Another Foreign Asset Manager exiting Competitive Indian Mutual Fund Industry

4 Feb, 2012
Finance

The Indian Mutual Fund and Asset Management Companies are  facing tough times and foreign asset managers are exiting in droves. Fidelity has put up  its $2 billion of funds on the auction block  trying to find a buyer as it exists India. This is only after a couple of months when Blackstone another of the trillion dollar asset managers existed the Indian business. In 2008 during the boom times, every Tom Dick and Harry of the asset management business wanted to get a piece of the Indian pie. The local brokerages were commanding super high valuations while growth and profits seemed endless.

However the Fairy Tale has ended with most MF companies reporting losses and declining revenues from higher competition . With Technology changing the face of the financial industry, its only the very nimble who have been making money .Others are trying to diversify into related areas to retain profitability. Fidelity one of the largest asset managers has a good presence in India but wants to exit. It has a technology services back end operation as well which it has been trying to sell for a long time. However in case of the MF it should have better luck given the size of the corpus . It is trying to get a 10% of the AUM as the sell price for its Indian business.

Indian Stock Brokers going Bankrupt

The Indian Stock Brokers have seen a very tough past couple of years after the Lehman crisis.Most of the larger listed Indian  investment banking companies have seen their valuation and stock prices keep touching all time lows.The reason is that competition has been fierce as a number of domestic and foreign brokerages entered the financial industry in 2008 during the boom.While the stock market volumes have gone down substantially the number of players fighting for a shrinking pie have  gone up.

While the larger stock brokers have seen reduced profits,the smaller ones have had to shut down or sell.This trend has been exacerbated last year with the rise of computer controlled algorithmic trading.Most of these small brokers which used arbitraging strategy to generate profits have seen their main business evaporate.Retail investors in India have also avoided the stock market which has become a corruption landmine.With even top institutions like GMO,Goldman becoming victims of frauds,individual investors have no chance.Also market operators have made the Indian stock market a pump and dump heaven even as SEBI takes a long time to crack down on the abuses.

Other reasons for the failure are

a) Decrease in cash volumes which decreases the brokerage

b) Securities transaction tax

c) Importance of Technology which requires higher investment

The Top Asset Management companies in India are:

  1. UTI Asset Management Co. Ltd. – UTI Asset Management Co. Ltd. (UTIAMC) is a company incorporated under The Companies Act, 1956. It came into existence in 2002, as the Asset Management Company of the UTI Mutual Fund. The paid up capital of UTIAMC has been subscribed by four sponsors: State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank. UTIAMC, apart from managing the schemes of UTI Mutual Fund, also manages the schemes transferred/migrated from the erstwhile Unit Trust of India.
  2. Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd. -  It is one of India’s leading and amongst most valuable financial services companies in the private sector. Reliance Capital Asset Management Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital Limited, acts as the AMC to the Reliance Mutual fund. Reliance Capital has interests in asset management and mutual funds; life and general insurance; commercial finance; stock broking; investment banking; wealth management services; distribution of financial products; exchanges; private equity; asset reconstruction; proprietary investments and other activities in financial services. Reliance Capital has a net worth of Rs. 7,810 crore and total assets of Rs. 31,994 crore  as on March 31, 2011.
  3. SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd. -  SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd. is one of the leading fund houses in the country. SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd. is a joint venture between ‘The State Bank of India’ and Société Générale Asset Management (France), one of the world’s leading fund management companies. SBI Funds management manages over Rs 38,782 crores of assets and has a diverse profile of investors making their investments. In 20 years of operation, the fund has launched 38 schemes with consistent returns.
  4. HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd. – was incorporated in 1999, and was approved to act as an Asset Management Company for the HDFC Mutual Fund by SEBI. In terms of the Investment Management Agreement, the Trustee has appointed the HDFC Asset Management Company Limited to manage the Mutual Fund. The paid up capital of the AMC is Rs. 25.169 crore. The shareholding pattern is Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited 59.98%, Standard Life Investments Limited 39.99% & Other Shareholders 0.03%. The AMC also provides portfolio management / advisory services and activities are not in conflict with those of the Mutual Fund.
  5. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. Ltd. – is a privately owned investment manager. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd. is a joint venture between ICICI Bank & Prudential Plc, one of the United Kingdom’s largest players in the financial services sectors. It manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds. As an Asset Management Company, the company has over 15 years of experience and are currently managing a comprehensive range of schemes of more than 46 Mutual funds and a wide range of PMS Products for its investors, spread across the country.
  6. Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd. - Franklin Templeton which is one of the biggest Global Asset Managers has a major presence in India as well.It is one of the oldest players in the India.
  7. Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. Ltd. - is the investment manager of Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund. The Fund offers an array of savings and investment products for its individual, corporate and institutional investors and also manages two offshore funds. The fund house  had an average assets of over Rs.65,000 crore including offshore funds (as on 31 March 2010). It is  ranked amongst the top five asset management companies in the country.
  8. Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset management Co. Ltd. -  is a privately owned investment manager, being a joint venture between Sundaram Finance and French bank BNP Paribas. It invests in the public equity and fixed income markets of India. The firm employs fundamental and quantitative analysis stock picking & in-house and external research to make its investments. The average assets under management was Rs. 12,827 crores as on March 31,2008.
  9. TATA Asset Management Ltd. - The company’s principal activity is to act as investment manager to the Tata Mutual Fund. It has a client base of over 1 million people.  The company manages funds across the entire risk-return basis. These include equity funds, balanced funds and debt funds.
  10. DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd.- DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund was set up as a Trust and the sponsors are DSP ADIKO Holdings Pvt. Ltd. & DSP HMK Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (collectively) and BlackRock Inc. DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd. is the investment manager to DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund.It invests in variety of equity related, fixed income & hybrid schemes.

