COVID Has Been Blessing to Internet Economy in India: MakeMyTrip Deep Kalra at TiECON Chennai 2020

Sharing an optimistic view on the evolving entrepreneurial landscape in India amidst a pandemic, Deep Kalra, Founder & Group Executive Chairman, MakeMyTrip kick-started this year’s TiECON Chennai 2020 with an intriguing fire-side chat. In his conversation with Mahavir Pratap Sharma, Founder and Owner of Oscar Expo Design LLP and Swishin Events LLP as well as the Chairman of TiE Global Board of Trustees, Deep Kalra shared his experience as a first time entrepreneur who set out to revolutionize the Indian hospitality industry and the many challenges he had to overcome along the journey of building MakeMyTrip.

Embracing the new order of life, this year’s TiECON was conducted virtually with over 1000 delegates participating in the first day of the conference. Dwelling deep into the several impacts of COVID on the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Deep Kalra shared insights on how the situation has opened plethora of opportunities while also uplifting the internet economy to a great extent.

“India is at an interesting point. Fundamentally, COVID has been the biggest blessing that the internet economy could get in India. At the end of COVID, we would have jumped from 110 to 200 million buyers online because there is no other way to order or pay. Everyone has become comfortable and it is a one way street. I think it has doubled our addressable market suddenly because many more people have been brought online.” said Deep Kalra in his interaction.

Further sharing insights on the future of travel industry in India, Deep Kalra said, “Travel is uncomfortable today but it is not unsafe. We have to convince a lot of people that it is safe and that take time. Only 25% domestic flights have opened despite the Government allowing 60% operations due to the low demand. People are slowly stepping out to travel for work, meeting family and pleasure. It is going to take time in India for travel industry to open up. There is a silver bullet but we don’t know when it is going to come. It is time for us to dig down deeper into our resources. We have used this time to work on the all the projects we wanted to do, but never got the time to do because of the daily pressures of business”

He also added, “Economies have to open up, livelihood has to come back. We have been shut down far too long. The future of travel in the short term is still going to be tough. But I am firm believer that once we see this through; we are going to see revenge travel. I am very optimistic about the long term; there are no questions about travel being replaced by anything because it is experiential. You cannot take that away.”

Following this conversation, a panel discussion on the topic ‘Local to Global: The Chennai Startup path” was conducted. The panelists for the session were Srinath Ravichandran (Co-Founder & CEO of AgniKul Cosmos), Rachna Dave (Founder, MicroGo), and Vinoth Kumar (CEO, Paperflite) moderated by Rema Subramanian (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Ankur Capital). Drawing on the panelists’ experience across diverse industries, the conversation touched upon the need for R&D and innovation particularly in science and technology, the ability to cater to local as well as global markets, and the role of a supportive ecosystem.

The first day of the conference came to a conclusion with a first side chat between T V Mohandas Pai, Co-Founder and Chairman of Aarin Capital and Chairman of Manipal Global Education, and Viiveck Verma, Founder and CEO of UpSurge Enterprise Solutions and Senior Advisor to Telengana State Innovation Cell. A conversation filled with personal anecdotes and real-life examples, Pai traced his experiences in finance, HR as well as social impact roles in Infosys and beyond. Helping build Brand India for the last many years, Pai described his efforts both in the private as well as public sector as an advisor to many governmental committees. The talk was rooted in the need for data and systems, credibility and transparency, and the commitment to the greater good.

About TiE Chennai

TiE Chennai is an active chapter with 175+ Charter Members and over 600 Associate Members. Based out of the South Indian city of Chennai, this chapter seeks to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship both within the city as well as the larger state of Tamil Nadu. Through independent events as well as partnerships, the chapter holds multiple events every month, looking to inspire, mentor and educate local entrepreneurs. Charter members, entrepreneurs, business leaders, venture capitalists and government representatives often collaborate to present success stories and business opportunities as well as know-how on raising capital, networking, etc.TiE Chennai has been one of the top performing chapters globally since 2014. This recognition stands testimony to the consistent high performance of the chapter across parameters including regular high quality events and membership growth.

