THE Indian retail market is possibly the fastest-growing in the world, thanks to a surging middle-class population.
At the moment, virtually all retail is conducted through market stores and streetside outlets, which accounted for 97 per cent of the $199 billion (£113 billion) that Indians spent on goods last year.
However, a rapidly growing middle-class population is driving the demand for more upmarket, Western-style retail outlets, which traditionally are located away from the high street in shopping centres.
As a result, the number of shopping malls, which were virtually non-existant only five years ago, now stands at about 90.
Analysts say that this is only the beginning. The number of shopping centres, which last year accounted for about $6 billion of sales across India, are expected to more than triple to 300 by the end of next year. The value of shopping centre sales is predicted to have risen to about $23 billion by 2010.
India’s 1.1 billion population includes about 450 million people who live below the $1-a-day poverty threshold set by the World Bank. The middle class comprises 300 million.
The middle classes are growing by 15 million to 20 million a year as the more-educated Indians benefit from 15 years of sustained economic growth, during which time the country has deregulated business and opened itself up to foreign investment. These customers are demanding better-quality retailers and products, and British and other foreign operators are keen to tap this market.
Graham Cartledge, chairman and chief executive of Benoy, an architect, which has just won the contract to design India’s largest shopping centre, said: “There is a growing number of people looking for a more sophisticated shopping experience.”
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
India growth story most attractive
Sify.com: November 18, 2005
According to Citigroup Director Hans Goetti, India is the most attractive growth story for the next five years.
He adds that a shift of domestic funds to equities is crucial for the markets. Buying from domestic investors in India is encouraging, he says.
The near-term fear has been over-extended in India, feels Goetti. He adds that they are bullish on ITC, and banking stocks, among which their top pick is HDFC Bank.
Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Goetti:
How have you read the last one-month for emerging markets? Where do you see the entire pack moving from here?
We are quite positive. From a technical perspective, entire
Asia has had a pretty large pullback in October and has now rallied back to an uptrend. So markets could be in a trading range over the next few weeks.
But in the long run we remain bullish on the domestic demand theme in Asia across-the-board and the same applies to India. India fits very nicely into Asia in the sense that, India is the most attractive growth story for the next five years.
What is the tactical view after the pull back? What are you doing in the near term?
In India, as far as the near term goes, the fear is that the market is a bit over extended in terms of valuations. If we measure the markets, we could argue that by 1992 India had 40 times earnings and once the restrictions on foreign investments were lifted in 2000, the country had 30 times earnings, that was the during the IT bubble.
India is at 17 times earnings now, so it is only expensive compared to other Asian markets. Inflation is picking up, but that is across the region and that means the interest rates will go up. That is the tactical side.
However, if one wants to benefit in the near-term, one would have to look at fund flows and the two countries that stand out are Korea, where there is a massive shift of domestic savings to equities; and India, where a similar thing took place during October, when foreigners were selling and domestic funds were buying. So that is a very encouraging sign and hopefully, sign of what will come in future.
What are you expecting for the rest of the financial year? Are you expecting markets to slide back, or maintain the 8500 levels?
I think markets will be in a trading range, without much of an upside or downside for the rest of the year. Markets are relatively well supported by earnings, if we exclude certain sectors.
The valuations in general across Asia are low and I would think in India we have an emerging story about consumers, bank lending and consumer lending. So that is where we will put our money.
What do you like in the consumer space?
ITC is one of the many we like and of course the banking story. It is a banking-led bull market. If one looks at bank lending in terms of GDP, it is relatively low and consumer lending is even lower. It is only 7 per cent of GDP.
So there is room to grow there. If one looks at consumer plays, one would have to look at the banks and our top pick there is HDFC Bank.
What about allocation? This time around, what picture do you expect to see emerge on the allocation front?
We are going into markets which can produce earnings and where one can see a shift in domestic savings into equities. Across the region most of the bull market that we had in 2003 was basically carried by foreign investment.
If we have markets where domestic investors are coming back in, these are very powerful stories.
Korea is a great example. It is up by 39-40 per cent this year and that is not because the economy is doing particularly well, but because the major reason is that domestic investors are shifting their funds into equities. This is based on new products, savings plans involving equities etc. I think this is something that will happen in one country after another over the next few years. So the participation of the domestic investors becomes extremely crucial everywhere.
As far as the interest rates in the US are concerned, the dollar strength is a result of the Fed tightening. We see this cycle going on, Fed will continue to tighten monetary policy. Of course, we have to see what data will be produced.
This means that for the next four months, we will have a stronger dollar and maybe some of the Asian currencies will be pulled with it.
In Asia, from the medium to long-term there will be an appreciation of Asian currencies once the Fed tightens and China revalues the Renminbi again.
If Asian currencies appreciate, then there will be capital inflows into Asia, which will of course, enforce the domestic recovery story and the asset reflation play.
According to Citigroup Director Hans Goetti, India is the most attractive growth story for the next five years.
He adds that a shift of domestic funds to equities is crucial for the markets. Buying from domestic investors in India is encouraging, he says.
The near-term fear has been over-extended in India, feels Goetti. He adds that they are bullish on ITC, and banking stocks, among which their top pick is HDFC Bank.
Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Goetti:
How have you read the last one-month for emerging markets? Where do you see the entire pack moving from here?
We are quite positive. From a technical perspective, entire
Asia has had a pretty large pullback in October and has now rallied back to an uptrend. So markets could be in a trading range over the next few weeks.
But in the long run we remain bullish on the domestic demand theme in Asia across-the-board and the same applies to India. India fits very nicely into Asia in the sense that, India is the most attractive growth story for the next five years.
What is the tactical view after the pull back? What are you doing in the near term?
In India, as far as the near term goes, the fear is that the market is a bit over extended in terms of valuations. If we measure the markets, we could argue that by 1992 India had 40 times earnings and once the restrictions on foreign investments were lifted in 2000, the country had 30 times earnings, that was the during the IT bubble.
India is at 17 times earnings now, so it is only expensive compared to other Asian markets. Inflation is picking up, but that is across the region and that means the interest rates will go up. That is the tactical side.
However, if one wants to benefit in the near-term, one would have to look at fund flows and the two countries that stand out are Korea, where there is a massive shift of domestic savings to equities; and India, where a similar thing took place during October, when foreigners were selling and domestic funds were buying. So that is a very encouraging sign and hopefully, sign of what will come in future.
What are you expecting for the rest of the financial year? Are you expecting markets to slide back, or maintain the 8500 levels?
I think markets will be in a trading range, without much of an upside or downside for the rest of the year. Markets are relatively well supported by earnings, if we exclude certain sectors.
The valuations in general across Asia are low and I would think in India we have an emerging story about consumers, bank lending and consumer lending. So that is where we will put our money.
What do you like in the consumer space?
ITC is one of the many we like and of course the banking story. It is a banking-led bull market. If one looks at bank lending in terms of GDP, it is relatively low and consumer lending is even lower. It is only 7 per cent of GDP.
So there is room to grow there. If one looks at consumer plays, one would have to look at the banks and our top pick there is HDFC Bank.
What about allocation? This time around, what picture do you expect to see emerge on the allocation front?
We are going into markets which can produce earnings and where one can see a shift in domestic savings into equities. Across the region most of the bull market that we had in 2003 was basically carried by foreign investment.
If we have markets where domestic investors are coming back in, these are very powerful stories.
Korea is a great example. It is up by 39-40 per cent this year and that is not because the economy is doing particularly well, but because the major reason is that domestic investors are shifting their funds into equities. This is based on new products, savings plans involving equities etc. I think this is something that will happen in one country after another over the next few years. So the participation of the domestic investors becomes extremely crucial everywhere.
As far as the interest rates in the US are concerned, the dollar strength is a result of the Fed tightening. We see this cycle going on, Fed will continue to tighten monetary policy. Of course, we have to see what data will be produced.
This means that for the next four months, we will have a stronger dollar and maybe some of the Asian currencies will be pulled with it.
In Asia, from the medium to long-term there will be an appreciation of Asian currencies once the Fed tightens and China revalues the Renminbi again.
If Asian currencies appreciate, then there will be capital inflows into Asia, which will of course, enforce the domestic recovery story and the asset reflation play.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Highlights of Rail Budget 2008-09
HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET
* 2008-09 2007-08: Review of Performance and Revised Estimates
* Double digit growth in traffic earnings maintained in first nine months
* Growth in passenger earnings 14%. Growth in originating passengers 5.6% - better than budgeted growth.
