Reliance is banking on JioMart to drive sales of new phone

Reliance Retail will also provide after-sales services, EMI and finance options for JioPhone Next.

The phone, which was to be launched on 10 September, is delayed due to the industry-wide, global semiconductor shortages. The phone will be launched ahead of Diwali, which is on 4 November

Listen to this article

Reliance Retail Ltd will tap the network of its online business JioMart Digital to drive sales of JioPhone Next, the 4G smartphone jointly made by Google and Reliance Jio.

The phone, which was to be launched on 10 September, has been delayed due to the global semiconductor shortage. The phone is expected to be launched ahead of Diwali, which falls on 4 November.

“JioMart Digital is an assistant sale platform which we are extending through the new commerce model to a lot of small digital retailers across India, lakhs of them who we want to bring on our distribution network," Dinesh Thapar, group chief financial officer, Reliance Retail said in an interview. “And through them, we will also make sure that JioPhone Next has the widest possible availability and reach, especially where the physical proximity and physical support makes a difference," Thapar said.

Reliance Retail is reaching out to hundreds of thousands of neighbourhood stores that sell mobile phones and local electronics, offering them an option to convert their stores to JioMart Digital.

These stores will also do catalogue sales for consumers who do not have access to the JioMart’s digital services or to Reliance Digital services.

Reliance Retail will also provide after-sales services and EMI and finance options for JioPhone Next.

During the second quarter of this fiscal, Reliance Retail witnessed double-digit growth across all key categories of consumer electronics, including phones, TVs and home appliances.

Reliancedigital.in extended its reach to over 2,000 cities, with 90% deliveries taking place from its stores in less than six hours, the company said in its second quarter earnings presentation to analysts.

JioPhone Next is a novel device featuring an optimized Android-based operating system. The device and the operating system will offer premium capabilities that have until now been associated with more powerful smartphones, including voice-first features that enable people to consume content and navigate the phone in their own language, and latest Android features.

PLI tweaks to push textile exports, $65b target realistic: CII-Kearney

"Reaching $100 billion in five years will be a very steep goal. Hence, India could emulate the best-in-class exports growth seen over the past 10 years (9-10% by Vietnam in 2011-2015) and target a realistic goal of $65 billion in five years," the report said, adding that India will be able to expand its share of global exports to 6.6% from 4.5%.

PLI tweaks to push textile exports, $65b target realistic: CII-KearneyIndia should target a "realistic" goal of $65 billion worth of textile exports in the next five years, industry body CII and global management consulting firm Kearney have said in a report, adding the government's aim of $100 billion of exports is a "very steep goal". The report also said India should ink trade pacts with the EU, the UK, Australia, Canada, Bangladesh and Vietnam. India exported textiles worth $36 billion in 2019.

The report, titled Creating a competitive advantage for India in the global textile and apparel industry, also suggested the government to tweak the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for technical textiles and manmade fibres, and expand it to fabric and garments made of natural products, saying the selected companies may struggle to reach the threshold investments set in the scheme.

"Reaching $100 billion in five years will be a very steep goal. Hence, India could emulate the best-in-class exports growth seen over the past 10 years (9-10% by Vietnam in 2011-2015) and target a realistic goal of $65 billion in five years," the report said, adding that India will be able to expand its share of global exports to 6.6% from 4.5%.

Expediting the implementation of key legislations such as the adoption of fixed-term employment across states, and policies to encourage indigenous textile machinery manufacturing in India, are the other suggestions made in the report.

PLI tweaks to push textile exports, $65b target realistic: CII-Kearney

This assumes significance as commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has called for developing 100 Indian textile machinery champions that are recognized across the world.

On the recently-approved Rs 10,683-crore PLI for manmade fibre (MMF) apparel and fabrics, and technical textiles, CII and Kearney suggested "select tweaks" though the "boldness" is reflected in the scheme design where a starting revenue of Rs 200 crore indicates steady-state revenue of around Rs 490 crore (after four more years), which indicates investment of about Rs 140 crore.

While this scheme allows manufacturers to start availing benefits any year (starting from the third year) in the seven-year window scheme, they said select garmenters may struggle to reach the Rs 200 crore threshold in the third year and therefore may not be able to avail the benefit offered for the entire five years but only for a curtailed period.

