Americans renting womb of Indian women !!!!!!!!!

Reproductive outsourcing is growing very rapidly in India. Many foreigners especially from the United States and Europe are renting womb in India. Moreover many Indian women are ready to become surrogate mothers.

Money is the major motivating factor as why the Indian women are ready to carry the baby in her womb which is not hers. India is the second fastest growing economy of the world and is all set to surpass United States by the year 2050 when it will become the second largest economy of the world after China. Although Indian economy is booming but it is a known fact that the wealth is concentrated in few major cities of India. There are people who are multi millionaire and there are those who are committing suicide because of poverty.

Today women find no harm in donating eggs and carrying some other person’s baby in her womb as long as she gets money. A surrogate normally earns around $7500 (Rs. 300,000); however the amount varies depending on the case. The surrogate mothers have no legal rights on the baby. They can use this money for their children’s education, for their daughter’s marriage, to buy a house, to repay a loan, to start a business etc.

Why the foreigners prefer renting a womb in India. The reasons are many fold. Commercial surrogacy was legalized in India in 2002. Indian women are still free from drugs and alcohols; they are ready to rent their wombs at low prices. Availability of high skilled medical professionals in India gives the foreigners a sense of confidence.

Moreover all these they can afford at cheap prices which is not possible if they are doing it in any developed countries. The client has to spend around $2500 here. This covers the medical and legal procedures, payment to the surrogates, traveling expenses, renting a hotel and other related expenses.

Renting a womb is a complex buying activity; here positive word of mouth plays a pivotal role. This is why whenever there is a success hundreds of inquires follow. It is like referral sales and we know that referral sales are exponential in nature.

Reproductive outsourcing is becoming a vibrant business in India. Reproductive outsourcing which started in Anand, Gujarat in India has now spread all across the country. It is argued that the rich westerners are using their money power to exploit the poor Indians. Although, the poor Indian women are making lots of money by becoming surrogates but what about ethics and morality. The government should see to it that the poor women are not exploited by the rich foreigners.

Online Job Market in India

The dotcom industry in India is growing at a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of around 100 percent. It currently employs around 30,000 people and will require 25,000 more professionals in next two years.

THE INDUSTRY
India has witnessed fastest growth in internet usage (33%) surpassing Russia (21%) and China (20%) in 2006, according to a survey by ComScore, a UK-based market research firm. Internet population in India is expected to cross 100 million by 2007-08, up from 38.5 million in 2005-06. Today e-mail and chatting are not the primary activity but instead information search has become the primary activity on internet. The online market in India has started witnessing growth. Job portals, matrimony portals and travel portals are leading the growth.

ONLINE JOB MARKET
Today internet has become an effective tool both for the job-seekers and the employers. With the availability of large databases the employers find it easy to screen the right candidate for the job on the other hand the job seekers get to know about the opportunities available for them across the globe. The number of job seekers online is stated to have crossed 9.2 million in 2006-07. Indian online recruitment industry is valued at about Rs 241 crore up from Rs. 145 crore in 2005-2006. Infact job search on internet is one of the most important activities on internet in India. Important job portals are: timesjobs.com, Rediff jobsearch, monster.com, naukri.com, jobsahead.com.

TRAVEL PORTALS
Online ticket booking is becoming popular. Today people want everything at the click of a button. This has given impetus to online travel booking industry. Famous travel portals like travelguru.com; makemytrip.com; eholidayindia.com, cleartrip.com, travelgenie.com, etc. are witnessing stupendous growth. US based venture capitalists are heavily investing in India’s online travel booking industry. Around US$1miilion -10million have been invested by them in various travel portals which specializes in India-US travel booking.

MATCHMAKING PORTALS
Finding a perfect match for oneself has always been a tedious task. But the internet matchmaking sites promises to help an individual in selecting his/her dream partners. Portals like Shaadi.com, jeevansaathi.com, timesmatrimony.com and bharatmatrimony.com have become household names. Seeing the success of these portals many new matrimony portals such as jain4jain.com, govtshaadi.com, mangliks.com, and bposhaadi.com have been launched. According to a study by the Internet and Online Association, the market size of online matrimonial is estimated to reach Rs. 80 crore in 2007-08.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES
The industry is in need of trained and skilled professionals. The profiles which are in demand are: web developers, web designers, project managers, product managers, search engine marketing professionals, creative writers. Industry is looking for professionals who can work on languages like XML, PHP, Perl and C#. Web developers are required to develop applications and add new features on daily basis. Search engine professionals are required to find ways to increase the visibility of the portal on search engines. Project managers and product managers work at the middle level of the organization.

