E-tailers like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong and others to hire 60,000 this year

MUMBAI: India's e-commerce companies such as Flipkart may be at odds with foreign rivals such as Amazon on whether or not to allow foreign direct investment, but they seem to be on the same page in anticipating an inflection point for the sector. Between them, the 10 top e-commerce firms plan to hire 60,000 people for the year ending March 31, 2015, the highest in a year for the fledgling industry. The job creation data is for the entire ecosystem: ancillary units, supply chain and logistics and temporary employees.

"The hiring may touch 1 lakh overall, but 60,000 is a safe bet. FY15 will be the inflection point for the e-commerce sector," said Ashish Jhalani, founder of eTailingindia, a research firm that tracks the e-commerce industry.

The industry, which saw sales of $12 billion, is expected to touch $75 billion by 2020, said Jhalani. "For growth, companies have to be ready with engineering teams, customer agents and logistic support to meet the demand," he added.

The data on new hires were provided by the companies in response to queries, except for Myntra and Amazon, where figures provided by industry sources and recruiters have been used as the companies did not share plans.

Many of the firms, notably Flipkart, Snapdeal and Myntra, the largest domestic e-commerce players, are almost doubling their headcount this year to ward off aggressive competitors such as Amazon. Stepping up campus recruitments is also part of the game plan. Some such as TaxiforSure will raise hiring from 250 last year to 1,500 this year.

The main factors revving up the numbers is geographical expansion and competition. Flipkart will increase hiring from 13,000 to 25,000, and out of this 1,200 will be engineers. The e-commerce firm acquired fashion portal Myntra last month and, according to a source, the latter too plans to double its headcount this fiscal from a team of 500 employees.Competitor Snapdeal.com said it will double headcount to 2,600 from 1,300 currently, and increase the number of engineers from 250 to 500.

Amazon, whose aggressive growth plans and emphasis on quick delivery models may be prompting much of the ramp-up by domestic e-commerce firms, refused to share its hiring targets. Industry sources and recruitment heads who did not want to be identified said the company would look at hiring at least 8,000-10,000 this fiscal.

Online food and restaurant listings startup Zomato will double its numbers from 650 in core functions such as tech, sales, content and operations because of its expansion in countries across the Americas, Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia, said Upasana Nath, chief recruitment officer. Online ticket booking site Yatra will add 200 to its employee strength of 1,000, compared with 150 last year.

This excludes the addition of third-party workers. Even those with smaller workforces such as Lenskart will look at adding 50 more to the overall strength of 450.

The expansion in business is also likely to lead to a large increase in third-party and blue-collared workers. "People are needed to sustain the entire ecosystem, which will grow fast because more consumers have logged on to ecommerce portals," said Vishal Tripathi, principal analyst of research firm Gartner. Tripathi added that a large chunk of the new hires will be in the contractual and blue-collared categories. Consider the case of Jabong. The company said it would hire 750 employees this fiscal. Although the number is similar to last year, full-time hiring will be 150 compared with 300 in FY14, said Praveen Sinha, founder and MD, Jabong.com, while the rest will be in the supply chain.

Players in the online cab rental segment are also stepping on the gas. Ola cabs will hire 300 employees this month and 10,000-15,000 drivers, compared with 150 permanent employees last year and 5,000 drivers.

The firm will also increase campus intake from 50 to at least 75 in the current fiscal.

Competitor TaxiforSure will expand to 15 locations by 2015 and as aresult overall headcount will rise from 435 to 1,500 employees. "This is based on the confidence we have in the business model and the readiness of the market for such a model. This optimism and confidence is shared by our investors and analysts," said TN Hari, HR head for the company.

It will add 50-75 more to the leadership team who will be responsible for managing new locations. The e-commerce companies are also planning to step up campus hiring.

Flipkart said its campus recruitment will at least touch — if not surpass — last year's 172 offers at IITs and B-schools. It will also hire from foreign campuses such as Wharton and Harvard.

