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MAY 7, 2006
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Insurance: The Challenge
India is poised to experience major changes in its insurance markets as insurers operate in an increasingly liberalised environment. It means new products, better packaging and improved customer service. Also, public sector companies are expected to maintain their dominant positions in the foreseeable future. A look at the changing scenario.


Trading With
Uncle Sam

The United States is India's largest trading partner. India accounts for just one per cent of us trade. It is believed that India and the United States will double bilateral trade in three years by reducing trade and investment barriers and expand cooperation in agriculture. An analysis of the trading pattern and what lies ahead.
More Net Specials
Business Today,  April 23, 2006
 
 
Copycat Woes

 

Bajaj auto's Rajiv Bajaj, 37, needn't worry about being an underdog in China. In what would be an irritating compliment to his company's product development skills, Chinese auto companies are busy launching imitation Bajaj vehicles. In January this year, some blasé Chinese motorbike maker launched a knock-off of the dandy Bajaj Pulsar, and most recently another firm has introduced an autorickshaw that looks more than just inspired by Bajaj's famous workhorse. "We are trying to locate the company that did this," fumes Bajaj. It's unlikely that Bajaj will get justice in "counterfeitville", but at least he now knows that his bikes are as good as those of the Japanese.

Realty's Early Bird

Perhaps because Bruce E. Mosler loves deep-sea fishing, the global CEO of real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield decided to wager on India way back in 1997. Today, the New York-based Mosler can't stop grinning. His India business is clipping, reporting a 75 per cent jump in revenues last year. But Mosler, 47, thinks this is just the beginning for Indian realty: "We expect $100 billion (Rs 4,50,000 crore) to flow into Indian real estate over the next 10 years," he says. If India's overheated real estate market ever needed a champion, Mosler would be a shoo-in candidate.

Unlocking Riches

The man who turned Delhi's barren suburb, Gurgaon, into one of the most happening cities in India is set to strike pay dirt all over again. His real estate company DLF Universal, where K.P. Singh and his family own 99.5 per cent of the shares, is planning an IPO (initial public offering), and investment bankers have valued it between $20 billion (Rs 90,000 crore) and $25 billion (Rs 1,12,500 crore). Depending on which, the float should make Singh the richest or the second richest Indian, after Mittal Steel's L.N. Mittal, who is #5 on Forbes' billionaire list with a net worth of $23.5 billion (Rs 1,05,750 crore).

The India Connection

Dr Wolfgang Niedermaier couldn't tell a Googly if he saw one, but he sure can spot a good partner when he sees one. That's how the 54-year-old CEO of Germany's generic drug maker betapharm found his wife in India 33 years ago (Gunhild, also a student of medicine from the University of Kiel like Niedermaier, charmed him on a study tour to India) and more recently a strategic partner for his company in Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's Labs, which impressed him by its genuine desire to understand the work being done at betapharm. "When you acquire or sell a company, there are a lot more things involved that go beyond technology and profitability," said the full marathoner and father of three on a recent visit to Dr Reddy's. By the way, he's still married to Gunhild.

Transcontinental Move

Another hi-profile executive has succumbed to the private equity fever. This time, it is Rajiv Kaul, 37, former Managing Director of Microsoft India, who moved to the headquarters in Redmond as recently as April 2005. He is joining private equity firm Actis in London as a partner. Says Kaul: "I will be specifically looking after technology...and India and China will be a key focus area." He says there were also some offers from multinational companies to head their India operations, but he turned them down because "I've been there, done that". So, will turning an entrepreneur himself be the next career move for this XLRI grad? "Not just now, but never say never," he says. We'll take that as a yes, then.

A Deal With A Doctor

Wipro's chairman Azim Premji, 61, knows the value of money. That's why despite being the second richest Indian in the world with a wealth of $11 billion or Rs 49,500 crore (Forbes), he doesn't believe in throwing money around. So if anyone doubted that Narayana Hrudayalaya founder Dr Devi Shetty ran one of the best heart hospitals in the subcontinent, Premji's proposed investment in it should settle the matter. Premji's money manager Mrunmay Das declined to comment, but a hospital source says a deal is likely by the end of this month.

Native Interest

Bundeep Singh Rangar, 36, chairman of Indusview Advisors, an India-focussed corporate advisory firm, has done just about everything. The London-based, India-born has been a journalist (at Bloomberg), a live TV host for a show on the internet (in Europe), and an entrepreneur-in-residence (at Jacob Rothschild and Maurice Saatchi-backed Saffron Hill Ventures). But Rangar thinks there are higher mountains to be climbed. "I am restless to do and build...the challenge is to build a world-class $1 billion company in three to five years," he says. For Rangar, India today may be the perfect place to try to do that.

The New Man At Nasscom

Call it a double bonus for B. Ramalinga Raju. Not only is 50-year-old Raju's IT company, Satyam Computer Services, likely to announce $1 billion (Rs 4,500 crore) in revenues for the financial year just ended, but Raju has also been elected as the Chairman of the industry lobby, Nasscom. Hyderabad-based Raju, who'll now be spending more time in Delhi, says that apart from pushing for policy changes, his priority will be to develop physical infrastructure (in terms of better roads and airports) at the national level and create an ecosystem more conducive to the it sector. "The focus will have to be on innovation as the key driver for taking some member companies to the next level," says Raju. That will be crucial to ensure more billion-dollar hits in the industry.

 

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