India Brand Equity Foundation

CXLII

 May 28, 2007
 

India's manufacturing sector, which has an 80 per cent weightage in the country's industrial production, grew 14.1 per cent in March 2007 - the highest in over a decade. Equally to note is that India's share in total world trade touched 1.5 per cent in 2006, compared to 1.1 per cent in 2004.

And, the special in this newsletter showcases the Indian telecom market - the world's fastest growing - which has scored the following distinctions this year:

  • the world's lowest call rates
  • the fastest growing subscriber base
  • the fastest sale of a million mobile phones
  • the world's cheapest mobile handset
  • the world's most affordable colour phone

Jayant Bhuyan
CEO, India Brand Equity Foundation &
Deputy Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry
 
 
  POLICY WATCH
Centre for more foreign funds in education
The central government is planning to open up the country's education sector to foreign investment in a big way. [More]

Industry body welcomes scrapping of textile cess
The Southern India Mills Association welcomed the Cabinet decision to abolish the Textile Committee cess collected from the textile and textile machinery industry under the Textile Committee Act. [More]

Pay less for imported liquor
Addressing European and American concerns of high import duties on liquor in India and lowering prices in most States, the Centre and States agreed to rejig duties on foreign liquor. [More]


  PEOPLE
Indian-born mathematician accepts Abel Prize
Indian-born Srinivasa SR Varadhan accepted the Norwegian Abel Prize, known as the 'Nobel Prize for mathematics'. [More]

NRI radio presenter wins British award
Lucky Dhillon, who has worked in the Asian media in Britain for the last 20 years, and entrepreneur Sharon Kaur were this year's recipients of the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. [More]


IBEF Newsletter

  ECONOMY AND ENTERPRISE
Manufacturing strikes a record
In its highest growth in over a decade, the manufacturing sector - with 80 per cent weightage in India's industrial production - grew a record 14.1 per cent in March 2007. [More]

India's slice of global trade gets thicker
India's share in total world trade went up from 1.1 per cent in 2004 (the initial year of the Foreign Trade Policy from 2004-09), to 1.5 per cent in 2006. [More]

India ahead of China's offshore market
China's push to become an alternate off shoring hub for MNCs tackling soaring wages and high attrition rate in India remains a distant dream as its market is developing slower than expected. [More]

Telecom user base touches 212 million
India's telecom sector continues to grow, adding 5.15 million wireless subscribers in April -- taking the total telephone users to 212.02 million and teledensity to 18.74 per cent. [More]

New billion-dollar babies on the bourses
Twenty companies have joined the elite billion-dollar-market-cap club so far in 2007, with the appreciating rupee emerging as a major driving force behind this. [More]

Suzlon to ride REpower with Areva
After the recent big-bang foreign deals of the Tatas, Birlas and Mallya, Suzlon, the wind energy company, has won the race for German counterpart REpower. [More]

Godrej's top 5 brands pegged at US$ 652.7 million
In a landmark study, the FMCG major's top five brands - Godrej Hair Dye, Cinthol, Godrej No.1, Ezee and FairGlow - were valued by UK-based brand consultancy, Brand Finance. [More]

Sasol, Tatas set riders for mega coal-to-oil investment
In what could lessen India's reliance on oil imports and help lower fuel prices, Tata plans to set up a plant to convert coal into diesel or crude oil in partnership with South Africa's Sasol. [More]
    SPECIAL
In global telephony, India has many 'firsts' to showcase
Indian telecom rates have bottomed out, with several 'firsts' finding the country an envious slot in global telephony. For consumers, it only gets better. [More]
 
QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

 

What's struck me is the energy and restless ambition in India. You can actually, tangibly feel the drive...

Peter Knapp
Executive Creative Director
Landor Associates

 

  

 
    FACT OF THE WEEK
By topping the 2007 edition of the Brand Equity Survey of India's Most Trusted Brands, Colgate has made it four times in a row. [More]
 
    SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Government unveils guidelines to save energy
The government launched the Energy Conservation Building Code for the construction sector with an aim to increase the energy efficiency of new buildings. [More]




 
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