India - Manufacturing Sector

[ericos87]

Hi guys,

This thread will focus on manufacturing sector and news relating to it. I believe that manufacturing base is likely to increase in India in the near future. So, I might as well have a new thread for it. I welcome any post relating to the Manufacturing Sector.

thanks

[ericos87]

Lavazza announces new manufacturing facility in India
Announcement / Corporate January 28, 2011, 19:02 IST

• Plant to be operational by mid-2012
• To cater to South Asia operations of the company
• Investment reinforces Lavazza’s commitment in the Asia-Pacific region

Lavazza, a world leader in the coffee market, has taken yet another key step in its growth strategy in India. Following its acquisition of Barista Coffee Company Limited and Fresh & Honest Café Limited in 2007, Lavazza has laid the foundation stone for its new production plant in India that will be built in the industrial district of Sri City, in Tada region in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The complex will permit modular coverage of the growing demand for coffee on the Indian market and in the Asia-Pacific region. The project was presented to the Indian press by Mr. Giuseppe Lavazza, Vice President and Mr. Marco Lavazza, Development & Acquisitions Manager of the Lavazza Group, who illustrated the company’s development strategies and examined the history of success that has accompanied the company over the last 115 years.

Dr. J Geeta Reddy, Minister for Major Industries, Sugar, Commerce & Export Promotion, Government of Andhra Pradesh, present at the event, welcomed the investment by Lavazza and congratulated the family on the new plant being setup in Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. R Shivashankar, Director South Asia for Lavazza described the commercial activities that Lavazza is planning to conduct in India over the next few years. The occasion was graced by the presence of Italian Ambassador to India, His Excellency Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte and Mr. Sam Bobb, Principal Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Mr. Giuseppe Lavazza, Vice President of the Lavazza Group said, “Building a new hi-tech, high-capacity production facility in India to guarantee excellent standards of quality means committing ourselves to continue the concrete efforts made in this country for the last four years. Our intention and dream is to make India our second largest market of reference following Italy. And, I have no doubt that this ambitious objective will become reality by combining the know-how, history and values of our company with the excellent professional skills we have found here in India and, of course, by offering consumers the authentic Italian espresso experience, which we expect to become a way of life and a passion for a significant sector of the Asian population. I would like to add that, in terms of procurement, as much as possible the plant will use the excellent local material that is available, which also offers good value for money”.

Speaking about the India strategy, Mr. Marco Lavazza, Development and Acquisitions Manager of the Lavazza Group said, “Our presence in India will be long-term, and is aimed towards broader internationalization of our Group and the objective of being the leader in the espresso coffee sector.”

“The plant will be constructed with the highest building standards and guaranteed by quality certifications with a clear focus on innovation, environment and quality of life in the workplace”, he added.

The industrial complex, comprising of five buildings, will be situated in an area of approximately 40,000 square metres and will house over 150 employees. The investment — worth close to €20 million – is part of the development plans that have distinguished Lavazza in recent years, i.e. promoting internationalisation through a careful policy of investments and acquisitions. Modular growth is envisaged for what will be the hub of the entire Asia-Pacific region; production will initially cover the Indian market and will subsequently be extended to other Asian markets. Lavazza’s intent is to rely on top local professionals and bolster “zero-kilometre” production in order to minimise shipping costs and therefore the environmental impact of the product.

Mr. Sam Bobb, Government Official, Andhra Pradesh said, “Today, the state of Andhra Pradesh is in the forefront of industrialization in the country and we are happy to note that Lavazza is setting up their manufacturing plant at Sri City. This is indeed a proud moment for us and the government extends its complete support for the establishment of the facility.”

Mr. R. Shivashankar, Director South Asia, Lavazza said, “Construction of this production plant represents a great opportunity for Lavazza to bring its qualitative assets to these areas. The company will transfer all of its expertise in the production of high-quality coffee to the Sri City complex”.

The investment is expected to consolidate Lavazza’s presence in India which entered the country through its acquisition of Barista — the second-largest chain of coffee shops in the country, with around 200 points of sale — and the Fresh & Honest Café company, a leader in the Hotels, Restaurants and Catering (Ho.Re.Ca.) sector, with traditional machines using beans and the Lavazza Blue capsule systems.

LUIGI LAVAZZA S.p.A.
Established in 1895, the company has been owned by the Lavazza family for four generations. Lavazza is one of the leading roasters in the world, a leader in Italy with a 48% share of the retail market in value (source: Nielsen). It operates in over ninety countries through eleven subsidiaries. The company employs approximately 4000 people, operates globally in the Home and Away-From-Home sectors and forecasts a turnover of €1,1 million in 2010. Lavazza has 20 years of tradition in the production and marketing of systems and products for the portioned coffee segment.

