‹› Business Australia ‹›April - June 2020

– Business Australia unlocks every opportunity that connects India and Australia –

ANZIBC• India • Australia • New Zealand • Singapore

First ever Indo-Australian Virtual Summit to benefit the entire Indo-Pacific region

At the first ever Indo-Australian Virtual Summit held between Prime Minister Modi and Prime MinisterMorrison on June 04, 2020, the two leaders agreed on a shared vision to stabilise Maritime Cooperation inthe Indo-Pacific Region and elevation of Strategic Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “India is committed to strengthening its relations with Australia,it is not only important for our two nations but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the whole world". The twonations share deep relations and the depth comes from their shared values, interests, geography andobjectives, he added.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called India a "trusted friend of Australia" and a "pioneer intechnology". "India has been a positive force in these trying times and our relationship with India is a naturalone. The time has come for broader and deeper ties. India has been a pioneer in technology - an area that iskey today and will be so in future," he said.

The following MoUs were signed as part of the Virtual Summit.

Implementing Arrangement concerning cooperation in Defence Science and Technology to the MoU onDefence Cooperation.

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Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber-Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation.

Cooperation in the field of mining and processing of Critical and Strategic minerals

Arrangement concerning Mutual Logistics Support (MLSA), will facilitate reciprocal access to militarylogistics facilities, allow more complex joint military exercise and improve interoperability between thearmed forces of the two sides

Co-operation in the field of Public Administration and Governance Reforms.

Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training

Water Resources Management

Over the past one and a half years, the two PMs have held four meetings on the sidelines of – East AsiaSummit in Singapore in November 2018, G20 in Osaka in June 2019, G7 Summit in Biarritz in August 2019and East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019.

Sterling and Wilson Solar bags EPC contract in Australia for A$ 520 million

Leading solar power generation company Sterling & Wilson Solar (SWSL) has bagged its largest EPCcontract from Australia worth over AUD 600 million (over Rs 3,000 crore), including an AUD 80 million worthof operation and maintenance contract for 20 years.

For the Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Khurshed Daruvala family promoted company, this award comes within15 months of its entry in Australia, which took its cumulative order book in that country to around AUD 1billion (Rs 4,900 crore).

Mr. Bikesh Ogra – Director and Global CEO, Sterling and Wilson Solar Limited said, “This is our largest orderin Australia and is a culmination of efforts to break new ground in countries like Australia, the United Statesand South America, where SWSL has invested in a strong team that is completely aligned with the localrequirements."

SWSL is a pure-play, end-to-end solar EPC and construction solutions provider with presence in 25 markets.It also provides operations and maintenance services, including for projects constructed by third-parties andis now planning big data centres. Its main markets span Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americasand Australia.

Adani Australia awards $350-mn contract to BMD Group

Adani Australia has awarded a contract worth A$ 350m to BMD Group for the civil construction works relatedto the Carmichael Rail Network. The contract is part of the A$ 1 billion mine and rail project in Queenslandand it is expected to create more than 600 jobs in the State.

As per the contract, BMD will deliver civil works including the delivery of earthworks, drainage, bridges, railcamp construction and associated road upgrades, to support the construction of the Carmichael RailNetwork.

Carmichael Rail Network is a 200km long railway line connecting to the existing rail network for a seamlessfreight transport connection between the Carmichael mine to the Port of Abbot Point. The narrow-gauge railwill be used for transporting 40 million tonnes of coal per annual, with a potential for expansion, ensuring tokeep up with the mine’s 10 million tonnes yearly production rate.

The Carmichael Project is a thermal coal mine and rail project, where coal produced from the Galilee Basinwill be used across Asian countries including Vietnam, India, China and Malaysia, while thousands of jobs arecreated in Queensland. BMD Group operations group Executive Director, Mr. Scott Power said: “The awardof this contract is recognition of the capability and capacity of Australian contractors and provides a boost forour teams, supply chain and the communities in which we operate.”

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India's textile industry is crafting a future in global fashion mask market

The Covid-19 pandemic has cut the Indian textile and fashion industry into bits and pieces. While the exportorders from the key markets- the US and UK started to dwindle since the beginning of the year, domesticsales were also badly hit by demand sluggishness and closure of retail showrooms across the country due tothe lockdown.

