "low-teens" in 2013. It was 21% in 2012 and over
30% in the preceding years. Cadbury India attributed it to economic slowdown, increase in commodity prices and the
depreciation in the rupee.
Although India is one of the fastest growing markets for chocolates, domestic sales of the commodity have fallen with
consumers spending less due to the economic slowdown. In 2013, growth in overall food segment slowed to 11.6%,
from over 17% in the previous year, data showed.
At the annual performance presentation last week, Mondelez's chief financial officer, David Brearton, said, "While
economic conditions are likely to remain difficult, especially in emerging markets, we intend to leverage market share
gains to offset potential volatility."
Despite the cloudy outlook, Mondelez's Rs 4,000-crore plus Indian unit last year announced plans to invest $190 million
to build the country's largest chocolate manufacturing plant near Hyderabad. "Given our advantaged portfolio and
footprint, strong fundamentals and ongoing investments, we're confident that we're wellpositioned to take on the
opportunity, as this market turns around," said the spokeswoman for Cadbury India, which is in the process of
transitioning its legal name to Mondelez India Foods.
In the Rs 6,000-crore domestic chocolate segment, Cadbury has over 67% marketshare, followed by Nestle at 21% and
Ferrero at 6%. Increasing market share, however, may not be easy for Cadbury, which has been pushing its pricier brand
'Silk' and lowestpriced 'Cadbury Shots'. Rival Nestle, which grew 7% in 2013, too is focusing on its new brand, Alpino,
and Munch. In the health beverage section, Cadbury's Bournvita faces competition from Heinz India's Complan.
Motorola to stick with e-commerce route
Making inroads into the domestic market post re-entering the mobile phone market here, Motorola India does not plan
to enter the offline retail market, and will continue to market its products via the e-commerce route. The U.S.-based
firm launched its first product in India — the Moto G — in February after a nearly 2-3 year hiatus.
Asked about the role Motorola India will play in the company’s overall strategy, Marcus Frost, Senior Marketing Director
for Motorola Mobility EMEA & APAC, told the media, “Massive. India is really important to us. There is a huge potential
here, market is growing at a great pace.”
Motorola at present sells two products in India — Moto G and Moto X — both of which have been launched exclusively
through Flipkart. The third device — Moto E — to be launched on Tuesday will also be in partnership with the online
retail giant. Explaining the company’s go-to-market strategy, Mr. Frost said, “Internet penetration in India is about 11
per cent. However, it is growing exponentially. India has second fastest growth globally in terms of online, and ecommerce grew 88 per cent last year. So, there is an explosion of opportunity there. When you marry what we know
about Indian consumer, products we have, the e-commerce growth here and the e-commerce channel that we have, it
seems to be really a huge complement in terms of going-to-market.”
Asked if the company plans to get into the mainstream offline retail, Mr. Frost replied in the negative. “No, we have no
plans of moving to retail channels as of yet. The Flipkart model is working well for us. It offers us opportunity to be
different… reinvent mobile category,” he said. He added that he did not believe the current model would limit the reach
to consumers. According to Mr. Frost, the Flipkart model will enable Motorola to reach and establish a strong hold in all
areas of the country, where as in an offline retail model one may or may not be strong in all areas.
“Customers can also call Flipkart to place an order. In addition, we will constantly be marketing, along with Flipkart, so
that consumers know where they can get the products, which would be a simple click or a phone call away,” he said. On
the product portfolio, Mr. Frost said, “Our strategy has been to have a condensed portfolio. One thing we learnt is that
by having 30-40 phones in our portfolio, we could not put in our best energy in everyone. So going forward we’ll keep a
compact portfolio.”
Gartner: Government IT spend in India to reach $6.4 billion in 2014
Governments in India will spend $6.4 billion on IT products and services in 2014, an increase of 4.3 per cent over 2013,
according to a study by Gartner.
This forecast includes spending by Government (Government is composed of State and regional governments and
Central government agencies.) on internal IT (including personnel), hardware, software, external IT services and
telecommunications. “IT services, which include consulting, implementation, IT outsourcing and business process
outsourcing, will be the largest overall spending category throughout the forecast period within the Government
sector,” said Anurag Gupta, research director at Gartner. “IT services are expected to grow 3.8 per cent in 2013 to reach
$1.46 billion in 2014, up from $1.37 billion in 2013 — with the business process outsourcing segment growing 16.3 per
cent in 2014,” Gupta added.
Internal services (referring to salaries and benefits paid to the information services staff) will achieve a growth rate of
9.4 per cent in 2014. The information services staff includes all company employees that plan, develop, implement and
maintain information systems. Software will achieve the highest growth rate within spending categories with 10.3 per
cent in 2014 to reach $758 million in 2014, up from $687 million in 2013, led by growth in vertical specific software
(software applications that are unique to a vertical industry). Information and communication technology service
providers will benefit by eGovernment projects and citizen participation aided by expansion of affordable broadband
connectivity and mobile solutions, it said.
Headquartered in Wisconsin, Harley-Davidson dominates the big bike segment
The US based company has not only carved a niche in India but has also managed to outsell competition
Harley-Davidson has done what no other big manufacturer has managed to achieve in India, that too in such a short
span of time. Apart from building a strong fan base for the American brand, what is really commendable is the fact that
the company has successfully translated this into sales. It’s not just fan boys sporting Harley tees and bandanas, but
most are also indulging in Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
According to the sales report released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Harley-Davidson has sold
over 1500 units from April 2013 to January 2014, out of which 229 units have been sold in January 2014 itself. This is no
easy feat, considering these mean machines costs anywhere between Rs 5.91 lakh to 29 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.
Currently in the more than 800cc and up to 1000cc where H-D has the 883 Super Low and Iron, it has sold 127 units, out
of the total 130 units sold in the segment in January 2014. A segment above, in the above 1000cc and up to 1600cc, the
US based company managed to sell 102 units of bikes like Forty-Eight, Street Bob, Dyna, Night Rod Special where
competition altogether sold ten bikes.
However, in the ultra-exclusive and expensive segment of big bad bikes above 1600cc, H-D couldn’t make a sale in
January this year, of its heavy weight bike such as Fat Boy, Street Glide and Heritage Softail Classic. The most popular
bike in this segment is Suzuki’s Intruder 1600 which despite selling just one unit last month has sold 19 units from April
2013 to January 2014, whereas H-D has sold about 7 units in the same time frame.
This number for Harley-Davidson will push up in the near future, as the iconic bike maker has just introduced its most
affordable model, the Street 750, priced very aggressively at Rs 4.1 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). To ensure that the Street
750 is an instant hit, Harley-Davidson has tied-up with leading banks like HDFC and ICICI to offer attractive finance
options. Aspiring Harley owner need to pay just Rs 91,471 up-front as down-payment and repay the remaining in easy
EMI of Rs 8,309 for tenure of 5 years.
Copyright © 2014 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.
Cygnett Hotels ties up with Jameson Inn
Cygnett Hotels & Resorts, a hotel management company has tied up with USA-based Jameson Inn Inc. in
Sarbendra Sarkar, MD and CEO for Cygnett Group and Raj Vakharia, Director for Franchisee Development at America’s Best
Franchising (ABF) signing the agreement
With the new launch, Cygnett Hotels plans to set up budget and mid-scale segments hotels in the country. The group
plans to operate 45 hotels under franchise and management route by the end of 2020.
“The coming five years would herald the era of consumer-led brand focus for hospitality industry. With International
brands focusing on customizing their standards to the need of the emerging markets, it has led to the birth of
Globalization that is a win-win situation for both the involved parties. Our initial focus and approach is to franchise and
manage around 45 hotels pan India by end of 2020. We have a definite plan to acquire a large investment with the help
of our US collaborators to create our own assets pan India and then transcend into the sub-continent,” said Sarbendra
Sarkar, MD and CEO for Cygnett Group.
Raj Vakharia, Director for franchisee development at America’s Best Franchising (ABF) said, “The Jameson name has a
rich and established history in the United States. Now with its association with the Cygnett hotel group, an exciting new
chapter has opened up for this brand here in India. We at America’s Best Franchising are pleased and proud to
collaborate with Cygnett Hotel Group as they would provide corporate and travellers in India with exciting range of hotel
brands to build value for their investment partners.
