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November 06, 2009
'We are trying to build 10 hospitals every year'
In an interview with Joe C Mathew, Apollo Hospitals executive chairman Prathap C Reddy says the challenge is not in the funding, but in finding the human resources.
November 04, 2009
'We expect corporate buying to return'
Ajai Chowdhry, chairman and CEO, HCL Infosystems, tells Kirtika Suneja the environment may improve in three to six months, as the economy has bottomed out.
November 03, 2009
'All markets are now recovering'
On a short trip in Mumbai for a board meeting, Nick Thomlinson, chairman of Knight Frank, the global residential and commercial property consultancy, shares his insights and forecasts with Byravee Iyer.
November 02, 2009
'Faculty shortage is a global phenomenon'
On the sidelines of 'Samvit 2009 -- The Leaders' Conclave' at IIM-Lucknow recently, Ajit Balakrishan tells Virendra Singh Rawat answered some issues that have dogged IIMs.
Chanda Kochhar on ICICI Bank's performance
We are clearly focused on increasing our loan book in segments such as auto loans, home loans, commercial vehicles finance and corporate loans, says Chanda Kochhar.
'Godrej Properties will soon become our fastest-growing biz'
The slowdown is behind us and the country will grow at around 9-10 per cent, believes Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group.
October 30, 2009
'We cannot regulate gas prices'
Two years after it was first constituted, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board continues to move ahead in a patchy manner -- it is inviting bids for 2,800 km of cross-country pipelines and 1,200 km of spurlines next week; it is in the process of fixing tariffs for the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Gas Transportation India Limited pipeline. Its chairman L Mansingh spoke at length on several of these issues to Sunil Jain.
October 29, 2009
'China should be India's economic partner, not rival'
China should be an economic partner and not a rival. China is the most suitable location to setup center to back-up operations in India because with India, China has the largest talent pool in the world.
October 28, 2009
Wipro CEOs on the company's growth secret
Wipro, despite the 1.5 per cent drop on the volume front, has seen a positive uptake in terms of client additions and revenues.
Inflation biggest worry: RBI Governor
RBI Governor D Subbarao explains the rationale for the moves announced in the second quarter review of the monetary policy in an interview with Sidhartha. Excerpts:
October 27, 2009
'I think we should lecture less to the world'
In an interview with Suman Guha Mozumder, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says a little less superiority and a little more humility on the part of India will serve us very well in the future.
October 26, 2009
'We will not sell Piramal Healthcare'
Nandini Piramal, heir apparent to the Piramal business empire as the elder child of Ajay Piramal and Swati Piramal, became the executive director of Piramal Healthcare in April this year.
October 23, 2009
'Full-service airline costs are double of ours'
The Indian aviation industry, which accounts for 2 per cent of the global aviation industry, suffered losses of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in 2008-09. The industry is, however, now looking up, feels SpiceJet chief executive officer Sanjay Agarwal.
October 21, 2009
'Hiking realty prices will be a huge mistake'
Red Fort Capital, an international real estate fund founded by GB Singh, Parry Singh and Subhash Bedi, has invested nearly Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) in the Indian real estate sector and claims that it is one of the few funds to have invested even in the downturn.
October 19, 2009
'It was only growth that eluded us, not business'
Nasscom president Som Mittal shares his view on issues such as the rise in value of the rupee against the dollar, hiring trends and the role of IT in e-governance.
'India's problem is implementation'
"In the last five years, government has begun to listen. Not that they do anything."
October 16, 2009
'Cognizant is constantly looking for targets'
In a chat with Shivani Shinde, Cognizant vice-chairman Lakshmi Narayanan explained the rationale behind the current acquisition and the way ahead.
October 15, 2009
'Anil Ambani is targetting me, my family'
In a free-wheeling interview with Jyoti Mukul, Sibal makes a case for his innocence and blames the media campaign by the Anil Ambani group for the current controversy.
October 12, 2009
Google bullish on social network ads
Parminder Singh, business head, Google, is bullish on the growth of advertising from these social networking platforms.
Our policies are for the <i>aam aadmi </i>: FM
We are emphasising on an agricultural growth of 4.5 per cent to achieve a 9 per cent GDP growth, says Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Infy CEO on business growth, salary hikes
Infosys Technologies beat its own revenue guidance with better-than-expected second quarter (July-October) results, indicating an overall improvement in business and demand.
