Cover Story
- Kolkata, which witnessed only a muted real estate boom, is unlikely to see a correction anytime soon.
- Property prices have been stable in Hyderabad due to the slowdown in IT.
- Even as Chennai’s residential market is slowing down, commercial and retail demand has held firm.
- Home prices are down in Bangalore, but demand for commercial space is robust.
- Okay, so there is a property market correction in the national capital region, but don’t bet your money on it—at least not right now.
- People in India’s business capital are crying out for cheaper real estate.
From the Editor
Even if you weren't in the market for property, you must have noticed that the no-holds-barred boom in real estate prices over the past 5-7 years is cooling off. Prices that had been soaring on the back of growing demand, low interest rates and a high-growth economy appear to be slowing down. Coal production
India is the third-largest producer of coal globally and a large part comes from Coal India and its subsidiaries. The BT 50 index It’s a change so obvious that it’s barely noticeable. India is evolving into an increasingly crowded launch pad for global brands. Hublot recently launched its Big Bang collection of watches for the global market from India. “We’re not here to run a Mickey Mouse business. We’re looking at substantial revenues from India—in hundreds of millions rather than tens of millions of pounds” Greenhouse gases (GHGs) trap heat in the atmosphere. While some of these gases occur naturally and are emitted through natural processes, other GHGs are created and emitted solely through human activities. Higher proportion of such GHGs in the atmosphere leads to climate change. A course correction is needed. Big question: Who will take the lead? 200,000: The annual incremental requirement of manpower in the Indian hospitality industry. Of this, 69,000 people are required at the managerial level, according to a Planning Commission report The I&B Ministry, we hear, is busy these days lobbying with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to rework the TV audience measurement system (conducted by TAM). Effective management of business travel can lead to significant savings for Indian corporates, says a recent American Express Travel & Entertainment Expense Management survey. If you are the adventurous, or, the daredevil, sort, you probably enjoy watching the recent commercials for Bajaj Pulsar Mania and Thums Up. But these two commercials, with awesome stunts, are already courting controversy. The massive, but hugely fragmented, diagnostic sector is seeing some corporate action. Healthcare majors SRL Ranbaxy, NPIL Laboratories, Dr Lal Pathlab and Metropolis Health Services are consolidating their positions in the sector. India’s energy needs will grow four-fold over 25 years if GDP grows at 7-8 per cent. A recent KPMG report, quoting Planning Commission data, notes that India can save about 351 MTOE or 19 per cent of its total requirement by 2032. India is emerging as one of the most favoured destinations for private equity investments in the world. In the first quarter of the calendar year 2008, it attracted $4 billion (Rs 16,000 crore) in PE investments, almost double the amount received in the corresponding period of the previous year."India is a very small market for us"
Frederic Cuminal, President & CEO, Moet & Chandon, was recently in Mumbai to launch all the brand’s offerings in India. He met BT’s Deepti Khanna Bose to discuss his company’s plans for India. Excerpts: The fortnight’s burning question: Will the increased focus on biofuels threaten India’s food security? India Inc.’s Q4 profits are down, and are unlikely to recover anytime soon. Cricket in your pocket
Cricinfo has launched a mobile widget—or (as it is referred to), a mobicast, especially geared towards the Apple iPhone.Now, a cooler for your terrace
It is an outdoor cooling system, called Harley Masterkool, that uses micro particles of water to absorb heat from the atmosphere that it then uses as energy for its own evaporation. Tech toys for tomorrow
Gazing into the crystal ball is, more often than not, a hazardous preoccupation. But when such forecasts are based on information given by the very firms involved in research on gadgets of the future, it’s definitely worth a read.The boss who loves his single malt
We met Moon Bum Shin, MD of LG Electronics in India, over drinks at his favourite haunt in Delhi.And we discovered a whole new fun side to this hard-working and extremely successful Korean. If you have a car with ABS, you can brake with all your might and steer the car at the same time—something that would not have been possible in a car without ABS. Air bags also make you safe but can also be lethal. They do not make safer if you aren’t belted in.A 'Basque't of Catalan delights
When not creating magic on the football field or side-stepping raging bulls in the ring, the Spanish love to eat. Find out why. You’ve probably tried Sangria—Spain’s staple punch for party animals. But good Spanish liqueurs are quite something else.We suggest you get your liqueur glasses out. Some 200,000 people descend on the Augusta National Golf Club during that one week in April, and the average spend per person on merchandising is said to be about $250-$300.Look, honey, a motorcycle makeover!
