Institute for Competitiveness, India

Keynote Speech: Examination Reforms in Higher Education

amitkapoor — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:45:03 +0000

National Workshop on Examination Reforms in Higher Education
Jointly organized by AIU, New Delhi & GKV, Haridwar
May 14, 2012

Prescription for growth

amitkapoor — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:35:42 +0000

The article was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated May 12, 2012. Download PDF

Day 2: April 27, 2012

amitkapoor — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:20:49 +0000

Opening Remarks

Shri Narendra Jadhav, Member Planning Commission, GOI
Sergio Arzeni, Director for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development, OECD
R K Mathur, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, GOI
Dr. Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness

Track 1: Skills Strategies for Inclusive Development & Competitiveness (In Association with OECD LEED, NSDC)

Session 1: Fostering the Dynamics of Skills, Employment and Infrastructure Development

Dr. Ashok Sahu, Principal Advisor, Planning Commission (Session Chair)
Sunita Sanghi, Adviser, Planning Commission, Government of India
Tomonori SUDO, Expert, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Tonmoy Shingal, COO & Co-Founder Mettl

Session 2: Innovation in Skills Development and Skills Management that reach SME

Dr. Cristina Martinez- Fernandez, Senior Policy Analyst & Manager OECD ESSSA Initiative OECD CFE LEED Programme (Session Chair) (Presentation)
Lokesh Mehra, Director- Education Advocacy, Microsoft
Amitabh Thakur, Fellow, Institute for Competitiveness
Deepak Bharara, Corporate Director, HR, Lanco (Presentation)
Sandeep Singh, CEO, Remorphing

Session 3: Strategies for Job Creation, Skills Development and Social Protection

Robert Strauss, Head of Employment Analysis, European Commission; Chair of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance (Session Chair) (Presentation)
Sher Verick, Employment Specialist, ILO
Dr. Sudhir Kapur, MD & CEO, Country Strategy Business Consultants
Sachin Sandhir, MD, RICS South Asia

Session 4: Towards an Inclusive Model of Skills Development in Asia

Gauri Gupta, NSDC (Session Chair)
Paul Comyn, Senior Vocal Training Skills Development Specialist, ILO
Dr. Srikanta K. Panigrahi, Expert Member, National Strategic Knowledge Mission on Climate Change
Sushil Ramola, CEO & MD, Basix
Shanti Jagannathan, Senior Education Specialist, ADB
Paul Blumquist, World Bank

Track 2: Serving MSME, Serving India – Business Model Innovations for Service Delivery ( In Association with GIZ, MSME & FICCI )

Welcome and Ice Breaker

Phase 1: Setting the Stage

Opening Thoughts & Ideas (10 mins)
Discussion of Session Purpose and Instructions (10 min)
Business Model Presentations (10 min)
Brainstorming – Overall Constraints for BDS providers in SME business (20 min)

Phase 2: Assessment

Explanation of Assessment Phase and Instructions (10 min)
Self – Assessment (40 min)
BDS Providers Presentation (15 min)
Comparative Analysis (15 min)

Phase 3: Identification

Participants identify the top five issues affecting their business model (10 min)
Participants prioritize five steps that they will take to ensure they have an innovative and effective business model (10 min)
BDS Provider Presentations (15 min)

Recommendations and Wrap up

Identification of low hanging fruits (15 mins)
Discussion of next steps + Recommendations (15 mins)
Feedback Form

Thought Leadership Track

DNS Kumar – “Public Private Partnership & Competitiveness” (Presentation)
Mark McCord – “Building effective Business models in Emerging Markets” (Presentation)
Dr. Pallavi Modi & Dr. Anil Vaidya – “Indeco social Framework (Presentation)
Rauli Sorvari, Educluster, Finland – “Learning Region Platform for Competitiveness, Innovations & Clusters” (Presentation)
Robert Polk – “Public Transport and Transport Management”
Neha Jain – “Innovative Marketing Strategies and Web Management”
Indranil Roy Chowdhury – “Adoption of Technology Facilitated Service – Study of Business Correspondent Banking” (Presentation)

Concluding Remarks

Sergio Arzeni, Director for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development, OECD
Paul Comyn, Senior Vocal Training Skills Development Specialist, ILO
Dr. Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness

Day 1: April 26, 2012

amitkapoor — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:49:00 +0000

Inaugural Session

Asia as a driver for world economy: Dividend, Aging, Prosperity, Growth Engine, Value, Arbitrage, and Changing Role of Capitalism

Dr. Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness (Opening Remarks)
Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, CEO, Dell
Sunand Sharma, CEO, Alstom
Rohit Bansal, CEO, India Strategy Group (Moderator)

Track 1: Competitiveness – The Agenda for Tomorrow

Session 1: Manufacturing Competitiveness: Multiplier effect, next paradigm of growth for India, employment generation

Ganesh Guruswamy, Country Director, Freescale
Renu Parmar, Planning Commission, GOI
Siraj Chaudhry, MD, Cargill
Himanshu Jain, VP-South Asia, Sealed Air
Sandeep Singh, CEO, Remorphing (Moderator)

Session 2: The Role of Business in Society: Shared Value, Economic Objectives, Social Objectives, and Philanthropy et al (In Association with FSG)

Smita Mankad, Head, SRCs, FabIndia
Anirban Roy, Country Director, Arogya Parivar (Norvatis)
Siva Nagarajan, MD, Mother Dairy
Lalitha Vaidyanathan, MD, FSG (Moderator)

Session 3: Clusters as a tool for wealth creation: Emergence of clusters in India, Productivity, Diffusion, Innovation, Seeding Clusters, Trade, Cluster Portfolio, Specialization Patterns, Technology Clusters, Cluster Composition, Internationalization

Luis Lueder, Head of Operations, European Business Technology Center
Rajveer Singh, MD, Cluster Kraft
Tamal Sarkar, MSME Foundation
Mark McCord, Member, Deloitte, USA
Mohit Satyanand, Director, Inlingua (Moderator)

Session 4: Regional Competitiveness & Process of Economic Development: Provinces, Vision, Value Proposition, Competition within States, Business Environment, Strategy, Sustainability, Stages of Competitive Development

Harpal Singh, Chairman, Fortis Health Care
Ravi Saroop, Ministry of Finance, GOI
Paul Schuttenbelt, South Asia Coordinator, CDIA ADB
Ajay Gupta, VP-Marketing & Strategy, Ericsson India
Robert Polk, R.C. Polk & Associates – Mobility Collaborators
Amitabh Thakur, Fellow, Institute for Competitiveness & MD, India Edge Advisors (Moderator)

Track 2: Energize the BOP- Business Solutions to serve low income markets (in association with GIZ, endeva, CII-ITC)

Welcome notes and short introduction to work of GIZ India (SME Team and Energy) and CII

Round of introductions including elevator pitches: Presentation of participants’ specific business ideas

Introduction to Energy Business Model Generator: Presentation of research and use of tool “Energy Business Model Generator”

Developing the Customer Interface: Sales, Payments, Service, End of Use PART 1

Developing the Customer Interface: Sales, Payments, Service, End of Use PART 2

Business Development: Managing Market Understanding, Product, Finance and Human Resources from Design to Implementation and Growth

India In Churn: Missed bus or the wrong bus?

amitkapoor — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:14:00 +0000

MINDMINE SUMMIT 2012
Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi
April 5-6, 2012

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Schedule & Key Sessions

Manufacturing Competitiveness

amitkapoor — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:30:26 +0000

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Labour Pains and Gains

amitkapoor — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 07:57:53 +0000

The article was published in The Financial Express in the issue dated March 31, 2012. Download PDF

Les Miserables

amitkapoor — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 07:52:51 +0000

The article was published in Governance Now in the issue April 1-15, 2012. Download PDF

Discussion on the Budget 2012

amitkapoor — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:11:05 +0000

Spoke at Annual Budget Review
Observer Research Foundation
March 30, 2012

What Strategy Is Not

amitkapoor — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 12:26:18 +0000

The article was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated March 17, 2012. Download PDF

Infrastructure in States

amitkapoor — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:27:11 +0000

The competitiveness and prosperity of the region is driven by access to good infrastructure. Developed economies like the US and South Korea are able to achieve high economic output and productivity due to the presence of advanced infrastructure as inputs. India may be successful in achieving a higher growth rate in recent years but has a danger of lagging behind if immediate investments in infrastructure are not made. This piece looks at the availability and accessibility of infrastructure in the states by assessing highways, airports, ports and urban infrastructure.
The availability of transport infrastructure, like highways, has a long term impact on economic development and employment creation. It has been proven beyond doubt that infrastructure creates efficiencies and enhances or promotes investment in industry. The low availability of highways per lakh population of less than 3.5 kms in Uttar Pradesh points towards the problem of congestion and slow movement of traffic, which will eventually increase the cost of doing business in the state. The state is now focusing on developing its highways, with 21 under implementation and pipeline PPP projects worth R47,714 crore. States like Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, with its 28 PPP projects worth R9,854 are betting high on the development of highways, which will foster the future economic integration of the state by easing the movement of people and goods from one region to another.

This piece was published in Financial Express on February 25, 2012. Download PDF

Building Sustainability and Scalability through International Partnerships

amitkapoor — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:02:25 +0000

5th CII Global Summit on Skills Development
Chennai
February 21-22, 2012

Assessing India’s Competitiveness

amitkapoor — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:01:25 +0000

Presentation done at the Canadian High Commission Event at Oberoi, New Delhi on February 23, 2012.

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Moving Towards Food & Nutrition Security

amitkapoor — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:22:05 +0000

Sixth International Seminar on Wheat & Wheat Products
Double Tree by Hilton, New Delhi
February 9-11, 2012

Percentage Contribution of Manufacturing in GDP – CAGR Manufacturing (2006-10)

amitkapoor — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:32:28 +0000

The manufacturing sector had witnessed more than 10% growth in the past years in India. There is no doubt about the fact that to achieve the ambitious target of 9% GDP growth per annum, India needs a higher growth in manufacturing sector. The contribution of manufacturing in India’s GDP is nearly stagnant at 17% since 1991 but its importance can’t be underestimated considering that it employs 9% of the total workforce of India. The key excerpts from the above graph are:

Manufacturing plays a very vital role in states of Goa, Gujarat and Jharkhand and contributes more than 25% to their GDP. It is also validated from the upcoming automobile cluster in Gujarat, which further strengthens its position, and competitive advantage in manufacturing.
Except Assam, other Northeast states have less than 3% contribution of manufacturing to their GDP. It gives an immense opportunity to industry and Government to develop manufacturing industry in these states to foster development & inclusive growth.
The manufacturing sector in the states of Chhattisgarh and Orissa had grown fastest with more than 15% per annum. It shows that these states are counting high on manufacturing and aim to become future manufacturing base of the country.
The states Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan are focusing on increasing the manufacturing GDP which is growing at more than 7% per annum which can solve the problem of unemployment in these regions

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India Immersion Issue 9

amitkapoor — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:58:08 +0000

Urbanisation in India

amitkapoor — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:43:34 +0000

Cities are a major source of economic activity, employment generation and prosperity in an economy. With rising income levels, people demand more goods and services, which becomes an important factor for them to live in cities. The cities attract more skilled labour, which, in turn, facilitates investments to open new firms and foster industrial development in the cities. Cities are the reflection of global integration of an economy as a majority of foreign firms operate their businesses in big cities and attract expats to live and work there.

According to UN projections, 70% of the total world population will live in urban areas by 2050 as compared to 50% in 2010. The percentage of urban population to total population in the US, Europe and China is 83%, 73% and 47%, respectively, which is much higher compared to India, which is just 32%.

The states of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala have the highest number of mega-cities existing in one state, with populations of more than 1 million. It’s very interesting to note that except mega-cities, other cities existing in Kerala have populations of less than 1 lakh, which shows that the state has clearly differentiated between high and low urbanised areas. Delhi and Goa have more than 90% and 60% of their respective populations residing in urban areas, which makes them the most urbanised states in India. Sikkim, on the other side, has witnessed the highest decadal growth rate in urban population (150%), which implies that a lot of people migrated to urban areas in the state in the past 10 years.

This piece was published in Financial Express on January 28, 2012. Download PDF

Components of Gross Domestic Product (Factor cost at current prices) (Cr. Rs/-)

amitkapoor — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:26:09 +0000

Gross Domestic Product is the value of country’s overall output of goods and services in a fiscal year at market prices, excluding net income from abroad. GDP structure can be shown by its primary, secondary and tertiary sectors contributions. Primary sector concerns about the agriculture and allied services on which economy is primarily dependent upon. Secondary sector concerns manufacturing and industries and tertiary sector concerns about different services involved activities.

The chart reflects the contributions of all the three sectors in GDP. It is clearly visible that services have been the major contributor throughout the 5 year period. As it was around 61% in 2004-05 and has a projected contribution of 63% in 2010-11 which shows the economic dependency on services in India.

