Sunday, September 29, 2013

Tea Exports: From bulk to brands

India is established as bulk exporter of tea since a long time. In order to turn over to value added form The Tea Board is encouraging producers to promote brands in foreign markets. The country has failed in creating specific brands abroad with emphasis on fine blending. The constituents of majority of International blends contain leaves from India. Ironically the blends are being sold under foreign brands with no hint of India at all.       

Indian Tea Board plans to encourage tea producers to export premium tea that carry value addition. Premium black teas from Assam and Darjeeling tea from West Bengal have already created a niche in the global markets.  

Already major players like Wagh Bakri are pushing their flagship brands over board. The production capacity and blending expertise that the company has is leading success outside by leaps and bounds. 

The Indian tea Board is a statutory body under the aegis of Central Government Ministry of Commerce. The functions of this board is defined n the website as follows:

Tea Industry in India

Historically introduction of tea in India is a recent phenomenon. The beverage was introduced by the British during their rule in order to counter expanding Chinese tea industry. The British procured seeds of the tea plant from China and introduced it in Eastern India mainly in the state of Assam and West Bengal. The cultivation later spread to the Nilgiris in Southern India in the Western Ghats region.  

The introduction of tea consumption was initiated by the British. This led to inculcation of tea into Indian lifestyle. Today tea is widely consumed all over the country. After China, India is the largest producer of tea leaf in the World. The growth in terms of consumption a well as production has been tremendous. The country also exports the leaf to the tune of 2000 crores per year. 

The benefit has accrued from increased production and exports in terms of revenue generation. The industry is labor intensive hence offers jobs to a million laborers of which half are women. The cultivation in India takes place mainly in Assam, Darjeeling in West Bengal and the Nilgiri in the South.

A large number of tea estates are established in these regions. Most of the processing and packaging factories are also established within these estates or tea gardens as they are called. As in earlier times loose tea was circulated commonly before established brands came into the picture. Loose tea market in India is still substantial but the brand popularity has increased tremendously. 

The popularity of brands has introduced varied forms of tea blended to perfection. Black leaf from Assam is most popular but slowly premium varieties are also making their presence felt. Green tea and organic tea are also becoming popular. Besides the aromatic leaf from Darjeeling though expensive also finds consumers in India and abroad. 

Some of  the leading brands in India are:
Wagh Bakri Tea
Lipton Tea
Brook Bond
Duncans
Tetlay
Tata
These brands have a large share of the packet tea market in India. Innovative packaging and fine art of blending various leaves has lead to increasing popularity of branded tea in India.                     

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Silk Business in India

Derived from the cocoon of the silkworm the fibers are woven into classic fabrics used as garments throughout the history. These garments were in the possession of the rich in earlier times but they can be afforded by the common man in the contemporary era.  

Hence the popularity of silk garments and fabrics is rising world wide. The product is not only used in making high fashion garments it is also popular among home furnishing items. Silk especially Dupioni Silk is used in making designer bedsheets, comforter sets, drapery and decorative pillows.   

Almost all of the silk production in India takes places in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka and West Bengal. The sericulture is prevalent in India since the Indus Valley Civilization in India. With the advance in production of silk weaving as a profession also developed in the country.  

Assam, South India, Gujarat and Malwa where important weaving centers using wide varieties of silk.  In the modern times pure silk usage has been reduced. The use of handlooms and powerlooms has also brought in dynamic changes in the industry.

The major products range from saris to contemporary garments created by fashion designers in India. The fabric as well as designer dresses are exported to many countries. While traditional varieties of silk are still in use Dupioni Silk takes precedent for home furnishings, interiors and fashion garments. Large quantities of Dupioni silk fabric is exported to many countries.  

The sericulture industry is at the forefront of job creation in India. With encouragement accorded by many Indian States more income opportunities will be created.  

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Metal Jewelry Making

The use of metal in jewelry started with the discovery of metals and subsequent knowledge and advance in metallurgy. The manufacturing changed from being more as a handicraft item to special art of jewelry making.  The raw materials used earlier were beads, bones, wood, clay and other natural materials. The body adornment then depicted natural forms, floral motifs birds and animals.

