Vibrant Gujarat 2011: Gateway to the hub of golden opportunities

Heaping praises on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for not only driving industrial growth but also boosting rural development, India's industry bigwigs on Wednesday pledged to invest in excess of Rs 163,000 crore (Rs 1,630 billion) in the state. They had all gathered at the fifth edition of Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2011 (VGS) in Gandhinagar. Meanwhile, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani announced Rs 80,000-crore (Rs 800 billion) investment in ports, power sector and infrastructure in Gujarat.

On the occasion of VGS they  announced an investment of more than Rs 80,000 crore in port, power generation and infrastructure in Gujarat. While two new ports -- one each at Hazira and Dholera are being developed they are also expanding the existing ports at Mundra and Dahej. With this they have a goal to create 200 million tonnes per annum of port handling capacity by the year 2015.

 In power generation while they have commissioned 2,000 MW at Mundra, additional 2,600 MW will be commissioned by March 2012. Further they are also building 3,300 MW at Bhadreshwar in Kutch, 600 MW at Dahej and 4,000 MW at Dholera SIR. As an integrated infrastructure conglomerate they are also developing LNG terminal, infrastructure parks, supporting railway lines and supporting facilities.

Projects of more than Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion) for which they had signed MoUs at the time of Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2007 and 2009 have been fructified.

Anil Ambani’s his ADA Group will invest Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) in Gujarat in the next 5-7 years on various projects as the firm looks to tap opportunities in the state. They are committing to invest Rs 50,000 crore in the state of Gujarat in gas-based and coal-based power projects in the next 5-7 years.

Essar Group  will invest Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) in Gujarat for projects in various sectors, including power and refinery. Essar has committed to invest in Gujarat Rs 30,000 crore in power, refinery, ports and water infrastructure. Essar Group is a major player in the port sector in Gujarat. Its ports and terminals business operates a crude oil and petroleum products terminal at Vadinar in the state.

Mahindra & Mahindra will invest Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) in Gujarat to step up presence in the hospitality and real estate sectors in the state.

They have signed six MoUs with the Gujarat government totaling an investment of Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion. Mahindra Lifespaces, the real estate development arm of the $7.1-billion Mahindra Group, has signed two MoUs with the state government.

The Tata Group has signed an MoU with the Gujarat government to provide rural transportation.This will be in addition to the ongoing rural initiatives such as skills development activities, sanitation and water projects where the group is already a partner.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries have signed a pact with Gujarat government to develop Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University into a top world class institute.

The leadership of Narendra Modi has proved that Gujarat is not only seeing industrial growth but is also witnessing rural development .

Source :Rediff Business

Men behind top Indian tycoons' success - Anil Ambani's chief strategist - Amitabh Jhunjhunwala

Behind every successful Indian promoter is a strong CFO -- or, a second-in command -- who has been key to a company's success: PMS Prasad at Reliance Industries, Amitabh Jhunjhunwala at R-ADAG, Tarun Jain at Vedanta, Ravi Nedungadi at UB Group, Venkatesh Babu at Lanco Infratech, Issac George at GVK Group, NK Jain and Seshagiri Rao at JSW, and A Subba Rao at GMR Group, to name a few.

They have some of the sharpest minds in the country, helping their companies raise money at rates that are often cheaper than those at which governments borrow.The key attributes of such a person: a blend of character and competence; leadership, people and networking skills.

 Amitabh Jhunjhunwala

Anil Ambani's chief strategist in the Ambani brothers' battle over the Reliance empire is known for his sharp financial acumen. Jhunjhunwala is a key member of Anil's leadership team and vice-chairman of Reliance Capital Ltd, with primary responsibility for the financial services and media & entertainment businesses.A chartered accountant, Jhunjhunwala rose to become treasurer of the undivided RIL, and along with RIL CFO Alok Agarwal, drove its impressive fund-raising exercises. He quit RIL in 2005 and became Anil's spokesperson.

When the Reliance-ADA Group was formed, he helped Anil raise money and sew-up deals like Adlabs and AMP Sanmar. He was a key strategist in the gas dispute case, working closely with J P Chalasani. Recently, he was instrumental in forming joint ventures with major US companies, including Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Studios and CBS. He is married to Tapoti, and has one son, Abhinav.

IMG, Reliance in deal to develop Indian basketball

(Reuters) - Sports and entertainment agency IMG and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries scored an agreement that could eventually lead to the formation of an Indian professional basketball league.

As part of the 30-year deal, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has granted the IMG Reliance joint venture commercial rights to basketball in India, including sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, data and franchising rights. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

IMG Reliance also will advise the BFI on managing school and college leagues.

