All posts by Neel Achary

Business World

RBI maintains status quo, realtors rely on increased demand

Dec 5, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #RBI, #real estate, #Repo Rate

The RBI maintained status quo as the MPC voted unanimously to hold rates steady. The repo rates have kept unchanged at 4%, and the RBI expects positive growth in Q3 and Q4. The real estate sector was expecting some additional announcements; however, the sector has to rely on the announcements made in the last few months only. Real estate experts feel that the demand is high, and the latest status quo of the RBI will not have any negative impact on it.
The announcements of repo rate cuts by the apex bank during the lockdown have helped the reeling sector of real estate. Apart from the rate cuts, RBI has also gone ahead with measures such as rationalization of risk-weightage norms, restructuring of loans based on the projects, linking home loans to LTV, the intensity of policy changes made within a span of few months reflect the positive intent of authorities to support major sectors like real estate. “The onus to lend continuous support lies entirely on banks’ quick disbursal of funds. Home loan interest rates are at their lowest, which has already shown a positive impact during the festive months in the residential segment. The upcoming quarter is likely to witness more of it and register a positive curve,” says Yash Miglani, MD Migsun Group.

Maintaining that the RBI’s recent decision to maintain the status quo was expected due to the pace observed in the market around festive times, Vijay Verma, CEO, Sunworld Group, says, “Apex bank has also gone beyond the usual changes and introduced notable policy changes over the past few months, aiding both buyers and developers. This has brought a certain extent of vibrancy in the market, post the stillness in the market that lasted almost a quarter. The flexibility to cut rates if the economy needs support indicates a positive signal for the future. Residential real estate backed with festive offers and deferment payment plans has been fairing well post-unlock. We are hoping with GDP growth for 2021 projected at -7.5% the realty sector can contribute a significant share in the overall economic development.”

The sector is already optimistic, and the sales figures over the last few months are an indication that buyers are enjoying the low home loan interest rates. “Real estate sales have improved, especially after home loan interest, and it will further improve if other states reduce stamp duty after the announcements made by Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. The sector will benefit a lot as the demand is already high and reduction in stamp duty will provide a further boost,” says Ashok Gupta, CMD, Ajnara Group.

Talking about the commercial segment, Sagar Saxena, Project Head, Spectrum Metro, says, “We are happy that the RBI is optimistic about the GDP growth. The foremost beneficiary of such a positive outlook in real estate would be the retail segment as it depends on consumer spending and business expansions. The demand for office spaces and commercial places is already witnessing a significant jump, and people are coming out to spend in malls.”

Adds Ashish Bhutani, MD, Bhutani Infra, “For the commercial segment, we were expecting that the RBI would come up with specific announcements that could boost investment. However, we understand the status quo stance as there was limited possibility of changing the repo rate below 4%. Last substantial announcement for the commercial segment was in February when the RBI permitted an extension of date of commencement of commercial operations (DCCO) of project loans for commercial real estate. The segment is in dire need of liquidity, which also depends on the priority lending status, and we hope that the segment will get adequate liquidity as the RBI in this MPC announcement has said that it will maintain the liquidity in the market.”

Commenting on the latest stance of the RBI, Dhiraj Jain, Director, Mahagun Group, says, “The government and the bank have taken multiple steps in the last few months. If quick implementation takes place, then many problems will get resolved. One such announcement was the loan restructuring that will help stuck projects bringing in more projects in the market. The Apex bank has shown positive outlook for GDP growth in the coming quarters, and this would definitely have a healthy impact on the real estate sector too.”

In the last few months, the government and the RBI took decisions intended to move towards the path of economic recovery, and real estate was looking for packages that can help them speed up the pace. Ankur Bhatiani, Director, Urbainia Spaces says, “Though we understand the stance taken by the RBI, we still feel that real estate sector needed announcements that could have an immediate impact on delivery and sales. Now, the need is that RBI should ensure that the past announcement should get implemented with earnest. The sector has yet to see the major impact of those announcements. We hope the individual banks will take necessary steps and keep the real estate sector in their priority lending list.”

