At the outset, the National APMC would set up delivery centres in Rajasthan and Gujarat and the electronic platform for spot trading in agri commodities would be operationalised in later part of this year, a company release said.

"We will initially focus on these two states and later expand our presence to other states. We plan to reach out to all the 7,500 Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) across the country over the next one year," NMCE MD Kailash Gupta said.

It will provide the benefit and convenience of efficient price discovery and trading to producers and thus widening the scope of the market across the country.

22. New HDFC Standard Life policy

5 August, 2008

HDFC Standard Life has launched a new product called "Unit Linked Wealth Maximiser Plus". This is a single premium investment cum protection plan, with a minimum premium of Rs 1 lakh. The policyholder has the option to choose from five fund options - Money Plus Fund, Bond Opportunities Fund, Large-cap Fund, Mid-cap Fund, and Manager's Fund. HDFC Standard Life will offer regular loyalty units of 0.10 per cent every year as long as the policy is not surrendered. The accumulated value of the funds is received at the end of the policy term. In the event of unfortunate demise of the policyholder during the policy tenure, HDFC Standard Life will pay the greater of the Sum Assured (less all applicable withdrawals) and the total fund value to the family members of.

23. Fidelity Launches Its First Fixed Maturity Plan

18 August, 2008

Asset Management Company, the Indian arm of Fidelity International, today announced the launch of its first Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP), the Fidelity Fixed Maturity, Series 1 - Plan A with a duration of 370 days from the date of allotment of units. This scheme is a close-ended debt scheme with an objective to seek to generate reasonable returns and reduce interest rate volatility primarily through investment in money market and short term debt instruments with a maturity profile generally in line with the Plan’s duration. The performance of the Plan will be benchmarked against the CRISIL Short Term Bond Fund Index.

Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and Country Head – India, Fidelity International, said, “Fixed Maturity Plans provide investors with a good alternative to fixed deposits given that they are more tax efficient. This is especially so during volatile times when investors are likely to be more risk averse.”

The new fund offer opens for subscription on August 20, 2008 and will close for subscription on August 27, 2008. The fund offers both, retail and institutional plans. The minimum application amount for the retail plan is Rs. 5000 and under the institutional plan, it is Rs. 1crore. The fund would offer a redemption facility on the maturity date without the payment of any load. Redemptions before the maturity date will be subject to an exit load of 2%.

Fidelity Launches Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund

21 July, 2008

Fidelity International’s Indian asset management company announced the launch of its Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund, an open ended gilt scheme that aims to generate sovereign linked returns primarily through investments in securities issued by the Central / State Government or any security unconditionally guaranteed by the Central / State Government. The NFO for the fund will be open from July 23 – 31, 2008 and thereafter it will open for ongoing purchases and redemptions from August 8, 2008. Sameer Kulkarni is the fund manager of the Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund, which is benchmarked to the I Sec Composite Gilt Index.

Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and Country Head – India, Fidelity International, said: “At a time when investors have turned risk averse and credit concerns abound, gilt funds can fill a critical gap in asset allocation. By definition, government securities carry no credit risk and investing in them through a gilt fund also gives investors the added benefits of liquidity and tax efficiency as compared to RBI bonds, PPF or other similar products.”

Sameer Kulkarni, who is the fund manager for the Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund, said, “In the current tough economic environment, there is a possibility of deterioration in corporate credit quality. Government debt, on the other hand, comes with a sovereign guarantee and there is no risk to capital or interest payments. Moreover, as economic growth comes under pressure, the softening of interest rates has historically been used to act as a stimulus. Investments in high yield government securities have the potential to benefit from such a scenario.”

The Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund will offer Growth and Dividend options. The minimum initial investment is Rs. 5000. The Fund has no entry load, but an exit load of 0.50% will be applicable for redemptions within 6 months from the date of purchase, in case of purchase amount less than Rs. 50, 00, 000 applying First in First Out basis. A switch-out or a withdrawal under SWP or transfer under STP may also attract an exit load / CDSC like any redemption.

Investors can invest in the Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund even through the SIP route with a minimum amount of Rs. 500 per installment with the total of all installments not being less than Rs. 5000/- In addition, the systematic transfer and withdrawal plans are available as well.

24. Max New York Life Launches Insurance-Cum-Savings Product

25 July, 2008

Max New York Life Insurance on Thursday launched “Max Vijay”, an insurance-cum-savings product aimed at the underserved segment of society.

Announcing the launch, the company’s Chairman, Mr Analjit Singh, said “Max Vijay empowers millions of Indians, who may not be a part of the economic growth scenario that the country is witnessing today, to participate in this revolution and realise their dreams. The business model leverages innovation at every step — be it product design, technology, distribution or service delivery — to ensure a comprehensive offering for the common man.”

Max Vijay has been designed keeping in mind the lifestyle, income patterns and needs of the rural and semi-urban population. It empowers millions of Indians to benefit from the economic boom in financial services that was hitherto denied to them, company officials said.

The minimum premium payable under the product will be Rs 1,000 and the policy will not lapse as long as there is sufficient value in the account. The company has tied-up with IBM to provide end-to-end technology backbone for fulfilment. Apart from this, they will facilitate the handheld terminal, which enables data transfer to the back-end through GPRS and hence facilitates on-the-spot policy receipt.

Meanwhile, Mr Singh told newspersons that it would be business as usual for Max New York Life even though there are indications of the Government pushing for legislative changes to increase the sectoral cap on insurance from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. The company was not looking at a listing for the moment, he said, and added that the joint venture partners have committed to raise the paid-up capital from Rs 1,300 crore to about Rs 3,600 crore in the next two years.

25. LIC Launches Policy For Women

31 July, 2008

LIC has launched an insurance policy designed exclusively for women called Jeevan Bharati-I. The policy is essentially a money back policy with a term of 15 or 20 years. Besides critical illness and accident benefit riders, it offers a congenital-disability benefit rider, which ensures the payment of 50 per cent of the rider’s sum assured to the woman policy holder, in the event that she gives birth to a child with congenital disabilities.

This benefit is available on the birth of two such congenitally-disabled children during the term of the rider. At the time of maturity, the balance sum assured (after payment of survival benefits already availed) is payable along with reversionary bonuses and final additional bonuses (if any).

This policy is available to women in the age group of 18-55 years and the minimum sum assured is Rs 50,000.

26. Sahara MF Launches Banking & Financial Services Fund

29 July, 2008

Sahara Mutual Fund on Monday announced the launch of its new scheme "Sahara Banking & Financial Services Fund".

The scheme is an open-end sectoral growth fund with investment objective to generate long term capital appreciation through investment in equity and equity related securities of companies in the banking & financial services segments.

The new fund offer opens on July 28 and would close for initial subscription on August 26. During the period, the units of the scheme can be subscribed at Rs. 10 per unit (plus applicable load of 2.25 per cent). There is no exit load. The scheme is available in two options - growth and dividend respectively. The minimum application amount is Rs. 5,000.

The Scheme would predominantly invest in securities (equities or derivatives of equities or related instruments) that are included in the S & P CNX BANK Index while investing the balance in any other equities, derivatives or related instruments of companies engaged in the business of banking and financial services.

At least 75 per cent of the total assets will be invested in equity and equity related securities and a maximum 25 per cent of the total assets may be invested in debt and money market instruments.

"The Indian economy is well on its path to become one of the largest economies in the world. The investments in the real economy have been growing at fast pace. The sound banking and financial system of the country is proving to be a catalyst in generating the high GDP growth rate for India," said Naresh Kumar Garg, chief executive officer, Sahara Mutual Fund who believes, there is big potential in this sector.

