PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Media Bulletins Today News Bulletin in English

Industry In UP Feels the Pinch of ‘Regressive’ Electricity Duty

Feb 25, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, #CMD of Ginni Filaments Limited, #Deputy Secretary General, #Mr. Shishir Jaipuria, #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, #Ranjeet Mehta

New Delhi: The industrial sector in Uttar Pradesh has lately been bearing the brunt of the electricity duty and cross-subsidy charges on electricity, which has hiked the cost of production substantially for several manufacturing units.

The imposition of cross-subsidy to the tune of Rs 1.56 per unit of the electricity procured under open Access arrangement by industries in the state , has come as a severe blow when they were struggling from impact of Covid – 19.

A cross-subsidy is a mechanism in which one set of consumers are charged higher tariff so that another set of consumers may be given electricity at a lower price. In India, the industrial units usually pay the higher tariff, but the National Tariff Policy, 2016, states that the charges should not be so onerous that they end up stifling industrial growth.

The electricity distribution system in U.P. has been undergoing a reform ever since the new government came to power in 2017. In 2018, the state government allowed industries to purchase power through Open Access Mechanism, as per the guidelines of U.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC). The move opened up greater options for consumers to procure electricity from the most competitive of the power companies. In another positive development, the cross-subsidy charges, which in 2018-19were Rs. 0.63 per unit of electricity consumed, were removed from April 2020 onwards to promote industrial growth and direct/indirect employment generation in the state.

Further, Director (Commercial) of Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitranm Nigam Ltd. (PVVNL), Meerut Region DISCOM issued an order to the Executive Engineers (Distribution) to levy electricity duty on the Open Access power purchasers in their DISCOM division, which led to a sudden hike in the cost of power by another Rs. 0.50 per unit in addition to cross subsidy of Rs.1.56 per unit. This was followed by another similar order by DISCOM Division Agra (DVVNL) in January 2021.

For the industrial units highly reliant on power for their production, this move has come as a blow, particularly when the manufacturing sector was looking for a respite and relief from the government to recover from the prolonged slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. These levies will definitely hamper the growth plans of Industries in U.P. which was envisaged by Govt. of Utter Pradesh.

The matter has not escaped the notice of FICCI (UP State Council), which has criticized the decision to impose such high levies as ‘a regressive step’ that shall only “escalate input costs besides eroding potential investor confidence”.

FICCI (UP) has also called the move ‘erroneous’ on the ground that a distribution licensee is not entitled under section 3 of Uttar Pradesh Electricity Duty Act 1952 to levy electricity duty on the power sold by trading Licensees under open access particularly from outside UP.

The definition of licensee in U.P. Electricity Act does not cover a trading licensee. Moreover, in 1998, the then government of U.P. had abolished electricity duty on own sources of generation.

According to PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the move to impose such levies would be detrimental to the industry of U.P. “Such unnecessary multiple taxations would result in hampering free movement of electricity between the states, and therefore, would be prejudicial to the freedom of trade and commerce,” says Ranjeet Mehta, Deputy Secretary General, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

CITI (Confederation of Indian Textile Industry) has recommended the removal of the cross-subsidy charge, stating that any losses to the state exchequer by this move will be compensated by the industrial growth prompted by it.

“Although there will be some revenue loss to the state Discom because of non-charging of cross-subsidies, but the same shall be largely offset by an increase in the state GDP and increased direct and indirect employment generation by 2.5 lacs workers. So, the urgent need of the time is to have a holistic approach and not a compartmentalized vision to take the state further in industrial growth,” says CITI in a statement.

Several industry players have expressed concern over the mounting cost of production, as a result of the high electricity duty and cross subsidy charges.

“With the imposition of these electricity duty and cross-subsidy charges, the cost of power consumption has gone up exponentially, and unless remedied this will have a cascading effect on the state’s industry and the investment climate at large. I urge the concerned authorities to take the remedial measures at the earliest by removing this duty and creating a more conducive environment for industry to grow and prosper in Uttar Pradesh,” says Mr. Shishir Jaipuria, CMD of Ginni Filaments Limited.

The matter has already been taken up by FICCI, PHDCCI and CITI with the U.P. Chief Secretary, the state’s Minister of Industrial Development, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as well.

