Global Innovation: Trends in Offshore R&D

Databases of Indian Automobile and Auto-Component Manufacturers (Free Download)

noreply@blogger.com (Mahipat Ranawat) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Under the aegis of the project-work "Influence of government policies on industry development: The case of India’s automotive industry", a short study was made on the location of manufacturing plants of major automobile and auto-component manufacturers in India. The objective was to understand the distribution of automotive manufacturing plants across different states and union territories of India and also across different districts within a particular state.

Since a collective and comprehensive source of data on automotive plant locations in India was non-existent (especially for auto-component producers), an opportunity was identified to make an academic contribution by generating such a source. Hence, data was manually collected for 39 OEMs and 425 auto-component suppliers. In addition to the data of plant locations, data pertaining to general company information and financial information (year 2007) was also collected. The sources employed for the same were company websites and annual reports of the manufacturers as well as the websites of ACMA, SIAM, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Dun & Bradstreet (India), Bombay Stock Exchange and Department of Science & Technology.

The collected data was organised into two separate Microsoft Access databases – one for automobile companies and the other for auto-component suppliers. The databases proved to be useful for certain parts of the project, and it is believed that they will be of interest to others on the internet as well. Some of the probable uses of these databases are:

Getting information on contact details, website address, products, quality certification, plant locations, financial & sales, etc. of major automobile and auto-component manufacturers in India
Obtaining an understanding of the Indian automotive industry by querying the data stored in Microsoft Access Database (.mdb) format
Sending automated mailings or questionnaires to the automotive companies based on the e-mail addresses provided
Emulating the database design for creating a variant or online version of the same

Screenshots of the databases are provided below.

Indian Automobile Manufacturers Database

Indian Auto-component Manufacturers Database

The databases can be downloaded here:
Indian Automobile Manufacturers Database OEMs.mdb
Indian Auto-component Manufacturers Database SUPPLIERS.mdb

The databases have been made available to the Internet Community for educational purposes. The intention has been to facilitate understanding of the Indian Automotive Industry.

Please feel free to leave your feedback on the blog or direct the same to mahipat.ranawat@tuhh.de.

Disclaimer: The databases are provided "as is" and the author makes no representations or warranties, express or implied. By way of example, but not limitation, the author makes no representations or warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose or that the use of the databases will not infringe any third party copyrights, trademarks or other rights.

India as an Emerging Auto-Hub: Key Results of a TUHH Study

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:09:00 +0000

India’s Long March to a Global Auto Major:
A Study of Government Influence on Industry Development in the Post-Independence Era

Authors: Rajnish Tiwari, Mahipat Ranawat, and Andreas Lange

Institute of Technology and Innovation Management
Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany

Source: http://www.global-innovation.net

Download PDF file, 730 KB

Indian Multinationals Buoyant on Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:47:00 +0000

Market Size and Technological Prowess Boost Germany’s Attractiveness for Foreign Direct Investments from India

Hamburg, Germany (28.01.2009)

Germany has become a major focal point for Indian multinational enterprises (MNEs) in their spirited pursuit of growth opportunities overseas. In 2008, Indian firms invested an estimated amount of $ 2 billion in Germany, up from $ 825 million in 2007 and $ 850 million in 2006. Sixteen (16) mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals involving Indian firms in Germany were monitored in 2008, up from 7 in 2007 and 11 in 2006. The deals also involved a substantial increase in the average deal value over past few years. A study conducted by the Institute of Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) at Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) in Germany has now identified “proximity to customers” and “access to technology” as major drivers for this trend.

Of late, Indian firms have been venturing abroad in a big way. According to official statistics, India’s overseas FDI stock nearly quintupled from $ 10 billion in March 2005 to $ 46 billion in March 2008. In contrast, just a decade back in March 1997 India’s overseas FDI stock stood at a meager $ 617 million. Rajnish Tiwari, who led the study at TIM/TUHH, estimates the stock of Indian FDI in Germany at over $ 4 billion. With spectacular deals like that of Suzlon/REpower, Indian FDI has surpassed Germany’s FDI stock in India officially reported at $ 2.3 billion. In fact, Indian MNEs – between May 2004 and June 2007 – were the largest single investor group in Germany from emerging countries, as a Deloitte study (2007) suggested. Between 2001 and 2006 Indian MNEs were involved in 32 M&A deals in Germany. In contrast only 21 M&A deals in this period in Germany involved Chinese MNEs.

“Germany has become a key destination for Indian investments”, emphasizes Prof. Cornelius Herstatt, Director of TIM/TUHH, who has been closely monitoring recent Indo-German business developments. “So far there had not been any serious academic research on Indian investments in Germany, especially on its motives, experiences, and employment effects on the local economy”, says Prof. Herstatt, whose institute has launched a research project called “Global Innovation” with a strong focus on India. TIM/TUHH is one of the only few academic institutions in Germany that engage in academic research on business and economic issues related to India. “German academic research has traditionally focused on issues related to language, culture and socio-political themes, as far as India is concerned”, says Prof. Herstatt stressing the need for a new focus on Indo-German business context.

The study “The Emergence of Indian Multinationals: An Empirical Study of Motives, Status-quo and Trends of Indian Investments in Germany” was conducted by an extensive data research and an empirical survey of Indian subsidiaries in Germany. The study, presumably the only empirical study of Indian firms overseas so far, provides unique insights into the motives, operations, experiences, and future plans of Indian firms. The research, carried out by Rajnish Tiwari and Jayachandran K. Mani, was focused on corporate investments from firms headquartered in India. The study has identified 123 Indian MNEs and their 167 subsidiaries in Germany, excluding minority stakes and holding companies. The “Indian” firms employ approx. 20 000 full-time employees in Germany on an annual average. Additionally, they provide vocational training to about 1000 apprentices.

All known Indian firms in Germany were invited to participate in the survey. Twenty one (21) firms (17% of the total population) participated in the empirical survey. The respondents belonged to top management. “Proximity to customers” and “access to technology” were most-often cited reasons for investments in Germany. Selection of investment locations was in many instances “accidental” as firms decided to play it safe and preferred brownfield investment (acquisitions) as their mode of entry. The firms quite often also faced significant challenges in their day-to-day operations. “Differences in work culture”, “language problems” and “high operational costs” posed major challenges. Especially IT sector firms – with a larger number of expatriates – also complained about cumbersome visa and work-permit procedures.

