Issue No.

: 23
SSIM Business News Letter

Vol – 2 Issue No: 23 Oct 6th – Oct 21st, 2014

Compiled by: Mr. S. Saibaba, Assistant Professor & Mrs. V. Annapurna, Asst. Professor
Student Co-ordinators: B. Venkatesh {RP – Jrs. TPS – A},
O.B. Venkata Siva Reddy {RP – Jrs. TPS – A}

Truth Never Damages A Cause IN THIS ISSUE

That Is Just
In the world, if we analyse closely, we find that
it is only truth which ultimately emerges
victorious. We get into trouble, because we feel
like losing faith in truth and resort to a means
that brings us far from truthfulness. In fact, if is
a human tendency.
You ought to remember that when you were a
child, you were so innocent that you always
 Corporate.................................. 3
 Economy & Policy ..................... 5
 Infotech and Logistics ............... 7
 Marketing .................................. 8
 Markets ................................... 11
 M&As ...................................... 15
 Money and Banking ................ 15
 Start-Ups ................................ 17
 Person-in-News ....................... 19

told the truth. As you grew older, you realised

unpleasant situation. It is generally not bad. But
that you might get away with holding back
if you have got into the habit of being too much
some of truth to save yourself from getting into
diplomatic, it means you have developed a
some kind of trouble. In fact, you forgot that
tendency to avoid telling the truth which, in
telling lies or withholding the full story does
fact, results in your failing to tell the truth. You
not usually get you out of trouble. In most
often use this so-called art or skill in the
cases, by doing so, you ,and yourself more into
workplace, i.e. amidst the people whom you
trouble. So much so that you often have to
have to interact with. In that case, you can end
explain at a point why you have been frying to
up not giving someone the help he/she needs.
cover things up.
Maybe you think that he/she may not be able to
In your day-to-day life, you will observe that
handle the truth. But remember the famous line
you become diplomatic to get out of an
written by the great American writer and

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 1

 Issue No. : 23
SSIM
educator, Frank Lloyd Wright: "The truth is
more important than the facts." If means, you
must not distort or curtail the facts to the extent
that they are unable to convey the truth. What
Is needed is your skillful use of diplomacy.
That diplomatic language is alone diplomatic in
the real sense of the term which is used to
convey the truth in a way that you do not shatter
the self-confidence of others.
Tell the truth in a way that the person whom
you are speaking to comes to know the truth
and gets an opportunity to make amends or
improvements. It does add not only to your
performance, but also to others'. Diplomacy is
indeed an art of being sensitive and appropriate
to every situation. It never implies running
away from the truth.
You need a lot of feedback from your teachers,
seniors, friends and particularly from your
parents while you are preparing for a
competition. If you are thought to be a truthful
person everybody, who interacts with you,
treats you with respect. If you are a truthful
person, it puts you in a strong position to ask
others for truthful feedback. Remember that
FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in
Business News Letter
one of the best ways to get closer to the truth is
to ask for feedback. You may get one of your
colleagues or a person very close to you to look
out for occasions when you tend to do or are
doing the very thing which you are focused on
changing. When you are relying on a number
of people for feedback, you must tell them to
be specific. For example, when someone says
that you have done something well, ask him/her
why he/she liked your act and what were the
things you should have done but did not do. It
will provide you with the truth that pleases
people as well as with the information about
your shortcomings where there is some room
for improvement.
A great soul like Mahatma Gandhi, who set a
great store by truth and truthfulness, has said:
"Truth never damages a cause that is just." If
you are aspiring to crack a competitive
examination, truthfulness will be immensely
helpful to you. If will encourage you at every
step.
Reproduced from
COMPETITION SUCCESS REVIEW,
APRIL 2013.
2
 : Issue
Issue23 No.No. : 23
SSIM
SSIM BusinessNews
Business NewsLetter
Letter

Corporate
IDFC Alternatives raises $900 mn under India Infra Fund II
IDFC Alternatives Limited, multi-asset class management arm of IDFC Ltd, has announced final closing
for it's about Rs 5,500 crore ($900 million) India Infrastructure Fund II. This
includes a commitment of $90 million from its parent IDFC Limited and remaining
$810 million from third party Limited Partners ("LPs").
In addition to the above commitments to the fund, investors have also
pledged significant additional capital towards co-investment opportunities.
Investors in IIF II include global institutional investors from North America, Europe and the
Middle East, the company said in a statement.
IIF II has attracted the high quality and marquee investors. IIF II has been subscribed during time
when the difficult economic and financial conditions prevailed during the majority of our fund-
raising period. The many existing investors of first fund have re-upped commitments to the second
fund. The new investors including global institutional investors for having placed faith in IDFC as
their infrastructure fund manager of choice. They have also acknowledged India's potential as an
attractive investment opportunity in the infrastructure space.
IIF II is the successor to IDFC Alternatives' debut infrastructure fund - India Infrastructure Fund
("IIF") - which closed in June 2009 with a fund size of $927 million from Indian and international
institutional investors. Aditya Aggarwal, Partner - Infrastructure who co-led the fund raise said IIF
II will continue with a similar investment strategy of investing in core infrastructure assets in India
covering both under construction and operational assets.

Cox & Kings to raise Rs 1,200 cr to reduce debt

Tour operator Cox & Kings plans to raise Rs 1,200 crore this financial year to trim debt. The
company board on Thursday approved plans to raise funds through the issuance of equity shares,
convertible bonds or qualified institutional placement route.
Cox & Kings has a debt of Rs 4,200 crore and over a third of it was drawn to
finance the purchase of UK travel company Holidaybreak in 2011. The
company has been aiming to reduce its finance cost and in June, it sold
Holidaybreak’s camping division to French travel company Homair Vacances
for about Rs 892 crore. Cox & Kings said it would use the proceeds to retire
a portion of its debt before maturity.
In FY14, the company incurred Rs 323 crore in finance cost. The Indian operations contribute
about 25 per cent of the company’s consolidated revenue and the balance comes from overseas
business. In the last financial year, the company reported consolidated earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation, and amortization of Rs 1,100 crore and Holidaybreak’s share was about Rs
400 crore.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in

