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Nearly 25 years after their homes plunged into darkness due to damage to infrastructure by Naxals, 342 families from seven remote villages of insurgency-hit <keyword id="6363596" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="sukma" source="Orion">Sukma</keyword> district are back on the electricity supply grid, officials said. In the late 1990s, these villages had to bear the brunt of Left Wing Extremism after Naxalites ran amock in the area, destroying electricity poles and other infrastructure and depriving the locals of basic facilities. The seven villages - Dabbakonta, Pidmel, Ekalguda, Duramangu, Tumbangu, Singanpad and Dokpad - were electrified through the conventional source of power supply early this week, said <keyword id="1022050" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sukma-collector" source="Orion">Sukma Collector</keyword> Haris S. The government and administration are committed to providing basic facilities like ration, electricity and water to the people, particularly the last man in the last mile and ensure that benefits of welfare schemes reach them, said collector told PTI. Though some of the houses had access to solar power to light up bulbs and operate a fan, that too was plagued due to maintenance issues, said officials. About 342 families have benefited from electrification in these seven villages, said the collector. The priority of the government is to ensure the development of basic facilities in hyper-sensitive areas. Electricity will soon be provided to other villages in the area, he said. Sukma is among seven districts of the less prosperous Bastar division in South Chhattisgarh, more than 400 km from the capital Raipur. Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said setting up of six police camps in the area has helped in ensuring the development of such remote areas and reaching benefits of welfare schemes to the people. There was electricity connectivity in these villages till the late 1990s. But Maoists damaged the electricity poles and infrastructure due to which the villagers were deprived of regular power supply for about 25 years, the IG told PTI. After the establishment of Pidmel, Dubbakonta, Tondamarka, Dubbamarka, Elmagunda, Karrigundam and other such police camps in the area, villagers are now getting back their basic facilities and amenities, he said. Dubbakonta and Pidmel are located along the Bheji-Chijtagufa axis. "We have camps at both Dubbakonta and Pidmel. Black-top road construction is under progress under RRP (road requirement plant)-1 scheme and is expected to be completed in the next few months," he said. Ekalguda is located along the Errobore-Bheji axis and Singanpad, Dokpad, Tumbangu and Duramangu are all along the Kistaram-Chintalnar axis and these villages have 'kuchha' (dirt track) road connectivity at present, he said. Joseph Kerketta, executive engineer of the electricity department in Sukma, said laying power lines in these villages was a difficult task considering the geographical condition and the presence of Naxalites. It was a challenging task to transport the electrical materials to the identified site. All these villages are situated amidst dense forests and many villages are in highly sensitive areas, he said. Besides, the availability of labour in this area is tough. He added, "Due to the continuous efforts of the district administration, it has become possible that today the villagers here are celebrating freedom from darkness."

Seven villages in Naxal-hit Sukma district back on electricity supply grid after 25 years

Energy for all is the need of the hour, especially in an emerging <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword> like <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> where a big chunk of the population still can’t access <keyword id="1977921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Modern-energy-sources">modern energy sources</keyword> and the overall growth of the country suffers due to such non-inclusion. The outlook is not exactly bright at this point as India ranks 69th among 124 <keyword id="6407494" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="countries">countries</keyword> in the recently released <keyword id="1970968" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="global-energy-architecture-performance-index">Global Energy Architecture Performance Index</keyword> (<keyword id="1977925" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="EAPI">EAPI</keyword>) Report 2014, prepared by the <keyword id="69007" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="World-Economic-Forum">World Economic Forum</keyword> in collaboration with <keyword id="6370971" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Accenture">Accenture</keyword>. 
 India, with an overall score of 0.48, has the second lowest <keyword id="1379968" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="energy-performance">energy performance</keyword> in the <keyword id="1977931" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="BRICS-cluster">BRICS cluster</keyword> that also includes <keyword id="6355226" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Brazil">Brazil</keyword>, <keyword id="6358826" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword>, <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> and <keyword id="6355117" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="South-Africa">South Africa</keyword>. Interestingly, China lies at the bottom among the <keyword id="175259" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Brics">BRICS</keyword> (85th with a score of 0.45), but other countries in this group are way ahead of India and its neighbour. Ranked 22nd, Brazil tops the BRICS group with a score of 0.64, extracting 50% more <keyword id="35050" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="gdp">GDP</keyword> per unit of energy use than the average of the other <keyword id="486040" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="BRICS-countries">BRICS countries</keyword>. It is followed by the Russian Federation (28th, with a score of 0.62) and South <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword> (54th, with a score of 0.54). 
 The top 10 performers are mostly EU and/or <keyword id="1977933" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="OECD-nations">OECD nations</keyword> – <keyword id="6356961" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Norway">Norway</keyword>, <keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>, <keyword id="6354785" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="France">France</keyword>, <keyword id="23050" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sweden">Sweden</keyword>, <keyword id="103" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Switzerland">Switzerland</keyword>, <keyword id="49968" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Denmark">Denmark</keyword>, <keyword id="6363645" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Spain">Spain</keyword> and <keyword id="106735" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="latvia">Latvia</keyword> – with the exception of <keyword id="15385" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Colombia">Colombia</keyword> (7th) and <keyword id="57870" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Costa-Rica">Costa Rica</keyword> (9th). The US came in 37th, followed by <keyword id="6355311" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Japan">Japan</keyword>. The regions covered in the report include <keyword id="1977935" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="EU28">EU28</keyword>, <keyword id="195393" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="MENA">MENA</keyword>, BRICS, <keyword id="6378080" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="North-America">North America</keyword>, <keyword id="303353" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sub-Saharan-Africa">Sub-Saharan Africa</keyword> and the <keyword id="5891" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="ASEAN">ASEAN</keyword>. 
 
