Archives March 2023

Navi Mumbai, 2nd March 2023: Walplast Products Pvt. Ltd., an associate of DryChem India Private Ltd, a leading and most reputable producer of building materials and the 3rd largest manufacturer of Wall Putty in India announces the appointment of BeanstalkAsia, a leading Integrated Marketing Communications firm, to drive its integrated creative mandate.

BeanstalkAsia will curate the full range of brand-building solutions and high-decibel purpose-led launches across media platforms, and will also lead the social media and content strategy through their digital solutions team.

Commenting on the collaboration, Aniruddha Sinha, SVP & Group Marketing, PR & CSR Head, DryChem India, said, “Walplast is a respected and trusted name in the building materials space. Our consumer brand HomeSure represents the spirit of trust, partnership & innovation. We are ready to deliver superior customer experience and live the brand ethos by remaining progressive, reliable, responsive, agile and a solution specialist. We are thrilled to have BeanstalkAsia onboard and are extremely confident that the consumers will love the magic we intend to create together.”

Upendra Singh Thakur, Founder & Director, BeanstalkAsia, said on the mandate, “Every client account matter to us but some are extraordinary, solely by virtue of the challenges involved. Walplast Products has reset its business ambitions to redefine the hyper-competitive building materials space. We at BeanstalkAsia are delighted to collaborate withWalplast on this journey and look forward to working very closely with their amazing team. We are excited to use our expansive experience and deep understanding of this segment to build strong integrated marketing campaigns for Walplast.”

The Group Companies of DryChem India have collectively pledged to “be a brand of choice for the construction ecosystem by delivering superior customer experience and achieve a topline of INR 2000 Crore by the Year 2025. The Company firmly believes in delivering superior customer experience and also building stronger communities. They are determined in playing an active role in the development story of India.

Notes to the Editor:

New Delhi: Gurusiksha.com, a leading online teaching platform, has launched Test Series exclusively for students. These series are available on their website and will assist students in preparing well for their upcoming exams.

These series have been designed in a manner that students will get an in depth knowledge of the subject. These cover the entire syllabus in a very demonstrative manner giving total insights to the students.

Talking about the launch, Mr Dipak Jha, CEO, Gurusiksha.com, stated, “The test series help face challenges and build students’ fundamentals. These series give them the much-needed confidence to perform better. Students can easily rate their preparations and work towards improving their performance.”

The EdTech platform believes that every student has the right to education. Digitization of education has empowered many students to get access to related syllabus and test practices.

New Delhi, 2nd March 2023: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), the public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, and HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank today announced a partnership to launch one of India’s most rewarding co-branded travel credit cards. Known as the IRCTC HDFC Bank Credit Card, the newly launched co-branded card is in a single variant and is available exclusively on NPCI’s Rupay network.

It will provide exclusive benefits and maximum savings on bookings of train tickets booked through the IRCTC’s ticketing website and through IRCTC Rail Connect app. Additionally, IRCTC HDFC Bank Credit cardholders will enjoy an attractive joining bonus, discounts on bookings and access to the several executive lounges at railway stations across the country.

The card combines the strength of two leading Indian brands to deliver superior value and an enhanced customer experience to travellers. It will leverage HDFC Bank’s expertise as the market leader in card issuance in the country, offering its best-in-class rewards programme, and IRCTC’s unmatched services on train travel.

The credit card was launched by Ms. Rajni Hasija, Chairman & Managing Director, IRCTC, Mr. Parag Rao, Group Head – Payments, Consumer Finance, Digital Banking and IT, HDFC Bank and Ms. Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI at a launch ceremony held at New Delhi.

Commenting on the association, Ms. Rajni Hasija, Chairman & Managing Director, IRCTC said, “HDFC Bank is among the largest and most trusted banks in the country. We are delighted to partner with them for this initiative. The co-branded card offers exclusive access to newly opened state-of-the-art lounges available at most of the major railway stations. The credit card will help to streamline online transactions and at the same time offer best-in-class benefits as well as experience to our customers.”

