Changi Airport Group names Air India top airline for absolute growth in passenger carriage
Singapore-based Changi Airport Group ( CAG) named Air India top airline by absolute growth in passenger carriage ( South Asia). The award was presented to Air India at the Changi Airline Awards 2016. “At the annual event, along with Air India, 25 awards were presented across six categories to airlines that have contributed most significantly to the growth of the Singapore air hub in 2015,” said a release from the company. Air India currently operates 42 weekly flights between India and Singapore, with daily services from Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The airline registered a strong 25% year-on-year growth in passenger carriage on its Singapore routes in 2015, largely spurred by an increased passenger capacity due to aircraft upgrade, as well as an expansion of routes in the last two years, the release added. In 2015, 3.4 million passengers travelled between India and Singapore. Linked to 13 cities in India through 404 flights on a weekly basis, Changi Airport is the most connected Southeast Asian airport to India, and a gateway to the rest of Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. George Kittle Authentic Jersey
Different Rates for Supply of Natural Gas in States
The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha that the delivered price of gas varies from customer to customer depending upon the basic price of gas, transportation cost, local taxes and levies. The natural gas consumed in the country can be categorized into two category viz., domestic gas and imported Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG). The price of domestic natural gas is determined in accordance with the New Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines, 2014. As per the above guidelines, the base price of domestic natural gas supplied is same for all consumers irrespective of their location and sector, except for North East Region where the rate is 60% of the notified rate for certain allocations. The imported RLNG is being supplied at market determined prices by different gas suppliers/importers and Government does not control the prices of imported RLNG. Logan Cooke Womens Jersey
Reforms in Oil and Gas Exploration
The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha that the Government takes various policy and administrative initiatives from time to time to facilitate hydrocarbon exploration in the country. Some of the policy decisions taken by the Government in recent years to enhance exploration and production activities are as under: • Government has approved Hydrocarbon and Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP) and same has been notified on 30th March 2016. This policy provides for a uniform licensing system to explore and produce all hydrocarbons such as oil, gas, coal bed methane, shale oil/gas, etc. under a single licensing framework Policy also provides many incentives such as reduced royalty rates for offshore blocks, marketing & pricing freedom and easy to administer revenue sharing model. • Marketing and Pricing freedom for new gas production from Deepwater, Ultra Deepwater and High Pressure-High Temperature areas subject to certain conditions. • Discovered Small Fields Policy- 67 oil & gas fields which have been held by ONGC and OIL for many years, but have not been exploited, has been approved for bidding under this policy. • Policy for grant of extension to the Production Sharing Contracts of 28 Small and medium sized discovered blocks. • Policy Framework for relaxation, extensions and clarifications at the development and production stage under PSC regime for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries: Government approved this policy on 10.11.2014, and the same is being implemented. Under this policy, about 40 pending cases have been resolved. • New Domestic Natural Gas price Guidelines, 2014: Under these guidelines, gas price has been linked to the market/ important hub prices. OG Anunoby Authentic Jersey
UAE companies to invest $3.68 billion in Uttar Pradesh
Five leading Indian–owned businesses in UAE have committed to invest over Rs 25,090 crore ($3.68 billion) towards infrastructure and industrial development initiatives launched by Uttar Pradesh at the UP Investment Summit held in partnership with Times Now in Dubai. The Uttar Pradesh government led by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had launched an ambitious programme to boost all-round development of the state by attracting NRI investments from across the globe, especially from the Middle East. These UAE-based companies have signed an MoU with the high-level delegation of UP state officials visiting the UAE, pledging to invest in the state’s upcoming manufacturing, utilities and healthcare initiatives. Barkevious Mingo Jersey
Piramal Enterprises enters fray for Lanco Infra assets
Piramal Enterprises, led by billionaire Ajay Piramal, is betting big on the infrastructure sector and the diversified company has entered the race to pick up a stake in debt-ridden Lanco Infra’s thermal power portfolio, four individuals familiar with the development told ET NOW on the condition of anonymity. “Preliminary talks have been initiated between Lanco Infra which is looking at inducting strategic investors to reduce its debt & the structured investment group of Piramal Enterprises which falls under Piramal Capital. A few overseas distressed asset funds are also interested in the portfolio. On completion and on a fully operational basis, the enterprise value of the 6 power plants of Lanco Infra is estimated between Rs 42,000 crs to Rs 45,000 crs,” said one of the two sources cited above . Piramal Capital is the financial services arm of Piramal Enterprises. Lanco’s thermal power portfolio has a total capacity of around 7256 MW and the company’s debt burden as of 31st, March, 2015 stood at Rs 37,526 crores. ” Lanco Infra is looking at carving out its thermal power assets into a separate holding company and then sell a 51% stake in the entity. They are looking at initially raising capital for operational assets and use the initial deal proceeds to revive the rest of the portfolio,” according to the other three sources cited above. ” In the thermal power segment, buyers are looking at cherry-picking operational assets,” says Jatin Aneja, National Practice Head, Projects & Projects Finance, at law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas. Jarius Wright Womens Jersey
