Friday, January 31, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
UPA damages IT industry: Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi today charged the UPA Government with "damaging" the Information Technology
industry and said various scams during its tenure have dented the country's reputation in the sector.
The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate singled out the 2G scam and said it caused serious damage to India's reputation.
"People see 2G scam in terms of monetary damage it caused to exchequer. I see it in a different way. India was making its presence felt in cyber world at a very fast speed, but, it suffered a serious damage due to 2G scam, which challenged before us is how we recover from it," Modi said at a IT
business award function here.
The first clip at which India was making a place for itself in the cyber world suffered a serious damage due to this, he added.
When Vajapyee Government was formed then there was a lot of emphasis on the IT industry. An IT ministry was made, a new act was passed and special task force was constituted, he
said, adding that in the last one decade things have slowed down.
Modi also targeted Finance Minister P Chidambaram for curbing imports of gold to contain Current Account Deficit (CAD), and said his various moves to curb gold imports in his attempt to reduce CAD has resulted in a rise in smuggling of gold, which was common in 60's and 70's.
The Government should have instead focused on electronic goods industry, in which 65 per cent of demand is made by imports, he said.
The Gujarat Chief Minister emphasised on the importance of e-governance and said that India's capability in Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector will decide if the
country would become super power.
"How many tanks you have or how big is your army would not decide whether we will become a super power. How capable we are ICT sector will decide it," he added.
industry and said various scams during its tenure have dented the country's reputation in the sector.
The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate singled out the 2G scam and said it caused serious damage to India's reputation.
"People see 2G scam in terms of monetary damage it caused to exchequer. I see it in a different way. India was making its presence felt in cyber world at a very fast speed, but, it suffered a serious damage due to 2G scam, which challenged before us is how we recover from it," Modi said at a IT
business award function here.
The first clip at which India was making a place for itself in the cyber world suffered a serious damage due to this, he added.
When Vajapyee Government was formed then there was a lot of emphasis on the IT industry. An IT ministry was made, a new act was passed and special task force was constituted, he
said, adding that in the last one decade things have slowed down.
Modi also targeted Finance Minister P Chidambaram for curbing imports of gold to contain Current Account Deficit (CAD), and said his various moves to curb gold imports in his attempt to reduce CAD has resulted in a rise in smuggling of gold, which was common in 60's and 70's.
The Government should have instead focused on electronic goods industry, in which 65 per cent of demand is made by imports, he said.
The Gujarat Chief Minister emphasised on the importance of e-governance and said that India's capability in Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector will decide if the
country would become super power.
"How many tanks you have or how big is your army would not decide whether we will become a super power. How capable we are ICT sector will decide it," he added.
Reliance Jio to offer voice services with Cheap Internet
The voice-dominated domestic telecom space is set to liven up further with corporate giant Reliance
Industries, the only national licence holder for 4G spectrum, today saying it will be offering not just high speed data but voice services as well.
"We will definitely be offering voice ... the fact that we have submitted the application for participating in the forthcoming 2G and 3G spectrum auctions makes it clear that we are going to enter the voice space," Reliance Group Chief Financial Officer Alok Agarwal told reporters here.
He was responding to a question on the much-talked about plan of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL), the Mukesh Ambani-led Group's telecom arm.
Agarwal, who was briefing the media on RIL's Q3 earnings, however, declined to reveal anything more such as capex plans, tariff, launch time-line, saying, "I am not going to speak
anything more on this."
This is for the first time the company, which before the Group' division was one of the pioneers in cheaper call rates when it had launched CMDA telephony under Relaince India Mobile brand, has expressed its intention to enter the voice space, which has the cheapest call rates in the world.
Earlier this week, Reliance Jio applied for participation in the spectrum auctions for the 900/1800 Mhz bands, slated for early February. The government has put 16 blocks of 900 Mhz spectrum for
auction each in Delhi and Mumbai and 14 blocks in Kolkata.
Earlier this month, Reliance Jio had told PTI it would
be offering 10-12 times faster 4G wireless service compared to
3G networks.