Jet Airways to buy 50Boeing 737 Max planes
Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways has got the government’s approval to buy 50 new, fuel-efficient Boeing 737 Max planes.
Top sources told HT that the civil aviation ministry’s nod for the multi-billion dollar deal came last week. The 737 Max
costs $103.7 million (about `640.87 crore at current exchange rates) at list prices making this a $5-billion-plus deal at
sticker prices.
Jet, the country’s second largest airline by market share, will be the first Indian carrier to induct the premium 737 Max,
which is expected to result in big savings in fuel, in its fleet. “Jet Airways has been a long-standing Boeing customer and
was expected to order B737 Max even though Airbus A320 Neo was seriously evaluated,” said Kapil Kaul, South Asia CEO
of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an aviation consultancy.
Both Boeing and Jet have been tightlipped on the deal so far. “The aviation ministry’s nod can be considered as the first
official confirmation of the mega deal,” said an expert, who did not wish to be named. The Jet Airways spokesperson did
not respond to email and calls from HT for comments, while a Boeing spokesperson refused to comment. Sources said
the 50 planes are to be delivered between 2018 and 2021. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has picked a 24% stake in
Jet, India’s largest publicly listed airline. The `2,058-crore Jet-Etihad investment deal is the biggest foreign direct
investment in the aviation sector since the government changed rules to allow foreign carriers pick up stakes in Indian
airlines.
Copyright © 2014 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved
Ecommerce marketplace: Flipkart, Amazon, eBay use digital literacy as a bait to
draw in more sellers
These portals are using digital literacy as a bait to draw in more sellers to the booming ecommerce marketplace.
Despite all the talk about ecommerce's threat to brick-and-mortar players, many small retailers are benefitting from
selling on online marketplaces, which not only provide a platform but also coach them with the required computer skills.
As they compete to attract more sellers on their platforms, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Amazon and eBay are coaching small
traders on how to use a computer, send emails, click a photo and upload products as well as more complex tasks such as
warehousing and inventory management.
These portals are using digital literacy as a bait to draw in more sellers to the booming ecommerce marketplace. "We
will begin offline classroom programmes by the end of this month in top Indian cities," said Saurabh Goyal, head of
logistics at Snapdeal, which already has over 20,000 registered online sellers on its platform.
"At present we don't on board a seller online till we have imparted training through video as well as written
communication. A seller has to then successfully pass a quiz to go online," he said. Snapdeal raised funding of Rs 802
crore in February led by eBay.
The US-based website which has registered 30,000 Indian sellers on its marketplace conducts two webinars every week
on how to sell online. "From how to take a picture to how to create a listing, manage ratings, feedbacks, store and fee
calculator, every aspect of selling on eBay is covered," said Malini Sharma, trend watcher for eBay India.
In Bangalore, market leader Flipkart plans to expand its training modules to include areas such as warehousing and
inventory management. The latest entrant to India's Rs 12,000-crore online retail industry, Amazon has set up a small
business accelerator with teams spread across major cities to help more merchants get online.
Experts said such training is mandatory in a marketplace, where multiple sellers directly hawk products to consumers,
using the technology offered by these large portals. "I see a lot of growth opportunities in companies that use
technology to bring together two sides in a market place and organise chaos," said Kartik Hosanagar, associate professor
of internet commerce at the Wharton Business School.
The Internet and Mobile Association of India estimates that close to 10 lakh retailers now sell apparel, jewellery,
electronics and books online in the country. "Our goal is to basically evangelize traders to come online and grab the
Indian ecommerce opportunity," said eBay's Sharma whose company has also created a 'learn-to-sell' training manual,
now available in six Indian languages. It also offers a toll-free helpline number for sellers who get stuck anywhere during
the process of selling online.
Most sellers ET spoke to said that they are comfortable with computers, but do call or take help when they get stuck.
"eBay helps us place our products better with inputs on quality of images, how to ensure timely fulfilment of orders and
improving customer feedback," said Neha Shah, chief marketing officer of online lingerie retailer ShopImagine, which
gets a quarter of its sales from eBay and Snapdeal.
Digital outreach also helps small merchants get crucial information on how competitors are pricing products and how
their own inventory can be managed better. "We train sellers in areas such as writing effective catalogue and image
guidelines, managing speedy deliveries and using quality packaging," said Ankit Nagori, a vice president at Flipkart which
grossed $1 billion in sales this March.
Bangalore-based Hysteria, a retail store which sells toy bobbleheads, comic figurines, t shirts, movie posters and phone
covers earns a fifth of its monthly revenue from Flipkart and about 7% from Amazon. "We get a lot of information from
marketplaces about the trends," said Hysteria cofounder Rakesh Kumar who said his company uses data analytics
provided by Amazon.
The global retailer which began its Indian operations last June with 100 sellers in 2 categories has now expanded to
more than 4,000 sellers across 21 categories.
"The SMB Accelerator helps sellers set up an account, manage inventory and payments and also teaches business
analytics,' said Amit Deshpande, general manager at Amazon India Such outreach programmes are also aimed at getting
more small-town retailers onto the ecommerce bandwagon. “We call the internet firms, in case our payments get
stuck," said S Sweekar, founder of Apic Online a home furnishings retailer from Panipat who sells about 1,000 products
every month on Snapdeal and online marketplace Shopclues.
UST Global acquires Milwaukee-based Kanchi Technologies
IT solutions and services firm UST Global has acquired Milwaukee-based engineering solutions company Kanchi
Technologies that has operations in the US, Germany and India.
Kanchi Technologies provides end-to-end product development capabilities to firms in the automotive, off-highway and
manufacturing sectors achieving higher efficiencies and shorter time to market. Focused on companies based in Detroit,
this acquisition allows UST Global to create over 150 jobs in the Detroit area extending the influence of -- STEM initiative
Step IT UP America.
"Keeping with our long history of work with Global 1000 companies, this acquisition enables us to bring best-in-class
high end capabilities to our customers," Sajan Pillai, CEO of UST Global. "The talent and deep domain expertise that is
the result of the acquisition is unparalleled in the industry. We are excited to showcase this highly specialized offering to
our customers looking for disruptive, innovative solutions to compete in a global marketplace."
"Engineering focused organizations are under tremendous pressure to deliver cutting edge competitive solutions on
time and under budget," said Sunil Kanchi, founder of Kanchi Technologies.
Dell goes to small towns for PC sales; plans to double store count
Dell is planning to double the number of its exclusive stores in the country to 400 this year, mainly in smaller towns, as
the now-private PC-maker bets that it can win a large chunk of the next million PC buyers in the country. The technology
company, which was taken private by founder Michael Dell last year, has been transitioning to a more services-led
approach, but in markets like India it is counting on its hardware to give it an edge. PC sales fell about 20% in the fourth
quarter of 2013, from a year ago, according to research firm Gartner.
While the top metros are fairly saturated - with PC penetration at 70% - the smaller cities have less than 20%
penetration, according to P Krishna kumar, executive director and general manager of Dell's consumer and small
business in India. "We can track where we get demand requests from on our website; more and more is coming from
smaller tier-III and tier-IV towns. So that is where we want to focus. That's the market to be won," Krishna Kumar told
media.
Dell currently has 200 exclusive stores in the country, a number it will grow to 400 by March 2015. Most of these stores
will be based in smaller towns. The company has also started keeping a stock of laptops, so that computers can be
shipped from Chennai as they are ordered. Previously, the company would assemble each laptop as it was ordered which cut inventory but greatly increased delivery times.
The company is also seeing increased demand from enterprise customers as the end of service for the Windows XP
operating system drives more enterprises to upgrade their software and hardware simultaneously. "The software
refresh cycle is helping. The fact that the rupee has stabilized is also a positive. We were all forced to raise our prices last
year and companies were scared of spending," Krishna kumar said.
"The professional PC market looks stronger overall, as business and governments adjust to a more favorable economic
environment. We also expect to see the impact of XP migration to continue throughout 2014,"Isabelle Durand. Principal
research analyst at Gartner, said in a note on the PC market.
The PC market in India has been struggling for the last few quarters.
