India Newsletter 07 2015

INDIA NEWSLETTER Indian Embassy, Vienna

Published by the Embassy of India, Vienna Year 5 • Issue 55 • July 2015

India Newsletter • 1

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The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy Digital Infrastructure as a Core Utility to Every Citizen

Governance and Services on Demand

Digital Empowerment of Citizens

www.digitalindia.gov.in 2 • India Newsletter

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DIGITAL INDIA SPECIAL

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, described cyber-related risks as a global threat of “bloodless war,” and called upon the nation’s IT community to serve the entire world by building credible cyber-security systems. He was speaking at the launch of the Digital India week in New Delhi.

The Prime Minister also exhorted the captains of India’s IT industry to boost production of electronic devices and goods in the country, as part of the “Make in India” initiative, to reduce dependence on imports.

Shri Narendra Modi noted that today, it was not enough for India to say that it is an ancient civilization, and a country of 125 crore with favourable demography.

He said modern technology needs to be blended with these strengths.

The Prime Minister reiterated his Government’s resolve to not allow the Digital Divide to become a barrier between people. He outlined his vision of e-governance and mobile governance, where all important Government services are available on the mobile phone. “I dream of a digital India where High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation; 1.2 billion connected Indians drive innovation; technology ensures the citizengovernment interface is incorruptible,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said that earlier, India was criticized for launching satellites, but now it was recognized that these satellites help the common man, for instance, farmers through accurate weather forecasting. Similarly, the Prime Minister said, the Digital India initiative was aimed at improving the lives of the common man. He said that India may have missed the Industrial Revolution,

but will not miss the IT revolution.

The Prime Minister assured full support to young entrepreneurs who wished to launch Start-ups. He called upon the youth to innovate and said “Design in India” is as important as “Make in India.”

The Prime Minister unveiled the “Digital India” logo and released policy documents related to Digital India. He also felicitated two women CSC village level entrepreneurs.

Union Ministers Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shri J.P. Nadda, Shri Thaavar Chand Gehlot, Shri Jual Oram, and Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman were present on the occasion.

On the occasion, Indian companies have pledged 4,500 trillion rupees ($70bn; £44bn) to the “digital India” initiative.

Among key investors were the Ambani brothers, Tata group chief Cyrus Mistry and Wipro head Azim Premji.

Companies also pledged to manufacture in India, estimated to add 1.8 million jobs to the economy.

India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani pledged the biggest investment, saying he planned to invest 2.5tn rupees ($39bn) through his Reliance Industries.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, announced $7bn to fund network rollouts and other projects.

■■ Some excerpts of PM’s speech: I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where:1.2 billion Connected Indians drive Innovation

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where:Knowledge is strength – and empowers the People I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where:Access to Information knows no barriers I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Technology ensures the CitizenGovernment Interface is Incorruptible I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where:Government Services are easily and efficiently available to citizens on Mobile devices I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Government proactively engages with the people through Social Media I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where:Quality Education reaches the most inaccessible corners driven by Digital Learning I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Quality Healthcare percolates right up to the remotest regions powered by e-Healthcare I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Farmers are empowered with Realtime Information to be connected with Global Markets I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Mobile enabled Emergency Services ensure Personal Security I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Cyber Security becomes an integral part of our National Security I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Mobile and e-Banking ensures Financial Inclusion I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where:eCommerce drives Entrepreneurship I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: the World looks to India for the next Big Idea I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: the Netizen is an Empowered Citizen India Newsletter • 3

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The new Government has prepared a five pillar strategy to drive India’s growth, which offer multiple avenues of collaboration and investments

■■ Infrastructure Development

■■ Manufacturing Growth

■■ Skill Development

■■ Energy Sufficiency

■■ Improved Business Environment

www.makeinindia.com 4 • India Newsletter

Indian Embassy, Vienna

NEWS FLASHES

01

The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has launched a new scheme to promote rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) power projects, by providing loans at interest rates of 9.9 to 10.75 per cent to system aggregators and developers.

02

Bengaluru ranks 12th in the list of top 20 technology-rich cities in the world, according to a survey conducted by global property consultant, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

03

Around 68 per cent of India’s rural households own a mobile phone connection, as per the census for rural India.

04

Private equity (PE) investments in Indian real estate sector during January-June 2015 period increased 45 per cent year-on-year to US$ 1.3 billion, mainly led by global funds investing in affordable housing, office parks and mixed-use projects.

05

Exports of a u t o m o b i l e components grew 10 per cent to an all-time high of US$ 11.2 billion in 2014-15, according to data released

by Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA).

06

India is the fourth fastest growing source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the US, with investments worth US$ 11 billion.

07

India’s foreign currency reserves have reached an all-time high of US$ 355.5 billion for the week ending June 19, 2015, as per a report by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

08

Indian software market witnessed a stable year-on-year growth of 10 per cent in the second half of 2014: IDC India Software Tracker.

09

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into India surged 112 per cent year-on-year in April 2015 to US$ 3.6 billion, the second highest monthly FDI inflow in the past 18 months.

10

The domestic air traffic in India grew 18.35 per cent in the month of May on a y-o-y basis to 7.1 million passengers.

11

The total telephone subscriber base for India increased to 999.7 million at end of April 2015, from 996.5 million at end of March, led by increase in wireless subscriber base to

973.4 million at end of April from 969.9 million at end of March.

12

The total number of GSM subscribers of seven telecom operators reached 716.24 million in May 2015 from 711.55 million in April 2015: Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

13

The Indian retail industry is expected to touch US$ 2.1 trillion by 2025 from the present level of US$ 550 billion.

14

The index of mineral production for mining and quarrying sector in India stood at 148.5 in March 2015, 0.9 per cent higher as compared to March 2014.

15

The number of telephone connections in India has crossed one billion by end of April 2015.

16

India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at 197.3 in March 2015, which is 2.1 per cent higher compared to March 2014 levels.

17

The internet user base in India is projected to touch 580 million by 2018, from 190 million in June 2014.

India Newsletter • 5

Indian Embassy, Vienna

NEWS ARTICLES Tata Motors’ JLR signs deal to manufacture cars in Austria Tata Motors-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said it has signed a contract manufacturing agreement with Austrian automotive firm Magna Steyr in another step to enhance its worldwide production line and build global footprint.

Magna Steyr, an operating unit of Magna International Inc, will build some future JLR vehicles in Graz, Austria, under the latest collaboration, aimed at creating additional volumes needed to support the company’s plans to achieve further growth.

“The UK remains at the centre of our design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities.

Partnerships such as this will complement our UK operations and engineering,” JLR CEO Ralf Speth said in a statement here.

“Today marks another step in building our global footprint. This agreement will allow us to expand our award- winning model range as customers around the world demand ever- more innovative vehicles from Jaguar Land Rover,” he said.

Over the past five years, as part of the Tata Group, JLR has doubled sales to more than 4,62,000 vehicles, doubled employment to over 35,000 people and invested more than 10 billion pounds in new product creation and capital expenditure.

The company has also invested in its UK vehicle manufacturing facilities at Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull in the West Midlands region of England to support the introduction of 10 new vehicles, including the Jaguar XE, Jaguar F-TYPE, Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

“The signing of this contract with Jaguar Land Rover reflects the trust in our capability and heritage as 6 • India Newsletter

a vehicle contract manufacturer,” said Gunther Apfalter, president of Magna Steyr and Magna International Europe, which claims nearly 100 years’ experience in contract manufacturing.

“The partnership with Jaguar Land Rover brings a new customer to our Graz plant. As always, we will work with our fullest commitment and dedication to ensure that we meet our customer’s high expectations,” he said.

JLR is also strengthening its international manufacturing presence with the opening of its joint venture factory in China and the ongoing construction of its new plant in Brazil.

The expansion of its international manufacturing operations allows the iconic British car brands to develop an increasingly flexible, agile and efficient global manufacturing strategy, the firm claimed.

Tata Motors had acquired a struggling JLR from Ford back in 2008 and has since transformed its global sales figures.

Salzer Electronics joins hands with Austria’s Trafomodern The city-based Salzer Electronics has entered a technical licensing agreement with Austriabased firm Trafomodern Transformatorengesellschaft m.B.H, a leading manufacturer of dry type transformers in Europe.

Salzer will tap Trafomodern’s technology, design and assistance to manufacture dry type air cooled transformers, chokes and inductors in India, to be manufactured at a location adjacent to the factory.

Dry type transformers are a highly specialised and technical product with applications in medium and large UPS, renewable energy business, railways, power generation and the marine industry.

Salzer will market this new product, with a project cost of Rs 22 crore, to business segments such as energy management (UPS), Metro rail, solar and wind energy, Salzer Electronics Managing Director R Doraisamy, who signed the agreement with Trafomodern CEO Christo Blum, said in a release here.

With an estimated business value of USD 250 million in UPS and USD 200 million in solar/wind energy, the company saw big opportunities in Metro rail/railways and industrial segments, he said.

“We are delighted to begin our business relationship with Trafomodern, and using their superior technology, we will start to manufacture dry type transformers in India for our customers here and abroad,” he said.

New visa regime for business travellers to Austria from India Austria has decided to introduce a liberalized regime for issue of business visas to Austria, w.e.f.

August 1, 2015. An MOU to this effect was signed between the Federal Ministry of Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Federal Ministry of Interior, Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy and WKO {Federal Chamber of Commerce}.

In an initial pilot phase, the new regime will be applicable only to India, China, and Indonesia. The new regime envisages authorizing Austrian Trade Commissioners in these countries to recommend issue of visas to bonafide business travellers, largely eliminating the requirement of other supporting documents. Visas to business travellers are expected to be issued within five working days, and will also have long validity periods.

For first time business travellers to Austria, visas will have a validity of six months, for second time travellers three years, and for others

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up to 5 years. The new scheme reflects Austria’s recognition of India as a trustworthy and an important business partner.

Tourism has the potential to become backbone of the Indian economy: Dr. Mahesh Sharma The Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma has said that tourism has the potential to become the back bone of the economy of the country since it is a means to earn foreign exchange, generate employment and create women empowerment. Speaking at the interactive session and the press conference of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) in New Delhi Dr. Mahesh Sharma said that the world has became a global village and tourism is a powerful tool to connect our country to the rest of the world.