Why we need EAPI Before we consider why India is lagging behind the rest, it is important to understand the dimensions of the ‘<keyword id="1977936" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Energy-triangle">energy triangle</keyword>’ and what it takes to achieve top-level energy performance. During the past three years, the World Economic Forum has been working on the <keyword id="1978006" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="New-Energy-Architecture">new energy architecture</keyword>, defined as the integrated physical system of <keyword id="689119" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="energy-sources">energy sources</keyword>, carriers and demand sectors. The ‘energy triangle’ frames the key objectives of the <keyword id="1977939" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Energy-architecture">energy architecture</keyword> – the ability to provide secure, affordable and <keyword id="1977947" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Environmentally-sustainable-energy-supply">environmentally sustainable energy supply</keyword>. Accordingly, the Global Index has used 18 indicators to assess 6 regions and 124 countries under three baskets – <keyword id="1977948" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Economic-growth-and-development">economic growth and development</keyword>, <keyword id="585025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="environmental-sustainability">environmental sustainability</keyword> and <keyword id="1714410" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Energy-access">energy access</keyword> &amp; security – while analysing the complex trade-offs and dependencies that affect the efforts of each country under review. 
 “Resource, wealth or <keyword id="352701" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Economic-Development">economic development</keyword> alone do not guarantee high performance on the Index,” said Roberto Bocca, senior director and head of energy industries at the World Economic Forum. “For an <keyword id="1977954" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Effective-energy-system">effective energy system</keyword>, countries need to focus on all three sides of the energy triangle – environmental sustainability, security of supply and affordability,” he added. Undoubtedly a difficult task, if you look at the toppers or any other country, for that matter. No single country has got a top score of 1/1 for the overall Index (an average of the scores posted under the three heads) and no one has hit a ‘perfect 1’ either, under any of the three baskets. 
 
 
 
Four factors hindering India’s energy performance 
Low access: Let’s look at the grassroots first. Energy access across BRICS is high, with the exception of India and South Africa which continue to face <keyword id="1977958" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lower-electrification-rates">lower electrification rates</keyword> for rural and low-income groups. In fact, India is the lowest performer within the BRICS cluster (0.54/1), with only 75% accessing modern energy sources. It means around 293 million people go without those, compared to just 4 million in China. 
 However, there are longer-term solutions on the cards. Alongside a number of national and international initiatives, the government is currently running the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme or <keyword id="398803" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="R-APDRP">R-APDRP</keyword>, directing around $10 billion over the coming years for <keyword id="1977960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Grid-modernisation">grid modernisation</keyword>. India has also launched a <keyword id="856064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Remote-Village-Electrification">Remote Village Electrification</keyword> programme while the <keyword id="386624" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ministry-of-New-and-Renewable-Energy">Ministry of New and Renewable Energy</keyword> is targeting the installed capacity from new <keyword id="430844" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="renewables">renewables</keyword> to reach 21,700 MW by 2017 (more on India’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Five-Moves-That-Will-Power-Indias-Green-Shift/articleshow/23463110.cms">green power</a> here). 
 
