65% Of Indians Plan To Take Personal Loan Ahead Of The Festive Season: IndiaLends – E-Cell, IIM Kozhikode Study

* Despite lockdown like restrictions, 62% of women are not willing to compromise from buying luxury goods

Major digital lending platform, IndiaLends and the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cell (E-Cell) of the leading education institute, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, launched ‘Indian Borrowers’ Sentiment Report’ which understands the pulse of the borrowers post the second wave of Covid-19. According to the survey, around 65% of Indians plan to take personal loan ahead of the festive season. 52% of Bengaluru-ites have checked their credit score since April 2021 and 60% of them might apply for a personal loan in the immediate future

The nationwide survey, conducted among approximately 1400 respondents comprising of both salaried and self-employed participants, showcased several interesting data points. As per the report, finances of about 66% of zillennials, between the age group of 21-25 years, have been impacted by the second wave of Covid while finances of about 75% of baby boomers (age 60 years and above) had no impact. The second wave of pandemic was more challenging for 53% self-employed class as compared to 46% of salaried class. Furthermore 61% of females have cut down on their spends on apparels and accessories going forward whereas 62% of them are not willing to compromise from buying luxury goods.

Significantly, 81% of millennials between the age group of 25-35 years plan to apply for a personal loan in the immediate future largely for education purpose, followed by debt consolidation, wedding, etc. Over 27% of respondents plan to apply for a personal loan to meet the needs of their medical expenses. About 18% of respondents plan to apply for a personal loan to meet the expenses of their wedding.

IndiaLends Founder and CEO Gaurav Chopra said, “The economy is gradually coming back to its feet post the second wave of Covid on the back of a massive inoculation drive initiated by the government of India. We are witnessing a steady process of business revival which has also helped to boost consumer confidence. With about 65% of Indians planning to opt for a personal loan in the immediate future, there is a clear indication of pent-up demand for credit products and overall optimism among customers. Our latest study with E-Cell, IIM Kozhikode reveals that businesses and individuals are keen to return to a ‘new normal’ life with the upcoming festive season.”

Among other findings, 34% of self-employed borrowers and 25% of salaried class borrowers stated that government’s last year’s moratorium was a great relief. About 79% of males and 72% of females have said their expenses towards holiday has seen a decline. Nearly, 85% of males are concerned about their savings for future and 66% of females are cutting back on their spending.

The IndiaLends – E-Cell, IIM Kozhikode survey covered both salaried and self-employed Indians in the 21-60+ years age group, residing across top metro and non-metro cities. The respondents comprised 49% of millennials in the 25-35 years age group, 39% of zillennials in the 21-25 years age group.

About IndiaLends

IndiaLends is an online marketplace for credit products, insurance and offer free credit reports. IndiaLends recently launched Digital Lending 2.0 — a range of touchless and contactless products that include loans, insurance and a line of credit. Available on both the web and mobile, IndiaLends offers instant loans to its customers with most products being fully digital. IndiaLends also provides technology, data and credit analytics solutions along with a loan management platform to financial institutions. IndiaLends is run by a team of credit risk professionals and data scientists with multiple years of experience in consumer credit. IndiaLends has a customer base of 8M. For further information, please visit www.indialends.com.

About E-Cell, IIM Kozhikode

Truly capturing the essence of a Business School, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cell is a catalyst to developing the business orientation of the students at IIM Kozhikode, which is an autonomous public business school located in Calicut (Kozhikode), Kerala. The interactive, learning yet enticing activities scheduled by the Committee are instrumental to linking developing business minds with the reality of the current world of business.

You V YouTube – A Refreshing New Show Blending Learning With Entertainment

* A Fremantle production featuring some of the biggest YouTube content creators 

Some of India's most popular content creators will turn quizmasters, allowing people from across India to play, learn and stand the chance to win big on You V YouTube, a YouTube Original produced by Fremantle. The exciting new series, slated to launch on 9th October, 2021, reimagines quizzing, with an entertaining and refreshing new format, shot completely in a virtual setting. The quiz will cover a wide range of subjects from Science, General Knowledge and Math to English, Travel, Food and Technology, with a novel and fun gameplay that tests contestants’ practical knowledge and skill beyond simply trivia. 

