10 SEPTEMBER 2022 BW BUSINESSWORLD

www.businessworld.in RNI NO. 39847/81 I 10 SEPTEMBER 2022

After a turbulent two
years, the travel and

hospitality sectors
make an impressive
comeback recording

over 300 per cent
revenue growth

THE BIG
Rs150 HOSPITALITY

BOOM



lovestanley.com lovestanleyo cial





EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

WINDS OF CHANGE

ANNURAG BATRA “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
— John D. Rockefeller
 [email protected]
AT LONG LAST a consistent uptick in travel, both domestic and
international, is enabling the revival of the travel and hospitality sector in
India. With more people travelling within the country, affiliated businesses
are seeing a big uptick too. This is good news for the tourism and hospitality
sector that is among the largest employment generators in India. It is a
sector that brings in significant foreign exchange earnings and foreign
tourist arrivals are steadily on the rise. Our cover story package captures
the resurgence of the hotel industry that seems to be jogging back towards
profitability after the major lows of the pandemic-induced lockdowns and
the resultant closures, lay-offs and financial losses.

For the first quarter (April-May-June), all key operating metrics of the
hospitality sector, including the Revenue per available room (RevPAR),
Average Room Rate (ARR), and Occupancy Room Rate (ORR), were way
ahead of the pre-pandemic levels. Metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and
others, saw record occupancy levels. According to HVS ANAROCK, a
leading hospitality consulting and transaction advisory joint venture, the
ORR and ARR have been able to sustain over the pre-pandemic levels in
the first quarter of FY 2022-23, indicating a strong recovery.

The pan-India occupancies in June 2022 reached the 65 per cent mark
(three per cent up from June 2019) along with higher ARR at Rs 5,850
(10 per cent up from June 2019). The report says that the RevPAR also
improved 13 per cent compared to the pre-pandemic levels for the month.
The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), the country’s largest hospitality
player with a presence in more than 100 centres, reported its best first
quarter in the company’s history. Other listed hotel companies also posted
robust financial performances for the first quarter, riding on the back of a
resurgence in the travel segment.

Sensing an on-ground turnaround of the hospitality sector, the Union
Cabinet recently approved a proposal to raise the Emergency Credit Line
Guarantee Scheme limit for the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors.
In this special feature package we also spotlight the corresponding
turnaround in the business of online travel agencies. We take an in-depth
look at the remarkable turnaround of MakeMyTrip in the last two years.
Read the insightful interview with the Co-promoter of EaseMyTrip that
had a successful IPO last year.

Of course, we also bring to you all our regular columns and features. As
India celebrates its 75th anniversary as a free nation, we bring you opinion
on where Bharat will be at 100 and where India could be in another quarter
of a century. Let us march together towards a better tomorrow!

6 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022



VOL. 41, ISSUE 23 10 SEPTEMBER 2022

GROUP CHAIRMAN & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Dr. ANNURAG BATRA

GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR CEO, BW COMMUNITIES CEO & CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER
Bhuvanesh Khanna Hoshie Ghaswalla (CEO-BW Engage)
Noor Fathima Warsia
DIRECTOR: Prasar Sharma
EDITORIAL TEAM
Sr. Associate Editors: Ashish Sinha, Jyotsna Sharma, Meha Mathur GROUP SR. VICE PRESIDENT - STRATEGY, OPERATIONS & MARKETING
Tanvie Ahuja ([email protected])
Sr. Correspondent: Rohit Chintapali, Deep Majumdar,
Correspondent: Abhishek Sharma Arjun Yadav, Aparajitha Nair; CEO, BW HEALTHCARE WORLD & BW WELLBEING WORLD:
Harbinder Narula
Trainee Journalists: Sneha Patro
DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING & REVENUE: Aparna Sengupta
DESK TEAM
Deputy Editor: Mukul Rai DIRECTOR, PROJECTS & COMMUNITIES: Talees Rizvi
Associate Editors: Madhumita Chakraborty; Smita Kulshreshth
SR. VICE PRESIDENT : Deepika Gosain
ART TEAM
Art Director: Dinesh Banduni VICE PRESIDENT STRATEGIC PROJECTS: Uday Laroia
Assistant Art Director: Rajinder Kumar
Infographics & Data Visualiser: Arun Kumar MARKETING & DESIGN TEAM: Prerna Singh Rathore, Kartikay Koomar,
Assistant Images Editor: Sanjay Jakhmola Mohd. Salman Ali, Moksha Khimasiya, Shweta Boyal, Alka Rawat, Arti Chhipa
Asst Manager - Design: Kuldeep Kumar
PHOTO TEAM
Sr. Photo Researcher: Kamal Kumar EVENTS TEAM: Tarun Ahuja, Devika Kundu Sengupta, Ashish Kumar, Nandni
BW ONLINE: Assistant Editor: Poonam Singh Sharma, Nivish Singh, Mahek Surti, Reeti Gupta, Khabirul Islam, Atul Joshi,
Mir Salika, Preeti Tandon, Biren Singho, Abhishek Verma, Neeraj Verma,
VIDEO EDITORIAL TEAM Prashant Kumar, Mayank Kumar
Video Team: Anurag Giri
DIGITAL & WEB TEAM
Pappu Kumar Singh, Sr. Cameraperson: Ratneshwar Kumar Singh Sumit Kumar

BW APPLAUSE & EVERYTHING EXPERIENTIAL: Ruhail Amin, Neelima Sharma SALES TEAM
NORTH: Ravi Khatri, Anjeet Trivedi, Rajeev Chauhan, Amit Bhasin,
BW AUTO WORLD: Utkarsh Agarwal Somyajit Sengupta, Shruti Arora, Cynthia Majhi, Priyanshi Khandelwal,
Sajjad Mohammad
BW CFO WORLD: Urvi Shrivastav WEST: Kiran Dedhia, Nilesh Argekar
SOUTH: C S Rajaraman
BW CIO WORLD: Ratnadeep Chaudhary
BW COMMUNITIES BUSINESS LEADS
BW DISRUPT: Resham Suhail Priya Saraf (BW Education), Gareema Ahuja (BW LegalWorld),
Chetan Mehra (BW Disrupt)
BW EDUCATION: Vasudha Mukherjee, Upasana
CIRCULATION TEAM
BW HEALTHCARE WORLD: Smridhi Ratra, Shivam Tyagi General Manager - Circulation, Subscription & Sales: Vinod Kumar
BW HOTELIER: Editor: Saurabh Tankha NORTH: Shiv Singh, Mukhtadir Malik
Editorial Lead: Bulbul Dhawan EAST: Debraj Sur
Operations Controller: Ajith Kumar LR WEST: Arvind Patil, Gorakshanath Sanap
SOUTH: Sarvothama Nayak K, Anup Kumar
BW LEGAL WORLD: Managing Editor: Ashima Ohri
Editorial Lead: Krishnendra Joshi, Kaustubh Mehta; Marketing Lead: Anurag Nagar FINANCE TEAM

BW MARKETING WORLD: Soumya Sehgal Ankit Kumar, Ishwar Sharma, Shrikant Sharma, Vijay Jangra

BW PEOPLE: Sugandh Bahl IT SUPPORT: Brijender Wahal

BW WELLBEING: Kavi Bhandari ADMIN SUPPORT:
EA to Chairman & Editor-in-Chief:
VC WORLD: Anisha Aditya Durga Krishnamurthy ([email protected]);
Sanya Kapoor ([email protected])
GROUP EDITORIAL HEAD: Vishal Thapar
(BW Defence, BW Securityworld & BW Policeworld)

BW POLICE WORLD: Ujjawala Nayudu

HUMAN RESOURCES: Namrata Tripathi ([email protected])

LEGAL ADVISOR: Sudhir Mishra (Trust Legal)

BW Businessworld Media Private Limited

EDITORIAL OFFICES
BW Businessworld Media Pvt. Ltd.
74-75, Scindia House, Connaught Place,

New Delhi-110001
Phone: 9818063325

ADVERTISEMENT/CIRCULATION / SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES
BW Businessworld Media Pvt. Ltd.

74-75, Scindia House, Connaught Place,
New Delhi-110001
Phone: 9818063325

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE
Vinod Kumar +91 9810961195, [email protected], [email protected]
Subscription rates: ONE YEAR - Rs 2,899 TWO YEARS - Rs 5,599 THREE YEARS - Rs 8,199

BW Businessworld does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. All unsolicited material should be
accompanied by self-addressed envelopes and sufficient postage. Published and printed by Annurag Batra for and on behalf of the owners, BW Businessworld Media Private Limited.

Published at J-6/55, Upper Ground Floor, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-110027, and printed at Infinity Advertising Services Private Limited. Editor : Annurag Batra.
© Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. All rights reserved. R.N.I.No. 39847/81

8 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022



www.businessworld.in RNI NO. 39847/81 I 27 AUGUST 2022 MAILBOX
Rs 150
YOUR COMMENTS

MOST
VALUABLE
Top row (L-R): Dipali Goenka,Welspun India; GCCs PLAYING A PIVOTAL ROLE
Bimal Dayal, Indus Towers. 2nd row: Rajesh
Gopinathan, TCS; Mukesh Ambani, Reliance This refers to the editorial (“GCCs Rewrite Future
Industries; Bharat Puri, Pidilite Industries; Of Work Playbook,” BW, August 27). The authors
Vibha Padalkar, HDFC Life. 3rd row: Sandeep rightly point out that as the future of workplace
Bakhshi, ICICI Bank. Bottom row: Ravi Kant undergoes changes from remote to hybrid to a newer
version in the return to normalcy, global capability
Jaipuria, Varun Beverages; C. Vijayakumar, centres (GCCs) have slowly emerged as a strong
force for companies, and India is playing a bigger
HCL Technologies; Salil Parekh, Infosys role on this front. It is good to know that India is
home to GCCs of around 1,300 global organisations,
CorporateIndia’shonchoswhohave directly employing more than 1.3 million people
generatedvaluefortheircompanies and generating about $33.8 billion in revenue in
FY20, as per a Deloitte and Nasscom report. This
andshareholdersinachallenging number is expected to grow to over 2,000 centres
by 2025. In the last two years alone, 140 GCCs were
CEOseconomicenvironment launched indicating the role India can play in being
a global hub for such centres which impact global
TALKBACK BLIPP work models, people, skilling and the overall future
THIS PAGE of work.
Submissions to BW |Businessworld TO GIVE US
should include the writer’s name and YOUR FEEDBACK SHWETA KULKARNI, EMAIL
address and be sent by email to the INSTANTLY
editor at [email protected] HIGH QUALITY AT THE RIGHT PRICE
or by mail to 74-75, Scindia House,
Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001 This refers to the editorial (“Our Stores Are Unique
In The Sense That They Bring In Pharmacy
And Diagnostics Together,” BW, August 27). It
is heartening to note that Tata 1mg has registered
strong growth of 25 per cent quarter on quarter and
has gained market share of up to 2 percentage points.
This has been achieved in an environment where
competition has resorted to deep discounts and
high-decibel marketing. In fact, the response to the
company’s 12 retail stores across NCR and Jaipur has
been extremely strong. This is not surprising as the
stores bring in pharmacy and diagnostics together,
thus offering an integrated healthcare experience
that offers high quality at the right price.

