The India Expert

India is one of the  fastest growing pharmaceutical  markets in the world generating almost $8 billion per year. That amount is more than expected to double by 2015 with annual growth from 15 to 20 percent. Following the acquisition of India’s pharma leader Ranbaxy Labs by a Japanese company, the India Expert was not surprised [...]

Posted on September 4th, 2010 by Gunjan

Last week, India’s Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament  passed a civilian nuclear liability bill that would pave the way for foreign companies to join a nuclear-reactor building spree. This bill caps foreign suppliers’ liability in case of an accident at $320 million. The bill now goes to the upper house, the Rajya Sabha [...]

Posted on August 30th, 2010 by Gunjan

It took 33 years for India to increase its per-capita annual income from $100 to $500, but only five years to double it from $500 to $1,000. It’s not surprising then, that Indian industry reported huge rises in sales in June: cars (34 per cent), refrigerators (32 per cent), air conditioners (50 per cent) and [...]

Posted on August 28th, 2010 by Gunjan

In recent weeks, the private equity giant, Blackstone Group decided to invest $300 million to buy a minority stake in Indian power developer Moser Baer Projects Private Ltd, which seeks to build out thermal, solar and hydro power generation as well as coal mining operations.The parent of this entity happens to be the world’s second [...]

Posted on August 19th, 2010 by Gunjan

India celebrated its 63rd indepdence day on August 15th. President Obama sent the following message to India and to Indian Americans. :On behalf of my administration and the American people, I wish to congratulate all who will celebrate the 63rd anniversary of India’s independence.  Indians around the world can not only look back on their [...]

Posted on August 16th, 2010 by Gunjan

India’s high rate of inflation is expected to reduce with the recent rainfall in what is turning out to be a good monsoon season. India’s Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, made a statement addressing a recent National Development Council (NDC) meeting, citing a bit more optimism about the inflation than projected by his advisory council’s [...]

Posted on August 3rd, 2010 by Gunjan

Growing up in Kanpur in northern India, I remember seeing hundreds of long-necked vultures perched on tall trees in many parts of the city.  Kanpur is known for the processing hides for leather industry and the birds had plenty of food pecking off the carcasses. Old world vultures (which are different family from those found [...]

Posted on August 3rd, 2010 by Gunjan

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis spent Wednesday and Thursday last week in official talks in India. Ambassador Marantis met Indian Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar to discuss bilateral trade and investment issues, including U.S. agricultural and telecommunications equipment exports to India.  (A Secretary in India is not a cabinet position but the senior-most civil staff [...]

Posted on August 1st, 2010 by Gunjan

Using uranium fuel supplied by France’s Areva and Russia’s TVEL Corporation, three of India’s oldest atomic power stations have been able to recover from low capacity factors. The General Electric-supplied Tarapur units 1 and 2 ran at 90 and 99 percent of capacity in the period from April to June 2010; they are both rated [...]

Posted on July 29th, 2010 by Gunjan

The British Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting India now, at least three months before the scheduled visit of U.S. President Obama. Cameron is distinctly focused on commercial ties. Especially with his recent interest in containing expenses at home, India seems to be on the forefront for business engagement. In my posts I generally focus [...]

Posted on July 22nd, 2010 by Gunjan

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. Seven hotels from India were listed on the [...]

Posted on July 20th, 2010 by Gunjan

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 [...]

Posted on July 17th, 2010 by Gunjan

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  [...]

Posted on July 16th, 2010 by Gunjan

Out of 5.1 million foreign tourists to enter India in 2009, about 800,000 were from the United States. The USA was also at the top of the list in 2008. The next highest countries were the UK, BanglaDesh, Canada, Sri Lanka, France, followed by China with 97,000 arrivals. In late 2010, India may get a [...]

Posted on July 12th, 2010 by Gunjan

“Who Wants to be a Millionaire” gets a third life in its largest market. When Danny Boyle, director of “SlumDog Millionaire” was looking to cast the role of the host of “Millionaire” in the movie, the obvious choices were the two Indian film stars who had already hosted the Indian version of show, called  Kaun [...]

Posted on July 10th, 2010 by Gunjan

It’s the accepted wisdom that no country can touch China in desirability of a manufacturing location. There are few fields in which the “middle kingdom” does not excel. But did you know that the second largest maker of blank DVDs/CDs and related media is a company located just outside India’s capital city? It’s called Moser-Baer, [...]

Posted on July 3rd, 2010 by Gunjan

India needs $1 trillion in infrastructure investment, where there is still a gap of 25-30 per cent that can be filled by U.S. companies, according to the country’s Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee speaking at the recent U.S.-India CEOs Summit held in Washington, D.C. Infrastructure (roads, airports, bridges, railways) is often described as India’s Achilles heel, [...]

