ELGi Introduces Advanced Compressed Air Solutions At Hannover Messe 2023

* Reiterates commitment to providing customers with compressed air at low life cycle costs  

ELGi (BSE: 522074 NSE: ELGIEQUIP), one of the world’s leading air compressor manufacturers, today unveiled, at Hannover Messe, its portfolio of oil-free, oil-lubricated compressors, and accessories designed to address European customers' needs for low life cycle cost compressed air solutions. On display at the ELGi stand D31 in Hall 4 were ELGi’s oil-free screw air compressor with an integrated heat recovery system and the improved efficiency oil-lubricated screw compressor with a new permanent magnet synchronous motor. ELGi’s first two-stage oil-lubricated screw air compressor enabling industry-leading low total cost of ownership and increased reliability, also premiered at the show.

“Today, our portfolio on display at Hannover Messe reaffirms our commitment to playing a leading role in responding to customers’ needs for a step-change in energy efficiency. In the journey towards sustainability and net zero operations, customer requirements are evolving from lower energy consumption to thorough life cycle cost assessments. While air compressors consume approximately 10% of Europe’s overall industrial electrical energy demand, over 70% of a compressor’s lifecycle costs are made up by the energy used during operations.” said Dr. Jairam Varadaraj, Managing Director, Elgi Equipments, while speaking at the tradeshow. "For over 60 years, we have been committed to developing compressed air solutions that contribute to driving down the total cost of ownership with class-leading energy efficiency, process improvements, new products, and processes. Moreover, our compressed air experts put the customer at the core of every decision and activity, ensuring an #alwaysbetter customer experience over the entire life of their ELGi compressors."

Chris Ringlstetter, President ELGi Compressors Europe, commented, “We remain committed to partnering with our European customers as they face an incessant rise in energy costs, regulatory and value chain demands for lower emissions, and the continued need to improve operational costs and more importantly, energy efficiency. Today ELGi's compressed air solutions deliver class-leading energy efficiency to our European customers across various industrial verticals. Our people and channel partners, with their expertise, experience, and distribution, ensure our customers have complete peace of mind with their production operations. Significant process improvements have resulted in enhanced reliability of products and industry-leading customer warranties for our customers. And our relentless focus on technology and IoT has resulted in digitized, compressed air systems that provide our customers with the tangible cost of ownership benefits. We're just getting started, and how!" 

For over 60 years, ELGi’s pioneering products and compressed air solutions have served various applications across industries ranging from manufacturing, food & beverage, construction, pharmaceuticals, and textiles in over 120+ countries. Powering a 400+ product-strong portfolio, ELGi’s state-of-the-art global manufacturing facilities, spanning three continents, are committed to carbon neutrality, water conservation, and circular waste management.

JLR To Invest £15bn Over Next Five Years In As Its Modern Luxury Electric First Future Accelerates

·       Investment of £15bn over five years in JLR’s industrial footprint, vehicle programmes, autonomous, AI and digital technologies and people skills

·       JLR’s Halewood plant in Merseyside, UK, to become an all-electric manufacturing facility

·       JLR’s Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, UK, to be renamed Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre

·       JLR reaffirms Reimagine strategy, with new House of Brands approach to accelerate delivery of modern luxury vision

·       Next generation medium-size SUV architecture to be pure-electric

·       Pre-order books to open for first all-electric Range Rover later this year

·       First of three reimagined modern luxury electric Jaguars will be a 4-door GT built in Solihull, UK

JLR has announced exciting plans to accelerate its transition to become the world’s leading modern luxury car manufacturer revealing its Halewood plant, in the UK, will become an all-electric production facility and its next generation medium-size SUV architecture, electrified modular architecture (EMA), will now be pure-electric.

In an update to global media at JLR’s centre in Gaydon, Chief Executive Adrian Mardell reaffirmed the business’s commitment to its Reimagine strategy, which will reposition the company as an electric-first, modern luxury carmaker by 2030, as JLR makes strides towards its financial goals of achieving a net cash positive position by FY25 and double-digit EBIT by 2026.

JLR CEO Adrian Mardell said: “Two years ago, we launched our Reimagine strategy and since then we have made great progress, including launching two new critically acclaimed modern luxury Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, joining the Defender family, for which there is record demand. We achieved this while navigating the headwinds of the pandemic and chip shortages, and successfully ramping up production of our most profitable models to deliver profit in Q3.