"This is a gigantic opportunity," IMG chairman and owner Ted Forstmann said in a telephone interview.

"We got together with (Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani) to build a very big sports ownership business in a phenomenal country that's growing like crazy," he added.

Ambani is India's richest man. Reliance, whose businesses include petrochemicals, retail and telecommunications, is India's largest company by market capitalization.

IMG and Reliance formed a joint venture in March to develop, market and manage sports and entertainment in India. Forstmann said the venture was formed to tap into a market of 1.2 billion people that boasts a fast-growing middle class and a young demographic looking to branch out beyond the wildly popular cricket.

IMG officials have openly discussed their desire to own the next Indian sports league after the success of the Indian Premier League, a cricket organization IMG helped establish three years ago that Forstmann said is now valued at $4 billion.

The IPL's rapid success has changed the way potential sports investors view Indian commercial opportunities, said Neel Shah, a sports marketing associate with the Indian office for advertising agency Dentsu who previously worked for Major League Soccer.

"It has raised the bar tenfold on what type of value people are placing on sports properties that do well on the ground and on air," he said of the cricket league.

Under Forstmann, IMG's profit has grown fivefold since he bought the company in 2004. He has expanded it from a business of representing athletes and models to managing more lucrative events like Wimbledon and Fashion Week, and crafting TV deals in China and India.

The initial focus for the IMG Reliance venture will be on developing the sport of basketball and the infrastructure, but a pro league could follow three to five years after that, said Andrew Wildblood, an IMG executive vice president and an executive director with the joint venture.

"This is a giant step towards our stated vision of making basketball a much-watched and popular sport in the country," BFI general secretary Harish Sharma said.

IMG and Reliance are not alone in wanting to develop basketball in India as the National Basketball Association in March announced a partnership to start a recreational league for 14- to 18-year-olds with another Indian conglomerate, Mahindra Group.

"There is a large untapped opportunity for sports in India, particularly for basketball," NBA International president Heidi Ueberroth said in an email. "The investments being made by Reliance and IMG will accelerate the growth of basketball and affirm its potential in India."

NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver told Reuters in March that basketball participation and interest in India is growing, and there may be an opportunity to create a league sooner rather than later.

Forstmann acknowledged India currently lacks many arenas that could accommodate pro basketball teams, but said IMG does not want to miss out in a country where the number of Indian middle-class households is expected to surge fourfold between 2008 and 2030 to 147 million according to a McKinsey Global Institute report.

In addition, IMG Reliance is moving ahead with plans to open at least one sports academy to train Indians in such sports as golf, tennis, basketball and soccer, as well as position the country to win more medals in the Olympic games.

Source : Reuters

Reliance shares up ahead of meeting on expansion hopes

Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire chairman of Reliance, is scheduled to address the annual shareholders meeting that is set to start at 11 a.m.

Investors were also keeping a close eye on whether long-estranged brother Anil Ambani appears at the meeting after the two called a truce last month.

Reliance shares, which have the highest weighting in the main index, were up 1.3 percent at 1,085 rupees by 0448 GMT in a Mumbai market that was up 0.4 percent. The stock had risen as much as 1.7 percent in early trade.

Expectations that Reliance will enter sectors as diverse as power, telecoms, and healthcare have been rampant since Mukesh Ambani last month ended an agreement with Anil that prevented them from competing on each others' turf.

Exactly five years ago, the two brothers split the business empire founded by their father after disagreements over ownership, and the non-compete agreement had been a source of acrimony between the two.

The Times of India reported on Friday that Reliance was in advanced talks to buy fibre optic cables and telecoms tower business from mobile operator Reliance Communications(RLCM.BO), controlled by Anil.

Reliance may also buy a 26 percent stake in shipbuilder Pipavav Shipyard(PIPA.BO), the Economic Times reported on Friday.

Source: Reuters

Anil Ambani withdraws suit against brother - report

After five years of a bitter feud, Mukesh and Anil last month unexpectedly called a truce by ending a non-competition agreement that had been a source of acrimony since they split the family business between them.

Anil had accused Mukesh of defaming him in a 2008 interview with the New York Times that was reproduced in two leading Indian newspapers, the Press Trust of India reported.

"Yes, we have withdrawn the suit claiming Rs 10,000 crore (100 billion rupees, or $2.12 billion) as damages," a spokesman for the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group told PTI.

A spokesman for Anil Ambani's group of companies declined to comment to Reuters.

Mukesh Ambani controls India's largest listed firm, Reliance Industries, while Anil's empire includes No. 2 Indian telecoms firm Reliance Communications, Reliance Power, Reliance Natural Resources and Reliance Infrastructure.

Source: Reuters.