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<ul><li><keyword id="6371031" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ikea" source="Orion">IKEA</keyword> entered India in 2018 and since then has opened one store in Hyderabad and two in Mumbai. Its next two stops are Bangalore and Delhi.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="1259757" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavitha-rao" source="Orion">Kavitha Rao</keyword>, Country Commercial Manager, <keyword id="6429663" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ikea-india" source="Orion">IKEA India</keyword> who walks us through the brand's India journey so far and everything that lies ahead.</li></ul>It was back in 2018 that Swedish <keyword id="6354386" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="furniture" source="Orion">furniture</keyword> brand IKEA made its inroads into the Indian market with its first store in Hyderabad. 4 years since, the brand is now on its way to opening a store in Bangalore, after opening one large and one small showroom in Mumbai. While shopping for furniture online or on an app would have been difficult for a lot of people till even a few years back, the lockdown hastened India’s digitization journey, which proved to be a boon for retailers like IKEA. The company launched its app in May last year and has reportedly seen its online sale more than double in the last 2 years, a trend that <keyword id="1453334" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="peter-betzel" source="Orion">Peter Betzel</keyword>, CEO &amp; CSO at IKEA India is confident is here to stay. India still has a huge unorganized furniture segment. For a brand like IKEA, the task has been to present itself as an affordable and sustainable alternative. While the large format showrooms mean that after 4 years, IKEA has only been able to expand, physically, to only 2 cities, its online platform is helping it take its products to more cities. For the next few years too, the focus will be to steadily increase both its offline and online presence. To understand its journey in India so far and what lies ahead, we spoke to Kavitha Rao, Country Commercial Manager, IKEA India. Here’s what she had to say: IKEA’s India Journey So Far While IKEA’s official journey in India started in 2018 with the opening of its store in Hyderabad, it had been present in India since 2014, preparing for its foray into the country. Even before launching, the brand did a lot of research on what products will be relevant for Indian consumers and the team visited close to 2000 homes across different cities to understand their needs and aspirations. “It was about understanding the different activities people did in their homes and how furniture and <keyword id="792357" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="home-furnishing" source="Orion">home furnishing</keyword> accessories supported people in their everyday lives. That was a very important starting point for us. And then, at a later point, we placed IKEA products in customer homes across different cities to really see how they got used, to understand what worked well and what did not. In fact, in a good number of cases, we had actually placed products for anywhere between 12-18 months in customers homes between 2015-16 to really get first-hand feedback in terms of usage. And that was great insight for us because we also understood how our products fared in the Indian environment,” shared Rao. This gave the team an opportunity to work on some product design, improve on products even before they actually started selling in the country. Its research also helped it come up with products that are more locally relevant. For instance, IKEA India has a much larger collection of cooking utensils like pots and pans, considering Indians’ love for cooking, in comparison to a lot of other markets. When the brand launched its first showroom in Hyderabad, the marketing communication was very local, to keep it relevant to the consumers there. And the focus of the brand since has been on understanding the consumer better and presenting them with products that are relevant for them. “The starting point for us has always been the thinking that the product range is really the right entity. The most important thing that we are focused on is to bring well-designed functional home furnishing products that are affordable. We believe doing that consistently will help us build the brand in the long-term. We’re still relatively new here and have a long way to go in terms of establishing IKEA as the top-of-mind brand for the Indian consumer. However, we are not in India just to establishing the IKEA brand, we’re also here to help build the home furnishing category too,” added Rao. Navigating The Pandemic For a brand like IKEA, as for any other retail brand, the physical experience a consumer gets is very important. However, the pandemic restricted store entry. So how did the brand navigate those lockdown months? “It is always good to take a positive spin and be optimistic and that has been our approach since the first wave hit us. The positive out of this entire experience is that since we spent so much time indoors, the home became so much more important. But the challenging elements were that we worked through various lockdowns. There was a period when store visits were restricted but that is also where IKEA, as an <keyword id="2535292" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="omni-channel" source="Orion">omni-channel</keyword> retailer, was able to leverage other customer touchpoints, be it e-commerce or remote-selling. Most of the research reports point to the fact that Indian consumer’s digital adoption was one of the highest across the world. So that is been an interesting journey for us. And that also gave us the opportunity to expand our e-commerce offering in many more cities across India. But we also saw very quickly that not everybody was comfortable buying a category like home furnishing online. And there we really started to look at how to augment the experience itself, with more human