$2.5B in outsourcing headed India’s way

A new report on India’s pharmaceuticals industry predicts it will take over about $2.5 billion in drug makers’ outsourcing by 2012. As companies in the EU and U.S. look for lower-cost manufacturing and R&D, India will get an influx of new work, according to the report from Zinnov Management Consulting.

The country has certainly done a lot to encourage that growth. Besides a rich talent pool and a number of pharma-educational institutes, the Indian government has also started offering tax incentives to drug makers and set up some necessary legal infrastructure, the report says. “India has the potential to become one of the key global pharmaceutical players and also become the backbone of off-shored services in Pharmaceuticals,” Zinnov’s CEO said.

The success of pharmaceutical offshoring / outsourcing is aided by the rich pharma talent pool and the spread of pharma-educational institutes. The Government has also provided tax incentives to the pharmaceutical industry and has taken necessary steps to enact tough laws on data security and IP related issues to mitigate certain offshoring challenges. Development of Pharma Special Economic Zones SEZs is a key step by the Government to enable the growth of pharma industry, finds the study.

Read the story at India Infoline

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Citi to slash over 52,000 jobs; targets to cut cost by 20%

Vikram Pandit-led financial services giant Citigroup on Monday said it will cut more than 52,000 jobs in the coming months and reduce expenses by 20 per cent in 2009.
Citi on Monday said it intends to reduce the total head count to less than 3,00,000 in the near term as part of the plan.

The financial services behemoth had a workforce of 3,52,000 in the third quarter of 2008. “The head count is expected to be down 20 per cent in the near term from peak levels,” the company said on Monday.

Aiming to have less than 3,00,000 people, Citi would have to cut over 52,000 jobs.
The plans to be discussed in the meeting with Citi staff in New York on Monday are posted as a power point presentation on the company’s website.

The firm, which has been severely battered by the financial crisis, has incurred huge losses in recent quarters. In the third quarter, Citi had a loss of $2.8 billion. In terms of expenses, the financial services major aims to save $50 billion to $52 billion in 2009.

“Expenses are expected to be down 20 per cent from peak levels,” the firm led by India-born Pandit said.

Source: NDTV