Electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy startup Simple Energy on Monday announced it has secured $20 million in its Series A funding to scale up local production.

The funding round saw participation from current investors, such as high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) from Haran family office, Dr A Velumani’s family office, Vasavi family office, and the Desai Family office (the promoter group of Apar Industries), among others.

“As the adoption of EVs accelerates significantly in India, we are committed to playing a pivotal role in this burgeoning ecosystem,” said Suhas Rajkumar, Founder and CEO of Simple Energy.

The capital raised will be tactically deployed to bolster “our production capacity and expand our dealership network nationwide,” he added.

The startup aims to achieve a top-line of Rs 150 crore this fiscal.

Founded in 2019, Simple Energy has a motor manufacturing unit within its 200,000 square feet plant located in Shoolagiri, Tamil Nadu.

It offers ‘Simple One’ with 212 kms of certified range and ‘Simple Dot One’ electric two-wheelers with 151 kms of certified range.

Currently in a pilot phase in Bengaluru, the startup has begun deliveries in the city, and is preparing to open dealership stores in other regions.

“With a clear vision and a strategic roadmap mapped out for the next phase of growth, Simple Energy is primed to redefine the landscape of technologically advanced EV two-wheelers in India and beyond,” said Balamurugan Arumugam, Chief Growth Officer at Klarity, an HNI who participated in the round. AGENCIES

Hyundai Motor and Kia, South Korea’s leading automotive companies, on Monday held a joint demonstration for their integrated air taxi service technology in Indonesia, the companies said.

The automakers said they held a public event to demonstrate their combined integrated advanced air mobility (AAM) technology at Samarinda Airport near Indonesia’s new capital of Nusantara, reports Yonhap news agency.

The event was organised to showcase Hyundai and Kia’s envisioned demand-responsive transport service, named Shucle, and related AAM services to fit the actual user environment.

It was attended by officials from the Indonesian transport ministry, the Nusantara Capital City Authority and representatives from the South Korean automakers. Attendees were given the chance to experience the Shucle service firsthand.

The flight demonstration was made using the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s air vehicle Oppav. Powered by Hyundai Motor Group’s powertrain technology, Oppav flew approximately 2 kilometres along a predestined route.

With its vast land area covering over 18,000 islands, Indonesia is known as a country with high growth potential for the air taxi business due to the difficulty of developing road transportation.

Hyundai Motor Group has been cooperating with Indonesia’s Nusantara Capital City Authority to establish a local AAM ecosystem.

The two sides are working on various initiatives, from developing plans to apply AAM within the new capital, to validating concepts for ground and air transportation, and conducting local demonstrations. AGENCIES

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, on Monday, announced the inauguration of the BioNEST-IIT Mandi Catalyst Centre, a pioneering initiative sponsored by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a funding agency, under the Department of Biotechnology.

With an initial funding of Rupees five crore, the centre aims to drive innovation and entrepreneurship in biotechnology and healthcare sectors, particularly addressing the unique challenges of the Himalayan region.

Its primary focus is on healthcare innovation, including the development of disease detection methods, affordable healthcare solutions, medical devices, prosthetics, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.

In addition, the centre will explore biotechnology applications, such as drug discovery, bioactive compounds, supplements, and functional foods, to enhance health and wellness.

“The BioNEST-IIT Mandi Catalyst Centre will support business ventures in the biotechnology and healthcare sectors that can generate significant economic opportunities by creating jobs,” said Dr Satvasheel Ramesh Powar, Faculty-in-charge, IIT Mandi Catalyst.

“The centre will enhance collaboration and knowledge exchange by establishing strong networks among entrepreneurs, investors, industry partners, and academic institutions. In addition, the centre is committed to promoting sustainable development by encouraging startups to pioneer environmentally friendly technologies and solutions,” Dr Powar added.

The centre aims to enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Himalayan region, offering vital incubation support to startups, including funding, mentorship, and access to cutting-edge facilities. AGENCIES

India is on track to become a global manufacturing centre, driven by its rapid economic growth and strategic initiatives, according to a report by the global financial services firm Lazard.

The report, “Outlook on Emerging Markets,” highlights India’s strong demographic advantage, projecting significant growth until 2060 due to its young and expanding labour force.

With nearly 80 per cent of its population under the age of 50 and a rising middle class experiencing real wage growth, India is poised to benefit from a substantial demographic dividend.

The report credits the first two terms of PM Modi’s government with succeeding in “stabilising India’s macroeconomy, integrating millions into the digital economy, and implementing tax and other reforms.”

It also pointed out that PM Modi’s plan to transform India into a developed country by 2047 is set to remain a central goal during his third term as well. However, the report also notes that there are some challenges in the education and agriculture sectors.

India is widely seen to be on track to become the world’s third-largest economy with GDP crossing US$ 5 trillion and the goal is now to reach a US$ 30 trillion economy by 2047.

The Prime Minister also chaired a NITI Aayog meeting on Saturday which had Viksit Bharat@2047 as its central theme. He emphasized that the country needs to take advantage of the opportunities that are emerging due to the technological and geopolitical changes taking place in the world.

