All stories by Surajeet Das Gupta
Govt set to approve Micron Technology's $1-billion semiconductor plant
Rediff.com2 May 2023The government is close to approving a proposal by Micron Technology to set up an assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) facility in the country involving an investment of about $1 billion. The world's fifth largest semiconductor company, based in Idaho, USA, will use the facility to process some of its own wafers, manufactured across the globe.
Why Telcos Want Airlines To Replace Altimeters
Rediff.com2 May 2023'If the airlines are not given a clear deadline to change the altimeters by the DGCA, why should they do it voluntarily?' 'It means that the aircraft will be grounded for a while and lose money.'
Electric two-wheeler sales skid by a fourth
Rediff.com1 May 2023Stung by the government's punitive action on electric two-wheelers, registrations in April fell by nearly a fourth to 62,581 from 82,292 in March, according to data from VAHAN. Electric two-wheeler companies, including Okinawa, Hero Electric, Ather Energy, and TVS, have all clocked their lowest registrations in the four months of this calendar year. Ola Electric has been the only exception to this bloodbath, and has crossed its March numbers, hitting 21,560 registrations in April, which is its highest in this calendar year. As a result, there have been some interesting changes in the electric two-wheeler pecking order.
Electric 2-wheeler players take on heavy industries dept on FAME 2
Rediff.com28 Apr 2023Companies making electric two-wheelers, through their association Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), have taken on the Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), saying they did not get subsidies for even half the mandated 1 million units they manufactured. Subsidies are given under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles 2 (FAME II). In a petition to the parliamentary standing committee on industry energy and estimates, the SMEV said the department had done an "accounting error" by showing that it (the department) was close to achieving the mandated target by including sales of the EVs that were "not funded" under the scheme.
Like Uber, You Can Book A Drone Soon
Rediff.com25 Apr 2023E-commerce players may soon rent out drones, so you can use them the way you book a cab on an app, and test viable use-cases for last-mile delivery.
Has Apple's Roller-Coaster Ride In India Ended?
Rediff.com21 Apr 2023The new mantra was to align Apple's ambition with the government's, focusing on Modi's favourite themes of Make in India, employment generation and India as a high-tech export hub.
Govt may ask Apple CEO Tim Cook to make more iPhones in India
Rediff.com14 Apr 2023In the run-up to Apple CEO Tim Cook's visit to India, government officials are finalising the talk points with the Cupertino-headquartered tech major. Officials said that the government would like Apple to "deepen" the company's engagement in the manufacturing and assembly of iPhones in the country and not limit itself only to the minimum commitments made under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile devices. The conversations between the two sides are likely to focus on that.
Apple boost helps India double smartphone exports; shipments hit $11.1 bn
Rediff.com13 Apr 2023India doubled its exports of smartphones to $11.1 billion (about Rs 91,000 crore) in 2022-23 (FY23) over the previous year's figure of $5.48 billion (Rs 45,000 crore), thanks largely to the Apple juggernaut, according to data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA). Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said: "With the doubling of exports of smartphones to over Rs 90,000 crore, India is well on its way to becoming a leader in the global mobile device market." On the flip side, despite the government prodding Chinese companies to export more, their smartphone shipments fell steeply by 26 per cent from $214 million in FY22 to $157 million in FY23.
Is India Prepared For AI Adoption?
Rediff.com12 Apr 2023The impact of AI automation in India is the lowest.
'India has far exceeded our expectations in EVs'
Rediff.com1 Apr 2023'The Indian govt's initiatives on EVs are very strong and customers want to buy EVs. This will make the country's conversion to EVs faster than other markets, and I hope even faster than the US'
Chinese Companies May Need Majority Indian Partners To Set Up Plants
Rediff.com31 Mar 2023The government has asked industry to provide a list of Chinese suppliers that would like to shift some capacity to India provided they are willing to set up JVs with Indian companies.
What SoftBank leadership team visits mean for Indian investors
Rediff.com22 Mar 2023A top management leadership team from SoftBank has been coming to India in the last few days to meet the founders of start-ups and other investors, signalling the country's emergence as a pivotal market for the global investment giant. Based on current estimates, India accounts for nearly 10 per cent ($20 billion) of SoftBank's invested assets under management (AUM) globally. That makes the country its third largest market after the US and China.
'Foxconn is clearly bullish about India'
Rediff.com20 Mar 2023Foxconn means serious business in India. Its delegation to India was led by its Chairman Young Liu who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India's green targets depend on greater e-vehicle penetration
Rediff.com18 Mar 2023Unlike many countries in Europe and some key markets like Japan and South Korea, India does not have a vibrant hybrid (petrol and electric) car market in its quest to make a direct transition from ICE to electric.
In ChatGPT's shadow, India readies for aggressive AI play
Rediff.com11 Mar 2023The government has identified nine key focus areas in the AI national programme, including agriculture, education, Indian languages, smart cities, cybersecurity, transportation, and finance.
Non-metros snapping up electric scooters
Rediff.com8 Mar 2023If you thought electric scooters have caught the fancy of only people in the metros, think again. According to data from electric two-wheeler maker, Ather Energy, 54 per cent of its sales of scooters, starting from Rs 1.2 lakh, come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Based on sales per lakh population, the top five cities for the company are Calicut, followed by Kochi, Kolaphur, Trivandrum and Pune.
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.