MSME and Housing Finance Witness Strong Demand from Tier III, IV Areas – Capri Global Capital Ltd MD, Rajesh Sharma

Capri Global Capital Ltd (CGCL), a diversified NBFC focusing on MSME lending and housing finance has seen increase in credit lending in MSME and affordable housing sector especially in Tier III and Tier IV cities. CGCL has also witnessed surge in the loan disbursement in the August – September month which is now at par with FY19. With the credit off-take in semi urban and rural area, CGCL is confident to achieve the target of 10%-12% growth in disbursements in the current fiscal year. 

Speaking about the encouraging signs of upturn Mr. Rajesh Sharma, Managing Director of Capri Global Capital Ltd said, “We see an early green shoots of revival, the ease of lockdown restriction creating demand for credit in the semi-urban and rural areas as well as improving collections. Last month we achieved a pre-COVID level of disbursement and we see activity level going up. We believe the NBFCs with a strong balance sheet and adequate liquidity would benefit in the long run. At Capri, we have adequate liquidity and got a lot of credit lines during the last four-month, utilizing the same towards prepayment of the loan and were able to negotiate better terms.” 

“Other sectors like infrastructure finance, large ticket size lending and wholesale finance are bit under pressure” he added further. 

Collections 

In the last six months, CGCL has witnessed sizable improvement in collection efficiency both in the MSME and home loan segment. Among all the CGCL MSME and home loan borrowers, around 40% of the borrowers have been regularly paying the monthly EMIs for the past six months, whereas only around 6% of the customers were facing challenges to pay the EMIs consistently. 

Operational highlights 

CGCL is into secure lending for MSME and home loans and expect NPA to rise at most by 1% to 2% 

MSME 

The Company’s MSME loan under moratorium 2.0 stood at 37% in comparison to 53% as under moratorium 1.0.  

Not much loan restructuring request has been received so far, thus, expecting minimal impact in next 2-4 month 

Increase in MSME activities in Tier-III and Tier IV towns 

Housing Loan 

The Home loan moratorium rate stood at 27% under moratorium 2.0 in comparison to 33% as under moratorium 1.0  

Major demand for home loans are coming from within Tier III and IV towns as CGCL offers home loans to the affordable housing segment where the cost of house is less than Rs 30-35 lakh  

CGCL is witnessing home loan requirement for self-construction plots as well as ready-to-move-in property 

The trend of increased demand is primarily because of realization to own a home as a result of COVID-19 as well as to take the advantage of reduced home loan interest rate which has significantly came down by 150 basis in the last six months.

Toyota Announces India Winners for “GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020” Regional Round

Toyota, today announced the India winners of the action-packed regional round of first-ever “GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020”. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s (TGR) virtual motorsport is an ultimate platform that connects e-Sport enthusiasts and provides them with engaging avenues surrounding the brand. In a super thrilling encounter, three racers from India namely, Aditya Raghav, Abishek Dwaraknath, Tariq Rahman made it to the regional round scheduled later this month.

“GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020” is a proud off-shoot of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing motorsport legacy strongly fired by the ultimate concepts of passion and endurance. The recent cherished accomplishment came when Toyota, behind the wheel of the GAZOO RACING TS050 Hybrid, notched its third-consecutive win at the legendary race, 24 Hours of Le Mans.  The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing and is often referred to as the "Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency".

“GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020” will bring together 15 top e-motorsport players in Asia for its first ever virtual motorsport showdown. Three top challengers from each of the five participating countries – India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines, will race online, to win the top spot in the first-ever “GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020” regional finals, slated to be streamed on 25th October for all the e-Sport fans to enjoy.

India debut of “GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020” was well-received by racing enthusiasts with much fanfare. The championship received a response of over 30,000 applications of which 3400 made it to the next round and 13 made it to the finale.

