Why Indian e-commerce stars fight and can’t stand united against offline retailers and government rules
It should have been like K Street (a US TV series on powerful lobbyist firms). But it’s become Game of Thrones (another US TV series, on powerful royals fighting each other, not realising there’s a bigger danger). India’s ecommerce blue chips are disunited and fractious, even when confronted with a constricting set of central government rules – the April-announced policy on etailers and marketplaces – and various state-level taxation threats. This is a more serious fight than Twitter put-downs, for example, those exchanged by Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl. Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, ShopClues and others face a determined and united brick-and-mortar retailers’ group, Retailers Association of India (RAI), but the stars of ecommerce can’t lobby the government with one voice. And the impact of this on the etailing business is at best uncertain. ET spoke to a wide range of people from the ecommerce industry for this story. Many of them spoke on the condition they not be identified. Amazon and Flipkart did not respond to questions. Snapdeal responded, saying the company is working with all stakeholders on all important issues. “Brick-and-mortar retailers are a huge cartel, they will not even sell a bottle of water below an agreed price, unlike us,” a senior executive at a top etailer told ET, explaining the basic difference in online and offline retail trade. Radhika Aggarwal, cofounder of ShopClues.com, which gets funding from Tiger Global and Nexus Ventures among others, has a sharp take: “This is like the Game of Thrones as every house is trying to consolidate according to its strength. We are a fragmented lot.” The fragmentation can be striking. Early April, Amazon got the lobby group Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) to draft a letter asking the government for six months’ moratorium on the marketplace policy’s implementation. But Flipkart and Snapdeal refused to sign it. People familiar with this matter told ET that the etailers promoted by Indians refused to sign because they thought US-based Amazon would benefit most from a policy postponement. IAMAI did not send a letter. That a lobby group could not even send a united petition is remarkable, say those knowledgeable about government-industry relations. A senior executive of a large etailer was candid: “It is true we hate each other, it is beginning to hurt. There should be a joint, concerted effort. Why are brick-and-mortar players successful in lobbying? Because they speak in one voice.” Divisions among etailers are getting sharper. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, as ET reported, had lobbied Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the latter visited the US earlier this month. Bezos reportedly asked for a hybrid model for foreign promoter-backed etailers. A hybrid model would allow online retailing where a platform sources, stocks and sells merchandise itself while also allowing other retailers to sell through it. Flipkart and Snapdeal are ferociously opposed to Bezos’s idea, four senior executives from these two companies told ET. Homegrown etailers say they reckon Bezos will find it tough to get his way but if he does, Amazon can pose a huge threat. “Amazon wants FDI in hybrid model so that they can embark on a scorched earth policy by discounting indiscriminately which no player will be able to counter because no one has excess cash to burn any more,” says a person familiar with Flipkart’s thinking. He also explained Flipkart’s constraints: “Flipkart is pivoted to marketplace model now even if purely by default. If they have to go back to the inventory model, it will be a gutwrenching change which the company won’t be able to bear. Amazon on the other hand is a veteran of the inventory model globally and would welcome it.” Homegrown ecommerce stars happily point out to Amazon’s “struggle” to comply with the new rules of online marketplace – any venture that has FDI cannot have any one vendor selling more than 25 per cent of total sales by value. Senior executives of these etailers claim Amazon’s joint venture entity, Cloudtail, currently sells well above the 25 per cent threshold. Such sniping is common and the contrast with the offline retailers’ lobby group, RAI, cannot be starker – two cases have been filed by brick-and-mortar retailers since May last year accusing ecommerce companies of circumventing Indian laws and it was those lawsuits that forced the government to write the new online marketplace rules. More’s on the way. RAI members, ET has learnt, are investigating what they see as noncompliance of etailers with new marketplace rules. RAI is updated by its members about etailers’ special deals, pricing behavior and discounts. A RAI member recently sent a screenshot of the Indian cricket team’s cap being sold at a 60 per cent discount on