Flipkart, Snapdeal ask top brands to run campaigns, demand parity with offline retail chains
Facing the prospect of funds drying up, leading online marketplaces Flipkart and Snapdeal have asked their top brands to run advertising and marketing campaigns for them to promote deals and products, demanding the same treatment as large brick-and-mortar chains. While some brands are wary about a backlash from offline retailers, others are amenable to the idea, viewing it as support for an additional sales channel. The strategy will enable ecommerce companies to comply with rules that bar them from predatory pricing, which implies they cannot promote them either, four industry executives said. “Brands are at liberty to discount products and hence any such deals and marketing campaigns done by them will not violate the rules,” said the head of a leading domestic consumer electronics maker. He said a squeeze on marketing budgets had accelerated such efforts. Until recently, ecommerce companies ran all advertising campaigns to drive sales, except those for exclusively online products, which were mostly joint spending. With investors tightening their belts and scrutinising marketing spends, ecommerce firms have been compelled to approach the big sellers, the officials said. The online marketplaces have pitched mainly consumer electronics, mobile phone and apparel brands for such campaigns. These are the top-selling categories online and are estimated to account for 85-90% of their business. However, some large brands are sceptical, fearing a backlash from offline retailers, which are still the largest contributors to their sales. “The marketplaces are demanding that top brands invest on campaigns of deals and products of the brand due to a funds crunch and asking to be treated on par with offline retail. However, we are yet to decide since we don’t want to make any move which antagonises offline channels, which account for 97% of our sales,” said the marketing head of a top white-goods maker. The ecommerce companies, which were one of the top media spenders in India, in the same league as telecom and auto companies for the past two years, have cut down on campaigns since last Diwali, with most of their advertising focussing on promoting the platform rather than deals and brands. This step was taken after investors pulled the plug on ecommerce companies burning money, executives said. While Flipkart declined to comment, an email sent to Snapdeal did not elicit any response till Tuesday press time. Amazon India hasn’t sought such marketing support from brands on its platform. The management announced additional investment in India during its quarterly earnings call last week. The US ecommerce giant has already invested Rs 15,000 crore in its India operations and the company expects the country to eventually become its second-largest market, after the US. Some vendors, which are focusing on online for additional sales and had launched exclusive models or portfolios for this channel, are evaluating such marketing campaigns. Chinese white-goods maker Haier said since ecommerce companies have moved away from predatory pricing and are maintaining prices set by brands, manufacturers will start looking at it as an additional sales channel and provide support for it. “Brands and ecommerce firms will work closely since the issue of crazy prices does not exist anymore,” said Haier India president Eric Braganza. The head of a leading domestic mobile phone maker said since ecommerce accounts for almost one-third of smartphone sales in India, the company is ready to invest on marketing for the platforms to ensure healthy returns. Alexander Mogilny Jersey
Hazardous e-waste: Apple can’t import or sell second-hand phones in India
The government has sounded out Apple that it is in-principle against allowing import and sale of second-hand phones in India to prevent dumping of hazardous electronic waste. This deals a setback to the smartphone maker’s expansion plans in a market where it sees huge potential amid overall slowdown of its sales. “We conveyed our views on the matter and the representatives respected our stand,” a senior government official said. The government’s views come as a dampener for Apple which has aggressive expansion plans in the fastest growing smartphone market in the world where the Cupertino-based smartphone maker sees huge potential. This would be the second time Apple faced a roadblock to importing pre-owned certified or refurbished iPhones in a country where the US technology company seeks out price-conscious Indian consumers to grow its base. Apple declined to comment to ET’s query. The company had sought permission from the government to import second hand iPhones for sale in India, a country where its sales are doubling on-year and where it plans to bring its iconic retail stores too. ET had reported last month that the views of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DietY) views were communicated to the environment ministry and the Director General of Foreign Trade, that it did not support import of second-hand consumer products as it contributed to electronic waste being dumped in India. Handset makers in India had also opposed Apple’s move arguing that the move could potentially flood the market with second hand phones, severely hampering the government’s Make in India program that is aimed at encouraging local manufacturing. The American company, which has about 2% share of the booming Indian smartphone market by volume, has set its sights on India which CEO Tim Cook said separately