Speaking on behalf of the three qualifiers of GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020 from India, winner Mr. Aditya Raghav, said, "The Toyota India GR Supra cup has been a great opportunity for India to bring out the best eSport racers. This gives us a chance to showcase our skills against the rest of the competition and I definitely feel like we have the pace and the consistency to take India to the top. The competition is definitely going to be a tough one and I will be bringing my best to the track. Looking forward to some great racing from the rest of the folks."

Commenting on the upcoming “GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020 [Regional Round]”, Vice President of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific, Mr. David Nordstrom, said, “The ‘GR Supra GT Cup ASIA’ challenge is all about the power of passion, cars and limitless possibilities and we are excited to engage with the aspiring players in the region. It is a great feeling to race on-line. Indeed, my racing moments on simulator captures some of the exhilaration I have experienced on real race tracks around the world.

It’s a feat to have these incredible players competing in the legendary sports car, GR Supra, and we look forward to having fans join us to experience virtual racing with Toyota, by watching the regional finale.”

Mr. Naveen Soni, Senior Vice President, Sales and Service, TKM, also joined Mr. David Nordstrom in congratulating the winners.  “Just like the winners, it’s a proud moment for Toyota Kirloskar Motor too as the GR Supra GT (Gran Turismo) Cup has enabled us to display the pinnacle of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing e-Motorsport to the Indian market. We are extremely delighted with the tremendous response to the India debut. We hope to keep motorsports enthusiasts and young talents engaged and entrained by pushing our limits for the better whilst promoting e- motorsport in India.” 

Streamed online, the regional virtual race will allow motorsport enthusiasts and avid gamers all over Asia to come together and experience the real-racing excitement with Toyota virtually. The wheels of choice in this race is Toyota’s iconic sports car, the GR Supra. The “GR Supra GT Cup ASIA 2020”, a one-make race championship in *Gran Turismo Sport kicked-off in June 2020 with national-level qualifying races hosted by Toyota, in each of the five participating countries, has generated huge excitement among e-Sport fans in Asia.

E-Motorsport is one of the key pillars of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing to bring thrill to car enthusiasts and engage those looking to pursue new challenges in the virtual world. Furthermore, the key learnings and real-time experiences gained from the TGR’s motorsport activities remain eminent to the development of ever-better cars.

This achievement of Toyota at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the most coveted platforms for endurance, reiterates the brand’s top class of sports cars while vindicating its passion and ability to push for ever-better technology and superlative results.  The victory also puts the spotlight on the superior performance of hybrid electric technology through its unique ability to combine power and endurance at the same time. As pioneers and leaders in hybrid electric technology, Toyota’s cumulative sales of electrified vehicles have already crossed 15 million units over the 23 years since the launch of the Prius in Japan in 1997, the first full hybrid electric mass-produced car. As a result, Toyota’s contribution towards the reduction of CO2 emissions is more than 125 million tons globally. In Europe, the company has sold more than 2.8M hybrid cars, allowing it to be a leading automaker towards EU CO2 reduction targets in 2020 and 2021.

Dollar Industries Limited Inaugurates 4 MW Solar Power Plant in Tirupur

Dollar Industries Limited, one of the leading apparel brands in India, commissioned a 4 MW solar power plant at their manufacturing facility in Tirupur. The solar plant is a part of Dollar’s ‘Green Mission’ initiative and has a capacity of generating 75 lakhs power units annually.

Dollar’s objective for installing the solar plant is to not only reduce costs but also make the spinning unit at Tirupur sustainable and self-reliant. To produce 1kg of cotton yarn, the cost of power is approximately Rs. 27-28 which is expected to feed almost 50% of the daily consumption at the spinning unit. Moreover, the solar plant will help in curbing the CO2 emissions by 9000kgs/per day with a sustainable environment.

Sharing his thoughts about the initiative, Mr. Vinod Kumar Gupta, Managing Director, Dollar Industries Limited stated, “We have always been a responsible corporate with a substantial focus on environment friendly practices. With the current pandemic situation, it is imperative to reduce costs and at the same time also create a clean and eco-friendly manufacturing facility protecting the environment. We at Dollar have been making constant efforts to operate in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.”