As India has been an agrarian economy and around 70% of our population is still dependent upon agriculture, the chart shows an alarming trend for the government and policy makers to reconsider the planning related to agriculture. As per the chart, Agriculture and allied services were contributing around 19% in 2004-05, and it has been constant in the period. Industry has also not been contributing inspiteof the governmental policy initiatives; it has been a challenge for the economy to sustain for a longer time. Chart shows that it has also decreased by around 2% in this 5 year period.
The contribution from industry has also been static over the period and these sectors account for around 17% of total workforce. The Government should primarily focus upon some key industries like steel, engineering and machine tools, electronics, petrochemicals, textiles and software which provide a skeleton for developing economies to grow fast. After industrial liberalisation in the 90’s, India has not been able to enhance its contribution.
Some policy initiatives should be introduced to attract foreign direct investments which will generate employment, demand, and productivity.

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Antony Jacob of Apollo Munich

amitkapoor — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:00:35 +0000

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated February 4, 2012. Download PDF

City Competitiveness Report 2011 in India Today

amitkapoor — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:29:16 +0000

The report was covered by India Today Hindi. Download PDF

Income Inequality

amitkapoor — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:54:13 +0000

Inequality of Income across Indian States

India has grabbed seven billionaires in the Forbes top 100 rich list 2011 which puts India in the league of the countries with the most riches. Unfortunately at the same time, nearly 28% of the total population of India, accounting for nearly 300 million people is under below poverty line. With increasing population in India, the inequality in India has also grown and the gap between the rich and poor has widened over the past decades. A comparison of the per capita incomes of Indian states to other economies reveals stark inequalities. The per capita GDP of Goa is highest which is 1,35,129 Rs while Bihar is the lowest which is just 16177 Rs. This article looks at the inequality pertaining in India through the lens of Gini-coefficient for the past thirty years for 23 states.

The Gini Co-efficient is the standard measure of inequality. A score of 0 would indicate perfect equality with each state having an equal per capita income whereas a score of 1 would indicate perfect inequality with all income going to one state.

Growing Income disparity is India is raising concern over inclusive growth

A study of per capita state GDP figures from 1981 to 2008 enabled the computation of the gini coefficient shows a continuing upward march of the coefficient and inter-state inequality. The average gini-coefficient during 1981-1990 is 0.15 while it increased to 0.19 during 1991-2000. The average gini coefficient for the period of 2001-08 is experienced to be .24 with the percentage increment of more than 26% over previous decade which justifies the growing income disparity in India which alarming. It shows that in India, poor are becoming poorer and rich are getting richer and the growth in India is exclusive rather than inclusive.

The Inter-State Gini for 2008, namely, 0.2608 is far lower than the Gini for India as a whole (0.36) given by UNDP’s Human Development Report revealing that the geographic disparity of income is much lower than the social disparity between the richest and poorest people in the country.

Eastern states of the country are lagging in growth as compared to the richer western states

The development divide in India does not lie along a North-South basis, but rather an east-west basis. The 82.5 parallel which is used to determining Indian Standard Time (IST) is arguably the dividing line between the more developed west and the less developed east. A comparison of states lying wholly to the west of this line with states which partly or wholly lie east of this line illustrates this divide.

The average per capita GDP (at current prices) of western states to eastern states from 1981 to 2008 is shown in the diagram below. The gap between per capita incomes of eastern and western states grew by an average of 11% in the 1980s, 19% during the 1990s and slowed down to 10% in the early 2000s. This reflects that eastern states are now getting richer at slower pace but still they lag far behind the western states. These states need to focus on their economic development to reduce their poverty levels which decrease the income disparity and eventually increase their per capita income.

On an average, Easterners grew slower and Westerners faster than the national growth rates for the period of 1991-2009. The average growth rate of the eastern states during 2003-2009 was 7.5% and western states were 8.5% against the overall growth rate of 7.9%. Some low income states like Bihar grew rapidly in the 2000s though the remaining BIMARU states – Madhya Pradesh, UP and Rajasthan grew at a rate slower than the national average.

Looking at the Human Development Index scores, an alternative development indicator also reflects this phenomenon. The average HDI score for western states of 0.53 is higher than the

average HDI score of 0.46 which shows that slower growth of eastern states has also affected the social development in these states.

The Road Ahead and Strategy to reduce the income inequality

India needs to look at the holistic view of the inequality existing across the states. Special assistance and focus is required on the eastern states on their poverty reduction and skills development. India needs to develop an integrated mechanism where eastern states can be benefited from the greater economic development of the western states by sharing different economic activities. The current need is to balance economic growth with social development and more emphasis should be given on the wider reach of government schemes and equitable distribution of resources.

Social entrepreneurship which focuses on developing innovative solutions to solve the social problems with sustained revenue growth can be the possible solution. The companies need to create shared value for all stakeholders rather than just investing in corporate social responsibility programmes which can help them to increase their future income and wealth.

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Demographic Mathematics

amitkapoor — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:54:57 +0000

India will become the most populous country in the world surpassing China by 2025, contributing 21.7% to total world population. The contribution of Europe to the global population will decrease slightly to 10.5% by 2025.

The huge population of Indian states gives them a big demographic advantage due to a larger workforce and consumer base, which are vital for their growth. But their demographic profile also raises serious concerns of an ageing population and declining sex ratio, which is affecting the demographic dividend. The old age population is expected to grow highest, by 3.83% annually, while the working population will increase by 1.42% and children population will decrease by 0.33% annually till 2026.

The old population (>60 years) of India had seen a continuous upward trend since 2001. It is expected that the percentage of old people in the total population will be 12.4%, at an estimated173.1 million, in 2026. India needs to invest in providing adequate healthcare facilities for increasing ageing population which will boost the growth of insurance sector in the country.

Apart from that, India has a big demographic advantage, as nearly all the states had a working population (between 19-59 years) of 50% in 2011. Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will see the maximum increment, of more than 30%, in their working population by 2016. Kerala and Tamil Nadu will experience a decline in the share of the workforce in the total population in the coming 15 years. India needs to focus on improving the quality of higher education and invest in developing vocational training centres to supply a skilled workforce to the industry to maximise the advantage of upcoming opportunities.

All the states, except Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, are expected to see a reduction in their population of children in the coming 15 years. This implies that more people are moving towards not having children in the early years of their marriage.

As far as the sex ratio goes, Tamil Nadu & Karnataka will have more women in the region by 2026, which should balance the declining sex ratio in the northern states. The states of Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat are expected to suffer from gender imbalances due to a decreasing sex ratio.

The article was published in Financial Express on January 14, 2012. Download PDF

Indian and Chinese Women Workforce Participation

amitkapoor — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:23:48 +0000

Manufacturing sector works are traditionally called male dominant works, and over a priod of time it has declined. These days, the jobs in services sector has expanded globally. Thus, the manual labour demand has decreased over the years. Both the sexes have an equal footing in the contribution to the economies. The educated women bring better educated and healthier children and thus carry social and economic productiveness in the economy. Different studies show that women are more likely to spend money on improving health, education, infrastructure and poverty.

China is relatively higher in the Human Development Index (HDI) factors like health, education, per capita income etc.

The above chart shows Indian and Chinese women participation rates over the period which exhibits few points as

The participation of women has been more than double in China (around 70%) comparing to India (around 33%) over the period. It shows the rapid growth and boost in economic activities.
The chart shows an increase trend in women participation in both the countries. In India, it increased till 1996 and the highest participation has been 34% whereas In China, it improved till 1992 the highest being 73 %.
According to the figures and trendline, it is clear that Indian women workforce has consistently participated despite a dip in 2001-2002, whereas Chinese women participation in labour has started decreasing specifically in the period from 1995-2009.

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Share of India in International Tourists Arrival in the world and Asia Pacific Region

amitkapoor — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:53:11 +0000

The emergence of India as one of the fastest developing economies in the world is attributable to the rapid growing service sector. Service sector is growing at a faster rate than the other sectors in Indian economy and contributing more than others altogether. Thus, Tourism and Hospitality sectors have been an emerging area of attraction and development in India.

The chart shows Indian FTA (Foreign Tourists Arrivals) as a trend line near the vertical axis which is negligible in comparison to the world FTA (Foreign tourists Arrivals) and it still has been one of the largest contributors to Indian GDP (Gross Domestic Product). As per the chart, it is clear that the tourism sector has grown tremendously in world economy over the period of time which can be further elaborated as

FTA (foreign Tourists Arrival) in India has increased from 2.37 million in 1997 to 5.58 million in 2010. Indian GDP growth has been dependent on service sector over the period, which has an average contribution of around 55% .
In 1997, the contribution of India in total FTAs in world was 0.39 % and in Asia and Pacific Region it was 2.66%. In 2010, the contributions have been increased to 0.59 % and 2.73% respectively in World and Asia Pacific regions.
Specifically in the period of 2003-2007, the average % increase over the previous year has been more than 15%, showing a good sign for FEE (Foreign Exchange Earnings) and economic stability.

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Liveability Index 2011

amitkapoor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:40:09 +0000

Indian Capital ‘New Delhi’ ranks first in the Liveability Index 2011 / Delhi has the highest number of houseless people in India, despite being the best city to live in

South Indian cities sweep majority of the top ten slots on the ‘Liveability Index 2011’/ Chennai – The most densely populated city in India manages to control slums

Kolkata, the Safest City in the country according to the ‘Liveability Index 2011’/ Kolkata ranks amongst the lowest in health and medical standards in the country

Gurgaon performs abysmally on the ‘Liveability Index 2011’ despite the economic powerhouse reputation

The top four metros once again find themselves vying for the top slots in providing the most livable environment.
Mumbai follows Delhi at the 2^nd position in the Liveability Index-2011
South Indian cities surpass the North Indian cities and showcase their superiority in categories like health & medical standards, safety etc.
In spite of being as one of the biggest corporate hub, Gurgaon is the worst city among the fifty selected cities to live in India

‘Institute for Competitiveness’ with its Liveability Index-2011 enables a better understanding of the factors defining the living potential of cities across the country. Livability refers to an urban system that contributes to the physical, social, mental and personal development of all its inhabitants. The index relies on an objective approach and takes into consideration more than 300 indicators. Key principles that give substance to the theme are equity, dignity, accessibility, conviviality, participation and empowerment. The overall Liveability Index 2011 is an integration of categories such as demographic, education, health and medical standards, safety, housing option, socio-cultural political environment, economic environment, and natural built/planned environment.

A livable city is one that directly benefits the people who live and work in it along with those who visit it. It refers to the environmental and social quality of an area, which includes local environment conditions, presence of quality education and health institutions, infrastructure, spending power administered by its consumers, safety of the population and recreational avenues. Likewise, businesses are on a persistent lookout for locations that complement the production process, say for example an area with regular supply of power and well-connected roads provides a favorable environment for a commercial activity.

The Liveability Index-2011 takes into consideration the various associated and crucial dimensions of livability criterion for fifty cities and sums up nearly 300 indicators. The Index is based on the hard data gathered from different credible sources such as government published reports of various ministries and other reputed and trustworthy organizations. The weights allotted to the different indicators have been computed by the application of Principle Component Analysis that ensures the elimination of multi-co-linearity, the basis for which is the Diamond Model laid down by the world renowned Harvard University Professor Michael E. Porter.

This model is an attempt to evaluate the Live-ability level of the various Indian cities. It should be noted that the approach adopted here has broadened the definition of a ‘livable city’ by including not just urban but also the rural factors.

According to the Liveability Index the factors behind the success of New Delhi is its strong hold in demographic, health and medical standards and education pillars. However a matter of concern is its ranking in the safety and housing option category for which it has already been criticized a lot.

Among the four major metros Kolkata holds the highest rank among the 50 cities in the safety pillar as the crime rate and the road accidents are less in the city in comparison to any other Indian city.

Hyderabad and Chennai are position at number 4^th and 5^th respectively. These are followed by the two upcoming south Indian cities that is, Kochi and Kozhikode at the 7^th and 8^th spot.

Astonishingly Bhubaneswar comes up as the best city in the housing option pillar as it holds the maximum score in the housing cost & availability and urban households crowding dimensions correspondingly.

Vadodara can be considered as the city with new hopes as it scored highest among the fifty cities on the economic environment pillar. It ranks very high on factors such as income & environment, economic infrastructure, business environment and purchasing power.

The Liveability Index showcases the livability profiles of the Indian cities from various perspectives, such as from point of view of Corporates who wants to invest, People who want to choose a city to live in, People who are already a part of the city and the Government that is trying to figure out the weak areas of the various cities and enhance the policies accordingly.

Dr. Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, ‘Institute for Competitiveness’ speaks on the analysis and the outcome, “Today, the Indian cities are emerging on the global front in a curious ways. Not only do they house large numbers of people, but are also emerging as global business hubs. This development has however started to stifle the living conditions available to the residents of the cities. Thus, liveability of cities is critical to comparisons between cities as well as to develop an understanding of a city’s strength and weakness.”

Press Release

City Competitiveness Report 2011 in Business World

amitkapoor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:38:13 +0000

The City Competitiveness Report 2011 was covered by Business World in the issue dated December 19, 2011. Download PDF

Venkatesh Valluri of Ingersoll-Rand

amitkapoor — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 09:26:32 +0000

Venkatesh Valluri, Chairman, India Region, Ingersoll-Rand, spoke with Dr Amit Kapoor about the company’s plans in India, competition and quid pro quo for market access in the global market place.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated December 24, 2011. Download PDF

Labor Participation in India and China

amitkapoor — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:42:44 +0000

According to The World Bank, “Labour force participation rate is the proportion of the population aged 15 and older that is economically active and all the people who supply labour for the production of goods and services during a specified period”.

