Newsletter

24 - 30 JUNE 2018

How Tata Group plans to put India
behind EV wheels:
The Tata Group is planning to adopt a
‘One Tata Approach’ to deliver cleaner
mobility solutions for the future, with its
automotive unit Tata Motors spearheading
the initiative. Tata Motors, in fact, recently
created an electric mobility division to have
special focus on this nascent, but potentially
big, business. The idea is to offer a complete
turnkey solution and assure the user on the
cost and range anxiety. As part of the plan,
Tata Motors will offer the car, while Tata
Power will set up charging stations and Tata
Realty will help build physical infrastructure,
depots or dedicated electric vehicle stations.
Tata Motors was the L1 bidder (the one that
quoted the lowest price) for the government’s
order for 10,000 electric vehicles and has been
pushing the government to come out with a
dedicated electric vehicle policy to drive
adoption.
GMR Infra to build commercial port
near Kakinada:
GMR Infrastructure has announced
securing the contract to build a greenfield
commercial port near Kakinada through the
Swiss Challenge mode. In a statement, the
infrastructure firm said that the all-weather,
deep-draft and multi-cargo port will come up
at some 30 km north of Kakinada, located as
one of the nodes of the proposed
Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor.
The port, spread across 1,950 acres with an
initial capacity of 16 million tonnes (mt) once
operational, is expected to become the
gateway to the east coast of India, the
company said. The Andhra Pradesh
government will get a revenue share of 2.7%
for a period of 30 years in the terms of the
agreement. Under this, the AP government
will provide external infrastructure that
include roads connecting to the nearest
highway, water and power supply to the port
boundary.
Hyundai plans to roll out electric
vehicles from Chennai plant:
South Korean auto major Hyundai plans
to roll out electric vehicles from its plant in
India, which is set to become one of its global
regional headquar ters with more
responsibility for local long-term planning, a
senior company official said. With plans to
bring eight new products between 2018 and
2020, HMIL is also increasing its annual
production capacity to 7.5 lakh units from
January next year from 7 lakh at present.
BP acquisition of chargemaster may
benefit Indian EV market:
Energy giant BP has acquired
Chargemaster, UK’s largest electric vehicle
(EV) charging company, which analysts say
can have implications for the fledgling Indian
EV market that’s just beginning to develop
the charging infrastructure. BP, in
collaboration with Reliance Industries (RIL),
has been working on advancing its fuel
retailing ambition in India. Last year, the two
companies unveiled their intention to
collaborate on unconventional and disruptive
mobility solutions. “Chargemaster would give
BP the capability every state oil firm in India
is trying to acquire organically,” said Gaurav
Moda, India energy head at professional
services firm Accenture. This EV charging
capability can be handy if BP were to roll out
its filling stations or charging stations in
collaboration with Reliance Industries in
India. BP customers in the UK can expect to
access BP Chargemaster chargers on its filling
stations over the next 12 months, as per the
statement. A key priority for BP
Chargemaster will be the rollout of ultra-fast
charging infrastructure, including 150 kW
rapid chargers capable of delivering 100 miles
of range in just 10 minutes.
Thyssenkrupp, Tata Steel near
compromise on steel JV talks:
Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel are nearing
a 15 billion euro ($17.4 billion) deal this week
to combine their European assets into a
global steel giant, sources familiar with the
talks told Reuters. The combination of
Thyssenkrupp's and Tata Steel's European
steel assets, first announced in September,
would create the continent's second-largest
steelmaker after ArcelorMittal with 15 billion
euros in combined sales. The joint venture
was originally planned to be signed in early
2018 but was delayed after Thyssenkrupp's
steel business performed much better than
Tata Steel's, requiring a reassessment of the
deal.
Amazon, H&M and other
multinationals pressing to soften
Maharashtra's plastic ban:
Multinational companies like Amazon
Inc and H&M are lobbying to soften a ban
against single-use plastic imposed by an
Indian state last week, according to four
sources familiar with the matter. The ban by
the state of Maharashtra, home to India's
financial capital of Mumbai, could sharply
raise costs for companies that rely heavily on
plastic for packaging, such as retailers,
beverage makers and sellers of bottled water.
Maharashtra's move, the first such broad
action against plastic by an Indian state,
comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi
pushes a plan to completely end the use of
single-use plastic in India by 2022. Amazon,
Flipkart, Pepsi and Coca-Cola did not
respond to requests for comment. H&M said
in a statement that it supported reusing and
recycling, adding that the company had asked
the government to clarify the rules and for
help coming up with solutions.
Mumbai-based logistics startup Wow
Express raises Rs 30 crore in Series A:
Mumbai-based logistics startup Wow
Express announced it has raised $4.5 million
(Rs 30 crore) in a Series A round of funding.
Existing seed fund investors including the
Tamarind family trust of the Mansukhani
family participated in the funding round.
Altogether, the company has raised $7.2
million. Founded by Sandeep Padoshi, Jaysh
Kamat, and Mazhar Faruqi in 2015, Wow
Express provides first mile, last mile and
warehousing and e-fulfilment solutions for
ecommerce deliveries, and follows an asset-
light business model.
Xiaomi's IPO will make dozens of
lucky workers millionaires:
Eight years ago, before China’s Xiaomi
Corp. had sold a single smartphone, 56 of the
earliest employees pulled together $11 million
to invest in the startup. Rank-and-file workers
dipped into savings and borrowed from parents.
One receptionist tapped her dowry. Today,
they’re the Lucky 56. Xiaomi is one of the
most successful smartphone makers in the
world and it’s prepping a blockbuster initial
public offering. Their stake in the company
may soon be worth $1 billion to $3 billion,
depending on the stock sale. That works out to
$36 million each at the midpoint. Silicon Valley
is known for its secret millionaires who were
early joiners at companies like Facebook Inc.
Among the more famous examples is Bonnie
Brown, the massage therapist who bargained
for stock options to accompany the $450 a
week she was making at her part-time job at
Google. She retired a millionaire after five
years at the company.