Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Showing posts with label india. Show all posts

Saturday, May 11, 2013

The unputdownable!

Subrata Roy Sahara should come out winning on all fronts in the current face-off with SEBI! And why the erroneous Supreme Court judgment against Sahara goes beyond Parliamentary Acts and is being misused by SEBI to its own benefit!

There are a few things about Subrata Roy Sahara that even his harshest critics accept. That the man is a visionary – his mammoth investments in media, housing, hotel, sports and other industries being compelling evidence. That his open assertions of being a patriot have their weight in the various behemoth social initiatives undertaken by his group – with no apologies to the slanted English media in India which, I feel, hypocritically slanders anyone who represents the ‘other’ India (lest you should forget, it was this very media that shamelessly reported gossip a few years ago about him being ‘critically ill’ and on his deathbed; no surprises then that the same English media chose to ignore reporting how sprightly he was while meeting UK Prime Minister David Cameron a few weeks back in a closed door meeting discussing educational and research initiatives). And yes, that the man religiously knows his numbers and has a financial acumen that is better than the combined intellect of all Indian regulators in the various industries where he operates.

There are a few things about India that even its damnedest supporters don’t deny. That the License Raj era spewed out a few handfuls of family businesses that shamelessly chewed away the very idea of India, criminally sucking it hollow by monopolising industries, encouraged by corruption soaked politicians – and encouraging them in return. That this venomous combination over the decades led to a jaundiced India that today has hundreds of millions of illiterate people below the poverty line; that has no global brands to speak of, but many billionaires borne out of the excesses of the License Raj era (I call most of them ‘blood billionaires’, given that they’ve made the money on the blood of Indians). That the same group of blood billionaires, in cahoots with a similar group of corrupt bureaucrats (regulators included) and politicians, have fought and will fight tooth and nail, criminally and illegally, to ensure that there is no new honest and ethical claimant to their industry space, especially if such an entrepreneur were from the proletariat.

That Subrata Roy Sahara titles himself as the Managing Worker of his group only adds to the ire of India’s caustic bourgeoisie, which, hand in hand with the English media, would be loath to have such an unabashed community representative of workers amongst their well ‘oiled’ and ‘greased’ group. So every time Subrata Roy Sahara and his likes attempt to tread the path of diligent and astute effort – assuming the same equated to returns – they’re pulled down acerbically and vindictively by the group representing the old, feudal India. You see, this group believes that only they know how India should be run and by whom. Look around and you’ll see many examples strewn across India of how honest upstarts have been trampled upon by the powers that be before they could gain ground – wherever there has been anyone attempting to improve the condition of India, they’ve had a horde of regulatory, tax, police and judicial bodies running up their door to initiate the so-called enquiries and ‘search’. The current face-off that Subrata Roy Sahara has with SEBI actually exemplifies all this too well. A group that has issued OFCDs (Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures) since the year 2001 with all relevant government permissions, and which has regularly submitted all details as required by the concerned government authorities, suddenly gets a prohibitory order from SEBI in November 2010 against the OFCDs issued by two unlisted group companies (Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd. and Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd.) – and this despite the fact that just seven months before that, SEBI had, through its own communication to Ministry of Corporate Affairs, commented that as these were unlisted companies and had not filed a draft red herring prospectus with SEBI, any complaint with respect to these two companies should be handled by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
 
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Monday, March 18, 2013

“We Need a Real Estate Regulator”

Kamal Khetan, CMD, Sunteck, has taken Sunteck to Unimaginable Levels Within a decade. He talks to Mona Mehta about The Present and The Future
Sunteck Realty started their business in 2000 from Mumbai and have gone on to become Mumbai’s second largest real estate player with a plethora of premium offerings in the residential and commercial segments. Kamal Khetan, the founder promoter and present Chairman and Managing Director of the Sunteck Group, reveal the success model of the story and the fast changing real estate landscape in the country in an exclusive interview:


B&E: How do you rate Sunteck Realty’s performance on the financial front and what have been the kind of targets achieved till now and also set by you?
Kamal Khetan (KK):
Our financial performance this year has been extremely good. The cumulative sales are Rs.1.43 billion (bn) and customer advances stand at Rs.4.35 bn in September 2010. We continue to achieve higher volumes and higher sales realization across our projects. This is a growth of about 40% over the corresponding period last financial year on revenue. We are confident of achieving our target of FY11 and have targeted cumulative sales of Rs.20 bn by year end out of which, we have already achieved more than Rs.1.6 bn till date. On all projects, we are achieving a minimum premium of 25% to 30% in each market.