"We are practically achieving a speed of 49 megabit per second downlink (download) and uplink is between 8-9 mbps.
Theoretically, the present set up that we have, can achieve speed of 112 mbps downlink," an RJIL official had said.
Reliance Jio is the only Indian company to have nationwide 4G spectrum acquired for over Rs 12,000 crore in the 2010 spectrum auctions.
The company is running trial of products, including phone and TV services that it plans to provide through 4G network. It will provide outdoor customer premise equipment (CPE) that will connect to its mobile towers.
Industries, the only national licence holder for 4G spectrum, today saying it will be offering not just high speed data but voice services as well.
"We will definitely be offering voice ... the fact that we have submitted the application for participating in the forthcoming 2G and 3G spectrum auctions makes it clear that we are going to enter the voice space," Reliance Group Chief Financial Officer Alok Agarwal told reporters here.
He was responding to a question on the much-talked about plan of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL), the Mukesh Ambani-led Group's telecom arm.
Agarwal, who was briefing the media on RIL's Q3 earnings, however, declined to reveal anything more such as capex plans, tariff, launch time-line, saying, "I am not going to speak
anything more on this."
This is for the first time the company, which before the Group' division was one of the pioneers in cheaper call rates when it had launched CMDA telephony under Relaince India Mobile brand, has expressed its intention to enter the voice space, which has the cheapest call rates in the world.
Earlier this week, Reliance Jio applied for participation in the spectrum auctions for the 900/1800 Mhz bands, slated for early February. The government has put 16 blocks of 900 Mhz spectrum for
auction each in Delhi and Mumbai and 14 blocks in Kolkata.
Earlier this month, Reliance Jio had told PTI it would
be offering 10-12 times faster 4G wireless service compared to
3G networks.
"We are practically achieving a speed of 49 megabit per second downlink (download) and uplink is between 8-9 mbps.
Theoretically, the present set up that we have, can achieve speed of 112 mbps downlink," an RJIL official had said.
Reliance Jio is the only Indian company to have nationwide 4G spectrum acquired for over Rs 12,000 crore in the 2010 spectrum auctions.
The company is running trial of products, including phone and TV services that it plans to provide through 4G network. It will provide outdoor customer premise equipment (CPE) that will connect to its mobile towers.
Vodafone uses green technology at 21 pc of towers
Telecom operator Vodafone India uses renewable energy at 21 per cent of the mobile towers
managed directly by the company, according to the third edition of its sustainability report.
The company manages 11 per cent of the 1,15,268 mobile network tower sites it uses while the remainder is managed by a third party, helping to reduce Vodafone's carbon footprint,
the report for 2012-13 said.
"Where we have operational control, we continue to take
definitive steps to reduce consumption of electricity and
diesel," Vodafone said.
Calculations show the company reduced the number of
directly managed mobile towers to about 12,680 in 2012-13 from
about 14,300 in 2011-12.
According to recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India, which were accepted by the government,
telecom companies need to use renewable energy at half of
their mobile towers in rural areas and at a third of them in
urban centres by 2015.
Mobile companies are also required to reduce their carbon
footprint by 12 per cent in 2014-15 from 2011 levels.
As per the report, Vodafone India increased the number of
sites using hybrid solutions to 2,700 in 2012-13, or 21 per
cent of the total it manages, from 2,435 in 2011-12.
The impact of deploying green technology was visible with
the company's diesel consumption falling to 44,372 kilolitres
from 46,233 kilolitres in the previous fiscal, a reduction of
4 per cent.
While the number of mobile sites managed by Vodafone
declined by about 11 per cent, carbon emissions from its
network jumped 2 per cent to 4.5 lakh tonnes in 2012-13 from
4.4 lakh tonnes in the previous fiscal, the company said in
the report, without providing a reason.
Carbon emissions from third-party mobile towers increased
4.4 per cent to 19.55 lakh tonnes in 2012-13 from 18.71 lakh
tonnes in 2011-12.