PRIYA WANJARI, EMAIL

10 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022



CONTENTS

VOLUME 41, ISSUE 23 10 SEPTEMBER 2022

52 ‘Good Times’ Finally 16 Jottings
Checks In
All lines clear for 5G cheer; Next
After a horrid two years, the hotel gen Hector by 2022 end; Festival
industry is well on the road to profitability of shoppers; Porsche 911 Sally
Special fetches $3.6 million at
auction, and more

20 Columns

Minhaz Merchant(p. 20); Vikas
Singh(p. 22); Kiran Karnik(p.
24); Ajai Dayal (p. 26); Kaushik
Prasad (p. 28); Ashutosh Garg
(p. 30); Srinath Sridharan (p.
32); S. Ravi (p. 35); Noor
Fathima Warsia (p. 38);
Prakash Iyer (p. 98)

40 Customer Focus

Dipali Goenka, Joint MD & CEO,
Welspun India on why businesses
should make product decisions
with the customer in mind as well
as aim for a long-term relation-
ship

42 Standpoint

Amit Tiwari, Global Head,
Marketing Demand Centre, TCS
argues that social commerce
today is a fitting memo to brands
reminding them that for
customers, shopping continues
to be a social experience

48 SSIs & SaaS

With adoption of digital tools and
technology having become the
norm across industry, Srinath
Sridharan and Jayesh Shah ask an
important question: Can Indian
SSIs fourish in a Saas world?

Photograph by Unsplash

Cover design by DINESH S. BANDUNI
Cover photographs by UNSPLASH

12 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022



44 BW MWB Summit

The BW MWB Summit 2022 sees invigorating and

stimulating discussions around metaverse and

varied perspectives from marketing bigwigs at the

book’s two-city launch

58 Stellar Recovery 94 Lifestyle 80 Interview

The story of the dramatic turnaround in Masaba Gupta on her new beauty Mallari Kulkarni, Head – Digital
the fortunes of India’s largest online brand LoveChild and much more LifeCare, Dell Technologies on the com-
travel company MakeMy Trip pany, future innovations as well as its
99 support to India’s digital health
64 OTAs’ Dream Run initiatives
Last Word
Prashant Pitti, Co-founder, EaseMyTrip 82 BW Healthcare Fest
on the overall revival in the travel Mohit Malhotra,
sector, highlights of his company’s first Chief Executive BW HealthcareWorld’s Bharat Swaasth
quarter and much more Officer, Dabur Mahotsav sees government dignitaries,
India on the industry leaders, specialist doctors and
66 In Conversation company’s deep thought leaders share knowledge and
commitment to pay tribute to the conviction of Padma
Rajan Sethuraman, CEO, LatentView protecting and Doctors
Analytics on the growth opportunities preserving the
that data analytics can bring to the fore environment, 90 In Conversation
for businesses and organisations and much more
Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero
72 Crypto in Crisis Enterprise on the company’s Mindmine
Summit 2022 and how it aims to
Crypto winter extends into the summer understand India’s pivot towards a new
and beyond, but what can we expect for era
the rest of 2022?
92 Net Zero Goal
76 Parle G
Kishore Jayaraman, President,
How Parle Products is adapting to the Rolls-Royce, India & South Asia on
cost dynamics, high inflation and the industry trends in ESG (Environment,
changing business environment while Social, and Governance), as well as the
maintaining the price points of its iconic work done by the company in this area
brands
TOTAL NO. OF PAGES
INCLUDING COVER 102

ThepagesinBW BusinessworldthatarelabelledBWiorPromotionscontainsponsoredcontent.Theyareentirelygeneratedbyanadvertiserorthe
marketingdepartmentofBW Businessworld.Also,theinsertsbeingdistributedalongwithsomecopiesofthemagazineareadvertorials/advertisements.

Thesepagesshouldnotbeconfusedwith BW Businessworld’seditorialcontent.

14 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022



JOTTINGS

ALL LINES CLEAR TO FACILITATE rapid expansion and upgrading of
FOR 5G CHEER telecom networks, a significant and decisive step has
been taken by the Department of Telecommunications
(DoT). It has effected an amendment in the Indian
Telegraph Right of Way (RoW) Rules, 2016 to facilitate faster

and easier deployment of telecom infrastructure. The IT systems

of all states and Union Territories and major Union ministries

overseeing infrastructure, such as the Railways and Highways,

have been integrated with the portal to make India ready for the

5G launch, all thanks to the efforts of Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union

Minister of Telecom, IT and Railways.

Over a dozen states and Union Territories have also

implemented the deemed approval clause in their RoW policies.

These measures have resulted in major reduction in average

time for approval of RoW applications from 435 days in 2019

to 16 days in July, 2022. The charges have also been made

reasonable and a ceiling for RoW charges for installation of 5G

small cells and optical fibre cable on street furniture

Ashwini Vaishnaw, has been fixed. These series of reforms now make
Union Minister India ready for the launch of 5G services by October,
of Railways , 2022. Now, the telecom licensees will be able to use

Communications street infrastructure to deploy telecom equipment
and Electronics & IT at a nominal cost of Rs 150 per annum in rural areas

and Rs 300 per annum in urban areas. To facilitate

faster fiberisation, street infrastructure can be utilised at a

nominal cost of Rs 100 per annum to install overground optical

fibre. The new measures will surely speed up 5G deployment and

resolve the hurdles telecom companies had faced earlier.

Photograph by PIB Three cheers for 5G! — Ashish Sinha

Next Gen Hector
Arriving by

End 2022

THE CHINESE-OWNED British carmaker, MG Motor, radar-based tech that gives a car autonomous capability
will be launching the next-generation Hector before and helps prevent collision.
the end of 2022 in India. Recently MG Motor India
officially revealed that the next-gen Hector will come Alongside the next-gen Hector, MG will continue to sell
with the segment’s largest 14-inch portrait touchscreen the existing Hector in the market. The next-gen Hector
infotainment system and a new diamond mesh grille will be pitted against Tata Harrier, Mahindra XUV700,
connected with the daytime running lights (DRLs). Mahindra Scorpio N and Citroen C5 Aircross SUV in
India. In the year ahead, we could also witness a compact
The company has not revealed any more details electric car from MG Motor in India. — Utkarsh Agarwal
yet, but we can expect many new features and design
changes from the previous Gen Hector and Hector Plus.
An interesting feature that we could expect in the next-
gen Hector is the inclusion of level-2 ADAS or advanced
driver-assistance systems technology. The ADAS is a

16 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

Photograph by Indiapicturebudget HAPPY
TIDINGS
FOR THE
SHOPPERS’
FEST

IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN, of rain-washed optimistic about economic recovery, and net intent to
days and gusts of cool breeze blowing through the trees spend is growing and positive across many categories.”
and foliage, heralding the advent of fall. The summer crop Brands have obviously, picked up the cue.
is ripe for harvest and the season of festivities is right
round the corner. Eid-al-Adha was celebrated in July and The India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) says on its
the last day of August is Ganesh Chaturthi, the first of the website that consumer electronic brands were “focusing
many Hindu festivals that will end with Deepavali in the on expansion in the Indian smart wearables market”.
third week of October. Godrej Appliances has announced capacity expansion
plans, convinced no doubt of the increasing buying
It is the season, as they say, of “fasting and feasting”, capacity of the Indian consumer, notwithstanding the
connecting with family and dear ones and most of all, daunting fuel-price induced inflation. It is not the only
gifting and buying all the inessentials that make life so consumer goods maker preparing for a market with a
alluring. Consumer goods manufacturers have done their growing appetite.
homework and retail outfits will soon begin stocking up
for the big shopping bonanza that will continue right till Yes, if nothing else, the indefatigable spirit of the Indian
the New Year. A May survey by McKinsey & Company had shopper is likely to sustain the consumer goods market
said, “Nearly three-quarters of India’s consumers are and keep the festive cheer aglow in the days ahead.

— Madhumita Chakraborty

A TELEPHONE BIDDER took away Porsche 911 Sally 911 Carrera. That team included actress Bonnie Hunt,

Special at a RM Sotheby’s Monterey Auction in August, the voice of Sally Carrera, Jay Ward, Creative Director

for an auction hammer price of of Franchise at Pixar Animation

$3.6 million. The price, according PORSCHE Studios, and Bob Pauley, who,
to a Porsche Press release, was a 911 SALLY as Production Designer for Cars,
record for a new Porsche sold at sketched Sally for the first time
auction. The proceeds of the sale 20 years ago. They were joined by

will be donated to Girls Inc. and SPECIAL FETCHES Kjell Gruner, President and CEO
USA for UNHCR, the UN refugee $3.6 MILLION of Porsche Cars North America,
agency. Inc. (PCNA), and key members of
Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur’s
The Porsche 911 Sally Special Sonderwunsch team including
is part of the Pixar Animation

Studios history and the auction Alexander Fabig and Boris

brought together members of Apenbrink.

the original Cars team who The bidder also acquired a

created both the car in the second set of wheels, a ‘Sally

Disney and Pixar film and Special’ car cover and a book

the life-size Sally Carrera, on the creation of the car.

based on a 2002 Porsche — Kavi Bhandari

Photocourtesy:© 2022PorscheCarsNorthAmerica,Inc.

10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 17





COLUMN Minhaz Merchant

MINHAZ MERCHANT India’s Next
IS THE BIOGRAPHER 25 Years
S
OF RAJIV GANDHI AND EVERAL COMMENTATORS and Opposition leaders have poured
ADITYA BIRLA AND scorn over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day
speech in which he pledged that India would be a “developed” na-
AUTHOR OF THE NEW tion by 2047, the 100th anniversary of independence. Is the prime
CLASH OF minister being optimistic? Consider the empirical evidence.

CIVILIZATIONS (RUPA, According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India’s
2014). HE IS FOUNDER
current per capita income in purchasing power parity (PPP) is
OF STERLING
NEWSPAPERS, WHICH estimated to be over $7,000 in 2022-23. In comparision, average

WAS ACQUIRED BY European per capita incomes (PPP) are around $38,000. How
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
will these figures change over the next 25 years?
GROUP
India is today ranked as a low middle-income country. China’s per capita income

(PPP) is $18,500, roughly 2.5x India’s per capita income. It is ranked as a high middle

income country.

