“It’s one big construction site in some of the major cities,” said Rana Sarkar, president and CEO of the Canadian-India Business Council.

The Indian government projects more than US$1 trillion in infrastructure spending over the next five years and the projects that are happening right now are “just the tip of the iceberg,” says Sarkar.

The Canada-India Business Council and Aspire International Group are hosting a seminar, Infrastructure Today — India Opportunity 2012 the first event held in Canada that showcases the opportunities in India’s infrastructure sector. India’s construction sector is expected to grow by 35 per cent between 2009 and 2013.

Seven new smart cities are being built between the Delhi-Mumbai Corridor and over 215 million people will migrate from villages to cities by 2015 and estimated $370 billion will be spent on real estate in 2013.

Canadian opportunities lie within these new clean, green cities, said Sarkar.

“The great experiment in clean, green building is going to happen there. For our players to be involved in accessing those opportunities at scale and learning from them as we go through a rebuild of our own infrastructure is a key component of what we need to do as well.”

The Indian government is providing the conditions, but private companies are leading the way, says Sarkar and they are relying on various public-private models to tackle this emphasis on infrastructure. There was $52.1 billion in private investment between 2011-2012.

The construction boom is creating a huge appetite for equipment and materials. In the past, India has used materials such as concrete and steel for building but wood is a new market being established in the country.

“The thing about India is the market is so vast, it’s so super scale, that any opportunity that’s even very small in India is huge for us,” said Sarkar.

On average, 20 kilometres of roads are being built in India each day and over 100 projects have yet to be awarded. There are 70,548 kilometres of national highways to be built.

A high speed rail system will be developed as current routes are already saturated. Twenty-two stations have been identified for development and two dedicated freight corridors are planned.

The Delhi Metro system currently consists of six lines with a length of 189.63 kilometres and 142 stations. Phase III and Phase IV are scheduled for completion in 2016 and 2021, respectively. Work on Phase III has already started while planning for Phase IV has begun with tendering processes underway.

The New Delhi Airport is projected to be the most expensive in the world and $10 billion of investment is required. Other major airports in the country need expansion, including runways, capacity and parking space.

The country’s 12 major ports will be developed to attain international quality standards. There have been 276 projects identified including: additional berths, deepening channels, equipment and rail road connectivity.

“For Canadians, what they really need to do is understand what’s really going on in India there’s nothing of that kind of scale going on anywhere in the world but the opportunity is kind of mirrored in other places in the emerging world as well. It’s for our industry to understand where these opportunities are and how they can play in the value chain of those opportunities,” said Sarkar.

The conference will have more than 20 speakers and will take place today at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.

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On Monday, India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the country will delay by one year the adoption of the “General Anti-Avoidance Rules,” guidelines designed to curb tax evasion, and ease some proposed duties and taxes that had spooked foreign and domestic investors alike. Soon after the announcement was made, India’s Sensex index shot up by nearly 300 points, but markets dropped on Tuesday.

Experts, politicians, journalists and businessmen weigh in on the changes:

Editorial, The Hindu: “Capitulating to unrelenting pressure from stakeholders affected by his stringent budget proposals, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rolled back some while delaying implementation of others, notably the anti-tax evasion provisions popularly called GAAR (General Anti-avoidance Rules). The pressure brought to bear by angry investors and traders, depressed stock markets and a rupee in free fall was probably too much to bear. Mr. Mukherjee must also have been conscious of the importance of foreign portfolio flows to bridge the widening current account deficit, estimated to be around 4 per cent for 2011-12, while deciding to defer the implementation of GAAR until the next financial year. These were a red rag to foreign investors, some of whom held back fresh investments in the period since the budget. The Finance Minister has also done the right thing in shifting the onus of proving tax avoidance to Revenue, which is an amendment of the budget proposal, and in allowing an independent member to be appointed on the GAAR panel. The facility of seeking advance ruling on GAAR provisions is also a welcome step as investors can plan their moves better.”