Modifying a bike may cost more than its original price but what you get in return is a stunner with loads of attitude— a mean machine you will be proud of. This is the land of the Khmer Rouge and the backdrop of movies like Apocalypse Now. But Cambodia also boasts some of the world’s largest temples. Kushan Mitra went on a magical journey. The day is not too far when a personal gadget will tell you if a fruit is clean enough to be consumed and menus will appear on every restaurant’s ‘table screens’. We take a look at some much-talked about future gadget concepts that promise to make your life simpler. Gadgets make your life easier, otherwise no matter how pretty they look, they’re useless. And this holds true for iPod accessories as well. Here are some nifty personal music accessories that do deliver. We take a look at some classic styles in jeans.We then take you through two raging denim debates. Scion of the Corneliani family, Cristiano Corneliani explains why their ID Paddock Jacket is an informal piece which can become a formal jacket by detaching a small zipper. The world’s largest manufacturer of mobile devices has looked into the crystal ball and seen the future of mobile devices with the ‘Morph’ concept. It has been decades since folk songs were a force to reckon with in popular music. Now, they are seeing a huge revival with a clutch of compelling albums from some very “freaky” people. We take a look. …May not be gold, but they sure are worth owning. Check out these new launches from the world of luxury. A gaming freak are you? We can see why you will be spending more time jiggling your ‘controller’ in the months to come. The big bad city, a femme fatale, a morally ambiguous hero and blazing guns—wrap all this up in a web of shadows and you get the alluring world of Film Noir—one of the great creations of modern cinema. We take a look at some classics that are now available on high quality DVD. It’s a scorcher out there as summer turns on the heat. Time for some cooling drinks? Try these at home, even without expert supervision. Planning a trip and can’t find a place that is perfect? Things have just got easier. Buy this book now.Skewered, succulent and scrumptious
Dreaming of those tender kebabs or chicken wings and steaks barbecued on charcoal? Put on your best dress and get behind the wheel. Let us guide you to some of the coolest barbecue joints around. A gaming console that measures your BMI, a phone that pushes you to run faster and an armband that stores all fitness data. Your morning workouts are about to get hi-tech. How does it feel to go to sleep with a gadget and wake up with…gadgets again? We get a gadget buff to explain. Murgh malai tikka and tangri kebab are heaven-blessed food matches for champagne. Check out the ménage a trois the next time you visit a fancy Indian restaurant— you’ll become an instant convert. But don’t extend the match-making to seekh kebabs. The 2007 list: How are they doing?
The 2007 list: How are they doing? From a long list of names, we finally picked 10 that stood out for the uniqueness of their businesses or rapid growth. Our second annual listing of the most happening young ventures. 19th century redux?
The simultaneous rise of China, Japan and India is posing a geopolitical conundrum. It's now the era of micro-innovators: C.K. Prahalad
For more than a decade now, Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad has been the best-known management guru from India. Professor of Strategy at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Prahalad shot to fame with his book Competing for the Future, which he co-authored with Gary Hamel. He spoke to Business Today's R. Sridharan on innovation and his own intellectual journey over the years. Stepping on the gas
A McKinsey report underscores the need for indigenous gas. How bad forex derivatives losses get will depend on the rates. Merck India’s doctor-CEO is a man in a hurry. Reliance strikes two joint ventures—and stays a minority partner! Deal makers fret as transactions get deferred and abandoned. Launches and re-launches are riding on the cricket fiesta. Accenture will have an India headcount of 50,000 in a year. Satyam delivers in a challenging global environment. Slowdowns can be just what the doctor ordered for consultants. And content is king for Viacom’s Nickelodeon. Global investors can’t get enough of the media sector. A flap over knickers
Here’s a helpful suggestion to all the self appointed czars of Indian culture: bulldoze the Kandariya Mahadeva and all the other temples in Khajuraho and also the Sun Temple in Konark. The Government is in a flap over the runaway inflation rate. The villains of the piece, it has decided, are cement and steel companies, which, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced in Parliament, have formed cartels to push up the prices of these commodities. It’s a great time to be a home buyer in the US. Housing prices in key states are down 15-20 per cent, and if more banks continue to report losses, then prices could fall some more. Feedback from the readers
Your cover story was timely. The report highlights the tenuous balance that needs to be maintained between controlling inflation on the one hand and sustaining and promoting growth on the other. Walking the talk
By judiciously growing markets, nibbling away at shares, creating new growth engines and going international, Marico has been able to do something few FMCG companies have been able to pull off—21 per cent cumulative average growth over the last five years. BT's T.V. Mahalingam tells us the success story.Commodity cartels: Fact or fiction?
