Agriculture Ministry partners with Jio, ITC, and NCDEX to develop agritech

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September 15, 2021

On Tuesday, the Agriculture Ministry signed agreements with Reliance’s Jio Platforms, ITC, Cisco, NCDEX e-markets, and Ninjacart to develop agritech solutions based on the Agriculture Ministry’s National Farmers Database, which contains information on 5.5 crore farmers. Microsoft, Amazon, and Patanjali are just a few of the companies that signed agreements earlier this year for similar pilot projects.

This is part of an effort to modernise agriculture by infusing new technologies to help farmers increase their income, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said while signing the Memorandums of Understanding with the companies’ representatives. The Ministry previously stated that if the pilots are successful, they will be scaled up to a national level.

JioKrishi is a service offered by Reliance that enables creating a data-driven farmer ecosystem by analysing farmers’ specific soil conditions and irrigation requirements and connecting them to experts and educational videos. As part of its agreement with the Agriculture Ministry, it will pilot a primary intervention module in the Maharashtra districts of Jalna and Nashik.

ITC has proposed developing a customised ‘Site Specific Crop Advisory’ service through the use of digital crop monitoring hosted on its existing e-Choupal platform and complemented by an on-ground handholding ecosystem. According to the statement, the pilot will be implemented in identified villages in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore and Vidisha districts to support wheat crop operations.

Cisco, the world’s largest Internet infrastructure provider, has developed a platform that integrates data from the government, farmers, sensors, and satellites into a single dashboard, providing real-time updates on crop forecasting, weather patterns, plant disease patterns, soil quality, and moisture content. It will now conceptualise a ‘proof of concept’ for effective knowledge sharing between farmers, administration, academia, and industry in the Haryana district of Kaithal and the MP district of Morena.

NCDEX, the commodity exchange, has proposed a digital marketplace project that will provide farmers in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur, Karnataka’s Devanagere, and Maharashtra’s Nasik districts with market linkages, demand aggregation, financial linkages, and data sanitisation services.

Ninjacart, a fresh produce supply chain company with operations in 11 major cities, will develop a platform to connect all participants in post-harvest market linkages, aligning processes for multiple supply methods based on specific produce requirements. It will conduct ‘proof of concept’ projects in the MP towns of Chhindwara and Indore and the Gujarat town of Anand.

These pilot projects are part of the Digital Agriculture Mission and will make use of the National Farmers Database, which already contains information on 5.5 crore farmers identified through existing national programmes. The Centre has requested that States add their land records to the database in order to increase its size to eight crore farmers by the end of the year. Concerns about corporate access to such a database and the exclusion of tenant farmers have been raised by some activists. According to the Centre, it is developing a data policy for agriculture to ensure farmers’ personal data privacy shared with private organisations.

Zomato Co-Founder Gaurav Gupta resigns

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September 14, 2021

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Zomato’s Senior Executive, Gaurav Gupta has quit the company. The Co-founder of Zomato decided to leave just two months after the food delivery company raised 1.3 billion in an initial public offering.

Gaurav Gupta joined Zomato in the year 2015 and went on to take up the Chief Operating Officer position in 2018 and then as a co-founder in 2019. Gupta was the face of the company in the run-up to the IPO, leading discussions with investors and the media.

The resignation news was shared with the Zomato employees via an email on Tuesday, which Zomato then published in a blog post. Gupta said, “I am taking a new turn in my life and will be starting a new chapter, taking a lot from this defining chapter of my life—the last six years at Zomato. We have a great team now to take Zomato forward, and it’s time for me to take an alternate path in my journey. I am very emotional as I write this and don’t think any words can do justice to how I am feeling right now.”

Zomato’s CEO Deepinder Goyal wrote on microblogging platform Twitter confirming Gupta’s exit. Goyal wrote, “Thank you Gaurav Gupta—the last six years have been amazing and we have come very far. There’s so much of our journey still ahead of us, and I am thankful that we have a great team and leadership to carry us forward.”

