Investment In India | "Fidelity Growth Partners Announces Investment In XCyton Diagnostics"

BY: BHAWNA GUPTA
Source: http://www.vccircle.com
Category : Investment In India 

The Bangalore-based diagnostics company is also backed by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw in her personal capacity.

Fidelity Growth Partners India, the private equity arm of global asset management giant Fidelity, has announced that it has invested in Bangalore-based privately held medical diagnostics company XCyton Diagnostics Pvt Ltd.

Although the company did not disclose the deal value, VCCircle had first reported on Nov 28 that the deal involves investment of up to Rs 20 crore.

XCyton is a product development company, founded in 1993 by B.V. Ravi Kumar, a physician-scientist-turned-technocrat. Currently, it offers diagnostic services for sepsis, central nervous system infections like meningitis and acute encephalitic syndrome and trauma or surgery-induced eye infections.

The company’s syndrome evaluation system (SES) platform allows for simultaneous identification of up to 30 pathogens in a six-hour test cycle for critical infections, where the time span from diagnosis to severe disability and often death, is less than 72 hours.

“XCyton’s technology is a paradigm shift from all conventionally used tests including blood cultures that typically detect a single pathogen and take more than 48-72 hours to deliver results. Moreover, these tests have inadequate sensitivity. XCyton’s six-hour turnaround, coupled with simultaneous pathogen detection, serves an unmet need, not only in India but also globally,” said Ravi Kumar.

Birthstone Capital was the operating partner and sole financial advisor to XCyton for the transaction. Incidentally, Birthstone, a private equity firm that specialises in operational style of investing, is also an investor in the firm.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman and managing director of Biocon Ltd (the country’s leading biotechnology enterprise), is also an investor in XCyton in her personal capacity.

In 2007, XCyton received funding from Amvar Ventures Pvt Ltd, a sister concern of Nadathur Holdings – an investment firm established by N.S. Raghavan, founder and former managing director of Indian IT giant Infosys.

“XCyton’s service offerings are well positioned to reduce the high mortality rates associated with several critical illnesses,” said Raj Dugar, senior managing director at FIL Capital Advisors (India).

Fidelity Growth Partners India seeks to invest anywhere between $10 million and $50 million across a broad range of sectors in India. The firm has also invested in Mind Shaper Tech and Transpole Logistics, among others.

Source: http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/fidelity-growth-partners-announces-investment-in-xcyton-diagnostics

Investment In India | "Lenovo looks at expansion"

By: BS Reporter / Chennai/ Hyderabad
Source: http://www.business-standard.com
November 04, 2011, 0:24 IST
Category : Investment In India

Chinese computer and electronic device-maker Lenovo is looking at expanding its manufacturing operations in India after it had shut down its second unit in Himachal Pradesh a couple of years ago citing decline in sales.

Currently, the company has a manufacturing unit in Puducherry. This came as part of the acquisition of IBMs global PC business by Lenovo in 2005.

Company officials recently met senior officials of the Andhra Pradesh government weighing the state as one of the options to locate an assembly line.

“The investment they have indicated is about $10 million for the proposed assembly line,” a state government official told Business Standard. If it chooses AP, then the unit would to be located in Sri City, the private multi-product SEZ cum industrial park, closer to Chennai, according to the official.

The company is expecting to increase Indian sales through the newly launched products such as Idea Pad among others.

Though the infrastructure and land is readily available in Sri City, any extra incentives from the government may not be available because only those upwards of Rs 200 crore investment are considered as mega projects for the purpose of offering tailor-made incentives by the state government.

The unit, otherwise, will have to provide direct employment to 2,000 people to be eligible for additional incentives, the official said.


Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/lenovo-looks-at-expansion/454462/

India opens up to Walmart

By: Equity Master
Source: www.equitymaster.com


From the start of the winter session, the Indian parliament has been witnessing a complete logjam on account of various burning issues such as inflation and corruption. Amidst all this, the cabinet approved a new policy for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail.

What is this policy all about? Why is the government so keen to bring this policy now? On what grounds is it facing so much opposition, not only from the opposition party but also from its allies?

Well, the history of FDI in retail goes back to 1993 when the then finance minister had changed the law to permit FDI in retail trade. Since then, the policy witnessed several changes. At present, FDI in single-brand retail is allowed up to 51% with Government approval. However, FDI in multi-brand retail is totally restricted. In the new policy, approved by the cabinet, complete restriction on FDI in multi-brand retail was lifted. According to the new policy, foreign players can own a 51% stake in multi-brand retail. At the same time, the new policy allows 100% FDI in single-brand retail.