Steel and cement prices have appreciated over the last six months and led to runaway inflation. The government has alleged that companies in these sectors have formed cartels to keep prices high. How justified is the government angst? Or rather, is it a combination of factors that have conspired to push up prices? BT’s Arnab Mitra and N. Madhavan find out. Armed with deep pockets and distinguished brands, some of India’s biggest mega-corps are diversifying away from their flagship businesses. Synergies do exist in most cases, but do some of these promoters run the risk of spreading themselves too thin? BT's Anand Adhikari finds out. Path finder
After closing the acquisition of Axicorp to give her company a firm foothold in the European market, Biocon Chairman & MD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw appears to have trained her guns on the lucrative North American market. The subprime crisis and the slowdown in the US will hit the Indian IT industry hard. According to top industry executives, the IT industry, which was growing at over 30 per cent till last year, may now have to be satisfied with a 15-20 per cent annual growth. BT's Rahul Sachitanand reports.Real estate: Correction or crash
Developers are fighting hard to hold their prices, while buyers are betting on a fall. Here's the thing: real estate prices will correct, but you can rule out a crash. Build an inclusive microfinance career
Microfinance is growing fast and needs talent at all levels. An assortment of opportunities is on offer as cricket’s masala version gets off to a heady start. Home turf no more
The high price of real estate has put financiers on the back foot, thus, making home ownership more expensive. Options and futures can help you ride out the market’s volatility—and also profit from it. Mutual funds have rebounded from the March mayhem and have turned net investors again. The recent correction has taken a bigger toll on small- and mid-cap stocks. Will they bounce back? A lot of rise has happened in the oil sector during the first four months of 2008. It is booming because of rising crude prices, but not all oil and gas stocks make good investment. Devil's deal
MIRC Electronics’ Gulu Mirchandani; BCCI Vice President and IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi; Arvind Uppal, Asia Pacific Region Head, Whirlpool; Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani of Wipro Technologies; Agile Labs Director and CEO Raghunathan Perumal; and T.R. Baalu, Shipping and Road Transport Minister and Representative of the DMK in the UPA Government. Nod for realty mutual funds
SEBI (Securities& Exchange Board of India) has finally given the go-ahead to real estate mutual funds (REMFs), though with some riders. The government is considering opening up the lucrative Dubai market to Indian private airlines. The move aims to level the playing field as the Gulf carriers have over 75 per cent of market share in this route.Sovereign funds under the lens
The Indian Government is concerned about the growing interest of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the country. The Finance Ministry is now monitoring such inflows. A senior bureaucrat told BT: “We are now planning to evolve a policy to regulate sovereign wealth fund investments in the country.” Shah Rukh Khan
Be it hollering his lungs out to cheer the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), his Indian Premier League (IPL) team, or playing the funky quiz master on television for the Indian version of Are you smarter than a fifth grader?, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan seems to be pressing the right buttons to ensure maximum recall for brand SRK. Just wondering ...
What is Ketan Parekh up to these days? Well, he’s busy trying to keep himself out of jail—rather a comedown for a man, who, barely eight years ago, must have been wondering how soon he’d earn his next Rs 100 crore or how long it would take to push the Sensex up another 1,000 points. Ranked: At #57, the Tata Group, in a list of the Top 500 Global Brands published by the UK based Brand Finance Plc. It has climbed 45 places since last year. No other Indian brand figures in the Top 100. The study, which valued the Tata brand at $11.8 billion (Rs 47,082 crore), is based on brand value in end-2007. A list of biggest deals struck by Indian companies
Every month, we bring you a listing of the biggest deals struck by Indian companies in India and abroad. Our partner: global professional services firm Ernst & Young. Here are the deals that were struck in April 2008. Get set for summer
Summer is here again, and so are the illnesses it invariably brings along. Here’s how to prevent them. As machines and gadgets take over our day-to-day lives, little wonder that these objects have made huge inroads into the world of exercising. 