3
 Issue
Issue
No. : 23 No. : 23
SSIM
SSIM BusinessNews
Business NewsLetter
Letter

Cipla to tweak its global strategy

Indian drug major Cipla is gearing to spruce its global focus. Under the leadership of Subhanu
Saxena, the chief executive officer who took charge last year, Cipla is planning a makeover with
a balanced portfolio across global markets.
At present, Indian and African markets contribute 80 per cent of Cipla's annual revenue. In
comparison, competitor Sun Pharma earns 60 per cent of revenue from the US, the world’s largest
drug market.
Except Cipla, none of the other top five companies depends too much on the Indian market for
revenue. India contributes about 45 per cent to Cipla's revenue, while contribution from Africa is
35 per cent and only 20 per cent from the rest of the world. Cipla earns 10 per cent of its revenues
from the US, the $350-billion drug market.
One of the targets by Saxena is to double the revenue from the US market to 20 per cent by 2020.
He plans to bring another 20 per cent from Europe, especially the UK and Germany. Apparently,
revenue from India will come down to 30 per cent and Africa to 20-25 per cent. “The margins are
pretty good in the US market and we have realised that we can't ignore world's largest pharma
market,” said Saxena.
Cipla plans global expansion in three phases, which includes entering partnerships for the US
and European market, and expanding the respiratory and injectable portfolio. Capacity expansion
of Indore and Goa plants are also on the agenda. Read more…

Future Group, Amazon India announce strategic e-commerce alliance

From being dismissive about the potential of e-commerce in India to joining hands with the sector,
leading 'brick and mortar' retailing entities seem to have had a change of thinking on the former.
Kishore Biyani's Future Group has made a tie-up with Amazon to sell its private labels in the
fashion category. Last month, Tata Group’s Croma entered into an alliance with Snapdeal.
The tie-up of Amazon and Future comes right after Jeff Bezos, founder-head of the former, visited
the country and met Biyani. The partnership will be extended to other categories over time. Future
will use the Amazon platform to sell its private labels such as Lee Cooper, Converse, Indigo
Nation, Scullers and Jealous21, among others. The company has a portfolio of about 40 brands.
mazon India's vice-president and country manager, Amit Agarwal, said the combination was a
“win-win for all”. Biyani said it would help the retailer promote its own private labels. Read
more…
Bajaj Auto Q2 net slides 29% to Rs 591 cr
Bajaj Auto, India’s third-largest two-wheeler manufacturer, posted a 29 per cent year-on-year drop
in net profit for the quarter ended September. The Pune-based company reported a net profit of Rs
591 crore, compared with Rs 837 crore in the corresponding period last
year. The fall in profit was primarily due to a penalty imposed by the
Uttarakhand High Court over non-payment of duties. Bajaj Auto said
following the judgment, it was liable to pay Rs 340 crore as a one-time
penalty and interest.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 4

 Issue
Issue
No. : 23 No. : 23 SSIM
SSIM Business News
Business News Letter
Letter

According to the order, the levy of National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) is out of the
purview of the exemptions granted to the company under the scheme of incentives provided to
industries in Uttarakhand. The penalty has been calculated for the past seven and half years, since
April 1, 2007. “This is a one-time charge and going forward, the charge towards NCCD is expected
to be about Rs 3 crore a month,” said a company release. But for the charge of this exceptional
item, profit after tax would have been Rs 853 crore, the second-highest in the company’s history.
Read more…

Symphony Q1 net rises 51% to Rs 21.63 crore

Ahmedabad-based air cooler company Symphony Limited on Tuesday reported a 51 per cent rise
in net profit for the first quarter of 2014-15. The company follows July-June as its financial year.
The company posted a net profit of Rs 21.63 for the first quarter of the current financial year as
against Rs 14.32 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal (2013-14), a statement
issued by the company said. Gross revenue, the statement added, for the first quarter stood at
Rs 110.40 crore as against gross revenue of Rs 78.05 crore for the same period in the previous
fiscal. Nrupesh Shah, executive director, Symphony Limited, said, “The sustained growth is on
account of strong performance across all business verticals.”

Economy and Policy

What Yahoo! and Nokia's offshore cutbacks tell us about India
Yahoo! just made about $9 billion in cash from Alibaba Group's initial public offering, and
investors are licking their lips at the thought of how Marissa Mayer might spend it. Snapchat?
AOL? Well, here's one area you shouldn't expect her to invest in: offshoring more jobs to India.
The company is cutting about 400 jobs at its office in Bangalore representing more than a third of
its workforce there, Bloomberg News reported. Yahoo! says the cuts were due to "some changes
in the way we operate in Bangalore" and that it's not giving up on the country. "Yahoo! will
continue to have a presence in India, and Bangalore remains an important office," it said in a
statement.
The allure of offshoring information-technology jobs to India isn't what it used to be. Just on
Tuesday, Nokia said it plans to shut down production at a factory near Chennai on November 1.
The plant in the southern city of Sriperumbudur was one of Nokia's largest phone-manufacturing
operations. In a statement, the Finnish tech company blamed the closure on an asset freeze imposed
by India's tax department. Nokia's nightmare highlights one big reason some Western tech
companies are putting the great Indian offshoring experiment on pause. The country is still
grappling with corruption and bureaucracy, which contribute to it being the worst-performing
BRICS economy for IT development, according to a 2014 report from the World Economic Forum.
That creates roadblocks for foreign businesses and local entrepreneurs, alike. Read more…

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in

5
 Issue
Issue
No. No. : 23
: 23 SSIM
SSIM Business
BusinessNews
NewsLetter
Letter

Growth to pick up from 5.6% in FY15 to 7% in FY17: Citigroup

India's growth rate is expected to improve to 7 per cent by FY 2017, while inflation and the current
account deficit are likely to moderate in the coming years, a Citigroup report said. According to
the global financial services major, the Indian economy had faced high and sticky inflation in
2008-2013, around 50 per cent depreciation in currency and elevated interest rates, but the
"normalisation" process has begun. "From an undesirable mix of sub-par growth, high inflation,
elevated twin deficits in FY 2013, India is now looking at a pick-up in growth, moderating inflation
and a sharply lower current account deficit," Citigroup said in a research note. According to the
quarterly GDP data released last month, GDP growth accelerated to 5.7 per cent year-on-year in
the first quarter of FY 2015, compared to 4.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY14, with
encouraging trends seen across supply and demand side components. The report further noted that
the recovery in growth numbers from 5.6 per cent in FY15 to 7 per cent in FY17 would be
"gradual" and continued policy efforts are needed to meet the RBI's 6 per cent CPI target by
January 2016.