Appreciating the role played by private stakeholders like IATO in promoting tourism in the country, Dr. Mahesh Sharma said that the participation of the private sector should be explored to the maximum possible extent to promote tourism and to meet tourism related targets.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has been playing the role of Brand Ambassador and promoting India before the world. The Foreign Tourist Arrivals(FTAs) from these countries visited by the Prime Minister have shown a substantial increase , Dr Mahesh Sharma disclosed. Highlighting the value of Indian Handicrafts as part of the Indian culture , the Minister said that promotion of handicrafts must be made an essential part of tourism promotion.

Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Dr. Lalit Panwar said that the measures like e-tourist visa taken up by the government recently have shown tremendous results. He requested IATO members to give it wide publicity and encourage tourists to

make use of this facility.

The President of IATO, Mr. Subhash Goyal disclosed the 31st annual convention of IATO will be held in Indore from 20th to 23rd August, 2015, which will also help to give fillip to tourism in the state.

GDP to grow 8% in FY16; hit $3 trn mark in 5 years: Panagariya According to NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Mr Arvind Panagariya, India’s growth rate is expected to reach eight per cent in the current year and to cross the US$ 3 trillion mark in less than five years. The Indian economy, currently the third largest economy in Asia with a current size of US$ 2 trillion, grew 7.3 per cent in 2014-15. Led by special initiatives like Make in India, India is expected to capture bigger share of global exports and boost its manufacturing sector growth. Mr Arvind Panagariya was optimistic about India’s economic growth despite a sluggish global economy.

Core sector growth rises to 4.4% in May Growth in production in the eight key infrastructure sectors hit a sixmonth high of 4.4 per cent in May, after two consecutive months of decline, indicating a recovery in industrial activity. The index of these eight core sectors grew 3.8 per cent in the corresponding month last year.

In February this year, the eight sectors had recorded growth of 1.4 per cent.

Cumulatively, growth in the eight core sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — in the first two months of this financial year fell to 2.1 per cent from 4.7 per cent in April-May 2014-15. This was largely because in April, output declined 0.4 per cent, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.

In May, production of refinery

products jumped 7.9 per cent, against contraction of one per cent, 1.3 per cent and 2.9 per cent in February, March and April, respectively. Overall, output of refinery products in April-May rose 2.6 per cent, against contraction of 1.9 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

Coal production increased 7.8 per cent year-on-year in May. In May 2014, it increased 7.9 per cent.

Production of steel and cement rose 2.6 per cent each in May, against growth of 0.6 per cent and contraction of 2.4 per cent, respectively, in April. However, these fell from 3.3 per cent and 8.4 per cent growth, respectively, in May last year.

Economists said though the positive run might not continue, considering steel and cement production might fall from June, in line with the trend, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) might show healthy growth, as the core sector has 38 per cent weight in industrial output. Even when core sector production contracted in April, IIP rose 4.1 per cent, primarily due to a surge in the volatile in capital goods segment.

Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings, said: “With such an improvement in the core numbers, I expect the May IIP to be between three and four per cent. However, there might not be correlation between IIP and core all the time.

Last year, we had seen how despite good core, IIP had contracted. More, we need to see what happens from June. It will be too early to call this as a recovery.”

In May, electricity generation grew 5.5 per cent, against a decline of 1.1 per cent in the previous month.

In May 2014, electricity generation rose 6.7 per cent. For April-May this year, electricity generation rose 2.2 per cent, against 9.2 per cent in the year-ago period.

“In May, the core sector recorded its highest level of growth in the past six months,” said Rishi Shah, economist, Deloitte. “However, growth has been weak in the core infrastructure India Newsletter • 7

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industries and, as such, data in the coming months would be crucial in determining if we are indeed witnessing a sustained turnaround.”

He said coal production continued to grow at a healthy 7.8 per cent, while electricity growth rebounded to 5.5 per cent after contracting in April. “The growth in steel production was encouraging. But given the condition of the domestic steel sector and the global demand outlook, these numbers need to be looked at carefully,” Shah said.

“Growth in cement production, after a gap of two months, is also a positive, though we would watch it for another few months to see if it sustains. Overall, the number bodes well for IIP growth in May.” Fertiliser production grew 1.3 per cent in May, against growth of 17.6 per cent in the corresponding month last year. Natural gas was the only segment that witnessed contraction, of 3.1 per cent, in May. This segment hasn’t recorded growth in 12 months. Five more segments - crude oil, refinery products, steel, cement and fertilisers --- recorded a fall in production in April.

India to be a parallel manufacturing hub to China: Ravi Shankar Prasad India will emerge as a parallel production hub to China for global markets in electronics manufacturing as the government shifts attention to boost the making of sophisticated, high-technology products in the country, says telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

“There is a surge towards India as a manufacturing destination, and this will only grow,” Prasad tells TOI in an interview. Excerpts: How crucial is the manufacturing of electronics in ‘Make in India’ drive?

We are aggressively pursuing the manufacturing of electronic goods in India because if this is not done now, we may stare at a huge foreign exchange bill in the coming years which can be catastrophic 8 • India Newsletter

for the economy. India is buying electronic goods at a rapid pace and if we do not start manufacturing the products, the import bill by 2020 is forecasted to be alarming at $400 billion, which will be more than oil import bill.

China has emerged as a major manufacturing location for electronics and is seen as a factory for the world. Do you think that India has the capacity to match up to our neighbour?

I want the production of electronics to be at the center-stage of India’s manufacturing eco-system. We want India to be a global manufacturing hub for electronics, running parallel to China. We are confident of achieving this task, and it should happen very soon.

Have the incentives offered by the government yielded any results?

We are seeing a rush as far as new investments are concerned.

Companies are attracted by India’s huge domestic consuming market as well as a pro-active government, which believes in transparent decision-making. We have received 72 proposals to the tune of Rs 23,000 crore, of which 42 proposals worth Rs 12,000 crore have already been cleared. Companies that are investing include Korea’s Samsung, Germany’s Bosch, Japan’s Nidec and Panasonic. These are in segments such as electronic components, telecom network equipment, LED, consumer electronics, automotive, solar panels and strategic electronics. We have even brought in medical electronics within the ambit of this sector as 100% FDI is allowed here.

Airtel becomes third largest mobile operator globally Bharati Airtel has moved up a position in global rankings to become the third largest mobile operator in the world, in terms of subscribers, the company said in a press release. It now has 303 million customers across 20 countries.

According to data posted by the World Cellular Information Service (WCIS), the top five mobile operators in terms of subscribers (in millions), are China Mobile (626.27), Vodafone Group (403.08), Bharti Airtel (303.10), China Unicom (299.09) and America Movil (274.14).

Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, said , “This is a major landmark in the journey of Airtel and underlines the strength of our business model and our brand that is loved by customers across 20 countries. I want to thank our employees and our business partners for supporting us through this exciting journey and with the mobile internet play about to happen in the developing world, things will only get brighter from here on.”

Airtel has also achieved the largest rural mobile customer base in India with nearly 100 million mobile customers, the release said.

Infosys to invest $10 million in Irish start-ups Infosys said it will invest $10 million from its $500 million global innovation fund in start-ups in Ireland.

The company has also bagged a outsourcing contract from Allied Irish Banks. It will take over 200 people on its rolls from the Irish financial services group and will set up a unit to house them in Dublin.

Infosys has not disclosed the value or tenure of the deal.

“Our investment in the Irish startup community reflects our belief that Ireland is a strong and vibrant nation, home to entrepreneurs who share our vision of technology as a way to drive growth. We will leverage our broad experience in Financial Services and other industries to support the digital transformation journey and strategic growth plans of AIB,” Mohit Joshi, Executive Vice President, Global Head of Financial Services, Infosys said.

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Make in India: After Samsung, HTC to manufacture mobile handsets in the country HTC has finalised its ‘Make in India’ plans, becoming the second major global smartphone maker to produce handsets in the country, after South Korean rival Samsung Electronics.

The Taiwanese premium smartphone maker has entered into an agreement with Global Devices Network, which set up a manufacturing and assembling unit three months ago in Noida, to make the handsets on contract.

Trials have already begun and commercial production is expected to start from mid-July, initially catering to HTC’s requirements in India and eventually Africa and the Middle East, three senior industry executives said.

An email sent to HTC India did not elicit any response till Monday press time. Global Devices Network managing director Nitesh Gupta confirmed the company is in talks to start commercial assembling of HTC smartphones, which should be finalised by next month. “It’s a contract manufacturing agreement,” he said, declining to share further details.

Global Devices Network already produces smartphones for Zen and is in talks with other device sellers.

It is owned by the Gupta family of New Delhi and distributes Samsung smartphones, manufactures mobile phone accessories, invests in companies that distribute HTC smartphones and runs a cellphone retail chain.

HTC smartphones made in India will initially range from its entry-level to mid-segment devices, priced between Rs 10,000 and about Rs 25,000, which are sold under the ‘Desire’ series. It will set up its quality control unit in the contract manufacturer’s plant. The company does not plan to assemble its flagship ‘HTC One’ series smartphones in

India, the industry executives said.

HTC has of late expanded into contract manufacturing for its entryto-mid-segment smartphones to slash costs, while it retains production of high-end models.

It has tied up with third-party manufacturers in Taiwan and China, according to media reports. The India plan falls in the same line, analysts said.

“Besides the evident duty differentiation of 6% to 6.5% that companies would get after making in India, they will also get access to a big market and labour,” said Jayanth Kolla, co-founder of telecom research firm Convergence Catalyst.

Global smartphone makers including Sony, LG, Xiaomi and Motorola, too, have evinced interest in manufacturing in India due to the growth potential of the country’s smartphone market and to avail of tax benefits drawn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ policy. Research firm Gartner’s principal analyst Anshul Gupta expects Indian smartphone sales to grow 40% in 2015, contributing to over 38% of overall mobile phone sales, up from 27% in 2014.

Lenovo exploring another manufacturing unit in India, specifically for smartphones and tablets Chinese electronics major Lenovo is evaluating the possibility of setting up one more manufacturing unit in India for smart phones and tablets. Lenovo already has a production plant in Puducherry for computer manufacturing and enjoys top place in sales of laptops and smartphones in India. Given the impetus on “Make In India” by government and low penetration of smartphones in Indian markets, Lenovo is planning to aggressively boost smartphone business in the country. The company believes that 4G/LTE will be the dominant technology in the years to come and hence manufacturing 4G/LTE

enabled device will be their primary focus.

