Sharp employment increase in India!

The year 2009 saw loss of jobs all over US and Europe. India was not hit by the recession as hard as US but it also went through a phase of stagnation in term of employment opportunities. The new openings were very very rare throughout India in the first 3 quarters of 2009. But as the clouds of recession seem to be clearing ( or at least everyone feels that way..) Indian companies have again started hiring in bulk!

The retail industry, metals and manufacturing industry along with IT has seen a wave of new job openings in the past 2 months. The stabilizing of retail industry in US is aiding the textile industry in India to win some orders and thus is also making some significant hiring. In the previous quarter the textile sector witnessed maximum loss of jobs of about 1.52 lakh followed by IT which was around 0.38 lakh. 

It is expected that India will have about 5 lakh+ job openings in the first quarter of 2010 itself. And year 2010 will be opening new jobs and added perks to the people who are already in jobs. More jobs in the economy drives everything as more jobs means more work and more work means more profitability!

Franchise Business in India

India is called a developing country, as we don't have another classification as a rapidly developing country. Let me today put some light on India in the franchise business.(Hey hey if you don't know what franchise business is and what exactly you should do to own a fanchisee then you should first read : What is a franchise business??.) The Franchise business isn't new in India and it's early days date back to 1990's. Today India has many franchise businesses of foriegn brands like KFC, McDonald's, Holiday Inn, Gold's Gym, Marks and Spencers and they have reached not only first tier but also many second tier cities in India and they are running successfully.

After 1990 the franchise business has boomed by leaps and bounds and there are many success stories to tell. Franchise business industry in India records a growth of 30%-35% per year from the past 5 years. And yes why not, because the core thing for any business to be succesful is the customers. And India has lot of it- and the world knows this, as a result many multi national companies are happy to offer franchise to Indian businessmans. One of the latest offering I know is of "beard papa's" from Japan. They are an international quality brand when it comes to cream puff's and they are inviting Master Franchisees.

The 4 sectors which have show the most rapid growth in franchise business in India are telecom sector, food sector, retail sector and education sector. These are all poised to grow with rate above 40% per annum atleast for the next 5-6 years. Food and retail sector have seen tremendous growth because the spending power of indian middle class is increasing. Read a splendid article about India's retail sector - India's retail sector is Boooooming...??.

Apart from these 4 sectors, the brewerage industry,health,beauty, and tourism are next to sparkle. India has favourable conditions for any fresh business to florish, also the competition is not as intense as in US and there are a lot of customers-hope you know that India is second largest in population- you don't need to be the king of your sector, you can be not even in top 10 but still you business may grow by leaps and bounds and you will have good profit margin. Couple this with the low rate of francise failure in India and significant return of investment and you will realise India's potential in franchise businesses.

Can world’s cheapest car – Tata’s 1lakh car- co-exist with prestigious brands like Jaguar and Land Rover?

A particular motor vehicle company is seen to concentrate mainly on one range of products, be it Toyota, Nissan or BMW, they are known for a particular category of cars. As the world now knows TATA MOTORS is out to create the world’s cheapest car! It will cost INR 1 lakh. That is equal to around US$2700 only!

But, Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata has said it is possible for the world's cheapest car to co-exist with prestigious brands like Jaguar and Land Rover despite an image disparity. He says if the brands like Nissan and BMW have the mini versions of cars why can’t TATA MOTORS, and he is pretty confident about this. Toyota has “Lexus” and Nissan has “Infini” and BMW has its “mini”. So, the market competitors are now trying to prove their skills in other range of their products and why not?? It’s getting them more business; they are giving low price cars to the people, which is good for a common man to fulfill his dream of having a car; and the makers are world renowned market leaders so the quality can be assured.


The world is waiting to catch a glimpse of the much touted Tata’s 1 lakh car, which would be unveiled at the Auto Expo in New Delhi on January 10. The car market is said to experience the decade’s greatest metamorphosis after the actual on-road launch of this highly spoken Tata’s 1 lakh car.

India's Retail Sector is Booooming...?

Retail in India has gained a surprising importance in past year as we see many corporate gaints investing in billions into this sector. India has topped the AT Kearney’s annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) for the third consecutive year, maintaining its position as the most attractive market for retail investment. The Indian retail market -- one of India's fastest growing industries -- is expected to grow from US$ 350 billion to US$ 427 billion by 2010. According to Euromonitor International, the Indian Retail market will grow in value terms by a total of 39.6 per cent between 2006 and 2011, averaging growth of almost 7 per cent a year.

The food Retail and Mobile Retail is growing at a high pace. Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based petroleum gaint Reliance Industries, has opened around 100 fruit and vegetable stores under "Reliance Fresh" brand in less than a year, already invested around Rs:2500 crore (US$ 0.637 billion!) and plans to invest about Rs:90,000 crore ($22.99 billion!) in setting up retails stores in various formats- hyper markets-supermarkets, speciality stores, discount stores...etc. Also Bharti Wal-Mart is setting up itself to enter into this sector soon. So look out for more billion dollar investments in these sector in comming year 2008.

Reading all this how's you feeling? Mind blowing reports with huge numbers about India's Retail sector, feeling great? Read next.....

Very few people think of the other part. The government decision on January 24 allows up to 51 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in “single brand” retail stores. Nike, Nokia or Levi can establish stores, but multi-brand retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour are excluded, for now. Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath told the leaders of the world’s richest corporations that India was seeking to increase its FDI to $US10 billion by 2006-2007, up from the $6.5 billion invested in 2005.Retail activities such as door-to-door selling, street carts and market stalls, act as a last resort for the unemployed, given the lack of jobs in manufacturing and agriculture. Many in the retail trade are living below the poverty line. A report published in December 2004 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPAS) entitled “FDI in India’s Retail Sector: More Bad than Good” stated that retailing is “probably the primary form of disguised unemployment/underemployment in the country”.The report continued: “Given the already over-crowded agricultural sector, and the stagnating manufacturing sector, and the hard nature and relatively low wages of jobs in both, many million Indians are virtually forced into the services sector. Here, given the lack of opportunities, it is almost a natural decision for an individual to set up a small shop or store, depending on his or her means or capital. And thus a retailer is born, seemingly out of circumstance rather than choice.” The report is spelndid, you can view it here :- http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:eZn1OLJE7PcJ:indiafdiwatch.org/fileadmin/India_site/10-FDI-Retail-more-bad.pdf+retail+sector+in+india&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=13&gl=in

Although the Indian government hails foreign investment as an economic boon, the growth has largely benefitted the wealthy to the detriment of large sections of workers, small business and farmers. The opening up of the Indian economy and deregulation has resulted in substantial public sector job cuts, the destruction of industries, land seizures and cuts to food and fuel subsidies. There are approximately 40 million people and 11 million outlets in India’s retail sector. Many of these are marginal businesses—small shops and stalls, street vendors and hawkers—which will be destroyed by competition from large retail outlets and chains. Many people, who have no alternate source of income or work, will be left completely destitute.

(I have written this article with lot of research. I want to know your comments over this.Thank you.)