Infrastructure in West Bengal

West Bengal is one state that is running both ways. There has been lots of improvement in the last few years in the state. Be it IT, Incubation Centers & Venture Capital Funding, on road & off road communications, Real Estate development ; name and it is there. The New Town concept in Rajarhat area has shaped up really well. Hundreds of new constructions, new investments, new business developments have taken place in the last few years.

Though a late-starter, the state has achieved a lot in the field of IT and electronics in the last couple of years. The proactive policies of the state government—a dedicated department for IT, state-of-the-art facilities, world-class connectivity, uninterrupted power supply, physical and social infrastructure and a large pool of trained manpower—have hastened the growth of the IT sector in the state. Kolkata is also well connected to international destinations in Asia, Europe and the US.

The high investments in power generation over the last ten years have made West Bengal one of the few power-surplus states in India. In fact, in their recent surveys, both Nasscom and Gartner have ranked West Bengal as the best state in the country in terms of power supply. The high percentage of thermal power ensures that supply is not adversely affected during the dry season. In addition, the state government ensures the existing low-cost power plants in West Bengal feed all new IT units on a priority basis. Kolkata is well connected to prime locations overseas and in India. These include the prime Asian hubs of Bangkok and Singapore, as well as key Western locations like London, Amsterdam, San Francisco and New York. The city is also well connected to important locations within the country.

Apart from world-class infrastructure, connectivity and social infrastructure, the state has the largest pool of human resources. The city houses some of the most reputed schools and colleges in the country. Both Calcutta and Jadavpur Universities have been accorded a 5-star status by NAAC. Several private engineering colleges have been set up in the city, churning out engineers and technocrats.

But despite the changes, the perception about the ‘laid back attitude’ of the state still remains a major hurdle in attracting fresh investments. While it is partly due to its history, lack of information about the progressive work being undertaken in the state also adds to this negative image. Bengal has a lot of active politics going on. Everyday rallies and meetings, the very often bandhs (which WB is famous for) and many other factors add up to a lot of congestion in town. The city to have the first metro rail in India is definitely top notch when it comes to communication linkages but ask any resident of Kolkata and they would tell you - which traffic jams, shabby traffic structure & cleanliness are some of the major everyday problems which add on to the already laid back attitude and rigid bureaucracies of the state. It is these factors that are marring the fabulous infrastructure plans that WB started with a decade ago. There is a lot that people everywhere complain about; be it any state. In this case, it is not only the facilities which have failed to entice, but also the new name – Pochimbongo J

- - Ayush Nalotia

References:

Planning Commission, Express Computer Online

Telecom Revolution and the Customer

Telecom revolution was the next big thing that India could foresee back in the late 90s. And surely; it has been one without fail. From pagers to huge bulky mobile handsets to sleeker models; we have seen it all. Today it is impossible to imagine a life without a phone and a 24x7 network coverage responding to it. Kaizen in communication technologies & the never ending plans, schemes and offers by the telecom companies have literally made it to saturation levels. We have come a long way from incoming calls being chargeable on networks to now even roaming charges being wavered off (proposed TRAI regulation; yet to be implemented).

In short, infrastructure has done it once again – handset technologies (advent and mass use of smartphones – Nokia / Samsung / BlackBerry phones ) , networking softwares like Android , companies like RIM – all have hoarded the ever brimming telecommunications market. Yet, this is one area that is yet to hit the DECLINE stage on the PLC curve. The market just doesn’t saturate because every moment there are millions of people buying new cellphones and connections. As such, stalwarts like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo, Reliance etc are raking in moolahs. Then where is it going wrong ?

True internet at your beck and call is a great thing to have. But then, we cannot forgo the downside of things. Privacy gets compromised upon, ethicalities go for a six. The telecom infrastructure revolution has a bred a generation of people who are too tech savvy to see beyond their mobile phones. Try listening to a few jokes about BB addicts J … And, the telecomm companies are banking on these addictions. That is where there revenue comes from. That is where malpractices breed. Even the best of these companies have a horde of utterly dissatisfied customers because; somewhere during this evolution, the customer satisfaction orientation got left behind. Today these telecom companies have good names. But when we go talk to a few customers, the truth stands bare.