The Board of Directors of Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. is composed of Alberto Lavazza, President; Giuseppe Lavazza, Vice President and Marketing Manager; Francesca Lavazza, Corporate Image Manager; Marco Lavazza, Development & Acquisitions Manager; Antonella Lavazza, Coffee Shop Business Project Manager; Gaetano Mele, CEO; Alessandro Lorenzi, Corporate Central Manager; Tullio Toledo.

ABOUT SRI CITY
Evolving on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India, Sri City SEZ is spread over 5000 acres and offers a hassle-free operational environment in the free trade zone and robust infrastructure of an industrial park. Sri City also has the advantage of a Domestic Tariff Zone offering easy access to supplier networks; a distinct advantage of well-established connectivity by rail, and road with proximity to three seaports and two airports. Sri City Special Economic Zone is the largest private sector multi-product SEZ in South India, and this exclusive free trade zone in India is designed to benchmark with the best export zones and industrial parks across the globe.

Source

[think-tank]

A manufacturing strategy for India

Indian manufacturing has failed to be an engine of growth, which it must urgently become. Rather than exceeding and leading the overall growth of the economy as it should, manufacturing has just about come along. Moreover, the formal manufacturing sector has added few jobs in the past decade.

And worryingly, it is losing depth. While China's GDP is 3.8 times larger than India's, its production of machine tools, the 'mother industry' of manufacturing, is 55 times more! India needs a strategy to grow manufacturing 12% to 14% per annum, create 100 million new manufacturing jobs in the next 15 years to realise its 'demographic dividend', and create more depth in capital goods industries and innovation for its manufacturing sector to be competitive and sustainable.

China's remarkable success in manufacturing is the result of a strategy to win, as was the growth of the other Asian industrial powerhouses, Japan and South Korea. Having built its manufacturing base, China is scaring the world with its strategy to build 'indigenous innovation'. India too has announced its intention to strengthen innovation. An innovation strategy must be closely intertwined with a manufacturing one.

Science results in innovations when ideas are converted into real things that people can use. Therefore, it is not surprising that China's strategy to stimulate 'indigenous innovation' includes policies about what must be manufactured in the country, what the ownership of these enterprises must be, and what ownership rights these enterprises must have on the technologies used in their products.

Indian policymakers are dancing around the same issues. The idea of an industrial strategy evokes fears of returning to a planned economy. India must be open to foreign investments and new technologies from abroad. But they must result in jobs, innovations, and manufacturing depth in India. Appropriate receptors are required within a developing economy to absorb foreign technology.

The receptors are production organisations in the host country that use the technology to produce things for the market - domestic or export. Merely an R&D lab as a counterpart to a foreign R&D lab will not result in the absorption of technology. Indeed, even domestic R&D labs require production organisations to convert their ideas into usable innovations: hence the need for strong industry-lab partnerships.

The quality of the industrial partner in the host country and its ambitions to learn, apply, and improve the technologies determines whether the technology is well absorbed or not. This has been empirically established by studies of the growth of technological capabilities within developing countries, including Indian experience in the auto and pharma industries.

The local partner must have an 'industrial' orientation, not merely a 'trading' one: a long-term ambition to create an institution with technical depth, not merely an ambition to sell things and make quick profits. Therefore it is not surprising that absorption most often happens in private sector companies, which have ambitions to prove that 'it can be done in our country, and we will some day do it even better than you'.

This is the spirit that drove the Japanese and Korean industrialisation strategies. In the absence of enough such private sector companies, governments turn to PSEs as the reliable receptacles for receiving the foreign technologies, which is the case in China. Indian strategy should wean itself away from PSEs. However, for India to succeed in strengthening 'indigenous' innovation, our policymakers must consider the question of who are good receptors.

A strategy for growing 'Indian' innovation/industrial capabilities must explain why 'Indian-ness' should matter and what is 'Indian'? These questions surface, not only in India, but even in the US, when defence, telecommunications, and security are involved. Governments are accountable to their people for security - even if they leave industrial development to market forces.

Therefore governments must ensure that the means for maintaining security can be commanded by them whenever required. So, they would require that organisations in critical, security-related areas have national security as an objective overriding their obligations to their financial stakeholders. This is the reason why governments may insist that defence and security must be in public hands; and if not , then in the hands of 'domestic' companies.

