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India’s Consumer Companies enter Lucrative Solar Products Business

30 Jan, 2012

The Solar Products Business is booming not only from the Solar Power Plants but also in consumer products business. So not are big conglomerates like Mahindra, GMR , Reliance getting into the lucrative booming solar power in India, but now water purifier companies in India are too getting into the act. India’s biggest water purifying company Eureak Forbes which is found in almost every Indian home is going to start selling solar lighting products like torches and lanterns.

The company is going to market solar products under the “EuroDiya” brandname . Diya means Light in Hindi and Euro is the company’s brand. The products are to be sold in the $10-50 range with the technology and products coming from a US company. Note solar consumer products have a massive potential in a country where almost 40% do not have access to a power grid.

Note Solar Lamps can compete economically with substitutes like kerosene lamps which don’t only consumer costly fossil fuels but generate pollution as well. Other companies like D.Light already have a strong presence in the solar lamps business.

Solar Lamps or Solar Lanterns have seen astounding growth in India driven mainly by the lack of access to electricity and the high costs of Kerosene or gas lamps.Note Solar Lamps have been so successful in India mainly due to their economic utility rather than their Green Characteristics.Note 100,000 Indian villages do not yet have electricity which means that the productivity comes to a complete stop in the dark.Poor schoolchildren cannot study in the dark and people cannot work in the night either.Note Kerosene a dirty oil refined product is the main source of energy for millions of Indian citizens.Kerosene is a health hazard resulting in accidental fires and causing a lot of smoke which can lead to various respiratory diseases.Note Kerosene is subsidized by the Indian government and distributed through the Public Distribution System (PDS) which is a massively corrupt and inefficient system.The Kerosene is given in limited quantities and is not sufficient to Light the Darkness for a month or more.The advent of Solar LED Lamps has been a godsend solution to this problem.

Indian Conglomerates entering Solar Energy

The Indian Solar Power has been one bright spot in the gloomy infrastructure and engineering sectors in 2011. With share prices crashing with growing corruption, land acquisition and financing problems, Solar Energy has surged in India thanks to government support and subsidies . While a number of Green Technology companies have started up to capitalize on the growing renewable energy trend, the established construction companies in India have not been far behind . While utilities like Tata Power, Adani, Reliance Power, NTPC have already built or are setting up power plants based on solar panels , L&T has become a major solar EPC players . L&T is now raising debt with a $100 million issue to fund its solar expansion plans .

Water Purifier Manufactuers in India

List of Water Purifying Manufacturers/Suppliers/Companies in India

Kent Technologies – Kent purifiers are trusted by over 1 million customers spread across the country and have an established track record of over a decade in the water purification industry. The company is a pioneer in bringing revolutionary Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology to India. KENT started its operations in India in 1999 & is today a strong organization with offices spread across India. KENT has lakhs of satisfied customers to its credit worldwide. Kent offers varied range of products for any application – mineral RO, UF gravity, UV technology & UF tap water purifiers. Be it entry level purifier to technology driven high capacity commercial purifiers. They have two production facilities located in Uttaranchal.

Eureka Forbes – is a part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group and today it is a 12 billion INR, multi product and multi channel corporation.It started operations in 1982, & today have become the undisputed leaders in domestic and industrial Water Purification Systems, Vacuum Cleaners, Air Purifiers & Security Solutions. It is one of Asia’s largest direct sales organization. It serves more than 131 cities and 398 towns across the country. Eureka provides different ranges of:Domestic water purifiers Aquaguard – UV, RO, UF, UV+RO+UF, Aquasure – RO, UV, storage & Heavy metal remover & Institutional water purifiers.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd. – HUL is India’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with categorised business like soaps, detergents, shampoos, skin care, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water purifiers. With a market capitalization of Rs. 61,000 crores, the Company is a part of the everyday life of millions of consumers across India. The company earned revenues of Rs. 5,000 crores with a net profit margin 12%. Its parent company is Unilever, which holds about 52 % of the equity. Its portfolio includes leading household brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond’s, Vaseline, Lakmé, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent, Closeup, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Kwality Wall’s and Pureit.Pureit’s unique Germkill Battery technology kills all harmful viruses and bacteria and removes parasites and pesticide impurities, giving micro-biologically safe drinking water (meets the regulations by the EPA in USA). It does not need gas, electricity or continuous tap water supply. It makes the water clear, odourless and good-tasting.This technology was developed by HUL, by a team of over 100 Indian and international experts from HUL and Unilever Research Centres.