Total emissions from mobile towers managed by the company
as well as third-party sites rose about 4 per cent to over 24
lakh tonnes in 2012-13 from about 23 lakh tonnes.
The report did not mention the break-up of base stations
using renewable energy in rural and urban areas.
A Twist to Nano's challenge for Maruti
The Tata Nano,
India's most affordable car, took a step towards shedding its cheap-car
image and becoming a full-fledged city car. It is also a step closer to
meet the goal its manufacturer, Tata Motors (Tata), has been working towards for over a year.
Tata launched a new variant called Twist or the XT, which is complete with electronic power-assisted steering, new instrument cluster with a trip computer, keyless entry and driver information system.
Priced at Rs 250,456 (ex-showroom, Mumbai) the Nano XT is Rs 15,000 more than the Nano LX, which was the earlier top-end variant. Yet, inspite of the bells and whistles, it still is Rs 57,825 cheaper than the base variant (no airconditioning) of the Maruti Suzuki Alto, priced at Rs 308,281 (ex-showroom, Mumbai).
Tata launched a new variant called Twist or the XT, which is complete with electronic power-assisted steering, new instrument cluster with a trip computer, keyless entry and driver information system.
Priced at Rs 250,456 (ex-showroom, Mumbai) the Nano XT is Rs 15,000 more than the Nano LX, which was the earlier top-end variant. Yet, inspite of the bells and whistles, it still is Rs 57,825 cheaper than the base variant (no airconditioning) of the Maruti Suzuki Alto, priced at Rs 308,281 (ex-showroom, Mumbai).
shopping trend changes as malls get a new flavour
Move over foreign brands; ‘local’ is the new buzz across the country’s shopping malls. Traditional standalone high-street silk and textile chains from the South, such as Nallis, RmKV, Naidu Hal and Kalaniketan, besides jewellery brands like Malabar Gold and Kalyan Jewellers, are making inroads into malls. Besides, stores spread across popular marketplace, a hunting ground for attractive bargains, such as Delhi’s Chandni Chowk and Lajpat Nagar are also booking mall space to tap trendy shoppers.
While Nallis, RmKV and Naidu Hall have already entered several malls in Chennai and Bangalore, retailers from Chandni Chowk are set to be part of Gurgaon’s DLF Mall from July. Among other brands, Kalaniketan, Malabar and Kalyan have already entered Hyderabad’s malls.
With malls struggling to retain customers and big retailers, the big thing happening now is the entry of local retailers in this format. Developers need to value local retailers to make their malls successful,” says Shubhranshu Pani, managing director (retail), Jones Lang Lasalle India.
Fashion wear stores Kapil & Monika and Kapsons from the North and Cocopelee from Bangalore are among 30-odd names that have entered malls in recent times or are preparing to do so in various cities.
Anand Sundaram, chief executive officer, Pioneer Property Zone (PPZ), a mall management firm, says, “Traditional brands that used to operate at a single-store level are now on an expansion spree, especially in South India, where retail market is different, probably much sharper.” Traditional, as well as local brands have started moving into malls and this will emerge as a big trend by the end of the year, he adds.
Amid a demand slowdown, malls across India are struggling to attract shoppers; many have even shut shops. Over the years, there has been a substantial increase in space taken by malls. But only a few have been successful. A leading Noida-based property developer says: “We need to adapt to changing times. Preferences of people are changing. Malls are no longer just about shopping, we need to offer more to attract people, especially youngsters.”
On the other hand, local retailers have realised that customers want a good ambience, combined with other facilities — a standalone shop may not be able to offer that.
Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director (South Asia), Cushman & Wakefield, says developers are now looking at conducting flea markets and inviting unorganised retailers to give a local flavour to shopping centres.
To attract customers, mall developers are announcing, with retailers’ consent, offers like “all shops on 50 per cent sale” day. Under this, all shops in a mall offer sale on a particular day. Another trend is offering discounts on a typically low-footfall day (weekday) to a specific section of a mall — Mumbai’s Growel Mall, for example, has introduced Thoosday, where the entire food court offers sale on Tuesdays, Dutt adds.
