KalyanJournalist

India economic ties get British PMO priority

2010-10-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London October 29, 2010

Following Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to India in July, his office is seeking a monthly report on the progress in strengthening the bilateral economic relationship. This is possibly the first time the PM’s office is asking for a monthly progress report on the UK’s business relationship with a particular country.

The report has been sought from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), a government body that helps British companies trade internationally and assists foreign ones to bring investment here.

Though the details of this report are not available, a good part of it will come from the UK India Business Council, the lead organisation in this regard. UKIBC is financially supported by UKTI.

Confirming this, a spokesperson for UKTI said, “The PM has placed great emphasis on our relationship with India, and the visit in July was only the beginning. He, and the coalition government (here), are clear that this was not a flash in the pan, and that sustained effort and commitment will be needed to build a wide-ranging relationship for the 21st century.”

Adding: “The Prime Minister, therefore, takes a continued interest in the ongoing engagements with India, and we ensure he is fully and appropriately apprised of these. He is very keen to see that this renewed focus and effort translates into real results for UK and Indian businesses.”

India focus
The present coalition government, since it got into power in May, has been stressing on stronger economic ties between Britain and India. In the Queens’s address to the two Houses of Parliament on May 25, India was the only country mentioned in terms of Britain’s bilateral relations. The Queen’s Speech (delivered to the first session of Parliament each year), written by the government, said, “My government looks forward to an enhanced partnership with India.” India was also the first emerging market Cameron visited after becoming PM.

Since September, UKIBC has also got a new CEO, Richard Heald, formerly vice-chairman of Rothschild India, who has pledged to improve economic ties with India.

During the 13-year Labour government that ended in May, the economic relationship with India fell. In the past 10 years, Britain has slipped from being India’s fourth biggest source of imports to the 18th position. Foreign direct investment from Britain into India has fallen steadily in the past five years, though India Inc was aggressively active in Britain during this period.

As part of an effort to boost economic ties, UKIBC has identified six segments to work on. These includes skills & vocations, retail & supply chains, infrastructure, advanced engineering, health & life science and digital control.

Earlier this week, addressing a gathering of business leaders at the CBI annual conference, Cameron reiterated his stance on India. “Last year, the share of UK exports to China and India was just 3.2 per cent. Indeed, the UK exports more to Ireland than to Brazil, Russia, India and China – combined. These are shocking figures,” he said.

Life-saver at Euro airports from Indian innovator

2010-10-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London October 29, 2010

Kromek, the Durham (UK)-based technology company founded and headed by Kolkata-born Arnab Basu, has received the official European Union certification to provide its colour x-ray liquid detection system to all European airports.

By April 2011, liquid items will be allowed on board if the appropriate security measures are in place at the airports concerned. The results of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC)-led trials prove the technology is ready to allow the 2011 regulatory deadline to be met by the airports. By April 2013, the ban will be lifted completely, allowing the carriage of liquids on flights across Europe.

The company is also in talks with the Indian civil aviation sector and hopes to have the the new product in place at Indian airports by the first quarter of next year. Kromek’s bottle scanner has qualified as a Category-B device (scan every single bottle without opening), that has achieved Type-1 (lower threshold to detecting threats) and Type-2 (higher threshold) 100 per cent capability and been officially tested, verified and authorised by ECAC. As of now, all EU airports are free to buy and implement Kromek’s bottle scanner product. The product, from drawing board to its final version, took a little over two years and was developed by a team of 55 at Kromek. It can handle up to the size of a two-litre Coke bottle and by itself measures three-fourth of a metre by three-fourth of a metre.

Next-gen technology
“It’s a significant milestone for Kromek, as the approved listing is vindication that colour x-ray detection has been proven,” said Arnab Basu, CEO. “The next generation of X-ray technology has arrived, with a market-ready machine that can detect liquid threats.” He said though Kromek was essentially a tech company, it had also rolled out a manufacturing strategy, with the setting up of a 25,000-sq ft production facility at Durham to produce up to 5,000 units of the new bottle scanner. Kromek’s revolutionary technology signals a new era in colour x-ray detection and a market-changing development in aviation security.

“The threat from liquid, aerosol and gel-based explosives became apparent in August 2006, following discovery of a plot to use such devices aboard multiple transatlantic flights. Although Kromek had not set out to produce such equipment, we were quick to realise with our capabilities that we had the versatility to produce a solution for this market need,” said Basu.

Kromek, he says, is planning to soon announce a similar breakthrough in cancer detection technology. “We see ourselves as a life saving and life enhancing technology provider,” he added.

SBI readies for retail push in UK

2010-10-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London October 28, 2010

Targets the 1.1-million NRI/PIO market, to begin with home mortgages.

Targeting a market of 1.1 million people of Indian origin and non-resident Indians in the UK, the local branch of India’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India, is preparing for a big push in mortgages (housing loans) within the retail banking segment.

A full rollout of the products will be completed by March 2011 and the UK branch of SBI will be adding three branches over the existing seven to push its retail agenda. With this, SBI will take on local heavyweights in the mortgage segment such as HSBC, Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds and RBS.

Apart from addressing the local mortgage market among NRIs, the bank also proposes to offer a suite of mutual fund (MF) products from its own stable and from other MFs in India.

SBI UK’s CEO and regional head, Rajnish Kumar, said despite the presence of several large Indian banks in the UK, the penetration among NRIs was less than 10 per cent. The estimated net worth of NRIs and people of Indian origin in the UK is £50-60 billion.

Of SBI’s seven branches in the UK, four are in London and one each in Birmingham, Manchester and Leicester. Three new branches at Newham (London), Wolverhampton and Coventry and an additional 30 people will be added to the existing 150 to enable the retail push.

The bank is also hiring a new head of retail to oversee this operation. SBI tested its ability to address the retail market in the UK with savings and fixed deposit accounts and got some 6,000 customers over the past year. Kumar said with fresh push in the retail segment, he hoped to take this to at least 15,000 customers over the next year.

A similar retail push is planned in other foreign branches in the US, Canada and Hong Kong, though the offerings will vary depending on the local demand.

SBI UK has until now focused on wholesale banking, with strong presence in syndicating external commercial borrowings and trade finance for imports from the UK into India. “After investing in core banking technology over the last five years, we are now ready to service a larger customer base in the retail sector in the UK,” Kumar said.

BS People: Dheeraj Hinduja Twin edge

2010-10-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / October 26, 2010

The elevation of Dheeraj Hinduja, 39, as the new chairman marks a new beginning for Ashok Leyland, India's second-oldest and second-largest truck maker. As the third generation Hinduja takes charge, R J Shahaney, who had been with the company for more than three decades, of which he was the chairman for 13, exits. Ashok Leyland has been the runner-up in the Indian truck and bus market for far too long with little sign of closing in on Tata. Insiders believe that HInduja could be the man to change that.

His colleagues say he sticks to his family principle and allows the CEOs of group companies to deal with the day-to-day affairs, but is keen to know what the companies are up to. Based in London, he visits India at least once every six to eight weeks. “He does not believe in surprise visits, but keeps himself updated constantly. His interaction is strictly with the CEOs of the company,” says a Hinduja Group executive.

The next phase in Ashok Leyland will be crucial. For the first time, the company, which has been a leader in the heavy segment, will take on overall market leader Tata Motors with an entry into smaller trucks (3-7 tonnes) with its joint venture with Nissan. An automotive industry lobbyists says Hinduja was Shahaney’s understudy for the last three years as the co-chairman.

He has spent more than a decade and a half at strategic and leadership levels, covering a variety of businesses such as automotive, energy, infrastructure, finance & banking, IT & ITES, media and healthcare. He holds BSc (Hons) from the University College, London, and an MBA from the Imperial College, London. He is married with two children.

David Cameron sends mixed signals on immigration

2010-10-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London October 26, 2010

UK Prime Minister David Cameron today assured the country’s business leaders that even though his government was committed to bringing immigration to a manageable level, his government’s forthcoming policies would allow smooth flow of talent into the country.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Cameron said: “...let me give you this assurance, as we control our borders and bring immigration to a manageable level, we will not impede you from attracting the best talent from around the world.”

In less than five months into the government, this assurance from the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government comes on the back of a pre-election promise that the new government would set a cap on non-EU immigration into the UK.

In June this year, the coalition government had announced an annual cap on immigration from non-EU countries into the UK that would be limited to 24,100, or five per cent less than last year’s.

It was also assured that this was a temporary policy. Permanent limits on non-EU economic migration routes was then said to be decided and put in place by April 1, 2011. The new government has been in consultation with businesses on the details of how the final limit would be delivered, details of which would be available by the end of the first quarter next year.

Reacting to Cameron’s assurance, CBI Director-General Richard Lambert said: “It was encouraging that he encompassed all parts of the economy, from broadband to ports and from transport to energy. He also made it clear that access to finance and immigration would not be barriers.”

Cameron also reiterated his government’s commitment to partner with India (and China) in developing stronger economic ties. “I believe one of the most important things the government can do is drive trade. Last year, the share of UK exports to China and India was just 3.2 per cent. Indeed, the UK exports more to Ireland than to Brazil, Russia, India and China combined. These are shocking figures.”

“My approach is clear, British business should have no more vocal champion than the British government and that’s why I have put the promotion of British commerce and international trade at the heart of our foreign and economic policy. So, when I went to India this summer, I took the biggest visiting delegation of business leaders and entrepreneurs of any prime minister in recent memory,” Cameron said.

Deal with union saves JLR plant

2010-10-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London October 16, 2010

Tata to invest £1 bn a year, workers agree to wage settlement

After completing an investment of about £1 billion over the last one year in new technologies and product development, Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) today said that it would continue to invest an equal amount every year over the next five years.

Improving sales and a return to profitability have also enabled the company to reconsider its plans to close one of its plants in UK’s Midlands. JLR has signed a new deal with its unions that will see pay rise for existing workers by around 5 per cent and also add another 1,500 workers over the next year, taking its total workforce to 17,500 by the end of next year.

“This is a triumph for all concerned,” said JLR Chief Executive Ralf Speth. “The agreement is a great deal for our workers and the company, and we can now really get on with working together to achieve an even more exciting future for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. This is truly the beginning of a new era for Jaguar Land Rover.”

Nearly a year ago, the company had announced plans to shut one of its plants in the UK and streamline operations without any additional job losses.

RECOVERY ROAD

# 3 plants, 2 development sites in UK kept until 2010

# Two-year agreement with the workforce on wages

# Annual investment of £1 bn a year for next 5 years

# 4,000 new jobs to be created over the next decade

The present intention to keep all three plants in the UK comes as a surprise. A couple of weeks ago, Tata Motors CEO Carl-Peter Forster had said at the Paris Motor Show that JLR wanted to merge plants. “The most efficient model is one large operation,” he had said.

Dave Osborne, union Unite’s lead negotiator for the car industry, said: “This agreement secures the future of all JLR workers in the UK for the next 10 years and beyond. Just 18 months ago, our members agreed to changes to their terms and conditions, which ultimately helped the company navigate its way through an unprecedented recession. There can be no bigger sign of loyalty to JLR than that.”

Commenting on the new deal, David Bailey of Coventry University Business School and an expert on UK's automotive sector, said: "JLR gets to cut costs, a plant stays open and new workers will get new jobs in the future, albeit on lower starting rates of pay. The latter is especially important as, with an ageing population and workforce, people leaving the firm will be replaced by younger, cheaper workers, giving the firm a competitive boost. But the overwhelmingly good news is that the threat of closure has been lifted from the historic Castle Bromwich plant here in Birmingham."

A JLR spokesperson said that development of a new sports car by Jaguar will continue as proposed earlier, and will be positioned a notch below the current Jaguar XK model. The concept electric hybrid, also under the Jaguar badge, will not be rolled into commercial production anytime soon. "That was a model developed to celebrate Jaguar 75th anniversary, not for production," the spokesperson clarified.

Tata Motors group sales were up by 19 per cent in September. JLR global sales in September were 19,528 vehicles, higher by 16 per cent. Jaguar sales for the month were 4,861, higher by 10 per cent, while Land Rover sales were 14,667, higher by 19 per cent.

Cumulative sales of JLR for the fiscal are 112,287, higher by 40 per cent. Cumulative sales of Jaguar are 29,780, higher by 27 per cent, while cumulative sales of Land Rover are 82,507, higher by 45 per cent.

Cairn Energy shareholders approve Vedanta deal

2010-10-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London October 8, 2010

Shareholders in oil explorer Cairn Energy Plc today approved plans to sell the bulk of the company's stake in Cairn India to London-listed mining company Vedanta Resources Plc for up to $8.48 billion.

About 99 per cent of all the shareholders unanimously approved the sale of 40 to 51 per cent stake in Cairn India to Vedanta Group, a spokesperson at Cairn Energy said. “We are pleased that Cairn Energy shareholders have approved the proposed transaction with Vedanta. This is an important step in the process towards completion (of the deal),” he said.

But the Cairn-Vedanta deal is far from conclusion. Besides seeking its shareholders’ approval before

October 30, Vedanta Group will have to complete the Indian open offer for the transaction to reach its logical ends.

Vedanta Group is yet to get the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi’s) nod for making an open offer to minority shareholders of Cairn India, as the market regulator awaits the government to clear the deal first.

While Vedanta is acquiring 40 to 51 per cent stake in Cairn India at Rs 405 per share, Sesa Goa, its subsidiary has applied for approval to make an open offer for an additional 20 per cent in Cairn India at Rs 355 per share.

Meanwhile, petroleum secretary S Sundareshan today said the government would take a call on Cairn Energy’s stake sale to Vedanta Resources by the end of this calendar year.

“The production sharing contracts require detailed examination, so we will into production-sharing contracts carefully and take the view with regard to granting the permission," he said, adding that the decision would come "sooner than later, hopefully within the next couple of months, by the year-end."

The deal would also be subject to Vedanta qualifying as a technically competent company to own and run Cairn India, according to Indian government officials.

“The issue has not been considered by the Indian government till now at all and all the focus has been on the applications given to us by Cairn Energy. One of the grounds for granting the permission is that the new party should have sufficient technical expertise,” Sundareshan said. “This will be examined when we take a final decision. I would like to make it very clear that I have no comment to offer on either the experience or the inexperience of the potential buyer. We have not made up our mind either way.”

Another Indian official said he didn't think ONGC had plans to preempt the stake sale, after ONGC said in September it was "not passive" to the deal and trade minister Anand Sharma said in August the company should have a say in the transaction.

“I don’t think the ONGC board has seriously considered the idea of a counter-offer,” Sundareshan said. “It is the question of money involved, it is a very large investment,” he said while responding to a question whether the ONGC was planning a counter-offer to Cairn Energy.

Senior officials from the oil ministry are visiting London along with oil minister Murli Deora for a curtain raiser event in London for the ninth round of New Exploration and Licensing Policy, which proposes to offer 35 new blocks. Officials said nearly 60 per cent of the blocks offered this time were fresh ones and not recycled ones as it was done in the eighth round.

The eighth round, which saw 70 blocks being offered, managed to sell only half of what was offered. With better seismic data in hand this time, ministry officials hope to find more buyers this time. Apart from the UK, officials will be visiting Russia as well and one of the visiting officials said the offer to Russia came after a gap of two years.

Absolute Radio's loss swells 62%

2010-10-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London October 07, 2010

Two years after buying Virgin Radio and re-branding it as Absolute Radio in the UK, The Times of India-controlled radio station has reported a 62 per cent rise in pre-tax loss to £4.3 million for calendar year 2009.

The station owners blamed recession and rebranding for this rise in losses and fall in overall revenues by a third under the new management. Revenue fell to £14.8 million from £22 million. In 2008, pre-tax loss was at £2.65 million.

The radio station changed hands in mid-2008, when the India-based publishing conglomerate bought it from the Richard Branson-controlled Virgin Group (Scotish Media Group) for £53.2 million without the “Virgin” brand name. The current owner, TIML, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd, the ultimate owners of The Times of India and other group publications.

The new owner, however, is bullish about the coming months, and said revenues had started to look up as September revenues were reported to be up by 20 per cent. The station said its growth in revenues came at a time when the national advertising market was down by three per cent.

Commenting on the results, Donnach O’Driscoll, CEO, said, “The heavy lifting is now behind us. We look forward to building on the strong growth shown in the most recent audience figures and we are optimistic about 2011.”

Absolute said costs were down by 22.5 per cent, or £5.6 million, to £19.1 million in 2009. Wages were reduced from £4.76 million in 2008 to £3.4 million in 2009 as a result of the number of staff falling from 105 in 2008 to 90 in 2009.

Cash used in operations was just £1.6 million, reflecting a combination of non-cash items and a strong working capital management performance.

“The past two years have seen Absolute Radio Network reposition itself as it drives towards a digital future, reporting a 33 per cent increase in digital listening and considerable progression in digital online and mobile year on year. It continues to invest consistently in premium audio content to build audiences and drive new revenue streams,” an operational note from the station said.

Ed Miliband is new Labour Party head

2010-10-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London September 27, 2010

Edward Miliband, 40, has been elected the new leader of Britain’s second largest party, to succeed former Prime Minister and party leader, Gordon Brown.

He won with 50.65 per cent of party-member votes, defeating his elder brother David Miliband (49.65), four years his senior, by a wafer-thin margin. The result was announced late last evening at Manchester.

“I joined the party when I was 17. Never in my wildest imagination did I believe that one day I will lead this party,” he said, while addressing party members and supporters.

In the final run up to the election, five candidates were in the fray. Diane Abbott (first Afro-Caribbean woman to contest for the party leadership), Ed Ball, former education minister, Andy Burnham and the Miliband brothers. The voting took four rounds to decide the the leader, though a knock-out system. It saw Abbott leave the fray first, followed by Burnham, Balls and finally David Miliband.

Ed Miliband’s success was to a large extent made possible by the backing of the unions. He takes over as leader at a difficult time for the Labour party. It is barely recovering from a defeat in this year’s general election, after a 13-year reign under first Tony Blair and then Gordon Brown.

Speaking at the Andrew Marr show on BBC this morning, he said unity and humility were the key to the party’s future and it must blame itself for the defeat in the recent general election, not blame the electorates.

Ed Miliband is the son of Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband (whose father fled from Belgium during the second world war; he was earlier from Warsaw, Poland). He studied in Oxford and the London School of Economics, joining the Labour party when 17. He gradually rose to the position of cabinet minister in October 2008 (he was first elected to Parliament in 2005), when he was appointed minister for the then newly created Department of Energy and Climate Change. He held this charge till the general election defeat.

Accepting the leadership office, he first paid rich tribute to his brother (who was foreign minister till the Brown government stepped down) and said, “David, I love you so much as a brother. And, I have such extraordinary respect for the campaign that you ran. The strength and eloquence that you showed. And, you taught us the most important lesson. Which is, we can be the party that reaches out to the community and we can also be a serious party of government again.”

UK media slams New Delhi

2010-10-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London September 23, 2010

Popular and intellectual British media today uncharacteristically joined hands in conducting a full frontal attack on the state of preparedness of the upcoming Delhi Commonwealth Games, scheduled to commence in less than two weeks.

Both The Times and The Guardian raised doubts over the games organisers’ ability to meet the deadline set for October 3, when the games will be declared open.

The Guardian carried the picture of the bridge that collapsed near the main venue of CWG – Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium – injuring 27 workers with a provocative title. “Does this look ready to you?”.

The Times carried the story of the fiasco surrounding the games as the only story on page one with a title ‘Games crisis grows as British stars pull out’.

Even Business Secretary Vince Cable’s attacks on banks (which has a far more significant impact on the British economy) at his party’s annual conference was prioritised below the games story, highlighting Britain’s serious concerns over the Game’s preparedness.

The tabloid-styled Daily Mail reported three of England’s top athletes pulling out of the game “as the chaotic £1.5 billion event edged closer to being cancelled”. Earlier, Olympic 400m gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu, world champion triple jumper Philips Idowu and Commonwealth 1,500m champion Lisa Dobriskey said they were pulling out of the games, citing the collapse of the footbridge as the reason for their decision, Daily Mail reported.

UK’s most popular daily tabloid The Sun in a page 9 report dubbed the game as “Commonwealth shames”. Despite attempts by the organisers in fire fighting the media frenzy, the comment from Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fannell that it was the “biggest crisis in the Games’ history” helped in fuelling media speculation on the success of the games.

India second-most challenging place for expats: Survey

2010-10-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London September 18, 2010

It has emerged that India is the second-most difficult posting for expatriate managers to work in, according to a report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit today.

The survey conducted in July this year covered 418 executives who had collectively worked in 77 different countries. It showed that 34 per cent believed working in India would qualify them for a special ‘hardship’ living allowance, next only to Nigeria (37 per cent).

The hardship estimate is based on factors such as political stability, crime levels and quality of housing, health and education, according to the authors of the survey-based report.

The survey also showed that India ranked third in terms of where the number of expatriate executives were coming from (21 per cent) and sixth in terms of where expatriate executives were heading for (16 per cent). More than a third of those polled were working in China (35 per cent).