Seeds of Dystopia being Sown by Increasing Global Income Inequality – WEF Davos Report

11 Jan, 2012

World Economy and Markets

The rising income inequality throughout the world is sowing seeds of dystopia according to a report released by World Economic Forum. The biggest risk amongst the 50 risks listed is the increasing wealth gap between individuals in all countries. Gini’s coefficient has risen in most countries developing as well as developed and this has a strong correlation to globalization. The global arbitrage of labor has tilted the scales towards capital and increasingly made wages become stagnant. Developing countries with weak institutions are showing income inequality in horrific forms with $2 billion homes existing in the middle of millions surviving on less than $2 day. US has already seen the OWS movement as a result of this increasing income gap between the have and have nots. Middle Eastern countries have also seen revolutions brought upon by the massive riches of the elite compared to the rising poverty of the poor and even the middle classes.

India Income Inequality

Income Inequality in India has been rising at an unprecedented rate in the last couple of decades.The opening of the Indian economy has led to even starker levels of income disparity among the very rich and majority of the Indian citizens.The Crushing Income Disparity is seen in the world’s most expensive $2 Billion House set amongst 42% of the world’s hungry children.The latest Forbes report lists 50 Indian Dollar Billionaires with 2 in the Top 10.A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 77% of Indians, or 836 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees (approximately US$0.50 nominal; US$2 PPP) per day.India Middle Class is sharply cutting down on shopping,entertainment and other discretionary expenses as food,education and medical costs go through the roof.A recent survey done by Assocham proved these anecdotal stories true as middle class has gone into a spending shell while the richer upper classes continue to spend affected.The only class that is feeling super great is the Super Rich who are going feeling gung ho and most likely in the world to spend on yachts and private jets.Note the Super Rich are seeing more billions pouring into their offshore bank accounts while poor Indians are finding it difficult in these days of high food prices to even get 2 square meals a day for their children

US Income Inequality

Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most vibrant middle class that the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, that is rapidly changing.

#1 Today, only 55.3 percent of all Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 have jobs.

#4 Since the year 2000, the United States has lost 10% of its middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were about 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.

#5 According to the New York Times, approximately 100 million Americans are either living in poverty or in “the fretful zone just above it”.

#6 According to that same article in the New York Times, 34 percent of all elderly Americans are living in poverty or “near poverty”, and 39 percent of all children in America are living in poverty or “near poverty”.

#7 In 1984, the median net worth of households led by someone 65 or older was 10 times larger than the median net worth of households led by someone 35 or younger. Today, the median net worth of households led by someone 65 or older is 47 times larger than the median net worth of households led by someone 35 or younger

Cybercrime has been listed as another major threat to peace as countries and individuals increasingly look vulnerable to private and government sponsored hacker groups. Even powerful organizations like Google have become victims of cyberwarfare while Iran faced an attack on its nuclear facility through a sophisticated virus.

Dystopia what it means (Wikipedia)

A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Dystopian societies feature different kinds of repressive social control systems, various forms of active and passive coercion.

Growing wealth divide puts globalization at risk

Rising youth unemployment, a crisis of retirement among pensioners dependent on debt-burdened states and a yawning wealth gap have sown the “seeds of dystopia,” according to the report, based on a survey of 469 experts and industry leaders.For the first time in generations, people no longer believe their children will grow up to have a better standard of living.”It needs immediate political attention, otherwise the political rhetoric that responds to this social unease will involve nationalism, protectionism and rolling back the globalization process,” said WEF managing director Lee Howell.

