India story

India’S position on the global stage as a vibrant democracy and an economic powerhouse is now a well-established fact. The role of Asian economies over the past few years has only reinforced the strength and importance of India on the global center stage. China and India pushed demand even as large economies continued to shrink (read European nations) or just about find its feet like the US economy. Indian markets held on even as the economy battled against the global pressures of recession and showdown. Exports fell sharply in the first half and the rupee remained volatile as it fought hard to find its new level. The tide has turned and India is on a bounce back thanks to its resilient business houses, industrious entrepreneurs and innovative workforce who have fought hard showing their capacity to treat every challenge as a new opportunity.

Indian growth that had dipped to 5% is likely to be arrested to this level in this financial year even as green shoots are appearing to take the growth story on the recovery path in 2014. The government has shown conviction in its policies and has worked towards opening up the economy with greater liberalization in several areas that have now attracted investments from foreign investors across the globe. While opening up foreign direct investments in multibrand retail has already seen some action with majors like Tesco and Wal-Mart planning to set up stores in India. Further India’s decision to open up the aviation sector, a key infrastructure sector, has already seen three big investment proposals over a few months.

While Tata and Singapore Airlines are tying up for new services, Etihad has joined hands with Jet Airways even as low cost Air Asia begins new services for the Indian skies.

The total value of domestic deals in India during the third quarter of 2013 was $1.31 billion, up from $1.29 billion during the corresponding period of 2012. While majors like British Petroleum has brought in the largest FDI in the energy sector, pharmacy majors and investments by Etihad in the Jet-Etihad deal and the Japanese in the Industrial corridor are telling instances of inbound investments.

The strength of a vibrant democracy coupled with a robust judiciary and regulatory framework has only added to the India story. A market that has grown consistently adding new consumers every day even as technology is helping spread the depth and width of the markets. Investors in India have to keep pace with the growing and varied demand, a market that challenges companies and investors almost on a daily basis.

Overseas direct investment by Indian companies stood at $3.24 billion in July 2013, registering an increase of 89.5 percent from $1.71 billion invested in June 2013, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The investments were made across 461 transactions. Reliance Communications, Apollo Tyres, Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Tata Communications, being the major investors. A recent report by the US India Business Council (USIBC) has stated that Indian investments in the country has reached $11 billion and has generated over 100,000 jobs there. Large investments in refineries, steel plants and transportation in African countries and other Asian economies have been the talking points in business circles.

As India moved on in search of energy security, companies like government owned ONGC and private majors like Reliance Industries and the Essar group to name a few invested in new oil fields and gas discoveries. Steel majors like Jindals and Essar too made their mark.

Bharti Airtel, India telecommunication major made inroads into the African continent as its spread its services touching lives of Africans. Another case in point is TVS Motors that is planning to establish a two-wheeler assembly line in Uganda and launch two motorcycle models in the African nation.

The Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC), a body that promotes bilateral trade between the European Union and India, has recorded Indian companies to have invested $56 billion across the continent during 2003-2012, of which EUR 29 billion ($38.47 billion) was invested through mergers and acquisition transactions.

The report titled ‘Indian Companies in the European Union: Reigniting Economic Growth’ also mentioned that Indian business houses employ 1.34 lakh professionals in Europe, including 40,000 new jobs generated by 511 green-field investments. Tata Group is the largest employer in Europe, which counts about 80,000 employees across its 19 companies there. India accounts for a substantial 47 per cent of the green-field investment and 63 percent of the employment creation in the UK, according to the report.

Investments in Asian economies by ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), Jubilant Oil and Gas, Century Ply, Tata Motors, Essar Energy, RITES, Escorts, Sonalika Tractors, Zydus Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Ranbaxy, Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Shree Balaji Enterprises, Shree Cements, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories

Ltd, Cipla, Gati Shipping Ltd, TCI Seaways and Apollo bear testimony to India’s expanding business footprint.

Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group is intending to invest around $1 billion to set up a chemical/fertilizer plant in the US even as it rakes in more than half of its $40 billion-turnover from overseas markets according to a report by IBEF.

These numbers and statistics that find places in global dialogues go much beyond just official data. These are stories of how Indian business houses and investors have partnered their counterparts across the globe to reach out to new investors and consumers.

India’s journey on the global stage is a story of emerging economies that are set to change the rules of the game in this century. The changing dynamics of the economic order that has made the world flat today will give an opportunity to show India’s strength as an economic and knowledge power even as it basks in its rich historical heritage.

— The writer is a National Economics Editor at The Economic Times, India

Economy of India

The economy of India is the tenth-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). The country is one of the G-20 major economies, a member of BRICS and a developing economy that is among the top 20 global traders according to the WTO. India was the 19th-largest merchandise and the 6th largest services exporter in the world in 2013; it imported a total of $616.7 billion worth of merchandise and services in 2013, as the 12th-largest merchandise and 7th largest services importer. India's economic growth slowed to 4.7% for the 2013–14 fiscal year, in contrast to higher economic growth rates in 2000s. IMF projects India's GDP to grow at 5.4% over 2014-15. Agriculture sector is the largest employer in India's economy but contributes a declining share of its GDP (13.7% in 2012-13). Its manufacturing industry has held a constant share of its economic contribution, while the fastest-growing part of the economy has been its services sector - which includes construction, telecom, software and information technologies, infrastructure, tourism, education, health care, travel, trade, banking and others components of its economy.

The post independence-era Indian economy (from 1947 to 1991) was a mixed economy with an inward-looking, centrally planned, interventionist policies and import-substituting economic model that failed to take advantage of the post-war expansion of trade and that nationalized many sectors of its economy.

India's share of global trade fell from 1.3% in 1953 to 0.5% in 1983.[33] This model contributed to widespread inefficiencies and corruption, and it was poorly implemented.

After a fiscal crisis in 1991, India has increasingly adopted free-market principles and liberalised its economy to international trade. These reforms were started by former Finance minister Manmohan Singh under the Prime Ministership of P.V.Narasimha Rao. They eliminated much of Licence Raj, a pre- and post-British era mechanism of strict government controls on setting up new industry. Following these economic reforms, and a strong focus on developing national infrastructure such as the Golden Quadrilateral project by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the country's economic growth progressed at a rapid pace, with relatively large increases in per-capita incomes. The south western state of Maharashtra contributes the highest towards India's GDP among all states, while Bihar is among its poorest states in terms of GNI per capita. Mumbai is known as the trade and financial capital of India.

India to Overtake China as Biggest Economic Powerhouse by 2030

India will overtake Chinas as the world's largest economy, surging ahead of Western and European nations by 2030, said a US intelligence report released on Monday.

The US National Intelligence Council (NIC), in its report titled "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds", said India will witness a surge in economic power after 2015 when China's wealth begins to decline.

"In 2030 India could be the rising economic powerhouse that China is seen to be today. China's current economic growth rate - 8 to 10 per cent - will probably be a distant memory by 2030," said the fifth instalment of the NIC report.

With the emergence of India as a global power, Pakistan may even cease to exist. "Also of significance, India will most likely continue to consolidate its power advantage relative to Pakistan. India's economy is already nearly eight times as large as Pakistan's; by 2030 that ratio could easily be more than 16-to-1," stated the report.

Apart from India and China, the economies of Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Turkey will emerge strong, while current advanced economies of Europe and North America are likely to decline.

It was also forecasted that middle-class population will lead the world by 2030 and that poverty rate will come down by half. Improved standards in education, health and other sectors will enable two-thirds of the world's population to move into cities by then.

'For the first time, a majority of the world's population will not be impoverished, and the middle classes will be the most important social and economic sector in the vast majority of countries around the world. Demand for consumer goods, including cars, (will) rise sharply with the growth of the middle class,' said the report.

Despite the prospect of emerging as strong global players, India and China may likely remain in their middle-income status due to their inability to increase their per capita income to the standards of advanced economies. The increase in middle-class consumption of resources will prevent the nations' economies from moving up the value chain. More investment in science and technology sectors and bridging the gap between rural and urban classes will help address the issue, the report said.

The report comes at a time when India is battling a wide range of economic concerns from slow GDP growth to high inflationary pressure, largely on account of the government's poor policy making procedures. The economic growth rate slumped to 5.3 percent, its lowest levels since 2009.

India: An emerging economic power

Kevin Lynch

India, like China, avoided recession during the global downturn that ravaged the world’s economy from the fall of 2008 to late 2009. Its banks, like Canada’s, also avoided the financial meltdown that afflicted the US and Europe. India is also the world’s largest democracy — with 700 million people eligible to vote in the last election for a confusing array of parties. “It is a country of amazing physical, social and economic diversity,” observes Contributing Writer Kevin Lynch, one with which Canada shares deep roots in the Commonwealth. However, he writes that Canada needs to do more to develop the relationship. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit last fall was a good beginning. Lynch also writes that “we need to build a ‘Canada brand’ in India.”

