Yup.. till now we never even thought that Senkaku Islands are a part of India .... but well ... learning from china.. the future is vastly open.
Indian Economy-News & Updates
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Yup.. till now we never even thought that Senkaku Islands are a part of India .... but well ... learning from china.. the future is vastly open.
India inflation rises to 7.8% in September
19. Oct
The latest number was also a 10-month high. "When inflation continues to rise, it becomes a very difficult situation ... I am only saying that the circumstances are not too favorable [for easing policy rates]," C. Ranga Rajan, chairman of the prime minister's economic advisory council, said, The Hindu newspaper reported.
The news comes at a time when the coalition government of Prime Minister has been struggling to control inflation, slowing economic growth and rising deficits.
India inflation rises to 7.8% in September - UPI.com
19. Oct
The latest number was also a 10-month high. "When inflation continues to rise, it becomes a very difficult situation ... I am only saying that the circumstances are not too favorable [for easing policy rates]," C. Ranga Rajan, chairman of the prime minister's economic advisory council, said, The Hindu newspaper reported.
The news comes at a time when the coalition government of Prime Minister has been struggling to control inflation, slowing economic growth and rising deficits.
India inflation rises to 7.8% in September - UPI.com
A memorable international exposure in Taiwan
WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE: Balaji Kesavan with fellow students in Taiwan as he gets insight into Civil and Transportation Engineering.
It was in the summer, after our junior year that my friend and I got not only the opportunity to widen our knowledge in the field of Transportation Engineering, but also gain international experience. We were invited by Prof. Tien-Pen Hsu, Associate Professor of Transportation Engineering in Department of Civil Engineering in National Taiwan University (NTU) for our summer Internship. We learnt the use of the software VISSIM, added to that we also developed innovative ideas for the reduction of traffic queue at road intersections.
We won the internship after umpteen efforts. For third year Civil Engineers from NIT Durgapur it was a great opportunity. Prof. Tien-Pen Hsu responded to our application after reviewing our other internships and projects. We got acceptance for the summer internship in February and we had to leave in May. The next couple of months passed away in a blur. Finally when we landed in Taiwan we were received by one of the Ph.D scholars of the Civil Engineering Department.
On reaching the NTU as expected we saw a huge sprawling campus. After meeting the professor we were taken to the student hostel and given our own set of keys. We were allotted a self contained air conditioned room with bunker beds.
The student mess provided good meals and we could eat out too in Mc Donalds, Indian restaurant and in the food stands in the market and beach. We had free access to most of the facilities on the campus.
We could also cook on our own in the microwave and wash our cloths in the coin operated washing machines.
Soon we started our internship in the department. We met the other students and learnt a lot about Civil and Transportation Engineering. We visited the Taiwan Transportation Department and important road junctions to do our work.
We also visited many places; the notable ones are Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world to withstand any tremor or earthquake, zoo, beach and night markets, Buddhist temples and the royal palace.
My impressions of Taiwan is that it one of the safest places in the world. Doors can be left open and not a single grain would go missing.
The reason, people are simply too busy to rob. Everyone is on the move on those extremely beautiful roads. It was an amazing experience to see absolute road discipline along with speed and efficiency in every mode of transportation in this tiny island.On the completion of our internship we were given a warm farewell with lovely souvenirs.
Our professor was extremely helpful and happy with our work. He gave us a stipend and promised us an MS admit in NTU with full scholarship if we ever desired to study MS. One of the conclusions I drew from my stay in this wonderful place was that hard work can make our life beautiful and stress free.
NIT Durgapur (Summer intern at National Taiwan University, Taiwan).
balapusali@gmail.com
The Hindu : Education / College & University : A memorable international exposure in Taiwan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: It should be fairly obvious this isn't me
WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE: Balaji Kesavan with fellow students in Taiwan as he gets insight into Civil and Transportation Engineering.
It was in the summer, after our junior year that my friend and I got not only the opportunity to widen our knowledge in the field of Transportation Engineering, but also gain international experience. We were invited by Prof. Tien-Pen Hsu, Associate Professor of Transportation Engineering in Department of Civil Engineering in National Taiwan University (NTU) for our summer Internship. We learnt the use of the software VISSIM, added to that we also developed innovative ideas for the reduction of traffic queue at road intersections.
We won the internship after umpteen efforts. For third year Civil Engineers from NIT Durgapur it was a great opportunity. Prof. Tien-Pen Hsu responded to our application after reviewing our other internships and projects. We got acceptance for the summer internship in February and we had to leave in May. The next couple of months passed away in a blur. Finally when we landed in Taiwan we were received by one of the Ph.D scholars of the Civil Engineering Department.
On reaching the NTU as expected we saw a huge sprawling campus. After meeting the professor we were taken to the student hostel and given our own set of keys. We were allotted a self contained air conditioned room with bunker beds.
The student mess provided good meals and we could eat out too in Mc Donalds, Indian restaurant and in the food stands in the market and beach. We had free access to most of the facilities on the campus.
We could also cook on our own in the microwave and wash our cloths in the coin operated washing machines.
Soon we started our internship in the department. We met the other students and learnt a lot about Civil and Transportation Engineering. We visited the Taiwan Transportation Department and important road junctions to do our work.
We also visited many places; the notable ones are Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world to withstand any tremor or earthquake, zoo, beach and night markets, Buddhist temples and the royal palace.
My impressions of Taiwan is that it one of the safest places in the world. Doors can be left open and not a single grain would go missing.
The reason, people are simply too busy to rob. Everyone is on the move on those extremely beautiful roads. It was an amazing experience to see absolute road discipline along with speed and efficiency in every mode of transportation in this tiny island.On the completion of our internship we were given a warm farewell with lovely souvenirs.
Our professor was extremely helpful and happy with our work. He gave us a stipend and promised us an MS admit in NTU with full scholarship if we ever desired to study MS. One of the conclusions I drew from my stay in this wonderful place was that hard work can make our life beautiful and stress free.
