Ola, Uber see rides rise fourfold in 2016: report

Source: sns124.com February 17, 2017

New Delhi: Ride-hailing services Ola and Uber together clocked a nearly fourfold increase in the number of rides booked through their platforms in 2016 from a year earlier, according to a report by market research and advisory firm RedSeer Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) and Uber Technologies Inc, together completed about 500 million rides in 2016, as against about 130 million rides the year before, according to the study. While Ola and Uber did not comment on the numbers, industry and company executives said Ola clocked about 6 million weekly rides on an average between September and December last year across its offerings of cabs, autorickshaws and shuttle buses.

Uber India president Amit Jain said in an interview in September that Uber’s completed trips had risen from 1.6 million in January 2016 to 5.5 million at the end of August.

Mint could not independently ascertain the number of rides clocked by Uber.

“One of the big things which happened was ride sharing. That was one of the fastest growing sections within the overall cab aggregator segment. Since the costs came down, even people who could not afford a cab, started getting one. The second big trigger was aggressive marketing in cities beyond the top three markets, which are Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai,” said Anil Kumar, chief executive of RedSeer.

According to industry executives, Ola was a clear leader until late 2015, when Uber turned on the heat with reduced fares and cash payments.

Jain, a former Rent.com executive who assumed charge of Uber in India in June 2015, said in the September interview that Uber had clocked 165,000 trips a week in January 2015. This implies that Uber grew 33 times in the 20 months between January 2015 and August 2016.

“Uber is growing in India by investing in engineering and technology to ensure we continue excelling where it matters, such as delivering the best experience to riders and drivers and ensuring that cars arrive quickly and reliably. We are delighted to see how ride-sharing is benefiting riders, drivers and cities across India,” an Uber spokesperson said in an email response.

An Ola spokesperson cited several third-party reports published in 2015 and one published in May 2016 to claim that Ola “consistently serves more than 78% cab users in India. Ola’s monthly active users is at least 70% more than Uber’s monthly active users consistently.”

The online ride-hailing market in India has been exploding at the same time. The country of 277 million internet users, which in the first quarter of 2014 was barely a blip in the global market for cab aggregators (in terms of rides), grew into the third biggest market after China and North America in the first quarter of 2016, according to the Internet Trends 2016 report by Mary Meeker, partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

Besides, after Uber sold its China business to Didi Chuxing in August, India has become for Uber what it is for another American tech giant, Amazon—a market it cannot afford to lose.

Industry experts say Ola pulled away from its rival after launching Micro, a low-cost offering, in March last year. However, the success of Micro also proves that a change in prices dramatically affects business. “It is pretty much a price game now. There are elite segments which have a view on services, but apart from them, consumers largely look for a cheaper option and that is the only criteria for them. Uber has been aggressive with prices last year. That’s why Ola launched Micro to match the prices and gained some market share. But Uber has stronger financial muscle. If Ola raises another round, they will give a good fight as well,” said RedSeer’s Kumar.

Uber’s most affordable offering, UberGO, is priced at Rs7 per km in Bengaluru, Rs6 per km in Delhi and Rs8 per km in Mumbai, while Ola’s cheapest service, Micro, costs Rs6 per km in all three cities.

According to the RedSeer customer preference index, a survey of 3,107 consumers in more than 12 cities shows Uber has been gaining popularity. While customer preference for Ola surged in the quarter ended March 2016 following the launch of Micro, Uber turned around in the second half.

The customer ride preference index score for Ola dropped from more than 70% in the March quarter last year to less than 60% in the December quarter, the report said.

To be sure, both Ola and Uber have rolled out new services to attract more consumers. While Uber rolled out hourly rentals earlier this month, Ola has been at it since June. In May, it had also launched inter-city cab booking. Apart from this, in an attempt to nurture a loyal customer base, Ola launched a monthly subscription service called Select, where subscribers get a preference in cab allocation and are not subjected to surge pricing, among other benefits.

The company also launched a so-called connected-car experience, called Ola Play, in November last year, where consumers can listen to music or watch videos in tablets installed in the cars.

Tata Motors partners with Microsoft for new car products

Source: SnS124 / February 16, 2017 

Mumbai: Within two weeks of announcing an open platform strategy for developing passenger cars, Tata Motors Thursday said that it has tied up with global technology giant Microsoft to improve the in-car connected experience.

TAMO, the open platform from domestic automaker allows collaboration with various technology partners to launch low-volume niche products that can prove Tata Motors product development capabilities. This is a part for revamping product strategy of the company for the passenger car segment to safeguard itself from competition coming from technology giants such as Google and Uber.