Wal-Mart to engage with new, stable govt
Wal-Mart will seek to expand its business in India says Krish Iyer
The world’s largest supermarket chain, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., will work with India’s new government and seek to expand
its business in Asia’s third largest economy, the head of its India business said on Saturday. “As India elects a new and
stable government at the Centre, we’ll continue to remain engaged, committed and work together with the government
and other stakeholders and continue adding value to the economic growth in the country,” said Krish Iyer, head of the
company’s India business.
His statement came a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept to a
victory in the 16th general election, ending the 10-year rule of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. The BJP is
opposed to foreign direct investment (FDI) in so-called multi-brand retail.
In 2012, the Indian government allowed FDI in supermarket chains, but left it to the state governments to decide
whether they will allow foreign-owned retail stores on their territory. Wal-Mart, through its investments in cash and
carry or wholesale stores and supply chain infrastructure, and sourcing for global markets, wants to continue to make
“important social, environmental and economic contributions” to India, Iyer said.
“Through investments, Walmart has created a large number of direct jobs and many more indirect jobs, as over 95% of
the products sold at our stores are sourced from domestic suppliers in India,” Iyer said. In its manifesto, the BJP said that
if elected to power it would allow FDI across sectors wherever needed for job and asset creation, infrastructure and
acquisition of niche technology and specialized expertise, but not in supermarkets.
“The BJP is committed to protecting the interest of small and medium retailers...and those employed by them,” it added,
disappointing foreign retailers. However, before the final phase of the Lok Sabha polls, in an interview to Times NOW,
the English news channel of Times Television Network, Modi indicated that if elected, his government need not
necessarily reverse the decision that allows FDI in multi-brand retail.
“The government is a continuous process. But it is very unfortunate when the Samajwadi Party creates a district and the
Bahujan Samaj Party comes and destroys it, the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) takes some
decisions and then the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) comes and overrules it to make another. The country cannot
run this way. Mature decisions must be taken,” Modi said when asked whether he would bar FDI in multi-brand retail.
While the government allows 51% FDI in the retail sector, it comes with multiple riders that make operations tough for
companies keen to do business in India.
In April this year, Wal-Mart announced that it would invest in opening 50 cash and carry stores in India under the name
Best Price Modern Wholesale over the next five years Wal-Mart entered India in 2007 through a joint venture with
Bharti Retail, an alliance that it exited last year.
Colors extends US coverage with Verizon FiOS TV
Indian general entertainment channel Colors, known as Aapka Colors in North America, is now available on Verizon FiOS
TV in the US.
It will join other popular regional programming, including TV Asia, SET Asia, Star India, Star Plus and Zee TV as part of
Verizon's South Asian programming package priced at US$34.99.
"We are delighted to announce the launch of Aapka Colors on Verizon FiOS. The channel has been entertaining millions
of viewers around the world each night with its engaging content and now Verizon customers will get a chance to be
entertained and delighted by the biggest dramas, reality shows and movies on the channel, said Gaurav Gandhi, COO of
the channel's distributor, IndiaCast.
"It is a household name in every South Asian home in the country and this deal with Verizon FiOS bridges a critical gap
we had in our distribution to reach our audiences," he added.
Aapka Colors will provide Verizon viewers with reality shows like Mission Sapne, Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi, Dancing
with the Stars: Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and Bigg Boss. Long-running series such as Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, and Madhubala will
also form part of the schedule.
Copyright © 2014 Rapid TV News. All Rights Reserved.
In the News:
Obama Looking Forward to Working with New Indian Government
President Barack Obama. (Courtesy Getty Images)
President Barack Obama is looking forward to the formation of a new government in India, and has pledged to work
closely with New Delhi. "We look forward to the formation of a new government once election results are announced
and to working closely with India's next administration to make the coming years equally transformative," Obama said in
a statement.
Congratulating the people of India on the successful elections, Obama said, "I congratulate the people of India on
concluding their national elections. India has set an example for the world in holding the largest democratic election in
history, a vibrant demonstration of our shared values of diversity and freedom." In his statement, Obama also referred
to the strong friendship that the two countries have developed over the last decades, cutting across party lines.
"The United States and India have developed a strong friendship and comprehensive partnership over the last two
decades, which has made our citizens safer and more prosperous and which has enhanced our ability to work together
to solve global challenges," Obama said.
Separately, the State Department also congratulated the people of India on the successful elections and said the United
States was looking forward to working with the leaders chosen to advance their important partnership and to set an
ambitious agenda.
"We look forward to working with the leaders chosen by the Indian people to advance this important partnership and to
set an ambitious agenda," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.
"We congratulate the people of India on their participation in the largest-ever free and fair democratic election in
human history," she said, hours after a record number of Indian voters concluded casting their votes May 12.
Copyright © 2014 The Indian Express ltd. All Rights Reserved
US imports from India hit a new all-time high
Trade between the US and India saw growth in April, with imports from India into the US spiking to a new monthly
record. US imports from India totaled $4.458 billion in April, while exports from the US to India were $1.401 billion, for a
cumulative sum of $5.859 billion in trade over the course of April 2014. The difference in imports versus exports for the
US, however, was $3.057 billion – the steepest yet in 2014.
The increase in imports coming from the Indian subcontinent is the highest that has ever been recorded in a single
month, besting the previous record of $4.201 billion from May of last year. Exports from the US to India, however,
dropped in April; just one month earlier, the number was $1.714 billion, indicating a decrease of about $313 million in
just one month’s time.
So far this year, exports have totaled $6.065 billion from January through April, while imports stand at $15.059 billion
thus far. That’s a difference of just under $9 billion between exports and imports, but is generally in line with what USIndia trade relationships over the last several years have been.
For the same four-month time span in 2013, exports were at $6.81 billion, while imports stood at roughly $13.76 billion.
That means that 2014 is likely on course to top last year in terms of exports, a significant indication given that last year’s
total Indian import number of $41.845 billion was an all-time high.
India and the US have voiced their intention to have trade between the two countries hit a new target of $500 billion in
total annual trade within the new few years, so these new numbers, which were released on Wednesday by the US
Census Bureau, are an encouraging sign for both nations.
Last year, India was the 11th largest trading partner for the US, accounting for 1.7% of America’s total international trade
amount. Canada came in at number one and accounted for 16.4% of US trade, China was #2 with 14.6%, and Mexico #3
with 13.2%. After that, all trade partner percentages fall into the low single digits — #4, Japan, accounted for 5.3% of
total US trade, and Germany came in at #5 with 4.2%.
Copyright © 2013-2014 The American Bazaar. All Rights Reserved
India becomes biggest foreign buyer of US weapons
India imported $1.9 billion of U.S. military kit.UU. Last year, becoming the largest foreign buyer of weapons from the
United States, according to a study by IHS Jane. The us.UU, which remains the largest exporter of military equipment,
travelled to Russia as the India’s largest arms supplier. In total, the United States.UU. It exported $25.2 billion of military
hardware in 2013, compared with $ 24,900,000,000 the previous year.
India, with total imports of Defense of $5.9 billion, became the buyer more enthusiastic by the us.UU., beating Saudi
Arabia in the first position with purchases that include aircraft of Boeing C-17 strategic and P-8I maritime patrol aircraft.
“We are seeing trade patterns change fundamentally for key players”, said Ben Moores, analyst senior consultant
security and author of the report. “India is outpacing everyone.”
India overtook China to become the biggest importer of weapons in 2010, according to the Stockholm International
Institute for peace, which monitors the global arms trade. So far, however, most of the hired guns of the India shopping
have been from Russia, partly because it has had to replace or upgrade the purchased equipment to its former ally of
the Soviet Union.
India has fought to create the indigenous systems of high-tech weapons manufacturing, and depends on imports in their
efforts to catch on with China better equipped armed forces. “It’s a great capability gap that opened up between the
Indians and the Chinese,” said Moores.”India is the purchase of a large amount of computers in high range of Americans
to address the gap.”
In 2009 the India imported $237 million in military equipment from the United States.UU. , but this increased to $1.9
billion last year, since nearly half of its $13.4 billion of defense procurement budget went to abroad. India represented
almost 10 percent of the international market of Defense 63000 million dollars, beating most of the Middle East and
China.
