All that was needed was a hint that the global economy might start improving in the near future that the crude oil prices jumped up like a high jump athlete. Just a hint, mind you. Imagine what will happen to the crude prices once the economy really starts performing. I can see oil touching and staying at $100 a barrel soon. And this spells doom for large economies like India which are struggling to keep the oil bill under check. With the elections over, the government has already implemented the first round of increase in fuel priced which is going to have a direct impact on inflation. Add to this the looming food shortage and we are looking at a dangerous cocktail.
So, I wonder, what are the things that can be done to keep the fuel prices under check. More gas finds? I doubt that will take us much into the future. Maybe the only solution is to invest seriously into alternate sources of energy.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Shortage of Drivers in Hyderabad
Hyderabad is facing a severe shortage of drivers. Ever since the new airport was started last year, there has been a very large addition of taxi services ferrying passengers from the city to the airport. As a result, office going executives and families are finding it very difficult to find and retain drivers for their cars even at higher than average salaries.
Demand is more than supply and I am sure that the situation is similar in other cities like Bangalore. The best and the more experienced drivers have all been gobbled up by the taxi services and hotel transport services leaving the inexperienced or ones pretending to be drivers to provide their services to executives and families.
If we see the situation from a different perspective, this could turn out to be a very big opportunity for the unemployed youth of the cities. People are desperate for drivers and would be willing to pay top dollar for someone reliable. And all that you need is a driving license. I see opportunity for unemployed people to take up driving as a vocation, I see opportunity for people to start driving schools and I see opportunities for micro-finance companies to finance the training costs of a driving course.
This was envisioned by one of the foremost thinkers on inclusive finance that we have in the country – several years ago. All that we now need to do is to give legs to this business opportunity.
Demand is more than supply and I am sure that the situation is similar in other cities like Bangalore. The best and the more experienced drivers have all been gobbled up by the taxi services and hotel transport services leaving the inexperienced or ones pretending to be drivers to provide their services to executives and families.
If we see the situation from a different perspective, this could turn out to be a very big opportunity for the unemployed youth of the cities. People are desperate for drivers and would be willing to pay top dollar for someone reliable. And all that you need is a driving license. I see opportunity for unemployed people to take up driving as a vocation, I see opportunity for people to start driving schools and I see opportunities for micro-finance companies to finance the training costs of a driving course.
This was envisioned by one of the foremost thinkers on inclusive finance that we have in the country – several years ago. All that we now need to do is to give legs to this business opportunity.
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