* Incremental loading of 43 million tonnes (MT) in first nine months; likely to be 62 MT for the year.
* Revised target for loading 790 MT. Expected growth in goods earnings 14%
* In Revised Estimates Goods Earnings, Passenger Earnings, Sundry and Other Coaching Earnings fixed at Rs 47,743 cr, Rs 20,075 cr, Rs 2637 cr and Rs 2,200 cr respectively.
* Gross Traffic Revenues at Rs 72,755 cr - 16% higher than the previous year and 2% higher than the Budget Estimates.
* Ordinary Working Expenses register savings of Rs 966 cr.
* Operating Ratio likely to improve from the budgeted 79.6 to 76.3 per cent -best in last four decades.
* Return on Capital - an all time high of 21 per cent.
* Cash Surplus before dividend expected to be a record Rs 25,000 cr.
* Net Revenue expected at Rs 18,416 cr and surplus after payment of dividend expected at Rs 13,534 cr.
* Likely year end fund balances Rs 20,483 cr - 27% more than budgeted target.
2008-09
Initiatives in Passenger Business Improvements in ticketing
* Termination of queues at ticket counters targeted in two years
* Increase in UTS counters to to 15,000 and ATVM s to 6000 over two years
* Ticket booking on mobile phones.
* Extension of Jansadharan Ticket booking seva
* E-ticket for waitlisted passengers
* Ticket on 'Go Mumbai Card' in Mumbai Suburban.
Passenger Amenities
* Provision of on-line coach indication display board; on-line train arrival departure information board; on-line reservation availability information board.
* Provision of discharge-free green toilets in all 36,000 coaches in XI Plan Period at a cost of about Rs 4,000 cr.
* LHB design coaches for all Rajdhani and Shatabadi trains over next few years.
* Provision of LHB coaches with stainless steel bogies in Mail/Express trains.
* Special stress on cleanliness - on-board cleaning in passenger trains.
* Extending the public address system in passenger coaches of select mail/express trains.
* Increase in the height of a number of platforms;
* Provision of platform shelters at all D category stations.
* Provision of foot-over bridges at all high-level platforms.
* Increase in length of 30 more platforms.
* Provision of multi-level parking, lifts and escalators at major stations.
Concessions
* Senior citizen concession for women enhanced to 50% from existing 30%.
* Free MST to girl students up to graduation level in place of 12th standard and for boys up to 12th standard in place of 10th standard
* Ashok Chakra Awardees also to be provided the facility of traveling in Rajdhani and Shatabadi trains on card passes issued to them.
* AIDS patients traveling to nominated ART centres for treatment to be given 50% concession in second class passenger fares.
Initiatives in Freight Business
* Target for loading kept at 850 Million Tonnes (MT) in 2008-09 - incremental loading of 60 MT or more, consecutively for the fourth year.
Blue Print prepared for High Density Network:
* Phased execution of capacity augmentation including dedicated freight corridors, doubling, third and fourth lines, bye passes, flyovers, automatic signaling works etc over next 7 years at cost of about Rs 75,000 cr
* Coal routes: Most routes to be made fit for 25t axle load trains. Focus on throughput enhancement works serving important coal links- many new works proposed.
* Port Traffic - Mission 300 MT: Top priority being given to port rail connectivity projects.
* Steel Udyog - Mission 200 MT: targeted traffic of 200 MT by 2011-12. New and dedicated iron ore routes to be upgraded/constructed for 25-ton to 30-ton axle load trains. Throughput enhancement works of doubling and trebling of lines also being undertaken.
* Cement Industry - Mission 200 MT: targeted traffic of 200 MT by 2011-12. New lines, throughput enhancement through gauge conversion and extension of lines to serve cement clusters in various regions.
* Container Business- Mission 100 MT : Increased investments expected in container rolling stock and ICD s by CONCOR and other operators
* Dedicated Freight Corridor: Work on Eastern freight corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni (Kolkata) and Western freight corridor from Delhi to JNPT to start in 2008- 09.
* Procurement of Rolling stock: All-time high of 20,000 wagons, 250 diesel and 220 electric locomotives to be manufactured.
* New design wagons of high capacity to be produced.
* New Wagon Leasing Policy and new Wagon Investment Scheme formulated to increase availability of wagons in the system.
* Discounts for development of Bulk and non-bulk goods terminals
* Railways to mark presences in Door to Door Logistics services
* Empowered Strategic Business Unit to be set up at the Apex Level- single window system for emerging business opportunities and client support Planning for Railways new Profile
* Vision 2025 document setting the road map for coming 17 years - customer centric and market responsive strategic initiatives and action plans
* Information Technology Vision 2012- radical changes in technology and processes through seamless integration of IT applications on a common platform with focus on improvement in operational efficiency, transparency in working and better services to the customers
* Multi-Departmental Innovation Promotion Group at Apex Level.
Other Initiatives
* Public Private Partnership schemes to be launched for attracting investment of Rs 1,00,000 cr over the next five years for developing world class stations, rolling stock manufacturing, multi modal logistics parks, running of container trains etc
* Commercial use of Railway land by Rail Land Development Authority to give boost to Railway Revenues.
Railway Security
* 5700 vacant posts of constables and 993 vacant posts of sub-inspectors to be filled up. 5% posts of constables and 10 % of sub-inspectors in the above vacancies reserved for women.
* 973 additional posts created.
* Integrated security plan drawn up to strengthen railway security through installation of CCTV s, metal detectors, baggage screening system, explosives detection and disposal system, etc.
Railway Safety
* Rail accidents have reduced remarkably despite substantial increase in the gross traffic volumes.
* Multi-pronged scheme to strengthen railway safety through automatic devices like, anti-collision device, on line monitoring of rolling stock through acoustic bearing detectors and wheel impact load detector, EOTT device, digital ultrasonic flaw detecting machine, etc.
* Fire resistant material to be used in coaches.
* More ROBs/RUBs to be constructed at Railways' initiative; PPP initiatives to be explored for construction of ROBs/RUBs.
* Unmanned level crossings at busy sections to be manned on a fast track basis.
Social Welfare
* One time exercise of appointing Railway Porters working on stations as gangmen and to other group 'D' posts after due screening
* Mother- Child Health Express: to be run on a pilot basis at concessional fares in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for providing medical facilities to mother and child
Special Recruitment Drives
* 99% identified backlog vacancies for SCs/STs filled up due to special campaign launched since 2004.
* Appointment of candidates from SCs/STs/OBCs exceeded their respective quotas in group D appointments
* Minorities welfare cells to be opened in Railway Board and in zonal railways for promoting minorities welfare.
* Urdu also being introduced as a medium of examination for group D posts in states where Urdu is the second official language.
Staff Welfare
* Per-capita contribution to Staff Benefit Fund to be increased by ten times from Rs 35 to Rs 350 for 2008-09.
* Previous service tenure of employees working earlier in any public sector enterprise, autonomous body or any other agency under State Government or Central Government, whose prior service has been counted for pensionary benefits, will be eligible for post-retirement complementary passes as per the norms being set.
* 13 new works at a cost of Rs 101 cr sanctioned for improving health services.
* Northern Railway Central Hospital at Delhi to be made centrally air-conditioned.
* 2 divisional hospitals at Jaipur and Hubli to be upgraded to central hospitals.
* A new divisional hospital at Ranchi, and an OPD block at ICF to be constructed.
Passenger Services
* 10 new Garib Raths to be introduced.
* New Trains : 53 pairs
* Extension of Trains : 16 pairs
* Increase in Frequency : 11 pairs
* Special train from Anandpur Sahib and Patna Sahib to Gurudwara Sachkhand Sahib during tercentenary function of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Gurta Gaddi.
* Special train between Pune and Delhi for Commonwealth Youth Games being held in Pune from 12th October to 18th October 2008.
* 300 additional services in Mumbai suburban
Annual Plan 2008-09
* The Annual Plan of Rs 37,500 cr is the largest ever Annual Plan so far _ Support of Rs 7,874 cr from General Revenues. _ Internal Resources of Rs 21,126 cr. _ Extra Budgetary Resources of Rs 8,500 cr.
