Indian Government Allots More funds for Indian Electronic Sector

Government has approved Rs 681 crore as seed capital for building a total corpus of Rs over Rs 6,800 crore under the electronic development fund meant to support entrepreneurship and innovation in electronics and IT. 

"My Ministry has approved Rs 6,831 venture fund for electronics development. We have given seed money of Rs 681 crore on the basis of which more venture capital will be raised," Rajiv Bansal, MeitY GOI Joint Secretary told reporters here at the on going IESA Vision Summit 2017. 

The electronic development fund is the monther fund that will contribute to various funds under it for those who invest the money in companies for creation of intellectual property rights in the field of electronics and IT. 

He said that investments in electronic manufacturing, which was just Rs 11,000 crore in June 2014, has increased to Rs 1,27,880 crore and from 6 crore mobile handsets in 2014-15, India's mobile manufacturing capacity has increased to 11 crore in 2015-16. 

"With 72 new mobile handset and component manufacturing units set up in last two years, India has emerged as a mobile manufacturing hub. This includes 42 mobile manufacturing units and 30 component makers in the mobile phone segment," he adds. 

The electronics production in the country has increased across segment with value of LED products registering an increase of 65 per cent to Rs 3,590 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 2,172 crore in 2014-15.

"Value of mobile handsets produced in India has increased by 185 per cent to Rs 54,000 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15. Next year, it is going to cross Rs 90,000 crore," he said. 

Four MoUs Signed to Bridge ESDM Talent Gap at IESA Vision 2017

India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), the trade body representing the Indian ESDM (Electronic System Design and Manufacturing) industry today said it has signed four MoUs aimed at bridging talent gap.

The MoU s have been announced with ESSCI (Electronics Sector Skills Council of India), SID (Society for Information Display), IIT Kharagpur (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur) and Infineon to build a robust talent pipeline in the ESDM space, by strengthening industry-academia relations, IESA said.

The MoUs have been announced at IESA’s annual flagship event ‘Vision Summit’ here. While IESA is collaborating with Electronics Sector Skills Council of India (ESSCI) to create ESDM entrepreneurial ecosystem in campuses by launching NETRA – National ESDM Technology Research Academy; it is partnering with IIT Kharagpur to foster a collaborative, research and development initiative aimed at creating a comprehensive platform for pursuing advanced research works jointly.

Through an agreement with Infineon Technologies India, IESA aims to support Electropreneur Park, giving a major boost to ‘Make in India’ and Start-up India initiatives; and the MoU with Society for Information Display will collaboratively focus on creation of a display industry eco system in India and open up new global business opportunities in adjacent fields that leverage competencies of the organisations here.

“We see the year ahead as a year where the ESDM industry will scale up in value addition and value proposition.” “With the ongoing digital revolution in the country and the thrust from the government to use technology to improve governance delivery to the people, the requirement for developing new and better innovative products and solutions are growing by the day,” said IESA Chairman K Krishna Moorthy.

“This has opened up a number of opportunities to promote both product and solutions development and manufacturing them in our country,” he said

Microsoft, Flipkart Partner for Cloud Services to Boost e-Commerce in India

Microsoft has announced its partnership with Flipkart, wherein the latter will adopt Microsoft Azure as its exclusive public cloud platform. The strategic partnership is aimed at providing consumers in India with the best online shopping service in India. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal announced the partnership at an event in Bangalore.

“At Microsoft, we aim to empower every Indian and every Indian organization with technology and key to this is forging strategic partnerships with innovative companies like Flipkart,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. Flipkart could use Microsoft’s cloud platform as well AI capabilities to provide its users with new experiences. It will enable Flipkart to accelerate its digital transformation in e-commerce, added Nadella.

“At Microsoft, we aim to empower every Indian and every Indian organisation with technology through strategic partnerships with innovative firms like Flipkart,” said Nadella on the occasion.

As a public cloud computing platform, Azure provides a range of services, including analytics, storage and networking on network of computers (cloud). “By combining our public cloud platform and AI (Artificial Intelligence) capabilities with Flipkart’s services and data assets, we will enable the e-tailor to accelerate its digital transformation and deliver new customer experiences,” said Nadella. 

