Hyderabad's 'Zero Commission' Cab hailing App partners 7500 Cab Drivers in 30 Days

Hyderabad-based Tora Cabs Technology Services Pvt. Ltd. (TTSPL) has seen a surge in drivers joining them with over 7500 already on-board, since it announced its plans to foray into the market on June 27, 2019 with its "Zero Commission” “Zero Surge” Cab hailing app.

• Driver Benefits


• Zero commission for life


• Only a subscription fee of Rs. 199 per day or Rs. 199 x 6 for 7 days or Rs. 199 x 25 for a mont


• Driver has the flexibility to choose his plans


• No fee charged till he gets optimal rides

He receives his payments almost immediately, maximum wait time is less than 12 hours

• Unlimited rides


• No hidden charges


• Accident insurance cover

The company is currently on-boarding drivers and plans to launch its ride app for the passengers in August 2019.

Tora Cabs is about technology that will benefit a large number of people and it is a socially conscious business, therefore the promise of “No Commission” for the drivers and “No Surge” for the Customers. Tora Cabs, a joint venture with a Korean strategic partner has been started to bring about sustainability and convenience in public transport.

Kavita Bhaskaran Ravi, Director – Marketing & Public Policy, Tora Cabs Technology Services Pvt. Ltd. (TTSP) said, “Innovation and fair play are the cornerstones of Tora Cabs. Today we have over 7500 driver partners who are ready to embark on this journey with Tora Cabs which stands for convenience for drivers and passengers. The drivers are excited about our ‘zero commission' business model and we will launch in August with at least 10,000 driver partners on-board.”

She added, “The drivers who have signed up with us are our partners and we are confident that we have the technology to fuel their entrepreneurship spirit. We believe in capacity building and sustainable growth which will have a positive impact on the society at large.” She pointed out, this will ensure that the passengers will always have cab availability and the ‘wait time' is considerably reduced and this model will bring about a paradigm shift in the app based cab hailing sector.

Tora Cabs, a technology platform for cab hiring is all set to revolutionise the app-based ride hailing industry in the country. A unique cab hailing technology where drivers using the app need not pay any commission from the fare they collect; they would just need to pay a minimal daily subscription charge. Innovation and fair play are the cornerstones of Tora Cabs.

Tora Cabs is focussed on a sustainable model based on taking zero commission from the drivers. Drivers will only be charged pay per use fees starting with a nominal Rs. 199 per day, 199 x 6 for 7 days, and 199 x 25 for a month. This gives the driver the option of paying for only the days he uses. The ‘No commission' model will ensure higher earnings for the drivers.

Tora Cabs Technology Services Pvt. Ltd. (TTSPL)

[caption id="attachment_132511" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Tora Team (Image - facebook.com/toracabs/)[/caption]

The company was conceived in 2017 and launched in June 2019 with a best in class IT infrastructure and a unique business model. Tora Cabs is a joint venture with a Korean partner headquartered in New Delhi, India. Tora Cabs is a technology company and the core purpose of our business model is to develop a platform that is fair and transparent for both riders and drivers.

Tora Cabs believes that change is inevitable, but it's not always easy. Ride-hailing apps changed the world of taxi services forever, but each step in this evolutionary process has come with its share of challenges. Primary among these challenges is the elusive balance between rider satisfaction and driver happiness and Tora Cabs is all set to address this.

Tora Cabs believes in bringing technology closer to people and for their larger benefit. Tora Cabs come with a promise of “No commission” for the drivers and “No Surge” for the Customers. Tora Cabs, the joint venture with a Korean strategic partner has been started to bring about sustainability and convenience in public transport.

P2P Lender Rupeecircle launches Affordable Credit Products for Rural Tamil Nadu

Digital lending marketplace RupeeCircle has set up a segment-wise model of credit disbursement through its P2P platform. Deserving Individuals and families belonging to certain communities who were hitherto declined loans from banks and NBFCs due to lack of sufficient credit history or lack of a proper bank account can now avail loans on the P2P platform.

By disbursing loans to individuals and families living in rural areas of Kulasekaram, Thiruvattur, Thipparappu and surrounding areas of Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, RupeeCircle has commenced the process. The target community here are the daily wage earners working in Rubber Estates and cashew factories, and farmers.

Speaking on this new initiative Ajit Kumar, Founder and CEO, RupeeCircle, said “Our market research threw light on the fact that by reaching out to communities we stood a better chance of not only disbursing loans to credit worthy individuals but also subsume the concept of P2P lending and borrowing. And this is very important because people need to be aware that there are other (and better) alternatives to credit than banks and moneylenders."

“There are several communities in rural as well as urban India who are under-banked and fail to get their loans approved due to lack of sufficient credit history. In their need of the hour they turn to local moneylenders who levy exorbitant rate of interest”, said Nikhil Prabhakar, IIM (Ahmedabad) alumnus and Head of Marketing & Products at RupeeCircle. “Making credit accessible by leveraging Peer-to-Peer lending solutions will not only bring an individual under the ambit of the organised banking sector but gradually the benefits will percolate to the whole community."

RupeeCircle, licensed by RBI (NBFC-P2P), has disbursed more than INR 50 million over the last few months to under-banked individuals. Thousands of individuals have registered over the last few months and the default rate has been at a constant decline (currently at an impressive 0.89%), which not only signifies the trust of lenders but the robustness of its proprietary credit underwriting algorithm. This outreach to under-banked communities will fortify the efforts of financial inclusion in a country where unsecured credit is hard to get.

Indian Startup Rivigo granted USPTO Patent for its Unique Driver Relay System

Indian tech-enabled logistics firm Rivigo announced that it has been granted patent rights by The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its unique driver relay model that uses algorithms to determine availability of drivers for trucks, enabling drivers to return home each day.

Indian tech-enabled logistics firm Rivigo announced that it has been granted patent rights by The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its unique driver relay model that uses algorithms to determine availability of drivers for trucks, enabling drivers to return home each day.

The patented system uses intelligent driver allocation system through algorithms developed by Rivigo to pick the right driver for a duty based on multiple parameters including equitable distribution of driving hours, rest hours, transit hours, etc. The algorithm also considers driver performance on parameters like driving behavior while deciding the final match between truck and “pilot” as every driver is addressed in Rivigo.

“This is yet another milestone for us at Rivigo. Our global first relay model being recognized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office is an endorsement of our pilot-first model predicated on innovation at a technological and human level,” said Gazal Kalra, Co-Founder, Rivigo. “This cutting-edge and disruptive Relay technology will not just bring efficiencies and help streamline the sector through better service to customers, but more importantly will ensure that truck driving becomes a viable job opportunity for pilots as they get to come back home to their families every day.”

“Fleet owners find it extremely difficult to find truck drivers for long distance driving. India has a severe shortage of truck drivers - for every 1000 trucks we have 482 truck drivers. Through this technology, we will offer ‘Relay as a Service’ to fleet owners thereby providing a sustainable and scalable solution to this large and chronic national problem.”

The relay model reduces transit times in long distance transportation. The algorithm and simulation of the system reduces transit time during changeovers by ensuring that the driver is not only available for the next duty but also informed in advance about the upcoming trip. The system also ensures that the driver is performing minimal and only the required checks during the changeover, thus saving time.

Rivigo believes the patented system will not only reduce the transit time but also help decrease the rate of accident on the national highways as truck drivers drive fixed hours and get mandatory rest before next trip is allocated.
About Rivigo

Rivigo is a technology company that is making logistics industry more humane, faster, safer and cost-effective through unique innovative relay model, enabled by strong interplay of technology, data, culture and operations excellence. Since its inception in 2014, Rivigo has emerged as the largest and the fastest growing technology enabled logistics company in India, owning a fleet of over 3000 trucks.

Payment Startup launches Pre-Authorization on Debit, Credit Cards for Online Merchants

Bengaluru-based payments startup, Cashfree has launched Pre-authorization on Debit and Credit cards for its 15,000 online merchants. This is the first time any payment gateway in India is offering such a service.

Pre-authorization or card authorization is a facility that payment gateways offer to online merchants to block funds when a customer places an order. If the order is modified or cancelled within a specific time, the merchant can mark the transaction void and the amount goes back to the consumer's original payment source. In this case, the merchant is not charged anything for the transaction. Without Pre-authorization, refunding a cancelled transaction would require 2-15 days of processing time from banks and card companies. Additionally, without Pre-auth, the merchant will need to pay the transaction charge (TDR) even for the cancelled transaction.

Pre-authorization of card is a popular feature in developed nations. Hotel bookings and online merchants use Pre-authorization as a way to confirm a booking. Pre-auth through Cashfree is live on travel app ixigo.com for train ticket booking. It is launching on a host of other apps as well.

Talking about the launch, Akash Sinha, CEO & Co-founder of Cashfree, said, "Pre-auth is an innovative feature for online merchants in India. This is like an escrow for transactions that have a chance of failing or where the final amount might change - say a cab ride. With Zero charges and zero refund time, it is a win-win feature for both merchant and consumer. We will see a versatile set of e-commerce companies adopting it in the near future and some interesting use cases built on top of it."

Cashfree is India's leading payment gateway. Cashfree is used by more than 15,000 businesses for vendor payouts, wage payouts, bulk refunds, expense reimbursements, loyalty, and rewards. It counts Xiaomi, Tencent, Zomato, Cred, Club Factory, ExxonMobil, Google-backed Dunzo, donation platforms like Ketto and Milaap amongst its customers. Cashfree works closely with all leading banks like ICICI, HDFC, Kotak and Yes Bank to build the core payments and banking infrastructure that powers Cashfree products. Cashfree recently raised its Series A of $5.5 million from Korean investor Smilegate with participation from existing investor Y Combinator.

