INDIA TO INVEST $18 BN IN PORTS OVER NEXT 5-7 YEARS

India is likely to invest $18 billion in ports and over $4 billion in its ship building industry in the next five-to-seven years, shipping industry players said at a meet here. Shipping Corporation of India's Chairman and Managing Director, S Hajara, who spoke at the meet, said that shipping should be brought under the infrastructure ambit. He called for a relaxation in the present cabotage law to allow shipping into the infrastructure sector.

The Economic Times

OVERSEAS INVESTMENT MATCHES DOMESTIC CAPEX

India Inc.’s appetite for overseas investments at about $37 billion in the financial year 2008-09 is underscored by its corresponding increase in capital expenditure and inorganic expansion strategy to accelerate growth.

The surge in capital expenditure of $47.5 billion at more than 21% in the financial year 2008-09 has a very visible contribution of the infrastructure sector that accounted for a large chunk of the increase at $18 billion, with a share of more than a third.

As a clear signal of revival, the increased capital expenditure in the sector coupled with the Indian government’s well timed stimulus packages, amounting to 3.5% of the country’s GDP, resulted in a healthy growth of 6.5% in the six core infrastructure sectors in June 2009. The sector had grown by 5.1% in corresponding month the previous year, while the figure for May 2009 stood at 2.8%. Cement topped the chart with a growth of 12.8%, while steel rose 5.3%, both crucial inputs for construction activity.

Of significance is the fact that a part of the expense finds its way in to mergers and acquisitions (M&As), as in the case of the largest acquisition of the sector by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd’s (ONGC) of then London Stock Exchange listed-Imperial Energy Corporation for $2.8 billion in August 2008. The other large overseas acquisition by an Indian company was that of the U.K.-based automobile marquee brands Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors Ltd for $2.3 billion.

The potential merger of India’s largest GSM mobile telecom service provider Bharti Airtel Ltd and South Africa's largest telecom company MTN Group Ltd for about $23 billion will substantially add to the share of the telecom sector in the capital expenditure this year. The deal will result in about $4 billion of net cash outflow from Bharti. (See Vol4 | Issue 7; Bharti-MTN: A Billion Subscribers in Sight).

THE JEWEL OF THE BRIC CROWN

India is the preferred destination for Doing Business among the emerging BRIC countries, comprising of Brazil, Russia, India and China based on key factors that include, protecting investors’ interest; getting credit; employing workers; starting a business; and trading across borders, according to the rankings in the global report on ‘Doing Business 2009’ by the World Bank and its affiliate the International Financial Corporation.

India occupied the top slot in three of the parameters – protecting investors, getting credit and employing workers; while emerging second in trading across borders and starting a business. India’s improving business environment is a reflection of the regulatory reforms by the Government to bring uniformity in urbanisation across its regions to bridge the urban-rural divide, representing what it calls an “inclusive approach” to development.

This approach is reinforced in the Financial Budget 2009-10 announced by the Indian Finance Minister on July 6, committing increased investments in the infrastructure sector to more than 9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2014 from 5% currently, apart from other rural development and welfare programs. This opens scope for investment opportunities, in the form of Public Private Partnership (PPP) developments that the government has championed.

Regional variations remain, however, due to internal pressure groups and anti-reforms voices within certain state governments. Cities such as Ludhiana in the north Indian state of Punjab; Bhubaneshwar, capital of the eastern coastal state of Orissa; Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat and Hyderabad, capital of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh rank high in ease of doing business. In contrast, Kolkata, the capital of the East Indian state of West Bengal ranks lowest.

INFRASTRUCTURE WINNER IN BUDGET 2009-10

In the Indian Financial Budget announcement for the fiscal year 2009-10, the first budget since the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government won its second consecutive term to power in May this year, the infrastructure sector emerged winner as it was accorded top priority by the Indian Finance Minister.

This reinforces the government’s commitment to augment the antiquated infrastructure of the country, vital to achieve a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 9% per annum from the current 6.7%. The lack of adequate infrastructure is responsible for pushing back India’s GDP growth by about 2% annually, according to estimates.

The minster responded to an urgent demand for new infrastructure, announcing that 9% of the country’s GDP will be spent on infrastructure by 2014, from the current 5%. Estimates suggest that a third of this investment will come from private companies, paving the way for unprecedented investment opportunity under Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

“However, the Finance Minister missed this opportunity to address sectoral reforms and liberalization in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms, falling short of the investors’ expectations who sent the Sensex, the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange down 870 points to 14,043.40 (5.83%) on Monday, the level that it was at in the month of May. The minister further disappointed by not being explicit on the aspect of disinvestment of the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).” says Bundeep Singh Rangar, Chairman, IndusView Advisors Ltd, the India-focused cross-border advisory firm.

“India's challenge is not only to augment its antiquated infrastructure, but also to build new infrastructure to keep up with its $1 trillion economy and the aspirations of its 1.2 billion population that grows by 16 million people each year”

“The government’s spotlight on Infrastructure Development heralds the importance it attaches to the sector as a means to counter the prevailing economic woes.” added Rangar

Recognising that good infrastructure are a vital pre-requisite to build a strong nation, infrastructure development had been accorded key priority for the 11th Five-Year-Plan for the years 2007-2012 and the 12th plan period 2012-2017 with projected investment requirement of $500 billion and $1.5 trillion respectively by the Prime Minister's Committee on Infrastructure.

“These initiatives pale when compared to China that spends about 11% of its GDP for infrastructure development, indicative of the scope and extent of scaling up needed in infrastructure development in India to match global standards.” added Rangar

“The Interim Budget for the financial year 2009-10 announced in February by the Finance Minister of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), focused on infrastructure development, easing of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) norms and economic stimulus packages announced last year, had set the ground for how the alliance was approaching the General Elections that took place in May.” said Rangar

The minister was way short of taking the initiative further as various sectors including, pharmaceutical, retail, telecommunication, aviation, insurance, among others keenly awaited reforms to facilitate higher foreign investments. These sectors collectively have the potential to attract more $200 billion worth of investments over a period of five to ten years.