The survey also showed that a stint in a major emerging market scuh as India boosts careers. Although employers will not explicitly say so, employees believe working in a major market will make a big difference to the career. Around 80 per cent of those polled believe an assignment in a major emerging market will make the difference.

Quoting Yvonne McNulty, Monash University, the report said, “Expatriate assignments used to be very much company-generated. Companies selected individuals. This tradition has now been turned on its head and many assignments are now self-initiated.”

Haroon Lorgat: Mr Clean

2010-10-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / New Delhi September 14, 2010

If formidable challenges help define a person’s real mettle, this is definitely the time for Haroon Lorgat to tell the world he means business. As CEO of International Cricket Council, this accountant-turned-management consultant-turned-PE firm founder has his plate full while the world of sports fans and sports managers wait to see if he will stand up to the big challenge.

That challenge was a scathing report based on a sting operation by weekly tabloid News of the World from Rupert Murdoch’s stable that three Pakistani players were involved in a match fixing scandal during the fourth test match between England and Pakistan at Lords involving £150,000 changing hands.

The ICC under Lorgat’s leadership lost no time in springing into action. Less than a week after this news broke, despite severe criticism by Pakistan Cricket Board and Pakistan High Commission in London, Lorgat along with colleague Ronnie Flanagan of ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit temporarily suspended the three players pending investigation not only by Scotland Yard, but also the ICC itself.

Even before this, just two days into the scandal surfacing Lorgat went public and said, “Make no mistake — once the process is complete, if any players are found to be guilty, the ICC will ensure that the appropriate punishment is handed out. We will not tolerate corruption in this great game.”

Born in South Africa, Haroon completed his BCom from Rhodes University and went to work for one of the Big Four accounting firms, where he trained to become a chartered accountant in 1985. After a brief stint at IBM, he set up his own consulting firm, which he merged into Ernst & Young. In June 2008, he became ICC’s CEO — only the third man to hold this office in the body’s 99-year old history. A cricket all-rounder himself, Logart has played 76 first class matches for his country. However, going by the widening scope of the current cricket scandal, this could prove his toughest innings so far.

Vedanta set to source bauxite from Gujarat

2010-09-13T01:19:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London September 13, 2010

Even as London-based mining and metals major Vedanta Resources struggles to procure bauxite from Niyamgiri in Orissa for its 1-million tonne capacity alumina project in the state, it has managed to find a new source of a slightly lower grade of bauxite in Gujarat.

According to a senior Vedanta executive, the supply of bauxite from Gujarat should start this week. The Orissa alumina project needs about 3 million tonnes of bauxite to run at full capacity. An estimated 55 per cent of this already comes from Balco in Chhattisgarh and another 25 per cent from Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The remaining 20 per cent is expected to be met from Gujarat and in part from Maharashtra, said Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer for Vedanta Aluminium Ltd in Lanjigarh, Orissa.

The additional source of bauxite will cost Vedanta nearly four times that of procuring it from Orissa. The cost of bauxite from Orissa would have been Rs 600 a tonne, while the new source will cost company around Rs 2,400 a tonne. The difference is mainly due to the cost of transportation by sea from the west coast to the east coast and rail freight charges for the last mile by land.

The cost of production, therefore, will escalate, but the company expects this to be only a temporary challenge and hopes to find a new source of bauxite within Orissa.

The company has an agreement with state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation to feed its plant with bauxite ore. “The state is committed to this deal and we hope to resolve it soon,” said Kumar.

PACKAGE DEAL Vedanta’s investment proposal in Orissa (Figures in Rs crore)
Power project (2,400 Mw)	12,500
Alumina project (up to 5 mtpa)	12,500
Aluminium smelter project (up to 1.75 mtpa)	20,000
Vedanta University in Puri	15,000
Total	60,000
(Note: According to Vedanta Resources, successful implementation of its industrial projects would fetch Orissa state additional tax revenue of Rs 2,500 crore annually)

The bauxite from Gujarat is also of lower quality than what it would have been in Orissa. The alumina content in the bauxite in Gujarat is around 42 per cent, while the Niyamgiri ore has 44-47 per cent alumina content. Further, the silica content in the Gujarat ore is 3.5-4.2 per cent, or nearly four times that of the Niyamgiri ore. Every 0.1 per cent of additional silica in the ore means an additional 3-3.5 kg of caustic soda used in processing the bauxite, thus escalating the cost of refining.

It may recalled that the Narendra Modi-led BJP state government had come to the rescue of Tata Motors when the company was unable to build its Nano small car project in Singur in West Bengal. The project was relocated o Sanand in Gujarat in October 2008.

Until recently, the Gujarat government had a stated policy of not allowing bauxite to be shipped outside the state or overseas. This policy was changed two months ago to allow movement of ore within the country. Gujarat Mining Development Corporation floated three tenders in four months, but could not find buyers due to the lower quality of the state’s bauxite.

Vedanta hopes to overcome this problem by mixing the Gujarat bauxite with better quality ores from other sources within the country. “We will blend it with bauxite from Chhattisgarh and Jharkand,” said Kumar.

Like Posco’s steel project India, Vedanta is also a victim of the political tussle between the BJD government in Orissa and the Congress-led coalition at the Centre. The Orissa Mining Corporation, which has sought the Centre’s clearance to extract bauxite in the state, is a state government-owned company, with Vedanta only a buyer of the ore.

Orissa has the largest source of bauxite in the country, with reserves in excess of 2,000 million tonnes. Nearly a third of these deposits are within a 40-km radius of Vedanta’s refinery. In the last 25 years, only 90 million tonnes of ore has been extracted in the state by central government-owned Nalco.

Pak envoy sees Pawar's hand in ICC suspension

2010-09-04T13:49:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London September 4, 2010

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK, Wajid Hasan, today criticised International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat and President Sharad Pawar, saying he sensed a “conspiracy” behind the suspension of three Pakistani cricket players facing allegations of spot-fixing.

He told the BBC that ICC intervention at such an early stage of investigation was uncalled for. Hasan said when the result of an investigation by Scotland Yard was pending, ICC had no authority to intervene at this juncture. He said even the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could not take action or intervene when there is an ongoing inquiry.

Later in the day, addressing a press conference in London, Lorgat dismissed a question that the action had been taken to keep Pakistan out of international cricket.

Late last night, ICC had issued a statement saying that it has charged Pakistani players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir with offences under its anti-corruption code, relating to allegations of spot-fixing during the fourth test between England and Pakistan at Lord’s last month.

In an interview published today, Hasan also said that the Pakistani cricketers under investigation were pawns in a game of vendetta meted out by Indian bookies in Mumbai, who had a score to settle with Mazhar Majeed, the bookie in London first arrested and later released on bail by the British police.

In an interview to The Daily Telegraph, Hasan claimed, “(Mazhar Majeed) was a bookie involved with Indian bookies in Mumbai. I think it is the Indian bookies that have used the sting operations to settle scores with this Majeed chap... probably because he has not kept his contract with them.”

The spot-fixing scandal first broke early last month after a sting operation conducted by media baron Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid News of the World.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat played down the conflict with the PCB, saying that Hasan had a right to his opinion and that ICC would question the players only after it gets a green signal from Scotland Yard. As the charges relate to the commission of a crime, Scotland Yard questions the players involved first.

Lorgat today said, “We will not tolerate corruption in cricket — simple as that. We must be decisive with such matters, and if proven, these offences carry serious penalties up to a life ban. The ICC will do everything possible to keep such conduct out of the game, and we will stop at nothing to protect the sport's integrity. While we believe the problem is not widespread, we must always be vigilant.

“It is important, however, that we do not pre-judge the guilt of these three players. That is for the independent tribunal alone to decide," Lorgat added.

Corus inks draft Teesside sale

2010-08-27T14:14:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London August 28, 2010

After months of negotiations, Tata Steel-owned Corus has tentatively agreed to sell the beleaguered Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant to Thailand's Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) for a price of £320 million (Rs 2,325 crore).

However, according to both firms, the deal is far from complete. Corus MD and CEO Kirby Adams said, “This is the first of several steps required to reach a definitive sale agreement in the coming months, which, with the anticipated cooperation of the government, employee representatives and the northeast community, should result in the restart of steelmaking on Teesside in the first half of 2011.”

TCP was partially mothballed in February this year, after a consortium of four buyers pulled out of a 10-year purchase contract with Corus, leading to a loss of nearly 1,500 jobs. The contract had helped Corus sell nearly 80 per cent of the plant's total output, which explains the need for mothballing when the deal was snapped. Between April and December 2009, TCP lost around £150 million due to the terminated contract. Corus said it would continue to pursue legal action against the consortium.

SSI proposes to continue to keep the 700 people in the plant and may hire a “few hundreds” more depending on market conditions. The plant’s capacity is around 3.2 million tonnes annually and SSI hopes to increase it to 3.5 million tonnes in the future.

Until 2008, when the plant was running to full capacity, it fetched Corus an estimated $1.5 billion in revenues.

The assets covered by the sale MoU include the Redcar and South Bank coke ovens, TCP’s power generation facilities and sinter plant, the Redcar blast furnace and the Lackenby steelmaking facilities, Corus said.

A sale agreement would also result in Corus and SSI operating Redcar wharf (TCP’s bulk terminal) as a joint venture, giving Corus the flexibility to use Teesside to serve its other steelmaking operations, while also meeting SSI’s requirements.

Win Viriyaprapaikit, President of SSI, said: “This transaction will enable SSI to fulfil its long-standing objective of becoming a fully integrated steel producer with both primary steelmaking and rolling facilities.”

Corus and SSI will continue their negotiations, as well as hold talks with trade unions and the UK government in coming weeks and months to finalise the terms of a sale agreement.

Essar Energy's half-yearly profit falls 28%

2010-08-19T14:45:00.001-07:00

BS Reporters / London/Mumbai August 20, 2010

Lower gains on the value of its fuel inventories and weaker refining profits led London Stock Exchange-listed Essar Energy Plc to post a 28 per cent drop in its half-yearly profits.

Essar, which raised $1.85 billion through its LSE listing this May, said the profit fell to Rs 519.7 crore from Rs 722.2 crore during the first half of 2009-10.

“Inventory gains led to lower profits. However, revenues were up for the six-month period due to increase in volume and higher prices in the refinery business,” CEO Naresh Nayyar told reporters in London.

The company reported an increase of 65.8 per cent in its revenues, at Rs 476.4 crore against Rs 287.2 crore during the first half of 2010-11.

In the next four years, Essar plans to increase its power generation capacity to 11,500 Mw from the present 1,220 Mw. Vice chairman Prashant Ruia said with an exception of one power project, Mahan 1, all its oil and power projects were on track in terms of time and cost. Mahan 1, is facing minor delays in the transmission lines, but it will be sorted without any financial damage he said.

Within a four-year time frame, the company is implementing 16 power and oil projects in the country, with a total capital outlay of around $10 billion, with an estimated $8 billion going into power sector and the balance $2 billion in fresh oil refining capacities. Of the projects, seven are new ones and the others are expansion of existing capacities in both sectors. Expanded capacities will stand at 11,470 Mw of power by 2014 and 18 million tonnes of refining capacity by 2012, against 1220 Mw of power and 14 mt of refining capacity today.

Ruia said that though no definite plans exist for ‘green energy’, the company hopes to get into the sector by setting up wind energy farms, as well as setting up hydel projects in the country.

It will also continue to scout for coal, oil and gas assets within and outside the country. “Talks with Royal Dutch Shell Plc to buy refineries in Europe are ongoing,” Ruia said. Essar has been in talks with Royal Dutch Shell to buy three refineries, two in Germany and one in the UK, for almost a year.

The company will also look for retail oil assets (network of gas stations) outside India, he said. “By next year, we will start exporting oil,” he said. By the end of this financial year, the company hopes to have 1,700 retail outlets and 3,000 by end-March 2012.

The company said that P Sampath, will be joining the company as its new chief financial officer, replacing Gerry Bacon from September this year. Bacon had joined Essar Energy in January this year and said he was leaving the company to pursue academic interests.

Steelmaker Corus to invest Rs 1,355 cr in UK

2010-08-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London August 17, 2010

Tata Steel-owned Corus today said it will invest £185 million (Rs 1,355 crore) in the No 4 blast furnance at Port Talbot steelworks in Wales, that will increase capacity by 400,000 tonnes a year.

The company said the furnace will undergo a rebuild starting from July 2012. “The project will yield the additional benefit of balancing the iron and steel making capacities at Port Talbot, increasing the capacity of the two blast furnaces by up to 400,000 tonnes per year,” a release from the company said.

Corus’ outgoing MD & CEO of Tata Steel Europe, Kirby Adams said: “This investment is a major step in achieving Tata Steel’s ambition to position Port Talbot as a producer of high-quality strip products on a global scale and an internationally competitive cost base. Our capital expenditure decisions aim to invest in those who invest in themselves. As a result of this project the Port Talbot works and our downstream supply chain will be able, in the coming decades, to continue improving the quality of products and services provided to their UK and overseas strip product customers.”

Corus chief operating officer Karl-Ulrich Köhler who will become the CEO in October this year, said: “This is a major investment designed to provide Port Talbot No 4 with a long new campaign life of 20 years. The furnace’s energy efficiency and productivity will also be improved. Following this project and the rebuilding a few years ago of the No 5 blast furnace, Port Talbot will be equipped with two world-class iron making facilities.”

Corus is Europe’s second largest steel producer with main steelmaking operations in the UK and the Netherlands. Along with Tata Steel, the combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 80,000 employees across four continents.

Corus' troubled Teesside site to get new factory

2010-08-15T14:02:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London August 16, 2010

Tata Steel-owned European giant Corus has unveiled plans to construct a new £31.5-million manufacturing plant in northern England’s Teesside, which would potentially create 220 jobs. The site has been in the news for many months due to Corus’ decision to part-mothball a factory there.

Preliminary engineering work is underway at the Corus Redcar site to develop a new facility to produce steel foundation structures – called monopiles – used to secure offshore wind turbines to the seabed.

Chris Elliot, director of product marketing, said: “The UK government has approved ambitious plans to build thousands of wind turbines at sea over the next 10 years. They are intended to generate 35 gigawatts of electricity – around 15 per cent of the UK’s energy requirements. Similar developments are taking place in other European countries. In the UK alone, we estimate that about six million tonnes of steel will be needed over the next 10 years to make the foundations and tower structures for offshore wind turbines. We are positioning ourselves to take full benefit of these opportunities.”

The intention is to redeploy and re-equip redundant buildings on the company’s 3,000-acre Teesside site for monopile production and shipment of the structures which can weigh as much as 650 tonnes, a company statement said.

Corus MD and CEO Kirby Adams said: “This is one of a wide range of new employment and business opportunities which Corus is working on in Teesside. It also follows recent recruitment at our Hartlepool and Skinningrove plants, as well as at our South Yorkshire and Scottish plants.”

Jon Bolton, Corus’ long products director, said the company was moving to establish its position in this emerging market. “The development of a new plant is dependent on us securing enough orders for monopiles. Our engineers will be carrying out work in Teesside over the coming weeks to give us a head start on creating a new facility.”

The new investment plan is widely seen as a reprive for Teesside after Corus’ decision to part-mothball put nearly 1,700 jobs at risk. The company is currently in talks with Thai steel maker Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI). The status of the negotiations is not known. Tata Steel recently said it was waiting to hear from SSI.

Young Indians taking over UK Boardrooms

2010-08-15T03:09:00.003-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London August 15, 2010

More than six decades after the British left India, a new change is sweeping across company boardrooms in the UK.

A new generation of Indian expats top the list of non-British, UK-based company directors under the age of 30, according to a research.

The survey, commissioned by PR firm Eulogy! India and conducted by B2B customer information management company Blue Sheep, shows that Indian directors account for more than one in 10 non-British directors in the UK under the age of 30. The research analysed Companies House database, the UK government register of UK companies, and examined every single company, Eulogy! said. All limited companies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are registered at Companies House, an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. There are more than two million limited companies registered in Great Britain. More than 300,000 new companies are incorporated each year.

The study, however, did not cover the extent to which Indians hold leadership positions.

Adrian Brady, CEO, Eulogy! London, said the study revealed the superior quality of graduates coming out of Indian universities and B-schools, their confidence and business acumen. Interestingly, the US does not figure in the top 10, even though it continues to be the number one investor in the UK. A recent report released by the UK Trade and Investment showed that in 2009-10, of the 1,619 new investments (projects) flowing into the UK, 484 were from the US, creating over 15,000 new jobs. India, with 91 new projects, is the fourth-largest investor in the UK behind the US, Japan and France.

The research also revealed that Indian expats account for eight per cent of directors between the ages of 18 to 25, and 12 per cent of those between 26 and 30, demonstrating that the young Indian entrepreneurial spirit is thriving in the UK.

Indian directors also share top billing with those from Ireland in the 31-35-year bracket, with both accounting for 10 per cent. In total, 69 per cent of Indian company directors in the UK are under the age of 40.

Rohan Srinivasan, director of Eulogy! India, said, “This research shows that there is clearly a new generation of young Indian entrepreneurs having a huge influence overseas.

Following David Cameron’s visit to India recently, this research reinforces why India is now seen as a vital regional and economic partner for the UK. It is one of the great business centres of the world, so it speaks volumes that companies there benefit so much from the ambition and drive of these young directors.”

UK minister hopeful on buyer for Corus unit

2010-08-15T03:09:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London August 9, 2010

Staff union says politicians and management not concerned enough.

Fresh from his visit to India in the last week of July, Britain’s Business Secretary (minister) said he was hopeful a buyer would be found for Tata Steel-owned Corus’ Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant in the northeast of this country.

On his first visit to the region since being elected to power, Vince Cable said the company’s talks with Thai company SSI could bear fruit and steelmaking at the site (Redcar) could return to its original scale.

Since TCP was partially mothballed since February, around 1,700 jobs are at risk of being lost, a severe blow to the local economy.

Talking to BBC, he said, “I think potentially there is good news with the acquisition that is proceeding which will potentially re-open the blast furnace.”

He also welcomed an announcement by Corus that the scheme to help workers facing job loss at TCP had been extended for a further three months, until the end of November.

Cable’s visit to TCP, however, did not help in assuaging the local union members, who termed his visit a ‘mystery tour’ and said there was little information about the visit before it went ahead.

Community (union) general secretary Michael Leahy said, “We are extremely disappointed that Vince Cable has not addressed the biggest issue for Teesside – namely, how to restart steelmaking. Despite promising to engage with the workforce during the election campaign, his first visit to Teesside in the three months since the election was unpublicised, to allow the minister to avoid meeting those whose jobs are most at threat.”

He added: “Corus and the government appear to continue to drag their feet, while making little progress towards resuming steel production, which would give the biggest boost to the Teesside economy. The government must do all it can to ensure that TCP has a future. We believe the best chance of a future for Teesside steelmaking is for Corus to sell to somebody, such as SSI, that wants to make steel.”

In the last week of June, Tata Steel vice chairman B Muthuraman, on the sidelines of a CII-LSE conference in London, said the proposal for sale of TCP was under consideration by SSI and Tata Steel was awaiting a response.

According to its latest financial statements announced in May, Tata Steel Europe, reported positive Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of $513 million (Rs 2,303 crore) in the second half of 2009-10, compared to an Ebitda loss in of $813 million (Rs 3,655 crore) in the first half of the same financial year. The company said turnaround had been achieved "primarily on account of a stronger order book, leading to higher capacity utilisation and lower costs in the second half of 2009-10”.

Earlier, Corus also said its MD and CEO, Kirby Adams, would be stepping down in October, handing over the reins to its current chief operating officer, Karl-Ulrich Köhler.

Indian IT firms top Europe survey

2010-08-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London August 4, 2010

Cognizant first, TCS third, Infosys fourth in Performance and Satisfaction study.

Indian information technology (IT) service providers Cognizant, TCS and Infosys have topped the latest ranking of service providers in Europe, in a survey done by EquaTerra, an IT advisory service provider.

In the Performance and Satisfaction (SPPS) study by EquaTerra for 2009-10, Cognizant has captured the first position, with a 79 per cent score. TCS and Infosys have taken the third and fourth position, with 75 per cent and 74 per cent scores, respectively. The second place was taken by US company Compuctacenter, with 78 per cent.

The study evaluates client satisfaction by surveying over 2,000 client relationships from 750 top IT spending organisations across Europe, covering 12 countries. The ranking covers 25 IT service providers in all. Cognizant topped the rankings in seven of the eight parameters the study focused on. These include Relationship Management (actively managing the relationship at the operational and strategic levels), Innovation (actively identifying innovation opportunities), Transition (completing the transition successfully on time and budget and with the required functionality), Quality (meeting the service levels as set out in the Service Level Agreement), Price (charging for services in line with current market price) and Risk (shouldering reasonable commercial risk and making necessary investments to reduce it).

Jef Loos, director, EquaTerra, said this ranking, based on two-thirds of all IT deals in Europe, gives a near-accurate evaluation of client satisfaction. “We choose the clients and do cross-reference where the same client is serviced by more than one IT service provider,” Loos said.

He further said, “Cognizant had not one dissatisfied client, which makes the company the best performer among the top 25 IT outsourcing service providers that we evaluated.”