US Warns - No 5G Tech from Countries pursuing 'Totalitarian States' Vision

The US has asked countries to consider the long-term implications of adopting 5G technology from nations that have pursued a "totalitarian vision" of the role of the state in peoples' lives, a comment directed at China and the Communist giant's embattled tech giant Huawei.

The Trump administration banned US companies from selling components and technology to Huawei and 68 related companies in May, citing national security concerns.

The US has been urging countries, including India, to restrict or ban the use of Huawei equipment in their 5G networks, alleging Beijing could use the company's products to spy on other nations. Huawei denies that any of its products pose a national security risk.

The next generation wireless technology, or 5G is the next generation of mobile internet, delivering super fast download speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones.

"We think that it's absolutely critical for countries to be considering all of the long-term consequences and ramifications of going with suppliers from countries that have pursued a totalitarian vision for the role of the state in peoples' lives and in the economy and in the culture and the like," said a senior Trump administration official.

"So that's really something that all countries need to take heed of," the official said when asked about its message to countries that are planning to opt for 5G technology from Huawei, which is reported to have links with the Chinese government.

Irrespective of the country, the US believes that having a safe and reliable infrastructure for 5G systems is critical for all nations' ability to preserve their sovereignty in the 5G era, the Trump administration official noted.

With 5G, one is talking about a paradigm shift in technology, not an incremental one, the official emphasised.

"One in which all of our daily lives are going to be saturated with sensors that are going to be communicating with one another, not just the old paradigm of a couple cell phones talking to a core network through cell phone towers and routers and then coming back down to another cell user," said the official.

5G will permit devices to communicate very rapidly with one another, and that creates enormous opportunities for predatory and authoritarian states to steal the most intimate data, whether it's a personal data as citizens or corporate secrets or very sensitive government and security-related secrets, said the official.

Huawei has become a flashpoint in the US-China trade war. Even before the trade blacklist, the US had been leading an effort to curb Huawei's ambitions to become the global leader of 5G.

Huawei on Tuesday said sales jumped to more than USD 58 billion in the first six months of this year, boosted by growth in the tech firm's smartphone business and an uptick in 5G network contracts. PTI LKJ SOM

Indian IT firms Contributed Massive $57.2 Bn to the US GDP in 2017 - Top Diplomat

In July 2018, Indian IT company Mindtree has given US$2 million grant to Stanford University, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched an education initiative in 2017 called "My Future in School". In September 2018, Infosys partnered with Trinity College on Applied Learning Initiative, while WIPRO has partnered with US-based nonprofit social enterprise, First Book, to distribute over 200,000 books by 2019-end. These are some of the examples of contribution by Indian IT companies to the United States besides business operations in the US, mentioned by Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India's Ambassador to the US.

Indian IT companies contributed USD 57.2 billion to the GDP of the US in 2017, India's top diplomat in the US said on Tuesday.

Addressing business leaders in Denver, Colorado, Shringla said India-based global IT services companies employ more than 175,000 workers in the US accounting for 8.4 per cent of employment in the computer systems design and related services industry.

In his address at the 2019 State International Development Organisation (SIDO) Conference on “US-India Trade and Investment: Opportunities and Best Practices,” Shringla said Indian IT companies in the US are deeply embedded in the roots of American society and their contributions have exceeded far beyond the economy.

Shringla said the two-way investments between India and the US reached about USD 60 billion.

The US with USD 45 billion cumulative investment is the sixth source of foreign investment in India, he said in his address to State International Development Organization annual (SIDO) convention's India event organised in partnership with US India Business Council (USIBC).

SIDO is the only American organisation that is focused on state international trade development.

"The US-India relationship is at a critical juncture and needs to evolve with the changing landscape of US global trade relations. State-to-state ties help Indian companies investing in the US and US companies who need support at the ground level in India," said USIBC president Nisha Desai Biswal.

India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said is taking steps to ensure that US investments into India is taken to new levels by ensuring profitability as well as protection of Intellectual Property.

Through India's National IPR policy since its launch in 2016, the government has been working actively to promote IPR awareness and augment technical manpower to simplify the patent procedures and reduce pendency in patents and trademarks, he said.

It has completed 50 enforcement workshops for police officials across 26 states and union territories. An IPR enforcement toolkit has been prepared to serve as a ready reckoner for policy officials. Enforcement of intellectual property in India is one of the major concerns of American companies.

India, he asserted, has made strides across various sectors. The fact that India has jumped 65 places in four years to reach 77th position on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking and 52nd rank in the Global Innovation Index are just some of the global indices reflecting India's emergence as a hub for innovation and manufacturing.

“This is in line with Prime Minister Modi's 'Make in India' initiative. India is currently home to the world's 4th largest auto industry and 3rdlargest domestic civil aviation market,” he said in his address PTI LKJ

Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop Project gets Infrastructure Status

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday accorded the infrastructure status to the Mumbai-Pune ultra-fast hyperloop transport project that seeks to reduce the travel time between the two cities to just 23 minutes. At present, the travel time taken by trains between the two cities is three-and-a-half to four hours.

The state Cabinet approved a proposal to give infrastructure status to the project at a meeting in Mumbai.

The Cabinet also approved formation of a consortium of DP World FZE and Hyperloop Technologies as proponents of the original project, according to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.

Hyperloop is a ultramodern, superfast transport project which is being implemented to link Mumbai and Pune,
which are located around 200km apart. It will run from BKCin Mumbai to Wakadin Pune, covering a distance of 117.5 km.

The hyperloop train will run at a speed of 496 km per hour and cover the distance between the two cities in just 23
minutes, the statement said.

The FDI in the entire project, which will take seven years for completion, is to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore, the
statement said.

In the first phase, the project will be run on a pilot basis for 11.8km in the Pune Metropolitan region at a cost of
Rs 5,000 crore, it added. PTI MR

All Teleco Products including Mobile Phones to undergo Test Certification by DoT

Telecommunication Engineering Center (TEC), the technical wing of Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, on Tuesday started issuing certificate to telecom equipment makers after testing their products in government certified laboratories set up in the country.

The first set of certificate has been issued to Panasonic and Vadodara-based electronics firm Matrix Comsec in simple telecom equipment category.

The certificates have been issued after a delay of about six years. The government had first set October 1, 2013 as deadline for scrutiny of all telecom products and equipment to be sold in the country to check espionage through malwares. However, the deadline was postponed several times due to non-readiness and shortage of labs in the country.

"The whole idea of testing here is not to create any obstacle but to make things simple for the industry and affordable as well. There is no reason why India should not become a centre for testing and certification," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said after handing over certificates to the companies.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) had amended Indian Telegraph Act in 2017 to address issues hampering the process of mandatory testing of products that are to be sold in the country from October 1, 2018.

The government has now set October 1, 2019 as a fresh deadline for mandatory testing and certification of 13 simple telecom products like landline phones, cordless phones, modem, fax machines etc.

"Testing of all products including mobile phones and telecom equipment will start gradually in a phased manner. New products will be notified from time to time that are to be included in the mandatory testing process," said D K Khanna, TEC deputy director general for telecom certification and MRA.

The government has authorised 40 private labs and 10 state-run bodies to conduct security testing of telecom equipment and products.

Despite US Ban, Huawei registers 23% Increase in Revenue, Claims Chairman

Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies said on Tuesday that its revenue has been increased by 23.2 per cent year-on-year to USD 58.3 billion in the first half of the year, even as its top official admitted US sanctions would bring challenges in the coming months.

The US has banned Huawei, the world's leader in telecom equipment and the number two smartphone producer, over concerns of security and Washington has been pressuring other countries to restrict the operations of the Chinese telecom firm.

The Shenzhen-based company generated revenue of 401.3 billion yuan (USD 58.3 billion) in the first six months of the year, up from 325.7 billion yuan during the same period in 2018 due to a jump in smartphone shipments and robust demand for its 5G equipment, the company said.

The net profit margin was 8.7 per cent in the first six months, Huawei said in a press release here. Huawei's key business segments – consumer, carrier and enterprise – produced revenue of 220.8 billion yuan, 146.5 billion yuan and 31.6 billion yuan respectively, it said.

According to Huawei's Chairman Liang Hua, operations are smooth and the organization is as sound as ever, despite the US ban. The US ban on Huawei products prompted Google to withdraw its services to Huawei's future phones which could curtail access to its Android operating system. Huawei managed to boost sales despite the effects of being included on the US Commerce Department's Entity List, which prevents the company from buying American-made technology.

"There has been some impact on our business (from the US ban) such as intelligent computing and on our server and consumer business in non-China markets … but generally in the first half the impact has not been large," Liang was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

Liang said operations are smooth and the organisation is as sound as ever. He, however, admitted that with the US actions "objectively we are facing many difficulties."

With effective management and an excellent performance across all financial indicators, Huawei's business has remained robust in the first half of 2019, the press release said.

In Huawei's carrier business, H1 sales revenue reached CNY 146.5 billion, with steady growth in production and shipment of equipment for wireless networks, optical transmission, data communications, IT, and related product domains.

To date, Huawei has secured 50 commercial 5G contracts and has shipped more than 150,000 base stations to markets around the world, he said.

Last month, China gave green light to its major state-owned companies to start rolling out 5G services in its efforts to move ahead in the global race for setting up the super-fast telecommunications system. Beijing city has built 4,300 5G base stations in the city's urban core areas and iconic buildings to implement the superfast technology as the Chinese government started issuing 5G licenses to telecom firms.

