MMRDA starts bidding process for Mumbai Trans Harbour Link
In a major development in the much ambitious Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) today started the bidding process for the project and the contract will be awarded in the next 5-6 months. “Yesterday, we received the approval from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for funding the project and today we started the bidding process,” Metropolitan Commissioner UPS Madan said at an event here. He said in the next 5-6 months, the contract will be awarded for Rs 17,500 crore worth project. The project completion deadline has been set at 2019, but the commencement is itself getting delayed. There was delay in signing of loan agreement between Maharashtra government and JICA for the project where the state will borrow to the extent of 80 per cent of the total cost. As per MMRDA’s plan, the MTHL will have a total of six lanes, three in either direction. Of the total 22-km, 16.5-km will be bridge component and the balance would be on coast at Sewri and Nhava. Earlier, there were plans to have a metro line for public transport on MTHL, but it has been shelved off by MMRDA officials to have a toll-based bridge.
India to connect better with neighbours via infra projects
With support of Asian Development Bank (ADB), India is developing various infrastructure projects worth $5 billion in South Asia to improve connectivity in the region. “With ADB support, India is presently developing two priority road corridors. The first will connect India with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan through the ‘chicken neck’ area of North Bengal,” Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said today. He was speaking at the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) 2025 workshop here. The second road corridor will establish India-Myanmar connectivity in Manipur, he said, adding Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at Agartala and Petrapole on India-Bangladesh border will be operationalised. “Another ICP at Moreh on India-Myanmar border will be developed. We are also planning to establish ICPs and improved Land Customs Stations (LCS) at key border points with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to ease the movement of goods and people within the subregion. “India is planning to develop regional connectivity projects worth almost $5 billion in SASEC,” he said. India has also been assisting its neighbours in the sub-continent to improve their power situation. The India-Bangladesh transmission line is providing safe and reliable interconnection of the power grids to supply 500 MW of power to Bangladesh, he said. The 1,320 MW Maitree Thermal Power Project, a joint venture of NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board, will be developed, he said. The Power Grid Corporation of IndiaBSE -0.56 % is also engaged in developing three 230 kv transmission lines in Myanmar with the support of a credit line of $64 million between the Exim Bank of India and the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, he added. Discussions are also on for a 1,680 km mega gas pipeline project linking Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan with India, he said, adding that at the request of the four participating countries, ADB has agreed to house the secretariat of this project. Recently, India has launched a major port-led development initiative called ‘Sagarmala’, which will help modernise ports and coastlines to contribute more to growth. “Apart from the modernisation of the existing ports in the east coast, India is developing two new ports on the same coast line at Dugarajapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Sagar Island in West Bengal. These ports will further enhance our trade with the neighbours and ASEAN countries,” Das said. Das further said India is also developing the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), with ADB as lead partner, and Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) project is part of the first phase. The goal of the ECEC is not only to generate domestic output and employment, but also to create a more competitive environment for the development of trade and industry in the region, he said. The ECEC will facilitate the movement of the bulk of India’s major natural resources like coal and iron ore and can serve as a node for extractive and downstream value-added industries, he said. About 90 per cent of India’s trade by volume and 70 per cent by value are moved through ports and the major ports thus play a key role in facilitating external trade. The focus has been on improving the port infrastructure, modernisation of existing facilities and increasing the capacity and draught at ports, he said. Mika Zibanejad Womens Jersey
Samsung, Micromax, Intex lead Indian smartphone market in Q4