"In the last 12 months, 2,000 startups have started using our cloud, and now we are launching a strategic partnership with Flipkart," said Nadella. "I have always admired Flipkart for the work it's done in e-commerce, and is now doing in payments and logistics, and combining Microsoft's cloud platform and AI capabilities with Flipkart's existing services and data assets will enable Flipkart to accelerate it's digital transformation in e-commerce."

"Given Microsoft's strong reputation in cloud computing, coupled with scale and reliability, this partnership allows us to make online shopping more relevant and enriching for customers," Bansal added.

"Using AI and platform technology from Microsoft, we can improve the experience for customers," Bansal said, adding, "with things like better recommendations. There are other very interesting applications. Take fashion. At Myntra, we have a label called Moda Rapido which is run by engineers. It was created without fashion designers."

"Instead, it is data analysis based design, it looks at what people are interested in and based on that comes up with a line that people would buy," he explained.

Apart from this, he says, AI, machine learning, and big data are also of relevance for business intelligence.

"We have 20,000 to 25,000 people on our supply chain daily, and they are making decisions on the logistics with far reaching impact," said Bansal. "How can we enable them to make better decisions, and better optimise? That's where AI can play a role already."

Agencies

FarEye Logistics Platform To Help Improve Visibility of Deliveries of Amway India

FarEye, a logistics technology solutions firm, has signed a contract with Amway India to help increase the visibility of deliveries of customer orders for the direct selling company.

To begin with, FarEye will provide Amway India with visibility into the order delivery process right from the time products move out of the fulfilment centres until they reach the customer or direct seller with the help of third-party logistics partners (3PL).

As soon as the customer or direct seller places an order for a product, the warehouse team prepares a ready-to-ship package and using FarEye’s platform digitally notifies one of the multiple 3PL partners. Based on the customer's location and an assigned drop-code, the 3PL partner organises delivery to the customer or direct seller location
seamlessly.

The FarEye logistics platform helps 3PL partners with the most efficient routing plan and delivery process. Simultaneously, the delivery teams keep the customer or direct seller engaged by text messaging the status of the shipment through their handheld devices. The device which works well even in 2G environment delivers preset messages indicating shipment location and expected time of delivery.

“We deal with multiple third-party logistics partners and understand that getting real time visibility on the product delivery can be cumbersome. FarEye's technology helps us on this account,” says Diptarag Bhattacharjee, Chief Operating Officer, Amway India.

FarEye's platform lets Amway cut down the delivery cycle time as well as evaluate 3PL partners based on their on-the-ground performance--separating the star performers from the laggards.

“Engaging customer journeys while maintaining costs are crucial for both retailers and e-tailers. To ensure consistent customer experience most retailers are outsourcing logistics. With mobility solutions, retailers can ensure that their 3PL partners are providing the desired experience,” says Kushal Nahata, Co-founder and CEO, FarEye.

FarEye, the logistics technology platform, serves customers in Asia Pacific, Northern Africa, Oceania, South Asia, Western Asia and Europe through its offices in Singapore, Dubai and India.

FarEye’s mobile platform transforms enterprise operations by providing real-time visibility on the field workforce. FarEye’s intuitive dashboard delivers transparency into operations to CXOs who can then better serve their customers. This empowers the enterprises to build a competitive advantage by improving agility.

A user-friendly delivery interface allows a client’s mobile workforce to upload task completion reports, escalate issues and order service parts instantly through
one-touch handheld devices.

FarEye’s route optimization feature coupled with its Business Process Management capability significantly improves the responsiveness of its client companies.

FarEye counts aCommerce, leading e-com service provider in South East Asia; Namshi.com, e-com player from Middle East (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE); Maraxpress, a West Asian e-com firm; Zalora, online fashion retailer spread across Asia Pacific; Australia’s National Product Fulfilment and Belgian postal service TBC Post among others as its customers.

FarEye’s global customers in India--BlueDart-DHL and Walmart among others--helped strengthen its leadership position in express logistics segment with over a million shipments a day.