But disruption is not something new to the fashion industry which needs to keep itself abreast with everchanging consumer’s tastes and preferences. With face masks becoming an inseparable accessory, thetextile industry is crafting a special place for itself in the global fashion mask industry.

“Suddenly this (mask manufacturing) has come as a great opportunity for the industry, as a different productline, at this moment of crisis,” Mr. Ram Bhatnagar, Vice President and Head - Sales, Raymond Ltd. saidadding, “nobody could have ever imagined about this segment from a fashion perspective.”

“We have 1,500 companies doing direct exports. All the companies, which have foreign contracts, are nowrequired to produce masks because the buyer will ask for masks along with the garment order and this is thenew normal,” Mr. Raja Shanmugam, President, Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) said.

He also added that if India was able to export 300 crore masks then it would fetch an export revenue of $1billion.

(source: thehindubusinessline.com)

Bombardier sees Hyderabad Centre playing strategic role as a global hub

Bombardier Global Engineering and Technology Centre in Hyderabad has transformed itself into aspecialised design hub for Indian and overseas market with its critical role in designing rolling stocks.

Bombardier recently won a contract from National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for thesupply of 210 commuter and intracity cars with comprehensive maintenance services for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut semi-high-speed rail corridor under Phase 1 of the Regional Rapid Transit System(RRTS). The contract worth rupees 2,577 crore ($340 million) will see its design work happening in theHyderabad.

Mr. Rajeev Joisar, Country Leader for India at Bombardier Transportation, said: “The project, with anexpected ridership of 800,000 a day, will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut with a new 82 km line. Weexpect to engage with several other similar upcoming projects”.

While the design work will be handled in the Hyderabad centre, the rolling stocks will be manufactured atBombardier’s Vadodara sites and supported from Duhai and Modipuram.

Bombardier has handled pioneering work for a project manufacturing 450 commuter cars for the QueenslandNew Generation Rollingstock (QNGR) project for Australia with vehicle assembly and bogie manufacture atthe Savli site and the Maneja site, near Vadodara with supplying a portion of the propulsion equipment.

India-Australia CEPA and Indian Apparel Industry

“An early conclusion of the India-Australia CEPA would surely impact Indian apparel exports positively. Asper our estimates, India can increase additional exports of US $ 500 million in next 3 years, if CEPA withAustralia is concluded,” says Indian apparel exporters’ official body, Apparel Export Promotion Council(AEPC).

It is pertinent to mention here that with apparel import of US $ 6.6 billion in 2019, Australia is the 18th largestimporter. While China has a major share in this (64 per cent), India’s share is just 1.2 per cent with exportsworth US $ 206 million.

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Faradion partners with Infraprime Logistics Technologies for sodium-ion batteries

Faradion Ltd has announced its partnership with Infraprime Logistics Technologies (IPLTech) for high energysodium-ion batteries that will be used in commercial vehicles in the Indian market.

India has demonstrated a growing appetite for moving towards electric commercial vehicles, driven by theGovernment's target of 30 percent EV adoption by 2030. The target gives a significant push to EVinfrastructure by allocating $1.4 trillion for infrastructure to be invested by 2025, according to Faridon.

Unlike lithium-ion batteries, Faradion's sodium-ion batteries have exceptional thermal stability and safety.Further, they can be safely transported and maintained at zero volts. Mr. James Quinn, CEO of Faradion,said "Faradion is accelerating large scale industrialisation of its safe, low cost, Sodium-ion energy storagetechnology. The partnership with IPLTech reflects an important milestone in our commitment to the marketand the Prime Minister's Make in India vision, as we also shortly commence manufacturing in India".

They Make a Mark………

Shalini Warrier, the widely respected Executive Director of Federal Bank receives the prestigiousDhanam Finance Woman of the Year 2019 Award.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon Ltd, has been named EY World Entrepreneurof the Year 2020.

India's oleoresin Industry survives the Covid-19 outbreak with the rising demand for ready-to-eatproducts across the world. Viju Jacob, Managing Director of the iconic company, Synthite observes thatthe "Indian spice oleoresins currently dominate the world market with over Rs 2000 crore exports".

AppsComp Widgets Pvt Ltd., the Coimbatore based digital marketing company is steadily evolving as agreat success story in e-commerce facilitation and content marketing strategies.

