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3 more five-star hotels
Pedestrianisation project
The Government's pet scheme to decongest Charminar has not helped matters much. The Charminar Pedestrianisation Project (CPP) remains as confounding as the traffic swirling around the hoary sentinel.
The inordinate delay in execution of the project has escalated its cost from Rs. 139 crores to Rs. 200 crores. Authorities at the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) are confident of completing both phases of the project by March 31, 2006. But the ground reality belies this.
Road widening, the major component of the project, remains incomplete. Of the 1,131 structures identified for removal, only 729 are dismantled during the last five years. On the other hand, the amount of road widening done in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills during the last one month is amazing.
On the Charminar-Falaknuma road, 162 properties are yet to be taken over, Gulzar Houz-Panjesha 91, Miralam Mandi road 44 and Lad Bazar Adnan complex-Gulzar Houz road 49. Nine properties belonging to the Nizam on the Mir Momin Daira road have become a bottleneck.
Creation of parking lots, street lighting, uniform signage, restoration of Patherghatti façade remains a non-starter. Formation of a buffer zone around Charminar involves dismantling of 35 shops, 24 on the Lad Bazar side. With none ready to give consent, the cumbersome process of land acquisition is under way.
AnandRathi at Hyderabad
Virinchi's new contract
IIT status for 7 tech institutes
The HRD ministry has decided to give status of IITs to seven engineering institutes in the country and fully fund their upgrade — at an estimated Rs 100 crore for each. The seven were selected from among 200 engineering institutes. A committee headed by Prof S.K. Joshi had screened the applications and had found seven of them eligible. "The committee had selected the institutes on the basis of quality of faculty, facilities available, examination results and scope for up-gradation," an official said.
The seven institutes selected are: Insitutite of Technology, Banaras Hindu University; University College of Engineering combined with the University College of Technology, both belonging to Osmania University, Hyderabad; Bengal Engineering College, Howrah; Jadavpur University's Engineering and Technology Departments; Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University; Andhra University College of Engineering, Vishakhapatnam; and Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin. Except Bengal Engineering College, which is a deemed university, all others are under universities.
Satyam to launch corporate university
The faculty at the school would comprise senior leaders within the organization and leaders from industry and academia across the world. SSL would be housed in a “state-of-the-art” facility in Hyderabad which would be ready by the middle of next year.
FDI in retailing
GoAir to come here
The airline currently operates 8 flights a day to destinations including Mumbai, Goa, Ahmedabad and Coimbatore with one A320 aircraft with a single class,180 seat configuration.
Go Air Managing Director Jeh Wadia said the airline is planning to start services to south Indian cities including Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Madurai.
Wadia said GoAir is providing passengers fares lower than that of traditional airlines and on an average 10 per cent higher than air-conditioned railway fares.
KARVY Global Services expands
Through this partnership, SOL-CORE will serve as the Solution Broker for KARVY Global Services in Canada, providing solution development, contract formulation and local Client management services.
Another BPO calls Hyderabad home
The new facility would provide contact centre and back office services to its customers in the US and the UK, a company statement said.
Spread over 90,000 square feet, the state-of-the-art facility has a capacity of 1,200 seats and would initially house 800 employees.
The company plans to increase the headcount by an additional 1,000 employees over the next six to nine months, the statement said.
This is the sixth facility of 24/7 Customer across three cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Will we be a fab city?
At stake is the proposal to set up a mega Fab City that will become India’s largest hardware manufacturing hub, especially for semiconductors, with direct investments worth billions of dollars and providing direct employment to thousands.
The Prime Minister was on Monday evening accosted by a 60-strong all-party delegation of MPs from Andhra Pradesh led by chief minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy, who strongly lobbied in favour of Hyderabad becoming the venue.
Andhra is facing direct competition from Chennai, with the strong backing of IT and telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran. Kolkata and Noida are the other venues being considered.
