Enterprise & Economic Update Kerala-May-2011

Vol.1 Issue 4 May 2011

RNI No. KERENG02297

Editor K J Jacob Copy Editor Anna Mathews Principal Correspondents Aby Abraham G K A P Jayadevan Senior Correspondent Kuruvilla Chacko Sub-Editor Asha Jacob Design and Layout Renu Arun Website Suhas K Ranju Thomas Sales and Marketing Jose Thomas Printed, published and owned by K J Jacob and published from Independent Media, XI/173 B, Mulakkampallil Buildings, Kunnumpuram-Civil Station Road,Thrikkakkara, Kochi,Kerala-682 021 Phone: 0484-2421916 and Printed at Maptho Printings, Near TVS Junction, South Kalamassery, Kerala-683 104. *Editor: K J Jacob For subscription, adverisment: sales@economic-update.in Tel: +91 99475 39023 We value your feedback.

Please write to us at: letters@economic-update.in Read us at www.economic-update.in Cover design : Anoop Radhakrishnan

*Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act.

The benign business

“A

yurveda is in complete sync with the soft raaga of Kerala,” Mr Jose Dominic, who had long back visualised the role Ayurveda will play in the future of the Kerala economy, told me. “We must offer it in the most pristine and authentic form. Cost cannot be a consideration.”

Practitioners such as Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala played the soothing raagas of Ayurveda to the benefit of thousands of people from all over the world, and reasserted the legitimacy and supremacy of the ancient Indian medical science. Mr Dominic and many others refined the raagas and offered them with a finesse that floored even the Doubting Thomases of the West. It was one of the most original and imaginative steps Kerala businessmen would have taken, after they transformed the cargo-laden kettuvallams into houseboats.

The first part of the musical has the world listening in rapt attention; it is time we started offering the second in full flow so that it flocks here.

The cover story is an enquiry on how we will take Ayurveda to the next level. While Kerala Ayurveda is known all over the world for its curative power, the State has not been able to make the most of it. It has been proved beyond doubt that Ayurveda helps people afflicted with several debilitating diseases such as arthritis, rheumatism, psoriasis, neurological disorders, diabetes, obesity and muscular disorders. While total cure may not be possible in many cases, Ayurveda assures a return to the normal, zero-symptom life. It is a benign business which benefits all its partners.

It is time that we take effective steps to popularise the power of Ayurveda the world over, and get our fair share of business. That China holds more than 80 per cent of the market in herbal medicine and Sri Lanka attracts the lion’s share of Ayurveda medical tourists need not dampen our spirits. It should rather encourage us for a tough battle, for there is a lot to be gained.

In the first editorial, I had mentioned about a company which enjoys global leadership in making value-added products from spices. Many people asked me which was the company I had referred to. In this issue, we have a detailed report on Synthite Industries Ltd. It is not just the past that is thrilling about Synthite; its present and the future also look exciting. I am sure Synthite is a good story from which Kerala entrepreneurs have a lot to learn.

Editor

Contents COVER STORY

35 The right oil The world turns to Kerala when it needs authentic and precise Ayurveda.

Its power to heal several chronic diseases is well-documented. It is time the government and entrepreneurs got their act together and made a big business of it

24 World’s taste-maker As the food processing industry takes sharp curves, Synthite Industries Ltd moves one step ahead and gets closer to the consumer.

The exciting story of the global leader in spice oleoresins, and the aggressive course it has charted for itself

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Contents 32 Interview/Dr Krishnadas G. Nair Early bird CIAL Managing Director Dr Krishnadas G Nair moots introducing hopping flights from Goa and Thiruvananthapuram. It will unleash the tourism potential of the State and help the airports boost their business, he says.

28 Going solar Mithradham near Kochi is a knowledge centre for solar power and offers short courses for entrepreneurs and individuals

18 Gourmet’s farm CMFRI spearheads oyster farming in Kerala as the State makes gourmet dishes from the nutrient-rich meat

41 Small is powerful Small hydel projects account for 5 per cent of Kerala’s power generation and lights up several remote villages 44 When care is credited Banks in Kerala are ready to extend a helping hand to meritorious students from poor backgrounds 46 The titanium card The titanium sponge plant at Chavara catapults India into the elite club that produces the ‘metal of the future’ 48 An App a Day Mobile applications are not just all play.

They can help you run the business even while you are away 52 Mutually beneficial Want professional fund managers to rack their brains to multiply your small sums?

Buy mutual finds 5

Future’s fuel The two huge tanks that dwarf their vessels are the first things that sailors will notice when they come into the Kochi port. They are part of the first LNG terminal in South India being set up at Kochi by Petronet LNG Ltd. Each of these highly-specialised tanks will have a capacity of 160000m3. The tanks are being constructed by M/s IHI Corporation, Japan. The work on the tanks, part of the 2.5 MMTPA terminal, started in 2008, is expected to be complete by 2012. GAIL Ltd has already started work on the pipelines to transfer gas from the terminal to the hinterland.

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V Sivaram

The terminal is expected to usher in a gas-based economy in Kerala, by making natural gas available for a host of industries including fertilizers and petrochemicals. Projects to generate more than 4500 MW power using LNG by 2020 are in the pipeline; the first one being the Phase II of the NTPC project at Kayamkulam, which will augment its capacity from the present 350 MW to 1400 MW. It will also fuel the City Gas Distribution project in Kochi.

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NET effect As a software engineer, I was pleased to read an article on our industry’s contribution to marketing and brand-building. It is true that Facebook, with its 50 crore subscriber base, is the preferred choice of advertisers as its reach is only going up. The article has confirmed the growing belief that digital media will play a prominent part in the future of advertising.

Rajesh N. Nair, Ernakulam Your cover story was very informative. In fact, it forced me take a fresh look at my company’s website.

After its launch last year, it seldom attracted visitors, and we had been wondering why it was so. Now we understand the importance of the content, including ‘key words’. We have now engaged a new consultant, and hope it will make a difference.

Sahil Roshan, Thiruvananthapuram I’m an advertising executive and I agree with the arguments in your article on web power. My clients want to strengthen their social media sites. After all, they need to be with the masses. And the masses today are glued to the Internet. A well researched article.

Alex Mathew, Bengaluru The power of social media was discovered in the recent Jasmine revolution. Even back home, Anna Hazare found enormous support for his cause within a couple of days thanks to social networking sites. In fact, the chief campaign manager of a candidate who lost the last Assembly elections in Kerala attributed the shocking result to the social media campaign by the young opponent. It is time that everyone, 8

Being an avid follower of development activities in the State, I am very impressed with the fact that UPDATE is taking the pains to bring to light stories from Kerala’s interior areas as well. By telling stories of business endeavours with consistent human perseverance and commitment behind them, you have chosen to tread a new path. Kudos to the team. Looking forward to the next issue.

Sarath Chandran A, Thiruvananthapuram

not just businesses, wakes up to the Net effect.

Suraj KM, Ernakulam The report on PT Usha was refreshingly different. We have read a lot about how her grit and determination made her the queen of Indian athletics but seldom do we hear about her as an organiser. She remains a beacon of hope for this medal-starved nation and a dedicated mentor to all those who have maintained their faith in her. Wish more such world class sportspersons follow her paths and guide our next generation.

Mittu Kumar, Kozhikode While reading the story on the colour preferences of Keralites, I remembered a comment the servant makes about the colour sense and tastes of the protagonist in the film Pranchiyettan and the Saint. I have noticed that not only class, but regions also play a role in the choice of colours. For example, the colour scheme, especially of homes, most people prefer in the north of Kerala is drastically different from those in the south. It made a good read, but I would suggest that you do deeper research and carry data when reporting on people’s behavioural patterns.

Vivek Ramakrishnan, Thrissur

V-Guard has done it again. The business group which has been at the forefront of energy efficient devices has gone one step ahead by winning the prestigious Gold Leaf award. May this building be the perfect example for other corporates in the State as they combat rising carbon emissions.

Sara Roshni, Ernakulam The IPL came and went. It’s sad that Kerala failed to make the most of the prestigious tournament.

Instead of celebrating it, we made a mess of it. Given the popularity of the game in several parts of the world, the authorities should have taken an interest in promoting it. It would have been a strong marketing campaign for our State. I request the people concerned to ensure that the team will have Kochi as its home ground next year also and that we capitalise on it.

Jobin K Joseph, Kottayam I am impressed that UPDATE reports not just socio economic development activities but also popular topics. By not deviating from the primary focus on the impact any story has on Kerala, you have us readers glued to the magazine. The cover story was simple and easily understandable for laymen like me, who can hardly keep pace with the fast moving world of modern technology. I also appreciate the stories on cinema, as it is rarely that we get to read its business aspects.

P K Koshy, Kollam

I say!

We don’t want even one child to suffer either for six or seven weeks as human life is the paramount consideration…

Don’t go by money alone. You have corporate social responsibility also.

Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia, while hearing the petition seeking a ban on the production of pesticide endosulfan

We are looking at development projects that can provide long-term returns, like the Cochin International Airport where investment from non-resident Keralites played a major part.

Oommen Chandy, Kerala Chief Minister on the industrial development of the State Today technology enables us to start ventures that employ large numbers of people in a single room of a flat. We need industries which suit Kerala’s environment.

P K Kunjalikutty, Kerala’s new industries minister, on his views regarding industrial development

One can be a chair of the board, but one cannot be Mr Murthy.

K V Kamath, on being selected as chairman of Infosys Ltd, replacing Mr N R Narayana Murthy The world of tomorrow is very different from the world we have known in the past.

We are in a situation where resources will be scarce and the role of IT will be very different.

In the scarce world, flexibility and speed required are very high.

T K Kurien, CEO of Wipro’s IT business, about restructuring the company 9

AT A GLANCE

Indian IT pros want to return Thousands of Indian IT professionals in the United States are contemplating returning to India, according to a survey conducted by Corp-Corp. com, a US-based technology job portal. The finding was based on a survey of more than 1,000 people of Indian origin – nearly half of which were IT professionals – and included permanent residents, US citizens and work visa holders.

About 50 per cent of the respondents have plans to return soon, while 6.4 per cent of them have already returned to their homeland. Fifty-one per cent said their decision was based on wanting to rejoin family, while 26 per cent cited better opportunities and 10 per cent better education facilities for their kids in India as the reason for the move back. Only 3 per cent cited job loss as a reason for returning.

in Chrysler to 46 per cent with the aim of holding a majority of shares by the end of the year.

Chrysler back in the black

The IPO is the latest in a string of share offerings

by Chinese technology companies in America.

Renren’s share price soared on the first day of trading.

The Detroit carmaker Chrysler has reported its first profitable quarter since 2006. It made net income of $116m in the first three months of the year. The company emerged from bankruptcy two years ago in a partnership agreement with Fiat. Fiat recently said it was raising its stake 10

Chinese Facebook, Renren, lists on NYSE Renren, China’s biggest social-networking site, sometimes called the Chinese Facebook, raised $743m in its IPO in New York Stock Exchange.

to under take austerity measures aimed at cutting the deficit to 3 per cent of GDP by 2013. The Portuguese economy is expected to contract by 2 per cent in 2011, producing a second recession in three years. Unemployment is expected to climb close to 13 per cent, one of the highest levels ever seen in Portugal.

Glitches hit tech giants Technology giants Amazon, Sony and Apple faced embarrassing crises last month. Amazon Web Services, which offers computing services and data storage over the internet, faced a glitch that caused numerous websites it hosts for other businesses to crash or run painfully slowly.

Hackers accessed the network Sony runs in 60 countries for its PlayStation online-gaming system, as well as for Qriocity, a service offering music, films and television shows. Names, addresses, passwords and possibly credit-card details of 77million accounts were stolen.

Revelations that an unprotected file stored on iPhones and iPads was keeping a history of location data of users dating back to 10 months, put Apple on the defensive. The company traces information from iPhones about tower masts and other transmitters to build mapping features on devices.

€78 billion bail-out for Portugal After Greece and Ireland, it is Portugal’s turn for a bail-out. The country has agreed to a €78 billion ($116 billion) bail-out deal from the European Union and the IMF. The bail-out commits Portugal

80 per cent green energy in 2050

UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts 80 per cent of the world’s power to be generated from renewable sources in the best case scenario by the end of 2050. The worst case scenario would see

renewables rise to take a 15 per cent share of the global power capacity pie by 2050. The difference between the worst and the best case would be creating a policy that incentivises renewables, the scientists and economists on board the IPCC said.

Apple overtakes Google in brand value

Apple has overtaken Google as the world’s most valuable brand, according to a new study by global brands agency Millward Brown. Apple’s brand is now worth $153 billion, almost half Apple's market capitalisation, says the annual BrandZ study of the world's top 100 brands.

Peter Walshe, global brands director of Millward Brown, says Apple's meticulous attention to detail, along with an increasing presence of its gadgets in corporate environments, have allowed it to behave differently from other consumer-electronics makers.

Google has been holding the coveted position for the past four years. Apple had overtaken Microsoft to become the world's most valuable technology company last year.

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AT A GLANCE

Infosys: Kris is new co-chairman, Shibulal MD

Mr K V Kamath, former chairman of ICICI Bank, will replace Mr N R Narayana Murthy as chairman of Infosys on August 20. Mr Murthy will be appointed chairman emeritus. Mr S Gopalakrishnan will be the co-chairman and Mr S D Shibulal managing director and CEO. The board of directors also decided to change the name of the company from Infosys Technologies Ltd to Infosys Ltd. India has 81.16 crore mobile connections India has 81.16 crore mobile phone subscribers as on March 2011, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The total telephone subscriber base

touched 84.63 crore, registering a growth of 2.43 per cent and overall teledensity reached 70.89.

However only 57.34 crore subscribers were active subscribers on the date of peak visitor location register. Bharti Airtel with 16.2 crore subscribers leads the pack. Reliance Communications (13.6 crore), Vodafone (13.5 crore), Idea Cellular (9 crore) and Uninor (2.3 crore ) are other major players.

RBI hikes rates, lowers growth forecast The RBI has raised the interest rates by 0.5 per cent to dampen credit offtake and tackle inflation.

The short-term lending rate was upped by 50 basis points to 7.25 per cent and the borrowing rate was allowed to automatically float in tandem at 6.25 per cent.

The bank has predicted that the Indian economy will grow at 8 per cent in 2011-12, based on the assumption of a normal monsoon, and an average crude oil price of $110 a barrel over the full year 2011-12. RBI’s GDP growth projection is lower than the 9 per cent estimated by the government.