Apart from Cognizant, TCS and Infosys, the other major IT companies to appear in the top 25 list are Wipro (15), Mahindra Satyam (17) and HCL (18).

Francisco D’Souza, President and CEO, Cognizant, said,“Over the years, we have made significant investments in bringing our industry-leading, client-focused processes to Europe. Our high-touch relationship model, deep domain expertise and consulting skills, our unique reinvestment philosophy, and our ability to build strong multicultural teams around the globe have helped our customers navigate structural changes in the economy and their businesses, enabling them to stay efficient, effective and innovative.”

Hayward to step down as BP CEO from October 1

2010-07-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 28, 2010

Gets £12-mn golden handshake; American Dudley to take over.

BP today announced that its group chief executive officer Tony Hayward would step down with effect from October 1, and would be replaced by American Robert Dudley, who is currently overseeing the company’s clean-up operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hayward, who has been BP’s CEO for three years, will take up a non-executive position with its Russian operations, TNK-BP, and will remain on the board of BP until November this year.

The “gaffe-prone” Chief Executive Officer will, however, will receive a year’s salary in lieu of notice, amounting to £1.045 million (about Rs 7.6 crore), and a further £10.8 million (over Rs 78 crore) in pension.

Hayward’s huge severance package comes at a time when BP recorded a historic loss. Today, BP also reported a £17-billion loss for the second quarter against a profit of £3.1 billion in the same quarter last year. BP is also setting aside another £20.7 billion for cleaning up the disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where the company has been fighting an oil spill since April 20.

$30 bn asset sale
The energy major plans to sell oil and gas assets worth $30 billion over the next 18 months in an effort to recover from the worst financial disaster in the company’s history.

Commenting on the decision to step down, Hayward said: “The Gulf of Mexico explosion was a terrible tragedy for which — as the man in charge of BP when it happened — I will always feel a deep responsibility, regardless of where blame is ultimately found to lie.”

Over 830 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have been affected due to one of modern history’s worst oil-spills. The clean-up operations have so far recovered nearly 825,000 barrels of oil-contaminated liquid. Further, a total of 409 controlled burns had been carried out, removing an estimated 261,400 barrels of oil from the surface of the sea. More than 40,000 people are involved across five states of the US. BP group companies have also been named as defendants in over 300 private civil suits following the disaster.

Robert Dudley, 54, who will be BP’s first non-British CEO in the company’s history, is a main board director of BP and currently runs the recently-established unit responsible for clean-up operations and compensation programmes in the Gulf of Mexico. He joined BP from Amoco after the merger of the two companies in 1998. He was president and CEO of BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, until 2008.

Dudley said, “I do not underestimate the nature of the task ahead, but the company is financially robust with an enviable portfolio of assets and professional teams that are among the best in the industry. I believe this combination — allied to clear, strategic direction — will put BP on the road to recovery.”

On his appointment, Dudley will be based in London and will hand over his present duties in the US to Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America.

Meanwhile, protesters from global environmental group Greenpeace went on a mission to close several dozen BP service stations across London, where the oil company is headquartered. Defending its move against BP, Greenpeace said: “We want to send a strong message to BP’s new boss to ditch the spin and actually move ‘beyond petroleum’. Today we’re asking you (politicians) to take a first step, and help push for the strongest possible European law on fuel quality,” Greenpeace said in its statement.

Not the best of times

2010-07-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 28, 2010

Many British companies have had a long presence in India, but other countries are overtaking levels of trade between the two

Despite the long history, UK-India trade ties at present are not at their best. From being the fifth largest source of import for India just five years ago, UK has slipped to the 18th position now. Experts also claim that UK’s foreign direct investment (FDI) into India has fallen steadily over the last five years.

According to some estimates UK-India trade is around £11.5 billion. UK is also the top European investor in India while India is the top Asian investor in the UK, according to the UK India Business Council (UKIBC). Indo-UK trade has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14 per cent since 2001.The trade in merchandise has been growing at a CAGR of 13 per cent while that in services has registered 15 per cent growth.

The scheduled visit of UK’s new Prime Minister David Cameron is likely to address the economic ties between the two countries, giving them the highest priority.

In 2008 (the latest year for which numbers are available), the UK was the fourth largest investor in India after Mauritius, Singapore and USA, with £ 3.87 billion of FDI stock, according to ONS in the UK. The sectors that attracted most investment from UK into India are energy, telecom, IT, financial services and retail.

Starting from the days of the East India Company, several large British companies have thrived — as they continue to thrive — in India. Some of the better-known include FMCG major Hindustan Unilever, BP (earlier known as British Petroleum), HSBC, Cadbury, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Standard Chartered Bank, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Rolls Royce, Reuters, JCB and Vodafone.

Some of them have been in India for several decades now: Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC began their Indian operations in the mid-nineteenth century; Hindustan Unilever started out in India in the 1930s; while others like Tesco and Marks & Spencer have made their India forays only in the last five to 10 years. Car maker Jaguar Land Rover made its entry into India only in the last year or so, after India’s Tata Motors bought the company in 2008. For JLR, India for now is only a market for the sale of its products, and the company does not have a manufacturing base in India.

British companies feel that the sectors they are strongest in — such as retail and financial services — remain under tight government control. This in part explains M&S and Tesco’s presence in India as cash and carry ventures that address only the wholesale market.

One of the most successful British companies in India is Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL). HUL today is India’s largest fast moving consumer goods company, with leadership in home and personal care products and foods and beverages. The company says its brands touch the lives of two out of three Indians. With sales revenues of Rs 20,239 crore for the 15-month period January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009, HUL employs over 15,000 people in India. Its British parent Unilever holds about 52 per cent of the equity.

Standard Chartered Bank is another British success story in India. Since opening its first branch at Kolkata in 1858, Stan Chart has played a significant role in the Indian banking sector and recently completed 150 years of existence.

Standard Chartered Bank India is the country’s largest international bank, with 90 branches across the country and now has approval from banking regulator Reserve Bank of India to open four more. It has over 8,000 employees and was the second largest contributor to the UK-based group’s profits in 2008. Vodafone Essar is the Indian subsidiary of Britain’s Vodafone Group and commenced operations in 1994, when its predecessor Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular telephone licence for Mumbai. The company now has operations across the country with over 100 million customers, which accounts for nearly a third of its total customers worldwide. Vodafone is the world’s leading international mobile communications group, with about 333 million proportionate customers as on 31 December 2009.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd is one of the oldest pharmaceuticals company and employs over 3,500 people. Globally, the company is a $45 billion research-based healthcare and pharmaceutical company. In India, the company is a market leaders with a turnover of Rs 1,880 crore and a market share of 5.7 per cent.

Earthmoving and construction equipment major JCB India Limited started operations in 1979 as a joint venture company. In 2003, parent company (JCB UK) acquired the entire shareholding and today JCB is the fastest growing company in the Indian earthmoving and construction equipment industry. JCB has a park of over 80,000 machines and out of every two pieces of construction equipment sold in India, one is a JCB product.

Apart from Standard Chartered, banking company HSBC also has long historical ties with India. The antecedents of the HSBC Group in India can be traced back to 1853, when the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China set up its base in Mumbai with an authorised capital of Rs 5 million. Today HSBC India has over 2.2 million individual resident Indians as well as Non-resident Indian customers across India, USA, UK, Middle East and South East Asia.

British Airways was one of the earliest global carriers to enter India. Today BA offers a choice of 45 flights every week from five key cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad — to London Heathrow and other destinations worldwide.

Probably the most popular British company in India would be confectionery company Cadbury, which was recently acquired by US rival Kraft. In India, Cadbury began its operations in 1948 by importing chocolates. Over 60 years later, it has five company-owned manufacturing facilities at Thane, Induri (Pune) and Malanpur (near Gwalior), Bangalore and Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) and four sales offices (New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkota and Chennai).

Cadbury in India enjoys a value market share of over 70 per cent — the highest Cadbury brand share in the world!

Source: UKIBC, UKTI, British High Commission (Chennai) and company websites

David Cameron India visit::Quest for an enhanced partnership

2010-07-27T12:17:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 28, 2010

David Cameron’s decision to make India one of his first diplomatic engagements outside the United Kingdom and meet Prime minister Manmohan Singh this week indicates his seriousness of purpose

When UK’s new Prime Minister David Cameron and nearly half his senior cabinet colleagues set foot in New Delhi, it is expected to mark the beginning of a new chapter in Indo-British bilateral relations.

It will be the beginning of Cameron’s quest for an “enhanced partnership” with India. As soon as he assumed office in the first week of May, Cameron made it clear that India would be one of the key focus areas of the new government.

In the Queens’s address to the two Houses of Parliament on May 25, India was the only country that was mentioned in terms of Britain’s bilateral relations. The Queen’s Speech (delivered to the first session of Parliament each year), written by the government, read, “My government looks forward to an enhanced partnership with India.”

This was later elaborated by No. 10 Downing Street: “The Government is committed to an enhanced partnership with India as an emerging global power, one that reflects our deep and historic ties and recognises India’s strategic importance.”

When Cameron and his team engage in bilateral talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his colleagues in New Delhi, some of the key issues expected to come up are economic and trade relations between the two countries, Britain’s and India’s role in the global economic framework that has taken the form of the G-20 in the last few years, and their role in Afghanistan where Britain has committed troops while India’s role has been non-combative. Another key issue that could be discussed is Britain’s new cap on immigration, which would restrict the number of non-EU workers coming into the country. Cameron and Singh will have a handful of issues to discuss, with little time for a ceremonial guided tour of the Taj Mahal.

Many in the newly elected Tory-Lib Dem coalition government have been very critical of how the previous Labour government had handled UK’s relationship with India during its 13-year reign. While diplomatic relations between India and Britain had been cordial for the most part, economic indicators at the ground level point in the other direction. In the last 10 years, Britain has slipped from being India’s fourth biggest source of imports to the 18th position. Foreign direct investment from Britain into India has fallen steadily in the last five years, even though India Inc was aggressively active in Britain during this period.

The Tata Group made ambitious and impressive M&A forays in the UK, the highlights of this seemingly one-sided love affair being the acquisition of steel maker Corus and later Jaguar Land Rover. According to the latest report for 2009-10 released by UK Trade & Investment, India is the fourth largest investor in the UK, ahead of Germany and China but behind only US, Japan and France.

If there is one point on which members on both sides of the House agree, it is this: Britain needs to start treating India as an economic powerhouse of tomorrow and that Britain has more to gain from a vibrant economic relationship with India. Alok Sharma, Tory MP from Reading, says, “This relationship has changed. It is a relationship of equals [now]. Going forward, India and China could become first among equals.” Cameron’s decision to make India one of his first diplomatic engagements outside the UK suggests that his administration is ready to put its money where its mouth is.

While Britain is still one of the few western powers that is backing India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, a support reiterated by the current government, there is also a call for elevating India’s position from a G-20 member to a G-8 member. Some even argue that multiple global economic institutions should be done away with. Keith Vaz, Labour MP from Leicester East, believes that a multiplicity of such institutions is futile. “India today is so powerful that it need not count UK anymore,” says Vaz, whose family traces its roots to Goa. He adds, “UK cannot do business outside the EU without India.”

In that context two recent moves by the UK government can damage its aspirational relationship with India: First, the decision to put a cap on non-EU immigration, which will restrict the inflow of workers to 24,100 a year; and second, UK’s proposal to cut development aid to India.

UK has historically been one of the most desirable destinations for students and doctors from India. Vaz’s elder sister and newly elected MP from Walsall South, Valerie Vaz, argues that Britain must encourage more doctors from India to work in UK’s National Health Service. Further, Britain’s universities need Indian students as much as the students need access to top-quality education in UK. After all, Manmohan Singh himself is a product of Oxbridge.

Britain too has big expectations from India. Some of the sectors that Britain counts as its core sectors — such as financial services, retail and education — remain tightly controlled in India. “Market access in India in the areas that are key to Britain is still not very easy,” says Jo Johnson, Tory MP from Orpington and former New Delhi-based South Asia Bureau chief for the Financial Times.

MPs from the Labour camp argue that the Tory claim about a neglected Indo-British relationship under the Labour regime is inaccurate and a theory spun for its convenience. Keith Vaz says that the institutional framework can help the bilateral relationship only at a broad level. What really clinches the deal at the end of the day is the warm personal relationship between the two countries at the leadership level. On that account it is claimed that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Manmohan Singh shared a special chemistry, something 43-year old Cameron will have to start working on with his 77-year old Indian counterpart.

Labour MP Virendra Sharma believes that historically, it is Labour rather than the Tories that has been closer to the Congress Party. As a case in point, Keith Vaz recollects David Miliband staying at Rahul Gandhi’s house during one visit to India.

Whether this “enhanced partnership” will be achieved through bilateral institutions or personal chemistry between the leaders or, better still, a combination of these two, will have to be seen after Cameron returns home after meeting Manmohan Singh. Johnson says, “The world cannot change with a three-day trip. This (Cameron’s) visit to India has to be seen as a signal of intent.”

The best place to start, he says, is to set trade targets, investment targets and two-way FDI targets, and both countries must identify sectors where the seeds of this enhanced relationship can be planted.

No need for India to break ice with this UK Business Secy

2010-07-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 26, 2010

Anyone who says he counts R K Narayan among his favourite authors has to be a friend of India. So, when the UK’s new business secretary, Vince Cable, visits India later this week with Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior cabinet colleagues, there will be little need to break ice. Not just because Cable likes Narayan, but he has been in touch with India for nearly four decades now.

For starters, the parents of his late wife are from India. When his party Liberal Democrats sewed a difficult and hotly debated post-election alliance with the Conservatives in the first week of May to form a rare coalition government in Britain, Cable said: “My Indian in-laws always told me arranged marriages last longer than love matches.”

Narayan and arranged marriages apart, Cable will have yet another edge in winning over India. He talks about India’s “green revolution”. That ought to make him old and wise enough to understand an India that is seen beyond the early 1990s economic liberalisation. He, therefore, can be counted as among the few western politicians who understands India more than for its 1.2 billion-population market and know its true potential outside business and industry. He deftly seals the deal when he defends the UK’s recent proposal to cut development aid to India and says it is a recognition of India’s success story. Now, who can argue with that?

Cable succeeds Peter Mandelson, who was Labour’s favourite spin-doctor and was a high-profile cabinet member.

When in India later this week, Cable is expected to say one thing every small and big businesses in India wants to hear. “We are open for business.” Under the 13-year Labour regime, a lot was left to be desired for economic/trade relations between India and the UK. As a matter of fact, Indian businesses were a shade more ambitious in the UK than UK businesses in India. Cable says it’s a two-way street from now on and the focus of the new Tory-Lib Dem government will be to improve the flow of investments both ways.

Cable, 67, during his formative years as an economist, says he travelled across the length and breadth of India. His understanding of India is first hand and he has never fallen out of touch with India. A big admirer of India’s economic success, he says the new relationship with India will be rooted to the ground.

As a student, Cable read natural science and economics at Cambridge University followed by a PhD at Glasgow University. Between 1966 and 1968, he worked as Treasury Finance Officer for the Kenyan government and later spent two years as a first secretary in the diplomatic service in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. After a few more stints in the government, he moved to the private sector with Shell International in 1990 and became the energy giant’s chief economist in 1995. He later became a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics for three years until 2004.

A straight-talking Cable has one other rare quality among his British peers that is more common in India. This Lib Dem minister started his political career with Labour. He served as a Labour Councillor in Glasgow between 1971 and 1974, before joining the Social Democrat Party (which was merged with the Liberal Party in the 1980s). He was first elected to Parliament in 1997 and joined the Lib Dem shadow cabinet in 1999. He had been the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor since November 2003 and is currently Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

He shot to global fame, with the release of his book The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What it Means in 2009. As early as 2003, he is considered to have predicted the coming of the global financial crisis that the world has just about managed to recover from. After being in politics for nearly four decades and for the first time tasting real power, there is little reason to believe that his peers, both at home and outside, will ignore the words of caution from “Saint Vince”.

The changing face of Westminster

2010-07-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / July 24, 2010

The 2010 general election in Britain saw a record eight Members of Parliament of Indian origin enter the House of Commons. S Kalyana Ramanathan talks to some of them on the eve of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit

The times are not “a’changing”. They have changed. These 8 MPs, four from each of the two largest parties in Britain ,represent the new face of Westminster. They may be nowhere close to the top table either in Westminster or in their own party, but they are achievers in their own right. They are Members of Parliament of Indian origin in a country that ruled India a little over six decades ago.

Virendra Sharma, 63,

Labour, Ealing, Southall

It has been a long and arduous political journey for Sharma, who was born in India and migrated to the UK. The first stirrings of political ambition go back to as early as the seventies, a few years after he arrived in the UK. But he entered the House of Commons as an MP only in 2007, when a sitting Labour MP passed away, giving him a chance to contest the by-election. Unlike the other Indian origin MPs, Sharma comes from a family that had strong political leanings. His father, Lekh Raj Sharma, was a household name on Punjab’s political scene.

Sharma started out in the UK as a bus conductor. He then worked for the metro rail as a booking clerk. But he then went to the London School of Economics for higher studies and held a series of government jobs before becoming the Councillor for Ealing and later Mayor. Does he have any regrets about getting the Parliament seat rather late in life? “Journeys are always different,” he smiles philosophically. “Some arrive early, some late.”

Keith Vaz, 53,
Labour, Leicester East
The first and longest serving MP of Indian origin (the family traces its roots to Goa, but Vaz was born in Aden, Yemen ) in Parliament, Vaz made it to Westminster way back in 1987

A lawyer by profession —many remember his protest against Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses in the late 80s—Vaz argues that the movement for change in Westminster is too slow, but “we’re getting there”. He represents a constituency that has the most number of people of Indian origin, which partly explains his outrage at the present government’s plans to cap the number of non-EU immigrants coming into the UK.

Priti Patel, 38,
Conservative, Witham
Patel may be the new kid on the block, but she believes this early start is an opportunity to further her political career. Her mother is from Vadodara (then Baroda), but she has no links to India now – in fact the last time she visited was in 2003.

“I am very traditional in the British sense...like allegiance to the Queen etc, ” she says. Her parents ran a post office when Patel was growing up. “I literally grew up in the shop, under the till.” This background explains her strong support for the small businesses, which along with industries and agriculture provide nearly 83 per cent of employment in her constituency, while the national average is around 60 per cent.

Sitting at the Portcullis House cafeteria sipping English breakfast tea, she tells me that her boss and Prime Minister David Cameron is an agent of change within the party— “I am an MP not because of my gender. (Even then) there are 40 women MPs from the Tory party. That is a very powerful message,” she says.

Alok Sharma, 42,
Conservative, Reading
Like his colleague in the Labour camp Keith Vaz, Sharma too visits India regularly. Born in Agra, Sharma moved to the UK when he was 5. A chartered accountant by training, he says his interest in politics was nurtured when he was barely 10 or 11, delivering leaflets for the Tory party. His father too was politically active. Between 1999 and 2003 he worked in Germany in the banking sector. Returning to the UK, he got back into active politics, partly on the urging of his Swedish wife.

The journey from voter to member of Parliament took less than seven years. That, he says, is because of the democratic way his party selects nominees to contest elections. “The Conservative party is completely colour blind,” he says.

Paul Uppal, 43,
Conservative, Wolverhampton South West
Multicultural Uppal traces his ethnicity to India, but his grandparents lived in Kenya and his parents moved from there to the UK. “My culture is very important to me. But I consider myself both Indian and British.”

At home its one big family under one roof. He takes pride in saying that he lives with his parents. His 13-year old son, he says, is obsessed with India, and is trying to learn to speak in Punjabi and Hindi to communicate better with his grandparents.

Like his party colleague Alok Sharma, Uppal’s seven-year journey has taken him from being a “politically inclined voter” to someone who now sits in Westminster representing the interests of thousands of voters in his constituency.

“Some take 20 years, some less. Its just luck,” he says dismissing his recent success in the election to being in the right place at the right time. Sure, he wants to play a bigger role in his party. “I am the new boy. You have to be patient about it. What do you say in India? Sabar karo?

Valerie Vaz, 55,
Labour, Walsall South
Valerie Vaz, despite being Leicester East MP Keith Vaz’s elder sister, had to wait for her chance to enter Westminster until the 2010 elections. This is not to say she was politically dormant until then. Between 1986 and 1990 she was a Councillor in the London Borough of Ealing and was Deputy Leader in 1988-1989. She stood as a Parliamentary Candidate from Twickenham in 1987 and in the European elections in 1999 from the East Midlands.

A lawyer by profession, she says her quest for equality and justice drew her into politics. She believes the gender bias in Westminster is changing now. “The first real push for women MPs came in 1997.” Now there are five Asian women MPs in Westminster.

Her constituency Walsall South, is an Asian microcosm with ethnic minorities from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh making up nearly a fourth of the total population. The current population consists of third and fourth generation Asians.

Her last visit to India was some three years ago. But now, having asserted her position politically, she is hoping to network better with her counterparts in India and Pakistan.