Indian Telecom: Scope of Growth & Investment

“India’s mobile telecommunication services sector has defied the economic recession. The incumbent mobile telecommunication service providers collectively add more than 10 million new subscribers a month, which is more than the population of Finland, home country of largest mobile handset manufacturer Nokia Corp., taking the country’s total tally of wireless subscribers to 400 million.” explains Rangar

To ensure quality service to match the growing subscriber base and achieve the target of 45% tele-density, the telecom sector is estimated to need about $73 billion during the next five years.

The world's fastest-growing mobile telecom services market estimated to reach a subscriber base of more than one billion by 2014, exposes the growth potential in investments that the sector can attract from aspiring global mobile telecom service providers.


Pharmaceutical Sector: Prescription for M&As

The Indian Pharmaceutical sector is positioning itself to be among the top five centres of global innovation as the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Government of India outlined its roadmap for the sector up to the year 2020 (Vision 2020). It foresees investments of about $2 billion annually, under the public-private partnership model.

“This spells out the scope of growth for global pharmaceutical companies and can fuel the next wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in a market where consumer spending on healthcare increased to 7% in 2007 from 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1995 and is expected to rise to 13% of GDP by 2015.” says Rangar

India also offers the benefits of low cost research and development (R&D), a domain in which it is estimated to capture about 10%-20% share of the world’s R&D business by 2020 from less than 1% currently.

Expansion by global pharmaceutical companies in to emerging markets like India becomes imperative as about $103 billion worth of patented drugs will go off patent in the next few years.


Retail Sector

“The retail sector in India is witnessing a huge revamp as traditional markets make way for new formats such as departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores. Easing regulations in the sector would help bring the benefits of organised retail to customers.” said Rangar

The overall retail market is expected to grow to more than $1 trillion from $262 billion by 2016, with organised retail at $165 billion, according to the Investment commission of India.


Aviation Sector

India’s aviation sector presents investment opportunities of $110 billion envisaged up to 2020 $80 billion in new aircraft and $30 billion in development of airport infrastructure. The investments will be needed to cater for approximately 300 million passengers that are expected to be airborne by 2020, according to estimates.

“With such sectoral growth indicators, the need of the hour was to take existing initiatives to the next level of implementation and completion, with enough scope of ramping up and innovation. To that extent, the finance minister would have helped by being more generous and explicit in his policy initiatives.” said Rangar

BOMBAY STOCK EXCHANGE'S SENSEX WELCOMES UPA WITH HIGHEST SURGE THIS YEAR

India’s Dalal Street, home to the Bombay Stock Exchange was a busy address on Monday, May 18th creating history with euphoric investors leading the Sensex, the benchmark index to surge more than 17% or 2,099.21 points higher at 14,272.62, the highest ever increase in a day anywhere in the world, so much that the trading had to be halted for the day. The Sensex touched the upper limit twice, earlier opening at 10.73% or 1,305.97 points higher at 13,479.39.

“The overwhelming response on the first trading day following the verdict of the people in the General Elections for the 15th Lok Sabha or the House of the People, in favour of the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is an affirmation of its economic policies of continued liberalization and the stock market’s vote for stability and continuity.” says Bundeep Singh Rangar, Chairman, IndusView Advisors Ltd, the India-focused cross-border advisory firm.

“India’s high gross domestic savings rate of 30.7% compared to the 1.8% in the U.S. and 1% in the U.K. is indicative of the lower propensity to invest among Indian households and hence signifies the scope of potential investments that can move in to the Indian Equity Markets if these households are assured stability and increased return on investments.” says Rangar

“Increasing Indian households exposure to the Stock markets along with the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), who made net investments worth $74 million in equities so far this year and other investors could result in the BSE’s Sensex scaling new highs.” added Rangar

The first signs of the investors’ confidence in the expected outcome of the elections came on Friday, May 15, as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) made a net investment of $205 million (Rs 983.86 crore) while domestic institutional investors made a net investment of $90 million (Rs 432.47 crore) in equities, taking the BSE's benchmark index to cross 12,000 level.

Both the Congress and BJP led governments have successfully accelerated India’s GDP growth rate to about 7% today from 1.4% in 1991-92. This momentum peaked at 9.7% in the fiscal year 2006-07, under the current Congress led government, before slowing down on account of the worldwide recession.

The outcome of the General Elections will usher a new wave of confidence globally in the Indian economy with expected ramp up in economic activity, brought about by the urgent need to develop world class infrastructure, globally competitive pharmaceutical sector, telecom and augmentation of power generation.

“The government will have its task cut out with more than $700 billion worth of investments to be channeled in to India’s infrastructure, power, telecom and pharma sectors over the next five years to provide the country a strong foundation to achieve the aspirational growth of 10%.

The General Elections this time witnessed a three-way contest between the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Third Front, comprising of the Communist Parties and smaller regional parties, attempting to offer another alternative.

“The Government would be best served if it continued and augmented the ‘India Shining’ policies that currently sustain a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of more than 7% as India continues to defy negative GDP growth seen in many Western economies.” says Rangar

Investment in Energy

India’s power deficit entails an estimated investment of up to $150 billion by 2012. To meet the growing demand, the government plans to add 90GW over the same period to its existing generation capacity of 145GW.

“India will become a lucrative market for nuclear energy equipment makers as soon as The United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 between India and the U.S. starts to show the benefits of investments coming in to the country.” says Rangar

Nuclear energy makes up only 3% of total installed capacity in India and its domestic uranium reserves are also limited. India’s Atomic Energy Commission estimates that domestic resources could support only 10 GW of installed nuclear capacity, signifying the potential of a multifold ramp-up.

Favourable policy initiatives could see global energy companies such as Areva SA, Alstom SA and Électricité de France (EDF) of France; the U.S.-based General Electric Co., Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation and Toshiba Corp., a diversified Japanese conglomerate, among others vying to enter India’s nuclear energy market.

Infrastructure: Foundation of Growth

India's challenge is not only to augment its antiquated infrastructure, but also to build new infrastructure to keep up with its $1 trillion economy and the aspirations of its 1.2 billion population that grows by 16 million people each year.