In the representation to the Prime Minister made on Monday, YSR Reddy has pointed out that Hyderabad is the only city which satisfies three critical criteria for setting up the Fab city— plentiful availibility of water (50 million gallons per day), uninterrupted power (600 mw at Rs 2.25 per unit) and humidity-free weather. Reddy contends that based on recommendatiions made by McKinsey, Andhra has already done the groundwork to establish itself as a major IT hub.
Besides dedicating 1,500 acres for the Fab City, he said Andhra has taken care of connectivity —international airport, railroad, national highways and bandwidth. He also promised to commit $500 million as initial venture fund for investment in varous units.
Mr Reddy also made a representation to the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the project, that is being called — what else — the Rajiv Gandhi Nano Technology Park.
Andhra Pradesh has already approved the first private sector Fab unit in Hyderabad, which is being promoted by South Korean company Intellect Inc headed by former Daewoo executive June Min. Min has already established eight Fabs in Vietnam and China. The proposed Fab in Hyderabad, with investments totalling $1.6 billion in two phases and employing over 10,000 workers, is to be called India Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Mr Maran, on the other hand, is keen that semiconductor fabrication units that will drive growth of the country’s hardware industry be set up in Chennai.
Parking fee at airport set to zoom
From September, the AAI increased it to Rs. 35.5 lakhs per month. This forced the contractor to further hike the fee. Till September, the parking fee for four-wheeler was Rs. 80 (premium parking) and Rs. 30 (general parking).
But following the hike in the rental, the fee was hiked to Rs. 100 (premium parking) and Rs. 50 (general parking) for four-wheelers. The fee for two-wheeler that was Rs.10 earlier, increased to Rs.20.
This fee would continue for another year after which it would go up again. Another official attributed the rental hike to the high maintenance and other facilities at the airport. He said on an average between 500 and 1,000 vehicles come to the airport daily.
Till about three years ago, there were about 35 to 40 flights arriving and taking off from the Hyderabad airport daily. Now, the number has gone up to 64which means more than 120 arrivals and departures daily. The airport handles three million passengers annually.
BOB launches central processing cell
The CPC, established with the idea of reducing the processing work load at its branches, will assess and sanction retail loan applications received from the branches situated in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
The opening of the cell is also expected to free the branch staff to attend to marketing and servicing of accounts, besides giving expeditious credit decisions to its customers for their retail financial needs like housing loan, educational loan, Baroda personal loan, advance against property and car loan.
The bank currently has 375 branches working on the concept of 12-hour banking from 8 am to 8 pm. It plans to scale up the number to 500 by December 2005, informed a press release.
IPC-2005
The 57th IPC will have national and international delegates including CEOs,top executives from pharmaceutical and allied industry, officials from regulatory departments, pharmacists from trade and profession, research & drug development personnel, pharmaceutical consultants, hospital administrators and officials of Central and State agencies.
The meet focuses on various topics like clinical research, Indian patent regime, status of pharmaceutical education in the country, novel drug delivery systems, biotechnology, etc, confronted by both Indian and foreign speakers. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) would also organize an international exhibition on pharmaceutical and allied industry.
Hyderabad set to sparkle
The park, which will see an investment of Rs.5 billion, is expected to start functioning by the end of next year and will provide employment to 50,000 people in the next three years. It will be fully operational by 2009. Coming up near the proposed Hyderabad International Airport, the park will be strategically located as Dubai, Hong Kong and Bangkok are the world's jewellery trading hubs. The chief minister said the government had allotted 200 acres of land for the park, being promoted by the Gitanjali Group, one of the oldest diamond houses in India, in association with the state government.
Hyderabad is the second largest city in diamond consumption in the country after Surat. Though the city has a traditional presence in the gems, jewellery and pearls market, it accounts for a meagre 0.2 per cent of country's exports. The domestic jewellery industry is estimated to be around Rs.630 billion ($13.7 billion) and grows at 9 percent a year. Its exports in 2004-05 were $16 billion. State government officials said there were more than 3,000 jewellers in Hyderabad but most of them in the unorganised sector. The park would provide them exposure to big players from other parts of the country. The park would provide job opportunities for talented artisans and training facilities for upgrading their skills, they said. The facility will house cutting and polishing units, testing laboratories, certification centres, banks and merchandising centres.