“Today I am proud to announce we are accelerating our electrification path, making one of our UK plants and our next-generation medium-size luxury SUV architecture fully electric. This investment enables us to deliver our modern luxury electric future, developing new skills, and reaffirming our commitment to be net zero carbon by 2039.”

Investing in next generation electric models

Announcing news of its next generation electrification roadmap, JLR confirmed it will start to invite applications for client orders for the modern luxury all-electric Range Rover from later this year. The first of its next generation medium-size modern luxury SUVs will be an all-electric model from the Range Rover family, launching in 2025 and built at Halewood in Merseyside, in a move that further affirms JLR’s commitment to the future of the UK car industry.

And while EMA will now be electric only, as the trend to electrification in certain markets increases, JLR will retain the flexible modular longitudinal architecture (MLA) on which Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are built offering internal combustion engine (ICE), HYBRID and battery electric vehicle (BEV) options. This gives JLR uncompromised flexibility to adapt its vehicle line up to meet the needs of different markets around the world, that are moving at different speeds towards net zero carbon targets.

House of Brands

As a next step within the Reimagine strategy, it was revealed JLR will move to a House of Brands approach, to amplify the unique character of each of its brands - Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar - and accelerate the delivery of the company’s vision, to become proud creators of the world’s most desirable modern luxury automotive brands for the most discerning clients.

Commenting on the House of Brands approach, JLR’s Chief Creative Officer, Professor Gerry McGovern OBE said: “Pivotal to our Reimagine strategy is the formation of the House of Brands, which is a natural evolution, with a purpose of elevating and amplifying the uniqueness of our characterful British marques. Our ultimate ambition is to build truly emotionally engaging experiences for our clients that, overtime, will build long-term high equity for our brands and long-term sustainability for JLR.”

JLR also announced that the first of three reimagined modern luxury Jaguars will be a 4-door GT built in Solihull in the West Midlands, UK. With power output more than any previous Jaguar, a range up to 700 kms (430 miles), and with indicative pricing from £100,000, new Jaguar will be built on its own unique architecture, named JEA. More details of the new 4-door GT Jaguar will be released later this year, before going on sale in selected markets in 2024, for client deliveries in 2025.

“We have radically reimagined Jaguar as a modern luxury brand. The key to Jaguar’s transformation is that the designs convey that they are a copy of nothing,” said Professor Gerry McGovern OBE.

JLR CEO Adrian Mardell said: “With Range Rover, the original luxury SUV, available for pre-order in pure electric form later this year, and the first of three breath-taking electric reimagined Jaguar models to be launched in 2025, we are stepping into an incredibly exciting new electric era for JLR as a modern luxury business.”

Investing in JLR’s UK industrial footprint

In addition to the news that its Halewood plant in Merseyside, UK, will become an all-electric production facility and its next generation medium-size SUV architecture, electrified modular architecture (EMA), will now be pure-electric. JLR also revealed its Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, UK, currently producing Ingenium internal combustion engines for its vehicles, will have an electric future producing electric drive units and battery packs for JLR’s next generation vehicles. It will be renamed the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre to reflect the move.

In positive news for the future of the historic Castle Bromwich site, JLR confirmed that its stamping facilities that prepare pressed body metalwork for JLR’s vehicles will be expanded to play a key role in the company’s electric future, by providing body work for next generation electric vehicles. JLR continues to explore options for other parts of the Castle Bromwich site.

ICICI Securities Reports Robust Performance In Q4FY23

ICICI Securities, a part of the ICICI Group and India’s leading wealth-tech firm, meeting complete financial lifecycle needs of its customers across investments, insurance and loan needs, today declared its financial and operational performance for the Financial and Quarter ending 31st March 2023 (FY23 and Q4FY22).

Despite a challenging external environment in Q4FY23, the company reported a 5% growth in Retail revenue to Rs 778 crore, against the corresponding quarter last year. Overall revenue fell 1% YoY to Rs 885 crore due to weakness in the Equity Capital Market (ECM).

Within the Retail business, Equities and Allied revenue for the quarter came in at Rs 492 crore, down 6% YoY, Distribution income was Rs193 crore, up 14% YoY, and Private Wealth Management (PWM) revenue was Rs 255 crore, up 1% YoY.