Both India and China have emerged as the two largest markets in the world with a view to improving efficiency and enhancing stability of their different sectors. The labour participation rate has a direct and positive effect in the development of an economy. The chart presents different facts about labour participations in both the economies.

Interestingly, Indian labour participation rate has been healthier in comparison to Chinese till 1995 which was approximately 60% at that time. Further, the trend line shows a budding wide gap of Chinese and Indian labour participation specifically after 1993-1994.

Gradually China has increased its labour participation in the economy. Specifically the female work force participation has increased tremendously in China. The women workforce participation in India has been a meagre 33% whereas same for China is 69%, which certainly gives an

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City Competitiveness Report 2011 on Rediff

amitkapoor — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:15:29 +0000

Which are India’s most competitive cities? The City Competitiveness Report 2011 — unveiled by an international think tank, Institute For Competitiveness (IFC) — aims to answer this question.
The latest report is an indicative of how the corporate world selects the cities for investing and also how governance is important in assessing the level of competitiveness diversity spread across these cities. These variations will indicate to the governing bodies the issues that need to be addressed to improve the competitiveness of Indian cities.
The India City Competitiveness Report 2011 is based on the ‘Microeconomic Diamond Model’ laid down by management guru Michael E Porter and focusses on ‘Strategy and Competitiveness’.
The model is widely accepted across the world and assesses the competitiveness of a region or domain based on specific benchmarks.
The core of the model — competitiveness — is founded across the four pillars: Factor conditions, demand conditions, context for strategy and rivalry, and supporting and related industries. These four pillars are interlinked and instrumental in determining overall competitiveness.
To gauge the productivity and thus the prosperity of a city or a region it is essential to identify and measure dimensions on and around these four pillars, which are further categorised into sub-indices that assess the various details of a city through a set of well-defined indicators.
A city would need to improve along all these factors to increase its competitiveness. Each of these factors is further divided into sub-indices, which in turn are measured through indicators.

City Competitiveness Report 2011 on Rediff

City Competitiveness Report 2011

amitkapoor — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:00:44 +0000

New Delhi bags the Most Competitive City position for the second consecutive year in the India City Competitiveness Rankings by IFC

New Delhi beats Mumbai to become the Most Competitive City in India in 2011, report by IFC

South India outshines in City Competitiveness Report 2011, by IFC

New Delhi, India, Friday, December 09, 2011

Highlights

Mumbai scores second position in the Competitiveness Index 2011 as per the report

It was surprising to discover that Gurgaon is in the list of the top 10 competitive Indian cities, at the sixth position despite holding low scores in the administrative and human capacity

Chennai saw a drop of three positions and is ranked at the fifth place

Although Jaipur managed to maintain its position and is still placed at 10^th position by stabilizing its overall growth

South Indian cities such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Vishakhapatnam have witnessed an upswing in competitiveness rankings by surpassing various upcoming north India cities. A wide developmental gap exists between the north and south

The report is an indicative of how the corporate world selects the cities for investing and also how governance is important in assessing the level of competitiveness diversity spread across these cities. These variations will indicate to the governing bodies issues that need to be addressed for improving the competitiveness of the Cities

The India City Competitiveness Report 2011 is based on the Microeconomic Diamond Model laid down by Michael E Porter and focuses on ‘Strategy and Competitiveness’. The model is widely accepted across the world and assesses the competitiveness of a region or domain based on specific benchmarks. The core of the model (“competitiveness”) is founded across the four pillars; factor conditions, demand conditions, context for strategy and rivalry and supporting and related industries. These four pillars are interlinked with one another and are instrumental in determining competitiveness. To gauge the productivity and thus the prosperity of a city or a region it is essential to identify, measure the city dimensions on and around the four pillars. These four pillars are further categorized into sub-indices that assess the various details of a city through a set of well-defined indicators.

New Delhi, the capital of India has once again emerged as the top city in the country and retained the title of the most competitive city in India. This can be attributed to the fact that Delhi is continuously evolving as well as growing in order to satisfy the ever changing and growing needs. The growth and progress under some parameters in is remarkable and if Delhi continues to keep the pace then it may become unbeatable in some time. For instance its physical infrastructure, its demographics, some business dimensions are its strong areas. In addition, its proximity to the cities like Gurgaon and Noida add an advantage to its basket.

The report supports the evident that the six metropolitan cities that is, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are still the prominent competitors in the list of top 10 Competitive Indian Cities. The metros are followed by cities which are fast catching up and creating a mark on the map, such as Pune that holds 3^rd place, Gurgaon holding 6^th position, Ahmedabad holding 9^th position and Jaipur at 10^th place. NOIDA, a city included in the NCR (National Capital Region) has proved a huge potential itself by getting the 11^th rank in the City Competitiveness Index 2011.

Pune witnessed an upward movement in its position, at the 4^th position it has shown significant improvement in the areas of innovation, communication, competitive intensity and diversity in between the firms thus standing high to cater the education and business related masses.

If the trend is analyzed in the Competitiveness Index 2011 then it is exhibited that Bengaluru and Pune have jumped to 3^rd and 4^th positions respectively as compared to their 4^th and 8^th rank correspondingly in the previous year.

The report states that there is a huge potential in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. What is required is to tap into potential so as to explore aspects of these Indian cities they can provide the distinctive advantages to them in terms of competitiveness.

Cities such as Mysore, Madurai, Lucknow, Goa, Bhopal, Ludhiana are considered to be moving ahead on the growth path and have improved immensely on the competitive index. On the other hand cities that are seeking for new opportunities are Vijayawada, Agra, Patna Varanasi, Guwahati, Allahabad, Amritsar that should be nurtured further to extract the required result.

Despite the ranks, India’s cities are still way behind cities in the developed world. Though Indian cities should not try to imitate the model of other foreign cities and instead grow uniformly in a sustained manner, complimenting their own inherent strengths. They need to move from factor-driven competitiveness to efficiency-led and finally innovation-led economies. One of the key derivate from the report is government and the residents of the city should actively participate in mapping the strengths and working towards creating competitive advantages. For change to happen, cities will have to invest heavily in improving infrastructure and physical support systems. Cities need to move forward on the path of competitiveness by planning and implementing an appropriate strategy addressing their respective strengths and weakness’. While Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are known globally, much needs to be done not only to improve the competitiveness of these cities, but also to create awareness to attract investment.

The small towns of today will need to emerge as hubs of trade and business in the coming years. However, to ensure that they keep up with the growth, they will need to invest in physical infrastructure and urban services. Some of that is already happening. Over the past decade, many cities have changed sharply, improving the quality of life they provide.

Dr. Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Honorary Chairman, “Institute For Competitiveness” stated “Cities are already competitive and should look ahead to move from factor-driven competitiveness to efficiency-led and finally innovation-led economies. It is the responsibility of government, firms and the people to offer an almost perfect (cost effective and business positive) solution to make India a prosperous country. In short, competitiveness has the power to transform India’s urban landscapes and we owe it to ourselves as a nation to use this power to become truly competitive, starting with our most fundamental units of change, our cities.”

The India City Competitiveness 2011 uses hard data that is published by the Government of India. The data is derived from reports, published articles etc. of the various ministries of India, Government funded research organizations and other reliable and true organizations so as to assemble the true facts and figures of the country. It also eliminates the possibility of sampling error or other related faults.

Furthermore commenting on the City Competitiveness Index 2011, one of the authors of the report Ankita Garg said “Cities are reflection of prosperity so they should develop in a sustainable and competitive manner. It is true that the metros are moving from good to better but the smaller cities also holds immense potential and should not be neglected. So the need of the day is to cultivate these smaller Indian cities, wherein lies the potential of the country and it is then that we would see the country grow higher and sustain the growth.”

Press Release

Regional and Urban Competitiveness: A Case Study for India

amitkapoor — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:55:56 +0000

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Decoding Manufacturing Competitiveness

amitkapoor — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:13:22 +0000

India and China are the future drivers of the world economy, though the two economies look very different in terms of their development patterns and economic structure. China has emerged as the manufacturing powerhouse in the last 20 years while India has become the major player in services.

China’s share in world manufacturing has witnessed tremendous elevation from 2.9% in 1991 to 13.7% in 2011. The increment in the Chinese economy’s contribution to world manufacturing has come at the cost of the European Union, whose share had declined to 20.9% in 2010 from 33% in 1991. It becomes much more pronounced when we look at the fact that per capita manufacturing GDP of China has increased by 8 times compared to 1991, reaching $806 in 2010 while India’s is just $122 (see figure). The share of India in world manufacturing is a mere 1.8% and has increased by just 1% over the past 20 years.

At the same time, the US contribution has remained nearly stagnant, which is due to their specialisation in capital goods manufacturing, while Chinese manufacturing is dominated by consumer goods. China may have succeeded in capturing a bigger chunk of world manufacturing, but its per capita manufacturing GDP is still far below that of the US, which was $6,147 as of 2010.

India’s growth is presumed to be driven by the services sector, which contributes a maximum 65.2% to its GDP. However, the role of manufacturing in India’s development can’t be discounted considering the fact that it contributed 16% to the country’s total GDP in 2010. Total workforce employed in the manufacturing sector is estimated to be more than 40 million, which amounts to 9% of the total working population of India. It is interesting to note that the share of manufacturing to GDP in India hasn’t changed much over the past 20 years, due to both the increase in the share of the services sector and the decrease in the share of agriculture, which has declined to just 14.6% in 2010 from 31.4% in 1991. India has more than 142,000 factories operating in the manufacturing sector and needs to redefine its manufacturing strategy to drive its future growth and to create more employment.

Manufacturing growth has a multiplier effect on the economy. The development of many other dependent sectors, like logistics, insurance and raw-material production, is driven by the growth of manufacturing as it is one of the biggest consumers for these sectors. In states like Goa, Gujarat and Jharkhand, manufacturing contributes nearly 27% of the total GDP, which makes it extremely important for these states to focus on developing policies to foster the development of this sector. It is interesting to note that the manufacturing sector in Orissa and Chhattisgarh has grown by more than 16% against India’s overall manufacturing growth rate of 9.3% over the past five years, and it is driving the future growth of these states (see figure).

The two states of Maharashtra and Gujarat together form 34% of the total gross output of India’s manufacturing sector, which makes them the manufacturing giants of the country. It is very important to map the manufacturing sector’s performance at both the state and firm levels to improve overall manufacturing competitiveness in India. At the state level, the manufacturing sectors of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala are found to be the least productive, having a ratio of total outputs/inputs of nearly 1.2 and requiring urgent attention from the government. The firms in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have the highest labour productivity, where the net value added by employees on an average is more than R1 lakh (see figure). In states like Bihar, firms are found to be very efficient in using their capital and are producing gross output that is more than 10 times their fixed investments.

Today, manufacturing in India requires urgent attention from policymakers, to address the challenges at both the macro and micro levels. There is a need to reduce the tax burden to improve profitability, and to provide for the upgradation of workers’ skills and technology. Costs of production have reached extremely high levels because of rising land prices; this needs to be checked. High power costs, lower efficiency and declining availability of quality labour are also affecting competitiveness. The government should adopt a cluster-based development strategy to push high growth in the manufacturing sector. It needs to develop a strategic policy framework to identify and develop innovative clusters that have a great potential in exports and can generate more employment. There is a need to develop investment mechanisms to foster public-private partnerships that can invest in sick clusters and focus on improving the latter’s productivity.

There is a need for state-specific approaches. After all, each state is at a different stage of development in the manufacturing industry and, therefore, needs different strategies to improve its manufacturing competitiveness.

*Strong manufacturing states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana and Jharkhand) need an innovation-driven strategy. These states need to move towards more technological advancement to improve their production efficiency. These states should invest in developing advanced skill-sets for manufacturing and become more export competitive.

*Weaker manufacturing states (Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Bihar, Assam, and West-Bengal) need an investments-driven strategy. They need to give more incentives to industry in terms of taxes, power costs and logistics, and try to facilitate more private investments in the sector.

*Medium manufacturing states (Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand) need a factors-driven strategy. These states need to focus in lowering the costs of inputs of production, developing the right set of skills and talent, and removing the barriers to doing business. These states should initiate public-private partnership mechanisms to attract investments and improve productivity.

Before devising policies for cluster development, it should be understood that manufacturing clusters need to be more integrated and deeper than service clusters. How clusters that are not export-oriented fit into the global value chain of manufacturing needs to be analysed. India has a big potential of becoming a good manufacturing-outsourcing base for manufacturing clusters due to the presence of raw materials and cheap labour. But our clusters will need more marketing and brand-building assistance to improve their export competitiveness against the likes of China. Indian manufacturing players need to pitch up product quality for western markets rather than focusing too much on price competition from China.

This was published with Financial Expresss on December 9, 2011. Download PDF

India: Competitiveness, Opportunities and Strategies for Success

amitkapoor — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:12:43 +0000

INSEAD, Singapore
December 6, 2011

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Manish Malhotra

amitkapoor — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 09:47:12 +0000

Manish Malhotra, in an interaction with Dr Amit Kapoor, gave some unique insights on the fashion industry especially ideas pertaining to success in the Indian market.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated December 10, 2011. Download PDF

Indian Exports and Imports at Current Prices over 10 year period

amitkapoor — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:39:14 +0000

Trade is a basic economic concept which involves multiple parties to participate and exchange their goods and services for desired goods and services that someone else possesses. This shows the economic health of any country.

