NEW DELHI WEEKLY ECON OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 005068 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/OSA/LDROKER/ASTERN/KRUDD DEPT OF ENERGY FOR A/S KHARBERT, TCUTLER, CZAMUDA, RLUHAR DEPT PASS TO USTR CLILIENFELD/AADLER DEPT PASS TO TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF SOUTH ASIA ABAUKOL TREASURY PASS TO FRB SAN FRANCISCO/TERESA CURRAN STATE FOR SCA/INS AND EB/TRA JEFFREY HORWITZ AND TOM ENGLE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN EINV EPET ETRD SENV IN SUBJECT: NEW DELHI WEEKLY ECON OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 19-23, 2007 NEW DELHI 00005068 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Below is a compilation of Economic highlights from Embassy New Delhi for the week of November 19-23, 2007. INDIAN PATENT FILINGS TO BE AVAILABLE ON-LINE -------------- ¶2. (U) Business daily The Mint reported Wednesday that the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion has decided to make patent filings available on-line, free of cost. Digitized versions of these filings should be available on-line some time next year. This comes on the heels of a move by the GOI in July to allow on-line patent applications. FURTHER PROTESTS AGAINST ORGANIZED RETAIL IN JANUARY -------------- ¶3. (U) India FDI Watch, an NGO that helped orchestrate the August 9 "Quit Retail" protests and the large protest on October 10 in Mumbai, is planning coordinated protests in most of India's major cities in January. The NGO will set a date in December, but their representatives said it will likely be January 10, 12, or 26. FDI Watch also plans a nationwide trader strike for February. The professed objective of both these actions would to demonstrate that there is a structured, nationwide movement against organized retail and that not all protests are simply spontaneous, according to FDI Watch campaign coordinator Dharmendra Kumar. KINGFISHER PLANS BANGALORE-SAN FRANCISCO DIRECT FLIGHT -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Kingfisher Airlines announced on November 19 that it plans to fly direct daily flights from Bangalore to San Francisco starting April 2008. The airline will use its Airbus A340 aircraft for the route. Kingfisher's Network Planning Manager told Consulate Chennai that the airline has also applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation for permission to fly into New York's JFK airport. She also said that Kingfisher plans to use Bangalore as its southern hub, using it to connect its domestic routes with its international flights. REALITY BITES REALTY IN BANGALORE -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Realty markets in Bangalore are showing signs of a slowdown, with appreciation in capital values down to 1.8 percent in January-October 2007, compared with 4.7 percent during the same period in 2006. The chief at one prominent realty firm told Consulate Chennai that the city's central business district and newly constituted industrial areas, which saw a 42 percent price spike in 2006, saw average prices increase by 12 percent this year. A Bangalore Chamber of Commerce and Industry told the Consulate that the city's crumbling infrastructure and an unstable political situation was deterring investments into Bangalore. He estimates that these factors led the city to lose more than USD 1 billion in potential investments over the past year, as potential investors opted for other cities in India or elsewhere. ISRO TESTS OPERATIONAL CRYOGENIC ENGINE -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced the successful testing of an operational cryogenic engine on November ¶17. ISRO's Director of International Cooperation told Consulate Chennai that ISRO would use the engine on a Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) slated for blastoff in August 2008. He also said that the successful development of the engine was a personal triumph for ISRO's chairman, who was involved in the early stages of NEW DELHI 00005068 002.2 OF 002 its development. ¶7. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov/p/sa/newdelhi MULFORD