Adani acquires Australian port Adani Group-owned Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd (MPSEZL) has acquired Abbot Point Port in Queensland, Australia, for $2 billion on a 99 year lease. The acquisition

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marks the beginning of the company’s business expansion outside India.

The size of the balance sheet of the company is expected to double after the acquisition.

New body for green clearance The Government is setting up a National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority. The authority will be a professional, sciencebased autonomous entity tasked with environmental appraisals and monitoring of compliance conditions.

At present the Ministry does appraisal and approval of new projects.

Indian middle class drives Asia Nearly 70 per cent of India's population could be middle class within 15 years if the country's economy posts sustained growth, according to a report by the Manilabased Asian Development Bank (ADB). This means that Asia's growth can rely increasingly on its own markets rather than those of Europe, Japan or North America. The ADB report says seven countries — India, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand — will account for 90 per cent of Asia’s GDP and 45 per cent of global GDP by 2050.

Mukesh caps own salary at `15 crore Mr Mukesh Ambani has decided to forego `23.75 crore from the annual compensation of `38.75

crore that he is eligible for as chief of Reliance Industries. Mr Ambani will keep his salary capped at `15 crore as he has been doing for the past 2 years. RIL said the decision was taken to reflect “his desire to continue to set a personal example for moderation in managerial compensation levels.”

Spices export up 4 per cent Export of spices and spice products from India have registered an increase of 4 per cent in volume and 19 per cent in value in 2010-11.

In dollar terms, the rise in exports is 24 per cent.

A total of 4,71,165 tonnes of spices and spice products, valued at `6,030.74 crore ($1,323.28 million), were exported from the country as against 4,53,495 tonnes valued at `5,058.26 crore ($1,063.44 million) in the previous fiscal.

Export of chilli, ginger, fennel, garlic and other spices such as asafoetida and tamarind have shown an increase both in volume and value.

The export of value-added products such as spice oils and oleoresin and curry powder/paste have also shown an increase.

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AT A GLANCE

Cognizant, E&Y expand at Infopark

GPU Architecture-220 TeraFLOPS), is fully designed and built by the Satish Dhawan Supercomputing Facility located at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram using commercially available hardware, open source software components and in house developments, at a cost of about `14 crore.

The new Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) based

in north Kerala have together posted substantial growth with aggregate earnings of `7.10 crore in 2010-2011, up from `4.03 crore the previous financial year. Increased activities at the ports – import and export of cargo, pilotage, tug hire, and boat registration – contributed to the growth.

Azhikkal port topped the revenue charts with `3.01 crore, a consider-

Close on the heels of Oracle’s decision to enter the State, global consulting and IT majors Cognizant and Ernst & Young Global Shared Services have Kerala Banks’ report card decided to expand their Total Increase Deposit Advance Net Increase presence in the business % (`in cr) (`in cr) Profit % State, setting (`in cr) (`in cr) up their offices at Infopark SBT 104,202 16.63 58,158 46,044 727.73 6.35 campus in Kochi. Cognizant has Federal Bank 74,968 18.98 43,015 31,953 587.08 26.38 signed up for approximately South Indian 50,210 29.29 29,721 20,489 25.15 292.56 one lakh sq Bank ft space in Dhanlaxmi Athulya block 21,595 78.4 12,530 9065 26.06 11.85 Bank of Infopark, which can house 1,100 associates. Its current supercomputer is being facility at Infopark houses used by space scientists 1000 associates. Ernst for solving complex & Young Global Shared aerospace problems.

Services has signed up for The GPU system offers about 25,000 sq ft space. significant advantage over the conventional CPU able increase from `94.2 VSSC builds India's based system in terms of lakh recorded the previfastest supercomputer cost, power and space reous year, aided by revenue The Indian Space Requirements. The system is from sale of sand obtained search Organisation has environmentally friendly on dredging. The other built India’s fastest superand consumes a power of ports which increased computer with a theoretionly 150 KW. This system their reveues are Ponnani cal peak performance of can also be easily scaled to (`68.39 lakh), Beypore 220 TeraFLOPS (220 many PetaFLOPS (1000 (`1.22 crore) and VadaTrillion Floating Point TeraFLOPS). kara (`61.15 lakh).

Operations per second).

The supercomputer Azhikkal port One more CFS ‘SAGA-220’ (Supercomtops in revenue at ICTT puter for Aerospace with The seven minor ports Gateway Distriparks, a 14

major player in the Indian logistics space, will open its container freight station (CFS) near the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) soon. The construction of the CFS, coming up on 8 acres in front of the terminal at Vallarpadam is almost complete. At present, there are only two freight stations, one operated by the Cochin Port Trust at the Rajiv Gandhi terminal, and another by Dividend Falcon Infra% structures.

Nilekani picks up Dhanlaxmi Bank stake 85 Nandan Nilekani, co50 founder and former chief executive officer 5 (CEO) of Infosys Technologies (Infosys) and current chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has picked up a minority interest in the Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank. This may perhaps be Nilekani's first financial investment in a business venture outside Infosys. Nilekani holds 9,93,827 shares in the bank which translates into 1.17 per cent of the total outstanding stock of the private sector lender as on March 31, 2011.

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KSIDC NEWS

KSIDC sets new records Sanctions, operating profit, recoveries hit all-time high in 2010-11

K

erala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), the main investment promotion arm of the Government of Kerala, has set all-time records in income, loan sanctions and recoveries in the financial year 2010-11.

to generate employment for 2000 persons directly and an equal number indirectly. The core sectors of the State’s economy —manufacturing and tourism —received the highest support with projects involving a total project cost of `36 crore and `72.6 crore, respectively, getting the

Sanctions `31 crore The KSIDC board, met on May 14, 2011 and sanctioned loans to the tune of `30 crore for six projects. They include `1.75 crore to B3 Equipment India Pvt Ltd; Kochi, `4.2 crore to Isaac Hotels Pvt Ltd., Muvattupuzha; `2.05 crore to Waves Electronics Pvt Ltd., Kochi; `2 crore to Falcon Infrastructure Ltd., Kochi; `3 crore to Palakkad Rubbers Pvt Ltd., Palakkad and `18 crore to Diamond Rollers Flour Mills, Changanassery.

KSIDC reported an income of `49 crore, up 64 per cent, and operating profits of `39 crore, up 54 per cent, both all-time high figures. The term lending support during this year also set a record, with sanctions reaching `204.5 core. Loan recoveries also reached the highest figure of `63.4 crore.

The corporation sanctioned projects which entailed an overall capital cost of `722 crore this year, as against `377 crore in the previous year. The projects are expected

The core sectors of the State’s economy — manufacturing and tourism — received the highest support with projects involving a total project cost of `36 crore and `72.6 crore, respectively, getting the sanctions

tronics industry; a Life Sciences Park (`300 crore) for establishing a stateof-the-art manufacturing and R&D facility for biotechnology, nanotechnology and contract research; a City Gas Distribution Project (`1,000 crore) for the supply of compressed natural gas for automobile and piped natural gas for domestic use in Kochi; an oceanarium (`350 crore) which will include an underwater aquarium and marine research centre; and the Titanium Sponge Plant (`1,000 crore). KSIDC is also facilitating implementation of major projects in infrastructure, such as the Gas Pipeline project ( `5,000 crore) of GAIL and the LNG Terminal ( `3,500 crore ) at Kochi.

The Industrial Growth Centres that KSIDC promotes at Kannur, Kozhikode and Alappuzha are at various stages of completion.

“Apart from the perceived paybacks of economic growth and employment generation, these projects will offer the State multiple benefits such as conservation of environment and fuel resources and social advancement,” said KSIDC Managing Director Mr Alkesh Sharma.

“Driven by the outstanding performance in the past year, we are geared to achieve further progress in the years ahead.”

sanctions.

The last financial year also saw KSIDC taking initiatives for several path-breaking infrastructure projects which will lay the foundation for the fast growth of the economy. They include the high speed rail corridor connecting the north of the State to the south. The project is expected to provide a major fillip to the development of industry and commerce in the State, besides providing a new dimension to transportation infrastructure for the common man. The project is envisaged to mobilize an investment of `50,000 crore.

The other projects at various stages which KSIDC promoted include the Kochi– Coimbatore Industrial Corridor (`5,000 crore) which Mr Alkesh Sharma, will be a global manufacManaging Director, turing and trading hub; the KSIDC 1200 MW gas-based thermal power project (`5,000 crore) at Cheemeni, Kasaragode; an Electronic Hub (`1,500 crore) at Kochi which will be a world class manufacturing and R&D facility for the elec-

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When my information changes, I change my opinion.

What do you do, sir?

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) The most influential economist of the 20th century.

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Everybody knows that technology changes business.

Today, the change flows through the net.

And the fact is, Kerala is the most networked State in India.

Of the 978 Panchayats in Kerala, 99% have broadband connectivity.

Information changes

Be updated

For subscription: +91 97444 17980 or subscription@economic-update.in ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After all, our opinions ought to change!

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Gourmet’s far

FISHERIES

O

Asha Jacob

ysters, the gourmet dish of the West, are making their slow entry into the dining tables of Kerala through an estuary on the Arabian Sea. Aided and guided by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, the Kudumbashree women self help groups in Sathar Island near Kochi last year harvested 2,500 kilos of them.

And the product found ready consumers too, not only among the tourists who tasted them in the star hotels but also among Keralites who made pickles and curries of them!

CMFRI, which introduced oyster farming in 1996 in the Ashtamudi lake, found the experiment a success. The harvest was modest, but gave them the confidence to repeat the experiment on a larger scale elsewhere. After much deliberation, they chose the Sathar Island for setting up oyster farms as the estuary there opens to the Arabian Sea and so salinity of water is high, suitable for its breeding, said Dr K Sunilkumar Mohamed, head of molluscan fisheries division of CMFRI. “The location for oyster farming is very important as it should also be free from toxic contents.

The first harvest here was also plentiful,” said Dr Mohamed.

Today, about 37 Kudumbashree groups, each with a membership of 7 to 10 women, are engaged in oyster farming at Sathar Island. Leading hotel groups in Kochi such as the Taj and CGH Earth buy their products. “We get `5 per oyster from the hotels,” said Ms K Beena, member of a Kudumbashree group. Each farm produc-

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es 140 to 160 kg of meat a season. They also sell it in retail market where they, on an average, get `250 per kg of meat. At some places, groups also grow mussels along with oysters, as they too are in high demand.

The farming process is simple and requires no special care. Oyster farms are, in fact, enclaves made of bamboo poles in water. The empty oyster shells, called clutches, are tied on to a nylon rope and hung down in water from the poles. The oyster spat get appended to the shells and strings, grow and reproduce. “They need not be given any supplementary feed,” said Mr T R Rakesh, a research associate with CMFRI. The two-shelled animals grow naturally in the coastal waters, feeding on microscopic algae and organic matter present in the water. The tropical climate in Kerala helps reduce the growth period to 8 months (it is about 12 months in European countries). “The farming process begins in November and harvesting is done around May before the monsoon sets in,” he said.

To popularise oyster farming and increase the production, CMFRI introduced a World Bank-aided scheme in association with National Aquaculture Innovation Project (NAIP) in 2007. It intervenes at all stages of farming such as starting off, production, harvesting, processing and marketing. The day-to-day activities are run in association with Kudumbashree groups in various panchayats in the coastal areas of Kerala.

Oysters can be farmed as cluster or single ones. Hotel groups prefer single ones for their cup shape. For this, oyster

Photo: V Sivaram

CMFRI spearheads oyster farming in Kerala

rm

Oyster farming is catching up in the Sathar Island, off Kochi

The two-shelled animals grow naturally in the coastal waters, feeding on microscopic algae and organic matter present in the water.

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seedlings are produced in hatcheries and transferred to the farm once they are stable. CMFRI has set up an oyster seed production centre in association with NAIP at Njarakkal, near Kochi.

Farmed oysters are superior to naturally grown, ysters are confor they are raised much above the bottom of the rivsumed live in er, resulting in finer product. Studies have revealed that oysters play a significant role in maintaining European countries. A the ecological balance of water in which they grow. naturally grown organism, they are highly However, water quality of the oyster farming area is a matter of concern due to its filter feeding habit. nutritious and are rich in Vitamin B-12 and minerals such “If the water quality is bad, it will affect the qual- as iron and zinc. For those who do not want to eat them live, here is a recipe for a lip-smacking dish. ity of the oyster meat also,” said Dr Mohamed. “We monitor the water body regularly against European Union guidelines.” He said one need not bother about Ingredients 1. Oyster meat: 250 gm the purity of the meat as oysters undergo depuration 2. Shallot: 15 nos process before being made available for consumption.

3. Ginger (sliced into small pieces) Hotel groups like CGH Earth have depuration display 4. Garlic (sliced into small pieces) units which instill customer confidence.

5. Green chillies In depuration process, the matured, fresh and live 6. Dry red chillies oysters collected from the farm are jet washed with wa7. Coriander powder ter to remove silt deposited on them, loaded into perfo8. Chilli powder rated trays and placed in the depuration tank containing 9. Turmeric powder filtered seawater for 24 hours. The oysters take in puri10. Fenugreek powder fied seawater and start cleansing themselves by pump11. Black pepper powder ing the seawater through their guts. During this process, 12. Coconut sliced into small pieces the waste materials in its body get removed. The water 13. Grated coconut for depuration is passed through cartridge and UV filters 14. Oil to remove contaminants. Once depurated, the meat is re15. Curry leaves moved from the oysters by raw or heat shucking procedure.

“It has got sharp edges and hence chances of getting an Preparation injury while removing the meat are high,” says Ms Beena ■ Cook the oyster meat in pressure cooker with of the SHG. a little salt and turmeric powder. Don’t add water CMFRI, in association with National Institute of Fishwhile cooking. Put on weight and cook till whistle eries Post Harvest Technology and Training, also makes valcomes twice. ue-added products such as curries and pickles with oysters.

■ In a bowl, mix green chilli and pepper powder They are available at the stalls of Integrated Fisheries Project with grated coconut and grind it coarsely. Keep it under the brand ‘Muziris Oysters’. aside.

■ Pour some oil into a frying pan and add quarter tbsp each of ginger and garlic and 2 tbsp of sliced coconut into it and saute till it becomes slight brown in colour. Add sliced shallots also into the pan and saute till the pink colour becomes light brown. If required, add a pinch of salt. Then, add 2 tbsp of chilly powder,1 tbsp coriander powder, a pinch of turmeric powder and fenugreek powder into this. Add 1 chopped chilly and curry leaves into it. Cooked oyster meat is added into this. Also add the coconut ground with pepper and chilly into this. Add little salt and pepper powder if needed. Cook till the water dries up.