With the use of metals gold and silver jewelries studded with diamonds and precious stones became popular. This development came about with the refinement in mining process. The traditional jewelry makers used more complicated designs and patterns to design and handcraft the products. Handcrafted products emerged with the development of tools like hammer, pliers, metal cutting tools, bench pin, files, mandrel for resizing rings, saw blades and more.

Originally jewelries were handmade crafted by traditional craftsmen all over the World. The type of manufacturing involved in this art is:

Handmade or handcrafted
Dye Cast
Machine made or assembled.   

Unlike handcrafted designer jewelry the latter two cater to middle class segment. Most popular jewelries are cast made and are usually less costly. The machine made products are mass produced with little differentiation in design. The products are of large markets which are cost conscious. 

Fine designer jewelries are handcrafted without the use of machine tools. The design and settings are done by hand hence the name handmade designer jewelry.  The jewelry designers in the modern World are professionals capable of producing highly appealing trendy designs.

Fashion jewelry differs from traditional items since the latter is a product ethnic design and development. There are many traditional communities in the third World that are involved in the process for centuries. While fashion jewelries are more of recent origin bordering on abstract designs and vivid patterns.  Another form is the art jewelry category which is preferred by the collectors and the wealthy who can afford to buy them.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

UID - Aadhar Project

The cabinet committee on UID has approved to bring 600 million Indian citizens under the Aadhaar net. The cabinet committee is presided by the Prime Minster of India. 

After many glitches the the Aadhaar Project due to impending difference between the Authority and Home Ministry of India things seem to be straightening out. The eventual aim of the scheme is to cover all 1.2 billion Indians to register for the Aadhar Card also called the UID card.

The UID number is a twelve digit number that will be printed on the card. This is an all inclusive photo identity scheme that implements biometric data. This date is collected from the applicant using approved devices and methods. As per the latest news this data will be shred between the UID General and UID Authority.  Along with biometric data demographic profile is also screened to establish the persons identity.  

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Nation Building

Seen through a myopic perspective top rung Indian industrialist always appear to amassing huge wealth. It is true on many instances but many have indulged into a philanthropy that has immensely benefited the Nation.  Foremost examples that come to mind are the Tatas & Birla Group.    

Number of institutions like education centers, hospitals and research centers where generously built through donations from these corporate giants. The personal wealth was transferred into Sir Ratan Tata Trust and
Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and both where instrumental in philanthropic work in the country.

The trusts went on to build TIFR, Indian Institute of Science and Tata Memorial Hospital. There are many other noted industrialist who have contributed to Nation Building is a commendable way. 

Global Economic Scenario - Banks

US economy leaping far ahead of the World crumbles and many banking institutions pack up overnight. The economists are stunned no one could peep through the curtains of corporate offices. What happened?

Bolstered by a strong economy and upward trends, the banking institutions fed the public on easily available loans under presumption that return is no big issue. It was! The country had begun facing the heat with most of the manufacturing moving to Asia, competition in service sector and competition from rising economy like India and China.   

These factors have severely affected the developed World especially Europe. For the banking sector a new paradigm has to emerge in order to manage cash adequacy and mitigate risk factors. This means more regulatory norms and stringent compliance.

Capital Flow inwards is crucial for smaller banks to retain fund adequacy. Sound financial strategies are the order of the day.  For small sized large amount of capital input is a necessity if they have to grow bigger.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Insurance is a risk management strategy

A business always fears uncertainty or uncertain risk factors that constantly loom over head.  Hence all business resorts to insuring whatever aspect that can be insured. In order insure the company charges a premium which is the charge paid by the policy holder.  The insurer compensates the policy holder as its service and binding.

The risk cover guarantee is prefixed and the cover is granted based on terms and condition set by the insurer.  The business has positive impact on people and industry by covering their risk in order to prevent a financial catastrophe.

The basic risk cover is against accident, fire, theft, fraud. Then there are special types of insurance applicable to big business and major institutions. The terms and conditions differ depending upon the type of insurance.

All over the World insurance business is booming both in public sector and private sector.  Hence marketing and publicity has become a major strategy for these companies. 

