India second last on AT Kearney globalisation index
New Delhi: India, along with other BRIC nations, Russia, China and Brazil, has figured at the bottom of the heap in the annual ranking of the world's most globalised nations carried out in the latest 2005 AT Kearney/Foreign Policy Globalisation Index.

India retained its second last position of 2004 in the latest ranking, staying just above Iran, according to the data released here on Thursday.

While the study maintains that while China and India are seen as the economic engines of the world, it said that their standing in the globalisation index indicated that there was a long way to go.

China figured at the position 54 in the 62-country index. According to the study, the massive population of both India and China posed a challenge for the generated wealth to spill over to the broader population of the countries, resulting in lower rankings.

Singapore took the top spot, edging out three-time winner Ireland. The United States broke into the top five for the first time in the annual ranking, rising to the fourth place.
Back to News Review index page  

NCAER projects GDP growth at 7.2 per cent
New Delhi: The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has projected the real gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal to grow by 7.2 per cent, against 6.9 per cent during 2004-05 estimated by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

In its quarterly review, released here, the independent think tank of policy research states that this is the first forecast of the Council for 2005-06 and takes into consideration the 2005-06 Budget.

The industry is expected to maintain its momentum, growing at an average of 7.6 per cent, while the performance of the external sector would help in achieving the healthy growth scenario. Higher world prices this year compared to last year would help exports grow even with slower growth in world GDP.

The higher growth in GDP, coupled with better customs collections as the volume of trade rises, suggests that the Government would meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.3 per cent for the current fiscal as set out in the Budget.

The Council contends that higher imports would lead to a higher trade deficit and a higher current account deficit as well and warns that there are downside risks originating particularly from high and uncertain oil prices. Even as inflation is down, it is not out "in view of highly volatile oil prices in the international market", the Council said. An upward revision of petro-prices, which is due, now, might again push the prices of fuel/power upwards.

According to the review, industrial investment intentions are running high and are at nearly double since 1991. Investment demand and capacity expansion seem to be picking up after a lull of nearly nine years. The continued high growth of the capital goods sector and the concomitant surge in imports of capital goods with the machinery and equipment components growing fast, clearly signify the quickening of investment activity.

Stating that corporate balance sheets are now markedly stronger than in the 1990s, the Council said the amount of debt used by a company is down to 1.5 in 2004 from 1.9 in 1995 for the top 200 companies. The fall in interest rates during the last seven to eight years has made this possible. Drawing attention to the state of government finances, it said a great deal hinges on the Central Government's performance in revenue mobilisation. On the face of it, the targeted revenue growth in 2005-06 looks plausible because of continued buoyancy of the industrial sector in general and manufacturing in particular.
Back to News Review index page  

AF Ferguson strategy paper on export of engineering goods
Hyderabad: AF Ferguson, a consulting company, has prepared a draft strategy paper for the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) on promoting exports and exploring new markets.

According to EEPC, the consulting company has predicted a great future for the export of engineering items from India. AF Ferguson was asked to identify the "trust market for Indian engineering products and select a thrust product for each trust market."

This would help the country explore new markets and double exports in the area. EEPC is studying the report and "it is on the verge of finalisation," EEPC officials said.

According to EEPC officials, the council would surpass the target of $12.75 billion set for 2004-05. "We will be well above $13 billion."
Back to News Review index page  

Karnataka software exports up 52 per cent
Bangalore: Karnataka has reported a 52 per cent jump in its total software exports at Rs27,600 crore during 2004-05, exceeding its own projections.

The State has set a software export target of Rs35,000 crore for the current fiscal, a growth of 26 per cent over last year, and expects to create an additional 50,000 jobs, Karnataka's Principal Secretary for IT, Shankarlinge Gowda said.

Gowda said the State continued to be the preferred destination for IT investments in the country. "About 129 foreign equity companies were approved, one in every two working days, with a total projected IT investment of Rs2,783 crore," he said. A total of 206 IT companies were given approvals during the year to invest in the State. About 198 new companies were registered during 2004-2005, the highest number in a year in the last five years.

Major IT firms which started operations in the State in fiscal 2005 include Google Online, Unisys Global Services, Textron, AMD India, Amazon Software Development, Elcoteq among others.

Sixty three per cent of software exports were to the US and 23 per cent to Europe. The top 10 companies accounted for 50 per cent of total exports and small and medium enterprises for the rest.
Hardware exports grew by four per cent to Rs1,768 crore during 2004-05.
Back to News Review index page