Category Archives: Business & Economy

Fiat in the race for replacing Ambassador cabs in Kolkata

Business & Economy

Fiat is the latest automobile manufacturer after Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki to join the race in taxi race in Kolkata. Incidentally, the taxi segment in the City of joy was run by Hindustan Motors’ Ambassador. However, the production of this legendary car was stopped sometime back, making it necessary to find a replacement for the taxi battalion in Kolkata. Maruti was the first one to offer a replacement followed by Tata Motors. Now, a third contender has emerged in the form of Fiat.

Hindustan Motors, which used to produce the Ambassador at the Uttarpara facility in the district of Hooghly in West Bengal, has suspended the process. This has brought the curtains on the monopoly of Ambassadors in the taxi segments, which was prevalent for several decades. In the meantime, automobile companies like Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki have started running their exclusive models for grabbing a hold of the taxi market.

Fiat is planning to launch an especially stripped-down version of its mid-sized sedan, Linea for this purpose. Nagesh Basavanhalli, the president and managing director of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles India was present in Kolkata on the occasion of the launch of its MUV Avventura. He said, “We hope to get the approval for this from West Bengal soon. We have already started to sell the model in the taxi market of Mumbai and Delhi.” Sanjay Patodia, the managing director of Austin, a leading car dealership company in the city that now deals Fiat cars, said, “Maruti’s Dzire and Tata Motors’ Indigo has already started to take advantage of Ambassador’s absence. The state transport department recently announced to give permit to 3,000 new taxis. I think, Fiat Linea, would also be potential replacement in this segment.”

Fiat in the race for replacing Ambassador cabs in Kolkata
Fiat in the race for replacing Ambassador cabs in Kolkata

Linea has a price tag of seven lakhs INR, while the stripped-down model will be of the price range of 6.22 lakhs INR, whereas Ambassador was priced at 5.6 lakhs INR. Tata Motors had launched a non-power steering, non-AC, Euro-IV Tata Indigo model at 5 lakhs INR price range last year. Also, Maruti had launched a stripped-down Dzire sometime further back. Fiat will definitely increase the competition of filling in the void created by the suspension of the production of Ambassador.

source: http://www.cartrade.com / CarTrade.com / Car Trade Home> Car News> Fiat / by Roger D’Souza / November 24th, 2014

One stop, three starts

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology

ApolloKOLKATA04dec2014

The Apollo Hospitals group will set up a medical college in the city with 150 MBBS and 50 postgraduate seats and a 1,000-bed hospital.

The state government has given a 14-acre plot at Calcutta Riverside in Maheshtala, on the southern fringe, to the group for setting up the medical college. The institution will be the fourth private medical college in Bengal.

The township is coming up on 262 acres on the banks of the Hooghly, about 20km from the city. Apart from residential apartments, Calcutta Riverside includes a medical college, a film city and a sports academy.

“With the Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Calcutta will become one of the health hubs. We’ll bring faculties and new technology,” Prathap C. Reddy, the chairman of the Apollo Hospitals group, said at a programme where chief minister Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone for three facilities at Calcutta Riverside.

He said the medical college would be part of a bigger project by the Apollo group, which will have 17 other colleges, including ones related to paramedics, nursing and allied health services.

Mamata said she had formed a group of ministers to get the project cleared. “In the coming days a lot of doctors will be produced from here,” the chief minister said in her speech at the programme.

Apollo officials said the Rs 300-crore project would be completed in five years and in two phases. In the first phase, there will be 100 MBBS seats and a 500-bed hospital.

“We are planning to bring faculty from abroad,” said Rupali Basu, the chief executive officer of Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Calcutta. Once the building that will house the medical college is ready, the group will apply for a no-objection certificate from the health department. After getting the certificate, the group can apply for an inspection by the Medical Council of India.

Bengal has 2,450 MBBS seats, nearly half of which were scrapped by the medical council earlier this year because of lack of adequate infrastructure at the colleges.

The council later restored the seats after the colleges promised to set up the required facilities.

