Dubai company opts for Kochi for 'Smart City' project
Thiruvananthapuram: After scouting for various locations in South India, Dubai Internet City has decided to set up its proposed 'Smart City' in Kochi.

The Dubai-based company has conveyed its decision to the State Government on Wednesday, the state industries minister has said. The Rs1,500-crore project was expected to be located near the Infopark at Kakkanad. The project will need around 1,000 acres, out of which 200 acres has already been identified.

The Smart City will be home to ventures in information technology and IT-enabled services. Besides, it will also have telecom and media companies.

The minister said that the city was expected to provide direct and indirect employment to around one lakh people.
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Iran says prospects for Iran-India gas pipeline are favourable
New Delhi: Prospects for the proposed $4.16-billion Iran-India gas pipeline has brightened following the recent goodwill generated between India and Pakistan, a Iranian Government official said here on Wednesday.

"The pipeline project looks closer than ever. I am very optimistic that the goodwill between India and Pakistan will further the prospects of the pipeline," Iran's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in Economic Affairs, Dr Ali Majedi, said at a conference on Iranian Gas Exports to Pakistan and India. He, however, said security of gas supplies to India through the 2,775-km pipeline, 760-km of which will pass through Pakistan, remained a key issue.

Iran has been pursuing the pipeline proposal, which will save India millions of dollars in energy cost, with New Delhi and Islamabad since 1996, but tensions between the two countries blocked any progress.

Dr Majedi said the international consortium of bankers and oil firms could build and operate the project.
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IOC picks up fifty per cent stake in Iranian gas block
Mumbai: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd has said that it has committed a $1-billion investment to buy 50 per cent equity stake in a 9-million tonne Iranian liquefied natural gas (LNG) block.

IOC, which will ally with Oil India Ltd for investing in the project, will be able to directly sell 4.5 million tonnes (mt) of the LNG produced from the block and will also have the first right of refusal for the remaining 4.5 mt.

The company will immediately begin work on an exploration master plan that will be completed by February. The investment, with a debt-equity ratio of 2:1, would be funded out of IOC's Rs23,000-crore reserves or by selling IOC's holdings in ONGC and GAIL India.
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Vision 2010 for textiles to generate 12 million new jobs
New Delhi: A vision 2010 for textiles by the Government envisages growth in Indian textile industry from current $37 billion to $85 billion by 2010 and employment of 12 million new jobs, besides modernisation and consolidation for crating a globally competitive textile industry.

A Vision 2010 for textiles formulated by the Government after intensive interaction with industry and export promotion councils to capitalise the upbeat mood of the industry in the wake of the imminent end to the quota regime governing global trade in textile sand clothing was shown to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, here last evening through a power-point presentation.

An official release said the mood in the textile industry in anticipation of the phase-out of the quota regime is upbeat with new investment flowing in and increased orders for the industry as a result of which capacities are fully booked up to April 2005.

The challenges to the industry include fragmented industry, constraints of processing , quality of cotton, concern over power cost, labour reforms and other infrastructural constraints.
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India targets $30 billion in textiles export
New Delhi: India has targeted to increase textile exports to about 30 billion dollars in the next two years following the lifting of quota regime from January 1, 2005, the Textiles Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela has informed about the numbers to the Rajya Sabha.

He said India will try to more than double textile exports from the present level of $13 billion annually to between $26-30 billion annually in the next two years. In reply to a query, Vaghela said India will be able to overcome the threat from China in the sector as Beijing will have to wait for three more years to avail of the quota free regime as it had joined the WTO late.

Among various measures, Vaghela said the banks which were not providing credit for the textile sector have now disbursed about Rs20,000 crore of loans to the sector.
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Forrester report: PC market in India on an upswing
New Delhi: The PC market in India is set to witness a massive growth, according to a Forrester report that predicts the number of PC users in the country to top 80 million by 2010.

The report also said that PC adoption in India would grow at a CAGR of 37 per cent through 2010, adding 74 million new PC users.

It added that despite gaining prominence as an outsourcing hub, India still has one of the lowest rates of PC ownership in the world - about 0.6 per cent of its 1.1 billion citizens.

"Seventy-two per cent of India's citizens are rural dwellers, the adult literacy rate is less than 60 per cent and personal income is in the bottom third of the countries we studied," it said. "Another contributing factor is the 20-45 per cent tariff on PC purchases in India, a consumer cost that will push many PC buyers towards the grey market vendors."

Forrester's forecast of the PC market in emerging nations is based on a macroeconomic analysis of 16 emerging markets representing 62 per cent of the world's population.

In this case, the potential users have limited means, need, and motivation and often lack the basic infrastructure to support a PC, such as communications and reliable source of power. "The PC industry will need to go back to the drawing board to develop products for this market," the report said.
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