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PHD Chamber Organizes Virtual Conference on Digital Marketing to Boost Sales

Feb 9, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Digital marketing, #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) in association with GIZ and Hisales Consulting organized an Interactive Video Conference on Digital Marketing to Boost Sales to apprise and update MSMEs and Industry members on Social Media Tools and building Digital Marketing Strategy to boost sales.

Welcoming the participants Mr. R S Sachdeva, Mentor, Punjab State Chapter, PHDCCI, informed audience that today’s session was third in the series under GIZ MSME INNO programme to provide technical support to MSMEs by identifying the issues and concerns being faced by them in these challenging times. He further stated, Digital marketing has become need for modern day businesses as it helps them connect to a wider audience on a much smaller advertising budget and gives laser-focused control over where and how they spend their money and thus increase in the conversion rates.

Mr. Prakash Batna, Founder, CEO Hisales Consulting Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai explained all steps on how to create a digital marketing strategy for businesses to generate more leads & increase reach. He shared insights on how to make Digital Marketing success. He also emphasized on Role of Digital Marketer to enhance brand awareness within the digital space as well as driving website traffic and acquiring leads/customers to boost company sales.

Ms. Rekha Agashe, ED & Managing Partner, Hisales Consulting Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai spoke on how the use of digital media has increased drastically in last two decades. She also explained difference between traditional and digital marketing and how to enhance marketing through Rule of 7. She updated participants on effective techniques to boost sales in uncertain times and customer retention strategies for increasing sales of products & services.

Mr. Salil Chaudhry, Founder, Netbhet E Learning Solutions, Mumbai demonstrated steps on how to create advertisement campaign on facebook and do digital campaigning. He explained how to run and optimize Ads for good visibility to generate customer interest. He said that if you want to reach out to your target audience and gain competitive edge you need to optimize your online campaigns to meet desired Goals.

He elucidated concepts of search engine marketing, (SEM), and social media marketing (SMM) and apprised participates on how google search algorithm works & role of Search engine optimization, (SEO) in fetching clients online.

Over 100 Industry members from Pan India including MSMEs enrolled in MSME INNO programme participated and benefited from the programme.

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Government follows “Minimum Government – Maximum Governance” principle as presented in Union Budget 2021-22: Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman

Feb 8, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, #President, #Shri Sanjay Aggarwal, #Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, #Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs

New Delhi: The Central Government is governed by the principle of “Minimum Government – Maximum Governance” and presented the same philosophy through the Union Budget 2021-22 recently. This was stated here today by Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a virtual event — Demystifying Union Budget 2021-22 — organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Speaking at the event, Smt. Sitharaman mentioned that the Government has spent big on those areas of activity which gives a big multiplier effect. The Finance Minister stated that the multiplier was the key to where the money was going. While acknowledging that the industry has welcomed the steps, Smt. Sitharaman said that the Government believes that welfare is when one empowers people.

According to the Finance Minister, the Government is also taking steps to carefully monitor the fiscal deficit. She mentioned that the Mool Mantra now is that fiscal deficit is something that one cannot escape, but at the same time, it needs to be carefully tackled.

The Finance Minister mentioned that the Government can give a stimulus package to revive the economy, however, funding the long term infrastructure financing is the job of the Development Finance Institution (DFI). Smt. Sitharaman said that it is not the job of just one DFI, but it is an opportunity for private DFIs to come into play. With many private DFIs competing, the entire process would become competitive.

Smt. Sitharaman said that the Government has managed to make the Union Budget transparent. There is nothing under wraps or swept under the carpet. Whatever the government is borrowing or spending is open for everyone to see.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, Shri. Sanjay Aggarwal, president, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the calibrated fiscal policy adopted by the Government to rejuvenate the economic growth and development in the country with an increased fiscal deficit for the year 2021-22 at 6.8% is highly appreciable. Shri Aggarwal said these measures will help increase the funds for infrastructural investment in the country and will, in turn, provide a multiplier effect as stated by the Finance Minister to boost demand and rejuvenate the overall economic growth trajectory.

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“MSMEs to Aerospace & Defence Manufacturing to double in the next five years” says, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary, Government of India

Feb 8, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #AERO INDIA 2021, #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Defence and HLS Committee organized an International Conference on Critical and Strategic Materials in Aerospace and Defence at AERO INDIA 2021.