First Cashless Swayamvar Across Five Cities Using FreeCharge

FreeCharge, in association with Fever 104 FM, hosted India’s first ever cashless Swayamvar as part of ‘Band Bajaa Fever’ Season 3. This is an unique initiative that attempts to make marriages unforgettable, extra-special and cashless with an unparalleled entertainment quotient.

The company also organized a star-studded evening in Namma Bengaluru where the bride to be Pranvesha Kundu chose ‘Sahil Sen’ as her Mr. Right amidst a fun filled night of music, entertainment and competitions.  Suitors were invited to register through online portal or WhatsApp for Band Baaja Fever and at the gala night, the final three contestants battled their way to be the ‘Mr. Right.’

As part of this initiative, cashless weddings were also conducted across Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. In these cities, prospective brides and grooms were invited to participate in Band Bajaa Fever to make the weddings memorable and cashless with FreeCharge. All wedding rites and rituals from Joota Churana to Moohn Dikhayi were all cashless; payments were made and gifts were exchanged through FreeCharge wallet in this unique avatar.

Speaking on the occasion, Kanika Kalra, Vice President – Marketing, FreeCharge said, “At FreeCharge, we are constantly looking at promoting the government of India’s vision of a cashless economy and realized the best way to promote the habit of using digital payments is through ‘weddings’ and in our country weddings involve a heavy amount of money transactions whether it is gifting the couple or paying the vendors, payments are an integral part of marriages. Through Band Bajaa Fever, we wanted to show the possibilities of conducting these transactions through mobile wallets and digital payments at weddings and are very happy to partner with Fever 104 FM for making it a success.”

The event on Saturday night saw an overwhelming participation from the guests, who came to witness the finale and be a part of this innovative initiative by FreeCharge and Fever 104 FM. Celebrities like Shruti Hasan were also in attendance to lend support to the cause of financial digitization and bring awareness to using mobile wallets like FreeCharge.

“Marriages are high indulgence family occasions in India and Fever has always attempted to make them extra special. With our partner FreeCharge, season 3 of Band Baaja Fever takes innovation to another level. Swayamvar on radio is the first ever in the category and with this Fever FM establishes a new milestone in the radio category,” said Harshad Jain, CEO Radio and Entertainment – HT Media Ltd.

Sharing her experience Pranwesha Kundu, “It's been a month-long journey with Band Baaja Fever. I have had so much fun right from the selections to the interactions with the RJs, the nervousness and excitement on the dates, selecting the top 3 out of 5, to the fun games on air, to see the top 3 fighting it out on stage to making the final choice. I am thankful to the organizers for giving me this opportunity to be a part of such an exciting idea like a ‘Swayamvar on air’ and for making this journey so special and memorable for me.”

The winning suitor Sahil Sen said “I loved bonding with the Fever team, fellow suitors and Pranwesha while answering awkward questions, dressing sharp and filmy dialogue rants formed an exciting and fun-filled experience I will not forget.”

Mphasis and DEF Partner to Spearhead Rural India Digital Transformation

True to its brand promise of ‘Unleashing the Next’, Mphasis,  a leading IT services and solutions provider, today announced the launch of a unique initiative in the town of Musiri, Trichy district in Tamil Nadu, to transform the lives of artisans and the weavers’ community in the area. By collaborating with Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), Mphasis is transforming traditional skill-based clusters in the Musiri region into an integrated digitally-enabled cluster to empower artisans, weavers, and entrepreneurs for socio-economic prosperity.

At an event organized in Trichy, Vishesh Nautiyal, Director - South Zone, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and P. Vasu, Dy. Director, Dept. of Handlooms and Textiles, Government of Tamil Nadu virtually inaugurated five digitally connected cluster resource centres in Natrajnagar, Manamedu, Mangalampudur, Paithamparai and Thathiangerpet in Musiri. V. Suryanarayanan, Chief Financial Officer, Mphasis and Osama Manzar, Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation were also present at the event. The cluster resource centres have been set up with an intention to provide physical space, digital infrastructure, and various equipment’s required for the betterment of the cluster community.