Shailesh Vara, 49,
Conservative, North West Cambridgeshire
Ugandan-born Vara too is a lawyer by profession. His parents moved to the UK when he was 4. The 2010 election victory gave him his second term in Westminster. Considered a prominent person within his party, he served as Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, from November 2006 , speaking for the Conservative Party on Parliamentary matters from the Commons Front Bench. This made him the first MP from an ethnic minority background from the Tory party to become a shadow minister. Following the 2010 General Election, he was appointed as a Government Whip.

At the Conservative Party Conference in 2000, he was awarded the rising star of the party award with his party colleague Lord Alexander of Weedon (the lawyer who defended author Jeffrey Archer in his libel case against the Daily Star in 1987) describing him as a “future Tory party leader.”

Marsha Singh, 55,
Labour, Bradford West
Born in Punjab , he has been a Member of Parliament since 1997, winning four consecutive elections and maintaining his majority with impressive consistency with the exception of 2005, when he won with a lower majority. In 2010, he regained most of the votes lost in 2005, making him one of the longest serving MPs of Indian origin in Westminster.

Among the MPs of Indian origin, only Labour member Keith Vaz from Leicester East has more Parliamentary experience than Singh. He was a member of select committee for Home Affairs between 1997 and 2005 and for International Development between 2005 and 2010.

Brits love to work for US companies

2010-07-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 22, 2010

Brits love Coke. Not just the beverage, but the company that makes it — Coca-Cola.

A recent study by www.HireScores.com – a website that helps people looking for jobs find the right job websites – revealed that Coca-Cola ranked as the most desirable company to work for among Britons. The study further showed that among the top 10 dream jobs British workers aspire to be part of, eight are US companies and only two are British.

The survey covered 1,326 respondents, a negligible sample considering the nearly 29 million population that go to work in the UK.

The top dream jobs for Britons, apart from Coca-Cola, would be in Microsoft, Google, Apple, Vogue, Facebook, Disney and Kraft Foods (the American company that recently bought the UK’s leading confectioner, Cadbury). UK’s Virgin Atlantic and British Airways ranked as the fifth and 10th most desirable place to work.

The study, however, reiterates Britain’s love for the US and anything American. While Britain has given a resounding thumbs up for American companies, Prime Minister David Cameron is touring the US in an attempt to further strengthen the country’s relationship with her once trans-Atlantic colony.

In a special column in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday Cameron wrote, “As this is my first visit to America as prime minister, let me emphasise that I am unapologetically pro-America. I love this country and what it's done for the world.”

In the WSJ column he wrote, “I am hard-headed and realistic about US-UK relations. I understand that we are the junior partner — just as we were in the 1940s and, indeed, in the 1980s.”

According to UK Trade and Investment’s latest report, the US once again stood out as the biggest investor in the UK. In 2009-10, 484 new investments had been committed by American companies, providing employment to over 15,000 people. The second biggest investor, Japan, had invested in 107 new projects to create 2,293 new jobs in the UK in the same year. India is the fourth largest investor in the UK.

The study that put Coca-Cola as the most desirable place to work for, however, also reveals that it is not the company’s nationality, but other factors that made it so. “The research found that 76 per cent of those polled, said their ‘dream job’ would be at Coca-Cola, with 23 per cent admitting it is for the ‘freebies’ and 42 per cent saying the ‘salary’ is the main reason for Coca-Cola being their dream job,” said the press release from www.HighScores.com.

However, only 16 per cent of those polled believe that they will land in their dream job, while 38 per cent admitted it was just a fantasy and 21 per cent feel it is unachievable.

Corus' plan to sell TCP suffers setback

2010-07-13T14:57:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanthan / London July 14, 2010

Tata Steel’s plans to sell Corus’ Teesside Cast Products plant in the northeast of England suffered a setback today. The consortium they were in talks with pulled out of the deal, saying “Corus has appeared unwilling to engage on a constructive basis”.

The consortium comprising private equity firms Rutland Partners, Hatch Corporate Finance and local developer Chris Musgrave said they had written to Corus to terminate discussions in relation to TCP. “The group had put together a business plan and secured investment and customer support to enable the acquisition of TCP and a return to quality steelmaking on Teesside,” the group said in a media statement.

It refused to elaborate on the reasons behind the failed talks and the turnaround plans if it had successfully concluded a deal with Corus.

A company spokesperson said: “Corus is continuing to make every effort to find a long-term solution for TCP. We remain open to any offers from third parties interested in providing such a solution. To date, Corus has followed up every single enquiry and engaged constructively with any bidder that presented an offer and provided a viable future for TCP.”

The statement by the group of interested buyers said it is willing to re-engage if the new management — the recent change of management in Corus’ European business — demonstrates its willingness to provide the required information and access in a timely and professional manner, allowing the group to progress on its due diligence.

Sources said the reason behind the failed talks was because the buyers’ group refused to sign a confidentiality agreement with Corus. The claims could not be confirmed with either Corus or the buyers’ group.

Corus is also in talks with a Thai steel maker, Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI). Tata Steel’s vice chairman B Muthuraman had earlier this month said talks with SSI were on and Corus was awaiting a response from the Bangkok-based company.

Corus’ TCP has been in trouble for a year-and-a-half, since a multi-national group of steel buyers had pulled out of a 10-year purchase contract midway, forcing the management to mothball the plant in February. This has also put nearly 1,700 jobs at TCP at risk.

David Cameron and team to carpet bomb India

2010-07-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 14, 2010

UK’s new coalition Prime Minister and Tory party leader David Cameron is all set to ‘carpet bomb’ India in the last week of this month. In his first foreign state visit since he took office two months earlier, Cameron is expected to land in India with half his cabinet colleagues on July 26, two days ahead of his formal diplomatic mission, Business Standard has learnt.

Though the British Foreign Office or India’s Ministry of External Affairs are yet to officially announce his itinerary, sources in the UK government said Cameron himself would first land in Bangalore, while his cabinet colleagues will fly into other state capitals, including Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and, possibly, Chandigarh as well. This unique format has never been tried before, said foreign relations’ experts here.

Some key members of the government who will be visiting India with Cameron include Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) George Osborne, business secretary Vince Cable, foreign secretary William Hague and possibly the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King.

As part of Britain’s financial austerity drive, the entire delegation is expected to fly economy class on regular commercial flights into India. The high-powered team is expected to start the India sojourn on July 26, reassembling in New Delhi on July 27 to brief Cameron on their individual visits to various state capitals, at a mini-Cabinet meet. Cameron’s scheduled official meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is on July 28, according to sources here.

Labour neglect
Part of the hype is meant to undo what Tory party MPs believe was the ‘neglect of India’ by the Gordon Brown government. Part of it could also be due to persisting differences on Afghanistan and due to Britain’s decision to reduce aid spending as part of its budget spending cuts.

Cameron’s visit, though yet to be played up by the media here, has elevated the expectation of members of the government, both in the UK and in India. Soon after forming a government in May, Cameron and foreign secretary Hague had announced plans to forge a “new and strategic relationship” with India.

There is a general belief in the government and in a section of the Tory party that the earlier Labour government had not done sufficient work on improving bilateral relations with India during its 13-year reign that ended in May this year.

A group selected from the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister’s Office, Foreign Office and office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was formed weeks ahead of Cameron’s visit. It has been preparing the ground for the 43-year-old head of the British government’s first state visit since he took office.

Likely to be discussed at length during Cameron’s visit are the business and economic relationship, the G-20 future agenda and the future of Britain’s and India’s role in Afghanistan.

Ahead of the two heads of government meeting in Delhi, George Osborne and Mervyn King are expected to meet leaders of Indian business and Reserve Bank governor Duvvuri Subbarao in Mumbai.

A battalion of business leaders are expected to accompany Cameron. Businesses from the retail and financial services sectors are expected to be represented in large numbers within this group. Informally, Cameron has also asked Tory MP Jo Johnson to be his advisor on his India strategy. Johnson was first elected to the House of Commons this year. He was the South Asia bureau chief for Financial Times and based in New Delhi between 2005 and 2008. He is also the younger brother of London’s mayor, Boris Johnson.

Christopher's of London gets an Indian link

2010-07-13T13:44:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 14, 2010

Swraj Paul’s eldest son Ambar looks to resurrect his career with the acquisition of one of London’s trendiest restaurants.

He was a staunch vegetarian until higher education took him to the US. He returned to London in 1982 with an MBA from Carnegie Mellon and a partiality for red meat.

From June this year, Ambar Paul, the older son of British-Indian industrialist Swraj Paul, will be able to turn that taste for steak and lobster into a business opportunity courtesy his purchase of Christopher’s American Bar and Grill, one of London’s most trendy restaurants.

For Ambar, 52, the Christopher’s buy is more than a personal whim. Although he had handled a wide-ranging portfolio in his father’s tea-to-steel Caparo Group in his earlier capacity as deputy chairman, he says his heart is in the hospitality business. His cousins in India run five-star hotel chain, The Park. In the UK, Caparo has four hotels (comprising 150 rooms under four independent names ).

Christopher’s also represents a resurrection of sorts for him. Between the early eighties to mid-nineties he rose within the Caparo group to become CEO and deputy chairman. In 1995, at just 37 years, he was afflicted by a life-threatening illness as a result of which he had to allow younger brother Angad to take charge as CEO by the turn of the new millennium.

Christopher’s, though, is not a Caparo acquisition that has been given to the eldest scion to run. It’s been bought with his own money. “I loved the brand and want to acquire more top-end restaurants,” he says.

Ambar declined to disclose how much he paid, but given Christopher’s location in the heart of London’s most fashionable theatre district, it is reasonable to suppose it was no throwaway price.

Ambar says it took an unusually long time, nearly a year, to buy this Covent Garden property, not least because of

differences over the price. The previous owner, Andrew Hoffmann of the Roche pharmaceuticals family, was also particular that the new owner could take the brand to the next level and retain its 50-odd employees.

Christopher’s was founded in 1991, but the address dates back to the nineteenth century when it was a papier mache factory. Its current ornate facade was added in 1870, when it became London’s first licensed casino.

The restaurant gets its name from its founder Christopher Gilmour, son of the late Ian Gilmour, Conservative Party minister and former proprietor of The Spectator. Politics don’t play a part in this purchase, Harrow-educated Ambar insists, although he votes Tory as opposed to his father’s preference for Labour.

Meanwhile, he has big plans for his new acquisition. He believes that Christopher’s, even at the current £45 average spend per customer will return his investment in three years. He has no plans to change the menu, which offers such favourites as “Carpaccio of beef ‘Harry’s Bar’ style” (a raw meat appetizer) at £9 or “USDA rump steak 10 oz” at £22 (Ambar’s health, however, prevents him from indulging his taste for steak and seafood — these days he sticks to chicken).

But he is keen to bring down the age profile of his customers, who are mostly in their 40s. “Today’s millionaires are in their 20s and 30s in the UK,” he says. The only other change is sprucing up the tired decor, an exercise he plans to complete by the end of next year.

There is, however, one set of customers Ambar does not wish to disturb. Christopher’s counts the Who’s Who in celeb circles as its customers — from Prime Minister David Cameron to former Financial Times editor Richard Lambert, to Hollywood stars like Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn. With regulars like that, who needs advertising.

Caparo alive and well, avers Lord Paul

2010-07-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 6, 2010

Caparo is alive and well, chairman Lord Swraj Paul said in a statement today after questions were raised about the financial health of the UK-based engineering conglomerate.

The group issued a statement clarifying its financial health. It said the reports in the UK media questioning its financial health were based on 2008 calendar year results and its current state had improved significantly.

“Cash flow forecasts to the end of December 2010 indicated the group would be able to trade within its existing ‘and expected’ loan facilities, Caparo said, though it admitted there was little room for manoeuvre,” the Daily Mail had said in its report yesterday. Business Standard had reported this based on the Daily Mail report.

Angad Paul, Caparo’s chief executive, said: “Is it necessary to remind anyone that from August to December 2008, the financial sector suffered a ‘blood bath’, which then led to the most rapid downturn in manufacturing industry.”

“Indeed it is a credit to Caparo’s management that we exited that year with a relatively small loss. We should not forget that this was a time when the world’s banks failed and many much larger companies were perceived to be bankrupt.”

He said 2009 was an extremely difficult year, but now, more than half way into 2010, the group expected to produce revenues across its operations ahead of 2007.

“In India alone, we will achieve revenue of Rs 1,400 crore in 2010 rising to Rs 2,000 crore plus in 2011, slightly less than predicted, but I remain bullish that Rs 3,000 crore will be achieved in 2012. Throughout the last 18 months we have continued to enjoy the support of our stakeholders, and I am pleased to say that we have now returned to profitability. Let me assure all of our team, our customers and suppliers that we are on course and will continue to go from strength to strength,” he said.

Caparo’s financial statements for 2009 are not ready. The UK-based group consolidates its India operations where the accounts are prepared on a financial year basis (ending March).

Questions raised on Caparo Group's future

2010-07-05T01:41:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 5, 2010

Fresh doubts have been cast over the future of Lord Swraj Paul's UK-based engineering conglomerate, the Caparo Group, following a report by the group's auditors, BDO, on its ability to "continue as a going concern", according to the Daily Mail newspaper here.

A scathing report published by the newspaper today revealed the group had broken the terms of certain bank loans, that may lead to trouble in accessing funds to run its normal operations. The report said the company owed £257 million due for payment within a year and its banking facilities are being negotiated country by country where it has business interests.

Caparo's business interests span Britain, Europe, the US, India and West Asia. Repeated attempts to reach the group's office in London and Lord Paul's personal phone were futile. Not could comment be secured from the company's auditors.

"Cash flow forecasts to the end of December 2010 indicated the group would be able to trade within its existing 'and expected' loan facilities, Caparo said, though it admitted there was little room for manoeuvre," the Daily Mail reported.

Admits breaches
The newspaper further said that in its latest report and accounts, Lord Paul admits some of the group's companies had breached the terms of their bank loans, blaming the severe decline in trading conditions. Caparo reported a turnover of £861 million but a pre-tax loss of £3 million. Being an unlisted group, the veracity of this report cannot be confirmed at this stage.

In December 2009, in an interview to Business Standard, the group's CEO and Lord Paul's youngest son, Angad Paul, had said the group expected demand for steel products to rebound, with 2010 revenues to be £850-900 million (Rs 6,400 crore). Revenues for 2011 have been projected to be around £1.2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore), to mostly come from the investments completed over the past two to three years.

At the time of the interview, the group's CEO was very bullish about the operations in India and said a third of the group's revenue, or around £400 million by 2011, would come from India.

Questions hanging over the group's ability to access funds for normal operations raises serious doubts over these projected numbers.

On the group's ambitions in India, Angad Paul had said, "(The plan is) that we get the best customers, the best customer satisfaction, best quality and best delivery performances. It's actually that simple. There is nothing world-dominating about it."

Caparo has presence in 50 locations across the UK, North America, India, Spain and Dubai. It employs over 6,000 people worldwide, more than half in the UK. The group established its presence in India in 1994, though a joint venture with Maruti Udyog (now Maruti Suzuki) and has a presence in 16 locations in India, with primary interests in manufacturing automobile components. It is also a major supplier for Tata Motors' iconic small car, the Nano.

The group's chairman, Lord Paul, vocal supporter of the former Labour government in the UK, came under severe criticism last year over expense-reimbursement claims as a peer. He is one of the biggest donors for the Labour party and close to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

UK cap on immigration from non-European countries

2010-07-05T01:40:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 29, 2010

UK’s new Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government today delivered on a pre-election promise to put a cap on the immigration of workforce from non-European countries. Home Secretary Theresa May today announced an annual cap on immigration from non-UK countries into the UK that will be limited to 24,100 or five per cent less than last year.

An annual cap on immigration was a key plank to the Tory party’s run-up to the election in May this year.

The number of workers entering the UK from outside Europe would be controlled by this new limit, Theresa May announced today. Net migration will be scaled back to the levels of the 1990s - to tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands. Introducing a limit on migrants from outside Europe coming here to work was just one of the ways the government intended to achieve this, a Home office release said.

This is only a temporary policy. Permanent limits on non-EU economic migration routes will then be decided and put in place by April 1, 2011.

Details of how the final limit is to be delivered will be agreed upon following a 12-week consultation with businesses. In the meantime an interim limit will be introduced to ensure there is no rush of applications and the number of work visas issued stays below the 2009 levels.

The results of the consultation on the permanent limit will pave the way for fundamental changes to the way in which workers from outside the EU will be chosen to come and work in the UK. The home secretary has also asked the Migration Advisory Committee, the government’s independent adviser on migration issues, to launch a separate consultation into what level the limit should be set at, taking into account social and economic impacts.

May said, “This Government believes that Britain can benefit from migration but not uncontrolled migration. I recognise the importance of attracting the brightest and the best to ensure strong economic growth, but unlimited migration places unacceptable pressure on public services. While we consult on our tough new limit it’s important we have an interim measure to avoid a rush of applications for migrants and ensure that the number of work visas issued stays below 2009 levels.”

The fresh move by UK’s new government was met with guarded concern by the Indian government and strong opposition by the Indian industry. India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who was attending a CII-LSE conference in London today said he would take up India’s concerns about immigration cap with his counterparts in the UK. He is to meet UK’s foreign secretary William Hague, Business Secretary Vince Cable and Prime Minister David Cameron as well.

Earlier at the conference on the subject of protectionism, Sharma warned that G-20 countries must not raise any fresh barriers for emerging economies. He said a country like UK had India as the second largest investor after US and there are over 500 Indian companies that have offices in the UK. He further pointed out that India (business with Indian origin) is the second largest employer in the UK after the UK government itself.

Confederation of Indian Industry’s director general Chandrajit Banerjee said if the UK government wanted to forge new and fresh alliance with India, such immigration caps must not exist.

John Cridland, deputy director-general, CBI, UK’s industry body said: “Introducing a cap for work permits is a valid way of balancing the need for skilled workers with the social pressures caused by immigration. But it’s important that we get the structure right. It should be designed so that very highly-skilled people who are essential to work being done in Britain can get a permit more readily. As well as setting the cap at the right level, the Government should also be able to adjust it in future to meet changing economic circumstances.”

Corus CEO Adams to step down in October

2010-06-27T23:44:00.002-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 28, 2010

Company names Karl-Ulrich Köhler as his successor.

Tata Steel Europe’s high profile and controversial MD and CEO, Kirby Adams, will step down from his position from October 1, handing over the reins to Chief Operating Officer Karl-Ulrich Köhler, who came on board in February 2010.

A press statement issued by Corus (Tata Steel Europe) said, “Adams has decided to step down from his executive roles and return to Australia, having successfully initiated a restructuring of the company and restored profitability. He will remain available to Tata Steel in an advisory capacity.”

The company in its statement, however, has not said why the 54-year-old MD and CEO has quit, when the fate of the Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant is not clear. According to unconfirmed reports so far, Corus is in talks with Thai steel maker SSI for a possible sale of TCP. A Corus spokesperson said Adams’ exit was due to “personal reasons” and he was leaving a profitable company, which was loss-making when he took over the reins.

TCP was mothballed in February this year and its impending closure (if it does not find a buyer) would result in a job loss of over 1,700 at its north east plant. Tata Group has in the past come under severe criticism by unions and local political leaders for not conducting the negotiations with buyers in a more transparent manner. Neither Tata Steel nor Corus have officially confirmed any negotiations with Thai steel maker SSI.

Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Steel, said: “In his time as chief executive of Tata Steel Europe, Kirby has effected a major turnaround of the business and he leaves the company very well placed for the future. We thank him for his contribution and look forward to making further progress under Karl’s leadership.”

In January this year, Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover, too, had announced the resignation of 49-year-old CEO David Smith. As in the case of Adams, neither was Smith's sudden departure explained clearly by the Tata Group.

Adams, who was picked by Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata to head the steel maker’s European operations in 2008, is not new to controversy. Earlier this year, he skipped a meeting with the parliamentary committee in the UK set up to look into the mothballing of TCP to attend a board meeting of Tata Steel in India. Later, in an interview to Sunday Times newspaper, Adams had said he had to “choose between the committee and a board meeting”, making his position clear that his first loyalty was to his employer. Sources in the steel industry later clarified that right through the investigation by the government committee, Adams was never invited to the hearing and a notice seeking his attendance was issued only towards the end and with just a day's time to confirm his participation. He later answered the questions raised by the committee in writing.

Prior to joining Tata Steel Europe in February 2009, he was with BlueScope Steel and was the founding managing director of BHP Steel in Australia. With an experience of over three decades in the steel business, Adams started his career in Armco Inc as the head of strategy in 1979. Adams hold citizenship in Australia and the US.

Adams' successor Köhler's experience in the steel business, too, spans three decades. Prior to joining Tata Steel Europe, Köhler worked in companies that today comprise ThyssenKrupp Steel, where he was most recently chairman of the executive board and a member of the executive board of the parent company, ThyssenKrupp AG. Until October 2009, he was the president of Eurofer, the European steelmaking federation. Köhler is already a board member of Tata Steel Europe and he would join the board of the parent company, Tata Steel Ltd, later this year, a company statement said.