Health insurance is also a major sector providing health expense cover for major surgical treatments and hospitalization charges. Small accident benefits are also covered.  Life insurance is the biggest service sector in risk management. The benefit accrues to the policy holder’s family in case untimely demise.

There are specific guarantees as well as comprehensive risk cover guarantee in case of latter the premium applicable is more.

Junk Removal Best Practice

 Junk is basically an amassing of used goods, items which constitute furniture, equipment, used household items and what not.  The junk may accumulate over a number of years and can come in your way all the time. In case of large number of junk items one needs a professional service to remove it.  

It is not easy to remove large amount of junk from your house or factory as safety is the key consideration. Secondly you need to dispose it to the right place and cannot dump it just anywhere. The junk removal services are expert at their jobs and hence deliver you efficiently from the accumulated mess.

Junk constitutes anything which people do not find useful or which does not have any resale value. Well there are dealers in junk material but they will pick up few selected items which have a resale value. These dealers make lot of money by selling items as second hand buy paying you very little. On the other hand reusing wasted or unused items is a good practice and leaves less carbon footprints. Recycling material is also a good practice as it reduces consumption of natural resources and brings down pollution from manufacturing units.

In the rich countries like USA where people consume or use a lot of consumer durables. These are manufactured items, cutlery, electrical and electronic items, furniture, paper, plastic and things made of various materials when these lose their utility they are thrown aside.   

The right manner to dispose these would be to the second hand store, recycling units, charities and perhaps collectors.  It is better to be circumspect in use of all your household needs and preserve them for as long as you can. This simply means one has to be frugal in usage of material things.

But it is common practice to remove unused items from the house this can be done through the garbage bin. But only small items are thrown this way if the rules do not prevent it. In many countries people dump items on the roads since this is the easiest way to get rid of them. But this is a heinous practice since it troubles the public service machinery. Fortunately one cannot do this in every country.

Hence if lot of space is occupied in your house by unwanted things and you have no other recourse then call a removal service. These are professional businesses and have a license and expertise to do the job meticulously. If you wish to do things by yourself, than you need to hire the right equipments for the job.   

Depending upon the enormity of the task you may have to roll off hire containers, dumpster and dump truck. If the task is small the equipment size would be reduced and so would be the cost.   But discretion is better than valor since sometimes this can be a safety hazard. Hence a wise guy will prefer to hire a junk removal company the try to do it oneself.

Before choosing company for this  task one needs to be circumspect. Ask for the reputation of the service in you neighborhood or friends and relatives who have used their services. Check prices that are applicable t o type of work you have to get done. Choose a company online that is near to your locality.   

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Cyrus Mistry - Profile

As a successor to Ratan Tata, Cyrus Mistry will head the mega empire of Tata Group and its holding company Tata Sons as chairman.  He is the son of eminent Mr. Pallonji Mistry. Born is the year 1968 he is a young businessman taking over on of the largest business house in India.  

Cyrus also serves as directory of his father's company besides some other companies. The Pallonji family holds more than eighteen percent share in Tata Sons and he happens to be the second non Tata Chairman in the history of the corporate. 

Mistry is highly experienced and has worked as a Director at Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital Co. Ltd, Tata Sons, Oman Shapoorji Construction Co., Cyrus Investments Ltd, Tata Elxsi, Forvol International Services Ltd, Ltd and Muscat Pallonji Shapoorji & Co. Pvt. Ltd, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. (Rajkot) Pvt. Ltd, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd,  Shapoorji Pallonji Power Co. Ltd, Buildbazaar Technologies (India) Pvt Ltd, Sterling Investment Corporation Pvt. Ltd, Samalpatti Power Co. Pvt. Ltd,  Shapoorji Pallonji Finance Ltd and Tata Power Company Ltd.  

The eminent Chairman has studied at Mumbai based school Cathedral & John Conon School and graduated in civil engineering from Imperial College in London. He holds a master's degree in management from London Business School.   

His only Tata connection is Noel Tata betrothed to his sister Aloo and half brother of  Ratan Tata. He will takeover the reins in the year 2012 when Ratan Tata retires.