"Hence, as a refinement, the government may look to tweak this framework to ensure that the benefits are provided for the full duration to such garmenters. Based on feedback from initial implementation, the government must explore expanding this scheme to fabric and garments made of natural products as well to support overall fabric and apparel growth," CII and Kearney said.

Covid-19 has triggered the redistribution of global trade shares and a recalibration of sourcing patterns through "China plus one" sourcing, according to the report.

FTA, FDI

As per the report, India must renegotiate free-trade agreements (FTA) and preferential trade agreements (PTA) with key markets such as the EU, the UK, Australia, and Canada, and key fabric-exporting Asian markets such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.

This is crucial as exports declined 3% during 2015-19 and 18.7% in 2020 while other low-cost countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam have gained share.

In apparel, they have asked to create FTAs with large importers such as the EU, the UK, and other moderately-sized markets such as Australia, Canada and Japan. India should strive for lower duties in Indonesia, currently at 4% duty, in MMF as Jakarta gets about 42% of its imports from China at zero duty.

FSSAI should notify 'Front of Pack Labelling' regulations: Experts

At a webinar organised by Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group in association with Women's Christian College, Chennai, and later to the media, experts said that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) must notify the FoPL regulations at the earliest as the issue is of extremely serious nature.

Chennai: Intake of sugar and salt went down in some foreign countries after the introduction of Front of Pack Labelling (FoPL) on food products and India must also follow the same, said experts in health and consumer welfare.

At a webinar organised by Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group in association with Women's Christian College, Chennai, and later to the media, experts said that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) must notify the FoPL regulations at the earliest as the issue is of extremely serious nature.

"In countries like Canada, Chile, Israel, Uruguay, FoPL on food products have proved to be successful in reducing intake of sodium and sugar. Therefore, it is important for India to come out with the FoPL regulations soon. Clear warnings about the presence of high salt, sugar or fat in packed food would help consumers make informed choices," said Pradeep Agarwal, Associate Professor, AIIMS Rishikesh.

He said one major reason for the non-communicable diseases pandemic is the change in the dietary habits with processed foods that are high on salt, sugar or fat being consumed in sizeable quantities.

According to Saroja, Executive Director, CAG, unmonitored salt, sugar and fat intake poses a significant threat to health of millions of Indians.

"To warn consumers about the nutrients of concern, we are calling for FoPL like warning labels. These are messages that need to be conspicuously placed in packaged foods that will immediately warn consumers about the health risks of what they are about to consume," she said.

A.J. Hemamalini, Professor and Head, Department of Clinical Nutrition, Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, said, "Nutrient profiling is a scientific method of categorizing foods according to their nutritional composition and is developed with the main objective of reducing consumption of salt, fat and sugar."

The nutrition profile models (NPM) translate this into specific food and beverage targets and help us to identify foods that are high in salt, sugar, or fats, she added.

"Based on the "limits" established by the NPM, the front-of-pack label informs consumers in a clear manner whether a product contains excessive sugar, salt or fat, thus helping them make healthier choices," Hemamalini said.

Keventers on expansion drive; targets system turnover of Rs 700 cr by 2025-26

The vintage brand was revived in 2015 by three individuals Agastya Dalmia, Aman Arora and Sohrab Sitaram, having undergone changes in ownership in its history since it was founded in 1925 by Edward Keventer.

New Delhi: Milkshake major, Keventers is embarking on an expansion drive, including scaling up its ice cream business and adding new products as it targets a system turnover of Rs 700 crore by 2025-26, according to a senior company official. The vintage brand was revived in 2015 by three individuals Agastya Dalmia, Aman Arora and Sohrab Sitaram, having undergone changes in ownership in its history since it was founded in 1925 by Edward Keventer.

It has also earmarked capital expenditure of Rs 200 crore over the next 5 years.

The company has also partnered with sports nutrition brand Myprotein to create a 'Whey Protein in Keventers Coffee Flavour' to offer protein-rich coffee alternatives thus providing consumers the option to add a scoop of the whey protein to their smoothie or shake.

"In terms of growth plans, besides extensively growing the count of our current outlets, there will also be a significant push towards developing and scaling our "Ice Creamery" brand that will operate as a sister brand for the parent company," Keventers Co-Founder, Director and CMO Aman Arora told PTI.

He further said, ice cream has been the number one focus area for the company for the past five or six years.

At present the company has around 200 stores and plans to open another 40 in the next 4-6 months.

When asked about the growth outlook of the brand, he said this year Keventers is looking at close to Rs 100 crore in system turnover, which includes the company's franchise.

