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God must have conspired with humans to keep Kerala green. While several States which had lesser infra-

structure and raw material sources went ahead with indus-trialisation, Kerala made little headway on that front. The improvement in social development could have asked for definite steps towards industrialisation to sustain itself but the opening of the West Asian job market acted as the valve. Hydel projects alone could almost meet its power require-ments while other States had to set up coal or nuclear power projects. And the only industry which made sterling prog-ress in the last two decades had a vested interest in keeping Kerala a pristine place.And now at a time when the State is called upon to explore new ways of development and meet its energy requirements, natural gas is set to arrive at its doorstep. The LNG terminal and gas pipeline project could be viewed as the best bet to keep Kerala as what it is environmentally today, while meet-ing its developmental needs. If properly planned, it will en-sure that Kerala will write another glorious chapter of social advancement without harming the environment. Natural gas can replace the more costly – pricewise and environmentally - fuels and feedstock of several industrial units. We estimate that there are proposals for gas-run projects to produce more than 4000 MW power. This will meet the requirements of the State for a reasonable time. It will also help planners drop their pursuit of hydel projects which could harm the environment irrevocably.But the State must wake up to the possibilities the arrival of natural gas offers. There are issues of land acquisition for the pipeline project and pricing. The government must take the lead in assessing them with larger common good in mind. Last year, KSIDC held a natural gas conference in which all stakeholders—regulators, suppliers, potential customers and government officials attended. It cleared some air, but more needs to be done. The State should plan its industrial policy keeping natural gas as a key player. The cover story of this issue deals on these topics in an elaborate manner. We feel that planning the development of our industry and economy around natural gas will be the best way for sustaining the progress that we have made till now and meeting the demands of the future.We must work with the gods and GAIL to ensure that we remain green.

Vol.1 Issue 8 September 2011

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When the gas flows

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4

ON

ContentsCOVER STORY

18 Team Paddy Farmers

An open mind for experimentation has the Pullazhi Kole Padasekhara Samithi in Thrissur bag the Nelkathir award

28 Get ready for the GasKerala’s tryst with natural gas is set to happen soon as Petronet LNG is commissioning its second LNG terminal in the country in Kochi. It will fuel Kerala’s industry and economy like none did before

5

Contents

After delays, Kochi metro rail project picks up momentum

Interview/Tom Jose, MD, Kochi Metro Rail LtdDreaming the metroMr Tom Jose goes about his work systematically, putting in place the tools that are required to complete the Kochi metro rail project. “We have to dream the project 24 hours if we want to see it coming up,” he said.

36 It’s raining IT

Cloud computing is the economical way of consuming IT services

22 Back on track

38 Changing RolesStock exchanges have much more to offer than trading in equity shares

40 It’s portable now!If you are unhappy with your health insurer, you can moveto another from Oct 1

42 Taming the windSpare 15 minutes a day on meditation. Learn to control mind, sharpen its focus

44 Family planning V2.0 Where have all the children gone?

47 The brandmasterM E Meeran, founder of Eastern group, discovered the virtues of branding quite early

6

Vytilla Mobility Hub, the first planned multi-modal transport hub in Kerala, has become functional with the completion of the first phase of the project. It has parking bay for 65 buses, cafeteria and a toilet block.

At present, KSRTC buses as well as long-distance private buses are operating from the mobility hub. With the work on the Kochi Metro set to begin soon

with the demolition of the North over bridge, the hub

7

Text

and

phot

o: K

uruv

illa C

hack

o

will play a crucial role in the traffic of the commercial capital of Kerala.

The second phase of the project involves construction of an entry plaza, city bus terminal, a terminal building consisting of one basement floor, ground floor and first floor, three boat jetties, entry and exit, green area, bus clinic, idle parking and

other amenities at a cost of `375 crore.

8

e cover story on the Onam market boom was on the dot. I usu-ally visit Kerala during the Onam season, and believe me the frenzied shopping activity seen here is re�ec-tive of the immense buying power of the Malayalee today. From white goods to jewellery to textiles to even dining out, Onam means a season of lavish spending. Even the market-ers have a ball during this season as ads occupy primetime radio slots on every station.

Neenu Suresh,Hyderabad

As my wife and me read through the cover story on Onam shopping, we couldn’t but agree more. Like any Malayalee, even our shopping spend is maximized during Onam. With so many discounts and promotions all around the State, it’s hard to miss the temptation to splurge. Also kudos to the cover design, for ef-fectively sending across the message of Onam and shopping.

Raju Zachariah,Kottayam

e write up on the Kochi Inter-national Fashion Week was totally engrossing. Having attended the event only the �rst day, it was good to see a round-up of the activities of the following day. Since the media in Kochi hadn’t really covered the event in detail, your article �lled in the gaps for fashion enthusiasts like me. e fact that Storm fashion is planning to open a boutique store in Kochi made me go Ooh La La as well!

Smita Babu,Kochi

KSIDC needs a pat on its back for its initiatives in promoting indus-trial growth with investments worth

market boom was on the dot. I usu-ally visit Kerala during the Onam season, and believe me the frenzied shopping activity seen here is re�ec-tive of the immense buying power of the Malayalee today. From white goods to jewellery to textiles to even dining out, Onam means a season of lavish spending. Even the market-ers have a ball during this season as ads occupy primetime radio slots on

`1 lakh crore waiting to descend on Kerala. Also notable is their contribution to improving CSR activities in the State. By promot-ing girl child education, they have indirectly conveyed a message for more corporate involvement in areas of health, education and housing in the State.

K Ramachandran Nair,�iruvananthapuram

It is heartening to note that KSIDC, which is celebrating its golden jubilee, chose to address the needs of one of the most neglected segments of society, instead of splurging it on showy events. And the idea of picking the girl child was also commendable. I hope that more corporates will follow KSIDC's footsteps and sponsor education of the needy and deserving.

Priya Nair,Kochi

I’m an employee with an IT �rm in Infopark, Kochi. Reaching out to society’s underprivileged has always been a heartfelt desire of mine. Recently I had come in touch with a few colleagues who shared a similar passion. We were though clueless on how to go about doing the same. Your article ‘e Golden Smiles’ provided us with the much required information on how to uti-

lise our funds and where. We have approached an NGO for the same now, and things are moving forward in a more organised way, leading to a better utilisation of our funds. e article was a timely help for people like us, as well as for corporates in the State who have bigger CSR plans.

Reena Roy,Kochi

(Ms Sangeetha Menon, CSR consultant, can be contacted on 09980541060 or

sangeetha.mmenon@gmail.com).

Finally, it’s a relief to know that Ayurveda in the State will be ef-�ciently marketed and provided avenues for commercial growth (Rejuvenating Ayurveda, August issue). Hailing from Cherthala, Al-lepey, I have noticed that only the Arya Vaidya Sala is as renowned in the international market as it is in the domestic market. Most tour-ists �ock to Sri Lanka and other neighbouring countries just because we have failed to capitalize on our strong point of providing authentic Ayurveda. Hope CARe Keralam helps promote enthusiastic and gen-uine entrepreneurs in this segment, who will wash away the negative picture that some Ayurvedic mas-sage parlours in the state portray.

K Subrahmanium,Cherthala

e column 'How much gold does a man need' by Aby Abraham seri-ously set me thinking on the current gold purchase trends. While we all follow the gold rush quite blindly, the article o�ers the other side of the picture, re�ecting the true meaning of the column. Well-researched and beautifully written, the article will force those in the hunt for gold into thinking about the doomsday and the non-utility of gold in times of distress as nothing but an element, stored away in the house locker.

Navin �omas,Kochi

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10

I SAY!

Practices such as ‘Nokkukooli’ have brought a bad name to workers in Kerala though there is little industrial unrest in the State now. The government is determined to change the image of Kerala labour which is highly skilled and educatedShibu Baby John, Labour Minister, on the reforms the government plans to introduce in the labour sector

A good group is not one that is flawless or that have never made any errors. A great group is one that learns from its mistakes and makes a comebackAnand Mahindra, vice-chairman & MD, M&M when asked if he regretted entering the car and two wheeler business

One can bribe their way to make a $10 million business, but if you want to make a $1 billion business, there is no other way but to do business the right wayN R Narayana Murthy, Infosys chief mentor, expressing concern over worsening corruption

Tapping the rich to close the deficit is not class warfare. It’s math Barack Obama, US President, on his new tax proposal

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has comeSteve Jobs, Apple CEO, in his resignation letter

Humility is the biggest

qualification that a leader needs.

The fact that the ministers sat down

before others to attend classes

shows their greatness

IIM-K director Debashis Chatterjee after taking classes

for Kerala ministers

11

12

AT A GLANCE

At 46 m, US povertyrate highest in 52 yrs As many as 15.1 per cent of US population, or one among six Ameri-cans, lives below poverty line. According to the US Census Bureau, the number rose to 46 million last year, the highest in 52 years, as the economy struggled to recover from the recession that began in December 2007. at marked a 0.8 per cent increase in poverty rate from 2009, when there were 43.6 million Ameri-cans living in poverty. e median income of working Americans also declined 2.3 percent to an annual $49,445. e US has long had one of the highest poverty rates in the developed world.

Yahoo CEO Bartz �red over phone

Yahoo Inc chairman Mr Roy Bostock �red chief executive o¨cer Ms Carol Bartz over the phone. “I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been �red over the phone by Yahoo’s chairman of the board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward,” the outspoken CEO said in a two-sentence email to employees. Analysts said Bartz’s departure signalled the company had run out

of options after failing to dominate the advertising and content markets and handing over its search operations to Microsoft Corp. Yahoo is still one of the most popular destina-tions on the Internet but faces increasing competi-tion from social network-ing service Facebook and from Google, which has a market value of $170 bil-lion, 10 times more than Yahoo.

After IBM, HP to exit PC businesse market leader in PC business worldwide, Hewlett-Packard, has announced that it plans to exit from the business. e move shows the problems faced by PC makers in the US. e PC divi-sion generates the most revenues for HP, but it is also the least pro�table division. Earlier, IBM had sold its PC business to the Chinese company Lenovo. Dell and Apple are the only remaining large PC makers in the US. HP is also exiting the tablet and mobile phone market, unable to deal with com-petition from rivals like Apple. But the company will continue to sell serv-ers and other equipment to business customers.

Moody’s cuts Japan’s ratingMoody's Investor Ser-vice cut Japan’s rating by one notch to “Aa3” from “Aa2”. Burgeoning national debt and politi-cal instability were cited as reasons for the cut. Frequent change in gov-

ernments has a�ected the ability of the country to implement long term eco-nomic strategies according to the agency. e natural disasters that visited the country last March has aggravated the de�ation-ary conditions, leading to the rating cut.

China overtakes US as biggest PC marketChina became the world’s biggest consumer of PCs in the second quarter of 2011, showed market re-search by IDC. Manufac-turers shipped 18.5 mil-lion PCs in China during the period, compared to 17.7 million in the US. US is still expected to maintain its lead for the whole year. But, IDC expects China to be on top in 2012, shipping 85.2 million PCs, compared to 76.6 million in the US. China's PC market is still growing while the US and European PC markets are contracting due to economic troubles and competition from smartphones and tablet computers.

Google buys Motorola’s cellphone businessGoogle is acquiring Motorola Mobility Hold-ings – the cell phone business that was earlier split from Motorola – for $12.5 billion, a 63 per cent premium to its market capitalisation. is is Google’s largest acquisition till date. e acquisition would make Google a full-�edged cell phone manufacturer as it already makes the

Android mobile operating system for smartphones. Android runs on the open platform and accounts for around 40 per cent of global smartphone sales. It is used by more than 39 manufacturers world-wide including Motorola Mobility Holdings. e move puts it in direct competition with iPhone manufaturer Apple.

