Rs 3,000 cr Investment by Flipkart for Setting Up Fulfillment Centres

ECommerce marketplace Flipkart is going to invest more than Rs 3,000 crore to set up its nationwide fuilfillment network. The firm has spent $100 million in the past eight years in developing warehouse facilities.

Addressing reporters at the launch of the 17th and largest fulfillment centre of the company, at Gundlapochampally near Secunderabad, Flipkart COO and co-founder Binny Bansal said, “Flipkart will invest in setting up 80 to 100 fulfillment centres in 4-5 years in a bid to reach out to customers anywhere in just two days.” 

He further said that Flipkart will be investing a couple of billions of dollars in logistics, and overall development.

“A public issue could be expected in the next five years,” Bansal said. Spread over 220,000 square feet, the new centre holds a massive storage capacity of 589,000 cubic feet. The centre has automated sorters with the ability to separate shipments based on pincodes. The Hyderabad facility will handle 240,000 units per day.

The centre also has a kilometre-long conveyer belt that reduces motion wastage by 75 per cent.

Source: Agencies

Brand India Sees 32% Jump, Moves up to Seventh Place in World’s Valuable Nation Brand

India has moved up one position to become the world's seventh most valued 'nation brand', with an increase of 32 per cent in its brand value to US$2.1 billion.

The US remains on the top with a valuation of $19.7 billion, followed by China and Germany at the second and the third positions respectively, as per the annual report on world's most valuable nation brands compiled by Brand Finance.

The UK is ranked 4th, Japan is at fifth position and France is sixth on the list. While India and France have moved up one position each since last year, all the top-five countries have retained their respective places.

However, the surge of 32 per cent in India's 'nation brand value' is the highest among all the top-20 countries on the list.

China has retained its second position despite a decline of one per cent in its brand value to $6.3 billion.

Brand Finance said it measures the strength and value of the nation brands of 100 leading countries using a method based on the royalty relief mechanism employed to value the world's largest companies.

The nation brand valuation is based on five year forecasts of sales of all brands in each nation and follows a complex process. The Gross domestic product (GDP) is used as a proxy for total revenues.

The report also said that India's 'Incredible India' slogan has worked well, while Germany suffered due to the Volkswagen crisis.

About the US, the report said it remains a powerful brand with an inviting business climate. "However its value comes in large part from the country's sheer economic scale... The US' world-leading higher education system and the soft power arising from its dominance of the music and entertainment industries are significant contributors too.

"This soft power will help the US to retain the most valuable nation brand for some time after China's seemingly imminent rise to become the world’s biggest economy," it added. The study further said that China's recent stock market turbulence and slowing growth will also extend the US' tenure of the top spot.

Among BRICS nations, India is the only country to have witnessed an increase in its brand value with all others -- Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa -- seeing a dip in their respective brand valuations.

India is the second most valued among these emerging economies after China, followed by Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

Source: Agencies

Snapdeal Proposes $100 Million R&D Investment for Next Three Years

E-marketplace major Snapdeal will spend US$100 million (Rs 640 crore) in the next three years on research and development as it looks to bring solutions to enrich online shopping experience as the competition hots up in the booming e-commerce industry in India.

The City-based firm, which has set up a centre in Bangalore, is investing heavily in new technologies related to multimedia and image in the coming quarters. "We are focused on building in-house technology solutions. We plan to spend about $100 million on RnD in the next three years. This includes the Multimedia Research Lab in Bangalore," said Snapdeal Chief Product Officer Anand Chandrasekaran.

As part of its innovation efforts, it has launched a new website, 'Findmystyle.in', where users will be able to discover products of choice while saving time and effort. Snapdeal had acquired a startup, Fashiate, in March this year for an undisclosed amount. The three co-founders and research scientists -- Gaurav Aggarwal, Nikhil Rasiwasia and Deepthi Singh -- are now a part of Snapdeal's Multimedia Research Lab that has developed Findmystyle.

"We are a technology company with a focus on building services and products that make lives of our consumers simpler and convenient. Findmystyle.in is powered by advanced computer vision and machine learning algorithms," said Chandrasekaran.