Sahara Mutual Fund currently manages seven equity funds, six debt funds and a good number of fixed maturity plans.

27. Coke To Promote Brand New Kinley

23 July, 2008

Playing the pure and transparent card, Coca-Cola's Kinley brand of packaged drinking water is in repositioning mode.

In line with the brand's ongoing 'Boond Boond Mein Vishwas' tag, Coca-Cola will be launching a countrywide outdoor and TV campaign with an all-new packaging for Kinley. The curvy blue bottle relies on "transparent labelling and will be easy to hold", says Coca-Cola India marketing director Avinash Pant.

When asked whether the Kinley re-launch will eat into the market share of yet another Coca-Cola water brand, Bonaqua, Mr Pant declined comment with a cryptic, "Kinley continues to be our flagship brand".

In the whole repackaging/repositioning scheme of things, pricing has been left unchanged (Rs 13) in some territories like Delhi, but is pegged at Rs 15 in UP and other areas. When asked about the escalation, a Coca-Cola India spokesperson maintained that some bottlers have hiked prices owing to inflationary pressures.

The company's own Dasna-based Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages is one such bottler. The campaign hits the market on July 25, and, according to Mr Pant, has been designed to build trust along the product line. "The change in the shape of the bottle was a result of consumer feedback and we decided that convenience was the need of the hour," he says.

28. Now, UB Group Plans Kingfisher Himalayan Water Brand

22 July, 2008

Every drop counts. Water is going to become a full blown business for the group with the possibility of it even being spun off as a separate company in the future.

As the slugfest between Bisleri and the Tatas continues over the infringement of the ‘Himalayan’ trademark, the UB Group has decided to enter the category with its Kingfisher Himalaya Natural Mineral Water.

Having registered this name as its trademark the liquor major is now planning to unleash its natural mineral water sourced from the Himalayas.

“We intend launching our natural mineral water in the next few months and as long as it is sourced from the Himalayas we will be using the word Himalaya for our brand.

“Kingfisher Himalaya Natural water has already been registered as a brand and we will definitely go ahead and use it as long as the source for the mineral water is rightly mentioned,” said a senior UB group official.

In fact, water is going to become a key business for the UB Group as it has decided to treat it as a separate business and may even float a new company for the same.

“Water is no longer a surrogate product and after natural mineral water, we are looking at more categories such as enhanced water as water is going to become a full blown business for the group with the possibility of it even being spun off as a separate company in the future,” said the official.

Meanwhile, Bisleri International has approached the Intellectual Property Appellate Board in Chennai for rectification of the ‘Himalayan’ trademark.

“We are challenging the exclusivity of the Himalaya word as it is descriptive in nature and is an indication of the quality and nature of water as it is derived from a specific geographical location,” said Mr Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman, Bisleri International.

Bisleri International has been made to reduce its font size for the words ‘From the Himalayas’ in its communication for its Bisleri Mountain brand of ‘Himalayan’ water after Mt. Everest Mineral Water (a Tata Group Company) moved court against Bisleri for infringement of its trademark in terms of using the ‘Himalayan’ word in its brand name and packaging.

“If we succeed in winning this case, Himalaya will cease to be a trademark but just a word and this will lead to other players who have also entered this segment to use this word in their brands,” said Mr Chauhan. Currently, there are natural mineral water brands such as Catch, Hello, Paras, Qua and Natural which source their water from the geographical region of the Himalayas.

Meanwhile, Mr Pradeep Poddar, Managing Director & CEO, Mount Everest Mineral Water, said, “Though we have yet to go through the trademark rectification order, we are working towards.

29. CavinKare Forays Into South Indian Snacks Segment

31 July, 2008

Shampoos to foods company CavinKare Pvt Ltd is all set to launch a range of traditional South Indian snacks. To start with, it will introduce mixture, murukku (in variants including garlic), and plantain chips under the brand Chinni’s Cruncho.

“As this is the first ever range of branded South Indian snacks, we stand a good chance in the market,” says Mr C. K. Ranganathan, Chairman and Managing Director of the Rs 500-crore company. According to him, these products are to be sourced from a manufacturer in Coimbatore “to the company’s specifications, and packed hygienically”. The products will be initially rolled out in Tamil Nadu and then in other southern markets.

CavinKare is also set for a national roll out of its fruit drink brand Maa. In addition to doubling its current 1.2-crore litre facility at Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu, it is planning a greenfield facility near Hyderabad to manufacture fruit juices. “Both these would involve a capital expenditure of Rs 20 crore,” says Mr Ranganathan.

CavinKare acquired the company Maa Fruits Pvt Ltd early this year for a consideration of Rs 28 crore. Currently, Maa’s range includes four juices (mango, pineapple, apple and guava) and is present in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

“The brand, which has been popular mostly in rural areas, has now been visible across markets, thanks to our wide distribution network,” he said.

Personal care
In the personal care segment, the company has introduced a new shampoo variant – Chik Satin, which is being test marketed. According to the company’s marketing strategy, the new product is also available in sachets priced at Rs 1.50.

30. 'P' for Pepsi, 'P' For Padhai?

27 August, 2008

Beverage brand Pepsi is moving forward on the Youngistaan route. PepsiCo's relatively new brand ambassador, MS Dhoni, has made his second appearance for Pepsi in its new TV commercial. The cricketer’s story of not being good in his studies will find a number of takers, especially among the youth and children.

The film takes off with Dhoni getting hauled up by his teacher in college for not being up to the mark. He goes into introspective mode, musing that there is no life without 'padhai' (study). His field of study, he says out aloud, was cricket and he studied every detail of the game. As a cricketer, he studied the pitch and the minds of his team members, and as a batsman, he studied the minds of the bowlers.

Sreesanth waltzes in at that point and makes him confess that he hasn't been able to study the latter yet. Dhoni signs off saying, "Padhai chahe kuchch bhi ho, life main pyaas honi chahiye (Whatever your subject of study, there should be thirst in your life)."

Hari Krishnan, vice-president, JWT, Pepsi’s creative agency, says the concept of Youngistaan has seeded into the young souls of India. "Youngistaan is a philosophy, a way of life. In that context, the campaign has achieved its objective. This commercial takes it a step further. The youth are judged by what they do and society accepts a select few things as good career options. This film encourages the youth to do whatever they like with passion, stressing that education is not necessarily restricted to conventional studies."

In Dhoni’s first appearance for Pepsi, the Jharkhandi cricketer was made over as a South Indian, in typical Rajnikanth style. The ad was timed for the DLF Indian Premier League in April.

When asked which of the two brand ambassadors – Dhoni and actor Ranbir Kapoor – represents young India better, Krishnan says diplomatically, "Both are equally befitting as brand endorsers, but it would be difficult to judge between them because they belong to different platforms – Dhoni to cricket and Kapoor to entertainment. Dhoni is experienced in his arena, while Kapoor is still gearing up, but he is definitely getting there."

The TVC’s creative team included Soumitra Karnik, vice-president and executive creative director, and Surjo Dutt, associate vice-president and creative director, JWT Delhi. The film has been produced by Kersocene Films and directed by Rajesh Saathi.

Among the peer group, Thomas Xavier, chairman and national creative director, Orchard, analyses the ad in detail: "Now that schools and colleges have reopened, I think Pepsi has tried to create an ad to ride on what is top of mind for kids now – studies! As a strategy, I like this positive opportunism on the part of Pepsi. Picking Dhoni (and not Kapoor) is also apt because sports is definitely a more acceptable reason to flunk in one’s studies than acting.”