You V YouTube will be hosted by Indian television presenter Gaurav Kapur, who has become a household name across the country as a host, actor and entertainer, guaranteeing a generous dose of entertainment, friendly banter and laughs along the way. The questions to the contestants will be posed by YouTube Creators, each of whom is a subject matter expert including Roshni Mukherjee (Science), Gaurav Garg (General Knowledge) Ganesh Pai (Mathematics), Ceema Picardo (English), Arun Krishnamurthy (Environment), Gaurav Chaudhary (Technology), Nidhi Mohan (Health & Wellness) Ranveer Brar (Food), Reena D’Souza (Sports), Sucharita Tyagi (Movies & Music), Rachana Ranade (Finance) and Tanya Khanijow (Travel).  

The contestants are selected through an online audition process. On the show they must answer ten questions across ten different subjects, each asked by a different YouTube Creator, for an opportunity to win over Rs. Ten Lakhs.  

Sharing her views on the launch of You V YouTube, Aradhana Bhola,Managing Director, Fremantle, India, said, “Fremantle is home to some of the most successful and longstanding game shows worldwide. We are delighted to marry our irresistible entertainment game show expertise with the learning platform available on YouTube to bring this content to audiences. You V YouTube is a unique quiz show that not only brings together some of India’s best creators but also gives contestants a chance to both learn and earn, in a fun filled environment. The series has been filmed entirely virtually, with cast and contestants participating from the safety of their own homes during the pandemic; a feat that makes us proud. What’s even more gratifying is that whatever sum of money a contestant has won on the show has been matched in donation along with the proceeds of the live play along (available to viewers during the premiere episode) to charities working for covid relief.” 

“I am really excited about this new journey. Every day on this show is a learning experience for me. The energy of the contestants and the knowledge shared by the Creators is enriching. And after a long time, here is a show that will invoke curiosity, entertain you and make you earn while you learn”, said Gaurav Kapur, the host of You V YouTube. 

A seamless infotainment experience will have a lively new player in You V YouTube premiering on 9th October 2021 on YouTube, every Saturday & Sunday at 7 pm IST. 

About Fremantle: 

Fremantle is one of the largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content in the world. A global entertainment powerhouse, Fremantle has an outstanding international network of production teams, companies and labels in over 30 countries. Fremantle produces in excess of 12,000 hours of original programming, rolls out more than 70 formats and airs 400 programmes a year worldwide. The group distributes over 20,000 hours of content in more than 200 territories. Fremantle is also a world leader in digital and branded entertainment, with more than 370 million subscribers across 1,500 social channels and over 100 billion views across all platforms. 

Fremantle is a part of RTL Group, a global leader across broadcast, content and digital, itself a division of the international media giant Bertelsmann. For more information, visit www.fremantle.com, or, @FremantleHQ and their LinkedIn and Facebook pages. 

Tata Harrier Drives The Historic Sudarshan Bharat Parikrama Rally To Varanasi Today

* 47 NSG commandos to travel 7500km across 18 cities in 15 Tata #Dark Harriers

Celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, that commemorates the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, an elite group of 47 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos started the ‘Sudarshan Bharat Parikrama’ to cover the length and breadth of India. Tata #Dark Harrier, the tough and rugged SUV from Tata Motors, India's largest homegrown automaker, resonates with the edgy personas of the black cat commandos and is proud to be the NSG’s vehicle of choice in this expedition. 

Driven in 15 Tata #Dark Harriers, this landmark rally will traverse through 18 prominent cities to cover a distance of 7500 km in less than a month. Currently, the rally has travelled through Agra and Lucknow, before arriving in Varanasi today. The rally will go to Bodh Gaya on the same day, and will continue to make pitstops at TML dealerships on the way.

NSG is an elite counter-terror force and the commandos are brave, highly motivated and specially trained to win in the most difficult of situations. Starting from the historic Red Fort in New Delhi, the ‘Sudarshan Bharat Parikrama’ will tour India’s major war memorials and monuments through Agra, Lucknow, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Berhampur, Vizag, Vijaywada, Hyderabad, Ongole, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hublii, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur, celebrating the dedication and perseverance of the nation’s protectors.

Saluting and roaring for the NSG, Tata Motors #Dark Harrier customers will also join the rally.

Jai Hind!

About Tata Motors

Part of the USD 109 billion Tata group, Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM; BSE: 500570 and 570001; NSE: TATAMOTORS and TATAMTRDVR), a USD 34 billion organization, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, pick-ups, trucks and buses, offering extensive range of integrated, smart and e-mobility solutions. With ‘Connecting Aspirations’ at the core of its brand promise, Tata Motors is India’s market leader in commercial vehicles and amongst the top three in the passenger vehicles market.

