spm december & jan mirror 2012

Volume - 2 | Issue - 14 | December, 2012 & January, 2013

Quantitative easing - a Blessing or a Curse?

01amul- the taste of

Brand Building & Brand awareness

04state of airliners in

india

10finanCial serviCes roundtaBle 2012

06

Financial ServiceS roundtable 2012

NURTURING INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL

Excellent initiative to have such industry focused discussion.”Debasish MishraSenior Director, Deloitte

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word —

excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it

Nothing other than these befitting words of Pearl Buck sway

us as we bring forth the 13th issue of SPM Mirror. SPM Mirror

is energy and infrastructure focused monthly newsletter,

reflecting the dynamics of these sectors. It has connected

the faculty, guest lecturers, alumni and students and features

their views religiously. We have consistently tried to enhance

our industry academia interface by circulating this newsletter

to all the companies that are a part of this rapidly mounting

and dynamic energy and infrastructure sector. We definitely

aim to raise our standard of success; we hope that this

newsletter drives this process of partaking of knowledge and

becomes a name to reckon with.

Let us all celebrate what we want to see more of! Wish you a

very jubilant and joyous new year from the Editorial team and

all of us at School of Petroleum Management.

From The Editorial Board

Mirror offers reflection of what the reality is. But as we know

the mirror image is inverted horizontally, thereby offering

a new perspective of view. SPM Mirror reflects the other

perspective of my students. While their grade sheets will

speak volumes for the academic acumen, the SPM Mirror

will introduce the other side of their personality: the co-

curricular perspective – wherein students stretch themselves

beyond curricular requirements. At School of Petroleum

Management (SPM), under the aegis of Pandit Deendayal

Petroleum University (PDPU), the endeavor is to inculcate

a thirst for knowledge and self development. Writing and

critiquing articles towards analytical inquiry into the latest

in the field of Energy and Infrastructure offers them the

most contemporary knowledge in the domain – so essential

for a budding manager. Faculty and Students at SPM are

ever eager to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

They achieve this through constant interaction with industry

professionals on various platforms, may it be conclaves,

symposia, internships, field projects, guest and visiting

lectures, or consultancy projects. And creating a space for

themselves for the world to recognize and applaud when

winning at competitive events.

I am sure this edition of SPM Mirror shall satisfy the high

standard earlier editions have made you expect from SPM

students and faculty. Wishing all stakeholders of SPM the

best of Season Greetings!

Director - SPMDr. Hemant C. TrivediProf. P K Banik

Director - General

It gives me immense pleasure to see overall enthusiasm in

SPM students to bring out another issue of SPM Newsletter.

SPM mirror reflects all activities carried out in the School of

Petroleum Management. Today SPM has taken many bold

steps in diversification engulfing energy and infrastructure

sectors of the industry. It would be impossible to showcase

our endeavor to all stakeholders without publishing a

newsletter. I am sure that this newsletter would provide

creative explorations to all and would disseminate

information regarding students activities and achievements

to the industry and the community at large. I wish all the

good luck to the editorial team.

“Very well organized event and wonderful hospitality. My

best wishes to the students for a wonderful career ahead”.

T. T. Ram Mohan

Professor, IIM Ahmedabad & Eminent Columnist

“The students are very engaging and interesting. They very

well organized the event and enthusiastically participated as

well”.

Dr. Bandi Ram Prasad

President-MCX-SX, Mumbai

SPM MIRROR

01

An InsIghTIn times of a turbulent economy, various countries of the world try to

apply their conventional tools, monetary and non-monetary, to regain a

state of sound economy. Majority of the world economies try to reduce

their short term interest rates of market lending from commercial banks

to bolster the borrowing and spending from households and businesses.

However, a point arrives when the economy faces a phenomenon which

is widely known as liquidity trap (short term nominal interest rate is zero).

There exists no possibility for the central bank of a country to further

reduce short term nominal interest rates from that point onwards. Such a

constrained scenario shoves the bank to employ various unconventional

monetary policies to alleviate the deflationary economy.

One such unconventional monetary tool used by the central banks

(especially when interest rates are close to zero) to stimulate the economy

is known as Quantitative Easing (or more popularly QE) by the economists.