Posted on July 1st, 2010 by Gunjan

With 2009 sales of just about $2 billion, India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, moved up seven ranks to #41 on the Defense News Top 100 list of companies this year. The other Indian company on the list also moved up, twelve ranks from #74 to #62.  State-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd, had 2009 sales of $916 [...]

Posted on July 1st, 2010 by Gunjan

A new movie from India will feature a song by pop singer Shakira, who was on TVs screens worldwide with her World Cup Soccer performance this month. “It will be very sensuous cabaret kind of song” according to the composers, Salim- Sulaiman. Indian media describes it as a frenzied dance track to be filmed on [...]

Posted on June 29th, 2010 by Gunjan

Berkshire Hathaway, promoted by billionaire Nebraska investor  Warren Buffet, will become part of India’s auto insurance market. Berkshire Hathaway will position itself  with an existing Indian corporation, Bajaj Allianz General.  Entrance through an existing corporation is in response to Indian law which prohibits  high level of direct foreign investment in certain industries. Specifically, in the [...]

Posted on June 28th, 2010 by Gunjan

India and Canada are likely to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement within the next few days. “We don’t look back, we look at the future,” Vivek Katju, Secretary (West) with India’s  External Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday this week, “There has been progress on finalizing an agreement on cooperation in nuclear energy.”  Katju is [...]

Posted on June 25th, 2010 by Gunjan

For decades India’s tax laws have gotten more complicated and the government’s take of overall GDP has generally meandered upwards.  Unlike in the United States, income tax contributes a relatively small portion of the overall revenue collections. The vast majority of Indians fall below the threshold for income tax payments. Tens of millions of micro-businesses [...]

Posted on June 24th, 2010 by Gunjan

American investor Wilbur Ross made waves some time ago when he bought a significant share of budget airline Spice Jet. Today we have news that Tamil Nadu media mogul of Sun TV Network Ltd., Kalanidhi Maran has bought up Ross’s shares. Maran got a deal, 16 percent below the market price and now owns a [...]

Posted on June 15th, 2010 by Gunjan

Last week U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he plans to visit India in November. Both Western and Indian media carried the story almost immediately. This is a big contrast from President Bush’s 2006 visit to India, when American media did not even mention it for days. In fact my company was able to announce [...]

Posted on June 13th, 2010 by Gunjan

Recent volatility in currency exchange rates accompanied with spiraling debt crises in Europe are instigating some  fear and worry that a feeling of paranoia may overtake investors. Although the impact may be felt by some U.S.-based companies with outsource partners on the Indian subcontinent, those that spread costs throughout different exchanges such as Euros, British [...]

Posted on June 10th, 2010 by Gunjan

During a visit to Washington DC, Indian Minister of External Affairs S.M.  Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week reiterated their shared goal of advancing security and stability across Asia, in particular, through the emergence of an open, balanced, and inclusive architecture of cooperation in the region. They acknowledged the importance of [...]

Posted on June 9th, 2010 by Gunjan

Writing for Forbes magazine, British Historian Paul Johnson predicts that due to its widespread use of English, India will overtake China and will continue to be a more vibrant supporter of Western liberal ideas. While I am an Indo-phile, I think that Johnson’s overreaching. I present you excerpts from his article below in blue . [...]

Posted on June 5th, 2010 by Gunjan

India’s Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna pointed to Frugal Engineering from India as a signpost of what the 21st Century will be all about. “The 20th Century was one of Capital Accumulation but the 21st century is one of innovation,” he said while delivering the keynote address for the 35th annual summit of the US-India Business [...]

Posted on June 2nd, 2010 by Gunjan

The Indian Institutes of Technology or IITs are the leading engineering schools in India and typically accept only 2 percent of all applicants. The government recently created 8 new IITs, mostly in greenfield projects. 450,000 high school grads took the famed Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)  in April, an 18.3 percent increase over the last year. [...]

Posted on May 30th, 2010 by Gunjan

A tall Texan stumbles as he closes a radiator business deal in India. His lovely wife scrambles to help.

Posted on May 19th, 2010 by Gunjan

Last week, World Steel Dynamics, a market services firm based in New Jersey, ranked Korea’s Posco at the top of its list of world-class steelmakers. Ranked right behind Posco at #2 is India’s SAIL, formerly known as the Steel Authority of India Limited. According to the service, the ranking is based on 23 parameters including [...]

Posted on May 19th, 2010 by Gunjan

There is much talk of the soft power of the BRIC Countries. While China is the most economically mighty about the BRIC and Russia probably still has the most military technology, there can be hardly any doubt that India is rapidly winning the soft power war among the BRIC countries. The India Expert rarely comments [...]

