ATandT may re-enter Indian telecom with 25% stake in Reliance Jio

by FP Staff; Mar 11, 2013

AT&T is considering buying a 25 percent stake in Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, a telecommunications venture controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, for $3.5 billion, the Times of India reported.

Reliance Jio Infocomm — which is still in the process of finalizing a business plan for its 4G / TD-LTE launch, will be able to utilize the expertise of AT&T in LTE innovation.

Such a deal would represent the largest foreign direct investment in India and would value the company at $14 billion, the report said.

This us 60% more than the combined market cap of Idea Cellular ($6.14 billion) and Reliance Communications ($2.4 billion) or 63% of Bharti Airtel’s market cap of $22 billion, even before its launch, the report added.

Reliance Jio is Ambani’s second telecom foray that will offer bundled voice and data services in India and will cost him $10 billion. RJIL, formerly Infotel Broadband, holds pan-Indian BWA spectrum it acquired in 2010. The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries later acquired Infotel Broadband and renamed it.

In November 2012, AT&T  revealed plans to invest $14 billion in the next three years to ramp up its wireless and wireline IP broadband networks. The company also estimates capital expenditure of $21 billion for each of the next three years.

A potential deal with Ambani would mark AT&T’s reentry into the Indian mobile market after the company previously exited from the Birla AT&T Tata venture, now known as Idea Cellular.

A spokesman for AT&T declined to comment on the report.

Ambani, who controls conglomerate Reliance Industries, is India’s richest man. The telecommunications venture aims to break even within three years of its launch, according to the report.

With inputs from Reuters

What’s with ET’s new masthead?

So this is how one reads the name (for today, at least): “The Economic & Political Times”.

by Anant Rangaswami :first Post :11 Mar 2013

“For decades, ET’s political coverage has informed, explained and amused you, its sharp insights giving you a ringside view of the grand theatre of Indian politics. Starting today, we expand our coverage by adding another page of politics as part of a refreshed offering of political content…, The Economic Times says in a front page explanatory note.

The note is required – as this is what this morning’s masthead looks like:

So this is how one reads the name (for today, at least): “The Economic & Political Times”.

There’s obviously no change in the legal name for the newspaper – as far as the Registrar of Newspapers is concerned, it will remain The Economic Times.

So what causes ET to flag their political content now, when it is not content that they have decided to introduce from this morning – it is content that they have always carried. What their explanatory note underlines is that, henceforth, there will be two pages in the ET which focus on political developments. These two pages will be branded ‘Pure Politics’.

What will the content on these pages do? They “will give you everything to help connect the dots between people, politics and policy. It will be the distilled essence of political news that matters. You won’t need anything else,” says their note.

“You won’t need anything else,” helps one understand why they’re highlighting the political content. If one thinks of ET as just a business newspaper, then the reader will have to go elsewhere for his political news and analysis (if he believes ET does not give it to him). Considering the impact of politics on policy, industry and business, anyone in business needs, increasingly, to have a more than basic understanding of likely developments in the political arena. How will an NDA government, if voted to power in the next general elections, view, for example, FDI in retail? What are the chances that the UPA government will continue to cut subsidies in the oil sector?

An understanding of the political environment will allow businessmen and industrialists to make more informed decisions on their investments and risks – and this is what ET wants to take advantage of.

Take the story which is alongside the explanatory note on ET’s front page today. “YSR Cong may back Congress post 2014,” the headline says. The news, if true, has significant impact on the fortunes of the UPA, considering that, in 2009, the Congress with YSR won 33 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.

Such news would not significantly impact the reader of a general newspaper. But to the reader of a pink paper, it would suggest that the UPA’s prospects in 2014 are better than one might have thought before this morning’s ET.

And if the reader connects the dots, it would suggest that he covered his bases with the Congress and with other possible UPA constituents.

FIIs hit exit button in struggling companies

11 MAR, 2013, 10.22AM IST, RAMKRISHNA KASHELKAR,ET BUREAU 
Foreign institutional investors, or FIIs, who poured over $22 billion into Indian equities in 2012, have significantly reduced their holdings in struggling firms such as Moser Baer and Jindal Stainless, buying instead into companies that have fared well.