This move would certainly attract foreign retail giants such as Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco to invest in the Indian retail sector. After all, as a fast emerging economy, India presents a huge opportunity on account of its 1.2 bn population. As per estimation, Indian retail market is worth US$ 450 bn a year.

But the moot question remains why we need FDI in the retail sector. Who will gain from all this? It is no secret that India lack in terms of infrastructure and needs a good amount of investment to boost the utilisation of its existing resources. Development in infrastructure would enable the farmers to sell their agricultural produce directly to the big retailers, not to the local mundi. This is likely to fetch them better pricing for their produce. At the same time, due to abolishment of several intermediaries, retailers would be able to offer the products to the final consumers at lower prices. Hence, both farmers as well as consumers would be benefited. That is the key underlying rationale for FDI in retail. Another point is that this move would generate a good amount of employment across the country. It will help existing Indian retail companies to expand with the technical as well as financial support of foreign retail giants.

If all is well with this policy, then why so much hue and cry! Well, this is a definitely a bad news for smaller family-managed businesses (kirana shops). They will not be able to withstand the competition from the big players. They would be forced to shut down their shops. In turn, there would a loss of a large amount of employment opportunity as well. This policy would also hurt the micro, small and medium domestic industries. They fear that after some time, big retailers would start displacing the entire supply chains of the products. And, if not properly checked by the government, their businesses may get severely hurt. According to industry experts, to keep things in balance, the provision for 30% compulsory sourcing from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the draft policy should also be gradually increased.

In the policy, the government has allowed FDI in multi-brand retail in cities only with population of 1 million, and for the rest of the country, the current policy regime will apply. Only 53 cities out of nearly 8,000 towns and cities in the country meet such a requirement. Hence, at present, it is not going to affect all kirana stores across the country.

The biggest threat of this policy may prop up in the long run. After the forced extinction of existing retail system to a large extent, big retail players may start abusing their dominant positions in the market. They may not offer good prices to the farmers and lower prices to the consumers, which are being advertised by the promoters of the new policy.

Policy makers have been debating this for more than 15 years. And all these concerns definitely demand a good discussion. However, considering all the reforms this new policy can bring, it would be unfair to oppose it just for the sake of opposing. With proper checks and balances, this policy may go a long way in the development of the Indian retail sector.


Source: http://www.equitymaster.com/tm/tm.asp?date=11/28/2011&title=India-opens-up-to-Walmart

News Roundup: Alexandria Real Estate Looks To Invest $1B In India

BY: TEAM VCC
Source: http://www.vccircle.com


Alexandria Real Estate Looks To Invest $1B In India - Alexandria Real Estate Equities is setting the stage for a $1-billion rollout in India. The US-based NYSE-listed multi-billion-dollar real estate investment trust (RIET) focuses on owing the real estate and related infrastructure for the healthcare sector, is understood to be in advanced stages of owning at least 15 multi-specialty hospital properties in India. Alexandria is in fairly advanced discussions with major healthcare players in India in an effort to either take over the real estate assets on which the hospitals stand or make significant inroads in putting up greenfield projects. (Business Standard)

Source: http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/news-roundup-alexandria-real-estate-looks-to-invest-1b-in-india

Kraft Foods bets big on India, says emerging mkts will drive growth

By: Reuters
Source: http://www.reuters.com

* Plans to become one of the top 5 food cos in India

* Have increased investment by over 70 pct in India post Cadbury India biz buyout

* To focus on biscuits, chocolates, gum, candy in India

MUMBAI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc, North America's largest packaged food maker, is betting big on the Indian consumer's rising spending power as it firms up plans to become one of the top 5 food companies in the country in the coming years, in an effort to offset sluggish growth in the developed markets.

The global buy of Cadbury has added popular brands such as Dairy Milk and Bournvita to Kraft's India portfolio helping it propel growth in the world's second fastest growing major economy.

It retails brands like Oreo biscuits and fruit flavoured drink Tang from its own portfolio in the Indian market.

"In India, in particular we have witnessed exceptional growth..Year-to-date we are up almost 40 percent in this country," Chairman and Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld told reporters on Tuesday.

"The growth rates that we have seen have been well in excess of what Cadbury had been generating primarily because we have chosen to invest in a lot of critical areas such as sales, marketing..," Rosenfeld added.

The company, however, stated that the current growth rate might be difficult to sustain in the long-term.