NIT Durgapur (Summer intern at National Taiwan University, Taiwan).
balapusali@gmail.com
The Hindu : Education / College & University : A memorable international exposure in Taiwan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: It should be fairly obvious this isn't me
IndoCarib
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India's Airtel becomes world's fourth largest operator
Telecom major Bharti Airtel is the fourth largest mobile operator in the world with over 250 million connnections globally, according to analyst firm Wireless Intelligence.
The other Indian telecom operators in the report are Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and BSNL at eigth, fourteenth and twentieth position, respectively.
India's Airtel becomes world's fourth largest operator | NDTV Gadgets
Telecom major Bharti Airtel is the fourth largest mobile operator in the world with over 250 million connnections globally, according to analyst firm Wireless Intelligence.
The other Indian telecom operators in the report are Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and BSNL at eigth, fourteenth and twentieth position, respectively.
India's Airtel becomes world's fourth largest operator | NDTV Gadgets
shuttler
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india needs to dig deep to keep lights on
Mon Oct 22, 2012
reuters
(Reuters) - The slick mechanised operations at the Piparwar open-cast mine in eastern India, an ugly gash in the landscape bigger than New York's Central Park, could lead the casual observer to conclude that the country's coal industry is on a roll.
Piparwar, run by the state miner, produces some of the lowest-cost coal in India, just what's needed for a country struggling to get enough of the "black diamond" to fix a power crisis that recently plunged half a billion people into darkness and chokes economic growth.
With oil and gas output disappointing and hydropower at full throttle, Asia's third-largest economy still relies on coal for most of its vast energy needs. About 75 percent of India's coal demand is met by domestic production and, according to government plans, that won't change over the next five years.
The hitch is that India is running out of cheap open-cast coal from existing mines like Piparwar. Unless it starts investing now in underground mines, within a decade it will face a huge leap in energy import costs that could derail industrial projects, crimp economic growth and drive up inflation.
"With the ballooning demand for coal in India, open-cast mining has become the easy option, albeit at a great cost to the environment and society," said a senior executive at a power company, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"This easy option is likely to be exhausted within the next 10-12 years when the shallow seams amenable to open-cast mining dwindle."
WRONG DIRECTION
Coal India Limited, the state-run miner that produces 80 percent of the country's coal, recognises the need to raise the amount that underground mining contributes to total output from just one tonne out of every 10.
But the higher costs and lower output of deep mining - Coal India's chairman has said its existing underground mines are loss-making - are pushing it in the wrong direction.
Its plans for new mines target a contribution from underground of only about 7 percent.
That would be disastrous, argues D.C. Panigrahi, director of the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad, a mining town in the heart of Jharkhand, the country's most productive coal state.
He says that unless Coal India cuts its dependence on open cast mining by around 5 percentage points per year, overall output will start to stagnate around the end of this decade.
If India is going to meet its output targets of 750 million tonnes by 2016/17 - a rise of nearly 40 percent from the current financial year - it needs to act soon. It takes on average six years from planning to production for an underground mine.
India used to mine most of its coal underground, just as the world's biggest producer, China, currently does for its huge output of more than 3.5 billion tonnes a year. But it was not getting enough out of the ground fast enough to meet demand.
"When everything was underground, the growth rate was less than 2 percent per annum. We needed more than 5-6 percent growth and that could only come from open cast," said Partha Bhattacharyya, a former chairman and managing director of Coal India.
Open-cast mining strips away topsoil, or "overburden", to expose the seams underneath. It is much more economical than underground mining, where up to 70 percent of the coal must be left to act as support for the tunnels and galleries.
But while India has ample coal reserves - at about 286 billion tonnes, they are the world's fifth-largest, according to BP - not all of that is accessible by simply removing topsoil.
LAND PROTESTS
The other problem with open cast is the need to buy vast tracts of land, far more than underground mines, whose shafts, winding gear and offices can be set up on as little as 2.5 acres (1 hectare).
"Getting the land is becoming more and more difficult in a democratic country like India," said Panigrahi.
Protests highlighting land rights and acquisition issues have stalled industrial projects across India, including the country's biggest foreign investment - a $12 billion steel plant in Odisha planned by South Korea's POSCO that has been on the drawing board since 2005.
In Dhadu village, about 75 miles (120 km) from Jharkhand's capital, Ranchi, Electrosteel Castings Ltd has managed to buy just 435 acres of about 2,800 acres it needs to set up an open-cast mine and steel plant.
It now faces further uncertainty, with the government threatening to take back the concession amid the fallout from a wider corruption scandal over the awarding of coal blocks.
"We've given away our land happily to the company. But now, it has been four years. Nothing has come up and we are getting old. Our youngsters are unemployed," said 70-year old Asim Mia, who along with his two brothers gave up 1.5 acres of land each for the North Dhadu coal block.
Jharkhand is one of India's poorest states, despite its rich natural resources, and locals worry that unrest and unemployment plays into the hands of Maoist 'Naxalite' activists, whose attacks on coal facilities and railroads have heightened tension in the area over land rights.
The government is planning a revamp of the country's colonial-era land acquisition laws that India Inc. worries could force it to pay four times the market price for land in rural areas. That could hit the cost of mining projects and slow the pace of fresh production coming online.
"SNAKES AND LADDERS"
About half an hour's drive from Ranchi, the criss-cross of railway lines and electricity pylons that map the state's rapid industrialisation gives way to protected forest land and the bright green shoots of this year's rice crop.
Some 30 percent of Jharkhand's land is designated forest, among the highest in India, posing yet another difficulty for companies in search of land for open-cast mines.
For every acre of forest purchased for industrial plans an acre of undeveloped land elsewhere, plus money for afforestation, need to be handed to the forest department, just one part of the complex process of securing state and federal clearance to develop forest land that one state government official described as "a game of snakes and ladders".
The average cost of open-cast coal for Coal India is about $13 a tonne, former CIL chairman Bhattacharyya says. For underground mines, the average cost is about $75 per tonne, according to analysts Wood Mackenzie, which makes many of them loss-making at current contract and market prices.
"Everything comes down to economics," said Wood Mackenzie's coal market analyst, Prakash Sharma.