The development of a country’s foreign policy begins with a clear definition of one’s national interests; this is then overlaid with a deep understanding of the global environment and domestic context the country faces; then through these filters the coherent priorities, initiatives and actions that give effect to

this unique reflection of a country’s purpose and ambition are crafted. All these considerations would make India a foreign policy priority for Canada.

The shared experiences of Canada and India are rooted in our parliamentary democracies, our federal systems of government, our legal codes, our Commonwealth heritage and English as one national language. Even more fundamentally, our links are grounded in a shared commitment to developing pluralistic societies. While India’s pluralism is the product of 5,000 years of history, Canada’s clearly is not as old, but our commitment is strong. There are few peoples on earth that can look to Canada and not see their own reflection, and that is certainly true of Indians; there are more than 1 million Canadians of Indian origin.

Yet, notwithstanding this and India’s astounding growth over the last decade, the trade and investment links between Canada and India are surprisingly small for two $1.5-trillion economies. Annual trade in each direction is just over $2 billion per year, investment flows have been modest until recently, and science and technology links are only beginning to grow, with the signing of an S&T agreement in 2005. What is equally striking is the lack of knowledge about Canada and the absence of a “Canada brand” in India.

The shared experiences of Canada and India are rooted in our parliamentary democracies, our federal systems of government, our legal codes, our Commonwealth heritage and English as one national language. Yet, notwithstanding this and India’s astounding growth over the last decade, the trade and investment links between Canada and India are surprisingly small for two $1.5-trillion economies. Annual trade in each direction is just over $2 billion per year, investment flows have been modest until recently, and science and technology links are only beginning to grow, with the signing of an S&T agreement in 2005. What is equally striking is the lack of knowledge about Canada and the absence of a “Canada brand” in India.

The obvious but difficult question is why this is so. A number of explanations are routinely advanced: the Air India bombing; the nuclear safeguards issue; vocal support for Kashmir independence groups by some locals in Canada; periodic tilting in India toward non-capitalist alignments of nations; an Indian focus on but wariness about the US; and India’s unique historical relationship with the United Kingdom. But whatever the reasons, surely the extent of our commonality demands a stronger relationship, in the national interests of both countries.

India is not a simple country. It is a country of amazing physical, social and economic diversity. It is exhausting in the sheer pace of its living and working, surviving and striving. Since the economic reforms of the early 1990s, as India began to cast off elements of its closed economy and state-driven policies of the past, the Indian economy has been rapidly changing and growing. Indeed, as the global economy emerges from the financial crisis and recession, Asia, including India, is going to be relatively stronger and more influential. There is a palpable sense of confidence, pride and even destiny among Indian business leaders. Despite its many challenges, India has enormous potential to unleash.

Indian politics are fractious and fractured. The press is feisty, and the English- language newspapers are interesting. It is an incredibly poor country with some incredibly rich people. It is a developing country with home-grown, world-class high-technology industries. Globally successful entrepreneurs coexist with advocates of statist policies and protectionism. Indians of all social and income strata are unbelievably consumed with personalities, stars, Bollywood, glamour — it is a topic that unifies billionaires and peasants, elites and masses. The infrastructure is terrible, and the ability of Indians to work around it and jerry-rig solutions is astounding. The mirror image of the seeming chaos of overcrowded Indian cities is an extraordinary energy and dynamism.

As the global economy emerges from the financial crisis and recession, Asia, including India, is going to be relatively stronger and more influential. There is a palpable sense of confidence, pride and even destiny among Indian business leaders. Despite its many challenges, India has enormous potential to unleash.

India is the world’s most populous democracy. In the 2009 election, over 700 million Indians were eligible to vote, with polling stretching over a month and overseen by one of India’s most impressive institutions, the National Election Commission. The voting was judged to be free and fair. Most remarkable is the attachment of India’s rural poor to the right to vote. They view this as a source of power, in a life where they are usually powerless; exercising this right to vote appears to serve as a national shock absorber for the tensions of inequality and poverty.

So far so good, but the bane of the Indian electoral system has been the large number of regional parties, extremist parties, nationalist parties and personality cult parties. The result is large, bulky and frequently unstable coalitions, where often the only common denominator is power. And a troubling consequence is a lack of accountability and problems with corruption. Encouragingly, despite fears to the contrary, the recent 2009 election saw a diminution in the power of regional parties.

India’s foreign policy has long been characterized by balances, straddling east and west, north and south, large and small, market and socialist countries. The relationship with Pakistan is primordial. The US and India have had a somewhat frosty courtship, with India worried about the closeness of the US to Pakistan and yet wanting a counterweight to growing Chinese power in the region. Links with Russia have ebbed and flowed depending on the state of relationships with China and the US, and how socialist any particular Indian government coalition was. Afghanistan has historic ties with India; it has been both a corridor for and a buffer against invasion since time immemorial.

India’s institutions reflect the diversity that is so much a part of the country. Some of the elite universities, particularly the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management, are small and excellent, with strong professors and extraordinary students. Many universities are not. The Indian Administrative Service is an elite and merit-based public service. Many of the provincial and local public services are not. Corruption and bureaucratic red tape can be stifling, and yet entrepreneurship and innovation flourish despite this. India is modernizing its military capacity but the Mumbai attacks showed the security, intelligence and emergency response elements of the military and national police still have a ways to go.

India is now working its way through the first global economic crisis since it emerged as an economic powerhouse. Reaping the benefits of its early 1990s reforms, India achieved average growth of 8.75 percent during the period 2003 to 2007. It combined this strong growth with a significant reduction in poverty. The main driver of growth in India was domestic demand, not exports, as in China. The surge in investment, the key element of this domestic demand growth, was financed by rising Indian private and public savings, and by increasing foreign capital inflows, as India’s economy began to integrate with the rest of the world. But India has done little to implement further reforms and build on the progress of the 1990s.

During the global financial crisis, India’s financial system avoided the worst of the banking woes experienced by financial institutions in the United States and Europe — a remarkable achievement. The global recession, more than the financial crisis, is causing rising credit risk pressures. Indian banks appear reasonably well capitalized and liquid, with acceptable non-performing asset ratios. However, the rapid domestic credit expansion of recent years, combined with a sharp increase in foreign liabilities, has increased the vulnerability of Indian banks to a prolonged period of slow global growth and deleveraging.

Impressively, India, like China, avoided recession in the global downturn. Growth is expected to be 6.5 percent in 2010, and stronger thereafter. Government policy measures to stimulate the economy in the

global recession were aimed at supporting consumption through subsidies and infrastructure through stimulus spending. Since India has not been as reliant on export-led growth as China or Japan, it should be better positioned than its Asian neighbours if the US and European recoveries are weak.

After five years of fiscal consolidation, India’s public finances deteriorated markedly amidst the global economic crisis. A soaring subsidy bill, the stimulus measures and slowing growth have led to a substantial widening of the deficit, now over 7 percent of GDP. Public debt, which is over 80 percent of GDP, is too high and rising. India, like many other countries, now needs to design and implement a macroeconomic “exit” strategy, which should include the entrenched domestic subsidies.

During the global financial crisis, India’s financial system avoided the worst of the banking woes experienced by financial institutions in the United States and Europe — a remarkable achievement. The global recession, more than the financial crisis, is causing rising credit risk pressures. Indian banks appear reasonably well capitalized and liquid, with acceptable non-performing asset ratios.

Two of the most transformative changes in the Indian economy since reforms of the early 1990s have been the rise of the entrepreneur and the growth of a private-sector middle class. While estimates of its size vary widely, all suggest the Indian middle class is many times larger than the entire Canadian population. And the dynamics are staggering: with real economic growth between 8 and 9 percent and population growth of 1.5 percent, per capita incomes will double every nine years. This growing middle class, concentrated in burgeoning urban centres, is demanding better infrastructure, more effective and transparent local administration and an efficient and effective rule of law.

At the sectoral level, India offers potential for Canadian firms in infrastructure, property development, natural resources and services. The Indian infrastructure deficit increasingly has a chokehold on growth, and India must mirror what China has already begun and invest massively in its public and private infrastructure to support sustained high growth. The growing middle class wants modern shopping facilities and better housing, while service sector businesses want more modern commercial buildings. All are areas in which Canada has business expertise and experience. India’s energy production and transmission are very inefficient and costly, again an area of Canadian business strength. Its services, particularly financial, engineering and communications, will expand enormously, and Canada has a sophisticated financial sector and a positive reputation coming out of the financial crisis.