interaction through services. During the first wave, we had something called an online personal shopper who could support a customer trying to buy home furnishing online. This was very important in the India context because many weren’t comfortable shopping online and also because there could be customers who did not have the knowledge of home furnishing and the kind of product choices they needed to make to meet their own needs. So it helped on both fronts.” The Roadmap Ahead With 3 physical stores in India currently, IKEA is focusing on its Bangalore store which is expected to open between April and May. “The next step for us is the Bangalore market where we will be opening both a large format store as well as a small format store. After that, the next milestone is Delhi where we have land parcels and work is underway in different stages in both Bangalore and Delhi. Those would be the next big steps for us and then we will start to explore the next set of cities within India,” shared Rao. On what their key focus for the next few years will be, Rao said, “It is about continuing the journey that we have started. We want to figure out how to make home furnishing relevant for consumers in India and how to create even more interest for the home furnishing category as a whole. Within that, in the context of marketing, our focus will be to understand how to make IKEA a relevant go-to brand for consumers in the India market. They see our products as well-designed, functional, affordable and sustainable for themselves. So at a very high level, that is really what we will focus on. And then in the short-term, considering we are in the midst of the third wave, the next couple of months our focus will probably be on staying agile to some of the changes that are happening in the environment and adapt and continue to be resilient to face the challenges of the new wave,” concluded Rao.

We’re not in India just to build brand IKEA but also to build the home furnishing category: Kavitha Rao, IKEA India

<ul><li>IKEA’s latest campaign shows there is always space for more in your home.</li><li>It is a 360-degree campaign that will be live on TV, OOH (outdoor) and digital (YT, FB, IG).</li></ul> IKEA has launched a new integrated campaign in India, the third in the series of the creative platform - “Home Is where it all begins”, across television, OOH and digital channels. Our needs and expectations from the home keep changing. Whether it is kids growing up or welcoming a new member into the family, home is expected to accommodate all needs. IKEA is passionate about people’s life at home and spends a lot of time to understand their needs, wants and desires. With this understanding it attempts to provide home furnishing solutions that can help the many people fulfil their needs from the home. It’s latest commercial and four mini-ad series, gives a glimpse of how to make the most of our homes by unlocking spaces with smart solutions. The first television commercial focuses on the changing needs of home as a child grows and becomes a teenager. With him the needs of the other members of the family change too. The TVC focuses on bedroom storage solutions which help make space while telling a beautiful sibling’s story. <div type="Youtube" id="KTJ6gjf-7Dw" title="Home is where it all begins." thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KTJ6gjf-7Dw/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The second television commercial focuses on the changing needs from home when a new furry friend gets added to the family. The family and the home also need to evolve to meet the requirements of this new member. IKEA’s living room storage solutions help the family make space at home. Sometimes, when you make space for someone in your life, you also unlock space for them in your home and in your heart. They complete your family picture, even if they aren't related to you by blood. After all, when it comes to your family, home is where it all begins. <div type="Youtube" id="zisdQPAEWSo" title="Home is where it all begins." thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zisdQPAEWSo/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Commenting on the campaign, <keyword id="1259757" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavitha-rao" source="Orion">Kavitha Rao</keyword>, Country Commercial Manager, <keyword id="6429663" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ikea-india" source="Orion">IKEA India</keyword> says “We all have a lot of emotions linked to our homes, we would also like our homes to be functional to support us with the big and small changes in our life. Our needs from our home are growing and changing everyday. Often, we need to be able to do all the things we want to do, within the limited space. When we live with people with different needs, tastes and expectations, it’s no wonder we find ourselves looking for new solutions. The third campaign in the series ‘home is where it all begins’, talks about the most important changes in the living situation of a family by making space for growing needs of a teenager or addition of a furry friend, thereby making space for the family as whole. The four mini ad series talk about slice of life storytelling- positive take on work/study from home, staycation in current reality of life, progressive values showcased with a young boy evolving into a teenager and emotional storytelling with child displaying care and affection. At IKEA, through our wide range of functional and affordable home furnishing solutions, we want to help you unlock space, so that when your life at home evolves, your home can evolve with you.” The second campaign under ‘home is where it all begins’ was released early this year. It highlighted being a family is not just about having a meal together or other fun times, it’s also about partnering each other to navigate through the changes and the milestones that happen in a family’s life. The campaign will run on TV in both Telangana and Mumbai markets on regional channels. It is a 360-degree campaign which will be live on TV, OOH (outdoor) and digital (YT, FB, IG).