The Central Bank implements QE by first creating new money and then

using this new money to purchase assets from a wide range of available

sources - government bonds, equities, corporate bonds or other assets

from banks. With this process, the Central Bank ensures that it injects

a pre-determined quantity of money in the economy. This results in an

increase in price of assets and fall in the yield, or interest rates on those

assets making the borrowing and spending more attractive and hence

resulting in improved economy.It also aims at increasing the excessive

reserves of the banks for higher lending and consequent spending by the

households and businesses.

Low and stable inflation is crucial to a thriving and prosperous economy. QE can also be used by the central bank to ensure that inflation

does not fall below or rise above the optimum target (Generally it is considered to be 2%).

Quantitative easing - a Blessing or a Curse?

TUSHAr SHAH, PGP12

Figure.1 depicts Quantitative Easing


02

SPM MIRROR

03

PRos AnD Cons of QEQE is often referred to as a last resort of the central bank to restore the disrupted economy. But before answering the question in focus,

whether QE is a blessing or a curse, an insightful evaluation of the topic at hand is of prime significance and to best achieve the purpose,

let’s enlist various merits and demerits of QE.

Is QuAnTITATIvE EAsIng A CuRsE oR A BlEssIng?Post evaluation of various nuances involved in implementation of QE and considering the pros and cons, QE could prove to be a curse

for an economy if not implemented aggressively and tactfully. The major QE failures witnessed by the world were the series of QE drives

undertaken by Bank of Japan (BoJ) from 1996 to 2006. The prime reason of failure then was that the local banks held the reserve surplus

generated by BoJ with themselves rather than offering it to households and businesses for lending and consequently for spending and

increasing the employment rate. Also USA’s Federal reserves and UK’s Bank of England are not much confident about the success of their

QE program which they undertook post to late 2007 Global crisis.

A significant threat that underscores QE is a “stock bubble”. When Fed reserve recently announced its 3rd round of QE, almost all major

stocks started exhibiting the upward trend (Exhibit-01).

One of the prime financial websites explains it vividly as stated, “What is happening now is that stocks are appreciating, not because of

enhanced productivity or expanding markets, but simply because Central Banks are printing money. There could be a critical moment when

the markets collectively recognize that stocks (all stocks) are overpriced and the bubble will burst.” This will simply lead our economy to a

point from where recovery would still become difficult. Also at times, few central banks try to monetize the government’s deficits and cap

government’s borrowing rates which only lead to inflationary pressures and leaves detrimental scares on the countries’ economy.

a) Purchase of assets and its distributional effects

Purchase of assets has been advantageous mostly to banks and

other such financial institutions. It has helped them increase their

excess reserves and size of their balance sheets. Also, buying of

the quoted assets in surfeit increases their price. This unblocks

credit market as investors, who were otherwise shedding away,

start investing in appreciating assets. But the prime concern

underlying this activity is that in the past there have been instances

when banks did not encourage the lending to households and

businesses and hence retained the surplus with them. Also, this

current process of stimulating economy focuses well on financial

market of economy but fails to transform the other “spoilt for

cash” sectors like infrastructure, energy etc. Hence relying on

banks may not serve the purpose of stimulating economy if banks

fail to act as an active agent.

b) Inflation - “Is the central bank’s approach myopic?”

At prima facie, QE offers a short to medium control over inflation

rates, but a holistic perspective would starkly reveal the truth

behind the scenes. First, the central bank of the country relies on

banks and other financial institutions to lend money to businesses

and households and stir the economy and rise in inflation. This calls

for a responsible approach from banks, which is not guaranteed

though. Also, unless the central bank devises a diversified assets

purchase drives, long term assets bought by it from other banks

may not be equally competitive and profitable at the point of

maturity and hence dispensing them becomes a challenge for the

central bank which would leave the latter to incur loss. This loss

consequently would be transferred to tax-payers. Hence in the

long run, economy could suffer from hyper (or massive) inflation

if the amount of easing is over estimated.

c) Threats to conventional investment policies

QE tends to allay long-term bond yields, making other short term

investment plans more attractive for immediate spending and

investment. But in this process, QE reduces the return on long term

investments made by pension schemes. As a result, QE makes it

more expensive for employers to provide pensions and consequently

weakens the funding of schemes as their deficit increases.

d) Does QE lead to global economy fracture?