Parag Rao, Group Head – Payments, Consumer Finance, Digital Banking and IT, HDFC Bank said, “HDFC Bank is committed to providing best-in-class banking services to the nation. The IRCTC HDFC Bank Credit Card will enable us to offer our card to millions of Indians across the country. Indian Railways is one of the biggest public sector enterprises in the country and we are delighted to be the first private sector bank to partner with IRCTC to enhance customer experience for train travellers, right from the time of booking their tickets. As the largest card issuer in the country, it is our endeavour consistently to find new ways to nurture and support the payments ecosystem in India.”

Ms. Praveena Rai, Chief Operating Officer – National Payments Corporation of India said, “At RuPay, we have customers at the heart of all our offerings & innovations. We are happy to partner with IRCTC & HDFC Bank for a cobranded credit card which will offer seamless payment convenience and appealing benefits to customers for rail travel as well as their shopping needs. With RuPay Credit Cards now enabled on UPI for payments, this cobranded card will provide impetus to further adoption and reach of digital payments across India.”

Key features and benefits of the IRCTC HDFC Bank Credit Card include:

• Welcome Benefit – INR 500 Amazon voucher on card activation within 30 days of card issuance
• 5 Reward Points per Rs.100 spent on ticket bookings at www.irctc.co.in
• 5% Cashback on booking via Smart Buy
• 1 Reward Point per Rs.100 spent (not applicable on EMI, Fuel and Wallet re-load txns, on rental payments and Government related transactions)
• 8 Complimentary IRCTC Railway Lounge Access per year
• Additional reward Points on AC ticket booking
• INR 500 Welcome Gift voucher on card activation within 30 days of card issuance.
• Gift Voucher worth INR 500 on spends of INR 30,000 within 90 days
• 1% Transaction charges waiver on IRCTC Website and App

IRCTC HDFC Bank co brand credit card customers can apply for the credit card through the websites of both IRCTC and HDFC Bank and access key details of the card through the app while enjoying a simple and even more rewarding experience. They can also walk in to the nearest HDFC Bank branch to apply for the card.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) is a “Mini Ratna (Category-I)” Central Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways, Government of India. IRCTC was incorporated on 27th September, 1999 as an extended arm of the Indian Railways to upgrade, professionalize and manage the catering and hospitality services at stations, on trains and other locations and to promote domestic and international tourism through development of budget hotels, special tour packages, information & commercial publicity and global reservation systems.

• Apple AirPods Pro – MRP: ₹26,900

Who wouldn’t enjoy opening a fresh set of AirPods? The Apple AirPods Pro is one of the best gifts for this Women’s Day. The company offers an engraving option, which gives these AirPods a personalized touch. According to Apple, customers can personalize their AirPods with a combination of letters, numbers, and emojis. You may even personalize it in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, and Telugu in addition to English by engraving the initials of a loved one. This product is available on Amazon, Croma, and Vijay Sales.

• Galaxy Watch 4 – MRP: ₹34,999

What other product could be more ideal for Women’s Day than the Galaxy Watch 4? The watch offers amazing features, including a period tracker and continuous SPO2 sleep measures. Glow has worked with the company to estimate impending reproductive windows, ovulation days, and periods for up to 24 cycles. This product is available on Amazon, Croma, and Vijay Sales.

• Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera – MRP: ₹7,696

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera can help you capture your loved ones’ happy moments in more detail. Use a close-up lens at a distance of 35–50 cm to produce a perfect shot. The user can even snap low-key pictures with only one click. Also, the camera analyses balanced brightness for taking a photo and determines the best setting based on the environment. This product is available on Amazon, Croma, and Vijay Sales.

• PLAYFIT SLIM2C – MRP: ₹3,999

It is a Bluetooth-based CALLING smartwatch with a 1.3″ stylish and circular dial, sporting a rich IPS display. The complete package of the design boasts of a 500 nits brightness display, an IPS panel providing an all-view angle display visibility, a flat dial surface courtesy of the 2.5D glass which rests on top of the display, and an equally irresistible PLAYtime of 5 days. This sleek innovation incorporates a wide range of technological advancements and features designed to meet the on-the-go lifestyle needs of modern-day consumers. This product is available on Amazon, Flipkart, and Nykaa.

