India Newsletter | 1

INDIA NEWSLETTERPublished by the Embassy of India, Vienna

Year 2 | Issue 16 | April 2012

Special Report inveStment oppoRtunitieS

industry indian textile induStRy

2 | India Newsletter

News

News of iNterestSnapshot of March Highlights

GrowtH estiMAtes

1The World Bank has revised its eco-nomic growth forecast for India dur-

ing the previous financial year at 6.9 per cent, in line with the advance estimate put out by the Central Statistics Office. This growth estimate is higher than the 6.8 per cent predicted in the World Bank’s global economic prospects report released in February. India’s economy may grow be-tween 7 per cent and 7.5 per cent in 2012-13, the World Bank said in its latest India Economic Update. This forecast is higher than the 6.8 per cent growth earlier pre-dicted for 2012-13. Indian economy grew 8.4 per cent in 2010-11. The economic growth was impacted by the spate of pol-icy rate hikes undertaken by the central bank since March 2010 to stem inflation. The increased interest cost had severely impacted corporate investments.

foreiGN trADe

2Exports grew by 4.3% year-on-year to $24.6 billion, while imports increased

by 20.6% in February, Commerce Secre-tary Rahul Khullar said. Imports stood at $39.8 billion in February 2012, resulting in a trade deficit of $15.2 billion. During April 2011-February 2012, the country’s exports increased by 21.4% to $267.4 billion. Imports grew by 29.4% to $434.2 billion during the 11-month period, tak-ing the trade deficit to $166.8 billion. “We are getting a growth rate of 20%. It looks like you’ll get around $300 billion [by the fiscal end],” Khullar told.

iNDUstriAL GrowtH

3Describing 6.8% industrial growth in January as an indication of strong re-

covery, Finance Minister Pranab Mukher-jee said efforts will have to be made for promoting mining, capital goods and consumer durables sectors. “It (Index of Industrial Production-IIP) is 6.8 per in January. There is strong recovery in the backdrop of last December’s figure where IIP grew by 2.8%”, he said, while commenting on the latest data of indus-trial production. “The sectoral analysis of the data,” Mukherjee said, “show there is not much progress in capital goods, which is a matter of concern. Consumer non-durable had contributed substan-tially in this growth, but not so much in consumer durables. In course of time, ef-forts will have to be made to build up

these areas.” The mining sector, he added, too has not done well and has reported contraction of 2.7% in January. However, he said, “There is strong revival in growth rate of manufacturing sector at 8.5% in January 2012.” According to the data, in-dustrial production grew 6.8% in January, mainly due to improvement in the man-ufacturing sector. Output of the sector, which constitutes over 75% of the index, rose 8.5% in January, compared to 8.1% in the same month last year.

fDi

4Despite a gloomy global outlook, for-eign direct investment (FDI) clocked

a 31 per cent growth to $27.5 billion during January-December 2011 period.FDI inflows for January-December 2010 stood at $21 billion. Services still attract-ed largest chunk of FDI inflows at 20 per cent. This was followed by telecom, housing and real estate, and construction and power among others, a Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion data said. Mauritius, Singapore, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany and the UAE are the major investors in India.Mumbai attracted the maximum inflow accounting for as much as 40 per cent of the total share of the FDI, followed closely by Delhi-NCR region, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. FDI inflows totalled $19.42 billion in 2010-11 financial year, down from $25.83 billion in 2009-10. Official sources said that the Govern-ment’s move to liberalise foreign direct investment polices has been instrumental in sending positive signals. Some of the norms that have been tweaked in the past include 100 per cent investment in single brand retail besides easing norms in share pledging for external commercial borrowings.

Power

5Hinduja Energy India has formed a joint venture with Steag Energy

Services (India) for operation and main-tenance of power projects. Hinduja En-ergy is part of the Hinduja Group. Steag Energy is a subsidiary of German energy major Steag GmbH and is the fifth largest electricity producer in Germany. It oper-ates 11 power plants. Its total installed capacity is about 9,400 MW worldwide, including 7,700 MW in Germany. In 2010, Steag’s sales revenue totalled €2.8 billion.

A statement from the Hindujas said the joint venture will operate the Visakhap-atnam plant of Hinduja National Power Corporation Ltd (HNPCL). The 1040-MW coal-based plant is expected to be commissioned in 2013.The venture will also take up operation and maintenance of new power projects. Mr A. K. Puri, Managing Director, HNPCL, said the joint venture for O&M will have a major role ahead, given the projected double-digit growth in aggregate power generation in the country. The Hinduja Group plans to build 10,000 MW of generating assets over 7-8 years at an investment of $12-14 billion.

AUtoMotiVe

6Nissan wants to expand its portfo-lio of luxury cars in India and plans

to launch its premium car brand Infiniti. The entry of Infiniti will further drive up competition in the luxury car space with Toyota also drawing up plans to get the Lexus. “The market for luxury in India is growing and the company is looking at ways to enter. Infiniti is our global brand and our intention is to cover the world, including India,” Andy Palmer, V-P at Nis-san Motor Co, said. Nissan wants to as-semble the brand in India, rather than im-porting the cars as completely-built units (CBUs). “To be competitive with manu-facturers like Mercedes Benz and BMW, which are producing somewhat locally and escape high import duty” Sales of luxury cars have been riding high in India on a lower base and increasing wealth. Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover have been boosting their presence and production in the market, estimated at around 30,000 units annually.

7Driven by the robust demand for die-sel vehicles in the Indian market, the

US-based auto major, General Motors, is working on developing diesel engines for the range of vehicles lined up for launch in the country. The capability for which will then find its way to other diesel-intensive markets globally. The company, which has already introduced a diesel version of small car Beat in mid-2011, is looking at introducing diesel variants of premium hatchback Sail and the new multi-purpose vehicle later in the year. The diesel engine technology for these vehicles has been developed by the car maker in India, and will later be made

India Newsletter | 3

News

available to markets in North and South Africa to begin with.

PHArMACeUtiCALs

8Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd announced that it has launched the generic ver-

sions of Atorvastatin tablets in Italy, Swe-den and the Netherlands. This is in line with its settlement agreement with Pfizer whereby Ranbaxy had got permission to launch the product ahead of the applica-ble patent expiries. Pfizer’s patent expires in Italy on May 8 and in the Netherlands and Sweden on May 06. Atorvastatin, a cholesterol reducing drug, is the largest selling pharmaceutical product in Italy with sales of $377 million. The market size for Atorvastatin in the Netherlands is $164.4 million and in Sweden $55 mil-lion and is the largest selling Statin prod-uct in these two markets.