IKEA’s latest campaign encourages people to make space for growing needs of a family

<ul><li>In our latest series, we talk to brands about how they have been marketing during these adverse times, the things they have learnt and how they are preparing for the somewhat uncertain future.</li><li>In today’s exclusive, Kavitha‌ ‌Rao,‌ ‌Country‌ ‌Commercial‌ ‌Head,‌ ‌IKEA‌ ‌India‌ tell us how did the brand pull off reopening its stores and how <keyword id="9188349" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="contactless-shopping">contactless shopping</keyword> is the inevitable future of retail industry. </li></ul>With the lockdown, the meaning of what home is has evolved. It is our gym, workplace, playground and school for kids. With this, furniture brands had to relook at their product offerings to be able to address the changing consumer needs. <keyword id="6371031" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IKEA">IKEA</keyword> was quick to spot that COVID had made the furniture category move from being a want to becoming a need. The Swedosh furniture giant reminded consumers through its advertising campaign that ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtjuBYxrozI">Home can be full of possibilities</a>.’ It encouraged people to stay at home, and explore their home by engaging in activities befitting each room. However, while buying new furniture to facilitate various remote activities became a necessity, consumers did not want to step out because it involved communicating with store helpers. So when IKEA decided to open its stores back in Hyderabad amidst the lockdown, it wasn’t an easy job. It involved rethinking retailing. It, therefore, launched a contactless way of shopping called ‘Click and Collect’ that allowed consumers to collect their order in the car parking area. Apart from that, contactless hand sanitizer machines, indicators on the floor for social distancing, physical barriers for extra safe shopping, queue management for line-ups, separation screens around sales points, cash registers and customer service points were installed to gain consumer trust. Kavitha‌ ‌Rao,‌ ‌Country‌ ‌Commercial‌ ‌Head,‌ ‌IKEA‌ ‌India‌, further walks us through the brand’s action plan for the Hyderabad launch, changing consumer patterns in the market, why it is important to listen to your consumer in the current situation, and find solutions that are not only easy to implement but also easy on the wallet. Excerpts: Q. How challenging were the last three months for you? At IKEA, the health and safety of our customers, co-workers, suppliers and communities have been our biggest priority. Keeping this in mind, we closed our physical retail operations even before the government guidelines came out. As a business, we have had to redirect our focus to take care of our people, whether they are our coworkers, business partners or communities around us as we face this unprecedented global crisis together. It was clear that we need to understand what the future of retailing would look like, and begin to rethink the future and what innovations would be relevant in the post COVID era. We also realized, it was important to stay agile and adapt as things continue to evolve rapidly. During the lockdown, the ecommerce channel has been a big boon to consumers and businesses. With people spending a lot of time at home, home furnishing has become even more important and hence, we had to strengthen our online presence to reach many more people with home furnishing essentials they need during these times. ‘Click &amp; Collect’, a safe and contactless shopping service was launched in India in May to support our ecommerce business even better. We also launched an online personal shopper service to aid customers in their shopping journey online. In addition, remote planning and home furnishing consultancy supported our customers to plan and furnish their homes remotely. Caring for communities has been a big focus for us. To be people and planet positive is integrated in our business foundation. Globally we launched a relief fund of €26 million to support COVID-19 affected communities. In India, we have tied up with various organizations, and government to help vulnerable communities such as migrant families, children and women. IKEA India also helped setup quarantine centers in Hyderabad. We will continue to support communities in the long term. Q. How have you observed the consumer behavior changing during these last few months? The ‘home’ is always emotional. With our consumers spending all their time at home, it has acquired a whole new meaning; it is the new office, the new