Fidelity

Fidelity Investments Worldwide is in talks to sell its mutual fund business in India, a person with direct knowledge of the development said on condition of anonymity. Fidelity is seeking a valuation of Rs. 1000 crore for its asset management arm.
Fidelity started operations in India in 2004 and managed assets worth close to Rs. 9000 crore as of December 2011 according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI).

Blackstone

The Blackstone Group, one of the largest private equity groups globally, is exiting its biggest India-focused close-ended mutual fund scheme: India Fund Inc.The company will transfer the management of the fund to Aberdeen Asset Management Asia. The deal awaits stockholders’ approval on November 16. Another scheme, the Asia Tigers Fund of $60 million, is also being sold to Aberdeen. Besides the change in management, the deal size was not disclosed.

Easiest Way to Become Super Rich in India – Become a Politician Crony (Ponty Chadha stashes $20 million cash in Mall Basement)

1 Feb, 2012
Indian Markets

India is a country with one of the biggest population of poor people living hand to mouth. But becoming super rich in this country is quite easy if you know how. All you have to do is become a political crony and start counting your millions if not billions. Corruption in India has become rampant with a scam being uncovered almost every day. Politicians and Businessmen have been jailed but they have managed to get out on bail using their millionaire lawyers to fake illness and other shenanigans. Some politicians are now involved in both professions with some rumored to be billionaires owning companies through surreptitious means and parking their money in Swiss banks. Business Groups in India see their shares rising and going down depending on which political party wins proving the nexus between politicians and businessmen. There has been no reforms to separate these two and now powerful politico-business dynasties have started ruling large parts of India.

Leaders of Political parties have their favorite businessmen which they shower with goodies. There are example galore which is described below. Today a businessman in Uttar Pradesh was found to have stashed around $20 million in cash in the basement of a mall that he owns. Ponty Chadha is  real estate and liquor tycoon with close ties with the leader to that state. Both industries are rampantly corrupt and sources of massive black money generation. Like other scamsters expect this one to get away too.