The financial crisis and the worldwide recession will have lasting implications for the global economy, interacting with structural shifts already under way. As the world’s economic centre of gravity shifts, it is

estimated that by the end of this decade half of all global goods and services could be produced in the India-Japan-China economic triangle. For Canada, the “advantage of proximity” to the US marketplace will increasingly be counterbalanced by the “tyranny of distance,” as we decide how best to connect to these emerging powerhouses.

In this rapidly changing global dynamic, Canada’s national interests quite simply call for a stronger relationship with India. What might the architecture of such a new partnership look like? It would start, as the Canadian and Indian governments have already begun, by removing historical impediments, such as tensions over nuclear safeguards. But to build the stronger, deeper relationship that is called for will require new approaches in our foreign policy and innovations in how we build the partnership.

First, we need to build strong networks between India and Canada, operating on four levels concurrently: between political leaders, between business leaders, between senior public servants and between university leaders. Over the last year, there has been an appreciable increase in the political attention shown to our Indian relationship, with visits by the Prime Minister, ministers and senior officials. This was an absolutely necessary initial step. Sustaining such political and public service engagement through ongoing visits will maximize the impact. An eminent persons advisory group, consisting of leaders from both countries in these domains, could assist in building a stronger relationship.

Second, given the pivotal role Indian entrepreneurs are playing in transforming their economy, links between Canadian and Indian business leaders are crucial. There must be strong private sector engagement to develop the relationship. To help nurture this, government and business need to identify sectors and areas where win-win business partnerships are possible. Such areas could include the service sector (banking, insurance, engineering services, etc.), the natural resource sector (including our technological capacity to enhance oil and gas recovery, processing and transmission), property development to satisfy the needs of the middle class (malls, multi-use complexes, housing) and infrastructure, given the huge Indian infrastructure deficit.

Third, we need to build a “Canada brand” in India. The reality is that brand recognition in India emanates from products (e.g., iPods), culture (e.g., Hollywood), history (the UK) or education (e.g., Harvard University, the University of Oxford). The good news is that we don’t have a negative brand; the less good news is we have essentially no brand at all. Establishing a Canadian brand will require investments in brand development. The potential to create a unique Canada brand image is clearly there, and the potential payoffs are evident from the Australian efforts at branding the Land of Oz.

There is an excellent base from which to construct a brand. There are surprisingly strong cultural links between Bollywood and Canada to draw on. We have high technology companies like RIM and the iconic Canadarm to appeal to a nation that admires technology.

Fourth, we have a strong university research system whose strengths are not known in India, but a collective approach by our universities to building research partnerships could reverse this. We have fascinating people-to-people links and the stories these could tell in our respective media. And we have much in common in terms of our global economic interests, and business pioneers to validate this potential.

Fifth, we need to support a stronger relationship through a new Canada-India economic partnership agreement, partly to brand the relationship, partly to deal with perceived impediments to doing business and partly to lay the framework for future growth. The design of an agreement should include services, investment protection, intellectual property rights and protections, deepening the existing S&T agreement and dispute resolution mechanisms. It is doubtful such an agreement could successfully include trade in goods, particularly agriculture, which is constrained in both countries, and these areas might best be left to multilateral efforts.

A deeper relationship with India is in Canada’s national interests and is equally valuable to India as it reshapes its relationships with the rest of the world. To continue to grow at the transformative pace of the last decade, India must continue to change, to encourage market-driven activity and entrepreneurship at home and to build new bridges and relationships abroad. To prosper in the shifting global economy, Canada must enlarge the markets for Canadian firms and build new partnerships outside the countries where we have historically concentrated our trade and investment and technology linkages. The payoff is long term, and so too must be the commitment by the two countries’ governments, businesses and universities. The relationship needs formal structures and informal networks; it needs a new generation of economic agreements and extensive people-to-people links.

For India, there are many possible pitfalls ahead, but they are more than matched by amazing potential. As Nandan Nilekani, one of the founders of Infosys and a leading Indian entrepreneur, observed in his fascinating book on this transforming India, Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation: “This is what is unique about the Indian growth story. A people-driven transformation of a country holds a particular power; it is irreversible.” We should share his optimism.

Every Indian wants our country to be an economic powerhouse. Even every president, prime minister would have spoken on this front at every given opportunity. We all should appreciate this intention to become a superpower and kudos to this vision.

But this dream remains at papers and speeches. Where do we lack?.....

“The mission to accomplish this dream”.

My perception is that we lack in innovation to accomplish this dream. I am not projecting that innovation is the only way. But the fact is innovation is one of prime factors to become economic powerhouse.

Let us discuss some scenarios to support this.

What is our contribution in designing and manufacturing of car engines?

Where do we stand in manufacturing commercial aircrafts?

How many electronic chips are manufactured using indigenous technologies?

Indian contribution to metallurgy

Operating systems developed by Indian companies

We can definitely say that our contribution is nil or to negligent proportion.

That does not mean that we Indians are not capable. We have enough brainy people to innovate and huge funds to support.

My perception is that we lack the initiative and we want to piggy back on somebody’s innovation.

This happens even at academic level. 8 of 10 engineering pass outs are purchasing projects to complete their studies to get graduation. The same trend continues at corporate level also by purchasing the concepts and technologies from overseas companies.

Agriculture is the profession carried out by most of rural Indians and we buy seeds, pesticides and even technology like tissue culture from overseas.

We cannot blame the governments alone for this backdrop. But the central and state governments are also responsible for the same. Governments and large corporates should change their attitude towards the research and support almost all research activities.

When government can support outsourcing industry by creating designated IT parks, financial parks and special economic zones, why not for Research park also.

When Indian companies have all their needs are satisfied through indigenous products or technology, we become economic superpower. And we expect, wish and want the dream accomplished very soon.--------------------------

V. G. Siddhartha

Personal life[edit]

Siddhartha (now known V. G. Siddhartha) obtained a Masters degree in economics from Mangalore

University, Karnataka. He married the daughter of S. M. Krishna, the formerChief Minister of

Karnataka, Indian Minister for External Affairs and Governor of Maharashtra.

Early career[edit]

After doing his Masters he joined J M Financial Services (now J M Morgan Stanley) in Mumbai as a

management trainee/intern in trading on the Indian Stock Market under Mr. Mahendra Kampani.

After two years with J M Financial Services, when Siddhartha returned to Bangalore, his father gave

him money to start a business of his choice. Siddhartha bought a stock market card for Rs 30,000,

along with a company called Sivan Securities, which was renamed in 2000 as Way2wealth

Securities Ltd with vision to set "new standards in the retail financial services in India". Its venture

capital division came to be known as Global Technology Ventures (GTV) as well as a site in the city

in 1984 and turned it into a highly successful investment banking and stock broking company.

Coffee business[edit]

Almost 15 years later, Siddhartha established a successful coffee business in Karnataka. He grows

coffee in Chikmagalur and exports about 28,000 tonnes of coffee annually and sells another 2,000

tonnes locally for about Rs 350 million each year. His coffee growing and trading company,

Amalgamated Bean Company (ABC), has an annual turnover of Rs 25 billion. Siddhartha now has

200 exclusive retail outlets selling his brand of Coffee Day powder all over South India. ABC is

India's largest exporter of green coffee.

He owns 12,000 acres (4047 ha) of coffee plantations.[1]

He started his coffee trading company ABC in 1993, with a Rs 60 million turnover. His company

grew gradually. He bought an ailing coffee curing unit in Hassan for Rs 40 million and turned it

around. Now, his company has a curing capacity of 75,000 tonnes, which is the largest in the

country.[2]

He was the first entrepreneur in Karnataka to set up a cyber café in 1996 (Café Coffee Day, a chain

of youth hangout coffee parlors). Now, he has 1,407 Coffee Day Cafes in India. Siddhartha also

hopes to win the contract to take his chain to all the airports of Karnataka and then to the rest of the

country. His cyber cafes attract at least 40,000 to 50,000 visitors a week.[3]

Siddhartha was awarded the Entrepreneur of the year title in 2003 by The Economic Times for

"crafting a successful pan Indian brand for a commodity business and giving Indian consumers a

new lifestyle experience that is within reach of the common man".

Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd. today is the largest exporter of green coffee from

India and perhaps one of the two fully integrated coffee companies of Asia, involved in all sectors of

coffee from plantations to retailing to exports. Coffee Day Group today is the only fully integrated and

the largest coffee conglomerate in India and is credited with creating the "coffee revolution" in India -

acknowledged by the Coffee Board of India Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd.. From

a handful of cafés in six cites in the first five years, Café Coffee Day has become India's largest and

premier retail chain of cafes with 1,438 cafes in 135 cities.