Statistical arms of trading may be volatile due to deliveries of items of high value, such as aircraft. But the latest data
from the United States and India, measuring the deliveries instead of sales contracts, is significant because other
Western arms exporters have been able to do is with agreements with New Delhi, in the face of the scandals of
corruption periodical, the slowdown in the growth of the India and budgetary constraints. France’s Dassault, for
example, is still awaiting the India to finalize a preliminary agreement to buy Rafale combat aircraft that could be up to
$20 billion.
AK Antony, Minister of Defense of India, this month said that his Ministry had used most of his budget for the year that
ends in March and would not make large acquisitions until the next year. “There is no spare money,” he said. “All the
big projects have to wait until April 1.” The Middle East, for its part, continued importing military equipment at a rapid
pace, and now represents one-third of the world arms market. Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates,
together imported more from Western Europe as a whole, the purchase of $9.3 billion – dollars in equipment in
comparison with $8.7 billion dollars for the second.
Saudi Arabia imported more than $5.4 billion in equipment, more than double the $2.2 billion that bought in 2009. 2015
is expected that imports will increase to $7.8 billion. Program of import of the United Arab Emirates is expected to more
than double. By 2015 it is expected that imports from a total of $3.1 billion, against a total of $1.4 billion. U.S. companies
accounted for half of all exports of weapons to the region.
South Korea is set to enter the 10 first exporter’s national military global for the first time in the next 18 months and is
expected to overtake China in 2015. Exported $ 600 million the team this year, but by 2015 will be exported $1.5 billion
a year in defence equipment and will override some of the large Western companies in the process, said IHS Jane.
Copyright © 2014 Defense News Asia All Rights Reserved
Kerry congratulates Sushma, discusses re-energizing ties
US Secretary of State John Kerry called up External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to congratulate her on ministerial posting and
discussed "re-energizing strategic" ties, an official said Thursday.
Kerry called up Sushma Swaraj late Wednesday night. It was the first congratulatory call that she received from one of
her counterparts around the world. "The US secretary congratulated the minister and the party (BJP) on its election
victory," Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson, ministry of external affairs told media.
Kerry spoke about the economic agenda of the new Indian government and said the US was keen to boost bilateral trade
to $500 billion from the current around $100 billion. Sushma thanked the US secretary of state and spoke about
enhancing the Indo-US strategic partnership. She briefed him about the visit of the SAARC leaders to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony and the outcome of the meetings with the leaders, said the spokesperson.
She said they should meet and that dates would be worked out, he added.
Akbaruddin said there would be more congratulatory calls ahead in the day. "Re-energizing Relations! Sushma Swaraj
and John Kerry discuss re-energizing the strategic partnership in (their) first talk," he said in a tweet.
Copyright © 2014 IANS India Private Limited.
Kathleen Stephens named interim US Ambassador to India
Stephens is a former Ambassador to South Korea.
Kathleen Stephens (courtesy of Wikipedia)
The Department of State has announced that Kathleen Stephens will be the new interim US Ambassador to India.
Stephens’ ascension to the position was announced by the State Department on Wednesday, which said that Stephens
will fill the role in the wake of outgoing Ambassador Nancy Powell’s retirement. The search for a permanent
Ambassador is still ongoing.
“Ambassador Kathleen Stephens will serve as the charge until a new permanent ambassador is nominated and
confirmed by the Senate,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “She will arrive in New Delhi in early June.”
Stephens is a storied veteran of the US diplomatic corps, with a 37-year career to her name. She holds a B.A. in East
Asian studies from Prescott College in Arizona, and a post-graduate degree from Harvard University; she also studied at
Oxford University, in the UK, for some time.
She worked in the Peace Corps for a number of years, and joined the US Foreign Service in 1978. Stephens was part of
missions in China, Trinidad and Tobago, South Korea, Belgrade, and various places throughout Europe into the 1990s.
From 1994-1995, she was the Director for European Affairs in the United States National Security Council, and was the
Director of the Office of Ecology and Terrestrial Conservation in the State Department from 2001-2003. In 2008, she
became Ambassador to South Korea, a position she held until 2011.
The US has not yet indicated who will become the permanent new Ambassador to India, but whispers have swirled for
weeks that the State Department is heavily leaning towards Rajiv Shah, head of the USAID, to take the post. An Indian
American whose parents are from the state of Gujarat, Shah is seen as someone who could go a long way to forging ties
with new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had an infamously frosty relationship with Nancy Powell.
Powell announced her retirement in May; although government officials say it was planned all along, many suspect she
was forced out because the US wants to repair ties with India. During her tenure with the State Department, Powell
served as the US Ambassador to countries like Uganda, Ghana, Pakistan, and Nepal, and as part of the diplomatic envoy
to Canada, Togo, and Bangladesh.
New Visa Services Provider Cox & Kings Operational from May 21
New locations in the US of visa, passport services provider Cox & Kings Global Services released by the Indian Embassy
The Embassy of India in the US has announced the new operational locations of Cox & Kings Global Services Pvt. Ltd.
(CKGS) who will provide Visa/OCI/PIO/Renunciation of Indian Citizenship Certificate application support services in the
country, from May 21.
The current Service Provider, BLS International Limited, will be closing all its operations with regard to
Visa/OCI/PIO/Renunciation of Indian Citizenship Certificate support services in the evening of 20th May, at all locations
in US, said a release issued by the embassy.
The locations of CKGS Service Centers across US are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Washington DC- Suite 100, 1250, 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20037.
New York- 2nd Floor, 235 West, 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011.
Chicago- Suite 1003, 19 S, La Salle Street, Chicago, IL 60603.
San Francisco- 1st Floor, 225 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94104.
Houston- Suite 550, 1001 Texas Avenue, Binz Building, Houston, TX 77002.
Atlanta- 1st Floor, Suite 180, 5883 Glenridge Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 32328.
CKGS Helpdesk phone numbers, also operational, are: Toll free no: 1-866-978-0055. Local numbers: 408-709-1764 and
408-709-1773. The website of CKGS is already operational: http://www.in.ckgs.us for any enquiries:
[email protected]
Applications in person (‘walk-in application’) will be accepted by BLS International Ltd. till the afternoon of May 16. Only
Emergency Visa applications will be accepted by BLS till forenoon of May 20 said the release.
Applicants, who propose to send their applications by mail, may send them, so as to reach offices of the CKGS at
jurisdictional locations on or after May 21. Banker’s checks/Money order accompanying these applications should be
drawn in favor of the new service provider Cox & Kings Global Services Pvt. Ltd. with the revised service fee.
Applicants, who have already submitted their applications to BLS International Ltd, may check online status of their
applications from BLS International Ltd website till May 20. The status of these pending applications will be available on
the website of CKGS from May 21 and can be tracked from CKGS website: www.in.ckgs.us
Science, technology studies priority for both India, US: Nancy Powell
According to outgoing American Ambassador Nancy Powell, India and the US both feature fields of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics in their priorities list. "The industries and challenges of the 21st century, such as climate
change, renewable energy, medicine and healthcare, water and environmental management, developing sustainable
cities all require innovators and workers from the arena of science, technology, engineering and mathematics," Powell
said during the flag-off of a group of 15 Indian students selected to participate at the Intel International Science and
Engineering fair in the US.
The group was selected from across India based on their innovative projects related to science, technology, engineering
and mathematics. They will compete with over 1,600 participants from 70 nations.
Powell said both the countries have realized the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and
mathematics) education and have undertaken significant steps to support it. "I am confident that both India and the US
will be among the top countries that have the most STEM-literate innovators in this century," she said.
Stating that every measure needs to be taken to develop the interest of students in STEM subjects, she said there was a
need to expand the student-teacher exchange programmes between the two countries.
"A lot needs to be done to take on the global challenges of addressing the needs of people who have limited or no
access to education around the world," Powell added at the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum.
Copyright © 2014 Living Media India Limited. All Rights Reserved.
US senator John McCain congratulates Modi on electoral success
US Senator John McCain speaks during a forum with veterans in Phoenix. McCain was discussing lapses in care at the Phoenix
Veterans Affairs hospital that prompted a national review of operations around the country.