* Thrust areas of Annual Plan include activities relating to throughput enhancement of high density network routes, improvement and expansion of traffic facility and network, construction of flyovers, bypasses, IBS, upgradation of goods shed.
* Outlay on project Planheads : New Lines Rs 1,730 cr, Gauge conversion Rs 2,489 cr, Electrification Rs 626 cr, Metropolitan Transport Projects Rs 650 cr.
* Outlay on Safety related Planheads: Track renewal Rs 3,600 cr, Bridges Rs 600 cr, Signal & Telecommunication works Rs 1,520 cr, Road over/under bridges Rs 700 cr and manning of unmanned level crossings Rs 600 cr.
* Outlay for Rolling Stock : All time high of Rs 11,045 cr
* Outlay for Passenger Amenities Rs 852 cr - the highest so far.
* Important Targets : New Lines 350 kms, Gauge Conversion 2150 kms, Doubling 1000 kms.
* National Projects : Funds to be made available by Ministry of Finance based on the actual progress of works during the course of the year. Rs 1,712 cr asked for from Ministry of Finance.
* The number of National projects increased from 4 to 8.
* MUTP Phase II to be started at a cost of Rs 5000 cr, financed jointly by Railways and State Government of Maharashtra, with multi-lateral funding
Other Important Announcements
* Ordinance for Land Acquisition Act' to be passed for expeditious acquisition of land for important railway projects on the pattern of NHAI Act.
* Indian Rail Bijli Company Ltd.- a joint venture with NTPC for 1000 MW thermal power plant at Nabinagar District of Aurangabad, Bihar.
* A new rail coach factory to be set up in Kerala.
* A new wagon re-construction unit to be set up at Garkha in Chapra District.
* Modernization and development of Jamalpur Workshop
* Modernization of Lilluah workshop , Perambur loco workshop, Ajmer loco workshop
* Railways to takeover Mokama and Muzaffarpur wagon factories.
Budget Estimates 2008-09
* Freight loading target: 850 million tonnes, freight output: 550 BTKM s.
* Revenues in Freight, Passenger, other Coaching and Sundry other earnings to be Rs.52,700 cr, Rs.21,681 cr, Rs.2,420 cr and Rs 5000 cr respectively.
* Gross Traffic Receipts to be Rs.81,901 cr - an increase of 12.6 per cent over RE.
* Ordinary Working Expenses to be at Rs.50,000 cr.
* Cash surplus before Dividend to be - Rs.24,783 cr after making an ad-hoc provision of nearly Rs 5,000 cr for anticipated recommendations of the VI CPC.
* Operating Ratio is expected to be 81.4 % - even after impact of ad hoc provision for VI Pay Commission recommendations
Proposals relating to freight rates and passenger fares Passenger
* Reduction in passenger fares.
* One rupee discount per passenger for fares up to Rs. 50 in Non Suburban Second Class (ordinary and mail /express)
* 5% discount across the board for passenger fares beyond Rs. 50 for all Non Suburban Second class (ordinary and mail/express ).
* Increase in discount for travel in new design high capacity reserved coaches
* Rationalization of AC class fares completed.
* Relativity index of fares for AC-I class reduced from 1150 to 1000 and from 650 to 600 for AC-II tier. Reduction in fare:
o AC I 7%
o AC II 4%
o For popular trains and during peak period the above reduction will be half as in the previous year
Freight
* No across the board increase in freight rates.
* Highest class 210 reduced to 200 concluding rationalization process.
* 5% reduction in freight rates for Petrol and Diesel
* Fly ash- reduction in classification from class 140 to 120; 14 % reduction in freight rate .
* Liberalization of Traditional Empty Flow direction incentive scheme
* 30 % discount on entire traffic in place of incremental traffic booked from goods shed
* Some commodities excluded
* Increase in discount on incremental traffic booked from private sidings from 30% to 40%
* Composite base freight rate to be charged for all unclassified commodities in place of highest class: Tank Wagons Class 200 Flat Wagons Class 180 Open (including Hopper) Wagons Class 160 Covered Wagons Class 150
* 6% freight concession for traffic booked from other states for stations in North Eastern states.
* Special lump sum rates for Merry-Go-Round (MGR) services for customers who will provide track, OHE and terminals at both ends.
* 2008-09 2007-08: Review of Performance and Revised Estimates
* Double digit growth in traffic earnings maintained in first nine months
* Growth in passenger earnings 14%. Growth in originating passengers 5.6% - better than budgeted growth.
* Incremental loading of 43 million tonnes (MT) in first nine months; likely to be 62 MT for the year.
* Revised target for loading 790 MT. Expected growth in goods earnings 14%
* In Revised Estimates Goods Earnings, Passenger Earnings, Sundry and Other Coaching Earnings fixed at Rs 47,743 cr, Rs 20,075 cr, Rs 2637 cr and Rs 2,200 cr respectively.
* Gross Traffic Revenues at Rs 72,755 cr - 16% higher than the previous year and 2% higher than the Budget Estimates.
* Ordinary Working Expenses register savings of Rs 966 cr.
* Operating Ratio likely to improve from the budgeted 79.6 to 76.3 per cent -best in last four decades.
* Return on Capital - an all time high of 21 per cent.
* Cash Surplus before dividend expected to be a record Rs 25,000 cr.
* Net Revenue expected at Rs 18,416 cr and surplus after payment of dividend expected at Rs 13,534 cr.
* Likely year end fund balances Rs 20,483 cr - 27% more than budgeted target.
2008-09
Initiatives in Passenger Business Improvements in ticketing
* Termination of queues at ticket counters targeted in two years
* Increase in UTS counters to to 15,000 and ATVM s to 6000 over two years
* Ticket booking on mobile phones.
* Extension of Jansadharan Ticket booking seva
* E-ticket for waitlisted passengers
* Ticket on 'Go Mumbai Card' in Mumbai Suburban.
Passenger Amenities
* Provision of on-line coach indication display board; on-line train arrival departure information board; on-line reservation availability information board.
* Provision of discharge-free green toilets in all 36,000 coaches in XI Plan Period at a cost of about Rs 4,000 cr.
* LHB design coaches for all Rajdhani and Shatabadi trains over next few years.
* Provision of LHB coaches with stainless steel bogies in Mail/Express trains.
* Special stress on cleanliness - on-board cleaning in passenger trains.
* Extending the public address system in passenger coaches of select mail/express trains.
* Increase in the height of a number of platforms;
* Provision of platform shelters at all D category stations.
* Provision of foot-over bridges at all high-level platforms.
* Increase in length of 30 more platforms.
* Provision of multi-level parking, lifts and escalators at major stations.
Concessions
* Senior citizen concession for women enhanced to 50% from existing 30%.
* Free MST to girl students up to graduation level in place of 12th standard and for boys up to 12th standard in place of 10th standard
* Ashok Chakra Awardees also to be provided the facility of traveling in Rajdhani and Shatabadi trains on card passes issued to them.
* AIDS patients traveling to nominated ART centres for treatment to be given 50% concession in second class passenger fares.
Initiatives in Freight Business
* Target for loading kept at 850 Million Tonnes (MT) in 2008-09 - incremental loading of 60 MT or more, consecutively for the fourth year.
Blue Print prepared for High Density Network:
* Phased execution of capacity augmentation including dedicated freight corridors, doubling, third and fourth lines, bye passes, flyovers, automatic signaling works etc over next 7 years at cost of about Rs 75,000 cr
* Coal routes: Most routes to be made fit for 25t axle load trains. Focus on throughput enhancement works serving important coal links- many new works proposed.
* Port Traffic - Mission 300 MT: Top priority being given to port rail connectivity projects.
* Steel Udyog - Mission 200 MT: targeted traffic of 200 MT by 2011-12. New and dedicated iron ore routes to be upgraded/constructed for 25-ton to 30-ton axle load trains. Throughput enhancement works of doubling and trebling of lines also being undertaken.
* Cement Industry - Mission 200 MT: targeted traffic of 200 MT by 2011-12. New lines, throughput enhancement through gauge conversion and extension of lines to serve cement clusters in various regions.
* Container Business- Mission 100 MT : Increased investments expected in container rolling stock and ICD s by CONCOR and other operators
* Dedicated Freight Corridor: Work on Eastern freight corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni (Kolkata) and Western freight corridor from Delhi to JNPT to start in 2008- 09.