Subprime: US tosue erring banks

e legal fallout of the subprime lending crisis is starting to hit the big banks in the US. e US Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the mortgage giants Fan-nie Mae and Freddie Mac, is suing a dozen banks in-cluding Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Gold-man Sachs and Deutsche bank, for billions of dol-lars in compensation. e agency accuses them of misrepresenting the qual-ity of mortgage securities they sold at the height of the housing bubble. It argues that the banks failed to perform the due diligence required under the law. Also, 50 state at-torney generals are in the �nal stages of negotiating a settlement that requires banks to pay at least $20 billion to reduce mortgag-es of homeowners facing foreclosure.

13

AT A GLANCE

India’s GDP to overtake Japan’sere is some good news for Indians amid a global gloom: India might become the world’s third largest economy in 2012 in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). It will replace Japan, with US and China occupy-ing the top two positions. As per 2010 �gures, the Japanese economy was worth $4.31 trillion, and Indian $4.06 trillion. e tsunami and earth-quakes have the Japanese economy set to contract while India’s economy will grow 7 per cent. Under the PPP method, a dollar should be able to buy the same amount of goods anywhere in the world and exchange rates should adjust accordingly.

Premji’s dividend: `1,345 crore

Wipro promoter Mr Azim Premji took home `1,345 crore as dividend last year, overtaking Reli-ance Industries chairman Mr Mukesh Ambani’s `1,241 crore. Bajaj Auto chairman Mr Rajul Bajaj (`917 crore), Vedanta Group’s Anil Agarwal (`790.2 crore) and Ke-shub Mahindra (`312.2 crore) were the other top earners, according to a re-port in Economic Times. Infosys founders Mr N R Narayana Murthy and

Mr Nandan Nilekani got `139 crore each as divi-dend in 2010.

`500 crore capital for new bank licence

As per the new RBI draft guidelines for issuing licenses to new banks in the private sector, enti-ties in the private sector, owned and controlled by residents, with diversi�ed ownership, sound cre-dentials and integrity and having successful track record of at least 10 years will be eligible to promote banks. Groups having more than 10 per cent income or assets from real estate construction and/or broking activities in the last three years will not be eligible. New banks will be set up only through a wholly owned Non-Op-erative Holding Company (NOHC) to be registered with RBI as a NBFC. e banks will have a mini-mum capital requirement of `500 crore. At least 25 per cent of its branches will have to be opened in unbanked rural centres.

IT companies planto recruit 2.5 lakh

IT majors have kick-started their campus recruitment, aiming to recruit 2.5 lakh fresh engineers this year, up from the 2 lakh recruited

last year. Major compa-nies like TCS, Cognizant and Wipro have already started visiting campuses and issuing o�er letters. But the starting salaries for the recruits have remained stagnant at the last year levels of `3 lakh to `3.25 lakh a year.

4,03,000 Indian millionaires by 2015ere will be 2.82 mil-lion $ millionaires in Asia, by 2015, powered by the growth in India and China. China would account for half of these millionaires, while the number of millionaires in India would rise to 403,000 by 2015, with their wealth estimated at $2.46 trillion, according to a report of Julius Baer, a Swiss private bank. It says the total wealth of Asia’s millionaires would triple to $15.8 trillion in �ve years.

35 ‘small’ Indian cos on Forbes Asia list35 Indian companies have made it to the Forbes Asia’s ‘Best Under a Bil-lion’ list of 200 companies for the year 2011. e list is dominated by China and Hong Kong which together accounted for 65 companies. e list con-sidered companies which had a turnover between $5 million and $1 billion and were publicly traded for at least one year. e Indian companies that made it to the list include SRF, Polyplex, Glodyne Technoserve, Opto Circuits and Edu-comp Solutions.

CCI slaps �ne on DLF for abuse

Home buyers in the country who feel cheated by the strong arm tactics of builders have reason to rejoice. e Competi-tion Commission of India has imposed a penalty of `630 crore on real-estate major DLF, for abusing its dominant position. It issued a ‘cease and desist’ order to prevent DLF from imposing unfair conditions on the buyers of its �ats. e CCI order came on a complaint �led by a Belaire Owners' As-sociation in Gurgaon on the delay in the execution of a project and the condi-tions that it felt adversely a�ected their rights.

Big car or small, it’s diesel all alonge sales of diesel cars have raced ahead of petrol cars since the price di�er-ential between petrol and diesel widened last May. e share of diesel cars in the overall compact car sales increased to 56 per cent in August, up from 51 per cent in June. Diesel cars accounted for just 39 per cent of compact cars sold in July last year. e change is more marked in the sedan segment with diesel versions accounting for nearly 64 per cent of the sales today compared to 28 per cent a year ago. Diesel is cheaper than petrol by more than 50 per cent.

14

Projects to bene�tland owners also

Even as the Central government is com-ing up with new norms for land acquisition, the State government has cleared the draft of a new land acquisition policy aimed at speeding up the development process. e highlight of the policy is the ‘transferrable develop-ment bonds’ that would be issued to people who do not want immediate cash for their land. e bonds can be encashed at a later date, and would enable landowners to bene�t from the increase in land value once the area is developed. e draft policy also proposes to give landowners up to 2 per cent equity in the project and a job to one person from the family which loses land in the project. Land acquisition is one of the main reasons for the delay in executing projects in the State.

Videocon to set up manufacturing unit

e Videocon group will

set up a state-of-the-art electronics manufacturing facility in the State at an investment of `200 crore. e announcement was made by Mr Rajkumar Dhoot, MD of Videocon Industries, at a function to mark the completion of 25 years of its operations in Kerala. e location of the facility will be decided soon. e facility would manufacture consumer electronics goods and is expected to provide em-ployment to 1000 people.

CSB to up FII limit, �oat NRI bonds

Catholic Syrian Bank is seeking shareholder approval to increase the foreign institutional inves-tor limit in the company to 49 per cent. Currently FIIs hold 14.99 per cent in the bank. e bank needs funds to meet its capital adequacy require-ments and is planning to raise capital by issu-ing preferential shares or through private place-ment. It has also got the RBI’s permission for �oating NRI bonds. e issue size has been pegged at `150 crore. Catholic Syrian Bank is also pro-posing a comprehensive revision of its Articles of Association in order to support its growth plans.

Dun & Bradstreet awards for SIBSouth Indian Bank has bagged two awards in the

Dun & Bradstreet– Po-laris Software Banking Awards for 2010-11. e awards were for the Best Private Sector Bank in asset quality and priority sector lending. is is the second time the bank has received the award for asset quality.

Singapore co to buy Kochi spices �rmSingapore based agri-commodities giant OLAM is set to acquire Vallabhdas Kanji (VKL), a Kochi-based spices busi-ness �rm of the JV Mari-wala Group. VKL is one of Asia’s leading processor of spices. It has process-ing plants in south east Asia and exports products to over 30 countries. e promoters had mandated an investment bank for a stake sale. Olam’s entry marks a consolidation in the fragmented Indian spices market. Earlier another global gaint Mc-Cormick had acquired 26 per cent stake in Eastern condiments.

Kudumbashree Onam sales hit `15 crore

More than 40,000 Ku-dumbashree units sold products at 1165 Onam trade fairs in Kerala this year achieving sales of `15 crore an increase of

`1.5 crore from last year. e turnover of Kudum-bashree units participating in Onam fairs have been increasing over the years: it was a mere `3.38 crore in 2008. Around 73,630 families from the poorer sections of society make a living through micro-enterprises under the Kudumbashree programme.

Kerala is highest consumer of meat

Data with the animal husbandry department in Kerala show that people in the State consume 5,000 tonnes of meat daily, the highest in the country. e department o¨cials estimate that a whopping 80 per cent of Keralites are non-vegetarian. Chicken is the most preferred meat in the State, accounting for 45 per cent of the meat consumption. But as is the case with other food stu�, Kerala imports most of its meat requirements, relying on the neighbouring States for the supply. Keralites spent `2,844 crore on chicken in 2009-10, of which `1,752 crore went to poultry farms outside the State.

AT A GLANCE

15

HIGH SPEED RAIL CORRIDORCompany formed to implement projecte high speed rail project in the State has got a shot in the arm with the formation of a new public lim-ited company - Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd - to imple-ment it. e company was formed on the basis of a report by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which had been entrusted with the pre-feasi-bility study. T Balakrishnan, Ad-

ditional Chief Secretary (Industry and Commerce), Alkesh Sharma, Managing Director, KSIDC, and T P omaskutty, Executive Direc-tor, KSIDC, are the �rst directors of the new company. e company will prepare the detailed feasibility report for the project and decide on the technology to be used. e 630-km network, extending from iruvanathapuram to Man-galore, is expected to cost `77,000 crore. e proposed network will have two parallel tracks in the stan-dard guage system. It will be aligned independent of the existing railway network. A 13-metre wide stretch of land for the length of the State will be required for the project. e noti�cation for acquiring the land for the project will be released soon. e project is to be implemented as a joint venture between the State

in Chennai and Hyderabad also will be linked to the ICTT soon. e ICTT now o�ers mainline services to Europe and this is attracting the export-import business to Kochi.

SMART CITYCentre grants SEZ status for 114 acres e Central government has grant-ed SEZ status for the remaining 114 acres of the SmartCity project, Kochi. 132 acres of land had been granted the SEZ status in March

this year. e SmartCity project area is divided by a river �owing through it and hence it was not considered as a contiguous plot of land for grant-ing SEZ status earlier. But now the whole project area of 246 acres has been approved as a single SEZ. e move is considered to be bene�cial to the project which is set to take o� soon.

COACH FACTORY Foundation stone to be laid on Oct 22Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has announced that the foundation stone of the Kanjikode Rail Coach Factory will be laid on October 22. With this, the three decade long wait for the project is coming to an end. e decision was made at a meeting between the railway o¨cials and the State del-egation led by Chief Minister Oom-men Chandy in iruvanathapuram. e State government had provided 431 acres of land free of cost to the Railways for the project. e coach factory is expected to make Palak-kad a new industrial centre with a number of ancillary industries to provide spare parts being set up. e factory will provide direct employ-ment to 3000 people and indirect employment to 5000 people.

government and a private partner.

MARITIME UNIVERSITYState o¡ers 60 acres for full-�edged campus e Kerala government will provide 60 acres of land for setting up a full-�edged campus of the Indian Mari-time University(IMU) in Kochi. e announcement was made at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the University's Kochi campus.Nearly 90 per cent of the global trade happens through water. To build professionals for the sector, the Parliament standing committee had recommended setting up the IMU headquartered at Chennai and with regional campuses at Mumbai, Vishakhapatnam, Kolkotha and Kochi, subject to availability of land. e shipping ministry has al-ready allocated `25 crore for setting up the Kochi campus of IMU.e Kochi IMU campus is already o�ering courses in nautical sciences, ship repair and ship building, port and shipping management and marine engineering. Courses in maritime law and dredging are also being planned.

VALLARPADAM ICTTICTT receives vessel from Tuticorin ICDe Vallarpadam ICTT has received the �rst consignment of 90 TEUs of export cargo from the Tuticorin Inland Container Depot (ICD). Congestion in the Tuticorin port is cited as the reason for the diversion of cargo. e ICTT is already linked to the Bangalore and Coimbatore ICDs. 3 trains carry containers from the Bangalore ICD to Vallarpadam every week. It is expected that ICDs

PROJECT TRACKER

16

When my information changes, I change my opinion.What do you do, sir?

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)

The most influential economist of the 20th century.

17

Everybody knows that technology changes business. Today, the change flows through the net.

And the fact is, Kerala is the most networked State in India.

Information changes

Be updated

For subscription: +91 97444 17980 or subscription@economic-update.in

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After all, our opinions ought to change!

Of the 978 Panchayats in Kerala, 99% have broadband connectivity.

