Las Vegas, Nevada, Jan 8
Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony Corporation is looking to replicate its Indian subsidiary's style of working in the European business by synchronizing different verticals to have better growth, its Europe chief said Tuesday.

Sony Europe's president Masaru Tamagawa joined the operations of the region in July last year and is highly appreciative of the business model in India, where he had led the company for five years from 2007.

"We want to replicate everything of India in Europe. The working style of various divisions, including product strategy, distribution channel and marketing, are very good in India and we want to replicate these in Europe," Tamagawa said on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show here.

Sony Europe wants to synchronise different verticals of the company like that in India to have better growth in the region, he added.

Although Sony India's revenue contribution is very small compared to Sony Europe, Tamagwa said: "India is much ahead of Europe (in working style)."

Sony Europe, which comprised the UK, France, Germany, Russia, Spain and Sweden, recorded net sales of 300.24 billion yen (about Rs 18,930 crore) during the quarter ending Sept 2012 compared to 293.49 bn yen (about rs 15,100 crore) in the year-ago period, up 2.3%. In contrast, the Indian operations' revenue contribution for the entire 2011-12 fiscal was just Rs 6,313 crore. It is expecting 30-40% growth in this fiscal.

Kazuo Hirai, the newly appointed Sony Corp president & CEO, , also emphasized the importance of developing economies in the firm's overall growth. "When I was made the CEO nine months ago, my focus was to revitalize the business...My aim is to drive growth in the emerging markets, where we’re already strong," he added.

The company's Indian operations, which is a part of Sony Corp's Asia Pacific business which also includes South Korea and Oceania, is targeting to treble its revenue to Rs 20,000 crore by 2015 even as its Japanese parent continues to suffer losses globally due to adverse conditions in major markets such as the US.

Besides, Sony India plans to increase its headcount by 500 in the current fiscal. This is in contrast to Sony Corp's decision to lay off about 10,000 people globally last year to cut operational cost. — PTI

New Delhi, January 8
Indian sugar mills and traders are importing sugar even though the country is sitting on surplus, in fact, overflowing domestic stocks. The reason is simple — raw sugar is selling much cheaper in the global markets and, added with the benefit of the low import duty for sugar mills, it works out cheaper to buy raw sugar from Brazil than procuring it here. Imports are also taking place from Pakistan, which is selling sugar at much cheaper rates than India.

Farmers’ groups, which are demanding a ban or at least a hike in the import duty from the current 10% to at least 60%, have now written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to protect the interests of sugarcane farmers, consumers and the industry.

According to the convener of the Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movement, Yudhvir Singh, Indian mills like ED&F Man and Renuka signed deals to import 450,000 tonnes of Brazilian sugar from October 12 because of low international prices, which would affect domestic prices.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association, which too has been clamouring for an a rise in import duty, says Indian mills imported 800,000 tonnes till Dec 10.

Even though the government has hinted at a hike in import tax on sugar, officials say there are no immediate plans to do so. On the industry’s and farmers’s apprehensions, they said an eye was being kept on domestic prices and imports. Singh however, contends this, saying while it is expected imports would bring down retail prices, past experience indicates “huge dutyfree imports do not help consumers at all, except helping the importers, foreign traders and bureaucrats and politicians who get commissions on each order. ”

Sources add the system is working only to benefit “some importers”. 

New Delhi, January 8
Analysts say any increase in diesel and kerosene prices will be positive for market sentiment. The petroleum ministry is considering a proposal to gradually hike diesel prices by Rs 1 per litre every month for the next 10-15 months to deregulate retail prices eventually, based on the recommendations of the Kelkar committee. A similar phased increased has been mooted for kerosene also. The other option being weighed is to hike diesel, kerosene and LPG prices marginally in the short term to make up for the increase in subsidy burden as the cap on subsidized LPG cylinders is being raised from 6 to 9.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently called for raising fuel prices in a phased manner as energy products are underpriced in India.

According to a report by Kotak Institutional Equities, a phased increase is a sensible approach to control burgeoning fuel subsidies but implementation would be the key. Any rise in diesel and kerosene prices will be positive for sentiment while the impact on earnings will depend on relative sharing of subsidies between the government and the companies.