* Procurement of Rolling stock: All-time high of 20,000 wagons, 250 diesel and 220 electric locomotives to be manufactured.
* New design wagons of high capacity to be produced.
* New Wagon Leasing Policy and new Wagon Investment Scheme formulated to increase availability of wagons in the system.
* Discounts for development of Bulk and non-bulk goods terminals
* Railways to mark presences in Door to Door Logistics services
* Empowered Strategic Business Unit to be set up at the Apex Level- single window system for emerging business opportunities and client support Planning for Railways new Profile
* Vision 2025 document setting the road map for coming 17 years - customer centric and market responsive strategic initiatives and action plans
* Information Technology Vision 2012- radical changes in technology and processes through seamless integration of IT applications on a common platform with focus on improvement in operational efficiency, transparency in working and better services to the customers
* Multi-Departmental Innovation Promotion Group at Apex Level.
Other Initiatives
* Public Private Partnership schemes to be launched for attracting investment of Rs 1,00,000 cr over the next five years for developing world class stations, rolling stock manufacturing, multi modal logistics parks, running of container trains etc
* Commercial use of Railway land by Rail Land Development Authority to give boost to Railway Revenues.
Railway Security
* 5700 vacant posts of constables and 993 vacant posts of sub-inspectors to be filled up. 5% posts of constables and 10 % of sub-inspectors in the above vacancies reserved for women.
* 973 additional posts created.
* Integrated security plan drawn up to strengthen railway security through installation of CCTV s, metal detectors, baggage screening system, explosives detection and disposal system, etc.
Railway Safety
* Rail accidents have reduced remarkably despite substantial increase in the gross traffic volumes.
* Multi-pronged scheme to strengthen railway safety through automatic devices like, anti-collision device, on line monitoring of rolling stock through acoustic bearing detectors and wheel impact load detector, EOTT device, digital ultrasonic flaw detecting machine, etc.
* Fire resistant material to be used in coaches.
* More ROBs/RUBs to be constructed at Railways' initiative; PPP initiatives to be explored for construction of ROBs/RUBs.
* Unmanned level crossings at busy sections to be manned on a fast track basis.
Social Welfare
* One time exercise of appointing Railway Porters working on stations as gangmen and to other group 'D' posts after due screening
* Mother- Child Health Express: to be run on a pilot basis at concessional fares in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for providing medical facilities to mother and child
Special Recruitment Drives
* 99% identified backlog vacancies for SCs/STs filled up due to special campaign launched since 2004.
* Appointment of candidates from SCs/STs/OBCs exceeded their respective quotas in group D appointments
* Minorities welfare cells to be opened in Railway Board and in zonal railways for promoting minorities welfare.
* Urdu also being introduced as a medium of examination for group D posts in states where Urdu is the second official language.
Staff Welfare
* Per-capita contribution to Staff Benefit Fund to be increased by ten times from Rs 35 to Rs 350 for 2008-09.
* Previous service tenure of employees working earlier in any public sector enterprise, autonomous body or any other agency under State Government or Central Government, whose prior service has been counted for pensionary benefits, will be eligible for post-retirement complementary passes as per the norms being set.
* 13 new works at a cost of Rs 101 cr sanctioned for improving health services.
* Northern Railway Central Hospital at Delhi to be made centrally air-conditioned.
* 2 divisional hospitals at Jaipur and Hubli to be upgraded to central hospitals.
* A new divisional hospital at Ranchi, and an OPD block at ICF to be constructed.
Passenger Services
* 10 new Garib Raths to be introduced.
* New Trains : 53 pairs
* Extension of Trains : 16 pairs
* Increase in Frequency : 11 pairs
* Special train from Anandpur Sahib and Patna Sahib to Gurudwara Sachkhand Sahib during tercentenary function of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Gurta Gaddi.
* Special train between Pune and Delhi for Commonwealth Youth Games being held in Pune from 12th October to 18th October 2008.
* 300 additional services in Mumbai suburban
Annual Plan 2008-09
* The Annual Plan of Rs 37,500 cr is the largest ever Annual Plan so far _ Support of Rs 7,874 cr from General Revenues. _ Internal Resources of Rs 21,126 cr. _ Extra Budgetary Resources of Rs 8,500 cr.
* Thrust areas of Annual Plan include activities relating to throughput enhancement of high density network routes, improvement and expansion of traffic facility and network, construction of flyovers, bypasses, IBS, upgradation of goods shed.
* Outlay on project Planheads : New Lines Rs 1,730 cr, Gauge conversion Rs 2,489 cr, Electrification Rs 626 cr, Metropolitan Transport Projects Rs 650 cr.
* Outlay on Safety related Planheads: Track renewal Rs 3,600 cr, Bridges Rs 600 cr, Signal & Telecommunication works Rs 1,520 cr, Road over/under bridges Rs 700 cr and manning of unmanned level crossings Rs 600 cr.
* Outlay for Rolling Stock : All time high of Rs 11,045 cr
* Outlay for Passenger Amenities Rs 852 cr - the highest so far.
* Important Targets : New Lines 350 kms, Gauge Conversion 2150 kms, Doubling 1000 kms.
* National Projects : Funds to be made available by Ministry of Finance based on the actual progress of works during the course of the year. Rs 1,712 cr asked for from Ministry of Finance.
* The number of National projects increased from 4 to 8.
* MUTP Phase II to be started at a cost of Rs 5000 cr, financed jointly by Railways and State Government of Maharashtra, with multi-lateral funding
Other Important Announcements
* Ordinance for Land Acquisition Act' to be passed for expeditious acquisition of land for important railway projects on the pattern of NHAI Act.
* Indian Rail Bijli Company Ltd.- a joint venture with NTPC for 1000 MW thermal power plant at Nabinagar District of Aurangabad, Bihar.
* A new rail coach factory to be set up in Kerala.
* A new wagon re-construction unit to be set up at Garkha in Chapra District.
* Modernization and development of Jamalpur Workshop
* Modernization of Lilluah workshop , Perambur loco workshop, Ajmer loco workshop
* Railways to takeover Mokama and Muzaffarpur wagon factories.
Budget Estimates 2008-09
* Freight loading target: 850 million tonnes, freight output: 550 BTKM s.
* Revenues in Freight, Passenger, other Coaching and Sundry other earnings to be Rs.52,700 cr, Rs.21,681 cr, Rs.2,420 cr and Rs 5000 cr respectively.
* Gross Traffic Receipts to be Rs.81,901 cr - an increase of 12.6 per cent over RE.
* Ordinary Working Expenses to be at Rs.50,000 cr.
* Cash surplus before Dividend to be - Rs.24,783 cr after making an ad-hoc provision of nearly Rs 5,000 cr for anticipated recommendations of the VI CPC.
* Operating Ratio is expected to be 81.4 % - even after impact of ad hoc provision for VI Pay Commission recommendations
Proposals relating to freight rates and passenger fares Passenger
* Reduction in passenger fares.
* One rupee discount per passenger for fares up to Rs. 50 in Non Suburban Second Class (ordinary and mail /express)
* 5% discount across the board for passenger fares beyond Rs. 50 for all Non Suburban Second class (ordinary and mail/express ).
* Increase in discount for travel in new design high capacity reserved coaches
* Rationalization of AC class fares completed.
* Relativity index of fares for AC-I class reduced from 1150 to 1000 and from 650 to 600 for AC-II tier. Reduction in fare:
o AC I 7%
o AC II 4%
o For popular trains and during peak period the above reduction will be half as in the previous year
Freight
* No across the board increase in freight rates.
* Highest class 210 reduced to 200 concluding rationalization process.
* 5% reduction in freight rates for Petrol and Diesel
* Fly ash- reduction in classification from class 140 to 120; 14 % reduction in freight rate .
* Liberalization of Traditional Empty Flow direction incentive scheme
* 30 % discount on entire traffic in place of incremental traffic booked from goods shed
* Some commodities excluded
* Increase in discount on incremental traffic booked from private sidings from 30% to 40%
* Composite base freight rate to be charged for all unclassified commodities in place of highest class: Tank Wagons Class 200 Flat Wagons Class 180 Open (including Hopper) Wagons Class 160 Covered Wagons Class 150
* 6% freight concession for traffic booked from other states for stations in North Eastern states.
* Special lump sum rates for Merry-Go-Round (MGR) services for customers who will provide track, OHE and terminals at both ends.