Factory output growth slows to five-month low of 0.4%

Factory output growth slowed to five-month low of 0.4 per cent in August mainly due to
contraction in manufacturing and capital goods. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for
August was at 0.4 per cent, the same as in August 2013. Meanwhile, the IIP for July 2014 has now
been revised downward to 0.4 per cent from 0.5 per cent estimated earlier, official data released
by the Central Statistics Office on Friday showed. For the April-August period, factory output saw
2.8 per cent growth as against flat production (nil growth) in the same period last fiscal. According
to the latest data, manufacturing — which accounts for 75 per cent of the index — contracted 1.4
per cent, compared to 0.2 per cent decline a year ago. While capital goods contracted 11.3 percent
(-2.0 per cent), consumer durables contracted 15 per cent (-8.3 per cent). On an overall basis,
consumer goods output contracted 6.9 per cent in August (0.9 per cent decline . The Confederation
of Indian Industry Director-General Chandrajit Banerjee said industrial production continues to be
slow and a visible turnaround is not happening. There is a need to provide a competitive market
for coal and mining sectors, he said.

Sept WPI inflation falls to 5-year low of 2.38%

Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation dropped to 2.38 per cent in September, the lowest
since October 2009 (1.78 per cent), prompting industry to urge the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
for a rate cut to propel industrial growth, which fell to a five-
month low in August. WPI inflation stood at 7.05 per cent in
September 2013 and 3.74 per cent in August this year.
For September this year, all three broad categories — primary
products, manufactured items, and fuel & power — saw a fall in
inflation.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 6

 IssueNo.
Issue No.: 23
: 23
SSIM
SSIM Business
Business News
News Letter
Letter

Data released on Monday showed in September, Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation fell
to 6.46 per cent, the lowest so far. Since WPI is a lead indicator for CPI, retail price inflation might
decline further in the coming months. However, the festive months of October and November
might come in the way. RBI has set a target of reining in CPI inflation at eight per cent by January
2015 and six per cent by January 2016. Though it has voiced comfort on its January 2015 target,
it expressed apprehension about the January 2016 target. Industry chambers — the Confederation
of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the
Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry —urged RBI to focus on growth. The Federation
of Indian Export Organisations asked RBI to cut the policy rate, as growth in exports had fallen to
2.35 per cent in August. Economists are divided on RBI’s course of action. Madan Sabnavis, chief
economist at CARE Ratings, said the central bank might go for a rate cut in the fourth quarter of
2014-15, but might advance this if retail price inflation remained about seven per cent in the next
two months. Read more…

Infotech and Logistics

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka eyes design, innovation in new IT services strategy
He has his roots in the software product industry, where productivity is not measured by billing
the clients on the basis of works rendered for each hour unlike the information
technology(IT) services industry. Now at helm of India’s second largest IT
services company Infosys as the first non-founder chief executive officer and
managing director, Vishal Sikka has clearly charted out that the reincarnated
Infosys will not be interested in the ‘services of yesterday’, but something
where people will be able to apply ‘design thinking’ leveraging efficiency
tools such as automation and artificial intelligence. During his little over than four months of
working with Infosys, Sikka has in several occasions touched upon the way he would like the
company to be transformed to the next level though the details are expected after the company’s
quarterly earnings on Friday. But in his keynote address at the recently concluded Oracle
OpenWorld in San Francisco, he dwelt upon a few of those aspects what he has envisioned for the
company. “…the main business of Infosys is our services. I see a tremendous opportunity to
rethink the way services are done. In many ways when I took this new role, I thought about the
world of services and I came to the conclusion that myself and us at Infosys, we are not interested
in the services of yesterday,” said Sikka during his first ever address at Oracle OpenWorld. Read
more…

Microsoft gets service tax relief

Software major Microsoft has received major relief on the tax front after the Customs, Excise &
Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) ruled that services rendered to overseas entities were
not liable to service tax.The order has implications for all firms exporting, marketing and providing
technical support services to overseas firms. The ruling will also clear the air on a number of tax
cases involving Indian arms of multinational companies as well as overseas firms. “The business
auxiliary service provided by the assessee to their Singapore parent company was delivered outside
India as such, was used there, and is covered by the provisions of Export of Service Rules and are

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 7

 Issue
IssueNo.
No.: 23
: 23 SSIM
SSIM Business News Letter
Business News Letter

not liable to Service Tax,” the tribunal said in an order dated September 23. The ruling was on an
appeal against a service tax demand of around Rs. 400 crore against the software major in 2008.
Tax experts feel this ruling, along with the Vodafone judgment by the Bombay High Court, will
help foreign investors. On October 10, the Bombay High court ruled that Vodafone was not liable
to pay tax of Rs. 3,200 crore in a transfer pricing case dating back to 2009-10. In the Microsoft
matter, the tribunal said the business auxiliary services of market promotion in India for the foreign
principal, made in terms of the agreement dated July 1, 2005, amounted to export of services.