The survey however also revealed that most Indian firms were doing well in Germany and had been able to grow both in terms of turn-over and headcount in recent years. “Most Indian firms in Germany are quite satisfied with the overall progress”, confirms Rajnish Tiwari citing it as a reason for the flurry of Indian investments in Germany. “India has become a key source of ‘Emerging Market’ FDI in Germany without being reflected in the official statistics”, says Tiwari. The discrepancy in the monitored actual investments and the official data is explained by the study authors Tiwari and Mani as resulting from the practice of Indian MNEs using their already established European or other foreign-based subsidiaries for expansion deals in Germany.

The study is optimistic on the outlook of Indian investments in Germany in 2009. “The present financial crisis is not going to subdue Indian FDI in Germany”, asserts Tiwari and cites the recent Visiocorp deal to make his point. On 2nd January 2009 Indian auto component maker, Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd, announced the buy out of Visiocorp (annual turn-over € 700 million) with four subsidiaries in Germany, including: Visiocorp Automotive GmbH (Wolfsburg/Hattorf) and Visiocorp Group Services GmbH (Stuttgart). More recently on 13th January 2009, India’s IT major Infosys, armed with $1.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents, announced that it was looking for acquisition targets in consulting and ERP space in continental Europe.

“Indian MNEs have just begun to discover Germany”, summarizes Prof. Herstatt, “there is still a huge untapped potential for mutual cooperation”.

For downloading study results visit:
http://www.global-innovation.net/projects/grd/india/outbound-fdi/index.html

Huawei lauds India R&D centre for its contribution in 2008 Beijing Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:22:00 +0000

Source: http://www.telecomtiger.com/fullstory.aspx?storyid=3417&flag=1&passfrom=topstory

Huawei, which has worked along with China Netcom and China Mobile, the two official telecom partners for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, lauded Huawei India R & D (HTIPL) Platform teams for successfully delivering Next Generation Solutions and Services during the game.

While commending HTIPL for its contribution to the Olympics, Huawei said that it has formulated several platforms and components that are incorporated by Huawei products and employed widely be global carries like- China Netcom and China Mobile.

The company’s Network Management solutions and Telecom Analysis and Report solution are two examples of its contribution in the Beijing games.

Global Innovation in India: Vodafone, Microsoft to launch SMS search service in India

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:32:00 +0000

Source: The Economic Times

Vodafone, Microsoft to launch SMS search service in India
29 Apr, 2008, 2225 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: Mobile service provider Vodafone on Tuesday said it has joined hands with Microsoft India to provide its users SMS search service at a rate of 30 paisa per query.

This SMS search service, powered by Microsoft's live search, is being developed at Microsoft India Development Center (MSIDC), a joint statement said. The search service would enable users to send their queries through SMS text message at a rate of 30 paisa per query.

"We have incorporated some unique features in SMS search service like local results based on the users city location, keeping track of users search session for 24 hours and delivering results formatted to match the users phone capabilities," Gurpreet S Pall, Director of Live Search and Emerging Markets at MSIDC said.

Global Innovation in India: Big role for IBM India Research Lab

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:15:00 +0000

News source: The Hindu (24.04.2008)

Big role for IBM India Research Lab

New Delhi (PTI): Global IT major IBM on Monday said its India Research Lab will have a major role in the research and development of its new Mobile Web Initiatives.

"The IBM India Research Lab will act as a focal point for the Mobile Web initiative, which is aimed to bring more features to mobile devices as they continue to rival the PC as the primary tool for web-based business, education, communication and entertainment," IBM Research Senior Vice President John E Kelly III said.

IRL is the youngest lab among IBM's eight global labs in six countries across the globe.

To capitalise on the burgeoning mobile market in the country, IBM has launched the Mobile Web initiative which will help add more features to mobile devices.

"The world is entering the 'Era of the Mobile Web.' In many countries, the mobile phone has become an electronic wallet, the window to the World Wide Web, an education device and more, and globally, mobile devices outnumber PCs, credit cards, and TVs," IBM IRL Director Daniel Dias said.

IBM predicts the number of mobile web users would grow by 191 per cent from 2006 to 2011 to reach one billion.

The company is also making major investments in mobile software and hardware platforms and has opened several worldwide telecom solutions labs focused on research and development, he said. However, he declined to divulge the investment figures.

---

Link to IBM's India Research Laboratory
Link to IBM's Global Innovation Outlook

There is a need for all stakeholders to come together to ensure that India continues to position itself as the knowledge capital of the world

noreply@blogger.com (Gugan Natanasabapathy) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:43:00 +0000

Written by: B Ramalinga Raju (Founder and Chairman, Satyam Computer Services)

Source: The Economic Times, 21.04.2008

Capacity building: It is an industry

The last couple of decades have seen India emerging as the knowledge capital of the world. A phenomenon that started with India providing qualified talent pool to the developed economies has now assumed titanic proportions. The world’s largest and most prominent companies are sourcing technology, process and engineering services from either their own captive services centres or from global and Indian-origin, third party vendors.

One of the key transformations that the world is witnessing today is in the breadth and depth of services that India is engaged in. As India inches towards critical mass and supply-side constraints begin to surface, it is very important to put in place appropriate measures to ensure that India’s biggest asset, its human resource base, is leveraged to serve the global market effectively. By doing so, we will establish the path towards enhancing capacity, so that the world is not ‘supply’ constrained.

Opportunity size is usually underestimated, and this is because we perceive opportunities in the areas we are currently engaged in or are familiar with. We tend to apply what may be termed as a ‘push from the past’, rather than a ‘pull from the future’ approach. There is a shift in the way value is created across the globe, and knowledge has emerged as a primary driver. The ‘pull from the future’ approach would involve starting with a zero-base approach in demand estimation, looking at the services sector holistically and determining those which are distance independent. It would also mean looking at the ‘services components’ in the manufacturing sector. For example, services such as production planning and scheduling — which are typically considered location constrained — can now be remotely delivered. Estimates put the size of global GDP at about US $47 trillion, about 60% of which is in services. Out of this, about 45% to 50% would be distance agnostic, and could be delivered from anywhere.

Comprehensive demand assessment has to be undertaken across all competencies in IT (like application development, enterprise software, etc.), and all processes in KPO/BPO (like analysis of financial statements, finance and accounting, payables, etc.), and all possible services in the manufacturing sector (like production planning, warranty management, etc). At this stage, we have to be as comprehensive as possible, and envision into the future rather than look at the past, to evaluate what all services can be delivered remotely. The skill streams and associated demands can be derived from this approach.

The current focus on education and training and enhancing the capacity in that area, is perhaps not the right or only answer to this. The Nasscom Strategic Review indicates that out of the 3.2 million graduates that India generates every year, only about 50% of the engineers and 15-20% of other graduates are readily employable.

