Nisan to make India small car Hub

India is emerging very fast as the small car hub for production and R & D.In a move that reflects the growing stature of the Indian car industry globally, Japanese major Nissan has decided to shift the entire production of its small car, Micra, from the UK to India. After production of the Micra begins here, Nissan plans to manufacture four more models in India, involving a total investment of over Rs 2,000 crore.
The move underlines the rush among automakers to rationalize production costs and move to locations that offer the best value and quality. “We have decided to manufacture the Micra at our upcoming factory at Oragadam, near Chennai,” Nissan India MD and CEO Kiminobu Tokuyama.
The company’s Chennai plant will start production from May next year, and export markets would be catered to from autumn, Tokuyama said. Nissan, he said, plans to meet Micra’s requirements for the entire European region as well as some other markets like West Asia from the Chennai plant. “We plan to start with export volumes of 1.1 lakh units, which would be gradually scaled up to 1.8 lakh units as demand goes up,” Tokuyama said.
But what prompted the step? “There are many benefits in India, including a high-quality vendor base that is also cost-effective, leading to globally-competitive pricing,” Tokuyama said. Nissan will thus emulate companies like Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki, which make small cars in India to export to Europe.

Intel unveils first Made-in-India chip

The world's largest chipmaker, Intel, on Tuesday unveiled its latest microprocessor for servers,
designed entirely by its Bangalore team and developed in a record two years. The Intel R&D centre in Bangalore designed the Xeon 7400 series processor and it marked the first time that work on the 45 nanometre technology was taken up by the company outside its US home base. The six-core microprocessor is based on Intel's x86 architecture.
A 300-member team from Bangalore undertook the work with support from units in the US and Costa Rica,Intel India president Praveen Vishakantaiah said.Intel's Bangalore R&D operations, which started a decade ago, have grown to become one of the largest centres outside the US. Besides the six-core microprocessor, the India R&D team has made important contributions to the teraflop and quad-core Xeon processor.Mr Vishakantaiah described it as a validation of the Bangalore operations and termed the country as a strategic destination as Intel India continues its focus on high-end technology development. The company said that upgradation costs in moving to the new server chips would be limited as the existing technology platform would support its new microprocessor. R Ravichandran, South Asia sales director Intel said the
new processor would allow a10-fold reduction in power consumption while substantially increasing performance.

Quick Facts about India

Industry/Manufacturing

• India has the fourth largest billionaire population in the world, according to the Forbes list of world billionaires.
• India's financial capital Mumbai ranks as the seventh largest city, in terms of billionaire population, according to Forbes.
• Five Indian companies have made it to the Top 10 global outsourcing leaders list, compiled by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals
• 
  Mobile phone production in India will grow at a rate of 28.3 per cent - from 31 million units in 2006 to 107 million in 2011
• India's market for business intelligence (BI) platforms grew by 35.6 per cent in 2005-06, making it Asia's fastest growing BI geography, says Gartner.
• Indian cement industry is poised to add 111 million tonnes (MT) of annual capacity by the end of 2009-10 (FY10), riding on the back of an estimated 141 outstanding cement projects.
• India's steel production, growing at 15 per cent in the first half of 2007, is expected to touch 124 MT by 2011-12, going beyond an earlier official estimate of 80 MT.
• India's fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry has seen the launch of 251 new products up to October CY07, against 191 in the same period last year.
• India's telecom industry is expected to reach a size of US$ 87.33 billion by 2012, with a growth rate of over 26 per cent
• The Indian biotechnology industry is growing 37 per cent annually, and is expected to become a US$ 5 billion industry by 2010.
• India remains the undisputed leader in offshore services, accounting for about 65-70 per cent of the global offshoring pie, according to a recent research from Gartner Inc
• The Indian animation industry is expected to touch US$ 950 million by 2009, as global players like Walt Disney, Imax, and Warner Bros tie up with Indian animation companies. 
• With 27 per cent growth in 2007, India's IT-enabled services (ITeS) sector is set to cross the US$ 25.43 billion mark in 2008, says IT research company IDC (India).
• According to Nasscom, India's gaming segment touched US$ 48.26 million in 2006, is likely to cross US$ 427.35 million by 2010.
• The Indian healthcare IT market is the fastest growing in Asia - with an expected growth rate of 22 per cent - says a Springboard Research report.
• India's food and beverages sector, growing at 9 per cent, is expected to touch US$ 117.25 billion by the year-end.
• .India's foundry industry, the world's fifth largest producer of castings, is on a growth curve with an estimated potential to produce 10 million tonnes by 2012
• India is rapidly emerging as one of the world's media powerhouses. With 54 per cent of its 1.1 billion people aged under 25, it is potentially one of the world's largest markets for TV.
• India's food service entrepreneurs are executing massive expansion plans, with the industry expected to grow 48 per cent - to US$ 667.49 million - in the next two years.
• India's life insurance sector is expected to grow by around 30 per cent, to over US$ 50 billion, in this financial year.
• India has overtaken the US to become the second largest cotton producing country in the world, as per the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application
• Times lists the Tata Nano along with legendary cars - like Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle - in 'The dozen most important cars of all time starting from 1908 to the present'. 
• According to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report, India could grow to almost 90 per cent of the size of the US economy by 2050.
Market
• 
  
