The Delhi government’s second phase of Electric Vehicle Policy, which is expected to be enforced soon, will reportedly generate 20,000 new employment opportunities, ranging from running charging stations to taking care of battery recycling.

The policy also aims to set up battery collection centres, while building a wide network of charging and swappable battery stations in the capital.

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told PTI that the scheme will focus on transitioning mass categories vehicles including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, buses, and good carriers into EVs.

Delhi EV policy 2.0, to be formally notified after getting clearance from the Centre, aims to transition the city to electric mobility by phasing out fossil fuel vehicles, including a potential ban on new petrol two-wheelers registrations and a ban on new fossil fuel three-wheelers registrations.

The policy also proposes setting up 13,200 public charging stations and mandates electrification of public transport fleets. 

Under this policy, the capital is also planning to offer a purchase subsidy of up to INR 30,000 for buying EV two-wheelers. As per the draft policy proposal, EV two-wheeler buyers will get an incentive of INR 10,000 per kWh (up to INR 30,000). Besides, an additional INR 10,000 may be offered for scrapping petrol two-wheelers that are over 12-years old.  

Furthermore, the draft proposes first 10,000 women with valid driving licences to be eligible for subsidy, calculated at INR 12,000 per kWh and capped at INR 36,000.

For electric three-wheelers, a subsidy of INR 10,000 per kWh is expected, capped at INR 45,000. With this policy, the government also aims to reduce dependency on CNG autorickshaws by providing scrapping incentives up to INR 20,000 and a replacement incentive of INR 1 Lakh for CNG three-wheelers completing 10 years during the policy period.

While the Delhi government is pushing incentives to increase EV adoption in the national capital, it is also proposing a ban on registration of non-EVs in the near future. If the policy materialises, there will be a potential ban on registration of petrol two-wheelers, starting August 15, 2026. The policy also proposes stopping registrations of fossil fuel-run three-wheelers from August 15 this year. 

As per Vahan data, Delhi’s EV numbers are skyrocketing with 85,285 EVs registered in 2024 against 73,683 units in 2023. 

States Pushing For Rapid EV Adoption 

While Delhi is hopping on the EV wave in the country to reduce pollution in the region, other states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, among others, are also pushing EV adoption in their respective regions.

For instance, Karnataka is mulling to provide incentives of up to 25% on capital investments by EV manufacturers and drop road tax and registration charges for hybrid vehicles to promote clean mobility.

During the budget speech for 2025-26, Gujarat finance minister Kanubhai Desai proposed offering a rebate of 5% on motor vehicle tax on “fully-battery” operated EVs. 

Besides, Maharashtra recently approved a proposal allowing EV bike taxis to operate in the state.

The post Delhi EV Policy 2.0 Likely To Generate 20K Jobs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

US-based early and growth stage VC firm Expert Dojo has launched its third global fund with a target corpus of $100 Mn. Of this, it plans to invest about $15 Mn in Indian startups.

In a statement, the firm said that it will invest the amount in 20-25 early stage Indian startups in FY26. While the fund is sector agnostic, it will focus on startups operating in fintech, B2B, SaaS, and AI sectors. 

Expert Dojo will invest $50,000 to $1 Mn in each startup and also provide mentorship and market network, it added.

Furthermore, the VC firm said it plans to invest an additional $30 Mn in Indian startups over the next 2-3 years. 

Founded in 2014, Expert Dojo is a California-based global VC firm. Besides capital, it claims to provide guidance assistance to founders in the technology space.

Commenting on the fund launch, Expert Dojo general partner Ashutosh Kumar Jha said, “… We’re building more than a portfolio, we’re building an India-US innovation corridor that opens doors for Indian startups to scale globally. From Bengaluru to Boston, from Delhi to Dubai, we want our founders to think and build borderlessly.”

In an interaction with Inc42 last month, Jha said that Expert Dojo has around 300 startups in its portfolio, of which 30 are Indian. It counts Indian startups like BHIVE, Zippee, Mugafi, Cloudworx, among others, in its portfolio.

The VC firm said it has also opened an office in Bengaluru to cater to its focus on India. The office will serve as a hub for deal flow, founder support, and ecosystem collaboration, it added.

Uptick In Fund Launches For Indian Startups 

After the long funding winter, the ice seems to be finally breaking as a number of new funds have been launched for Indian startups in recent months. The likes of Antler, Z47 and Accel recently launched funds for Indian startups. 

In January this year, US-based VC firm Accel raised $650 Mn from 131 undisclosed investors for its eighth India fund. The company counts the likes of Moneyview, Flipkart, Swiggy and Moglix among its unicorns portfolio.

Last month, US-based Bessemer Venture Partners closed its second India-focussed fund at $350 Mn (INR 3,052.3 Cr) to support early stage startups.

As per Inc42 data, funds worth over $3.2 Bn were launched in Q1 2025 to back Indian startups.

The post Expert Dojo Launches Third Global Fund, To Invest $15 Mn In Indian Startups appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Shares of Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services surged 10% to INR 332 apiece during the intraday trading session on the BSE today.

At 11:40 AM, the shares were trading at INR 329.70, up 9.2% from the previous close at INR 301.85.

By this time, the company’s market capitalisation stood at INR 4416.02 Cr with 7.58 Lakh hands traded.

This jump comes after Zaggle’s shares nosedived 4.7% during its previous trading session (April 9).

Founded by Raj Narayanamin 2011, Zaggle provides a spend management and corporate employee benefits platform. Its offerings help businesses automate their accounts and issue prepaid cards. Besides, its Zaggle provides a spend management and corporate employee benefits platform.

This also comes at the heart of the fintech SaaS company planning to acquire a 45.33% stake in point of sale (PoS) software solutions provider Effiasoft for INR 36.72 Cr.

Not just this, Zaggle has also been on an expansion spree lately. The company, which made its market debut in 2023, also acquired an additional 12.34% stake in the digital payments service provider Mobileware Technologies for INR 7.25 Cr. 

With this deal, Zaggle’s total shareholding in Mobileware Technologies is increased to 38.34%.

It is pertinent to note that last month, the promoters and promoter group of Zaggle increased their stake in the company by acquiring 25,000 shares from the open market, increasing groups’ total holding to 44.03% from 44.01% previously.

While Zaggle is aggressively expanding its network, it also has its share of rough patches. Last month, the company received GST penalty order of INR 2.6 Cr by the Additional Commissioner, Rangareddy, Telangana.

On the financial front, the listed startup recorded a 30% jump in its net profit to INR 19.74 Cr in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25) from INR 15.22 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, its revenue from operation increased 69% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 336.89 Cr in Q3 FY25.

The post Zaggle Shares Rally 10% Intraday appeared first on Inc42 Media.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent entity of fashion and beauty retailer Nykaa, has said it witnessed a continued growth momentum in the fourth quarter of FY2025 with consolidated net revenue growth expected to be in the low to mid-20% range year-on-year (YoY).

This puts the company’s full-year revenue growth also in the mid-20s, reflecting consistent performance across all quarters of the fiscal year.

The beauty vertical remained a key growth driver, with the gross merchandise value (GMV) projected in the low 30% range significantly ahead of industry benchmarks. 

“Nykaa’s full financial year FY25 revenue growth is estimated to be at similar levels in mid twenties, indicating consistent growth across all quarters of FY25,” FSN E-Commerce said in an exchange filing.