Gupta’s exit comes days after Zomato ended its Grocery Delivery services.

Gupta’s ESOPs in the company was valued at Rs 197 crore and it wasn’t immediately clear if he got to liquidate any of it in the public event, as per the IPO documents.

Jungle Ventures raises $225 million to invest in India, Southeast Asia startups

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September 14, 2021

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In the first close of its 4^th fund, Jungle Ventures raised $225 million in order to fulfill the aim to replicate its successes in startups across Southeast Asia and India. The founding partner of the ventures Amit Anand said in an interview that many of its existing investors in previous funds backed the latest one. The investors include Temasek Holdings Pte, International Finance Corp. and German development finance institution DEG. The new fund has a planned size of $350 million.

Anand said, “We have coined two unicorns this year where we have been seed-to-IPO investors. We have built a franchise that will repeat quarter after quarter, and that separates us from the one-hit-wonder venture-capital providers.”

Jungle Ventures is a Singapore based company and has been an early-consistent backer of Kredivo, which became Indonesia’s largest consumer lending app, plus a business-to-business e-commerce platform Moglix. FinAccel, Kredivo’s parent, in August agreed to go public in the U.S. through a merger with a blank-check firm that values the combined entity at $2.5 billion.

Jungle Ventures also has some significant investors, including home-interior platform Livspace, beauty e-commerce operator Sociolla and Pomelo, a women’s fashion retailer in Southeast Asia.

ZEE’s top investor seeks EGM to remove CEO Punit Goenka

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September 14, 2021

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ZEE's top investor seeks EGM to remove CEO Punit Goenka — CREDIT: TWITTER

An Extraordinary General Meeting has been called by shareholders of Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund LLC, which owns 17.88% of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), to remove Punit Goenka as director of ZEEL. Goenka is the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the media company.

Punit Goenka is the son of the Essel Group founder and chairman Subhash Chandra and is the managing director and chief executive officer of ZEEL.

On the other hand, Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund LLC are Zee Entertainment’s (ZEE’s) largest shareholders. The meeting has been called not just to remove Goenka but also Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien as directors of the firm, the company mentioned in a regulatory filing on Monday (September 13).

Ashok Kurien partnered with media tycoon Subhash Chandra in order to set up ZEE. Manish Chokhani, on the other hand, is the director of investment company Enam Holdings.

The information about the removal meeting was confirmed and informed by ZEE to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) about the September 11 notice issued by Invesco on late Monday night.

The statement to the stock exchange mentioned the funds asked for the appointment of six independent directors, including Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, and Gaurav Mehta, on the board of Zee.

Subhash Chandra and his family own only 4% of the company due to a defaulting debt. In August 2021, Chandra said that only 8.8% of his overall debt remains to be settled, with 91% of the dues being paid in an open letter.

In Chandra’s words: “I am happy to report that we have come out of the financial stress situation by settling 91.2% of our total debt to 43 lenders in 110 accounts. 88.3% amount has been paid, while the remaining 2.9% is in the process of being paid. We are making all the required efforts to settle the remaining 8.8% of our total debt.”

Tamil Nadu government offers incentives to attract buyers of Ford Factory

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September 13, 2021

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Ford Motor Company had its way in the Indian Automobile market, but recently, Ford announced the closure of its Ford factory in Maraimalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu. This came as a shocker to the state and the country and especially the employees working for Ford, TN. To mitigate the pain that arose out of the closure of the Ford factory, the Tamil Nadu government has come forward with an offer.

The TN government is willing to offer the same financial benefits to any new investor in the asset as it would offer a manufacturing entity setting up a greenfield plant in TN. Having fiscal benefits, if the investment is substantial, the government will be willing to offer these benefits to whoever buys the Ford factory.

Not only this, but the government will also allow and fast-track all the necessary approvals to ease the process of sales and in an effort to bring a quick resolution to the issue.

