Oman Air plans to increase flight services to India
In its bid to compete with other Gulf carriers, Oman’s flag carrier Oman Air plans to increase its flight services in India to 175 weekly by 2018 besides seeking an enhanced weekly seat entitlement. The Muscat-headquartered carrier currently operates 126 weekly flights across 11 destinations here. “We are in the first phase trying to look in increasing our frequencies to the existing destinations where we have today 126 weekly frequencies to 175 per week by 2018,” Oman Air chief executive officer Paul Gregorowitsch told PTI. India is an “extremely important” destination for Oman Air and being the fastest growing economy in the world it offers a huge potential, he said. Seeking equal footing with other Gulf-based carriers such as Emirates, which enjoy almost 25 per cent more weekly seat entitlement than Oman Air, Gregorowitsch said, “We have currently 21,147 seats per week. We are looking to increase it to total 29,820 flights by 2018 and hope to increase further to 40,000.” All this depends about the bilateral negotiations between Oman and India, he added. Three major Gulf carriers — Emirates, Etihad (with its Indian Partner Jet Airways) and Qatar Airways enjoy a major share in India’s international traffic. Under the air services agreement, Dubai has a maximum seat entitlement of 65,200 seats per week, followed by Abu Dhabi 49,670. Qatar is allowed to operate 24,800 seats per week between India and Doha. India had enhanced bilateral traffic rights with Oman last November, increasing the number of weekly flights for the carriers of the two countries by 5,131 seats. He said his airline at present did not have any new destination in “mind” but did not rule out the possibility of launching flights from new airports. The India government has recently decided to brush up quite some airstrips, he said adding, “we have not excluded that.” In India, Oman Air operates from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Hyderabad, Goa, among others. “Oman Air has seen that a number of measures have been taken to boost civil aviation like Indian airlines have been allowed to fly on international routes as 5/20 has more or less lifted on the other side, he said. “We have also seen the possibility of foreign investors to further invest in Indian carriers… We at Oman Air and Oman Government would like to partner further and work together, ” he added. Andrew MacDonald Jersey
Airports Authority of India again rejects Changi Airport plan for Jaipur, Ahmedabad airports
For the second time, state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) has rejected Singapore’s Changi Airport proposal to operate and maintain Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports after finding the latest plan “unfeasible”. Now, AAI would move ahead with steps to start the international bidding process for choosing the entities to operate and maintain the two domestic aerodromes. The proposal to rope in Singapore’s Changi airport for the projects was floated during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the island nation last November. The revised plan from Changi Airport, owned by the Singapore government, also sought a “higher” quantum of revenue in managing Jaipur and Ahmedabad aerodromes. This is “unfeasible” and not commercially viable for AAI, a source close to the development said. Hence, the latest proposal has been rejected after discussions with the Civil Aviation Ministry, the source said. Earlier also, Changi Airport’s proposal was rejected on the same grounds. “It has now been decided to re-open the global bids route for the two airports and (if interested) Changi Airport can also participate in it,” the source said. According to him, AAI is in the process of appointing a consultant for preparing the bid documents,”AAI expects to come out with the Request for Proposal (RFP) for Jaipur and Ahmedabad and airports by August,” he added. A senior Civil Aviation Ministry official said there is no “political pressure” to conclude a deal with Changi Airport and decisions are taken on the basis of merits. With regard to Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports, AAI had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) during Modi’s visit to the island nation. In January, the Union Cabinet had also given its ex-post facto approval to the MoU. Under the MoU, both parties were to cooperate in planning and development of Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports besides other aspects including traffic and commercial development, service quality and operations and management. Significantly, passenger traffic at Ahmedabad grew 28.3 per cent to 64,80,111 passengers in the last fiscal compared to 50,50,433 passengers in FY15. Jaipur Airport during this period logged a healthy 31.4 per cent growth in number of passengers to 28,87,195 passengers from 21,97,996 fliers in fiscal 2014-15. Irving Fryar Jersey
Farmers want MNCs to invest in rural infrastructure