Furthermore, Nykaa said that factors, including investment in customer acquisition, expanding retail network and growing success of House of Nykaa have contributed to the growth of the beauty vertical.

The company claimed to have launched nineteen stores in the quarter under review.

On its fashion vertical, Nykaa is estimating the GMV growth for the quarter to be in the high teens. However, the net revenue growth will be lower due to muted performance and less content related activity in this vertical.

It is pertinent to note that Nykaa’s fashion segment was a loss making entity in Q3 FY25. However, it managed to trim loss by 12.3% YoY to INR 25.41 Cr.

Nykaa’s consolidated net profit for the third quarter of FY25 jumped 51% to INR 26.4 Cr from INR 17.5 Cr in the similar quarter last year. Meanwhile, its operating revenue also surged 26.74% to INR 2,267.2 Cr in Q3 FY25  from INR 1,788.8 Cr in the corresponding period last year. 

Nykaa’s Q4 Trek

While Nykaa had much movement in terms of expansion in the previous quarters, Q4 FY25 saw the company cashing in on these investments. 

In the filing, Nykaa said that its Q4 beauty vertical growth comes at the back of “investments in customer acquisition over the past several quarters leading to consistent order volume growth.” 

In the December quarter, the company acquired a majority stake in beauty and personal care brands Earth Rhythm and Dot & Key. These additions to the ‘House of Nykaa’ pushed its GMV upwards by 49% YoY to INR 468.6 Cr in Q3 FY25.

In January, Nykaa also incorporated a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Nysaa Cosmetics SPC, in Oman. The new subsidiary has been set up with an initial investment of OMR 30,000 (INR 6 Lakh). Nykaa’s subsidiary Nessa International will own 100% stake in the newly floated company. 

The post Nykaa Projects Beauty Business To Drive Strong Q4 Revenue Growth appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Intensifying its push into quick commerce, Flipkart has reportedly expanded its ‘Minutes’ by setting up more than 200 dark stores across 14 cities.

Speaking at the ongoing Startup Mahakumbh, Flipkart Minutes’ vice president Kanchan Mishra said, “We (Flipkart) have been around for long but Flipkart Minutes is a new venture where we are now in 14 cities and have over 200 stores. We are going fast and working closely with brands in this journey and taking them to the next stage.” 

Mishra also highlighted the evolution of customer behaviour in terms of speedy delivery and product selection process, according to a Business Standard report. 

“With the homemaker, the largest customer segment in India, coming on to quick commerce, a much larger set of brands now see quick commerce as an opportunity, and we are seeing this as well,” she added. 

In August last year, Flipkart piloted the quick commerce service in several pockets of Bengaluru, claiming to deliver groceries, electronics, smartphones and other products within 8-16 minutes. Eventually, ‘Minutes’ was expanded to Delhi.

Flipkart launched the quick commerce service to take on its competitors, including Zepto, Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart. The ecommerce giant aims to expand its dark store channel to 500-550 ahead of its ‘Big Billion Days’ sales this year.

The Dark Store Theory

The quick commerce trend in the country gave rise to the dark store channel, facilitating giants, including Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart Minutes to fulfil the promise of delivering products in 10-15 minutes.

As per JP Morgan, Blinkit and Swiggy-owned Instamart are aggressively expanding their dark store network. The brokerage estimates Blinkit to own around 1,229 dark stores across the country. 

However, in the recent past Zepto has slowed down its dark store expansion ahead of its anticipated public listing in FY26. The company owns around 1,147 dark stores.

Besides quick commerce delivery startups, companies like Ola and Delhivery have also been in discussions to set up their own dark stores.

While dark stores are backing the quick commerce wave in the country, there have been certain hygiene concerns in the past. In July 2024, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) conducted surprise audits and spot checks on dark stores of major quick commerce players including Blinkit.

As per a report by Statista, India’s quick commerce market volume is expected to reach $9.95 Bn mark by 2029.

The post Flipkart Expands Quick Commerce Play With 200 Dark Stores: Report appeared first on Inc42 Media.

VC firm Peak XV Partners’ managing director Rajan Anandan has said that the deeptech sector is the “final frontier” for the Indian startup ecosystem.

“We’ve seen an extraordinary surge of innovation of startups in India and I think the final frontier really is deeptech,” Anandan said at the ongoing Startup Mahakumbh.

While India currently leads in sectors like fintech, ecommerce and quick commerce in terms of innovation, the country has just started working on the deeptech sector, he added.

However, Anandan expressed confidence that India will emerge successful in deeptech as well. He cited India’s engineering talent pool, rapidly growing economy and favourable government policies as the reason behind his confidence.

Talking about Peak XV Partners’ focus on deeptech, Anandan said, “We’re very actively investing in deeptech from semiconductor to space to battery recycling to biosciences to AI.”

The VC firm counts startups like InCore Semiconductor, Mindgrove, Horizon Quantum, among others, from the deeptech sector in its portfolio.

Anandan was speaking during a session titled, “India as a Product Nation: Creating Category Defining Startups for the Globe”. The session was moderated by Endiya Partners’ MD Sateesh Andra, and also saw participation from Qure.ai CEO and cofounder Prashant Warier and Competition Commission of India (CCI) member Anil Agrawal.

The comments come at a time when there seems to be an ongoing shift in India, with founders, investors and government increasing their focus on the deeptech sector.

In her Budget 2025-26 speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government would explore setting up a fund of funds (FoF) for the deeptech sector to “catalyse next generation startups”. The proposed FoF is expected to benefit capex-heavy sectors like EVs, rocket engines, robotics, nanotechnology, semiconductors and AI.

In January, industry body NASSCOM also urged the Centre to establish an INR 10,000 Cr fund for deeptech startups seeking early stage investments.

While India’s deeptech sector is still at a nascent stage, a number of startups like Pixxel, Mindgrove, Agnikul Cosmos have made a name for themselves in recent years.

As a result, several VCs are betting on such startups. For instance, Riceberg Ventures recently rolled out a $20 Mn (around INR 173.4 Cr) fund to invest in deeptech startups. Last year, Yali Capital launched INR 810 Cr (around $97 Mn) early stage fund to back startups operating in the deeptech sector.

As of October 2024, India was home to more than 46,000 startups operating in the deeptech segments, including AI, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and AR/VR.

The post Deeptech Is The Final Frontier For Indian Startup Ecosystem: Peak XV’s Rajan Anandan appeared first on Inc42 Media.

At a time when the Indian startup ecosystem has gained strong momentum, attracting substantial investments, IDFC FIRST Bank’s chief executive officer and managing director V Vaidyanathan has urged the founders to have adequate capital in an “uncertain world”.

Speaking at the second edition of Startup Mahakumbh, which kicked off in New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam today, Vaidyanathan said that even if the startups have a phenomenal economic model, raising an adequate capital is very essential.

Citing US President Donald Trump’s new tariff regime, he further said that startup founders should earn trust to raise sufficient capital for uncertain circumstances.

“I believe that a good model, trustworthiness of the ecosystem and capital makes a good product,” Vaidyanathan added.

He was speaking in a session on ‘role of technology in the financial ecosystem’, moderated by 3one4 Capital founder Siddharth Pai.

