AIRTEL DIALS OUT OF FMCG BUSINESS

Not being able to duplicate its success in FMCG sector,Airtel is exiting the JV with Global food brand Del Monte.Despite ten years in operation Del Monte remained a small venture and unable to compete with larger packaged foods businesses incurring operating losses every year.

THE BACKGROUND BEHIND EXIT

• # Bharti Enterprises is looking to exit Del Monte Foods, its 50:50 joint venture with Singapore-listed packaged foods company Del Monte Pacific Ltd, reported the Economic Times, citing executives. The venture was set up to sell juice, fruit drinks, olive oil, pasta, mayonnaise, ketchup and dried and canned fruits in India.
• # "Bharti group has allegedly mandated bankers to identify potential buyers to sell its stake in Del Monte Foods.
• # Reason behind sale off its stake in Delmonte is three fold Foods is a non-core business for Bharti, which wants to focus on its core businesses such as telecom and broadband under Airtel DelMonte has been consistently a loss making unit in india Del Monte failed to scale up operations despite being in India for a decade now

FINANCIAL STATE OF DELMONTE

• #Del Monte Foods reported a revenue of Rs 536.36 crore in the financial year 2023. The company incurred losses amounting to Rs 15.2 crore during the same period.
• # In 2004, Bharti Enterprises and the global investment group E L Rothschild established FieldFresh Foods as an equal joint venture to produce and export fresh vegetables and fruits. In 2007, Del Monte Pacific Ltd, a company listed in Singapore, acquired a 40.1 per cent stake in FieldFresh Foods for $20.8 million. Bharti maintained a 50 per cent stake in the company, while Rothschild remained a minority partner.
• # In India, players direct competitors to Del Monte in the mayonnaise and condiments segment include Dr Oetker and Veeba

Series of developmental projects

In his latest visit to Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of developmental projects worth Rs 29,400 crore while he attended a function of NESCO Exhibition Centre in Goregaon. State Chief Minister Eknath Shinde recently mentioned that the Mahayuti Alliance is slated to achieve victory in the upcoming assembly elections and the timely launch of these developmental projects might just be relevant part of the Mahayuti Assembly Poll Strategy.  An official governmental release from the Prime Minister Office also formalized the inauguration of these projects.

Scheme for young Mumbaikars

• PM had always considered the youth of the country to be treasure trove. Launch of Mukhyamantri Yuva Karya Prashikshan Yojana, addressing the concerns of the youth, is an essential need-of-the-hour program costing roughly Rs 5,540 crore. Key features: - Employment will be provided to youth aged between 18-35 years and close to 10 lakh youth might be benefitted by this program. - During internship of six months, 12th pass, diploma and degree holders will be paid Rs.6000-1000 as remuneration.

Remodeling projects

• Kalyan Railway Yard Project is one of the biggest rails rejig projects and the PM laid the foundation of the same. Kalyan Railway Yard Remodeling Project This project aims to separate the suburban and long-distance traffic as well as strengthen the goods yard.Remodeling of Gati Shakti Multi Modal Cargo Terminal at Turbhe in Navi Mumbai is also part of the agenda. It will act as an additional terminal for handling cement and related products.

Increased station capacity

• Chhhatrapati Shivaji Terminus platform extension was declared which will result in smooth commutation of the passengers since it is a 24-coach platform. As an honor to the independence activist Lok Manya Tilak, a new terminus was devoted in his name enhancing the station capacity to accommodate more passengers.

Connectivity is key

• Commuting from Mumbai city to Thane has been a constant pain point for the Mumbaikars. No longer, PM inaugurated the twin tube tunnel between thane and Borivali passing below Sanjay Gandhi National Park constructing a direct connection between Western Express Highway on the Borivali side and Thane Ghodbander Road on the Thane side. Passengers will save about an hour in travel time which is a boon in everyday life. PM flagged off the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project which will create road connectivity from Western Express Highway at Goregaon to Eastern Express Highway at Mulund. This project will integrate Western suburbs with the new proposed airport at Navi Mumbai and Pune Mumbai Expressway.

INS gets country hub

PM launched Indian Newspaper Society (INS) towers in Bandra Kurla Complex accommodating new office space for INS employees and the complex will act as the central hub of newspaper.

Editor’s Note

Despite Mumbai being Asia’s third largest fintech hub and ranks 12th globally for fintech companies, the city had always struggled with not-so improved infrastructure and relentless need of more space. With the mammoth projects in pipeline, finally ‘Do Deewane Shaher Mein Aashiyana Dhoondte Hain’ might come to an end!!

Aviation industry sees a milestone

• The TATA owned companies are set to create a milestone in the aviation industry. After this merger, it will become the biggest combined airlines of India.
• Air India and Vistara are merging, with the brand remaining until 2025. Tata Group acquired Air India in 2022. Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, began in 2015. In a significant development, the prominent Indian airlines Air India and Vistara have announced a merger
• The people who are already the part of any of these companies will be rewarded by offers like loyalty points, tier upgradation and many more.
• Air India and Vistara are merging to become comprehenisve airline by the end of this year. This means few changes for frequent flyers who have memberships with either programme (Club Vistara or Flying Returns).
• The Club Vistara program will continue to exist until the integration is complete. Upon completion of the integration process, your Club Vistara account will be migrated to Air India's Flying Returns.
• The customers will likely retain their current tier status (Silver, Gold, or Platinum) in the Club Vistara program after the merger. This ensures they won't lose any existing benefits associated with your tier level.