Distribution is the Biggest Challenge to spread of Solar Products in India

9 Jan, 2012

Energy,Solar Energy

One of the biggest growth markets for solar products is India due to the fact that it has

a) One of the biggest energy deficits in the world with one of the lowest per capita energy consumption

b) Millons of citizens don’t have access to Electricity and the Power Grid

A number of Solar Companies in India have come out with innovative products like solar lamps and lanterns which combine a solar panel with a battery and a LED light to sell in rural areas. Note many of the villages are dark after night without any access to power. With more than half of the population living on less than $2 a day,people can’t afford expensive solar lighting products as well. So many companies have come out with low cost products like D.Light, Duron,O rb Energy and others.

However distribution into the millions of villages remains the biggest hurdle even if the people there can afford the products.T here are no good roads and the smaller solar companies lack the marketing muscle of say a big MNC like Hindustan Lever and ITC.People have tried to sell solar products using the microfinance companies but have not had much success as of now.India’s government has also pushed some small subsidy schemes but the red tape and the off and on nature has meant failure.

Solar Lamps or Solar Lanterns have seen astounding growth in India driven mainly by the lack of access to electricity and the high costs of Kerosene or gas lamps.Note Solar Lamps have been so successful in India mainly due to their economic utility rather than their Green Characteristics.Note 100,000 Indian villages do not yet have electricity which means that the productivity comes to a complete stop in the dark.Poor schoolchildren cannot study in the dark and people cannot work in the night either.Note Kerosene a dirty oil refined product is the main source of energy for millions of Indian citizens.Kerosene is a health hazard resulting in accidental fires and causing a lot of smoke which can lead to various respiratory diseases.Note Kerosene is subsidized by the Indian government and distributed through the Public Distribution System (PDS) which is a massively corrupt and inefficient system.The Kerosene is given in limited quantities and is not sufficient to Light the Darkness for a month or more.The advent of Solar LED Lamps has been a godsend solution to this problem.

Read on how to Buy Solar Panels in India

Private Equity in Indian Honeymoon gets over with Zombie Funds

6 Jan, 2012

Finance

The Indian Private Equity Industry was on a high for the past few years with a new PE fund being opened every few months by PE veterans.The global interest in the Indian economy had been very high given the growth potential.There was a lot of money waiting on the sidelines to take part in the Indian growth story.Most of the PE performance till then had been very good given a rising tide lifts all boats.However the recent year has not been that good.More than one PE manager has had to shutdown given the lack of funding while others have found it difficult to exit given the bad stock market conditions.

Some of the real estate PE funds that had been raised are sitting like zombies waiting for the investments to rise.In fact some of the PE funds are just vegetating on the yearly fees of 2% with almost no hope of getting the 20% performance fee given the sharp fall in valuations.The Private Equity Industry with its fancied salaries and bonuses now faces a severe test.Only the performing funds are getting money as Limited Partners are become more diligent about investments.

There has also been a souring of relations with promoters of companies having differences with PE investors and going to courts.Lilliput,Subiksha have made corporate governance again come to the top of the investor mind.

Another case is where a darling investment sector for PE funds like Microfinance has collapsed

Microfinance has become one of the hottest growth sectors in India attracting Private Equity Companies eager to take advantage of India’s Growth Story.A Number of For-Profit Microfinance Companies have grown exponentially in recent times with funds raised from Foreign PE Firms.The Business Model of these Financial Intermediaries is highly profitable with 25-40% Interest Rates being charged from India’s Poor Population who don’t have access to credit facilities.Borrowing from Banks at 10-12% and lending at 25% gives a huge spread which more than covers the cost of operations in dealing with a huge number of very small borrowers in far flung areas.

