Despite pandemic, Tamil Nadu attracts 17 investors worth Rs.15,128

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The companies which signed the MoUs are from Germany, Finland, Taiwan, France, South Korea, Japan, China, USA, Australia, UK

As many as 17 MoUs’ to bring in fresh industrial investments worth Rs 15,128 crore into Tamil Nadu were signed between a host of foreign companies and the Tamil Nadu government in the presence of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday.

These projects in areas such as commercial vehicle manufacture, electronics, footwear, information technology, medical equipment and energy are expected to generate 47,150 jobs in Tamil Nadu, an official release here said.

The companies which signed the MoUs are from Germany, Finland, Taiwan, France, South Korea, Japan, China, USA, Australia, UK and the Netherlands, indicating that Tamil Nadu continues to be a destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).

Palaniswami’s government has been taking a number of initiatives for economic revival.  They include appointment of a high-power committee of economic experts led by former RBI governor C Rangarajan to chalk out strategies in the medium-term, the Industrial Guidance Bureau facilitating single-window clearance of investment proposals, the recent policy announced to boost production of medical equipment and drugs in the wake of Covid-19 and TIDCO offering a Rs.102 crore package to meet working capital requirement of 799 MSMEs’, an official release said.

The MoUs signed today include the following projects: Daimler India is to expand its commercial vehicle manufacturing at its Oragdam factory in Kancheepuram district involving an investment of Rs.2,277 crore, creating 400 more jobs.

Finnish firm Salcomp will invest Rs.1,300 crore in the Nokia special economic zone in Sriperumbudur to manufacture mobile phone components, to generate 10,000 additional jobs in Kancheepuram district and this project would help to rejuvenate the Nokia SEZ in that district.

The MoUs further include Rs. 900 crore investment by Japan’s Polymatech Electronics to make semiconductor chips at the Oragadam SIPCOT industrial park, a Rs.350 crore joint venture footwear manufacture project by Taiwan’s Chung Jye Company Ltd and Aston Shoes, a Rs.400 crore industrial park to be developed at Mappedu in Kancheepuram district by Australian firm, Lai Investment Manager Pvt Ltd., South Korea’s ‘Mando Automotive India  Pvt Ltd.  to invest Rs.150 crore in Pillaipakkam SIPCOT industrial park in Kancheepuram district, Netherlands’ Dinex to invest Rs.100 crore in the Mahindra City Industrial Park in Chengalpattu district for auto-components manufacture, a 750-mw gas-based power project at Ponneri in Thiruvallur district by Indo-UK joing venture, Chennai Power Generation Limited’ involving an investment of Rs.3,000 crore, and France’s IGL India Transplantations Solutions Ltd to invest Rs. 18 crore in medical equipment in SIPCOT park at Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai district.

Down south in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts, a huge investment of Rs. 2,000 crore is envisaged by Vivid Solaire Energy Private Limited of France, to manufacture wind mills equipment, the release said. The USA’s HDCI Data Centre Holdings Chennai LLP will invest in an IT project in Ambattur in Chennai involving an investment of Rs. 2,800 crore, it said.

While Singapore’s ST Tele Media will invest Rs. 1,500 crore in a new IT project in Chennai, wind mill components will be made by Germany’s Baetter in Chennai involving an investment of Rs.210 crore. Besides there, there are four more industrial investments in the pipeline in Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Chengalpattu districts including China’s ‘BYD India Private Ltd’, to invest Rs.50 crore in an electric vehicle manufacture project.

Mahindra Origins in a JV with a Taiwanese company, TJR Precision Technology Company, will invest Rs.46 crore in making precision components at Ponneri. Further, USA’s Lincoln Electric will invest Rs.12 crore in an R & D Centre at Mahindra Industrial Park in Chengalpattu district, the release added.

Top officials including Chief Secretary, Mr. K Shanmugam, Industries Secretary, N Muruganandam, State Guidance Bureau managing director, Ms. Karkala Usha, its executive director Mr. Aneesh Shekhar, and representatives of the various companies were among those who were present on the occasion.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

FPI equity buys in India touch $5.4 bn this year

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Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have bought equities worth $5.4 billion in the Indian markets in 2016 so far, according to data obtained from Bloomberg. This makes India the third biggest destination for FPIs after Taiwan and South Korea which have seen inflows of $13.6 billion and $8.1 billion, respectively, reports fe Bureau in Mumbai.

 

Thailand ranks fourth with foreign inflows of $ 3 billion followed by Indonesia which received foreign investment worth $ 2.8 billion. In 2016 so far, the Sensex gained 7.44% and Nifty50 gained 8.73%.

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Source:

http://www.financialexpress.com/markets/indian-markets/fpi-equity-buys-in-india-touch-5-4-bn-this-year/349325/

Xiaomi, Foxconn to set up two more units in India

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Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi today said it is looking to set up two more manufacturing facilities in India through its Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group.

Manu Jain, Xiaomi’s India Chief, said they are in talks with various state governments for finalising the land and other issues for the plants.

In August last year, Xiaomi, together with Foxconn, started assembling phones locally in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

“We have not finalised the locations for the facility yet. We are talking to multiple governments to see where we should be setting up (the plants). The factories are owned and operated by Foxconn, but dedicatedly (make production) for us. It is not a joint venture. We have some sort of financial arrangement between us,” Jain said.