Attrition rate is as high as 30% in the industry. The industry has started taking steps to retain the talents. Providing competitive pay-packages is one major step which has been taken. Salaries are being increased at the rate of 25 percent pr annum. Sales and marketing professional salaries are between Rs1.8 lakh-Rs 3 lakh per annum. Salaries for technology professionals at operational level are between 3 lakh-Rs 3.5 lakh per annum whereas product managers and project mangers get Rs 10 lakh-Rs 15 lakh per annum.

Mahindra & Mahindra in USA

Opening up of the Indian economy in the year 1991 made Indians wealthier. But it was a tough time for many Indian companies. When the automotive sector was opened for the foreign players in 1993 then many Indian companies had to fight for survival.

M&M (Mahindra and Mahindra) better known for its prowess in tractor making too had to face stiff competition. Perform or perish was the mantra. M&M sensed the opportunity in the Utility Vehicle (UV) and Sports Utility Vehicle(SUV) segment and came up with Scorpio and Bolero. Undoubtedly the move has paid and today these two vehicles have occupied numero uno position in the UV/SUV segment in India.

Just look at the statistics:

• Total number of UV and SUV sold in India till March 2008: 288,601.
• M&M sold 148,761 i.e. 51.54%.
• Out of these Scorpios sold were 39,935.
• Automotive division of M&M contributes 61% in the company’s revenue.

M&M’s Boleros, Scorpios and Scorpio pick-ups have gained popularity in South Africa. In the last three years M&M has sold around 9000 vehicles in South Africa worth Rs 301 crore.

Total number of vehicles exported by M&M to Egypt, South Africa, Chile, Sri Lanka, Europe, Brazil and Nepal in the fiscal year 2008 was 12,000.

M&M now wants to enter the US market as it believes that there is a niche for them in the mid-size SUV segment.

New Move:

• M&M is set to foray into the US market.
• Target: To sell 10,000 vehicles in US in the year 2009.
• Will spend Rs 200 crore to upgrade Scorpio for the US market.
• Vehicle will be powered by mHawk engine
• Vehicles will be T2B5 i.e. Tier 2 Bin 5 compliant-the emission standard which automobiles have to comply with in USA.
• Will position itself in mid-size SUV market.
• Will spend Rs 200 crore on promotional campaign.
• Wants to create a niche for them in the US automotive market

Honda’s CR-V and Toyota’s RAV4 will be the main competitors for M&M. The US consumers are very demanding. They are brand conscious. How enthusiastically they will accept a product that to from India only time will tell.

Organised Retail in India

The Indian organized retail industry is valued at about $300 billion and is expected to grow to $427 billion in 2010 and $637 billion in 2015.

Retail Market
India today is the second fastest growing economy of the world after China. Indian economy will grow larger than Britain’s by 2022, Japan by 2032 and by 2050 will become the second largest economy of the world after China. Indian market has become the most lucrative market for retail investment in the world.

Some of the factors which have contributed to the growth of organized retail in India are: increase in the purchasing power of Indians, rapid urbanization, increase in the number of working women, large number of working young population.

Today people look for better quality product at cheap rate, better service, better ambience for shopping and better shopping experience. Organized retail promises to provide all these.


The Industry
The various formats of organized retail are:

Hypermarkets: They store products of multiple brands comprising food items and non-food items.

Supermarkets: These are self service stores selling food and personal care products. E.g.: Subhiksha.

Departmental stores: Retails branded goods in non-food categories. E.g.: Shoppers Stop.

Specialty Chains : These stores focuses on a branded product or a product category. E.g.: Bata

Convenience stores: These are small self service outlet located in crowded urban area.

Malls: A huge enclosures which has different retail formats. e.g.: Nucleus

Key players in organised retail are:

Pantaloon Retail: It was started by Kishore Biyani- India’s largest retailer. The various formats of pantaloon retail are: Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central etc.