Recognising that good infrastructure are a vital pre-requisite to build a strong nation, infrastructure development has been accorded key priority for the 11th Five-Year-Plan for the years 2007-2012 and the 12th plan period 2012-2017 with projected investment requirement of $500 billion and $1.5 trillion respectively by the Prime Minister's Committee on Infrastructure.

“The Interim Budget for the financial year 2009-10 announced in February by the Finance Minister of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), focused on infrastructure development, easing of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) norms and economic stimulus packages announced last year had set the ground for how the alliance was approaching the General Elections.” said Rangar

The government’s spotlight on Infrastructure Development heralds the importance it attaches to the sector as a means to counter the prevailing economic woes. The minister responded to an urgent demand for new infrastructure, announcing that 9% of the country’s GDP will be spent on infrastructure by 2014, from the current 5%. Estimates suggest that a third of this investment will come from private companies, paving the way for unprecedented investment opportunity

Telecom: Dial India For Growth

“India’s mobile telecommunication services sector has defied the economic recession. The incumbent mobile telecommunication service providers collectively add about 10 million new subscribers a month, which is more than the population of Finland, home country of largest mobile handset manufacturer Nokia Corp., taking the country’s total tally of wireless subscribers to 362 million.” explains Rangar

To ensure quality service to match the growing subscriber base and achieve the target of 45% tele-density, the telecom sector is estimated to need about $73 billion during the next five years.

The world's fastest-growing mobile telecom services market estimated to reach a subscriber base of about 650 million by 2012, exposes the growth potential for global mobile telecom service providers who are not yet present in India. Such service providers are missing out on opportunities to grab a share of the projected mobile services revenues of more than $37 billion by 2012 growing at a CAGR of 18%, while the profitability of their operations in saturated developed markets continue to be under pressure.

Of significance is the fact that the government has granted new licenses and spectrum to aspiring operators such as Datacom Solutions a subsidiary of one of India’s leading consumer durables company Videocon Industries Ltd; Loop Telecom, a BPL Mobile Communications group company; S Tel Ltd, joint venture between Skycity Foundations and Telecom Investments (Mauritius) Ltd; among others which are likely targets – but within the regulatory purview as an overseas entity’s stake in the domestic company cannot exceed 74%.

Indian Pharma: Prescription for Growth

The Indian Pharmaceutical sector is positioning itself to be among the top five centres of global innovation as the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Government of India outlines its roadmap for the sector up to the year 2020 (Vision 2020). It foresees investments of about $2 billion annually, under the public-private partnership model.

The initiative will open avenues of growth for global pharmaceuticals companies and fuel the next wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in a market where consumer spending on healthcare increased to 7% in 2007 from 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1995 and is expected to rise to 13% of GDP by 2015. India also offers the benefits of low cost research and development (R&D), a domain in which it is estimated to capture about 10%-20% share of the world’s R&D business by 2020 from less than 1% currently.

Expansion by global pharmaceutical companies in to emerging markets like India becomes imperative as about $103 billion worth of patented drugs will go off patent in the next few years. This will further hit the already sagging fortunes of global pharma companies which are trying to augment their revenues by acquiring or aligning with companies in the generics business.

With such sectoral growth indicators, the need of the hour is to take existing initiatives to the next level of implementation and completion, with enough scope of ramping up and innovation.

UPA TO CONTINUE IN GOVERNMENT: ADVANTAGE REFORMS AND DEVELOPMENT

--- Potential Investments Worth $700 billion To Go On Track

--- Power & Energy, Infrastructure, Telecommunication and Pharmaceuticals To Drive The Next Wave Of Investments

If the trends emerging from the counting of votes are to be believed in the General Elections for the 15th Lok Sabha or the House of the People, the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will most likely be the victor that would be an affirmation of its economic policies of continued liberalization.

The results so far indicate that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with 48% seats out of 543 will likely form the government with support from smaller regional parties. The outcome will usher a new wave of confidence globally in the Indian economy with expected ramp up in economic activity, brought about by the urgent need to develop world class infrastructure, globally competitive pharmaceutical sector, telecom and augmentation of power generation.

“The government will have its task cut out with more than $700 billion worth of investments to be channeled in to India’s infrastructure, power, telecom and pharma sectors over the next five years to provide the country a strong foundation to achieve the aspirational growth of 10%.” says Bundeep Singh Rangar, Chairman, IndusView Advisors Ltd, the India-focused cross-border advisory firm.

The General Elections this time witnessed a three-way contest between the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Third Front, comprising of the Communist Parties and smaller regional parties, attempting to offer another alternative.

Both the Congress and BJP led governments have successfully accelerated India’s GDP growth rate to about 7% today from 1.4% in 1991-92. This momentum peaked at 9.7% in the fiscal year 2006-07 before slowing down on account of the worldwide recession.

“The Government would be best served if it continued and augmented the ‘India Shining’ policies that currently sustain a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of more than 7% as India continues to defy negative GDP growth seen in many Western economies.” says Rangar

Investment in Energy

India’s power deficit entails an estimated investment of up to $150 billion by 2012. To meet the growing demand, the government plans to add 90GW over the same period to its existing generation capacity of 145GW.

“India will become a lucrative market for nuclear energy equipment makers as soon as The United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 between India and the U.S. starts to show the benefits of investments coming in to the country.” says Rangar

Nuclear energy makes up only 3% of total installed capacity in India and its domestic uranium reserves are also limited. India’s Atomic Energy Commission estimates that domestic resources could support only 10 GW of installed nuclear capacity, signifying the potential of a multifold ramp-up.

Favourable policy initiatives could see global energy companies such as Areva SA, Alstom SA and Électricité de France (EDF) of France; the U.S.-based General Electric Co., Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation and Toshiba Corp., a diversified Japanese conglomerate, among others vying to enter India’s nuclear energy market.

Infrastructure: Foundation of Growth

India's challenge is not only to augment its antiquated infrastructure, but also to build new infrastructure to keep up with its $1 trillion economy and the aspirations of its 1.2 billion population that grows by 16 million people each year.