The Startup Mahakumbh will see participation of nearly 3,000 startups across 12 sector-focused pavilions, including AI, deeptech, healthtech, fintech, cleantech and mobility.This year’s edition is based on the theme “Startup India @ 2047 – Unfolding the Bharat Story”, aimed at boosting innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. The inaugural event attracted more than 1,300 exhibitors and 48,000 visitors.

As of January 2025, India is home to more than 1.58 Lakh startups which attracted more than $155 Bn of funding in 2024. Out of this, nearly 48% startups are based in Tier II and III cities.

During the Budget speech for 2025-26, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new fund of funds (FoF) for startups with a corpus of an additional INR 10,000 Cr, after complete ultilisation of the old INR 10,000 Cr fund.

Besides, the government also enhanced the credit guarantee cover for startups operating in 27 focus sectors including aerospace and defence tech, IT, logistics, renewable energy, financial, education services, among others from the erstwhile INR 10 Cr to INR 20 Cr.

The post IDFC FIRST Bank CEO Urges Startup Founders To Have Adequate Capital Amid ‘Uncertainty’ appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Defence tech startup Tonbo Imaging has raised INR 175 Cr (around $20.4 Mn) in a Series D pre-IPO funding round from Florintee Advisors and EXIM Bank at a valuation of INR 1,500 Cr.

Tonbo will utilise the freshly raised funds to develop next-generation infrared sensors, commercial deployment of microwave technologies, and expand its global footprint, the company said in a statement.

“This investment enables us to push the boundaries of innovation in infrared imaging and directed energy solutions while scaling our global footprint. Our focus remains on delivering cost-effective, cutting-edge battlefield intelligence and protection systems to modern defense forces worldwide,” said Tonbo cofounder Arvind Lakshmikumar.

Founded by Lakshmikumar, Ankit Kumar and Cecilia D’Souza in 2012, Tonbo Imaging builds and deploys solutions for military reconnaissance, infrastructure security and transportation safety. Its product suite includes see through armors, AI-based seekers, smart thermal weapon sights, border and coastal surveillance system and more.

The company claims to supply its products to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force. It counts Qualcomm Ventures and Celesta Capital among its investors.

In 2017, Tonbo Imaging raised $17 Mn in a Series B funding round at a valuation of INR 400 Cr. Back then, the round was led by WRV Capital, along with participation from Qualcomm Ventures and Edelweiss Private Equity.

The fundraise comes at the back of Florintree recently offloading more than 20.18 Lakh shares (4.7% stake) of listed deeptech startup ideaForge for INR 69.62 Cr.

India’s Defence Tech Space 

In 2024, defence minister Rajnath Singh urged Indian entrepreneurs and startups to bring innovative ideas and disrupt India’s defence tech space. In FY24, India’s defence production reached INR 1.27 Lakh Cr mark, surging 174% from INR 46,429 Cr in FY15.

With the increasing market opportunity, several notable startups, including Garuda Aerospace, ideaForge, Jeh Aerospace, among others, have penetrated the Indian defence market by  leveraging technologies including AI, unmanned systems, and advanced surveillance.

Last year, former defence secretary Ajay Kumar also floated an INR 250 Cr MountTech Growth Fund to back early stage startups in the defence, aerospace and deeptech sectors.

Similarly, former director at Technology Development Board (TDB) Navneet Kaushik also rolled out an angel fund to back early-stage defence tech startups.

Besides, the government is also supporting Indian defence tech startups with collaborations and funds. For instance, the Karnataka state government recently partnered with DRDO to aid defence startups by providing them access to DRDO’s testing facilities.

The post Defence Tech Startup Tonbo Imaging Bags INR 175 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions jumped 13.6% in March to 18.30 Bn from 16.11 Bn in the preceding month, recording a new all-time high. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the transaction count surged 36% in March.

This surge comes a month after the transaction count fell 5% to 16.11 Bn in February, breaking a streak of all-time high transactions recorded in the previous two consecutive months.

As per data by the National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI), this transaction count of 18.30 Bn accounted for a total amount of INR 24.77 Lakh Cr in March, a 12.8% month-on-month (MoM) surge as recorded against transactions worth INR 21.96 Lakh Cr in the previous month.

The average daily transaction count rose to 590 Mn in the month under review, up from 575 Mn transactions in February. Besides, the average daily transaction amount stood at 79,910 Cr in March.

The Rapid UPI Adoption 

While the transaction count has been fluctuating since the past few months, the homegrown UPI is penetrating deeper into India’s digital payment landscape. Before March, the UPI transactions touched an all time high mark in January with 16.99 Bn transactions. 

Meanwhile, last year turned out to be a boon for UPI in India. In 2024, total UPI transactions surged almost 46% YoY to 17,220 Cr from 11,768 Cr in 2023. The total value of UPI transactions jumped 35% to INR 246.82 Lakh Cr from INR 182.84 Lakh Cr in 2023.

Last year, December ended up being the most crucial month for UPI landscape with 1,673 Cr monthly transactions. 

As per a report by RBI, UPI accounted for more than 85% of the total digital payments recorded in India during 2024. The report claims that out of 20,787 Cr digital payments recorded during the year, 17,221 Cr transactions were routed through UPI. 

While the NPCI is yet to roll out third party player statistics for the month of March, the duopoly was intact with PhonePe and GooglePay till February.

Both the UPI players collectively held more than 85% market share in 2024. 

What’s New For UPI In India?

With the rapid adoption of UPI in the country, the government is making several changes at different levels to streamline the interface and reach a larger chunk of users.

For instance, the Centre recently approved an ‘incentive scheme’ with an outlay of INR 1,500 Cr, aimed at promoting low-value BHIM-UPI transactions among small merchants. Under this scheme, the government will provide incentives for transactions up to INR 2000 recorded in the financial year 2024-25.

Meanwhile, the Payments Council of India (PCI) also wrote to the  Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce MDR (merchant discount rate) on UPI and RuPay transactions for large merchants.

To ensure transparency in the ecosystem, the NPCI also rolled out a new mandate which requires the UPI apps to keep users’ default settings as “checked out” when porting their numbers. With this, the users are allowed to “opt-in” in case they want their number to be ported. This new rule is effective from today (April 1)

Besides, Centre’s efforts for the expansion of UPI cross-border payment is widely known. Last month,  India’s ambassador to Qatar said that UPI is set for a “full rollout” in the Middle Eastern nation “soon”. In 2024, the RBI also partnered with central banks of Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to link UPI with their fast payment systems to enable cross-border payments.

However, UPI is facing problems in expanding due to Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) compliance requirements for “smaller players”. The Centre recently urged the money laundering watchdog to relax the mandates for cross border payments. 

NPCI has expanded the UPI services to countries including UAE, Nepal, France and Sri Lanka.

The post UPI Touches Fresh All-Time High In March With 18.30 Bn Transactions appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Responding to a question on the notice issued to social media platform X over New Delhi railway station stampede, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the government’s policies are “aimed at ensuring a safe, trusted and accountable internet to its users while ensuring the internet remains free from any form of unlawful content or information.”

In his written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said that Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, notified under the Information Technology Act, 2000, cast specific obligations on intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, to observe due diligence while discharging its duties.

“Such obligations include the making of reasonable efforts by the intermediary to cause its users not to host, display, upload, publish, transmit or store any information that knowingly or intentionally violates any law,” Vaishnaw said.

