Maharashtra leads as India Inc’s investment plans rise to $244 bn

Published on 17 Aug, 2008, 1223 hrs IST, by IANS in www.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Despite the global economic slowdown, capacity expansion plans of Indian corporates surged to Rs.10.5 trillion ($244 billion) in the first six months of the current fiscal against Rs.5.67 trillion in the same period last year, an industry lobby said.

According to the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), on state-wise investments, Maharashtra, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, were the most preferred destinations by the private players in the first half of 2008.

With industrialisation at a faster pace, Maharashtra topped the chart with investment commitments worth Rs.1.2 trillion in sectors like power, real estate, automobiles, ports and shipping, Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said.

The biggest announcement was made by Tata Power at Rs.250 billion to raise generation capacity from 2,368 MW to 12,861 MW for the next five years, followed by Reliance Industries for setting up semi conductors and other micro-technology units at an investment of Rs.216.6 billion for the next 10 years.

Andhra Pradesh also attracted huge investments with a share of 10.11 percent totalling Rs.1.06 trillion. Companies like Reliance Industries, Hindujas Group, Videocon Industries and Gas Authority of India Ltd would invest in the state in the next five years.

Orissa emerged as the third most preferred destination with investment announcements worth Rs.889.02 billion for the next two to five years.

Vedanta Resources announced an investment of Rs.240 billion, while Sterlite Industries pledged to pump some Rs.170 billion into the power generation sector in Orissa. Besides, National Aluminium Corp (NALCO) said it would invest Rs.140 billion in the state for setting up a greenfield aluminium and captive power plant.

Posted by Thomas Philip, P Square International

$1b Investment vehicle follows Trump Jr.’s visit to Mumbai

BY CHRIS NELSON August 15, 2008, in the www.indusbusinessjournal.com

Late last November, Donald Trump Jr. – the son of the brash American real estate tycoon and reality-TV star – appeared at the high-profile Cityscape India 2007 real estate conference in Mumbai to give a speech on the subcontinent’s booming property market.

Trump, the executive vice president of development and acquisitions at New York-based Trump Organization USA LLC, said India’s red-hot economy has fueled demand for more residential development, particularly luxury housing, but also hotels and resorts for the country’s flourishing tourism industry.

Before he departed, Trump indicated his desire to invest in India’s real estate sector, and hinted that he wouldn’t wait long to do so. “We feel it is now time to invest in Indian realty projects as the quality has moved up and we see emergence of some high-end developers with a product level that will support our brand,” he said in his speech.

It appears that time is now: Trump announced in late July that he intends to set up a hedge fund worth up to $1 billion to invest in Indian real estate.

Accordingly, the privately held fund would initially target property in Mumbai and also include an Indian family as investors. Thirty year-old Trump did not give specific details about the fund, such as how he plans to raise the money, or where the first investment would be made. But in an interview with New York-based media company Bloomberg LP, he did say that it would start conservatively and expand as the opportunities presented themselves.

“The fund will be for acquisitions of real estate in the high end and across the spectrum,” Trump said. “We’ll start it off relatively small and grow it as we get more familiar with the Indian market. Our entry has to be in Mumbai, and that’s where everything is going on right now in terms of the high-end real estate. That’s the place where one is going to achieve the highest prices per square foot. It sets the tone for all of the other future developments.”

Trump eschews investing in India’s smaller and less-affluent cities – he stated publicly at Cityscape India 2007 that he has no intention of entering the middle- or low-income segment because “the best is in the high-end sector.” When asked at the conference which cities Trump Organization would consider for business deals, Trump responded, “Certainly, the city I’m standing on (Mumbai), Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, where the IT sector has witnessed a boom.”

FAST FACTSTrump Organization USA announced plans to launch a $1 billion hedge fund to invest in Indian real estate.Donald Trump Jr.’s interest in the Indian real estate market was sparked in 2007 when he visited the subcontinent for the Cityscape real-estate conference in Mumbai. Quote: “We’ll start it off relatively small and grow it as we get more familiar with the Indian market,” Trump Jr. said.

