H.H. Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launches INDIA CHALO

PRLog (Press Release) – Jan 31, 2008 – H.H. Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum accompanied by His Excellency Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, the Governor of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) today launched INDIA CHALO (Lets go to India) in Borders at DIFC. INDIA CHALO, published by Harper Collins Publishers in India, is a passionate look at India and its opportunities written by Brij Raj Singh, founding CEO of Baer Capital Partners Ltd., combining real facts with anecdotes and colourful characters that symbolise the new India.

Based on extensive research, the book shares some very illuminating insights into modern-day India, backed by facts gleaned from published studies, interviews with Indian economists and entrepreneurs and the author’s own personal experiences.
“In my travels, trying to convince investors why they should be looking at India – if they are not already – I came across many questions including the main one ‘why India’,” said the author, Brij Raj Singh. “The answer to this and several other questions are the same, driven by the same underlying themes and I decided that I would put these together in a book to share with everyone.”

Real facts
INDIA CHALO shared some interesting facts and figures in areas ranging from the economy to the population to infrastructure to IT and Retail, among others. For example, if someone had invested in the Indian stock market (SENSEX) on 1st February 2006, they would have made 105% by 31st December 2007. The same investor would have made 583% if the investment had been made in June 2003 when Professor Vietor of Harvard Business School published his study entitled “India on the Move”.

Goldman Sachs in its report predicted that India would become the third largest economy by 2035 based on a predicted growth rate of 5.3 to 6.1%. With 54% of the 1.1billion population in the age group of 15 – 35 years, India has one of the youngest working populations in the world. This percentage is expected to rise to 70% by 2030 – the largest in the world, according to a report titled “Destination India” from the Investment Commission of India.

Singh, based on his strong economic background and extensive research, observed, “I personally predict that this will happen much faster given that the current GDP growth rate stands at 9%. I believe that the large pool of cheap labour, intellectual capital, strong communication system along with a more open and conducive investment climate with less regulations and barriers will allow India to sustain its competitive advantage.”

Other real facts include statistics like India’s growing Internet population that is expected to reach 100 million users by 2009; a thriving IT industry that showed a turnover of $50 billion in 2007 and a consumer spending predicted to go up to $2 trillion by 2025 by a McKinsey study that also estimates private spending at about 57% across rural India.

A touch of humour
Without taking away the serious messages in the novel, INDIA CHALO is a book that is hard to put down. The book is a compilation of the author’s experiences and thoughts gathered on his many trips to India and around the world illustrated by Vivek Thakkar’s insightful cartoons that brought some of the facts and quotes (peppered throughout the novel) to life.

The last word
INDIA CHALO will be available through leading book stores around the UAE and the author hopes “that this personal venture will encourage readers to at least visit India, if not to invest in the future”. For more information on the book, its author, please visit www.indiachalo.net.