Innholdsfortegnelse for 31-Oct-21 i Business Today

As the Covid-19 pandemic hit India in 2020, the luxury sector was one of the hardest hit. With lockdowns across the country, and malls and high street stores shut, the crisis hit the industry badly. According to estimates by Euromonitor International, the Indian luxury goods market took a deep 33 per cent hit and fell to $5 billion in 2020 as the pandemic took its toll. But today, over a year later, as we enter the festive season in 2021, things look vastly different. With the government’s massive vaccination effort gathering momentum, and the debilitating second wave of the pandemic behind us, India looks set to get back to a path to recovery. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its latest monetary policy statement, has also retained its FY22…

More than 300 years ago, in 1715, Jean Martell, who successful English wine merchants, arrived in the Charente region of France to buy wine, and send it back to his home in Jersey in the UK. But instead, he became so enamored with the area and its brandy that he decided to stay and start making his own. One man’s trip to France gave the world the Marte II Cognac and the heritage that is Maison Martell. Martell’s courage to challenge convention to pioneer new know-how, his openness in reaching out to the people of the Cognac region, his integrity in his dealings with others-all these laid the foundation for the direction Maison Martell was to take early on. Since then, Maison Martell has been defined by the audacity with…

About Droom and its key differentiator Droom is a pure-play, automobile e-commerce platform and what makes us unique in the automobile industry is that we don't have any physical stores, but we solve the automobile problem through technology and data science. Our differentiators are, we are pure-play e-commerce, available in 1100 cities, we deal in both new and used including not just car but motorcycle, scooter, bus, truck, airplane, and yacht. Moreover, we have two things that nobody else has, one is a highly scalable asset-light technology-driven e-commerce platform for sourcing and selling, and the second is our proprietary suite of ecosystem services, which build trust and certify vehicles and add convenience to the user. Now let me take you through - how this all translates into a user value…

The life story of Telangana’s well decorated and much loved wine man Kishan Pedhapally is an awe inspiring tale of passion, dedication and ambition. The founder of Asav, one of the fastest growing wine brands of India, Kishan needs no introduction especially in Telangana. Hailing from amiddle class family, Kishan embarked on along and arduous path to chase his dreams and achieve his goals. He is now arole model for youngsters aspiring to be successful entrepreneurs. Kishan has also been awarded and recognized as the Wine Man of Telangana by the state Tourism department, placing him in a league of his own! He started his careerway back in the 90s as a professional model. He tried his luck in the F&B industry as asteward in the erstwhile Bhaskara palace hotel.…

What grapes make Cognac? A single grape variety, Ugni Blanc, accounts for more than 98% of cognac vineyards. Its high yield and late maturation produce wines that are low in alcohol and high in acidity. The acidity preserves the wines naturally before distillation, while the low alcohol levels allow greater concentration of the aromas present in the wines. Maison Martell is alone among the great cognac houses to distil exclusively clear wines. This specificity helps to reveal the authentic aromas of the grapes, resulting in the generous fruit aromas of Martell VS, a cognac also distinguished by its remarkable smoothness on the palate. Martell has a Secret Cellar for its oldest eaux-de-vie In 2016, Martell’s cellar and blending secrets were transferred from Benoit Fil, the house’s previous cellar master, to…

TIME CHANGES FAST in the corporate world. In June, business confidence was at its lowest in two years, but about three months later, the sentiment has moved up to its highest level in 10 quarters. What has changed in just a quarter to justify this swing? Leading economists say a lot of factors have contributed to the sharp rise in Business Today’s latest BCI (Business Confidence Index). On a scale of 100, for instance, BCI jumped to 49.6 in the September quarter, compared to 43.2 in the June quarter. Given that the latest BCI is at a 10-quarter high, it is a strong indicator of buoyancy in the confidence levels of business leaders. Market research agency C fore quizzed 500 CEOs and chief financial officers across 12 cities for the…

The company is structured and supported by Maharashtra Defence and Aerospace Venture Fund., eminent scientist Dr. Anil kakodkar, former Atomic Energy Commission Chief, and Lt.Gen Rajendran Nimbolkar. Our Founder Chairman Shri. Rajendra Chodankar vison has got its shape in Mahape with a state-of-the-Art Scientific Research Facility spreaded in 15000sq.ft. Taking His journey ahead after setting up the nano machining facility, Thermal Imaging and inspired by the thought there is more space at the bottom adding to his successful journey he moved into the Med Tech domain, the fear on personal protection got fuelled and evolved with possible multiple combinations of Technologies to develop AEREM100. He Strongly believed that this MAKE IN INDIA initiative will be an iconic project for the country and will support the country in this Pandemic. The…

STEFANO CANALI has a relaxed demeanour. The President and CEO of Canali Spa, scion of the dynasty that is synonymous with menswear, loves India for its culture and immense business potential. In a joint venture (JV) with Reliance Brands, Canali wants more of the India piece and says it is here for the long haul. A man with conviction that physical stores for his brand will always be around, he thinks e-commerce will complement it. In a freewheeling chat, he opens up on a host of issues, from how the pandemic has been hugely disruptive to how much India matters to the company. Edited excerpts: What is it about India that has struck you as being remarkable? I had a chance to discover India on my first visit in 2008-09.…