As per the chart it is clear that over the period of last 10 years we always have net exports (Exports- Imports) showing negative balance of trade (trade deficit). Some of the other inferences that can be drawn are:

The net exports show a decreasing trend. The trade deficit has been minimum in 2000-01 i.e. 19397 Cr. Rs/-. The trend lines also show that 2001-02 was the year, economy was at break-even. However the gap has been increasing showing a threat for trade balance of the economy.

Over the period trade balance has increased and in 2009-10, it shows a trade gap of Rs 3,41,501 Cr.

Increase in exports (%) has been highest in 2004-05 making around 27% jump from the last year. It has been lowest in 2009-10 when exports have decreased by 2% showing the dependency on imports from outside.

Percentage increase in Imports has always been positive over the period from 2009-10 and at maximum in 2004-05, which is a 30% increase from last year.

Comparing the percentage increase in exports and imports, it is clear that from 2004-05, the economy has increased more in imports which is a negative sign for the sustainability of economy.

On an average in this period the average increase (%) in exports has been around 15%, while the same for imports is 16%.

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Niren Chaudhary of Yum Restaurants

amitkapoor — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 11:03:40 +0000

Niren Chaudhary, Managing Director, Yum Restaurants, India, offers unique insights about the restaurant market especially ideas pertaining to value, in a chat with Dr Amit Kapoor.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated November 26, 2011.

Inbound Vs Outbound Tourists in India

amitkapoor — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:37:33 +0000

According to the World Tourism Organisation, tourists are the people who “travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited”.

As per the chart, the increasing trend of inbound (Tourists arriving in India) vs. outbound tourists (Tourists going out from India) can be shown. It can be explained further as:

It is clear that number of Outbound tourists is quite higher in comparison to FTAs in India (Inbound Tourists) and is increasing at a faster rate. In the year 2010 there are 12.07 million Indian tourists travelling outside, which is more than double of FTAs in that year.

In the period from 1999 to 2008, the average increase in outbound tourists (i.e. from India) has been more than 10% every year, which is just 3.4% for inbound tourists (i.e. in India). In detail from 2004 onward it has increased by more than 15% on an average every year till 2008.

There is a relative decrease in FTAs in India over the previous years. The graph shows a slump specifically in 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2009 which have been 0.7%, 4.2%, 6% and 2.2% respectively,.

Indian government must seriously look upon the quality control of tourism services, infrastructural development for tourism related activities and marketing of Indian Tourism services at a global standard, which will help in wealth generation and poverty alleviation at large in monument rich regions.

According to Ministry of Tourism, the Foreign Exchange Earnings in India has grown from US $2889 to $14193 million in this 1997 to 2010 period. Government can tap the huge expenditures on outbound tourists which is increasing at a very fast rate.

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India Economic Summit of World Economic Forum

amitkapoor — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:20:48 +0000

Mumbai, India
November 12-14, 2011

Milan Saini of Cinepolis

amitkapoor — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:39:38 +0000

Milan Saini, Managing Director and Country Head of Cinépolis India, the world’s fourth-largest cinema chain, discusses the future of cinema with Dr Amit Kapoor and provides insights about the movie theatre industry and the opportunities the company foresees in the Indian market.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated November 12, 2011. Download PDF

Clusters and Competitiveness

amitkapoor — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:26:04 +0000

Ministry of Finance, Uganda
November 3,2011

CO2 Emissions Comparison

amitkapoor — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:31:15 +0000

Reduction of carbon emission has been a challenge for the sustainable development of the world as a whole. According to the Kyoto protocol- UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) there is a binding target for 37 industrialised countries and European community for reducing the GHG (Green House Gas) emission by an average of 5% over the 5 year period from 2008-2012, taking base as 1995. The developing economies have been given flexibility in their carbon emission reductions. To offset the carbon emission and control pollution different trading schemes have been taken into considerations. Carbon Emission trading is a market based approach by providing economic incentives and cap limit for emissions. Firms need to hold the no. of permits also called carbon credits (1 carbon credit = 1 ton Co2)

The chart shows the Carbon emission (Co2) which is a result of burning fossil fuels such as gas, coal or oil. 80-90% of Carbon emission is primarily from the the industrial activities in the economy. There are various adverse effects caused to environment due to carbon emissions, including increased frequency of extreme weather events, variation in monsoons patterns, rise in surface temperature, rise in sea level and melting of glaciers along with other factors. It also affects agriculture and food production and result in increased incidence of vector borne diseases.

As per the chart the per capita carbon emissions of the BRIC nations’ has been looked upon. This shows that

Russia, Brazil, China and India have accounted for 11, 5, 2 and 1.5 metric tons per capita of carbon emission in 2010.

There has been almost same and increasing trend in carbon emission followed by all countries over the period.

In 2001-02, Russia there is a reduction in carbon emission i.e. 9.87 to 9.82 metric tons per capita but later shows an increasing trend. Russia has increased the carbon emission to 10.31 Mt per capita on an average over the period.

China also shows an upswing in carbon emissions specifically in the period from 2004-07 that indicates an industrial uprising in the economy. However it decreased its per capita emission in 2007-08 i.e. from 4.95 to 4.6 approx. Over the period, it has increased to an average of 3.60 MtCo2 per capita.

Brazil and India show a parallel and constant increase in emission. However as compared to India ,Brazil shows a decrease in per capita emissions as per the graph

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Role of ICT based Engineering Business Models in Rural Healthcare Market Development In India

amitkapoor — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:58:22 +0000

National University of Singapore, Singapore
October 26-28, 2011

The presentation was done by Anshul Pachouri at the conference “New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia hase 2 Workshop on Regulation, private sector authority and market building in Asia”

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Ichiro Iino of Hitachi

amitkapoor — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 09:19:45 +0000

Hitachi India has business interests ranging from social infrastructure and information and telecommunications systems to digital media and consumer products. Ichiro Iino, Managing Director of Hitachi India, speaks to Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman at the Institute for Competitiveness, about the diversified conglomerate’s focus on India and the future shaped by iPad applications.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated October 29, 2011. Download PDF

Manufacturing in the World Economy

amitkapoor — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:21:23 +0000

Manufacturing value added: This indicator measures the contribution of the manufacturing sector in total production and is obtained by devising the value added in manufacturing by the total gross value-added to GDP at basic or producers’ prices.

Manufacturing is one of the vital pillars of global growth and sustainable development that caters to mass markets across the globe. All economies tend to acquire preexisting businesses in markets of interest and move towards the manufacturing centers owning a prevalence of low costs along the opportunities for profit maximization.

Since 1990s, the focus of economies like European Union, United sates and China had been towards manufacturing and the trend has been subsequently moving in the upward direction. The movement signifies the share of increase by these economies in the manufacturing industry and their successful retention with an apt demand and supply proportion over a period of time. Although the financial crisis in 2008 had led to a decrease of manufacturing activities in European union, United States and many other countries, declining their consumer market share. At the same time, the developing nations like China and India were less influenced because of their growing opportunities which widen their contribution in the manufacturing industry with an addition of approximate US$1691 billion and US$190 billion respectively. However the overall impact of the crisis decreased the contribution of manufacturing in the world economy. Furthermore, manufacturing adds to around 34% in China’s GDP illustrating that it is a strong driver of China’s economy and influences it to grow further. Similarly, in Indian market the large market bases and lower wage rate had increased the realm of Indian contribution towards the global manufacturing industry. It can be illustrated that Chinese and Indian economies with enhanced technology and innovative powers has built a new business environment opportunities for global manufacturing. Though United State is the largest manufacturer in the world whom other manufacturers imitate and follow but it was affected in the period of crisis. In addition, a sharp decline was noticed during the crisis period in the developed countries that dropped the overall percentage of manufacturing industry in the world economy.

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Roy De Souza Of Zedo

amitkapoor — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:57:34 +0000

Roy De Souza, CEO and Co-founder digital ad solutions company Zedo, spoke to Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman at the Institute for Competitiveness, on the peculiarities of this young industry.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated October 15, 2011. Download PDF

Biz Alum Evening of Innovation and Knowledge

amitkapoor — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 06:17:00 +0000

National University of Singapore
September 28, 2011

Profile of Speakers

Corruption Free India-Can we dream for It?

amitkapoor — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:26:23 +0000

Panel Discussion Organized by CII
Chandigarh,India
September 26, 2011

Siraj A Chaudhury of Cargill

amitkapoor — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:30:05 +0000

Siraj A Chaudhury, Chairman of Cargill India, speaks with Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness, about the food supply chain industry and its dynamics.

The interview was published in Oulook Business in the issue dated October 1, 2011. Download PDF

Car Makers Face a Skill Shortage Rider in Gujarat

amitkapoor — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:06:16 +0000

Ahmedabad: Gujarat expects to emerge as India’s next automobile hub with Ford India Pvt. Ltd and PSA Peugeot Citroen both announcing large projects in the state in the last two months. They follow in the footsteps of Tata Motors Ltd, which moved its Nano project to Sanand three years ago after West Bengal proved to be inhospitable.

Investments in the auto sector in Gujarat, including a likely new plant by India’s biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, could add up to Rs. 14,000 crore in the next few years and lead to a surge in employment opportunities.

“The auto sector of Gujarat, including ancillary units, has the potential to generate at least 100,000 new jobs in the next two-three years going by the number of auto companies rushing to the state,” according to Amit Kapoor, honorary chairman of the Institute for Competitiveness, a think tank. Before firming up investments, the companies as well as the Gujarat government would have factored in manpower issues, he said.

Companies that have approached the state for setting up plants include Bajaj Auto Ltd and Hero Moto Corp.Mint reported earlier this month on Hero Moto’s plans to set up its fourth unit in Gujarat. The Business Standard quoted Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, as saying in a 20 July report that the two-wheeler manufacturer planned to set up its fourth unit in Gujarat’s Mundra area. The plant will also manufacture a passenger car the company is developing with Renault-Nissan, the report said.

Last week, Honda Motor Co. Ltd and Toyota Motor Corp. held preliminary talks with Gujarat on setting up plants, said a state government official familiar with the development, asking not to be named. Among other industries, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is also considering a project at Sanand. Mint could not independently verify the status of these projects.

Finding enough people to fill the prospective job openings is something that preoccupies the companies, since industries availing of government benefits—which constitute the incentives that encourage companies to choose the state—need to make sure that 80% of the workforce is made up of people from Gujarat.

An official of a company that has set up a special economic zone in Gujarat said the challenge is to find workers who have been domiciled in Gujarat for 15 years.

“The availability of skilled manpower is surely a matter of prime concern for us,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India Pvt. Ltd. “We still have three years before we can start production at our plant and we hope to resolve this issue with the support of the state government by then.”

Both Ford and Peugeot officials have said they are working with the state government on setting up skill development centres through the public-private participation (PPP) model and working closely with Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). An email sent to a Peugeot official remained unanswered.

While the manpower requirement will depend on the level of automation and plant design, the state employment policy is playing a role in strategy.

“All the best people have been absorbed by the Tatas and Bosch Rexroth India Ltd at Sanand,” said an official of an auto company evaluating the state for investment. “We will gather data of the available workforce and make a presentation to the state government at an appropriate time in future. We respect the law of the land. We have been assured all necessary support by the state and we will approach the government to help us whenever the need arises.” Bosch is in the process of setting up a new hydraulics plant at Sanand.

Peugeot and Ford, with an investment commitment of Rs. 4,000 crore each, have also been allotted land in the same 2,200-acre industrial area at Sanand that is home to the Nano project.

Peugeot has expressed its interest in investing Rs. 250 crore to set up a skill development and research and development centre at Sanand, a senior government official has said. The company said recently that the new facility could generate as many as 4,000 jobs. Ford aims to employ about 5,000 at Sanand, he said. Mint wasn’t able to independently verify this.

Of their total 900 employees at Sanand, Tata has hired 800 local residents from the ITIs and through a training programme, another government official said. Other companies could also follow suit.

The next auto entrants into Gujarat are proposing larger plants with more workers than the Nano factory, said the company official cited above. He added that the ratio of skilled to unskilled manpower would be 60:40.

Maruti, which is looking at locations in north Gujarat for its new unit, hasn’t yet decided on the project although Reuters reported 14 September that it will likely build a $1.3 billion passenger car factory in the state, citing Japan’s Kyodonews agency. The move will gather urgency as Maruti seeks to cope with a strike at its plants in Gurgaon and Manesar, both in Haryana.

“Assuming we do go to Gujarat, we will train people for the facility,” said R.C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti. “The state has training facilities.”

With state elections scheduled next year, the government isn’t likely to amend the stipulation on local employment, an industry expert said on condition of anonymity.