Read More

Pakistan workers fire Brazuca ball to Brazil for football World Cup

She has no idea who Lionel Messi is and her country isn't even playing, but Pakistani mother-of-five Gulshan Bibi can't wait for the football World Cup. She is a stakeholder because she helped make the balls. When Brazil and Croatia kick off the tournament in Sao Paulo on June 12 there's a good chance they'll be using a ball made by Gulshan and her colleagues at the Forward Sports factory in Pakistan's eastern town of Sialkot. Here’s a look at what has gone into the making of the ‘Brazuca’, the official match ball for this edition of the world’s greatest football tournament.
 Some images of manufacturing unit-

EYE ON THE BALL

Pakistani workers inspect new balls at the factory in Sialkot. For Gulshan and her colleagues this is a moment of professional pride. "I'm really looking forward to the World Cup and inshallah (God willing) we will watch the matches. The balls we make will be used and all the women who work here are very proud," she said.
- See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/sports-news/football/pakistan-workers-fire-brazuca-ball-to-brazil-for-football-world-cup/article1-1225653.aspx#sthash.Tsc0S9pP.dpuf

Read More

Mumbai eatery delivers pizza using a drone

MUMBAI: The financial capital, notorious for its traffic snarls, has achieved a first in the country after a city-based pizza outlet used an unmanned drone to execute a delivery by taking the aerial route recently.

"All of us had read about (global e-commerce giant) Amazon's plans of using drones. We successfully carried out a test-delivery by sending a pizza to a customer located 1.5 km away from our outlet on May 11," Francesco's Pizzeria chief executive Mikhel Rajani told PTI today.

He stressed that this was only a test-flight but its results confirm that it can be used routinely in a few years.

A four-rotor drone took off with the order from its outlet in central Mumbai's Lower Parel area and delivered it to a high-rise building in adjacent Worli area, Rajani said, claiming that it is for the first time that the ubiquitous drone has been used for such a purpose in the country.

The eatery, which has been in operations for two years, has made a video of the delivery, he said, adding an auto engineer friend helped with making the flight possible.

Rajani, who comes from a family that is into textiles, said the drone saves time and costs for a company like his, which would otherwise depend on a two-wheeler borne agent to deliver the pizzas.

"What we have done now will be common place in the next four-five years," he said, adding every such customised drone costs around $2,000. 
At present, there are certain restrictions on the regulatory front like the drone not allowed to fly above 400 ft altitude and barred from flying over security establishments, he said, adding the American Federal Aviation Authority's regulations on usage of drones, expected next year, will help.

Apart from that there are technical difficulties like a limited operating radius of 8 km after which the batteries go dry, he said, adding proper infrastructure like having charging stations can help.

Even though the four-rotor version drone had a limited carrying capacity, he said the payload capacity can be increased to up to 8 kg in case of a an eight-rotor drone.

Read More

Kevin Spacey does Lungi dance with Deepika Padukone at IIFA

The 54-year-old actor handed the Entertainer of the year award to Deepika, who had four back-to-back hits last year including Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express and Ram-leela.

On the insistence of hosts Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar, the Hollywood actor joined Deepika and shook his leg on the hit song from Chennai Express.
related photo
IIFA: Deepika's lungi dance with Kevin Spacey

"It is great to be here and seeing the performances. I am thankful to IIFA," Spacey said.

After giving away the award, Spacey went down the stage and clicked a selfie with Farhan and Shahid. Actress Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Sonakshi Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha also got a photo with the Hollywood star.
- See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/kevin-spacey-does-lungi-dance-with-deepika-padukone-at-iifa/article1-1212828.aspx#sthash.9hbpZn5P.dpuf

Read More

Amethi: AAP's Kumar Vishwas slams Smriti Irani, BJP candidate hits back

NEW DELHI: With actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani entering the fray as a BJP candidate in Amethi, a war of words has broken out between her and AAP contender Kumar Vishwas over his remark that any "Irani or Pakistani" will not make any difference in the constituency.

"The message has reached villages. Now whether Irani comes, Pakistani comes, Italian or American... But Amethi has already taken a decision," the AAP candidate from Amethi Lok Sabha constituency said.

BJP had yesterday decided to field Irani to take on Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.

