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Wow, is all I can say. The Reliance Power IPO was fully subscribed in 60 seconds, around USD 3 billion was snapped up in seconds. As of Wednesday night the over subscription is running at 14x. The average retail investor is expected to get around 40 shares at Rs 450, for a total cash outlay of Rs 18,000 (USD 450).

They have run a full blown ad campaign taking up billboards all over Bombay, TV ads, lighted balloons on Marine Drive, etc. Check out the ad above, seconds into it you see instructions to download the “Power IPO” song as a ringtone. I’ve called a couple people who actually have their ringtone set to this, yet more advertising for Anil and Co.

Power On – as the ad campaign says.

After being in India for a couple of years, I tend to look around and notice things that potentially might work from a business angle. Although many of the things I’d like to see are around efficient process flows, below are several ideas that are not necessarily game changers but still have large appeal.

1. Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, which does independent testing of products and services. Currently everything is driven by PR firms and product placements, there is no objective way to find the benefits of a product/service unless talking to people.

2. TMZ.com for Bollywood. Currently the media and Bollywood have a cozy symbiotic relationship. I’m not a fan of Bollywood and I despise how they drop into the media whenever they are pimping their new movie. Every time Shahrukh gets on TV you can bet he’s releasing a new movie. This country salivates over two things: Shahrukh and the Sensex.

3. Office products chain (Office Depot/Staples). All the major big box retailers are talking about entering India, but the government is in indecision mode about foreign direct investment in retail. Starting an office products chain would be under the radar and serve the market well. In addition, it would allow a company to iron out all the delivery and supply chain issues for a potential full blown retail play.

After much speculation Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group and Tata Motors, unveiled the Tata Nano, the most inexpensive car in the world at USD 2500. The idea for the USD 2500 car was conceived 5 years ago when commodity prices for things such as steel were much cheaper but Ratan Tata said “a promise is a promise” and Tata kept to it.

There are many pictures of the car floating on the web, but the picture shown is exactly the target audience the Nano is going after. The family whose primary transportation is a scooter or a 2nd car for a family that lives in an urban setting.

The minute the car was announced in India, Indian’s could understand why people would buy this car and could end up changing the game on the worldwide automotive scene. However, when reading comments from several of the int’l car blogs, it was clear some people don’t get it:

“..this car sucks! 0-60? how many hours? ”

“…This is disaster for the world, and India and China… smog dispensing, CO2 emitting legions of tiny, polluting microcars”

The Nano is a rear-wheel drive, 2-cylinder, 623 cc, 33 hp engine. Engine is rear mounted. Tailpipe emission performance exceeds current regulatory requirements, and the Nano has a lower overall pollution level than two-wheelers made in India.

This car is NOT for:
- someone looking for performance
- someone looking to impress
- someone wanting a car for Sunday speed trials
- someone looking for a car to take on long drives

But instead…for a family of 6 on a scooter – as shown above.

The Indian car scene these days is down right exciting for a car guy. Unfortunately, it’s not about the horsepower or hotness of the cars but instead the business side of it. Everything from clean energy to low priced cars. Just 20 years ago you had two options if you wanted to buy a car: an Ambassador or Fiat.

It’s the night before the big announcement in Delhi from Tata Motors about their new USD 2500 vehicle, the world’s cheapest car (even cheaper then the Yugo from 1986 when factoring in inflation). If you’ve been to India and have seen 3-5 people on a scooter then you’ll know who this car is targeted at.

The NY Times has a great article on the new car. One of the most notable things I picked up from the article was that most carmakers buy no more than 10 percent to 15 percent of parts electronically however this car has about 30 percent to 40 percent sourced electronically.

The new Tata car is only one of many news stories around the Indian car scene:

- Bajaj introduced their low priced concept car in Delhi on Tuesday. The majority of Indians travel via two wheelers and the king of the hill in that segment is Bajaj. It’s their first attempt at a four wheel vehicle.

- Ford announced a USD 500 million investment into India, to source parts and expand it’s operations.

- Tata Motors in addition to the low end segment is also looking at the luxury segment. It’s currently in a bidding war for Jaguar and Land Rover.

- Clean energy cars are currently being made in India by Reva. They may not look as sexy as the Telsa, but for city use the Reva is the smarter option. (SIDENOTE: it is me, or do you hum the song Signs every time you here the word Tesla?)

That’s a status check on the Indian automotive scene.  If the US is headed for a recession, I’m assuming there will be even more deals announced which means more options for the Indian consumer.

When a new place opens up in Bombay it gets lots of press since there are so few entertainments options. For the past month, everyone has been talking about Blue Frog and how it will jump start the Mumbai music scene. I finally had a chance to check it out over the weekend and it was pretty good overall. The live band playing was Ma Faiza, a group that was playing Goa trance music. The cover charge to get in is Rs 300 (USD 7.50), which ain’t bad for live music. Drink prices were fairly reasonable.

However, getting to the place was a pain in the ass. There are no signs for the place, that might work for the Viper Room in LA, but in this case it’s sorely needed. It’s located in Mathuradas Mills Compound (across from Kamala Mills Entrance) the mill area is a major hole in the wall. However Blue Frog is like an oasis in a sea of crap.

Simran Mulchandani runs the place. If i’m not mistaken he used to run the Azura Asia Opportunity Fund, an Asian long/short macro fund. They received an investment from Man Investments’ RMF division.