But what is a 'domestic' company? A company must be responsible to its shareholders, wherever they may be. Whereas national governments, whether elected or not, must be principally accountable to their own citizens. The mismatch between the objectives of global corporations and national governments is leading to thorny governance issues even in the US: of reconciling what accountability means to a global corporation and what it means to a national government.

China's approach is very clear. Policies will be framed to strengthen domestically-owned and managed capabilities. One of the principal fears that foreign companies have is that China will steal their intellectual property. China has a large market that tempts foreign companies to stay even when Chinese government policies turn inhospitable, as regards intellectual property.

In fact, the Chinese government is framing IPR rules to further its own interests, suspecting that the rules being imposed on it have been devised principally to protect foreign companies' interests. China is using the lever of purchases by government agencies to develop indigenous technology.

It is also using the lever of national standards drawn up to suit local enterprises and shut out foreign competition. In contrast, India's position regarding IPR must be to actively engage in the discourse with global advocates of strong IPR. However, whatever these advocates propose need not be accepted as proven truths about the value of IPR. India must discover the best approach to IPR for stimulating the ongoing innovation it needs without creating monopolies through IPR rules.

The time has come for Indian policymakers to shape a national manufacturing strategy. The sustainability of India's growth story depends on it. We must, of course, overcome weaknesses in infrastructure and administration. But we must also address tough policy questions to promote Indian enterprises. And the strategy cannot be a return to a planned economy. Nor can it be an imitation of China. This is the challenge for Indian policymakers.

(The author is member, Planning Commission)

source

good idea ericos

[think-tank]

K'taka set to be a semicon hub

After getting the cabinet nod for the Karnataka Semiconductor Policy 2010, the state IT department is planning to transform the state as the semiconductor hub of the country. The state, a pioneer in the IT revolution of the country, is now exploring options like partnerships with fab manufacturing countries, research and development organisations and also with academic institutions to explore possibilities for the growth of semiconductor companies located in the state.

The state has also offered various fiscal incentives to companies to boost the growth of electronic sector. Global semiconductor design and manufacturing market size is expected to be around $ 200 billion. The semiconductor design market in India was $6.5 billion in 2009 and is estimated to cross $7.5 billion in 2011. Currently, the state has a presence of more than 80 design companies like the AMD, Intel, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, ARM among others and it contributes to over 70 per cent of the overall India market.

Ashok Kumar Manoli Principal Secretary for IT BT and ST Karnataka State said: “We announced semiconductor policy last year focusing on the need of semiconductor sector. We now realized the need for a policy for manufacturing and has come out with Karnataka Electronics Hardware Policy and has earmarked Rs 25 crore as budgetary allocation for implementation of the policy.”

According to a recent report from ISA, by the year 2020 electronics consumption in India will reach $400 billion from its current share of $45 billion. Though India is a big consumer of electronic equipments majority of the semiconductor and electronic equipments are imported from countries like Taiwan, China, Singapore. Industry experts believe that it can act as a barrier for the growth of the sector in India, as it will lead to an import oriented market.

“India has to develop the manufacturing capacity to become a leader in the semiconductor business. Taiwan is one of the biggest fab country in the world and we are exploring various partnership programme with the country. Taiwan is also looking at possibilities of establishing electronic hardware zone in the state,” said Manoli.

Karnataka has recently signed an MoU with Israel’s MATIMOP, the Israeli Industry Center for R&D, for research and development partnership. “Other than these partnerships African country Rwanda is very keen on a MoU to draw benefits from the IT strengths of the state,” he said.

With the semiconductor policy government is also promoting establishment of solar farms and solar Photo voltaic manufacturing. The state government has set up the first solar farm in Bangarpet taluk of Kolar with a capacity to generate 3MW power. Two other plants of 3 Mw capacity are proposed to be set up in Raichur and Belgaum.

Earlier, in order to enable the semiconductor companies to avail the benefits enumerated in the Policy and to create awareness among the industrialists, The Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka organised a half-day event in coordination with ISA and MAIT.

source

[ericos87]

Originally Posted by think-tank

A manufacturing strategy for India


source

good idea ericos

Thanks Think-Tank. At least someone here appreciates me.

[SSCaddict]

me also

LG to invest Rs 800 cr in growing Indian AC market

Korean consumer durables major LG today said it will invest Rs 800 crore in 2011 to add capacity and for other purposes in India, which it expects will become its largest air-conditioner market in the world by next year ahead of the current leader US.

