Posts from — July 2010

Travel &  Leisure Magazine just released its list of the world’s top hotels according to its readers. Indian hotels fare well, with seven making the list.  The magazine rates the VanyaVilas (“forest home”) from the Oberoi chain as the top hotel on the whole planet this year.

Oberoi Vanyavilas Hotel, Ranthambore, India

Seven hotels from India were listed on the Top 100. My experience at luxury hotels in India is consistent with this rating. Taj, Oberoi and Leela properties in general offer superior  services at virtually all of their properties. I feel pampered and spoiled every time I stay at one of these chains. Too bad some of their best-rated hotels are in places that we don’t normally get to travel for work .

The Taj chain (owned by the Tata group) now offers luxury hotels in Boston, New York and San Francisco as well.

Anything that’s said about  Tata Motors’ Nano makes for news, and why not, never before did we hear of a $2,100 car! At the recent roll out of the Nano from its Sanand (Gujarat) plant  it enjoyed some added attention. Cornell University Assistant Professor, Aleksandr Mergold with his team of four assessed the future of the car. Mergold suggested that Cornell University is considering an U.S. exhibition of the Nano. The plant in Gujarat has been set up in just about 24 months.

Interestingly, Tata Motors and Cornell University go back a long way.  Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group is a Cornell alumni. Cornell University some time back had received $50 million endowment from the Tata Education and Development Trust, a philanthropic entity of  the Tata Group.

Tata’s Nano has garnered attention around the globe on its own merit, specifically based on its unique price point. The Gujarat plant was set up in record time and is all set to multiply production from 10,000 cars a month to 30,000 a month.

At presently, Nano is manufactured out of the Tata Pantnagar plant which is led by my friend P.K. Chobe.

Ratan Tata with the Nano

The attempt to make investment in solar energy production in India user-friendly and to reduce financial risks was  initiated as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in November 2009. The task for the mission was to provide an attractive and extended tariff for solar power production investment and foreign involvement.

Developers of solar power capable for producing at least 100 megawatts will be chosen by the end of August according to the Solar Energy Manufacturers Association of India. Foreign investment of $3.5 billion is expected from major global firms such as Tempe, AZ- based U.S. firm First Solar. Also, two other U.S.-based solar energy companies, North Chelmsford, MA-based American Capital Energy and Bridgewater, NJ-based MSM Energy announced a joint venture concerning engineering, purchasing and solar energy construction projects in India. The always growing need for alternative sources for  has attracted intereste from companies such as Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar (which is an idealab! company and I was associated with idealab! in the late 1990s).  eSolar and others may provide the advanced technology necessary to meet India’s goals for developing a pilot project producing 100 MW of solar power sponsored by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency.

According to N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, chair for the Solar Energy Manufacturers Association of India, more than 200 applications have been presented to several states, with the state of Andhra Pradesh receiving more than 30 alone;  Three Andhra solar companies – Titan Energy Systems, Photon Energy Systems and Solar Semiconductor. The Non-Conventional Energy Development Corp. of Andhra Pradesh will select qualified developers drawing lots.

India produces only 30 MW today and wishes to expand to 20 GW by 2022.

The intensity of efforts by legislators and other top governmental leaders in building ties between India and United States is unprecedented.  For example, Senator Chris Dodd, recently met with the Indian Prime Minister, in New Delhi to discuss the roles both nations play in the current global economic landscape.

Dodd is chair for the powerful Senate Banking Committee, and a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee. He is also co-chair for the all-important US Senate India Caucus.

In addition to the visit,  the groundwork for President Obama’s forthcoming trip included a meeting  of  top CEOs from U.S. and India companies discussing ways to increase trade opportunities between both countries. This is the time for organizations in the U.S. to actively pursue business expansions in India.

The Senator’s visit was followed by a meeting between India National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and his U.S. counterpart Jim Jones, a retired United States Marine Corps general, recognized expert on foreign policy and international security issues.

According to statements released by the U.S. government, “The two sides reviewed the status of the strategic partnership between India and the US and discussed preparations for the state visit of President Barack Obama to India later this year. ”

American executives  should seize these new opportunities opening up as a result of political acceleration.

U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd

No longer will international vendors and consumers alike need to distinguish Indian Currency with “INR.” or “Rs”. India’s Finance Ministry has reached a verdict on their national search for a currency symbol. The new symbol, which was submitted by D Udaya Kumar of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,  resembles a capital “R” with two  horizontal strikes through the upper-half.

The Finance Ministry decided to put the decision into the hands of the common Indian with a nationwide contest that lasted almost a year. Over 4,000 entries were cut down to a short-list of 5, before the final selection was made.  According the designer, the two parallel lines capping the symbol represent the internal balance and equality of India’s economy as well as the economy’s standing among other countries of the world.

Kumar’s creation means more than a new design to grace everything from keyboards to vending machines. It represents the aspiration of India to be treated on par with the US, Europe and Japan (symbols such  $, €, and ¥ are globally recognized).

Surjit Bhalla, managing director of Oxus Research and Investments, told the Christian Science Monitor, “…In 1990 if India said we’ll have a rupee symbol, people would have laughed at it. Today, people are asking how important it is.”

Some people are . Other may laugh now. But they won’t be laughing ten years from now .