Design services

As India emerges as a global design hub, multinational companies (MNCs) are increasingly outsourcing industrial and engineering design tasks in diverse industrial sectors like semi-conductors, aerospace, automotive, farming equipment, power generation and consumer electronics among others.

Among the major firms focussing on research and allied sectors,

• Kone, the Finnish elevator and escalator company, has set up the Indian Technology and Engineering Centre to house its research and development (R&D) and engineering units under one roof in Chennai.
• California-based device software optimisation (DSO) provider Wind River Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation, plans to set up a research and development (R&D) centre in India to focus on innovation to its product line. According to Damian Artt, senior vice-president (worldwide sales and services, Wind River Systems said, "The country's industrial output rose 16.7 per cent in January 2010 from a year earlier, stronger than the market expectations, and India stands tenth in global spend with $24 billion in FY09. It is a critical market for Wind River."
• Indus Institute of Technology and Engineering (IITE) has collaborated with Georgian College, Canada, to provide a unique Advanced Diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology—Automotive Manufacturing for Indian students.

Automobile Design

Indian automobile companies have come of age and can today boast of several indigenously designed cars. Tata Motors has designed and developed its small cars, Nano and Indica, in India.

Propped by the increase in its car sales after the launch of General Motors' (GM) new model Beat, along with the robust growth in the Indian automobile sector, Kevin E Wale, President and Managing Director, General Motors China Group stated that India should be among the top ten markets for the company globally by 2011.

India has now established itself as a 'brand in engineering' with global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) looking at India as a good outsourcing hub.

• Rolls-Royce Group plc, the global power systems company, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an IT services, business solutions and outsourcing firm, have announced a global engineering services partnership. As part of the agreement, TCS will support and enable Rolls-Royce strategy to expand its engineering services footprint in India.
• Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and DSM of the Netherlands have entered into an alliance to develop new lighter materials that could substitute metals in the automotive industry, and help auto components shed weight.
• RSB Transmissions (I) Ltd, engaged in manufacturing of automotive, construction and farm equipment, has acquired, through its Netherland-based arm RSB Europe BV, 70 per cent stake in the Belgium-based construction equipment aggregate manufacturer Mechanical Supplies International NV (MSI).

Aviation Design

With a blend of its state-of-art information and aerospace technologies, India has tremendous potential in the area of design in aerospace. Engineering and design services being outsourced to India include control system design, embedded development, high level aeronautical system design, simulation, testing devices, cockpit equipment support software, air traffic management systems, and composite structuring.

• Global aviation companies, such as Boeing and Airbus, are trying to increase their footprint by sourcing more components from India. As per Ian Thomas, President, Boeing India, said, "We are looking at partnerships with various Indian companies for different aircraft components." In the next 3-5 years, the infrastructure sector is looking at investments of more than US$ 500 billion.
• A PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on aerospace and defence cites auto part makers planning to enter aircraft component production, particularly in precision engineering, machining, aircraft lighting, tyre manufacture and transmission components. The south is gearing up for a stellar role in the space.
• American aviation giant, Boeing has set up its research and technology centre at Bengaluru, which will work in the areas such as aero structures and aerodynamics to sustain the company's competitive technological edge.
• According to Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the firm plans to invest US$ 53.95 million to build a plant to manufacture aircraft components.

EADS is likely to transfer some of the development projects of its advanced 4G Eurofighter Typhoon to India soon. The company has also set up a military R&D centre in Bengaluru.

Semiconductor design

According to the India Semiconductor Association (ISA), sustained by demand from the telecom and IT sector, the semiconductor market in India is poised to grow at a CAGR of 22.1 per cent to touch US$ 8.04 billion in 2011.

Furthermore, as per ISA-Frost & Sullivan, India Semiconductor Market 2009-2011 reported, the Indian semiconductor market grew 15.6 per cent in 2009. "The opportunity in the semiconductor industry is expected to witness a CAGR of 34.8 per cent in the Total Available Market (TAM), the revenue of which is anticipated to climb to US$ 4.84 billion in 2011 from US$ 2.66 billion in 2009," as per the study.