Rail Budget 2008-09
Railway Budget Fare Reduction
* Sleeper fare would be reduced by 5%,
* 5% deduction in 2nd class fares beyond 50 km, coming to about reduction of Rs.50
* AC-I fares would be step down by 7%
* AC-II fares reduced by 4%
* AC-III fares brought down by 3%
Ticketing reforms
* UTS counters would be increased to 15,000 and ATVM s to 6000 in two years
* Information technology would be introduced at ticket counters
* Planning of ticket confirmation through mobile phone
* Arrival time would be printed on tickets
* E-ticket booking to increase from 1Lac to 3Lac annually
* Ticket reservation would be made possible from anywhere
* Multi department innovation promotion group in railway boards
* Auto ticket sale machines will be increased to 6,000 in 2 yrs
* Automated ticket vending machines will be 250 now
* Plans of doing away with long queues at ticket counter in next 2 years
Special Discounts and Concessions
* Railway BudgetDiscounts on development of bulk and non-bulk goods terminals
* Boys studying in class 12 to get special confreightcessions to visit their home towns via trains
* 50 per cent concessions for women senior citizens
* For AIDS patients 50% concession in railway fare
* Staff benefit fund to be increased 10 times in 2009
* Free Rajdhnai, Shatabdi journey for Ashok Chakra winners
* Free season tickets would be made available for girl student till graduation
* Decorated soldiers would get special concessions
Profits Railways made during Previous Years
* Rs. 68,778 crore cash surplus in four years
* Railways earned profit because of UPA govt policies
* Surplus Rs 20 bn earned on freight services
* Attained 790 tonnes pay-load target
* Railways registered Profit of Rs 25,000 last year
* Operating ratio of railways at 76.3 per cent in the year 2006-07
Introduction of New lines
* Introduction of 10 new Garib Raths, 53 new trains
* Ranchi-Bhagalpur new train would be run thrice in a week
* Indore-Udaipur via Ratlam new train to be introduced thrice in a week
* Introduction of new weekly Puri-Darbhanga express
* Khajuraho-Delhi new train to run thrice in a week
* Coming up of new weekly Varanasi-Rameswaram express
* Machhlipatnam-Bangalore new train to be run thrice in a week
* Amravati-Mumbai express new train to run twice in a week
* New Delhi-Jammu Tawi train to run daily
* Salsa-Amritsar Garib Rath thrice in a week
* Bagalkota-Jaswantpur train now would be run daily
* Kurla to Howrah train twice in a week
* Mathura-Lucknow train would be extended to Patna
* Varanasi-Ranchi via Rourkela train up to Sambhalpur
* Bangalore-Coimbatore train extention to Ernakalum
* Special train between Pune-Delhi for Commonwealth to be started in Oct
* New train Saharsha- Janasebharan Expess would be run weekly
* New train Malda-Patna Express thrice in a week
* New train Amritsar-Kochuveli Express to be run weekly
* Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani to start
* New Itarsi-Katni passenger train to be run daily
* New daily Ahmedabad-Patan express to be introduced
* New daily Ahmedabad-Patan express to come up
* Chennai-Salem new train on a daily basis
* Special train between Pune-Delhi for Commonwealth to be started in October
Infrastructural Reforms, Safety and Technology
* Introduction of discharge-free green toilets in all 36,000 coaches in XI Plan Period at a price of around Rs 4,000 cr.
* Call centers would be introduced for inquiries which would be reachable at local tariff
* Long-distance trains would have a system to display next station
* Introduction of multi level parking on few major stations
* Public address systems to be introduced in all trains
* Anti-collision system to be improved to prevent rail accidents
* Mother Child Health Express would be started
* Multi department innovation promotion group in railway boards
* NDLS, Mumbai Cent, Secund'bad, Patna will become world-class
* Close circuit cameras at major railway stations
* Metal detector for checking of luggage
* Signaling system to be introduced for improving line capacity
* Enhanced security system would be in operation at railway stations
* Television and Internet systems in trains
* Touch screen, color TVs would be installed at railway stations
* Rs.500 crores would be spent for the improvement of railway stations
* A multiple purpose card called Go- Mumbai card would be introduced for Mumbai trains
* On boat system for maintaining sanitation at railways
* Escalators would be introduced at 50 new stations.
* High level upgradation of 203 mid level platforms
* Introduction of High-level platforms in 135 stations
* Upgradation of 281 low level platforms to mid level ? 195 stations will have foot overbridge
* Plan to have SMARTCARD-based ticket system
* Low level platform would be upgraded to high level railways
* 560 platforms to be increased for long-distance trains
* Divisional railway hospitals in Jaipur, Hubli would be upgraded
* A new divisional hospital at Ranchi, and an OPD block at ICF would be set up
* N Railway hospital in Delhi would be turned into fully AC
* 13 new works at a price of about Rs 101 cr has been sanctioned for enhancing health services.
New Railway Developments
* Arranged execution of capacity augmentation involving dedicated freight corridors, doubling, third and fourth lines, bye passes, flyovers, automatic signaling works etc in the next 7 years at cost of around Rs 75,000 cr.
* Top attention would be given to port rail connectivity projects.
* Production of an all-time high of 20,000 wagons, 250 diesel and 220 electric locomotives.
* Railways to promote Door to Door Logistics services
* Vision 2025 would involve the setting up of the road map for coming 17 years - customer centric and market responsive strategic initiatives and action plans.
* Public Private Partnership plans would be introduced for pulling investment of Rs 1,00,000 cr in the next five years for the development of world class stations, rolling stock manufacturing, multi modal logistics parks, running of container trains etc.
* More passenger trains would come up in peak season ? Sitting companies will be given railway licenses
* 5% step down in petrol and diesel freight
* Rs 17.3 bn to be spent on new lines regarding Kurla to Howrah train bi-weekly Proposal
* Plans to spend Rs 6.5 bn on metro transport projects
* 155 km new lines would be endeavored to be completed in FY08
* Rs. 2000 crores to be earned from 3000 bogies
* Jansadharan seva to be extended to every zone
* Renewal of 16,548 old rail tracks
* Staff benefit fund to be upgraded to10 times in 2009
* New rail coach manufacturing unit to come up in Kerala
* Staff benefit fund to be increased 10 times in 2009
* Freight services raises additional 20,000 cr
* NDLS, Mumbai Cent, Secund'bad, Patna will become world-class
* New policy would be introduced for wagon leasing
* Pvt cos would be able to make terminals on rail land
* Rs.500 crores would be spent for the improvement of railway stations
* New coaches in all Rajdhani trains would be introduced by 2010
* New coaches would come up Shatabdi trains by 2011
* Plans to come up new wagon designs through foreign cos
* 8.2 per cent growth in freight loading till December 2007
* Shelter would be offered at Rs 500 crores in the next two years
* Rail Plan raised from Rs 11,000 cr to 33,000 cr
* New projects will have Rs 49,250 crores investment ? New policy would be introduced for wagon leasing
For Internal Railways Operating System
* 5700 vacant posts for constables and 993 vacant posts for sub-inspectors would be filled up.
* 5% posts for constables and 10 % of sub-inspectors in the above vacancies would be booked for women.
* 973 additional posts have been created.
* Urdu would also be introduced as a medium of examination for group D posts in the areas where Urdu is the second official language.
* Per-capita contribution to Staff Benefit Fund would be by ten times from Rs 35 to Rs 350 for 2008-09.
* Coolies would be promoted to gangmen
* Staff benefit fund to be upgraded to 10 times in 2009
* Level crossings to be manned by Gangmen
* Container train operators to be up to 50-55 train
* SC,STs to be given more jobs than quota alloted to them
* Multi department innovation promotion group in railway boards ? 5 per cent reservation for women in railway jobs
* Employees in Indian Railways at 1.4 mln in the year 2007-08.
* Previous service tenure of employees working previously in any public sector enterprise, autonomous body or any other agency under State Government or Central Government, whose prior service has been counted for pensionary benefits, would be eligible for post-retirement complementary passes as per the norms being set.