After iPhone and iPad, Apple Watch likely to be made in India Quanta Computer Inc., the world’s largest contract manufacturer of PC and the main assembler of Apple Watch is considering setting up a manufacturing base in India. Earlier in the week, Foxconn, manufacturer of iPhones and iPads for Apple had announced likely billion dollar investments to set up between 10 to 12 facilities in India by 2020.

The investment will be done after evaluating the logistics facilities including access to ports and transportation etc.

Mercedes Benz to make SUV in India Mercedes Benz has decided to manufacture the GLA entry SUV in India, the first market after Germany.

The company has doubled its India assembly capacity to 20,000 units per annum.

Merc has been expanding its local assembly capacity as volumes are rising fast on the back of new model launches and expansion of sales network. It witnessed 40% growth in sales this year. “India is one of the focus markets for Mercedes Benz globally, and with addition of a new plant, we are getting future ready,” company India MD & CEO Eberhard Kern told TOI here.

The plant was inaugurated by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar.

With the addition of the GLA SUV, the company now makes six models locally. The CLA entry sedan will be added to the local assembly list later this year, followed by A- and B-Class models. The local production of GLA SUV will see the model’s price come down by between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh. It is currently available for Rs 32.75-36.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

India Newsletter • 9

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India among top 10 countries to attract highest FDI in 2014: Unctad India regained its position in the list of top 10 destinations for foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2014, after failing to make it to the list a year ago, according to the World Investment Report 2015 released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).

India is ranked ninth in the latest report; it was 15th last year.

During 2014, FDI inflows into India jumped 22% to $34 billion at a time when global FDI fell by 16% to $1.23 trillion. Unctad projected global FDI flows to rise 11% to $1.4 trillion in 2015.

India’s rank as a top prospective host country for FDI also rose to third place from fourth place in an Unctad survey for the period 2015-17.

However, India fell to the seventh rank from sixth last year in the survey as a source country for FDI for 20142016 period.

FDI inflows to India are likely to maintain an upward trend in 2015 as economic recovery gains ground, the report said. “In terms of the sectoral composition of FDI inflows, manufacturing is likely to gain strength, as policy efforts to revitalize the industrial sector are sustained including, for example, the Make In India initiative launched in mid-2014,” it added.

Premila Nazareth Satyanand, an economist and consultant with Unctad, said this year’s report shows positive trends about India, which is expected to be sustained. “There seems to be slight improvement in foreign investor sentiment about India. India is also now back in the top 10 investor destinations.

However, India remains the only BRIC country not to have received more than $50 billion FDI inflows within a year,” she added.

The report identified the automotive industry as one of 10 • India Newsletter

the sectors in which India has the potential of becoming a world leader. Cumulative FDI inflows to the automotive industry from April 2000 to November 2014 amounted to $11.4 billion, according to data from the Indian government.

The country accounted for the majority of so-called greenfield investment projects announced by global auto makers and first-tier parts suppliers in South Asia during 2013-14, including 12 projects above $100 million.

Inward FDI has led to the emergence of a number of industrial clusters in India, including those in the national capital region (DelhiGurgaon-Faridabad) in the north, Maharashtra state (Mumbai-NasikAurangabad) in the west, and Tamil Nadu (Chennai-Hosur) in the south, according to the report. “Though considerable differences exist in the patterns of the formation of these clusters, FDI can play an important catalytic role. For example, the early entry of Suzuki (Japan) has contributed to the development of an industrial cluster in the NCR,” it added.

The report revealed that China became the largest recipient of FDI in 2014, followed by Hong Kong and the US. Developing economies, as a group, attracted $681 billion worth of FDI and remain the leading region by share of global investment inflows.

In 2014, nine of the 20 largest investor countries were developing or transition economies with firms from developing Asia now investing abroad more than any other region.

Developing economies accounted for a record 35% of global FDI outflows, the report said, up from 13% in 2007.

Government, RBI to fasttrack foreign inflows into Alternative Investment Funds To attract higher foreign capital

inflows through Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), the Government of India is considering to allow foreign investment in AIFs while ensuring compliance with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy. AIFs were allowed to be created by Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 2012 as funds incorporated in India with a purpose of pooling in capital from Indian investors including private equity, venture capital and hedge funds. To make foreign investments into AIFs a seamless process, the Finance Ministry has planned to propose to the Cabinet an enabling provision in the Foreign Management (Permissible Capital Account Transactions) Regulations, 2000 so that the foreign investment in AIF is in compliance with the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy. Collectively, there were 135 AIFs registered with SEBI by the end of March, 2015 and have raised investments commitments over Rs 22,600 crore (US$3.58 billion). While these AIFs have already raised funds worth Rs 9,500 crore (US$ 1.5 billion), their total investment stands at Rs 7,350 crore (US$ 1.16 billion).

India remains investors’ top choice among emerging markets, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global investors have reduced their investment in emerging market equities except for India, which still remains the most favoured country, according to the Bank of America Merill Lynch (BofA-ML)report. India acquired the top slot in Global Emerging Market (GEM) investors’ country preference chart, in spite of foreign investment outflows of US$ 0.52 billion from Indian stock market since January. In spite of losing 14 per cent (in US$ terms) since the January month high, India still remains the most favoured country for GEM investors. China and Poland ranked second and third respectively.

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India’s aviation growth to be double of global average, according to aviation major Airbus World’s leading aircraft manufacturer Airbus SAS expects India’s domestic aviation market to grow at 11 per cent annually while combined market for domestic and international routes to grow at 10 per cent annually over the next 10 years, which is twice the average global growth rate. Airbus has already committed to source products worth US$ 2 billion cumulatively over the next five years and also provide customized maintenance and other services for all its airline customers in India closer to their base. Airbus India MD Srinivasan Dwarakanath expects India will become one of the top three aviation markets globally in next 20 years. Considering the relatively low aviation penetration in India, the industry will need to double the number of aircraft fleet if just an additional one percent more of its population starts to travel by air. Although expectations are that India will need 1,291 aircraft by 2032, looking at the growth trajectory, forecasts may well be revised upwards. Airbus already has aerospace partnerships in India with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for Airbus 320, Dynamitic for flaps in A320 and A330, Mahindras and Tatas in the defense area. R&D in India stays as one of the primary focus for Airbus as they look forward to emerging technologies and innovative solutions to their airlines.

Sebi makes it easier for start-ups to list in India India’s capital markets regulator announced on Tuesday rules that make it easier for start-ups to list in India, and for investors such as venture capital firms in such startups to sell their holdings through initial share sales.

The rules, which have been in the works for a few months, are part of an effort to create a funding regime that reflects the thriving entrepreneurial

scene in the country.

The move was welcomed by investors.

“This is a huge step in the right direction for start-ups. One key issue that start-ups face is funding and the relaxation of listing norms

by Sebi will go a long way toward solving this. The availability of exit options will increase liquidity in the system which in turn will draw more investors toward India,” said Sudhir Sethi, part of iSPIRT List In India expert team and chairman of IDG Ventures India. “Through IPOs (initial public offerings), Indian companies will now not only create value but also keep it in the country.”

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) announced after a Tuesday board meeting that hi-tech start-ups in areas such as analytics and biotech can list in India on the institutional trading platform (ITP) of exchanges, if at least 25% of their pre-issue capital is held by qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), such as private equity and venture capital firms and non-banking financial companies.

Other start-ups can also opt to get listed on the platform, provided at least 50% of their pre-issue capital is held by QIBs. Sebi’s move is aimed at preventing home-grown entrepreneurs from exploring offshore markets for raising capital and to make it easier for new business ideas to flourish within India. The objective is to also create new opportunities for equity investors to make money by betting on the prospects of new-age companies.

India, which is home to at least 3,100 start-ups, is ranked fifth globally in terms of the combined size of the start-up industry. India trails behind the US, Europe, Canada and China in the space.

“We have got a feedback that most start-ups think of overseas market when it comes to listing. They felt that the regulatory regime for listing of start-ups was not favourable in India. So, we have decided to make it easier,” said U.K. Sinha, chairman of

Sebi.

On 30 March, Sebi proposed a number of easy listing rules for start-ups on the institutional trading platform (ITP) of stock exchanges.

On Tuesday, the regulator said that for start-ups willing to list on this platform, there will be no cap on the usage of public issue proceeds for general corporate purposes. In conventional IPOs by companies opting to get listed on the main board of exchanges, not more than 25% of the capital raised can be used by a listing company for general corporate purposes.

According to existing rules, there is a lock-in period of three years for (pre-IPO) shareholders holding more than 20% and one year for all other investors. In the case of startups, Sebi said the lock-in period will be only six months for all categories of pre-IPO shareholders.

On the special listing platform for start-ups, 75% of the shares will be reserved for such institutional investors. The remaining 25% will be available for non-institutional investors (NIIs), Sebi said.

No person (individually or collectively with people acting in concert) in such a company will be allowed to hold more than 25% of the post-issue share capital in a start-up, it added.

Sebi has also widened the definition of QIBs to include nonbanking financial companies and family offices or trusts and other entities that register themselves as alternative investment funds.

Sebi proposed that any investing entity registered with Sebi with a minimum net worth of Rs.500 crore may also be considered as a QIB for investing in shares of start-ups.

The new rules mandate a minimum investment of Rs.10 lakh at the time of the IPO and while trading on the special trading platform.

“Sebi is giving a lot of freedom in terms of pricing, disclosures and usage of funds to start-ups willing to get listed on this platform. Also disclosures in terms of litigations will India Newsletter • 11

Indian Embassy, Vienna

be decided by the board according to materiality of the litigation,” Sinha said.

Sebi has also gone easy on start-ups in terms of disclosure requirements.

“As the standard valuation parameters such as price to earnings, earnings per share and so on may not be relevant in case of many of such companies, the basis of issue price may include other disclosures, except projections, as deemed fit by the issuers,” the regulator said in its statement.

Companies intending to list on the proposed platform will be required to file draft offer documents with Sebi for observations, in line with the general practice.