October 09, 2009
'India will have 1 billion mobiles by 2013'
T V Ramachandran, former director-general of the Cellular Operators' Association of India, iterates his wish that the differences in technologies would blur.
Telenor chief eyes 70 mn customers from India
Sigve Brekke, vice president and Asia-head of the Norway-based mobile major Telenor has played a big role in Telenor's aggressive Asian foray. Brekke spoke of his plans for Telenor's joint venture with real-estate firm Unitech.
October 08, 2009
Axis Bank CMD hints at small changes ahead
Sharma who took over as the chief executive officer and managing director in June is, however, confident that the bank will continue to beat the industry growth rate and sustain the margins and return ratios.
How Kishore Biyani plans to expand business
Kishore Biyani, the founder of Future Group, plans to more than double retail space to 30 million sq ft by 2013 and push the private labels business.
October 07, 2009
'We want to make TCS a bigger and better firm'
'With a strong customer base, we will continue to focus on customer-centric services, offer integrated full services, a global delivery model, tap emerging markets and increase our non-linear capabilities.'
October 05, 2009
'Wealth does not create roads; roads create wealth'
In an interview with Mihir Mishra and Jyoti Mukul, Nath, who as the commerce and industry minister in the previous United Progressive Alliance government was part of the fire-fighting to minimise impact of the slowdown, says that the current year will be better than the last year.
Expect $100 bn infra investment in 36 months: Chanda Kochhar
The managing director and CEO of India's second largest bank is already walking the talk by organising roadshows all over the world to showcase upcoming highway projects.
We're thinking of directly paying teachers: Sibal
Improving the quality of education is the greatest challenge before the government, says Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.
October 02, 2009
'IT spending is expected to be lower this year'
'We will have to wait for at least two quarters of data to ascertain whether the recovery is real and sustainable.'
September 30, 2009
'Housing prices will not fall'
Greed is coming back. So, developers can increase prices. I am sure that prices will not go down from here onwards.
September 29, 2009
'An upturn is clearly visible'
Korn/Ferry is a global leader in executive search. For the quarter ended July 2009, its fee income fell over 40 per cent to $116 million from a year ago and the company reported a net loss of $14.3 million as against a profit of $15.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Its chief financial officer, Michael A Digregorio and managing director for India, Deepak Gupta, spoke to Bhupesh Bhandari and Amit Ranjan Rai on the emerging opportunities and challenges.
September 25, 2009
We plan to take NPS online: Pension body chief
The pension regulator, the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority, is taking various steps to boost the numbers, cairman D Swarup tells Vrishti Beniwal in an exclusive interview
September 24, 2009
Takeovers at right price welcome: ICICI Pru chief
Nimesh Shah, managing director & CEO of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, tells Chandan Kishore Kant that he is bullish on the Indian market.
'India to be a test-bed for global roll-outs'
In an interview with K Rajani Kanth, NCR Corporation's managing director (India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) Pradeep Sen outlines the company's road map for India, including its plans to scale up its research and development efforts, manufacturing capacity expansion and taking the partner-ecosystem route to penetrate the petroleum and general retail segment.
September 23, 2009
What BASF plans to do in India
Germany-based BASF, the world's largest chemical manufacturer, acquired Swiss chemical maker Ciba last year in a $3.27 billion transaction.
Matrix Partner MD on investment environment
A successful entrepreneur and now an investor, Avnish Bajaj, the managing director of Matrix Partners India, has seen both sides of the investment cycle.
September 21, 2009
'India can sustain 6-8% growth rates up to 2025'
The problem with India's growth story has been its inability to reduce poverty to significant levels.
Another crisis likely in 3-5 years: Mark Faber
Investment expert Mark Faber says he's bearish on the world economy.
September 18, 2009
'Retail investors must be careful now'
Business Standard discussed the primary market scenario and changing equations in the IPO market with Enam Group chairman Vallabh Bhanshali. Excerpts:
GE Healthcare bullish on growth in India
Price becomes a challenge in a country like India and, hence, we are trying to halve the cost and give higher outcome, says V Raja, CEO, GE Healthcare India.