B&E: What has the major focus of the top management in terms of managing cash flows especially when home equity is increasing with regards to loans? What has been your overall growth strategy so far?
(KK):
The company remains focused on acquisitions it also believes in utilizing each rupee generated from internal accruals for further acquisitions. Our cash flow remains strong and our volumes and price points are only growing. We don’t believe that the increase in home equity (required for home loans) is impacting the volumes or price point of our products.

B&E: How do you believe that the real estate industry has evolved over the years in India and what are the major policy or institutional changes required in the near future?
(KK):
The real estate industry will continue to be a high growth sector, with a significant potential not only to provide homes and business locations but also sustainable employment. In the medium to long term, we expect the industry to benefit from newer construction technology, design and building automation, as well as green technology. We expect to form larger partnerships with government and local bodies to develop comprehensive high density developments with requisite infrastructure and public amenities for all. We believe that the country requires a real estate regulator. This will help in making the sector more organized and customers and stakeholders to gain confidence in the industry.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Friday, February 08, 2013

UK, Germany lost due to auctions! And India?

3G in India is clearly too expensive on a rational and logical basis

The Indian 3G spectrum auction has finally ended after 34 days, 183 rounds and prices close to US$15 billion. The resulting US$ / MHz / Pop (the standard benchmark) for Mumbai, for example, makes the prices paid in the UK and German 3G auctions look relatively good value. If the prices were adjusted for relative differences in GDP per capita, Indian prices would be off the scale. The prices paid in Germany and the UK in the dying days of the dotcom boom are often said to reflect the “irrational exuberance” of the time but has that same exuberance driven prices in India to irrational levels?

Vodafone in the UK, for example, had been enjoying returns on capital employed (ROCE) of 27% (before tax) in the year preceding the auction. However, after bidding close to GB£6 million for its 3G spectrum the company’s capital employed had to grow from GB£2.7 billion to GB£9.6, an increase of 255% to finance the investment. The result was an overnight fall in the ROCE from an impressive value creating 27% to a below the cost of capital 8%. O2, Orange and T-Mobile all experienced a similar fate with the returns for O2 and Orange falling from 6% to 3% and 19% to 13% respectively. After many false dawns only now, 10 years on, are non-SMS data revenues beginning to have a material impact on the top line but for many operators the contribution is still below 10% of total sales. UK and Germany were clearly cases of irrational exuberance but what about India?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The silk route still remains jagged

India’s Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2009-14 is a half step undone by more omissions than commissions, say anchal gupta and niharika patra, who argue all is not lost...

The term was originally coined by the German geographer Ferdinand Von Richthofen in 1877. It has been considered as the first ever link between the east and the west in recorded history. Its role in being one of the pillars on which the great ancient civilizations of India, China, Greece and Egypt stood is undisputed. It was the panacea to large trading communities who survived because of it. Unfortunately, the silk routes that can lead India back to brighter shores are still blocked. With demand for India’s exports still remaining low than its 2007-08 levels in the biggest markets of US and Europe, the dark skies for India’s trade might take some more time to clear up. However, with certain developments sending a whiff of fresh air in the suffocated dungeons that is India’s exports, the picture gets complicated.