* Sleeper fare would be reduced by 5%,
* 5% deduction in 2nd class fares beyond 50 km, coming to about reduction of Rs.50
* AC-I fares would be step down by 7%
* AC-II fares reduced by 4%
* AC-III fares brought down by 3%
Ticketing reforms
* UTS counters would be increased to 15,000 and ATVM s to 6000 in two years
* Information technology would be introduced at ticket counters
* Planning of ticket confirmation through mobile phone
* Arrival time would be printed on tickets
* E-ticket booking to increase from 1Lac to 3Lac annually
* Ticket reservation would be made possible from anywhere
* Multi department innovation promotion group in railway boards
* Auto ticket sale machines will be increased to 6,000 in 2 yrs
* Automated ticket vending machines will be 250 now
* Plans of doing away with long queues at ticket counter in next 2 years
Special Discounts and Concessions
* Railway BudgetDiscounts on development of bulk and non-bulk goods terminals
* Boys studying in class 12 to get special confreightcessions to visit their home towns via trains
* 50 per cent concessions for women senior citizens
* For AIDS patients 50% concession in railway fare
* Staff benefit fund to be increased 10 times in 2009
* Free Rajdhnai, Shatabdi journey for Ashok Chakra winners
* Free season tickets would be made available for girl student till graduation
* Decorated soldiers would get special concessions
Profits Railways made during Previous Years
* Rs. 68,778 crore cash surplus in four years
* Railways earned profit because of UPA govt policies
* Surplus Rs 20 bn earned on freight services
* Attained 790 tonnes pay-load target
* Railways registered Profit of Rs 25,000 last year
* Operating ratio of railways at 76.3 per cent in the year 2006-07
Introduction of New lines
* Introduction of 10 new Garib Raths, 53 new trains
* Ranchi-Bhagalpur new train would be run thrice in a week
* Indore-Udaipur via Ratlam new train to be introduced thrice in a week
* Introduction of new weekly Puri-Darbhanga express
* Khajuraho-Delhi new train to run thrice in a week
* Coming up of new weekly Varanasi-Rameswaram express
* Machhlipatnam-Bangalore new train to be run thrice in a week
* Amravati-Mumbai express new train to run twice in a week
* New Delhi-Jammu Tawi train to run daily
* Salsa-Amritsar Garib Rath thrice in a week
* Bagalkota-Jaswantpur train now would be run daily
* Kurla to Howrah train twice in a week
* Mathura-Lucknow train would be extended to Patna
* Varanasi-Ranchi via Rourkela train up to Sambhalpur
* Bangalore-Coimbatore train extention to Ernakalum
* Special train between Pune-Delhi for Commonwealth to be started in Oct
* New train Saharsha- Janasebharan Expess would be run weekly
* New train Malda-Patna Express thrice in a week
* New train Amritsar-Kochuveli Express to be run weekly
* Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani to start
* New Itarsi-Katni passenger train to be run daily
* New daily Ahmedabad-Patan express to be introduced
* New daily Ahmedabad-Patan express to come up
* Chennai-Salem new train on a daily basis
* Special train between Pune-Delhi for Commonwealth to be started in October
Infrastructural Reforms, Safety and Technology
* Introduction of discharge-free green toilets in all 36,000 coaches in XI Plan Period at a price of around Rs 4,000 cr.
* Call centers would be introduced for inquiries which would be reachable at local tariff
* Long-distance trains would have a system to display next station
* Introduction of multi level parking on few major stations
* Public address systems to be introduced in all trains
* Anti-collision system to be improved to prevent rail accidents
* Mother Child Health Express would be started
* Multi department innovation promotion group in railway boards
* NDLS, Mumbai Cent, Secund'bad, Patna will become world-class
* Close circuit cameras at major railway stations
* Metal detector for checking of luggage
* Signaling system to be introduced for improving line capacity
* Enhanced security system would be in operation at railway stations
* Television and Internet systems in trains
* Touch screen, color TVs would be installed at railway stations
* Rs.500 crores would be spent for the improvement of railway stations
* A multiple purpose card called Go- Mumbai card would be introduced for Mumbai trains
* On boat system for maintaining sanitation at railways
* Escalators would be introduced at 50 new stations.
* High level upgradation of 203 mid level platforms
* Introduction of High-level platforms in 135 stations
* Upgradation of 281 low level platforms to mid level ? 195 stations will have foot overbridge
* Plan to have SMARTCARD-based ticket system
* Low level platform would be upgraded to high level railways
* 560 platforms to be increased for long-distance trains
* Divisional railway hospitals in Jaipur, Hubli would be upgraded
* A new divisional hospital at Ranchi, and an OPD block at ICF would be set up
* N Railway hospital in Delhi would be turned into fully AC
* 13 new works at a price of about Rs 101 cr has been sanctioned for enhancing health services.
New Railway Developments
* Arranged execution of capacity augmentation involving dedicated freight corridors, doubling, third and fourth lines, bye passes, flyovers, automatic signaling works etc in the next 7 years at cost of around Rs 75,000 cr.
* Top attention would be given to port rail connectivity projects.
* Production of an all-time high of 20,000 wagons, 250 diesel and 220 electric locomotives.
* Railways to promote Door to Door Logistics services
* Vision 2025 would involve the setting up of the road map for coming 17 years - customer centric and market responsive strategic initiatives and action plans.
* Public Private Partnership plans would be introduced for pulling investment of Rs 1,00,000 cr in the next five years for the development of world class stations, rolling stock manufacturing, multi modal logistics parks, running of container trains etc.
* More passenger trains would come up in peak season ? Sitting companies will be given railway licenses
* 5% step down in petrol and diesel freight
* Rs 17.3 bn to be spent on new lines regarding Kurla to Howrah train bi-weekly Proposal
* Plans to spend Rs 6.5 bn on metro transport projects
* 155 km new lines would be endeavored to be completed in FY08
* Rs. 2000 crores to be earned from 3000 bogies
* Jansadharan seva to be extended to every zone
* Renewal of 16,548 old rail tracks
* Staff benefit fund to be upgraded to10 times in 2009
* New rail coach manufacturing unit to come up in Kerala
* Staff benefit fund to be increased 10 times in 2009
* Freight services raises additional 20,000 cr
* NDLS, Mumbai Cent, Secund'bad, Patna will become world-class
* New policy would be introduced for wagon leasing
* Pvt cos would be able to make terminals on rail land
* Rs.500 crores would be spent for the improvement of railway stations
* New coaches in all Rajdhani trains would be introduced by 2010
* New coaches would come up Shatabdi trains by 2011
* Plans to come up new wagon designs through foreign cos
* 8.2 per cent growth in freight loading till December 2007
* Shelter would be offered at Rs 500 crores in the next two years
* Rail Plan raised from Rs 11,000 cr to 33,000 cr
* New projects will have Rs 49,250 crores investment ? New policy would be introduced for wagon leasing
For Internal Railways Operating System
* 5700 vacant posts for constables and 993 vacant posts for sub-inspectors would be filled up.
* 5% posts for constables and 10 % of sub-inspectors in the above vacancies would be booked for women.
* 973 additional posts have been created.
* Urdu would also be introduced as a medium of examination for group D posts in the areas where Urdu is the second official language.
* Per-capita contribution to Staff Benefit Fund would be by ten times from Rs 35 to Rs 350 for 2008-09.
* Coolies would be promoted to gangmen
* Staff benefit fund to be upgraded to 10 times in 2009
* Level crossings to be manned by Gangmen
* Container train operators to be up to 50-55 train
* SC,STs to be given more jobs than quota alloted to them
* Multi department innovation promotion group in railway boards ? 5 per cent reservation for women in railway jobs
* Employees in Indian Railways at 1.4 mln in the year 2007-08.
* Previous service tenure of employees working previously in any public sector enterprise, autonomous body or any other agency under State Government or Central Government, whose prior service has been counted for pensionary benefits, would be eligible for post-retirement complementary passes as per the norms being set.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Maps of Pune land records to be available on net
28 January 2008
Pune, January 27 The State Settlement and Land Records Directorate will soon make available maps of all land records of Pune district on the internet. The move is a part of its plan to computerise all the land records in the State, bring in “more transparency” in maintaining land records and help reduce land disputes in view of the sky-rocketing land rates. The Directorate has already successfully launched the online facility for 7 X 12 extracts and property cards.
The Central Government has selected Pune district in the State to implement pilot project under its National Land Resource Management Programme (NLRMP). The project, to be executed in three years, is estimated to cost Rs 66 crore.