TCS okays merger with CMC

Tata Consultancy Services, the country’s largest software exporter, has approved the merger of its
subsidiary CMC Ltd with itself, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. “It makes sense
to merge as CMC compliments the work done by TCS. It’s also a good time to consolidate our
Indian operations,” TCS Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran said
at a press conference. TCS is already doing “significant” amount of work with CMC, while CMC
on its part is doing a lot of work in the domestic market, he said, adding that the combined firm
expects to win “bigger deals”. Following the merger, TCS will consolidate CMC’s operations in a
single company with a rationalised structure, enhanced reach, greater financial strength and
flexibility. Read more…

Marketing
Maruti counters unfair trade practices charges

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has countered the charges levelled
against it by the consumer affairs ministry, saying that accepting pre-launch
bookings for its mid-size Ciaz sedan is in no way an unfair trade practice and
that it does not it violate consumer rights. “The booking is completely
voluntary for customers and entirely at their discretion. The company accepts
a token amount, which is adjusted against the price of the car at the time of
purchase. Customers are free to cancel their booking at any stage; in which case, the token booking
amount is fully refunded,” said a company spokesperson. “Customers who book in advance are
sold the car at the same price, with the same specifications, features, etc as those who have not
pre-booked and purchase the car after its launch. As such, this practice is customer-friendly and
fully safeguards the rights of customers as guaranteed under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986,”
the spokesperson added. The practice of opening bookings for cars prior to their launch has been
followed by several companies for many years in India. Maruti Suzuki’s statement came in
response to the ministry considering legal action against the company. Read more…

Marks & Spencer to double India presence by 2016

UK's top retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S), is keen on expanding its presence in the fast-growing
Indian market by launching around 40 new stores by the end of 2016.
Launching its second flagship store in Hyderabad on Thursday, Venu Nair, managing director of
M&S Reliance India, said all the planned stores would be self-owned. "By 2016, we aim to have

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 8

 IssueNo.
Issue No.: :23
23
SSIM
SSIM Business News
Business NewsLetter
Letter

80 stores from the current 42 stores, pan-India. "In south India, the international retailer plans to
roll out four stores by Mar 2015. Of this, two would be coming up in Hyderabad by December
2014. M&S currently operates 10 brick-and-mortar stores in south. M&S opened its first store in
India in 2001. It had signed a joint venture with Reliance Retail to form M&S Reliance India
Private Limited in April 2008. "Hyderabad with seven million population is getting more
westernised and what we offer is something right for this market," Nair said. On the strategy for
sourcing product material, he said "local sourcing in this part of the world is extremely key and
forms an important part of our strategy".

TVS to offer speciality repair services for commercial vehicles

TV Sundram Iyengar & Sons Ltd will offer speciality repair services such as reconditioning and
re-boring of commercial vehicle engines to garage owners and fleet operators in Tamil Nadu. The
service branded as TVS Super Auto Mart is the first in the organised sector in Tamil Nadu,
according to G Srinivasa Raghavan, CEO and Global President, TV Sundram Iyengar & Sons.
Typically, small-time mechanics along highways offer such speciality service to garage owners,
who take commercial vehicles for repairs. Garage owners and fleet customers, however, need to
deal with multiple service providers at different locations. TVS wants to change the market
dynamics by offering the speciality service at nearly 20 per cent lower cost and at reduced time
using technology such as ultra violet that can even detect a small crack in the components.

TVS distributes commercial vehicles representing manufacturers like Ashok Leyland, and is also
involved in parts distribution. Around 150 garage owners have started using the speciality service
since a pilot store was launched in Salem — the commercial vehicle hub of Tamil Nadu — in July.
It spent nearly Rs. 2.5 crore on the first store and plans to open 25-30 stores in the next three years.
Around 60 people are employed in a store, he said. Raghavan added the market for speciality
service for commercial vehicle in Tamil Nadu is estimated at Rs. 700 crore annually. The company
hopes to earn Rs. 100 crore in the next three years. The second store is planned in Chennai and
then one in Madurai. It will open the stores in Karnataka and Kerala next year, he said. TVS plans
to use students passing out of its training academy in Madurai to work in the speciality stores. The
company will provide a 90-day programme to students on all aspects of speciality services, he
said.

Honda plans bike strategy in rural drive

September was a memorable month for Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India with sales touching
an all-time high of 4.38 lakh units, 33 per cent up from last year. In the process, the company’s
sales in the first half of this fiscal totalled 2.2 million units, making it the second largest player
after former ally, Hero MotoCorp. On the face of it, HMSI has reason to celebrate, especially with
its scooter sales now averaging nearly 2.4 lakh units each month. Motorcycles account for 1.8
lakh units (exports take up the balance 18,000 units) but there is still a lot of ground to cover before
it catches up with Hero’s numbers. “Scooters are doing better for sure but bikes are the bigger
market and we need to do something different like providing additional technology across each
segment,” says Keita Muramatsu, President and CEO. The idea is to do something unique which
reflects the Honda DNA, he adds.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in

9
 IssueNo.
Issue No.: 23
: 23
SSIM
SSIM Business
BusinessNews
NewsLetter
Letter

The Dream Series was intended to meet market needs in the mass commuter segment where Hero
literally rules the roost. Not everyone within industry circles is convinced, however, that the Yuga
and Neo have made a substantial impact with some insisting that they are pretty much like Hero’s
range. According to them, the Shine and Unicorn are doing a lot better especially from the
viewpoint of reflecting Brand Honda. Opinions could be divided on this issue but the Japanese
automaker is keeping a careful eye on market trends and evaluating customer feedback. It is keen
to grow numbers in India which will eventually emerge its largest-selling market, ahead of
Indonesia and Vietnam, over the next two - three years. Rural markets are an important part of the
growth strategy especially for bikes where a beginning has already been made with the CD 110
Dream at a competitive price tag of Rs. 41,000. This brand was, till recently, part of Hero’s entry
level series which has since been rechristened HF. HMSI will be hoping that the CD brand recall
draws customers to its retail outlets. Read more…

Abbott to launch nutritional products in Indian flavours

Abbott Healthcare Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of healthcare major Abbott Labs, will be soon launching
its flagship nutritional supplements in Indian flavours such as mix of kesar (saffron) and badam
(almond). The company, which inaugurated its first greenfield manufacturing plant for nutrition
in India at Jhagadia in Gujarat’s Bharuch district on Thursday, is working on developing new
Indianised flavours for its nutrition products like PediaSure for toddlers, Similac for infants,
Ensure for adults, Mama’s Best for pregnant women and lactating mothers and Glucerna for
diabetics.
Research is on to find out different flavours for the Indian consumers at the company’s Bangalore-
based laboratory. Currently, these products are available in vanilla and chocolate flavours.
Abbott will now be manufacturing its flagship nutritional products at the Gujarat plant, which has
a capacity of 40 million pounds per annum. “Most of our products have been made to the taste of
Europeans. So, we plan to introduce these products in Indian flavours with focus on local markets,”
said John Landgraf, executive vice-president, global nutrition, Abbott.
“We have already launched PediaSure in ‘kesar badam’ flavour, which is available in the market.
Work is on in our lab in Bangalore on developing new flavours. However, it will take some time,”
he added. Read more…

Lenovo will be India's 3rd largest smartphone player by year end

Chinese electronics giant Lenovo said it is all set to become India's third largest smartphone
company with the completion of $2.91 billion acquisition of US-based handset maker Motorola
later this year.The company is already the number one player in the PC market in India.

