Tag: Mirae Asset

This fund house was criticised for 2 years for not starting a small-cap fund — it feels vindicated now

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

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For two years, Mirae Asset Investment Managers faced a relentless barrage of inquiries and criticisms for not venturing into the small-cap fund territory. However, Swarup Mohanty, the Vice Chairman and CEO of Mirae Asset Investment Managers, now feels vindicated in their decision.

Mohanty defended Mirae Asset’s position, highlighting that their data is primarily confined to mid-cap investments.

“My first disclaimer is at Mirae Asset Investment Managers, we don’t have a small-cap fund,” Mohanty told CNBC-TV18.

“In the past two years, we have been trying to justify why we don’t have a small-cap fund in practically every discussion we’ve been going to, that’s how large the return chasing has been in the market,” he said.

He stressed that Mirae’s focus on mid-cap investments wasn’t arbitrary but based on their understanding of market dynamics and investor preferences.

“Our data is mostly restricted to the mid-cap where 50 is getting done in 10 days, and then 25% in four days,” Mohanty told CNBC-TV18.

His comments come as fund houses have started disclosing the outcomes of stress tests conducted on their small-cap and mid-cap funds.

This move comes in response to directives from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), which mandated fund houses to conduct stress tests on their mid- and small-cap schemes using last month’s data and disclose the results before March 15.

Nippon India Small Cap Fund, with assets under management (AUM) totalling ₹46,000 crore, has revealed that it would require 27 days to divest half of its portfolio.

Edelweiss Mutual Fund has detailed its liquidity scenario, stating that it could liquidate 50% of its mid-cap fund portfolio within two days and 25% within a single day.

For its small-cap fund, Edelweiss anticipates three days to liquidate 50% of its holdings and two days for 25%.

Quant Mutual Fund has also shared its stress test results, indicating that it would take six days to liquidate 50% of its Quant Mid Cap Fund’s portfolio and 22 days for the Quant Small Cap Fund.

The liquidation timeline for 25% of the portfolio stands at three days for the Quant Mid Cap Fund and 11 days for the Quant Small Cap Fund.

Axis Small Cap Fund, managing an AUM of ₹19,606 crore, projects a 28-day timeframe for liquidating 50% of its portfolio.

DSP Small-Cap Fund, with an AUM of ₹13,703 crore as of February’s end, has disclosed that it would necessitate 32 days to divest 50% of its portfolio.

Speaking further, Mohanty stressed the importance of recognising that investors are generally aware of the liquidity disparities between large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap investments.

He emphasised that each fund house has its unique approach to liquidity management, which predates regulatory mandates.

“Just putting out that number of days is not the right way of ascertaining every fund or putting it on one small podium,” Mohanty said.

“You have to bring in the skill of the backend of the fund management, the skill of the dealers, the skill of the entire fund management unit in managing that liquidity, which will differ from fund house to fund house,” he said.

What Mohanty means by this statement is that simply disclosing the number of days required to liquidate a portion of a fund’s portfolio is insufficient for truly understanding its liquidity dynamics.

He said that such information alone cannot accurately gauge the effectiveness of a fund’s management or compare different funds on an equal footing.

Mohanty suggested that to fully comprehend a fund’s liquidity management, one must consider various factors beyond just the numerical figure. This includes the expertise and strategies employed by the fund’s management team, the proficiency of the dealers executing transactions, and the overall capability of the fund management unit.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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

NFO launch | Mirae Asset Nifty Low Volatility 30 ETF to open for subscription on March 13

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

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Mirae Asset has launched Nifty Low Volatility 30 ETF, which will open for subscription on March 13, 2023. This is an open-ended exchange traded fund scheme replicating/tracking Nifty 100 Low Volatility 30 Index. The new fund offer (NFO) will be available till March 21, 2023. The scheme will re-open for continuous sale and repurchase on March 27, 2023.

The fund seeks to generate excess return based on portfolio of stocks that are characterized by lower than average volatility. The low volume stocks exhibit defensive characteristics resulting in lower drawdowns in bear markets, Mirae Asset said.

ALSO READ | Motilal Oswal AMC launches Motilal Oswal Nifty G-Sec May 2029 Index fund

Salient features of index:

• The securities forming part of Nifty 100 Index are assessed on the basis of volatility for index inclusion
• Volatility is calculated as the standard deviation of daily price returns (log normal) for last one year
• Eligible stocks are then ranked based on their volatility score, with stock having lowest volatility getting a rank of 1
• Top 30 ranked stocks with least volatility form part of the index. These stock are weighted as per their low volatility score.