9Bio-pharmaceutical and health sci-ence sector representatives from the

UK are to explore and expand partner-ships with Indian companies. Mr Ian Fel-ton, British Deputy High Commissioner, Bangalore, said: “The UK-India Innova-tion and Leadership Meeting will be held at IIM, Bangalore, on March 5 and 6 to encourage IP-protected research and in-novation in health science, explore entre-preneurial opportunities.” “The visiting UK delegation is here to sign up a memo-randum of understanding (MoU) with In-dian counterparts to formalise their ex-isting and fruitful science relationship,” he added. UK representatives include Kings College London, Research Councils UK (RCUK), UK-India Business Council (UKIBC), Wellcome Trust, BioCity Not-tingham and the University of Notting-ham. British companies attending include Critical Pharmaceuticals, UK, with a pipe-line of novel biological products, Proxima Concepts, UK, offering oral delivery of peptides and proteins and technology for drug discovery, PGXis UK that is a genomics technology firm and Inception Associates UK that helps Indian firms in the sector, set up in the UK.

iNterNAtioNAL

10India has signed a tax information exchange agreement with Argen-

tina. This is the tenth such pact in the past three years. This pact with Argen-tina would enable Indian tax authorities to obtain specific information, including banking related, on tax evasion cases. The other such pacts signed by India are with the Bahamas, Bermuda, British Vir-

gin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jersey, Isle of Man, Guernsey, Liberia and Macau. The tax pacts with Argentina, Jersey, Guern-sey, Liberia and Macau have not yet en-tered into force, the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha in a written reply. India has also entered into new double taxation avoidance agree-ments with Colombia, Ethiopia, Lithuania, Uruguay and Estonia. These, too, have not yet entered into force, Mr Mukher-jee said. He said that India had renego-tiated double taxation avoidance pacts with Australia, Nepal and Norway, but all these had not come into force.

11India has invited the Italian in-dustry to be a partner in the

proposed National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NMIZ). “A consor-tium of industry from Italy can become a partner in at least one of the NMIZs,” said the Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister, Mr Anand Sharma. Mr Sharma, who held a meeting with the visiting Italian Foreign Minister, Mr Guilio Terzi di Sant’ Agata also said the Joint Work-ing Groups (JWG) should prepare their recommendation for the India-Italy Joint Economic Commission meeting in June. India and Italy have five JWGs on infra-structure, manufacturing, innovation and science, information technology and pharmaceuticals. Both sides are consid-ering more JWGs including on tourism, hospitality and agro-processing.

12Many US companies and busi-nesses are keen to invest in India,

particularly in infrastructure, energy and healthcare sectors, a top US diplomat said. “Since incredible growth has been happening in Indian Tier II and III cities like Coimbatore, the US wants to ex-pand bilateral economic ties with India through business relations between the companies,” Judy Reinke, Minister Coun-sellor for Commercial Affairs, US Embas-sy, Delhi, told.

13Canada wants to collaborate with Andhra Pradesh in the manufac-

turing sector. It has identified chemical based and food processing in particular, said its High Commissioner in India, Mr Steward Beck. The other areas of inter-est are power, infrastructure and educa-tion, he told the State Minister for Major Industries, Ms J. Geetha Reddy, whom he met along with his Trade Commissioner, Mr Vikram Jain at Hyderabad. He invited the Minister to lead a delegation of indus-try to Canada to explore new avenues

for trade and other business collabora-tions between the two countries.

14India and Africa have agreed to raise their bilateral trade target to

$90 billion by 2015 from $70 billion set earlier. This follows bilateral trade reach-ing $60 billion last year. “A 20-fold growth within a decade is indeed an achievement worth applauding. I propose that given the current growth rate, we may agree to revise the trade target to $90 billion by 2015,” said the Union Commerce, In-dustry and Textiles Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, during the second meeting of the India-Africa Trade Ministers. They also launched the India-Africa Business Council (IABC), which will be co-chaired by Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Group, from India’s side and Mr Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Nigeria, from African side. The core sectors of co-op-eration will be agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, mining, petro-leum and natural gas, IT/ITeS, gems and jewellery, financial services (including mi-crofinance), energy, roads and railways.

eDUCAtioN

15Giving a thrust to cross-border understanding of capital markets,

BSE Institute, a subsidiary of the Bombay Stock Exchange, on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Under the MoU, students of the two institutes would get greater insights into global markets through ex-change programmes and joint courses, a company release said. The programmes will start in the academic year 2012-13.The institutes are also planning joint pro-grammes for senior executives.

16The Indian Institute of Manage-ment Kozhikode (IIM-K) has

signed an agreement of co-operation with Leeds University Business School, UK. The agreement is another step in the internationalisation efforts of the institute and it will enable both the in-stitutions to carry out activities such as exchange of students, exchange of faculty members and collaborative research on contemporary management issues.

4 | India Newsletter

iNDiA-AUstriA BiLAterAL trADe rePortJanuary-December 2011 Report

SIT

C INDIA’S EXPORT TO AUSTRIA (in €) INDIA’AS IMPORT FROM AUSTRIA (in €)

ITEM 2010 2011 Change % of Total 2010 2011 Change % of Total

0 Food And Live Animals 19,201,239 24,862,288 29.48% 4.45% 2,001,118 459,982 -77.01% 0.06%

1 Beverages And Tobacco 999,751 626,655 -37.32% 0.11% 3,748,938 3,990,402 6.44% 0.49%

2 Crude Materials, Inedible 7,848,018 10,292,270 31.14% 1.84% 18,293,488 27,244,207 48.93% 3.33%

3 Min. Fuels, Lubricants And Rel. Mat. 1,026 8,834 761.01% 0.00% 27,573 76,669 178.06% 0.01%

4 Anim./Veget. Oils, Fats And Waxes 40,732 247,902 508.62% 0.04% 26 764 2838.46% 0.00%

5 Chemicals And Related Product 65,658,928 63,623,014 -3.10% 11.39% 71,141,005 63,172,281 -11.20% 7.73%

51 Organic Chemicals 19,505,417 11,008,725 -43.56% 1.97% 35,355,511 28,479,037 -19.45% 3.48%

54 Medicinal And Pharmac. Products 36,960,157 42,392,042 14.70% 7.59% 12,931,672 12,123,119 -6.25% 1.48%

6 Manufactured Goods By Material 82,338,600 105,580,728 28.23% 18.90% 170,722,268 272,491,932 59.61% 33.32%

65 Textile Yarn And Fabrics 39,232,026 46,572,310 18.71% 8.34% 3,960,150 4,471,298 12.91% 0.55%

66 Nonmetallic Mineral Manufactures 16,391,714 20,401,409 24.46% 3.65% 36,091,301 40,363,151 11.84% 4.94%

67 Iron And Steel 4,908,553 8,115,848 65.34% 1.45% 82,249,667 164,212,441 99.65% 20.08%

69 Other Metal Goods 13,586,798 19,137,967 40.86% 3.43% 21,742,557 36,869,403 69.57% 4.51%

7 Machinery And Transport Equipment 127,088,606 148,862,906 17.13% 26.64% 327,491,799 371,257,455 13.36% 45.40%

71 Power Generating Mac. And Equip. 9,041,648 15,238,406 68.54% 2.73% 42,866,480 57,068,666 33.13% 6.98%

74 General Ind. Mach. And Equip. 19,005,149 24,411,107 28.44% 4.37% 66,126,350 78,822,689 19.20% 9.64%

77 Electrical Machinery 39,345,621 47,029,255 19.53% 8.42% 59,272,781 72,881,631 22.96% 8.91%

78 Road Vehicles 47,930,442 51,344,497 7.12% 9.19% 47,930,442 51,344,497 7.12% 6.28%

8 Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles 180,282,127 204,615,949 13.50% 36.62% 61,432,006 79,050,826 28.68% 9.67%