Amazon.in and of a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone being sold on Flipkart for Rs 29,900, at 18 per cent discount to the original price. Under the new rules, ecommerce companies are not allowed to give any discounts. The marketplaces say it is the sellers that are offering products at discounted prices. RAI is compiling what’s essentially a chargesheet against India’s ecommerce stars. But the stars themselves are not even getting together on existential issues. Here’s a glaring example. Many ecommerce executives and industry observers say the new set of rules doesn’t offer clarity on whether marketplaces can promote themselves. United lobbying would have helped etailers get an answer and probably a way to promote themselves. But disunited, no individual etailer is willing to risk promotion, lest the united offline retailers’ lobby group come after it. RAI’s CEO Kumar Rajagopalan is scathing on India’s etailers. “Their issues are same as retailers but they don’t want to call themselves retailers that is why they are like illegitimate children of the same industry. They are not willing to recognise their parents because if they tell who their parents are they will be jailed.” Faced with such an aggressive and purposeful rival, India’s etail majors are finally thinking of some united efforts, but these are plagued by the instinct to
Gas pipeline network hit on uncertain KG supply
AMID heated debate on the completion of natural gas network connecting Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karanataka, the South Indian pie in the entire gas infrastructure in the country is abysmal. Now, there are 27.58 lakh piped natural gas connections provided by various entities in India and the number of compressed natural gas stations stand at 884. In the entire South, the number of PNG connections is 5,564 (0.2%) and there are only 33 CNG stations (3.7%). Tamil Nadu is yet to get the city gas distribution system in place (see chart). “South India would have had more natural gas networks connecting households and CNG stations if only Reliance had delivered on the promised output from KG basin. As against original estimates of 80 mmscmd, KG basin output is less than 10 mmscmd and even this is set to go down further. How do you expect any investor to invest in pipelines and networks when gas supplies are uncertain,”said Sudha Mahalingam, an independent energy analyst and former member of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). “The country is locked into an expensive long-term contract for LNG imports from Australia in the Kochi terminal so much so, there are no takers for this gas and hence no cargoes landing there. It is unfortunate that South India is a big loser in the gas game,” Mahalingam said. One can hope that the ‘retail gas’ segment, which constitutes both PNG and CNG, would improve in the near future as PNGRB has invited bids recently for city gas distribution in Chennai and Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam and Davangere. Also with the laying of pipeline getting resolved in Tamil Nadu, the situation is likely to change. “Currently, the national gas grid extends till Bengaluru only. With the completion of the Kochi-Koottanad-Bengaluru-Manglore pipeline project, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala will be benefited more,” said Tony Mathew, Chief Manager, GAIL (India) and co-coordinator of Kochi-Koottanad-Banglore-Manglore pipeline project. “The natural gas network will only grow over a period of time and hence the gas offtake also builds over a period of time. The pipeline gas supply can lead to attracting new industrial and commercial units in South India,” Rajeev Sharma, CEO, Adani Gas details the merits of natural gas. Jacob Markstrom Authentic Jersey
Free LPG connections: Find out who is getting the lion’s share
Elections bring bounties with it. In the first 45 days since the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched on May 1, three-fourths of the free LPG connections went to BPL families in Uttar Pradesh, quite a big and disproportionate share, even if one concedes the fact that the state has among the country’s higher number of poor. The Modi government has indeed focused on the poll-bound state in the distribution of the largesse. According to the Tendulkar panel methodology-based estimate, Uttar Pradesh had about 6 crore people below the poverty line (BPL) in 2011-12, while the country as a whole had 27 crore. While 3,20,646 new LPG connections were given to women from BPL families till June 15, Uttar Pradesh topped with 2,38,196 connections. Rajasthan with 48,595 free LPG connections, Madhya Pradesh (2,1363) and Gujarat (11,259) followed. According to poverty estimates for 2011-12 (Tendulkar committee), Assam, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have as high as 30-40% of their total population below the poverty line against the national average of 21.9%. Till June 15, PMUY had not forayed into Assam and Chhattisgarh, while 284 connections were offered in Odisha, 27 in Bihar and 5 in Jharkhand. The government has decided to distribute free LPG connections — with a set of cylinder, stove and regulator — to 1.5 crore BPL families in the current fiscal (financial support of `1,600 for each LPG connection). Five crore families will benefit under the scheme in the next three years while the cost to the government will be around `8,000 crore. Tyrann Mathieu Jersey