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Doing Business In India

amitkapoor — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:36:07 +0000

Orkestra, San Sebastain, Spain
September 15, 2011

L’Intelligence Economique Strategies d’innovation et de Competitive

amitkapoor — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:56:17 +0000

Round Table on Competitiveness
Centre de Conferences Internationales de Ouaga 2000
Ougadougou, Burkina Faso
September 13, 2011

Brochure & Program

L’Intelligence Economique Strategies d’Innovation et de Competitive

amitkapoor — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:17:34 +0000

Workshop on Strategic Intelligence for Competitiveness and Territories
Centre de Conferences Internationales de Ouaga 2000
Ougadougou, Burkina Faso
September 12, 2011

L’Intelligence Economique Strategies d’Innovation et de Competitive

amitkapoor — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:09:20 +0000

Strategic Intelligence for Competitiveness and Territories
Centre de Conferences Internationales de Ouaga 2000
Ougadougou, Burkina Faso
September 12, 2011

Fredrick Jejdling of Sony Ericsson

amitkapoor — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 10:44:17 +0000

Fredrik Jejdling, Regional Head & President, Ericsson India, discusses Ericsson’s milestones, the business scenario and the strategic tools at work in the telecom services market, with Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman at the Institute for Competitiveness

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated September 17, 2011. Download PDF

India: A New Benchmark for Services?

amitkapoor — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:20:01 +0000

International Benchmarking Forum 2011
Basel,Switzerland
September 8, 2011
Brochure & Program

Thomas Schmuckli of Bossard

amitkapoor — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 06:07:54 +0000

“Production Is A Higher Risk Business Than Pure Trade.”

“We decided that we wanted to really focus on our three-pillar model of product, engineering and logistics.”

Amit Kapoor Interviews Thomas Schmuckli

The interview was published in Oulook Business in the issue dated August 20, 2011. Download PDF

Successful Planning, Regeneration and Governance with existing Cities

amitkapoor — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 07:47:53 +0000

RICS International Conference
Delhi, India
August 10-11, 2011

Conference Details

Sustainable Competitiveness Report 2011

amitkapoor — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:10:53 +0000

Source: Institute For Competitiveness (IFC)

Thursday, August 11, 2011 05:30 PM IST (12:00 PM GMT)

Editors: General: Consumer interest, People; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Information technology; Technology

Delhi is the front-runner in sustainable competitiveness among Indian states according to the “Sustainable Competitiveness Report 2011”

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, August 11, 2011 — (Business Wire India)

– Delhi emerges on top because of its low poverty rate, focus on promoting a green environment, efficient use of energy, among other parameters

– Goa emerges on top among medium population density states, leaving states like Punjab and Haryana behind

– Sikkim has emerged on top among low population density states

– Report released at the RICS International Conference on “Planning and delivering urban infrastructure in Indian cities”

– The sustainability competitiveness of the states is assessed on the basis of four pillars and over 200 indicators

According to the Sustainable Competitiveness Index of Indian states launched today by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC), Delhi is the top state in sustainable development competitiveness among the states with high population density. What puts Delhi on top is its performance in economic development, resource utilization and social inclusion. Some of the advances that lend to its top position include

– A lower poverty ratio of 14.7 against the overall poverty ratio of 27.5 of India

– A very high tele-density of more than 100%, which even includes connectivity in villages not only for telephony services but also broadband connectivity

– The literacy rate in the state both for men and women is above 80%

– Its focus on a green environment, which is evident through more than 1800 eco-clubs functioning in the state.

Goa has fared as the best among medium population density states, due to its overall high ranking on all four pillars of the index, namely, Social inclusion, environment and climate change, economic development and resource availability and utilization. The State boasts of over 90% literacy rate, an air-pollution free environment and is in fact pioneering the switch to renewable energy generation among medium population density states with over 7% of its electricity being generated through renewable sources.

Among the low population density states Sikkim has captured the top position owing to its rich environment resources and bio diversity. It is among the most pollution free states in the country with over 40% forest cover.

Some of the other interesting findings of the report include:

– Uttar Pradesh accounts for 20% of the total poor population in India making it the lowest in terms of social inclusion. The state also has the maximum number of rural poor and slum population

– The lowest percentage of people below poverty line is found in the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, which is 5.4% and 8.4% respectively.

– The northeast states of Mizoram and Sikkim have more than one university per million people, which is highest in India.

– The quality of air is worst affected in the states of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in industrial areas.

– The states which have lowest level of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the air are Goa, Mizoram, and Meghalaya & Nagaland which have SPM less than 160 micrograms per cubic meter and gives pollution free air to their workers.

The Sustainability Competitiveness Index evaluates how states are able to achieve sustainable growth without exploiting the environment and natural resources so that they will also be available in future to sustain life. The index showcases the relative rankings of different states reflecting the capability the states posses in nurturing & harnessing sustainable development in their regions.

On the occasion of the report launch, Mr Sachin Sandhir, MD & Country Head, RICS India said, “Sustainability is a core principle underpinning the work RICS does. As a part of out charter, we explore many aspects of sustainability, which are highlighted in this report on ‘Sustainable Competitiveness’ for Indian states. Therefore, we are happy to lend support to this research initiative by IFC.”

To uphold the reliability of the index, the data is collected from the various sources like Ministry of Statistics, CSO, annual reports of different departments, report from different task forces, commissions, Reserve Bank of India and Planning Commission.

Commenting on this year’s ranking, Dr. Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness says, “Sustainable Development is often confused with economic development with focus on preserving the environment and natural resources for future generations, but it extends much beyond just environment. It also talks about social issues like eradication of poverty, satisfying the hunger for food and providing affordable health care facilities to all. Sustainable development brings responsibility in terms of the use of resources and focuses on increasing the productivity and efficiency of the processes.

Report methodology

The sustainable competitiveness index is calculated by assessing more than 200 indicators based on the framework of four main pillars of: 1. Social Inclusion 2.Environment and Climate Change 3.Economic Development 4.Resource Availability and Utilization.

Special emphasis has been laid on preventing multi-colinearity with the use of the principal component analysis to give weights and define the effect of a particular indicator on the index. Selection of the indicators has been done very carefully to give the exact assessment of the states in sustainable development and grouping of indicators has been done to reflect the fault lines and the strengths of the states.

The states are divided into three categories namely high, medium and low population density states as density plays a crucial role in sustainable development. The scores are calculated for each category and states are ranked accordingly.

Press Release

Dipak C Jain of Insead

amitkapoor — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 07:08:01 +0000

A leader in global management education, Dipak C Jain is Dean of Insead and Dean Emeritus of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In a conversation with Dr Amit Kapoor, Professor of Strategy and Industrial Economics at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, Dr Jain offers his insights on the future of global business education.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated August 6, 2011. Download PDF

Escape From Certain Debt

amitkapoor — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:48:58 +0000

The current EU economic crisis has raised concerns over high sovere- ign debt and its harmful effect on economies that has left Greece and Portu- gal in crises. The theory of debt says that once external debt becomes very large, economies are unable to generate pri- mary balance to repay the debt, causing currency deflation and adverse shocks. In light of the global impact of debt, we try to discern the state of affairs in India.

India has to pay external debt of $305.9 billion that accounts for 17.3% of GDP and 10.3% of total public debt on India as of March 31, 2011. The gross public debt on India is more than 70% of GDP, as per IMF, in the year ending 2011. The coun- try’s external debt has grown at the rate of 12.3% annually during 2006-11 while the economy has grown at an annual growth rate of just 7.3%, which is alarm- ing and will leave future generations un- der higher debt burden. This month, the Institute for Competitiveness’ state per- formance barometer looks at the condi- tionof debtacrossthestatesandassesses their position in managing their finances looking through the lens of fiscal deficit, debt-to-GDP and interest payment share in revenue receipts of the government. Higher fiscal deficit makes debt bubble larger and compromises with growth: Ut- tar Pradesh has very high fiscal deficit of 24% of revenues that demands for more borrowing from the markets, and the debt burden has reached `. 2,34,581 crore in 2011, as per RBI. The debt on Uttar Pra- desh alone constitutes 12.9% of the out- standing liabilities of all state govern- ments and the debt-to-GDP ratio has reached 45.8 in 2011. The high debt leaves the government no option but cutting ex- penditure, decreasing subsidies and rais- ing taxes in the economy, which also incr- eases inflation and slows real growth rate. These fiscal irregularities are resp- onsible for slower growth of the state that is just 5.5% annually in the last five years against overall India growth rate of 7.3%.

Mizoram and Sikkim have very high debt-to-GDP ratio of 98.1 and 82.2, respec- tively, and are on the verge of touching the level of debt-to-GDP of Ireland (101.6) and Belgium (103.1) in the EU, which is not appreciable for financial stability. The debt-to-GDP ratio of above 60 is con- sidered dangerous both for developing and emerging economies. Such a high debt increases the risk of financial and economic turmoil and EU has put the mandatory condition of debt-to-GDP less than 60 for any nation to become the part of the European Central Bank and EU.

Robust GDP growth in states makes debt sustainable: Orissa experienced tre- mendous growth rate of nearly 10.02% in the past five years, enabling the state to bring the debt-to-GDP ratio from nearly 60% in 2005-06 to its half in 2010 with the declining rate of above 12% annually (graph 1). The higher growth rate genera- tes more economic activity that eventual- ly increases the revenue receipts of the government from which it is able to repay the interest and principal amount of the debt. Thus, the strategy for states should be to achieve higher growth rate.

Higher interest payment share in reve- nues of state governments raises fear of financial crises: The total outstanding lia- bilities of West Bengal are nearly `. 2 lakh crorein 2011, as per RBI, for which inter- est payments accounts for nearly 60% of government revenues, which means that after paying interest on debt, West Ben- gal will face a huge cash crunch. The in- terest payment share in revenue receipts of West Bengal has grown by 7.76% annu- ally while the GDP has grown at the rate of just 6.02% for 2006-11. Fear of financial crisis, thus, faces West Bengal (graph 2).

High interest payments make the finan- cial system unstable, represent poor fina- ncial health, restrict public expenditure and investments in economic activities and puts the state on a slower growth

track. We need more fiscal reforms and proper credit rating for states to assess their repaying capacity. The rating sho- uld consider government debt, fiscal defi- cit, gross savings, demand, economic growth of all primary, secondary and ter- tiary sectors, and previous debt history to assess the condition and avoid the sit- uation of excessive debt.

The states need to follow different strat- egies to tackle their financial condition to achieve higher growth and reduce debt burden. On the basis of debt and growth to be followed, states can be classified in- to four categories (see graph) and suggest economic strategy they need to follow.

The Article was published in Economic Times on July 30, 2011. Download PDF

Guru Purnima

amitkapoor — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:48:19 +0000

In the full moon day of the Hindu month of Ashad (July-August) is celebrated the holy festival of Guru Purnima. It is an occasion on which the disciples remember and express their gratitude towards the lineage of their Gurus. This year it was celebrated on July 15, 2011.

Different cultures and beliefs interpret the significance of the day in different ways. For the Hindus, it is the day that marks the celebration of the oneness of mentor and disciple. It is believed that Guru Vyasa was born on this auspicious day. Guru Vyasa was a sage who wrote not only the Mahabharata, one of the two epics of Hindu mythology, but also the 18 Puranas and the Srimad Bhagwat Gita. He was one of the greatest gurus in ancient Hindu traditions and is regarded as the Guru of Gurus in the culture.

A rare tale states that Vyasa started writing the Brahma Sutras on ashadha sudha padyami and ended them on this day enriching the archive of the ancient culture. Hence, in remembrance the recitations from these Sutras are enchanted as a dedication to him. And the day is also known as Vyasa Purnima. Tradition of celebrating this day is carried on since ancient days when students used to have education in Gurukul. This day, the teachers are worshipped as the Lord.

For the Buddhists, it is a festival celebrated in the honor of lord Buddha who gave his first sermon at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India.

In Sanskrit Guru (teacher) means remover of darkness or ignorance Hindus attach paramount importance to spiritual gurus. Gurus are often equated to God and are regarded as a link between the individual and the Immortal.

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwaraha,

Guru Saakshat Para Brahma, Tasmai Sree Gurave Namaha.

This verse clearly states the significance of a guide and teacher in ones’ life. It tells us that it is the teacher who gives us knowledge about the Ultimate Power and tells us about God and faith, and so should be worshipped and respected as God. On Guru Purnima, teacher is given respect and their blessing is taken by offering them Guru Dakshina.

This day also holds great importance to the farmers in the country, as it marks the onset of the much-awaited monsoons, as the arrival of the fresh showers infuse life into the crops and the fields thus promising a that the needs of the people will be sufficed.

It is said that this day is a good time to begin spiritual lessons. Devotees seeking spiritual awareness and bliss, commence to intensify their spiritual ‘sadhana’ from this day onwards.

Astrologically, the planet Juipiter is represented as the Guru, the only planet that has the ability to annul any hardship caused by the other planets. It represents the higher mind, the vision of truth, and the principles of growth, expansion, and optimism.

India EU Relations

amitkapoor — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:46:17 +0000

EU had initially demanded India for data exclusivity as one of the pre conditions in the signing of the bilateral Free Trade Agreement which would have impacted India adversely as the registration of generic drugs including drugs that do not require a patent under Indian law would have resulted in a long delay. However, later on both the parties had agreed that data exclusivity would not be a part of the deal.

