Washington, Gita Gopinath, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has urged policymakers to provide more <keyword id="3906221" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="fiscal-stimulus">fiscal stimulus</keyword> to boost the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as the global economy is in a liquidity trap. "For the first time, in 60 per cent of the global economy -- including 97 per cent of advanced economies -- central banks have pushed policy interest rates below 1 percent. In one-fifth of the world, they are negative," Gopinath wrote in an op-ed article in the Financial Times, adding central banks have little room to further cut interest rates if another shock strikes, Xinhua news agency reported. "It has led to the inescapable conclusion that the world is in a <keyword id="10212045" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-liquidity-trap">global liquidity trap</keyword>, where monetary policy has limited effect. We must agree on appropriate policies to climb out," Gopinath said on Monday, noting fiscal policy must play a leading role in the recovery. Gopinath suggested that fiscal authorities can actively support demand through cash transfers to support consumption and large-scale investment in medical facilities, digital infrastructure and environment protection. "These expenditures create jobs, stimulate private investment and lay the foundation for a stronger and greener recovery," she said. Gopinath noted that "the importance of fiscal stimulus has probably never been greater" because the spending multiplier, the pay-off in economic growth from an increase in public investment, is much larger in a prolonged liquidity trap. "Monetary policy has and will remain central to this effort, but with the world in a global liquidity trap it is time for a global synchronised fiscal push to lift up prospects for all," said the <keyword id="1952333" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="IMF-chief-economist">IMF chief economist</keyword>. In its World Economic Outlook report released last month, the IMF revised up the 2020 forecast for global economy to a contraction of 4.4 per cent. Despite the upward revision, the IMF said the ascent out of this crisis is likely to be "long, uneven and highly uncertain". SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/icici-bank-surges-6-after-it-posts-six-fold-jump-in-net-profit-at-over-42-billion/articleshow/78992379.cms">ICICI Bank surges 6% after it posts six-fold jump in net profit at over ₹4,200 crore</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/covid-19-vaccine-updates-pfizer-moderna-to-roll-out-covid-19-vaccine-by-december/articleshow/78924143.cms">COVID-19 vaccine updates: Covaxin, India’s first indigenous COVID vaccine, is likely to be launched by mid-2021, Israel starts human trials</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/xi-and-modi-to-come-face-to-face-thrice-this-month-even-as-china-embarks-on-its-rail-and-road-border-project/articleshow/78995991.cms">Xi and Modi to come face-to-face thrice this month even as China embarks on its rail-and-road border project</a>

IMF chief economist urges more fiscal stimulus to break the global liquidity trap

(Eds: Adding details) New Delhi, May 1 () IDFC First Bank on Friday said it will raise a fresh equity capital of Rs 2,000 crore from investors, including its promoter and a Warburg Pincus firm. The decision was taken on Friday at the meeting of its board, which approved to issue 86.24 crore shares on a preferential basis to ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, HDFC Life Insurance Company, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Dayside Investment (Warburg Pincus group entity), and to its promoter IDFC Financial Holding Company Ltd, the bank said in a regulatory filing. Under the fundraising, the equity shares will be issued at Rs 23.19 apiece to the existing and new investors, subject to shareholders' nod and other approvals. "The bank will use this capital to power growth, to continue to invest in liabilities and asset franchise, technology and infrastructure platforms to expand reach, product suite and to improve customer experience," it said in a release. Under this fresh fundraising, qualifying for common equity tier 1 or CET1, the bank will get Rs 800 crore from its promoter IDFC Financial Holding Company Ltd, while Rs 600 crore will be infused by ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company. HDFC Life Insurance Company, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Ltd and the US-based private equity fund Warburg Pincus group-affiliate Dayside Investment Ltd will pump in Rs 200 crore each into the bank. The promoter will acquire 34,49,76,282 shares and ICICI Prudential Life 25,87,32,212 units, while the rest of the three investors will buy 8,62,44,070 shares each. The private sector lender said the new capital infusion will strengthen its capital adequacy to 15.5 per cent with CET 1 ratio at 15.3 per cent (calculated on December 31, 2019, base of 13.28 per cent, substantially higher than the regulatory requirements). This will enable the bank to accelerate growth of its deposit and asset franchise, it added. V Vaidyanathan, managing director and chief executive officer, IDFC First Bank, said, "Within one year after merger (of Capital First), the bank has made strong progress across all strategic priorities and set a strong foundation for growth. The new fund with strong capital adequacy will enable us to continue to power up growth in the chosen areas. It also empowers us to navigate current market uncertainties from a position of strength." He said that in one year of merging Capital First with itself, the bank's retail lending grew 32 per cent year-on-year and retail deposits were up 157 per cent year-on-year. The merger took place in December 2018. The bank's net interest margin (NIM) increased sharply to 3.86 per cent in the third quarter of 2019-20 ended December 2019 and is expected to continue rising. The bank has built strong intellectual property in its business in a focussed manner and the opportunities for growth for the lender are unlimited, Vaidyanathan said. Having recently been rated 'FAAA' by rating agency Crisil for its fixed deposit programme of Rs 50,000 crore -- the highest safety rating by Crisil in this category, he said that with the new equity capital raise, the position is further strengthened and will help the bank raise more retail current account-saving account (CASA) and retail deposits and thereby reduce the overall cost of funds for the bank. During the fourth quarter ended March 2020, retail assets increased 32.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 54,027 crore, it said. The lender's retail loan book as a proportion of total loans grew from 10 per cent as of March 2018 (pre-merger) to 60 per cent as on March 31, 2020, (including retail priority sector lending) and is running ahead of the 5-year guidance of 70 per cent given at the time of merger. The bank has reported strong retail asset quality with gross non-performing assets (NPA) at 2.26 per cent of the gross advances and net NPAs at 1.06 per cent at the end of the December 2019 quarter. IDFC First Bank said Dayside Investments Ltd along with Cloverdell Investment Ltd --both Warburg Pincus LLC Group entities -- together holds 47,72,64,867 equity shares, constituting 9.92 per cent of the pre-issue shareholding and 56,35,08,937 equity shares constituting 9.93 per cent of the post-issue shareholding of the bank. The total number of the bank's paid-up equity shares will be 567,23,43,720 after the issue, it said. "The net worth of the bank post the issue and as added to the net worth as of December 31, 2019, will be Rs 17,240 crore," IDFC First Bank said. The lender said the said preferential allotment shall be subject to approval of the members of the bank proposed to be sought through postal ballot by way of 'Remote E-Voting' in terms of the applicable circulars recently issued by MCA (April 2020) in view of the current extraordinary circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic requiring social distancing and also in accordance with relevant Sebi norms. KPM HRS

IDFC First Bank to raise Rs 2,000 cr capital from promoter, Warburg Pincus, 3 others

