India, Singapore to sign strategic partnership pact during PM’s visit

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Taking their bilateral ties to the next level, India and Singapore are expected to sign a strategic partnership pact during prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to that country from November 23 to 25.

The broad contours of the agreement were also discussed during the fourth India-Singapore joint ministerial committee meeting held here on Tuesday. It was co-chaired by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and her Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan.

The strategic partnership agreement would comprise expansion of cooperation in five main areas: Scaling up investment and trade; speeding up air and maritime connectivity; smart city development and urban rejuvenation; skills development and capacity building, and state focus on strengthening business and cultural links, according to a press release issued by the Singapore High Commission.

“The strategic partnership will come with deliverables and concrete outcomes, with focus on urban solutions, smart cities and knowledge and skill transfer,” Balakrishnan told reporters after the meeting.

Balakrishnan also highlighted the need to enhance connectivity between India and Singapore, particularly in the aviation sector.

He also highlighted Singapore’s contributions to India in the areas of smart cities and skills development.

“Both ministers agreed on the need to enhance economic cooperation, including expanding trade and investment between both countries,” the release stated.

This will be Modi’s second visit to Singapore as India’s prime minister. He last went there in September to attend the funeral of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew.

Singapore is planning for a similar reception Modi had received in San Jose in US last month. He has also been chosen to deliver the prestigious “Singapore Lecture” during the visit.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-singapore-to-sign-strategic-partnership-pact-during-pms-visit-115101300787_1.html

Start-up investments in India to see three-fold rise to $6.5 bn in 2015: Nasscom

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NASSCOM President R Chandrashekar (C), Chairman NASSCOM Product Council Ravi Gururaj (R) and Vice President NASSCOM 10K Strart-up Rajat Tandon releasing the second edition of the start-up report

India will witness about $6.5-billion (Rs 42,300 crore) funding in start-ups this year, as global investors look at investing in firms that build products and solutions for the local market, while using them for emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America. India is the world’s third largest start-up hub.

Global private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms spent $2.2 billion (Rs 14,300 crore) in 179 Indian start-ups in 2014. Till October, these firms doubled their investments to $4.9 billion (Rs 31,900 crore) and expect to increase them to $6.5 billion by the end of the year, according to industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom). Indian start-ups that received funding doubled to 400 in 2015, said a Nasscom report, released during the product conclave that began Tuesday. The report added investors had reaped returns in 2015, with exits touching $700 million.

India sees four start-ups emerge every day. Those who get funded get an average valuation of $2.7 million and nearly two thirds of them are concentrated in Bengaluru, Mumbai and the National Capital Region.

The number of start-ups in India is set to cross 4,200 by the end of 2015. About 1,200 technology start-ups were incepted in India this year, of which more than 50 per cent were in the e-commerce, consumer service and aggregator space. Unlike in the West, a majority of the Indian start-ups were focused on solving community problems using technology solutions in health care, education, social platforms, hyper local services and analytics. “Apart from positively impacting the lifestyles of citizens involved, start-ups are creating innovative technology solutions that are addressing the key social problems that India is facing and creating significant growth opportunities for stakeholders,” said R Chandrashekhar, president of Nasscom.  There are about 292 active angels and 156 active VC and PE players in the country.

The number of active investors has more than doubled from 220 in 2014 to 490 this year. Eight of the top-10 investing PE, VCs in India is foreign.

The number of accelerators and incubators has grown by 40 per cent over 2014 to touch 110. India has also emerged as the youngest start-up country with the average age of start-up founders at 28 years.

The second edition of 10,000 Start-ups Report has also accommodated a 10-point agenda for the government to cultivate the start-up culture of India,including definition of start-ups, taxing rules, regulations in terms of funding, online payments and branding.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/start-up-investments-in-india-to-see-three-fold-rise-to-6-5-bn-in-2015-nasscom-115101300983_1.html