The State Government had launched its online facility for 7 by12 extracts and property cards of seven districts on its website www.mahabhulekh.nic.in which is updated every fortnight. The facility was started from Pune city and is now available for municipal corporations of Mumbai suburban,
“The land records are as old as 100 years and likely to vanish despite efforts to preserve them. Thus, the land map records will be preserved electronically and made available on the internet,” Shailesh Kumar Sharma, Settlement Commissioner, said.
Though the records will be scanned to preserve electronically, he said extra efforts would also be made for proper maintenance of the records on paper. The maps will be digitised and composite 7 X 12 extracts and property card along with the maps will be available on the internet, Sharma added.
The satellite images from the Nagpur-based Maharashtra Remote Sensing agency will be superimposed on the available maps. There will be district land resource centre in each district that will interconnect with the sub-registration office and tehsil office. All the district land resource centre will later be connected to the state land resource management cell for continuous updation.
“The union government has disbursed Rs 3.4 crore of the Rs 66 crore for purchasing latest equipment for implementation of project and for training staff,” Sharma said, adding, the department has begun its work in Khed taluka on experimental basis.
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Monday, February 18, 2008
An amazing story of empowering rural India
The new breed of India's best innovators is set to take the world by a storm. Young, intelligent, and ambitious these dynamic entrepreneurs might well conquer the world with their innovative ideas, products and services. rediff.com brings to you a special series on India's best innovators and entrepreneurs, winners of the latest Nasscom Innovation Award 2007. A successful social entrepreneur, he has built a remarkable business model that is transforming the lives of millions of people in rural India. As the co-founder of Comat Technologies, leading provider of e-governance solutions, Sriram Raghavan initiated the concept of rural business process outsourcing units and rural business centres. "Last year, we served nearly 75 lakh (7.5 million) rural customers and currently provide government and business services to over 10 lakh (1 million) citizens per month," says Raghavan, who is also an advisor to the Government of India on strategic initiatives for the rural sector. He believes that India is a land of young entrepreneurs and it is important to empower the youth. Comat passes on the benefits of information technology to rural India with business centres and BPO projects across the country. The company has bagged contracts to set up rural business centres in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tripura and Sikkim. One of the firm's most remarkable projects in Karnataka, Bhoomi involved digitization of over 20 million land records benefiting nearly 7 million farmers. Raghavan takes you through Comat's exciting journey through rural India in an interview with Assistant Editor Manu A B. What won you Nasscom's prestigious award for innovation this year? Comat provides easy and affordable access to information-based government and business services in rural communities in India through our Rural Business Centres (RBCs). Rural citizens dealing with the governments do not receive services they are entitled to, and have limited or no choice for financial and educational services. We have found three innovations to solve these fundamental problems. Use technology to de-skill complicated tasks: Modelled after the best practices of user-friendly designs, we have created a much simpler interface for operators. Identify corporate partners who will use the center to deliver services through the center using their own personnel: For e.g., a fertilizer company that markets fertilizers and offers advisory services to farmers. Identify high revenue activities for the computer platform in kiosks during off-hours: We currently deliver checque truncation services for US banks. How long did it take to develop the award winning rural business centre? How does it work? How many people are benefited by this? In Karnataka, nearly 800 RBCs were made operational in six months under the Nemmadi project. Last year, we served nearly 75 lakh rural customers and currently provide government and business services to over 10 lakh citizens per month. Ever since the start of this project in October 2006, there has been a 30 per cent increase in the demand for government services in Karnataka. How difficult was the task? What hurdles did you face? How do you ensure connectivity in rural areas? We faced a few major hurdles like human resource and cash management, working with multiple layers of the government, finding good investors and handling customer expectations. We have put in place innovative technological mechanisms for tracking employee attendance, grievance management and tracking of cash. Connectivity is VSAT-based. We have found this to be most reliable so far. What are your views on innovation in India? How important is innovation for a country like India? I have come across a lot of innovation across the globe -- both good and bad. Innovations in pubic policy and in ways NGOs (non-governmental organisations) function are encouraging. Unfortunately, there is also innovation in corruption and ways of breaking set processes and protocol. As the economy progresses and younger minds become more aware, further innovative thinking will be spurred. I am also looking forward to alternate sources where innovation can spring from SMEs, rural citizens and young entrepreneurs, rather than from traditional strongholds like universities. What are the major rural projects Comat is working on? We are focussing on starting RBCs in other states. We have tied up with coaching centres to provide CET (Common Entrance Test -- for admissions to engineering and medical colleges) coaching to students in rural Karnataka. Training from Bangalore will be beamed live through satellite using broadband connectivity across Nemmadi centres. CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) training for over 70 students is being carried out at 12 centres. Medical transcription and English language training are planned to be rolled out shortly. We also plan to introduce other vocational and employability courses in the future. Among financial services, we plan to facilitate a collection of premiums -- RBC to be a channel providing easy access to existing consumers. RBCs can be a collection centre for remittances and disbursing payments. Issuing agriculture loans to farmers is also in the pipeline. What is the status of the rural BPO project? We are currently doing cheque-processing work for Orbograph, a United States-based firm from our centers in and around Mysore. Plans are afoot to provide rural BPO services under medical transcription as well. Tell us about some of the successful rural projects? How was the experience of the Bhoomi project? How many states has Comat covered so far? Bhoomi in Karnataka involved digitization of over 20 million land records benefiting nearly 7 million farmers in the state. Computerised records are now available over the counter in all Nemmadi centres for a standard fee. We now provide nearly 40 different government and business services to rural citizens in Karnataka. Government services include caste, income, birth, death, residence certificates, old age pension, horticulture and sericulture online application, et cetera, bill payment, bus ticket booking, mobile top-up, etc. Comat has bagged contracts to set up rural business centers in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tripura and Sikkim. We are planning to expand our reach to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh as well. What was the inspiration to start this company? Comat was inspired to be formed by a mentor who returned from the US and encouraged young people to become entrepreneurs. Once the path was set to form an entrepreneurial organisation, the work of doing government projects to help citizens became a cause, a mission and a business. What kind of hurdles did you face when you started your company? What are the challenges that you face now? All the usual constraints and roadblocks -- like, capital, market acceptance, and long gestation periods. . . since we worked a lot with the government. We have matured over the years and will learn as we go along. Could you tell us about your company's growth over the years? What is your staff strength now? Do you plan to hire more people? Comat has seen a lot of growth over the past two years, financially and in employee strength. Currently, we have nearly 300 employees on-roll and more than 3,000 employees on contract. As we expand into more states, plans are in place to hire a lot more employees. Most people find finance a major constraint. How was it for you? It was initially a huge challenge to educate investors about the viability of our business model. Today our strategic investors include industry leaders like Intel and Hughes. How do you like the role of an entrepreneur? Do you think India needs more entrepreneurs? India is a land of entrepreneurs. But, the entrepreneurial environment is severely constrained by basic access to capital and a regulated environment. If these are set then many more potential entrepreneurs in hiding will come to flourish. Could you explain the reasons for your success? Success is work in progress. It's a journey and not an end. My success is tied to the success of my company. What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs in India? Most young entrepreneurs are facing credit constraint. Therefore it's important for young entrepreneurs to be doing what they do best and to build a support team and concentrate on few things rather than taking on too much. What do you think about the quality of talent in India? Are you facing a shortage of talented people? We have been considerably lucky in drawing talented employees. Our attrition rate has always been lesser than the industry average. Through the Nemmadi project we have generated nearly 1600 new jobs in rural areas, of which more than 400 are women and nearly a 100 are differently-abled. Former Karnataka chief minister Kumaraswamy has himself recommended many candidates to us through his Janata Darshan programme. What are your company's future plans? Where do you see the company five years from now? Over the next few years we plan to scale to 10,000 telecenters and expand to new regions across India. We also plan to vertically expand service offerings through our centers. We are aiming to establish ourselves as the largest player in the privately run rural telecenter model and to be seen as a successful for-profit social enterprise with an efficient and scalable business model. What are your views on the Indian IT sector? The Indian IT sector has evolved through stages. There was a big upswing and then came a plateau, et cetera. I think it is now time for the IT sector to evolve into servicing the Indian consumer. IT companies will begin to move beyond software and hardware and begin to use technology to meet price points of Indian customers. Indian companies focus more on services than products. How important is a product-based innovation? We are primarily a service economy and so we always look towards decreasing costs and increasing efficiency. Product-based innovation is important and large scale players should concentrate on this. Why are Indian firms not as good as Western ones at product innovation? What could be done to address this issue? It's not right to say Indian companies are not as good as Western ones in terms of any innovation. We must understand that necessity is the mother of all invention. India has always been a labour-rich country and so product-based ideas did not set in. With less manpower, Western companies were compelled to innovate. However, India also now needs to concentrate on product-based breakthroughs to compete with the global market. Do you think that the industry's boom can be sustained in the wake of a US slowdown? The US economy is much too resilient, and probably after the elections will see an upsurge. The current slowdown is also not affecting the larger firms very much as it might some of the smaller tier-II and tier-III companies. The Indian IT sector is still much coupled with its US counterparts. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, February 15, 2008
20 Surprising Ways High Oil Prices Affect the Global Economy
February 12th, 2008
By Jessica Hupp
When you think of high oil prices, you’re probably reminded of huge bills at the pump and inflating costs on goods and services. However, the high cost of oil brings on so much more than that. Here we’ll take a look at some of the lesser-known ways high oil prices affect the global economy.