18

Kuruvilla Chacko

Thrissur may not be a district one usually counts among the paddy strongholds in the

State. But while its more acknowl-edged cousin Kuttanad shines under the tag of ‘Rice bowl of Kerala’, and the neighbouring Palakkad district stands tall as Kerala’s highest pro-ducer of rice, the farmers of Pullazhi in Ayyanthole panchayat of rissur have taken the lead in displaying the merits of community farming, with their innovative and self-sustaining practices- elements of paddy farming hardly noticed elsewhere in the State.

Recipient of the State govern-

ment’s Nelkathir award for best group farming practices in 2009-10, the Pullazhi Kole Padasekhara Samithi has been recognised for its role in ef-�ciently coordinating group farming activities over 900 acres of kole pad-dy �elds—the single largest stretch of farmland in rissur district. e

award carries a cash prize of `2 lakh, a citation and a gold medal.

�e Pulis of Pullazhie farmers of Pullazhi have always been ahead of their counterparts in the State when it comes to imple-menting fresh ideas. ey formed the Pullazhi Kole Padsekhara Samithi in 1961, to cater to the needs of the farmers. “e society was set up to handle the administrative a�airs of the farming community and to ensure its welfare,” said Mr K Gopinathan, a farmer for 10 years and the presi-dent of the Pullazhi Kole Padasekhara Samithi.

e Samithi though, did not con-

AGRICULTURE

An open mind for experimentation has the Pullazhi Kole Padasekhara Samithi in Thrissur bag the Nelkathir award

Team Paddy Farmers

Pullazhi is an example of the success of team work by spirited farmers, workers and o�cials

The Samithi developed farm roads, introduced harvesters

and tillers and other mechanised farming

equipment and promoted on-farm delivery of paddy

19

Team Paddy Farmers

Mr K Gopinathan with the Nelkkathir Award. “We attend seminars and hold discussions

with farm officers from Kuttanad to improve our practices,” he said

�ne itself to sowing and harvesting; it took several initiatives that facilitated pro�table farming. is included de-veloping farm roads for easy access in the early 80’s, introducing mecha-nisation by utilising harvesters, tillers and other mechanised farming equip-ment in the early 2000s, and promot-ing on-farm delivery of paddy crop to mill owners in 2004. Such initiatives helped draw more people, including youth, into the profession of farming. While most other districts reported considerable drop in the number of people engaged in farming in the last decade, and when stretches of land were left fallow, the Samithi could sustain farming in the area. e num-ber of farmers, in fact, has increased to 600 today, from 200 in the 60s.

Having zeroed in on the munda-kan crop for its easy adaptability

to the kole �elds of the district, the society plans the farming calendar in such a way as to coincide with the re-treat of the monsoons in October.

Come August and the entire com-munity gets together for an annual pre-farming celebration in nearby temples. e next step is to schedule all activities including irrigation, sow-ing and harvesting. Experts from the Kerala Agricultural University and other institutions are invited to con-duct workshops on latest farm prac-tices. e Samithi also gives loans up to `20,000 to individual farmers, ir-respective of the size of the land hold-ing. “Most people own around 5-15 acres,” said Mr Gopinathan. “Only half the loan amount is provided in cash. e remaining is transferred towards purchases of seeds, fertilisers and farm equipment. is way we en-

sure that the loan amount is utilised only for farming.”

e society owns �ve 50 HP and two 20 HP motors which are oper-ated for 20-25 days starting October, to drain the water o� the �eld and clear the land for sowing; and later for irrigation purposes. ree technicians and four guards are employed for the smooth operation of the same. e seeds are procured from the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Kerala (VFPCK), and the �rst round of sow-ing starts on the 6th day of draining. “Sowing is completed along the en-tire 900 acres of kole paddy �eld in 25 days. e guards and technicians work in shifts 24x7, to ensure that the farmers face no delay in sowing,” said Mr Gopinathan. For all this technical support, the farmers pay an annual fee of `600 to the society.

Working together has its advan-tages, as the farmers discovered

two years ago, when army worms, or swarming caterpillars, attacked the farm lands immediately after the end of the sowing period. “We saw the crops disappearing in a �ash, right before our eyes,” said Mr Gopina-than. “e shock could very well have turned into a loss, had we not collectively held on and tackled the menace.” e society, with the help of Mr K K Jayan, agriculture o¨cer, Krishi Bhavan, Ayyanthole, Mr C R Ramesh, principal agricultural o¨cer, and Mr PB Balachandran, director, Paddy Mission, swung into action and controlled the damage by spray-ing pesticide in the right measure in the entire area. “Later, we pumped in water and lost no time in drain-ing the pesticides o� the �elds, and

Vegetables like spinach, cucumber, beans, okra and pumpkin were grown, and sold through the Horticulture Corporation. �ere is also a plan to start �sh rearing on a large scale from 2012

then sowed the seeds a second time,” said Mr Gopinathan. “In addition, we also made 10.5 acres of fallow land cultivable at a combined cost of `1.4 lakh. e human spirit of the farmers at the time of adversity was inspiring. ere was a determination to make up for the loss of crop, even if it meant a drain on our resources.” e dis-trict farm o¨ce on its part provided `10,000 and �ve sprayers to the soci-ety at the end of the crop season.

And the work paid o�. e Samithi achieved a bumper crop in 2010 with a yield 50-70 times of what was sown. e farmlands like any other year managed to produce the minimum quantity of 25 quintals and a pro�t of `19,340 per acre of land.

is achievement spurred the community into extending their farming calendar to maximise prof-its in a planned manner. It drafted a scheme to utilise the �elds between the harvest month of March and the sowing month of October by culti-vating vegetables on 50 acres of land.

20

“After the 2009 crop, we roped in the support of self-help groups - Kudum-bashree and Janasree - and a number of youngsters who were interested in cultivating vegetables,” says Mr Gopi-nathan. e idea soon gathered mo-mentum and at the start of the veg-etable season, as many as 98 farmers implemented the scheme on an addi-tional 50 acres, raising the total land under vegetable cultivation to 100 acres. Organic farming gained prior-ity, and seeds were procured from the National Seeds Corporation at subsi-dised rates, with the society providing the essential farm equipment. Veg-etables like spinach, cucumber, beans, okra and pumpkin were grown, and sold through the Horticulture Corpo-ration. e scheme turned out to be an unexpected pot of fortune, provid-ing returns close to 200 per cent with an average pro�t of `14,000 per acre and a net production of 330 tonnes. In e�ect, it meant an additional rev-enue of `12 lakh into the co�ers of the Samithi.

With the pro�ts earned from paddy and vegetable cultivation, the society constructed a building of its own and a godown for storing farm essentials. It also bought a harvester for `23 lakh and created a fund of `15

lakh for setting up bunds and planting coconut trees around the farmlands. ey even opened a ‘Neethi’ medical store to sell medicines at subsidised rates.

e late retreat of monsoons in 2010 meant a shift in the start of the crop season from October to Decem-ber that year, which resulted in the cancellation of the vegetable season in 2011. “We were not disappointed though; instead we have put in place a scheme for �sh cultivation alongside vegetable farming in 2012,” said Mr Gopinathan. e society has already conducted research on its viability and has, on an experimental basis, tried rearing �sh such as cutla and rohu, which has met with a fair amount of success.

Further Experimentse farms of Pullazhi may be main-taining a steady growth pattern, but according to Mr Gopinathan, a move towards adopting organic farming on a large scale is the need of the hour. “We have begun the use of organic pesticides such as pseudomonas and tetrochad, and have implemented 100 per cent organic farming in 25 acres,” he said.

Not content with procuring or-ganic manure from outside, the soci-ety has proposed a plan to set up an animal farm to rear cattle and other livestock. “By rearing domestic cattle, we not only get another source of in-come, but can also use the animal re-fuse as organic manure for our crops.”

The Samithi provides loans up to `20,000 to individual farmers, irrespective of the

size of the land holding

e society also plans to set up its own grinding mill soon.

But despite all their experi-ments, what sets these farmers apart is a willingness to embrace positives from other paddy cultivating areas of Kerala as well. “e society has only the farmers’ interest at the core of its thinking,” said Mr Gopinathan. “For this very reason, we attend seminars and hold discussions with farm o¨cers from Kuttanad region to improve our practices. From our discussions there, we have hit upon the idea of rearing ducks. is move will breathe life into the water resources, besides bringing in extra revenue.” eir hopes lie on the implementation of the proposed rissur-Ponnani agriculture package worth ̀ 580 crore, for the quick imple-mentation of such schemes.

Until that comes through, their passion for experimentation and channelising the best practices in a collective, organised manner will con-tinue to script stories of success and self-sustenance. And hopefully add more medals, to their kitty.

Sowing is completed along the entire 900 acres of kole paddy �eld in 25 days. �e guards and technicians work in shifts 24x7, to ensure that the farmers face no delay in sowing

The spirit of the farmers when their crop was at-tacked by army worms

was inspiring. There was a determination to make

up for the loss of one crop, even if it meant additional

expenditure

21

22

Back on trackKochi Metro project picks up momentum

eral points. It also passed through the Central Planning Commission on the issue of the funding pattern several times. While the Commis-sion wants it to be taken up in pri-vate-public partnership route, the State government wants the whole project to be publicly funded.

e funding pattern is yet to be �nalised but the State government has gone ahead and formed Kochi Metro Rail Limited, a special pur-pose vehicle, for the project and ap-pointed Mr Tom Jose, a senior IAS o¨cer as its managing director. e move appears to have got the proj-ect back on the track. A fast track, at that.

Hoping that the political align-ments at the Centre and the State and the success of similar projects in the neighbouring States will come to its rescue, KMRL is busy laying the groundwork so that it can take o� in no time once the approval comes. “We hope to get the approval of the Planning Commission soon,” said Mr Jose. (See interview on page 24)

Land acquisition, a major is-sue for projects in Kerala, does not threaten to derail the project as KMRL is already in possession of 85 per cent of the required land. “For the rest, we are negotiating with the owners,” Mr Jose said. “We will not have to evacuate many households but there may be business and com-mercial establishments.” e com-pany is talking to them so that it can prepare a rehabilitation package that is acceptable to all. e government has already cleared appointment of more o¨cials to speed up the survey of the land to be acquired.

A metro train starts on time, accelerates in no time, reach-es designated stations in

scheduled time and reaches its des-tination, also, on time. But by taking an unusually long time to get started, the Kochi Metro project acted quite unlike the trains it plans to run. Un-til recently.

e 23 station, 26-km metro-line connecting Aluva to ripunithura, one of the busiest routes in Kerala,

has been part of the thinking process of the State government for more than a decade. e Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the pioneers of the metro concept in India and consul-tants to the project, had submitted a project report way back in 2005, but little had happened since. From doubts about the viability of the project to opposition to the route to questions about the funding pattern, the project had hit roadblocks at sev-

23

The formation of Kochi Metro Rail Limited,

a special purpose vehicle, and the appointment of

Mr Tom Jose as its managing director appear

to have got the project back on the track

e project crossed a major mile-stone when the Japan International Cooperation Agency ( JICA) agreed to provide nearly 52 per cent of the estimated cost of `4,400 crore. JICA has already agreed to provide the fund as loan and has included the project in their next year's funding programmes. “We are waiting for the Central clearance for going ahead with the plans to avail the loan,” Mr

Jose said. KMRL went for a loan from JICA as its cost is lower than what is being o�ered by many simi-lar international lending institutions, and much lower than the domestic rates. e JICA loan has a repayment period of 30 years, with 10 years of moratorium on repayment. JICA is already funding the Jalanidhi drink-ing water supply project in Kerala.