  The National Stock Exchange has become the world's second fastest-growing bourse in terms of number of listed companies, while the Bombay Stock Exchange is the biggest bourse.
• 
  
  The size of the luxury market in India is estimated at around US$ 3.5 billion, and could easily leapfrog to US$ 30 billion by 2015.
• 
  
  As many as nine Indian banks, led by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, have made it to the list of top 50 Asian Banks, as per this year's Asian Banker 300 report.
• 
  
  India's e-commerce market is expected to touch US$ 2.33 billion by FY2007-08, as per a survey by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and Indian Market Research Bureau.
• 
  
  Indian consumer spending could more than quadruple to US$ 1.77 trillion by 2025 - from about US$ 431.69 billion in 2005 - steered by a ten-fold jump in its middle-class population and a three-fold rise in household income, according to a McKinsey study.
• 
  
  India has recorded a 126 per cent jump in the amount spent on merger & acquisition (M&A) deals outside the Asia-Pacific region
• 
  
  India's internet user base grew by over 40 per cent to touch 46 million in September 2007 from 32.2 million in the same month last year.
• 
  
  GSM mobile subscriber base grew 62 per cent in 2007, from 105.4 million in December 2006 to 171.8 million at the end of December 2007
• 
  
  The Indian product engineering offshoring market is expected to witness a 23 per cent CAGR by 2012, as large captive centres of global corporations continue to expand their activities
• 
  
  The University of Oxford offers a new degree - MSc in Contemporary India - in response to the growing interest about India and its economy
• 
  
        Investment
• 
  
  India has ranked second in capital market inflows and fourth in mergers and acquisitions in Asia Pacific, with transactions worth US$ 65.033 billion reported in the first eight months of calendar 2007, according to Thomson Financial.
• 
  
  With an estimated intangible assets component of 74 per cent (as proportion of total enterprise value), India is just behind US (75 per cent) and Switzerland (74 per cent), according to Global Intangible Tracker 2007, the most extensive global study ever on intangibles assets by the London-based Brand Finance Institute
• 
  
  Indian firms listed in the US have a reason to smile - their total market value has grown by close to US$ 20 billion since the beginning of 2007.
• 
  
  Indians are expected to have US$ 1 trillion in investable wealth by 2012, with the country's robust economic growth driving a four-fold surge from just US$ 250 billion in 2007India Inc has announced M&A deals worth US$ 70 billion in 2007 - up 150 per cent over the previous calendar year - with the volume of deals involving Indian companies also having crossed the 1,000 mark for the first time.
• 
  
  India has recorded a huge rise in the number of corporate entities, with about 55,000 companies incorporated annually in the last two years
• 
  
  India receives the world's largest remittances - US$ 27 billion per year - according to a World Bank study, and global wealth managers are targeting the Indian diaspora to invest in the country.
• 
  
  India at second place in AT Kearney's 2007 FDI Confidence Index, continues to attract investors in the high value-added services industries like financial services and information technology
 