“I sort of like the script, but not the final commercial so much because the script just sticks out too much. By that I mean that whatever emotional impact one feels comes from the scripted words and not from the performances. That is the usual problem when we cast sport celebrities in speaking roles. They are too focussed on getting the lines right. The ad's creators could have avoided what has become a cliché – ribbing Sreesanth for his dancing,” explains Xavier.

His final take: “Finally, why is Pepsi just a prop? Where is it pushing the narrative forward? Why can't this be a film for Reebok with the product shots replaced? The line about 'pyaas' is just not enough. Overall, another average Pepsi ad. Anyway, I hate advertising which has celebrities giving you 'gyan' about life. Let me tell you what I want see for Pepsi. I want to see an ad that makes me THIRST for Pepsi!"

Sandipan Bhattacharyya, executive creative director, BBDO, believes that the ad delivers what it is supposed to, but is not among the brand’s most memorable ads.

"The celebrity layer makes the brand more mass and popular. This film resonates with the Youngistaan concept and is in continuation. The construct is not new – we have seen Dhoni in a similar situation in the 7Up Aur Main Bann Gaya Dhoni film in 2007 and in the Dhoni and Shah Rukh Khan Videocon TVC, which talked about embracing whatever role life offers you. The ad for Kaun Banega Crorepati 3 depicted Shah Rukh’s life. These ads have already used this construct – the same character in the same situation about not being good at a particular thing and opting for an alternative. As long there is no fatigue level, I guess it could work," says Bhattacharyya.

Sainath Saraban, executive creative director, Leo Burnett Delhi, agrees with Bhattacharyya. He says, "I've been observing the Youngistaan work since it began. Thankfully, this one is much better than the first few Youngistaan ads. There is a clear Youngistaan message here – about not sticking to conventions to get to where you want. The first few ads were just trying to be smart. This one seems to have purpose."

Saraban says further, "The good parts are Dhoni's performance. The bit about Sreesanth seems somewhat funny. But one thing that struck me was that the ad was very disjointed. There's no flow and the more I see it, the more I find parts where the story jumps. I found a lack of connection with the film. If you remember the Shah Rukh-John Abraham 'My Can' ads, they were quite nice and you kinda bonded with them. Overall, a piece of communication that seems to be headed in the right direction for Pepsi, but could have been better in its form."

Dhoni also endorses the snack brand of PepsiCo, Frito-Lay. Recently, he starred in a commercial with long-time brand ambassador, actor Saif Ali Khan. Apart from brands from the PepsiCo basket, Dhoni is also the brand ambassador for Dainik Bhaskar, Reebok, GE Money, Reliance Money, Parle Milk Shakti, Videocon, Big Bazaar, Godrej Sara Lee, Siyaram's, Orient PSPO, Sonata and Royal Stag.

31. Cost Cutting: Executives Opt For Mid-Priced Hotels

26 August, 2008

With corporates cutting down on expenses due to inflation, executives have no choice stay away from five star hotels while on tour. Mid-priced hotels are cashing in on the opportunity. Virgin Mobile is one of the few companies which has been on a cost cutting drive since April this year.

"As we are a start-up company having operations in a highly competitive field (mobile services), it became imperative to go in for a cost optimization drive," says Pravin Patree, head-facility , Virgin Mobile, India. He says the company issues 230 tickets every fortnight and employees mostly travel to metro cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune on work.

"Earlier, most executives stayed in five-star hotels but now people in the middle and junior management who are out of town for longer duration on projects mostly end up staying in nofrills hotels."

"We are witnessing some movement wherein guests who earlier prefered to stay in fivestar hotels are now opting for mid-priced ones," says Sandeep Gupta, executive director, Choice Hotels. While tarrif rates for top end chains are upwards of $300 for a night, the corresponding figures for mid-priced hotels range from $75 to $200 for a night.

Rahul Pandit, vice president, operations, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company, says, "The shift of deluxe hotel users has contributed an additional 10% occupancy premium to our hotels during the last quarter."

Pandit says that Lemon Tree properties across India have delivered 3% occupancy premium and double digit RPAR (revenue per available room) growth compared to last year. "This growth has also been buttressed by the value conscious business and conference traveller and we are delivering aggressive value for money packages to our retail clients."

Patree of Virgin says the switch over from five star to nofrill hotels has resulted in cost savings to the tune of 20%-25% on a month on month basis. "As most of them work long hours, they are keen on having a decent accomodation nearby and a sumptuous breakfast the next morning before heading out again."

While those mid-tier properties located in business zones are witnessing high occupancies, those located in leisure and religious destinations aren't far behind.

32. Hotels To Hike Tariffs From September By 50%

15 August, 2008

Come September and major hotels across cities like New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad will hike tariffs by 10-50%. Thanks to a steady tourist inflow, most hotels have decided to go ahead with a rate revision next month when their financial year begins.

According to government estimates, foreign tourist arrivals rose 7.4% in July over the last year. With domestic tourism also generating good business, industry feels that major hotels are trying to cash in on the supply-demand mismatch.

"Occupany rates have gone up since last September and is expected to continue this year.

The next couple of months would also witness an increase in leisure travellers," said Knight FrankIndia national director (hospitality and leisure) Shreenath Shastry. In most big cities the Oberoi Group usually takes the lead in tariff revisions.

The new rates at its Bangalore property may touch Rs 19,000-19,500. The hotel may go for another round of hike in October when the tourist season begins. The second and third-highest increase in percentage terms are The Oberoi in Delhi followed by ITC Delhi.

Tariffs for the Hyatt Group of Hotels are market-driven and hence not fixed. The hotel is, too, expected to go for a hike next month.

33. Demand Slowdown Hits Office Space Market

7 August, 2008

With companies, particularly in the IT and BPO industry, holding back their expansion plans due to slowdown fears, the commercial real estate market posted a lacklustre show in the second quarter of 2008.

The June quarter saw office space demand lagging far behind the supply levels of 18.07 million sq. ft. across major cities, as companies turned cautious.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, the demand in the quarter was at 9.74 million sq ft, dominated by absorption (where companies move-in or begin fit-outs) of 6.36 million sq ft, and only 3.38 million sq ft in fresh pre-commitments. “There are certain micro-markets like Noida (NCR), and Rajiv Gandhi Salai (Chennai), which recorded excess supply for this quarter thus increasing the overall vacancy rates,” it said.

The second quarter witnessed stable rental values across micro-markets in the major cities with some central business district (CBD) and off-CBD locations witnessing rental hikes of 3-5 per cent over the last quarter. Some peripheral locations in NCR (National Capital Region) and Chennai, however, saw a correction in rentals largely due to excessive supply as well as deferred development plans of various proposed projects.

exceptions

Pune was an exception to the stable rentals where all micro markets saw a rise in rental values in the range of 2-7 per cent over the last quarter. Malad in Mumbai recorded the highest quarter-on-quarter rental appreciation at 11 per cent, due to lack of supply of Grade A properties and with most of the new supply already pre-committed. Dalhousie (Kolkata) too witnessed high rental increase of 10 per cent, due to high demand and lack of redevelopment potential or fresh supply.

Against a demand of 1.97 million sq ft in Bangalore during the June quarter, the supply stood at 3.11 million sq ft; whereas in Chennai the demand stood at 1.55 million sq ft (supply at 3.80 million sq ft). Hyderabad saw a demand of 0.47 million sq ft (0.75 m sq ft of supply), even as Mumbai logged an office space demand of 1 million sq ft (4.09 million sq ft supply). In NCR, compared to a demand of 3.30 million sq ft, the supply was at 4.34 million sq ft.