Turnaround time in skill building can be significantly compressed using technology. Technology also enables a significant level of automation in job elements. All of this enhances efficiency and effectiveness and results in greater productivity and zero defect delivery.

It is very important to get ordinary people to do extraordinary things, as this can increase manifold the size of the talent pool. This can be done by giving the right kind of training, tools, processes and other support infrastructure. Knowledge can be demystified by asking the right questions.

‘Capacity building’ is distinct from the current models of education and training. It is focused, on-the-job training which ensures that the trainees go through ‘real world’ projects in simulated environments. The ‘capacity building’ industry will need to recreate training environments for the identified skill streams in IT & ITES. It could be done using shadow processes (Maintaining customer confidentiality and protecting intellectual properties of respective organisations is of utmost priority). The private industry should take the lead in providing the environment for this training and supporting the capacity building industry. Monetary models can be worked wherein at a fraction of the cost of hiring from competition, resources can be developed and appropriately skilled to meet the demand. And the savings in this model can be used to nurture the capacity building industry. The mature services sector can further support this industry by providing proven and qualified training resources, on a rotation basis.

The ‘capacity building’ industry can then impart skills in the appropriate areas in a focused manner with reasonable assurance of off-take. Intellect should be nurtured in a disciplined environment, focusing on commitment to learn and acquire rather than on knowledge. Knowledge is perishable, unless kept current and this will be the focus of the capacity building. ‘Capacity building’ as an industry presents significant opportunities to entrepreneurs. While the IT industry deals with market saturation in Tier I cities and diversifies to key Tier II cities, the smaller towns in India still remain largely untapped. Youth in rural India can also significantly contribute to this sector, given the right kind of training, and this presents an abundant source of latent talent. The ‘capacity building’ industry can focus on and tap this effectively, by building in programmes which focus on the demand streams, and blending these with adequate training on soft skills.

One of India’s greatest achievements has been in laying a robust telecommunications infrastructure across the country. This can be a great platform to launch ‘finishing school’ courses that can address the employability issues with a well laid out curriculum that may be customised to the needs of each industry. At the outset, the government would need to recognise the importance of focused skill building, as differentiated from education and training. The government can make crucial interventions in making this successful. It should recognise that employment generation in the services sector is significantly higher than in the manufacturing sector. Worldwide, 67% of all jobs are in the services sector. The addressable IT and ITES market for the areas currently being serviced, is estimated to grow to $1 trillion by 2020 (the size of India’s economy today), if it grows at 30% year-on-year, and it has the potential to grow at that pace, given conducive conditions.

The government should re-look at the education and training paradigm and help in conceptually evolving this industry. It needs to evolve/help in defining appropriate standards, benchmarks, and metrics which ensure consistency across institutions operating in this space. This could be in the form of monitoring content, standardising examinations, issue of certifications, etc.

Further, the government must invest in industrial training institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics in enabling them to be forerunners in building focused skills for the services sector; essentially, expanding the scope of such institutions and opening more such institutions dedicated to the services sector. It should also create a conducive environment for entrepreneurs to invest in this opportunity, by providing tax breaks, and other incentives.

While it is good to have consumer spending driving the economy, it is important to focus on all aspects driving economic growth, and significant among them is the opportunity to serve the global market for services and deriving new business opportunities from it. Besides the direct benefits, it also boosts income levels of the people employed in serving the global economy, and thereby further drives consumer spending.

There is a real threat to India’s competitive position in the global business landscape, if the right things are not done. Supply-side concerns have indeed begun to emerge. Wage inflation concerns are becoming voiced more vociferously. There is a need for all stakeholders; local, state and central governments, industry, educational institutions, faculty, students to come together on a common platform to ensure that India continues to be able to position itself as the knowledge capital of the world.

UK firm turns to India for qualified engineers

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:56:00 +0000

Press Trust of India
Friday, April 11, 2008 (London)

Source: NDTV.com

After 10 years of futile efforts to recruit qualified staff from Britain and the European Union, a British technology company has finally decided to set up a base in Bangalore.

Concurrent Technologies, based in Colchester, Essex, has been struggling to recruit staff. It is now investing 1.1 million pounds to set up a base in Bangalore, where it hopes to recruit highly skilled specialist electronic design engineers.

''This is not a case of going to India for lower cost people. The reason is to solve our recruitment problem. India produces hundreds of thousands of very high-quality engineers each year,'' Managing director of the company Glen Fawcett told the local media in Essex.

In Colchester, we have been struggling to recruit for the last ten years. We have not only been trawling the UK for qualified people, but western Europe, with very little success, he added.

The company's office in Colchester has a growing number of foreign staff. Fawcett said there was no move to close the office in Colchester and move all operations to Bangalore.

Concurrent Technologies, established 23 years ago, designs, manufactures and sells sophisticated computer equipment. It has three offices in the United States and one in Beijing.

The company describes itself as world leader in the design and development of high performance computer products based on Intel CPU technology.

''Telecommunications, military and aerospace markets are the main users of Concurrent Technologies' products. But many other market sectors like transportation and industrial systems utilise our products,'' it says.

Source: NDTV.com

India overtakes China as No.1 destination for clinical trials

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:05:00 +0000

5 Apr 2008, 0247 hrs IST,Kounteya Sinha,TNN
Source: The Times of India

NEW DELHI: India has pipped China to become Asia's most popular destination for conducting clinical trials. According to the Planning Commission, around 139 new trials were outsourced to India recently compared to 98 in China.

While the market value for clinical trials outsourced to

India

is estimated at around $300 million, having increased by 65% in 2006, it is expected to touch $1.5-2 billion by 2010.

Factors such as a diverse genetic pool, large patient pool, drug naive population, competent medical professionals, high quality hospitals where trials can be undertaken and low cost of services have stimulated the flow of clinical research to India. The cost of conducting research in India is 20%-60% lower than in developed countries. Savings come from hiring clinical researchers, nurse and IT staff at less than a third of wages in the industrialised countries.

While 20 clinical research organisations and 80 hospitals are engaged in trials, some CROs offer a menu of over 1,500 sophisticated tests under one roof.

Data furnished by the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance showed that pharma company GSK led the list with 22 trials followed by Johnson and Johnson with 22, Eli Lily and BMS (17 each), Pfizer (16), Sanofi Aventis (15), Astra Zeneac (10), Novartis (9), Merck (8) and Roche (5). According to the plan panel, two other factors have contributed to India becoming popular as a clinical research destination. First, India put in place world-class laws on intellectual property rights and second, the health ministry established a comprehensive framework of rules for conducting clinical trials.