• 

Your Ad Here

Industry/Manufacturing

• India has the fourth largest billionaire population in the world, according to the Forbes list of world billionaires.
• India's financial capital Mumbai ranks as the seventh largest city, in terms of billionaire population, according to Forbes.
• Five Indian companies have made it to the Top 10 global outsourcing leaders list, compiled by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals
• 
  Mobile phone production in India will grow at a rate of 28.3 per cent - from 31 million units in 2006 to 107 million in 2011
• India's market for business intelligence (BI) platforms grew by 35.6 per cent in 2005-06, making it Asia's fastest growing BI geography, says Gartner.
• Indian cement industry is poised to add 111 million tonnes (MT) of annual capacity by the end of 2009-10 (FY10), riding on the back of an estimated 141 outstanding cement projects.
• India's steel production, growing at 15 per cent in the first half of 2007, is expected to touch 124 MT by 2011-12, going beyond an earlier official estimate of 80 MT.
• India's fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry has seen the launch of 251 new products up to October CY07, against 191 in the same period last year.
• India's telecom industry is expected to reach a size of US$ 87.33 billion by 2012, with a growth rate of over 26 per cent
• The Indian biotechnology industry is growing 37 per cent annually, and is expected to become a US$ 5 billion industry by 2010.
• India remains the undisputed leader in offshore services, accounting for about 65-70 per cent of the global offshoring pie, according to a recent research from Gartner Inc
• The Indian animation industry is expected to touch US$ 950 million by 2009, as global players like Walt Disney, Imax, and Warner Bros tie up with Indian animation companies. 
• With 27 per cent growth in 2007, India's IT-enabled services (ITeS) sector is set to cross the US$ 25.43 billion mark in 2008, says IT research company IDC (India).
• According to Nasscom, India's gaming segment touched US$ 48.26 million in 2006, is likely to cross US$ 427.35 million by 2010.
• The Indian healthcare IT market is the fastest growing in Asia - with an expected growth rate of 22 per cent - says a Springboard Research report.
• India's food and beverages sector, growing at 9 per cent, is expected to touch US$ 117.25 billion by the year-end.
• .India's foundry industry, the world's fifth largest producer of castings, is on a growth curve with an estimated potential to produce 10 million tonnes by 2012
• India is rapidly emerging as one of the world's media powerhouses. With 54 per cent of its 1.1 billion people aged under 25, it is potentially one of the world's largest markets for TV.
• India's food service entrepreneurs are executing massive expansion plans, with the industry expected to grow 48 per cent - to US$ 667.49 million - in the next two years.
• India's life insurance sector is expected to grow by around 30 per cent, to over US$ 50 billion, in this financial year.
• India has overtaken the US to become the second largest cotton producing country in the world, as per the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application
• Times lists the Tata Nano along with legendary cars - like Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle - in 'The dozen most important cars of all time starting from 1908 to the present'. 
• According to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report, India could grow to almost 90 per cent of the size of the US economy by 2050.
Market
• 
  
  The National Stock Exchange has become the world's second fastest-growing bourse in terms of number of listed companies, while the Bombay Stock Exchange is the biggest bourse.
• 
  
  The size of the luxury market in India is estimated at around US$ 3.5 billion, and could easily leapfrog to US$ 30 billion by 2015.
• 
  
  As many as nine Indian banks, led by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, have made it to the list of top 50 Asian Banks, as per this year's Asian Banker 300 report.
• 
  
  India's e-commerce market is expected to touch US$ 2.33 billion by FY2007-08, as per a survey by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and Indian Market Research Bureau.
• 
  
  Indian consumer spending could more than quadruple to US$ 1.77 trillion by 2025 - from about US$ 431.69 billion in 2005 - steered by a ten-fold jump in its middle-class population and a three-fold rise in household income, according to a McKinsey study.
• 
  
  India has recorded a 126 per cent jump in the amount spent on merger & acquisition (M&A) deals outside the Asia-Pacific region
• 
  
  India's internet user base grew by over 40 per cent to touch 46 million in September 2007 from 32.2 million in the same month last year.
• 
  