India’s personal wealth has exploded in recent years. According to the World Wealth Report 2008, issued June 24 by New York-based financial giant Merrill Lynch & Co. and Paris-based consulting firm Cap Gemini SA, the number of Indians with financial assets in excess of $1 million grew by nearly 23 percent in 2007 alone, surpassing China’s 20 percent growth and Brazil’s 19 percent increase.

“India led the world in [high-net-wealth individuals] population growth at 22.7 percent, driven by market capitalization growth of 118 percent and real [gross domestic product] growth of 7.9 percent. Although India’s real GDP growth decelerated from 9.4 percent in 2006, current levels are considered more stable and sustainable. India’s two largest exchanges – the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange – ranked among the world’s top 12 exchanges by end of 2007, boosted by initial public offering markets and heightened international interest,” the report stated.

In an effort to tap this local wealth, Trump Organization is moving forward with plans to build a luxury residential and hotel project in Mumbai, announced last year. The company picked this west-central coastal city of 13 million because of its status as an international center of commerce and India’s commercial and entertainment center: Mumbai generates some 5 percent of India’s gross domestic product and accounts for nearly one-quarter of its industrial output.

It is also home to such important financial institutions as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange of India and the corporate headquarters of many of India’s largest companies and numerous multinational corporations.

Yet, Trump will also be entering India at a time when rising inflation has nudged borrowing costs to their highest levels since 2002, effectively curbing the country’s five-year property boom and sending valuations for many projects downward. Nationwide, inflation rose 11.98 percent in the year ending July 19, which prompted the Reserve Bank of India to issue new policies aimed at curbing the trend. Still, interest rates on home loans have continued to creep upward by 1-to-1.5 percentage points, from around 10.5 percent to 12 percent annually. Many analysts expect inflation to remain at current levels, if not higher.

“We expect headline inflation to possibly cross 13 percent levels. With inflation likely to remain in the double-digit range for the next few months and supply-side measures not really being effective in bringing inflation down, we expect the Reserve Bank of India to continue to raise rates to temper demand-side pressure,” Citigroup India economists Rohini Malkani and Anushka Shah said in a July research note.

The younger Trump’s plans to launch the $1 billion Indian real estate fund reflects Trump Organization’s push to expand globally. The privately held company – which does business in a variety of real estate sectors, including residential properties, hotels, office, golf clubs, as well as gaming and merchandising entertainment – plans to develop a pair of mixed-use projects in Istanbul, Turkey, and Dubai. The Istanbul project, which Trump Organization announced in April, will consist of two towers and a luxury shopping center, while in Dubai, the company has partnered with local developer Al Nakheel Properties to build the $600 million, 62-story Palm Trump International Hotel & Tower on the trunk of the Palm Jumeirah.

One of the world’s most recognizable manmade landmarks, Palm Jumeirah, an artificial island shaped like a palm tree off the Dubai coast. It was built by Nakheel and is owned by the Emirate government. Trump Organization already has properties in Dominion Republic, Seoul, Toronto, Panama, and Mexico.

If the company succeeds with its plans for India, it will joint various other real estate and financial-services firms that in recent years have invested vast sums of money in the Indian property market. The list includes:

• Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners LP, which recently invested $175 million in a Mumbai real estate development that is being built by Gurgaon-based construction firm Unitech Ltd., and is in talks with Unitech to invest an additional $525 million in the project.
• RREEF India Advisors Pvt. Ltd., an India-specific alternative-investments business launched in April by Deutsche Bank AG’s New York-based alt-investments subsidiary, RREEF Alternative Investments. Headquartered in Mumbai, RREEF India Advisors plans to invest $1 billion in Indian real estate and infrastructure projects over the next three years, beginning with a 31-acre, $400 million mixed-use development outside of Hyderabad.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co., which acquired a 4-percent stake in New Delhi-based real estate developer BPTP Ltd. earlier this month for $60 million. The New York-based financial giant previously invested in Lodha Group, a Mumbai-based commercial real estate developer.