India's microchip market is set for a robust compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.1 per cent, according to a report released by the India Semiconductor Association (ISA). The study said that wireless handsets, notebooks, set-top boxes, smart cards and newer technologies like 3G and WiMax are powering demand that feeds this growth.

As per Biswadip Mitra, Chairman, ISA, "The total available market for the Indian electronics industry is anticipated to rise significantly to US$ 37.1 billion in 2011 from US$ 25.4 billion in 2009."

Engineering services

The engineering sector is the largest segment of the overall Indian industrial sector. The engineering industry accounts for 12 per cent of India's GDP.

EEPC India, apex body of engineering exporters, has started off a series of 22 Buyer-Seller Meets (BSMs) across seven locations, including New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ludhiana and Ahmedabad in March 2010. In the first BSM series, nearly 100 Indian companies in the engineering sector had direct business talks with their counterparts from USA, Canada, Europe and CIS countries. Besides, 30 buyers from USA, Canada, Turkey, France, Slovenia, Spain, Bulgaria, Spain, Armenia and Ukraine etc attended the meet.

India enjoys a cost-advantage in casting and forging, as manufacturing costs in India are 25-30 per cent lower than western countries

According to a study conducted by National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and Booz & Company (a strategy and technology consulting firm), India has the potential to capture US$ 40-45 billion in engineering R&D services by 2020. The engineering services landscape in India has evolved significantly over the last four years, reflecting maturity, diversification and enhanced verticalisation to partner with global corporations, as per the study.

Mentor Graphics Corporation has partnered with Wipro Technologies to continue to enable time-to-market and first-time right solutions to their global product engineering customers.

Engineering Services Outsourcing (ESO)

The Engineering Services Outsourcing (ESO) sector is another sector with great potential. ESO includes product design, research and development and other technical services across sectors like automotive, aerospace, hi-tech/telecom, utilities and construction/industrial machinery.

According to a study by NASSCOM and Booz Allen Hamilton (a strategy and technology consulting firm), the global engineering services market in 2020 is estimated to touch US$ 1,100 billion, of which the outsourced component is estimated to reach around US$ 200 billion.

Government Initiatives

Indian service providers have invested considerably in increasing their global footprint to provide services to geographically distributed customers. They have established sales teams in North America and Europe and delivery centres in China and Japan for closer interaction with customers in the former and to co-ordinate efforts with existing manufacturing facilities in the latter. Within India, companies have begun to move to tier-2 cities to take advantage of lower costs of operations and to access a large graduating pool of engineers.

The miscellaneous mechanical and engineering industries sector-wise foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows from April 2000 to March 2010 was calculated at US$ 795.87 million, as per the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

India is one of the top-ranking countries in the field of basic research. India's current rise in science is as impressive as its economic surge in recent years and the country clearly has the potential to become the home for world class research, as per a study by Thomson Reuters titled 'Global Research Report: India'.

Space Technology

India is one of the few countries with expertise to conceptualise, design and manufacture satellites and the capability to launch them into space. In fact, it has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world.

ANTRIX Corporation Ltd, ISRO has been conferred with the most prestigious Globe Sustainability Research Award 2010 by the Globe Forum, Stockholm, Sweden.

ISRO successfully conducted the flight testing of its new generation high-performance sounding rocket on March 3, 2010 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR.

The successful flight testing of ATV-D01 is a step ahead towards the advanced technology initiative taken up by ISRO in the area of Air- Breathing propulsion.

