India’s move to deter digital monopolies may hit Amazon, Walmart
e-tIndia’s draft e-commerce rules to prevent creation of “digital monopolies” and aid local startups may raise costs and stymie expansion plans at companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. The draft rules seek to prescribe a code of conduct for online retailers and define cross-border flow of user data, according to a note titled Draft Ecommerce Policy, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government --beset by complaints from its traditional vote base of small retailers -- has been framing rules to reduce the dominance of Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart in India’s estimated $1 trillion overall retail market. The latest proposals build on laws that curb the two U.S. companies from offering deep discounts, deter exclusive arrangements with preferred sellers and investing in merchants offering products on their websites. The new comprehensive e-commerce policy will address growth and aim to “reduce prevalent market distortions,” the note said. The nine-page document formed the basis of a discussion by officials of various ministries at a meeting on Saturday called by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The draft proposals seek to ensure algorithms created by e-retailers do not discriminate against sellers.
(ET, Mar 14, 2021)
Bengal e-commerce start-up plans to help small electronics retailers
Magitronix EComm, a startup firm, is focusing on buyers in small towns for its online marketplace and helping neighbourhood electronics shop owners who are not able to get access to the network of big e- commerce players, a company official said on Sunday.The startup firm from West Bengal has also received approval from the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) of the commerce ministry and will start transactions through its portal 'Ononya.com', he said. "We do not have any warehousing facility. Neighbourhood electronics shops will act as sellers. This is a startup with no funding from outside till now," Magitronix CEO Indrajit Ghosh said.The offline sales of electronics shops across the country have been hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Citing a recent study released by IT body Nasscom and retail consultancy firm Technopak Advisors, he said, "The emergence of 'online offline' (O O) market is seen as a rising collaboration of digitally enabled retail stores." He said a report of FIS also suggested the business of India's digital marketplaces will touch USD 111 billion by 2024. Nabendu Ray, former head of retail at Samsung India, has joined the startup as a director, Ghosh said. West Bengal's home and IT departments former secretary GD Gautama is also a member of the advisory board, he said, adding Aditi Olemann, who was associated with Tata group and is now a successful startup entrepreneur in the technology space, has joined the firm.
(LiveMint, Mar 14, 2021)
India must to develop technology to indigenously manufacture electronic materials: MoS
Sanjay Dhotre, MoS for Education, Communications, Electronics and IT Monday said that materials are the backbone of the manufacturing sector in the country and that India’s electronics manufacturing has grown from Rs 1.90 lakh crore to Rs 5.33 lakh crore in recent years. He was delivering the inaugural address organised at an event to mark the 30th foundation day of city-headquartered Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), which operates under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). ” In 2014 – 2015, the manufacturing of mobile phones was worth about Rs 6 crore which in 2019 – 2020, grew to Rs 33 crore. From contributing approximately 1.3 per cent in 2012, the share of mobile phone manufacturing has increased to 3.6 per cent during 2019 – 2020. This growth has opened employability for thousands,” said Dhotre. “With the Centre pushing for being Aatmanirbhar in all sectors, the country needs to be greatly involved in materials technology, ” said Vijay Bhatkar, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University. ” In the past, India had not done significant research on electronics hardware, which is entirely dependent upon materials technology,” said Bhatkar, who led India’s supercomputer programme in the 1990s. NITI Ayog member VK Saraswat too stressed on the urgent requirement for developing technology to develop materials within India and cut imports.
(The India Express, Mar 08, 2021)
Addverb Technologies inaugurates Robots manufacturing facility 'Bot-Valley' in Noida
Addverb Technologies, one of India’s biggest Automation and Robotics companies, has launched its Rs 75 crore manufacturing facility in Noida. The company said that the facility has a capacity to manufacture more than 50,000 robots of varied types in a year, and is equipped with best-in-class electronics and mechanical machines. "We have entered a nascent paradigm shift (industry 4.0) where technology will help Addverb meet the growing needs and demand of the present business ecosystem. Robotics holds huge potential in streamlining the processes across industries right from retail to healthcare and from warehousing to supply chain," said Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, who inaugurated the Addverb facility. Spread over 2.5 acres of land, this new manufacturing unit is equipped with the best-in-class electronics and mechanical machines and has a capacity to manufacture more than 50,000 Robots of varied types in a year. This one-in-a-kind manufacturing hub will employ 450 workforces and provide equality and empowerment to both men and women.
(India TV, Mar 04, 2021)
Amid farmers’ protests, govt plans to scale up Kisan e-mart
The Central government is planning to scale up the digital online platform, Kisan e-mart that allows farmers to directly sell their produce to private buyers, even as the impasse over the three new agricultural laws continues. According to people familiar with the matter, the pilot, which is currently active in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Haryana, will now be extended to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura, Gujarat and Telangana. The Kisan e-mart is a partnership between Agri10x and the Common Services Centre (CSC) scheme, which operates under the Digital India project of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Nearly 375,000 CSCs are functional at the panchayat-level across India. Farmers are allowed to register at the CSC and after their KYC is completed, they can sell produce online without the hassle of having to transport it. According to Pankaj Ghode, CEO of Agri10x, nearly 500,000 farmers are registered on the portal, which provides them access to 5,000 buyers. The buyers include major grocery retailers such as Big Basket, Reliance Fresh, Ninja Kart, Venky’s and Haldiram’s. The online platform provides direct access to buyers, doing away with mandis. This has been a major point of contention for the farmers under the new farm laws. Farmers have been demanding a repeal of the laws as they say the legislations will hurt their livelihoods. While the government has agreed to set up a committee to look into the law, it has stayed firm on not repealing them despite several rounds of talks with the farmers. “The buyers offer the farmers their prices and they can choose who to sell the produce to,” said an official on the condition of anonymity. “The farmer gets a chance to assess which is a better and fairer price.”
(HT, Jan 11, 2021)
E-commerce: Trends to watch out for in 2021
: With the second-largest internet user base, India has emerged as one of the most prominent markets globally. Being stuck at home because of the pandemic further triggered the desire to make life and work easier at home, which resulted in a significant increase in shopper spends. People who would otherwise go out to buy groceries and medicines at the pharmacy, turned to e-commerce platforms to get essentials delivered at their doorsteps. 2020 accelerated the e-commerce industry by a decade, revolutionizing the way brands operate, run, and grow their businesses, as well as how consumers choose to shop and pay. As per Nielsen India’s E-commerce Consumer Panel (E-Analytics Solution), there was a double digit increase in average spend of online shoppers for electronics and accessories (39%), mobile and accessories (12%), and fashion, including apparel, footwear, and accessories (10%) after the pandemic. Appliances (e.g.TV, WM, refrigerators, etc.) also saw notable shopper spending increase at 9%. This growth trajectory of e-commerce platforms in India testifies how customers are increasingly recognizing the importance of comfort shopping within closed doors, and after seeing their businesses take a plunge in the first three months of the lockdown, more and more sellers are also coming online.
(Business Insider, Jan 06, 2021)
