Prince Air offers subscription-based flying on private jets

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A first in Indian aviation, New Delhi-based start-up Prince Air offers subscription-based airline services for unlimited travel on private jets.

Founded by fashion professional Sanket Raj Singh, Prince Air plans to make private flying more accessible by offering its services to members for a fraction of the cost of hiring a chartered jet.

“We have seen disruptions in taxi service, retail and hospitality. But no one has ever tried to disrupt the aviation industry in India,” says Singh. While reticent about the subscription fees, he promises it will be much cheaper than private charters.

At present, the cost to charter a private plane ranges anywhere between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per hour, an exorbitant sum. The subscription model of Prince Air will allow passengers to fly multiple times over cities across India at the same price that private jet companies charge for an hour.

Singh says the airline will bring down the cost of travelling on private jets by up to 80 to 90 percent. “Prince Air has made the private jet experience affordable and certainly more economical than the current private aviation options available in India. Our dream to change the way people fly is coming to life.”

The entire booking process will be digitalised, centred on an app. Members will be able to skip airport security lines and get VIP access during check-ins and boarding. They will need to arrive only 15 to 20 minutes before departure, and the flights will be accessed from different entries with agents ushering the passengers.

“Time is money and flying with us will help save precious time. Our innovative subscription model is a game-changer, which will turn week-long trips into day trips and day trips will become home-by-dinnertime. With Prince Air, a member would be able to save at least 2-3 hours on a Delhi-Mumbai- Delhi round trip,” said Singh.

Initially, the subscriptions will be limited, and Singh claims to have already filled up a substantial number. “Our clientele would include businesspeople, frequent-fliers, celebrities, ministers, sportspersons, entrepreneurs, and investors, amongst others,” said Singh. “The luxury real estate segment has also responded well. Members will be able to fly in the company of like-minded travellers, which could even lead to opportunities and friendships too.”

He added that the experience will include a chauffeured luxury car service for airport pickups and drops, and that Prince Air members will have access to exclusive services across partner hotels. There will be unlimited flights for a monthly subscription fee, and as the company looks to raise 15 to 20 million USD from American investors, it aims to break even within two to three years.

Prince Air will start with a fleet of six Bombardier or Embraer jets that will seat sixteen to twenty passengers, and plans to begin operations in the next ten to eleven months, starting with Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

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IT sector outperformed Nifty so far this year. Should you invest now?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The IT stocks have outperformed the benchmark indices since the beginning of 2019. The Nifty IT index gained over 3 percent in August and 11 percent in 2019. In comparison, the Nifty has fallen nearly 1 percent in August while risen 1.4 percent in 2019.

Among stocks, NIIT Tech rose over 20 percent in the last 1 month, while Tech Mahindra gained around 11 percent. HCL Tech, Infosys, and TCS also advanced between 3-10 percent during this period.

Meanwhile, for 2019, NIIT Tech surged nearly 30 percent, whereas, Infosys and TCS added over 20 percent each. HCL Tech was also up around 16 percent.

The rise in the sector has mainly been due to fall in the rupee versus the dollar.

In August, the rupee hit 72/dollar, its weakest level in 2019. Domestic factors like dismal growth in direct tax collection in the current fiscal, which further reflected the economic slowdown, uncertainty about fiscal stimulus, FII outflows weighed on the currency.

Apart from rupee depreciation, robust deal wins, growth in the digital segment also added to the positive sentiment.

The outlook for the sector, however, remains muted for FY20 due to worsening economic slowdown. The analysts expect the margins to be under pressure in the near-term, but overall, they remain bullish on the sector.

“We maintain our overweight stance on the sector and expect revenue growth to revert to low double digits in FY21. We maintain ‘buy’ rating on TCS and Wipro. Tech Mahindra remains our only ‘sell’ amongst the large caps,” Phillip Capital said in a report.

For Nomura, HCL remains the top pick in the sector. It has ‘neutral’ rating on Tech Mahindra and TCS, and ‘reduce’ for Wipro.

However, risks to global GDP due to trade war and their likely impact on demand in light of rich valuations at IT service companies compared to risks in the domestic market takes precedence, Nomura commented.