Samsung Electronics, Micromax Informatics and Intex led the Indian mobile phone market in the quarter ended March, when midpriced smartphones captured the biggest slice of the market by volume for the first time, exceeding the share of entry-level devices. It was a huge quarter for Indian brands – their share of the smartphone market was at an all-time high of 45%, while 67% of all phones shipped were made in India, according to CyberMedia Research’s India mobile handset report on Tuesday. The mid-price segment – devices costing Rs 10,000-15,000 – accounted for about 22% of smartphone shipments in the quarter, overtaking the Rs 6,000-8,000 band, which typically leads by volume share. “The increase has been primarily due to introduction of shipments by LeEco and launch of new handsets/significant increase in shipments from Lenovo, Oppo, LG, Panasonic, Micromax, Intex, Lyf and Vivo,” said Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst at CyberMedia Research’s telecom practice. The smartphone category registered an impressive 21.4% year-onyear growth even as the average price of these devices surged, while sales of feature phones fell and the overall market shrank. Smartphone shipments climbed to 23.6 million units, although they dropped 8% from the previous quarter, on the back of an inventory build-up in the three months ended December, which added to the cyclical trough seen during the first quarter every year. The average selling price of a smartphone increased to Rs 12,983 in March from Rs 10,364 a year earlier and Rs 12,285 in December, CyberMedia said. India shipped 52.8 million handsets in the January-to-March period compared with 55.4 million a year earlier. The number declined 12.8% from 60.5 million in the quarter ended December. Sales of feature phones declined 17% sequentially and 19% on year to 29.2 million units in the quarter. Samsung led with a 28% share in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market, followed by Micromax with 16% and Intex with 12%. The No. 4 and No. 5 positions were taken by Lenovo and Reliance Jio, with 9% and 8% shares, respectively. CyberMedia was the second agency to report Jio’s entry in the top five smartphone space with its Lyf-branded phones, after Counterpoint Technology Market Research said last week the company’s share was 7%. Samsung also led the overall market with a 25% share, followed by Micromax (13%) and Intex (12%). The market share of Chinese and other global brands declined by a few percentage points. “While the global players are increasingly focusing on 4G LTE technology, domestic players could still see some profits in 3G technology. Moving forward, it would be all about 4G LTE and 2016 is the year when a major transformation is expected in the telecom sector with respect to change in technology,” said Krishna Mukherjee, telecoms analyst at CyberMedia. Fozzy Whittaker Authentic Jersey
Snapdeal gross sales growth dives
Online marketplace Snapdeal, one of SoftBank’s biggest bets in India, registered a slower growth in its gross sales for the year ended March 2016 as it fought rivals Amazon and Flipkart in a fierce battle for supremacy of the Indian e-commerce space. Numbers shared by SoftBank in its earnings presentation on Tuesday said Snapdeal’s gross merchandize value, or GMV, grew 90% at the end of the financial year 2015-16 against 301% in the previous fiscal. This comes on the back of Amazon weaning away marketshare from domestic players, more so from Snapdeal. GMV is the overall sales done by merchants on an e-commerce platform, without factoring discounts and returns, out of which e-tailers get between 5-20% as margin depending on the category. GMV has been a key metric to determine the lofty valuations of e-commerce companies in India but Snapdeal’s founder & CEO Kunal Bahl recently posited he no longer sees it as the only metric worth chasing. But that wasn’t the case always – Bahl had said last year that Snapdeal would top Flipkart’s GMV at the end of 2015. SoftBank holds around 32% in Snapdeal, which closed last year with $3.5-4 billion in GMV as reported earlier. The country’s largest online retailer Flipkart too has been grappling with growth slowdown in the backdrop of Amazon’s aggressive moves. The Bengaluru-based e-tailer is expected to have closed December 2015 with a GMV of $4.5-5 billion while Amazon’s India unit grew 250% in terms of GMV against 2014, albeit on a smaller base. None of the e-commerce companies officially share GMV numbers. When contacted, a Snapdeal spokesperson said in an emailed response, “Rapid growth year on year, followed by a doubling of business on a much larger base, is an indicator of the pace at which we are growing. Our shipment volumes have grown rapidly and in the period Jan-March 2016, our shipment volume was 1.96 times of the volume in the same period last year. All our growth initiatives are aligned with our vision of having 20 million daily transacting users (DTUs) on our platform by the year 2020.” Earlier in February, Snapdeal closed a $200-million financing round, majority of which saw secondary transactions. It got a primary capital infusion worth Rs 335 crore during the same time, valuing the company at $6.5 billion. SoftBank, which is also a major investor in app-based cab aggregator Ola, reported that the company has improved its expected time of arrival by 55% and has the largest network of cabs in the country. Ola competes with San Francisco-based Uber which has been playing aggressively in India. Oyo Rooms, a hotel aggregator, has turned profitable on an aggregate level while registering 15 times growth in its business, the earnings presentation by SoftBank said. Aldon Smith Womens Jersey