The fact that the Maraimalainagar factory employs around 2,000 people, the government’s decision is to provide support to the sale process, and these employees will be a part of the people-plant package that will be offered to the buyer.

The fiscal benefits offered by the government of Tamil Nadu to micro, small and medium enterprises include:

A VAT subsidy for the first six years of production
The special capital subsidy of 15% on plant and machinery for thrust sector companies, including auto
20% subsidy on power consumption for first 36 months
50% rebate on stamp duty and registration charges
15% plant and machinery value as subsidy for thrust sectors like auto
3% of interest on term loans for technology up-gradation and modernization, among others.

Standard International to open new series of Hotels by 2022

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September 13, 2021

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Standard International to open new series of Hotels by 2022 — CREDIT : MakeMyTrip

The pandemic has been a sport spoiler for all businesses and has especially impacted the hospitality sector. The minor restaurants and the huge Hotels and Motels have been off track of their finances for the last 1.5 years.

Amidst this, the Chief Executive Officer of Standard International (parent company of the Standard Hotels) Amar Lalvani has positively stated that the hospitality business will come up soon.

Taking the challenge up, CEO Lalvani said that The Standard Hotels are opening its new line of Standard hotels worldwide.

The latest additions to the company’s growing portfolio, The Standard, Hua Hin, The Standard’s first resort in Thailand, will open on 1 December 2021. The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon, which is the brand’s highly anticipated Asia flagship, will open in 2022. Another addition to be opened in the year 2022 is The Standard, Ibiza.

The above mentioned new properties will be a start to a series of 10 additional landmark projects in highly coveted markets around the world, including Singapore, Melbourne, Lisbon, Dublin, Brussels and Las Vegas.

CEO Amar Lalvani said, “We are incredibly proud to announce the openings of The Standard, Hua Hin, which is set for December, our incredible Asia flagship, The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon, which will open next year, as well as our second property in Europe, The Standard, Ibiza.”

Adding in, Lalvani also said, “This has been a time of unprecedented crisis for the hospitality industry and the millions of people around the world who work in the sector. Amidst such challenges, we are incredibly grateful that we continue to be able to delight our guests, serve our communities and create new opportunities for our team members by building landmark hotels around the world.”

Fabindia plans to raise $1 billion via IPO

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September 13, 2021

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Fabindia, a company established in 1960 that sells handmade products made by rural artisans throughout the country, plans to raise some money via the Initial Public Offer route.

Recently, Fabindia Overseas Pvt. Ltd has hired five investment banks to help the ethnic wear retailer raise between $750 million and $1 billion, reported Livemint, to which two people familiar with the development said. The people requesting anonymity in relation to the matter said that the investment banks hired by Fabindia are ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, and Nomura.

The draft IPO documents are expected to be submitted by Fabindia with the markets regulator SEBI by November end.

Almost 38 companies have hit the IPO markets this year, which is the most in a decade. And more than ₹60,000 crores, according to data from stock exchanges.

As per reports, Fabindia is expected to seek a valuation of $2 billion and sell around 25-30% stake through the IPO. Fabindia’s existing shareholders – Azim Premji’s private equity fund PremjiInvest or Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini Nilekani, may sell partial stakes in the company.

Fabindia sources its products from rural areas of the country, which helps provide and sustain rural employment in India.

Zomato to shut Grocery services from September 17

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September 13, 2021

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Zomato has been a loved Food Delivery service throughout the country despite having quite some competitors. It is a concept that has been proven to be hit in all aspects.

Zomato recently began its Grocery services in the month of July this year. And now, the Food Delivery service has decided to shut the grocery delivery services due to gaps in order fulfilment and the traction 15-minute grocery delivery has been getting in the recent past.

The announcement came on Saturday when Zomato wrote an email to its grocery store partners.