Sector-level distribution (in %)

Data as on Jan 31, 2023. National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Nifty 100 Low Volatility Index is skewed towards FMCG and Healthcare sectors compared to Nifty 100 Index 

Data as on Jan 31, 2023. National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Historical Performance

 Data as on Jan 31, 2023. National Stock Exchange (NSE)

Nifty 100 Low Volatility 30 has outperformed Nifty 100 Index in 8/15 Calendar Years and exhibited higher return-to-risk ratio in 10/15 Calendar Years since 2008.

Investing in Mirae Asset Nifty 100 Low Volatility 30 ETF?

In short-term, the fund may be used as investment during the time of bear market/choppy market, Mirae Asset said.

“In long-term it can be potentially used for investment as Nifty 100 Low Volatility 30 Index has generated higher risk-adjusted return over longer horizon. Nifty 100 Low Volatility 30 Index has relatively lower draw down compared to broad market as well other factor indices, thereby providing downside protection. The index provides alternate sectorial exposure which is different than Nifty 100 Index,” it said.

ALSO READ | Axis Mutual Fund’s S&P BSE Sensex ETF opens for subscription: Key features of the NFO

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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

S Korean firm Mirae acquires industrial, warehousing asset in Maharashtra for Rs 130 cr

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

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South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments Co Ltd has acquired an industrial and warehousing asset at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra for Rs 130 crore. Anarock, one of the leading real estate consultants in the country, facilitated this deal.

Mirae Asset Global Investments has done an outright acquisition of a pre-leased Grade A industrial asset at Bhiwandi, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) for Rs 130 crore, Anarock said in a statement.

The industrial property, housed in a 160-acre integrated industrial park and spread over 9 acres, has been acquired from Prakhhyat Infraprojects.

Junyoung Hong, Chief Business Officer – Mirae Asset Global Investments (India) Pvt Ltd, said this acquisition is perfectly aligned with the firm’s vision of investing in top-grade commercial leased properties in India.

“Mirae Assets Group is ramping up its global real estate portfolio and has earmarked USD 500 million to invest in leased Indian commercial assets,” he added.

Also Read: Cerberus drops pursuit of Apollo’s unit in India

With a total leasable area of over 3 lakh square feet, this asset houses an incumbent tenant Rhenus Logistics, a global logistics services provider headquartered in Germany with operations across Europe, Asia, and South America.

Commenting on the deal, Shobhit Agarwal, MD & CEO – ANAROCK Capital, said, the company has facilitated this acquisition for Mirae Asset Investments Group, which has astutely identified a highly strategic asset in one of West India’s most prominent growth corridors for industrial and logistics industry.

Bhiwandi commands about 16 per cent share among the top 10 micro-markets, now dominating the Grade A warehousing space.

“Due to an increase in demand, such Grade-A warehousing assets will witness anywhere between 15-20 per cent of annual growth over the next 3-4 years,” Agarwal said.

Post the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian warehousing industry has witnessed significant growth driven by demand from third party logistics firms and e-commerce companies as well as from  sectors like retail, FMCG, manufacturing, and electronics.

Sandeep Bagla, Director – Prakhhyat Infraprojects, said: “This warehousing space will deliver a massive competitive advantage. Such Grade-A warehousing assets have a multi-faceted beneficial impact on operational efficiencies and are aligned to international standards.” Global investment firms would increasingly identify and acquire such superior assets to ramp up their presence in India, he added.

Also Read: Ujjivan Small Finance Bank says need to be prepared for pressure on margins

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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

Unveiling the Tech-led Broking Industry Leaderboard System

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

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If the extended lockdowns of the last two years have taught us anything, it is the value of creating alternate streams of income. It has also taught us how non-negotiable it is to have an emergency fund that you can liquidate easily. Now that things are almost back to normal, it’s time to put these lessons to use.

One of the easiest ways to grow one’s investment is through SIPs. However, there are those of us who have a knack for investing: we understand how the market works, have confidence in our ability to navigate various investment avenues, and the ability to come out on top of our investments. We keep abreast of the latest developments, understand the risks and promise of future and options, and have made our share of profits in intraday sessions.

However, there are certain factors that add to uncertainty. Often, it’s the little things: brokerage, hidden processing costs, limits on trades (that can blindside you when you least expect them!). Sometimes, the platform you use isn’t performing at the level you expect it to, and that lag can hurt you. There are also times when the information isn’t up to date or the platform makes you jump through hoops to make trades.