Take the case of Moser Baer. FII holding in the country's second biggest solar equipment maker was as high as 22% at the end of December 2011. But by the end of December 2012, their holding had come down to just 0.1%.

The Moser Baer stock has shed over 72% of its value over the past one year, even as the Chinese government offered more incentives to private solar equipment manufacturers there, prompting even Indian institutional investors to head for the exit. The company has now clocked 11 consecutive quarters of net losses.

Similarly, overseas portfolio holding in Jindal Stainless has dropped from 21.58% to 1.27% between December 2011 and December 2012. That is hardly surprising given the fact that the company has incurred net losses in four out of the last five quarters because of subdued global economic conditions, exchange rate fluctuations and a mounting interest burden.

FIIs have also been paring holdings in companies such as integrated textiles firm Alok Industries, battery maker Eveready Industries and toothbrush maker JHS Svendgaard, in the face of a challenging business environment.

FII inflows into equities were Rs 1,27,736 crore in 2012, compared with an outflow of Rs 2,714 crore in 2011. However, the record inflows did not go into more companies; the FIIs rather chose to invest in large caps while paring their holdings in companies that fared badly.

An ETIG analysis of 3,229 companies listed for at least 18 months shows that FII holding was higher in 474 companies at the end of December 2012 than at the start of the year. FIIs shed their stakes in 664 companies over the year, while their holding remained unchanged in 2,091 companies.

G Chokkalingam, chief investment officer and executive director, Centrum Wealth Management, says that typically, FIIs consider the extent of loss in their original investments as well as the quantum of fall in market cap, apart from the change in fundamentals while taking investment decisions.

"Many of them are not comfortable in holding on to stocks if prices fall substantially, pulling down the market cap below a certain threshold set by them," he says.

It is not that such investment calls by foreign funds are always bang on. When IT firm Satyam Computer was battered after an accounting scam, foreign funds exited at very low prices.

Gujarat’s sprawling solar fields outpower rest of India, China

There is a dazzling field of mirrors that you can find near the vast saltpans of the Little Rann. It is like a sparkling oasis in the desert — much like a gleaming silver screen covering the vast desolate white sand around.

11 MAR, 2013, 07.34AM IST, PAUL JOHN,TNN :ET


AHMEDABAD: There is a dazzling field of mirrors that you can find near the vast saltpans of the Little Rann. It is like a sparkling oasis in the desert — much like a gleaming silver screen covering the vast desolate white sand around. 

This is Charanka village in Patan, where over 2,965 acres, rows of photovoltaic cells or solar panels have been laid out to harness the sun. They are generating 214 MW of electricity every day—more than China's 200 MW Golmund Solar park. 

The Gujarat government claims that nearly 17 private and state companies have pumped Rs 9,000 crore asinvestments in this park. Not surprisingly, land prices here have shot up. Former Charanka village sarpanch Barubhai Ahir says that till December 2009, when the project took off, land prices here were Rs 25,000 per acre. "Today just because of the solar park, a 1.5 kilometer periphery around the Charanka solar project would cost Rs 6 lakh per acre." 

Apart from Charanka, solar parks are present across 13 sun-kissed districts and spread over 2,375 acres, most of which is vast stretches of non-arable land. Almost 84 developers have joined hands to construct solar power plants of one to 40 MW capacities in these places. 

The impact of these projects seems to be showing. "The main solar drivers in India have been the Gujarat solar policy and the National Solar Mission (NSM). Projects under these two policies account for 80 per cent of India's installed capacity until October 2011," claims Tobias Engelmeier, managing director of Bridge to India (BTI) which brings out the annual India Solar Handbook. 

The handbook also says that Gujarat's predominance is primarily because it introduced a solar power policy in the state in 2009, even before the introduction of the National Solar Mission (NSM). Also the state's solar policy has been the only policy in the country which had a fixed tariff, and did not follow the reverse bidding mechanism. 