September 10, 2009
Fake currency: 'RBI, banks in denial mode'
'The RBI obviously gets to know when an entire series of currency notes has been faked. I fail to understand why they continue with the series despite it being faked,' former CBI director Joginder Singh tells Vicky Nanjappa.
August 25, 2009
'A poor monsoon can affect motor insurance'
Iffco Tokio General Insurance is hoping to step up growth by focusing on motor and health insurance.
' Late payment of wages in NREGA is unfair'
The purpose of the rural job scheme is being defeated as, in this drought year, focus on providing work and timely wages is lost in other things, says economist and activist Jean Dreze.
Shivinder Mohan, Khorakiwala on the Fortis deal
We were aggressively expanding and investing heavily in various new hospital projects. But the global meltdown and crash of the markets put a lot of financial strain on us, says Habil Khorakiwala.
'India can emerge as the resource base for News Corp'
As India will become an independent business unit, we will have to relocate the uplink of our channels from Hong Kong to here.
August 21, 2009
Global warming woes? Let's go back to khadi
Sailesh Kumar Bandyopadhyay firmly believes that Khadi movement alone can offer solutions to two knottiest problems of the present times: global warming and economic meltdown.
'IDFC's business model remains robust'
"I don't think the only solution for us is a bank, though it could be a bank. On the other hand, if the financial system continues to grow at 20-25 per cent, there's no reason why in our current construct, we can't comfortably keep growing at that same pace," says Rajiv Lall, CEO and Managing Director, IDFC.
August 20, 2009
Correction has begun in markets across the world: Marc Faber
'I would not be surprised if the early August highs were actually the high for the year.'
August 18, 2009
'TV is a hits and misses business'
Rakhi Ka Swayamvar worked for NDTV Imagine. Bidaaiis working on Star Plus. So both reality and fiction are working on prime time, says Sunil Lulla, Director, Real Global Broadcasting.
August 14, 2009
'Malta offers great opportunity to Indian firms'
The southern European island nation of Malta is keen on expanding business ties with India.
'Standalone 3G players can't survive'
The voice revenue per minute in India is among the lowest in the world at around 50 paise, says Kanwalinder Singh, President,Qualcomm India.
August 11, 2009
'India will beat global indices in performance'
'Markets are back in the 15000-16000 range, it's a barometer of confidence as much as it is of economic prospects.'
August 10, 2009
Tips on how to keep cyber attacks at bay
'The constant evolution of the Internet is providing new avenues for malware authors and cybercriminals to exploit innocent users for financial gain.'
August 07, 2009
'We are aiming at 10% of our revenues from India'
Zensar Technologies, the Rs 900 crore RPG Group's software services company, expects Rs 200 crore from its domestic business this fiscal, up from Rs 40 crore last year. In an interview with Pradipta Mukherjee, Vice-Chairman and CEO Ganesh Natarajan says the company is on an expansion and hiring mode, defying the freeze in the industry
August 06, 2009
'IT sector recovery will start from 2010'
'Fresh recruitments would start only after demand picks up.'
August 05, 2009
'Global outlook better on stimulus'
'It is becoming clear that we will no longer see declines in GDP growth for the next few quarters.'
August 04, 2009
'We intend to cover 50,000 villages soon'
Godrej Consumer Products, the hair colours and soaps major, intends to increase its contribution from rural sales to 50 per cent in one year, from 38 per cent right now. In an interview with Pradipta Mukherjee, GCPL vice-chairman Hoshedar K Press says that among other plans, the company is targeting consolidation of its FMCG businesses and is banking on goods and services tax implementation, which would enable it to have common depot and supply chain strategies.
July 30, 2009
'We want to be equated with chartered accountants'
'We are equally qualified and competent.'
July 27, 2009
'We expect credit to make a very strong comeback in the second half'
'At the same time, we will allow unsecured loans to go off.'
July 24, 2009
How 'Colors' jumped into the top league
As the CEO of Colors, the Hindi general entertainment television channel from the Network18 group, the 35-year old Rajesh Kamat, is in an enviable position.