The query was raised by Javed Ali Khan, an MP from Uttar Pradesh, who sought to know whether the ministry sent a notice to X to take down 285 videos related to the stampede at the New Delhi railway station on February 15, whether the social media platform removed the videos, and who took the decision to send the notice.

As many as 18 people were killed in the stampede, including 11 women and four children. A high-level committee is currently investigating the incident.

Centre Vs X : A Long Standing Battle

Amid several legal disputes with the Indian government over content regulation, the Elon Musk-led X is also currently battling against Centre’s use of Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology (IT) Act. This act requires intermediaries like X to remove content when notified by the government.

The social media platform says that this Act is contrary to Supreme Court’s Shreya Singhal judgment, which permits content blocking only through Section 69A framework of the IT Act or court orders.

Last week, the company took this matter to the Karnataka High Court. Now, the Centre is looking to file objections against this lawsuit.

Besides, Musk’s AI model Grok has also been in headlines  over its objectionable content.

The debate comes at a time when Musk is looking to bring Tesla and Starlink in the country.

The post Govt Policies Aim To Keep Internet Free Of Unlawful Content: Vaishnaw appeared first on Inc42 Media.

D2C fruits and vegetables delivery startup Pluckk is raising INR 85 Cr (around $10 Mn) in its Series A round from Euro Gulf Investment.

As per the startup’s regulatory filings accessed by Inc42, its board approved a proposal to issue 3,023 Series A compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) at a face value of INR 10 and a premium of INR 2.81 Lakh each  on March 11. 

The Mumbai-based startup plans to deploy the fresh capital to fuel its growth plans and for repayment of inter-corporate deposits (ICDs)

The development was first reported by Entrackr.

Founded in 2021 by Prateek Gupta, Pluckk sells fresh fruits and vegetables across more than 15 categories, including essentials, exotics, hydroponics, and cuts, mixes. With more than 400 products on its platform, the startup currently operates in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru.

Besides its own app, it also sells the fresh produce on ecommerce as well as quick commerce platforms such as Amazon, Swiggy, Dunzo, Zepto and Reliance Signature Stores.

The startup last raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan in 2023. In September 2024, Pluckk acquired D2C nutrition brand Upnourish in a $1.4 Mn deal to expand its offerings and scale up its “nutrition” vertical.

India’s $44 Bn Fruits And Vegetables Market 

India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, with the market pegged at INR 18,000+ Cr. However, reports estimate that 18% of fruits and vegetables are wasted annually in the country as the sector lacks coordination at different levels such as farmers and end consumers. 

As a result, startups like Fresh From Farm, MyMandi and Handpickd have emerged with an aim to bridge this gap. These startups are solving deeper issues in the supply chain, including procurement, sorting, grading, deliveries while partnering with farmers.

Not just this, the rise of quick commerce has also seen giants like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto deliver fresh fruits and vegetables directly to customers within 10 minutes. 

The post Pluckk To Raise INR 85 Cr To Sell Fresh Fruits & Vegetables appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In an effort to boost India’s self-reliance in the electronics supply chain, the union cabinet today approved the much awaited production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for non-semiconductor electronics components with an outlay of INR 22,919 Cr.

The scheme aims to attract an investment of INR 59,350 Cr, resulting in production of INR 4,56,500 Cr, and generating additional direct employment of 91,600 persons and many indirect jobs as well.

The tenure of the scheme is six years with one year of gestation period. Payout of a part of the incentive is also linked with employment targets achievement.

“This scheme aims to develop a robust component ecosystem by attracting large investments (global/domestic) in electronics component manufacturing ecosystem, increasing domestic value addition (DVA) by developing capacity and capabilities, and integrating Indian companies with global value chains (GVCs),” the government said in a statement.

“The scheme provides differentiated incentives to Indian manufacturers tailored to overcome specific disabilities for various categories of components and sub-assemblies so that they can acquire technological capabilities and achieve economies of scale,” the statement added.

The components manufactured will serve sectors, including telecom, consumer electronics, automobile and medical devices, among others.

The incentive will be divided into three categories — Turnover-linked incentive, hybrid incentive and capex incentive. The segregation on the basis of components are as follows –

• Sub-assemblies – These are individual components or groups of components brought together to make a larger assembly or finished product. Manufacturers making components under this category including display module sub-assembly and camera module sub-assembly will be given turnover-linked incentive.

• Bare Components – Manufacturers building components including multi-layer Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Li-ion cells, enclosures for mobile and IT hardware products will be incentivised on Turnover basis as well.

• Selected Bare Components – There are some exceptional bare components such as SMD passive components and High-density interconnect (HDI). Makers of these components will be given Hybrid incentive.
• Capital Equipment For Electronics Manufacturing – The machinery or capital goods used in the manufacturing of electronics components will be provided capex incentives.

India’s Electronics Manufacturing Push  

The Centre is aggressively working towards making India a manufacturing hub and reducing dependency on the global powers.

As per the Economic Survey 2024-25, India produced electronics goods worth INR 9.52 Lakh Cr in FY24, against INR 1.90 Lakh Cr in FY15.

The country has also seen reduction in dependence on smartphone import with 99% of them being manufactured domestically.

Along with incentives from the government, tech giants, including Dixon, Vivo and Jabil are also investing in India’s growing electronics manufacturing landscape. In December last year, homegrown electronics manufacturer Dixon Technologies signed an agreement with Vivo India to launch an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) facility to boost smartphone manufacturing in India.

Earlier this month, IPO-bound Zetwerk rolled out its seventh manufacturing facility in Chennai to produce electronics components including control boards for washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, and IT hardware.

Meanwhile, Apple supplier Jabil is planning to build an electronics manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy by infusing INR 2,000 Cr.

The recent developments comes after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her budget speech for 2025-26, said that the government is looking to give a much-needed spur to the domestic electronics equipment industry.

The post Cabinet Approves INR 22,919 Cr PLI Scheme For Electronics Components appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Amid India’s EV manufacturing push, Chinese auto giant BYD is reportedly planning to set up an EV production unit near Hyderabad with an investment of $10 Bn.

According to a report by The Philox, BYD has bought a 500-acre industrial land close to Hyderabad after discussions with the state government. 

The manufacturing unit will be dedicated to build battery systems and electric cars, the report added.

The company also said that by 2032, the Hyderabad facility will be able to produce 600,000 EVs annually.

Inc42 has reached out to BYD for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response. 

Furthermore, the new facility will also have a 20 GWh annual capacity battery manufacturing unit. If the deal materialises, Telangana will become India’s first state to have BYD’s factory. 

BYD To Take On Tesla

This comes at a time when the country has managed to attract several global giants, including Tesla to participate in India’s EV manufacturing wave.

BYD’s competitor Tesla, which is now looking to enter India, recently signed a lease agreement to open its first showroom in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). Besides, the Elon Musk-led company is in talks with multiple states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, to set up its manufacturing unit.

It has also started the process to ship a few thousand electric cars to a port near Mumbai over the coming months. Earlier this week, Tesla’s India arm submitted two new applications for homologation of the Model Y and Model 3 cars in India 

However, BYD is ahead of Tesla in terms of current penetration in the country. BYD has four EV car models which are available in India — BYD SEALION 7, BYD eMAX 7, BYD ATTO 3 and recently launched BYD SEAL. The China-based company has more than 35 dealership partners across cities, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and more.

In 2024, BYD raked in $107 Bn, selling 4.3 Mn vehicles — more than double Tesla’s 1.79 Mn. 