Seven Udhampur PMGSY roads abandoned by contractors: Abdul Haq
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Abdul Haq today informed the House that construction of seven road projects have been abandoned by the contractors in district Udhampur. He said these contractors have been barred from further tendering in PMGSY and also liquidated damages have been imposed upon these firms / contractors as per the terms of the agreement. Replying to a question by Dina Nath Bhagat, the Minister also gave details and status of roads taken up under PMGSY in Udhampur district. Ajaz Ahmed Khan in his supplementary demanded release of pending land compensation of road projects to the land owners in his constituency. The Minister said that in order to ensure regulation and enforcement of traffic, traffic police personnel have been deployed in Surankote market. Replying to a question by Ch. Mohammad Akram, the Minister said that, however, in order to overcome the traffic congestion, the Department would carry out a survey for construction of alternate road from Mirza Morh to By Pass Patha and prepare a detailed project report in this regard. Adam Thielen Authentic Jersey
NHAI to set aside Rs 58 crore for plan to reduce damage to Karnala Bird Sanctuary
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is setting aside about Rs 58 crore for a plan to mitigate the impact of a road project on the Karnala Bird Sanctuary (KBS). The government is widening a section of the Mumbai-Goa highway, 1.5 km of which passes through the sanctuary. The sanctuary has a moist, mixed deciduous forest and falls under the Thane wildlife division of West Mumbai Wildlife Circle. It also forms part of the Western Ghat bio-geographic zone. As per the recommendation of the Wildlife Institute of India, NHAI will build four passages or wildlife in the 1.5 km sanctuary stretch. It will also construct seven box culverts. Earlier, the state government had endorsed the proposal for widening the highway within the sanctuary, saying it could help reduce vehicular emissions by smoothening traffic flow. NHAI’s plan also includes other wildlife management measures like retaining wall, fencing, signages and watch towers, besides provision of water for wildlife. Case Keenum Authentic Jersey
Railways hopes to regain revenue lost to road transport
In an effort to bring cargo business back to the Indian Railways, the ministry launched a scheduled Cargo vehicle between Bengaluru and Delhi. The train, Cargo Express1UP was flagged off from the Whitefield Railway station in Bengaluru, early on Sunday morning, carrying polished granite slabs, plywood, rubber, scrap materials, poultry feed and so on. It is expected to finish the journey in 64 hours and reach Delhi on 21 June. The cargo train comes at a time when the Indian Railways is focussed on increasing its revenue. According to Sanjeev Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, SWR, “Till now passenger trains were the priority and goods trains were given time only when there were no passenger trains along the route. This changes things, because for the first time we have a scheduled Cargo train with a fixed delivery time,” he said. The entire train will earn the Railways a revenue of Rs 35 lakh per train, said MP Vijay Kumar, senior manager (C&O), Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR), the Navratna PSU under Ministry of Railways. Undefined timings of trains increased the logistical costs of transporting cargo, which forced businesses to look at other options, such as road transport. “The cargo train is an effort towards serving to the demands of traders. It will serve the requirements of express cargoes, FMCG industries and others who want in time delivery. It will also help reduce logistical costs. It is already getting a good response considering that the train is almost at par with a passenger trains. We hope that it will help us regain the business we lost to road transport,” he said. For the railways, Passenger trains are largely running at a loss and most of their profit comes from Goods trains, said Tallam Dwarkanath, President, FKCCI. “By road, transporting goods to Delhi takes at least five days, not to mention the various delays at check posts and so on. The train will drastically reduce the time taken, be largely hassle free. It is a win win from the trade perspective as well as from the railways perspective,” he said. The weekly container rail service will depart from Bangalore (Whitefield) every sunday at 2 am and is expected to reach Delhi (Okhla) on Tuesday at 6 pm. It has 8 containers. Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device. Kevin Huber Womens Jersey
