Who knew that in 1991 (�economic policy), India would come this far and welcome investors with open arms. In the last few years the Nation has changed its policies towards a fruitful object and continues to do so.

I can recall when I was studying economic and business legislations of India that we used to talk about whether the FDI limits would eventually change to bring in more money and a better infrastructure or would Indians be driving on those bumpy roads and suffer in jams with its overgrowing population due to lack of adequate flyovers; will there be enough place at its airports to accommodate the immense increase in air traffic to India or for that matter will there be airlines other than Air India/Indian Airlines/a few more. Today the picture as changed and seems like we have the right people on board to gauge the needs of the hour.

Yesterday, 30th January 2008, the Government of India (GOI) showed how liberal it�s getting in its policies. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) announced the following increases in the FDI limits in 7 sectors. Lets have a look below :

Sector/activity���������������������������������������������������������� New Limit (max)��������Old Lmit

oil refinery joint ventures with public-sector������������� 49��������������������������������������26
oil firms� (1)

ventures involving the trading and marketing of������� Deleted a rule
petroleum products. (2)

maintenance, repair and overhaul organisations������� 100���������������������������������� 49
(MROs) and flying training institutes, helicopter
and sea-plane services

cargo and non-schedule airlines���������������������������������� 74

ground handling services
(after requisite security clearances are obtained)`� �����74

Indian commodity exchanges���� (3)������������������������������49

mining and mineral separation of titanium
-bearing minerals and ores (4)������������������������������������� 100

Credit information companies (5)���������������������������������49

listed credit information companies������������������������������24

Industrial Parks (6)������������������������������������������������waviers Continue reading →

Until recently, most people including Indians considered the ‘Made in India’ label to to be a sign of low quality. However, the tables are turning, as India rolls out products with finesse, global consumers are slowly but surely showing a preference for quality products rather than the buy cheap-and chuck ‘Made in China’ products.In a recent survey conducted by Fortune Magazine, nearly three in five (57%) of the respondents said they were less likely to buy a product if it was ‘Made in China’. However, 52% said their purchasing decision would not be affected if the product was ‘Made in India’.

Fortune magazine which surveyed 1,000 adults across America in mid January, said “where the product is manufactured does not impact American’s purchasing decisions, execpt when that product is made in China.”

In the survey, only 35% American’s said they were less likey to purchase a product manufactured in India, while 11% said they were more likely to buy such goods. In the wake of several Chinese goods product recalls, 11% of the respondents said they were more likely to buy chinese products, while 30% said it didn’t matter to them whether the goods were exported from the dragon country or not.

By Chris Devonshire-Ellis

So runs the summarizing headline in the Financial Times new �India & Globalization� special report (January 25). It�s a report will worth reading, covering as it does relations with Pakistan, competition with China, ties with Washington, and the concepts of transparency, openness and better corporate practice, not to mention moving up the value chain, and India�s participation in global M&A deals.

However, it�s pretty much a �mid-term� report than a longer term analysis of India�s development, and one that is not always accurate. For sure, calls for a stable Pakistan are a given � India certainly does not want a massively failed State on its doorstep, even given the history of antagonism between the two countries since partition. Indeed, it is relevant to note the Indian government�s current policy of restraint concerning news coming from Islamabad � the assassination of Benazir Bhutto for example being handled in a sensitive and low key manner by the Indian government � and its media. Signs here are positive then that in times of grave danger, India will reach out to its estranged neighbor and seek to secure the future of Pakistan rather than antagonize. Continue reading →

The Global educational slide show “Shift Happens” which we first unveiled on this site in May of last year has just been updated and provides a lot more data and statistics about China and India, and their impact upon the global economy and development.

Shift Happens originally began as the “Did You Know” PowerPoint presentation for a faculty meeting in August 2006 at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, United States. The presentation “went viral” on the Web in February 2007 and, as of June 2007, had been seen by at least 5 million online viewers. Today the old and new versions of the online presentation have been seen by at least 10 million people, not including the countless others who saw it at conferences, workshops, training institutes, and other venues. As the people who made it comment: “We do not view the growing importance of India and China as negative but rather as additional opportunities for everyone in the world. We do not mean to gloss over the very real issues that countries such as India and China face, and we recognize that globalization and “flat world” factors have downsides just like other societal shifts. We prefer, however, to focus on the positive benefits.”

It�s a fun and thought provoking presentation and will take just 6 minutes of your time. If you haven’t seen it before it is something you should take a short break to watch.