There is no denying the fact that India’s over dependence on USA and the EU for its cheap and labour intensive exports (same is true for services also) has hurt India in the short term as there have been huge job losses in some of the biggest export sectors. According to latest figures released by the Labour Bureau, the job losses amounted to 1.72 lakhs in the April – June quarter mainly in the textiles and gems and jewellery sector with export oriented units accounting for 1.67 lakhs of the same. It must be remembered that the government itself declared that the total job losses amounted to 5 lakh in the October to December quarter last year owing to the meltdown. With varied statistics putting the job losses at different levels, the in total job losses owing to depression can be put in the range of 1-1.2 million including indirect losses.

However, with the first signs of recovery beginning to pour in the last 2 months, it is widely hoped that the trade train of India can be back at full throttle soon. But, the trade picture can be more complicated than Einstein’s field equations at times. With the drop in demand in biggest economies like USA, Japan, EU and slowing down of China, the oil prices went down to nearly US $40 a barrel from its peak of $145 in the middle of 2008.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall

Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail

IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)

Friday, January 11, 2013

Bearing fruits for GE Healthcare in India

Bringing technology to the bedside of patients and ensuring that it fits the pocket size of the poor is bearing fruits for GE Healthcare in India

For starters, GE Healthcare India has reversed the trend of importing medical care technologies to India. In fact, it has built a portfolio of innovative indigenous products that are being sold globally, including developed markets of US & UK. V. Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare, South Asia comments, “The answer (to bringing prices down) came in the form of local manufacturers as it was cheaper as well as import duties were not applicable. However, local manufacturing called for significant investments in the form of buildings, tools and manpower. Moreover, there was this myth that locally manufactured products are not good in quality.” Indeed, relying upon local manufacturers for global quality products and that too at local costs is risky business. In fact, the only way out is acquisition and GE has been consistent with this strategy to invest in high technology, innovative businesses that deliver healthy toplines & bottomlines.

Besides, GE Healthcare India has invested a huge amount in R&D of medical equipments, and also unveiled a multi-billion dollar initiative called “Healthymagination” that aims to have a significant impact on improving health of patients worldwide by increasing access to cost-effective, quality health care products and services. GE Healthcare has partnered with the Government of India, state governments, and various Indian healthcare experts, thus making the initiative truly reflective of India’s healthcare needs. Further, at a time when others are shying away from investing in R&D (given the time & investment it requires) GE has gone ahead. In fact, it plans to spend $3 billion over the next six years on R&D that will help deliver better care to more people. In addition, GE has committed $2 billion of financing over the next six years to drive healthcare technology in rural areas, plus $1.5 billion for partnerships, content and services.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Then Crimefest is where you should head to!

Care to learn and discuss crime fiction writing? Then Crimefest is where you should head to!

Held in the month of May, the fest unleashes a universe of excitement for avid enthusiasts of this genre. A planned set of programmes continue from morning till evening for four days, which include discussion forums on topics like criminal psychology, religion and superstition, crime and humour etc. and also include interactions with popular crime authors to help those interested in crime writing hone their skills. The fest also invites participation in the Crime Writing Workshop where participants are tutored on writing crime fiction and are also assessed on their submitted work. “The crime-writing workshops are for those readers who would like to become crime writers and the response to these workshops has been enthusiastic,” Peter says gladly.

The Crimefest doesn’t confine itself to the various programmes. It also arranges visits to tourist spots like Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock (where bits of Harry Potter were filmed) and a walking tour of the city of Bath. The Gala Dinner is most looked forward to, since it includes after-dinner speeches by guest authors and an award ceremony – The Last Laugh Award (for the best humourous crime novel) and Sounds of Crime Award (for crime audio books). Although it has been just two years since the inception of the event, the response has been overwhelming, which brings us to the question – would this event be organised in India in the future? Peter assures, “There is talk of putting Crimefest onto a cruise liner, so who knows where it will end up!” Well, all aspiring crime writers start preparing yourselves, and all crime fiction fans, brace yourselves as your favourite authors might soon tour India too! 


