India’s Infrastructural Growth

The Hotel Boom
The fact is that today India, with a population of 1.1 billion inhabitants, is the second fastest growing economy in the world (and the fifth largest overall), and is forecast to maintain high levels of investment despite a global turndown.

This is likely to be maintained as New Delhi gears up to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games — with many new hotels being developed to meet the expected demand.

According to estimates, India now has around 1 million hotel rooms, one-tenth of which are in the so-called ‘star’ hotels. But although this is rapidly increasing across the country, especially in centres of business such as Bangalore and Mumbai, there is still a need for world-scale MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conference & Exhibitions) facilities in the major Indian cities; sensing this, global names such as Shangri-La, Four Seasons, Marriott and Hilton have all announced major expansion plans for India.

International inbound traffic is expected to grow rapidly with increasing investment and trade activity, and the WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) has identified India as one of the fastest growing countries in terms of tourism demand.
 
Meanwhile, the growth momentum in domestic and international travel is expected to receive a further boost with more budget airlines/lower airfares, open sky policies and expected improvements in travel infrastructure (roads, airports, railways).

The Retail World
In the retail world, which is already worth USD 350 billion, India is set to witness healthy growth in the years ahead with the number of shopping malls in Asia’s third largest economy rising to a staggering 358, says a study by Images fashion magazine, based on a complete list of shopping centre developments taking place across the country.

The country presently has some 100 malls, with the National Capital Region (NCR) and Mumbai accounting for maximum numbers. This will rise to 158 malls by the end of the current year — and they will get bigger (comfortably exceeding over 1 million sq. ft of space) as they become increasingly positioned as a one-stop-shop for shopping, entertainment, leisure and eating-out needs rather than a place only for shopping for fashion products.

In fact when it opens in 2009, the Mall of India will become the largest shopping mall in the world. Planned by DLF Universal — and situated in Gurgaon — it will occupy 32 acres, spanning a huge entertainment area and large city town squares offering a total retail experience.

Organised retailing is projected to grow at the rate of 25-30% per annum to touch USD 8 billion this year and USD 24 billion by 2010, said the Images study.
Investments in the retail sector are estimated at between USD 400 million and USD 500 million over the next two to three years.

The report concludes that India’s organised retail industry is poised to grow by 97% per year in the next five years to a staggering $24bn, with 500 new malls, in different stages of readiness, likely to be completed over the next five years.

The Technology Response
So how are technology suppliers responding to this anticipated demand? India is already acknowledged as having higher standards of technology than any of Asia’s other heavy hitters — and the service industry today has no hesitation in offering special effects to bigger budget events in order to create spectaculars — including dramatic theatrical effects like lasers, smoke machines, water screens … and even fog screens (see later).

But the technology wheel is now turning so fast that LED effects — from low-consumption/low heat/low maintenance architectural wash effects to moving pixel walls and floors (see IBS Décor), is just one genre that is adding a new dimension to the creative possibilities.

Another massive advancement — particularly relevant to the Indian film market — are the rapid advancements in digital cinema. This year in the UK VUE Cinemas opened its first all-digital, ten-screen multiplex (with an active 3D room), executive seating and a complete new foyer experience. Programming is scheduled into the Dolby Show Library for the entire week ahead — in fact films can be programmed remotely from a laptop.

In the last three years initiatives by the UK Film Council and Arts Alliance Media have facilitated the mass roll-out of The UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network (DSN) across the UK, using 2K digital projectors and proprietary servers.

Add to this the huge advances in 3D graphics and digital signage for advertising and promotional purposes – and you have an indication of the scope in which the industry generally has advanced since last year’s PALME India.

However, it is important that clients — in addition to being well-informed about the latest technology — are also made aware of “the true cost of ownership” — in other words issues of power consumption, ongoing maintenance costs, lamp replacement costs etc.

The Events Industry
As Swaroop Banerjee, Manager, Viacom Brand Solutions, MTV Networks, India, says: “There is a lot more potential as we realise the power of ‘Events as a live medium of advertising’. But we tend to live in the past. Most of the time, agencies fail to recommend or insist upon innovation to the clients; this could be due to the lack of information, lack of warehousing or equipment storing capabilities, and cost-constraints.

“One gets to see good quality and new technology at most important weddings and on television, with shows like KBC, Bollywood Award Functions, our own MTV Immies and MTV Lycra Style Awards, because we or the clients
have much more flexible budgets there.

“Besides, clients tend to get more sceptical about gambling on out-of-the-box ideas, which are costlier, and this restricts the usage of new technology. At the same time, vendors cannot gamble with investing in expensive equipments, for better availability in our country, when they know that it would not be used for more than once or twice a year.”

However, this mindset will gradually change as the events industry is now estimated to be worth some USD 166 million annually. And rental companies can expect high-investment equipment to be used more than once a year.

The music industry itself is also showing development potential and is expected to grow to USD 175m by 2010 — despite being plagued by piracy. Personal ‘mobile music’ and ‘licensed digital distribution’ services (think ‘ringtones’) are projected to fuel the recovery of the Indian music industry as well as the world-over.

Energy Efficiency
Another area that PALME India is already responding to is the fight against global warming.

Once again at this year’s show Philips Lighting will be promoting its energy-efficient technologies as part of the vast Modern Stage Service ‘village’.

“With the widespread attention being drawn to the issue of global warming currently, it is a good time for us to spread the message of good lighting practice as we will find a receptive audience. After all, lighting does continue to be one of the least energy efficient practices,” says Shri P.K. Bandyopadhyay, president of the Indian Society of Lighting Engineers. (ISLE).

Lighting is the most visible form of energy consumption and accounts for 17% of total energy consumed in India. In commercial and industrial buildings as much as 30% of the electricity bill is due to lighting. Because of advances in lighting technologies, a number of energy efficient lighting products are now available along with better understanding of the lighting needs — and there is no-one doing more to promote that understanding than Philips.

But India is slowly waking up to the use of energy-efficient lighting. In Punjab, the PSEB (Punjab State Electricity Board) has already launched a strong campaign for use of CFLs. (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) and from July 1, 2008 onwards, every household has to use at least five CFLs or face the penalty!