■ Dubai’s trade with India grew in the first half (H1) of 2021, making India its second biggest trading partner after China, according to the Dubai government. ■ According to IBEF, gold topped the list of commodities at 138.8 billion dirhams ($37.48 billion) in Dubai’s H1 external trade. TRADE (in billion dirhams) Y-O-Y change in % CHINA 86.7 ($23.41 billion) 30.7% INDIA 67.1 ($18.12 billion) 74.5% US 32 ($8.64 billion) 1% SAUDI ARABIA 30.5 ($8.24 billion) 26% SWITZERLAND 24.8 ($6.7 billion) 10% SOURCE: IBEF…

The BIG BULL OF the Indian markets, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, has had a mixed year. Even as the billionaire investor battled significant health issues including a debilitating bout of Covid-19, the performance of his stock portfolio has been nothing short of stellar. And while he scoffs at new-age trading favourites such as Bitcoin and Zomato, it hasn’t stopped him from a daring foray into the skies with his upcoming budget airline, Akasa Air. In a freewheeling chat with BT’s Global Business Editor Udayan Mukherjee, Jhunjhunwala explains why he remains the bull on Dalal Street. Edited excerpts: UM: With 60,000 done and dusted on the Sensex, do you think there are even greater summits ahead for us in the months to come before this bull market tires out? RJ: Well, my personal…

A couple of years ago, Darshan Mehta saw a young man, perhaps in his late-20s, wearing a pair of red trousers. It was at an airport and he remembers the attention the red trousers drew. “If he had done that in Italy, it would have been quite normal. But this was India,” he says with a laugh. Today, says Mehta, Managing Director and CEO, Reliance Brands Limited (RBL), the level of experimentation with fashion in India is a revelation. He should know that better than most given that he heads RBL’s portfolio of 69 luxury brands. They include the likes of Armani Exchange, Brothers, Canali, Diesel, Ermenegildo Zegna, Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Paul Smith, Steve Madden, and Tiffany. Bet you didn’t know RBL brought all of these to India!…

Nothing quite beats the sheer tactile luxury of ink curving on paper under the gold-plated nib of a perfectly balanced handcrafted pen. An Indian brand making a mark in this niche is industry veteran Arun Singhi’s ‘Lotus’. Widely sought by collectors and enthusiasts, Lotus pens are custom made in materials like Japanese ebonite, buffalo horn, tortoise shell, steel, copper, titanium, and carbon fibre. Collector Sanjeev Prakash rates Lotus as one of the world’s top 5 handcrafted luxury pen brands. This September, Lotus produced nine handcrafted pens with miniature paintings of Ganesha, priced at ₹63,000 each; they sold out in 45 minutes. Donesh Jain of Makoba, a chain of luxury pen stores, says this pen is the world’s first hand carved and hand painted one, and the most expensive Indian one.…

Rolls-Royce Spectre The brand’s first fully-electric car will be launched in 2023 Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the CEO of Rolls- T Royce Motor Cars, has taken it upon himself to turn the company into a fully-electric brand by 2030. He’s famously known to have said that, by 2030, it will no longer be in the business of producing or selling any internal combustion engine products. Its first fully-electric car—the Spectre—will be launched in 2023. The Spectre will be built on the space frame architecture, which also underpins legacy models like Phantom, Cullinan and Ghost. Although the official price is not out yet, it is most likely to be upwards of ₹3 crore. Porsche Taycan Clocking 260 kmph, it can cover 412 km in one charge The Taycan is Porsche’s first all-electric T…

ETAIL LENDERS have been facing several challenges due to Covid-19. On the one hand, the demand for small loans has surged as lockdowns hit livelihoods, while on the other hand, the recovery rate has slowed. Consequently, the rise in loan delinquencies has lowered credit scores of borrowers. “The creamy layer or lowrisk borrowers have seen around 5 per cent fall in their credit score from March 2020 to March 2021,” says Subhrangshu Chattopadhyay, National Sales Head, CRIF High Mark, an RBI-approved credit bureau. A credit score shows your creditworthiness. That is why lenders have tightened their credit policies. Most are lending only to existing customers with good credit history. A CIBIL score of 750 or above is ideal for availing loans. If your score is below 750, it will be…

What was the problem you were grappling with? There are certain instances where you would think multi-fold before taking a decision. During our IPO, I was in a similar sort of dilemma. I wanted to have expert advice on whether to expand into hospitality as a vertical or invest more in the amusement park. How did you approach it? I still feel the advice that I had got at that point helped me big time. If we had diversified at that stage, we would be starting in a new field from scratch. That means achieving mastery in that field would have taken much longer and resulted in delayed returns on investments. What is the best advice you have ever received? The best advice I got is from the book Outliers…