Chennai airport records 12% growth in passenger traffic
Chennai airport achieved a 12 per cent growth in passenger traffic and a 9 per cent increase in cargo handling during 2015-16 despite the ‘devastating’ effect on its operations due to floods in December, said Chennai Airport Director Deepak Shastri. In 2015-16, the airport handled 15.3 million passengers as against 13.7 million in the previous year. Cargo handling was 200,000 tonne as against 184,000 tonne in the previous year. “We exceeded the target for the fiscal set by the Aviation ministry,” he told Business Line. Last December. the airport was flooded with water from the Adyar River that passes under the second runway. The airport, which witnesses over 350 flight movements every day, had to be shut down for four days from the night of December 2. The flooding had a devastating effect with the airport cancelling 66 arrivals and 53 departures late on December 2 and early December 3. On December 8, the airport was fully operational. Secondary runway On the secondary runway getting approval for 24-hour operations, Shastri said it would increase aircraft movement to 35 per hour from the present 29 moves per hour. It started operations in May 2014 but has so far handled operations only during daytime. Shastri said the airport needs additional 14-16 acres to have more space to handle wide-body aircraft. At present, the runway can handle A320 type aircraft. Anthony Duclair Womens Jersey
India offers $100 million for infrastructure fund to Papua New Guinea
Seeking to strengthen bilateral ties and ensuring energy security, India today offered a USD 100 million line of credit for development of infrastructure in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and agreed to jointly develop new avenues of cooperation to explore and develop the Pacific nation’s vast oil and gas resources. India, during a meeting between visiting President Pranab Mukherjee with his PNG counterpart Sir Michael Ogio, also offered a coastal surveillance radar system and Coast Guard patrol vessels to the country as part of its commitment for the mutual maritime security initiative. After the completion of the maiden two-day visit to PNG by President Mukherjee, the two sides in a joint statement highlighted various international and regional issues including terrorism, India’s candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council and maritime security. The two sides agreed to establish a mechanism for regular consultations between the foreign ministries of both countries aimed at diversifying bilateral cooperation in areas of shared interest. “Keeping in view India’s desire to achieve energy security, PNG agreed to develop new avenues of cooperation with India in exploration and development of Papua New Guinea’s vast oil and gas resources through joint ventures and Indian public and private sector investment in new and existing projects,” the joint statement said. A deal for extending an Indian line of credit of USD 100 million for development of infrastructure in PNG was also signed. PNG announced a visa-on-arrival facility for Indian tourists travelling to the Pacific Island as a “gesture of reciprocity” as India has already approved a similar facility for the nationals of all Pacific Island countries since last year. India also announced providing retro-viral drugs and equipment for the treatment of 20,000 HIV patients in PNG for a period of one year. Both leaders also witnessed signing of the Memorandums of Understanding on agriculture research cooperation between University of Technology in Lae in PNG and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The two sides finalised and signed a MOU for broad ranging cooperation in the health sector. Cincinnati Bengals Jersey
Patanjali will shut the gate in Colgate, make Nestle’s bird disappear: Baba Ramdev
Baba Ramdev has thrown down the gauntlet at his FMCG rivals, predicting that Patanjali Ayurved had the potentional to upstage big names Colgate, Unilever and Nestle in a matter of few years. “Colgate will be below Patanjali by this year, and in three years, we will overtake Unilever,” Ramdev told reporters while announcing Patanjali Ayurved’s Rs 1,000-crore investment plan this year for setting up five or six new processing units in Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. “Patanjali would shut the ‘gate’ in Colgate. The birds in Nestle’s nest (logo) will also fly away,” Ramdev said in a direct dig at his rivals. “Pantene ka to pant gila hone wala hai, aur do saal me Unilever ka lever kharab ho jayega,” the yoga guru said, mocking his MNC competitors. When asked whether his firm was eating into the market share of MNCs, Ramdev said: “We are totally vegetarian.” The Ayurveda-based company, which has been growing exponentially in the last four years, plans to venture into exports and e-commerce this year. “We will be exporting honey and cosmetics to 10-12 countries, including US, Britain, Canada, African and Arab countries,” said Patanjali managing director Acharya Balkrishna. The company also wants to expand its product base to dairy products and yoga clothing. Ramdev is drawing up a strategic plan to launch a pincer movement on MNCs. On one hand, he is planning to open Patanjali mega stores across India starting with Nagpur and Lucknow, while on the other he has readied a premium brand ‘Soundarya’ to take on the likes of big cosmetics brands such as L’Oreal and Maybelline. Patanjali reached its revenue target of Rs 5,000 crore for the year ended March 31, said Balkrishna. “We have made profits of 8-12%,” he said. “And we are just getting started. Wherever we see MNCs taking advantage of Indian consumers, we will enter that segment with better quality natural products and affordable pricing. At the same time, we need to get more competitive in modern trade. These mega stores will help us get there,” he said. The proposed Patanjali mega stores that will sell everything from noodles and biscuits to ayurvedic medicines and ghee, will measure around 5,000 square feet, according to Balkrishna. Currently, apart from e-commerce channels, Patanjali products are sold through 1,200 Ayurvedic Chikitsalayas, 2,500 Arogya Kendras and 8,000 Swadeshi Kendras. Add to that thousands of kirana stores across the country and partnerships with modern retail chains such as Big Bazaar. Prince Fielder Authentic Jersey
