Business

By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai, Sep 8 (IANS) With increasing exports, growing domestic market, almost zero imports from China, emergence of mega toy cluster, the Indian toy industry is all set to become the toy maker for the world, said the sector experts.


According to them, a little nudge from the Central government in the form of a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme is the need of the hour which would have a multiplier effect.

"We are shipping toys for global majors. Global toy majors are now looking at India as a steady sourcing point apart from China. India is a huge country and is not limited by space or men unlike many other smaller countries," Rajeev Kaul, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director, Aequs Private Ltd told IANS.

"Global toy companies have increased their sourcing from India. Our exports are growing exponentially. We make toys for overseas players and also ship out our own branded toys," R. Jeswant, CEO, Funskool India told IANS.

The Rs 231 crore turnover Funskool earned Rs 145 crore from exports and Rs 86 crore from domestic sales.

"For the current year, we hope to earn Rs 175 crore from exports out of targeted turnover of Rs 275 crore," Jeswant added.

With demand - exports and domestic - increasing Funskool is expanding its production facilities at Ranipet. The company also has a big plant in Goa.

"We are exporting to over 30 countries including the USA and Europe. Ten more overseas markets will be added soon," Jeswant said.

Similarly, Micro Plastics India has announced a new toy facility in Hosur in Tamil Nadu at an outlay of Rs 500 crore.

On its part, Aequs is also putting up a huge facility at Koppal to make toys for the domestic market - for its own brands and for manufacturing toys for others, said officials.

Jeswant said the BJP government's initiatives like increasing the import duty to 66 per cent, compulsory BIS certification of the toy manufacturing units overseas to supply to India has given the needed fillip to the Indian manufacturers.

"It all started with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's radio broadcast 'Maan ki Baat' in 2020, where he expressed his desire to establish India as a global toy hub," Jeswant said.

Industry officials like Kaul and Jeswant said once the volumes pick up, most of the raw materials - paints, plastics and resins- will be available within the country while some of these are imported now.

Aequs has begun digital printing/painting of dolls which increases the output manifold while cutting down waste.

"For the past five years, our focus was on contract manufacturing for global toy makers," Kaul said.

Aequs makes toys for global majors like Hasbro and others.

The group has about 4.5 lakh sq.ft toy production facility at its Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Belagavi in Karnataka.

Aequs Group is developing a 450 acre mega toy cluster - 60 per cent SEZ and 40 per cent Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) - at Koppal - the area known for Kinnal toys- in Karnataka.

Officials told IANS that the group will have about 6 lakh toy manufacturing facilities at Koppal - 1.4 lakh sq.ft for DTA and about 4.6 lakh sq.ft in SEZ.

According to Aequs officials, the group offers plug-and-play facilities for toy makers. The facilities are built-to-suit the clients.

"In case of needs the group also provides the units with necessary manpower,a Aequs officials said.

The toy cluster also has a 60,000 sq.ft incubation centre for startups.

"The Koppal toy cluster can have about 100 units and provide direct employment for 25,000 persons," an Aequs official told IANS.

The toy cluster has already attracted component maker Viscon Polymers.

Apart from the toy manufacturers, the central government should also include the infrastructure developers under the PLI scheme, an Aequs official added.

In addition to offering manufacturing facilities, the Koppal Toy Cluster will also offer accommodation facilities for workers and office staff.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 7 (IANS) The Adani Group will be building three giga factories in India leading to one of the worlds most integrated green-energy value chains, Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, said.

Speaking at an event where he was conferred the USIBC Global Leadership Award, Adani said this will extend from polysilicon to solar modules, complete manufacturing of Wind Turbines, and the manufacturing of Hydrogen Electrolyzers.

"As a result, we will generate an additional 45 GW of renewable energy to add to our existing 20 GW capacity, as well as 3 million tonnes of hydrogen, all of which will be completed before 2030," Adani said.

