GMR's NAPC Consortium wins bid for Rs 1100 cr road project

CHENNAI: In about 36 months, there would be a six lane state highway at the periphery of Chennai, enabling south to north travelers to completely
bypass the city and drive from the southern Tamil Nadu to Kolkata.

The first step towards the process has just been taken with the TN road development corporation finalising the project bid for the first phase of the 62 km long Chennai outer ring road.

A consortium led by the Bangalore based GMR group has emerged as the lowest bidder for the 29.65 km project estimated to cost Rs 1100 crore. It project entails design, construction, development, finance, operation and maintence of the six lane and two service lanes from the Vandalur to Nemillicheri section in the State.

The TN government is expected to issue the letter of award in the next few days following which the consortium would work out the design and financial closure for the project. The project is estimated to take 30 months for construction. The other bidders in the race for the project included L & T, Nagarjuna Construction, Soma Enterprises and IVRCL.

The consortium is a special purpose vehicle formed by the GMR group and the Chennai-based infrastructure firm, NAPC. "We wanted a local contractor as part of our execution and hence the arrangement," said GMR highways MD O Bangara Raju. "Both GMR and NAPC would be directly involved in some of the construction works and the rest would be contracted out."

Being a public private partnership project working in the design-build-own-operate-transfer model, the state government will donate Rs.300 crore as a free grant to the promoter’s contribution in the project. Even as the debt-equity ratio is yet to be decided, NAPC will have a 10% stake in the project with GMR holding the majority 90%.

"After the government financing, about Rs.600-650 crore of the funding will be through debt and the rest, equity," Mr.Raju said.

The highway would connect three national highways – NH 4, NH 45, and NH 205 from Vandalur to the south of Chennai to Nemilicheri in the Tiruttani road to the north of Chennai. This stretch will eventually become part of the planned six lane outer ring road connecting Vandalur to Minjur farther north of Chennai.

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India Inc created 3,00,000 jobs in US: Study

WASHINGTON: When the Indian outsourcing industry is being blamed for taking away American jobs, a study has found that corporate India has created Save early to earn more
Cope with recession
India 4th largest creditor to US
employment for 3,00,000 people in the US between 2004 and 2007.

An India Brand Equity Foundation study released here yesterday by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma mentioned $105 billion contribution by the Indian industry to the US economy during 2004-07.

"This revealed a story of commitment to optimise and to invest in the future of the relationship," Sharma said.

The $50-billion Indian outsourcing industry has come in for a major attack in the US, bolstered by President Barack Obama's calls to the US companies to move from Bangalore to Buffalo.


India looks greener to foreign students as jobs dry up in US

BANGALORE: As the West reels under slowdown, students from world over are shying away from the US and homing in on an unexpected location, India.
With the job scene getting more and more disappointing in Europe and the US, many students have started feeling that India offers a better platform for career growth.

Sunghoon Kim, an MBA student from Rotman School of Management, Canada, is doing his internship at Infosys, as part of its instep programme.

“The job market in Canada is not good. Many of my seniors are struggling to find the right job. I think I will go to Korea or India, which are emerging fast and have better opportunities,” the 25-year-old said.

A fellow intern at Infosys, Lee Leng (Kerry) Lau is doing his MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, the Philippines. “The economic situation is bad. Lots of people are coming back from the US and the UK to India. I think cities like Bangalore and Mumbai have a lot of opportunities and there is a lot of entrepreneurial spirit. The world is becoming flat and globalised,” he said.

Software major TCS has come up with internship for foreign graduates (non-TCS employees) for 12 months in India. “Over 50 students from overseas universities underwent internship at TCS in FY09, up from 20 in FY08,” said Ajoyendra Mukherjee, vicepresident and head of the company’s global HR wing. “We have seen the number of international students doing internship in TCS rising significantly in the last few years.”

Over 86 institutes from the US, Canada, Brazil, Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Europe and the UK have benefited from TCS’ Global Academic Interface programme in FY09, up from 75 in FY08. Over 11,000 professionals of foreign origin from 67 nationalities currently work in TCS.

“We are seeing 25% increase in the number of foreign students joining MindTree for internships. This is because getting internships is more difficult now in the US and the UK due to the economic slowdown,” the company’s senior vice-president (HR) Puneet Jaitley said.

Biotechnology firm Biocon have eight students from foreign universities like John Hopkins, MIT, Glassgow and Houston University. “We also get students from top B-schools in the US. Most of the interns are Indians who have gone abroad for higher studies. Others are students of Indian origin who have grown up and studied abroad and are looking at an exposure in biotechnology,” said Ravi C Dasgupta, group head, HR.

“The job market is not good due to the financial crisis. Many big companies are in trouble. I may go to some other country for better opportunity,” German student Danail Hristov (24), from the University of Mannheim, who is doing a masters in business informatics and doing his internship in India.