July 21, 2009
Cognizant to focus on Asia, Latin America
Francisco D' Souza, president and chief executive of Cognizant Technology Solutions (earlier called Dun and Bradstreet Satyam Software), believes Asia and Latin America would be the nearly $3-billion New Jersey-based offshore IT service major's focus areas of growth.
July 20, 2009
'Satyam is worth documenting and should be made a case study'
'But I would not like to write it myself. I don't think it will be right.'
July 17, 2009
GM food hazard: Crisis worse than financial meltdown
'I believe that the world is headed for the biggest health crisis ever because of the lack of transparency.'
July 15, 2009
'One can never miss the Indian market'
'Our visit gives us an opportunity to understand the culture of the country.'
'We look at ways to change the world'
Suvir Sujan talks about his company's vision, investment plans and belief in the Indian growth story.
July 13, 2009
'Broad range of reforms will get done in time'
The Union government's response to the many comments and criticisms of the 2009-10 Budget was explored by Karan Thapar for Devil's Advocate, the CNN-IBN channel programme, with deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
July 08, 2009
'Venture capital is not hot money'
The venture capital/private equity industry needs to be encouraged as such investments create jobs and help establish companies in new sectors. There is also a strong case for incentives for investors in these funds, says Saurabh Srivastava, chairman of the Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
July 04, 2009
'We can use land to catalyse development'
Staunchly declining to comment on personalities, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee says there are enough assets with the organisation to enable a sustained improvement in operations which will also push development. Edited excerpts:
July 03, 2009
'India's growth rate would be around 7%'
India should continue with the pending reforms in many sectors to get the economy back on track and take it to a high growth rate, says Arvind Virmani, chief economic advisor to the government, in an interview with Business Standard
June 26, 2009
'We are seeing a huge demand for home loans'
'Loan approvals have increased at a much higher pace. And this growth has been driven by retail, not project finance,' says R R Nair, director and chief executive, LIC Housing Finance.
'IT firms' smaller deals have not gone slow'
Wipro Technologies CFO Manish Dugar tells Ravi Menon that smaller deals are coming in use to gain mindshare and pave the way for the big-ticket contracts.
'Infosys will continue to run as usual'
Nandan Nilekani is stepping down to take up a bigger cause -- heading a government project to provide a unique identity to each of India's citizens. S Gopalakrishnan, the CEO and MD of Infosys and a co-founder of the company, tells Bibhu Ranjan Mishra what Nilekani's exit means for the company.
June 25, 2009
'Ford is passionate about India'
'We announced a $500 million investment plan for India. I have not received a single call from either the US or Bangkok (Ford's Asian centre of operations) asking me to freeze the investment programme or to scale it down,' says Michael Boneham, MD, Ford India.
June 23, 2009
'Small businesses spell big opportunity'
Yes Bank Founder, Managing Director and CEO Rana Kapoor is confident that the potential is huge and risks close to none. The bank has around 8,000 relationships in this segment and claims to have mapped about 150,000 such relationships.
'Too early to say if economy has bottomed out'
In an interview with Business Standard's Devika Banerji, he says the monitoring of rural spending should be on top of the new government's priorities.
June 12, 2009
'Jazz should give us double-digit growth'
Masahiro Takedagawa, president and CEO of HSCI, feels his company can record double-digit growth this year, owing to an improving economy and continuous government effort to boost spending.
June 05, 2009
'The days of tax havens are over'
Switzerland only provided information on tax fraud that led to criminal activity. But the Swiss definition of tax fraud is quite narrow, which means that a false invoice is not a crime. Now, any tax abuse will be covered.
June 04, 2009
'Fiscal deficit higher than 6% of GDP? Imprudent'
In an interview with Business Standard's Sapna Dogra Singh and John Samuel Raja D, C Rangarajan says there are some encouraging signs in the economy, but the real recovery will come only in 2010-11.
'The real surprise in Asia could be India'
'India has got a large collection of world-class companies, extraordinary entrepreneurs, well-developed markets and an educated workforce that will act in its favour. What's been missing between this micro and macro is political impetus to reforms. The recent election changes the prospects for reforms,' says Stephen S Roach, chairman, Morgan Stanley Asia.
June 03, 2009
'Our nuke programmes will gain momentum now'
The country is planning to increase its nuclear power generation by about 60,000 mega watts (Mw) within the next 25 years. This planned capacity addition is being executed by the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). Its head, Chairman and Managing Director SK Jain, tells P B Jayakumar about his plans and expectations.