Kraft Foods has increased its investment in India in the areas of advertising & promotion, sales, capex by over 70 percent since it acquired Cadbury India's operations, Rosenfeld added, without giving an absolute investment number for the year-ago period.

The consumer goods maker, which plans to focus on the biscuits, chocolates, gum and candy categories in India, competes with consumer giants such as Nestle and Hindustan Unilever among others.

The company which is heavily focusing on the emerging markets of India, Brazil, Russia, China and Indonesia has seen developing markets contributing 14 percent revenue growth and an operating income growth of 34 percent on a compounded annual rate for over the past couple of years.

Kraft Foods, which acquired Cadbury 21 months ago, for $18.5 billion, said it was open to acquisitions in emerging markets and stated that it does not immediately plan to get more of its international brands into India.

"Over time we will get more brands...But there is so much untapped opportunity for our base businesses, we will look to focus on that first," Rosenfeld said.

On the integration, post the Cadbury acquisition, Rosenfeld also said that the firm was on track also to achieve $750 million of cost savings from its integration with Cadbury and will achieve 70 percent of that by the end of 2011.

Recently, Kraft announced its plans to split its business and give its investors a chance to bet on a snacks business which is growing fast in emerging markets, or opt for stable dividends offered by a slower growing grocery business that includes Oscar Mayer lunch meat and Kraft cheese.

Earlier, this month is it posted a third quarter net revenue of $13.23 billion , up from $11.86 billion and raised its full year outlook.


Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/22/kraft-foods-india-idUSL4E7ML24K20111122

Lenovo set to topple Dell as No. 1 in India

By: Thyagaraju Adinarayan
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com


CHENNAI: The quadrangular battle - fought among the global brands Dell, HP, Acer and Lenovo -- in the Indian PC market is intensifying, as they are switching positions too often. The four enjoy over 51% market share in India.

Indian player HCL comes at a distant No. 5 with a dwindling market share of 5.6%. It is the only company in the top 5 to register a decline in sales, though the industry grew by 13%.

"International players have better brand value, better marketing strategies and channel partners, which drives sales for them," Gartner's principal analyst Vishal Tripathi said.

Dell, with a market share of 15%, is the top PC maker in India. Dell wrested the pole position from HP three quarters back, but may lose the slot to Lenovo in the next quarter. "Lenovo may lead the market soon," Tripathi said. His reasoning is based on the huge order (9 lakh PCs) Lenovo won from the Tamil Nadu government.

Dell, which manufactures 18 lakh units in India, said it will continue to be the market leader. Though Dell India's revenue is fairly small compared to the global turnover, the company expects to gain more foothold as there is much more space left for growth in India, said the company spokesperson Minari Shah.

HP, which was dislodged by Acer last quarter, regained its second position with 13.3% market share as the news about hiving off PC business fell apart.

HCL's market share fell to 5.6% in the September quarter from 6.6%, sequentially , according to Gartner Research. HCL's computer retailing business is hammered by the economic slowdown and lesser government investment in computing and office automation business. Earlier this month, the company had posted a 74% decline in net profit for the September quarter.

The combined desk-based and mobile PC shipments in India totalled nearly 31.5 lakh - the highest ever - in the third quarter, a 13% rise from last year.

Globally, HP was the largest vendor with a 17.7% market share in Q3. Lenovo moved into the second spot with a 13.5% market share. Dell had an 11.6% share.


Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-17/hardware/30409582_1_indian-pc-market-market-share-lenovo

The many ways into emerging markets

By: Bloomberg
Source: http://www.business-standard.com


While some travellers are wary of visiting emerging-market countries, they feel very differently about investing money there. Some $19.5 billion cascaded into emerging-market equity mutual funds in the first nine months of 2011, following a $46 billion flood from U.S. investors in 2010, according to the Boston Consulting Group. In both periods, emerging-market fund inflows exceeded those of any other fund category save for core bond funds.

Everyone, it seems, knows that emerging markets are where the growth is these days. The International Monetary Fund expects such economies to grow at four times the rate of "advanced economies" this year. Far less obvious, though, is the best way to profit from their growth. Some of the trendiest investing options have serious drawbacks.

One of the most popular routes into less developed markets is the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. It tracks 822 emerging-market stocks and is the basis for many mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, including the $45 billion Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (VWO). As with many market capitalization-weighted indexes, the larger a company gets in the index, the more it dominates returns.