“There has been a slowdown in the actual transactions witnessed in the second quarter of 2008 owing to a number of factors, primary amongst which is a general slowdown of economy. However, the economic fundamentals of India are strong and we should expect demand pick-up by the fourth quarter of the year,” said Mr Kaustuv Roy, Director, Tenant Strategies & Solutions, India, Cushman & Wakefield.

34. High Mall Rentals Haunt Retailers

3 August, 2008

The heat is on. If the downturn in the residential sector was not enough, real estate developers are now fighting a losing battle to retain their retail clients in malls. High rentals, coupled with low conversion ratio, have forced retailers to issue a red card warning to mall developers - "either reduce the rentals or we are on our way out." According to reports with SundayET, at least 20-25 retailers have asked their mall developers to look at other options for their survival.

"The dynamics of the mall segment have changed in the last few years, as there is an oversupply of retail space in the country. With a fall in footfalls, the retailers are finding it tough to drive in customers to their malls," explains Anuj Puri, chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM).

The year saw the opening of a few mega projects that had been awaited eagerly by retailers and industry alike. Some of these projects had been able to justify the expectations of the retailers and customers, but by and large, most of them have not been able to deliver on the promises of high conversion ratios and revenues. High rental rates have put tremendous pressure on the topline and bottomline of most retailers, who had aggressively expanded into multiple stores in the same catchments, banking on the high growth rate of the economy.

According to Mr Kishore Biyani, CEO of the Future Group, due to the above factors, the group has changed its retail strategy for malls. "We are now operating on a revenue-sharing model in the malls. Earlier, we had issues with real estate developers, but now things have been sorted out. Productivity is a key factor for any retailer to operate efficiently in a mall, in case of a leased deal," he said.

With most malls offering lease terms of six to nine years and retailers being locked in for two to three years, with high initial investments and rental costs, the operational break-even has been stretched to the lock-in period for most of them. This combined with high inflation rates and strong undercurrents of imminent correction in the rentals have made the expansion plans of most of the retailers quite conservative and limited in the next four to six months.

Says Rajneesh Mahajan, director (retail) of Cushman & Wakefield India: "Most retailers want to wait and watch rather than commit to seemingly inflated rental rates even if it is at the risk of further increase in the rentals due to high land and project costs. Overall, the demand for retail real estate continues to remain strong with the influx of many international retailers and growing urbanisation in the country. However, this is focused on premium high streets and promising developments."

Interestingly, even as there is an oversupply in most of the micro markets, the supply of desired quality is limited to a handful of projects only and this has led to differentiated rentals being commanded by projects in the same micro market. The malls are getting the footfalls in, but conversion is seen mainly for entertainment, F&B and value brands. There are a few exceptions that have been able to offer a more sustainable rental model to retailers along with buoyant footfalls and sales.

35. Tatas Rope In Tesco For Indian Retail Venture

13 August, 2008

UK's largest retailer Tesco and India's leading business House, The Tata Group, are signing up a partnership agreement to launch retail business in India. Tesco and the Tata's will sign a joint venture for cash and carry and a franchisee agreement for the front-end. A formal announcement is expected in a few hours.

This is the most viable option for foreign retailers wanting to enter India as Indian government does not allow foreign direct investment in direct-to-consumer retail that sells many brands and products. The government, however, allows 100 per cent FDI in cash and carry wholesale business and upto 51% FDI in single brand retaling. The world's largest retailer Wal-Mart has signed a similar agreement with India's largest telecom company Bharti for its new retail business.

Those who know the culture of both Tesco and Wal-Mart says that they complement each other. Both are conservative companies who tread cautiously. They wouldn't make gigantic plans which would be difficult to follow later. Both would take one step at a time, given the low consumer sentiments and still-high real estate prices. One of the reasons why Tesco fell out with the Bharti Group in the last minute - Bharti was Tesco's first choice - was the fact the two didn't agree on the milestones. While Tesco wanted to follow a more conservative approach, Bharti wanted a rapid expansion of retail. The latter signed on Wal-Mart subsequently.

Tesco, like Wal-Mart, is a world famous retailer of food and grocery with over 3,200 stores in 12 countries. It had been wanting to expand its operations worldwide. It just started retailing in the US under the Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market stores. It is yet to be determined if they will use the Tesco brand in India. India has been on its radar for long but resistance from anti-foreign and anti-large retail lobbies and the related campaign in India recently had dampened its spirits temporarily. With the Left parties now gone from the UPA coalition, foreign retailers are revising their plans.

Tesco PLC entered the United States through the development of a new convenience format, beginning on the West Coast in 2007.

The new format is designed for the American market, following extensive consumer research and modeled on Tesco's highly successful and innovative Express concept, which we now operate in five countries, with over 800 stores serving around eight million customers every week.

International growth forms a key element of Tesco's four part strategy and the business currently trades in 12 countries outside the UK, mainly in Asia and Central Europe. Over half of Tesco's selling space is now outside the UK. Entry into the US is a strategic move into another developed market, complementing Tesco's entry into the emerging Chinese market in July 2004.

36. Birla Plans Big Expansion Of Lifestyle Retail Chain

20 August, 2008

Kumar Mangalam Birla is putting his best foot forward almost 10 years after storming the fashion space with the acquisition of Madura Garments. In his most ambitious retail foray move, he is scripting India's high-street luxury retail play similar to Barneys or Harvey Nichols.

Madura Garments Lifestyle Retail Company, a 100% subsidiary of AV Birla Nuvo, is working on setting up 12-14 stores to meet the fashion needs of the urban Indian man. The new store chain - The Collective - will open doors in Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi initially.

The retail initiative will bring in some of the world's edge of the fashion, super-premium brands like 7 For All Mankind and True Religion to India for the first time. Then there is the enduring high-end names like Kenneth Cole, Ted Baker and Valentino entering the market through a distribution deal.

Going beyond apparel and accessories play, the company has roped in Paris-based Jean Claude Beguine to set up salon within the stores while Sonodea from the US will decide the music for the store. The retail chain is also enlisting the leading names on Saville Row for tailored suits, besides offering laundry and fabric-care services.

"There should be more than one reason to come to our stores," says The Collective CEO George Santacroce, who has in the past steered several international brands in the US market. Mr Birla's luxury foray is targeted at men in the 30-45 age bracket, with income ranging from $50,000 to $200,000. AV Birla Nuvo will invest around Rs 275 crore from internal accruals in the project over the next 3-4 years, adds company director Vikram Rao.

Mr Santacroce says the chain will essentially be a bridge between premium and luxury brands, with some degree of overlapping with luxury market. "There's a long list of brands entering India's pureplay luxury segment, and we leave that space to them," he adds. However, be sure to find the apparel pricing in the store in the range of Rs 4,000 to about Rs 1 lakh for a suit.

So the brand check list will include Armani Collezioni, Versace Collection, Z-Zegna, Cheap Monday, Rock & Republic and footwear and accessories brands like Puma Black, Mandarina Duck, Bally and Church's Footwear. It is believed that The Collective has inked agreements with 35 apparel and around 20 accessories brands.

"Accessories are the first acquisition in an emerging market as people change their bags, shoes and watches more readily," says Mr Santacroche.

37. Reliance Retail Ties Up With UK's Wincanton For Back-end Biz

15 August, 2008

After having signed up at least half-a-dozen partnerships for specialty formats, Reliance Retail is now entering into a joint venture with leading European supply chain specialist Wincanton for its food and grocery and hypermarket businesses.

The synergy would enable Reliance to efficiently run its critical back-end operations, which essentially include warehousing of goods and transporting them to stores on time.