June 01, 2009
'3G technology as cost-effective as 2G'
With the state-owned BSNL's 93-million-line tender once again the subject of a controversy, it's but natural to elicit the views of Ericsson's global president and CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg on this
'We've handled crisis much better than anyone else'
In this interview, Rakesh Mohan spoke on a range of issues about the challenges he faced during his stint at the central bank and the journey from handling the real economy sectors to monetary economics
May 29, 2009
What L&T learnt from Satyam
Sudip Banerjee, CEO, L&T Infotech talks about business post-Satyam, expansion plans and bigger acquisition targets.
'Legal action is the only way to protect revenue'
Bhushan Kumar, chairman and managing director of the Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) Super Cassettes Industries, the country's leading music company that owns the T-Series label, spoke to Shuchi Bansal on the challenges facing the music industry and his company's initiatives to keep its head above water.
May 25, 2009
Forbes on the troubled newspaper industry
The newspaper industry in the West may be reeling under the onslaught of the web but Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief, Forbes, and grandson of the founder of the magazine, believes there is a market for value-added content that people will pay for.
May 22, 2009
'I've been waiting for this government for 12 years'
The new government will have to act quickly to maintain the momentum, Andrew Holland, CEO institutional equities and equity proprietary trading, Ambit Capital, tells Business Standard's Rajesh Bhayani.
May 19, 2009
Congress will follow an 'inclusive' reforms agenda
The UPA government will follow an inclusive reforms agenda all the while keeping a check on India's fiscal health, says Manoj Vohra, research director at Economist Intelligence Unit.
May 18, 2009
Canon bullish on growth in India
Canon has been annually launching around 100 products in India. The year 2008 saw a 31 per cent growth rate, to touch a top line of Rs 665 crore (Rs 6.65 billion).
May 15, 2009
4G technology on priority list, says Trai boss
Another priority is to prepare the country for the fourth generation (4G) technology. It will not only improve teledensity and improve data services, but also ensure that the country is prepared for all the future developments, says J S Sarma.
'We are having a relook at buyback regulations'
There are some difficulties in bringing changes in buyback norms and we are having a relook at the regulations, says C B Bhave.
May 13, 2009
'Mutual funds do not have an unblemished record'
While stock market indices are rising, UTI Asset Management Company chairman and managing director U K Sinha says that risk appetite at the retail level is low.
Y V Reddy on how to tackle the crisis
As governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) till September last year, YV Reddy was in-charge of monetary policy at a time when the economy grew at its fastest pace ever
May 12, 2009
'If businesses focus on core, outsourcing will stay'
Having spent the first 90 days meeting employees and key clients, Jeya Kumar, new CEO of Patni Computer Systems, is clearly in control. While he acknowledges concerns due to the current slowdown, he has started restructuring the company. He details the growth plans in a chat with Business Standard's Shivani Shinde.
May 11, 2009
How Oracle's acquisition will impact Sun
This is a period fraught with uncertainty for the employees of the wholly-owned Indian subsidiary of Sun Microsystems after database giant Oracle announced the acquisition of its parent for $7.4 billion on April 29.
'Indian customer is the most discerning in the world'
Giorgio Armani SpA, the Italian fashion company which designs fashion accessories, apparel, cosmetics, fragrances, home interiors, eyewear and watches, among other things, opened its store in India in the middle of a slowdown. The company's deputy managing director John Hooks who has considerable experience in luxury retail in Asia was in India some time ago and spoke to Business Standard's Anoothi Vishal on Armani's India plans.
May 08, 2009
Bharti's goal: Next 100 million subscribers
The two dominant segments in the next 100 million are the youth and those living in rural areas, says Sanjay Kapoor.
May 06, 2009
'We see huge potential in India's defence-related biz'
Larsen & Toubro chairman and managing director AM Naik speaks to Business Standard's Nevin John and PB Jayakumar on the new joint venture with global defence giant EADS and other plans.
May 05, 2009
Overseas spending affected us: Amex CEO
Rajesh Saxena, CEO, American Express Banking Corp, India, tells Business Standard's Bhupesh Bhandari how he is fine-tuning American Express' credit card strategy.