Huawei released its first 5G smartphone, the Huawei Mate 20 X, on July 26. The 5G is the next generation cellular technology with download speeds stated to be 10 to 100 times faster than the current 4G LTE networks. The 5G networking standard is seen as a critical because it can support the next generation of mobile devices in addition to new applications like driverless cars. PTI KJV

Tech Mahindra Acquires US-based Design Firm Mad*Pow

IT firm Tech Mahindra Tuesday said it has acquired US-based strategic design consultancy firm Mad*Pow, a company that received recognition as one of Inc. 500's fastest growing privately held companies of 2009.

The company however did not disclose the deal size.

Founded in year 2000, by Amy Cueva, Mad*Pow is a Portsmouth headquartered design agency that helps its clients improve their health and wellness, meet their financial goals, learn, and connect. The agency’s workshops are based on its real-life experiences working with organizations of all shapes and sizes in a variety of industries.

Mad*Pow is also a commercially available human factors research organization that routinely incorporates persons into ethnographic, remote-, lab-, and field-based studies. The company partners with various companies, including Cigna, ESPN, John Hancock, Pearson, Microsoft, and Google.

"Mad*Pow's acquisition is in sync with Tech Mahindra's global digital charter. With this collaboration, our digital footprint will take a deeper root not just in the US, but also in the wider ecosystem world over," Tech Mahindra MD and CEO CP Gurnani said in a statement.

The acquisition is expected to help Tach Mahindra boost its capabilities in customer experience and digital transformation, user experience design, behaviour change design, content strategy, mobile app and web development, data science and analytics etc, the statement said.

Earlier in February this year, Tech Mahindra has acquired Dynacommerce, a Netherlands-based IT firm, for around Euro 15.9 million (around Rs 128 crore or $17.8 million)

Startup Behind 'Jio Saarthi', Jiny Launches World's 1st AssistiveUI Platform for Businesses

There are two different internet user segments in India - the English speaking India (10% of the population), and the vernacular Bharat (90% of the population). In the last couple of years, cheap data and affordable smartphones have accelerated Internet penetration in Bharat, ballooning the number of Internet users in India to more than 500M.

While Bharat has gotten internet access, adoption is still a distant dream. Most of the Bharat users’ internet usage is limited to just messaging, social media and watching videos which are relatively simpler tasks.



They are still miles away from being able to do slightly complex tasks like making online transactions due to lack of digital literacy/proficiency. This has led to 300M people become non-translators, who have internet access but haven't adopted digital commerce and struggle to use complex apps. Hence, Internet businesses are struggling to grow commerce beyond the first 100M internet users.

To address this problem, Jiny has created a new class of mobile interfaces called Assistive user Interface (AUI). It’s a first-of-its-kind digital handholding solution that guides users at each and every step through vernacular speech hence making digital applications extremely easy to use. Consider it as a Google maps navigation inside an app. To enable any business add this unique assistive capability to their apps, Jiny has launched world's first AssistiveUI platform.



Last week, Reliance Jio, which recently became the largest telecom operator in India, launched Jio Saarthi which is powered by Jiny. It's expected to help more than 200M+ Bharat users to make mobile recharge on the MyJio app. It is a huge step towards a digital Bharat.

The Jiny platform supports 12 vernacular languages and can easily be integrated with any mobile app. With unique vernacular and assistive capabilities, Jiny promises to transform the digital landscape in India and help business trigger mass digital adoption in Bharat.

Women Entrepreneurs across India converge to Increase Participation in Science & Technology

Aspiring women entrepreneurs from across the country would converge here on Thursday to receive expert tips aimed at lessening their under-representation in running businesses in the field of science and technology. The 'Women Startup Summit' on August 1 is being hosted by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in association with the Indian Women Network under the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The summit would bring together successful women leaders, startup founders, policymakers and aspiring women entrepreneurs on a common platform to share their experiences, aspirations and success stories, KSUM said in a press release here Tuesday.

The deliberations with Developing an Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem as the focal theme would feature inspiring visionaries whose innovative actions are changing the world on an unprecedented scale.

The event at the integrated startup complex at Kalamassery would also host panel discussions, fireside chats
and keynote conversations between women luminaries from a diverse range of fields such as technology, business, media
and entertainment.

Besides knowledge-based sessions, there would be one-on-one interactions at the meet that is open for all women
professionals, aspiring entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and startup founders, the release said.

The opening session would be addressed by KSUM CEO Saji Gopinath. Kerala State Planning Board member Mridul Eapen would deliver the inaugural address, while Teja Ventures founding-partner Virginia Tanwill would give the keynotespeech.

The meet comes in the backdrop of Kerala having 13% women participation in the technology startup
ecosystem and the state governments proactive steps for increasing the participation of women in the sector.

The administration has implemented multiple policies and schemes which focus on supporting the women startups.Ba sed on the concept Of Women, By Women, For Women, the state government schemes can be availed by women startups from across the country.

The support facilities offered by the government would be shared during the women's summit. About 20 women startups shortlisted from the She Loves Tech national grand challenge would be showcased in the summit.

She Loves Tech 2019 Global Startup Competition is a worldwide platform for women entrepreneurs as well as startups
dedicated to improve the lives of women.

KSUM is the nodal agency of government of Kerala for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the
state.

India Accelerator to Induct 10 Startups in its 3rd Demo Day

India Accelerator, a seed-stage accelerator program for start-ups is organising their 3rd Demo Day on 3rd August 2019 in Palms Country Club, Gurugram. 10 Indian start-ups including VAPP, Charitism, Gigzo, DROR, The Knotty Tales, Pritvi.ai etc will be a part of the Demo Day.

The Demo Day is an experiential environment for start-ups to put forth their ultimate and final pitches, get exposure and interact with Industry-specific investors, business mentors and like-minded people. The startups will present their best pitches and secure funding, mentors and network. Demo Day by IA will provide a platform to high potential start-ups to strengthen their network and stand out in the start-up community.

India Accelerator is the only GAN partnered, mentorship-driven, acceleration program in India. Twice a year, they select, fund, & build 5-7 start-ups as part of the 4-month Bootcamp. For over these 16 intensive weeks, they attempt to turn their embryonic ideas into full-fledged valuable businesses.

Mona Singh, Founder, India Accelerator, reiterates, “With the acceleration program we aim to focus the startups on further developing their product, team and market, refining their business model, achieving product/market fit and scaling the start-up into a high growth business, etc. and culminate them at Demo Day. We look forth to the day and hope it to be constructive enough for them.”

Canadian Tech Startup Expands Presence in India to launch IoT Products

SnowM Inc, a Canadian tech startup focussed on building IoT solutions, today announced the opening of its new branch in India, Hyderabad, to address the significant market opportunity in the IoT market and support its rapidly growing support base in India.

As the company’s the first office in India, the new location enhances the company’s ever-expanding the global presence and was strategically selected due to the abundance of skilled engineering talent, the business environment and culture, and SnowM’s existing relationships in the region. Besides, the Hyderabad office also helps SnowM for further growth in India and strengthens and accelerate the country’s growing IoT ecosystem.

The opening of our office in Hyderabad, India, represents a significant step forward in the execution of our IoT growth strategy explained Madan Kanala, Founder & CEO of SnowM. Madan who hails from Andhra Pradesh bring his experience from working with global brands such as Broadcom and Hewlett –Packard, says “Our vision for SnowM is it to help businesses transform with connected intelligence and with the introduction of new technologies like NB-IoT, SnowM’s drive for developing smart solutions will help meet the growing demand of multiple businesses.”

SnowM's product contains 5G enabled smart devices that will cater to major application categories of transport, agriculture, health care, asset tracking, logistics, smart cities, and security and safety. Its solution architecture enables communication between cloud connectable sensors and an integrated, cloud-based analytics engine to extract and analyze data for actionable insights.

With a decade of experience, SnowM’s workforce is skilled engineers and professional services experts, working on core product innovations across SnowM’s IoT portfolio. With this new branch, SnowM is expected to expand its workforce in Hyderabad in the next one year and strengthen its position as a high-growth startup. The new office is located at Hyderabad's White House at Begumpet. Hyderabad is also home to R& D of few other companies such as Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Google.
About SnowM

SnowM is a B2B (IoT) Solutions Company started its operations in 2018, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. SnowM's products empower businesses with connected intelligence. SnowM Inc. designs end-to-end IoT solutions and manufactures easy-to-use, cloud-connected, rugged electronic devices, with rich data analytics and reporting.

Vodafone-Idea's Money App M-Pesa Shutting Down, Writes-off ₹210 Cr for Payment Bank Closure

Vodafone Idea Ltd has decided to close m-pesa vertical following the closure of Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd (ABIPBL), in which it was being merged with, a top official said on Monday. Launhed in 2007, M-Pesa is a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and microfinancing service launched by Vodafone for Safaricom and Vodacom.

Last week, ABIPBL had announced that it is winding up of its business on account of "unanticipated developments" that made its economic model "unviable".

"The merger of Vodafone m-pesa with ABIPBL has thus been called off and business prepaid instruments and business correspondence are in the process of closure," Vodafone Idea Chief Executive Officer Balesh Sharma said company's earning call. He attributed regulatory changes for the payments bank business and deterioration in health of telecom sector to the decision.

"Now, that we are proposing not to have the payments bank as well as the m-pesa business. Instead of having m-pesa of our own, we will explore the market and partner with fintech companies," Sharma said.

Vodafone Idea wrote off Rs 210 crore in the June quarter on account of decision to close its payments bank business.

"The impairment charges include impairment in payments bank and m-pesa entities of Rs 2.1 billion (Rs 210 crore) following the decision to discontinue payments bank, wallet and business correspondent businesses in the respective entities," Vodafone Idea Chief Financial Officer Akshaya Moondra said.