Tata Motors strives to bring new products that fire the imagination of GenNext customers, fueled by state of the art design and R&D centers located in India, UK, US, Italy and South Korea. With a focus on engineering and tech enabled automotive solutions catering to the future of mobility, the company’s innovation efforts are focused to develop pioneering technologies that are sustainable as well as suited to evolving aspirations of the market and the customers. The company is pioneering India's Electric Vehicle (EV) transition and driving the shift towards sustainable mobility solutions by preparing a tailor-made product strategy, leveraging the synergy between the Group companies and playing an active role liasoning with the Government in developing the policy framework

With operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia, supported by a strong global network of 103 subsidiaries, 9 associate companies, 4 joint ventures and 2 joint operations as on March 31, 2021, Tata Motors’ commercial and passenger vehicles are marketed in countries, spread across Africa, Middle East, South & South East Asia, Australia, South America, Russia and other CIS countries.

Paytm Launches “Navratri Gold Offer”: Book LPG Cylinders Of Indane, HP Gas Or Bharatgas And Win Gold Worth Rs. 10,001

* Navratri Gold Offer starts from October 7th and will last until October 16th 

* Along with Paytm Digital Gold, users can win cashback points on every booking 

* Offers flexibility for choosing payment modes from Paytm Wallet, Paytm UPI, cards, netbanking or Paytm Postpaid. 

India's leading digital ecosystem for consumers and merchants (1) Paytm announced the launch of its ‘Navratri Gold’ offer for LPG cylinder bookings. Between 7th and 16th October, 5 lucky users every day will win Paytm Digital Gold worth Rs. 10,001/- on booking their LPG cylinders through the Paytm app.  

This offer would also be applicable on payments of existing unpaid cylinder bookings done using the "Book Gas Cylinder" feature on the Paytm App. Besides this, all users will get assured rewards of up to 1000 cashback points on every booking, which can be redeemed for amazing deals and gift vouchers from top brands. This ‘Navratri Gold’ offer is applicable on cylinder booking of all 3 major LPG companies – Indane, HP Gas, and Bharatgas.  

Recently, the company enhanced the cylinder booking experience by adding innovative features that enable users to track the delivery of their gas cylinders, and also receive automated intelligent reminders for refills.  

All that a user needs to do is go to the ‘Book Gas Cylinder’ tab, select the gas provider, enter Mobile No./LPG ID/consumer no., and then make the payment using their preferred mode of payment such as Paytm Wallet, Paytm UPI, cards, netbanking or Paytm Postpaid, through which customers will also have an option to book now and pay next month. The cylinder is delivered to the registered address by the nearest gas agency. 

Paytm Spokesperson said, “We want to celebrate the festive season with our users by offering cashbacks and rewards on LPG Cylinder booking, which is one of the most popular spends on our platform. Every day 5 lucky users will win Rs 10,001/- worth of gold on Paytm.” 

About Paytm :    Paytm is India’s leading digital ecosystem for consumers and merchants (1), and offers payment services, commerce and cloud services, and financial services to 333 million consumers and over 21 million merchants, as on March 31, 2021. Paytm is India’s largest payments platform (1) based on the number of consumers, number of merchants, number of consumer to merchant transactions and revenue, as on March 31, 2021, and with a GMV of ₹4,033 billion of FY2021. One 97 Communications Limited (“Company”) is the largest payment gateway aggregator in India for FY2021 based on total transactions, with the widest ecosystem of payment instruments (1). The Company’s lending business (offered in collaboration with financial institution partners), includes personal loans, merchant loans, as well as its Buy Now, Pay Later product i.e. Paytm Postpaid. The Company’s financial institution partners disbursed 1.4 million loans in Q4FY21. 

Bank Of Baroda Reduces Home Loans Rates To 6.5 Percent*

Bank of Baroda, India’s premium public sector bank, announced reduction of 25 bps in its home loan rates from 6.75% to 6.50%* w.e.f from October 7, 2021.  With the onset of festive season and to make home buying more affordable for customers, the Bank has extended this offer and the special rate will be available till December 31, 2021. The new rates will be available for customers applying for fresh loans, loan transfer or looking to refinance their existing loans making the offer more inclusive. Nil processing fee on home loan was already on offer and has been extended till 31/12/21. 

On the announcement of reduction in home loans, Mr H T Solanki, GM- Mortgages & Other Retail Assets, Bank of Baroda said , “Bank always tries to offer  the most competitive rates of interest on home loan and other retail loan products while making the process seamless and hasselfree through our digital platforms and our dedicated teams. Our customers will get benefited from this offering in this festive season. With this reduced rate of interest, Bank of Baroda home loans are now offering the most competitive rates across categories for a limited period till 31/12/2021 .” 