'SBI brand will help grow business by 50 per cent'
Brand SBI is very strong, while people may be generally cautious about some other brands. We can not only tap the potential better but can also provide a safe and transparent insurance alternative to the public, says US Roy.
May 04, 2009
'India to recover faster than developed nations'
Recession here is not as drastic as what you might see in the developed world because the hole that is dug is not that deep in countries like India; thus, they can recover much quicker, says S Somasegar.
May 01, 2009
'Aamir Khan is the highest-paid brand ambassador today'
It is natural that the endorsement price is heavily skewed in favour of icons like Aamir Khan, SRK, Akshay Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar and M S Dhoni. These five, on average, get roughly three times what the next 10 get, says Manish Porwal, CEO, Percept Talent Management.
'Growing the top line will not be easy this year'
This financial year will not be easy, mainly due to lack of pricing opportunities. Still, if volume growth remains robust, profit expansion will be good, says Dabur India CEO Sunil Duggal.
We are cash-rich, looking at acquisitions: Adi Godrej
In an upbeat mood on good results, Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej group, tells Business Standard's Sapna Agarwal he is looking forward to a good year, as the fast-moving consumer goods sector remains unaffected by the general slowdown.
April 30, 2009
'There has been a decline in poverty in India'
"The rest of the world should pass a motion of thanks to India for keeping its emission at a level which actually is below the level required to achieve climate sustainability," says Montek Singh Ahluwalia, a key member of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's economic team.
April 28, 2009
Infosys CEO on the lessons he learnt
Infosys employees understand the environment in which we are operating. They interact with the clients, they see the situation, says Kris Gopalakrishnan.
April 27, 2009
Vaidyanathan on his plans for ICICI Prudential
With more players, products and rising consciousness about the need for insurance, the market has to grow. As for the team, the existing management team continues (at ICICI Prudential) to be there. The team has built a solid business, an excellent brand. The systems are in place, so it is a good stepping stone, says Vaidyanathan.
Chanda Kochhar on ICICI Bank's asset base
The proportion of retail assets is higher, so NPAs from that part would be higher, says Kochhar.
April 24, 2009
'If it impacts our top clients, it will affect us'
TCS's chief operating officer and executive director, N Chandrasekaran, tells Shivani Shinde he'll focus on cost efficiency.
April 22, 2009
Management tips to survive the economic slowdown
According to Jason White, leader of Hewitt's business performance improvement, cost-cutting and layoffs are amongst the biggest concerns of companies today. He urges struggling firms to change the way people are organised, utilised and managed.
April 23, 2009
We do not have a pink slip policy: HCL
"HCL's employees know that bill tightening has to happen, but in a collaborative manner. There is a trust factor between the employees, the company and the customers and we do not have a pink slip policy. That is why we squeezed utilisation up to 75 per cent and our hiring in the last two quarters has not been much," says Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies.
Work 10 days a month, Wipro tells benched employees
"We found value in people being given flexibility instead of asking them to come to work when there is no work. We have also given them a choice of coming to office 10 days at a stretch in a month, rather than coming two days every week," says Girish Paranjpe, joint CEO of its information technology business.
April 22, 2009
'I'm not here just to remain the fourth-largest IT company'
The new bosses of Satyam Computer Services took the step of directly taking questions from apprehensive employees.
'Zero policy rate is not an option in India'
Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvurri Subbarao describes his first seven months on the job as challenging, partly due to the uncertain global economic environment and also because he has had to adjust to living in the financial capital, Mumbai.
April 22, 2009
'I'm not here just to remain the fourth-largest IT company'
The new bosses of Satyam Computer Services took the step of directly taking questions from apprehensive employees.
'Zero policy rate is not an option in India'
Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvurri Subbarao describes his first seven months on the job as challenging, partly due to the uncertain global economic environment and also because he has had to adjust to living in the financial capital, Mumbai.
April 22, 2009
'I'm not here just to remain the fourth-largest IT company'
The new bosses of Satyam Computer Services took the step of directly taking questions from apprehensive employees.
'Zero policy rate is not an option in India'
Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvurri Subbarao describes his first seven months on the job as challenging, partly due to the uncertain global economic environment and also because he has had to adjust to living in the financial capital, Mumbai.