Nira Radia reveals Sordid Corruption Nexus – DB Realty owned by Pawar,Tata Companies TCS,Tata Motors Bending Backwards in giving Favors to DMK Raja for Telecom License

Nira Radia the millionaire lobbyist who became a public figure overnight as tapes leaked to her phone conversations were printed by the mass media has revealed sordid details about the politician businessmen nexus.In the chargesheet presented by the CBI to the Supreme Court she has revealed the multi billion dollar realty company DB Realty is a front for Sharad Pawar and controlled by him.This hardly comes as a surprise as powerful Agri Minister Pawar has been linked to a number of corruption scandals like the Lavasa Scandal,2G Telecom Scam,IPL Scam etc.Note DB Realty CEO has been directly implicated in the transfer of bribe giving to Raja the former Telecom Minister in exchange for a Telecom License at dirt cheap prices.It is a tribute to the power of Pawar that despite such massive circumstantial evidence against him and his family,there has been no court case or police charges against him.Note a number of big companies in India are known to be secretly owned and controlled by powerful politicians.Not that politicians don’t own  billion dollar businesses openly and use their political muscle to further their own interests in a blatant manner.

India Corruption Unlimited – Sharad Pawar gets Linked in yet another Scam (DB Realty,Pune,Sule)

Sharad Pawar,India’s powerful agricultural minister and the president of the international cricket body ICC has managed to get involved in most corruption scams coming out in the last year or so.However he has managed to come out unscathed even as his fingers are in multiple corruption pies.The name of Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule ( who is a MP what a surprise) has come up in multiple corruption scandals like the 2G Telecom Scandal,IPL Cricket Scandal and Lavasa Scam etc.However it points to his influence and reach,that nothing has happened.He is the leader of a regional party which is part of the ruling coalition in the centre.

The ICC and the BCCI are one of the most corrupt and opaque sporting bodies in the country.Cricket is a religion in India and generates billions of dollars in revenue which is monopolized by the BCCI which is a private cabal of corrupt politicians and businessmen.TheBCCI runs with no accountability and the corruption of the BCCI is openly condoned.The IPL Scam involving Modi revealed the extent of rot in the game administration and led to his ouster.However his mentor Pawar escaped without a blot.The arrogance and power of the BCCI is reflected in the fact it has refused to let enter any members of the electronics media into the final match of the World Cup despite a request from the information ministry.Now there is news that Pawar has close links with the real estate firm DB Realty which is another billion dollar corruption based company.DB Realty is one of the ringleaders in the 2G Telecom Scam being investigated by the Supreme Court.It has led to the jailing of India’s former Telecom Minister and revealed the systematic corruption in all major institutions in the country.

India’s Business and Political Elite continue to Mock Indian Laws;Raju gets Bail

India’s Business and Political Elite continue to mock the Indian Legal System through loopholes and expensive lawyers.I had written earlier in a post of how Satyam Scandal Kingpin Ramalinga Raju enjoyed luxurious facilities at hospitals despite his jail term.He had managed to avoid questioning by the authorities through excuses of bad health and now he has managed to get bail for the Biggest Corporate Scandal to hit India.This reduces the trust of the Indian citizens on  the State and tarnishes the reputation of the country as a vibrant democracy.A number of scandals have hit the Indian legal system with a powerful criminal convicted of murder recently partying in the capital.He had got time away from jail on the recommendation of the state government.Politically connected powerful criminals manage to enjoy jail time through lenient jail authorities who let them out frequently on flimsy conditions.Even in Jail,they enjoy a privileged existence denied to common criminals.Their army of expensive lawyers keeps finding loopholes to get off their rich clients as India’s Justice System remains mired under millions of long due cases.

It is a matter of concern that everyone of the accused in this scandal has managed to get bail as India’s premier agency CBI has not been able to build a watertight case till now.This is despite Raju accepting his role as the master rogue in the siphoning of millions of dollars from India’s 4th largest IT company at that time.Despite the media spotlight on this case,blatant corruption has won again.

“Corruption as Tradition” Justification in Bangalore Land Scam by Chief Minister of Indian State

Corruption in India has taken a widely virulent and blatant form with scams popping up almost everyday.Greed is Good has become  the motto for India’s Role Models in Sport and Military as well.India’s Politicians are Leading the  protagonists with Realty being the Main Theme.Note Real Estate companies in India are notorious for corruption with the sector being avoided by Fund Managers.India’s Southern State of Karnataka is known for its IT Industry with capital Bangalore famous as a Knowledge Hub.However the Politicians of that State have made it the Corruption Capital with Bangalore equally famous for Land Grabbing and Real Estate Scams by Bureaucrats and Politicians.Note the rest of Karnataka has also been made famous by Illegal Mining.Robber Mining Barons have become powerful enough to topple governments with some heading the administration as Ministers.