Now another cause of concern arose when EU had urged India to cut its production of low cost generic drugs. Since India is a global supplier of cheap drugs many poor and developing countries rely heavily on India for affordable life saving anti retroviral (ARV) drugs used for treating HIV patients. Over 85 % of the patients worldwide are treated by Indian drugs. Generic ARVs constitutes a fraction of the price when compared with the patented ARVs sold by western pharmaceutical companies which are constantly emphasizing for greater protection of IPR rights.

Such a clause would allow the patent holders to take legal actions against all those involved in the producers, manufacturers and distributors of medicines suspected of violating IP right and would increase the risk of medicines being held at Indian borders. Moreover the pharmaceutical companies could get away from Indian courts and sue the Indian government under the investment clause of the FTA that guards the interests of foreign companies.

EU has been advocating policies that put restrictions on low-cost versions whereas the Indian Minister for Commerce, Anand Sharma had assured that the production of generic drugs will not be liked with the FTA as a lot of people across the world could die if India stopped producing the low-cost drugs. Even the international health groups are supporting India over this issue and are saying that EU should not impose such clauses that are harmful to public health.

News

amitkapoor — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:37:24 +0000

Indian Exports increased by 45.7% in Q1 of 2011
In the first quarter of the current fiscal year India witnessed a phenomenal growth of 45.7% in exports. However, the US and European markets exhibited a weak recovery.
In the month of June, Incredible India attracts 4 lakh foreigners to India
With north eastern regions accounting for maximum growth, the tourism industry of India attracted 4 lakh foreigners to India
Statue of Nobel prize winner, Rabindranath Tagore in London
Prince Charles unveiled the £ 50,0000 bronze statue of Rabindra Nath Tagore, the first Asian to win the award, which was his collection of poems titles Gitanjali in 1913 at Gordon Square, central London, to mark the poet’s 150th birth anniversary
Bangladeshi businessmen are looking forward for Indian investments
Bangladesh is eyeing at more Indian investment under the new bilateral trade agreement signed between Bangladesh and India.

Oil & Gas

amitkapoor — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:06:25 +0000

An Overview:

One of the six core industries in India, Oil and Gas industry is of vital importance and is the major driver of country’s economic growth as the growth of other sectors is largely dependent on it. Oil & gas account for approximately 45% of the total Primary Energy Mix of the country. India is the fifth largest consumer of energy in the world with 70% of its requirements being met by imports. However, the per capita energy consumption of country is extremely low when compared to the international standards. Entry of private companies like Reliance has brought a fillip to the domestic oil and gas sector and is bridging the gap in the demand supply condition. Because of the environmental benefits, the proportion of natural gas in the total energy mix has increased to 10 per cent in 2009 from 4 per cent in 1999 reducing the heavy reliance on coal. There has also been a tremendous growth in the Exploration and Production activities on account of growing demand and various initiatives undertaken by the government. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited and Oil India Ltd., private and joint-venture companies are engaged in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the country.

Some Facts:

Crude oil production has been 33.51 million metric tonnes (MMT) with natural gas at 32.85 billion cubic metre during 2008-09 and domestic refinery production was 119.252 MMT during 2009-10 (till December 09).

While a total of 28.6 MMT of petroleum products were exported, the quantity of imports amounted to 10.6 MMT during 2009-10 (upto December 2009).

Demand for petroleum products rose by 4.4 per cent (year-on-year) to 144.35 million tonnes (MT) during 2010-11.

The quantity of crude oil imported during 2009-10 (upto December 2009) was 109.3 Million Metric Tonne (MMT)

The country has a total reserve of more than 1400 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 1200 million metric tonnes of crude oil as on the 1st of April 2010.

Government Policy:

The New Exploration Licensing Policy permits 100% FDI under the automatic route in all activities other than refining and including market study and formulation, investment/financing, setting up infrastructure for marketing in Petroleum and Natural Gas Sector subject to policies followed in this sector. The Government is also urging national oil companies to acquire oil and gas opportunities overseas in order to balance the demand–supply of hydrocarbons in the country and to ensure energy security.

Future Prospects:

India’s energy needs are bound to increase in the coming years looking at the pace at which the country in growing and the rising. Since the energy resources that are indigenously available are limited and may not be sufficient in the long run to sustain the process of economic development there is a dire need to have efficient and reliable energy supplies. For this it is essential for the government as well as the private companies to find more incentive exploration methods and keep a check on the exploitation of the petroleum. The government should also take measures to follow a balanced and rational global price regime and minimize fluctuations.

To know more about the sector logon to www.petroleum.nic.in

Entrepreneur India 2011: Grow Your Business

amitkapoor — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 07:53:59 +0000

New Delhi, India
July 15, 2011

Brochure

Ganesh Lakshminarayanan of Dell

amitkapoor — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 06:59:39 +0000

Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, President and CEO, Dell India, chatted with Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman at the Institute for Competitiveness and Professor of Strategy and Industrial Economics at MDI, Gurgaon, on the metamorphosis of Dell from a hardware manufacturer to a technology solutions company.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated July 23, 2011. Download PDF

INDIA: Tommorrow’s Economy Today’s Business Destination.Co-Create the Future with India

amitkapoor — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:04:13 +0000

Conference Organized by INSEAD
Gurgaon(NCR), India
July 4, 2011

News

amitkapoor — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:20:38 +0000

Legendary canvas turns blank, M F Hussain is no more
The great Indian artist Maqbool Fida Hussain passed away on June 9, 2011 in London. He was living abroad since 2006 as he was in self exile.
Prithvi-II successfully flight-tested
Indian army on Thursday successfully test-fired the indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-2 ballistic missile at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district.
India largest recipient of global and GCC remittances
According to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, India continued to be the largest recipient of remittances in 2010.
Longest lunar eclipse: when the moon turned red
The country witnessed the longest lunar eclipse of the century.

India EU Relation

amitkapoor — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:18:47 +0000

Para-33 of the resolution passed by European Parliament on May 11, 2011 emphasizes human rights, democracy and security as the basis of any kind of relationship between European Union & India.

Following the resolution European Parliament has asked India and Pakistan to step forward and ensure an open dialogue to resolve the very sensitive Kashmir dispute. It has urged India to restore human rights in the disputed region. Earlier in 2008 European Parliament had asked India to take strict actions against those who were involved in the atrocities, conduct prosecution and should do whatever is required to eradicate human rights abuse.

EU Ambassador to India Daniele Smadja, Irish Ambassador Kenneth Thompson, Belgian Ambassador Pierre Vaesan and other diplomats visited Kashmir- ‘world’s most beautiful prison’ to meet the independent leaders and understand their opinions on the matter. Daniele Smadja is keeping an eye on the situation and sending her reports to the concerned authority.

Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who frequently visited EU headquarters at Brussels, last month, sees this as a step ahead towards the resolution of the dispute. Sajjad Karim who is the British member of the European Parliament President of friends of Pakistan is very happy by this resolution and said that it was the outcome of their intense efforts to convince European parliament to bring forth the Kashmir issue. On the other hand, India is taking a neutral stand over the resolution. However, Kashmir would be the core issue of bilateral talks that will happen in the forthcoming meeting scheduled for June 23 & 24 at Islamabad between Nirupama Rao, Indian Foreign Secretary and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.

The much delayed Free Trade Agreement might have to suffer again as the signing of the same could also be dependent fulfilling certain conditionalities and on the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, which is a bone of contention for India and Pakistan since decades.

Ganga Dusshera

amitkapoor — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:16:19 +0000

The Hindus venerate Ganga (Ganges), India’s largest river as the most sacred river. It holds a unique place in Indian mythology and is worshipped as a mother and a goddess. It is believed that this holy river originated in heaven. Ganga Dussehra marks the birth of the descent of the Ganga to earth. It is a 10 day festival beginning on the Amavasya (dark moon night) to the Shukla Dashami Tithi (10th Lunar Day) in the month of Jyeshta (usually around May – June). This year it was celebrated on June 11.

According to the legend, once when Bhagiratha, a Suryavanshi king and the great grandson of Sagara (King of the Ikshvaku dynasty ruling Ayodhya) came across the bones of his dead ancestors, he wanted to perform shraddha (death anniversary) ceremony. But there was no water available and the country was passing through a severe drought as Agastya had drunk all the water of the ocean. So Bhagiratha prayed to the Creator Bhrahma to end the drought. Brahma told him to pray to Lord Vishnu as Ganga sourced from his toe. Vishnu accepted Bhagiratha’s request but asked him to convince Lord Shiva, the third member of the Hindu trinity of Gods to allow to the gushing river to fall on his head before it descent to the earth as the heavy flow of the river if unchecked, would split the earth. After days long hard work of Bhagirath, Shiva agreed to bear the weight of the river on his head and finally Ganga flowed to the vast plains of the earth converting the dry wasteland into a rich fertile one.

Devotees in huge numbers move to places like Rishikesh, Haridwar, Garh-Mukteshwar, Prayag, and Varanasi for ten days in the month of Jyeshtha to worship and honor the river Ganga. They meditate and offer prayers. It is believed that by taking a dip in the holy river one can attain deliverance from ten sins. People sprinkle Ganga Jal (water of the Ganges), kept in their homes if they are unable to go to the riverbanks to purify themselves. Morning and evening aartis(Hindu religious ritual of worship)performed on the banks of river Ganga is a treat to watch. Thousands of leaf boats laden with flames, flowers and sweetmeats are offered to the river and they flow with the current to the sounds of the bells and bhajans, kirtans (religious songs) and shlokas (chants).

Gems & Jewellery

amitkapoor — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:07:11 +0000

India is the largest manufacturer of gems & jewelry in the world. The highly skilled labor, cheap manpower, rich gold reserves backed by strong government support and good distribution network has made India highly competitive in the global arena. The industry is fueling economy’s growth as it a leading foreign exchange earner accounting for more than 12% of India’s total exports. The industry has witnessed an incredible growth of 47% in the total Gem & Jewelry exports that amounted to US $ 43140 million in the FY 2010-2011.

Overview:

The industry is divided into five segments: Cut and Polished Diamonds, Gemstones, Gold and Jewelry, Pearl and Synthetic Stones and Others, which includes the precious metal jewelry (except for gold), synthetic stones and costume fashion jewelry. With 80% of its turnover contributed by diamonds, the industry is often called the diamond industry. India was the first country to introduce, mine, cut and polish them as well as trade them to the world. This indigenous expertise has made India the leading diamond cutting and polishing nation. India is also the largest consumer of gold worldwide and third largest consumer of polished Diamond after USA and Japan.

Currently the Indian gems and jewelry market is dominated by the unorganized sector. However, the apex body like Gem & Jewelry Export Promotion Council is trying to consolidate this fragmented industry and players like the Gold Souk having multiple brands are emerging.

India has prowess in making traditional (hand-made) as well as modern jewelry designs. Rural artisans with the creative legacy have a large demand in various countries. Even the large International retailers like WalMart import exclusive Jewelry items from India. India has also developed expertise in machine-made jewelry using technology driven designs. This is expected to generate demand of non-ethnic jewelry as well.

Government Policy:

The government has extended its full support to this industry by allowing 100% FDI through automatic route. A number of Special Economic Zones have been established and many are in the process. However, the government has tightened its certification process for international trade following the World Diamond Council’s statement on adopting credible and effective measures against the trade in conflict gems. The government’s Central Board of Excise and Customs has banned the import or export of rough diamond shipments, which does not have Kimberley Process certificate launched in Switzerland. Certification for quality diamonds and jewelry has resulted in greater acceptance of Indian products in the world market has given an impetus to exports.

Future Prospects:

According to GJEPC the industry is likely to grow at CAGR of 13% during 2011 & 2013, with exports expected to grow by 35 per cent in 2011 and the branded jewelry market to grow at more than 41% in the coming four years. More & more international buyers are considering India as a source of quality jewelry. With changing lifestyle, urbanization and government trying to standardize the sector, the industry has a dazzling future. It would not be long when India would be established as a brand in the global market.

To know more about this sector visit www.gjepc.org

Dr. Christian Ketels of Harvard Business School

amitkapoor — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 06:35:24 +0000

Dr Christian Ketels is a member of the Harvard Business School faculty at Professor Michael E Porter’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. He spoke to Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness, about the hazards facing the world economy

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated June 25, 2011. Download PDF

City Competitiveness

amitkapoor — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 08:17:49 +0000

7th International Conference on Real Estate
CII
New Delhi, India
June 10, 2011

Governance

amitkapoor — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 11:01:53 +0000

7th International Conference on Real Estate
CII
New Delhi, India
June 10, 2011

Speakers

Boosting Farm Performance

amitkapoor — Sat, 28 May 2011 07:32:35 +0000

Agriculture has to feed 1.2 billion Indians. But while the economy grew 7.4% in 2009-10, agriculture grew by just 0.2%. The production of foodgrains grew 1.96% per annum from 2001-10 while the area to produce food-grains has just increased by 0.3%. Meanwhile the population has increased over 17% over the period 2001-11. How can we increase farm productivity?

Public spending which varies across states, has to increase. States like Delhi and Sikkim spent more than Rs 7,000 per hectare but Rajasthan spent less than Rs 330 per hectare on average between 2001-10. Many farmers in India don’t have access to enough capital to buy seeds & fertilisers. Land holdings are also small, restricting production. Without more public spending yields can’t go up.

