For more details click here and download event brochure.
For highlights from last years Forum click here.

TrafficInfraTech 2012 – 2nd edition of TrafficInfraTech Expo
May 17- 19 at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre

India’s first trade show on Traffic Technology and Infrastructure ideally positioned to meet the requirements of the next Indian Financial Year 2012 – 2013. TrafficInfraTech offers you a range of services that will guarantee your company optimum presence before, during and after the Show. Features Rish Malhotra (Director) and Terry Bergan (President & CEO) of International Road Dynamics Inc. Saskatoon.

Why Exhibit?

• Major Road & Infrastructure Expansion programmes underway requiring high level of technology infusion
• Strengthen and showcase your Brand
• Ideal Platform to Launch New products
• Gain access to one of the highly buoyant market of Asia and find channel partners
• Meet highly qualified visitors with decision making authority
• A cost effective way to explore this vast emerging market

Why Visit?

• Meet the major players of the Industry under one roof
• Find the latest product and services from world class companies
• Obtain expert advice and solutions
• Experience the new research and innovation

Visit their event webpage for more information.

About the Conference
Held in Canada for the first time, it is the leading international event showcasing opportunities in India’s rapidly growing infrastructure sector. Through a series of short presentations and expert panels, the group will analyze key issues and seek to evolve specific solutions for Canadian investors and exporters.

Why you should attend
- Hear about India’s trillion dollar infrastructure plans–50% of which is to come from the private sector
- Understand the policy and financial environment, as well as opportunities in roads, rail, seaports, airports, power, water, real estate and urban development
- Learn about project timelines and risk-return profiles
- Showcase Canada’s competitive advantages in finance, engineering, architecture, construction, power and cleantech
- Connect with leading figures in the Indian and Canadian infrastructure sectors

Who will be there
The conference will host over 150 participants and more than 20 speakers, including:

Abhin Alimchandani, Director, Architecture, Stup Consultants
AK Upadhyay, Secretary, Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
Al Hamdani, VP, Project Finance, Export Development Canada
Archana Hingorani, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director, IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd, India
Atul Tandan, Director, Advisory Board, ASPIRE International Group
Dave Saunders, CEO, LEA Consulting Group
Doug Younger, Chair, National Infrastructure Team, Aird & Berlis LLP
Gautam Bhandari, MD, Morgan Stanley, India
GRK Reddy, Chairman, MARG
Jonathan Hausman, VP, Emerging Markets and Fixed Income, OTPP
Kalyan Ghosh, Sr VP & Head, Supply Chain Management, Essar Steel
Luis Miranda, Former Chairman, IDFC Private Equity
Nicholas Parker, Executive Chairman, Cleantech Group
Prashant Pathak, Managing Partner, ReichmannHauer Capital Partners
Pratap Vijay Padode, President, Aspire International Group
Preeti Saran, Indian Consul-General in Toronto
Rana Sarkar, President and CEO, Canada-India Business Council
Ravi Pendurthi, ED, Archean Group, India
Ravi Seethapathy, Manager, System Innovation & Advanced Grid Development at Hydro One Networks, Canada
RN Joshi, Director (Finance), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
S Viswanathan, MD, SBI Capital Markets
SG Shyam Sunder, Partner, IDFC-PE
Shahzaad Dalal, VC & MD, IL&FS Investment Managers
Shashidhar Nanjundaiah, Group Executive Editor, Infrastructure Today
Sourabh Sen, Director, Astonfield Renewables
Stephen Beatty, Head, Global Infrastructure (Americas), KPMG

Information and Registration
Event Brochure
Schedule
Speaker Bios
Registration (PayPal/Credit card)
Registration (Post/Fax)

For further inquiries contact Belle L. Serio at bserio@canada-indiabusiness.ca or 416-214-5947 x21

Silver Sponsors

Cocktail Sponsor

For the first time on Canadian soil, the  C-IBC and Aspire International Group held the Infrastructure Today- India Opportunity Conference, a  leading international event showcasing opportunities in India’s rapidly growing infrastructure sector. The event took place on May 11th, at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto and drew a crowd of over 100 participants and  25 expert speakers. Special thanks to: Aird & Berlis LLP,  Certified Management Accountants, Export Development Canada, Fraser Milner Casgrain Law and IL&FS Investment Advisors LLC .