The company is also aiming to more than double its annual revenue to cross a figure of Rs 40,000 crore in India from all verticals in the next four years.

"India is a strategic market for LG. We will invest Rs 800 crore this year for expanding our manufacturing capacities and other general purposes. We will add new lines in almost all segments," LG Electronics India Ltd (LGEIL) Chief Operating Officer Yasho V Verma told reporters here.
Flat panels, mobile handsets and rooms ACs will be the major growth drivers for the company, he added.

On its sales targets, Verma said: "We are expecting Rs 20,000 crore turnover this year and in four years, we want to achieve Rs 40,000 crore turnover."

The company had registered a total turnover of Rs 16,000 crore in 2010. It currently has two production facilities in Greater Noida and Pune.

On its AC business, LG Electronics Vice President (AC Overseas Marketing) Sewoo Park said: "The Indian market is globally number two in room AC category and it contributes about 18 per cent in our global sales. I hope, next year the Indian market becomes the number one in our global sales."

The global AC sales of the company stood at around $3 billion in last year and the contribution from the US was 30-40 per cent, he added.

The company estimates the current Indian AC market to be around 3.4 million units annually, valued at Rs 7,200 crore, which is growing at 26 per cent.

LGEIL had about 29 per cent share in 2010 in the domestic AC market and is aiming for 32 per cent share by this year. It today launched a range of 51 split and window ACs, priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 55,000.

"We are targeting a turnover of Rs 3,500 crore from AC sales this year compared to Rs 2,500 crore in 2010. Eventually we are aiming for 36 per cent share by 2014," LGEIL Business Head (Airconditioners) Ajay Bajaj said.

When asked if the company would expand its AC production capacity in India, Park said: "To keep our projected market share by 2014, we will need about 5 million units production capacity of ACs."

He, however, declined to share details whether the company would expand the existing facilities or set up a new unit for enhancing its capacity.

LGEIL currently has two production facilities in Greater Noida and Pune with a combined AC manufacturing capability of 2 million units a year.

source

[think-tank]

India among world's top 10 manufacturers: UN

India has emerged as one of the top-10 manufacturers of the world, primarily helped by strong economic growth, according to a UN agency.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has said India is listed as one of the top-10 manufacturers of the world in 2010.

India along with other leading developing economies such as Brazil and China showed strong performance in economic growth in 2010 and the manufacturing value added (MVA) of all these countries grew by over 10% last year, the agency said.

As per UNIDO's just released International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2011, the three nations' share in world manufacturing output has reached 32% compared to 20% 10 years ago.

UNIDO said that world manufacturing is showing first signs of recovery from the recent financial crisis.

"India tops developing countries (China excluded) in production of textiles, chemical products, basic metals, general machinery and equipment, and electrical machinery," the statement said.

The report noted that India has overtaken Brazil in the production of motor vehicles and now ranks second among developing countries after Mexico.

On the other hand, Asian competitors -- Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines -- are ahead in the production of electronic goods such as computers and office equipment.

"The MVA of industrialised countries grew by 3.4% in 2010. However, developing economies were the major force of world industrial growth. In 2010, MVA of developing countries grew by 9.4%," it added.

source

[ericos87]

Everest Ind to set up new facility in East India
Press Trust of India / New Delhi March 21, 2011, 15:31 IST

Building material maker Everest Industries today said it will set up a new manufacturing facility in East India to cater to the growing demand as it aims to cross Rs 1,000 crore revenue in 2011-12.

"We are looking at setting up a new manufacturing facility in one of the Eastern states. The plant will be commissioned within a year and it will be fully operational in 15 months," Everest Industries Executive Director (Operations) Y Srinivasa Rao told PTI.

Rao, however, declined to share further details such as the possible location and likely investment for the construction of the plant.

Industry sources, however, said the company has been offered land by the Orissa government and the firm has also decided to go into the state.

When asked about its sales target, Rao said: "We cannot remain a sub-thousand crore entity. Our target is to cross Rs 1,000 crore revenue in next fiscal."

Everest is expecting its total income to grow 12-15% in this fiscal from Rs 660 crore in 2009-10, he added.

"For the last 4-5 years, our revenue has been increasing at 20-25% compound annual growth rate. This year it is slow because the market did not pick up well, and also because of our capacity constraints," Rao said.

Everest Industries currently has five manufacturing facilities in Kolkata, Nashik, Coimbatore, Kymore and Roorkee. It manufactures products like roofing materials, fibre wall boards and steel building solutions.

