:: India Inc ::

“There is a broad recognition of the enormous benefits flowing from greater integration between India and ASEAN.... The India-ASEAN Car Rally...will dramatically symbolize the effort to forge new linkages, while embodying the spirit of our cooperation.”
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India

"We [will] work towards a target of at least 200 million telephones by 2007, if not 250 million, which would require 120 million lines in the next three years, translating into telecom equipment requirement of Rs 100, 000 crores - Rs 125,000 crores."
Dayanidhi Maran
IT and Communications Minister
Government of India

"FDI will continue to be encouraged and actively sought, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, high technology and exports."
P. Chidambaram
Finance Minister
Government of India

"This is a historic moment for our country, for the entire Indian private sector, and for Reliance. Reliance has become the first private sector company from India to be ranked among the world's top 500 companies, in terms of the Fortune Global 500 list. We are now ranked 189 in the world in profits. The ascent of a first generation company, Reliance, to the distinguished Fortune Global 500 club is a tribute to the vision of our founder Chairman, Dhirubhai Ambani, and to the glorious spirit of Indian enterprise and entrepreneurship."
Anil D. Ambani
Vice Chairman & Managing Director
Reliance Industries Limited

"Service providers business is most strategic for Cisco. India is amongst the fastest growing markets today and it is a strategic market for Cisco. Cisco is putting in place a dedicated team focused on the business and it is also strengthening its headcount [in India]."
Andrew Murray
Asia Pacific Vice President
Cisco

"The research & development work carried out in India is of world-class standards and is now attracting German biotech companies who are keen on setting up joint ventures (JVs) and R&D facilities."
H Richter
German Ambassador to India

"The Indian system is a refreshing example of a transparent IPO market but it is also a rare on, especially in the insider-friendly Asian markets."
Francesco Guerrera
Asia Financial Correspondent
Financial Times

"Your economic reforms favouring freer markets, development of infrastructure. . . prudent spending and commitment to education will further India's position in the global leadership."
John A Thain
Chief Executive Officer
New York Stock Exchange

"We want to bring to the world various facets of this extraordinary country, its people and progress"
Chris Cramer
International Managing Director
CNN

"It makes sense for pharma companies to look to India...Indian scientists are well trained...India has more pharmaceutical facilities approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) than any foreign country."
Business Week Magazine

“India is one of the largest generics markets in the world today [in volumes]. We expect this market to have a significant growth potential. That makes it very attractive."
Christian Seiwald
CEO
Sandoz GmbH

"My government's endeavour would be to create such an atmosphere in the country that ...the talent in the country should work …to prove that we are unparalleled in the world. We have the third largest reservoir of Science and Technology talent in the world and [this] would be utilised to ensure that 21st century belongs to India."
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India

“In coming three years India is the third most favoured investment destination for Japanese investors. More than eighty per cent of prospective Japanese investors cited India's huge market and its growth potential as the biggest drivers for investment.”
Japan Bank for International Co-operation

“India has seen an explosion of its middle classes over the last few years with an emerging generation of highly educated young workers earning higher incomes than ever before. This has driven massive growth in domestic consumption and if you combine this with the boom in the pharmaceutical industry and government spending on infrastructure, India reveals itself as the one of the most attractive growth stories in the investment world right now.”
Arun Mehra
Head of Investment Strategy
Fidelity India

"India's ability to draw heavyweight investors like Temasek and the speed with which they are moving is a signal that the Subcontinent continues to be an attractive investment for those taking a long view and seeking to diversify their portfolios."
Far Eastern Economic Review
October 21, 2004
(“Singapore Inc. Diversifies")

“India's highly educated workforce, management talent, rule of law, transparency, cultural affinity and regulator environment are more favourable than China's.”
A T Kearney
FDI index report

“Markets such as India have come of age resulting in renewed interest among the FII community.”
Andrew Holland
Chief Administrative Officer & Executive VP-Research
DSP Merrill Lynch

"The courageous reforms have led to enormous economic growth in India.With a growth rate of over eight percent, India ranks at the top even in this very difficult period globally."
Gerhard Schroeder
Chancellor
Germany

“The Indian middle class is easier to target because people understand English and have a western orientation...in China, it's a longer slog”
Rory Cowan
President, Lionbridge Technologies in Business 2.0 (July 2004)

"Not only are there brilliant engineers here [in India], I’ve been seeing that the entrepreneurial spirit of the businesses is second to none."
Mike S. Zafirovski
President and Chief Operating Officer
Motorola Inc.