"Our forecast is approximately Rs 700 crore in system turnover by 2025-26 and approximately Rs 550 crore in company turnover," Arora said.

Elaborating on how the brand is looking to chart its future growth journey, he said since taking it over in 2015 the new management has been focussing on re-establishing and re-innovating Keventer with a push for increasing footprint across the country and outside.

"We are now looking at newer markets such as the D2C market which is direct to consumers on delivering through our website and aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato," he said.

Additionally, Arora said cloud kitchens will continue to play a major role in Keventers' new journey.

"We have already opened over 20 such kitchens and the model is such that it is easy to scale. D2C will also play a key role as we push forward and introduce newer product segments and foray into pre-packaged FMCG products," he added.

Expanding these products to other channels such as modern trade, general trade and institutional sales will be another logical extension, he said adding,"In terms of geographical expansion, foraying into key international markets is another key long-term strategy."

At present, Keventers has brand presence across India, Nepal, the UAE, Oman and Kenya.

When asked about investments, he said around Rs 200 crore in capital expense has been earmarked over the next 5 years, coupled with another Rs 50 crore on brand and channel extensions.

On the partnership with Myprotein, Arora said the aim is to reach out to an evolving consumer, who is not keen to sacrifice taste for healthier options and the special combination is a new addition to Keventers' menu and brings a part of a global shift to healthier alternatives for consumers.

 Pen in pain: Pen associations write to government over GST rate increase

Industry trackers say that the low cost pens have high price elasticity and slightest increase in the cost results in disproportionate reduction in sales.

Pen manufacturers have reached out to the government seeking a reduction in Goods and Services Tax as higher taxes have escalated costs and hit sales after the government recently clubbed all pens under the 18% GST bracket.

Earlier, only fountain pens and stylograph pens fell under the 18% GST category, while ball point pens were taxed at 12%.

Industry trackers say that the low cost pens have high price elasticity and slightest increase in the cost results in disproportionate reduction in sales.

“Pen industry has been badly hit during the pandemic and has not recovered as schools and offices are not yet fully operational. This additional tax burden will give further irreversible pain to the Indian manufacturers,” said Rajesh Rathod, President, Writing Instruments Manufacturing Organisation (India).

Two associations—Tamil Nadu Pen Manufacturers and Vidarbha Pen and Stationers Associations—have written to the finance ministry in this regard.

The government recently said that beginning October this year all pens will be taxed at 18%.

All pens including ballpoint pen, felt tip, other porous tip pens, markers, pen holders, pencil holder, similar holders including caps and clips now fall under 18%.

Tax experts say that the rate increase could also lead to litigation going ahead.

“While rate rationalisation and fixing the tax rate is a policy issue, the constitutional validity of the change of tax in the instant case cannot be ruled out due to various principles related to cooperative federalism and right to education in the constitution” said Abhishek A Rastogi, partner at Khaitan & Co, a law firm.

The government has been trying for rate rationalisation under GST, say industry trackers.

This means that from currently four GST rates the government hopes to move towards lesser tax brackets in a hope to reduce litigation.

Most of the litigation or confusion in the indirect tax ruling is mainly due to product categorisation and which tax bracket—5%, 12%, 18% or 28%-- the goods or service should fall under.

This exercise seems to have impacted the low end pen manufacturers.

“It is hoped that the GST council brings the rate on pens at par with pencils (12 percent) which will relieve the pain of both manufacturers and students,” said Rathod.

 Panasonic hopeful of robust festive sales, to invest Rs 300 crore under PLI scheme

"We have seen a growth of 18 per cent in June-September quarter 2021 versus last year and we expect to maintain this growth momentum throughout the season. We are hopeful that this festive season will bring in the much awaited festive cheer for the industry," Panasonic India Chairman and CEO, Manish Sharma said.

Panasonic India after a strong September quarter is hopeful of robust demand during the festive season with Covid infection remaining under control, a top company official said. The company was also planning to invest Rs 300 crore to manufacture compressors and heat exchangers under the country's production linked investment (PLI) scheme.

"We have seen a growth of 18 per cent in June-September quarter 2021 versus last year and we expect to maintain this growth momentum throughout the season. We are hopeful that this festive season will bring in the much awaited festive cheer for the industry," Panasonic India Chairman and CEO, Manish Sharma said.

