Business trip to Mumbai, India

• Communication:
  The official language of India is Hindi with English as a secondary official language. Most of the schools have English as medium of instruction.
  The Indians are very hierarchical, so greet the eldest or most senior person first. Use formal names, professional and academic titles.
  Indians are not direct, they prefer subtlety to directness. Also they don’t like the word "no". When you get an affirmative answer but they stay vague about the specific details, the result be a "no".
  Never interrupt somebody.
  Dress formal and conservative.
  


• Meetings and negotiations:
  When making appointments use the 24-hour clock time format to avoid misunderstandings.
  Be very punctual, if you suspect you will late, call and explain the situation.
  Never cancel a meeting at the last minute. But except that your meeting can be cancelled or postponed at the last minute.
  Shake hands with everyone of the same gender upon arriving at the meeting and leaving.
  Remain standing until invited to sit down or others do so.
  Agenda’s are strictly followed.
  Agenda’s are not strictly followed and a meeting can take much longer then planned.
  First appointments are mainly socially oriented, Indians would like to know you a bit better at first. A third party introduction could be good to get trust.
  Keep your presentation as short as possible, to the point, accurate and precise, do not exaggerate.
  Follow up a meeting with a letter or an e-mail with all agreements outlined.
  


• Table manners:
  If unsure on how to behave, mimic the behavior of others.
  Wait until you are appointed a seat.
  Avoid alcohol if possible, otherwise drink little. Remember that muslims do not drink alcohol.
  If making a toast, stand up.
  Keep your hands above the table when eating.
  There is a possibility that you have to eat with your hands. You always eat with your right hand, with or without utensils.
  After finishing eating, leave some food on your plate to indicate that you are full.
  Thank your host at the end of the meal.
  

Economic expansion in India today is being rewritten by India’s highly entrepreneurial and rapidly globalizing private sector. Indian firms are investing in infrastructure projects, growing their advanced manufacturing capabilities, and inventing in new volume-based business models that results into rising incomes and consumption in towns and rural economies across the country. Whether it is consumer goods and services, high technology and industrial goods, healthcare, r infrastructure development, Indian firms are commanding about their economy and are eager for commercial and joint venture partnerships, technologies, brands, services, and know-how.

In fact, the pace of the foreign trade and investment relationship with India is accelerating. Advanced technologies, including aerospace, specialized materials, information and communications technologies, electronics and flexible manufacturing systems underpinned this growth.

In terms of long-range economic forecasts, some major consultancies project that more than 400 million people, a full 40% of the population, will enter India’s middle class over the next 15 to 20 years. One noted firm expects India to have and sustain the fastest growth rate in the world by 2011. Another well-known consultancy believes that India will become the 3rd largest economy in the world in 2032. India’s "demographic dividend" (71% of the population is under the age of 35, and the avarage age is 25) will ensure that that India retains strong production and knowledge-based competitiveness for many years to come.

Though these numbers are impressive, barriers to trade and investment remain in India. Thanks to economic reforms introduced in the early 1990’s, Indian tariffs have been progressively reduced. However, additional reform is widely recognized as necessary for continued economic growth at recent levels in India, and it is anticipated. While poor infrastructure and high tariffs present the biggest obstacles to foreign investment and growth, India’s infrastructure requirements also present trade and investment opportunities for American companies. Strategic planning, due diligence, consistent follow-up, and perhaps most importantly, patience and commitment are all prerequisites to successful business. The Indian sub-continent necessitates multiple marketing efforts that address differing regional opportunities, standards, languages, cultural differences, and levels of economic development. Gaining access to India’s markets requires careful analysis of consumer preferences, existing sales channels, and changes in distribution and marketing practices, all of which are continually evolving.

Product tip: When you love to read, consider an e-reader! When you love to read, you should consider buying an e-reader. The main advantages of these devices are portability, readability of their screens in bright sunlight, and long battery life. An e-book can be purchased, downloaded and used immediately, whereas when one buys a book one has to go to a bookshop, or wait for a delivery.