An unpredictable outcome of Fed’s QE3 declaration was a worldwide

opposition. US banks utilised the Fed reserves and treasury bailouts

received from QE2 to increase their own profits and to continue

paying high salaries and bonuses. What their lending inflated, were

the asset prices and not the commodity prices, neither output nor

employment rates. Cheap electronic US “keyboard credit”, then

started flying abroad as banks tried to earn their way out of debt

by financing arbitrage gambles, glutting currency markets while

depreciating US dollars. So the Fed’s move of saving banks from

negative equity resulted in flooding the global economy with a glut

of US dollar credit and destabilising global financial system.

e) unwinding Policy - Exit strategy from QE

Economists generally quote QE as a process and not an event.

There always exists an underlying pressure on the central bank to

exit from QE by selling back the riskier assets and narrowing down

its balance sheet. But this process is not as simple as it appears.

There are chances that the central bank may end up pilling bonds

worth trillions of rupees and find it difficult to unload them off

because selling bonds worth such astronomical figures to financial

institutions will only hamper its very own objective of restoring

sound economy.

A BETTER QErather than being myopic, one needs to consider the long term outcomes of QE, both positive and negative, and then validate it as a

helpful resort for the economy.

After learning lessons from historical instances and considering advance economy dynamics, following are the prime recommendations,

1. There is little evidence that QE, in its current form, is helping small and medium size businesses to expand and create more jobs.

On the other hand it is certainly helping to enrich (or diplomatically capitalize) the major financial institutions. Banks have also been

observed arguing that there are no borrowers (by which they mean borrowers at the going interest rates). To overcome this blockage,

the central bank should set up a National Investment Bank which they would capitalize and mandate to spend some fixed crores of

rupees a year on investment projects at interest rates low enough to fulfill the investment mandate. Candidates for such investments

would be infrastructure projects such as high speed rail, innovative water supply systems for rural India etc. which promise direct

growth in employment rates.

2. It is of utmost importance for the central bank to undertake diversified investment portfolio rather than focusing on government

bonds and securities because if it loses money on its particular sector focused asset purchases, then that loss would have to be made

good by taxpayers either with higher future taxation or by the central bank by creating more money and risking higher future inflation.

3. Also, before undertaking QE, an important question to be asked by the central bank is, “How much is enough?”, because going too

far with creating and spending money may devalue the currency. Inflation or even hyperinflation would then be the result.

On the basis of various facts and figures, lessons taught from both successful and unsuccessful QE programs and dynamics of advanced

economics, it gives me an impression that if QE lacks rigor and aggression in its implementation, it may become a potential curse for any

economy. To make QE a lasting blessing, it is very important to incorporate a customized QE i.e. encompassing all sectors while disbursing

new money into the economy.

SPM MIRROR

05


04

Every time I happen to come across the commercial of Amulwhile zipping through TV channels, I inevitably

watch the whole ad and only then move on. Yes, I am talking about our same old advertisement that goes

“Merogaamkathaparey…..”

In the depths of sheer childhood innocence, this advertisement was

like any random commercial ad trying to portray its association with

rural India, along with educating people about how it makes the

supply of milk possible. Later, this ad disappeared from the vista

of television for a long time. It was few months ago that it made

a reoccurrence, in a new version; with its essence untouched.

Swarming with goose bumps for a few moments, I was speechless

at what it just conveyed in mere 60 succinct seconds. It had startled

me with a presentation which was not only marketing its umbrella

brand but was also paving way for engendering brand awareness

among masses. It has caught everyone’s attention like never before

and is an austere favourite!

Such an ad, apart from marketing itself, leaves a lasting impression

on the viewer and plays a key role in brand awareness. Without

ascribing any public figure to endorse it by shelling out millions,

this ad is captivating in itself. Its appeal lies in its simplicity. Nothing

beats the acumen with which this ad is conceived. The intricacies

associated herein are worth noticing. They have portrayed

the women of rural India, who on account of their economic

independence that started with the Amul co-operative movement

have modernized.This couldn’t have been shown in a better way

than picture them as competent enough to use modern gadgets

like computers and the neoteric smart phones. The clarity of the

objective behind their campaigning is conspicuous. Amulheretofore

is already an established brand. Hence, it is correctly focusing

on brand awareness along with inherent marketing. To sustain

and thrive in competitive markets, brand awareness becomes

imperative. They are driving up the image of their brand.