■ Saute mustard seeds and dry red chillies in 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Add curry leaves. Pour this over the cooked oyster meat and serve hot.

The oyster recipe

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By Invitation

When we go global P K Mohamed

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y father Mr A K Kaderkutty started the Western India Plywoods Ltd (WIP) in 1945 with a vision: to set up a world class wood working complex. He had hardly any model to follow: it was only the second such unit in the whole of India then. While setting up his enterprise, he introduced ideas and practices well ahead of his time. At a time when wood was available in plenty, (in fact governments were encouraging clearing forests for human settlements), he set the goal of ‘hundred per cent utilisation of wood’. He argued that wood was a precious resource, and should be treated so. Adhering to this philosophy, we recently commissioned a briquetting unit to fuel our boilers. WIP also has a vermi-compost unit, which uses the bark and soil found on the logs. We now make value added products out of every piece of log that enters our campus, and makes no waste of it.

At a time when no one talked about globalisation, WIP's founder foresaw that only companies that offer global leadership will succeed. He toured the world and got the best technologies, machinery and equipment to WIP. Today, WIP offers products in every single engineered wood product: plywoods, hardboards, pre-finished boards, press boards, densified wood, wooden floorings and furniture.

Several of them are specialty products made for industrial units across the world. Most Indian and foreign automobile manufacturers use products from WIP. WIP was able to meet the challenge because it had a strong foundation based on knowledge. R&D is key to our functioning. One can find the most authentic information, in the form of journals and books, on engineered wood in our library. This strong foundation helped us face many a challenge successfully, and follow the trends in the market and align our product portfolio accordingly. Today, our products are held in high esteem in even some of the most competitive and quality-conscious

markets such as the United States.

True, we are globally competitive, but our industry faces two major challenges: raw material availability and infrastructure bottlenecks. Ours is an industry which processes fast-growing softwood to make either specialty products or those that can easily replace hardwood. Governments promote this industry because it offers solutions which ease the pressure on hardwood and other natural and forest resources. The industry now faces acute shortage of raw material. At present, we meet our requirements through imports, which make us less competitive in the international market.

I request the government to consider suggestions that ensure a steady supply of raw materials. One of them which has been pending with the government for long is to lease out barren lands under the custody of the government for softwood plantation. We will undertake the whole plantation and maintenance activities, which will also open a lot of employment opportunities at places where none exists now. At the time of harvesting, the government can collect a royalty.

The second most important issue is regarding infrastructure. I am glad that of late, the government has been moving proactively on this count. We have a lot of hopes on the launch of the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT). It will make our exports and imports easy and less costly. However, for us to make the most of the ICTT, the government must act proactively on the Azhikkal port and make related facilities such as container freight stations available here.

True, governments spend crores of rupees on ports, but the frequent strikes that visit the Cochin port rids us of all the benefits they offer us. The agitation in February this year cost us several crores of rupees, besides causing us to miss delivery schedules, which are very critical in international trade.

I request the government to set up a mechanism that addresses the grievances of the employees at ports in a time-bound and just manner so that this critical service provider is able to perform its tasks to the optimum level. All it requires is some willingness from the part of the authorities.

The writer is managing director, the Western India Plywoods Ltd, Baliapatam, Kannur 23

Industry report

The Spice Route As the food processing industry takes sharp curves, Synthite Industries Ltd moves one step ahead and gets closer to the consumer.The exciting story of the global leader in spice oleoresins, and the aggressive course it has charted for itself

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K J Jacob

n a typical day, two people arrive at the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbasserry and head for a destination 25 km away. They would be representing a global food giant or a new entrant, and would want to shop for the ingredients for a product they plan to launch.

The destination they race to is not a regular manufacturing plant.

Instead, it is a place where a young

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entrepreneur had chosen to walk a road not taken before, and hit a huge success. A place where one could feel the spirit of entrepreneurship and the fragrance of experimentation. It’s Synthite Industries Ltd. When Mr C V Jacob established a spice oleoresin company in 1972 in the non-descript Kadayiruppu village, he was treading a lonely furrow, for he was making value added products out of spices for which his land was so famous for. Till then they were sold as raw as possible—dried, packed and

exported.

But today Synthite is the leader in the world’s oleoresin industry commanding 30 per cent market share.

It sells spices in every conceivable form—whole, ground, powdered, oleoresins, flavours, botanical extracts, naturals, essential oils, floral, concrete, absolutes, nutraceuticals, micro capsulated/spray dried products—meeting every single food safety standard.

It’s virtually an extraction farm where anything botanical - from saffron to coriander to marigold and many

more - can be brought down to its developed technology for extracting elements. Its product bouquet has spice oleoresins. He struck a deal with more than 500 offerings; and should them and started Synthite Industrial a customer want a new product, that Chemicals in his native village. The too is possible. No wonder companies first product was pepper oleoresin. with exacting quality standards such “We had a lot of trouble in the as Nestle find Synthite their partner beginning,” remembers Mr Jacob. of choice. Synthite's products are now “The first product was not successpart of food in more than 100 coun- ful as we faced challenges at several tries. stages. But inadvertently, they helped The company has gained unques- us: we started looking at ways to solve tioned supremacy in the export of the problems on our own. Our R&D spice oleoresins: it has been the win- started then, and it sustains us even ner of the Spices Board’s award for today.” The company ensured two exports excellence for several years in things at every level: quality and innoa row followed by National awards. vation. “We improvised at every level, The village from raw matecontinues to be rial selection to sleepy, but the Synthite is redesigning its packing,” Mr company is eye- product portfolio so that it Jacob said. “Our ing a bigger role first successful can cater to the emerging in the global product emerged theatre. Through in six months.” specialty, market-driven its six manuThere was no and niche products. The facturing units, looking back as company is positioning three joint venthe product had tures and a dedia ready market in itself as a solution cated processing the US. Synthite provider to the industry, facility, Synthite later entered into and not just its customers a aims at making technology itself a one-stop partnership with shop for all spice a Jewish family products. The `700 crore company has firm which also entailed giving excluset a target of touching `2000 crore in sive marketing rights. “We found it a revenue by 2020. It has already diver- win-win deal, and it was,” Mr Jacob sified its presence to other areas such said. as hospitality, realty and wind power.

The company’s growth was chequered and it crossed critical milefound the civil contract work I stones at regular intervals. In 1980, was doing since age 18 least ex- the Government of India recognised citing,” says Mr Jacob, 79, on his en- it as an Export House. Four years try into the spice industry. “You do a later, it set up Herbal Isolates, a unit very predictable work and get a neat for the manufacture of dehydrated profit. That the works were mostly in green pepper, pepper in brine, sterithe hilly and inhospitable areas was lised spices, essential oils, etc. It was another reason for me to think of an- followed, in 1986, by the fragrance other option.” A stint with quarrying, division at Maradur, Tamil Nadu. In though rocking, failed to satiate his 1994, Synthite became the first Inentrepreneurial spirits. dian company in the food sector to It was a visit to the Industrial obtain ISO 9002 certification from Expo in Tokyo, Japan, in 1970 that BSI, UK. The natural colour divison made the difference. There is a busi- at Harihar in Karanataka was formed ness in food ingredients, he discov- in 2001. In 2006, it formed two joint ered, while attending it. And as luck ventures: Aromco India and Symega would have it, on his return, he found for flavour manufacture. an advertisement of the Central Food Mr Jacob gratefully remembers a Technological Institute, Mysore, call- timely help the government offered. ing entrepreneurs to use its newly- “In 1978, the Centre introduced a

The CIAL connection The contribution of Mr C V Jacob, the founder of Synthite Industries, to Kerala is not limited to his pioneering efforts in the spice processing industry. He was one of the early birds who recognised the potential of the Cochin International Airport and invested his money.

When the land acquisition ran into rough weather, then Chief Minister E K Nayanar called a meeting of the board to sort out the issue. “The board was not favourably disposed to the demands of the land owners,” Mr Jacob recalls. Mr Jacob, however, convinced it that fully meeting the demand of the farmers would escalate the project cost by hardly two per cent while delays if any would cost much more. “Nayanar acted fast and the board decided accordingly,” remembers Mr Jacob.

With considerable expertise in civil engineering contracts, Mr Jacob offered all his services for free and the project was completed in record time.

“I knew its significance from the beginning,” he said. “Today, 700 of my visitors use the airport a year.”

“I

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Manufacturing Units • Harihar, Karnataka • Kakkanchery, near Calicut, Kerala • Khammam, Andhra Pradesh • Kolenchery, Kerala • Marudur, near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu • Pancode, Kerala Offices • USA: Buffalo • China: Beijing • India: Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Coimbatore Warehouses • USA-Buffalo • Amsterdam

cash compensatory support for exports. We got about `4 crore, and we invested the entire sum in R&D.” R&D has been the company's focus: best scientists man its facilities. Synthite also has some of the best manufacturing facilities in the industry including a most-modern CO2 plant, short path Distillation assembly and a Spinning Cone Column.

Apart from R&D, Synthite differentiated itself from others by working with farmers to ensure quality raw material. The Farmtech division of Synthite is one of the most imaginative ideas for an Indian agro-processing company, working with farmers from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu with an aim to ensure 100 per cent traceability. They help farmers prepare the soil, select seeds, manure, farm technology, and bio-pesticides and advise them on post-harvest practices. It is also implementing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policy which helps eliminate or reduce the usage of pesticides. Synthite offers chilli, cumin, fennel, mustard, vanilla and cardamom under IPM. The company also promotes cultivation of crops as per customer requirements in specified areas so that the final products meet European Union norms on maximum residue limit.

The company sources its raw ma26

The CO2 extraction plant at Synthite

Synthite's product bouquet has more than 500 offerings. Companies with exacting quality standards such as Nestle find Synthite their partner of choice. Its products are part of food in more than 100 countries terial from the best markets; even though it means crossing oceans. It has contracted farming turmeric on 2500 acres of land in Cambodia; it is looking at certain African nations where productivity, is high. “Low productivity results in prices soaring, and hence our move abroad,” said Mr George Paul, director. “It will be a bonanza: the virgin soil could also result in we getting near organic raw material.”

It also has launched Synthite Natural Specialties, a division to develop ‘natural’ value added solutions to the food, flavour and fragrance industries.

“The modern consumer wants to escape the ill-effects of artificial colours and flavours,” said Mr Aju Jacob, director and elder son of Mr Jacob. “The new division seeks to address this huge shift in consumer choice.”

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fter having established its leadership position in spice oleoresin, Synthite is now pursuing a dream: to become a fully integrated food ingredient provider through forward integration. The company is opening new product verticals and delivery channels to ensure that it is able to cover every segment of the food industry.

Aligning itself with the new trends in the food processing industry, Synthite is redesigning its product portfolio to cater to the emerging specialty, market-driven and niche products.

The company is positioning itself as a solution provider to the industry, and not just its customers.

Oleoresin removed one level of processing of spices; today 60 per cent of it is traded as commodity. “We now move to the next level to become a flavour house, going closer to the endcustomer,” said Mr Aju Jacob. “This means a transformation from being

a food ingredient company giving inputs for our customers to a flavour company. As an organisation, we are constantly reinventing ourselves, our processes, and products so that we continue to be the leaders. We are improving the functionalities of our products. I expect that in five years, our product portfolio will change completely.”

Synthite has tied up with two global majors and formed joint ventures as part of its forward integration programme: Symega Savoury Technology Private Ltd and Aromco Flavours India Ltd. Symega, a joint venture between Synthite and Omega Food Technology, Austria, one of the world’s fastest growing savoury houses, makes savouries like stock, boullion, soups, curry seasonings, pasta, noodles, toppings, sauces, dips, chutneys, sausage seasonings, marinades and colours. Aromco India, a JV with global flavour industry major Aromco UK, has a portfolio of flavours for use in bakery, confectionery, beverage, dairy and savoury applications.

“With Farmtech in the background, and Aromco and Symega in the forefront, we are well-positioned to do the job,” said Mr Jacob. “We have the capabilities: we have the equipment, technology, raw material sources, tracking systems and human resource.”

The company, which clocks an annual growth of about 20 per cent, is looking aggressively at the future.

“We have till now followed an organic path to grow,” said Mr Paul. “We need to outrun the industry to keep our leadership position. We are exploring inorganic ways of growth.” The message is clear: the cash-rich company is on the prowl, eyeing smart enterprises for acquisition or merger. Acquisition is not a totally new concept to the company: it took over Sijmak Oils in Kozhikode, which is today Synthite Calicut, specialising in several botanical extracts.

The company is strengthening its largest market, the US, by opening a dedicated marketing office with a warehouse facility. This step, the company hopes, will quicken its response to customer requirements and redress

“We have till now followed an organic path to grow,” said Mr George Paul, director. “We need to outrun the industry to keep our leadership position. We are exploring inorganic ways of growth.” complaints, if any. Increased focus on the US will also help the company benchmark its products with the global giants.

It counts on China, South East Asia and Africa as the next growth spots. The company has set up Synthite China from where it will serve the South East Asia and African markets.

Synthite, till now a B2B company with 90 per cent of its products being exported, is looking at the retail sector, and is aggressive about the Indian market as well. The company recorded 50 per cent increase in the Indian market in the last two years, Dr Viju Jacob, Director, said. “We have replicated our success in the global market on home ground, too,” he said.

“Almost all top players in the Indian processed food industry today are our customers.”

The Indian cooking and food practice is undergoing a dramatic shift towards processed food. And it is quite natural, too. While the share of processed food in a developed economy like the US is 85 per cent, it is a lowly 3 per cent in India. And the Vision 2020 programme of the Department of Food Processing, Government of India, seeks to take this figure up to 15 per cent by 2020.

“It’s the turn of economies like ours to catch up with that trend,” said Dr Jacob. “And we are doing so.

Our growth in the Indian market in the recent years testifies to this fact.

In 1998, the share of Indian market in our turnover was around 2 per cent.

Three years back, India was the fourth market for our products. It tops the list today, with a contribution of more than 20 per cent in our total sales.

My expectation is that in another five years, the domestic consumption of the company’s products will equal the exports.”

The company has already set up marketing units in metros such as Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. “They will study the market trends and pass the signals to us,” said Dr Jacob. “We will assess these signals, understand the market better and innovate our product portfolio.”