The regulator said that while filing the draft offer document with Sebi, such firms will only need to disclose broad objectives of a public issue rather than the granular details that are required of regular primary issuances.

The minimum number of allottees in a public offer by a start-up has to be 200, which is lower than Sebi’s proposal of 500 investors in the discussion paper.

A start-up getting listed on ITP will have the option to migrate to the main board of a stock exchange after three years, subject to compliance with existing eligibility requirements of stock exchanges.

The new norms for start-ups will come into effect after a gazette notification, which is likely to be put out in the next six weeks, Sinha said on the sidelines of a conference organized by Sebi on Tuesday following the board meeting.

Since December, iSpirt, a lobby group for software product startups, has been working with Sebi and three other regulators to change tax rules, listing regulations and other laws to make it easier for product start-ups to operate in India.

Ahead of the budget, iSpirt executives, along with former Infosys finance chief T.V. Mohandas 12 • India Newsletter

Pai, venture capital firms Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India and 10 product start-ups, including InMobi and Fresh Desk, met Sinha and central bank governor Raghuram Rajan.

India emerges as UK’s third largest FDI source in 2014 India ranks third among top sources of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in UK after investments from India increased 65 per cent. According to the annual investment figures from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), Britain attracted 1,988 FDI projects in FY15, a 12 per cent increase over the previous year, which created over 85,000 new jobs and 23,000 safeguarded jobs, which include 9,000 new and safeguarded jobs contributed by Indian investments.

As per UKTI, FDI into UK came in from more than 70 countries which including emerging economies as well. Compared to India, Chinese investments led to the creation of 6,000 new jobs from 112 projects.

Overall, capital inflows into UK crossed one trillion pound for the first time.

India and Poland set trade target of USD 5 billion India and Poland set an ambitious trade target of USD 5 billion at the fourth session of the bilateral Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation, held in Warsaw on June 15. The commission, co-chaired

by Mr Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Mr Jerzy Pietreiwicz, Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy, drew a blueprint for stepping up investments and identified a series of actions to raise trade from the 2014 level of USD 2.3 billion, to USD 5 billion by the year 2018.

Speaking at the plenary session, Secretary of State Pietriewicz noted that the economic partnership between the two countries was

significantly boosted by the visit to India of Mr P, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Poland in January 2015 and his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi.

Mr Amitabh Kant described the dynamism of the Indian economy and invited Polish investors to look at various new programmes like Make in India and Smart Cities, and to take advantage of the significantly improved investment climate. He said India had become one of the most open economies in the world, with de-regulation and hikes in FDI limits in key sectors like defence, infrastructure and railways. Secretary Kant stressed the Government of India had created an enabling environment for foreign investors and was committed to provide hand-holding facilities to inbound investments.

The three co-chairs of the newly created Joint Working Groups on Coal, IT and Food Processing, also presented the outcomes of their first meetings, held on the eve of the commission meeting. In the coal and steel sector, both sides have drawn a roadmap to strengthen cooperation in areas such as thick seam underground coal mining, exploitation of highly gassy seams, developing clean coal technologies and transfer of technologies in deep coal mining from Poland to India. In the food processing sector, experts discussed market access, food processing technologies and research and development between scientific institutions. The Polish side showed interest in exporting the latest food processing machinery and technology to India. In the IT and ICT sector, India and Poland have identified areas to strengthen cooperation in entrepreneurship development and support; research and development and innovation in cloud computing; big data analysis; cyber-security, data protection, smart cities projects and accreditation of each other’s courses.

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India eyeing top 30 slot in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report Enthused by increased foreign investment inflows, the government is planning to get India into the top 30 slot in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings. A team of World Bank officials will visit India this month to assess the steps taken by the Narendra Modi-led government to improve the business climate in the country through the Make in India campaign.

“Our target is to come at the top 30 rank of countries in the World Bank report in the next three years. We will soon release a report card on the states’ preparedness on the ease of business parameters. This will be come out by July-end. We will then get a clearer picture of where India stands after the introduction of programmes like Make in India and also other steps that we have taken in terms of relaxing the regulatory environment for businesses to come in,” a top official from the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) told Business Standard.

The official added that West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are vying to achieve the parameters set by the Union.

States have been handed over a questionnaire on a 90-point matrix on the steps taken by them to improve the business environment in their respective states. Based on their responses, the DIPP will be creating a final report ranking the states.

DIPP is the nodal agency for foreign direct investments into the country.

It is also spearheading Modi’s flagship campaign on boosting the manufacturing sector – Make In India.

The government is excited about the fact that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the country grew 27 per cent to $30.93 billion in 201415 compared to $24.29 billion in 2013-14, according to the latest official data.

The growth mainly took place after September 24, when the Make in India programme was launched. Total FDI inflows during the October-February period in the manufacturing sector grew 45 per cent to $7 billion from $4.77 billion in the same period a year ago.

Some of the steps taken by the government are expediting FDI proposals by increasing the limit that needs government approval, faster environmental clearances,

simplification of procedures through online mechanism and passing of crucial Bills through the ordinance route.

However, despite this euphoria within the government, companies feel otherwise. They believe the states need to gear up to achieve the target successfully within the stipulated time.

“While at the central level, the government has taken big strides in making the business environment more conducive, the key to realise the prime minister’s vision lies in up-scaling competitiveness among states to emerge as favourite destinations for doing business in India,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, director-general, Confederation of Indian Industry.

According to a CRISIL report, the government has not been able to affect a quick turnaround in the economy but has made progress in putting in place building blocks needed to raise India’s potential growth. Initial steps at improving transparency, enhancing the ease of doing business, improving the efficiency of the goods and labour markets, and financial sector reforms will pave the way for higher growth over the medium run.

INDIA PERSPECTIVES MAGAZINE ONLINE

www.magzter.com/publishers/meaindia

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Indian Embassy, Vienna

MAKE IN INDIA Summary ■■ 3rd largest pool of scientists in the world.

■■ USD 29 Billion c onsumer electronics market by 2020.

■■ USD 94.2 Billion – d emand projected by 2015.

■■ 9.88% industry growth rate between 2011-15.

■■ 2 government-driven incentives – National Knowledge Network & National Optical Fibre Network.

Reasons to Invest ■■ Global demand to reach USD 94.2 Billion by 2015.

■■ Large demand generated due to government schemes like the National Knowledge Network (NKN), National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), tablets for the Education sector, a digitisation policy and various other broadband schemes.

■■ Adequately developed Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) industry is set to be a significant contributor to the entire industry’s development.

■■ India has the third largest pool of scientists and technicians i n the world.

■■ Skilled manpower available in abundance in Semiconductor Design and Embedded Software.

■■ Strong design and R&D capabilities in auto electronics and industrial electronics.

Statistics ■■ The Indian ESDM industry was estimated to be worth USD 68.31 Billion in 2012 and is anticipated to be worth USD 94.2 Billion by 2015 with a CAGR of 9.88% between 2011-15.

■■ The sector comprises Electronic Products, Electronic Components, Semiconductor Design and Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS).

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■■ Top 10 electronic products by total revenue: mobile phones, flat panel display TVs, notebooks, desktops, digital cameras, inverters / UPS, memory cards/USB drives, EMS/LCD monitors and servers.

Growth Drivers ■■ Significant local demand.

■■ Rising manufacturing costs in alternate markets.

■■ 65% of the current demand for electronic products is met by imports.

■■ GOVERNMENT POLICIES : ■■ Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) (USD 13.4 Billion investment proposals till March 2014).

■■ Electronics Manufacturing Clusters Scheme (EMC).

■■ Skill Development Scheme.

■■ Huge consumption in the Middle East and in emerging markets such as North Africa and Latin America.

■■ Existing R&D capabilities can be encouraged to develop ‘Made in India’ products and generate local IP.

■■ INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT REGIONS (ITIR) : ■■ Karnataka (42.5 sq. km, near Bengaluru, a USD 17.6 Billion investment).

■■ Telangana (202 sq. km, near Hyderabad, USD 36.4 Billion investment).

■■ Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC) are being established across the country by GMR (near Bangalore), Telangana Government Corporation (near Hyderabad), Electronics Components Industries Association (near Delhi), MP State Electronics Development Corporation (Bhopal and Jabalpur); Kerala Industrial Infrastructural Development Corporation (near Kochi).

■■ Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication (FAB) manufacturing facilities being set up in India in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat with a total investment of USD 10.5 Billion.

■■ Venture funds with a strong focus on electronics planned includes the Electronics Development Fund, Walden India Fund, KITVEN Fund and the SIDBI Fund.

■■ Electronic Sector Skills Council

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and Telecom Sector Skills Council have been set up for establishing an effective and efficient ecosystem for developing and imparting outcome-oriented skills for the ESDM sector. A total of 90,000 people are to be supported under the Skill Development Scheme in 6 different states

FDI Policy ■■ 100% FDI is allowed under the automatic route in the Electronics Systems Design & Manufacturing sector and is subject to all applicable regulations and laws.

■■ In case of electronics items for defence, FDI up to 49% is allowed under the government approval route, whereas anything above 49% is allowed through the approval of the cabinet committee on security.

Sector Policy ■■ NATIONAL POLICY ELECTRONICS (NPE) :

ON

■■ NPE’s vision is to create a globally competitive electronics design and manufacturing industry to meet the country’s needs and serve the international market.

■■ The objective is to build an ecosystem for a globally competitive ESDM sector in the country by attracting investment of about USD 100 Billion and generating employment for 28 Million people at various levels.

■■ The ultimate aim of the policy is to develop core competencies in strategic and core infrastructure sectors like telecommunications, automobile, avionics, industrial, medical, solar, information and broadcasting, railways, intelligent transport systems, etc.

■■ A number of state governments have also defined policies in electronics.

■■ Other important policies include the National Telecom Policy and the National Manufacturing Policy.

Financial Support ■■ PROVISIONS OF THE 2O142O15 UNION BUDGET : ■■ Basic customs duty on LCD and LED TV panels below 19 inches is being reduced from 10% to NIL. ■■ Basic customs duty is being exempted on specified parts of LCD and LED panels for TVs. ■■ Basic customs duty on colour picture tubes for manufacture of cathode ray TVs is being reduced from 10% to NIL. ■■ Special additional duty on all imports/components used in the manufacture of personal computers is being exempted.