“By keeping a close watch on the development process, we mainly maximize the utilization of water, energy and our natural resources, safeguarding the earth by reducing our carbon footprints. This project is in line with Dollar’s commitment to develop renewable production capabilities to develop quality products for our consumers”, added Mr. Vinod Kumar Gupta.

During the inauguration, Mr. Binay Kumar Gupta, Executive - Managing Director – Promoter stated, “The solar plant has been commissioned by Indway Power Energy Pvt. Ltd., who is the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) partner from Coimbatore. The power generated from the solar plant will primarily used for our spinning unit. In case of excess power will be utilized to feed the dyeing unit, which is located at SIPCOT Industrial Park, Perundurai.

Mr. Bajrang Kumar Gupta, Executive - Whole Time Director – Promoter, Dollar Industries Limited said, “In the past, the company has invested in superior quality manufacturing assets and have utilized state-of-the-art technologies for developing environmentally sustainable work atmosphere. From installing a windmill for the energy needs of the manufacturing facility, utilizing Zero Discharge Water Treatment, to recycle and reuse the water waste from the facility, Dollar Industries Limited has always integrated the environmental friendly initiative in its business practices. These help us to not only reduce costs but also conserve the natural resources.”

Dollar Industries Limited has invested INR 18 crores for the plant and the payback period is expected to be 5 years.

Evidence-Based Onco Nutrition Firm, Esperer Launches EsNDC in Hyd

Esperer, an evidence based Onco Nutrition company has set up Esperer Nutrition Development Centre (EsNDC), the Research&Development (R&D) Excellence Centre in Hyderabad. EsNDC is the strength the biotech organisation headquartered in Mumbai. Esperer Nutrition is paving the remedial pathway based on science and innovation for best-in-class cancer care through nutrition and food. 

At the new EsNDC Esperer will monitor cancer patients to recognise nutritional changes to help develop new nutrition products design and delivery systems for expanding Esperer’s current and future product ranges. EsNDC will observe development and progression of products in a methodical fashion in tandem with co-dependent partnerships and associations keeping the foundational goals of the new centre.

During the launch of EsNDC, Mr. Raktim Chattopadhyay, Founder & CEO at Esperer Onco Nutrition spoke about the guiding philosophy of Esperer and said, “Our organisation stands on the robust and thriving pillars of research. It is only through research on new and existing products developments we will be able to create new paradigms in nutrition to improve the effectiveness of nutrition in the therapeutic cure for cancer. I am sure the new centre in Hyderabad is going to be a constructive block in our existing research infrastructure to promise growth for the company as solid cancer nutrition research nest”.

“Increasing patient compliance and consumer happiness is our maxim and it is going to be an inviolable goal post we shall repeatedly fight for. Starting from the ideation of the product till the product reaches the market, the mission of EsNDC will be to cater products to the medical conditions with more scientific research and backing. We wish to move the patient to higher levels of wellness progressively. Sounding my opinions here, I take a pledge to construct a pylon with the practical calculus of product development needs where ideation will itself go on a possible product design and expansion trail”, said, Dr. Vivek Srivastav, Vice-President R&D and Operation at EON.

The facility in Hyderabad will house a variety of cohesive capabilities including investigative workrooms and product improvement sub-centres with a devoted laboratory for analysing sensory components, packing and taste. The diagnostic lab will be armed with equipment for a comprehensive gamut of dietary examination starting from micronutrient to microbiological analysis and testing.

About EON

EspererOnco Nutrition strives to champion the role of nutritional therapies that have proven clinical & health economic value & improve the quality of people’s lives. EON is destined to understand, treat & help prevent a range of medical conditions by leveraging nutrition and life sciences.  

Company aims to address specific health conditions with special emphasis on Onco Nutrition & intend to provide a 360-degree solution to global cancer portfolio right from Preventive Oncology to Cancer Disease Management using Nutraceutical as complementary therapy to stage &region-specific cancer patients. 

