1. 9WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM
Companies
GovttoMakePuducherry
Int’lDestinationofTourism
PUDUCHERRY UnionMinisterof
StateforCulture,TourismandCivil
AviationMaheshSharmaonMay4
saidthe“Centreiscommittedto
makePuducherryaninternationaldestination
oftourism”.Declaringopenthe.`5.5crorePu-
ducherryScienceCentreandPlanetariumes-
tablishedjointlybyNationalCouncilofScience
Museums(NCSM)here,hesaidPuducherryhas
arichheritage,cultureandnaturalbeauty.“I
assurethatattheCentrallevelwearecommit-
tedtomakePuducherryaninternationaldesti-
nationoftourism,”Sharmasaid.Appreciating
thesettingupoftheScienceCentre,theminis-
tersaiditwashightimethatthetraitsof
explorationiskindledandencouragedin
youngchildren.“Thereisaneedtoignitethe
traitofexploringamongchildreninthecoun-
try,”hesaid.—PTI
In3-4yrs,MieleIndiamay
Contribute4%toGlobalSales
NEW DELHI Drivenbyincreasein
salesturnover,MieleIndia,aunitof
Germanhigh-enddomesticap-
pliancesmakerMiele,expectsto
contributeupto4%initsglobalsalesinnext
threetofouryears.In2013-14,Mielehada
globalturnoverof¤3.22bandIndia’scontri-
butioninit,atpresent,islessthan1%.“Miele
Indiawouldcontributebetween3%and4%of
itsglobalsalesinnextthreetofouryears.The
kindoforderswehavenowfromourproject
business,ithaspotentialtoreach(target)in
thecomingyears,”hesaid.Toachievethetar-
get,thefirmplanstoincreaseitspointsofsales
from37to47andwouldaddRajkot,Jaipurand
Chandigarhinitsnetworkby2015-end,he
added.Hesaidthefirm’sprojectdevelopment
business,inwhichitsupplieshigh-enddomes-
ticappliancestoluxuryflatmakers,isincrea-
singandwouldcontributehalfofitstotalreve-
nuebytheendofnextyear.“Lastyear,Miele’s
90%revenuecamefromretailandrest10%
fromprojectdevelopmentbusiness.Thisyear
itwouldbe65:35andnextyearweareexpect-
ingittobearound50:50,”headded.—PTI
MylanLaunchesSovaldi
TabletsinIndia
HYDERABAD PharmagiantMylan
NVonMay4saiditssubsidiaryMy-
lanPharmaceuticalshaslaunched
GileadSciences’Sovaldi(sofos-
buvir400mgtablets)inthecountry.Sovaldiis
indicatedforthetreatmentofchronichepati-
tis-Cinfectionasacomponentofacombina-
tionantiviraltreatment.Itisestimatedthat
around12millionpeoplearechronicallyin-
fectedwithhepatitis-CinIndia,Mylansaid.In
Febthisyear,GileadappointedMylanasitsex-
clusivedistributorofSovaldiinIndia.Mylan
presidentRajivMaliksaidtheyhaveahistory
ofpartneringwithGileadtotacklekeypublic
healthissuesinIndiaandaroundtheworld,be-
ginningwithexpandingaccesstohighquality
andaffordableHIV/AIDSantiretrovirals.“We
areproudtocontinueourworktogetherwith
thelaunchofSovaldiasitsupportsourjoint
commitmenttomeetingtheunmetmedical
needsofpatientsinIndia,”Maliksaid.—PTI
GlenmarkGetsUSFDANod
forPsoriasisCreamforNow
NEW DELHI GlenmarkPharmaceu-
ticalshasreceivedtentativeap-
provalfromtheUShealthregulator
forgenericCalcipotrienecream,
usedforthetreatmentofplaquepsoriasis.It
saidthatGlenmarkPharmaceuticals,USA,a
subsidiaryofthecompany,hasbeengranted
tentativeapprovalbytheUnitedStatesFood&
DrugAdministration(USFDA)forCalcipotriene
cream,0.005%.Theproductisthetherapeutic
equivalentofDanishpharmafirmLeoPharma
A/SDovonex’stopicalcreamofthesame
strength,itadded.“Glenmarkwillmarketthis
productuponreceivingfinalapprovalofits
Calcipotrienecream,0.005%,abbreviatednew
drugapplication(ANDA),”thefirmsaid.The
patentslistedforDovonexcreamaresched-
uledtoexpireonJune9,2015,itadded.—PTI
Short Takes
Our Bureau
Mumbai: TimesPro, the Times Centre for
Learning, has been given the Best Upcom-
ing Educational Institute Award by Asso-
chamatitsNationalEducationExcellence
Awards 2015, for its unique professional
education programmes offered to fresh
graduates.