The latest move by India's largest corporate house, which jumped on the retail bandwagon two years ago by promising to do everything on its own, seems to suggest that it now needs a partner for almost every retail initiative.

Industry observers believe that the company has expanded very fast and has managed to set up over 600 stores across various retail formats in less than two years, but its supply chain is in a mess. "How to get the right merchandise to the stores on time has been its biggest problem. You'd often not find the goods you want in Reliance's food and grocery outlets," said a source. 

Wincanton, the UK-based $4-billion supply chain solution provider, has been roped in precisely to tackle this problem. It is expected to completely take over the supply chain, find the right warehouses for goods and transport them in time and in the right quantity to Reliance Retail stores.

Supply chain solution providers, Wincanton, for example, have IT systems in place to update them with regular data on inventory level in stores.

So, even without a store manager calling up, the warehouse manager would know the stores' requirements. Wincanton serves several companies across industries, from FMCG to retail, automotive and oil. Its client list includes retail giants Tesco and Woolworths, auto companies Ford and DaimlerChrysler, and consumer goods firms P&G, Nestle, SAB Miller and GSK.

For Reliance, an alliance such as this means a major shift in its strategy. The season of alliances has begun at Reliance with specialty stores and is now fast extending to almost everything. Two years ago, when India's largest private telecom operator, the Bharti Group, announced a tie-up with the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, many thought it had got a headstart over other Indian corporate biggies foraying into retail.

But unlike Bharti, Reliance had decided to go solo. It made the ambitious announcement, not unusual from the house of the Ambanis, that Reliance Industries had earmarked Rs 25,000 crore for its retail business. Reliance had evaluated the options of partnering with a foreign retailer as well as buying out an existing Indian retailer, but had not found it very exciting.

True to its form, Reliance built scale fairly rapidly, spreading from one city to another. The growth was achieved through a team of professionals poached from existing Indian retailers, but the pace of execution dwarfed rivals' achievements.

Reliance, however, realised it needed to do a lot more on the back-end to continue the pace of expansion and return early profits, which its shareholders usually expect.

"It didn't take Reliance long to realise that retail was a different ballgame altogether. It's not just about some long-term government policy or certain business competency, which it's known to manage well. The variables in retail business are far too many. There could be a number of factors such as general economic downturn, terror scare, shorter wedding season, cricket season like an IPL or a political protest, which can affect store sales. You need to be able to manage that," said a source close to Reliance.

The company has entered into alliances with foreign companies for several specialty stores, including opticals (Pearle Europe), toys (Hamleys) and apparel (M&S).

In most cases, the foreign retailer has the majority stake. This model, however, can't be extended to front-end retail in food and grocery or hypermarkets as Indian laws don't allow FDI in multi-brand retail. But it could be done in the cash and carry segment or retail back-end, an area where Reliance is in urgent need of help.

38. Videocon’s Next Retail To Offer Brands Online

7 August, 2008

“We would be offering warranty across all products and brands and our branded after-sales services would be a new customer proposition.”

The Videocon Group-promoted Next Retail is planning to start an online venture for its consumer durables retailing business.

The company is in the process of working out a name for its online entity, which it would be launching along with a newly branded after-sales service under the name Blue.

Mr K.S. Raman, Director, Next Retail, told Business Line, “We would be targeting at least 18 per cent of our turnover from our online sales venture. In fact, today we would be the first consumer durable retailer to go online and intend launching our services within the next 60 days. Our online sales would be coupled with our after-sales services, which would also be offered online. By offering branded after-sales service under the Blue brand, we believe in being perceived as a trusted retailer.”

Service offer
Offering to sell all its consumer durable brands online, the Rs 1,500-crore Next Retail would take charge of demonstration, installation and even offer warranty for its products. “We would be offering warranty across all products and brands and our branded after-sales services would be a new customer proposition,” Mr Raman said.

However, logistics would be a key issue for the Videocon Group and there is a possibility of announcing a new joint venture company in the near future. Currently, there is a central delivery system to mitigate the cost factor in its retailing operations.

“We already have warehouses which supply to the outlets and from there it would be delivered to the customers. There is a logistics joint venture company being formed for our cash & carry operations under Bolld and depending on its performance we might consider extending the logistics functions to the online venture as well,” said Mr Raman.

The Videocon Group is on the threshold of announcing a three-way logistics joint venture with Mitsui and Hitachi. Mr Sunil Mehta, Vice-President (Sales & Marketing), Videocon Industries, added, “We would be announcing a three-party logistics joint venture which would be for our cash & carry operations. There is possibility of it being extended to the other retail verticals within the group.”

Mitsui and Hitachi already have their respective logistics verticals and currently the Videocon group is in the process of fine-tuning its new joint venture company. As Mr Mehta says, “We are still working on the micro details of the company which will be called 3PL, standing for third party logistics. It would be an independent company and its operations could be extended to any of the Videocon Group companies.”

39. Pantaloon’s Brand Factory Ropes In Planet M, Globus Into Retail Format

26 July, 2008

Pantaloon Retail’s fashion value retail format, which opened its seventh outlet in the country and the second in Bangalore on Thursday, expects to touch revenues of Rs 500 crore by June 2009.

Plans for the year include six more outlets by June 2009, according to Mr Rajesh Seth, Vice-President, Marketing, Central and Brand Factory, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. The company has budgeted investments of around Rs 6-10 crore a store, he said. Brand Factory will now offer products from Planet M, Globus, Staples and Dollar stores.

“We want to make this a lifestyle store and all out future Brand Factory outlets will be similarly designed,” Mr Seth said.

Spread across 55,000 sq ft of space, the new outlet offers over 200 brands at 20-50 per cent discount 365 days a year. Products offered are across various categories including apparel, footwear, eyewear, watches, home and kitchen accessories, travel and cell phones.

“This will be bigger and better than other Brand Factory stores, not only in terms of size, but also in our brand offerings,” said Mr Seth. Bangalore’s first Brand Factory outlet located at Marathahalli, the heartland of discount and value retail stores in the city, experiences footfalls of around 150,000 a month.

Value retailing in India, estimated at Rs 45,000 crore, is growing at 20 per cent every year. Brand Factory reported revenues of Rs 200 crore in June 2008, out of which Rs 60 crore came from the Bangalore store alone, Mr Seth told Business Line.

The average billing ticket size of a customer in Brand Factory is around Rs 1,500 and is expected to go up to Rs 1,700 in the new format, with the introduction of segments other than apparel and footwear.

About 80 per cent of the billing comes from the apparel sections, Mr Seth said.

40. Max To Open 27 Stores By ‘09

30 August, 2008

Dubai-based Landmark Group’s Max Retail plans to open 27 stores across India by March 2009 in tier I and II cities, said Mr Shekar C.S., Vice-President, Retail Operations. “Each store needs an initial investment of Rs 5 crore and we intend opening stores in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Indore and Bhopal,” he said. Each store will be of 8,500-10,000 sq ft in tier II cities and of 10,000-15,000 sq ft in tier I cities, he added. Most of the stores wi ll come up in malls as owning a good high street outlet is not viable at the high rentals, he said. The store focuses on apparel, besides offering footwear and home furnishings. Currently, Max has 15 operational stores.

41. Every Second Indian Will Go Mobile By 2012

31 August, 2008

With India now adding 8-10 million mobile subscribers every month, up to half the nation's population-or one in every two citizens-will own a mobile phone in India by the middle of 2012.