Increasing <keyword id="1977962" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance-on-energy-imports">reliance on energy imports</keyword>: Large-scale economic expansion across the country has triggered bigger <keyword id="6417014" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="energy-consumption">energy consumption</keyword> and a crippling dependence on imports – a major factor behind the ballooning trade and <keyword id="894126" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="current-account-deficits">current account deficits</keyword>. India is one of the biggest importers of crude oil and more than half of its $191 billion <keyword id="113688" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="trade-deficit">trade deficit</keyword> in FY2013 – $109 billion, to be precise – accounted for oil, with the country importing around 82% of its requirements, mostly from the <keyword id="138623" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gulf-countries">Gulf countries</keyword>. Overall, 28% of the country’s <keyword id="1977965" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Net-energy-consumption">net energy consumption</keyword> is met through imports and among the BRICS, India has the <keyword id="1977966" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Highest-spend-on-fuel-imports">highest spend on fuel imports</keyword> relative to GDP (10%). 
 It’s a kind of vicious cycle, to say the least, which is negatively impacting the <keyword id="6356076" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="indian-economy">Indian economy</keyword>. “The whole mess in the <keyword id="52599" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="100" keywordseo="CAD">CAD</keyword> is due to the imports of both coal and oil,” Vivek Pandit, senior director for energy at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (<keyword id="6355001" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="FICCI">FICCI</keyword>) told FT. Worried by the current account deficit, <keyword id="44528" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="FDI">FDI</keyword> and <keyword id="68968" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="institutional-investors">institutional investors</keyword> gradually started withdrawing their support since March this year. This fuelled a substantial weakening of the <keyword id="6355302" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rupee">Rupee</keyword> and resulted in a drawdown of <keyword id="6368276" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Foreign-exchange">foreign exchange</keyword> to the tune of $12.8 billion. According to a PwC report, the drawdown could have been avoided, had India produced 17 million tonnes more oil than its current domestic production. 
 Worse still, <keyword id="1977973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indias-oil-import-dependency">India’s oil import dependency</keyword> is forecast to grow another 10 percentage points to exceed 90% by 2031. While increasing domestic exploration will help to a certain extent, India must try and curb the <keyword id="1977977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Oil-bills">oil bills</keyword> further by seeking new suppliers and buying more stake into African and other <keyword id="1977979" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Non-Gulf-oil-and-gas-assets">non-Gulf oil and gas assets</keyword>. 
 This part of the strategy is slowly taking shape as <keyword id="81864" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="ONGC-Videsh">ONGC Videsh</keyword>, the overseas investment arm of <keyword id="55282" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="India-Government">India government</keyword>’s flagship oil and gas explorer <keyword id="118729" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Oil-Natural-Gas-Corp">Oil &amp; Natural Gas Corp</keyword>, has been pushing hard to build up a <keyword id="1977984" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Diversified-portfolio-of-foreign-assets">diversified portfolio of foreign assets</keyword> to minimise the country’s dependency on the Middle East. <keyword id="6354737" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="ONGC">ONGC</keyword> Videsh has recently signed two multi-billion-dollar deals to buy into offshore natural gas assets in <keyword id="6372754" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mozambique">Mozambique</keyword>. It has a significant presence in <keyword id="48890" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Latin-America">Latin America</keyword> and is also looking for exploration assets in <keyword id="6356970" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myanmar">Myanmar</keyword>, <keyword id="6354759" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</keyword>, <keyword id="30174" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lebanon">Lebanon</keyword> and <keyword id="6355478" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Australia">Australia</keyword>. 
 
Prevalence of <keyword id="1896941" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="energy-subsidies">energy subsidies</keyword>: Another factor that is dragging India down by increasing oil demand and widening the budget deficit. Both India and Russia are the lowest performers for the indicator on <keyword id="1977989" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Liquid-fuel-subsidies">liquid fuel subsidies</keyword>. India’s subsidies for diesel put it in the lower quartile globally for this indicator even as the country is trying to improve <keyword id="1977991" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Energy-affordability">energy affordability</keyword> and access for lower-income groups. 
 
Coal-dependence hurts: At present, coal dominates the country’s <keyword id="1798751" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="energy-mix">energy mix</keyword> with a robust 53% share in <keyword id="1977995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Primary-energy-consumption">primary energy consumption</keyword>, affecting India’s score in terms of environmental sustainability. The country has scored 0.41/1, underlining the challenge it faces in diversifying the energy mix beyond <keyword id="181402" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</keyword>. Although energy trade can have positive impacts here, it can also pose economic and <keyword id="1977997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Energy-security-risks">energy security risks</keyword>, especially as we are dependent only on a few trading partners. 
 Interestingly, 41% of the <keyword id="1200645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="energy-supply">energy supply</keyword> in the top 10 countries comes from low-carbon energy sources, compared to a global average of 28%. India, too, is rolling out low-carbon power generation through plans to increase <keyword id="43870" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="nuclear-capacity">nuclear capacity</keyword> from the current 4.4 GW to 5.3 GW by 2016. 
 
The bottom line “Our analysis concludes that there is no single way forward; each country must work with its own resources and constraints, making difficult choices and trade-offs,” said Arthur Hanna, Managing Director, Energy Industry, Accenture, and a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on New Energy Architecture. “The Index helps nations take stock of their energy transition challenges and address key barriers to success, such as market distorting subsidies, continued uncertainty around energy policy and funding for research and development of <keyword id="1978009" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="New-energy-sources">new energy sources</keyword> and technologies.” 
 
Keeping that in mind, can India cope with the transition and morph its energy policies accordingly? 
 
Top Image: Wikipedia 
Data chart: World Economic Forum

Energy
Performance: Is India
Losing Out On Power Play?

Mumbai, Jan 22 () The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) on Wednesday said it has extended USD 35.80 million (about Rs 250 crore) line of credit to Suriname government to fund the country's rural electrification programme.
 The line of credit (LOC) is meant for financing rural electrification through solar DG hybrid PV systems in 50 remote villages of Suriname, the bank said in a statement.
 With the latest round of funding, the Indian government has till date extended nine LOCs to Suriname, totalling USD 124.98 million (about Rs 890 crore). 
 The projects covered under LOCs extended to Suriname include power, water supply, purchase of helicopters, and rehabilitation and upgradation of milk processing plant.
 With this agreement, Exim Bank has now in place 258 LOCs covering 64 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the CIS, with credit commitments of around USD 25.48 billion available for financing exports from India. 
 Besides promoting India's exports, the bank's LOCs enable demonstration of Indian expertise and project execution capabilities in emerging markets. HV RVK

Exim Bank extends USD 35.80 mn line of credit to Suriname for rural electrification

<keyword id="45008" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tata-power" source="Orion">Tata Power</keyword> CEO and MD Praveer <keyword id="6358012" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sinha" source="Orion">Sinha</keyword> announced a Rs 6,000 crore capital investment by the company in <keyword id="6357961" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="odisha" source="Orion">Odisha</keyword>. Speaking at the Make in Odisha Conclave here on Thursday, Sinha said the four power discoms of Odisha, where Tata Power has a majority stake, are committed to Rs 6,000 crore capex investment in the next five years. Sinha said the company will also set up 1,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points, 1,00,000 solar pumps, microgrids, rooftop and floating <keyword id="6453229" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-plants" source="Orion">solar plants</keyword> in the next five years. He welcomed the Odisha government's Renewable Energy Policy 2022 unveiled at the Make In Odisha Conclave here. The Tata Power CEO said the company has been engaged in power distribution across Odisha and is committed to ensure ease-of-doing business through quality power supply. "Tata Power is committed to ensure 'Udyog Ru Pragati' (progress through entrepreneurship) by offering high-quality and affordable power supply to enable a conducive environment for industrial development. Our clean and green energy products and solutions in e-mobility, decentralised generation, agriculture, and demand side management will further ensure an all-round sustainable development of the state," Sinha said. He said Tata Power is also working with Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) in deploying charging infrastructure at multi-level car parking lots and public utilities like hospitals, universities, malls, and at important city hubs. The company is also in early stages to explore the development of green hydrogen hubs in the Paradeep region to meet industrial demands, he said, adding that Tata Power is also working towards the solarization of the agriculture sector in association with the state government. The company has already installed over 700 solar pumps in addition to 1,200 dual pump for community drinking application across the state. It has planned to install 30,000 solar pumps over the next five years, he said. Welcoming the state's new Renewable Energy Policy 2022, Sinha said the incentives provisions like electricity duty waiver, wheeling charge waiver, cross subsidy surcharge waiver, state transmission utility charge waiver are very encouraging. He said Tata Power is working towards the electrification of remote villages by setting up microgrids. A technical feasibility study has been carried out in several villages in the Mayurbhanj District to set up microgrids for transformation of the rural/ tribal economy.

Tata Power to invest Rs 6,000 crore in 5 years Odisha towards EV charging, microgrids and more

Finance Minister <keyword id="129243" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> called startups the ‘strength of India’ as she pushed “job seekers” to turn “job creators”. In a big move, employees at startups who have stock options will be exempt from tax if they leave the company or sell their shares in the first five years. She proposed the tax relief given to startups. Earlier, a startup with turnover up to ₹25 crores was allowed 100% tax deduction on profits for seven years. The budget also proposed to expand it on two counts that can include older startups and those which are larger too. Here are some top reactions: Neelesh Talathi, CFO, Pepperfry 
 
 <div type="image" title="Neelesh Talathi, CFO Pepperfry" msid="73843354" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Neelesh Talathi, CFO Pepperfry&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 “The Finance Minister has been empathetic about no tax harassment, resolving litigations. Resolving credit issues, app-based working capital solutions and more strategic aspects like National Logistic Policy are all initiatives that address core issues of our MSME sector.” “While these efforts will help boost the economy, it is imperative to arrest slippage in the Fiscal Deficit. To augur investment in our economy an aggressive disinvestment agenda, reforms including that of the government machinery etc. would have been welcome." <keyword id="258109" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mayank-Kumar">Mayank Kumar</keyword>, Co-founder and MD of upGrad 
	
 
 <div type="image" title="Mayank Kumar" msid="73843449" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and MD of upGrad&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 We at upGrad believe that upskilling is the critical route to steer India towards becoming a $5 trillion economy. But I would have been happier if the Government had taken steps to encourage investment in reskilling among professionals by allowing them a tax-break privilege under Section 80C from the Income Tax Act, 1961, like that of Mutual Funds or Life Insurance." Kunal Bahl, CEO &amp; Co-founder, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> 
	
 
 <div type="image" title="kunal snapdeal" msid="73843509" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Kunal Bahl, CEO &amp;amp;amp; Co-founder, Snapdeal&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 “We are thankful for accepting the start-up sector's request for ESOP taxation reforms. Also, the higher time &amp; turnover limits for carry forward of losses for start-ups will enable them to optimize growth decisions in formative years." Overall, <keyword id="7836802" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Budget-2020">Budget 2020</keyword> is a thoughtful weaving together of specific proposals to tackle varied issues. Measures to improve access to finance for MSMEs and reduced taxation for the middle-income segment are welcome steps. Boosting physical infrastructure, expanding digital connectivity and growing use of technology in government functioning are important building blocks for the long-term growth of the Indian economy." Vivek Goyal, Co-Founder, PlayShifu 
	
 
 <div type="image" title="play" msid="73843683" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Vivek Goyal, PlayShifu&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 "One of the core reasons behind a successful startup is the ability to hire from a very talented pool and to keep them motivated during the long and hard journey of scaling. This is the reason why startups from hubs like Silicon Valley grow up to become world-renowned and add value to society at large. The tax deferment on ESOPs will prove to be one of the significant factors and levers in motivating growth-enabling employees, a great step in helping startups in India to scale by hiring and retaining them! Reforms like these give more power to the Indian startup hub to make a mark on a global scale and contribute towards India's $5 Trillion vision by 2025." Raghav Gupta, Managing Director, India and APAC, Coursera 
	
 
 <div type="image" title="coursera" msid="73843748" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Raghav Gupta, Managing Director, India and APAC, Coursera&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 “It is a progressive budget that acknowledges the role technology can play in addressing challenges and improving access to quality higher education and employment opportunities for India's youth. Government's announcements related to the development of emerging technologies like AI, ML, Data Analytics ecosystem in the country and skilling opportunities for the youth, clearly reflect the focus on preparing the youth for jobs of tomorrow." <keyword id="36872" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vamsi-Krishna">Vamsi Krishna</keyword>, CEO &amp; Co-founder, Vedantu 
	
 
 <div type="image" title="Vamsi Krishna, CEO and Co-founder of Vedantu" msid="73843907" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Vamsi Krishna, CEO &amp;amp;amp; Co-founder, Vedantu&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 “The vision of making education accessible to the farthest corner of the country will greatly benefit students. The allocation of budget to hone the skill sets of teachers and educators will positively impact quality learning and thereby provide a boost to the education sector. Additionally the allocation of budget to BharatNet will also have a deep impact on skilling rural India as it has the potential to open up online learning to students and professionals from remote villages. With better bandwidth internet, a qualified teacher located in a metro city can impart LIVE online classes to students in small town India, where there’s a dearth of quality education. Technology will soon disrupt the entire concept of the classroom and make it an extremely personalized, one to one teaching-learning experience tailored for each mind.” Ola Mobility Institute “The clean-air fund of Rs 4,400 crores to be provided in the form of incentives to be notified by MoEFCC should consider measures to link the incentives to the electrification of vehicles and associated infrastructure such as battery-swapping and charging." Padmaja Ruparel, Founding Partner, IAN Fund “The budget 2020 represents a big win for the country’s startup ecosystem. The Government has paid heed to our concerns and rolled out reforms like a 5 year tax holiday for ESOP. This positive sentiment is evident in the Government’s drive to roll out “no tax harassment” policies along with the establishment of the investment clearance cell for assisting entrepreneurs in India." See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/startup-esops-to-be-non-taxable-for-five-years/articleshow/73824551.cms">Good news for startup employees - your ESOPs won’t be taxed for five years</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/ikea-furniture-and-jimmy-choo-shoes-will-get-costlier-after-budget-2020/articleshow/73841697.cms?src=hp_latest">IKEA furniture and Jimmy Choo shoes will get costlier after budget 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/new-education-schemes-reforms-policies-in-budget-2020/articleshow/73836166.cms?src=hp_latest">Budget 2020: Indian education sector will now get students and funds from foreign lands</a>

This is how top startup founders reacted to budget 2020

<ul><li>In Q3, Signify was 64% carbon neutral and 79% of its revenue came from sustainable products. It will be executing the same programs to reduce its carbon footprint in India to drive sustainable revenues. </li><li>On the other hand, the brand also aims to become an intelligent software company that offers lighting solutions designed for the IoT world. It invests 4.5% of its global budget on R&amp;D and its latest bet is LiFi. </li><li>Signify currently spends only 5% on digital and 55% of its overall marketing spends on TV, here is why...</li></ul>Philips Lighting, for more than a century, has remained synonymous to bulbs across the globe. Being one of the first in its category, Philips started its operations in India back in 1931 and now, after renewing its brand name to Signify Innovations, aims to become an intelligent software company that offers lighting solutions designed for the IoT world. ‘Lighting can now make every home smarter, cities safer and offices more energy efficient’ and Signify aims to drive this change across the world. Currently, the Indian lighting industry is worth Rs 15,000 crore with LED lighting constituting almost 80% of this. Last year, Signify invested 4.5% of its global sales on Research and Development (R&amp;D) and its latest innovative bet is on Light Fidelity (LiFi), a technology in which high quality LED lighting provides a stable and fast broadband Internet connection through light waves. The company has installed 7 LiFi pilot stations in India across different segments and on the other hand, it also aiming to gain 80% of its revenues from sustainable products. While the company is focusing more on innovation and technology, it continues to spend 55% of its marketing monnies on television and only 5% goes to digital. Sumit Padmakar Joshi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, <keyword id="7600657" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Signify-Innovations-India">Signify Innovations India</keyword>, has led the company through this transformation. He talks to us about the vision for Signify, its plan to recover from the ‘slightly muted’ quarter, making the company sustainable, and much more. Excerpts: Q. What have some of the key highlights of your journey with the brand been? One of the key highlights of my journey here has been the transformation of the company from a bulb manufacturer to a software company, now offering lighting solutions designed for the IoT world. Our new company name – Signify reflects our company’s purpose – the meaning of light. Light is now a language and can be used to transmit data via LiFi or communicate with other devices via the IoT. Moving away from a pure hardware manufacturer, we have transformed into a company that offers not just lighting but also important business insights and data that can help our customers become smarter and more productive. Leading the company through this phase has been an exciting journey so far. Q. Why did the brand change its name from Philips to Signify, considering Philips is a household name in India? Founded as Philips in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, we’ve led the lighting industry with innovations that serve professional and consumer markets for over 127 years. In 2016, we spun off from Philips, becoming a separate company, listed on Amsterdam’s Euronext Stock Exchange. The renaming of our company was the next logical step in our transformation journey since we became a standalone company in 2016. We changed our company name in line with contractual requirements of the Company Name License agreement with Royal Philips, which requires that we change our company name after Royal Philips, who no longer has a controlling interest. Signify will continue to use the Philips brand for its products, under the existing licensing agreement with Royal Philips. The choice of our new company name originates from the way light has become an intelligent language, which connects and conveys meaning. It’s a clear expression of our strategic vision and purpose to unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We believe that our new name will further shape our company’s profile as both the world leader in lighting and the lighting company for the Internet of Things. Q. We have seen advanced technology and innovations at Signify now, where did Signify source that new technology? We invest heavily in R&amp;D to stay at the forefront of technological developments. In 2018, we invested 4.5% of our global sales in R&amp;D. We spot an opportunity which nobody focuses on and grow in that segment by coming up with futuristic solutions. As a leader in lighting, we innovate, design, build, and deliver world-class lighting systems embedded with intelligence and connected through software to deliver capability to manage, monitor and control lighting assets, enable data harvesting and analysis for improvement of lighting operation and business performance. We are positioning ourselves as the lighting company for the Internet of Things. We recently announced the launch of our Interact IoT platform for connected lighting, which will enable our professional customers to unlock the full potential of their connected lighting assets. The platform delivers new insights to help customers drive operational efficiencies and take more effective decisions. It also supports our company’s strategy to deliver new data-enabled services as value expands from lighting products and systems to services. Q. Talking about innovations, are you seeing LiFi changing the game in India? How has the response been so far? Light Fidelity (LiFi) is a technology in which high quality LED lighting provides a stable and fast broadband Internet connection through light waves. Unlike other forms of wireless communications (WiFi, 4G/5G, Bluetooth, etc.) that use radio waves, LiFi uses the broader spectrum of light waves to transmit and receive data wirelessly. LiFi’s bandwidth is more than 1,000 times the size of the radio spectrum. LiFi works in such a way that each luminaire is equipped with a built-in modem that modulates light at speeds imperceptible to the human eye. The light is detected by a USB access key/dongle plugged into the socket of a laptop or tablet (in the future such technology will be inbuilt into laptops, mobile phones, and devices). The USB access key returns data to the luminaire through an infrared link. While radio frequencies are becoming congested, with more devices trying to connect and overloading networks, the visible light spectrum is an untapped resource with a large bandwidth suitable for stable simultaneous connection for a vast array of Internet of Things devices. With our efforts and constant drive for LiFi in the market, we already have 7 pilot installations in India across different segments, including banks, Information technology, Co-Working spaces, B2G, Infrastructure amongst others. We were also specially invited by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Government of Gujarat to showcase LiFi as a Futuristic Technology at the Vibrant Gujarat summit which received a footfall of 25,000 delegates, including Central and State Ministers, several corporate houses and government officials. Q. Globally, Signify has been talking about becoming Carbon-neutral. How successful have you been so far? What exactly are you doing in India to become Carbon-neutral? We are taking a leading role to bring better light to the world and to help provide a more sustainable future. We do this by delivering light which is energy efficient, saves resources, and improves lives. At Signify, we also ‘walk the talk’ and commit to becoming carbon neutral by 2020. We are already carbon neutral in 9 markets as of 2019. We have made some bold promises that we’ll deliver on by 2020. 80% of our revenues will be sustainable and we’ll also deliver 2 billion LED lamps and luminaires to the world. As of Q3, 2019, we are 64% carbon neutral and already 79% of our revenues come from sustainable products. 89% of our purchased electricity comes from renewable sources and we are recycling 82% of our manufacturing waste. We are executing the same programs to reduce our carbon footprint in India as well, including driving sustainable revenues, zero waste to landfill, striving for a zero-injury workplace, and building a sustainable supply chain. Q. With your brand repositioning and new brand endorsers, we have seen your focus shifting to smart lighting. What part of revenue do you make from that category now? Which category brings the lion’s share home? In India, smart lighting for homes is a Rs 100 crores+ category and is expected to grow by 45% over the next 3 years as many more houses adopt connected lighting in a major way. We are by far the market leader in this segment as well, as we virtually created this category when we launched our Philips Hue range in India 4 years back. While smart lighting constitutes a very small share of our overall business right now, it has a lot of potential for growth in the future owing to increasing urbanization and internet penetration. Ultimately our focus is on new homes and renovations, where we see a lot of consumers trying out connected lighting for the first time. The biggest categories for our company are LED lighting in both professional and consumer applications. We recently introduced a range of new products for the consumer segment, including our Philips T Beamer, Philips CeilingSecure and Philips EyePro Bulb. For our professional users, we recently introduced lighting solutions such as Interact and LiFi. Q. How has the year been, in terms of business? We witnessed high single digit growth in the first half of this calendar year, and expect growth to be ‘slightly muted’ during the remaining half of this year due to overall economic slowdown in the country. In Q2 we saw some projects getting delayed due to elections in the country, however, we were expecting a recovery but it looks like it is getting slightly delayed. It will take another three-to-six months for things to start picking up in the Indian lighting sector. The current economic slowdown has impacted industries across sectors in India and we are no different. Q. People in rural areas are still not ready to accept LEDs in their lives because of high costs. What are you doing to bring down the cost of your products? Government electrification schemes like Suabhagya are helping even remote towns and villages to have access to electricity. Moreover, with rising rural incomes and penetration of media, aspirations and awareness about new products amongst rural households has increased over the past few years. While rural households still use conventional lighting in a big way, we’re witnessing a steady and growing demand for LEDs from these areas as well, owing to its reduced prices and enhanced awareness about its advantages, such as high durability and lower power consumption. We have launched an LED range of products, Philips Ujjwal, to cater to this audience, offering a better price value suited to their budget. The technical specifications of these products have been specially designed keeping in mind rural lighting requirements and preferences. Q. Can you walk us through your larger marketing strategy for the brand? India is amongst the top 5 markets for Signify globally and we invest a lot in marketing to support our brand and activities. Our spends on TV Advertising in India are by far the highest across all Signify markets, keeping in mind that India has traditionally been a TV-advertising-focused market. 55% of our overall marketing spends in India are towards TV advertising to reach out to our target audience. Our TV advertising in India is biased towards promoting our new product categories like TBulb, Ceiling Secure. In the last two years, we have launched 2 major TV ad campaigns for these two products. 5% of our overall marketing spends are on digital marketing in India, whereas the lighting category’s digital spends in India stand at 3-4%. Majority of our digital marketing spends are towards SEM and lead generation, highlighting our IoT products like Interact, LiFi and Philips Hue. 26% of our overall marketing spends in India are directed towards creating brand awareness and preference. Q. What areas will you focus on going ahead, to amplify growth? The overall market size of the Indian lighting industry is Rs 15,000 crore with LED lighting constituting almost 80% of this. The LED portion of the industry is expected to grow in high single digits. The conventional lighting market is, however, expected to decline in double digits, owing to faster conversion towards LED. It is not possible for companies to deliver on their top-line as well as bottom-line costs without category-first innovations. As a result, we don’t see many companies in India being able to manage that equation successfully. We’ve managed to increase our profitability over the last 3-4 years, thanks to new innovative products like Philips T Beamer, Philips EYE PRO and Philips Smart WiFi LED bulb. We will also focus on expanding our presence in the rural channel with our customized offerings. Our focus is on innovation and expanding the premium segment where nobody focuses on right now. We believe that companies that don’t innovate, that are entering the lighting industry from other backgrounds are going to have a difficult time surviving in this market. However, if the government continues to allow cheap and sub-standard products to be sold in the market, we foresee that it will become a big roadblock for the industry, which can further impact the price point for the whole industry. We are also investing significantly to grow our smart home lighting business in both offline and online channels, through our exclusive Philips Smart Light Hubs and with our presence on all major e-commerce portals. By the end of the year, we expect to double our retail presence for smart lighting in the country with new Philips Smart Light Hubs opening across various cities. In the professional lighting space, we will strive to grow our Interact connected lighting installations in offices, public buildings, retail stores, hotels and landmarks. Signify has already installed 53 million connected light points worldwide and plans for every new LED product it produces to be connectable by 2020. The highly secure, scalable cloud-based Interact platform uses sophisticated and modern data management and data processing capabilities, including machine learning, to bring sense to all manner of data – creating data-enabled services for customers that will deliver benefits beyond illumination. In the coming year, we will focus on new LiFi installations, trying to expand to new user applications. There is a lot of potential for LiFi in India, with millions of internet devices being added into the connected ecosystem every day.

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