Along with the medical project, the chief minister laid the foundation stone for Kolkata Studios and Sourav Ganguly’s school and sports academy. The former Team India skipper was present on the occasion.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by The Telegraph Special Correspondent / Tuesday – December 02nd, 2014

Purney tea launched – Sale money to go to family and garden hospital

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, World Opinion

Margaret’s Hope :

The Purney Subba limited edition tea was launched by the Goodricke Group today to mark Margaret’s Hope garden’s 150th year and the brew fetched a maximum of Rs 7,000 a kg.

The management had decided to name a special edition autumn tea after the garden’s oldest surviving worker, Purney Subba, 98.

Today, Purney launched the tea in the presence of P.J. Field, chairman, Goodricke Group (UK), M.C. Perkins, chairman, Camellia PLC, UK (parent body of Goodricke) and A.N.Singh, managing director, Goodricke Group. “I wish all the luck to the garden,” Purney said after the launch.

The special edition tea is called FTGFOP1 PS Special. All Darjeeling tea is sold as FTGFOP (Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. PS stands for Purney Subba.

The packet has a photograph of Purney Subba and his year of birth, 1916.

Purney Subba at the tea launch. (Suman Tamang)
Purney Subba at the tea launch. (Suman Tamang)

Of the 60kg tea launched today, 40kg was sold. “Marcus Wulf of Schroeder and Mamann from Germany and Leafull Corporation Limited from Tokyo, Japan, bought 20kg each,” said Vinod Gurung, manager (marketing), Goodricke.

The German buyer wanted to buy 20kg at Rs 6,500 a kg and later the Japanese buyer bought another 20kg for Rs 7,000.

Autumn tea is usually sold for less than Rs 500 a kg.

Jeevan Pande, the garden manager, said: “This is a small effort to recognise the hard work put in by the workers to make our tea world famous.”

Singh said the proceeds from the sale would go to Purney’s family and the 20-bed garden hospital. “Twenty percent will be given to Purney Subba and the rest of the money will be used to buy a ventilator for the hospital. If it is not enough, the company will chip in for the ventilator.”

He said the ventilator will cost around Rs 10 lakh.

Today, the management distributed school bags among 600 students and commemorative wall clocks among the 1,500 workers and gave five laptops to Margaret’s Hope High School and Rs 1.5 lakh to buy furniture for the school. “We will construct 150 toilets in the garden,” said Singh.

Margaret’s Hope spread over 586 hectare was established in 1864. Purney had worked in the garden for 40 years. Of his five sons and three daughters, one son and a daughter are garden workers. Deoraj, who is a chowkidar at Margaret’s Hope, said: “I am happy that a tea has been named after my family. This is an honour for the work force. I do not want my children to work in gardens. With a daily wage of Rs 90, it is difficult to survive.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> North Bengal & Sikkim> Story / by Vivek Chhetri / Friday – November 21st, 2014

Major industrial projects set for completion in Bengal

Business & Economy

Investment-starved West Bengal will see the completion of two major industrial projects totalling an investment of nearly Rs 23,000 crores by this month end.

While one public sector project would be the largest dose of capital infusion in the state in recent times, the other would be the biggest dose of private sector investment under the present government.

One project is the Rs 17,000-crore greenfield steel plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd at Burnpur near Asansol and the other is the Rs 4600-crore power plant of the private sector RP Sanjiv Goenka group at Haldia in Purba Medinipur.

Both projects were conceived a few years ago with the steel project suffering a four-year delay due to a host of project-related factors as well as recent problems related to land acquisition.

The project generated massive employment during the construction phase and has already propelled regeneration of local economy around Burnpur where one of Asia’s oldest steel plant which started production in 1870 still stands. It is SAIL’s first greenfield plant since Bokaro Steel Plant

The first unit of the 600 MW Haldia Thermal Power Project of CESC is expected to be commissioned end of November and is among the biggest private sector investments since the All India Trinamool Congress government came to power in May 2011.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by Indrani Dutta / Kolkata – November 14th, 2014

Spotlight on heritage assets

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel

The Kathgola Palace, where the then chief of the British East India Company had met Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, has regained some of its lost glory. The house of the Jagat Seth family, pre-eminent for its powerful moneylenders and bankers in the first half of the 18th century, has been restored, too.