"Toyota Motor has chosen to source from India due to its competitive cost of manufacture, availability of abundant engineering talent, and strong indigenous machine tool."
Akio Toyoda
Senior Managing Director
Toyota Motors

"America cannot ignore the fact that the centre of gravity is moving eastwards to Asia, away from Europe and North America, and India will be the motor force in globalisation"
Frank G Wisner
Former US Ambassador to India and Vice President
American International Group External Affairs

“Indian engineers are comparable to the best in the world, including the US and Europe, and we will use this strength to leverage our position in the world market.’’
Mr. Phillippe Joubert
Executive Vice President
Alstom

With increased macro-economic stability and increased forex reserves, the Indian investment climate is clearly improving...for Denmark, India ranks among the top destinations for investment."
Anders Holbech Jespersen
Advisor, Confederation of Danish Industries
In an interview on June 30th 2004

"Equity and efficiency are complimentary, not contradictory, and we must move forward on both these while maintaining a high degree of fiscal and financial discipline, and a robust external economic profile”.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s first address to the nation

"It's the speed - how quickly people are moving. It's their passion and ambition. Execution is something other countries can learn from India."
Christian Seiwald
CEO
Sandoz GmbH

"India, first of all, came to the game with some just natural advantages: one, English-speaking population; two, real emphasis on education. You also had a country that is very instinctively able to glocalize, take the best of the global world and meld it with their own culture."
Tom Friedman
Columnist
The New York Times

"India is an institutionalised democracy of long standing. Democratic changes in government should be seen as a sign of strength. We expect the reform process to continue although the emphasis may change."
Sanjeev Sanyal
Director & Senior Economist, Global Markets Research
Deutsche Bank, Asia

"India's reforms are not just an economic issue. The country is forging a proudly democratic model of economic reforms. It is the kind of model that many developing countries, despairing that they do not have the dictatorship of China to force through difficult reforms, can hope to emulate."
Bruce Gilley
The Wall Street Journal

"Asia should not be painted with one brush; India has separated itself from the pack; it is not unduly dependent on external demand, and it has an increasingly powerful IT-enabled, services-led growth dynamic."
Stephen Roach
Chief Global Economist & Managing Director
Morgan Stanley

"Everybody says China has 8% growth and India only 3%, but that is a total misconception. We don’t really know. I think India’s progress is far more impressive than China’s."
Peter Drucker

"We have made significant investment in expanding our presence in India and will continue to do so. We greatly value the Indian capability and...have charted out an aggressive growth plan in India"
Mr. Edward Barnholt
Chairman, President & CEO
Agilent Technologies

"In our view, economic restructuring and low interest rates are raising India's potential growth rate. Structurally, we believe it is more attractive than China."
Eddie Wong
Equity Analyst (Asia Pacific)
ABN Amro Bank

"India is not just about IT or business process outsourcing. We see it as an incubator for giant global corporations driven by IT strategy."
Prof Warren McFarlan
Senior Associate Dean
Harvard Business School

“Here's a country that will show massive growth. We believe India will continue to have growing importance in the world economy, and we are working with clients to raise capital and create strategies that will allow them to participate in this growth."
Sean Wallace
Co-head of Investment Banking
JP Morgan,Asia Pacific

"The people I have met in India are very good. They have a global perspective. Though these are still early days, I have been struck by the quality of Indian management. It is very high by any standard. I wont bet against India becoming one of the top five economies of the world by 2050."
Alec Jones
Global Leadership Team
PriceWaterhouse Coopers

"Japan, Australia and China are also expanding markets but India is of special significance. India is outbound volume growing; it is a large English-speaking country and above all, we have good historic relations with India. So it's an Ireland-friendly market."
Mr. Philip McDonagh
Irish Ambassador to India
In an interview with the Times of India

"India has greater access to the international knowledge base. First we noticed Indian individuals, but now we notice Indian companies as well...Indians have managed to build some very good institutions for themselves, which are going to help them in future."
Charles Morrison
President
East West Center

"There is a huge market waiting to be tapped in India's components business and we intend to grow the business significantly over the next couple of years"
Hans-Michael Huber
MD & CEO
DaimlerChrysler India

"We recognise the greatest strength of India is not just the number of people, not its ability to put them into seats - it's the skill level that exists here."
Joseph M Sigelman
Co-Chief Executive
OfficeTiger

"I see a big change in corporate India. Indian companies which earlier enjoyed protected markets, have adapted well to the opening up of the economy. India is a classic example. I am impressed by how well Indian companies have moved from a management style rooted in a protected environment to a management style which is exploiting global competitiveness."
Klaus Schwab, Chairman
World Economic Forum
On his recent visit to India

"The economic dominance of the US is already over. What is emerging is a world economy. India is becoming a powerhouse very fast."
Peter Drucker
Management Guru
In Fortune