Address
Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
Mumbai 400 099
India
Telephone: +91(0)22 2626 4000 (domestic terminal)
+91(0)22 2681 3000 (international terminal)
www.csia.in

Airport codes
IATA airport code: BOM
ICAO airport code: VABB

Lost property
In case you happen to misplace your baggage or your belongings in any of the terminals at CSIA, all agencies at the airport are expected to deposit any unclaimed goods with the Lost & Found Department through the Terminal Duty Manager. The goods are deposited after duly recording the contents, description, date of deposition and the depositor’s signature.

All lost & found articles are returned to passengers after verifying the product description and bona fides (including, but not restricted to Original Passport, Flight Ticket, Boarding Pass, Driving License, PAN Card, etc). Valuables like Laptops, Cell Phones, Gold, Cash, Credit Cards, Passports and Travel Documents will be deposited in the safety locker and locker charges and handling charges would apply.

Unclaimed items will be disposed off after 30 days from the date the item was found. Passports will be couriered to respective Consulates (in case of foreign passport)/issuing Regional Passport Office (in case of Indian passport) through Registered Post. Indian Credit Cards will be sent to issuing banks through Registered Post. Foreign Credit Cards will be destroyed for administrative reasons.Eatables and other perishable items including liquor will be disposed off within 48 hours or within the expiry time (whichever is earlier). Special storage charges and handling charges would apply for the same.

Baggage handling and delivery at CSIA is the responsibility of the airlines from the point of check-in to the point of collection. If anything is left on an aircraft or an airline bus, respective airline should be contacted immediately. Storage & handling charges will be levied for all Lost & Found items. This facility is managed by Trident Flight Handlers.

Lost & Found Counter Locations:
Domestic Terminal 1A
Left Luggage Kiosk, Arrival Hall
+91-9833857114

Domestic Terminal 1B
Left Luggage Kiosk, Arrival Hall Exit Ramp
+91-9833868722

International Terminal
Left Luggage Kiosk, International Arrival Passenger Concourse
+91-9769068860

The current Domestic Terminal will then be used for freight transport. Construction should be completed in 2010.

Terminal 1 (A + B) is for domestic flights, Terminal 2 (A + B) is for international flights. The buildings are located at quite some distance apart, there is a free shuttle bus that connects them, travel time is 20 minutes.

Train
In the Arrivals Hall in Terminal 2, there is a desk where you can buy tickets to Mumbai subway. You can reach Mumbai CST (previously Victoria) and Churchgate Station by train. There are plans for a direct subway connection to the airport.

Taxi
In front of the Arrivals Hall, is the taxi stand found. You can buy a ticket in advance at a desk in the terminal (tel: +91(0)22 2682 9922) for an air-conditioned taxi, which costs around three times as much as a taxi without air-conditioning. If you do not buy a pre-paid ticket, make sure the taxi driver turns on his meter! The ride to the center of Mumbai can take 90-120 minutes!. In addition, there are also motorized rickshaws available.

One of Mumbai’s most distinctive sights are the intricately decorated, battered old taxis. However, a new law, to come into force later this year, will mean that sights like this will become a thing of the past...

Mumbai has over 50.000 black and yellow taxis, worn out Fiats, mostly from the 60s. All are personalised by their owners with distinctive typography and graphics that are applied by specialist artists who work from the roadside. Each taxi is unique, the artist create the designs by hand using Letraset and sheets of stickers. Often they refer to the home district of the owner but may also include gods, nicknames and often ads for various companies.

A new, all-woman taxi service is launched, to cater primarily to women travellers. The Priyadarshini Taxi service has 29 women drivers behind the wheels. The pink-coloured cab fleet, will also have counters at the airport.