"A shift in consumer behaviour from price consciousness towards quality and value proposition. We have expanded our home appliance segment, with the launch of 43 new models of refrigerator and 24 new models of washing machine to meet the rising demand, ahead of the festive season," he said.

Asked about supply chain disruptions, Sharma said in terms of inventory, the company has sufficient stock to cater to consumers throughout the festive season.

However, rising container prices due to the higher cost of inward freight in the last few months have resulted in a price increase of ACs and refrigerators by 4-5 per cent in July 2021.

Despite lots of noise and reports of growth of e-commerce in the past few months, offline continue to generate lion share of its sales and the company remains geared with robust omni channel strategy, he said.

"Although the online channel has grown, the offline channel continues to play an important role in sales," the company said.

Meanwhile, Sharma said, "To provide impetus to manufacturing in India, the PLI scheme is a progressive step that will help the industry achieve the government's vision of Make in India.

Panasonic has made an investment proposal of Rs 300 crore to manufacture compressors and heat exchangers.

Panasonic Life Solutions India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Panasonic Group has invested close to Rs 300 crore, in setting up the electrical equipment material and wiring device manufacturing facility at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh. The unit will be operational soon.

A matchbox to cost Rs 2 from Dec 1, price revision after 14 years

Manufacturers pointed out that most of the 14 raw materials used are much costlier now. Red phosphorus now comes at Rs 810 instead of Rs 425 and wax at Rs 80 instead of Rs 58. Prices of box boards, paper, splints, potassium chlorate and sulphur have also increased since October 10.

The price of a matchbox is set to double -- from Re 1 to Rs 2 -- from December 1 because of an increase in the cost of raw materials used.

Representatives of five major matchbox industry bodies met at Sivakasi and decided to increase the MRP of a matchbox, TOI reported.

The hike in price of a matchbox is after a gap of 14 years -- last time it was revised from 50 paise to Re 1 in 2007.

Manufacturers pointed out that most of the 14 raw materials used are much costlier now. Red phosphorus now comes at Rs 810 instead of Rs 425 and wax at Rs 80 instead of Rs 58. Prices of box boards, paper, splints, potassium chlorate and sulphur have also increased since October 10.

Apart from the above, the hike in fuel prices increased the cost of transportation forcing them to go for an increase in price.

Secretary of the National Small Matchbox Manufacturers’ Association VS Sethurathinam told TOI that manufacturers are selling a bundle of 600 matchboxes for Rs 270 to Rs 300. “We have decided to increase the selling price from our units by 60% to Rs 430-480 per bundle. This is excluding 12% GST and cost of transportation,” he said.

The industry directly or indirectly employs more than four lakh people in Tamil Nadu. It is also facing an instability in its labour forces as many of the workers preferred to work under the better paying MGNREGA scheme.

Amazon to now tell 3rd-party sellers which products will be popular

Amazon said it is testing the 'Product Opportunity Explorer' feature in a beta programme through the end of the year and will expand the tool to all sellers throughout 2022.

San Francisco: After facing criticism for allegedly copying popular products and manipulating search results to boost its own brands, especially in India, Amazon has now announced a new tool that will help third-party sellers with detailed insights into what customers are searching for, clicking on, and buying, as well as sales history, pricing trends and more.

Amazon said it is testing the 'Product Opportunity Explorer' feature in a beta programme through the end of the year and will expand the tool to all sellers throughout 2022.

"Identifying and launching new products is key to retail success, but it can be costly and time consuming. Amazon's new Product Opportunity Explorer tool helps take the guesswork out of identifying which products to launch by providing sellers with rich insights into what customers are searching for, clicking on, and buying, as well as not buying," the commerce giant said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The tool, announced during the 'Amazon Accelerate' event, helps sellers identify niches of emerging product opportunities by providing detailed data on search volume and growth, sales history, and pricing trends, so they can identify and act on customer demand.

"Amazon has a long track record of inventing for sellers, and our Product Opportunity Explorer tool is our latest innovation that provides them with insights to help them bring new products to market faster and more efficiently," said Ben Hartman, Vice President of North America Selling Partner Services at Amazon.

The new tool comes at a time when Amazon, as per a Reuters investigation, has been accused of using data from third-party sellers to determine products it would create.

The report reviewed "thousands of internal Amazon documents, that the US company's India operations ran a systematic campaign of creating knockoffs and manipulating search results to boost its own private brands in the country, one of the company's largest growth markets".

