New Delhi, November 22
Putting aside strong opposition from the Left parties and traders’ association, the government has decided to open doors of retail sector for the foreign investors. The Group of Ministers is likely to look into the issue soon before placing the matter in front of the Cabinet for final approval.

A draft report prepared by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), on behalf of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, has recommended the opening of the retail sector in a phased manner, initially allowing 49 per cent FDI to attract foreign players. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has been assigned the task to remove the roadblocks in the opening of retails by evolving a consensus among the stakeholders. The officials said by May 31, 2005, India would have to take a decision regarding the opening of the sector under the WTO guidelines for the service sector.

Commenting on the report, Mr L. Mansingh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, said: “The opening of retail sector would generate additional employment and growth opportunities for Indian youth and producers. There is no truth in the allegations that the FDI in retail would kill the unorganised retail sector.”

Since the market is growing at a fast pace so there is enough room for growth of both domestic and foreign investors. In addition, it will bring efficiency, better employment conditions for employees, he said. In India, retails with total sales exceeding over Rs 2,00,000 crore, is one of the biggest private industry that employs over 20 million persons.

However, 98 per cent of the retail is in the unorganised sector. But in recent years, RPG, Pantaloon, ITC and Ebony have entered the retail sector in a big way. Walmart, world’s largest retailing company, has also shown keen interest to invest in this sector, but the government has only allowed it to set up its subsidiary for sourcing material for other countries.

Dr Arpita Mukherjee, co-author of the report “Foreign Direct Investment in Retail Sector: India” claimed that even though FDI was not allowed in retailing, foreign players had entered the Indian market through various loopholes in the regulations.

She said the government should open the retail sector in a phased manner over three to five years. “It should also ensure that existing franchisees are not affected and foreign companies do not indulge in predatory pricing,” she said.

The report has recommended that any opening up of the FDI regime should be gradual to give the domestic industry enough time to adjust to the changes. “The FDI should first be allowed in relatively less sensitive sectors such as garments, lifestyle products, consumer durable, houseware and entertainment (books and music). Once the market starts adjusting then it could be allowed in certain sensitive sectors like food and grocery,” she said.

Bangalore, November 22
The ABB has a comprehensive three-year investment programme underway with an outlay of $ 100 million for capacity and range expansion in India, Mr Fred Kindle, the President and CEO designate of ABB worldwide said here today.

Mr Kindle, who joined ABB in September and officially takes over at the helm of the Zurich-based ABB group of companies, said his visit to India so early into his induction into ABB was indicative of the fact that India is “a high priority country.”

The expansion would cover products, processes and services, including new manufacturing lines for high-tension machines, distribution transformers and tractions transformers at Vadodara, electronic AC drives, control products and several low-voltage products at Bangalore, as well as packaged substances and Ring Main Units (RMU) at Nashik. Planned capacity expansions would include power transformers, low-voltage motors, medium-voltage indoor circuit breakers and magnetic actuators.

“ABB India is currently a $ 500 million company — my vision is that this would double in the coming years. India is on its way to becoming an economic superpower, and I believe the projected growth rates of seven to eight per cent are realistic and demand driven,” he stated.

ABB India also plans to “enhance the scope and complexity” of its research activities in its Global R & D Centre based in Bangalore, and would increase the personnel strength there from the present 100 to about 500 in the next two years. “Where a company allocates its R & D resources is very significant, not only for our company but for others. The intellectual base here is outstanding.”

In addition, the company was in the process of setting up a ‘Global Engineering Centre’ also in Bangalore.

New Delhi, November 22
“We never knew that Punjab is silently emerging as a major attraction for the IT companies. We though it is still an agriculture-based state and has lagged far behind in industry. But after visiting the Punjab pavilion here, our perception has changed,” said Mr Vijay Gaur, a boy from Indore, who had come to visit the India International Trade Fair here today.

He is among the thousands of visitors who were impressed by that the fact that though a little late, Punjab is fast emerging as another destination for the IT companies like Dell, Quark and Infosys. A large number of youths could be seen applying for jobs in the call centres of IDS, a Mohali-based company. The company is recruiting youth for its new expansion project.

Unlike the previous years, Punjab has selected “Agriculture and Information Technology” as the theme this year for the trade fair at Pragati Maidan here from November 14-27.

Mr Amandeep Singh Narang, Deputy Manager, India Trade Promotion Organisation, disclosed that over six lakh persons had visited the fair till yesterday. All states, apart from over 300 companies from 28 countries, are participating in this annual fair.