The document released by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, however, pointed to one serious shortcoming — India is short by 30,000 to 50,000 research personnel, including trial investigators, auditors, personnel to serve on ethics committees and data safety management boards. The country's regulatory infrastructure has been found to be weak and the office of the Drugs Controller is understaffed.

Chairman of the Institute of Clinical Research S R Dugal said several factors had contributed to India's advancement in the field of clinical trials. "India has a vibrant pharmaceutical market and with patient protection in place since 2005, companies can introduce drugs in India at the same time as other countries.

In comparison to

China

India

strictly follows ethical guidelines. Also,

India

has a larger number of doctors with a far better reputation than their Chinese counterparts," he added. On shortage of trained staff to conduct trials, Dugal said: "At present, 40 institutes teach clinical trials as a subject. They produce 5,000 students annually. We, however, need 11,000 annually. By 2010,

India

will require 50,000 people specialising in clinical trials."

Source: The Times of India

Global Innovation "Developed in India": Glenmark gets $15 mln milestone fee from Forest Labs

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:50:00 +0000

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd said on Wednesday its Swiss unit received $15 million in milestone fees from U.S.-based Forest Laboratories for the Indian firm's experimental Oglemilast molecule.

The payment followed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval to start additional phase II, or mid-stage, clinical studies on the molecule for a host of lung disorders.

Source: Reuters (6 Feb. 2008)

29 of world's best 100 IT services companies are from India: Study

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:53:00 +0000

Source: The Economic Times

29 India-based IT companies among world's best 100
30 Jan, 2008, 1130 hrs IST, PTI

WASHINGTON: Twenty-nine India-based companies have been listed among the best 100 IT service providers in a new survey carried out with a view to assist business heads of major outsourcers identify reliable, innovative and tech savvy partners.

The toppers from each of the 10 categories that were identified included four companies each from India and the US and one company each from China and Mexico, said the survey by CyberMedia and Global Services Magazine.

They included India's Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, Genpact, WNS Global Services, America's EDS, Sitel, EPAM Systems and Computer Sciences Corporation, Mexico's Softtek and China's Neusoft, a release by Global Services Magazine said.

"The presence of four companies each from China and Malaysia, and three each from Russia and Brazil serves as a gentle reminder that these countries are emerging as viable outsourcing destinations," it said.

The year 2007 reported a total of 436 M&A deals in the services industry. Nearly one-third of the Global Services survey respondents said that they merged with or acquired one or more providers. Of these, 11 per cent confirmed acquisition of a consulting firm.

The Indian service providers who derive between two-third to three-fourth of their revenues from the US are back to the drawing board to consider non-US avenues. While many IT-services companies were looking towards Europe and Japan as potential markets, others have strengthened plans for servicing the maturing domestic Indian market, it said.

India has emerged as the hub for global delivery with 57 per cent of the employees engaged in delivery centers located in India, followed by 18 per cent in the US.

Novartis to ramp up India development centre

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:21:00 +0000

Source: The Hindu, Business Line

Thursday, 31 January, 2008

Hyderabad: Global pharma major Novartis will ramp up operations at its India Development Centre located here and will hire 700 over the next 18 months.

“The total headcount in Hyderabad development centre will reach 1,000 in the next 18 months (from current 300) to support the increase in operations,” Ranjit Shahani, Managing Director, Novartis India Ltd, told newspersons here on Tuesday.

(Note: For a background note on Novartis' problems with India's patent law see "India's National Innovation System: Key Elements and Corporate Perspectives", p. 33)

Talent crunch in the West: Wipro sends international graduates to India for training

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:12:00 +0000

Source: Business Standard, 30.01.2008

India not stealing jobs from West: Premji

Press Trust of India / Toronto January 30, 2008

Countering the rancour in the West against outsourcing of jobs, Azim Premji, chairman, Wipro, said talent shortage made a mockery of the claim that India was stealing jobs from the West.

"Making rhetoric of jobs getting displaced in North America or Europe is not answering the question. What is of concern is how serious a shortage of technical talent is building up in the western world. Global companies are going to where not enough young boys and girls are getting into math, science and engineering. That trend is not being reversed," Premji said.

Jobs were getting displaced because there was not enough talent there to fill the jobs, Premji said.

He said as Wipro expanded into other countries, it often had to hire graduates from other disciplines and then send them to the company's campus in Bangalore to be trained in software engineering and other technical skills. (emphasis added)

Premji said that with the company's Canadian operations growing rapidly, it would need more and more skilled graduates there. He said he expected Wipro's Canadian business to grow by 50% a year as it took on new clients, while hiring more Canadian engineers, executives and technical staff.

"Canada is a focus market for us," Premji said over lunch at an Indian restaurant in Mississauga, just west of Toronto. "We believe we can grow this market quite aggressively," he said.

Canada has been a small part of the Wipro Empire. Its 500 staff in Toronto, Windsor, Ottawa and Calgary help generate around $100 million of the global company's $5-billion in annual revenues. The bulk of its staff works with Nortel Networks developing telecommunications switching equipment.

But the Canadian operation has gone from three clients to 20 in the past 18 months while adding 160 staff and setting up a dedicated sales team. Moving beyond telecom, Wipro is also courting Canadian insurance firms and energy utilities.

Reporting by Bal Krishna in Toronto

Boeing in technology venture with India's Wipro, HCL

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:09:00 +0000

Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:41am EST
Source: reuters.com

MUMBAI, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Boeing Co has entered into an agreement with the Indian Institute of Science and software firms Wipro Technologies and HCL Technologies to develop wireless technologies and other network technologies.

The venture, Aerospace Network Research Consortium, is for a period of four years and can be extended based on "mutual interests", according to a joint statement.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Wipro Technologies is the software services arm of No. 3 software exporter Wipro Ltd.

"We have a great need for advanced, affordable aerospace network R&D," Naveed Hussain, vice president for engineering and technology, Boeing India, was cited as saying.

Boeing last year signed a 10-year manufacturing deal with India's state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd worth more than $1 billion.

Boeing has said it sees business worth $80 billion in India's commercial sector and $15 billion in the defence segment over 10-15 years.

(Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)

Siemens to set up R&D Center near Mumbai and a Software Center in Maharashtra

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:58:00 +0000

Siemens signs Letter of Understanding with Government of Maharashtra

Siemens Ltd has announced that the Government of Maharashtra and Siemens signed a Letter of Understanding on January 28, 2008, to support Company's expansion plans in the State. Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, Honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra and other dignitaries of the Government of Maharashtra delegation were in Europe to attend the World Economic Forum meet in Davos and made a stopover in Germany.

