The third party logistics (3PL) market in Japan is still in the development stage and hence offers extensive potential for growth in future, says a new analysis released by Frost & Sullivan.
Tokyo -- the songs Japan, Love In Tokyo and Sayonara from the 1966 Hindi film automatically pop up in the mind -- is buzzing and crowded like any other metropolis, discovers Deepa Gahlot. The modern apartment blocks are built cheek by jowl, so close together that one can open the window and borrow sugar from the neighbour in the next building. One of the fears of the Indian traveller is the unavailability of vegetarian food. Every city and town in Japan has an array of Indian restaurants that serve every variety of cuisine, right from Gujarati to Punjabi to Andhra and Kerala meals.
'...be it a comedy, thriller or a love story.' 'The bhindi costs Rs 30 per kilo, but the price of potato remains unchanged.'
It's not only the Indian markets that command a valuation premium over their global peers; shares of subsidiaries of India-listed multinational companies (MNCs) also trade at rich valuations compared to their parent companies. An analysis of 12-month forward price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-book (P/B) multiples of domestically listed MNCs shows that most quotes have a premium ranging from 2.1x to 6x that of their parent. Similarly, P/B, in most cases, is significantly higher in the domestic market.
'Alongside economic growth and the Asian century, stress has become an Asian caravan.' 'But stress doesn't arrive in one's country as invitation to taste exhaustion. It comes dressed as a challenge.' 'Its evangelists ask: Are you man enough to shoulder stress?' points out Shyam G Menon.
It is not without reason that Japanese consumer electronics companies such as Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Daikin and Sharp are investing significant sums in India.
Takehiro Kishimoto, 39, has amassed more than 280,000 followers on Instagram for his ability to transform everyday foods into art.
Days before Sony Group pulled the plug on the $10 billion deal, Zee group founder Subhash Chandra had written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, blaming Sebi for trying to "scuttle" the merger of its flagship media firm Zee Entertainment Enterprise with the Japanese firm and subsequent investment in the merged entity. Alleging market regulator Sebi is "acting with a predetermined mind", the Zee group patriarch requested the finance minister to take the necessary steps "to safeguard the interest of the minority shareholders of Zee". Chandra in his letter dated January 16, seen by PTI, said Zee and all other people have been cooperating in the investigation related to the alleged fund diversion by promoters and expressed concern over a new notice issued by the market regulator to former directors of Zee.
With 15 models and a market share of close to 50 per cent, it rules the Indian market, selling almost 1.5 million units every year, rolling out one model every ten seconds.
'It is surprising that the animation world in India doesn't go beyond children cartoons. We had the right kind of people and we felt like taking it forward.'
Sir Osborne Smith was the first governor of the Reserve Bank, serving from April 1, 1935, to June 30, 1937.
In the changed scenario of Indian private equity, where institutions and individuals are busy with fund raising, the fund houses are exploring untapped markets.
Plug-in hybrids have two engines and the electric part has a much larger battery than in the regular hybrids. Car companies, led by the Japanese, are pushing the Indian government to look at hybrids in the interim if it wants to reduce carbon emission.
'India is still hierarchical, but not as much as Japan and people appreciate a flat working culture,' Charles Frump, managing director, Volvo Cars India, tells Pavan Lall.
With COVID-19 cases surpassing 2,000, South Korea has become the biggest cluster to have the infections outside China. A total of 13 people have died of the virus in the country
Ola Electric will roll out its complete offering of electric scooters and motorcycles in each segment of the market - premium, mass premium, and economical - in the next 12 months in a bid to push for a near-full conversion of the two-wheeler market to electric in three years. According to Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Ola Electric, "ICE (internal combustion engine) products will fall off a cliff." He also says the company is aiming to become profitable next year.
Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 4 per cent, followed by L&T, HDFC, Axis Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries and IndusInd Bank. NSE Nifty soared 276.30 points to its new closing peak of 17,823.
While Daiichi Sankyo acquired a majority share in the country's biggest drug-maker Ranbaxy, Eisai and Astellas have chosen to set up wholly-owned subsidiaries to promote their patented medicines in the country. In a communication to the Nikkei Stock Exchange on November 18, Astellas said its subsidiary Astellas Pharma India in Mumbai was set up as a marketing arm to sell its immunology and urology medicines.
Pharmaceutical major Wockhardt is looking at foraying into Japan either through exports or by setting up a manufacturing base.