This value chain will be fully indigenous and aligned with the geopolitical needs of our nation. "However, I believe we can further accelerate our goals with support from companies in the US that are willing to work with us," Adani said.

He said the semiconductor industry is a classic example with more engineers deployed in India than anywhere else in the world, and yet, India has no semiconductor plant. India cannot remain dependent on global supply chains that are based on semiconductor nationalism and will need US support with technology transfer.

Adani said the term deglobalization gained prominence because of the divisions that came about as a result of the pandemic. "We must never allow this to happen again, given the mistrust it creates. Vaccine collaboration between our nations must be high on our priority list and needs to be formalized in a mutually beneficial way," he added.

Likewise, defence and cyber are two critical areas that the US and India must work on. Trust comes from collaboration in these areas. India needs support in both these areas and, at this time, we are just skimming the surface. These are two essential areas where our partnerships must span technology transfer to be able to build mutual confidence, Adani said.

He urged the USIBC to facilitate a broader platform that brings together executives from similar industries on both sides on a regular basis.

There are a lot of gains to divide with the size of the two economies beginning to converge as we approach 2050, Adani added.

--IANS
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Brussels, Sep 7 (IANS) Under new rules proposed by the European Union (EU), Russians will now have to face a lengthier visa application process and see fees rise from 35 euros ($34) to 80 euros ($79) in order to enter the bloc.

According to the European Commission, these new rules should continue until Russia continues to wage its ongoing war against Ukraine, reports the BBC.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday evening, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "There can be no business as usual with Russia.

"We propose to fully suspend the EU Visa Facilitation Agreement and not to recognise Russian passports issued in occupied Ukrainian regions.

"Visa facilitation is a token of trust, which Russia's war of aggression has completely shattered."

Besides the hiked fees and the lengthier application process, Russian travellers will also face restrictions on multi-entry visas and a longer required list of supporting documents.

Also commenting on the move, Margaritis Schinas, an EU Commission Vice President, said Russia had "completely undermined" the trust on which the existing EU-Russia visa agreement was based.

Under that agreement, Russians had for 15 years enjoyed a streamlined process for getting EU visas, said the BBC.

"Russians should not have easy access to the EU and travelling to the EU as a tourist is not a human right," said EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson on Tuesday.

Tuesday's move follows a decision last week by EU Foreign Ministers, when they agreed in principle to suspend the existing visa agreement with Moscow.

The plan had been seen as a compromise, with Ukraine and some EU member states calling for a blanket ban, but others like France and Germany opposed to going that far.

Some EU countries bordering Russia have already started to tighten border controls.

The EU Commission is also proposing that the member states should refuse to recognise Russian passports issued in occupied Ukraine.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 6 (IANS) Reliance Industries Ltd has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in the US-based SenseHawk Inc for $32 million.

In a regulatory filing late Monday, Reliance Industries said it has inked an agreement to acquire majority stake in SenseHawk for $32 million including funding for future growth, commercial rollout of products, and research and development (R&D).

The turnover of SenseHawk for FY 2022, FY 2021 and FY 2020 was $2,326,369, $1,165,926, and $1,292,063, respectively.

The transaction is subject to certain regulatory and other customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed before end 2022.

The California-based SenseHawk is a developer of software based management tools for the solar energy generation industry.

According to Reliance Industries, SenseHawk helps accelerate solar projects from planning to production by helping companies streamline processes and use automation, Reliance Industries said.

Sensehawk, along with the other investments of the Company in New Energy, will be synergistic and create unique solutions with higher value to customers, Reliance Industries said.

"We welcome SenseHawk and its dynamic team to our family. RIL is committed to revolutionize the Green Energy sector and has a vision to enable 100 GW of solar energy by 2030," said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries.

"In collaboration with SenseHawk, we will drive down costs, enhance productivity and improve on-time performance to deliver the lowest LCoE (levelised cost of electricity) for solar projects globally and make solar energy the go-to source of power in lockstep with our vision for solar energy. It is a very exciting technology platform and I am confident that, with RIL's support, SenseHawk will grow multifold," he added.