  GSM mobile subscriber base grew 62 per cent in 2007, from 105.4 million in December 2006 to 171.8 million at the end of December 2007
• 
  
  The Indian product engineering offshoring market is expected to witness a 23 per cent CAGR by 2012, as large captive centres of global corporations continue to expand their activities
• 
  
  The University of Oxford offers a new degree - MSc in Contemporary India - in response to the growing interest about India and its economy
• 
  
        Investment
• 
  
  India has ranked second in capital market inflows and fourth in mergers and acquisitions in Asia Pacific, with transactions worth US$ 65.033 billion reported in the first eight months of calendar 2007, according to Thomson Financial.
• 
  
  With an estimated intangible assets component of 74 per cent (as proportion of total enterprise value), India is just behind US (75 per cent) and Switzerland (74 per cent), according to Global Intangible Tracker 2007, the most extensive global study ever on intangibles assets by the London-based Brand Finance Institute
• 
  
  Indian firms listed in the US have a reason to smile - their total market value has grown by close to US$ 20 billion since the beginning of 2007.
• 
  
  Indians are expected to have US$ 1 trillion in investable wealth by 2012, with the country's robust economic growth driving a four-fold surge from just US$ 250 billion in 2007India Inc has announced M&A deals worth US$ 70 billion in 2007 - up 150 per cent over the previous calendar year - with the volume of deals involving Indian companies also having crossed the 1,000 mark for the first time.
• 
  
  India has recorded a huge rise in the number of corporate entities, with about 55,000 companies incorporated annually in the last two years
• 
  
  India receives the world's largest remittances - US$ 27 billion per year - according to a World Bank study, and global wealth managers are targeting the Indian diaspora to invest in the country.
• 
  
  India at second place in AT Kearney's 2007 FDI Confidence Index, continues to attract investors in the high value-added services industries like financial services and information technology
 
• 

Your Ad Here

Industry/Manufacturing

• India has the fourth largest billionaire population in the world, according to the Forbes list of world billionaires.
• India's financial capital Mumbai ranks as the seventh largest city, in terms of billionaire population, according to Forbes.
• Five Indian companies have made it to the Top 10 global outsourcing leaders list, compiled by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals
• 
  Mobile phone production in India will grow at a rate of 28.3 per cent - from 31 million units in 2006 to 107 million in 2011
• India's market for business intelligence (BI) platforms grew by 35.6 per cent in 2005-06, making it Asia's fastest growing BI geography, says Gartner.
• Indian cement industry is poised to add 111 million tonnes (MT) of annual capacity by the end of 2009-10 (FY10), riding on the back of an estimated 141 outstanding cement projects.
• India's steel production, growing at 15 per cent in the first half of 2007, is expected to touch 124 MT by 2011-12, going beyond an earlier official estimate of 80 MT.
• India's fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry has seen the launch of 251 new products up to October CY07, against 191 in the same period last year.
• India's telecom industry is expected to reach a size of US$ 87.33 billion by 2012, with a growth rate of over 26 per cent
• The Indian biotechnology industry is growing 37 per cent annually, and is expected to become a US$ 5 billion industry by 2010.
• India remains the undisputed leader in offshore services, accounting for about 65-70 per cent of the global offshoring pie, according to a recent research from Gartner Inc
• The Indian animation industry is expected to touch US$ 950 million by 2009, as global players like Walt Disney, Imax, and Warner Bros tie up with Indian animation companies. 
• With 27 per cent growth in 2007, India's IT-enabled services (ITeS) sector is set to cross the US$ 25.43 billion mark in 2008, says IT research company IDC (India).
• According to Nasscom, India's gaming segment touched US$ 48.26 million in 2006, is likely to cross US$ 427.35 million by 2010.
• The Indian healthcare IT market is the fastest growing in Asia - with an expected growth rate of 22 per cent - says a Springboard Research report.
• India's food and beverages sector, growing at 9 per cent, is expected to touch US$ 117.25 billion by the year-end.
• .India's foundry industry, the world's fifth largest producer of castings, is on a growth curve with an estimated potential to produce 10 million tonnes by 2012
• India is rapidly emerging as one of the world's media powerhouses. With 54 per cent of its 1.1 billion people aged under 25, it is potentially one of the world's largest markets for TV.
• India's food service entrepreneurs are executing massive expansion plans, with the industry expected to grow 48 per cent - to US$ 667.49 million - in the next two years.
• India's life insurance sector is expected to grow by around 30 per cent, to over US$ 50 billion, in this financial year.
• India has overtaken the US to become the second largest cotton producing country in the world, as per the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application
• Times lists the Tata Nano along with legendary cars - like Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle - in 'The dozen most important cars of all time starting from 1908 to the present'. 
• According to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report, India could grow to almost 90 per cent of the size of the US economy by 2050.
Market
• 
  
