Innholdsfortegnelse for 19-Sep-21 i Business Today

One of the most important elements of corporate strategy is managing integration following a takeover. Whenever a company acquires another corporate entity, the things to keep in mind are how the overall vision of the acquirer will be dovetailed with the target company, how the portfolio of products can add muscle to the combine and, equally important, how the culture of the two entities can be integrated for best results. When Baba Ramdev’s unlisted fast-moving consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved acquired the ailing Ruchi Soya as part of the National Company Law Tribunal process in 2019, there was enough curiosity around how Patanjali would eventually make Ruchi Soya work for it, and what the combine’s vision would be going forward. The curiosity was justified. Here was the almost-mysterious Patanjali, led…

UM: You started Byju’s barely a decade ago, and it is already valued more than some of India’s oldest and biggest companies such as IndianOil or Bajaj Auto. Did you ever imagine that Byju’s would become so big in such a short span of time? BR: To be honest, I didn’t start Byju’s as a business. I was only following my passion. Slowly, it moved from a class of 30 students to auditoriums, then stadiums and, finally, to millions of smartphones. I am still in pursuit of how to make it better and bigger. UM: From a tutorial teacher to grappling with deals running into hundreds of millions of dollars…do these valuations strike you as a bit of a bubble? BR: I think it is very early days for our…

BAL SEVA YOJANA State government will provide financial help under Utter Pradesh Mukhyamantrl Bal seva Vojana (general) to those children who are orphaned because of reasons other than Corona also. KISAN SAMMAN NIDHI In a function organised vlrtually on 9th August Prime Minister Narendra Modi transferred 4nO crore rupees to the 2.36 crore beneficiaries of the state under Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. This amount Is for the second installment of the financial year 2021-22. UJJWALA SCHEME Underthe Ujjwala scheme - one more than 1.47 crore gas connections have been provided to the beneficiaries In the state. Under the second part of the scheme, the target Is to provide gas connection to 20 lakh women of the state. In this process those famllles of lower income groups will be benefited which…

▶ How has the Indian start-up ecosystem changed in the past five years? India’s start-up ecosystem has undergone a sea change in the past one decade with the emergence of players such as Flipkart and Snapdeal. The success of these companies inspired several young professionals to take the entrepreneurial plunge. While a few founders with good pedigree managed to attract the attention of global VCs, a few had challenges even getting seed funding. In the past five-six years, however, the start-up landscape has witnessed the birth of several accelerators and incubators along with many regional angel networks. Venture Catalysts came into existence in 2016 on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Start-up India initiative. We were the first integrated incubator and accelerator in the country and in…

Controversies are not alien to Patanjali Ayurved’s Co-Founder and Joint Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna. Be it questions around funding, transparency or other governance issues, the ₹9,062-crore (standalone)company has often come under the lens of various bodies. In a freewheeling chat with BT’s Ajita Shashidhar and Sourav Majumdar, the 49-year-old Ayurveda practitioner-turned-businessman demystifies the frequently-asked-questions about his business. Excerpts: The government is doing a special audit on us even today. There is transparency on the source of every penny we spend ▶ There are a lot of questions about corporate governance and transparency standards of Patanjali Ayurved. How would you react to it? Nobody is as transparent as Patanjali. You use so many products without knowing anything about the manufacturer. In the case of Patanjali, Swamiji’s [Baba Ramdev] image is there…

Vineeta Singh had always wanted to create a thriving business. But little did she know that the journey involved long-lasting, liquid matte lipsticks. At least not until major cosmetics brands turned down her offer to co-create the product. However, based on the research and consumer data she had gathered at her first venture, a subscription-based beauty e-commerce portal, Singh was convinced that millennials were hankering for just such a product. So, like any entrepreneur, she decided to make and sell it herself. Now, seven years later, that lipstick line is available in 52 shades and is among the top sellers at SUG-AR Cosmetics, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) start-up that Singh co-founded. “These brands weren’t ready to launch e-commerce and nobody saw that this demographic of millennials will become so significant,” she…

WORK FROM home or back to the office — the debate still rages. While work from home, or WFH as is common parlance now, was a panacea for workflow disruption, companies are acutely aware of the toll it has taken on mental health, collaboration, performance management and, most importantly, the work culture at their organisations. A recent survey by real estate consultancy firm CBRE showed that while the “purpose” of an office may have changed, the relevance of a physical workplace remains undiminished. The compromise so far has been a hybrid working model, with some employees trudging back to offices and the rest working from home. But, as the pace of vaccination picks up, companies are gearing up to bring back more of their employees into a physical workplace. Only,…