Isn’t Technology There Yet? 

It is. m.Stock, a global technology-led brokerage platform by Mirae Asset, providing a superfast 1-click approach to trading. Its best-in-class interface processes thousands of orders per second. The platform is geared to handle up to 1.2 crore trades per day and 90,000 orders per second with 15 lakh users at the same time. In fact, m.Stock exceeded 3 lakh trades, crossing Rs 750 crores in turnover in just 20 days of operation.

The m.Stock user interface is designed to be smooth, creating ease for novice investors, while providing easy access to all the information and features seasoned investors need: simultaneous access to historical data, advanced trading charts and orders, and detailed trading information. Customers are provided with a quick toggle-like voice search for stocks, and a voice assistant for help at every step, coupled with bank-grade security features.

Evolving Platforms for New-Age Investors

m.Stock’s business model allows for several price points, suited to various types of investors. The most freeing of these price points is the one that offers Zero brokerage across all products (including F&O and Intraday), for a one-time payment of Rs 999. For those customers who want to avail of the life-time maintenance free Demat account, another onetime fee of Rs 999 (plus taxes) gives them access to a Demat account with no order limit, time limits, age limit, annual fee, and subscription fee. m.Stock also offers one of the lowest exchange charges in the Indian market. In fact, you can calculate your savings on brokerage and other charges by using the brokerage calculator, to see, in real time, what you would’ve paid with any other provider.

As the investment landscape is constantly changing and more people take the online route to grow their wealth, such tech-led platforms can ease the journey for novice and seasoned investors. Start your investment journey now!

This is a partnered post. 

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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

Mirae Asset MF launches two new funds

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

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Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, one of the fastest-growing fund houses in India, on January 10 announced the launch of Mirae Asset Nifty India Manufacturing ETF, an open-ended scheme replicating/tracking Nifty India Manufacturing Total Return Index, and the Mirae Asset Nifty India Manufacturing ETF FOF, an open-ended fund of fund scheme predominantly investing in Mirae Asset Nifty India Manufacturing ETF.

The NFO for both the funds has opened for subscription on January 10, 2022. While the Mirae Asset Nifty India Manufacturing ETF will close on January 20, 2022, the Mirae Asset Nifty India Manufacturing ETF FOF will close on January 24, 2022.

The minimum initial investment in both the schemes will be Rs 5,000 and multiples of Re 1 thereafter. These funds allow investors the opportunity to participate in potential emerging segments like electric vehicles, electronics, battery tech and defence, among others.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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

Global Investing through passive style

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Watch Swarup Mohanty and Koel Ghosh reveal the trends, challenges, and opportunities in international market investment with Surabhi Upadhayay in Episode 6 of Wizards of Finance Season 2.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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

Trell raises $45 million in Series B round of funding

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

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Lifestyle social commerce platform, Trell has raised $45 million in a Series B round of funding led by financial group Mirae Asset, H&M Group and co-led by LB Investments. Previous investors, along with KTB Network, Samsung Ventures, and Fosun RZ Capital have also participated in this round. With this, Trell’s total funding raised has reached $62 million to date.

Social commerce is worth $1.5 to $2 billion GMV market today and is likely to hit $60 billion to $70 billion in 2030. Accelerated by the pandemic, the ecosystem is estimated to grab 5 percent of the Indian e-commerce market at a CAGR of 65 percent from 2020 to 2025. Thus, investors are drawn to its high-growth potential.

Trell is planning to utilise the freshly infused capital to further develop its AI and ML technologies across regional languages as well as strengthen the team. Further, the funds will also help with the growth of community and commerce initiatives.

Also read: Flipkart raises $3.6 billion in funding; valuation soars to $37.6 billion

Speaking on the development, Pulkit Agrawal, co-founder and CEO, Trell, said, “We are thankful to have Mirae Asset, H&M Group and LB Investments join us as our investors and partners. Trell has enabled millions of Indian language internet users to discover and buy lifestyle trends and we are grateful to have a community that has shown us incredible support, which has further fueled our need to diversify content creation, commerce in India and create sustainable opportunities for wealth creation and economic growth.”

Ashish Dave, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, said, “Trell’s roadmap and vision of empowering millions of Indian’s to become micro-entrepreneurs has really resonated with us and we are glad to see the love that the platform has witnessed this past year. The team has an in-depth understanding of the diversity across the country which is the need of the hour. We believe the impact of the platform in the social commerce ecosystem is going to revolutionize the way people connect and consume content online, thereby helping them make more informed lifestyle choices and purchase decisions.”