Profit After Tax (PAT) for the quarter stood at ? 263 crore, down 23% YoY. This was on account of increase in finance cost which was only partially passed on to the customers, and continued investments towards technology and other franchise value enhancing initiatives. During the quarter, the company recognized a one-time provision of ? 16 crores pertaining to margin penalties passed on to clients from October ‘21 to November ’22.

The company declared a final dividend of Rs 9.25/ share, taking the full year dividend to Rs 19/share.

The company continued to diversify its revenue base, thereby reducing dependance on cash broking, which by nature is cyclical. During the quarter, proportion of cash broking in overall revenue decreased to 20% from 50%+ few years back. Derivatives revenue now contribute 15%, Allied revenue 26%, and Distribution business 22% to the company’s overall revenue. All these are relatively less cyclical and market dependent.

In Q4FY23, the company strengthened its marketshare across several parameters. Retail cash equity market share improved from 10.0% to 11.0% YoY, and Retail derivative market share improved from 3.3% to 3.6% YoY on the back of initiatives like introduction of new age digital tools and brokerage plans targeted at derivatives traders. Commodity market share, where the company is a relatively new entrant, rose from 4.1% to 6.1% YoY. Mutual Find Market share in SIP flow at 3.1%.

During the quarter, the company added 3.7 lakh clients added during the quarter, taking its overall customer base past 90 lakh mark. As on 31st March 2023, total client assets on icicidirect.com stood at ~?5.9 Lakh crore, up 4% YoY, of which PWM AUM stood at ?3.2 Lakh crore, up 13% YoY.

Commenting on the results and financial performance, Mr. Vijay Chandok, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Securities said: With continued diversification taking root in the company’s business model, we are becoming more of a structural play on the India opportunity. As we look back and look ahead, we see that we are on track to achieve our stated aspiration. We strongly believe that the medium to long term story for the industry remains intact and we are well placed strategically to harness this opportunity by making relevant investments in key focus areas viz. F&O, distribution of loan and insurance products, and wealth management. 

For the full year, revenue stood at Rs 3,425 crore, flat as in FY22  and PAT was Rs 1,118 crore, down 19% YoY.

P. Rajendran- Joins Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate (SPRE) As Chief Sales And Marketing Officer (CSMO)

Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, the real estate arm of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr P. Rajendran as its Chief Sales and Marketing Officer (CSMO).  

In his new role, Rajendran will lead various aspects towards achieving complete customer satisfaction and co-create the company's strategic road map, fully aligning it with present and future customer needs. He will be responsible for enhancing customer-driven sales performance, developing new marketing strategies, and directing desired growth plans towards the success of the company. 

Rajendran brings over two decades of rich experience in real estate and consumer goods. He has served in leadership roles in renowned companies such as M/s Tata Value Homes Limited, M/s Tata Housing Development Company Limited, M/s Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, and M/s Eureka Forbes. He was also the founder of M/s North Star Realty. Before joining Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, he served as Chief Operating Officer at M/s Aliens Group.           

Speaking on the new development, Mr Venkatesh Gopalakrishnan, CEO of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, said, "We are pleased to welcome Rajendran to our senior leadership team. With his extensive experience in sales and marketing and proven track record, we are confident that he will play a key role in driving the growth of our business.” 

On joining, Mr P. Rajendran, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, added, "I am excited to join Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate and look forward to contributing to the brand’s success. With its strong reputation, impressive portfolio of projects, and commitment to quality, I believe that we can make a significant impact in the real estate industry. I am honoured to have the opportunity to work with such a talented and dedicated team, and I am confident that together we can achieve great things." 

Rajendran holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication from the Bhilai Institute of Technology and Master in Business Administration in Marketing from the Institute for Technology and Management (ITM), Mumbai.  

Rentokil Initial Hygiene India Accelerates Progress Towards The “Goal Of Sustainable Feminine hygiene”

~ Shaking off the menstrual taboos with ease 

Rentokil Initial Hygiene India (RIHI), formerly (Cannon Hygiene India), has been continuously working towards conducting “feminine hygiene awareness programs” all over India.  

The initiative “Empower Her” kicked-off in the beginning of the year and aims to be a year-long programme to dismantle the period stigma by educating young girls and women about menstruation, period products, health risks, basic hygiene practices, menstrual health, and proper disposal of used napkins.   Period management has become a topic of growing interest and the campaign encourages young girls and women to manage their menstruation safely and hygienically.  