Jain said the company may also launch air purifiers in India before the beginning of winter season.

“We think that it is a category which is about to take off. We are trying to bring that this year. The perfect time to launch is before winter, because that is when fog combines with smoke and becomes smog,” he said.

Xiaomi, which presently registers 90 per cent of its sales from online channel in India, is planning to double offline presence over the next few months.

Xiaomi recently launched Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime in the country priced at Rs 6,999 and Rs 8,999, respectively. The phones will be initially available at Mi.com and Flipkart. The handset maker sells over one million phones a quarter in the country.

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/business/news/Xiaomi-Foxconn-to-set-up-two-more-units-in-India/2016/08/13/article3576806.ece

ASUS betting big on India market

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Peter Chang, Regional Head (South Asia) of ASUS and Country Manager (ASUS India), at the opening ceremony of India’s first exclusive Republic of Gamers (ROG) store in Kolkata, on Friday Ashoke Chakrabarty

Peter Chang, Regional Head (South Asia) of ASUS and Country Manager (ASUS India), at the opening ceremony of India’s first exclusive Republic of Gamers (ROG) store in Kolkata, on Friday Ashoke Chakrabarty.

Taiwanese laptop and smartphone-maker Asus is looking to double its market share in mobile phones in India, by 2016. New offerings across various price brackets, along with premiumisation, is likely to give it the much-needed fillip.

Incidentally, India is amongst the top global markets for the smart-phone maker. The company started selling its smart-phones in the country in 2014.

Current strategy

According to Peter Chang, Regional Head (South Asia) and Country Manager (System Business Group), Asus India, the Rs. 10,000-15,000 price bracket will be its sweet spots, while new launches – scheduled August onwards – will also start competing across high-end segments, such as Rs. 20,000 and upwards.

Asus at present sells 2,00,000 smartphones per month, which it intends to double to 4,00,000 a month within December.

Its market share stands at 2.5 per cent; which will be pushed up to 5 per cent during this period. “Focus on the Rs. 10,000-15,000 range will continue and we will ramp up this portfolio. Asus will also compete strongly in the premium-end. This will give us the scope to double both our market share and sales (in India) within this year,” he told BusinessLine .

The products – launched across different price segments – are said to be “new generation devices” (with high-end specifications). At least four new smartphone models are set to be made available soon (as new generation devices).

Mid-range dominates

As per a report from analyst firm CyberMedia Research, 23.6 million smartphones were sold in the first three months (January-March) of this year. Of these, the higher price-band phones ( Rs. 10,000-15,000) were more popular than budget ones. This means most brands are pitching for mid-range phones as the market grows flat.

The average selling price (ASP) was Rs. 12,983 in the quarter, while it stood at Rs. 10,364 in Q1 last year, indicating a year-on-year rise.

“There is a change coming in the Indian market. Over a period of time it will mature with the average selling price going up,” Chang said. Asus’ ASP stands at around Rs. 11,000.

Growth in laptop sales

Interestingly, Asus is also betting on high-end offerings in the laptop PC segment to see through an overall slump in market conditions. The company is betting on high functionality and specification-heavy devices, targeting gamers.

The laptops targeting gamers are priced at a premium (because of their high specs) ranging between Rs. 70,000 and Rs. 200,000.

Asus launched its standalone store targeting gamers (one that focuses on selling these high spec devices) – Republic of Gamers – in Kolkata on Friday. It is looking to add four more stores across the country by the end of this year.

“Now the first device to connect to an Internet is not a laptop; it is a smartphone. So one has to judge the functionality (of a laptop) and how it will target end users. Gaming gives us a good opportunity which we are targeting,” Chang said.

Other competitors have also forayed into the segment where Asus claims to have a 30 per cent market share.

Sources say gaming in India accounts for just 1 per cent of the global market, with 2,000-3,000 such high-end devices being sold every month.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-info-tech/asus-betting-big-on-india-market/article8798772.ece

STPI to sponsor over 100 start-ups for CeBIT show

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To promote domestic start-up companies, state-run Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) will sponsor over 100 such new age IT firms during the three-day CeBit India exhibition, which is scheduled to begin from October 29 in Bengaluru.

“We are collaborating with CeBit to promote start-ups. Last year, we sponsored 127 start-up companies and looking for similar number this year as well,” STPI Director General Omkar Rai told PTI.

He said that STPI has written to states for nominating best start-up companies from their territory and they will be then shortlisted by STPI.

“Start ups are not required to pay anything. STPI will spend around Rs 50 lakh… Around 10 start-ups were able to make to the show in Hannover where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also visited,” Rai said.

Hannover Milano Fairs organised CeBit show in Germany.

Around 450 firms are expected to participate in CeBit India, which included major participation from STPI, Hannover Milano Fairs India Managing Director Mehul Lanvers-Shah said.

“We are expecting 10 per growth in CeBit India participation and even we are seeing traction from foreign companies. Last year 25 countries participated in the show. This year we have 27 with participation increasing from Taiwan, China, Germany and Canada,” Shah said.