• House of Beauty Fridge Cooler and Warmer for Beauty Makeup Skincare Products – MRP: ₹10,000

Nail polish, serums, creams, moisturizers, sunscreen, and mini cosmetics are all great items to keep in the Fridge Cooler and Warmer for Beauty Makeup Skincare Items. It is portable and lightweight, thus allowing the user to keep skincare and makeup items in this refrigerator wherever they are

• Dyson Airwrap Hair Styler Complete Set – MRP: ₹45,900

The Dyson Airwrap Hair Styler Full Set is one of the ideals presents for your partner. Your partner or loved one may smoothen, curl, wave, and dry their hair without using a lot of heat using the Airwrap. A gift edition made of copper and silver is also offered. Thus, give your partner this fashionable hair styler to help her save time. Amazing brush accessories as well as a chic tan case are also included with this product. It is available on Amazon, Croma, and Vijay Sales.

Delhi, 2nd March 2023 Liferay, the US-headquartered leading cloud-powered Digital User Experience Platform (DXP) provider today announced that it intends to double its headcount in India and onboard more than 200 engineers and management candidates in the next 24 months. As a part of its commitment, Liferay has also opened a new office in Bengaluru, which will pave the way for its rapid expansion.

With a strong foothold in 19 countries across, EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, the global technology company aims to attract the best talent in India and expand its local presence. In the next two years, Liferay’s Bengaluru office will hire experienced and entry-level engineering and management graduates for various roles focusing on cloud technologies, product development, operations, marketing, and sales.

As a part of the new hiring plan, Liferay has created an internship program that will nurture and train engineering and management candidates from top institutes across India. Upon successful completion of the programme, the interns will be offered full-time employment opportunities at Liferay.

Liferay’s hiring spree can be attributed to the company’s aim of tapping into the $710.0 billion market opportunity in the country. Globally, the DXP market is growing rapidly and is expected to reach $13.9 billion by 2024. While the COVID-19 pandemic gave a significant boost to the industry by accelerating digital transformation initiatives, the recent focus of Indian Government of Digital India along with the demand for personalization from customers for integrated, customized, and streamlined experience and engagement across various digital touchpoints are major drivers for the increased adoption of DXP.

Brian Chan, Founder & Chief Software Architect, Liferay said “The Prime Minister emphasizing on Digital India and the need for a robust digital ecosystem, has offered a dramatic boom to the country’s DXP market. This, coupled with the highly skilled tech talent of the country positions India as a sweet spot for us. As an innovative technology service provider, we are happy to cater to the unique needs of thousands of emerging digital businesses across industries. We are confident that our new office in India will help us unlock several employment opportunities and give us a great momentum as we expand product offerings while continuing to offer exceptional service to clients.”

Headquartered in the US, Liferay has more than 1200 employees across the globe, including India. Founded in 2000, Liferay offers businesses across B2B, B2C, and B2E with flexible, scalable, accessible, and secured tailored accelerator solutions including customer portals, intranets, and supply-chain solutions that helps manage personalized user experience.

The company has been working with over a thousand organizations across sectors including financial services, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, and government bodies while supporting them with their businesses’ unique needs. Some of the key associated clients include AirBus, Honda, Federal Bank, Bosch, NASA, Volkswagen Vodafone, Saint Gobain, India First Life insurance, Sahaj, Carrefour, and BSES amongst others.

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Bangalore, India,2nd March 2023: Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), one of India’s largest integrated renewable energy companies and a subsidiary of The Tata Power Company Limited (Tata Power), has received the second and final round of investment of ₹ 2,000 crore from GreenForest New Energies Bidco Limited (GreenForest) and has successfully allotted 20,00,00,000 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at face value of ₹ 100 each at par aggregating to ₹ 2,000 crore on a preferential basis to GreenForest.

Subsequent to this second tranche, TPREL has now received ₹ 4,000 crore of investment pursuant to the binding agreement signed on 14th April 2022 between Tata Power, TPREL and BlackRock Real Assets-led consortium, including Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) within the targeted timelines. GreenForest holds 6.06% equity in TPREL and on conversion of the above CCPS, will hold a 9.76% to 11.43% equity stake in TPREL, subject to the equity valuation on final conversion.