Space Vision India 2025

ISRO's vision and mission statement comprises of

• Satellite-based communication and navigation systems for rural connectivity, security needs and mobile services
• Enhanced imaging capability for natural resource management, weather and climate change studies
• Space science missions for better understanding of solar system and universe
• Planetary exploration
• Development of Heavy lift launcher
• Reusable Launch Vehicles - Technology demonstrator missions leading to Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO)
• Human Space Flight

Nuclear science

With the opening up of India's nuclear energy sector; nuclear science and its study has become the new thrust area

• India and Canada have signed a landmark civil nuclear deal in June 2010. The agreement made Canada the eighth country with which India has a civil nuclear agreement.
• The Heavy Water Board (HWB) has bagged one of its biggest export orders of 11 metric tonnes (MT) of heavy water from South Korean state-owned power firm KHNP in 2009-10
• India has already marked its entry into the nuclear export market, with a new reactor model christened `AHWR300-LEU'. The prototype uses low enriched uranium along with thorium as fuel and is being marketed for countries with small grids

Nano Mission

The Indian space agency plans to launch a nano satellite being built by the SRM University in Chennai, according to an official. The satellite is being built by the students. It has to be tested before it can be included as a payload.

Renewable Energy

Some facts regarding the renewable energy sector in India:

• India is the fifth largest wind energy producer in the world, with installed capacity of nearly 10,500 MW and targets to scale up capacity to 14,000 MW by the end of 2011, according to Arun Natarajan, MD & CEO of Venture Intelligence. The government has targeted a 20,000 MW capacity by 2020 under the National Solar Mission
• India's first-ever 3 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant has been set up at a cost of US$ 12.9 million by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) in Kolar district
• Pune-based energy and environment solutions’ provider Thermax has initiated a solar project at a village in Chakan near Pune, in association with the Department of Science and Technology at a cost of US$ 2.84 million to electrify the village using an indigenously developed solar-cum-biomass fuelled technology
• Global venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) companies will invest up to US$ 1 billion by the end of 2010-11 in high-growth, incentive-driven renewable energy companies, according to industry estimates
• India plans to set up a pan-South Asia electricity ring that envisages interconnection with Bhutan entailing possible investment of US$ 850 million (3,000 MW), a 400- kilovolts (KV) transmission line at US$ 50 million for Nepal, a 1,000 MW HVDC link for Sri Lanka costing US$ 415 million and a 1,000-MW HVDC back-to-back link with Bangladesh at US$ 220 million
• The number of carbon credits issued for emission reduction projects in India is set to triple to 246 million by December 2012 from 72 million in November 2009, according to a research study by CRISIL Ltd. The study further expects renewable energy capacity of India to increase to 20,000 MW by December 2012, from the current 15,542 MW

The government of India has taken some initiatives to further promote renewable energy in the country

• According to the Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, the government targets to set up 1,100 MW grid-connected solar plants including 100 MW capacity plants as rooftop and smaller solar power plants for the first phase of the National Solar Mission till March 2013. The government has approved US$ 974.65 million for the mission
• In addition, the government plans to generate 20,000 MW solar power by 2022 under the three-phase National Solar Mission, with 2000 MW capacity equivalent off-grid solar applications, including 20 million solar lights, also planned to be installed during the same period
• The Department of Science and Technology (DST) India and the Academy of Finland have joined hands to develop environment friendly products and processes from renewable raw materials. Their thrust area is Green Chemistry

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property reflects the idea that its subject matter is the product of the mind or the intellect. These could be in the form of Patents; Trademarks; Geographical Indications; Industrial Designs; Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits; Plant Variety Protection and Copyright.

• India is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations (UN) agency that administers treaties in the field of intellectual property
• India is a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) which facilitates the procedure for obtaining patents in several countries, through the filing of a single application
• The Government has set up a National Institute of Intellectual Property Management (NIIPM) at Nagpur and it is expected to be fully functional by this year. The NIIPM, envisaged as a world class institution, will undertake wide-ranging activities such as training, education, research and would also function as an IP think tank

Patents

According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) document

• The filing of patent applications has increased from 4824 in the year 1999-2000 to 36,877 in the year 2008-2009
• The grant of patents has increased from 1,591 in 2001-02 to 18,161 in 2008-09

Also, according to DIPP,

• A total of 3470 Pharmaceuticals product patents were granted by the Indian Patent Office during 2007-2010
• A total of 2654 Pharmaceuticals patents were granted by the Indian patent office to foreign applicants in during 2007-08 to 2009-10

Trademarks

According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) document

• The filing of applications has increased from 90,236 in 2001-02 to 130,172 in 2008-09
• As against 8,010 registrations in 1999-2000, 102,257 trademarks were registered in 2008-09

Technological and systematic innovation plays a leading role in motivating fast economic and productivity growth. Innovation provides the channel for the introduction of new and improved products and services to the marketplace and adoption of new or improved production processes with businesses. The National Knowledge Commission's report on innovation observes that not just large but also small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India are now looking at R&D as their thrust area and maindriver of growth and competitiveness.