Farmers across India are demanding that 100% foreign direct investment in food retail is welcome only if multinationals entering the sector invest in infrastructure and help agricultural communities become self-sufficient. Chengal Reddy, secretary general, Consorsium of Indian Farmers Association (CIFA), said farmers will welcome FDI in food retail since this will develop competitiveness in a market marred by monopolistic and manipulative practices. “But MNCs should be asked to invest in back-end infrastructure in a timebound manner, giving them enough time to understand the local systems,” he said. Analsyts shared his views. “We should have FDI investment in the backend infrastructure as far as possible with dynamic FPOs and monitoring by a project management agency,” said V Padmanand, director of Grant Thornton (India). Bharatiya Kisan Union president Balbir Singh Rajewal sounded sceptical, saying farmers will not allow unfettered entry of multinationals unless the government keeps in mind the welfare of rural communities. “You have to listen to farmers first before making big policy announcements. If Britain can hold a referendum over leaving the European Union, why can’t our government consider the interest of farmers before announcing such a policy…If the companies are asked to invest 15% in rural infrastructure, it will be very good,” he said. Farmer leaders said a large number of farmers, who have organised themselves into the Farmer Producer Companies (FPO), are keen to do business with MNCs, and benefit from the higher investment capacity of foreign players, and their knowledge. Farmers also think that foreign players, who know the demand of consumers from developed countries, can help them upgrade their skills to match those requirements, if they are made to invest at the back-end. “Farmers are small and widespread and it needs high investment to connect with them, which none of the Indian food retailers have done so far. They can introduce standardisation of agricultural produce, its branding and upgrade the skills of Indian farmers,” said Reddy. Gangadhar Chindhe, chairman, Garbhagiri FPO, reckons that farmers can benefit more if investors are made to pump in money at the farm level. Matt Martin Authentic Jersey
India needs $1.5 trillion for infrastructure: Arun Jaitley
India needs over $1.5 trillion in investment in the next 10 years to bridge infrastructure gap as the government intends to connect seven hundred thousand villages with roads by 2019 as part of a massive modernisation plan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today. “We have been able to sustain growth in the phase of global slowdown essentially on the strength of the infrastructure creation in India where the gap is huge,” Jaitley, who is in China to attend the Board of Governors of AIIB, said. “Over the next decade, we require over $1.5 trillion in India alone to fill up the infrastructure gap. We also use the additional resource which is available with us as a result of falling prices because that regime helps us. “In investing large public finance into infrastructure, for instance, we have seven hundred thousand villages in India. We intend to connect each of them by 2019,” he said while addressing a seminar on “Infrastructure and Global Economic Growth” organised by China sponsored Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) along with Finance Ministers of many countries. He also spoke of massive rural sanitation programme as part of India’s current infrastructure programme. “In terms of highway construction this year alone our target is 10,000 kms. Our railway system is over 100 years old. We are going in for a massive modernisation,” he said. Jaitley said the government is seeking private sector participation in converting railway stations into commercial hubs. The government plans to build more airports, sea ports and generate more power, particularly renewable energy which is ecologically also better from all points view, he said. “These are all the emphasis areas we have under taken,” he said. About arranging funding for the massive development, he said “we realise that starting point is public finances. It is only when the public finances are put into it, you start attracting and the activity begins a lot of private funds”. At the same time there are large number of developmental institutions like World Bank, ADB which put in lot of money because infrastructure funding also brings in long time returns on a sustainable basis, Jaitley said. The government has set up India infrastructure investment fund where the government holds minority stake, Jaitley said. “This a new experiment we have undertaken which we hope will be a success,” Jaitley said, adding that the emphasis of the India in the next decade to fill up the infrastructure gap which will also generate growth, employment, pull up number people out of poverty. “In our bid as emerging economy graduating into developed economy category, we feel that this is extremely vital for a country with a large population like India,” the Finance Minister said. Besides Jaitley and his Chinese counterpart Lou Jiwei, those who took part in the seminar were Pierre Egide Gramegna, Minister of Finance, Luxembourg, Imad Najib Fakhoury, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Jordan, Jin Liqun, AIIB President and Chris Heathcote, CEO, Global Infrastructure Hub, Thomas Maier, Managing Director, EBRD and Chair of the WEF Global Agenda Council on Infrastructure. Denver Broncos Authentic Jersey
Toll on six-lane highways only after construction
After burning its fingers by allowing developers to collect user fee (toll) during construction of 6-lane highways such as Gurgaon-Jaipur and Panipat-Jalandhar for years, the government will now abandon this practice in all new projects that will be rolled out. Tolling will start only after construction is complete. Corroborating this, NHAI chairman Raghav Chandra said, “I had raised this issue with the Planning Commission and submitted our views to the present government. If tolling starts from day one of construction, commuters suffer and there is no suitable incentive for developers to complete the work fast.” “The government has agreed to carry out six-laning under hybrid annuity mode. This means tolling will start only after construction is complete.” The move will not affect the projects that have already been awarded. According to the National Highway Authority of India, there are 23 ongoing contracts for six-laning of highways. Sources said that all new six-laning projects will be built under