The pragmatic way forward for India is to target an increase in per capita income

in three phases leading up to 2047. In the first phase, the target should be to raise per

capita income over the next 10 years to $15,000. With population growth plateauing

in the early 2030s at 1.5 billion, this means increasing GDP (PPP) to $22.50 trillion

by 2032.

Is that even possible? India’s nominal GDP in 2022 is just below $3.5 trillion. But

measured in PPP, as the IMF and World Bank compute for all nations, India’s GDP is

estimated to be around $9 trillion in 2022-23. The path from $9 trillion to $22.5 tril-

lion will require an average real GDP growth rate of 8.5 per cent over the next 10 years.

Tough but not impossible.

At a per capita income of $15,000, India will in 2032, be a high middle income

country like China is today. Obviously, China, despite its current slowdown of GDP to

a long-term trajectory of three per cent a year, will have boosted its per capita income

by 2032 to over $30,000 – in the range of several west European countries today like

Portugal.

For India the real challenge lies after 2032. It has to ensure inequality decreases even

as per capita income increases. It will have to significantly raise public expenditure on

healthcare and education. The human development index (HDI) where India scores

abysmally, is a key measure of a “developed” nation. Malnutrition, infant mortality and

other indicators in India’s HDI are, however, gradually improving. But due to rising

inequality, they are not improving fast enough.

This could place India in a classic two-speed nation trap: the top half of the pyramid

is relatively prosperous, healthy and educated while the bottom half is still poor, under-

nourished and lacks access to quality education.

In the second phase, between 2032 and 2042 of India’s rise to a developed nation, the

focus must therefore be on both quantitative factors (per capita GDP) and qualitative

factors (HDI, education and healthcare).

On a GDP (PPP) base of $22.5 trillion in 2032, the target over the next decade should

be consolidating the economic growth momentum. Per capita growth will inevitably

slow for a high middle income country between 2032 and 2042 as the working age

20 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

population grows older and less produc- If India had base of $35,000, growth will slow to an annual average
tive – the precise problem China is facing remained a of four per cent as in any other high income country. But
today. by 2047, a per capita income (PPP) of around $40,000

However, at even a lower per capita in- British colony, is feasible.
come growth rate of five per cent a year in
the second phase, the number of India’s poverty would Now stand back and take a big-picture look at these
absolute poor will fall to nearly zero. A have been near- next 25 years. We began with India’s per capita income
paper published by the IMF’s India ex- (PPP) in 2022-23 estimated at just over $7,000. In
ecutive director Dr Surjit Bhalla, Karan
Bhasin and Dr Arvind Virmani argues permanent. 2047, as our computation shows, it would have grown
that the number of those living below the
poverty line is already near zero. How- With fortitude to around $40,000. This signifies an annual per capita
ever, this assumes a very low bar to meas- and sensible income growth of seven per cent averaged out over a
ure poverty. More realistically, absolute 25-year period.
poverty in India, as measured by global
standards, will reduce significantly, per- economic To project so far ahead into the future is hazardous.
haps close to low single digits by 2042
when per capita income (PPP) crosses policies, India But setting a target that can be met in three pragmatic
$35,000 – the current benchmark for a today stands phases over the next 25 years provides a blueprint. That
developed country. blueprint will change every year as new data, quantita-

By then obviously per capita incomes on the cusp of tive and qualitative, arrives. Strategies will need to be
of other nations, including China, would something adapted.
have risen as well, though not as quickly
as India’s. India inherited a broken country from the British

Even at an average real GDP growth extraordinary in 1947 with a GDP a fraction of Britain’s. India’s GDP
rate of three per cent for the next 20
years, China’s current per capita income today, despite the lost socialist years from the 1960s to
of $18,500 (PPP) would by 2042 rise in
the range of $50,000-$60,000, roughly the 1980s, has overtaken Britain’s.
similar to the per capita income in the
United States today. Writing in Mint on the occasion of India’s 75th an-

For India the third and final phase is niversary of independence, Deepak Nayar, the emeritus professor of economics at
the shortest – the five crucial years from
2042 to 2047. From a per capita income Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), noted: “During the period 1950-51 to 2019-20,

for which evidence is available in real terms, growth in GDP was 4.9% per annum. This

provides a sharp contrast with the period 1900-01 to 1946-47 during the colonial era,

when national income growth was 1% per annum and per capita income growth was

0.2% per annum. At these growth rates, national income would have doubled in 70

years, while per capita income would have doubled in 350 years!”

If India had remained a British colony, poverty would have been near-permanent.

With fortitude and sensible economic policies, India today stands on the cusp of some-

thing extraordinary: the first major country, rendered destitute in 1947, to emerge

as a high income nation in less than a century while preserving its democracy and

plurality.

Photograph by Radiokafka 10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21

COLUMN By Vikas Singh

Cryptos
are neither
Currency, nor
Assets

CRYPTOS ARE ANYTHINGbuteasytounderstand.Sinceitsincep- in a turmoil. It glitters when bears rule
tion, cryptocurrency has generated both controversy and news. Its the stock markets. Cryptos add vola-
impact has been both overt and subtle. tility to the portfolio, gold stabilises it.
While Bitcoins may not be the ‘Tulip’ bulbs of the 2020s, a better Similarly, it’s impossible to assess cryp-
comparison may be to that of a sparkling and shooting star – allur- tocurrency as a ‘growth’ asset because
ing people – attracting investment, even as it flickers. Many orthodox economists no one has any reasonable idea as to
believe it’s a comet that will vaporise. what it may return.

The future will judge whether it’s a star or a comet. Over the last decade its volatility
has been about 20 times greater than
Fails every measure of a currency that of global stock markets, 15 times
Over two crore enthusiastic Indian investors (mostly young, many with high-risk higher than that of gold and about 30
tolerance) are ‘invested’ in cryptos. India has about 500 startups ‘operating’ in times higher than the de facto ‘global’
cryptocurrencies and over Rs 25,000 crores is at stake. currency (USD) index. A high leverage
makes it a poor diversifier. Those who
Most of those who trade in cryptocurrencies, especially those who have ‘made’ espouse cryptos as assets must be living
money, advocate cryptos, particularly Bitcoin, to be a great currency, and the future in a cocoon.
of money. May be so, but in the future.
Unreliable ‘valuation’
As a currency it has no history of being accepted as money, nor a chance of Sure, its valuation has gone up sharply
the sovereigns allowing it to be one. It lacks several key currency attributes, for in the last 13 years and may even climb
example the time-tested store of value (intrinsic worth), in which aspect it has up further. However, growth in valua-
failed miserably. It fails several other standards too. For the retail, the transac- tion has been wobbly at best – and pre-
tion cost is high, prolonging the transactions. The transactions are also tedious, carious, losing more than 80 per cent of
slow and cumbersome. In addition, there is a hint of uncertainty, even insecurity its value thrice – in 2011, 2013-15 and
to the transaction and the process. The absence of financial and legal ‘backing’ 2017-18. History is rhyming this year
only accentuates the uncertainty. Bitcoin cannot buy a car, pay someone’s tuition too. Many cryptocurrency fortunes
fee or pay for a house. Nor can it buy a meal, or a cup of coffee. Let’s say, it’s not have already evaporated.
transaction friendly.
Cryptos are not for the faint hearted.
The enthusiast believes Bitcoin and other cryptos are real assets. Yes, may be. Speculators will eventually realise that
But what is not real is the value assigned to them. Cryptocurrencies hardly display it’s a zero-sum game. Cryptos have the
any virtues of an asset. They are far too volatile to be considered a defensive asset hallmark of a classic bubble and are in
like cash. Similarly, they neither generate cash flow nor are a good hedge. Most
precious metals shine when the world is dim. Gold holds value when the world is

22 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

Cryptocurrency has provided an opportunity, even
incentivised those who evade taxes or launder money.
Cryptocurrency’s role in criminal activities is only on the rise. There
is a bigger danger lurking ... They cannot be regulated

the bubble territory. They will hurt naive investors and already have. As always it is the borrower whole’ in case of a default,
the retail and the laggard who is at the wrong end of the stick. Those who believe in reposes trust and is key to commerce.
the idea of cryptos ignore data, see no bubble, citing that the Bitcoin is in its second
decade. However, history gives us several examples of speculative manias that Negativity regardless, cryptos will
‘flowered’ for a longer period. Demise was swift in each of these cases, though. leave a very important legacy. They
have been a wakeup call for central
Thankfully, the enthusiasts are dwindling, for now. But changing tides will at- bankers and are both nudging and
tract a new set of followers, a classic bubble case. provoking them to look beyond and
act. They are seized of the challenges
How does one define cryptos? If it’s not a currency (digital cash), and if it’s not and are intensifying their effort to offer
an ‘investible’ capital asset, then what is it really? a more holistic solution that has what
the cryptos offer, with the security that
Cryptocurrency has provided an opportunity, even incentivised those who evade the sovereign currencies offer.
taxes or launder money. Cryptocurrency’s role in criminal activities is only on the
rise. There is a bigger danger lurking. In its current form, cryptos present three Sovereign approval and effective
challenges to the government and society at large. They cannot be regulated. The regulatory framework for digital cur-
decentralised system within which they operate have the potential to dismantle the rencies and other innovative financial
monetary system. The cryptocurrency network renders intermediaries superflu- products like decentralised finance can
ous, and by extension, elements of the government’s system. This can potentially transform the nature of money and fi-
trigger mayhem and destabilise an economy, especially those with weak regulatory nance. It will signify the emergence of
frameworks and feeble institutions. Cryptocurrency can incentivise, help, and a new and equitable monetary system
encourage the dishonest to circumvent capital controls and potentially (indeed, that democratises finance and enables
this has been the case) prove a putty in the hands of criminals. Major economies a more efficient, more inclusive finan-
still refuse to recognise it as legal tender. cial system by both enhancing and ena-
bling e-business, e-investments, and
Governments distrust cryptos, eye its advance warily, are concerned e-payments.
Cash created by the central bankers has several checks and more balances, are
backed by the full faith and credit of a sovereign government. The promise to ‘make Necessary checks & balances
The policy framework will determine
the success of digital currencies. It may
go downhill, under excessive regula-
tion and indifferent administrative
mechanism. Similarly, the policy must
provide the necessary checks and bal-
ances that prevent illegal and illicit
practices, and equally avoid draconian
clauses that ensure that the transac-
tion of citizens is neither traceable nor
auditable.

There is some more work to be done.
Because of existing inequalities in digi-
tal access and financial literacy, digital
currencies could end up worsening in-
equality.

