Outsourced: Movie Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LImhTTFu4b8

Janani and I watched this movie yesterday with my friend and his wife. I should say it is one of the best indo-american movies I have ever watched. It is very relevant to the outsourcing industry. Although some moments are exaggerated, there were certainly some aspects that bring out the beauty of India as well eccentricity of running call centers for American companies in India. I had a great time since I have seen all three sides of the subject myself: India, US and call center training (Yes, I have been to a call center to train some of their staff on our products).

It is an independent movie, so it is released in very few theatres. Catch it if you can.

What you don’t know about housing loans in India – Part 1

Last year I bought a home in Chennai and I availed a loan from ICICI bank. In my upcoming blogs I will share what a person like me normally goes through and what you might want to know upfront so that you make an informed decision.

First thing you might want to know: The banks are very forthcoming in giving out loans. You will find that you can easily get a loan of even 1 crore rupees pre-approved with very less paperwork. Gone are the days when it was difficult to get loans. With proof of steady income you can easily get a loan of upto 2x or 3x of your annual gross salary without any problems. You will be amazed by the so called “service” that some banks offer you these days. They send sales people to your homes to get all paperwork filled up. They go above and beyond to hook you up with a loan. You might think that it is wonderful customer service, but watch out if you do not know what you are getting yourself into, you might be up for a huge roller coaster ride. The media does not cover the dark side of this due to obvious reasons, they get significant ad revenue from these big banks. More to follow.

Solar Fabs in India

The other day after writing my previous blog on India’s latest incentive policy semiconductor fabs, I was wondering that for the short term there might not be that much scope for chip fabs. This is because the current world demand is being served by the fabs in US and Asia. With so many chip fabs coming up in China, it will be very tough for India to break the entry barrier. Attracting Solar fabs instead might be a wise idea mainly due to 2 reasons: 1. Competition from China and Taiwan would be lesser; 2. Moreover the solar cells is a capacity limited market right now: Demand exceeds supply. 

India creates incentives for Semiconductor Fabs

A step in the right direction: The Indian government is finally headed towards creating incentives for Semiconductor fabs. To really make this dream a reality the government should ensure that these SEZs also need to provide required infrastructure (uninterrupted power and other amenities). The dream will remain a dream if they cannot attract Engineering talent (NRI Engineers) back into the country. The government also needs to ensure these SEZs will attract and incentivize non-residential Indians back to their Motherland (ex-pats). For this, they need to provide good environmental and residential infrastructure. They need top class schools that would match standards with those in developed countries.

This is a step in the right direction for the overall Indian economy since this will attract foreign direct investment that will create jobs for a huge non-technical population also. Moreover, this investment is not as liquid as investing in services industry or the stock market. It is easier for MNCs to pull-back from services industry but difficult to pull back from investment in manufacturing (fabs). The semiconductor fab industry is part of a huge food chain. So this will trigger investment from other parts of the food chain. 

India is also a huge market for semiconductor goods. The government should provide special incentives for fabs that produce chips that go into products that are sold inside India.  

Next week, I will be flying to the UK to meet some of our customers. Hopefully I will find time during my flight to complete the HDMI story that is still pending completion.