 The Chief Minister of the State has justified Corruption in Land Dealings as Tradition.Being Accused of favorably allocating Prime Land to Companies owned by his sons,he has sought to defend himself by accusing previous administrations of indulging in land scams as well.India’s Image of Corruption has become bleaker by the Day with the Commonwealth Games Scam,Adarsh Housing Scam and the Multi Billion 2G Telecom Spectrum Auction Scam.Now comes this Scam perpetrated by the leaders of the Chief Opposition Party.India’sPolitical and Business Elite have scant regard for India’s Justice System as hardly anyone is prosecuted for Corruption.Only some small fish are made scapegoats while the Ringleaders  blatantly and openly indulge in manipulation and corruption.

Solar Energy Corporation of India to Supervise Indian Federal Solar Program

31 Jan, 2012
Energy,Solar Energy

Solar Power in India has taken off under the ambitious JNNSM government subsidy scheme with almost 400 MW of Solar Capacity installed in 2011 . With various states like Gujarat, Karnataka coming up with aggressive solar subsidy schemes on their own as well, solar power capacity in India should surge by around 1 GW in 2012. This has made India one of the fastest growing solar markets in the globe right now.

India’s JNNSM scheme was managed by MNRE which is the Central Ministry for Renewable Power and NVVN which is the state owned utility’s NPTC trading arm . However note NTPC is a listed company and is getting into the production of solar power as well. So to have a regulator which is also a participant makes little sense. With the first phase of JNNSM to be complete next year, the scheme is being overhauled. The Indian government is going to turn over the supervision of its 20 GW by 2022 Solar Power scheme to a new entirty called Solar Energy Corporation of India.

JNNSM part 2 will start in 2013 and it will need more funding as it proposes to build 4-7 GW of capacity. The funding agency IREDA does not have the resources to finance such a big outgo which could easily see more than $5 billion in funding requirements. Note a number of international financial institutions like Exim Bank , ADB and KFW are already involved in funding solar energy in India.

JNNSM

he Indian Government’s launch of the ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission(JNNSM) was done with much fanfare with a target of reaching 20 GW of Solar Capacity by 2022 under 3 phases from the 81 MW currently.While the government had the best intentions and had laid down a well defined 10 year plan with subsidy support for both Solar Thermal and Solar PV Technology,it has already run into problems.Due to high interest the government went in for bidding of projects which led to irrationally low bidding from unknown firms.This has put the entire exercise in question with the the biggest private utility saying JNNSM is a failure.Without extensions of deadlines it looks highly unlikely whether the 37 winners will actually put up the plants.

JNNSM is divided into 3 phases with the ultimate goal of reaching grid parity with coal by 2030.I don’t know where they came with the 2030 figure as I think solar should reach grid parity much earlier and should be below coal cost much  before

1)Phase I (up to 2012/2013) – remaining period of 11th five yr plan & first yr of 12th yr plan Target of 1100 MW
2) Phase II (2013-2017) – remaining 4 yrs of 12th five yr plan Target of 3000-10000 MW
3) Phase III (2017-2022) – 13th five yr plan 20000 GW overall

Funding of the JNNSM will be done by

1) Renewable Energy Credits (REC) – State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERC) to fix a minimum
percentage of energy purchase from renewable sources of energy

2) NTPC’s Trading Arm NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd ) is chosen as the nodal agency for entering into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with solar power  developers.NTPC will mix expensive solar power with cheaper coal power .

3) Incentives

  • Zero import duty on capital equipment, raw materials and excise duty
    exemption
  • Low interest rate loans, priority sector lending
  • Coal tax
  • Budgetary Support for MNRE though 2011 Budget has not given anything
  • UNFCCC Funds – Again not certain as no international agreement ( another pipe dream)

Foreign Banks, Investors and Funds the Real Culprits Behind India’s Criminally High Property Prices

31 Jan, 2012
Real Estate and Construction

India’s Real Estate Companies have seen a very tough 3-4 years with interest rates climbing, investors running away from shoddy accounting and the global macro scene being quite bad. One needs only to look at the stock price chart to see times have been very bad. Besides some of these companies have come under court scanner for their practices with Unitech CEO spending some months in jail for a telecom scam. However property prices have not come down as India’s real estate bubble seems immune from crises in the West and in India . Prices have more or less remained stable while other assets have seen a major carnage at one point or the other.