Nicholas de Boursac, The Economic Times: “The Gaar provisions in particular bestow tremendous discretion upon the tax office to reconstruct transactions at later dates and in unpredictable ways. The foreign institutional investor (FII) community believes that the only solution is an unequivocal exemption for cross-border portfolio investments in Indian securities from both the Gaar and the indirect transfer rules.

It is clear that these proposed tax laws were written to address certain judicial decisions, but the overly broad nature of the draft provisions casts a wide net that will inadvertently capture non-targeted transactions and market participants. Government leaders have the ability to avoid these unintended consequences by following the international standard of exempting cross-border portfolio investments by FIIs from both Gaar and indirect transfer rules. ”

Shishir Asthana, Business Standard: “The euphoria over GAAR (General Anti-Avoidance Rule) lasted for exactly 90 minutes in the markets. Immediately after the finance minister announced the deferment of implementation of GAAR by a year, the Sensex shot up by nearly 300 points (intra-day) from a low of 16,652 to 16,944, to close near the day’s high on Monday. However, markets have gone back to discount other issues such as poor guidance by Cognizant, European polls and weak US data. 

This raises the question that was GAAR really as draconian as it was made out to be or was it just its deferment, and not rejection, playing on the minds of investors? 

While by deferring GAAR, the government has just kicked the issue forward. What is being keenly watched will be the outcome of the committee, which will be giving its recommendation for formulating the rules and guidelines for implementation of the GAAR provisions and to suggest safeguards so that these provisions are not applied indiscriminately.”

Nitin Shrivastava and Sachin P Mampatta, Daily News & Analysis: “Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were quite worried on the new taxation rules ever since the same were proposed in the budget. They were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs. 568.40 crore [56.8 billion rupees] in the month of April after pumping in Rs 44,037 crore [44 billion rupees ] in the first three months of this calendar year.”

“The fact that lack of clarity on Gaar has been a big drag on markets for the last six weeks or so deferring Gaar implementation is unquestionably positive for liquidity and markets in the short term. Also, it sends out positive signs to FIIs that the government listens to corporates and investors,” said Saurabh Mukherjea, head of institutional equities at Ambit Capital.”

“Despite the news of Gaar deferment, FIIs net sold shares worth Rs.630 crore [6.3 billion rupees] on Monday, as per provisional exchange data.”

The Times of India:“Brokers and dealers said that the deferment of GAAR by a year was a temporary relief for Dalal Street and the decision is likely to only smoothen the process of shifting FII investments from Mauritius to Singapore. The tax rule is aimed at bringing those investors under the taxmen’s ambit who use aggressive tax avoidance treaties, like one between India and Mauritius, a move that a large number of foreign brokerages and FIIs say could dry up flows into the Indian market from the island nation.”

“Brokers also said that foreign investors would rather look at positive moves concerning the macro factors like fiscal deficit, current account deficit, high rate of inflation and interest rate in the economy. And on Monday, by rolling back some of the budget proposals that could have added to the government’s exchequer, the finance minister may even have reduced the chances of higher revenue inflows. For Tuesday, market players expect a flat trade with a negative bias.”

India Today:“Some amendments may well prove to be a boon for the investor community as they had got spooked with GAAR provisions. An enormous flight of capital has taken place since the budget impacting the rupee and general sentiment adversely.”

“What Pranab babu [Pranab Mukherjee] has done is provide more time to both tax payers and the tax administration to address all issues. The markets reacted positively to the news and the rupee, too, recovered from its early losses. Mr Mukherjee is not putting GAAR in cold storage, he is deferring it, though with amendments. At the same time, he has set up a committee which will bring ‘greater clarity and certainty’ when it hands over its report on May 31 after distillation of ideas with top of the line foreign investors recently.

Dinesh Kanabar,
 Deputy CEO and Chairman Tax, KPMG India: The statement given by the Finance Minister on the floor of the Parliament pushing back the implementation of GAAR provisions by a year is very welcome. The Standing Committee of the Parliament had given several suggestions on the GAAR provisions as they existed in the Direct Taxes Code Bill. These could not be considered by the Finance Minister because suggestions were received just a few days before the introduction of the Finance Bill 2012. A Committee said to consider the GAAR provisions can effectively deliberate on how these provisions can be introduced with minimum degree of subjectivity. The statement of the Finance Minister that the burden of proof will rest with the Revenue is again very welcome.