84 Apparel And Clothing Accessories 107,758,251 119,763,688 11.14% 21.44% 185,817 178,025 -4.19% 0.02%

85 Footwear 41,394,167 53,892,450 30.19% 9.65% 41,560 81,733 96.66% 0.01%

87 Scientific And Controlling Instr. 2,157,069 3,226,499 49.58% 0.58% 31,530,469 43,676,855 38.52% 5.34%

9 Non-Classified Commodities 608 - - - 8,781 4,867 -44.57% 0.00%

TOTAL 483,459,635 558,720,546 654,867,002 817,749,385

India’s exports to Austria remain on a constant growth path. After managing to maintain a subtle but still positive

mark through the crisis year, exports have regained momentum and registered an increase by 15.6% year-on-year in 2011, with total export volume cross-ing the half-billion mark for the first time and amounting €558.72 million. This re-sult means an increase by 210% in Indian exports to Austria in the decade 2002-2011. As far as India’s imports from Aus-tria are concerned, trade has continued to prosper. In fact, a significant jump has been observed in the last two years fol-lowing the crisis year. In 2011, India im-ported a volume of €817.74 million from Austria, marking a jump by 24.9% year-on-year and by 45% based on crisis-year levels. Imports mark an increase by 320% in the decade 2002-2011. Both Indian ex-ports to Austria and Indian imports from Austria are found to be on a positive trend with large perspectives of further booms in the upcoming future given the observation of real opportunities in bilat-eral trade for both countries.

EXPORTS

On the exports side, India’s exports to Austria in 2011 are mainly characterized by “Textile Yarn, Fabrics And Made-Up Articles”(+18.7% y-o-y), “Articles Of Ap-parel And Clothing Accessories”(+11.1% y-o-y) and “Footwear”(+30.2% y-o-y), all of each account for approximately 40% of Indian exports to Austria. Following these, “Machinery and Transport Equipment” (+17.1% y-o-y) account for 26.6% of total exports: “Electrical Machinery”(+19.5% y-o-y) and “Road Vehicles”(+7.1% y-o-y). Attention must be given to the export volume of “Chemicals and Related prod-ucts” (-3.1% y-o-y), which has decreased for the first time in years. The drop has been mainly pushed by -43.6% drop in exports of organic chemicals. This de-serves special attention. Such a contrac-tion was not observed even during crisis years. In fact, the average rate of growth in exports of “Chemicals and Related Products” for the previous four periods was approximately 23% p.a.

IMPORTS

As far as India’s imports from Austria are concerned, they are mainly characterized by “Machinery and Equipment”(+13.4 y-o-y), which account for 45.4% of total imports. This category is evenly made up of “Power Generating Mach. And Equip.”(+33.1% y-o-y), “General Indus-trial Mach. And Equip.”(+19.2% y-o-y), “Electrical Machinery”(+23% y-o-y) and “Road Vehicles”(+7.1% y-o-y). Following these, “Manufactured Goods by Materi-al”(+59.6% y-o-y) currently experiences a boom given by accelerated growth in imports of “Iron and Steel” (+99.7% y-o-y) and “Other Metal Goods” (+69.6% y-o-y), both of which already contribute to 25% of total imports, and therefore surpass both its pre-crisis marks and growth rates. Similar to the results in Ex-ports, “Chemicals and Related Products” (-11.2% y-o-y) registered a decrease, also heavily given by the drop in imports of “Organic Chemicals” (-19.4% y-o-y).

News

India Newsletter | 5

eCoNoMiC sUrVey 2011-12A report card of the Indian economic scenario

worLD’s LArGestMundra Power Plant emerges as the world’s largest private power plant

The Economy Survey 2011-12 was tabled by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Parlia-

ment. Following are the highlights of Sur-vey, a report card of the Indian economic scenario for current fiscal:

• The country’s economic growth es-timated at 6.9 per cent in the current fiscal; growth momentum to pick up in next two fiscals to 7.6 per cent 2012-13 and 8.6 per cent in 2013-14.

• RBI expected to lower policy inter-est rates, as inflationary pressures expected to ease in coming months; a low interest rate regime to en-courage investment activity and push forward economic growth.

• Steps required for deepening of do-mestic financial markets, especially corporate bond market and attract-ing longer-term inflows from abroad; Efforts at attracting dedicated infra-structure funds have begun.

• The growth rate of investment in the economy is estimated to have de-clined; borrowing costs up due to a sharp increase in interest rates.

• High borrowing costs and increase in other costs affecting profitability and internal accruals.

• Slowdown in Indian economy largely due to global factors, as also because of domestic factors like tightening of monetary policy, high inflation and slower investment and industrial ac-tivities.

• Inflation high, but showing clear signs of slowdown by the year-end; Whole-sale food inflation down to 1.6 per cent in January 2012 from 20.2 per cent in February 2010.

• India remains one of the fastest growing economies of the world; Country’s sovereign credit rating rose by a substantial 2.98 per cent 2007-12.

• Exports grew by 40.5 per cent in the first half of this fiscal and imports grew by 30.4 per cent; Foreign trade performance to remain key driver of growth.

• Forex reserves expanded further, covering almost the entire external debt stock to the country.

• Foodgrains production likely to cross 250.42 million tonnes; largely on back of increase in rice produc-tion.

• Agriculture and Services sectors expected to perform well; Industrial growth pegged at 4-5 per cent and improve further as economic recov-ery resumes.

• Global economy remains fragile and concerted efforts needed to restore stability and renewed growth; Steps needed for sovereign debt crisis, fi-nancial regulation, growth and job creation efforts and energy security, globally.

• India much more closely integrated with world economy’ share of trade

to GDP of goods and services has tripled between 1990-2010.

• A progressive deregulation of inter-est rates on savings accounts to help raise financial savings and improve transmission of monetary policy.

• Sustainable development and cli-mate change becoming central areas of global concern and India too is equally concerned and engaged con-structively in global negotiations.

• FDI in multi-brand retail can come into effect in a “phased” manner, beginning from metropolitan cities. The survey said that allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand re-tail is one of the major issues in the services sector, but the move would address problems relating to food inflation.

• Notwithstanding lower growth of domestic steel consumption during the first three quarters of the cur-rent fiscal, the overall performance of the sector is “optimistic”. The sur-vey points out a list of bottlenecks responsible for lower steel con-sumption, including high inflationary pressure within, deteriorating global economy, multiple hikes in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India

Adani Power has synchronised the fifth unit of the Mundra power plant, taking its total generating

capacity to 4,620 mega watt (MW), mak-ing it the world’s largest single location coal-fired plant in the private sector and the fifth largest globally.

Adani ventured into power generation in 2009-10 and its current capacity is 15 per cent more than the ultra mega pow-er projects (UMPPs) being executed by Reliance Power and Tata Power in states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Jharkhand.

“When we started executing the power plant, our name didn’t figure in Planning Commission’s 2007-2012 five year plan period and now we contribute 10% of the planned target,” according to Ravi Sharma, CEO, power business, Adani Power.

The company has signed long-term pow-er purchase agreement (PPA) with Gu-jarat and Haryana for sale of 80 per cent of its capacity while the remaining 20 per cent the company intends to sell at mer-chant basis.

Adani Power intends to complete com-

missioning of 3,300 MW at Tiroda and another 1,320 MW at Kawai by March 31, 2013. The company intends to reach a capacity of 20,000 MW by 2020.

