Showing posts with label Terror Attacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terror Attacks. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

India remains the kings of outsourcing business

Though the world is witnessing a severe meltdown, IT firms in India found it an opportunity to step up their outsourcing activities as global companies are resorting to several cost cutting initiatives. It is despite the fact that the country is facing serious threats to its outsourcing leadership from a few internal elements like vulnerabilities to terror attacks and erosion of the confidence in corporate governance.

However India will remain a major outsourcing destination. "Even though other markets will be redoubling efforts to seize opportunities from India, no other country yet presents a serious threat as a key outsourcing destination", said Arno Franz, Partner and Asia-Pacific President at TPI, while speaking to BusinessWeek. "China is still very much an emerging destination, while it is debatable whether any other single country has the breadth and depth of skills, experience and infrastructure to seriously challenge India's position," he added.

Franz pointed out that India-based providers made significant market share increases last year. In terms of total contract value (TCV), Indian outsourcers contributed 16 percent of the global market, up from 11 percent in 2007. They also accounted for over half of the Asia-Pacific outsourcing TCV. Moreover, two out of the three mega-deals in the second half of 2008 went to India-based providers. Mega deals, defined by TPI as contracts worth over $1 billion, numbered 12 between January and June last year.

Over the year, there was a record of 88 contracts in the region with a total contract value of over US$25 million, 50 of which were awarded in the second half. Despite the high number, the 2008 TCV of Asia-Pacific outsourcing deals was $12.3 billion, lower than 2007's $12.7 billion. Annualized contract value (ACV), which is the contract value divided by its duration, also fell from $2.7 billion in 2007, to $2.4 billion last year.

Agencies

Friday, November 28, 2008

Terror Attacks: Mumbai Will Emerge Stronger!

Each time Mumbai has been the target of a terrorist attack, it rebounds stronger and more resolute.

Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, comes under attack from terrorists yet again, at a time when the world's second-fastest growing economy is seen by many analysts to be a critical part of the solution in fighting a global recession.

Mumbai is one of the world's top 10 centres of commerce and contributes to about 5 percent of India 's GDP and accounts for 25 percent of the industrial output, 40 percent of maritime trade, and 70 percent of capital transactions to the economy. Mumbai's per-capita income is Rs. 48,954 ($990) which is almost three times the national average.

"Mumbai is a very resilient city," says Bundeep Singh Rangar, Chairman, IndusView Advisors Ltd., the India-focused cross-border advisory firm. "Each time it's been the target of a terrorist attack, it rebounds stronger and more resolute."

Post the July 11, 2006, Mumbai train bombings, for example, as a show of investor confidence, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) had rebounded, starting the day with the BSE Sensex Index up by nearly 1 percent in morning trade. Foreign investors also retained confidence, with the Sensex up almost 3 percent at 10,930.09 at the end of the day's trade.

However, both the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange were closed today as the security personnel continue with their efforts to nab the terrorists.

India is set to register a strong growth of about 7.5 percent this financial year, a marginal drop from 9 percent that the country achieved last year when compared to emerging markets peer China that will drop to similar level from about 12 percent last year, its lowest since 1990, according to estimates.

This firm footing that the Indian economy finds itself in, has a lot to do with the contribution from Mumbai, its financial capital that brings 40 percent of foreign trade, 60 percent of customs duty collections, 40 percent of income tax collections, 20 percent of central excise tax collections, and Rs. 40,000 crore ($10 billion) in corporate taxes to the Indian economy.

This apart, the city hosts headquarters of a number of Indian financial institutions such as the Bombay Stock Exchange, Reserve Bank of India , National Stock Exchange, the Mint, as well as the corporate headquarters of many large Indian companies, including the three largest private sector companies: Reliance Industries, Tata Group and Aditya Birla Group, and numerous multinational corporations. Most of these offices are located in downtown South Mumbai which is the nerve centre of the Indian economy.

Strategic industries
Mumbai is home to Bollywood, the largest film making industry in the world; the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), which will see its role gaining significance once the Indo-US civil nuclear deal comes in to force.

Other prominent industry sectors in the city include aerospace, optical engineering, medical research, information technology, computers and electronic equipment, shipbuilding and salvaging, renewable energy and power.

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