After the report came out, five members of a US congressional committee have told Amazon that it led them on the wrong road during a probe on business practices.

In a letter, addressed to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, the lawmakers asked Amazon to provide "exculpatory evidence" to corroborate the sworn testimony that several leaders, including then CEO, Jeff Bezos, provided to the antitrust subcommittee in 2019 and 2020.

Indiamart Q2 net profit rises 18% to Rs 82 crore

The company had registered a net profit of Rs 70 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

New Delhi: B2B e-commerce firm Indiamart Intermesh on Thursday posted an 18 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 82 crore in the second quarter ended September. The company had registered a net profit of Rs 70 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

"We are pleased with the visible recovery momentum across business leading to modest growth in revenue, customers and deferred revenue in this quarter. Our strong balance sheet and cash flows from operations give us the wherewithal to help businesses transform, adopt digitalization and grow themselves in these times," Indiamart Chief Executive Officer Dinesh Agarwal said in a statement.

The company's consolidated revenue from operations during the reported quarter grew 12 per cent to Rs 182 crore from Rs 163 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2020-21. 

India's textiles sector poised to achieve $100 billion exports: Jardosh

The government has already announced the MITRA (Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel) scheme to attract new investments and build mega textile parks in the country. Other significant initiatives include the launch of the PLI scheme to achieve manufacturing excellence and RoDTEP to enhance export competitiveness.

New Delhi: The Centre has set an ambitious target of achieving USD 100 billion from the country's textiles exports in the next five years, Minister of State for Textiles Darshana Jardosh said on Thursday. Addressing a CII event, the minister said, "The government has set a strong aspirational goal of achieving USD 100 billion from textiles exports in the next five years, and we will remain committed to ensuring the implementation of all development schemes and bring in many more schemes in pursuit of this aspiration", according to a statement by the chamber.

The government has already announced the MITRA (Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel) scheme to attract new investments and build mega textile parks in the country. Other significant initiatives include the launch of the PLI scheme to achieve manufacturing excellence and RoDTEP to enhance export competitiveness.

The minister was speaking at the inauguration of TEXCON.

Addressing the conference, Textiles Secretary Upendra Prasad Singh said the government is making all efforts to proactively address the challenges and facilitate the creation of an enabling environment for the growth and development of the textiles and apparel sector.

"We are capable to meet the domestic as well as the global market demands. I would like to urge the industry to take full advantage of the current global market shifts in establishing the excellence and prominence of India globally," he said.

Rebel Foods ties up with Foodpanda for expansion into Southeast Asia

Rebel Foods, as part of its Foodpanda deal, will take its home brands — Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Lunchbox, etc. — to Asian markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Mumbai: Rebel Foods, the cloud kitchen which recently turned unicorn, is expanding internationally through its partnership with food and grocery delivery platform Foodpanda.

Through this partnership, which began in December 2019 — for an initial five years — the two companies plan to take Rebel Foods’ homegrown brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Lunchbox and others to Southeast Asian markets. Their goal is to launch more than 10 online food brands in over 2,000 outlets across Asia.

A subsidiary of Delivery Hero, a food delivery company in Europe, Foodpanda operates in more than 400 cities across 12 markets in Asia.

The Rebel-Foodpanda partnership is modeled on a brands-as-a-service (BaaS) model which allows Foodpanda’s restaurant partners to plug-and-play Rebel Foods brands and earn additional revenue. In the first phase of the deal, Rebel Foods introduced four brands across six markets — Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines — through the Foodpanda network.

The cloud kitchen claims that Rebel Foods’ brands on the Foodpanda app grew 40% month-on-month on average in the past six months, and that more than 200 outlets across the six markets signed up to add these brands to their existing food and beverage (F&B) offerings.

“This Foodpanda-Rebel Foods partnership introduces a new digital-first F&B format in Asia. Foodpanda is always seeking new, innovative ways to change the way F&B businesses operate in a hyper-digitalised economy. We want to push our ecosystem further into the future,” said Pedram Assadi, COO, Foodpanda. “Most importantly, these virtual brands will give our restaurant partners, especially SMEs, new opportunities to earn additional revenue.”

In addition to introducing Rebel Foods’ brands to Foodpanda customers in Asia, the two companies have also worked together to co-develop new offerings under the food bowl brand Honest Bowl.

“Over the years, we have built some category-leading brands and a full stack operating system which integrates culinary expertise, efficient standard operating procedures and technological innovations,” Kallol Banerjee, cofounder of Rebel Foods, said in a statement.

