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Home interiors and renovation platform <keyword id="2644491" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="livspace" source="Orion">Livspace</keyword> has laid off at least 100 employees as part of cost-cutting measures, the media reported. According to a report in leading startups coverage portal Inc42, the layoffs impacted 2 per cent of Livspace's workforce, affecting product, engineering, content, and marketing teams. The company said in a statement that "we will, in the normal course of our operations, redeploy resources". "This is organic and a reflection of normal adjustments and/or performance management parameters," it said, adding that the business has more than doubled over the past year and it aims to turn profitable in the coming year. Livspace had sacked 450 employees during the first wave of the Covid pandemic. In October last year, the company earmarked $100 million to invest and incubate new offerings and brands in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market in the home interiors and renovation segment. Singapore-based Livspace said it aims to create multiple home interiors and renovation solutions and D2C offerings which serve homeowners across various segments in its markets across India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East region. "As we continue to scale across new segments in existing geographies and enter new regional markets, we are looking for successful businesses and like-minded entrepreneurs that help us scale even faster," <keyword id="354664" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="anuj-srivastava" source="Orion">Anuj Srivastava</keyword>, CEO and Co-founder, of Livspace, said. Livspace currently has operations in over 45 cities across Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East region. It has raised around $450 million in capital from some of the top global investors including KKR, Ingka Group Investments (part of the largest IKEA retailer Ingka Group), <keyword id="141646" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tpg-growth" source="Orion">TPG Growth</keyword>, Goldman Sachs, Kharis Capital, <keyword id="8869182" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="venturi-partners" source="Orion">Venturi Partners</keyword> and others. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-i/o-2023-pixel-7a-pixel-fold-pixel-tablet-android-14-and-everything-we-expect-to-see/articleshow/98798666.cms">Google I/O 2023 – Pixel 7a, Pixel Fold, Pixel Tablet, Android 14, and everything we expect to see</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indian-carriers-to-report-1-6-1-8-billion-consolidated-loss-in-fy24-says-industry-body-capa/articleshow/98799040.cms">Indian carriers to report $1.6-1.8 billion consolidated loss in FY24 says industry body CAPA</a>

Home decor company Livspace lays off 100 employees

<ul><li>Net interest income grows 21% year-on-year and 6% sequentially </li><li>Net interest margins hit a 20-quarter high of 3.6%, but lags peers </li><li>The bank’s asset quality also showed an improvement during the quarter, with fresh accretion of slippages declining </li></ul><keyword id="6355975" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="axis-bank" source="Orion">Axis Bank</keyword>, the third largest private sector bank, on Monday reported a net profit of ₹4,125 crore in the opening quarter of FY23, a jump of 91% annually but remained flat sequentially. While the bank has beaten street estimates, its business growth momentum has come in lower than its peers. The bank’s key financial parameters showed improvement with net interest income clocking a growth of 21% year-on-year and 6% sequentially, as net interest margins improved by 14 bps annually and 11 bps sequentially to 3.60% during the quarter. This bank’s margins have hit a 20-quarter high. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Citi merger: ‘Customer experience has to hassle free’" comment="subhead" text="Citi merger: ‘Customer experience has to hassle free’">Citi merger: ‘Customer experience has to hassle free’</cmsannotation> Speaking on the merger with <keyword id="6400347" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="citibank" source="Orion">Citibank</keyword>, <keyword id="247960" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="amitabh-chaudhry" source="Orion">Amitabh Chaudhry</keyword>, CEO, Axis Bank said that CCI approval is likely to come in five to six weeks. "Based on limited data, we have limited concerns on business, which are all doing quite well. We cannot be engaging with Citi till we get CCI approval. Once approval comes we can engage more actively. The merger date refers to the date when we take over the assets. The customer experience has to be hassle-free," he said. While NIMs continue to trend marginally lower than its bigger peers, the lender has shown an improvement across all metrics during the quarter. "You are seeing delivery on NIM trajectory on what we had said earlier. You can take on higher risk and increase NIMs, so our growth factors in credit implication on the book. A rising interest rate environment plays to the strength of the larger bank and it should be positive for us on a net basis," said <keyword id="869603" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="puneet-sharma" source="Orion">Puneet Sharma</keyword>, CFO of Axis Bank. Fee income also grew at a robust rate 34% year-on-year, which is a big contributor to profits of private lenders. Retail fee income grew 43% annually. The bank’s core operating profit grew 17% annually and 5% sequentially. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Small biz loans grew by 74%" comment="subhead" text="Small biz loans grew by 74%">Small biz loans grew by 74%</cmsannotation> After two years of the pandemic, lenders are pushing for growth and Axis Bank reported a loan growth across segments, but it has disappointed analysts as it is lower compared to its peers. While retail loans grew 25% annually and 3% sequentially, small business loans and rural loans grew 74% and 42%, respectively, compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Overall loan growth stoof at 14% annually. The bank’s asset quality also showed an improvement during the quarter, with fresh accretion of slippages declining along with aggregate non-performing assets. The gross non-performing assets came in at 2.76%, which is lower by 109 bps year-on-year and 6 basis points sequentially. The bank’s net non-performing assets came in at 0.64%, which is 56 bps lower annually and 9 basis points sequentially. The bank’s accretion of fresh bad loans also declined. While the gross slippage ratio declined 210 bps year-on-year and 33 bps sequentially, the net slippage ratio was down 0.41% 219 bps annually. The bank’s provision coverage ratio stood at 77%. On a quarterly average basis, savings accounts grew 16% annually and 4% sequentially, while current accounts grew 15% annually. Term deposits grew 13% annually. On a quarterly basis, CASA grew 16% annually and 1% sequentially. The bank’s CASA ratio stood at 43%. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/list-of-top-new-upcoming-whatsapp-features-in-second-half-2022/articleshow/93103440.cms">From avatars to hiding online status—list of top new upcoming WhatsApp features</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-has-the-highest-rate-of-women-taking-action-against-harassment-calls-and-messages/articleshow/93107553.cms">India has the highest rate of women taking action against harassment calls and messages</a>

