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JULY 29, 2007

COVER STORY


	India's Richest Investment Banks By helping some of India's mega-corporations make global-size acquisitions and raise billions through public issues, deal makers are making hay. In the first half of 2007, the top 10 investment banks collected some $441 million in fees. The going can only get better. BT SPECIAL: IT/ITES Industry Now, IT Gets Harder Indian it went from $5 billion to near $50 billion in just a decade. But growth hereon will need vastly different strategies. Read More Searching For Niches Differentiation and a more global footprint is what top Indian IT players will need now. Read More Homing In With foreign vendors striking big-ticket domestic deals, will their Indian rivals start paying attention to the home market? Read More BPO Time To Consolidate? As scale becomes critical, the bigger BPOs are bulking up by buying captives and other smaller outfits. And like in IT, the top three companies may become the dominant force. Read More

The Best Companies to Work for in India: 2007

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BT SPECIAL
Connecting The
Next Billion
How software giant Microsoft and a few others are working to make computing affordable and relevant to India's poor.
Read More


	FEATURES


	The Boss, No Doubt Southern superstar Rajinikanth's latest flick Sivaji: The Boss promises to be the biggest blockbuster ever, with projected box-office takings of Rs 350 crore in India and abroad. What makes the ageing star a global phenomenon? more...		What's Eating Indian Advertising? The Indian advertising industry for its part isn't quite the 'Happy' in Happydent. Advertising for the chewing gum may have bagged numerous awards, but the country's agencies-despite robust growth in recent times-would appear to have little reason to smile. more...



	Big Banks, Big Mop-ups ICICI Bank, SBI and a host of other banks have mobilised thousands of crores or plan to do so soon. But given their growth momentum, they will probably have to come back for more. more...		Big Pharma's Patent Push Generic drugs will continue to dominate the Indian pharma market over the next five years, but multinational companies are lobbying to shape patent laws to protect their profitability over the long term. How far will they succeed? more...




	REPORTER'S DIARY Karnataka's Nandigram A proposed SEZ, 20 km from Bangalore's new international airport, comes under sustained fire from farmers' lobbies and the opposition, but the government and developer refute any underhand deals. more...






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Small Is Lucrative Small and medium enterprises are bullish, according to a nine-country survey by HSBC in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the latest figures available with the Reserve Bank of India, the total outstanding credit of banks to SMEs in March 2006 was more than Rs 90,000 crore. SME sector provides employment to a large number of people in the country and is the largest employer after agriculture. The report looks at the road ahead for SMEs in India.

Currency Future The steady rise of the rupee against the dollar is affecting several businesses in the country. Allowing derivatives trading in rupees could partially help set off the losses incurred. The government should take a cue from the recently launched futures trade in rupees on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange. However, sceptics are of the view that it could lead to further volatility of the exchange rate of the rupee against the dollar.

Buoyant Times Fuelled by robust performances by the manufacturing and services sectors, India's GDP grew 9.4 per cent in 2006-07, the fastest in the last 18 years. Significantly, the country's investments, most of which is taking place in infrastructure and capacity creation, are projected at 35.2 per cent of GDP. This will ensure that the current growth trajectory will probably be sustained in the short run in spite of an ongoing credit squeeze. An analysis.

No Headway The three-day G8 summit, held in Germany recently, did not meet with much success. Though the leaders agreed to bring down emission of greenhouse gases, no deadlines were set. The G8 leaders agreed to allocate $60 billion (Rs 2,46,000 crore) "over the coming years" to finance the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and a further $500 million (Rs 2,050 crore) for the "Education for All" programme in Africa.





	MONEY		JOBS TODAY


	Balancing The Risks More families today are exposed to different risks when creating wealth. How to manage them? more...		Hitting The Mark The 4th quarterly Business Today-TeamLease Employment Outlook Survey shows that the bullishness of the previous three quarters has remained constant. more...

	BOOKEND		BACK OF THE BOOK


	Surviving Wal-Mart A former Wal-Mart strategist tells you how to survive and thrive in a world dominated by the retail giant. more...		Delightful Spread If variety is the spice of life, then food courts are the flavour of the season. We present some of the most popular food courts across six cities that offer delectable cuisine and a peppy ambience. more...
	PEOPLE		COLUMNS


	People Starring Philips Electronics India's K. Ramachandran; Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, VP & MD of Dell's BPO operations in India; Deloitte & Touche's Roopen Roy; Vodafone's Arun Sarin; retail giant Tesco's Meena Ganesh; and Jangoo Dalal, MD and CEO, D-Link. more...		Leadership Spotlight Basant Kumar Birla Chairman, B.K Birla Group


	TRENDS		CURRENT


	Don't Blame the Left Senior ministers are holding up important reform measures. more... Instan Tip The fortnight's burning question. more... Q&A: Stephen J. Burrows more... RCL to be Outsourced IT Department for SMEs more... Sell, Sell, Sell Cars Any Which Way At India's largest automaker Maruti Udyog (MUL), selling cars using innovative schemes is par for the course. more... Maruti's Rural Push Maruti Udyog (MUL) has grown sales by 17.1 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year to 169,669 units and Jagdish Khattar, Managing Director of the company, attributes at least some of this success not just to peppy sales of the Swift and SX4, but also to the company's push into semi-urban and rural centres. more... Where are the Price Cuts? more... Tapping the Diabetes Economy more... Surfing the Outsourcing Boom He's always on the lookout for challenges. "Doing something different motivates me," says Suresh Rajpal, former President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard India-turned-serial entrepreneur. more... Top of Mind more... Economy Watch more... Policy Watch A bird's eye view of what's hot and what's not on the government's policy radar. more... P-Watch Column The why, what and how-to of policy making. more... Newsmaker This fortnight’s hero is R.S. Sharma, who recently took over as CMD of ONGC. more... Numbers of Note more... NOTED more... Hic Hic Hurray more... Wealth Managers Flock to Kolkata. more...		Beyond 15K You'll be rich in the long term, but watch out for gremlins now. more... Working Up A Lather Wipro Consumer is now India's third-largest FMCG company. more... No Pie In The Sky Kochi to Singapore at Rs 1,600? That's without the taxes. more... Exit Danone, Enter Kraft? Danone may find a taker for its stake in Britannia. more... On The Right Track Players running container trains are crunching delivery times. more... Shifting Gear Ashok Leyland is taking the JV route into "sunrise" areas. more... The Value Hunters India's mega-corps are becoming PE players. more... Open Sesame SBI forms a holding company for non- banking activities. more... Taking Off: Second Airports Several Indian cities will have a second airport by 2010. more... The Buffett Disciple Mohnish Pabrai invests and gives away like Warren Buffett. more... Statistical Comfort? Magically, the HIV infected population in India halves. more... A Castle In The Air That's literally what Lanco is planning in Hyderabad. more... A House For Mr Ambani Ambani's 27-storey partly-built condo is under threat. more... His Own Broadcaster Cornered, Neo Sports decides to go solo. more... Toon Boom Walt Disney will co-produce animation films out of India. more... Ball By (Eye)ball Online cricket coverage grabs viewers and advertisers. more... Magic Pill Now, a contraceptive that can reduce acne and facial hair. more... Pushing The Right Button Legrand makes India the "epicentre" of its growth plans. more... Talent Hunt Potential for CRAMS is huge, but where's the manpower? more... Taking The Rap Hip-hop is passé, Reebok seeks a more universal message. more... Emotional Connect Societe Generale Consumer Finance opts for Kolkata. more...


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