KMRL is also working on set-tling the tra¨c issues that are sure to come up once the project is taken up. e project envisages rebuilding of the South and North overbridges – the entry points to the city – en-tailing rerouting of the city tra¨c. KMRL has successfully conducted a trial tra¨c diversion, a precursor to the dismantling of the North rail-way overbridge. It is also working on repairing and maintaining smaller routes within the city. e govern-

ment has already approved projects worth `158.68 crore to develop and repair roads and the construction of new overbridges. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is in charge of the road development works.

Doubts about its arrival cleared, the project has already entered the imagination of the people. It is time it picked up further momentum. And keep it till the destination is reached.

Land acquisition, a major issue for projects

in Kerala, does not threaten to derail the

project as KMRL is already in possession of 85 per

cent of the required land

�e NGO quarters area which the government plans to transfer to Kochi Metro Rail Limited. �e 33 acres now hosts quarters of govern-ment o�cials. �e proposal is to con-struct new buildings to relocate the o�cials and commercially develop the rest

Out of the boxKMRL to develop land to fund project

Given that they need to think out of the box to raise funds

for the project, the Kochi Metro Rail Limited and the government have come out with a scheme that will be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders. As per the pro-posal to raise close to `600 crore towards its share, the State gov-ernment has agreed to hand over 33 acres of land at Kakkanad, on the outskirts of Kochi, to KMRL. e land, owned by Public Works Department, hosts quarters for the employees of the State govern-ment.

At present, the quarters are sparsely located in the vast stretch of land. It is proposed that KMRL pull down the dilapidated quar-ters and construct new buildings to provide accommodation for the government employees. A part of the property will be used to raise funds for the metro proj-

ect. “KMRL will conduct a study to �nd out ways to maximise the returns from the land,” Mr Tom Jose, the managing director, said. It is proposed that the company develop the rest of the land into a business district with shopping malls, residential apartments and theatre complexes.

e proposed business district will come up close to the Smart City project and the second phase of Infopark.

Every new development on the project, which had been hanging �re for quite some time, creates a lot of enthusiasm and even anxi-ety among people. e company has launched a website (www.kochimetro.org) to update people about the progress of the project and ensure public support. “People can mail us their queries and they will get a reply in 48 hours,’ said Mr Jose.

24

Dreaming the metroINTERVIEW/TOM JOSE

Anybody at the hot seat at Ko-chi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) runs the risk of being com-

pared with Mr E Seedharan of Delhi Metro. But that possibility does not seem to intimidate Mr Tom Jose, the managing director of KMRL. On the other hand, the cool-headed Mr Jose goes about his work systemati-cally, putting in place the tools that are required to accomplish the task at hand.

With the backing of a Chief Minister who wants the trains to run on the elevated rails in the com-mercial capital of Kerala before his government’s term ends in 2016, Mr Jose, a 1984-batch IAS o¨cer, has quite a few things moved since he took over three months ago. At a time when cost and time over runs are the norm, Mr Jose has a tight schedule for him and his tiny or-ganisation mandated to take up a mammoth task. “You have to dream a project 24 hours a day if you want to realise it,” Mr Jose told Editor K J Jacob in an interview. Excerpts:

Kochi Metro is perhaps the largest project to happen in Kerala in the last one decade, save Vallarpadam ICTT. How do you ensure that the project is on track?With an outlay of approximately `4,400 crore, Kochi metro rail proj-ect is one of the biggest projects to come up in Kerala in recent times. is is the �agship project of the government, and it will have to be looked at from that point of view. Cooperation from all sides is a must; then only we can see it, something of an iconic project, materialising in time.

As for me, this is a challenging assignment, no doubt. It’s not a rou-tine secretarial job; it’s a 24 by 7 job. We have to dream about the project 24 hours to see it coming up.

�ere was opposition to the project on several fronts, starting from the choice of metro rail to its economic viability. Have you settled them all?A government is duty-bound to en-sure that it works towards improving the quality of life of its citizens. e �rst thing people of Kochi want is to decongest its roads. It is so grave that we have only two options: ei-ther we go for a mass rapid transit system(MRTS), or ask people to take to foot. Studies have pointed out that the average vehicle speed in the city will be 8 km in near future. I have had a personal experience: I once had to reach the Government Guest House, Ernakulam, from ripunithura in 30 minutes for an emergency meet-ing. But I had to sit in the car in the humid weather cursing everyone for two-and-a-half hours to cover 8 km. is is the situation now; it is set to worsen as the vehicle population is growing by 12-13 per cent a year in Kochi. at means in 5-6 years, the number will double.

ere is no alternative to an MRTS. We studied other options such as sky bus. However, we did not come across many projects which ran successfully. Metro rail was found most acceptable, and hence the deci-sion.

What about the viability of the project?e Central government had de-signed a decongestion programme

for 42 cities in which National Highways Authority of India would be involved. e condition was that the population must be 30 lakh; Ko-chi’s population is 27 lakh. It also has a �oating population of 3 lakh.

But when we think of an infra-structure project, population is not the only criterion. We need to plan for the future, put in place systems that will reduce congestion in a very practical way. It’s a no-gainer if we make a situation where people lose precious, productive time. We must identify solutions to the wastage of human resources. We must work to-wards providing the average citizen a reliable, safe, economic, comfortable, user-friendly and punctual mode of transport at a�ordable rates.

�e Planning Commission wants the project to come up through the public-private partnership route. What are your views on that route? Generally we talk about public-pri-vate partnership in big projects. ey are viable in urban areas; they aren’t in rural areas. In case of a metro, it being an urban project is not of great help. If we were to make it pro�table for the private players to invest, we will have to give a return of at least 12-13 per cent. However, our stud-ies say that the returns will be in the region of 7 per cent. is is not suf-�cient to attract the private players, and hence we prefer it to be a gov-ernment-funded project.

We hope we can convince the commission; we expect its approval soon.

What about the �nances?We will require about `700-800 crore in the �rst year of which the major part will go for paying com-pensation for land acquisition. We are now tying up our resources. As for the whole project, ours estimate

The traffic congestion is so grave that we have only two options: either we go for a mass rapid transit system, or ask people to take to foot

25

is that the State and Central govern-ments would chip in with 15 per cent each, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency will fund 52 per cent of the project.

What about land acquisition?We have to acquire land mainly for stations and train depots. 85 per cent of land acquisition has already been completed; we hope to complete the process in 10 months.

How long do you think the project will take to complete?A project of this size should be com-pleted in four and a half years. is can progress only through phases. Once we get all the clearances, we have to tender the projects. And af-ter the physical work is over, then the trail run has to happen.

Kochi roads, as you said, are already congested. How will the city cope with the project which would take four years to complete?We will ensure that the people are put to the minimum inconvenience

possible. We are working on certain tra¨c arrangements within the city. Some roads need to be widened, some repaired. We are spending money on renovating �ve city roads.

�ere have been voices of protest against the project, especially from the merchant community in Kochi. What is the position now?I think the merchants have now real-ized that the Metro will bene�t them most, as it will boost their business. e main business areas of Kochi, es-pecially the MG Road and Broadway, su�er from congestion. People �nd it di¨cult to park their vehicles on the main roads and do the shopping.

We have one of the best marinas in the country in Kochi. We want more people to come to all these places, and we are trying to give them a vi-able mode of transport. In fact, it will enhance the business activity. Now, their attitude is very positive; 95 per cent of them are with us.

What is the status now? We have incorporated Kochi Metro Rail Limited as a company with the Chief Minister as chairman. e project is before the Planning Com-mission for �nal approval and we hope we will get the green signal soon. In the meantime, we are work-ing with other agencies and prepar-ing the ground so that we can take o� as and when the approval comes.

�ere are suggestions for the ex-tension of the metro to the airport. Will you take it up?e metro has created so much of enthusiasm and hope that people are demanding its extension. I think the SPV will think of it in a phased manner.

The project will enhance the business activity in Ernakulam. Now, the

traders’ attitude is very positive; 95 per cent of

them are with us

We must work towards providing the average citizen a reliable, safe, economic, comfortable, user-friendly and punctual mode of transport at affordable rates

26

He may be well over 60, but one look at the speed at which Kunju Narayanan (in pic) climbs up the 30 ft coconut tree speaks volumes of the evergreen profession of coconut climbers in Kerala. Having been into the job for well over 40 years, his enthusiasm to prowl the coconut fields starting from 9 am till late afternoon hasn't diminished one bit over the years. Rather if anything, he looks forward daily to the climbing experience. Among the last full-time coconut climbers in the region of Thodupuzha, he wishes technology could be introduced to cope with the diminishing numbers of his tribe. But ask him about the

BUSINESS CALLED LIFE

Text, photo: Kuruvilla Chacko

The Climber

27

latest mechanical coconut plucker and pat comes his reply, “The design in its present form is flawed. With a majority of coconut trees having different trunk width from bottom to top, the machine (which tightens itself to the trunk) will not be able to remain firmly in position while moving up the tree.” If not his logic, at least his pay is sure to make the designers of such instruments stand up and take notice: Narayanan climbs over 40 trees daily for `15 per tree (The going rate is `25 in Kochi). This is apart from the customary takeaway coconuts (three in his case). In total, an average earning of `600 per day, or a cool `18000 per month. A luxurious amount for someone living in rural Kerala.

28

ON

COVER STORY

29

ON

Get ready for the

gasKerala’s tryst with natural gas is set to happen soon as Petronet LNG is commissioning its second LNG terminal in the country in Kochi. It will fuel Kerala’s industry and economy like none did before

Aby Abraham G K

�e Greeks built the temple of the Oracle of Delphi on top of a �ame that rose from the earth on Mount Parnassus. �e Gods, fuelled the �ame, they believed, little knowing that it was nat-ural gas that caused the �re. As time passed, man began using natural gas as a fuel, but it was available only to a chosen few. Kerala, despite being called God’s own country, was not among the lucky few. Until now.

�e fuel, natural gas, with little divinity but a lot of econom-ics attached to it, has set sails for Kerala in huge seafaring tank-ers from across the seas. It will then be distributed inside the State through pipelines. �e cleaner, cheaper fuel will change the way Kerala cooked its food, �red its boilers, cooled its interi-ors, ran its cold storages, fed its fertiliser factories and turned the turbines in its power plants. In short, it will change the way Kerala lived its life.

30

Natural gas, a by-product of oil excavation, was often burnt away in huge quanti-

ties until a few decades away as it was unpro�table to transport the bulky fuel. e development of tech-nology to liquefy it proved the game changer, and suddenly lightened up the global energy scene. With pe-troleum becoming dearer by the day and global warming and pollution threatening human existence, the world rediscovered the virtues of the clean fuel. Major powers scrambled to ensure its uninterrupted supply over long periods.

India is no stranger to the fuel. All the industrialised States in the country have had access to this pre-cious resource. Gujarat, considered the most industrialised State in In-dia, has the most developed gas mar-ket. e State accounts for 27 per cent of India’s gas-based power gen-eration, 30 per cent of petrochemi-cal business, and over 50 per cent of sponge iron manufacturing capacity. It has a pipeline network of 5000 kms, distributing gas sourced �rst from India’s western coast and now from India’s �rst LNG terminal at Dahej. It was a relationship that fed each other: the growing industry de-

manded more gas, and the arrival of more gas spurred industrial growth further. e demand was so high that the Dahej terminal, commissioned in 2004, has quadrupled its capacity to 10 mmtpa from what was originally planned.

Maharashtra has the second highest gas-based power generation capacity while Tamil Nadu has 31 major industries running on natural gas. Andhra Pradesh, which hosts the Krishna-Godavari basin, is fast developing as the second gas hub in the country. e industries in these States bene�t from the availability of natural gas as it will be a cheaper source of fuel and feedstock.