Posted on May 9th, 2010 by Gunjan

At the annual meeting of legendary Wall Street investor, Warren Buffett this past weekend, he was asked about India. Here is what was reported on the Wall Street Journal blog: >> Currently Berkshire has only invested in a few countries outside the U.S., including China and Israel — Buffett said he is eying the country, [...]

Posted on May 3rd, 2010 by Gunjan

India’s Essar Group Ltd., a conglomerate with interests in steel, energy, construction, and shipping, acquires a top U.S. coal producer, Trinity Coal, for $600 million. Essar Minerals now has  ownership of 200 million tons in coal reserves in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. The reserves are split between “metallurgical” coal used in [...]

Posted on April 19th, 2010 by Gunjan

To help its state-run companies pursue acquisition of oil, gas, coal, LNG and other raw material in other countries, India plans to start a sovereign investment fund. The state owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Limited (OVL) had been told to pursue at least one major oil and gas asset every year. Ministries including [...]

Posted on April 17th, 2010 by Gunjan

The Indian market is too important to U.S. business interests to be treated casually by top U.S. officials.  President Obama needs to focus his cabinet on their trips to India. See my article in Business Week on this subject, click here.

Posted on April 15th, 2010 by Gunjan

In a bid to enable India’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to import technology and equipment from the USA, the Export Import (Exim) Bank of India has signed a Master Guarantee Agreement with the Exim Bank of USA, an agency of the U.S. Government. “We have signed a Master Guarantee Agreement with the US-Exim Bank [...]

Posted on April 13th, 2010 by Gunjan

MasterCard Inc of New York named Indian American Ajay Banga, as its president and chief operating officer, as chief executive. Banga spent 13 years at Citigroup, including a stint as the chairman and chief executive of its international global consumer group. His brother, Vindi, recently resigned from the board of Unilever PLC, after being passed [...]

Posted on April 13th, 2010 by Gunjan

Doing Business in 21st Century India This course provides a basic understanding of how to succeed in doing business with India. It is suited for novices and experts in international business and highlights what is unique about India compared to other international venues, particularly China. Based on the noted book on the same topic, attendees [...]

Posted on April 13th, 2010 by Gunjan

For one hundred years until 1856,  the British East India Company ruled over 25% of the world’s population beginning at a time when India controlled almost 20 percent of the world’s GDP (according to economic historian estimates).  Its power inspired books such as “The Corporation that Changed the World“  and based on monopoly powers to [...]

Posted on April 8th, 2010 by Gunjan

The Indian Premier League, a three-year old condensed version of cricket that can be played two games a night, is making waves all over India this year. Cricket is India’s most popular sport, having been introduced over 150 years ago by the British rulers of the time. Last month two new IPL teams were sold [...]

Posted on April 5th, 2010 by Gunjan

While the richest nation in the world, the United States, is pretty far along in conducting its 2010 census, the largest democracy on the planet has started its own exercise to count and catalog its 1.2 billion citizens. Over two million census takers will document not only every man, woman and child in this vast [...]

Posted on April 5th, 2010 by Gunjan

India’s economy may expand between 8.25 per cent and 8.75 per cent in the 12 months through March 2010, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in New Delhi, reiterating a February Finance Ministry forecast.  Sectors that are expected to make substantial contribution include automobile, telecom, services, engineering,  and heavy engineering. India’s industrial output increased 16.7 percent [...]

Posted on April 5th, 2010 by Gunjan

India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, presented his annual budget to Parliament in February; he revealed that India had weathered the global slowdown quite well; in fact, manufacturing output rose 18.5 percent in November 2009, compared to the previous year. The minister predicted the fiscal deficit would fall to 5.5 percent in the 2010-11 fiscal year [...]

Posted on March 8th, 2010 by Gunjan

File this under humor. Travel and Leisure Magazine, believes that New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Atlanta and El Paso are among the 12 ugliest airports in the world.  We’re shocked that no Indian or Chinese locations made it to their list which does include European, Indonesian and other distance airstrips.  Clearly the editors have not [...]

Posted on February 26th, 2010 by Gunjan

India’s Department of Biotechnology has allocated more than (3 billion rupees) over the last five years towards basic and applied research in stem-cell technology and is focused on diseases that affect millions of Indians rather than exotic diseases The entire government-directed effort is in understanding the fundamentals of how stem cells work and conducting clinical [...]

Posted on February 22nd, 2010 by Gunjan

While Toyota is under pressure for its brake and gas pedal recalls worlwide, the situation in India seems much rosier. Toyota is reaching out to Indian consumers with a four-month promotional tour of 10 cities launched last month. Its venture there, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, expects its sales to reach 65,000 units this year and to [...]

