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India’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=online+travel">online travel </a>segment is heating up. It’s simplifying the lives of Indian travelers through innovative travel planning, research and social products by offering them better options. These travel portals are now a one-stop-shop for all travel queries and bookings. 
 
We spoke to Aloke Bajpai, CEO and Co-Founder of Ixigo to get an unbiased view at the online travel market in India. 
 
1. How much of the Indian travel industry is currently online? 
Around 10-12%. However, the penetration is higher in segments like flights (50%) and trains (38%). Hotels (7-8%) and Travel Packages (5%) follow. There is still a big upside of what can be transacted online. 
 
2. How much of the Indian travel industry could be online by 2020? 
Most studies concur that by 2020 close to 40% of all travel related transactions could be online. It could go as high as 50%. 
 
3. What is driving growth in online travel today? 
The current growth is driven by Tier II and Tier III cities. The activity is doubling every 6 months. Emerging markets like Surat, Bhopal and Patna are growing like never before. 
 
While Tier I cities have reached a fairly good adoption rate, the current growth from these cities are primarily from cheaper <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=smartphones">smartphones</a>. 
 
4. What % of your traffic is from Tier II and Tier III cities? 
Around two-thirds of Ixigo’s traffic is from Tier II and Tier III cities. 68% to be exact. 
 
5. Is there anything more to the surge in rural traffic? 
It’s the options online offers people. It’s the primary mode of long distance travel. In terms of budget <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=accommodation">accommodation</a>, even in the Tier I cities, the demand is coming from Tier II and Tier III cities. These are people looking from Sub Rs. 1k <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=accommodation">accommodation</a>. Today companies are considering adding more content suited for that consumer base. 
 
However, when one considers segments like Flights, the traffic from Tier III cities are almost nil as the airports are in Tier I and II cities. 
 
6. Is the idea of business travel dominating the travel segment a myth? 
That’s a wrong reading of India’s leisure-heavy market. Small and mid-sized businessmen travel by Sleeper and 3AC in IRCTC trains. The mentality in India has been to save on the luxuries in life for the greater good of the family. In Tier II and Tier II cities that mentality is very strong. A lot of this demand is hard to distinguish as business travel. It’s not a business class flight ticket so you know the company’s paying for it. 80% of India’s businesses are self-owned family businesses and that shows up in leisure demand. These people are more frugal than leisure travelers. When one travels with their family they spend a little more on a good hotel. When alone they stay at the cheapest possible hotel. 
 
7. Which segment drives the bulk of revenue for Ixigo? 
Ours is not a plain travel site. It’s as much an information and planning website. For us engagement is as important a metric as consummating a transaction. The actual consummation happens in a third party website, so that’s just a part of the system. For us monetization is more centered on ad traffic. On the transactional side it’s quite evenly distributed. 
 
8. Do newer segments have a chance of flourishing in India’s primarily conservative travel market? 
Historically in India peer-to-peer segments like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=accommodation">accommodation</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=transportation">transportation</a> the problem has been the trust issue. That’s exactly why organized car pooling has taken a while to pick up. 
 
There are ways to solve this using the social graph and companies are working on them. As long as they can build a reliability and trust factor with rankings and reviews, the Indian traveler would feel safer and there would be scope for adoption. It’ll emerge as a more viable option from the price perspective, and Indians are price conscious.