playground and school for children, the new restaurant and the new window to the world. While spending habits may not be the same as before, the need for home furnishing and furniture is amplified. This has given us a chance to explore innovative ways to offer products and solutions and address the consumer needs linked to home. Recent researches talk about 25-30% of consumers shopping online for the first time across categories, be it food, groceries, services, etc. A more forced-adoption of ecommerce is also leading to consumers discovering the convenience associated and the option is turning out to the preferred mode of shopping. Consumers are also more focused on their health and well-being and people are more conscious of leading an environment friendly and sustainable life at home. This will mean that brands paying attention to this trend will gain significantly. There are many needs at home today, but the economic uncertainty is not far behind. While a lot of the furniture and home furnishing solutions are moving from a want to a need, this is also the time when consumers are thinking twice about every spend. This is where affordable solutions become even more important. Being able to do more with less acquires a new meaning. Businesses that address this dimension of consumer sentiment are poised for growth. Q. What are some things that you think will never be the same, once we resume normalcy? There are many factors that will evolve in a post COVID-19 world, and one of the foremost developments is people avoiding crowded places for a while to come. This could also mean that consumers make a more permanent shift to shopping online in some categories. We will also see an emergence of smart buying where customers will plan their shopping in advance and only purchase things that they need. With a likely decline in consumer spending in discretionary categories, value for money and affordable solutions will be a preferred option for consumers. Physical retailing could see some significant changes; consumers might not be keen to interact with store coworkers but might be more comfortable to shop using digital enablers – videos, QR codes and apps that demonstrate the features, tips and tricks, functionalities of a product; thereby substituting the coworker and help maintain social distancing. Q. As markets open up, how are you ensuring that your consumers start trusting you? Safety of our coworkers and customers are our highest priority during these extraordinary times. To enable safe shopping, we launched <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/retail/ikea-restarts-india-operations-with-click--collect-in-hyderabad-5998791.htm">Click &amp; Collect</a>, first of its kind in India which is a totally contact less way of shopping. Customers can order IKEA products on our website, pay online and select the ‘Click &amp; Collect service’ option when checking out. IKEA's delivery team would prepare their order for them to pick up from the Click &amp; Collect collection station in the store’s car parking area. This has added to our ecommerce capability and provided more options to customers shopping online. We reopened the Hyderabad store earlier this month with strict safety protocols in place. We limit the number of customers allowed into the store at a given time and ensure strict social distancing norms. Contactless hand sanitizer machines, indicators on the floor for social distancing, physical barriers for extra safe shopping, queue management for line-ups, separation screens around sales points, cash registers and customer service points are in place to secure a safe shopping experience. All shopping bags and trolleys are sanitized after use. And customers are subjected to temperature checks and mandatory face masks to further heighten safety. Q. How do you see the retail sector shaping up? What would its future look like? Do you think e-comm will take precedence? E-Commerce will emerge as a preferred channel for shopping for a vast majority of consumers across a wide range of categories. Physical retailing will see a reduction in shopping trips, but the trips that happen will be well planned and focused. This would also mean window shopping and impulse purchases are likely to reduce. When it comes to discretionary spends, consumers are likely to cut back on spending. A lot will depend on value for money and affordable products and solutions that retailers are able to bring together to address consumer needs. For example, a family might decide to postpone the purchase of a new sofa but might be open to updating the curtains and cushions to refresh the living room. Retailers