The company had written off a total amount of Rs 580 crore during the first quarter of 2019-20. Vodafone m-pesa was one of the 11 firms that was given payments bank licence by the Reserve Bank of India in 2015.

Tech Mahindra, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company and a consortium of Dilip Shanghvi, IDFC Bank Ltd and Telenor Financial Services surrendered their payments banks licences even before commencing their business.

Sharma said that decision to close down payments bank business is also part of the company's strategy to focus on core business which is the telecom business. Vodafone Idea is phasing out 3G services and re-farming all spectrum for 4G services.

The company is looking to check the churn of customers onto other network which led it to lose market leadership position to Reliance Jio in June.

Reliance Jio had a user base of 331.3 million by June 2019 while that of Vodafone Idea subscriber base declined to 320 million in the same month. Sharma said after a minimum charge of Rs 35 per month introduced by the company, many customer consolidated to single SIM which showed 4G subscribers moving out of the Vodafone Idea network.

He said the churn has come down to 3.7 per cent and the company is making effort to curb it further with high revenue generating customers.

Few days back, a report from economists at SBI said that, "The future is "uncertain" for payments banks and the model aimed at deepening financial inclusion requires regulatory support in order to be effective."

Vehicles in India to Affix Invisible Microdots to Prevent Thefts: Govt Draft Notificatio

Invisible microdots will now come affixed on vehicles and their parts to prevent theft as well as to check fake spare parts, the government said on Monday. The government issued a draft notification for amending the Motor Vehicles Rules.

"The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has issued a draft notification GSR 521(E) ... amending Central Motor Vehicle Rules, allowing motor vehicles and their parts, components, assemblies, sub-assemblies to be affixed with permanent and nearly invisible microdots that can be read physically with a microscope and identified with an ultraviolet light source," the ministry said in a statement.

Microdot technology involves spraying the body and parts of the vehicle or any other machine with microscopic dots, which give a unique identification.



Use of this technology will help check the theft of vehicles and also the use of fake spare parts.

"The microdots and adhesive will become permanent fixtures/affixation which cannot be removed without damaging the asset, that is the vehicle itself," the statement said.

The ministry has sought comments/objections on the draft notification within thirty days.

Tech Behind Microdot

[caption id="attachment_132455" align="aligncenter" width="732"] A Microdot[/caption]

Microdot Technology is a process of spraying thousands of microscopic dots onto vehicles or other assets in order to provide a unique identification. Each Microdot carries this unique identification which is registered to the owner, but is not visible to the naked eye.

A microdot is a tiny polymer disc measuring one millimetre in diameter. The microdot has either the 17-digit VIN or PIN laser-etched in it no less than nine times, which includes hidden security layers. The microdot information is accessible to law enforcement officers, insurers and motor industry employees by utilising an inexpensive UV light and a low-power microscope. DataDot has trained 16 000 SAPS members in the identification of microdots and supplied 12 000 kits for the purpose.

Success Rate of "Microdots"

According to Carmag.co.za statistics, when a vehicle is fitted with microdot technology (identified by a sticker on the vehicle), the risk of theft or hijacking decreases by more than 50%.

The technology also prevents the sale of stolen vehicle parts and, according to DataDot, more than 14 000 vehicles have been recovered and identified since 2003 using the technology.

After GDPR, EU Court now Mandate Sites to Warn about Facebook 'Like' Button

In May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect, in order to protect and handle information collected from citizens living in European Union (EU) countries. This made a substantial change in Web and internet industry besides that pop-up that users have to tolerate to proceed with engaging with any internet entity.

Now in a fresh brawl, Europe's top court ruled Monday that online retailers must warn web users that they send personal data to Facebook through the "like" button.

According to the European Court of Justice ruling, a site that embeds the Facebook "like" icon and link on its pages also sends user data to the US web giant.

"It seems that that transmission occurs without that visitor being aware of it and regardless of whether or not he or she is a member of the social network Facebook or has clicked on the 'Like' button," it said.

Under EU data protection law, therefore, a European retailer and the US platform are jointly responsible for gathering the data and sending it to Facebook's Irish subsidiary. Users should therefore be warned and asked to consent to their data being gathered, although the retailer is not responsible for what Facebook does with it later.

"As a result of this case, companies that embed this 'like' button on their website cannot hide behind Facebook any longer," said Monique Goyens, of the European Consumer Organisation. "The decision therefore underlines the right for internet users to always get information on what data are collected and how they are used by websites," she said.

The case was brought by a German consumer protection agency against online clothes site Fashion ID, which embeds a Facebook button to encourage shoppers to publicise its wares.

Bitkom, a German trade federation for online businesses criticised the ruling, saying it would heap costly bureaucracy on firms without enhancing consumer protection.

"With its decision, the ECJ places enormous responsibility on thousands of website operators -- from small travel blogs to online megastores and the portals of large publishers," Bitkom CEA Bernard Rohleder said.

He warned that the decision would go beyond Facebook and effect all social media plug ins, which are important for many firms to expand their reach on the web. (AFP)

Mobikwik, Payment Startup Hip Bar Slapped with ₹15 and ₹10.8 Lakh Fine for Violating Norms

The Reserve Bank has imposed a total penalty of around Rs 26 lakh on two online payment solutions providers One Mobikwik Systems, the parent of payment wallet Mobikwik and Hip Bar, a payment tech startup that counts Bengaluru-headquartered alcoholic beverages company, United Spirits Ltd (USL), as its investor.

One Mobikwik Systems Private Limited has been slapped a fine of Rs 15 lakh while Hip Bar Pvt Ltd faced a fine of Rs 10.85 lakh, according to an RBI release.

These two prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers have been levied monetary penalty for non-compliance of regulatory guidelines, the release said.

To recall, in June last year United Spirits Ltd, which is the flagship liquor arm of Diageo India, has invested Rs 27 crore to pick 26% stake in Hip Bar Private Ltd.

10 Indian CEOs Named in the World's Most-Influential CEOs List of 2019

Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Chairman Sanjiv Singh and ONGC head Shashi Shanker are among the 10 Indian CEOs named in the CEOWORLD magazine's global ranking of the world's most-influential chief executives in 2019.

ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal is the highest-ranked Indian CEO but the ranking lists his company as a Luxembourg-based firm.

While Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Ambani was ranked 49th on the list, Singh was ranked 69th. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker was ranked 77th in the list of 121, according to the list published by the magazine.

Other Indian CEOs on the list included State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar (ranked 83th), Tata Motors CEO Guenter Butschek (89th), BPCL Chairman and Managing Director D Rajkumar (94th), Rajesh Exports Executive Chairman Rajesh Mehta (99th), Tata Consultancy Services CEO Rajesh Gopinathan and Wipro Chief Executive Abidali Z Neemuchwala (ranked 118th).

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan retweeted a link of the CEO ranking.

"Unsurprisingly, Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon came first in the CEOWORLD magazine's global ranking of the best chief executives across all industries for 2019," the publication said. "He is followed by Royal Dutch Shell's global chief executive Ben van Beurden, and ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal."

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H Nasser is ranked No. 4.

"Sanjiv Singh, @ChairmanIOCL, makes it to the 100 most influential Chief Executives across industries as per @ceoworld magazine," IOC tweeted. ONGC also tweeted, saying, "Shashi Shanker, @CMD_ONGC, makes it to the 100 Most Influential Chief Executives across industries as per @ceoworld magazine."

The 2019 rankings placed BP's chief executive, Bob Dudley in fifth ahead of ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods into sixth; while Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess ranked seventh, and Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda eighth.

Overall, among the top-10 most influential CEOs in the world 2019, the ninth and 10th positions are held by Apple CEO Tim Cook and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took the No. 11 spot, followed by the UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann (No.12) and Samsung Electronics Chief Executive Kim Ki-Nam (No.13).

Out of 121 best CEOs in the world 2019, Chevron CEO Michael K Wirth ranked No. 20th, it added.

"CEOWORLD magazine's global ranking of the best chief executives for 2019 measured more than 1,200 CEOs across 96 countries. Taking a long view of business performance, the methodology is primarily based on the financial returns for the CEO's entire tenure, which makes up 60 per cent of the final ranking, as opposed to stock price and the current quarter's numbers," the publication said.

To calculate the final position, the additional 40 per cent of a CEO's ranking factors in a company's track record on environmental, governance, and social issues, as well as market shares, change of market capitalisation, and brand's newsworthiness and the impact was taken, it added. PTI ANZ

Ride-Hailing Giant Grab to Invest $2 Bn in Indonesia using SoftBank funds

Ride-hailing giant Grab is investing USD 2 billion in Indonesia over the next five years, using funds from Japan's SoftBank Group to boost its presence in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, the firms said Monday.

The Singapore-based firm has seen its business grow rapidly since it bought US-based rival Uber's regional ride-hailing and food business in March last year in exchange for a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab.

Its Indonesian investment will focus on building a next-generation electric vehicle transport network and rolling out e-healthcare services to improve access to doctors and medical services across the archipelago.

The announcement came after SoftBank last week said it would partner with tech firms including Apple and Microsoft in a new USD 108-billion investment fund.

It is the long-mooted successor to its mammoth Vision Fund, which took stakes in leading tech start-ups from Uber to WeWork.

"Indonesia's technology sector has huge potential," SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son said in a statement. "I'm very happy to be investing USD 2 billion into the future of Indonesia through Grab."

The Japanese firm has also invested in Grab, which competes with Indonesian ride-hailing giant GoJek, and offers a host of services, including food delivery and bill payments.