Axis Bank beats street estimates on net profit, business growth disappoints

<ul><li>India has the ability to bring out its best in adversity.</li><li>The government’s ‘Make in India’ programme is showing results.</li><li>India is at 63 in terms of ‘ease of doing business’ as of 2021, a sharp movement from the 142nd place in 2014.</li><li>India’s forex reserves have also moved up over these seven years.</li></ul>Indian markets have witnessed persistent FPI selling since Oct 21. Higher oil prices are Rahu and Ketu in India’s kundli having adverse effects on GDP, Inflation and Current Account Deficit. Ukraine invasion and sanctions on Russia have pushed oil prices in triple digits adversely affecting India. Inflationary pressures are visible with the RBI revising inflation estimates upwards for FY23 by ~2 % in the last two policies to 6.7 %. FY23 inflation will be above the RBI’s upper target level. <div type="image" title="The troika of slowing growth, rising inflation and FPI selloff is creating concerns among both local and global investors." msid="92676486" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The troika of slowing growth, rising inflation and FPI selloff is creating concerns among both local and global investors.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Motivated campaign against Índia for its import of Russian oil is adding to investor concerns. In such an uncertain scenario what makes me bullish about Índia is its ability to bring out the best in adversity. We transitioned from importing milk and milk products; to become the largest producer of milk. We transitioned from being dependent on donation of food grains to exporting food grains. We transitioned from pledging gold to borrow FX loans to top 5 holders of FX reserves in the world. Adversity has always brought the best out of us. Does the current correction in equity markets, the selling by FIIs or deteriorating macro-economic metrics take away the progress that has been made in the last few years? No. It is, therefore, important that investors focus beyond these uncertainties which undoubtedly is going to be painful. Let’s discuss a few of these metrics. In 2014, India was the world’s tenth-largest economy. <div type="image" title="A series of reforms, including the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax or GST, has seen the country rise to be the world’s sixth-largest economy as of 2021" msid="92676560" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;A series of reforms, including the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax or GST, has seen the country rise to be the world&amp;#8217;s sixth-largest economy as of 2021&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> With its share in global GDP rising by 23% to 3.2%. In FY22 we will overtake our former colonial occupier to be the fifth largest economy. A lot of this has also come due to India’s heft in production, with the government’s ‘Make in India’ programme showing results. From being the world’s fourth-largest producer of steel in 2014, India is second only to China as of 2021, which alone manufactures more than half of the total steel produced in the world. India was also the world’s second-largest producer of mobile phones as of 2021, a sharp improvement from being the world’s twelfth largest producer in 2014. Notwithstanding the recent slowdown in demand in the automobile space over the last two-three years, India is the fourth largest manufacturer of automobiles by volume in the world as of 2021. This is an improvement from it being the seventh largest producer in 2014. These improvements reflect in other parameters as well. <div type="image" title="India is at the 63th rank in terms of ‘ease of doing business’ as of 2021, a sharp up move from being at the 142nd place in 2014." msid="92595550" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;India is at the 63th rank in terms of &amp;#8216;ease of doing business&amp;#8217; as of 2021, a sharp up move from being at the 142nd place in 2014.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Equity markets have reflected this buoyancy, supported by both domestic and foreign investors. India accounted for 6.7% of global FDI inflows in 2021, more than three times the 2.1% that it got in 2021. India’s forex reserves have also moved up over these seven years, while targeting inflation has helped it come down to moderate levels from high levels seen earlier. The country has seen an influx of capital through venture capital and private equity, which has also spurred growth in the start-up economy in the country. India recently got its 100th unicorn, a massive 25X rise from the four unicorns that it had in 2014. An impetus on creating and building infrastructure, especially in the roads, power, ports, airports and power segment has also helped India move from a state of being deficit in infrastructure to that of availability of infrastructure. India is leaving behind the physical way of doing things, opting to go with the digital ecosystem in a remarkable way, with the Unified Payments Interface a significant example of such changes. Another significant shift that the country has seen over these years is the change in mindset for business activities. The government has moved to a psyche of not being involved in the running of businesses, a refreshing change from the earlier practice of being in business.Improvements in tax compliance have also helped the country move sustainably to moderate fiscal deficit, from a high fiscal deficit earlier. Undoubtedly in the short term there are challenges for the Indian economy emanating from higher energy prices. In the long term Índia having moderate inflation, surplus FX reserves and fiscally prudent policies will be in a better position to reward investors. There are, of course, more facets to this growth story. As investors, it is important that you can look beyond the short-term volatility and understand whether these factors are actual roadblocks for the country’s growth story in the long term. To make the most of it, it is important to remain focused as well as disciplined. So dear readers, happy investing!

India’s FX reserves and fiscal policies will lead the India growth story

According to <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/251666/number-of-digital-buyers-worldwide/">Statista</a>, 2.14 billion people across the world bought goods and services online in the year 2021. Compared to the 1.66 billion online buyers in 2016, this number shows a rising trend in online spending. The growth of <keyword id="35621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce" source="Orion">e-commerce</keyword>, a greater number of payment channels, widespread use of smartphones, and accessibility to high-speed internet are a few reasons for the rising number of digital buyers. For digital businesses, data is one of, if not the most, valuable resources. Enter <keyword id="13644133" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="payment-analytics" source="Orion">payment analytics</keyword>! It is a feature that comes in handy for merchants looking to make better business decisions by leveraging a pool of transactional data. The process collects and analyses data to provide insights into customer spending behaviour, payment trends, fraud, and much more. By tracking data from multiple channels, the process ultimately helps to understand customer payment trends, and identify gaps in order to bridge them for growing the business. But analysing data is not enough. Payment analytics must factor in the following parameters to derive meaningful insights: 1. Different payment sources: Understanding which is the most and least used payment source for your customers can help devise sales strategies. Monitoring this data in real-time will provide insights into customer behaviour, and can help take immediate action in case any unusual spending patterns are observed. 2. Reasons for payment failure: By analysing the various reasons for payment failure, businesses can set themselves up for success. Troubleshooting problems before they arise ensures that customers get a streamlined, hassle-free payment experience. The analytics may also provide recommendations on how to tackle the top reasons for failure, thereby, making customer retention much easier. 3. New/repeat and churn customers: A reliable analytics process provides information about the number of new, repeat and churn customers in a given duration. While a high number of engaged, repeat customers provides motivation, a high number of churn customers may advise for better marketing efforts or even a complete strategy overhaul. 4. Benchmarking your performance: By providing data on the historical trend of success rates vis-à-vis the number of transactions and the transaction amounts, merchants will be able to track their performance and compare it with that of the industry. Thus, whether to make changes or continue with the existing strategy becomes a quick and easy decision. 5. Success rates: Payment analytics provides data on the performance at both the channel (app vs website) as well as platform (Android vs iOS) levels. This helps target the improvement areas to have higher conversion rates and increased customer engagement. By understanding which app version and device type are performing the best, organizations can ascertain their ROI from different channels, and make better decisions. 6. User retention: Having quantifiable data on customer retention for the selected period will specifically help the growth and marketing teams. The insights will tell the impact of the marketing initiatives and the areas of improvement. 7. Customer drop analysis: An <keyword id="3728515" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="rfm" source="Orion">RFM</keyword> (recency, frequency, monetary) analysis gives a clear representation of the number and percentage of customers the business is at risk of losing, customers it has already lost, loyal customers, etc. Merchants can also track which checkout option is the most used by their customers, and accordingly make business decisions. Customization, ease of payment, security, integration, a seamless payment experience, and good customer support are generally hallmarks of a good payment gateway option. However, payment analytics is an important element missing in most payment gateways. <keyword id="6357120" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paytm" source="Orion">Paytm</keyword> has integrated all the aforementioned parameters into its payment gateway to aid businesses in significantly upgrading their payment ecosystem. By utilizing both historical and real-time data, payment analytics optimizes the payment journey, and provides precious data to merchants. Hence, it’s time merchants integrate and adopt payment analytics into their operations. For more information on payment analytics, visit their <a href="https://business.paytm.com/payment-analytics?redirectUrl=instant-onboard&amp;utm_source=business_insider&amp;utm_medium=Publisher&amp;utm_campaign=unlock_growth">website. </a> (This article is generated and published by the Insider Studios team. You can get in touch with them on insiderstudios@businessinsider.in )

