In an exclusive interview with The Financial Express, the group's vice-president (commercial development), Vasant V Bharath, discusses a host of events, including the group's long-pending joint venture power project in Andhra Pradesh.

Excerpts:
The Hinduja group has recently acquired ForIndia.com. How does the group plan to synergise this acquisition in its overall TMT (technology, media and telecom) strategy?
ForIndia would be the premium broadband portal for the overseas Indian community. In India, it is also the default page for all IN2Cable subscribers. It also serves as a home page for other broadband sources subscribers. At present, the broadband content is almost nil in India.

With the Hinduja group actively involved in the TMT sector and with a clear convergence strategy being spearheaded by Hinduja Finance Corporation Ltd., ForIndia would benefit tremendously with the backward and forward linkages and the existing customer base available within the group.

The portal would also have access to existing content within group companies such as CVO movies, INTIME News and local events. Navratri was webcast live and ForIndia had over one million streams for this event -mainly NRIs. More such live webcasting of local events is being planned.

What's the basic revenue model that this portal pursues?
I will give you an indication of our cable company to put it into context. Intel has invested roughly $48.5 million in IndusInd Media and Communication for a 3.3 per cent stake. That values the cable company at $1.5 billion. Then you consider that we will be able to provide Internet through our cable network. At present, we are in 4.5 million homes and rank among the top 10 cable operating companies in the world.

What is the progress on the Hinduja group-National Power 1,040 mw power project in Andhra Pradesh? Is there any timeframe the group is looking at for a possible review, if at all?
The project has all the financial guarantees in place and has concluded various contracts and agreements. However, for political reasons, the project has lingered longer than it should have. One of the reasons is that the cost of the project has been compared with that of costs of generating power out of a state enterprise. The final clearance is awaited from the government of Andhra Pradesh. We believe the project will be kickstarted shortly and our partners have also reaffirmed that they are keen to ensure the project comes to fruition. Between the two partners, we have already spent around $50 million.

Once financial closure is achieved, the project will follow a tight construction schedule to commence commercial operation of full capacity by 42 months. The JV company has already carried out the initial ground preparation work at site after having made the necessary payments to the government of AP for access to the land.

Have the Hindujas finalised plans on its partners for participating in the Air-India/Indian Airlines privatisation programme?
We are currently in discussion with a few foreign airline partners for association for the AI bid. In the final consortium, we shall bring in NRIs and Indian companies so as to conform to the prescribed eligibility criteria. We would invest in the equity, fleet renewal etc, but would take no active interest in day-to-day control in management.

Air India has an established brand equity and unutilised bilaterals which could be translated for higher performance in tie-ups with appropriate airline partners. We consider that AI could be repositioned strategically and profitably as a global airline. IA, in fact, has a commanding market share which we believe could be improved further with access to technology and marketing skills.

Ashok Leyland (through which the Hinduja group has submitted its expression of interest in AI and IA) has a lasting commitment and interest in the transportation/logistics sector and is also involved in the development of airports and airline sectors. Ashok Leyland, with the Hinduja group, promoted a cargo airline with Lufthansa Cargo AG and has been successful in developing an servicing the cargo market in India. Hence, we consider investments in AI/IA as synergistic and fruitful.

How, in your view, can the government's disinvestment programme be made more effective?
For that to happen, the programme has to adopt a structure that would benefit both the government and the interested private investor. Our view is that the government stake that is offered should be substantial enough for ensuring a smooth change-over in management. That would put an obligation on the private enterprise to perform effectively after the takeover. In the process, the government would also benefit through higher realisations that would help in bridging the fiscal deficit and help it focus on development projects. Half-hearted offerings may not be effective.