One of the best ways of branding in a local market is to create a

vision that people of that place carry in their mind and this is exactly

what has been communicated in the ad. It has carved an illustration

which shows Amul’s perception about modern rural India with its

set of empowered women who have an impact on people across

the country. It also depicts the different segments of customers they

amul- the taste of Brand Building & Brand awareness

KrUTIKA PArMAr, PGP 12

reach and how they touch their lives. Thus, an additional feature

that is intricately woven which may be minor but worth noticing is

that the ad’s focus and appeal is on individuals, not the mass. Also

the quintessential ‘Indianness’ of the campaign allows it to connect

really well with the people. The piece of music is actually on the

lines of folk songs sungacross states of India and this paves the way

for an effective print.

Furthermore, the ad shows its stakeholders benefiting from it. It

pays to build up on customers’ needs, aspirations and attitude into

your communication; like they show the need for nutrition and

taste of kids and highly active people as fulfilled by their products.

The lyric is full of vibrancy and positivity. It depicts that with the

advent of the brand, happiness has spread in the lives of people

associated with it. It sketches how Amul wishes to see its consumer

after using its product, undoubtedly happy! It is the customer’s

psychology that after he gets a good vibe from the company, he

makes the purchase.

The inherent feature of an ad is to make people notice the brand in

such a way that when they think about a particular product, one of

the companies that come immediately to their mind is yours. There

is adequate clarity in the message implied by the ad. The lyrics are

prevailing enough to gain attention and are appropriately woven to

deliver the intended meaning. It ends with a testimonial about its

impact on the lives of people associated with the brand. The bigger

picture may be a compilation of many propositions as shown, but

their combined effect comes out as a single clear image i.e. in the

resulted panorama nothing goes haywire. And because of this

simplicity with which the various aspects have been consolidated,

the image as perceived by the people is exactly the same as the

brand wants itself to be perceived. This goes a long way in creating

brand awareness.

An additional facet of the ad is its authenticity. People tend to see

a commercial only when they believe in its credibility, otherwise it’s

common that they switch the channel. And of course, along with

all this, let’s not miss the indispensable part: The Taste of India! A

catchy slogan is important to leave an impression on the targeted

audience’s mind.

Well, I now comprehensively understand the reason behind its captivating power. Companies create brand awareness to stick out from

its competitors lest they want to fade away very quickly. One of the most important essentials of a good advertising campaign is creating

brand awareness. The goal is to implant the company’s name and logo into the subconscious mind of the publicsso that they remember

you and all that you offer. Brand awareness is created and maintained through consistency. Like using the same logo, the same font, and

the same concept with necessary updates to get assimilated into the period is favoured. This is exactly how the new variant of *Manthan is.

The bottom line of an advertising campaign is to implant your name out there.

In 2011, Amul was named the Most Trusted brand in the Food and Beverages sector in The Brand Trust report published by Trust research

Advisory on 18th January, 2011. Amongst India’s top 20 brands: Amul stands at No. 1.

Amul- Truly the Toast of India!P.S: GCMMF also ran vigorous ad campaigns of its flagship brand through bill-boards which, with its smart and witty topical nature

has become a social critique that entertains as well as educates. Amul’s longest running advertisement campaign has also found a

place in the Guinness Book of World records (only the American ‘Smokey Bear’ campaign is older, but commercial aspects are not

associated with it for its propaganda is to protect forest ecology by preventing forest fires).

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amul2. http://toi.amul.com/story.html3. *Manthan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manthan

NURTURING INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL SPM MIRROR

06 07

state of airliners in india

Despite a growth in passengers by 13.2 percent in 2011-12 and an increase in demand, why are the airliners in India making losses?

The year of 1994 saw the impression of globalisation on the Indian

aviation industry emblazoned by the Air Corporation Act that marked

the entry of private airliners in the civil aviation industry which was

previously dominated by government owned carriers namely Indian

Airlines and Air India. This initiated the open skies policies. Private

airliners like Jet Airways, Sahara Airways, Paramount Airlines, etc

entered the civil aviation segment. right since the beginning, the

airliners were making losses and this led to their decline. Amongst

them, only Jet airways and Sahara airways survived and they had

monopolised the market. A revolution in 2003 marked the entry

of the new segment of airlines i.e.low cost carrier (LCC) segment

ushered in by Capt. Gopinath, replicating the model of Southwest

airlines dominant in the west. Until 2003, flying was a dream of

many but it had now become a reality for the prototypical common

man of India. This brought about a steep decline in the travel

prices along with a breakneck increase in air passenger demand.

