Month: August 2019

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Covestro India ties up with United Way Mumbai to promote road safety through ‘Heads Up’ campaign

Navi Mumbai, August 27, 2019: Covestro India, one of India’s leading producers of advanced and high-performance polymers, has partnered with United Way Mumbai for organizing a campaign titled ‘Heads Up’.  In India, every year about eighty thousand people lose their lives in road accidents, which amounts to thirteen percent of the total fatalities all over the world. With ‘Heads Up’ campaign, Covestro India aims to make people aware of being safe while driving or walking on the roads. Through the ‘Heads Up’ campaign, Covestro India spreads awareness on importance of safety while on roads. The campaign run across online and offline platforms for a duration of three months, with an aim to communicate the message of prioritising safety in the minds of people. The first phase of the Heads Up campaign kick-starts at Airoli which targeted college students, pedestrians and the owners of 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler vehicles.

 

The campaign was inaugurated on 21st August, 2019 at JVM Mehta Degree College, Airoli, Navi Mumbai, where dignitaries addressed the students about the importance of road safety. Post the inaugural function, the dignitaries and students moved to the kiosk, and the campaign launch took place. The kiosk had various activities that educate about road safety in a fun way. The campaign will run till mid-September 2019, covering other colleges in the vicinity. We aim to reach out to 5000 people through this campaign and educate them about road safety. In mid-September, there will be an orientation for the Covestro India employees at Airoli. A kiosk will be set up in the office where Covestro India employees will interact and take part in the activities. In the 2nd week of October 2019, a Mega Awareness Drive for road safety will be launched at Airoli Toll Naka, which will be a week long program.

 

Speaking on the inaugration of the campaign, Ajay Durrani, MD, Covestro (India) said, “Today, when we talk about road safety, it is not only driving slowly or following the traffic rules and regulations but also to be mentally and physically attentive. We have young generation around who enjoy fast  driving, without helmet and one will always find them over phone making it unsafe for themselves and others. With Heads Up campaign, we are trying to make people realize the importance of being mentally attentive while driving and specially refrain from using mobile devices  while on road.”

 

"As per the road crash data reported by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, 1.47 lakhs people were killed in road crashes in 2017, which is a matter of concern for all of us. 49.9% of these deaths include youth. Also, as per the Global Road Safety Partnership, distracted road usage is one of the leading causes of road crashes. 

 

United Way Mumbai through its flagship initiative- "United for Road Safety" has been working on various elements of road safety and youth have been one of our major target groups for the same. Till date, we have trained over 7,000 youth in safe two wheeler riding. We are very happy to have partnered with Covestro India for Heads Up campaign, which addresses the issue of distraction while using the road, mainly due to use of mobile phones. We are sure that with the help of this ingenious and thoughtful campaign we will be able to sensitize maximum number of road users about safe road usage practices,” added Jayanti Shukla – CEO, United Way Mumbai.

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IndiaMoneyMart bolsters its Advisory Board with Two Key Appointments

Mumbai, 20 Aug 2019: IndiaMoneyMart, a leading NBFC-P2P startup, proudly announces the joining of two industry veterans — Mr. Arup K Ganguly and Ms. Vridhi Kheria — to its advisory board. 


Both industry veterans bring in humongous professional experience and expertise. Mr. Arup K Ganguly is a renowned finance industry expert with 30 years of experience. He has played pivotal roles as a banker, investor, and entrepreneur in UK and India. He is also a seasoned professional in the Blue-chip Companies like Goldman Sachs where he spent over 15 years as an Executive Director.

 

Ms. Vridhi Kheria has proved her mettle with both academic and professional excellence. She was not only an All India Rank holder in chartered accountancy and company secretary exams but has also been a partner to a CA firm for the last 18 years.

 

“I am thrilled to be given this opportunity. The most impressive part of IMM services is that besides conducting regular business, they are also providing financial counselling to distressed borrowers and become a part of their financial journey. I look forward to working with the team for deeper penetration in tier 2 & tier 3 cities for financial awareness and help make financial tools easily accessible” said Mr. Arup K Ganguly.

 

“I am delighted to be joining the advisory board of IndiaMoneyMart, Company is also working towards the user’s wealth creation & financial inclusion. I am excited and looking forward to playing a meaningful part in enhancing company’s vision of financial inclusion,” said Ms. Vridhi Kheria.