Must Read: Here's how payment analytics can unlock growth for your business

<keyword id="1489410" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce-in-India">E-commerce in India</keyword> is once again grabbing the headlines and this time, for all the right reasons. Bangalore-based <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword>, arguably India’s largest standalone <keyword id="1127700" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="fashion-e-tailer">fashion e-tailer</keyword>, has recently closed a <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> round worth $50 million from an investor consortium led by <keyword id="1430452" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="PremjiInvest">PremjiInvest</keyword>, the family office of the <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> chairman <keyword id="6419840" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword>. Myntra is also in talks with a clutch of investors to raise an additional $40 million at a higher <keyword id="51393" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="valuation">valuation</keyword>, according to an Economic Times report. So far, the <keyword id="2049121" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-firm">e-commerce firm</keyword> has raised $125 million in risk capital funding. Another fashion e-tailer that is also raising <keyword id="57924" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="big-money">big money</keyword> is Gurgaon-based <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>.com, which is backed by Berlin-based <keyword id="1965711" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rocket-Internet-GmbH">Rocket Internet GmbH</keyword> – a venture arm of the Samwer brothers. The e-commerce firm is reportedly raising a fresh round of equity funding worth $100 million, of which it has already received $27.5 million from the British <keyword id="2049123" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Development-finance-institution">development finance institution</keyword> <keyword id="1613067" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="CDC-Group-Plc">CDC Group Plc</keyword>. 
 All this is good news for the cash-strapped Indian e-commerce segment. So we have taken a close look at the recent fundraising by the <keyword id="2049116" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-e-commerce-players">Indian e-commerce players</keyword> and identified five key trends that seem to be prevailing. Will they rule the <keyword id="2049126" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fundraising-scenario">fundraising scenario</keyword> and determine the parameters of growth throughout 2014? Let us have a quick look. 
 
Growing big is the key priority E-commerce start-ups in India are finally coming of age and looking beyond the quickest possible exits. When Myntra closed $50 million in funding a couple of days ago, the company was immediately approached by its bigger rival <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> who had reportedly come up with an acquisition offer worth $200 million. According to a TechCrunch report, e-commerce giant <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> had also approached Myntra but the details of the proposed deal are not yet available. 
 Although rumours were rife that Myntra could be considering either of the deals as part of a bigger strategy, the e-tailer has decided to stay off the <keyword id="1949341" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Exit-route">exit route</keyword>. In fact, its ongoing talks for an additional round of funding worth $40 million clearly indicate that the company has in place some well-thought-out <keyword id="414633" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-plans">growth plans</keyword> and big ones at that. The only other reason for back-to-back funding is to raise the valuation but at this point, Myntra doesn’t look like it is on the block. Neither has it decided to quit in a hurry like <keyword id="6359128" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Redbus">redBus</keyword>.in did last year. <keyword id="2049136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indias-largest-bus-ticketing-firm">India’s largest bus ticketing firm</keyword> was acquired by the <keyword id="1643008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ibibo-Group">ibibo Group</keyword> for around $125 million but the sale cut short a successful <keyword id="530125" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="entrepreneurial-journey">entrepreneurial journey</keyword> that could have become a $500 million business in terms of revenue and could have achieved a $1 billion valuation. 
 As for Jabong, the very fact that it is backed by Rocket Internet may tell the industry insiders a different story. Rocket is known in the market for its fast and furious build-and-sell business module, and the start-ups are essentially replicas of successful US businesses. But the kind of funding Jabong is raising right now shows that the company is in no hurry to down the shutters in India even though two of its four co-founders have recently left the company. Jabong started its India operations in 2012 and competes with key e-com players such as Flipkart, Myntra, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword>, among others. 
 
Only <keyword id="2049143" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Core-expertise">core expertise</keyword> matters Internet giant <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> has already given us a case in point when it sold <keyword id="487941" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Motorola-Mobility">Motorola Mobility</keyword> to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, less than two years after paying $12.5 billion to acquire it. The deal is not a total financial loss as Google has managed to keep patents worth billions of dollars and expects to turn Lenovo into a manufacturing unit for its <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> OS. But selling <keyword id="11148" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Motorola">Motorola</keyword> is a sure indication that Google should have focused more on its <keyword id="1430489" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Core-Competencies">core competencies</keyword> – search, software and selling ads – instead of developing hardware. 
 You will find a similar case here as Jabong has reportedly sold its <keyword id="2049146" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="logistics-arm">logistics arm</keyword> <keyword id="2049145" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="JaVAS">JaVAS</keyword> (Jabong Value Added Services) to Gurgaon-based QuickDel Logistics as part of its business restructuring and funding exercise. Jabong <keyword id="170488" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="co-founder">co-founder</keyword> <keyword id="536011" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Praveen-Sinha">Praveen Sinha</keyword> has also confirmed to the media that JaVAS is now an independent entity. 
 However, that brings us back to the basic question. Should companies try and provide end-to-end solutions to ensure a complete customer experience or should they focus on core competencies and leave the rest to the experts in those fields? We particularly raise this question as many Indian e-commerce firms are currently focusing on <keyword id="2049154" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Proprietary-payment-gateways">proprietary payment gateways</keyword> and customised logistics services in a bid to propel their services to the next level. However, such services can actually make you lose money unless a company is catering to a customer base as vast as <keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> or Amazon. 
 After JaVAS, the writing is definitely on the wall. The bells and whistles can always come in later, but the key focus must be core competencies. Of late, even <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> seems to be falling in this trap – its newest hardware products have ‘n’ number of <keyword id="2049161" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Incremental-features">incremental features</keyword> but real innovations seem to be eluding the iconic company. 
 
Investors showing better <keyword id="170907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="risk-appetite">risk appetite</keyword> India’s e-commerce market is projected to grow sevenfold to $22 billion in the next five years, and investors, both national and global, want to have a piece of the pie. According to <keyword id="1981" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rahul-Khanna">Rahul Khanna</keyword>, managing director of the <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firm <keyword id="218905" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Canaan-Partners">Canaan Partners</keyword> (India), e-commerce players in India (and everywhere else for that matter) require very deep pockets to scale up to the level of breaking even and hitting profitability. In this space, sales margins are typically low; volume is high, and logistics &amp; back office <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> only become viable when companies are catering to a very <keyword id="2049169" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Large-customer-base">large customer base</keyword>. Consequently, <keyword id="2049171" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Follow-on-rounds">follow-on rounds</keyword> are extremely crucial for sustainable growth. Now that big institutional investors like PremjiInvest and UK-based development <keyword id="25455" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="finance">finance</keyword> institution CDC Group are entering the arena, the much-needed <keyword id="2000080" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cash-burning">cash burning</keyword> is sure to propel growth to the desired level. 
 “E-commerce is fast maturing in India and that’s the main reason <keyword id="363248" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Global-Investments">global investments</keyword> are flowing in,” says another analyst. “When big players like Amazon show interest (the e-commerce giant has reportedly approached Myntra), investors are quick to sense the tremendous <keyword id="452394" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-potential">growth potential</keyword> lying here,” she adds. 
 
Forget the buzz you are creating; it’s result time now Analysts, who have followed the course of events over the past few weeks, also point out another interesting trend. Be it Myntra or Jabong or other up-and-coming e-commerce businesses, it’s their <keyword id="2049173" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Growth-quotient">growth quotient</keyword> that has attracted <keyword id="2049174" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Big-funding">big funding</keyword>. In other words, start-ups who are delivering in a big way will get the valuable <keyword id="2049175" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Growth-dollars">growth dollars</keyword> as investors are now looking beyond the buzz and focusing on <keyword id="1730239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="business-fundamentals">business fundamentals</keyword> and results. 
 Companies must have the numbers – in terms of customer base, <keyword id="169826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-figures">growth figures</keyword> and brand leadership – to justify the big money they are raising. For instance, Myntra expects to more than double its <keyword id="657194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="gross-sales">gross sales</keyword> to over $250 million by March 2015 and the fashion e-tailer’s <keyword id="2049176" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Monthly-gross-sales">monthly gross sales</keyword> could touch $20-25 million by April this year. Myntra is expected to end the current fiscal with more than $100 million in gross sales and it is targeting $1 billion in <keyword id="6399113" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="GMV">GMV</keyword> by 2016-2017. Flipkart, which raised $360 million last year at a valuation of about $1.6 billion, is also projecting a GMV of $1 billion by 2015. 
 Jabong, too, has aggressive growth plans and the latest round will be used to strengthen its <keyword id="2049177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Supply-chain-infrastructure">supply chain infrastructure</keyword> and enhance its <keyword id="2049178" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Technology-platform">technology platform</keyword>. According to industry sources, Jabong might have generated <keyword id="2049180" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gross-merchandise-sales">gross merchandise sales</keyword> of $100-150 million for the fiscal 2012-13. Other key investments in the Indian e-commerce space since 2013 included online marketplace Snapdeal raising about Rs 300 crore and baby care portal <keyword id="1615917" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="FirstCry">Firstcry</keyword> bagging Rs 92 crore. 
 
Inventory, <keyword id="6630005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="private-labels">private labels</keyword> are adding value 
With the lone exception of Snapdeal that runs a 100% marketplace, most of the big e-commerce entities in India are flourishing on a hybrid model – a strategic mix of inventory, private label and marketplace. In fact, Jabong has been doing all three for some time now, although a bit discreetly, and it could be now pushing hard to extract every penny from each of these categories. 
 
Myntra, on the other hand, focuses on both inventory and private label, with the share of private labels rising rapidly. A couple of years ago, the e-tailer acquired Exclusively.in Inc., the company behind the private label brand Shersingh.com and the fashion site Exclusively.in, in a cash-cum-equity deal. Myntra is reportedly eyeing more private labels to add to its portfolio as the margins are pretty high in this segment and add substantially to the profits. 
 
Bottom line: Is it a <keyword id="2049185" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Volatile-situation">volatile situation</keyword>? In one of her latest blogs in <keyword id="6359301" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneur">Entrepreneur</keyword>.com, entrepreneur-writer Erika Trautman has nicely summed it up. “No matter how great the idea, if your start-up doesn’t create hard and fast results with analytics, targeted business solutions and mobile integration, it won’t survive in 2014. Launching a start-up can’t just be about how cool your product is. No business can subsist off just buzz and Press. This year, start-ups must focus on business fundamentals and start emphasising partnerships that generate results.” 
 
Can the Indian e-commerce players innovate, scale up and deliver (as the takeaways so amply illustrate) to justify the trust investors are now putting in them? Will there be new ventures to take up the gauntlet? Let us wait and watch. 
 
Image: Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images

Indian E-com Players
Are Raising Big Money; These 5 Takeaways Can Help You Understand What’s
Changing

Mumbai, Apr 16 () India's GDP growth may slide to 1.1 per cent in the current financial year, on account of the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the economy, a research report by SBI said on Thursday.The economic growth rate during 2019-20 is estimated to come down to 4.1 per cent from 5 per cent projected by several agencies before the outbreak of deadly virus, which affected more than 20 lakh persons around the world and took lives of over 1.3 lakh people.In order to check the spread of COVID-19, the government has decided to extend the lockdown to May 3, with some relaxations for specified sectors.According to the SBI Ecowrap report, the extension of the lockdown would result in economic loss of Rs 21.1 lakh crore or 6 per cent of the nominal Gross Value Added (GVA)."With the lockdown now being extended till May 3 and simultaneously Government providing some relaxations from April 20, we estimate the overall loss for FY21 around Rs 12.1 lakh crore/6 per cent of nominal GVA taking the nominal GVA growth for entire year to be around 4.2 per cent."Nominal GDP for FY21 could be lower/closer to 4.2 per cent, as there is a strong possibility of subsidies outstripping tax collections. However, taking nominal GDP growth at 4.2 per cent, the real GDP growth for FY21 would be around 1.1 per cent," said the report.The lockdown, the report said, will have a significant impact on several macroeconomic parameters.Quoting PLFS survey 2017-18, the report said, there are 37.3 crore workers engaged as self-employed, regular and casual workers, with share of self employed at 52 per cent, casual worker at 25 per cent and the rest engaged as regular wage earners and others."We estimate the income loss per day of these 37.3 crore workers due to lockdown is around Rs 10,000 crore, which translates into a loss of Rs 4.05 lakh crore for the entire lockdown period. For causal labourers, this income loss it at least Rs 1 lakh crore. Thus any fiscal package should at least strive to more than make up for this Rs 4 lakh crore income loss," it added.Secondly, "as our GDP forecasts change, fiscal estimates will also change accordingly. Net Tax Revenue will have a shortfall of at least around Rs 4.12 lakh crores, and Revenue shortfall for states will be Rs 1.32 lakh crores. The revised fiscal deficit would be at 5.7 per cent of GDP and after taking into account only the current EBR the deficit rises to 6.6 per cent of GDP," it noted.The fiscal deficit of the states is expected to rise to 3.5 per cent of GDP from the budgeted 2 per cent in FY21."We estimate that the EBR number will rise significantly as Government will try to mobilise resources more through unconventional means like COVID Bonds, monetisation of deficit and others," as per the report.The consolidated fiscal deficit might rise to 10 per cent of GDP on an unchanged EBR, it said, adding a 4 per cent slippage in nominal GDP tantamount to Rs 8 lakh crore of fiscal support. NKD CS BAL

Economic growth may fall to 1.1 pc this fiscal: SBI report

Mumbai, Jan 22 () Small finance lender Ujjivan Small Finance Bank on Wednesday said its profit doubled to Rs 90 crore in October-December 2019, helped by improvement in operational efficiency, stable margins and cost controls.
 In the year-ago period, the lender had reported a profit after tax of Rs 45 crore.
 "We saw improvement in all parameters. We could maintain our NIMs, costs were under control and operational efficiency also improved," the bank's managing director and CEO Nitin Chugh told .
 Net interest margin stood at 10.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2019-20, against 11 per cent in last year.
 The bank saw its cost of funds reducing to 8.1 per cent during the quarter from 8.6 per cent in the year-ago period.
 Gross advances grew by 46 per cent to Rs 13,617 crore.
 Non-micro banking portfolio contributed 22 per cent to the total loan portfolio.
 Chugh said the bank faced some issues on repayments in its microfinance portfolio in Assam and a few neighbouring areas after the protest erupted following the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in December.
 Of the total microfinance lending book of Rs 10,000 crore, the lender has an exposure of Rs 430 crore in Assam.
 As a prudent measure, it has made a provision of Rs 4.9 crore towards its loan portfolio in the north-eastern state.
 "We are working with the state government and Microfinance Institution Networks (MFIN), a self-regulatory organisation (SRO), to resolve issues at Assam," Chugh said.
 Gross NPA was at 0.9 per cent as against 1.4 per cent while net NPA stood at 0.4 per cent from 0.3 per cent.
 It wrote-off of Rs 12 crore of loans in the third quarter.
 Its deposit base stood at Rs 10,656 crore as of December 31, 2019. It serves over 51.0 lakh customers through 574 branches and 17,783 employees spread across 244 districts and 24 states and union territories in the country. HV DP MR
MR

