Surajeet Das Gupta, Subhayan Chakraborty

Stories by Surajeet Das Gupta, Subhayan Chakraborty

Rural push helps Bharti Airtel close in on Reliance Jio in AGR share

Rural push helps Bharti Airtel close in on Reliance Jio in AGR share

Rediff.com   3 Dec 2023

Bharti Airtel has quietly narrowed its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) market share gap with Reliance Jio, the country's largest player in the game, in the last three years. Despite Jio's aggressive entry into 4G and now into 5G, Airtel's gap with Jio, which was 6.4 percentage points in Q1 of FY21 and went up to 7.2 percentage points in Q1 of FY22, has fallen to only 4.4 percentage points in Q1 of FY24. Currently, Reliance Jio's AGR market share is 41.6 per cent while Airtel's is at 37.2 per cent.

Mobile Download Speeds May Surpass...

Mobile Download Speeds May Surpass...

Rediff.com   29 Nov 2023

Most telcos say the speed will surpass fixed broadband as the 5G roll out, which is currently on 360,000 towers, crosses 400,000.

India's Share Of Global FDI Inflow Climbs To 4.2% in Q1 of FY23

India's Share Of Global FDI Inflow Climbs To 4.2% in Q1 of FY23

Rediff.com   26 Nov 2023

This is despite the fact that total FDI into India has fallen by 22 per cent from $58 billion in FY22 to $46 billion in FY23, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

Coming Soon: More Auto Exits From India

Coming Soon: More Auto Exits From India

Rediff.com   23 Nov 2023

Of the 15 car manufacturing companies in India, eight have a market share of below 2 per cent, raising questions about their long-term future in a competitive market that has already seen Ford Motors and General Motors slam the door on India.

Japanese investment giant SoftBank may partially exit Ola, Swiggy, FirstCry

Japanese investment giant SoftBank may partially exit Ola, Swiggy, FirstCry

Rediff.com   18 Nov 2023

Japanese investment giant SoftBank is looking to partially exit from three startups which are aiming at an IPO next year - Ola Electric, Swiggy and First Cry. But its decision will depend on the size of the offer for sale pool in each of the companies. According to sources aware of the strategy, Softbank invested over $850 million collectively in these companies whose value conservatively would go up more than 4.3 times to around $3.7 billion, based on preliminary estimates of their projected valuation when they go public next year.

Indians Work Harder Than Chinese, Americans

Indians Work Harder Than Chinese, Americans

Rediff.com   15 Nov 2023

But Indians work less than smaller countries with small populations like Bhutan, the Congo, Lesotho and Gambia.

Wistron Deal: Tata Gets Global Reach, Apple Gets to Hedge Geopolitical Bets

Wistron Deal: Tata Gets Global Reach, Apple Gets to Hedge Geopolitical Bets

Rediff.com   14 Nov 2023

The government's target of hitting $52 billion to $58 billion in mobile phone exports in FY26 has been faltering; an Indian corporate group with financial muscle will help.

Will Made In India Google Pixel Phones Sell Better?

Will Made In India Google Pixel Phones Sell Better?

Rediff.com   30 Oct 2023

Making the Pixel 8 in India will not necessarily bring the price down -- witness iPhones made in India that are more expensive than those in the US and Dubai.

North trails South in electric scooter sales

North trails South in electric scooter sales

Rediff.com   26 Oct 2023

The state is also the biggest market for TVS, another incumbent player, and together with Bajaj Auto, they accounted for 88 per cent of Maharashtra's total electric scooter sales last month. As many as 8,417 units were sold in Maharashtra in September. Bajaj Auto's contribution was 4,048 vehicles and that of TVS was 3,389, according to model- and state-wise data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).

Semiconductor, deep tech to be in focus at the India Mobile Congress

Semiconductor, deep tech to be in focus at the India Mobile Congress

Rediff.com   18 Oct 2023

The three-day India Mobile Congress (IMC) will showcase the widening convergence of telecom with new domains, such as semiconductors and deep tech, P Ramakrishna, the forum's chief executive officer, said on Tuesday. With more than 250 global and domestic exhibitors, the seventh edition is expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors this year, he said. There will also be over 5,000 CXO-level delegates and more than 350 speakers.

Alternatives to China: Vietnam, India slug it out for semiconductor investments

Alternatives to China: Vietnam, India slug it out for semiconductor investments

Rediff.com   16 Oct 2023

India and Vietnam are vying with each other to woo semiconductor companies to their country. With the tension between the US and China escalating, and Taiwan getting vulnerable both countries are trying to present themselves as alternative destinations for global players. Vietnam, which started the effort as early as 2010, has got a leg-up after US President Joe Biden's visit last month.