"Companies try to look at the open-cast method first but when land acquisition becomes difficult, there's a compromise on mining costs and you opt for underground mining."
The economics will push India's power bill higher, and with it inflation: it is just a question of how much and when.
Already, surging demand for electricity generation means that Coal India's open auction prices are more than double those of its long-term deals and it has delayed sealing those commitments at lower prices.
Expensive imports partly fill the gap in demand and their contribution is set to grow, but buying from abroad currently costs up to 50 percent more.
In the most optimistic scenario envisaged by the government's Planning Commission, imports could be 182 million tonnes in 2016/17 from about 90 million tonnes in 2011/12.
Even under this best-case, Coal India would probably struggle to supply more than half of the extra demand created by new power generation capacity the government says is needed.
The power company executive believes time is running out.
"A severe power crisis is imminent if we do not shift our focus to underground coal mining," he said.
Mon Oct 22, 2012
reuters
(Reuters) - The slick mechanised operations at the Piparwar open-cast mine in eastern India, an ugly gash in the landscape bigger than New York's Central Park, could lead the casual observer to conclude that the country's coal industry is on a roll.
Piparwar, run by the state miner, produces some of the lowest-cost coal in India, just what's needed for a country struggling to get enough of the "black diamond" to fix a power crisis that recently plunged half a billion people into darkness and chokes economic growth.
With oil and gas output disappointing and hydropower at full throttle, Asia's third-largest economy still relies on coal for most of its vast energy needs. About 75 percent of India's coal demand is met by domestic production and, according to government plans, that won't change over the next five years.
The hitch is that India is running out of cheap open-cast coal from existing mines like Piparwar. Unless it starts investing now in underground mines, within a decade it will face a huge leap in energy import costs that could derail industrial projects, crimp economic growth and drive up inflation.
"With the ballooning demand for coal in India, open-cast mining has become the easy option, albeit at a great cost to the environment and society," said a senior executive at a power company, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"This easy option is likely to be exhausted within the next 10-12 years when the shallow seams amenable to open-cast mining dwindle."
WRONG DIRECTION
Coal India Limited, the state-run miner that produces 80 percent of the country's coal, recognises the need to raise the amount that underground mining contributes to total output from just one tonne out of every 10.
But the higher costs and lower output of deep mining - Coal India's chairman has said its existing underground mines are loss-making - are pushing it in the wrong direction.
Its plans for new mines target a contribution from underground of only about 7 percent.
That would be disastrous, argues D.C. Panigrahi, director of the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad, a mining town in the heart of Jharkhand, the country's most productive coal state.
He says that unless Coal India cuts its dependence on open cast mining by around 5 percentage points per year, overall output will start to stagnate around the end of this decade.
If India is going to meet its output targets of 750 million tonnes by 2016/17 - a rise of nearly 40 percent from the current financial year - it needs to act soon. It takes on average six years from planning to production for an underground mine.
India used to mine most of its coal underground, just as the world's biggest producer, China, currently does for its huge output of more than 3.5 billion tonnes a year. But it was not getting enough out of the ground fast enough to meet demand.
"When everything was underground, the growth rate was less than 2 percent per annum. We needed more than 5-6 percent growth and that could only come from open cast," said Partha Bhattacharyya, a former chairman and managing director of Coal India.
Open-cast mining strips away topsoil, or "overburden", to expose the seams underneath. It is much more economical than underground mining, where up to 70 percent of the coal must be left to act as support for the tunnels and galleries.
But while India has ample coal reserves - at about 286 billion tonnes, they are the world's fifth-largest, according to BP - not all of that is accessible by simply removing topsoil.
LAND PROTESTS
The other problem with open cast is the need to buy vast tracts of land, far more than underground mines, whose shafts, winding gear and offices can be set up on as little as 2.5 acres (1 hectare).
"Getting the land is becoming more and more difficult in a democratic country like India," said Panigrahi.
Protests highlighting land rights and acquisition issues have stalled industrial projects across India, including the country's biggest foreign investment - a $12 billion steel plant in Odisha planned by South Korea's POSCO that has been on the drawing board since 2005.
In Dhadu village, about 75 miles (120 km) from Jharkhand's capital, Ranchi, Electrosteel Castings Ltd has managed to buy just 435 acres of about 2,800 acres it needs to set up an open-cast mine and steel plant.
It now faces further uncertainty, with the government threatening to take back the concession amid the fallout from a wider corruption scandal over the awarding of coal blocks.
"We've given away our land happily to the company. But now, it has been four years. Nothing has come up and we are getting old. Our youngsters are unemployed," said 70-year old Asim Mia, who along with his two brothers gave up 1.5 acres of land each for the North Dhadu coal block.
Jharkhand is one of India's poorest states, despite its rich natural resources, and locals worry that unrest and unemployment plays into the hands of Maoist 'Naxalite' activists, whose attacks on coal facilities and railroads have heightened tension in the area over land rights.
The government is planning a revamp of the country's colonial-era land acquisition laws that India Inc. worries could force it to pay four times the market price for land in rural areas. That could hit the cost of mining projects and slow the pace of fresh production coming online.
"SNAKES AND LADDERS"
About half an hour's drive from Ranchi, the criss-cross of railway lines and electricity pylons that map the state's rapid industrialisation gives way to protected forest land and the bright green shoots of this year's rice crop.
Some 30 percent of Jharkhand's land is designated forest, among the highest in India, posing yet another difficulty for companies in search of land for open-cast mines.
For every acre of forest purchased for industrial plans an acre of undeveloped land elsewhere, plus money for afforestation, need to be handed to the forest department, just one part of the complex process of securing state and federal clearance to develop forest land that one state government official described as "a game of snakes and ladders".
The average cost of open-cast coal for Coal India is about $13 a tonne, former CIL chairman Bhattacharyya says. For underground mines, the average cost is about $75 per tonne, according to analysts Wood Mackenzie, which makes many of them loss-making at current contract and market prices.
"Everything comes down to economics," said Wood Mackenzie's coal market analyst, Prakash Sharma.