Köhler said: “We are becoming a much more internationally competitive business and by living the ‘Customer First’ philosophy, we are able to offer more innovative and differentiated products and services. I believe that thanks to these changes, the company has an exciting future.”

New Bill to define independent directors' role, says Khurshid

2010-06-27T23:44:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 28, 2010

The role of independent directors (IDs) on the board of Indian companies will be clarified in the new Companies Bill and their responsibilities will be made finite in terms of what they are answerable for, said Union Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

Post ‘Satyamgate’, IDs across various companies have been frightened to continue in their roles. Companies have witnessed several resignations by IDs due to lack of legal clarity on their role in the event of a scandal for which they could not be directly responsible.

While IDs would be subject to the general laws of the land, their role in the company would be more clearly defined. The new Companies Act would specifically say what they need to look out for as a member of the board. These directors, however, would still be subject to overriding principles that “ignorance of law cannot be a excuse for violating the law”.

However, more stringent conditions for qualifying as an ID is not likely to be brought into the new bill. Khurshid said there was already a big shortage of IDs for companies in India.

Khurshid, who was in London on his way from Ireland to Delhi, said the parliamentary report on the new Companies Bill was expected to be ready by the monsoon session. He was hoping to table the bill in the Lok Sabha by the winter session. The bill should be passed as a law no later than Budget 2011 (February), Khurshid said. The minister said this at an informal gathering of Indian journalists in London on Saturday.

Khurshid was in Ireland to represent the Indian government at the 25th anniversary of the 1985 bombing of Air India’s flight, Emperor Kanishka, that killed 329 people. The flight crashed into the Atlantic Ocean over Irish airspace when it was blown up by suspected Sikh terrorists. Khurshid said he was not meeting any members of the new Conservative-LibDem government in the UK.

Irish offer for AI
Khurshid said the government of Ireland had offered a proposal for Air India to shift its European hub from Frankfurt to Dublin. As part of this offer, the Irish government is willing to provide a Schengen and Irish transit visa for passengers to spend up to two days in the country. Khurshid said AI was considering the proposal’s commercial viability, noting his own ministry would have no role in the final decision.

UK hopes to 'balance its books' in 5 years

2010-06-22T12:06:00.002-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 23, 2010

The first budget of the Conservative-Lib Dem government has promised to cut the structural budget deficit to zero in the next six years.

Chancellor George Osborne, in his budget speech before the House of Commons today, said, “The formal mandate we set is that the structural current deficit should be in balance in the final year of the five-year forecast period, which is 2015-16 in this budget.”

“Some have suggested that there is a choice between dealing with our debts and going for growth. That is a false choice,” Osborne added.

Quoting the growth rate forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility after taking into account the measures in the new budget, Osborne said the UK economy is estimated to grow by 1.2 per cent this year and 2.3 per cent next year. He further predicted that the UK economy will grow by 2.8 per cent in 2012 followed by 2.9 per cent in 2013 and by 2.7 per cent in both 2014 and in 2015.

Consumer price inflation is expected to reach 2.7 per cent by the end of the year before returning to target in the medium term. He also confirmed that the inflation target remains at 2 per cent as measured by the Consumer Prices Index. The unemployment rate by the

Office for Budget Responsibility is expected to peak this year at 8.1 per cent and then fall for each of the next four years, to reach 6.1 per cent in 2015.

If Osborne’s prediction on the budget deficit succeeds by 2016, he would have achieved it five years before the previous Labour government’s estimated target.

According to the latest budget, total borrowing is expected to fall to 2.1 per cent of GDP by 2015, and reach 1.1 per cent by 2016. Current borrowing stands at £155 billion or around 11 per cent of the GDP. UK’s current debt, which is estimated at 62 per cent of GDP, is expected to peak at 70 per cent in 2013-14, before falling to 67 per cent by 2015-16.

“This emergency Budget deals decisively with our country’s record debts. It pays for the past. And it plans for the future. It supports a strong enterprise-led recovery. It rewards work. And it protects the most vulnerable in our society. Yes it is tough; but it is also fair,” Osborne said at the start of his maiden budget speech.

However, the increase in value added tax from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent in January 2011 was a damper. The British Retail Consortium, the lobby for the retail industry said, “The Chancellor is right to use public spending cuts as the main means for addressing the deficit but the VAT increase is disappointing.”

Starting from January 2011, UK will also impose a new bank levy and in full year of implementation the government hopes to raise £2 billion additional revenue through this new levy.

WIMBLEDON SPECIAL::Grass & others stories

2010-06-22T12:06:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / New Delhi June 19, 2010

This is the 124th edition of The Championships, as they are called. S Kalyana Ramanathan spends a day at London SW19 this week and finds that technology and romance coexist at this famous address

The 41m x 22m patch of perennial ryegrass glows in the midst of empty stands that can accommodate 15,000 spectators. The new £80 million retrac-table roof has been drawn back to let in the warmth of an English June morning, and there is a promise of something momentous, yet indefinable, in the air. I’m standing on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, which is silent and deserted except for a solitary guard. Somehow, it isn’t hard to believe that a few days from now it will be transformed into an arena like none other.

Outside, young volunteers in green overalls, armed with tiny chisels, are cleaning the crevices between flagstones on the pavements and driveways across 13.5 acres on the Church Road site. The ground staff run their mowers over the 17 Championship courts, manicuring the grass to a precise 8mm height. Gardeners trim and arrange the green Boston Ivy creepers and the carefully coordinated and planted white and purple flowers. On July 3 and 4, tennis fans in over 400 million homes across 180-odd countries will raise a toast to the new champions. But few would realise that what they witnessed during those two weeks was the crescendo to a symphony orchestrated by 120 full-time staff at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), with the help of over 6,000 volunteers, including 260 ball boys and girls selected from local schools.

A question of taste
Henry O’Grady, a volunteer at the Club’s press office, and Johnny Perkins, The Championship’s spokes-person, meet me at Gate No. 4. O’Grady, my guide for the day, runs a catering firm in Central London. The hat he wears this month is his annual sojourn at the club, when he volunteers at the press office. As we walk towards Court No. 2, we cross the Champagne Bar where some 20,000 bottles will be dispensed during the fortnight. At a landing dock opposite, strawberries from Kent, picked fresh every day, arrive at 5.30 every morning. At the end of the fortnight, over 28,000 kg of strawberries, along with 7,000 litres of fresh cream, would have been consumed.

Apart from a variety of snacks, fruits and the ubiquitous fish and chips, some 207,000 square meals would be served during The Championships. “It’s mostly English food and French cuisine,” says O’Grady, “with some Indian curries and Chinese food.”

Ticket to ride
A day before the sale of tickets starts, some 8,000 fans queue up outside the venue, most pitching their tents at a nearby park. Approximately 500 tickets for Centre Court reserved seats are available each day at the turnstiles except for the last four days. At Wimbledon, there is no special price for a ring-side seat. This is probably the only sporting event where some percentage of the tickets are sold from a till before the game.

Wherever your seat is, it will set you back by the same £100 pounds or so. At the south end of Centre Court is the Royal Box, 12 feet above ground level, distinctive by its 74 dark green Lloyd Loom wicker chairs. These are the only seats that are not for sale on Centre Court. They are reserved for members of the royal family and other dignitaries. including well known sportsmen. Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan have been among the many personalities spotted here. The Queen is expected to attend this year’s finals after a gap of nearly 33 years.

Technology matters...
Last year, Centre Court got its famous retractable roof. At a height of 16 metre and weighing 3,000 tonne, it was commissioned at a cost of £80 million. To get an idea of its span, imagine 7,500 open Wimbledon umbrellas — that’s what it would take to cover the same area as the roof does. Despite its weight and spread it takes just about 10 minutes to cover or open, moving at an average speed of 2 centimetre a second. Wimbledon has historically stayed above the curve in terms of technology. Nine vendors led by IT major IBM provide the backend support for The Championships. Wimbledon went online in 1995 and registered 12.3 million unique users during the 2009 Championships. Today the website boasts 359 million page views so far, with an average time of 82 minutes spent by each user. BBC will be the host broadcaster as it has been since 1937.

...as does money
How much money does the club make? Ticket sales, corporate sponsors and banner ads, deals with official suppliers and sale of broadcast rights must all add up to a tidy sum. Johnny Perkins, the 15-year veteran in the press office, isn’t exactly going to bare it all, but he tells me that the All England Lawn Tennis Ground Plc, which is the body that owns the facilities, received a small loan from the Lawn Tennis Association (the mother body that promotes the sport in UK) in the late 19th century. For this the LTA receives a certain percentage of surplus generated from Championship games. In 1879, the LTA received £116 and in 2009, £29.17 million as its share of the surplus from The Championships. As for the rest, I am told firmly, the Club’s accounts are not subject to public scrutiny.

Fringe tales
The two-week Championships not only benefits the club and LTA but also a host of small and big businesses in Wimbledon. Robert Holmes, a leading estate agent in Wimbledon, says large properties are offered for short periods during the games. A single bed apartment goes for £500 a week when the regular rent would be less than £200. Large properties that have a market value of £5 million and can accommodate seven to eight people at once can fetch as much as £5,000 pounds a week. Around 500 such small and large properties are in the market during the fortnight, says Holmes.

At the 200-year old local pub Dog & Fox you may not get “place even to stand during that fortnight” says bartender John Tomlin. On main match days, this pub apparently collects as much as it does in one whole week during the rest of the year. Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and local hero Andy Murray have all visited this pub.

The 1,200-year old Anglican church in the vicinity, St Mary’s, gets its biggest collection in the year during The Championships fortnight, says Fiona Grom, parish administrator. Last year, the church allowed fans to park their cars in its grounds and collected a cool £35,000, far more than collections during festive seasons. However there are members-only clubs like the 154-year old Wimbledon Village Club which says the games have little impact on their business. Manager John Taylor says his business comes from the 800-odd members who come there to socialise, read the paper and watch the games on Sky Sports, over a pint.

Walking down the High Street, I see local businesses getting ready for some serious ringing at the cash register from June 21. Fresh coats of paint, refurbishments, special game-time offers. It’s clearly festival time for the 65,000-odd local population.

And on July 5, Wimbledon village will go back to being its sleepy self, stepping almost gladly away from the prying eyes of the world, only to re-emerge in the third week of June 2011 for yet another unmatched fortnight.

POST SCRIPTS
Head count
Total number of players in 2010	689
Umpires and line judges	330 (125 women, only 60 non-Brits)
Attendance (2009)	511,043
Balls used	54,250
Plants supplied each year	over 50,000
Accredited media (2009)	3,014 (675 print, 2,230 electronic and 199 photographers)
Press office staff	18

Top 5 items of merchandise sold in 2009
Yellow mini tennis ball key-rings	20,000
Men’s championship towels	11,000
Ladies’ championship towels	8,600
Wrist bands	8,000
Five-inch tennis balls for autographs	6,300

Top 5 staff groups
Catering staff	1,700
Guards	590
Stewards (service and London fire brigade)	490
Court officials	335
Drivers	315

Prize money
Even though The Championships are in their 124th edition, prize money started only in 1968
2007 was the first time the Gentlemen’s and Ladies singles had the same prize money amount — £700,000
Prize money for singles has always been on the rise. Other combinations saw a dip in prize money in 1971, but it was reinstated in 1972 to 1970 levels.
Information courtesy: AELTC

Marks & Spencer set to replicate AP green story

2010-06-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 12, 2010

UK’s largest apparel retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) said its “cotton sustainability project” in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh (AP) had started bearing fruit. The company is ready to increase the number of farmers under the project from 1,500 to 10,000.

The two-year-old project, rolled out with WWF India as the local partner, has enthused the retailer to consider such projects in other cotton-producing areas in India and other parts of the world.

The core of this project, according to M&S’ sustainable raw material specialist Mark Sumner, is better use of water by farmers in Warangal — an area that depends mostly on rain water for crops. After two years, Sumner said, water use was down 50 per cent, pesticide use fell 80 per cent and synthetic fertiliser use was down 20 per cent. A fully functioning farmers’ cooperative has also been established across 28 villages. Cotton, along with rice and sugar, is among the top three water-intensive crops in India.

M&S’ clothing and homeware business reported a top line of £4.1 billion, or nearly half the group’s turnover of £9.5 billion, in 2009-10. Based on the size of its apparel purchase bill, M&S believes it can assert how inputs for its merchandise are produced. Cotton is among the biggest raw material for M&S products.

“The economic strength of farmers has been increased through the cooperative, with less dependence on chemicals and an increase in farmers’ gross margins. So, the next step is to prove these results can be repeated with other farmers; and also increase the number of farmers we work with. We are also investigating ways we can take lessons from the project and apply it to other areas and other cotton projects,” Sumner said.

At present, 7,000 acres crop is under the project in Warangal. The project is a joint venture with environmental charity WWF, implemented by WWF India. Sumner said the financial commitment to the project could not be revealed, but said the investment M&S was going to make was “significant”.

The project in India is part of a three-year-old exercise, called Plan A. Earlier this week, while reporting the annual progress of its Plan A project, M&S said it achieved a 20 per cent reduction in food packaging, a 19 per cent increase in energy efficiency in stores and use of 417 million fewer carrier bags. Besides, over £50 million profit was invested back in the business. A further £13.2 million was invested in community projects last year, equal to 1.9 per cent of adjusted pre-tax profits.

M&S said over the last three years, 62 of the original 100 commitments had been achieved, 30 were ‘on plan’ to be achieved by 2012 and seven were ‘behind plan’ as a result of unexpected challenges. Plan A was extended in March this year to incorporate 80 new commitments and extensions.

M&S is one of the leading retailers in the UK, with over 21 million people visiting its stores every week. It employs over 75,000 people in the UK and abroad, and has over 600 UK stores. Since 2008, M&S has had a joint venture with Reliance Retail, with the Indian partner holding a 49 per cent stake.

Essar Energy makes it to FTSE 100 Index

2010-06-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 10, 2010

A little over a month after listing its IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Essar Energy has joined the elite group of blue-chip companies that are part of the coveted FTSE 100 Index. Essar Energy will be joined by gold producer, African Barrick Gold in this debut entry into the FTSE 100 list.

Barely an hour after the LSE closed for trading today, FTSE Group announced the entry of India's integrated energy company into the primary index. “FTSE Group confirms today that gold producer African Barrick Gold and Essar Energy will be joining the FTSE 100 Index for the first time. In the re-balance, Thomas Cook Group and the London Stock Exchange Group will leave UK’s leading blue-chip Index and join the FTSE 250 Index," it said in a media release.

Essar Energy will only be the second company with Indian promoters to feature on the index. The Anil Agarwal-controlled mining major Vedanta Resources is on the FTSE 100 list since December 2003.

Changes from this review will be implemented at the close of business on Friday, June 18 and will take effect from the start of trading on Monday June 21, FTSE Group said.

The FTSE 100 Index represents the 100 biggest UK blue-chip companies by market capitalisation. The index currently reflects approximately 85 per cent of the UK market, providing a broad and accurate investment tool for pension funds, financial products and investment portfolios in the UK and around the globe.

Entry into the FTSE 100 had been a stated goal for the Indian energy major. The timing of the issue, its listing and free float were all specifically designed to ensure that the company makes a smooth entry into the FTSE 100 list.

At the close of today's trading, Essar Energy stock was priced at 449.50 pence — 2.63 per cent higher than the previous close. The company had raised around $1.95 billion by selling 23 per cent stake to institutional investors. The shares were sold at 420 pence each and went to list on the LSE in the first week of May this year.

The FTSE 100 constituents are reviewed on a quarterly basis. Apart from market capitalisation, aspiring stocks must satisfy several other conditions before they can be admitted into the list.

Now, Google AdWords comes to BP's aid

2010-06-09T13:00:00.002-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 10, 2010

In yet another bid to manage the raging crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, oil major BP today said it had bought the “oil spill” search string in Google.com. So, the next time when an internet user types “oil spill” in Google.com, the first response in the search results will be a link directing to BP’s micro website that is dedicated to disseminating information on how it is handling the crisis on the ground . Buying of search strings is a product from the search-engine giant and is called Google AdWords.

A BP spokesperson here said this initiative was just to ensure that all stakeholders could easily find what the company was doing to overcome the oil spill crisis and also made it easy for affected parties to place their claims. “It is also for people to sign up as volunteers,” said a company spokesperson.

On April 20, BP’s semi-submersible exploratory offshore rig, Deepwater Horizon, in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank two days later, causing 11 deaths and spilling oil across the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Florida coasts. From an initial estimate of 1,000 barrels a day, the company later had to accept the US government estimate that it could be losing as much as 5,000 barrels of crude every day.

From an early estimate of $6-million loss a day, today BP’s loss clock is ticking at $22 million a day and overall cost, including cleaning efforts, financial compensation and material loss, is expected to be closer to $800 million, before it sees the end of this crisis.

Last Sunday, BP’s 53-year old CEO Tony Hayward appeared on BBC’s flagship political programme, The Andrew Marr Show, and gave his commitment that his company would ensure it leaves Gulf of Mexico exactly the way it was before the crisis. “We are going to stop the leak. We are going to clean up the oil (spill), we are going to remediate any environmental damage, and we are going to return the Gulf coast to the position it was prior to this event. That’s an absolute commitment and we will be there long after the media is gone, making good on our promises,” said Hayward.

The buying of a two-word search string in Google.com is only a small part of a massive crisis-management effort that BP has rolled out over the past few weeks. Since the first news of the oil spill came out in the third week of April, BP’s communication systems had metamorphosed into what seems like a giant living organism that attempts to address every question shot at it.

Apart from taking some help from Google.com, the BP website has undergone a complete facelift, with links to every possible aspect of the oil spill crisis. Several remotely-operated vehicles are used to provide real-time feed of the oil spill and attempts to cap the spill.

The BP spokesperson was unable to provide more details on how it was using its online communication team to quell the negative publicity the company has been subject to for the last several weeks. A Google spokesperson in the UK said:

“Google AdWords allows companies, political candidates and advocacy groups to get their message in front of consumers who are searching for relevant information.”

However, buying of the search string in Google.com will have limited advantages. One, the first link the search offers will be BP-sponsored, but it will also say it is a sponsored-link, equivalent of an online advertisement. Apart from this link, the rest of the links that follow would be exactly as they are had BP not bought this search string. This means the information access to third parties outside the company or US government will be unfiltered and untampered.

UK advances English test for migrants

2010-06-09T13:00:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 10, 2010

The new Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government has advanced its plans to introduce mandatory “English language test” for aspiring non-European migrants by nearly a year. The government plans to start the screening process by Autumn or around September this year.

UK Home Secretary Theresa May said, “I believe being able to speak English should be a pre-requisite for anyone who wants to settle here. The new English requirement for spouses will help promote integration, remove cultural barriers and protect public services.”

Compulsory English language tests would be introduced for migrants applying to come to the UK to join their partner or marry, the government said today. From Autumn 2010, all non-European migrants will have to demonstrate a basic command of English that allows them to cope with everyday life, before they are granted a visa. The rules will apply to spouses, civil partnerships, unmarried couples, same sex partners and fiancés, and will be compulsory for people applying from within the UK and from overseas.

The introduction of the language test for aspiring migrants was an idea mooted by the previous Labour government.

“It is a privilege to come to the UK and that is why I am committed to raising the bar for migrants and ensuring that those who benefit from being in Britain contribute to our society. This is only the first step. We are reviewing English language requirements across the visa system to tighten the rules further in the future. Today’s announcement is one of a wide range of measures the new government is taking to ensure that immigration is properly controlled for the benefit of the UK, alongside a limit on work visas and an effective system for regulating the students who come here,” the home secretary said.

Anyone wishing to come to the UK as a spouse will have to demonstrate basic English at A1 level, the same level required for skilled workers admitted under the Skilled Tier of the Points Based System. A spouse coming from outside Europe will need to provide evidence to the UK Border Agency with their visa application that they have passed an English language test with one of the UK Border Agency’s approved test providers.

Under the current rules, spousal visa applicants already have to meet a range of criteria before being allowed to enter the

UK. Applicants must show their marriage or partnership is genuine and that they can support themselves financially.

“Whether you are married in the UK or overseas, the non-UK partner must apply for a two-year settlement visa to come and live in the UK as a spouse. At the end of the two years, they can apply to the UK Border Agency for indefinite leave to remain,” a Home Office media release said.

Spouses applying for indefinite leave to remain after completing their two-year period of temporary residence will still need to fulfill the Knowledge of Life and Language in the UK Test.

Essar Energy to know in three days if on coveted LSE list

2010-06-07T00:15:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 6, 2010

If it gets on the FTSE 100, it will be only the second company there with an Indian promoter.

In about 72 hours, the Ruia family-promoted Essar Energy would know if it had made it to the coveted FTSE 100 index, a month after listing its Initial Public Offer on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The FTSE 100 is a market-capitalisation weighted index representing the performance of the 100 largest UK-domiciled blue chip companies. The index represents approximately 88 per cent of the UK’s market capitalisation and is considered the basis for investment products such as funds, derivatives and exchange-traded funds.