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Bharat Ratna

Or, the ball game of politicans

The word controversy had never left India alone, since its inception, and the latest one to add to the list is the country’s highest civilian title, the Bharat Ratna. This time Bharat Ratna had becoming a ball game for the polity of India. As of now, the names of various political and non-political veterans are doing the rounds. This game was kicked off, by L. K. Advani, by nominating Vajpayee for the title. Even the ally of the UPA Government, the DMK, had also suggested their leader Karunanidhi for the title. Moreover, not to forget the history maker, BSP chief, Mayawati, who is the latest to join the ‘Bharat Ratna’ controversy bandwagon. Mayawati had announced that she would ask the PM of India to confer the Bharat Ratna on the BSP founder. While Congress replied BSP with logic that conferring the national title is an apolitical process and should remain so.

The whole essence of the such prestigious award seem to get diluted with such a controversy and nor can Bharat Ratna be handed out, like any chocolate. It must be adhered that the nomination of this title can be a floodgate. The Bharat Ratna is not something which is casually offered, and that’s the reason for its luster and prestige. By convention, the nomination for this ward should be kept confidential to avoid any debate on the nominees.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012. An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….

IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global

Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail

IIPM Links  
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

A new revenue model?

Is the Indian government missing out on billions?

One of the fastest growing nations, India faces a severe problem when it comes to effective and adequate revenue generation. For example, the government succeeded in generating only Rs.6,279.49 billion as gross tax collection while the proposed budget expenditure is Rs.9,532.31 billion in the budget year 2009-10. The country faces a budget deficit of Rs.2412.73 billion, which is 4.4% of GDP, a figure high for an emerging nation (in 2009, China’s budget deficit stood at yuan 111 billion, which is just 0.4% of the GDP). Since taxation is the major revenue source, the Indian government keeps attempting to look at increasing as well as ‘innovative’ ways generate more money. We looked around, and think we have one which will qualify in their standards. And that is to bring net based companies under an organised tax structure – beyond simply service and profits tax payments – on a narrow premise that we’re forwarding.

As a case study, search engine Google follows a unique revenue model with innovative products and services. It has AdWorks, which is a pay per click advertising program. This allows advertisers – on Google search and on other Google sites – to present their advertisements instantly to people who are looking for information similar to what the advertiser has to offer. And the advertiser pays Google for every click that surfers make on their links. Moreover, it has Ad-Sense, which allows Google to place clients’ advertisements on partner sites, wherein the partner sites earn part of the per-click payment. This unique double combo revenue model helped Google earn $21.79 billion in the FY2008, up from $16.59 billion in the last year. Even in the last quarter ending June 30, 2009, Google generated astounding revenues of $5.52 billion despite all talks of an economic slowdown. Yahoo is another internet service provider that generates a hefty chunk of money following a very similar revenue model. Yahoo Inc. generated $7.2 billion in the FY08 compare to $6.9 billion in the last year. In the last quarter ending 2009-06-03, Yahoo generated $1.57 billion.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

Friday, July 27, 2012

Towards a More Global Vision

The Car Maker has now set its Sights on Global Markets for its Nano and Luxury Brands.

The last fiscal was particularly memorable for Tata Motors, which crossed another milestone by clocking sales of one million units globally. After CEO Carl Peter Forster took over in April last year, Tata Group’s automotive business has been going from strength to strength. Profits surged by over 196.3% and PAT climbed to Rs.104.37 billion. Sales of Tata Motors small car Nano climbed to 6,515 units for May 2011 as compared to 3,550 units for May 2010. While domestic sales remain buoyant, Tata Motors has been looking beyond Indian shores to sell its wares and is actively seeking to expand its global footprint. The company’s small car Nano is already being exported to neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Nepal. Plans are also afoot to tap the South American, African and South East Asian markets very soon. In Europe, the Indica Vista has already been introduced in Poland and Italy, and it is now being planned for launch in Spain. At the Geneva Motor Show this year, Tata Motors unveiled the all new Tata Pixel, a car which it would design and develop to cater exclusively for the European markets. While sales of its other models may have flagged in the past three months owing to a spike in the fuel price and car loan rates, but the company remains bullish about its future sales figure. To offset the impact of rising inputs and commodity costs on the competitive pricing of its cars, Tata Motors is focusing on paring down costs. “We are focusing on cost efficiency inside the company to neutralise the impact of the increasing raw material cost to the maximum extent possible.” says Debasis Ray, Head- Communications, Tata Motors.