on Tuesday, had “huge market potential” for its products. Apple has continued to climb in India, and has increased shipments by 56% to make it the second fastest-growing vendor in the top 10 in the first quarter, Singapore-based research firm Canalys said Tuesday. The iPhone and iPad maker is closing the gap with market leader Samsung in the over $300 (Rs 20,000) segment where it grew its market share to 29% in the first quarter of 2016, from 11% a year ago. Samsung’s market share in the same category fell from 66% in the first quarter of 2015 to 41% in the same period of 2016. India is important for the technology giant and it is “really putting energy” in the South Asian nation that will begin rolling out high-speed wireless broadband networks this year, Cook said in a TV interview with a US channel. Cook said that the company has “great innovation” in the pipeline and new iPhones that will attract people in markets like India, equally recognizing India’s massive young demographic as a ready market. “India will be the most populous country in the world in 2022. India today has about 50% of their population at 25 years of age or younger. It’s a very young country. People really want smartphones there,” he said. Comments on India came on the back of iPhone sales growing 56% year-on-year. Ian Thomas Womens Jersey
Snapdeal close to buying Housing.com for $50-$100 mn
Online marketplace Snapdeal is in the final stages of acquiring online real-estate firm Housing.com. According to sources and investment bankers, the talks for the deal were on since December and the deal could be finalised for $50-100 million, the publication said. In December ET reported Housing.com had begun discussions with Snapdeal as well as News Corp, which is a backer of rival PropTiger, for a strategic stake sale, multiple people aware of the talks said, as the Mumbai-based company searches for backers to recover from a year of turmoil which has hurt its standing in the online real estate market. The talks, which these sources described as ‘nascent’ to ET in December, could result in a deal by the second quarter of 2016 and the final contours will depend on the embattled company’s ability to demonstrate growth in its so-called ‘buy and sell’ business, which allows users to not just find property but engage in a transaction online. “It will come down to the best price,” said one of the sources about the negotiations, which are being fronted by SoftBank, which is the largest investor in Housing and online marketplace Snapdeal, said the ET report. Housing’s downward spiral started soon after SoftBank led an investment round of $90 million (Rs 540 crore) in November 2014. The SoftBank funding in 2014 valued Housing at about Rs 1,500 crore. Its co-founder Rahul Yadav engaged in public spats with a prominent venture capital investor, the media, and finally the board of his company, which led to his sacking in July. Drew Hutchison Authentic Jersey
Why ‘Make in India’ when you ‘Fake in India’
Most of us know at least one person who went abroad during summer holidays and returned f launting his/her Gucci bag and Prada glasses. Often there would be a clique, green with envy touting it all to be ‘duplicate maal’ (fake products). They weren’t always far from truth considering how rampant counterfeiting is, globally, when it comes to luxury products. India is one of the hotbeds for the same with every city boasting of at least one popular destination for premium brands at non-premium rates. Buying fake luxury products happens at a consumer’s volition when he wants to meet his esteem needs but not pay the price. It’s called ‘willful counterfeiting’ in industry parlance. And consumers in India can easily get away with it since we don’t have laws that can get one arrested for purchasing fake premium products (unlike France and Italy). The kind of counterfeiting that’s cause for concern however is daily use products such as food, beverages, medicine, auto parts, beauty products, and software. Almost a third of each of these categories is plagued with fakes, giving market leaders always soft targets for counterfeiters sleepless nights. Here’s why: -FMCG and Packaged Food: In 2015, FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy)released a study that says the government lost nearly Rs 6,000 crore to the grey market of FMCG personal goods. The report also mentioned that 31.6 per cent of FMCG personal goods space is several shades of grey. The number is 21.7 per cent for the packaged foods industry. Which means roughly 1/5th of all the packaged food you’re buying may well be counterfeit and posing a serious threat to health and safety. -Auto: 20 per cent of road accidents in India are attributed to fake automotive components, says a study by Nielsen and ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturing Association Of India). The auto aftermarket is worth Rs 40,000 crore, as per the same study. Fakes account for 36 per cent of the pie. Amid the loss to the government exchequer Rs 2,700 crore per annum – is the incomputable value of the loss of life. -Pharma: India is one the biggest markets for drug counterfeiting, says Zaheer Khan, chairman of EIPR (Enforcers of Intellectual Property Rights) an anti-piracy wing that specialises in conducting raids to bust these rackets. Khan and his team conduct two to three raids every day, across the country. In one of these, they found lifesaving drugs being produced in a cement mixer. “The level of hygiene was deplorable. Later we found the drug had salt at 100 times its recommended value. You often find such cases in baby products as well,” says Khan. -Beverages: Be it alcoholic or non-alcoholic, the death toll due to fake products in both categories is alarming. “About a decade ago, when returnable glass bottles used to be the primary package for the beverage industry, it was grappling with the manufacture and sale of spurious products. It’s relatively easy to fill and seal fake beverages in glass bottles,” says Arvind Varma, secretary general of