Other businesses[edit]

Siddhartha also founded Global Technology Ventures Ltd. in 2000, a company that identifies, invests

and mentors Indian companies engaged in cutting edge technologies. Currently,[when?] he also holds

board seats in GTV, Mindtree, Liqwid Krystal, Way2Wealth and Ittiam. GTV has now set up a global

technology village on a 59-acre (240,000 m2)technology incubator park in Bangalore, which will

provide office space, communication links, recreational facilities and even a commercial centre. GTV

was valued by BankAm at $100 million last year,[when?] and is expected to have doubled its valuation

this year.[when?] It is poised to grow on the lines of Softbank of Japan.[4]

Banana exports[edit]

He has planted banana trees on 3,000 acres (1,214 ha) and plans to export bananas.[5]

Daffco Furniture[edit]

He owns a furniture company called The Dark Forest Furniture Company, named after Kathale Kaad

Estate (Black Forrest), his estate in Chickamagalur, which is venturing into furniture by building a

600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) factory in Chikmagalur, Karnataka,[6] which will use timber from his

coffee plantations in India and a rainforest in Guyana.[7] It initially plans to supply furniture to Cafe

Coffee Day outlets. However, the construction of the facility is yet to begin.[8]

Logistics[edit]

A majority stake in SICAL Logistics was purchased by him. It has acquired coal mines in New

Jersey. SICAL will become one of the multibagger in coming days as per his view.[9]

Our CompanyLocated in Bangalore, a city that has grown from a pensioner's paradise to the country's Silicon Valley, Coffee Day

has become an icon for good coffee. Strategists, researchers, subject matter experts, marketing and sales

professionals, farmers, coffee growers, retailers and sales force comprise Coffee Day's workforce.

The heritage concept of coffee, dating from over 140 years has been nurtured with care by V G Siddhartha, Chairman of

Coffee Day Company. Launched in 1994, the Group is now a Rs. 500 crore, ISO 9002 certified company, making its mark

across the coffee value chain. The offshoots include over 1000 Café Coffee Day joints, around 400 Fresh & Ground stores,

over 1000 Coffee Day Xpress kiosks, and a sizeable 10,000 vending machines from Coffee Day Beverages. ---------------------------------

Sindhutai sapkal

Early Life & Education[edit]

She was born on 14 November 1948 at Pimpri Meghe village

in Wardha district Maharashtra to Abhimanji Sathe, a cowherd by profession. Being an unwanted

child, she was nicknamed 'Chindhi' (torn piece of cloth). Her father was keen on educating Sindhutai,

much against the wishes of her mother. Abhimanji used to send her to school under the pretext of

cattle grazing, where she would use 'leaf of Bharadi Tree' as a slate as she could not afford a real

slate because of financial reasons. Abject poverty, family responsibilities & an early marriage forced

her to quit formal education after she passed 4th grade.[2]

Marriage & Early Work[edit]

At the tender age of 10, she got married to Shrihari Sapkal alias Harbaji, a 30 year old cowherd

from Navargaon village in Wardha District. She bore 3 sons by the time she turned 20. She put up a

successful agitation against a local strongman who was fleecing the villagers on collection of dried

cow dung used as fuel in India and selling it in collusion with forest department, without paying

anything to the villagers. Her agitation brought the district collector to her village and on realizing she

was right, he passed an order which the strongman did not like. Stung by the insult at the hands of a

poor woman, he managed to convince her husband to abandon her when she was beyond 9 months

of her pregnancy. She gave birth to a baby girl on 14 October 1973 in a cow shelter outside their

house that night,all by herself and walked few kilometers away to her mother's place, who refused to

shelter her. She had to set aside the thought of suicide and started begging on railway platforms for

food. In the process, she realized that there are so many children abandoned by their parents and

she adopted them as her own and started begging even more vigorously to feed them. She decided

to become a mother to anyone and everyone who came across to her as an orphan. She later

donated her biological child to the trust Shrimant Dagdu Sheth Halwai, Pune, only to eliminate the

feeling of partiality between her daughter and the adopted ones.[3]

Later Work[edit]

She has devoted her entire life for orphans. As a result she is fondly called 'Mai’(mother). She has

nurtured over 1050 orphaned children. As of today, she has a grand family of 207 son-in-laws, 36

daughter-in-laws and over 1000 grandchildren. She still continues to fight for the next meal. Many of

the children whom she adopted are well-educated lawyers and doctors, and some, including her

biological daughter, are running their own independent orphanages. One of her children is doing a

Ph.D. on her life. She has been honoured with over 273 awards for her dedication and work. She

used award money to buy land to make a home for her orphan children. Construction has started

and she is still looking for more help from the world. Sanmati Bal Niketan is being built in Manjari

locality at Hadapsar, Pune where over 300 children will reside.

At the age of 80, her husband came back to her apologetically. She accepted him as her child

stating she is only a mother now! If you visit her ashram, she proudly and very affectionately

introduces him as her oldest child! In person, she comes across as an unlimited source of energy

and very powerful inspiration, with absolutely no negative emotions or blaming anybody.

A marathi film 'Mee Sindhutai Sapkal' released in 2010, is a biopic inspired by the true story of

Sindhutai Sapkal. The film was selected for world premiere at the 54th London Film Festival.

Operating Organizations[edit]

Sanmati Bal Niketan, Bhelhekar Vasti, Hadapsar, Pune

Mamata Bal Sadan, Kumbharvalan, Saswad

Mai's Ashram Chikhaldara, Amravati

Abhiman Bal Bhavan, Wardha

Gangadharbaba Chhatralaya, Guha

Saptsindhu’ Mahila Adhar, Balsangopan Aani Shikshan Sanstha, Pune

Awards[edit]

Total 273 awards

2014 - BASAVA BHUSANA PURASKAR-2014,Awarded from Basava Seva Sangh Pune.

2013 - The National Award for Iconic Mother ---- (first recipient) [4]

2012 - Real Heroes Awards,given by CNN-IBN & Reliance Foundation.[5]

2012 - COEP Gaurav Purskar, given by College Of Engineering, Pune.

2010 - Ahilyabai Holkar Award, given by the Government of Maharashtra to social workers in the

field of woman and child welfare [6]

2008 - Woman of the Year Award, given by daily marathi newspaper Loksatta

1996 - Dattak Mata Purskar,Given by Non Profit Organization - By Sunita Kalaniketan Trust (In

the memories of - Late Sunita Trimbak Kulkarni ), Tal - Shrirampur Dist Ahmednagar.

Maharashtra Pune.[7]

1992 Leading Social Contributor Award.

Sahyadri Hirkani Award (Marathi: सह्या�द्री�ची� हिरकणी� पु�रस्क�र)

Rajai Award (Marathi: र�जा�ई पु�रस्क�र)

Shivlila Mahila Gourav Award (Marathi: शि�वली�ली� महिली� गौ�रव पु�रस्क�र)

List of Works[edit]

Mee Vanvasi, Navrang Prakashan - Autobiography

Legacy[edit]

The 2010 marathi film Mee Sindhutai Sapkal by Anant Mahadevan is a bio-pic inspired by the true

story of Sindhutai Sapkal. The film was selected for world premiere at the 54th London Film Festival.[8]

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Mother of Orphans2. Jump up^ "Sindhutai Sapkal". Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education,TIFR.3. Jump up^ "Mother of orphans - Sindhu Tai Sapkal -- Part 1". Indya Unlimited. 9 March 2011.4. Jump up^ "Mukherjee confers first National Award for Senior Citizens". NetIndian. 1 October

2013.

This is a story of Chindhi, daughter of Abhiram Sathe, a poor farmer from Wardha district of Maharashtra. She is fond of studies and attending the school. But hardly gets a chance to attend it since she has to take care of her buffaloes. Her mother feels that girls should be married off as soon as possible and there is no need of education for them. And for that they need to be good in household chores, so she makes sure Chindhi always has her plate full for chores and does not get a chance to even look towards school. But due to her dedication towards studies, she manages to sneak into the school somehow for few hours. Doing all this she manages to pass fourth grade.

At this stage her mother decides to marry her off. Though her father is not in favor of this he is not able to convince his wife and her mother manages to find a guy much elder to her and marries her. This was at mere age of ten. Her new home has her mother in law, two brother in laws and their families. So

there is no way she can continue her studies, but is put to lot of work. Ans still at the end of the day her mother in law will not talk good of her.

Managing all this, Chindhi still continues to read whatever she could lay her hands on. Mostly she could get only the packing newspapers that come with grocery and she will read it all. Her mother in law will cause her trouble even for this ans then she will hide the papers some place and read at leisure when she is able to get a bit of freedom sometime.