will need to identify these pockets of opportunity and address consumers’ needs in the best possible manner across dimensions of value for money, good quality and design. Retail sale campaigns of the future could look different. Consumers might not be swayed by discounts offered as window shopping and impulse purchases are likely to decline due to the economic implications of the COVID crisis. Addressing a consumer need with value for money products and solutions might become more important than a deep discount. Q. Has the current situation made you innovate and think out of the box, in terms of how you communicate with your consumers? What does your marketing strategy look like? In tune with our vision ‘To create a better everyday life for many people’, as a brand, we always side with the many people, the common man as we know them in India. We always want to reflect empathy and togetherness with our customers, co-workers and communities. We also believe that ‘everyday life’ matters much more than the one-off excitement that could be few and far between. With that, our aim is and continues to be- to create a better life by offering a wide range of functional, well designed, affordable home furnishing solutions that can meet the needs of a diverse section of people with varying needs, wishes and dreams linked to their home. The COVID crisis is unprecedented and has required us to rethink the future and reinvent ourselves across many dimensions. When it comes to our marketing communication, we continue to side with the many people on relevant themes. During the lockdown period, we launched two campaigns that focused on people and their lives during COVID-19. The ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtjuBYxrozI">Home is full of possibilities</a>’ campaign encourages people to stay at home, and explore their home by engaging in activities befitting each room. And on account of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexxism, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), we launched <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbPo0Q4WoAc">#BeSomeonesHome</a> campaign as our outreach to LGBTQI individuals whose families may not be with them in these times of crisis. IKEA is a relatively new brand in India and we will continue to work towards building the brand for the long term with key messages linked to everyday life at home and how IKEA can help make it a little bit better with our range of products and solutions that stand for design, quality, affordability and can support a more sustainable life at home. Through our messages, we will always connect with people as people more than as consumers. Q. What is your media plan going to be now? Which medium will get the lion's share? As a brand, we side with the many people and hence we need to reach a very diverse audience; we will continue to focus on all the key media options ranging from out of home, TV, OTT channels, digital to print media. The media landscape has evolved significantly in the last decade with digital options taking a lead and we will look to have a good balance of digital and conventional media options. In the post COVID world, we do see people consuming entertainment at home and that is a new and interesting space to explore. Q. What are some of the key learnings from this experience? The COVID pandemic has caused a major health crisis across the world and the intensity and duration of the economic crisis that will follow is still unclear. It is important to stay agile and be quick to adapt to changing conditions that the crisis can present. Businesses in general need to use this opportunity to think of new ideas that can enable profitable growth in the future. As a home furnishing retailer, we see that the home has become even more important, but that does not mean people have the money to spend on refurnishing their homes, even though they might have an acute need to do so; this makes it even more important to find solutions that are not only easy to implement but also easy on the wallet. In addition, retailers also need to focus even more on their co-workers as they are in the lead in delivering a great customer experience, both online and in the store. Building a mindset of resilience amongst coworkers and empowering them to innovate and adapt to new ways of working is a great enabler to growth. It is only by remaining open to change, collaborating, understanding and adapting to consumer sentiments and trends, can we help create a new narrative for the future. A new narrative that will help us meet consumer need and enable the much-needed growth for our businesses.