According to Business Monitor International, a renowned London-based research firm, 612 million mobile subscribers by 2012 will help India clock a mobile teledensity of roughly 51% by 2012. This scorching pace of growth is unlikely to falter unless the sector faces unforeseen policy disasters or if India's operators fail to roll out their networks.

International Telecom Union's (ITU) projections are in the same range.India is already the world's second largest mobile market, behind China's 500 plus million mobile subscriber base.

Increasing incomes, changing lifestyles and lower cost of technology are allowing more and more Indians to ride the telecom wave. The new numbers overtake earlier estimates, including from UBS, Citigroup and Credit Suisse, predicting a mobile population of 400-450 million by March 2010. Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers have been more even conservative, betting on a base of just 400 million by 2010.

However, India will reach this milestone in 2009 itself. India's mobile revolution has been a huge social leveler, with the growing number of users tying a diverse nation in a manner rarely seen before.

Its youth are expected to contribute significantly to these surging numbers. Sir Richard Branson, founder, Virgin Group, which tied up with Tata Teleservices to launch branded services in India recently said, "An exciting market, with over 215 million Indians aged 14-25 years. Over the next three years we expect to be adding 50 million new youth subscribers.''

While companies like Virgin are currently focused on the urban market, it is clear that the next set of growth will come from B and C category cities as well as rural India. Mobile penetration of this magnitude has the ability to revolutionalize long distance learning and health care quickly reaching some of the most far flung and difficult terrains.

Where mobile content is concerned most analysts agree that, largely on the back of India's popular film industry, music services will grow very quickly, even if other content related revenue lags behind.

Given that a reasonable part of the population by 2010 will be children below 14 and senior citizens, it seems mobile access among the youth and working classes will be more in the range of 70-80%. In policy terms, government needs to quickly turn its focus on redirecting funds for rural mobile access, manage spectrum efficiently and invite multi-billion dollar investments at a pan-India level to fuel this already scorching telecom growth.

42. Mobile Growth Hits New Peak; 9.22 M Wireless Users In July

26 August, 2008

Mobile subscriber base in the country is growing at such a fast pace that operators are breaking the record for net additions almost every second month.

In July, mobile operators, both GSM (global system for mobile communications) and CDMA (code division multiple access) together, added 9.22 million subscribers, which is the highest ever additions in a single month till now. The previous best was 8.94 million in June.

Airtel tops
Bharti Airtel with 2.69 million new subscribers was the biggest gainer during the month. Vodafone Essar added 1.7 million new subscribers while Reliance Communication got 1.5 million new CDMA subscribers. Both Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices added just over a million wireless users in July.

GSM operators own 218.9 million subscribers while CDMA players have nearly 77 million users. Reliance Communications with 45 million subscribers leads the CDMA operator’s pack.

More operators
India along with China is now among the top two countries that add maximum number of wireless subscribers every month. The growth in the wireless segment is expected to cross the 10 million per month mark as new operators start rolling out their services. Videocon, Unitech, Reliance and Tata Telservices have announced plans to launch GSM mobile services by the end of the year.

This should assist the Government in achieving its target of 500 million subscribers by 2010. In the wire line segment, the subscriber base has decreased further to 38.76 million as against 38.92 million subscribers in June as subscribers prefer to take a mobile connection. State owned telecom company BSNL, which owns most of the fixed line subscribers had announced a slew of initiatives including lower STD tariffs in a bid to arrest the slide in fixed line telephone subscriber base.

No fixed line revival seen
However, there are no signs of a revival though industry experts reckon that introduction of services like broadband and IPTV could improve the business case for fixed line telephony. With this the total number of telephones in the country reached 334.84 million of which wireless subscribers base stood at 296.08 million. Overall tele-density is now 29.08 per cent. According to the numbers released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Monday, the broadband subscriber base has reached 4.57 million with 19 lakh new subscribers in July. Broadband user base has almost doubled from 2.47 million in July 2007. Broadband usage is expected to get a major boost over the next year as operators start rolling out 3G and WiMax services. Introduction of Internet telephony is also expected to give a fillip to broadband growth in the country.

43. Bharti Airtel Crosses 75 Mn Subscriber Base

17 August, 2008

India's largest private telecom company Bharti Airtel said it has crossed the 75 million customer mark to become the fourth largest in-country mobile operator in the world.

Bharti Airtel is now behind China Mobile, China Unicom and American AT&T in terms of subscriber base, a company statement said.

The subscriber figure include customers from all business units of the company--mobile services, telemedia services and enterprises services-- the statement said. The mobile services devision has a customer base of 72.07 million as of July, 2008, it added.

The mobile business provides mobile and fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles.  

Commenting on the landmark Bharti Airtel CEO and Joint Managing Director Manoj Kohli said, "We are happy to have achieved this milestone of being the largest integrated telco in the country, in customer terms. For us, the benchmark of real leadership is customer delight and would like to thank all our customers for placing their faith in us."

The company had crossed the 60 million customer mark in February 2008 and the 50 million mark in October 2007, thereby becoming one of the fastest growing telecom companies in the world, the statement added.

China Mobile with 414.5 million customers as on June 2008 is at the No 1 position followed by China Unicom with 170.7 million subscriber base.

AT&T is marginally ahead of Bharti with a subscriber base of 72.9 million in June this year.

44. BSNL To Provide Zero-Rent Telephones For Rural Areas

30 July, 2008

In a bid to tap the rural market, state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Wednesday said it would provide rent-free basic telephones to customers in villages.

This scheme would commence from August 1 and would be made applicable only for those rural telephone exchanges that have the capacity of 1,000 phone lines, BSNL General Manager Hari Shankar Sharma said in Kota.

For STD facility, the consumer would have to deposit Rs 500 as security money, which would be refunded when the consumer disconnects from the facility.

45. RCOM launches GSM service in Delhi

3 August, 2008

Mobile telephony consumers may soon have a wider choice of operators, with the soft launch of GSM service by Anil Ambani group's RCOM in Delhi to become the first company in India to offer both CDMA and GSM services.

RCOM has been offering CDMA-based mobile service throughout the country and has recently been allowed by the Government to start GSM service simultaneously. The company has chosen the national capital to start its services under the dual technology licence.  

To begin with, the company has offered over 1,000 connections to its employees as part of soft launch and after review RCOM would soon offer services on commercial basis, sources close to the development said.

Asked whether services would be offered in other parts of the country too simultaneously, sources said the company has been rolling out networks in all circles on a war footing and as soon as the network is ready the services would start but no deadline has been fixed for this.

In fact the company would hire passive infrastructure from another group company Reliance Infratel which owns the tower business of the CDMA company.

RCOM has said the rollout of GSM services would help it target the fast-growing subscriber additions of 7 million subscribers every month and address the telecom requirements of the existing 172.

46. Idea Dials Into Mumbai

20 August, 2008

Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla (left), Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, and Mr Sanjeev Aga, Managing Director, Idea Cellular, at a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Armed with an investment plan of Rs 800 crore, Idea Cellular today became the fifth GSM operator to offer mobile telephony services in Mumbai. The Aditya Birla group company will offer mobile services on a cellular network that will have a capacity of handling up to 1.5 million subscribers.

As Mumbai is one of the country’s most lucrative telecom circles, Idea expects to garner 20 per cent of the new telecom subscribers here, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, said, at a news conference. “Our basic strategy in Mumbai will be to migrate dissatisfied customers of other networks to Idea. Which is why we are starting with one thousand cell sites, which is the largest ever in the world for a city launch,” said Mr Birla. The country’s sixth largest telco will manage to break even in Mumbai by four years, said Mr Birla.