One of the major reasons is that Foreign Fund and Investors have continued to pour big money into the Indian Property Developers . They are getting a big pound of flesh getting returns of 20% per year or more as the Indian Realtor is squeezed for cash .Indian Banks have grown wary of lending while the IPO market remains closed because of the corruption and scamming. Foreign Funds have huge assets and bolstered by the zero interest rate regime in the West are spending money here where the returns are quite high.They don’t mind waiting for some years for returns given that Real Estate Demand in India is high and growing.

A large European bank, which continues to be an aggressive player in the Indian property market, is organising Rs 1,800 crore funding for a Delhi-based developer who will use the money to pay off its foreign bond holders. The foreign banking group will use its FII arm to subscribe to the securities that the property firms will issue. The same bank will also invest and rope in other investors for a Rs 800-crore non-convertible debenture issue of another large builder in Mumbai which is dabbling in multiple projects. Besides some offshore institutions, wealthy local investors (better known as HNIs) have emerged as the biggest buyers for real estate papers. They are either buying the papers directly or through the portfolio management schemes run by brokerages managing their money. In a few cases, investment banks and their finance companies are playing the role of anchor investors – a strategy that has helped in attracting HNIs

I have tried to explain the reason for India’s Real Estate Bubble here.

1) Corruption,Opaque Regulations,Use of Black Money – Real Estate in India is a Cesspool of Corruption and even India’s Prime Minister has also accepted it saying that high Stamp Duty on Real Estate Buys result in the preponderance of Black Money in Real Estate Deals.Due to the massive price appreciation and huge valuations,Land Scams have become quite common with Chief Ministers,Generals,Top Bureaucrats all involved in the murky environment of Real Estate in India.The most recent scam related to bribing of top public banks officials in the LIC Housing Finance Scandal has again put question mark on the fundamentals of the industry.Valuing the industry and making a real estate investment remains one of the most difficult investing tasks in the Indian Stock Market.Even Fund Managers are staying away from the Sector due to lack of trust in the Financial Statement given by the industry.

2) Global Real Estate Bubbles – One of the reasons for the sharp price rise in Real Estate in India is that Real Estate in many parts of the world are a bubble.Allowing Foreign Money into Real Estate in India has made these PE investors pay the same valuation for properties in India as outside.Note many of these “Real Estate” Private Equity Investors have yet to recover from the fall in property prices in the 2008 crash though many have been saved by the Bernake reinflation.

3) Tax Laws and Policy Stupidity - India’s Tax Laws impose high capital gains on land that is sold and not reinvested back into real estate again.That keeps the huge sums from gains in the real estate to be funneled back again.Otherwise a lot of the money would have gone elsewhere bringing the Real Estate back to earth again.India also allows an exemption of Rs 1.5 laks ceiling on interest payments on Real Estate Payment giving an impetus to investing in RE.Note such misguided laws were a leading cause of trouble for the Real Estate in USA.

4) Local,State Laws on Real Estate prevent Market Forces of Demand/Supply to Operate – India’s Local and State Laws dealing with Real Estate are as bad if not worse than Laws at the central Level.These Laws in most cases prevent the normal working of the Market Forces of Supply and Demand.The biggest proof of this in the fact that the Rental Yields on properties on India are way lower than if you took out money from selling the real estate investment and putting in a safe goverment bond.People in Mumbai the biggest real estate bubble market in India have stopped buying houses and going for rental leases.

Creative Accounting

India’s Real Estate Sector is one of the most unloved sectors in the Stock Market.Even Fund Managers shun this Sector because of the complete lack of trust in the financial statements published by the Real Estate Companies.With the whole industry most unogranized and companies playing with their books,its not a wonder that the sector continues to languish nearly 70-80% of its 2008 peak despite the broader market being only 10% below its all time peak.Real Estate Companies trying to raise funds in the Primary Market have been stymied by the lack of interest and distrust by the investor community.Recent IPO’s like Nitesh Estates and Jaypee Infratech have rewarded investors with huge losses in a rising Stock Market.The Industry is Synonymous with Frauds and Scams besides everyday violation of norms and contracts.Even the most famous Real Estate Groups are frequently in the news for scams and frauds.Here is a real life example of the ways that these companies inflate their revenues and profits through use of creative accounting.

