2 2012

Relying on mutual strengths

The socio-economic and political relationship between Oman and India is ever growing and the fantastic ties are reflected in the heightened business growth between the countries. One thing which signals the excellent relations between India and Oman is the unabated growth of bilateral

investments. Even though the global markets are taking an unprecedented beating and investors are hesitant to step out, Indian and Omani businessmen continue to believe in each other’s capabilities and strengths.

Jindal Steel is committed to put in almost half a billion dollars in downstream projects after buying out Shadeed Steel for an equal if not more money. The setting up of a Bahwan CyberTek’s Centre of Excellence in Anna University in Chennai cements the reciprocal trust and mutual confidence.

In the days of yore, it was the most daring and enterprising traders who launched out their sailboats to scythe through the Arabian waters and crisscross the coast from Oman to India and the Far East to trade their wares. In this way, dates, copper, food commodities and precious items were sold in souqs or bazaars far removed from their places of origin.

In the 21st century, trading has taken on a whole new meaning. The items in the basket have metamorphosed with the changing seasons and times and now it is technology and investments that are changing hands. Expertise and knowledge are crossing shores to new consumers. India exports its manpower while Oman sells its oil and gas. But the underlying theme is all about the spirit of entrepreneurship, that never-say-die attitude that has spurred the people of both countries since ancient times to continue to visit each other with agendas of different kinds all reaching towards the same goal — that of enhancing and strengthening mutual ties.

With the Oman-India bilateral trade crossing the $5bn mark, there is no turning back. It is pertinent to note that the non-oil commodities have a lion’s share in this figure, which again is good news for the Sultanate, which is seeking to wean itself away from oil and diversify its economy into tourism, services and industrial activities.

Political stability and sound macro-economic policies have relatively insulated the two countries from global shocks and fuelled their economic growth. After all, it is only in an environment of stability that friendships in any form can flourish.

The pages of the fourth edition of Connexion — Oman-India Business Review, which is brought out every year on the occasion of India’s Republic Day, presents to you the snapshots of 2011 while giving pointers to the road ahead for the two countries. We are also pleased to inform you that we were among the earliest to catch up with HE J S Mukul, India’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, for his first media interview.

EDITORIAL

Editor-in-ChiefHH Sayyid Tarik Bin Shabib

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An Presentation

E D I T O R I A L

Visvas Paul D Karra

4 2012

content

Opportunities galore22

I want to put humanity ahead of personal gains

30

Widening the links

38

I N T E R V I E W S

EDITORIAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

TRADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

MEDICAL TOURISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

EDUCATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

MANUFACTURING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

INTERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

INFRASTRUCTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

SHIPPING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

AVIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

AUTOMOBILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Touching LivesPromising StartNew AvenuesFertilising the Soil

Time-tested relationshipI N T E R V I E W14

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6 2012

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Military cooperation MoU extended to 2015India and Oman have extended the validity of the existing bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on military cooperation, signed in December 2005, for a further period of five years. The documents were signed by Defence Minister AK Antony and Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, His Excellency Badar bin Saud bin Harib al Busaidi. Bilateral defence cooperation between India and Oman has been growing over the years.The navies of both countries conducted a joint exercise “Naseem Al Bahr” off the coast of Mumbai in December, 2011. The Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Air Force of Oman held a joint exercise “Eastern Bridge” at Jamnagar, Gujarat, in October, 2011.

During the delegation level talks, both sides noted that bilateral defence cooperation has progressed satisfactorily. The fifth meeting of the India-Oman Joint Military Cooperation Committee was held in India in September 2011. Both the ministers discussed important issues relating to regional and maritime security. Antony noted that incidents of piracy were taking place close to the Oman coast and have also been spreading close to the Lakshadweep Islands.

Both ministers stressed the need for continued and concerted efforts of the world community to effectively address the problem. Antony conveyed that the visit of the Oman Defence Minister is an important step in continuing the dialogue on defence and security issues between the two countries.

Bharat Oman Refinery inauguratedIndian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurated Bharat Oman Refinery Ltd (BORL), a joint venture by Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). The event was attended by Humaid al Maani, Ambassador of the Sultanate to India and OOC board members. The BORL is aimed at developing a 6 MMTPA (120,000 BPSD) refinery in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. The refinery includes related crude oil import facilities and a 935-km pipeline to transport crude oil from western coast of India in Vadinar, Gujarat to Bina. The ultra-modern refining facilities have been developed to allow top quality petroleum products to be available in the central parts of India as well as adjoining areas.

The total cost of the project is $2.4bn and the OOC has 26 per cent equity in refinery. BORL is considered the second largest business joint-investment between Oman and India. Commenting on the event, Ahmed bin Salim al Wahaibi, CEO of OOC said, “We are very proud to be associated with one of India’s major refinery projects. The project exhibits OOC’s commitment towards diversifying its investment portfolio and further positions OOC in one of the world’s most rapid growth markets.” BPCL is a well-recognised company in the refining and petrochemical business with strong experience in developing and operating large scale projects.

R K Singh, the chairman of BORL said, “The Bina-based refinery is equipped with world class technology to produce environment friendly EURO IV and EURO V fuels.The refinery has an assured off-take, since it will meet the demand of high quality fuel in markets with deficit supply.”

The first Indo-Oman India Medical Tourism Destination (IMTD) held in November, 2011 is expected to bring more collaboration between Oman and India in the field of healthcare, according to an official from World Wide Business. Medical professionals from 36 Indian hospitals participated in the event. Dr Anchan CK, managing director, World Wide Business House said, “This is the first such event in Oman. With such highly qualified medical experts coming from India, we expect more collaboration between the two countries which will benefit the health sector.”

The event, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), World Wide Business House and the Indian Embassy, showcased the latest technologies on weight loss, keyhole surgery, cardiology and kidney transplants.

Swati Kulkarni, counsellor, Indian Embassy, said, “The contribution of medical tourism to India’s GDP is 8 per cent. About 26,000 graduates pass out from medical colleges annually. With these statistics, we believe more people will visit India for medical treatment.”

Medical tourism to get a fillip

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8 2012

Jindal Steel raises $475mn for expansion in OmanJindal Steel & Power, an Indian steel maker and power generator, raised $475mn through the takeout financing route, to part finance expansion plans overseas, making it one of the largest such transactions by an Indian company. The Delhi-based company, which is part of the OP Jindal group, has raised the loan at 225 basis points over the Libor, for a tenor of five years, with 10 large banks participating in the transaction. The banks include Standard Chartered, DBS, Citibank, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Mizuho, Barclays, RBS, ANZ, Credit Agricole and JP Morgan.

Takeout financing typically provides finance for longer duration projects of about 15 years, by banks that sanction loans for the medium term, for 5 to 7 years. The loan will be taken out of books of the financing bank, within a pre-fixed period by another institution, thus preventing any possible asset-liability mismatch. After taking out the loan, the institution offloads it to another bank or keeps it. These long tenure loans were primarily introduced to offer sops to banks to lend to the infrastructure sector as banks earlier had very little exposure to long term loans, and also did not have adequate resources of similar tenure to create long term assets.

Jindal Steel acquired Shadeed Iron and Steel in May 2010 from Abu-Dhabi’s Al Ghaith Holdings for $464mn and had also indicated that it would invest about $500mn to expand Shadeed’s facilities. The capacity will be expanded from 1.5-million-tonne to about 5-million-tonne by 2015-16. The main reason for acquiring Shadeed was easy availability of gas. The acquisition is a key move in the international strategic expansion for Jindal Steel.

Indo-Oman joint exercise held in JamnagarRoyal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) and Indian Air Force conducted a joint exercise – ‘Eastern Bridge - 2011’ – at the Air Force Station Jamnagar to expose the aircrew of the two air forces to long duration sorties with inflight refueling, large force strike packages, air to ground bombing and maritime strike roles.

The exercise, named “Ex Eastern Bridge – 2011” marks the second of the series. The first was held in Oct 2009 wherein six IAF Jaguars had operated at RAFO Thumrait, Oman. It is the first time that the RAFO Jaguars have participated in a joint exercise held in India. The RAFO contingent comprised six Jaguar aircraft and 115 personnel. The IAF’s Jaguars and MiG 29s based at Jamnagar have participated in the exercise. RAFO Jaguars had ferried in directly from Thumrait and landed at Jamnagar.

The exercise was part of India’s efforts to build strategic ties with Oman whose ports have been utilised by Indian Navy frigates on anti-piracy duty off the Gulf of Aden. In fact Oman is the first Arab State to have formalised defence ties with India and Foreign Minister Yusuf Bin Alawai bin Abdulla was the first high-level leader from an Arab country to visit India after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Oman also has Jaguar fighters which were deployed for the “Exercise Eastern bridge – 2011’’ at the Jamnagar Air Force base in Gujarat.

A 61 member delegation from Gujarat representing the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) visited The Wave, Muscat as part of a two-day business exploration tour to the Sultanate. With real estate continuing to be a major driver of India’s economic growth, the delegation aimed to gain first-hand experience of the master-planned community and Oman’s

Credai visits The Wave, Muscat

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Bridging the Gap

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10 2012

Omani students visit Indian Embassy The Indian Embassy, Muscat hosted students of journalism and mass communication from Sur College of Applied Sciences at the Embassy auditorium. During an interactive session, the then Ambassador of India HE Anil Wadhwa threw light on historical civilisational links between India and the Sultanate of Oman. In his address, HE Wadhwa stated that the strong, historical relations between India and Oman, their geographical proximity and their common interests at different levels can be explained by the strategic location of “Majan” (old Oman) and the civilisation of the Indus Valley, the control of the two countries over navigation in the Indian Ocean and the help of the monsoon winds in maintaining regular and uninterrupted trips between them. Giving an account of trade relation between the two countries since the Indus Valley Civilization (in the 3rd millennium BC), he mentioned that with the advent of Islam in the 7th Century AD people of Oman established an interconnected network of trade that extended to India as well. This is a watershed, as Cherman Perumal, the King of Kerala also settled down in Salalah and still lies buried there. A short film on Indian tourism covering specific cultural aspects of all parts of India was also shown to the students of Sur College of Applied Sciences.

Open house session held in SurIndian Embassy organised an open house session in September, 2011 in Sur to address the problems faced by the members of Indian community in Sur. H E Anil Wadhwa, the then Ambassador of India to the Sultanate, addressed a gathering of sizeable Indian nationals at the open house session organised at the premises of Indian School Sur. The open house session rendered an opportunity for Indian nationals to bring their problems directly to the Ambassador. Assuring them of speedy remedial actions, HE Anil Wadhwa pointed out that the Indian Embassy is always ready to support the Indian community in Oman. HE Wadhwa along with the wali of Jalan Bani Bu Ali, HE Hilal bin Ali Al Habsi inaugurated the newly constructed building of the Indian School Jalan.

Oman, India pursue Iranian gas importIran’s recent talks on gas export to Oman and India ended on an optimistic note. The caretaker for the National Iranian Gas Export Co. (NIGEC) said that the nation’s talks on gas export to Oman and India have had some hopeful results.

“An Indian delegation is planned to visit Iran soon to discuss the construction of an independent sea born gas pipeline”, said Hossain Bidar Maghz.

India tends to construct a gas pipeline through international waters which may omit the transit right for the two sides. Construction of a gas pipeline from Oman to India is another way of sending Iranian gas to India through a sea pipeline from the midway, said Bidar Maghz.

Indian Embassy in Muscat organised a painting exhibition ‘The Fiction of a Landscape’ by world renowned painter from Kerala, India, Murali Nagapuzha. The exhibition which was held under the auspices of His Excellency Anil Wadhwa, the then Ambassador of India to the Sultanate, was inaugurated by His Highness Sayyid Tarik bin Shabib Al Said. The exhibition featured some of the best known works of this highly

acclaimed Indian painter. There were 350 invited guests at the inauguration of the exhibition including diplomats, artists and executives. HH Sayyid Tarik Bin Shabib Al Said stated that he felt enamoured of the colours and the vibrancy of the artwork. HE Anil Wadhwa expressed his happiness that the work was appreciated a lot by the audience, who were struck by the details of nature, forests, animals and butterflies as the central objects.

Green Kerala alive at Indian Embassy

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New building for Indian School NizwaThe new building of Indian School Nizwa constructed in Tymsa, Nizwa was inaugurated by His Excellency Anil Wadhwa in the presence of a galaxy of dignitaries from all walks of life. Al Syed Hilal Bin Bader Bin Ali Albusaidi the Wali of Nizwa was the Guest of Honour. The function was attended by chairman and other members of board of directors for Indian Schools in Oman and dignitaries.

Dr Zafar Ameer Zaidi who welcomed the guests, briefly outlined the efforts required for completing the new school building project in just a year’s time and how the Indian Ambassador and the Board of Directors had supported the cause. The Principal K Narayana Joisa presenting the report said that the school had achieved the best result in recent times in the AISSCE (XII) with 18 of the 21 who appeared passing in First Division and the school attaining 100n per cent passes for the past several years in AISSE (X) of CBSE, Delhi.

Second Indo-Oman movie hits silver screenOdia film Thukool (Frozen in Love), an Indo-Oman Production project, released allover the Indian state of Odisha to become first film to hit silver screen in 2012. The film is a musical love story directed by Prasant Nanda and produced by Akshay Kumar Parija. Both Parija and Nanda previously worked together on the award-winning The Living Ghost, the first Indo-Oman production. The film was shot at various landscapes in Muscat, Sur, Barka and other locations in the country. The two hour forty-five minute feature film is a showcase of natural beauty.

Hind wins ABLF AwardHind Bahwan, chairperson of Bahwan CyberTek Group and director of the Suhail Bahwan Group, has been conferred the prestigious Woman of Power Award by Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) – a platform backed by a think-tank of prominent leaders, policy-makers, academicians, media and opinion leaders of core industries across Asia. The forum endeavours to encourage, showcase and celebrate visionary business leadership across Asia, to raise the benchmarks of performance and excellence for companies and to promote sustainable business initiatives that reflect corporate and individual responsibility and showcase exemplary business enterprise in dynamic business sectors of industry, infrastructure and energy. Hind Bahwan was elected for this award through the opinion of people; iconic business, media and other opinion commentators across India, South-East Asia and the Gulf. She received the Award at the inaugural showcase of the ABLF Awards at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi, India. The awards were presented by Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development, Communications and Information Technology, Government of India.

As part of its endeavour to promote art and culture, the Indian Embassy in Muscat hosted an exclusive Indo-Oman photo exhibition. The photo exhibition has been put together by “Kalamandalam-Muscat” in association with a number of talented young artists from Oman along with Photography club of Indian School Darsait. The photo exhibition was inaugurated by HE Hamed bin Mohammed al Rashdi, Minister of Information, Sultanate of Oman at

the Embassy. The exhibition under the theme ‘Photography of India and Oman’ consists of beautiful shots taken by a number of photographers from Oman and India. The photo exhibition showcased a unique collection of 72 photographs by the local participants including 17 Indian Photographers three Omani photographers namely and others from Indian School Darsait photo club. Photos depicting the natural beauty of Oman and India were displayed.

Indo-Oman photo exhibition

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14 2012

I N T E R V I E W

14 2012

Time-tested relationship Time-tested relationship

152012

Can you comment on Oman and India’s bilateral relations?The Republic of India and the Sultanate of Oman have come a long way in building their relations which are today in the nature of a strategic partnership thanks to the firm foundation of centuries old traditional civilisational links as well as the diplomatic relations established since 1955.

The political relations are excellent and characterised by close bilateral ties and frequent high level exchanges. These have helped to identify ways to deepen and diversify cooperation between the two countries in order to strengthen our strategic relations. The trade and commerce, bilateral investments, people-to-people contacts and exchange of ideas on issues of mutual interest continue to grow.

India-Oman economic-commercial relations remain vibrant. The bilateral trade is flourishing and continues to grow from strength to strength. The investment flows both ways are robustly reflected in the numerous joint ventures, big and small, established in Oman and India.

What is the status of the Oman-India trade relations? The overall India-Oman bilateral

trade registered $5.1bn in the last financial year April 2010-March 2011 in comparison to $4.5bn in financial year 2009-10 and $2bn in 2008-09. Following the finalisation of the Report of Higher Committee on Economic Cooperation which was headed by the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission of India and His Majesty’s Advisor on Economic Affairs in 2010, the two countries have identified nine areas of cooperation, viz. agriculture, health care, infrastructure, tourism, chemicals and fertilizers, education, oil and gas, power and mining in order to enhance business and commercial contacts between the two countries.

Indian business groups have emerged as prime investors in Oman. More than 1500 Oman-India joint ventures have been established with an estimated investment of $7.5bn of which Indian investment is estimated around $4bn. The Oman-India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO) in Sur, a $969mn joint investment between Oman Oil Company and Indian public sector undertakings IFFCO and KRIBHCO as well as the Bharat Oman Refinery Limited (BORL) in Bina, India, a $2.4bn joint venture between Oman Oil Company and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) are shining examples of mega projects between the two countries.

Besides, the Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel plant, a $500mn endeavour is a major private sector investment from India. Presently, numerous Indian firms in construction and engineering, waste management, logistics, manufacturing, finance and capital, software solutions, IT, communications, oil & gas and downstream projects have established their presence with reputation for excellence.

In addition, the India-Oman Joint Investment Fund is operational through its Mumbai-based management company and it is currently evaluating projects for investment. The joint venture is based on an MoU signed between State Bank of India (SBI) and State General Reserve Fund of Oman (SGRF) to set up a Joint Investment Fund with the seed capital of $100mn going upto $1.5bn to make equity investments in various economic sectors of both the countries.

Your comments on the socio-cultural tiesThe India-Oman relations have, since the period of Indus Valley civilisation, been dominated by trading contacts through traditional maritime links between the two countries. These have been supplemented by rich people-to-people interaction and cultural exchanges. The Embassy of India, Muscat has been

Time-tested relationship

India and Oman have come a long way in building friendly ties and have shared friendly ties with each other on the political, economic and cultural fronts. In this exclusive interview with Visvas Paul D Karra, the newly appointed Indian Ambassador His Excellency J S Mukul shares his views on why he is upbeat about the growing bilateral relations between India and Oman

16 2012

actively encouraging cultural programmes in Oman. The full range of cultural activities has been underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding on cultural cooperation signed in 2010. India and Oman have exchanged journalists from leading publications under our bilateral programme. Over 50 Omani Government personnel have availed India’s Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. In 2010, 35,539 Omani nationals have visited India up from 31,455 in 2009. In 2011, the Embassy issued 42,000 visas during 2011 reflecting the attraction of India as a prime

business and tourism destination for Omani nationals.

Thus, India-Oman bilateral relations mainly dominated by friendly diplomatic relations, commercial contacts, cultural links have become multi-dimensional covering fields of agriculture, two-way investments, science & technology, clean energy, etc.

What are the major bilateral activities that took place between the two countries?In 2011, the economic and commercial relations were further consolidated with Oman’s

participation as a focus country in the Cll-sponsored Partnership Summit under the title ‘New Partnerships for Economic Resurgence’ held in Mumbai from 24-25 January 2011. The Omani delegation was led by the former Omani Commerce and Industry Minister. The Minister also met his counterpart Anand Sharma and reviewed bilateral relations and cooperation in trade, industry, and oil refineries.

Later in May 2011, the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (PAIPED) of Oman organised a B2B meeting in Delhi in order to enhance bilateral trade between India and Oman. The commissioning of Bharat Oman Refinery Limited (BORL) in Bina on May 20 was the major highlight of bilateral investment relations between the two countries. Omani Oil Company has a 26 per cent equity stake in BPCL-promoted $2.4bn refinery complex.

Many large Indian companies have made their presence felt in Oman. Your commentsIndian companies have strengthened their presence in Oman with securing prestigious contracts and making acquisitions. Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel, a private sector plant at Sohar in Oman is one of them. Jindal Shadeed started its commercial operations in January 2011. The existing plant was acquired by Jindal Group of India in 2010 for $500mn.

Other major contracts won by Indian companies are as follows: Punj Lloyd Group won a $72mn contract for building a new water treatment plant for Occidental Mukhazna in January 2011.

Mahindra Satyam signed deal with Omran – an Omani government venture to deliver major projects and manage tourism assets and investments – to implement Oracle ERP towards standardisation and automation across its departments. Bahwan IT is the local partner of Omran for this project which was signed in March 2011.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) won a contract valued at around $150mn for the establishment of a gas processing facility for Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) at Lekhwair gas fields in September 2011.

Two-way investments are as fol-lows: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced in September 2011 that MHI and Suhail Bahwan Group (SBG) of Oman established a joint venture (JV) engineering company to participate in India’s industrial and infrastructure projects. The new company, MHI Engineering and Industrial Projects India Private Limited (MEIP), has been set up with ini-tial capital of $20mn.

Indsil Group along with its joint venture partner Muscat Overseas Group signed a deal with Sohar Industrial Development Company to set up four ferrochrome smelters with initial investment of $30mn in September.

In September, Sohar Industrial Port Company signed an agreement with Indian steel casings manufacturer Dunes Industries. The latter will set up an $8mn steel foundry at Freezone Sohar in Oman to cater to the growing West Asian market. Bilateral business delegations have also highlighted the trade and investment potential in both countries. We

Indian companies have strengthened their presence in Oman with securing prestigious contracts and making acquisitions

I N T E R V I E W

172012

have seen quite a few business delegations that visited both countries in the year gone by.

In October, we had an Omani business delegation represented by the Transport and Communications Ministry which participated in the 4th conference of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for air services negotiations, held in Mumbai. The Omani delegation, led by the Undersecretary for Civil Aviation Affairs, comprised officials of Air Transport Department at the Civil Aviation Affairs, Oman Air and Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC).

In September, the Oman Chamber of Commerce & Industries organised a seminar on investment opportunities in India and Oman for the visiting FICCI business delegation. The seminar was followed by B2B meetings. Similarly, in October,

a FICCI-led medical tourism delegation comprising 12 leading Indian hospitals and officials from Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health held a seminar on ‘Medical Tourism in India’ at Oman Chamber of Commerce & Industries followed by B2B meetings.

What is your opinion about Indian diaspora?The Indian expatriate community is one of the largest in Oman. According to official figures, 585,000 Indian are working in Oman. The Indian diaspora has been very active in contributing positively to the growth of Oman and India. They have worked here as true ambassadors of India and Indian culture. I appreciate their reputation as law-abiding, peaceful and active members of extended Omani society.

We at the Indian Embassy in Muscat are always closely associated with our citizens in

order to solve their problems or to provide a helping hand to improve conditions of living. For example, the Embassy provides free legal sessions twice a week and maintains a 24-hour helpline service for distressed Indian workers.

The Embassy also organises a monthly open house. The Embassy is proud of its community and helps in resolving matters related to social welfare or to extend support to the vulnerable sections. The Indian diaspora has organised itself well in order to provide an Indian social and cultural ambiance. The Omani authorities have also been helpful so as to make Oman a home away from home for the Indian expatriate community. I appreciate their work culture and enthusiasm for creative and innovative contribution to aid the prosperity of the both nations – India and Oman.

18 2012

T R A D E

Oman’s non-oil sector remains buoyant, thanks to energetic investment inflows and

a robust uptrend in commodity exports. If industry is the engine of economic development, then trade is the lifeline that nurtures and sustains this growth. Both are central to the success of Oman’s long-term strategy to diversify the economy, attract foreign investment, generate employment opportunities, and create new revenue streams for the government, among other goals.

Not surprisingly, both sectors continue to perform admirably, underpinned by a combination of factors, chiefly, market-friendly macroeconomic policies, strong investment appeal, stable political environment, excellent infrastructure, and a vibrant private sector.

At a time when many countries around the world are still being weighed down by the effects of the recent global financial crisis, Oman’s achievements on the trade and industrial fronts are the envy of comparable economies. Bilateral trade is on the upswing, fuelled by rising energy exports as well as non-oil commodities. In particular, the healthy performance of the non-oil export sector gives cause for immense satisfaction about the

wisdom and efficacy of Oman’s economic policies.

Statistics underscore the continuing success of the non-oil trade sector. The value of non-oil exports surged 32.4 per cent to RO2.448 bn in 2010, from around RO1.92 bn in 2009. Contributing to this growth was a 52.9 per cent increase in mineral exports, a 129.6 per cent jump in chemical products, and a 27 per cent rise in livestock and related products.

Importantly, this growth in non-oil export volumes is in line with an export strategy developed by the Public Authority for Investment Promotion & Export Development (PAIPED which identified thrust products and target markets for the 2006 - 2010 timeframe.

The figures also emphasise the fact that Omani exporters are moving in the right direction in securing overseas markets for their merchandise. Assistance provided by agencies like PAIPED is paying dividends, with exporters being steered towards promising emerging markets such as Yemen, Kenya, Tanzania, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Libya and India.

Indeed, the non-oil sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has

been increasing steadily. During the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1991-1995), the non-oil sector accounted for about 62.4 per cent of GDP compared to 43.5 per cent during the first Five-Year Plan (1976-1980). During the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) the sector accounted for a 61.2 per cent share. It was 58.1 per cent in the Sixth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), and 61.13 per cent in 2009.

Similarly, the share of non-oil revenues in total government revenues has increased significantly. The average annual share of non-oil revenue in total government revenues during the Fourth Five-Year plan (1991-1995) was almost threefold its level during the First Five-Year plan. It increased from 7.8 per cent to about 21.1 per cent, rising to 26.6 per cent during the Fifth Five-Year Plan. For the Sixth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) it was 23.4 per cent. In 2009, the non-oil revenue contribution was 32.8 per cent.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) continued to remain Oman’s largest non-oil trading partner, as well as the largest importer of Oman’s non-oil products. Ranked second was India, followed by China, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The Public Authority for Investment Promotion and

LEVERAGING GROWTHBilateral trade between Oman and India has been growing due to favourable government initiatives and policies. A report

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Export Development (PAIPED) is focused on developing specific markets for non-oil exports, with India, a key thrust market for the year 2012 and beyond.

Given the vigorous pace of growth in non-oil exports, there is optimism that Oman is well on course to achieving the country’s export target of RO6.2bn by the year 2020.

FULL THROTTLEThe picture has been equally heartening on the industrial and manufacturing front. The sector has been growing by leaps and bounds, with industrial investment having soared to an impressive $9bn. During 2010 alone, the sector attracted in excess of $1bn, underlining the country’s robust appeal as an emerging regional

destination for industrial investment. A combination of market-friendly investment and regulatory policies, strategic geographical location, world-class infrastructure and a strong culture of enterprising is at the heart of Oman’s growing appeal as a hub for industry.

Indeed, by the end of 2010, capital inflows into the industrial sector soared to a $9.3bn, compared to $8.32bn a year earlier. Industrial parks have burgeoned in the area as well, to 28.8 million sq metres from 24.3 million square metres a year earlier, entailing a jump of 18.6 per cent. These parks are presently home to a sizable 745 industrial units, as well as 117 commercial investment units, 14 service enterprises and 110 repair and maintenance workshops. These ventures have boosted

the non-oil industrial sector’s contribution to the GDP from 0.3 per cent in 1979 to a remarkable 10 per cent by end December 2010.

Sohar Industrial Estate, one of the biggest parks under PEIE management, is poised to pull in significant investment. A seventh phase expansion will add nearly nine mn square metres of new land to the sprawling facility, which already houses around 190 fully operational units with another 40 under development. Efforts are also underway to boost the investment appeal of Sur Industrial Estate, which already houses Oman-India Fertiliser Company’s (Omifco) fertiliser project, as well as the LNG liquefaction plants.

Towards this end, the govern-

SNAPSHOT: OMAN-INDIA TRADE Values in $mn

S. No. \Year 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011

1 EXPORT 630.97 939.43 779.04 1,032.93 1,151.70

2 % Growth 48.89 -17.07 32.59 11.5

3 India’s Total Export 126,414.05 163,132.18 185,295.36 178,751.43 251,135.89

4 % Growth 29.05 13.59 -3.53 40.49

5 % Share 0.5 0.58 0.42 0.58 0.46

6 IMPORT 458.9 1,141.46 1,205.46 3,499.89 4,002.07

7 % Growth 148.74 5.61 190.34 14.35

8 India’s Total Import 185,735.24 251,654.01 303,696.31 288,372.88 369,769.13

9 % Growth 35.49 20.68 -5.05 28.23

10 % Share 0.25 0.45 0.4 1.21 1.08

11 TOTAL TRADE 1,089.87 2,080.88 1,984.50 4,532.82 5,153.77

12 % Growth 90.93 -4.63 128.41 13.7

13 India’s Total Trade 312,149.29 414,786.19 488,991.67 467,124.31 620,905.02

14 % Growth 32.88 17.89 -4.47 32.92

15 % Share 0.35 0.5 0.41 0.97 0.83

16 TRADE BALANCE 172.07

17 India’s Trade Balance -59,321.19 -88,521.83 -118,400.95 -109,621.45 -118,633.24Department of Commerce Export Import Data Bank

20 2012

ment is preparing to appoint a consultant to overhaul the indus-trial part’s existing master-plan with a view to assessing its po-tential for various types of invest-ment. The selected consultant will be required to undertake a com-plete review of the existing mas-ter-plan for Sur Industrial Estate, encompassing an area of 3,610 hectares. The firm will also assess the need for new infrastructure and utilities, such as roads, gas supply, power and water capacity, cooling seawater supply, com-munications, and sewerage and waste treatment facilities, among other things.

It’s the industrial port of Sohar that best exemplifies the Sultanate’s successful record thus far in promoting heavy industrial and petrochemicals investments. Since its launch in 2002, the industrial port has attracted more than $14bn in investments in infrastructure, utilities and mega

industrial ventures – making it one of the biggest industrial port developments in the world.

The giant Sohar refinery complex of Oman Oil Refineries and Petrochemical Industries Company (ORPIC) stands as a shining example of Oman’s industrial appeal. Equally notable are large-scale petrochemical ventures promoted by Oman Polypropylene, Oman Methanol, Sohar International Urea and Chemical Industries (SIUCI), and Aromatics Oman. A massive metals cluster has also taken root at the industrial port. Both Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel and Sharq Sohar have developed large-scale plants at Sohar. A Modular Fabrication Yard set up by India’s largest engineering and construction conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro Ltd in a joint venture with the Zubair Corporation of Oman, is already operational. L&T has also brought

on stream a heavy engineering division at the port.

The flagship project of the metals cluster is a giant smelter of Sohar Aluminium Company located within the Sohar Industrial Estate. Late last year, Brazilian-based mining giant Vale commissioned its $1.3bn iron ore pelletising plant at Sohar with a production capacity of 9 million tonnes per year (mtpy) of direct reduction pellets. In addition, the Sohar facility serves as a distribution centre with a capacity to handle 40 mtpy of pellets.

THE INDIA STORY India enjoys a strong position as a global investment hub with the country registering high economic growth figures even during the peak of financial meltdown. As a result, overseas investors rested their confidence in the economy which eventually

T R A D E

pushed foreign direct investments (FDI) in India. The fact is further consolidated by the excerpts of a research by Morgan Stanley which anticipates that India could attract FDI worth as much as $80bn in the next one or two years. Around $48bn of FDI has been pumped in the Indian economy in the last two years. Considering the pace of FDI growth in India, KPMG officials believe that FDI in 2011-12 may cross $35bn mark.

FDI inflow to India rose by 50 per cent to $20.76 bn during January-August 2011, while the cumulative amount of FDI equity inflows from April 2000 to August 2011 stood at $219.14bn, according to the latest data released by the Department of

Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Services (financial and non- financial), telecom, housing and real estate, construction and power were the sectors that attracted maximum FDI during the first eight months of 2011 while Mauritius, Singapore, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany and the UAE, among others, are the major investors in India.

Quenching its thirst for foreign assets, India Inc announced 177 M&A deals worth $26.8bn in the first nine months of 2011. For the quarter July-September 2011, inbound deals worth $7.32bn were registered as against the deals worth $2.65bn in the previous quarter; total value being largely accounted for by

two mega deals - BP’s $7.2bn acquisition of stake in Reliance Industries’ oil and gas properties and Vodafone Group’s purchase of partner Essar’s 33 per cent stake in Vodafone Essar Limited for $5.46bn.

POLICY INITIATIVESRecently, the government has further liberalised the FDI mechanism for allowing overseas investment in bee-keeping and share-pledging for raising external debt. Moreover, it has eased FDI norms for construction of old-age homes and educational institutions. The modification endorses removal of issues pertaining to the minimum and built-up area, capitalisation and lock-in period as applicable for other construction activities.

22 2012

Opportunities galore

Can you give us a brief outline of the initiatives taken in the field of Oman India bilateral relations during 2011?The bilateral trade between Oman and India exceeded $5bn in 2011. The L&T Engineering and the Heavy Engineering facility has taken off well in Sohar. The Shadeed Iron and Steel plant in collaboration with Jindal has commenced production, and these were two major projects (investments) made in Oman from India. Nagarjuna Construction has been awarded some part of the coastal highway project. L&T has won a large order for the construction of the Salalah Airport. We have had various other smaller companies from India which have entered

Pankaj Khimji, Director, Khimji Ramdas and Co-Chairman, Oman India Joint Business Council talks about the strengths of Oman as a business destination and the opportunities that lies ahead for Indian companies. Mayank Singh reports

I N T E R V I E W

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into partnerships with Omani companies, for example Ocean Sparkle from Hyderabad has done a partnership with Khimji Ramdas (KR) to run the tug facilities in Sohar and also do some dredging in the fisheries harbour. The Ramki group has set up a joint venture with KR for sewage waste management. There are two projects underway right now in Duqm and Sohar for hazardous waste management.

KR has also tied up with the Tata Group to manage the bulk handling facility in Sohar Port for effective management of aggregate and bulk minerals. The

quarrying industry in northern Oman will definitely benefit from this facility, Tata’s hold a 70 per cent stake in the company. There are a lot of initiatives that have taken place, a lot of investments have come in from the Indian side and this is very encouraging. The numbers of the Indian diaspora has been on an all time high. Thus there has been no let down in economic relations and business growth.

What role does the Oman India Joint Business Council play in promoting trade and commerce ?The Joint Business Council plays

a networking role. We act as facilitators and as a sounding board on what needs to be done between the two countries. We act as a broker, a catalyst, and help companies to make B2B introductions. Our focus is towards the SME segment. India has a flourishing SME sector and Oman needs to learn from the Indian experience. We have done a tie up with a large number of industries in Sohar like Sohar Aluminium, Vale, the Methanol plant, Jindal Shadeed etc, but we do not have the ancillary industries that flourish on the sidelines and this needs to be done. Large businesses need to engage with the SME sector and the local business environment in the region to help in growing industry. We are working on a couple of B2B visits and exhibitions between the two countries. We will be going and attending the numerous trade and business related shows that take place in India like the World Economic Forum in Delhi towards the latter part of 2012. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) holds a Middle East Expo, FICCI does something similar and we will participate in these exhibitions.

Oman has been successful in attracting large industrial players from India, but the same is not true in the SME space. Are there particular areas of concern that need to be addressed to attract SME’s to Oman?It’s about general awareness in Oman. The Sultanate is a young and growing country, Omani SME’s do not have the experience of giving value to those large industries in terms of service or as material provider. So if they tie up with similar companies out of India they can see what

kind of companies flourish on the sidelines of large companies, they can get some knowledge out of the Indian experience and apply it here.

Over the last 10-12 months we have had a number of challenges in Oman particularly to do with the escalation of manpower costs, the new labour law permits work only for 42.5 hours. So we need to focus on productivity and quality in order to be competitive in the region. Oman cannot be considered to be a manufacturing hub as we have to compete with our neighbours in the region and their costs in terms of manpower and raw materials are more beneficial than ours. We need to think of ways to enhance the competitiveness of our product and services. These are the challenges that Indian companies coming here will face so they need to come up to us with solutions. The Ministry of Manpower’s initiative to train skilled manpower in Asia as Indian Vocational training institutes can play a very important role in training the Omani workforce towards vocational skills. That is an area that we need to work towards. These challenges regarding cost overruns are temporary and most people realise that. On the other hand the rupee has depreciated, so there is a benefit if one were to import Indian raw materials, Indian agricultural produce is more competitive because of a declining rupee and as the Omani rial is pegged to the dollar.

So if there is a challenge on one side there will be an opportunity on the other. We need to look and appreciate those factors. Oman has always been conscious of food security issues and there again the Public Authority for

Large businesses need to engage with the SME sector and the local business environment in the region to help in growing industry

24 2012

Food Reserves can work with Indian agricultural institutions, to see whether they can get some sort of a long term agreement in securing tonnage of grain and other produce.

Is the Omani government’s renewed focus on Omanisation posing a threat for India’s expatriate labour force?Oman is a growing country and so skilled Indian manpower will not have any concerns as there will be a need for skilled and trained people. Oman is growing at a rapid rate and during the next five year plan there will be ample opportunities for Indian companies to come here and make their presence felt, there will be enough opportunities for

Being in close geographical proximity to India, Oman is a gateway to the region and to the Middle East

Indian businesses to reap such opportunities, but at the same time Oman has its priorities. If Oman’s priority is to engage with its youth and to employ them, then it is the first priority and Indian investors need to be aware of this and work towards this goal. In any foreign country there is a certain percentage of localisation that has a role to play and Oman is no exception. Secondly, Oman has set very conservative Omanisation percentages.

What are the advantages that Oman offers as an investment and business destination?Oman biggest advantage is the fact that it is a very transparent economy, it’s the only country in the region that allows foreign investors to own a majority stake in business in Oman, not just in the freezones but also on the mainland. It is also one of the few countries that allows the full repatriation of capital and profits. The tax rates in Oman are equal for both local and foreign companies, so there is no disparity and the tax rate of 12 per cent is very nominal and marginal. Being in close geographical proximity to India Oman is a gateway to the region and to the Middle East. Oman is a member of the Arab League and as a result you are talking about addressing a non duty paid export hub of 250-275 million people in the Middle East and North Africa. Indian companies need to realise this, the highest per capita spend in consumerism probably in the world is in this region. Moreover, countries in the region are expected to grow at a very high growth rate, and India needs to take note of this seriously and capitalise on this opportunity.

I N T E R V I E W

One of the Indian Trade delegation hosted at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry

P.O. Box 882, PC 131, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman • Tel: 24498244 • Fax 24496718Email: globalearthtrading@gmail.com • www.globalearthoman.com

MINING•

DRILLING & BLASTING•

EARLY EARTH WORKS•

FOOD & BEVERAGES•

Strengthening Together…

26 2012

M E D I C A L T O U R I S M

Medical tourism is one of the foremost external drivers of the evolution of

Indian healthcare industry. India has emerged as a destination for

medical tourism which serves its consumers with well educated, English-speaking medical staff, state-of-the-art private hospitals and diagnostic conveniences, and comparatively low cost to address

the high healthcare costs of the western world. India provides the best-in-class treatment, in some cases at very low prices as compared to countries like USA, and UK. India’s private hospitals

Taking ahealthy trip

The healthcare sector of India is expected to transform into a major sector that will fuel the economic growth and largely contribute to increased revenues as the country focuses on the medical tourism aspect

272012

excel in fields such as cardiology, joint replacement, orthopaedic surgery, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, transplants and urology.

In 2011, the Indian Embassy in Oman issued 42,000 visas reflecting the attraction of India as a prime business and tourism destination for Omani nationals. Out of this, atleast a fourth of the visas were for medical purposes.

As with many other sectors, the medical tourism segment is fast growing as India is home to some of the biggest hospitals in the world having not only international medical facilities but also the best doctors the world has ever known.

Apart from the infrastructure, India also has some of the best technology to support the healthcare system including contemporary cutting edge equipments like dual source CT scanners; 320 slice CT scanners; 3 Tesla MRI machines; robotics for minimal access surgeries; hybrid operation theatres; intra-operative CT/MRI scanners; high precision radiation therapy equipment and cyber knife.

In India, the medical tourism market is estimated at approximately $2bn by 2012 and it is growing at around 25-30 per cent per annum. The sector is expected to double by 2017. The healthcare industry is steadily facilitating a revolution to enable India to emerge as a health destination and to fulfill the needs of a million medical tourists by establishing India’s status as a leading health hub.

MEDICAL TOURISM EVENTIn a bid to tap the potential

of medical tourism in India, an Indian Medical Tourism Destination event was held at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) premises on October 31, 2010. The event was organised under the aegis of OCCI in association with the Embassy of India, FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and World Wide Business House, Muscat.

According to Abdul Adheem Al Bahrani, director-general of OCCI, the event proved to be an exclusive opportunity for existing hospitals and clinics in Oman to meet up with Indian hospitals directly. One of the unique advantages of medical tourism is that while the patient is recovering, the attanders can combine a little bit of sightseeing.

Around 36 super speciality hospitals from India participated in the medical tourism destination event at the OCCI to showcase the technology and affordable availability of quality healthcare from various parts of India.

Latest technologies in fields like weight loss, keyhole surgery, cardiology, trauma and joint replacement, growth and hormones, dialysis and kidney transplants, brain and nerves and sports medicine were showcased.

INDIA CALLINGIndian hospitals such as Apollo, Fortis, MAX, Metro, Shallby, Medanta, Star, Vijaya, Narayana Hrudayalaya, MIMS, etc. are offering international standard healthcare services for Omanis who can take full advantage of India’s emergence as a medical tourism hotspot.

Indian hospitals now offer a number of affordable treatments for Omanis as compared to their European counterparts. These include cardiac (all kind of cardiac surgeries), PTCA (electro physiological studies), and rehabilitation cosmetic surgeries and treatment, orthopaedic (spine scoliosis, total hip replacement, and knee replacement), neurosurgery (brain tumours, wolf Parkinson’s syndrome, nerve disease, cerebral palsy, etc.), cancer treatment (surgical treatment of cancer tumours, chemotherapy and radio therapy, bone marrow transplant, etc.), ophthalmology (laser surgery, retinal etachment, squint correction, etc.).

COMFORT FACTORFrom food habits to language, Omanis are more comfortable in India as compared to other medical tourism destinations. Many are fluent in Hindi, which is another advantage and adds to their comfort level.

India has the cost advantage, the technology and clinical expertise and the manpower to attract Omanis for treatment.

Among the international patients coming to India for medical tourism from Middle East, most include treatments for cardiac, orthopaedic, spinal, neurology, urology, cosmetic.

If you talk of manpower, highly trained medical personnel trained in tertiary care in internationally renowned medical facilities are available in India.

Furthermore, a growing number of specialised private hospitals are on the threshold of a boom in medical tourism, positioning themselves as the

28 2012

best destinations for procedures ranging from coronary bypasses to orthopaedic surgery at the most competitive rates.

ROAD AHEADTo capitalise on medical tourism and build a sustained public-private partnership in the hospital industry, the government of India is supporting an initiative to build a “Medi City” in Gurgaon, Haryana, on the outskirts of New Delhi. The compound will include a 900-bedhospital that supports 17 super specialties, a medical college and paramedical college. The project, on 43 acres of land, will cost an estimated $493mn.

The Medi City will integrate allopathic care with alternative treatments, including Unani, Ayurvedic and Homeopathic medicine, and it will provide telemedicine services as well.

Other initiatives centre on investment that are closely linked to providing better medical infrastructure, rural health facilities etc.

There is 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) permitted for health and medical services under the automatic route.

The National Rural Health

Mission (NHRM) had allocated $10.15bn for the upgradation and capacity enhancement of healthcare facilities.

Moreover, in order to meet revised cost of construction, in March 2010 the Government allocated an additional $1.2bn for six upcoming AIIMS-like institutes and upgradation of 13 existing government medical colleges.

TRENDS AND INVESTMENTSThe National Health Regulatory and Development Authority, NHRDA, with enforcement and complaint redressal powers, will oversee contracts, sanction health care service suppliers, improved decent standards for care delivery, implement patient’s charter of rights and take other measures to provide universal healthcare.

Life Healthcare, South Africa’s second-largest hospital chain, is acquiring a 26 per cent stake in Analjit Singh-led Max Healthcare, making this one of the largest foreign investment deals in the Indian healthcare sector. The $1.1bn Life Healthcare, which operates 63 facilities with 8,322 beds in South Africa and Botswana, will provide strategic inputs to the Indian venture, but will not actively participate in the management of the company. In the last few years, healthcare chains such as Parkway and funds such as Avenue Capital, Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus have invested in the $65bn Indian healthcare sector.

Fortis Healthcare (India) will acquire Singapore-based Fortis Healthcare International,

privately-owned by the Indian company’s founders, for $665mn. In September, the Indian hospital chain operator announced its plan to buy Fortis Healthcare International, to bring the group’s entire healthcare business under one entity.

LITHA Healthcare, the fourth-largest pharmaceutical company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), has entered into a strategic tie-up with NatcoPharma, a Hyderabad-based generic pharmaceutical manufacturer. Under the new agreement, Litha’s new generics business marketing a range of products developed and manufactured by the Indian company in South Africa (SA) and neighbouring states.

The Natco agreement is the second-major generics link-up between Indian and SA pharmaceutical companies. Indian pharma giant Cipla already enjoys a very successful relationship with CiplaMedpro, the third-largest pharmaceutical company on the JSE.

India’s thriving economy is driving urbanisation and creating an expanding middle class, with more disposable income to spend on healthcare.

The government of India has developed an all-inclusive policy on healthcare which aims to achieve a remarkable growth for the sector which has led to a high number of compelling opportunities such as developing new infrastructure and providing novel medical equipment solutions for the Indian sector. The sector holds enormous potential which is waiting to be unleashed to the maximum potential.

Indian hospitals now offer a number of affordable treatments for Omanis as compared to their European counterparts

M E D I C A L T O U R I S M

Warm felicitations to the people of India on the happy occasion of their REPUBLIC DAY

• Arthroscopy• Cardiology• Dentistry• Dermatology• Diabetology & Endocrinology• ENT• General & Laparoscopy Surgery• Gastroenterology• Gynaecology & Obstetrics• Internal Medicine• Neurology• Orthopedics• Pediatrics & Neo-natology

• MRI Services

• Radiology & Imaging Services

• Laboratory Services

• Physiotheraphy

• State-of-the-art Operating Theatres

• Delivery Suites

• Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU)

• Fully Equipped Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

• In-patient & Suite Rooms

• Telemedicine Service

• Apollo Comprehensive Health Check-up

• Apollo Executive Health Check-up

• Apollo Diabetic Health Check-up

• Apollo Comprehensive Heart Check-up

• Apollo Basic Heart Check-up

• Apollo Quick Heart Check-up

• Apollo Senior Citizen Health Check-up

• Apollo Women Health Check-up

• Apollo Child Health Check-up

• VISA Medical Check-up

• PDO Health Check-up

Super Speciality Clinics from Apollo Hospitals Group• Diabetes, Endocrinology & Lipid Clinic • Knee & Arthroscopy Clinic •

Spine Clinic • Urology Clinic • Liver Clinic • Orthopedic Clinic • Neurosurgery Clinic • Cancer Clinic

P.O. Box 1097, Al-Hamriya, P.C. 131, Sultanate of Oman • Tel: +968 24787766 / 24782666 / 24787780 • Fax: +968 24700093 • Email: info@apollomuscat.com • Website: www.apollomuscat.com

Branch: Apollo Clinic, Adj to Royal Hospital Round About, Ghala, Sultanate of Oman • Tel:+968 24591432

30 2012

I N T E R V I E W

Armed with a B.Tech. (Hons.) in Industrial Engineering & Management from

the UK, Kiran Navinchandra Asher came to Oman in 1975 and became the founder-partner Al Ansari Group of Companies. Today Al Ansari has 11 companies

in Oman, UAE & India. Under his visionary leadership, Al Ansari Group diversified into various activities. He is actively associated with various Indian associations in Oman. He is presently the Board Member of Oman Cricket Club; and senior Management Committee

Member of the Indian Merchants Association. Asher is also a philanthropist providing financial support to many NGOs in India for their noble activities. Excerpts of an interview:

Congratulations on winning the Pravasi Bharatiya

‘I want to put humanity ahead of personal gains’Kiran Navinchandra Asher, Group Managing Director, Al Ansari Group of Companies, became the fifth Indian from Oman to win the coveted Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award. He speaks to Visvas Paul D Karra about Oman-India ties

Kiran Navinchandra Asher, Group Managing Director, Al Ansari Group of Companies, (left) receiving the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India

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Samman Award. What are your initial reactions?Receiving a coveted award such as this obviously makes me feel extremely happy. I realise how blessed I am. I immediately thank the Almighty for bestowing on me such respect and recognition. I also realise that it is only because of the good culture imbibed in me by my parents and teachers which have enabled me to become a human being of this quality.

How long have you been in Oman and what does this award mean to you?I am the founder-partner and Group Managing Director of “Al Ansari Group of Companies” established in 1975 and today has grown into a multi-million rial organisation with 11 group companies in Oman, UAE and India. I have been actively associated with not only the business community of Oman but also with the Indian diaspora in the Sultanate. This award means that I should continue in the same path of caring and sharing human ethos and values. Putting humanity and society ahead of personal gains and success is what I believe in and I will remain committed to these ideals of mine.

In view of this award, what are your comments on the Oman-India relations?This award is more to do with Indians across the world and not specific to any local area. Having said that I must point out that India and Oman not only share 50 years of diplomatic ties but also have a 5,000-year-old friendship. However, Oman-India bilateral relations must be worked upon continuously as both countries have a similar culture and an enormous geographical advantage. There is a need for technology and resources in

Oman which India can effectively provide both in terms of cost and quality advantage. These avenues must be explored through systematic and structure two-way communication for the betterment of both countries.

Personally, my ties with the Sultanate of Oman go back to the days of my great-grandfather who was appointed as Kazi almost a century ago by Sultan Taimur, the grandfather of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said. At an organisational level, our company has ventured into India using our international business model and experience of Oman. India’s growth encouraged us to our feet there. Now we have offices in Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai and we are planning for more.

How do you plan to utilise this new found status?I have not yet thought of any road map as yet, however I would like to share my experiences with people on what it takes to be kind, courteous, considerate, and talk of values like treating others fairly and with care. Practising such values have enabled me to be the person I am. What I would also like to do is to encourage businesses from both countries to do cross-border investments. That is what India expects me

to as a businessman who has received the highest award for an NRI. I would also like to continue to create more job opportunities in both countries. I can help Indian employees of Al Ansari to get a transfer to any of our group companies in India, if at all they want to return to India due to unavoidable personal problems.

The contribution of Indians to the development of Oman is widely recognized. As a private sector representative, how do you view the future of people to people relations?In this dynamic world, where most people focus on econom-ics, and with a new approach to personal growth of locals, the task of managing people to people rela-tions is very challenging. Whilst the demand cannot be neglected, the impact on commercial suc-cess is greatly influenced. All organisations, chiefly the larger ones, have enormous corporate social responsibility and need to establish themselves as role mod-els. Apart from devising effective mechanisms to train and inculcate a high level of commitment among workers, we also need to provide appropriate and pragmatic train-ing, and also establish better com-munication channels with govern-ment officials to understand. We also need to establish more practi-cal ways of inclusive participation. All of this has to be strengthened.

Though we, as Al Ansari Group, have 4,000 plus employees, we still need more, here as well as in India. Our social and cultural needs are taken care of by the government of Oman so beautifully. Where can one get comforts like in Oman? If anyone asks me if there is a paradise on earth, then I tell them to come to the Sultanate of Oman.

32 2012

E D U C A T I O N

Poised for rapid growth

With its 400 universities and 20,000 colleges capable of producing world class skills of research and development, India continues to be an attractive education destination for Omani students

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The education sector in India is one of the major attractors for investments as

the entire education system is undergoing a revamp. The Indian education sector, entailing three major goals of expansion, inclusion and quality, is poised to be recognised as one of the best globally. According to the report ‘Emerging Opportunities for Private and Foreign Participants in Higher Education’ released by research firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the Government of India aims to achieve 21 per cent of gross enrolment ratio (GER) by the end of the 12th five year plan (2012-2017).

MAJOR INVESTMENTSGlobally diversified education solutions provider Educomp Solutions has recently launched digital class transformation system (CTS) in Gujarat wherein it has digitalised instruction and assessment materials and applications to perk-up a child’s educational experience. The company is also planning to open 100 more schools in Gujarat by end of March 2012.

As a part of its ‘university connect’ initiative, IBM India is collaborating efforts with IIT Guwahati for research on solutions for the differently-abled, wherein the company will contribute for project that would focus on people who face hearing and speech problems. The project would develop software-based solutions that will be able to evaluate the sound pronounced by the user, compare it with the target sound, and provide appropriate feedback.

The Ministry of Commerce,

Industry and Textiles would launch four new National Institutes of Design (NIDs) – in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana – to meet the growing need for industrial designers, especially at the regional level. The new NIDs are expected to become operational by 2016. To support it further, the Twelfth Five-Year plan is anticipated to encourage the process of commercialising indigenous designs from regions and make them commercially viable.

US-based Apollo Group Inc will enter strategic alliance with HT Media to foray into Indian education market. Apollo, through its subsidiary Apollo Global, will operate 50:50 joint venture (JV) with the newspaper publisher and offer business-related programmes targeting the corporate space along with some online courses. The venture, targeting traditional students and working adults, would be launched in 2013.

With growing demand for management education in India, business schools or rather B-Schools are vying for international accreditation to improve their brands and teaching methods, enhance exchange programmes and increase international relations. Indian B-schools are seeking three kinds of global accreditations – the British-promoted Association of MBAs (AMBA), the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and the American AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business).

Recently, the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad,

34 2012

became the first South Asian B-school to get AACSB accreditation. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the education sector during the period April 2000 to September 2011 stood at $448.97mn, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVESThe United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Ministry for Human Resources development (MHRD) have drafted a ‘National vision for Girls’ Education in India - Roadmap to 2015’ in order to implement a comprehensive approach towards girls’ education. The Vision Document, which states the framework of the programme, envisages a one-year community mobilisation campaign on the right to education, higher and better investment for girls’ education, bracing-up the system for effective service delivery and child friendly schools. The document also endorses convergence and partnership for overall well being of girls in areas of education, health, nutrition, hygiene and protection.

India and Australia are increasingly improving their bilateral ties especially in the field of education. Geoffrey Conaghan, Victorian Government’s Commissioner to India, recently inaugurated a specially-designed vocational training programme, for selected ITI teachers in Maharashtra. Moreover, Government of Maharashtrahas inked an agreement with Government of Australia to launch diploma courses in aircraft maintenance and automotive technology in a joint collaboration.

Furthermore, the Union Cabinet has given its nod for the merger of two Government schemes - National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) and National Knowledge Network (NKN). The meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has set a target to enable e-learning in 25,000 colleges and 2,000 polytechnics. Of these, 18,000 colleges had received approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2009.

EMERGENCE OF SPORTS EDUCATIONSports education is increasingly becoming a serious business in India. The $38bn sports education and management industry is being viewed as a great investment opportunity by entrepreneurs.

For instance, Reliance Industries, which formed a JV with IMG Worldwide in 2010 to launch IMG Reliance, intends to enhance, promote and manage sports and entertainment in India. Following this tie-up, IMG Reliance signed a 15-year agreement with the All India Football Federation through the Basketball Federation of India and acquired commercial rights relating to football in the country. The company also formed alliance with the All India Tennis Association and Professional Golf Tour of India to develop Indian tennis and golfing talent.

Entities like Edu Sports, Kooh Sports, Sports Education Development India, Cricket India Academy, Leap Start, Tenvic and India Khelo are all selling the concept of sports education to schools. Bengaluru-based Edu

sports, that provides end-to-end sports education solution to K-12 schools, expects a million enrolments during 2012-15. Even corporate sponsorships in sports marketing is on a high; it is growing at about 12 per cent annually and industry experts anticipate that the pace would go up to 15 per cent in 2012.

ROAD AHEADIndia plans to enhance its formally skilled workforce through vocational education and training from the current 12 per cent to 25 per cent by 2017, thereby adding about 70 million educated people in the next five years. Hence, the higher education segment is expected to undergo intense changes and activities in terms of foreign partnerships and foreign players entering the market in the coming years, with Indian players rejuvenating and improvising their methodology, technology and course content to match the competition.

Consulting firm Technopak is very positive about the growth of the sector in its study named ‘A Report Card on India’s Education Sector’ which estimates private education sector alone to grow to $70bn by 2013 and $115bn by 2018.

ADVANTAGE INDIA Traditionally many Omanis have studied in India and a large number continue to travel to India for higher education, especially in the fields of engineering and IT. The tertiary-level educational institutions in India offer a wide range of courses in the field of engineering, medicine, agriculture, management, humanities, social sciences, fine arts, science and also in emerging

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areas of bio-technology, bio-informatics and space technology.

That Indian institutes are now turning out to be a major destination for students in Oman as is evident from the fact that there are a large number of Omani students currently studying in Indian campuses. Popular destinations being Bangalore, Pune and Chennai.

According to the Omani Cultural Attaché in New Delhi, around 1,000 Omani students have graduated from different colleges of India and it is estimated that there are around 1,500 Omanis pursuing higher education courses in India at present. Most of the Omani students prefer to study in colleges situated in southern Indian cities like Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai and a few study in northern cities like Delhi. The reason may be the moderate climate that attracts Omani students to the southern part of India.

Caledonian College of Engineering (CCE), one of the premier private university colleges in Oman, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIIT-A). The main aim of the MoU was to develop further interaction between the two establishments in the fields of research and higher education.

Several Indian educational institutions including Birla Institute of Technology and Manipal University have opened their centres in Oman to cater to the educational needs of Omanis.

The fifth India Education interaction meet and seminar

2012 was held in January at Haffa House, Ruwi. The event attended by nearly 20 educational institutes from India offered information on various courses, programmes and services which non-resident Indians can enrol for or avail. Visitors were able to interact with academic professionals. Teams of professionals also visited schools across Muscat to provide career counselling to students and parents.

Institutes for school and higher education, arts and science, hotel management and catering, technology, engineering, MBA, distance education, medicine and nursing, bioinformatics, information technology, post-graduation and research and specialised programmes participated in the event. All participating institutions are affiliated to University Grants Commission, All India Council of Technical Education and Indian government bodies.

With its 400 universities and 20,000 colleges, India has become a centre of learning, providing a wide spectrum of courses with world class education. The educational system of India as well as its institutions has produced world class skills of research and development. In engineering, particularly information technology, India has made its mark being on top of the list of the best in the world. Omani students have displayed their keen interest in the Indian education institutions, prompting the government of India to provide 45 scholarships to Omani students for studies in the country.

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E D U C A T I O N

Indian students studying in the community schools in Oman face a major challenge when they

want to pursue their studies in other countries as all the Indian schools follow the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum. Due to this, many students find it difficult to migrate to other systems like Switzerland’s International Baccalaureate (IB) and the International General Certificate of secondary Education (IGCSE) offered by Britain’s Cambridge University.

All that will change as Oman gears up to have its first private international school based on Indian curriculum which will cater to the needs of students who want to migrate to any international study system. This will happen thanks to an international school, affiliated to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), which will be set up based on the CBSE-I pattern. It may be recalled that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) of India had launched its international curriculum in the GCC last year known as CBSE-I to compete with its Western study systems.

“Our CBSE-I pattern school will be admitting students

initially from KG to Grade IV and will be open for students of all nationalities. There is a great demand for a private international school with an Indian curriculum and we have received many enquiries already. Basically, we will be filling a gap between the Indian and international curricula,” says Shabbir Boriyawala, noted Indian businessman who is one of the promoters of the school. Apart from Boriyawala, the other main promoters of the school include Zohair Lawati and Ramchandran Menon , main promoter of Bhartiya vidya Bhavan’s school in GCC.

POSITIVE RESPONSEA presentation was made by CBSE-I officials to the Ministry

of Education (private schools), Oman in the month of November of last year and the response from the Omani officials has been very positive. The promoters are now waiting for all the official formalities to be completed before they can start receiving students.

BVB has vast experience in the Middle East and has a network of 400 schools in India apart from school in countries like the US, the UK, Mexico, Australia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE.

While explaining about the teaching pattern of the school, Boriyawala says “Children will not be carrying any book back home since everything will be taught in the school as per the unique educational system which we intend to follow in order to achieve the highest standards of academic excellence. For example, the syllabus and weekly/monthly progress of each student will be posted online so that parents can track the progress of their ward. It is a child-centred school which ensures the all-round development of each learner at school. Special care is taken to build a strong character and desirable values in all children.”

Bridging the gapA new International school which is coming up in Muscat based on the CBSE-I pattern will help students migrate easily to other international study systems and will fulfill a long standing desire of many parents in Oman

Shabbir Boriyawala, Promoter

LALBUKSH VOLTASEngineering Services & Trading L.L.C.

PO Box 3146, PC 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman. Ph: 24491721 Fax: 24492185e mail : sales@lalvol.com website :www.lalvol.com

FIRST INDO-OMAN JOINT VENTUREWarm felicilations to the people of India on the

happy occasion of their Republic Day.

DRILLING

IRRIGATION LANDSCAPING WATER TREATMENT

38 2012

I N T E R V I E W

Widening the links

Your comments about Oman-India business and trade relationsThe history of Oman-India relations backs to ancient time and both countries are linked with its economic and trade relations. Today also India is considered an important trade partner of the Sultanate. The volume of bilateral trade exchanges reached to $4bn during the year 2009. The figures show that India was the third destination of Omani exports during the year 2010. Both countries value these relations and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) intensifies its efforts through various available means to strengthen and take these relations to better level.

In 2011, there were a number

of business delegations from India which visited Oman. Is there any benefit for Oman from such visits?In fact such trade visits bring plenty of benefits that can be summarised as follows:

Strengthening the trade –exchanges between the two countries by creating new partnerships among partiesIntroducing the available –investment opportunities to the Indian business communityIntroducing new services and –products available in India to the Omani businessmenBenefitting from the Indian –expertise in various fields

For example, Indo-Oman Medical Seminar & B2B meetings was held in our

chamber on October 31, 2011 to host a number of Indian medical firms. The Oman-India Economic Forum was organised on September 21, 2011 as part of the Indian Exhibition in Muscat. The individual meetings between the both parties were useful to further boost business relations.

Which are the areas in which Oman and India can cooper-ate in order to increase in-vestments in Oman?Both countries are distinguished by many features that attract the interest of the business community. Along with the diversity of these features we find a huge number of investment opportunities in various fields in India such as technology and software sectors. Omani investors

Khalil Al Khonji, Chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry in an interview with Visvas Paul D Karra spells out the chamber’s role in enhancing ties between the businessmen of Oman and India. Excerpts:

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find huge market in India for their Omani products as is the case of qualified and trained Indian workforce.

For 2012, are there any plans by OCCI to organise business visits to India?The visit programmes and schedule will be determined according to the deliberations of upcoming first meeting of India-Oman Joint Business Council based on the invitations received from the Indian side.

What is the role of the Oman-India Joint Business Council?The council makes its effort to perform a number of roles that help to activate the existing economic relations between the private sectors in both the countries.

The council seeks to enhance and widen the commercial, economic and investment relations among the affiliated business owners of both the parties and introduce them to available investment opportunities in each other countries. This will improve communications links between the members of both the countries and facilitate opportunities to introduce the best means of economic and commercial cooperation.

Supporting and encouraging the business members of both the parties to initiate joint ventures in the fields of trade, industry, economy and investment and supporting and activating the communications between the commercial and industrial establishments in both the countries by providing all possible facilities are other measures done by the council. There is frequent exchange of

information between the two councils on rules and legislations related to the investment and economic activities and work for providing necessary services and publications in this field.

The council work for exchanging expertise and techniques in training, transporting technologies and joint projects between the businessmen in both countries. There is ongoing work for promoting exports, exchanging goods and services by conducting studies on the obstacles and suggesting appropriate solutions in coordination with the concerned authorities in both the countries.

The council coordinates and cooperates with regarding to studies and researches required in the field of commerce, industry and investment in addition to the entire economic fields in general to serve the economy of the country. Apart from encouraging joint exhibitions, the council seeks to maximise the benefits from the technical expertise of the executive system of both the chambers by exchanging visits and training opportunities for employees.

Moreover, the council encourages and organises the visits of trade delegation, holds joint seminars whenever possible in order to expand the scope of trade exchanges between the two parties and helps members in both the countries to settle commercial disputes amicably or through arbitration.

Has there been any visit to India by Omani delegation in 2011. If yes, what is the outcome of that? Yes, the chamber, represented by the joint council, participated

in the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards 2011, held in New Delhi on October 3, 2011. The visit produced encouraging results as both sides emphasised the importance of boosting relations among business communities of both countries. A number of Omani businessmen were also honoured in the function.

In this era of globalisation, all countries are affected by economic crisis. In this regard, how can Oman and India cooperate to enhance the friendly ties existing between the two countries?Within the context of global financial crisis around the world, it became very crucial for everybody to enhance the cooperation between the countries in order to soften the effects of this crisis by expanding investments which is applicable in the context of Indo-Oman relations. India is a big consumer market for Omani products and the business communities in both countries need to exploit this feature to establish joint companies and industries that mainly address the Indian market.

There are various means to be exploited by both the parties with the aim of reaching to the successful economic partnership. Some of this means include participation in the trade exhibitions held in both India and Oman; exchanging the visits of trade delegations; inking bilateral agreements, protocols and MoUs between concerned Omani establishments and Indian authorities in order to set-up economic activities; and promoting and introducing the available products and trade opportunities through directories, publications and list of commodities etc.

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M A N U F A C T U R I N G

The industrial sector of India with its future opportunities and high employment

potential embraces the path to the economic development of the country. India has attained a realistically sufficient level of self-sufficiency in manufacturing a range of basic and capital goods. Progress in the manufacturing sector has the prospective to raise the standard of living of the general public of India above poverty line. In order to do this, it is very important to divert bulk of the workforce out of low-wage agriculture sector.

This will in turn create a steady and flourishing economy and, in turn, invite more business opportunities. The country is well on its way to becoming the foremost manufacturing location for companies around the world.

Liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation are the major promoters that have been the cause of the transition in the Indian economy and the manufacturing sector. The last decade following the liberalisation has seen revolutionary changes in the scenario of manufacturing in India.

This fresh spurt in progress is pushed by fundamental restructurings such as the elimination of limitations on foreign investment and industrial de-licensing. Modifying the export and import (EXIM) policy to endorse exports and supporting the import duties to meet WTO commitments further contributed to this development. Further, efficient business policy environment, tax deductions, and reduced interest rates have assisted in the growth of the manufacturing sector in India.

The Indian manufacturing sector

Bright prospectsThe manufacturing sector in India has achieved a significant competitive edge as a result of increasing demands, and positive market conditions and government policies

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which accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the Index of Industrial Promotion (IIP), witnessed a growth of 7.9 per cent in March 2011, which was relatively higher than the 3.6 per cent growth that was recorded for the months of January and February 2011.

Out of the total 17 sub sectors in the sector, 13 sub sectors recorded an expansion during March 2011, the first five sub sectors accounted for 7.2 per cent of the 7.9 per cent growth in manufacturing in that month.

Machinery and Equipment (other than transport equipment), with a weight of nearly 10 per cent in the IIP index, expanded by 11.1 per cent, transport equipment & parts recorded a robust growth of 16.3 per cent, automobile production remained sound at 21 per cent, food products displayed a growth of 18.4 per cent, and other manufacturing industries moderated, albeit to a robust 25.6 per cent. Growth in the output of rubber, plastic, petroleum and coal products was sizeable at 16 per cent.

INVESTMENTSThe Spanish company, Kider SAU, a store fittings provider, has built up the first non-European manufacturing facility near Pune, with an investment of $10mn. The company already has five facilities in Europe, four in Spain and one in France. The company deals in manufacturing ready to install store fittings for super and hyper markets. The Gujarat-based Meghmani Organics Ltd (MOL) will enter into a joint venture with Japan’s Mitsui & Company Ltd and Kaneka Corporation for manufacture of chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) at Dahej in Bharuch district. The

joint venture is expected at an investment of $120mn and plans to manufacture 20,000 tonnes of CPVC per year. Toto, a leading global sanitary ware brand from Japan, is planning to set up a manufacturing facility in India with an investment of around $100mn. The company may set up its facility either in the western or northern part of the country.

Though Toto products are available in the Indian market for several years now, the company set up its wholly owned marketing company, Toto India in April, 2011. The State Government of Rajasthan, has already set up a heavy industrialisation base in the plains, and lately, it has shifted its focus to the hills, amending the existing policy to attract small manufacturing units there.

A total of 11 new industrial hubs will be developed, with the government promising modern infrastructure complete with a slew of sops under the 2008 hill industrial policy. Besides, the government has also decided to bring four new areas – Sahaspur and Raipur in Dehradun district and Ramnagar and Haldwani in Nainital district – under the policy, despite their locations in the plains.

LOOKING ABROADJindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), which owns Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel plant in Sohar has raised $475mn in India through the takeout financing route to fund its expansion programme in the Sultanate.

JSPL, one of India’s largest steel makers, said the company raised the loan at 225 basis points over the Libor (London inter-bank offered rate) for a tenor

of five years, with ten banks participating in the transaction.

JSPL’s takeout loan transaction is one of the largest such transactions by a company in India. D K Saraogi, Executive President of Jindal Shadeed, and head of JSPL’s Oman operations, said a major part of this loan will be used to finance the expansion programme in Oman, though some money is likely to go for technology and technical purchases outside Oman. He, however, did not divulge details of the investment plan in Oman for the next phase of expansion.

“We are trying to take the capacity up to 5 million tonnes (MT) by 2015-16. Until the expansion programme is initiated, we cannot divulge details of investments,” he said. Saraogi said that in due course, JSPL will get pellets from its plant in Bolivia.

JOB CREATIONThe Indian Government has cleared a new manufacturing policy in October 2011, which aims to create 100 million jobs and augment the share of manufacturing in India’s gross domestic product from the existing 16 per centto 25 per cent by 2022. The policy stresses on setting up more manufacturing zones, industrial townships, and industrial hubs across the country.

Units in these zones will enjoy single-window clearance, a liberal exit policy, incentives including exemptions from capital gains tax, and incentives for green manufacturing and technology acquisitions. Also, the proposed manufacturing policy intends to bridge the vast skills gap in India through public-private partnerships.

42 2012

Can you give a brief description of Jindal Steel & Power’s global operations?Jindal Steel, as a group, is the largest steel manufacturer in India in the private sector and one of the important steel manufacturers in the world. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), a part of Jindal Group, is headed by Naveen Jindal, CMD, JSPL and Member of Indian Parliament. He is a young and dynamic leader and under his dynamic leadership, JSPL has made its presence felt throughout the world as a part of the $15bn diversified Jindal group with a turnover of $2.9bn.

JSPL secured an international presence through the acquisition of the Shadeed steel plant in Oman. This is a major step in the global expansion plans of JSPL. It has also entered into the steel business in Bolivia by acquiring iron ore mines. The Bolivian plant is going to expand by installing pellet plant, DRI plant, steel plant and a power plant. JSPL is also making inroads in Congo, Mozambique, South Africa and Indonesia.

JSPL has acquired several plants outside India in recent years. It, now, operates in 14 countries across the globe. Current total investment of JSPL in its different ventures exceeds $30bn.

What was the reason for you to foray into Oman from India?Some of the main reasons are a highly supportive government; excellent port infrastructure; strategic location with respect to Middle East markets; easy availability of utilities; growing population with disposable income and integration with global and regional economies.

Rising to theOCCASION

D K Saraogi, the Executive President of Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel and Head Oman operations says that the development of steel industry in Oman

is vital for the growth of the national economy as this will reduces imbalances in the region and create employment opportunities. Excerpts of an interview

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Oman has investment potential as there are infrastructure development plans like railways, roads, real estate, port etc. The investment friendly atmosphere has been one of the major advantages for our decision to expand present plans.

How has Jindal Shadeed’s experience been in Oman?Our experience in Oman has been very good. Since the time of acquisition, we have been getting enormous support from the government authorities and local people. But for the support and dedication of all the employees and local Omani people, we could not have achieved the record breaking events in the plant.

How much has JSPL invested in the plant in Oman and do you plan to invest more? Jindal has invested around $650mn till now in Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel (JSIS). We are going to invest around $1bn in downstream projects over a period of time.

Your comments about present and future production capacity in Oman

Present facilities: We have • Hot Direct Reduction Furnace for manufacturing Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI). The HBI is raw material for steel making process furnaces (electric arc furnace etc). The capacity of the furnace is 1.5 million tons per annum. With some modifications we will achieve the rated capacity. We are going for an upgradation of the plant and equipment to produce around 1.8 MTPA.Expansion of downstream • projects: To make 2 MTPA steel in the form of semi-finished (round, billets/

blooms) and finished steel (rebars, pipes, different sections etc) in its first and second expansion plans.Expansion of Upstream • projects: 7.5 MTPA pelletising plant in its third expansion plan.

How will Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel contribute to the economy of Oman?JSIS will contribute to Government’s goal on the promotion of downstream industries by its expansion plans as enumerated above. JSIS will also aim towards self-reliance in the Sultanate of Oman in the field of Iron & Steel and its overall development. The development of steel industry in Oman is vital for the growth of the national economy as this will reduce imbalances in the region and create employment opportunities thereby increasing per capita income for sustainable growth.

JSIS with its vast experience can create steel making capability in Oman. The steel production and consumption in a country is a vital indicator of development and financial stability. We are also interested in mining and processing of minerals. Towards this end, we are evaluating options to set up mining related industries.

A country like Oman which is now embarking on a new era of infrastructure and industrial development cannot sustain the growth rate without a robust steel industry. Steel being a core industry, has its own multiplier effect on employment generation. It is an established fact that each job created in the steel industry creates another six jobs elsewhere.

Steel has an exceptionally wide

and long product range and potential for value addition. There is always scope for upstream and down-stream expansion or ancillary development.

Can you name your major clients?Our major clients are from different countries, worldwide. They include Sohar Steel in Oman besides a lot of customers worldwide ie UAE, Egypt, Italy, Spain, China, India, Kuwait etc.

What are the downstream facilities that you plan to open in Sohar?We are planning to add downstream facilities like steel melt shop equipment, rolling mills for finished goods etc.

Which are the other markets that you are exploring for your product?We are exploring almost all the remaining markets and concen-trating more on good potential markets in China and India.

Do you think there is enough demand for steel in this region? If yes why?Yes, there is enough demand for steel in this region. The steel demand in the Middle East is marked by the rise in economic conditions in the region. The reconstruction projects are expected to raise the demand of steel in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Lebanon. Saudi Arabia is the fastest growing steel market in the Middle East followed by UAE. The Middle East steel industry has the third fastest growth rate worldwide following China and India. Even with the fast pace of growth the region remains a net importer of steel. And the vigorous demand growth has supported capacity enhancement in the industry.

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I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

Infrastructure development is a big area of cooperation between India and Oman. The $100mn India-Oman

Joint Investment Fund would be raised to $1.5bn and this would be deployed for infrastructure projects in India, this was stated by HE Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, the Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, during a recent visit to India.

An MoU for setting up of an

India-Oman Joint Investment Fund was concluded during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Oman in November 2008. The fund has a seed capital of $100mn and the amount can be raised to $1.5bn. Detailed documents regarding the deal was signed in the presence of the Indian Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee and the visiting Omani Minister of National Economy on the July 15, 2010. The joint fund will be

jointly managed by the State Bank of India and the Oman State General Reserve Fund.

HOLDING PROMISEThe infrastructure sector in India has witnessed rapid growth in different sectors with the development of urbanisation and increased involvement of foreign investments in this field. The Government of India has taken various steps to develop infrastructure within the country.

India and Oman are investing heavily in infrastructure development and this holds a lot of promise for business cooperation. A report

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GROWTH

452012

Liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations, extended tax holiday periods and introduction of Public Private Partnership (PPP) are some of the major factors that have led to the growth of this sector in India.

Major infrastructure development requires a substantial inflow of investment capital. The policies of the Indian Government seek to encourage investments in domestic infrastructure from both local and foreign private capital. The country is also a hot destination for foreign investors. Some of the top infrastructure companies that are involved in infrastructure activities in India include Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Punj Lloyd Group, Lanco Infratech Limited and GMR Group to name a few.

ROADS – A LIFELINERoads are preferred over other modes of transport because they provide access to the last point of destination, as it also acts as a feeder service to railway, shipping and air traffic. India has the world’s second largest road network, aggregating over 3.34mn kilometres (km) and account for 65 per cent of freight and 80 per cent of passenger traffic, according to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

The government of India estimates approximately that $90bn investment would be required during FY07-FY12 to improve the country’s road infrastructure. Plans have been announced by the Government to increase investments for the development of road infrastructure in the country and the Government would increase funds from around $15bn per year to over $23bn in 2011-12

for the same. The amount of funds invested as part of these programmes will considerably exceed what was invested in the past. Such programmes would be funded via a mix of public and private initiatives. Recently, the Ministry of Finance in India approved six road proposals worth approximately `9,773.85 crore ($1.8bn) under public-private partnership (PPP).

For a sense of the importance accorded by the Omani govern-ment to the transportation sector, one only needs to have a peek at the budgetary allocations made towards this key sector in the current 8th Five Year Plan (2011-2015). Indeed, of the RO12bn earmarked for developmental projects during the Plan, alloca-tions towards new road, port and airport projects total RO5.760bn. This figure is projected to top RO8bn if initial funding for the Oman National Railway Project, among other big-ticket infra-structure schemes, is taken into account. But it’s the road segment that continues to make robust headway in its development and expansion. Under a current 30-year road development master-plan drawn up by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the country’s road network is set to grow by leaps and bounds by the year 2030.

In fact, the national road network has more than quadrupled over the last 15 years, from 6,591 km in 1996 to 25,926 km by the end of 2009. The total length of graded roads has soared from 24,800 km in 1996 to 30,435 km in 2009. New projects add on average 1,000 kilometres of new blacktop to the country’s network every year.

Strategic projects currently

under development include the dualisation of the Jabrin-Ibri carriageway. The 90-km stretch is the only section of a motorway extending from Muscat to Al Hafeet/Al Ain that remains to be dualised. When completed, the dualised carriageway will significantly enhance motoring comfort on this key route.

Other major schemes also under implementation are as follows: Ibri – Al Daris – Miskin dualisation (35km); Salalah-Thamrait dualisation (75km); Yanqul – Fida – Dhank single carriageway (31km); and rehabilitation of Nizwa-Thamrait carriageway (around 800km).

Among the most challenging road ventures under implementation is the Hasik – Shuwaymiyah blacktop in Dhofar Governorate. This largely coastal road traverses rugged mountainous terrain that poses daunting challenges for the design consultants and contractors alike. However, when completed, this strategic corridor will open up new areas of Dhofar’s east coast to tourism and socio-economic development.

At the same time, the Ministry has commissioned feasibility studies and designs for a raft of other road projects in different areas of the Sultanate. Key among these ventures is a plan for the conversion of roundabouts on the Batinah Highway into grade-separated interchanges. The objective behind this exercise is to enhance road safety and motoring efficiency.

RAILWAYSIndian Railways have generated INR43,107 crore ($8.1bn) of revenue earnings from commodity-wise freight traffic during April-November

46 2012

2011 as compared to `39,452 crore ($7.5bn) during the corresponding period in 2010, registering an increase of nine per cent. Railways carried 618mn tonnes of commodity traffic during the six months as compared to 593mn tonnes carried during the corresponding period in 2010, registering an increase of four per cent. The net tonne kilometers (NTKM) increased from 393,111 million during April-November 2010 to 410,378 million during April-November 2011, demonstrating an increase of 4 per cent.

The World Bank has signed a

$975mn loan agreement with the Government of India to set-up the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor that will allow faster and more efficient movement of raw materials and finished goods between the Northern and Eastern parts of India. Furthermore, the Delhi Metro is finally moving towards eight-coach trains. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) signed a deal recently to procure 76 coaches from Bombardier. The 76 coaches will be used to operate the first eight-coach trains on the HUDA city centre-Jehnagirpuri corridor in May 2013.

Additionally, the Asian

Development Bank (ADB) would extend loans of upto $500mn to Indian Railways to help improve its services along some of the busiest freight and passenger transport routes in the country. The investment would target various routes including Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and also the critical ‘golden quadrilateral’ corridor that connects Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi.

POWER – LIGHTING UP The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has set up a renewable energy fund (REF) to promote renewable energy projects in India. This fund is meant for compensating states in case they fail to meet the target as per the renewable energy (RE) projects schedule. IBM’s India Software Lab in Bengaluru has just contributed towards a system to run data centres on solar power, and is making it commercially available, perhaps the first such commercial offering in the world.

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has approved the project of four laning of Vijayawada-Machilipatnam section of National Highway (NH)-9 in Andhra Pradesh (AP) under the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) phase IV-A. According to a statement, the total cost of the project is estimated at INR736 crore ($140.01mn).

Solar projects developer SunBorne Energy has tied up with European company Eoxis Energy as a partner in its Gujarat project. With this, Eoxis owns 49 per cent equity in SunBorne’s 15 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Gujarat. The overall cost of the project is about `225

crore ($42.80mn). Gujarat-based Atlanta Transformers and Electricals has tied up with TWBB of China for INR 400 crore ($76.09mn) project in order to produce high voltage power transformers and reactors plant at Vadodara in Gujarat, as per a State Government release.

In order to provide “Power for All” by 2012, the Government of India plans to meet the country’s energy requirements by adding 78,000 mega watt (MW) of installed generation capacity to the existing capacity by the end of 2012.

To promote power generation from biomass, the Government of India is planning to set up a national bio-energy mission for the 12th Five-Year Plan, which will require a suitable regulatory environment for large-scale capital investments in biomass-fired power stations. India has a surplus of 150 million tonnes of biomass, which could be utilised to produce 16 giga watts (GW) of power. The national bio-energy mission aims at the enhancement of biomass energy in industries besides offering logistics and infrastructural assistance to biomass processing plants in rural areas. The national bio-energy mission will also initiate a GIS-based National Biomass Resource Atlas to map potential biomass regions in the country.

The Infrastructure sector in India is evolving through one of its most important phases today. Government initiatives coupled with investments that are flowing into this sector provide a tremendous opportunity for growth. Apart from Government initiatives, PPP projects could also pave the way for the growth of this sector.

The national bio-energy mission will initiate a GIS-based National Biomass Resource Atlas to map potential biomass regions

I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

Partnering in the Development of A Strong Nation.Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel L.L.C is the world’s number one plant with HOTLINK Technology and Oman’s rst Integrated Iron & Steel Industry. It has the capacity of 1.5 MTPA (Hot Briquetted Iron).

After downward integration of the plant with SMS and Rolling Mills, Oman will be self suf cient to meet its domestic demands in pipes, Rebars and Structural and will gain from import substitution. Our semi- nished and nished product capacity selection has been aimed at supporting the GCC and neighboring countries’ demand to a large extent thereby making the Sultanate of Oman a prominent GCC member in contributing to the reduction of import from countries outside of GCC. The produce from the plant will contribute to Revenue Earning and GDP growth of the Sultanate of Oman.

There will be potential for development & establishment of ancillary industries to support the needs of integrated steel plant. Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel will create substantial employment opportunities with training and development. Above all it will be a boost to infrastructure & construction activities in the Sultanate.

On the occasion of India’s Republic Day, we congratulate the leaders and people of Oman and India for the great and warm relations shared by the two countries.

SHADEED IRON & STEEL L.L.C. .¢T Ö °üdGh ójóë d ójó°T

P.O. Box: 312, A’Taraif-321, Sohar, Sultanate of OmanTel: +968 26850403/26850459, Fax: +968 26850438

Website: www.jindalsteelpower.com

48 2012

S H I P P I N G

48 2012

MARITIMEGATEWAYS

492012

Maritime Transport is a critical infrastructure for the social

and economic development of a country. Long the lifeline to international trade and commerce – ports in Oman continue to be targeted for expansion and modernisation in trend with escalating cargo volumes and vessel calls. The Port of Salalah, which has evolved into a major logistics hub on the Indian Ocean, will receive a new General Cargo Terminal and Liquid Jetty. The upgrade will boost the port’s handling of minerals and bulk commodities to 40 million tonnes annually, and bulk liquids to five million tonnes annually.

Also making earnest headway in its development is the Port of Duqm on the Wusta coast. Incorporating a world-class ship repair yard that ‘soft’ launched in 2011, the Port of Duqm will outclass its peers in size and capacity when it is fully operational. With three kilometres of container and general cargo berths, the port will be equipped to handle around 3.5 million standard containers, rising to 20 million containers when future expansions are implemented. The facility is due to open for commercial operations by mid-2012 initially with a 700-metre-long berth for container and general cargo activities.

On the Batinah coast, the industrial port of Sohar continues to thrive on the back of successful investments in heavy

industrial projects and modern logistics terminals. The recent launch of a deepwater terminal for the handling of mammoth Valemax ore carriers has underscored the port’s world-class capabilities. Also, due to be operationalised in the coming months is a dedicated terminal for the handling of aggregates and bulk mineral commodities – a facility that promises to enhance Sohar’s appeal as an integrated maritime hub.

EXPANDING FLEETKeeping pace with these impressive developments on the coastal maritime front is the wholly government owned national shipping line, Oman Shipping Company (OSC). Although barely five years since its launch, OSC now ranks among the region’s fasting growing shipping carriers currently boasting a diversified fleet of around 30 vessels comprising 10 VLCCs, one VLGC, seven LNG carriers, four chemical carriers, four product tankers, two Multipurpose Heavy Lift Vessels and one Supramax Bulk Carrier. Upon delivery of a further 12 ships on order, OSC’s tonnage is set to soar from 4.2 million DWT presently to over eight million DWT by 2012.

INDIA’S PORT SECTORThe Indian coastline comprises of 12 major ports and 187 minor ports. India ranks 16th among the maritime countries and has one of the largest merchant shipping fleet.

Around 95 per cent of India’s

foreign trade by volume and 70 per cent by value is transported through sea. Major ports account for 75 per cent of the total cargo by volume handled at the Indian Ports. Cargo volumes at the 12 ports controlled by the Union Government grew by 3.11 per cent in the first half of 2011, gathering pace from 2010-11.

Between April and September 2011, the 12 ports loaded 279.73 million tonnes (MT) of cargo such as crude oil, petroleum products, iron ore, coal, containers and fertilisers, compared with the 271.29 MT of cargo handled in the same period last year, as per data compiled by the Indian Ports Association, a body representing the 12 ports. The traffic at non–major ports is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9 per cent from the present level of 288.8 MT to 1,269.5 MT by 2019-20 according to the Ministry of Shipping.

The Government of India is focussing on port infrastructure development in the country and is promoting private participation and foreign direct investment (FDI). On back of the increasing growth in international trade, the cargo handled at Indian ports is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent per annum until 2013–14.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) flows for ports stood at $1.64bn during April 2000–August 2011, accounting for 1.1 per cent of the total FDI inflows into the country, according to the data released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

The port and shipping sector remains a key component of economic development for both India and Oman. A broad overview

50 2012

A major milestone achieved in the maritime sector is the development of the first International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) in Kochi. It envisages development of facilities for handling mother container ships of 8,000+ TEUs capacities. The facilities include 1,800 metres berth and supporting handling equipments for annual throughput of three million TEUs along with supporting infrastructure.

With the implementation of this project, the need for

transshipment of Indian containers through ports of other countries will be reduced substantially thereby resulting in reduced transportation cost and time to trade.

INVESTMENTS POLICY UPDATEThe Government of India has put in place a favourable and investor friendly policy framework for the shipping industry, besides the Maritime Agenda 2020. The highlights of some of the policy initiatives taken by the Ministry of Shipping are:

100 per cent FDI under the • automatic route for Port development projects.

100 per cent income tax ex-• emption for a period of 10 years

Standardisation of bidding • documents to ensure uniformity and transparency in the award of projects

The Model Concession • Agreements have been standardised and simplified

The tariff setting mechanism • has been modified with tariffs being set upfront by Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP)

Bidding documents have also • been standardised to ensure uniformity and transparency in the award of projects

Acquisition of all types of ships • has been brought under the Open General License

The traffic at major ports is likely to grow at a CAGR of 8.03 per cent from 561.09 MT in 2009-10 to 1,214.82 MT by 2019-20, as per the Maritime Agenda 2020, issued by the Ministry of Shipping. To handle such magnitude of traffic, ports have identified schemes which would create a capacity to the tune of 1,459.53 MT. It is estimated that the capacity at major ports will surpass traffic by 20 per cent by 2020.

Thus, the anticipated traffic at Indian Ports would grow to 2,484.41 MT by 2019-20 from the present level of 849.89 MT at a CAGR of 11.32 per cent.

India’s Ministry of Shipping is considering removing fixing tariffs for major ports, passing responsibility for this to the ports themselves. Instead, a new regulator for the sector will be

appointed who will be responsible for setting, monitoring and regulating service levels as well as technical and performance standards.

Indian Ports Global, the proposed special purpose vehicle (SPV) for foreign port acquisitions, is likely to be set up as a private company. Major ports could hold up to 50 per cent equity in the company and financial institutions and other investors the rest. A high-level panel appointed by the Ministry of Shipping is likely to seek a sharp reduction in port charges for cruise liners, more facilities for passengers at ports and easier movement of foreign-flagged vessels.

The Ministry of Shipping has finalised a National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) to implement specific programme/schemes for the development of the Port sector. Under the NMDP, 276 projects at an estimated cost of `55,803.73 crore ($11.48bn) have been identified in the major ports to be taken up over a period of 2011-12.India has announced a combined $110bn package to develop its ports and shipbuilding industry by 2020. The ten-year plan is known as Maritime Agenda 2010-2020, which intends to develop the Indian Ports Capacity to 3,200 MT by 2020. This will replace the existing $30bn with NMDP, which is due to expire in March of 2012. The port sector under the new plan would invest $66bn, of which the majority will be from private investors.

Two new ports will be built, one on each coast, while four of the 13 existing major ports will be substantially upgraded. These will be Nhava Sheva, Cochin, Chennai and Visakhapatnam.

India is focussing on port infrastructure deve-lopment in the country and is promoting private participation and foreign direct investment

S H I P P I N G

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A V I A T I O N

In the last decade in India, domestic air traffic has quadrupled from 13 million to 52 million and

international traffic more than tripled to 38 million. A similar trend is observed in the cargo sector. The rapidly expanding aviation sector handles 2.5 billion passengers across the world in a year; moves 45 million tonnes of cargo through 920 airlines, using 4,200 airports and deploys 27,000 aircraft. Today, 87 foreign airlines fly to and from India and five Indian carriers fly to and from 40 countries.

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-November 2011 were 55.03

million as against 46.81 million during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 17.6 per cent, according to data released by Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The air transport (including air freight) in India has attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $423.31mn from April 2000 to September 2011, according to the data provided by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Private carriers are anticipated to post a combined profit of $350-400mn for the financial year end-ing March 31, 2012, as per a report

titled ‘2011-12 Aviation Industry Outlook’ by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), India. CAPA In-dia expects domestic traffic growth of 17-18 per cent, possibly as high as 20 per cent. International pas-senger numbers, which grew by about 10 per cent last year, are expected to increase towards the upper end of a 10-12 per cent range over the next 12 months.

AIMING HIGH India is poised to be among the top five aviation nations in the world in the next 10 years. Currently, India is the 9th largest civil aviation market. Recent estimates suggest that domestic air traffic will touch 160-180 million passengers a

Cruising alongThe Indian aviation sector is a major economic driver for prosperity, development and employment. Massive investments in airport infrastructure have led to world class airports which have become the symbol of India’s growth story

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year, in the next 10 years and the international traffic will exceed 80 million passengers a year.

The Indian Aviation Industry is exploring opportunities to improve connectivity and is also looking at enhancing the number of Indian carriers to various countries. One of the key achievements of India in the last decade has been to setup an independent regulator for economic regulation of airports.

MARKET PLAYERSGVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd (GVK PIL) has acquired 108 million equity shares constituting 13.5 per cent in Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) from its Mauritius partner Bid Services Division for $215.28mn.

The US-based electrical components company Eaton Corporation foresees plenty of opportunities for itself in India’s unfolding civil and military aerospace story. “India is expected to emerge as one of the largest aviation markets in the world,” as per Joe-Tao Zhou, APAC President, Aerospace Group, Eaton Corporation.

GMR Infrastructure-led Delhi International Airport Ltd

(DIAL) is set to approach the Government to expand the permitted land use for 250 acres. The company wants to lease out the land for non-airport related activities.

SpiceJet has acquired a new fleet of Q400 aircraft from Bombardier and it will use these aircrafts in its new regional service. Under the deal, SpiceJet also has the option of ordering 15 more Q400 NextGen aircraft.

AEROSPACEAirline operator Emirates plans to add new destinations in the US and Russia from Hyderabad via Dubai in the next few months. “Our market estimates are that there are about 1,500 passengers flying to Dubai and Seattle each every month from Hyderabad,” according to K P Venugopal, Emirates Sales Manager, Andhra Pradesh.

GippsAERO, the aircraft manufacturing division of Mahindra Aerospace, has signed an agreement with Rolls Royce to partner on engine technology for a new aircraft

Boeing predicts that India will require 1,320 new aircrafts valued at $150bn over the next 20 years.

Air India Express has started operating direct flights from Muscat to three new destinations in Kerala, and have increased the number of flights from the Gulf to the country from October 31, 2011.

IndiGo, India’s fastest growing low-fare airline, was welcomed on its inaugural flight at Muscat International Airport on October 10, 2011, from Mumbai.

The other private airline operating to Oman from India is Jet Airways which has daily flights to a number of Indian destinations. Jet Airways began its operations in 2008 to Oman.

DEVELOPMENTSThe ground-breaking ceremony of the new terminal at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport was held on December 19, 2011. The project is being undertaken by a consortium led by GMR Group. Malaysian Airport is GMR’s partner for the

54 2012

project which will be completed by 2014. The project is estimated to cost $510mn.

The Turkish Airlines plans to expand its operations in India by 2012. “India is a very important market for us and we need to fly to at least five cities there,” according to Temel Kotil, CEO, Turkish Airlines

CAPA expects India’s carriers to place orders for up to 200 new aircraft, with a list price of $11- 12bn. This will include about 125-150 narrow bodies, 30-50 regional aircraft and 10-15 wide bodies.

OPEN SKY POLICYThe government’s open sky policy has attracted many foreign players to enter the market and the industry is growing in terms of both players and the number of aircrafts. Given the strong market fundamentals, it is expected that the civil aviation market will register a compound annual

A V I A T I O N

growth rate (CAGR) of more than 16 per cent during 2010-2013.

Air traffic control (ATC) operations will start functioning as a new entity from April 2012. At present, the air navigation service comes under the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the state-owned airport operator.

India has signed the bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) with the USA.

The Government has taken various steps towards structural policy reforms and is coming out with new policies which are liberal and will encourage public-private partnerships (PPP).

The Government of India allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) for green field airports, via the automatic route. Moreover, foreign investment up to 74 per cent is permissible through direct approvals while special permissions are required for 100 per cent investment.

Private investors are allowed to set up general airports and captive airstrips while maintaining a distance of 150 kms from the existing ones. Complete tax exemption is also granted for 10 years.

About 49 per cent FDI is allowed for investment in domestic scheduled passenger airlines and investment up to 100 per cent by non-resident Indians (NRI) via the automatic route. FDI up to 74 per cent is allowed for non-scheduled and cargo airlines

AAI has entered into Operation Management and Development Agreements (OMDA) with Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) for Indira Gandhi

International (IGI) Airport, Delhi with an objective to develop it into a world class airport. Phase-1 of the development of IGI airport has been completed with the construction of the new Integrated Terminal 3 (T3).

It caters to additional 34 million passengers per annum (mppa) and can operate as a hub. It is up to the airline to take these opportunities to operate regular scheduled services from these airports and use it as regional hub.

INVESTMENT POTENTIALIndia is poised to emerge as the third largest aviation market in the world by the end of this decade, according to Dr Nasim Zaidi, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. The sector with a growth of 18 per cent in domestic market is expected to generate approximately 2.6 million jobs in the next one decade, added Dr Zaidi.

The Vision-2020 document prepared by Ministry of Civil Aviation is an assessment of the overall outlook of the aviation sector in 2020. The growth of aviation sector has potential to absorb upto $120bn of investment, according to the 2020 document. Fleet size of commercial airlines sector will be approximately 1,000 aircraft, domestic passenger numbers could reach 150-180 million, Helicopter fleet is expected to be 500, while the air cargo movement is expected to reach the level of 9 million MT. The sector is expected to have the potential to absorb 3 million jobs directly by 2020. The Vision 2020 announced by the Ministry of Civil Aviation also conceives of building infrastructure to support about 280 million customers.

Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo

56 2012

A U T O M O B I L E S

India, the world’s second-fastest growing auto market, is in top-gear. The country is a hot

destination for automobile manufacturers due to its robust

economic growth, favourable demographics, higher disposable income, changing lifestyle and positive industrial eco-system. India is expected to become the third biggest automaker in the

world within the next decade, according to Diane H Gulyas, President, DuPont Performance Polymers. Owing to its vertical and horizontal integration with other key segments of the

SpeedingAccording to industry experts, India is poised to become the third largest car market by 2020 after the US and China

ahead

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economy, the industry is seen as a major growth driver.

MARKET DYNAMICSFor FY 2011, Maruti Suzuki held a reasonable market share of 48.74 per cent while that of Hyundai was around 18.10 per cent. Tata Motors’ market share stood at 12.92 per cent for the period. General Motors India (GMI) and Honda Siel cars India (HSCI) had a market share of 4.40 per cent and 2.97 per cent respectively during FY2011.

According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti held 43 per cent of the total Indian passenger-car market in the six months ended September 2011 as against Hyundai’s 20 per cent pie.

KEY STATISTICSSIAM expects India’s car sales to grow 2-4 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2012 while a growth of 13-15 per cent is projected in commercial vehicles’ sales segment. Car sales in September 2011 stood at 165,925 cars.

Sale of commercial vehicles (a key indicator of the country’s economic activity), increased by 18.05 percent to 70,634, while motorcycle sales rose 19.93 percent to 933,465 in September 2011.

Total sale of vehicles across categories witnessed a growth of 19.39 per cent to 1571,342 units in September 2011 from 1316,118 units in the corresponding period last year.

The sale of scooters increased by 50.74 per cent to 231,710 units (from 153,716 units in September 2010) while that of three-

wheelers stood at 49,255 units (from 48,814 units in September 2010) in September 2011.

Overall automobile exports registered a growth rate of 32.31 per cent during April-December 2011. Passenger vehicles registered a growth of 21.01 percent in this period while two-wheelers, commercial vehicles and three wheelers segments recorded a growth of 32.34 per cent, 35.91 per cent and 49.55 per cent respectively.

DEVELOPMENTSSeoul-based Hyundai Motor Company has launched its cheapest car model ‘Eon’ in Indian markets to give in a face-off to Maruti Suzuki India and the company expects to sell 140,000-150,000 Eon cars a year.

With a view to add a model that could vie for international markets, India’s largest utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) has introduced a new sports utility vehicle (SUV) XUV500; nine years after the launch of Scorpio.

Marking its first motor export from India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (TKM) would commence export of the ‘Etios’ series sedan and hatchback to South Africa in March 2012. The company is targeting emerging economies to increase its sales.

Swedish company Volvo’s Indian bus-making unit has unveiled its plan to invest around $80mn over 2011-15 to increase its annual output to 5,000 buses and revenue to $1bn by 2015 to cater to the burgeoning Indian market.

German luxury car makers are on their toes to achieve top slot in the Indian markets and

they would enhance their sales network by 2012 to a great extent to accomplish the same. While Mercedes Benz will add 8 dealerships in 2012, Audi plans to increase the number of sales outlets from 13 to 25 in 2012. Also, BMW is working on a project to triple its dealerships by 2015. The company plans to add 18 of them by October 2012 to take the total number to 40.

F1 ON THE TRACKTaking a huge step in motor sports segment, India conducted Grand Prix F1 race at the end of October 2011 in Greater Noida where 12 international teams (all based out of Europe) participated.

The 5.14 km track was designed by the German track designer Hermann Tilke and built by the Noida-based construction company Jaypee Group. The Jaypee Group, which acquired the rights for the race in India, employed over 6,000 workers and 300 engineers to build the track and arena, which is spread over 850 acres, and can accommodate around 120,000 viewers. Jaypee Sports International Ltd (JPSI) has spent around $365mn on the project, which includes paying licensing fees to Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the sport’s governing body.

INITIATIVESThe Indian government is in the process of forming a National Automotive Board (NAB) which would become a formal set-up to look into the issue of recall of vehicles and hence improve manufacturing standards. The prospective body, to oversee technical and safety aspects of vehicles, will have representatives

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from all the nodal ministries and automotive bodies such as the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).

In a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership, automotive components manufacturer Tata AutoComp Systems Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Gujarat for imparting vocational training to rural youth to widen employment opportunities for them. The agreement, focussed to fill-in the skilled manpower shortage faced by the auto industry, would facilitate revamp of the State’s Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), launch of skill development programmes and introduction of modular employable skills (MES) courses. Tata AutoComp will train nearly

1,500 youth in Gujarat annually through this MoU.

Also, the government of Gujarat has provided a 600 acre plot in Sanand to the European car-maker PSA Peugeot Citroen to set up its manufacturing facility.

In order to bring-in new and efficient vehicles on the Indian roads, SIAM has endorsed a regular, concrete scrappage policy to the government which says that all vehicles (cars, commercial vehicles and two-wheelers) made before 1996 should be scrapped. According to SIAM, such a policy would also help control pollution and harmful emissions.

Meanwhile, following the discussions between the visiting Myanmar Minister of Industry

Soe Thein and Praful Patel, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Tata Motors has proposed to set-up a bus-assembly facility in the neighbouring country along with supply of passenger vehicles to them. The discussions entailed mutual industrial collaboration between the two nations.

Luxury car makers are keen on Indian markets as their sales is expected to touch 150,000 units by 2020. India’s luxury car market is growing at an annual rate of 70 per cent and is expected to cross 20,000 units by the end of 2011 in terms of sales. Hence, the concerned majors are looking at Tier-II cities for new dealerships along with opening second or third outlet in top 10 metros.

A U T O M O B I L E S

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F E A T U R E

The strength behind Apollo Medical Centre (AMC) is people who believe in building

relationships and the relationships built on true dedication and quality healthcare service.

AMC is associated to the Apollo Hospitals Group – India, Asia’s largest and most trusted healthcare group. AMC is a well known healthcare provider in the Sultanate of Oman which provides the most modern state-of-the-art healthcare services under one roof with highly motivated and dedicated professionals of 139.

AMC is multi-specialty 25-bed medical centre that strengthens the healthcare infrastructure in Sultanate of Oman, setting new benchmarks in quality standards in healthcare delivery. Keeping with the tradition of delivering healthcare at par with the best in the world, Apollo relies a great deal on innovation, introspection and improvement to render tender loving care to patients.

AMC provides holistic healthcare that includes prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and

health education for patients, their families and clients by touching their lives.

AMC renders the healthcare services in Cardiology, General Medicine, Diabteology & Endocrinology, ENT, General & Laparoscopy Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Orthopedics & Arthroscopy, Dermatology, Dentistry, Neurology, Neo-natology & Paediatrics and Gastroenterology (soon to be launched). AMC has a modern state-of-the-art Operating Theatres and modern Intensive Care Unit (ICU) which is fully equipped to render speedy

treatment to all critical illnesses. The Emergency department operates round-the-clock and is well equipped and prepared to deal with all type of emergencies.

AMC is the only centre in Sultanate of Oman offering regular super specialty consultation clinics by visiting Apollo Hospitals Group –India doctors in the area of Spine, Orthopedics, Arthroscopy & Knee, Neurosurgery, Liver, Cancer and Urology.

AMC with its associated partner Apollo Group of Hospitals, has established yet another landmark with its recent launch of Telemedicine facility, the first installation in the Sultanate by the hands of Under Secretary of Health Affairs, whereby people living in Oman can access the best of healthcare services from the world-renowned Apollo Group Doctors in India being here in the Muscat. The Apollo Telemedicine Network inaugurated by the then President of United States of America, Bill Clinton in the year 2000 at Hyderabad is the largest telemedicine network in Asia linked to over 100 destinations in India and Overseas.

Touching livesApollo Medical Centre, Muscat is promoted by group of entrepreneurs and established business groups in the Sultanate of Oman. Since its formation in September 2006, the centre has rendered efficient and effective treatment to all its patients

V.T. Saileswaran, MD

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F E A T U R E

The Global Earth group was established in the beginning of 2011 in order to step into

activity of mining and processing of ores. In less than a year, they have achieved substantial progress in the areas of chrome mining, rock breaking and landscaping, lime products manufacturing, drilling and blasting and food processing.

The group was founded by three enthusiastic partners from Oman, India and the US. Dr Rangaiah V who has been in Oman for 11 years as a top executive for one of the mining companies joined with a seasoned Omani entrepreneur to find a foreign investment company. This led to Paladugu M Rao, Managing Director, L P Investments LLC based in Columbus of Ohio state in the US to acquire a stake in the group to strengthen and take the objectives forward.

CHROME MININGChrome is an essential element in the ferro alloys sector of steel world. Today, the steel Industry is one of the largest sectors in terms of growth and necessity to human kind. By virtue of multiple applications, processed chrome has abundant significance and hence countries with

Promising startGlobal Earth is an emerging business house with diversified activities in Oman and has a number of export related products. A report

chrome resources have gained prominence. China and India look consistently towards Oman for its chrome for two reasons though the grade and quantity is far lower than the one that is available in other countries like South Africa, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Albania, Philippines etc.

Firstly, the viability of price and logistics and secondly, the material goes well with the friable ore as filling material. Global Earth group has rightly realised this significance and is consistently procuring from its contract sources and exporting to India and China.

MOUNTAIN/ROCK BREAKINGThe other major activity which

Dr Rangaiah, CEO

Global Earth is involved in is mountain and rock breaking. The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) has awarded rock breaking and leveling contract for preparing the industrial plots in the phase 2 of the extension of Rusayl Industrial estate. The levelled ground has to be suitable for manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and office space. Global Earth Group bagged the consultancy and project management part of the job and successfully handed over 120,000 square meters of land after excavating more than one million cubic meters of rock and soil in less than six months. The company is all set to excavate another 10 million cubic meters of rock and mountain before the end of 2013.

LIME PRODUCTS MANUFACTURINGOman is blessed with huge quantities of limestone reserves. Apart from Dhofar region, there are several pockets across the country where plenty of limestone reserves are existing adjacent to the sea. The Oman limestone is very low in silica content and hence is in great demand by the steel industry. So far the limestone is crushed and customised to a desired size and exported. With the insistence of

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the Government of Oman, Global Earth group has come up with an unique project to add value to the limestone ore by converting it into various lime products suitable to several segments of steel industry across the world. The department of industry in the ministry of commerce has approved the proposal and the same was referred to mining department for the allocation of the mine.

DRILLING AND ROCK BLASTINGOne of the companies in Global Earth group was recently granted with a blasting license. With this license, Global Earth will be one of the few companies in this rare field who are eligible to participate in the tenders connected to blasting Jobs with its own fleet of rigs

and equipment. Apart from drilling and blasting, Global Earth group will take up several connected works including geotechnical jobs.

MILK PRODUCTS MANUFACTURINGGlobal Earth Food Division is all set to establish a state-of-the-art manufacturing plan for production of laban and yoghurt suitable to the taste of Oman citizens. Global Earth group has done extensive research and is convinced about the big gap in the availability of Omani dairy products. Almost 80 per cent of the dairy products found in Oman are imported. The Global Earth plant is getting ready in Rusayl Industrial Estate and the products will be available in the market by July 2012. The services of an UK company have

been hired to develop the brands and designs, again to the taste of Oman consumers. Initially, an Austrian manufactured energy drink will be marketed to pave the way for other dairy and beverage products.

Apart from all of the above, there are several other projects in the offing, all of which will be realised in time to come. Perfect planning and vision are two essential elements that Global Earth has believed and relied upon. The employment creation for Omani nationals is also a top priority along side each project, apart from revenue generation. The Global Earth group works with passion identifying the right growth engines which translate the effort and Industry into an useful avenue for the country.

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The Oman-based Integration Capital and Trade (ICT), created with a vision to provide superior

advisory services to its clients both in Oman and the broader Middle East, North Africa & South Asia (MENASA) region. The company has been providing advisory services to clients in a variety of sectors keeping in mind that 2010 and 2011 have been lean on private equity.

Says Dr Shirish Gupte, CEO and Managing Director, ICT Oman, “we decided to leverage our core strengths in the private equity funding business and moved parallel into advisory by doing feasibility studies and bringing expertise to the table. Our focus areas are client and availability-of-expertise driven ventures. As such, we saw a demand in the hospitality and education sectors in India and we have provided advisory services to set up a number of projects in the two areas.”

ICT LLC is a joint venture formed in 2007 between ICT, Inc., a boutique financial advisory firm in the USA, and two prominent Omani shareholders, HE Sheikh Salim Mustahail al Mashani and

Hospitality, education and healthcare have been three of the sectors in which ICT has been providing advisory services to clients interested in cross border investments, says Dr Shirish Gupte, CEO and Managing Director

New avenues

Dr Shirish Gupte, CEO and Managing Director

Salim Taman al Mashani.

Private equity capital raising; financial and general business advisory; mergers and acquisitions / joint ventures; and cross border business development advisory are some of the advisory assignments ICT provides.

HOSPITALITYBetween 2010 and 2011, ICT completed feasibility studies of two hotels, one in Jaipur and another one in Chakan near Pune. They were also able to close agreements with operator managements for three hotels also in Jaipur, Chakan, and Nasik. Chakan, incidentally, is the largest Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation

(MIDC) industrial area outside Pune and houses Volkswagen, Hyundai and JCB factories.The new airport has also been announced for Chakan.

“The Hyatt Place will be coming up over there in Chakan while in Nasik, at Ambad industrial area, we have been given a place and Hyatt Place has again confirmed the deal. In Jaipur, the Hyatt regency is now going through the regulatory processes. And we are doing a resort near Matheran. We also did a land survey for a resort/ log cabin/ conferencing in a location 25 kms from Pune. That is a big development, nearly 400 acres,” informs Gupte.

EDUCATIONAnother focus area for ICT has been education. With the change of regulations and entry of foreign universities into India, there has been a huge change in the education landscape in India. And because of ICT’s relationships in the US, there is possibility of bringing good schools to India in the fields of medicine and management.

According to Dr Gupte, there is one segment in India which has been largely unaddressed since independence and that is good

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public schools.The middle class in India with their vast spending power are demanding good schools for their children.

Elaborating on this, Dr Gupte recalls the old public school system. “We used to have boarding and day scholars, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities etc. Nowadays in tier 2 and even in tier 1 cities, you don’t have those kinds of things. There are typical school with two shifts and an emphasis on rote learning. We see a great demand for good schools and are putting together the jigsaw puzzle to bring international curriculum to India. There are also an equal number of people who want a CBSE or ICSE curriculum. So if you have a school which can offer both parallelly till high school and then bifurcate at the senior level, in a nice location along with the other things, people are willing to pay.”

One good example is in Pune where there are two extremely expensive schools. One is the Mercedes School opened initially for Mercedes’ employee’s children and the Mahindra World College right next to the resort in Mulshi which ICT is planning. Students from all over the world are coming there. So the schools that ICT will help in setting up will be like the good old nice public schools with world class facilities and teachers with K12 (kindergarten to 12). ICT had clients asking them such things and so they are doing this as a proactive advisory.

HEALTH CAREMedical tourism is a growing phenomena in India but the infrastructure and the facilities are trash, says Dr Gupte. And hospitals in India really have to

come up to standardisation due to insurance coming into the picture and with higher spending power, clients are now becoming de-manding. ICT is having a dialogue with a couple of people who are wanting to bring hospital expertise to India and again these are top-end hospitals.

There are many top doctors in the US who devote a couple of weeks or a month every quarter to go to India, perform surgeries and return. And one of the notable things is that the American insurance industry has incorporated a programme in which the cost of insurance is lower provided you are willing to get certain surgeries in India. This is where the opportunity lies.

Dr Gupte is upbeat about the fact that India has a robust middle class and its entrepreneurial skills are vast. Thankfully, the government regulations are also easy, FDI is allowed and clearances are single window. All these help in setting up projects very easily. The new area in which ICT is working in health care is telemedicine. “From all your fancy IT apart, a doctor needs to feel a patient. There are electronic instruments which do these and transfer data but they used to cost an arm and a leg and that is why telemedicine failed to take off in a big way. We are talking to a set of people who have brought down the cost of telemedicine to a fraction and can bring it down further. This will become a huge thing in India,” Dr Gupte opines.

He says that any hospital has to work on a hub and spoke model. You need to have a primary, secondary and tertiary centre. You don’t need to go to a doctor for a cough and cold and wait in

the queue for two hours. That is where the telemedicine bit will come in. “Now we are looking at an entrepreneurial guy who can do the last mile in India for this project,” he informs.

OIL AND GASWith the oil and gas segment picking up and with oil block concessions being awarded again, ICT has signed an MoU with an Indian based oil and gas technical consultancy firm. This firm comprises a group of 40 ONGC professionals each with 20-25 years experience in the field at various levels of operations, exploration and prospecting. The firm is based in Chennai and ICT can arrange a match making with its client if they are interested in taking up an oil block. ICT helps them from bidding to drawing up of the oil. Ofcourse, it is a very phased investment pattern. “We come in from the financial angle and the packaging. The ONGC guys come with the technical expertise. This is something we are focusing in both India and Oman,” he says.

CROSS-BORDER INVESTMENTSTalking about cross-border investments, not many Indians know about the ease of doing business in Oman where you not only have taxation benefits but you also have the FTA with the US. ICT is actually championing the cause of Oman in India, emphasises Dr Gupte while saying that they have a client who wants to set up a facility in Salalah for packaging juices and exporting them to different countries. The fruit produce can come from Egypt or India and can be exported to other countries because the perception of Oman is that it is hygienic and can produce good quality.

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F E A T U R E

Oman India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO) is a unique venture and a strategic

partnership between Oman and India to leverage the natural gas supplies of Oman to provide low cost urea fertiliser for the farmers of India. The project has built a dynamic platform for the two nations and rise above the mere commercial aspect. The OMIFCO sponsors are Oman Oil Company (50 per cent shareholder), Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited, India (25 per cent shareholder) and Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, India (25 per cent shareholder).

PRODUCTSThe OMIFCO project covers an area of 175 hectares and includes all utilities and off-site facilities

including product storage, power generation, seawater cooling and a dedicated jetty. The project produces 1.65 million tonnes of granulated urea and 0.24 million tonnes of surplus ammonia annually, with the entire production to be exported in bulk to India, by sea. Ammonia, a chemical comprising of nitrogen and hydrogen, designated in chemical notation as NH3, is extremely soluble in water. Urea which is produced by synthesis reaction of liquid Ammonia (NH3) and Gaseous Carbon dioxide (CO2) is highly water soluble and contains 46 per cent nitrogen.

A RESPONSIBLE MISSIONOMIFCO presents a unique ‘win-win’ opportunity for both Oman and India and effectively

Fertilising the soilOMIFCO effectively uses Oman’s abundant energy resources to meet India’s need for affordable fertiliser

uses Oman’s abundant energy resources to feed India’s need for affordable fertiliser. OMIFCO’s vision is to become an internationally recognised model for major chemical and fertiliser manufacturing companies based on its achievements and standards in the fields of health safety and environmental protection, employee and community relations as well as operational performance. OMIFCO’s mission is to create a culture of excellence, teamwork and responsibility among the members of its workforce, which is the company’s most important asset, so that OMIFCO can meet the highest economic, social and quality expectations of its shareholders, the local community and other stakeholders.

A major contributor to the Sultanate’s economy, OMIFCO considers good neighbourhood and good corporate citizenship as part of its core business responsibilities. It is committed to being actively involved in the sustainable development and diversification of the economic life and activities of its host communities. OMIFCO also promotes good corporate governance by insisting that its employees, contractors and suppliers adhere to OMIFCO’s business ethical practices and principles in all their business dealings and also in their relationships with authorities and agencies in the Sultanate.

Ahmed Ali Al Awfi, CEO, OMIFCO

Innovate To Lead

With footprints across four continents in twenty countries, Bahwan CyberTek (BCT) continuously looks to innovate to lead. With domain expertise across banking & finance, government, energy & utilities and logistics & supply chain management, we understand the importance of a synergy between technology and business.

As an SEI CMMI Level 5 company, BCT employs over 1,500 knowledge professionals, spread across the USA, Middle East, Far East, Africa and India. Our clear emphasis on thought leadership and experience has won us recongnition from IT majors Oracle and IBM with whom we have partnered in several implementation projects. For instance, the UAE's largest online payment gateway integration project for the Dubai eGovernment, with 8 acquiring banks, 33 service providers and 5 payment gateways, runs seamlessly today on our Cuecenrt

Joint Ventures

www.bahwancybertek.com | www.cuecent.com

Awards & Recognitions

I n n o v a t i o n A w a r d s 2 0 0 8 Mos t p rom is ing so fwa re p roduc t s Company

OMAN : P.O.Box 97, Postal code 117, Wadi Kabir, Sultanate of Oman | Tel : (968) 24567154 | Fax : (968) 24567148UAE : Office No. 206, Building No.1, Ist Floor, Dubai Internet City, P.O. Box 500061, Dubai, UAE | Tel : (9714) 3911850 | Fax : (9714) 3911840USA -Boston : 209, West Central Street, Natick, Massachusetts 01760, USA | Tel : (1) 508 652- 0001 / 652-0015 | Fax : (1) 508 652-9781USA-Virginia : 11710, Plaza America Drive, Suite 2000, Reston, VA 20190, USA | Tel : (703) 707-0094USA-California : 2880, Zanker Road, Suite 203, San Jose, CA 95134, USA | Tel : (408) 432-7217 | Fax : (508) 652-9781INDIA-Chennai : 148, Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR), Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Chennai - 600 097 | Tel : (91) 44 43449000 / 39209000 | Fax : (91) 44 43449222INDIA-Bangalore : Prestige Meridian II, 12th Floor, Unit 1202, #30, M. G. Road, Bangalore - 560 001 | Tel : (91) 80 40745454INDIA-Mumbai : 105, Keshava Building, 1st Floor, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai - 400 051 | Tel : (91) 22 4006 0111 (5 Lines) | Fax : (91) 22 2659 1703

A division of Bahwan CyberTek

Payment engine. We, along with our JV partner DHL, provide one of the world's largest land-based 4PL logistics operations in the oil and gas sector for Petroleum Development Oman.

With innovation as our core value, we are always driving our customers to the next generation of technology to lead in their business. We have been recognised by NASSCOM for our innovation and technology initiatives. The most recent feather in our cap is our being ranked in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific for the 4th time in a row. BCT has been recognized for its Payment Solutions in NASSCOM’s Research and Intelligence Report. The Report features select Indian IT companies who have enabled greater efficiency in governments across the world. We are the only company to be highlighted in the payment solutions space.