More foodgrains have to be produced for every hectare to feed our people. Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have improved their productivity by more than 90% and 70% respectively but are still behind Punjab and Haryana. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, productivity fell in 2009-10 compared to 2001. Higher productivity can also help farmers gain from higher food prices. In UP, Rajasthan, Orissa, and Himachal Pradesh more than half of the workforce is engaged in agriculture but at very low labour productivity, defined as agricultural GDP divided by total agricultural workforce. This shows how much states can leverage their agricultural workforce for development.

The agricultural workforce is estimated to be 286 million in 2010 against 234 million in 2001. But the percentage of total workforce engaged in agriculture has fallen from 58% in 2001 to 55% in 2010. At the same time, the contribution of agriculture to GDP fell from 23.2% to 17.7%. Despite a bigger workforce in agriculture, the contribution of agriculture in the Indian economic growth has come down drastically.

Agriculture in different states is still driven by the traditional methods of cultivation, limited awareness about crop information systems, new seed and fertilisers and has huge dependence on weather. The problem lies back deep in the lack of robust policy initiatives and agriculture in many states. Different

schemes of the government are limited in terms of reach and access by the poor farmers. The agriculture sector needs more marketing assistance and training of farmers on new high-yielding technology so that they can increase their per capita GDP by getting both the right price and increasing the yield.

The states can be classified into three categories depending on the type of strategy they need to follow to improve their agricultural and labor productivity.

Value-Chain Enhancement Strategy -These states which have higher agricultural productivity & GDP must invest in developing food value-chains for timely supply. These states can enter the profitable, value added segment of food-processing. These include: Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tripura, Delhi and West Bengal.

Technology – Upgradation Strategy The states at the middle of agricultural productivity need to invest in new information systems, introduce high yield seeds, quality fertilisers and equipment. These include: UP, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

Investments Strategy -The laggards need to invest heavily to train farmers about good farm practices and high yield methods. Interest-free loans, subsidised seeds and fertilisers are needed in Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

The article was published in Economic Times on May 28, 2011. Download PDF

Prakash Jha

amitkapoor — Sat, 21 May 2011 10:39:15 +0000

While the glamour of the Indian film industry is well known around the world, its other dimensions are also beginning to attract attention. Prakash Jha, film director, spoke to Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness, on issues ranging from the strategic elements shaping cinema to the socio-economic situation in India today.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated May 28, 2011. Download PDF

Clusters, a Strategic Agenda for Latin America

amitkapoor — Sat, 21 May 2011 08:23:07 +0000

6CLAC Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais
6 TCI Latin American Conference on Clusters
Brazil
May 16-20, 2011

Doing Business In India and Entry Strategy

amitkapoor — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:29:41 +0000

NIRO
Dortmund, Germany
May 10, 2011

State Competitiveness Report 2011 on Rediff

amitkapoor — Fri, 06 May 2011 04:44:28 +0000

India’s per capita income just crossed $1,000, and that has catapulted us into a league of countries that drive growth and consumption engine of the world.

As per the Institute for Competitiveness, India’s regions are not growing uniformly.

States such as Goa and Delhi has per capita income of more than $1,500, equivalent to those of countries such as Bolivia and the Philippines.

While states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have per capital income lower than $400.

Institute for Competitiveness used more than 400 indicators to arrive at the final index for competitiveness.

State Competitiveness report 2011 on Rediff

Doing Business In India: A Session for Government Organizations

amitkapoor — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:20:49 +0000

University of Puebla
Puebla, Mexico
May 4, 2011

Doing Business in India: A Session for Corporates

amitkapoor — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:17:13 +0000

University of Puebla
Puebla, Mexico
May 4, 2011

Key Strategies and Building Competitiveness for Developing Economies

amitkapoor — Thu, 05 May 2011 08:30:30 +0000

University of Puebla
Mexico
May 4, 2011

State Competitiveness Report 2011

amitkapoor — Mon, 02 May 2011 10:30:13 +0000

Source: Institute For Competitiveness (IFC)

Monday, May 02, 2011 04:13 PM IST (10:43 AM GMT)

Editors: General: Consumer interest, Economy, People, Politics; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Information technology

Goa Takes Top Spot in the Indian State Competitiveness Report 2011

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Monday, May 02, 2011 — (Business Wire India)

- Delhi and Maharashtra slip to the 2nd and 3rd position this year from 1st and 2nd position respectively in 2010 among the high income states

- Gujarat emerges as the best middle income state owing to its focus on providing business incentives and developing the physical and communication infrastructure

- More than 400 indicators were used to arrive at the final index for competitiveness

- States classified into 3 categories of high, medium and low income for the first time

- The comparative report provides hard data for states to assess themselves in order to initiate/facilitate improvement

According to the State Competitiveness Report launched today by the Institute for Competiveness (IFC), Goa ranks No. 1 as the most competitive state in the nation. Income, consumption and demographics have played the most critical role in Goa’s ascendance.

Delhi and Maharashtra have dropped one place each to the 2nd and 3rd position respectively from last year.

Gujarat has fared as the best middle income state due to its focus on providing business incentives, improving physical and communication infrastructure as well as the state’s healthy financial condition.

Rajasthan has topped the rankings among low-income states owing to its high income and consumption capability. It has also scored the highest in communication infrastructure and human capacity.

Among the low income states, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur top the list with high human capacity. While evaluating the states in this category on the financial parameters, Bihar is next only to Madhya Pradesh.

Punjab, which ranks very high on factors such as innovation and communication, has lagged behind in its ranking on parameters of income & consumption, supplier sophistication and administration, over the last few years.

The India State Competitiveness Report is an annual publication that provides insights into the determinants of competitiveness for states and policymaking bodies. It highlights the pillars on which states can base their decisions and ensure a more progressive, all-encompassing path to overall qualitative improvement.

Commenting on this year’s ranking, Dr. Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness says, “The remedy to the unequal growth of India lies in the enhancement of the competitiveness quotient of the states, for they collectively comprise the whole nation. An envisioning exercise complemented by apt policies, an efficient government and a focus on infrastructure can help transcend the economy.”

Report Methodology

This year’s methodology has been modified to further sub-categorize states into three particular income brackets of high-income (over $ 900), middle-income ($500-900) and low income (below $500) for a better comparative analysis. These categories have been created by determining whether the state economies are factor-driven, investment-driven or innovation-driven.

While factor-driven economies typically focus on low-cost basic factor conditions (Low-skilled labour, natural resources, geographic location); investment-driven economies are focused on producing standard products and services of high quality at lower wages than advanced economies. Innovation-driven economies tend to focus on innovative products and services at the global technology frontier. In India we have locations such as cities, districts and states that would fall into each of the categories.

This study, like previous years, develops an index of competitiveness (based on the diamond model of Michael Porter) to assess and evaluate the competitiveness levels of the selected states, one of the prime factors resulting in the glaring discrepancies between growth rates.

More than 400 indicators were used to arrive at this final index for competitiveness. The report presents a perspective on the impact of the business environment on a state’s competitiveness, and allows governments and firms to acquire acumen in a state’s performances.

Press Release

State Competitiveness Report 2011 in Business World

amitkapoor — Sun, 01 May 2011 04:14:34 +0000

The State Competitiveness Report 2010 was covered by Business World in the issue dated May 9, 2011. Download PDF

States Must Take Growth Call

amitkapoor — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 08:32:26 +0000

Telecom sector plays a multiplier role in the socio-economic development of a nation as it provides the primary support service to communicate with each other. It has become a fundamental requirement for the rapid development and modernisation of different sectors with the tremendous growth in the requirement of information literacy.

This article brings out how telecommunication accessibility plays an important role in the growth of a region. For our assessment, we have taken tele-density as our basic parameter. Tele-density refers to the number of telephone connections per 100 persons. It is a clear indicator of accessibility and the penetration of the telephonic services among the people.

High tele-density harnesses high growth in a region

High tele-density reflects the higher level of communication and chances of collaboration among peers, the primary need of development. Delhi, which has very high per-capita income and growth rate of 11.86%, relies highly on the services and usage of telecommunication for its development. With more two connections per person in Delhi, it gives opportunity for the people to share critical information more easily and in shorter period of time.

States such as Gujarat and Kerala, which enjoy high growth rates of 10.8% and 9.55% respectively, are attractive destinations for investment due to high tele-density as an enabler. Due to high literacy in Gujarat (79.31%) and Kerala (93.91%), they are a good market for 3G and WiMax services that will support further development of industry in these states. States such as Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, which are more agriculture-driven, are likely to avail the high technology services of weather and crop information with high tele-density.

Lower-growing states need tofocus high on tele-density

The lower-growing regions lack quality telecommunication infrastructure for coordination and information-sharing. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, which are the most dense and highly populous states, are not able to leverage their huge population for economic growth with GDP growth rate of 5.8% and 4.7%, respectively, due to lower telephonic reach as one of the primary reasons.

Information-sharing and delivery to the masses become a huge challenge for organisations in these states with tele-density of nearly 50%. One of the country’s mineral-rich states, Jharkhand is growing at just 5.92% and Assam at 5.31%. Jharkhand has tele-density of just 6, lowest in the country. Lack of telephone service limits communication in Jharkhand, hurting socio-economic development in the mineral-rich state. Both states need urgent attention from an investment perspective to develop affordable telecommunication facilities as they have low per-capita incomes of $395 and $419 respectively.

States needs to leverage their high tele-density for future growth

Punjab is highly dependent on agriculture and has a very high tele-density of 97.9%. So, nearly every individual in the state has one telephone connection and higher per-capita income of $864. Both the factors can be leveraged for availing the upcoming technological services on real-time information on weather, crops, seeds and fertilisers. The high tele-density can also be used as a platform to market crops, easily monitoring market trends.

Standard growth rate should be used to develop more telecom facilities

There are states that are performing high on the growth rate chart but need to develop more telecom facilities to maintain the desired growth rate. Chhattisgarh has a very high growth rate of 9.78% but tele-density of less than 6. It will be difficult for Chhattisgarh to sustain this growth rate without investing in telecom facilities to fulfil the supporting communication requirement of businesses.

West Bengal and Rajasthan have growth rate of about 7.5% but lower tele-density of 47.84 and 62.3. So, sustainable development as the supporting factor of strong telecom penetration is missing in the states. The need is to develop adequate telecom facilities so that more people can avail the telephone at affordable prices as they have lower per-capita income of $599 and $497 respectively. Bihar has the lowest per-capita income of $294 and is heavily dependent on government incentives and investment in telecom to ensure the recent economic growth continues.

The Future

The states needs to understand the value of high tele-density for the sustainable economic growth. The need of the hour is to offer incentives and lucrative investment in telecom so that telephony becomes accessible to all.

The Article was published in Economic Times on April 30th, 2011. Download PDF

Business of Education

amitkapoor — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 09:34:23 +0000

National Convention on Business of Education
Franchise India with support of Indian Franchise Association and KPMG
New Delhi, India
April 22-23, 2011

Vinod Sawhney of Beetel Teletech

amitkapoor — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 06:00:41 +0000

In a freewheeling interview with Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman at the Institute for Competitiveness, Vinod Sawhny, Executive Director and CEO, Beetel Teletech, speaks on a range of issues, from competitiveness in technology devices to the aspiring Indian customer.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated April 30, 2011. Download PDF

Salil Parekh of Capgemini

amitkapoor — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 06:25:12 +0000

Salil Parekh, CEO of Financial Services (Asia), Capgemini, shares his insights on the impact of disruptive technology on the company’s business with Dr Amit Kapoor, Honorary Chairman, Institute for Competitiveness.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated April 16, 2011. Download PDF

Estonian-Indian Business Opportunities

amitkapoor — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 10:29:46 +0000

A coffee-morning focusing on Estonian-Indian business opportunities
Tallinn, Estonia
April 1, 2010

Video

Inspiring Clusters

amitkapoor — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:41:29 +0000

TCI European Regional Conference
Tallinn, Estonia
March 30-31, 2011
Conference Program

View more presentations from amitkapoor.

India’s Best B’Schools or Placement Agencies

amitkapoor — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:57:55 +0000

THE world is going through a tectonic shift in a century that should be categorised as the Indian century because of the huge demographic dividend that India would present to the world.

This understanding that India would be a talent supplier to the world is growing and has fuelled significant growth of the business school education industry.

The growth was such that we saw the onslaught of new institutions in the last few years. India today has close to 2,500 business schools spread across the length and breadth of the country. It is certainly heartening to see that management education has done well in the country. Yet, it still hasn’t come of age.

It’s fairly obvious that with the advent of business school education, and our fondness for it in general, we would see an emergence of an opportunity related to ranking of business schools. We have close to two dozen rankings present in the country, which rank B-Schools based on various parameters, using different methodologies. This incidentally gave rise to a debate as to whether rankings are a true reflection of quality of business schools.

Incidentally I believe that the debate itself is not required because rankings are important as they help in fundamentally differentiating the schools as per criteria used by various rankings. We can all debate on the efficacy of the methodologies and the criteria used by various rankings.

This debate could be important though at this juncture it is fundamentally useless and not required, for the simple reason that it diverts our attention from that larger problem that we have at hand, that is, the efficacy, the quality, the impact and contribution of the business school fraternity.

We are all missing a fairly critical point in case we move on to debating the efficacy of the ranking without having a clear understanding about the problems of business school education. We in this country do boast of great institutions but do not at any point in time try to discover or question as to the real impact the great institutions are having.