"Companies try to look at the open-cast method first but when land acquisition becomes difficult, there's a compromise on mining costs and you opt for underground mining."
The economics will push India's power bill higher, and with it inflation: it is just a question of how much and when.
Already, surging demand for electricity generation means that Coal India's open auction prices are more than double those of its long-term deals and it has delayed sealing those commitments at lower prices.
Expensive imports partly fill the gap in demand and their contribution is set to grow, but buying from abroad currently costs up to 50 percent more.
In the most optimistic scenario envisaged by the government's Planning Commission, imports could be 182 million tonnes in 2016/17 from about 90 million tonnes in 2011/12.
Even under this best-case, Coal India would probably struggle to supply more than half of the extra demand created by new power generation capacity the government says is needed.
The power company executive believes time is running out.
"A severe power crisis is imminent if we do not shift our focus to underground coal mining," he said.
shuttler
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The news this weekend: LPG, Kejriwal, toilets, politicians… and Somali pirates
OCTOBER 6, 2012
reuters
It’s shaping up as a busy weekend for India’s politicians…
The price of LPG — liquefied petroleum gas cylinders, or cooking gas — has risen 11.42 rupees per cylinder because dealers are getting higher commissions. TV channels attacked the government because this “shocker” comes right after the imposition of a cap on subsidized cylinder sales was imposed.
Bharatiya Janata Party politician Smriti Irani said the party will hold a nation-wide protest on Oct. 12, saying the higher prices are “anti-women”. This is presumably because they do more of the daily cooking than men, whose potential inversely proportional waistline shrinkage could be in their favour.
We all know who the main attraction is on news channels nowadays: social activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal. Here are the pots that he’s stirring:
Accusing Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and DLF, India’s top listed real estate developer, of being involved in shady deals which could have favoured Vadra. Vadra has replied, as has the DLF. Short story: they committed no illegal acts.
Protesting against higher electricity prices in New Delhi. He then restored an electricity connection himself, which of course is illegal.
Kejriwal is keeping others busy too. The BJP is supporting Kejriwal, while Congress politicians are doing their best to defend Vadra.
Meanwhile, the BJP and Congress have lashed out at rural development minister Jairam Ramesh for his comment that there are more temples in the country than toilets (Is there a sharp and obsessive-compulsive statistician out there who can tell us if it’s true?). They’ve said he should not make such statements because they hurt “fine fabric of faith and religion” in the country.
With everyone working this weekend, why has there been little reaction to this? Here is a video that purportedly shows a group of seven sailors taken hostage by Somali pirates nearly two years ago. They are asking for someone to get them sprung.
They say: “Our condition is very bad. I don’t know what action is the government taking… We are requesting President (Pranab Mukherjee), Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Opposition Leader Sushma Swaraj to please save us”.
Even if we assume efforts are on, why is that no politician comes out and reacts to such a development? Why is no political party criticizing the government for being lackadaisical about such issues? (Perhaps because it doesn’t look good to be seen as negotiating with the pirates, politically or in terms of publicising details that could harm the captives)
Having said that, it wouldn’t hurt anyone if the prime minister used his Twitter account, @PMOIndia, to reassure the sailors’ families.
Reports say 43 Indians are in the custody of Somali pirates, of which 15 have spent more than two years as hostages. Maybe that isn’t enough people to achieve a prisoner’s quorum necessary for action.
OCTOBER 6, 2012
reuters
It’s shaping up as a busy weekend for India’s politicians…
The price of LPG — liquefied petroleum gas cylinders, or cooking gas — has risen 11.42 rupees per cylinder because dealers are getting higher commissions. TV channels attacked the government because this “shocker” comes right after the imposition of a cap on subsidized cylinder sales was imposed.
Bharatiya Janata Party politician Smriti Irani said the party will hold a nation-wide protest on Oct. 12, saying the higher prices are “anti-women”. This is presumably because they do more of the daily cooking than men, whose potential inversely proportional waistline shrinkage could be in their favour.
We all know who the main attraction is on news channels nowadays: social activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal. Here are the pots that he’s stirring:
Accusing Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and DLF, India’s top listed real estate developer, of being involved in shady deals which could have favoured Vadra. Vadra has replied, as has the DLF. Short story: they committed no illegal acts.
Protesting against higher electricity prices in New Delhi. He then restored an electricity connection himself, which of course is illegal.
Kejriwal is keeping others busy too. The BJP is supporting Kejriwal, while Congress politicians are doing their best to defend Vadra.
Meanwhile, the BJP and Congress have lashed out at rural development minister Jairam Ramesh for his comment that there are more temples in the country than toilets (Is there a sharp and obsessive-compulsive statistician out there who can tell us if it’s true?). They’ve said he should not make such statements because they hurt “fine fabric of faith and religion” in the country.
With everyone working this weekend, why has there been little reaction to this? Here is a video that purportedly shows a group of seven sailors taken hostage by Somali pirates nearly two years ago. They are asking for someone to get them sprung.
They say: “Our condition is very bad. I don’t know what action is the government taking… We are requesting President (Pranab Mukherjee), Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Opposition Leader Sushma Swaraj to please save us”.
Even if we assume efforts are on, why is that no politician comes out and reacts to such a development? Why is no political party criticizing the government for being lackadaisical about such issues? (Perhaps because it doesn’t look good to be seen as negotiating with the pirates, politically or in terms of publicising details that could harm the captives)
Having said that, it wouldn’t hurt anyone if the prime minister used his Twitter account, @PMOIndia, to reassure the sailors’ families.
Reports say 43 Indians are in the custody of Somali pirates, of which 15 have spent more than two years as hostages. Maybe that isn’t enough people to achieve a prisoner’s quorum necessary for action.
shuttler
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^^^ the article begins with the gas hike which affects you cpi then blah blah blah into the hostage / pirate content which indicates a government's ability to handle a crisis - politics and economic are intertwined!
IndoCarib
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Tangent
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..Looking for anti India articles must be a very highly paid full time profession in China...
Wish Indian govt. would have paid like you for similar 'service'..