Posted on February 20th, 2010 by Gunjan

Larsen & Toubro and Malaysia’s Scomi Group are expected to commission the first phase of Mumbai Monorail, India’s first such system, by end of this year.  The project involves design, construction, installation, testing and commissioning from Wadala and Chembur via Mahul (approximately 9 kilometres) in Phase I and Gadge Maharaj Chowk to Wadala (approximately 11 [...]

Posted on February 4th, 2010 by Gunjan

“The King of Bollywood” was in the United States to promote his latest movie called “My name is Khan” about discrimination against Muslims.  Shah Rukh Khan and co-star Kajol participate in a video and audio inteview with Saja here http://www.sajaforum.org/2010/01/movies-shah-rukh-khan-in-my-name-is-khan-webcast.html

Posted on February 4th, 2010 by Gunjan

The results of a survey published by consultancy firm Nielsen indicates that Indians are most optimistic about job prospects and personal finances compared to the rest of the world. The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence report that 92% of Indians were optimistic about their job prospects over the next year. In addition, the survey Nielsen published [...]

Posted on January 30th, 2010 by Gunjan

In 2009 “India maintained robust growth  (6.7%) without Beijing’s hefty stimulus of $585 billion in part because it is less exposed to the international economy. China’s exports represented 35% of GDP compared with only 24% for India in 2008. Thus India was afforded more protection from the worst effects of the financial crisis in the [...]

Posted on January 30th, 2010 by Gunjan

Top executives of companies are generally a sanguine bunch. But the economic crisis of 2008 shook their confident about future prospects and the recovery in confidence has not been uniform. According the 2010 Price Waterhouse Survey of 1,198 CEOs, 81 per cent of CEOs worldwide are confident of their prospects (compared to 61 pecent a [...]

Posted on January 28th, 2010 by Gunjan

This year, the U.S. Postal Service recognizes Mother Teresa, the India citizen who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun and honorary U.S. citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly [...]

Posted on January 21st, 2010 by Gunjan

The production team for Eat, Pray, Love, the forthcoming Julia Roberts movie, erected a huge set to depict a bustling India market, complete with a traveling circus in Mirzapur, Haryana near New Delhi. More than 500 people were employed in the construction of the make-believe market. The movie is based on the #1 best selling [...]

Posted on January 13th, 2010 by Gunjan

It’s been said that for every true statement about India, you can also make the opposite statement and it can also be true.  For example, India is a poor country with 700 million citizens making less than $2 a day. But India is home to four of ten richest people in the world, per the [...]

Posted on January 8th, 2010 by Gunjan

In the recently published Hindustan Times-MaRS Consumer Satisfaction Survey covering 1,330 respondents across 10 Indian cities, Kingfisher Airlines barely edged past rival Jet Airways to the top position.   In my experience, both now airlines offer excellent service despite challenging conditions in India.  I have also had occasion to fly on another highly-rated carrier, Indigo Air, [...]

Posted on January 4th, 2010 by Gunjan

Sir Ben Kingsley, who played the the title role in 1982′s Oscar-winning Gandhi (and much less remembered role in the worst movie of the 21st Century so far, the Love Guru) is soon to be seen in a Bollywood movie, Teen Patti ( three cards, or three-card poker). Perci Trachtenberg (Sir Ben Kingsley) is world’s [...]

Posted on January 2nd, 2010 by Gunjan

Pop sensation Britney Spears is visiting “God’s Own Country“, also known as the state of Kerala on India’s southern Malabar coast for her New Year’s eve celebrations. Forbes’ Magazine 13th most powerful celebrity does not have a strong following in India but is reportedly recording a new album with Kerala dances as the backdrop.   Kerla [...]

Posted on January 1st, 2010 by Gunjan

While half of India’s women are illiterate and many who are  in poverty have little power and freedom, a different picture emerges at the highest echelons of power and education in the country. In politics, government and in corporate boardrooms women abound.   Here is a sampling of some names who have reached heights that their [...]

Posted on December 31st, 2009 by Gunjan

The global production of banana is estimated at 48.9 million tonnes out of which 10.4 million tonnes, is contributed by India. India is followed by Brazil (5.5 million tonnes), Indonesia (2.3 million tonnes), Philippines (3.8 million tonnes), China (1.9 million tonnes) and Australia (1.8 million tonnes). This top ranking is new. India was not the [...]

Posted on December 30th, 2009 by Gunjan

Michigan ice skaters Meryl Davis and Charlie White’s have created a unique, Indian-themed original  dance that is a hit all over the globe via YouTube and has deserved mention in the New York Times and an AP wire story.  They  were guided by Anuja Rajendra, who combines Bollywood music and dance with exercise at her [...]