US Senator John McCain has congratulated Narendra Modi and his party on the resounding electoral success in the Lok
Sabha elections and hoped to work with his government to revitalize bilateral relations.
"I congratulate Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party for their resounding success in India's election. An
election that was, by itself, a powerful and inspiring demonstration of the vibrancy of the world's largest democracy,"
McCain said.
McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in the 2004 elections, said, "The successful rise of India as a prosperous
nation and a democratic great power is fundamentally in America's national interest. I look forward to working with Mr
Modi and his government to revitalize and expand the immense promise of the US-India strategic partnership."
Meanwhile, the popular Time magazine also lauded Modi on his spectacular win in the elections. "Narendra Modi won
India's national elections by a virtually unprecedented parliamentary super-majority, routing the ruling Congress Party,"
it said.
Copyright © 2014, Press Trust of India, All Rights Reserved.
'America is an important market for us'
The footprint of the Indian cinema industry is rapidly growing overseas, says National Award-winning filmmaker Rakeysh
Omprakash Mehra.
He stresses that while non-traditional markets are vital, the US, powered by a three-million strong Indian diaspora,
remains the biggest international market for Indian moviemakers. “America is an important market for us. It is
important for us to have a (wide) presence there as it is the final frontier for the business of films and the biggest market
for us overseas,” he said.
From his career as an ad film-maker to a feature film-maker, Mehra has spent close to three decades in Indian showbiz.
He has also witnessed the escalating demand and interest of the foreign markets in cinema from the country. “I
remember taking Rang De Basanti (in 2006)...the market in the US is most certainly growing.
Now we have our films in the US, the UAE, Australia and Britain, but we need a stronger presence in the US and we need
to go beyond the diaspora to explore more non-traditional markets (sic),” he said. Mehra’s last entertainer, Bhaag
Milkha Bhaag, a biopic which was recently named the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment by the
National Film Awards jury, was released. in multiple territories abroad - the US, Australia, Britain, Fiji, Singapore,
Thailand, Malasiya, Hong Kong, East Africa, South Africa, Indonesia, the UAE and New Zealand.
Mehra believes that the business of Indian films is only poised to grow. The 50-year-old filmmaker is also credited with
films like Aks and ‘Delhi-6’. His next offering is a musical. Titled Mirza Sahibaan, it will launch two newcomers
Harshvardhan Kapoor, son of actor Anil Kapoor, and Saiyami Kher, niece of talented actress Tanvi Azmi and
granddaughter of yesteryear's leading leady Usha Kiran.
Copyright 2014, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd. All rights reserved
Narendra Modi has opportunity to bring new energy to Indo-US ties:
American lawmaker
Lawmaker Royce said it is likely that Modi will focus on private enterprise, reduced bureaucracy, and stronger trade ties with
major partners.
th
Narendra Damodardas Modi is the 15 Prime Minister of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “an opportunity” to not only reinvigorate India’s economy, but also bring new energy
to the Indo-US relationship, according to a top American lawmaker. “Prime Minister Modi’s historic victory has granted
him a mandate unseen in decades. If Modi is successful, far more Indians will have an opportunity to unleash their
abundant economic talent and potential, as Guajaratis have. He now has the opportunity to reinvigorate India’s
economy and bring new energy to US-India relations,” Congressman Ed Royce said.
Royce, Chairman of the powerful House Foreign Relations Committee and former Co-Chair of the influential
Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, in an op-ed to the ethnic India West newspaper wrote that he is
optimistic that the mandate given to Modi will help India thrive economically, lifting countless people out of poverty.
Praising Modi for his Gujarat model of development, Royce said under his leadership, Gujarat, home to a mere five per
cent of the country’s population, now accounts for nearly 25 per cent of all Indian exports.
“Modi’s election as prime minister comes at a time when India’s economy could use a boost. Once enjoying a GDP
growth rate near 10 per cent, it is now growing at less than five per cent each year. Inflation also remains high due to
ottlenecks in production and infrastructure, preventing companies from growing,” Royce said. “Adding to these
problems, India has one of the fastest growing workforces in the world, and is currently able to create only two million
jobs per year for the 12 million people entering its workforce. To meet these challenges, a pro-business, pro-growth
leader is needed,” he wrote.
Royce said it is likely that Modi will focus on private enterprise, reduced bureaucracy, and stronger trade ties with major
partners. “Importantly, Modi met with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his first day as prime minister, stressing
that the two sides could move trade ties immediately. These maneuvers should help jumpstart India’s economy, but
importantly, they will also place a much needed focus on improved trade,” he said.
“Since 2001, US-India trade may have doubled every five years, but our economic relationship remains far below the
scale of our markets. The value of US-India trade is still only one-seventh that of our trade with China, despite warm
relations and numerous shared values. Modi’s commitment to cut the red tape that has long plagued our trade
relationship gives reason for hope that our economic partnership will flourish,” Royce said.
India ranks No 3 on US’ Green Building Council list
The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has ranked India No 3 among list of the top 10 countries for LEED (Leadership in
Energy & Environmental Design) certified buildings outside of the US. Canada tops the list followed by China, India,
South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and Brazil.
The list of the top 10 countries for LEED reflects the global adaptability of the world’s most widely used and recognized
system guiding the design, construction, operations and maintenance of green buildings. “The global community is
increasingly recognizing the imperative for action as we combat worldwide climate change,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President,
CEO and founding chair, USGBC. Project teams in over 140 countries have implemented LEED in their building projects
taking advantage of its global, regional and local applicability to create structures that mitigate greenhouse gas
emissions, create healthier indoor environments for workers, students and community members, and lower utility bills
for building owners through reduced energy and water use.
The ranking is based on cumulative gross square meters (GSM) of space certified to LEED in each nation as of April 2014.
India has 11.64 million GSM of LEED-certified space and has 1,657 certified and registered projects representing 66.22
million GSM.
Obama praises Singh’s role in fostering ties
After a farewell phone call to Manmohan Singh shortly after he demitted office, US President Barak Obama also wrote
to the outgoing prime minister appreciating his role in strengthening Indo-US strategic relationship. On May 17, Obama
made a farewell phone call barely hours after Singh demitted office and described him as one of the few public leaders
whom he “admired” and that he would “miss” working with him on a “day-to-day basis.”
In his letter, Obama praised Singh “for his efforts that lifted millions out of poverty and positioned India for its
transformation into a global leader.” Obama said he wanted to “respond to your thoughtful letter and put in writing my
deep appreciation for your remarkable two terms in office.”
“I have tremendous gratitude for the critical role you have played in defining and expanding the strategic partnership
between India and the United States,” Obama said, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office here.
He said Singh’s “leadership helped strengthen a strategic relationship that will have a long-lasting impact on our citizens
and is already making the world a safer, more prosperous place. With boldness and vision, during your 10 years in office,
you challenged our two nations to deepen our defense ties, engage in civil nuclear commerce, expand trade, and
collaborate on clean energy technology while working through our differences.
“We joined together to fight terrorism, prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and promote peace in
Afghanistan. We also embarked on substantive, strategic exchanges that have helped shape our shared views of global
developments, allowing us to co-ordinate and respond more effectively to breaking events.” Obama said he has always
“greatly admired your dedication to alleviate India’s poverty, primarily through economic reforms.”
“Your efforts lifted millions out of poverty and positioned India for its transformation into a global leader. I particularly
commend your resolve to reach out to Pakistan, which showed the path to a stable, peaceful South Asia. “I am proud
that the United States could play a role in your efforts to build a dynamic, prosperous nation, which I believe will bring
great benefit to our countries and the world,” Obama said.
Copyright © 2014 IANS India Private Limited.
Mango exports to US likely to rise by 42% this year
Mango exports from India to the US are likely to increase by 42 per cent to 400 tons this year on strong demand,
according to the government body APEDA. Last year, India, the world's largest grower of the fruit, had shipped about
281 tons of mangoes to America. "Mango exports to US would be around 400 tons this year," a senior official of the
Agricultural and processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) told the media.