Like most growth-oriented corporates, Synthite is fast evolving as a professional organisation from being a family-run enterprise. It has started attracting professionals from reputed management and technical institutes in India. It’s one of the very few companies in Kerala that has implemented SAP which helps it document its processes completely and meet global client requirements.

A diversified business group, Synthite Industries Limited has forayed into the realty and hospitality sectors, too. Riviera Suites, the first apartment hotel in Kerala, marked the group’s entry into the hospitality sector; the setting up in 2008 of Ramada Resort, a boutique lakeside resort, in collaboration with Ramada Worldwide Inc at Kumbalam, off Kochi, established the group’s name as a player in the niche market.

Synthite had stepped into corporate social responsibility initiatives long before businesses started talking about it. The early projects included providing medical insurance cover to the entire population below the poverty line in Kadayiruppu panchayat where the main factory is situated. Rechristened CVJ Foundation in 2007, the CSR arm of the company with an annual budget of close to `1 crore undertakes works such as renovation of schools and government hospitals, building houses for homeless, funding children’s education and offering health care for the under privileged.

On the campus, you feel the fragrance of sharing wealth, too. A rare one, perhaps.

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green zone

Nature’s Own

Want to know how to go solar? Come to Mithradham

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Kuruvilla Chacko

t Mithradham, you learn the ways to be friends with nature.

Technology included.

Step into the ashram-like campus at Chunanganveli near Aluva, and you will feel the vibrancy of nature, in its pristine form. From the main building designed in Laurie Baker style to a green carpet of grass; open air classrooms in the midst of mini woods to DC fans and lights which consume one-third power compared with regular ones, Mithradham has been constructed, landscaped and run keeping in mind the intended oneness with nature.

But don’t mistake it for a place where mystics deliberate on issues

divine. As its name indicates, Mithradham Renewable Energy Centre is an institution that designs and implements programmes that concern the theoretical and practical aspects of renewable energy and sustainable development.

Functioning for the last 11 years, Mithradham has already earned its name as a resource centre in solar energy. Experts from world over come and share the latest on the most sustainable energy source. The week-long workshops, conducted several times a year at the Centre, arm new converts to solar energy with a clear road map as to how to go about it. The course includes teaching the basics of solar energy, the installation and maintenance of solar photo-voltaic systems,

solar cable technology and devices.

It is tailored to suit anyone who has a basic knowledge in electricity. Engineers and technicians also benefit as they can brush up their knowledge and update themselves with the latest.

The course has been truly beneficial for many such as Mr G Sivaramakrishnan, CEO of Konark Systems, a solar equipment dealership company in Kochi. When he came to Mithradham eight years ago, Mr Sivaramakrishnan, an electrical engineer, was looking for expert advice to help with his new venture. “I wanted to refresh my knowledge about the various applications of solar cells,” he said. “The course was extremely useful. I would recommend Mithradham, with its focus on practicality, for pro-

Solar power and equipment using it are natural allies of Fr Pitapilli

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fessionals intending to make a career in this sector.”

Mithradham is a member of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) and an institutional partner of the International Society for the Promotion of Environment and Renewable Energy (ISPERE). German solar P-V engineer Mr Christoph Würtemberger, who has installed and supervised many solar energy installations in different parts of the world, is a regular resource person at the Centre.

The first cells Mithradham or the ‘abode of friends’ is the brain child of a Catholic priest who had the fortune of exposing himself to solar energy in early 90's, a time when most Indians were still to hear about it. Fr George Peter Pitapillil ventured into the world of solar energy while undergoing a specialised course related to environment conservation and management at the prestigious Max Planck Institute in Germany. A member of the CMI order and a PhD in solid state physics from Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fr Pitapillil then realised the importance and potential of solar energy and its future applications which were already the topic of many scientific discussions in Germany.

Taken over by the desire to propagate renewable energy practices, Fr Pitapillil, on his return to Kerala, resigned his job as vice-principal of Sacred Heart College, Thevara. He laid the foundation stone for the centre in 1998. “I wanted to create an institution which would make one feel one with nature,” says Fr Pitapillil. The dream was noble, but needed a lot of money to materialise. His mentor and constant support throughout the endeavour was Prof Rosemarie Zaiser, his teacher at Max Plank Institute and president of the Society for Promotion of Development Oriented Projects, Stuttgart. Prof Zaiser was keen on introducing renewable energy technology to India. That she was the mother of one of his classmates at the Institute also helped. Together, they scouted for donors and finally found support from European institutions

such as Kindermissionswerk, Aachen; Referat Weltkirche, Stuttgart as well as the Commission of European Union, Brussels. The University of Stuttgart extended technical support and research assistance.

Slowly and steadily, he set up the campus of his dreams. Mithradham is today a by word for energy efficiency.

Its seven rows of solar cells (49 panels in total), set up with help of German technicians, have provided for the 5KW installed load at the centre, without a single instance of failure for the past 10 years. The centre also has in place a wind turbine which can provide 600W of power when operational. To make up for the lean periods, it has a battery backup of 1200Ah, enough to last 10 zero sunlight days.

A biomass plant provides for the centre’s gas needs and the organic cultivation of a variety of fruits and crops sustains their dietary requirements.

They even make an income from the sale of surplus vegetables in the local

Experts from world over come and share the latest on the most sustainable energy source. The week-long workshops, conducted several times a year at the Centre, arm new converts to solar energy with a clear road map as to how to go about it

market. The centre has a solar cooker.

It recently installed a solar dryer with assistance from the students of Sacred Heart College.

Spreading the Message The Centre has recently launched ‘Nalla Veedu, Nalla Naadu’ (Good Home, Good Community), an awareness campaign on keeping one’s surroundings and homes clean and green, and offered tips for the same.

The Centre has tied up with the Lions Club to encourage community development programmes and has initiated an ambitious 15-year programme Suchitwa Bodhana Yajnam to create awareness and implement strategies for waste management and food sustainability through organic food production as well as inculcate clean public habits with a focus on planting more trees.

Fr Pitapillil has a simple purpose in mind when he describes his mission, “Nature is a fascinating thing. It remains our responsibility to conserve it. If everyone cannot, those of us who can need to do so. Mithradham aims to stand out as an experiential centre for any such willing person.”

At a time when energy crisis and nuclear power are the talk of the town, Fr Pitapillil and his centre stand apart, offering a different message.

And if you have doubts about how self sustainable that message is, then look at the power lines that pass by Mithradham. They offer no connecting wire to the centre.

Fr. Pitapillil can be contacted at 09847742650 for information on courses.

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BUSINESS CALLED LIFE

Mustakin Ali (left), 27 and Arsien Husan, 26, are part of the labour force from north Indian States which powers the construction boom in Kerala. Ali and Husan, masons from Kolkata, lay floor tiles in a super luxury apartment project in Kochi. What took them to leave their homeland and come to Kochi a year ago is the huge difference in wages. They said they both get `500 in Kochi a day against `250 in Kolkata. They keep an account in a nationalised bank and send home money every month.

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V Sivaram

Interview/Dr C G Krishnadas Nair

A SPECIAL FLIGHT CIAL moots hopping flights from Thiruvananthapuram to Goa to boost tourism

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erala uses Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) not only for landing aircraft.

The State showcases the country’s first green field airport in the private sector as the mascot of its entrepreneurship and imagination. It was a government project to which private investors lent money long before consultants started talking about public-private partnership initiatives. In fact, it was an idea which succeeded before its time had come.

Twelve years after it was commissioned, CIAL is an integral part of the State’s growth dreams: Every major developmental project mooted in this State will have a component which will either land or take off at Nedumbasserry.

Dr C G Krishnadas Nair, who took over as managing director of CIAL in 2008, is spearheading a slew of initiatives which will ensure the steady growth of the airport in the times to come. Dr Nair, an alumnus of IIT Chennai and a PhD in aeronautical engineering from University of Sask, Canada, was formerly chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and is widely credited with transforming HAL into a globally

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competent aerospace business entity, increasing its revenues ten-fold.

In an interview with K J Jacob and Aby Abraham G K, Dr Nair insisted that the new airports proposed in other parts of the State posed no threat to CIAL. Instead, “We are busy planning to make them an opportunity to expand our business.” Excerpts: How has CIAL’s performance been over the years?

CIAL is the fourth largest airport in India in terms of international traffic and the seventh when both domestic and international traffic is considered.

The total number of passengers has increased from 3.4 million in 200809 to 3.8 million in 2009-10 and 4.6 million in 2010-11. This is expected to

People assume that traffic at an airport will grow on its own. But nothing grows automatically; you have to plan and then work hard for growth

grow to 5-5.2 million in the current financial year. The traffic at the airport is now growing at a steady rate of 1215 per cent per annum.

How has been the growth? What are the major challenges?

People assume that traffic at an airport will grow on its own. But nothing grows automatically; you have to plan and then work hard for it. When the recession hit traffic, we started assessing the future challenges. We found that new airports coming up in the region and the stagnating Gulf traffic as two major challenges. We decided to market the airport effectively to meet these challenges. We set up a dedicated marketing department, trying to sell our services to new airlines.

We suggested viable routes that interested them. We are also trying to start direct flights from Kochi to Europe.

Efforts are also on to convince passengers travelling to the Americas to go through the Middle-East from Kochi.

We improved facilities for passengers. We expanded the international terminal, and increased the number of emigration counters from 27 to 50. As a result the waiting time was reduced from 1.5 hours to 25 minutes. The number of check in counters was also increased from 20 to 39.

We offered special services for tourists. We also tied up with Kerala Tourism to jointly market the State and the airport. We hope these measures will help us keep the growth momentum.

Will the entry of new airports harm your prospects?

I don’t believe in the philosophy of ‘the survival of the fittest’. Mindless competition will kill us all. Instead, we have to cooperate with one other, serve the customer better and grow together.

We are in talks with other coastal

It is time that we started thinking about a second runway at the airport.

The project would require an additional 800 acres of land

airports to introduce hopping flights, connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Goa. We have planned a meeting to discuss the idea in June. The concept is to have an air bus which will have stops at each of these airports—Goa, Mangalore, Calicut, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The proposal will be viable only if the airports wave off the landing charges. The airports will gain from increased traffic; the airlines will benefit from increased business and the customers will have more options for travel. It is a win-win situation for all.

How do you visualise the growth of the airport?

We expect the domestic traffic to increase three times in the next 10 33

years and we are planning to double the capacity of the domestic terminal.

We have upgraded the runway and it should be in good shape for the next 10 years. But it will not be enough if we grow at this rate. We are installing airport surveillance radars that will help us reduce the landing time from the current 11 minutes to 3 minutes.

This will help us increase the capacity three times to handle 10 million passengers a year. Even this additional capacity would be exhausted in another five years. It is time that we started thinking about a second runway at the airport. The project would require an additional 800 acres of land that has to be acquired. Cargo is another focus area for the airport. We will upgrade the cargo terminal next year to make it a dedicated one for cargo handling.

A dedicated parking bay for freighters will also be provided. The plan is to attract big freighters capable of carrying containers to the airport by 2014. We had a trail landing by an Emirates freighter to test the readiness of the airport to handle big freighters. CIAL is aiming to link with the container terminal in Kochi.

Containers from smaller ports in India could come to the ICTT and then be transported by air to different parts of the world from CIAL. CIAL also has a fully air conditioned facility for handling perishable cargo. It plans to set up a cargo village – a facility that would be a one stop shop for all types of logistics solutions - at the airport by 2014.

What about the growth in the non-aeronautical stream?

At 56 per cent, the share of non-aeronautical revenue has been an important contributor to our growth. This includes revenue from duty free shops, advertisements, rentals and revenue share from shops, parking fees etc.

The character of the duty free shops has been changed by increasing the assortment of goods sold there. The duty free sales has increased to `74 crore, and the profit to `35 crore last year. As the traffic through the airport grows, this share will also grow.

What are the projects in 34

the pipeline?

The airport plans to build a hotel, a hospital and a convention centre as part of our efforts to increase the nonaeronautical revenues further. Work on the convention centre is progressing fast and is expected to be completed this year. The centre will have a 35000 sq ft air-conditioned hall, food court, conference hall and 12 meeting halls. CIAL plans to entrust the running of these centres to partners on a rental plus revenue sharing basis.

An airport based SEZ is also being planned. CIAL has got approvals for the SEZ which is coming up on 250 acres of land.

What is the status of the MRO? The Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) service will start operations shortly. We received the approval for line maintenance and ‘A check’ from the Director-General of Civil Aviation, in mid-2010. Approvals from international agencies are awaited after which we can start operations. We have procured the required equipment and appointed the necessary personnel. Now we need to get business from the airlines and scale up the business.

The revenue in the MRO business lies in the second, third and fourth stages (B check, C check and D checks). Approvals for those levels can be obtained only after the operations in ‘A check’ are carried out successfully for a certain period of time.

We are on the look out for business partners for taking the business ahead. The MRO facility is operated by a subsidiary of CIAL, the Cochin International Aviation Services Limited (CIASL). We are planning to make CIASL a joint venture with our partner.

A 3000-4000 sq ft hangar is also ready in the MRO facility. CIAL is planning to rent it out and provide value addition in the form of technical services to clients using the hangar.

Is the golf course a wise project?

How is it doing?

The land on which the golf course has come up is in the flight path and hence we cannot construct any build-

ings there. This is an operational requirement. If left vacant, we would have had to spend a huge amount yearly to maintain the place, and control the bird menace.

The project is planned in two phases. We have built an 18-hole golf course at a cost of `18 crore in the first phase. The second phase will cost `10 crore. A mini golf course for the family and facilities for other games like tennis and billiards and a swimming pool are being readied in the second phase. We are also planning to tie up with a hospitality chain to build and operate golf villas in the vicinity.

The golf club is doing very well. It has 1300 members now. The venture has recorded operating profits in the first year itself. The club is providing lessons to those who want to learn the game.

What are the new ventures?

CIAL is planning to start a heli-taxi service connecting various towns in the State. We have commissioned a survey to identify suitable sites for helipads. The project enables fast travel at a low investment: a helipad requires just half an acre and can be set up at a cost of just `10 lakh. CIAL is setting up helipads at the airport.

It will also provide parking facilities for 6-7 helicopters at the airport. We would also offer maintenance of the helicopters.

The government also should come forward if the project is to be successful. It should build helipads and subsidise operations so that the service will be affordable to the public and viable for the operators. The State will benefit from increased flow of tourists who could come by chartered flights and hop on to a helicopter to reach their destinations. The airport will benefit from the increase in chartered flight frequency and passenger travel.