On Monday, Grab also announced plans to build a second headquarters in Indonesia that will house a research and design centre. (AFP)

Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad have Highest Antibiotic Residues in Milk

India, the second largest producer and consumer of dairy products in 2018, needs a regulatory body to create a framework for building an antibiotic resistance monitoring system (ARMS) and develop training centers for teaching Good Husbandry Practices to dairy farmers and ranchers, according to a study done by the Coimbatore-based research firm, Firstmr Business Analytics (F1rst).

F1rst is a business research and consulting firm specializing in food and beverage ingredients, based in India with a global footprint.

As part of its academia outreach services, a survey was conducted in five different cities, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai to test the prevalence of antibiotic residues in milk. The prevalence of antibiotics residues was found to be higher in Delhi (100%), Ahmedabad (60%), Hyderabad (20%), followed by Bengaluru (10%) and Mumbai (10%).

The South-Asian nation, which produced over 175 million tons of dairy products in 2018, is at risk of passing on antibiotic residues to its future generations through dairy products and milk.

Improper drug usage

Out of 10 samples collected in each city for five days continuously, Ahmedabad and Delhi showed higher levels of antibiotic residue prevalence. Prevalence is calculated based on the number of milk samples showing positive above the tolerance limit ranging from 10µg/L of different antibiotics for minimum one day during the survey period of five days.

Frequency of milk sample laced with antibiotic residues was at a higher level in Ahmedabad, which means that antibiotic residues were detected all the five days.

Babies can't digest cow milk as easily as breast milk and when it contains antibiotics it may lead to antibiotic resistance, said Dr. S. Balamurugan, Vice president of Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Tamil Nadu. Moreover, if the milk is “containing antibiotics which may lead to antibiotic resistance to babies (it may) also complicate and prove difficult to give appropriate antibiotics to babies,” he said in an interview. “So, starting cow's milk after a year is advised mostly.”

Antibiotics residues arise from drugs that are administered to the animals and unintentionally get into the milk they produce. If a batch of liquid milk contains antibiotics at a level above the tolerance limit of 10µg/L of milk, then it has to be rejected. Some of the dairy processors or small-scale milk producers ignore these tests. This is either due to the lack of awareness of the implications or considering this quality check as unnecessary for liquid or pouch milk-processing, according to the F1rst study.

Strict Procedures

Large dairy players, with fermented dairy in their product portfolio, have strict procedures on quality control, including a check for antibiotic residues. This is to avoid milk that will interfere with the fermentation by lactic acid bacteria and other microorganisms.

Temperature treatment

Studies on heat or thermal stability of veterinary antibiotics commonly detected in food have shown that some antibiotics (sulphonamides) are heat stable and can withstand over 100 degree Celsius.

This means that high-temperature treatment cannot degrade antibiotics and even if it is degraded either partial or complete, effects of these degradation by-products on human health or food safety are yet to be studied.

Regulatory standards

Animal husbandry should be closely monitored with the regulatory standards, and proper diagnostic kits should be made available to prevent the milk with remnant antibiotics entering the dairy chain at the farm-level.

There should be sufficient skilled manpower trained on drug usage and disease control, made available to each animal husbandry locations, the F1rst study stated.

The National Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a broader term for antibiotic resistance, (NAP-AMR) proposes to restrict non-therapeutic antimicrobials use. The Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) endorsed that people should only use antibiotics under prescribed conditions and not as OTC (over-the-counter) drugs.

Awareness

An initial survey conducted by F1rst had shown a higher prevalence of ß-lactams (beta-lactam) and tetracycline class of antibiotics in the milk samples from the retail markets in five selected cities in India. This highlights the need to build awareness on proper antibiotics usage in livestock, mainly cows, to treat mastitis.

Consumer concerns

There is a need for vigilant control and monitoring of antibiotics and self-compliance, Good Husbandry Practices and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, according to the F1rst study. Creating awareness among the stakeholders is vital to implement new regulations and standards towards the importance of handling antibiotics.

Dairy farmers and para-vets should be trained for proper use of antibiotics and sensitised to prevent OTC drug purchase and administration of antibiotics to cattle.

Firstmr Business Analytics (F1rst)

F1rst is a specialist business research & consulting firm specializing in food ingredients, additives and related fine chemicals and technologies. We have expert consultants for ingredients and demand sectors located in India and around the globe to provide in-depth understanding.

Website: www.firstmr.com

1st Ever India Gaming Awards Launched to Strengthen Gaming Ecosystem in India

India Gaming Awards is an initiative that was officially launched in 2018 to recognize and encourage creative and technical excellence in the Indian Gaming Industry. In the same vein, India Gaming Awards has announced the official launch of its website to give audiences an unparalleled insight into the creative, inspirational worlds of Skill Games and Casino Gaming in India.

India has one of the world's largest youth population and is looking to become one of the world's leading markets in Gaming Sector. The Indian Gaming Industry is currently valued at almost USD 900 million with an estimated annual growth rate of 14.3 per cent. The prospect of the industry is bright to say the least, with millions of gamers across the country enjoying some of the best gaming experiences from games developed by companies in India like Rummy, Poker, Teen Patti, Fantasy Cricket Games, and a host of others.

The growth of the industry in India and the acceptance of different kind of Skill Games from companies operating in the country have led to an increase in the number of game developers in the country. However, while many of these companies, such as Ace2three (Nominated in few categories including “Online Rummy Operator of the Year”) and Adda52(Nominated in few categories including “Online Poker Operator of the Year”) have grown to become a success in India, their efforts remain unrecognized. This is where India Gaming Awards is looking to make a difference, particularly with the launch of the first of its kind website in India.

The India Gaming Awards aims to celebrate innovation, hard work, excellence, advocating fair play and showing that the power of games is beyond entertainment. The platform brings together a diverse group of game players, game developers and notable names.

Landbased and Offshore Casinos are popular in Goa and Sikkim and casinos like Big Daddy Casino or Deltin Royale (Both Casinos nominated for “Casino of the Year”) attracts millions of players every year still there is no forum presently available to reward the success of these companies and India Gaming Awards is planning to address this.

Some categories to be featured at the event include the Best Online Rummy Operators, Online Poker Operators, Operators with Best Mobile Product, Operators with best product, Fantasy Betting Operators and a host of others.

The judges on the panel are selected from the creme de la creme of top Indian Gaming Companies and International Gaming Companies, featuring names like Jaydeep Chakravartty, the Vice President of Nektan Plc, Kelly Kehn, Founder of Kelly A.Kehn Consulting Ltd., and Tony Plaskow, the Commercial Director at Black Cow Technology. Other individuals on the panel are Jay Sayta – well known and respected iGaming India legal expert and Swapnil Chaturvedi, Director at Club Empire Tech Pvt. Ltd. More industry experts are being added as judges on this platform.

The initiative has already started to receive accolades from different stakeholders in the gaming industry. “India Gaming Awards is coming at the best possible time, providing gaming companies the platform to get the recognition they deserve. Having taken part in Global Gaming Awards, EGR Awards and Asia Gaming Awards, I do believe this is a great initiative which will result in growing the overall ecosystem of Gaming Industry in India” said Jaydeep Chakravartty – VP, Nektan Plc.

India Gaming Awards is a platform founded for the recognition and celebration of gaming companies in India that have made their mark in the industry. The goal is to bring their works to the forefront, giving them the attention, they deserve.

Website - http://indiagamingawards.com/india-gaming-awards/

Bigbasket Raises $14.5 Mn in Debt Funding from Trifecta Capital

Trifecta Capital on Monday said it has provided ₹ 100 crore (~ US$14.5 milliom) in venture debt to SuperMarket Grocery Supplies, the parent of online food and grocery delivery startup Bigbasket.

"This is the largest venture debt transaction in the country...The funds will be used to meet the working capital and capex requirements of the company," a statement said.

This includes setting up new warehouses, strengthening the cold chain, facilities for reprocessing of fruits and vegetables and for scaling-up of its supply chain for the recently launched milk subscription business - BB Daily and its specialty vending machine business - BB Instant, it added.

In April, BigBasket raised $40 million from CDC Group, the UK government's development finance institution. The funding was part of a bigger round of $150 million that BigBasket is raising at a valuation of $1.2 billion, making it the latest entrant to India's coveted unicorn club of startups.

"We have a clearly identified use case for debt. We are present in 26 cities and continue to optimise our supply chain. A significant part of our business is fresh fruits and vegetables, the bulk of which is sourced directly from farms. It is crucial that we maintain the quality right up to the last mile. Funding such capex requirements is best done through debt," SGS co-founder Hari Menon said.

Bigbasket, which has raised about USD 150 million from South Korea's Mirae Asset Management, UK's CDC Group, and existing investor Alibaba earlier this year, had taken venture debt from Trifecta Capital in 2017. It competes with SoftBank-backed Grofers as well as Amazon.in and Walmart-owned Flipkart.

"...(we) realised that it was a more optimal form of financing for working capital and capex. Venture Debt not only reduces dilution for all shareholders, it reduces cost of capital, improves ROE and expands runway. We recently raised USD 150 million from marquee investors and decided to supplement the equity capital with additional Venture Debt...we hope to be able to leverage their (Trifecta) Bank/Non-Bank relationships for our future fund requirements," SGS co-founder and CFO Vipul Parekh said.

Bigbasket was founded in December 2011 and has operations spread across 26 Indian cities. It is backed by investors like Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Ventures, Ascent Capital, Sands Capital, Alibaba, CDC and Mirae. PTI SR

Digital Uttar Pradesh - Airtel Implemented State Wide Area Network (SWAN)

Bharti Airtel ("Airtel"), India’s leading telecommunications services provider, today said that it has designed and implemented a future ready State Wide Area Network (SWAN) for the Government of Uttar Pradesh as part of Government of India’s e-Governance initiative.