"We are seriously considering to expand our steel building solutions capacity as there is good growth in this business. We are looking at both expanding the existing plants and adding more facilities," Rao said, without giving details.

The company's current annual production capacity for steel building material is about 30,000 tonne at its Roorkee facility.

Besides, the company is likely to consider setting up a new factory for the fibre cement boards as it is at present utilising almost 100% of its 90,000 tonne of installed capacity across different plants.

The company is now undertaking de-bottlenecking of operations and other efficiency enhancement measures to increase productivity till the new plants come up, he added.

Source

[purty_trash]

Please tell me if this is already posted somewhere:

Effort to give big push to manufacturing growth

source:http://www.thehindu.com/business/Eco...cle1550713.ece

The National Manufacturing policy, which aims to create massive employment opportunities and make India a manufacturing hub, is being discussed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and it would help catalyse manufacturing growth and sustainable development, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said.

Originally, the policy had been announced by the beginning of this year but had been in the discussion stage and consultations were being held with other ministries before it was finally brought before the Cabinet for approval, he said.

The policy is being shaped to woo foreign investment and increase the share of manufacturing in the gross domestic product (GDP). "India's manufacturing growth is slow as compared to G-7 countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. India will soon change its growth strategy and increase manufacturing exports in near future," he added.

Referring to the use of green technologies, Mr. Sharma said the countries that possessed the green technologies should find ways and means to share those with the least developed countries which did not have the resources to adopt them. “The energy intensity is high in the Indian manufacturing sector and for that reason the usage of green manufacturing is vital in the country,'' he added.

[purty_trash]

also, from wikipedia:

India's National Manufacturing Policy

The National Manufacturing Policy of India was formulated by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP), under Ministry of Trade and Commerce. It envisions increasing the contribution of manufacturing sector to 25% of GDP by 2022, doubling of employment in this sector, increasing the competitiveness of the sector and making India a global manufacturing hub.
Steps taken by DIPP to achieve above objectives:
Setting up National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NMIZ) – state of art industrial townships developed and managed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The first NMIZ shall be set up in Rajasthan along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
Rationalization and simplification of business regulations to promote investor friendly environment.
Creation of world class infrastructure to assimilate technology i.e. green technology.
Capacity building and training (CBT), skill up gradations.
Creation of simple and expeditious exit mechanism for closure of sick units.
Incentives for equity partnerships or venture capitalist in manufacturing hub.
The new policy will have special emphasis to make India the workshop of the world, especially in the emerging green industries such as solar power

This , I assume, will be implemented as the DMIC begins to unfold. Finally, maybe we can narrow the gap between rich and poor and alleviate large chunks of population from poverty in one go.

[purty_trash]

and already a national innovation council has been set up. My understanding is that it has at least something to do with the national manufacturing policy.

[purty_trash]

PM likely to chair manufacturing policy meet soon

BASEL (SWITZERLAND), MARCH 25:
A high-level committee chaired by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is soon expected to discuss the proposed manufacturing policy aimed at increasing the sector’s share in India’s GDP to 25 per cent in the next decade.

“We have completed stakeholders’ consultations and all the inter-ministerial consultations and we hope that in a week after my return, a high-level meeting (will be held), which will be chaired by the Prime Minister,” the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, told reporters here.

Mr Sharma is here to inaugurate the Indian pavilion at the world’s most coveted watch and jewellery show ‘Basel World 2011’.

The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, had also made a mention of the manufacturing policy during his budget speech.

“The Government will come out with a manufacturing policy which will bring down the compliance burden on the industry through self-regulation and help make Indian industry globally competitive....we are ready now...,” Mr Mukherjee had said.

The Government aims to take the share of manufacturing sector, which contributes over 80 per cent to the country’s overall industrial production, in GDP from about 16 per cent to 25 per cent over a period of 10 years.

Under the upcoming policy, the Government has proposed to set up integrated greenfield mega-investment zones to attract global investment and latest technologies.

The Minister said increasing manufacturing share in the Indian economy is a priority as millions of skilled workforce is expected to join the segment in the near future. The new policy would also help in attracting greater FDI into the country, he said adding that it would also address labour and environment issues.

On his meeting with leading global watch makers, Mr Sharma said he asked them to explore the opportunities to invest more in India in the sector and also look for possible collaborations and setting up subsidiaries “which some of them are considering’’

source

[purty_trash]

Push for giant factory hubs
JAYANTA ROY CHOWDHURY

New Delhi, March 27: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will convene a meeting of a high-level committee this week to discuss national manufacturing and investment regions — envisaged as bigger than SEZs, covering states and even groups of states and having world-class infrastructure facilities.