A Letter of Understanding was signed by Mr. V K Jairath, Principal Secretary - Industries, Government of Maharashtra and Dr. Armin Bruck, Managing Director, Siemens Ltd. and Mr. V V Paranjape, Director, Siemens Ltd., thereby fully committing to put the projects on the fast track under Single Window Clearance and make them a success. The delegation including Chief Minister and other eminent dignitaries, visited the Siemens office in Berlin yesterday. They met with the senior management of Energy and Industry businesses of Siemens AG. They also visited the Traffic Management Centre and Turbine factory of the Company in Berlin.

Siemens intends to develop additional manufacturing centers in Maharashtra. These will be for manufacturing equipment in the areas of Power Generation and Railway Transportation. During the discussion with the management of Siemens, the Government of Maharashtra committed to extend full support to Siemens and help Siemens India to expand its operations in the state.

The CM delegation is on a 3-day visit to Germany to showcase the strengths of Maharashtra in Engineering and Automotive sector. Accompanying the CM's delegation are Mr. Johnny Joseph, Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, V K Jairath Principal Secretary, Dept of Industries, Government of Maharashtra, and Mr. Rajiv Jalota CEO, MIDC. During this trip, the delegation will visit other German Companies such as Volkswagen, Hannover Trade and Exhibition Center.

Siemens has a large presence in Maharashtra with its Headquarters located in Mumbai and 8 out of 18 factories situated in the state alone. Besides expansion plans in the areas of Power Generation and Railway Transportation, Siemens is also setting up an R&D centre at Kalwa, near Mumbai with 1000 people capacity and an additional software centre in the state.

Source: Equity Bulls

"Chrysler starts global car team"

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Source: Business Week, 22.01.2008

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

DETROIT

Chrysler LLC said Tuesday it is starting a new product development team devoted to global midsize cars and will set up regional product development centers as part of its effort to expand overseas sales.

[...]

[T]he company will move aggressively to establish overseas product planning centers that will bring together design, engineering and parts sourcing and could eventually include manufacturing. Likely locations for the first of those centers would be Toluca, Mexico, where Chrysler already has an assembly plant, plus Beijing and Shanghai, China [..].

[...]

Chrysler said it also plans to use more common components and expand its engineering centers in China, India, Eastern Europe and Mexico as part of the realignment.

[...]

Microsoft cites poor implementation of IPR laws in India as a reason for not developing country specific products

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:53:00 +0000

Source: Press Trust of India, 22.01.2008

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI):

The global software industry generally refrain from developing India-specific products mainly because of high levels of piracy and poor awareness among law enforcement agencies, said a top Microsoft official.

Microsoft (India) Managing Director Neelam Dhawan today said enforcing IPR laws was a "challenge" and that the industry, as per studies, was losing almost 72 per cent of its revenue due to circulation of pirated software - a menace which hasn't been checked due to poor awareness among law-enforcing agencies here.

"We have the best IPR laws in the world but their poor enforcement acts as a deterrent to innovation. This is why we do not have a product made for India," said Dhawan, at a function to award Microsoft IPR scholarships to 33 law students from 11 law schools.

She said Microsoft is offering scholarships to law students to encourage them to specialise in the IT and Intellectual Property field.

"If India has to achieve the status of a truly knowledge-based economy, fostering innovation and creating a strong IPR environment is critical. The scholarship is an attempt to create a sustainable IPR ecosystem whereby we promote IPR practitioners in the country," she said announcing an award of Rs 80,000 each to the selected scholars.

Launching a legal on-line community portal "legaladda.Com," Dhawan said it was aimed to offer an online community for interaction between legal professionals and update people in the subjects like IPR on global trends. PTI

Continental in R&D activities in India

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:27:00 +0000

Continental AG invests Rs. 100 Crores in new plant in India

Source: machinist.in

Written by Anand

Monday, 21 January 2008

Targets 60% CAGR in operations by 2012

New Delhi: Hanover-based Continental AG is looking to boost its India operations after their recent buyout of Siemens’ Automotive business. The recent acquisition of Siemens VDO by Continental AG for €11.4 billion has made Continental as the second largest auto component manufacturer in Europe (after Bosch) and 5th largest in the world. With the acquisition, the overall basket of offerings to the Indian customers has widened and the combined organization will enhance Continental’s ability to develop electronic solutions that improve vehicle performance.

€11.4 billion buyout of Siemens VDO ushers in new era
* Invests Rs 100 crores for automotive electronics plant in Bangalore
* Focus on ‘affordable cars’ in growing markets like India and China
* Company now has 6 manufacturing facilities and 3 R&D centres

With an initial investment of Rs.100 Crores (17.5 Million Euros), the upcoming automotive electronics plant in Bangalore is one of the major investments for the new Continental in India. The new state-of-the-art manufacturing setup will also house an R&D centre. The Joint Venture facilities with Rico and Ashok Leyland will also attract fresh investments in the coming years.

“In the next decade one of the main focuses of the automotive industry will be the so-called affordable cars, especially in the growth markets like India and China. The production of cars with a in price range of Rs. 5 Lakh (approx. 9000 Euros) will increase from current figure of 650.000 to approx 1.1 Million units by 2017.This is 70 percent increase. To cope with this demand we have to focus on solutions for the Indian market, people want safe, yet affordable cars”, said Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, Chief Technology Officer and Board Member of Continental AG. “Continental has developed strategies and products that are suited to these demands”, said Dr. Neumann.

Continental aims to translate their extensive expertise in vehicle technology into low cost, affordable components and systems that are tailored to the Indian market. Their engineers in India are working on solutions that are optimized for our Indian market. “Localization also significantly reduces development and production costs and reduces the response time”, said Dr. Markus Distelhoff, Managing Director, Continental Automotive Systems, India.

With the Indian emission norms and safety legislations getting stricter the automotives of tomorrow will have more and more electronics built into them. To address this, the automotive products out of Powertrain, Interior and Chassis & Safety portfolio as well as out of ContiTech division (being the worldwide market leader in non tire rubber products) will have an increased share of value addition in the vehicle. Dr. Markus Distelhoff said, “We expect our products such as diesel/gasoline injections systems, immobilizers, electronic control units for body electronics, steering and airbags, brake systems, instrument clusters and radios to contribute to our growth in India in the near future”. Since Indian market is also of interest to the ContiTech division, both as a manufacturing location and as a market for its products, Continental has stepped up involvement in that market this year. ContiTech is currently producing in Kolkata and Delhi.