50% of India’s travel to be
online by 2020: Ixigo

<keyword id="6357017" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="cryptocurrency">Cryptocurrency</keyword> exchange <keyword id="6672551" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="wazirx">WazirX</keyword> on Wednesday said it has recorded 2,648 per cent growth in user <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=r[…]nnel=Business%20Insider&amp;af_adset=article&amp;af_force_deeplink=true" data-type="tilCustomLink">sign-ups</a> from tier-II and -III cities of India. Based on a report generated by payments gateway firm <keyword id="2777173" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Razorpay">Razorpay</keyword>, WazirX said tier-II and -III cities have driven almost 55 per cent of the total user sign-ups on its platform in 2021, thereby overtaking tier-I cities that demonstrated a sign-up growth of 2,375 per cent. WazirX in a statement said the influx of cheaper and faster internet clubbed with continuously-lowered smartphone prices have led to rapid internet penetration in the semi-urban cities and rural towns of India. "Coupled with the pandemic-induced lockdown, it has further accelerated the<a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=r[…]nnel=Business%20Insider&amp;af_adset=article&amp;af_force_deeplink=true" data-type="tilCustomLink"> digital</a> adoption in these regions. "Moreover, it has also been the biggest driver of <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=r[…]nnel=Business%20Insider&amp;af_adset=article&amp;af_force_deeplink=true" data-type="tilCustomLink">crypto</a> adoption in India, as it has led to people trying to find new ways to earn online and diversify their portfolio," the statement said. The India-based exchange claims to have over over 7.3 million users, and has clocked over USD 21.8 billion in trading volume in 2021 till date. Tier-II cities like Ahmedabad, <keyword id="6355192" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lucknow">Lucknow</keyword> and <keyword id="6358805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="patna">Patna</keyword> have reported an average growth of 2,950 per cent, whereas tier-III cities like Ranchi, Imphal and <keyword id="13178" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mohali">Mohali</keyword> have reported an average growth of 2,455 per cent on WazirX, the statement said. <a href="https://forum.businessinsider.in/">For a more in-depth discussion, come on over to Business Insider Cryptosphere</a> — a forum where users can deep dive into all things crypto, engage in interesting discussions and stay ahead of the curve. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/messis-impending-arrival-drives-the-value-of-psgs-crypto-token/articleshow/85175455.cms">Messi may or may not be going to PSG, but the French club is already seeing gains from the 'potential' signing</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/crypto-firm-mudrex-which-offers-mutual-fund-like-crypto-investment-tools-raises-2-5-million-in-a-seed-round/articleshow/85205115.cms">This Indian crypto company just raised $2.5 million to launch crypto mutual funds and ETFs</a>

More than half of WazirX's new users this year are from tier 2 and tier 3 cities

India’s home-grown <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Silicon+Valley&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Silicon Valley</a> is facing stiff competition from unexpected quarters. In the first six months of 2016, startups in the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) attracted almost twice the amount of investments. Looks like Tier II and Tier III cities are also catching up, and fast. 
 Delhi NCR’s <keyword id="1973995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Startup-ecosystem">startup ecosystem</keyword> accounts for more than half the total $1.8 billion raised by Indian startups in 2016 so far, <a href="http://blog.tracxn.com/2016/06/24/delhi-ncr-bangalore-mumbai-pune-and-hyderabad-are-indias-top-5-startup-cities-for-2016/" target="_blank">according to data</a> from research firm Tracxn. Delhi is closely followed by <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword>, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune. 
 “Around 28% of the country’s startups are in Delhi. It’s one of the most vibrant cities for startups. We’ll soon see the emergence of new startup capital in India. Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Surat are cities of the future”, Dr. <keyword id="3189968" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Apoorv-Ranjan-Sharma">Apoorv Ranjan Sharma</keyword>, President and Co founder, Venture Catalysts said. 
 Bengaluru has long been an investor’s darling, thanks to its readily available tech talent. However, cities like Ahmedabad, Chennai and Jaipur are becoming startups hubs too, accounting for 30 deals in 2016, with a total <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> amount of $34 Mn. 
 
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				City</td>
			<td>
				No. of Deals</td>
			<td>
				Total Funding</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Chennai</td>
			<td>
				10</td>
			<td>
				$17 Mn</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Jaipur</td>
			<td>
				9</td>
			<td>
				$16 Mn</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Ahmedabad</td>
			<td>
				11</td>
			<td>
				$1 Mn</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
 
“With <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Reliance+Jio&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Jio</a> coming in, the internet connectivity in Tier II-Tier III cities will better dramatically. There’s enough capital availability in tier II cities any way. Companies will no longer shift from Nashik and Pune to Mumbai”, Sharma adds. 
 
Today, Bengaluru houses nearly 30% of the country’s technology startups, including unicorns like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Flipkart</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a>, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=InMobi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">InMobi</a>. The city has the world’s second-fastest growing <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startup+ecosystem&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">startup ecosystem</a>, and ranks 15th among the largest startup ecosystems globally. 
 