the hybrid annuity model. “Since in this model the user fee comes to NHAI as it pays back the entire investment of private investor in installments, it will be easy to do away with tolling during construction,” a government official said. Chandra said about 2,756 km are scheduled to be expanded from four lanes to six lanes and the hybrid annuity model will ensure responsible and speedy delivery. NHAI officials said that the six-laning projects constituet a large share of the delayed contracts. There had been several protests by commuters against toll hikes on Gurgaon-Jaipur, Faridabad-Agra and other such stretches complaining against poor facility and road diversions, forcing the UPA government to approve a policy allowing developers to charge only 75 per cent toll during six laning work. The Cabinet decision of October 2013 had also provisioned that tolling can be suspended for failure of developers to meet the deadline. Jalen Mills Authentic Jersey
Coastal shipping of commodities to save Rs 40,000 crore/year: Government
Promoting coastal shipping of just six commodities, including coal, cement and steel, could result in a huge Rs 40,000 crore annual saving, according to government estimates. Of the total, coastal shipping of thermal coal alone could result in savings of about Rs 20,000 crore while promoting steel and cement would save an annual Rs 5,500 crore and Rs 4,000 crore, an official said. “By promoting coastal shipping of across six commodities – thermal coal, steel, fertilizers, foodgrains and containers, the annual potential savings is estimated at about Rs 40,000 crore,” the official told PTI. Government has already announced a port-led development of coastal areas under its ambitious Sagarmala project that aims at harness India’s 7,500-km long coastline and 14,500-km of potentially navigable waterways. To encourage shippers to shift cargo to waterways and coastal shipping, the government is planning to provide an incentive of Re 1 per km for a tonne of cargo. “To encourage modal shift of cargo to coastal shipping and Inland Waterways Transportation, the government is planning to offer financial incentive to shippers who switch to waterways from roads and rails for movement of cargo,” the official said, adding that the incentive is planned at Re 1 per tonne per km. Initially, the government plans to include 9 commodities that include foodgrain, automobile, cement and marble. Sources said a note on the incentive scheme would soon be sent to the Cabinet for nod. “Government is working hard to shift the cargo to waterways as is not only an environment-friendly mode of transportation but economise cost,” Additional Secretary, Shipping Alok Srivastava said when contacted. He said the government is planning to redefine incentives to boost the share of transportation through waterways and coastal shipping. Industry players are of the view however that although waterways is an environment-friendly and fuel-efficient mode of transportation, impediments including inadequate infrastructure need to be addressed fully for desired results. They has been seeking an increase in the share of plan investment towards port and shipping sector which is 6.5 per cent only. The government has already expressed its commitment to promote coastal shipping and inland waterways transportation and has envisioned increasing of the share of waterways transportation mode from the present level of 7 per cent to 10 per cent by 2020. “Across all commodities, coastal shipping volumes could grow to 5-6 times of current levels to about 400-480 million tonnes (MT) by 2025,” according to a blueprint on Sagarmala unveiled by the government. Logistics costs account for a large part of the country’s non-services GDP compared to benchmarks of 8-10 per cent for developed nations, as per the blueprint. Citing an example, it said up to 100-150 MT of coal can be moved from the east coast to coastal power plants in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In addition, up to 50 MT could be moved coastally for non-thermal coal users. “There is potential to move steel, cement, fertilisers and foodgrains coastally to the extent of about 60 MT by 2025. Further, about 50 MT of petroleum products could be moved coastally from refining centres in Gujarat and Odisha to demand centres in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,” it said. Government has identified over 150 projects under Sagarmala. It expects to mobilise more than Rs 4 lakh crore of investment, besides creation of 1 crore new jobs, including 40 lakh direct jobs, in the next 10 years. These projects have been identified across the areas of port modernisation and new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-led industrial development and coastal community development. The Cabinet approved Sagarmala project last year. Kevin Garnett Authentic Jersey
Logistics parks for Rs 30000 crore to aid cargo flow, cut costs