�e LNG terminal of Petronet LNG coming up in Kochi. �e company's second such terminal in the country with a capacity of 2.5 mmtpa, it is scheduled to go operational in the last quarter of 2012. Petronet LNG has already approved doubling its capacity

The cleaner, cheaper fuel will change the way Kerala cooked its food, fired its

boilers, cooled its interiors, ran its cold

storages, fed its fertiliser factories and turned the

turbines in its power plants

LNG for whom?■ Power generation■ Transportation, including water transportation■ Fertilisers■ Bakeries■ Food grain storage■ Glass■ Steel foundries■ Cooling-heating-power generation in hotels■ Food chains■ Dehumidi�ers■ Tea-processing■ Cold chains■ Construction■ Manufacturing of testing and safety equipment

Gas in Kerala

An average Keralite’s exposure to gas has been the LPG cylinder

that gets delivered at his doorstep. Some enterprising ones also used LPG as a fuel for their vehicles. e shortage of natural gas in the coun-try precluded the need for creating a gas infrastructure in the State. But commissioning of the Puthuvypeen terminal, Petronet's second LNG terminal in the country, could be a turning point in the State’s industrial fortunes.

31

Future readyKSIDC forms JV with GAIL to promote gas-based projects

KSIDC managing director Mr Alkesh Sharma and GAIL Gas CEO Mr M Ra-vindran exchange documents after signing the shareholders agreement for Kerala Gail Gas Ltd in �iruvananthapuram in the presence of Chief Minister Mr Oom-men Chandy. From left are additional chief secretary (Industries and Commerce) Mr T Balakrishnan, chief secretary Dr P Prabhakaran, Minister for Electricity Mr Aryadan Mohammed and Minister for Ports and Excise Mr K Babu

Kerala State Industrial Develop-ment Corporation (KSIDC),

the investment promotion arm of the State government, has initiated steps to ensure that the State has the required infrastructure ready by the time gas starts �owing through the pipelines GAIL is laying.

KSIDC had last year held a gas conference in which entrepreneurs and potential con-sumers from di�er-ent segments along with representatives of various govern-ment and regula-tory bodies took part to elaborate on the ways to get the industrial sector ready to receive the gas as and when it arrives.

Recently, KSIDC and GAIL to-gether formed Kerala Gail Gas Ltd, a joint venture company, to take up projects using natural gas.

KSIDC will hold 24 per cent stake while GAIL will have 26 per cent stake in the JV with an autho-rised share capital of `100 crore. e rest will be given to a strategic partner at a later stage. CRISIL has prepared a detailed feasibility report for the projects the JV could take up. e company is likely to have a capex investment of the order of ̀ 250 crore by its �fth year and `1,000 crore by

the 25th year.e company is planning to take

up the following projects:

CNG for KSRTCe JV will establish CNG stations at KSRTC stations. e regulator has allowed supplying gas to bulk customers while it has not yet given permission for retailing the same. In

the �rst phase, two CNG sta-tions will be established in Ernakulam dis-trict. e �rst station will be located beside

NH47 in Aluva, as it is near to Kala-massery, through which the pipeline passes. e second station is planned at Perumbavoor on MC road.

Subsequently, CNG stations will be opened at rissur, Kayamkulam and other places as and when the pipelines extend to those areas.

It is estimated that a bus can run for 100 km with one �lling of gas, and hence KSRTC can cover most of the State with CNG-fuelled buses.

e CNG stations will be opera-tional immediately after the Petronet LNG plant is commissioned.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Reg-ulatory Board, the regulator, has not �nalised policy parameters for set-

ting up PNG stations for the public.

Spur lines for SMEsGAIL has signed agreements for supply of gas only with large enter-prises. It will build spur pipelines only to those industries from the main pipeline. e JV will provide the last mile connectivity to the small and medium enterprises in the State.

Gas training institutee JV will start a Gas training in-stitute on �ve acres of land available with KSIDC as Angamaly. ere are currently only two such institutes in the country – one each at Delhi and Jaipur. e gas training institute will be the �rst in south India and will o�er short and long-term courses aimed at moulding profession-als who can establish and maintain pipelines and other equipment. e youth in the State would get a train-ing that would help them get jobs both within and outside the country, especially in the Gulf.

Gas based power plantse JV has plans to establish small scale gas based power plants in in-dustrial clusters to meet the de-mands of the industries there.

Retailing of equipment/instrumentsWith the availability of gas, a mar-ket for gas based appliances will be created. e JV would like to take advantage of this and market equip-ments such as gas kits.

Bidding for City Gas Distribution projects. e State government has decided to implement CGD projects in all the districts of Kerala in two phases. In the �rst phase, it will be imple-mented in the districts where popu-lation density is higher – Ernakulam, rissur, Kozhikode, Palakkad and iruvananthapuram. e JV will bid for taking up CGD projects as and when they are announced.

The JV with an authorised share capital of

`100 crore will have a strategic partner to take

up various projects

32

GAS INFRASTRUCTUREWith Petronet LNG ensuring the availability of gas, the State has start-ed taking serious steps to develop the infrastructure necessary to make the most of it. e gas infrastructure cur-rently being built and planned in the State are:

• TheLNGTerminal• Gaspipelines–Mainlinesand

spur lines• Citygasdistribution(CGD)

network • CNGhubsandstations

LNG Terminale LNG terminal in Kochi is scheduled to go operational in the last quarter of 2012. It has a capac-ity of 2.5mmtpa (~10 mmscmd), and Petronet LNG has already approved doubling its capacity. e terminal will have a jetty, unloading arms and associated facilities for safe berth-ing of LNG ships of 65,000 m3 to 216,000 m3 capacity. e basic struc-ture at the terminal is the two storage tanks, each with a capacity of 155000

m3. It will also have the system to re-gasify the natural gas brought to the terminal in liquid form.

�e pipelinese re-gasi�ed LNG (RLNG) will be transported through pipelines to the consumers. GAIL is building the pipelines to transport the gas from the terminal to the custom-ers. It plans to lay pipelines having a capacity of 16 mmscd from Kochi to Bangalore and Kochi to Manga-lore at a cost of `3,100 crore. Work on the �rst phase of the project, the 50 km line to FACT Udyogaman-

GAIL plans to lay three pipelines to evacuate gas from the terminal. �ey areKochi-Mangalore, Kochi-Bangalore and Kochi-Kayamkulam

In Gujarat, gas infrastructure and

industry fed each other: the growing industry

demanded more gas, and the arrival of more gas

spurred industrial growth further

dal, is underway and is expected to be complete by August 2012. e 720 km-second phase taking gas to Mangalore and Bangalore is expect-ed to be completed by March, 2013. e union government has recently approved the project for laying the undersea pipeline from Kochi to Kayamkulam to supply gas to the NTPC power plant.

e GAIL pipelines will pass through eight districts in the State - Ernakulam, rissur, Palakkad, Malapuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod and Alappuzha. Spur pipelines will be built from the main pipeline to the industries that require gas as and when required.

CGDCity gas distribution (CGD) proj-ects are currently operating in 10 cit-ies in the country, while it is under implementation in seven more cities. More than 200 cities will be brought under bidding for CGD projects in the next two years. Ernakulam dis-trict has been included in the fourth round of bidding for CGD projects. It is expected that CGD projects will be established in all the other districts in the State subsequently. KSIDC has formed a joint venture with GAIL Gas – Kerala GAIL Gas Ltd for bidding for CGD licenses and for supplying CNG to bulk cus-tomers (see box).

KERALA’S OPPORTUNITYe arrival of natural gas throws open many hitherto unavailable op-portunities to industries and entre-preneurs in the State.

Setting up the supply chain – the sources of gas, the infrastructure to transport it and supplying it to the end consumers – itself o�ers big in-vestment opportunities. Laying the pipes and operating and maintaining them, supplying the valves, �ttings, meters and safety devices for the pipeline network, setting up LNG hubs and managing �eets of tankers are businesses with a lot of potential. Setting up CNG outlets for vehicles also o�ers new investment and em-ployment opportunities.

33

e State’s industrial capital, Kochi, alone has around 700 indus-trial establishments – in sectors like rubber, plastics, chemicals and pet-rochemicals – which use liquid fuel for heating and cooling requirements and power generation. ey could switch to natural gas-based power plants and use it as a feedstock and in heating and cooling. e availabil-ity of gas will also be a boost to the proposed Kochi-Coimbatore indus-trial corridor.

Most of the industries in the State are located in the coastal areas and will be located close to the gas pipeline, making RLNG available to them. e gas demand in Kerala was estimated at 5.58 mmscmd in 2010. is is expected to grow to 26, 31 and 36 mmscmd in 2015, 2020 and 2025 respectively.

As the availability and accessibil-ity of gas increases, the market for gas-based appliances is also expected to experience high growth. Gujarat Gas, which operates in India’s most advanced gas markets, has already developed natural gas-based appli-ances catering to speci�c industries. In Kerala, too, the stage is set for developing applications that will usher in the gas age. Gas-based ap-pliances are more e¨cient, require lesser maintenance and last longer than those which run on electricity. Natural gas can be directly used in geysers, air-conditioners and refrig-erators. Natural gas-based air-con-ditioners use 30-50 per cent lesser

energy than those that use electricity, need lesser maintenance as they have no compressors and have lesser mov-ing parts. eir life is often 2-3 times longer than that of conventional electric systems. Natural gas-based chillers and dehumidi�ers could also �nd a ready market here.

Natural gas will replace LPG, HSD and SKO in Kerala. To start with, basic, low value appliances like boilers, furnaces, and cooking ranges are expected to switch over to gas as fuel. In the medium term – 5 to 10 years – applications which help en-hance productivity such as gas en-gines, combined heating, cooling & power (CHCP) systems (where the heat produced during power gen-eration is used for heating/cooling requirements), hot air generators, direct-�red absorption chillers and distributed power generation will be used. In the longer term, tech-nology driven applications like fuel cells and hydrogen cells will be in-troduced. However, the State needs to promote the high-end versions if it were to reap the full advantage of a gas-based economy. Only the wide-spread use of gas in such applications could help the gas ecosystem attain volumes which would provide them with economies of scale.

FACT will be one of the �rst customers of the gas in the State. Fertiliser being a priority sector, the

Work is at full swing on the Kochi-FACT gas pipeline

Laying the pipes and operating and

maintaining them, supplying the valves,

fittings, meters and safety devices for the pipeline

network, setting up LNG hubs and managing fleets of tankers are businesses

with a lot of potential

LNG - Lique�ed natural gas is natural gas that has been temporarily converted into liquid form for easy stor-age and transportation from the gas �elds to the markets, where pipelines are not present. When lique�ed, natural gas takes up only 1/600th of the space in gaseous form.

RLNG (Regasi�ed LNG): Once it reaches the markets, LNG is regasi�ed and distrib-uted to customers.

CNG - Compressed Natural Gas is obtained by compress-ing natural gas to less than 1 per cent of the volume it oc-cupies at standard atmospheric pressure. CNG is usually stored and distributed in cylindrical containers.

PNG - Piped Natural Gas: e regasi�ed LNG is supplied to customers through pipelines at atmospheric temperatures and pressures that go up to 90 Kg/cm2 in transmission lines. In city gas distribution net-works, the pressure is limited to less than 24 Kg/cm2

34

company will get gas at a cheaper rate. FACT, which is currently using Naphtha as the feedstock will be able to switch over to the cheaper natural gas for its requirements.

Power generationAround 35 per cent of the elec-

tricity produced in the State comes from thermal power plants, of which more than 80 per cent uses liquid fuel. is dependence on liquid fuels makes the cost of generation one of the highest in the country. Substitut-ing natural gas as the fuel can help reduce the cost, and pollution.

ere are proposals to generate more than 4,000 MW power in Ker-ala using LNG. e major projects in the pipeline are:

1050 MW, Kayamkulam: National ermal Power Corporation is plan-ning to set up a 1050MW gas-based power plant at Kayamkulam. GAIL has already got clearance for laying the sub-sea pipelines for the project. It is also planning to connect the existing naphtha-based plant to gas and to further expand the capacity of the plant another by 350 MW, tak-ing the total capacity to 1800 MW.