Posted on December 27th, 2009 by Gunjan

My book on Doing Business in India was published over a year ago.  Major media and the public at large have been very kind to it and it is now established as the “go-to” primer on the subject, far ahead of other books on similar themes.  I’ve been blessed to be mentioned in sources as [...]

Posted on December 18th, 2009 by Gunjan

The United States if often (justly) criticized for viewing India in  hyphenated way with Pakistan. Certainly this view has been prevalent since the days of President Richard Nixon and his formerly India-hating adviser Dr. Henry Kissinger (who famously referred the India’s Prime Minister as “an old witch” and used even more colorful language for Indians [...]

Posted on December 15th, 2009 by Gunjan

What connection could there be between the Tiger Wood scandal and India, you ask. Well, Indians have a sense of history and while Tiger is married to Elin Nordegren, one of Sweden’s most stunning women of today, there is a India angle about the most famous Swede blonde ever and how she was spurned in [...]

Posted on December 14th, 2009 by Gunjan

With India’s economy still growing at about 8 percent, air traffic continues to be congested. I am flying from Delhi to Mumbai today and my flight is delayed by over an hour. The new domestic terminal is a lot better than the ancient low-slung building it replaced. But today I found something even better, the [...]

Posted on December 9th, 2009 by Gunjan

The Financial Times reports that the French services company Cap Gemini now has 21,000 employees in India compared to 20,000 in its home country of France.  Hiring in India is not new to multinationals. Siemens, General Electric, Hyundai, Samsung, Haier, Unilever, Citi group, Hewlett Packard, and many more companies have been hiring thousands of employees [...]

Posted on November 2nd, 2009 by Gunjan

The trajectory of innovation in countries such as India  is taking a different path from the Industrial Revolution in the West.  Communications technology such as television and cell phones have leaped across to India.  Bottom-of-the-pyramid thinking had created huge markets based on $20 cell phones and $0.02 sachets of shampoo. But microfinance and technology are [...]

Posted on November 1st, 2009 by Gunjan

What a pleasure to have an American President be able to pronounce Lord Rama’s name correctly (so it does not sound like a sports team!). And one who goes into the nuances of Diwali beyond Hinduism to other great religions such as Jainism and Sikhism.  President Obama’s intellect and sensitivity is such a welcome relief [...]

Posted on October 17th, 2009 by Gunjan

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has finally confirmed what insiders have known for a while. Two nuclear park sites have been allocated to “American technology” for construction of new Atomic Power Plants. On the west coast is Mithi Vardi in the state Gujarat located by the Gulf of Khambat in Saurashtra. One the east [...]

Posted on October 13th, 2009 by Gunjan

India plans to sell stakes in at least five state-run firms by the end of the fiscal year in March 2010 following successful IPOs of two firms that raised $1.8 billion. Privatization had slowed down during the last decade but the present government, elected with a strong majority in May 2009, is showing signs of [...]

Posted on October 5th, 2009 by Gunjan

The Jacksonville, Florida newspaper runs a column called “Dare to Ask”, where readers can ask uncomfortable or politically incorrect questions. Now when I teach my “Business with India” workshop at Caltech and elsewhere, I alway tell my executive attendees to open up and ask me ANYTHING, without fear of offending me or others. People have [...]

Posted on September 30th, 2009 by Gunjan

Sony’s Columbia Pictures will distribute Eat, Pray, Love a feature film to be released in 2011.  Based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s book of the same name, the movie stars Oscar-winner Julia Roberts. The Los Angeles Times reported that shooting in Naples has just been completed and the next stop is India. Indian media is working itself [...]

Posted on September 30th, 2009 by Gunjan

When President Obama visited Wakefield High School, in Arlington, Virginia earlier today for his speech to school kids, he also opened the floor to questions from students.  Here is a transcript from the White House site. “Let’s get a young lady in here. Go ahead.” STUDENT: Hi. I’m Lilly. And if you could have dinner [...]

Posted on September 9th, 2009 by Gunjan

I  grew up in the city of Kanpur, in northern India. a city that has seen relative decline in recent decades.  During the British Raj it was a thriving textile town. Manufacturers of televisions, tractor parts, motor scooter rose and then declined. Today the city is known for leather and hide exports and for the [...]