<a href="http://www.nioh.org/26thISSRF/sys/riverfront%20park.jpg">Image Source</a>

Reliance
Jio will be a game-changer for India’s Tier II-Tier III startups

<ul><li><keyword id="3258662" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-for-Entrepreneurs">Google for Entrepreneurs</keyword> is partnering with <keyword id="2825382" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="91SpringBoard">91Springboard</keyword> to launch an <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">entrepreneurship</keyword> program across tier-II cities in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>.</li><li>The company also stated that the program is aimed at providing direction to women entrepreneurs in these cities. </li><li>The partners will also be launching the <keyword id="6355629" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword> for Entrepreneurs Lounge in <keyword id="66" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi">Delhi</keyword>.</li></ul>In its latest initiative in India to date, Google has partnered with 91Springboard, a coworking community, through it’s entrepreneurship initiative, Google for Entrepreneurs. According to the company, the project is <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/google-for-entrepreneurs-partners-with-91springboard/article24633853.ece">aimed</a> at new and aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women, and will focus on providing mentorship and skills training. Earlier this year, Google for Entrepreneurs <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/google-for-entrepreneurs-techhub-expand-global-partnership-to-india/articleshow/51122183.cms">brought</a> their partnership with TechHub to India as well. It empowered local members of the tech entrepreneurs community to have access to Google’s programs and to their intellectual resources. Their plan is to launch a total of 24 programs over the span of two years in tier-II cities across the country. Cities in that segment have often been quoted as the ‘growth engines’ for the coming future. That being said, the gap between the supply and demand of employment in these cities has limited their growth. In order to expand it’s entrepreneurship network, Google for Entrepreneurs is also launching their lounge. It’s basically a hub where entrepreneurs can share ideas and collaborate on projects. They have similar lounges in Madrid, Seoul, Warsaw among other cities. Globally, the platform has around 50 partners and is involved with six campuses. 91Springboard will also integrate their network of nearly 8,000 entrepreneurs with Google’s network. The potential in tier-II cities EY’s <a href="https://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-indias-growth-paradigm/$FILE/ey-indias-growth-paradigm.pdf">report</a> from 2017 cites how 30 tier-II cities in India have the greatest potential for marginal revenue in the coming years due their untapped potential. That means there are markets and under-saturated hotspots that can drive growth. The demographic makeup of these cities also play in their favour with most people between the ages of 15-24 years, which provides a consumer base as well as business opportunities. In order to empower the entrepreneurs to exploit these opportunities, Google for Entrepreneurs’ training will focus on addressing leadership obstacles and technological solutions, running design prints and providing one-on-one mentorship for the female entrepreneurs that sign up. In recent years India has seen a host of co-working spaces pop up as well as local start-ups where some become successful while ones only have their 2 minutes in the spotlight. That being said, India’s spirit of innovation and invention is often questioned and criticized for being unoriginal. According to an IBM’s report titled, ‘Éntrepreneurial India’, 90% of Indian startups fail within the first five years. And, 77% of the time the reason that comes to light is ‘lack of innovation’.

Google, 91Springboard launch entrepreneurship program for women in tier-II cities