Essar Energy’s market capitalisation at the close of trading on Friday on the LSE was £5,533.64 million, making it the 52nd most valuable company there. It also placed the company in the middle of the 102 stocks listed on the FTSE 100 index.

ESSAR ENERGY’S TRYST WITH FTSE 100*
Market cap above the 90th rank	Passed
At least 19 days of trading	Passed
LSE Listing	Passed
Registered in UK	Passed
Liquidity test	With a 23% float, most likely passed
* As of Friday, June 4

On Friday, Essar Energy’s closing price was 435 pence a stock or 1.16 per cent more than the previous close. At 420 pence a share, Essar had raised around $1.95 billion from its LSE IPO in the first week of May.

Market capitalisation, however, is not the sole criterion for making it to the FTSE 100. Apart from the 19-day trading rule prior to being considered for the list, a test Essar Energy has passed, the stock must have a gross market capitalisation above the 90th ranked company in the index at the time of review. The 90th company in the list as of Friday’s market cap was travel and leisure company Whitebread, at £2447.62 million. Based on this condition alone, Essar Energy has made its way past the 90th ranked company.

A FTSE 100 aspirant stock will also have to pass certain liquidity conditions. Market sources here said that with a 23 per cent free float, Essar Energy is most likely to pass this test as well.

The most fundamental condition, however, is that it must have a LSE listing and a company registered in the UK. Essar Energy is already a UK-based company, with the Indian connection strictly restricted to the promoters’ nationality.

The entry of Essar Energy in the FTSE 100 list is also likely to oust at least one other company from the current list. The London Stock Exchange’s own stock, which is also on this list, is a possible candidate that could be ousted on Wednesday. LSE stock with a market cap of £1,691.63 million is the second least valuable company on this list and the least valuable company now is financial services company Schroders Plc (non-voting), with a market cap of £658.81 million.

On Wednesday, it will be known on which stocks the axe falls. Along with Essar Energy, Tanzania-focused gold producer, African Barrick Gold, will also be making a FTSE 100 debut. Hence, at least two stocks are likely to beat a retreat from the FTSE 100 on Wednesday.

The FTSE 100 Index also accounts for 7.97 per cent of the world’s equity market capitalisation. The index, that began ticking in 1984, today has 101 companies and 102 stocks (Royal Dutch Shell has two classes of shares) in it.

Essar Energy’s successful entry into this primary index will make it the second company to go on the FTSE-100 that is backed by an Indian promoter. At present, the only company there which is backed by an Indian promoter is Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources (£5,934.07 million and ranked 47th by market cap).

FTSE is expected to make an announcement of the reconstituted FTSE 100 list on Wednesday after the markets close for trading. The debut stocks on the FTSE 100 list however will appear in the list only after June 18.

Apollo Tyres marches into Europe with local brands

2010-06-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / Cologne (germany) June 2, 2010

Eyes place in the top 10 tyre makers’ league globally by 2015.

Nearly a year after acquiring Dutch tyre maker Vredestein, India’s Apollo Tyres today consummated the marriage by delivering a selection of its own products in the European market.

With the launch of six of its products in Europe today, Apollo became the first Indian company take this uncharted road into the 300-million unit European tyre market.

Apollo had bought Vredestein from Amtel of Russia for ¤36 million. In 2008, it had withdrawn from Hungary where it was looking at prospects, due to political opposition, and started looking for alternative sites. Its executives said today the abandoning of their plans in Hungary now looked like a blessing in disguise, given that the company had already recovered the money it had paid to buy Vredestein. Post-acquisition, Vredestein Banden BV was rechristened Apollo Vredestein BV.

Along with the Apollo brand’s launch in Europe, the company is also keen to bring the Vredestein brand to India. However, this will have to wait for capacity expansion envisaged for the company in its home ground, Netherlands. This could happen in a year, when the Dutch tyre maker would have expanded its capacity from 5.1 million tyres to six million a year, with an investment of ¤6.6 million.

Global ambitions
Senior executives from both Apollo and the subsidiary, Vredestein, who were present at the launch at the Reifen 2010 tyre show in Cologne, said this the beginning of the company’s global ambitions. Apollo wishes to enter the league of the top 10 global tyre markers by 2015, by pushing its sales turnover to over $5 billion. At present, this league is occupied by the likes of Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear.

Apollo Tyres’ current turnover which is around $1.7 billion (by the end of 2009-10), is expected cross $2 billion before the close of the current financial year.

The company made its first mark outside India when it acquired Dunlop in South Africa Rs 290 crore in 2006. Unlike the more recent Dutch acquisition that gave Apollo a pan-European reach and access to a 300-million tyre market, the South African buy is for a more restricted market of about 35 million units a year. The largest constituent of this market, South Africa, is now about 10 million units a year.

The company’s global ambition of achieving a $5 billion top line over the next five years will be achieved by both new projects and acquisition in regions other than where it already has a strong presence. Chairman Onkar Singh Kanwar said the company’s big move could happen in Southeast Asia or Latin America. With concentration of expensive natural rubber in South East Asia, the company has more compelling reason to set a base in the region.

As for China, the company is willing to look at an arrangement with a local source who could be Apollo’s contract manufacturer, Kanwar said.

Despite the global ambitions, the company believes its board can continue to be dominated by Indians. The management committee within the company is however multi-lingual and multi-ethnic, with members from its subsidiaries in Europe and Africa represented in it.

Flying colours::Profile of Arnab Basu, CEO, Kromek

2010-06-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London June 02, 2010

A company headed by a Kolkata-born tech-preneur is developing colour-sensor technology that will significantly enhance airport security.

From 2013, airline passengers in Europe will have Arnab Basu to thank every time airport security runs their hand luggage through an x-ray machine. That is the year Europe has committed to allowing passengers to carry liquids in their hand luggage, banned since 2006. And the task of detecting explosives in the lotions, after-shaves and shampoos is dependent on sensor technology developed by a company co-founded and headed by this tech-preneur born and schooled in Kolkata.

Kromek, his company based in County Durham in the north-east of England, specialises in making complex semiconductor material used in x-ray scanners to produce digital, colour and three-dimensional images. By changing for good the black-and-white world of x-rays, Kromek’s technology, which is derived from chroma the Greek word for colour, will help airlines and security agencies across the world spot and eliminate potential liquid bomb threats without harassing millions of air passengers.

For the past week, 37-year-old Basu says he has been averaging three hours of sleep a night owing to regular transatlantic flights to conclude a deal with the US defence department. But his career marks a far longer personal journey.

After finishing school at Hindi High School (now Birla High School) and graduating from St Xavier’s College with a BSc in physics, chemistry and math, Basu worked in his father’s metal-processing business in his home town between 1993 and 1996 before he moved to England for higher education.

He admits that he did not see a future so closely associated with global security issues. On the contrary, after his PhD in physics from Durham University, he was well on his way to becoming a banker in the City, London’s globally famous square mile.

In Basu’s case, destiny came bearing the name of Professor Mark Robinson in Durham University, who asked Basu to carve out Durham Scientific Crystals from its academic setting and run it as a commercial spin-off

Colour being the essence of this business, Basu and his team decided to name the new spin-off Kromek. So far, the company has raised £19 million from British and American investors. Basu is confident that this financial year his company will start reporting top-line numbers in “double digit millions” (though he’s not willing to disclose current numbers).

Kromek is a tiny 45 -person outfit but it has 60 families of patents to its name. The bottle scanner is already in use, though Basu will not name the airports concerned for security reasons. The successor to this technology, which will take the company to the next level, is currently being tested in many places.

Security screening is only one of its potential applications; it can also be used in medical imaging, industrial inspection and space exploration.

For less scientifically-inclined minds, Basu describes his company as “an Intel among x-ray machine makers”. Just as the Intel chip defines the computer that houses it, so will Kromek’s technology for the x-ray machines of the future.

He does not, however, see Kromek becoming a manufacturing giant. “It will basically be a technology company and much more solution-focused. We will be IP creators, solution creators and part of a supply chain,” he says.

All of this gives him little time to indulge his fondness for food, music and an occasional round of golf. “Like any other Bengali I love eating and try to keep fit,” he says.

He has given up following cricket since he moved to the UK. Loyal to the region where his new life began a decade-and-a-half back, he is a die-hard supporter of Newcastle United football team.

Currently on a brief stopover in London, he is eager to fly home to his three-and-half year old son and his Belgian wife — whom he met in Kolkata — who is expecting their second child.

TCS may be hit by UK's £6.25-bn cost-cut

2010-06-07T00:09:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 25, 2010

Chancellor George Osborne and his colleagues in the Treasury in the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat government in the UK today presented a long laundry list of expenditure cuts totalling £6.25 billion for 2010-11, including a possible £2 billion cuts in “IT, suppliers and property”. Osborne’s plans to cut government spending comes nearly a month ahead of the first emergency budget the new government will present in Westminster on June 22.

Today’s announcement is the first step taken by the new government to tackle an historically high budget deficit faced by the UK. Budget deficit over the next five years is estimated at £156 billion.

The brunt of expenditure cuts will be borne by business (£836 million), communities and local government (£780 million), Department of Transport (£683 million), education (£670 million), Department of Works and Pension (£535 million) and Department of Justice (£325 million).

Explaining the rationale for the massive cuts, Osborne said there was an urgent need for action in dealing with government debt. “We are all in this together,” he said. Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws said, “The years of public sector plenty is over.”

The £2 billion spending cuts comes at a time when there is a widespread speculation that £600 million contract awarded to India’s IT company Tata Consultancy Services for delivering IT solutions for the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority may come under review by the new government. TCS had bagged this order in March this year, when the previous Labour government was in power. Today’s announcement, however, did not dwell on any specific contract or vendors.

A Department of Works and Pension spokesperson later clarified that Treasury’s announcement was not about National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), the scheme for which TCS has been mandated to provide the IT solutions. A DWP spokesperson said, “The government is reviewing all recent spending approvals, to ensure that they are consistent with the government’s priorities and good value for money. “The HMT announcement today covers £535m of efficiencies for DWP. It’s not about NEST,” DWT said.

DWP also said that the austerity measures that would affect this department would include £70 million of savings from stopping or delaying some IT projects and reduced spending on IT consultancy and a further £25 million of savings from renegotiating contracts on medical and IT services.

Indian wine adds sparkle to British spirits

2010-05-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 23, 2010

Indian wineries are no more looking to exploit Britain’s love affair with Indian cuisine. They are looking to trounce the traditional and renowned wineries with products that can compete with the best Britain has in offer.

Indian wine makers are now demanding their rightful place in a world so far dominated by wineries from France, South Africa, Australia and California.

For the first time in the 30-year history of the London International Wine Fair (LIWF) that ended on Thursday, the British got a taste of the red, white, rosé and sparkling wines from eight of India’s best wine markers under one roof — “Wines of India”.

The mood in pavilion 40D was anything but sober — only partly explained by the tasting sessions. Visitors, experts and amateurs alike, expressed surprise at the distance Indian wine-makers have travelled in terms of quality and taste.

Rajiv Singhal, a consultant with the Indian Grape Processing Board, said there was a buzz around the India pavilion.

“People were curious. There was something about India (and Indian wine).”

Over the last 10 years, wine making in India had become a serious business, he said. The number of licensed wineries in India has shot up from two in 1999 to 69 in 2010. There were more in the pipeline, Singhal said.

Cecilia Oldne, head of international business for Sula Vineyards, said despite being a young wine-making country, the scope for Indian wines in the UK was enormous. Interestingly, UK consumes more South African wines than French wines.

After 1993 (after trade ban were lifted), South Africa has significantly increased wine exports to the UK. India can learn and emulate the South African road to success in selling wine in the UK. Sula has its own ambitious plans — the Mumbai-based wine maker has, in the last three months, exported 1,200 cases (12 bottles per case) to the UK.

Oldne said if it could have kept pace, Sula would have exported more than 5,000 cases to the UK this year — an unprecedented achievement in its decade-old journey of wine making.

The market in India, however, would continue to be Sula’s stronghold for a long time to come. Of the 2,70,000 cases the company produced last year, only 7 per cent were exported. This year, Sula hopes to produce 3,50,000 cases. Sula is probably the most visible Indian wine in the UK. Oldne said clients in the UK included Michelin Star restaurants like Benares in Berkeley Square.

While India is still the biggest market for Indian wines, the sheer size of the UK market is irresistible. Despite being a small wine producing nation, the per capita consumption of wine in the UK is 28 litres a year, about half of what major wine-producing countries like France consume (about 56 litres per capita). The per capita consumption of wine in India is just 10ml, which is less than a shot of tequila.

Abhay Kewadkar, chief winemaker and business head of UB Group’s wine-making division, said the route to success for Indian wines in the UK was to see beyond Indian restaurants. “We want to present a truly international wine. Fine wine with any fine cuisine.”

With just about three years since the spirits and beer major got into wine making, UB is already looking at markets in France, the US, Germany and the UK. From the present level of making one million bottles a year, UB wants to take it up to 12 million bottles (one million cases) in the next three to four years. It had set aside Rs 100-crore investment in this new and exciting business, said Kewadkar. UB sells its wines under the Four Seasons brand.

However, Mercury Winery’s Veral Pancholia said Indian wines must zealously hold on to their “Indianness”. He said that was precisely the reason why he sold his wines under the Aryaa brand name in slender bottles with henna designs on them.

Today, Mercury exports to as many countries as the number of states in India where it sells its wines. Pancholia says 40 per cent of the 2,00,000 cases it produces in a year are exported to countries like Japan, Norway, the UAE, China, Italy and the US. This year he wishes to add UK. “We are not just selling wine. We are selling the experience of Indian wine.”

While many of these wine makers are just starting to taste success in India, Indage has already made some serious inroads into the UK market. With its vineyards near Pune, Indage had been selling wines in the UK for the last 22 years, said

Vikrant Chougule.

Of the 400 restaurants in the UK where its wines are dispensed, only 30-40 per cent are Indian restaurants. Chougle said the biggest challenge Indian wineries had to fight was the temptation of selling Indian wine with Indian food. He said Indian wine makers had to address the larger food market outside the circle of Indian restaurants.

Renowned wine writer Oz Clarke, after tasting what India had to offer, said he was impressed. But he also cautions that Indian wineries must keep the sweetness and oak finish a notch lower if they hope to succeed in a discerning market like the UK — an advice Indian wineries might as well use if they wish to taste the sweetness of success in the UK.

Hindujas to buy Belgian banking arm for euro 1.35 bn

2010-05-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 22, 2010

The Hinduja Group has acquired KBL epb, the private banking arm of Belgian banking and insurance group KBC, for euro 1.35 billion (Rs 7,918 crore) in an all-cash deal. With this acquisition, the Hinduja brothers plan to grow KBL's private banking business in India, West Asia and the rest of Asia.

KBL epb (European Private Bankers) is one of Europe’s largest onshore private banking groups, with affiliated local banks at 55 locations across 10 European countries, including France, Germany and United Kingdom.

Speaking to Business Standard, Hinduja Group’s 76-year old hairman, Srichand P Hinduja, said KBL’s business model, with its local banks in several European countries, was unique and would augur well for its venture into the Indian banking sector.

Of the several bidders for KBL, only two were left in the final round. Exor, an investment firm controlled by Italy's Agnelli family, lost the final round to the Hindujas.

“We plan to invest further in the business, maintaining each of the subsidiaries, while also providing KBL epb with access to the fast-growing markets of the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Asia,” Srichand Hinduja said.

“In this way, we hope to address the private banking needs of clients internationally and facilitate capital flows between fast-growing economies and established Western financial markets.”

At the end of 2009, KBL epb had assets under management worth euro 47 billion, assets under custody worth euro 37 billion and, through a 52.7 per cent stake in EFA (European Fund Administration), assets under administration worth euro 103 billion. The sale of KBL epb was mandated by the European Commission as a restructuring plan for KBC in return for a euro 7-billion state aid.

The closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2010.

In a joint press statement, KBC and the Hinduja Group said the transaction comprises the sale of KBC’s entire interest in KBL epb and includes all the private banking subsidiaries as well as the custody and life insurance businesses. The KBL epb brand, management team and operations will be maintained in their entirety and KBL epb will continue to be headquartered in Luxembourg.

KBL epb operates a unique private banking business model focused on local client service supported by centralised operations. This model has its global hub based in Luxembourg with control functions such as audit, compliance and risk management of the entire group. The local banks of the KBL count among the most prominent banks in the markets they operate in.

Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers in the Netherlands, Merck Finck & Co in Germany, Puilaetco Dewaay in Belgium and Brown Shipley & Co in United Kingdom are among 11 such banks with presence across Europe. The group employs 2,661 staff, 466 of whom are private bankers.

The Hinduja Group said the deal would further strenghten its presence in the banking sector that already has two banks under its belt -- Geneva-based Hinduja Bank Ltd, established in 1978, and IndusInd Bank in India, set up in 1994. IndusInd in India has two million customers, 1,225 outlets and a balance sheet of $8 billion, the group said.

The Hinduja brothers -- Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok Hinduja -- are one of the wealthiest families in Europe and have strong presence in India through their interests in automotive, energy, hydrocarbon chemicals, information technology, media,and entertainment, infrastructure and project development, real estate, healthcare, trading and banking and finance.

British govt may review TCS contract with UK pension body

2010-05-19T01:11:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 19, 2010

A £600-million contract won by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) from Britain’s Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (Pada) has come under renewed media scrutiny. This was after the new government’s chancellor (finance minister), George Osborne said yesterday all major expenses approved by the former Labour government after January 1 would be reviewed.

No contract was named in this regard. However, speculation began on this one. Some details of the cost cuts the new government proposes would emerge only next week. Osborne and his team are hoping to cut expenses worth £6 billion a year. The new government is to also present an emergency budget on June 22.

In March this year, the UK’s pension manager, Pada, had awarded the £600 million deal to TCS as the only remaining vendor who had bid for this contract, after other bidders withdrew.

Both Pada and TCS refused to comment on the outcome of a possible review. A TCS spokesperson in India said, “We, just like Pada, are also under an obligation to not comment on any speculation.”

Pada released the contract to TCS in two parts — the designing and implementation part. The designing part is to end this October. The 10-year implementation part starts after that, subject to a go-ahead.

“The contract is divided into two stages and runs for 10 years, with possible extensions for up to a further five years. The first stage will run to October 2010, allowing TCS to begin the activity required to set up and administer NEST (National Employment Savings Trust). Prior to the expiry of the first stage, a decision will be made on whether to proceed with the contract for the remainder of the contract term,” Pada had said in March.

“Clearly, whoever approved this contract, had obviously provided for the possibility of a non-Labour government in UK after May 2010 and also expected that the new minister in-charge might want to review it,” said a source here.

Vodafone turns clock back to 2007 value in India

2010-05-19T01:10:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 19, 2010

Competition forces lower valuation, despite strong results.

Britain's telecom giant, Vodafone Group Plc, has written down the value of its Indian operation by £2.3 billion (Rs 15,156 crore) to an estimated £5.7 billion (Rs 37,530 crore).

The reason given is the intense competition it has faced since it took the acquisition route to enter the world’s fastest-growing mobile telecom market in 2007.

Globally, Vodafone today reported a nearly three-fold growth in net profit at £8.61 billion ($12.4 billion) for 2009-10.

The company today released its annual results for the year ended March 31, 2010, and said, “Although our operational performance in India since acquisition in 2007 has been strong, the award of six new national licences in the market one year after our entry and the resulting intense price competition have led to an impairment charge of £2.3 billion.”

Interestingly, the company’s current valuation of its Indian business at £5.7 billion is the same as the price it had paid in 2007. Apart from a cash consideration of £5.7 billion, Vodafone also took on itself debt worth £1 billion ($2 billion at that time) when it acquired the stake in Hutch Essar.

MARKET CAP OF BHARTI & RCOM

BHARTI AIRTEL

Current Rs 1,01,697 crore ($22.31billion)

As on Feb 11, 2007 Rs 1,46,701 crore ($33.25 billion)

RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONS

Current Rs 29,928 crore ($ 6.56 billion)

As on Feb 11, 2007 Rs 99,317 crore ($ 22.51 billion)

Strong Indian growth
A Vodafone spokesperson later clarified that impairment charge was a “non-cash” book adjustment and did not reflect its impressive performance in India. Vodafone, in the books of its holding company, puts a value on the operations in various countries. The company spokesperson said prior to the revaluation, its Indian operations were approximately valued at £8 billion.

The lower valuation also comes after a year when its revenues grew by 14.7 per cent in India. The company’s Indian operations attracted 32 million customers in March, making it the second largest mobile telecom company in India.

“In a very competitive pricing environment, we were pleased to have confirmed our number two position in the market. Since Vodafone’s entry into India in 2007, our performance has been strong. We have gained about one percentage point per annum in revenue market share, added 72 million customers, moved the business into operating free cash flow generation and launched Indus Towers, the world’s largest tower company, with more than 1,00,000 towers under management.”

Despite the robust growth in revenues and customer-base, the Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) margin for the Asia Pacific region (of which India is a part) fell by 2.2 per cent, primarily reflecting lower margins in India caused by the competitive pricing environment and operating investment in new circles, the company said.