Apart from these players, Vietnamese EV maker VinFast is also looking to set up a factory in Tamil Nadu and launch its EVs in the country.

India’s EV Landscape Attracting Global Giants 

With the recent policy changes, India has become a hotspot for global EV giants to invest in the country. The old policy kept barring companies like Tesla to enter the Indian market due to high import duties. 

To address these concerns, the Centre approved a new EV policy in March 2024. Under this policy, the import duty on vehicles with cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value of $35,000 or above will be reduced to 15% for five years. The tax relief is valid for the companies which agree to invest at least INR 4,150 Cr (about $500 Mn) in India to set up manufacturing facilities.

In 2024, more than 1.9 Mn EV registrations took place in India. As per Inc42’s India’s Electric Vehicle Startup Landscape Report, 2025, in the last five years, the number of registered EVs across segments has increased 10-fold. 

The post BYD Eyes $10 Bn EV Production Facility In Telangana: Report appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Foodtech major Swiggy has received an income tax demand notice of INR 53.5 Lakh. Besides the tax, the company has also been asked to pay an interest of INR 45.44 Lakh, taking the total amount to INR 98.9 Lakh.

In an exchange filing, the company said that the order was passed by the deputy commissioner of Income Tax department, TDS Circle, Bengaluru, and pertains to April 2017 to March 2018 period.

“Non-deduction of tax under section 194C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 on the cancellation charges paid to the merchants by the company,” the filing said about the violation which the company was alleged to have made.

Swiggy said it believes it has strong arguments against the order and is looking to appeal against the order. 

“The company believes that the order has no major adverse impact on its financials and operations,” it added.

This comes at a time when Swiggy and its rival Zomato have received a number of tax notices over the past year or so. The Sriharsha Majety-led company was slapped with a GST demand notice of INR 326.7 Cr in 2023 pertaining to the period between July 2020 and March 2022. However, the company filed a case against the notice.

Meanwhile, the Deepinder Goyal-led company received a GST demand notice of INR 401.70 Cr, along with an interest of the same amount as penalty, in December 2024. However, the company got some relief when the Haryana GST authorities dropped a GST demand notice of INR 5.9 Cr against it.

While Swiggy and Zomato were the trendsetters in the foodtech segment, they are now making big investments in quick commerce amid its rising popularity. Earlier today, brokerage firm BofA Securities downgraded Zomato and Swiggy citing lower growth in the food delivery segment and high losses in quick commerce.

The brokerage firm trimmed Swiggy’s rating to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Buy’ earlier, while the price target was reduced to INR 325 per share from INR 420.

Swiggy’s Post-IPO Era 

The foodtech major’s shares got listed on the NSE at INR 420 apiece in November 2024, a premium of nearly 8% from its IPO issue price of INR 390 per share. On the BSE, the stock made its debut at INR 412, a premium of almost 6% from its IPO issue price.

However, the stock has seen correction over the last few months amid a negative sentiment in the Indian stock market. Shares of Swiggy ended today’s trading session 4.12% lower at INR 323.75 apiece on the BSE. 

Swiggy has been on an expansion spree with multiple new rollouts over the last few months as it looks to shore up its revenue. Recently, it launched its B2B platform ‘Assure’ to deliver kitchen supplies to restaurants. In January, it forayed into the services marketplace segment with the launch of ‘Pyng Professional’.

On the financial front, the foodtech major reported a 39% increase in its consolidated net loss to INR 799 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 574.4 Cr in the year-ago period. Operating revenue zoomed 31% to INR 3,993.1 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 3,048.6 Cr in Q3 FY24. 

The post Swiggy Gets INR 99 Lakh Tax Demand Notice appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Nabhdrishti Aerospace has secured $3 Mn (around INR 25 Cr) in an undisclosed funding round led by Accel, along with participation from a host of existing investors, including IIMA Ventures.

The Bengaluru-based startup plans to deploy the freshly raised capital to boost the development and testing of its engine prototypes as well as talent acquisition. 

“At Nabhdrishti, we are shifting that paradigm—developing cutting-edge technologies designed to run on sustainable fuels, including green hydrogen, to power everything from UAVs to next-generation air mobility platforms,” said Rohit Chouhan, cofounder and chief executive at Nabhdrishti Aerospace.

Founded by Chouhan, Arjun Srivatsa and Antanu Sadhu in 2023, Nabhdrishti Aerospace is building small gas turbines which will cater to hybrid urban air mobility, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) and decentralised power generation appliances. The company claims its engine to serve dual purpose — propulsion and power. It can cater to hospitals, heavy vehicles, manufacturing segments as well as light aircrafts, helicopters and hybrid electric flights.

The Aerospace Landscape : With technology steering India’s growth trajectory, the aerospace segment is also moving towards sustainable and clean energy solutions. While India’s eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) sector is in its infancy, investors are putting their bets on it. 

For instance, flying taxi startup Sarla Aviation recently raised $10 Mn in a Series A1 funding round which was also led by Accel. The company plans to use this capital in growing its operations and set up a new R&D centre.

Similarly, The ePlane Company also bagged $14 Mn in its Series B funding round to develop and certify its manned aircraft and testing flights.

Garuda Aerospace, Bellatrix Aerospace and Agnikul are among the prominent aerospace startups in the country.

Besides, the sector is also seeing new entrants. A few days back Zomato’s former chief operating officer (COO) Surobhi Das piloted an aerospace startup LAT Aerospace, with Deepinder Goyal serving as the non-executive director.

In 2024, former defence secretary Ajay Kumar floated a VC fund to back early stage startups in the defence, aerospace and deeptech sectors.

This indicates towards the growing attention being received by the aerospace sector in India. Additionally, the companies are leveraging new age technologies to compete in the sustainability race. For instance, a report by Indian Aerospace and Defence Bulletin suggests that UAVs are expected to handle more complex tasks including surveillance and search-and-rescue missions in 2025. 

It also highlights the importance of hybrid electric aircrafts in pushing sustainability and reducing dependency on fuel. 

As per a report by Delloite, the Indian aerospace industry is anticipated to reach the $70 Bn mark by 2030. 

The post Nabhdrishti Aerospace Nets $3 Mn To Develop Engines For UAVs, eVTOLs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Heavenly Secrets Pvt Ltd, the parent of D2C personal care brand Pligrim, saw its operating revenue surge 160% to INR 198.8 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 76.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The startup posted a net loss of INR 26.3 Cr in FY24, up 14.2% from the INR 23.05 Cr loss it incurred the previous fiscal.  Its EBITDA loss also widened to INR 25.2 Cr during the year under review as against an EBITDA loss of INR 20.9 Cr in FY23. However, its EBITDA margin improved 14 percentage points to -13% in FY24 from -27% in the previous year. 

Including an other income component of INR 5.6 Cr, the startup’s total revenue stood at INR 204.4 Cr in FY24. 

Founded by Anurag Kedia and Gagandeep Makker in 2019, Pilgrim sells beauty and body care products in several segments including skin care, hair care, colour cosmetics, fragrance and more. 

Not unlike many other digital native brands, the startup has also expanded its presence offline in recent times. Besides selling its products on its website and ecommerce platform, it claims to have expanded its presence to five retail stores and 300 partner stores across India.

Pilgrim has raised over $40 Mn till date from investors like Fireside Ventures, Vertex Ventures SEAI and Mirabilis Investment Trust, among others. 