In the Indian smartphone market, Lenovo lags behind Motorola, which is the fourth largest player.
"We will become the third largest smartphone seller in India after the Motorola operations get
integrated with us by the year-end," Lenovo India Managing Director Amar Babu said.
The company also plans to enhance its position in the tablet market in India.
Lenovo today launched its new range of 'Yoga' tablets in India, priced between Rs 20,990 to Rs
47,990. The range - comprising of four devices - will go on sale from tomorrow exclusively on
eCommerce site, Flipkart. The range, comprising three Android and one Windows-powered units,
includes features like full HD, HiFi audio from companies such as Dolby and Wolfson, 8MP rear

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in

10
 IssueNo.
Issue No.: 23
: 23
SSIM
SSIM Business
BusinessNews
NewsLetter
Letter

and 1.6MP HD front camera. These units are powered by Intel's Atom chips. The Yoga range,
popular for its Stand, Hold and Tilt modes, will now include a 'Hang' option to allow better usage
of the device. "The Yoga range has become a franchise of its own. It accounts for a good percentage
of our tablet sales," he said. Read more…

CavinKare enters retail business; eyes Rs 100 crore biz

FMCG major CavinKare is expecting around Rs 100 crore from the retail segment, which it entered
today. The ChrysCapital-backed company is looking at setting up around 100 retail outlets known
as Cavin’s Parlour. CK Ranganathan, chairman and managing director, CavinKare Pvt Ltd, said
these would be outlets plus distribution centres from where the stock could be accessed by another
100 small retail outlets in the area. The outlets will be set up and run by distribution partners. Each
outlet would require an investment of around Rs 7 lakh and the break-even period would be a
month only if the margins were decent, according to him. The company would set up 50 Cavin’s
Parlours in the next three months and by March 2015, these would be 100. “By next year, we will
have a significant presence in the south, and in the following year we will go pan-India,” he added.
It is betting big on dairy products and pickles. “The focus will be market places, where people
come for shopping,” said Ranganathan.

Markets
Iron ore output climbs 10%

The domestic production of iron ore has shown a positive trend during the first
half of the current financial year, despite many mines being shut in Goa,
Karnataka, Odisha and Jharkhand. The production touched 77 million tonnes
between April and September, a growth of 10 per cent compared to 70 million
tonnes a year ago, according to data compiled by OreTeam Research, a Delhi-
based firm. For the year ended March, the production touched 152 million tonnes.
The mines ministry is yet to confirm the numbers. “We do not have official data
on the production for the first six months. It is possible the production has gone
up this year mainly in Odisha and in Karnataka to an extent," said Basant Poddar,
senior vice-president, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries.

According to miners and analysts, the production has come largely from Odisha,
Chhattisgarh and Karnataka during the first six months. “Odisha had done a considerable amount
of production before the mines were closed after the Supreme Court order. State-owned NMDC has
geared up for increasing its production both in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka," said Prakash Duvvuri,
head of research at OreTeam.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 11

 IssueNo.
Issue No.: 23
: 23
SSIM
SSIM Business
BusinessNews
NewsLetter
Letter

Diamond import for local sales trebles in August

Imports of cut and polished diamonds trebled in August

on concerns on export markets. Traders are importing
more for local sales if export demand doesn't match up.
Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC)
data showed imports in the domestic tariff area, or DTA
(where normal duties prevail as against Special Economic
Zones, or SEZs), of Mumbai had jumped to Rs 2,326 crore
($382 million) in August compared with Rs 885 crore
($140 million) a year ago.Imports into DTA shot up four-fold to Rs 12,072 crore ($2,010 million)
during April-August against Rs 3,244 crore ($555 million) a year ago. The imports into DTA has
posed a threat to thousands of cutting and polishing units in SEZs. Since these are primarily meant
to process imported goods, rising import into DTA indicates jewellers' growing optimism on the
domestic market. Read more…

Global food prices slide for 6th month to 4-year low as dairy, sugar fall

In September, global food prices fell to a 50-month low, the sixth consecutive monthly decline,
owing to oversupply resulting from bumper agricultural output in major producing countries,
including India. A steep fall in dairy and sugar prices aided the fall. In a report released on
Thursday, the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said, "The FAO Food
Price Index averaged 191.5 points in September, down 5.2 points (2.6 per cent) from August and
12.2 points (six per cent) from the corresponding month a year ago. The September slide, the sixth
consecutive monthly drop, brought the value of the index to its lowest since August 2010."\
Among the sub-indices, those for sugar and dairy prices weakened the most, followed by cereals
and oils; the index for meat remained firm. Among the underlying factors, the dollar's broad
appreciation continued to weigh on all international commodity prices.
For September, the FAO Cereal Price Index averaged
177.9 points, down 4.6 points (2.5 per cent) from
August and 17.1 points (8.8 per cent) from September
2013; this was the fifth consecutive monthly fall in
the index. Good production and large export
availabilities were the primary factors behind falling
wheat and maize prices. Rice prices, which had risen
steadily in recent months, registered a decline in
September, reflecting accrued competition among
exporting countries, ahead of the coming harvests.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 12

 SSIM
Business News Letter
IssueNo.
Issue No.: 23
: 23
SSIM Business News Letter

This year, global cereal production is estimated at 2,523 million tones (mt), 65 mt higher than
FAO's forecast in May. The revision in estimate was primarily due to continued upgrades of this
year's coarse grain harvests, especially that of maize. It is expected global cereal production will
fractionally decline from the 2013 peak, with wheat production standing at a record 718.5 mt, and
production of coarse grains virtually on a par with last year's high of 1,308 mt. Read more…