That becomes a problem when many of the fortunes of the big companies are tied more to global trends than to local growth, says Matthew Rubin, director of investment strategy at Neuberger Berman. The top stock in the MSCI Index is South Korea's Samsung Electronics, which got 42 percent of revenues in Europe and the Americas last year. It's not that export-led growth is bad, it's only that you're not getting the diversification away from developed markets that you think you are.

Investors wanting access to trends such as the growth of a middle class in countries like China, India and Brazil must invest in smaller companies with a local focus, says Rajat Jain, a partner and senior research analyst at Litman Gregory Asset Management. In October, Jain's firm announced plans to gradually boost its clients' emerging-market exposure from five per cent to 20 percent. In a report, the firm noted that in its "subpar recovery" base case scenario, emerging-market equities should still generate low double-digit returns.

One way to get a more direct connection to a local market is via a fund such as the Van Eck Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF (BRF). The 2.5-year-old fund's small-cap focus — it's made up of 74 Brazilian companies with an average market capitalization of $1.8 billion—prevents it from being dominated by huge companies such as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the $171-billion oil company known as Petrobras. In the past two years, Van Eck also launched an India Small-Cap Index ETF and a Latin America Small-Cap Index ETF.

Greg Peterson, director of research at Ballentine Partners, prefers Dimensional Fund Advisors' Emerging Markets Small Cap Portfolio (DEMSX). He likes how the fund's holdings must qualify as value stocks based on criteria like price-earnings ratio, and says the fund's expense ratio is "relatively low" at 0.78 per cent.

Small-cap emerging-market stocks, of course, can be more volatile than their big-cap brethren. And those brethren have been pretty volatile lately. From August 1 to October 4, the MSCI Emerging Markets index plunged 28 percent.

Smart managers of actively managed funds can purposefully buy stocks with lower volatility, notes Morningstar senior fund analyst Karin Anderson. And, some of those managers have the freedom to buy developed-market stocks with high emerging-market exposure, another way to potentially damp volatility. Anderson cites American Funds' New World Fund (NEWFX), which, along with many emerging-market stocks, includes among its holdings Swiss food company Nestlé and Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk.
That's a strategy also employed by David Herro, chief investment officer for international equities at Harris Associates. For him, it's a way to buy exposure to emerging-market stocks at a time when he thinks prices are expensive.

Rather than own expensive shares of a Chinese brewing company, Herro invests in Heineken, a Netherlands-based brewer. Heineken gets two-thirds of its profits from outside Western Europe, including 23 percent from Africa and the Middle East. Investors have "overpriced" emerging-market stocks while they have "underpriced companies located elsewhere that do business in emerging markets," Herro says.
Actively managed international funds can be costly. One of the best-managed funds, says Morningstar's Anderson, is the Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund (ODMAX). That said, its 1.35 per cent expense ratio is about as high as investors should ever go, she says, and is about four times the 0.35 percent fees on the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund.

To try and meet investor demand, investment companies are getting creative. Firms are coming up with many more new products that try to capture emerging-market growth with increasing sophistication, says Brent Beardsley, a partner at the Boston Consulting Group. One, the ASG Growth Markets Fund (AGMAX), was introduced October 24. It holds emerging-market stocks while using derivative contracts to reduce the fund's volatility. About a quarter of its portfolio is in derivatives tied to global stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies. It is co-managed by Andrew W. Lo, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.
Such products are coming out because "there are more people chasing opportunities than there are opportunities to invest in," says Beardsley. The number of good companies listed on stock exchanges isn't rising as fast as investors' enthusiasm, he notes.

That means emerging markets remain a place where investors need to be cautious-no matter how fast their economies are growing.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/the-many-ways-into-emerging-markets/456218/

Xerox Revamps India Team

By: CRN Network
Source: http://www.crn.in


Xerox strengthened its India leadership team to extend leadership in the business process and document management outsourcing segments. Xerox has appointed Konstantin Klein, Managing Director for Xerox India. Klein replaces Andrew Horne, who has taken a new role in Developing Market Operations for Xerox.

Klein brings diverse experience in management, sales & marketing and channel operations to his new role and is responsible for business operations in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives.

He said, “Xerox has transformed over the last few years–we have always delivered high quality technology that enables our customers to achieve better productivity and savings, and have recently invested in delivering truly benchmark solutions and services that further differentiate us from the rest of the market. Post the ACS acquisition, Xerox is extremely well positioned to address BPO, ITO and document outsourcing services to take us to the next level. We are committed to investing in India’s future as a leading exporter of innovation.”