How Zetwerk is shaking up India's smart TV market

How Zetwerk is shaking up India's smart TV market

Rediff.com   11 Oct 2023

Zetwerk is not exactly a household name, but this unicorn, boasting revenues of Rs 11,450 crore as of last year, is among the top four electronics manufacturers in India. The startup is capitalising on a notable trend in smart TV sales - fall in collective shipments from top brands like Xiaomi, Samsung, LG and an uptick in the market share of smaller, regional, and online brands. Emerging as a key Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) player, Zetwerk operates a plant in Haryana that caters to 10 per cent of the country's overall smart TV production capacity.

E-motorcycles: Bhavish Aggarwal Riding High

E-motorcycles: Bhavish Aggarwal Riding High

Rediff.com   6 Oct 2023

Can Bhavish Aggarwal upend the electric two-wheeler market, which is now overwhelmingly in favour of scooters?

Two-wheeler Majors TVS, Bajaj Auto Close the Gap With Startups in EV Game

Two-wheeler Majors TVS, Bajaj Auto Close the Gap With Startups in EV Game

Rediff.com   6 Oct 2023

Bajaj Auto has virtually closed the gap with Ather Energy in September, notching up 6423 EV registrations compared to 6466 registrations by Ather.

Reliance Retail aims at 2025 IPO after valuation jump

Reliance Retail aims at 2025 IPO after valuation jump

Rediff.com   5 Oct 2023

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) is discussing a three-pronged plan that includes an additional divestment of $250-300 million this year, apart from what it has diluted in favour of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and US-based private equity fund KKR recently.

High on G20 bonhomie, India readies 4th summit with African Union

High on G20 bonhomie, India readies 4th summit with African Union

Rediff.com   3 Oct 2023

Keen to capitalise on the growing geopolitical support from African nations after the recently concluded G20 Summit, India is working with the African Union to hold the fourth India-Africa Forum Summit later this year in Kenya's Nairobi, sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the mega meet along with as many as 50 African leaders, they added. First held in New Delhi in 2008, the India-Africa Forum Summit marked India's initial diplomatic efforts to seek a comprehensive partnership with the African bloc of nations as a whole, at a time when China had begun its own outreach.

What's Micron's Role In India's Chip Race?

What's Micron's Role In India's Chip Race?

Rediff.com   28 Sep 2023

The first leg of Micron's semiconductor play in Sanand is crucial for the company to sprint towards India's goal of joining the chip race.

Pegatron factory may start ops soon, no impact on supply of iPhone15 series

Pegatron factory may start ops soon, no impact on supply of iPhone15 series

Rediff.com   27 Sep 2023

Even as top Pegatron executives went to the factory near Chennai on Tuesday to make an assessment of the fire damage to decide on a possible date for resuming operations, sources said the impact of the closure will be minimal for Apple's iPhone production. Late in the evening sources said that the factory might be operational soon-but said they are waiting for a final update. It will also not impact the availability of the newly-launched iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, they said.

No plan on OTTs sharing revenue with telcos: Govt

No plan on OTTs sharing revenue with telcos: Govt

Rediff.com   25 Sep 2023

There is no plan to direct over the top (OTT) communications players who generate large amounts of traffic to give a 'fair and proportionate' share of their revenues to telecom network operators, the communications ministry has said. A senior official allayed any such apprehension by saying: "We have no proposal of this kind or anything like this which we are working on. "There is no fresh reference on this matter to the regulator (Trai)," he said. The ministry's view is significant as telecom network operators have been escalating this issue since July when Trai issued a consultation paper called 'Regulatory Mechanism Over OTT Communication Services and Selective Banning of OTT Services'.

Hurdles in biofuel use: Few vehicles, weak ethanol-blended petrol rollout

Hurdles in biofuel use: Few vehicles, weak ethanol-blended petrol rollout

Rediff.com   25 Sep 2023

The limited availability of flexible (flex)-fuel vehicles in the Indian market and the slow rollout of ethanol-blended petrol by oil-marketing companies (OMCs) remain major obstacles to achieving widespread use of biofuels in the transportation sector in India. Recently, two Union ministers have emphasised India's biofuel potential, arguing that it has the capacity and potential to lead a transition towards widespread biofuel adoption. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari signalled that this transition is well underway and urged car manufacturers to quickly adapt and introduce new biofuel-run vehicles, lest the government resort to taxing diesel vehicles.