Founded in 2010, Snapdeal has over 40 million registered users and more than 1.5 lakh business sellers. The online marketplace raised about $1 billion last year, including $627 million from Japan's SoftBank and has been in news recently for raising another round of investment of about $500 million. Snapdeal counts eBay, Temasek, Myriad, Tybourne, Blackrock and Premji Invest among its investors.

Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata also invested in the company in his personal capacity. It acquired Hyderabad-based mobile technology startup MartMobi (in May), payments and mobile recharge startup Freecharge (estimated at $400-450 million) as well as picked up stakes in digital financial services platform, RupeePower and logistics venture, GoJavas.

Source: Agencies 

Startups Companies Drive Digital India at CeBIT 2015

The second edition of CeBIT India, organized by Hannover Milano Fairs, is considerably on lower key event with mediocre response particularly from participating companies compared to last year. This maybe mainly due to organizers for the CeBIT India event and the organizers of the BangaloreITE.Biz decided to part ways this year and have both the events held separately. However, CeBIT has its share of over 170 CXOs taking part in the three day event being at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre. This year the event is focused on D1Conomy or Digital Economy that has got in a number of startups from across the country.

Now the state-government backed event Bangalore IT.Biz is likely to take place between December 8 and 10 in the city. And the event will have more focus on Make In India campaign.

While states such as Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and even Mizoram participated in the three day-event, he Karnataka government, which was a partner last year, stayed away. Last year, companies such as IBM, Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone were major crowd pullers.

“The state government were very clear that their event portfolio strategy is investment into Karnataka. But CeBIT is a market place, and we cannot tell the government that we will bring in thousands of global delegates .When partners work together, it should be towards the same direction and it is not the case this time,“ Mehul Lanvers Shah, MD, Hannover Milano Fairs India, said Shah.
 The fair, being held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, expects to have 10,000 trade visitors this time, a slight uptick from the 9,311 that attended last year. About 100 exhibitors, out of the total 400, are from Karnataka. “Karnataka is still the backbone of CeBIT and will remain that,“  adds Shah.

Delivering the keynote address at the event, Union IT secretary Ajay Kumar, said the Centre was planning to e-route all government transactions including receipts and payments as part of the Digital India initiative by the Prime Minister Modi.

Omkar Rai, director general, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), said the organization has lined up a Rs 500 crore incubation fund to support startups over the next 4-5 years. “We are developing 8 lakh sq ft of incubation space, across Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Gurgaon and other cities,“ he said.  

New Range of Smart Feature Karbonn Alfa Plus Series Mobiles Launched for Diwali 2015

Karbonn has launched a range of new smartphones and feature phones in the market as a part of its festive offer. The company has introduced four new smartphones namely Karbonn Alfa 112, Alfa A91 Power, Alfa A93 Pop, and Titanium S205 Plus alongside two feature handsets – K18 Jumbo and M105.

The Android-based Karbonn Alfa 112, Alfa A91 Power, Alfa A93 Pop and Titanium S205 Plus are priced at Rs. 2,890, Rs 3,290, Rs. 3,490 and Rs. 6,790, respectively. The K18 Jumbo and M105 cost Rs. 990 and Rs. 940 respectively. The company said it would also be offering special festive season discounts of up to 50 percent on Titanium Mach Five, Titanium Mach Two and Titanium S201 via e-commerce websites.

The dual-SIM (WCDMA+GSM) supporting Karbonn Titanium S205 Plus (seen above) runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box and features a 5-inch HD (720×1280 pixels) resolution IPS display with Dragon Trail Glass protection. It is powered by an unspecified dual-core SoC clocked at 1.2GHz and clubbed with 2GB RAM. It also houses 16GB of inbuilt storage, which can be further expanded via MicroSD card (up to 32GB). In the camera section, the Titanium S205 Plus sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with dual LED flash and a 3.2-megapixel front-facing camera as well. The smartphone supports 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS and Micro-USB connectivity features alongside proximity sensor, G-Sensor and comes backed by a 2200mAh Li-Po battery.