The programme also includes development of a ‘Cluster Wireless Network’ which provides the much needed Internet infrastructure for the cluster community. The cluster wireless network model will create an ecosystem by connecting schools, health centres and anganwadi centres in the region. In order to enhance employability, livelihood, income and living conditions of the citizens, the initiative will deploy a ‘Cluster Core Skills Development’ programme along with ‘Cluster Tertiary Skills Development’ to encourage entrepreneurship and self-sustainability of cluster members.

Similarly, the ‘Cluster Enterprise Development’ programme will provide software support for the development of Digital Resource Centre (DRC), enabling digital product designing and processing. In addition, the ‘Cluster Resource Centre’ (CRC) will offer information-based, digital and non-ICT support services for the core and tertiary activities of the cluster. Empowering the members to expand their product reach, the programme also envisions the development of an exclusive e-commerce portal, aiding the cluster community to connect with national and global customers.

“Mphasis is committed to bringing a difference in the lives of people. As our country is on a journey to create a digitally empowered society, Mphasis being a responsible corporate entity decided to contribute significantly within our limit. According to economic statistics, handloom sector is providing the second largest employment after agriculture in our country. Despite being a mass GDP contributor, they are struggling to sustain livelihoods. We partnered with DEF to create a meaningful difference in to the lives of artisans and weavers’ community by modernizing the way they function, live and trade. By doing so, Mphasis is spearheading the much needed digital inclusion of a larger section of our society,” said V. Suryanarayanan, Chief Financial Officer, Mphasis.   

‘’It is essential to digitally empower the rural masses to enable better inclusion with the rest of the country. We are glad to collaborate with Mphasis on this project to transform the lives of a larger part of our rural population and empower them in the digital path. Hundreds of community members have already received digital literacy and we look forward to touching the lives of many more and thus being a part of the larger Digital India vision,’’ Osama Manzar, Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation.

German Engineered SmartWash Set to Revolutionize Indian Bathrooms

Dr. Wiesner Test and Automation, a 50 year veteran of the industrial automation industry has marked its entry into the B2C lifestyle consumer segment through the launch of SmartWash, a range of automated bathroom closet seats. A fusion of precision German engineering and local manufacturing in Bangalore, SmartWash aims to redefine the hygiene, convenience and luxury benchmark in Indian bathrooms.

Available in 4 different variants, SmartWash aims to usher in a distinct shift in our day-to-day bathroom experience. With features like automated water cleansing for both men and women, pulse and water massage and odor control, the SmartWash offers a truly global quality offering at prices tailored to suit Indian budgets. The price range begins at Rs 9999 and consumers will have the choice to purchase their product through the online store or through local stores very soon.

Commenting on this disruptive and ambitious entry into the Lifestyle segment, HK Nagbhushan, Head of Operations and Director, India said, “We have been a pioneer in the industrial automation space for more than 50 years now. This education of creating world class manufacturing led us to the discovery of this product category. Our research shows that the Indian market is ripe for a smart bathroom. The growing urban elite are behind the tremendous demand for improving living standards as they have been exposed to global sensibilities. We estimate a demand of more than 50000 units in the first year alone.”

The SmartWash fits on most current bathroom pots and comes with easy instructions for a quick installation. Users will very soon have an option to avail an installation service with an on-ground channel partner for added convenience. Commenting on the realization of a long standing dream for Dr. Wiesner Test and Automation, Jochen Mὒller, Executive Director and Board Member, said “We are proud of this German Engineered and Made in India product. The team in India gets a lot of credit for having the vision of the product, especially one that touches our personal lives with so much impact. We are manufacturing almost 100% of the product in India itself which gives you an indicator of the technical strength of our Indian engineering and sourcing team.”

Post launch, the team is looking to ramp up production capacity at its Dabaspet facility near Bangalore. There is a strong push to adhere to the ‘Make in India’ theme and they estimate the team strength to quadruple in the next two years. SmartWash has received very positive interest from interior designers and real estate developers that promises to be a high volume growth area for the brand. The company has plans to enhance their lifestyle category product line in the near future with products like air purifiers and nebulizers under development.