<ul><li><keyword id="2739840" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hotstar">Hotstar</keyword>, India’s largest OTT player, is wooing India by giving what it loves the most: free content. </li><li>The OTT platform announced that it will provide high quality content to its Hindi audience without any charge. </li><li>With the new campaign ‘Hotstar ka vaada, free entertainment sabse zyada’, Hotstar says it is targeting the Tier II and Tier III cities which have been “fueling the growth of online video consumption in India.” </li></ul>Hotstar, India’s largest OTT player, already has 60% market share but it wants more. So it is wooing Indians, especially those in smaller cities and towns, a lot more free content. The bar is raised further for the likes of <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> and <keyword id="18635" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> that are dwarfed in competition. The move is further timed well, just before the beginning of the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that is a big money churner and a hot favourite in Indian drawing rooms. Presently, Hotstar’s free content library includes several movies like Chhichhore, Mission Mangal, Star Plus soap operas like <keyword id="83396" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yeh-Rishta-Kya-Kehlata-Hai">Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai</keyword>, Nazar, <keyword id="381946" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kasauti-Zindagi-Kay">Kasauti Zindagi Kay</keyword> and shows from Star Bharat like Savdhaan India along with News. Getting people away from TV With the new campaign, Hotstar says it is targeting the Tier-II and Tier-III cities which have been “fueling the growth of online video consumption in India.” It aims to get all those people on board who have lost access to paid channels after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India imposed new tariffs. While one set of the family may be hooked to these soaps, those within the same family who are interested in cricket may pay for the subscription. It is bad news for television channels too as it may lead to migration from traditional TV subscriptions to OTT. “The next wave of growth for OTT platforms will come from smaller cities as adoption picks up. In fact, non-metros today outstrip metros in terms of video consumption. Through this campaign, our endeavor is to engage with our audiences further in Hindi-speaking markets and take digital video consumption to new frontiers,” said Varun Narang, Chief Product Officer, Hotstar. Going all out Not just that, Hotstar is also planning to opt for door-to-door marketing in Tier-II and Tier-III cities using different mediums of marketing including billboard to advertise about their free library. The campaign comes a week after Netflix removed free first month trial for their consumers. It is now offering a new plan to select new subscribers in India with the first month at ₹5. The offer is only available as an introductory offer to select new subscribers and not for existing users or anyone who is signing up again for premium subscription. India is all set to witness a tough battle in the over-crowded OTT space this year. Hotstar, the leader of the OTT space, plans to break down its own record of 18.6 million concurrent viewers during the IPL season. It has also set aside ₹120 crore to make seven originals across languages. Whereas, Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos are upping their game by investing millions of dollars in originals. Zee5, on the other hand, is aiming to produce 80 originals this year. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/netflix-is-losing-to-hotstar-zee5-amazon-prime-video-india-as-the-country-remains-addicted-to-soaps-and-movies/articleshow/74111720.cms">Netflix is losing to homegrown OTT players in India — as the country remains addicted to soaps and movies</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/zee5-plans-to-release-80-original-shows-this-year-across-indian-languages/articleshow/74367269.cms">Zee5 plans to release 80 original shows this year across Indian languages</a>

Hotstar is adding to 'free' content — making life more difficult for Netflix, Amazon and the likes

New Delhi, Mar 9 () Logistics services provider Lalamove on Monday said it plans to expand its presence in India and has a target to enter tier-II cities by the end of this year. Launched in Hong Kong in December 2013, Lalamove claims to be operating in 250 cities worldwide. "Lalamove is operating in over 250 cities across the world... Its target is to expand to 10 tier-II cities by the end of 2020," the company said in a statement. It said it has completed its target to expand to tier-I cities. The statement said the logistics landscape in India is highly fragmented and unorganised, with organised players accounting for about 10 per cent of the total market share. Further, the industry faces multiple challenges such as under-developed material-handling infrastructure, lack of seamless movement of goods across modes, and minimal integrated IT infrastructure, it said. "With technology, Lalamove aims to bridge the gap of unavailability of drivers with the surging demand," the statement said adding that the company has revolutionised vehicle hiring to being a process so streamlined that customers and drivers receive a match with each other within 30 seconds. "Our drivers are technologically trained and each one of them has to clear regular test before getting the clearance to go on-field. With our initiatives, we are planning to bring convenience, reliability, and efficiency to the Indian logistics industry and employment opportunities to the natives," said John Tang, co-founder and director, Lalamove. NAM HRS

Logistics services provider Lalamove to expand India operations

Chennai, Mar 3 (): Consumer durables major UshaInternational on Tuesday said it is very bullish on businessin Tier II and III cities and rural markets, which have 70 percent of its customers, as the potential was immense.Usha International President, Electric Fans and PumpsBusiness, Rohit Mathur, said the company was witnessing a hugedemand for its products in these markets. "We are very bullish on our expansion in these cities-themain reason being the growth consumption patterns, wherecustomers go deeper within the categories", he told . He said 70 per cent of customers in Tier II, III andrural markets have always featured high on Usha's prioritylist for business expansion. "We feel that every customer, irrespective of whether heis working in a metro or in Tier II or tier III or at distantrural village are potential customers... The potential of Tier II and III markets to contribute tosales of a brand is immense," he said. Noting that the company has been witnessing huge demandfor its products nationwide, he said they were looking atdoubling revenues from rural markets in two-three years."Currently the rural markets contribute about 25 per centof the revenue and we aim to double this in two to threeyears," he said.To a query, he claimed that Usha International has 21 percent market share in the fans category and had also doubledits marketing spend to Rs 10 crore. They were investing in various retail initiatives,including in-shop presence and branding, he said.He said the company was 'aggressively' pushing sales tobig retail chains to strengthen its retail footprint. "Traditional distribution accounts for close to 90 percentof revenue and now the company has drawn up a strategy toincrease retail share rapidly", he said. He said Usha International has 51 company owned andoperated branded retail stores in 38 cities and wereexperimenting with the idea of franchisees to expand in TierII and III cities. "Once this model is established, we can then go in for amajor expansion in raising the number of stores", he said. Mathur was here recently to unveil Usha Race Chrome rangeof fans along with company's brand ambassador and India'sfirst Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan."After the successful launch of Usha Racer Fans with him(Narain Karthikeyan) last year, we are now launching UshaRacer Chrome.The Usha Racer series we are focusing on ultra high speedof 400 RPM with glossy power coated superior finish fordurability and high lift angle blades", he said. He said the company has introduced 12 new models, pricedbetween Rs 1,850 and Rs 9,000, strengthening its fan business. VIJ APRAPR APR

Usha International bullish in Tier II, III, rural markets

<ul><li>IMAX currently has 22 theatres in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Delhi. </li><li>India being one of the most important markets for its market size and social media presence, IMAX is now upping its game by launching newer technologies and expanding its reach further into Tier II and III cities. </li><li>As IMAX deploys its Laser Technology in India with PVR, we speak to John Schreiner, Senior VP - Theatre Development, about its logistics, marketing plan, vision for expansion, and growth trajectory.</li><li>IMAX has already installed two laser systems in Mumbai and Delhi last year. </li></ul>IMAX has nearly tripled its theatre network in India over the last three years, making it apparent how critical the Indian market for the company is, globally. Expanding its network further in the country and upping its quality, IMAX has partnered with PVR Cinema to deploy its laser technology in Forum Mall, Bangalore and Palazzo Mall, Chennai later this year. IMAX brought in laser technology into the country at the end of last year, which uses dual 4K projectors, 12-channel sound and a laser light source instead of a prism. It delivers a higher resolution output, with sharper and brighter images, and maintains a deeper contrast. IMAX entered into a strategic partnership with PVR back in 2011 to launch its first theatre in Bangalore. Today, it has 22 theatres, 20 operational and two that are just an approval away. The next phase of expansion for IMAX will be in Tier II and III cities. Telling us how important the Indian market is for IMAX globally, John Schreiner, Senior VP - Theatre Development, said, “India is such an avid movie-going market and consumers love great experiences. Therefore, our theatres have been very successful here, it is a strategic market for us and we hope to grow that number quite dramatically. We continuously work towards finding the right ingredients to bring IMAX -- not only to the major metros, but to the second and third Tier markets. We know there are a lot of fans in these markets who want that experience because they interact with us on social media. India is one of the most active markets for us globally, in terms of social media engagement.” For IMAX, Russia is the largest market, with 42 theatres. However, population-wise, India is a larger market than Russia and Schreiner says there is a huge room for growth here and it is hoping to case its net wider in the coming years. Marketing Strategy Interestingly, IMAX’s Executive Vice President, Global Brand &amp; Creative, Denny Tu used to work with Sky TV in the UK, making sure people stay at home and watch content on their smaller screens. Now at IMAX, he encourages the same audience to come out for pop-corn crunching, and jump-out-of-your-seat experience, which is what every filmmaker originally desired for. Sharing how IMAX gets consumers to step out of the ‘Netflix and Chill’ zone, Schreiner said, “We have launched a whole new brand strategy and campaign, which helps produce assets that encourage consumers to come out for content and experience it in the best way possible. That is also getting translated here in India. We, as a company, are highly regarded in India and we will continue to interact with our Indian fans on social media, this will help us create more successful theatres in India. Apart from that, we will be bringing more local content on IMAX screens, this is our holistic approach to growth here.” Growth of OTT a threat? The window between theatrical release and television premieres is decreasing, which is threatening the theatre businesses world over. However, Schreiner says this is the best time to be working with IMAX because content production has reached its tipping point. IMAX stands for higher quality and an immersive experience, whose network is only going to grow from here, believes Schreiner. “The window is decreasing and the pressure from various stakeholders is increasing but we view that as an opportunity because you can’t experience IMAX anywhere else. Studios are making grander spectacles for movie releases and we do well with that.” IMAX has also partnered with a few streaming platforms such as Apple for ‘Beastie Boys’ documentary. Schreiner says they will continue to experiment and bring newer content for its audience -- to expand its base. “This is the golden age of content production -- with all the studios and streaming houses, there hasn’t been so much content produced globally before than today. There is an opportunity for IMAX to take advantage of that and that is going to be a driving element for our future growth,” adds Schreiner. Globally, its mantra is to enhance customer experience. It is present in 82 countries and has 1700 theatres around the world. Annual Performance In the first half of 2019, IMAX theatres generated more than $7.76 million at the box office in India, up by 18% over the first half of 2018. The economic slow-down did not affect the company in India and even globally, it was a pink season for IMAX. In fact, Schrenier says that economic slowdown brings an uptick in consumer sentiment for the cinema industry. “Last year the performance of IMAX across the world was record-breaking. We had billion dollars in the box office, across all our networks. And in India, not only IMAX, but the cinema industry was strong and resilient as well. We have noticed this globally, whenever there is an economic slowdown, affordable luxuries tend to be very resilient because consumers may not go and buy a TV or a car, but they will take their family or partners to watch a movie,” says Schreiner. Schrenier has been a part of IMAX for 19 years now but the content industry is constantly evolving, which makes him feel like ‘he has worked with three different companies.’ He joined IMAX when it was selling film projectors to museums and educational institutions. Then they added Hollywood movies and transitioned to digital projection from films. Shrenier believes that the industry is about to enter another transition phase and he feels excited to be a part of it, and witness it change every day. Going forward, Schrenier will help IMAX focus on taking advantage of the golden age of content production, invest in newer technologies to enhance customer experience, and while they are at it, help all of its partners flourish together.

IMAX triples its network in India; plans to expand further to Tier II and III cities

The metro cities’ congestion, crowds and lack of free space are a big no no for the IT giants in India. They are preferring places where they get facilities of a metro, yet a lot of free space. Guess what? All of a sudden, the tier II cities in Tami Nadu like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=coimbatore">Coimbatore</a> and Madurai are getting big bang investments. Earlier we have reported how <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Move-over-Bengaluru-Coimbatore-is-the-new-start-up-city/articleshow/48553621.cms">Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu is becoming a smart base for the start ups</a> in Bangalore. However, this time not only the start ups, IT giants are like HCL, Cognizant are investing in these tier 2 cities. 
 
HCL Technologies has announced an investment of Rs 6,600 crore. Most of the investment will go into Madurai in southern Tamil Nadu. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Cognizant+">Cognizant</a> will develop delivery centres at an investment of over Rs 1,000 crore in Coimbatore and Chennai and bureaucrats are hopeful about TCS expanding its workforce in the city. Officials with the state <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=IT+">IT</a> department said a large portion of the Rs 10,950 crore in IT investments will go into smaller cities and towns in the state. The expansions are in Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Tirunelveli, and Salem, where the state government has managed to sell land to IT firms. 
 
Zoho Corp is setting up a development centre in Tenkasi, where the Sridhar Vembufounded company will recruit from neighbouring colleges to develop software products for global clients. 
 
"You need to take product building into <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=tier+II+">tier II</a> and tier III towns. It is now a requirement - because IT's skill requirements are changing with the way digitisation is spreading. And the talent that resides beyond the metros is attractive now. The second consideration is costcompetitiveness," Premkumar S, executive vice-chairman and MD of HCL Infosystems told The Economic Times. 
 
However, the constraints lie in public infrastructure such as roads and airport connectivity as the IT business is strongly client-oriented. TCS' rival Cognizant has committed to developing delivery centres in Coimbatore, besides making progress in expansions in Chennai. R Chandrasekaran, executive vice-chairman at Cognizant told the ET, there were cost considerations too about going deeper into Tamil Nadu. "It is cheaper to deliver for a tier II city but that is possible in Tamil Nadu because the education infrastructure in say Trichy, or Coimbatore is comparable to that of Chennai."

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