Articles

6 | India Newsletter

The list of admired companies was prepared on the basis of a survey of 507 executives across 291 com-

panies. The survey was carried out be-tween October 2011 and January 2012.

Various factors, including corporate gov-ernance, financial soundness, leadership, talent management and corporate social responsibility were taken into considera-tion for the rankings.

To compile the list, 15 industries were se-lected on the basis of size, contribution to gross domestic product, growth rate and national presence, among others.

Mr H. M. Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel, said the company’s primary business purpose was to improve peo-

ple’s quality of life.

This was the standard that had guided Tata Steel in all its activities for over a hundred years, Mr Nerurkar said.

“We are consistent in our pursuit of im-provements in key areas that impact our business — innovation, talent manage-ment and, most importantly, community development,” he said.

Established in 1907 as Asia’s first inte-grated private sector steel company, Tata Steel group of companies is among the world’s leading steel manufacturers, with an annual crude steel capacity of over 27 million tonnes per year.

It is now the world’s second-most ge-ographically-diversified steel producer,

with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 coun-tries.

The Tata Steel group of companies reg-istered a turnover of $26.64 billion in FY2011.It employs over 81,000 people across five continents.

The Ethisphere Institute’s annual World’s Most Ethical Companies (WME) list revealed that 145

companies in countries including the US, Great Britain, Japan, Portugal and India stood out for setting high standards of employee behaviour and conduct.

Ethisphere evaluated about 5,000 global companies, including those in Standard & Poor’s 500 index on reputation, corpo-rate citizenship, culture and other quali-ties.

Ethisphere’s annual list of the WME rec-ognises companies that truly go beyond making statements and conduct business

ethically by translating words into ac-tions.

Mr H.M. Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel, said ethical business principles and practices have been the key differen-tiators of Tata Group and Tata Steel since inception.

In 1998, the Tata Group developed its first Code of Conduct, which was articu-lation of its values and business principles followed by its employees since the in-ception of the group and the company, Tata Steel said in a press release.

The process for implementation of Tata

Code of Conduct in the company in-volves engagement with different global partners of the company including Corus, NatSteel and other companies. The re-vised version of the Code, Global Tata Code of Conduct, was launched by the Group’s Chairman in 2008, it said.

The research-based Ethisphere Institute is a leading international think-tank dedi-cated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business eth-ics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability.

Tata Power in March synchronised the second unit of its Maithon power project in Jharkhand. With

this 525 megawatt (Mw) unit, the compa-ny has a total power generation capacity of 5,297 Mw, making it the country’s larg-est private sector power generating firm.

The Maithon project’s first unit was com-missioned in September 2011. It is a 74:26 joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation. “The syn-chronisation of Maithon unit-2 today is a significant milestone. This development

reaffirmed Tata Power’s contribution as the largest integrated power company in India,” said Anil Sardana, managing direc-tor, Tata Power in a statement.

Ten days earlier, the company commis-sioned the first unit of India’s first ultra mega power project in Mundra, Gujarat.

The 800-Mw unit was synchronised in mid-January and achieved full load in late February. With Mundra and Maithon, Tata Power has a gross thermal power generating capacity of 4,447 Mw, and a

clean generation capacity of 850 Mw

from renewable sources. The company

added 1,300 Mw in gross capacity this

quarter. Lanco Infratech comes second

in terms of capacity with private power

sector companies, and has an operational

capacity of 4,388 Mw and Adani Power

has 3,330 Mw of capacity. Reliance Power

which has plans to add 24,000 Mw of

capacity, plans to bring their capacity to

5,000 Mw already by December this year.

Articles

tAtA steeL toPs List of Most ADMireD CoMPANiesTata Steel topped the list of India’s 50 most-admired companies in a survey compiled by Fortune India

tAtA steeL, wiPro AMoNG worLD’s Most etHiCAL firMsTata Steel and Wipro are listed among the world’s most ethical companies by think thank Ethisphere Institute

tAtA Power is LArGest PriVAte Power ProDUCerThe company has a total power generation capacity of 5,297 Mw

India Newsletter | 7

Many suppliers from Austria are reluctant to face the effort of exhibiting in India. However, by

choosing the right partner, the work in-volved can be reduced to a minimum.

Expo Display Service is not only a lead-ing supplier of flexible, modular exhibi-tion solutions and mobile display sys-tems. Based in Vienna, the company also belongs to the Insta Worldwide Group, a worldwide network of exhibition serv-ice providers that is managed from India and in which members collaborate on a tightly interlinked basis. In this way,

Expo Display Systems succeeds in work-ing from its offices in Vienna for ex-

hibitions in India with the group

member Insta Exhibitions in Mumbai – whose services and local networks are made fully available to Austrian custom-ers.

The advantages are clearly evident. Cus-tomers enjoy the comfort of efficient ad-visory services in Vienna – and can place everything else in the hands of the inter-national exhibition professionals. Expo Display Service produces and finishes the practical, collapsible exhibition stands plus accessories according to customer specifications. Thanks to international experience and a local contact network, all the material required is transported safely and punctually, and is assembled and disassembled at the exhibition site by specialist staff hired by the partner company.

In this way, exhibiters not only spare their budgets and nerves – but thanks to Expo Display Service’s many years of experi-ence in over 30 countries, they are free to concentrate on what is most essential: successfully presenting their products and services in currently one of the most dynamic markets: INDIA!

The contact information of the Indian Expo Display Service in Austria is:

Expo Display Service GmbH Floridotower (Zentrale & Schauraum) Floridsdorfer Hauptstr. 1, 1210 Wien0043 (0) 1 270 60 50 info@expodisplayservice.de www.expodisplayservice.at

Articles

CoNqUeriNG tHe iNDiAN MArket froM VieNNAIndian Expo Display Service based in Vienna

8 | India Newsletter

Thanks to a growing economy and sustained growth rate, India has created tremendous invest-

ment opportunities in various sectors. We begin by looking at the broad policy framework that will shape how these op-portunities can be utilised. Further, there is sector-specific analysis of these possi-bilities, in a scope-document format for potential investors.

investment Policy

An objective of the Government of In-dia is to attract foreign investment for growth and development. India has evolved a liberal and transparent policy on foreign direct investment (FDI).The liberal investment regime is comple-mented by a moderate and stable tax re-gime. Tax holidays and other such special incentives are available for investment in certain sectors like infrastructural projects. A single window facility in the form of a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has been made available to foreign investors seeking approval for in-vestment proposals. India already has in place a stable investment policy with a long-tenn perspective, which has boosted the confidence of foreign investors in In-dia’s investment policy.

India’s FDI policy has been progressively liberalised and rationalised since 1991 by raising sector-specific investment caps, bringing more industries under the au-tomatic route and allowing FDI in more sectors. In 2000, the Government allowed FDI up to 100 percent under the auto-matic route for most sectors except for a few. Further liberalisation took place in 2008, when the Government allowed FDI in most sectors of the economy, either through the Government approval route or the automatic route via the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This included allowing the raising of FDI caps in the civil aviation sector and rationalisation of FDI policy in the petroleum and natural gas sectors. Since 31 March 2010, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has been publishing a bi annual consolidated FDI policy circular, integrating all regulations pertaining to FDI policy.

investment overview

Recent reports show that India’s infra-structure financing requirements and the new manufacturing policy will open

up US$ I trillion worth of opportunities for global investors in the next five years. This was stated by Economic Affairs Sec-retary R. Gopalan at a panel discussion on ‘Innovative Approaches to Financing our Infrastructure Needs’, organised by the Confederation of lndian Industry (Cll) and Brookings Institution in June 2011. India plans to invest $1 trillion on infrastructure, which is critical for sus-taining high economic growth. The Gov-ernment is in the final stages of formu-lating a manufacturing policy to increase the share ofmanufacturing to 25 percent of the GDP, up from the current level of about 16-17 percent. Besides simplifying the process of doing business in India, the Government is also contemplating tax sops for investors in the proposed policy.