Realtors say that buyers are now back, and the sector will now depend on the delivery of the projects to instill more confidence in the market. Harvinder Singh Sikka, MD, Sikka Group, says, “We were following the various reports, and were ready for the status quo of the RBI. We feel that the sector, which contributes towards the economic growth of the country, should get special attention. The RBI should ensure that banks extend lending support to the sector.”

Dhiraj Bora, Head-Marketing and Communication, Paramount Group, adds, “We should praise the RBI for extending a helping hand to the real estate sector as it has taken care of the interest of buyers and developer in the last few announcements. Till the next announcement, the sector has to work on deliveries and employing marketing tools that can augment the increased demand.”

News

350 tribal artisans to be handpicked under ASSOCHAM TEDP program

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Arjun Munda, #ASSOCHAM, #Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, #Honourable Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, #President

New Delhi: With an aim to uplift the tribal community and instill the idea of entrepreneurship, the national industry body-The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India in association with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has kick-started their ‘Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme (TEDP), with a target to identify at least 350 tribal artists and help them expand their enterprises before 31st December 2020.
The tribal community comprises nearly 8 percent of India’s population. The central government initiated the program to get the tribal communities in the mainstream, leverage their strength, and to help them contribute to the process of Nation building. This is in line with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan announced by the central government to initiate self-sustenance and would help in creating employment-generating opportunities for the tribal community.

Shri. Arjun Munda, Honourable Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Government of India stated that there is a huge amount of ignorance about the tribal heritage and products. “Skill development and training is the need of the hour, so as to make them confident, self-reliant, financially independent and to develop and build resilience in them,” he said.

The minister explained that the program designed to develop entrepreneurial skills in tribal artisans by the ASSOCHAM is a kind of value proposition that they were looking at. “Hopefully, it will alter the path towards growth and inclusiveness for the tribal community in the country,” he said.

The program would identify artisans engaged into segments like Tribal Textiles, Paintings and Wall art, Superfoods, Traditional Medicinal Plants and Products, and Forest Produce. The artisans would be selected for the program from all across the country.

Each selected one amongst the tribes’ pan-India will be assessed and the training module will be designed on the basis of this assessment. The training will be aimed at improving the skillset based on the area of their expertise and developing new designs for their products as per market demand. Skills such as how to market their products on various platforms, how to maintain checks and balances, better accounting practices for managing finances would be taught and emphasized upon.

Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, President, ASSOCHAM said that the program will ensure that no one remains without the opportunity to progress and grow. “To support India’s vision of becoming Aatmanirbhar, the ‘Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme’ would try and optimize the contribution of tribal community to the growing economy of our country,” he said. The training that will be given at the CoE will make sure that the potential of approximately 8 percent of our population must be fully developed and leveraged,” added Dr. Hiranandani.

Mr. Deepak Sood, Secretary-General, ASSOCHAM, said that there are several challenges and bottlenecks that inhibit the growth process of creating self-sustainable enterprises. “These artisans face challenges such as lack of financial linkage and market access. At the center, we are trying to explore avenues of propelling the process and creation of robust tribal brand identity and in the process – build and enhance the entrepreneurial capabilities of the tribal artisans,” he explained.

The program is a sustained multi-stakeholder, multi-institutional collaborative initiative by the apex industry body ASSOCHAM to address the needs and to work for the upliftment of the tribal communities in the country.

Business World

Junoon – vocational training and job platform to help blue-collar workers

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Ahaan Aggarwal, #Founder & CEO, #Junoon

Gurugram: To help out the Indian economy get back on a growth path, Junoon, founded by a 17-year-old entrepreneur Ahaan Aggarwal, is a vocational training and Jobs search platform.

that is focused to upskill the unskilGurugramled and semi-skilled blue-collar workers in India.

During the pandemic, over 360 million informal jobs were impacted in India, resulting in an unemployment rate of over 23.5%. Junoon also released a research report on the informal jobs sector, that further talks about the eradication of livelihoods, and lack of training and opportunities to upskill for the 500 million labour force in India. Over 93% of the workers in this segment, had never received any vocational training.