  The National Stock Exchange has become the world's second fastest-growing bourse in terms of number of listed companies, while the Bombay Stock Exchange is the biggest bourse.
• 
  
  The size of the luxury market in India is estimated at around US$ 3.5 billion, and could easily leapfrog to US$ 30 billion by 2015.
• 
  
  As many as nine Indian banks, led by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, have made it to the list of top 50 Asian Banks, as per this year's Asian Banker 300 report.
• 
  
  India's e-commerce market is expected to touch US$ 2.33 billion by FY2007-08, as per a survey by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and Indian Market Research Bureau.
• 
  
  Indian consumer spending could more than quadruple to US$ 1.77 trillion by 2025 - from about US$ 431.69 billion in 2005 - steered by a ten-fold jump in its middle-class population and a three-fold rise in household income, according to a McKinsey study.
• 
  
  India has recorded a 126 per cent jump in the amount spent on merger & acquisition (M&A) deals outside the Asia-Pacific region
• 
  
  India's internet user base grew by over 40 per cent to touch 46 million in September 2007 from 32.2 million in the same month last year.
• 
  
  GSM mobile subscriber base grew 62 per cent in 2007, from 105.4 million in December 2006 to 171.8 million at the end of December 2007
• 
  
  The Indian product engineering offshoring market is expected to witness a 23 per cent CAGR by 2012, as large captive centres of global corporations continue to expand their activities
• 
  
  The University of Oxford offers a new degree - MSc in Contemporary India - in response to the growing interest about India and its economy
• 
  
        Investment
• 
  
  India has ranked second in capital market inflows and fourth in mergers and acquisitions in Asia Pacific, with transactions worth US$ 65.033 billion reported in the first eight months of calendar 2007, according to Thomson Financial.
• 
  
  With an estimated intangible assets component of 74 per cent (as proportion of total enterprise value), India is just behind US (75 per cent) and Switzerland (74 per cent), according to Global Intangible Tracker 2007, the most extensive global study ever on intangibles assets by the London-based Brand Finance Institute
• 
  
  Indian firms listed in the US have a reason to smile - their total market value has grown by close to US$ 20 billion since the beginning of 2007.
• 
  
  Indians are expected to have US$ 1 trillion in investable wealth by 2012, with the country's robust economic growth driving a four-fold surge from just US$ 250 billion in 2007India Inc has announced M&A deals worth US$ 70 billion in 2007 - up 150 per cent over the previous calendar year - with the volume of deals involving Indian companies also having crossed the 1,000 mark for the first time.
• 
  
  India has recorded a huge rise in the number of corporate entities, with about 55,000 companies incorporated annually in the last two years
• 
  
  India receives the world's largest remittances - US$ 27 billion per year - according to a World Bank study, and global wealth managers are targeting the Indian diaspora to invest in the country.
• 
  
  India at second place in AT Kearney's 2007 FDI Confidence Index, continues to attract investors in the high value-added services industries like financial services and information technology
 