Rebel Foods, which operates a network of cloud kitchens and online food brands, raised $175 million in a round led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund, earlier this month. The Series F round turned the company into a unicorn with a valuation of $1.4 billion. It is the 31st Indian startup to achieve the feat this year.

Aditya Birla Group to set up Rs 1,000 cr paint hub in Bengal

The ABG investment in paints is likely to be done through Grasim, whose board of directors earlier this year had approved a foray into the sector at a capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore over the next three years.

Kolkata: In good news for Bengal, the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) will invest Rs 1,000 crore in the state to set up a paint hub with the potential to generate over 600 direct and 1,500 indirect jobs.

The Kumar Mangalam Birla-led group, which recently entered the paint sector, had earlier written to CM Mamata Banerjee expressing interest in setting up a paint manufacturing unit in the state. Senior company officials — group executive president Sunil Bajaj and chief operating officer (new projects) Ajith Kumar K met — met chief secretary H K Dwivedi on Thursday.

The government in a statement said that the group had requested for land to set up its facility. “This would be a decorative paint unit with backward integration on 80 acres of land in Vidyasagar Industrial Park in Kharagpur. They would also set up ancillary units there. The project involves an investment of Rs 1,000 crore from ABG. The paint unit would provide jobs to 600 people and indirect employment for over 1,500 people. The plant would be commissioned in 18-24 months,” the statement stated. Incidentally, Kolkata was once called the paints capital of India with most major companies, including Berger Paints, ICI, Jenson & Nicholson and Shalimar Paints, having their headquarters in the city.

The ABG investment in paints is likely to be done through Grasim, whose board of directors earlier this year had approved a foray into the sector at a capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore over the next three years.

ABG chairman K M Birla had earlier said that foray into paints was a strategic portfolio choice for Grasim as it looks to identify new growth engines. Grasim’s strong balance sheet will facilitate this entry, which will add size, scale and diversity to its existing portfolio.

Amazon files another petition in SC against NCLT order on Future Retail

The latest petition is filed on a day when the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) had dismissed a January petition by Future Retail to exclude itself as a party to the ongoing arbitration process.

Amazon on Wednesday has filed another petition in the Supreme Court appealing the apex court to set aside a September order by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that had allowed Future Retail (FRL) to convene meetings of its shareholders and creditors seeking approval of its year-long proposal to sell its assets to Reliance Retail.

The latest petition is filed on a day when the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) had dismissed a January petition by FRL to exclude itself as a party to the ongoing arbitration process.

In the Thursday petition, Amazon had accused the NCLT's 28th September order of “being in violation” of 9th September order by the apex court that had directed statutory bodies such as the NCLT, Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to put on hold all proceedings regarding the Rs 25,000 crore proposed deal between Future Group and Reliance Retail. Now Amazon is seeking a stay on the NCLT order as well asking the apex court to restrain the proposed meetings of shareholders and creditors of FRL scheduled to be held on 10th and 11th of November for which the Indian retailer had issued notices on 11th October.

While allowing the application of the Kishore Biyani-owned group on 28th September, the division bench presided by Suchitra Kanuparthi and Chandra Bhan Singh had refused an oral application of the Amazon counsel to stay the operation of the order for one week.

In February, Amazon had approached the NCLT, objecting to Future Group's petition that sought the latter's approval to hold a shareholders' meeting.

“The advocates of the company are in receipt of an intimation from advocates of Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC that Amazon has filed an Interim Application in the SLP (Civil) Nos. 13556-13557 of 2021 filed by the company and pending before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” FRL told the stock exchanges in a late evening filing on Wednesday.

In another regulatory filing late on Wednesday, FRL also intimated the stock exchanges about the SIAC latest order that has held that FRL is a “proper party” to the ongoing dispute between Amazon and Future Coupons Pvt. Ltd., the promoter company that owns 9.8% of the BSE-listed FRL.

The Singapore arbitration stems from Future Group’s August 2020 announcement that it had agreed to sell its assets and business on a slump sale basis to Reliance Retail for about Rs 25,000 crore.

Amazon objected to the deal and two months later had approached SIAC for a stay on the deal citing a 2019 investment agreement in FCPL that the US e-commerce giant argued restrained FRL from selling its assets to a dozen of large Indian and global entities including Reliance.