Posted by Thomas Philip, P Square International

Logistics firms eye Mumbai for major investments

By Rahul Chandran Tue, Aug 19 2008. 11:51 PM IST for www.LiveMint.com

Mumbai has emerged as the most preferred destination for logistics and warehousing companies with proposed investments for setting up logistics parks in the city touching around $200 million (Rs872 crore), a report said.

Despite their lack of support infrastructure, smaller cities such as Nagpur in Maharashtra, Gurgaon in Haryana, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, were identified as emerging locations, based on their proximity to manufacturing centres, geographic location and accessibility, according to the report released by real estate consultant Cushman and Wakefield Inc. on Tuesday.

“Since almost one-third of the total realty development in the sector is expected to take place in emerging locations, many tier II and tier III cities and peripheral locations that offer good connectivity to multiple markets will witness increased activity from logistics players, providing a thrust to the real estate market,” said a statement from Cushman and Wakefield India’s joint managing director Sanjay Dutt.

The report estimates that 110 logistics parks, spread over 3,500 acres and costing $1 billion, will be operational by 2012 across the country. This is apart from some 45 million sq. ft of warehousing space costing $500 million that will come up during the period.

Bangalore, Indore Ambala, Ahmedabad, Jamshedpur and Alwar were classified as promising hubs in the report.

Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad were rated as “established logistics hubs”.

“Logistics people have started tapping (areas) closer to manufacturing locations because our arterial distribution networks such as the railways and the national highways are clogged,” said C.S. Verma, vice-chairman and managing director of logistics company ACV Logistics Pvt. Ltd.

‘Logistics to see 15-20% growth’
Published in www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com 18 Aug 2008, 0000 hrs IST,TNN

Indian logistics industry is expected to grow at 15% to 20% per annum, reaching its revenues of $385 billion by 2015, said a report prepared by Cushman and Wakefield, which term the sector as new powerhouse for the real estate sector in times to come.

As per C&W estimates, the market share of organised logistics players is expected to double to approximately 12% in the same period. The new logistics centres will give big boost to the industrial activities in the country.

The report revealed that 110 logistics parks spread over 3,500 acres at an estimated cost of $1 billion are expected to be operational by 2012. Around 45 million sq ft of warehousing space will be ready in the next four years.

Most of these developments are concentrated in 14 locations. Sanjay Dutt, joint MD, C&W India said, “Since almost one-third of the total realty development in the sector is expected to take place in emerging locations, many tier-2 and tier-3 cities and peripheral locations that offer good connectivity to multiple markets will witness increased activity from logistics players, providing a thrust to the real estate market.

“Mumbai has emerged as the preferred location for the development of logistics parks with an investment of approximately $200 million. The city will witness the development of seven to eight logistics parks on 600 acres around Mumbai.

The other cities that fall within the established locations include Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. These locations are characterised by excellent port, rail and road connectivity and are witnessing significant investment in infrastructure, said the report. High concentration of organised retail, established manufacturing hubs and proposed SEZ developments will further augment the attractiveness of these locations.

Besides the established cetres, a number of hubs like Nagpur, Vizag and Gurgaon have also emerged. But currently they are lagging behind in support infrastructure. However, due to high ratings on other parameters such as geographic location, existing and proposed manufacturing clusters and SEZs and accessibility, they are promising locations for the purpose.

A number of infrastructural developments are taking place in these locations, which would increase the attractiveness of these locations in the next 3-5 years, said the report. Gurgaon has advantage of being situated on the golden quadrilateral with easy access to the dedicated freight corridor.

