29 December 2021, Mumbai:

Raymond rose 1.03% to Rs 625 after the company said it has incorporated new unit 'Ten X Realty' for its real estate business.

Raymond has incorporated Ten X Realty as its step subsidiary for development/joint development of land and properties other than existing properties of the company situated at Thane, Maharashtra.

The board of Raymond also approved infusing upto Rs 150 crore in Ten X Realty in more than one tranches over a period of time. The fund infusion will be in the form of equity/preference shares/ debentures/ inter-corporate deposit/loan (redeemable/non-redeemable/convertible/optionally convertible/non-convertible).

Out of the said investment, Raymond will invest up to Rs 75 crore in the form of redeemable preference shares which would be subject to such terms as may be finally decided and agreed.

Separately, Raymond said it allotted 1000, 7.6% secured listed redeemable non-convertible debentures (Series Q) of face value Rs 10 lakh each at par, aggregating to Rs 100 crore on private placement basis. The tenure of the instrument is 1095 days. It will mature on 26 December 2024.

The debentures are proposed to be listed on the wholesale debt market segment of the National Stock Exchange of India.

Raymond is India's largest integrated suiting manufacturer that offers end‐to‐end solutions for fabrics and garmenting. It has one of the largest exclusive retail networks in the country with around 1,500 stores in more than 600 towns.

On a consolidated basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs 56.15 crore in Q2 FY22 as compared to a net loss of Rs 136.59 crore posted in Q2 FY21. Net sales jumped 130.1% to Rs 1,551.32 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY21.

BUSINESS STANDARD (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

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DAILY NEWS:

• Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company, collaborates with PUMA on the ‘1DER' line, which features batsman KL Rahul

• Consumers will determine growth of sustainable fashion e-comm in India

• Myntra to offer 1 mn styles from about 7,000 brands at the 'Big Fashion Festival'

• Maharashtra government honors VIP as 'Best Innerwear Brand' for 2021-22

• Nike strengthens retail presences with new store at DLF Mall of India,Noida

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29 December 2021, Mumbai:

The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) has demanded that the government should immediately withdraw the permissions given to e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart-Walmart to operate in India as these firms are "blatantly contravening rules".

In a resolution passed at its national conclave recently, the outfit also said a CBI probe should be ordered into the operations of Amazon, Flipkart-Walmart and other multinational e-commerce companies, while alleging that these firms are doing business in India "blatantly" violating the FDI (foreign direct investment) regulations.

"Foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail trade is regulated through the FDI policy. Foreign players cannot have an inventory-based model to operate (in India). They are also barred from influencing prices by cash-burning models. Multinational e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Walmart-Flipkart are blatantly contravening rules and operating uncontrolled in India," the SJM claimed in the resolution passed at its 15th national conclave in Gwalior on December 26.

Amazon is "on a spree" to acquire brick-and-mortar retail outlets, along with its e-commerce retail activities, the outfit claimed, adding that the company's investments in Shoppers Stop and the More Retail chain are "major steps in this direction".

"From 2017-18 to 2019-20, in three years, Amazon has spent Rs 9,788 crore on legal and professional fees in India. Internal sources have exposed that the money is being routed through these accounts for bribing officials in India," the SJM alleged.

This proves that licences and permissions were obtained by all such e-commerce companies "fraudulently, using unfair means", it said.

"This is a very serious matter. The Rashtriya Sabha of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch demands that all the permissions given to these companies be withdrawn forthwith and all their activities be declared illegal," the outfit demanded in the resolution.

"The entire matter should be investigated by the CBI and as soon as the government officers, including people sitting in high offices, gaining from these companies directly or indirectly are identified, they should be sent on leave to ensure a fair investigation into the matter and be punished for their offences," it added.

The SJM claimed that Amazon and Flipkart occupy 80 per cent of the online marketing space and the discounts they offer are "adversely" impacting the offline markets, neighbourhood shops and grocery stores.

"Along with this, people engaged in the wholesale and the transport sectors are also getting adversely affected by the e-commerce giants.... In the past few years, mobile shops have been closed down due to unfair trade practices of the e-commerce giants," it said.

The RSS-affiliate accused Amazon of giving preferential treatment "to a selected group of sellers including Cloudtail and Appario" to hurt small retailers, "bypassing the Indian FDI regulations".

"Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competitive products and brands such as Solimo and Amazon Basics. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is another operations being carried out by Amazon in India to exploit the retailers by charging very heavy fees in the garb of helping them in improving their presence on the e-market place.

EconomicTimes (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

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DAILY NEWS:

• Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company, collaborates with PUMA on the ‘1DER' line, which features batsman KL Rahul

• Consumers will determine growth of sustainable fashion e-comm in India

• Myntra to offer 1 mn styles from about 7,000 brands at the 'Big Fashion Festival'

• Maharashtra government honors VIP as 'Best Innerwear Brand' for 2021-22

• Nike strengthens retail presences with new store at DLF Mall of India,Noida

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28 December 2021, Mumbai:

India has the unique advantage of the entire value chain for textile production present within the country vis-à-vis other competing nations which have to import fibre, yarn, and fabric to meet their requirement for garment production. It has a large market, which is growing rapidly with affordable manpower.

The domestic textile and apparel production is approx US$ 140 Bn including US$ 40 Bn of Textiles and Apparel export. The textile and apparel industry contributed 2% in the overall GDP of India in 2019 and 11% to total manufacturing in GVA.

Availability of almost all types of raw materials, the existence of total value chain, young demography of India, the entrepreneurial mindset of industry leaders, continuous support of Government, technology up-gradation, focus on innovation and strong presence of support industries will help this sector grow at a healthy pace in a coming decade.

Widely referred to as a change agent owing to its transformative powers, this industry alone has the capacity to generate around 70 jobs in garmenting and an average of 30 jobs overall for every INR 1 crore (USD 132,426) invested as compared to 12 jobs created on an average in other industries.

With direct and indirect employment of close to 105 million people, this industry is the second-largest employment generator in the country, next only to agriculture. More significantly, women constitute 70% of the workforce in garment manufacturing and about 73% in Handloom.

The growth of India as a manufacturing hub for textiles will depend on the attractiveness of the domestic market and on investments in high-end textile machinery and products in emerging areas like technical textiles, Man-Made Fiber (MMF).

A hallmark achievement of the Ministry includes, India has establishing a Rs 7000 crores PPE industry in a short span of just three months in the post-COVID situation and becoming the second-largest producer of PPEs.

Recent key initiatives of the Ministry during the year are as under:

PM MITRA PARKS: Government has approved the Setting up of 7 Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (MITRA) Parks with a total outlay of Rs. 4445 Crores in a period of 5 years.

World-class industrial infrastructure would attract cutting edge technology/scale and FDI / local investment in the sector. PM MITRA Park will encompass all ‘5F’ components: Farm to Fibre; Fibre to Factory; Factory to Fashion; Fashion to Foreign. PM MITRA Park is envisaged to be located at sites that have inherent strength for Textile Industry to flourish.

PM MITRA Park will offer the opportunity to create an Integrated Textiles Value Chain right from spinning, weaving, processing/dyeing and printing to garment manufacturing, etc. at one location and will reduce logistics cost of the Industry. It is intended to generate around 1 Lakh direct and 2lakhindirect employment per park.

PRODUCTION LINKED INCENTIVE (PLI) SCHEME FOR TEXTILES:

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles is specially focused at high value and expanding MMF and Technical Textiles segments of Textiles Value Chain.

Incentives worth Rs. 10,683crore will be provided over five years for manufacturing notified products of MMF Apparel, MMF Fabrics, and segments/products of Technical Textiles in India.

This will give a major push to the growing high-value MMF segment which will complement the efforts of the cotton and other natural fiber-based textiles industry in generating new opportunities for employment and trade. It will help create 50-60 global champions of exports.

RoSCTL scheme and Duty Structure: Government has approved the continuation of the RoSCTL scheme up to March 2024 to boost export competitiveness of Indian apparel and made-ups. The Government has notified uniform goods and services tax rate at 12 % on MMF, MMF yarn, MMF fabrics, and apparel that has addressed the inverted tax structure in the MMF textile value chain.

The changed rates will come into effect from 1st January 2022. This will help the MMF segment grow and emerge as a big job provider in the country.

AMENDED TECHNOLOGY UPGRADATION FUND SCHEME (ATUFS):

Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) is a credit-linked subsidy scheme intended for modernization and technology up-gradation of the Indian textile industry, promoting ease of doing business, generating employment, and promoting exports. The ongoing ATUFS with an allocation of Rs 5151cr has been implemented with a focus on facilitating and providing support to MSMEs.