Development of airports at many Tier-II and Tier-III non-metro cities

had started and the airline thus connected several destinations.

Air Deccan not only challenged the full service carriers (FSC) like

Jet airways which also lead to the decline of Sahara airways but

also challenged other modes of transport like railways and road.

The cheap prices with reduced duration of travel made flying a

stress-free mode of transport. Kingfisher airlines (KFA) started its

operations in 2005 as a FSC. right since the outset of its setups, the

airline was making losses. To enter the LCC segment, it acquired

the running at a loss proposition, Air Deccan and started operations

under the name Kingfisher red apart from its FSC services in the

domestic market. Jet airways also entered the LCC segment with

the acquisition of Sahara airways and started operations under the

name Jet Lite. With increasing debt and high cost of manoeuvres,

KFA was forced to shut its processes caused by the cancellation of

its flying license by the DGCA. With developments in the arena of

LCC, there was ingress of other airliners like Indigo, Spicejet, Go

Air flying in the Indian skies and they captured 69% of the market

share by 2010-11.

source: ICRA limited

Despite such increasing demand, the Indian airliners

are making losses. Below are few challenges which

airliners are facing and the measures which the

Government of India is taking to control it.

soaring ATf prices:

Fuel costs account to 40-50% of operating costs of the carriers.

Fluctuations in crude oil prices in the international markets affect

ATF prices. The last few years have seen a rising trajectory in oil

prices. To add to the woes, the weakening rupee has made the

airliners undergo losses despite maintaining same passenger prices

to maintain their market share in the competitive market. Also, the

airliners have to pay sales tax of 24 percent which is being levied

on ATF in India. However it is being suggested that the sales tax be

brought down to 4 per cent by asserting ATF as a declared good.

This move shall save 20-30 percent of the costs. Also, to avoid

payment of sales tax and to let the airliners enjoya benefit of lower

ATF prices in the international market, the government in February

2012 allowed airlines to directly import ATF which is 60 percent

cheaper in international market as compared to that in India.

However, this seems to be a partial solution since importing fuel

would require adequate storage and logistical infrastructure. So, all

the airliners should join hands and develop optimal solution which

shall not only reduce their costs but also increase their profitability.

hike in airport charges:

Mumbai-Delhi route is the most expensive air route. This is attributed to levying of user development fee and airport development fee

(ADF) by around 300 percent by Delhi international airport limited (DIAL) and Mumbai international airport limited (MIAL) who are airport

operators of Delhi and Mumbai respectively. This has led to objection by International Air Transport Association (IATA) as well as other

airliners which is expected to lead to a decline in the passenger demand by 5-8 percent. But, with increasing passenger demand, there is

a need to expand capacity requirement at the airports along with developmental activities for aircraft landing and parking, ground safety

and handling services and fuel supply services with rise in number of aircrafts.

With 456 airports and airstrips in India, only 88 are under operation. There is a plan to increase it to 225 by 2020 by Airport Authority of

India with estimated investments of rs 675 billion. These include many Greenfield and Brownfield projects. With rise in passenger traffic

and capacity constraints in several metro airports, the need has arisen to build additional airports in these cities along with development

of other airports in nearby Tier-II and III cities in order to reduce dependency. However, there is stunted progress due to hindrances of land

acquisition, environmental clearances, political logjams and muddy policies of the government. With many airport projects approved, they

are uncertain in terms of viability. Currently six metro cities handle 77 percent of the total traffic. And most of the metro airports are facing

capacity constraints and would get saturated by 2015. This has led to increased hovering and delayed time for landing and takeoff thus

increasing additional burden of burning fuel on the airliners, in return aggrandizing the losses. With estimated rise in urban population

to 37 percent by 2035 as per McKinsey, there will be scarcity of land for acquisition and also an increase in cost of acquiring. So, the

government should identify land airport development and planning of cities for safety purposes. As of now, Mumbai airport is within city

limits posing a threat to passengers and residential places which demands the need for a new airport which still is, on paper.

Debt Burden:

The total cumulative debt of all airlines till 2011-12 was $20 billion

with half of it related to working capital payments to airport

operations and fuel companies. High interest rates prevailing over

the past fiscal have also added to the costs.

