CEE Jan-Mar 2012

India Country Profile INDIA WILL GROW BELOW 8 PER CENT BETWEEN 2011 & 2013: UN REPORT The Indian economy is likely to grow at eight per cent per annum between calendar years 2011 and 2013, said an United Nations report released today. The report, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012, projected India's growth at 7.6 per cent in 2011 , 7.7 per cent in 2012 and 7.9 per cent in 2013. The UN measures economic growth of countries by factoring in the exchange rate as well. Hence, official growth numbers might vary. The report said double-dip recession in the US and Europe would have a bearing on economic activity across South Asia, as the two nations are key export markets and the main source of tourism revenues for South Asia. The slowing of economic growth in India from nine per cent in 2010 had weighed heavily on South Asia, expected to grow by 6.7 per cent in 2011 from 7.2 per cent in 2010, the report said. Exports to Europe and the US made up 30 per cent of India's total. Exports have been sluggish lately with trade deficit widening to $133billion during April-December. The report also cautioned India about not meeting its fiscal deficit target of 4.7 per cent of gross domestic product for 2011 -12, sayi ng lower growth had brought down tax revenues and disinvestment in state run companies and this was not according to plan. Pointing out that Reserve Bank of India went aggressive on inflation, increasing rates 13 times since March 2010, the report said the tide had started to turn towards supporting domestic demand. RBI will review its policy on January 24 and is widely expected to not cut key rates even as inflation fell for the first time below nine per cent to stand at a two-year low of 7.47 per cent in December 2011 . On a cheerful note, however, the report said inflation would decline slowly in the South Asian region , averaging 9.1 per cent in 2012 and eight per cent in 2013, on the back of easing food and commodity prices, coupled with the impact of monetary tightening in Bangladesh and India. It expected central banks in South Asia to move towards a growth– supportive monetary policy, if inflationary pressures eased . The report gave a positive outlook for India's job market and said, "India is enjoying gains .in employment rates. As global economies experienced a slowdown, the UN prescribed fiscal expansion to propel economic growth instead of austerity measures adopted by some countries. Courtesy: The Business Standard, New Delhi, January 18, 2012. 'LARGE INVESTORS ARE COMING INTO INDIA'S CLEAN- TECH SECTOR' lnderpreet Wadhwa has created a new company with a unique kind of business model. His venture, Azur power designs, finances, owns, and operates solar power plants. Azur Power's 2 MW Punjab facility is the first and the only private, utility-scale solar power plant in India. An achievement that made him the first entrepreneur to sell solar power commercially in India. Azur Power has a project under every solar policy in the country; it has inked agreements with State Government of Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka. It has secured funding from He/ion Ventures, Foundation Partners, IFC and US Export Import Bank. Going forward, lnderpreet tells Sudhir Chowdhary that Azure Power still has a huge future in which its influence will grow. Excerpts: What inspired you to become a clean-tech entrepreneur? have done my undergraduate studies in electronics engineering from GNDU , Punjab and MBA in finance and marketing from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley in the United States. Even while working for Fortune 500 companies in US, I always had a passion to contribute to India's rural development and infrastructure needs through a sustainable venture. After a successful stint in Silicon Valley, I thought of starting a venture that would have a direct and positive social impact with respect to improving the livelihoods of rural India. During my travels to India in 2007, I researched the rural economy and considered information delivery and micro finance opportunities. However, during my travels, I realized that people in rural India are still in need of improvements in the basic of life such as food, water and power. Given my undergrad in electronics engineering, passion for solar power development (from back in California) and Indian government policy impetus around rural electrification, clean energy delivery to rural households through distributed solar power generation was the obvious choice. That is how 67