InfoStep sets up centre in Hyderabad
Inaugurating the centre, the Chief Executive Officer of US-based InfoStep, Sagar Anisingaraju, said that the company's Business Performance Management (BPM) Centre of Excellence will provide a key growth element for their global expansion plans. "With partners like Business Objects, business intelligence solutions provider, the company plans to help enterprises better manage their data and help them take informed decisions. It is not about growing in large numbers like an IT services company. Within two years, we expect to induct about 100 people," he said.
Apart from BPM, the company operates in the growing risk management and enterprise compliance area.
Chinese film bags Golden Elephant award
The award also carries a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000.
Iranian film 'Hayat' has bagged the Golden Plaque and Rs 50,000 from the international competition section.
The film depicts the determination of students to come out in flying colours in examinations.
Another Iranian film 'Album' has won the Silver Elephant prize plus Rs 50,000 as the best film in the Asian Panorama Section.
The Best Child Artist award was shared by Mahasa Sayeedi and Hamid Zaidi for their roles in Iranian films 'The Sqeaking Shoes' and 'Album' respectively.
Speaking before the presentation of awards, Union Minister for Urban Development and Culture, S Jaipal Reddy, promised all possible help to Children Film Society of India (CFSI), including a production facility from the Centre.
"Despite being the largest producer of films in the world, India still need to improve performance in production of films for children," Reddy said.
Union Minister of State for Coal, Dasari Narayana Rao, State Minister for Cinematography M Satyanarayana Rao, CFSI Chairperson Nafisa Ali Sodhi, film actors Jackie Shroff, Venkatesh, actresses Tabu, Suhasini and others participated in the progrmme.
About 172 films from 35 countries were screened during the week-long festival.
DRDO plan to export missiles
The Chairman of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program and Chief Controller (R&D), DRDO, Prahlada, told reporters here on Sunday that although many African, Gulf and South-East Asian countries had evinced interest, the Government would give the final nod before they were exported to individual countries. The DRDO would participate in international expos as part of its marketing strategy.
"Demo flights" of Akash, Trishul, Nag and BrahMos were scheduled next month. "Our job is to market once that [demo flights] is over. Even if we market about a thousand missiles, it will be a big thing and fetch something between Rs. 3,000 to 4000 crores."
Dr. Prahlada, who is also Director of the Defence Research and Development Laboratory here, said the State Government had been requested to allot about 2,000 acres for DRDL's expansion.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas' 06 at Hyderabad
A special website has been designed for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2006 -
www.pbd2006.org - featuring the events along with a brand new logo. Besides information on the event, the website facilitates the delegates to attend the event along with local sight-seeing tours.
The event focusses on business, investments and implementation of ideas for
overseas Indians. Special strategies facilitating overseas Indians’ investments in India, a collaborative research institution and an e-based platform that will facilitate global information exchange and networking between Overseas Indians and India will take place in the event.
The host of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2006, is a prestigious and significant opportunity for Andhra Pradesh to engage with the overseas Indian community and showcase their investment and partnership opportunities.
British Airways to spread wings
"Buoyed by the initial success of our direct service to Bangalore for five days a week since Oct 31, we plan to launch similar flights to Hyderabad and Kochi in the near future, making us the first international airliner to connect so many Indian metros with London," British Airways CEO Willie Walsh told a news conference.
The airline estimates about 30-50 percent increase in traffic between the two countries over the next two to three years, enabling it to triple its flights to India and to provide connectivity to its outbound passengers from London to several European and the US cities.
Currently, British Airways operates 35 flights a week from India to Heathrow connecting Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore, including twice-a-day services between Delhi-Mumbai and London and six flights a week from Chennai.
"India's aviation sector is one of the most profitable routes for us and would continue to grow despite competition. Though the US continues to be our largest market on the long haul, both India and China are competing with each other to emerge as the second largest market," Walsh said.