Snapdeal may tap Chinese firms, SWFs to raise money for FreeCharge
Online marketplace Snapdeal is in talks with multiple investors including Chinese firms and sovereign funds to raise money for FreeCharge, seeking to bulk up its digital payments platform before pitting it against market leader Paytm. Jasper Infotech, which operates Snapdeal, is positioning FreeCharge as a cornerstone of its business as it builds a comprehensive online ecosystem of goods and services similar to that created by Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group. The strategy, it expects, will make the electronic marketplace stand out from its closest rivals Flipkart and Amazon. “We are getting a lot of interest from sovereign funds and some Chinese investors,” Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl told ET. “Chinese investors have seen the Alipay story.” “They have seen that Alipay has be- Q&A en successful because it is attached to a large commerce platform,” said Bahl. ET first reported in October that Snapdeal, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank and China’s Foxconn, was in talks with existing and new investors to raise about $300 million (Rs 2,000 crore) to strengthen FreeCharge. Bahl declined to disclose the valuation he is seeking for FreeCharge or the status of the fundraising. Jasper Infotech acquired FreeCharge in April last year for an estimated $400-450 million in cash and stock. FreeCharge can now be used to pay for purchases of goods on Snapdeal as well as a range of services such as travel-booking and food-ordering that the online marketplace recently included on its mobile application through tieups with other firms. “I have told investors, ‘If you want to come into our crown jewel, it is going to be at a price’,” Bahl said. “If you are not willing to pay that price today, no problem. Let’s wait for three to six months and let (Free-Charge) continue to execute. Till then, we will finance it.” Alipay, run by Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Financial, raised $4.5 billion at an estimated valuation of $60 billion in April and, according to a Bloomberg report, is planning an initial public offering of its shares. The company, controlled by Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma, has about 450 million active users. FreeCharge, which has details of 20 million credit and debit cards stored on its platform and 30 million verified addresses, is targeting transactions worth Rs 20,000 crore by the end of March 2017, more than a threefold increase from about Rs 6,600 crore in January 2016. Alibaba Group-backed Paytm, which was valued at $3.4 billion as of September, had 128 million registered wallet users and handled about 95 million transactions a month as of January, much higher than the 30-31 million transactions FreeCharge handles every month. India’s largest ecommerce firms are sharpening their focus on digital payment platforms to have greater control over transactions. Flipkart, the country’s biggest online marketplace, in March launched a mobile wallet called Flipkart Money, which it expects will help it save significant costs related to product returns in addition to offering users an in-house payments option. Snapdeal’s latest fundraise for FreeCharge is a departure from its earlier capital-raising rounds that were focused on funding overall growth. “FreeCharge is not a three-year journey. It’s a commitment of a lifetime for us that we have made to the company and to the business,” Bahl said. “If we are running Snapdeal for 25 years, we have to run FreeCharge for 25 years also, and hence we want high-quality strategic investors for them as well.” Chinese investors are increasingly looking to invest in Indian firms as they seek to replicate the outsized returns they earned from backing domestic consumer internet ventures such Alibaba Group. Indian companies are cognizant of this. Snapdeal in February brought on board technology-focused venture capital firm Iron Pillar, which is an adviser to Singapore-based investment firm Brother Fortune Apparel Pte Ltd that represents several very wealthy Chinese individuals. Saquon Barkley Authentic Jersey
Snapdeal bars sellers from giving more than 70% discount from May 13
Snapdeal has barred sellers on its platform from giving more than 70% discount on the maximum retail price on most products from May 13, as the ecommerce firm aims to tackle the increasing return of merchandise from buyers. In a communication sent to sellers on May 9, the company said: “We have noticed deeply discounted products often do not meet expectations, leading to increased returns and customer dissatisfaction. To improve customer experience, you would not be able to list a new product or update the price of a listed product with more than 70% discount on MRP.” Sellers on leading marketplaces, including Snapdeal, have been complaining of increased returns by buyers due to the “no questions asked” return policy of the ecommerce companies. Increased returns is a logistical nightmare as inventory is stuck in transit for long time and also cause accounting errors, say sellers. A Snapdeal spokesperson said this is a way to providing consumer insights and assisting the sellers in making asale. “In this instance, we have shared with our sellers that