April 21, 2009
Management tips to survive the economic slowdown
According to Jason White, leader of Hewitt's business performance improvement, cost-cutting and layoffs are amongst the biggest concerns of companies today. He urges struggling firms to change the way people are organised, utilised and managed.
April 14, 2009
'We made a rational bid which we can defend'
For Tech Mahindra, the successful bidder for Satyam Computer Services, it was "a game-changing day," according to Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman & MD of Mahindra & Mahindra.
'Satyam is a very valuable company'
The board -- which includes, Kiran Karnik, T N Manoharan, former chief, ICAI, and HDFC chief Deepak Parekh, appeared relieved after a marathon run of selecting a bidder for the scam-tainted firm.
April 09, 2009
'This is the worst crisis in our lifetime'
"The credit turmoil that the world is seeing now is clearly the worst in history," says Habil Khorakiwala, executive chairman, Wockhardt. He should know, as his company finds itself in trouble over a Rs 3,400 crore debt burden.
March 30, 2009
'Outsourcing industry is here to stay'
Countries that adapt to change and are on the cutting edge of IT innovation will come out of the recession stronger than before. Any number of countries could emerge stronger but that's up to their governmental leadership and the strength of their IT industry.
March 28, 2009
'Crisis: There is scope for India to do well'
Martin Feldstein, George F Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University, speaks about the global economic situation.
March 26, 2009
'India, not US, will lead global economic recovery'
Sheeroy Desai, CEO of PAC, was in India recently. In an interview to rediff.com, he made some interesting observations on the recent recession and its impending recovery.
'Good time to execute large infrastructure projects'
Lalit Jalan, the younger Ambani's Wharton classmate and CEO of R-Infra, tells Nevin John that the company will put in Rs 2,800 crore (Rs 28 billion) over the next three years as equity in various projects.
'The slowdown won't affect good talent'
'The demand is not there for those who are not following industry standards. And this is true for the 10 per cent of employees who are now being asked to leave. It is a good course correction from the long-term perspective for the industry,' Ninad Karpe, CEO and MD, Aptech.
March 24, 2009
How Arvind Brands plans to tide over the crisis
After much speculation and dithering, Ahmedabad-based garments giant Arvind Limited recently spun off its brands and retail business in an effort to realise valuation and raise funds for aggressive expansion.
'Loan demand has improved in fourth quarter'
"We are already restructuring viable accounts, which are facing temporary cash flow problems," says S Sridhar, Chairman & MD, Central Bank of India.
'A very sad day for West Bengal'
'The land is partly with the government, partly with the company. In the changed economic scenario, I cannot say how quickly another plant will come up there,' said West Bengal's Industry Minister Nirupam Sen.
'We don't bother about Nano or No-No'
'We are bothered about the people's problems. The government forcefully and illegally occupied the land at Singur -- that's why we opposed the forceful occupation of the land,' said firebrand political leader Mamata Banerjee, who forced the Nano project to move out of Singur.
'It has been a nightmare getting the Nano out'
Among other things, Ratan Tata also said, 'All I can say at the moment is that the project is highly profitable. After all, I am not doing it for philanthropy.'
March 23, 2009
'Recession is a time to build brand equity'
During recession, consumers tend to vouch for safer choices, and that is where Nokia can build its brand during the downturn, says D Shivakumar, MD and VP-markets, Nokia India.
'There is room for plenty of new players'
'The idea of modern retail is to drive consumption and grow the economy. If international retailers can do that and add new categories, why not?' asks Kishore Bayani of the Future Group.
'EPF: The more subscribers the better'
K Chandramouli, commissioner, Employees Provident Fund, tells Business Standard's Sreelatha Menon that expansion of the fund will make it sustainable.
March 20, 2009
'We've just won the Volkswagen order'
Apollo Tyre's vice-chairman and joint managing director Neeraj R S Kanwar speaks about the company's global foray and its plans to compete with global majors who're slowly increasing their share of the local market as well
'No need to cut jobs in India'
Given the economic slowdown, Masaru Tamagawa, managing director, Sony India, believes India will be better suited to help Sony meet its worldwide target.