The equity infusion will fund India most comprehensive, renewal energy platform, consisting of five distinct businesses delivering long-term, customer-oriented solutions. TPREL houses all renewable energy businesses of Tata Power including those in: Utility Scale Solar, Wind & Hybrid Generation assets; Solar Cell & Module Manufacturing; Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracting; Rooftop Solar infrastructure; Solar Pumps and Electric Vehicle Charging infrastructure.

The completion of this equity infusion will fund TPREL’s aggressive growth plans. Over the next five years, it aims to achieve a portfolio of over 20 GW of renewables assets and a market leading position.

“Tata Power Renewables with its broad and deep portfolio of next-generation renewables businesses is well poised to further solidify its position as an industry leader. The completion of ₹ 4,000 crore (~US$ 525 million) worth capital infusion into our renewables business will fuel the next level of growth and help us play a pivotal role in India’s efforts to secure greater energy stability through low carbon solutions for a sustainable future.” said Dr Praveer Sinha, CEO and MD, Tata Power.

India is one of the world’s largest renewable energy markets and has recorded the fastest growing renewable energy supply with over 60% new capacity added over the past four years. Its installed renewables capacity is expected to grow from 175 GW currently to 500 GW by 2030, to satisfy India’s local energy demand driven by GDP growth and contribute to the government’s decarbonization ambition, as well as support the macro energy transition trends in the country.

Tata Power is at the forefront of India’s ambition to secure greater energy stability for its citizens while positioning its economy for a low carbon future.

Hyderabad, 2nd March 2023: Subtl.ai closes angel investment from new age investors in the Indian ecosystem, Mohit Gulati (ITI Growth opportunities fund) and Vamshi Raju (Edha Investments, Shreyas Media). Their product can understand knowledge sources at scale, to instantly answer any questions asked from documents, websites, videos and knowledge bases.

Subtl.ai is a product powered by cognitive search technology, built jointly with IIIT Hyderabad research. The product ensures that enterprises can instantly leverage all their business knowledge locked in various sources, by talking to an AI over a chat interface.

“Subtl.ai has been way ahead of its time, building out the base technology and staying prepared for its window of opportunity. With the advent of chatGPT, their window is here, time to go big or go home!”, said the lead investor in the round, Mohit Gulati (Founder – of ITI Growth Opportunities fund).

Some of the core use cases for the product include automating doubt resolution for e-learning, information support for project/product management, and AI assistants to help support teams resolve tickets 2x faster.

As of today, they are live for customers State Bank of India, Bharat Dynamics and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers. For Marquee customer SBI, they are saving 90% of information overheads for 250,000 employees looking for information during core branch operations and customer relations.

Subtl.ai is now coming towards the end of its first sales funnel cohort, with evaluations underway with ed-techs, airports, legal research teams, banks and SaaS platform integrations. They expect to hit $5 million in ARR through 500,000 business users by the end of 2023, coming from initial market traction in the US and market expansion in India through early tech adopters.

“We started subtl.ai with the vision to enable enterprises to unlock information locked in large text resources and documents. Using ML based language and knowledge models, combined with generative AI. Interestingly, our AI tech can also help find information in videos”, says Vishnu Ramesh, Founder subtl.ai.

2nd March 2023 New Delhi:

Max Ventures & Industries Limited’s (MaxVIL) real estate arm, Max Estates has received the completion certificate for Max Square – a Grade A+ greenfield development in Sector 129, Noida. The development has obtained the highest possible green building standards certification from IGBC, and is IGBC Platinum certified under the Green New Buildings Rating System.

Max Square is built on the theme of nature and nurture and has a net leasable area of ~6,70,000 sq. ft. The completion of land acquisition, design, development and construction in a span of 3 years despite multiple COVID led interruptions is a clear testament of the end to end execution capability of the team at Max Estates Limited.

Max Square is located on the Noida Expressway, one of the two most important office micro markets in Delhi NCR offering excellent connectivity. New York Life, our strategic partner in the real estate business since 2017, has co-invested in the development and holds 49% stake.