any discounts that the consumers perceive as unrealistic may adversely impact the consumer perception about the quality of products,” the spokesperson said. “Laying down the operating rules on our marketplace and providing market information is an ongoing activity. The price is determined by the sellers based on various inputs they may receive from multiple sources, including from us.” According to Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of retail consultancy firm Third Eyesight, Snapdeal’s strategy might go down well with India’s new foreign investment policy in ecommerce. But sellers won’t like it. “The intent of the new ecommerce policy is clear. The government wants to control deep discounting. So the government may not have any problem with Snapdeal’s diktat. However, since this policy is influencing the prices, sellers could challenge it,” Dutta said. As per the latest government guidelines, online marketplaces are not allowed to influence the price of goods and services directly or indirectly. While some sellers say this is a “good move”, others see it as a hindrance when they try to clear piled up inventory. The All India Online Vendors Association, which represents medium-to-large sellers on various ecommerce platforms, said, “Snapdeal should discuss such policies with vendors before putting any cap on discounts.” Troy Stecher Authentic Jersey
‘Indian unicorns unwilling to bring in professional CEOs’
Former Flipkart chief product officer Punit Soni, a prized Silicon valley hire who quit the company in less than a year, says Indian unicorns (startups with $1 billion or more in private valuations) are grappling with leadership challenges but are unwilling to bring professional chief executives on board. In an interaction with TOI, Soni, a former Googler, said, “In the US, you’re either taught to become a great CEO or you’re asked to step out to get a professional chief on board. Tell me: In all the Indian unicorns, do you have any situation where the founder is not the CEO?” He argued that investors in the Indian internet economy haven’t run large tech companies. “They have built small companies and sold them in the past. Do you think there are enough product CEOs in the country who are spending time coaching these entrepreneurs? The answer is no,” said Soni, who is probably headed back to the Bay area to start an entrepreneurial innings. The domestic e-commerce story has faced some early upheavals with large global asset managers beginning to reset startup valuations. The Indian leader Flipkart has witnessed successive markdowns, bringing its valuation lower to around $9 billion after hitting a peak of $15.2 billion in early 2015. “I don’t think these are fluffy and ambiguous exercises. It cleans up a system a bit after some irrationality crept into the India story of late,” Soni said. “Nobody is going to argue that India is not going to be a large market. Everybody thinks it’s an exponential curve, perhaps it’s a small exponential curve and a little bit of straight line,” he added. Soni said Flipkart has to revisit priorities with a fresh lens before Amazon further narrows the gap in a fiercely-competed domestic e-commerce business expected to grow tenfold to $50 billion by 2020. “It’s a neck and neck contest. If they shape up and do the right things, they will be able to hold up, else they will be No. 2. It’s not such a bad outcome in India,” said Soni who was instrumental in developing Flipkart’s chat application Ping and relaunching its mobile website – Flipkart Lite. Lawrence Taylor Womens Jersey
31 Complaints Regarding Air India’s Food Quality: Aviation Minister Mahesh Sharma
The number of complaints regarding the quality of food served on Air India’s domestic flights has down to 31 in the previous fiscal from 34 in the year-ago period, Rajya Sabha was informed today. In the month of November 2015, the complaints regarding the food quality did not account for even three per cent of the total 252 complaints received by the Government-run airline during that period, according to the data given by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma. As per record, the total number of 252 complaints were received in November last year on the domestic network of Air India and out of these complaints only six were related to quality of meals, Sharma said in a written reply. The Minister, in his reply, also said that punitive actions is taken, based on the gravity of complaints after they are received. Air India uplifts in-flight, meals from reputed caterers, who also cater to other international and domestic airlines, Sharma said adding, surprised meat checks are carried out at the airline’s premises to monitor uplift of meals with regard to quality, quantity, taste, presentations and eye appeal. Besides, periodic hygiene audits are also being carried out at caterer’s premises to improve the quality of meals. Dale Weise Womens Jersey
Asia’s top consumers paid more than $10/MMBtu for gas in 2015: IGU