Food & beverage to account for 42% of household expenditure: Report
Food and beverage would account for 42 per cent of the Indian household expenditure by 2021, a report has said. According to the customer marketing company Hansa Cequity’s report, with 42 per cent, food and beverage will top spot the household consumption expenditure by 2021. Hansa Cequity’s report, with 42 per cent, food and beverage will top spot the household consumption expenditure by 2021. Besides, education and conveyance would be be 7 per cent, medical (5) and durable goods (6) of the total consumption expenditure. Due to the expanding middle class population in the country, the share of discretionary spending is expected to contribute 56 per cent to the household expenditure. In rural areas, expenditure on conveyance, education and medical is on the rise, whereas in urban areas conveyance, personal care and medical will account for large part of non-food expenditure. “This signifies that larger portion of household’s income will be spent on self-care, self-development, and education,” it said adding, expenditure on motorcycle and scooter, mobile phones and other durables are expected rise by 2025-26. It noted that credit cards are still lagging behind in the payment choice, with cash and debit cards being the preferred choice. “High interest rates, pre-screening requirements, security fears by households are some of the reasons for this lag,” it said. Co-founder and COO of Hansa Cequity Ajay Kelkar said: “With India’s middle class population on the rise, the marketers are keen to understand on how much each individual household spend and what are the changing dynamics of these spending patterns.” William Perry Womens Jersey
How Amazon convinced you to pay up for shopping
Amazon is clearly entering its Prime. Meaning, of course, its $100 annual membership program, now a decade old, which has accomplished the remarkable feat of convincing millions of people to pay an annual fee for the privilege of, well, shopping. Prime is now central to Amazon’s strategy of dominating the world of commerce. What started as a yearly fee for free two-day shipping now offers a sometimes bewildering array of perks, including household product subscriptions, one and two hour Prime Now delivery, streaming music and video, e-books, groceries (for an additional $200 a year), photo storage and more. “Prime has become an all-you-can-eat, physical-digital hybrid,” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos wrote in his annual shareholder letter in April. He wants the service to be such a good deal that you’d be “irresponsible” not to sign up, he wrote. Why the emphasis on Prime? Simply put, members of the loyalty program shop more frequently and spend more money, analysts say. Prime shoppers helped drive Amazon’s surprise profit surge in the first quarter. Shares of the e-commerce giant jumped in after-hours trading Thursday after it reported a 28 percent jump in revenue, to $29.13 billion. Net income was $513 million, compared to a loss in the year-earlier quarter. Amazon doesn’t release detailed numbers on Prime, although Bezos wrote that Prime has “tens of millions” of subscribers. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter estimates there are about 50 million Prime members. Even a 25 percent price increase in 2014, the only one for Prime in 10 years, hasn’t appreciably dampened enthusiasm for the program. Membership grew 51 percent last year, including 47 percent growth in the U.S., according to Bezos. Pachter estimates that Prime members spend about four times what others do, and account for about a third of all Amazon purchases. “That’s why Prime matters,” he said. Tawnie Knight in Tuscon, Arizona joined Prime about two years ago for the convenience of free shipping. Since then Amazon has become her default shopping site. “I call it the $100 cart, because every time I go on there I spend about $100,” she said. “Before Prime I probably spend around the same amount, just with other retailers like Walmart.” Brandon Kraft joined Prime when it began 10 years ago to get cheap textbooks while in school. Now he finds it essential – with five kids ranging in age 17 months to 6 years at home – for ordering diapers and wipes and other household goods. “I think it’s fair to say we spend $125 or $150 a month at Amazon that we wouldn’t have been spending if we didn’t have Prime,” Kraft said. “We go to the Amazon site first when we need something, and if they don’t carry it we start the actual shopping process of looking elsewhere.” Of course, Amazon Prime isn’t for everyone. Those that shop infrequently online won’t find the $100-a-year fee worth it. With an estimated 244 million registered Amazon accounts, a large majority of Amazon shoppers – roughly 80 percent, in fact – haven’t signed up yet. Amazon continues to add Prime