The Indian market generates about 40-50 percent of the outbound traffic to Europe and the US from Britain, with a majority from India's tech capital, making London a major transit hub for jet-set executives.
British Airways flies across 50 countries, touching 170 destinations and carries about 36 million passengers annually.
The airline is holding talks with India's private carrier Air Sahara for code sharing to fly more passengers on its second largest international route outside the US.
"We have signed an MoU with Air Sahara and are looking forward to partner with it. We are aware of its plan to divest some equity. We are in talks with them," Walsh said.
The code sharing will help both airlines manage flight schedules and allow passengers booked on one airline to fly on the other, besides sharing of resources in airports.
British Airways' commercial director Martin George said code-sharing would include frequent fliers, lounge access, price coordination and feeding passengers for international routes.
The airline plans to increase its non-stop flights to India to 42 a week next year.
"About 625,000 to 750,000 people travel between India and Britain annually, of which about 50 percent use London as a transit point to fly to other destinations in the Europe and the US," George said.
3COM to double headcount
VLSI design conference
The five-day conference titled 'Mobile Embedded Systems' is sponsored by VLSI Society of India (VSI), union ministry of information technology, IEEE Circuits and Systems Society and ACM Special Interest Group on Design Automation (SIGDA).
Addressing a press conference, the chief operating officer of Conexant India, Naresh Reddy Malipeddi, said 800 participants from across the world would demonstrate technology innovation in VLSI design and embedded systems during the event.
Embedded systems themselves have transformed so much that today they have become objects of technological attraction and unique from what they did two decades ago. This is because they are not only engineered creatively but they also work in astonishingly different ways.
The event to be held during January 5-7 will also showcase products and achievements of the industry and provides an opportunity for professionals to interact with each other. The event is being held at Hyderabad after 10 years.
Malipeddi said that the design of the chip used in iPod was done at Hyderabad and it was a place where work in VLSI was outsourced. He said now the 'core activity for the future was being done here.
Malipeddi said, "The international conference held in 1997 in Hyderabad set the trend for the industry to look at Hyderabad as the destination. A large number of players later set up shop in Hyderabad. We expect the conference to have similar significance."
He said that there were three VLSI design companies in the state in 1997 and the number now ranged between 15 and 20.
The first two days of the conference will give a glimpse of where the future in VLSI and embedded systems lies. The actual conference will be held over the remaining three days.
A state-of-the-art exhibition aimed at VLSI professionals will also be held wherein several of top VLSI design and embedded systems' companies, including Cadence, Conexant, Texas Instruments, Portalplayer, ATI Technologies, and Freescale will showcase their products and services.
The conference covers the entire spectrum of activities underpinning the semiconductor industry and provides participants a chance to meet and interact with innovators in the VLSI industry.
Andreas Kuehlman of cadence, Henry Potts of Mentor Graphics, Jackson Hu of UMC, Matthew F. Rhodes of Conexant, and representatives from some of the leading design firms such as Texas Instruments and Xilinx have confirmed their participation.
The registration fee collected would be used to sponsor aspiring students in attending the conference Malipeddi said.
Bombardier, Reliance in talks for metro project
Speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of the three-day Eurail 2005 exhibition held recently in Milan, Italy, Mr. A. Wennberg, Bombardier's Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer, said, "Talks are on with Reliance Energy. We expect to sign an agreement shortly."
He said he did not wish to disclose the equity that Bombardier will be holding in the joint venture.
Bombardier is one of the world market leaders in the total transit systems segment, with a 40 per cent global market share. "In the last two years, we bagged some significant projects, such as the management of two out of the three London Underground system and the construction of the new Rapid Transit System in South Africa," Mr Wennberg said.
While REL will be handling the power supply part of the project, Bombardier, a leading manufacturer of transportation solution ranging from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, will be handling the transportation aspect, including vehicle manufacturing. The metro project is proposed to be 56-km-long.