Decrepit and prey to vandals till a couple of years back, both buildings are now popular tourist spots in Murshidabad, which was the capital of undivided Bengal during the Mughal era.

“They are now sustainable heritage properties and generate Rs 10 crore in tourism revenue,” said Pradip Chopra of the PS Group, who is also president of Murshidabad Heritage Development Society.

The Murshidabad model of conservation will be showcased along with other successful conservation projects in a seminar titled “Get the best out of your Heritage Property/Assets” at Palladian Lounge on November 22 and 23. The seminar will be part of “Resurgence — 3rd Murshidabad Heritage Festival 2014” to be held at Hazarduari palace and Kathgola palace in Murshidabad.

The Murshidabad Heritage Development Society is organising the festival, along with CREDAI Bengal, The Palladian-Asian Hotels North Limited, Hotels and Restaurants Association of Eastern India, The Calcutta Gastronomes, Intach and ASI.

“It will bring together stakeholders like property owners, developers, tour operators, hoteliers, restaurateurs and conservationists to develop a sustainable conservation effort,” said Anjan Mitra, architect and seminar coordinator.

The seminar will have an eclectic mix of speakers, including Debasish Nayak, the director of the Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University, civil engineer R.K. Anil, Aman Nath of Neemrana Fort Palace Hotel, Raj Basu of Help Tourism, Kasturi Gupta Menon, the chairperson of Crafts Council of India, and Sunil Rampuria, a heritage property owner in Bikaner.

Heritage is not just the building but also history, memories, lifestyles, craft, cuisine and a host of other things that need to be conserved holistically, said Mitra. So the inclusion of stakeholders like The Calcutta Gastronomes represented by chef Shaun Kenworthy.

The teaser launch of the seminar at Palladian Lounge on Tuesday showcased the royal vegetarian cuisine of Murshidabad, called Sheherwali cuisine.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Thursday – November 13th, 2014

Murshidabad to get heritage hotels

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel

Kolkata :

Murshidabad, 250 kilometres north of Kolkata and the erstwhile capital of undivided Bengal, offers an unparalleled treasure-trove of heritage to tourists, both domestic and international. But, thanks to years of neglect and indifference, the majestic buildings are falling apart and the art, crafts and cuisines of the past are fading into oblivion.

The Murshidabad Heritage Development Society (MHDS), which has launched the revival project for Murshidabad through conservation of buildings, running of museums of family heirlooms, exhibitions of lost arts and crafts, cuisines, handloom and textile, have now planned to initiate the next level of heritage campaigns — converting some of the palatial buildings into heritage hotels to attract tourists and generate a tourism-centric industry.

MHDS, along with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), on the occasion of World Heritage Week will hold a seminar at Palladian in Kolkata on November 22 to create awareness about the rich and vibrant heritage of Bengal encompassing architecture, arts and history and build a learning bridge between our past, present and future.

But, if you think that Murshidabad is only a hub of the Nawabi heritage, you should look beyond. Along with Nawabi culture, a powerful stream of rich traders and bankers, mostly from Rajasthan, had made its mark here. More than 400 years ago, they came, settled, prospered, built mansions, places of worships and even schools and colleges. They were known as ‘Sheherwali’. “We have identified 97 such heritage buildings with fascinating architecture and historical importance,” said Sandip Nowlakha, founder secretary of MHDS.

Murshidabad cuisine in general, or ‘Sheherwali’ cuisine in particular, is one such fascinating aspect of the heritage. “The love for food, especially all things sweet, is an apt description of any ‘Sheherwali’ cuisine. Food features prominently in the community, having evolved passionately through centuries of their existence in Bengal. ‘Sheherwali’ cuisine is possibly the finest vegetarian spread one can find, even in modern times,” said Siddharth Dudhoria, the founder president of MHDS.