The author is an economist and columnist
The views expressed are personal

Photograph by Variant 10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 23

KIRAN’S KONTRARIAN KORNER

H AVE YOU BEEN TIPPING wait- By Kiran Karnik
ers at restaurants? The govern-
ment has now reiterated that a TIPS, BRIBES
service charge cannot be added, AND
and many have stopped doing so. FREEBIES
A few continue to include it, with
a note saying it is voluntary. Restaurant news, with the Supreme Court making adverse comments on free-
owners argue that a mandatory service bies promised by parties and candidates to sway voters. Apparently,
charge supplements the income of waiters it views these as some form of bribe, with serious implications for
and staff. In fact, in some countries – and, electoral democracy and the economy. The Prime Minister, too, has
doubtless, in many restaurants in India – spoken of the “revadi culture” and irresponsible promises that have
waiters are underpaid because they will serious economic implications.
earn through tips. In the US, waiters gen-
erally expect (demand?) a tip of as much as THE DEFINITION OF A FREEBIE
20 per cent; anything less may be returned Expectedly, there is disagreement on the definition of a freebie. There
with a sarcastic comment like “You have is unanimity that free health services – be it the primary health centre
overpaid the bill”! or vaccinations – and school education are not freebies. Nor are free
rations for the deprived (especially amidst the pandemic), a water-tap
WHAT IS A TIP? in every home and houses for the poor (through the PM Awas Yojana).
What really is a tip? Is it a bribe with an eye One argument is that these are essential items; but, then, the defini-
on receiving special service in future – or is tion of “essential” changes with time.
it a reward, a baksheesh, expressing your
happiness at the service? Some would say An IT leader (the late Dewang Mehta, then President NASSCOM)
it is akin, in both cases, to dropping money added in the 1990s to the essentials in the then-prevalent slogan
in the temple hundi. A mandatory charge and popularised it as “roti, kapda, makan aur bandwidth”. In this
in the bill is like a tax, which negates both digital era, who can doubt the essentiality of electronic connectivity
bribe and baksheesh, unless you pay an (“bandwidth”)? After all, during the lockdown, much of the country
additional amount. was dependent on digital technology for key necessities – from grocer-
ies to education; from health consultancy to social interaction; from
From the viewpoint of the staff, is the meetings to news or entertainment, and for much else. Surely, then,
tip a compensation for low wages, or it a free bandwidth or even a free mobile phone or laptop cannot be in the
“freebie”? The latter is very much in the category of freebies?

Some will try to draw a line between public goods like health fa-
cilities, schools or roads and private goods like a mobile phone. Yet,
funding for a house – or for building a household toilet – are gener-
ally accepted as worthwhile, and not considered – one assumes – as
freebies. So also pensions for elders. Clearly, not all items for private
use, consumption or ownership are considered freebies.

24 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

times takes its place and offers
more versatility. In a changing
world, what is “essential” evolves
with time. In earlier times, few
thought of pensions or free
healthcare as necessary social
welfare measures. Today, for the
self-employed, using WhatsApp
to seek, promote and transact
business makes the smartphone
an essential tool for livelihood,
and would qualify under any
reasonable definition of social
welfare.

SOCIAL WELFARE?

There are, of course, vital policy

issues involved, in the context

of some freebies. For example,

in agriculture, free power often

leads to wrong cropping pat-

terns and excessive pumping of

As you consider whether to leave a tip or pay a ground water; subsidised urea
voluntary service charge in a restaurant, do ponder results in its overuse and causes
soil degradation. Passenger fare

over whether it is social welfare or a freebie. Who subsidy by the Railways means
decides what is an “undesirable freebie” and when higher freight costs, and con-
sequent diversion to polluting

doesittransformintosocialwelfare? Inademocracy, and energy-intensive road trans-
is this not best left to the voter? portation. Similarly, other well-
meaning subsidies – whether

social welfare or freebies – may

Talking of the digital age and providing have unforeseen or second-order implications of concern.

access devices has no meaning without Such expenditure has obvious political overtones; it may also have

the vital infrastructure of electricity. Now, serious fiscal and economic implications at the macro-economic level

according to media, Supreme Court views – a genuine concern which has stoked the recent controversy on free-

a few free units of electricity as social wel- bies. Yet, it is important to note that the health of the forest depends on

fare; however, some consider this an un- that of each tree, that the micro-level welfare of each individual should

desirable freebie. Wiser people may know, drive policy as much as concern for the overall GDP. The two are not

but to many a layman like this writer, it is orthogonal, but where there are trade-offs, welfare of the poor must

perplexing as to why large subsidies and dominate: a healthy, harmonious, educated nation in which everyone

tax rebates to industry are fine, but even can realise their full potential, is a better outcome than a high-GDP

limited free (electric) power to households country of great inequity and fractious divides; a happy people vs. a

is not; why free laptops are par for the merely rich nation. Which would you choose?

course, but free TV sets are not (it seems As you consider whether to leave a tip or pay a voluntary service

the Supreme Court too has considered this charge in a restaurant, do ponder over whether it is social welfare

an undesirable freebie, as differentiated or a freebie. Who decides what is an “undesirable freebie” and when

from social welfare). does it transform into social welfare? In a democracy, is this not best

Yet, for many – especially the poor – TV left to the voter?

is a source of news and entertainment, an Contrary to what many experts may say, not all freebies are bad.

escape from the rigours of the world, and

often a companion (more so for the lonely The writer loves to think in tongue-in-cheek ways, with no maliciousness or offence
and elderly). A laptop or a mobile some- intended. At other times, he is a public policy analyst and author. His latest book is
Decisive Decade: India 2030 Gazelle or Hippo (Rupa, 2021)

Photograph by Mint Images/CANVA 10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 25

COLUMN Malls Should
Promote
Ajai Kumar Dayal Holistic City
Growth
M
ALLS HAVE CAPTUREDthe imagination of shoppers every-
where and it is no surprise that they are said to range between
500 – 900 in the country today. Though we are playing catch
up, by global standards our malls are still modest in size. The
largest, Dubai Mall, spreads over 3.7 million square feet GLA,
(Gross Leasable Area) and worldwide many are between two

and three million square feet (m sq ft).

Our two largest malls, the Sarath City Capital Mall in Hy-

derabad and the new Lulu Mall in Lucknow, are both just shy of the two m sq ft

mark, most others range between a million square feet to 300,000 sq ft.

Size is dictated by many factors, primary being the availability of expansive

unencumbered real estate which is hard to find in our overbuilt cities. Still, at our

scale, we have done well with the maturing of the concept of mall shopping. Man-

agements have become increasingly sophisticated, quickly learning and adopting

global best practices including zoning, anchoring, variety, convenience and easy

and adequate parking.

They understand well the maxim ‘more time spent in the mall means more

money spent’ and work hard to surprise and delight customers with their en-

tertainment offerings and celebrations. People look at malls as a family outing

destination, so good food courts and restaurants are now de rigeur. Cinemas have

also been an integral part of malls for years. Today’s declining trend in cinema

viewing calls for close monitoring. It should not create a hole later which will need

plugging with something else.

In this quest for fresh entertainment, a plethora of ideas are at play, from Vene-

tian gondolas in canals in the mall to sports, gaming halls, bowling arcades, ice

rinks and climbing walls et al. Customer service and loyalty programmes are

much bandied buzzwords, as malls try to differentiate themselves. All this helps

the industry to grow and flourish. However, while we have bounced back from the

pandemic blues, the galloping growth of ecommerce has certainly had a dampen-

ing effect. Another party pooper is increasing transit times with logjams on city

roads, crimping the impulse factor for many otherwise willing visitors.

Despite all this, large players are again betting on offline sales. In the next five

years, Ikea and investor Ingka committed Rs 7,250 crore to develop shopping

centres and stores in Gurgaon and Noida. The Lulu Group also announced that

they will be investing Rs 6,000 crore on a pipeline of 12 new malls including major

projects in Varanasi, Prayagraj, Chennai and Coimbatore. The well-established

DLF group plans Rs 3,000 crore investments in malls in the next five years.

With all this, reports are that 85 new malls will be opened in this period and

26 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

individual retail brands are growing Experience has great value in this business. It is
in tandem. worth stating that every builder with money cannot
be a mall developer or operator. There is an art and a
As a sampling, in the five-year time science to it and vanity projects should be avoided
frame, Fila has announced 100 new
shops, Sephora another 50, Bata 500 developing parts of the city. This attracts people to the new vicinity. For example,
new franchise stores, Croma 50 stores when the Mall of the Emirates was opened in Dubai, there was practically no
and Marks and Spencer’s 37 stores. The established population in its five km catchment radius. In a couple of years, a
Indian Avatar with 95 stores is looking vibrant community had surrounded it with schools, shops and eateries and lots of
at having 500. Starbucks has planned apartment blocks. This has been the experience in city after city.
50 stores a year, and KFC, despite the
pandemic, grew from 450 to 480 last Far sighted planning by developers and city authorities can direct new invest-
year and plans to keep growing. A big ments to less established areas decongesting the burden on city services like wa-
portion of such brand shops will end ter, sewage and most of all electricity, which is needed for constant lighting and
up in malls. So, as the number of malls controlled temperature. Traffic can also be diffused by properly planning parking,
increases, individual brand expansion access and egress. The city inevitably expands then in the new direction, taking
plans also seem achievable. real estate values up with it and easing pressure on the city centre.

So, what do we need to look out for? All new properties need not be luxury malls. It makes sense to build for differ-
There is a bias towards expansion in ent income and purchase segments. Having mid-price or even budget malls or
well ‘malled’ areas such as Gurgaon, shopping centres gives smaller retailers and budget chains opportunities in good
Noida, Delhi and Chennai. Inevitably, locations which are often denied to them in upmarket malls. Customers in the
each new mall will cannibalise sales of natural catchment area around these malls are also comfortable shopping there.
already established players, first in its
immediate area, then in its city. The Two caveats . Even smaller and budget malls should be managed with the same
overall cake may grow marginally, but level of skill and expertise as the more sophisticated malls. Often such properties
the share of older, smaller players will suffer through lack of professional management, gradually fading away.
shrink rapidly as customers switch
loyalties. This has happened in many Experience has great value in this business. It is worth stating that every builder
other countries and there is no reason with money cannot be a mall developer or operator. There is an art and a science
why it won’t happen here. A good case to it and vanity projects should be avoided. The rationale of opening a new mall
study is the rise and fall of malls in the should not only be quick returns, it must have the added benefit of helping the city
crowded Sector 16 in Noida. to grow holistically, meeting different specific needs.