Hybrid-till airport tariffs will increase passenger charges: IATA
A global airlines’ association on Tuesday raised concerns over a provision in the recently approved national civil aviation policy (NCAP) to ascertain airport tariffs. According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), the approved policy states that “future tariffs at all airports will be calculated on a hybrid-till basis” – which can make air travel more expensive. “While the draft NCAP indicated that ‘tariff at all future airports will be calculated on a hybrid-till basis’, the final policy states ‘future tariffs at all airports will be calculated on a hybrid-till basis’,” said Conrad Clifford, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, IATA. The “hybrid-till” model is used to ascertain aeronautical charges at airports. The model permits airport operator to include a portion of its income generated through non-aeronautical side of activities with those of aeronautical ones to calculate the total earnings. The operator generates revenue by charging aeronautical activities such parking, housing and landing (PHL). It also earns revenue from non-aeronautical streams like duty free shops, food and beverages (F&B) outlets, vehicle parking and advertisements. Based on the total earnings from the “hybrid-till” model, aeronautical rates are then decided by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA). However, under a “single-till” model, earnings garnered through aeronautical and non-aeronautical activities are added together to form the total income. This model is considered to be more cost effective for airlines, as airport charges constitute around 14 per cent of the total operational cost of a passenger carrier. Clifford said that the change will not just impact the basis for tariff determination for private airports, but also signal AAI (Airports Authority of India) to switch from the “single-till” approach to “hybrid-till”. “This makes AERA a toothless entity. Passenger charges in India will increase, making air travel more expensive. And it contradicts one of the stated intentions of the NCAP to make flying affordable,” Clifford pointed out. The global airlines’ association said that it will approach the Ministry of Civil Aviation to clarify the “seemingly minor change in the wording”, which could have a major impact on airport charges in India. “The NCAP has reduced economic regulation in India to a single bullet point by mandating hybrid-till as the basis for tariff determination, while being silent on other critical aspects of economic regulation such as the rate of return, regulatory asset base, separation of airport assets and costs, etc,” Clifford added. He said, “It ignores the conclusions reached by AERA and the Ministry of Finance after an extensive evaluation that the single-till is the most appropriate approach for India, with no explanation given for upturning AERA’s earlier order.” Eddie Vanderdoes Jersey
Foreign airlines can never fully own local carrier: RN Choubey
Relaxed FDI norms will ensure increased competition in the “huge” domestic aviation sector but foreign airlines will never be allowed to fully own a domestic carrier, a top government official said today. In a significant reform measure aimed at bolstering the country’s high growth potential civil aviation sector, the government has allowed foreign entities, except overseas carriers, to own up to 100 per cent stake in local airlines. Besides, 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been permitted through the automatic route in brownfield airports. “There will be more and more competition (in aviation sector). That is the signal that is going out,” Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey told PTI about the relaxed FDI norms and their long-term impact. “With 22 per cent growth rate I think it is a huge market for anybody to come and invest,” he said. India’s domestic traffic has been growing in double digit since last 21 months owing to a host of factors including low fuel prices, ease of doing business and capacity augmentation by the domestic carriers, among others. Driven by low fares, domestic air travel witnessed an increase of around 21.63 per cent in number of passengers last month as compared to May 2015. According to an analysis conducted by the ministry, air fares declined by 18.1 per cent in the February-April period of this year over the same period of 2015. While 100 per cent FDI has been allowed in airlines, the limit for foreign carriers remains at 49 per cent. “Foreign airlines will not be allowed to invest more than 49 per cent. A foreign airline will never get to own a (Indian) airline,” Choubey said. William Hayes Womens Jersey
Airlines providing regional connectivity to have simple rules for entry and exit: Aviation ministry
