MUMBAI 25%

21%
8%
1%
commerdal or residentiaL Even the
world's biggest retailer. Wal-Mart,
was forced to experiment with multi-
storeyed centres when it entered
Japan, the red hot archipelago in
terms of real estate cos.ts.
"Predous land :in saturated dtv
centres can be optimally utilised b}r
going vertical. For instance, wl:1ile 600
villas can be accommodated in 100
acres. as many as 6,000 large-sized
apartments can be -buih on the samt'
land parcel," says 1'.-ll Sushil Mantri.
MD, ManttiDevelt1pcrs.
Apartment residents also have eas-
ier access to amenities like dub h<ms-
es, gymnasituns and swimming pools
at nominal costs. Round-the-dock se-
curity and generator back-up makes
life easie.r for residents of apa1tments.
MantriJUtius, a 15-apartme:o.t com-
plex vvith each unit costing about :Rs 6
crore that was sold out wtthin six
months, is a case in point. "Anyone
who buys a Rs 6 to 8 crore apartment
can l'asily a !lord .1 villa. But supertor
arnenitie.s a11d tbt stcurity that apart-
ment-housing oifers is a big draw for
the well-heeled,'' Mr Mantri points
out.
Explains real estate analyst Mr
Susil Dunganval: '"There's hardly any
space for horizontal growth in the
metros today. Cities like Tokyo and
Shanghai continue to thrive on sky-
scrapers. In India, going vertical is
now inevitabk But we're not able to
proved fire fighting techniques, bet
ter securtty and surveillance systems
... the list is endless.
improving technolog}',
buiJ.ders these days are aiming higher. i
And what better way to promote
community living than building high-
rises. For some, a IHestyle issue.
Ma.ny of us wo1 Jd ratber be seen dri\'
ing out of a swank apartment
Mr Ravi Ramu, di:rector,
vai-Jkara Projects.
preiti.sharma@tinnesgroup.com

BY'II:S
JK Techno,so1ft to set up
unit in Swiberland
111 fe,rer grips heilthcalre
II NEW DELHI: JK Technosoft (JKT), the
software arm oftbe Group
of Companies, is considering setting up a
subsidiary in to senice the
growing European nwrket outside the UK
and Ireland. "We plan to est:-"Lblish a new
subsidiary in Europe. The company has
subsidiaries in the UK and Irdand, and we
may set up our next subsidiary in
Switzerland to serve the rest of Europe," JK
Tecbnosuft vice president, sofhvare services
and strategic ipitiative:::, Rajiv 1\tlittal said.
Idea Cellular' geils FIPB nod
II NEW DELHI: Ahead of its proposed public
issue to raiseRs 2, 500 crore, AV Birla
group's Idea Cellular is understood to have
obtained government clearance for foreign
investment of. up to 74% equity. The
proposal by the C'Om.pany, in which foreign
invesnnent stands at 47.55
1
Yo, is believed to
bave been cleared by PIPH aUowing it to
enhance foreign holding to 74%.
Salfitha V
BAf\lGAliJRi -
VIIHAT IT'S WOIIITIH
' Heallhcare BPO sector is worth about $3()0 million now
$100 million. A new area,
which is knowle:dge process
outsourcing, is medical analyr-
ics where we analyse data for
providers and insurance com-
parries."
Mr Kuma:- says that medical
services outsourdng saw a
150% CAGR from 2003-04 to
2005-06. hThere is huge polen-
tia! for grfJI,.,th, but in India
OUTSOURCING in tJ1e healthcare sector
has come a long way. having started from
low-end claims p:ron'ssing and medical
transcription to medical analy"tics and clin-
ical processing. The US healthcare industry
outsources tu India not onlv its medical
billing and insurance proceSses, but also
data analysis and software development.
Though only a small percentage of such
work is still being outsourced to India, in
the last two years. medical services o'ut-
sourdng from the US has seen CAGR of
150%, sources say.
> On the payer side, $1UOtol05 million to India
skilled manpo-wer is curiently a
problem, .... he CBay itself
saw 60'% gro-wth in the last year
and h; exptx1.ing up to 80'::
1
o
fortbc next five years.
BPO is still not very large in
India. The industry would come to about
$300 million n;ow. But it has immense
tentirJl and.is<l Very attT,ld.ive space to be in.
' The provider end work has upto $3040million outsourced tolndi11
' Medical transcriptio11 outsourcing to lndi01 is about $100 million
Apollo, which has been in
this spac<' for tht last six years,
saw 200% growth- both or-
ganically and ino:rganically -
The problem is that clients in tllis sector are vcrycon-
St>rvativc/ 1\:'lr Oivya Sehgal, CEO, Apollo
Health Street Ue explains that medical outwurdng
ha!i J-our types\)! clie.ffl.s pnwlder (hospitals and
physidam), payer (health i.Iu;urant-e companies},
pharmacetltkJJ companks cmd hedltheare U com-
panies. The bu.J.l;.ofomsourdngisfmm the USwhik
some work comes also from TJK and the _l\.1iddle East
Says Mr V .Raman ol CBay
Svsll'm;;, which tAlers ht>ahhrare bushlt'Ss solu-
ti(ms, h'Or: the payer side, which is mostly da"l<'i ('I)-
try, about $100--105 mi!l.ion worth ls outsourced t.o
lndia. The :provide:r end work involves nKdicJI
billing and .raising claims for bospitab ilnd physi
dans. Up tO $30-40 million is outsourced to Ji.ndia.
Medical transcription cmtsourdng to Indla is <illout
in the iaSt year, says J'Ylr SrhguL \-\'ipro's healthcare
divisionl'hls also bt't-n offering services: in this sector
f(Jr rna ny years now. ofkr services in the
ness, cliUkul and .aspects. This includes
consultihg. trkradiolom', and
manag'.rig tc-ch.cology," says Mr Kapil Khandelwal.
bead (baltbGH1'), Wipro 'l'echnol.ogks.
savitha. va-n ugo pa:
1
@tlmesg roup .com
Limca, Gold Spot cmd ( .111.1 li

Vihen amtactcd h liT M1
Cha.uhan d::nicd H1.k1
on the block ... Sewr.1l ,111
Bi:>k1 i oil I<
some of them approach !lit' Ill,
regular basis. But I htwt 1111 Jll.ll
to sell the brand," bt ,.pd
Sources, however, wllfirtlli"t
that even though Mr Ch,wl\,,1
has not given a structund Jll.ln
dare to any banker (he h;Jtl no
mandates even in
negotiatiom), he's put the \-Vot\
out inlorrnElliy. hBisleri ha:, ]l\,1
ln the market for sometime. B11
the question is 'Nho ...vill buy il"''
asked an industry source. "Tia
market has changed. Thcrv\ t ('

water -.;.vhidl costs a lot. Pack _I 1 :!'(
water ran add to a
portfolio, it cannot be tht' o11ll
product on added the
Desplte 1be presence of b!}
names such as Kink)
and_ Aquafina, the R:
odd packaged T.vate
industry is on a slmv burner. An;,
lysts point out that unlike sol
drinks, packaged '"""ater ma:
keters have to deal with steep up
erating casts, thin marJ:,-.Jns, arH
the presence of strong regiona
brands. WhileNcstleisinnohm
ry tc re--enter the packaged waH
PE called sl1ots
at tl1e bC)lUrses in 2()106
Indian
Cruises to
set sail this
Januarv
c:entre holcls gr<l
ci gu:i