Ujiivan SFB posts 2-folds growth in Q3 profit

<ul><li>OZiva, an active plant-based nutrition brand, has already crossed an annual revenue run rate of Rs 100 crore.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="3306710" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aarti-Gill">Aarti Gill</keyword>, Co-founder, OZiva to find out what has worked in the company's favour, goals for this year and how can brands help to improve the state of nutrition in India through advertising and marketing.</li></ul>OZiva, a home-grown plant-based nutrition company, has already crossed an annual revenue rate of Rs 100 crore in five years of its existence. While the past two years have been difficult for all kinds of startups, COVID has nudged Indians to keep a check on their day-to-day nutrition intake and helped OZiva to stay afloat. Telling us how the brand has tweaked its marketing strategy to spread more awareness around the importance of nutrition during COVID, Aarti Gill, Co-founder, OZiva said, “We have been concentrating on introducing products that meet the need of the hour. Immunity being the biggest concern for consumers across the country, we have introduced plant-based OZiva Bettr.C+ which contains plant-based vitamin C that can help support your immunity. Our entire range of plant-based vitamins and minerals are focussed on building immunity and providing holistic nutrition. We all are going through difficult times and we believe it’s more important than ever to take charge of your health. Through our content, we are aiming to provide helpful and relevant information through experts (for eg: breathing exercises for better lung capacity, Yoga Asanas that can help strengthen our immune system, etc.)” OZiva has also roped in Deepika Padukone as its brand ambassador this year. According to Duff &amp; Phelps, with a value of $50.4 million, Padukone is the fifth most-loved celebrity in India. The actress usually is said to charge around Rs <a href="https://www.filmfare.com/news/bollywood/heres-how-much-deepika-padukones-brand-value-is-worth-42972.html#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20report%20in,3%20day%20long%20ad%20shoot.">8 crore for a 3 day</a> long ad shoot. <div type="Youtube" id="A1cYvKoHt-s" title="Deepika Padukone joins OZiva Family | #HarTarahSeBetter | Certified Clean Plant-Based Nutrition" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/A1cYvKoHt-s/mqdefault.jpg"></div> “Deepika Padukone is the perfect embodiment of our values of striving to be better in every way and adopting a holistic approach towards overall health, physically and mentally. Our philosophy of ‘har tarah se a better you’ resonates well with Deepika who has been extremely vocal about balancing physical and mental health. It is important to have clean nutrition along with maintaining physical health and mental wellbeing. And this association is the next pivotal step in our efforts to spearhead a national health revolution,” said Gill. An ASSOCHAM report released in 2018 predicted that the Indian nutraceuticals market is expected to grow from $4 billion in 2017 to $18 billion in 2025. It is due to this growing demand for nutrition-based products that OZiva has hit the Rs 100 crore revenue mark. Spilling the secret sauce that has helped in its success, Gill said, “While our goal was quite well-defined - it took us sometime to figure out the right business model in this space. I believe the first 2-3 years were like a learning experience where we tried out multiple things and failed at most of them. But those years were laying the foundation of where we are today. There are multiple reasons that have helped us grow like having the right team, investing in R&amp;D (a must in the consumer health segment) and most importantly listening to the consumers. If your offering can manage to solve a problem or makes someone’s life easier, then you definitely have the potential to grow leaps and bounds.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="State of nutrition in India" text="State of nutrition in India">State of nutrition in India</cmsannotation> Nutrition can be used as a yardstick to measure a country’s overall development and progress. However, the United Nations ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ report highlights how there are 189.2 million undernourished people in India. It also said that our country is likely to miss the 2025 global nutrition targets. OZiva is the first nutrition brand in India to be certified clean and receive the Purity Award and Pesticide Free certificate from the US-based Clean Label Project. Gill claims that only about 100 brands across the world out of more than 10,000 brands that CLP has tested so far, have passed the criteria for Purity Award. It is only in 2021 that we finally have a start-up that is considered clean and pure in India’s nutraceuticals market as per global standards, which reflects how poor the state of the industry is and why quality control is one of the major concerns plaguing the health and nutrition vertical. Telling us why other Indian nutraceutical brands and conglomerates have failed to provide pure products so far, Gill said, “The market in India is replete with numerous companies selling dubious products with low-quality ingredients. It is true that being the first and foremost brand in India to be certified clean, pure and free from pesticides is both gladdening and sad at the same time. A lot of companies also seek to benefit from the low levels of consumer awareness and knowledge in terms of ingredient quality and their sourcing. Another reason is that many low quality or unhealthy ingredients don’t affect the body immediately but turn harmful to the body over a period of time. For eg., certain artificial sweeteners that are used in certain foods can be harmful to the body if consumed for a long period of time. So consumers sometimes oversee these factors or think it might not cause enough harm. Hence companies continue to use such unhealthy ingredients in their products. The guidelines for clean labelling is still in its nascent stage in India which has further made it easier for companies to take undue advantage of the same. By raising the benchmarks for purity in India, we hope to bring about a change in the way ‘clean nutrition’ is perceived in the country.” To improve the state of the nutrition industry further, Gill said that consumers should be encouraged to ask the right questions around the food label, ingredients -- leaving brands with no choice but to step up. “We also need to raise the benchmark of quality. FSSAI or Ayush license is just the first step for any food and nutrition brand. It’s important to analyse various quality parameters such as heavy metals, toxicity etc to ensure the products meet the global standards of purity. We need to also invest in upgrading the testing machines. When we were going for Clean Label certification, we realized many parameters in India are tested on parts per million whereas the global standard is testing on parts per billion. We had to send our test samples to Germany and the US to ensure our products meet the testing standards defined on a global level. If we are able to take the necessary steps in the above direction, our future generations will be eating far more cleaner products than we are,” said Gill. There's a lack of awareness and understanding in India when it comes to getting the right nutrition from food, especially among women. According to the National Family Health Survey 2019-20, in most states and union territories of India, more than half the children and women are anemic. However, after COVID, people are becoming more conscious as they are considering their daily lifestyle and taking a more holistic approach by purchasing items that might help strengthen the immune system naturally. Gill told us how OZiva is educating consumers about getting the right nutrition through its marketing and advertising channels. She shared, “Our brand’s purpose is to empower consumers with the right information and right nutrition so that they can lead a clean, holistic life. Our communication, hence emphasizes on providing information backed with research and data. For eg: Vitamins and Minerals are an extremely huge category in India. However, most of the supplements available in the market are synthetically produced. Plant-based vitamins and minerals provide better absorption compared to synthetic counterparts and hence is highly recommended. There are multiple research papers that support this finding. Our range of ‘Bettr’ vitamins and minerals are 100% plant-based that provides consumers maximum goodness from consumption of the same. Our communication around this series focuses on the importance and relevance of better absorption and how it is beneficial to the body. We believe that with the right information, we will be able to help consumers slowly and steadily move to a healthier lifestyle.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Vision for the brand" text="Vision for the brand">Vision for the brand</cmsannotation> “Being a clean, plant-based nutrition company has worked in OZiva’s favour. We have seen a 4X growth in the last 12 months which is driven by more and more consumers adopting a holistic and clean lifestyle. Clean, plant-based nutrition offers complete wellbeing and multiple benefits like better immunity and overall fitness. We expect continued growth for plant-based nutrition and products in the coming months too as I feel it's now time that people realize clean products are not a good to have but an important part of our daily lifestyle. We are aiming for 3-4X growth this FY too,” said Gill Gill also told us that the company started with a vision to empower 100 million people to be healthier and better. Now, it is investing in Health 2.0, which is driven by a more proactive consumer who takes control of their health and wellness decisions. This could eventually bring down the healthcare cost and create a positive impact on the society.