With India’s economy continuing its rapid growth, the Diversified Industrial sector is well-positioned to benefit. Significant market potential for consumer and in-dustrial products, abundant skilled work-force, including established presence in key markets like manufacturing and steel, have propelled India-based companies to global leadership positions. India contin-ues to be the hub for not only outsourc-ing, but also value innovation in areas like engineering and design. India’s industrial manufacturing sector is an important el-ement of the economy with the world’s second largest petrochemical facility; the world’s lowest cost steel producer; and one of the top manufacturers of vehicles in almost every single category.

energy sector

The Ministry of Power signed an MOU with the International Energy Agency (lEA) in April 1998 for cooperation in the power sector. India is one ofthe few non-member countries of the lEA and cooperation focuses on the following key areas: Energy information and statistics; Energy supply security; Energy efficiency; Energy & Environment; Energy Pricing, etc. There has been close interaction with the lEA ever since, jointly organising a number of events including workshop on Coal and Electricity, Standards and Labelling, Energy efficiency, and Building codes.

India is also working with the lEA to put the case across for treatment of hydro power projects, irrespective of their size. Despite the recognition that gas is an en-vironmentally benign source of energy, its availability at the right price has been the key issue which has acted as a deterrent for the power sector in setting up ambi-tious gas based power projects. To track the developments in the international gas markets, the TEA is expected to draw out various scenarios and projections for availability of gas.

software industry

The reason why India attracts so many investors in this sector besides capabil-ity is due to the fact that most software companies in the country are Capabil-ity Maturity Model (CMM) certified. The

An objective of the Govern-ment of India is to attract FDI for growth and development.India has evolved a liberal and transparent policy on FDI. The liberal investment regime is complemented by a moderate and stable tax regime”

“

Articles

iNVestMeNt oPPortUNities iN iNDiAAn overview and profile of the main sectors

India Newsletter | 9

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and the Knowledge Process Outsourc-ing (KPO) are two sectors enjoying a fast paced growth rate. It is estimated by NASSCOM that by year-end 2012, the BPO industry alone will reach a value of US$30 billion. The KPO industry is fol-lowing suit and it is predicted that it will reach the figure of US$ I0 billion by year end 2012.

education

The Indian Education industry is another sector poised for rapid growth. There are many private players in this field now, and the Government is making sure that the quality of education and supplies pro-

vided by them are good. The main rea-son why education is a thriving industry in India is evident: 50 percent of the In-dian population comprises the youth; and there are 367 universities in the country and nearly 18,000 colleges. Many inter-national schools are entering this sector every year.

food Processing

The food processing industry is one of the most important sectors in India since it bridges the gap between agriculture and industry. It is among the largest in the world and enjoys patronage from the Government as well as private players and even cooperative sectors. There are

also stringent rules and government bod-ies have been established to see that the industry functions as it should. Even the Government ensures steady investment in this sector by introducing various changes in the ‘National Food Processing Policy’.

Conclusion

Overall, the investment climate in Tndia is good and steadily improving to accom-modate more sectors and players. The high growth rate of India’s economy and well-positioned policies also ensure that FDI is channelled in the right direction, benefiting both investors and consumers across the board.

Articles

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday announced a slew of revisions aimed at liberalising the

norms for direct investment abroad by Indian residents. These include liberalisa-tion in regulations on qualification shares, professional services rendered and Esop (employee stock option plan) schemes.

The central bank has removed the cap of one per cent on resident individuals acquiring qualification shares for hold-ing the post of a director in a foreign company. “Accordingly, remittance shall be allowed from resident individuals for acquiring the qualification shares for holding the post of a director in a foreign company to the extent prescribed in the law of the host country where it is lo-

cated,” said the RBI notification.

It has also decided to grant general per-mission to resident individuals to acquire shares of a foreign entity in part or full consideration for professional services rendered to the foreign company or in lieu of a director’s remuneration.

And, Indian resident employees or di-rectors have been permitted to accept shares offered under an Esop scheme globally, on a uniform basis, in a foreign company irrespective of the percentage of the direct or indirect equity stake. Earlier, the facility was subject to equity holding of not less than 51 per cent.

However, shares under the Esop scheme should be offered by the issuing company

globally on a uniform basis and the annual return filed by the Indian company to RBI through the authorised dealer category- I bank, giving details of remittances and beneficiaries.

RBI also announced several modifications to ease the process of direct investments abroad. “It has been decided that issuance of personal guarantee by the promoters of the Indian party as presently allowed under the general permission shall also be extended to the indirect resident in-dividual promoters of the Indian party, with the same stipulations as in the case of personal guarantee by the direct pro-moters,” it said.

foreiGN DireCt iNVestMeNt FDI norms for Indians relaxed

10 | India Newsletter

The Indian textile industry is one of the major sectors of Indian econ-omy largely contributing towards

the growth of the country’s industrial sector. Textiles sector contributes to 14 per cent of industrial production, 4 per cent of National GDP and 10.63 per cent of country’s export earnings. The open-ing up of the sector through liberalisation polices set up by the Indian Government has given the much-needed thrust to the Indian textile industry, which has now successfully become one of the largest in the world. Textile sector in India provides direct employment to over 35 million people and holds the second position after the agriculture sector in providing employment to the masses.

Growing at a rapid pace, the Indian Mar-ket is being flocked by foreign investors exploring investment purposes and with an increasing trend in the demand for the textile products in the country, a number of new companies and joint ventures are being set up in the country to capture new opportunities in the market.

Growth trends

The Indian textile industry can be di-vided into a number of segments such as cotton, silk, woolen, readymade, jute and handicraft. The total cloth produc-tion registered during September 2010 was 10.2 per cent higher than that reg-istered for September 2009. The total production of cloth during April – Sep-tember 2010 increased by 2.1 per cent as compared to the same period of 2009. The highest growth was observed in the power loom sector (13.2 per cent), fol-lowed by hosiery sector (9.1 per cent).

The total textile exports during April-July 2010 (provisional) were valued at US$ 7.58 billion as against US$ 7.21 bil-lion during the corresponding period of the previous year. The share of textile ex-ports in total exports was 11.04 per cent during April-July 2010. Cotton textiles has registered a growth of 8.2 per cent during April-September 2010 -11, while-wool, silk and man-made fibre textiles have registered a growth of 2.2 per cent while textile products including apparel have registered a growth of 3 per cent. Textiles and apparel industry exports, valued at US$ 20.02 billion, contributed about 11.5 per cent to the country’s total

exports in 2008–09. The total textiles im-ports into India in 2008–09 were valued at US$ 3.33 billion.