Besides tractors, agriculture products, milk products of Milkfed, handicrafts, phulkari and bhangra, what is attracting most is the display of achievements of Punjab in the information technology sector. Puncom, Quark, IDS, Millennium Computers, Spice and American Heart Care are attracting crowds to the state pavilion. The other attractions include a power tiller manufactured by a firm from Mansa, new tractor models of Punjab Tractors, tissue culture, new varieties of wheat and solar instruments of PEDA.

Young couples could be seen dancing to the tune of Punjabi folk “Dhol bajda, tumbi bajdi....” sung by the Punjab dance party, while women were busy buying “Amritsari papad warian,” phulkaris, ethnic suits and handicrafts from the Punjabi Bazaar set up here.

New Delhi, November 22
Noida-based IT company Scicom Infotech is planning to launch critical R&D, data management and software development services in the highly specialised areas of upstream oil and gas exploration and related verticals.

“In the exploration and production (E&P) sector, we see a growth in new monitoring technologies and in diagnostic imaging the need is to provide better computer-aided tools for quantifying diagnosis, and more generally the use of simulation technologies to predict and improve performance”, Chief Operating Officer of Scicom Sudipta Gautam told The Tribune. The company has already initiated discussions with Indian domestic oil and gas companies and are in talks with ONGC, Gail and Reliance to provide consultative services to start with.

Scicom has niche understanding of successful project execution by forming strategic IT partnerships with underlying knowledge in the areas of 3D graphics, computational modelling, GIS systems architecture, particularly in the exploration and production segment.

The company plans to have a second software development centre in Noida next year and is expected to increase the headcount by 200. The centre will be set up at an estimated investment of $ 3 million and would provide specialised services within the verticals of oil and gas exploration and medical and industrial imaging.

At present, the company has two development centres — one each in Noida and Houston, Texas.

Scicom’s current clients in the oil sector include two global oil service majors—Halliburton Energy Services and Schlumberger.

Mr Gautam said that company’s strategy is to go after 50 companies where “we perform core research and engineering activities”.

He said that the volatility in the prices of oil and gas has opened up a number of opportunities in the E&P data management and project services.

“In addition, we see new areas of development in image-guided systems for health care industry — especially in the diagnostics area. Likewise, the test area is starting to change with the development of semiconductor testing services in India which is a positive sign for the industry,” he said.

Barrackpore, November 22
India will export its indigenously built advanced light helicopter to Israel, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) chairman Nalini Ranjan Mohanty said here today.

The first helicopter will be despatched within a month or two, Mr Mohanty told reporters during his visit to HAL branch unit here.

“We have got the first chopper ready for despatch and the others will be despatched after the agreements are finalised,” he said.

Public Sector Unit (PSU) HAL has sold helicopters to Nepal and also initiated negotiations with Chile, he said.

“We have already fulfilled the domestic demand and achieved the distinction of developing aviation engineering before going into the international market,” he said.

Mr Mohanty also said that HAL had achieved “international benchmark” for its indigenous design and manufacturing of Intermediate Jet Trainers (IJT). — UNI

Kumarhatti, November 22
Taking notice of the news item published in these columns of The Tribune under the heading, Lack of housing hits units in Baddi belt, on November 5, the HP Housing Urban Development Authority (Himuda) has finally come up with a plan to enhance the housing facilities in and around Baddi.

Besides releasing advertising in newspapers yesterday to invite applications to construct 66 flats under partial financial scheme at Bhatoli Kalan village near Baddi, Mr Harsh Mahajan, the Housing Minister, recently visited the area, along with senior officials of Himuda to look for new sites to be developed for housing purposes.

It may be mentioned here that the lack of the housing facilities has adversely affected the functioning of the industrial units .Due to this, most of the persons engaged in these units have to commute from Chandigarh and its satellite towns daily.

Local industrialists, led by Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association, have raised the issue on many occasions. After the announcement of central government industrial package, involving attractive fiscal incentives like 100 per cent outright excise duty exemption for a period of 10 years and 100 per cent income tax exemption for initial period of five years, new industries have made a beeline for Baddi. The numbers of the units have doubled after the announcement of the package, thus putting the pressure on housing facilities.

When contacted Mr. Harsh Mahajan said nearly 300 new houses would be constructed within next six or seven months at Baddi. He said he has decided to use the vacant plots for residential purposes. Efforts are underway to find suitable land for the construction of more housing complexes, he asserted.