- Less Asian growth: As China and India grow, they rely heavily on oil, which is part of the reason for the spike in prices. However, they’re shooting themselves in the foot because the higher prices go, the less they can afford, and their growth is slowed. They also use energy less efficiently, so the prices are exacerbated.
- Bargaining power: With higher oil prices, oil-exporting countries hold the power. This might embolden these nations to become more assertive or demanding of other countries in both political and economic ways.
- Alternative energy grows: As oil gets more expensive, alternative energy becomes much more attractive. Investment and employment in clean technology goes up right along with high oil prices.
- European countries are marginally affected: With the dollar declining on the euro, Europeans feel the rising cost of oil much less than others.
- Bad monetary policy: Rising energy costs are a cause for concern in most households, and governments tend to react to this sort of situation. However, if they react with inappropriate policies, they can make things worse by simply prolonging the inevitable.
- Exporters hold on to their money: Instead of pumping profits back into the global economy, exporters tend to save them. That means that the global demand will tend to fall.
- Helps US dollar: Although we’re not seeing this currently, in theory, higher oil prices should support a stronger dollar. This is because oil is priced in dollars, and demand for dollars will increase with higher oil prices and dollar-denominated investment from exporters.
- Other energy exporters flourish: Exporters of non-oil energy like coal and gas flourish as consumers attempt to shift to cheaper energy.
- New capital shift: As prices are hiked, investors consider putting their money in other sectors, which has a stimulating effect on the economy.
- China has a cushion: Although as a developing country China is hit harder by oil prices, they seem to have a cushion as investment moves away from oil, and they maintain a fixed exchange rate with the dollar.
- The US doesn’t have it so bad: Although your wallet may beg to differ, the United States is not hit as hard as other oil importers because we still produce about 40% of the oil we consume.
- Government subsidies fail: Some governments subsidize fuel, and higher oil prices put pressure on them. The subsidies interfere with supply and demand, as consumers continue to demand more while prices stay relatively flat.
- Interest rates go up: As higher oil prices lead to inflation and rigidities in government expenditures, interest rates rise.
- Oil-producing countries don’t earn as much as you’d think: While the dollar suffers, oil exporting countries are subject to reduced purchasing power as they buy goods in euros.
- International business suffers: When the cost of oil goes up, flights get more expensive and corporate travel costs go up. This leads to less frequent business trips to international locations.
- The virtual economy flourishes: As the cost of transportation rises, virtual work and net meetings become more popular.
- The travel sector suffers: Hotels, cruises, airlines, and others in the travel industry are affected negatively by high oil prices because transportation costs are higher, and consumers are spending less because of stress on their budgets.
- Countries will stop paying bills: At some point, many countries may be forced to choose between oil and international debt repayments. As they default on these loans, they’ll hurt large international finance institutions.
- Consumers save more: When consumers are faced with rising oil costs, many create precautionary savings just in case things get worse.
- Consumers buy cars: Although budgets are being squeezed, consumers will buy more cars, presumably to upgrade to a more fuel-efficient foreign model.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Indian Computer-Services Exports May Increase 28%
Indian Computer-Services Exports May Increase 28% (Update1)
By Harichandan Arakali
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) --
Exports will rise to $40.8 billion for the year ending March 31, the National Association of Software and Service Companies said in an e-mailed statement today. The home market will likely generate $23.2 billion in revenue, boosting total growth by 33 percent to $64 billion, the industry's lobbying group forecast.
The South Asian nation may exceed its target of $60 billion in computer services exports for the 12 months ending March 2010, Nasscom President Som Mittal said. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Infosys Technologies Ltd.,
The industry accounts for 5.5 percent of
Tata Consultancy, based in Mumbai, gained 1 percent on the Bombay Stock Exchange today at 1:15 p.m. Bangalore-based Infosys climbed 1.5 percent.
U.S. information-technology buyers, concerned that the economy is slumping, may spend less than projected this year, reducing worldwide demand for computers, software and services, Forrester Research Inc. said today in a report.
Global spending will rise 6 percent to $1.7 trillion, instead of the 9 percent originally predicted,
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Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Hyundai to make India global hub for small cars
3 Feb, 2008, 0311 hrs IST,
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CHENNAI: Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) plans to invest $1 billion overall in its second plant, which commenced operations here on Saturday. This will further strengthen its resolve to make |
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Tuesday, February 5, 2008
FW: Equifax, CRISIL and Tata Capital Announce Intent to Create a Credit Information Company in India
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Equifax, with 2007 revenue of US$1.84 billion, is a leader in global information solutions leveraging one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, analytics and technology in 14 countries around the world. CRISIL is
"The combination of Equifax's international experience, products, and services in credit information, CRISIL's deep understanding of and research in the Indian financial services industry, and Tata's vast resources and capabilities, will position us to provide the very best credit information services in India," said Richard F. Smith, Equifax Chairman and CEO. "Developing a world-class credit information system is timely as
"As a leading global provider of data, analytics and enabling technologies, Equifax looks forward to working with these Indian industry leaders to expand its comprehensive credit and information management operations into
Equifax today operates in North America, Latin America and
"CRISIL has a 20-year tradition of helping
According to Mr. Praveen P. Kadle, Managing Director, Tata Capital, "We are extremely positive about this partnership with Equifax and CRISIL and see significant synergies in offering
According to a recent study by CRISIL Research, a division of CRISIL Limited, the retail Indian finance market is expected to grow at more than 20 percent annually over the next five years, buoyed by favourable demographics, substantial increases in disposable income, and changing lifestyles. A key driver for demand for consumer credit is the projected increase in the share of Indian urban middle and upper class in total urban households, to 74 percent in 2009-10, from 54 percent in 2001-02. Further, the Indian consumer loan market is under-penetrated, with a consumer loan-to-GDP ratio of 10 percent, compared with more than 30 percent for other Asian economies, indicating a strong potential upside. The compounding of growth in the Indian economy and consumer credit, coupled with a supportive regulatory environment, creates a favourable situation for the evolution of the credit information industry in
About Equifax Inc. (www.equifax.com)
Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, employment and income verification and human resources business process outsourcing services, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.
Customers have trusted Equifax for over 100 years to deliver innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability. Businesses - large and small - rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, HR/payroll services, and much more. We empower individual consumers to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity and maximize their financial well-being.
Headquartered in
About CRISIL, a Standard & Poor's Company (www.crisil.com)
CRISIL is
CRISIL offers domestic and international customers a unique combination of local insights and global perspectives, delivering independent information, opinions and solutions that help them make better informed business and investment decisions, improve the efficiency of markets and market participants, and help shape infrastructure policy and projects. Our integrated range of capabilities includes credit ratings and risk assessment; research on India's economy, industries and companies; investment research outsourcing; fund services; risk management and infrastructure advisory services.
About Tata Capital
Tata Capital Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited, the apex holding company of the Tata Group. The company is registered with the RBI as a Non Banking Financial Company and aims to fulfill the diverse needs of Retail and Institutional customers through six broad areas of business, namely Retail Finance, Corporate Finance, Distribution & Broking, Capital Markets, Private Equity and Wealth Management. Tata Capital brings the trust and expertise of the Tata Group to an economically and socially relevant sector like financial services.
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India-growth Story | Ways4Forex | women-of-21stCentury
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Tata 'People's Car' - environmental disaster?
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