Pushpa Bector-senior, vice president (leasing & mall head), DLF, says the success of a mall depends on three factors — whether the developer has sold or leased the mall and the kind of revenue-sharing agreement it has with the retailers; whether it is designed to attract all retailers and garner appropriate visibility; and the type of catchment area. “If you have built your mall at a location where you can’t get potential buyers, the project will definitely face trouble.”
JLL’s Pani says: “Mall management is a dynamic process. One needs to ensure for customers good ambience, proper parking space and promotional events, besides taking feedback from them.”
One of the major reasons for failure of certain malls is poor design; this results in dead spaces. Some developers have eliminated alleys or narrow passages that a mall’s inherently poor design results in and have merged those with existing stores, says a JLL note.
Also, there’s greater emphasis on directing footfall traffic along the mall’s entire floor scape, providing parity and frontage to all stores. Some mall developers are even introducing first-time brands or attractions in the extreme ends to encourage shoppers to stroll through these areas, the note adds.
Further, there is an increased focus to connect with customers through social media websites. Entertainment formats like 5D theatre, horror houses/magic mirrors, joy rides, toy trains, apart from multiplexes, are also coming in handy.
While Nallis, RmKV and Naidu Hall have already entered several malls in Chennai and Bangalore, retailers from Chandni Chowk are set to be part of Gurgaon’s DLF Mall from July. Among other brands, Kalaniketan, Malabar and Kalyan have already entered Hyderabad’s malls.
With malls struggling to retain customers and big retailers, the big thing happening now is the entry of local retailers in this format. Developers need to value local retailers to make their malls successful,” says Shubhranshu Pani, managing director (retail), Jones Lang Lasalle India.
Fashion wear stores Kapil & Monika and Kapsons from the North and Cocopelee from Bangalore are among 30-odd names that have entered malls in recent times or are preparing to do so in various cities.
Anand Sundaram, chief executive officer, Pioneer Property Zone (PPZ), a mall management firm, says, “Traditional brands that used to operate at a single-store level are now on an expansion spree, especially in South India, where retail market is different, probably much sharper.” Traditional, as well as local brands have started moving into malls and this will emerge as a big trend by the end of the year, he adds.
Amid a demand slowdown, malls across India are struggling to attract shoppers; many have even shut shops. Over the years, there has been a substantial increase in space taken by malls. But only a few have been successful. A leading Noida-based property developer says: “We need to adapt to changing times. Preferences of people are changing. Malls are no longer just about shopping, we need to offer more to attract people, especially youngsters.”
On the other hand, local retailers have realised that customers want a good ambience, combined with other facilities — a standalone shop may not be able to offer that.
Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director (South Asia), Cushman & Wakefield, says developers are now looking at conducting flea markets and inviting unorganised retailers to give a local flavour to shopping centres.
To attract customers, mall developers are announcing, with retailers’ consent, offers like “all shops on 50 per cent sale” day. Under this, all shops in a mall offer sale on a particular day. Another trend is offering discounts on a typically low-footfall day (weekday) to a specific section of a mall — Mumbai’s Growel Mall, for example, has introduced Thoosday, where the entire food court offers sale on Tuesdays, Dutt adds.
Pushpa Bector-senior, vice president (leasing & mall head), DLF, says the success of a mall depends on three factors — whether the developer has sold or leased the mall and the kind of revenue-sharing agreement it has with the retailers; whether it is designed to attract all retailers and garner appropriate visibility; and the type of catchment area. “If you have built your mall at a location where you can’t get potential buyers, the project will definitely face trouble.”
JLL’s Pani says: “Mall management is a dynamic process. One needs to ensure for customers good ambience, proper parking space and promotional events, besides taking feedback from them.”
One of the major reasons for failure of certain malls is poor design; this results in dead spaces. Some developers have eliminated alleys or narrow passages that a mall’s inherently poor design results in and have merged those with existing stores, says a JLL note.