TECHNICAL TEXTILES: The Technical Textiles segment is a new age textile, whose application in several sectors of the economy, including infrastructure, water, health and hygiene, defense, security, automobiles, aviation will improve the efficiencies in those sectors of the economy. The government has also launched a National Technical Textiles Mission for promoting R&D efforts in that sector.

SAMARTH (SKILL DEVELOPMENT & CAPACITY BUILDING): Samarth is a placement-oriented programme targeting skill development of unemployed youth in the value chain of textiles for gainful employment in organized sector and skill up-gradation of weavers & artisans in the traditional sector.

So far, a total of 71 textile manufacturers, 10 industry associations, 13 state government agencies, and 4 sectoral organizations have been onboarded under the scheme with an allocated target of 3.45 lakh beneficiaries, after due process of empanelment.

NATURAL FIBERS: India enjoys a predominant position in the availability of natural fibers of textiles.

Silk: India’s traditional and culture-bound domestic market and an amazing diversity of silk garments help the country to achieve a leading position in the silk industry. India is the second-largest producer of silk next to China.

It contributes about 32% of global silk production. The total size of the Indian silk industry is Rs.75000.00 crore(estimated). The Government has taken a number of steps for the promotion of investment, production, exports, and employment generation in the sericulture sector across the country.

The central sector scheme “Silk Samagra” provides R & D/ Seed support, technical and financial assistance for enhancing the quality and production of silk.

The main focus of the scheme is to make India Atma nirbhar in the production of international grade bivoltine silk and scale up the Automatic Reeling Machine. Brand “Indian Silk” is promoted through Product Development & Diversification to address the global market need.

Cotton: CCI could procure around 26 lakh bales under MSP Operations and about 6 lakh cotton farmers were benefitted by the disbursement of Rs.7600 crores directly into their bank account.

Jute: Jute-ICARE (Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise) scheme has been implemented for the improvement of quality and yield of raw jute production. Jute Raw Material Bank (JRMB) Scheme is for supplying jute raw materials at Mill Gate Price to MSME JDP units for production of jute diversified products,

Wool: Ministry of Textiles has approved rationalization and continuance of the Integrated Wool Development Programme (IWDP) from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with a total financial allocation of Rs. 126 Crore. ‘Wool Processing Scheme’ is for promotion of woolen industry.

TRADITIONAL LIVELIHOOD SECTOR OF TEXTILES - Handlooms and Handicrafts:

Ministry of Textiles is implementing schemes for the development of handlooms, the welfare of weavers, and for revival and promotion of the handloom industry across the country.

To promote the marketing of handloom products, Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC) has been organizing International Fairs and domestic marketing events for the weavers.

Linking Textiles with Tourism through Crafts Tourism Village is a modern-day concept wherein craft promotion and tourism are being taken up simultaneously. 13 crafts villages have already been identified.

Focusing on Direct market Access to Weavers/Artisans: To provide a direct marketing platform to the handicraft artisans/weavers, the Ministry of Textiles is developing an e-commerce platform through digital India Corporation, Ministry of Electronics, and Information Technology.

In the first phase, the artisans/weavers from 205 handicrafts/handlooms clusters are being selected throughout the country for uploading the handicrafts/handlooms products on the portal.

Further, the artisans/weavers are being registered on Government E-Market Portal (GeM) also to sell their products directly to the Government Ministries/Departments. So far about 1.50 Lakh weavers have been on-boarded on the GeM portal.

Promotion of Indian Toys: As emphasized by Hon’ble PM in his “Man ki Baat” programme that everyone should “team up for toys” with the focus on the theme of Atma Nirbhar Bharat to promote the Indian Toy Industry including handicrafts and handmade toy products.

A National Action Plan for Indian Toy Story has been made with the collaboration of 14 Ministries/Departments of Government of India.

PIB (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

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DAILY NEWS:

• Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company, collaborates with PUMA on the ‘1DER' line, which features batsman KL Rahul

• Consumers will determine growth of sustainable fashion e-comm in India

• Myntra to offer 1 mn styles from about 7,000 brands at the 'Big Fashion Festival'

• Maharashtra government honors VIP as 'Best Innerwear Brand' for 2021-22

• Nike strengthens retail presences with new store at DLF Mall of India,Noida

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27 December 2021, Mumbai:

Export of all commodities in the segment was valued at $263 billion during the April-November period in 2021-22.