However, the government will avoid the land acquisition controversies that engulfed SEZs (special economic zones) in these giant enclaves — the decision to buy land and set up industry within a national manufacturing and investment zone (NMIZ) will rest with companies.

The proposal will be the cornerstone of the National Manufacturing Policy, and is being described by mandarins as a “better copy of the Chinese model”. China’s special economic zones involve whole districts and in one case – Hainan – an entire province.

The first NMIZ being considered will be spread over three states along the western railway corridor — Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Planning Commission advisers said Rajasthan was keen on the idea.

A proposal of the industry ministry to give NMIZs authority to waive all clearances faced opposition from the Planning Commission and legal experts.

Instead, officials said, plans were afoot for a single-window clearance, which was a vast improvement from the current situation where businessmen have to take 38 permissions on an average to set up factories in the country.

Some within the government say the idea may be opposed by states left out of the NMIZ race and sharpen the regional economic divide that is partly responsible for the growing Maoist violence.

Officials said a group of non-resident Indian CEOs had originally floated the concept after the UPA came to power in 2004.

The government adopted the idea in a different manner in its policy to establish a string of petrochemicals and chemical investment regions — or chemical hubs — in coastal states.

This policy was embroiled in controversy after farmers resisted land acquisition in Nandigram.

The differences over land acquisition and tax holidays in SEZs convinced the government that it should steer clear of them in the manufacturing policy, though the industry ministry was in favour of sops.

“The real idea is to create zones that will house manufacturers who can feed off each other, share facilities and trim costs ... the main giveaway from the government will be concentrated spending on world-class infrastructure,” said officials.

Infrastructure would include full global connectivity in terms of international airports, sea and land ports, dedicated rail and highway corridors, networked cities and high-speed Internet access.

Beijing had followed this path to turn southern China the most sought after investment destination in the world.


source: the telegraph

[SSCaddict]

BlackBerry may set up plant in India

After Nokia, Samsung, LG and other global brands, BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) is likely to set up an Indian manufacturing facility in view of the potential within the country and the surrounding region and may develop the country into an export hub.

"India is an important and strategic market for RIM and its exciting and fast-growing mobile sector offers major potential for further expansion. As part of RIM's strategy in India, the company has been building its resources in order to support the growing opportunities," RIM spokesperson said when asked about plans to set up a plant here.

Canada-based RIM's Chief Information Officer Robin Bienfait will be in India to meet with major BlackBerry customers as well as a variety of current and prospective business partners, the company said.
"RIM is always evaluating investment opportunities, including manufacturing and logistics, and Robin plans to further explore such possibilities in India during her visit," it added.

The company, however, declined to get into the numbers of how much investment will be made for setting up a manufacturing facility and the volume of handsets to be manufactured, as well as the models.

However, going by industry norms, setting up such a plant may involve an investment of anywhere between $150 million and $250 million to begin with.

Sources indicated that Robin would be visiting Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi to identify a location for setting up the plant. If fructified, this would be RIM's first manufacturing facility in the Asia-Pacific region, comprising 18 countries in which BlackBerry has a presence and is growing significantly.

The development comes at a time when the company is embroiled in a controversy over security concerns about BlackBerry operations.

The company is constant dialogue with the government and the issue of lawful interception of contents sent using smart phones like Blackberry is being looked at as an industry issue rather than an individual case.

Sources said that these two are separate issues and the company is bullish on the Indian market and neighbouring countries and India may become an export hub for BlackBerry products, which has become one of the fastest growing smartphones here.

According to the latest reports available, RIM is one of the top five mobile phone manufacturers and as far as Indian operations are concerned, it has a retail presence in over 75 cities across the country.

Since India is very price-sensitive and a host of other global manufacturers' have a presence and enjoy cost advantages, setting up a manufacturing facility in India would certainly help BlackBerry as well with regard to the prices of its products.

The company has not revealed details on what products/models would be made here, but already has a presence in the smart phones segment and recently launched a tablet, dubbed BlackBerry PlayBook, overseas.

The tablet would be commercially available from April and is priced from $499 to $699, depending upon the storage capacity. It is yet to be launched in India.

[SSCaddict]

India among world's top 10 manufacturing nations

India has secured a place among the world's 10 largest manufacturing countries as the share of major industrialised economies in global factory output fell significantly in the last decade, a United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) report said today.

Efficient use of energy, helped by enhanced labour productivity and increase in exports of manufactured goods, helped the country secure its position among the top 10 industrial producers.