As per a report by NASSCOM and Booz and Co, the domestic market in India for engineering R&D services (ER&D) is expected to witness robust growth. It is estimated that by 2020 almost 10-15 per cent of the country's total ER&D services market could be generated from its domestic market capturing an estimated returns worth US$ 40-45 billion. Furthermore, the Indian ER&D services market has shown a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 45 per cent from US$ 1.5 billion in 2004 to US$ 8.3 billion in 2009.

Global R&D Hub

• Stefan Zoller, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company NV (EADS), Chief Executive (defence& security) stated that, " We will transfer some of our development projects, which we have in Europe for Eurofighter or other military aircraft to India, where we have set up a military research and development (R&D) centre in Bangalore."
• "From our perspective, there is a definite trend where we develop products for the Indian markets. This is not necessarily for Indian companies, but for our global customers who wants to develop products for Indian market," according to GH Rao, corporate vice president, Engineering and R&D services of HCL Technologies. It is also developing base stations to be used in rural area in India for one of its global customers.
• The Indian Bureau of Mines' (IBMs) Modern Mineral Processing Laboratory and Pilot Plant,set up with the assistance of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1960, is attracting clients from various parts of the world. The Laboratory and Pilot Plant of the IBM in Nagpur is equipped with State of Art facilities to carry out R&D activities and is doing extremely well on its professional front, according to CS Gundewar, IBM Controller General
• Honeywell India has grown from being a US$ 50-million company with about 50 people, to more than US$ 500 million in revenue and 11,000 employees. The company's area of operations include aerospace, automation, transportation and speciality materials, including the recently-developed green fuel that doesn't require cars to change their engines.

Achievements

• India is among the top five governments in the world funding research and development in neglected diseases, with particular focus on diseases like leprosy and dengue fever
• India's total pharma industry market is expected to touch US$ 20.9 billion in 2014. R&D spending at India's top 25 drug companies soared 17 percent in 2008-2009, according to a survey conducted by Pharmabiz
• Greendiamz Biotech Pvt Ltd, in partnership with Limagrain-France, has launched India's first fully-biodegradable and compostable bioplastic material.ChampatSanghvi, Chairman of the company, stated that the 5,000-tonnes-a-year facility, set up at a cost of US$ 8.5 million, has been commissioned to manufacture sheets and bags as an alternative to plastic for consumer and industrial products.
• The IndianOil Research and Development Centre is the region's foremost commercial centre of excellence in the areas of lubricants, oil refining, fuel additives, engine testing, materials sciences, and environmental sciences
• Kone, the Finnish elevator and escalator company, has set up the Indian Technology and Engineering Centre to house its R&D and engineering units under one roof in Chennai.
• Biocon's custom research subsidiary, Syngene International and Endo Pharmaceuticals, US, will jointly discover and develop novel biological drug molecules to fight cancer, Biocon Ltd.The deal is the first in India involving the discovery of a biological therapeutic entity
• B Kevin Turner, COO, Microsoftstated that in terms of R&D, the company's second-largest development centre outside the US is in India. The firm will continue to hire and invest in the development centre in India as the work will contribute significantly in the cloud services transformation