offerings to entice more users. Last week Amazon started offering a monthly Prime subscription for $11 a month, aimed at hooking shoppers during the holidays when the majority of Prime members sign up. In 2015, 3 million shoppers joined Prime in the third week of December alone. Amazon also introduced a standalone video service for $9 a month, setting itself up to directly compete with other streaming services like Netflix. Investors have long griped about Amazon’s strategy of investing the revenue it makes into new offerings, leading to little or no earnings growth. But the first quarter results were the fourth in a row in which Amazon reported a profit, which some analysts interpret as a willingness to rein in costs when needed. Chief financial officer Brian Olavsky, however, told reporters on a conference call that the company’s profits stem mostly from strong growth in sales. The company isn’t slowing its investments, he said, citing recent spending on logistics and original programming for its streaming video service. Keelan Cole Authentic Jersey
Haryana formulates scheme for e-commerce linkages of MSMEs
Haryana Government has formulated a scheme for e-Commerce linkages of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for online trading and brand building of their products. The scheme is primarily focused on increasing quality, industrial output and employment generation through incubation of e-commerce in the state, a spokesman of Industries and Commerce Department said here today. He said inclusion to digital commerce would help SMEs to scale up their business at much lower levels of investment in fixed assets and human capital, thus reducing their cost structures. Online market place would provide a cost effective impetus for growth, opening a window to new markets, increasing spread by shortening traditional supply chains, containing systemic inefficiencies, reducing costs, thereby leading to higher revenues and profit margins for SMEs. To achieve this objective, the SMEs would need to quickly make significant changes to their business models to suitably take advantage of the opportunities presented by e-commerce. Detailing about salient features of the scheme, he said it will create online catalogue and realise advantages of digital marketing and other allied services provided by online market place namely Digital Marketing, Logistics and Fulfilment Service and Payment Collection. Once listed, products are viewed by millions of potential customers across India and abroad. The customers or end users will buy products online with secured payment infrastructure and it ensures systematic cash flow, he said. The expenses incurred on such workshops or seminars would be met out of the funds earmarked for e-commerce activities subject to a maximum of Rs 20,000 per workshop of one full day which would include cost of arranging conference hall, honorarium to the guest speakers and refreshment to the participants. The department would also avail the services of e-commerce companies. He said the expenses incurred on listing of on-line marketplace would be reimbursed to all the eligible manufacturing MSME units subject to a maximum of Rs 50,000 towards enrolling expenditure, sustenance of online business for a period of four months in continuation, within a given financial year. Brandon Marshall Womens Jersey
Flipkart challenges entry tax on online sale in Gujarat in High Court
Gujarat High Court today issued a notice to the state Government on a petition filed by the online retail major Flipkart against the entry tax in the state on the goods bought through the e-commerce portals. The division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi scheduled the next hearing for June 9. Flipkart has claimed the tax is discriminatory, because no such tax is imposed on the goods brought into Gujarat thorough other modes of sale. It moved the HC after the Gujarat Government amended the law to levy entry tax on goods purchased through e-commerce portals, apparently to provide a level-playing field to the traders and retailers in the state. The Gujarat Tax on Entry of Specified Goods into Local Areas (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was passed on March 31. Now 15 per cent entry tax is levied on the online purchases. Flipkart’s contention is it does not sell any product itself but only provides an online platform to manufacturers/ traders, so the tax is unjustified. The new law amends the word “importer” to cover those who “bring or facilitate to bring any specified goods for consumption, use or sale in Gujarat from any part of the country using online platforms.” Marquette King Jersey
Air India losses to come down to Rs 2,636 cr: Government
National carrier Air India is expected to trim losses by more than half to Rs 2,636 crore in the 2015-16 fiscal as compared to a net loss of Rs 5,859.91 crore in 2014-15, the government said today. “With regard to Air India Limited, it is likely to suffer a total net loss of Rs 2,636 crore in 2015-16,” said Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma in a written reply in Lok Sabha. Sharma said the airline has been facing losses in the past years due to multitude of factors. He said high interest cost and airport charges, increasing competition, particularly from budget carriers, coupled with exchange rate variation due to weakening of Indian rupee are reasons for the carrier’s estimated net loss (of Rs 2,636 crore) during 2015-16. Air India had reported losses of Rs 5,859.91 crore in the fiscal ended March 31, 2015. The national carrier was given a Rs 30,231-crore lifeline by the Finance