Even though the country had only 1.8% share in the world manufacturing between 2000 and 2010, India occupies the 9th position among the global leading manufacturing countries.
"Competitiveness of Indian manufactured goods in the global markets has significantly improved," Chief Statistician of the UNIDCO Shyam Upadhyaya said while releasing the report.

Higher output growth rates have allowed the Indian industry to improve major performance indicators such as labour productivity, he said.

The country has made significant progress in the use of energy for industrial production.

"This is borne out of the fact that in the last 10-years, India's manufacturing output grew by 7% average per annum while industrial energy consumption grew at much lower rate of 3.6%," Upadhyaya said.

The US tops the list of 10-top industrial producers followed by China, Japan and Germany. Brazil was at the bottom of the list.

"Ranks are not stable due to close competition of emerging economies. In the coming years, Russia, Mexico and Spain might increase their share and occupy higher position," he said.

Industrialised countries account for more than two-third of the world industrial output, but the share of developing countries is rising from 20% in 2000 to 32.1% in 2010.

As per the report, in the last decade, share of major industrialised countries such as the US, Japan and Germany in the world manufacturing has fallen.

The report said manufacturing output of three developing countries -- China, Brazil and India -- has grown by almost 10% on an average in the last decade.

The UNIDO report said manufacturing output grew by 3.7% in the industrialised countries after experiencing a severe decline in 2009.

It further said that China's industrial growth was unaffected during the recent economies crisis. "The country accounted for almost half of total manufacturing output of all developing countries in 2010," it said.

[purty_trash]

X posting from telecom thread:

National Telecom Policy 2011 to promote domestic Telecom manufacturing

The government said that the National Telecom Policy 2011 (NTP’ 11) will have provisions to encourage domestic telecom manufacturing .

Telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar said NTP'''11 will surely have mechanism to gauze efficient use of spectrum and steps to promote indigenous manufacturing of telecom equipment.

"Need of promoting R&D (research and development) and manufacturing is important. Not just because it is one sector in which we aspire to be manufacturing destination but there are reasons to it," Chandrashekhar said.

He said promoting telecom manufacturing in India is important to leverage the benefits of the growing industry and reducing the trade deficit expected to arise from imports of electronic products that are used in the sector.

"Today you look at electronic projection which says that India is going to be USD 400 billion electronics market. If we continue to business as usual then USD 300 billion of our requirement will come from imports," Chandrashekhar added.

He said India''s electronics import will surpass oil import bill, which is around USD 100 billion.

Besides, Chandrashekhar said that due to security reasons, it has become inevitable to ignore initiative for promotion of domestic manufacturing.

"Domestic manufacturing is important from security point of view, which has become imminent," he said.

Trai chairman J S Sarma said the regulatory authority, in its upcoming recommendations on promotion of indigenous telecom equipment manufacturing, is going to raise levels of domestic manufacturing significantly.

"In our recommendation, we are going to raise level of domestic manufacturing significantly. We will give certain targets on year basis which is for 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2020" Sarma said.

He added, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will come out with the recommendations by the end of this week.

[purty_trash]

More on the upcoming national manufacturing policy:

Govt mulls China-like mega manufacturing hubs

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to make India a manufacturing powerhouse , the government is mulling creation of manufacturing hubs that will offer infrastructure , facilities and incentives to manufacturers.

The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has put on fast track the national manufacturing policy, which seeks to create National Manufacturing and Investment Zones, or NMIZs.

Spread over 2,000 hectares, or about 8 sq km, these zones will be in line with the model adopted by China to boost its manufacturing sector. The DIPP is seeking sops such as tax incentives, flexible labour laws, easier exit norms for foreign investors and refinance facility for overseas debt for these zones, a government official said.

"Formal inter-ministerial consultations are underway," the official said.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh is expected to chair a meeting soon on the proposed policy.

The proposal gathered steam after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's announcement in the 2011-12 Budget that the government will give a push to manufacturing.

The government plans to raise the share of manufacturing in the national gross domestic product (GDP) from the present 16% to 25% over 10 years.

"For sustained growth of GDP and productive employment for younger generation, it is imperative that the growth in manufacturing sector picks up," Mukherjee had said.

In a recent report, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) put India among the top 10 manufacturing nations in the world, with a 1.5% share in manufacturing value added. The report, however, pointed out that India's production was far less efficient than that of other leading manufacturers such as Japan.

