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< Back Airtel in talks to buy Tata Play 8 Oct 2024 It acquired Tata’s consumer mobility business in 2017 and absorbed it after two years. Tier 1 and 2 customers are opting for OTT packs over DTH, and rural subscribers are choosing Doordarshan Free Dish. Hence, Airtel is ready to strike a second deal with the Tata Group to boost its presence in the OTT segment. Tata Play, formerly Tata Sky, is the market leader with 20.77 million users and a 32.7% share. Airtel ranks second with a 27.8% share. Tata Play removed some Sony channels to cut the losses, leading to a spat between the two. Tata Sons bought Temasek Holding’s 10% stake in Tata Play for ₹835 crore in April, thus bringing its ownership to 70% and company valuation to $1 billion. Airtel may buy Tata Play for a similar amount as the Temasek deal. After merging with 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney absorbed Sky’s 30% stake in Tata Play. Disney now plans to quit TV distribution after its merger with Reliance Jio. Previous Next

< Back Faster immigration for int’l passengers at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru 29 Jan 2024 The government plans to roll out biometric checks, DigiYatra for international passengers to speed up the process. International passengers travelling to and from India will soon be offered biometric immigration services at New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai airports. The government is also working on making DigiYatra available to international passengers for electronic passport-based enrolment. The biometric check-in will be first available for international passengers. Indians will receive it after the issuance of much-awaited e-passports, which are expected to begin this year. E-passports will combine paper and electronic passports, with an RFID chip and antenna installed in the back cover. The passport’s first page and the chip will store the individual’s complete data. Indian government officials and diplomats have been receiving such passports since 2021. First-time visitors will still need to enrol and clear immigration with facial, iris, and fingerprint scanners to be able to use the e-clearance during departure. It will reduce the touch points for passengers and lower their overall checking-in duration. Previous Next

< Back Vodafone Idea signs ₹13,500 cr deal with Nokia for equipment 30 Sept 2024 Vodafone Idea (Vi) will buy equipment over three years to expand its 4G network and roll out 5G in nine circles. As per the ₹13,500 crore equipment deal, Nokia will provide Vi with a 5G AirScale Network gear portfolio and upgrade the company’s existing 4G network with multiband radios and baseband equipment to support 5G. Vi recently announced its plans to buy ₹30,000 crore of 4G and 5G network gear from Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson over the next three years to boost its 4G operations and roll out 5G in major cities in 17 priority circles. As per the contract, Nokia will offer equipment for Vi in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Mumbai, Haryana, UP-East, UP-West, West Bengal, Kolkata and Tamil Nadu/Chennai markets. Ericsson and Nokia will supply 45% of Vi’s 4G and 5G gears, while Samsung will offer 10%. Ericsson may receive nine circles - Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Northeast, and Assam. Samsung may get Bihar and Odisha. However, Ericsson and Samsung are vying for Delhi. Previous Next

< Back New Unified Pension Scheme to co-exist with National Pension Scheme 27 Aug 2024 The new scheme will come into effect from April 1st, 2025. Responding to the demand to reinstate the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) before assembly polls, the Union Cabinet announced on August 24th a refined Union Pension Scheme (UPS) that will co-exist with the National Pension Scheme (NPS). This means all NPS-enrolled government employees will be able to switch to UPS from the financial year 2025. Employees must serve at least 25 years in central or state government to be eligible for the pension under UPS. The monthly disbursement under UPS will begin at the age of 60, calculated as 50% of the average monthly salary earned in the twelve months leading to retirement. For service tenure between 10 and 25 years, eligible employees will receive a minimum monthly pension of ₹10,000. Employees retiring before March 31, 2025, choosing UPS will receive arrears. The pension will be adjusted for inflation. Private employees cannot use UPS, but their employers can opt for NPS. Previous Next

