If the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) rates India as number one country for opportunities in retail growth, down South, cities like Coimbatore are witnessing a flurry of activities in this sector.
Quite impressed by the kind of growth that is happening in Coimbatore, Gibson G Vedamani, CEO of Retailers Association of India, Mumbai, who was in the city recently, predicted that Coimbatore was poised to become a retail hub, next to Chennai in the next three years.
He did not forget to recall that Sri Krishna Sweets had branched out from Coimbatore several decades ago. Big names in textile business like the Chennai Silks are also here.
With more shopping malls and multiplexes coming up in the city, K Srinivasan, Assistant Professor, Jansons School of Business, said that high-end shopping was catching up in the textile city.
“We now have Krishna Collections on DB Road, Vibe on Race Course Road, Adlabs of Reliance group is coming up, besides many multiplexes, helped by the emerging consumerism. The cosmopolitan psyche is getting rooted here,” he added.
He also noted how book-retailing was also coming up in a big way with Odyssey already having opened one outlet and likely to open another, while Crossword and Landmark were set to open shops. The current growth is supplemented by the upbeat trend in other sectors like realty sector, and of course, Information Technology (IT).
“The relaxation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms in realty sector has facilitated a flow of investment, thereby providing retailers a good space,” remarked Gibson.
If modern retail industry has given customers a good shopping experience and thrown open plenty of employment opportunities, the buoyant economy, as its contribution, has increased the purchasing power of the people.
Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Coimbatore Zone, Jayakumar Ramdass, also echoed the same sentiment. “The purchasing power of the people has gone up manifold and the retail sector is poised for a big growth in Coimbatore.”
Besides the customers here, retail outlets in Coimbatore are witnessing regular shoppers from neighbouring States like Karnataka and Kerala.
P D Francis, Manager of Alukkas, said its Coimbatore branch is doing well, with more customers opting for high-end products.
However, Jayakumar Ramadass stated that there remained a lot of scope for Coimbatore to grow in several other areas of the retail sector like household materials. “The rural economy is much bigger,” he opined.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Kovai poised to become a retail hub
Monday, October 23, 2006
Bosch launches Coimbatore facility
The company is expecting 25% revenue from the Asia-Pacific region by 2015, and India is expected to contribute a major share of the total sales, currently at euro 730 million (Rs 4,000 crore), Franz Fehrenbach,chairman of Robert Bosch GmbH, said today.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Coimbatore facility of Robert Bosch India, Fehrenbach said the company is investing euro 325 million, amounting to 7.4% of total sales, for R&D and would continue to invest on research on a consistent basis.
Friedhelm Pickhard, managing director of Robert Bosch India, said the Coimbatore facility would handle services in automotive applications, industrial automation, mechanical engineering and shared services.
Passport offices in Madurai, Coimbatore
Passport offices are likely to be opened in Madurai and Coimbatore by the first quarter of next year.
An indication to this was given by the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, E. Ahamed, in a communication to the Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, said a press release from the latter's office.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Air Deccan to connect Ahmedabad and Coimbatore via Bangalore
A 180 seater A 320 aircraft would be deployed in the route, An Air Deccan release said here today.
Ahmedabad in Gujarat and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu enjoy a long history of being the most important centres of Indian textile and engineering industries. The two cities were also traditional hubs of trade and commerce, besides being home to several educational institutions of higher learning. Both Ahmedabad and Coimbatore were already well connected on the Air Deccan network.
Ahmedabad airport recently got its first ever aircraft base set up by Air Deccan and was connected to Chennai and Hyderabad. The airliner connects Coimbatore to Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai with daily flights.
With the launch of the Ahmedabad-Coimbatore service, Air Deccan became the only airline providing daily connectivity between the two cities.
Flight DN 741 will leave Ahmedabad at 1530 hrs, reach Bangalore at 1730 hrs, leave Bangalore for Coimbatore at 1800 hrs and land at Coimbatore at 1830 hrs. In the reverse direction it will leave Coimbatore at 1900 hrs, arrive in Bangalore at 1930 hrs and depart for Ahmedabad at 2000 hrs and land at Ahmedabad at 2200 hrs.
The Schedule was subject to approval by relevant government authorities, the release said.
Air Deccan Chief Operating Officer Warrick Brady said in the release that the low cost flier was the first to identify the relevance of affordable air connectivity between growing cities in India and provide inter regional connectivity at unmatched low fares.
The choc a bloc load factor of over 85 per cent on an average, on all Air Deccan flights from Ahmedabad and from Coimbatore had prompted it to launch a daily flight connecting Ahmedabad and Coimbatore in a single journey.