The symposium aims at fine-tuning the heritage-tourism model being developed by the MHDS. It would put together experts across the country and bring forth some successful models. “Heritage can be a great revenue earner. Unless we drive this point home, we cannot make younger generation understand the value of our heritage. Several heritage buildings at places like Azimgunj, Ziagunj, Lalgola, Kathgola can be heritage hotels offering finest heritage experiences. Once heritage generates revenue and employment, the care for it would reach the zenith,” said Pradeep Chopra, president of MHDS.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / November 12th, 2014

Amit Mitra woos businessmen in Kolkata

Business & Economy

The State had featured in the top spot in bank lending to MSMEs, Mr. Mitra said and added that 4,000 acres of land was made available for investment.

: Addressing the curtain raiser to the Bengal Global Business Summit at FICCI’s Federation House in New Delhi on Friday, West Bengal Minister of Finance and Commerce and Industries Amit Mitra invited the business community to attract investment opportunities for the State.

The ‘Bengal Global Business Summit’ will be held in Kolkata on January 7 and 8, 2015. To project the State as an emerging and ideal investment destination, senior IAS officers will visit parts of Europe and Asia and hold meetings with investor communities to hold road shows for the Summit.

Stating that the State government had doubled its industrial production and the State Domestic Product since the All India Trinamool Congress assumed office, Mr. Mitra said the State had also doubled its tax collections from Rs. 21,000 crore to Rs. 40,000 crore in 2013-14.

The State had featured in the top spot in bank lending to MSMEs, Mr. Mitra said and added that 4,000 acres of land was made available for investment. Another 3,000 acres would be ready for investment in the coming six months.

Dwelling on the changes brought about in the State since the AITC came to power, FICCI president Sidharth Birla said: “The State government has not only come up with a new West Bengal Investment and Industrial Policy 2013, but also various sector-specific policies in the areas of textiles, MSME, ICT to provide a fillip to the industrial investments in the State.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by Staff Reporter / Kolkata – November 01st, 2014

Kolkata bids for 2017 World Chambers Congress

Business & Economy, World Opinion

The WCC is an international forum for chamber leaders and professionals to exchange insights and address business issues.

The Indian Chamber of Commerce has bid for hosting the next World Chambers Congress in the city. The 2015 Congress is scheduled to be held in June next year in Italy and India would debut in case it is selected as a host for the next meet due to be held in 2017.

The WCC is an international forum for chamber leaders and professionals to exchange insights and address business issues. It attracts about 2000 business leaders from over 100 countries and can play a major role in placing Kolkata on the global investment map, a ICC statement said.

The ICC delegation is just back from making the bid presentation to the World Chamber Federation Governing Council in mid October in Tokyo. ICC is competing with the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of China, the Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Sydney Business Chamber for the bid, whose results are expected in November end, the ICC said.

The event is organised by the International Chamber of Commerce. The ICC delegation also utilised the opportunity to invite Japanese investors to the Biswa Banga Sammelan a global investors meet which is being planned by the Mamata Banerjee in January 2015.

West Bengal science and technology secretary Hridyesh Mohan who also travelled with the ICC delegation, invited Japanese business houses and industry captains to attend the West Bengal meet for which preparations are under way.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business> Industry / by Special Correspondent / Kolkata – October 23rd, 2014

Olympiad to put Kolkata on fashion world map

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Kolkata :

The City of Joy is getting ready to host the regional chapter of the National Fashion Olympiad. Organized jointly by the National Institute of Fashion Technology and the Union textiles ministry, the idea of the event is to put Kolkata on the world fashion map.

The Olympiad, which will highlight Kolkata’s young fashion talent, will be organized during November 11-13. The motto of this year’s fashion contest is “Sanyogam” or eternal connectivity of youth.

Students from Kolkata’s leading educational institutes, such as the La Martieniere for Boy and Girls, St Xavier’s College, Presidency University, Jadavpur University and Calcutta University, will take part in the National Fashion Olympiad (NFO). The competition will be open to students between 15 and 24 years of age. Students from IIT-Kharagpur and IIM-Kolkata will also be asked to take part at the Fashion Olympiad on the NIFT Kolkata campus.

The premier fashion institute has pioneered the unique initiative so that a platform can be offered to young talented individuals to test their skill and talent in specialized field of fashion. The regional-level competition will be held at various NIFT centres across the country, while the finale will take place in a metro city.

Though fashion designing is still in its nascent stage in Kolkata, the fashion Olympiad promises to catapult young talents with its beehive of activities showcasing what’s chic in fashion, interspersed with shows, exhibition, workshop and symposia.

“It has been our constant endeavour to hone new talents. Now, fashion students of the city will get the opportunity to display their creativity at this platform ,” said Bibekananda Banerjee, director of NIFT, Kolkata.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN / October 29th, 2014

Curry King brings 14 new marinations

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Travel, World Opinion

Kolkata :

Marination, that familiar method of flavouring and tenderizing food by coating them in a seasoned, and often acidic, liquid prior to cooking, lies at the core of a cuisine, lending character to the dish even as it provides a signature of the region. When Barbeque Nation, the casual dining chain which has an outlet at Sector V, decided to broaden the menu on their live on-the-table grill, not many could have fitted the bill better than Pat Chapman.

The Englishman, a chef, food writer, broadcaster and author, has a strong Indian connection and, perhaps more importantly, a passion for her cuisines. The Curry Club, which the London-born chef founded back home, has not just helped many a Brit take that bold leap from the bland to the spicy but has had them delve deeper into Indian cuisines.

“I’m not here to teach Indian marination to the chefs here; they know that better than me. But I do know the Indian palate,” said Chapman, who has brought 14 different marinations from round the world to add to what was being put on the table in the DIY (do-it-yourself) menu before the main buffet. “Putting the grill on the table is a fantastic concept and we don’t have it as yet in Britain,” added the 73-year-old, who had seven generations of his family living in India since 1715.

“My mother was born in Mhow and she was a terrific cook. She taught me and I have been cooking Indian food since I was eight,” said Chapman, who has earned sobriquets like ‘Ambassador of Indian food’ and ‘Curry King’ from British food reviewers. The man who has authored 36 recipe books with cumulative sales of over 1.5 million copies reminded that he has had no formal training as a chef. “But I’ve worked hard and learnt from so many of them. These chefs are my gurus,”
he added.

Giving a ‘demo’ of three of the marinations he has brought here — a Lebanese-Arabian coating of broccoli, a Thai preparation of Basa fish and Jamaican Jerk chicken — Chapman pointed out that the essence of marination is tenderizing for penetration of the flavours and that acid helps do that.

“Marination works particularly well for starters. Indian and Middle-East starters use it very cleverly,” he said. “In my view, Indian is the best food in the world. The curry is a wonderful thing, the food of a nation,” he added, and pointed to the phenomenal spread of Indian cuisine in the UK.

“I came to India for the first time in 1965 and have been here some 43-44 times since then; my wife Dominique has been here about 20 times. The visits have been more frequent since the 1980s, when I started The Curry Club. I bring groups and have them meet chefs here. Most members are British but we have Americans and people from other regions on board too,” he said. “Indian food is addictive. When I was a kid, garlic had to be bought from the chemist in the UK. Now you get it everywhere. Every region of India is represented in London through its restaurant and they are all doing well.”

Yorkshire Lamb, Spanish Valencia Prawns, English Mushrooms, Persian Veg Patties, New Orleans Corn, Mexican Veg Shashlik… As the skewers were laid on the table grills for the gastronomes to baste them in Vinegar Chili, Lemon Butter or Oriental Garlic to add that sheen of personal preferences, Chapman went around for the interactions. As the items disappeared quickly from the plates in the company of barbeque, tartar and mild mustard sauces, the beaming Englishman would have known he had connected well with the Indian palate.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Arup Chatterjee, TNN / October 18th, 2014