Xerox also appointed Vishal Awal, Executive Director, Services, Xerox India to effectively address the fast growing services opportunities in South Asia region. Awal joins Xerox with more than 20 years of experience in business development, key account management and global services business management roles in North America, Europe and in Asia Pacific regions. Prior to joining Xerox, he was the Vice President and Head of Customer Unit (CU), Erickson India.. Awal was instrumental in ushering in managed services/outsourcing trend within the telecom industry in India. At Xerox India, Awal will be responsible for driving the company’s growth in the document management and business process outsourcing services markets.

Other changes include Xerox India’s Technology & Channels portfolio will be headed by Vipin Tuteja, Executive Director, Technology, Channels and International Business, Xerox India. Tuteja will be responsible for Xerox India’s office and production printing businesses and his experience of working with Xerox will help strengthen Xerox India’s partnerships and grow the channel operation, which are critical for the company’s growth and expansion. Tuteja will work with the newly appointed regional business heads in South, Central and North & East regions to expand Xerox’s pan India presence. The appointments include; Rajiv Luthra as Regional Head—Central, M Venkat Rao, Regional Head—South & Arvind Chabra continues as the Regional Head- North & East.

Xerox has also strengthened the marketing function with the appointment of Vivek Chandel, Executive Director—Marketing, Xerox India. Chandel has over 20 years of experience in Marketing & Business Operations in organisations like Tata Tele-Services, Bharti Airtel and Escotel. Prior to joining Xerox, he was the Chief Operating Officer for Tata Teleservices for UP West and Uttarakhand.

Manmohan Kalsy joins in as Executive Director, Human Resources, Xerox India. Kalsy has over 21 years of experience in the HR function across manufacturing, consumer goods and telecom sectors with companies like DCM, Gillette, PepsiCo & Hutchison. Prior to joining Xerox India, Kalsy headed the HR function for the India captive shared services at Vodafone and was a part of the global business transformation team.

“With this infusion of senior talent and expertise, Xerox India aims to capture new opportunities in the fast-growing document management, services, graphic arts, production printing and office printing markets,” added Klein. “The robust and hard-working team at Xerox India will continue to deliver world-class technology, service and solutions to our customers, partners and other stakeholders,”added Klein.

Source: http://www.crn.in/Hardware-025Aug011-Xerox-Revamps-India-Team.aspx

Dell India celebrates the 10th Anniversary of its India R&D center |

By: Dell India (Business Wire India)
Source: http://www.moneylife.in


Dell today announced a significant milestone for its India business - the 10th anniversary of its India research and development center based in Bangalore. Dell India R&D has been through an eventful decade and significant investment has been made in building its enterprise business & creating a team of technologists and senior engineers. Dell continues to reap benefits by moving up the value chain of product development. More than 1600 invention disclosures, over 150 published article/papers and 50 enterprise software products exhibit far-reaching capability of the team and great commitment towards quality and schedule.

“Dell plans to make India a hub for the development of enterprise products such as servers, storage, and software,” said Mr. Brad Anderson, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Product Group, Dell. He added, “Dell today has its strongest-ever portfolio of solutions, intellectual property and differentiated products, backed by new skills and capabilities in our India team, serving the local as well as global markets. Dell India R&D center is especially critical to enterprise business of Dell with the capability to own end-to-end products. We will continue to build capacity and further invest in India on Research and Next Generation products.”

Maintaining a steady pace of growth, Dell India R&D center has taken ownership of products ranging from servers, storage, data centers, systems software, hardware design, validation and testing, new features enhancement and continuous optimization and building its core competence for the global market. With this solid foundation, Dell India R&D center has enhanced its market technical support activities and in the recent years embarked on providing system integration solutions for operators worldwide.

Dell R&D center hosts seasoned management team with deep rooted Dell culture for rigor & drive for innovation. Some of the upcoming plans from the India R&D center towards futuristic projects/programs are:

-- Increased focus on next generation of servers and data centers which will help integrate and align the enterprise technologies across its product portfolio to help companies simplify and manage their organizations’ IT infrastructure
-- Major development is in progress to deliver cutting-edge virtualization software product to manage future data center
-- Research is already in progress towards top-end embedded systems management product, yet to be launched

“Our India R&D center growth has been encouraging and contributed immensely to the enterprise business of Dell. We will continue to build the ecosystem in Bangalore to engage with our worldwide partners and going ahead the center will also play a huge role in delivering top-end products and solutions.” said Mr. Rudramuni B, Executive Director and Head of Dell India R&D.