Recognising that good infrastructure are a vital pre-requisite to build a strong nation, infrastructure development has been accorded key priority for the 11th Five-Year-Plan for the years 2007-2012 and the 12th plan period 2012-2017 with projected investment requirement of $500 billion and $1.5 trillion respectively by the Prime Minister's Committee on Infrastructure.

“The Interim Budget for the financial year 2009-10 announced in February by the Finance Minister of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), focused on infrastructure development, easing of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) norms and economic stimulus packages announced last year had set the ground for how the alliance was approaching the General Elections.” said Rangar

The government’s spotlight on Infrastructure Development heralds the importance it attaches to the sector as a means to counter the prevailing economic woes. The minster responded to an urgent demand for new infrastructure, announcing that 9% of the country’s GDP will be spent on infrastructure by 2014, from the current 5%. Estimates suggest that a third of this investment will come from private companies, paving the way for unprecedented investment opportunity

Telecom: Dial India For Growth

“India’s mobile telecommunication services sector has defied the economic recession. The incumbent mobile telecommunication service providers collectively add about 10 million new subscribers a month, which is more than the population of Finland, home country of largest mobile handset manufacturer Nokia Corp., taking the country’s total tally of wireless subscribers to 362 million.” explains Rangar

To ensure quality service to match the growing subscriber base and achieve the target of 45% tele-density, the telecom sector is estimated to need about $73 billion during the next five years.

The world's fastest-growing mobile telecom services market estimated to reach a subscriber base of about 650 million by 2012, exposes the growth potential for global mobile telecom service providers who are not yet present in India. Such service providers are missing out on opportunities to grab a share of the projected mobile services revenues of more than $37 billion by 2012 growing at a CAGR of 18%, while the profitability of their operations in saturated developed markets continue to be under pressure.

Of significance is the fact that the government has granted new licenses and spectrum to aspiring operators such as Datacom Solutions a subsidiary of one of India’s leading consumer durables company Videocon Industries Ltd; Loop Telecom, a BPL Mobile Communications group company; S Tel Ltd, joint venture between Skycity Foundations and Telecom Investments (Mauritius) Ltd; among others which are likely targets – but within the regulatory purview as an overseas entity’s stake in the domestic company cannot exceed 74%.

Indian Pharma: Prescription for Growth

The Indian Pharmaceutical sector is positioning itself to be among the top five centres of global innovation as the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Government of India outlines its roadmap for the sector up to the year 2020 (Vision 2020). It foresees investments of about $2 billion annually, under the public-private partnership model.

The initiative will open avenues of growth for global pharmaceuticals companies and fuel the next wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in a market where consumer spending on healthcare increased to 7% in 2007 from 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1995 and is expected to rise to 13% of GDP by 2015. India also offers the benefits of low cost research and development (R&D), a domain in which it is estimated to capture about 10%-20% share of the world’s R&D business by 2020 from less than 1% currently.

Expansion by global pharmaceutical companies in to emerging markets like India becomes imperative as about $103 billion worth of patented drugs will go off patent in the next few years. This will further hit the already sagging fortunes of global pharma companies which are trying to augment their revenues by acquiring or aligning with companies in the generics business.

With such sectoral growth indicators, the need of the hour is to take existing initiatives to the next level of implementation and completion, with enough scope of ramping up and innovation.

ECONOMIC AGENDA FOR THE NEW GOVERNMENT

* The New Government Expected To Give Further Stimulus To Economy.
* Urgent Need To Boost Investments, Particularly In Infrastructure.
* Challenge Of Keeping The Fiscal Deficit Under Check.
* A Number Of Policy Reforms On The Table


The policy initiatives of the new government are certainly going to determine how quickly the Indian economy will recapture its high pace of growth. There are a number of pending economic issues that need the urgent attention of the new policymakers. The real challenge for the new government lies in stimulating the economy on the one hand, and at the same time controlling the fiscal deficit on the other hand. The fiscal deficit has already reached near 12% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is clearly not sustainable.

Waiting For The Third Stimulus:

After the announcements of two stimulus packages by the outgoing government in December 2008 and January 2009 respectively, the planning commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had suggested that the country will need a third stimulus, which can be announced by the new government. One needs to wait and watch what kind of fresh stimulus comes from the new government now. For the purpose of countering the economic slowdown, the government can reduce corporate taxes and remove income tax surcharge. As a measure to push the rural demand, the scope of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme can also be extended so that more people would come under its net. A further push to infrastructure can also be a part of the fresh stimulus package.

Continuation Of The Economic Reforms:

There has been a consistency in pursuing the economic reforms during the past 10 years, although there was a change of guard in 2004 when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) replaced the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the centre. The dependency of UPA on the left parties was a stumbling block for UPA in pursing the reforms at full pace, yet the UPA government managed to implement a number of reforms. The continuation of the reform process, not in words but in action, is required to keep the engine of growth turned on.

Focus on Infrastructure:

There is a general consensus that infrastructure development has to be accorded key priority. The Prime Minister's Committee on Infrastructure has already projected earlier that India will require investments worth $500 billion and $1.5 trillion for the 11th Five-Year-Plan (2007-2012) and the 12th plan period 2012-2017 respectively. The government had announced in the Interim Budget presented in the Parliament in February 2009 that 9% of the country’s GDP will be spent on infrastructure by 2014, from the current 5%. If the new government successfully pursues this path, it will be a great push to the growth rate of the country.

Reining in the fiscal deficit:

India’s total fiscal deficit including the central and state deficits is estimated to reach at about 12% of GDP, which has become a major worry for the country. Most economists believe that the new government will have to take immediate steps to control the situation. In fact, the global factors have derailed India’s fiscal reform process that was going very smoothly as per targets during the past four to five years. When the global crude oil prices moved up very sharply in 2008, it resulted in highly inflated subsidy bill – particularly for the oil subsidy and fertilizer subsidy. Then, the global slowdown impacted the growth rate of India too, and resulted in lower than expected tax revenues. Also, the Indian government decided to revise the salaries of its employees by a fat margin at each level. A loan waiver programme for poor farmers also put a heavy burden on the exchequer. And, in order to counter the slowdown, the government came out with two stimulus packages. While all these steps were required and aimed at benefiting large sections of the society as well as the economy, these measures certainly inflated the fiscal deficit to such a high level that was not seen in the recent history of India.