Tie-ups

• DSM of the Netherlands and Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) have entered into an alliance to develop new lighter materials that could substitute metals in the automotive industry and help auto components shed weight
• Biocon Ltd stated it would buy out the 49 per cent equity stake of its Cuban partner CIMAB S.A. in their seven-year-old joint venture, Biocon Biopharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd
• Stefan Zoller, EADS chief executive (defence& security) has stated that the departmentwill transfer some of its development projects, which they have in Europe for Eurofighter or other military aircraft to India, to their military research and development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru
• Wind River Systems, a California-based device software optimisation (DSO) provider— a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation—is planning to set up a R&D centre in India to focus on innovation to its product line within the next two years
• The Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI), a premier institution engaged in clinical research education in the country, has entered into a strategic-cum-academic alliance with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to offer two new courses - Masters in Health Administration and Master of Science in Clinical Research through ICRI's six campuses in India, apart from its overseas campuses in Singapore and the UK
• UOP LLC, a Honeywell (NYSE: HON) company, has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOCL) under which the two companies would collaborate on R&D for a range of biofuels technologies and projects in India

Investments

• The Tognum Group, a US$ 4.23 billion manufacturer of engines and propulsion systems and distributed energy systems under the MTU brand, willset up an engineering and research centre in Pune, its first outside Germany. Ulrich Dohle, chief technology officer, Tognum said that they are investing US$ 1.36 million to set up a consolidated sales, training, after sales and overhaul centre in Pune, while investments in the engineering centre will be separate
• To further encourage R&D across all sectors of the economy, weighted deduction on expenditure incurred on in-house R&D has been enhanced from 150 per cent to 200 per cent. Weighted deduction on payments made to national laboratories, research associations, colleges, universities and other institutions, for scientific research has been enhanced from 125 per cent to 175 per cent. The income of such approved research association shall be exempt from tax, according to the budget 2010-11
• R&D Services excluding basic research and setting of R&D/ academic institutions which would award degrees/diplomas/certificates would be allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investments (FDI) under the automatic route
• Microsoft plans to invest around US$ 9.5 billion in R&D segment in 2010, which is nearly US$ 3 billion more than the next closest tech company. The largest share of this will be used in the cloud services space

Road Ahead

• Automotive, telecommunication and semiconductors sectors have been the majorincome generators for the industry with the embedded software design contributing almost 40 per cent to the revenue base. The increased number of offshore development centres (ODC) that provide dedicated ER&D services is indicative of the robust growth in this segment.
• Clinical research organisations(CROs) are planning to scale up their operations in the Asian region, especially in India, to tap the emerging opportunities of contract research from the US and European countries. According to Ferzaan Engineer, CEO of Quintiles India, "There is a slow geographical shift from the Western part of the world to Eastern regions in the clinical trial space due to the cost arbitrage, talent pool and huge patient population. So, many CROs are expanding their existing facilities to tap the opportunity."
• The budget 2010-11 has also defined a National Clean Energy Fund for funding research and innovative projects in clean energy technologies to be established

According to an industry chamber study, the size of the education sector is expected to double to US$ 50 billion by 2015 with the rise in government expenditure along with an increase in middle-class income, according to the study. According to the report, the size of the education sector currently is pegged at US$ 25 billion. The government is planning to spend about five per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years on education, as per the study.

Technical Education in India

Taking a step further, the government has approved the intended investment of US$ 519 million to initiate the second phase of the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP).

Of the total project expenditure of US$ 519 million in the second phase, the World Bank will contribute US$ 298 million, the Centre's contribution according to 11th Five-Year Plan is US$ 106.8 million, while the states and private unaided institutions will invest US$ 110.7 million and US$ 3.42 million, respectively. The project will be open for competition and participation by all the engineering institutions approved by the AICTE.

The TEQIP scheme has been on since 2003, with World Bank's assistance. The scheme was envisaged as a long-term programme of about 10-12 years, to be implemented in three phases for transformation of the technical education system. The first phase of TEQIP ended on March 31, 2009, covering 127 institutions in 13 states.

The Orissa government has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with eight mega industries for setting up quality Industrial Training Centres (ITCs) in the state in the first phase.

Foreign Institutes in India

Many overseas business schools have come to India seeking a big revenue boost, and a chance to understand the concerns of a developing economy.