Dr. Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary, Department of Defence, Government of India was the Chief Guest for this International Conference and Dr. Satheesh Reddy, Chairman DRDO and Dr. Saket Kumar, Director General, Industries & Commerce, Government of Haryana were the Guests of Honor for this International Conference.

The eminent Speakers included Mr. William Blair, VP & CEO, Lockheed Martin India; Mr. Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls Royce India; Mr. Ashwani Bahrgava, Director-Supplier Management, Boeing India International; Mr. M Z Siddique, Director, GTRE and Mr. B Saha, Regional Director, RCMA and Col K V Kuber, Director, Defence & Aerospace, EY who all shared their respective views and suggestions on the roadmap for making India self-reliant in its material needs for various strategic sector.

Dr. Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary shared that stress has been laid on the materials in DAP 2020. If any material is available in India then it has to source from India and it has to be a part of the RFP.As a part of Make in India, we want to see why not materials be developed in India. These materials need to be developed in India either by the material laboratories or though industry participation. MSMEs are the backbone of defence and aerospace industry in India. The Government aims to double the number of MSMEs from 8000 in defence and aerospace sector to 16000 in the next five years. The Government has reserved that any procurement up to Rs. 100 crores will be reserved from Indian MSMEs. There has also been a significant increase of 72% last year in the procurement through GeM.

Dr. Satheesh Reddy, Chairman, DRDO appreciated the efforts taken by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and MIDHANI to discuss on the critical and strategic materials and work on the issues related to it. Indian needs to master the manufacturing technology in order to become self- reliant and the Government is very serious about developing the capabilities for the materials within the country. He spoke about the various stages of development of the materials right away from mining, processing technology to their application in strategic sectors.

Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry applauded the Government for the new defence budget and the various policies for the growth of the aerospace and defence sector. Self-reliance is a major corner-stone on which the military capability of any nation rests. Accordingly, the Defence Acquisition Policy promulgated by the Government, aims at achieving substantive self-reliance in the design, development and production of equipment, weapon systems, platforms required for defence in as early a time frame possible, creating conditions conducive for private industry to play an active role in this endeavor; enhancing potential of SMEs in indigenization and broadening the defence R&D base of the country. As far as the indigenization is concerned, we have to take the first steps first where we have the in house capability to manufacture the materials, components and assemblies.

Strategic materials are increasingly important to the development of a nation-state in general and its security in particular. He urged that a considerable part of the defence capex budget should be reserved for indigenous manufacturers.

Mr. M K Gupta, Chair, Defence & HLS Committee, PHD Chamber set the tone for the Conference by sharing the various issues on the critical and strategic material requirements by the Indian and the global OEMs. He urged the Ministry of Defence to take up the various issues such as the Restriction in the use of indigenously developed materials in foreign designed defence equipment, Certification of defence equipment manufactured with indigenously developed materials, lack of adequate testing facilities for critical materials for defence applications and other key issues

Dr. Saket Kumar, IAS, Director General, Industries & Commerce and Advisor, Civil Aviation, Government of Haryana highlighted Haryana as destination for companies who are willing defence production, aerospace and defence. Dr. Kumar, also introduced upcoming project of Integrated Aviation Hub in Hissar. It includes Green field airport and along that airport developing Integrated Aviation Hub; which is right on the Kolkata Amritsar Corridor.

Mr. Wiliam Blair, VP & CEO, Lockheed Martin India shared about Lockheed Martin’s initiative in driving Atmannirbhar Bharat. They are driving different programs with TATA and recently they have entered into collaboration with MIDHANI. They are also working with different organizations to develop the manufacturing the capability of the Indian MSMEs which are aligned as Tier II and Tier II suppliers with their Indian partners like TATA. The only important thing which is missing is the availability of adequate materials for their requirements which needs to be developed here in India. They are keen to be a part of any consortium approach for developing the manufacturing capability of the Indian companies.

Mr. Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls Royce India insisted that Indian has the capability and also has the demographic dividend. Rolls Royce is working with different organizations like MIDHIANI to co-create products and also that the materials is going to play a very important role. We cannot see and Atmanirbhar Bharat unless and until we develop the capability for materials.