UPSWAN 2.0, which is one of the largest of its kind in India, was launched by the Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minster Dr Dinesh Sharma.

Mr. Alok Sinha , Additional Chief Secretary (Commercial Tax, IT & Electronics) said: “Under the leadership of our Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi ji India is undergoing a digital transformation and empowering its citizens through e-Governance. Uttar Pradesh, which is India’s largest state, is making rapid strides towards becoming fully digitally enabled and ensuring that government services reach every corner of the state over a digital backbone. We are pleased to partner with Bharti Airtel in this journey and congratulate them on building this key network infrastructure."

UPSWAN 2.0 comprises of 885 Points of Presence (PoPs) across the state and is designed to provide secure, high-speed connectivity for delivery of Government services to citizens over a Closed User Group network. This modern network infrastructure now digitally connects all State Headquarters, District Headquarters, Block Headquarters & Tehsil Headquarters across Uttar Pradesh and empowers them to deliver Government to Government as well as Government to Citizen services in a quick and seamless fashion.

All State Headquarters will be equipped with upto 10 Gbps connectivity while District, Block and Tehsil Headquarters will have upto 10 Mbps connectivity. A dedicated Network Operations Centre has also been set up in Lucknow to monitor the network performance.

UPSWAN will enhance efficiency and enable seamless e-delivery of government services to citizens even in deep rural pockets. These include filing of applications for pension and financial aid, registration for employment, issuance of birth and death certificates, application for new/renewal of ration cards etc. It will also lay a robust foundation for building Smart Cities across the State.

Airtel has provided end to end solution for this large scale digital infrastructure including MPLS, Internet Bandwidth, Network Hardware Equipment, Security Firewalls, System Integration and Managed Services.

Mr. Ajay Chitkara, Director & CEO - Airtel Business said: “We are delighted to be able to contribute to the Digital India vision and partner with the Government of Uttar Pradesh in their digital transformation agenda. UPSWAN, which compares with the best in class networks, will be digital backbone for the state and help in building a truly connected Uttar Pradesh. On behalf of Airtel, I would like to thank the State administration for giving us this opportunity."

Airtel Business is India’s leading provider of ICT services with a diverse portfolio of services to enterprises, governments, carriers and small and medium businesses. It serves over 3000 Large and 500,000 Medium and Small enterprises with world-class services.

Airtel is a trusted solution provider for fixed-line voice (PRIs), data and other connectivity solutions like MPLS, VoIP, SIP trunking. Additionally, the company offers solutions to businesses Audio, Video and Web Conferencing. Cloud portfolio is also an integral part of its office solutions suite, which offers Storage, compute, Microsoft office 365, ecommerce package through shopify and CRM packages on a pay as you go model.

Along with voice, data and video, its services also include network integration, data centers, managed services, enterprise mobility applications and digital media.

Airtel Business provides ‘One solution, bill, support, face’ experience to customers. It also offer global services in both voice and data including VAS services like International Toll Free Services and SMS hubbing. Airtel Business’ strategically located submarine cables and satellite network enable its customers to connect across the world including hard to-reach areas and its global network runs across 250,000 Rkms, covering 50 countries in five continents.

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G, 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 403 million customers across its operations at the end of March 2019.

Cisco, Google's 'gStation' to Roll out Public WiFi Across India starting with Bengaluru

US networking giant Cisco on Monday said it is collaborating with Google for its 'gStation' offering that provides access to free and high-speed WiFi at public locations across the country.

Under the partnership, Cisco is providing the network infrastructure and a pilot has been rolled out in Bengaluru. About 25 locations in the city are already live and another 200 locations will go live in the next 2-3 months. These locations include public spaces like bus stops, hospitals and government offices among others. Post that, it will be extended to 300 more locations in Bengaluru, and more cities in the country as well.

"This is a global partnership and India is the first country, where we are rolling this out," Cisco President (India and SAARC) Sameer Garde said at the Cisco India Summit 2019.

The development comes within a week after Cisco has signed an MoU with the Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) to bring the benefits of digital technology including Internet of Things (IoT) and data science to farming communities in Kerala, as part of its Country Digitization Acceleration (CDA) programme.

The project is being rolled out in partnership with D-VoiS - an Internet service provider in Bengaluru. The next locations being looked at include outskirts of Delhi, and cities in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

"The success of digitisation and digital citizen services is closely tied to the proliferation of high-speed internet. The partnership represents a significant growth opportunity as the demand for public Wi-Fi hotspots is expected to go up by 100X over the next three years," he said.

In February this year, Google and Cisco had announced their global alliance.

According to a Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) report, an estimated 8 million additional hotspots need to be installed to create new market opportunities for infrastructure providers and internet service providers. Currently, India has only 52,000 WiFi hotspots.

"Solving for access is one of the core pillars of our 'Next Billion Users' strategy, and with gStation we have developed a best in class public WiFi solution that provides a seamless, high-quality broadband experience to users," said Sajith Sivanandan, MD and Business Head, Google Pay and Next Billion User Initiatives, India.

The proliferation of public WiFi in India can provide a significant boost to the government's digital ambitions of ubiquitous connectivity and digital inclusion, and serve as a complementary network for telcom companies.

According to the Cisco VNI report, nearly 59 per cent of internet traffic is expected to be offloaded from cellular networks to WiFi by 2022, wherein lies the tremendous opportunity for ubiquitous dispersion of WiFi.

Google, through 'gStation', provides WiFi services in public locations in partnership with various entities. In partnership with RailTel, it has provided WiFi access across over 1,000 railway stations in the country.

Apart from India, Google has taken the model to other countries like Indonesia, Nigeria, Thailand and Mexico as well. PTI SR SVK

Scientists at IIT Hyderabad Develops Solar Cells using 'Kumkum Dye' for Low-cost, Eco-Friendly Options

Scientists at IIT Hyderabad have developed low-cost, environment-friendly solar cells by employing an off-the-shelf dye used to make kumkum or vermilion in India.

The dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC) is based on New Fuchsin (NF) dye with aqueous electrolyte and platinum-free counter electrodes, according to the research published in the Solar Energy journal.

The most familiar solar cells today are made up of silicon and can be seen in the various overhead panels and other places, noted Professor Sai Santosh Kumar Raavi from Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad.

However, this technology is limited by huge fabrication costs as silicon processing is very expensive and involves very high temperature methods that leave a large carbon footprint, Raavi, who led the project, told PTI.

In order to get around the limitations of using silicon, the IIT Hyderabad team started working on solar cells based on organic materials, which were supposedly inexpensive and easy to fabricate.

However, there were many drawbacks impeding the organic photovoltaic technology as organics (plastic) are less robust. Many dye molecules developed for efficient DSSC devices are very expensive and toxic upon ingestion.

Also, most DSSC devices tend to get degraded as they come in contact with atmospheric moisture, Raavi said.

Since 2010, lot of efforts have been made to use water-soluble natural and synthetic dyes to make water-based solar cells.

In their latest work, Raavi's team consisting of researchers from Department of Physics and Chemistry (IIT Hyderabad), ARCHEM (University of Hyderabad) NIT Kurukshetra and IFSC-USP, Brazil, employed a very cheap magenta-dye called New Fuchsin, which is used to make kumkum or vermillion when grounded with turmeric.

"It's cheap, non-toxic and is soluble in water and importantly does not degrade in the presence of water,” Raavi said.

How Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell Works

Dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC) is a third-generation thin-film organic molecule-based energy conversion device. "DSSC takes its inspiration from nature, almost mimicking the primary process of photosynthesis the phenomenon in plants," Raavi explained.

DSSC consists of three components: A monolayer of dye molecule adsorbed on semiconductor material, titanium dioxide (TiO2) deposited on transparent conductive oxides, like indium tin oxide (ITO) and a liquid electrolyte with an excess of electrons.

Sunlight is absorbed by the dye molecule and gets excited. The electrons from the excited dye molecule get injected into the conduction band of TiO2.

"The electrons are transported to the charge collector. The dye cation (after losing its electron) takes an electron from the surrounding electron-rich liquid electrolyte. The counter electrode, typically, is platinum-coated ITO," Raavi said.

DSSCs, Raavi noted, are generally considered eco-friendlier to produce than conventional solar cells because they require little energy to manufacture.

The best performing DSSCs use organic solvent-based liquid electrolytes. These liquid-electrolytes come with various drawbacks such as high vapour pressure, toxicity and sometimes explosives resulting in severe environmental impact in addition to being corrosive to the platinum counter-electrodes, thereby limiting long-time stability of the devices.

"In spite of extensive search for various alternatives, to address the fore-mentioned issues, one of the most important aspects still unresolved in the DSSC community is the contamination of standard aprotic DSSC systems by means of moisture or water," Raavi said. "In this scenario, focus on dye-sensitised solar cells which are inherently in the aqueous medium have taken precedence," he said.

"In view of being cost-effective and stable in the aqueous environment, an ideal DSSC should consist of inexpensive sensitiser, water-based non-toxic electrolytes, and platinum-free counter electrode, giving the true definition of 'green' photovoltaic device," said Raavi.

The best device, he said, showed a photoconversion efficiency of about three per cent which is among the best obtained with DSSC with other natural photosensitisers with a simple molecular structure. This technology using NF dye, researchers said, could be used to build integrating photovoltaics.

NF is an inexpensive dye available off-shelf in most supermarkets in India, and in its purest form costs USD two per gramme.

By the choice of cell components during the fabrication, a low-cost eco-friendly DSSC based on NF dye with aqueous electrolyte and platinum-free counter electrodes is achieved, Raavi said.