Bombardier's plans for India: He pointed out that if the Hyderabad project with REL came through, it would mean a significant step in Bombardier's future investments in India. The transportation major is attaching significant importance to the Hyderabad project, after it failed to bag the Delhi metro project and proposed Mumbai metro project.
In fact, Bombardier is looking for fresh investments in India in the rail transportation segment, after the successful manufacturing process of WAP5 and WAG9 locomotives in India and the new traffic management system for the Mumbai commuter rail system. The company has a manufacturing facility in Vadodara for production of propulsion components and rail control solutions.
Success in China: Bombardier's India strategy is akin to the one it has developed for China, where it has three joint ventures manufacturing metros, high-speed trains and coaches, as well as propulsion systems. The partnership approach that Bombardier implemented in China has led to the company leading several key projects in that country, such as the supply of 40 high-speed trains to the Chinese railways and the new people mover system to the Beijing airport.
Since the beginning of the transfer of technology process related to WAP5 and WAG9 locomotives in India, Bombardier has invested some $80 million in the country.
"As far as future investments in India are concerned, we can say at this moment that we will try to participate in all projects in India in which Bombardier technology demonstrates to be an adequate solution," Mr Wennberg said.
Air Deccan daily flights to Puttaparthi
On the Hyderabad-Puttaparthi sector, the Company has announced an inaugural fare of Rs1000 valid till November 20, 2005.
Fare on the Chennai-Puttaparthi sector begins at Rs500 and goes up to Rs2400. The regular fare on the Hyderabad-Puttaparthi sector also starts at Rs500 and goes up to Rs2400.
"Puttaparthi is currently not connected by any other airline. We plan to begin with Chennai and Hyderabad and later connect Puttaparthi to other metros," said Gopinath, MD, Air Deccan.
20 Kashmiri children for Hyderabad film festival
Social Welfare minister Nissar Ali flagged-off the children, who would be taken to Hyderabad by air from New Delhi, official sources said here. The trip has been organized by Jammu and Kashmir Scouts and Guides.
Ali said such trips help strengthen national integration while providing an opportunity to children to witness the educational patterns, aspirations and feelings of various states.
Visaka Ind to revamp business plans
The company has advanced the execution of expansion in its fibre cement sheets business. It now proposes to set up two 1.1-lakh-tonne capacity units, one each at Ahmedabad and Vijayawada, at a cost of Rs 32 crore each, aggregating Rs 64 crore.
Significantly, the company's moves come in the wake of the impressive growth of over 15 per cent in fibre cement sheets (FCS) business thanks to the Government's thrust on infrastructure and rural housing.
Speaking to newspersons, the Managing Director, Dr G. Vivekanand, said the Ahmedabad unit would be ready by December next year, while the Vijayawada facility should take off by October next. The execution of both the facilities would take the company's total FCS capacity to 6.5 lakh tonnes.
The company is currently executing expansion programmes involving a total investment of around Rs 228 crore. The expansions, involving both the divisions, would be completed in the next three years.
The ongoing expansion programme involves Rs 28 crore for building products facility in Rae Bareilly, Rs 55 crore for a garment factory at the Mahindra International City in Chennai, Rs 100 crore for cotton spinning unit, and Rs 55 crore for a weaving facility.
The key objective of these expansions is to reduce business dependence on building products and also to enable the company evolve as a major textile player with control over the entire chain of production, Dr Vivekanand said. The company currently draws 60 per cent of its revenues from the building products division, while the textiles division contributes the rest.
The completion of expansion in both the divisions would enable the company bring down dependency on building products to 55 per cent and enhance the revenues from textiles to 45 per cent.
To part-finance the expansions involving a total investment of Rs 292 crore, the company proposes to raise $15 million through issue of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) within a month. The remaining funds would be met from internal accruals and institutional lending, Dr Vivekanand said. According to K.V. Soorianarayanan, Senior Vice-President, the conversion of FCCBs into equity shares would enable the company improve its borrowing capacity by another Rs 70 crore.
The company also plans to avail the subsidy of five per cent from the Textile Upgradation Fund before availing of loans from the banks at around nine per cent, taking the effective net interest rate to just four per cent.
