India, Dynamic Growth

With 23 Million Cell phones added every month , India. with 600 Mobile Phones, is one of the largest markets for cell phones in the world.. Incredible growth and contrasts can bee seen here .. We visited Mumbai ( Bombay.. Pop. 20Mil ) Vadodara ( Baroda. Pop. 3Mil ) and Pune ( Poona. 3Mil. ) cities that are examples of the 20 fast growing cities in India. As road infrastructure is at capacity, Metro Railways are being developed to ease the urban commuter currently stuck in road traffic!. In fact, 23 cities are building metro rail and global Rail companies like Bombardier, Siemens & Alsthom have set up shop in India.

In the Automotive sector, the famous nano cars ( sold for $2000) is finally on the road, with production capacity of 250 000 per year, it's expected to sell half that capacity in 2011. In fact, there are 9 Mil. 2-wheelers ( Scooter, Motor cycles ) sold in India and about 4 Mil Cars/trucks sold per year.. Making this a major destination for all global OEMs ( VW just opened a 140 000/Y car facility in Dec 2009). This segment of is growing at 20 to 25% per Y and is a key sector for composites.

While there is strong growth in purchasing power of the Indian Middle class ( ~200 Mil strong) a super class of global Indian groups has emerged.. These compaies are expanding in India and abroad.. Names like the Tata Group, Reliance, Hinduja and Mittal are house hold names in India but not well known abroad. For example, Mr. Mittal is a major share holder in the largest Steel company - Arcelor Mittal , with 10 Mil Tons capacity .. About 10% of global share.