■■ Education cess and secondary and higher education cess is being levied on imported electronic products.

■■ Full exemption from SAD is being provided on specified inputs i.e.

PVC sheets and ribbon used in the manufacture of smart cards.

■■ Basic customs duty is being reduced from 7.5% to nil on e-book readers.

■■ Either of the following two deductions can be availed: ■■ 1. Investment allowance (additional depreciation) at the rate of 15% to manufacturing companies that invest more than INR 1 Billion in plant and machinery acquired and

installed between 01.04.2013 to 31.03.2015 provided the aggregate amount of investment in new P&M during the s aid period exceeds INR 1 Billion.

■■ 2. In order to provide a further fillip to companies engaged in the manufacture of an article or thing, the said benefit of an additional deduction of 15% of cost of new P&M, exceeding INR 250 Million which is acquired and installed during any previous year, until 31.3.2017.

■■ Under the existing provisions of Section 35 AD of the Act, investment- linked tax incentive is available by way of allowing deduction of the whole of any

expenditure of a capital nature (other than expenditure on land, goodwill and financial investments) incurred wholly and exclusively for purposes of the “specified business” during the previous year in which such expenditure is incurred.

■■ In order to promote investment in new sectors few more businesses have been added under the above section.

■■ Setting up and operating a semiconductor wafer fabrication manufacturing unit, if such a unit is notified by the board in accordance with the prescribed guidelines.

■■ The above business shall begin operations on or after 01.04.2014.

■■ It has also been decided to provide for a lock-in period of 8 years for use of assets in respect whereof a deduction under Section 35 AD has been claimed.

■■ MODIFIED SIPS : ■■ Capital subsidy up to 20-25% for 10 years on capex.

■■ Reimbursement of CVD/excise for capital equipment in non-SEZ units.

■■ Reimbursement of central taxes and duties for 10 years in select high tech units like fabs and ATMPs. ■■ Available for the entire value chain of identified electronics products.

■■ Incentives available for 10 years from the date of approval.

■■ PREFERENTIAL MARKET ACCESS : ■■ Preference to domestically manufactured electronics goods i n government procurement.

■■ Extent of government procurement from domestic manufacturers will not be less than 30% of the total procurement.

■■ ELECTRONIC MANUFACTURING CLUSTERS : ■■ Subsidy of 50-75% – up to USD 10 Million per 100 acres of land.

■■ Applicable to both greenfield and brownfield projects.

■■ EXPORT INCENTIVES : ■■ Focus product scheme – 2% duty India Newsletter • 15

Indian Embassy, Vienna

credit scrip.

■■ Special focus product scheme – 5% duty credit scrip.

■■ AREAS BASED INCENTIVES : ■■ Incentives for units in SEZ/NIMZ as specified in respective acts or the setting up of projects in special areas such as the North-east, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh &

Uttarakhand.

■■ National Scheme for Supporting MSMEs in the ESDM sector.

■■ For compliance of electronic goods with Indian Standards, both testing and certification are required for exports.

■■ Development of Electronic Manufacturing Clusters by MSMEs. ■■ STATE INCENTIVES : ■■ Apart from the above incentives, India offers additional incentives for industrial projects, while some states offer separate policies for this sector.

Investment Opportunities ■■ Setting up of Electronics Manufacturing Clusters.

■■ Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication (FAB).

■■ Electronic Components.

16 • India Newsletter

■■ Semiconductor Design.

■■ Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS).

■■ Telecom products.

■■ Industrial/ Consumer electronics.

■■ EXPECTED ELECTRONIC MARKET IN INDIA BY 2O2O : ■■ Telecom Equipment (USD 34 Billion).

■■ Laptops, Desktops, Tablets (USD 34 Billion).

■■ LED (USD 35 Billion).

■■ Consumer Electronics (USD 29 Billion).

■■ Set Top Boxes (USD 10 Billion).

■■ Automotive Electronics (USD 10 Billion).

■■ Medical Electronics (USD 8.5 Billion)

Foreign Investors ■■ Samsung (South Korea) ■■ IBM (USA) ■■ LG (South Korea) ■■ Tower Semiconductor Limited (Israel) ■■ Dell (USA) ■■ GE (USA) ■■ Jabil (USA)

■■ Motorola (USA) ■■ Lenovo (China) ■■ Flextronics (USA) ■■ Nokia (Finland) ■■ Lite-On (Taiwan) ■■ Foxconn (Taiwan) ■■ Bosch (Germany) ■■ Applied Materials (USA)

Agencies ■■ The Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India ■■ INDUSTRY PARTNERS : ■■ Manufacturers Association for Information Technology ■■ Electronic Industries Association of India ■■ Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association ■■ India Electronics Semiconductor Association ■■ Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers Association ■■ Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India ■■ Association of Indian Medical Device Industry

Indian Embassy, Vienna

PERSPECTIVES ON INDIA The environment in India is much more stable

By Balachandar R, Co-Founder &b CEO, Wassup Ondemand.

■■ Can you tell us about the business model of Wassup?

We are an on-demand laundry and dry-cleaning convenience brand. In total we have around 30 consumer points in India, wherein close to five are in Bangalore, one in Delhi and one in Chennai. In total we have presence in five cities but we are now focusing on Bangalore and Delhi. We were waiting for all our technology to be deployed which is in place now. We have recently received investment from the Jabong Co-founders. The next step is to mushroom around the cities we already have our presence in. The target is to expand our reach to around 100 cities in next three years. We are looking at around 25-30 people per city and as it is a mechanised laundry set up, the number of people may reduce as we scale up. We have around 100 people in total in the five cities mentioned. In terms of revenue, we crossed Rs 5 crore last year and currently we are doing around 200 orders a day.

■■ What are your views on the improving startup ecosystem in India?

There is a significant difference in the ecosystem compared to five years ago. What is happening is that a lot of money is going into a lot of startups, whether it is going through the right channel is something we whould be focusing on. Secondly, there is still a lot of improvement required on the regulatory front. However, the last budget announced around Rs 10,000 crore for startups but there is still a lot of improvement required in many areas relating to the regulatory management of startups in India.

■■ Do you believe steps like National Policy for Entrepreneurship are moving in the right direction?

Yes, steps like these are in the right direction and such a policy is the need of the hour. While the acceptability towards entrepreneurship has

increased but there is still a social stigma involved in becoming a first generation entrepreneur straight out of college or after leaving a well settled job. For instance, parents earlier used to discourage a kid playing cricket but the incoming of IPL changed a lot of things and opened a gamut of opportunities. What is happening now is with the growth in the success of startups in India; parents will soon start and encourage the kids to start on their own.

■■ Do you believe Indian startups have a potential to become global brands?

There is a huge opportunity for startups to make a global name for themselves.

At the same time, there is a huge opportunity to redefine the existing businesses. For instance, India has moved faster to mobile from desktop or laptops as compared to any other market and changes like these are expected to disrupt the conventional businesses and at the same time deliver many unique startups from India. Especially the environment in India is much more stable as compared to China which is a big plus for financial investors coming into the country.

Rising India: rising millionaires

by Ravi Capoor, IAS, CEO, IBEF India.

With a healthy jump in the number of ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) households in last one year, India is now home to over 928 households that have more than US$ 100 million in private wealth. Overall, India’s ranking among countries in terms of the number of UHNW individuals has risen to fourth spot in 2014 from the 13th position in 2013, according to the recently released report from The Boston Consulting Group titled ‘Global Wealth 2015: Winning the Growth Game’. US is the country with the largest number of UHNW households at 5,201, followed by China (1,037), the UK (1,019), India (928) and Germany (679) in 2014. According to another report, India ranks on the

third spot among global billionaires with 97 Indian billionaires following US and China. Private wealth in China and India registered a strong growth, largely driven by investments in local equities. It is noteworthy that China’s equity market rose by 38 per cent and India’s by 23 per cent in past one year.

Factors like the continued economic expansion of China and India is driving growth in wealth in the Asia-Pacific region, the BCG report said. In fact, with a projected US$ 57 trillion in 2016, AsiaPacific (excluding Japan) is expected to surpass North America (a projected US$ 56 trillion) as the wealthiest region in the world. However, wealth in India is projected to record the fastest growth of 21 per cent between 2014 and 2019 – double the growth rate of the next fastest wealth creator China (10.3 per cent).

Global private financial wealth grew by nearly 12 percent in 2014 to reach a total of US$ 164 trillion, in line with 2013, when global wealth also grew by just over 12 per cent. However, the total number of millionaire households (those with more than US$ 1 million in private wealth) reached 17 million in 2014, up strongly from 15 million in 2013.

Importance of branding for Indian SMEs

by Satish Kota, Founder, Reputationxl.

With Prime Minister’s Make In India initiatives, Indian SMEs are undergoing a humongous change.

They have opportunities to showcase themselves and do business across the globe. However to attain success in the international business branding becomes a very important factor.

Many think that branding is not important for established companies and believe it is required only for new entrants. Though they may not need much of branding, it is very much required to ward off competition or while evaluating new markets opportunities. New markets do not know business and hence the India Newsletter • 17

Indian Embassy, Vienna

trust level will be low. To gain better reputation businesses should resort to branding activities.

“The SMEs in India, treat branding as a trivial part of their business. But in reality branding acts as an effective catalyst for business growth in today’s market.”

Says Vinitha Suraj, Creative Director, Brand Equity Design Quadrant.

A good branding exercise builds trust, encourages loyalty and increases value.

For a stronger presence, SME’s should invest in branding. Businesses should change and innovate themselves to get recognized. At the core branding is nothing but identifying your businesses or products to particular category/segment. For example many people do not know the concept of Adhesive bandages, but they know Band-Aid very well and even when it is that of some other company, it is still considered as Band-Aid. The same way with Google. It is the brand for search engines.

■■ What Branding should SMEs do?

Branding does not mean advertising in print media, radio or television alone.

In today’s day and time, technology plays an important role. Branding has evolved into the world of internet and social media. They are today’s platforms for efficient communication.

“SME’s should promote its products through the internet and social media” says veteran advertisement guru Prahlad Kakkar.

It is very cost effective and can provide immense opportunities for the businesses. A simple campaign on facebook of Rs. 5000 could generate 1000 target audience following you.

■■ What are the different online branding options available?