EON aspire to become global pioneer considering Drug-Nutrient Interaction as major factor in chronic disease management. 

MARK Compressors Launches New Range of Piston Air Compressors Across Segments

MARK Compressors, a part of Atlas Copco group in India, today launched two new product variations in their Piston Compressor range – The Ironwind series and the Bluewind series. Equipped with a robust cast iron pump and a simple plug and play solution, the products are highly reliable and durable for the Indian market needs.

The key industry segments such as automobile, tyre retail industry, fuel stations, woodworks, small-scale industries, Micro, small and medium scale business units, and independent professional businesses where pneumatic and air applications come into play will benefit from these compressed air solutions. The new products with highly engineered innovation are intended towards enhancing customers’ productivity, reducing energy consumption, and offering higher uptime and reliability. The products are available across the country to fulfil the demand of customers even in shorter duration through the channel partners.

The products have an upgraded cooling system, which keeps the heat emission in check during long working hours. Designed in a compact “tank” format, the products are on wheels which makes them portable. This feature is especially handy for projects with frequently changing workstations. The products will be available in various sizes, displacement, and power options, ranging from 1.5HP to 10HP, which are completely customizable as per respective industry’s requirement.

Andy Prabhakar, General Manager - Brand Portfolio at Atlas Copco, said, “At Mark, we are proud to be able to cater to the customer with solutions created only with durable parts, ensuring efficiency of products & services, backed by timely maintenance offerings. The new range of air compressors with the cast iron piston technology is a result of Mark’s continued commitment to offer products to the customers that are simple enough to be user-friendly, reliable and efficient. As a business commitment, the company ensures that the products and parts are easily available and serviceable, no matter in which part of the country your business is.” 

As a part of their existing portfolio, the company also offers a prominent range of air compressors including Oil-Injected screw air compressors, refrigerant dryers, line filters, air receivers and piping solutions.

Paytm Unveils "Android Mini App Store" for the Indian Developers

* Startups to leverage Paytm's extensive distribution network for free

* Offers diverse payment options including Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank and UPI at 0% fee

* Developers to save on advertising spend for app downloads leading to more investments on innovations

* Local India’s app store to drive the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission and retain digital consumer spends within India

India's leading digital payments and technology platform Paytm has today announced the launch of its Android Mini App Store to support Indian developers to take their innovative products to the masses. Mini apps are a custom-built mobile website that gives users app-like experience without having to download them, which would greatly benefit millions of citizens to save their limited data and phone memory. Paytm is providing listing and distribution of these mini-apps within its app without any charges. For payments, developers will be able to give a choice of Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank, UPI, net-banking and Cards to their users.

Paytm has created the digital infrastructure to enable small developers and businesses to set up low-cost, quick-to-build mini-apps which can be built using HTML and javascript technologies. The company provides Paytm wallet, Paytm Payments Bank account and UPI at zero charges and levies a 2% charge for other instruments like credit cards. This local India’s app store aims to drive the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission while keeping the digital consumer spends within India.

Paytm Mini App Store offers direct access to discover, browse and pay without downloading or installing separate apps. More than 300 app-based service providers such as Decathalon, Ola, Park+, Rapido, Netmeds, 1MG, Domino's Pizza, FreshMenu, NoBroker have already joined the program. It comes with a developer dashboard for analytics, payments collection along with various marketing tools to engage with the users. This app store has been running in beta with select users and witnessed over 12 million visits in the month of September.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO - Paytm said, "I am proud that we are today launching something that creates an opportunity for every Indian app developer. Paytm Mini App Store empowers our young Indian developers to leverage our reach and payments to build new innovative services. For Paytm users, it will be a seamless experience that doesn't require any separate download and enables them to use their preferred payment option."

The company believes that through this initiative India would be able to build a sustainable and thriving local technology ecosystem that resonates with the true spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Growing technology companies will get the opportunity to rely on India’s Paytm to contribute towards the overall growth of the Indian economy and create employment.