BSE may launch climate change ETF soon

BSE is in talks with asset managers to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF), based on its climate
change index in the next couple of years, chief executive Ashishkumar Chauhan said on Monday.
BSE launched the S&P Carbonex index in 2012, centred on its popular BSE 100 index, giving
increased weighting to companies depending on carbon footprint scores.
"We continue to prod investors and people who specialise in those kind of investments about
tracking this index and having an ETF," Chauhan said at the Reuters Global Climate Change
Summit. "The investors who look to invest with a longer-term horizon tend to be a little more into
nudging the companies into sustainable activities," Chauhan said. "This is not only a do-good kind
of activity, but also a commercially prudent framework for investors to look at." Globally, asset
managers had put $13.6 trillion into environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing
strategies as at the end of last year, according to green investment tracker Global Sustainable
Investment Alliance. Only a fraction of that amount, however, found its way into India, Asia's
third-largest economy, and other emerging markets which are widely seen as less stringent on
environment protection requirements. That is expected to change with global investors focusing
more closely on companies' environmental track-records and preparedness for climate change to
mitigate risk events. BSE is looking to tap into that demand by also offering derivative products
based on its Carbonex index in the next few years, Chauhan said at the summit.

Sharp rise in gold, silver imports

Gold and silver imports have seen a sharp rise in September, showing a fivefold increase in the
import bill of precious metals.While gold imports have increased 450 per cent to $3.75 billion,
silver import bill was up 225 per cent to $477 million. The total import bill reached $4.2 billion -
up from $830 million in the same month last year. Even import of raw gold has gone up this year.
In September last year, gold imports had fallen significantly low, after the Reserve Bank of India
imposed restrictions, fixing an import cap for the yellow metal at 12 tonnes. However, the imports
have gone up to 90 tonnes in the last month.Market insiders say increase in imports by star and
premier trading houses was the main reason for the very high
import bill. Silver imports have also increased, from 218
tonnes to 690 tonnes. Several trading houses have increased
gold imports, as they could easily export 20 per cent of the
imported quantity after value addition, while the rest will be
consumed by the domestic market, thanks to the festive
demand. Besides, some banks, which were not so active in the
previous months, have also imported gold.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 13

 : 23
Issue No.No. : 23
Issue SSIM
SSIM Business
Business News Letter
News Letter

Although banks, unlike star trading houses, don't export gold by themselves, the rule says banks,
too, have to show that 20 per cent of the imported quantity is exported.

Fund house assets dip 5% to Rs. 9.59 lakh cr in Sept

The assets under management of the mutual fund industry slipped by Rs. 53,409 crore last month
to Rs. 9.59 lakh crore, as against Rs. 10.12 lakh crore logged in August. The industry witnessed a
net outflow of Rs. 69,664 crore last month as against Rs. 13,035 crore in August, according to the
Association of Mutual Funds in India data. Redemption from liquid funds, which are short-term
in nature, increased substantially to Rs. 67,318 crore as against Rs. 5,864 crore, while outflow
from income funds moderated slightly to Rs. 10,567 crore ( Rs. 12,696 crore). Fund flows into
equity schemes increased to Rs. 7,789 crore ( Rs. 5,217 crore), even as the Sensex lost 238 points
or 1 per cent last month. Balanced funds attracted investment of Rs. 732 crore ( Rs. 448 crore) in
September. Gold ETFs registered a net outflow of Rs. 47 crore to Rs. 7,277 crore. Income funds
with assets under management of Rs. 4.61 lakh crore accounted for 45 per cent of the mutual fund
industry, while liquid and equity funds followed with assets of Rs. 2.45 lakh crore and Rs. 2.34
lakh crore, respectively. Nilesh Sathe, Director and Chief executive Officer, LIC Nomura Mutual
Fund, said AUM of the MF industry may shrink in the coming months, due to the change in tax
treatment of fixed maturity plans, which account for about 17 per cent of the total AUM. However,
he added, fund flows into equity schemes would continue with the positive vibes in the market
attracting more retail investors.

DCB Bank raises Rs. 250 cr via qualified placement

DCB Bank (formerly Development Credit Bank) raised about Rs. 250 crore of Tier I capital
through a recently concluded qualified institutions placement (QIP). The board of directors of
DCB Bank had approved the issue and allotment of 3.04 crore equity shares of face value Rs. 10
each to eligible qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) at the issue price of Rs. 82.15 an equity share,
aggregating to approximately Rs. 250 crore. In a notice to BSE and NSE, the DCB Bank said
consequent to the issue and allotment of the equity shares through the QIBs, its paid-up equity
share capital stands increased to Rs. 281.20 crore divided into 28.12 crore equity shares of face
value Rs. 10 each, up from the pre-QIP paid-up equity share capital base of Rs. 250.77 crore
divided into 25.07 crore equity shares of face value Rs. 10 each.

As of June 30, 2014, DCB Bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) was 13.63 per cent (of which
Tier I capital was 12.77 per cent and Tier II at 0.86 per cent according to Basel III norms). This
does not consider the impact of the QIP. As a result of the QIP, the shareholding of DCB Bank’s
promoter will be reduced to approximately 16.43 per cent from 18.45 per cent as of June 30, 2014.
Murali Natrajan, Managing Director & CEO of DCB Bank, said, “The capital raised will certainly
help DCB Bank execute plans for growth in the near future. We are mindful of the responsibility
to ensure secure and stable growth of the bank.”

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 14

 SSIM
News Letter
Issue
Issue No.
No. : 23
: 23
SSIM Business News Letter
Business

Mergers and Acquisitions

Nihilent acquires US based BI firm GNet Group

Pune-based solution integrations company Nihilent Technologies has acquired US-based business
intelligence (BI) and SharePoint solutions provider GNet Group, for an undisclosed amount. GNet
has deep expertise in business intelligence services, SharePoint and application development.
Nihilent said it will now be able to enhance its expertise in business intelligence and software
application development, especially in the American region. “This acquisition is a result of GNet
Group’s profitability and growth, and its extensive expertise in the business intelligence and
analytics space,” said L C Singh, vice-chairman and CEO of Nihilent. “This acquisition is
important and essential to Nihilent and we have already begun integration operations. This is a
great opportunity for Nihilent to expand into America. Also, our relationship with Microsoft,
through expertise in deploying their CRM and AX solutions will position us to hit the ground
running,” said Minoo Dastur, president and COO, Nihilent Technologies.