Now, the new government will have only two ways to control and reduce the fiscal menace – reducing its expenditure and increasing the revenues. Both the options are not easy at the moment. At a time when the Indian economy has considerably slowed down, the tax revenues can’t be expected to increase. Increasing the tax rates will certainly not be a wise decision, as history suggests that tax rate hike in troubled period for economy always turns out to be counter-productive. R.K. Gupta, Managing Director of Taurus Mutual Fund that manages the equivalent of more than $100 million of stocks, warns that while a tax rate hike may lead to more tax evasions and ultimately not increase the tax revenue for the government, it might actually reduce the growth rate of the economy further.

On the other hand, reducing the expenditure is easier said than done. A systemic change aimed at expenditure reforms is the need of the hour. Dr. D.K. Joshi, Director and the Principal Economist at Mumbai-headquartered rating agency CRISIL said that as long as the growth rate was high and tax revenue was good, the government managed to run its business even without expenditure reforms, but it couldn’t be ignored any more. He said, “The new government would have to clearly spell it out how it plans to curtail its expenditures. Also, it would have to chalk out a clear roadmap regarding stimulus packages. How much stimulus it wants to provide and for how long? And then, how it plans to revert to fiscal prudence?”

PSE Disinvestment: A Right Prescription

The government has an option of selling its shareholding in a number of public sector enterprises (PSEs) to private sector, which can bring it much needed money. But commencing the disinvestment programme is a politically sensitive issue and reaching a consensus among the political parties is difficult. Also, even if the government manages to pursue this programme, it will have to use the proceeds very prudently. As Dr. Joshi warns, the proceeds of disinvestment should be used strictly for infrastructure creation, not for merely giving subsidies.

Goods & Services Tax

A unified goods and services tax (GST), a major reform of indirect taxes in India, is already proposed to be introduced from April 01, 2010. It’s advisable to have a single tax rate for all goods and services barring few exceptions across the country. Since there is not much time left, the new government should immediately chalk out the detailed implementation plan for the same. It shouldn’t be a difficult task because generally there is a political consensus on this issue. The Indian industry has already welcomed this initiative and is keenly waiting for its implementation.

Reducing Petroleum Subsidy:

The retail prices of petroleum products are determined by the Government of India due to political considerations. The situation caused a major trouble for the economic health of the government last year when the crude oil prices sky-rocketed in global markets. The oil marketing companies, most of them majority-owned by the government, were forced to sell products at their retail outlets at prices much below cost. It caused havoc on their balance sheets and almost every oil marketing company stalled all kinds of investments. Now, post elections, it will be politically easier for the government to opt for market-linked prices. As the global crude oil prices have cooled off considerably from their peak levels, linking the retail prices to market conditions won’t cause any major upward revision in the retail prices. Hence, it could be the best time for switching to market-linked prices from the administered prices

GENERAL ELECTIONS: ADVANTAGE INFRASTRUCTURE

'Cautiousness & Consciousness' have become the catchwords for both investors and the government as India approaches the next General Elections, which are scheduled from April 16 to May 13 amid a worldwide economic recession.

India's challenge is not only to augment its antiquated infrastructure, but also to build new infrastructure to keep up with its $1 trillion economy and the aspirations of its 1.2 billion population that grows by 16 million people each year.

Recognising that good governance and infrastructure are a vital pre-requisite to keep ‘India Shining’ at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of more than 7%, infrastructure development has been accorded key priority for the 11th Five-Year-Plan for the years 2007-2012 and the 12th plan period 2012-2017 with projected investment requirement of $500 billion and $1.5 trillion respectively by the Prime Minister's Committee on Infrastructure.

The interim budget for the financial year 2009-10 announced by the Finance Minister also sets the ground for how the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will approach the General Elections, announcing that 9% of the country’s GDP will be spent on infrastructure by 2014 (Interim Budget: Continuity Of Growth).

INDIA: A PREFERRED INVESTMENT DESTINATION

• UNCTAD declares India as the second most-preferred global location for foreign investments.
• PwC urges Engineering and Construction companies to look to India for growth.
• Investments of more than $500 billion planned to flow into India's infrastructure by 2012.
• India registered a 45% growth in FDI during April-December 2008

Encouraging Estimates

Money will continue to chase growth prospects and the global investors are realizing the fact that India offers an excellent opportunity for them even at a time of global recession. Apparently that’s the reason why growth/emerging markets such as India and China continue to be the most attractive markets for the European family office investors, according to an informal survey conducted by London-based Somerset Capital, a leading independent private market placement firm.

The survey has also highlighted the fact that 63% of Somerset’s top 50 European family offices are ‘active’ in 2009 making new investments. If we extrapolate the same trend to the entire set of global investors, we get the reason why India continues to attract billion-dollar plus foreign direct investments (FDI) even in the recent months that are marked by heightened economic crisis globally. The invest-worthiness of India has been acknowledged by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which declared India as the second most-preferred global location for foreign investment in 2008.

A similar view was expressed in a recent report released in Toronto by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the world’s largest professional services firm, which has urged the Engineering and Construction (E&C) companies to look to India for growth as domestic markets contract. “Foreign companies who do not acknowledge the opportunity now may miss out on a critical opportunity to establish a long-term presence in one of the world's largest growth markets”, warns PwC.

PwC estimates that India will become the world's third largest economy by 2050. Similar projections have earlier been made by Goldman Sachs and CLSA. Despite the recent slowdown, PwC expects the Indian economy to grow at 7%-7.5% annually. The reason why PwC has emphasized on Engineering and construction (E&C) sector is the fact that more than $500 billion worth of investment is expected to flow into India's infrastructure by 2012. Projected spending from now until 2012 is $167 billion in electricity, $92 billion in roads and $65 billion in railways. The liberalization of government regulations and a deliberate strategy on the part of the Indian Government to develop infrastructure and promote foreign direct investment (FDI) spells opportunity for foreign E&C companies, the report says.