Idea had got the DoT’s nod for starting services in Mumbai back in 2006. However, its plans kept getting delayed owing to the spectrum crunch in the country.

For its Mumbai operations alone, Idea is in the process of investing Rs 800 crore by the end of the current fiscal. It has already invested Rs 650 crore till date; this includes the Rs 203-crore payments towards licence fee, said Mr Himashu Kapania, Director-Operations, Idea Cellular.

Brand promotion
The company has also launched its data cards and GSM payphones in Mumbai. As part of its strategy to promote the Idea brand, it will roll out about 60 exclusive outlets in the city, according to its Chief Marketing Officer, Mr Pradeep Shrivastava.

The company will provide both pre-paid and post-paid mobile connections to its potential customers.

Idea will launch cellular services in Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Orissa in the next six months, said Mr Sanjeev Aga, Managing Director, Idea Cellular.

In Bihar, the company is expected to set up operations by coming November. Ericsson is the common network vendor for Idea Cellular in western India.

Reacting to the development, the Idea Cellular scrip hit an intra-day high of Rs 85.5, before settling at Rs 84.2, up 2.81 per cent on the BSE.

47. Shyam Tele Gets Spectrum For All-India Rollout

30 August, 2008

Mobile operator Shyam Telecom, in which Russian communications major Sistema holds a majority stake, has become the first of the new telecom players to get pan-India spectrum for launching mobile services. The company has been allotted radio frequencies on the CDMA technology platform. New GSM licensees such as Datacom, Unitech, Loop Telecom and Swan have been given start-up spectrum, but this has been largely restricted to the southern circles in the country.

ET has learnt that communications minister A Raja has already approved the allocation of spectrum to Shyam Telecom. Earlier this year, Shyam-Sistema had announced that the company would offer mobile services across India on the CDMA platform.

The company also bagged licences for 21 circles except Rajasthan, where it already offers services under the brand name Oasis. Shyam also becomes the third private pan-India player to offer services on the CDMA platform.

Sistema president Alexander Goncharuk recently told ET that the company would increase its stake in Shyam to 74 per cent over a period of time. Sistema has already invested about $500 million in India - it paid the Rs 1,651 crore licence fee for Shyam. Sistema also plans to finance its investments by utilising money under the Rupee-Rouble debt agreement between India and Russia.

48. Airtel Launches Virtual Campus

15 August, 2008

Telecom operator Airtel has announced the launch of ‘Airtel Mobile Campus’, a virtual place on the move. This feature helps converge Web, Wireless application protocol and SMS and gives a new dimension to mobile as a simple, convenient device for entertainment on the go.

Users will be able to upload and share photos and videos or blast an SMS to their circle of friends on Campus, express themselves through mini blogs, give shape to their aspirations with contests and applications or participate in discussions or forums on the campus. They also get night and weekend calls @ 25p, SMS @10p and earn rewards on the basis of the activities they engage in on Airtel Mobile Campus. The CEO, Bharti Airtel, Mobile Services, Andhra Pradesh, Mr T. Elango, in a statement said this innovative service give shape to aspirations of users through unique community engagement initiatives and communicate the way they want to, anytime anywhere. The venture promises to enable a segment of mobile users to stay in touch with their world at affordable cost.

49. Tata Indicom’s New Positioning Following An Emotional Approach

11 August, 2008

Tata Indicom has undergone a major repositioning exercise along with a new punchline ‘Suno Apne Dil Ki Awaaz (‘Listen to Your Heart’). As the company draws almost 85% of its market share from prepaid subscribers who reside in small towns, the repositioning has first addressed the core target group of prepaid users, the ambitious lot in smaller towns.

The advertisements starts with narrow lanes of a small town.”Ye narrow minded galiyan kahin to jaake khulengi.” Next shot of a girl waking up in the morning. Her room is full of her pictures with sports awards and medals.

She starts her run around the town passing farms and bridges on her way. Tries to outrun a train. “Ziddi armaanon ke koi speed limit nahi hoti.”

She receives a call on her Tata Indicom. Gets to know she's been selected for a game and has to go right away. “Tata Indicom.Taaki aap aur aapke sapno ke beech kuch bhi na aa sake aur aap sun sakein apne dil kee awaaz.”

The ad ends as she leaves for her journey. This ad will be followed by TVCs that will carry the budding sprinter’s success to city and making it big as an athlete, addressing the postpaid and VAS user concentrated in the metros.

The message delivered in this ad that Tata Indicom helps you listen to what the person on the other end is saying clearly, the emotional benefit is that it also allows for you to listen to your own inner voice.

50. Fullerton India, Hero Honda Signs MoU

30 July, 2008

Fullerton India Credit Co Ltd, one of the fastest-growing NBFCs, on Tuesday signed an MoU with Hero Honda Motors Ltd to offer consumer finance for buying two-wheelers at Honda dealerships.

"Our understanding of the small credit market in India and our international experience in the mass market segment will be beneficial in servicing the wide spread network of Hero Honda Motors. We see a lot of synergies in this tie-up. Hero Honda India's leading brand of two-wheelers targets customers in the same mass market as we do in urban, semi-urban and rural areas," said G S Sundararajan, managing director & CEO, Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd.

"Our tie-up with Fullerton India is timely as we are expanding our reach to newer markets in smaller towns, besides consolidating our positions in the traditional markets. Fullerton India is a unique financial partner with its focus only on the mass market segments in urban and semi-urban areas. It is primarily engaged in providing loans to the salaried and self-employed. It already enjoys a good equity with the customer base and has an enviable network of 800 branches across 380 centres. We hope their direct presence in each of our dealer locations will greatly enhance customer service, making it easy for our customers to buy our products. This will further strengthen our dealerships and help us garner a greater market share," said Ravi Sud, chief financial officer, Hero Honda Motors Ltd.

The tie-up will enable Fullerton India to offer Hero Honda customers access to its financial services at Hero Honda's extensive dealer network. Through this MoU, Fullerton India will set up its counter in each Hero Honda dealership to offer finance to Hero Honda customers. This will be like an extension counter of the local branch of Fullerton India.

Fullerton India is India's fastest growing retail financial services company, with a network of over 800 branches spread across over 380 locations in the country. Fullerton India offers unsecured loans for personal and business purposes, mortgage and 2-wheeler loans and also distributes third party general, automobile and life insurance products.

51. Mahindra To Enter Two-Wheeler Business

30 July, 2008

Mahindra & Mahindra, India's top utility vehicle and tractor maker, on Wednesday signalled its entry into the two-wheelers segment by agreeing to take an 80 per cent stake in a new firm that would buy the assets of Kinetic Motor Co.

Kinetic, which makes two-wheelers, will own 20 per cent of the joint-venture firm, Mahindra said in a statement. Kinetic assets would be bought for Rs 1.10 billion, it said.

52. Honda Unveils CBF Stunner In Pune

7 August, 2008

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd, the 100 per cent owned two-wheeler subsidiary of Honda Motor Company, on Wednesday launched CBF Stunner for the Pune market.

Talking to presspersons, Mr K. Rattan, Head, Sales and Marketing, said the company is estimating sales of about 80,000 units within the next seven months in the country. He noted that of this, about 30 per cent is expected to come from the western region.

Mr Rattan said the company is also looking at production capacity increase at its plant. He said the plant has two lines with a total production capacity of 12 lakh vehicles. The capacity could be increased to touch 15 lakh vehicles.

The increase in production capacity would depend on demand, the Honda official said, and it is estimated that the demand for motorcycles would be more.

Mr Rattan said the company is also increasing its dealer network in the country.