Coir Board is spearheading India's success in Coir exports. "We will, in all probability, close thenumbers in FY 20 almost similar to last year's Rs.2800 crore" States M. Kumararaja, Secretary, CoirBoard.

Aspire Systems elevates to the position of ‘Consulting Partner’ of Salesforce, the internationallyrenowned software products company for Salesforce Commerce Cloud to create a "win-win"relationship.

As cyber security emerges as a major threat to hundreds of organisations world over, Australia's highlyrespected Skill development company, AAMC Training Group has come forward with low cost trainingprogrammes, which have found wide acceptance in Australia and India.

WT Partnership Australia implements the payroll solutions from Ramco Systems

Global enterprise software specialist, Ramco Systems, has announced that WT Partnership Australia, aleading international cost and consultancy firm, has successfully implemented Ramco HR and Global Payrollsolution in Phase I of the project, to replace the latter’s legacy systems for its Australian operations.

Mr. Robert Groom, Chief Financial Officer, WT Partnership Australia, said, “We are very pleased with thesuccess of Phase I of the Ramco-WT Australia project and look forward to Phase II, which will extendRamco’s software to WT Australia’s North American, Indian and Middle East subsidiaries”.

Mr. Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems, said, “I am happy to see the active usage of our self-serviceHR chatbot, CHIA across WT Australia. Being able to offer a Single Touch Payroll (STP) compliant Payrollsoftware bundled with next-gen innovations and backed by our Global Payroll services reaffirms ourcredibility with our clients. We are confident that Ramco CHIA, will not just ease the life of the user but alsoenhance employee experience by delivering Artificial Intelligence-based automation in day-to-day activities.”

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Biocon announces the launch of Fulphila In Australia

Biocon Ltd. and Mylan N V have announced the launch of Fulphila, a biosimilar to Neulasta (pegfilgrastim), inAustralia. Fulphila is approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for the treatment of cancer patientsfollowing chemotherapy, to decrease the duration of severe neutropenia and reduce the incidence ofinfections, as manifested by febrile neutropenia, city-headquartered Biocon said in a statement.

The approval of Fulphila was based on a comprehensive package of analytical, nonclinical and clinical data,which confirmed that the product is highly similar to Neulasta and no clinically meaningful differences in termsof safety and efficacy exist, it said.

IIL partners with Griffith University to develop Covid-19 vaccine

Hyderabad-based Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL) has partnered with Australia’s Griffith University todevelop the COVID-19 vaccine. Scientists from IIL and Griffith University will jointly develop a “live attenuatedSARS – CoV-2 vaccine” or COVID-19 vaccine using the “latest codon de-optimization technology”.

The vaccine is expected to provide long-lasting protection with a single dose administration with an anticipatedsafety profile similar to other licensed vaccines for active immunization. Upon the completion of the research, thevaccine strain will be transferred to ILL. It will work with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO), to conduct clinical trials. IIL intends to use its Vero cell platform tech for mass production of thevaccine.

Indian Immunologicals Limited is a major player in the human vaccine market in the country, supplying humanpediatric and rabies vaccines. IIL is also a major supplier of pediatric vaccines to the country’s state-rununiversal immunization programme. IIL is promoted by the National Dairy Development Board.

Tamil Nadu to Implement Australian e-learning platform across Government Schools

The Tamil Nadu Government took an important lead in digital education in the country by partnering withAustralian e-learning platform, Matific, to encourage an innovative way of learning mathematics forKindergarten to Class 6 students. Matific uses game-based principles to encourage students to learn throughdiscovery while at the same time being aligned with the local curriculum (ICSE/CBSE).

The deal marks the company's first-ever pilot run in the Indian market. Over 1.5 million students across TamilNadu will now have access to the Matific platform, featuring thousands of gamified activities and worksheetscovering skills aligned to the curriculum.

With students and teachers looking for new and improved ways to learn and teach mathematics, Matific wasable to see substantial improvements in both academic and engagement results. Throughout the course ofthe pilot, over 150 schools used the Matific platform to teach maths lessons aligned with their localcurriculums. The results identified over 21,000 students had been taught using the platform, with an averageimprovement across Class 1-6 being 25%.

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