Government’s Initiatives

India’s Interim Budget for the Financial Year 2009-10 by the Finance Minister on February 16 informed the parliament that the government has accorded approval to 37 infrastructure projects worth $14.4 billion (Rs.70,000 crore) from August 2008 to January 2009. Under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, in-principle approval has been given to 54 Central sector infrastructure projects with project cost of $14 billion (Rs.67,700 crore) and final approval to 23 projects for viability gap funding amounting to $5.75 billion (Rs.27,900 crore) between August 2008 and January 2009.

Not surprisingly, India received FDI worth $23.3 billion during April-December 2008, registering a growth of 45% when compared to the same period in the previous year. In the fiscal year 2007-08, India’s FDI was a record $32.4 billion. Although the government of India has acknowledged a slowdown in FDI post September 2008, the country is still receiving one billion dollar plus foreign direct investments every month. Considering the global liquidity crunch, this figure is not disappointing. FDI inflows in to India till September 2008 averaged between $2.5 billion and $3 billion a month. Despite the recent slowdown, India is attracting much more FDI compared to a few years back. The country had received $3.13 billion FDI in the entire fiscal year of 2003-04.

Apart from Engineering & Construction (E&C), other sectors such as IT, Telecom and real estate have attracted large investments from the foreign investors. During April-September 2008, FDI inflow in IT sector (including computer software and hardware) has reached $1.4 billion, which is equal to the investments during the whole financial year of 2007-08. The telecommuncation sector has attracted FDI of $5.8 billion in the calendar year 2008.

FDI Guidlines

The Indian government has been actively facilitating the foreign investments with its continuous efforts in policy reforms and simplifying approval routes. Recently, in a welcome move, it has further simplified the rules by restricting the cascading effect of foreign shareholding in an Indian company on its downstream investments. As per the new FDI rules, the foreign investment through the investing Indian company would not be considered for calculation of the indirect foreign investment in case of Indian companies which are ‘owned and controlled’ by resident Indian citizens and/or Indian Companies that are owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens. Certain sectors such as telecom, broadcasting and insurance, however, will continue to be covered under the method of calculation of total foreign investment outlined in their sector-specific regulations.

The Government of India permits FDI up to 100% on the automatic route in most sectors/activities. Some of the sectors such as Defence, Aviation, Print Media and Telecom have been classified as sensitive sectors.

FDI is allowed up to 26% in defence production subject to licensing and certain guidelines. In the aviation sector, FDI up to 49% and investment by Non-resident Indians (NRI) up to 100% is allowed on the automatic route in Domestic Scheduled Passenger Airline Sector, while FDI up to 74% and investment by Non-resident Indians (NRI) up to 100% is allowed on the automatic route in Non Scheduled airlines, Chartered airlines, and Cargo airlines as well as Ground Handling Services. FDI up to 100% is on the automatic route in Maintenance and Repair organizations, flying training institutes, technical training institutions, and helicopter services/seaplane services. Although the foreign airlines are disallowed to participate directly or indirectly in the equity of an Air Service Undertaking, the Indian Minister for Civil Aviation Mr. Prafull Patel has indicated that the government is considering a relaxation on this front.

In the Telecom Sector, 74% foreign investment (Including FDI, Foreign Institutional Investment (FII), Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Foreign Currency Convertible Bond (FCCBs), American Depository Receipt (ADRs), Global Depositary Receipt (GDRs), convertible Preference shares, and proportionate foreign equity in Indian promoters/ Investing Company) is allowed in Basic and cellular services, Unified Access Services, National/International Long Distance, V-Sat, Public Mobile Radio Trunked Services (PMRTS), Global Mobile Personal Communications Services (GMPCS) and other value added telecom services. Similarly, 74% FDI is permissible for ISPs with gateways, radio-paging and end-to-end bandwidth, while 100% FDI is allowed for ISPs without gateway and infrastructure companies providing dark fibre, right of way, duct space and tower (Category I). Companies offering electronic mail and voice mail services, and Manufacture of telecom equipments also allowed to have 100% FDI.

Print media has a cap of 26% FDI for publishers of newspaper and periodicals dealing with news and current affairs. Publication of Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news & current affairs also has a similar cap of 26% FDI including Investments by NRIs/PIOs/FIIs. The government, however, allows 100% FDI for publishing of facsimile edition of foreign newspapers and scientific magazines/specialty journals/periodicals.

Some of the other sectors, such as Direct-to-Home (DTH) and Insurance have the FDI cap of 49% and 26% respectively.

CLEARING THE FDI HIGHWAY

The Government of India has yet again unfolded the red carpet to Foreign Investments by augmenting its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) guidelines to provide the much needed capital injection to cash-starved sectors, such as retail, real estate & infrastructure, telecommunication, among others, that need capital infusion of more than $600 billion over a period of five to 10 years.

The new guidelines state that foreign holdings in a company with majority control of Indians will not be treated as indirect foreign investment in any downstream subsidiary, thus expanding investment opportunities for global investors seeking to be a part of the growth story of the world’s second fastest growing economy.

The easing of FDI norms fall in line with other growth initiatives and stimulus packages announced by the government last year, which have started showing revival trends in key sectors like steel, cement, automobile, food and beverages and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).

The cement sector grew 10% in December 2008 as compared to November and the year on year increase of 11%. Steel declined steadily through September, October and November last year. The sector recovered in December 2008 and January 2009 touching the May 2008 figure of 22.86 metric tonnes when the sectoral growth rate was 4.1%. The automobile sector grew too, with the January 2009 figures in the passenger vehicles sales showing a 32% rise over December 2008 and commercial vehicles at 23% over a similar time frame. FMCGs and food & beverages have recorded a year on year growth of 26.4% and 28% respectively for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. Such growth trends across sectors send assuring signals of economic revival and corresponding profitable investments for investors.