How IKEA executed contactless retailing to open its stores in Hyderabad amid a lockdown

Hyderabad, Buses of state-owned Road Transport Corporation in <keyword id="68884" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telangana">Telangana</keyword> went off road on Tuesday amid growing <keyword id="6367209" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="support">support</keyword> for farmers groups-called <keyword id="6379373" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharat-bandh">Bharat Bandh</keyword> that received support from all parties in the state except the BJP. With employee unions of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) backing the shutdown call, buses were confined to depots. <keyword id="3614635" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mahatma-gandhi-bus-station">Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station</keyword> and Jubilee Bus Station, two biggest and busiest bus stations in Hyderabad, wore a deserted look. Some commuters who reached the bus stations early morning to board buses to their destinations were seen returning disappointed. Most of the cabs and auto-rickshaws also went off the roads as the unions of taxi and auto drivers backed <keyword id="10393033" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-bharat-bandh">the Bharat Bandh</keyword> in support of the demand by farmers' groups asking for rollback of the new farm legislations by the central government. With the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) declaring total support to the bandh, it is likely to evoke good response across the state. Opposition Congress, Left and other parties, farmers' and people's organizations and trade unions are also backing the protest. Ministers, MPs, state legislators and other public representatives will be participating in protests across the state. Chief Minister and TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao has appealed to party cadres to make the bandh a total success. TRS has called upon its leaders to stage road blockades on highways to show solidarity with agitating farmers. Backing the struggle by farmers against the three farm laws, Rao said the laws adversely impacted their interests. It was precisely because of that the TRS opposed the Bills in Parliament, he said and stressed the need for the agitation to continue until they were repealed. Rao's son, cabinet minister and TRS working president K. T. Rama Rao will be leading the protest at Borgula on Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway. The chief minister's daughter and member of legislative council K. Kavitha will lead rasta rook near Kamareddy. Home minister Mohammed Mehmood Ali, finance minister Harish Rao, agriculture minister Niranjan Reddy and other ministers will also lead the protests on highways. K. T. Rama Rao Mr. Rao urged owners of shops and business establishments to reopen their premises after 12 noon. He also wanted transport companies to resume their operations only in the afternoon. Dubbing the new farm legislation as 'black laws', Rama Rao called for raising a unified voice against a conspiracy to hand over the farm sector to the corporate entities and make farmers labourers at the hands of the big corporate players Leaders and workers of Congress, CPI, CPI (M), other Left parties will also stage protests. Telangana Non Gazetted Officers Union also extended support to the nationwide bandh call. Welfare Party of India, Jamaat-e-Islami, Student's Islamic Organization (SIO), Jamiatul Ulema and several other groups have also announced support to the shutdown. Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy directed police officials to take all preventive steps to maintain law and order in view of the bandh call. "It has also been instructed that none should be allowed to take law in their hand," said a statement from DGP's office. Cyberabad police has issued a traffic advisory in view of the bandh. Several protests might be held at various places, including on roads and junctions in and around the city, affecting regular movement of traffic, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) S.M. Vijay Kumar said. People going to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport are advised to take the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and plan their travel accordingly, he said. Free passage for emergency services and ambulances will be ensured on all roads. Osmania University and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad have postponed the examinations scheduled for Tuesday. The exams would be held later. BJP has opposed the bandh call. Party's state union leader appealed to farmers and citizens at large not to support what they call 'sarkari bandh'. They also appealed to people not to fall into the political trap of the opposition parties. Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy said it was unfortunate that a state government has officially declared that it is supporting the bandh. He urged the farmers not to mortgage their interests by believing the TRS and other opposition parties on the propaganda unleashed against the three farm laws. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/petrol-is-less-than-a-rupee-away-from-being-more-expensive-than-it-has-ever-been-for-indian-consumers/articleshow/79601841.cms">Petrol is less than a rupee away from being more expensive than it has ever been for Indian consumers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stock-movers-ongc-hdfc-bank-nmdc-pfizer-spicejet-indigo-irctc-tata-chemicals-and-others/articleshow/79602525.cms">Top stock movers — ONGC, HDFC Bank, NMDC, Pfizer, SpiceJet, IndiGo, IRCTC, Tata Chemicals, and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-ports-hits-52-week-high-brokerages-bullish-on-faster-than-expected-krishnapatnam-port-turnaround/articleshow/79604999.cms">Adani is making 68% margin from one of its ports – the stock has doubled since lockdown</a>