Online branding or e-branding solutions are a perfect way for an SME to improve their brand value in the internet. There are 3 major areas for SMEs to brand themselves Building a branded website: Your website is the first impression and an entry point to your business from the internet. Hence it is critical to your branding activity. You should have a 18 • India Newsletter

clean website and should be able to speak correctly to your target audience.

The website should be optimized for various search engines, devices and also for engaging prospects. Call to action becomes very important element in your website. Since your website is a reflection of you, how well branded it is defines the company’s brand.

Social Media Branding: With over 112 million facebook users in india, social media branding becomes very important for branding activities.

However with various social media websites such as facebook, twitter, linkedin, google+, Instagram, pinterest, foursquare, etc., you will have to decide how much active you should be in what networks. If your business is B2B, then Linkedin plays a big role. But if you are a B2C business then facebook, twitter and google+ would be a great choice. Decide which network you want to be active and based on that share valuable and good content that can be appreciated by your target audience. You can make the best use of social campaigns in all these social media websites to connect to new customers or leverage the benefit of influencers who can help you reach faster.

Search Engine Branding Activities: Search engine branding or SEO branding is a mechanism of how your brand appears on the search results. It is a way of optimizing your company to your business categories or keywords that define your business. By using various search engine marketing techniques such as SEO, PPC, CPC, etc., you could increase your brand value and be the first in the list to be found.

Branding shall help in building a better reputation and the trust among people. However before doing anything related to e-branding, SMEs need to know where all they have to invest to do branding.

Moving from offline to online retail

by Ravi Capoor, IAS, CEO, IBEF India.

The phenomenal growth registered in

ecommerce industry in India has not only given rise to a plethora of first generation startups but has also forced a lot of offline retailers to move online.

In fact, many offline retailers have launch dedicated online stores in order to adapt to the changing consumer behaviour. While the shift from offline to online has been across categories, some segments like consumer durables, apparels, FMCG and footwear have seen a large number of players launching dedicated online stores. According to a report released

by UBS Securities India Pvt Ltd in April 2015, categories like consumer durables, apparel and footwear are showing a high online adoption rate, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the US$ 4.5 billion online retail market in the country. It is expected to further increase to four-fifths of the overall e-tail market by 2020, with the market size touching US$ 51.6 billion.

Companies like Croma Retail, Shoppers’ Stop, Next Retail, Puma, Lenovo, HP, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle ( with brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England and People) etc have already launched their dedicated ecommerce stores in India. In addition, giants like Big Bazaar, Reliance Fresh are expected to come up with dedicated channels for consumers for shopping online in coming few months. The enhanced focus on online retail from these companies is not only expected to be an additional brand recall point for the consumer but also to open an additional revenue channel.

For instance, fashion retailer Shoppers Stop is expecting 15 per cent revenue through its digital touch points by 2020.

According to a recent report by Deloitte, digital currently influences 21 per cent (Rs 60,000 crore, of the over Rs 2.8 trillion) in-store organised retail sales in India. With an enhanced focus on this medium, companies are expected to benefit from the rising consumer acceptability towards online retail. In fact, a large number of brick and mortar retailers are expected to transform into omni-channel retailers to adapt to the changing times

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INDIAN TRADE FAIRS INTERESTED IN VISITING A TRADE SHOW IN INDIA? In case your company is interested in visiting a tradeshow/B2B event in India, be it one listed here or another one that came to your attention, get in contact with us via maoffice.vienna@mea.gov.in to get more information about possible assistance/subsidies.

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2nd India-Central Europe Business Forum

T

he first edition of ICEBF attracted over 100 official and business delegates from 14 Central European countries. Over 200 Indian industry representatives had detailed business engagements with their CE counterparts. The forum established itself as an institutionalized platform to promote multifaceted engagements with promising Central European economies.

Technological excellence, new innovations across sectors coupled with highly skilled workforce in CE countries is optimally matched by a fast transforming and resurgent Indian economy. The second edition of the Forum is a continued endeavour for accelerating economic ties between India & CE countries for mutual gains in the years to come.

PROGRAME

Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

2

nd

India-Central Europe Business Forum 5-6 October 2015

The Lalit Ashok I Kumara Krupa High Grounds, Bangalore-560001 Defining new paradigms of cooperation

Identify, expedite and conceptualize partnerships in new areas

Rediscovering Economic Complementarities

CONCEPT

Monday, 5 October 2015

There is a felt need for institutionalizing the proposed engagement(s) by extending a platform to provide:

Inaugural n

n Strategic collaborations between Indian and Central European economies;

Partner n

Session

Country Session

Sectoral n

Sessions

Networking n

Evening

n Hands on understanding of business opportunities existing in both regions n Building new partnerships and strengthening existing ones

The forum will focus on India's multifaceted engagements with Central European economies in a calibrated and structured format. Under the over-arching effort, entrepreneurs of large, small and medium enterprises would delve deep into the ways and means for enhancing collaborations in the field of technology transfer, research & innovation and skill development.

Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Focus sectors

Partner n

IT & ITES; Services; Urban Infrastructure; Clean & Green technologies; Life Sciences; Pharmaceutical; Environmental technologies; R&D; Agri & Food Processing; Auto & Auto Components and Tourism, to mention a few.

State Session

Sectoral n

Sessions

B2B Meetings n

Highlights of 2nd India-CE Business Forum 2 days business forum

Sectoral sessions

B2B meetings

Partner country session

Networking evening

The Forum invites participation from CE and India of: n Business

n Senior

leaders

n Key policy

Managers

n Representatives

of the state and regional Governments

n CEOs

makers

n Senior

representatives of investment promotion agencies

n Senior

representatives of Chambers of Commerce and Industry

n Representatives

of Think-Tanks, thought leaders and entrepreneurs from SMEs sector

n Representatives

of sectoral organizations (Govt & private)

Rohit Sharma

Contact: 22 • India Newsletter

Additional Director Email: rohit.sharma@ficci.com Tel: +91-11-23487447

Gaurav Vats

Joint Director Email: gaurav.vats@ficci.com; Tel: +91-11-23487288

www.icebf.in

Indian Embassy, Vienna

INVEST INDIA Federation House, Tansen Marg New Delhi—110 001 0091-11-23765085, 23487278 investindia@ficci.com www.investindia.gov.in

I

nvest India is the country’s official agency dedicated to investment promotion and facilitation. Set up as a joint venture between FICCI (51% equity), DIPP (35% equity held by the Department of Industrial

policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry) and State Governments of India (0.5% each), its mandate is to become the first reference point for the global investment community.

It provides granulated, sectorspecific and state-specific information to a foreign investor, assists in expediting regulatory approvals, and offers hand-holding services. Its mandate also includes assisting Indian investors make informed choices about investment opportunities overseas.

India Newsletter • 23

Indian Embassy, Vienna

EU-India Young Scientist Competition of the Year 2015 The Competetion The young scientist competition of the year is an initiative of the FP7 projects: INNO INDIGO and INDIGO POLICY. It was initiated in 2014 with the aim of giving young researchers from India and Europe a suitable podium to promote their research projects and ideas for cooperation (between India and Europe). Through such a competition, young scientists gain enormous exposure not only from their peers on social media platforms, but also from the scientific community as the final decision on the winner is taken by the audience of EU-India STI Days which gathers annually since 2009 to promote scientific cooperation between the two scientific hubs, after presentations of projects and project ideas by the finalists.

This year, finalists of the young scientist competition will have an opportunity to promote their research projects and ideas for cooperation by introducing them to the EU-India STI cooperation network at the 2015 EU-India Cooperation Days in Rome, Italy on the 15th and 16th of October.

Questions and Answers: ■■ What’s in it for me?

■■ 1. For all participants The contest will enable all participants to receive great exposure for their projects and project ideas from their peers as well as the scientific community in general as their videos will not only be posted on Facebook, where part of the competition will take place, but it will also be circulated on other INDIGO projects communication channels including the website.

■■ 2. For the finalists The four finalists will be able to gain even more exposure for their projects and project ideas as they will have the opportunity to present them during the annual EUIndia STI Cooperation Days in India where the scientific giants from the 2 regions gather to discuss EU-India STI cooperation. This also means a fully paid trip to Rome for the conference!

■■ 3. For the winner On top of the above mentioned benefits, the winner of the competition will be awarded a fully paid trip to a conference of their choice: For EU / Associated Countries’ participant a conference in India and for an Indian participant a conference in Europe. Please see the ToR’s attached for the detailed description.

■■ Who can participate?

Aged: 19 to 34 years (inclusive) with a Masters degree or higher. Affiliated to a company, research centre, 24 • India Newsletter

universits, non-profit organisation This competition is open to applicants from all scientific fields, however, the focus of their project or project idea should be “Water for Health”.

■■ What do I have to do?

All you have to do is create and submit a video of up to 5 minutes explaining your existing project or project idea with the theme: Water for Health by the 7th of August 2015 (exact procedures on the ToR attached). ***Get inspired from last year’s videos!

■■ How is the winner chosen?

After submission of the videos, they will be uploaded on the INDIGO projects’ Facebook page and subjected to voting by the social media audience from the 17th to the 31st of August 2015. After this deadline, the 7 videos from scientists from EU Member States and Associated Countries and the 7 videos from scientists from India with the highest number of likes will proceed to the next stage.

Here, these 14 videos will be subjected to an expert panel who will judge them according to: innovativeness & originality; relevance to solving societal challenges; pertinence to research cooperation between the EU and India and scientific communication (see the ToR attached for the exact weighting).

The 2 videos of participants from EU Member States and Associated Countries and 2 videos from Indian participants with the highest points will then be invited (all costs paid) to the EU-India STI Days on the 15th and 16th of October in Rome to present their projects and project ideas. The final decision will be taken by the EUIndia STI Days 2015 audience.