FADA Releases September 2021 Vehicle Retail Data

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) today released Vehicle Retail Data for September’21. 

September’21 Retails 

Commenting on how September’21 performed, FADA President, Mr. Vinkesh Gulati said, “Auto retail in the month of September has taken a pause as overall sales were down by -5%. During the 1st half of this FY, while the overall retails were up by 35%, the same was down by -29% when compared to 2019, a pre-covid year. On a long term basis, except tractors which grew by 19% and PV which has almost reached pre-covid levels, all the other segments were in red. 

The 2W category continues to play spoilsport as entry level segment is yet to witness healthy growth. This segment’s performance is now becoming critical for the overall 2W to come back on the path of recovery as dealer inventory rises to 30-35 days in anticipation of a good festive. Semiconductor shortage has also started impacting the 150+ cc segment. 

The 3W segment is now showing clear signs of tactical shift from ICE to EVs as the ratio has hit a 60:40 split. With offices and educational institutions slowly opening up, electrification of 3W’s will gather a greater momentum in months to come. 

As we enter the core of this year’s festive season, the full blown semiconductor crises continues to create hindrance in PV sales as vehicle inventory at dealers end dip to record lows of 15-20 days during the current fiscal. With high demand in this segment, long waiting period continues to frustrate and keep enthusiast buyers in a fix.  

The CV segment is finally showing greater strength as all sub-categories continue to grow YoY. MCV for the first time also grows above pre-covid month of Sept’19. 

Near Term Outlook 

With India entering the 42 days festive period beginning today, the near term outlook for this year’s festive season will be a mixed bag. While Dealers have increased their inventory in 2W category, PV inventory is at the lowest during this FY due to the ongoing semi-conductor crises.  

The chip shortage looks less likely to ease within next two quarters. As a result, PV sales is likely to stagnate going ahead even though OEMs are coming ahead with new launches to keep the customer excited. With skyrocketing fuel prices and a drop in purchasing power, entry level customers in rural India are keeping themselves away from fulfilling their mobility needs.  

India’s vaccination drive has reached a remarkable momentum. This coupled with a less likelihood of 3rd wave in near future and offices and educational institutions opening up in a phased manner, we anticipate a marginal recovery process to begin in the 2W space. FADA hence requests all 2W OEMs to roll out special promotions schemes so that it can springboard 2W retails for a faster recovery.  

Inventory at the end of September’21 

Average inventory for Passenger Vehicles ranges from 15-20 days 

Average inventory for Two – Wheelers ranges from 30-35 days 

Liquidity 

Neutral = 40.7% 

Good = 31.9% 

Bad = 27.5% 

Sentiment 

Neutral = 45.1% 

Good = 27.5% 

Bad = 27.5% 

Alia Bhatt Invests In Social Alpha Backed D2C Start-Up Phool.co That Makes Natural Incense And Bio-Leather From Floral Waste

*Alia Bhatt has invested in D2C start-up Phool.co, backed by Social-Alpha- an initiative supported by Tata Trusts.

* Phool.co is India’s first wellness brand to have both Fair for Life- Fairtrade and Ecocert Organic & Natural certifications. Phool has pioneered the flowercycling technologies to upcycle cellulose waste and specializes in manufacturing charcoal-free incense and other wellness products.

* Earlier, Phool.co had raised US $ 2 Million in a seed round from IAN Fund, Social Alpha, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (San Francisco), and IIT Kanpur.  

* With Deep-tech research, the startup has successfully developed a commercially viable alternative to Animal leather called “Fleather”  

Phool.co, a Social Alpha-backed D2C wellness startup, today announced that Alia Bhatt is now an investor in the company.

Founded by UN Young Leader Awardee for Sustainable Development Goals, Ankit Agarwal in July 2017, Phool.co is an innovative startup focused on the circular economy which converts floral waste into Charcoal-free Luxury incense products and other wellness products. The startup is also India’s first wellness brand to have Fair for Life- Fairtrade and Ecocert Organic & Natural certifications. With deep-tech research, the startup has also developed “Fleather'' leveraging their flowercycling technology. Fleather is a viable alternative to Animal leather which was recently awarded PETA’s best innovation in the Vegan World.