Posted on September 3rd, 2009 by Gunjan

Rafael of Israel serenades Indian Defence Ministry with mock-Bollywood video

Posted on August 30th, 2009 by Gunjan

Spielberg seals deal with India money, Watch Amitabh Jhunhjunwala

Posted on August 23rd, 2009 by Gunjan

Pranab Mukerjee presented the budget for the current fiscal year yesterday and it appears to have something for everyone.  Expenditures rise by about 35% with the stated goal of halving poverty over the next several years. Thefiscal deficit — the gap between its revenue and expenditure — is expected to balloon to 6.8 per cent [...]

Posted on July 7th, 2009 by Gunjan

Subject to Senate confirmation,  former  Congressman TIm Roemer, will become President Obama’s ambassador to India.  If confirmed, he will succeed David Mulford who returned to the US in February this year. Roemer is a native of South Bend, Indiana and was a member of the bipartisan 9/11 commission formed in the wake of the terrorist [...]

Posted on May 31st, 2009 by Gunjan

No, this is not a man bites dog story! The India market continues to grow and in certain sectors, it still makes sense to expand vigorously.  One such segment is luxury cars, where Volvo  (a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company) announced that it increase the number of cities in which it operates in India from [...]

Posted on May 25th, 2009 by Gunjan

Proving to be the most flexible senior member of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s cabinet, Bengali lawyer Pranab Mukherjee will take charge of the Finance Ministry, handing over  his prior role of Foreign Minister to SM Krishna.  Mukherjee has also held the position of Defence Minister from 2004 to 2006. In both his prior roles, Mukherjee has [...]

Posted on May 24th, 2009 by Gunjan

Dr. Manmohan Singh  of the Indian National Congress party was sworn in as India’s Prime Minister today, after the general election results of last week. Included in his cabinet were returning ministers Pranab Mukherjee (Foreign Minister), Sharad Pawar (member of alliance party NCP), A K Antony (former Defense Minister) and P Chidambaram (most recently Home [...]

Posted on May 22nd, 2009 by Gunjan

Dr. Manmohan Singh’s United Progress Alliance (UPA) won 206 seats in India’s lower house of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and along  and their “fourth front” allies have a commanding 285 seat majority in the 543 member body. The major constituent of the UPA is the Indian National Congress and its candidates did remarkably well at the [...]

Posted on May 16th, 2009 by Gunjan

Captain Gopinath took the Southwest Airlines /Jet Blue model to India’s aviation market. Low-cost fares, no-frills service,  and  internet-only booking were the hallmarks of his Deccan Air, which he rival sold to Kingfisher in 2007 and is now operated as Kingfisher Red. Gopinath contested and lost from the Parliamentary constituency of Bangalore (south) as an [...]

Posted on May 16th, 2009 by Gunjan

When I was a student at IIT Kanpur in the 1970′s an articulate and eloquent young man from St Stephen’s College in Delhi won every debating contest at our annual Cultural Festival.  Shashi Tharoor has now created history in many ways by winning a parliamentary seat  for the Indian National Congress from the southern state [...]

Posted on May 16th, 2009 by Gunjan

Besides Gujarat, another business-friendly venue in recent years has been the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderad are home to India’s pharmaceutical giants such as Dr. Reddy’s Labs and to multinational corporatations’ India operations such as Oracle, Conexant, Microsoft and Google.  The Indian School of Business is also based [...]

Posted on May 16th, 2009 by Gunjan

Once again, India’s electorate has confounded the conventional wisdom.  Results of the 2009 parliamentary elections appear to be leading to a resounding majority for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)and its leader, the Congress Party. Only hours ago the opposition National Democratic Alliance and its leader the Bhartiya Janata Party expressed hopes (now dashed) of forming [...]

Posted on May 16th, 2009 by Gunjan

Does the offshoring and outsourcing of Information Technology and related skills hurt America? How much does it hurt.  I just finished reading an editorial comment in Information Week magazine from Bob Evans, Senior VP and Director of their Global CIO unit. By Bob’s estimate, drawn from Forrester Research numbers,  perhaps $60 billion of work was [...]

Posted on April 20th, 2009 by Gunjan

The India expert normally doesn’t write about Indian-Americans.  Our focus is looking at India from the outside and helping the world deal with India. But President Barack Obama has taken three significant actions to re-inforce one of the (positive) stereotypes of Indian Americans and I must comment on this new trend. First, Dr. Sanjay Gupta [...]

Posted on April 18th, 2009 by Gunjan

India is the largest borrower from both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and has always made good on its loan payments. The moneys are used for mega-development projects, usually around infrasctructure. But a new plan to develop flood management, water supply and sanitation in the northeastern border state of Arunachal Pradesh caused [...]

Posted on April 14th, 2009 by Gunjan

While the late George Harrison was probably the biggest fan of Indian yoga, the Beatles as a group were quite influential in bring awareness of meditation and of India to the west. Their joint concerts with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar in the 1960s are remembered by many. On Saturday April 4th, Sir Paul McCartney and [...]

