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.