India’s largest automobile company is also the owner of global marquee car brands like Jaguar and Land Rover, which it has now launched in India as well. The first showroom of the iconic British luxury brand Jaguar LandRover was recently inaugurated by Ratan Tata in Mumbai. True to their pedigree, both Jaguar and Land Rover have become coruscating jewels in Tata Motors’ crowning achievements. For the record, JLR posted 481.9% growth in profits for the year FY11.

To keep its portfolio refreshed, the company has been launching new models and more desirable variants at regular intervals. Its recent launches include the new Tata Manza sedan, a newer model of its legendary Tata 407 Pick-up, the Tata Super ACE and its new truck Tata Prima. “I think they have taken all the right steps to become a global OEM. The short term challenges always remain but in long term they will to succeed,” says Abdul Majeed, Leader, Automotive Practice, PwC India. So far, Tata Motors has played its cards well, both in the domestic market and in scanning the overseas horizons.


Friday, July 20, 2012

... And The Face of all that is Shamefully Wrong at ISB

Now look at it this way again to get a better perspective. Soon after the SEC investigations and allegations against him were made public, here is what Rajat Gupta did-or had to do-in the United States. He took ‘leave of absence’ from the $1.4 billion venture fund New Silk Route which he had founded. He quit the boards of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble. His resignation was also accepted by the boards of Genpact, American Airlines and Harman International. In fact, even as this issue goes for printing, we get news that Rajat Gupta has resigned as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Public Health Foundation of India. Some of his colleagues in this board are Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. But Gupta continues to be the Chairman of Board of ISB. What is strange is the manner in which Gupta is clinging on to ISB, the B School he helped found by using his amazing network of corporate contacts across the world. If he can quit his positions of trust and authority in the United States as a result of the serious charges against him, why is he further damaging the already damaged reputation of ISB by clinging on? In fact, the official response from ISB is nothing short of brazen, something you would expect from the office of corrupt politicians we all love to hate. It says, “ We note that the U. S. SEC has initiated administrative and civil proceedings against our Chairman, Rajat Gupta. We also note the statement of the counsel for Rajat Gupta, which asserts that the allegations are totally baseless. The ISB community is confident that Rajat Gupta will be vindicated. He continues to be the Chairman of the ISB Executive Board.”

This is not the first time that ISB has been publicly embarrassed because top people involved with the B School have been found involved in notorious scams. The other big name that shamed ISB was M Rammohan Rao, the former Dean of ISB. Rao also happened to be a Board member of Satyam, whose promoter B Ramalinga Raju is now accused of monstrous financial skullduggery. Rao happened to preside over a Board meeting of Satyam that took the controversial decision to buy out Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure, both firms promoted by the family of Ramanlinga Raju. The former Dean of ISB, Rao was an ‘independent’ director of Satyam with the responsibility of protecting the interests of the company and its shareholders. Quite clearly, Rao brazenly failed to perform his duty and would probably have got away with it if other shareholders had not raised a hue and cry about that controversial Board decision of Satyam. Even when the decision of Satyam and the Board was slammed by one and all as one of the worst examples of crony capitalism, Rao remained with the ISB. It is only when Ramalinga Raju made a public confession of his wrong doings and Satyam virtually collapsed that Rao quit as the Dean of ISB. And of course, I have already talked about Anil Kumar, the Ex-Mckinsey honcho and co-founder of ISB who was forced to take ‘leave’ from ISB when the U.S. SEC formally charged him with insider trading back in October, 2009. He is now the star witness in the trial against Rajratnam.