Dakshin Restaurant
Dakshin has South Indian food from all over the Deccan region. If you like your South Indian food, this is the place for you as dishes from Kerela, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh battle for room on your plate. Try the Tamil-style Dakshin Year or the Meen Moili and Kai Stew with Appam from Kerela. For the dessert, try the Kaju Adthina.
Sahar Airport Road, Near International Airport
Andheri (East)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400099
(+91)(22) 28303030

Indigo
Indigo has set the standard that other restaurants in Mumbai strive to follow. The modern European creations prepared by Indigo’s chefs are breathtaking. One group rated the restaurant as one of the top 60 ’hot tables’ in the world. It’s set in a stylishly modernised colonial bungalow, and the innovative food is matched by the service, atmosphere and the thought-provoking international wine list. If you are on a business trip to Mumbai, this is a great restaurant for entertaining your hosts.
4 Mandlik Rd, Colaba
Mumbai 400001
022-6636-8980

Khyber
A definite gateway to India’s rich heritage infused with all modern day comforts. As you sit surrounded by huge urns and ancient Mughal royalties on the walls, you are served authentic Indian cuisine which can be easily coined as Ambrosia – the food of the Gods. The flavours and aroma have seduced many for years in this equally intriguing city, Mumbai.
145, Mahatma Gandhi Road
Fort, Mumbai - 400 023
022-2267 3227
www.khyberrestaurant.com

Oriental Residency Hotel Mumbai
This contemporary business class hotel, where business and relaxation blend in perfect harmony. The newly renovated Hotel Oriental Residency with 44 guestrooms are exquisitely decorated and outfitted with the finest amenities. High-speed wireless Internet access, finest fabrics and linens, 24 hrs in-room dinning, and ground transportation for your travel needs are a few of the features that you will enjoy.
P D Hinduja Marg
Mumbai, India
More info about Oriental Residency Hotel Mumbai

Mirage Hotel Mumbai
In this pulsating city of dreams, inimitable grace and style, this hotel brings a new chapter in extraordinary hospitality. The interiors of the spacious guestrooms featuring hand-tufted rugs on wooden parquet flooring reflect the overall contemporary style of the hotel.
International Airport Approach Road
Marol, Andheri
Mumbai, India
More info about Mirage Hotel Mumbai

Ramada Powai Hotel Mumbai
This accommodation in Mumbai overlooks Powai Lake, and it is only 5 km from the Bombay Exhibition Center which can be very convenient during your business trip to Mumbai. Guests will find that they can visit many of the popular attractions that the city has to offer with just a short drive. They can also find shopping and dining areas that are near the Ramada Powai Hotel Mumbai.
Saki Vihar Road Powai
Mumbai, India
More info about Ramada Powai Hotel Mumbai

If you are looking for the products of the extra ordinary quality and with the fixed price tag the best place for you to shop is Colaba, Fort and Marine Drive where the Central Cottage Industries Emporium is the largest government-owned, fixed price-shops aimed at tourists. Here you will find the perfect gifts for your loved ones when your return from a business trip to Mumbai. This place offers you clothing, fabrics and home textiles even though these things are not available at cheap rates but you will not be ripped-off as well. The other option is Bandra suburb, heaven for the local shoppers and home to the famous actors of Bollywood, industrialists and alike. This place is full with the showrooms of the national and international brands and furnishing every thing from clothes, footwear, beauty products, eye wear etc. Especially visit the Frazer and Haws store and Fab India in Bandra and it will be a different experience. This place is for the elite class and the street stalls adjacent to these shops had added to its charm. Shop at these stores and after coming out, there will be a feeling in you that the entire Mumbai comes to shop here.

If you are in no mood to face the hustle and bustle of the city while shopping book your room at the Hotel Taj Mahal or Hilton Towers and the in-house shopping is the amazing experience. The world sought brands both national an international have there shops here. The ideal thing to shop here is the artifacts, from the variety of pashmina shawls to intricately designed silver idols of gods and goddesses like Natraja and Laxmi there are many things that you cannot resist to leave behind.