53. Bajaj Unveils Variants Of Discover Bike

29 July, 2008

Bajaj Auto Ltd has introduced the Discover 135 DTS-i in three versions, the top-of-the-line Sports, Electric Stat and Kick Start. The new bike’s main features include 135 cc DTS-i engine, racer breed tank mounted spoilers with integrated indicators, digital speedometer with tachometer and reserve fuel indicator, dual tone graphics, nitrox suspension and front disc brake (sports version). Mr S. Sridhar, CEO (two-wheeler), BAL, said, “The newly launched Discover will reinforce our position in the premium segment”. The range starts at Rs 45,710 (ex-showroom Pune), and is available in blue, black and red colours.

54. Ultra Motor Launches `Marathon'

31 July, 2008

Ultra Motor Company, a UK-based global electric vehicle company, launched its high-end range electric scooter `Marathon' in the city on Tuesday. Mr Deba Ghoshal, Director, Marketing Ultra Motor India, claimed that the vehicle would travel 100 km on a single charge and is priced at Rs 31,047 (ex-showroom Kochi). It is primarily targeted at people aged 24-plus.

55. Cosmetic Giants Run Into A Himalayan Challenge

1 August, 2008

A dozen women are busy plucking seabuckthorn berries in Leh-Ladakh and Kargil for supplying them to their local Nundum Cooperative Society (NCS). The society will further their produce to All-India Aromatic Plants Growers Association (AIAPGA).  

By supplying such special fruits with medicinal values, these women will earn Rs 85-90 per kg, higher than what they were getting earlier. "Our members have started earning more than 50% by growing such plants," says Mohammed Zaffar, president, NCS, which has 40 members. And the buck doesn't stop here. In fact, it starts from here. In a way, the hill people of India are coming together to take on foreign FMCG biggies such as Amway, K-Link, DXN and Tenzxi, who have been dominating the Indian cosmetics market, by launching a slew of herbal cosmetic products.

The 6,000-member-strong AIAPGA, including herbal society, will launch herbal products under its common brand across the country by next week through self-marketing. And it is confident of outdoing the foreign competition. "We will break them completely. Our prices are quite nominal than these biggies and high in quality," says AIAPGA president and Kangra Herb Society director Randhir Singh Guleria.

The growers are expected to get more than 40% margins on their produce once the mechanism falls in place. The association has got patent approval for launching 35 products initially, and a few more will join after approval. What's more, the Rs 300-crore industry is confident of touching the Rs 1,000-crore mark in the next five years with their in-house business model.

Until now, the Indian consumer didn't have the right choice of organised herbal-care products. "This will wipe out the existing cosmetic players and create a new market for us," says Mr Guleria.

Right from planting till the packaging, branding and marketing of the final product, the association has strategically built an in-house model for its members. This model will be more cost-effective than the one followed by foreign biggies, they claim. Interestingly, the growers will get returns as per their subscription period with the association.

That means the longer the period, the higher the margins. "Our 40-hectare land was a complete wastage as we didn't know how to utilise it. Now, we have decided to supply medicinal plants for two years," says Dharamshala-based grower Manish Mahajan.

A large number of growers come from regions like Leh, Kargil, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and areas covered under the Himalayan range.

56. Nivea To Enter Women’s Fairness Cream Market

13 August, 2008

Having successfully sold the promise of whiter skin to male consumers here, Germany’s Beiersdorf AG, which owns the Nivea skin cream brand, now plans to do the same with women in the 20-35 age group, hoping to win complexion-conscious customers in a country where almost 40% of the skin care market by value is made up of products that promise to make people fairer.

The range, to be marketed under the Nivea Visage Sparkling Glow brand line, will be plugged with the tag line “get fair, stay fair” in a commercial that will go on air shortly, depicting a young female protagonist in different settings such as a restaurant and a yoga class.

Sean Colaco, vice-president, creative services, TBWA/ India Pvt. Ltd, the agency that made the commercial, says the message is that Nivea Visage offers the unique proposition of long-lasting fairness. The products will include a face-wash, a toner, two day creams and a night cream priced between Rs109 and Rs329.

Nivea India Pvt. Ltd marketing head Soma Ghosh said pre-launch research revealed that consumers wanted a product that didn’t just help them get fair, but also helped them retain a fair complexion.

The launch will mark the company’s entry into the so-called mass-premium market occupied by Garnier and Ponds, Ghosh said, adding that the market is worth an annual Rs75 crore and expanding 20-25% annually.

Nivea’s line of fairness products targeted at men launched earlier this year has already garnered a 40% market share, Ghosh said. In April, the company had extended its portfolio with the launch of Nivea For Men Whitening Oil Control.

About 51% of skin care products sold in the country are plugged with the promise that their use would result in a fair complexion, according to the company. The appeal seems to be working, given the segment’s double-digit growth.

Nivea aims is to achieve 40% market awareness for the Visage Sparkling Glow brand line in the first nine months of launch among its target group.

The skin care market is worth an annual Rs2,500 crore, said Anand Shah, an analyst at Angel Broking Ltd. “Out of this, the fairness market is worth about Rs1,000 crore, and is dominated mainly by face creams,” he said.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd, or HUL, and Emami Ltd dominate the fairness products category characterized by “a whole lot of launches”, said Shah, adding that companies such as Elder Pharmaceuticals Ltd are also looking at the business.

He did not comment on Nivea’s market position because it is not a listed company.

Emami director Mohan Goenka said the market for fairness products is growing at 15% yearly. Emami was among the first companies to target men with the launch of its Fair and Handsome cream.

“The men’s fairness segment is lucrative and in our estimation is worth Rs200-300 crore,” said Goenka, noting that HUL, Shahnaz Ayurveda Pvt. Ltd and Paras Pharmaceuticals Ltd had followed Emami into the segment.

Goenka doesn’t think that Nivea has made its presence felt in the fairness market, estimating its share at as low as 0.5%. “Then again, they are priced much higher than both Emami and HUL fairness products and do not compete in the mass market,” he said. “In the fairness segment, you will find that majority of the market goes for lower-priced products.”

“About 40% of the market is buying fairness products priced at Rs5, and 30-35% are buying fairness products at Rs35. Between Rs5 and Rs35, you get nearly 70% of the market,’’ Goenka added.

57. Reebok India Set To Bring In Classics

18 August, 2008

Reebok India, in an effort to capture the fitness-inspired lifestyle clothing market, is bringing its global lifestyle brand 'Reebok Classics' to India. The company will set up separate stores for Classics, 75 outlets by March 2009.

Reebok India has built up a lifestyle-product portfolio for apparel, shoes and accessories. It has signed up style icon Bipasha Basu and youth icon Yuvraj Singh to represent the fusion of fitness and lifestyle through Reebok merchandise. To be rolled out in the menswear and womenswear segment, Classics will cater to niche market of style-and-fitness conscious youth in the country.

Reebok India MD Subhinder Singh Prem told ET: "The lifestyle space will be a focused business for Reebok. We see more people interested in wearing stylised sportswear, and hence we will be rolling out up to 70 specialty lifestyle retail outlet stores by this year-end, besides existing 700 Reebok performance stores." With the introduction of this new vertical, Reebok India expects to garner revenues of Rs 1,400-crore by this year-end. Reebok, currently, claims to enjoy 51% marketshare in the Indian sports-footwear and apparel market.

The global Classics collection to be launched in India will include lifestyle merchandise for dance, biking, NFL sports gear and street style. Besides these four ranges, the company will also launch designer products-a collection. under Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson name, jeans styled by cricketer MS Dhoni, Manish Arora collection, besides many other inspired by global sports like skating, et al.