Mango exports to the US have commenced this month. In the last ten days, the country has exported 50 tonnes of
mangoes, mainly 'Alfonso' and 'Kesar' varieties from western India. The official said that the exports are expected to
pick in the coming days with arrival of different varieties of mangoes from various parts of the country. However, higher
exports will depend on supply of quality UP mangoes like 'Dasheri', 'Langda' and 'Chounsa' that will hit the market during
monsoon, he added. Mango exports to the US resumed in 2007. The fruits are exported to the US after the irradiation
process, a preservation technology that can reduce the risk of food poisoning and extend shelf-life of food.
Currently, India has only one irradiation unit in Maharashtra with a processing capacity of 10-15 tons a day. Traders and
experts said that big volumes of exports to the US cannot take place due to insufficient irradiation centres in the
country.
India's overall mango exports in 2014 are expected to be at last year's level of around 60,000 tonnes, while the domestic
production is estimated to be around 16 lakh tons.
US appoints Indian-American Jawahar Kaliani to key Treasury Department post
Jawahar Kaliani has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Application Services Delivery at the OCC,
Department of Treasury.
An Indian-American has been appointed to a key post in the US Department of Treasury. Jawahar Kaliani has been
appointed as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Application Services Delivery (ASD) at the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Department of Treasury.
Taking over the job from tomorrow, Kaliani will lead the development and implementation of complex applications to
deliver secure business solutions that meet organisational priorities and support the agency's mission of ensuring the
safety and soundness of national banks and federal savings associations, a statement said. "Jawahar's experience has
prepared him exceptionally well to serve in this role," said OCC Chief Information Officer Edward Dorris. "He is ideally
suited to be part of the agency's senior information technology (IT) team to continue our efforts toward achieving best
in class productivity, efficiency and quality for the OCC employees and supervised institutions that depend on us," Dorris
said.
Kaliani joins the OCC from Amdocs Inc., where he served as vice president of Customer Operations Management and led
the development, execution and delivery of large-scale services and business IT solutions supporting major
telecommunications clients who managed more than USD 30 billion in annual billings. He has 20 years of demonstrated
experience delivering critical applications in a managed services environment, optimizing efficiency and performance to
meet the goals of industry leaders. During his career, Kaliani established coached and mentored high-performing, crossfunctional teams of more than 700 employees.
Kaliani holds an executive MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Bachelor of Engineering in IT and
Electronics from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) in Mumbai and a Diploma of Engineering in IT and
Electronics from BIT in Mumbai.
India chapter of Sikh American Chamber inks MoU with US-based UP Global
Together, they hope to reach out to more and more aspiring entrepreneurs in Chandigarh and Panjab.
In order to promote entrepreneurship in the northern region, the India Centre of Sikh American Chamber of Commerce
(SACC) based at Chandigarh has partnered with Seattle (USA)-based UP Global, known for its ‘Startup Weekend’
programs. Through these programmes the Chamber will engage in promoting entrepreneurship, offering trade and
business opportunities, through networking and exchange of young professionals, startups and students.
UP Global is a not-for-profit organisation and is world’s leading partner of Google for Entrepreneurs, engaged in
fostering entrepreneurship, developing leaders and innovators, and creating a global community to empower each
other.
The Startup Weekend is the flagship program of UP Global and is supported by Google for Entrepreneurs. The program
would be organised by SACC India in various parts of northern region, the first one to be organized in Mohali in the
second week of July.
Taking a step forward, the chamber and UP Global signed a memorandum of understanding in Chandigarh to use the
synergy of both the organisations with similar mission reaching out to more and more aspiring entrepreneurs in
Chandigarh and Panjab.
Punjab has always remained a hub of innovative enterprise and this partnership with UP Global would help SACC India to
provide them a structured pathway of converting their ideas into workable profitable enterprises, said Manipal
Dhariwal, President of SACC India.
Punjabis have succeeded all over the world and it would be an exciting opportunity to help inspire the new generation of
entrepreneurs from this region, said Marc Nager , CEO of UP Global. As part of SACC’s mission to develop
entrepreneurship, SACC India is also setting up a social incubation centre at Mohali, where the successful ideas
identified at the Startup Weekend would get ready space to transform them into successful enterprises, Manipal
said.The incubator would also be launched in July, he informed.
We are looking at developing next rung of entrepreneurial champions to develop socially relevant products, improve the
lives of the people, and drive economic growth, Adam Stelle the COO of UP Global said.
Sikh American Chamber of Commerce (SACC) is a community-based organisation having been founded three years back
in New Jersey, USA, which has chapters at New York, Seattle, California and Kentucky, besides the India Centre, which is
also the Global Secretariat of SACC’s operation worldwide. The mission of SACC is to network the successful Punjabi
community settled in USA with their roots back home in Punjab, empower the professionals and youth through
entrepreneurship skills, and network them to the global opportunities. India Centre of SACC was opened in January
2014.
Copyright © Business Standard Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
US lawmakers, Indian-Americans congratulate Modi
Many Indian-Americans across the US lit 'diyas' last evening in their homes, community centers and temples to celebrate the
victory of Modi.
Tulsi Gabbard, the first ever Hindu lawmaker in US Congress, made a telephone call to Modi and congratulated him and BJP for
winning a majority vote in Lok Sabha.
US lawmakers and Indian- Americans have congratulated Narendra Modi for leading the BJP to a historic win, hoping
that his elevation to the prime minister’s post would further strengthen bilateral ties.
“A partnership between the world’s two largest and greatest democracies is necessary for us to successfully address the
many global challenges we face, including economic growth, bilateral trade, the environment, terrorism, and security,”
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said.
Gabbard, the first ever Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, made a telephone call to Modi and congratulated him and
the BJP for winning a majority vote in the Lok Sabha. “This election was an extraordinary achievement for the 550
million Indians who voted over the course of six weeks in some 930,000 polling locations. I look forward to working with
Mr. Modi and other members of the Indian government toward our mutual goals of peace, stability and economic
growth in the Asia-Pacific region,” Gabbard said.
Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “I congratulate Narendra
Modi on being elected as the next Prime Minister of India. This is a historic moment for India, and I will work closely with
Prime Minister-elect Modi to strengthen the important relationship between our two countries.” Powerful Democratic
Senator Mark Warner, who is co-chair of the bipartisan Senate India Caucus, in a statement congratulated BJP and Modi
on their electoral victory.
“I look forward to working with the new Indian government to move the US-India relationship forward,” he said. The
Indian American-Forum for Political Education described the electoral triumph as a historic win for the BJP. “It is a new
era, new beginning and this new leadership that would shape India for a brighter future. We also would like to
congratulate the people of India who have shown and wisdom, maturity in deciding and opting for a change for a better
India,” said Dr. Sampat Shivangi, president of the IAFPE.
“We definitely want to appreciate President Obama’s personal initiative in reaching out to Shri Narendra Modi
welcoming him and inviting him to visit USA which is long overdue. We believe two world leaders, President Obama and
Prime Minister Modi will take India-US relations to the glory days of peace and prosperity for both the nations,” she
said. Many Indian-Americans across the US lit ‘diyas’ last evening in their homes, community centers and temples to
celebrate the victory of Modi.
A popular restaurant in Edison city of New Jersey kept its pre-election promise by distributing free ‘Methi Gota’ (Gujarati
Pakoda) to all its customers to celebrate Modi’s victory. In the neighboring Jersey City, another restaurant distributed
free sweets and their recently developed “Modi Magic” snack and ‘Ragdapatice’ to its customers. More than hundreds
of Indian-origin people from the Silicon Valley gathered today at Milpitas city town hall in California to celebrate Modi’s
historic victory.
Khanderao Kand, the founder president of Global Indian Technology Professionals of India (GITPRO), said technology
professional are very happy that the development oriented leader Modi getting decisive mandate. “We hope that
Narendra Modi would do the magic he did in Gujarat at India level. We expect infrastructural development, education
improvement, linking rivers, building freeways, facilitating to industry and fostering innovation,” he said.
Houston-based noted entrepreneur and philanthropist Ramesh Bhutada, who spearheaded a campaign in the US for
Modi’s election, described the BJP victory as India’s “second independence”. “It is as big or even bigger than the
independence because the mandate means independence for the country from vote bank politics, from entitlement
environment, and from appeasement. It is a vote for governance and economic development as the election was not
fought on emotional issues,” he said.