Backed by the China-plus-one policy, India’s textile and apparel exports have seen a 53 percent growth during the April-November period of the current fiscal year at around $26 billion. This compares to the figure of $17 billion during the same period in FY21.

According to Wazir Textile Index, all major companies including Welspun, Vardhman, Trident, KPR Mills, Indo Count, RSWM, Filatex, Nahar Spg and Indorama have posted higher sales during the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the pre-pandemic year. Welspun posted an 18 percent increase, Vardhman around 26 other textile mills.

BUSINESS STANDARD (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

Dear Reader, we at DFU Publications are committed to providing the latest news updates on trade development and insights, to keep our readers informed. Stay tuned. Subscribe to our newsletter.

DAILY NEWS:

• Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company, collaborates with PUMA on the ‘1DER' line, which features batsman KL Rahul

• Consumers will determine growth of sustainable fashion e-comm in India

• Myntra to offer 1 mn styles from about 7,000 brands at the 'Big Fashion Festival'

• Maharashtra government honors VIP as 'Best Innerwear Brand' for 2021-22

• Nike strengthens retail presences with new store at DLF Mall of India,Noida

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24 December 2021, Mumbai:

The government has received large-scale backlash for its proposed goods and services tax hike to 12% on numerous apparel and textiles categories, but remains set to implement the tax increase on January 1, 2022.

As the GST Council previously made the decision to increase the textiles GST rates from 5% in many categories to 12%, the central government remains set on going ahead with its plan, despite trade bodies and other government agencies speaking up against it, the Economic Times reported.

“The decision to implement from January 1 was taken by the Council after intense deliberations,” an official told ET Bureau. “We will place the representations before the Council whenever it meets next.”

The Ministry of Finance stated that it will voice the concerns it has received from traders’ bodies to the GST Council before the end of the year.

Although industry organisations including the Retailers Association of India have urged the government to scrap the hike to prevent a rise in consumer prices, the GST Council has argued that it will solve the inverted duty structure currently in place.

“Inverted duty structure broadly harms the sector as companies are unable to take credit for higher tax paid on inputs,” the official told ET Bureau. “It had to be corrected to help the industry.”

FASHION NETWORK (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

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DAILY NEWS:

• Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company, collaborates with PUMA on the ‘1DER' line, which features batsman KL Rahul

• Consumers will determine growth of sustainable fashion e-comm in India

• Myntra to offer 1 mn styles from about 7,000 brands at the 'Big Fashion Festival'

• Maharashtra government honors VIP as 'Best Innerwear Brand' for 2021-22

• Nike strengthens retail presences with new store at DLF Mall of India,Noida

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27 December 2021, Mumbai:

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Come, explore Fabric 2.0 online.

Dear Reader, we at DFU Publications are committed to providing the latest news updates on trade development and insights, to keep our readers informed. Stay tuned. Subscribe to our newsletter.

DAILY NEWS:

• Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company, collaborates with PUMA on the ‘1DER' line, which features batsman KL Rahul

• Consumers will determine growth of sustainable fashion e-comm in India

• Myntra to offer 1 mn styles from about 7,000 brands at the 'Big Fashion Festival'

• Maharashtra government honors VIP as 'Best Innerwear Brand' for 2021-22

• Nike strengthens retail presences with new store at DLF Mall of India,Noida

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24 December 2021, Mumbai:

The $900 billion Indian Retail market is undergoing massive disruption on multiple fronts - especially over the last 2 years, with the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. The most significant disruption can be seen in the shopping preferences of Indian consumers.

India has the third-largest online shopper base globally, with 140 million e-retail shoppers in 2020, right behind China and the US. The Indian e-retail market is expected to grow at 25%-30% annually over the next five years to reach $120–140 billion by FY26.

At the same time, e-retail categories have witnessed significant growth and recovery patterns through the past 12–18 months of the pandemic. Though, fashion and electronics categories have seen a post-pandemic stabilized demand stabilization; frequent-use categories such as grocery, household, and personal care have clocked a continued acceleration.