The award was presented by Ram Shan-
kar Katheria, Minister of State for HRD
Ministry,andacceptedbyNagendraChow-
dary, head of academics at Times Pro. The
nominated institutes were evaluated by a
jury of educationists on the criteria of in-
novation, scalability, ability to overcome
challenges, achievements and impact po-
tential.
Deepak Lamba, TimesPro President,
said,“Thecourseslayemphasisonprovid-
ing hands-on training to students through
smart-classes, projects, guest lectures,
groupdiscussionsandsimulations.Essen-
tially we make them job ready from day 1,
hour1.”
TimesPro, which offers courses in bank-
ing, finance and business analytics at 21
training centres across the country, has
trained close to 2000 students and placed
them with leading corporates in India, he
said.
“I am happy that our vision to offer the
youth career-oriented education is taking
shapeandI’msuretheskillsthattheyhave
learned here will give them an accom-
plished professional life,” Lamba added.
TimesProWinsat
AssochamNational
Excellence Awards
Noinvestorinthe
worldbelievesthat
Indiaisataxhaven
andthelargetaxde-
mandsonCairnandFIIshaverattledin-
vestorsandmustberesolvedquickly,said
PatriciaHewitt,headoftheUKIndiaBusi-
nessCouncilbackedbytheBritishgovern-
ment.WithindustrysentimentabouttheMo-
digovernmentmovingfromirrational
exuberanceto‘rationaloptimism’,shesaidit
mustmovefromitscampaignpoetrytogov-
ernanceprose.InaninterviewwithVikas
Dhoot,Hewitt,whowasaministerintheTo-
nyBlairgovernment,saidthechangesinthe
landacquisitionlawarecriticalforturning
India’seconomyaround,andmanyBritish
firmsarekeenoninitiativeslikeMakeInIn-
dia.EditedExcerpts:
WheredoyouseeIndianearlyayearinto
theModiregime?
That’sbeenthecentralthemeofmydis-
cussionswithmyboardandbusinessleaders
inIndiaandtheUK,aftertheextra-ordinary
electionvictoryoftheModigovernment.We
havestartedinmorerecentmonths,inboth
theBritishandtheIndianmedia,tohear(usu-
allyanonymously):“Oh,businessisdis-
appointedandtherehasn’tbeenabig-bang
reform”sortofcomments.
Certainly,inthebusinesscommunity,senti-
menthasmovedfromalmostirrationalexu-
beranceandhugeexpectationsthatnobody
couldpossiblymeet,torationaloptimism.
That’sverygood.NarendraModiisbrilliantat
campaigninginpoetry,asoneoftheworld’s
greatpoliticalcampaigners.Butthegovern-
mentisbothaboutthevisionandstrategy
andabouttheexecution,whichisgoverning
inprose.
Couldyouelaborateonthismoodswingin
businessesaboutIndia?
Aftertheelection,expectationsweresky
high.ThePMhimselfmadeitveryclearthat
therehadtobeamorerationalunderstand-
ingofwhatitwouldtaketotransformtheIn-
dianarrative.