"We are using Microsoft's connected vehicle technologies on Azure intelligent cloud to bring the digital lives of our customers into the cars they drive," said Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD, Tata Motors. The company will use Microsoft's connected vehicle technology along with AI (artificial intelligence, machine learning and IoT (internet of things) capabilities.

Microsoft announced the technology platform last year while announcing a similar partnership with Renault-Nissan. The platform is powered by Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers.

Other global automakers including Toyota, Ford also have similar technology tie-ups with Microsoft to develop technology-enabled new products. But in India Tata Motors is the first company to do so.

"We Expect 90% of new cars to be connected by 2020," said Anant Maheshwari, president, Microsoft India. "Using IoT, AI and machine learning technologies, we will provide vehicle owners in India and across the world with a safe, productive and fun driving experience," said Maheshwari.

Tata Motors said that the first automobile with the enhanced experience will be showcased at 87th Geneva International Motor Show in March 2017. Tata will incorporate Microsoft's functionality in its user interface app and services suite.

The companies also detailed some of the features including the suggestion for restaurants, shopping and route assist tips for driver depending on the location and their profile. The platform will also provide timely alerts about the condition of the car to ensure that it is well maintained to minimise breakdowns.

Azure will enable FOTA and SOTA updates (firmware and software updates) in addition to the control of settings remotely over the cloud. The more the people use the platform, the more amount of data is captured and analysed, making it an improving experience for everyone.

Modern retail to touch Rs1,71,800 crore by 2019: Report

Souce: SnS124 No.1 website

Penetration of modern retail is expected to see a substantial rise from the current 19% to 24% in three years as per the report jointly authored by Knight Frank India and RAI

New Delhi: Modern retail in India is expected to double in size in three years to Rs 1,71,800 crore from the current Rs 87,100 crore across the top six retail markets of the country, largely driven by omni-channel retailing, said a report jointly published by property consultant Knight Frank India and lobby group Retailers Association of India (RAI).

These six markets include NCR (national capital region), Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.

According to the report titled ‘Think India. Think Connected Retail’ based on a survey of 45,000-50,000 shops (including malls and shopping streets) across top six cities, retail stores across the country (online and offline) are reinventing themselves to embrace the idea of omni-channel retailing. Consequently, penetration of modern retail is expected to “see a substantial rise from the current 19% to 24% in three years.” Omni-channel retailing extends to brick-and-mortar stores, smartphones, computers, tablets, direct mails and television.

The emergence of technology and increased use of plastic money and mobile wallets have been the key drivers behind the growth of omni-channel retailing, the report said.

Moreover, with initiatives like foreign direct investment (FDI) retail policy and state-level retail policies where “government is taking up the role of a facilitator to create an environment conducive to the retail business” has further helped the cause.

“The concept of shopping has undergone a tremendous change in terms of retail format and consumer buying behaviour thereby bringing in a new era of modern retail across the country. With the boundaries between offline and online stores blurring, omni-channel retailing is an idea whose time has come,” said Aditya Sachdeva, director, retail at Knight Frank India in a statement.

According to the report, brands which maintain an offline presence across the country have adopted or aspiring to adopt omni-channel strategy in the near future. Department store operator Shoppers Stop Ltd recently launched a Shoppers Stop mobile application and had re-launched its online shopping portal. The company is also looking to increase the contribution of online sales from current 1% to 10% in the next three years.

“Today’s time-poor customers are demanding a seamless navigation across channels. We are working proactively towards delivering an omni-channel experience to the customers,” said Govind Shrikhande, managing director at Shoppers Stop Ltd, in the report.

While brands like GAP, Woodland and Bestseller India-owned Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Only & Selected Homme are following the same strategy, there are others like Swedish fast-fashion brand Hennes and Mauritz AB (H&M) who have decided to focus on just offline stores right now.

“With H&M offering online shopping in 35 markets out of the 64 markets that we are present in, online platform is a natural expansion of our business. We see a great potential for future growth in India in the online space but prefer to focus on retail stores for the moment,” observed Janne Einola country manager, H&M India Retail Pvt Ltd, in the report.

Cairn India to invest US$ 1 billion in five projects to ramp up production

Source: SnS124 No.1 website

Mumbai: Cairn India Ltd (CIL), part of the Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group, will invest $1 billion in five projects that the company plans to develop shortly, acting chief executive officer, Sudhir Mathur, told analysts after the company's results were announced on 9 February. 