VC funding in solar crosses $1 billion

India’s solar industry remains a favourite investment destination for venture capitalists and private
equity (PE) funds even as the sector sees a number of merger and acquisitions. Hyderabad-based
renewable energy company Fourth Partner Energy, which provides solar products and turnkey
services for off-grid solar power installations, raised Rs. 3 crore from venture capital firm, The
Chennai Angels. Boond Engineering and Development, a provider of clean energy products and
services, recently closed an equity investment round led by Opes Impact Fund. These are part of a
number of fundraising deals solar companies clinched in the September quarter. According to
Mercom Capital Group, a research firm, venture capitalist funding in solar has crossed $1 billion
in the first three quarters this year. Globally, total corporate funding in the solar sector, including
venture capital, PE, debt financing, and public market financing, soared to $9.8 billion by the end
of the September quarter, from $6.3 billion in the previous quarter, the report noted. Read more…

Money and Banking

Extend restructuring leeway till April 2016: Banks to RBI

Bankers have urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to continue

regulatory forbearance on loan restructuring for another year. As of
now, the forbearance is scheduled to end on April 1, 2015. In case
RBI sticks to this deadline, the banking system's gross non-
performing assets (NPAs) will rise to 10 per cent from four per cent
in March this year. Public sector banks account for the majority of
stressed assets in the banking system.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 15

 Issue No.
Issue : 23
No. : 23 SSIM
SSIM Business
BusinessNews
NewsLetter
Letter

Currently, banks have to make lower provisioning for standard restructured advances - five per
cent, compared with 15 per cent for sub-standard assets (the first level of NPAs - when interest or
principal is due for more than 90 days). RBI had mandated after April 2015, banks had to treat all
restructured standard advances as NPAs and make provisions accordingly. At an interaction with
the RBI governor and deputy governors after the recent monetary policy review, bankers had said
a rise in NPAs had already put pressure on their profitability. They added if the new norms kicked
in from April 2015, it would add pressure on them at a time when lenders, especially public sector
ones, would need a huge amount of capital to comply with Basel-III norms.

"We have requested the same level of provisioning for standard restructured advances be continued
for at least a year. If the higher provisioning norms start from April 2015, it will put further pressure
on profitability," said the chairman and managing director of a public sector bank who attended
the post-policy interaction. Following a 2012 report by RBI Executive Director B Mahapatra on
restructuring of advances, the central bank decided banks wouldn't be given regulatory leeway for
restructuring debt and all such recast would be treated as NPAs from April 1 2015.
As of March this year, stressed assets - NPAs and restructured advances - as proportion of gross
advances, stood at 9.8 per cent, against 10.2 per cent in September last year. At 11.7 per cent of
overall advances, public sector banks recorded the highest stressed advances, followed by old
private banks (5.9 per cent).

Bank credit grew 11% in past year

Credit in the banking system has received a festive boost and surged by 11 per cent in the past one
year. Prior to this, bank credit this year since March had been showing a downward trend and
slipped to single digits in September 2014. Now, once again credit growth has inched up to double
digits from 9.72 per cent recorded at the end of September 19.In the period ended October 3, bank
credit was at Rs 62,69,007 crore from Rs 56,50,107 crore a year ago, up by 11 per cent, suggests
Reserve Bank of India data. On a year-on-year basis, the rate of growth in bank credit in September
has been the slowest since June 2011 because of the economic slowdown. In the past fortnight,
credit growth in the banking system has been two per cent. According to RBI data, over the
fortnight ended October 3, bank credit in the system increased to Rs 62,69,007 crore from Rs
61,46,526 crore in the fortnight ended September 19. Banks had been betting on the festive season
for credit growth to pick up. In order to boost growth, lenders have announced various schemes in
the festive season to woo customers. These schemes are for retail loans and include discounts on
interest rates and processing fees in the auto and home loan space. Read more…

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 16

 Issue No.
Issue : 23
No. : 23 SSIM
SSIM BusinessNews
Business NewsLetter
Letter

IndusInd Bank to foray into asset reconstruction business

Private lender IndusInd Bank will foray into the asset reconstruction business by funding
acquisition of bad assets by asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) and also participate in the
reconstruction of these assets. “We are testing waters in the asset reconstruction business by
working with an ARC…So, we will provide the funding and participate in reconstruction of the
asset,” its Managing Director and CEO Romesh Sobti told a Newspaper. The Hinduja Group-
promoted mid-sized bank has already hired people required to drive the business. “We should
begin our first (bad loans) acquisition in a couple of months,” Sobti said. According to him,
because of the availability of well secured assets and ARCs have less capital a bank can enter this
space. In August, in an attempt to strengthen the asset recovery process, the Reserve Bank of India
asked ARCs to pay upfront a minimum of 15 per cent of security receipts (issued against the
underlying bad loan) as against the earlier 5 per cent. This will require ARCs to invest more money
upfront and make the price of the asset more competitive. “We have chosen the deal-by-deal
structure. So, we will collaborate by providing funding to the ARC to acquire (the bad loan) and
then can work on the reconstruction of the asset,” he added.

“I get the security receipts and the income that will accrue from the sale of the asset is the IRR
(internal rate of return) and the market has seen earning an IRR of about 25-30 per cent. So, let us
see,” Sobti said optimistically. In 2008, peer lender Kotak Mahindra Bank group had floated its
ARC unit, Phoenix ARC, in collaboration with a few investors. Ramnath Pradeep, former CMD
of Corporation Bank, in an article in BusinessLine, said, “Banks are better equipped in terms of
manpower, knowledge of the borrower and knowledge of the security (assets). On the other hand,
ARCs deal with the borrowers for the first time.” He added that restructuring of loans, on condition
that the promoters infuse some capital, can be done without banks incurring much loss. Banks can
recover the losses later once the company turns around and/or the economic conditions improve.
That has been the time-tested practice in the country. But none of the public sector lenders are seen
doing this nowadays. In the second quarter of FY15, IndusInd Bank restructured about five bad
loan accounts and sold around Rs. 16 crore of assets to ARCs. According to Sobti, the first quarter
saw more sale to ARCs. However, with a drop in referrals to ARCs in Q2, the industry may see a
drop in NPAs.