As a part of our ‘WorkWell’ philosophy, at Max Square, we aim to ensure the holistic wellbeing of office users by curating an ecosystem of spaces including multi-cuisine F&B, state of the art multipurpose hall, food court, early learning center, and a connect to nature through a ~11,000 sq. ft. central forest courtyard

2nd March 2023, Mumbai: L&T Financial Services (LTFS), one of the leading Non-Banking Financial Companies, has added 29 lakh customers in the Micro Loans business between the period of April to January in the financial year 2023 recording a growth of 85 percent year-on-year.

On an average, the Company has added a customer base of around 3 lakh every month in the period between April 2022 to January 2023. The Company has disbursed Micro Loans of around Rs. 13,900 crore between April 2022 to January 2023 recording a growth of 91 percent year-on-year.

Out of the 29 lakh customers added during April 2022 to January 2023, over 18 lakh customers added are first cycle customers i.e., those who have taken loan with LTFS for the first-time.

While onboarding customers, LTFS follows a robust process with multi-layered structure which includes instant internal and bureau checks, physical appraisal process checks and risk control unit checks before taking the decision to sanction the loan to customers.

Mr. Dinanath Dubhashi, Managing Director & CEO of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd. said, “We are amongst the leading financiers in Micro Loans today and continue to expand in the unserved and under-served regions of our nation. We are committed to empowering micro-entrepreneurial women and enabling sustainable livelihood at the grassroot level through our innovative and digital lending solutions. Our customers are primarily engaged in responsible end-use like dairy, grocery shops and similar allied activities for earning their livelihood. We have done well in this business, and going forward we expect to sustain our growth momentum by further launching new products, in line with the Lakshya 2026 strategy.”

LTFS launched its Micro Loans operations in July 2008 and since then, has been actively involved in enabling a sustainable livelihood for women entrepreneurs. The loans are sanctioned to women in the age group of 20 to 60 years with a ticket size ranging between Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 1,10,000 and with flexible re-payment tenure from 24 to 36 months for customer’s convenience.

Cooking can be a lot more fun if our main task of micing, dicing and slicing becomes easier. KAI India has launched Hocho Premium Knives that are the real kitchen tools and are an essential for cooking all meals. It is simply perfect for all your daily kitchen use of cutting, chopping, dicing, mincing, peeling of vegetables and other kitchen tasks.

KAI Hocho knife is ideal for all types of food preparations as they can be used for cutting, chopping, dicing, slicing of small and big vegetables. The flat surface of the Japanese design also helps in chopping herbs and leaves in the perfect size. They are sharp with fine precision and exhibit the finesse in their shape and design giving a study grip while in use. The Hocho knives can be termed as all-rounder as they do the job quickly and safely. They cut vegetables more finely and can even be used for making garnishing ribbons. They are a must have in your kitchen to make you fall in love with cooking.

Mr. Rajesh U. Pandya, Managing Director, KAI India says, “KAI knives have pointed and sharp tip that allows for easy and smooth piercing through vegetables and fruits. KAI India has been known for designing knives that are ergonomic and are user-friendly. The Premium Hocho range have high-quality handles, textured surface and designing is such that they will not slip away from your hand while in use. The Hocho knives have a straight edge with a narrow sheep’s foot blade. These knives have evolved from the traditional Japanese vegetable knife which has a rectangular blade.”

The 114 years plus old Japan-based KAI Group has made a foray into the Indian market with the establishment of its manufacturing facility spanned over 30,000 sq.mtrs area in Neemrana, Rajasthan. KAI brings over 800 years old Japanese legacy of forging blades, directly to Indian household with its kitchen-ware range. KAI also offers high precision beauty and personal care products to the Indian consumers adding value to their daily life. KAI India as an organization is determined to provide products prepared with detailed R&D and superior Japanese technology. With its clear vision and mission, KAI is marching forward towards becoming a household name in India.

Founded in Seki in 1908, KAI products have cult status in Japan. The brand is known for its high-quality beauty care and grooming products integrating practical aesthetics with refined craftsmanship providing well-designed, innovative houseware and beauty care products, which are used widely in day to day lives.

KAI India Hocho Premium Knives are available at https://kaiindiaonline.com/ and also across all the leading e-commerce platforms @ INR 499 only.