Posted by Thomas Philip, P Square International

Mumbai leads, as infrastructure drives employment

Press Trust Of India / New Delhi August 20, 2008, 17:48 IST, Published in www.Business-Standard.com

Flooded with huge investements, India’s infrastructure sector has emerged as the top employment generator cornering 12 per cent share in the total jobs created during the first three months of 2008-09, a study by industry chamber Assocham has said.     

 

The sector created 12,580 job opportunities out of a total 1,05,638 in areas aviation, construction, energy, core infrastructure, metals and mining between April-June 2008.     

The construction segment provided maximum job opportunities with a share of 24.32 per cent in the sector. Mining emerged the second largest job creator given the rise in prices of metal.     

Energy had 18.8 per cent share in the number of job openings, creating 2,365 employment opportunities. The aviation sector saw job openings for 2,250 people, while core infrastructure posted 1,857 vacancies, the chamber said.     

“Removing infrastructure bottlenecks is seen as a good business opportunity by private players. The sector is emerging as a potential employment generator with its share set to leap further,” Assocham President Sajjan Jindal said.     

Tier I cities generated a total of 8,506 job openings in the infrastructure sector, with Mumbai alone creating 29.31 per cent employment opportunities followed by Delhi and Chennai. Similarly, among the Tier II cities, the maximum job opportunities were created in Pune and Ahmedabad.     

Among Tier III cities, Ankleshwar (13.01 per cent), Bhopal (8.70 per cent) and Guwahati (7.41 per cent) were top three in generating new jobs in the sector.

Posted by Thomas Philip, P Square International

Mumbai: World’s 7th largest billionaire city

Gourmet restaurants, world-class nightclubs, favorable tax breaks–not to mention proximity to the world’s financial centers. These are some of the attributes that make a city particularly attractive to billionaires and cause many of them to cluster in the same urban communities. It’s no wonder, then, that one in three billionaires call one of 10 cosmopolitan cities home.

Despite all the squabbling between New York and London for bragging rights, neither is actually home to the largest number of billionaires. That honor belongs to Moscow.

In pictures:
The top 10 cities for billionaires
Inside the world’s first billion-dollar home

The Russian capital is home to 74 billionaires, with an average net worth of $5.9 billion. That’s quite a jump from just five billionaire residents in 2002. Among Moscow’s wealthy denizens: Russia’s richest person, aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, who just announced plans to take a stake in oil group Russneft, and Roman Abramovich, who owns an expensive dwelling in London but insists that Moscow is his home.

What makes Moscow so popular with Russia’s wealthiest? Says billionaire oilman Viktor Vekselberg, “The standard of living in Moscow is on par with all of the world capitals.” And it’s less expensive. A ticket to Russia’s famed Bolshoi Theater–where the likes of Mikhail Baryshnikov has danced–will only set you back $50. And top-notch kindergartens run by the government are free.

In pictures:
Comebacks of the billionaires
World’s richest women

Moscow knocked off perennial No. 1 city New York, who is close behind with 71 billionaires and an average net worth of $3.3 billion. It is the first time since 2001, when we started closely tracking the city data, that New York hasn’t been at the top. More than half of these New Yorkers make their money in finance and investments.

Other well-known New York tycoons include Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and real estate honcho turned TV celebrity Donald Trump, who says this about his hometown: “Everything is here, everything is accessible, and there is always something great to do.”

In pictures:
Eight billionaire battles
Homes of the billionaires

Coming in a distant third is London. We found just 36 billionaires whose primary residence is the U.K. capital. But what is interesting is that 18 of them are citizens of other countries. Leading that list is Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who ranked fourth in our March wealthiest billionaires list (he was worth $45 billion then). “I find London an excellent place to live largely because of its geographic location,” Mittal says. “I can fly pretty much anywhere in 12 hours.”