The following is a summary of the key points covered during each session.

Inaugural Session

India’s infrastructure build-out is unprecedented and Canada needs to get more involved. Over the next five years, India is expected to spend over $US1 trillion on infrastructure—with over 50% coming from the private sector through private-public partnership (PPP) models. Success stories abound, led by a number of projects in the road and airports sectors. These are underpinned by rapidly growing demand and improved governance practices due to a political consensus that infrastructure PPPs are  fundamental to the country’s continued economic development. Foreign companies are encouraged to both invest in these projects and to supply them with essential equipment and competitive technologies. Canadian leaders such as SNC Lavalin, LEA Consulting and Hatch are already there, but there is room for many more.

Speakers:

• Pratap Vijay Padode, President, ASPIRE International Group
• Luis Miranda, former Chairman, IDFC Private Equity
• Preeti Saran, Indian Consul-General in Toronto
• AK Upadhyay, Secretary, Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
• Rana Sarkar, President & CEO, Canada-India Business Council

Session 1: Urban Infrastructure, Transport & Logistics

Rapid urbanization and growing vehicle ownership are putting massive pressure on India’s urban and transportation infrastructure. Although India has more than 4.1 million km of roads, only around 20,000 km currently meet the two lane standard. The supply of real estate is not keeping up with demand either, making commercial and residential space increasingly scarce and expensive. High population density, skyrocketing energy use and rising air pollution are also fueling a drive to develop an extensive metro rail system. It is estimated that India will require 7,400 km of track by 2030—up from 200 km today.

These sectors have very attractive policy regimes for foreign investors, including 100% ownership allowance, public viability gap funding, tax incentives and a variety of arrangements to share risks between governments and private developers. There are also substantial contracting and consulting opportunities for Canadian companies. For instance, Canada’s Bombardier and Open Text are supplying rolling stock, signalling equipment and software solutions to the Delhi Metro Rail.

But private investment in transport infrastructure can be politically challenging in India—especially in the case of toll roads. Strong efforts must be made to find the right balance between providing public services and ensuring adequate returns for investors. Yet similar challenges exist in Canada too.

Speakers:

• Shashindhar Nanjundaiah, Group Executive Editor, Infrastructure Today
• AK Upadhyay, Secretary, Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
• Ravinder N Joshi, Director (Finance), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
• Shahzaad Dalal, VC & MD, IL&FS Investment Managers
• John Haythorne, Partner, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP

Session 2: India’s Insatiable Hunger for Resources

Despite significant investment in recent years, India’s energy supply is not keeping up with demand from consumers and businesses. Although power generation capacity has grown recently—largely due to private sector investment through PPPs—a full 40% of households are still without electricity. Even when a new plant comes online, it can be hard to secure fuel. Coal imports rose by over 80% last year, while natural gas production is stagnant. On the other hand, India has had some success with renewable energy—which now makes up 11% of the energy mix.

There are several ways that Canada can help India address its energy needs. Liberalization and the spread of PPP models have opened investment opportunities in traditional and renewable power generation, as well as distribution. As India seeks to build a denser, more resilient transmission network, Canada can also supply technologies and products such as telephone poles, wiring and tools to improve energy efficiency. There are significant opportunities for innovation partnerships between Canadian cleantech firms and their Indian counterparts. The city of Pune, for example, has emerged as a leading manufacturing cluster for these technologies.