MILAN GANATRA, angel investor and Founder & CEO at 1 Silverbullet, has his mind fixed on safe transfer of consumer data. But his heart is fixed on travelling. During pre-Covid days, he would go out of the country every other week. “These were mostly work trips, followed by my personal explorations. But taking two out-of-country family holidays in a year was the norm.” Ganatra has extensively travelled across Africa, Middle East and Asia, and about 10 countries in Europe. His favourite is Mauritius. “Go there in any season and it’s the same. The country is closely connected to India. They have a week-long festival during Shiv Ratri. Bhojpuri is widely spoken there,” he says. Ganatra prefers taking public transport when travelling by himself. “I have hailed taxis even in countries…

JOBS BONANZA Utter Pradesh subordinate selection commission will conduct recruitment for more than 33000 different posts before March 2022. The Commission has issued the calendar for starting the new recruitment process on 29932 new vacant posts and old recruitment on 3768 posts and preliminary examination already conducted on 24 august 2021 for selection. ENCOURAGEMENT TO PLAYERS Players winning medals in international competitions will be appointed as DSP in police and gazetted officers. The daily diet allowance for players in residential hostels will be increased from 250 rupees to 375 rupees. Wrestling along with one another sport wlll be adopted for 10 years. Chief Minister Yogi Adltyanath felicitating Tokyo Olympic medal winners In grand function in Lucknow. ITI TRAINEE Trainees of government industrial training institutes can now take training at hitech…

14,000 CRORE THE VALUE OF INDIA’S CYBERSECURITY MARKET IN 2019 29,000 CRORE THE ESTIMATED VALUE OF INDIA’S CYBERSECURITY MARKET IN 2025 DEMONETISATION AND Covid-19 have led to a surge in digital payments in India, with such transactions almost tripling over the past four years. With the amount of financial data being generated every second, and the stringent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines financial institutions have to adhere to, banks have been investing and adopting measures to keep hackers at bay and protect client and consumer data. For example, to strengthen its internal network from multiple attempted security breaches, one of India’s largest public sector banks deployed a centralised policy server architecture to fortify its systems from unauthorised access. It picked Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager to secure access for…

We all know air pollution is bad for our health. But did you know that it also impacts productivity? A Harvard Business Review study found a 5-6 per cent fall in productivity among office workers when the AQI is unhealthy, that is, between 150 and 200. Cities like Delhi have these AQI levels for half the year. Investing in an air purifier is not a luxury but a necessity. Check out Dyson’s pure cool advanced technology tower with 350-degree oscillation and vacuum-sealed filters that capture gases, pollutants and viruses. Price: ₹1,01,000. While an air purifier is a must, we also suggest you brighten up your workspace with a few indoor plants that purify air. NASA’s Clean Air Study has found that there are several air purifying plants that can detoxify…

The perfect lighting can make all the difference to your home office. You neither want it too bright nor too dim. If you don’t want cords messing up your desk, you could check out rechargeable lamps or lights with a USB connection that can connect to your computer. Different areas of your home office will require different types of lighting – ambient lighting, task lighting or accent lighting. You can have an overhead light for more general room illumination and use a desk lamp for focus lighting. As long as your eyes are comfortable and you create the right ambience, your productivity may increase. Avoid fluorescent lighting as it is known to cause eye strain and may also trigger migraines.…

→ The number of active companies grew 12.1 per cent to 1.34 million in FY21. This was the fastest growth in a decade → This was partly due to fewer exits, but new registrations also saw decent growth of 11.6 per cent → Around two-third active firms are in services, led by business services (32 per cent) and trading (13 per cent), followed by social (8 per cent) and finance (4 per cent) ACTIVE COMPANIES REGISTERED WITH MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS Source: MCA 5.6% Consumer price inflation in July, down from 6.3 per cent in June, a tad below the consensus estimate of 5.8 per cent. Food inflation eased to 4 per cent (vs 5.2 per cent in June ₹165 NHAI’s earning per FASTag in the first half of 2021…