What is the real business of business schools, especially the critical stakeholders in the school, that is, students and faculty? The tragedy is that B-Schools have got relegated to the role of placement agencies and all students and faculty are partners in the demise of the larger reason for the existence of a B-School – to create entrepreneurs.

The problem does not stop here as faculty also need to make contributions to knowledge, consulting, teaching and training. As of today it seems that B-Schools are in the business of chasing training opportunities that are easy to capture rather than creating knowledge that is meaningful and a reflection of our existing context. The real business of B-Schools is not to just churn out students, boast of great rankings but create entrepreneurs and knowledge. The business schools in the country have fared miserably in both these parameters and are merrily participating in rankings that blissfully move the debate away from the real issue at hand and that is of impact that would really put our country firmly on a map as a knowledge capital of the world and an entrepreneurial hub that makes the world go around.

The Article was published in Careers 360 on March 25, 2011. Download PDF

Sanjay Verma of Cushman & Wakefield

amitkapoor — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 06:43:59 +0000

In an exclusive interview, Sanjay Verma, CEO, Asia-Pacific, Cushman & Wakefield, shares his insights on strategy, competition and challenges in the real estate industry with Dr Amit Kapoor, Honourable Chairman of the Institute of Competitiveness.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated April 2, 2011. Download PDF

B-School regulation: Two Steps Back

amitkapoor — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:56:57 +0000

The recent notifications by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) come as a rude shock for the education fraternity of the country. The notification regulates the working of business schools or post-graduate diploma in management (PGDM) institutions in conducting their regular and part-time programmes. Consequentially, their freedom to be innovative and progressive is curtailed. To say the least, the business schools are under attack and soon shall lose their independence to gross misunderstanding of the political masters and regulators of this country.

For a moment, let us accept the decree of AICTE and its underlying ideas that there is a need for regulation. Here, we need to ask a few compelling fundamental questions and analyse the situation deeper.

Need for regulation: Regulation is required to preserve, maintain and protect the rights of the consumer. In addition, regulation needs to look at creating a level playing field and protect the rights of the service providers. We would typically look at a market wherein we have infinite customers and finite providers. Regulating the number of providers presents a fair degree of competition. Regulation looks at an underlying assumption that cut-throat competition would lead to price wars.

What is wrong with AICTE decree?: Regulation tries to create oligopolies wherein there is a restriction on the number of players. These firms can’t exist in isolation and they operate around some minimum acceptable standards within the industry.

There is no interdependence between business schools as they exist in isolation. The challenge is to ensure customer service and laying down minimum acceptable standards. The world over, we have had accreditations and certifications for business schools such as The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and The Association of MBAs (Amba) that reflect the quality and degree of standardisation in schools and the processes they follow.

Each player today has unlimited access to the market, and that forces the mechanism of price and service regulation. As the case stands, the AICTE decree will disorient this very nature of competition.

A regulator ensures complete disclosure of information by service providers and then leaves the choice of accepting and rejecting in the hands of the customer. On the other hand, service providers tend to differentiate by creating brands and interactions at touch points that could have a different impact.

However, this is certainly not the case with business schools, which clearly create differentiation through the quality of students, the syllabi, the placements they achieve and research they undertake.

Now, if AICTE says they would admit students, determine the pricing and the curriculum, it would amount to the idea that AICTE is becoming a service provider and all the business schools in the country would become agents of delivery.

This change certainly compels us to ask a question: is AICTE a regulator or a service provider? In case AICTE does not understand this question – which it would not in all likelihood – let us ask a question pertaining to the telecom industry: does Trai find customers for telecom operators?

Telecom industry is a perfect example of oligopoly wherein the interdependence between the players is high and this ensures the delivery of service and smart regulation has created playing field that is not exploitative for customers and detrimental for service providers.

The final word: It is absolutely clear that AICTE is trying to do what it is not intended to do. The regulation will not benefit the business schools. It would, though, certainly benefit business schools that are gross underperformers, i.e., schools that can neither find students nor generate revenues. This goes fundamentally against the ethos of capitalism wherein the innovative and fit survive.

The regulation may make top schools reinvent themselves and exit this particular product.

To say the least, the government has taken a regressive step and it would effectively undo what business schools built over decades tediously. If the government doesn’t retract the decree, it may be concluded that we would be left with a socialistic society at the lowest level of quality and performance.

In effect, AICTE will resemble the erstwhile monopoly of the Life Insurance Corp of India where the insurer had no competition but intense competition within agents.

The Article was published in Economic Times on March 12, 2011.

Arvind Thakur of NIIT Technologies

amitkapoor — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 10:11:29 +0000

In a freewheeling chat, Arvind Thakur, President and CEO of NIIT Technologies, spoke to Dr Amit Kapoor of the Institute for Competitiveness about the challenges and opportunities before the IT industry.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated March 19, 2011. Download PDF

AICTE Takes a Giant Step Back

amitkapoor — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 10:39:58 +0000

Higher education is no more a mere matter of national policy and government regulations. Not only have private companies long entered and established themselves in the education sector, even government-associated institutions have been moving towards a regime of greater autonomy. Higher education is a globalised affair now and is highly commercialised. Universities are transcending geographical and political boundaries. Educational institutions are tailoring their courses to match international standards in terms of curriculum and structure.India’s higher education policy of the 1950s, which envisaged schools of excellence, has paid rich dividends. Institutes like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are now globally recognised. The main governing body is the University Grants Commission (UGC), set up under the UGC Act 1956, and it is responsible for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards and the release the grants to universities and research organisations. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is a statutory body, under the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. AICTE is responsible for proper planning and coordinated development of technical and management education in India. The AICTE accredits postgraduate and graduate programmes under specific categories at Indian institutions according to its charter.Though we have been trying to move towards a system of more liberalised education, presence of a large number of Satutory Bodies in higher education has resulted in a highly Bureaucratic system with multiple controls and regulations.

On December 28, 2010 AICTE issued a notification for regulating the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) courses in the country. The notification includes eight points; most of them leading towards the greater role of respective state governments in the running of AICTE-approved PGDM/PGCM courses. The first point of the notification says, “All Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) shall be of duration of not less than 24 months.”

Management courses all over the world are offered in formats typically ranging from 12 to 21 months for full-time programmes. In a typical MBA programme, students are exposed to a common body of knowledge in basic accounting, economics, finance, human resources and organisation design, marketing, operations, policy and quantitative methods and statistics in the first year. And in the second year, students take specialised courses according to their preferences and strengths. MBA programmes tend to get shorter when incoming students have more managerial experience. Universities offer accelerated 12- to 15-month programmes for candidates who are already proficient in some of the industry-specific areas and have clearly-defined career paths.

AICTE’s recommendation of 24-month PGDM courses doesn’t base itself on valid rationale. There are many points that we should consider before jumping to such changes.

One of the underlying challenges is that the fee structure of all the institutes will be affected if such a change takes place because operating costs for three more months will have to be factored in. This is not feasible unless there is a fee increase.

Almost nowhere in the world is a full-time MBA course of 24 or more months offered. When we are trying to move towards a globalised and international education system, this will be an obvious digression. It might end up discouraging foreign students from taking up PGDM courses in India and will also affect the international brand and reputation of Indian colleges.

In many institutes, students go on exchange programmes to foreign institutes in the corresponding semesters. A 24-month programme in the home country and a 21-month programme abroad will clearly create a mismatch and impact the effectiveness of such exchange programmes.

Business schools are trying to pull in more and more work-experienced students; a longer-duration MBA course will significantly raise the opportunity cost associated with postgraduate courses. Students are likely to prefer some shorter- duration courses abroad or executive programmes in the country.

The present structure of PGDM courses is sufficient in terms of content and intensity. The 21 months even encompass a two- or three-month summer internship that gives students hands-on industry experience and helps them make more informed career decisions.

A shorter duration course always holds the incentive for the graduate that he/she will get back to work earlier and start earning earlier.

Last but not the least, a 21-month course gives the graduates a buffer period of one or two months before they actually enter industry. Such a break is sometimes necessary after a gruelling time at B-school.

So, just as we are trying to match international standards and make higher education more global, AICTE’s recommendations take us a step backward in the direction of regulations and control. Before taking any such steps, the long- term effects on the brand and quality of management education in India must be analysed. We are still far away from realising the dreams envisaged in 1950s.

The Article was published in Business Standard on February 26,2011. Download PDF

A Vaidheesh of Johnson & Johnson

amitkapoor — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:31:42 +0000

A Vaidheesh, Managing Director, Johnson & Johnson Medical India explains to Dr Amit Kapoor of the Institute for Competitiveness, how the company’s business model can raise the standard of healthcare in the country.

The interview was published in Outlook Business in the issue dated February 19, 2011. Download PDF

Key Strategies In Building a Competitive Economy for Developing Countries-Case Study of the Indian Model

amitkapoor — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 10:40:18 +0000

3rd Pan-African Competitiveness forum (PACF)
Entebbe, Uganda
February 1-4, 2011
Brochure
Program
Post conference details
The Report on Proceedings.

Anaemic Public Health Framework in Most States

amitkapoor — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 09:34:54 +0000

Health infrastructure is an essential ingredient of the physical well-being of human capital as it reflects the conditions of healthcare facilities available in an economy. Modernised and equipped health infrastructure not only attracts expats in a country but also becomes significant reason for attraction of investments.

In effect, health infrastructure plays an important role both in economic and social progress of an economy.

This article looks at public or government health infrastructure of different states via accessing the four basic parameters: average population served per government hospital, average population per government doctor, state-wise expenditure on health facilities, and percentage of villages having community health centre with three-kilometre reach.

Population Served Per Hospital

Population served per government hospital determines the number of people a hospital is expected to serve. Lower the population served per hospital, more effective it would be in offering healthcare services.

The nation’s average of population served per government hospital is just below one lakh, which is not a good sign as with such high number no hospital is able to give quality medical treatment to its patients.

States like Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh have done exceptionally well and achieved 4,692 and 5,920 headcounts served per hospital respectively, which shows their enhanced capability in treating the patients effectively.

The situation in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh is totally out of order as the hospital is expected to serve two lakh people, which is unacceptable.

Average Population Served Per Doctor

Average population served per doctor reflects the number of people a doctor is meant to serve. The lower it would be, the more efficient the doctor will be in treating his patients.

In some of fastest-growing states, Gujarat and Maharashtra with GDP growth rate of 13% and 8.59%, respectively, the average population served by one government doctor is 25,168 and 24,237, respectively, which is alarming.

There is a big shortage of government doctors in these states and people are left with no option but to go to expensive private hospitals.

Smaller states like Goa and Chandigarh secured the best grade, as average population served per government doctor is 1,763 and 1,728, respectively, which makes the doctors more effective and reliable, and the number of patients and doctors don’t mismatch.

Government expenditure on healthcare infrastructure

Health infrastructure is highly capital-intensive, bringing the responsibility to the government to build it for its citizens so that healthcare facilities can be availed by everybody.

The lowest per-capita government expenditure on health is in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Karnataka where the number of people below poverty line – 25.5%, 32.5% and 17%, respectively – is quite high.

It means that nearly a fifth of the population in these states is deprived of the healthcare services due to inadequate government investment.

Three northeastern states, Mizoram, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, have the highest government expenditure per person – 2,618.50, 1,481.50 and 1,479.80, respectively – which also justifies the lower death rates in these states of nearly 5% while the country’s annual death rate is 7.4%.

Villages under Community Health Centres

Kerala and Himachal Pradesh have the wider reach for the community healthcare centres – 94.9% and 94.5%, respectively – which means that healthcare facilities are accessible to every individual of the state. On the other hand, northeastern state Mizoram needs urgent attention for opening health community centres as it has just 28.6% accessible community healthcare centres.

Half of the population in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh remains deprived of healthcare as they have just 52.9% and 55.6%, respectively, accessible community healthcare centres.

States: The Road Ahead

It is, thus, imperative that states would have to focus on improving healthcare infrastructure and they still have a long way to go when compared to global standards.

Health infrastructure of a state can be categorised into three stages depending on quality and accessibility.

Superior healthcare infrastructure: These states are most prepared for future healthcare requirements of dealing with a growing population at a natural growth rate of 15%. These states can be great assets to provide medical support to other states and focus on building high-end healthcare practices and infrastructure.

Restrained healthcare infrastructure: States like Orissa, Karnataka, Sikkim and Delhi face the challenge of providing accessible healthcare to all and should aim at opening new hospitals and expanding the current capacity of hospitals if investing fresh capital is a constraint.

Deprived healthcare infrastructure: These states need an urgent attention towards health infrastructure.

They need to invest by accessing the gaps and through effective implementation plan in opening new healthcare facilities and, more importantly, recruiting new medical practitioners.

The Article was published in Economic Times on February 5,2011. Download PDF

Enhancing Entrepreneurship and Skills in the SME’s Sector

amitkapoor — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:50:08 +0000

The Global Economic Summit 2011 on Small and Medium Enterprises
World Trade Center
Mumbai, India
January 27-29, 2011

How Competitive is your Constituency

amitkapoor — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:31:15 +0000

Just how Competitive is your parliamentary constituency?

The interview was published in Governance now. Download PDF