Category — Foreign Companies in India

First Solar’s modules have been used to power a 40 megawatt (MW) ground-mounted photovoltaic power plant in Rajasthan. The project, commissioned by Reliance Power, a Reliance ADA Group company, was completed in  five months and covers 350 acres. 500,000 First Solar thin film modules have been installed in the plant, near the village of Dhursar in Jaisalmer in northwestern India.

After seven years of consolidating its presence in urban Indian markets, SC Johnson, the  family-owned company which owns brands such as Mr Muscle, Glade and All Out says it is ready with its strategy for the “other” India.

Mr Shumone Chatterjee, the newly appointed Managing Director  of SC Johnson India  says, “We have divided the country into India A and India B. India A comprises consumers who are exposed to global products and solutions. India B is about those consumers who want the kind of products and services available in India A. ”

The company intends to double its distribution from the current 1.2 million outlets to 2.4 million outlets in the next two years. A majority of these outlets will be in rural India.

“India is becoming seamless and consumption patterns across the country are not really different. We intend having ‘weighted’ distribution which means that we reach out to only those outlets which contribute bulk of the consumption,” explains Mr Chatterjee.

He says the company plans to step up “shopper based activities” at the new outlets in the rural markets to drive home the message about the efficacy of its products.

The focus now, says Mr Chatterjee, is to build its Glade brand in the air-care space. One of the new moves is to piggyback on to its other brands to build further equity for Glade. For instance, it has recently merged its cleaning brand of Mr Muscle with the fragrance of “Glade” perfume. “We have merged the power of both Mr Muscle and Glade to create new solutions as there was a need for fragrances in floor cleaning,” explains Mr Chatterjee.

What this means

Clearly India’s promise continues for American companies in the consumer space. My colleagues and I at Amritt maintain our very bullish attitude on consumer India and any products/services that serve this broad segment and its supply chain.

News about India’s top ranking as an arms importer come as the country prepares to host one of the region’s largest weapons trade shows, Defexpo India 2012, in New Delhi, from March 29 to April 1, according to the NDIA blog site National Defense.

U.S. manufacturers are expected to display an array of big-ticket equipment. Several of the Pentagon’s top suppliers will also participate in the upcoming U.S. India Business Council Executive Mission to India March 26 to March 31.

Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. company will showcase ground-based smart weapons, which use the company’s precise, reliable sensors and safety mechanisms to complete military missions while protecting friendly forces and non-combatants. For example, Textron Defense Systems’ Spider is a man-in-the-loop, networked munition system incorporating sensors, communications and either lethal or non-lethal effects for scalable, selective engagement.

BAE Systems will be at Defexpo as part of a joint venture called Defence Land Systems India. The company will be offering its CV90 family of armored vehicles, BvS10, and the M777 155mm Lightweight Field Howitzer with a model of the Type 45 naval destroyer.  ATK will be marketing precision-guided munitions for artillery and mortars, artillery fuzing, ammunition and accessories for law enforcement and special operations forces, missile warning systems, small-caliber ammunition and illuminating flares. It will also be promoting its Mk44 30mm cannon and the Apache helicopter’s 625 round-per-minute M230 30mm chain gun.

What this means

The strong showing by these and other American and European suppliers simply means that the Russians and the Israelis will have serious competition. Don’t expect any vendor to roll over just yet. The fun has barely begun as the high-stake battle over procurement unfolds. To learn more about how you can prepare, visit www.amritt.com/defense

Ravi R, Mark Masten of Paraomount Farms, Nixon James, Gunjan Bagla, Ravi C

India Journal reported on Paramount Farms talk about their success in India. I hosted the event and Mark Masten, our client and now my friend was kind enough to give his perspective on their success in India. Amritt and I began working with Paramount Farms over four years ago.

According to the paper,  Mark  Masten  has had an ‘India connection’ for close to two decades and is now selling California pistachios in India. His first encounter with India was in 1994 as an employee of General Electric (GE). Paramount Farms is a wholly-owned operating company of Roll Global which also owns companies like Fiji Waters, POM Wonderful, Teleflora to name a few. Paramount Farms is among the world’s largest grower, processor and marketer of pistachios and almonds.  Masten joined Paramount in 2005 and has since been leading the company’s growth in the US and developing markets.

Pistachios are grown on Paramount’s 10 K acres farm in the Central Valley in California from where they are exported to India. Paramount launched its brand in India five years ago and since then has seen major growth. Though Indian consumers prefer almonds above pistachios, Paramount is pitching for pistachios as a ‘healthy snack’, trying to make it more affordable and getting rid of the image it has as a luxury item.

Paramount has its main office in Delhi with branches in Vadodara, Gujarat; Calcutta, Mumbai among others. Masten pointed out that India does not grow pistachios. All pistachios come either from the US or Iran. Paramount pistachios are roasted and packaged in India. Research is on to introduce flavored pistachios suited for the Indian palate. Paramount is also working in conjunction with the Diabetes Foundation of India to establish that pistachios are a healthy snack. The company is also investing in local pistachio health research. It has a 100 percent commitment to quality and will not compromise on this at any cost.

If you wish to watch Mark’s speech and the Q&A that followed, click here http://youtu.be/2FMkk8n4hkQ

What this means

An American company can build an honest and profitable business in India and Indian consumers will pay a premium for quality if communicated effectively.

The Financial Times of London carried a full length feature story (February 6 and 7) on how the Eurofighter Typhoon lost the bid to the French-made Rafale in a contest that has lasted over five years and will cost between $10 billion and $20 billion over the life of the project.  I am quoted in the story as well as in a similar story that appeared in Aviation Week.   FT requires registration for you to view the entire story, entitled “A Dogfight Over Delhi”. The story was also repeated in the Toronto Globe & Mail, click here to read it

…They overlooked Indian misgivings about security of supply for an aircraft built by four countries across a continent in financial turmoil and amid worries about the aircraft’s radar capabilities. “The upside is that Eurofighter delivers you four countries as strategic partners,” says Douglas Barrie of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, but “the down side is they have to negotiate with each other before they negotiate with you”.

. . .

They also underestimated the government-to-government nature of India’s arms dealings; its deep-seated fears over its energy vulnerabilities; and its hunt for a bargain. “Patience is a key aspect of doing business in India, as is price,” says Gunjan Bagla of California-based Amritt Inc, an advisory service. “The Indian approach is that so long as a product meets the minimum threshold of performance, then it seeks the best value for money. This should come as no surprise.”

About the same time Aviation Week carried a headline on its website on February 6, “Patient Dassault Set To Win MMRCA” on the same subject (and printed it on Page 46 as Viva Le MMRCA” I was quoted as below in this story.

But while it is up for debate whether India would have gained more strategically if it chose U.S. fighters, for instance, a Rafale deal at the least consolidates an old and important relationship. “The decision will definitely strengthen France’s relations with India,” says Ajey Lele, who works with the New Delhi-based Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses.

“It would be wise for American OEMs to tone down their typical pitch of technological superiority, which the Indian buyers are already aware of and respect,” says Gunjan Bagla, head of defense and aerospace at California-based management advisory company Amritt. “Hammering it further can be perceived in India as ‘American arrogance’ and does not help to win sales. India’s ministry of defense is not always dazzled with the ‘best’ technology; rather, it wants to specify a certain minimum threshold of performance. Exceeding the technical minimum does not confer advantage.”