RPG Retail: Its various formats are: Food World, Music World, Health & Glow, Spencer’s

Tata Retail (known as TRENT): Its various formats are: CromaWestsideStar India Bazaar

K Raheja Corp. Group: Shoppers’ Stop, Hypercity, Crossword, InOrbit Mall

Reliance Retail

Job Opportunities:
Retail accounts for 8% employment in the country. In the next 2 years the sector is set to provide 2.5 lakh job opportunities. The types of jobs available in retail are: Retail sales, Store management, Stock management, Supply chain management, warehousing and operations. In organised retail the frontliners like shop floor executives, sales executives etc are in great demand.

The frontliners have to directly communicate with the customers. The other jobs are for store managers, store planners, cashiers, stockists, logistics, operations, distribution, marketing, finance, HR, IT etc. Good communication skill, high interpersonal skills, convincing power, positive attitude and ability to handle stress is a prerequisite for these jobs.

Fresh graduates who want to make career in retail can easily fill these jobs. Stock planners, Operations, logistics, cashiers have to deal with the numbers daily. Besides having good communication skills they also require numerical and analytical ability.

Bharati retail is planning to invest $2.5bn by 2015 which will create employment opportunity for 60,000 people. Bharti Resources, a learning and development solutions subsidiary of Bharti Group, has tied-up with Global Retail School (GRS) to groom graduates and undergraduates in retail management and other sectors.

They will provide 3-month and 6-month certificate courses for Rs 30,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively in Retail Sales and Marketing, Retail Visual Merchandising and Space Planning, Retail Supply Chain Management, for creating frontend manpower professionals.

Indeed it is a fact that organised retail in India is all set to grow at an stupendous pace.

How to make IPL a brand

IPL has generated lots of debate not only among the marketers but also among the common people. One thing is for sure-you can love IPL or you can hate IPL but you cannot ignore IPL. Since day 1 IPL has been in limelight. Be it the cheerleaders or the infamous ‘tamacha’ incident-all these have ensured that everyone is talking just about IPL.

Remember those old days when people patiently used to watch a cricket match for complete five days and at the end of the fifth day they were informed that neither side has won. It was the “one day” format which made cricket popular. “Twenty 20” is the shortest version of the game and today its popularity is increasing every day.

The IPLT20 format is a new product which has been launched for the existing customers. In order to be relevant it is important that a product adapts itself to the changing circumstances. Today people lead a very busy life so spending 5 day or even one complete day just for watching a match is not possible. So there was a need for the shorter format.

In fact this shorter version of the game will find wider acceptability in the American and European market in the future. Initial excitement of the tournament can be gauged by the TV ratings and packed stadiums. IPL has the potential to become a brand (may be an iconic brand).

The marketer should focus on four important elements if they want IPL to become a Brand.

• Differentiation
• Relevance
• Esteem
• Knowledge

DIFFERENTIATION: The IPLT20 tournament can be easily differentiated from the other version of the game. The IPLT20 tournament is different from test or one day because it has speed, glamour, action, drama, excitement-all these in just 3 hours. Here the players do not play to save their wickets instead they play to score more and more runs. Fours, sixes and quick singles make the match interesting. In fact action is there whenever a ball is bowled. It suits people’s hectic lifestyle.

RELEVANCE: In order to make the brand more relevant it is important that the club players should participate proactively in the local activities. This would help them to get connected to the people. The club players should give a feeling to the people that they are committed to the club for which they are playing.

Club Issuing Shares:

• However I have a different opinion on this matter. In my view each club can act as an individual company and should issue shares. People should be allowed to purchase the shares. Market capitalization of the club will depend on the valuation of the shares which in turn will depend on the performance of the club.

• Once people purchase share of a particular club then they will be easily able to associate themselves with that particular club. The player’s compensation will also depend on the valuation of the company which in turn will depend on the performance of the club.

• Moreover a resident of Delhi will always prefer purchasing shares of Delhi Daredevils. He will definitely not go and purchase share of a rival club. However people of cities like Patna, Lucknow, Ranchi etc. which do not have a team will be open to back any club depending on their personal preferences.

• If money will be involved then definitely a desire will be there that their club does the best. This will help in developing loyalty for the club. The players too will become more accountable and will endeavor hard to produce better results.

ESTEEM & KNOWLEDGE: This talks about the past performance and hence will start playing a major role once IPL gets older.

Differentiation and Relevance which constitutes the brand strength helps in determining the brands future value. Esteem and knowledge constitutes the Brand Stature. Since the brand is new so emphasis on differentiation and relevance should be more and in due course of time esteem and knowledge about the brand will develop.