"The idea of this work is not to run behind the best efficiency. Sometimes, the cost for achieving the highest efficient device overwhelms the actual motivation behind developing a particular class of solar cell technology- which is to be eco-friendly and inexpensive," he added. PTI

The Government Blockchain Association (GBA) to Enter Indian Subcontinent through Collaborative Intelligence

The Government Blockchain Association (GBA) is making inroads into the Indian marketplace, through the establishment of a dedicated localized chapter within the country. The organisation functions as a Not-For-Profit enterprise that will look towards the education, adoption and adaptability of ledger based solutions in India. The GBA-India Chapter is spearheaded by Mr Sharat Chandra, who is renowned as a ‘Top 20 Thought-leader’ in GovTech.

GBA is an international non-profit association helping government, public sector professionals, and organizations around the world to understand, implement, and benefit from blockchain technology related technologies and capabilities.

Blockchain technology has witnessed impressive traction over the last couple of years, with successful startups and projects focused around Green Energy, Agriculture, FinTech, SCM & Logistics, Manufacturing and Land Registry. These ventures have shown impressive results and are presently being scaled for wider adoption.



Despite being at the focal point of the South Asian market, India has been moving at a relative snail-pace with regard to blockchain adoption. Hence, the GBA-India Chapter was established. The organisation will look towards guiding startups in the blockchain space, as well as help local government bodies develop adequate regulatory policies and charter laws for ledger based solutions. Another important feature behind the organisation’s conception was the burning need to educate the masses and upskill them technically for the domestic blockchain ecosystem.

Ms Debajani Mohanty, Blockchain consultant and author of 4 bestselling books, serves as an Advisor for the GBA-India chapter. She quoted that “The GBA-India Chapter was founded with a vision to bring Blockchain to the mainstream by educating the mass, working closely with start-ups, advising them on their Blockchain strategy, practices and connecting them with the right set of investors. GBA is also conducting sessions and workshops in some of the most prestigious educational institutes of India to prepare students for emerging technologies today that most curriculums do not cover. I am proud to be part of this eminent team, preparing India for NextGen technologies.”

The organisation has also added industry veterans like Dr Paritosh Basu, Prasanna Lohar and Gokul Alex to its list of eminent advisors.

Mr Prasanna Lohar, Head of Innovation and Architecture for DCB Bank, said that

“Partnerships between competitive banks, technology companies, Academia, Fintech and Regulators will bring benefits to consumers and the financial system. Collaboration among these driving forces will bring on multiple innovative & cost effective use cases, such as Data Protection, KYC/AML and Identity Management. Post Demonetisation, UPI, GST and many other movements, Blockchain is set to become the ‘Radical Change Agent’ in India.”

First on its itenary, the GBA-India Chapter will be conducting a Blockchain Workshop in association with IIM-B, on the 26th of July. All participants will receive a certificate of completion for the workshop.



Ex-CFO of Reliance, Dr Paritosh Basu, has gone on the record to state that “The internet has transcended geographical boundaries, Blockchain will have to break sovereign boundaries. It should be grounded on the humane foundation of sustainable shared values. Blockchain technologists cannot become just another Technology-tribe. They should become the harbingers of development, shared with the masses for inclusive happiness, irrespective of globalisation or protectionism for any country.”

The GBA-India chapter will also be conducting the Bangalore Blockchain Conference on the 27th of July, in Bangalore city. The summit will feature an array of 20 renowned speakers like Mr Manish Jain, Partner for Digital Consulting at KPMG; Mr Venkat Raghavan, Director of Analytics for the Boston Consulting Group; and Mr Kevin Lally, VP of the Crypto Valley Foundation.

Flipkart Debuts its Offline Market Entry with Furniture Experience Centre in Bengaluru

Flipkart Sunday announced its foray into the offline space with its decision to set up first Furniture Experience Centre in Bengaluru.

Spread across nearly 1,800 square feet, Flipkart would offer a touch and feel experience to customers in the fast-evolving online furniture market, the e-commerce major said in a statement.

According to the company, this is a step towards helping customers understand the vast selection of furniture offered by Flipkart and increase awareness around the seamless buying and installation experience it offers.

Flipkart Vice-President (Furniture, Electronics and Private Label) Adarsh Menon said, "As a customer-focused organisation, we understand the requirements of customers and hence 'FurniSure'. The idea behind the FurniSure Experience Zone is to allow customers to explore Flipkart Furniture's offerings in a new and innovative fashion."

Flipkart is also working with Google to enhance customers' overall viewing experience at these FurniSure Experience Centres through integration with Google Lens.

Visitors at the experience centre can use their smartphone to scan the Flipkart Furniture icon at the experience centres, which will then route them to the platform's furniture page, allowing them to explore the product catalogue along with their various features. PTI KRH

Coming Soon A High-Tech Cycle Valley in Ludhiana District

The Punjab government will establish a high-tech cycle valley spread over 383 acres in Dhanansu village of Ludhiana district as part of its efforts to bolster the industrial sector and create jobs, the state's Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora said on Sunday.

The modalities with regard to purchasing the required land have been completed and the layout plan has also been accorded approval. The project would entail a cost of Rs 300 crore, he said in an official statement here.

Arora said the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh-led Congress government is working diligently towards setting up such industrial units in the state which would serve the twin purpose of being environmentally friendly and providing employment avenues to the youth.

He said the requisite clearances for establishing the cycle valley have already been obtained, including those from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The minister said a 100-acre plot has been allotted and possession given to Hero Cycles Limited, Ludhiana in December 2018 for setting up of its main unit.

Arora said Hero Cycles has set a target of commencing production by April 2022.

The cycle valley would be connected with the Chandigarh-Ludhiana National Highway by constructing a 100-feet wide four-lane and 8.5 km long external road, the minister added.

With 4 Patents, 12-yr-old Boy gives Innovative Solutions for Traffic Rule Violators

Innovations come naturally to this Maharashtra boy who has barely turned 12 but has already applied for four patents for the apps designed to curb road accidents and vehicle theft.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari saw a presentation by this young talent master, B S Revant Namburi, and assured him support to bring the technologies into reality, subject to technical clearances from his department.

A Class VII student of Mount Litera Zee School in Nagpur, the apps developed by Revant relate to monitoring traffic violations in real time and includes tools like a seatbelt sensor, breathalyser, heart rate analyser, and CPU, designed to store information and alert the authorities.

The second app developed by Revant uses quick response (QR) codes to enable printing of data and document anywhere without the requirement of network connectivity.

The other patents relate to a system for preventing or detecting theft of vehicles through a smart key, a pre-installed SIM card, and an authorisation process ensuring the security of the vehicle besides detecting theft of vehicles using a licence verification.

Revant says that idea behind the patents is that his technology could be transferred and utilised by the government or any private company for the larger welfare of the society.

Gadkari said his department always encouraged innovators, and innovative technologies could be absorbed to minimise accidents if found right on technical parameters. Such innovations assume significance in the wake of India accounting for as high as 5 lakh road accidents per annum in which 1.5 lakh people die and another 3 lakh are rendered crippled.

Revant's mother Shilpa Shekhar Namburi, an MD in Ayurveda, said initially she could not notice the potential of his curiosity over issues but soon she realised that his concepts sounded mature and worthy of thorough attention.
S
he shared an experience as to how a road accident became a driving force behind Revant's curiosity and finding out solutions. She said her car had met an accident after a cargo vehicle rammed into her car despite red traffic light signal and fled the spot and how Revant who was sitting with her in the car was impacted and said why they could not take action against the culprit.

Shilpa said Revant sought two days' time from her and came out with an app to detect real-time traffic violators when he was only in class VII.

She said that after the incident, she also met Vivek Dahiya, director of Boudhik Ventures Pvt Ltd in Nagpur, which proved to be turning point not in Revant's life rather few more school students.

"It was concluded in the meeting that Team Boudhik will shape Revant's raw thoughts into logical solutions and file patent application/s for each of them after checking patentability threshold of the concept/s. Thereafter, joined efforts of team Boudhik and Revant resulted into filing of three patent applications," she said.

She said Revant happens to be one of the youngest innovators in India to apply for four patents at the age of 12 years.

The Lok Sabha earlier this month passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019, that seeks to remove corruption, improve road safety and use technology to regulate traffic. PTI NAM

Telecom Minister Ask the Industry to Focus on 5G Innovation in Health, Agriculture

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday exhorted the sector to make India a hub for telecom equipment manufacturing. Prasad said that India is on its way to become a global power with march of technology and asked the telecom industry to focus on innovation around 5G technology to create products with India specific patents.

He said that India generates huge amount of data and has a potential to emerge as global hub for data analysis, data innovation and data refinery while prioritising privacy.

"India must become a centre of telecom equipment manufacturing... low cost telecom products. COAI should be a partner," Prasad said at a curtain raiser event of India Mobile Congress.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last year recommended for the formation of a unit within the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to promote the manufacture of domestic telecom equipment.

TRAI recommended the establishment of a Telecom Research and Development Fund (TRDF), with an initial corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. The fund should seek to promote research and innovation for the designing, manufacturing and testing domestic telecom equipment.

"I want mobile sector to ensure that start-ups should be encouraged more and more. So I want mobile sector to work in conjunction with start-ups," Prasad said. He asked the industry to come with innovative 5G products in areas like mobile, healthcare, agriculture and other sectors which have potential to reap its benefit.

Talking about digital data generated in India and gaining importance in the sector, Prasad said the government is coming up with robust data protection legislation and will not compromise on data sovereignty.

Industry body COAI at the event announced that the three day India Mobile Congress will be held between October 14-16, 2019.

Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the number of exhibitors this time at the event is expected to be double the size of last year's. PTI PRS MBI

Bizongo in Talks for Series-C Funding, targets Fourfold Hike in Revenue by Next Fiscal

Multi-category packaging services provider Bizongo is in the process of raising fresh funds to finance ramping up of technology and product offerings as it targets fourfold jump in turnover to around Rs 1,600 crore by the next financial year, according to a top company official.

The Mumbai-based firm is betting on food delivery and e-commerce business to be among major growth drivers besides retail and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors, according to Bizongo Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Aniket Deb.

The company provides end-to-end automated packaging design, development, procurement and artwork solutions to its clients across industries such as FMCG, food, retail, consumer durables, supply chain and e-commerce.

"The Indian packaging industry is a USD 72-billion market currently and is growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 16 per cent. Bizongo is in the right place to leverage this huge opportunity as packaging is inextricably linked to India's consumption growth story," Deb told PTI.

People are buying more branded goods both online and offline, ordering more takeaways even in smaller cities and towns which means these segments will need more packaging, he added.

Elaborating on the company's plans to tap the opportunity, he said, "Our next big bet is the food delivery and e-commerce business which is growing at 31 per cent and 32 per cent, year-on-year, respectively. Retail and FMCG are the two other areas with huge growth potential."

The plans is, he said, to increase the company's footprint by bringing in more delivery pin codes but added Bizongo does not want to lose sight of serviceability.

"We believe our efforts will see an increase in the number of clients," Deb said.

Bizongo's current clients include Amazon India, Tata Cliq, Sesa Care, FirstCry, Curefit, Myntra, Flipkart, MI, Bunge, Agarwal Packers and Movers Ltd, Liso Chocolatier, Godrej Interio, Reliance Retail, Godrej Tyson, Johnson & Johnson.

Deb said the company currently has a "revenue run rate" of Rs 400 crore and "we expect to approximately grow around 4 times in the next financial year".

When asked if the company is looking to raise fresh funds, he said, "Bizongo's Series-C fundraising process is still on" but declined to share details.

So far, the company has up to USD 22 million through two rounds of funding. Its investors include Accel, Chiratae Ventures (formerly known as IDG Ventures), Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin's venture capital firm B Capital and World Bank's investment arm International Finance Corporation.

When asked where the funds would be deployed, he said it will be "in ramping up our tech and product offerings. We will also invest in our flagship product ProcureLive. This will help in on-boarding more clients and give us the bandwidth to curate more sellers on the platform which is crucial to our expansion plans".

In terms of manpower addition in line with the expansion, Deb said, "Bizongo currently has 554 employees on its rolls and we would increase it to 700-800 to match our expanded operations. One of the major focus areas is to bolster our technology/suite of products that we offer to our customers and partner sellers." PTI RKL

Health Tech Startup Visit Health looks to Raise $10 Mn in Series-A Funding

Health tech start-up Visit Health is looking to raise around USD 10 million in a Series-A funding to finance its expansion, including increasing number of its empanelled doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and pathological labs, according to a top company official.

The company, an artificial intelligence-based health tech app platform offering preventive and curative, primary healthcare solutions, has already raised a total funding of USD 1.4 million and is backed by investors, including MapmyIndia, Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, and Hetero Drugs Director Murali Krishna.

Visit Health Pvt Ltd co-founder and Head of Product Anurag Prasad said the company also plans to expand its offering by launching innovative insurance products and geographical footprint across India.

"We are looking towards raising a Series-A funding of around USD 10 million and this will be deployed in expanding reach by increasing our distribution network," Prasad told PTI.

Elaborating on the company's future plans, he said, "We are looking to aggressively enhance delivery by expanding the network of empanelled doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and pathological labs and reach by appointing new distributors network, partnering with top digital platforms."

The company is also planning to include therapies and psychological counselling in its offering.

"As we grow our user base, we will be investing heavily in AI (artificial intelligence) to upgrade the Visit platform and continue to offer a seamless and hassle-free user experience and speedy access to our various offerings," he added.

He said the company has around half a million users currently, which include both corporate and retail users.

Visit Health offers OPD insurance policy for retail users through a tie-up with Apollo Munich Insurance covering "unlimited online and offline doctor consultations and diagnostics, all insured throughout the year for a fixed premium", he said adding the company earns a part of the premium for its online consultations portfolio and servicing the clients.

Besides, Prasad said the start-up also has 'Corporate Wellness Subscriptions' offering a fully scalable primary health insurance cover for various corporates with the user company paying a monthly, per-employee subscription charge for providing wellness, health and unlimited online consultation services.

"Our clients include top blue-chip companies like IBM, Wipro, HDFC AMC, Times of India, Rolls Royce, ABG Group, JCB, and Avery Dennison," Prasad said. PTI RKL ABM

Hero Electric Looking to Raise ₹700 Cr to fund Accelerated Expansion

Hero Electric is planning to raise funds to finance its accelerated expansion to cash in on the wave of electric vehicles (EV) in India, according to a top company official.

The company is looking at an investment of around Rs 700 crore in the next three years to ramp up production capacity of its electric scooters to 5 lakh units annually from about 1 lakh units this year.

"In every aspect we are expanding. There is no looking back for us...We are expanding in terms of dealer network, manpower, product portfolio and manufacturing...We will invest and also raise funds for the same," Hero Electric Managing Director Naveen Munjal told PTI.

Asked how much funds the company is looking to raise, he said it has not been finalised and the company is working it out at present. "We already have external investor. So either that external investor puts in or we get another investor, I am not sure right now. We have to still work on the details," Munjal said, adding in the next couple of years there would have to be substantial investments, specially in manufacturing.

Currently, Alpha Capital is the investor in Hero Electric outside of the Munjal family.

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Commenting on the company's future plans, he said, "We will have to do a minimum of around Rs 500-700 crore for different applications, and a large part of it will go into manufacturing, product development, R&D and marketing."

These investments will help in supply chain, dealer network, training and upgradation of dealer network, among others, besides ramping up production capacity, he said.

On capacity expansion, Munjal said,"This year we are going to be almost one lakh (annually). In the next three to four years we want to be at least half a million," he said.

Depending on how the government policy shapes up, specially how the FAME-II is further fine-tuned to address a wider segment of lower priced electric two-wheelers, the company would align its expansion, he added.

"This half a million (capacity) can go up much faster. If we find that the policy is indeed moving in that direction of what the government and Niti Aayog is talking and there is no change in that, we may have to accelerate this year itself and that scale may go up even higher," Munjal said.

Terming the current mood regarding EVs in India as "exciting times", Munjal said the company will have to accelerate "much quicker and plants will have to come up much quicker and our products will have to be better than what we have currently."

As part of its expansion plans, Hero Electric is aiming to increase the number of its dealers across India to 1,000 by next year from around 600 at present.

In terms of products, he said at present the company offers four main models and their variants."We could be introducing more products in the next year but what we would do along the way is that some products will get upgraded and some products will get phased out...At any point of time we will have 5-7 products and variations below them," Munjal said. PTI RKL

'Big Firm' to Setup Li-ion Battery Making Unit: India's Game-Plan for Electric Vehicles

India has put in place a game plan for electric vehicles (EV) and its components like batteries to ensure clean cities, reduce imports and utilise solar power, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said here on Saturday. He said domestic battery manufacturing for electric vehicles provides a "massive market opportunity", and also quickens the transition to such environment-friendly transport, which is vital for the country to help combat pollution, congestion, strengthen energy security and create jobs.

Addressing a conference on sustainable mobility through video link, Kant said the country's EV focus should mainly be on two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicles and public transport.

"We have a game plan to drive electric vehicles, particularly two and three-wheelers, public transport and manufacturing of batteries in India. Our objective is that we should first work on about 80 per cent of components of two and three-wheelers and buses and also push manufacturing of batteries in India," Kant said. "Our objective is to clean up cities, reduce imports, and utilise the sun and its energy for driving electric vehicles," he said.

"From the perspective of energy security and competitive advantage, new mobility solutions will reduce oil import costs, lower India's trade deficit and limit our vulnerability to oil supply disruptions," Kant said.

With low per capita car ownership, which currently is 20 vehicles per 1000 people, India has an opportunity to leap frog ahead of the legacy model of individually owned internal combustion Indian vehicles that are utilised by only 5 per cent of the people, he said.

"India's low per capita car ownership affords the chance to pursue a different model from the western world. Our emphasis must be shared, connected electric transportation," he said.

To create a unique eco-system to enable 'Make in India', and drive the movement for manufacturing in India, the country will require a phased programme across the entire value chain, an efficient fiscal impact structure, and size and scale aligned to the country's ambition to produce world-class vehicles for domestic and international markets.

"With batteries accounting for almost 40 per cent of total cost of EVs today, domestic battery manufacturing is a massive market opportunity for India to rapidly enable the transition to EVs," Kant said.

"New battery technologies like solid state lithium ion battery, sodium ion battery, and silicon based batteries are underdeveloped. India needs to vigorously pursue research and development and have a clear road map for manufacturing on a mega scale," he said.

To facilitate charging infrastructure, Kant said newer models should be explored and start-ups must be facilitated in this area.

He said new cities like Dholera (coming up near Ahmedabad) should allow maximum number of EVs.T alking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference, Chief Secretary J N Singh said Gujarat is poised to lead in the field of e-mobility.

Dholera is emerging as a very important township for this. A big company will announce investment in Dholera in lithium-ion battery manufacturing for EVs....We plan to develop a 5,000-MW solar power plant, and 250 MW plant will be
ready soon, Singh said.

"We are in the last stage of discussion with Tata Chemicals for lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant. The battery is vital for e-vehicles and comprises 40 per cent of car cost," he said. PTI KA