Through the current R&D facilities in Bangalore, Continental off-shores a lot of development work for its other locations in Europe and NAFTA. Besides engineering capacities, testing and validation services will also be provided from these development centers.

The new Continental AG in India now commands a significant share of the Indian automotive supplies market, with 6 manufacturing facilities and 3 R&D centres.
The company is targeting 60% compounded annual growth rate in its India business by 2012.

Rs. 100 Crores (17.5 Million Euros)

(Note: emphasis in text - i.e. characters in bold letters above - has been added.)

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ArcelorMittal may set up R&D unit in Kolkata

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:18:00 +0000

Source: The Economic Times, 21.01.2008

JAMSHEDPUR/KOLKATA: ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel company, is drawing up plans to set up a state-of-the-art R&D facility in Kolkata. The initiative, tightly under wraps at present, is being blueprinted. If it takes shape, it will not only give the steel company an address in Kolkata, but will also serve as a likely precursor to a more ambitious plan that the company has lined up to enter the rapidly-growing, lucrative business of engineering consultancy.

The company seems to have already appointed nearly 300 engineers to power its high-tech R&D hub. The new centre will take up consultancy jobs and cater to needs of ArcelorMittal plants in 27 countries around the world. In this job, it was assisted by Delhi-based Oman Consultants.

To house the R&D centre, the company is already believed to have taken up some 25,000 square feet of office space in Kolkata’s eastern fringes at New Town, Rajarhat, which is being developed as a Knowledge City. When contacted ArcelorMittal India CEO Sanak Misra declined to comment on the proposed R&D centre.

“I have no idea about it,” he told ET. R&D is obviously an important area for the company. Earlier, speaking on sideline of Jharkhand Enterprise 2007, group management board member and head for Asia, Africa, mining and CIS at ArcelorMittal Malay Mukherjee had said the company would like to collaborate in R&D with other steel plants in India, particularly with Steel Authority of India (SAIL).

A source confirmed: “The company has recruited some 300 people for the new R&D centre. There is a huge gap in the market between supply and demand for such consultancy jobs in India where new greenfield plants and huge capacity additions are taking place. Given our strong skillsets in the area, we hope to step into the arena and cater to the requirement of plants both here in India and elsewhere in the world.”

Domestic steel-making capacity is set to grow from 50 million tonnes in 2007-08 to 80 mt by 2010-11. By 2015, this may go up to 120 mt. Given this perspective, the field of a new plant design and technology has literally exploded. Currently, two big names largely dominate the field of engineering consultants — public sector Mecon and MN Dastur. ArcelorMittal has enormous domain knowledge and IP in the area of design consultancy.

Switzerland's Roche to expand R&D capacities in Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:03:00 +0000

Basel, 18 January 2008 (Press release by Roche)

Roche to invest 430 million Swiss francs (approx. 266.5 million euros) at sites in Germany and Switzerland

Centres for the research, development, production and filling of innovative biopharmaceuticals to be expanded

Roche has approved extensive investment plans for its Penzberg, Mannheim and Kaiseraugst sites. Around 280 million Swiss francs (aprox. 174 million euros) will be invested in expanding biotech drug research and development activities at Penzberg in Germay's Upper Bavaria region. This decision will ensure that the company’s own value added chain is exploited to its full potential in the development and production of biopharmaceuticals mainly for oncology applications. (Also see a report on marketwatch.com.)

A total of some 150 million francs will be invested at Mannheim and Kaiseraugst in expanding modern syringe filling capacities for drugs such as Mircera, Pegasys or Actemra.

Commenting on the decision, Roche CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Franz B. Humer, said: "After conducting a thorough evaluation of our production sites in many regions of the world and taking on board local business conditions at each, we have decided to make investments at these three sites in Germany and Switzerland. With our biopharmaceuticals heavily in demand, this step will both safeguard and expand production. Investments like this are very much long term in nature and they create hundreds of jobs in and around the company. It is therefore essential that a stable, industry-friendly environment be maintained in the long term".

The decision means that Roche’s investment in Pharma production equipment in the last five years has totalled around 1 billion Swiss francs (about 600 million euros) each in Germany and in Switzerland, resulting in the creation of several hundred new jobs.

The Roche Group - a pioneer in the biotechnology sector
Roche has invested in biotechnology from the outset, identifying important trends and technologies as they have emerged. Research has been pursued in the key areas of genetics, genomics and proteomics, and cutting-edge technologies – monoclonal antibodies, PCR and molecular genetic tests - have been developed to permit the broad application of biotechnology in medicine.

The Roche Group is now a leading supplier of biotechnology-based products for physicians and patients. Medicines and tests taking the patient’s individual genetic characteristics into account are already available today.

Today, five of the Group’s top ten pharmaceuticals are products of biotechnological research; they account for around 45 per cent of the Pharma Division’s total sales. Measured by sales and production capacities of biopharmaceuticals, the Roche Group is the world’s leading biotech company.

About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world's biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, a market leader in virology and active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammation, metabolic disorders and diseases of the central nervous system. In 2006 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 33.3 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.7 billion Swiss francs. Roche has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai, and invests approximately 7 billion Swiss francs a year in R&D. Worldwide, the Group employs about 75,000 people. For further information please visit www.roche.com

US-based doctors' group to conduct diabetes research in India

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:30:00 +0000

Chennai, (PTI): A US-based doctors' body, whose research has proved the efficacy of low-fat vegetarian diets in reversing blood sugar levels of diabetic patients, is set to conduct two similar studies in India.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine had found that a vegetarian diet with less oil and no milk products could remarkably bring down blood sugar level, cholesterol, blood pressure and weight even in people suffering from diabetes.

The committee's founder Dr Neal Barnard has initiated steps to conduct the two similar studies -- one on adult patients and another on children -- in collaboration with Indian physicians.

Barnard who is here for a week-long visit to India, was holding talks with doctors in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Goa, Coimbatore and Puducherry on conducting the study as well as propagating the efficacy of vegetarian diet in the treatment of diabetes.

The studies would commence this year and selection of patients and funding processes would commence soon, Barnard told PTI.

"Our aim was to prove and promote the efficacy of food in diabetes treatment rather than use of medicines," he said.

Source: The Hindu, 16. Jan. 2008

Made in Mumbai, wanted by the world

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:25:00 +0000

Reshma Patil , Hindustan Times

Email Author

Mumbai, January 15, 2008

First Published: 01:03 IST(15/1/2008)

Last Updated: 13:03 IST(15/1/2008)

The world’s smallest wearable cardiac monitor, a toffee-sized silicon locket, is almost ready at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B).