 Paytm weighs scrapping pre-IPO sale plan on valuation differences

A final decision hasn’t been made and Paytm could still consider a pre-IPO sale potentially at a lower valuation. Regulators are expected to approve the listing in the coming days.

Mumbai: Paytm, the Indian digital payments pioneer backed by Jack Ma’s Ant Group, is considering scrapping the proposed Rs 2,000 crore share sale ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) over valuation differences, according to people familiar with the development.

The firm had been seeking a valuation of above $20 billion based on initial investor feedback, while advisers on the deal recommended a lower pricing, some of the people said, asking not to be named as the information is private. The company was last valued at $16 billion, according to unicorn tracker CB Insights.

Formally called One97 Communications Ltd, Paytm hopes to tap into strong investor demand fueled by easy liquidity that has buoyed India’s blockbuster listings this year. The company had reported a 10% drop in revenue during the year ended March 2021, after intensifying competition from Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart and Amazon.com Inc. cut its e-commerce and cloud sales by the same amount.

A final decision hasn’t been made and Paytm could still consider a pre-IPO sale potentially at a lower valuation, the people said. Regulators are expected to approve the listing in the coming days, some of the people said.

Representatives for the company didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Banks including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and ICICI Securities Ltd. are running the share sale. Paytm may consider a pre-IPO placement of as much as Rs 2,000 crore, it had said in the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on July 16.

Nykaa sets IPO launch date, seeks valuation of $7.4 billion

The Nykaa IPO will launch on October 28 to raise as much as Rs 5,200 crore at a valuation of $7.4 billion. It includes a primary issue worth as much as Rs 630 crore and an OFS of 43.11 million shares. The price band will be disclosed next week.

Nykaa, an online retailer of cosmetics and personal care products, will launch its three-day initial public offering (IPO) on October 28 to raise as much as Rs 5,200 crore, people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

"An anchor placement of up to Rs 2,340 crore will open on Wednesday (Oct. 27), and the IPO will close on Monday, November 1," one of the people cited above said.

The Rs 5,200-crore Nykaa IPO includes a primary issue of stock worth as much as Rs 630 crore, and an offer for sale wherein existing shareholders will offload up to 43.11 million shares, according to the company’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Investors who are likely to sell stake include TPG, Light House India Fund, JM Financial, Yogesh Agencies, Sunil Kant Munjal, Harindarpal Singh Banga, Narotam Sekhsaria and Mala Gaonkar. Promoter Sanjay Nayar Family Trust will sell 4.8 million shares. Founder Falguni Nayar and her family will continue to own a majority stake after the IPO. They currently hold more than 53% in FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent firm of Nykaa.

“The company is seeking a valuation of around $7.4 billion in the IPO,” said another person aware of the Nykaa IPO details. According to this person, the price band will be decided by early next week.

Kotak Mahindra Capital, BofA Securities, ICICI Securities, Citibank, Morgan Stanley and JM Financial are book-running lead managers of the issue.

Nykaa is among a few profitable etailers in India. It reported a net profit of Rs 61.96 crore in the fiscal ended March 31, compared to a net loss of Rs 16.34 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue grew 38% year-on-year to Rs 2,453 crore in FY21. The company had earlier said it would use Rs 130 crore from the IPO proceeds to repay its debt and Rs 200 crore to market its brands.

Mumbai: Nykaa, an online retailer of cosmetics and personal care products, will launch its three-day initial public offering (IPO) on October 28 to raise as much as Rs 5,200 crore, people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

SIAC rejects Future’s plea to allow RIL deal

Amazon claimed the investment gave it an indirect stake in the flagship Future Group company, which operates supermarket chain Big Bazaar, as FCPL owned around 10% stake in FRL.

SIAC rejects Future’s plea to allow RIL dealNew Delhi: In a double win for Amazon, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) has rejected Future Retail’s (FRL’s) plea to lift the interim stay on its Rs 24,700-crore asset sale to Reliance Retail, the retail arm of the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate Reliance Industries, said a person familiar with the development.

This follows the Singapore tribunal’s ruling to make FRL a party to the dispute, arising out of the agreement between Future Coupons (FCPL), an unlisted Future Group entity, and Amazon.

In addition, the US e-tailer has filed a petition in the Supreme Court, urging it to set aside a recent National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order, which had allowed the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group to convene a meeting of its shareholders and creditors for consolidation of its entities.