Speakers:

• SG Shyam Sunder, Partner, IDFC Private Equity
• S Vishvanathan, Managing Director, SBI Capital Markets
• Nicholas Parker, Co-founder and Executive Chair, Cleantech Group
• Ravi Seethapathy, Manager, System Innovation & Advanced Grid Development, Hydro One Networks

Session 3: The Infra-environment

Investing in India’s infrastructure sector is not always easy. Although the market is there, project execution is often slowed by land acquisition, environmental clearance and drawn-out litigation. Taxation practices—although globally competitive—are in a constant state of flux, as India modernizes the way it collects government revenues.

But overall, the policy and regulatory environment is attractive and continues to evolve in the right direction. The legal framework for PPPs is well-established and foreign investors face no ownership restrictions, with the exception of certain airport projects. Accounting practices are standardized and reliable. Recently, the government liberalized foreign borrowings for the infrastructure sector and lowered the withholding tax on interest payments abroad. Reducing bottlenecks to project execution has also become a top political priority. India continues to draw from best practices in other countries, including Canada, which has significant experience with PPPs.

All this means that investors in Indian infrastructure projects can expect attractive, risk-adjusted yields—which has helped lift private spending from 17% to 39% of total infrastructure investment. But to increase the likelihood of success, Canadian investors are encouraged to contract a locally-based service provider to advise them on the ground.

Speakers:

• Stephen Beatty, Head, Global Infrastructure (Americas), KPMG Canada
• MK Sinha, President & CEO, IDFC Private Equity
• Kalyan Ghosh, Sr. VP & Head, Supply Chain Management, Essar Steel Algoma
• Heidi Visser, Partner, Aird & Berlis LLP

Session 4: New Opportunities to Finance India’s Infrastructure: Infrastructure Debt Funds, Risks & Yields

India’s push to develop infrastructure PPPs has generated enormous interest from equity and debt investors in both India and abroad. This is supported by rates of return in the low to high teens, on average—although a number of projects in water and sanitation have returned over 30%. Moreover, many of these projects are de-risked through clauses that limit competition or through quasi-sovereign guarantees. The long-term debt market remains limited—putting pressure on bank balance sheets—but this is being addressed through the creation of infrastructure debt funds (IDFs) that will tap domestic and foreign capital.

Canadian financial institutions are keeping a very close eye on India’s infrastructure sector, although most have yet to take the plunge. For pension funds, the challenge is to find projects that deliver stable, predictable cash flow. This creates a preference for investing in brownfield projects with a proven track record. IDFs are another option for pension funds, but these instruments will have to compete with other emerging market sovereign and corporate debt delivering similarly attractive yields—often without India’s currency risk. Investors can also choose to reduce project risk by targeting small line infrastructure projects with shorter horizons that piggy back on larger, more capital-intensive projects.

As with infrastructure developers, it is important for foreign financial investors to cultivate Indian partners and have a presence on the ground. The project finance market in particular has a heavy local angle. Strong relationships can cut through false perceptions, limit communication gaps and generally help mitigate risks.

Speakers:

• Luis Miranda, former Chairman, IDFC Private Equity
• Al Hamdani, VP, Project Finance, Export Development Canada
• Archana Hingorani, CEO & Executive Director, IL&FS Investment Managers
• Gautam Bhandari, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley India
• Jonathan Hausman, VP, Alternative Investments & Fixed Income, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
• Prashant Pathak, Managing Partner, ReichmannHauer Capital Partner

Click here to request a copy of each presentation.

INDIALLIA is based on the internationally recognized B2B matchmaking event called FUTURALLIA, a unique platform which has successfully brought thousands of businesses together since its founding in 1990.  The FUTURALLIA forum has been held in several countries including Canada, Belgium, France, Poland, Africa, Qatar and USA.

INDIALLIA seeks to forge strategic business alliances and offers its participants an opportunity to connect with 600 business leaders globally from over 30 countries.  The forum will offer multi-sector networking opportunities which include manufacturing, service and Agro sectors.  This international business development forum allows each participant up to 12 personalized one-to-one business meetings which are pre-scheduled and are of 30 minutes each.