Ministry in 2012 under a turnaround plan stretching over a period of nine years to keep it afloat. This equity infusion also includes the financial support towards repayment of principal as well as interest on government-guaranteed loans taken for aircraft acquisition by the airline. As per the 2012 Turn Around Plan (TAP), the government will infuse Rs 18,929 crore for repayment of government- guaranteed loans/interest till FY 2010-21, Sharma said. The minister also informed the House that till March this year, the government has already infused Rs 22,280 crore into the carrier as part of the bailout package. Air India has also discharged of all its aircraft loans and interest liabilities by the last fiscal, he said, adding that the government has already approved Rs 1,713 crore equity infusion into the carrier for the current fiscal in line with TAP. Antonio Brown Jersey
5/20 rule ‘anarchic’, trying to change it: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju
Terming the 5/20 rule which allows Indian carriers to fly abroad as “anarchic”, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said he was trying to change it so that new airlines can connect with foreign destinations. Raju said in Lok Sabha the government wants more Indian airlines to fly to foreign destinations but as long as the 5/20 rule is not changed, they cannot fly abroad. The rule entails that an airline can fly to international destinations only if it has served within the country for five years and has a 20-aircraft fleet. “The more the merrier. It is a fact that 5/20 rule came from a particular Cabinet at a particular point of time. To my mind, it is an anarchic type of thing. It prevents the Indian registered airlines to function. But as long as that rule is there, we have to follow it. “I am trying to change the rule and if I have my way, it will happen,” he said during Question Hour. Raju’s reply came when Congress member Shashi Tharoor said the Kerala government had tried to set up a state airline called ‘Air Kerala’ to cater to the vast amount of traffic of Keralites going to Gulf countries since private carriers were exploitative, but could not do so due to the 5/20 rule. “It is our duty to see that people are not exploited. In fact, airfares before 1994 were controlled by the Government. Airlines before that had to apply and take government approval. In 1994, the Act was repealed by Parliament,” the Minister said. BJP member R K Singh too joined Tharoor saying private airlines often exploit passengers taking emergency situation which government must check. “Whenever there is an emergency situation, the airlines hike the fare and exploit people. This is nothing but exploitation and if the government keeps watching this happening then what is the use of having a government,” Singh said. The Minister said government has analysed the entire issue and found that the high side of the fares in the total ticketing is about less than two per cent. “So, we realise that the prices of tickets have come down in most routes, particularly where the competition is more. What is bothering us is where the competition is less, airfares are a bit high. We need strategies to increase capacity there,” Raju said. He said capacities and growth in the country have been going up. If the growth is stifled, the problem will not be resolved. “With regard to emergencies like Chennai floods, Srinagar floods or the Jat agitation and all that, we do see these things coming up and we give advisories to the airlines and some of the airlines do respond,” he said. Darren Helm Authentic Jersey
Hyderabad airport eyes Aera nod for expansion in a few months
The GMR Group-operated Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is awaiting regulatory nod to begin second phase of expansion of the terminal, which has already reached its capacity of 12 million passengers. “We expect the regulatory (Airport Economic Regulatory Authority) nod in a few months to begin work on the second phase of expansion. We already handled 12.5 million passengers last fiscal, which is above our installed capacity of 12 million. So, there is an urgency to have new capacities,” CEO SGK Kishore told PTI here. “The first leg of the second phase of expansion will take the annual capacity to 18 million (hopefully by FY19, depending on how soon the nod comes) and 20 million in the second leg. We need 18-20 months to complete the project.” The third phase is expected to take the capacity to 40 million. He refused to share investment details, saying it has to be okayed by the regulator. He also did not share any fund-raising plans to finance the expansion. Located 20 kms off the city at Shamshabad, the airport was completed in a record 31 months for Rs 2,478 crore and commissioned in March 2008. “In the next five years, we will be expanding in phases. After the expansion, we will have a bigger terminal facility, more security lanes, more check-in counters and rooftop solar panels. As our growth is steady, we are expecting to reach 20 million passengers in the next five years,” said Kishore, a Kerala-cadre IAS officer. With over 12.5 million passengers, the greenfield airport is already the sixth-largest airport in the country with two runways, which are the second-largest in the country. On his outlook over traffic growth, he said that while growth was 20 per cent in 2015-16, a high double-digit growth is likely to continue this year as well, but refused to quantify. In 2014-15, the growth was higher at 22 per cent at 10.5 million. Cargo grew at 11 per cent in 2015-16. Of the total passengers, one-third are international ones.