Disclaimer: CNBCTV18.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions

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August Attempt: Despite outflows, MSCI India outperformed emerging markets last month

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s performance rank in the emerging market (EM) rose to 6th last month from 23 in July, global brokerage Morgan Stanley wrote in a research report, resulting in MSCI India outperforming EM in August after two months of underperformance.

At the sector level, energy and technology were the best performers, while materials and utilities were the worst.

However, on a 3-month basis, MSCI India is among the bottom performing EM, said the report.

As per the graph above, MSCI India improved after two months despite market underperformance. The index rose to 2 percent in August from -6 percent and – 4 percent in June and July respectively.

Despite the government’s attempt to revive investor sentiment, the market performance in August was largely lacklustre like July, Morgan Stanley noted.

Last month, the mid- and small-cap indices underperformed the Sensex by 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, and continued to underperform on a YTD (year-to-date) basis, said the report. On the contrary, the MSCI India Growth index outperformed the MSCI India Standard and Value indices in August.

On the flow’s front, the research house said that the foreign investors sold Indian stocks more than September 2018 but less than October 2018. In contrast, domestic institutions and investors were strong buyers in August- more than September 2018 but less than October 2018. In 2019 so far, FPIs (foreign portfolio investors) are net buyers of $7.1 billion and domestic mutual funds are net buyers of $5.9 million in equities, while domestic insurance companies sold stock worth US$1.3 billion.

Also, cash volumes were lower month-on-month as well as year-on-year while derivatives volumes were up both on a monthly and yearly basis. Implied volatility and VIX were up 15.7 percent and 19.8 percent MoM, respectively. Put call ratio rose to a six-month high, up 9 percent MoM, the report added.

On the currency, bond market and commodities front, the brokerage highlighted the following:

Currency: The rupee depreciated by 3.6 percent MoM vs the US dollar and 2.7 percent vs the euro in the last month. So far this year, the rupee has depreciated 2.3 percent vs the US dollar and appreciated 1.5 percent vs the euro.

Bond: The 91-day yield declined by 23 basis points (bps) during the month and the 10-year treasury yield was up 19 bps. The yield curve steepened sharply during August.

Commodities: In August, the oil prices declined 4.2 percent MoM in USD/barrel and 7.78 percent MoM in INR/barrel. Gold prices were up 10.3 percent in rupee terms and 7.5 percent in US dollar terms.

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TVS Motor’s August sales follow auto industry trend, decline 15.3%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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TVS Motor Company has reported a sales decline of 15.3 percent in August year-on-year. The company’s sales figures conforms with the trend from the automobile industry where all major manufacturers have recorded a steep fall in sales in August due to economic slowdown.

TVS registered sales of 290,455 units last month, a 15.3 percent decline from the 343,217 units the company sold in the same month last year. However, the August sales figure show a minor uptick from the 279,465 units the company sold in July this year.

Also read: Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, others report decline in August auto sales as slowdown continues

TVS’ two-wheeler division recorded sales of 275,851 units last month which is a 16.4 percent decline from the 330,076 units the company sold in August 2018. In the Indian market, the company sold 219,528 units against the 275,688 it sold last August, a 20.3 percent fall.

Total motorcycle sales of the company registered 109,393 units in August 2019 as against sales of 131,743 units in August 2018, while it registered  109,272 units of scooter sales last month against 126,676 units it sold in the corresponding month last year.

Also read: Royal Enfield maker Eicher Motors’ sales hit 39-month low in August

However, TVS’ exports saw a 6 percent increase YoY. The Tamil Nadu-based manufacturer exported 69,702 units last month against 66,028 units in August 2018.

Three-wheeler sales of the company saw a double digit uptick with an 11 percent increase. TVS sold 14,604 units last month against 13,141 it did in August 2018.

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BJP likely to field candidate in Pratapgarh assembly seat vacated by Apna Dal MLA

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has apparently decided to go without allies in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. After getting rid of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), the party is now preparing to sideline the Apna Dal in the upcoming Assembly bypolls.

“The party will contest all the 13 Assembly seats where by-elections are being held,” said a senior BJP leader.