Airtel’s latest campaign “Har ek friend zaroori hota hai” was an instant hit among the teenage India; the reason being - teenage India is more obsessed with friendships than family ties. Yes, Airtel hit the bull’s eye with the campaign. No matter what kind of customer service they provide, people will shift to Airtel via MNP because ‘may be every customer is not important but every friend is important’. Talk to a Docomo user – all he will say is “All talk; no content” … these companies are on the right track when it comes to marketing themselves (remember Vodafone zoo zoos ) . but when it comes to technology upgradation, there seems to be a lacuna somewhere. All these customer issues are not a result of any other problem but technical problems – an area where the infrastructure sector needs to buckle up.

The bottom line for all this is – infrastructure should be there to make our lives easy. Inefficiency in the name of competition, blowhorn type advertising and no commitment/ content – telecoms are doomed to fail. Telecom is a growing market since ages, not nearing saturation as of now. It would be a worthy fight if they put in efforts at making themselves better rather than merely showing themselves to be better & ahead in the race. Because, newsflash – your customer knows the truth!

-Ayush Nalotia

References:

www.marketinginternet.com

TOI, The Hindu

Labour Industry of India

This is my first blog entry so please excuse me if there are any mistakes.Recently a lot of articles are making headlines in the newspaper on the issue of Labour Shortage, which is becoming headache for players in Infrastructure & Real Estate Sector. It is truly said that sometimes good things also bring in with them new set of problems. Same is true with India's Growth Story, factors like pool of cheap labour & untapped demand attracted many people within and outside the country post liberalization which has led to development in country.

Migrant Labour from Bihar contributes 50% of the Unskilled workers Nationally but this economic development has created peculiar problem for the Infrastructure & Real Estate Sector. According to Bihar Institute of Economics sciences, migration of labour has decreased by around 30% in the last few years and led to higher wages. Experts Says reasons behind this recent trend are private investment inflows after Nitish Kumar's entry in bihar government in 2005 & Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. They believe that scheme is luring away labour from work.

Development is good thing for the country and India was bound to loose advantage of cheap labour some or other day, but through this blog i want to pose this question whether Subsidiary/ Scheme are effective measures which are floated by the government of India. Some people in the government are in favour of it while others are against it. Agriculture Minister Sharad Powar has suggested to avoid applicability of above scheme in the peak agricultural season but the rural Ministry is against it. I would like to hear comments from the readers of blog

For Reference:

Labour Shortage, wage hike hits Indian industry hard: FICCI, Economic Times [Oct 9, 2011]

Bihar's Economic Growth causing Labour Shortages, Higher wages in other parts of Country, Economic Times [ Nov 8th 2011]

Nikhil Agrawal [CE08B055]

Infrastructure Debt Fund

The Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) is yet another effort by the finance ministry to acquire foreign funds and domestic insurance money into Indian infrastructure projects. The idea is that, Banks and NBFC will set up either mutual funds or another NBFC, which will sell either mutual fund (MF) units to foreign funds or insurance companies and raise money.

This money will be used to buy out infrastructure loans from banks and the loans should have to be for a PPP project. Also, the banks can sell these loans to the IDF’s only after one-year of commencement of the project, i.e., when they become commercially feasible.

Now the question is: Will banks set up such mutual funds or NBFC? Will foreign funds find it attractive to buy the bonds floated by the IDF's?

Check the answers given by Santosh Nair, deputy managing director of State Bank of India; Prabhakar, executive director of Bank of India and Vikram Limaye, executive director of IDFC in a discussion on CNBC-TV18 on:

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/infrastructure-debt-fund-willfund%28a%29-work-_592872.html

-Bharath M