Friday’s 515-point rise in the BSE Sensex to 9810.46 was not a surprise for market observers as every meltdown in the past had offered buying opportunity and huge returns in short-term.

The BSE Sensex fell over 1,700 points between January 14 and May 17, 2004, and bounced back. Even at yesterday’s level of 9,300, the Sensex shows over 100 per cent appreciation over its May 17, 2004, level of 4,505. (more…)

Buoyed by the success in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Tata Tea plans to enter Russia through a joint venture with a local company. Tetley, a part of Tata Tea, would be the vehicle for the Russian foray. According to Vijay Singh, director-developing markets, The Tetley Group, test marketing has started in Russia, which is one of the largest tea markets in the world consuming approximately 1,40,000 tonne per annum. (more…)

Most foreign banks are still groping for the right India strategy.

The top 20 foreign banks operating in India employ 26,530 people. This will increase by 50 per cent to 39,770 by 2008. Fifteen of the top 20 overseas players predict at least a 20 per cent increase of staff strength; five banks project an increase of 100 per cent and one of them anticipates a 650 per cent increase. This is part of the findings of PrieceWaterhouseCoopers’ study Foreign Banks in India 2006 that was released recently. Presumably, the staff strength is inclusive of those employees who are attached to business process outsourcing operations of the overseas entities and not commercial banking alone. What is quite amazing is that only 46 expatriates (or 0.17 per cent) are employed by these 20 foreign banks. This number will increase to 72 by 2008. Five of the top 20 banks have no expatriates on their payroll and the maximum number of expatriates present at any individual foreign bank is 10.

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