Vishwas charged that there was some understanding between BJP and Congress in the Varanasi and Amethi seats.

"I think BJP is doing either some face saving or some nexus, may have been through Ahmed (Patel) uncle that you give us in Varanasi, we will give you in Amethi," he said

Reacting to the jibe, Irani said, "The understanding between AAP and Congress is publicly known and was very visible when they formed a government in Delhi."

Read More

Raghuram Rajan may leave interest rates unchanged

MUMBAI: February's inflation levels, on wholesale and consumer prices, may have signified a breather for many but that may not be enough for Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan to change his stance on interest rates at the monetary policy review on Tuesday.

Rajan, who has made clear that his primary goal is to tame prices, may hold the repo rate at 8% citing inflationary expectations, according to an ET poll. The repo rate is that at which the central bank lends to banks.  ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/32987449.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Read More

India can be a better alternative to China in the EM basket: Marco Ravagli, Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management

Global investors are seeing India as the next big opportunity for investment, says Marco Ravagli, director and senior portfolio manager for global emerging markets at Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management. Ravagli, whose fund manages assets worth $1.28 trillion, says India can be a good alternative to China because of the huge opportunities it offers. In an interview with ET's Biswajit Baruah, Ravagli talks about Indian markets, the apprehensions of foreign investors and the sectors he is overweight on.

Markets are rallying on hopes of a BJP-led stable government coming to power after the elections. How do you see markets behaving, post elections?

We hope India will have a strong and stable government, a government that will help speed up reforms. You already have a very strong central bank, one of the reasons why India has been able to outperform other countries in emerging markets. Post elections, a strong government will help push the reforms agenda further. India is on its marks and is waiting for a start. We believe that India can be a good alternative to China in the emerging market basket from the global investors' perspective as there is plenty of opportunities.
Your fund house has 'neutral' rating on India. Are you apprehensive of the election outcome?

We are in an electoral campaign. Experience tells me that everyone in an electoral campaign will make promises. The reason why we are neutral on India is due to the upcoming general elections. Global investors favour a strong government and, frankly speaking, it doesn't matter which party wins, they just want a stable government that pushes ahead the reforms agenda.

In comparison with previous years, emerging markets have seen tepid flows so far this year. Is there a higher risk in EMs compared with developed markets at this point?

If you are a global investor, you see better opportunities in developed markets. The US economy is still improving. In Europe, the GDP growth prospects are getting better. In emerging markets, general elections are scheduled during the year in many countries -- India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa. As a result, developed countries look less risky than emerging markets in the medium term. Right now, the biggest conundrum is China and India. In China, the new politburo is undertaking a major reform. While this is positive, we don't know how long it will take for the reforms to have a real impact since it's a huge country. In India, in the short term, we are waiting for the elections and investors are not ready to take a bet on the elections.

The Fed is expected to announce further tapering of its quantitative easing programme. How will this impact emerging markets, including India?

After the recent Fed chairman's speech, it's pretty clear that another round of tapering is coming, but not as fast as some predicted. The start of tapering means the US economy will go back to a normal growth path. But that does not imply, contrary to people's expectations, that interest rates will rise in the near future. The short-term impact is it would not be that positive for EMs. At Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, we are still underweight on emerging markets and tapering is one of the reasons. We think that as soon as the tapering talks hit the markets again, we will get a better buying opportunity for emerging markets. The Fed is buying $10 billion less than it used to, but they are still buying. It all depends on the macro numbers in the US. The employment numbers in the US are the key. Economists wonder if the dip in employment numbers is indeed for the long term. We believe that if inflation is also under control, then rates will continue to stay low.

We have seen many sovereign wealth funds participating in Indian markets. How do you rate India as an investment destination among emerging markets?

Global investors recognise India's potential and view the country as the next big opportunity for investment. They hope that the new, strong government will push reforms in a big way. This will be a boon not only for the markets, but also for steady growth. As an emerging market investor, we see the country offering great growth opportunities not just for the next 2-3 years, but over a 5-10 year horizon. We are keen to invest in a country that can deliver sustainable doubledigit growth and cash flow for the next 3-5 years.

Read More