GOVT ANNOUNCES STIMULUS PACKAGE, INCLUDING TAX CUTS

The government on Sunday announced major tax cuts across the board to boost demand and allocated additional funds and incentives for exports, housing, textile and infrastructure to stimulate the economy, hit by the global financial crisis.

Livemint

First Three Quarters Of Indian M&As Top $26 Billion

--- Cash rich Indian companies’ overseas acquisitions worth $14 billion outpace their global counterparts that made acquisitions worth $8 billion in India

--- Infrastructure Sector Dominates Deal Street with transactions worth $12 Billion

--- Power, Oil & Gas top grosser with merger & acquisitions (M&As) worth $5 billion; Ninth India-EU Summit sets ground for future deals in Nuclear Energy

--- Banking & Financial Services and Pharmaceutical sectors follow with M&A deal values of more than $3 billion each

--- Overall M&As highlight the India-Europe corridor that witnessed 52% share in total cross-border deals worth $22 billion

Cash rich acquisitive Indian companies are set to make new acquisitions as target companies are significantly cheaper now than just six months ago. The cache of cash as an acquisition currency has also increased as global recessionary trends have driven stock prices worldwide to historic lows.

The acquisition of Citigroup's captive Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) arm Citigroup Global Services (CGSL) for $505 million by India’s largest IT services exporter Tata Consultancy Services - the largest buyout of a foreign captive BPO in India; the acquisition of the U.K.’s Imperial Energy Plc, one of the leading oil companies with assets in Russia by India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd, a subsidiary of India’s biggest explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd for $2.8 billion; the pending purchase of Axon Group Plc, the U.K.-based provider of SAP implementation consulting, that has invited rival bids from India’s second largest IT services company Infosys Technologies Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd., are all manifestations of an M&A binge fueled by large cash reserves held by Indian companies.

Indian companies with a war chest of cash reserves, such as Infosys Technologies Ltd, India’s second largest IT services company, with reserves of about $2 billion; ONGC Ltd with similar reserves; Tata Sons, the holding company for all Tata Group’s investments, with reserves and surplus of more than $2.5 billion, among others, have become active acquirers in the market. This has happened as the US Standard & Poor's 500 Index has tumbled 33 percent in its worst yearly slump since 1937.

Infrastructure Dominates

Infrastructure-related industries dominated mergers and acquisitions (M&As), accounting for 45% of the deals at more than $11.8 billion of the total deal value of $26 billion this year to September.

“The traction in the infrastructure M&As is symbolic of the need for world class facilities, adoption of internationally applicable best practices, experienced global management expertise & technology applications to accelerate growth in the Indian economy. To get that resource base of incremental funds and expertise, part of the capital is expected to find its way in to mergers & acquisitions (M&As).” says Bundeep Singh Rangar, Chairman, IndusView Advisors Ltd, Europe’s fastest-growing Indian mergers and acquisitions firm.

The Indian government has responded to an urgent demand for new infrastructure targeting to spend 9% of the country’s GDP on infrastructure by 2012. Estimates suggest that a third of this investment will come from the private sector, presenting an unprecedented investment opportunity, with corresponding inorganic activity.

“The focus towards the sector is buoyed by the urgency to match global standards. This augmentation is expected to cost and attract investments to the tune of $500 billion over the next five years.” added Rangar

The power sector has been the main stay of the M&As this year within the infrastructure sector, which accounted for $5 billion, or 42% of the deal value in the infrastructure sector. The power sector commanded 19% share in the total M&A value of $26 billion this year compared with about $4 billion last year representing a 7.4% share of the total deal value of $51 billion.

The power sector witnessed two deals worth more than $1 billion – acquisition of the U.K.’s Imperial Energy Plc, one of the leading oil companies with assets in Russia by India’s state owned oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd, subsidiary of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd for $2.8 billion; and the acquisition of InterGen NV, a Dutch power company by Indian infrastructure company, GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

“The recently concluded ninth India-European Union summit in Marseille, France is expected to further accelerate the M&A activity in the power sector as it’s focus turned towards the potential of nuclear energy to the growth in trade between the two regions, which is targeted to reach €100 billion ($140 billion) over the next five years.” added Rangar

Among the infrastructure sectors, the power sector was followed by telecommunication sector that emerged the second most consolidating sector with $3.75 billion, a share of 32% in the infrastructure sector deal value and 14% share in the overall M&A deal value.

The other sectors which have significantly contributed to the M&A activity are Banking & Financial Services and Pharmaceutical sectors with M&A deal values of more than $3 billion each. These sectors were followed by the Automotive Sector with deal value of about $2.5 billion.

Some of the big ticket deals during the year to September included, the acquisition of

· The U.K.’s Imperial Energy Plc, one of the leading oil companies with assets in Russia by India’s state owned oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd, subsidiary of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd for $2.8 billion

· Jaguar and Land Rover, the U.K. based iconic marquees of the U.S.-based Ford Motor Company by India’s Tata Motors Ltd for $2.3 billion

· Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited’s acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, India’s largest pharma company for $2.4 billion

· HDFC Bank Ltd, one of India’s leading private sector banks acquisition of its domestic rival Centurion Bank of Punjab for $2.38 billion

· Investment $2 billion in Unitech Telecom, the telecom arm of India’s second largest real estate developer Unitech Ltd by Italy-based Telecom Italia SpA

Cross Border Deals

“Significant aspect of the M&A activity has been India Inc.’s eyes on global opportunities, which have become more prominent in the backdrop of the global recession.” explains Rangar

India Inc.’s overseas acquisitions (outbound) worth about $13.8 billion, outnumbering the value of acquisitions made by overseas companies in India (inbound) at more that $8.2 billion. Continuing the trend which peaked last year, cross border M&As this year too had a distinct European flavour.