On the other hand, the Government seems to be persistent with the introduction of retrospective amendment for taxation of overseas transfer. The statement made by the Finance Minister that assessments which have attained finality will not be reopened is very interesting. The issue as to whether or not the transaction is taxable has attained finality qua Vodafone having regard to the judgement of the Supreme Court. In that light it remains to be seen as to whether the Chapter would be closed vis-à-vis Vodafone both on the withholding matter as well as the substantive liability on the taxability of the transaction.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist): The decision on GAAR “and diluting many of its provisions is a meek surrender to finance capital, MNCs and the US administration”, the Communist Party of India-Marxist said.

“The US Treasury Secretary had personally lobbied with the Indian finance minister to revoke the GAAR, during the latter’s recent US visit in April 2012,” it said.

GAAR was meant to strengthen India’s tax laws to prevent foreign investors from avoiding paying taxes on capital gains in India, using the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with tax havens like Mauritius, the CPI-M said.

“It is noteworthy that over 40 percent of FDI inflows into India are routed through Mauritius, in order to facilitate crores of rupees of tax savings by foreign companies at the cost of the Indian exchequer.

“GAAR have been implemented in countries across the world to crack down on such tax avoidance, including in developing countries like South Africa and China in recent times.

“Dilution of the GAAR in India would lead to the loss of thousands of crores of tax revenues for the government,” a CPI-M statement said.

It said other “retrograde announcements” by Mukherjee included the cut in capital gains tax on private equity, cut in withholding tax on foreign borrowings and withdrawal of tax on property transactions.

“These are all meant to favour big financiers and real estate players.

“The government’s excuses on lack of resources to fund subsidies and social welfare scheme ring hollow in the face of such tax largesse for the big businesses.”

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TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – April 26, 2012) - The Government of India plans to invest over US$1 trillion over the next five years to meet the country’s huge infrastructure demands. Over 50 percent of these funds will come from the private sector.

How can Canada get involved in this play? What Canadian products and expertise will be in demand as a result? And how should Canadian businesses and investors position themselves today, in order to benefit in upcoming years?

Join the Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC) & Aspire International Group at the largest gathering of industry leaders, corporate executives, institutional investors, planners and senior government officials on Infrastructure from both Canada and India, at:

“Infrastructure Today – India Opportunity 2012″ at the Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto on Friday May 11^th, 8:00-5:30

The conference will host over 150 participants including some of Canada’s largest pension investors and global infrastructure players, and more than 20 expert speakers, including:

• AK Upadhyay, Secretary, Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways, Government of India
• Dave Saunders, CEO, LEA Group
• Gautam Bhandari, Head, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure (MSI) Asia
• Luis Miranda, Former Chairman, IDFC Private Equity
• Nicholas Parker, Co-founder and Executive Chair, Cleantech Group
• Shahzaad Dalal, VC & MD, IL&FS Investment Managers
• Stephen Beatty, Head, Global Infrastructure (Americas), KPMG

Through a series of short presentations and expert panels, the group will analyze key issues and evolve strategies for Canadian investors and exporters. The sessions will cover urban infrastructure, transport & logistics, India’s energy needs, the policy and regulatory environment and recent developments in Indian infrastructure finance.

“The current Indian infrastructure investment and business environment is more attractive than ever, with a proven track record of success stories. Canada fulfills two prime needs: finance and technology-enriched with experience” said Pratap Padode, MD of Aspire International Group.

“Whether it’s engineering expertise, design and implementation, intelligent transport systems, green energy or a roster of leading institutional investors, Canada is well positioned to grow alongside India-if we start now and work collectively,” added Rana Sarkar, President & CEO of the Canada-India Business Council.

For more details on the agenda, speakers, sponsorship opportunities, ticket prices and registration please visit the C-IBC website at: http://canada-indiabusiness.ca/2012/05/infrastructure-today-india-opportunity-2012/.

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Held in Canada for the first time, this daylong international event  showcases 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.

Networking opportunities at conference breakfast, lunch and cocktail reception.

Main Sessions on : Urban infrastructure, transport & logistics; Energy and cleantech resources; the Infra-Environment in India; and Infrastructure Financing: Risks, Yields & Investment.

The conference will host over 20 expert speakers, including an official Indian delegation led by the Secretary for Road Transport & Highways, made up of senior representatives from Essar Steel, IDFC Private Equity, Astonfield Renewables, Morgan Stanley India, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, SBI Capital Markets, Power Finance Corporation and IL&FS. They will be joined by leading Canadian companies and investors, including SNC Lavalin, Borealis, Canada Pension Plan, Cleantech Group, Hydro One, ReichmannHauer Capital Partners, Hydro One, KPMG and Export Development Canada, among others. Over 150 participants are expected in total.

Why you should participate:

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

Trade Commissioner(s) involvement:

Clinton Martin is the Trade Commissioner placed by International Trade Canada to work directly with the Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC) in supporting the federal government’s and the C-IBC’s mandat of expanding trade and facilitating business links between Canada and India. Mr. Martin will be on hand at the Infrastructure Today – India Opportunity 2012 Conference to meet directly with attendees and to discuss the support features/tools of the Trade Commissioners Service and the C-IBC to interested and potential TCS clients in attendance.

For further information, please contact
Clinton Martin
Office: (416) 214-5947  ext. 24
cmartin@canada-indiabusiness.ca
or
clinton.martin@international.gc.ca

For more information on the event you can also visit the event website at:

canada-indiabusiness.ca

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Economic momentum is only part of the story.

India’s growth is driven and secured in large part by its demographics. The middle class has grown to 274 million and could hit 600 million by 2020.

Canadian business and industry are beginning to realize that despite perceived difficulties, it is riskier for them to ignore emerging markets than it is to work with them.
The challenge for Canada however, is that it’s increasingly difficult to get India’s attention.

Canada is just one of many countries striving to make inroads in this rapidly emerging market. While we can claim some success (exports have doubled in recent years) Canada’s market share has fallen.

This is not from lack of effort.

The federal government is working to facilitate trade by negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), as well as other as business related accords including a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPPA), and a Social Security Agreement to enable workers to move more easily between the two countries.
But despite the lure of our natural resources and skilled workforce, Canada is still a long way from achieving the ambitious target of reaching $15 billion in trade with India by 2015.

Where are we going wrong?

There is admittedly no single answer, but a strong start would be for Canadian industry and government to increase its focus on what India wants rather than what we think India needs. Shared values and zealous marketing will not get us where we want to be. We need to think more fundamentally about how to raise Canada’s value as a business partner.

Increasing Canadian competitiveness would be a start. A competitive economy attracts direct foreign investment, and spawns competitive companies, but at the moment Canada is losing ground. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, Canada has dropped out of the top ten, slipping to 12th place from ninth in two years.

As the report notes, Canada needs to focus on improving productivity, innovation, and integration into global supply chains. Our low score on innovation is particularly troubling. “Frugal innovation” is a mantra in India, and Indian companies are looking for foreign partners who can offer a better mousetrap.
The Conference Board ranks Canada 14th out of 17 developed OECD countries on innovation. Lower spending on research and development, especially by businesses, is a factor, but our biggest shortcoming is failure to commercialize new technologies.

Better market access and high level commitment are two other prerequisites for success. This means a welcoming, and transparent foreign investment policy, as well as world class infrastructure to move goods across the country, and overseas. Sustained corporate and political engagement at the top level is required to show Canada is serious about winning a bigger share of India’s burgeoning market.

Addressing what can be done in Canada to improve competitiveness, innovation, investment policy, access, and engagement will raise our standing as a preferred business partner for India, China and other emerging markets that today account for the lion’s share of global growth.

By:Peter Sutherland
Senior Business Adviser, Aird & Berlis

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Some, he says, are drawn by the shift in global supply chains, but for the majority, the primary motivation is in the “incredible opportunity in India’s domestic market and in partnering with Indian firms to sell into third markets.”  Meanwhile, says the C-IBC’s Peter Sutherland, there’s no question of India’s economic ascendency. “The country’s youthful population, burgeoning middle class, open economy and entrepreneurial spirit ensure that it will happen.”

India’s challenges—electrical blackouts, shortages of resources, infrastructure, finance, food security and education—are actually opportunities for Canadians. We have expertise in those areas and India wants to business with us. But until now, Sutherland says, “Canadian companies have been dazzled by the prospects, but deterred by the known unknowns. Governments have done their part to smooth the way by opening doors, removing impediments and mitigating risk. The onus is now on the private sector to take the initiative,”

Happily Canada’s interest in India is bearing fruit. The following nine portraits, produced in association with the C-IBC, describe just nine of hundreds of Canadian companies operating in India, a demonstration of the vast range of endeavours, and opportunities and success.

CUBEX

When Winnipeg’s Cubex Ltd. supplied its first production drill to a Crown corporation in India in 1985, the infamous “licence raj” still presided over that nation’s economy. Notorious for its cumbersome business regulations, India had a largely closed economy where Canadian exports had a difficult time of it.

And yet, 27 years later, Cubex has remained in India, benefitting from the business-climate improvements that began in 1991. Cubex has manufacturing plants in Winnipeg, Calgary, Montreal and Thomson, Man. To date it has supplied seven drills and its business continues to grow through a global alliance partner, Sandwich Mining Cop. of Sweden.

Hemant Shah, a Cubex employee experienced in India warns that “Canadian businesses looking to India should be ready for the fact that success is not going to happen overnight. They must have patience and they have to take time.” Shah advises companies should devote one to two years developing their presence there. “A couple of trips will not cut it,” he says. “You have to be committed. The big companies like Bombardier, they were there when I first started going in 1980.”

Shah says that Canadian companies have to earn the trust of their Indian partners and he likens business relationships to dating. “I go on one, two, three dates with someone. Then on the fourth date, maybe I say, ‘Okay, we’re going to get engaged.’ So I give an engagement ring. And then after the fifth or sixth date, there’s a wedding. That’s how you can look at it.”

“On the first or second trip to your joint-venture partner or a private corporation, they’re not going to invite you into their home. On the third trip, when you’ve got into their good books, earned trust, shown your credibility, they will invite you home with the family for dinner. And that’s your first success. It’s a process, and Canadian businesses have to understand it.”

Ray Newal, co-founder of Jigsee Inc.

JIGSEE

Ray Newal was inspired to start his technology company, Jigsee Inc., after backpacking through rural India, where he noticed “the phone was much more than just a communication tool for the younger population. It was a television, it was a tool for self-expression. It was becoming a virtual ATM.”

Thus was born Jigsee, which enables video streaming for the mass market in BRIC countries by including compatibility with older model cellphones and shaky networks. Long commutes on public transit, says the 35-year-old entrepreneur, means “these people had a lot more downtime, and they’re never home and they’re never surrounded by TVs and broadband.”

India, he says, where mobile subscribers number 800 million but only a privileged few have BlackBerrys and iPhones, looked like the perfect beachhead market.  The mission according to Newal is to “democratize” access to video content.

Newal’s chief technology officer, Areef Reza, says Jigsee’s software is written in the internationally recognized Java programming language and can work on most phones with basic Java and programming support. Uniquely, it allows for consumers to stream high-quality video with the most basic, entry-level cellphones. Eventually, Newal says, Jigsee will turn a profit as it begins to leverage its platform as a digital marketing channel, enabling advertisers to connect with the mass-market in India.

Working in India, Newal says, always comes with cultural differences and provides surprises. To avoid getting lost in cross-cultural miscommunication, he hired Indian managers who had experience working with foreign companies and would be able to act as intermediaries between himself and the workforce. Jigsee currently has 25 employees based in both India and Canada.

Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images

TARASPAN

While a lot is said about the success of large Canadian companies in the India market, Canadian SMEs are also getting in on the Indian opportunity. TaraSpan Inc. is a market-entry consultancy that helps smaller firms, particularly in technology sectors, to get in on India.

To succeed in the India market, TaraSpan’s principals say, you need to have a commitment to the market, with local presence and patience.  You need to have a willingness to adapt to the market.  What makes your product compelling in North America might not apply in India, especially at a point in India’s evolution where bottom-of-the-pyramid sales are strongest—selling stripped-down goods with low price points to reach lower income Indians.

Headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, TaraSpan opened for business in India in December 2007 with four employees.  Today it has 150 there in two divisions, performing sales and marketing, business development, software engineering and support services to some of Canada’s leading technology companies, of all sizes.

Mike Manson, CEO and co-founder, TaraSpan Inc. says that neophyte Canadian firms may be intimidated by India at first. “To adapt to the market you need to have three P’s—presence, persistence and patience,” he says. “To navigate the local environment it is imperative to have local managers who know the business customs, local regulations and a strength in human resource management.”

XMG

Ray Sharma is just starting out in India. He’s the CEO and founder of XMG Studio Inc., a mobile gaming developer in Toronto which has scored hits with such apps as Totally Amp’d and Cows vs Aliens. Now he’s been talking to a studios in India. He says that XMG’s strategy will involve partnering with local games developers, leveraging his firm’s expertise in the iOS and Android platforms in exchange for local expertise in India’s most popular smartphones.

Once he achieves a positive return on investment, Sharma says, XMG will be in a position to scale up with a more product roll-outs and a PR campaign. Local content, avidly consumed by Indians, will help extend XMG’s range of apps. “Through this bootstrap process,” he says, “we slowly build awareness of XMG. Partnering with content we can give games for free as a Trojan horse that sells music and other digital content.”

Ultimately, Sharma hopes to build games expressly for the Indian market. He plans that by mid-2013 the Indian smartphone market will have reached a mass equivalent to the one in the United States. “Combine this with brand and local-market experience,” he says, and we hope to have the right things in place so that XMG India will come a specialized unit that serves as a beachhead for Indonesia, the “’stans” and Africa.”

HATCH

For the Mississauga, Ontario engineering, business and process-consulting and construction giant, Hatch, India has been about more than securing local contracts. It has also been about fostering an important source of talent that can be used throughout its 65-office global operations.

Hatch has been in India for more than 15 years—its first office was in Guargon. By December 2011 it was employing 90 people in India. It’s active in iron and steel, iron ore, light metals and water-management sectors for both local India firms as well as multinationals doing business in India.

To develop local expertise Hatch parachutes experienced global specialists to teach them while working along side them. Local staff learn about client service, business savvy and technical matters. In turn, Indian staff support global projects, and they develop relationships with counterparts in other countries. The result, says Hatch India’s director Mick Camilleri, is a consistent level of quality in India and worldwide.

“We take a lot of pride in developing the next generation of Hatch leaders,” Camilleri says. “These are not just senior people, but staff at all levels. We invest in just as much time recruiting junior-level staff from universities as we do identifying industry leaders for senior positions.”

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL

Sun Life is no stranger to global trade. By the end of the 19^th Century the then-Montreal-based insurance company operated in seven countries or territories, including India. In the 1950s it withdrew from that country when insurance assets were nationalized. But by 1999 it returned, forming a joint venture with the locally owned Aditya Birla Group.

Aditya Group is a major Indian conglomerate with a scale that matches Sun Life’s ambitions for India. Today Birla Sun Life sells mutual funds, life insurance and wealth management services through a network of 600 branches and 150,000 sales people, including the two generations of sellers in the photo above.

Sun Life’s experience, which much larger in its scope than most Canadian firms are capable of, nevertheless relies on the same philosophy any company would adopt: capitalizing on local knowledge and deploying its global expertise. While Sun Life, now headquartered in Toronto, has considerable international insurance expertise it still relies on its local partners for an intimate understanding of the Indian consumer.