....BTW, what's the news about Bo in Chinese media... U look more interested , as we are in Kejriwal than in Bo.
Rising incomes fuel rural spending on proteins
NEW DELHI: Rural India is spending more on protein products such as milk, eggs and meat due to rising income as overall spending by Indians on protein foods doubled to Rs 2 lakh crore in 2009-10 from 2004-05, a study showed on Monday.
The study by ratings agency Crisil said that two-thirds of this spending came from rural households. But while more rural Indians are getting protein in their diets, the concern is that supply shortages are driving up prices and impacting overall food inflation. Food inflation has remained a policy headache for nearly three years due to strained supplies. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also consistently flagged the impact of stubborn food inflation on overall price pressures. It has been urging the government to raise supplies and farm productivity to tackle the problem.
According to the study in 2009-10, around 11-16%, 15-21% and 18-25% of the demand for direct consumption of milk, eggs, and meat, respectively, remained unmet due to the shortfall in supply, adding that the survey focused on animal protein only. The supply shortfall has led to prices of protein-food contributing nearly 50% to overall food inflation in India. "Unless this shortfall is addressed, protein affordability in rural areas could be adversely impacted if wages undergo a correction from their current high growth trajectory," the study said. The study based on National Sample Survey Organization data (NSSO), showed that nearly 17 million more rural households bought milk and milk products in 2009-10 compared to 2004-05 taking the proportion of rural households purchasing milk and milk products to 80% in 2009-10, almost 5 percentage points higher than 2004-05.
Similarly, the proportion of rural households purchasing egg, fish and meat increased to 62% from 58% over the same period. However, rural per capita consumption of milk, eggs and proteins continues to remain lower than its urban counterpart, reflecting a potential for significant further growth in rural demand for proteins.
Rural per capita (annual) consumption of milk in 2009-10 was 49.4 litres versus 64.3 litres in urban areas. For meat and eggs where per capita rural consumption stood at 5.7 kg and 20.8 eggs in 2009-10 as against per capita urban consumption of 6.7 kg and 32.1 eggs. It said that even if the share of rural households purchasing milk remains at the 2009-10 level, another 17 million more rural households would purchase milk and milk products by 2014-15. The study cautions that protein food inflation is likely to remain high unless the supply of milk, meat and eggs for direct consumption is increased to meet the growing demand.
Lack of effective cold storage infrastructure and adequate storage facilities have contributed significantly to the supply shortfall. "The decision to allow FDI in the retail sector would help develop a more effective cold storage chain, thus reducing wastage and increasing supply of highly perishable protein-foods," said D K Joshi, chief economist at Crisil.
Rising incomes fuel rural spending on proteins - The Times of India
shuttler
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24 OCT, 2012, 04.55PM IST, PTI
Kingfisher staff want four months' pay in lumpsum by Friday
Kingfisher staff want four months' pay in lumpsum by Friday - The Economic Times
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Prolonging the deadlock over payment of salary dues, Kingfisher Airlines employees today rejected the management's fresh offer and demanded payment of four months' backlog in lumpsum before Friday.
"The chief executive's ( Sanjay Aggarwal) claim is grossly incorrect. As a matter of fact, as many as 90 per cent of the employees have outrightly rejected the offer. We adhere to our demand for payment of four months' salary by October 26," airline employee Subhash Chandra Mishra, who is spearheading the agitation in Delhi, told PTI.
Rejecting the airline CEO's claim that most of the employees have agreed to resume duty by October 26, he said, "When employees from Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai have rejected the management's offer of staggered payment schedule, how can it claim that most of them have given their consent to join work?"
In response to Aggarwal's mail to all employees offering staggered payment of three months' salary dues, the airline's Delhi-based engineering staff shot off a letter, asking the management to "pay the salary from March 2012 to June 2012 at one go on or before 26/10/12 1800 hrs."
The beleaguered carrier has not been operating flights since September-end following a strike leading to lockout and then having its flying license or Scheduled Operator's Permit suspended by aviation regulator DGCA.
The staffers are on strike seeking payment of seven months' salary dues and have planned protests during the forthcoming Formula One motor race in which KingfisherBSE -4.59 % promoter Vijay Mallya is involved.
Mallya would not like to see any disruption by the agitating employees during the Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida from October 27, with the employees saying that was the reason they were making these offers.
In his mail sent soon after midnight, Aggarwal said, "We have received several requests asking for status of salary for the duration of partial lock-out period and asking for salary in December to be paid a week earlier than December 31, 2012.
"I am pleased to confirm that as a goodwill gesture the company will pay full October salary to all employees and we commit to paying the same prior to Christmas, 2012," he said.
*****************
24 OCT, 2012, 06.45AM IST, SANGITA MEHTA,ET BUREAU
Banks staring at Rs 6000-crore writeoff on loans to debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines
MUMBAI: Banks are staring at a possible Rs 6,000-crore writeoff on loans to Kingfisher AirlinesBSE -4.59 %, the biggest writeoff in Indian corporate history, as the continuing delay in resumption of services means even vulture funds are unlikely to invest in the airline.
Lenders, which have been expecting promoter Vijay Mallya to bring in equity funds for more than a year now, are beginning to reconcile to the fact that chances of an equity investor coming forward is remote while the airline's troubles are compounding.
Almost all banks have classified as a bad loan and made provisions for some losses, but now they are preparing to write off these debtas unrecoverable losses, three bankers familiar with the thinking at KFA's creditors said on condition of anonymity.
The absence of collateral to back even a third of the total 7,500-crore loans makes it nearly impossible to recover the debt. It is not clear whether the potential writeoff will mean that the banks concerned will record losses in their September quarter earnings. State Bank of India has set aside 65% of its 1,400-crore loan.
"It is at a stage where it is doubtful that any reconstruction companies, or even vulture funds, would consider acquiring this portfolio from lenders," said Siby Antony, managing director and chief executive at Edelweiss ARC, a company that buys distressed assets and makes a profit by reviving their operations.
Banks, including Punjab National Bank and IDBI, have lent about 7,500 crore to KFA over the past few years as working capital, even as the airline floundered. Its inability to raise equity prompted lenders to turn off the loan tap as well.