Four of the big ticket overseas deals by Indian companies were in Europe. Acquisitions worth more than $2 billion were of Imperial Energy Plc and Jaguar & Landrover. The deals worth about $1 billion were acquisitions by Great Offshore, India's integrated offshore oilfield services provider of Cayman Island based SeaDragon Offshore Ltd; and the acquisition of InterGen NV, a Dutch power company by Indian infrastructure company, GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

Trade between India and Europe is expected to touch $100 billion by 2010 from current level of $80 billion, according to industry estimates. Acquisitions by Indian companies in Europe accounted for 58% of the total acquisitions made overseas. Europe also accounted for 45% of the inbound deals (deals by overseas companies in the country) in India, led by the acquisition of stake in Unitech Telecom by Telecom Italia.

The U.K. has been the main centre of investments with two of the big ticket deals of Imperial Energy Plc and Jaguar & Landrover by Indian companies. The third deal, that of Axon Group Plc, the U.K.-based provider of SAP implementation consulting, which features a competitive scenario between India’s second largest IT services company Infosys Technologies Ltd and its domestic rival HCL Technologies Ltd, is round the corner.

“Indian companies with their acquisitions of companies in the U.K. are increasingly seeking to harness the size and scale of global operations on one hand and unlock the potential in emerging economies on the other, exhibited by the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover, the U.K. based iconic marquees of the U.S.-based Ford Motor Company by Tata Motors Ltd; and the acquisition of the U.K.’s Imperial Energy Plc, one of the leading oil companies with assets in Russia by India’s state owned oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd, subsidiary of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd.” said Rangar

The U.K. has been the country of choice for overseas investments by Indian companies that invested $6 billion in the country during the first half of 2008. The investments by India Inc. in Britain during the fiscal year 2007-08 has created 3,846 jobs, ahead of its rival economy China that was involved in creating only 898 jobs, according to the U.K.’s Department of Trade and Industry. In terms of the number of new projects, India ranked seventh with 75 new projects, out-numbering China with 59 new projects.

BRAND POWER: RIL KING OF BRANDS AT $6.8 BN

India’s trillion-dollar plus stock markets boast of 20 companies with a brand value of over $1 billion, up from 16 last year. There are now a dozen (BSE-listed) companies with a brand value over $2 billion (vis-à-vis nine last year) and half-a-dozen with over $3 billion (up from four last year). Raise the cut-off to $6 billion, and it’s a club-of-one, India’s biggest private-sector company, Reliance Industries, with an end-2007 brand value of $6.81 billion (Rs 26,801 crore) vis-à-vis $5.8-billion in end-2006.

The Economic Times

Rs 65,000-CRORE MAKEOVER FOR DELHI

The capital city of Delhi is set to shed its old and ugly skin to give way to a shiny new world-class avatar for the Commonwealth Games. This is no cosmetic touch-up job but a multi-thousand crore rupees makeover, which will ensure that the 16 million-odd residents of the city forget that they ever faced any shortages of the basic kind (think power, water, transport, medical facilities) and instead enjoy the abundance of aesthetics.

Business Standard

PE DEALS SURGE 55% in H1 2008 DRIVEN by REALTY SECTOR

Private equity investments in the country witnessed an increase of 55 per cent in terms of value to touch $10.4 million during the first six months of this year, driven by significant deals announced in the realty and infrastructure sector. Overall, there were 207 deals worth $10.4 billion during first half of 2008, as against 178 transactions with a value of $ 6.69 billion during the corresponding period a year-ago.

Business Standard

Reliance Infra to hire 4,500 in three years

Reliance Infrastructure, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group (ADAG), will recruit more than 4,500 people in the next three years as the company develops its engineering and construction business as a major growth driver, apart from its existing power operations.

The Economic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/
Jobs/Reliance_Infra_to_hire_4500_in_three_years/
articleshow/3154510.cms

Morgan Stanley Seeks Piece of India Growth

Morgan Stanley is building a private-equity presence in India, the latest example of foreign investors gearing up for the chance to plow large sums into the country's growth story. The Wall Street firm said it was hiring 43-year-old Aluri Srinivasa Rao to scour India for deals. Joining Morgan Stanley from a local private-equity fund, Mr. Rao will have a $1.5 billion Asia-focused fund behind him. Morgan Stanley, which hasn't done private-equity deals in India before, will aim to deploy at least 20% of that fund into India.

The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120897707049738985.html
?mod=googlenews_wsj

Economy to grow at close to 9% this fiscal

Finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that Indian Economy would grow close to 9% in 2007-08. “I am not changing my projections, the growth rate in 2007-08 will be close to 9%,”he told reporters after inaugurating the 1500th branch of Indian Bank. He added that the average growth rate in the last four years has been 8.6%. For 2008-09, too the Chidambaram is setting a target of 9%. “With more investments taking place, we can aim to grow at 9% in 2008-09,”he said, adding that this would require “hard work.”The government also needs to deliver while outlays have to be translated into outcome.

The Financial Express

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/

Economy-to-grow-at-close-to-9-this-fiscal-reiterates-FM/256215/

Corp India’s fascination: QIPs

India Inc is flocking to the QIP (qualified institutional placement) market, finding it cheaper and a faster way to mobilise funds. Listed companies are increasingly banking on big institutional investors — but at the cost of retail investors who are not in the reckoning for QIPs. The companies raised Rs 21,700 crore through QIP placements in 2007 as against Rs 3,900 crore in the previous year, a rise of 456 per cent, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg Asia-Pacific League Tables. This is almost equivalent to the amount that companies raised through public issues in 2006. The QIP route which was opened up by the market regulator Sebi two years ago has gained acceptance — and fast at that.

The Indian Express
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/255897.html

India could attract $20 bn investment in 2008

The year 2007 is clearly the year that saw the rise of private equity funds. According to those tracking the industry, $13 billion (which is approximately Rs 55,000 crore) was invested in Indian markets in 2007. Simply put, a relatively new segment of investors have entered the scene and have pumped in Rs 55,000 crore into Indian companies. Ask any investment banker, and he will call the year 2007 a watershed year as all mandates for fund raising were completed and he is on track to receive a hefty bonus.

The Economic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Market_Analysis/
Experts_forecast_20_bn_investment_in_2008/
articleshow/2661127.cms