Business jets are another area of interest. There were 260 movements of business jets from the airport last year. CIAL also hosted an exhibition of business jets last month. Though the response to the event was modest, we plan to make it an annual affair. It could take some years for such events to make a mark.

cover story

The right oil

The world turns to Kerala when it needs authentic and precise Ayurveda. Its power to heal several chronic diseases is well-documented. It is time the government and entrepreneurs got their act together and made a big business of it

Aby Abraham G K and A P Jayadevan

F

Mr Fares al Marry (left) and his brother-in-law Mr Mohamed al Marry at Bamboo Lagoon Ayurveda resort at Vyttila, Kochi. Mr Marry, who suffered a paralytic stroke two years ago, is on a 21-day treatment

ares al Marry, 48, a businessman in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, is in an unfamiliar land called Kerala, seeking relief from the after-effects of the paralytic stroke he suffered two years back. He had been to hospitals at home, but was not happy with the result.

Relaxing after a hospital-administered lunch at the scenic Bamboo Lagoon, an Ayurveda treatment centre of the Punarnava Ayurveda Hospital at Vyttila in Kochi, Mr Al Marry says he goes through the rigours of an unfamiliar treatment protocol—nasyam*, kizhi**, oil massage and oral intake of sour herbal medicines—with the hope that he would be able to return to his original self. A devoutly religious man, the minimal clothing he is made to wear during a full body massage makes him uneasy. “But there is difference,” he says. “I feel better now.”

Mr Al Marry is one of the thousands of people who visit Kerala seeking relief from debilitating medical conditions. From presidents to prime ministers to ordinary people, they all have heard of the ‘miracles’ the vaidyans at Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala or Vaidyaratnam Oushadhasala have been performing on people who have nearly lost all hope in life. They think Ayurveda is a magic potion that can cure them of their bodily ills, and flock to the land where its authentic version is practised. Most of the time they come after 35

trying out all other options.

“People come here seeking treatment for a number of diseases including arthritis, back bone problems, degenerative diseases, skin diseases, paralysis, mental tension and depression, allergic problems and children with developmental delay,” says Dr P Mohanan Warrier, Deputy Superintendent and Deputy Chief Physician of Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala. Kottakkal, by far the most visible face of Kerala Ayurveda, witnesses a huge influx of people from abroad also.

“About one-third of our inpatients are from abroad,” said Dr Warrier. And they come from far and wide: the Gulf countries, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and the United States. Dr A M Anvar, chairman and chief physician of Punarnava, said more than 450 people from abroad sought treatment in his hospital. While half of them come from the Middle Eastern countries, South Africans of Indian origin have become the latest votaries. “Last year there were 16 people from Slovenia taking treatment here,” he said.

Dr Polly Mathew, chairman and managing director of Somatheeram Ayurvedic Health Resort near Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, says the economic recession did not affect them. “All our patients are foreigners,” he says. “We are fully booked in the seasons.”

The rush to Ayurveda is because of a number of reasons. Until the advent of modern medicine in the 18th century and the rapid strides it made, indigenous medical systems took care of the health of human beings. Aided by the path-breaking discoveries in biological and physical sciences, modern medicine came out with formulae that cured illnesses fast. Suddenly, the new-born was accepted as the legitimate health keeper and all others were clubbed together as alternative medicine or herbal medicine.

But today, the world witnesses a tendency among people to look positively at these alternative systems, and make a return to it if it can effectively treat them.

With people increasingly becoming mindful of the virtues of alternative and herbal medicine, it is a boom 36

time for all indigenous systems. Very little side-effects, comprehensive but simple treatment methods, ability to offer cure for chronic diseases…there are many reasons why the world looks at these systems. And the rise of India as an economic power has kindled people’s interest in all that is Indian, including Ayurveda.

Kerala Ayurveda, which uses mostly medicines of herbal origin compared with the mineral-rich variety practised in north India, has its own advantages. Over time Kerala has developed its own treatment protocols and formulations, which are very effective and simple. Some of them are so Kerala-specific that they cannot be practised anywhere else. “For example, an elakkizhi uses fresh leaves,” says Dr Anvar. “Several such formulations demand fresh preparations which are next to impossible in a foreign land.

There are several protocols which are tied to the practices in Kerala, which one would not find anywhere else.”

The availability of highly-skilled and trained professionals and the active presence of traditional vaidyas who inherit sound knowledge of the system through generations have together contributed to the authenticity of Kerala’s Ayurveda. While the vaidyas ensured that the classical theories and formulations are alive, the launch of a graduate course (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery or BAMS) in 1982 ensured a steady supply of trained professionals who can bring in modern practices into the system. The professional degree also gave many young doctors the confidence to take Ayurveda practice,

Ayurveda has effective management systems for auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, neuro-muscular diseases, skin diseases such as psoriasis, life style diseases such as obesity, diabetes and infertility management

which until then was offered by vaidyas from their small clinics, to the next level. Ayurveda hospitals, thus, started coming into being. Today, Ayurveda hospitals dot the towns and even villages.

Kerala’s gifted climate, its geographical position on Western Ghats and lush greeneries and forests with medicinal plants are conducive for the successful practice of Ayurveda. Many hold the unique monsoon season the best to administer rejuvenation therapies. In fact, it comes as a package: the salubrious climatic conditions, unpolluted air, clean water, educated and friendly people, the slow pace of life... “Ayurveda is in perfect sync with the soft raaga of Kerala,” says Mr Jose Dominic, CEO of CGH Earth Hotels, whose Green Leaf-certified facilities offer authentic Ayurveda.

Kerala’s social and physical infrastructure have also helped Ayurveda gain popularity. The four international airports give the State unparalleled air connectivity while the extensive network of roads make even remote towns, suited for Ayurveda treatments, easily accessible.

U

nlike modern medicine, which treats diseases, Ayurveda is more of a way of life. It has formulations both for the healthy and the sick.

The triodsha theory, its basis, says a healthy body maintains a balance of three humours–vata, pitha and kapha.

When this balance is upset, it results in a medical condition. To restore this balance, Ayurveda employs two types of treatments: the pacification therapy or samana chikitsa which uses medicines; and the rejuvenative or purification therapy (sodhana chikitsa) which uses certain methods, including Panchakarma, to cleanse the body of the toxins and help it return to its normal state.

It is an irony that while Ayurveda physicians vouch for the efficacy of pacification therapy, it is the purification therapy employing massages and panchakarma which has made Ayurveda famous of late. Most doctors dismiss it as a temporary phenomenon and stand by the traditional and classical Ayurveda which treats patients

and bring them back to healthy life. Dr K Murali, professor at Government Ayurveda College, Thripunithura and son of the illustrious Ayurveda exponent Vaidyavibhooshanam K Raghavan Tirumulpad, is highly critical of the stress on purification therapy. “It is wrong to position Ayurveda as a rejuvenative treatment system. Its true strength lies in its ability to understand the human body and its functions, and the ways to ensure that it keeps the balance.”

“Samana Chikitsa needs precision,” says Dr M Prasad, chief physician at Sunethri Ay-

The global herbal and alternative medicinal systems are estimated to be a $100 billion industry, of which the Chinese systems command 85 per cent share. Ayurveda’s share is less than a per cent urveda Hospital, Thrissur. “It needs regular follow up as well.

When patients are just visitors, doctors tend to opt for easier options. At many places, it is ‘order and get”.

Ayurveda has effective management systems for several diseases for which modern medicine has very little to offer. They include auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, neuro-muscular diseases, skin diseases such as psoriasis, life style diseases such as obesity, diabetes and infertility management. “For certain diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, a total cure is not possible but a patient who adheres by the conditions can live a normal, zero-symptom life,” said Dr

Shaji Varghese Pattarumadom, who runs the Pattarumadom Ayurvedic hospital at Nedumbasserry, Kochi. A sixth generation Ayurveda practitioner, he treats patients who come from several foreign countries.

Most practitioners oppose the use of Ayurveda as a bait to attract tourists. They demand that the government promote Ayurveda which will attract patients, not tourists, to Kerala. “It is another thing if they enjoy Kerala’s scenic beauty,” says Dr Varghese. “Instead of using Ayurveda to promote tourism, the government must promote Ayurveda which will surely encourage tourism.

Otherwise, it will destroy the image of this precious science.”

Echoes Dr Prasad of Sunetri: “The government should focus on promoting the medical potential of Ayurveda and stop exploiting it as a tourism icon.”

The potential Most physicians and entrepreneurs are confident that Ayurveda has great potential, but Kerala, and India, are yet to optimise it.

The global herbal and alternative medicinal systems are estimated to be a $100 billion industry, of which the Chinese systems command 85 per cent share. Ayurveda’s share is less than a per cent. Indian Ayurveda industry is about `4,000 crore. “Kerala has about 1200 companies offering Ayurveda products and services,” says Dr Joy Varghese, CEO of CAReKeralam, a consortium of Ayurveda product manufacturers.

Their total revenue is less than `500 crore. “Considering Kerala’s rich heritage in Ayurveda and the presence of 200 GMPcertified manufacturers, this low figure is far from satisfactory. At the same time, it points at the big opportunity that lies

Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala played a key role in propagating the message of Ayurveda across the world. In Pic: the Research and Development Centre

Ayurveda Mana, the house of the late Poomullay Neelakandan Nampoothirippad in Palakkad, has become a favourite destination for those who seek serious Ayurveda

At Kalari Kovilakam, the visitors get a chance to get a taste of Kerala traditions and cuisine 37

Yoga is an essential part of the packages offered to patients ahead of us.”

Lack of standardisation of products is one major issue hindering the acceptance and growth of Ayurveda, especially in foreign countries. “Unlike modern medicine in which companies and government pump in money for research, Ayurveda research gets little encouragement,” said Dr Varghese of CARe-Keralam. Though most of the medicines are prepared as per the classical texts, they being made of herbs, show minor variation in properties.

This is unacceptable to the world which is so particular about standards.

“Worse, we often don’t have basic literature about even well-known classical formulations though they have proven their efficacy through generations.” CARe-Keralam has started working on the documentation process. “We are planning to get the documentation of at least 10 formulations ready in two years,” Dr Varghese said.

“There is an overcrowding of unqualified people in the field of Ayurveda today,” said Dr Varghese of Pattarumadom. “If immediate measures are not taken to control such fake set-ups, the patients who come in search of genuine Ayurveda will get cheated and carry back a wrong message. This is especially so because Ayurveda is not very strong in standardisation and scientific data.” That Sri Lanka attracts more patients for Ayurveda treatment than Kerala must open our eyes towards better planning.

The involvement of the Department of Tourism has helped bring 38

“Kerala has about 1200 companies offering Ayurveda products and services,” says Dr Joy Varghese, CEO of CARe-Keralam, a consortium of Ayurveda product manufacturers.

“Their total revenue is less than `500 crore”

in some discipline on this front. Its Green and Olive Leaf certifications help patients have a basic criterion for choosing a hospital. There are only about 100 institutions in the State with the certification, which shows the lack of keenness. The NABH, which works at the national level for accreditation, finds the response from Kerala very poor.

True, Ayurveda has been the health keeper of India for over 4000 years, but the world outside knows very little about its curative prowess.

Said Mr K A Aboobaker, who has been a medical tourism consultant for the last 15 years, “When I talk about Ayurveda at tourism fairs, people ask how is it that they have not heard of Ayurveda, if it is so powerful and effective. I don’t have an answer.” He says India should emulate the Chinese who are on a focused marketing of their medicinal systems and products.

Dr Saji Kumar, who heads the health tourism panel of CII-Kerala, concurs. “We must launch a focused marketing program which highlights the curative power of Ayurveda,” he said. CII last year organised a national meet on Ayurveda. “We are planning a large scale event this year through which we hope to make the message of Ayurveda heard louder and farther.”

Traditional Ayurveda treatments such as navara kizhi is found to be very effective in the treatment of neurological disorders

Mr Ratan Tata inaugurates the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine in Bengaluru. Also seen are Mr Sam Pitroda (left) and Mr Darshan Shankar, vice-chairman of IAIM (extreme right)

When Tatas and Birlas turn to Ayurveda…

Big corporates and serial entrepreneurs vouch for the future of the business

“W

hat is good for General Motors is good for America,” goes the US adage. India may not have got a perfect analogy, but if one were to assume that what is good for the Tatas and the Birlas is good for India, too, then hold the breath: the big Indian corporates are investing in Ayurveda. And serial entrepreneurs such as Mr Ramesh Vangal, who bought Kerala Ayurveda Limited, are reaffirming their faith in the future of Kerala Ayurveda.

One of the biggest endorsements for Ayurveda came recently from Mr Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Sons. Inaugurating the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (IAIM) which the Tata group has set up in association with the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FLRHT) in Bangalore, he said the fusion of Ayurvedic medicine with its strong tradition and modern medicine with its scientific approach would help break boundaries of medical treatment in India.

“There is a general perception that traditional medicine is witch doctor’s medicine and there are several questions on how it works and even whether it works,” he said. “But in India, Ayurvedic medicine has had a very rich tradition which most of us are unaware of.”

Designed by FRLHT on the lines of Indian Institutes of Management and Indian Institutes of Science, the IAIM will act as India’s premier finishing school for qualified Ayurvedic doctors, post-graduates, physiotherapists and Yoga experts.

The institute offers highly-spe-

cialised, short-term and long-term courses to help the students practice in accordance with the demands of modern healthcare delivery systems, besides advanced research and postdoctoral programmes, according to the Tata group.

The Tata Group’s Sir Dorabji Tata Trust invested `34 crore for setting up the IAIM and a 100-bed Ayurveda and Yoga hospital at Yelahanka. The rest of the `64 crore project came from Department of Science and Technology, government of India.

The Sir Dorabji Trust has also offered a `15-crore assistance to the Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala for undertaking drug research based on medicinal plants.

In 2009, Yash Birla group had acquired a majority stake in Kerala Vaidyashala the ayurvedic therapy centre chain, with more than 30 centres, through a joint venture and renamed it Birla Kerala Vaidyashala (BKY). The group recently acquired another 48 per cent in the joint venture, taking its share to 99 per cent.

The company has already announced

Serial entrepreneur Mr Ramesh Vangal, who bought Aluva-based Kerala Ayurveda Ltd, says he believes in the Kerala traditions of Ayurveda. “We are working on interesting research projects and will come out with the results soon”

its plan to open about 200 therapy centres across the country in the next five years. It is understood that BKY is in talks with a Hyderabad-based group which runs Ayurveda clinics at different parts of the country to buy controlling stake.