Source: http://www.moneylife.in/business-wire-news/dell-india-celebrates-the-10th-anniversary-of-its-india-rd-er/28948.html

GE, Greenko Plan $115 Million Investment in India Wind Farms

By: Boomerang
Source: http://www.businessweek.com


Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co., the world's third-biggest supplier of wind turbines, announced its first investment in Indian renewable energy generation with plans to build $115 million of wind farms with Greenko Group Plc.

GE Energy Financial Services will invest $50 million and Greenko $65 million to create 500 megawatts of wind projects, enough to power 875,000 Indian homes, according to a statement on GE's website. The deal expands GE's $6 billion portfolio of global clean-energy investments into a country that added the most new wind capacity last year after China and the U.S.

The first 65-megawatt project, in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra state, will use Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE's 1.6-megawatt turbines and be completed by December, it said. They will come from GE's plant in Pune.

Greenko estimates that the country has harnessed less than 25 percent of its wind-energy potential to date, the statement said. India had about 15,000 megawatts of wind capacity as of Aug. 31, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

GE was the third-largest supplier of wind turbines in 2010, behind Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S and China's Sinovel Wind Group Co., according BTM Consult ApS, a Denmark-based wind industry researcher.

Greenko, based in Douglas, Isle of Man, and backed by private equity firm TPG Capital, has plans for 1-gigawatt of Indian wind capacity by 2015. It's putting up farms in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan states, the statement said.

Source: http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LSU6HB6K50XX01-5JG7165RC08108HAS0N83E2N9N

India May Ease Rules Next Week to Allow Wal-Mart, Tesco Entry

By: Unni Krishnan
Source: http://www.businessweek.com


Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- India may consider a proposal next week to allow Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Tesco Plc and Carrefour SA gain access to the $396-billion retail market in Asia’s second- fastest growing economy.

The cabinet will discuss a plan to permit overseas companies to own as much as 51 percent of stores that sell more than one brand, said four government officials with direct knowledge of the matter. Full foreign ownership of companies that sell a single brand will also be considered, one of the people said. All four declined to be identified, citing government policy.

India bars overseas companies from owning retail outlets that sell more than one brand and allows 51 percent holding in single-brand retail. Wal-Mart and Carrefour, who operate wholesale stores in the country, are among companies vying for a share of a market that Business Monitor International estimates will double to $785 billion by 2015.

“India is a huge market that will attract the interest of foreign investors,” said Deven Choksey, managing director at Mumbai-based K.R. Choksey Shares & Securities. “Food prices will be under check when organized retail comes in because it is accompanied with infrastructure development at the back end.”

Pantaloon Retail Ltd., India’s largest retailer, surged 7.4 percent in Mumbai today, while Trent Ltd., Tesco’s local partner, rose 0.2 percent. The benchmark Sensitive Index declined 1.9 percent.

Arti Singh, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart’s India operations, declined to comment on speculation. Mohan Shukla, director of corporate affairs for Carrefour India, gave no comment.

Local Purchases

The approval may include conditions such as purchasing at least 30 percent of goods locally, two of the people said. The decision may come as early as Monday, they said. Foreign retailers will need to invest at least $100 million in the country, with half that amount going to develop the supply chain, one of the people said.

Bharti Walmart Pvt., the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company’s joint venture with Bharti Enterprises Pvt., operates fourteen wholesale stores in India. Carrefour, based in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, opened its first such store in December.

Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, will set up its India operations once the government allows foreign ownership, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, a director at the company, said on Nov. 14. The Cheshunt, U.K.-based retailer has a franchise agreement with Trent, a Tata Group company.

“We have a long-term plan given that India is going to have about 25 percent of the world’s population,” Neville- Rolfe, said in the interview in Mumbai. “So it is good for us to invest more.”

Fighting Inflation

Raj Jain, who heads Wal-Mart in India, said last year foreign retailers can help slow inflation by helping improve the quality of the local supply chain. About 40 percent of India’s fruit and vegetables rot before they can be sold because of a lack of cold-storage facilities and poor transport infrastructure, according to government figures.

A panel on inflation in a report recommended easing rules for multibrand retail to help moderate food prices, Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry and a member of the group, said in May.


Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-18/india-may-ease-rules-next-week-to-allow-wal-mart-tesco-entry.html

PizzaExpress to Open in India

By: RUMMAN AHMED
Source: http://online.wsj.com/


BANGALORE – Gourmet Investments (P) Ltd. and PizzaExpress HoldingsPvt. Ltd. Friday entered into a 50-50 joint venture to launch the privately held U.K.-based Gondola Group's PizzaExpress chain of restaurants in India.

