All stories by SURAJEET DAS GUPTA
IPL 2023: The Rs 5,000 Crore Battle!
Rediff.com6 Mar 2023This season, the nature of the advertising game has changed dramatically with TV and digital rights going to different entities.
The Challenges Before Ola, Uber...
Rediff.com3 Mar 2023In many states, aggregators operate without a licence; in others, with the risk of the licence being revoked by any regional transport office on the slightest pretext.
Philanthropy by India's super rich falls by a third in FY22, says report
Rediff.com2 Mar 2023Philanthropic contributions made by India's ultra high networth individuals (net wealth of over Rs 1,000 crore), also known as UHNIs, have fallen sharply to Rs 4,230 crore in FY22, from Rs 11,821 crore the previous financial year, according to the India Philanthropy Report 2023 by Dasra and Bain & Co, which was released on Wednesday. The report says that the dramatic fall, almost by a third, was due to the fact that contributions by the Azim Premji Foundation dropped by Rs 9,000 crore due to a share buyback of Wipro, which helped the foundation to access liquidity directly. However, the report laments that even excluding the Premji Foundation's contribution, "Indian UHNI contribution has not kept pace with wealth creation" and is "below par, with a 5 per cent contraction in FY2022".
New bids likely for one vacant slot in advanced cell PLI
Rediff.com2 Mar 2023The government is considering the option of inviting fresh applications to bid for the fourth slot which fell vacant after one of the initial candidates who qualified, Hyundai Global Motors, exited from the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cell battery storage with a capacity of 20 GwH. Earlier, stakeholders had expected that the vacant slot would be offered to waitlisted players ranked on their technical and financial offer. A final decision will be taken soon.
Why GPT App Downloads Are A Concern
Rediff.com1 Mar 2023How many of the apps downloaded in India deliver the GPT technology they say they are?
Coming Soon: Cibil-Like Rating For Drivers
Rediff.com27 Feb 2023The plan is to offer the ratings of drivers to insurers, which can then customise their premiums -- a higher score meaning a lower premium, for instance, and vice-versa.
Vi plans to get back in the game but fundraising a challenge
Rediff.com7 Feb 2023Vodafone-Idea is working on a multi-pronged strategy to begin its long journey to get back in the game but much hinges on how much money it can raise following the government's decision to go for equity conversion last week. Based on discussions with sources aware of the company developments and with vendors, VIL's immediate plan is to invest in increasing 4G coverage to the level of its competitors. Currently, it covers a 1 billion population with 4G while its competitors cover 1.2 billion people.
Telcos bag 20 mn 5G customers in less than 4 months
Rediff.com2 Feb 2023Indian telcos have been able to garner over 20 million 5G customers in less than four months after the official launch of the service last October, according to industry estimates. With telecom operators like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel aggressively rolling out their 5G services in over 190 cities across the country to date, India is now only behind China and the US in terms of the number of cities in a country where 5G services have been extended. Top executives in telcos say that the number of 5G subscribers in India is a conservative estimate and that it will rise as the roll-out gains momentum.
Finance ministry looks to curb smuggling of top-end mobile phones
Rediff.com31 Jan 2023The finance ministry is looking at a reworked proposal from mobile device makers on how to fight the rampant and growing smuggling of very high end phones. The proposal suggests reducing the basic customs duty (BCD) on phones which have a CIF (cost, insurance and freight or price at landing in the port) value of over Rs 35,000-Rs 40,000. The retail value of these phones is upwards of Rs 70,000.
Indian Spending On Dating Apps Doubles
Rediff.com24 Jan 2023The growth in India's spending is far higher than the global average year-on-year increase of 12% for this category of apps in 2022.
Greaves Mobility joins e-scooter war with Primus prized below Rs 1 lakh
Rediff.com20 Jan 2023With its new premium Primus and Ampere NXG, it is targeting buyers seeking a faster and more stylish ride
Digital Competition Law Worries Big Tech
Rediff.com18 Jan 2023'The message is not clear whether we are wanted.' 'All this could adversely impact our strategy in India and also investments.'
TCS Evolving Tech For EVs, Self-Driving Cars
Rediff.com17 Jan 2023'While we have done a few thousand kilometres in India, most of the testing and data collection and analysis has been done in the US, Japan and Europe.'
Electric two-wheeler sales zoom past 550K this year
Rediff.com6 Jan 2023Electric two-wheelers have zipped past the half-a-million registration mark and achieved a market penetration of 4 per cent at the fag end of Calendar 2022, according to data released by VAHAN. According to VAHAN data for the year (until December 27), 560,000 two-wheelers were registered in the country, up a staggering fourfold over 2021, when only 136,000 were registered, and when electric vehicle penetration was a mere 1.05 per cent. The total number of two-wheelers (internal combustion engine, or ICE, and electric) registered so far in 2022 stands at 14.5 million, up only 12.7 per cent over the previous calendar year.
How Foxconn, Dixon are using the PLI route to boost manufacturing in India
Rediff.com3 Jan 2023They are both electronic manufacturing services (EMS) companies, also known as contract manufacturers. One is Taiwan's Foxconn group, the undisputed global number one in this business with revenues of $223 billion. The other is Dixon Technologies, the biggest domestic player with revenues of over Rs 10,500 crore.
VC funds reduce number of deals with start-ups by a 5th in 2022: Study
Rediff.com20 Dec 2022At least 14 of the top 20 venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds in India reduced new deals with start-ups by a fifth in 2022. The number fell from 572 in 2021 to 456 this year, according to data from Venture Intelligence. Sequoia Capital, a leader in investments, retained its top slot but its number of deals fell from 110 in 2021 to 70 this year.
40% of all vehicles sold will be electric by 2030
Rediff.com15 Dec 2022As much as 35 per cent to 40 per cent of all vehicles sold in the country across segments will be electric by 2030, up from a mere 2 per cent this year, says a Bain & Co report released today. This translates to 14-16 million new electric vehicles (EVs) selling in a year. The inflexion point, which is now being seen month on month in many segments (such as two-wheelers which hit around 4-5 per cent in December), will be more than visible in 2026, when 4-5 million EVs across segments are expected to be sold, accounting for 15-20 per cent of the total sales, says the report.
Nearly 100% of 2-wheeler market will shift to EVs in 3 yrs: Bhavish Agarwal
Rediff.com12 Dec 2022Ola Electric will roll out its complete offering of electric scooters and motorcycles in each segment of the market - premium, mass premium, and economical - in the next 12 months in a bid to push for a near-full conversion of the two-wheeler market to electric in three years. According to Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Ola Electric, "ICE (internal combustion engine) products will fall off a cliff." He also says the company is aiming to become profitable next year.
China Plus One: Low labour costs and growing workforce give India the edge
Rediff.com5 Dec 2022A combination of one of the lowest labour costs and a large surplus workforce, which will continue to grow until 2031, is one of the key competitive edges that India is leveraging to challenge its rivals in Southeast Asia in the race for a China-Plus-One strategy. Apart from India, the countries in the race to woo global companies that manufacture in China, as well as the supply chains to their country include Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. On the labour front, India is a clear winner.
E-scooter race: TVS, Bajaj all charged up, notch up 10K registrations
Rediff.com2 Dec 2022India's incumbent two-wheeler players, led by TVS Motors, are flexing their muscles, having crossed the registration of 10,000 electric two-wheelers for the first time in November this year, according to data from Vahan, the website of the ministry of road transport and highways. The two key incumbent players, TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto, now account for around 15 per cent share of registrations in the month of November. The number will only go up with Hero MotoCorp now joining the bandwagon with its Vida range of electric scooters.