Though the government has allowed foreign direct investments

(FDI) up to 49% in airline segment, there have not been significant

developments owing to global economic slowdown, poor demand

from US and Europe, rupee depreciation and stringent opaque

policies for airliners.

Development of airports and airliners shall not only benefit these

companies but also rev up the economic growth of our country.

With government and AAI working on building efficient policies,

there is a hope for recovery among the Indian airliners.

Source: Indian Infrastructure, September 2012 edition

Exhibit 1: Market share of Domestic Airlines in India

Aircraft landing in Mumbai airport over residential areas poses a

high safety risk

Hovering due to congestion at airports costs carriers rs 50,000/-

for half an hour


08

SPM MIRROR

09

Service sector contributes close to 59% of GDP. The Indian

Financial Services sector, with a contribution of 17.9 % to the

overall GDP plays a pivotal role in the country’s development.

The consumption-led boom triggered by favourable demographics

has fuelled the growth of financial services in India. The attractive

opportunities in this sector have led to the entry of global majors into

the Indian market. Not only the domestic financial services sector but

also the captive off-shoring is contributing in a big way to the strength

of this sector.

The sector has weathered the storm of the global financial crises of

2008 and is poised to play an equally critical role in the country’s next stage of growth. It is very pivotal for firms to shift focus towards

sustainable inclusive growth in order to respond to challenges such as increasing competition, changing regulatory norms, more value

demanding customers, technology shifts, complex environments to work upon so on and so forth.

The recent spate of reforms in FDI in retail, aviation, insurance, pension funds, etc. signal that the reform wave to revive the animal spirits

of the economy has begun, and to capitalize on this it is indispensable to develop a robust understanding of the pros and cons of these

reforms in various sectors, its social implications and its considerable effect on the economy as a whole. Also in today’s complex business

climate, the financial services sector demands an integrated approach to managing its uncertainties and opportunities.

The roundtable shall provide an opportunity to take a closer look at these issues and attempt to unearth the possibilities and their

implications and ultimately the way forward.

Financial ServiceS roundtable 2012

“I am confident the institute will reach

many milestones soon. My best wishes to

the wonderful students for their career.

Many thanks to Dr. Trivedi, Dr. Paliwal and

Dr. Yadav who were very warm and co-

operative” .

Mr. C. l. Mehta

Consultant, state Bank of India

“Excellent organization, good choice

of topics, knowledgeable co-panelists,

Pleasant experience overall”

Mr. gautam Patel

Independent Consultant-Infrastructure

Projects

With this objective in mind, Finnacle-The Finance Club at School of Petroleum

Management organized the Financial Services roundtable, 2012 at Pandit

Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar on 23rd November, 2012. The

seminar was inaugurated with a key note address by Dr. T. T. ram Mohan, Professor,

IIM Ahmedabad & Eminent Columnist. He deliberated upon the challenges faced

by the Indian Banking Sector expressing where it stands in today’s post-crisis

scenario, the challenges and threats confronting it and the numerous competitive

advantages intrinsic to its model. He also elucidated on the various challenges

faced by the banking sector, including but not in any way limited to the lack of

size, greater competition, increase in regulatory capital requirements, creating a

global presence, and adequate human resource competency. He also highlighted

the process of disintermediation, financial inclusions, risk management and

customer service satisfaction.

The roundtable was a platform to raise, discuss and deliberate various challenges

with fresh idea and new perspectives and the distinguished leaders to lead these

issues were Dr. Bandi ram Prasad, President-MCX-SX, Mumbai; Mr. Sanjeev

Kothari, SME rating Agency (SMErA); Mr. Gautam Patel, Independent Consultant-

Infrastructure Projects; Mr. C. L. Mehta, Banker, Consultant-State Bank of India;

and Mr. ranajit Banerjee, Chief Consulting Officer, The various themes covered

under the umbrella of the seminar were SME rating Services; Financial Services

for Infrastructure Projects; Financial Inclusion in Indian Context and Challenges in

Project Finance. This session was followed by an open house discussion presided

over by the session chair, Dr. Bandi ram Prasad.

Dr. Sudhir Yadav, Advisor-Financial Services roundtable gave the concluding

remarks and the student co-ordinator of the roundtable proposed the vote of

thanks. This event, a first for School of Petroleum Management outside of the

Energy and Infrastructure domain, was a resounding success and was another

feather in the hat for the Faculty, Staff and Students of SPM.