1200 MW, Cheemeni: e govern-ment is planning to set up a 1100-1200 MW gas-based power project in Cheemeni in Kasaragod district. KSIDC is the nodal agency for the project and has formed a special purpose vehicle to implement it. Land has already been allocated for the project. e feasibility report of the project has already prepared; one stage of Environmental Impact Analysis has been completed. e State government has requested gas allocation for the project from the

Gas-based appliances are more efficient,

require lesser maintenance and last

longer than those which run on electricity

Advantage natural gas

As an energy source natural gas has many advantageous over other fuels

Natural gas scores over other en-ergy sources on several counts.

It is cheaper than most other fuels and has the lowest carbon foot print among fossil fuels (see �gure). Ve-hicles running on CNG will have lower fuel costs, are more environ-ment-friendly and have higher e¨-ciency due to the high octane levels of natural gas.

It is non-toxic, doesn’t react with containers that hold it and disperses quickly in air as it is lighter than air, and hence is safer than LPG. Natu-ral gas can also be easily trans-ported through pipelines.

Applications of natural gasApplications of natural gas use can be broadly divided into two – to produce energy and as a feedstock for fertiliser and chemical industries. e power and fertiliser sectors account for around 70 per cent of the natural gas consumption in India. e industrial and CGD projects use up the rest. Natural gas occupies 24 per cent of the global energy basket, compared to just 9 per cent in India, showing the potential for its increased use in the country.

Natural gas is used as a fuel in power plants, transportation, heating

and cooling applications in indus-tries and households and as a cook-ing fuel in households. e power sector used 46 per cent of the Natu-ral gas available in the country in 2010, but it contributes only around 10 per cent of country’s energy bas-ket. Compared to coal-based power plants, they are less polluting, with around 50 per cent lower emissions of carbon and other chemicals. Gas-based power plants also have the ad-vantages of lower gestation periods. ey require lesser land and water

and have lower �xed cost/KWh than coal based power plants. ey can also be used to set up de-centralised power sources which satisfy heating, cooling and power needs.

Natural gas can substitute expensive fuel oil/high speed diesel cutting down

on as much as 20 per cent of costs as per some estimates. Chillers using natural gas and waste heat and gas driven heat pumps could be used for cooling needs. 1 mmscmd of gas can support 0.9 million households for cooking saving `6.3 billion in LPG subsidy. 1 mmscmd of gas can also run 0.15 million vehicles.

As a feedstock, natural gas has applications in the fertiliser, chemi-cal, glass and polymer industries.

Natural gas occupies 24 per cent of the global

energy basket, compared to just 9 per cent in India, showing the

potential for its increased use in the

country

35

Centre so that it could get gas at lower prices.

1200 MW, Puthuvypeen: Petronet LNG is planning to set up a power plant, integrated with the LNG ter-minal for harnessing the available cold energy to improve the perfor-mance of the power generation pro-cess. e State government has given an in principle nod for allocating 125 acres of land for the project.

1000 MW, Brahmapuram: Kerala State Electricity Board has drawn up plans to set up a 1000 MW gas-based power project to replace the diesel power plant it runs at Brah-mapuram, Kochi. KSEB is learnt to be analysing various options on set-ting up the project.

Gas could be used for distributed power generation and companies can run their own power generat-ing units using gas. CHCP systems could be installed in industrial facili-ties and commercial establishments for power generation. Gas-based generators are more economical than diesel-based ones as well as backup devices such as inverters. ey o�er an economical and convenient back-up power solution to commercial establishments. Gas-based fuel cells have the potential to deliver clean, dependable electricity wherever it is needed.

LNG/CNG hubs which make gas available to industries that do not have access to pipelines and iso-lated residential areas. ey in turn, will be fed by tankers. Petronet LNG supplies LNG to even very small customers in containers of 200 litres capacity.

Pricing of gasere is a di�erence in prices of gas based on its source: domestic gas is cheaper compared with imported gas.

e fertiliser sector is a priority one and gas is supplied at a cheaper rate �xed by the central govt. FACT has an agreement with GAIL and will be supplied gas at a cheap price.

e power sector will have the next priority. ey will get gas at a pooled price, depending on the ratio of domestic and imported gas in the pool.

Other customers will get gas at the market price. Currently such customers will be using other fuels to meet their heating needs and power

needs. ey would have invested some money in the infrastructure for the same, and the shift to gas will happen only gradually. e gas sup-pliers would have to price the gas in such a way that they are attracted to shift to gas as the fuel for their needs. Only then will rapid adoption hap-pen.

0

5

10

15

20

Petr

oleu

m

LPG

Hea

vy O

il

Coal

Gas

Nat

ural

Gas

Coal

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

Nat

ural

Gas

Gas

Oil

Hea

vy O

il

Har

d Co

al

Lign

ite

USD/mmbtu

kgCO2/KWh fuel input

Economics of fossil fuels

Carbon foot print of fossil fuels

36

Have you ever wanted to re-duce your investments in IT? After all, implement-

ing and managing an IT solution is a costly a�air. e risk of techno-logical obsolescence and the task of securing the data and the network complicate the matter. Cloud com-puting provides a silver lining to all these issues.

Cloud computing is a new model of computing in which IT capabilities are provided as a ser-vice, as opposed to a product, over the Internet to many customers using a large repository of shared resources. Users can access com-puting facilities from the cloud – a metaphor for the network of serv-ers and storage systems – just as we get electricity from the grid. e data – documents, music, videos, business data and the like – will be stored online in huge storage systems that are part of the cloud. e programmes that process this data will also be installed on serv-ers in large server farms. ese can be accessed by customers at any time, from any location, using dif-ferent devices such as PCs or mo-biles over the Internet – just as you access your generic e-mail today. Software programmes that now run on the machines owned by the

user will now be run on machines on which the processing time can be rented. Currently each user wanting to use an application such as MSWord will have to procure a copy of the same, install it on a compatible machine and then run it. In the cloud, the programme will be installed and maintained on a single machine, on which mil-lions of users can then run it. And they have to pay only for the re-sources that they use, making it a much cheaper option.

ere are many examples of cloud-based systems today. From e-mail, social networking and of-�ce applications to ERP systems, advanced analytics and IT infra-structure and platform services, the cloud has it all.

e concept is not new, though. Not long ago, mainframes domi-nated computing. ey were huge centralised machines that ran all the programmes. e users con-nected to the mainframe from ter-minals located at di�erent places which had no processing power and merely facilitated the commu-nication with the mainframe. en slowly computing power started �owing to the client side terminals from the central core – �rst through the minicomputers and then to the

Cloud computing is the economical way of consuming IT services

It’s raining IT

TECHNOLOGY

Things to look for while

selecting a cloud

Di�erent players are setting up their own clouds, competing with each

other for a share of the business. IT ma-jors like Google, Microsoft and Apple are all coming up with clouds of their own. Customers are likely to be spoilt for choice, but they would do good to evaluate the service provider before subscribing to the service. Some factors to be looked into are given below.

■ Look for open standards – Ri-val companies are coming up with dif-ferent standards which are not always compatible. is makes moving from one cloud to another di¨cult in case you are not satis�ed with the service. Opting for open standards will help you �nd other compatible services eas-ily.

■ Privacy – Cloud based services, especially the free ones, may subject you to targeted ads and might even sell your personal information. Opt for ser-vices that respect your privacy.

■ Security and reliability – Stick-ing to established players could ensure that your data is secure and the service is available when you need it.

37

PCs. Suddenly computers came within the reach of the general public and the world forgot the mainframe.

In the PC era, companies came up with machines with more and more processing power. e consumers had to buy the hardware and the compatible software products that could run on this hard-ware to meet their computing needs. But with the spread of the Internet, standardisation of technologies and the rise of software as a service model, centralised processing became viable once again.

Advantagesis shift in computing has many advantages for custom-ers. ey no longer have to invest in expensive hardware and software for conducting their business. ey just need to invest in a device and in software such as a browser to access the cloud. Many cloud services such as email are free, with only the premium fea-tures being charged on pay per use basis.

Another important ad-vantage is �exibility and scal-ability. Earlier administrators used to struggle to meet sud-den spurts in tra¨c to the site, often having to purchase ex-pensive hardware to meet the tra¨c. With cloud computing, they can just rent the extra re-sources needed to meet the demand for the period and pay only for the usage.

e shift also makes life easier for the users. It avoids the hassle of installing and maintaining the programme. Generally, users get better support and security on the cloud as the service provider can a�ord to invest much more in it. Again one need not worry about keeping back-ups for the data, and you will not lose the data even if your sys-tem fails as it will be present in the cloud.

Due to all these factors, the focus of the user shifts from the implementation of the solution to the service that can be got from a cloud. And companies can focus more on their business.

Cloud Offerings of major players

Apple iCloudApple’s o�ering in the cloud space, iCloud, stores your music, apps, documents, photos, etc on its servers. It then automatically synchronises all your compatible devices - iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, or PC – so that you have the latest �les on each of the devices. It also gives users 5GB space free and backs up the data.

IBMSmartCloudIBM provides Software as a Service (SaaS), Plat-form as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions under the IBMSmart-Cloud banner.

GoogleAppsGoogle, a company born on the cloud is o�er-ing its cloud based solutions to businesses under the label – Google Apps for Business. It includes applications such as Gmail for business, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Cloud Connect and Google Groups. Google has also come out with ChromeBook, a low cost notebook optimised for the Web that is much cheaper than traditional computers and runs on Chrome OS, an operating system exclusively for the Web.

Microsoft Cloud PowerMicrosoft is taking its applications to the cloud under the Cloud Power name. Its latest Operating System Windows 7 was optimised for the cloud. MSO¨ce 365 makes its o¨ce suite available on the cloud, Windows Azure is the cloud platform for developing applications, Windows Server Hy-per-V gives hosting solutions, Microsoft Dynam-ics CRM provides CRM on the cloud and Win-dows Intune helps secure PCs using the cloud.

38

That a stock exchange is a place where equity shares of compa-nies are traded is well known.

But the exchanges have much more to them than just stocks. ey are trans-forming them into markets that let you buy or sell various assets, such as debt, derivatives, mutual funds, gold and even real estate. And that is good for investors as they are accessible, ef-�cient and transparent markets, where people can transact at a low cost with-out subjecting themselves to counter-party risks. ey are also coming up with innovative products that help participants manage risks associated with their businesses.

e main assets that are traded on stock exchanges are equity shares. e securities market has two segments – the primary market and the secondary market. Companies come out with new IPO issues to raise capital in the primary market. e network of bro-kers of the stock exchanges help issu-ers in conducting IPOs through the book building process, allowing them to get orders from various corners of the country.

e secondary market is where the securities that have already been is-sued are traded, thereby providing li-quidity to the investors. BSE, the �rst stock exchange in India, has around 5000 companies listed on it - the largest number in the world - while the NSE, a more techno-savvy later entrant, has around 1300 securities listed on it.

Mutual fundse stock exchanges also allow inves-

Shares Deb

t

Derivatives

Mutual fundsGold

Real estate

ETF

G-Secs

Stock exchanges have much more to offer than trading in equity shares

Changing Roles

tors to subscribe or redeem mutual fund units through them. e orders can be placed in electronic form through the terminals or in paper form through the stock brokers who now double up as mutual fund inter-mediaries also. e units could also be held in the demat account or as paper certi�cates, as per the choice of the investor.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs)ETF products introduced by vari-ous mutual funds houses can also be traded on stock exchanges. ey are, in essence, index funds that mimic the composition of a speci�ed index, by investing in a basket of securities that make up the index. ETFs in gold and debt securities are also available on the exchanges, in addition to ETFs on international indices.