Mr. Ashwani Bhargava, Director-Supplier Management, Boeing India International said that Boeing sources 1 billion dollar from different suppliers in India and 26% from those are MSMEs. Mr. Bhargava also suggested solving the problem of producing raw material at controlled price and also being able to supply for Global requirements at controlled price and desired quality.

Col. Kuber, Director, Defence & Aerospace, Ernst & Young discussed on how the Indian companies can be aligned with the global supply chain. He also talked about the phased plan for developing the various strategic and critical material over time in future indigenously. The sourcing for the materials should be done internally as far as possible to reduce the dependency on the foreign suppliers..

Dr. S K Jha, Chairman & Managing Director, MIDHANI emphasized that India has strength of Material but still we are importing martial due to certain factors. We should replace import which is taking place as number of equipment coming from foreign, material are known to us however importing due to stamping and other related issues. In Space and Nuclear India has done good work in martial and cost in technology. Such success story could be created in defence Under Atmnirbhar Bharat. MIDHANI success is due to R&D from DRDO and certification from CEMILAC and DGAQA.

Mr. B Saha, Regional Director, RCMA (Materials) stated that next 5-10 years are crucial for strategic material. Mr. Saha, emphasized the importance of availability of right material at right time, qualified and certified material. A drive should be there for wider ecosystem, vast material manufacturing base from private industry, MSME startups and established PSUs. Also discussed Challenges in certification, Airborne material in strategic in nature. Aeronautical Testing should be given high priority and to be looked into seriously.

Mr. M Z Siddique, Director, Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) emphasized importance of material for Gas Turbine System of next generation. Material tech for Gas Turbine engine evolution has mammoth weight age of 50%. Mr. M Z Siddique also discussed various projects to cater future challenges on developing critical material. Collaborations is the order of the day, we may have mission specific categorization of material, joint working groups for material, advance Centre of excellence in Manufacturing technologies. Manufacturing and Material should go hand in hand.

Mr. Vikram Sahgal, Co-Chair, Defence & HLS Committee, PHD Chamber gave a concluding remarks and the vote of thanks to all the dignitaries, speakers and delegates.

The conference was moderated by Mr. Vivek Seigell, Assistant Secretary General, PHD Chamber and was well attended by a number of delegates from Indian defence industry and abroad both physically and virtually.

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GOI projects (-)7.7% in FY 2020-21 in line with our 21st October projection based on PHDCCI EBM Index : PHD Chamber

Jan 7, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, #President

Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has appreciated the Government for pulling the economy from the low growth of (-)23.9% in Q1 FY 2020-21 to the overall growth of (-)7.7% in FY 2020-21 in the extremely difficult time of Pandemic COVID-19.

National Statistical Office, GOI has released today the latest estimates of India’s GDP growth at (-)7.7% for FY 2020-21 in its First Advance Estimates of National Income, of which the growth of Agriculture, forestry & fishing is estimated at 3.4%, Mining & quarrying at (-)12.4%, Manufacturing at (-)9.4%, Electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services at 2.7%, Construction at (-)12.6%, Trade, hotels, transport, communication & services related to broadcasting at (-)21.4%, Financial, real estate & professional services at (-)0.8% and Public administration, defence & other services at (-)3.7%.

Today’s GOI estimate at (-) 7.7% is very much in line with our expectations as our PHDCCI Economic and Business Momentum (EBM) Index released on October 21, 2020, we had estimated that the GDP growth will be at around (-) 7.9% for the current financial year 2020-21, said Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal.

Going forward, we expect a significant growth trajectory of more than 7.7% in next financial year 2021-22, said Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal.

At this juncture, to continue the recovery momentum of economic and business activity, immediate policy attention is required towards credit access to industry and services sectors. Credit disbursement should be the top most priority at this juncture by the banking sector. The focus should be on ensuring provision of hassle free disbursements of loans vis-à-vis enhanced liquidity for MSMEs, especially in rural sectors, said Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal.

Going ahead, demand creation will have a multiplier effect on enhanced production possibilities, expansion of employment in factories, expansion of capital investments and overall virtuous circle of growth and development of Indian economy. The increased spending on infrastructure will give a multiplier effect to rejuvenate the aggregate demand in the economy and to mitigate the daunting impact of COVID-19 on the economy.

Also, there is a need to lower interest rates for consumers and businesses, lesser compliances for MSMEs vis-à-vis ease of doing business at the ground level and a lower tax regime to increase the personal disposable income of the people, said Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal.

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PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry signs a MoU with India Ratings & Research (Fitch Group) for Credit Rating of MSMEs

Dec 31, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has signed a MoU with India Ratings and Research (Fitch Group) to facilitate Credit Rating to its members.

Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber, while exchanging the MOU, stated that Credit Rating is very important for the MSMEs wanting to raise finance and credit from various sources. Of all the problems faced by the MSMEs, non-availability of timely and adequate credit at reasonable interest rate is one of the most important discussions today. He mentioned that one of the major causes for low availability of bank finance to this sector is the high risk perception of banks in lending to MSMEs and consequent insistence on collaterals which are not easily available with these enterprises. The problem is more serious for micro enterprises requiring small loans and the first generation entrepreneurs. Further, the Banks and other funding institutions need adequate comforts by way of not only the assessment of credit worthiness of borrowers, but also collaterals. The problem is that the number of companies which can meet these criteria is very low. While manufacturing units can mortgage their equipment against loans, service-oriented MSMEs are unable to do so, posing a challenge for them to avail finance in order to grow and scale up.

He therefore highlighted the importance of credit rating which decides whether a borrower does or does not receive a loan. Good credit ratings allow people, companies, and governments to easily borrow from Banks/financial institutions or public debt markets. Since the Banks and other funding organizations are giving enough weightage to Credit Rating and have made it mandatory for credit limits beyond a certain amount, it is good that PHD Chamber has worked out an arrangement with India Ratings to facilitate Rating services at concessional rates for the members.

Mr Rajesh Patel, Chief Operating Officer, India Ratings and Research apprised the participants about their services and requested the members to get their companies rated.

Mr Anil Khaitan, Former President & Mentor, PHD Chamber and Chairman, in his address, highlighted the various innovative sources of raising finance and advised members not to divert their long term loans to meet the short term needs and vice-versa to maintain a healthy working capital cycle.

Mr Ramesh Kumar Jain, Chairman, HP State Chapter, PHD Chamber; Dr H P Kumar, Former CMD, NSIC and Advisor, PHD Chamber; Dr Ranjeet Mehta, Deputy Secretary General, PHD Chamber; Mr Neermoy Shah, Head Mid-Corp Analytical for North and East, India Ratings and Research; Mr Rakesh Khurana, Regional Manager, National Stock Exchange, and Mr Narender Bhardwaj, Co-chairman, HP State Chapter, PHD Chamber also addressed the conference.

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Vocal for Local is our Goal for Atmanirbhar Bharat

Dec 31, 2020 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Assistant Secretary-General, #Chairman-Parliamentary Forum, #Chatra Constituency, #Dr. Yogesh Srivastav, #Haryana, #Jharkhand (BJP), #Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), #Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), #Mr. Mahesh Poddar, #Mr. Rakesh Gupta, #Mr. Ramesh Chander Kaushik, #Mr. Saket Dalmia, #Mr. Sunil Kumar Singh, #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, #Sonipat Constituency, #Vice President

Vocal for local has become our goal for Atmanirbhar Bharat. We need to become a global factory in every vertical and have a youth-driven workforce that is passionate towards building a prosperous nation, deliberated Mr. Mahesh Poddar, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Jharkhand (BJP) in a webinar organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

Mr. Poddar said that this need to be Atmanirbhar is not just our PM’s clarion call but our motto. He also mentioned India already has an abundance of natural and food resources to cater to the national and international demands. We need to create opportunities for employment & entrepreneurship and increase skill development among the working citizens to become self-reliant.

He also added that we need to focus on the overall development of all states and every sector of our country should be made Atmanirbhar. Also the businessmen and industrialists should be given importance in this process of attaining self-reliance. Mr. Poddar highlighted that there is a reduction in the trade deficit between India and China. India is growing in the automobile sector and India can give quality goods of international standards.

Mr. Ramesh Chander Kaushik, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Sonipat Constituency, Haryana mentioned that under the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India is moving towards becoming Atmanirbhar. He deliberated that the motto of Vocal for Local has led to emergence of small industries in his constituency and throughout India as well. He also mentioned that Vocal for local can only be adopted with the help and support of the industry. He stressed on the fact that not only should products be ‘made in India’, but the promotion of those products should take place so as to make those products competitive at a global level.