The years pass like this, she grows up in age and has three sons. In those days after marriage she hardly gets to meet her parents, only rarely sometime her father will manage to come and see her briefly. She was staying in the buffer area of a wildlife sanctuary, so they can not keep too many cattle. Even the cow dung collected from the forest will have to be deposited with the local contractor and he used to sell it off without paying to the local villagers. Chindhi is angree with this. No one else in the village has guts to talk against the contractor, and finally Chindhi speaks out to the forest officer and the contractor has to take care of the matter. This brings Chindhi respect form all the villagers and even in her own home. Her Mother in law and co systers start taking care of her since she is pregnant for the fourth time.

But this good times are short lived for Chindhi. The contractor manages to cheat Chindhi's husband and convinces him that the baby Chindhi is carrying is not her husbands but of the contractor. Her husband is really a big fool and he is immediately convinced with this. By this time Chindhi is almost 8 monthd pregnant but her husband mercilessly kicks her out of the house. Now she does not have nayone to help but manages to survive and gives birth of her child herself in the cow shade. The only place she could think of was her own home. She knew that her father is no more, but hopes her mother will help her in this tough time. She does not have any cash, no food to eat but manages to reach her mothers home. She is totally disappointed by her mothers attitude. She just tells her to go away after all the bad name she has earned and all the deeds she has done. And on asking where Chindi can go in such a situation, her mother says go anywhere you want and if you can think of nothing else go jump in a well. Chindhi is totally devastated by this attitude and goes on a Railway track and is waiting for a train to come. What happens next to her and her baby ? How Chindhi becomes Sindhu ? You must watch in "Mi Sindhutai Sapkal" .

It is very difficult to explain what Sindhutai has gone though in her life. It is really difficult to express it words, one much watch it and hear it from her. Of cource Sindhutai's story is well known now and most of you must have heard it from her. The movie is really well made, and when she tells her own story, it is touching. Her mother attitude is really crazy, to make her own daughter with less than a week old baby, to drive away when she has come for help.

Sindhutai credits her husband for putting her into this situation and helping her indirectly to become what she is today. may be she should credit her mother too, she was the one who helped her take the challenge of life by driving her away without entertaining her in the house at all. All the three actress who have played Chindhi are really good, and so are most of the actors i the movie. This is also a must watch for all age groups. We have added some clips of Sindhutai here for more information. Do write your comments.

"Shred" is the general music supply farmers daughter. Hila go to school and learn new things, so much enthusiasm. But I do not believe that a girl wearing school, teaching what. Another year has passed that marry. But gharakama should be so constantly in the house, some work was stopped. And Buff carayala send this but "Shred" cica charge. Sora, but gave the Buffaloes carayala leaving school was at half-holiday. That was avidly studied. It was late and also had a daughter 4. After the 4th pass rush was the face of his mother, too, that I want to marry care. Elder mind and thought progressive, but bayakopudhe their accomplish nothing. So these 10 years, having married the daughter of a tonagyabarobara is given. Thanks 2 many places, mother-in-law, father-in-law and a lot of body diranci children are. Learning might also reduce the remains, but the home-in-law is under Raab Raab Rabat. The law is the same bed, some ear bharataca. affliction also shred all her reading Wade do. Any paper that was written on it all at home reading the paper reveals that the initiated. Several times while reading it, mother-in-law speaks, then conceal the paper read by her reading that Wade finished. sutalyasarakheca if a home after a wedding is. Bye-Bye cindhila father come to visit. Some children are 3 varsyanni shaking. Was going to want to collect the dung of the village and the village kantratadarala want. He went to the contractor that sells cow dung, but nothing about the people of the village are not getting paid. I can not remember the rag never, but the village does not have the courage to care about things. Around the same time cindhila cavathyanda days are gone. About this rag Contractors in Forest Authorities employer. Shred all about respect, too, this village increases. But suddenly at home mother, and she wants to begin to care simultaneously. nothing but love and do not survive very long. Shred fills the ears of the bed of the village contractors foundations of thy wife and thy child is not mine. S husband is such a poor ear that they all really feel. Out of the house and is the ninth month garbharasila. The position will complement any balatina, Shred to go? Sora takes home the Sahara Stable. And there was her confinement. No one near, svataca baby placenta sounds. Lines balantina house, cowshed, leaving the proceeds go within.

Money in hand, no food to eat, no hands baby, baby, go, go where you go. Shred how impressed settled progresses. His father had been a few years ago, there is always only. I guess it says that you get out of here, seen here on a black face. When asked where the mother took her daughter to be so small that it is the answer to go anywhere, but can not think well jump shot. There was even a shred reaction when. Railways are on track to do so and atmyahatya. Her frustration when there was cindhici Indus See how "I sindhutai Sapakal" In. actually here because it is difficult to write this movie plot suffered from either sindhutaine whatever it is difficult to write the words in the mouth of his story is heard and bahuteka All sindhutai. But still tried to write the plot. Cinema's pretty awesome. Sindhutai when they tell their life events, when the eye is water. But when all the pictures on the screen can be given if the bleed of Kamakura. So I do not understand nitasi Shred mother mental system yet. 1-2 days with baby girl at home, when suddenly falls out of the house when his daughter what I can give. sindhutai like her husband, has been attributed to their life curve, as well as their mother gave out, but there should be a desire to live in the minds of the rag. Cinema is in phlesabeka. But for the present and the past, it has been very nice confluence. Shred young age and elderly sindhutai, my son is very good. That was the movie everyone. Readers sindhutai in the mouth of their work, and their lives, so that we know their speech klipa gives here is. likes me or cinema / sindhutaice need to be addressed in the sentence. "God, teach us laughing, but keep in mind that we do not have radalo." Yeah Write your comments. This is a story of Chindhi, daughter of Abhiram Sathe, a Poor Farmer Wind Wardha district of <br>. She is fond of studies and attending the school. But hardly gets a chance to attend it since she has to take care of her buffaloes. Her mother feels that girls should be married off as soon as possible and there is no need of education for them. And for that they need to be good in household chores, so she makes sure Chindhi always has her plate full for chores and does not get a chance to even look towards school. But due to her dedication towards studies, she manages to sneak into the school somehow for few hours. DOING all this she manages from Pass Fourth grade. At this Stage marry her off from her Mother decides. Though her father is not in favor of this he is not able to convince his wife and her mother manages to find a guy much elder to her and marries her. This was at mere age of ten. Her new home has her mother in law, two brother in laws and their families. So there is no way she can continue her studies, but is put to lot of work. Ans still at END of Gust Gust day her Mother in LAW punished not Talk good of her. Managing all this, she could lay her hands Covered read from Chindhi still continues on. Mostly she could get only the packing newspapers that come with grocery and she will read it all. Her Mother in her trouble LAW EVEN CAUSE punished for this ans then she punished Hide Gust papers read at leisure when she is able from some place and get a bit of freedom sometime. Pass The years like this, she grows in age and has three Up sons. In those days after marriage she hardly gets to meet her parents, only rarely sometime her father will manage to come and see her briefly. She was staying in the buffer area of a wildlife sanctuary, so they can not keep too many cattle. Even the cow dung collected from the forest will have to be deposited with the local contractor and he used to sell it off without paying to the local villagers. Chindhi is angree with this. No one else in the village has guts to talk against the contractor, and finally Chindhi speaks out to the forest officer and the contractor has to take care of the matter. This brings Chindhi respect form all the villagers and even in her own home. CO systers start taking care of her Mother in LAW and is really sorry for her since she Gust Fourth TIME. within SHORT lived for Chindhi But this good times. The contractor manages to cheat Chindhi's husband and convinces him that the baby Chindhi is carrying is not her husbands but of the contractor. Her husband is really a

big fool and he is immediately convinced with this. By this time Chindhi is almost 8 monthd pregnant but her husband mercilessly kicks her out of the house. Now she does not have nayone to help but manages to survive and gives birth of her child herself in the cow shade. The only place she could think of was her own home. She knew that her father is no more, but hopes her mother will help her in this tough time. She does not have any cash, no food to eat but manages to reach her mothers home. She is totally disappointed by her mothers attitude. She just tells her to go away after all the bad name she has earned and all the deeds she has done. And on asking where Chindi can go in such a situation, her mother says go anywhere you want and if you can think of nothing else go jump in a well. Chindhi is totally devastated by this attitude and goes on a Railway track and is waiting for a train to come. What happens next to her and her baby? How Chindhi becomes Sindhu? You must Watch in "Mi Sindhutai Sapkal". It is very difficult from Sindhutai explain WHAT has gone though in her life. It is really difficult to express it words, one much watch it and hear it from her. Of cource Sindhutai's story is well known now and most of you must have heard it from her. The movie is really well made, and when she tells her own story, it is touching. Crazy Mother ATTITUDE is really her, from her own daughter with less than a Week Make old baby, from WASTING Drive when she has Come for help. Sindhutai Credits her husband for putting her into this Situation and verb helping her become indirectly from WHAT she is Today . may be she should credit her mother too, she was the one who helped her take the challenge of life by driving her away without entertaining her in the house at all. All the three actress who have played Chindhi are really good, and so are most of the actors i the movie. This is also a must watch for all age groups. We verb ADDED some Links of Sindhutai here for more information. Do write your comments.

