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India - News
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News Updates - 31 January 2006
India's
Richest
A hot economy and soaring stock market take
India’s
wealthiest
to new heights-- and make
China's
richest look like paupers.
Much has been made of the
rivalry between Asian superpowers China and India. China's gross domestic
product, at $1.6 trillion, is far larger than India's $692 billion. China
leads by ten-fold in direct foreign investment. But FORBES found one area
where India has bragging rights: the net worths of its wealthiest citizens.
India's ten richest individuals are worth a collective $68 billion (up from
$44 billion last year), while their Chinese counterparts are good for only
$12 billion. Credit India's stronger financial institutions, better
transparency and emphasis on entrepreneurship. The sizzling Bombay Stock
Exchange index, up 39% in 2005, is fueling many Indian fortunes. So, too, is
demand for commodities such as petrochemicals and energy. India's software
and telecom titans also continue to do well. For a complete list please
visit:
Darling of
Davos,
India India was the darling of the World Economic Forum this year as it sought new investment. In the hot seat at Saturday's breakfast were key Indian policymakers, who came to the annual gathering with the country's top business executives for the first time to promote the nation's rising economic star. India's booming economy is growing at about 7 percent annually, and a VIP audience of the world's business leaders was told that the government was aiming for growth of 8 percent to 10 percent. Two years ago, the annual gabfest focused on four challengers to U.S. economic power: China, India, Russia and Brazil. Last year, China took center stage. But this year the spotlight was on India and China, the world's most populous countries with booming economies and huge domestic markets that are attracting major foreign investment. Saving the world was on the agenda, but for many of the business leaders, academics and activists who attended the "Big Debate" at the World Economic Forum, the theme may very well have been: Saving the West from China and India. The economic race between India and China dominated this year's meeting of the world's business and political leaders who clearly see a shift to an Asian century. Columbia University Professor Jagdish Bhagwati spoke in stark terms as well. "Twenty percent of the population of the world has 80 percent of the income ... India and China are no longer willing to sit on the margins," he warned, calling for a more equitable distribution of wealth. "We have 40 percent of the world's youth." India and China have long been uneasy neighbors, with relations riddled with problems over lingering boundary disputes, competition over overseas oil and gas reserves, and India's wariness about China's growing military might. The two countries fought a brief border war in 1962 and have deep differences over Beijing's proximity to Pakistan. China is a longtime ally and weapons supplier to Islamabad. But their fast-growing economies and expanding search for markets have drawn China and India closer. When asked about relations with India, Cheng stressed China's focus on peaceful development and regional cooperation in Asia.
U.S. eager to make India a business, military partner More than half a century after independence, foreign soldiers have returned to this one-time colonial garrison of tin-roofed bungalows, stone churches and panoramic Himalayan views. But this time, the soldiers' accents are American, not British, and their purpose is to cultivate an ally. In the latest of a series of such exercises, 120 U.S. combat troops have come here to train with their Indian counterparts in areas such as counterinsurgency and peacekeeping. Besides classroom instruction, they are firing Indian weapons, bonding with Indian soldiers over games of soccer and volleyball, and even developing a taste for vegetarian cuisine, albeit with spices toned down for American palates. "When you get the armies together, it's like saying, 'Hey, we can work together, we can accomplish this together,'" said U.S. Army Capt. Robert Atienza, 31, of San Diego. The exercise is an example of the striking improvement in relations between the United States and India after decades of Cold War estrangement and more recent tensions stemming from India's nuclear tests in 1998. Spurred by the United States, the two governments have signed commercial, scientific and military agreements in the last two years and are negotiating a controversial deal that could permit the sale of civilian nuclear technology to India. The Bush administration is eager to cultivate India as a partner in counterterrorism and, some analysts say, as a strategic counterweight to China. The warming trend also is reflected in the surge of interest in India among U.S. business leaders such as Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Corp. Gates recently announced a $1.7 billion investment in the country.
Subcontinental Drift More Westerners are beefing up their résumés with a stint in India. After a year answering phones for Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. in a Geneva call center, Myriam Vock was eager to see something of the world. So she packed her bags and hopped a plane to India. Two and a half years later she's still there, sharing a five-bedroom apartment in an upscale New Delhi suburb with four other foreigners. And how does she pay the bills? She works in a call center. "I'm not earning much, but there is enough to live well and travel," says Vock, 21, who answers queries from French-speaking callers for Tecnovate eSolutions, a Delhi arm of London-based online travel agency eBookers PLC. "I don't pay taxes here, and life is so much cheaper," she says. For fun, she and her roommates take in a Bollywood flick a couple of times a week and cook at home or order in pizza when they tire of spicier Indian fare. She has already visited exotic spots such as the spiritual haven Hrishikesh in northern India and is now charting itineraries for the next year or so. Worried about your job fleeing to India? One strategy is to chase it -- an option a growing number of twenty-something Westerners are choosing. Sure, the trend will never make up for the thousands of positions lost back home, but for adventurous young people, a spell in a call center in Bangalore or Bombay can help defray the costs of a grand tour of the subcontinent and beyond. Highly paid experts are still coming to India, but they're being joined by less-experienced people who make little more than the rock-bottom wages paid to locals that are a key draw for multinationals. They typically earn about $350 a month and work the phones for six months to a year before chilling on the beaches of Goa, trekking in the Himalayas, or visiting the palaces of Rajasthan. They often get their airfare to India paid by their new employer, live for free in a company flat with other foreigners, and receive free transportation to the office. Although no one knows for sure how many young foreigners are answering phones in India, some 30,000 expats today work for Indian tech and outsourcing companies, about triple the number two years ago, says the National Association of Software & Services Companies, the industry trade association. And that's just the start. The country's outsourcers will need some 160,000 workers with top-notch foreign-language skills by 2010. But in the next five years, Indian schools will only produce 40,000 or so grads with the proficiency needed for those jobs. Evalueserve expects foreigners to make up the difference. More important, time spent answering phones in India can also work wonders on résumés. Kati Koivukangas, for instance, was working at a travel agency in her native Finland when she heard that an outsourcing company in New Delhi was hiring. Koivukangas, a 28-year-old graduate in tourism and hotel management from University of Helsinki, jumped at the chance and has been in India for more than two years. She has worked her way up the ladder, now overseeing a dozen other Finns who answer calls. She says. "Not only do I get to see the country, but the Indian experience looks good on my CV." The workers don't come only for adventure. Many have had trouble getting jobs in their native land. Nine months ago, Kenny Rooney, a 28-year-old Scotsman, moved to India to answer phones for GTL in Pune, and quickly advanced to become a trainer and team leader. "India provided me a growth opportunity that wasn't there back home," he says. Top of the page
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