Gourmet Investments is owned by the Bharti Family Office, an entity that handles the personal investments of the founders of Bharti Enterprises Ltd.

The first restaurant is expected to be launched some time next year, Bharti Enterprises said in a statement.

The deal comes as foreign food companies seek to capitalize on the growing propensity among India's middle class to dine out and spend more on beverages and processed foods.

Dunkin' Donuts, a unit of U.S.-based Dunkin' Brands Inc., signed an agreement with India's Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd. in February to open 25-30 Dunkin' Donuts outlets over the next three years.

U.S. coffee shop chain Starbucks Corp. is also likely to announce shortly an alliance with Tata Coffee Ltd. to open outlets in the country.

Bharti Enterprises is the parent company of Bharti Airtel Ltd., India's largest telecommunications company by users. It has interests in retail through Bharti Retail Ltd. and Bharti Wal-Mart Ltd., a joint venture with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The group has also expanded into the insurance, financial services, realty and higher-education sectors.


Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203687504577003754015158544.html

Dominos to reach 500 store counts by 2012

By:India Retailing
Source:http://www.indiaretailing.com


Dominos Pizza, one of the market leaders in organized pizza home delivery segment, has announced its plans to open 500 outlets by 2012. The pizza chain has 411 outlets in India and plans to open 80 new outlets every year, to strengthen its presence in the country.

“Our performance as an organization is already reflected in our financial performance in the last few quarters. Currently, there are 411 Domino’s stores in India and plans are afoot to expand the brand’s footprint further into the Indian heartland. If all goes as per our plan to add at least 80 stores annually, we should be opening our 500th Domino’s Pizza outlet sometime next year,” said Shyam S Bhartia, Chairman, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd.

Ajay Kaul, CEO Jubilant FoodWorks Limited, added: “Our success stems from not merely growing the number of stores but more importantly on focusing on our customers. Our growth is fueled by customer’s love for our products. With the addition of 100 stores in last 15-16 months, we are now amongst top 5 globally in the Domino’s network in terms of absolute number of stores.”

Jubilant Foodworks (JFL) and its subsidiary operates Domino’s Pizza brand with the exclusive rights for India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The company claims to be the market leader in the organized pizza market in India with over 50 percent market share and 70 percent share in the Pizza home delivery segment. The Company has also strengthened its portfolio by entering into an alliance with Dunkin’ Donuts, for developing the Dunkin’ Donuts brand and operating restaurants in India.

Domino’s Pizza was established in 1960 and currently operates in 65 countries. The brand has 9064 outlets worldwide.


Source: http://www.indiaretailing.com/news.aspx?topic=1&Id=6267

Telephonics and Mahindra and Mahindra to Form Joint Venture

By: Press Release
Source: www.marketwatch.com


NEW YORK, Nov 17, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Telephonics Corporation, a subsidiary of Griffon Corporation GFF -1.13% , and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a $12.5 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to form a Joint Venture (JV) to provide the Indian Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Indian civil sector with radar and surveillance systems, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) devices and communication systems. In addition, the JV intends to provide systems for Air Traffic Management services, Homeland Security and other emerging surveillance requirements.

The JV envisages establishing a plant in India which would manufacture and service airborne radar systems that are already being supplied to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and to support airborne maritime surveillance systems for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. The JV will license technology from Telephonics for use on a wide range of products that have both defense and civil applications.

Approval is being sought from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of the Government of India (GoI) for the establishment of the JV in accordance with the current defense sector Foreign Direct Investment regulations of the GoI.

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, said "We are delighted to partner with Telephonics and are committed to supporting the Indian MOD's requirement of having a capable indigenous defense private sector. We will continue to strive to deploy niche technologies that support a stronger nation, such as our JV with Telephonics."

Brig Hai, Chief Executive of Mahindra Defense Systems, a division of Mahindra and Mahindra, said "By partnering with Telephonics, Mahindra will become a 3-dimensional force providing products for Land, Maritime and Air platforms. Telephonics is an acknowledged leader in the field and will allow us to achieve our ambition to be a leading systems integrator for defense and civil applications."

"We are very pleased to be partnering with Mahindra, a leading player in the defense sector" said Joseph Battaglia, CEO and President of Telephonics. "The defense market in India is an important part of our international expansion plans and Mahindra is the right company for us to grow with in India."