“Mai” – Some Facts about Social Worker Sindhutai Sapkal

Filed under: Uncategorized — 4 Comments March 21, 2010

She arrives for the interview with two little children in tow. Settling her large frame into the chair, 54-year-old Sindhutai Sapkal mops her face with one end of her nine-yard saree, flashes a toothy smile and asks if the children can get some milk. The three of them have been out almost the entire day trying to mobilize resources and Mai (Mother), as Sindhutai is popularly known, is tired. “These three months are bad as schools and colleges have examinations followed by vacations and the money I raise through lectures and donations from students and teachers dries up. There are times when I cannot feed the children properly and therefore whenever I go out with any children I ask for milk for them without any hesitation,” she says.

“When I was thrown out of my house I used to beg for a living. Even today I move around with a begging bowl. The only difference is that in those days I begged for myself but today I beg so that my children can be fed and clothed,” she adds. A daunting task, considering that she has over 1,000 children. It has been a long journey for this intrepid woman who started begging on the Manmad-Aurangabad-Nanded railway track after she was thrown out by her husband when she was just 21 years old. “I moved around with my infant daughter. My mother told me to get lost. ‘Go and die on the railway line,’ she told me,” recalls Sindhutai.

Sindhutai wandered from town to town, singing and begging near temples. “I sang on trains and spent my nights on railway platforms,” she reminisces.

It is hard to imagine that this gutsy woman once contemplated suicide when she could not feed her daughter. “I went to the forest bent upon ending my life. But I returned with another determination: Not only will I live, but I will also try my best to give life to others,” she says.

Today she is the recipient of around 60 awards for social work including the Savitribai Phule award from the Maharashtra government, the Satpal Mittal Award and the Parivartan Award given by the Maharashtra-based non-governmental organization, Parivartan. And yet she continues to beg for others. Belonging to a family of cattle herders, poverty coupled with social convention prevented Sindhutai from having access to education. She would try to manage the herd and also attend school with great difficulty. But marriage at 10 put an end to the fourth standard student’s education. The groom, Shrihari Sapkal, alias Harbaji, was over 30 years old.

Sindhutai created a sensation in Navargaon in 1972 when she demanded that the forest department pay the village women for the cow dung they collected. The department used to auction the dung to landlords and pocket the cash. “We won the fight,” says Sindhutai. But she lost her family. She claims that an annoyed landlord, Damdaji Asatkar, spread the rumor that the child she was carrying was his. “My husband simply abandoned me,” says Sindhutai. She was beaten up and dumped in a cow shed, where her daughter, Mamata, was born. “This was in 1973. I cut the umbilical cord with a sharp-edged stone lying nearby,” she says.

Equipped with nothing but a determination to feed her child, Sindhutai decided to beg. “I begged for almost three years during which time I traveled to Delhi, Chandigarh and almost all over Maharashtra. I also started singing to get more money and having a considerably good voice, I would end up with more money which I would share with my fellow beggars. I would eat and sleep on the roads,” says she. And then she started wandering from one town to another. “Those were the days of soul-searching. I began feeling I must do something for those suffering like me,” she adds.

The idea was just taking root when she found herself in Chikhaldara in Maharashtra’s Amravati district. A section of the Melghat jungles on the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had been earmarked for a tiger project and she soon found herself fighting for the rights of the tribals. With food and shelter given by others, Sindhutai then started looking after orphaned and abandoned adivasi (tribal) children as a source of livelihood. It didn’t take long for this to become the mission of her life.

Beginning with her first ashram at Chikhaldara which, she says, was “a creation of necessity”, her work acquired a momentum of its own. But even as many abandoned/orphaned children were getting a mother, Sindhutai decided to leave her own daughter Mamata with the Dagdushet Halwai Trust in Pune. She had to take this hard decision because she felt that “having my own child with me would hinder looking after other children as there was a possibility that I would be partial to her”.

Gradually the number of children grew and so did the number of centers. There are now five centers in Maharashtra which have become home to over 1,000 children. The boys and girls are segregated after

the 8th standard. While the boys go to Gangadharbaba ashram, the girls are sent to the girls’ hostel at Chikhaldara. Besides these children the homes also house about 25 abandoned women who have taken refuge with Sindhutai. These women are provided food and shelter and in turn they help to look after the children in the homes. Sindhutai proudly states that she has 36 daughters-in-law and 175 sons-in-law.

Deepak Gaikwad, the first child she took under her wing in the 1980s is now helping her full time. In his 30s now, Deepak has taken charge of the Mamata Bal Sadan from his Mai. There are others like Deepak, who support their Mai in her work. Uttam Yevale, 27, who grew up at Mai’s ashram at Chikhaldara, is a college teacher in Ahmednagar. “She is like my mother. In fact, she is my mother,” he says. And taking care of the Pune centre is Sindhutai’s daughter Mamata. “She has a Masters degree in social work and helps me. I was not with her during her growing years, but she has always been there for me,” says Sindhutai.

Her homes survive on donations and grants as well as the award money she receives and she unabashedly continues to beg in cities and villages asking people to put whatever they can into a cloth she spreads out on a table after her speech. She is also invited to colleges and schools to address students and she unhesitatingly asks for donations. This year has been particularly tough because though the Savitribai Phule home runs on government aid, Sindhutai’s orphanage in Saswad has not received its grant for the last two years from the cash-strapped Maharahstra government. And to make matters worse, there is also an acute water shortage in the area.

Little wonder then that every interview with Sindhutai concludes with this plea �

“Do write the address of my organization so that people can send any contribution – financial or material.”

India's problems are obvious and enormous: crushing poverty, persistent corruption scandals and a crumbling infrastructure that is decades out of date.

At first blush, India's economic virtues are less apparent, but they are tremendously compelling, particularly over the long term.

As China's roaring economy has been the pacesetter for recovery from the global financial crisis, the world's most populated country has garnered the bulk of international attention. From its undervalued currency to its mushrooming modern super-cities to its yawning trade surplus with the United States, China has dominated the attention of the world's financial markets this year.

Yet 2011 may finally be the year when people wake up to the potential of the other Asian economic superpower.

India currently enjoys three major economic attributes that China lacks: democracy, favourable demographics and a preponderance of English speakers, which helps ease business dealings with the West. In 2011, these advantages could begin to bloom.

As Raghav Bahl, the founder and controlling shareholder of Network 18, India's largest television news and business network, argues forcefully in his new book Superpower? The Amazing Race Between China's Hare and India's Tortoise, India has the mettle and resources needed to eventually close the economic gap with its powerful northeastern neighbour.

For starters, Mr. Bhal notes, India is a democracy, the world's largest, in fact. Compare that with China, where 24 members of the Central Politburo are tasked with charting the course for a nation of 1.3 billion people. The primary driver of much of China's social, political, fiscal and monetary policy is preventing social unrest and keeping the Communist Party of China in power. Although admittedly flawed, India's democratic system aims to elect representatives that will draft the best policies for the people and the country, not the political party they belong to.

As international objections to India's nuclear weapons program have diminished, world leaders have begun flocking to India for diplomatic visits that are far less politically charged than missions to Beijing. India's Parliament in New Delhi, currently led by Manmohan Singh, who was the architect of India's key financial reforms in the 1990s, is now a must-visit location for global dignitaries.

In just the past two months, Prime Minister Singh has entertained U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, China's Premier Wen Jiabao and, most recently, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Reinforcing India's rising political and economic might, Mr. Singh has also visited Japan and Germany this year, rounding out his country's engagement with most of the world's major economies.

The Indian Prime Minister even found the time to come to Ottawa this year following Stephen Harper's first trip to India in November, 2009.

Although Canada has yet to sign a free-trade agreement with any Asian countries (including South Korea and Singapore, where talks have dragged on for years), it began negotiations with India in November. If realized, Mr. Harper's government has said a free-trade agreement between Canada and India could be worth $6-billion a year for each country. (Despite Canada boasting more than one million residents of South Asian descent, two-way trade with India was just $4.2-billion in 2009. Trade with China was about $50.5-billion.)

India also has demographics on its side. It will soon dwarf the rest of the world when it comes to its working age population - people between 18 and 65 who are contributing members of society. Compared to North America, Japan and even China, India is an exceptionally young country. The majority of its population is less than 30 years old and by 2020 the average age will be 29, compared to 45 in Western Europe and 48 in Japan, according to a recent report from the Canadian International Council.