Pentagon official to lead defence trade dialogue with India
A senior Pentagon official has been appointed to lead the defence trade initiative dialogue with India, US Defence
Secretary Chuck Hagel recently said.
"To further strengthen US-India defence ties, I am directing the Pentagon's Undersecretary for Acquisition, Technology,
and Logistics (Frank Kendall) to lead the US-India Defence Trade and Technology Initiative with India's new government,"
he said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Started during the previous UPA regime, Defence Trade and Technology
Initiative is aimed at removing bureaucratic bottlenecks in defence trade between India and the US.
It was also called Carter-Menon initiative as the Indian side was led by the former National Security Advisor, Shivshankar
Menon, and the former Deputy Defence Secretary, Ashton Carter.
Hagel said he plans to play an active and very personal role in expanding this initiative because it is a centrepiece of
America's defence cooperation with India and it should reflect the trust and confidence President Obama and I have in
our nation's relationship with India. "To reinforce this effort - and to drive even more transformational cooperation - I
hope to visit India later this year," he said.
America's global partnerships, he said, reach across the Asian continent and extend to India, one of the US' most
important, democratic partners - and a country with historic influence across Asia.
"The United States looks forward to working with India's new government led by Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. We
welcome India's increasingly active role in Asia's regional institutions, which strengthens regional order.
"We also welcome India's growing defence capabilities and its commitment to freedom of navigation in the Indian
Ocean," Hagel said.
Copyright © 2014, The Hindu Business Line. All Rights Reserved
Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs signs MoU with Grant Thornton
The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) and Grant Thornton India LLP have signed a memorandum of
understanding. The objective of the MoU which was signed yesterday in Delhi is to develop capacity of the Indian
companies for effective implementation of the CSR Rules laid down as per Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013.
The MoU was signed by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, DG&CEO, IICA and Mr. Vikesh Harish Mehta, Partner, Grant Thornton
India LLP.
Dr. Chatterjee pointed out that “With the notification of the rules the agenda has been set for knowledge and
awareness building and to show the corporates what they can do for national development.” He added that “IICA
creates directional sense and disseminates information. We need partners who share our vision and we are privileged &
optimistic to have found GT because this has a kind of connect and synergy that will lead to value creation all around”.
Mr. Mehta said that “The legislation for CSR is a revolutionary concept. Tying up with IICA is a complementary
partnership, which will create solid infrastructure for common clients.” He further said that “So far regulation had been
compliance driven and the new law takes CSR beyond compliance.”
Mr. Rajib Kumar Debnath, Executive Director, Sustainability, CSR and Energy Services, gave an overview of Grant
Thornton’s orientation towards CSR projects.Others present at the MoU signing ceremony were Swarnima Chouhan,
Associate Vice President from Grant Thornton, and Mr. Atul Dev Sarmah, Head, Centre for Institutional Partnerships and
Corporate Communications (IP&CC), Ms. Gayatri Subramaniam, CPE, NGO Hub, National Foundation for CSR (NFCSR),
Ms. Swagata Sen Pillai, Sr. Programme Executive, IP&CC, M. Mukesh Kumar, CPE, Data Centre, NFCSR, and Mr. Nikhil
Pant, L&D, NFCSR from IICA.
Copyright© Press Information Bureau. All Rights Reserved
Calendar of IACC Events for 2014
Event
Sector
Emerging
Technologies in
Food Security
Food
Processing
Environmental
Event
General
Building World
Class Capabilities
in Manufacturing
Forthcoming Events
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce
Upcoming Events Calendar
Description
Date
Venue
Contact
Dr Kalpana Sastry Joint
Director, NAARM, speaker of
the event will focus on the
Nano Technology and discuss
on the case studies NAARM
has done with Govt. Of India
in the areas of Food and
measures taken for Food
Security.
This event will include
recycling of dry wastes such
as newspapers, furniture,
plastic, hardware, old books,
stationary items, old utensils,
tetra pack and of old clothes
into designer clothes.
Friday, May 30, 2014 |
11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Hyderabad,
Hotel
MariGold,
Begumpet
Mr. B.Sriram
[email protected]
m
Tuesday, June 03, 2014 |
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Bangalore
Ms. Swati Srivastava
[email protected]
Manufacturing
The event will cover the
nuances of manufacturing,
policy initiatives, technology
and its challenges. Event will
have powerful speakers
followed by Panel discussion.
Friday, June 06, 2014 | 6
p.m. – 9 p.m.
Hubli, BVB
College of
Engineering, &
Technology
[email protected]
CSR and
Companies Act
2013
Corporate
Social
Responsibility,
and Finance,
Taxation &
Corporate
Affairs
This session will highlight on
the changes in the new
Companies law and the tax
implications on CSR spend
Tuesday, June 10, 2014 |
9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Chennai, Hotel
Hyatt Regency
Ms. Sujatha
Ravishanker
[email protected]
m
The Companies
Act 2013 – A New
Corporate
Framework for
International
Business, Joint
Ventures, Cross
Border Merger and
Investment
Finance,
Taxation &
Corporate
Affairs
A Panel Discussion has been
organised by leading legal
firm Amarchand & Mangal
Das & Suresh A Shroff &
Company advocate and
solicitor firm and US Foreign
Commercial Sector
Thursday, June 12, 2014
| 5:45 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Kolkata, The
Bengal Club
Ms. Madhusree
Daityari
[email protected]
Networking Dinner
Meet of members
with the Consul
General, U.S.
Consulate,
Chennai
General Networking
To host farewell to U.S.
Consul General and
networking dinner reception
for members
Thursday, June 12, 2014
| 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Kochi, Hotel
Avenue Regent
Ms. Sujatha Sunil
sujathasunil@iaccindi
a.com
RENERGY 2014
Infrastructure
- Renewable
Energy
This event accelerates the
growth of Indian renewable
energy sector by offering
sustainable development
opportunities to businesses
in this industry.
June 12-14, 2014 | 9 a.m.
– 5 p.m.
Chennai,
Chennai Trade
Centre
Ms. Sujatha
Ravishanker
[email protected]
m
POSH Event
Human
Resource
Development
General
A program that helps
recognize and prevent Sexual
Harassment at work.
Friday, June 13, 2014 |
10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Bangalore, CGI
[email protected]
Friday, June 20, 2014 |
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Kolkata, Rotary
Sadan
Ms. Madhusree
Daityari
[email protected]
International
Trade
Development
Finance,
Taxation &
Corporate
Affairs
InfoComm International®
2014 & 2014 International
Franchise Expo
This session will highlight on
the changes in the new
Companies law
June 15-22, 2014
U.S.A, Las
Vegas & New
York
Bangalore, The
Grand Ball
Room, Hotel
Matthan
Ms. Krishna Israni
[email protected]
m
[email protected]
10th IndoAmerican Trade
Excellence Awards
2014
General
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
| 6:30 p.m. onwards
Mumbai, Hotel
Trident,
Nariman Point
Ms. Trishla Dosi
[email protected]
m
Green Tee
2014 Golf
Invitational/US
Independence Day
General Networking
IACC proudly announces its
10th Indo-American Trade
Excellence Awards co-hosted
by US Consulate General,
Mumbai. Through these
Awards, the Chamber will
celebrate trade excellence
and recognize the best
Indian Companies in the US
and the best US Companies
in India in various categories
Golf tournament in the
morning followed by award
& networking night
Friday, July 04, 2014 | 7
a.m. – 1 p.m. & 7 p.m. –
9 p.m.
Bangalore,
BGC and Royal
Orchid
[email protected]
Indo –US
Fellowship Night
General Networking
Friday, July 4, 2014 |
6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Kolkata, The
Oberoi Grand
Ms. Madhusree
Daityari
[email protected]
Indo US Ventures
Possibilities in
Media &
Entertainment
Indo US Ventures
Possibilities in
Media &
Entertainment
with focus on
curving of piracy
Media,
Entertainment
& Tourism
Flagship annual event held
on the occasion of the
American Independence Day.
The event promotes
bonhomie between
American Center and the
IACC Members
The emerging and
importance for this sector
holds possibilities for Indo –
US ventures and trips
Friday, July 25, 2014 | 5
p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Kolkata, The
American
Center
Ms. Madhusree
Daityari
[email protected]
Workshop &
Presentation on
Mobile Marketing
in specific Areas
DELEGATION TO
USA
Legal Seminar –
Company’s Act
Friday, June 27, 2014 | 6
p.m. – 9 p.m.