The report says a progressive rise in diesel prices, if implemented, may lead to meaningful savings on fuel subsidies. It estimates annualized savings of Rs 9,000 crore on diesel subsidies for every Re 1 per litre net diesel price rise for OMCs. The report, however notes a monthly increase may be difficult to sustain after the second half of this year as several elections are scheduled towards the yearend. followed by the general elections in 2014.

It argues higher market-linked prices of diesel for the direct bulk consumers will be relatively easier to implement and may reduce the subsidies meaningfully. Nearly 18% of diesel is consumed by bulk customers including railways, state transport and private industrial firms, which do not deserve any subsidy, the report said.

On the proposal to raise the cap on LPG cylinders, the report says a rise in the cap on subsidized LPG cylinders, though a retrograde step, can be managed through a price hike. 

New York City, January 8
Ratan Tata, who has just stepped down as Tata group's head, has said the biggest challenge for the US $100 billion conglomerate's new chairman Cyrus Mistry will be India’s business environment that is going to be tougher and more complex than the crisis of 1991.

"The big picture challenge is that the (business) environment is going to be tougher and more complex than it was in 1991. In 1991, there were less people aspiring to succeed in this newly opened economy. Today there are many," he said in an interview published by Time magazine.

Tata, who stepped down as head of the Tata group on December 28 after 21 years at its helm, was replying to a query about the biggest challenge for his successor. Mistry has taken over from him as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate Tata group.

Asked whether corruption was eroding investor confidence in India, Tata said, "It's been a concern to many of us for some time", but it has been masked by the very high rate of growth and prosperity of the country. "It has led to a fair amount of crony capitalism and people like us have been concerned that it is not usually a level playing field as it should be," he said.

To queries about the Tata's involvement in alleged irregularities in the telecom space and a lobbyist for Tatas being under surveillance, Tata said the investigative agencies had not only cleared the group but also found it to be "disadvantaged among all the telecom players".

"We did nothing wrong, did nothing illegal, so no, I wouldn't have done anything differently," Tata, who was with the Tata group for about 50 years, said in reply to a query whether he would have done anything differently.

Asked about how he felt about stepping down as chairman, Tata said, "I'm feeling very good. I'm looking forward to having time to do the things I want to do. And as far as I'm concerned, it's a relief." He said he would have loved to have achieved a "flatter organization" than it had ended up being.

"These are issues of almost cultural pushback. We are a very hierarchical country. So to have a very flat organization runs contrary to what the Indian wants to see. He wants to be better than the next guy," he said.

In reply to a query about the countries appearing robust to him, Tata said that he was quite bullish about the US and termed Africa as the real emerging giant. Asked as to what are his plans post his retirement, Tata said, "I am just trying not to make too many plans. It has been a long time since I have had the opportunity to just have time to myself. Once I get that out of my system, then I will address how to stay busy."

Tata believes India today is lot more complex than what the US was in 1950s as during the 1950s many new things were happening in the US, there was great exuberance a lot of enthusiasm about what could be done.

"The last four five years have been very buoyant years in India. Its only in the last two years that we have stumbled badly," he said. — PTI

New Delhi, January 8
Going a step further, Indian scientists have extended the mycorrhiza technology by integrating it with seed coating. Delhi-based The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) has developed mycorrhiza-coated seeds to enhance yield and reduce chemical fertilizer use, which can prove to be especially beneficial for farmers of Punjab and Haryana struggling with deteriorating soil health and stagnant yields.

The government is also contemplating including mycorrhiza under the Fertilizer Control Order, says TERI director Biotechnology Alok Adholeya. So far chemical fertilizers, biofertilizers and organic fertilizers are included under the FCO.

For those not conversant with what the terminology, mycorrhiza is a biofertilizer, in fact the only known fungal system categorized as a biofertilizer, scientists say. Available in the form of tablets or powder, they are different from conventional biofertilizers in the sense that they have a longer shelf life and do not need a cold chain for storage. They can be stored at room temperatures for almost five years and considering that the technology is completely indigenous, they carries no hidden implications for farmers, says Adholeya

They work by colonizing plant roots, helping them tap soil nutrients which are otherwise not available to the plants by forming permanent association with the roots.

The microscopic fungus is potent enough to revive a wasteland and turn it into a lush, flowering garden, a fruit orchard or even a verdant field, said Adholeya, adding the biofertilizer can be particularly useful for Punjab and Haryana, struggling with critical water table levels and deteriorating soil health due to haphazard use of chemical fertilizers.