Guarantees Difficult to Exercise
Mounting losses led to it defaulting on payments to airports and even salaries to staff. The airport regulator on Saturday suspended Kingfisher Airlines' licence, citing safety issues.
Mallya had put up shares of United Breweries valued at about Rs 180 crore and a Goa Villa valued at less than Rs 100 crore as collateral, said two of the bankers. That leaves his personal guarantee now.
you missed the point massively as usual
Kingfisher staff want four months' pay in lumpsum by Friday
Kingfisher staff want four months' pay in lumpsum by Friday - The Economic Times
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Prolonging the deadlock over payment of salary dues, Kingfisher Airlines employees today rejected the management's fresh offer and demanded payment of four months' backlog in lumpsum before Friday.
"The chief executive's ( Sanjay Aggarwal) claim is grossly incorrect. As a matter of fact, as many as 90 per cent of the employees have outrightly rejected the offer. We adhere to our demand for payment of four months' salary by October 26," airline employee Subhash Chandra Mishra, who is spearheading the agitation in Delhi, told PTI.
Rejecting the airline CEO's claim that most of the employees have agreed to resume duty by October 26, he said, "When employees from Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai have rejected the management's offer of staggered payment schedule, how can it claim that most of them have given their consent to join work?"
In response to Aggarwal's mail to all employees offering staggered payment of three months' salary dues, the airline's Delhi-based engineering staff shot off a letter, asking the management to "pay the salary from March 2012 to June 2012 at one go on or before 26/10/12 1800 hrs."
The beleaguered carrier has not been operating flights since September-end following a strike leading to lockout and then having its flying license or Scheduled Operator's Permit suspended by aviation regulator DGCA.
The staffers are on strike seeking payment of seven months' salary dues and have planned protests during the forthcoming Formula One motor race in which KingfisherBSE -4.59 % promoter Vijay Mallya is involved.
Mallya would not like to see any disruption by the agitating employees during the Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida from October 27, with the employees saying that was the reason they were making these offers.
In his mail sent soon after midnight, Aggarwal said, "We have received several requests asking for status of salary for the duration of partial lock-out period and asking for salary in December to be paid a week earlier than December 31, 2012.
"I am pleased to confirm that as a goodwill gesture the company will pay full October salary to all employees and we commit to paying the same prior to Christmas, 2012," he said.
*****************
24 OCT, 2012, 06.45AM IST, SANGITA MEHTA,ET BUREAU
Banks staring at Rs 6000-crore writeoff on loans to debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines
MUMBAI: Banks are staring at a possible Rs 6,000-crore writeoff on loans to Kingfisher AirlinesBSE -4.59 %, the biggest writeoff in Indian corporate history, as the continuing delay in resumption of services means even vulture funds are unlikely to invest in the airline.
Lenders, which have been expecting promoter Vijay Mallya to bring in equity funds for more than a year now, are beginning to reconcile to the fact that chances of an equity investor coming forward is remote while the airline's troubles are compounding.
Almost all banks have classified as a bad loan and made provisions for some losses, but now they are preparing to write off these debtas unrecoverable losses, three bankers familiar with the thinking at KFA's creditors said on condition of anonymity.
The absence of collateral to back even a third of the total 7,500-crore loans makes it nearly impossible to recover the debt. It is not clear whether the potential writeoff will mean that the banks concerned will record losses in their September quarter earnings. State Bank of India has set aside 65% of its 1,400-crore loan.
"It is at a stage where it is doubtful that any reconstruction companies, or even vulture funds, would consider acquiring this portfolio from lenders," said Siby Antony, managing director and chief executive at Edelweiss ARC, a company that buys distressed assets and makes a profit by reviving their operations.
Banks, including Punjab National Bank and IDBI, have lent about 7,500 crore to KFA over the past few years as working capital, even as the airline floundered. Its inability to raise equity prompted lenders to turn off the loan tap as well.
Guarantees Difficult to Exercise
Mounting losses led to it defaulting on payments to airports and even salaries to staff. The airport regulator on Saturday suspended Kingfisher Airlines' licence, citing safety issues.
Mallya had put up shares of United Breweries valued at about Rs 180 crore and a Goa Villa valued at less than Rs 100 crore as collateral, said two of the bankers. That leaves his personal guarantee now.
Yeah right ! chinese nationals were never held hostage anywhere in the world
you missed the point massively as usual
shuttler
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Can Suzlon ride out the storm?
The latest crisis in the form of default to bondholders can be a crippling blow
Krishna Kant / Mumbai Oct 23, 2012
Last week, Suzlon Energy defaulted on $221 million worth of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) — the biggest ever default by an Indian company — as bondholders refused to grant four months’ extension sought by the company. The default has raised a question mark over the survival of the beleaguered wind-turbine maker.
Not so long ago, Chairman Tulsi Tanti was a symbol of what India Inc could do in a globalised world. In a little over 10 years, he transformed Suzlon from a three-man start-up to India’s wind energy goliath and one of the world’s leading wind-turbine makers.
But, as things have unfolded, it is clear that growth can often be a double-edged sword. If the pace is too slow, you get left out; but, if you go too fast, maintaining that pace consumes too much energy and even a small hurdle can trip you. This is exactly what happened to Suzlon Energy.
At its top speed, Suzlon was doubling in size every year and, for a while, it became the best bet on India’s booming power sector. In the five years beginning FY03, Suzlon’s consolidated revenues jumped 77 times to touch Rs 27,600 crore in FY09, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 138.5 per cent. The gravity-defying growth pushed Suzlon’s market value to Rs 68,000 crore in the first week of January 2008, making Tanti one of India’s richest businessmen
The growth provided him with the firepower to push for more. But, trouble came soon enough. Suzlon’s growth model, experts now say, was never financially sustainable and it was growing on the back of easy credit. The bulk of the company’s internal accruals (cash profit) was consumed in working capital, leaving very little to fund growth.