The LNG-dependent countries of Asia Pacific paid the world’s highest wholesale prices for gas in 2015, according to a new survey from the International Gas Union. Wholesale prices for gas were highest in South Korea at more than $10/MMBtu, with Japan also paying double-digit figures, the IGU’s Wholesale Gas Price Survey for 2016 showed. The third-highest wholesale price was in China at just below $10/MMBtu, where domestic prices did not fully reflect declining oil prices until November, the IGU said. The average wholesale price in Japan in 2015 was $10.36/MMBtu, down from $15.98/MMBtu in 2014. Contract prices in Japan, which is the world’s largest LNG importer, did not begin to fall significantly until the first quarter of 2015 as the lag effect of falling crude oil prices began to feed through, the IGU said. The price in China declined only marginally to $9.67/MMBtu in 2015, from $10.56/MMBtu in 2014, as the adjustment to city gate prices, formally linked to oil product prices and LPG, were delayed. In addition, the delivered prices of pipeline gas from Turkmenistan to the key east coast markets contain significant fixed transit and transportation elements, the IGU said. In India, prices rose to $7.94/MMBtu in 2015, from 2014’s $6.80/MMBtu. The increase reflected a full year of the new hub-linked pricing formula for domestic production and the price of the Qatar LNG contract, since renegotiated from the start of 2016, remaining high because of long lags. Prices have fallen further in the first quarter of 2016, the IGU said. Prices in the first quarter were $7.50/MMbtu in Japan, $7.54/MMBtu in China and $5.50/MMBtu in India, the IGU estimated, with the markets in China and India catching up in the declines as the inertia in their pricing systems begins to reflect prices for spot gas and oil. The Platts JKM for spot LNG cargoes delivered in June fell by 25 cents over the week to May 6, closing at $4.50/MMBtu. At the low end of the scale, Australia enjoyed the cheapest wholesale gas prices in Asia Pacific, at less than $4/MMBtu for 2015, compared with a regional average of more than $8/MMBtu, the IGU said. Australia, which is on its way to becoming the world’s largest LNG exporter, also enjoyed lower wholesale gas prices than its two regional LNG export competitors, Malaysia and Indonesia. “Global energy pricing has entered a new paradigm,” IGU President David Carroll said in the report. “While $70 (and higher) crude was the norm for many years, we are now uncertain about when to expect a rebound to historical trading ranges,” he added. “Gas industry dynamics are also changing,” Carroll said. “Projects approved several years ago in a more robust pricing environment are now coming on stream. This supply abundance has affected gas hub and spot pricing levels and shifts in the wholesale price formation mechanisms are occurring.” Global consumption of gas in 2015 was around 3,554.8 Bcm, up from 3,506.2 Bcm in 2014, with Asia Pacific accounting for 399.9 Bcm, the IGU figures showed. Domestic production accounted for 73% of total world consumption, or around 2,590 Bcm, with pipeline imports accounting for around 637 Bcm and LNG imports accounting for about 330 Bcm. Asia Pacific is the world’s second-largest importing region behind Europe. Asia Pacific’s imports of gas via pipeline and as LNG totaled 221.0 Bcm in 2015, with global imports recorded at 966.3 Bcm. Taylor Moton Womens Jersey
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s overseas dreams gas out
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPC) has wrapped up its overseas operations, resulting in over Rs 17 billion going down the drain. The state-owned company, which is mired in controversy over alleged wasteful expenditure in KG Basin, has already begun the process of relinquishing its only remaining block in Australia. The company has already surrendered 10 overseas oil and gas blocks in Egypt, Yemen, Indonesia and Australia during 2011-15. GSPC had acquired five blocks in Egypt, three in Yemen and one in Indonesia and two in Australia. The company had acquired two blocks in Australia, of which one was already surrendered before 2015. “In Australia, one block is already relinquished. In second block minimum work programme (MWP) is completed, relinquishment is being processed,” Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently informed the Rajya Sabha. “GSPC has reported that its overseas operations are closed,” the minister further added. While there was no exploration success in case of blocks in Egypt and Indonesia, rise in militancy and disturbances in Yemen forced the company to withdraw. When contacted, GSPC’s in-charge managing director J N Singh confirmed the development. “We have closed our Australia operations also. Earlier, we had closed other overseas operations. We now don’t have any further plans for overseas explorations,” he added. In its report for the year ended March 31, 2015, tabled in state assembly this year, CAG had pulled up GSPC for its lack of experience as ‘overseas operator’. “The delay in execution of the work committed resulted in cost escalations in overseas blocks. As a result, the company had incurred expenditure of Rs 17.5746 billion for 10 surrendered blocks, of which Rs 17.3412 billion has been written off,” the apex auditor noted. Last week, Congress halted Parliament proceedings over alleged scam in GSPC. Congress leaders on Saturday met President Pranab Mukherjee and demanded an independent inquiry into futile spending of public money to dig for gas in the KG Basin. Anders Bjork Womens Jersey