Posted on April 13th, 2009 by Gunjan

My book, Doing Business in 21st Century India, was released as a hardback, audio book and Kindle edition last summer. Today they have released it on Apple ITunes. You can get to it at itunes.com/gunjanbagla or you can try playing the sample MP3 file Doing Business in 21st Century India

Posted on April 11th, 2009 by Gunjan

When a Pantaloons store opened at the Rave mall in native city of Kanpur, I was intrigued. It was the first Western-style retail store, selling clothing in this instance.  Upon some research I found that it was run by Kishore Bayani’s Futures Group. Bayani’s company has gone on to launch a series of grocery and [...]

Posted on April 2nd, 2009 by Gunjan

The Caltech-MIT Enterprise Forum recently asked me to moderate a discussion on India as a market and as an investor in the United States.  You can read the report about it on the India West website. The reporter picked up on a point that that I often emphasize with clients.  In dealing with India, there’s [...]

Posted on March 26th, 2009 by Gunjan

In this global downturn, more attention is turning to India as a market and as a resource. I see that every day in my consulting practice at Amritt, Inc. But The Economist turned to India to start its talk about Entrepreneurship during the downturn. In 1997, I joined an organization called The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE) [...]

Posted on March 24th, 2009 by Gunjan

First time visitors to India’s capital are often impressed with the ubiquity of natural gas as a fuel for transportation. All taxis, local buses, even all three-wheeler “scooters” (aka tuktuks in SE Asia) are required to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).  Kits to convert “petrol” (gasoline) vehicles to natural gas are common and its [...]

Posted on March 20th, 2009 by Gunjan

India’s ruling coalition government has paid several hundred thousand dollars to acquire the right to use the Oscar-winning  Jai Ho song from Slumdog Millionaire as part of its election advertising.  The UPA Coalition, led by the Indian National Congress party,  embraced the British movie and its depiction of the poor immediately in a calculated move [...]

Posted on March 7th, 2009 by Gunjan

One of my college friends from India lives in California and years ago, started a magazine for Gays and Lesbians from India and South Asia, called Trikone.  I just exchanged emails with him about how Rupert Murdoch and News Corp‘s, Star News channel in India chose to censor the pro-gay words by Sean Penn in [...]

Posted on February 27th, 2009 by Gunjan

So far, I haven’t written about the November terrorist attacks on Mumbai on this blog.  But I was active in other ways. Fox Business TV interviewed me on their first “Money with Breakfast” show on the Monday after and the Hollywood Reporter carried another interview with me.  My message about the tragedy was hopeful and [...]

Posted on February 21st, 2009 by Gunjan

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, chooses to visit Asia for her first foreign trip. Not Canada, the neighbor to the north. Not Mehico the other member of NAFTA. Not the staunch European allies in Nato in Europe.  Hillary’s first visit is to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China. Despite  being derided by Candidate Obama, as [...]

Posted on February 17th, 2009 by Gunjan

At the Grammy Awards this year, much attention was focussed on Sri Lankan born British singer, MIA, who performed despite being nine months pregnant. MIA is also featured in SlumDog Millionaire. But another important celebrity with South Asian connections was among the winners. Calfornia resident Zakir Hussain, won for the World Drum Project. Husain is [...]

Posted on February 17th, 2009 by Gunjan

I write for Business Week from time to time and this week, Dr. Atul Goel and I wrote a piece entitled: Innovation from India, the next Big Wave.  It took them some time to publish the piece, but in many ways it is even more relevant now than when we first wrote it, given the [...]

Posted on February 12th, 2009 by Gunjan

As President Obama takes office, there is still gloom about the economy and about America’s role in the world. At least that is what Reuters reports today in a survey of 22,000 people in 22 countries, conducted for it by Ipsos. Respondents from 20 countries gave bad marks to the United States in foreign relations [...]

Posted on January 20th, 2009 by Gunjan

The British movie  set in  Mumbai, SlumDog Millionaire, won four Golden Globe awards yesterday including Best Film and Best Director. The music for  the movie was composed by the “Mozart of Madras”,  A.R. Rahman, who is now a Muslim but was born to Hindu parents and named A.S. Dileep Kumar until his conversion to Islam.  [...]

Posted on January 13th, 2009 by Gunjan

I was recently asked to moderate a discussion panel on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The occasion was the Global Alumni Meeting of the Indian Institutes of Technology (www.panIIT2008.org) and the keynote speaker of the day was Bob MacDonald the Chief Operating Officer of Procter & Gamble.  My panel had an illustrious crew as well including the [...]

