 | |  BSE market cap crosses GDP
For the first time ever, the market capitalisation of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has crossed the country's GDP. The total listed market cap touched Rs. 33 trillion on October 13, eclipsing the GDP figure of around Rs. 32 trillion during FY2006. With this, India has become the first BRIC country where the market cap on the stock exchange exceeds the GDP of that country. India now joins an exclusive club of developed markets whose market cap is larger than its GDP.
Besides the U.S., other developed countries like the U.K., Japan and Canada have a total market cap in excess of their domestic GDPs. Also in the category are merging economies such as South Africa, Malaysia and Singapore.
"Markets are estimating very high economic growth for the future and the current market valuations are capturing the projected GDP growth. It's no longer BRIC, everybody is just talking about India!" said Ravi Sardana, senior Vice President, ICICI Securities.
Three in Global Power 50 list
Three Indian women - ICICI Bank Deputy Managing Director Chanda Kochhar, HSBC India CEO Naina Lal Kidwai and Biocon head Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw - have been named among the world's 50 most powerful businesswomen by Fortunemagazine.
The global recognition for the three comes close on the heels of Indra Nooyi, the India-born head of global soft drink giant PepsiCo, being named as the most powerful businesswomen in the U.S. by the same magazine.
Chanda Kochhar, who is with the country's largest private sector bank, has been ranked 37 in the Global Power 50 list. She has moved up 10 positions from her 47th rank in the previous year's list.
HSBC India CEO Kidwai has been ranked 41, while Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director of bio-technology major Biocon, is at 48th rank.
23 in best under billions firms list
There are 23 Indian companies figuring in the Forbes Asia 2006 list of 200 leading publicly-quoted companies in the region with sales of less than $1 billion. The list includes Asian Paints, Bharat Forge, Cipla, Carborundum Universal, Dabur India, Pantaloon Retail and Punjab Tractors.
The criteria for entry into the list included not just sales of less than $1 billion but also "solid top and bottomline gains and potential for more success," says a press release from Forbes. Taiwan had the highest entries at 31 while 29 small and midsize enterprises from China, 27 from Australia and 19 each from Singapore and Japan made it to the list. The list has a strong representation from the manufacturing sector and businesses providing basic material that go into manufactured goods and into factories, housing and office towers.
| | | | India Digest Archive | | Chief Minister Hooda in U.K. to promote Haryana as a global investment destination | | Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda paid a visit to London on October 15 and 16 with a view to promoting his state as an international investment destination. Haryana is one of the leading industrial and agrarian states of India and has among the highest per capita incomes in the country. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Haryana Minister of Revenue Captain Ajay Singh Yadav and Minister of Industries Lachhman Dass Arora, as well as senior officials and business leaders from the state.
During his visit, Chief Minister Hooda met with noted British industrialist Sir Anthony Bamford, Chairman and Managing Director of Joseph Cyril Bamford (JCB) excavators, and visited the JCB plant. He also addressed potential investors at Asia House at a session organised under the Indo-British Partnership Network and chaired by Lord Karan Bilimoria.
At an interactive session with the non-resident Indian (NRI) community and U.K. businesspeople at India House on |  | | October 16 - hosted by High Commissioner Kamalesh Sharma - Chief Minister Hooda spelt out his vision for making Haryana the top investment destination in India along with the initiatives and policies he had introduced to this end, including a new industrial policy.
The delegation also had meetings with | | Sir Evelyn de Rothschild who has partnered with the Bharati Group in the 'Field Fresh' project in Haryana, Lord Diljit Rana of Andras Group as well as with potential investors from the Midlands.
Earlier, on October 15, the Chief Minister was given a very warm reception by the Haryana NRI Association. | | |
| Prince Andrew for increased trade between India, U.K. | | Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who was on a week-long visit to India as the Special Representative of the U.K. for International Trade and Investment, met Dr. Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, on October 30. Discussions between the two underlined the major significance of the high-powered visit in the context of the huge potential for increasing the two-way trade and investment between India and the U.K.
Prince Andrew, who was on his first visit to India, also visited Chennai and Mumbai. In Mumbai, he was scheduled to present the first U.K. Trade and Investment Business Awards to Indian companies who have established businesses in Britain, along with British companies that have entered the Indian market. | |  | | India has emerged as the third-largest foreign investor in the U.K., after the U.S. and Japan. In 2005-06, there was a 110 percent rise in the number of U.K.-bound investment projects from India, accounting for over £1 billion. U.K. attracts about 60 percent of the | | Indian investment to Europe and provides Indian business a gateway for the European market. As Europe's largest e-commerce market, U.K. offers immense possibilities for Indian companies. Continued on page 2 | | | | | | C O N T E N T S | | | | | |