The government has prepared a road map for setting up 15 multi-modal logistics parks around major cities, which have a share of about 40 per cent of country’s freight movement by road. With an estimated investment of Rs 30,000 crore, the project aims to make transport of cargo faster, reduce cost and improve the supply chain, key for taming inflation. In a concept note titled ‘Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme’, the road transport ministry has identified Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, north and south Gujarat, Hyderabad, south and north Punjab, Vijayawada, Kochi and Chennai as some of the major transport nodes for this project in the first phase. This is part of a study funded by the World Bank. Logistics parks, act as hubs for freight movement enabling cargo aggregation and distribution. Freight from production area will be shipped to nearby logistics parks where it will be aggregated and transported to a logistics park near the consumption zone on a larger vehicle. Freight arriving at the destination logistics park will be disaggregated and distributed to the consumption zones inside the city, accord ing to the government paper. “It’s a welcome move. But we have also suggested the ministry to focus on low hanging fruits such as simplifying of documentations, connecting all major transport hubs. Road, shipping, rail and aviation ministries have to work together,” said World Bank senior transport specialist Rajesh Rohtagi. Logistic costs in India is higher at 13-14 per cent of the value of goods against 7-8 per cent in developed countries. This is due to several inefficiencies including smaller and inefficient trucks resulting in lower average speed 25-30 kmph, which is 50-60 per cent less as compared to the US. While in states like Gujarat and Rajasthan it is 37-40 kmph, in Odisha and West Bengal it is only 18-20 kmph, the report says. It’s estimated that the transport costs would fall by about 10 per cent and pollution will also be less. According to estimates, CO2 emission may reduce by 12 per cent and even congestion will be less by about 20 per cent on these 15 nodes. Adam Larsson Womens Jersey
When those meant to be executives become startup founders, everyone loses
There’s this great visual most people have of being an entrepreneur or a founder. It’s a poster of a young college dropout, next to the logo of a billion-dollar company they founded, surrounded by famous people and, of course, money. Lots of money. It seems, all of a sudden, everyone wants to be on that poster. And everyone believes the only way to be on that poster is by being the founder of a company. In fact, even the government seems to desperately want everyone in the country to be on that poster. Heaven forbid, if you are not a founder, then suddenly there is no poster and you have lost out in the startup revolution. This perception is so far from reality that it’s dangerous. Mark Suster described entrepreneurship well: “Being an entrepreneur is sexy… for those who haven’t done it.” A founder is one member of a team. Just like every other member, they have certain responsibilities. And to manage those responsibilities, they need certain attributes. Everyone doesn’t have those attributes. And, thank god, everyone doesn’t have them if everyone became an entrepreneur, we would have a series of failed companies because there would be no one to actually run them. So what does an entrepreneur need? Let us pen down a few things to look for in founders. They have extreme confidence in themselves and their ideas; no fear of failure; an inherent ability to take risks over and over again; an ability to constantly manage stress; are good decision-makers the best entrepreneurs never sit on the fence; work all the time, even when not working which means they’re sacrificing something else in their lives; are perpetual optimists who can take rejection over and over again. Having these attributes are not good or bad. And they definitely aren’t linked to success or failure as a human being. In fact, very few people have these attributes. When people who are meant to be executives in a company become founders, everyone loses. One of the most dangerous results of investing in the wrong founders is that it has an effect on the larger ecosystem. Oh and, by the way, executives are in short supply. Ask any founder running a company today. There is always a need for more people. Meanwhile, there seems to be a plethora of qualified founders in India. I’ve met many, and invested in a few. But given the dearth of high-quality talent, I suspect most of those founders will suffer. And the more the ecosystem blindly motivates the wrong kinds of individuals to start their own companies, the more everyone loses. Wes Hopkins Jersey
Shop owners make sales pitch from footpaths
Once the hub of shopping in the city, MG Road in Pune Camp has fallen off the map in the last few years. So much so that some apparel store owners inside shopping complexes have taken to selling their wares on pavements with temporary stalls to keep their businesses alive. “I was shopping from hawkers who sell their wares from those huge cardboard boxes that they keep on movable tables. What struck me was that they said that they accept debit and credit cards, which obviously is not what many street hawkers do. As it turned out, one of them accompanied us to a store inside a shopping complex, which is the actual store of that hawker, where they have an elaborate display arrangement and card payment terminals, but there were no shoppers there,” Vimannagar resident Rashmi S, a self-confessed MG Road faithful said. Shop owners and lessees are worried about the decline of the area’s prominence. “Ten years ago, people used to visit our store in large numbers, even though it is located inside a shopping complex. But when two malls came up at both ends of the Cantonment (SGS Mall and Kumar Pacific Mall), young people have moved to them. They are gleaming and shining complexes with food courts and amusement. Who will come to these rundown and tiny shopping complexes?” said Yusuf Ansari, an apparel store owner in a complex on MG Road. Yusuf is not off-the-mark. Many apparel and accessories stores are organised inside two or three-storeyed shopping complexes, most of which were built in the 80s. Years have gone by, but neither shop-owners nor the shopping complex managers have done much to refurbish and glam up these buildings. Exposed internal wiring, grimy shop-windows, lack of clean restrooms, and general uncleanliness is a common sight in the complexes. Besides, entertainment options are too far and few between, say