Important dates: 17th of June 2015: Video submission opens 7th of August 2015: Video submission closes 12th of August 2015: Facebook competition starts 28th of August 2015: Facebook competition closes 1st-11th of September 2015: Scientific panel preselection takes place 14th of September 2015: Announcement of the 4 finalists 15th of October 2015: Finalists’ presentations at the EU-India STI Cooperation Days 2015 and selection of the winner by the audience

More Information

http://indigoprojects.eu

Indian Embassy, Vienna

OVERSEAS INDIANS Review of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy on investments by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to review of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy on investments by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs). Following are the amendments approved by the Cabinet to incorporated in FDI policy: (i) By amending relevant para, definition of NRI will be as under: ‘Non-Resident Indian’ (NRI) means an individual resident outside India who is citizen of India or is an ‘Overseas Citizen of India’ cardholder within the meaning of section 7 (A) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. ‘Persons of Indian Origin’ cardholders registered as such under Notification No. 26011/4/98 F.I. dated 19.8.2002 issued by the Central Government are deemed to be “Overseas Citizen of India’ cardholders”. (ii) To provide that investment by NRIs on nonrepatriable basis is domestic. Following new para is approved to be added: ‘Investment by NRIs under Schedule 4 of FEMA (Transfer or Issue of Security by Persons Resident Outside India) Regulations will be deemed to be domestic investment at par with the investment made by residents.’

The decision that NRI includes OCI cardholders as well as PIO cardholders is meant to align the FDI policy with the stated policy of the Government to provide PIOs and OCIs parity with Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in respect of economic, financial and educational fields.

Further the decision that NRIs investment under Schedule 4 of FEMA (Transfer or Issue of Security

by Persons Resident Outside India) Regulations will be deemed to be domestic investment made by residents, is meant to provide clarity in the FDI policy as such investment is not included in the category of foreign investment. The measure is expected to result in increased investments across sectors and greater inflow of foreign exchange remittance leading to economic growth of the country.

Background In the last one year, the Government has taken a number of reform measures ranging from policy corrections to bold economic reforms. On FDI policy, measures taken by the Government are historic and far reaching. To begin with, the Government first

reviewed the FDI policy in defence and railways sectors. Entire range of rail infrastructure was opened to 100% FDI under automatic route, and in defence, sectoral cap was raised to 49%. To boost infrastructure creation and to bring pragmatism in the policy, the Government reviewed FDI policy in construction development sector also by creating easy exit norms, rationalizing area restrictions and providing due emphasis to affordable housing. To give impetus to medical devices sector, a carve out was created in FDI policy on pharmaceutical sector and now 100% FDI under automatic route is permitted. Bold reforms were needed in the services sector also. The Government, in order to expand insurance cover to its large population and to provide required capital to insurance companies, raised the FDI limit in the sector to 49%. Pension sector has also been opened to foreign direct investment up to the same limit.

India has a large available skilled and unskilled workforce. However unless the manufacturing sector grows we will not be able to take advantage of this demographic dividend. The Prime Minister launched ‘Make in India’ on 25 September 2014 to provide boost to manufacturing sector in the country. Subsequently, Government embarked upon a number of initiatives on ease of doing business. A number of regulations and procedures were either done away with or eased. Foreign investors have now shown unprecedented interest for investment in the manufacturing sector. Measures taken on this front have shown highly encouraging results and foreign investment on a series of manufacturing sectors has shown increased growth from October onwards. See the chart below:

Above are some of the main measures which have been taken by the government in the first year of its term. These measures are historic and will have highly positive impact on the economy. Though gestation period of any reform ranges from 12 to 18 months, the results of these reforms are visible even in a short period of time. Foreign direct investment India Newsletter • 25

Indian Embassy, Vienna

has shown substantial increase across the sectors.

During the period October, 2014 to March, 2015, FDI inflow recorded a growth of 38% from US $ 18.13 billion in US $ 24.95 billion. More than 50 percent of the FDI was received from October, 2014 to March 2015. FDI equity inflows also increased from US $ 11.7 billion to US $ 16.24 billion, recording an increase of 39 percent. See the chart below:

Cardinal principle of the FDI policy of the country has been to keep maximum of the sectors under automatic rule and regulating only those sectors which are strategic in nature or have security concerns. It is not surprising that more than 90% of the FDI received in the country comes under automatic route. However the last year saw significant jump in the approval route though no new sector was placed under the government approval. In fact more sectors were liberalised during this period. As against US$ 1.19 billion received under the approval route in financial year 2013-14, during the financial year 2014-15 recorded FDI inflow of US $ 2.22 billion with a growth of 87%. This is a result of fast pace of approvals being accorded by the government and confidence of investors in the foreign investment climate of the country. See chart below:

The Government of India has the stated policy to provide Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs)/ Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) parity with Non Resident Indians (NRIs). NRIs can make investment under schedules 1, 3 and 4 of FEMA 20/2000 issued by the Reserve Bank of India. Under Schedule 4 of FEMA, NRI investments are made on non-repatriation basis though it has not been provided that these are domestic investments.

As per the FDI policy, definition of NRIs includes PIOs, and OCIs are not specifically mentioned.

Facility of investment on non-repatriable basis under Schedule 4 of FEMA 20/2000 was introduced primarily with the intention of providing NRIs an investment option for utilization of their domestic resources, which were not freely repatriable. The scheme was intended to provide NRIs an incentive to bring funds into India without repatriation rights, at a time when foreign exchange reserves were limited and capital inflows were modest. The provision should continue to incentivise investments by NRIs, including OCIs and PIOs, resulting in increased investments in the country. Since the investment made under Schedule 4 are on non-repatriable basis, it needs to be clearly provided that such investments, for the purposes of FDI policy, are domestic investments. This will enable investments by NRIs, OCI cardholders and PIO cardholders under Schedule 4 on non-repatriation basis, across sectors without being subjected to any of the conditions associated to foreign investment.

INDIAN EMBASSY LIBRARY ■■ The Embassy’s library is opened daily from 10am to 1pm without appointment.

■■ Our collection contains more than 2000 titles in dozens of categories.

■■ For appointments outside the opening hours or other inquiries, please contact the information assistant under info.vienna@ mea.gov.in or 015058666 33 ■■ Download our latest catalog of books under indianembassy.at/pdf/ EmbassyLibrary.pdf 26 • India Newsletter

Indian Embassy, Vienna

TOURISM Meeting the First Festive ‘Juggernaut’ - Puri’s Incredible Rath Yatra

by Hugh & Colleen Gantzer.

Even the gods need a break. On a cloud-scudding, east-coast day in Odisha .. a state called „Orissa” by the British ...we joined three great deities on their festive holiday. With us were a million other people.

They streamed down side streets and lanes and little winding alleys, flowed into the broad Grand Road filling it, packing in tighter and tighter till all we could see from our grandstand in the terrace of the palace was a seething river of heads streaked with snaking currents of saffron, red, white, blue and khaki as more drumming, chanting, sects and cults flowed into the flood of devotees. This day was Puri’s yearly outdoor encounter with The Lord of the Universe, Jagganath, his brother Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra.

Every so often, in an auspicious year and time, these three implacable deities have themselves renewed.

Priests go out into the forests and identify a sacred, medicinal, neemmargosa tree. They fell it in the prescribed manner, have it carved

into three icons painted in the traditional way. The three statues have bright faces and bodies but no hands because, according to legend, a sacerdotal carver had been interrupted before he could complete his task and so, traditionally, the sculptures have remained that way ever since. Then, in the dark of night, a blindfolded priest, his hands wrapped in cloth, transfers the life substance from the old idols into the new statues. The statues then become idols, worthy of worship, and the old icons become statues again and are buried. Every year, the sacred idols are bathed, rested, refreshed, installed in their newly carved and painted wooden chariots outside the huge temple and, with great ceremony, towed to their vacation shrine. There they will rest and recuperate for a while, before being hauled back and reinstalled in the imposing temple.

We, and an incredible million devotees, had come to see the stupendous holiday procession of the Lords.

On that hot day, the frisson of festivity was electric. The huge rathachariots stood at the far end of Grand Road where zestful crowds clanged cymbals, thudded drums, danced and sang. A street-side eatery got ready to serve steaming poori-bhaji to eager pilgrims. After breakfast, the police cleared a path for hurrying heralds lofting standards and banners. They stopped at the gate of the palace. The Gajapati Maharaja, linear descendant of the great Ganga dynasty whose ancestor had brought the Lords from their forest

home to Puri, stepped out. Dressed in ceremonial white robes with a plumed and jeweled turban, and the sash and cummerbund of office, he was accompanied by the head priest. He got into a silver palanquin.

Fluttering flags and standards tracked his passage through the jubilant crowd. Then, using a golden broom, he carefully swept the forecourt of the huge ratha-chariots.

The hours clicked by, un-noticed.

Lunch was served: Oriya cuisine is delicately flavoured and delicious..

A palpable hush descended and we heard crows cawing in the still air.

Then, suddenly, there was a reverberating roar from a million throats. Hundreds of men bent their backs, picked up the thick ropes of the chariots, strained. Another roar filled the air along with the echoing call of conches, a ringing of bells, a clashing of gongs, a thudding of drums. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Balabhadra’s chariot began to move.

A bare-chested panda-priest was perched confidently on the mudguard of an enormous wheel as it turned slowly. Joyous crowds closed in behind like shimmering water in a ferry’s wake.

We looked at our watches. Time had flipped. We had been buoyed up for eight hours and the yatra had only just begun.

A red fire tanker sprayed a plume of water over the crowd as pilgrims danced in ecstatic devotion. A mummer dressed like Shiva struck poses with a brass trident then merged with the crowd as the police cleared a broad path for the first rath.

Slowly, ponderously, the black and red chariot of Subhadra rolled into India Newsletter • 27

Indian Embassy, Vienna

view. It was crammed with saffronclad servitors clanging gongs, waving cheerily. The chariot moved on, the crowd flowed in behind it.

Cameras clicked and flared around us. A diamond merchant sat crosslegged on the floor of our terrace, entranced in worship. “He is a great devotee of Lord Krishna” his friend told us.

The diamond merchant threw up his hands in veneration, prostrated himself as the revered chariot of Jagannath, Lord of the Universe, rolled into view. Two young pandas sat astride the white, wooden, horses. Worshippers on our terrace joined their hands and bowed deeply in obeisance till this, the last and most powerful ratha, had passed. The three chariots began to shrink with distance as they drew

28 • India Newsletter

closer to Gundicha temple where the Lords would rest for some days before making the return journey to the main temple.

The great cacophony of celebration began to subside as the crowds dispersed in the soft light of sunset, laughing and clapping, charged by their twelve-hour close encounter with their gods. We had been up here, streaming sweat, all through a long day but, strangely, we still felt unusually vitalized by it all.

