A MOTLEY COLLECTION OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC NEWS

The original report had projected that India’s GDP would outstrip Japan’s by 2032 and that in 30 years it would be the world’s third largest economy after China and the US. The new report goes one step further by moving India up from No. 3 to No. 2 in the global sweepstakes of tomorrow.

Goldman Sachs’ research arm said that India’s growth acceleration since 2003 represented a structural increase rather than simply a cyclical upturn. It said productivity growth drove nearly half of overall growth and expected it to continue for some years. 

“We project India’s potential or sustainable growth rate at about 8% until 2020. The implication is that India’s contribution to world growth will be even greater (and faster) than implied in our previous BRICs research,” Goldman Sachs Global Research said. 

The paper said a turnaround in manufacturing productivity in the country was central to the ratcheting up of productivity growth. 

Ericsson to pump in $100 million annually

“We will be investing $100 million annually for the next five years. The figure could go up depending upon the growth in the sector,” said Mats Granryd, managing director, Ericsson India.

Asked about Ericsson’s projections of growth in the Indian telecom sector, he said last year GSM cellular mobile telephony grew by 100 per cent. “This is growing phenomenally and I do not see an end to it,” he added.

Ericsson’s global CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said: “Indian telecom market has grown more than double in last five years and we have a lot of activity here.” 

About 45 million line GSM tender, in which Ericsson emerged the lowest bidder, getting into legal wrangle after US telecom giant Motorola challenged the process in the Delhi High Court, Carl-Henric said: “Faster the solution the better it is. Delay is not positive for BSNL.” 

He also said the company was working with various operators on the next generation (3G) mobile services, saying trial runs were on but did not name the operators, citing the company’s policy not to declare the names. 

Carl-Henric, who also heads the handset venture Sony Ericsson, hinted that a 3G handset could cost as little as $100 dollar a piece.

Citi Property to invest $500 million in Indian realty

“The funds being brought to India are being utilised for creating a quality land bank in major cities and also to invest in specific projects undertaken by builders,” he added. 

“Nearly 40 per cent of the funds is being reserved towards the hospitality sector to build hotels and service apartments in tier II information technology cities,” he said. 

CPI has since May 2005 invested $250 million in building real estate assets in residential and hospitality sectors in Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad .

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