New Delhi, Jan 17 () Realty firm Gaurs group on Friday announced an investment of Rs 10,000 crore over the next five years to develop housing, commercial, schools, hospitality and healthcare projects in the national capital region.
 The group announced this investment plan on completion of its 25 years of operation.
 "We have completed and delivered more than 50,000 units in the last 25 years. Now, we are targeting to deliver another 50,000 units in the next five years. We will increase our focus in commercial segment which is doing very well," Gaurs group Managing Director Manoj Gaur told reporters here.
 He said the company's sales bookings have been strong despite demand slowdown in the housing market. Sales booking jumped to Rs 4,000 crore from Rs 1,600 crore in the previous year.
 Gaurs claimed that the company has never defaulted in delivering units to customers and repayment of debt to financial institutions.
 On future plan, Gaur said the company would be investing Rs 10,000 crore over the next five years to develop projects across all verticals -- housing, offices, retail, hotels, service apartments, schools and hospitals.
 These projects would be mainly at Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. The company will soon be foraying into Dehradun market with a mixed-use project.
 Gaurs group is developing 237 acre township 'Gaur City' at Noida Extension and 250-acre township at Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida.
 Asked about source of fund to make this huge investment, company's director Sarthak Gaur said it will be through internal accruals and debt.
 "We have a customer receivable of nearly Rs 3,000 crore. We also have unsold unit of Rs 2,000 crore," he added.
 On the commercial segment, Gaur said the company has so far developed about 25 lakh sq ft of commercial area of which around 15 lakh is under the lease model.
 "We plan to develop 10 million sq ft of commercial space in the next 5 years. We have a rental income of Rs 100 crore currently and target is to touch Rs 400 crore in the next five years," he said.
 Asked about the company's turnover and debt, Manoj Gaur said the turnover fluctuates between Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 2,000 crore depending on revenue recognition based on area completion, while its debt is around Rs 2,000 crore.
 Gaurs Group recently raised Rs 450 crore in debt from ICICI Bank and the amount will be used for a shopping mall project in Greater Noida.
 The group CSR arm Gaurs Foundation tied up with Pinkishe Foundation, an all-women NGO that works for empowerment of girls and women. MJH SHW
SHW

Gaurs group to invest Rs 10K cr in next 5yrs on various realty, hotel, hospital projects in NCR

<ul><li>Airtel shares were buzzing in the stock market on Monday (May 3) even as the benchmark indices were deep in the red for most of the day.</li><li>Strong performance driven by price hikes, healthy average revenue per user (ARPU) jump and subscriber growth could propel Airtel ahead of its rival, Jio.</li><li>Jio’s disappointing performance in the March 2021 quarter has also given Airtel investors another reason to celebrate.</li></ul>Airtel’s fortunes are getting another boost as the telecom provider started reaping the benefits of price hikes combined with healthy subscriber growth. To top it off, Jio’s disappointing performance in the March 2021 quarter has sparked investor sentiment in its rival – Airtel’s shares were buzzing even as the share market gyrated by nearly 800 points before staging a late recovery. Since the beginning of this financial year (April 1), Airtel’s shares have surged by over 7% despite the increasing uncertainties in the market. In the same period, the benchmark Sensex has fallen by nearly 3%, while Reliance Industries – Jio’s parent company – has also fallen by nearly 3%. <div type="image" title="Airtel 01_04_21 to 03_05_21." msid="82380916" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Airtel share price since April&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Airtel’s strong showing over the last few quarters is visible – it has managed to add more subscribers in the second half of 2020 when compared to Jio. Not just that, Airtel also has a much higher active subscriber rate at 97%, while Jio’s active subscriber rate is just 79%. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Airtel subscribers spend more than Jio’s – and the gap is widening" comment="subhead" text="Airtel subscribers spend more than Jio’s – and the gap is widening">Airtel subscribers spend more than Jio’s – and the gap is widening</cmsannotation> Airtel subscribers spend more than Jio’s, which has actually seen its average revenue per user (ARPU) register a significant decline in the previous quarter. According to a report by Motilal Oswal dated April 27, Airtel’s ARPU has increased by over 17% in the financial year 2020-21. In comparison, Jio’s ARPU fell by over 8% in the previous quarter alone. <div type="image" title="Airtel Jio ARPU FY21." msid="82380935" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The gulf between Airtel and Jio&amp;#39;s ARPUs has grown by four times&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The gap between Airtel and Jio’s ARPUs has widened from just ₹5 at the beginning of the previous financial year to ₹20 at the end of it. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Airtel doesn’t have the JioPhone baggage pulling it down" comment="subhead" text="Airtel doesn’t have the JioPhone baggage pulling it down">Airtel doesn’t have the JioPhone baggage pulling it down</cmsannotation> Unlike Reliance Jio, Airtel doesn’t have to worry about low-ARPU plans that Jio offers with the JioPhone. For instance, between April and December 2020, Jio’s ARPU jumped by 16% – from ₹130 to ₹151. However, the launch of JioPhone 2 – the company’s new low cost phone – dragged down the ARPU to ₹138 in the March 2021 quarter. While this is still a positive jump overall for the entire year, it is an increase of just 6% year-on-year. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio-is-making-less-money-off-its-subscribers-than-it-did-12-months-ago/articleshow/82331233.cms">JioPhone 2 alone could have resulted in a 10-percentage point hit to Jio’s ARPU.</a> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Analysts are bullish on Airtel" comment="subhead" text="Analysts are bullish on Airtel">Analysts are bullish on Airtel</cmsannotation> The latest report by ICICI Securities, dated April 28, has given a thumbs up to Airtel’s performance in the last year. Its analysis of data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has revealed that Airtel has performed better than its rivals across metrics like 4G subscriber base, ARPU and data usage. For instance, Airtel’s 4G subscriber base increased by 1.1 percentage point while Jio recorded a decline of 1.25 percentage point, quarter-on-quarter. And as explained earlier, Airtel’s ARPU performance was also better than Jio’s – Airtel recorded a growth of 17% while Jio’s ARPU increased by just 6% at the end of FY21. Based on Airtel’s performance, analyst house Motilal Oswal gave the company a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of ₹720 – this is an upside of 28% when compared to the closing price of ₹561 as on May 3. UBS, a multinational investment bank, gave Airtel the ‘Most Favoured’ rating. While it remains to be seen if Airtel can sustain the rally its shares have seen today, the foundation has been laid by strong growth in ARPU and subscribers. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio-is-making-less-money-off-its-subscribers-than-it-did-12-months-ago/articleshow/82331233.cms">Reliance Jio is making less money off its subscribers than it did 12 months ago</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-adds-3-times-more-subscribers-than-reliance-jio-vodafone-idea-turns-positive-for-the-first-time-in-15-months/articleshow/81562851.cms">Airtel adds 3 times more subscribers than Jio while Vodafone Idea gets net addition first time in 15 months</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-adds-record-5-5-million-and-reliance-jio-added-3-2-million-subscribers-in-december-2020-month/articleshow/81107239.cms">Mittal vs Ambani battle heats up as Airtel beats Reliance Jio to become the top telco in the country</a>

Airtel shines as price hikes, healthy subscriber growth and Jio’s disappointing performance send the stock rallying

