Starbucks, the American coffee giant will send a revised application for its entry into the Indian market after its earlier proposal for a franchise opertation was put on hold Reuters is reporting.

Starbucks had proposed to enter the fast-expanding Indian market through a franchise 51 percent owned by its Indonesian franchise V.P. Sharma, with the rest held by India’s Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani.

Starbucks is funneling more resources into international markets and the coffee giant plans to increase the number of international stores by 20 percent per year over the next five years.

“The international business is one of our key growth drivers going forward, and one that investors have not fully recognized,” CFO Michael Casey said on Thursday according to Reuters. (more…)

One of the important proposals in the 2007 Indian Union Budget was to allow the institutional investors to short sell their securities. Earlier this was possible only by retail investors due to regulatory restrictions. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) last week has announced that its soon going to implement short selling norms for the institutional investors as well. These rules would apply to both foreign and domestic institutions but only in derivative products to start with.

Increased short selling activity would make the stock market more liquid and increase its efficiency considerably. Once the proposed short selling norms for the prohibited investor class becomes effective, there will be a level playing field in the market. Its quite surprising in this sense that only derivative products are going to be covered in the proposal. There’s one more consideration here as to whether SEBI will stick to these norms or will it withhold them at later period of time against the interest of investors is yet to be seen.

China picture: The old laws passed in 1998 had specific restrictions on the short-selling mechanisms due to fears of rampant speculation, which were removed in 2006. It was only with establishment of China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) in Shanghai in 2006, the mainland’s first exchange specializing in derivatives trading, which entailed a mechanism for short selling stocks, that this much needed concept took hold and allowed investors to benefit from both rising and falling markets.

Numbers:(”6.534″,”2.450″,”million bbl/day”,”CIA World Factbook, May 2007″)

China’s oil consumption was nearly 3 times that of India last year, however their respective populations are nearly the same. 

A complete history of China and India’s Tea Horse Road is available here

The western media has meticulously documented China’s recent economic explosion. Yet for a long time many wondered why India, the world’s second most populous country, lagged so far behind. Some surmised it had something to do with cultural differences, while other postulated that the problem was political. In the last few years, this debate has disappeared as quickly as India’s record of slow growth has. But a new question has emerged: will China and India be able to move past their rivalry and become partners once again? (more…)

Here is a receent article from the China Briefing Blog on rising white-collar salaries in China and India:

Pay increases for white-collar jobs in China and India will rise substantially faster than increases in United States and Europe according to new research from Philadelphia-based HR consulting firm Hay Group. The report states that “Much like their colleagues in Europe, US employees will be seeing relatively modest increases in base salaries when compared to the emerging economies.”

With a predicted 7.9% increase for administrative workers, 7.8% for professionals and 8.9% for senior management, China leads all tables. India saw pay increases of 7.2% across all job categories which looks set to continue through 2007. According to the report, India boasts the second highest pay increase predictions for 2007, with increases of 6.2% forecast across the three job levels. Senior managers can anticipate a real increase of 6.9%, professionals and administrators 5.9% each. (more…)

China announced on Tuesday that it is building a metalled road to the Mount Everest or the Mt Qomolangma Base Camp. The plan is to transport the Olympic torch to this point, from where Chinese runners will carry it to the world’s tallest peak.

The construction of the road will commence in a weeks time and in a period of four months the Chinese will have it ready. It will be 110 Kms long with the height of 5200 meters and will link Tingri County of Xigaze Prefecture at the foot of the mountain to the Base Camp into a blacktop highway. The new highway in future would become a major route for tourists and mountaineers.

The construction of the road has given rise to protests in New Delhi in the name of environment issues as the increase in construction activity would mean more pollution on a definite. (more…)

A recent post from China Economic Review about India’s largest ever IPO. Enjoy:

India’s largest-ever IPO went to market this week, a US$2.4 billion float by real estate firm DLF.

The company received bids worth three times the total shares available. Later this month, state bank ICICI plans to raise US$5 billion in offerings in India and the US.

Those of us who follow the stock markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong may not be particularly blown away by a subscription that is three times oversubscribed. It’s par for the course when trading in these parts. But inability to be impressed does not take away from the significance of the achievement. (more…)

Please click on the photo at right to see the first issue of “Ergo” – an Indian securities newsletter produced by the law firm Khaitan & Co., one of India’s most prestigious and oldest practices, with four offices nationally. They are good friends of 2point6billion and provide India legal, patent and trademark advice.

With Shanghai Having a Market Cap Four Times The Size of Bombay - Why Is It Indian Companies Are Taking The Lead In Global M&A?

An examination of the roles and responsibilities of the stock exchanges of Shanghai and Mumbai leads to some interesting potential implications for the development of companies listed on the respective bourses – and some pointers as to why it is currently Indian – and not Chinese – companies that are currently expanding globally.

Firstly, lets look at some comparisons and history.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) – is known as the oldest exchange in Asia. It traces its history to the 1850s, when stockbrokers would gather under banyan trees in front of Mumbai’s Town Hall. The location of these meetings changed many times, as the number of brokers constantly increased. The group eventually moved to Dalal Street in 1874 and in 1875 became an official organization known as ‘The Native Share & Stock Brokers Association’. In 1956, the BSE became the first stock exchange to be recognized by the Indian Government under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act. (more…)

A welcome today to Ms. Sheetal Guliani, who takes over the India desk of Dezan Shira & Associates, replacing Sumita Ghosh. Sheetal is a graduate of the University of Delhi and qualified as a lawyer. Based in Beijing, she will be in charge of all as Dezan Shira & Associates India related work – the firm has just opened three offices there – as well as being involved with this site. We’re sure you all wish her the very best. Ms. Guliani can be contacted directly for matters involving China - India trade and related business issues.

Dezan Shira & Associates offices are located in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, complimenting the firms national China presence in Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Chris Devonshire-Ellis, the practice’s Senior Partner comments “Broadly in India, Delhi is comparable with Beijing, Mumbai with Shanghai, and Chennai with Shenzhen. All have similar logistic features to their Chinese counterparts and we built our China practice up originally from those three main cities. Duplicating this in India we are sure will spearhead our growth throughout the country and allow us to develop as a truly Asian practice over the next few years.” (more…)