A few days ago, the startup netted a fresh capital of INR 200 Cr via a mix of primary and secondary transactions. The fresh capital will allow it to expand its offline presence and R&D capabilities.

Where Did Pilgrim Spend? 

In line with the upsurge in revenue, Pilgrims’ expenditure also jumped significantly during the fiscal. It spent INR 230.4 Cr in FY24, more than double of the INR 100 Cr it spent in the prior fiscal. 

Employee Benefit Expense:  Pilgrim spent INR 21.2 Cr on its employees in FY24, a significant jump from the INR 6.2 Cr it spent in the prior fiscal. This is indicative of an expansion in its workforce. 

Marketing Cost: The startup spent INR 108.8 Cr to promote itself in the fiscal year, surging nearly 107% from INR 52.5 Cr in FY23. 

Rent: Pilgrim paid INR 3.02 Cr as a part of its rent in the fiscal under review from previously spending INR 60.5 Lakh in FY23.

The startup competes against the likes of Mamaearth, SUGAR Cosmetics, Juicy Chemistry, Nykaa and several other D2C brands in India’s personal care space.

The post Pilgrim’s FY24 Revenue Jumps 160% To INR 199 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Agritech startup Grow Indigo has secured a strategic investment of $10 Mn (around INR 85.7 Cr) from British International Investment (BII).

The Mumbai-based startup plans to deploy the fresh proceeds to expand its sustainability programmes and scale up carbon farming initiative.

“With this funding, we will accelerate farmer enrollment and scale carbon farming initiatives,” said Usha Zehr, executive director at Grow Indigo.

Founded as a joint venture between US-based Indigo Ag and Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co) in 2018, Grow Indigo offers sustainable solutions to boost farmers’ income, enhance product quality and reduce resource wastage. 

Its solution suite includes seed treatment products, supplements for soil health and crop protection and micronutrients. Besides, the venture also assists its partner farmers with expert guidance and modern farming practices regarding carbon farming. 

The company also leverages robust measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems to help farmers in keeping a track of their sustainable solutions.

Grow Indigo claims to have more than 2.5 Mn acres of farmland across 16 states enrolled under its programs.  

In January last year, the venture raised $8 Mn as a part of a strategic funding round from its parent entities.

On the financial front, the company net loss surged 32.5% to INR 23.17 Cr in the financial year ending in March 2024 (FY24) from INR 15.63 in the previous year.

Meanwhile, its operating revenue also declined to INR 191.88 Cr in the fiscal under review from INR 332.20 in FY23

A Shot In The Arm For Agritech Startups: India’s agritech ecosystem has rolled out various helpful systems that makes a farmers’ life easier, focusing on four major areas such as supply chain efficiency, market inputs, access to the market and mitigation of risks and climate change impact. From AI-powered solutions to precision farming and data-driven innovations, agritech startups are playing a crucial role to disrupt India’s agricultural landscape.

In an effort to support agritech and rural area-focussed startups, the Centre launched an INR 750 Cr ‘AgriSURE’ fund (Agri Fund for Start-ups & Rural Enterprises) last year.

This SEBI -registered Category II alternative investment fund (AIF) aims at supporting the agritech startups with both – equity and debt funding.

Around the same time, the union cabinet approved the ‘Digital Agriculture Mission’ scheme with an outlay of INR 2,817 Cr to boost the country’s agriculture with three digital public infrastructures (DPIs) — Agristack, Krishi Decision Support System, and Soil Profile Mapping.

Under this scheme, the government plans to leverage solutions like soil profile mapping, digital crop estimation, digital yield modelling, crop loan, and AI to unfold sustainability in agriculture.

Along with the government’s effort, some promising agritech startups are driving innovation and paving the way for a more efficient, sustainable, and productive agricultural ecosystem. This is also attracting a lot of investors to bet on the sector.

The Indian startup ecosystem has some notable agritech startups, including AgroStar, Fasal, CropIn, Dehaat, Ergos, Ninjacart, Waycool, FarMart, and Gramophone, which are leveraging technology to enhance the quality of India’s agriculture space.

For instance, recently, agritech startup Fambo secured INR 21 Cr (around $2.4 Mn) in a seed funding round to establish an export vertical, invest in technology and grow its network of partner farms. 

In January, omnichannel agritech startup KisanKonnect also bagged $4.5 Mn (around INR 39 Cr) in a Series A funding round to strengthen its tech infrastructure and leverage AI in farm sourcing and supply chain.

As per Statista, the Indian agriculture market is projected to be valued at $530.88 Bn in 2025 and $598.72 Bn in 2029.

The post Grow Indigo Bags $10 Mn To Boost Its Sustainable Agri Offerings appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Centre is reportedly planning to finalise the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act rules by April, a legislation aimed at safeguarding personal data in an increasingly digital world.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is currently in the process of reviewing feedback from industry stakeholders, privacy advocates and citizens. An ET report said that the ministry has already completed perusing two-thirds of comments received during consultations on the draft DPDP Rules 2025.

The remaining one-third of the comments will be completed soon and the rules are expected to be finalised by next month end, the report added, citing a government official.

This comes just a few days after the Centre closed the two-month consultation period to seek suggestions from industry leaders, digital rights advocates, startups and other stakeholders on the DPDP draft rules. Back then, the authorities said that there will be no major change in the draft and the deadline for public consultations will not be extended further. 

DPDP Draft And What Followed: After much anticipation, MeitY released the draft rules for DPDP on January 3 and invited suggestions from the public till February 8. Later, the deadline was extended to March 5. 

As per the DPDP draft rules, data fiduciaries will need to give necessary details and seek consent from users before processing their personal data. 

Data fiduciaries are the entities which regulate how personal data is processed. With this, the users will have the power to revoke their consent and in case of any violation, they can file a complaint with the Data Protection Board of India. 

The data fiduciaries are expected to adhere to the following measures to prevent personal data breaches:

• Implementation of data security like encryption of personal data, masking or using virtual tokens linked to the data set.
• Measures to control access to the computer resources used by a data fiduciary or a data processor.
• Ensuring visibility on who is accessing  such personal data, through appropriate logs, monitoring and review, for enabling detection of unauthorised access, its investigation and remediation to prevent recurrence.
• Reasonable measures for continued processing in the event of confidentiality, integrity or availability of such personal data being compromised.
• Appropriate provision in the contract entered  between data fiduciary and a data processor for taking reasonable security safeguards.
• Technical and organisational measures to ensure effective observance of security safeguards.

The draft bill also considered privacy of data associated with children and individuals with disabilities. The data controller will need to seek consent from parents or legal guardians before processing the personal data of the children or individuals with disabilities.

Besides, it also emphasises on cross-border data transfers, which can now only occur if the Centre permits and the receiving country meets mandatory data protection criteria.

However, the rules are not implied on entities in the healthcare sector, educational institutions as well as child day care centres.  

In August 2023, the Lok Sabha passed the DPDP Bill, 2023. The aim was to replace the data protection rules that were largely enforced through Section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. 

The Broader Impact : With India’s rapid technological evolution, data privacy is at stake. 

The government claims that this set of rules will provide lesser compliance burden for startups and MSMEs and more clarity about how to tackle users’ personal data. 