IBA (Indian Beverage Association). With consumer preference shifting to PET packs (they are now 65% of the market), the issue is more of counterfeit rather than spurious products, he adds. You can’t even expect consumers to catch the fakes. Often packaging material gets leaked out of the company’s own supply chain. “The dubious manufacturer picks original packaging from the recycled market and refills it with substandard liquid. Bottle caps are easy to imitate anyway,” says Anurag Kashyap, partner – fraud investigation & dispute services at EY (Ernst & Young). Some Chinese counterfeit imports contain addresses of Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) or Haridwar (Uttarakhand) on their packaging instead of ‘Made in China’.This ensures the consumer doesn’t get suspicious given these are popular manufacturing destinations in the country. Apply this methodology to any branded commodity and you have a ready reckoner on ‘How to make a successful fake’. -Tales of Online Fakery: Several reports have indicated how counterfeiting has been spreading to the online luxury space. But with the ecommerce #BigSaleDay hysteria, several other product categories have also come under the grey cloud. “25% of all the products available online would be counterfeit,” says Dinesh Anand partner and leader of forensic services at PwC India. But that’s just his personal assessment, he’s quick to add. Drugs, electronic appliances, and tech products are the worst affected. Says Rajesh Gupta, country manager – India and SAARC for SanDisk: “Counterfeit products were typically sold at known hot spots in each city: outside railway stations or weekly markets, where consumers are in a hurry and it is not easy to trace back the seller. Now counterfeiters are also becoming active on e-commerce. Some unmanaged online marketplaces are abused by counterfeiters where they exploit anonymity to sell with sense of impunity.” Sites ending with url extensions like ‘.tld’ and ‘.brand’ are usual suspects we hear easy to go unnoticed by an ordinary user. No wonder all the major ecomm brands are devising measures to check the penetration of fake sellers on their sites. Delisting is common. Amazon does it regularly. Flipkart apparently delisted 100 sellers as of last October. They also have a ‘mystery shopping’ activity where employees buy products to check how fake-proof the system is. -Who Will Bring On The Counter Strike? It’s a hard task considering this mammoth industry grows irrespective of the mini holocausts it’s subjected to by way of raids and arrests. As EY’s Kashyap says, “These are not entrepreneurs who want to grow in one line of business. They switch to producing whichever brand’s packaging material is readily available.” Every day 100 websites shut down but 100 others mushroom as well, adds PwC’s Anand; a given in a huge margin and extremely low risk business. It’s not that we don’t have adequate laws in place. “But stricter enforcement has always been the problem,” says Dipankar Barkakati, additional director and head – IPR & FICCI CASCADE at FICCI. Factors like resource crunch, the
Flipkart stake marked down 20% further by 2 investors
Two of Flipkart’s mutual fund investors have further marked down the value of their holdings in the company by 20%, the funds have disclosed in recent days. Fidelity Rutland Square Trust II, a mutual fund managed by Fidelity Investments has marked the value of their Flipkart shares at $82 per unit for the February ended quarter, down 21.1% from $103.97 per unit assigned to them at the end of November 2015. Valic Co, on the other hand, has marked the value of their Flipkart shares at $98.19 per unit for the February ended quarter, down 20.2% from $123.11 assigned to them at the end of November 2015. This is the second consecutive markdown from both the mutual funds. Fidelity and Valic had earlier marked down their holdings in the company by 24% and 12% respectively in the previous quarter. The markdown pegs Flipkart’s valuation between $9.2 billion to $10.7 billion, as compared to the $15.2 billion when it last raised capital in July 2015. This follows a 15% markdown by T Rowe Price-managed mutual fund last month and a 27% markdown by Morgan Stanley-backed mutual fund in February this year. Valic and Fidelity had picked up shares in Flipkart as a part of its series D round of funding in 2013, when the India’s largest e-commerce player had raised $360 million in two tranches. These markdowns comes amid a tough fundraising climate and will likely make it tougher for Flipkart to raise funds at its preferred valuations and force it on the back foot in its ongoing fundraising negotiations with investors. Flipkart has been looking to shore up a new round of funding since late 2015 to maintain its leadership position in India against rival Amazon who has infused at least Rs 6,700 crore since January 2015 into its India unit, with over half of that amount being invested since December. Earlier this week, Flipkart co-founder and executive chairman Sachin Bansal hinted at a tougher financial climate, but also attributed it to regular financial cycles. “A lot of times people look at a down round negatively and it is not a pleasant situation for any company, but the fact is that almost every Internet company around the world go through it. In 2012, we raised at a billion (dollar valuation) and $750 million after that. A lot of times financial cycles govern this and even today we are seeing some of that happen.” Bansal said at TiE Delhi-NCR organized India Internet Day. “The way I think about it is we need to keep our business interests ahead of everything else. We need to make sure the business is well capitalized and it is growing at a healthy pace. In long term, all these things wouldn’t matter. I would therefore keep my head down and keep executing. If the business needs funds, raise the minimum possible at the available terms and move on” Bansal said. We’ve written to Flipkart for a comment and will update once we hear back. David Andrews Authentic Jersey