Vodafone India reported a total revenue of £3.11 billion (Rs 20,500 crore) for 2009-10, against £2.69 billion a year earlier (Rs 17,700 crore), a growth of f around 15 per cent. Ebitda for the year improved to £807 million (Rs 5,315 crore) against £717 million (Rs 4.720 crore) in 2008-09, a growth of 13 per cent. Due to non-cash expenses like depreciation and amortisation, the company reported an adjusted operating loss of £37 million (Rs 244 crore) for its Indian operations. The company had reported an adjusted operating loss of £30 million (Rs 197 crore) a year earlier.

The company’s India operation was the major contributor for its growth in the Asia-Pacific region. While APAC region service revenues grew by around 9.8 per cent, the India operations reported 14.7 per cent growth. The rest of APAC grew by only 2.9 per cent.

The Group also said it had granted put options exercisable between May 8, 2010, and May 8, 2011, to members of the Essar group of companies that, if exercised, would allow the Essar group to sell its 33 per cent shareholding in Vodafone Essar to the Group for $5 billion or to sell up to $5 billion worth of Vodafone Essar shares to the Group at an independently appraised fair market value.

On the government of India’s tax claim of around $2 billion on its acquisition deal (that brought it to India in 2007), the company said it continued to seek resolution. The company had become a majority shareholder in the company through the acquisition of Hutchison Telecommunications International in 2007 for a cash deal of £5.5 billion ($11 billion at that time).

Global group revenue increased by 8.4 per cent to £44.5 billion. Group Ebitda was £14.7 billion, up 1.7 per cent. The Ebitda margin declined in line with expectations, the company said. On a consolidated basis, the group’s net profits more than doubled to £8.62 billion against £3.08 billion in 2008-09.

JLR set to wrap up $850-mn order one year in advance

2010-05-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 18, 2010

The times, they are a-changin’... From a painful 2008-09, when global car sales plummeted, the signs of recovery in 2010 have never been clearer. Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to wrap up the £600-million ($850 million) three-year Chinese deal it had bagged in February 2009, one year ahead of schedule.

A JLR spokesperson told Business Standard the company was confident of completing delivery of the 13,000-car deal by the end of 2010 itself, as against the schedule of 2011-end.

In February 2009, when luxury and premium car maker JLR was under stress with sales numbers sinking, it got its first big break with the order from a Chinese delegation that visited the UK at the start of 2009. The order was for 10,000 Land Rovers and 3,000 Jaguars. The status of the delivery breakup for these two parts of the deal is not known, though.

The Chinese order was a major morale booster for JLR-owner, Tata Motors. The order by value is a little over half the price Tata Motors paid (£1.15 billion) for the two iconic name plates in 2008. The massive order is from an importer based in Shenzen, in South China's Guangdong province.

It is not clear at this stage if this impressive delivery performance will have any major impact on other difficult decisions the company has been forced to take recently. In April 2009, JLR had asserted it had no plans to reconsider an earlier decision to close one of its plants in the UK — a decision that expected to enable production rationalisation. An announcement on this, as scheduled originally, will be made by the middle of 2010. In September 2009, the company had announced it would be forced to close one of its three midland plants as a cost-cutting measure. The company as a whole employs around 14,000 people and the three assembly plants employ 9,000 workers — 5,000 in Solihull, 2,000 in Castle Bromwich and 1,800 at Halewood. Castle Bromwich makes some Jaguar models, Solihull makes the Land Rover Defender and Discovery, the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover, and Halewood makes the Jaguar X-Type and Land Rover Freelander models.

Apart from the new cost-cutting measures, the company has also revamped its top management. It has brought in Carl Peter Forster, former head of General Motors Europe and Ralf Speth from BMW to lead the turnaround. The start of 2010 also saw the exit of the then CEO, David Smith, who had spent 18 months to revamp the company’s operations.

Since the start of 2010, JLR has reported impressive improvement in sales. JLR’s global sales in April 2010 were 17,909, higher by 61 per cent. Jaguar sales for the month were 3,559, almost the same as last year in spite of the withdrawal of X-Type. The Jaguar XF sales were up 23 per cent, while Land Rover sales were 14,350, higher by 89 per cent. In March 2010, JLR sold 23,538 vehicles, higher by 43 per cent. Jaguar sales for the month were 4,642, higher by eight per cent, while Land Rover sales were 18,896, higher by 55 per cent. However, cumulative sales of JLR for the financial year are 193,982 units, lower by 11 per cent. Cumulative sales of Jaguar are 47,418, lower by 24 per cent, while cumulative sales of Land Rover are 146,564, lower by six per cent.

New UK govt's emergency budget on June 22

2010-05-18T01:23:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 18, 2010

The UK’s new Tory Chancellor, George Osborne, has said the first emergency budget will be unveiled on June 22 and a new independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been formed that will make forecasts of growth and borrowings by the government.

The Emergency Budget would be released exactly 42 days from the date of formation of the new government. Prime Minister David Cameron had earlier promised to present the Budget within 50 days of the formation of the new government.

Addressing the media here on Sunday, Osborne said that with the OBR in place, the UK would for the first time have a “truly independent assessment of the state of the nation’s finances”. Noted British economist Alan Budd would head the OBR. He was the founding member of Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee formed in 1997 by the then Labour government.

“We need to fix the budget to fit the figures, not fix the figures to fit the budget. To do this, I am today establishing a new independent Office for Budget Responsibility. For the first time we will have a truly independent assessment of the state of the nation’s finances. So they can get to work immediately, the OBR will initially operate on a non-statutory basis, just as the Monetary Policy Committee operated before it was enshrined in legislation,” said Osborne. At 38, he is the youngest chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) in the UK in the last 120 years.

Summarising the new government’s plans to get to work on war-footing, Osborne said, in a space of one week since the Cameron-led coalition government was formed, it has already changed the way budgets are made, has created a new independent office to monitor government spending, set in motion the creation of the first independently audited national balance sheet and plans to cut £6 billion worth of wasteful spending without affecting frontline services. The government also announced that it would re-examine all spending approvals made since January 1 by the previous Labour government.

“If we don’t get on top of our debt, every family in Britain will be poorer and the dreams of millions of young people will be dashed. Mortgages will be higher, businesses will go bust and debt interest will become one of the largest items of government spending. We urgently need to restore confidence in our economy. And we need the determination to act quickly in the short-term in order to establish credibility for the longer term,” said Osborne.

The government’s chief secretary would meet the Cabinet colleagues this week to agree on £6 billion of cuts in this year’s spending. “This is to make an immediate start on tackling the UK’s unprecedented £163 billion deficit, boost credibility and help keep interest rates lower for longer,” HM Treasury said today.

As part of cutting government spending, the new Conservative-Lib Dem government last week agreed to cut ministers’ pay by 5 per cent and freeze it over the next five years of the government. Ministers’ pay would also not get any raise to reflect inflation as well.

Yesterday, Cameron announced that bonuses for senior civil servants and NHS managers would be cut by two thirds. This intends to save around £15 million. The new government is also expected to raise value added tax to 20 per cent from the present 17.5 per cent.

On May 11, the new coalition government formed by Conservatives and Liberal Democrats was put in place, ending a 13-year Labour-led government headed by Gordon Brown.

New ash cloud disrupts UK, Ireland air traffic

2010-05-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 17, 2010

Ash from a volcano in southern Iceland is back over the UK airspace, disrupting flights from nearly a dozen airports in the country. However the main airports in London — Heathrow, Gatwick and London City Airports — are functioning normally as of now.

In the mainland, East Midlands, Manchester, Liverpool, Doncaster, Humberside and Carlisle airports have been hit by the Civil Aviation Authority’s no-fly zone. Airports in Northern Ireland, Prestwick near Glasgow, some on Scottish islands and the Isle of Man are also affected, according to initial reports.

Between April 15 and 23, air passengers across Europe were affected by the ash plumes from Eyjafjallajokull in southern Iceland. Three weeks after the ash subsided, they are back now. From Saturday evening, aviation authorities in the UK started issuing warning about the ash clouds from Iceland moving towards the UK. The only sliver lining to this problem now is that the southern part of the country’s airspace remains unaffected, thus allowing flights from London airports to function normally.

It was estimated that the airline industry in Europe lost $1.7-2 billion during the week-long ban on flight movement declared by European navigation authorities in April.

UK’s navigation service provider NATS, in its latest notice, said: “The CAA’s no-fly zone required by the high density volcanic ash cloud will not affect London airports for the period 1300-1900 (local time) today. The no-fly zone for this period has moved east to a line stretching from Prestwick on the west coast to Humberside on the east coast and south to a line just north of Birmingham.

Airports which fall within the no-fly zone include all those in Northern Ireland, Ronaldsway, Prestwick, Carlisle, Manchester, Liverpool, Doncaster, Humberside and East Midlands and some Scottish island airports including Campbeltown, Islay and Barra.

An era ends for Labour party in British politics

2010-05-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 16, 2010

It was hardly a summer evening — cold, grey and depressing. But, an appropriate setting for the outgoing Prime Minister of Britain. On that evening of May 11, Gordon Brown, with his wife, Sarah, and two sons John and James, were getting ready to depart 10, Downing Street. It is very unlikely either Brown or his wife will ever step into the highest executive office in the UK again.

Brown wore the look of a defeated warrior. Even for a couple entrenched in the British tradition of not displaying their emotions in public, it was a hard battle holding back their tears. The husband and wife just about managed to veil their true feeling with a gentle smile. Before the final departure, Brown had delivered his last speech outside this office, on his way to meet the Queen and give his resignation. He used all the strength gathered from 27 years in cut-throat politics, gracefully accepted his defeat and said his last good-bye.

Even his most ruthless critics in the media watched him quietly and later admitted it was a truly touching moment. The fact that his toughest critics shared and empathised that brief moment of grief with him spoke volumes about the legacy Brown was leaving behind.

Speaking of legacy, the first thought that comes to a Brown-basher’s mind is the gaping hole in the country’s finances left behind for the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat government to deal with. The public sector showed a deficit on the current budget of £14.8 billion in March 2010, compared with a deficit of £12 billion in March 2009. Brown was the prime minister in the last 32 months of the 13-year Labour rule in Britain. He came and left as “Gordon the unelected”, after he took charge from predecessor Tony Blair in June 2007.

With his failings, Brown got one thing right. In his closing remark at the third and last televised debate of the leaders on BBC, he said, “I know that if things stay as they are, perhaps in eight days’ time, David Cameron, perhaps supported by Nick Clegg, would be in office.” The prognosis was wrong only on the timing. It took 12 more days for the Brown-Labour era to end.

Brown’s political nemesis came with two heads. One of LibDem leader Nick Clegg and another one of Sky News and The Sun newspaper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch.

Just six months before the May 2010 election, The Sun, the country’s leading tabloid, announced it would not support Labour any more. Its front page on September 30 screamed, ‘Labour’s lost it’. Despite the shrugs from Brown and his Labour colleagues, this must have come as a massive blow. The Sun had supported Labour in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 election. A persistent campaign ensued. The day after Brown’s infamous ‘bigot’ gaffe, The Sun had the shortest and most damning title — ‘Brown Toast’. If the papers had a one-a-day chance to ram Brown’s campaign, Murdoch’s news channel, Sky News, did so 24x7. Sky’s political editor, Adam Boulton, led this campaign from the front. Despite some last-minute hiccups when it was not clear which side Clegg would slant his support, the Murdoch-backed Boulton team came on top. Mission accomplished.

It would be difficult to answer why Murdoch and his media empire had abandoned Labour in the 2010 election after 13 years of generous support. After all, The Sun had claimed it was the force behind Blair’s 1997 victory. The only man who can answer this question with certainty, Murdoch, is never going to answer it. Brown’s defeat was best summarised by Brown’s former spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, when he said Brown’s defeat was one led by the media. This was true. As the election date neared, there was not a single paper or TV channel in country that even remotely supported Brown or

Labour. The best Brown and his team could expect was some sense of neutrality, that the BBC provided.

While Murdoch and his team played their part in Brown’s downfall, the real and final blow to his political career came from a completely unexpected person, Clegg, LibDem party leader. In his election campaign, he had in no ambiguous terms that he would not talk to Labour for a possible post-election coalition if Brown was its leader. Hence after the electorate returned a hung Parliament on May 6, Clegg walked over to the Tory party to start negotiations. As the talks slowly and painfully progressed, Brown and his team watched, hoping Clegg would change his mind. This did not happen. Under severe pressure, on May 10, Brown stepped down as leader of Labour, thus effectively ending any chance of becoming the next PM should the Lib-Lab coalition click. For a brief six hours the following day, it seemed like a “rainbow coalition’ of Lib-Lab with other smaller parties was taking shape.

As it turned out, this was just a smoke-screen. It was a Tory-Lib that made it to the finishing line. At 59, and after nearly three decades in politics, Brown went home to his constituency as a common man, holding no office in the government or his party. In his own words, he said he was going back to doing his most favourite job in the world — being a husband and a father of his two children.

Prince Charles to visit Corus' beleaguered unit

2010-05-15T11:07:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 16, 2010

Tata Steel-owned Corus will have a special visitor calling on them the coming Wednesday, May 19. Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, will visit the troubled Corus Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant in Redcar and meet representatives from there.

The prince’s plans to visit TCP was announced as a diary entry in his website. The object of the visit and what he hoped to achieve was unclear. Corus executives could not be reached to clarify the purpose of the visit. The royal family has no role in the running of the government or its various departments.

The prince, however, does take an active interest in various issues that concern the British people and is believed to be in the habit of writing to various government departments. This correspondence is not shared with the public.

Prince Charles is also known for this active interest concerning environmental issues. During his visit to India in March 2006, he launched the Bhumi Vardaan Foundation in Punjab, to promote sustainable agriculture and help ensure a viable way of life on the land. His visit to TCP might just be a courtesy visit to get an idea of the issues faced by the local community in Teesside.

Ever since TCP was mothballed in February, around 1,700 jobs have been put at risk, with another 3,000-odd jobs that indirectly depend on TCP likely to be affected, too. After a consortium of buyers prematurely terminated a 10-year contract in April 2009, Corus said it had no option. The last few months also saw Corus attempting to find a suitable buyer for the plant. Corus recently appointed Citibank to help find a buyer for the plant. The company has admitted that it is in talks with more than one party.

Most recently the plant was visited by a team from Bangkok-based Sahaviriya Steel Industries. The outcome of this visit has not been revealed.

Land Rover revisits its roots for better numbers

2010-05-14T13:27:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 15, 2010

Sometimes old ideas could be the answer for new challenges. Tata Motors-owned luxury car marker Jaguar Land Rover has been reminded of this the hard way. The company is planning a 2WD (two-wheel drive) version of its new compact Range Rover car, that will go on sale from next year.

The new model would be cheaper than its four-wheel drive peers, offer better fuel-efficiency and lower carbon emissions. A company spokesperson said that the company used to make a 2WD Land Rover right back at the start, in 1948.

Land Rover Managing Director Phil Popham said: “This is good news for the company and for our customers. We are adding to the range and expanding our customer base. We will continue to make the ‘World’s Finest All-Terrain Vehicles’ for those customers who require 4WD but will offer an alternative to those that don’t. 2WD is also an important way to deliver improved vehicle efficiency.” The new model will come in a 4WD version as well. The company has not decided on the price options for the new models.

The company spokesperson further said that against the present 42 miles per gallon fuel efficiency, the new 2WD version is expected to offer 50 miles a gallon. The vehicle will also emit less than 130g/km of carbon dioxide, making it the lightest,

most fuel-efficient Range Rover ever.

As part of the introduction of 2WD, Land Rover will be focusing on three main areas of technology to reduce the weight of these vehicles, reduce parasitic losses and increase power train efficiency. The use of hybrid technology is also part of the significant developments for the larger vehicles in the range, with a view to launching the first diesel hybrid by 2013.

By the end of 2010, Land Rover will be testing the first diesel hybrid prototype, named the 'Range-e', being developed using a Range Rover Sport platform. Tests of this vehicle will use the existing 3.0 litre TDV6 diesel engine, featuring a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission.

The positive sales trend continues for Land Rover globally, with sales up 29.7 per cent for April, with 14,263 vehicles sold and up 35.2 per cent in the year to date. Land Rover UK has seen its eighth consecutive month of improvement, up 54 per

cent for April with 2,675 units and 61 per cent year to date, ahead of the rest of the sector.

Popham added: "The investment in and the success of the latest 2010 model range, including comprehensive exterior, interior, power train and technology improvements, are integral to driving this momentum. Demand is, in fact, so strong that we have just announced 275 new jobs at the Company’s manufacturing plant in Solihull.”

Biyani suggests consumption stimulation as development option

2010-05-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 14, 2010

Retail giant Future Group's CEO Kishore Biyani said more focus should be given to get Indian consumers to spend more. It would be a faster route to overall prosperity than to first develop infrastructure.

His remark at a conference organised by India Business Forum at London Business School — "Spending is the way for India to prosper, not infrastructure", as he put it — sparked a heated debate which didn’t lead to any consensus. Biyani later admitted (after the meet) that his statement was more rhetorical, but then reiterated that India could spend its way to prosperity.

His statement was a reaction to a statement by another panelist who was critical about the regulatory issues in the retail sector in India. Satyen Patel, former Nike Southeast CEO, suggested that if India opened its retail sector to foreign players like Walmart and Tesco, it would lead to more investments flowing into logistical infrastructure in the country and thus could be a possible driver for growth and overall prosperity.

Asked for a reaction to Biyani's statement, retail sector expert and chairman of Technopak Advisors, Arvind Singhal (who was not present), said: “I am not sure what Mr Biyani said or in what context. I can only comment that if there is any single deficiency that can put a major speed-breaker to India’s growth, it will be infrastructure. Further, in infrastructure, we must consider both physical infrastructure as well as social. Physical is what we normally talk about (quality roads, steady and price-competitive power supply availability, especially for manufacturing industry, efficient public transport). The social infrastructure includes affordable, accessible (and accountable) healthcare, education, clean drinking water, and basic sanitation. Sadly, we talk even lesser about the enormous deficiency in this social infrastructure."

Adding: "The way I would state is that if India reallocates larger quantum of its public money to bridge the current and actually increasing gap in such infrastructure, it will be a more prosperous nation in the future. Conversely, India cannot dream to be a prosperous country if it does not spend much more on infrastructure."

Patel also contested Biyani’s statistics on his group’s growth. He questioned if Future Group would be as successful if foreign competition were given a level playing field in India. The government regulations in India do not allow multi-brand retail chains from foreign companies to operate in the country.

India has to find a way to grow with other people's money, like the Chinese, Patel said. "This is not about India versus the West," he asserted.

Biyani reiterated his point from another angle, by saying fruits and vegetables in India were grown closer to places where they were consumed to keep them fresh. He said only 70 per cent of the cold storage facilities in India are actually used, suggesting the need for improving infrastructure in the country on a war-footing might be an exaggerated, Western-influenced notion.

Cameron new British PM

2010-05-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 13, 2010

After five days of intense negotiations, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats finally put in place yesterday a coalition government, the first in the last 70 years, which will consist of at least five ministers from Liberal Democrats, the smaller partner.

Conservative Party leader David Cameron on Tuesday evening formally took charge as the 52nd Prime Minister of the UK with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg as his deputy.

Late Tuesday evening, standing outside 10 Downing Street, Cameron, 43, delivered his first speech as Prime Minister and said: “In terms of the future, our country has a hung parliament where no party has an overall majority and we have some deep and pressing problems — a huge deficit, deep social problems, a political system in need of reform. For those reasons, I aim to form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.”

His speech did not even remotely resemble the rhetoric witnessed in the run-up to the elections, but was one that was sober and in parts even grave.

Despite the intense rivalry with his predecessor, Cameron started his speech by paying rich tribute to Gordon Brown, who had only a few minutes earlier stepped down as Prime Minister. “Compared with a decade ago, this country is more open at home and more compassionate abroad and that is something we should all be grateful for and on behalf of the whole country. I’d like to pay tribute to the outgoing prime minister for his long record of dedicated public service,” Cameron said.

At 43, Cameron is also the youngest prime minister since Robert Banks Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool in 1812. He is six months younger than Tony Blair when he had become the prime minister in 1997.

Until noon on Tuesday, the situation continued to remain precarious, with Liberal Democrats resuming talks with Labour. However, by the same evening, order was restored when Brown tendered his resignation to the Queen, recommending that Cameron be invited to form the new government. With this, the 13-year-old Labour tenure came to an end.

In the new government, the top two cabinet posts will be held by members of the majority partner (Tory) with William Hague as foreign secretary and George Osborne as Chancellor (finance minister). Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat’s financial wizard, who for sometime was expected to grab the Chancellor’s job, had to content with a position of the man in charge of business and banking, which is a slightly modified version of what his predecessor Peter Mandelson had held. Cable became famous with his book “The Storm” that vividly explains the last economic crisis and often credited with the man who predicted the financial meltdown way back in 2003.

Liam Fox and Andrew Lansley from the Tory side have also managed to grab two other important cabinet positions of defence and health, while Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne will be cabinet member in charge of energy and climate change. More announcements on the new cabinet are expected to follow soon.