The Android 5.1 Lollipop-based dual-SIM (WCDMA+GSM) Karbonn Alfa A93 Pop (seen above) features a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480×854 pixels) resolution display; 512MB RAM; 8GB inbuilt storage, which can be further expanded via MicroSD card (up to 32GB); a 2-megapixel rear camera; a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 1400mAh battery. Connectivity features and processor remains the same as Titanium S205 Plus.

The dual-SIM (WCDMA +GSM) Karbonn Alfa A91 Power (seen above) runs the older Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box and features a 4-inch WVGA (800×480 pixels) resolution display; unspecified 1GHz processor; 256MB RAM; 512MB inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB), and Li-ion 2000mAh battery. The connectivity options and camera setup stay the same as Karbonn Alfa A93 Pop mentioned above.

The Android 4.2 Jelly Bean-running dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) Karbonn Alfa 112 (seen above) features almost the same specifications as the aforementioned Karbonn Alfa A91 Power but misses out on 3G connectivity and is backed by a Li-ion 1300mAh battery.

The dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) Karbonn K18 Jumbo feature phone sports a 2.4-inch LCD display, VGA (0.3-megapixel) rear camera, FM radio, GPRS, Bluetooth and is backed by a 1800mAh battery. The dual-SIM Karbonn K-Touch M105 sports a smaller 1.8-inch LCD display, digital rear camera and 800mAh battery with rest of the specifications same as the K18 Jumbo. 

Chinese Tech Firm Letv To Enter India Market by Early 2016

Leading internet multinational Letv, announced its decision to enter the Indian market by early 2016, at the launch of Letv’s latest products in Beijing. The Beijing based company said that it would be looking at replicating its highly successful content-device ecosystem in the country, providing users with a whole new entertainment based experience.

Working towards providing Indian consumers with local entertainment based content such as movies and TV shows, the company said that it was looking at forging partnerships with local content providers and creators to create the first of its kind entertainment and content based ecosystem in India.

Letv will not only bring its exciting devices to the country, but also its impressive content based Eco User Interface that will provide consumers with access to Letv’s unique and world class content-device based ecosystem that has found great success in the Chinese markets.

Considering the Indian government’s invitation to international firms to set up manufacturing units in the country, the company further suggested that as a part of its long term vision, they would also be looking at setting up production lines as well as R&D centres in India.

At the launch event, Mr. Jia Yueting, founder of Letv said, “Letv could enter into India by early 2016.”

At Letv's launch event in Beijing, more than 7,000 guests, including industry leaders, opinion leaders and fans, witnessed the launch of Le 1S phone and the world's largest smart TV - a 120 inch Le TV.    

Syndicate Bank Records Net Profit Up 5% in Q2, 2015

State-run Syndicate Bank on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs.332 crore for the second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal 2015-16 as against Rs.316 crore in like period last year, posting only five percent growth. 

Sequentially, however, net profit rose 9.9 percent from Rs.302 crore in first quarter (April-June) of this fiscal.

Operating profit for quarter under review (Q2) increased 28 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.1,225 crore from Rs.954 crore in the same period a year ago.

"Gross NPA increased 28 percent YoY to Rs.7,734 crore from Rs.6,049, while net NPA also rose 27 percent to Rs.4,855 crore from Rs.3,825 crore an year ago.

Similarly, global net interest margin (NIM) dipped to 2.46 percent from 2.57 percent YoY and domestic NIM to 2.88 percent from 2.96 percent YoY.

Yield on advances also declined to 9.02 percent from 9.63 percent YoY.

Net Interest Income (NII) increased 12 percent YoY to Rs.1,595 crore from Rs.1,428 crore a year ago.

Total income increased 17.4 percent YoY to Rs.6,670 crore from Rs.5,681 crore a year ago and 5.5 percent sequentially from Rs.6,323 crore in the first quarter.

The bank's total business comprising deposits and advances increased 14 percent YoY to Rs.4,71,900 crore from Rs.4,15,690 crore a year ago.