Although the numbers may look good at present, many feel that the state may have rushed to attract solar units by offering a high Rs 15 per unit without looking into the future scenario. Solar plants were established for Rs 12 crore per MW at a time when in just one year — 2011 — the cost of putting a solar power plant came down by 30 per cent. The government established its own solar power plants at an even higher Rs 16 crore to produce just one MW at the state-run Pandit Deendalayal Petroleum University, and at Rs 17.5 crore atop the Narmada canal. The developers, both national and international, agreed to install power units at such high costs as they knew they would be able to recover the capital in less than eight years. For four years, they would get Rs 15 per unit, all of it nothing but profit. Then, for the next 13 years, they would be paid Rs 5 per unit — at a time when the actual cost of producing solar power comes to just about 15 paise per unit after recovering the capital cost. 

Surely not good economics as far as the state is concerned.

In the driver’s seat: Lakshmi Venu

Live Mint :S. Bridget Leena :Sun, Mar 10 2013. 10 19 PM IST

Lakshmi Venu is a graduate of Yale University and holds a doctorate in engineering management

Lakshmi Venu, 29, made more news when she married Infosys Ltdfounder N.R. Narayana Murthy’s son Rohan Murthy in June 2011 than when she joined the board of Sundaram-Clayton Ltd, part of the TVS group, in 2010.

The daughter of TVS Motor Co. Ltd chairman and managing director Venu Srinivasan and Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) chairperson and chief executive Mallika Srinivasan, Venu was made vice-president in charge of global business strategy at Sundaram-Clayton, the holding company of TVS Motors, in May 2011.

Venu has drawn lessons from both parents. She has found inspiration in Srinivasan’s style of leadership.

“My mother leverages her strength beautifully and has a diverse perspective—women are particularly good at that and it is a huge corporate strength,” she said in an August interview with Mint. Among other achievements, Srinivasan spearheaded the acquisition of Eicher’s tractor business in 2005 that made TAFE the second largest tractor maker. Chennai-based TAFE is the flagship company of the closely held Amalgamations Group, one of India’s largest light engineering groups.

From her father, she’s picked up people skills. “The belief in people...he spends a lot of time, whether it is maintaining the trust of our customers, employees and suppliers in the short term as well as long term.”

Venu is a graduate of Yale University in the US and holds a doctorate in engineering management from the University of Warwick in the UK. She spent three years as a management trainee at Sundaram Auto Components Ltd, a TVS unit, starting 2003.

Neither TVS Motor nor TAFE has made public any succession plan, but Venu’s early grooming at TVS Motor points in that direction. She has worked in the areas of business strategy, corporate affairs, product design and sales and marketing at TVS Motor. Her younger brother Sudarshan Venu, 23, joined the board of Sundaram-Clayton in September 2011.

TVS Motor could do with some fresh ideas. Last year, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltddisplaced the Chennai-based company as the third largest two-wheeler maker in the country.

“We’ve been constantly building capability at TVS Motor. It will soon be visible through some interesting launches that are coming up this year,” she had said in August. The economic slowdown, according to her, is an opportunity to improve efficiencies. “It has helped us acquire a lot of product design, development and manufacturing capabilities and with the next growth wave, we will be ready with a strong base.”

Committee to Prepare A Blue print for the Prposed India’s first Women’s Public Sector Bank Constituted

by Ministry of Finance, Government of India on Monday, March 11, 2013 at 11:50am ·

The Union Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram in his Budget Speech 2013-14 had proposed to set-up India’s First Women’s Bank as a Public Sector Bank.

 He had also provided Rs. 1000 crore as initial capital. In order to prepare a Blueprint for the aforesaid Bank, the Ministry of Finance has constituted a Committee as follows:

 1. Shri M.B.N. Rao, Ex-CMD, Canara Bank Chairperson2. Shri M.D. Mallya, Ex-CMD, Bank of Baroda3. Ms. Jayshree Vyas, MD, SEWA4. Mrs. Arundhati Bhattacharya, MD & CEO, SBI Caps5. Mrs. Usha Ananthasubramaniam, ED, PNB6. Dr. K. Ramakrishnan, Chief Executive, Indian Banks’ AssociationThe said Committee is to submit its report by 30th April, 2013.

The Finance Minister Shri Chidambaram had also mentioned in his Budget Speech that necessary approvals including banking licence etc, will be obtained by October, 2013. The Bank is expected to start functioning from November, 2013.