To solve this problem, Ahaan Aggarwal conceptualized and developed Junoon which not only provides rich training and upskilling programs to workers in over 20 categories but also supports them in finding a sustainable livelihood as per their improved proficiency. The training programs come in both text and video format and, also incorporates an AI based algorithm to match the employer with the right set of skilled candidates.

Junoon has also raised seed round from reputed investors like Kunal Khattar, Sandeep Aggarwal, Chaim Freidman, Viren Rana and Vishesh Tandon. The deal size and company valuation are undisclosed, and the round is led by Kunal Khattar of AdvantEdge and Tech Entrepreneur and Investor Viren Rana.

Speaking on the opportunity Ahaan Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Junoon affirmed “India is the home for the largest number of blue collared workers in the world. During the lockdown, most of us normalized work-from-home very quickly, I could see that its wasn’t the same for the large majority of unskilled workers across the country. The mass exodus from the urban areas due to extinguished opportunities was horrifying on multiple aspects.

I created Junoon to support our workers to come back to the job market by being better trained and give them the ability to easily find opportunities. In many ways, we are creating digital community colleges for vocational training and placements. We are supported in this endeavor by corporates, individuals and government branches – and would like to invite more to work with us on this life and economy changing initiative.”

At junoon, we are creating digital community colleges for vocational training and placements. Currently, over 1500 people registered for the training. Also, 50+ Employers registered who created profile and started posting jobs. We have got 400+ jobs in 11 categories and requirements coming from 9 cities.

Business World

Quotes from Real Estate Industry Players on RBI’s Monetary Policy

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Advisor to the CMD, #AlphaCorp, #Central Park, #CFO, #Director, #Dr. Kunal Banerji, #M3M Group, #Pankaj Bansal, #RBI Repo Rate, #Santosh Agarwal

The RBI kept the repo rates unchanged to 4% and the reverse repo rate to 3.35% on the monetary policy review meeting today. The decision holds good news for prospective buyers in the realty sector. Here are the views of industry players on the same:

The decision of unchanged RBI repo rate and reverse repo rate is a smart move by the government. The government has taken favourable decisions to support the real estate sector in the past few months which has positively impacted the market sentiments and will improve further in the post COVID era. In the past quarter, the sector has seen a robust response in terms of sales across spectrums. This move will further encourage prospective buyers to invest in the realty sector. – Pankaj Bansal, Director, M3M Group.

We welcome the move from RBI that aims at keeping the repo rate unchanged. This will ensure an easy flow of money to the people in the country. This has given a positive ray of hope to the consumers who require a home loan and looking forward to possessing a new house. As people want to attain satisfaction and security of owning a house during this pandemic, the boost in this desire is given by the constant rate of interest on home loans, which is not going to rise soon. We expect that this move by the government will give another boost to real estate. –  Dr. Kunal Banerji, Advisor to the CMD, Central Park.   

The decision to keep the RBI repo rate and the reverse repo rate unchanged is again a great step by the government. With the economy growing post unlock, the housing sector is utilizing the opportunities due to various RBI decisions in the past few months. As a result, the sector has witnessed favourable market sentiments and increased sales in the past quarter. This will further continue to encourage banks to lend money to the housing sector and ensure improved credit flow. We hope to see further seamless support to the sector in the post-COVID era. This will revive cash flow in the country and maintain financial stability.  – Santosh Agarwal, CFO, AlphaCorp.

News

PFRDA allows OTP based authentication for NPS Subscribers

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #OTP-based authentication, #PFRDA

PFRDA allows OTP based authentication for NPS Subscribers who could not submit physical forms due to covid induced lockdown. Due to the Covid-19 induced lock-down and mobility challenges on account of social distancing norms, a large number of NPS Subscribers find it difficult to submit NPS Account opening forms to Central Record Keeping Agencies(CRAs). It was also observed by PFRDA that collection of physical forms by the Points of Presence (PoPs) and thereafter transmitting the same to the CRAs had become quite challenging. 

Hence, PFRDA, in the interest of NPS Subscribers, has decided to extend the OTP-based authentication to such accounts where the physical form have not been received by CRAs. By OTP based authentication, the subscribers, whose physical forms are not received till now, need not submit the physical forms and hence those subscribers can continue to avail the services of NPS, viz. contribution deposit, choice of investment etc.

In this regard, PFRDA has issued Circular No.  PFRDA/2020/51/SUP-CRA/22 dated 03.12.2020 ‘OTP based authentication for legacy accounts’.

In the interest of the subscribers, the PFRDA has also advised its intermediaries viz. CRAs/POPs to create awareness about this facility of OTP-based authentication among the Subscribers whose forms have not been received at CRAs so that such Accounts can be regularized. 

The subscribers whose mobile number and email id registered in their Accts can avail of the facility of OTP based authentication.

Business World

Mapsko Group wins ‘Residential Project of the Year’ award for Mapsko MountVille at Realty Plus Conclave

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Director- Mapsko Group, #Rahul Singla

New Delhi/Gurugram:  In another addition to its reputation, Mapsko Group, a real estate giant of Delhi-NCR, won the prestigious ‘Residential Project of the Year’ award for Mapsko MountVille project at the 12th edition of Realty+ Conclave & Excellence Awards 2020 North organised virtually on 27th November in New Delhi. The group competed against some of the major players of the sector and emerged victorious in the best project category. A group of an esteemed jury consisting of professionals and developers selected the winners based on their quality of offerings to consumers.

At the event Mapsko MountVille project was appreciated for its outstanding urban architecture and brilliant design, besides being surrounded by the lush green beauty of Aravalli. It is a highly ambitious project of the company that spreads over an area of 16.5 acre in sector 79 of Gurugram, and has become a center of attraction for buyers. The perfect amalgamation of comfort and natural ambience is working as a key stimulator for the buyers.

Elated by the honour, Rahul Singla, Director- Mapsko Group, said, ” This award is a recognition of our commitment to offer robust quality of homes to this globetrotting generation whose aspirations are increasing by the day. We try hard to understand the need of the buyers while developing projects and put our best to meet the expectations. This honour will encourage my team of prodigies to enhance their efforts to explore new paths as per the emerging challenges in the sector. ”

Mapsko Group won laurels at the event for developing quality homes designed meticulously with the architecture and amenities of global standards. The company was also praised for demonstrating firm commitment towards providing dream homes to the buyers within the time frame. The quality of services creates strong faith for the company among the consumers.

The major role company plays in providing desired space to people of the region was also recognised. As the area is witnessing increased economic activities and attracting millennials, the demand for homes will further rise in coming days and reputed groups like Mapsko would have to offer more customized products to buyers.

Realty Plus Excellence Award is given to builders for their contribution made throughout the year in the realty sector. The theme of this 12th edition of the convocation was ‘Building Resilience’.

Technology

Is technology the new driving force for an organisation’s growth?

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Calibehr, #IndusEntry

Technology has become the new driving force throughout organisations of every size, shape and industry. Companies that are still hesitating in embracing technology to fuel their business are sure to be left behind by companies automating, creating efficiencies, achieving scale, and providing a super customer experience all with the help of technology.

Operational benefits of technology are endless, not only startups but big companies are taking the help of technology to become a multi-billionaire organisation. Homegrown companies like ‘Ola’ and ‘Oyo’ have doubled their profits with the smart use of technology. So, by creating nation-wide connectivity, cost-cutting in millions, technology is not only helping bigger firms grow bigger but is also supporting small firms in the growth process.

Here we have listed a few companies that are providing technological support to the corporate and big organisations:

  1. Calibehr: Calibehr is a new age award-winning Professional Business Service provider in India with a spectacular array of tailor-made, unconventional offerings. The company combines the synergies of people, process and technology to drive seamless operations for large Indian enterprises, multinational corporations and state governments. Calibehr’s passionate team works obsessively with its partners to create tools and capacities in this technology first world. Its solutions cater to needs of different organisations to create robust mechanisms for client growth. Calibehr also simplifies complex processes through new age technologies like AI, Automation etc. for their clients.

Calibehr offers 350 delivery centers driven by a 15,000+ strong team of forward-thinking and outcome-oriented individuals, the company works in close collaboration to deliver quick, quantifiable results across 15 industries, in a digital-first world.

  1. IndusEntry: IndusEntry provides technology services and consulting that develops growth-oriented and cloud-based software solutions, services and support. It helps businesses and enterprises to integrate and implement existing and new technology solutions to improve productivity, performance & cost efficiencies in the sales, marketing, operations, manufacturing, and finance functions. With them, you also get the support of Digital and Social Media Advertising for your brand. India is one of the fastest growing digitally influenced markets. Telecom revolution has ensured that both rural and urban India has access to high-speed data. International search engines and social sites are today present in multiple Indian languages to ensure better user experience and greater exposure to businesses.
  2. Walsons: Walsons India’s longstanding presence offers steady service delivery with an understanding of local contexts, vital for managing essential business support services. It provides customers, wherever and whoever they may be, with a level of service that lives up to their brand promise. At Walsons, they believe that those who challenge the status quo today will do remarkable things tomorrow. By blending people, technology & knowledge, it delivers solutions for customers in a variety of industries.
News

Does MX Exclusive Series – ‘Beehad Ka Baghi’ resurrect the life of Dadua Dacoit?

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #alias Dadua Dacoit, #Shiv Kumar Patel

Touted to be a legendary dacoit – but with a difference, Shiv Kumar Patel, alias Dadua Dacoit operated in ravines and forests on the borders between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In the thirst to avenge his father, he took to a life of arms and went on to become a ‘Baghi’. Inspired by true events, MX Player has released a series ‘Beehad Ka Baghi’, set in 1998’s Chitrakoot, Bundelkhand. Directed by Ritam Srivastav, this series sees Dilip Arya play the lead character, called Shiv who also becomes a dreaded dakoit in a quest to take revenge against the brutal crimes committed against his family. Now this storyline does seem uncannily similar, doesn’t it?

Stark instances in the series bear a strange resemblance to the infamous Dadua Dakait’s real life. From the show, another similarity that struck out was how the real&reel-life character is questioned about being a ‘Dacoit or Messiah’. Known for his good deeds for the poor, people looked upto and worshipped Dadua – even though he unfurled a reign of fear and terror in the same town. Not only did the police witness dominance but even the government and officials had to bow down in front of Dadua, leaving it for the people and media to decide whether he’s indeed a ‘dakku’ or a ‘Bhagwan’.

In Dadua Dacoit’s real life, it is known that he was betrayed by one of his most trusted man. The series ‘Beehad Ka Baghi’ also throws light to how in the show, the character played by Dilip Arya of Shiv Kumar is also betrayed by his confidant, Doctor Saab. Would you call this a coincidence, too?

With these instances at hand, we definitely think that the web series – ‘Beehad Ka Baghi’ brings back the life of Dadua Dacoit. What do you think?

Business World

SRI Capital Backed Fakespot Raises $4 Million Series A

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #co-founder and CEO of Fakespot, #Fakespot, #Saoud Khalifah, #SRI Capital

Hyderabad: Fakespot (www.fakespot.com), the leading platform for consumers to protect themselves from eCommerce scams on Amazon, Walmart and Shopify sites, announced today that it has secured a $4 million in Series A funding led by Bullpen Capital with participation from Graph Ventures, Ty Shay, 500 Startups, Faith Capital Holdings, and founders Saoud Khalifah and Rob Gross. Fakespot will use the funding to expand its product offerings to its rapidly growing user base that is eager to avoid the growing problem with eCommerce scams on the top online marketplaces.

“We are very proud to have secured funding to continue building the next-generation platform that protects consumers from fraud,” said Saoud Khalifah, co-founder and CEO of Fakespot. “As more and more of our daily actions are done online, the importance of trust has grown exponentially and Fakespot intends to be the leader in building technology and products that tackle fake reviews, fake sellers and more. In Bullpen Capital, we have the ideal partner that has extensive knowledge of our industry and we are incredibly excited to craft the success story together.”