The new manufacturing policy will seek to remove many of the handicaps faced by the Indian industry. The 12th Five-Year Plan, which is still in the works, is also expected to focus on boosting manufacturing for large-scale employment generation.

"India needs manufacturing engines to generate 250 million jobs in the next 15 years," said Arun Maira, member of the Planning Commission.

People coming off agriculture over the next few years will need to be employed to carry forward the object of financial inclusion, and manufacturing will provide those jobs, he said.

The proposed policy is based on a discussion paper put out by the DIPP a year ago.

According to the paper, NMIZs will be a combination of production units, public utilities, logistics, environmental protection mechanisms and residential areas. They would subsume special economic zones and industrial parks within their fold.

India, however, may find it difficult to replicate China's model because of problems associated with acquiring land.

"We need to turbo charge manufacturing, but with issues such as land acquisition, banking alone on NMIZs will take time and a more comprehensive manufacturing policy is needed," said Maira.

The government hopes to get around the land issue through state procurement, unlike in the case of special economic zones where companies are required to buy land on their own.

The policy, however, is likely to rely extensively on private sector to develop these zones.

source

[purty_trash]

I am particularly impressed by the 'flexible labour laws' news. It means that Govt can get around our archaic labour laws without upsetting the politically powerful labour unions.

[KuwarOnline]

Pankaj Doval TNN


Did you know that India is the second-biggest market for lifts globally,second only to China.Surprised Dont be.Rapid urbanization and a spate of infrastructure development have seen the real estate sector boom and new office and residential complexes spring up in fast-urbanizing cities.Didier Michaud-Daniel,the global president of one of the worlds biggest elevator companies,Otis,was in India recently and TOI caught up with him to understand the market for elevators and how India plays a key role in this industry.Michaud-Daniel,who began his career in the company service sales in 1981,went on to take over as president in May 2008,just before the onset of the global economic recession.Excerpts:

What are the reasons that make India such a big

market for elevators How big is it in value terms compared to the global market

It is because of the construction activity in India.The country now is clearly the second-biggest market in terms of construction in the world.When you look at the global market today,it is approximately 500,000 units annually.While the biggest market is in China,which accounts for 285,000 units,the second is India with 50,000 units.In comparison,North America today is only 15,000 units.

Source
http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/...1&publabel=TOI

[murlee]

Total investment envisaged is Rs.50,000 crore

The Central Government would soon set up two plants to manufacture semiconductor wafers with a total investment of Rs.50,000 crore to boost India's electronic hardware production, Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar said on Friday.

“Approval has been granted for it...we are taking it to the Cabinet for establishment of two large wafer and semi-conductor facilities costing Rs.25,000-crore each. The facilities are intended to breach the mismatch between demand and supply for electronic hardware in the country and are intended to act as a catalyst for fulfilling the XII Plan (2012-17) target of 11-12 per cent growth in the manufacturing sector,” Mr. Kumar told journalists here.

Referring to the XII Plan, Mr. Kumar said it was intended to pave the way for India to become the world's third largest economy by 2030-35. “The XII Plan will provide a major thrust on enhancing domestic capability of manufacturing electronic equipment. After 25-30 years, our import bill of electronic hardware may well exceed the import bill of fuel and oil. So that is the extent of mismatch between capacity and demand in the electronic hardware manufacturing area,” he said.

The Ministry of Planning and the Planning Commission have taken an in-principle decision to recommend to the government a policy framework for granting preferential access to domestic manufacturers during procurement of electronic equipment by the government. This would include all kinds of electronic equipment including those used in railways and telecom, he added.

Pointing out that the Planning Commission would set up a target of 9-9.5 per cent annual average growth during the XII Plan period, the Minister said: “The growth of the manufactured segment has not been up to the desired levels. We need our manufacturing sector to grow by at least 11-12 per cent during the XII Plan...but a growth of 9 per cent cannot be achieved without an average 4 per cent growth in farm sector”.

Mr. Kumar also said the Planning Commission also aimed at creating 20-lakh new jobs every year during the next Plan period in the manufacturing sector. The target was to have a 7 per cent annual growth in the power sector, while keeping in mind concerns for the environment and ecology. “The target is to increase power generation capacity addition from the estimated 52,000 MW in the XI Plan to 1-lakh MW in the next five-year period. Ours is still a modest target if we look at the fact that China's power generation capacity is 8 lakh MW annually,” he said.

On water, the Planning Commission has already discussed the possibility of creating a new Groundwater Law or Groundwater Framework for better management, rational use and availability of the precious resource, he said.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Eco...cle1978489.ece