Start-Ups
The duo who reshaped the idli, literally
For a large part of his professional life, he was working for overseas clients. But when RU Srinivas
decided to turn an entrepreneur, he wanted to do something for the domestic
market. His argument: not too many people were taking the domestic
consumers seriously enough. And, being a self-confessed foodie, what better
than get into the food business, catering to consumers at home. The dish that
he decided to serve them: the ageless and timeless idli, re-shaped, packaged
and served to eat on the go.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 17

 Issue
Issue No.No.
: 23: 23
SSIM
SSIM Business
BusinessNews
NewsLetter
Letter

As to why the focus on the domestic market, a peek into Srinivas’ career provides the insight. He
studied for CA during the day and attended evening college for a B.Com degree, then studied
M.Com by correspondence, went to the US for an MBA and worked in a bank in Boston for three
years as a loan analyst. He returned to India in 1993 and worked for companies that would allow
him to, as he says, “have one foot in India and one foot in the US.” He was largely in the IT/BPO
space with his last job being CEO of Caliber Point, the BPO arm of IT company Hexaware. His
job meant that he had to travel a lot and found that being a vegetarian, food was a major limitation.
“It was beginning to get a little tiresome and I wasn’t enjoying myself as well. I decided to quit
and do something else,” says Srinivas, in his first-floor office in the same house he grew up in, in
what was once a quiet residential part of Chennai. The ground floor serves as his “factory”. But
the trigger, he says, for getting into the food business and deciding to make idlis was a trip to a
restaurant in Chennai, when he had to fork out ₹77 for a plate of idli. He thought that was exorbitant
and without any reason. He realised that a large part of the cost was the real estate and salaries for
the numerous waiters hanging around, all of which were getting billed into his idli. Read more…

Tech marketing is the key for start-ups

The genesis of a start-up is when an entrepreneur sees an opportunity to build and deliver value to
an audience. Tech start-ups owe their existence to the fact that technology today influences all
aspects of lives of people and businesses in fundamental ways. What many entrepreneurs (and
technology visionaries) ignore is that for most people, the specifics of hardware, software and
myriad mechanisms of how they come together are irrelevant (of course, to a degree that varies
enormously). The primary concern is how to avail of technology to solve particular problems in
the context of our everyday lives. This is where technology marketing is the key in ensuring
smooth adoption/use and communicating value. Start-ups do recognise the importance of
marketing.

Many invest in digital and traditional advertising, for example. In most cases, however, marketing
is thought to be a support function, sales enablement is near absent and communication is an
afterthought. Thus many start-ups make a costly mistake of creating products and businesses which
are disconnected to the audience, or at-least are not dynamically harmonized to the realities of the
market. Marketing is central to the business of a start-up. He or she has to get involved and
influence the entire gamut consisting of complexities and dynamics of the tech business today.

Perhaps, the entrepreneur has to be primarily a technology marketer. Start-ups, today, belong to
the world characterised by the convergence of B to B and B to C, daily changes in decision making,
and products and services on a sometimes daily release cycle. The key skills thus are, how to
manage the chaos by using some basic frameworks to get to market quickly and effectively, and
quickly generate audience and decision making profiles to enable technology sales. In addition, it
is becoming critical to optimally leverage the power of the “constant launch” mentality to rise
above the noise. Another interesting aspect is the convergence of B to B and B to C. Technology
decisions that businesses make are increasingly driven by how individuals/end-users use
technology. More and more consumer technology is entering the business environment and the
adoption and value realisation of any technology is dependent on how these individuals experience
technology.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 18

 Issue
IssueNo.
No.: :23
23 SSIM
SSIM Business
Business News
News Letter
Letter

Many a tech start-ups have been founded on this very premise. Therefore tech marketing cannot
focus merely at the point where technology is bought or sold. For technology to be of real use
beyond the “bling effect”, its true value has to be communicated simply, effectively, and with clear
regard to how individuals make decisions, whether for their personal lives or their business lives.
As business grows, it is not unusual to see chaos creeping in and incoherence setting in. Tech
marketing, with all its good intent, can end up alienating the customer with multiple messages,
dated product information, and irrelevant content. Read more…

Person-in-News
Nissan appoints Arun Malhotra as MD
Nissan today announced the appointment of Arun Malhotra as
the new Managing Director for Nissan Motor India, the 100%
subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co, Japan. Malhotra will report to
Guillaume Sicard, President - Nissan India Operations. He will
be based in Nissan's Sales & Marketing headquarters in Mumbai.
In this role, Malhotra will be responsible for developing business
strategies to maximize Nissan's overall performance, managing
product introduction and significantly increasing the presence
and accessibility of the Nissan and Datsun brands through
continuing network expansion. Prior to joining Nissan, Malhotra was the chief of International
Sales and Marketing for the automotive and farm sector of Mahindra & Mahindra. With over 30
years of experience Malhotra has worked with Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki. He has a BE in
Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.

Gautam Roy appointed as CPCL MD

The Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) has said that Gautam
Roy, executive director, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) has been
appointed as managing director of CPCL. The company has received a
letter in terms of this from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas,
Government of India. He has assumed the charge as Managing Director
of CPCL from October 14, 2014, it said. The 56-year old official is a
Chemical Engineer from Jadavpur University, Kolkotta, and has over
three decades of professional experience in Refinery Operations & Management in IOCL. He has
served in diverse capacities in IndianOil's various refineries- Gujarat, Barauni, Mathura and also
at Refineries Headquarters, New Delhi. Prior to this appointment he was executive director (in
charge), Gujarat Refinery.

FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS: saibaba@ssim.ac.in 19