Nuclear waster, Beethoven, Cadcam and financial accounting – two weeks in Western India

A civil nuclear energy company, an organisation to strengthen financial accounting standards, a software producer for CadCam and a world-renowned string quartet have been among the visitors promoting and enhancing British interests in Mumbai and nearby Pune in October.

First off the block was The Chartered Institute of Management Accounting ( CIMA), whose chief executive  Charles Tilley  visited Delhi and Mumbai to underline his organisation’s growing interests and membership  among India’s accountancy profession. The organisation has an expanding presence in Asia, including India, and nearly half its students now come from overseas.  Some of the country’s top finance directors met Mr Tilley at my home in Mumbai to discuss changes and developments in Indian and UK regulatory standards, and their implications for companies. Indian investors in the UK – the second largest group by number last year – noted that acquiring subsidiaries in Britain did not cause undue problems in terms of reporting requirements, and that organisations like CIMA could help bridge  gaps.  We shall be seeing more of CIMA’s work, and more members, in Mumbai as the number of Indian subsidiaries in the UK increases.

Nuvia India is a subsidiary in the other direction, from Europe setting up in India for the first time.  Nuvia, with nearly 1000 employees in the UK and a similar number in France, is the design contractor for Britain’s biggest and most complex nuclear waste plants. It has signed a joint venture with an Indian company, PL Engineering, part of a the major Punj Lloyd Group,  to provide the full range of engineering and technical services to India’s burgeoning nuclear sector. About forty of India’s top nuclear scientists and engineers came to a dinner given by Nuvia at my apartment to discuss how the company might support them. Ken Jackson, managing director of the new company, said that he was delighted at the level of interest from Indian organisations. He will aim to keep the number of expatriates to the minimum necessary to train and develop locally recruited staff. Judging from the expertise around the table in Mumbai,  Nuvia will have no difficulty in quickly fulfilling this target. There was an optimism for Nuvia’s prospects in India, with everyone talking about the ambitious Indian civil nuclear power programme aiming to achieve a capacity of 20,000Mw by 2022 from the current 4,000Mw!

Cadcam software manufacturer Delcam, based in Birmingham, have already secured hundreds of customers for their products in India and the region.  With a new HQ for India in Pune, one of India’s so-called second tier cities with numerous science and technology parks and many automotive and business process outsourcing companies too, Delcam arranged a two  day conference for key customers across the Asia Pacific. They proudly announced that they had secured their 35,000 customer – a New Zealand yacht manufacturer, Southern Spars, who flew to Pune to receive a special award. Delcam have almost tripled their workforce in India in some five years to over 100, and were evidently proud to show off their Indian operations to customers across the Asia- Pacific.  On a more personal note, when doing some research on the UK company’s origins, I discovered that one of its founders was an engineering lecturer at my college – when, I suspect, neither of us had any idea his inventions would be rolled out across India over two decades later!

To round-off a lively and varied fortnight in Western India,   one of Britain’s most respected string quartets, the Endellion, packed concert halls in Mumbai’s prestigious National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and Pune for performances of music by Beethoven, Schubert and others.  One of the quartet’s members, who have been playing together in concerts around the globe for over 15 years, hails from Goa, also in Western India – yet another example of the ties that bind the two countries, in interests ranging from nuclear physics to computer-aided design.

As the month ended  a further link appeared  likely – on the soccer pitch – as one of Pune’s largest food companies Venkateshwara Hatcheries ( Venky’s – a major supplier of chicken) announced its intention to purchase English Premier League Club Blackburn Rovers.  With Pune already boasting soccer training facilities supported by Liverpool, it looks a safe bet that interest in England’s most popular sporting league will also grow rapidly in Western India.