Ford Motor Co said on Thursday said it plans to invest $1 billion (Rs 4,415 cr) to build a factory in Gujarat, doubling its investment in the country as the US carmaker seeks to gain a greater share in the second-fastest growing auto market in the world.
Several global automakers in India such as Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co, Volkswagen and General Motors are lining up new models and boosting investment in the country with a focus on exports.
The planned factory in Gujarat, expected to be up and running by 2014, will employ 5,000 people and is expected to have an initial annual capacity of 240,000 vehicles, the company said.
"We are aggressively expanding in markets around the world that have the most growth potential in order to offer more of the fuel-efficient, high-quality vehicles from our global portfolio that customers in markets like India want and value," Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India, said in a statement.
Boneham said the company currently has four plants under construction in China and one in Thailand, apart from the ones in India.
"These new state-of-the-art facilities will help us reach the goal of increasing worldwide sales by nearly 50% by mid-decade to about 8 million vehicles per year," he said.
Ford has been seeing increased demand for its compact Figo model, which it began exporting in August last year. The car maker sold more than 60,000 units, including exports, in the first six months of 2011, a year-on-year growth rate of more than 50%.
The company, which also sells the Fiesta sedan, recently said it would invest $72 million to increase production capacity at its engine assembly plant in Chennai to support its sales and export growth plans.
Demand for cars in India is expected to fall more than predicted an industry body said earlier this month, as rising interest rates and fuel prices force consumers to tighten purse strings in India.
Indian car sales, which grew at a breakneck 30% in the fiscal year that ended in April, are now expected to grow by just 10 to 12% this fiscal year, down from an earlier forecast of 16 to 18%, an industry group forecast.
Foreign automakers, however, continued to post rising sales, driven by exports. Many are relatively new entrants to India and have lower bases of comparison.
The Indian unit of Toyota posted a 94% rise in June sales, driven mainly by a big increase in sales of its Etios sedan, which accounted for nearly 50% of its sales.
Nissan saw sales rise 21 times from a year earlier, with domestic sales at 1,632 cars and exports of 9,072.
In April, General Motors' India unit said it aims to grow at twice the rate of the country's automotive sector in 2011, while Hyundai Motor Co's Indian unit said sales will rise 15 to 17% this year.
India, with its near 9% economic growth, remains attractive for automakers and global players have increasingly relied on growth in China, India and other emerging economies to offset weak sales in their home countries.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Come August and you can start your Company in 24 hours; MCA proposal to spur entrepreneurship
It took Kishore Biyani almost three months to incorporate Pantaloon Retail; Tulsi Tanti needed a month to float Suzlon Energy; Ramesh Chauhan says it took him ages, and he had to agonise over 50-100 pages of documentation; Kiran Mazumdar Shaw recollects she did it in a "record time" of three months in 1978, an era in which six months was the norm. But come August, entrepreneurs dreaming about walking in their footsteps can float a company in exactly 24 hours, doing everything that's needed online. At least, that's the promise theMinistry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is holding out to start-up aspirants across the country.
In a circular issued last Saturday, the ministry outlined several measures including online verification and clearance of the name of the company being incorporated, online submissions of statutory forms, and issuing digital certificates of incorporation. "The simplified process ofonline incorporation of companies is likely to be implemented with effect from 11th August, 2011," the circular signed by Assistant Director Monika Gupta said.
"This will spur entrepreneurship and kick start the economy. The amount of time consumed in setting up companies is huge deterrence for the entrepreneurial growth," says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director, Biocon.
It takes an average of 29 days to start a new company in India now, according to the India edition of Doing Business 2011, a report co-produced by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Often, the wait is longer.
Serial entrepreneur Mukund Mohan, who floated four businesses in Silicon Valley before moving to India to start three businesses here, says the latter took him 2-3 months each. In contrast, "it took me between 5 hours to 2 days to start my businesses in the Valley," he says. Adds Vinod Ambavat, partner, Jain Ambavat and Associates, an auditing firm: "It takes over a month to complete this process." Twelve different procedures need to be completed before a company is incorporated, making India one of the least efficient countries in the world. The World Bank report, which covered a universe of 183 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, ranked India 165 when it comes to ease of starting a business.
But the MCA proposal, if implemented in letter and spirit, will make India among the best in the world. It now takes a day to float a company in New Zealand, two days in Australia, three in Singapore and six in the US, according to the Doing Business 2011 Report. The MCA is putting in place a system that will help companies submit all the required forms online and enable the Registrar of Companies to process the application and issue a digital certificate of incorporation within 24 hours.
In a circular issued last Saturday, the ministry outlined several measures including online verification and clearance of the name of the company being incorporated, online submissions of statutory forms, and issuing digital certificates of incorporation. "The simplified process ofonline incorporation of companies is likely to be implemented with effect from 11th August, 2011," the circular signed by Assistant Director Monika Gupta said.
"This will spur entrepreneurship and kick start the economy. The amount of time consumed in setting up companies is huge deterrence for the entrepreneurial growth," says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director, Biocon.
It takes an average of 29 days to start a new company in India now, according to the India edition of Doing Business 2011, a report co-produced by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Often, the wait is longer.
Serial entrepreneur Mukund Mohan, who floated four businesses in Silicon Valley before moving to India to start three businesses here, says the latter took him 2-3 months each. In contrast, "it took me between 5 hours to 2 days to start my businesses in the Valley," he says. Adds Vinod Ambavat, partner, Jain Ambavat and Associates, an auditing firm: "It takes over a month to complete this process." Twelve different procedures need to be completed before a company is incorporated, making India one of the least efficient countries in the world. The World Bank report, which covered a universe of 183 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, ranked India 165 when it comes to ease of starting a business.
But the MCA proposal, if implemented in letter and spirit, will make India among the best in the world. It now takes a day to float a company in New Zealand, two days in Australia, three in Singapore and six in the US, according to the Doing Business 2011 Report. The MCA is putting in place a system that will help companies submit all the required forms online and enable the Registrar of Companies to process the application and issue a digital certificate of incorporation within 24 hours.
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