"There are about five projects that we are very, very keen to initiate—the Raageshwari Deep Gas (RDG) project; the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) programme at Aishwariya fields, the EOR programme at Bhagyam and Barmer Hill and Aishwariya Barmer Hill, which is a tight oil. The cumulative capital spend could definitely be in excess of a $1 billion," said Mathur.

These projects constitute about 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent to 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent at peak production. 

The investment, however, hinges on the extension of the production-sharing contract (PSC) of the Barmer oil and gas block in Rajasthan.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is a partner in the block with 30% stake. Cairn India holds the rest (70%) in the block. 

“Much as we believe that we should get it very soon now, but the projects cannot be viable till 2020, any one of these projects. So that's the only marker that stands in between,” Mathur added.

The Delhi high court had in November had directed the government to take a decision regarding extension of the (PSC) with Cairn India, to produce oil from a Rajasthan block till 2020. 

“The government is supposed to come back on February 28, but the hearing subsequent to that is planned for March 31, if required,” Mathur told analysts. 

Cairn is also scouting for oilfield service providers who could bring in technology as well as and provide an end-to-end solution or service in order to develop these fields. 

“This will help Cairn optimize costs further by attracting a larger number of global oil field service companies with their niche expertise and technologies; provide a better coordination between vendor partners allowing efficient and time bound project execution and targeting a large number of projects simultaneously. The business opportunity is immense,” said Mathur. 

The gestation of these projects would range between 16 and 24 months. "So to kick start, we could—possibly all of them at the same time, you could see peak production levels of 70,000 barrels from day one within about 18 months to 19 months," he added.

 An analyst with a Mumbai-based domestic brokerage said financing these projects would not be an issue for Cairn India as the company is sitting on an impressive cash pile. Cairn’s free cash flow for the third quarter stood at Rs 15 billion. 

Cairn’s revenue for the quarter increased 5% sequentially to Rs 21 billion on account of pickup in the Brent crude prices and improved discount to Brent for Rajasthan crude. 

Average Brent price was up 8% over the quarter to $49.3 per barrel, resulting into 10% increase in our overall realization to $46 per barrel. 

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) stood at Rs 11 billion, highest in past six quarters with a 50% margin. Ebitda is an indication of a company’s profitability. 

Net profit after tax stood at Rs 6 billion, a drop of 22% quarter-on-quarter. “The decline was largely due to foreign exchange and higher effective tax rate, which is only partially offset by the higher ebitda and lower depreciation,” the company said on the analyst call.

Amazon India top seller Cloudtail’s revenue rises fourfold to Rs4,600 crore

Cloudtail India is a joint venture of Amazon.com Inc. and Infosys Ltd co-founder NR Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures.

Cloudtail India ended 2016 with revenue of Rs4,591.2 crore, compared with Rs1,145.4 crore in the year-ago period

Bengaluru: Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between Amazon.com Inc. and Infosys Ltd co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures, posted a fourfold increase in revenue in the year ended read more at ...SnS124 No1 website

CureFit acquires majority stake in The Tribe in bid to expand offline footprint

Source: SnS124 No.1 website 

Bengaluru: Healthcare and fitness start-up CureFit (Healthcare Pvt. Ltd), on Tuesday said it acquired a majority stake in fitness centre chain The Tribe, in a bid to expand its offline footprint.

The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal. Shwetambari Shetty, co-founder of The Tribe fitness centres, will join CureFit’s management team.

CureFit had bought Bengaluru-based fitness centre brand Cult for $3 million last August.

Mint reported on 31 January that the start-up is also in talks to acquire a stake in mental wellness services provider Seraniti.

The company said on Tuesday it has closed the deal to buy Seraniti.

The addition of the three centres run by The Tribe will bring Curefit’s total centres to nine by March. It plans to open at least 20 centres in the city by the end of the year.

CureFit will concentrate on Bengaluru with its fitness centres, which operate without using traditional gym equipment, and also introduce services in mental wellness, health food and fitness through a mobile app it plans to launch later this year.

“We have invested in The Tribe because it follows a similar fitness philosophy of group training by using various no-machine formats. This investment will increase our reach in the key sought-after locations in South Bangalore that will allow a wider access to members and non-members,” CureFit co-founder Ankit Nagori said.

Nagori and Mukesh Bansal, CureFit’s other founder, were two of the senior-most executives at Flipkart before they resigned in February last year.

Curefit, which has 45 employees, has so far raised as much as $20 million, with $5 million pooled in by the founders themselves and a Series A round from venture capital (VC) firms Kalaari Capital, Accel Partners and IDG Ventures.