• 

India third on spending list

Annual commercial spending in India clocked $2.3 trillion in 2007, an increase of 23% from
2006, according to data released by Visa, the world's largest retail electronic payments network.
As per Visa's Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) index, India was third largest nation in terms of
the size of total business and government spend and the fourth fastest growing in the Asia Pacific (APAC)
region.
The other top economies given the size of their commercial expenditure in the region included Japan ($5.2
trillion), China ($4.9 trillion), South Korea ($2 trillion) and Australia ($1.2 trillion).
The CCE index captures business to business purchases to acquire goods and services used in production,
wholesale and retail purchases of final goods, business capital expenditures and government spending on
goods and services.
It makes adjustments to exclude expenditures such as construction and durable defense spending.
According to the report, which considered 21 economies in the APAC region as a part of the global study,
commercial spending in the region grew by 13% to $18.9 trillion in 2007, while global annual commercial
spending grew 12.2% to an estimated $77.3 trillion from $68.9 trillion in 2006.
India emerged as the fourth fastest growing economy in APAC in terms of total business and government
spend, with an annual increase of 23%. The top three positions were taken by Myanmar (41%), Hong Kong
(36.5 %) and Singapore (35 %).
"The markets across Asia Pacific are varied in terms of their stages of development and usage of
commercial card products," said Visa Commercial Solutions, Director (Asia Pacific), John Hazlewood

The Luxury Quotient

Luxury homes continue to dazzle in the wake of robust demand and keen investor
interest. check out some of the top offerings in the country
EVEN in the midst of low sentiments haunting the real estate sector, there is one segment that is totally unfazed by it all. Luxury homes continue to dazzle in the face of robust demand and keen investor interest in the segment. Royal offerings doled out one after the other by real estate
developers show that at least one buyer category has remained as loyal as before — the luxe home buyer. SundayET commissioned a survey to global real estate consultancy Cushman and Wakefield (C&W) to find out some top-of-the-line luxury offerings coming up in the five major cities of
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.
And here’s what they found. While the new luxury apartments in Delhi-NCR were valued at over Rs 10 crore, in Mumbai it easily crossed the 20 crore mark for a 4 BHK. It also found that among the new constructions around the National Capital Region (NCR), properties in Gurgaon commanded a premium, while sea-facing locations in the financial hub attracted the richie rich. Lavelle Road in Central Bangalore was much sought after as a luxury buy. And while Spanish villas in Hyderabad made an opulent statement, it were the spacious independent houses in Chennai that were the new luxury abode. In the survey, they included both projects which have been announced recently or the ones which though announced earlier, were only getting ready now.
Delhi NCR, in itself has at least seven extremely high-end projects. Top corporate honchos, expatriates and high networth individuals (HNIs) dominate DLF’s Magnolias located in DLF Phase V, Gurgaon. The apartments, which will be ready in 1-2 years can go up to a whopping Rs 10 crore with the average size of an apartment at roughly 5,500-10,000 sq ft. Attractive rental potential and substantial increase in capital values since 2005, the locational advantage of the golf course and improved connectivity via the operational Delhi–Jaipur 8-lane super expressway are some of the USPs of this project. Says Rajeev Talwar, executive group director, “Luxury apartments are taken up by actual users so demand will always remain.... Anyone who is buying such an apartment does so keeping a variety of factors in mind. Moreover, these are bought by those who have a surplus.”
Another project in Gurgaon, Ambience Group’s upscale Caitriona project, located in Ambi City NH-8 Gurgaon, will be coming up in 2-3 years and is priced at a royal 8 crore plus tag. Boasting of sevenstar living, it is located amidst the 150-acre Ambience Island premium integrated township.
Caitriona offers limited condominiums for a select few. A great golf course view, super premium international designing and complete furnishing for a readyto-live-in condominium, Caitriona flaunts snob value all the way.
Vipin Agrawal, executive director of Omaxe, feels that the current market scenario will have little effect on this segment. “Luxury homes are always in demand. Top CEOs and businessmen are the main occupants here. Hence, whatever be the market dynamics, there will always be an active demand for such projects.” The realtor has a luxury project, The Forest, adjoining the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, which sold for Rs 6,500/sq ft.
Spectacular views of the sea in the financial capital of Mumbai was seen as the sign of exclusivity and beauty. Lodha group’s Lodha Solitaire project offers just that on Napean Sea Road in South Mumbai, wherein each apartment offers a tranquil view. High-end amenities such as a mini theatre and an infinity-edge swimming pool further add to the glam quotient. Another project by the same developer, the 48-storey Lodha Bellissimo project features private pools, gardens, private staircases at a starting price of 8 crore for a 3BHK apartment!
However, it is the villas in Bangalore and Hyderabad that come through as a plush buy. Lavelle Road in Bangalore was found to be a much sought after address. Villas in Purva Grande located on Lavelle Road, Central Bangalore are commanding a premium owing to their strategic location. With prices starting at Rs 10 crore, the villas are replete with all leisurely comforts, including terrace pools and gardens. Occupants in another project on Lavelle Road — Mantri Altius by Mantri Developers were chosen personally by the realtor based on factors such as similar interests and non-competing businesses. The 17-floor super premium apartment occupies a built-up area of 85,000 sq ft in a prime locality in the city. Each apartment boasts of a 360-degree view of the city and security arrangements include biometric sensors, sirens and proximity cards. No wonder that the 5,000-6,000 sq ft apartments are in the range of Rs 10 crore upwards.
It’s a touch of Spain in Hyderabad that makes for some royal living. Spanish luxury villas Casa Estebana, developed by Koncept Ambience, are located in Kompally which is witnessing significant residential development primarily in the villa category. With prices starting at Rs 6.5 crore and
going up to Rs 17 crore, unique facilities such as a personal grooming centre, specialty restaurant, manicured landscaping with tree-lined streets and amphitheatre make it exclusive enough. An artificial lake with marine life and natural habitat for birds connect you with nature.
Chennai is no different. And as if taking the nature theme forward, Vijayshanthi Builders’ Raintree project in Alwarpet area in Central Chennai priced upwards of Rs 3 crore, features well landscaped surroundings with large water bodies. A skating rink, multi-purpose hall, water bodies and a
covered car park are some of the other elaborate amenities on offer here.
Besides luxury apartments, independent houses in Boat Club, Venus Colony, Poes Garden, Kotturpuram are preferred luxury residential areas.
Capital values range between Rs 15,000 per sq ft and Rs 25,000 per sq ft, with sizes above 4000-6000 sq ft. Tucked away from heavy traffic, these areas offer serene living. Spacious gardens, barbecue corners, entertainment areas in the garden and patios are additional features making these
houses much sought after. Majestic and palatial — these luxury residences are a dream buy. Exquisite facilities and charming decor basics makes them absolutely priceless.