Now,asaformerminister,Ithinkthat(in-
dustry’sdisappointment)reflectstrulyunre-
alisticexpectationsofwhatanewgovern-
mentcanactuallydo.ButIalsobelieve,it
reflectsanunderestimationofwhathad
beendone,notonlyontheinstitutionbuild-
ingside,butalsotheMakeInIndia,rapidpro-
gressofGSTwithafirmdateforitsintroduc-
tion,theincreaseinFDIlimitsin
insurance...Withthechangesnowbeing
madetolandacquisition,whichIhopethe
governmentwouldbeabletotranslatefrom
anordinanceintoalawveryquickly,isalso
criticaltoadvancinginfrastructure.There’s
beenagreatdealalreadydone,includingthe
energisingofthebureaucracy.
Ofcourse,noteverythinghashappenedin
exactlythewaythateverybusinessleader,
investororemployerwouldlike,butthere-
cordisimpressive.
Youaresayingeveryoneexpecteda
catharsisfromthegovernment?
Catharsisisagoodword.Whenthereissuch
anoverwhelmingelectoralvictory,itisasort
ofcatharsis.Fromexpectations,thendis-
appointment,andnow,whatIhaveheardin
everyconversationhasbeen‘Ofcourse,we
areoptimistic.Lookatallthat’shappening.Of
course,somethingsarenotmovingasfastas
wewouldlike’.Butthedirectionisabsolutely
clearandright.
Istaxationstillatouchyissue?
Yes.Ihavediscussedthisprivatelywiththe
financeminister.Wewelcomethepublic
commentsaboutretrospectivetaxationnot
beingusedinanynewcase.Butthere’scon-
cernontherecentissuingoftaxassessments
againstCairnandFIIs.Ihopethingswouldbe
resolvedveryquickly,becauseanythingthat
createsuncertaintyisnotgoodforinvest-
ments.WearehugebackersoftheIndian
economyandthereisagreatdealofin-
vestmentmoretocomefromtheUK.Atthe
endoftheday,themoreinvestmentIndia
canmobilise,thefasteritwillgrowandgen-
eratethejobsthatmakethebestpro-poor
policyforanycountry.
ButtheFMhasexplainedthatIndiaisnot
ataxhaven…
Idon’tthinkanyinvestorintheworldwould
regardIndiaasataxhaven.Theseindividual
corporateissueswouldhavetoberesolved
incourtsandinarbitrationsandtheyshould
befixedasquicklyaspossible.
HavehopesofFDIinmulti-brandretail
evaporated?
Thefactthattheyhavesimplyleftthe(multi-
brandretail)policywhereitisratherthanre-
verseit,isanimportantsignal.Thatwillbe
plentytogoonwith.Weareseeingsomein-
terestinginvestmentsviacollaborationsfo-
cusingontheback-endandlogisticssupply
chainandthat’sgoingtobeabsolutelycritical
fordeliveringrealfoodsecurityforIndia.
‘ChangesinLandLawKeytoEconomy’sTurnaround’
Q&A
PATRICIA HEWITT
Head, UK India Business Council
Sentimenthasmovedfrom
almostirrationalexuberance
andhugeexpectationsthat
nobodycouldpossiblymeet,
torationaloptimism.That’s
verygood.
RaviTeja.Sharma@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: Private equity funds are once
again raising their investments in the Indian
real estate sector, but this time they are seek-
ing more control, according to Stuart Ro-
berts, chief executive for Asia Pacific at prop-
ertyadvisoryfirmDTZ.
“The market has been pruned and that is a
good thing. That is why people are coming
back,” Roberts said comparing the pace of
PE investments in the sector with the
previous years, when several funds had to
write off their investments after projects
failed to take off.
The market today is in a different state of
maturity, he said, adding, “PE funds too are
more educated about India now”. Competi-
tion for the Indian real estate has also in-
creased since 2005 when the government be-
gan allowing foreign investments in the
sector. India was earlier among the few good
opportunities globally, Roberts said. But to-
day,itisoneofthemany.