< Back India, UK, EU stop postal deliveries to the US 28 Aug 2025 The US is suspending the de minimis exemption as of August 29th. The American de minimis exemption allowed duty-free entry of packages worth less than $800. With this, the US government aims to curb cheap imports. However, the US postal services have not welcomed this sudden change, as it has left them unprepared for the drop in imports. India, the UK, and several European nations have refused to send small parcels to the US in the absence of proper clarity on import duties. Airlines from these nations have also declined to carry packages to the US. The de minimis exemption was introduced in 1938, when the US allowed free entry for goods valued at $1 or less. In the 1990s, Congress considered it a trade facilitation tool instead of an efficiency booster. In 2016, the limit was raised from $200 to $800. de minimis shipments to the US jumped from 153 million in 2015 to over one billion in 2023. Check out my new book, THE BLACK FLAMES, on Amazon Kindle. Previous Next

< Back Pine Labs, Udaan among S’pore based firms returning to India 3 Jan 2024 Their plans for getting listed and launch their IPOs in the growing Indian market are pulling them home. Focusing on their market listing and IPO plans, several companies like Pine Labs and B2B eCommerce firm Udaan have joined the bandwagon to return their base to India. Meesho is also deliberating flipping its US headquarters to India. These companies had set up their bases abroad to get easier funding and leverage flexible tax policies. But now, with the Indian regulatory framework tightening, they are making a move to come back before it is too late. Earlier, Razorpay and stockbroking giant Groww manifested a cross-country merger between their American holding companies and India units. While these companies move their base to India, some, like Udaan, plan to keep an entity running in the US for possible listing there. Their entry back to India means more tax gains for the Indian government, as happened in PhonePe’s re-entry in 2023, which brought almost $1 billion in tax gains to the government. Previous Next

< Back Reliance Consumer Products records ₹3,000 crore sales in FY2024 18 Apr 2024 Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL) is a branch of Reliance Retail. It began operations on November 30, 2022. Reliance Retail Venture’s Consumer Products arm, RCPL, recorded sales worth ₹3,000 crore in its first full year of operations, 2023. Among RCPL's brands, Emami clocked ₹3,400 crore in sales, Campa Cola contributed ₹400 crore, and the market leader in oral care, Colgate-Palmolive, recorded ₹5,226 crore. Reliance acquired Campa Cola in 2022 for ₹22 crore. It is widely available in Andhra Pradesh, India’s largest cola market. It currently relies on contract manufacturers for bottling but intends to set up its own plants by raising around ₹500-700 crore from Reliance Retail. Reliance Retail infused ₹277 crore in RCPL in February and March 2023 through a subscription of fully convertible debentures. They intend to bridge the supply gap by strategically establishing bottling plants across the country that are closer to main consumer hubs and Kirana stores. The company earned ₹1,000 crore in revenue from over 200,000 Kirana stores. Previous Next

< Back Quick commerce industry to hike gross order value to $10 billion by FY26 9 Sept 2024 Zomato’s Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart hold over 90% of the q-commerce market share. The q-commerce industry is expected to log a gross order value of USD10 billion by FY26 and surpass USD78 billion in the next decade. This market is estimated at USD 662 billion in FY24, which is 66% of the total retail market. At a 3% net profit margin, the industry could accumulate a profit of USD 2.3 billion in the next ten years. The sector’s expansion into new services, including high-end electronics, is spiking the average order values and improving economics. The fragmented retail market, fast urbanisation, and the q-commerce industry’s ability to bypass the middlemen make it an alternative to local kiranas. Inspired by this growth, logistics companies like Shadowfax, Ecom Express, and Loadshare are starting to offer superfast deliveries. Delhivery, the third largest e-commerce logistics provider in India, announced its plans to open a series of dark stores offering same-city deliveries within two to four hours. Previous Next