Future of Indian consumer durables market

Indian Market is fast moving towards high-end customized products, which are aesthetically designed to complement the modern households. The need at this moment of time is to continuously innovate and come out with product variations across categories to meet the expectations of a varied class of customers.

This year, the leading consumer durables players forecast 15 per cent growth for the sector. In 2006, the consumer durables and home appliances sector experienced growth of 14 per cent and was pegged at Rs 3.7 billion.

According to sources, dismantling of quantitative restrictions on imports of consumer electronics has let to customer tariffs gradually coming down. In such environment, the industrial units could only survive by improving the efficiency and productivity.

India is a fast developing country and is proving to be a major challenge to the already established countries of the world. The industry expects to grow by 10 per cent for refrigerators and 60 per cent for washing machines this year. In a sector, where new products are being introduced with increasing frequency and lifecycle of products getting shorter, research and development plays an important role.

I believe that this area needs to be regularly updated with newer technologies, so that the innovations are meaningful to the customers. Setting up of manufacturing facilities by MNCs in India, which not only meet international standards but also reduce trade barriers between two countries and give a thrust to the exports of the company, which is very important.

At this moment of time, the consumer electronic industry has come a long way and is making state-of-the-art products and quality is earmarked immense importance. Point to be noted here is that the quality of any product is directly linked with exports from India to other countries. India has lately become a manufacturing hub for many companies to make quality products. In the last few years, this sector has shown tremendous growth, resulting in annual growth rate of close to 50 per cent.