About 117 fitness start-ups, which are marketplaces for discovery and booking of fitness centres, coaches and membership pass for various gyms and fitness classes, have been founded since 2015 in India, according to November data from start-up tracker Tracxn.

Funds raised by some of these start-ups amount to $16 million in 2015, and $21.2 million in 2016.

Tesla may enter India this summer: Elon Musk

Source: SnS124 No.1 website

New Delhi: Electric car maker Tesla Inc. is likely to introduce its products in India sometime in the summer of 2017, its chief executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday.

“Hoping for summer this year,” Musk said about his company’s expected launch in India, responding to a query on Twitter.

Tesla’s much anticipated Model 3, which is positioned as a mass-market, affordable car, will be retailed at $35,000 in the US. Some Indians have also booked it by paying an advance of $1,000. The Economic Times newspaper reported in April that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of mobile wallet company Paytm; venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy; Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO of wearable and fitness technology company GOQii; and Sujayath Ali, CEO of online fashion platform Voonik, were among those who tweeted about booking the Model 3.

Sales of electric vehicles in India rose 37.5% to 22,000 units in the year ended 31 March 2016, according to industry lobby group Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles. Just 2,000 units were electric cars. To put that in perspective, non-electric car sales rose 7.87% from the previous year to 2.025 million units in the year ended 31 March 2016, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).

At these levels, India has far to go from the six-million by 2020 target set under National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 and FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles).

An electric vehicle consortium formed by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Tata Motors Ltd and Ford India Pvt. Ltd has collapsed with Maruti and Ford pulling out of it.

The coming of Tesla will not prop up sales of electric vehicles in India, but it will create an aura that will augur well for the electric vehicles industry, said Abdul Majeed, partner and national auto practice leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Hindustan Motors sells Ambassador to Peugeot for Rs 80 crore

Source: SnS124 No.1 website - February 11, 2017

The iconic brand Ambassador, which used to be a symbol of the high and mighty in power corridors, has changed hands, with Hindustan Motors selling it to European auto major Peugeot for Rs 80 crore.

The C K Birla group firm has inked an agreement with Peugeot SA to this effect.

As things stand, the manufacturing of Ambassador car has been discontinued.

“Hindustan Motors has executed an agreement with Peugeot SA for the sale of the Ambassador brand, including the trademarks, for a consideration of Rs 80 crore,” Hindustan Motors on Saturday said in a regulatory filing.

Last month, the PSA Group had inked a partnership with the CK Birla group to re-enter the Indian market and earmarked an initial investment of 100 million euros (around Rs 700 crore) to set up vehicle and powertrain manufacturing in Tamil Nadu.

The tie-up entails two joint venture agreements between the companies of the two groups.

The initial manufacturing capacity will be set at about 1,00,000 vehicles per year and followed by incremental investment to support a progressive ramp-up of the long-term project.

The manufacturing capacity for powertrains will cater to the domestic market requirements and global OEMs. The performance of the industrial set-up will be supported by a significant level of localisation in order to attain necessary cost competitiveness, the company had said last month.

The long-term partnership will allow both companies to participate in the growth of the Indian automotive market, which is expected to reach 8-10 million cars by 2025, from the current 3 million in 2016.

The PSA group, which sells three brands -- Peugeot, Citroen and DS -- is no stranger to India, having entered into a partnership with the erstwhile Premier family, resulting in joint venture Peugeot PAL India. However, it pulled out of the JV in 2001.

The group had made repeated attempts to return to the Indian market. In 2009, it decided to go slow on plans to kick off operations in India due to a global economic slowdown.

Later, in 2011, it announced plans to re-enter the Indian market with a mid-sized sedan, 10 years after it had exited the country. The plan, however, did not materialise.

The CK Birla group is better known for the now discontinued iconic Ambassador car that was manufactured by group firm Hindustan Motors.

It has presence in technology automotive, home and building, healthcare and education.

Luxury brand Faberge enters India

Source: SnS124 No.1 website : February 10, 2017 

New Delhi: It defined elegance at Russia’s last imperial court, added sheen to museums in continental Europe with its Easter eggs, and has long been at Her Majesty’s service. That bespoke service is now available in India, the latest market for London’s ultra-luxury jeweler for the super-rich, Faberge.