Probably as a gesture of his confidence that the new coalition government will survive its five-year term, Cameron’s first official announcement was that the next general election would be held on the first Thursday of May 2015. His optimism was, however, played down by several Labour leaders who do not expect the new government to live beyond 18 months. The sceptics in the Labour Party were in fact joined by a handful of MPs from both the Tories and Liberal Democrat as well, who from the beginning had opposed the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition.

In the coming weeks and months, the two coalition partners will have to iron out their differences on several key issues including government spending, political and electoral reforms and the UK’s policies towards Europe. Cameron and his supporters have been projected as strong Eurosceptics, a position that is unlikely to go down well with their new coalition partners.

Vedanta to buy UK firm's zinc assets for $1.3 bn

2010-05-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

BS Reporters / London/Mumbai May 11, 2010

London-based minerals and metals major Vedanta Resources today announced it would buy UK-based Anglo American Plc’s zinc business for $1.34 billion (Rs 6,011 crore) in an all-cash deal.

The acquisition substantially increases the Anil Agarwal-promoted company’s zinc and lead production capacity to 1,462 ktpa (kilo tonnes per annum) — boosting its production of lead and zinc by 37 per cent.

Vedanta said the group would now have an 11 per cent share of the global zinc market. The deal also increases reserves and resources by 206 million tonnes, increasing Vedanta’s total reserves and resources by 76 per cent.

HIGH FIVE Top five producers of Zinc - Q1 2010
Company	Production*	Country
Hindustan Zinc	730	India
Xstrata AG	690	Switzerland
Glencore	356	Switzerland
New Boliden	323	Sweden
Teck	300	Canada
*In kilotonnes

Today’s acquisition further consolidates the company’s position as the world’s leading zinc producer. The acquisition will be handled by subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Ltd, in which Vedanta holds a majority stake (through Sterlite).

In a statement issued today, Vedanta said Anglo American Zinc’s operations were highly profitable with long-term development potential. For the year ended December 31, 2009, the company generated, on an attributable basis, a gross revenue of $670 million, Ebitda of $213 million, operating profits of $154 million and had gross assets of $845 million.

Chairman Anil Agarwal said: “These high-quality assets complement Vedanta’s existing portfolio, creating the largest zinc and lead producer in the world. We intend to rapidly develop Gamsberg, one of the largest high-quality zinc projects in the world, leveraging our world-class large project development expertise.”

Anglo American said the sale of its zinc business follows its October 2009 announcement of its strategy to focus on commodities where it holds advantaged positions.

Vedanta will buy the Skorpion mine in Namibia, the Lisheen mine in Ireland and a 74 per cent stake in Black Mountain Mining in South Africa, said Anglo American. Completion of the transaction is expected to be in stages and Vedanta has planned to complete the acquisition of all three within the next 12 months.

Anglo American's zinc business produced 3,50,000 tonnes of zinc in 2009.

Of the total consideration, $698 million relates to the Skorpion mine, $308 million relates to the Lisheen mine and $332 million relates to Anglo American's 74 per cent interest in Black Mountain Mining.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals as well as competition clearance in the relevant jurisdictions. In addition, Exxaro Resources Limited, Anglo American's black economic empowerment partner in Black Mountain Mining, holds a 26 per cent interest in the company and has a pre-emptive right to match Vedanta's offer in respect of this asset.

The $1.34 billion consideration agreed with Anglo American is based on effective economic ownership, including profits and cash flows, passing to Vedanta as of 1 January, 2010.

"This agreement represents an important milestone in our strategy to focus on our core commodity businesses and on the delivery of our exciting near-term growth from our $17 billion of approved projects," said Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American.

With this acquisition Vedanta will be taking on board 1800 employees from Anglo American's zinc business. Rough estimates indicate that Vedanta would get nearly 4 per cent of Anglo American Plc's revenues but would be burdened with only 1.7 per cent of its workforce. "On enterprise value to Ebitda basis, the acquisition appears at a competitive valuation. However, the success of the acquisition will depend on how effectively they develop the undeveloped mines," said Alok Ranjan, head of portfolio management service, at domestic brokerage Way2Wealth. He was referring to the Gamsberg asset.

Uncertainty continues on next UK govt

2010-05-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 10, 2010

Uncertainty on the formation of Britain’s next government continued even two days after general election results were declared.

As this paper goes to print, senior leaders from the Conservative and Liberal Democrats’ parties are negotiating. If an agreement fructifies, it would put Tory party leader David Cameron in 10, Downing Street — the official residence of the UK’s Prime Minister.

The results declared on May 7 gave the opposition Conservative Party 307 seats, the ruling Labour Party 258 seats and the Liberal Democrats got 57. A clear majority in the House of Commons would need 326 of the total 650. Smaller parties managed to corner 27 seats, with the election in one constituency yet to be held, due to the death of a candidate a day before before the election.

Despite winning the least number of seats among the three major parties, at this stage, the form and shape of the next government depends on a decision from the Liberal Democrats. Party leader Nick Clegg, who won his seat from Sheffield Hallam, is holding the position of a king maker.

PR now a key issue
The negotiation between his party and the Conservaties hinges on one vital demand made by the Liberal Democrats. Mad even before the election, it is to seek constitutional changes to enable proportional representation, particularly the method known as the single transferable vote, in Westminster, instead of the “first past the post” system of MPs getting elected to the House of Commons.

Under the current system (as in India), voters have to chose one candidate who they wish to be represented by in the House. A change to proportional representation would mean voters can rank their candidates in the order of preference. When votes are counted under this system, the runner up with the least number of votes will be knocked out and his votes distributed among the remaining candidates. This iteration will continue, until one candidate gets 51 per cent of the votes and declared winner.

This electoral system is currently followed in the Council elections in the UK and is, thus, not entirely alien to the country.

As things stand now, all is not over for Labour. As explicitly stated by Labour leader and Prime Minister Gordon Brown after the results were declared, the ruling party is still open to having the Liberal Democrats negotiate with them for a possible “Lib-Lab” coalition. Brown is also open to the idea of electoral reforms demanded by Clegg and his party. This scenario will however emerge only if the negotiations between Liberal Democrats and Tories collapse.

WILL BROWN STEP DOWN?
A possible Lib-Lab coalition, however, does not assure Gordon Brown his second term as Prime Minister. During election campaigning, Clegg had amply stated that he would not negotiate with Labour if Brown remained the latter’s leader. Hence as the Labour party awaits Liberal Democrats at the negotiating table, a few backbenchers in the former are demanding Brown step down and thus signal to the Liberal Democrats that they were serious about running the next government as dependable partners. So far, senior party members in Labour are completely backing Brown.

Tata-Corus basher loses election

2010-05-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 09, 2010

Tata Steel can find reason to cheer this weekend from the results of the elections in the United Kingdom; more precisely from the north east corner of the country where Corus has a steel plant.

Sitting Labour MP in Redcar Vera Baird has lost her seat in Westminster to Liberal Democrat rival Ian Swales. The latter won the seat by a massive majority, securing 18,955 votes against Baird’s 13,741 votes. Swales won by an unusual 22 per cent vote swing in favour of the Liberal Democrats.

As the election date of May 6 neared, Baird had almost made the trouble and its resolution at the Corus plant in Redcar her single-point agenda. She provoked the bosses at Corus and Tata Steel with a persistent campaign to find a buyer for the beleaguered Teesside Cast Products plant. The Teesside plant has been in trouble for more than a year now and was mothballed in February 2010, leading to 1,700 job losses in the region that depends on the good fortunes of Corus for work and prosperity.

Baird’s campaign was loud and vociferous. So much so that the usually mellow Tata executives were forced to write to her and ask her to mellow her views. When Baird’s criticism reached its crescendo weeks before the election, Tata Steel Vice-chairman B Muthuraman finally shot a letter asking her to pipe down. In April, Muthuraman asked Baird not to be over-critical about the company’s strategy in dealing with problems in Corus.

He said her continued criticism of Corus was damaging the company’s efforts to find a strategic partner for Teesside.

“Continued criticism of the company and of Corus CEO and MD, Kirby Adams, in particular, was unfair and unwarranted.

Such criticism was unhelpful to the company and its workforce,” he had said.

Baird had been seeking a one-on-one meeting with the bosses at Tata Steel. She was in particular keen to secure this meeting before the election date. Her meeting with Muthuraman was scheduled for April 29, a week ahead of the elections. According to Baird, this was rescheduled to May 20 due to Muthuraman's "flight availability."

With the loss of her seat, it is not clear if she will still meet Muthuraman to discuss the future of Teesside. After losing the election, Baird said: “I am very disappointed but there is still work to be done. I don't think there is anything else I could have done in this campaign. The closure of Corus has had a massive effect on votes."

The big question that might never get answered is if the senior management in Tata Steel in Mumbai had its finger on the pulse of the British election and expected Baird to lose, which could be the reason for pushing a painful meeting to beyond the election date. The bigger question would be if Tata Steel will find a less troublesome and more reasonable negotiator in Baird’s successor.

Al-Fayed sells Harrods for £1.5 billion

2010-05-08T12:05:00.001-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 09, 2010

Harrods, the iconic London store, has been sold by Mohammed Al-Fayed to Qatar’s royal family for pound 1.5 billion. Al-Fayed, 77, had bought Harrods in 1985 for pound 615 million. According to media reports here, he will go into retirement once the sale is completed.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List, Al-Fayed and his family are worth about pound 650 million and share the 94th position with three others in this coveted list of the 1,000 richest people in Britain. Clearly the windfall from this sale should push Al-Fayed and his family further up the list.

Harrods is famous for luxury and premium products, and is the favourite shopping destination for the rich and affluent in the British society. For many who cannot afford to shop here, the sight of the dark green shopping bag with Harrods written in gold holds tremendous aspirational value. Harrods shares the same level of tourist interests as the Big Ben, Westminster and Madame Tussauds wax museum. Courtesy shopping at Harrods finds a place in most visitors’ itinerary, even if the value of shopping is modest.

The reason for the sale is not clear yet. The store is spread over 4.5 acres and is estimated to have over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments and employs over 5,000 people. The economic downturn until last year hardly dented the fortunes of Harrods. The Knightsbridge store in south-west London reported a record pound 752 million in sales in 2008-09. The net assets of Harrods are worth pound 500 million, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2010.

Hung Parliament spurs power struggle in UK

2010-05-08T06:01:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 08, 2010

The 44 million-odd electorate of the United Kingdom returned an indecisive verdict today in the polls to the 55th Parliament. As predicated by the opinion polls and the exit poll in the first hour after voting came to an end last night, none of the parties got a clear majority.

The Conservative Party, that sits in the opposition bench in Westminster, however came on top with the maximum number of seats and votes in this election — positioning itself as the party that should get the first chance to form the new government.

As this paper goes to print, the Conservative Party had won 304 of the 650 seats in the House of Common, followed by the ruling Labor party with 257 seats and the Liberal Democrats 57 seats. Other smaller parties won 28 seats in all, with results from four more constituencies yet to be declared.

The results of these four seats would make little difference to the fact that Britain faces a hung Parliament. The last time voters in the UK gave such an indecisive verdict was in 1974. Subsequently, when Tory Prime Minister Edward Heath tried to form a minority government it collapsed within days for want of support from other smaller parties at that point in time.

Britain has had five hung parliaments since the beginning of the 20th century.

As the results started pouring in since the early hours of Friday, Liberal Democrats leader was the first to address the media, where he said his party was willing to talk to Conservatives to find common ground and allow the Tories to form the next government.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown accepted this decision by the Lib Dems and said as the Conservatives have garnered maximum number of seats, it was fair on the part of Lib Dems to go to the Tories first. He however asserted that his party door would be kept open, should the liberal democrats fail to come to an agreement with the Conservatives.

Political experts and senior party members from across all parties are not expecting any major decision within the next 24-48 hours, with some even claiming it may take days before a clear picture emerges.

Conservative Party leader David Cameron, who was the last major party leader to address the media today said he will be making a “big, open and comprehensive” offer to the Liberal Democrats and sounded confident of heading for No.10 Downing Street soon.

After IPO blues, Essar Energy stock battered ahead of official listing on LSE

2010-05-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 06, 2010

General European economic pessimism blamed, reassurance on India investment plans

Though the Ruias, promoter family behind oil and power major Essar Energy, might have picked an auspicious Friday (May 7) to list the stock on the London Stock Exchange, the first day of conditional trading on Tuesday proved a dampener.

Poor market conditions battered the stock by a 7.3 per cent discount over the original issue price of 420 pence a share. The discounted pricing continued well into the second day of trading today, with the price hovering around 395p a share.

On the first day of conditional trading on Tuesday, when the stock quote is displayed with the WI (meaning “when issued”) suffix, the price dropped by 7.3 per cent to 389.5p a share, even though the primary market index, FTSE 100, fell by only 2.6 per cent. Less than a week before, Essar Energy successfully completed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) by selling 303 million shares at 420p each to institutional investors, raising close to $1.95 billion in the process

Conditional trading started three days ahead of the official listing in the market on Friday. Conditional trading is a unique

rule for stocks that are to be listed on the LSE and is similar to what is called grey market trading in India.

EURO GLOOM BLAMED

The poor performance of the stock, however, has been attributed to the market condition, triggered by the debt crisis in Greece. The fear that the problem from Athens might spread to other European countries like Spain, Portugal and Ireland dampened overall sentiments, leading to the poor performance of Essar Energy's debut trading.

According to Deepak N Lalwani, Director-India, with London-based stockbroking company Astaire Securities: “Essar Energy was just a victim of market conditions over the sovereign debt crisis in Greece and the fear that it might spread to other European countries.”

The $2-billion issue from Essar Energy did not get off to a great start even before trading started. The stock was originally priced in the range of 450-550 pence a share. But, lukewarm market sentiments pushed the price down to 420p each, to ensure that large institutional buyers would fully subscribe to this mega issue.

The IPO from Essar Energy also took off at a time when smaller issues were getting postponed due to market conditions. UralChem shelved its $642-million London IPO on April 29. Russia’s second-largest maker of nitrogen-based fertiliser said in a statement that its stock “cannot be priced at a level which reflects a fair value of the company” due to “current market conditions”.

INDIA INVESTMENT UNAFFECTED

The pressure to lower the issue price by nearly seven per cent (on a base price of 450p), however, is not expected to affect the company's investment plans in India. Upon completing the issue, vice chairman Prashant Ruia said the company had hoped to raise at least $2 billion from the issue and it nearly did so. The company further has a 10 per cent greenshoe option, which it may exercise 30 days after official listing, if there is a need to bridge the gap in funding.

Essar Energy plans to increase its power generation from 1,220 Mw to 11,470 Mw in two phases, while the oil refinery capacity is to be increased to 7,50,000 barrels a day by 2013, making it India’s largest single location refinery. Essar is also raising money to carry out exploration and production across its global portfolio of oil & gas blocks in Asia, Africa and Australia.

The stock will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, following which it hopes to get on the coveted FTSE 100 list (of the most highly capitalised companies), that will make it the second company backed by an Indian promoter to be on the list. Currently, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources holds this solitary distinction.

Voice of Indians ring loud in run-up to UK elections

2010-05-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 06, 2010

In less than 24 hours, the UK goes to the polls to elect the next government and members of the 55th Parliament. Like general elections in every vibrant democracy around the world, this one, too, will be fought and won on local issues — employment, economy and domestic security.

However, the British Parliament, unlike most other advanced western democracies, has one distinct identity. The voice for better representation of ethnic minorities comprising Indians, among other South Asians, in Westminster is growing louder by the day. In the 54th Parliament that was dissolved in the second week of April, there were at least six members who could be definitely identified as persons of Indian origin — four from the ruling Labour Party and two from the Conservatives. In the upcoming elections, the Labour Party will field 53 candidates categorised as ethnic minorities and the opposition Conservatives, 44. The third largest party, Liberal Democrats, will field four candidates (of the 100 seats it hopes to win) of South Asian origin.

The major political parties fielding an increasingly larger number of ethnic minorities is not just a feel-good statement they try to make, but a necessity for any party that is serious about its position in the new Parliament. The average size of constituencies in the UK is far smaller than what it is in India. For a population of around 62 million, there are 650 members in the House of Commons, against 545 in the Lok Sabha in India representing a population of 1.2 billion. This distinction, therefore, makes a better representation of local population a basic necessity for any party that aspires to form the next government.

As per 2001 statistics, South Asians with a 4 per cent representation are the second largest ethnic group in the UK after the whites (92 per cent) who are mainly of British Isles descent. Among the South Asians, India has the largest representation at 1.8 per cent, followed by Pakistanis (1.3 per cent) and Bangladeshis (0.5 per cent).

With such a diverse population, immigration is one of the key platforms on which the election will be fought. In the run-up to the election, all three major parties made their stand on immigration loud and clear. The ruling Labour and Liberal Democrats took a less controversial stand, despite promising to tighten the UK's borders. The Conservatives, on the other hand, have promised to bring in a cap on immigration, much like the H1B visa system in the US. The Labour Party has promised to keep a check on immigration, but is not willing to put a cap. It has promised to continue with its point-based system in filtering the visa application it receives for prospective residents.

Virendara Sharma, sitting MP and Labour candidate contesting from Ealing Southall, believes immigration will be one of the issues on which this election will be fought. But he says skills shortage would force the government not to put in any definite ceiling on immigration as suggested by the Tories.

Deepak N Lalwani, director - India, with London-based stockbroking company Astaire Securities, believes immigration is an issue directly linked to the state of the domestic economy. This, therefore, makes it a key issue in the upcoming election with the UK recording an historical high of unemployment numbers at 2.5 million and an uncomfortable overall rise in government debt. In calendar year 2009, the UK recorded a general government deficit of £159.2 billion, which was equivalent to 11.4 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). At the end of December 2009 general government debt was £950.4 billion, equivalent to 68.1 per cent of GDP, according to latest data released by the UK's Office for National Statistics.

In the middle of the elections contested on economic and political issues, there is a bit of contest being fought here very much in the style and form of what is normally seen in India. The contest in Sharma's constituency stands out as a good example of this, where he will be opposing Tory member Gurcharan Singh, a former Labour member who defected to the Conservative party in 2007. In this particular constituency, communal representation is a key issue, where Singh's supporters want to see a "turbaned Sikh" to represent them in Westminster. The 75,000-odd electorate in Ealing Southall is roughly made up of 18 per cent Sikhs, 13 per cent Hindus and 11 per cent Muslims. Sharma's supporters say the rivalry in this particular constituency is clearly unique with personal attacks as a preferred tool to gain an upper hand.

Despite the election being fought on local issues, all three party leaders — Gordon Brown of Labour, David Cameron of Tories and Nick Clegg, Lib Dem, have vowed to strengthen the UK's relationship with India. As Lalwani says, all parties clearly see India as a major and rising economic force in the global arena. Irrespective of the outcome of the 2010 General Elections, UK-India relationship will not suffer and can only improve from where it is now.

Corus appoints CitiBank to find buyer for UK Plant

2010-05-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London May 05, 2010

Refuses to comment on speculation about Thailand’s Sahaviriya being one of the parties it is in talks with.

Tata Steel’s European arm, Corus, the second-largest steel maker on that continent, has appointed Citibank to help find a suitable buyer for its beleaguered Teesside Cast Products factory in northeast Britain.

However, the company refused to comment on speculation about Bangkok-based Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) being one of the parties Corus is in talks with.

According to local sources, representatives of SSI visited the plant last Thursday. Vera Baird, incumbent MP for the area, said: “It is not a surprise that an interested negotiator with Corus for the purchase of TCP appears to be SSI, who need more than six million tonnes of steel per year and who know from earlier custom that we can provide three million tonnes of our excellent-quality slab to them. They are a strong company, financially sound and innovative, and would be a welcome partner if a deal is to (be) done.”

Bangkok-based SSI is a manufacturer with a capacity of four million tonnes a year. It employs nearly 950 people.

Since April 2009, when the TCP plant entered a troubled phase — it was finally decided to mothball it in February 2010 — this is the first time a possible buyer with a name has emerged in the public domain.

Last year, a group of steel buyers had withdrawn halfway from a 10-year buying contract, jeopardising nearly 1,700 jobs. Though Tata Steel and Corus have consistently claimed they were exploring a buyer for the plant as a possible long-term solution, no development has taken place till now.

Baird and her party’s candidate for the neighbouring area in the coming general elections, Tom Blenkinsop, also a union leader, have asked for openness on what is going on, now that the Thai steelmaker has visited TCP.

With just two days before the general elections, the ruling Labour government is under severe pressure to convince its electorate in the region that it is doing its best to resolve this year-long crisis and thus save nearly 1,700 jobs in the company and another estimated 3,000 jobs that indirectly depend on the TCP plant.

Meanwhile, Baird, earlier said her meeting with Tata Steel’s vice chairman, B Muthuraman, would take place on May 20. “Like everyone else in Teesside, I will be looking for reassurances that Corus is very serious about finding a buyer for the plant. People have a right to know exactly what is going on,” she said