Innholdsfortegnelse for 20-Oct-19 i Business Today

THE PREOCCUPATIONS and sensibilities of the super rich and the merely wealthy shape trends in the luxury market. It is tempting to think that purveyors of luxury have an easy life – after all, it is a largely recession-proof market because the number of wealthy people is going up, whether the economy is doing well or badly – but in reality, they have to be acutely conscious of the shifting tastes of their customers. Many luxury brands have fallen, because they have failed to anticipate the sudden changes in tastes of the clientele. While the latter statement is true for all products (and services), it is especially true in case of the luxury market. That is because their clientele can afford anything that money can buy and also have a…

AFTER NEARLY A month of uncertainty over a GST cut for cars, which ultimately came to naught, the domestic automobile industry is in a dilemma on whether it can or should pass on part of the benefit of reduced corporate taxes to consumers as heavier discounts. In the midst of a prolonged slump in demand, high inventory coupled with the need to liquidate all BS IV vehicles before March 31, 2020, the temptation to reduce prices ahead of the festive season is high. But clarity on whether there is ground for this is not there. Companies with a significant commercial vehicle portfolio like Mahindra and Tata already pay less taxes – 24.17 and 15.77 per cent, respectively – than the reduced rate of 25.17 per cent announced by Finance Minister…

THE 178-YEAR-OLD, UK-based travel and airline company Thomas Cook went bankrupt leaving hundreds of travellers stranded. Thomas Cook India, which is not related to the UK entity any longer, is feeling the heat of this event with questions being raised over the Indian company’s stability and existence. Its management has come out and clarified that after the entire stake sale to Fairfax group in 2012, UK Thomas Cook ceased to have any connection with the Indian company, however the original agreement entails that they use the brand name till 2024. The company’s credit rating by Crisil remained unchanged. Even as the company had a transition plan in place that was ready for execution starting next year, the current turn of events could speed-up the process. Over the next few weeks, the…

What are the markets you are operating in the Delhi NCR region? We are only concentrating on the Gurgaon area. Even if we capture that market and that is more than enough because there’s a huge market to tap. What are the residential projects that you are coming up with in Gurgaon? Recently we have delivered two projects-The Coralwood and Almeria both in Sector 84. Now we have a project called The Leaf, for which by the middle of next year we will take the full OC (Occupancy Certificate) and start giving possession to customers. We are now planning a new group housing project in Sector 83. It’s going to be a budget property with offerings of Rs 60/65/70 lakhs, as there’s a big demand in the market. Is that…

Mr Sheetal Kumar Agrawalla, the promising young Managing Director of Galaxy Group of Companies, has stepped into the realm of real estate industry with a positive attitude and lofty dreams. A graduate in law and global management from University of Bristol and London School of Economics and Political Sciences in the UK, he is learning the rungs of the trade with a judicious synergy of youth and experience of that of his mentor, his father Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawalla, Chairman of the Group. Together, they are building the nearly ten-year-old fledgling company with unflinching commitment of quality and worth assured to their customers. You have come into the business when the industry was passing through a lean patch? When we ventured into real estate industry, the market was what it…

USDA Organic Products must be verified by a United States Department of Agriculture-certified agency before they can be labelled USDA organic. To get this certification, a brand has to meet stringent standards regarding ingredients and livestock practices. Tests and inspections are carried out to ensure that no brand slips up. Ecocert The first certification body to develop standards for natural and organic cosmetics when it was set up in France in 1991. Its India journey started in 2002. The French certification body acknowledges only products where at least 95 per cent ingredients are natural. BDIH Bundesverband Deutscher Industrieund Handelsunternehmen (Federal Association of German Industry and Trade) has also developed guidelines for certifying natural cosmetics. It is one of the few trade associations which certifies natural brands across the globe and has…

A MYSTICAL ANTARCTIC summer dawned on us. I took the journey to the White Continent across vast stretches of wilderness, pure and white. Into the unexplored expanses of the Far South, dotted by blue icebergs, grey glaciers and white peaks, it was enthralling to see the looming heights of the snowscapes as well as the impenetrable depths of the seas. I started my journey at Ushuaia, the southernmost gateway to the Antarctic. We imbibed the porteño magic of the city and visited the Tierra Del Fuego National Park. Then began my tryst with ice. For two days and nights, The Majestic Explorer, our luxury cruise, crossed the Drake Passage, the confluence of Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, giving us the rather unique accomplishment of having journeyed across the three oceans…

STAY CONNECTED WITH US ON www.facebook.com/BusinessToday@BT_India Why Reliance JioFiber Is Not So Disruptive, After All For a telco which has been dictating the tariff structure in the wireless segment, the pricing of Jio’s fixed broadband services is unlikely to cause trouble to incumbents such as Bharti Airtel and BSNL businesstoday.in/telco-jiofiber How New-age NBFC Players Are Holding the Fort Amid Economic Slowdown With a slowing economy and falling income levels, NBFCs are staring at fresh challenges. However, some are doing well businesstoday.in/economic.slowdown-nbfc Attack on Aramco May Delay India’s Economic Recovery Oil may become a worry for India. The current account and fiscal deficits are likely to take a hit if oil prices continue to rise businesstoday.in/aramco-oilprices PERSPECTIVES You Get Only ₹1 lakh if Your Bank Goes Bust; Time to Revise 26-yr-old…