The stage is set for the second phase of assembly poll in <keyword id="6357783" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-bengal">West Bengal</keyword> on Thursday when more than 75 lakh voters will decide the fate of 191 candidates in 30 seats as eyes are set on the high profile Nandigram constituency where Chief Minister <keyword id="43868" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mamata-Banerjee">Mamata Banerjee</keyword> is pitted against her protag turned adversary Suvendu Adhikari. All 10,620 booths where polling will be held this phase have been declared as sensitive by the <keyword id="40807" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Election-Commission">Election Commission</keyword>, which has deployed around 651 companies of central forces to provide security, officials said. Besides, the state police will also be deployed at strategic locations during the polling which will begin at 7 am, they said. A total 199 companies of Central Armed Police Force will be deployed in Purba Medinipur, 210 companies in Paschim Medinipur, 170 in South 24 Parganas and 72 in Bankura, the sources said. TMC and BJP are contesting in all the 30 seats, while CPI(M) is in the fray in 15 and its alliance partners of Sanjukta Morcha the Congress and ISF are competing in 13 and two seats respectively. Polling will take place amid strict COVID-19 guidelines in nine seats of Paschim Medinipur, eight in Bankura, four seats in South 24 Parganas and nine in Purba Medinipur - the home ground of TMC turncoat and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. Nandigram falls in Purba Medinipur district. The agrarian constituency which shook the foundations of the mighty Left regime over the anti-land acquisition movement in 2007, has now turned into a battleground of titans with Banerjee suddenly deciding to switch from her Bhowanipur seat to the constituency held by Adhikari, her former lieutenant who has switched loyalty to the BJP. For Adhikari it is a battle for political survival as a defeat would be a devastating blow and might also put a question mark on his political graph in his new party the BJP. Similarly, a victory would not only establish him as one of the tallest leaders in Bengal but would also push him few miles ahead of others in the Chief Ministerial race in case the BJP is voted to power. For Banerjee, who is running for the third successive term as chief minister, a victory is a must to lead the government and keep together her party, which is faced with exodus. For the Congress-Left-ISF alliance candidate Minakshi Mukherjee of CPI-M, the challenge is to regain her party's lost ground. While Banerjee had been camping in Nandigram for the last four days, BJP fielded its 'big guns', including Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and superstar <keyword id="14672" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mithun-Chakraborty">Mithun Chakraborty</keyword> to defend Adhikari's turf, which he had won in 2016 and take on 'Didi' (as Mamata is popularly called). Apart from identity politics and Bengali sub- nationalism, the demand for jobs, inclusion of Hindu backward communities in the OBC category and setting up of agro-based industry have emerged as main poll planks in the second phase of polls. l Of the 30 seats which will see voting on Thursday, 23 were won by TMC in the 2016 assembly elections, five by Left Front and Congress and BJP one each. The political equation in the state had changed in 2019 when BJP made massive inroads in the tribal-dominated Janga Mahal region and Medinipur belt by sweeping all the five Lok Sabha seats. The TMC, however, has been able to maintain its dominance in South 24 Parganas district, where there is sizeable minority population. A prominent seat going to the poll in the second phase is Sabang, where TMC has fielded its Rajya Sabha MP Manas Bhunia. He is up against TMC turncoat and BJP leader Amulya Maity. Bhunia, a former state Congress president, had held the seat from 1982 to 016 as Congress nominee before switching over to the TMC in September 2016. TMC has fielded actor <keyword id="1076648" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sayantika-Banerjee">Sayantika Banerjee</keyword>, a popular face in the Bengali silver screen, from Bankura seat against BJP's Niladri Sekhar Dana. The Sanjukta Morcha has fielded Congress candidate Radharani Banerjee. In Debra seat, two former IPS officers will cross swords. One is BJP candidate Bharati Ghosh who is contesting against TMC's <keyword id="184573" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Humayun-Kabir">Humayun Kabir</keyword>. Both had resigned from their senior police posts to join active politics. Banerjee, who is in a wheelchair since her accident early this moth, crisscrossed the majority of the constituencies going to the polls in the second phase. TMC MP <keyword id="255730" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhishek-Banerjee">Abhishek Banerjee</keyword> toured the rest asserting that TMC will not let Bengal to be ruled from Delhi or Gujarat in an apparent reference to the battery of central BJP leaders and ministers camping in the state. Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda had led BJP's campaign from the front addressing rallies at Kanthi, Bankura and Nandigram and urging the electorate to vote for BJP to usher in 'ashol poriborton' (actual change) to build 'Sonar Bangla' (prosperous Bengal). SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-a72-mobile-phone-review/slidelist/81774857.cms">Samsung Galaxy A72 review – a premium mid-range phone in a crowded market</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/earth-lost-more-arctic-sea-ice-than-the-area-of-rajasthan-and-madhya-pradesh-combined-in-2021/articleshow/81775537.cms">The planet lost more Arctic sea ice than the area of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh combined in 2021</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/from-smartphones-to-cars-india-needs-so-many-semiconductor-chips-that-modi-may-offer-billion-dollar-cash-reward/articleshow/81777612.cms">Howzzat! A $1 billion cash reward for making semiconductor chips in India⁠ is under consideration</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/sbi-icici-hdfc-and-other-bank-customers-could-face-otp-issues-from-april-1/articleshow/81777962.cms">Bank OTP issue – SBI, ICICI, HDFC and other bank customers could face OTP issues from April 1</a>