 

"We are pleased to welcome Mr. Arup and Ms. Vridhi to the IndiaMoneyMart's advisory board and especially value the constructive visions they bring to the table. The addition of these members complements our advisory board skills and experiences, and we are confident they will provide valuable perspectives as we continue to execute our strategy, drive profitability and enhance value for all our customers. New members’ addition will help us in making some path-breaking decisions and will certainly play a key role in fulfilling our vision of wider financial inclusion & financial literacy.” said Mr. Sangeet Modi, Co-Founder IndiaMoneyMart.

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Article 370 Revoked – A bold move from the Modi2.0 government

In a historic move on Monday, Modi government redrew the map of Jammu and Kashmir by stripping its special status by scrapping Article 370. Now the State will be bifurcated into two territories — Jammu and Kashmir division and Ladakh.
The Rajya Sabha passed the J&K Reorganisation Bill on Monday amid protests from opposition Congress and J&K's regional parties

Business leaders across the country responded to the issue. According to Mr Anand Moorthy, Founder & CEO, Props{AMC} – "The resolution was always required on article 370 and 35(A). Till every citizen's security (including J&K) is protected and the intent is to create one nation, its definitely a bold move from the Modi2.0 government. We wish this doesn't become any reason for economic de-growth and negative market sentiments"

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Fwd: Quote on Revocation of Article 370 | Mr Anand Moorthy, Founder & CEO, Props{AMC}

In a historic move on Monday, Modi government redrew the map of Jammu and Kashmir by stripping its special status by scrapping Article 370. Now the State will be bifurcated into two territories — Jammu and Kashmir division and Ladakh.

The Rajya Sabha passed the J&K Reorganisation Bill on Monday amid protests from opposition Congress and J&K's regional parties

Business leaders across the country responded to the issue. According to Mr Anand Moorthy, Founder & CEO, Props{AMC} – "The resolution was always required on article 370 and 35(A). Till every citizen's security (including J&K) is protected and the intent is to create one nation, its definitely a bold move from the Modi2.0 government. We wish this doesn't become any reason for economic de-growth and negative market sentiments"

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PaisaDukan Sets New Milestones in Rural India Financing

Mumbai, 06 Aug 2019: PaisaDukan, an emerging Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platform has come up with some exciting news for the P2P industry. Post completion of 5 months of successful lending operation in Madhubani district of Bihar the company has managed with Zero Defaults and Zero Days delay in EMI receivables. The results are exciting and paving way for further expansion.

 

Government and the Reserve Bank of India both have recognized Microfinancing as a backbone of financial inclusivity. Madhubani is one of the districts in Bihar which receives funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). Rural sector remained untapped market for P2P lending companies due to various risk factors.

 

With aiming for wider financial inclusion PaisaDukan started its first rural operation branch in Madhubani district of Bihar in the month of March 2019 as a pilot program. The initiative made PaisaDukan the first company from the P2P ecosystem to take a step ahead for Rural India.

 

“Bihar – being the least literate state, the third most populated state, and having a 34% of its population under the poverty line – is ideal for a pilot study of financial inclusivity,” said Mr. Rajiv Ranjan, Founder & CMD PaisaDukan.

 

Last month the company received a second round of funding from JITO Incubation & Innovation Foundation (JIIF) and will be used in hiring experienced key resources to support company’s rural expansion plan.

 

“Microfinancing is backbone of financial inclusion, especially in countries like India, NABARD identified several obstacles in its execution like lack of support in financial inclusion, inadequate outreach in several regions and delay in disbursement of loans. P2P lending can serve the purpose but its untapped and the industry is at the nascent stage”.

 

“A solution already exists but is untapped – P2P financing. We believe P2P lending can serve as the best possible solution to these challenges. We provide last mile credit to rural borrowers. Since 70% of our borrowers have no credit history, we give them a PaisaDukan score based on our unique set of criteria specially designed for rural borrowers. It is also an opportunity for them to repay on time and begin with good credit score”, added Mr. Ranjan.

 

After launching the pilot in 20 villages of Madhubani, in a span of 05 months, PaisaDukan has received 800+ loan applications. With an average ticket size of 25,000 – 50,000 rupees and tenure of 6 – 12 months, the company has disbursed 1.1 Cr rupees in principal till date, at an average interest rate of 12%. There is Zero default and Zero Delay in EMI payments reported by the company for this rural operation. 