The obvious question to be asked is: what exactly is going on at ISB, that is touted as one of the most prestigious B Schools in the world? Is the institution being run by academicians or by wheeler dealers who conveniently take leave when their follies are exposed in public? Equally important, if Rajat Gupta-either voluntarily or not-has quit his positions in almost all other companies and institutions, what kind of message is being sent by ISB about its adherence to ethics and good governance when Gupta stubbornly clings on to the helm at ISB?

This magazine had two years back ranked ISB as the number one B-School in India. However, good faculty and teaching alone doesn’t make an institution great. It is now clear ISB has become a symbol of all that is rotten in Indian corporate culture. Our corporate titans think that money can buy everything. So ISB has a big campus and has got the money to get the best faculty to come and teach. But education is more than having moneybags and wheeler dealers. It is primarily about running the institute with real educationists. However, just like the Indian corporate sector, ISB seems to believe in running itself with the help of wheeler dealers. And just the way the empty headed corporate heads of India blindly follow the McKinseys of the world without questioning their intellect or commitment, ISB has been getting one after the other fixers on board with extremely questionable ethics and not necessarily high intellect. It is a shame that they have not yet forced Rajat Gupta to resign. If this is the example it is setting for its students in terms of ethics, the Financial Times must stop ranking ISB in their future surveys. Or, is ethics not important when it comes to judging a B-School?


Friday, May 27, 2011

Coal Market Targets the growing Indian and Chinese markets

China will face stiff competition for coal shipped by Indonesia, the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal, from India where demand for electricity is rising in an economy seen growing around 8.5 percent.

"With domestic prices rising so strongly -- they are basically on par with import prices now -- the likelihood of China being strong importers of thermal coal over the summer is extremely high," said Daniel Hynes, director of commodity research at Citigroup in Sydney

Chinese domestic coal prices rose to the highest level in more than two years last week as utilities stocked up ahead of the summer months, making imports more attractive.

Chinese buyers have already been on the hunt for Indonesian cargoes as well as some Australian coal over the last few weeks to fill requirements.

Indian demand for Indonesian coal is also on the rise, and India's short-term and long-term demand is likely to be a focus. Growing demand for Indonesian coal by India, to fill the widening gap between domestic coal output and demand, is likely to continue, the analyst added, resulting in intense competition between India and China for tonnage. Indian and Chinese companies are also seeking to acquire stakes in Indonesian coal mines to secure their supply, with Coal India , the world's largest coal miner, in advanced talks to buy up to 40 percent of Indonesian low-grade coal producer Golden Energy Mines for up to $1 billion, three sources with direct knowledge of the deal said.

Although India is home to 10 percent of global coal reserves, it is plagued by a shortfall in local supplies as demand has grown rapidly with the increase in coal-fired power plants.

India's coal demand is forecast to grow 11 percent a year, reaching 135 million tonnes in 2011/12 with imports set to make up about 20 percent of its total consumption.

ANTICIPATION OF RECOVERY

The industry will also be closely watching Japanese demand for coal, which withered after the March tsunami took some coal-fired plants offline and forced some utilities to declare force majeure on coal shipments. Some Japan-bound cargoes have been diverted to destinations such as China.

INDONESIA MINING REGULATION

With demand for Indonesian coal ramping up, in particular from China and India, Indonesian coal production capacity and regulations will also be in the spotlight.

Indonesia's coal, generally lower-quality than the coal its neighbour Australia produces, is attractive to Asian buyers seeking bargains, and cheaper freight from Indonesia offers an advantage.

But the lack of infrastructure and some government regulations have depressed production.

"The overall consensus is that production is still under pressure," Singapore-based UBS analyst Andreas Bokkenheuser said.

Indonesia also struggles to deal with a raft of problems including illegal mining and overlapping mining concessions.

In its latest move to clean up the industry, Indonesia's government will audit some 8,000 new mining permits to make sure they are in line with mining and environmental laws.

"For the fifth or sixth year in a row, it's going to be about production, infrastructure and regulations," Bokkenheuser said.

"There will be talk about new land reform, increasing the investment environment in Indonesia -- that will be the primary focus."


An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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