IN A RECENT media interaction, the Finance Minister reiterated that despite the recent cuts in corporate tax, the government is neither going to deviate from the path of fiscal prudence nor is it going to cut expenditures. The minister may be confident, but the fiscal math and economic realities of the day seem to suggest the contrary. The corporate tax cuts could have a net impact of 0.4-0.5 per cent of GDP (after reducing the state burden) on the fiscal deficit target. There are already murmurs in the finance ministry corridors about tax collection falling short to the tune of ₹1.5-2 lakh crore. This could get worse given the slowdown in the economy in the first half of the year. Amidst all this, the only way the government can still…

IN AN ATTEMPT to boost incoming call minutes, Reliance Jio had shortened the ringing time of outgoing calls in its network to 20 seconds, which the operator says is the global standard. But ahead of the telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) coming out with a decision, Jio has reportedly increased the ringing time to 25 seconds (this is 30 seconds for others like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea). A shorter ringing time leads to more missed calls, and the user is likely to call back, which will boost incoming calls on a network. For every outgoing (mobile-to-mobile) call, an operator has to pay 6 paisa per minute to the other operator. More incoming calls than outgoing calls is better for telcos. There is high asymmetry in the…

WHISKEY MAKER JOHN DISTILLERIES’ corporate headquarters in Bengaluru has one of the more gorgeous views of the city’s central business district. In the corner of a 10th floor room, which has a view of the metro line that cuts across MG Road and East Parade Church, Heemanshu Ashar, Head of Marketing, takes this writer through quick tasting of the company’s single malts. There is “Paul John Brilliance”, “Paul John Edited” and “Paul John Bold”. Brilliance is an unpeated whiskey while Bold is peated. Edited falls somewhere in between. “The world is divided between peats (smokier whiskeys) and unpeats. There are smoke heads who will only take peated whiskey. Edited, meanwhile, doesn’t overpower. We call it the ‘kiss of peat,’” Ashar, who has grown a salt and pepper horseshoe moustache, explains.…

The cruise market in India is 2,50,000 passengers a year. Luxury is about 10 per cent of this The luxury cruise market had a slow start in India but is picking up The luxury element comes from the access they give to the travellers. Destinations such as Antarctica and Galapagos Islands can only be accessed through cruise ships Luxury cruise tickets cost between $7,000 and $2,00,000 per person The companies are also buying islands and packaging land-and-sea tours for travellers to compete with private jet tours Globally, the cruise industry is set to grow from 28.2 million passengers in 2018 to about 30 million passengers in 2019, as per industry body CLIA Family tours, weddings, engagements and milestones remain the key drivers of the luxury cruise business in India India…

“We are witnessing over 300 per cent growth in revenues and 8x growth in online traffic. At present, we have 1,25,000 registered customers and more than 200 mainstream designers on board” Sabena Puri, CEO and Co-founder, Stage3 MUMBAI-BASED Faiyaz Abdul Rehman Shaikh, a 33-year-old IT professional, wanted to propose to his long-time girlfriend Palak Singhal, and wanted the event to be so fabulous that the memories last forever (and she say yes.) Shaikh approached a city-based private jet and helicopter rental company, Accretion Aviation, and rented a three-seater charter plane for a thirty-minute aerial tour of the city. “The plane started from Juhu, and during the flight I proposed to Palak. This is a once in a lifetime event and it was both romantic and luxurious,” says Shaikh. “My fiance was very…

“The Madhya Pradesh Government is working swiftly to strengthen higher education and to make it employment oriented. It is imperative to ensure quality education and skill development in the state. The government’s objective 1s to ensure adequate employment opportunities for every educated and skilled youth.” According to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, higher education and skill development should not be just a formality, and special attention should be given to the faculty so that our youth get employment. GIRLS HOSTELS WILL BE CONSTRUCTED IN 46 GIRLS' COLLEGES ■ Girls are totally exempted from entrance fees. This is going to benefit almost 4 lakh girl students. ■ Quality education should be totally free of charge. To this end, in the first phase, under the Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Free Education Scheme, girl…

OF LATE, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has been exhorting Indian manufacturers to shed inhibitions over the country signing free trade and economic partnership agreements with other countries and regional blocs. Goyal’s assertions are beginning to make sense now, especially after the latest round of stimulus measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The biggest worry of industry, becoming uncompetitive in the wake of increased imports from other FTA partners, has been partially taken care of by the decision to lower corporate tax. At the current rate (15 per cent for new industries), companies can price products competitively in the home market, and try to be part of the global value chain by exporting it to FTA partners. What needs to be seen is whether the government will take the FTA…