The total foreign exchange earnings from the textile exports during the period April-July 2011 was registered at US$ 10.32 billion as against US$ 7.75 billion during the corresponding period of fi-nancial year 2010-11.

India has the potential to increase its tex-tile and apparel share in the world trade from the current level of 4.5 per cent to 8 per cent and reach US$ 80 billion by the end of the year 2020.

The Textile sector grew at 3-4 per cent during the last 6 decades. As per the 11th Five Year Plan (FYP), it was projected to fast-track to a growth rate of 16 per cent in value and is further expected to reach US$ 115 billion (exports US$ 55 billion and domestic market US$ 60 billion) by 2012. Exports are likely to reach US$ 32 billion in 2011-12 and domestic market US$ 55 billion.

Government initiatives

The Government of India has promoted a number of export promotion policies for the Textile sector in the Union Budg-et 2011-12 and the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14. This also includes the various incentives under Focus Market Scheme and Focus Product Scheme; broad bas-ing the coverage of Market Linked Focus Product Scheme for textile products and extension of Market Linked Focus Prod-uct Scheme etc. to increase the Indian

shares in the global trade of textiles and clothing. The various schemes and pro-motions by the Government of India are as follows -

Welfare Schemes: The Government has offered health insurance coverage and life insurance coverage to 161.10 mil-lion weavers and ancillary workers under the Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme, while 733,000 artisans were provided health coverage under the Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya Bima Yojna.

E-Marketing: The Central Cottage Indus-tries Corporation of India (CCIC), and the Handicrafts and Handlooms Export Corporation of India (HHEC) have de-veloped a number of e-marketing plat-forms to simplify marketing issues. Also, a number of marketing initiatives have been taken up to promote niche hand-loom and handicraft products with the help of 600 events all over the country.

Skill Development: As per the 12th FYP, the Integrated Skill Development Scheme aims to train over 2,675,000 people within the next 5 years (this would cover over 270,000 people during the first two years and the rest during the remaining three years). This scheme would cover all sub sectors of the textile sector such as Textiles and Apparel; Handicrafts; Hand-looms; Jute; and Sericulture.

Credit Linkages: As per the Credit Guar-antee program, over 25,000 Artisan Credit Cards have been supplied to ar-tisans, and 16.50 million additional appli-

textiLesIndian Industry Sector Close-Up

Industry

India Newsletter | 11

cations for issuing up credit cards have been forwarded to banks for further consideration with regards to the Credit Linkage scheme.

Financial package for waiver of overdues: The Government of India has announced a package of US$ 604.56 million to waive of overdue loans in the handloom sector. This also includes the waiver of overdue loans and interest till 31st March, 2010, for loans disbursed to handloom sec-tor. This is expected to benefit at least 300,000 handloom weavers of the indus-try and 15,000 cooperative societies.

Textiles Parks: The Indian Government has given approval to 21 new Textiles Parks to be set up and this would be ex-ecuted over a period of 36 months. The

new Textiles Parks would leverage em-ployment to 400,000 textiles workers. The product mix in these parks would include apparels and garments parks, ho-siery parks, silk parks, processing parks, technical textiles including medical tex-tiles, carpet and power loom parks.

recent Developments

Along with the increasing export figures in the Indian Apparel sector in the coun-try, Bangladesh is planning to set up two Special Economic Zones (SEZ) for at-tracting Indian companies, in view of the duty free trade between the two coun-tries. The two SEZs are intended to come up on 100-acre plots of land in Kishore-ganj and Chattak, in Bangladesh.

Italian luxury major Canali has entered

into a 51:49 joint venture with Genesis Luxury Fashion, which currently has dis-tribution rights of Canali-branded prod-ucts in India. The company will now sell Canali branded products in India exclu-sively.

the road Ahead

With the increase in investments in the Indian textile sector, the subsequent in-crease in the industrial production, and the positivity observed by the Textile sec-tor has resulted in progress and develop-ment of the sector. Integrating the secto-ral needs and continued investments with technical advancements will completely modernize the industry chains across the country, and further assist in reaping ben-efits for the Indian Textile sector.

If you are interested in tie-ups with Indian Manufacturers / Exporters of Textiles or simply want to sell your Brands or engaging franchisees in India, these are some entry portal for your business:

Exports PromotionCouncil of Handicrafts

www.epch.inTel: 91-11-26135256/57/58Fax: 91-11-26135518/19E-mail: epch@vsnl.com

Cotton TextilesExports Promotion Council

www.epch.inTel: 91-22 236329/10Fax: 91-22-236329/14

Email : info@texprocil.org

The Arvind Mills was set up with the pioneering effort of the Lal-bhai brothers in 1931. With the

best of technology and business acumen, Arvind has become a true Indian multi-national, having chosen to invest strategi-cally, where demand has been high and quality required has been superlative. To-day, The Arvind Mills Limited is the flag-ship company of Rs.20 billion (US$ 500 million) Lalbhai Group.

Arvind Mills, the flagship company of the Lalbhai Group, is one of India’s leading composite manufacturer of textiles. Its headquarters is in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It manufactures a range of cotton

shirting, denim, knits and bottomweights (Khakis) fabrics. It is India’s largest denim manufacturer apart from being world’s fourth-largest producer and exporter of denim. In the early 1980s, the company brought denim into the domestic market, thus started the jeans revolution in India. Today it not only retails its own brands like Flying Machine, Newport and Excali-bur but also licensed international brands like Arrow, Lee, Wrangler and Tommy Hilfiger, through its nationwide retail network. Arvind also runs a value retail chain, Megamart, which stocks company brands.. The original budget for the com-pany totaled $ 55 thousand, at present it is $ 500 million Arvind feature is that its enterprises are equipped with highly advanced equipment of a full cycle – from painting the fiber to the finished product.

Arvind Mills has set the pace for chang-

ing global customer demands for textiles and has focused its attention on select core products. Such a focus has enabled the company to play a dominant role in the global textile arena. With its presence across the textile value chain, the com-pany endeavors to be a one-stop shop for leading garment brands.

BiG PLAyerLeading Indian Company in the Textile Industry

Industry

12 | India Newsletter

Karnataka, one of the top-five indus-trialized States of the country with 5 per cent of India’s population contrib-utes to over 6 per cent of the nation’s

economy. Some of its distinguishing strengths are in the areas of ITI ITeS,

Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, R&D, Engineering, Aerospace, Mines & Minerals, Automotive, Energy and

Textiles.

With opportunities in virtually every facet of today’s economy, the State is a veritable treasure trove for investors. Government of Karnataka is commit-ted to playing the role of a catalyst and facilitator to maintain the State’s

recognition as India’s preferred invest-ment destination.

The Global Investor’s Meet, a bien-nial investment summit organized by

the Government of Karnataka in Ban-galore is an initiative in this direction.GIM 2010 was a grand success and

received an outstanding response -investment commitments worth Rs.

approx. 60 billion EUR were received from global and national industries and the event saw participation of

over 7000 delegates, 2000 compa-nies and 21 countries.

Now, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) is organizing GIM 2012 on 7th & 8th June 2012 at Bangalore

International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bangalore.

For more information visit advantagekarnataka.com

Trade Shows

India Newsletter | 13

9th INDIA INTERNATIONALTEXTILE MACHINERY EXHIBITION

2 - 7 DECEMBER, 2012, MUMBAI

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 marketingofficer@indianembassy.at to get more infor-

mation about possible assistance that we may provide.