With 100 million+ downloads and 50 million+ monthly active users on its app, Trell provides a platform for millions of Indians to connect with like-minded individuals, discover lifestyle trends and share content around their interests and passions across categories such as beauty, fashion, wellness, health, food, TV reviews, travel, and gadgets, among others.

Also read: Ola Electric signs pact to raise $100 million in long-term debt

Trell’s vast content library features videos from the said categories in 8 regional languages garnering over 20 Billion monthly views. By the end of this year, the social commerce platform is looking to launch 6 more languages expanding its footprint to over 2000+ cities and towns in India.

In August 2020, Trell also launched its social commerce section on the app, enabling users to watch personalised product recommendations across beauty, personal care and wellness categories that they can buy from within the app.

In the last few months, Trell has onboarded over 500 personal care and beauty brands, with the most recent addition of Maybelline, L’Oréal and Garnier. Growing exponentially since its inception, Trell has also recorded 10x-15x year-on-year growth and 30 percent month-on-month growth on its transactions.

Also read: Vodafone Idea in talks with Apollo Global for $3 billion funding, says report

With the new addition of funds, Trell is also looking to expand its commerce operations by entering into the apparel, home care, mom and baby-care categories in the months to come.

Bimal Kartheek Rebba, co-founder and COO, Trell, said, “Trell has become the launchpad for many up-and-coming D2C brands and advertisers, who are leveraging our community of regional content creators to advertise their products and services on the platform. Our understanding of the depth in the consumer ecosystem of India has helped many brands accelerate their journey to unlock the $100 billion market in India. Our aim is to enable over 2000+ brands to penetrate the deeper pockets of the country and communicate with their potential customers through regional content creators by 2022.”

Arun Lodhi, co-founder and CTO, Trell, said, “Over the last few months, we have been leveraging our in-house AI/ML technology and neural networks to create user psychographics based on their behavioural patterns on the platform. This enables us to provide personalized content and product recommendations for them. We have also been focused on strengthening our product with some exciting new features, UI changes and implementing stronger data security norms in the days to come to enable the best experiences for our users.”

Also read: 10club raises $40 million in one of India’s largest seed funding rounds

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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

ESG prompts positive sentiments in the Indian market

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Wizards of Finance, (a joint initiative by CNBC-TV18 and Mirae Asset Mutual Fund) is an up-close and personal investor education series that delves into insights on long-term disciplinary investments during market volatility.

ESG Overview in Indian Markets
India is currently at a nascent stage in the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) zone. However, it is increasingly gaining traction amongst the investing community these days.

In the last 2-3 years, India has experienced multiple issues on corporate governance matters like labour unrest and plant closures. These issues have highlighted the importance of environmental and social issues, along with the need for disciplined governance.

Kaustubh Belapurkar, Director – Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Advisers India, said, “Sustainable growth has become a very important thing because if you do not sustainably manage the stakeholders, be it the environmental factors or the social factors… Your growth can be hit really bad.”

Motivation Driving ESG Fund Investments
In India, ESG Investment was initiated as a risk-management exercise. To avoid huge stock events, institutional investors sought this asylum to evade losses and bad image.

With time, as the ESG Fund gained popularity in Europe and the US, empirical evidence began to corroborate its promising potential. A study published by Morningstar revealed 35% of sustainable investment funds in Europe were in the top quartile.

With Indian organisations understanding the principles of sustainable growth, we witness significant improvements in corporate operations. To avoid risks, good behaviour on ESG factors are building robust systems, which aim to generate higher profits and investing alpha.

Trends Noticed in the Indian ESG Markets
As companies are modifying risk exposure exercises, ESG is gaining the spotlight it deserves.

Lovaii Navlakhi, Founder and CEO, International Money Matters, states that investing intermediaries are experiencing rising queries and promising investor sentiments towards the Indian ESG funds. He says, “Some of our clients are now starting to ask for this… And it’s now our job as intermediaries to make sure that we educate investors.”

The focus is shifting from risk management to creating better returns to the risk profile by investing from a long-term perspective.

The Varying Levels of Importance Levied Onto E, S, and G

With regards to organisational ESG research, Siddharth Srivastava, Head of ETF Products at Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Private Limited, says, “You first see which factors are more pertinent to which industry. For example, in the energy sector, carbon emissions, wastage, managing resources, health and safety hazards… Will be more pertinent.”