China's one-child policy has contributed to an aging population. Unless radical changes are made, China's work force growth will end by 2030, and, like much of the rest of the world, the burden of looking after retirees will soar.

In just nine years, by 2020, the United States could be short 17 million people of working age, China 10 million, Japan nine million and Russia six million. At the same time, India will have a surplus of 47 million workers. If India can achieve the massive task of improving health care and educational services for these workers, it is sure to become an economic powerhouse.

While much has been made of China's burgeoning consumer class, India is already endowed with a hefty middle class whose size has been estimated at about 200 million people - the entire population of Brazil.

India also enjoys an abundance of English speakers, a fact that could help facilitate more business and trade with the West, whose companies and politicians have often struggled with cultural and language challenges in China.

India represents the largest English-speaking ethnic community in the world, with about 350 million Indians displaying a reasonable proficiency in the language. Moving beyond its troubling colonial roots, English has become the language of upward mobility in India, used by cab drivers, university professors, lawyers and in business. Eighty per cent of India's two million college graduates are English-speaking.

Despite the myriad of challenges faced by its 1.1 billion people, India is expected to record the second fastest growth of the world's major economies in 2010, expanding by 9.7 per cent, according to the IMF. (China's economy will grow by 10.5 per cent, the IMF says.) In the third quarter, India's economy grew by a more-than-expected 8.9 per cent, with household spending and investment driving the expansion. According to London-based Capital Economics, India's economic upswing will stay in good shape over the coming year.

"The structural development story is overwhelmingly positive and the government in the end will deliver on the reforms needed to ensure that the private sector continues to thrive," Vishnu Varathan, the firm's Asia economist, said in a recent report.

India's government has finally come up with a plan to tackle its woeful infrastructure deficit, which Prime Minister Singh has said is choking economic growth. Government investment in roads, ports and rail could hit $500-billion (U.S.) for the five years ending in March, 2012. In the following five years, the prime minister hopes to invest another $1-trillion dollars in infrastructure with half the funds coming from the private sector.

Still, the headlines in India's vibrant newspapers (both in Hindi and English) are currently dominated by corruption scandals involving several officials both in the public and private sectors, including the telecom minister, Andimuthu Raja, who resigned amid allegations related to wireless spectrum sales and has denied any wrongdoing. But the very fact that the corruption scandals have brought public censure is cause for optimism, according to analysts at Hong Kong's GaveKal-Dragonomics, who say that India's banks may present an opportunity when compared to China's massive state-controlled lenders.

"Although India's public banks also have guidelines forcing them to lend to priority sectors, Indian banks are clearly more mature, and more accustomed to dealing with marketplace realities," the research and advisory firm said in a note to clients.

"And the recent loan-for-bribe scandals should improve conditions, as they demonstrate that there is now a penalty for corruption."

India

See also: Indian Century

Republic of India

Flag of India.svg

India (orthographic projection).svg

Several media publications and academics have discussed the Republic of India's potential of becoming a superpower.[68][69] Newsweek and the International Herald Tribune join several academics in discussing India's potential of becoming a superpower.[68][70]

Anil Gupta is almost certain that India will become a superpower in the 21st century. As an example, he states that due to India's functional institutions of democracy and its relatively corruption-free society, it will emerge as a desirable, entrepreneurial and resource and energy-efficient superpower in the near future. He predicts that by 2015 India will overtake China to be the fastest growing economy in the world and emerge as a full-fledged economic superpower by 2025. In addition to that, he states, India has the potential to serve as a leading example of how to combine rapid economic growth with fairness towards and inclusion of those at the bottom rungs of the ladder and of efficient resource utilization, especially in energy.[71]

Robyn Meredith claims that both India and China will be superpowers.[6] Although, she points out that the average income of European and Americans are better off than Chinese and Indians, and hundreds of millions of Chinese as well as Indians live in poverty, however she also suggested that economic growth of these nations has been most important factor in reducing global poverty of last two decades as per World Bank report.[72] Amy Chua also adds to this, stating that while India's potential for superpower is great, it still faces many problems such as "pervasive rural poverty, entrenched corruption, and high inequality just to name a few". However, she notes that India has made tremendous strides to fix this, stating that some of India's achievements, such as working to dismantle the centuries-old caste system and maintaining the world's largest diverse democracy is historically unprecedented.[34]

Fareed Zakaria also believes that India has a fine chance at becoming a superpower, pointing out that India's young population coupled with the second-largest English-speaking population in the world could give India an advantage over China. He also believes that while other industrial countries will face a youth gap, India will have lots of young people, or in other words, workers, and by 2050, its per capita income will rise by twenty times its current level. According to Zakaria, another strength that India has is that its democratic government has lasted for 60 years, stating that a democracy can provide for long-term stability, that has given India a name.[73]

Founder and President of the Economic Strategy Institute and former counselor to the Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan Administration Clyde V. Prestowitz Jr. has predicted that "It is going to be India's century. India is going to be the biggest economy in the world. It is going to be the biggest superpower of the 21st century."[74]

Contrary views

Parag Khanna wrote in 2008 that he believes that India is not, nor will it become a superpower for the foreseeable future, lagging decades behind China in both development and strategic appetite.[75] Instead, he believes India will be a key swing state along with Russia.[76] He says that India is "big but not important", has a highly successful professional class, while millions of its citizens still live in poverty. He also writes that it matters that China borders a dozen more countries than India and is not hemmed in by a vast ocean and the world's tallest mountains.[77] However, in a recent article written by Parag Khanna, he says that India, along with China, will grow ever stronger, while other powers, like Europe, muddle along.[78]

Lant Pritchett, reviewing the book In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India, writes that, while India has had impressive growth and has some world-class institutions, several other indicators are puzzlingly poor. The malnutrition in India and the coverage of immunization programs are at levels similar or worse than in much sub-Saharan African nations. In the Demographic and Health Surveys, India's child malnutrition was the worst of the 42 nations with comparable and recent data.[79] Adult literacy is 61%. In one study, 26% of teachers were absent from work and 1/3 of those showing up did not teach. 40% of health care workers were absent from work. Caste politics in India remains an important force. Pritchett argues that a very large population, a very long statistical "tail" of high quality students, and some very good higher education institutions gives a misleading impression of Indian education. Indian students placed forty-first and thirty-seventh in a study comparing students in the two Indian states Orissa and Rajasthan to the forty-six nations in the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.[79]

Manjari Chatterjee Miller, assistant professor of international relations at Boston University, argues that India is a "would-be" great power but "resists its own rise".[80] Three factors contribute to this stagnation, she argues. First, New Delhi's foreign policy decisions are highly individualistic.[80] "This autonomy, in turn, means that New Delhi does very little collective thinking about its long-term foreign policy goals, since most of the strategic planning that takes place within the government happens on an individual level."[81] Second, a dearth of think tanks helps insulate Indian foreign policymakers from outside influences.[80] "U.S. foreign policymakers, by contrast, can expect strategic guidance from a broad spectrum of organizations that supplement the long-term planning that happens within the government itself."[82] Third, many of India's political elites believe that the country's inevitable rise is a

Western construct that has placed unrealistic expectations on India's economic growth forecasts and its international commitments.[80] By contrast, Miller notes that Chinese political leaders pay very close attention to the international hype surrounding their country's growing stature.[80] Miller concludes that "India's inability to develop top-down, long-term strategies means that it cannot systematically consider the implications of its growing power. So long as this remains the case, the country will not play the role in global affairs that many expect."

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The Opportunity

India has the world’s fastest growing democratic economy, with annual GDP growth between 7-9%.

Industry sectors such as telecommunications, retail, aviation and transportation, infrastructure, clean

technology, pharmaceutical and bio-sciences, and animation, to name a few, are all experiencing growth

rates that are unheard-of in North America and Europe.

Some facts about the Indian economy: Today, India is the fifth largest economy in the world. Among the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia,

India, China), India is expected to deliver the highest growth rates over the next 50 years.

By 2050, India is expected to be the world’s largest economy, surpassing the United States by

2040 and China by 2050.

India has over 220 million households with more than 30% of the population living across 5,000

cities and towns.

Half of India’s population, or over 550 million is under the age of 25 which has fuelled demand for

consumer goods. Regional growth in India has also been driven by more local demand less

reliance on exports.

By 2025, India will have 25% of the global workforce with the average age which constitutes

about 600 million people.

The growth in India’s consumer market will be primarily driven by a favorable population … translates into

increasing consumer demand but also into a more value-conscious demand.

In Telecom:

In January 2012, India’s mobile subscriber based reach 940 million; by 2013 the country will be in

the top 10 broadband markets.