Trade Shows

AVIATION INDUSTRY

14 | India Newsletter

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) will establish an ‘Indian Community Welfare

Fund’ (ICWF) at Indian Missions across the world to provide ‘on-site’ welfare services to overseas Indians in distress, said Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi while addressing the 2012 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

The Minister said there were an estimat-ed five million overseas Indian workers mostly in the Gulf and Malaysia.

“There is a net annual outflow of over half a million workers from India, exclud-ing returnees. These workers make a sig-nal contribution to India and account for close to 40 percent of the total remit-tances that India receives each year. Last year, India received over $50 billion as remittances,” he said.

The Minister said the vast majority of these workers were temporary contrac-tual workers in the informal sectors and often did not have the protection of la-bour laws in the host country.

“A significant number of them are wom-en. This makes them especially vulnerable to economic downturns and sometimes to exploitation. In particular, the often appalling conditions of work and the ab-sence of social security protection for women domestic workers, needs strong governmental interventions. Even the International Labour Organisation has recently drawn attention to the urgency in this regard,” he said. Ravi said the Min-istry of Overseas Indian Affairs had con-cluded bilateral agreements with many of

the Gulf Cooperation Council states to work together to ensure decent work and suitable safe guards for women workers.

oCi sCHeMe

According to Ravi, the ‘Overseas Citizen-ship of India’ (OCI) scheme, was another initiative launched in 2006 that has met with overwhelming success. “In the last six years, over a million OCI cards have been issued to overseas Indians across the world. This has enabled enhanced economic, social and cultural engage-ment between the vast overseas Indian community and India,” he said.

Ravi said his mandate for his Ministry was to raise the level of engagement to go be-yond mere investment-related issues and address a broader agenda.

“We believe that this will provide the vast majority of you the opportunity to ben-

efit from as well as contribute — each in your own way — to India’s develop-ment story. We have put together a two-day conference of inter-related themes which reflect the national priorities over the 12th Five-Year Plan which commenc-es in 2012. It is our expectation that we can and we will build strong partnerships with the overseas Indian community in India’s development process,” he said.

The Minister urged the delegates to re-flect upon the younger generations of persons of Indian origin who are born and brought up abroad. “How do we ensure that the overseas Indian youth across the world connect with their roots and bond with India? What forms must this engagement take? What are the shared values that we must inculcate? What new ideas can we consider for expanding our engagement and how? We must find an-swers to these questions,” he said. “It has been my endeavour to make the PBD an outcome-driven platform. We will have met your expectations if we act on the recommendations of this annual flagship event,” he said.

Ravi said it was a matter of deep satisfac-tion that the government had acted on last year’s announcements. “The most im-portant of which was the skills develop-ment initiative forthe north-east states. I am happy to say this project is under implementation,” he said.

The Minister said that in order to posi-tion India as a global supplier of skilled and trained work force and leverage India’s ‘demographic dividend’ over the coming decades, his Ministry haddrafted a scheme for skill development.

Overseas Indians

fUND to HeLP oVerseAs iNDiANs iN DistressCommunity Welfare Fund, Swarnpravas Yojana and Social Security Agreements

minister of overseas indian affairs vayalar ravi speaks about the indian Community Welfare fund, sWarnpravas yojana and soCial seCurity agreements

It has been my endeavour to make the PBD an outcome-driven platform. We will have met your expectations if we act on the recommendations of this annual flagship event.”

“

India Newsletter | 15

expanding the eConomiC engagementof the indian diaspora With india

for DetAiLs CoNtACt:MS. SUJATA SUDARSHAN, CEO, OIFC, AND DIRECTOR – CII

249-F, SECTOR 18, UDYOG VIHAR, PHASE IV, GURGAON —122015, HARYANA, INDIATEL: +91-124-4014055/6 | FAX: +91-124-4309446 WEBSITE: WWW.OIFC.IN

“The ‘Swarnpravas Yojana’ aims to train 10 million youth over the next two Five-Year Plans. This would enable our work-ers to move up the value chain and ac-cess better jobs overseas. We hope to launch this project next year.”

The Minister made particular reference to three major initiatives the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs had put in place for the benefit of overseas Indian workers. These are the ICWF; the Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC); and bilateral social security agreements with a host of countries.

iNDiAN CoMMUNity weLfAre fUND

The Ministry will establish the ICWF to be placed at the command of the Heads of the Indian Missions across the world.

“The fund provides for food, shelter, le-gal assistance and other welfare support to overseas Indians on a ‘means tested’ basis. The ICWF, Imay add, has been an eminent success,” the Minister said.

iNDiAN workers resoUrCe CeNtre

In partnership with the Government of the UAE, the Ministry had established the IWRC in Abu Dhabi. The IWRC, which provides for electronic attestation of all work contracts, extends counselling services and operates a shelter with a helpline for workers in distress. “This is perhaps the single-biggest institutional intervention to safeguard the interests of our people abroad. I have now asked that similar Indian Workers Resource Cen-tres be established in the other countries of the Gulf and in Malaysia,” he said.

soCiAL seCUrity AGree-MeNts

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has also taken undertakenseveral initia-tives for Indian knowledge workers and professionals overseas. The Ministry has signed bilateral Social Security Agree-ments with over a dozen countries that have a significant overseas Indian popu-lation. “Last year, I signed the agreement with Germany. These agreements pro-vide a host of benefits, including port-ability of pensions and avoidance of dou-ble social security payments,” he said. “With increasing globalisation, migration of professionals from India is bound to grow considerably. These agreements will therefore assume importance in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Overseas Indians

16 | India Newsletter

PrePArAtioN

• Wash and cut the fish into pieces. In a non-stick skillet, heat 2 tbsp coconut oil, add mustard seeds. When they start to sputter, add onions, shallots, curry leaves, chillies, garlic and ginger and sauté till the onions turn translucent.

• Next, add turmeric powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, salt, fenugreek powder and fry for a minute. add chopped tomatoes to the mix and cook for another minute. Then add the raw mango pieces with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil until the gravy acquires a semi-consistent texture.

• Add the fish pieces and cook for another 5 minutes until the gravy becomes thick. Add coconut milk and let it simmer on low flame for another 5 minutes. Check salt and spice levels and adjust according to taste.

• Serve with hot rice or kappa vevichathu.

KERALA FOOD

Kerala offers a variety of vegetarian and non-vege-tarian dishes. While rice is the staple, coconut and seafood define Malayali cuisine. Kerala is home to spices, such as black pepper, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon, and no dish in the state is complete without them. among the most popular dishes are the appam and egg curry/mutton stew; iddi-appam or stringhoppers; puttu or rice flour and coconut steamed in bamboo; the Malabar biryani; meen porichathu or fish fry; meen veevi-chathu or fish cooked in fiery red chilly sauce; a variety of thorens or dry-sautéed vegetable dishes; avial or a mixed vegetable curry; and pachadi, a one-vegetable curry, thickened in coconut and curd. Try this fish curry to start things with!

TAMIL NADU FOOD

Tamil Cuisine makes use of rice,

legumes and lentils, in addition

to meat, with a variety of spices.