Other notable foreigners calling London home include Iceland’s richest citizen, Thor Bjorgolfsson, and shipping tycoon John Fredriksen, who switched his citizenship from Norway to Cyprus recently but chooses to live in London, where he owns one of the city’s most expensive houses. There are also a number of billionaires, like Abramovich, who own second homes in London but don’t consider it their main dwelling. Meanwhile, New York City has just one foreign billionaire who claims residence there, and Moscow is home only to Russian billionaires.

The U.S. has more cities in the top 10 than any other country: four including Los Angeles, home to 24 billionaires, including director Steven Spielberg; Dallas, home to 15, including oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens; and San Francisco, with 19 billionaires, including tech wunderkinds like Google’s Larry Page (his co-founder Sergey Brin and the world’s youngest billionaire Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg live close by in Silicon Valley).

Hong Kong is the most popular city for Asian billionaires; 30 live in the former British colony. But Mumbai, India, earns bragging rights as the city on our list with the richest billionaires. Mumbai’s 20 billionaires, including two of the world’s 10 richest (brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani), are worth an average $7.6 billion, handily besting Moscow’s $5.9 billion average.

And where billionaires go, the luxuries follow. These centers of finance and culture welcome you–if you can afford them, that is.

 

Maharashtra proposes projects worth US $ 17 billion

MUMBAI: Maharashtra government has proposed undertaking projects worth US $ 17 billion in the state for boosting infrastructure through public-private sector partnership. This was announced by Chief Secretary Johny Joseph during a meeting with Gajendra Haldia, advisor to Planning Commission at Mantralaya. The investment is being envisaged in 92 projects aimed at strengthening and improving infrastructure in the state, Joseph said. The amount would be spread across projects in road development (US $ &.6 bn), tourism (US $ 280 mn), urban development (US $ 121 mn), railways (US $ 385 mn), power sector (US $ 23 mn), ports development (US $ 3 bn), aviation (US $ 5 bn), agriculture (US $ 81 mn) and irrigation (US $ 460 mn), he said. Twenty railway stations of global standards are being planned in the country, of which one was planned adjoining the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Haldia added.

Maharashtra continues to lure global auto majors

 (from TheHinduBusinessLine.com) By Amit Mitra, Rahul Wadke  Mumbai, March 31

Maharashtra’s thirst for big-ticket investments in the automobile sector is not about to be satiated.

After signing three major MoUs with Mumbai based vehicle makers Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Fiat India Automobiles last week involving ramping up production capacities, the Maharashtra Government is now close to sealing another major investment in the automobile sector.

Speaking to Business Line on his last day at office in Mantralaya in Mumbai, Mr. V.K. Jairath, Mahrashtra’s Industries Secretary, dropped clear indications of another MoU with an automobile major in the pipeline. Refusing to disclose the name of the vehicle maker, he said “You will come to hear of it in the next 20 days.”

Stating that Maharashtra has for long been a potential investment ground for the manufacturing sector, Mr Jairath said the Government expected to shore up vehicle production in the State to about 1.5 million units in the next three years through MoUs with global players in this sector. Since the last three years, the State Government has signed MoUs for 95 mega projects, covering the entire manufacturing space involving an investment of Rs 1,19,000 crore, out of which the automobile sector accounts for an investment slice of between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000 crore.

The first to set up shop in the State after the Government launched its mega project policy was the Mahindra-Renault joint venture to produce Logan. “We concluded the MoU in September 2005 and the joint venture could roll out its cars in April 2007,” he pointed out, adding that negotiations with the joint JV was tough as it was promised big fiscal incentives by Uttaranchal, which were supported by the Government of India.

Global majors such as General Motors, Fiat, Daimler AG, Volkswagen, International Trucks and Skoda have been attracted to the State. The Government has been able to attract global players with their customized package of incentives. “We design different packages for different projects. There is a mix of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, like availability of infrastructure and skilled manpower,” according to the senior bureaucrat.