• Ahmedabad-based Indus Institute of Technology and Engineering (IITE) has collaborated with Georgian college, a leading college in Canada, to provide a unique Advanced Diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology — Automotive Manufacturing for Indian students
• "India will import about US$ 320 billion in electronics goods by 2015, from the present US$ 32 billion, which means there is huge demand and production gap…" according to Srikanth Jadchela, Chief Executive Officer, Synopsys Electronics Education and Research (Seer) Akademi
• Infrastructure major GMR Group and Schulich School of Business of York University in Toronto, Canada, have entered into an understanding to develop a Schulich campus in Hyderabad
• The Shipping Ministry has allocated US$ 65.9 million to the Indian Maritime University to create infrastructure facilities including academic complex, administrative building, library, hostels and residential accommodation over the next five years

Global Footprints

Indian institutes are now collaborating and establishing offshore campuses in order to increase their global footprints.

• The Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI), has entered into a strategic-cum-academic alliance with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to offer two new courses - Masters in Health Administration and Master of Science in Clinical Research will be offered through ICRI's six campuses in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dehradun and Bangalore, apart from its overseas campuses in Singapore and the UK

E-Learning

Mr Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development has announced government's plans to launch a scheme, which would bring in information, communication and technology (ICT) into elementary education. The scheme which is likely to be on the lines of the ICT scheme for higher education, would focus on the development of e-contents which would be used by students at primary and upper-primary classes for learning purposes.

Training

The training industry in India is a sunrise industry with a lot of potential.

• IndiaCan Education Private Limited, a 50:50 joint venture with Educomp Solutions Limited and US-based Pearson Education, plans to open 250 centres across south by the end of this financial year. It aims at training over 500,000 persons annually and to make them 'ready-to-deploy' in the industry by 2012
• "Currently with 50 centres, we plan a pan-India network of more than 600 vocational training centres in the next 12-18 months. Each centre can realistically enroll about 1,000 students," as per Srinath Venkatesh, Vice-President (sales, marketing and operations), IndiaCan

Investments

The education sector is one of the thrust areas for investments as emphasis is being laid on revamping the systems through increasing investments.

According to the Kaizen Education Report released by Kaizen Mgmt Advisors, the pre-school segment is worth an estimated US$ 500 million currently and is expected to grow to US$ 1 billion in the next two years. Further, the segment is growing at a compounded annual rate of 30 per cent.

PE firm Mayfield India announced that it has invested US$ 8.73 million into Bharti's Centum Learning. According to Sanjeev Duggal, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Centum Learning, they would need to invest close to US$ 21.83 million in the next two to three years in various activities as he observed that there are a lot of opportunities in M&A's in the vocational training space.

Education has emerged one of the most lucrative sectors in India, making private equity investors line up in big numbers to the US$ 80-billion plus industry. Numbers crunched by education-focused private equity (PE) fund Kaizen Management Advisors presented that venture capitalists (VC) and PE players have pumped in excess of US$ 140 million so far this year, 50 per cent more than what they invested in 2009.

Everonn Education Ltd, the Chennai-based educational service provider, has more than doubled its net profit to US$ 9.93 million for the year ended March 31, 2010, as against US$ 4.75 million in the corresponding fiscal. Revenue surged to US$ 63.44 million. The company has the world's largest VSAT education network beating Chinacast of China and reaches out to around 3 million students through 8,675 learning centres across 27 States and works with 16 State governments.

The Road Ahead

India at present requires about 50,000 clinical research professionals and 1,500 personnel in allied services such as clinical data management, biostatistics and medical welfare.

Besides, the government has also introduced three bills in the Parliament:

• The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010 postulates that every higher educational institution and every programme conducted by it should require accreditation in the manner provided in the proposed legislation.
• The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010 provides for the establishment of the State Educational Tribunals and the National Education Tribunal. The National Education Tribunal would exercise power and authority over any dispute between a higher educational institution and any appropriate statutory regulatory body and all other matters pertaining to higher education.
• In yet another foray, India has allowed private-sector healthcare companies such as Fortis Healthcare, Max Healthcare and Apollo Hospitals to start medical colleges. Furthermore, India's cabinet approved a proposal to allow foreign universities to set up local campuses, part of long-standing plan to reform the education sector.

Exchange rate used: 1 USD = 46.83 INR (as on June 2010)