Telephonics has already established a presence in the Indian defense and civil markets. For example, Telephonics supplies RDR-1400 weather avoidance radar systems for helicopters being built in Bangalore, India. It is also contracted to supply Boeing with APS-143C(V)3 Multi-Mode Radars (MMR) for India's P-8i Maritime Surveillance aircraft, and is responsible for installation of a sophisticated intercommunication systems for the C-17 Globemaster contracted for by the Indian Air Force.


Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/telephonics-and-mahindra-and-mahindra-to-form-joint-venture-2011-11-17
 

Awarded As The Best Car Hire Company In India By Times Travel Honors

By: Announcement
Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/


Wins “Asia’s Leading Car Hire” Title For The 6th Year at Regional World Travel Awards

Avis India, the leading International car rental brand in India has been awarded as the best Best Car Hire Company by the Prestigious “Times Travel Honours”,. These awards are aimed at recognizing and honouring outstanding achievements of individuals / companies who have created a positive impact in Indian Tours and Travel Industry.

Avis in Asia too has again been awarded as “Asia’s Leading Car Hire” company at the regional World Travel Awards ceremony this year. The World Travel Awards is a prestigious organization of travel professionals around the world that recognizes excellent customer service in the international travel and tourism industry. Avis at the awards was named Europe's Leading Business Car Rental Company, Asia’s Leading Car Hire Company, Africa’s Leading Business Car Rental Company, Indian Ocean’s Leading Car Rental Company and Egypt’s Leading Car Rental Company. The awarding ceremony was recently held at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Avis Asia has brought home the “Asia’s Leading Car Hire” accolade from the esteemed institution. Avis has been honored as the top car rental company in Asia since 2006 for its excellent delivery of customer service and reliability amidst tight and growing competition in the industry.

Speaking about the awards Mr Sunil Gupta, CEO, Avis India, said, “Providing a high quality service on an odd occasion may be possible for some other operators but the real differentiator for Avis is that it does this consistently, time after time, across all 17 cities and from all 39 locations that we operate in. An Avis customer is getting into an Avis car somewhere in India once every 45 seconds. Providing a consistently high service on each of these occasions demands an investment in people and technology, which we have been doing consistently. Receiving these awards for the sixth year in a row proves that our constant endeavor to understand customer needs and invest in processes to meet these needs has proved successful. This is really a proud moment for us”.

The World Travel Awards highly regards excellent customer experience as the main differentiator to lever commercial advantage. Since founded 18 years ago, the World Travel Awards has always aimed to acknowledge, reward and celebrate achievements in all sectors of the global travel industry. As a benchmark for industry excellence, the World Travel Awards prides itself on identifying companies that consistently excel beyond expectation to offer a world-class service, making it the most coveted and sought after awards in the industry.

Avis’ success at the World Travel Awards and all these prestigious award shows only proves how Avis can make a difference in the service industry. Through its steadfast commitment to world class service and customer satisfaction, as well as its relentless goal to provide flexible mobility solutions to travellers around the world, Avis remains unparalleled in this realm despite tough competition.

Furthermore, Avis has also been awarded as the Best Car Rental Company Worldwide by UK-based international travel publication, Business Traveller; and the Silver Lions during the much acclaimed Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for its commitment to environmental sustainability through its “Carbon Neutral” status in South Africa. This noble effort has also been recognized in the Climate Change Leadership Awards where it won top prize in the Corporate Services Category followed by recent results on the Top Brands Survey of the Sunday Times (South Africa) wherein it gained top ranking in the Business to Business Car Rental Category.

Its impressive accomplishment in the service industry is all the more exemplified with its recognition as the Leading Car Rental Company in Customer Loyalty in the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index in India.

Avis India, which has received numerous prestigious awards and recognitions, has also earliuer been recognized as a ‘Super Brand’ for the year 2008 – 2009 as well as the Category One Best Tourist Transport Operator Award by National Tourism Awards 2008-09.

Avis in India is a one-stop shop for all car rental needs with Safety, Quality, Timely Service delivery & customer delight as some of its important benchmarks. Avis in India offers chauffeur and self-drive services across a wide range of cars including Economy Segment Cars, Mid Segment (Suzuki Swift Dzire, Ford Fiesta & Honda City), Premium Segment (Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry, Mercedes E & S class) and MUV/SUV (Toyota Innova, Ford Endeavour & Mitsubishi Pajero).



Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/avis-reaps-success-in-travelmedia-awards/455665/