Bengal set for second phase polling in 30 seats, all eyes on Nandigram

<ul><li>Five months ago, there was a question on whether the Africa unit will survive. </li><li>However, the London-listed company has clocked a revenue growth of over 10% for nine quarters now, reaching nearly $900 million at the end of March.</li><li>The average revenue per user in Africa is 40% more compared to India.</li><li>Here, we decode what is driving the growth in <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>’s Africa unit and what lies in its future ahead.</li></ul>Five months ago, Airtel was wondering whether the Africa business was viable at all. Now, it has posted a 72% jump in pre-tax profit and is planning to invest another <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/expect-to-spend-planned-usd-650-700-mn-capex-in-fy21-airtel-africa/articleshow/75721818.cms">$700 million capital expenditure</a> in the continent. There's a good reason why telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal— <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-mittal/#71631b7e18cb">worth over $11 billion as per Forbes⁠</a>— is backing his instincts in Africa. At nearly $900 million in the latest third quarter, the Africa unit’s revenue is nearly a fourth compared to India business; though analysts at Edelweiss have ascribed about 10% of the <keyword id="4792703" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="airtel-share-price">Airtel share price</keyword> in India as value of the company’s stake in the Africa business. The rate of subscriber addition in Africa has increased from 1.9 million at the March 2019 to consistently over 3 million in each of the last three quarters. <div type="image" title="Airtel Africa subscriber arpu" msid="75970653" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Airtel Africa Subscriber and ARPU growth&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “The last 12 months have been good for us. Our revenue growth has been about 13.8%, we’ve increased our EBITDA margins to 44.3% and our free cash flows have doubled this year to $453 million. We have enough finances to tide over this COVID-19 period,” Raghunath Mandava, CEO of <keyword id="363206" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel-Africa">Airtel Africa</keyword> <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/earnings/2020/05/13/airtel-africa-sees-increase-in-fy-revenue-remains-bullish-on-africas-outlook/">told</a> CNBC Africa. EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation and it is a metric to measure the strength of the company’s core business. <div type="image" title="Airtel Africa revenue and profits" msid="75970757" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Airtel Africa revenue and profits in the last five quarters&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The reason for doubt in the last one year Airtel’s Africa unit got listed in the London Stock Exchange in June 2019 and it got a disastrous welcome, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/airtel-africa-falls-16-after-london-listing/articleshow/69997982.cms">falling over 16%</a> on day one. Investors didn’t like the prospects much and, as expected, profit fell in three out of the last five quarters. However, the fall in profit was primarily due to currency devaluation in important markets like <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/nigeria-currency/update-3-nigeria-central-bank-devalues-official-fx-rate-by-15-after-trade-with-local-bank-traders-idUSL8N2BD78E" data-type="tilCustomLink">Nigeria</a>, which makes for 40% of the telecom operator’s annual revenue in Africa. The company lost nearly 9% of the revenue to the exchange rate loss, according to an Emkay Research report dated May 19. Airtel Africa’s ARPU is 40% higher than it is in India Another surprising statistic revealed in the latest Edelweiss report is that Airtel average revenue per user (ARPU) in Africa is ₹210, nearly 40% higher than the ₹154 it makes from the Indian users. <div type="image" title="Airtel Africa and India ARPU" msid="75970774" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Airtel Africa and India ARPU comparison&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> And there’s headroom for growth too... It is worth highlighting that out of the 110 million subscribers of Airtel Africa in Q4 2020, only 35 million used data services. “The way Africa is now, we have unique customer penetration of 45%, smartphone penetration is between 35-40%. That means there is potential to grow voice, data and because of lower banking penetration, there is enough potential to grow mobile money,” Mandava further added, highlighting the growth potential in Africa. Analysts are bullish on the Airtel stock Airtel has been on a rally of late with its stock increasing by 20% in the last one month. On one hand, the India business is narrowing down to a duopoly between Airtel and Reliance Jio [can hyperlink to one of BI’s stories on this] and on the other hand, the revival in Africa business has impressed analysts. Looking at its Q4 2020 performance, analysts have revised their target price for Airtel stock listed in India to as high as ₹712, another 20% from the compared to the closing price on May 22. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype=""><cdata><![CDATA[<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/2546039" data-url="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/2546039/embed"></div>]]></cdata></div> “The company’s ability to garner smartphone subscribers will aid revenue market share as this segment has the highest propensity to pay and would benefit operators the most should tariffs rise or the industry consolidate,” said Edelweiss research in its latest report dated May 19, 2020. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Brokerage </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Target price </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CLSA </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 670 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Morgan Stanley </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 575 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Credit Suisse </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 600 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Edelweiss </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 712 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ICICI Securities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 655 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Emkay </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.99375pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.99375pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 610 </td></tr></tbody></table> Source: <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/why-did-bharti-airtel-rally-10-despite-rs-5237-crore-q4-loss/articleshow/75819064.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Economic Times</a> SEE ALSO: <a href="http://businessinsider.in/business/news/unicef-airtel-africa-team-up-to-support-children-families-affected-by-covid-19/articleshow/75847839.cms">UNICEF, Airtel Africa team up to support children, families affected by COVID-19</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/airtel-shares-set-for-a-catch-up-rally-after-reliance-jio-takes-a-huge-valuation-lead/articleshow/75533860.cms">Airtel shares set for a catch up rally after Reliance Jio takes a huge valuation lead</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-signs-7636-crore-deal-with-nokia-to-enhance-4g-network-lay-foundation-for-5g-network/articleshow/75423000.cms">Airtel signs ₹7,636 crore deal with Nokia to enhance 4G network, lay foundation for 5G network</a>

Airtel’s Africa unit is now a nearly-billion dollar business where every user pays 40% more than the one in India

<ul><li>The founder of Yes Bank — which was taken over by the RBI — was arrested on Sunday (March 8). In addition, the CBI has named his wife, Bindu and their three daughters — Roshini, Radha and Rakhee — as co-accused in a case of money laundering. </li><li>This is one of those rare cases where a scam-hit person’s family is also into the dock. </li><li>The Kapoor sisters had one thing in common — the ‘no’ to a banking career.</li></ul>Tainted billionaire <keyword id="128581" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rana-Kapoor">Rana Kapoor</keyword> is taking his fortunes and family down with him. The founder of Yes Bank — which was taken over by the RBI — was arrested on Sunday (March 8). In addition, the CBI has named his wife, Bindu and their three daughters — Roshini, Radha and Rakhee — as co-accused in a case of money laundering. <div type="image" title="rana kapoor" msid="74550156" hostid="261"></div>

 The company founded by his three daughters was charged a vehicle for kickbacks. This is one of those rare cases where a scam-hit person’s family is also into the dock. The government issued a lookout notice of Kapoor and his family and his daughter Roshini was stopped from flying out of the country, to London on March 8. Apart from bad credit decisions that led to crisis at the bank, Kapoor is being investigated for graver crimes like aiding the scam-hit Deewan Housing FInance (DHFL). ED also seized the family properties and is searching across seven locations in Mumbai. The start of the scam It all started in April 2018, when Yes Bank invested ₹3,700 crore in Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL). In return, Kapil Wadhavan of DHFL gave ₹600 crore fund as loan to <keyword id="8884258" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="doit-urban-ventures">DoIT Urban Ventures</keyword>, a company held by the three Kapoor sisters. DoIT Urban Ventures was formed in March 2012, listed as “limited by shares” company. "Rana Kapoor obtained undue pecuniary advantage from DHFL in the matter of investment in the debentures of DHFL by Yes Bank, through the companies held by his wife and daughters," the FIR alleged. The sisters who said ‘no’ to banking The Kapoor sisters had one thing in common — the ‘no’ to a banking career. Rakhee, Kapoor’s second daughter studied finance and even started her career with JP Morgan. She however could not continue with it and took up a creative stint. <div type="image" title="kapoors" msid="74550193" hostid="261"></div>

 His youngest daughter Roshini had always looked up to her father and his entrepreneurial spirit. “My dad has always been my role model. His dedication and commitment towards his work and his passion as an entrepreneur and leader has fired up an entrepreneurial spirit in me. He has taught my sisters and me to dream big and not settle for mediocrity,” <a href="https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/my-wife-and-i-have-always-encouraged-our-daughter-roshini-to-travelrana-kapoorfounder-ceoyes-bank-68253.html">Roshini had once said</a> in an interview. The Three Sisters Institutional Office This entrepreneurial spirit led to the foundation of the finance company — The Three Sisters Institutional Office — to manage the family wealth of Rana Kapoor, identifying areas of investment of personal wealth across sectors like tourism and logistics. The first thing <keyword id="2182807" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Radha-Kapoor">Radha Kapoor</keyword> did after studying communication at Parsons in New York, she created her own company DoIt Creations in 2009. Since then, Radha Kapoor invested in an array of businesses — starting with the laundry business Pressto, followed by interiors-design company Brand Canvas and the Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI), which offers courses in media and design. “During our research, we also found that a lot of people wait till they travel abroad to get some of their more expensive clothes cleaned, or send them to hotels. With the retail boom in India, we felt there was a market for a good dry cleaning service,” Radha Kapoor <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/business/no-bank-for-radha-kapoor/article8013182.ece">said</a>. The absence of high street dry cleaners who understand textiles, embellishments such as embroidery and delicate garment pieces, convinced me of Presto's potential, she added. According to reports, the Kapoor sisters <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/rana-kapoors-daughters-bet-on-startups-new-business-invest-rs-965-crore/articleshow/58523244.cms">invested nearly ₹965 crore</a> to incubate the new business, which was founded by the eldest daughter Radha Kapoor in 2013. Talking about his family business, Rana Kapoor had once <a href="https://prime.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/67017850/fintech-and-bfsi/how-a-family-succession-plan-and-the-conflicts-it-spawned-put-yes-banks-rana-kapoor-and-his-clan-in-a-spot">said in an interview</a>, “Typically, families have a tendency of starting a business. They came up with an idea: Let us not call it the Rana Kapoor family office. We will call it TTS:IO — The Three Sisters Institutional Office,” Kapoor said in a start plus programme on father-daughter relationships. However, the very relationship has landed them all in trouble who will have to face questioning by the CBI. The investigation agencies is upping its ante and has raided and searched seven locations in connection with the case. This was after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked the RBI to look into the reasons behind the many troubles at Yes Bank, on which a moratorium had to be issued by the banking regulator. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/the-fall-of-yes-bank-founder-rana-kapoor-from-a-billion-dollars-to-facing-a-4300-crore-investigation/articleshow/74547669.cms">The fall of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor from a billion dollars to facing a ₹4300 crore investigation</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/a-timeline-of-troubles-at-yes-bank/articleshow/74510279.cms">A timeline of troubles at YES Bank</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/phonepe-logs-4000-crore-transactions-a-day-after-it-shifts-from-yes-bank-to-icici/articleshow/74545359.cms">Phonepe logs ₹4,000 crore transactions a day after it shifts from Yes Bank to ICICI</a>