AirAsia gets Govt approval for name of Indian JV

BT Online Bureau    New Delhi   Last Updated: March 11, 2013  | 10:44 IST

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has approved the name of AirAsia's India venture company 'AirAsia (India) Private Ltd', which the Malaysia-based low-cost airline is launching in partnership with Tatas.

The name of the new company has been registered in the state of Maharashtra and the approval was granted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) earlier this month, a senior official said.

The company is now in the process of incorporating itself in India and completing other formalities of submitting the required documents and certificates with the Ministry, he said. The filing process for the new venture is being completed on a fast-track basis, he added.

Before incorporating itself in India, a company needs to get its name approved by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, after which it is required to file an application for incorporation.

Thereafter, the company needs to file a notice of situation of registered office, followed by filings related to particulars of appointment of managing director, directors, manager and secretary.

The country's foreign direct investment clearance body FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) has already approved investment in the new venture, wherein Malyasia-based AirAsia would hold 49 per cent stake, Tata Sons will have 30 per cent and 21 per cent stake would be owned by Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace.

Being started with an initial investment of $14.5 million (about Rs 80 crore), AirAsia India would compete in the domestic passenger aviation space with the likes of Jet Airways, Spicejet, IndiGo, Go Air and state-run Air India.

AirAsia and Tatas announced their plans to start the low-cost airline in India on February 20, while the FIPB approved the foreign investment for the venture earlier this month.

The airline needs to get a no-objection certificate from the Aviation Ministry and thereafter an air transport license from the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) to be declared a scheduled airline.

AirAsia India would also mark the re-entry of Tatas into the aviation space after about 60 years of JRD Tata-founded Air India being nationalised in 1953.

The company is also in process of finalising its senior executive team and hiring of other employees and plans to start operations later this year.

AirAsia chief Tony Fernandez recently tweeted that he has selected the CEO for AirAsia India and the final call would be taken by the Tatas.

AirAsia group recorded a 13 per cent passenger growth in 2012 with about 33.8 million passengers carried during the year in its Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia operations.

With PTI inputs

How to Refresh Your Brain--in 10 Minutes

Francesca Louise Fenzi | Inc.

When you go from one task to the next--all day long--your mind constantly races to catch up. Hit the reset button with this underrated trick.

Andy Puddicombe is a former Buddhist monk and co-founder of Headspace, an entrepreneurial venture designed to demystify meditation and make it easily accessible to all audiences. In a recent TED talk, Puddicombe promotes an idea that almost sounds too easy to be true: refresh your mind in just 10 minutes a day and you might be happier at work.

Puddicombe seeks to provide “meditation for the modern world,” eliminating stereotypes of incense and cross-legged monks. And he might just be on to something. Here are two problems that plague modern-day workers--and how Headspace’s bite-sized meditation plan can help. 

Problem #1: Inability to Focus

“The average office worker changes windows [on her computer] 37 times an hour,” Headspace’s head of research Nick Begley says in a meditation tutorial.

According to Begley, when your mind changes gears that rapidly, part of your brain is still engaged in the previous task and you don’t have all of the attention and resources necessary to concentrate on the current task. This slows down productivity and reduces your ability to filter relevant information from irrelevant information. 

Problem #2: Stress

When people get stressed, there is a part of the brain called the amygdala that fires up the “fight or flight” part of the nervous system that helps you make quick, impulsive decisions.

“It signals to our hormonal system to secrete adrenaline and cortisol and increases our heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure, so we can escape this immediate physical danger,” says Begley.

The problem arises when there is no immediate physical danger--when, say, you’ve forgotten to hit “save” on an important document and your computer crashes, or you arrive unprepared for an important business meeting. The “fight or flight” impulse is not actually helpful in those situations and merely puts undue stress on the body, Begley explains.  

The Solution

Refreshing your brain is easier than you think. Here's the first and only step: Do nothing.

Puddicombe recommends simply setting aside 10 minutes each day to quiet your mind. Practice observing thoughts and anxieties without passing judgment--simply experience them. Focus on the present moment and nothing else.

“We can’t change every little thing that happens to us,” he acknowledges, “but we can change how we experience it.”