With the launch of 3G and 4G services and proliferation of computing devices (smartphones and

tablets), the number of internet users is expected to increase from 80 million in 2011 to 400

million by 2015.

Growing demand, policy support and increasing investments will continue to increase demand for

services in the telecom sector.

In Infrastructure:

India will spend $1 trillion on infrastructure in the next five years of which 50% needs to be

contributed from the private sector. Roads, railways, ports and powers are given strategic

importance by government support.

The construction boom in India will increase floor space from 8billion sq m in 2005 to 41 billion sq

m by 2030.

India has 110 ‘certified green buildings’ and is ranked fourth after US, Australia and Canada in

amount of green floor area under construction.

In Cleantech:

India currently has a power deficit ranging between 10-15% during peak hours—transmission

losses are among the highest in the world (35%). Renewable energy is an economic imperative

and will represent 20% of the energy mix by 2020.

India has the 5th largest power-generation capacity in the world and thus, offers huge

opportunities for the companies with plans to enter the Renewable Energy sector in India,

including solar energy, wind energy, biomass and small hydro.

India is the most vulnerable of all G20 countries to the impact of increased carbon emissions

resulting affecting water, agricultural output, and food production.

With increased urbanization, renewable energy, water, energy efficiency, municipal solid waste

(MSW), green buildings, and smart IT are major focus areas for governments and the private

sector.

Economic growth, driven by domestic and export consumption, backed by strong market fundamentals

and innovation spirit remain the core attraction for global investments into India.

OPPORTUNITIESReducing gap between rural and urban economiesRural India will be the next big destination for consumerism to grow with more and more companies focusing on rural population. Experts feel that higher rural participation will fuel the next phase of growth in consumer spending.

This is visible from the faster pace at which telecom and two-wheeler companies have expanded their markets in remote regions. The rural theme also keeps Indian economy insulated from the global economic hiccups. "Rural penetration would fuel growth for telcos, auto players, FMCG and financial services firms," says Samiran Chakraborty, who heads the research operations of Standard Chartered Bank India.

Cleaner and efficient administration

This is undoubtedly the most important factor that is likely to sweep the power corridors of the country. The recent scams have raised questions about the political and bureaucratic ethos of the country. Observers, however, think that it may not slow down the foreign capital flow.

They think it instead will help making the system efficient and transparent. "A greater efficiency means sectors, such as infrastructure, might receive the required attention and project work may pick up," says Abheek Barua, chief economist of HDFC Bank.Firm growth momentum

The Indian economy is expected to grow at 8.5-9% in this fiscal. Enhanced rural income, higher industrial growth and a good capital expenditure cycle have been the leading contributors to this growth in demand. Also, half of the 1.2-billion population is less than 25 years old. Such a young pool of workforce is necessary for the future growth.

'Severe drought across the country', 'global economic depression' or 'Left parties stall all reforms', which

of these newspaper headlines would scare you the most? Difficult to make a choice, as each of these

would take the 'India shining' story for a toss!

We had asked our investors as to which of below normal monsoons, global slowdown or sluggish

reforms, impact the Indian economy the most. While a majority (41%) considered below normal

monsoons to be the doomsayer, 31% considered the global economy to have the prime impact while 28%

felt that a slowdown in reforms would bring the India growth story to a staggering halt. While each view is

appropriate in a certain respect, the impact of said 'threats' remains varied. Here we have tried to analyse

the same.

Below normal monsoons: Although not a significant contributor to India's GDP, agriculture continues to

be the source of livelihood to 60% of the Indian population. Even today agriculture is at the mercy of the

rain gods. The yawning socio-economic gap between the agricultural producers in different parts of the

country handicaps the impact of technological advancements in this field. The small farmers (who are a

majority), due to lack of funds and technical facilities (for irrigation) are subject to the vagaries of rainfall,

which unfortunately is not always equally distributed.

Monsoon across meteorological subdivisions

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Excess/Normal 9 28 15 20 11

Deficient/scanty 27 8 21 16 25

Total 36 36 36 36 36

It is not just the rural economy that endures the impact of poor monsoon but the same filters into the

corporate books also. Corporates (especially FMCG and consumer product manufacturers) who have

saturated their product in the metros are now looking at the rural areas for market expansions. A

slowdown in agricultural outputs will have a cascading effect on the disposable income of the rural

economy and the corporates' targeted markets.

Global slowdown: A US Fed interest rate fluctuation or Chinese economic growth today arouses as

much curiosity in India as in the respective countries. However, in the past, when the Indian economy was

'sheltered' against the global impacts, this was not so. A yesteryear comparison of the world GDP growth

rate vis-a-vis that of India shows that there was very little correlation between the two. The opening up of

the economy has brought in its share of virtues and vices. While it benefited us by way of benign business

opportunities, it also exposed India to the vagaries of the international economies. As a result of which,

the Indian GDP growth seems to be tracing its broader counterpart for the past couple of years. A global

slowdown, therefore, can have a shoddier impact today than it did before.

Sluggish reforms: Reforms are determined by the necessities of business dynamics in the domestic and

international markets. The need to make the domestic companies globally competitive drives the reforms.

Needless to say however, that their execution depends upon the willingness of the companies and their

governing bodies (which includes the government, sectoral bodies, central bank etc). Sluggishness in

such reforms stagnates the growth prospects of the companies and sectors.

Where is India heading? 

The Indian economy has been historically paranoid about the monsoons. Despite the maturity of the

economy from a primarily agriculture based one to a service oriented one, a disappointment on the

projected rainfall is bound to send the economy into a tailspin. Although the Met continues to be bullish on

the June clouds, the accuracy of their predictions has left much to be desired in the past. Global

slowdown looks unlikely in the foreseeable future with the emerging economies (which includes India),

holding promise. Finally, thanks to the economy's coming of age, the ruling political party in the country

(be it NDA or UPA) is bound to be a 'reformist', as the clock now cannot turn back. So all said, while the

long term prospects of the Indian economy continues to be enthusing, certain negative shocks (like poor

monsoons) may prove to be bumpers on the way.

Ppt slides for swot analysis

ANUSHA K TUKE Department of MBA, Jain College of Engineering. 2013 SWOT ANALYSIS OF INDIAN ECONOMY 1Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

INTRODUCTION • India is the 10th largest economy in world in terms of GDP 3rd largest by PPP. • Population: 1.22 billion • Yearly increase: 18 million • Major group: 50% - 0 – 25 years • More than 1.53 billion people by the end of 2030. • Average life expectancy: 68.6 years • Economic growth rate slowed to around 5.3% for the 2012–13 fiscal year. 2Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

STRENGTH Agriculture High percentage of cultivable land 56.78% Huge English speaking population Availability of skilled manpower Extensive Higher Education Diversified nature of the economy System Third largest reservoir of engineers High growth rate of economy Rapid growth of IT and BPO sector brining valuable foreign exchange Abundance of natural resources 3Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

Weakness Very High percentage of workforce involved in agriculture which involves only 17.2% of GDP Rural poverty leads horrible wave of suicides by indebted farmers In rural India, about 34 percent of

the population lives on less than $1.25 a day Coal Mines Corruption – Illegal allotment and Kick Backs Inequality in prevailing socio economic conditions Poor infrastructural facilities Huge population leading to scarcity of resources Low literacy rate Unequal distribution of wealth Rural urban divide, leading to inequality of high standards 4Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

Opportunities • Scope for entry of private firms in various sectors for business • Inflow of Foreign Direct Investment • Huge foreign exchange earnings • Area of biotechnology • Area of Infrastructure • Huge Domestic Market • Huge natural gas deposits found in India, • Huge agricultural resources, fishing, plantation crops, livestock • Investment in R & D, engineering design • Huge population of India in foreign countries . • Vast forest area and diverse wildlife 5Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

THREATS Global economy recession/slowdown High fiscal deficit Volatility in crude oil prices across the world Growing Import bill -$461.4 billion Population explosion, rate of growth of population still high Inflation: 6.87 per cent in July of 2012 Agriculture excessively dependent on monsoons . 6Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

CONCLUSION • Indian economy is robust in nature • Banking & credit system have been able to survive the down turn. • Youth of INDIA • Economists predict that India economy will be the third largest by 2025 after USA & China. 7Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

REFERENCES • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_India • http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_SWOT_analysis_of_Indi an_economy • http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-07- 27/news/32889541_1_indian-economy-india-s-gdp-fy20 • Economic Environment of Business S.K Mishra & V.K Puri 8Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

THANK YOU 9Dept of MBA, Jain College of Engineering.

Acharya, Shankar. 2002. “India’s Medium-Term Growth Prospects,” Economic and Political

Weekly, 13 July 2002: 2897-906.

---. 2003. Economic Times, 02 January 2003