Roberts, who joined DTZ in February, said
the Narendra Modi government has man-
aged to restore international confidence in
the country. “India was not even part of the
conversation internationally in 2013. It had
fallenoffthemapbutinthelast12months,it’s
back,” he said. “Today, there isn’t a corpora-
tion in the world which doesn’t have India in
its strategic plan.”
This is reflected in the growth of commer-
cial office space leasing in the country.
‘PEsUpbeatAboutRealty,
butWantmoreControlNow’
Nabeel.Khan@timesinternet.in
New Delhi: For Motherson Sumi
Systems, a .`15,400-crore order it just
won from Daimler will take it closer
toacherishedgoal:achieving30%of
consolidated revenue from the
Americas in the next five years. Un-
derthedeal,theNoida-basedcompa-
ny will set up two plants — one each
intheUSandHungary—closetothe
Germanautogiant’smanufacturing
facilities in those countries. Once
these factories start production, it is
expecting orders from other auto
manufacturersaswell.
Increasing orders from the Ameri-
casispartofMotherson’sstrategyto
reduce overdependence on Europe,
from where the company got 58% of
its consolidated revenue of over $5
billion in the fiscal year ended on
March 31, 2014. North and South
America accounted for 10% of fiscal
2014 revenue and 14% in the first
ninemonthsoffiscal2015.
“We have been trying options to
increase our business in Americas
for the past two years,” chairman
VC Sehgal said. “With this new or-
der from Daimler, we will have a
backuptofurtherpushthejourney
of growth in this region.”
Under the order announced last
week,Motherson’sunitSamvardha-
na Motherson Automotive Systems
Group would supply a range of exte-
rior and interior systems for several
future generations of Mercedes-
Benz vehicles over a period of about
five-and-half years. To support
Daimler’s expansion activities,
Motherson would increase capacity
at its existing plants in Germany, be-
sidessettingupthenewfactories.
Supplies are expected to start in
2018. The company has already
short-listedlandforaplantatTusca-
loosa in Alabama near Daimler’s
plant. The plant in Hungary will be
located close to Daimler’s oper-
ationsatKecskemet.
The US plant will be first off the
block. Construction is expected to
start by the end of this year and trial
production,by2017-end.
MothersonClosesinonUSDream
Mega Daimler order to
bring co closer to the
target of 30% of
revenue from Americas
Going Great Guns
Source: Company
Top 3 countries-
revenue wise in FY14
Germany
Spain
India
33%
18%
16%
Top contributor to consolidated
revenue in FY14
Europe
India (Home)
Asia Pacific
America
Africa
58%
16%
15%
10%
1%
Timex Plans to Tap
WearablesMarket
Danish.Khan@timesinternet.in
New Delhi: Timex Group is planning
totapIndia’swearablesmarketwithits
smartwatches and fitness bands. It’s
lookingatgainingashareofasmuchas
15%ofthemarket.
“We are aiming to sell more than 5
lakh wearable devices in India by the
end of the ongoing financial year,”
Anupam Mathur, head of sales and
marketingatTimexGroupIndia,told
ET. This would account for 10-15% of
overall volume and value sales in In-
dia,hesaid.
Timex launched the Ironman Run
x20 GPS smartwatch and Ironman
Move x20 fitness band, priced at
.`11,995 and .`8,995, respectively, on
Monday. Amazon will be the sole dis-
tributor of these devices in India in
thecurrentyear.Chinesesmartphone
maker Xiaomi recently launched fit-
ness device Mi Band, which will go on
sale May 5, via its own ecommerce
website. With a .`999 price tag, the Mi
Band is expected to provide a much-
needed push to the country’s weara-
blesmarket.
In India, the market is at a nascent
stage, selling a handful of products
such as smartwatches and fitness
bands launched by handset makers
such as Samsung, Sony, Motorola and
Alcatel OneTouch. Sales of wearable
devices such as smartwatches and
fitness bands totaled 1 lakh
units
in India
in 2014
andises-
timated
to rise to
slightly
above
half a
million
in 2015,
accord-
ing to
Coun-
terpoint
Re-
search.
The beginning of a new fitness regime