@SpmupcominGevent


10

SPM MIRROR

11

The steady emergence of India as a major world economy,

on the strength of its huge human resource pool, has led

to more and more countries seeking mutually beneficial

relationship with it. In recent years, India and Singapore

have signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation

Agreement (CECA) to increase trade, investments

and economic cooperation and expanded bilateral

cooperation.

Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar,

Gujarat was the honored host of ‘International round

Table on India-Singapore Economic relations’ on

November 28, 2012. Participating in the round table

were a high level delegation from Singapore Economic Development Board – Mr. Alfred Lum (India Center Director), PwC Singapore

- Mr. Abhijit Ghosh (Senior Partner), Maxine Borja and Mr. Abhesh Kumar (India Desk Lead), HSBC - Mr. Atin Bhutani (VP, Global

Markets), Melissa Low (HSBC Global Markets).

The round table also saw the participation of Indian companies and leading corporate from Gujarat and academic experts. Topics that

were explored at the round table included Trade and Economic opportunities in Singapore and Gujarat, Industry-Academia Linkages

and Bilateral Trade.

With these words Mr Narendra Modi, Honarable Chief Manager

of Gujarat inaugurated the 2 day event - International Conference

for Academic Institutions 2013. PDPU became the esteemed

venue for the International Conference of Academic Institutions

(ICAI), on January 9 & 10, 2013. The Conference is a platform

for universities in Gujarat for associating with foreign institutions

in various fields. This year, 118 Memorandum of Understanding

(MoUs) were signed on the very first day for partnership in

higher education. Very pertinently Mr Modi impressed hundreds

of delegates from almost 145 international institutions of 56

countries along with 52 institutions from 14 Indian states as well

as 67 others from Gujarat itself. The focus of the event was to

foster international partnerships between universities and private

organisations .The MoU between Pandit Deendayal Petroleum

University and Cairn India Limited (CAIrN) was welcomed with

good cheer. Such conferences ensure that countries come

together for establishing higher standards in education.

ICAI aims at internationalising the higher education as higher

education is seen as one of the ways a country responds to the

impact of globalization, at the same time paying the humble

respect of distinctiveness of the nation. Improving major skills

of individuals and working for the betterment of research and

Development skills.

The State wears a festive look during the kite flying festival

in January. More than colourful kites, it waits for the popular

event, ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ - A Summit reflects the vision of the

Government of Gujarat. The sixth edition was all about strengths,

progress, initiatives, and above all art and culture. The festive

ambiance had gripped the PDPU campus as well. With a huge

number of students participating in the event as volunteers, even

the exhibition stall attracted loads of visitors from across the

globe. The great news was brought by rIL Chairman Mukesh

Ambani with rIL partnering with the State Government to invest

a whopping 500 crores at the PDPU to advance educational and

academic standards. Vibrant Gujarat 2013 sure had much in

store that will make people anxiously wait for another great one.

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit became an example of a

visionary approach of the Government of Gujarat towards

Innovation, Sustainability, Youth and Skill Development,

Knowledge Sharing and Networking. Under the aegis of the sixth

edition of the summit held between 11 - 13 January around 127

events were held as the part of global investor summit.

The state of Gujarat, known as the Growth Engine of India, is

now moving towards leadership in knowledge advancements

based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability.The Vibrant

Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and avant-garde -

both in its coverage and magnitude. It provided a podium for

Gujarat and other countries to cooperate and explore attractive

business opportunities.

ICAI takes education to a completely new level

Vibrant Gujarat, 2013: Thinking Ahead on Growth

The smart grid vision for India is to transform the Indian power sector into a secure, adaptive, sustainable and digitally enabled

ecosystem by 2027. The Indian government has embarked on $900 billion investment in electrical infrastructure by 2020. At present,

the smart grid market in India is $1.1 billion and 16.3 percent CAGr growth is forecast between 2011 and 2015. India‘s spending on

Smart Grid, is anticipated to increase from $1.1 billion today to $1.9 billion by 2015.

It is in this context that European Business & Technology Centre (EBTC), Fraunhofer Institute- Germany and PDPU, had organized

‘Smart Grid Cooperation Event in India’ where the opportunity of innovations in smart grid solutions were discussed. This event was

in two parts, one on 29th November, 2012 at New Delhi involving interaction between delegations from Industry and Government.