Note SKS is now down almost 90% from its IPO prices

Read about the top Finance Companies in India

Middle Class in America Getting Decimated – 30 Shocking Stats

3 Jan, 2012

USA

Income Inequality is a Theme that is getting played across the world in developing as well as developed nations.Most of the turmoil in 2011 in the Middle East and the Occupy Wall Street Movement can be attributed to the growing Income Gap between the Have and Have -Nots.The Great Recession in 2008 can also be looked upon as a fallout of this.Gini’s Coefficient which measures the income distribution gap has shown continued deterioration all over the world.The Middle Class is shrinking and growing poor by the day and it is not only the Poor Class that is getting affected.

The Poor are getting the most affected as Food Prices have increased rapidly.The globalization of agriculture is one reason that food prices are going out of hand.Hunger Riots were seen in 2008 and in 2011,expect such movements to continue.The revolution in Egypt was also caused by spiralling prices of wheat .2008 saw a sharp rise in commodity prices everywhere as asset bubbles found their way from commodities like oil,gold etc to food based commodities as well.The sharp increase in food prices has led to massive distress amongst poor population across the world.Riots related to Food Scarcity has been reported across 35 countries which has gone almost unnoticed by the global media.Virtual doubling of food prices in 2008 in a short span of time pushed people living on a day to day basis into starvation.The unrestricted trading of food based derivative contracts had a major role to play in this spurt of prices.With the Lehman Collapse,the Food Prices also collapsed.However the global reflation being practiced by Central Banks is again fueling pressures on Food Prices.High volatility in Commodities which was almost unseen 10 years ago has become the “new normal”.Its no longer strange to find Oil prices moving 5% on a daily basis.With these commodities being treated more like financial assets rather than critical inputs of daily living,expect more Hunger Riots in the Future.

India

Income Inequality in India is quite shocking Income Inequality in India has been rising at an unprecedented rate in the last couple of decades.The opening of the Indian economy has led to even starker levels of income disparity among the very rich and majority of the Indian citizens.The Crushing Income Disparity is seen in the world’s most expensive $2 Billion House set amongst 42% of the world’s hungry children.The latest Forbes report lists 50 Indian Dollar Billionaires with 2 in the Top 10.A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 77% of Indians, or 836 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees

USA

30 Statistics That Show That The Middle Class Is Dying Right In Front Of Our Eyes As We Enter 2012

Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most vibrant middle class that the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, that is rapidly changing.

#1 Today, only 55.3 percent of all Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 have jobs.

#2 In the United States today, there are 240 million working age people. Only about 140 million of them are working.

#3 According to CareerBuilder, only 23 percent of American companies plan to hire more employees in 2012.

#4 Since the year 2000, the United States has lost 10% of its middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were about 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.

#5 According to the New York Times, approximately 100 million Americans are either living in poverty or in “the fretful zone just above it”.

#6 According to that same article in the New York Times, 34 percent of all elderly Americans are living in poverty or “near poverty”, and 39 percent of all children in America are living in poverty or “near poverty”.

#7 In 1984, the median net worth of households led by someone 65 or older was 10 times larger than the median net worth of households led by someone 35 or younger. Today, the median net worth of households led by someone 65 or older is 47 times larger than the median net worth of households led by someone 35 or younger.

#8 Since the year 2000, incomes for U.S. households led by someone between the ages of 25 and 34 have fallen by about 12 percent after you adjust for inflation.

#9 The total value of household real estate in the U.S. has declined from $22.7 trillion in 2006 to $16.2 trillion today. Most of that wealth has been lost by the middle class.

#10 Many formerly great manufacturing cities are turning into ghost towns. Since 1950, the population of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has declined by more than 50 percent. In Dayton, Ohio 18.9 percent of all houses now stand empty.

#11 Since 1971, consumer debt in the United States has increased by a whopping 1700%.

#12 The number of pages of federal tax rules and regulations has increased by18,000% since 1913. The wealthy know how to avoid taxes, but most of those in the middle class do not.