The civil aviation ministry has decided to come up with easy entry and easy exit rules for airlines providing regional connectivity, as it wants to ensure maximum industry participation in a programme that seeks to take flying to the masses. “We do not want a situation where tough exit rules discourage airlines or companies from launching airlines to provide regional connectivity. We will provide an easy entry and easy exit option to operators,” aviation secretary RN Choubey told ET. In the easy exit option, any airline that starts operations on regional routes will be allowed to shut shop and leave if it feels that the operations will not be profitable after a stipulated period of time. The duration will be decided at the time when the route is awarded to a particular airline. These rules are likely to be part of the policy on regional connectivity that will be released within 10 days. Consultancy firm Deloitte is preparing the report for the government. Currently, no such exit rules exist for any other category of airlines. The airline companies that want to participate in the regional connectivity scheme will be allowed to start with a single aircraft and the fleet has to be expanded to three planes in a year’s time. Licences will be issued under the regional airline permit. Analysts welcomed the move. “Allowing easy entry and exit will lead to a surge in the number of new airlines with small fleet and small aircraft. It will be a big plus for the implementation of the regional connectivity plan,” said Amber Dubey, partner and India head of aerospace and defence at consultancy KPMG. “Also shows that the government is indeed serious about ‘less government more governance’, enhancing ease of doing business and respecting market forces.” According to the regional connectivity plan, the government seeks to provide air connectivity with unserved airports at an airfare of Rs 2,500 an hour with small 18-20 seat aircraft. Regional flights will also get subsidy from the government — 80% of it will come from the centre and the rest from states. The government intends to connect more than 300 defunct airports with flights. It, however, doesn’t expect a huge participation during the initial days. The government expects the initial awards for routes on a nomination basis. The government has decided not to open the regional routes to non-scheduled operators, who will have to convert themselves into scheduled operators to become eligible. Don Mattingly Authentic Jersey
Mahanagar Gas IPO sails through, subscribed 1.08 times on Day 1
The Rs 10.40 billion initial public offering (IPO) of Mahanagar Gas received good response on Tuesday, with the issue sailing through on Day 1 itself. Data showed that the issue received bids for 1,88,19,255 shares, 1.08 times the total size of 1,73,46,150 shares. On NSE, QIB quota was subscribed 1.59 times, non-institutional investor quota 0.15 times and retail individual investor quota 0.37 times. On BSE, the QIB quota was subscribed 0.22 times, non-institutional subscribed 0.22 times, non-institutional investor 0.07 times and the retail quota 0.71 times. The company has fixed 50 per cent quota for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Non-institutional bidders will be issued not more than 15 per cent of the issue size. The remaining 35 per cent quota has been kept aside for retail investors. “On considering almost similar growth potential as that of industry peer Indraprastha Gas(IGL), Mahanagar Gas’ RoE levels in excess of 22 per cent in last six years, debt-free status, yearly cash flow generating potential of Rs 2 billion and strong dividend payout ratio make the issue price attractive at 12.9 times FY2016 PE,” Angel Broking said in a note. The gas distributor had on Monday allotted 7,348,350 equity shares to 25 anchor investors at Rs 421 a share, thus raising Rs 3.093 billion. BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, DB International Asia, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority-Merrill Lynch Capital Market and DSP BlackRock were among the anchor investors that subscribed to the issue. The issue is an offer for sale (OFS) in which existing promoters GAIL and Singapore-based BG Asia Pacific Holdings — now acquired by Royal Dutch Shell — intend to sell 12,347,250 shares each, aggregating to 24,694,500 shares of face value Rs 10 each. The company has supplied CNG to over 0.47 million vehicles through a network of 188 CNG filling stations as of March 31. It has PNG connections to approximately 0.86 million domestic households, over 2,866 commercial and 60 industrial consumers in Mumbai and its adjoining Areas. The company’s total revenue has grown at a compound announce growth rate (CAGR) of 12.42 per cent to Rs 21.2162 billion in FY16 from Rs 13.2834 billion in FY12. Profit after tax (PAT) has risen 0.08 per cent on an annualised basis to Rs 3.0868 billion in FY16 from Rs 3.0774 billion in FY12. Jason Castro Authentic Jersey