The pandemic has inadvertently helped in redefining the shopping preferences of Indian customers. This transformative effect is definitely more pronounced in Tier 2+ towns across the country, be it Guwahati, Patiala or Asansol. Let’s look at a couple of use cases to gauge the impact of the pandemic on India’s retail sector.

Rimi is a homemaker in Guwahati - a bustling Tier 2 city in North-East India. Before the pandemic struck, most of her household purchases including groceries, fresh vegetables and fruits, and home and kitchen items were made at the local kirana store and wholesale market. Fast forward in 2021, Rimi along with her neighborhood friends prefer procuring everything online. Factors like “best prices” and “convenience” have ensured that online commerce is here to stay. No wonder, Rimi and all her friends like to increasingly buy goods online.

Satyajit, a young working professional in a small town in West Bengal, also chooses to buy online - be it electronics or household groceries for his family. He also prefers making online payments through his UPI app, rather than using cash which proves to be a rather seamless and efficient method.

This massive e-commerce penetration and preference for online payment methods have been driven by an enhanced customer need for safety and convenience, especially during prolonged stay-at-home periods. We have observed similar trends across global markets where customers are altering their shopping behavior. This ubiquitous penetration and adoption of e-commerce are poised to increase significantly even in the post-pandemic period.

A recent report by Bain & Company purported that the pandemic was a watershed moment for India’s e-retail market as it fast-forwarded a year’s worth of innovation with regard to e-retail penetration, which was at 4.6% by the end of FY21. Intriguingly, a recent Shopify Future of Commerce 2021 (for India) report stated that a whopping 84% of customers have shopped online since the emergence of the pandemic. Also, 85% of younger consumers in the 18-34 age bracket have shifted much of their spending to the online platforms.

One of the categories, where this change appears most pronounced, is groceries and daily essentials. In pre-pandemic times, more than 90% of our observed shoppers were habituated to buy groceries from offline brick and mortar stores. However, in a recent global survey conducted by YouGov, consumers said that their grocery shopping habits have changed over the course of the coronavirus crisis. In India, 81% of respondents admitted that their shopping dispositions have changed now. Due to several benefits such as convenience, attractive prices, and digital payment methods, Customers are likely to continue online procurement, even after initiating a full-fledged recovery from the pandemic.

The continued rise of social commerce:

During the pandemic, one of the most noteworthy trends has been the boom of social e-commerce. With people staying at home, they had a chance to reconnect with friends and loved ones like never before. This inadvertently led to the concept of social commerce as people are more comfortable and open to living in a “shared economy”. This further enables them to unlock great deals for home utility products by buying as a collective or through social networks.

Needless to say, Social commerce is much more prominent across small towns as people there are more socially connected with their communities, families and friends. They also prefer great deals and discounts and have an intrinsic trust deficit with the current model of e-commerce in the country. Therefore, Social communities will keep fostering and empowering more shared purchases for added benefits, be it better prices or convenience. Therefore, it is estimated that Indian social commerce is poised to reach a valuation of $70B-$100B by 2030 from just $2B in 2020.

In a series of pivotal developments, online retail is right on the verge of becoming democratized and more accessible to the next 500M customers residing across small towns in India, thereby ushering in a social commerce revolution. Amid this boom, it is anticipated that over 60% of social shoppers will come from tier-2+ towns.

According to a recent BCG report from 2021 “The Consumer Sentiment Series”, 76% of users were buying from social networks/chat groups as compared to before the pandemic. As e-retail accessibility continues to expand, a new wave of shoppers will surface online.

The majority of these future online shoppers are already a part of the digital funnel—watching videos and using chat and social media apps. However, the challenge for e-retailers is shifting this digital footprint towards social commerce.

The future of commerce in India is a massive opportunity - and we can't be more excited to see this transition!

BW Disrupt (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

Dear Reader, we at DFU Publications are committed to providing the latest news updates on trade development and insights, to keep our readers informed. Stay tuned. Subscribe to our newsletter.

DAILY NEWS:

• Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company, collaborates with PUMA on the ‘1DER' line, which features batsman KL Rahul

• Consumers will determine growth of sustainable fashion e-comm in India

• Myntra to offer 1 mn styles from about 7,000 brands at the 'Big Fashion Festival'

• Maharashtra government honors VIP as 'Best Innerwear Brand' for 2021-22

• Nike strengthens retail presences with new store at DLF Mall of India,Noida

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