regulars here, except for a few cafes. “The clothes and other apparel here are affordable and trendy, and so I regularly come here to shop with my friends. But we don’t want to go inside the shopping complexes. It’s too empty inside, sometimes it stinks, and frankly, they are very boring. There is very little to do apart from shopping,” said Isha S, an MG Road regular. Such complaints are common with many other shoppers as well, and that has brought shop owners onto the pavements. They sell despite raids and threats of eviction by the police and Pune Cantonment Board (PCB). Hawking is illegal in the entirety of the Pune Cantonment area, but the ban is loosely enforced. “Sometimes, Cantonment officers and police constables come with large trucks for eviction. For that period, we have to go back into our shops with our temporary arrangements. After they leave, we come back to sell on the pavement, said a shop owner near the Aurora Towers, not wishing to be named. The local traders’ body admitted that such practices are rampant, but defended the traders, saying that “compulsions are many”. “The simple fact one learns in such business is that one can earn more and faster by peddling on the streets than by owning a store. The hawking problem is rampant in Cantonment areas. They have long eaten into our business by placing their stalls near our shops, so that customers shop from them and not from us. If PCB had a strong policy against illegal hawkers, shop owners would not have had to sell on the streets themselves,” Anand Kochhar, chairman of Pune Camp Merchants’ Association (PCMA), said. Kochhar also laid the blame on malls in and around the area, and also on e-commerce platforms, which he says has “hit traders the hardest”. “These malls around the area are shiny and glamorous, and have hurt our business over the past few years considerably as people would prefer to go there. But the worst blow has come from e-commerce platforms. They have competitive pricing, lots of choices, and policies like easy returns. Our traders obviously cannot offer so many facilities,” he adds. There have been efforts- if all too little- to revive the area as a prime shopping destination. There has been talk of introducing 4G Wi-Fi on the MG Road, sprucing up buildings lining the stretch, and last December, the PCMA organised a shopping festival in the Christmas and New Year week. The festival included attractive discounts from the more than thousand participating stores, decorative lighting, free parking, and play areas for children. Traders did experience some success, but as Kochhar implies, the image of glamour need not equate good business necessarily. “Colourful lights can be very easily put up and such shopping festivals can be done. But it is very difficult for business owners here to make a profit. The taxes are crippling, the footfall is decreasing, and there is the hawker menace. So people will be forced into desperate measures like hawking on the streets,” he said. Malcolm Jenkins Jersey
Paytm & Alibaba to help Indian sellers source 5-million products from China at cheaper rates
Ecommerce platform Paytm said it is leveraging its association with Alibaba group to enable Indian sellers to source products from China at cheaper rates as well as help them with logistics and payments. The company said it has identified about 25-30 Indian merchants with a credible track record to incubate under categories including home and kitchen, micro innovation including USB cookers, etc, fashion and mobile accessories and western fashion to begin the pilot. The programme plans to get on board at least 10,000 merchants by the end of this year, giving them access to more than 5-million products from China. “Inventory is the third pillar of commerce, after logistics and payments, which requires optimisation in India,” said Bhushan Patil, who is heading the initiative for Paytm. Paytm clarified that the company’s focus remains on scaling its B2C commerce business and this move is more in-line to help sellers source effectively and get better margins. Sellers who source using Paytm ties are allowed to sell on other marketplaces as well including Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, ShopClues, according to Patil, who was the head of Alibaba Group Holding’s wholesale international business before he joined Paytm three months back. “We expect the Indian SME’s cost to come down three times with our direct connect,” said Patil. “Most SMEs don’t import directly, they import from local distributors, and there may be 2-3 steps shuffling, we connect directly. We also offer bonded warehousing facilities, leveraging our tie-ups with import houses and trusted payments with our partnership with Citibank, which further reduces costs at scale.” The sourcing business will see Paytm’s existing lending programme help these sellers in gaining extra capital to buy additional inventory to meet the anticipated demand. “Sellers can buy in bulk from China at cheap prices, get goods to India and store in our bonded warehouses until products need to be sold. That way the seller pays duties, which are close to 30%, at the time of sale and not in bulk,” Patil explained. While the programme helps Indian sellers on Paytm offer new products on the B2C marketplace at competitive pricing, Patil added that Alibaba might look at backing the model with its expertise if the pilot turns successful. “IndiaMART is focused on domestic B2B, serving buyers and sellers in India. Alibaba & Paytm are working on helping Indian buyers connect with suppliers from China and buy from them. Both of us are serving different segments of the market” says Brijesh Agarwal, cofounder of IndiaMART, which claims to own 70% of the market share in the online B2B commerce space. Mike Pennel Jersey