Alongside the INDIALLIA forum, an exhibition is also being organized.  This exhibition offers a unique platform guaranteeing worldwide exposure to a wide range of business professionals through three different categories of exhibits – The Experts Village, The International Village and The Partners Village offering trade and investment opportunities to enterprises globally.

For any information or assistance please write to us at indiallia@aiaiindia.com or to Mrs. Rupa Naik at rupanaik@gmail.com.

For more information please consult the event flyer.

asia-pannel.jpg

On April 11th, the Canada-India Business Council’s President and CEO, Rana Sarkar, participated in an expert panel on Canada’s Asia strategy, hosted by Canada 2020 at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. In front of a large crowd of over 500 individuals from the policy and business communities, Sarkar was joined by fellow panellists Yuen Pau Woo, President and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation; Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Co. and Peter Wilkinson, Vice-President of Government Relations at Manulife Financial. The session was moderated by award-winning journalist Don Newman.

The group engaged in a lively discussion on the pivotal role the federal government must play in advancing Canada as a key player on the world stage—and especially in Asia. Currently, only 15% of Canada’s trade is with Asia, exposing Canada’s limited progress in establishing 21st century links with this powerful and dynamic continent. Although acknowledging certain challenges, the panel pointed to positive developments over the past year, including possible trade talks with Japan and China, and ongoing negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India. They encouraged the government to rush both to finalize these agreements in Asia and to engage in further negotiations with other interested parties.

After the talk, the Rana Sarkar commented on long-term outlook for India and opportunities there for Canada:
See video comment here

Canada 2020 is a non-partisan, progressive centre working to create an environment of social and economic prosperity for Canada. Its primary focus is creating policy influence through discussions of the federal government’s role in Canada while engaging a wide range of interested parties.
Click here for a comprehensive summary of the panel discussion.
Click here to read the panellists essays published as part of Canada 2020’s The Canada We Want in 2020.

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On March 19, the C-IBC hosted a luncheon for award-winning journalist Mr. Vijay Vaitheeswaran at the Ontario Investment & Trade Centre in Toronto. The event marked the Canadian launch of his highly-anticipated new book: Need, Speed and Greed: How the New Rules of Innovation Can Transform Businesses, Propel Nations to Greatness and Tame the World’s Most Wicked Problems. Currently the China Business Editor at The Economist, Mr. Vaitheeswaran previously headed their Latin America bureau and was responsible for covering the global energy and health sectors. He also holds advisory positions with the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Clinton Global Initiative and the Council on Foreign Relations.

“Innovation is fundamentally about fresh thinking that creates value for customer, clients, citizens and society” — Vijay Vaitheeswaran

Mr. Vaitheeswaran was introduced to the audience by Mr. Michael Landry, Vice President of Corporate Development at Manulife Financial. The talk began with the premise that globalization is driving a number of unprecedented challenges and risks – such as climate change, growing inequality and global pandemics. To overcome them, he explained, society needs to re-invent the way it innovates based on three basic rules:  move nimbly, open wisely and fail gracefully. Governments need to support this process – not by picking winners, but by creating incentives for socially beneficial innovation. Only then will human ingenuity be able to tackle these seemingly insurmountable problems. After concluding, Mr. Vaitheeswaran fielded questions from the audience.

The C-IBC thanks sponsors Manulife Financial and the Government of Ontario for making this event possible.

Sponsors:  Simon Fraser University, Western Economic Diversification Canada, Province of British Columbia, TD Canada Trust, PwC, The City of Surrey, The Surrey Board of Trade, The Canada-India Business Council

Event:

The invitation-only event is an intimate, business and networking session exploring and discussing clean/sustainable energy business and research opportunities between BC, Canada and India. The session (via a moderated BC-India panel discussion) will allow Indian and BC/Canadian participants to realize the successes, strategies, current funding programs and channels for facilitating productive partnerships.

This event will also give attendees an opportunity to meet, network and discuss business interests with fellow participants.

For a profile of the panelists and event particulars,please see the Event Promo or visit: http://www.india.sfu.ca/conferences/globebreakfast