When we talk about the street shopping no one can miss out the important shopping markets of Mumbai like the Chor Bazaar, Zaveri Bazar, Buleshwar Whole Sale Flower Market, Crawford Market and Fashion Street. All these places have their own identity and are famous for one or the other thing. The Chor Bazaar (Thief Markat) is famous for the antiques and the Zaveri Market for the glitzy Jewelry sold from the family shops. Buleshwar known as the whole sale flower market offers a pleasure view of heap of fresh flowers with the refreshing aroma. Crawford market is the famous fruit market where you can find the fruits from all over India as well as imported fruits. A single variety of any fruit like mango or apple has many varieties available in this market so get a bag packed of fruits and enjoy them at home.

The din and bustle of the Mumbai streets demands you to surrender your will. The heavy jumbling on the roads and the beautiful road side stalls tempts every one to peep through the space you find. The glittering jewelery and aroma of fruits, honking vehicles and pyramid of fresh roses, all these make the perfect view of the Mumbai streets. Come to city a spent your holidays wandering its streets, shop at the multiplexes and pay a visit to the designer showrooms, it is to be sure you that you will not the place empty handed.

Chowpatty beach
Chowpatty is Mumbai’s most famous beach. During the day, it is the hangout of the happily unemployed who snooze under the shade of its stunted trees. But in the evening the atmosphere is more like a carnival: kids screaming on Ferris wheels or taking pony rides, wayside astrologers making a quick buck, monkey shows, and even the odd self -styled gymnast who will demonstrate amazing yogic postures for a small fee. At one end is a row of bhelpuri shops hawking Mumbai’s most popular snack: crisp puffed rice and semolina doused in pungent chutneys, all scooped up with a flat, fried puri. You might even catch a film shoot or a street play. In short, for most tourists Chowpatty is where the action is.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park
The Sanjay Gandhi National Park area, also knows as the Borivali National Park, has a written history back to the 4th century. In ancient India, Sopara and Kalyan were two ports in the vicinity that traded with ancient civilizations such as Greece and Mesopotamia. The land route between these two ports, with a length of 45 kilometers, was partially through this forest. The Kanheri Caves in the centre of the park were already during early ages an important Buddhist learning centre and pilgrimage site sculpted by Buddhist monks between the first century and the ninth century. They were carved out of a large basaltic rock outcropping. Initially the park was named ’Krishnagiri National Park’. At that time the area of the park was only just over 20 km2. In 1969, the park was expanded to its present size by acquiring various reserve forest properties adjoining the park. In 1981, it was re-dedicated as ’Sanjay Gandhi National Park’ in memory of Sanjay Gandhi, the son of the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, who was killed in an air crash in 1980.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, railway station, is a brilliant specimen of the Victorian Gothic style of architecture in India. Formerly known as Victoria Terminus, the station is positioned on the suburban railway tracks of Mumbai. CST also serves as the headquarters of the Central Railways of India. Attributable to its wonderful structural design, CST was acknowledged as a ’World Heritage Site’ by UNESCO in 2004. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is one of the busiest railway stations in the country. The edifice, designed by F.W. Stevens, turned out to be the icon of Mumbai as the ’Gothic City’. It also became the major mercantile port of India. It took around ten years to construct the terminus as per the classic structures of the late 19th century. The westernmost terminus of the Central Railway, CST is a railway architectural marvel because of its sophisticated structural and technical solutions.

For medical emergencies you can turn to the Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre
Address:
Veer Savarkar Marg
Mahim, Mumbai-400 016 India
Tel: 022-244 9199
The emergency ward can be reached on 2445 2575

The department of Accident & Emergency Medicine works round the clock through out the year and is recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. The department has two theatres with facilities for minor surgery and endoscopy work. It also has 4 observation beds, 2 Casualty Centre Beds and a trauma ward with 6 beds. The department also deals with Medico-legal cases, Medical Emergencies and Minor surgical work. This department has a fully equipped cardiac ambulance service, which works round the clock & is manned with a team comprising of a doctor, nurse and paramedic.

For a business visa the requirements are:

• Guarantee letter from company registered in your country.
• Invitation letters from registered Indian Companies located in India.

The fees for the visa is in Euros:

• € 50 (6 months validity)
• € 80 (1 year validity)
• € 160 (5 years validity)