"The World Travel and Tourism Council report says that over the next 10 years, India's travel and tourism industry is expected to achieve annualised real growth of 7.9% to bring in $ 28.4 billion in 2013. By then the travel and tourism economy overall is expected to hit an annual $68.3 billion."
Far Eastern Economic Review (January 22nd, 2004)

"By 2020, 47% of Indians will be between 15 and 59, compared with 35% now. The working-age populations of the U.S. and China are projected to shrink. So India is destined to have the world's largest population of workers and consumers. That's a big reason why Goldman, Sachs & Co. (GS ) thinks India will be able to sustain 7.5% annual growth after 2005."
Business Week Magazine (Cover Story, December 8, 2003)

"As a nation you have great DNA. This advantage will have a multiplier effect on the economy when second generation policy reforms present businesses and consumers with the right incentives. There is so much pent-up dynamism at the micro level of India's economy that entrepreneurs and workers will amplify the benefits of these reforms."
Robert Blackwill
Former US Ambassador to India

"India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world and is of immense importance to us. We also continue to look at opportunities to outsource research & development work from India"
Bert Nordberg
President (Business Unit Systems)
Ericsson

"When you talk about China, they (Americans) say it is a huge market with 1.3 billion population whereas India's image is as a good software producer. They don't know that India has one billion population and growing middle class consumers"
Harris N Miller
President
Information Technology Association of America

"India has natural and multiple advantages over countries like China or other Asian or Latin American countries that are emerging as outsourcing hub. In the recent past, Indian Inc has been able to establish its brand in the international market. Its extraordinary quality of human resource and domain knowledge clearly puts them in an advantageous position."
Bruce Chizen
President & CEO
Adobe Systems Inc, USA

"India's success rate vis-a -vis Britain's in the entrepreneurial scenario is a lot higher. I'm going to go back and work towards this"
HRH Prince Charles during his recent visit to India

"This market (India) is critical to our plans for building a Ford Motor Co. for the 21st century."
Bill Ford
Chairman and CEO
Ford Motor Company

"Through the wisdom of its government leaders and the entrepreneurship of its private sector, India has risen to become a major force in the global economy."
Mr John Chambers
President and CEO
Cisco Systems Inc

"We are very bullish on our growth prospects in India."
Charles Prince
CEO
Citigroup

"India, which is known for its globally recognised IT resources, can contribute substantially towards the success of our future projects."
Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatallah al Khalifa
Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs
Bahrain

"I put India on the top priority market among emerging markets."
Yuanquing Yang
Chairman
Lenovo

"...India (is), the most promising and dynamic economies of the world. In this day and age of globalisation, ...Scandinavian corporate leaders feel that, more than ever, it is of utmost importance to get to know industrial and political leaders in a country of India's stature."
Marcus Wallenberg
Chairman of the Board
SEB
On a recent visit to India along with a CEOs delegation of top Swedish companies

"Australian retailers are increasingly diversifying their buying of apparel and garments from China to India."
Sarat Chandran
Director
Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce

"India has just opened up and so offers a good potential for volume growth."
K Y Lee
Chairman and CEO
BenQ

"Socially and economically, India is developing at a galloping pace when compared to the rest of the world."
Mr Sarang Panchal
Executive Director
ACNielsen South Asia

"Indian companies are using UK as a door to other European countries and are also using it as a base to provide services in the US and South Africa."
Mark Dolan
Deputy Director
Inward Investment

"We came into India wanting to make it a hub for all the products that we are producing there including the supplier base. I'm pleased with the progress."
Mr Leif Johansson
President and CEO
AB Volvo

"This is a watershed year in US-India relations. We have been talking, and working, about a strategic partnership. Now is the time to make it happen."
Christina Rocca
US Assistant Secretary of State

"India has become a key market for many information communication technology products made in the US, while the US is an important consumer of Indian IT-enabled services."
US State Department
during the launch of the India-US CEO's Forum

"India on its way to becoming IT, manufacturing kingdom of the world."
Mr Yasukuni Enoki
Japanese Ambassador to India

"The demand which we are observing in India is one of the highest growth rates in the world today."
Dinesh Keskar
VP Sales
Boeing Corporation

"Indian markets are gaining depth by the day, more instruments, more shorting possibilities."
Christoph Avenarius
Senior analyst
Credit Suisse Alternative Investments

"The dynamism shown by India in the last 15 years is phenomenal."
Paul Wolfowitz
President
World Bank

"India as a country is in a mode of capital consumption. Investors will now start looking for proxies that will reflect the India growth story."
K Ramakrishnan
CEO
Spark Capital Advisors

"We have been bullish on India for a long time."
Donald Peck,
Managing partner
Actis

"Never were our relations ever more exciting."
Tony Blair,
Prime Minister of Britain,
on India-UK relations