While the tiny computer that can store a week’s electrocardiogram (ECG) data awaits a manufacturer, it is already in demand. IIT engineers borrow it, rig some adjustments and the locket meant to monitor a heart without hospital visits measures tremors in buildings instead.

“I would be the first to buy one for my mother. The basic device is like plug-and-play,’’ said IIT’s professor Rakesh Lal, of the School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, who conceptualised the project with professor S. Mukherji. “There isn’t another product like the silicon locket,’’ Lal told HT from the University of California where he is a visiting fellow. Similar ECG monitors in the market are walkman-sized or bigger.

The demand for a user-friendly cardiac monitor is urgent in India, where, as top cardiologist Devi Shetty puts it, ‘heart disease is like an epidemic.’ “Indians are genetically three times more vulnerable to heart attacks than Europeans,’’ Dr Shetty, chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya, told HT from Bangalore. “The average age of my patients in India is 45 years. Fathers bring their young sons for bypass grafting.”

Indians and South Asians are prone to a first heart attack at age 53, and the World Health Organisation estimates that 60 per cent of the world’s cardiac patients could be Indians by 2010.

“The locket is a hi-tech solution delivered in a low-tech fashion,’’ said professor Dinesh Sharma, who heads the project, funded by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at IIT’s microelectronics department. “A user could also send its data card to a hospital to download ECG.’’

Algorithms fed in its system enable the locket to distinguish between jerks from running, working out or climbing stairs, and irrythmic heartbeats. Worn with five electrodes on the chest, a sensor in the locket records the heart’s electrical activity or ECG.

If it detects abnormalities, it can automatically transmit the last few seconds of ECG data to a central server using a mobile phone interface.

“We use trans-telephonic ECG devices to transmit ECG from villages through telephone lines, but the IIT device is more sophisticated,’’ said Dr Shetty. “It definitely has clinical applications, however, they’ll have to come up with a perfect product, since you cannot take chances with life.”

When a user feels uneasy, he can press a locket button to ‘mark’ that data so a doctor can later scrutinise marked segments and check the heart’s activity before the irregularity. Connected to a cell phone, the locket can be programmed to send SMS containing marked data to a doctor. Software in the locket forwards the data to the mobile, which sends the SMS.

TCS chief technology officer K Ananth Krishnan said, “TCS is always looking to collaborate with institutions to identify new technology areas and mutually develop intellectual capital.’’

Source: The Hindustan Times

Indian R&D centres drive US patent rush

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:31:00 +0000

BANGALORE: When Pallavi Mahajan, an engineering manager with networking biggie Juniper Networks, filed two hi-tech patents with the US patents department, it seemed a routine affair. After all, patent filings from the research and development (R&D) hubs of MNC centres in India have been de rigeur. But the extent of technological prowess comes to the fore only when one takes a look at her achievements.

Her first patent filing — which has been approved by Juniper’s patent panel — talks about the idea of how to centrally configure a multi-chassis router. A multi-chassis router includes a control node coupled to the plurality of chassis by communication links. “Three of my patents have been approved internally while 14 from the India research centre are pending for approval,” said Ms Mahajan. “Most of the patents are granted for innovations that solve a tough customer problem. It is not research for research’s sake.”

Notably, the number of patent filings from India R&D centres have been growing over the years. It is the quality and hi-tech bit that’s changing. More and more cutting-edge products are being developed in India. While outsourcing lower-level technical jobs to India has been a practice of multinational technology firms, the increasing reliance on Indian R&D operations is a growing trend.

Recently, Intel India has won a patent on garbage collection (GC), a critical function in all computing devices that run Java and .NET. It involves fast efficient allocation and reclamation of system memory. Since all applications have to be paused before GC can happen, GC pause times have to be small so that the impact to the performance of user applications is limited. The patent describes an invention that allows the multiple phases in GC to proceed in parallels and thus the whole GC process finishes faster and applications can resume quickly.

To boot, Adobe has issued 33 patents from India in the last nine years, out of which, 25 have been approved internally, and are pending to be sent for approval at the US patent office. The patents are related to Adobe technologies in print, video, images, layout, animation, web applications, rich media & mobile content, online forms and e-learning, among others. Adobe India has also delivered the first India-bred product — Pagemaker 7 — which has become a global standard.

Dr Naresh Gupta, vice-president and managing director, Adobe, had set up the Indian R&D operations with a handful of people. Today, Adobe is driving even greater innovation with powerful, compelling software solutions from India, he said.

Microsoft has a dedicated team at its India development centre which drives certain aspects of the Visual Studio product. The entire tooling work for Microsoft’s software for mobile devices (read: Office Communicator Mobile, SQL Mobile, Office Mobile and Visual Studio for Devices) is carried out at the Hyderabad centre. To boot, MSIDC also holds complete ownership for developing the Virtual PC 2007, which was released in March 2007.

The numbers have been good as well. Since US patent filing - and approval - is a long-drawn process, which takes anywhere between 36 and 48 months, it is difficult to fix an exact number of patent filings from India.

What’s important is that the Indian centres’ rate of innovation is extremely good compared to more mature R&D centres in the US and Europe. In terms of overall patent filings, industry experts point out that the top five emerging markets had filed 3,500 patents between 1999 and 2003.

A government report in the US has pointed out that US patent applications from China, India, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose 759% during 1981-2001, while the patent applications from the US grew 116% during the same period.

Source: The Economic Times
8 Nov, 2007, 0227 hrs IST,Chiranjoy Sen, TN

India announces massive investment in skills creation and science and technology

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:20:00 +0000

India announces setting up of 30 new Central universities, and several new IITs and IIMs. See details below.

Source: Press release, dated January 3, 2008, issued by India's Press Information Bureau

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated the 95th Indian Science Congress at Visakhapatnam today. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Manmohan Singh reiterated the Government’s commitment to invest more in science education. The Eleventh Five Year Plan is in fact a National Education Plan, the Prime Minister said. He stressed on the need for a global response, a national response and a local response to meet the challenge of climate change. Dr. Singh also urged the scientific community to tap into our traditional knowledge base, to develop environment-friendly and efficient technologies.
[...]

===
Our Government is committed to investing more, much more, in education, especially science education. The Eleventh Five Year Plan is in fact a National Education Plan. The Plan allocation for education has been stepped up from 7.7% of gross budgetary support for the Plan, in the 10th Plan, to over 19% in the 11th Plan. In nominal terms there is going to be a five-fold increase in spending on education in the 11th plan. This is an unprecedented increase in financial support for education in India.