The meeting is scheduled to be held in the second week of November and is being seen as the first step in the proposed sale of Future Group’s retail, warehousing and logistics assets to Reliance Industries. Amazon, locked in a bitter legal battle with the Future Group, wants to block the deal.

FRL had originally approached SIAC with two pleas. It had contended that it was not party to the agreement signed between FCPL and Amazon in 2019, through which the e-tailer had pumped around Rs 1,400 crore into FCPL. Second, FRL urged SIAC to lift the interim stay on its deal to sell its assets to Reliance Retail.

Amazon claimed the investment gave it an indirect stake in the flagship Future Group company, which operates supermarket chain Big Bazaar, as FCPL owned around 10% stake in FRL.

The subsequent announcement of Future Group’s proposed asset sale to Reliance, however, saw the e-tailer dragging the Big Bazaar parent to SIAC in October last year, which granted Amazon an interim award over the Future-Reliance deal. Amazon alleged that the Future Group violated contractual agreements due to the proposed deal with Reliance.

A Future Group spokesperson and Amazon did not comment for this story.

Google in talks to back social commerce startup Meesho

 Google in talks to back social commerce startup Meesho

The investment is part of Meesho's recent financing round and values the Bengaluru-based company at $4.9 billion.

Meesho cofounders Sanjeev Barnwal (left) and Vidit Aatrey

Google is in talks to invest $50-$75 million in social commerce startup Meesho, multiple people in the know told ET, as the internet search giant continues to bet on promising Indian startups including hyperlocal delivery player Dunzo and InMobi's lock screen platform Glance.

The investment is part of Meesho's recent financing round and values the Bengaluru-based company at $4.9 billion.

In September, Meesho raised $570 million from US-based asset manager Fidelity and Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital. Google’s investment will take the round size to over $600 million.

ET was the first to report on September 24 that Meesho was in talks to close a new funding round which would onboard Fidelity and B Capital.

Google’s latest investment will take Meesho’s total financing to over $900 million so far this year, including $300 million that it raised from SoftBank Vision Fund II in April.

Google has made a slew of investments in India through Google Capital and most recently from its $10 billion India Digitization Fund which it announced in July last year. Its video sharing platform YouTube acquired video social commerce startup Simsim in July.

Meesho is expected to use the fresh capital to become a consumer-facing e-commerce entity that can compete effectively against dominant players Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart.

Founded in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Meesho began its journey as a reseller platform in the social commerce space, where its large base of women resellers sold products in the low-end, unbranded and long-tail ecommerce segment.

After SoftBank’s capital infusion, Meesho’s intentions to compete in the big league became clear and it has since then been aggressively spending on advertisements and reaching out to consumers directly.

India is on the cusp of a virtuous cycle, says Morgan Stanley

 Increasing capex ratios in India will lift employment prospects, boosting income and consumption growth to create a virtuous cycle, broking firm Morgan Stanley said. India’s capex to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is expected to rise by six percentage points between FY21 and FY26, it said in a report.

“A virtuous cycle, supported by strong capex and productivity, is taking off in India. Strong rates of growth, coupled with benign macro stability risks, set a positive backdrop for the ratio of corporate profits to GDP to rise. This cycle will be unlike the past decade and more like 2003-07," said the report dated 19 October. The broking firm expects India GDP growth to average 7% in FY23-26. It sees India entering a new profit cycle, which may result in earnings compounding at 20-25% per annum for the next four years. According to Morgan Stanley, the India story stands out now, not only from an absolute perspective, but also from a relative perspective, because of this rise in the ratio of corporate profit to GDP.

“With nascent signs of capex, supportive government policy for higher corporate profit share in GDP and a robust global growth outlook, India seems well placed to enter a new profit cycle. For an economy that is likely to grow at a nominal rate of 10-12% per annum, if the profit share in GDP hits 3.5% over the next five years, it gives us an annual compounded growth in earnings of 25% for the broad market," it said.

Morgan Stanley thinks that India’s economy is well-positioned and ready for a takeoff in this cycle, given the global macro backdrop as well as supportive policy reforms.

India’s growth momentum is just gathering pace again after the easing of restrictions from mid-June. High-frequency indicators are indicating a robust recovery, with all components reaccelerating in tandem.

In the September 2021 quarter, Morgan Stanley expect GDP growth to accelerate to 18.8%. From there, growth momentum will pick up, lifting India’s GDP to almost 6% above its pre-covid path by end-2022, it added.