Owned by the world’s top emeralds and rubies-miner Gemfields Plc., Faberge is the latest in a swelling list of global luxury brands such as Burberry and Rolex to enter India, where economic expansion is spawning more billionaires than in Japan, the traditional bastion of ultra-rich in Asia. Delhi and Mumbai, India’s economic hotspots, will be Faberge’s beachhead in the country, where the jeweler will sell its products by select trunk shows for the uber-rich.

“India and other Asian markets have tremendous potential going by the reactions we got in the last few days. The relationship with Gemfields gives us a leg-up in our ability to deliver wonderful pieces. Asia has largely been an unexplored area for us and expect the next phase of growth to come from the region,” said Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Faberge.

The jeweler, which retails through 39 multi-brand outlets including Mayfair and Harrods will hold more such trunk shows in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Products sold in India include a selection of coloured gemstones, emeralds rubies, and sapphires, and timepieces including the award-winning Lady Compliquee peacock watch. Prices range from $5000 to $3 million.

Founded in 1842, Fabergé has been one of the most reknowned brands in the world of jewelry since Peter Carl Fabergé became the official goldsmith to the Russian Imperial Court.

In its quarterly report for the period ending December, Gemfields stated Faberge’s sales transactions for the period ending 31st December 2016 increased by 48% compared to the same period in 2015, while the average selling price per piece increased by 12% over the same period.

Faberge will open two new outlets this year. Gilbertson said the brand has not been as affected by the overall slowdown in the luxury market as it deals with a smaller clientele, and its average selling price is extraordinarily high compared with most other brands.

AccorHotels plans to add close to 550 rooms in eastern India

Source: SnS124 no.1 Website

Kolkata: AccorHotels plans to add close to 550 rooms in eastern India as the company expands its footprint in Guwahati and Kolkata. The expansion is likely to take place over the next three years.

To start with, Novotel, a sub-brand of the company , will debut with its Guwahati property. Targeting a mid-year launch, it is likely to have 122 rooms. This would be followed by IBIS and Formule1 in Kolkata by 2018.

Talking about the eastern India hospitality scenario, Arif Patel, vice-president of sales, marketing, distribution and loyalty at AccorHotels India, said: "The potential in the east India market remained untapped for years and it has just started getting its share of branded hotels. Accor is attempting to give the east an option to choose from a chain of luxuryHOTEL to branded budget rooms." The company is likely to double its Kolkata portfolio to four hotels.

Accor is likely to launch subbrands IBIS and Formule1 in Kolkata, adding to the 500 rooms in the city from Novotel and Swiss Hotel. The entry of these brands into the eastern market will add another 316 keys to the city. The 129-room Formule1, according to Patel, would be the cording to Patel, would be the first new-generation hotel from the sub-brand in the country.

"Travellers are getting younger and hence new products constantly need to be added to the offerings one has.The new generation Formule1 would be targeting a younger crowd between the 22 years and 35 years age group, and will be having an all new décor as well as food and beverage offerings.Everything will be designed according the tastes and pockets of the age group," said Patel.

Accor is expecting an 8-10% growth in average room rentals and 4-5% growth in occupancy. The company is bullish on the wedding market.

"There is a lot of demand for high budget weddings in the east and due to lack of branded options a lot of them move abroad to locations like Thailand and Singapore. The city can now get back these businesses lost to such locations for weddings," said Patel. Another set of customers for the group would be medical tourists, mostly from Bangladesh.

ACCORHOTELS that has 46 hotels in India across various categories, is targeting to touch 10,000 keys from its present inventory of 8,000 keys. The group also plans to expand its presence to 25 other cities across India.

China's top auditor says $2.6 bn environment funds not effectively used

Source: SnS124 No1 website

Beijing, Jan 31: China's top auditor has found that 17.6 billion yuan (about $2.56 billion) of fiscal funds earmarked in 2016 for pollution control and resource management was not used effectively.

The finding was part of the results released after the National Audit Office (NAO) sent inspection teams to 18 provincial regions to review the use of fiscal funds for water pollution prevention and control, Xinhua news agency reported.

The NAO inspectors also found that a total of 397 water pollution protection projects had failed to achieve desired effect and some environment funds were not distributed in accordance with special protection plans.

The NAO noted increasing pressure from regional water environment protection, adding that in some regions, environment protection laws were not enforced strictly.

In response to the audit, local authorities in the 18 provincial regions have improved the distribution and use of more than 3 billion yuan of environment funds, and pushed forward the progress of 77 water pollution control projects.

Meanwhile, the NAO urged local auditors in 31 provincial regions to audit the funds meant for water pollution prevention.

Chinese authorities have punished 3,229 government officials for fiscal violations found when auditing the central government's 2015 budget.