However, the founders of startups, including MobiKwik, OYO, ixigo and Razorpay, among others, met the government officials and voiced their concerns regarding the draft rules in January. The closed-door meeting highlighted discussions around cross-border transfer of certain data sets, which is important for startups operating in sectors including ecommerce and travel.

A report published by PwC last year has been an eye-opener. In the survey of over 3,000 consumers across the country, it found that 56% were completely unaware of their rights related to personal data.

Meanwhile, the survey on 186 respondents representing organisations found that only 9% organisations have a comprehensive understanding of the DPDP Act.

The post Centre Plans To Finalise DPDP Rules By April: Report appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With instant delivery gaining pace in India, driven by increasing consumer demand for faster shipping and the competitive pressures on ecommerce firms to offer such services, logistics unicorn Shiprocket has now expanded its same-day delivery service into Bengaluru.

Currently, the company’s same day delivery service is available in cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

With this move, Shiprocket aims to facilitate quick deliveries to micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs). The service will help MSMEs to stay competitive against ecommerce brands, which enjoy higher customer retention due to quick deliveries, the company said in a statement.

“This initiative is a crucial step towards our vision of democratising ecommerce tech for every seller in India while contributing to the broader digital transformation of the economy,” said Shiprocket managing director and chief executive Saahil Goel.

Under this service, orders picked between 12 PM and 1 PM from a merchant’s location will be delivered the same day. Besides, orders picked by 3 PM from the seller’s location will also be delivered on the same day with Bengaluru-based Pico Xpress as the courier partner, the statement added.

Founded by Goel, Vishesh Khurana, Akshay Gulati, and Gautam Kapoor in 2017, Shiprocket is an ecommerce enablement platform facilitating retailers with end-to-end logistic solutions including shipping, fulfillment, customer communication, among others. The startup claims to be serving in more than 24,000 pin codes across India and 220 countries worldwide.

Shiprocket’s Expansion Move Amid IPO Talks: The recent development comes when Shiprocket is looking to tap into the offline delivery market. Last year, the company rolled out a WhatsApp storefront bot for small businesses and direct sellers to expand its services beyond online retail marketplaces. 

Currently valued at $1.2 Bn, the startup is also raising INR 219 Cr (around $26 Mn) in a fresh funding round to be led by KDT Ventures.

Besides, Shiprocket is also eyeing an IPO in the upcoming fiscal year. In January, the startup turned into a public company, changing its name to “Shiprocket Limited”.

Last year, the company also piloted its D2C marketplace Zop, which claims to host around 200-300 brands across eight categories including fashion, beauty, electronics, among others. 

Meanwhile, the startup is helping Centre in setting up pilot ecommerce export hubs (EEHs). These hubs will have quality and certifying agencies to fasten customs and security clearances at the airports.

An Overview Of India’s Faster Delivery Race: With the intentionally created quick-delivery need among the Indian users, the quick commerce segment is thriving in the country. While startups including Zepto, Zomato and Swiggy led the quick commerce race, ecommerce giants followed the trend.

Amid this battle between quick commerce and ecommerce for faster deliveries, several logistics startups are stepping up their services. For instance, same-day delivery platform for omnichannel sellers Blitz recently bagged INR 40 Cr (around $4.7 Mn) to boost its 60-minute delivery infrastructure.

Similarly, Zippee also provides same-day delivery window for D2C brands. The startup operates dark stores in Tier I cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai.

Shiprocket’s competitor Delhivery also has a rapid commerce business,which offers two-hour deliveries in three cities – Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. The startup is also planning to launch multi-tenant dark stores for “rapid in city delivery” for ecommerce companies.

As per a recent statement by the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI), quick commerce and ecommerce are driving private consumption in the country.

On the financial front, Shiprocket’s operating revenue surged 20.8% to INR 1,316 Cr in FY24,  from INR 1,089 Cr in the previous fiscal year. However, its net loss also widened 74.4% to  INR 595 Cr  in the year under review from  INR 341 Cr in FY23.

The post IPO-Bound Shiprocket Takes Its Same-Day Delivery To Bengaluru appeared first on Inc42 Media.

US-based cloud platform Snowflake has partnered with the state-backed digital skilling initiative, FutureSkills Prime, to train more than 100,000 Indian students and professionals in data and artificial intelligence (AI) skills over the next two years.

In a statement, Snowflake said that its entry-level training courses will now be integrated on FutureSkills Prime’s platform for undergraduate and postgraduate students, along with working professionals. 

With this partnership, Snowflake will also gain access to more than 2,100 institutions, part of Nasscom’s Academia network. 

FutureSkills Prime, a combined effort of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), offers multiple courses to upskill and reskill the IT manpower in the country. The platform claims to have more than 20 Lakh users currently.

Snowflake claims to offer six free learning modules for data professionals including engineers, analysts and architects. The users will receive a certificate from both NASSCOM and Snowflake after the completion of the courses.

In addition, Snowflake also claimed that its training courses will also be integrated into the university curriculum as “either mandatory or optional programs” in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The courses offered by SaaS major will also be aligned with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), the statement added.

“… The collaboration aims to pave the way for a future in which organisations can use their data to gain competitive advantage, innovate, and achieve long-term success,” said Snowflake India’s managing director Vijayant Rai.

Founded in 2012, Snowflake is a US-based cloud-based data storage and analytics company, which offers a platform for data warehousing, data engineering, among others. 

This comes a month after the minister of skill development and entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary informed the Parliament that nearly 20.9 Lakh individuals have so far signed up on the FutureSkills Prime portal. Of this, 34 Lakh candidates have completed courses in areas such as AI, big data analytics, among others.

In addition, more than 19,000 individuals have also been trained in various AI courses under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 4.0).

.The development also comes at a time when the government has pushed the pedal on AI adoption and upskilling the local workforce in the emerging technology. As part of this, the Centre announced the establishment of a centre of excellence (CoE) in artificial intelligence in Budget 2025-26 with a total outlay of INR 500 Cr. 

More recently, the government also rolled out several initiatives under its INR 10,300 Cr IndiaAI Mission, including IndiaAI Compute Portal and unified datasets platform AIKosha.

The post Snowflake Partners FutureSkills Prime To Train 1 Lakh Indian Students In AI Skills appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Raj Kumar Srivastava, an independent director at DroneAcharya, has resigned from the dronetech startup’s board to “fulfil other professional responsibilities”.

This comes close to two months after DroneAcharya’s company secretary and compliance officer Harshal J. Kher resigned from his position. Back then, Kher wrote in his resignation letter that he was resigning to “pursue opportunities for professional growth and development”.

Meanwhile, in an exchange filing, the company said that Srivastava put down his papers on March 18 and will continue to serve his notice period till the end of this month.

“ …we hereby inform you that Mr. Raj Kumar Srivastava, independent director of the company vide e-mail dated March 18, 2025 has tendered his resignation from the position of independent director,” the filing said.

This also marks an end to Srivastava’s one-year stint with the company. Currently, he is also serving as the head for nature-based solutions at Iora Ecological Solutions. Additionally, he had worked with the Karnataka government, serving at its forest, electronic and science and technology departments for more than a decade. 

Founded by Prateek Srivastava and Amit Takte in 2017, Pune-based DroneAcharya is a drone and data-based solution provider which offers solutions, including multi-sensor drone surveys, pilot training and data processing. The company got listed on the public market in 2022, at a premium price of almost 90% to its issue price of INR 54 apiece. 