He added that the industry is also working on creating more employment opportunities which will help India strengthen the economy. Promotion of local products will also help establish India as a manufacturing hub.

Mr. Sunil Kumar Singh, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Chatra Constituency, Jharkhand (BJP) said that India is already progressing successfully towards becoming Atmanirbhar Bharat and will-power plays a great role in the process.

He suggested that cottage industries, small industries and agriculture would also help India to a great extent in becoming self-reliant and we must work towards improving them, which will help to strengthen the economy of our country.

Appreciating India’s efforts to fight the pandemic of corona-virus, he said that initially the masks and the PPE-Kits were being imported, but now are being manufactured locally. He also added that a lot of Indian companies are already into developing the vaccine for the same. He said that under the leadership of our Hon’ble PM, the whole country has to unanimously work towards building an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Mr. Saket Dalmia, Vice President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his welcome remarks deliberated about how our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s clarion call for “Atmanirbhar Bharat has captured people’s imagination and become a “mantra” for everyone. He spoke about the time India was called ‘Sone ki Chidiya’. He also spoke about how the world now wants to invest in India. We have to work towards bringing Atmanirbharta in the states, constituencies and communities as well.

Mr. Rakesh Gupta, Chairman-Parliamentary Forum, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry while moderating the technical the session deliberated about the need for vocal about local for making India Self Reliant.

The webinar was moderated by Dr. Yogesh Srivastav, Assistant Secretary-General, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It was telecast on Sadhna Plus News & VIP News Channel and live on Youtube & Facebook. It received a viewership of lacs of people and was also attended by many senior PHD members along with industry stalwarts pan-India.

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Standardization of Warehousing Infrastructure, Grading & Rating is necessary to Streamline Logistic Sector

Dec 23, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Chief Advisor, #Former CEO, #Mr. Pawanexh Kohli, #National Centre for Cold Chain Development, #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry

We need to focus on cost reduction, promote multi-modal transportation, reduce the time of turnaround trucking, and get more mileage on the capital investment in infrastructure. We need to plan integrated transport infrastructure, deliberated Mr. Pawan Kumar Agarwal, IAS, Special Secretary (Logistics), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India in ‘Virtual Logistics Conclave-2020’ organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mr. Pawan Kumar Agarwal mentioned that we are working on standardization of warehousing infrastructure, grading, and rating of infrastructure so that a better market can be created for warehousing spaces. Railways are doing their best to support the core sectors of the economy and are desired sectors in whatever way.

Talking about the cost reduction, he mentioned that the cost is distributed in transportation, warehousing, inventory carrying, and other administrative charges. To reduce the cost, we need to focus on transportation costs by reducing the time of turnaround trucks and shifting modals modes. This cost-reducing will not happen unless the issue of first and last mile is taken care of. We need to leverage the reduced cost of railway and postal transportation and improvise trans shipment to reduce the cost. We are focusing on all these points in our logistics policy.

While addressing the issues he mentioned that we need to create transparent systems where the transport service providers and user they become more vigilant and a system is created for the government so that they are actioned upon.

Ms. Vandana Aggarwal, Sr. Economic Adviser, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India in her deliberation mentioned that logistics has been a sector that has a lot of prominence in terms of delivery of services especially during the times of pandemic. Indian logistics has matured to the extent which working during per Covid times, we have seen logistics meet the extraordinary circumstances which were met globally. In this new normal, logistics needs to have automation, safety, fast delivery, ensure performance in the supply chain, and leveraging multimodal transportation.

We have to harmonize the law in a measured way and meet the financial requirements. We need to focus on building a robust infrastructure for meeting future demands. She emphasized that we need to work on integrating the individual supply chains and, there must be advanced preparedness of issues.

Mr. Pawanexh Kohli, Former CEO, Chief Advisor, National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD) mentioned that the logistics sector has been the backbone in the nation-building at the same time provides job opportunities to the masses. This sector has been resilient and a strong arm of India. In today’s competitive world, logistics has to step up and ensure that supply happens to demand.

Talking about the challenges faced in the sector, he mentioned that the key mantra of all logistics is delivered in full and on time so that the delays are minimized. We need to promote multi-modal shipments. Logistic ensures the value has meaning and is monetized by connecting demand and supply. There needs to a special dispute resolution mechanism in this sector and we need help to formalize this enormous talent in logistics by having upskilling programs for the workforce and support mobility and cross-pollination between logistic domains. This sector must reflect today and the future of India.

The conclave was followed by a technical panel discussion on Road Map to make India as a Global Logistics Hub with was deliberated by Capt. T S Ramanujam, CEO, Logistics Sector Skill Council (LSC), Government of India; Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, President, AMTOI; Mr. Pradeep Singhal, President, AITWA; Mr. Arun Karna, CEO& MD, AT&T Global Network Services India Pvt Ltd and Dr. S B Saraswat, MD, Global e-Auctions. The session deliberated about Maximization of inter-modal efficiency to keep up with new demands; Use of technology in increasing efficiency in Supply-Chain; Technologies in customer Centric E-Commerce Supply-Chain and Facilitating faster, multimodal, and better operations through Supply Chain Infrastructure.

Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his presidential remarks deliberated about Make in India 2.0 and promotion of India as a preferred destination for global investments by Govt. of India. He mentioned that designing an optimal supply chain configuration that can meet the expected growth rates, especially in India looking at the needs of the global market.

He mentioned that responsiveness is becoming an important focus area for organizations in India. The ability of the supply chain to respond to a sudden demand increase or an unanticipated supply disruption provides an opportunity to capture new customers from competitors. Another important focus area for the Logistics sector is speed to market or Freshness. In technology-led products, trumping the competition with better features & benefits can have a big impact on market share. Increasingly, in food & other consumer products, freshness is becoming a priority for the consumers.

Mr. Aggarwal further added that logistics are also measured on delivered quality. It’s no longer enough to deliver products complete and on time. Today’s customers expect high-quality products. Besides sustainability, a focus area globally will become an important area in India in near future.

Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal emphasized that next-generation supply chains need to be “Efficient, fast and tailored”; successful supply chain management enables today’s market leaders to be twice as profitable and significantly more responsive to customers than their peers.

Mr. Ramesh Agarwal, Chairman, Logistics Management Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry while giving an industry outlook about the logistics industry, its challenges and opportunities, moderated the technical session.

Mr. Vipin Vohra, Co-Chairman, Logistics Management Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry delivered a formal vote of thanks to all the delegates and participants.

The conclave was moderated by Dr. Ranjeet Mehta, Deputy Secretary-General, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and was attended by many industry stalwarts Pan-India.

News

Virtual Incubations, the next level for Start-up Incubation

We have to support incubation centers to develop virtual models to cater to the future needs, deliberated Mr. Manglesh R. Yadav, Innovation Lead, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog in a webinar organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on ‘Virtual Incubation’.

Mr. Manglesh R. Yadav while talking about the mission and objective of Atal Innovation Mission and Incubation centers mentioned that our incubation center’s growth is accelerating and we need to support them with the right human resources in the ecosystem to cater to the future needs. We are planning to establish more centers in the smaller towns and tribal areas of the country. Mr. Yadav emphasized that virtual incubations offer a lot of learning opportunities at the global level. We need to build hybrid models for building this eco-system.

Mr. Chintan Bakshi, Chief Executive Officer, Startup Oasis while discussing the impact of the pandemic on the start-up incubation industry mentioned that the pandemic has opened a plethora of opportunities for which we need to change our process of conducting training programs and experience of the incubation centers. Due to the pandemic, there is an increase in virtual mentoring and, international mentors have to ease in mentoring start-ups. There is an increase in the efficiency of backhand processes and we are focusing on making sessions more informative and interactive.

Prof. Harvinder Popli, Director, DPSRU Innovation, and Incubation Foundation shared her insights and views on virtual incubation and its importance. She also gave an overview of the market about the incubation set up and the cross benefits of Virtual Incubation programs that will help the start-ups to get better mentoring, increase their connections and amplify their business via efficient tools and services. She mentioned that there is a need for global entrepreneurs to understand the Indian market and vice versa. Virtual Incubation gives flexibility to mentor more start-ups. We need to identify areas of physical and virtual incubation for different verticals so that the programs can run smoothly.

Dr. P. J. Singh, CMD, Tynor Orthotics Pvt. Ltd mentioned that virtual incubation will be the new normal but physical incubation will always help cater to every small need for the start-ups. In future times, there needs to be a balance between physical and virtual incubation for the better mentoring and growth of the industry.