The three Kapoor sisters who said ‘no’ to banking are now in the dock with Yes Bank crisis

<ul><li><keyword id="6355725" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-group">Tata Group</keyword> tops the Brand Finance India 100 Index in 2019 with brand value increasingly by 37% from last year. </li><li>India's biggest banks — State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank — also made the cut to feature in the top 10. </li><li>Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) showed the biggest drop, falling 28 positions in the rankings with its brand value falling nearly 65%. </li></ul>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-tata-group-has-two-airlines-and-two-more-to-choose-fromair-india-and-jet-airways/articleshow/70129384.cms">Tata Group</a> is India's most valuable brand according to Brand Finance India's top 100 list that's curated from a total of 5,000 companies. The group is one of India's largest with operations all over the world in over 100 countries. Government of India's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/lic-officials-under-investigation-by-sfio-for-role-in-ilfs-crisis/articleshow/69263029.cms">Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)</a> isn't even a close second with a brand value of $7.22 billion versus Tata's $19.559 billion. Even if you combine LIC's value with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/infosys-new-blockchain-banking-solution-doubles-its-partners-in-a-month/articleshow/64511303.cms">Infosys</a>, which came in third at $6.5 million — it's still less than that of the Tata Group. "Tata Group is to be commended for its ability to scale new heights, as it is not only India's most valuable brand, but has also recorded faster growth than any other top 25 brands, with an impressive 37% increase," states David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance. <div type="image" title="unnamed" msid="70247447" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Top 10 most valuable Indian brands 2019&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

 The newbies <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio-speeds-up-its-broadband-plan/articleshow/70139677.cms">Mukesh Ambani</a>'s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mukesh-ambani-s-reliance-retail-will-build-an-app-for-kirana-merchants/articleshow/70222354.cms">Reliance Jio</a> which is the fastest growing telecom company, has not made it into the top 10. But according to the Brand Strength Index (BSI) it's currently India's strongest brand. According to the report's methodology, the brand value is only one part of the story, which is how much the company would be worth in the open market. But, the other facet, is a brand's strength which is based on qualitative rather than quantitative measures to peg companies against their competition. The report explains that while Jio may not be the most valuable, it has a strong foundation in place with its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/two-years-on-reliance-jio-continues-to-dominate-indian-telecom-market-beating-global-giants/articleshow/67380627.cms">marketing investment</a>s, familiarity, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-reliance-jio-is-planning-to-increase-its-user-base-and-it-will-definitely-work/articleshow/53298530.cms">loyalty</a>, staff satisfaction and, more importantly, corporate reputation. This is Jio's first time on Brand Finance's top 100 and its accompanied by five other brands debutantes — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/baba-ramdev-looks-to-conquer-the-fashion-world-with-patanjali-clothing/articleshow/63643970.cms">Patanjali</a>, Chennai Petroleum, Indian Overseas Bank, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/csd-the-most-profitable-retail-chain-in-india/articleshow/53738799.cms">DMart</a>, and Max Life Insurance. Banking boom This year's top 100 featured a total of 14 Indian banks. India's three largest banks — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sbi-overstated-profits-for-3-years-reveals-rti/articleshow/70145021.cms">the State Bank of India</a> (SBI),<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/hdfc-hiring-5000-professionals-with-annual-package-of-400000-includes-training-program/articleshow/70083666.cms"> HDFC Bank</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/how-icici-became-indias-biggest-bank-here-are-some-interesting-facts-about-the-bank/articleshow/53653276.cms">ICICI Bank</a> — led brand values in the sector with SBI coming in fourth and HDFC in sixth position. The upskilling at banks to integrate digital services like mobile banking and internet banking has helped banks keep pace with the competition. Heightened brand values are expected in the future as well as more is invested into bringing in new infrastructure, technology and innovative customer tools. Winners and losers The Mahindra Group featured in the top 5 for the very first time with its brand value appreciating by 35% to $5.2 billion. It has been working its way through the Indian market but also building in roads in more mature markets like the US, with its IT and financial services businesses. The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), on the other hand, fell by 28 ranks, losing 65% of its brand value. The steep drop in its value is attributed to a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/anil-ambani-adag-stocks-this-week-reliance-power-reliance-infrastructure-and-reliance-communications/articleshow/69773095.cms"> continuous erosion</a> in its shareholder value. Even with an illustrious last name, the group doesn't invoke the trust it once used to. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tcs-wipro-and-hcl-are-among-the-worlds-most-valued-it-brands/articleshow/67670849.cms">TCS is now the world’s third most valued IT service brand</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/these-are-the-top-10-most-valuable-brands-in-the-world/articleshow/69747256.cms">These are the top 10 most valuable brands in the world</a>

The Tata name is worth $19.5 billion — more than the brand value of LIC and Infosys put together

US President <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword>'s daughter and his advisor <keyword id="21449" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ivanka-Trump">Ivanka Trump</keyword> on Wednesday batted for formulation of policies that support greater participation of women in workforce while speaking at a session on the second day of Global <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">Entrepreneurship</keyword> Summit (GES) in Hyderabad on Wednesday. <keyword id="6354862" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Trump">Trump</keyword> went on to talk about technology that can be used to allow women to work from kitchens and help reduce the gender gap. "I think it's incredibly important that policies support modern families... We need to start thinking about ways to support the modern workforce and the modern reality in household. I think technology is a great driver," she said. Trump was speaking at the session on 'We can do it! Innovations in workforce development and skills training', the panelists of the session included Cherie Blair, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women; <keyword id="45875" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chanda-Kochhar">Chanda Kochhar</keyword>, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank and Karen Quintos, Chief Customer Officer, Dell EMC. Trump said it is necessary to align what is being taught in the classroom with economic realities. <keyword id="3301815" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ivanka">Ivanka</keyword>, 36, is a businesswoman and a fas hion designer; she is been dealing with allegations from critics that her personal brand uses bad labor practices in its production, particularly in China, where the bulk of her U.S. merchandise ships from. While Trump has stepped back from day-to-day management of her brand before taking on an official role as <keyword id="6356037" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="white-house">White House</keyword> adviser, she still retains an ownership interest. Critics are asking the brand to reveal the names and addresses of their suppliers for greater transparency which has now become even more difficult after Trump took the new role in the White House. So far Trump has not taken a public stand on alleged abuses in her brand's own supply chain.

Ivanka Trump bats for greater participation of women in workforce amidst dealing with allegation of bad labour practices with her own brand

<ul><li><keyword id="54572" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="PepsiCo">PepsiCo</keyword> India said within 30 years of our establishment in India, PepsiCo India has grown exponentially to emerge as one of the largest Food and Beverage company in the country.</li><li>On account of such a tremendous growth, PepsiCo India has committed to invest over $2.1 billion in the country over a five-year period ending in 2022. </li><li>"While there have been some short-term head winds due to Covid, we at PepsiCo are extremely optimistic about the future and are committed to provide consumers the right portfolio of products across food and <keyword id="23943" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="beverages">beverages</keyword>," they said.</li></ul> In an interview with IANS, Vishal Kaul, Vice President &amp; Business Head, Beverages, PepsiCo India and Dilen Gandhi, Senior Director and Category Head of Foods, PepsiCo India said within 30 years of our establishment in India, PepsiCo India has grown exponentially to emerge as one of the largest Food and Beverage company in the country. On account of such a tremendous growth, PepsiCo India has committed to invest over $2.1 billion in the country over a five-year period ending in 2022. "'As people adjust to the enew normal', in-home consumption is witnessing a significant uptake. We are witnessing a jump in both penetration and frequency of our food and beverage categories. There is a growing demand for our larger packs as in-home occasions of togetherness have increased manifold. While the consumers are looking at in-home experiences and seeking convenience, they are also looking at value," they said. "While there have been some short-term head winds due to Covid, we at PepsiCo are extremely optimistic about the future and are committed to provide consumers the right portfolio of products across food and beverages," they said. "Even in the COVID environment, our categories are seeing robust demand and growth across most channels," they added. Q: How is PepsiCo India responding with its business models to the Covid-19 situation? A: The COVID-19 has led to a complete paradigm shift as everything around us has changed- consumer behavior, retail landscape, competitive environment. Very early on, we realized there was no playbook to tackle the COVID challenge and the situation would continue to change. So, we had to arm ourselves with taking quick decisions while not having all the relevant information. To help us navigate the crisis, we established 6 guiding principles: Being People Centric, Being Consumer Centric, Being Customer Centric, Being Community Stewards, Being Agile and Being Prudent. These were the lens through which we saw every decision and we empowered our teams for agile decision making. At a time when stepping out for even essentials was fraught with risks, making our product conveniently available for our retailers and consumers was a key focus area. Hyper-local delivery emerged as a solution and we invested in emergent channels like Ecommerce for both B2C and B2B. We partnered with Amazon, Big Basket, Grofers, Swiggy and Dunzo to ensure uninterrupted availability of our food and beverage products to consumers across locations with safe delivery-on demand for all our consumers. For B2B, we further strengthened our existing Distributor model with the EB2B model, where we partnered with Udaan and Big Basket to help small and medium businesses. This partnership ensured our product portfolio was easily made available to retailers, so that they can cater to demand in the market. Q: How does PepsiCo view the big jump in consumption of snacks and beverages at home? A: PepsiCo India has always kept a pulse on consumer trends and continued to develop its portfolio in line with what consumers want. As people adjust to the enew normal', in-home consumption is witnessing a significant uptake. We are witnessing a jump in both penetration and frequency of our food and beverage categories. There is a growing demand for our larger packs as in-home occasions of togetherness have increased manifold. While the consumers are looking at in home experiences and seeking convenience, they are also looking at value. In order to serve the consumer better and rapidly adapt to their changing requirements we have introduced a 1.25-liter PET pack in our beverage portfolio at a very affordable price of Rs 50 which will enable the stay-at- home times even more special for our consumers. We have also introduced various combo packs for our food portfolio creating and further driving in-home consumption.Q: What are the investment plans for PepsiCo in India? A: Within 30 years of our establishment in India, PepsiCo India has grown exponentially to emerge as the largest Food and Beverage company in the country. On account of such a tremendous growth, PepsiCo India has committed to invest over $2.1 billion in the country over a five-year period ending in 2022. This commitment is a part of our previously disclosed commitment to invest $5.5 billion in India and includes our plan to double our manufacturing capabilities locally in the next five years, to cater to the ever-increasing demand of our products among the consumers. In recent years, we have announced an investment of Rs 514 Crores in a new foods facility in Uttar Pradesh which will provide 1,500 direct/indirect jobs. We have also invested in increasing capacity at our existing foods plants in West Bengal and Maharashtra and have additionally proposed to set up a greenfield project in Assam. Q: What is the production capacity for the PepsiCo products, and has it reached pre-Covid levels? A: We have resumed operations/ manufacturing across foods and beverages in the best manner possible, ensuring that all guidelines regarding safety of our employees are strictly adhered to. In the current environment and limited workforce across shifts, we are trying to ensure that we can meet the demand and operate at an optimal level to cater to our consumers with their favorite snacks and beverages. Nonetheless, we remain committed towards our employees and our consumers and see an uptake in both supply and demand in both categories. Q: What has been the response to the Covid situation? A: As brands look at engaging with consumers, the first and foremost part is that the current situation requires brands to provide consumers with a seamless and safe buying experience. That apart, this is also a unique opportunity to build an even more authentic relationship with the consumers by listening to them and providing the functional and emotional comfort. While there have been new ways of ensuring consumers had 24X7 accessibility of our products in a safe and hygienic manner, Brands across the PepsiCo India portfolio have also initiated interesting campaigns rooted into insights that we mined through the real time social listening we do at PepsiCo For consumers, safety comes first, and they are now refraining from going to crowded places and prefer low exposure. Hence, we partnered with SWIGGY and Dunzo to provide our products across food and beverages at their doorsteps, 24X7. We also saw that with low touch format being the new trend, there was a need to work with our partners to find low or no touch solutions for dispensing water. After extensive research and trials, we were able to finalize the Aquafina Low touch dispenser model as a product that we could roll out now given it meets key criteria including safety of consumer,practicality as well as economies of scale. We also evolved in the way we communicated to our consumers with messaging that were more relevant in current times. For example, <keyword id="44672" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pepsi">Pepsi</keyword> identified that while social distancing was the new normal, however a lot of consumers were either not aware of it or were not following it fully. Salaam and Namaste, which were deeply rooted into Indian culture are actually the best forms of contactless greetings, which was the need of the hour during the COVID times. In an endeavor to make these contactless Indian greetings a part of pop culture, Pepsi introduced a digital forward campaign that aimed at inspiring the world that greeting each other with salaam/namaste is a perfect way to ensure social distancing and yet maintain connections responsibly. It encouraged behavioral change through adherence to social distancing norms in an entertaining manner. The campaign broke all past records in India and made a meaningful impact to the consumers' lives. On the other hand, LAY'S, started a special initiative for the many unsung heroes of India - farmers, truck drivers, retailers, etc. e who continue to bring joy to millions even in these challenging times. The brand partnered with Smile Foundation to provide hygiene kits to over 40,000 families of such unsung heroes. These hygiene kits contain masks and sanitizers, to support these champions as they continue to work hard even in these unprecedented times. As part of the initiative LAY'S has also collaborated with leading Indian brands like Airtel, ICICI Bank, Parachute, Dunzo, Big Basket, JK Type, Vistara, Grofers and together have thanked millions of these unsung heroes. We also had other brands from our portfolio like Mountain Dew, Quaker, Tropicana etc do similar contextual campaigns and the response from the consumers has been overwhelming.Q: What have been the sustainability initiatives of PepsiCo? A: In its role as a responsible social citizen, PepsiCo India has taken several initiatives to contribute to the nation's ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. As part of its #GiveMealsGiveHope global programme, PepsiCo India provided over 10 million meals to the underprivileged and marginalized families impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak across India. The meals were distributed in partnership with Akshaya Patra Foundation, Smile Foundation &amp; CII Foundation, across the country. The company also extended support to the healthcare and diagnostic facilities by providing over 35,000 COVID-19 testing kits to government labs, supplementing their efforts to combat the pandemic. Furthermore, the COVID 19 crisis has impacted the restaurants and the workers significantly. It is forecasted that 4 out of 10 restaurants would shut down. Pepsi initiated a campaign #PepsiSaveOurResturants, an inclusive program where every time you order food and add a beverage to your order and it can be any beverage -- Pepsi or any other beverage, Pepsi will give that many meals to the restaurant workers who have served us. Pepsi partnered with NRAI and Swiggy to bring this campaign to life. The campaign has got great response as it has provided many consumers an avenue to support the restaurant workers who have always served them. Q: What are the changing consumer patterns expected due to Covid? A: The COVID-19 challenge is making both consumers and brands face a new reality. Consumer behavior and pattern is emerging and evolving at a fast pace. Some of the key insights that are emerging are as follows: #Mobile is the new TV: Consumers, customers, employees and our ecosystem partners have leap frogged towards leveraging digital solutions and the mobile is at the epicenter of all this. Be it work from home, communication to consumers, taking orders from customers or Ecom, consumers are practically dependent on their mobiles. They are consuming content online, buying online and even engaging with extended family and finds online. Therefore, it's important to jump shift this capability and work with the ecosystem partners to strengthen this muscle. #Value in Table Stakes: While value has always been important for consumers, going forward it would become even more crucial. The brands/companies who can re-engineer their business models to deliver this via an advantaged model, would succeed in the long term. #Hope Trust and Fun: We believe consumers would be looking at 3 emotional benefits and brands that can provide the same authentically, would be the ones that consumers would choose - The first is Hope. Hope is tied very closely to empathy. Brands need to be empathic and craft messages which are reassuring and relatable to consumers in these unprecedented times. - The second is Trust. Now more than ever, consumers need to see brands walk the talk in everything they do e whether it is the core product promise or leading a cause to support communities. -The third is Fun. Today, consumers are working twice as hard, donning multiple hats and with sources of entertainment and recreation limited, a brand that can that can present an opportunity for consumers to express themselves in a fun manner will be able to build deeper connects with the consumers The situation would continue to evolve and it is important we continuously have our ear to the ground and we keep sharpening the strategy basis consumer needs. Q: What are the initiatives to bolster the retail network by PepsiCo? A: The pandemic has given rise to a enew-normal' world and we at PepsiCo India have maintained a close look out on the evolving consumer behavior pattern to be better prepared for the future. We take cognizance of the fact that we need to cater to different audiences, be it consumers, partners, distributors through different channels. For the consumers, demand for online deliveries has soared since the start of the stay-at-home order. Thereby, it was almost imperative for businesses to enhance their Direct to Customer (D2C) channels like Swiggy, Dunzo to ensure we have exclusive e-stores and a mechanism to cater to our consumers at their doorstep 24/7. By tapping the 'Daily Grocery' on Dunzo's app, customers can visit the LAY'S E-store and get these products delivered within an hour of ordering. The initiative has currently been launched as a pilot in <keyword id="6354321" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword> and will eventually expand to 4 more cities across Mumbai, Gurugram, Delhi, and Jaipur. For the beverage category, we have tied up with Swiggy stores where we ensure availability of our products to the consumer on demand and delivery within 2 hours. On the other hand, Aquafina has tied up with a micro delivery platform OwO is for expanding reach into "At -home" consumption of packaged water. From a consumer perspective, our research has shown that consumers prefer dealing with apps such as OwO as they find it convenient. For the retailers and wholesalers, an interesting emerging channel is the EB2B model, under which PepsiCo India has entered into deep partnership with Udaan and Big Basket to help small and medium businesses. They should always have access to our product portfolio to ensure that they always meet demand. On the other hand, we remain committed to the distributors and ensure that we grow them and grow with them. Q: How does PepsiCo view the recent agriculture reforms including the flexibility to farmers to sell their products? A: Let's talk briefly about our collaborative programme and how that is focused on working closely with the farmers and based on years of trust and relationship. At PepsiCo India, we are guided by eWinning with Purpose' - our fundamental belief that the success of the company is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around. Agriculture is at the heart of PepsiCo India, and the companies relationship with farmers in India goes back 30 years. PepsiCo was the first company to introduce own researched processed grade varieties in India in late 90's. At present, PepsiCo is largest processed grade potato buyer in India. To fulfill its chip grade potato demand locally, PepsiCo developed largest collaborative farming for potato in India spread across 13 states working involving over 24,000 farmers. The potatoes are then processed in 3 manufacturing plants which employ close to 2,000 direct and indirect employees. The retention rate of farmers being part of the collaborative farming program is as high as 98 per cent. All the potato used in Lay's and Uncle Chipps is sourced from farmers in India e in fact, PepsiCo is the largest buyer of chip grade potato in the country today. Q: What are your views on the outlook for consumer sentiment? Is it an essential versus discretionary choice? A: India consumption story has just started and according to industry reports, India will be the 3rd largest consumption market by 2025. While there have been some short-term head winds due to Covid, we at PepsiCo are extremely optimistic about the future and are committed to provide consumers the right portfolio of products across food and beverages. Even in the COVID environment, our categories are seeing robust demand and growth across most channels. Our robust and balanced portfolio across "Fun for You" products like Pepsi, Lays Dew, Kurkure or "Better For You" products like Lipton, Pepsi Black or "Good For You" products like Quaker, Tropicana and Gatorade are getting greater acceptance from consumers. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/after-google-pwc-india-declares-a-company-wide-holiday-for-its-employees-this-friday-offers-time-off-for-a-well-deserved-break/articleshow/77125627.cms">After Google, PwC India declares a company-wide holiday for its employees this Friday – offers time off for a 'well-deserved' break</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/mukesh-ambani-is-now-the-fifth-richest-person-in-the-world-according-to-forbes/articleshow/77105843.cms">Mukesh Ambani is now the fifth richest person in the world, according to Forbes</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-infosys-hcl-tech-dont-want-h1b-ban-but-are-pocketing-savings-while-it-lasts/articleshow/77120776.cms">The H1-B visa ban is not what Indian IT firms want⁠— but they are pocketing some savings while it last</a>