Also, there’s greater emphasis on directing footfall traffic along the mall’s entire floor scape, providing parity and frontage to all stores. Some mall developers are even introducing first-time brands or attractions in the extreme ends to encourage shoppers to stroll through these areas, the note adds.
Further, there is an increased focus to connect with customers through social media websites. Entertainment formats like 5D theatre, horror houses/magic mirrors, joy rides, toy trains, apart from multiplexes, are also coming in handy.
LPG cap hike will hit India's ratings!
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs will take up next week a proposal to increase the annual cap of subsidised LPG cylinders from nine to 12, something that is bound to displease global rating agencies that are closely watching India’s fiscal deficit.
If the government raises the cap, it will put an additional burden of Rs.3,300 to Rs.5,800 crore, or 9 per cent of the budget estimate for total petroleum subsidy, on the exchequer. The outgo will reflect in next year’s fiscal deficit as the subsidy for petroleum products for the last quarter is always paid in the first quarter of the new fiscal year. This means it will be left to the new government after the Lok Sabha election to find the resources to foot the additional bill on account of Friday’s announcement on enhanced quota.
The decision to raise the LPG cap signals a weakening of the resolve to cut inefficient subsidies. In May 2013, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram had told reporters after discussions in New Delhi with global ratings agency Moody’s that its representatives had sought details of the steps taken by the Government to check the subsidy bill and its fall-out on the fiscal deficit. Mr. Mayaram had said: “...it’s not as if the picture is fully rosy... We have said that we know there are problems but ...the government is fully committed to take action so that the problems that we are seeing today are fully addressed.”
The meetings so far had raised confidence of the agencies in India as the Government had taken a number of tough policy measures including deregulation of diesel prices and pruning of subsidies on domestic LPG cylinders, fertilizer and sugar.
Under the nine subsidised LPG cylinder regime 89.2 per cent of the 15 crore LPG consumers are covered. The remaining 10 per cent buy the additional requirement at the market price.
If the quota is raised to 12, about 97 percent of the consumers would be covered by subsidised LPG. Consumers who have already exhausted their quota and would have had to buy LPG at the market price of Rs. 1,258 per cylinder will now get relief in shape of three extra subsidised cylinders in the remainder of the financial year. Subsidised LPG costs Rs. 414 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.
The quota of LPG subsidised cylinders was raised from six to nine in January last year.
If the government raises the cap, it will put an additional burden of Rs.3,300 to Rs.5,800 crore, or 9 per cent of the budget estimate for total petroleum subsidy, on the exchequer. The outgo will reflect in next year’s fiscal deficit as the subsidy for petroleum products for the last quarter is always paid in the first quarter of the new fiscal year. This means it will be left to the new government after the Lok Sabha election to find the resources to foot the additional bill on account of Friday’s announcement on enhanced quota.
The decision to raise the LPG cap signals a weakening of the resolve to cut inefficient subsidies. In May 2013, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram had told reporters after discussions in New Delhi with global ratings agency Moody’s that its representatives had sought details of the steps taken by the Government to check the subsidy bill and its fall-out on the fiscal deficit. Mr. Mayaram had said: “...it’s not as if the picture is fully rosy... We have said that we know there are problems but ...the government is fully committed to take action so that the problems that we are seeing today are fully addressed.”
The meetings so far had raised confidence of the agencies in India as the Government had taken a number of tough policy measures including deregulation of diesel prices and pruning of subsidies on domestic LPG cylinders, fertilizer and sugar.
Under the nine subsidised LPG cylinder regime 89.2 per cent of the 15 crore LPG consumers are covered. The remaining 10 per cent buy the additional requirement at the market price.
If the quota is raised to 12, about 97 percent of the consumers would be covered by subsidised LPG. Consumers who have already exhausted their quota and would have had to buy LPG at the market price of Rs. 1,258 per cylinder will now get relief in shape of three extra subsidised cylinders in the remainder of the financial year. Subsidised LPG costs Rs. 414 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.
The quota of LPG subsidised cylinders was raised from six to nine in January last year.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
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