OXYGEN SUPPLY A total of 555 oxygen plants have been permitted in the state for the supply of oxygen to the covid hospitals out of which 328 have started functioning and the remaining plants will start within one month. At present the state is having an oxygen production capacity of 1200 metric tons daily which is much higher than the actual demand. GENOME SEQUENCING Genome testing facility has been provided by the government for testing of covid delta variants in BHU, KGMU, CORI, IGIV and Ram Manohar Lohia institute Lucknow. Very soon the genome sequencing facility will start in the National botanical Research institute also. NEW DOCTORS UP PSC has selected 114 NST tests and 181 pediatricians for posting them in government hospitals. Hospitals in the state will soon get…

BILASPUR, CUTTACK, Siliguri, Ajmer, Kota, Rajkot, Amravati, Jammu, Surat, Nagpur … The list goes on. These are some of the prominent non-metro cities and towns in India that are famous for a variety of reasons ranging from teas to textiles and from education to temples. But there is a new, unique thread that binds these and many other Tier-II/III cities in the country — angel investor networks. Individual angel investors have been around as long as start-ups have. But over the past few years, the ones from India’s smaller cities have come together to create regional angel platforms or networks dedicated to participating in the country’s vibrant startup environment. These platforms were created to facilitate investments in early-stage start-ups that typically look to raise between ₹5 lakh and ₹2 crore. While…

2017 ▶With over ₹12,000 crore debt, Ruchi Soya is dragged into Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code proceedings. 2019 ▶Patanjali Ayurved acquires Ruchi Soya through the National Company Law Tribunal process for ₹4,350 crore. 2021 ▶Ruchi Soya reports revenue of ₹16,318.65 crore and net profit of ₹ 680.77 crore. 2021 ▶Debt is down to ₹3,300 crore. 2021 ▶Share prices climb to ₹1,165 in 2021 from ₹6.88 in 2019; market cap jumps to ₹32,961 crore from ₹216 crore in 2019. SOARING STOCK The Ruchi Soya stock turned a multi-bagger after the company’s acquisition by Patanjali. Figures are month-end closing prices in ₹; Source: BSE…

↘ They sell directly through ecommerce — their own website or online marketplaces or both ↘ Have disruptive and innovative products and deeper consumer understanding ↘ They collect huge data about consumer buying patterns, which they use to tweak their offerings and build consumer connect ↘ Avendus Capital says the D2C market is expected to triple from: $33 BILLION in 2020 TO $100 BILLION in 2025 ↘ The 300 D2C consumer product start-ups in India are expanding into offline retail, too ↘ Their emphasis on research and data gives them an innovative streak with unique value propositions…

Working from home has its own distractions, primarily the sounds – television, music, running water, kitchen blender, dog barking, you name it. Several researchers have concluded that noise, especially loud intermittent noise, reduces cognitive performance. On the other hand, listening to music or having ambient background noise increases productivity. Investing in a good pair of noise-cancellation head phones is, therefore, a must. Take your pick from industry leaders such as Sony, Bose and Sennheiser. Sony’s WH-1000XM4 (₹26,990) with its sleek business-like look and 30-hour battery life is a good bet. It has a high-quality microphone, making it ideal for Zoom meetings. If you use an iPhone or a Mac, you could go for Apple’s noise-cancelling over-ears – the Apple AirPods Max available in silver, pink and sky blue colours. Price:…

SUNIL SUBRAMANIAM, Managing Director at Sundaram Asset Management Company, is a fan of rock music. He is also a big-time walker. In the morning, he does both, at the same time. “I am a great fan of rock music. Though it’s loud and headbanging, it gives me relief from stresses of day-to-day market monitoring and tracking,” says Subramaniam. The mutual fund industry veteran is fond of Pink Floyd. It’s no wonder that his favourite song is Brick In The Wall. “It’s how you apply knowledge in life that matters. If you don’t apply it well, it is of no use,” says Subramaniam, who manages more than ₹37,000 crore of assets. For his morning routine, just like for his funds, he sets stiff targets, and completes 100 km a week. He…

SARBVIR SINGH, CEO, POLICYBAZAAR.COM What was the problem you were grappling with? In my first job with Emerson Electric in Hong Kong, we hired a promising, young MBA. However, our new hire, of Chinese origin, started finding it difficult to blend into our multi-cultural environment. I was struggling to get across to him and his performance was less than acceptable. I despaired that we would have to let him go. Who did you approach and why? I spoke to Mark Ng, who was our Director of Sales. Mark was a very thoughtful person who had built a great career and reputation at Emerson. He was of Chinese origin himself and I felt he would be able to provide me with a more nuanced view of the problem. What was the…