Mr. Erik Azulay, Director, Alliance for Commercialisation and Innovation Research (ACIR) gave his perspective on the best practices of virtual incubation programs. It can reach everyone with ease in less time involving less cost.

Mr. Ashish Aggarwal, Chairman, Startup Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry while moderating the technical session, mentioned that the objective of the webinar is to understand how virtual incubation will be beneficial to all stakeholders of the industry so that it can benefit the industry in the post-pandemic times. He emphasized that Virtual Incubation needs to be in the smaller towns of the country so that they can be benefits from them as well.

Business World

5G Technology-Game-Changer for India

Nov 27, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #5G Technology, #Dr. Yogesh Srivastav, #Mr. Alok Mukherjee, #Mr. Amit Marwah, #Mr. Anil Khaitan, #Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal, #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry

5G is a very important technological development and a combination of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, cloud services and data explosion will lead us to a completely different domain of 5G deliberated Mr. S.K Gupta (ITS), Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in an interactive webinar organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on ‘5G Technology: India’s Journey Post COVID’.

Mr. Gupta spoke about how telecom has become a vital backbone of our economy and even the development of a country’s GDP depends on it. He mentioned that fast deployment of 5G is required and enhanced mobile broadband, latency applications etc will lead to better adoption as people are more than ready for it.

Throwing light on some of the challenges & precautions that we need to take in order to adopt 5G, Mr. Gupta further added that data privacy and data security are needed to be taken care of so as to avoid misuse of data. In order to be ready for 5G, we need to work on proper optical fibre connectivity and bandwidth. 5G would be a collaborative effort of system integrators, device manufacturers, OEMs, TSPs, ISPs etc, said Mr. Gupta.

Mr. Amit Marwah, Head of Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Nokia India in his presentation spoke about how this year has given a new meaning to data growth and on the impact of COVID-19 on 2020 network traffic trends.

He also elaborated on how homes & business are connected with 5G by getting home broadband for gaming and HD videos, serving ‘ultra-broadband’ to areas where fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is uneconomical and connecting small and medium businesses with guaranteed reliability for business-critical applications. He also mentioned as to how automation and robotics are driven use-cases are emerging from the pandemic in the field of manufacturing, healthcare, retail, autonomous vehicles and video analytics.

Mr. Marwah emphasized on the fact that for the digital transformation we need to prepare for big changes; address the digital skill gap and then ride the wave. He also said that 5G technology will lead to the acceleration of Industry 4.0.

Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal, Mentor, Telecom Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry while giving an overview about the evolution of technology in the world, catering to the needs and growing demands of the public, mentioned that post COVID-19, we have understood that digital is the way forward and how we are improving our capability to assimilate information in a better way. We need to develop our infrastructure, increase the towers and increase the installation of fibre kilometres so that the connectivity reaches every part of the country. He encouraged foreign private investors and telecom players to invest in technology in India.

Mr. Anil Khaitan, Former President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry mentioned that the pandemic has transformed consumer behaviour and habits & how people have started to rely completely on digital solutions now. Work and entertainment have become virtual and companies have to adapt to this to provide digital experience to its customer’s employees.

He added that 5G will be a key driver for the Indian industry towards a better future and to be able to compete and succeed globally. It will help drive sustainable economic growth and define India’s next decade of innovation. The pandemic has accelerated the demand for connectivity with consumers and professionals, relying on high quality and high-speed internet performance. 5G could be critical in enabling businesses to maintain operations and remain resilient & agile in the phase of any future destruction, said Mr. Anil Khaitan.

Mr. Alok Mukherjee, Co-Chairman, Telecom Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry delivered the formal vote of thanks to the panellists for their insightful thoughts and views on 5G Technology. He said that 5G will change the way we interact with technology & would not only guarantee higher data capacity and speed but also provide the capacity to connect billions of devices. He also added that digitalization has also made digital entrepreneurship possible and accelerated the e-commerce industry.

The webinar was moderated by Dr. Yogesh Srivastav, Principal Director, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was also attended by Prof N.K Goyal, Chairman E TEMA and President CMAI along with many senior members of PHD Chamber, senior embassy officials and stalwarts from the telecom industry.

Tag: PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry