Tata Nano got a Maruthi Challenge

The battle for the small car is getting hotter. Soon after the Tatas stunned the world with a Rs 1 lakh car, Nano, Bajaj announced a small car with Renault's support and then Hyundai stated its intention to come out with a car that could cost less than Rs 2 lakh and hit the road by 2011.

And now, TOI learns auto biggie Maruti-Suzuki too is ready with a hot recipe for a dish of a small car.

Maruti-Suzuki is tight-lipped, even in the denial mode, but a number of vendors who have been entrusted with the challenge of developing components for Suzuki's small car say the company's reticence is only evidence of the seriousness of its intent.

The little car could hit the road, they say, as early as the end of this year or early 2009.

From what TOI learns, the Suzuki car will come closest to rival Nano. It will sport a Suzuki 660cc engine - as against Nano's 623cc - and wear a tag of around Rs 1.5 lakh on road (that is, excluding insurance) - a little higher than Nano, which is expected to be Rs 1.25 lakh on road.

Suzuki, say several vendors, is confident of overcoming the price difference by virtue of its high brand equity in the auto mart.

When contacted, a Maruti spokesman in Delhi first said the company had no comments to offer. When asked for a written response, the spokesman wrote back saying the company has "no plans" for such a car.

The small car project, said vendors, is being mothered by Suzuki at its headquarters at Hamamatsu in Japan, although it will be eventually manufactured in India. A vendor said that Suzuki has codenamed the project "Under A" as the proposed car would be positioned below the A segment, which is driven by Maruti 800 at present.

World's Youngest CEO..... at the age of 20

Mr. Suhas Gopinath, now aged 20, a resident of Bangalore had a passion for information. A passion so energetic, that it drove Suhas to setup a multi national company christened Globals Incorporated. He hails from a middle class family, where his father Mr. M R Gopinath was a defence scientist.

At the age of 14 he was recognized as the world's youngest web-developer through his project coolhindustan.com. A fortune 500 company, being amazed at the talent, offered him a job which included a $2000 paycheck per week, a chauffer driven car and an executive apartment.

All this did not lure Mr. Gopinath as he was mentally strong of what he wanted in his life. To encourage the youth, he setup Globals Inc, in the year 2000 at San Jose, California as the laws in India did not allow him to setup a company in the country as he was still minor.

From then Globals Inc has drastically grown as a Multinational company with offices in more than 11 countries which includes USA, UK, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Australia, India, Bangladesh, etc which

offers tailor made solutions in the fields of web, mobile, networking, e-commerce and software solutions. Mr. Suhas Gopinath at the age of 16 was recognized as the world's youngest entrepreneur in by CNBC and e-Business, Canada.

With this at the age of 17 he was recognized as the "World's Youngest CEO" by leading Medias across the globe including BBC, CBS News, Washington Times, IndianExpress, Streats-Singapore, Times of India, NDTV, The Age – Australia, etc.

Though his age sounds exciting for a humungous title like CEO, it was also against him. In the year 2003, a Singapore based company approached Globals Inc to outsource their projects worth $38,000. The law stated that an executive signatory must be above 18. This cost him the deal. Nevertheless, he steered Globals Inc further, with sheer determination. His team has grown from a mere 4 members to a staggering 600.

Under his leadership the team has served more than 400 clients including fortune 500 companies. At the 2005 International Business Awards held at New York, he was awarded as the "Best International Business Executive". He was also awarded Karnataka State's "Rajyotsava" Award on November 1, 2005 and was the youngest in the state's history to bag this prestigious award.

Suhas' foremost motive was to establish a platform for youth which encourages them in their chosen IT career and also to build their entrepreneurial skills. Currently, Suhas is perusing his bachelor's degree in Information Science Engineering at M.S.Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore.

Suhas Gopinath is also designated as the Indian Representative for UN Youth Federation and Action Program, and Coordinator for Indo-Pak Youth programs. Suhas Gopinath is currently the visiting faculty at IIM Ahmedabad for Start-Up Finance and Entrepreneurship, and is also the Brand ambassador at PETA along with other Hollywood and bollywood celebrities.

Globals Inc is a multi national company founded in the year 2000 by Mr. Suhas Gopinath at the age of 14 years at California, USA. Globals offers cost effective world class quality solutions in web, software, mobile and multimedia. Globals has established offices in more than 11 countries. Till date Globals has served more than 200 clients worldwide.

Just spare few minutes in visiting their website and know what a dynasty the young guy has created. He could be a real inspiration for a lot of us.

Click the Following Links to Know more about Suhas.....

Globals Inc. Website
About Suhas Gopinath - Wikipedia
Indian teen at gates of success - BBC News

Reliance Power IPO raises $3 bn in a minute

Mumbai, January 15: Billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Power raised $3 billion within a minute Tuesday when India's biggest initial public offering was fully subscribed as investors flock to new issues in the booming economy.

The issue was covered 10.5 times at the end of the first day of the issue, which closes Friday, National Stock Exchange data showed, and the strong demand means the 10.1 per cent stake in Reliance Power should be sold at Rs.450 ($11.5) per share, the top end of the IPO's price band.

The founders have bought 32 million shares at Rs.450, while 228 million shares have been offered to the public, with a stock market debut pencilled in for early February.

"We haven't seen such oversubscription for a long time. There are expectations of big listing gains. That's why there is a frenzy," said Mehul Mukati, an analyst at Emkay Research.

Reliance Power plans to build power plants across India using funds raised by selling the stake in the firm, which is 50 per cent owned by utility Reliance Energy Ltd.

Reliance Energy shares closed 4.4 per cent lower, lagging a Mumbai market that fell 2.3 per cent. Shares in the firm, a component of the benchmark index, are still up 10.8 per cent in January after more than quadrupling in value last year.

Amid the market frenzy for the IPO, some analysts cautioned it was hard to value Reliance Power, which currently does not have any power plants, faces risks of land disputes and is not likely to report strong profits for four to five years.

"We are unable to accord any definite valuation to the company since it has no operational power assets," Emkay Research said in a note to its clients, recommending them to subscribe to the issue and then book listing gains.

Brokers and analysts say the demand for the stock means it could list at nearly double the offer price, which would value Reliance Power at more than NTPC Ltd., which has 28,000 megawatts of operating plants and another 50,000 megawatts planned in the next 10 years.

Ambani Name

Reliance Power has been helped by investors' faith in the family name as a result of the group of companies set up by Ambani's father, tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani.

Founded in 1958 to trade in synthetic yarn, the group expanded to include interests ranging from petrochemicals and refining to exploration and production of oil and gas, textiles, financial services, power, biotechnology and telecommunications

It was split in 2005 between Anil Ambani, who has interests in telecoms, financials, media and power sectors, and his elder brother Mukesh, who controls India's top listed firm, oil and petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries.

The Reliance Power issue is being managed by Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., UBS ABN AMRO, Deutsche Equities, India Private Limited, Enam Securities, ICICI Securities, JM Financial and JPMorgan.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index rose 47.1 per cent in 2007. It rose nearly 73 per cent in 2003, 13 per cent in 2004, 42 per cent in 2005 and 46.7 per cent in 2006.

In comparison, South Korea's Composite Stock Price Index gained 32 per cent in 2007, China's Shanghai Composite Index soared 97 per cent and Japan's Nikkei fell 11 per cent.

Tata New Car Rs 1-lakh car 'Nano' .....ItZ a HiT

Tata Motors, the country's largest automobile manufacturer on Thursday launched the eagerly awaited Rs one lakh car and christened it Tata Nano. The Rs one lakh car is touted as the world's cheapest mass-produced car from the stables of Tata Motors, the automotive arm of the over Rs three-trillion market value group. Rival car makers have, however, not been convinced about the safety and emission standards of the car, coming as it is at that price level.

The launch marks the realisation of a dream for Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata, who is looking forward to silencing critics of the project. The car is expected to fill the big gap between the cost of the average two-wheeler and entry-level cars such as the Maruti 800, which retails for about $5,000.

Dubbed till now as the 'people's car', Tata's faced numerous problems like a rising input cost, environmental concerns and stiff political opposition for setting up its manufacturing plant at Singur in West Bengal.

Experts, man on street give Nano 10 on 10

New Delhi: Nobody wanted to buy Ratan Tata's concept of a Rs 1-lakh-worth People's Car when he first talked of it. Some five years later, when Tata Motors finally unveiled the 'Nano', Tata's friends and foes are lapping up this tiny four-wheeler like their own.


The critics initially derided the concept mainly on the basis of the price target, more so as oil and steel prices rocketed. But Ratan Tata still kept his promise and delivered the Nano almost at his target price, forcing global car makers to take note. In fact, many top atomobile giants are now scurrying for their own versions to meet growing environmental and cost concerns.


The 'People's Car', which got critics and well-wishers all awestruck at Pragati Maidan on Thursday morning, is now not only being talked about as the 'future car'. Expert say it will also determine India's place in the global automotive arena and possibly give a leap to India's dream of becoming a global hub of small cars. The car, feel experts, is more than value for money with its 20 kmpl average and the smart price. Here are the first reactions of some of the most prominent industry experts as they told to CNN-IBN and various news agencies.

'Nano's launch is a proud moment for the country'

India must protect the interests of its auto industry from the impact of free trade pacts with other countries that allow imports at zero or reduced tariff, Heavy Industry Minister Sontosh Mohan Dev said on Thursday. "We have to see that a lot of free trade agreements that are being signed by India should not stand in the growth path of our automobile industry, as it is only 15-year-old," Dev told the inaugural event of Auto Expo 2008 here.

"If we do not do it, we will end up becoming net importers," the minister told the eight-day event, that was opened by his cabinet colleague and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, which oversees the free trade pacts. "We also have to be globally competitive. If we were to be globally competitive, we need to achieve economies of scale. I want the industry to bear in mind this aspect so that when investment is made global competitiveness is first priority," he said.

"We are certainly much more economic in terms of infrastructure costs compared to Europe and North America, but we need to be more competitive with regard to the emerging economies by achieving higher productivity." The government, he said, has the stated objective of making the Indian auto sector a $145-billion industry by 2016 that will also see the creation of 25 million additional jobs. Kamal Nath assured those present at the occasion that the United Progressive Alliance government was, indeed, cautious in protecting the interests of its industry whenever required.

Finally Tata's Indiva is ready to ROCK

Launching in 2nd week of January 2008

Only 1 Lac Rs

This is Another Car From the Same Company But not the One lakh Car

2007 Tata Indiva
Year	2008
Make	TATA
Model	Indiva
Engine Location	Front
Drive Type	Front Wheel
Weight	2161 lbs|980.2kgs
Seating Capacity	4
Gears	5
Transmission	Manual
Vehicles with similar dimensions