A Zomato spokesperson said, “We have decided to shut down our grocery pilot, and as of now, we have no plans to run any other form of grocery delivery on our platform. Grofers has found a high-quality product-market fit in 10-minute grocery, and we believe our investment in the company will generate better outcomes for our shareholders than our in-house grocery effort.”

In the mail, Zomato mentioned that the company believed in delivering the best services to its customers and the largest growth opportunities to their merchant partners. It also said that the current model run by Zomato did not fulfill their aims and wasn’t their best way to deliver services.

Zomato then made it clear that the company wanted to pull down its pilot grocery delivery service from September 17, 2021.

Adding in, the company also said in its mail that the store catalogues were dynamic and inventory levels kept changing which made it difficult for Zomato to provide a satisfying customer experience.

An acceptance statement from a Zomato spokesperson came in that said the company wanted to close its delivery services and does not plan to run any other form of grocery delivery on its platform.

Grofers, on the other hand, is a grocery delivery service in which Zomato has its stakes, and it promises delivery in 10 minutes. Seeing this equation, Zomato said that it believes that its investment in the company will help generate better outcomes for the shareholders. Zomato has said to have invested $100 million in Grofers, which is around Rs 735 crores.

Insurance companies are being urged to launch cyber risk coverage immediately

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BRL Editor

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September 11, 2021

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Due to the increased risk of cyber-attacks, the insurance regulator has requested that non-life companies immediately launch individual cyber risk coverage and expand the scope of their existing cyber risk policies. Additionally, the regulator recommended that insurers obtain a first information report for losses under Rs. 5000 and resolve them via an e-complaint filed with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India ( IRDAI ) has released a product structure for cyber insurance based on the recommendations of a working group established to standardise cyber liability insurance wording. Given the evolving nature of legislation, the working group determined that a standardised product is not desirable. However, the group has published a model policy wording for personal cyber insurance.

The regulator has urged companies to introduce cyber risk coverage for individuals as soon as possible, noting that while insurance companies have historically focused on businesses, individual customers are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

“An individual’s exposure to cyber risks is increasing with increase in exposure to the digital world. Considering the need for cyber insurance for individuals, IRDAI has charted out some salient features, coverage, and suggestions in its guidance document on product structure for cyber insurance, which insurers can look to adopt,” said TA Ramalingam, chief technical officer, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. He added that his company was the first to offer individual cyber insurance.

IRDAI wants insurers to be more specific in their language regarding negligence exclusions. According to IRDAI, negligence is only an exclusion if the loss directly results from the negligence.

IndiGo aims to reach full capacity on domestic flights by December and is seeking funding

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September 10, 2021

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IndiGo intends to operate domestic flights at full capacity and approximately two-thirds of its international flights at full capacity as the COVID-19 pandemic situation improves and more people travel.

The CEO of the low-cost carrier, Ronojoy Dutta, stated that “things are improving slowly,” adding that it was “hard not to be bullish as traffic is going up.” In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Dutta also stated that IndiGo’s load factor is currently around 70% and yields are expected to increase in the coming months. He noted that while the company’s current cash position was “pretty good,” it desired to raise funds as a hedge against a possible third COVID wave.

The airline, which operated 277 aircraft as of the end of June 2021, posted a net loss of Rs 2,844 crore in the year-ago period. The airline said in a statement that its consolidated total income increased by 177.2 percent to Rs 3,170 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

In the first quarter of the previous fiscal year, the total revenue was Rs 1,143 crore.

Total expenses for the airline increased by 59.2 percent to Rs 6,344 crore in Q1 2021-22, up from Rs 3,986 crore previously. India’s aviation revival may be fleeting, as analysts anticipate that a new COVID wave will peak in October. International flights have been suspended until September 30 and domestic passenger capacity has been reduced to 72.5 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

IndiGo, which InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. owns, reported a net loss of Rs 3,174 crore for the three months ended June, owing largely to a sharp decline in revenue during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

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