A study has shown that the State’s workforce in the manufacturing sector produces 37 per cent more goods and put in 51 per cent more value addition, as compared to the industry standards elsewhere, he said. “We studied other mega project policy of other States, understood our lacunas and strengths and formed our own mega project policy. Our approach was very clear – “Cut the red tape and roll the red carpet for investors” he added.

“For example, we gave clearance to a Siemens project in 28 days, which led the company relocating the project to Maharashtra from China”, he pointed out.

 Posted by Thomas Philip, www.AquariusITConsulting.com

Tata gets Jaguar & Land Rover for $2.3 billion

The Mumbai based Tata group has acquired Jaguar & Land Rover for $2.3 billion.

It took nine long months of tough negotiations for Tata Motors. But in the end they have acquired Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, for less than half the price Ford paid to purchase Jaguar in 1989 and Land Rover from BMW in 2000.

Many are sceptical about Jaguar and Land Rover being owned by a mass manufacturer of trucks and passenger cars. But Tata has a clear vision for these premium brands.

Tata Chief, Ratan Tata said “We have enormous respect for the two brands and will endeavour to preserve and build on their heritage and competitiveness, keeping their identities intact.”

C Ramakrishnan, chief financial officer of Tata Motors, also said the two companies would be subsidiaries, so the assets of Land Rover and Jaguar will not be on Tata Motors’ books.

History is also on the side of Tata. Tata Motors’ Managing Director, Ravi Kant, has previously played a key role in integrating Daewoo into the Tata fold. He ensured that the Daewoo brand reigned supreme, the old management continued to run the show and that the group could leverage the technology for trucks in India.

Ford has assured Tata Motors of engineering support, including R&D, plus information technology, accounting and other services.

The deal will open the doors to vast technological advancements that both the brands have achieved over the years thanks to funding by Ford. Almost a billion dollars is invested every year as R&D for both the brands.

Tata Motors will eventually be able to trim the costs with the help of sisters companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Technologies and Tata Auto Comp.

The technology sourced from Land Rover will also be used for Tata’s range of utility vehicles. Tata Motors has several plants around Pune which will eventually benefit from the technology transfer.

Overall this is not just the largest acquisition by an Indian company in the automobile business. It is also the best thing to happen to the Indian Automotive Industry. 

Interesting history about Jaguar and Land Rover.

Though it is considered the epitome of stylish performance today, Jaguar owes its origins to humble motorcycle sidecars. William Lyons’ Swallow Sidecar Company progressed to building special-bodied cars and the SS1 of 1931 set the stage for the first true Jaguar.

The Jaguar name came about in 1935. Reportedly, the SS name was dropped as it evoked the sinister Nazi SS.

Jaguar’s reputation of making some of the finest sports cars in the world began with the launch of the XK120 in 1948. With an unprecedented 160 bhp and svelte, good looks, the XK120 is one of the many Jaguars to make it to the history books.

Jaguar’s famous 3442cc inline-six was a jewel among engines. It won the manufacturer the Le Mans 24-hour race title five times, in 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957. Jaguar’s secret weapon to claim the title in 1953 with the C-Type was disc brakes, which they co-developed with Dunlop.

The spiritual successor to the seminal XK120 of 1948 was the visceral E-Type, launched in 1961 – arguably the most famous sports car of all time. Sixty per cent of the 70,000 E-Types produced were shipped to the US, where it was known as the XK-E.

The Jeep which Maurice Wilks used on his farm provided inspiration for another legend in the making. Maurice, the technical director of Rover, and his brother, Spencer Wilks, Rover’s managing director, sketched the outline of their vehicle in the sand of a Welsh beach in 1947 –the Land Rover was born.

Post-war rationing of steel meant the body panels used light aluminium ‘alloy’. Which turned out to be a good thing, as the Land Rover turned out to be rust-free!

The Land Rover is a true classic because it is still in production, beating even the Volkswagen Beetle. It has evolved over time but its fundamentals remain unchanged. Its Defender name, in use today, came about only in 1990.

