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| Bang in Bengal: It’s
motorbikes now |
Even as Tata Motors' Rs 1
lakh car unit, the first automobile plant in West Bengal in independent
India, is embroiled in controversy, the state on February 15 got
its first two-wheeler manufacturing facility at Chinsurah, a stone's
throw from Tata Motors' proposed site in Singur. Interestingly,
Global Automobiles, a joint venture between the Kolkata-based Xenitis
Group (makers of the popular Aamaar PC brand) and Guangzhou Motors
of China (the state-run company that manufactures Wuyang-Honda motorcycles
in China), will roll out its assembled two-wheelers ahead of Salim
Group's "Mahabharat" motorbikes-another venture in West
Bengal-although the latter had announced its project earlier. Quite
similar to how Xenitis penetrated the rural and semi-urban markets
with its sub-Rs 10K PCs, Global Automobiles has now flagged off
sub-Rs 30K motorbikes. Branded as Xoom, the two-wheelers come in
three variants: 100cc, 125cc and 150cc with price tags ranging between
Rs 25,000 and Rs 45,000. The Rs 300-crore assembly line has a capacity
to put out 3.6 lakh vehicles per annum. Santanu Ghosh, Chairman,
Xenitis Group and CMD, Global Automobiles, says the JV will explore
possibilities in other segments, including small passenger cars.
"Together with our Chinese partner, we will create new generation
vehicles for the young and the restless GenNext," Ghosh says.
The Xoom bikes will be available nationally through its 60 dealers
from March 1. Should competition be worried? Says a TVS official,
"Indian consumers are more quality-sensitive than price. They
go for established brands and time-tested quality."
-Ritwik Mukherjee
Go
Home, Doctor
New immigration rules spook sub-continental
physicians.
Last month, UK-based Dr Imran Yousuf committed suicide. A qualified
doctor who migrated to the UK from Pakistan in 2004, Yousuf was
unable to find a job because of the changes in the Highly Skilled
Migrants Programme (HSMP) in April 2006. Yousuf is not the only
one who has been affected.
"The situation is terrible for thousands of doctors who
spent thousands of pounds to come to the UK and give the Professional
and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) exam, attend courses but
were unable to get jobs and are returning home emotionally and
financially devastated. Many of them stay in very cheap accommodations
and eat in temples and gurudwaras," says Dr Raman Lakshman,
Vice Chair (Policy), British Association of Physicians of Indian
Origin (BAPIO).
Dr Yousuf, along with BAPIO, had filed a case against the UK
government's department of Health (DOH) which had ruled that Non-European
Union (EU) doctors would need a work permit to train in Britain.
According to the new rules, doctors from EU countries would be
preferred over non-EU doctors who now need a work permit. Last
fortnight, a British High Court upheld the government's ruling.
BAPIO, meanwhile, has announced that it was mobilising funds and
would file an appeal before March 2. Lawyers say the appeal process
would take about six months.
BAPIO is challenging the government on two fronts. One, it is
challenging the new immigration rules by the Home Office and seeking
that the special arrangement to train overseas doctors, Permit
Free Training (PFT), which has existed since 1985 and was abolished
by the new rules, be restored. It is also challenging the guidance
issued by the Department of Health with regard to the employability
of doctors on Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. Till the appeal
is decided, doctors expecting to go on to PFT cannot work while
doctors on HSMP can continue working till the appeal court decides.
Till that happens, the livelihoods of doctors of Indian origin,
who have been the backbone of the British healthcare system, will
hang by a thread. "It is estimated that the number affected
by changes in PFT is probably 10,000. The number of doctors affected
by HSMP is thought to be 15,000. About 80 per cent in each group
are thought to be from India. Most PFT doctors have gone back
to their countries. About 60 per cent of HSMP doctors (9,000)
may be forced to return if the appeal is unsuccessful," says
Anthony Robinson, Associate Solicitor with Manchester-based Linder
Myers Solicitors who are handling the case.
-T.V. Mahalingam
Outsourcing's
Day Out
A maturing BPO sector is attracting
private equity.
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| Avendus’ Vohra: BPO
calling |
India has entered the next
phase of BPO (business process outsourcing)," says Bruce Keith,
Director (Growth Capital), at the London-headquartered private equity
(PE) major, 3i Plc. "The convergence of offshore and nearshore
is happening," adds Keith. That's a good enough reason for
3i to scout around for BPO firms into which it could invest. 3i,
which is looking at minimum investments of $20 million (Rs 88 crore)
in such companies, isn't the only PE major with an eagle eye on
Indian outsourcing. The Mumbai-based Avendus Advisors has floated
a $200-million (Rs 880 crore) fund dedicated to BPO investing, according
to Managing Director Ranu Vohra. "We are looking at investing
in knowledge-oriented and outsourcing companies in the areas of
legal processes, financial services and equity research," Vohra
told BT on the sidelines of a nasscom summit in Mumbai last fortnight.
The fund, which was launched in December in association with us-based
venture capitalist Mayfield Fund, is still in the process of tying
up the finances, Vohra adds. According to the Mayfield website,
the fund has $2.4 billion (Rs 10,560 crore) under management. Avendus
will make investments in companies with revenues ranging between
Rs 80 crore and Rs 100 crore and with a track record between three
and five years, says Vohra.
Clearly, outsourcing of financial services and legal processes
is a hot favourite and, like Avendus, 3i too wants a slice of
such action. "At this point in time, the proposition has
to be to look for companies that have good international connections-companies
that have offshore and nearshore operations," adds Keith,
who was also present at the NASSCOM summit.
Investors in BPOs are typically looking at returns of 25-30
per cent-in line with the IT-BPO sector's growth, which is estimated
at 28 per cent for the year ending March 2007. Such returns, points
out an investor, are possible even after paying up a 15-20 per
cent premium on investments. Now, does this mean that global PE
investors themselves will consider outsourcing equity research
from India?
-Anusha Subramanian
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