We are planning to fund thirty new Central Universities, five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, seven new Indian Institutes of Management, and twenty new Indian Institutes of Information Technology.

We are also launching a Mission on Vocational Education and Skill Development through which we will open 1600 new Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Polytechnics, 10,000 new vocational schools and 50,000 new Skill Development Centres.

We will ensure that annually, over 100 lakh students get vocational training – which is a four-time increase from today’s level. Detailed plan for implementing these proposals will be spelt out in the next six months.

To enlarge the pool of scientific manpower, and foster research in the sciences, a programme entitled “Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research” (INSPIRE), is being launched. Under this programme, over the next 5 years, one million school students will be given science innovation scholarships of Rs. 5,000 each. The Plan will also support Scholarships for Higher Education (SHE), providing 10,000 scholarships per year of Rs. One Lakh, to attract talented students to enroll in B.Sc. and M.Sc. courses.

Our strategy for the promotion of science education in the 11th Plan will aim at (a) expanding and strengthening the Science & Technology base in our Universities, and (b) promote excellence through competitively secured funding at centers for advanced research. In addition, discipline-specific education programmes will be launched in strategic sectors like nuclear sciences and space sciences to capture talent at the “plus-two” stage itself.

All this marks a quantum leap in the infrastructure available for good quality teaching and research. At the last Science Congress I gave you my assurance that we are willing to increase the annual expenditure on science and technology from less than 1% of our GDP to 2% of our GDP in the next five years. That assurance stands.

We must make science a preferred discipline of study for our students. We must attract the best and the brightest young people to a career in science. We need, I believe, both a qualitative improvement and a quantitative expansion in the pool of science students in India. This means we will also need more teachers. We will need an army of teachers, especially in the basic sciences and in the field of mathematics. Shortage of good teachers is an immediate challenge.

I urge our academic community to come forward with innovative ideas to help us overcome and meet this challenge effectively. Tried and tested methods will not suffice. We need fresh creative thinking. Out-of-the-box solutions. The academic community too must be willing to think creatively.

===
Excerpted from the above mentioned press release

India’s National Innovation System: Key Elements and Corporate Perspectives

noreply@blogger.com (Rajnish Tiwari) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:29:00 +0000

New publication by Research Project Global Innovation

India’s National Innovation System:
Key Elements and Corporate Perspectives

Working Paper 51, January 2008

Authored by:

Cornelius Herstatt, Rajnish Tiwari, and Dr. Stephan Buse

Institute of Technology and Innovation Management
Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Hamburg, Germany
Corresponding author: rajnish.tiwari@tuhh.de

Executive Summary

In recent years

India

has emerged as a major destination for corporate research and development (R&D), especially for multinational corporations.

India

’s domestic institutions like Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) have set prestigious milestones of international standards. Not surprisingly, at Governmental levels a number of international cooperation agreements in the field of science and technology have been signed with

India

. After years of self-imposed seclusion, principally motivated by post-colonial

India

’s insistence on the “development of indigenous technology”,

India

finally seems to have joined the global mainstream of innovation.

In January 2007 the Institute of Technology and Management at Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) launched a research project titled “India's Innovation System: Exploring the Strengths”. The one-year project was initiated in cooperation with Honolulu-based East-West Center. The aim of the project was to better understand the emergence of India as an increasingly important R&D hub for both large and medium-sized multinational firms, which in a certain sense may be regarded as curious since India is generally thought to suffer from disadvantages caused by poor infrastructural facilities, red tape and corruption. This project therefore aimed to examine, evaluate and ultimately comprehend the elements and inherent strengths and weaknesses of India’s innovation system and its chances for the global economy, particularly in knowledge-intensive sectors.

A preliminary field study was carried out in National Capital Region of Delhi in February 2007, by conducting 22 explorative talks / interviews. The participants included Government officials dealing with issues related to India’s National Innovation System, researchers and senior level management of some publicly-funded research institutions, one representative of a major industry association and some privately-held firms. Later in summer 2007 a 6-weeks field research was conducted by the authors in the National Capital Region of Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. In addition to that a small number of pre-operational interviews was conducted in Germany. The authors interviewed representatives of private firms as well as Governmental / institutional bodies (85 in total). This study is unique in the sense that it not just undertakes an extensive effort to bring out comprehensive, factual data on various components of India’s innovation system – many hitherto not widely known – but also in the sense that it enables an empirical characterization of this system as perceived by various stakeholders, both domestic and foreign.

Based on our research we draw the following picture concerning India’s Innovation System of today:

India is in the process of emerging as a major R&D hub for both large and medium-sized multinational companies in various industries. This development is mainly owing to the availability of skilled labor produced in world-class elite institutions. Cost advantages, e.g. in the form of low wages are still present but receding due to substantial wage hikes often ranging between 15 and 25% per annum. The striking finding is however about market-driven factors. Of late, India’s market potential, in the meantime ranked as 3^rd largest worldwide by the Global Competitiveness Report 2007-08, has emerged as a crucial driver. Rising income levels of India’s billion-plus population are creating unique market opportunities for firms, both domestic and foreign.

In India the Government has historically played a major and in most cases a singularly positive role in the formation of its innovation system. India, ever since its independence from British rule, has invested much time, resources and efforts in creating a knowledge society and building institutions of research and higher institutions. Despite explosive population growth literacy rate in India grew from 18.3% in 1950-51 to 64.8% in 2001 thanks to concerted Government efforts; female literacy rose from a mere 8.9% to 53.7% in the same period. Moreover the quality of education in India is generally ranked as very good. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2007-08 the quality of mathematics and science education in India is ranked as 11^th best in the world, much ahead of 29^th placed Japan, 36^th placed Germany, 45^th placed United States and 46^th placed United Kingdom.

Nevertheless, India is faced with major challenges related to infrastructure and bureaucratic hurdles. The quality of education, notwithstanding such excellent rankings as stated above, in many institutions does not reach the standards required for (cutting-edge) R&D efforts. Moreover, a booming economy is leading to shortage of qualified and experienced skilled labor – which result in inflationary wage growth and high attrition rates, which generally lay in a double-digit range.

With the Government maintaining a pro-active role many of these problems may however be expected to get resolved to a manageable extent. In its Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) the Government has announced massive investments in infrastructure and education sectors to enhance both the quantity and the quality.

Industrial firms in India have recognized their chances and are investing heavily in R&D capacities. India is also a beneficiary of global mobility and exchange of talents, technology and resources as much as the world, especially the developed Western countries, have profited from India’s export of brain power.

In sum all these developments raise hopes for a further improvement in the conditions of India’s National Innovation System.

[Download full paper as PDF, approx. 600 KB]