Bharat Bandh: Bus movement affected in Telangana as TSRTC backs shutdown

Lok Sabha Elections 2019 candidate list for Telangana

Hyderabad, Amid the gloom caused by COVID-19, one sector which provided a ray of hope was life sciences and turning the challenge into an opportunity, Hyderabad fortified its position as a global force in the world of pharmaceuticals. This southern city, already recognised as a global information technology destination, proved its prowess in the field of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and emerged as the vaccine capital of the world. Already known as the bulk drug capital of India, Hyderabad witnessed manufacturing of lifesaving COVID-19 drugs like Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine and Favipiravir by some of the top pharma companies based here. This was followed by hectic efforts in the city to develop COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, Hyderabad has emerged as the nerve centre of all research and development activities in the country for COVID-19 vaccines and has even attracted international attention. Today, almost all the vaccines being developed in the country for the pandemic have a Hyderabad connect. Four of the six companies developing COVID vaccines in India are based in Hyderabad. <keyword id="149108" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharat-Biotech">Bharat Biotech</keyword> is currently conducting Phase III clinical trials of India's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin. Covaxin is being developed in collaboration with <keyword id="1256547" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Indian-Council-of-Medical-Research">the Indian Council of Medical Research</keyword> (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV). This indigenous, inactivated vaccine is being developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) bio-containment facility at Genome Valley here. According to Bharat Biotech, Covaxin has been evaluated in approximately 1,000 subjects in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, with promising safety and immunogenicity results. The Phase III human clinical trials of the vaccine began in November, involving 26,000 volunteers across India. This is India's first and only Phase III efficacy study for a COVID-19 vaccine, and the largest phase III efficacy trial ever conducted for any vaccine in India. "Covaxin has garnered interest from several countries worldwide for supplies and introduction," said Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director of Bharat Biotech. In April, Bharat Biotech announced development of CoroFlu, an intranasal vaccine for <keyword id="8698690" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus-">Coronavirus.</keyword> University of Wisconsin–Madison and vaccine company FluGen along with Bharat Biotech began the development and testing of CoroFlu. The Hyderabad based company will produce almost 300 million doses of vaccine for global distribution. In May, Bharat Biotech and Thomas Jefferson University of Philadelphia signed an exclusive deal to develop a new vaccine candidate for COVID-19 invented at Jefferson. The novel vaccine was developed using an existing deactivated rabies vaccine as a vehicle for coronavirus proteins. Bharat Biotech claimed to have excellent track record of innovation with more than 140 global patents, a wide product portfolio of more than 16 vaccines, 4 bio-therapeutics, registrations in more than 116 countries and WHO Pre-qualifications. The company has so far developed vaccines for H1N1, Rotavirus, Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies, Chikungunya, Zika and the world's first conjugated vaccine for Typhoid. It has delivered more than four billion doses of vaccines worldwide. It is also the largest Rabies vaccine manufacturer in the world. Another city-based firm Biological E last month initiated clinical trial of its COVID-19 subunit vaccine candidate in India following approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). BE is making the vaccine in collaboration with <keyword id="5289395" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="dynavax-technologies-corporation">Dynavax Technologies Corporation</keyword> (Dynavax), a US-based vaccine focused biopharmaceutical company, and <keyword id="503459" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Baylor-College-of-Medicine">Baylor College of Medicine</keyword>, a health sciences university in Houston. Biological E has also signed an agreement with Johnson &amp; Johnson to produce the latter's vaccine at its vaccine production facilities and sell them both in India and export across various global markets. Indian Immunologicals, a human and animal vaccines maker, too is developing a vaccine for COVID. Hyderabad-based pahrma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories is conducting clinical trials of Russian COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V. Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund, has collaborated with Dr Reddy's to conduct clinical trials and distribute the vaccine in India. Hyderabad was under spotlight with the recent visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ambassadors of more than 60 countries to the facilities of Bharat Biotech and Biological E in Genome Valley Telangana's industry minister K. T. Rama Rao believes that Hyderabad has cemented its position as the vaccine capital of the world. He pointed out that Hyderabad is already manufacturing more than two billion doses of vaccines every year, which is one-third of the global vaccine output. The city, with its strong ecosystem, has played a critical role in making India not only self-sufficient in the medicine manufacture but also turned it into the pharmacy capital of the world. It accounts for 40 per cent of the total Indian bulk drugs and 50 per cent of the bulk drug exports. Industry leaders believe that Hyderabad will be an integral part of the global efforts to vaccinate the world against COVID. Even if no vaccine is developed in the city, the city will still have a big role to play in global vaccination efforts with the sheer vaccine manufacturing capacity it houses. Hyderabad has the largest US FDA approved vaccine facilities. They have the capacity to manufacture millions of doses with world-class standards. "India's vaccine sector will play a critical role in developing and producing vaccine at scale for distribution across the world. Hyderabad's importance in the global vaccine landscape is only growing," K.T. Rama Rao said. Telangana government has assured the companies that it will play the enabling role in global vaccination efforts against COVID-19. The Hyderabad airport announced few days ago that has developed necessary infrastructure to handle the exports. As per the industry insights, most of India's vaccine export will be to Africa, Latin America and Asian destinations. Hyderabad is already home to more than 800 life sciences companies and the sector employs over 1,20,000 pharmaceutical professionals. It is said to be the only city in the country to house more than 20 incubation centres focused only on life sciences and health-tech. More than 200 start-ups are also working on innovative solutions in healthcare. Genome Valley is India's first organised cluster for life sciences R&amp;D activities spread across 600 square kilometers. Set up in 1999, it has world-class infrastructure facilities in the form of <keyword id="10464926" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="industrial-/-knowledge">Industrial / Knowledge</keyword> parks, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Multi-tenanted dry and wet laboratories and incubation facilities. It is home to more than 200 companies including presence of the marquee global names like Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Ferring Pharma, Chemo, DuPont, Ashland, United States Pharmacopeia and Lonza. With <keyword id="4920024" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hyderabad-Pharma-City">Hyderabad Pharma City</keyword> also likely to be operational soon, the city is looking to ramp-up production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and thus develop a cluster to help the country compete with China. The new project is expected to create 1,70,000 direct jobs and 5,60,000 indirect jobs. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/wistron-apple-iphone-manufacturer-could-face-these-penalties-if-found-guilty/articleshow/79790319.cms">If investigators find Wistron management guilty, here's what is at stake for the company</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/heres-what-analysts-say-if-you-should-subscribe-or-not-to-the-300-crore-ipo-of-antony-waste-handling-cell/articleshow/79790998.cms">Antony Waste Handling Cell ₹300-crore IPO will open on Monday— these are the risks and opportunities</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ikea-india-cfo-says-she-still-has-3500-crore-to-be-spent-in-india-the-pandemic-has-changed-targets-but-not-the-investment-plan/articleshow/79790938.cms">INTERVIEW: Ikea CFO says she still has ₹3,500 crore to be spent in India⁠— the pandemic has changed targets but not the investment plan</a>

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We’re not in India just to build brand IKEA but also to build the home furnishing category: Kavitha Rao, IKEA India

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Lok Sabha Elections 2019 candidate list for Telangana

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Hyderabad : Vaccine capital of the world

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Apple, Amazon, Google, and hundreds of businesses vowed to meet Paris climate goals on their own 'in the absence of leadership from Washington'

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