After crossing an annual revenue run rate of Rs 100 crore, nutrition brand OZiva eyes 4X growth this year

Mumbai, May 27 () The country's economy, which is likely to contract by 5 per cent in the current fiscal, may expand by around 5 per cent in the next financial year, former RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao said. Rating agency Crisil on Tuesday had said the Indian economy may shrink by 5 per cent in fiscal 2021, adding this recession could be the country's fourth since Independence and perhaps the worst to date. "I do believe that getting up to 5 per cent next year (FY22) is quite probable. The reason I say that is because this (COVID-19) is not a natural disaster. Our factories are still standing, our infrastructure and transport systems are still there," Subbarao said. He was speaking at a webinar on 'Indian Economy - Navigating through a Crisis', organised by the Centre for Financial Studies (CFS) at Bhavan's SPJIMR business school. "Once the lockdown is lifted and the economy is given a green signal to restart, I am sure that we can ramp up pretty soon and reach at least 5 per cent (growth rate)," he said. Speaking at the same webinar, former deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, also said there is a possibility of 5-6 per cent growth in fiscal 2021-22. "But it would be mistake to treat that as recovery because if you are down 5 per cent this year (FY21) and you are up 6 per cent from that level then what it means is that during FY21-22 you will be at the same level as you were in 2019-20," Ahluwalia pointed out. According to him, the country is going to face its worst recession in the current fiscal. Subbarao further said a sharp decline in growth would mean a disruptive adjustment even for a rich country. "For a poor country like us, it would mean enormous pain and hardship for millions of low income persons, firms and enterprises, especially in the informal sector, going bankrupt and it could mean our financial stability becoming vulnerable," he added. Amid this grim situation, the former RBI governor said he sees two silver linings -- relative stability of the external sector and bumper agricultural crop production, which would support the economy. Commenting on the over Rs 20 lakh crore fiscal stimulus package announced by the government, Subbarao said, "Within the fiscal constraints of the government, they have done a good job." He also lauded the government's decision of additional borrowing in this fiscal. "I, for one, believe that the government should borrow more in order to spend more. That is a moral and political imperative. But I don't support the view that the government should resort to open ended borrowing," Subbarao said. The government has increased its market borrowing programme for the current financial year by more than 50 per cent to Rs 12 lakh crore from the Rs 7.8 lakh crore estimated in the budget. Subbarao added that the stress in the country's financial system could deepen post the coronavirus crisis. "In January, before the COVID crisis hit us, we were extremely worried about our financial sector, health of our banks, NBFCs, NPA levels, trust deficit in private sector banks. All those parameters are going to get worse as we come out of this crisis," he said. According to Ahluwalia, there is a need to undertake serious tax reforms that are long overdue. "We should now set up a truly high level multi-disciplinary committee of people advising the kind of tax policy to be announced in the next budget. It should include a serious re-examination of the GST where there are huge leakages taking place for a variety of reasons," Ahluwalia said. The session was moderated by Ananth Narayan, associate professor (finance) at Bhavan's SPJIMR. HV ABM ABM

India's GDP growth may rebound to 5 pc in FY22, says Subbarao

Mumbai, Jan 24 () With just a week left for the budget, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday called for structural reforms and more fiscal measures to revive consumption demand and the overall growth, saying monetary policy has its own limitations to achieve these objectives.
 The Narendra Modi government in its second term will present the first full budget next Friday, at a time when the advance estimate of GDP has projected nominal growth plunging to a 48-year-low of 7.5 per cent and real growth hitting an 11-year low of 5 per cent or thereabout.
 "Monetary policy has its own limits. Structural reforms and fiscal measures may have to be continued and further activated to provide a durable push to demand and boost growth," Das told the students of St Stephen's College, Delhi, his alma mater.
 The statement has to be seen in the context of growth hitting a six-year low of 4.5 percent in the September quarter.
 It can be noted that successive GDP prints have been hurtling down quarter after quarter since the second term of the Modi government. Falling consumer price inflation has given the legroom to the central bank to cut interest rates by a whopping 135 bps to a nine-year low of 5.15 per cent in four successive rate reductions between February and October 2019.
 Even a historic corporate tax cut to a low 25 per cent last August did not revive the animal spirit of the economy as amidst falling demand companies are holding back investment into capacity addition as most of them are under-utilising their installed capacity.
 Das also listed out some of the priority areas where structural reforms are necessary and if carried out in earnest can act as potential growth drivers and through backward and forward linkages can give significant push to growth.
 He called for prioritising food processing industries, tourism, e-commerce and startups and also making the domestic economy a part of the global value chain.
 Das urged the states to play an important role by enhancing capex which has high multiplier effect, and can boost the Centre's focus on infrastructure spending.
 Admitting that correctly assessing the current economic situation and thus formulating the necessary monetary policy is a challenge now, he said this is why monetary policy around the world is in a state of flux today.
 The RBI was forced to slash its GDP forecast for FY2019-20 by a whopping 290 bps to a low 5 per cent between February and December. 
 "One of the major challenges for central banks is the assessment of the current economic situation. The precise estimation of key parameters such as potential output and output gaps on a real time basis is a challenging task, although they are crucial for the conduct of monetary policy.
 "The shifting trend growth in several economies, global spillover effects and disconnect between the financial cycles and business cycles in the face of supply shocks broadly explain why monetary policy around the world is in a state of flux," Das said in the speech entitled the 'Seven ages of India's monetary policy'.
 Das said a view must be taken on the true nature of the slack in demand and supply-side shocks to inflation for timely use of counter cyclical policies.
 As a counter to this flux, he said the Reserve Bank constantly updates its assessment of the economy based on incoming data and survey based forward looking information juxtaposed with model-based estimates for policy formulation.
 "This approach helped the Reserve Bank use the policy space opened up by the expected moderation in inflation and act early, recognizing the imminent slowdown before it was confirmed by data subsequently," Das concluded. BEN MR
MR

Ahead of budget, Das underlines need for more structural reforms to revive growth