Mr Vangal, former head of PepsiCo India, bought Aluva-based Kerala Ayurveda Ltd (KAL) in 2007. “I believe in the Kerala traditions of Ayurveda,” Mr Vangal told UPDATE. “We are working on interesting research projects and will come out with the results soon.”

Ayurvaid Hospitals, promoted

by Kochi-based Kerala First Health Services, received an equity investment of `4.5 crore from the USbased Acumen Fund in 2010.

According to Ranjit Puranik, general secretary of Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturers Association and chief executive of Ayurvedic firm Shri Dhoopeshwar, “When serial entrepreneurs, trusts and corporate houses begin to invest in a sector, it shows the future potential. Such investments are helpful in mainstreaming and integrating Ayurveda to the global healthcare practices and standards.”

Mr Sam Pitroda, who foresaw the communication revolution in India, is another votary of Ayurveda.

Commenting on the ways to achieve health for all, he said the western ways of healthcare delivery will not work in India. “That model is not scalable or sustainable in the long run. So we have to find new ways of health delivery; that is where the traditional Indian model comes in.”

39

Dr Polly Mathew (extreme left) of Somatheeram receives the best Ayurveda resort award from Speaker of the Lok Sabha Ms Meira Kumar “Patients from all over the world come to India for allopathic treatments,” said Mr Aboobaker. The charges are very low compared to that in western countries, especially for major surgical procedures like cardiac surgery, cosmetic surgery and dentistry. Kerala’s well trained professional and well equipped, high standard hospitals attract a number of tourists who need medical care. “An integrated approach in health care will boost the image of Kerala as a complete medical tourism destination,” he said.

It is important that entrepreneurs who eye Ayurveda as a promising sector take the standardisation route.

“If you cannot give Ayurveda in the proper way, you should not do it,” says Mr Dominic of CGH Earth. “And quality pays. Visitors to Kalari Kovilakom, our exclusive facility for Ayurveda treatment, stay for period varying from 14 to 21 days, and that is a lot more than the ordinary tourists.” The average revenue from a couple is `6 lakh per visit, which is a lot more than that from other facilities, he pointed out. “And 75 per cent of those who have come here for wellness treatment come back for the sheer experience of it.” “We should follow ethical practices to ensure that we sustain the growth,” said Dr Anvar. “We cannot offer treatment just because the

“Ayurveda to Kerala is like oil to Arabia,” said Dr Anvar. “It can boost our economy like no other sector, if nursed properly”

40

patients have landed here. I recently refused to treat a couple from the Gulf because they were unwilling to stay the course of the treatment. They wanted instant Ayurveda,” he said.

Apart from Bamboo Lagoon which had a soft launch recently, Punarnava is setting up a 300-bed referral hospital in Kochi.

Mr K Sreekumar, a consultant for the Ayurveda industry, says professional attitude towards the sector is a must if one were to make good progress. “They should be willing to introduce modern management practices in every sphere of activity, instead of following the usual shy, timid approach,” he said. The youth are willing to try Ayurveda a lot more now than before.

“But we must be imaginative enough to satisfy them. When kashayams were made in tablet form, there was a big hue and cry, but it has proved itself to be a sustainable model.” Institutions must rope in good professional to manage the facili-

“Quality pays,” says Mr Jose Dominic of CGH Earth. “The average revenue from a couple is `6 lakh per visit to Kalari Kovilakom, our exclusive facility for Ayurveda treatment. This is a lot more than that from other facilities” ties, instead of running everything by themselves. “We are yet to create big entrepreneurs in Ayurveda,” he said.

The industry grows at least 20 per cent a year, and it is open for any one to grab a share, Mr Sreekumar, who was instrumental in setting up the distribution network of Vaidyaratnam Oushadhasala, said.

The department of AYUSH of the government of India has several projects to support initiatives in the Ayurveda field. “We would get a lot of funds if the State government sets up a separate AYUSH department, instead of keeping it part of the health department,” Mr Sreekumar said.

Ayurveda has had a spontaneous growth in Kerala, powered by the unorganised but collective effort of the practitioners of the true science. With a meticulous plan, Kerala can be the symbol of authentic Ayurveda.

“Ayurveda to Kerala is like oil to Arabia,” said Dr Anvar. “It can boost our economy like no other sector, if nursed properly.”

Medicinal plant cultivation

T

he development of Ayurveda depends on the ability to make medicinal herbs available. Most manufacturers face problem in sourcing the required material in the required quality. “It has to be taken up on a commercial basis,” said Dr Sajikumar of CII. “With the industry on an upswing, the farmers need not worry about market or prices.”

The Central government has set up the National Medicinal Pant Board (NMPB) exclusively for promoting medicinal plant cultivation.

It operates through State government agencies and offers help in every segment of the process from identification of herbs to the supply of seedlings, cropping patterns, processing and marketing. It also has financial incentives for herb cultivation.

Details of various schemes are available at www.nmpb.nic.in

Mini power projects

Small is powerful Small hydel projects account for 5 per cent of Kerala’s power generation and lights up several remote villages

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Kuruvilla Chacko

all it the perfect paradox: Idukki district accounts for one third of the total electricity production in Kerala but several of its remote villages first accessed power not from the numerous electricity lines crisscrossing the district but from the small waterfalls dotting the region.

And when the power lines from the State electricity board reached many of them, they chose to retain their first source and use them alternately.

Mankulam is one such village

where about 80-odd families got electricity through a micro-power project, set in a nearby water fall. They had no other option: though the Idukki hydel project, hardly 25 km away, was commissioned in the seventies, power never reached them. The villagers, supported by a local mechanic, set up a mini hydel plant in 1998 by harnessing the waterfall. The intended power capacity was just 40KW. But, back then, the intention was to just light their own bulb. And that they did achieve.

The project with a water head

of just 150 feet uses two 20KW domestic motors which work in reverse mode as generators with two 2000 litre tanks acting as storage tanks. PVC pipes carry water from these tanks to the motor, fixed 300 metres away. The power generated is sufficient to satisfy the basic requirements of 80 homes.

By employing self-designed tanks and pipes and setting up an indigenous distribution network in a familiar terrain, villagers here have turned hydel engineers themselves.

The project, though not high on safety or quality of electricity pro-

They may look very primitive, but the small power projects with a water holding area and a motor which works on the reverse mode help reach electricity to remote areas

41

duced, then cost just `2.5 lakh. It was made possible with contributions from the villagers themselves, most of whom are farmers or planters. Today, they pay a monthly maintenance fee of `50 and enjoy clean electricity, though they do not have the luxury of utilising unlimited energy for their needs.

Says Mr M Glito, 36, operator at the plant: “There are around 10 families who continue to depend solely on this project, while others use it at times as they have got regular connections. Of course there are restrictions on the use as the project has only limited generating capacity. But for this project, one more generation would have gone without electricity.�

Small is powerful For several villages in Idukki and Pathanamthitta, waterfalls are not just nature’s beauty spots. They have been their source of power, for more than 42

The 3MW project at Iruttukanam-the weir and water holding area and the generating room

a decade.

Small hydro power projects, which generate less than 25MW, are miniaturised versions of the larger ones with similar, though small, constitu-

Projects up to 1 MW get subsidies up to `1 crore from the government of India, and `20 lakh for every additional MW. It also reimburses the cost for preparing the detailed project report

ents: a weir (small overflow dam), narrow penstocks, generators and a small catchment area. Mini hydro projects, generating less than 1MW and micro hydro projects generating less than 100 KW also belong to the group.

The State government has been involved in setting up such projects from the last decade itself, mainly for industrial or community lighting purposes. The first projects in both government and private sectors in Kerala came up in 1994: the project in Peyapra in Thiruvananthapuram and the 12MW captive power project at Maniyar in Pathanamthitta by Carborundum Universal, respectively.

Today the State has more than 20 such projects, generating 136 MW of

power, which is close to 5 per cent of its total generation.

Small power projects can be undertaken as private, captive or community power development schemes.

Projects up to 1 MW get subsidies up to `1 crore from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) of the government of India, and `20 lakh for every additional MW. The MNRE also reimburses the cost for preparing the detailed project report.

Constructed close to the point of distribution, small hydel power projects are ideal to light up a community by providing electricity at cheap rates. Water can be tapped directly from the river or by constructing a weir. With smaller catchment required, such projects obviates human displacement. Their distribution losses are also minimum as the sites are usually close to areas of consumption.

Their significance and ease of construction and maintenance have several countries such as the US, China and Japan adopting them in a big way. In some countries, multiple small projects are replacing single huge ones.

At present, small hydro accounts for around 10 per cent (65GW) of electricity generated in China while in India, it is around 1.5 per cent (2GW).

Hydel projects score over other available renewable energy sources like solar and wind on two counts: intial cost and land requirement. While small hydel projects cost `9 crore per MW,

it is `16-18 crore per MW for solar power projects. As for wind power, they require huge tracts of land and favourable wind conditions to become viable.

Mr G Anil, who heads the small hydro division at Energy Management Centre, a government body monitoring energy requirement of the State, feels such projects need to come up more if the State hopes to bridge its power deficiency. The State at present has an installed capacity to generate 2800 MW against a peak demand of 3500MW. Mr P D Nair, managing director of Viyyat Power Pvt Ltd, a Thiruvananthapuram-based consultancy on small hydel projects, said small projects with small reservoirs are apt for high range rural areas. Mr Nair, who has worked with BHEL on small hydel projects in Himachal Pradesh as well as the North Eastern parts of the country, backed such projects since “no one should be denied the privileges electricity brings�. He has set up a 3 MW mini hydel project at Iruttukanam in Adimali and sells power to KSEB. Operational since last November, the project runs at a load factor of around 40 per cent and he expects to recover his investment within 6 years.

What prevents private investors from setting up small hydel plants across the State is the uncertainty about the availability of water throughout the year. Most waterfalls and streams go near-dry for 3-4

months, hampering year-long operations. This, coupled with the high cost of land as well as lack of incentives, acts as a deterrent. Himachal Pradesh, which has several successful small hydro plants, has the luxury of mountain glaciers feeding its rivers throughout the year.

Recognising this fact, the Kerala government conducted a survey to identify potential sites under the Total Energy Security Mission (TESM).

ANERT, which conducted the survey, has identified some 700 sites in Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kannur, Wayanad and Nilambur regions.

Tenders have already been invited for construction of projects in Kannur. It is estimated Kerala can produce 500 MW of power through small hydro projects alone.

The high initial cost is another deterrent. A small hydro project costs anywhere between `7-9 crore per MW, whereas it is only `5-6 crore for large ones. The small hydro, however, provides quick returns, depending on plant load factor and land availability.

Many of the small and micro hydel projects in the State are of the people, for the people and run by the people. They have brought light, and with it progress, to neglected regions.

Though the quality of power is debatable, better and concerted initiatives could bring in a sea change.

A change for the better, both in the quality of power, and of the lives of its consumers.

With a potential to produce 500 MW of power in the State, small hydro is the way forward, says Mr G Anil of the Energy Management Centre

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CSR

Being Human

“Am

I my brother’s keeper?” The question has not yet been answered comprehensively. The weak has always had to suffer when societies believed in the doctrine of ‘survival of the fittest’. Business houses often ignored the question, presuming that they knew the answer well.

But it looks like there has been a rethinking. From Warren Buffet, the high priest of Wall Street to Bill Gates, the most successful entrepreneur of our times, business leaders the world over have openly come out pledging a share of their wealth to help the less privileged.

Examples are there in our midst, too, though with varying magnitude. Several companies are earmarking a share of their profits for CSR initiatives. We found that most companies in Kerala are actively involved in two segments about which Kerala has always been concerned most—education and healthcare. So much so, that a meritorious student can always find a benevolent hand to support her through her studies.

People who suffer from debilitating diseases, especially those who are born with them, also can find succour.

We don’t argue that corporates are doing all that is expected of them. However, they do some, which makes a difference to the lives of some people. And that is laudable.

From this issue, UPDATE will feature such initiatives. We welcome our readers and companies to share with us such stories.

Mail us at csr@economic-update.in

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When care is credited Banks offer a helping hand to the less privileged

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Kuruvilla Chacko

anking is not just about deposits, advances, loans, interest rates and attachment notices. It is also about having a large heart and helping hands. The big banks in the State are taking steps to identify the lesser privileged members of society and help them successfully face life’s challenges.

State Bank of Travancore, the State’s largest bank, and an affiliate of SBI, the country’s largest bank, has an active CSR policy with a primary interest in health and education of the girl child. Moreover, it has designed novel ideas such as the creation of branch-based voluntary social circles to implement its CSR initiatives.

SBT has kept aside a major portion of their CSR funds for the edu-

Each branch and administrative office of SBT has a voluntary unit called Social Circle comprising the staff. They raise half the fund for CSR schemes, while the bank meets the other half. (in pic): A girl receives her scholarship. cation sector. The bank distributes school essentials like uniforms, books, bags, umbrellas and stationery items to students. It also funds creating infrastructure such as water supply schemes, computer labs and furniture for schools.

The bank provides equipment to differently-abled children which help their overall development and supports the education of HIV-affected and mentally-challenged children in many ways, including distributing study materials.

But what takes the cake is the bank's initiative to adopt children, mostly differently-abled ones, and see them through their education. Started in 2008, the programme envisages assisting bright girls from poor families aged between 6 and 14. Each child gets up to `5,000 a year till she completes schooling. The bank has till now adopted 11 such children across the State.

The Angamally branch took CSR to an altogether new high when it sponsored a one-hour flight for differently-abled children in association

with CIAL, Nedumbassery, recently.

The SBT Social Circles It would come as a surprise to many that the manpower and a part of finance for most of these initiatives are provided for by the employees. An official in the Planning Division of the bank says, “Each branch and administrative office has a voluntary organisation called Social Circle comprising the staff, which coordinates most CSR activities.” The members of the Social Circles meet 50 per cent of the funding required for the programmes, while the bank funds the other half. The bank has 576 Social Circles spread all over India.

“Members of the Social Circles invest their time also for the programmes,” said the official. “It is with their help that the bank conducts medical camps and provides essentials, food, medicines and other necessities to poor patients in hospitals and primary health centres.”

Dhanlaxmi Bank: Ms M Manju, 24, currently pursuing her MBA from the John Mathai Centre of University of Calicut in Thrissur, is grateful to Thrissur-based Dhanlaxmi Bank for helping her with

a scholarship to pursue her dreams.

“The scholarship of `50,000 takes care of the major part of my expenditure,” she said. The bank also offered her an opportunity to work as an intern. “I feel more confident about my future now,” she said.