Last week, DroneAcharya bagged an INR 46.25 Lakh project from consulting firm EY to focus on advanced drone training in Nepal under a six-month project called “Nepal drone ecosystem acceleration program”.

The project, which was floated by the World Bank, aims to accelerate the adoption of drone technology in Nepal for critical applications such as infrastructure development, disaster management, security, and precision agriculture, the company said in an exchange filing then.

Also, last month, DroneAcharya bagged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) type certification for its multipurpose drone, AgriVeer.

In January, the company signed a merger agreement with agri-drone company AITMC Ventures to expand its solution suite for the customers. At that time, it also secured a contract from the defence ministry to provide drone-centric training courses for 8 army officials. 

On the financial front, DroneAcharya’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) dropped 62.1% to INR 1.50 Cr during the six months ended September 2024 (H1 FY25), against INR 3.96 Cr during the same period in the previous fiscal.

The shares of the company ended today’s trading session on the BSE at INR 64.73 apiece, up 5% from its previous close at INR 61.55. 

The post Raj Kumar Srivastava Exits DroneAcharya Board appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In yet another twist in BYJU’S insolvency proceedings, the edtech giant’s founders have reportedly accused the former interim resolution professional (IRP) Pankaj Srivastava of delaying the submission of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) settlement application. 

If the submissions were made on time, BYJU’S could have emerged from insolvency by now, the counsel for the cofounders reportedly said during a hearing at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) Chennai bench, Business Standard reported.

The bench was hearing an appeal filed by BYJU’S director Riju Raveendran against the decision of the Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to block the withdrawal of insolvency plea. 

It is pertinent to note that the NCLT, in January this year, removed the then BYJU’S IRP Srivastava. The Tribunal also initiated disciplinary proceedings against him and set aside his decision to exclude Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance from the edtech company committee of creditors (CoC).

In his appeal, Riju accused Glas Trust of pressurising the then IRP to constitute a new committee of creditors (CoC), which allegedly delayed the process of submitting BCCI’s withdrawal application within the required three days. 

The case began back in 2023, when the BCCI filed a petition against the edtech company for not paying INR 158 Cr dues pertaining to the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team. In July 2024, the NCLT’s Bengaluru bench admitted the BCCI’s insolvency plea against BYJU’S.

However, the two parties reached a settlement in August 2024, when Riju paid the cricket board INR 158 Cr. 

However, BYJU’S investors and lenders approached the authorities to get their dues back. The edtech firm owes Glas Trust, which is a consortium of its US-based lenders, over $1 Bn. 

Since then, there have been numerous back and forth in insolvency proceedings. From allegations on the IRP by founder Byju Raveendran and its investors to the founders taking shots at Glas Trust, the future of the company, once valued at $22 Bn, hangs in the balance. 

The post BYJU’S Insolvency: Founders Blame Suspended IRP For Delay In Submitting BCCI’s Application appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Union Cabinet today approved an ‘incentive scheme’, aimed at promoting low-value BHIM-UPI transactions for the financial year 2024-25.

The scheme, with an estimated outlay of INR 1,500 Cr, will incentivise low-value BHIM-UPI transactions to encourage usage among small merchants.

The incentive will be provided at the rate of 0.15% per transaction value for transactions up to INR 2,000 pertaining to the category of small merchants, the government said in a statement.

“The scheme will enable small merchants to avail of UPI services at no additional cost. As small merchants are price-sensitive, incentives would encourage them to accept UPI payment, it added.

With this initiative, the government aims to penetrate UPI in tier III to VI cities, by promoting products including UPI 123PAY and UPI Lite. Besides, the scheme focuses on uplifting the payment system participants in building a secure digital payment infrastructure. This will contribute to the government’s vision of a cashless economy.

In each quarter of the programme, 80% of the approved claim amount from the acquiring banks will be distributed unconditionally.

The reimbursement of the remaining 20% of the admitted claim amount for each quarter will be contingent upon fulfilment of the following conditions:

10% of the admitted claim will be provided only when the technical decline of the acquiring bank is less than 0.75%; and the remaining 10% of the admitted claim will be provided only when the system uptime of the acquiring bank will be greater than 99.5%.

The development comes at a time when homegrown UPI is rapidly being adopted by the citizens. In February, the UPI transactions surpassed 16.11 Bn mark with a total value of INR 21.96 Lakh Cr, surging 20% year-on-year (YoY).

However, the number of transactions in the month under review dropped  5% month-on-month (MoM) from 16.99 Bn in January and 3.7% from 16.73 Bn in December 2024.

Last week, bankers proposed the Centre to bring back the merchant discount rate (MDR) on transactions made through UPI and RuPay debit cards.

Additionally, the government is also pushing UPI beyond geographical borders. Today, the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI)  international payment arm partnered with full-stack payments infrastructure firm HitPay to facilitate UPI payments across Singapore. 

Earlier this year,the authority partnered with Middle East-based payment solution provider Magnati to expand UPI merchant payments in the UAE. 

Besides, NPCI is also looking to curb UPI-related fraud cases in the country by getting rid of the ‘collect’ request feature for merchant payments in a phased manner. 

The post Cabinet Approves ‘Incentive Scheme’ For Low-Value UPI Transactions appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Update | March 19, 4:20 PM

Shares of MobiKwik ended the day’s trade up 11.5% at INR 332.15 apiece on the BSE. The stock rallied 19.1% to INR 355 apiece during the intraday session today.

Original | March 19, 11:07 AM

Shares of fintech giant MobiKwik continued their rally for the second straight session today, zooming 18% to INR 351.90 apiece on the BSE during the early morning trade.

At 10:54 AM, the shares were trading 17.40% higher at INR 349.85. Mobikwik’s market capitalisation stood at INR 2,717 Cr, with over 2.91 Cr shares changing hands. 

This comes after the stock hit a 52-week low at INR 231.05 on Monday (March 17) post the end of the three-month anchor lock in period. However, the stock made a sharp recovery yesterday, surging 20% to end the session at INR 298.

Mobikwik made its public market debut in December 2024. Its shares got listed at INR 442.25 apiece on the BSE, a 58.5% premium to the IPO issue price of INR 279.

Founded by Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku in 2009, MobiKwik offers digital banking products for consumers and merchants. It claims to have more than 172 Mn customers across India, out of which more than 4.5 Mn are merchants.

On the financial front, the company slipped into the red in Q3 FY25. It posted a consolidated net loss of INR 55.28 Cr during the quarter as against a profit of INR 5.27 Cr in the year-ago quarter. On a QoQ basis, its loss widened multifold from INR 3.59 Cr.

Operating revenue rose nearly 18% to INR 269.47 Cr during the quarter from INR 203.45 Cr in Q3 FY24. However, it declined 7% from INR 290.64 Cr from the previous quarter of FY25. 

In a post-earnings call, the company’s founders said that MobiKwik is looking to enter new fintech verticals like insurance aggregator segment. Besides, it is experimenting with new lending models and focussing on balancing its lending portfolio by adding new products, Taku said during the call.

Last month, MobiKwik got approval from its board to incorporate and invest in one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries.

A few days after receiving the nod, the company infused INR 1.5 Cr to acquire an additional 3.39% stake in B2B banking company Blostem Fintech Private Limited. In March 2024, MobiKwik had signed an agreement with the banking company to invest INR 3 Cr in two tranches. 

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