Internationally, developers work The writer has over 30 years’ international experience in marketing, managing brands and retail
hand in hand with city authorities to and ecommerce businesses and consults in these areas
create new destinations in nascent,

Photograph by TK Kurikawa 10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 27

COLUMN KAUSHIKPRASAD

Show and Sell way to sell ideas internally.
While it can be easy to blame senior
IN 1893 WHEN the mayor of Chi- Everyone has a
cago was shot dead on his doorstep wealth of unique people (and decision makers) for their
by an assailant, Casimir Zeglen, experiences that lacking imagination, a mock-up can
a priest, decided to do something shape the way greatly increase your chances of success.
about it. He toiled for years and patented It’s a unique way to present your work,
his new method of weaving silk into layers we view our present the decision maker with a real life
thick enough to stop bullets, creating the world and accept image to help visualise and excite him (or
world’s first soft armour. Since Europe her) enough to get the idea through. This
had the mechanical weaving machines information, technique can be particularly effective for
capable of creating a large number of using a demo or new ideas and services that can be hard to
vests, Zeglen travelled to Vienna and imagine.
partnered with an inventor – Jan Szc- mock-up is a
zepani. great way to Everyone has a wealth of unique
help the decision experiences that shape the way we view
Since soft armour was a new concept, maker visualise our world and accept information, using
to create awareness Jan and his assistants what you have in a demo or mock-up is a great way to help
started demonstrating their invention the decision maker visualise what you
with death-defying stunts of getting mind have in mind.
shot at close range. Magazines like the
Scientific American published photos of While agencies and suppliers can help
a dapper gentleman thrusting his vest you create prototypes, there are many
coated belly towards another top-hatted resources available on the internet to help
man who is firing a revolver from a couple you create your own. 3D printing is also
of feet away. Before the days of internet easily accessible to help create small-
memes or Reddit, viral images of stunts scale miniature versions of your concept.
likes these captured the people’s imagi- Sometimes even a curated customer visit
nation in the early days of the twentieth can bring to life the problem statements
century and helped drum up business. you intend addressing with your concept
Jan mastered the art of “show and sell”. or idea. While you plan your next mock-
up or demonstration, here are a few tips to
Show and sell is not limited to traveling keep in mind.
salesmen, it is also relevant to the vast ma-
jority of us. In his book To Sell Is Human, Optimise your time and effort. While
author Dan Pink argues that we are all in mock-ups can be effective to sell ideas,
sales – whether we’re employees pitching you don’t want to spend too much time
colleagues on a new idea or entrepreneurs preparing it or agonising over how it
enticing investors – we spend our days looks.
moving people.
Keep it simple. Like most other things,
In most organisations we spend our minimalism is the key. It’s important not
time pitching proposals and ideas to to overdo – limit the mock-up to what’s
senior people and decision makers to required to help visualise.
secure resources and the organisation’s
support behind new initiatives. Most of Be accurate. It’s important to be ac-
us use slide decks to support the pitch in curate and not raise expectations or create
meetings. But sometimes others in the confusion.
organisation may lack the imagination to
really see the end result. Demonstrations, The key to a great demo or mock-up is
mock-ups or prototypes can be a great in not just showing off the widget but also
presenting how customers can use it and
interact with it. If Jan’s salesmen could
take a bullet to sell you can surely consider
moving beyond a slide deck the next time
you pitch an idea.

The author is a marketing profes-
sional. He currently leads ecommerce

for international markets at Ford

28 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022



COLUMN Ashutosh Garg

L ONELINESS IS A BIG

problem at any age and in
retirement with a loss of
self-worth accompanied
with stresses related to
financial security, lone-

liness can be a serious

problem. Social isolation

and loneliness are well known as causes

of depression, mental health problems

and physical illness. They are conditions

usually associated with older people, who

may experience the profoundly isolating

effects of retirement, loss of a partner and

children moving away.

There have been several cases where

loneliness has led to depression, high

blood pressure and other psychosomatic Tackling
Loneliness in
illnesses. Those retirees who are mar- Retirement

ried at least have a companion but for

those retirees who have remained sin-

gle or have separated or have lost their

spouse, the problems of loneliness get

compounded very significantly.

Loneliness is something that of-

ten creeps up on people in retirement.

Loneliness can be twice as unhealthy as

obesity, according to researchers who

found that feelings of isolation can have

a devastating impact on older people.

Even the most gregarious and sociable

of people can find themselves in the unfa-

miliar territory of feeling lonely and iso-

lated, and this in turn can lead to depres- and break into an existing social network your mental health in retirement. What’s
post retirement is challenging, to say the more, there is growing evidence that so-
sion. Loneliness comes from the death of least. cial isolation relates to an increased risk
w Loss of a spouse is one of the top of physical ill health as well, so combat-
a spouse, the loss of close friends, or the traumas a human being experiences in ing loneliness may also improve your
one’s life. It’s not uncommon to lose a health.
development of a debilitating illness – all partner at some point during the later
years of life. An increasing number of very senior
things that we don’t want to think about, retirees have only got their television for
People who are socially comfortable company and this is a serious challenge
but unfortunately are inevitable, as we and well-connected may easily make new that we as members of society need to
friends, but if you are socially awkward address.
get older. and have traditionally found it difficult to
make friends you need to find structured “Human contact is my oxygen. I try to
Retirees sometimes experience a triple activities that will help you create social keep myself occupied but the chance of
contacts. human contact is more important than
whammy that contributes to loneliness anything to me. The touch of another hu-
It only takes a little effort to make man being is more so,” said one person
in a relatively short period of time. new friends and stave off those feelings when he was talking to me.
of loneliness that can be so damaging to
u Kids have often moved out of the “It makes me feel sad. I no longer feel

house and sometimes far away from

home

v Typically, around the same time,

people lose their ready-made social cir-

cle at work. Most people do not take the

trouble to create a social network outside

work while they were working and to try

30 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

of use to society but much of the time I

mask my feelings with a mindset to keep

going. People tell me that I am lucky to

have my memories, but this doesn’t help.

I want to make the most of my life now,”

said another.

After speaking to several very elderly

retirees, I found that they missed the

all-important social contact with their

friends and family. As they grew older

and as one or both slowed down and

were not able to reciprocate the social

niceties that they had done all their lives,

they could see that gradually they were

dropped from their social circle and the

invitations began to drop off. It reached a

stage where they would see no one except

their domestic staff for many weeks at a

time.

In research con- It only takes a little effort to make new friends and and obligations. Take
ducted in the UK, stave off those feelings of loneliness that can be so advantage of this to
medical practition- damaging to your mental health in retirement. What’s explore your inter-
ers tracked down ests, whether you are

more than 2,000 more, there is growing evidence that social isolation volunteering at the
people aged 50 and local school, joining a
over and found that relates to an increased risk of physical ill health as well book club, playing an

the loneliest were instrument or writ-

nearly twice as likely to die during the six- be treated as such. ing.

year study as the least lonely. Conversely, Based on discussions with some care- l Stay Positive – Talking to yourself

loneliness is contagious. givers to the elderly and infirm, the fol- to challenge your pessimistic or negative

A recent survey revealed that while lowing were some of the points that came thoughts has been found to be very ef-

only 10 per cent of Indian seniors living in up to tackle loneliness: fective. Perceived loneliness is often due

joint families felt isolated, nearly 68 per l StaySocial-Maintain long-stand- to incorrect or irrational interpretations

cent of those living with nuclear fami- ing relationships as a way to combat of current life situations. Identify these

lies reported loneliness. The survey also loneliness. Reconnect with friends with thoughts and argue against them, utilis-

found that older people living in rural whom you have lost touch and establish ing contrary evidence. If this is difficult

areas have more social interactions and regular routines with friends near you. or you need assistance, you can work with

feel the pain of loneliness less in com- Join social networking websites to get a counsellor or with a friend who you can

parison to the urban elderly. It was also reacquainted with people from your past. trust.

found that older Indian men are more Long-standing relationships are more l Get a Pet – A dog or a cat have been

prone to isolation than older women. beneficial in fighting loneliness than new known to be great companions for lonely

While the developed economies have friendships. people. If you and your spouse like a pet

understood the loneliness needs of the Senior citizens living in condomini- and are willing to take on the responsibil-

retirees and the senior citizens, we have ums have managed to find a way to stay ity of looking after another living being

yet to get an appreciation of their needs social and several resident welfare asso- then bring a pet into your home.

in India. We assume that once a person ciations have provided for specific areas

has retired, he / she will be happy with where the senior citizens can sit together The author is a business and executive coach and
their television sets watching “serials” for a cup of coffee every morning and an angel investor. He hosts the highly successful

and have some of their friends for compa- evening. podcast titled The Brand Called You. He is also the
ny. We need to watch and listen more. l ExploreNewInterests-As a retir- Founder Chairman of Guardian Pharmacies and
author of eight best-selling books. He writes for
Older people are a treasure and should ee, you probably have less commitments several online newspapers

Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 31

(A)MUSE & MUSINGS By Srinath Sridharan

B
HARAT, THE LAND of opportunities
and wisdom has come a long way. Just Dreaming
in these few years of its efforts. Bharat @100

India, the nation. Large democracy. Dream on
Thought leader amongst its peer na- “ I Have a Dream, a song to sing
tions. We grew up with “Unity in di- To help me cope, with anything
versity” lessons in school.
If you see the wonder, of a fairy tale
Our traditional values inspired You can take the future, even if you fail. “
respect for every creation and every — lyrics of the song I have a Dream by Abba
form of life. They involved inherent
acceptance of nature, and what it Future is what we make it to be. We will indeed face the
provided. They inculcated respect for challenges of the 21st Century. While we worry about what
upholding accountability and trans- technological disruptions can cause harm or injuries, let us
parency. Yet strangely, the world in not forget ourselves – us humans! We have the maximum
the 21st Century seems to have just propensity to be edgy, and we long for action. I wonder if
discover a buzzword called ‘ESG’. meditation and being still is a simple and impossible task
for billions of the human race!
India at 75, in the sense of our post
Covid world, is a hybrid of achieve- We need to worry about humans getting influenced by
ments. We have the mixture of growth, perceptions and false narratives. We should worry about
aspirations, gaps, and divides. getting carried away by what is not true, in reality.

We have made huge progress since
1947, and yet, we still have poverty,
inequality, illiteracy, troubling us and
restraining us from becoming a devel-
oped society.

Our markets have made progress
with Valuations. But in ideological
values, we need to be more united.
Respect for others has to be unitary,
and not a relative outcome.

The India@75 celebrations dis-
played phenomenal energy. It was sat-
isfying to see our Tricolour fluttering
high across the length and breadth of
the country. What an energetic feel-
ing it was.

The reality is ahead of us. We have
to work harder to be truly worthy of
our Independence and the values that
our freedom fighters and thought
leaders had stood for.

We have to ensure that we are able
to create equal opportunities for each
of our fellow citizens.