Other aspects of the merger

• The merger of Vistara with Air India and subsequent investment from Singapore Airlines will see the two airline groups cooperate more closely with Air India likely to use Singapore Airlines hub at Singapore as a gateway to points in Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia where it does not fly non-stop and likewise Singapore Airlines making the most of Air India’s three hub strategy at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to feed into flights to Europe and points in North America.
• As PTI reports, Wilson and Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan held the meeting for over an hour and shared that over 7,000 employees have been assessed and their roles and responsibilities would be clear by the end of June.
• Both the airlines have also finalized the organization structure of the merged entity, taking into account the plans for fleet expansion, network growth, and enhanced service.

EDITOR’NOTE

• This merger seems to be advantageous for frequent flyers. The customers likely maintain or even improve their tier status, and all your points will be transferred to the new program without losing value. This allows them to continue enjoying benefits like priority boarding, lounge access, or reward flights based on your tier in the combined program.

KEYWORDS

• #airindia#vistara#Tata#merger#aviation

AIRTEL DIALS OUT OF FMCG BUSINESS

Not being able to duplicate its success in FMCG sector,Airtel is exiting the JV with Global food brand Del Monte.Despite ten years in operation Del Monte remained a small venture and unable to compete with larger packaged foods businesses incurring operating losses every year.

THE BACKGROUND BEHIND EXIT

• # Bharti Enterprises is looking to exit Del Monte Foods, its 50:50 joint venture with Singapore-listed packaged foods company Del Monte Pacific Ltd, reported the Economic Times, citing executives. The venture was set up to sell juice, fruit drinks, olive oil, pasta, mayonnaise, ketchup and dried and canned fruits in India.
• # "Bharti group has allegedly mandated bankers to identify potential buyers to sell its stake in Del Monte Foods.
• # Reason behind sale off its stake in Delmonte is three fold Foods is a non-core business for Bharti, which wants to focus on its core businesses such as telecom and broadband under Airtel DelMonte has been consistently a loss making unit in india Del Monte failed to scale up operations despite being in India for a decade now

FINANCIAL STATE OF DELMONTE

• #Del Monte Foods reported a revenue of Rs 536.36 crore in the financial year 2023. The company incurred losses amounting to Rs 15.2 crore during the same period.
• # In 2004, Bharti Enterprises and the global investment group E L Rothschild established FieldFresh Foods as an equal joint venture to produce and export fresh vegetables and fruits. In 2007, Del Monte Pacific Ltd, a company listed in Singapore, acquired a 40.1 per cent stake in FieldFresh Foods for $20.8 million. Bharti maintained a 50 per cent stake in the company, while Rothschild remained a minority partner.
• # In India, players direct competitors to Del Monte in the mayonnaise and condiments segment include Dr Oetker and Veeba

PATANJALI VERSUS SUPREME COURT

Bouyed by Indian Medical Association (IMA) evidence in court of a Patanjali advertisement in a newspaper claiming to compleltely cure asthma and blood sugar,the Supreme Court slapped a ban and Patanjali’s share prices crashed.

WHAT HAPPENED AT SUPREME COURT ?

• # “What do you mean by ‘permanent relief’? There are only two types of permanent relief. One, the person dies. Two, the person is cured. There is no third ‘permanent relief’,” Justice Amanullah asked Patanjali in reaction to its advertisement in the Hindu Newspaper on permanent relief from taking its medicine
• #Patanjali Ayurved was banned from advertising ayurvedic medicines with ‘misleading claims’ during a Supreme Court hearing.
• # Supreme court banned Patanjali advertisements and it came down heavily on the Central government saying it was “sitting with eyes closed’’ as the entire country was “taken for a ride’’.
• # The top court acted on a plea of the Indian Medical Association alleging a smear campaign by Ramdev against the vaccination drive and modern medicines. The SC had previously threatened to impose a cost of ₹1 crore per false claim propagated in each advertisement.
• # Meanwhile Patanjali Foods — part of the Baba Ramdev-led group — insisted that business operations and financial performance would not be impacted by the Supreme Court's observations.
• # The apex court also barred Patanjali from promoting products that purportedly cure diseases like heart ailments and asthma. Patanjali advertisement featured in The Hindu newspaper and a press conference where the company claimed to have successfully treated sugar and asthma using yoga.

HOW DOES IT IMPACT PATANJALI ?

• # Patanjali Foods, in a regulatory filing on the same day, said, "The observations of the Supreme Court of India do not relate to Patanjali Foods Limited, which is an independent listed entity and operates in the space of edible oil and food FMCG products only."
• # Patanjali’s performance continued to be impressive.In the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023–24, Patanjali reported revenue from operations at ₹7,910.7 crore, indicating a marginal growth of 1.1% compared to the previous quarter.The quarterly profit after tax (PAT) stood at ₹216.5 crore, a decrease from ₹254.5 crore in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year.

THE BACKGROUND

• # Ramdev’s stand on allopathy is "stupid and bankrupt science." He questioned the efficacy of various treatments, including Chloroquine, Remdesivir, antibiotics, steroids, and plasma therapy.
• # In May 2021, Ramdev openly criticized allopathic medicines' role in treating COVID-19, suggesting that more people died from allopathic treatment than from oxygen shortage or the virus itself. The IMA promptly served him a defamation notice for his remarks and demanded an apology.
• # “Allopathy is a stupid and bankrupt science. First Chloroquine failed, then Remdesivir failed, then their antibiotics failed, then steroids, now a ban has been imposed on plasma therapy. Now they are prescribing Fabiflu which too has failed,” said Baba Ramdev.