Solar Insolation Map of India to be Developed by CWET as DOE,NASA Data proves Inadequate

30 Jan, 2012
Energy,Solar Energy

Finding accurate Solar insolation data is  a difficult problem faced in most countries except Europe and USA. The reason is that there is no history of solar radiation data in most countries as solar power is a relatively new technology. Most of the solar developers rely on data from NASA, DOE and European agencies which focus mostly on their domestic geography. This leads to faulty and inaccurate solar radiation data for other places which are seeing massive solar boom due to falling solar panel prices. India which installed 400 MW of solar power plants in 2011 and should see another 1000 MW in 2012 faces this problems also. There are no devices to record solar insolation in India with data coming from outside.

Note I had written earlier that Solar Radiation Data Absence is one of the major problem being faced by Indian solar developers. The government is now getting into the act with Chennai based CWET to collect solar radiation data in India. This government agency has been instrumental in facilitating the development of wind power in India making it the world’s 5th biggest wind energy market. It has been collecting wind speed information for a long time and now will collect solar insolation data as well . There are some private companies which are selling solar maps as well but a government solution seems best.

Note solar insolation data can make a massive difference in solar project returns with a 5-10% difference in solar data making a 2-3% difference in returns.

Solar Power in India is one of the biggest opportunities in the field of energy in the 21st century and Indian state and federal governments are strongly supporting by providing incentives and subsidies.A number of companies and startups have entered this green industry field lured by the multi billion investment potential in the coming decades.But the Solar Power field is not that easy to crack as many of the small inexperienced developers are learing to their detrminent.India has hardly any history of large scale grid solar projects with only 18 MW installed till date (compare that to India’s total electricity capacity of 178,000 MW).During JNNSM bidding a large number of small no name companies bid absurdly low amounts to win projects and many of them will now be cancelled as most of them are nowhere near financial closure.

The government has decided to cancel JNNSM licenses of companies who won projects and have failed to find debt  financing by July 9 .This is more drastic step than just fining the companies according to the conditions set out in the JNNSM.I think the companies would find this to be more suitable as they have little chance of not running into losses at the absurdly low prices bid in the JNNSM.The loser will be the Indian solar energy sector though only in the short term.State governments are pushing for solar energy with Maharashtra,Delhi,Gujarat and Rajasthan providing their own subsidies instead of depending on the central goverment.

Lack of Solar Radiation Data a Big Hurdle

Having good solar radiation data is essential for building solar power plants anywhere.USA and European Union have a well-developed insolation map so that developers and investors in solar energy have no difficulty in getting good data while planning an investment.However Indian developers are at a distinct disadvantage as there is no good primary data to go on.Solar Radiation data makes a huge difference to the economics of a project and no bank will give a loan based on incomplete data.For the inexperienced developers this has become another problem among a host of other problems.With little understanding of the technology and other factors,many of them jumped in and are now in a deep soup.However the prospects of the Indian solar energy are great even with these initial hiccups.The flushing out of the weak hands should help in strengthening the solar energy industry in India in the best traditions of capitalism.

CWET News

Now, an obscure government agency based in Chennai is promising to change that. It hopes to deliver within two years a state-of-the-art solar atlas of India that could clear a major hurdle obstructing speedy development of solar power projects.

The atlas, which will identify the solar hotspots where the sun’s radiation has optimum intensity for power generation, will enable developers to accurately pinpoint locations for projects, according to the Centre for Wind Energy Technology, which is creating the database.

The expectation is that project developers, armed with the information, will be able to predict the plant’s output with reasonable accuracy. Also, they can make a better choice of which solar technology (photovoltaic, solar thermal or any other) to use.

India’s Consumer Companies enter Lucrative Solar Products Business

30 Jan, 2012
Energy,Solar Energy

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
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