According to sources, the BJP is gearing up to field its own candidate in the bypoll for the Pratapgarh Assembly seat, which was vacated by Apna Dal MLA Sangam Lal Gupta after he won the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket and became an MP from the Pratapgarh Lok Sabha constituency.

The BJP is in no mood to let Apna Dal contest the seat, the Anupriya Patel-led party won in 2017.

The saffron party has continuously sidelined the Apna Dal after the Lok Sabha elections. Patel was not included in the new Narendra Modi government even though she was Union minister of state in the previous Modi government. The party was also not given a ministerial berth in the Cabinet expansion of the Yogi government last month.

The Apna Dal, according to sources, is upset with the BJP, but its leaders refuse to comment on the situation. The party is adopting a wait-and-watch policy.

A BJP leader said: “We are focusing on developing our own leadership that will represent different castes and communities so that we do not have to depend on other parties.”

After the exit of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party that represented the Rajbhar community, the BJP has promoted Anil Rajbhar to the Cabinet rank in the Ministry to make up for the loss.

The Apna Dal is a Kurmi-centric party but in the recent expansion, Yogi Adityanath inducted two Kurmi leaders as ministers — Nilima Katiyar and Ram Shankar Singh Patel.

Clearly, the BJP wants to look beyond Apna Dal when it comes to wooing the Kurmi community.

In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal (S) won won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. The saffron party has won 62 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two seats. Leader of Apna Dal (S) Anupriya Patel, who is also a Union minister, won from Mirzapur.

The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samajwadi Party ‘mahagatbandhan’ in Uttar Pradesh could just manage 15 seats.

The BSP contested 38 seats, the SP 37, while another ally Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal contested on 3 seats.

Of the grand alliance partners, the Mayawati-led BSP was the biggest gainer with 10 seats.

Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party(SP) won five seats and the RLD couldn’t open its account in the polls.

The Congress won the lone Rae Bareli seat of Sonia Gandhi, while the party suffered its biggest loss in its bastion Amethi where Congress president Rahul Gandhi was defeated by Union minister Smriti Irani, who had lost the seat in 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi won from the Varanasi seat defeating his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the SP by a margin of 4,79,505 votes, bettering his previous margin of 3,71,784 votes in 2014.

-with inputs from agencies

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

60 students to witness landing of Chandrayaan-2 with PM Modi at ISRO

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s first moon lander — Vikram — on Tuesday got nearer to the Moon with the Indian space agency successfully completing the first of the two de-orbital operations. Vikram is scheduled to land on the south polar region of the moon on September 7 between 1.30 a.m. to 2.30 a.m.

The landing will be witnessed by 60 young minds, sitting in the control room of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Bengaluru along with the Prime Minister and other scientists.

ISRO had conducted a ‘Space Quiz’ for students from the eighth to the tenth standard. The child with the most number of correct answers in 10 minutes emerged the winner.

Students from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Odisha etc are chosen on the basis of the ISRO quiz.

• Nishtha Sharma and Arnav Saini from Haryana.
• Ribait Phawa from Meghalaya
• Mridula Kumari from Jharkhand
• Chinmaya Choudhary from Odisha
• Rashi Verma from Delhi

Here’s a quick snapshot of all the support that is pouring in for #Chandrayaan2 as it nears its destination! We thank each and every one of you for the faith you have shown in us and for inspiring us to reach ever-higher, always! #ISRO pic.twitter.com/4yPW84flkk

— ISRO (@isro) August 30, 2019

An ISRO’s letter to Delhi student Manogya Singh Suyansh stated, “ISRO has great pleasure in informing that you have been selected to watch the historical Chandrayaan-2 moon landing on the early hours of September 07, 2019 at the ISRO Tracking Centre (ISTRAC), Bengaluru, in the presence of Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi Ji. You are requested to reach Bengaluru by 1400 hrs on Friday, September 06, 2019 along with one parent/guardian.”

On July 22, the Rs 978-crore Chandrayaan-2 was launched into space by India’s heavy-lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a textbook style launch.

(With inputs from agencies)

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow