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Business
Environment
China's
TVEs The success formula
The
town and village industries, which are the counterparts of
our small and village industries hold the key to Chinese competitiveness,
says Susmita Dasgupta, Deputy Chief Economist, Economic Research
Unit Joint Plant Committee.
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IUP. All Rights Reserved
Debate
Agenda
for Union Budget
Come
February and the cynosure of all eyes is the Indian finance
ministry. The forthcoming Union Budget is likely to be unique
in many aspects. As the fear of a global slowdown is in the
news, the first budget of the new millennium poses lots of
challenges to the Finance Minister. On the macroeconomic front
numerous events occurred in conjunction. Along with the weaker
monsoons and exceptional rise in crude oil prices, capital
flows dwindled remarkably. This led to a larger outflow of
foreign currency reserves. A sharp fall in the rupee took
place. The slowing down of the manufacturing sector in particular,
phasing out of quantitative restrictions and the snail's pace
of PSU disinvestments - convey the warning of a domestic slowdown.
The coming budget has to take intensive care of these sensitive
issues and protect the economy from going sloth.
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IUP. All Rights Reserved
Spot
Light
Indian
Banking On a consolidation binge -- D.
Satish
The
consolidation in the Banking Industry seems to be happening
at a faster pace. What are the forces that are hastening this
process?
HDFC
Bank and the Times Bank tied the merger knot last year. The
coming together of two like-minded Private Banks for mutual
benefit was a landmark event in the history of Indian Banking.
Many analysts viewed this action as the opening of the floodgate
of a spate of mergers and consolidations among the banks,
but this was not to be, it took nearly a year for another
merger. The process of consolidation is a slow and painful
process. But the wait and watch game played by the banks seems
to have come to an end.
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IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Case
Study
AT&T
- TCI Merger : Ma Bell's tryst with destiny -- D G Prasuna
Riding
high on the wave of technological advances, tempted by the
idea of being able to provide telephone right under the nose
of incumbent bells without their assistance, AT&T went
ahead and acquired cable companies spending a mammoth $100
bn. But at the end of the day it felt shareholders would be
better off if this "broadband" business is spun
off.
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IUP. All Rights Reserved
Interview
"I
expect brick-and-mortar Wall-Mart Stores Inc.-type operations
to grow in India" --Saby
Ganguly
Retailing
in a corporate form is a sophisticated business. India is
a Third World country. In any Third World country, sophisticated
businesses take their own course of time to develop. Even
in the United Kingdom, a developed country, the street corner
Indian grocery is still there, though perhaps in its last
generation. Even in oil-rich countries like the United Arab
Emirates and Kuwait (which otherwise have a high quality of
life) small groceries owned by individuals exist side-by-side
with corporatized supermarkets and hypermarkets.
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IUP. All Rights Reserved
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