Fakespot’s mission is to bring trust and transparency to the Internet, starting with eCommerce. Utilizing a proprietary AI and Machine Learning platform that analyzes many critical data points including reviews, third-party sellers, and reputation data, Fakespot is trusted by over 325,000 users to save time, money, and frustration while shopping online. By downloading Fakespot’s Chrome Extension, consumers can easily detect unreliable third-party sellers and fake reviews in real-time. With no one having consumers’ backs, Fakespot is uniquely positioned to help consumers recognize misinformation and fraud online before they get ripped off.

“Online shopping has accelerated dramatically over the last 8 months and it’s very likely that this trend will continue after the COVID-19 pandemic ends as shoppers permanently re-evaluate what they actually need to go to the store for,” said Paul Martino of Bullpen Capital. “At the same time, this e-commerce boom has also increased activity from bad actors falsifying product listings and reviews in order to put one over on shoppers. We’re excited to lead this funding round and work with Fakespot to root out these bad actors.”

Prior to raising its Series A, Fakespot’s seed rounds were led by Philadelphia’s SRI Capital. SRI Capital recognized early on Fakespot’s potential to make big impact on the way people shop online. “The trillion-dollar e-commerce economy is based on consumer reviews and many of those are fake. This already huge problem has increased dramatically during pandemic and Fakespot’s machine learning platform tackles this problem head-on” said Doc Parghi of SRI Capital.

According to new data from IBM’s U.S. Retail Index, the pandemic has accelerated the shift away from physical stores to digital shopping by roughly five years. Nike says the move to online shopping will likely be permanent, as COVID accelerated the trend. E-commerce is projected to grow by nearly 20% in 2020 and department stores are expected to decline by over 60% for the full year. With Amazon’s sixth-annual Prime Day in the books and the holiday shopping season approaching, online sales continue to climb as the pandemic brings more lockdowns worldwide. According to a Digital Commerce 360’s annual retailer holiday survey completed by 118 retailers released in September, 33% of retailers project web sales this holiday season to increase as much as 24%, while an additional 34% are predicting gains of 25% or more.

Since re-launching its Chrome Extension with seller ratings earlier this year, Fakespot has seen explosive growth. Over the past four months, Fakespot has grown by over 250% with over 325,000 extension installs. This explosive growth has been fueled by providing users with features they actually need such as Highlights which provides the most important product information from real reviews. Fakespot’s Chrome Extension also analyzes third-party sellers in addition to fake reviews. Everyone talks about fake reviews, but only Fakespot protects online shoppers from unreliable third-party sellers who try to trick consumers into buying bad products.

Business World

Chetu Increases Operations In The United Kingdom

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Birmingham, #Chetu, #Holloway Head, #software solutions

Chetu, a leading provider of world-class software solutions, today announced the expansion of its UK operations team, as well as its new office space in Birmingham, England, to meet the increased demand for business technology solutions that facilitate and improve modern workflows.

Celebrating the first anniversary of its UK office, which opened in December 2019, Chetu has further augmented its Birmingham operations to accommodate up to 30 additional team members. The workplace, which is the home base for all European and Middle Eastern markets, has now tripled in size and will continue to serve as the company’s software delivery hub in the region.

With nearly 1,800 software development experts, Chetu is looking to further cater to the growing demand for business software development in Europe and the Middle East by bringing even more of their extensive industry expertise to the region’s startups, SMBs and large companies. With a unique delivery model that offers a true “branch location” feel for its European clients, Chetu is looking to continue to provide its entire global clientele with customized software solutions and real-time support to enhance their current IT systems.

“With businesses investing heavily in software solutions that streamline operations, and improve remote working, Chetu’s growth in the United Kingdom and Europe this past year has reinforced our decision to further invest in the region,” said Prem Khatri, vice president of operations at Chetu. “As a global company, we are looking forward to continue expanding our international presence and adding to our diverse Chetu family.”

Chetu’s UK office space will now include multiple floors at 119 Holloway Head, Birmingham, B1 1QP, England