Posted on January 11th, 2009 by Gunjan

HSBC bank and their advertising agency have taken my ideas into the realm of what one might call Urban Legend. In the marketing chapter of my book (Doing Business in 21st Century India) , I quote Micky Pant, formerly a Unilever executive, who was surprised to learn that 70% of washing machine sales in India [...]

Posted on November 24th, 2008 by Gunjan

At 3:21 am Pacific Daylight Time on November 8, India’s moon probe was successfully inserted into orbit around the moon. The Chandrayaan-1 probe  liquid engine was fired when the spacecraft passed at a distance of about 500 km from the moon to reduce its velocity to enable lunar gravity to capture it into an orbit [...]

Posted on November 9th, 2008 by Gunjan

India’s first lunar probe, named Chandrayaan-1, is all set to launch from Sriharikota on the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, October 22. The $83 million mission is expected to orbit the moon for two years and carries 11 instruments on board, including two from the United States. Weather permitting, the countdown will begin on October [...]

Posted on October 13th, 2008 by Gunjan

Yesterday, President George W Bush signed the landmark “123 Agreement” enabling the United States and India to collaborate in civilian nuclear energy.  Three years in the making, this deal reverses a 34 year old ban imposed on India after its first nuclear test in the Rajasthan desert in May 1974. See photos and video here

Posted on October 9th, 2008 by Gunjan

I’ve been humbled by the ten five star reviews accorded to my book ( Doing Business in 21st Century India )  on Amazon.  There are many books that present a strongly positive image of India and its potential;  words such as Planet, Billions, Arriving, Unbound, as part of their title convey their intent. I set [...]

Posted on September 27th, 2008 by Gunjan

The White House said late last Wednesday it sent the text of a landmark US-India civilian nuclear agreement to Congress for final approval. The pro-deal arguments are best summarized at a website run by the US India Business Council, an industry group based in Washington, DC. Leading the charge against the deal is a newspaper [...]

Posted on September 15th, 2008 by Gunjan

In a meeting in Vienna, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group has just granted a historic waiver for India to be able to import nuclear fuel and technologies. This is a huge step in the US-India Civil Nuclear Agrement process. I will post more details shortly.  But remember you heard it here BEFORE the  Wall Street [...]

Posted on September 6th, 2008 by Gunjan

The rewards of doing business with India are great today. But only for the patient.  I counsel my clients to pack some extra patience and a sense of humor when they travel to India. The Ambani billionaire brothers are known in India for moving very quickly. Yet the god of Hollywood (Steven Spielberg) is finding [...]

Posted on September 4th, 2008 by Gunjan

I was honored this week to be named India Journal’s ‘Person of the Week’.  Below is a reprint of their interview with me… CERRITOS, CA – Gunjan Bagla dons many hats. An entrepreneur, academic and most recently author, he has a keen sense of the market here in the US and in India. He relies [...]

Posted on August 22nd, 2008 by Gunjan

A week ago both Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal predicted that the major agreement between Indian billionaire Anil Ambani and Hollywood uber-director Steven Spielberg was less than a week ago. This blog here suggestted that it may take longer than that. Why? First, when you negotiate with India you have to look at [...]

Posted on August 16th, 2008 by Gunjan

The deal to let Hollywood director Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks SKG exit Paramount/Viacom may be less than a week away, according to Bloomberg News.  Indian billionaire, Anil Ambani would invest $550 million and the studio would borrow another $450 million. See my earlier post on this issue for more. And don’t be surprised if the [...]

Posted on August 10th, 2008 by Gunjan

On August 6, the music video of rapper Snoop Dogg and India’s Akshay Kumar will release in advance of the much anticipated (in India) movie Singh is Kinng. Most Bollywood (Indian) movies are musicals and the songs are released in advance of the movies. The producers report (legal) sales of half a million copies of [...]

Posted on July 30th, 2008 by Gunjan

General parliamentary elections aren’t due until 2009, but a special session of India’s legislature is to meet in New Delhi on Monday.

The first steps to the US-India Nuclear agreement were signed in 2005, but its passage on both American and India sides has been fraught with questions.

But this current crisis is the most serious challenge so far.

Posted on July 20th, 2008 by Gunjan

By Christmas this year, the world’s largest refinery complex will be operational in western India. It will produce 1.1 million barrels a day. Recent development is partly financed by a loan guarantee from the Export Import Bank of the United States. American companies have played a major export role in the new refinery’s success. San Francisco based Bechtel provided design and project management, Kansas City-based Black & Veatch sold sulfur and gas treatment units, New Jersey’s Foster Wheeler provided industrial heaters, and UOP near Chicago supplied catalytic converters.

Posted on July 12th, 2008 by Gunjan