"We are delighted with the confidence that RIL (Reliance Industries Ltd) has demonstrated in us with this investment. The SenseHawk team foresees strategic value in working with RIL, as one of the largest global infrastructure corporations, and look forward to this next phase in our growth," Swarup Mavanoor, CEO and Co-Founder, SenseHawk said.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 5 (IANS) The Indian rupee ended 4 paise up at 79.84 against US dollar on Monday. At Interbank foreign exchange market, rupee ended at 79.84 as against 79.80 against the US dollar on Monday.

"Market participants vary as the central bank's dollar supply at one end limits the downside while the broad-based strength in the dollar pushes the rupee lower. However, one should always keep in mind The trend is your friend -- and any dip in USDINR will be an opportunity to buy as long as it trades above 79 while on the higher side one can expect a rally above 80.10," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Dollar index, which gauges the the strength of greenback against the basket of six major currencies were at 109.915.

Brent crude oil prices were at $96.21 a barrel by the closing of Indian market hours.

Meanwhile, Sensex ended 442.65 points ot 0.75 per cent up at 59,245.98, and Nifty ended 126.35 points or 0.72 per cent higher at 17,665.80.

About 2,208 shares have advanced, 1,348 have declined and 180 remained unchanged.

SunPharma, ITC, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Larsen and Toubro were major gainers on the Sensex on Monday. BSE LargeCap ended up 0.59 per cent, while BSE SmallCap and MidCap closed 0.89 per cent and 0.46 per cent higher.

"80.00 has been acting as a very strong barrier any close above 80.00 shall provide strong covering towards 80.25/30 levels," said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Former BharatPe Co-founder Ashneer Grover on Monday criticised the new digital lending guidelines from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), calling the norms the worst thing that has happened in digital India.

Taking to Twitter, Grover said that the new digital lending norms will discourage the fintechs from lending.

"If UPI is the best tech/regulatory innovation in the world, the RBI's Digital Lending Guidelines have to be the worst," said Grover who, along with his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, has formed a new company called Third Unicorn Private Ltd, and are set to launch a third startup.

He further tweeted: "Essentially RBI is telling Fintechs 'Bhai mat karo digital lending shending ! Banks se hoti nahi, humein samajh aati nahi, aur pen paper ki sale bhi kam hogi (don't do digital lending as banks can't manage it, we don't understand it and it will also save on the sale on pen and paper)".

The recent RBI guidelines on digital lending are aimed at creating a robust framework that safeguards interest of customers.

The framework is based on the principle that lending business can be carried out only by entities that are either regulated by the central bank or entities permitted to do so under any other law.

This has led to fintech lenders suspending their services in the country.

Last month, Uni suspended card services on its products in line with the recent RBI notification.

The startup said that is proactively suspending services Uni Pay 1/3rd Card and the Uni Pay 1/2 Card, which will impact millions of users.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 5 (IANS) State Bank of India (SBI) plans to raise up to Rs 7,000 crore, which includes Rs 5,000 crore in greenshoe through Basel-III Additional Tier-I bonds, market participants said.

Bidding for the bonds will take place on Wednesday between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Non convertible Taxable Perpetual Subordinated Unsecured Basel III compliant Additional Tier 1 Bonds in the nature of debentures of face value Rs 1 Crore each.

AT1 Bonds are a type of perpetual bonds that don't have any expiry date which is issued to raise long term capital.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Fintech major Paytm on Sunday said that the search operations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at six different locations in Bengaluru were carried out on merchants which were independent entities, and none of them were Paytm's group entities.

In a statement, One 97 Communications Ltd, which is the parent company of Paytm, clarified that none of the funds which have been instructed to be frozen belong to Paytm or any of its group companies.