India-Huge market for Mobile VAS

Stanford University and BDA, through a combination of interviews of executives in leading VAS firms, secondary research and analysis of prevailing trends has released it’s research report on “Future of Mobile VAS in India“.
Here are key excerpts:

Subscriber base:

• Population: 1.112 billion
• Fixed Subs : 39.41 million (Oct 2007)
• Mobile Subs : 217.14 million (Oct 2007)
• Internet Subs : 9.22 million (Jun 2007)
• Broadband Subs :2.67 million (Sept 2007)

Of the mobile subscribers:

• Prepaid connection comprise 85% of total subscriber base (expected to increase to 90%); and over 95% of new additions.
• By the end of 2010, the mobile teledensity will be almost 44% with 497 mn subscribers (driven by semi-urban and rural areas)

VAS in India:Past, Present and Future

• VAS constitutes 7% of of total telecom revenue for Indian operators.
• SMS consituted 55% of VAS revenue in 2006 [P2P/A2P/P2A, A = Application, P=Person), the growth was majorly driven by reality shows like Indian Idol/Kelloggs/KBC etc.
• Digital music (including CRBT and ringtones) constitutes 35% of VAS revenue.
• CAGR of 44% (2007 – 2010), VAS revenues will reach USD 2,744 mn (926mn $ by 2007): This is dependent on several factors like regulatory (e.g. number portability) and non-regulatory factors.
  • Growth acceleration will begin in 2009, as various challenges are overcome, size of mature user base increases, and telco focus on high end user VAS heightens
• Bollywood and Cricket is the killer content - though no significant investment has gone beyond developing local apps or even content/services.
• Revenue share between telcos & content providers / aggregators is 70:30, substantially more skewed in favor of telco than in other countries - further aggravated by lack of payment mechanisms.
• SMS/IVR/Music downloads/Internet Apps/Search will see an upsurge; limited growth of UGC and mCommerce
• Almost half of Indians use ULCH (Ultra Low Cost Handsets)

Entities in VAS Value chain

• Content/Application Owner - cos. like saregama/mauj/Rajshri who develop coyrighted content
• Aggregator - aggregates content like games/wallpapers/ringtones and distributes it to suit customer needs [players : mauj, hungama mobile, indiatimes mobile etc]
• software developer - develops applications (like payment/games/middleware etc.) for mobile VAS [players - mchek/July systems/webaroo/affle etc]
• Technology Enabler - provides the platform that plugs into telco networks and acts like a bridge between aggregator and telcos [players include OnMobile, cellnext. mauj etc]

Operators still dominate the revenue sharing arrangement in VAS [Of the amount paid by end users, 60-70% is kept by operator, aggregator gets 20-25% and content app/owner gets 10-15% of the revenue]

Challenges:

• Lack of content localization
• Shortage of spectrum
• Slow adoption of GPRS mobiles (only 6.1 mn GPRS users compared to 200 mn overall subs)

Future VAS trends:

• Location Based Services
  
• Mobile Music update will increase with better bandwidth
• Migration to 3G will result in increased ARPU
• Local content is on the rise - regional/rural IVR seen as a major opportunity
  
• Mobile commerce doesn not look too promising (India is still a cash and cheque country)
• IVR will see large scale adoption, especially in rural areas.
• Mobile E-Mail will primarily be driven by enterprises
• Stocks on mobile will see an uptake

The current state of VAS can be candidly summed in one sentence “Novelty of VAS on mobile is short-lived and innovation is the key to success which means technology companies like will have to increase their investments into R&D”

Soap Market in India

Personal Wash (Soaps)

The personal wash can be segregated into:

• Premium- Lux, Dove
• Economy- Nirma Bath, Lifebuoy
• Popular- Nirma, Cinthol

The price of the premium segment products is twice that of economy segment products. The economy and popular segments are 4/5ths of the entire soaps market. The penetration level of toilet soaps is 88.6%. However, the per capita consumption of soap in India is at 460 gms per annum, while in Brazil it is at 1,100 gms per annum. In India, soaps are available in five million retail stores, out of which, 3.75 million retail stores are in the rural areas. Therefore, availability of these products is not an issue. 70% of India's population resides in the rural areas; hence around 50% of the soaps are sold in the rural markets.

Growth
With increase in disposable incomes, growth in rural demand is expected to increase because consumers are moving up towards premium products. However, in the recent past there has not been much change in the volume of premium soaps in proportion to economy soaps, because increase in prices has led some consumers to look for cheaper substitutes.

The major players in personal wash (Soap) market are HLL, Nirma and P&G. Now ITC and Godrej also come in the Race .