Phool.co has rapidly expanded its operations and has consistently achieved 130% YoY growth for the past two years. Phool.co vision is backed by strong RnD efforts and is based on sustainable development goals focused on creating a circular economy, promoting sustainable consumption, and bringing dignified livelihoods.

Speaking on the latest investment, Alia Bhatt, who is known for her environmental initiatives, said, “Phool incense really stands out for its fine natural fragrances and amazing packaging. I admire the founder’s vision of making incense and bio-leather from recycled flowers that contribute to keeping our rivers clean, creating a humane alternative to leather and providing employment to women in India’s heartland. I’m proud that these products are created in India and wowing the world and I’m thrilled to join the investors who are backing the company.”

Earlier this year, Alia Bhatt had also invested in Nykaa, the omni-channel lifestyle retailer stating the three reasons she chose the company were its Indian roots, its global scale and that it was founded by a woman.      

Social Alpha had written the first Equity cheque & had invested in and nurtured the company, while it was at the idea stage. Speaking on the latest development, Manoj Kumar, Founder & CEO, Social Alpha said, “Ankit has truly demonstrated how passionate entrepreneurs can solve some of our most complex problems with their disruptive innovations. The team has the rare combination of empathy, audacious goals, extraordinary resilience and flawless execution to build and scale a sustainable business model. Phool.co will only grow bigger with time”

Ankit Agarwal, Founder Phool.co said,“At Phool.co we aim to drive systemic change through innovation. Alia's investment is a validation of our efforts and firmly sets us on a path to build a global success story from a tier 3 city. The investment and support will help us expand our footprint globally and also step up the pace of RnD. I can proudly say, Phool.co is a business built, led and now even invested in by women.”

IIT Kanpur has been the backbone for the company’s technical research Speaking on the latest development, Dr. Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur said “IIT Kanpur is proud to be a partner of PHOOL. I am glad that we could help the company technologically but at the same time, I must acknowledge that PHOOL.co brought a lot of visibility to our incubator and the subsequent stupendous success of SIIC is at least in part due to the success of PHOOL”

Speaking on the latest development, Padmaja Ruparel, Founding Partner, IAN Fund said, “Innovative solutions for the sustainable development of the community is the need of the hour. Phool.co‘s circular economy model brings triple bottom benefits of environmental, social, and financial sustainability. Ankit is a passionate entrepreneur focused on a large market and value creation for both customers and his team.”

For its endeavors to make innovative and sustainable products, Phool.co has received several international recognitions including the prestigious United Nations Young Leaders Award for Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations Momentum of Change Award at COP, Asia Sustainability Award Hong Kong, Alquity Transforming Lives Awards, London and Breaking the Wall of Science, Berlin

Earlier, Phool.co had raised US $ 2 Million in a seed round from IAN Fund, Social Alpha (FISE) and Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (San Francisco), and IIT Kanpur.

About IAN Fund: The IAN Fund, an INR 375 crore fund, is a uniquely differentiated seed/early stage Fund which aims to transform India’s entrepreneurial landscape. The fund invests in innovative companies in sectors including healthcare and medical devices, VR, AI, software as a service, marketplaces, fin-tech, big data, artificial intelligence, agritech and hardware. The Fund leverages and builds upon the strengths and success of IAN, the world’s largest angel investor group, to breed and grow innovative companies.

The fund has Institutional investors like SIDBI’s Fund of Funds for Startups, BIRAC’s ACE Fund, Kerala Startup Mission, IIFL, Wadhwani Foundation, Max Group, Hyundai along with marquee individuals like Kris Gopalakrishnan, Sunil Munjal, Rajan Anandan, Kanwal Rekhi, Vikram Gandhi, Jerry Rao amongst many others. This is the first in a series of Funds so that over the next 10 years, the IAN Platform would invest Rs 5000 Cr in ~500 companies, making it the single largest platform for early stage investing.

About Social Alpha : Social Alpha is a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform for science and technology start-ups that address the most critical social, economic and environmental challenges through the power of entrepreneurship and market-creating innovations. Since its inception in 2016, Social Alpha has supported more 150 start-ups including 60+ seed investments. For more information, please visit www.socialalpha.org

LinkedIn: SocialAlpha Twitter: @SocialAlphaIN Facebook: SocialAlpha Instagram: social_alpha_in

About IIT Kanpur & its ecosystem for Startups: IIT Kanpur’s TBI, Foundation for Innovation in Research, Science and Technology (FIRST), is one of the best academic TBIs in the country. It is primarily engaged in hardware-based product development, a rare trait amongst the incubators of India.