#13 The number of Americans that fell into poverty (2.6 million) set a new all-time record last year and extreme poverty (6.7%) is at the highest level ever measured in the United States.

#14 According to one study, between 1969 and 2009 the median wages earned by American men between the ages of 30 and 50 dropped by 27 percent after you account for inflation.

#15 According to U.S. Representative Betty Sutton, America has lost an average of 15 manufacturing facilities a day over the last 10 years. During 2010 it got even worse. Last year, an average of 23 manufacturing facilities a day shut down in the United States.

#16 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

#17 Most Americans are scratching and clawing and doing whatever they can to make a living these days. Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week.

#18 Food prices continue to rise at a very brisk pace. The price of beef is up9.8% over the past year, the price of eggs is up 10.2% over the past year and the price of potatoes is up 12% over the past year.

#19 Electricity bills in the United States have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.

#20 The average American household will have spent a staggering $4,155 on gasoline by the end of 2011.

#21 If inflation was measured the exact same way that it was measured back in 1980, the rate of inflation in the United States would be well over 10 percent.

#22 If the number of Americans considered to be “looking for work” was the same today as it was back in 2007, the “official” unemployment rate put out by the U.S. government would be up to 11 percent.

#23 According to the Student Loan Debt Clock, total student loan debt in the United States will surpass the 1 trillion dollar mark at some point in 2012. Most of that debt is owed by members of the middle class.

#24 Incredibly, more than one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps at this point.

#25 Since Barack Obama took office, the number of Americans on food stamps has increased by 14.3 million.

#26 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.

#27 In 1970, 65 percent of all Americans lived in “middle class neighborhoods”. By 2007, only 44 percent of all Americans lived in “middle class neighborhoods”.

#28 According to a recent report produced by Pew Charitable Trusts, approximately one out of every three Americans that grew up in a middle class household has slipped down the income ladder.

#29 In the United States today, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans have a greater net worth than the bottom 90 percent combined.

#30 The poorest 50 percent of all Americans now collectively own just 2.5%of all the wealth in the United States.

Should India learn from Brazil in reducing Fiscal Deficit and Budget Spending

2 Jan, 2012

Indian Markets

2011 has been a bad year for emerging markets with high inflation,slowing growth and rising interest rates.Most of the problems are a consequence of the 2008 Financial Crisis when emerging countries increasing fiscal spending and reduced interest rates to reduce the affect of the Lehman crisis.Now the Bill is coming due with slowing growth and higher inflation.Most of the BRIC countries have heavily increased interest rates in 2011 to slow inflation as their poor population can ill afford the damaging effect of inflation.

Brazil has reduced its 2012 Budget by $32 billion to control inflation drawing howls of protest from politicians who always want to spend more as if money grows on trees.The country has reined in spending in both 2011 and 2012 to reduce the fiscal deficit and spend more money on productive sectors like infra.

Brazil to cut $32 billion from 2012 budget: Report

Brazil’s government may cut as much as much 60 billion reais ($32 billion) from spending in 2012 in an effort to control its deficit and inflation, the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported, citing unnamed Finance Ministry officials.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who marks one year in office on Sunday, had planned to ease financial controls in 2012 after trimming about 50 billion reais in spending in 2011, the newspaper said.

India on the other hand has not learnt anything.The government is continuing it merry ways of spending and wasting billions of dollars by bringing in more social spending bills which have massive leakages.The fiscal deficit has massively overshot the target of 4.6% of the GDP .This has led to rising interest rates and a falling currency.The government in order to win elections has waived off loans and brought in the Food Security Bill which will lead to more corruption.Note I am big proponent of spending subsidies for the poor in a country of huge inequalities where $2 billion homes co exist with people living on less than $2 day.But the existing schemes are ineffective and corruption ridden.Grains rot in Indian warehouses and middlemen make off with the subsidies.Rather than spending more money the government should have increased the effectiveness of delivery.But I guess spending more is much easier than taking on powerful vested corruption interests.