India's market for renewable energy and related technology is growing by 25% per year.
That's according to a U.S. Commerce Department statement encouraging American energy enterprises to get a chunk of the South Asian market.
But the flow of capital and ideas into India from Silicon Valley may be reversing, due to a controversial provision of the stimulus package.
A brand-new nationwide survey says that more than 60% of India's companies are hiring...
And more of India's best and brightest may be taking fresh jobs at homegrown clean energy technology companies.
You see, part of the recently passed U.S. stimulus package says U.S. citizens should be given precedence over H-1B holders when hiring is conducted in financial firms that receive bailout funds.
Even though tech firms aren't included, the combination of stalling rich-country economic conditions and the launch of major energy projects is drawing talent back home to India.
Bringing Brains Back to Bangalore
The H-1B 6-year guest visa category, which has allowed hundreds of thousands of Indian engineers and software specialists to work on our shores, has transformed the face of American technology.
Job services giant Manpower India says, "One-third of the engineers in Silicon Valley are of Indian descent," while over 7% of Silicon Valley firms have Indian CEOs.
The average income for those expat Indians is around $125,000, and their total contribution to the American economy in innovation and consumption reaches into the billions yearly. Aside from wage-earners and the cash they turn over, more than 100,000 Indian students are pursuing their education at U.S. colleges and universities.
Last spring in Washington, Bill Gates emphasized the importance of H-1B availability to companies like Microsoft, urging policymakers to issue more of the visas:
"Traditionally, the U.S. - because it's so attractive - has had this huge advantage that other countries bemoan. ... Now, they celebrate the fact that we're kicking them out after giving them the world's best education," Gates said.
Instead of inviting more talent, the number of H-1B visas issued yearly has been dropping, from nearly 100,000 in 1999 to just 65,000 in 2008.
Fast-forward to early '09. Every day brings dismal new economic news in the U.S...
So, more Indians who would have applied for H-1B see India as a fine place to start a business.
Writing from Bangalore, "India's Silicon Valley," Eureka Bharali of SiliconIndia.com thinks the country's energy progress will be made in large part by those who came back home.
India's Smart Energy Growth
In an article titled "India to Have More Startups Due to H1B Visa Ban," Bharali points out India's advantage from bringing its brightest minds home.
The head of Bell Labs Research of India echoes Bill Gates in the article, saying those who left "are trying to come back to India, which has emerged as a land of opportunities. They gain the required experience in U.S. which will help them to thrive in India."
Other experts point to low cost of capital, lower inflation, and high government subsidies as booster shots to Indian startups.
Of course, Indians returning home can't just translate lessons learned in the unique American entrepreneurial atmosphere―they also must recalibrate to India's regional competitors, especially China.
Compared to China, which drew the bulk of the frenzied foreign direct investment into Asia over the past few years, India's energy market growth has been far healthier...
India enjoyed 7-8% economic growth in recent years, but primary energy consumption rose by just 3.7%, according to a 2007 statement to the Security Council by India's UN ambassador.
China, on the other hand, logged a 1.5% increase in energy usage for every 1% its economy expanded.
Now, India's government is aiming for 45,000 MW of installed wind energy capacity by 2030, up from 7,000 MW in 2007.
You can bet India's repatriated engineers and entrepreneurs will maximize every megawatt. Massive rural electrification schemes and the expansion of India's energy infrastructure are already reminiscent of what America did with the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s.
India's all about smart energy growth for future prosperity.
But you don't have to wait for rounds of venture capital funding to bring Indian energy firms to full flower...
Indian Renewable Energy Companies
We've already seen the emergence of Indian clean energy firms like cellulosic ethanol maker Praj Industries, twice named Forbes's "Best Under a Billion Company in Asia."
Praj is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, and it's taking advantage of energy ties not only in India but also in the Philippines and other Asian countries.
In December 2008, Praj was hired to build a biofuel plant for the Tata conglomerate's Tata Chemicals division.
And we see more potential for international renewable energy companies that operate in India, profiting from a fresh influx of highly-skilled local staff that may come back to Bangalore, Bombay, and other Indian cities in the next few years.
In this turbulent economy, you go where the jobs and opportunity are.
For Indian entrepreneurs today, there's no place like home.
So in Green Chip International we're looking at a full range of companies―from startups to listed companies like Praj―as India prepares for a smart-growth energy boom.
Over in China, though, they're using cleantech to play clean-up for years of coal-fired GDP increases.
We've prepared a full report on China's energy challenges and how they're turning to wind, solar, and above all cleantech to limit the damage high energy intensity is causing.
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