Other Briefings
India Getting Serious on Road Infrastructure
By Vikas Srivastava Jun. 17 -The government of India is now getting serious on the development of the infrastructure sector particularly on the national highways and state highways. The government recently increased toll taxes paid on highways, bridges, tunnels and bypass roads including two- lane highways. Local commuters are now devoid of availing the monthly […]
IKEA Postpones Entry to India
Jun. 12 – Swedish company, IKEA, says it is postponing plans to open in India until the country allows full foreign ownership of single-brand retailers. Talks between the company and the Indian government to lift restrictions have fallen through and led to the cancellation of the US$1 billion plan to open 25 showrooms nationwide. “As […]
Infosys Wins US$355 Million Deal from Telstra
Jun. 10 – India’s top software services firm, Infosys Technologies, won an IT outsourcing contract worth US$355 million from Telstra Corp. along with U.S. firm and Hewlett-Packard unit, EDS. The company will provide the major Australian phone company’s application development and maintenance services in the next five years. U.S. technology firm IBM will also be […]
India Protests Fake Chinese Drugs Labeled “Made in India”
Jun. 9 – New Delhi has lodged a protest to the Chinese mission in Nigeria and China’s foreign trade ministry because of a large seizure of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals labeled “Made in India” were actually found to have been produced in China The findings were reported by the National Agency for Food and Drug […]
Deconstructing the Bharti-MTN Deal
By Vikas Srivastava Jun. 5 – The proposed merger of Bharti and MTN is likely to make the resulting telecom the world’s third largest mobile operator after China Mobile and Vodafone in terms of number of subscribers. Negotiations for the merger started in May, 2008 by Bharati. However, the terms and conditions set in the […]
Bharti Airtel M&A Will Create World’s Largest Transnational Telecom Provider
May 27 – India’s largest telecommunications company Bharti Airtel has announced plans for a merger with South Africa’s MTN in a US$23 billion deal that would see the business become the world’s largest transnational service provider, with over 200 million customers in 26 countries. The new company would be the world’s fourth largest telecom entity, […]
India to Permit Foreign Airlines to Invest in its Carriers
May 26 – India’s civil aviation ministry is revisiting proposals to permit foreign airlines to invest directly in its own carriers. Currently, foreign investment of up to 49 percent is permitted in the sector, however this is only open to non-aviation companies. With India’s three major carriers – Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher – […]
Vodafone’s Indian Subsidiary Accounts for 93 Percent of All New Users
May 21 – The British mobile network operator’s Indian subsidiary, Vodafone Essar, accounted for 93 percent of all new users worldwide, according to quarterly reports. Vodafone is the world’s largest cellular operator in terms of revenues with operations in over 30 countries. In the past quarter, 8.4 million new users joined the network with India […]