SNC-LAVALIN

Over the past decade the Montreal construction giant SNC-Lavalin has been building up its presence in India through acquisitions. The firm had been building transportation and energy infrastructure projects. In 2005 it bought RJ Associates in Mumbai, a local engineering firm, to make its presence more permanent. That was followed in 2007 with the purchase of Span Consultants in New Delhi. Today the firm has 1,200 employees in India.

The move was propitious for Canada’s largest engineering and construction company. It was at the start of a massive modernization of India’s infrastructure. Speeding economic growth has put strains on energy and transport and distorted the marketplace (top-loading washing machines outsell front loaders because  during frequent power outages top loaders can function as a manual wash tub).

The New Delhi government is planning on a five-year US$1 trillion infrastructure-building program and while politics has caused fits and starts in construction, SNC is in a good position to bid on projects. It entered the high-end engineering, procurement and construction management business in India when it secured a mandate for Numaligargh Refinery Ltd.’s crude-oil refinery.

SNC also provided engineering work on four hydroelectric generating projects that would  cumulatively produce 10,000 megawatts of power and invested in a 189-km toll road in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Vikram Gupta, director of business development for SNC and based in Toronto, says that SNC “sees immense potential to expand its current operations through infrastructure concession investments, mergers and acquisitions and organic growth.”

Gupta says that India’s vast human talents and its democratic and legal framework are cornerstones for Indian growth. “It is extremely important to understand decision-making, cultural nuances and the somewhat bureaucratic framework, and  to be patient.”

DATAWIND

Datawind, a provider of wireless Web access products and services, recently created the world’s most inexpensive Tablet, dubbed Aakash (“Sky” in Hindi). Aakash is a $35 Wi-Fi-only product intended for Indian university students, it comes with a data pack and internet access for less than 100 rupees a month, or $2.

With 18 million Indian Internet subscribers and 120 million users, the difference between them is a matter of affordability,” says Suneet Singh Tuli, chief executive of Datawind. “That’s a gap that needs to be addressed. We have a technology that reduces the amount of data required to go on the Internet by 30 times, that’s the core of what we do. We’re able to run [the device] on low-speed networks that are available everywhere and we can afford to buy that bandwidth and sell it at a very low cost.”13

Tuli says that while India may be wryly known as a country where everything does not always work as it truly should, the opportunities it provides are endless. “Canada needs to act globally in these types of markets. Think about it, as more devices go out, providing millions with access to information, more content will be created, imagine what it can do for them.”

TOON BOOM ANIMATION

In early 2000, Toon Boom Animation Inc. began developing the Indian animation industry. Joan Vogelesang, Toon Boom’s CEO, has visited India more than 25 times in the decade that followed and worked closely with a local distributor, meeting with business people, government officials and school representatives every time. Vogelesang’s game plan was to get businesses to invest in a set up and then ramp up production of animated products.

Among the problems to overcome were to change attitudes toward the animation industry by showing its socio-economic value. Toon Boom worked with the Canadian High Commission to India as well as with Export Development Canada. It set up small schools attached to production studios until an official animation curriculum could be put to work.

It also meant revising the educational system. Once a first set-up was in place in the various existing production hubs, Toon Boom worked closely with studios to get them up and running to meet the quality, reliability and punctuality needed by the animation industry. Toon Boom facilitated introductions to North American and European studios, positioning India as the next animation destination.

“Our continued presence in the field was essential to build strong relationships,” says Vogelesang, whose Montreal-based firm won a Business without Borders HSBC International Business Award in 2011. “Our success lies between working hand-in-hand with industry and education, as well as getting government support to facilitate the birth of new businesses.”

Today the Indian animation industry represents a strong, viable sector within the subcontinent and is positioned as a player in the global animation market. More than 100 studios are now operating, hiring thousands of trained employees and constantly requiring more qualified workforce than the educational system can supply. Globally, the Indian animation industry may to grow to $2.9 billion by 2015 from $ 1.8 billion now.

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