'The force of reforms. The force of investment. The force of formalisation. The force of digital and green technology. And the force of youth and entrepreneurship. I am convinced that these 5 forces will propel India's rise over the next several decades,' predicts Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla group.
'We do realise it is time to have a larger ambition.'
In March this year, when Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) unveiled a new brand statement of "Building on Belief", many wondered if it was the right strategy. When things are uncertain, wouldn't a brand statement such as "Experience Certainty" have been better? But for Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO & MD, TCS, it was all about the way the company was looking at business. As Gopinathan explained over a video call, "Today, we have over 1,000 customers and 98 per cent of our business is repeat business; our relevance to customers should continue, and to increase.
Business executives are finally dusting off their long-unused suitcases to resume travel, thanks to a good vaccination rate, a drop in fresh cases, and an easing of travel restrictions. It comes as a huge relief for the ravaged aviation, travel and hospitality sectors. "We are witnessing a 40 per cent recovery on pre-covid volumes from our business travellers, signalling the return of corporate confidence in air travel," said Indiver Rastogi, president & group head, Global Business Travel, Thomas Cook (India) & SOTC.
The second quarter of FY22 continued to show double digit growth for the top four IT services providers, with every vertical and geography growing well, even though the total contract value (TCV) looked soft for all the players. The trend was first evident in Accenture's Q4 numbers, which saw its TCV in outsourcing deals softer. A soft TCV does not mean that growth is declining, but it does point to the trend of few and scarcer mega deals.
It was a replay of the annual general meetings of the cable companies of the M P Birla group last month even as the Birla side raised "illegalities" in the latest poll results.
Naturally, the West Bengal chief minister is not leaving anything to chance, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Fresher hiring sentiment is highest in India, with 17 per cent employers keen on recruiting fresh graduates in the July to December 2021 period against 6 per cent globally. According to the Career Outlook Report by TeamLease EdTech, conducted across 18 sectors and 14 cities, the hiring sentiment in the country has registered a 2 percentage point increase over the February-April 2021 period. In terms of sectors, those that have been able to withstand the impact of the pandemic and witnessed a stronger hiring sentiment are information technology (31 per cent), telecommunication (25 per cent) and technology start-ups (25 per cent).
Overlooked yet capable candidates will now have the opportunity to apply for TCS open requirements.
For Krish Shankar, executive vice-president & group head of human resource (HR) development at Infosys, the defining moment of the pandemic on the HR department has been the importance that reskilling and learning have managed to get. For Infosys, the focus on reskilling started three to four years back as business saw a shift towards digital, and the pandemic has really brought the importance of reskilling to the fore. "In the past, certification courses or taking up an e-learning course was just a way towards promotion, and was not taken too seriously.
'We are anticipating that the hiring trend will continue to see double-digit growth at least for the current financial year.'
JM Financial, Axis Bank, and Bank of America have been roped in as the bankers to run the mandate, say sources.
Prosus-backed fintech firm PayU is set to acquire India's earliest payment gateway BillDesk in an all-cash transaction of $4.7 billion. This will be the largest acquisition in India's digital payments space. The deal will also give exit to investors General Atlantic, TA Associates, Temasek, Clearstone Ventures, and Visa. The proposed acquisition will help PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus which operates in more than 20 markets, become one of the leading online payment providers globally by total payment volume (TPV).
This year's share of dream and super-dream job offers has spiked. As a result, the overall annual average salary packages have nearly doubled at some of these college campuses.
For Paris-headquartered IT services major Capgemini, India has always been the backbone of its services delivery for its global clients, but the company is focused on driving more value from India as it gears up its engineering research and development (R&D) presence worldwide with its acquisition of Altran Technologies. The company, which has about 149,000 employees in India, is looking to hire 60,000 associates this year. Of them, 30,000 will be recruits from campuses and the rest lateral entrants. For Ashwin Yardi, chief executive officer India, Capgemini, the focus is to make sure that the India unit is aligned with the global plans of repositioning the company as a hub of engineering R&D, operational technology, and IT.
BigBasket co-founder Abhinay Choudhari has exited the company, and in his next entrepreneurial journey, he is looking to "solve another equally painful chore for many Indian households" after grocery shopping. The Tata group acquired a majority stake in the online grocery store in May. And when the deal happened, Choudhari decided he won't continue to be part of the management team.
Last year, major tea companies performed well on the back of higher prices. However, a drop in prices over the past month and a half, is threatening to put a spanner in a repeat performance. Tea prices started on a strong note this year with prices ruling higher than last year on the back of crop loss due to adverse weather conditions. After mid-June, however, prices started dropping, though they are still higher than 2019-levels for north Indian teas (which account for more than 80 per cent of total production).
While Wipro leads the pack on absolute numbers, analysts for Infosys for reporting consistent growth, revising FY22 guidance and beating TCS on revenue growth.
'India is still a small market but whatever we do, we do it with full focus.'
US tech giant Microsoft is in the final stages of talks with the Telangana government to set up a data centre with a total investment of Rs 15,000 crore. According to sources in the state government, the company has zeroed in on a land parcel near Hyderabad for the facility. "In the information technology (IT) space, Telangana is already seeing some major investments. "Microsoft is establishing its data centre here, and it may come out with a public announcement soon," said a source.
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