Security lending and borrowing schemee stock exchanges also have a security lending and borrow-ing scheme which enables traders to short-sell a stock – sell a stock that the seller does not own at that point of time. It enables the seller to borrow the security from investors who have idle securities with them through the clearing house of the exchange and deliver it to the buyer. is enables investors having idle securities with them to earn an extra return on them.

DerivativesDerivatives are instruments that de-

rive their value from some underlying asset. Futures and options in indices and individual securities are available in the national stock exchanges in the country. NSE allows futures and op-tions trading on �ve major indices and 230 individual stocks. BSE has Index futures and options in 3 indices and stock futures and options in 187 stocks.

e NSE has recently introduced trading in derivatives based on the global indices. To start with deriva-tives based on Dow Jones Industrial Average index and Standard & Poor's 500 have been introduced.

In addition to equity based de-rivatives, currency and interest rate derivatives can also be traded on the stock exchanges. A currency future is a contract to exchange one currency for another at a speci�ed date and price. Currency futures in four cur-

PERSONAL FINANCE

39

Shares Deb

t

Derivatives

Mutual fundsGold

Real estate

ETF

G-Secs

rency pairs – US dollars, Euro, Pound and Yen – with the Indian rupee are available to traders. Currency options are also available for the USD-INR pair. ese contracts allow investors to manage the foreign exchange risk they face.

Interest rate futures have also been introduced on the exchanges. ey al-low traders to pay or receive a �xed rate of interest in future, protecting them against adverse interest rate movements. Treasury bill and Treas-ury bond futures are examples of in-terest rate derivatives.

Debte debt market is the largest segment of our �nancial markets. e market for government securities – G-Secs – with an outstanding issue size of `19,74,467 crores is the biggest part of our debt market. In addition, there is an active market for corporate debt papers such as commercial papers, certi�cate of deposits and debentures, with an outstanding market size of `2.2 lakh crores in 2009.

e debt segments have also seen increased activity on the stock ex-changes in recent times. It consists of the wholesale and retail debt markets for government securities and the corporate debt market. e wholesale debt market has been active on the BSE from the 19th century, but it is

limited to big players like banks and �nancial institutions. e retail debt market for G-Secs was also very active in the �rst half of the twentieth century, with around 50 per cent of the securities being held by retail investors. But with the government �xing interest rates and the emergence of equity issues, investor inter-est declined. But the turn of the century saw the government once again recog-nising the need for retail participa-tion in the debt market. Today retail investors

The debt segments have seen increased activity

on the stock exchanges in recent times. It consists of

the wholesale and retail debt markets for

government securities and the corporate

debt market

can buy or sell government securities through stock exchanges from di�er-ent locations in the country, just as they buy and sell equities.

In addition to govt securities, cor-porate bonds also can be traded in the stock exchanges.

SEBI is also considering the pro-posal to allow real estate investment trusts to operate in the country. is will allow investors to take an expo-sure to the real estate markets also through the stock exchanges.

40

Health cannot be transferred from one person to another, but at least health insurance

can. After mobile subscribers, it is the turn of health insurance policyholders to bene�t from portability. Starting October 1, policyholders will be able to shift their policy to other health in-surance providers while carrying for-ward the bene�ts – coverage for pre-existing diseases and no-claim bonus – associated with their policies.

e guidelines for the same issued by Insurance Regulatory and Devel-opment Authority allow policy switch with respect to all individual policies, including family �oater policies. Even individual members covered under a group health insurance policy will be able to move to an individual policy or to a family �oater policy in case of family members with the same insurer and then switch to another provider after a year.

�e bene�tse introduction of portability is ex-pected to make the health insurance industry in the country more compet-itive. It is expected to drive innovation leading to better products and new delivery mechanisms and to raise the service levels to a new high. If mobile number portability enabled customers to retain their mobile numbers while switching service providers, health in-surance portability will allow them to retain the bene�ts associated with the

policy. When you take a policy, health

insurers usually conduct a medical examination to identify if you su�er from any diseases. Coverage for such diseases are often refused by the in-surer or provided at a higher premium or after a waiting period. If the person does not su�er from any disease while enrolling for the policy and contracts it later, the coverage for the particular disease will be limited from then on. Even if the person opts for increasing the cover later, the cover for the par-ticular disease will remain at the pre-vious level. Till now if such a person wanted to shift the insurer, he would have had to disclose the condition to the new insurer and would be refused cover for the same or subject to these limiting conditions again. is in ef-fect puts the policyholder at a dis-advantage as opting for a new policy meant foregoing the cover for the dis-eases that he already has.

It is not just persons with pre-existing diseases that su�er when changing their policy provider. e healthy ones also pay a price in the form of no-claim bonuses that they stand to lose. Health insurance pro-viders reward customers who do not make any claim during the year, with a no-claim bonus – a discount in pre-mium or an increase in cover for the same premium for the following year. If the person decides to switch his insurer, he stands to lose out on this bene�t.

Portability will help customers re-tain these bene�ts even if they choose to switch insurers or between plans of the same insurer, provided the previ-ous policy has been maintained with-out any break: the premiums are paid on or before the premium renewal date or within the grace period of 30 days. ey will be able to carry forward

the bene�ts that they already enjoy – cover for pre-existing diseases, credit for waiting period already served and no-claim bonuses – even after they opt for a new service provider.

How can you porte policyholder desirous of switch-ing should give an application to the new service provider at least 45 days before the premium renewal date of the existing policy. e insurance company would then provide the applicant the portability form and a proposal form along with information about various products o�ered by it. Once these are �lled and submitted by the policyholder, the provider would get the medical history and claim his-tory of the policyholder from the ex-isting insurance company and decide on underwriting the policy. e insur-ance company has to communicate its decision to the policy holder within 15 days of receiving all the informa-tion, else it will have to compulsorily accept the proposal. e policyholders can continue with the existing policy if the application is rejected.

e ability of the customers to switch their policies without losing the bene�ts is expected to put the insurance providers on their guard. Customers can rest assured that the insurers will think twice before cut-ting down their claim amount the next time.

It’s portable now!HEALTH INSURANCE

If you are unhappy with your health insurer, there is relief

Starting October 1, policyholders will be able

to shift their policy to other health insurance

providers while carrying forward the benefits

The policyholder desirous of switching should give

an application to the new service provider at least

45 days before the premium renewal date of the existing policy

41

42

A P Jayadevan

After listening to the advice of Lord Krishna on the need to control the mind, Arjuna, the great warrior,

said: “O Lord, I understand all what you said. But the mind is restless, tur-bulent, powerful and violent; trying to control it is like trying to tame the wind. How can I make it possible?” Krishna’s formulation was simple: “Regular, con-stant practice, Arjuna”! (Abhyasena thu Kauntheya!)

We live in two worlds, say the gu-rus: in one, we meet with our senses, mind and intellect, and everything is clear and comprehensible there. It is full of sights and sounds, tastes and sensations. In the other, the inner world of thoughts and emotions, it’s all imagination and dreams, and we interpret them to make sense of life. Together, they create the drama called life.

Everyone wants the drama to be

Taming the windHEALTH

Spare 15 minutes a day on meditation and learn to control mind and sharpen its focus There are a number of schools and methods for practising meditation, from which one has to select one, depending on one’s level and requirements

43

full of pleasant scenes, but not many are successful. Most people fail to react to situations in a balanced way. Even a perceived slight or a deroga-tory word makes the day a hell. But spiritual traditions, religions and phi-losophers insist upon ‘controlling the mind’ as the single most important way through which one can remain balanced, and be happy.

Controlling the mind, as Arjuna said, is a tough challenge. e gurus suggest meditation as the way for-ward. Sage Patanjali describes medi-tation (dhyana) as an uninterrupted, ‘continuous concentration of mind on a single object’ (‘thathra prathyayai-kathanantha dhyanam). e whole of consciousness becomes directed towards one thing, and, in e�ect, be-comes ‘one-pointed’.

Concentration Concentration is the basic tool of meditation. Psychologists de�ne con-centration as a special form of disci-plined, sustained and narrowed down attention. It also means blocking all extraneous distracting stimuli.

How to do itere are a number of schools and methods for practising meditation, from which one has to select one, depending on one’s level and require-

For the beginner, the simplest and effective method is to focus on

breathing. It is directly connected with prana, the basic vital life force which

governs all bodily functions

Concentration is the most important tool to

meditate. By training the mind concentrate on a

single point, we make it clearer and sharper

What the sages said“Begin each day by telling your-self: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will and sel�shness—all of them due to the o�enders’ ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the culprit himself, who is my brother; therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading.”

What the West said“Meditation is a practice which, across traditions, is intended to still the turbulence of our outer and inner lives, and to create harmony between the individual and his or her social, spiritual and even metaphysical world. It is a practice, not necessarily based on belief, which ultimately may pro-duce still completeness within us and on the surface of our lives. It is a practice which spans religions and secular traditions. It o�ers stillness, understanding, freedom and tranquillity”.

Michael West (Author of �e Psychology of Meditation)

Bene�ts of regular meditation

• Improvedconcentration,mental health

• Balancedmind• Betterenergy• Improvedphysicalhealth,

immunity • Pleasingpersonality

ments. For the beginner, the simplest and e�ective method is to focus his attention on breathing. Breathing is directly connected with prana, the basic vital life force which governs all bodily functions.

♦ Sit down in a quiet place, either in the lotus position or one of its vari-ants. Or simply, sit upright on a chair with the back straight and hands �at on the thighs and feet �at on the �oor.

♦ Place attention at the nostrils or the abdomen and keep it there, refusing to be distracted by thoughts or outside events. In theory, nothing could be simpler.

♦ Feel the air drawn in, observe the slight pause between the in-breath and the out-breath. Feel the air expelled. Once again observe a slight pause, this time between out-breath and in-breath.

♦ Allow breath to come and go naturally, allowing it to settle down and become softer as your mind and body relax into your meditation. (Counting your breaths, up to 10 and then back, can help you do this easily)

♦ Practise this for about �ve min-utes, to begin with, and slowly in-crease this to 15 minutes a day.

♦ Feel your ability to concentrate and the power to repel unwanted thoughts.

�e bene�ts It would be di¨cult for one to per-form e¨ciently if one is mentally and emotionally pushed and pulled by a constant bombardment of things clamouring for attention. By training the mind to concentrate on a single point, we make it clearer and sharper.

e bene�ts of concentration in

daily life are obvious. It we concen-trate upon what we are doing, we are able to do it more e�ectively, and bet-ter able to remember the details asso-ciated with it. Most of our lapses of memory are caused by the fact that we were not paying proper attention in the �rst place.

In a busy life, of pleasure and pres-sure, it is very di¨cult to be focused or centered. If you are centered, or con-nected to your inner self, you will have control over all your activities, and the frequency of getting dipped in anger or anxiety or worries will be less. Just spend 15 minutes a day for medita-tion, which can make your whole day perfect.

(To be continued)

44

“You have all the things here, but where have all the children gone?” asked

the head of the family of labourers from Rajasthan, who had come here to lay the �oor tiles in my newly-constructed house. With a false pride so typical of a Malayali, I explained the advantages of family planning to that father of seven. But, soon af-ter, while attending a family func-tion in central Travancore, I found myself asking me a similar question. “Where have all the youngsters gone?”

Abroad, in search of better oppor-tunities – the answer is a no-brainer. Population growth declined in most regions of the world on the back of eco-nomic growth. But the ‘Kerala model of development’ proved that social and political action can also achieve demographic transition even when economic development stagnates.