The other part was held at PDPU, Gandhinagar on 30th November, 2012 involving Industry-Academia Interaction. Also ‘customized

one-to-one meetings’ with prospective European technologies B2B meetings were also held in the backdrop of this event.

Participating Institutes or organizations were following: Fraunhofer Institute, Germany; rural Spark, Netherlands; VITO N.V., Belgium;

IWG Isolier Wendt GmbH, Germany and Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar.

International Round Table onIndia-Singapore Economic Relations

India-Europe Co-operation Event on Smart Grid

Some of the major international universities that attended ICAI 2013 were Seneca College, Canada, University of Adelaide, University of Toronto, University of Alberta, National University of Singapore and University of Houston.

campuS buZZ

“India is the youngest country in the world with 65% of

its population under 35 years of age. By 2020, the average

Indian will be 28 or 29. This is a tremendous opportunity

(for India) to supply skilled manpower to the world”


12

SPM MIRROR

13

At SPM, even cultural events are considered at par with academics. reprise, the cultural event is one such indication. reprise 2012 was held

on 14th December 2012 at SPM college campus. Various events like singing, dancing, skit, photography, documentary making adorned

reprise. Students showcased immense talent in both group and solo performances. What made it interesting were the surfacing hidden

talents and great enthusiasm. Singing, dancing and acting performances kept the audience in rapt attention. The incredible skit with a

social message stole the show at reprise. Photography & documentary making depicted the creativity of students in the confines of an

interesting theme. Though loaded with regular classes and assignments students took active part in the event to make it a grand success

and keep the culture alive. Event was the result of hard efforts of student cultural committee with other members working in tandem. Such

events helped to bring out team building efforts and grow together in a team beyond classroom exercises.

The Alumni meet of SPM, ZEPHYr – 2012, was held on 15th

December, 2012. The event is organized every year to bring the

SPM family together, including the alumni, current students,

faculties and other staff, at a common platform to interact with

each other. The event lasted entire day with different activities

scheduled throughout the day. The event began with a vigorous 3

KM energy run in the morning at 6:30 AM. The run was attended

by alumni, students and faculty member with equal verve. After the

lunch, the campus came alive with colorful faces, thanks to theme-

based face painting competition, adjudged by alumni. The game of

housie was equally fun for the students. The formal meet started at

seven in the evening and was attended by various faculty members,

Director SPM, students and Alumni. Prof. Subrat Sahu, chairperson

of the function appreciated the presence of alumni in his address

and even discussed the proposal of an Alumni association. The

director addressed the gathering welcoming the alumni persuading

them to interact with students on a regular basis. Few of the Alumni

recounted the wonderful time spent at the campus while sharing

their industry experience. Students entertained the audience

with remarkable dancing and singing performances. With this,

the reverend Director presented each alumnus a memento as a

token of appreciation. The formal meet culminated with the dinner

followed by a spectacular DJ held at the SPM campus. It added

a fun quotient at the event. We hope the alumni attending the

function had great fun and will visit us again.

With heads held high, motivating ambience and several feathers in

the cap, SPM celebrated its 6th foundation anniversary. As the lamp

of knowledge was enlightened, the Director and faculty addressed

the students. The intense energy in the environment multiplied

the pride of those present. Winning students gladly accepted their

certificates amid resounding applause. The event culminated with

everybody relishing the success with delicious cake. From creating

a pool of extremely talented alumnus to grooming and orienting

batch towards energy and infrastructure sector, our college has

certainly made its presence felt in the industry.

Reprise Zephyr

Aadarshila

SCHOOL OF PETROLEUM MANAGEMENTMBA (ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE)

Off Koba-Gandhinagar Highway, raisan, Gandhinagar- 380027, Gujarat, India.

Ph: + 91 79 23275107, +91 79 23275112 | fax: + 91 79 23276364

Visit us at www.spm.pdpu.ac.in

P a n d i t

deendaYal

PetroleuM

univerSitY

Editorial Team• Aayushi Tulsiyan • Devang Chandratre • Krutika K

Samarth Mewada • Sushobhit Maity

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors. The organization or the newsletter does not in any way endorse or disown them. The views cannot be duplicated or used without the permission of the Editorial Team.

spm december & jan mirror 2012

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