"We are delighted and impressed with the growth we have been able to achieve in this country. India is a key node in Accenture's global delivery network."
Mr Karl-Heinz Floether
Group Chief Executive (Technology and Delivery)
Accenture

"India is a rising economic influence of power in the international system. It's a great multiethnic democracy."
Condoleezza Rice
US Secretary of State

"...this is the right time to invest in India and we will be bold on the market here."
Jeffrey Immelt
CEO and Chairman
GE Worldwide

"Today, there is a greater willingness internationally to work with India -- and to build relationships of mutual benefit."
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India

"India could emerge as a global KPO hub as the business requires specialised knowledge in respective verticals and the country's engineering and technical institutes are geared to address the manpower demand."
CII Study
India in the new knowledge economy

"India's economy will expand by 8 per cent, even faster than the 6.9 per cent seen in 2004."
Institute of International Finance

"Disney's presence in India today is well poised for growth."
Andy Bird
President, Walt Disney International

“There is huge amount of optimism about India...the country is well positioned to accelerate from its present 6.5% growth to around 8% in the near future."
Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Deputy Chairman
Planning Commission of India

"India is an important growth area for us. When most of the developing countries are seeing single-digit growth ... some of the Asian countries including India are showing double-digit growth."
Lawrence A Weinbach
Chairman
Unisys Corporation

"The joint marketing efforts will help us to combine Singapore as a urban destination, along with India's varied attractions like the Taj, the desert, mountains, and beaches."
Lim Neo Chian
Dy Chairman and Chief Executive
Singapore Tourism Board

"I believe India could be the fastest growing economy in the world one day. It would be foolish for Virgin not to embrace India."
Sir Richard Branson
Chairman
Virgin Atlantic Airways

"There is keen awareness of the need to continue to strengthen India’s fiscal position, open the economy more fully to the world and remove the remaining domestic constraints on growth."
Rodrigo de Rato
Managing Director
IMF

"Indian companies are well run. Return on equity in India is higher than in countries such as the US, China and Japan."
Mr Alan Jacobs
Senior International Economist and Strategist
AMP Capital, Australia

"India is growing fast and everyone seems to want a piece of the action."
Martin Graham
Director of Market Services
London Stock Exchange

"The Indian banking system is now perhaps better than any other in Asia."
Stephen Roach
Chief Global Economist & Managing Director
Morgan Stanley

"We believe that India is at an inflexion point and will likely migrate to a 7% growth trend in this decade."
Chetan Ahya
Analyst
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter

“India can be a quality manufacturing base for the world. At present we plan to invest US $68-$91 million in India for servicing our clients in the automotive market."
Angad Paul
Chief Executive Officer
Caparo Group

"India has the potential to deliver the fastest growth over the next 50 years with an average rate of more than 5 per cent a year for the entire period."
Dominic Wilson
Senior Global Economist and Vice President
Goldman Sachs

"We are globalising and liberalizing. In the last decade the share of trade has doubled from 17 to 32 per cent and India has become a natural hub of globalisation."
Rahul Bajaj
Chairman and MD
Bajaj Auto

“To compete with India, China will have to consolidate its highly fragmented industry to gain the size and expertise needed to capture large international projects.”
McKinsey

"India is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region expected to see an increase in net lending this year, as investment demand and external trade activity remain strong."
Institute of International Finance

“[RatanTata's] $ 14.3 bn family conglomerate is a picture of what was and is India Inc.”
Forbes

"Many people view India only as a place to cut costs through offshore outsourcing... we see India as an emerging market for our advanced software platforms."
Peter Armstrong
President
Triple Point Technology

“The Indian domestic IT market will be the fastest-growing market in the Asia/Pacific region, predicted to grow at 21.7 in 2005 over 2004."
International Data Corporation (IDC)

“India will continue to be an exciting investment destination for FIIs... The big driver for the markets will be a sustained growth in the economy of around 7 per cent.”
Hemendra Kothari
Chairman
DSP Merrill Lynch

“Higher level of acquisitions is a reflection of the business confidence. Acquisitions are likely to rise next year. A big component would be Indian companies acquiring companies overseas.”
Ravi Menon
Director and Co-head for Investment Banking
HSBC Securities

“The revenue growth from India is the fastest among all the markets we are present in.”
Lex Kloosterman
CEO (private clients/new growth markets)
ABN Amro Bank NV

"India Inc is emerging bigger, faster and stronger. India is also fast becoming the world’s knowledge centre and back office. I believe India will continue to outshine others for some time to come.”
Vishesh Chandiok
International Practice Partner
Grant Thornton, India

"India is now being seen as a country that can both benefit and help because of its growing relations with the Southeast Asian neighbours and partners".
Sunil Kant Munjal
President
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)