In the run-up to the 2008 global financial crisis, the company was spending 40 per cent of its revenues on inventories, loans & advances and customer credit, more than double the rate four years ago. This was unsustainable, given its operating profit margin of 25 per cent, and the company resorted to borrowings to fill the gap. In the midst of all this, it spent over Rs 10,000 crore, largely funded through debt, to make two back-to-back acquisitions in Europe. The combined effect was a spike in Suzlon’s debt obligation to Rs 15,000 crore at the end of March 2009, from just Rs 450 crore five years ago.
Suzlon stumbled when the credit markets froze after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. In FY09, net profit fell 75 per cent despite a 25 per cent increase in revenues, as interest payments zoomed and Suzlon took a hit on forex transactions. The following year, the company’s global revenues fell by 30 per cent and it reported its first net loss in more than 10 years.
The company’s share price began to tumble and within months of the Lehman collapse, its market value was a fraction of the debt on its books. It could no longer raise enough equity to retire debt. Things have not improved much since then. Cash profit has been negative in two of the last three years, even as interest obligations continue to mount. What’s worse, analysts say, is that there is a slim chance of any immediate improvement in the operating environment. “The best that the company can do right now is to buy time and wait for the business cycle to improve,” says an analyst at a leading brokerage.
But, there is a silver lining. Bankers are still willing to extend a lifeline to the company. They still believe in the business acumen of Tanti and find value in the global wind energy complex built by him in the last decade. “Tanti is a genuine businessman determined to turn around his company,” says a senior executive at State Bank of India (SBI). He compares Tanti with Kingfisher Airlines promoter Vijay Mallya, who “never sounds serious about turning around his airline and repaying the debt”. SBI is Suzlon Energy’s lead banker with a total exposure of around Rs 3,500 crore, a quarter of Suzlon’s total debt. Bankers have begun to examine the option to take the company to corporate debt restructuring (CDR) to recast its loans. It could involve a combination of extending the repayment period, a commitment from promoters to infuse additional funds or conversion of a part of debt into equity.
Another draw for bankers is the group’s strong order book worth nearly Rs 35,000 crore at the end of the June 2012 quarter and its strong manufacturing footprint spread across India, Europe and North America. At the end of FY12, Suzlon’s cumulative investment in manufacturing assets amounted to nearly Rs 7,500 crore.
Suzlon seems to know this and, thus, has ruled out emergency measures, such as selling its German subsidiary, REpower, as is being widely speculated. “REpower is a critical asset for the group. Rumours regarding a possible sale of the company, or plans to re-list it, are totally speculative,” says a Suzlon spokesperson. According to the company, REpower provides the group the most comprehensive product portfolio, with a turbine for every type of wind site and customer in the world, besides a leadership in offshore wind technology. “It’s a strategic asset from the standpoint of our long-term goal to be a top-three player in every wind market,” adds the company.
A fire sale of REpower might help Suzlon raise cash and retire a part of its debt, but, it would mean foregoing three-fourths of its consolidated order book and a near exit from the European market, where REpower is a leading equipment supplier. At the end of the June quarter, the Suzlon group’s total order book was worth $7.1 billion, of which $5 billion was accounted for by REpower, Meanwhile, Suzlon’s business in India is facing a contraction due to working capital woes. In the June 2012 quarter, volumes in India dropped by 80 per cent to 60 Mw from 304 Mw in the June 2011 quarter.
Dalal Street, however, doesn’t seem to share the conviction of bankers and seems to have almost given up any hope of a revival of Suzlon’s fortunes. “Suzlon is financially insolvent and unless something dramatic happens, I don’t see any turnaround in the company’s fortunes,” says the head of equity at a leading brokerage. The brokerage has dropped coverage of the stock due to a lack of interest from institutional clients.
“The company will need a favourable business cycle in wind energy and lots of luck to come out of this situation,” says a capital goods analyst at a leading brokerage house in Mumbai. “The management bandwidth is completely tied up in repairing the company’s balance sheet, leaving little time to look for growth opportunities. A poor balance sheet also dents clients’ confidence in Suzlon’s ability to deliver projects,” he adds. Besides, competition is rising fast in Suzlon’s home market in India with nearly a dozen manufacturers vying for a share of the market, including global majors, such as Vestas, Enercon, Gamesha and GE Energy.
But Tanti doesn’t seem to have given up hope. Suzlon plans to reduce its fixed costs by 20 per cent, including manpower costs, and cut its working capital intensity to 20 per cent, from the current 27 per cent. It also rubbishes analysts’ claims about macroeconomic headwinds. “The offshore segment continued to demonstrate a strong growth with 50 per cent year-on-year growth in installations in the first half of 2012, with the market expected to continue a strong growth – projected at 46 per cent CAGR between 2011 and 2016,” the group says, and claims to have 22 per cent share of the offshore installations in Europe during the first half of the current calendar year. Offshore installations are growing rapidly, but they accounted for less than six per cent of all installations in 2011, according to global wind energy consultancy BTM Consult.
The jury is out on Suzlon’s fortunes: Will it be able to survive the latest round of crisis or will it sink? Whatever be the final outcome, one thing is certain: The man in the corner office of One Earth — the company’s headquarters situated on a 10-acre site in Pune — will not go down without a fight.
The latest crisis in the form of default to bondholders can be a crippling blow
Krishna Kant / Mumbai Oct 23, 2012
Last week, Suzlon Energy defaulted on $221 million worth of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) — the biggest ever default by an Indian company — as bondholders refused to grant four months’ extension sought by the company. The default has raised a question mark over the survival of the beleaguered wind-turbine maker.
Not so long ago, Chairman Tulsi Tanti was a symbol of what India Inc could do in a globalised world. In a little over 10 years, he transformed Suzlon from a three-man start-up to India’s wind energy goliath and one of the world’s leading wind-turbine makers.
But, as things have unfolded, it is clear that growth can often be a double-edged sword. If the pace is too slow, you get left out; but, if you go too fast, maintaining that pace consumes too much energy and even a small hurdle can trip you. This is exactly what happened to Suzlon Energy.