As stated by Mr. Nishat Goyal, COO, Rentokil Initial Hygiene, “Women’s Day should not only be a single-day celebration. With women’s health and well-being in mind, our health experts are offering training in several locations to raise awareness about the need of maintaining feminine hygiene.  It is essential to ensure that women employees have access to basic workplace hygiene, and we must all work together to achieve gender equality. This is our small step in that direction, and we will continue to build on this for a healthier future.”  

Initial Hygiene India feminine hygiene solutions include the provision of ‘Sani Pro Green’ - a sustainable process to dispose of used sanitary napkins collected in the feminine hygiene units installed at workplaces. The recycling process is performed under LTTD (Low-temperature thermal decomposition) and would not have any hazardous effects on the environment or release any dangerous by-products. The entire process is completely environmentally friendly and is a big step towards the sustainability agenda that Rentokil Initial Hygiene is committed to across the globe. 

With sustainability and awareness at the heart of this mission, RIHI aims to continue creating awareness about feminine hygiene by reaching out to various segments and sectors to have maximum coverage in society for the betterment of women.  

ABFRL, GIZ Announces "Circularity Innovation Challenge 2023“ In Collaboration With CEE, GIZ Leverist To Transform Indian Textile Sector

* An opportunity to co-design and innovate a textile circularity project in supply chain 

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL), one of India’s leading fashion companies, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) announced the launch of the ‘Circularity Innovation Challenge 2023’. This initiative, in collaboration with Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and GIZ Leverist, aims to create a platform for innovators in the textile and apparel industry to develop innovative solutions. The challenge will feature eight categories and shortlisted/chosen innovators will have an opportunity to pilot their innovations.  

“We are thrilled to kickstart the ‘Circularity Innovation Challenge 2023’ in partnership with GIZ,” said Dr Naresh Tyagi, Chief Sustainability Officer, ABFRL. “At ABFRL we aim to collaborate, contribute, and co-create a new movement in the Indian textile sector. Our goal is to create a platform for innovators, to introduce sustainable and impactful solutions and raise awareness about textile circularity. This initiative will bring forth innovative solutions that can help minimize textile waste and promote the use of sustainable materials in the industry. We are happy to announce that the finalist will get a platform to co-design pilot projects with ABFRL, which will be integrated into our supply chain. Moreover the pilot project will give them a boost to test and scale their innovation in the larger textile and apparel market”.  

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) sees immense value in public-private partnerships as a measure to attain the sustainable development agenda. Their DeveloPPP program supports this joint project between GIZ India and ABFRL on circularity in India’s textile and apparel sector. Ms. Meghana Kshirsagar, Senior Advisor Climate Change and Circular Economy at GIZ India, emphasises that this innovation challenge is one of their many upcoming initiatives to bring stakeholders from the textile ecosystem on one platform – innovators, designers, students, brands and industry, MSMEs, incubators, think-tanks and decisionmakers – so we can together showcase successful examples of circular approaches for the sector through effective collaboration.  

Mr. Kartikeya Sarabhai, Director, Centre For Environment Education (CEE) says, "The textile industry is one of the largest sectors of our economy. The challenge is to achieve growth along with sustainability, through a circular economy model. The Innovation Challenge is meant to encourage and capture the creativity and innovations especially of our youth.  8 different categories have been identified in which participants can apply and it aims to introduce circular economy models at an industry level through the groundbreaking work of innovators. It's a great platform to collaborate, contribute and co-create." 

Participants in this challenge will have a chance to co-design pilot projects with ABFRL, focusing on circularity and sustainability in textile and apparel, and to integrate their innovations into the supply chains of textile companies. The best innovative ideas will be presented to a broad network of industry stakeholders for possible linkages and collaborations. 

ABFRL has collaborated with GIZ, to promote circular business practices in the Indian market. Implementing circular solutions in the textile and apparel linear value chain not only unlocks untapped commercial potential for existing stakeholders but also reduces the substantial carbon footprint of the industry. With GIZ’s support, ABFRL and other industry players can leverage circular business principles and implement technically superior and consumer-friendly procedures. 

Innovators/startups can fill their nominations under various categories listed on the website. Participants will have the opportunity to collaborate with other like-minded individuals and create a positive impact on the ecosystem.  