The real estate industry may be going through a rough patch, but the buyers of Trump Towers Delhi NCR were in high spirits as they were treated to a once in a lifetime experience in New York City - the home of Trump. After a phenomenally successful sales launch in 2018, M3M and Tribeca, the developers of the project, delivered on one of their launch promises and took around a 100 of their customers to experience the Trump lifestyle in New York City. No expense was spared; the guests were flown down in the lap of luxury, put up in suites at the Trump hotel on Central Park, treated to helicopter rides and luxury yacht cruises, over three days in NYC. The icing on the cake though was an intimate…

YOUR BEST LIFE BEGINS with a home that inspires you. Most of us go home after a busy day to recharge and relax. Hence, there is no greater luxury than owning a beautiful home that inspires us. And this is true for our second homes as well. Interestingly, the concept of holiday homes has grown rapidly over the past few years. More and more people are looking at buying plush vacation homes because these are good investments, double up as prestige properties and help homeowners hit the refresh button after hectic city life. High networth individuals (HNIs) are especially keen on buying weekend retreats and put a premium on privacy, exclusivity and abundance of space. Their second homes vary from large farmhouses in and around metros to hill retreats or…

in a country where 0.8 physicians are available per 1,000 people (WHO data), immortality research is bound to take a backseat. However, the corporate crème de la crème in India is not worse off than their global counterparts. As per our research on family offices in July 2018, the estimated number of ultra-high net worth individuals in the country was more than 2,000, each with at least $50 million (₹300 crore) net wealth. It means they are sitting on ₹7-10 lakh crore. But few contributed to gerontology research except for two stalwarts – Infosys Co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata who involved Tata Trust in this pursuit. Ask Gopalakrishnan about the billionaire age-warriors abroad and he says, “They want to see what happens during ageing and…

tHE VILLAGE OF DEHARIYA in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi district is a quiet place with houses nestled in a sea of lush green fields and trees. Apart from chirping birds, only a two-storied building makes noise. Weavers on the ground floor prepare looms. In a room above, artisans sitting on benches in a row hand-knot warp, or yarn that is held horizontally, to weft – yarn is inserted over-and-under the warp. Each artisan can create up to 9,000 knots a day. Slowly but surely, they give shape to colourful silk and woollen carpets. In a few months, the carpets would be shipped abroad to NRI homes, to luxury hotels in Delhi and Mumbai, and to CEO cabins in large companies. In one corner, three weavers knot indigo yarns. They are readying…

Q Describe the journey of the company since its inception. B. Kandhari Group has been established in the year 1982 as a real estate consultant firm by Mr. Bihari Kandhari. Today the group has spread its wings into the global skies with notable associations and projects across the international landscape with Mr. Vijay Kandhari, the mastermind for the success of the group. Over the years, B. Kandhari Properties has emerged as a leading player in the property marketing business offering service over the entire spectrum of real estate viz. residential, commercial, retail, F&B as well as investment opportunities in the pre-leased segment. Leading lights of Bollywood and the entertainment industry, sports personalities, HNl's, affluent NRl’s from USA, UK, Middle and Far East, all entrust their property needs to the one…

I DON’T LIKE buying flowers because they die so quickly.” We’ve heard people say this many times, and they are right. Fresh flowers have a short life span. However, what if you could buy cut flowers that last for years and continue to look as fresh and beautiful? The art of preserving fresh flowers has been around for centuries. Egyptian tombs have been uncovered with perfectly maintained dried blooms. In England, the popularity of flowers to express oneself was becoming prominent, starting from the late 1500s. air drying is one of the earliest methods of flower preservation. This method is still commonly used today and is a great way to maintain the natural shape and colour of the blooms. The method is simple and can be done quickly by anyone.…

IT’S BEEN 16 YEARS since Business Today became the first ever publication in India to identify and award the Most Powerful Women (MPW) in business. Many winners are now part of our esteemed Hall of Fame after having been awarded the ‘MPW in Business’ title seven times. With India getting younger by the day, we introduced a new category this time – Rising Stars. These are women who have made a mark in business and are below 35 years of age. The idea behind this was to get a close look at the women leaders who would be managing businesses in the not-too-distant future. The MPW awards were given to 31 women business leaders and eight Rising Stars at a glittering event at the ITC Grand Central in Mumbai on…

SHARAD AGARWAL INDIA HEAD, LAMBORGHINI The Indian auto industry is in deep distress right now, but Italian supercar manufacturer Lamborghini has bucked the trend. Riding on the success of its maiden SUV Urus, it has become the outright leader in the super-luxury car segment. Agarwal is targeting a 50 per cent rise in sales this year. Q. The biggest challenge in your career A. Challenges force us to push our limits and go beyond our comfort zones. And our reaction to challenges shapes our leadership style and potential. I have always been excited by a great challenge that forces me to push the boundaries, expand my horizons and seek solutions which will enrich the organisation as well as my leadership journey. I faced such a challenge at Lamborghini when I…