Well, I never really intended to, but looks like I am becoming the investment evangelist for India. After I wrote that piece recently about the communications/telecom changes happening in India (following my visit there), Rediff.com (one of the biggest news portals in India) has published the first part of a two-part profile and interview with me on the changing face of India, and how digital media and communications can help in it.
Anyway, here’s what I came up with about the investment options for telecom companies in India: “The returns for the telecom companies have been huge in India — it is purely a matter of scale. If you think you’re going for a niche, forget it. Niches in India don’t yet make money. It has to be a mass-market game. The key areas are very basic: agriculture, weather (subset of agriculture), medical/health, education, roads, real estate/construction and other basic necessities like water. That’s where technology and access to information (through communications) will help a lot. That’s what investors need to look at.
But there is a reality check here too: These are not short-term investments. At least five years at the minimum for the returns to start coming. But the absolute dollar values of these investments are small, compared to, say, other Western countries.
So, hopefully some of these investors will take a hedged-risk.”
Related: This Monday, India’s business newspaper Economic Times also carried a profile of our work….feels nice to be in the hometown (well, home country’s newspaper).
And oh, if you want to follow the communications and digital media scene in India, read our sister site ContentSutra.
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