Along with the above mentioned measures better promotional strategy is a must. These steps will definitely make IPL an iconic brand.

25 Business Capsules

Date: 30 th May, 2008

1. Vodafone’s revenue in India has increased by 50% in the fiscal year 2007-08.

2. Vodafone’s revenue for the fiscal year 2007-08 which ended in March was Rs 15,288.3 crore.

3. However Bharti Airtel’s & Reliance Communications revenue was higher than that of Vodafone.

4. Bharti Airtel’s revenue for the given period was Rs 27,025 crore & that of Reliance Communications was Rs 18,827.4 crore.

5. Vodafone’s global operation has grown by a margin of 14% during this particular period.

6. India at presents accounts for 5% of Vodafone’s global revenue.

7. Vodafone’s subscriber base till March 31st 2008 was 44.1 million.

8. At present this UK based mobile company is adding 1.5 million subscribers per month in India.

9. The subscriber base of Airtel during the given period was 64.3 million & that of Reliance communication was 45.8 million.

10. Mahindra & Mahindra of India is planning to invest about Rs 2000 crore in its automobile business.

11. Nissan Motor and Ashok Leyland have decided to invest $575 million in their three joint venture companies.

12. Earlier (7 months back) both the companies had decided to invest $500 million.

13. The three joint ventures are in-manufacturing vehicle, technology development and the manufacturing of powertrain.

14. Nissan is a Japanese automobile company.

15. India’s Tata Motors expect to complete the Land Rover and Jaguar deal by this years June.

16. Tata Motors had agreed to purchase both the companies for $.2.3 billion in March 2008.

17. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India is planning to recruit 3 lakh agents.

18. LIC is the biggest insurance company of India.

19. Government of India has decided to relax the External commercial borrowing (ECB) norms; as per the new norm companies can now borrow up to $ 50 million.

20. For the infrastructure company borrowers the limit of ECB has been raised to $ 100 million.

21. Earlier the borrowing limit as per ECB norm was $ 20 million.

22. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided to lay down norms for Value Added services (VAS) in India.

23. Currently 10%-14% revenue of telecom companies comes from VAS.

24. It is expected that within 5-7 years the revenue from VAS will cross 30%.

25. All non-voice services such as SMS, GPRS, entertainment, music and mobile commerce are classified as VAS.

Business Updates

Videocon’s New Move:

Owing to increase in purchasing power Indian consumers are now consuming more and more. Venugopal Dhoot, chairman Videocon Group, does not want to be left behind. He has decided to foray into new markets in India like power, retail, DTH and telecom. How much success he gets only time will tell? One of the biggest ambitions of Videocon is to become one of the top five brands in the consumer electronics segment. The group is to face stiff competition from Sony, LG and Samsung.

• Videocon (India): $2.74billion.

• Sony (Japan): $52.87billion.

• Samsung (South Korea): $63.4 billion.

• LG (South Korea): $47. 45 billion.

Business of Steel

• The demand for steel is growing very rapidly in India. It is estimated that by 2012 India will require 124 million tones of steel as against 50 million tones which is being consumed annually now.

• ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, BlueScope Steel and Essar Steel are planning to buy a stake in the PT Krakatau Steel of Indonesia.

• ArcelorMittal, Luxembourg based world’s largest steel producer, sold 509.8 million shares (17.4%) of China Oriental to Deutsche Bank and ING Bank NV. The move was meant to ensure that the company remains listed in Hong Kong. It is mandatory for any company to make a quarter of their shares available to public to remain listed in Hong Kong.

Foreign Direct Investment For Financial Year 2007-08

• India: $ 24.57 billion

• China: $82.70 billion.

• Brazil: $ 37.40 billion

• Russia: $27.80 billion.

Microsoft vs. Yahoo

• Microsoft gives up its plan to buy Yahoo.

• Microsoft had offered to pay $47.5 billion i.e. $33 per share.

• However Roy Bostock, Yahoo Chairman demanded $37 per share which Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive of Microsoft, refused.

Business of Banks (SBI)

• Net profit of State bank of India (SBI) was Rs 6729 crore in the financial year 2007-08 as against last years Rs 4541 crore.

• SBI declared a dividend of 215% for the year 2007-08.

• Deposits in the year 2007-08 was Rs 5, 37,406 crore as against Rs 4, 35,521 crore in the year 2006-07.

• The credit card business is a 60:40 JV between State Bank of India and GE.