The Challenge is open for virtual applications until April 25th, 2023, on the Leverist platform.  

Click here to apply: https://app.leverist.de/en/opportunities/circularity-innovations-in-the-textiles-and-apparel-sector-in-india 

OMRON Healthcare India Enters The Home Heart Monitoring & Management Segment

* Collaborates with Tricog To Enable Remote Patient Management   

OMRON Healthcare India, the regional headquarter of the leading player in home healthcare monitoring segment - OMRON Healthcare Co. Ltd. in India, has announced its foray into remote home heart monitoring & management segment via collaboration with Tricog – the leading Heart Health AI company focused on early diagnosis and management of heart disease in the Indian market. 

The endeavour aims to further improve the country’s cardiovascular disease management ecosystem with the launch of TriCare, a remote patient management platform combining the synergies of OMRON’s connected monitoring devices and Tricog’s AI-based health data analytical capabilities.

Katsuyuki Yamamoto, Manager New Business & Marketing, OMRON Healthcare India with Dr Charit Bhograj, Founder and CEO, Tricog Health

Value proposition 

The collaboration aims to deliver technology that enables monitoring of heart conditions at home, and AI that enables timely interventions to focus on urgent & unmet needs that lead to excess mortality and morbidity. This includes scenarios of delayed detection of symptoms and diseases (for secondary healthcare level segment patients) that might cause cardiovascular events like heart failure amongst hypertensive patients. 

Cardiovascular Unmet Needs 

India has the second-highest deaths from Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) globally [1,2]. An estimated one in four adults in India has high blood pressure (Hypertension) [3], with only 22.5% of them with blood pressure under control [4], increasing their risk of Heart attacks or Myocardial Infarction (MI), Strokes or Cerebrovascular Accidents (CVA), Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and Heart Failure (HF).  

45% of people in India's 40-69 age group are at risk for Cardiovascular Disease, contributing to 27% of all deaths. 

The burden of Heart Failure in India is rapidly increasing, with an estimated prevalence of 1.3 to 4.6 million patients [5]. 1.8 million patients are hospitalised every year, with a 1-year mortality of nearly 40%. With less than 1% of these patients receiving optimal medical management, the need to manage these patients remotely has immense potential [6]. 

Regular measurement of symptoms, vital parameters and an ECG at home can prevent cardiovascular events however it is challenging owing to varied factors like shortage of ECG measurement devices at hospitals & clinics, irregular availability of cardiologists to interpret the clinical data and the need for more accurate & easy-to-use home monitoring devices. Recording ECGs at home is almost non-existent in the country; hypertensive patients are caught unaware when the situation worsens or worsens or an event happens.

Creating New Paradigms In Healthcare Delivery: 

TriCare Team educates the patients and caregivers on heart failure management and the use of the mobile application (OMRON Connect) connected to OMRON BP Monitors, weight and ECG devices. 

At home, the TriCare Team assists the patients virtually in recording their symptoms and vital signs measurement in addition to an ECG daily. 

Using Tricog's proprietary AI technology, the team monitors and analyses the data enabling remote diagnosis of life-threatening conditions and initiating actions to prevent complications before they occur while coordinating care with the hospital.

“Further to collaborating with varied AI based healthcare applications in the blood pressure & personal healthcare monitoring domain, this is another significant step taken by OMRON to expand its presence in the home heart monitoring & management segment. With right partners like Tricog on board, we are optimistic of making a huge difference to the Indian cardiovascular healthcare space as we believe that measuring ECG at home and keeping the cardiologists informed real-time can surely reduce the incidence of cerebrovascular disease events compared to traditional hospital-based ECG measurement. It will also generate immense medical-economic based social value for the nation in the long run via reduction in per capita lifetime healthcare costs by reducing the incidence of events,” says Katsuyuki Yamamoto, Manager New Business & Marketing, OMRON Healthcare India.

“50% of the 19 million deaths due to cardiovascular disease are preventable with early diagnosis and optimal management. With the launch of TriCare, our remote patient management platform, in collaboration with OMRON, for the very first time, we can put a virtual cardiologist in the home of every heart patient. OMRON brings decades of excellence in building world-class medical-grade devices that millions around the world trust. With our world-class AI that powers patient monitoring, the TriCare platform has the potential to impact millions of lives not just in India but around the world,” says Dr Charit Bhograj, Founder and CEO, Tricog Health.