At its top speed, Suzlon was doubling in size every year and, for a while, it became the best bet on India’s booming power sector. In the five years beginning FY03, Suzlon’s consolidated revenues jumped 77 times to touch Rs 27,600 crore in FY09, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 138.5 per cent. The gravity-defying growth pushed Suzlon’s market value to Rs 68,000 crore in the first week of January 2008, making Tanti one of India’s richest businessmen
The growth provided him with the firepower to push for more. But, trouble came soon enough. Suzlon’s growth model, experts now say, was never financially sustainable and it was growing on the back of easy credit. The bulk of the company’s internal accruals (cash profit) was consumed in working capital, leaving very little to fund growth.
In the run-up to the 2008 global financial crisis, the company was spending 40 per cent of its revenues on inventories, loans & advances and customer credit, more than double the rate four years ago. This was unsustainable, given its operating profit margin of 25 per cent, and the company resorted to borrowings to fill the gap. In the midst of all this, it spent over Rs 10,000 crore, largely funded through debt, to make two back-to-back acquisitions in Europe. The combined effect was a spike in Suzlon’s debt obligation to Rs 15,000 crore at the end of March 2009, from just Rs 450 crore five years ago.
Suzlon stumbled when the credit markets froze after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. In FY09, net profit fell 75 per cent despite a 25 per cent increase in revenues, as interest payments zoomed and Suzlon took a hit on forex transactions. The following year, the company’s global revenues fell by 30 per cent and it reported its first net loss in more than 10 years.
The company’s share price began to tumble and within months of the Lehman collapse, its market value was a fraction of the debt on its books. It could no longer raise enough equity to retire debt. Things have not improved much since then. Cash profit has been negative in two of the last three years, even as interest obligations continue to mount. What’s worse, analysts say, is that there is a slim chance of any immediate improvement in the operating environment. “The best that the company can do right now is to buy time and wait for the business cycle to improve,” says an analyst at a leading brokerage.
But, there is a silver lining. Bankers are still willing to extend a lifeline to the company. They still believe in the business acumen of Tanti and find value in the global wind energy complex built by him in the last decade. “Tanti is a genuine businessman determined to turn around his company,” says a senior executive at State Bank of India (SBI). He compares Tanti with Kingfisher Airlines promoter Vijay Mallya, who “never sounds serious about turning around his airline and repaying the debt”. SBI is Suzlon Energy’s lead banker with a total exposure of around Rs 3,500 crore, a quarter of Suzlon’s total debt. Bankers have begun to examine the option to take the company to corporate debt restructuring (CDR) to recast its loans. It could involve a combination of extending the repayment period, a commitment from promoters to infuse additional funds or conversion of a part of debt into equity.
Another draw for bankers is the group’s strong order book worth nearly Rs 35,000 crore at the end of the June 2012 quarter and its strong manufacturing footprint spread across India, Europe and North America. At the end of FY12, Suzlon’s cumulative investment in manufacturing assets amounted to nearly Rs 7,500 crore.
Suzlon seems to know this and, thus, has ruled out emergency measures, such as selling its German subsidiary, REpower, as is being widely speculated. “REpower is a critical asset for the group. Rumours regarding a possible sale of the company, or plans to re-list it, are totally speculative,” says a Suzlon spokesperson. According to the company, REpower provides the group the most comprehensive product portfolio, with a turbine for every type of wind site and customer in the world, besides a leadership in offshore wind technology. “It’s a strategic asset from the standpoint of our long-term goal to be a top-three player in every wind market,” adds the company.
A fire sale of REpower might help Suzlon raise cash and retire a part of its debt, but, it would mean foregoing three-fourths of its consolidated order book and a near exit from the European market, where REpower is a leading equipment supplier. At the end of the June quarter, the Suzlon group’s total order book was worth $7.1 billion, of which $5 billion was accounted for by REpower, Meanwhile, Suzlon’s business in India is facing a contraction due to working capital woes. In the June 2012 quarter, volumes in India dropped by 80 per cent to 60 Mw from 304 Mw in the June 2011 quarter.
Dalal Street, however, doesn’t seem to share the conviction of bankers and seems to have almost given up any hope of a revival of Suzlon’s fortunes. “Suzlon is financially insolvent and unless something dramatic happens, I don’t see any turnaround in the company’s fortunes,” says the head of equity at a leading brokerage. The brokerage has dropped coverage of the stock due to a lack of interest from institutional clients.
“The company will need a favourable business cycle in wind energy and lots of luck to come out of this situation,” says a capital goods analyst at a leading brokerage house in Mumbai. “The management bandwidth is completely tied up in repairing the company’s balance sheet, leaving little time to look for growth opportunities. A poor balance sheet also dents clients’ confidence in Suzlon’s ability to deliver projects,” he adds. Besides, competition is rising fast in Suzlon’s home market in India with nearly a dozen manufacturers vying for a share of the market, including global majors, such as Vestas, Enercon, Gamesha and GE Energy.
But Tanti doesn’t seem to have given up hope. Suzlon plans to reduce its fixed costs by 20 per cent, including manpower costs, and cut its working capital intensity to 20 per cent, from the current 27 per cent. It also rubbishes analysts’ claims about macroeconomic headwinds. “The offshore segment continued to demonstrate a strong growth with 50 per cent year-on-year growth in installations in the first half of 2012, with the market expected to continue a strong growth – projected at 46 per cent CAGR between 2011 and 2016,” the group says, and claims to have 22 per cent share of the offshore installations in Europe during the first half of the current calendar year. Offshore installations are growing rapidly, but they accounted for less than six per cent of all installations in 2011, according to global wind energy consultancy BTM Consult.
The jury is out on Suzlon’s fortunes: Will it be able to survive the latest round of crisis or will it sink? Whatever be the final outcome, one thing is certain: The man in the corner office of One Earth — the company’s headquarters situated on a 10-acre site in Pune — will not go down without a fight.
WS-10 Engine
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Wow, the Indian economy is in big trouble.
Thanks shuttler for keeping us informed about the true state of the Indian economy.
Thanks shuttler for keeping us informed about the true state of the Indian economy.
Azazel
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