The Hindu Business Line : 8 0' Clock Club is back in action

The 8 0'Clock Club is back in action in Hyderabad. "The one-year sabbatical is over and we will be more energetic in organising discussions, meetings and events that concern the industry and some exciting trends,'' says Mr R.K. Mehta, one of the movers of the group.

Consisting of CEOs, CFOs and entrepreneurs mainly drawn from the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the 8 0' Clock Club, meets for breakfast once a month and has a fixed agenda for discussions.

Most of the members are drawn from the booming IT sector, drug, management consultants, as well as the traditional textile and manufacturing sectors from Hyderabad, said Mr Bhagwan VRS Gorti, who has promoted a SME to provide IT-based solutions to the seed industry.

FIRST MEETING

The first meeting was addressed by Mr Sriram Mahalingam, Senior Manager, and Mr A. Vishwanath, Vice-President (Advisory Services), KPMG, on the topic `India's growth opportunities, mergers and acquisitions'.

Mr Sriram said cross border deals, now popularly referred to as the Mittal's phenomenon (deals) have grown. At least $6-billion worth deals have been concluded in recent times by the Tata's, Dr Reddy's, Wockhardt, Ranbaxy etc.

The pharmaceutical sector, which is a `hot' area for growth, mergers and acquisitions is going through a phase of consolidation. With the country having a large number of US Federal Drug Authority approved manufacturing plants, it is high on the radar of multinational companies looking for a presence in the country, as well as the advantages of low-cost of production and labour, he said.

HUGE MARKET

With 44 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies already present in India, the country promising a huge consumer market and offering large manpower resources, the prospects of fast growth in the business and industry are in the offing.

However, there are limitations at present. Some of these are the differing business culture, regulatory tax and structural issues, pace of activity and decision-making, labour laws etc. Mr Sriram said.

In the IT, especially Business Process Outsourcing sector, Mr Sriram struck caution. He said big companies are clear about growth. If they reach 5,000 employees they move to a new city.

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