From zero revenues eight years ago, Lupin has posted Rs 621 crore (Rs 6.21 billion) in sales last year-that too in a country regarded as one of the toughest markets in the world for generics.
The company is working on a synergy plan with Ranbaxy under which Daiichi Sankyo's product will be introduced in emerging markets through Ranbaxy, he said, declining to give further details.
Investments by Japanese funds into the Indian equity markets are expected to double to $10 billion in the next 2-3 years, feels a senior executive of Japan's Shinsei Bank.
Mizuho Financial Group has an alliance with the Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) Tata Capital, the financial services arm of the Tata group.
At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the ministry of road transport and highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.
"Japan currently accounts for 5 per cent of our revenues but we see this touching 9 per cent in the next three years. Business from Japan grew almost 35 per cent last year and we expect healthy growth from this region," said Deepak Khosla, senior vice-president and head, Asia-Pacific. Patni company has been in Japan for over 10 years but, in the past two years, the momentum of deals has increased considerably.
Once a difficult market to crack, in recent years, China has relatively opened up its drug market, enacting reforms and speeding up approval time.
At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.
In an attempt to steal the two-wheeler market from the three Indian giants Hero Honda, Bajaj and TVS Motors, which collectively account for almost 85 per cent of sales, Japanese bike manufacturers like Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki will launch scaled-down Indian versions of their international superbike models.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) is seeking rapprochement with Sony Group as it makes a last-ditch effort to resurrect a $10 billion merger, according to industry sources. After the Japanese multinational firm pulled the plug on its $10 billion merger deal in January, the Indian company reached out again to Sony to reconsider the termination and offered for talks this month, a source said. On the other hand, Sony is understood to be evaluating the proposal from Zee.
'Chinese are going bang, bang, bang building 30-35 reactors.' 'We should announce a programme of 50 new reactors and show that we mean business on the ground and not just announcements.'
Bullish on the Indian market, Japanese companies dealing in consumer durables are all set to strengthen their presence in India by targeting niche categories and expanding their reach to tier-2 markets. The Rs 25,000-crore consumer durables market in India is currently dominated by Korean companies -- LG and Samsung.
The stock of the country's largest passenger vehicle maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), has been hitting successive all-time highs over the past three trading sessions. The rally in the scrip has helped it notch over a 21 per cent gain since the start of February, outperforming the National Stock Exchange Nifty Auto Index. The gains for the leader of small passenger cars have been more recent, as the company still trails the Nifty Auto over one- and two-year periods.
Nissan Motor Co has entered into an eight-year sponsorship agreement with the International Cricket Council (ICC), a company executive said, in a bid by the Japanese car maker to boost its small market share in cricket-crazy India.
Amid a rush of sport utility vehicle sales, Volkswagen is betting on its premium mid-sized sedan - the Virtus - to gain market share in India. The Volkswagen Virtus is the second product under the India 2.0 project being developed on the MQB-A0 IN platform, with up to 95 per cent localisation levels. In February, the company registered an 84 per cent year-on-year growth in sales, primarily driving on the Taigun it launched last year.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMI) and Yamaha Motor India (YMI) are building motorcycles and scooters to suit the Indian market. The models will be manufactured at the company's research and development centres in Japan and will use new platforms.
'It is less dependent on imported capital.'
India, the world's fifth largest economy in the world, is likely to overtake Japan to become the world's third-largest economy with a GDP of $7.3 trillion by 2030, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in its latest issue of PMI. After two years of rapid economic growth in 2021 and 2022, the Indian economy has continued to show sustained strong growth during the 2023 calendar year. India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 6.2-6.3 per cent in the fiscal year ending in March 2024, being the fastest-growing major economy this fiscal year.
Apparel exports to Japan are expected to grow by 20-25 per cent year on year from the current $220 million on account of rising opportunities for domestic exports, AEPC said on Saturday. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) said that rising opportunities due to changing geopolitical landscape, government supports like production linked incentive, mega park scheme, improving the quality standard, getting sustainable and utilising benefits of free trade agreements with major markets are the key growth drivers. To promote exports to Japan, the council is organising a two-day show in Gurugram.
Japanese conglomerate Softbank's arm SVF Doorbell (Cayman) on Wednesday divested 3.8 per cent of its stake in supply chain company Delhivery for Rs 954 crore through open market transactions. Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, City of New York Group Trust, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Morgan Stanley Mauritius, Baillie Gifford Emerging Markets Equities Fund were among the buyers of shares.