The cuisine from its Chettinad

region, especially, has become

famous for using a variety of

spices, especially in its non-veg-

etarian recipes. The presented

recipe is a sample from the

Chettinad region.

iNGreDieNts

• King fish: 1/2 kg. (You can also use Vanjiram or Neyymeen or seer)

• Green chillies: 5 (slit)• Ginger: 1-inch piece

(minced)• Garlic: 2 to 3 cloves

(minced)• Onion: 1 large (finely

chopped) • Shallots: 5 (finely chopped)• Raw Mango: 1 cup (cut

into 1-inch cubes)• Tomatoes: 2 medium sized• Coconut Milk: 2 cups• Mustard seeds: 1 tsp• Kashmiri Chilli Powder:

2-3 tbsp• Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp• Coconut oil: 2 tbsp• Fenugreek Powder: a

pinch• Curry leaves: 4-5• Salt: to taste

iNGreDieNts

• Mutton (medium pieces): 1/2kg

• Whole spices (bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom): 2 each

• Onions (chopped): 2 me-dium

• Tomatoes (chopped finely): 2 medium

• Ginger paste: 1 tsp• Garlic paste: 1tsp• Mint leaves (chopped)• Salt: To taste• Oil

Marinade: • Yoghurt: 1cup• Coriander powder: 1tbsp• Turmeric powder: 1/4tsp• Salt: To taste

t

To Grind:• Dry red chillies: 5• Cumin seeds: 1tsp• Fennel seeds: 1tsp• Peppercorns: 1tsp• Poppyseeds: 1tbsp• Shallots: 10• Grated coconut: ¼ cup• Curry leaves•

TAMIL NADU FOOD

Tamil Cuisine makes use of rice, legumes and lentils, in addition to meat, with a variety of spices. The cuisine from its Chettinad region, especially, has become famous for using a variety of spices, espe-cially in its non-vegetarian recipes. The presented recipe is a sample from the Chettinad region.

PrePArAtioN

• Marinate the mutton with yoghurt, turmeric and cori-ander powder and salt for at least 6 hours or overnight. Pressure-cook the mutton with the marinade till 3 whis-tles. Keep aside. Grind all the ingredients from the list ‘To grind’ into a fine thick paste and keep aside. Heat the oil and fry the whole spices until brown, add the chopped onions, tomatoes, and ginger-garlic paste, and sauté eve-rything until the raw smell goes away. Add the cooked mutton pieces to it and let it cook for 5 minutes.

• Add the ground paste and let it simmer until the oil separates. add enough water and cook until the mutton pieces are done. Finally, add the mint leaves and take off the stove. Serve hot.

CHettiNAD MUttoN korMAIndian Cuisine Recipe - Tamil Nadu

Gastronomy

ALLePPey fisH CUrryIndian Cuisine Recipe - Kerala

India Newsletter | 17

Of all India’s states, Bihar is the one most intimately linked to the Buddha’s life, resulting in a

trail of pilgrimages which have come to be known as the Buddhist circuit. The very name Bihar is derived from the world ’vihara’, which means Buddhist monastery. The Buddhist trail begins at the capital city, Patna, where a notewor-thy museum contains a collection of Hin-du and Buddhist sculptures. The Khuda Baksh Oriental Library has rare Muslim manuscripts including some from the University of Cordoba in Spain. 40 km away, Vaishali was the site for the second Buddhist Council as the presence of ruins testify. 90 km south of Patna is Nalanda which translates as ’the place that con-fers the lotus’ (of spiritual knowledge). A monastic university flourished here from the 5th to the 11th century. It is said to have contained nine million books, with 2,000 teachers to impart knowledge to 10,000 students who came from all over the Buddhist world. Lord Buddha him-self taught here and Hieun Tsang, the 7th century Chinese traveller, was a student. Ongoing excavations have uncovered temples, monasteries and lecture halls.

Rajgir, ‘the royal palace’, 12 km south, was the venue for the first Buddhist Coun-cil. The Buddha spent five years at Raj-gir after having attained enlightenment, and many of the remains at Rajgir com-memorate various incidents, the hill of Gridhrakuta being perhaps the most im-portant, as this is where the Buddha de-livered most of his sermons. Bodhgaya is the spot where Lord Buddha attained en-lightenment, with the Mahabodhi Temple marking the precise location. Bihar’s Bud-dhist circuit has modest back-up facilities by way of accommodation, international dining and surface transport. (For those interested in the Buddhist circuit, it may be worthwhile to note that Sarnath, in Uttar Pradesh, close to Varanasi, is an important part of the circuit, and has been beautifully developed. Besides the excavated sites, a museum here houses several Buddhist icons, among them the Ashoka Lion, India’s national emblem).

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

buddha in bodhgaya temple

ashokan pillar, vaishali

rajgir jain temple

pre-historiC paintings,kaimur

www.india-tourism.cominfo@india-tourism.com

Tourism

BiHArIndian State Profile

18 | India Newsletter

iNDiAN MoVie eVeNiNG: AJAB PreM ki GHAZAB kAHANiApril 26th, 18:00 | Indian Embassy Business Centre (1st Floor, Kärntner Ring 2, 1010 Vienna)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Rajkumar Santoshi

Starring: Ranbir Kapoor/Katrina Kaif

Released: November 2009

Duration: 161 Minutes

Language: Hindi

Subtitles: English

Synopsis: Prem’s (Ranbir Kapoor), fundas in life were very simple - be happy... make others happy... keep the town happy. It may have been a case of mistaken identity that led Prem to kidnap Jenny (Katrina Kaif). And it was sheer greed that made Prem try to pull a fast one over her father. As for sweet and simple Jenny, brought up by indifferent and uncaring fos-ter parents, all she longed was to love and be loved in return. And it was love and only love for Jenny that made Prem turn over a new leaf. From hardly working vagabond he began working hard to make money…From a besotted Romeo he became a mature and thoughtful Majnu who put Jenny’s happiness above everything else. As for Jenny, she was so much in love with the idea of being in love that she was blinded by the reality that was staring in her face... That’s when she realises that she had made a mistake with her love.

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.indi-anembassy.at or via phone at +43 1 505 866633 (Ms. Lily John).

TREKKING WITH NATIVES IN NAGALANDexhibition

NAGA PEOPLEJEWELRY AND ASHES

Until June 11th10am-6pmMuseum of EthnologyNeue Burg, Heldenplatz 1010 Vienna

TALK-SERIES ‘ZU GAST BEI ELISABETH AL-HIMRANI’

Guided Tour of the ExhibitionNAGA PEOPLE

Jewelry and Ashes

When: April 19, 16:00Where: Museum of Ethnology

Neue Burg, 1010 Vienna

More details ataustro-indian.at

CLASSICAL INDIAN DANCEBHARATANATYAM STUDIO

Srngara - Love in Different Situations

When: April 28, 19:30Where: Natya Mandir

Börseplatz 3/1D, 1010 Vienna

More details ataustro-indian.at

Published by the Embassy of India, ViennaFor any inquiries related to the ‘India Newsletter’, please email:

marketingofficer@indianembassy.at

Goal of event: Open sharing of knowledge, information and experience about India; Net-

working, understanding & inspiration

When: April 28 09:30-18:30Where: The HUB Vienna

Lindengasse 56, 1070 WienMore details at

barcamp.at/IndiaCamp_2012

otHer iNDiA-reLAteD eVeNts iN AUstriA

Agenda