Ms Manju is one of the several beneficiaries of the Dhanlaxmi Bank Scholarship programme, implemented to support management students from financially backward sections of society.

The scheme, implemented in association with the Thrissur Management Association, offers students a chance to do a project with the bank and, based on their performance, a pre-placement posting. The bank, however, does not limit itself to the education sector. It has shown that its heart is in the right place. Literally.

The bank recently constructed a first-of-its-kind Walkers Park in Thrissur with the intention of encouraging the town’s citizens to walk toward a healthy lifestyle.

They have also conducted eye camps and free health check ups for the auto rickshaw drivers in Thrissur. Around 600 drivers attended the camp and were given spectacles at a discount. Furthermore, the bank was also instrumental in launching an ambulance service which conducts routine blood pressure check-up camps and offers free consultation for the residents of Thrissur.

The Federal way of it

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ne of the fastest growing private sector banks in the country, Federal Bank has made its presence felt on the CSR front as well. The Bank has set up the Federal Bank Hormis Foundation Trust, named after its founder, to take up CSR projects.

Like most other institutions in Kerala, Federal Bank is also ready to help out the deserving students. It has a scholarship programme for graduate level of study, offering an amount equal to their tuition fees.

The bank selects 25 students pursuing studies in the streams of engineering, medical, management, agriculture or nursing purely on merit and financial requirements. The maximum that a student gets is `50,000.

The Federal Bank constructed Snehabhavan, a day care centre for Alzheimer’s patients, which is managed by the Alwaye Rotary Club.

The bank also helps build infrastructure for government hospitals. It also donated a computer centre at the SOS village in Choondi near Perumbavoor.

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Manufacturing

The titanium sponge plant at KMML, Chavara.

The titanium card The titanium sponge plant catapults India into the elite club that produces the ‘metal of the future’. India’s space programme no more needs to fear an international ban

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Aby Abraham G K

t was rather a small step for the public sector Kerala Metals and Minerals Ltd (KMML), but a giant leap for mineral-rich Kerala.

With the recent commissioning of the titanium sponge plant (TSP) of KMML at Chavara in Kollam district, the State has taken a big step towards making highly value-added and precious products from the mineral sands deposited across the State’s coast. It also meant catapulting India into the elite club of nations which make titanium metal, thereby ensuring supply of this element critical to the country’s aerospace and defence programmes.

The TSP makes titanium sponge, or 99.9 per cent titanium metal, from ilmenite, its ore found in the mineral 46

sands on the Kerala coast. And the unit was the product of a brilliant collaboration of several firms working towards a common goal: the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) under Defence Research and Development Organisation developed the technology; KMML makes the product; the Hyderabadbased Mishra Dhatu Nigam makes alloys of titanium and the Vikram

KMML is perfecting a process to make titanium less expensively.

Once successful, it will result in titanium being used in a host of new applications

Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, makes use of them in its programmes.

The plant has an annual capacity of 500 tonnes, and can be expanded to 1,000 tonnes. VSSC, which is the sole customer now, footed the entire bill of `140 crore for the plant.

The plant will operate at 30 per cent capacity in the first year till a team of people from VSSC, DRML and KMML stabilises and streamlines the manufacturing process, introduced for the first time in the country. The plant will reach 70 per cent capacity in the second year and full capacity in the third.

The process Titanium is extracted from the minerals – rutile and ilmenite. Though abundantly available – titanium is the

ninth-most abundant element on the earth’s crust – recovering the metal from the ore is a complex and expensive process. Only six nations – the US, Russia, China, Japan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine – had the process technology until now.

The Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, which developed the technology, established a pilot plant in 2004 and later picked KMML, the first fully integrated titanium dioxide pigment plant in the world, and a regular supplier to DMRL, for its commercial production.

Ilmenite, found in the mineral rich sands of Kollam and Alappuzha coast, contains 50-56 per cent titanium dioxide. The ilmenite is processed to get beneficiated ilmenite with 95 per cent titanium dioxide from which titanium tetrachloride is produced. Titanium tetrachloride is purified and then reduced with magnesium which yields titanium lumps. It is then cut into pieces of 2-2.5 mm size to produce titanium sponge, which contains 99.9 per cent titanium. It is estimated that four tonnes of titanium tetrachloride yields one tonne of titanium sponge.

KMML, with an annual capacity of one lakh tonne of titanium ISRO’s PSLV launch. Titanium is a critical element in the alloys used for making rockets.

The VSSC, which is the sole customer now, footed the entire bill of `140 crore for the plant tetrachloride, uses only 2 per cent of it to produce 500 tonnes of titanium sponge. “The new plant is not of much economic significance to the company,” said sources. “It will have economic significance only if it produces at least 10,000 tonnes.” It will happen when operations stabilise and the demand for the product picks up, they said.

Today, the global production of titanium is around 1,50,000 tonnes.

Titanium costs around $10 per kg at present, and the high price precludes many of its uses in day to day applications. The high cost of reducing agents like magnesium makes the process expensive. The team at KMML, which includes scientists from DMRL and ISRO, is perfecting a process to recover magnesium from magnesium chloride- a by product obtained during the production of titanium sponge. The process will bring about considerable cost reduction and better profitability for the new unit. It will also result in

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the price of the metal coming down, so that it can be used in a host of new applications.

Strategic significance Titanium is one of the critical raw materials used to make the alloys with which rockets are made. There have been doubts world over about the quality of titanium available in the market. It has been reported that doubts about the quality of titanium used for the making of the rockets had NASA almost grounding its $2.3 billion Mars mission.

ISRO has a requirement of 350 tonnes of titanium sponge annually and will buy the entire production in the initial phase. KMML can sell the surplus product, if any, in the open market after meeting the requirements of ISRO. An indigenous source of titanium sponge ensures supply of the material so critical to ISRO's programmes. It may be remembered that the space agency found it difficult to source many strategic materials in the wake of the international ban on it after the nuclear tests in 1998. A disruption in the supply of titanium sponge could cripple India’s space and defence projects.

The titanium age

itanium, as strong as steel but weighing only half, is often called the metal of the future. It also has high resistance to corrosion, fatigue and crack and the ability to withstand moderately high temperatures. Titanium is alloyed with other metals such as iron, aluminium, vanadium and molybdenum to make strong lightweight alloys. Its unique properties make titanium sought after in many fields, the major use being in the strategic aerospace industry. Titanium is used in a wide variety of industries such as aerospace, defence, medicine, automobile, chemical, agriculture and jewellery. Most of the metal produced today is being used in the manufacture of aircraft engines and frames. Components made from

titanium such as pipes, valves and vessels are used in chemical and petrochemical industries, thanks to its corrosion resistance. They are also used in heat exchangers and medical devices. The metal is also bio-compatible – it doesn’t react with the human body – and hence is used to make medical implants.

Titanium also has applications in the automobile industry, especially for vehicles used in racing.

About 95 per cent of the titanium produced in the world is used to make titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide is a chemically inert pigment that has a high refractive index. It is used in paint, paper, toothpaste and plastic and also in sunscreen lotions to protect the skin.

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TECHNOLOGY

An App a Day Mobile applications are not just all play and no work. They also help run businesses

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Kuruvilla Chacko

he PC is the tablet, all these digital devices are going to work together. You’re going to see PCs where you are saying ‘is that a tablet? Is that a phone?’ The words are going to change because the innovation is so rapid.

Bill Gates, on the future of PC From mobile phone to smart phone.

From being a simple calling device to a virtual computer, a one-stop in-

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Market research consultant Gartner predicts 18 billion apps will be downloaded in 2011 alone, more than double the 8 billion downloaded in 2010

fotainment and enterprise management destination. That was one of the smoothest but revolutionary transitions tech world would have ever witnessed.

So what made this transformation possible? The answer is a 15-billion dollar industry that grows at a tremendous pace: Apps, or software applications. From its humble origins that improved the functionality of

mobile phones such as an alarm clock or calculator, they have grown many fold in the last couple of years. Today they help professionals on the move coordinate activities in their offices, executives keep a 24x7 tab on their health thanks to constant real time ECG updates and people from different continents pit against each other in a test of speed and strength in various mobile games. They provide users faster 24/7 access to the World Wide Web, apart from offering applications in a mobile format for games, utilities, social networking, health, news, travel and office productivity purposes.

They have created a whole new world of endless imagination within the reach of the common man.

They, in fact, define the class to which a phone belongs: smart or otherwise.

Market analysts credit the boom in the smart phone industry to the launch of the iPhone in 2007 and the subsequent success of the App Store in 2008.

A for App Mobile applications or “Apps” in short are software products built for various platforms like iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile. Mr. Mohan Kannan, CEO of Mint Business Solutions in Infopark, Kochi, feels that the reason for their popularity is singular: “Apps keep things simple, at the same time provide something for everybody.”

His words are echoed in the thousands of available apps which suit a variety of purposes. Currently the Apple iStore is the most popular app centre with more than 500,000 apps in its collection, most of them free, and 10 billion app downloads since its launch. Market research consultant Gartner predicts 18 billion apps to be downloaded in 2011 alone, more than double the 8 billion downloaded in 2010.

Apps are either in-built or can be downloaded directly to the phone at a nominal price. While apps in the social networking domain such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, games and GPS-based apps are popular, there is an entire basket of apps out there which can actually help run businesses and make life a lot easier.

Consider for example the GPS based ‘TUK TUK Meter’ app developed by MindHelix Technologies, a Kochi based start-up. It calculates the auto fare in a city based on prefed data. The GPS traces the distance travelled and does the calculation.

Apps have changed how news and content reach its readers. Media houses no more think about the print version; they design newer formats to reach out, and smart phones and tablet PCs have become the medium of the media, thanks to the new apps.

Print media majors like the Times of India and Malayala Manorama have their own app version fit for all operating platforms. This is targeted at people wanting to be constantly updated. In fact, the TOI app released a few months ago was one of the most downloaded apps amongst Indians in the US then.

Mobile phone apps have also lead to a new vertical for the gaming industry. The industry which had very little presence in mobile gaming till a couple of years back suddenly has its hands full with the advent of apps. In fact, a list of the top 10 most downloaded apps released by Apple recently included eight gaming apps. Angry Bird, a popular game even in India, has over 50 million downloads to its credit worldwide while Texas Hold ‘em, a poker game, has over 500,000 downloads. Indeed, certain smart

The GPS-based ‘TUK TUK Meter’ app, developed by MindHelix Technologies, a Kochi based start-up, calculates the auto fare in a city based on pre-fed data

phones today harp on their gaming software capability over other applications to drive sales.

The new manager The utility of an app though, is more than just pure entertainment. Mr Kannan of Mint Business Solutions said apps provide small companies an opportunity to update and maintain web applications without the need to install software on thousands of client computers, thereby improving efficiency.

Mr Praveen Raj, Business Development Manager at Q Burst, a technology consulting company at Techno Park, Thiruvananthapuram, said apps are beneficial but need to be applied prudently. “Each industry has a range of apps suited to it,” he said. “Organisations must make a careful selection for hassle-free operation.” The business areas where mobile apps are most useful include banks and financial institutions, insurance, logistics, public administration, publishing and media, manufacturing and utilities. Mobile banking applications and mobile trading applications have gained popularity among customers who use it to do transactions without being bound to a PC or an office.

According to Mr Raj, there are many mobile enterprise applications that let employees of a company have instant access to the business-critical information and applications they need, whether they’re in the office or in the field. This enables real-time tracking, dynamic inventory management and improved customer service, resulting in stronger relationships with customers and better market share.

Q Burst uses a variety of self-developed and downloaded apps for its daily activities. One such indigenous app called the “Time Tracker” allows the employees of the company to enter their time effort against their project task for a day. The Mobile Time application is as easy to use as it is convenient. The employees can access their timesheets anywhere to submit, approve/reject, view, record or update them. Its usage is very easy with simple installation and navigation and no 49

Make your pick Mobile applications for everyday use NGPay: a mall on mobile. Allows you to shop, book travel & movie tickets, send gifts, bank and more from your mobile phone Flip-me: Geojit BNP Paribas’ mobile banking application which allows customers to trade in shares through the mobile PayPal: Send money to your friends, manage your account and do more with the PayPal app. It’s free, secure and more convenient than going to the bank, writing checks, or sending gifts the old way.

Instant Heart Rate: An iPhone app that uses its camera to detect pulse on the user’s fingertip; thereby providing users with their own pulse oximeter. The app also measures the corresponding heart rate and gives real time PPG (ECG-like graph) MotionX GPS: A premium location app, MotionX GPS, optimised for the iPhone 3GS comes with accelerometric-assisted GPS for improved accuracy. It indicates and tracks the user’s position wherever they go; not just on street maps, but also topographic and satellite maps.

The software is very much popular among runners, hikers, skiers and boaters (over 1.5 million downloads so far).

Foursquare: An app that provides you instant info of your near and dear ones in the same area as you are. msnbc.com - With the award winning journalism coverage of NBC, this app presents compelling, diverse and engaging articles and videos for your smartphone, with instant updates and notifications.

Dropbox: Allows you to synchronise your PC and iPad with your iPhone, the drop box app is vital to ensure you remain mobile while you go about with businesses on the move.

Social apps: The popular social networking sites Facebook and Twitter rule the roost when it comes to mobile phone apps as well. eBay Mobile: Lets you shop till you drop, all at the click of a finger on your mobile screen.

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Mr Mohan Kannan of Mint Business Solutions has apps on his smart phone that provide remote access to his laptop, and help him run the business while on the move syncing is required to switch between companies deploy mobile applications the desktop and mobile solution. in a short time at a reasonable cost, Mr Mohan relies on an app called on existing infrastructure, the recent ‘Dropbox’, which helps him synchro- security breaches of Sony Playstation nise the files on his Mac and iPad and Amazon websites are indications with his iPhone. The application of the vulnerability of online software ensures that any changes made on a and cloud computing applications. file in any one of Mr Raj said enthese devices is reterprises wishing to flected in the others, ‘Dropbox’ helps a user deploy mobile soluthereby providing synchronise the files tions to the workreal time informaforce should start on Mac and iPad tion for running his with a strategic plan with iPhone business, when he that focuses on what is out of office. He the users need. With says, “People involved in logistics and an idea of the kind of infrastructure the marketing sector in Kerala own a already in place and the future prossmart phone and use various apps. But pects of business needs, companies they are still unaware of certain apps can focus on the overall security of the like ‘Dropbox’ which can help them solution starting from the initial phasrun their businesses from anywhere, es. After all, in highly regulated indusanytime.” tries like financial services, healthcare Ignorance may be holding back and retail, priority lies in safeguarding the sector from growing significantly corporate data assets and complying in the State, but there is also the prob- with existing and future regulations. lem of providing foolproof security Once a proper security system is in and user privacy. Being an evolving place, mobile apps can only be advantechnology, Mr Raj, said, “mobile so- tageous to the user, he adds. lutions can gain acceptance only once With the possibility of cutting fears about complexity, deployment costs and improving efficiency, mobile costs and security are addressed.” apps have a lot more to offer busiEven though forward-thinking nesses worldwide in the coming years.