The ED said on Saturday that it carried out search operations at six different locations in Bengaluru in connection with its probe into the Chinese loan apps fraud case.

The financial probe agency said it raided the premises associated with Paytm, Razorpay and Cashfree, all payment gateways which allegedly facilitated transactions on loan apps unauthorisedly run by Chinese-owned firms.

The company said that as a part of ongoing investigations on a specific set of merchants, "the ED has sought information regarding such merchants to whom we provide payment processing solutions".

"It is hereby clarified that these merchants are independent entities, and none of them are our group entities. We are, and will continue to, fully cooperate with the authorities, and all the directive actions are being duly complied with," said the company.

Paytm further said that that the "ED has instructed us to freeze certain amounts from the Merchant IDs (MIDs) of a specific set of merchant entities".

According to the ED, during the search operation, it was noticed that the said entities were generating proceeds of crime through various merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways/banks.

"They were also not operating from the addresses given on the MCA website/registered address. An amount of Rs 17 crore has been seized in merchant IDs and bank accounts of these Chinese-owned entities," said the agency.

A Cashfree spokesperson said that the company extended diligent co-operation to the ED operations, providing them the required and necessary information on the same day of enquiry.

"Our operations and on-boarding processes adhere to the PMLA and KYC directions, and we will continue to do so," said the spokesperson.

A Razorpay spokesperson said that some of its merchants were being investigated by the law enforcement about a year and a half back.

"As part of the ongoing investigation, the authorities requested additional information to help with the investigation. We have fully cooperated and shared KYC and other details. The authorities were satisfied by our due diligence process," said the company.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 4 (IANS) After rolling out several new features, Meta-owned WhatsApp is likely working on a new feature for businesses to let them manage chats from their linked devices in an upcoming subscription service from WhatsApp for businesses.

According to WABetaInfo, under a new optional subscription plan called WhatsApp Premium, users will be able to use additional features such as the ability to create a custom business link and link up to 10 devices to their accounts in the future.

About the last feature, it would also be helpful for large businesses to manage certain chats from a specific device -- for this reason, WhatsApp is developing the ability to assign chats to linked devices, the report said.

In a screenshot, a tooltip showed up to inform the user about the new feature when it is enabled for the business account.

"When you want to assign a certain chat to a specific linked device, the list of your linked devices will show up so you can select the desired device," the report said.

"Assigned chats will be highlighted within the selected device, so the user that's using that specific device knows they have to manage those conversations," it added.

Since this is a business tool, it will not be available for standard WhatsApp accounts. This feature is under development and will be released in a future update of the app.

--IANS
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London, Sep 3 (IANS) Apple Watch's ECG heart sensor has once again saved a man's life by sending him alerts for a low resting heart rate on almost 3,000 occasions.

David Last, 54, from the UK credited Apple Watch for saving his life after his heart stopped an astonishing 138 times in a 48-hour testing period at the hospital, reports the Independent.

His heart resting rate was found to have dropped as low as 30 beats per minute (it is normally between 60-100bpm).

After tests like a 48-hour ECG and MRI, his cardiologist told him that he had a massive heart blockage.

His heart stopped 138 times in 10-second intervals over a 48-hour ECG period.

Last was operated this month, and a pacemaker was installed to detect abnormal heart rhythms.

His wife gave him Apple Watch as a gift on his birthday in April this year.

"If she hadn't bought me my Apple watch for my birthday, I wouldn't be here. I will always be eternally grateful to her for it. Apart from charging it, it's always staying on me now," he was quoted as saying.

The Apple Watch has saved several lives in the past across the world.

With iOS 16 and watchOS 9 this fall, Apple Watch and iPhone will offer features that focus on 17 areas of health and fitness, from heart health to sleep, women's health, mobility and more, according to the tech giant.

Apple recently collaborated with Stanford University in the US to build the Apple Heart Study, which was a first of its kind in the medical community and the largest virtual cardiac clinical study during its time.

--IANS
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