Defence &
Aerospace SES
2014 - 5th
Strategic
Electronics
Summit
Aerospace &
Defence ,
Electronics
Emerging
Importance of Skill
Development and
Resultant
Employability
Human
Resource
Development
- Skill
Development
Annual Fellowship
Nite
Indo-US Legal
Summit
General Networking
Legal
Indo-US Economic
Summit
Trade in
Services
IACC is a supporting partner
for this event. SES is India's
first Aerospace & Defence
Electronics event which
captures the opportunities
created by defence offset
and defence procurement
policies of Govt. of India. This
event includes the following
focus segments: Military Land Systems, Aerospace Air Force, Avionics, Naval
Systems and Homeland
Security.
An Inter facing between
trainees for skill
development candidates and
the corporate sectors
th
The 10 Indo-US Economic
Summit titled "Convergence
and Connectivity in Indo-US
Economic Relations" will
focus on trade in the services
sector and will include
discussions on IT & Cyber
Security sector, "Trends in
Indo-US Cooperation in
Aviation", Education & Skill
Development, Media &
Entertainment, E-commerce,
Hospitality & Tourism sectors
July 30-31, 2014 | 10
a.m. - 5 p.m.
Bangalore,
Bangalore
International
Exhibition
Center
Ms. Trupti Pawar
[email protected]
Thursday, August 14,
2014 | 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Kolkata, The
Rotary Sadan
Ms. Madhusree
Daityari
[email protected]
Wednesday, August 20,
2014 | 7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, October 14,
2014 | 9:30 a.m. - 6:30
p.m.
October 15-16, 2014 | 9
a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
New Delhi,
Hotel The Lalit
New Delhi
Ms. Neelu Sadana
[email protected]
Mr. Atul Vyas
[email protected]
New Delhi,
Hotel Hyatt
Regency
Mr. Atul Vyas
[email protected]
Indo-US Trade Statistics
2014: U.S. trade in goods with India
NOTE: All figures are in millions of U.S. dollars on a nominal basis, not seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified. Details may not
equal totals due to rounding.
Month
Exports
Imports
Balance
January 2014
February 2014
March 2014
Total 2014
1,582.4
1,366.9
1, 714.2
4, 663.6
3,675.4
3, 043.0
3, 882.2
10, 600.6
-2, 093.0
-1,676.1
-2, 168.0
-5, 937.1
2013: U.S. trade in goods with India
NOTE: All figures are in millions of U.S. dollars on a nominal basis, not seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified. Details may not
equal totals due to rounding.
Month
January 2013
February 2013
March 2013
Total 2013
Exports
1,699.30
1,605.00
1, 861.6
3,304.30
Imports
3,171.10
2,829.60
3, 662.0
6,000.70
Balance
-1,471.80
-1,224.50
-1, 800.4
-4,496.70
India – US Trade Analysis
India - US Trade
Trade and commerce form a crucial component of the rapidly expanding and multi-faceted relations between India and
U.S. From a modest $ 5.6 billion in 1990, the bilateral trade in merchandise goods has increased to $ 63.7 billion in 2013
representing an impressive 1037.5% growth in a span of 23 years.
India’s merchandise exports to the U.S. grew by 9.7% from $ 9.66 billion during the period January-March 2013 to $
10.60 billion during the period January-March 2014. US exports of merchandise to India fell by 9.7% from $ 5.17 billion
during the period January-March 2013 to $ 4.66 billion during the period January-March 2014. India - U.S. bilateral
merchandise trade stands at $ 15.26 billion during the period January – March 2014.
Trade during the period March 2014
i) Major items of export from India to US
Select major items with their percentage shares, are given below.
a) Textiles (17.1%)
b) Precious stones & metals (19.2%)
c) Pharmaceutical products (11.7%)
d) Mineral Fuel, Oil (9.4%)
e) Organic chemicals (5.2%)
f) Machinery (4.7%)
g) Lac, Gum, Resins (3%)
h) Electrical Machinery (2.9%)
ii) Major items of export from US to India
Select major items with their percentage shares, are given below
a) Precious stones & metals (24%)
b) Machinery (11.3%)
c) Aircraft, spacecraft, Parts (8.2%)
d) Mineral Fuel, Oil etc. (7.9%)
e) Optical instruments & equipment (6.8%)
f)) Electrical machinery (6.8%)
g) Misc. Chemical Products (4%)
h) Organic chemicals (3.8%)
International Buyer Program, 2014 Trade shows
International Buyer Program
2014 Trade Show Schedule
2014 International CES® (Consumer Electronics Show)
January 7–10 • Las Vegas, NV • cesweb.org
Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade Show and Conference
January 14–17 • Las Vegas, NV •
shotshow.org
World of Concrete® 2014
January 21–24 • Las Vegas, NV •
worldofconcrete.com
InfoComm International® 2014
June 18–20 • Las Vegas, NV •
2014 International Franchise Expo
June 19–21 • New York, NY • ifeinfo.com
DistribuTECH® Conference and Exhibition
January 28–30 • San Antonio, TX •
distributech.com
2014 Annual Meeting and Clinical Laboratory Expo of the
American Association for Clinical Chemistry
July 27–31 • Chicago, IL • aacc.org
International Production & Processing Expo
January 28–30 • Atlanta, GA • ippexpo.com
MAGIC Marketplace (Summer) 2014
August 17–20 • Las Vegas, NV •
magiconline com
International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Supply Fair
August 20–23 • Atlanta, GA • iwfatlanta.com
NAHB International Builders’ Show® 2014
February 4–6 • Las Vegas, NV •
buildersshow.com
Fancy Food Show (Summer) 2014
June/July (TBD) • New York, NY •
specialtyfood.com
Progressive Insurance® Miami International Boat Show®
February 13–17 • Miami, FL •
miamiboatshow.com
Farm Progress Show
August 26–28 • Boone, IA •
farmprogressshow.com
CONEXPO-CON/AGG® 2014
March 4–8 • Las Vegas, NV •
conexpoconagg.com
Natural Products Expo West/Engredea 2014
March 6–9 • Anaheim, CA • expowest.com
WEFTEC® Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and
Conference 2014
September 27–October 1 • New Orleans, LA •
weftec.org
International Home + Housewares Show 2014
March 15–18 • Chicago, IL • housewares.org
PACK EXPO International 2014
November 2–5 • Chicago, IL • packexpo.com
WasteExpo 2014
April 1–3 • Atlanta, GA • wasteexpo.com
American Film Market®
November 5–12 • Santa Monica, CA •
americanfilmmarket.com
The 2014 NAB Show®
April 7–10 • Las Vegas, NV • nabshow.com
Greater New York Dental Meeting
November 28–December 3 • New York, NY •
gnydm.com
2014 Offshore Technology Conference
May 5–8 • Houston, TX • otcnet.org
POWER-GEN® International
December 9–11 • Orlando, FL • power-
The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel
Show (NRA Show) 2014
May 17–20 • Chicago, IL •
How to reach us:
We invite articles, industry related market research reports and whitepapers, information on policy matters related to
Indo-US trade and investments via e-mail. Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) deserves right to edit the said
articles for clarity and space and use them in all electronic and print form.
E-mail: [email protected]
Disclaimer:
No part of this newsletter may be reproduced, reprinted or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or
mechanical without prior permission of the publisher. While every care is taken in compilation of information contained
herein, the publisher cannot accept any responsibility for error or omission or for the use of trademark, copyrights,
brand name, logos or other identifying symbols provided in supporting and participating companies and organizations.
However all possible and reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information in this newsletter is as accurate
and up-to-date at the time of printing. This newsletter is for internal use only.
Credits:
A number of persons and organizations have assisted us in the preparation of this newsletter. The information contained
herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable and are based on research and analysis, whitepapers,
academia, websites, internet postings and e-mails received. We wish to thank and express our gratitude to everyone
named and unnamed for providing valuable inputs and providing data willingly.
Conceived, Designed and Researched by:
Pratik Waghela, Web Systems Manager, IACC; E-mail: [email protected]
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