51

Mutual Funds

For mutual benefit Want professionals to manage your stock market investments, even if they are small? Buy mutual funds

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mutual fund is a trust that pools money from a large number of people and invests them in different asset classes such as equity, debt and gold. The investment objective of the fund and the asset class in which it proposes to invest in will be specified at the time of launch of the fund, also called the New Fund Offer (NFO).

Investors can buy units of the fund during the NFO or later. A fund manager—a professional who specialises in the job—will manage the money so collected.

Once the NFO closes, the fund manager decides on the securities to invest in and the amount to be invested in each of them, in accordance with the investment objective of the fund. A well diversified portfolio of securities, reduces the risk to the investors of the fund.

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The total fund value divided by the number of units gives the net asset value (NAV) of each unit in the fund. The investment gets returns in the form of dividend, interest or capital appreciation of the assets held.

This leads to an increase in the total fund value and correspondingly the NAV increases. The fund will calculate and publish the NAV on a daily basis.

Mutual fund schemes are broadly divided into open ended and closed

ended schemes based on their structure. Open ended funds have no restrictions on the number of units that can be issued. Investors who want to buy units of the scheme can buy it at the NAV. Investors wanting to withdraw money from the funds can also sell it back to the mutual fund house at this NAV. Most of the mutual fund schemes in the market are open ended.

Closed ended schemes usually issue only a fixed number of units and have a fixed tenure. The units are sold to the public only during the NFO. Liquidity is lesser in closed ended funds than in open ended funds as the funds do not buy back the units before maturity. To provide liquidity, some funds give a buy back window – a limited period during which the fund would buy back units after de-

ducting a fee – also called the exit load. Some others list the units on the stock exchanges where they are traded like other stocks. The price of the closed ended fund unit fluctuates based on the price of the securities held by the fund. On maturity, the fund buys back the units. Some schemes may be converted into an open ended fund on maturity.

The money in closed ended schemes is more stable as they do not allow redemption/subscription mid-way. Hence the fund manager does not have to worry about the daily inflow and outflow of funds and can take a longer term view of the market. So people expect closed ended funds to perform better than open ended funds.

Mutual funds can be classified based on investment class also. In India, mutual funds are allowed to invest in equities, debt and gold. Based on the proportion of money invested in these asset classes, the funds are classified into equity funds, debt funds and balanced funds.

In equity funds, around 90 per cent of the investment goes to shares.

There are many specialised equity funds-those which target a certain industry sector, or companies of a certain size, or characteristics like dividend yield are examples. Usually equity funds have two options – growth and dividend. If you choose the dividend option, the returns made by the fund will be given back as dividend. In the case of a growth option, the returns will be retained and reinvested leading to capital growth.

Debt funds invest most of their corpus in fixed income investments such as long term bonds, money market instruments or floating rate debt. They have low risk and could be considered as an alternative to fixed deposits, when you have to park your money for the short term. Debt funds which provide a monthly income to investors are also available.

Balanced funds have an even mix of equity and debt investments. The proportion of money invested in equity is usually 65 per cent or higher in balanced funds. They are ideal for

Selecting a mutual fund Given the plethora of schemes available, deciding on which one to invest in could often be a confusing affair. Some factors to be considered while selecting funds are given below.

• Select funds whose investment objectives match your own.

• Evaluate past performance of the fund by comparing with peer group/ benchmark index.

• Consider the fund costs – exit and entry loads and fund management charges.

• Check the record of the fund manager.

• Select funds with a sufficiently large corpus so that expenses could be spread over a large number of people.

• Diversify your investment by spreading it over 2-3 funds. investors who have a moderate risk appetite, and are not satisfied with the return offered by debt funds.

Index funds Index funds are equity mutual funds that try to mimic a specific index.

Here the fund manager does not select the shares to invest in, but tries to hold the same basket of shares that constitute the index, in the same proportion. This style of fund management is called passive investing.

The expenses charged by funds that are passively managed are much lesser than that of funds that are actively managed. Index funds are suitable for long term investors who do not want to spend time researching the funds and at the same time want to get market linked returns Advantages of mutual funds Mutual funds hold many advantages for the small investor. The investment required in a fund scheme can be very small, even as low as `100.

Mutual funds are managed by pro-

In a closed ended scheme, the fund manager does not have to worry about the daily inflow and outflow of funds and can take a longer term view of the market. They could perform better than open ended funds

fessional fund managers, allowing small investors to reap the benefits of their expertise. They allow easy access to the stock market, without the hassle of owning and maintaining a demat account or trading account.

A mutual fund usually holds a large number of shares of different companies, allowing investors access to a diversified portfolio with lesser risk.

Unlike fixed deposits they have the potential to earn more returns due to their exposure to the equity markets.

Drawbacks of mutual funds Like any stock market investment, there is a risk involved in mutual fund investments. The returns from the mutual funds are taxed by the government. Most of the equity funds levy a fund management charge of 2 per cent on the investment per annum. This charge is lesser for debt funds. Some funds also charge investors a percentage of the investment amount when they buy or sell the units – the entry load and the exit load.

To make investment in mutual funds more attractive to the public, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) did away with the entry load for investors who directly invest in mutual funds without going through an agent or distributor.

With the new regulations in place, investors can even negotiate the commissions with the distributors.

Distributors will now have to provide value added services like investment advice to justify the commissions that they charge.

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Personal Finance

Go for paper gold There are many ways of investing in the yellow metal, other than buying it from your jeweller

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old is often considered one of the best investment options but for an informed investor, the yellow metal does not reward him enough. The returns from gold over the past 200 years are only 0.8 per cent per annum, adjusted for inflation. This pales in comparison with the returns from other investment classes such as equity shares and real estate. Since 1979, when the Sensex was constituted, shares have given a return of above 11 per cent after adjusting for inflation, taking into account the current Sensex value of 18,000.

But people flock to gold because it is a monetary asset. Many also consider gold a hedge against inflation and an insurance against bad times.

The global demand for gold is driven by four factors – jewellery, investment, central bank reserves and industry. Data shows that the current demand for gold is being driven by investments. High inflation in many countries, concerns over the financial crisis in many European countries and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa contributed to the increase in investment demand.

The World Gold Council reports that the global demand for gold increased 11 per cent year-on-year to 981.3 tonnes in the first quarter of 2011. This increase was led by a 52 per cent year-on-year increase in the investment demand for gold bars and coins to 366.4 tonnes. Central banks purchased 129 tonnes of gold in the quarter, more than the whole of their purchases in 2010. The jew-

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ellery demand, which constitutes 60 per cent of the total gold demand, also recorded a modest 7 per cent growth to 556.9 tonnes. India and China account for 63 per cent of the global jewellery demand.

The main sources of gold supply in the world are mines, recycled gold and gold released from the reserves of central banks. The supply of gold showed a decline of 4 per cent during the period to 872.2 tonnes. The mine supply increased from 601.6 tonnes in Q1 2010 to 653.9 tonnes in Q1 2011, but this was offset by the fall in other sources of supply. South Africa has been the major gold producer in the world till recently. But production there has declined substantially over the years and China has overtaken it as the largest gold producer in the world.

India is the largest consumer of gold in the world followed by China.

It is estimated that Indian households hold 16,000 tonnes of gold, mostly as jewellery. Though jewellery is the traditional way of buying gold

The Gold Exchange Traded Funds provide an easy and cheap way for investors to benefit from the price increase of gold, and are considered the best way to invest in gold

in India, it is not advisable, if you are buying gold as an investment. Wastage and making charges – often at 10 per cent and going up to 35 per cent for special and complex designs – can eat into your investment. Add to it, the higher taxes on jewellery. And you might not get the full price when you sell it back.

Investing in gold A variety of options are available for investors wanting to invest in gold.

Coins are an attractive way of investing in small quantities of

gold. They are available in tamperproof packs of 0.5 gm, 1 gm, 5 gm, 8 gm, 20 gm and 50 gm. But where you buy it from makes a lot of difference. Jewellers, banks, and even post offices sell gold coins these days.

Banks and post offices often charge a premium of 5-10 per cent on coins.

These coins have lesser liquidity as banks do not buy them back. If you are buying from a jeweller, make sure that the coin is of the said quality.

Gold bars are for those who can afford to invest higher amounts.

Some jewellers have come up with innovative gold accumulation plans. These plans require investors to invest a fixed sum every month.

Stocks of gold mining companies are an indirect way of benefit-

Data shows that investment demand drives the current scramble for gold. High inflation in many countries and concerns over financial crisis and political unrest in many countries have contributed to the increase in investment demand ing from the rise in price of gold.

However, this is not a shock-proof option as their prices depend on many factors other than gold prices.

Since there are not any gold mining companies listed on Indian stock markets, investors can access them through gold mutual funds –mutual funds that invest in such companies.

AIG World Gold Fund and Kotak Gold Fund are examples of gold funds available in India.

Gold Exchange Traded Funds (Gold ETFs) are like mutual funds that invest in gold and one can buy them from stock exchanges. They are backed by gold bullion held in secure vaults and hence the investor need not worry about safe keeping of the asset. The ETFs provide an easy and cheap way for investors to benefit from the price increase of gold, and are considered the best way to invest in gold. But it may not be the right option for those who want to have the satisfaction of seeing, touching and feeling their gold.

The advantages of ETFs are many. Investments in gold ETF can be held in demat form, increasing security and reducing the costs associated with physical gold such as storage, liquidity and purity. Gold in paper form is exempt from wealth tax. Long-term capital gains benefits are available on gold ETFs after one year, compared to 3 years for physi-

cal gold. Investments in ETF can be made in small sums, from 0.5 gm of gold, allowing the investor to start early. They can be sold easily as they are traded on stock exchanges. The assets under management of ETFs have grown to `4800 crore on April 30, 2011, up 180 per cent in a year reflecting their increased acceptance in the market. Currently 10 Gold ETFs are available in India including Benchmark Gold ETF, Kotak Gold ETF, UTI Gold ETF, Reliance Gold ETF and Quantum Gold ETF. e-Gold introduced by the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) is another way of investing in gold.

NSEL which started operations in October 2008 has introduced E-Series products in commodities, which enable retail investors to invest in commodities just like they invest in the equities. Commodities like gold, silver and copper in the demat form can be traded on this exchange in smaller denominations, starting from 1gm of gold. e-Gold, the first e-Series product was introduced in March, 2010. Investing through NSEL will help investors save on the administration charges deducted by the fund houses managing the ETFs. One needs to start a commodity demat account and trading account through members of NSEL to avail this facility.

Gold futures: An investor can take an exposure to gold in commodity exchanges also. While taking a position in the futures market one only has to pay the margin for the contract. Contracts of up to 1 year duration are available on the commodity exchanges. When the contract expires the investor can go for cash settlement of the accounts.

Investors also have the option of taking delivery of the gold, but that can be done only at select centres in the country. MCX has introduced gold contracts of 8 gms size – gold guinea – to cater to the needs of small investors. Futures are highly leveraged instruments which carry a high risk and hence are not advised for small time investors. They are usually the domain of hedgers and speculators.

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KEARALA IN NUMBERS

Health

• • •

Birth rate - 14.6(‘000 population) Death rate – 6.6(‘000 population) Infant mortality rate – 12(‘000 population) • Child mortality rate -3(‘000 population ) • Maternal mortality rate(per lakh live berth)- 110 Life at birth Male- 71.4 Female-76.3

•Primary Health Centres-835 •Community Health Centres-237 •Taluk /District/Women & Children Hospitals-95 •Dispensaries-24 • T. B. Clinics/Centres-17 •Grant-in-aid institutions-29 •Leprosy Control Units-3 •Sub Centres-5403 •General Hospitals-10 • District Hospitals-11 •Nursing schools-15

Major medical institutions under Department of Medical Education

•Medical colleges-5 •Dental colleges-3 •Nursing colleges-5 •Regional Institute of Ophthalmology-1 •College of Pharmaceutical Science-1 •State board of Medical Research-1 •Directorate of Radiation Safety-1 •State Drug Formulary-1 •Child Development Centre-1 •Kerala Heart Foundation-1 •Regional Cancer Centre-1 •Malabar Cancer Centre-1 •Indian Institute of Diabetes-1(TVM) •State Institute of Sports Medicine-1 (Kozhikode Medical College Hospital) •Paramedical Council-1 56

Major medical institutions under Department of Health Services

Modern medicine Medical colleges- 18 • • •

Government:5 Private:12 Co-operative:1

Total MBBS seats: 2150

Ayurveda Ayurveda medical colleges-15 Govt-3 Aided-2 Self-financing-10 Total seats:740 Ayurveda hospitals – 117(2764 beds) Ayurveda dispensary – 747

Dental colleges • Government:3 • Self-financing :18 Total seats: 1080 Homoeo Homoeo medical colleges-5 • Govt-2 • Aided-3

Total seats:250 Homoeo hospitals-30 • District homoeo hospitals-14 • Others-16 Homoeo dispensary-526 • Urban-39 • Rural-487

Nursing Field Nursing colleges • Govt - 18 • Private -206 • Govt: ANM training centres - 4 • Govt: Female health Supervisory training centres - 2 • Private ANM training centres – 10 • Private Hospitals conducting B.Sc. Nursing - 81

Co-operative sector 65 hospitals 6297 beds 1440 doctors 3467 nurses and paramedical staff

Others

Visha Hospital-1 Nature Cure-1(Varkala,TVM) Siddha-1(Vallakkadavu) Unani-1(Morgal,Kasaragod) Marma-1(Kanjiramkulam,TVM) Mental Hospital,Kottakkal,Malappuram Panchakarma Hospital(Alappuzha) OUSHADI -Thrissur

Insurance Medical Services ESI Hospitals-12(1123 beds) Dispensaries-137 Other Services National Rural Health Mission Accredited Social Health Activist Medical Services Corporation Sports Ayurveda NABH accreditation NABH accredited hospitals-6 NABH accredited blood bank-1 NABH complied medical laboratories-116

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