Demographers say that the transi-tion has three stages. In the �rst stage, the mortality rate of the population, especially the young, declines consid-erably due to improved healthcare. So the proportion of children in the pop-ulation will be higher and families will have to spend most of their earnings in bringing them up. Whatever assets the family has will be shared among a larger number of inheritors. is af-fects capital formation and economic growth, without which the window of opportunities does not open for the educated. Nor does mechanisation that could have replaced the labour-ers who abandon the farms happen.

e globalised Malayali did not wait too long to try his luck abroad. e grass on the other side was indeed greener and so started a �ow that is

population to working population – for the population as a whole. Lesser responsibilities mean more savings and more spending on discretionary items, both of which lead to economic growth. Demographers call this phe-nomenon the ‘demographic dividend’ and it has been in play in most re-gions of the world which experienced sustained growth – be it East Asia or China. Kerala also gained from the trend with its per capita income that was below the national average during the 70’s and 80’s exceeding it in the next two decades. e SDP of the State also recorded a higher than average growth during the pe-riod, in spite of problems in the ag-ricultural and manufacturing sectors.

So far so good. But we are mov-ing to the third stage where the per-centage of old people in the popula-tion increases at the cost of the young and the working population. e total fertility rate (TFR) – the number of children a woman can be expected to have in her lifetime – declined stead-ily from 2.9 in the seventies to 2 by 1990 and to just 1.8 as early as 1993. Demographers say that a popula-tion should maintain a TFR of 2.1 to achieve replacement levels of popu-lation and if it goes below that the population would decline over the long term. And it is happening here. True, the latest census �gures say that our population has increased 4.86 per cent in the last decade. But the growth rate has been dropping from the peak of 26.29 per cent in 1961-71, by around 5 per cent every decade at a higher than projected rate. Kerala’s population was expected to grow till it reached zero growth around 2050, but now it may happen in the next

Demographers say that a population should

maintain a TFR of 2.1 to achieve replacement

levels of population and if it goes below that the

population would decline over the long term. And it

is happening here

yet to ebb. Youngsters drove them-selves out in droves, only to come back with the good news and take more with them. Emigrant Malayalis numbered 18 lakh in 2004, and their remittances come to around a quar-ter of the State domestic product.

In the next stage of demographic transition, the large number of chil-dren born a couple of decades earlier enter the working age – 15 to 59 years. Wiser from experience, they realise the economic advantages of having smaller families and adopt family planning. As a result the proportion of working age population in society increases and that of children starts declining. As per the 2001 census, 64 per cent of Kerala’s population fall in the former category. is bulge in the working population results in lower dependency – ratio of non-working

Where have all the children gone?

Family planning V2.0

45

Last year, the total number of pensioners exceeded the number

of employees in the State government service

25 years and start declining there-after. In fact two districts – Pathan-amthitta and Idukki, have already registered a drop in population of 3.12 and 1.93 percentages respectively.

e number of children in the age group 0-6 also declined from 37.93 lakhs in 2001 to 33.22 lakhs in 2011, a drop of 12.41 per cent dur-ing the decade. Even Malappuram, the district which recorded the high-est growth in population, showed just 0.23 per cent increase in child popula-tion for the decade. In fact, the young age groups of 0-24 years registered a decline in population even during the last decade of the twentieth cen-tury. Our population growth is being driven by the population momentum built up by the high birth rates in the earlier decades and once that genera-tion passes away, declines will set in. e boom in the working age popula-tion is expected to vanish in the next 2-3 decades and the dependency ratio could also see a rise in the near future.

e e�ects these changes can have on our society are profound. Enrolments have started dwindling in schools in the State. In a decade, many of our colleges would face the same fate, unless they attract stu-dents from outside. e increasing old age dependency will create other problems too. e State will have too

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fer as the population declines, even though per capita incomes may hold on aided by the lesser population.

Reversing the trend and increas-ing populations will not happen eas-ily, especially in developed econo-mies. With people becoming more individualistic, and the support sys-tem almost broken, raising children is more di¨cult. Often careers take precedence over children, especially with women becoming more empow-ered. Pro-birth policies have failed to increase the birth rate and migra-tion has been the most important contributor to population growth in developed nations in Europe.

ere is a big di�erence in the economic e�ect of a decline in popu-lation growth and a decline in popula-tion per se. e �rst one aids growth and leads the society to prosperity while the latter makes it moribund. Kerala is now on the thin line that separates the two. Family planning has served us well in the past but now it threatens to be the Pied Piper that takes all the children away. Its time we started planning for more.

For once, the prelates are right.

many old people with too little young ones to look after them. e shrink-ing working population will have to foot the pension bills of the growing number of pensioners. Last year, the total number of pensioners exceed-ed the number of employees in the State government service. e total number of pensioners in the State increased by 91 per cent during the last 15 years to 5,02,902 in 2010. An aging population will leave the State slow in adapting to the times. Old fashioned thinking is hard to change, the new Women’s Code proposed re-cently, proving the point. Economic growth in absolute terms could suf-

Age Specific Growth Rates for Kerala, 1991-2001

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K J Jacob

No shop-owner in rural Kerala of the sixties felt it necessary to brand his

shop, but M E Meeran did. “People used to refer to shop-owners depending on the stu� they sold,” he once told me. “So there was Irumbu Pokker who used to sell steel and hardware and Meen Mathai who sold �sh. ere were several such ‘pet’ names.” Meeran did not want to fall prey to their ingenuity and hence named his shop Eastern Trading Company.

e man who stumbled on the vir-tues of branding his small shop at the foot of the High Ranges in Kerala was the world’s largest manufacturer of blended spices when he passed away on September 8 at the age of 70.

One of the preeminent entrepreneurs Kerala has produced, Meeran’s legacy lay in discovering a business where none ex-isted. It was almost like carrying coal to New Castle when he made curry pow-ders and masala mixes and sold them to households which, for generations, made it for themselves.

Born at Nellimattom near Kotha-mangalam in 1941, Meeran attended St. Johns School, Nellimattom. At the age of 20, he set up a stationery shop and later moved to Adimali and opened Eastern Trading Company. In 1976, he started distribution of major local and national brands. Selling stu�s in the hilly district of Idukki, Meeran not only earned a pro�t but also learnt some valuable les-sons in logistics and supply chain man-agement.

His �rst product, Eastern Co�ee, did not fare well as he could not stand up to the vagaries of an international trade. But the curry powder he produced in a small facility he oversaw was an instant hit among his regular customers. ey dis-covered that Meeran’s powder got them more result with less quantity, compared

with the mostly unbranded products then available in the market.

at was the beginning of a great journey. He introduced products one by one. And the catchment area started growing. He �oored homemakers with the seasonings and �avours, the formulae of which he and his wife, Nabeesa, de-cided.

True, Meeran was smart enough to identify opportunities. But he was equally smart in identifying threats as well. And remedying them, too. When people doubted the quality of chilli pow-der that came in packets saying they were adulterated, Meeran knew it was a tough challenge to convince people otherwise. “I recruited people from the neighbour-ing areas to the production and packag-ing departments.” Now, it became their responsibility to stand up for a product they make.

ey must have done a thorough job of it.

Today, the Eastern brand commands over 70 per cent of the curry powder market. His products are available in al-most all parts of India as well as in West Asia, Singapore, US, UK, Canada and Australia.

Meeran did not limit himself to spic-es. He created such brands as Sunidra mattress, Eastern treads, King Richard shirts and Eastern mineral water. e group today has a turnover of `600 crore.

Among the several recognitions that visited him was the excellence award for ‘Outstanding Entrepreneur’, instituted by KSIDC when it celebrated it golden jubilee recently.

Meeran represented a generation which tied entrepreneurship to the abil-ity to keep the ears close to the ground and picking up even weak signals of op-portunity.

Something that business schools don’t teach.

M E Meeran, founder of Eastern group, discovered the virtues of branding quite early on

The brandmasterOBITUARY

M E Meeran1941-2011

It was almost like carrying coal to

New Castle when he made curry

powders and masala mixes

and sold them to households which,

for generations, made it for themselves

48

ROADS Indus-trial and eco-nomic develop-ment of a State greatly depends

on its infrastructure, roads being an important component of it. Kerala has a one of the widest networks of roads in India. Road density in the State is 417 km/100 sq km, the highest for an Indian State, whereas the national average is 100.39 km/100 sq km. e length of the road per lakh population is 509.23 km, whereas the national average is 321.3 km.Kerala has nine national highways (NH) and 71 State highways (SH).

ROAD

S, PO

RTS,

RAIL

WAY

AND

AIR

PORT

S

KERALA STATISTICS

Major district roads (MDR) are spread across the length and breadth of Kerala.

Road length %NH 1,524 km 7SH 4,655 km 20MDR 17,117 km 73

Apart from this, there are over 1,04,257 kms of roads maintained by Grama Panchayats and Block PanchayatsOut of the 14 districts, Kottayam has the major share of PWD roads with a length of 3,016.765 km and Wayanad has the lowest share with 766.352 km.ere are 2179 bridges in Kerala, of which 627 are on State Highways and 1552 on Major District Roads.

National Highways in Kerala

NH No. Portion in Kerala and name of NH Length

(km)

47 Walayar-Kaliyikkavila (Salem-Kanyakumari) 416.800

17 alapadi-Edappally 420.777

49 Kundannoor-Bodimettu 167.593

47A Kundannoor-Willington Island 5.900

208 Kollam-Aryankavu 81.280

212 Kozhikode-Muthanga 117.0

213 Palakkad-Kozhikode 125.304

220 Kollam-Kumily (Kollam-eni) 189.300

47/C Vallarpadam-Kalamassery 17

Total length 1540.954

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PORTS

Kerala’s coastal length covers 585 km. e geographical location of Kerala is very close to the international ship-ping route. It has got 1 major port located at Kochi and 17 minor ports. Cochin Port, the only major port in Kerala, covers 827 hectares. With a water frontage of 7.5 kms, it has con-nectivity to hinterland through NH 47, NH 17 and NH 49. Of the 17 minor ports, three are con-sidered as intermediate ports based on berthing, cargo handling and storage facilities available in them. Nowadays cargo handling takes place at Vizhinjam, Azhikkal and Beypore ports. Vizhinjam handles about 1000 tonnes annually. Beypore handles 50,000 tonnes and Azhikkal 5000 tonnes annually.International Container Transship-ment Terminal, VallarpadamKerala hosts the only ICTT in the country at Vallarpadam, Kochi. e �rst phase of ICTT was commis-sioned on February 11,2011. It can handle cargo up to 1 million TEUs per annum.

RAILWAYS

Vallarpadam railway bridge

Kerala has two railway divisions: iruvananthapuram and Palakkad. e State has a total railway length of 1,148.9 km and covers 13 railway routes. ere are 200 railway stations in the State.Vallarpadam railway bridge (4.62 km), connecting Vallarpadam ICTT to the rest of Indian railway network, is the longest railway bridge in India.

AIRPORTSKerala has got three airports at iru-vanan-thapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode; the fourth one is under con-struction at Kannur. Interna-tional and domestic

�ights are handled from all the three airports. iruvananthapuram and Kozhikode airports are run by the Airports Authority of India and Kochi airport by Cochin Interna-tional Airport Limited (CIAL). CIAL is the �rst green�eld airport to be setup in public-private partner-ship (PPP) model in India. With an annual passenger movement over 3.9 million and 411 aircraft movements per week, it has the fourth largest in-ternational passenger tra¨c in India. Trivandrum International Airport is the �rst airport in Kerala and the �rst international airport in a non-metro city in India.Calicut International airport is also known as Karipur airport. It is the seventh busiest airport in the country in terms of international passenger tra¨c.

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RNI No. KERENG02297`:50 US:$5

Enterprise and Economic Update Kerala, a venture supported by KSIDC