SpiceJet on expansion mode
As an introductory offer, the airline has offered a Red Hot Special launch fare of Rs 999 till the end of November, subject to seat availability. This fare is exclusive of a fuel charge, an official statement said.
Induslogic plans $20m expansion
The Chief Executive Officer of Induslogic, Peter Harrison, on a visit to India, told Business Line "IT product engineering is rapidly expanding with more companies eyeing the outsourced option. Given the market potential, we expect to ramp up operations both organically and inorganically."
"Organically, the company, which has about 700 people, expects to grow to 1,000 people by March and double that number by next year. Inorganically, we are looking at acquiring a couple of companies within product engineering area by the end of this year," he said.
The company is also looking at the option of locating two more centres in India and has short-listed Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. Soon one centre would be operational, he explained.
While about 90 per cent of the operations are handled out of India, given the market potential, Induslogic is exploring the possibility of locating centres in Shanghai to tap the Chinese market and also Kiev in Ukraine. The Shanghai operations would commence next year, he said.
Referring to IT engineering services, Harrison said, "Outsourced development centres are re-defining the way engineering services are provided right from concept to development, support and maintenance. The sector is witness to rapid growth."
The company has recently inducted the services of Mukul Jain, as the Chief Operating Officer, an industry veteran, who comes from HCL.
"The expansion would be fuelled through cash and equity. The company is well-funded with Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ). Should we require additional funding, we would not hesitate for additional round. We may also consider the option of tapping the market next year," Harrison said.
US drug company opens lab in India
Earlier this year, the Albany, N.Y., drug discovery and manufacturing company established temporary facilities in Singapore while the new laboratories were under construction. The permanent Singapore facility, in Science Park III, near the Biopolis, a major biomedical research hub, can currently accommodate over 50 scientists. Albany Molecular (Nasdaq: AMRI) is using 16,000 square feet, and has an additional 29,000 square feet of space to allow for growth. The facility has 19 employees, including 15 scientists.
The facility in Hyderabad, India, holds up to 12 scientists, and currently employs eight researchers and two support staffers. A second laboratory is under construction which will increase capacity to about 30 researchers. The second facility is scheduled to open by early next year.
"The move into our permanent home in Singapore, and the opening of our first laboratory in India mark two more milestones in Albany Molecular's history," said Thomas D'Ambra, chairman, president and CEO of Albany Molecular. "Our worldwide chemistry services platform has enhanced our ability to provide customers with a flexible range of services and competitive cost models."
Satyam plots Australia expansion
The expression of interest of new SAP development facility in Australia was reportedly extended by Satyam's Ramalinga Raju to the Australian Communications Minister Helen Coonan last week.
The Australian Minister visited Satyam headquarters in Hyderabad as the head of an Australian IT delegation.
Helen Coonan called on Ramalinga Raju and his senior executives to discuss possibilities of increased Satyam operations in Australia.
Satyam director and corporate strategy senior vice-president Shailesh Shah has been quoted by "The Australian" as saying that the company planned to hire 30 SAP specialists to service clients in Australia and overseas.
"Our goal is to make this centre of excellence a lead-in to expanding our SAP practice in the Asia-Pacific region," Mr Shailesh told Murdoch Press reporter.
"There are a lot of high-end skills in Australia," he said.
Satyam is among the Indian IT majors who have set up shops in Australia.
Satyam started its Australian facility in Melbourne in 1999 and have Australian telecommunication giant Telstra, retail chain Woolworths, finance services provider AMP and Mayne Logistics among its clients.
In spite of operating a huge software development and client service facility from Melbourne with the help of predominately local staff, Satyam has been at the receiving end of the criticism by the Australian IT lobbying groups.
The Satyam bosses have been stressing, to counter such negative sentiments, that they are interested in recruiting local IT professionals to run its Australian operations.
"We need to recruit more locally, and become part of the social network of the local economy," Satyam director said.
"As we become a global company, our need to localise has become very important," he further said.
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