32 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

We should worry about our own Across by design, is not inclusive. The only way to ensure inclusive-
(unnecessary) pride, prejudices, per- multiple ness is to provide an ecosystem for having a livelihood, and
colated stupidities and pandering no- hues. We have more if at all in bettering it. This is a political and market
tions. divides too. necessity, for only such a state of opportunities will keep
We grew up social harmony in check.
Let’s talk about … Money! with divides
Without this resource, our economy around caste, Despite our efforts, narratives and denials, we do have a
cannot scale. We need to be open and creed, gender, society of haves and have nots. Across multiple hues. We
transparent about money conversa- upbringing, have divides too. We grew up with divides around caste,
tions. We have come a long ago in this jobs, social creed, gender, upbringing, jobs, social hierarchies, and
aspect. In the digital era, data is how hierarchies, more. Can we ensure that these don’t creep further into the
we will have to govern. So with the and more. Can other contemporary divides in our society such as access to
highest data governance, we can raise we ensure that data, digital, or any other criteria?
sufficient monies required to scale our these don’t
economy. creep further Opportunities galore
For example, we don’t still have into the other To be relevant in global conversations, we have to be eco-
adequate and timely data about our contemporary nomically stronger too. We need to build brands from India
informal sector. Or for that matter, divides in our that we can see all over the world by 2047. For we have the
even about our micro, medium and society such skills, brains, talent to do so. All we have to do is to make
small enterprises (MSME). These are as access to this a mission for India Inc. – and channelise our abundant
where the bulk of our brethren earn data, digital, energies, add some strategic planning and focussed disci-
their daily living, or starve for the day. or any other pline with some frenzied execution pace.
In a data world, such lack of granular criteria?
data for policy making makes us vul- For these, we need to nurture a resilient young genera-
nerable. tion. We need to give them skills of the future and knowl-
We need to scale our economy, not edge for the future. Yet alarmingly, our education sector is
for any boasting rights. But to boost yet to add value to the concept of learning! The incentives
our chances at inclusiveness. Finance, for teachers is so low that we seem to have forgotten how
ancient Bharat respected its teachers. No wonder, we have

Photograph by Stockshoppe 10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 33

(A)MUSE & MUSINGS By Srinath Sridharan

paper teachers, and we have a system We need this building city roads that can last a few years. How can we
with perverse incentives that will not dream of blame our fellow citizens if they leave the shores for better
build a persuasive generation after us. India @ 100. quality of living or simple clutter-free civic infrastructure?
Hopefully, the New Education Policy We need to
(NEP) will disrupt the broken system contribute to I did not witness India becoming independent, but I
and build a resilient and productive an inclusive grew up seeing how an Independent India nurtured its
generation of our youngsters. For it is stable beliefs, shaped our hunger to succeed and propelled us
their India. resilient India. to overcome fears in our minds. We did not have many
For every material things, but always had the hunger to rise and
The actual soft power of our demo- individual shine. In life and in society. Just as you are, I too am a
graphics lies in nearly two-thirds of counts, and proud Indian, with the ethos and culture of Indianness
them who are under 35 years of age. every positive ingrained in me.
That’s where both the opportunities action adds
and concerns reside. In this GEMZ up. When Can we have a society where we can civilly agree to disa-
(Gig Economy Millennials & GenZ) you feel it gree? And yet build a stronger love for our land. For She
era, challenges abound. We need to is dark, just has given us everything that we have.
move away from a misplaced sense remember:
of concept and social entitlement of “there is It is Hope despite hunger, Perseverance despite pain, Faith
employment, and make a develop- darkness despite failures that has brought us here so far. We need to
mental ecosystem of livelihood op- before dawn” stay the course, with renewed energy, positivity and focus. We
portunities. simply cannot lag behind, be slack or slow down.

That’s why we need a sense of ur- We need this dream of India @ 100. We need to contrib-
gency. ute to an inclusive stable resilient India. For every individu-
al counts, and every positive action adds up. When you feel
We need an India that’s built on the it is dark, just remember: “there is darkness before dawn”.
premise of quality. We should not just
build newer cities and transportation India @ 100 will be how well we govern all aspects of
modes, but also have liveable cities and ourselves to give us more. And our actions from now will
towns. We take pride in building low determine if it will be better than what we are now. We have
cost and high impact space innovation. the People, Patience and Past learnings, and the big Picture.
Yet we have repeatedly failed in even Of what we were, are and can be.

The author is a corporate advisor and independent markets commentator

Photograph by Firefxstudio 34 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022



COLUMN By S. RAVI

in the key information memorandum
which is approved by the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Hassle-free investment
The process of investment in domestic
mutual funds is established and hassle
free. Investors intending to invest in
foreign stocks can go through domes-
tic mutual funds who have schemes
mandated to invest in foreign stocks.
The PGIM India global equity oppor-
tunities fund Nippon India, US op-
portunity fund ICICI Prudential, US
blue-chip DSP US, flexible equity fund
Aditya Birla Sun Life GLOBAL Emerg-
ing Fund, are some prominent mutual
funds who have created a platform for
investment overseas.

Investors’ interest in international
mutual funds is reflected by the fact
that in the year 2020-2021, overseas
investment increased by 300 per cent,
amounting to Rs 12,400 crores, as as-
sets under management folios also
jumped steeply to 6.97 lakhs. Retail
and HNI (high net worth individuals)

How to Invest in
International Mutual

Funds

I NVESTMENTININTERNATIONALmutualfundsisgettingmorepopular have invested heavily over the years.
as it is generally believed that all global stocks will not fall together under nor- The process of investment is simple
mal circumstances. Investments in global stocks can be made through direct
investments, ETFs, global mutual funds and fund of funds. and similar to investment in domestic
This category is quite popular, as in investing in global mutual funds inves- mutual funds. Technology has been the
tors hedge their risk by investing in domestic as well as global stocks. Inter- catalyst that has enabled investors to
national mutual funds invest in various countries and stocks, including domestic invest in a faster hassle free environ-
stocks. Domestic fund houses also provide access to investment in global companies ment. In the year of the pandemic and
under various schemes floated specifically for such investments. All the major fund lockdown, Mutual’s upgraded plat-
houses in India provide a window for global investments under various schemes. The forms to avoid disruption.
schemesarewelldefinedandthecharacteristicsof theproductofferingaredefined
The investment can be made in In-
dian rupees and redemption too is in

36 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

An aspect that needs to be factored in this is that it is always better to
invest from a medium or long-term perspective as foreign stocks give a

good return over a period of time. Short-term investment in
international mutual funds have witnessed volatility and thus should be
avoided. Non- resident Indians have the liberty of investment from the
country of residency. International mutual funds have delivered returns
of 27 per cent last year. The three-year return is around 12 per cent and

the five-year return is approximately 13 per cent

Indian rupees. Investing in an overseas from a medium or long-term perspec- with data wherein fund performance
mutual fund which is non-domestic, tive as foreign stocks give a good return is available, along with NAV and re-
has its own challenges in terms of over a period of time. Short-term in- turns.
methodology of payment, foreign ex- vestment in international mutual funds
change fluctuation and taxation. The have witnessed volatility and thus Ease of investing, technology up-
most preferred investment vehicle is should be avoided. grades and low fixed deposit rates have
through domestic fund houses as data encouraged investors to invest through
and performance is readily available. Non resident Indians have the liberty international mutual funds. The ten-
of investment from the country of resi- dency of investors is also to mitigate
For investors who have a strong dency. International mutual funds have risks by diversifying their portfolio
domestic presence, the most efficient delivered returns of 27 per cent last across global markets and stocks.
mechanism is to invest through do- year. The three-year return is around
mestic fund houses, who in turn invest 12 per cent and the five-year return is This is just a beginning as investors
through various schemes in foreign approximately 13 per cent. Investors would certainly opt for such options
stocks. The pattern of investment in still have the option to choose country- as more domestic fund houses launch
international mutual funds is different specific investment through a domestic vehicles to invest, allowing them lib-
from that of investments in domestic fund house. erty to choose schemes based on per-
mutual funds. formance.
There are specific schemes for invest-
An aspect that needs to be factored ments, predominantly in US-based The author is a former chairman of Bombay Stock
in this is that it is always better to invest stocks. Today the investor is equipped
Exchange and Founder of Ravi Rajan & Co.

Photograph by Kasta/Canva 10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 37

Noorings [email protected]

THE RIPPLE India’s luxury travel sector will
EFFECT continue to see a higher share of
domestic luxury travel even in the
As the travel sector in India opens up, it impacts next couple of years, with numbers
both hospitality and tourism in its wake but the most showing that 2023 and 2024 will
vivid aspect of the uptick is seen in the rise of luxury beat the 2019 numbers by a large
margin on that count. A similar
travel including domestic and international growth trend will be seen in inter-
national luxury travel as well.
by Noor Fathima Warsia
These numbers should not come
O NE OF THE most impacted sectors in the last two years has as a surprise to players in the sec-
been travel and hospitality. After a reset in 2020, where tor because one of the key seg-
mass travel suffered significantly, luxury travel quietly ments that were targeted by desti-
made a comeback with pent-up demand and revenge travel nation marketers and tourism
never really being as missing from the scene as its mass companies to revive India’s tour-
equivalent. As uncertainty, and its impact on sectors like ism was luxury travel and this
aviation continued, luxury travel did see its ups and downs, thrust has continued. Staycation
registering degrowth in 2020 but all signals now indicate that this sector is and workation became real con-
poised for sustained growth for the next three years. cepts in the immediate post-pan-
demic phase as solo travel for all
In 2020, domestic luxury tourism in India was estimated to have gener- ages picked up. The growth of lux-
ated only half of the revenue it did in 2019, while its international luxury ury travel even when mass travel
tourism sector was anticipated to have lost one billion US dollars worth of was in the doldrums is also be-
revenue compared to the year prior according to a Statista study on the topic. cause of the growth in India’s high-
This strong drop in luxury tourism revenue expected for India is associated network individuals and upper
with the pandemic. Nonetheless, the report forecasts that India’s luxury tour- echelons.
ism sectors will recover by 2022 and even generate revenues surpassing the
pre-pandemic numbers in the succeeding years. The pandemic also caused a
shift in mindset for this segment
and reports indicated how travel-
lers now prefer longer stay holi-
days that are specifically custom-
ised also to their health and safety
needs and impulse travel. Wellness
and health focussed travel, travel-
ling with nature in mind, uncon-
ventional experiences, innovative
travel packages, adventure travel
and even factoring in workspace
during travel have all become some
of the new trends that are driving
luxury travel at the moment.

These trends have opened up
the market for many new kinds
of players as well. More or less
luxury travel is leading the
growth of the travel sector per se
which is now poised to bring in
more numbers to the Indian
economy than it has in the last
two years, thereby impacting
much more in its wake.

38 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022



MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

GUEST COLUMN and concerns, they go on to
develop upgraded versions

of its services and products.

Customer This in turn pushes other
companies from the same
industry to try and match

Centricity In the advanced product. This
creates a domino effect
as now rival companies
have to engage with their

Building respective consumer bases
to see how they respond to
their products. Thus, mak-
ing businesses focus on

Brand Choice customer centricity.
Customer-centric firms

Customer-centric firms

Businesses should make product decisions with the cus- are the ones which are

tomer in mind, try to know them on a granular level and led by customer-centric
aim for a long-term relationship By Dipali Goenka leaders, as it all starts
from the top. Brands must

have a customer-focused

CUSTOMER centricity Focus on customers satisfying your consumer leadership wherein the top
is an approach that One of the most important base and also gaining management gets involved
goes much beyond goals for businesses is to loyal customers. This puts in all decisions related to

customer service, and retain customers, and that your business in a more customers; they should

brands need to integrate can be possible only if the comfortable position while focus on personalisation to

this into every channel customers are happy and also giving you a competi- offer utmost convenience

and business area for satisfied with the brand’s tive edge, especially over to every customer. Lead-

maximum focus on the offerings. In addition, gen- companies that don’t have ers should also initiate a

end-users of their products erating leads and referrals the same approach at the digital transformation

and/ or services. Customer from current customers core of their framework. and proactively use data;

centricity helps businesses is easier if they are happy Customer centric- most importantly, the ones

understand what custom- with the business, and this ity helps provide much- that can help businesses

ers like and dislike, and can help brands acquire needed competition innovate and pivot. In ad-

tailor products and ser- new customers at lesser in the market. Once a dition, an overall custom-

vices accordingly. This then costs. It also helps increase company starts identify- er-centric culture needs

helps build brand loyalty the customer’s lifetime ing its customer’s needs to be set in place for all the

among consumers. value, which will benefit By prioritising the needs of
Organisations need to the brand in the long term. the customer, you are

shift from a traditional and As we all know, when it satisfying your consumer
product-driven business comes to policies and busi-
approach toward customer ness strategies not every
centricity since in today’s idea is a win-win one. How-

era, keeping customers’ ever, customer centricity is base and also gaining loyal
preferences on top and one avenue where busi- customers
catering to their needs will nesses have been able to
help businesses stay ahead make fast sales and profit.

of the competition as well By prioritising the needs

as benefit in terms of sales. of the customer, you are

40 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

Putting sumers through research,
customers at and for that many have cre-
the core of all ated research centres. This
activities can can guide decision-making
help textile for companies with regard
companies in to product development,
coming up with consumer marketing, and
exclusive, retailer assortments.
innovative
merchandising Putting customers at the
ideas at core of all activities can fur-
different price ther help textile companies
points in coming up with exclu-
sive, innovative merchan-
DIPALI GOENKA, dising ideas at different
Joint MD & CEO, price points in their various
Welspun India capabilities from design to
execution. Textile firms are
people who are a part of an product decisions with the that can support them in also continuously striving
organisation to be focused customer in mind, try to the change will be seen as to invest in consumer-
on meeting the customers’ know the customers on a valued partners in life or driven innovations. For
needs and making custom- granular level and engage business. Those that don’t example, Bazaarvoice is
ers their top priority. with them even after sales might face difficulties in one such tool that major
are made, and get into a achieving their goals. companies use to collect
Along with all of these, long-term relationship and display user-generated
most importantly, brands with the customers. Textile firms in focus content. Another very
should adopt an outside-in Several textile firms today widely used tool is Google
approach instead of the Brands that understand are setting great examples 360 Analytics Suite. In
inside-out approach. The and respond to changes in through various ways of addition, various new
outside-in approach is customers’ lives or business being customer-centric, tools and innovations are
where the brands would situations will increase including sustainability being developed for the
first get to know what cus- satisfaction and value. programmes that are ben- sole purpose of navigating
tomers’ needs are and then When customers have a eficial to people as well as customer centricity.
the decision-making would change in their situation the planet. Many firms are
take place at the different such as moving home or trying to understand the The pandemic pushed
levels in the organisation. growing a business, their specific needs of their con- textile firms to focus on a
needs heighten. Businesses digital makeover and made
Businesses should make them more agile, able to
serve customers better, and
increased their value.

Overall, organisations
that follow a customer-
centric approach are more
likely to create better, long-
lasting relationships with
their customers as they
work towards delivering
what the customer wants
and needs by understand-
ing them completely.

 Goenkais JointMD&

CEO, Welspun India

10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 41

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

STANDPOINT

ONCE UPON A time SOCIAL COMMERCE
not too long ago,
social media was Why you can’t
all about socialising and afford to ignore it
perhaps some window
shopping. Users were there The exponential rise of social commerce today is simply a
to connect with people they fitting memo to brands reminding them that for customers,
knew and for brand discov- shopping continues to be a social experience. And it’s inevita-
ery. If they saw something ble that social feeds today resemble a trip to the mall. Is your
they liked, the purchase brand there yet? By Amit Tiwari
route was via a search en-
gine to the brand’s website merce industry is expected an online fashion retailer 2021. SimSim is a social
or shopping platform. to grow steadily over the owned by Walmart, made commerce startup that
Today, however, that MO forecast period, recording a its foray into social com- helps small businesses to
has been turned on its CAGR of 62.4 per cent dur- merce at scale in Novem- move to ecommerce via
head. Social media is now ing 2022-2028. Already, ber 2021 by introducing videos and creators. Social
as much about hanging out established retailers and M-Live, a first-of-its-kind commerce has also seen
as it is about shopping. even ecommerce compa- interactive and real-time an upsurge on Instagram,
nies are leaning into the po- shopping experience for its Etsy, Pinterest, etc.
A recent study by Accen- tential of social commerce customers. Google owned
ture found that the $492 through acquisitions or video sharing and social A key factor in the suc-
billion global social com- creating a different verti- media platform YouTube cess of social commerce is
merce industry is expected cal. For example, Myntra, acquired SimSim in July the trust that digital na-
to grow three times as fast tives place in their favourite
as traditional ecommerce
to $1.2 trillion by 2025.
Growth is predicted to be
driven primarily by Gen Z
and Millennial social me-
dia users, accounting for
62 per cent of global social
commerce spend by 2025,
the report states. The 2022
Shopper Experience Index
also found that in 2021, one
out of two shoppers bought
via social media.

Rise of social commerce
In India too, the social
commerce landscape has
been witnessing a steady
inflow of investment from
various VC and PE funds,
as well individual inves-
tors. According to the latest
Research and Markets
Report, the social com-

42 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022 Photograph by Sundaybest

social media platforms both through content jour- A key factor in other developments in the
and circle of influencers neys and seamless check- the success of metaverse will enable fur-
including family, friends out funnel experiences is social ther platform innovations
and domain experts. Social fundamental. For brands, commerce is for social commerce to
commerce simply leverages this means working closely the trust that thrive. However, it is up to
that trust and offers the with platforms as well as digital natives the brands and platforms
shoppers what they want, others in the supply chain, place in their to decide whose responsi-
when they want it. for example, fulfillment favourite social bility it should be to pay for
providers to ensure that media and provide capabilities
Apart from trust, basic customer satisfaction and platforms and like these – from purchase
commerce capabilities are delight remain a priority. circle of to delivery. Unless both
essential for a seat at the It’s only after trust has influencers entities work together, it
social commerce table. been built, and hesitant including doesn’t matter what cool
Providing consumers a users have become return family, friends social commerce features
high-quality, enriched customers that the real and domain are on offer – shoppers will
technical conduit for trust experts remain wary of purchases
through this channel.
AMIT TIWARI,
Global Head, It is at this crossroads
Marketing Demand that brands and platforms
Centre, TCS find themselves today.
For brands the decision to
power of social commerce ramp up social commerce
comes alive. capabilities will depend
on their media strategy
Engagement channels and where they are in their
Experiences like brand journey. For plat-
livestreaming, curated forms, the investment can
content feeds, seller consul- be the differentiator factor
tations, and influencer rec- between the competition.
ommendations are some It will also help reduce
of the engagement models dependence on advertising
which brands are already revenue and bring deeper
leveraging competently engagement between
to persuade consumers to users and the platform.
spend more. Towards this Unfortunately, there is no
end, 5G rollout and AR and playbook to follow — the
right brand-platform
partnerships, as well as
transparency and data-
sharing are all factors that
will eventually determine
the way forward. While
the potential for growth is
immense, so are the com-
plexities. The challenge for
brands is knowing where
to place its bets and then
executing it well.

 GlobalHead,Marketing

Demand Centre, TCS

10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 43

BW EVENT / MWB SUMMIT 2022

MAKE WAY FOR Above (L-R): Sudhakar Rao, Director,
METAVERSE! ICFAI Group; Sanjiv Mehta, CEO & MD,
Hindustan Unilever; Rana Barua,
Group CEO, Havas Group India;
Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-
in-Chief, BW Businessworld

Above, right (L-R): Nikhil Mathur,
Managing Director - India, Head of
Data Partnership and Innovation -
APAC, GfK; Shashi Sinha, CEO - India,
Mediabrands; Aman Gupta, Co-
Founder & CMO, boAt; Jyoti Malhotra,
Managing Director, Volvo Cars India

With the numerous exchanges over from the brand side (Nivea, Perfetti van Melle, Bajaj Capital,
metaverse’s influence and potential in boAt, DBS Bank, HDFC Life, Mastercard, Godrej & Boyce,
the past months, India’s top marketers Nestle, etc) and the agency side (Mediabrands, dentsu,
attested to its growing popularity Publicis), delving deep into the concept of the metaverse,
and their will to embrace this new elucidating its present-day contours, its play within the
technology, at the 17th edition of the digital economy, how new brands can seamlessly adopt
BW Businessworld Marketing Whitebook Summit 2022. this technology, and how brands can evolve from physical
The two-city gala book launch witnessed keynotes by to meta mode. This edition also saw a footfall of 800+
Sanjiv Mehta, CEO & MD, Hindustan Unilever in Mumbai and delegates including company chiefs, C-suite, and decision-
Jyoti Malhotra, Managing Director, Volvo Car India in Delhi, makers from the media, marketing & advertising fraternity.
bringing ‘Leadership in the metaverse’ into focus. 
The majority of the experts feel that metaverse is way
Returning to its physical avatar after two years, the BW beyond a buzzword and can make for a big win in their
MWB Launch & Summit hosted 20+ superspeakers, both upcoming marketing decisions. For them, the metaverse

44 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

is opening doors to a plethora of opportunities that which is the least of the marketing budget.
will further redefine the overall immersive customer Along with the metaverse, conversational marketing
experience. Sanjiv Bajaj, Jt. Chairman & Managing
Director, Bajaj Capital agrees, “There are so many is another uncharted frontier for brands. “Through
opportunities in this space. Businesses are no longer about conversational media, brands nowadays have a new
products but experiences. The customer always thinks way of reaching consumers and engaging them in a
about how he or she was made to feel when they bought a meaningful conversation. This gives brands a great
product. So basically, the metaverse is your experience.” opportunity to interact with them through messaging that
reflects their mood, intent, subject, and keywords,” says 
“The metaverse is a technology that brands must adapt Ankit Prasad, Founder and CEO, Bobble AI.
to and stay updated on or else they will be obsolete in the
market,” says Sunil Pathare, Chairman & Managing Evidently, the success of the book and the participation
Director, VIP Clothing. of these dignitaries underline the growing metaverse
conversation around the globe. Increasingly, the Chief
Sudhakar Rao, Director, ICFAI Group  further explains Marketing Officer is being called the Chief Metaverse Officer
the necessary traits in leaders for the metaverse. He states, today. As digital becomes mainstream and technology
“Beyond functionality, the ability to suspend your disbelief become both the nucleus and the command system of
at one level and to follow a leadership model between the companies, the metaverse becomes infinite, without reset
‘Architect’ & the ‘Gardener’ on another will benefit future or pause. It is also fully integrated into every experience of
leaders. The ‘architect’ has a goal in mind and will work a consumer. In the metaverse, all can co-create, co-opt,
methodically to create that vision. The ‘Gardener’ needs to coordinate and collaborate to contribute to a platform
see the changes the architect makes and be able to adapt with unprecedented opportunities for businesses and
and execute the plans. “ brands. “It’s not a question of if I get into the metaverse,
but instead it’s a question of when I get into the metaverse,”
However, for Aman Gupta, Co-founder and CMO, sums Nikhil Mathur, Managing Director-India, Head of
boAt, experimenting in metaverse is not their focus at the Data Partnership and Innovation-APAC, GfK.
moment. But they are going to spend around Rs 25 lakh,

10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 45

BW EVENT / MWB SUMMIT 2022

Winning In Metaverse
Will Be A Marathon, Not A
Sprint: Sanjiv Mehta, HUL

Sanjiv Mehta, CEO & MD, Technologies such as cloud
Hindustan Unilever computing, augmented and
virtual reality, Web 3.0 and
now, very soon, even 5G;
have given or are giving thrust to tech
town's new and favourite buzzword,
'the metaverse.' It is an interconnected
and limitless virtual world, providing
an extension to our physical identities.
While it may not be here in full capacity
as of now, it is undoubtedly the next big
thing.

As people spend more time online,
they develop a distinct real and virtual
life. This makes it imperative to ensure
that the metaverse on which our virtual
life will revolve is safe for usage; hence,
we need to build it for good.

Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and MD,
Hindustan Unilever, while speaking
at the 17th edition of the BW
Businessworld Marketing Whitebook
Summit 2022 said that what we do
in the metaverse will become part of
our legacy. "We must learn from real-
world events and ensure that we don't
recreate society's problems in the
virtual world," he added.

He laid out a four-fold governance
stack that would help build the
metaverse for good. The first revolves
around ensuring data privacy, focusing
on raising data governance and
privacy literacy. Other pillars include
emphasising equality, diversity and
inclusion, keeping the metaverse
people-centric and ensuring its low
carbon footprint.

"We need to design metaverse so
that it can stand up to ethics, inclusion
and safety, which is coded right from
the beginning," stated Mehta.

He concluded by suggesting, "To win
in the metaverse will be a marathon,
not a sprint."

46 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

Jyoti Malhotra, Managing
Director, Volvo Cars India

Metaverse Is A Reality Recharge, marks the beginning of its
But Comes With Risks: journey towards sustainability. "By
Jyoti Malhotra, Volvo Cars India 2030, Volvo will be a 100 per cent
electric car company worldwide,
As the keynote speaker at the three-point safety belt, which has and 50 per cent of our revenues will
the 17th edition of the BW since been given to everybody without come from electric cars by 2025,"
Businessworld Marketing any patent. So, Volvo has saved a lot said Malhotra.
Whitebook Summit 2022, of lives directly or indirectly."
Jyoti Malhotra, Managing Director, Talking about the future virtual
Volvo Cars India delved deep into In regard to the upcoming plans of world and the metaverse, he quoted,
the company’s future plans and their the business, he added, "Within the "Metaverse is a reality now but it
focus on sustainability. car industry, we have a very ambitious comes with its own risks. It can be
plan to become a carbon neutral used, though on a smaller scale, with
He said, "Volvo is known for safe company and a circular economy by a limited audience. It is feasible to use
cars; safety is ingrained in our DNA 2040." metaverse for events, conferences,
and sustainability is also equally showrooms, concerts, prototyping
important to us. Volvo also invented Volvo's recently launched and testing new products. Beyond
fully electric car, the Volvo XC40 that, creating virtual workplaces and
educational institutes is also possible
in the metaverse."

10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 47

COLUMN By Srinath Sridharan & Jayesh Shah

G Can Indian
SSIs Flourish
ARTNER PREDICTS that by the end
of 2023, the SaaS market will reach in a SAAS
$208 billion in revenue. Add to that, World?
other services like Application Infra-
structure as a Service (PaaS), System
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and
Cloud Management and Security
Services, the number goes up close to
a staggering $600 billion. (Source:
Gartner, April 2022.)

Covid was a wakeup call to those who Software System Integration comes in.
were slower in their decisioning around
adopting digital tools and techniques. Shift to ready-to-use SaaS products
It was probably even a better catalyst There is no doubt that the exponential growth in SaaS adop-
than most of the engaged boards and tion will be at the expense of System Integration / Profession-
CIOs / CDOs. Yet there have been is- al Services companies because the shift from monolithic ap-
sues from the past where the question plication systems to ready-to-use SaaS products / platforms
about viability and utility of Software is irreversible. It not only offers cash flow flexibility, but also
System Integration (SSI) is still being allows for the businesses to focus on their core competence
debated. Globally, and in India, busi- and not be constrained to build an IT organisation that they
nesses have started adopting Software can barely manage or afford.
as a Service (SaaS) in a big way. It has re-
shaped the way IT teams were designed That said, deploying an enterprise SaaS product is not
into the organisation structure. This as easy as it seems. It is not configure and plug and play,
is where the debate of importance of even if it may be sold as such. There are legacy systems to
be integrated, data to be accessed or migrated and security

48 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022

to be managed. Especially these days, built on top through available add-ons or customisation.
with data privacy being an imperative,
customers are worried about critical Deploying an SaaS products require partners
business information not being in enterprise
their control. SaaS product Unless it is a very simple process, most SaaS products require
is not as partners who must understand the customer’s requirements,
Transparent policy on IP easy as it design the architecture and then implement it. In such cases,
Hence, a transparent policy on IP own- seems. It is there also might be a need for complex workflows to be under-
ership versus data ownership is needed. not configure stood and managed. While it may be possible for a company
Another issue is the location of the data, and plug and to do all this on its own, hiring a professional services provider
especially the fallback centres, more so play, even if it will definitely give it an edge in being faster to market.
in the Indian context. may be sold
as such. There Withevolvingtechnologyandtheadventof thedigitalage,
If theclientisinthefinancialservices are legacy the imperative is to address the real time resolution requests
business, the complexity increases to systems to be across the value chain. Velocity and volume of incoming and
another level. To give an example, a integrated, outgoing events, coupled with intense business competition,
bank has sensitive customer data con- data to be have acted as a strong lever for businesses to start considering
cerning a loan, be it of an individual or accessed or vertical automations within organisations with a business
an institution. migrated and outcome and business function combination driving automa-
security to be tion. The expectation from a SaaS product is not only quick
The question that then arises is: managed implementation and cost effectiveness but also ease of use. Its
what does the bank do with this infor- cloud-native design makes it easy to scale without the hassles
mation? How long is the data retained of high-cost infrastructure and maintenance needs.
after repayment? Is it used to push
other products or worse, shared with For example, SAP, one of the best known on-premises
outsiders? This is just one example of global ERP companies, had a huge ecosystem of implemen-
how complex it can become. In addi- tation partners. Now that it has an offering on the cloud,
tion to that, there are specific require- SAP S/4 HANA, it still depends on partners. Companies
ments of the customer that need to be like Salesforce, UIPath, Automation Anywhere, have a huge
partner ecosystem. While established SaaS players rely on

Photograph by Rawpixel 10 September 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 49

COLUMN By Srinath Sridharan & Jayesh Shah

business partners to provide services Software ering requirements and de-
to their customers, early stage startup System veloping, to approaching the
SaaS companies that depend on fund- Integrations customer with ready-to-use
ing for their growth have a dilemma with their add-on solutions.
because potential investors do not like own IP and
to see services revenue on the balance an asset-light From an individual’s per-
sheet. approach spective the role of an SSI
have an professional has progressed
Charging for Time vs Outcomes advantage from a pure-play technology
Professional services constitute a that they can focus to that of someone who
large portion of the revenue mix of cash-in on. understands business re-
Indian technology biggies like TCS, While SaaS, quirements, shifting client-
Infosys and Wipro. Even Accenture, in its multiple industry trends and hence the
Cap Gemini and IBM have a sizeable forms, is here need for future design, busi-
chunk of revenue coming from ser- to stay, SSIs ness and regulatory processes
vices. will remain and has the ability to interact
partners in with multiple cross-function-
But the traditional service model is the digital al teams.
undergoing rapid changes.Feeswillbe transfor-
linked, not to time but to business out- mation Focus on client
comes. Software System Integrations process The focus is simply not on implementation but also to help
will have to adapt quickly and grab this of their achieve the desired outcomes for the clients. It allows service
opportunity to provide value-added customers. providers to focus on client centricity, and to offer specific
services to their customers. Can India point solutions, vertical as well as horizontal, that integrate
encourage disparate data silos, design unified views and automate com-
Pre-determined outcomes for auto- rise of its SSIs plex workflows and make a mark for themselves.
mation linked to business metrics can to serve the
provide a real time view of the benefits global SAAS There is also scope for platform players to offer multiple
brought about by automation from market? use cases rolled into one. Both have their advantages; while
Day 1 itself; in effect, what gets deliv- a point solution has the depth to solve a single use case, a
ered can be called Business KPIs as a platform is more horizontal in nature and can be customised
Service. with ease, using pre-existing templates.

However, this will entail a major The ever-growing cloud and API economy makes distribu-
mindset change for these behemoths tion and scaling of such solutions relatively much faster for
and the shift will have to be from gath- businesses, allowing them to serve specific areas of interest,
while most of these startups are categorised under IT Ser-
vices, Finance Technology, etc.

There is clearly scope for SSI startups to have a separate
identity and get encouragement from the government and
industry. The 70K plus registered startups have created 7.5
lakh jobs in our country to-date, and with much greater equity
raise. With continued policy encouragement, this number
could grow exponentially in the next four to five years.

Software System Integrations with their own IP and an
asset-light approach have an advantage that they can cash-in
on. While SaaS, in its multiple forms, is here to stay, SSIs will
remain partners in the digital transformation process of their
customers. Can India encourage rise of its SSIs to serve the
global SAAS market?

Srinath Sridharan is a Corporate Advisor
@ssmumbai)

Jayesh Shah is a Digital Transformation Expert
@jayeshshah29)

Photograph by Everythingposs 50 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 10 September 2022