That evening, in the lobby of an upscale hotel, we saw replicas of the three deities. Their images, totemic, basic and extremely powerful, have generated a burgeoning efflorescence of religious art and the neat village of Raghurajpur depends on it. It came into being, originally,

to reassure devotees when the great idols were sequestered after their ritual bath. They needed the presence of their images, From there, these bright icons spread across the globe as pilgrims carried them into their homes and installed them in their family altars. As we were leaving Puri it struck us that the name of the Lord of the Universe has also spread over the world: perhaps unwittingly. When the British first saw the great Rath Yatra they were so impressed by its implacable power that they cloned a word to describe it.

According to our dictionary, the English word for a massive inexorable force that crushes whatever is in its path is juggernaut. It should really be Jagganath – Lord of the Universe.

Indian Embassy, Vienna

REPORT ON PAST EVENTS International Day of Yoga celebrations in Vienna The International Day of Yoga celebrations in Vienna took place at Votiv Park, (in front of the historic Votiv Church) in the heart of Vienna from 0930 to 1130 hours, where people participated in good numbers to perform the exercises as per the common yoga protocol.

The event witnessed a gathering of about 350-400 people.

The event began with Ambassador’s address on the occasion of the International Day of Yoga followed by two iterations of the exercises as per the common Yoga protocol, which was demonstrated and moderated by volunteers from various Yoga schools in Austria. The event was well received amongst both the Austrian citizens and the local Indian community.

Various Yoga schools and Institutes

in Vienna and other cities in Austria offered free yoga classes throughout the day at their respective campuses, where Yoga trainers offered various courses. The Austrian Public Broadcasters, ORF would broadcast the documentary “Yoga: Harmony with Nature” on ORF Sports + at 2100 hours. The ORF would also be bringing out a documentary on the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga in Austria to be telecasted next week.

India Newsletter • 29

Indian Embassy, Vienna

International Day of Yoga celebrations in Montenegro The International Day of Yoga celebrations in Montenegro took place in 12 cities in Montenegro. Simultaneous public demonstrations of Yoga took place

30 • India Newsletter

at 0900 to 1000 hours at public parks in the capital Podgorica, old historic capital Cetinje, UNESCO heritage town of Kotor, Budva, Bar, Bijelo Polje, Danilovgrad, Kolasin, Niksic, Pljevlja, Tivat, Ulcinj and Herceg Novi. Around 60-100 people

were present at each event. Mayors of some cities and officials of the City councils participated in the events in their respective cities in Montenegro. All the events in Montenegro were well received by local Montenegrin population.

Indian Embassy, Vienna

International Day of Yoga celebrations at the United Nations in Vienna The International Day of Yoga celebrations at the United Nations in Vienna were held on 22nd June in the presence of HE Mr.Li

Yong, Director General, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO); Mr. Denis Thatchaichawalit, Deputy Director General, United Nations office in Vienna as the Guests of Honour at the event. The message of Secretary General HE Ban Ki Moon on the

occasion of the International Day of Yoga was also played at the event.

The event consisted of short live demonstrations of yoga asanas by Mr. Florian and Ms. Birgit. The event was followed by a traditional Indian Reception.

DID YOU KNOW? The Ministry of AYUSH has been awarded with two Guinness World Records in two different categories on the first International Day of Yoga on June 21st, 2015.

Category 1 was for the largest number of participants in a Yoga Lesson at single venue. The earlier record was of 29,973. To beat that record a target of 30,000 was required. The Ministry broke that record as 35,985 participants performed Yoga at Rajpath today morning.

Category 2 was most number of nationalists in a Yoga Lesson. To achieve this at least participants from 50 countries were required to perform. But today participants from 84 countries performed Yoga at Rajpath.

India Newsletter • 31

Indian Embassy, Vienna

DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant speaks to highlevel business guests at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce On June 22nd, 2015, H.E. Amitabh Kant, DIPP Secretary in charge of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Government of India, and H.E. Rajiva Misra, Ambassador of India to Austria, spoke to high-level business guests at the India Breakfast Meeting organized by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Indian Embassy, Vienna.

After some opening words by Mag. Hans-Jörg Hörtnagl, head

DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant closes his Austrian Business Roadshow with high-level talks with guests at the “Make in India” Forum On June 22nd, 2015, H.E. Amitabh Kant, DIPP Secretary in charge of

32 • India Newsletter

of the South and South-east Asia Department at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Ambassador Misra welcomed the guests and opened the floor to the DIPP Secretary, who made a presentation focused on the „Make in India“ programme.

Infrastructure Development, Business Environment Improvement, Entrepreneurship Promotion and the potential for India-Austria cooperation in areas such as Energy Efficiency, among other Investment possibilities, were the highlights of the presentation, which was closed with a short “Make in India” video.

After the presentation, the guests were invited for a Q&A session.

Questions came from several guests involving topics such as the facilitation of doing business in and with India, business and employment visas, channels of contacts to high-level government bodies in India, R&D in Railways, Investment in Education, Agricultural Technology in India and Skills Development, among others.

These led to interesting discussions and both the guests as well as the DIPP Secretary and the Embassy collected valuable information and exchanged important contacts, which led the breakfast meeting to a very positive and forward-looking end.

Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Government of India, spoke to high-level business guests at the “Make in India” Forum organized by the Embassy of India at the Marriot Hotel in Linz, capital of the province of Upper Austria.

The event took place in the afternoon of the day on which the

Federal Chamber of Commerce organized a similar event in Vienna, the Austrian capital, in cooperation with the Indian Embassy. Both the guests as well as the DIPP Secretary and the Embassy collected valuable information and exchanged important contacts in the context of the event.

Indian Embassy, Vienna

INDIAN MOVIE EVENING AT THE EMBASSY Due to limited capacity, seats will be given on a first come, first served basis. Therefore, you are highly encouraged to reserve your seats online at www.indianembassy.at, via email under maoffice.vienna@ mea.gov.in

Dhoom: 3 ■■ Synopsis:

After

his

father

committed suicide because he was not able to pay the loan to the Western Bank of Chicago, Sahir Khan, a circus owner, must take revenge by robbing the same branch several times. To take him down, Jai Dixit and Ali Akbar are sent from India..

■■ Genre: Action/Crime/Thriller ■■ Directed by: Vijay Krishna Acharya ■■ Starring:

Aamir Khan, Abhishek

Bachchan,Katrina Kaif ■■ Released: 2013 ■■ Duration: 172 Minutes ■■ Language: Hindi ■■ Subtitles: GERMAN ■■ Image Quality: HD

Showtime July 31st, 17:30 Indian Embassy Business Centre (1st Floor, Kärntner Ring 2, 1010 Vienna)

India Newsletter • 33

Indian Embassy, Vienna

INDIAN EVENTS IN AUSTRIA Indian Dance Performance at ImpulsTanz Festival

Company Padmini Chettur (Chennai) with “Wall Dancing” on July 30th and August 1st and 2nd at Weltmuseum, Heldenplatz

SOFTMACHINE by Surjit Nongmeikapam (Manipur) on August 10th and August 12th at Weltmuseum, Heldenplatz More information on www.ImPulsTanz.com

Yoga Dance Festival 60 Workshops, 3 Abendkonzerten, Barfusstanz mit DJ Christoph, Mantras, Meditation, Trommeln, veganen und vegetarischen Speisen, World Food und bunten Marktständen erhebt sich das YogaDanceFestival rund um den malerischen See. Das YogaDanceFestival verbindet meditative Einkehr mit expressiver Bewegungslust – Erfahrungen, die euch bereichern: entspannt, inspiriert und lebendig.

Sommer, Sonne, Se(e)ligkeit – lasst uns gemeinsam dabei sein in dieser malerischen Umgebung am See. Date: 7-9. August 2015 Place: Am Gelände des HB1 Seehotel Böck-Brunn, Wienerstraße 196, 2345 Brunn am Gebirge For detailed informations please visit: http://www.YogaDanceFestival.at

34 • India Newsletter

Indian Embassy, Vienna

NOTICE BOARD EMBASSY’S LIBRARY ■■ The EMBASSY’S library is opened DAILY from 10am to 1pm without appointment.

■■ For a complete list of books available in our library, visit our website www.indianembassy.at ■■ For scheduling an appointment outside the opening hours, please contact the information assistant under info.vienna@mea.gov.in or 01 505 8666 33

BUSINESS CENTRE ■■ The EMBASSY’S Business Centre is opened DAILY from 10am to 1pm.

■■ For scheduling an appointment outside the opening hours, please contact the commercial wing under the contacts given below.

■■ Marketing Officer: maoffice.vienna@mea.gov.in or 01 505 8666 30 ■■ Marketing Assistant: comm.vienna@mea.gov.in or 01 505 8666 31

STUDENTS WELFARE OFFICER ■■ Mr. Pawan T. Badhe, Second Secretary in this Embassy has been designated as Officer to look after welfare of Indian Students in Austria and Montenegro.

■■ His contact details are: 0043 1 505 866 15 and pol.vienna@mea.gov.in

MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS GOES MOBILE ■■ Avail services : passport, visa, consular assistance ■■ Ask your Minister : on the go, anytime, anywhere ■■ Follow your PM : on his visits abroad ■■ Find the nearest Indian Mission/Post : for emergency consular assistance ■■ Be informed : about India’s Foreign Relations on the move and form your own opinions ■■ Know more : about how to undertake Kailash Manasarovar Yatra and Haj Pilgrimage ■■ Download and watch : pictures & documentaries on India ■■ Play and Personalize : what you need, when you need ■■ Share and contribute : your views, pics & suggestions

Ministry of External Affairs proudly presents “MEAIndia” – an integrated smart app for mobile and other hand held devices ‘MEAIndia’ is now available for download on App Store and Google Play Store..

FACEBOOK & TWITTER ■■ Our Facebook and Twitter pages target the India-Austria community and covers subjects such as Business, Culture, Embassy News, India-related events and programmes in Austria, and much more.

■■ We have reached the 9000 followers mark on Facebook!

■■ ‘Like’ our facebook page and be the first to know!

www.facebook.com/IndiaInAustria www.twitter.com/IndiaInAustria India Newsletter • 35