Therefore, environmental factors weigh in greater than social and corporate governance. While there is no set rule in regard, it entirely depends on the specific industry standards and operational efficiency.

Do ESG Fund Managers Avoid Chemical Companies on Account of the Environmental Activities?

ESG Fund Managers usually pick the top-performing companies across many industries. Inherently high-risk sectors like energy and fertilizers and pesticides will always float in the market.

Picking the low-risk ESG industries skews your portfolio mainly towards IT companies. The exposure will be similar to the benchmarks but will record poor ESG performance.

To avoid this scenario, managers opt for high-performing chemical companies who perform well on the ESG tipping scale.

Which Factors Influence the ESG Investing Process?

India has just begun in ESG investments. Therefore, there aren’t many varieties available to choose from. At this time, it’s best to start slow, get acquainted with products, and understand market movements.

In the international space, one can explore the ETF route which may result in fruitful ESG investments. Lovaii believes up to 10% of the total capital is a good portion to invest in ESG funds, provided that there are enough options to choose from and they suit investor requirements.

The Risk to Return Ratio in ESG Funds

When companies focus on non-financial parameters, their performance speaks volumes. Good corporate imagery may boost market sentiments and long-term returns.

This comes at a cost.
An investor needs to be vigilant with his portfolio. If not constructed well, the concentration in certain sectors bears no fruits than their potential. Plus, it’s important to be aware of Green Washing, where companies claim to be ESG compliant when, in reality, they aren’t.

How Does the Future Pan out for ESG Funds in India?

Kaustubh believes that in the future, ESG will become “pretty much the gold standard when you’re looking to evaluate companies.” In time, investors and organisations will look at ESG as a hygiene factor rather than question its importance.

Disclaimer
An Investor Education Initiative by Mirae Asset Mutual Fund

The views expressed or statements made in this document are purely the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of either Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Private Limited or its affiliates.

For information on the KYC process, Registered Mutual Funds and the procedure to lodge a complaint, refer the knowledge center section available on the website of Mirae Asset Mutual Fund.

Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.

This is a partnered post.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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

BigBasket to invest $100 million to strengthen supply chain

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Alibaba-backed company BigBasket is pumping in $100 million (about Rs 698 crore) to strengthen its supply chain by setting up vending machines and smaller distribution centres across various cities it operates in.

The online grocery platform — which is registered as Supermarket Grocery Supplies — had recently raised $150 million in funding, led by Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, CDC Group and Alibaba Group.

Founded in 2011, BigBasket operates in 25 Indian cities. It plans to utilise the proceeds of this fundraising – which has placed the Bengaluru-based company in the unicorn club (companies with valuation of $1 billion and above) – to further penetrate into existing markets with more investments in the first mile, scaling-up of its supply chain and for developing new reseller channels.

“We want to enable two-hour delivery in top 10 cities that we operate in by July this year. For that, we have been investing in strengthening our distribution centres. We have 18 large and 80 smaller distribution centres together with our resellers and this will be ramped to 20 large and 100 smaller ones by June this year,” BigBasket co-founder Vipul Parekh told PTI.

This move will help BigBasket reduce delivery time and ensure quality of dairy and fresh produce, he added.

The company expects its capital expenditure towards these initiatives to be about $100 million this year.

“We are ramping up our milk subscription business – BB Daily – under which we have built the supply chain to deliver milk and other items in the morning. The service was started around September last year and our sellers already carry out 90,000-100,000 orders a day. We are aiming to take this to a million orders a day and a stronger supply chain infrastructure will play a key role in this,” he said.

Another area where the company is investing is in towards setting up unmanned vending machines – BB Instant – in office and apartment complexes.

“We see a huge potential of these machines. Customers can use their app to access the machine and buy products. The only human intervention is in re-stocking. We have already placed such machines at 200 sites in Bengaluru and over the next one year, we want to have 2,000 such sites across the 10 large cities where we operate,” Parekh said.

Also, given that these machines are placed within apartment and office complexes, the risk of vandalism is lower.

Parekh said with these investments, BigBasket – which competes with SoftBank-backed Grofers as well as Amazon.in and Walmart-owned Flipkart – will continue to build further on its leadership in the grocery business.

“We have been re-engineering our supply chain to allow for faster delivery to our resellers and to reduce the time from farm to our customers. This coupled with an expansion in our range of private label products will create a solid foundation for growth in both revenue and profitability,” Parekh said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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