India-Argentina Bilateral Relations - LB Associates

special reportof institutions e.g. National Centre forBiological Sciences, are focussing onbasic and applied research in stem celltechnology to gauge its efficacy andbenefits. India is the second country afterthe US to allow human clinical trials fordrugs using stem cell research• Clinical research: India is emerging as amajor clinical trials destination on accountof its high skills and low cost. The Indianplayers are moving beyond participation inphase II and phase III trials and are signingcontracts for research in drug discovery andpre-clinical stagesChemical• There are significant opportunitiesto increase chemical consumption inIndia owing to low (relative to globalconsumption) per capita chemicalconsumption in India• Development of the Petroleum, Chemicalsand Petrochemicals Investment Regionpolicy would likely to boost investment inthe sector. The Ministry of Chemicals andFertilisers has approved investments ofaround $35 billion for three regions underthis policy• India has significant opportunities inspecialty chemicals. The specialtychemicals market is expected to growfrom $18 billion in 2006 to $40 billion by2013• Research & Development in the chemicalsector has opportunities with governmentpromoting these efforts. The Centre hasplanned to lend $3.12 Million in 2009–2010 to the Central Institute of PlasticEngineering & Technology to promoteR&D effortsFood Processing• Rising urbanisation and disposableincomes, the lifestyle of consumers, traveland exposure to global cuisines and agreater willingness to experiment have ledto an increase in demand for processed andready-to-eat food. Investments worth $30billion are required to increase the outputby 10 percent through 2015• The low shelf life of fresh produce andthe high levels of wastages necessitateinvestment in supply chain infrastructureincluding bulk warehousing, food logistics,cold chain infrastructure, etc. There is alsoconsiderable scope to use sophisticatedtechniques and applications in areas such asdemand forecasting, data integration, fundflowmanagement and information sharingto improve supply chain management• Potential global outsourcing hub - Indiahas abundant resources in terms of rawmaterial for food production, includingfruits, vegetables, spices, dairy productsand edible oils. The varied agro-climaticconditions within the subcontinent alsoprovide for a diversity in cropping patternsthat is critical to grow a wide variety ofagricultural produce. The presence of askilled workforce and low labour costsare key factors to be considered whileestablishing production basesGems and Jewellery• The jewellery retail sector is likely tobecome much more organised in thecoming years, and chain specialists areexpected to expand into smaller towns andcities across the country• International brands, which were earlierconfined to the luxury segment, areplanning to enter the regular markets inreal and costume jewellery. For instance,Thailand-based Pranda is planning toincrease its presence in India• The Gems and Jewellery Export PromotionCouncil has initiated India InternationalJewellery Show Signature to promoteIndia as the preferred source for jewelleryand eventually build the ‘India’ brand.The initiative is likely to bolster both thedomestic and export gems and jewellerymarket• To bolster the export and import markets,the government has formulated new rulesfor faster clearance of import and exportconsignments of specific goods includinggems and jewelleryIT-ITeS• New verticals and geographies: Significantopportunities exist in terms of new verticalssuch as healthcare, retail, public sector,travel and tourism and emerging marketslike Asia Pacific, Central and EasternEurope and Latin America to drive thefuture growth• R&D product innovation: Emergenceof platform solutions and innovationsin technology such as cloud computing,virtualisation, open source software andservice oriented architecture• New service segments: Segments such asrural BPOs, mobility solutions, embeddedsystems, KPO, LPO, ER&D serviceexports, infrastructure management, etc.are recording significant growth• Focus on SME segment: Through initiativessuch as flexible pay-per-use/outcomebasedpricing models, shift to Tier II/IIIcities to gain operational efficiency• Government: With projects such as NationalKnowledge Networks, e-Panchayat,e-Governance, UID, GeographicInformation System, etc., the governmentsector is coming up as a major opportunityarea for IT vendorsMetals & Mining• India is rich in mineral resources anduntapped metal reserves potential isestimated at around 82 billion tonnes,leading to opportunities for new miningcapacity additions in iron ore, bauxite, coaland gold• There are significant opportunities toincrease metals consumption, as per capitametal consumption in India is far belowthe world average. For example, India’sper capita steel consumption is 49 kg ascompared to the global average of 198 kgin 2008Oil & Gas• India has significant potential to explorenew oil and gas reserves, as 36 percent78THE EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY DIPLOMATIST • March 2013