Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine

Made edgy by the global slowdown, scores of Americans and Europeans are being drawn to Happening Place India, says KUNAL MAJUMDER.

"WHEN US-based Sarah Hine and her partners decided to launch a company to tackle counterfeit drugs, she had two options: India and Africa. “After assessing both places we decided on India,” says Sarah, talking about last summer’s launch of PharmaSecure. “For one, India is soon expected to account for 15 percent of the world’s active pharma ingredients. For another, it has a huge domestic market.”

Like Sarah, Marc Treves, a shopping centre consultant from Switzerland, too launched his real estate consultancy in India last January. “There were job cuts and I was asked to move to Hong Kong. But I decided to stay back in Delhi and launch an enterprise with colleagues from my former company.” He formed Ideas Consultancy and Advisory with his Indian partner and has been involved with a number of retail projects like Ambience Mall and Select City Mall.

Theirs are not isolated cases. There’s a whole new crop of entrepreneurs who find India an attractive investment destination. Not only are they entering sectors like real estate, retail and pharmaceuticals, but are also introducing such innovative services as cycle-tours, concept café and fashion brands. Jack Leenaars, a Dutch citizen, has launched a cycle-tour service in Delhi: ‘Delhi by Cycle’ offers a guided sight-seeing tour of major landmarks in the Walled City."

..:: Full article: Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine

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