Mumbai blasts will not affect investment to India

The terrorist attacks Tuesday on trains in the western India city of Mumbai appeared unlikely to dampen investments and outsourcing to India, which has weathered such tragedy before with resilience.

Investors are not naive and have factored in the political, economic, and other risks involved before investing in India. Despite initial fears of a stock market slump after the blasts, the 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai was up by 3 percent at its close Wednesday, to 10,930, mainly on buying in tech stocks after India's second largest outsourcer, Infosys Technologies Ltd., forecast strong growth for its current fiscal year. After similar bombings targeted business centers in Mumbai in 1993, business returned to normal once the story was no longer in the news pages.

Customers outsourcing to India have their own business continuity plans in addition to what Indian outsourcers offer, said a spokeswoman for ICICI OneSource Ltd., a business process outsourcing company in Mumbai. "On an average less than 10 percent of what is outsourced by a customer is offshored to India, and within India they use providers in multiple locations," she said. ICICI did not have to move work to its centers outside Mumbai Tuesday, as all its staff for the evening shift were already in the office, she said.

DaimlerChrysler launches Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks in India

DaimlerChrysler India announced its entry into the commercial vehicles market in India with the launch of its heavy-duty special applications trucks, the Mercedes-Benz Actros. Designed to cater to the high-tonnage special applications, the truck is available in two variants: the Actros 4040K and the Actros 4840K.

The Actros features state-of-the-art technology, robust build quality and the Mercedes-Benz standards of vehicle engineering and safety. Available as a completely built imported chassis, the Actros features a 12litre engine with high delivery output, which makes it the most powerful engine across the tipper segment of the Indian commercial vehicles industry.  

"India is a promising market for us. We pioneered the luxury car segment in this country and now look forward to establish ourselves in this niche market" commented Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, managing director and CEO of DaimlerChrysler India. 

Nathula gives Sino-Indian ties a fillip 

India adds another chapter in its history as the famous Silk Route or the Nathula trade route reopened after 44 years. With India-China bilateral trade all set to exceed $25 billion in 2006, the reopening of Nathula Pass linking Sikkim with Tibet and neighbouring areas of China marks a new chapter in their booming ties and growing bonhomie. Successful conduct of business through this route could generate the scope for a range of such openings between the neighbour-locked north Bengal and whole of the northeast and the neighbouring countries. The reopening of the Nathula trade route is a major addition in the basket of confidence-building measures between India and China. Besides, the strategic and commercial gains for the country, Sikkim, eastern and northeast India have much to celebrate in this new vista of cooperation. This is the first major cross-border opening for the region as a whole, which could bring in massive gains in terms of exchange of goods and services. If integrated with tourism activities, particularly the Buddhist circuit, this could be the world`s most magnificent eco-tourism sojourn interspersed with nature, culture and economics.
Tourists are likely to make a beeline to watch how trade actually takes place at the cross-border marts at Sherathang (India) and Renqinggang (China). The trade corridors, therefore, need to be highly regulated and their activities synchronised to ensure unhindered tourist flow. The income effects on roadside hotels and restaurants, handicrafts and transport and communication and many other backward and forward linkages are likely to be immense. Sikkim could gradually emerge as a dry port.

McDowell buys Taittinger's wine arm

Vijay Mallya-controlled McDowell & Company Ltd has acquired Bouvet Ladubay SAS, the wine subsidiary of French champagne major Taittinger for over RS 86 crore. The acquisition was made by the company's Mauritius-based wholly owned subsidiary, Asian Opportunities and Investments Ltd McDowell said this buyout would facilitate it to introduce high quality wines to the emerging wine connoisseur in India and enable it to take advantage of established distribution in Europe and US. UB Group had also acquired Shaw Wallace for about RS 1,631 crore, which made the Indian liquor major the world's second largest spirits group. (With PTI inputs) 

Tony Blair wants India to join G8

British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants India, along with 4 other developing countries, to be included in G8 for securing multilateral deals on climate change, trade and a common line on Iran. Blair, in an interview to 'The Guardian', said he would press for the extension of G8 to G13 by including India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico in the upcoming summit at St Petersburg. With India and Brazil playing a key role in the trade talks, the first fruits of a closer engagement with these countries could be a breakthrough on Monday in these stalled talks, Blair said. Leaders of these developing nations are also attending the summit for an outreach session.