Reportedly, three-fourths of all Land Rovers sold are still doing duty in various parts of the world.

Land Rover’s Discovery, introduced in the leisure market in 1989, was the first significantly new product since the luxurious Range Rover introduced in 1970.

Posted by Thomas Philip, www.AquariusITConsulting.com

Larsen & Toubro: Blazing a trail in engineering capability

(from the Hindu Business Line, Mumbai, Dec. 21)

They may have started out as a company importing cement machinery from Europe. Along the way they built up capability to fabricate some on their own. But today they are present a wide range of projects from constructing atomic power plants to highways.

Seven decades since inception, the Mumbai-based L&T is one the largest companies in India’s private sector with diversified interests across manufacturing, services and information technology.

An international presence, with a global spread of offices, with factories and offices across the country, this engineering giant enjoys an image and equity in virtually every district of India.

History was made the day the company was founded in Bombay in 1938 by Danish engineers Henning Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro. Beginning with the import of machinery from Europe, L&T took to engineering and construction with increased sophistication each year.

And, today, the company sets benchmarks in terms of scale and complexity almost as a routine. The world’s largest coal gasifier was made in India and exported to China as also India’s first indigenous hydrocracker reactor, besides oil and gas platform projects executed to global standards.

The company built Asia’s highest viaduct for the Konkan Railway. It expertise extended to laying the world’s longest gas pipeline and building an international class football stadium in 260 days.

L&T is acknowledged as a leading fabrication company in the world. Operating at the higher end of the technological spectrum, L&T has led the way by introducing new processes, products and materials in manufacturing as well.

The shipyard segment is representative of the new thrust in strategic growth objectives. The focus is on construction of commercial vessels, warships for the navy and the coast guard.

In construction, ECC – the Engineering Construction & Contracts division– is India’s largest construction organisation. Many of the country’s prized landmarks –exquisite buildings, tallest structures, largest industrial projects, longest flyovers, highest viaducts and the longest pipeline have been built by L&T.

L&T is an acknowledged international manufacturer of a wide range of electrical and electronic products and systems. L&T also offers a wide range of meters and provides complete control and automation systems for industries. Its medical equipment and systems too are widely sold overseas.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary, offers a comprehensive, end-to-end software solutions and services. It provides a cost cutting partnership in the realm of offshore outsourcing, application integration and package implementation.

L&T also manufactures, markets and provides service support for critical construction and mining machinery.

Posted by Thomas Philip, www.AquariusITConsulting.com

TATAs world’s 3rd most accountable group

Press Trust of India

The Mumbai-based, Tata Group, easily India’s most respected business house, has been named the world’s third most accountable and transparent company by Britain’s One World Trust although US hotel chain Orient-Express has not found it worthy of an alliance.

According to Rob Lloyd, the report’s lead author, the assessment is a measure of the extent to which organisations have the policies and systems in place to enhance consistent and coherent accountability to the people they affect.” The report ranked GE number 1 and GlaxoSmithKline number 2 among the most transparent and accountable companies.

Tata Group, was however, considered ahead of Coca-Cola, Petrobras, HSBC Holdings, PriceWaterCooopers International and Google, when measured on the parameters of transparency and accountable leadership among global companies.

The annual Global Accountability Report considered the Tata Group at number 10, among the world’s 30 most powerful organisations from the inter-governmental, non-governmental and corporate sector, to be accountable to civil society, affected communities and wider public.

Orient-Express Hotels had recently rejected an offer of alliance from Tatas, saying tying up with the “predominantly Indian” hospitality firm will erode the US hospitality chain’s brand image. Tata Group’s interests range from hotels to steel to salt and software and auto.

One World Trust rated UN Development Programme followed by Asian Development Bank and Christian Aid the most transparent and accountable organisations among world’s top 30 organisations.

Posted by Thomas Philip, www.AquariusITConsulting.com