(Eds: Incorporating related stories) New Delhi, Feb 15 () Amid concerns over economic slowdown, RBI chief Shaktikanta Das on Saturday said credit growth momentum is picking up and ruled out any possible spike in inflation due to Budget proposals as the government is maintaining "fiscal prudence". After the first meeting of the RBI board post 2020-21 Budget presentation, Das also expressed hope that transmission of rate cuts would improve further. The meeting, which was also addressed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, discussed various Budget proposals. "The direct inflationary impact of any budget is fiscal deficit number, when borrowing goes up, but the government has adhered to the principle of fiscal prudence. "The 'escape clause' under FRBM Act, the deficit number in the current year as well as the next year are very much within the parameters set as per FRBM committee recommendations," Das said. Facing revenue shortage, the government raised the fiscal deficit target to 3.8 per cent of the GDP for 2019-20 in the budget, from the 3.3 per cent pegged earlier. The government has utilised 'escape clause' under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, which allows the Centre to breach its fiscal deficit target by 0.5 percentage points at times of severe stress in the economy. Meanwhile, the finance minister said the government is monitoring farm credit given by banks in rural areas, adding that she expects to meet the increased target of Rs 15 lakh crore for the next fiscal. "Credit limit has been expanded. I am sure it is based on local ground level requirement...we expect the demand to grow and credit requirements to also meet up with it. I am actually closely monitoring banks and their extension of credit facility particularly to rural areas. So I think we'll be able to meet that," Sitharaman said. The farm credit target for the current fiscal has been set at Rs 13.5 lakh crore. Speaking on the inflationary impact of the Budget proposals, Das said, "The good part of the government borrowing is also budgeted to come from small savings. Therefore, I don't see much of an inflationary impact." "Declining crude prices has definitely positive impact on inflation...The main reason for spike in inflation is because of food inflation, mostly milk, fish, and various protein related items. Core inflation has slightly edged up because of revision of telecom tariffs," he added. Retail inflation based on consumer price index (CPI) soared to a near six-year high of 7.59 per cent in January, surpassing the Reserve Bank of India's comfort range primarily on account of rising vegetable and food prices. Similarly, wholesale prices-based inflation accelerated to a 10-month high of 3.10 per cent in January, mainly due to costlier food articles, particulary onion and potato. Economic growth has been slowing in recent months and the RBI has pegged GDP expansion at 5 per cent for the current fiscal ending March 31. About the Supreme Court order regarding Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues to be paid by telecom companies, Das said the central bank would have internal discussions in case there are any issues arising out of it. The court threatened contempt proceedings against top executives of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom firms for failing to comply with its directive to pay an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues. The decision might have ramifications on banks in terms of their exposure to the financially-stressed telecom companies. On moderating credit growth, Das said there are signs of uptick and the momentum is gathering pace. "Credit flow is slowly and steadily reviving... we do hope and we do expect the credit flow to improve in the coming months," he added. Credit flow from all sources -- banks, domestic market and external commercial borrowing -- has improved to Rs 7.5 lakh crore, he said, adding nearly Rs 6 lakh crore flow has happened between October and January to the commercial sector. "Within that, if you look at bank credit to the commercial sector, it was actually a negative growth at the end of September by about Rs 1.3 lakh crore or so. Now it is plus Rs 2.7 lakh crore, the latest number we have at the end of January. So this is within the total number I mentioned," Das said. On February 6, the six member-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by Das, for the second meeting in a row, kept repo rate unchanged at 5.15 per cent but maintained the accommodative policy stance which implies it was biased in favour of cutting rate to boost growth. Prior to going for status quo on rates in December, the central bank had slashed rates five consecutive times that resulted in a cumulative 1.35 per cent decline in repo rate. DP RAM ABMABM

Credit growth momentum picking up; Budget proposals not to stoke inflation, says Das

Leading private life insurer Bharti <keyword id="152119" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="AXA">AXA</keyword> <keyword id="6406875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="life-insurance">Life Insurance</keyword> registered 17% growth in its renewal premium to Rs 1,359 core for the year ended March 31, 2020, against Rs 1,164 crore in the last financial year 2018-19. The company today said its total premium income grew 5 per cent to Rs 2,187 crore in the financial year 2019-20 from Rs 2,076 crore in 2018-19. The <keyword id="9364732" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-business-premium-income">new business premium income</keyword> stood at Rs 829 crore in the financial year 2019-20, as compared to Rs. 911 crore in the corresponding fiscal period a year ago. "Our new business premiums contracted mainly due to a shortfall in March, an important month for new business in the industry, which was triggered by the COVID19 lockdown and social distancing," said Parag Raja, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bharti AXA Life Insurance. Asset under management witnessed a surge of 21 per cent to Rs, 6,902 crore in for the year ended March 31, 2020, from Rs 5,699 crore as on March 31, 2019. Raja said: "We grew and registered steady performance on many business parameters in the financial year 2019-20, despite the disruption caused by the spread of <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword> pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in the crucial month of March, which adversely affected the domestic life insurance industry in terms of new business. The healthy renewal premium collections and an increase in the total premium income led our growth journey in the last fiscal." The company continued to expand its operation and distribution footprint across India in the last financial year in terms of recruitment of <keyword id="9364733" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="fresh-advisors">fresh advisors</keyword> and setting up of new branches, with a view to creating a large pool of productive agents and reaching out to every nook and corner of the country. It set up 25 new branches to take an enhanced distribution network of 261 branches across the country during 2019-20, up over 10 per cent over 236 branches in 2018-19. Bharti AXA Life Insurance added 3,934 new advisors to strengthen its net agent force to 43,316in the financial year ended March 31, 2020, up 10 per cent 39,382 advisors in 2018-19. Apart from strengthening its Agency and Direct business and exploring multiple bancassurance options, in view of COVID19 crisis and subsequent restrictions, the company has also fast-tracked the entire digitization journey and created an eco-system of tools to identify need, share solutions digitally and complete end-to-end transaction using customer on-boarding and servicing tools. Raja said: "Protection continues to be a cardinal part of our differentiated product mix as it brings real insurance products to the customers and builds a safety net for their families. The prevailing situation has made us to re-imagine the entire sales process from face-to-face meetings to remotely approaching the customers and closing the transaction. The trainings have been modified to suit digital solicitation. We have also created digital sales tools that make the entire conversation more interesting and interactive for the customers." The company would continue on the path of transformation with a focus on overall all renewals, improved persistency, product innovation, a diversified distribution bandwidth, digital and data-led strategy and customer-centricity to inch closer to its cherished vision of "Insurance for All", achieve profitable growth and maximize value for its stakeholders in the years ahead, he added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/yes-bank-case-ed-raids-five-premises-of-cox-and-kings-in-mumbai/articleshow/76256791.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Yes Bank's top borrower Cox and Kings sees raids at five of its premises</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hero-motocorp-profit-revenue-for-q4-march-2020-preview-share-price-chart-and-sales-data/articleshow/76256963.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Hero MotoCorp shareholders are betting that people will go for cheaper bikes after the pandemic</a>

You Searched For "Growth parameters" and got 12 results

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Ujiivan SFB posts 2-folds growth in Q3 profit

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After crossing an annual revenue run rate of Rs 100 crore, nutrition brand OZiva eyes 4X growth this year

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Ahead of budget, Das underlines need for more structural reforms to revive growth

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Credit growth momentum picking up; Budget proposals not to stoke inflation, says Das

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Bharti AXA Life posts 17% growth in renewal premiums to ₹1,359 crore in FY20

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