 

In the month of July, Madhubani was severely affected by flood and this raised demand and on the good side, the August month EMI collection has been 100% in this flood-affected area. This has elevated the confidence of the company on the current operating model and also on the credit consciousness of the rural borrowers.

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Co-working segment is likely to attract over $1 billion in investment during FY 2019-2020

Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head, JLL India

 

·         Co-working segment is likely to attract over $1 billion in investment during FY 2019-2020

·         With greater penetration across cities, co-working spaces are playing an important role in supporting the growth of start-ups and enabling accelerator programs for a number of newly formed firms

 

Over the last few years, co-working spaces have gained popularity with start-ups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large corporates. Unlike the traditional business centres, co-working offices offer unique amenities such as a gymnasium, spa, a food court, gaming zones, sleeping pods, crèche services etc. These attributes have helped popularize co-working spaces among employees, entrepreneurs and corporates alike.

An analysis of leasing trends in the top seven cities in India in the report by JLL and FICCI ‘Co-Working: Reshaping Indian Workplaces‘ clearly reflects the rising proportion of mainstream corporates and established entities from different sectors in the total co-working space leased. Space taken up by the co-working segment has doubled to 3.9 mn sq. ft. in 2018 compared with 2017. Cumulative space taken-up by co-working segment from 2017 to 1Q19 is 6.9 mn sq. ft.

There is more. The co-working share in office leasing in the top seven cities of India increased from 5% (2017) to 8% (2018) and this moved up further to 12% in 1Q2019.

Large scale investments: Naturally investments have been pouring into this sector. According to JLL estimates, at the end of May 2018, close to $400 million would be invested in co-working space. The trend has continued until now. As a result, the flexible workspace segment is likely to attract over $1 billion in investment during FY 2019-20. The trend is fuelled in part by the sleuth of large enterprises that have started moving into flexible workspace solutions. This has also resulted in commercial real estate markets seeing a larger shift – wherein flexible workspaces account for a larger share of absorption.  

 

Co-working operator

Fund/Investor/JV Partner

Year

Innov8

OYO Hotels & Homes: acquired Innov8

2019

Incuspaze

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

Workspace

SmartOwner Capital Growth Fund

91Springboard

FreakOut

2018

IndiQube

WestBridge Capital Partners

Creator’s Gurukul

A group of individual investors

Corporatedge

SIDBI India Opportunities Fund

Awfis Space Solutions

Sequoia India, Innoven Capital and The Three Sisters: Institutional Office

WeWork India

Embassy Group – JV Partner

2017

BHIVE

Blume Ventures

Innov8

LetsVenture & Venture Catalysts

The Office Pass

A group of individual investors

91Springboard

Sandway Investment Ltd, Pearl Brook Holdings, AMA Holdings, Silo Holdings and Al Nour

InstaOffice

Globevestor and other angel investors

Source: JLL Research & Secondary Sources

 

Scaling up: Huge investments in the sector are enabling shared space providers to scale up faster by utilising these funds. The scaling up is not only in terms of geographical expansion, but also technological innovation. Besides the top seven cities, co-working operators are venturing into tier 2 cities such as Jaipur, Goa, Chandigarh and Lucknow. It is expected that smaller cities would further see the growth of co-working spaces as they are witnessing a spurt of start-ups and incubation spaces.

Investments have also enabled co-working spaces provide upgraded facilities and amenities that traditional business centers do not offer like a gymnasium, spa, a food court, gaming zones, sleeping pods, crèche services and so on.

Enabling start-ups: Interestingly, co-working spaces are not only playing an important role in office leasing markets but also supporting the growth of start-ups and enabling accelerator programs which help them grow. While co-working spaces are catering to the requirements of large enterprises, they are also providing start-ups and SMEs a well- structured office space from where they can work and grow.

For instance, co-working player Incuspaze recently announced its collaboration with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to support micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and start-ups with a well-managed space to meet their office requirements. Whilst, Incuspaze will develop and operate the co-working space, SIDBI will provide support to the start-ups to grow further.

Co-working spaces have now moved beyond their initial role of acting as providers of flexible, vibrant workspaces. Today, they are acting as business enablers for start-ups as well as large corporates.