March 19, 2009
'India's Dream Team failed to deliver'
This also shows that there are other skills that go into a success story than mere ideas.
Aircel COO on how to compete in a congested market
GSM operator Aircel on Wednesday became the seventh telecom operator in Delhi. Gurdeep Singh, chief operating officer, spoke to Business Standard's Ishita Russell on the company's plan to tackle competition in a congested market.
'People are still willing to sign cheque books'
Madhabi Puri Buch, MD & CEO, ICICI Securities tells Sidhartha she is using the present market conditions to focus on innovation.
Why Hemendra Kothari is leaving Merrill Lynch
We have a great team and they are quality people with decades of experience. Everyone would like to retain them, says Hemendra Kothari, Chairman, DSP Merrill Lynch.
March 18, 2009
'High fiscal deficit, biggest risk to India'
Anjalika Bardalai, senior economist and editor at Economist Intelligence Unit says fiscal deficit is the biggest downside risk to India's growth story.
'Employee referrals have worked for us'
"We have never done much lateral hiring since we promote from within the company. Given the GE legacy, Genpact has always believed in performance appraisals. This period is no different," says V N Tyagarajan, COO, Genpact.
'We've got to get more investment from India'
Last month, Industry Minister Tony Clement became the fourth Canadian federal minister to visit India this year. His main mission was, he told Rediff India Abroad's Ajit Jain in an exclusive interview, to "encourage foreign direct investment by Indian entrepreneurs and companies into Canada" and also to woo Indian tourists to Canada.
'We're looking for firms that can survive the crisis'
We look at strong companies. We tell them to conserve liquidity and conserve cash so that they can survive this period of downturn and come out stronger, says Shahzaad Dalal.
March 17, 2009
'Buying Satyam will catapult us into a different league'
"Satyam will give us the scale. This will make us stronger," says Phaneesh Murthy, CEO of the Freemont (California)-based IT services provider, iGate Corporation, and one of the suitors of the beleaguered IT corporation.
March 16, 2009
'In a recession, governments have to spend'
'If money is spent on good projects, then it is explainable, especially in deflationary circumstances. To boost demand, there is a need to increase spending,' Justin Yifu Lin, chief economist, World Bank.
March 13, 2009
'Pay Commission hikes are not productive'
Pradip Shah, the forthright chairman of IndAsia Fund says government spending should have targeted infrastructure such as roads and power projects so that productive assets would have been created and at the same time it would have provided a living for low-income labourers and less-qualified people. 'They, in turn, would have spent the money on essentials and some long-term assets for themselves,' he says.
'In India, mega projects face initial hurdles'
'In India, mega projects in any sector face initial hurdles. That's a reality for all companies or sectors. We need to have the tenacity and perseverance, which we have,' says Koushik Chatterjee, CFO, Tata Steel.
March 09, 2009
MphasiS CEO on the company's growth strategy
MphasiS, the IT and business process outsourcing service provider, has seen some changes in recent years. First, the Bangalore-based company promoted by Jerry Rao was acquired by EDS. Then, HP acquired EDS last year.
'West Bengal still among top investment destinations'
At ground level, Trinamool leaders are quite reasonable and supportive. But TC is such a party where opinions of the grassroot-level people don't matter. The party has decided to oppose whatever development work we undertake, says
March 03, 2009
'Building a startup is a marathon, not a sprint'
At the EmTech India 2009 Conference in New Delhi, Sanjay Swamy, CEO of mChek, spoke about mobile bill payment technology, his participation at the IT conclave, his journey as an entrepreneur, global downturn and other issues.
Of Dimagi and smart healthcare
Dimagi is a dedicated group of clinicians and programmers looking for ways to improve the quality of life and the quality of care across the globe. Dimagi has led development on SmartCare, the electronic national medical record system in Zambia.
March 02, 2009
'Economy will return to trend growth rate after 2009-10'
Putting forward the government's view on the high level of fiscal deficit, Arvind Virmani, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry, claims the 6 per cent deficit is reversible.
'Nimbus' market share expected to grow by 50%'
Harish Thawani, Nimbus Communications' flamboyant CEO, wants to take the Neo sports channel to such new markets as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia Europe and North America. The aim, he says, is to achieve an over 50 per cent growth in market share next financial year.
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