He said ''as part of our constant endeavor to provide the lowest possible fares to our passengers, we are offering inaugural fares on the Ahmedabad-Bangalore-Coimbatore flight at Rs.1974/- (plus taxes). Moreover as part of our Destination No.1 campaign, we are offering tickets at Rs Six (plus taxes) on the Bangalore-Coimbatore sector. Ahmedabad and Coimbatore were not even connected on a single rail network taking up more than two days of journey time. This new service along with the lowest possible fares would indeed provide a convenient travel option to thousands of people planning a trip between the two cities''.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
KCT setting up another Rs 35-cr IT park
| Construction contract awarded; project likely to be completed by March |
`We already have applications from six companies of which two are from Japan.'
Coimbatore , Oct. 2
Kumaraguru College of Technology (KCT) is in the process of setting up another IT park within its campus in an area of 2.3 lakh sq. ft.
The work on this estimated Rs 35-crore project is expected to commence in the first week of October. "Construction contract has been awarded and we expect the project to be complete by March next," its Joint Correspondent, Dr A. Selva Kumar, told Business Line.
Its first project, which houses IT giants such as Cognizant and Spheris was established in 2005 in a built-up space of 3 lakh sq. ft.
Space set aside
Dr Selva Kumar recalled that the space was then set aside for some start-up IT companies, which could use the facility as an incubator. "But the STPI Director, Ms Rajalakshmi, drew the attention of renowned IT players and Cognizant had no second thoughts about taking up 40,000 sq ft. Spheris came in later, but Cognizant has expanded its presence by taking up another 35,000 sq. ft three months back."
Considering Cognizant's request for additional space and the demand from other IT companies has driven KCT to allocate more space, and this time for establishing an IT park — a plug and play model. "We already have the application from six companies of which two are from Japan. Our preference would be to lease out the space to IT companies because of the park's proximity to the engineering college," he said.
Beneficial to students
Dr Selva Kumar pointed out that lot of students were benefited by the location because they got to do projects in these companies and the executive programmes could also be conducted within the campus.
"Connectivity is no issue as the STPI earth station is located close by and 6 ISPs have fibre terminations here," he said.
The 150-acre KCT campus is now using just 50 per cent of the area. "We still have another 70 acres. Future expansion possibilities are bright," was all he said when asked if the management would look at allocating that space for promotion of IT parksCourtesy : The business line
Bharathiar varsity techno park
Bharathiar University (BU) is planning to tie-up with the State Government for establishing the BU-Elcot R&D Techno Park city within its campus.
Dr G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-Chancellor, BU, has within a month of assuming charge, set the project, which was put in the backburner for over a decade, in motion. "We have just started the ground levelling work in about 25 acres of the 109 acres earmarked for this project. We would like to moot this project jointly with the Government of Tamil Nadu. We are in talks," Dr Thiruvasagam told Business Line. The total project cost has been estimated at Rs 12 crore.
Elcot officials have undertaken a survey of the proposed site. The Vice-Chancellor, clarified that the building structure would have to be put up by the companies taking the land, while the promoters ensure to provide the basic amenities.
Courtesy : The business line
Singapore, Coimbatore air link planned
COIMBATORE: SILK Air is considering direct air connectivity between Coimbatore and Singapore, said Balaji Sadasivam, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Information, Communication and Arts.
He was addressing the members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Coimbatore, at a meeting held here on Monday.
According to a CII release, Mr. Sadasivam said there was a quantum jump during the last two years in not only business travellers between Singapore and this region but also "leisure travellers." Hence SILK Air was considering direct air connectivity between Coimbatore and Singapore and this was awaiting Central Government's approval.
"Singapore and Coimbatore can complement each other in the field of healthcare, education and engineering design."
A hub
Though Singapore might not be cost competitive to set up a manufacturing unit, Coimbatore could make use of its advancements in textile and engineering design and make Singapore a hub to reach out faster to the South East Asian countries and the Western parts of the U.S., he said.
Further, Singapore was looking at creating special economic zones in India, he added.
Bilateral trade
The Chairman of the CII, Coimbatore Zone, Jayakumar Ramdass, said bilateral trade and investment links between Singapore and India had seen a dramatic growth in recent years.
Various multinational companies were routing their investments in India through their Singapore subsidiaries. Companies from Singapore had invested in various projects in India such as logistics, health services, electronics and software.
Top five sectors
The top five sectors that attracted Foreign Direct Investment from Singapore included telecommunications, services (financial and non-financial), electrical equipment (including computer software and electronics), fuel and transportation industries.
India's trade with Singapore grew three times in the last five years and this was contributed by surge in exports and imports from and to Singapore, the release saidCourtesy : The Hindu