PepsiCo India has grown exponentially to emerge as one of the largest F&B companies in India

<ul><li><keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">Influencer marketing</keyword> has been on the rise for the past few years.</li><li>However, it has also seen its fair share of scandals.</li><li><keyword id="8881976" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="rikki-agarwal">Rikki Agarwal</keyword>, Co-Founder of <keyword id="3044210" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blink-Digital">Blink Digital</keyword> tells us how marketers can make the most out of investing on influencer marketing. </li></ul> The last few years have seen a steady increase in brands’ reliance on influencers, and with it there has been an increase in investments in the influencer universe. The year 2020 saw most of us being stuck at our homes which led to us spending more time on various social media platforms. This further gave a boost to influencer marketing and many brands turned to both micro and macro influencers to reach out to their target audiences. However, influencer marketing also comes with its fair share of cons. In August this year, rapper Badshah made headlines for having bought fake views for his video 'Pagal'. He is said to have paid Rs 75 lakh for around 75 million views on his video on YouTube. A report by cybersecurity company CHEQ, in conjunction with the University of Baltimore economics department had stated that influencer fraud will cost advertisers $1.3 billion globally. So how do advertisers interested in investing on influencers make the right moves? What are a few things they should take cognizance of while spending money on influencer marketing? And how do they make sure they don’t fall prey to this increasing influencer fraud? We asked a few of these questions to Rikki Agarwal, Co-Founder of Blink Digital. Blink Digital is a digital marketing agency that has worked with brands like KFC, Cadbury, ICICI, Amazon, Audi, One Plus among others and has also worked with influencers. Agarwal walked us through the influencer ecosystem, gave us a sense of some of the issues in the industry and how brands can be careful while putting in their monies on influencers. Excerpts: Q) While influencer marketing has been witnessing a boom in the last few years, brands have voiced their concerns about a lot of things like influencers having <keyword id="1440812" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="fake-followers">fake followers</keyword>. What according to you are the risks involved with influencer marketing? While influencer marketing has existed since the 18th century, influencer marketing has seen an unprecedented growth in the last. In an age where we are more online than offline, this segment of marketing becomes very lucrative for brands. In 2020, the entire marketing industry has seen a shift as brands quickly pivoted and strategized the way they are reaching out to people. As a digital marketing agency that does a lot of work in the influencer marketing segment, we are wary of the following things when we are considering influencer engagements for our clients. The first and foremost foundational factor is the brand fitment with an influencer. It is the agency’s role to understand the brand ethos, ideology and what they mean to their customers when they’re looking at associating with influencers. This is where a lot of brands and agencies go wrong because you feel like here’s a list of the top 20 influencers that are currently popular on social media so let’s go ahead the mass approach way. Due to this, we see promotions and associations that don’t truly feel organic a lot of times. For instance, Blink Digital did the launch of Audible Suno for which we associated with social media influencers like <keyword id="6837344" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Awez-Darbar">Awez Darbar</keyword>, Manav Chhabra, <keyword id="8196596" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nagma-Mirajkar">Nagma Mirajkar</keyword> and a few others which helped the brand to connect with the right audiences. The essence is to not follow merely engagement or follower base but also the customized brand fitment basis the campaign and objectives. Measurability and transparency: While brands tend to flock to the influencers with the most followers, it is also imperative to find more transparency in the entire influencer marketing segment. From the problem of fake followers, low engagement rates to being able to understand the true impact of a campaign/brand’s association, we need to adopt the role of technology in bringing more measurability. At Blink, we believe that the internet cannot be stopped. The things that were inaccessible to most of us 10 years ago, is now a click away and that’s because of the internet. We need to leverage that access to create more impactful campaigns and associations for brands. Additionally, another risk associated with influencer marketing is the unpredictability of scandals. Consider the Tiger Woods scandal from the 2000s, brands that were associated with him lost approximately $12bn as his personal life took a toll on the stocks of these companies. This is an unreliable space that brands and agencies need to be cautious as well as well prepared for it. Q) Are influencer platforms soft targets for cybersecurity crimes? While influencer platforms haven’t traditionally been the victims of cybersecurity crimes, it is important to point the rise of trolls and cyberbullying that pretty much all influencers face. In a climate where ads are being rescinded due to online pressures, or content creators are being called out for problematic behaviour, it is safer to look at a campaign or an association from multiple lenses and layers of scrutiny to ensure the smooth execution. Q) There has been an increase in the number of fake influencers on social media platforms. How do brands ensure they don't fall prey to such influencers? India has over 600 million people connected to the internet. So, the opportunities as well as challenges in the Indian influencer space are immense. Consider the recent fake follower fiasco of a very popular Indian rapper or just the sheer number of fake followers that are clogged up into the follower base of influencers — deriving that impact becomes even more complex for us agencies and brands. Fake followers aren’t only unethical, it also creates a difficult situation for brands who trust influencers with their campaigns and product marketing. One can spot fake followers by visiting their follower list, checking the type of accounts that follow the influencer, among a variety other ways. Often, a fake/bot account has no display picture or have a number heavy username. The same can also be figured via monitoring the account activity of an influencer. Genuine influencers tend to have a relatively steady growth in their follower and engagement numbers. The rate of their growth or their engagement will not spike abruptly. There are also several free and paid services on the internet that provide a realistic picture of what’s really going on behind the curtain with influencer accounts. At Blink, we use social media listening tools to ensure that our clients collaborate with the right kind of influencer for the campaigns. Q) How does a brand measure the success of an influencer campaign? The underlying goal for any brand lies in sales. However, sales shouldn’t be the first goal that one should set with an influencer because a consumer requires an average of 6-8 touches/touch points to get acclimatized to a brand. While sales should be the long-term goal of influencer marketing, it is important to keep the following factors in mind while working with an influencer at the onset of a campaign: • Visibility of the brand • Tonality, reception of the brand in the influencer’s content context • Quantifiable aspects like likes, engagements, types of comments, referral links and sudden spikes of traffic to the brand’s social media and website. The rationale of initiating an influencer marketing campaign should always be long-term (like what Lays has done in the recent years) so that people’s perceptions about the brand eventually alters to become more affable. Q) What are a few things influencers should keep in mind while working on brand campaigns? A few things that influencers should keep in mind while working on brand campaigns are – • Influencers need to be cognizant about their own audience demographics&amp; ethos while collaborating with brand • Understand the brand fitment between their content &amp; brands requirements purpose, whether it is in alignment with the brand ethos • They must read about brands previous campaigns, how they are perceived in market &amp; check if they have had any backlash in past • Should research on how best they can prove ROI with their content &amp; make the collaboration look natural • Make sure their scope of work &amp; expectation of brand association are in alignment Q) What a few influencer marketing trends to look out for in 2021? Few influencer marketing trends to look out for in 2021 would be: Increase in the demand of micro-influencers: Companies are slowly incorporating micro-influencers in their ambit of marketing and things will change even more drastically in 2021. The micro-influencer segment is proving to be quite efficient in helping brands find a foothold in their respective markets. They've perfect targeting, authenticity and help increase the ROI in a much more impactful manner. Performance Marketing is going to rule: The concept of performance-based influencer marketing is new and is at a rise. While the influencers don’t seem to be in favour of these deals, they may not have the option but to listen to what astute brands have to say. Specialized Influencers: Big influencers cater to a variety of niches, which can make it difficult for businesses to get the expected results. However, we already see influencers becoming more specialized. More Real Content: The new influencer marketing trend is to create authentic content for each brand that they collaborate with, that keeps users engaged without looking too filmy or sponsored to the viewers. Q) What are the new metrics by which brands measure the success of influencer campaigns? Blink digital measures the success of the influencer campaigns done for brand with help of following metrics - • Total impressions • Number of clicks to landing page • Average engagement rate of campaign • Conversions to customers • Amount of user-generated content created • Revenue Q) How can brands make the most out of the rising trend of micro influencers? Brands are moving towards micro-influencers &amp; we will continue to see a rise in the coming years. Authenticity and reliability are more important than popularity now. 92% of customers trust a micro-influencer more than a traditional ad or an endorsement from celebs &amp; over 82% of consumers are likely to buy something that has been recommended by the micro-influencer. By associating with micro-influencers brands can connect with their existing and their target audience by making most out of their micro influencers reach.

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