< Back AI 171’s emergency power generator running before crash: WSJ 18 Jun 2025 It triggers the question of whether the plane’s engines were properly functioning during takeoff. The Ram Air Turbine (RAT) propeller deploys automatically from the 787 Dreamliner fuselage and functions as a backup generator in case both engines fail, hydraulic system pressures are low, the aircraft’s electric motor pumps stop working, or if cockpit instruments lose power. RAT can generate enough power to enable critical aircraft components to work properly. Investigators believe the RAT was working for AI 171 before it crashed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Lone survivor, Vishwas Kumar Ramesh’s testimony about hearing a loud bang followed by the flickering of cabin lights conforms with RAT deployment, as per aviation experts. Meanwhile, DGCA’s investigation revealed no safety concerns in Air India’s 787 fleet. AI 171 had its right engine replaced in March 2025. Singapore Airlines’ SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) is under scrutiny for being involved in Air India’s aircraft maintenance. It is also developing AI’s maintenance facilities in Bengaluru. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back As Zomato becomes Eternal Ltd, Cars24 rolls out new car sales 18 Mar 2025 Zomato received 99.7% shareholder votes to change its parent entity name to Eternal Limited. Two Gurugram-based unicorns are embracing major changes. Although Zomato internally changed its name to Eternal Limited in 2022 after acquiring Blinkit, it received the official shareholder nod now. It will retain its brand name for the food delivery app, but the business entity and the stock exchange ticker will become Eternal. This is Zomato’s second renaming. It started in 2008 as Foodiebay and became Zomato in 2010. Another unicorn, Cars24, launched the ‘New Cars Platform’ to sell new cars on one super app. The platform displays real on-road prices, model comparisons, AI-powered video sneak peeks, home test drives, and financing. It functions as an aggregator for dealers and OEMs to list their models. Currently, for every 10 new cars bought, 13 used cars are sold. This ratio is expected to be 10:17 by 2030. 50% of their customers consider buying a new model, and the company will offer both options. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back Zomato to acquire Paytm’s Insider, movie ticketing biz for ₹2,048 cr 22 Aug 2024 Paytm will also transfer its 280 employees of the ticketing business to Zomato. This move will allow Zomato to expand its entertainment offerings, while Paytm will shift its focus back to fintech. On August 21, the Zomato and One97 Communications (Paytm) boards approved the all-cash deal worth ₹2,048 crore, and the two startup giants informed the stock exchanges. Paytm will first transfer its entertainment ticketing business to its fully owned subsidiaries, Wasteland Entertainment, which runs the Insider platform, and Orbgen Technologies, which operates TicketNew. Paytm’s stake in these companies will then be gradually transferred to Zomato over the next 12 months. Ticketing will continue to be available on the Paytm app during the transition. Zomato has been expanding its offerings beyond dining out and running the food festival Zomaland. It will offer dining and ticketing services via its new ‘District’ app, which is expected to be launched within the next few weeks. This move will allow the food delivery giant to add live events and movie ticketing to its list of services. Paytm offers entertainment ticketing for live events, movies, and sports. Previous Next

< Back FMCG giants to curb sales to organised wholesalers to support kirana stores 20 Feb 2024 80% of the FMCG sales are controlled by kirana stores in India. Amul, Dabur, Britannia, and Parle plan to reduce sales to organised wholesalers to avoid price wars with traditional distributors. FMCG giants in India plan to reduce their sales to organised wholesalers like Reliance Cash and Carry, Udaan, and Flipkart Wholesale. Conventional kirana stores in India control 80% of the wholesale distribution. Organised retail and wholesale companies own 5% of the market share but have the advantage of scale and can offer more leverage over supplies and prices. Earlier, the FMCG companies hoped to reach the kirana stores through organised wholesalers, but it didn’t happen. Troubled by the threat of deep discounts from established wholesalers, the kirana stores had earlier threatened to stop product supply from these companies. Supplying to traditional distributors costs FMCG companies 13-14% of the sales and nearly half in the case of organised wholesalers. Consumer goods corporations rely on a wholesale network to reach the 12 million kirana stores nationwide. They still plan to leverage organised distributors but limit their participation below 10%. Previous Next