The Governing Council meeting discussed the Approach Paper for the Vision Document on Viksit Bharat @2047. The meeting also discussed the roadmap for enhancing the quality of life for both rural and urban populations by strengthening the delivery mechanisms of government interventions.

Besides, the Prime Minister stated that the Union Budget 2024-25 “ would be a catalyst for making India the third largest economy in the world and for laying the strong foundation for the Viksit Bharat goal.”

The Budget has given a booster shot to the manufacturing sector, especially the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). AGENCIES

Contributing to India’s digital inclusion, fintech Non-Bank Financial Companies (NBFCs) sanctioned nearly 9 crore loans worth Rs 98,111 crore in FY24, doubling their share in six years, a report showed on Monday. 

This accounts for 65 per cent of loan sanction volume and 11 per cent of the loan sanction value in the overall personal loan market in FY24, according to leading industry body, the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE).

From FY19 to FY24, fintech loans’ share in sanction volume increased from 30 per cent to 65 per cent and in sanction value from 4 per cent to 11 per cent.

“An expanding digital economy nurtured by public policy, infra and regulations creates fertile ground. The backdrop is moving – customer needs, regulations, technology, funding position. Technological developments, in particular, bring new prospects and risks,” said Sugandh Saxena, CEO, FACE.

Despite the pandemic setbacks, the industry disbursed over 24 crore loans worth Rs 2.7 lakh crore since April 2018.

The outstanding loan volume for fintech personal loans was 4.84 crore with a total value of Rs 70,049 crore (as of March 2024).

This represents fintech NBFCs share of 5 per cent in overall personal loan outstanding and over a third in active loan volumes, said the FACE data.

“The digital process breaks the geographical barriers to access, and the data shows that fintech borrowers come from 717 districts in 35 states/UTs,” the report mentioned.

Over two-thirds of loans by sanction value in FY 23-24 went to borrowers under the age of 35.

Fintech primarily serves the vast aspirational mass market with an annual family income of Rs 3-12 lakh.

These customers require a spectrum of credit products, and the fintech loan ticket size composition reflects that, said the report.

At an aggregate level, fintechs have an average ticket size of about Rs 11,000 and half of the sanction value goes to ticket sizes under Rs 50,000.

“Fintech’s ability to capitalise on technology to improve customer experience and business conduct and prevent risks and fraud is mission critical for success ahead,” said Saxena. AGENCIES

Homegrown EV firm Ola Electric is set to offer shares in the price band of Rs 72-76 in its initial public offering (IPO) worth Rs 5,500 crore that will open for subscription on August 2 and close on August 6.

Around 10 per cent of the IPO will be reserved for retail investors.

The IPO will have an offer for sale (OFS) component of up to 84.94 million which translates to Rs 645.96 crore (at the upper price band).

With this, the total issue size will be at Rs 6,145.96 crore, taking Ola Electric’s market cap to nearly Rs 33,500 crore.

Ola Electric’s promoters Bhavish Aggarwal and Indus Trust will sell 3.79 crore and 41.79 lakh shares, respectively.

Other investors in the EV firm, like SVF II Ostrich (DE) LLC, Alpha Wave Ventures II LP, Alpine Opportunity Fund VI LP, Internet Fund III Pte, Matrix Partners India Investments III LLC and Ashna Advisors LLP, will also offload their shares via the OFS route.

Ola Electric gears up to spend around Rs 1,227 crore from its IPO raise for the capacity expansion of its cell manufacturing plant.

The EV firm will also spend the IPO money on research, product development and business expansion.

In FY24, Ola Electric’s net loss jumped 7.6 per cent to Rs 1,584.4 crore, from Rs 1,472.1 crore in the previous fiscal.

The company reported a 90 per cent rise in its operating revenue at Rs 5,009.8 crore, from Rs 2,630.9 crore in FY23, as per its red herring prospectus (RHP). AGENCIES

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural session of ‘Journey Towards Viksit Bharat: A Post Union Budget 2024-25 Conference’ at Vigyan Bhawan, in the national Capital on Tuesday (July 30), according to a PMO statement issued on Monday.

The conference is being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and is aimed at presenting the outline for the government’s larger vision for growth and the industry’s role in this endeavour.

More than 1,000 participants from the industry, government, the diplomatic community, think tanks among others will attend the conference in person while many would connect from the various CII centres across the country and overseas.

PM Modi had stated that Union Budget 2024-25 “would be a catalyst for making India the third-largest economy in the world and for laying the strong foundation for a Viksit Bharat.”

He pointed out that the budget would ensure inclusive growth, benefiting every segment of society and pave the way for a developed India.

“This is a budget that will take the country’s villages, poor and farmers on the path of prosperity. In the last ten years, 25 crore people have come out of poverty,” he remarked.

The address to India Inc. also comes in the backdrop of the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by PM Modi on Saturday with the theme ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’, that has its central focus on making India a developed nation.

The PM said that Viksit Bharat @ 2047 is the ambition of every Indian and states can play an active role to achieve this aim as they are directly connected with the people.

He observed that India has achieved steady growth in the last ten years with the Indian economy, which was ranked the 10th-largest economy in the world in 2014, rising to become the 5th-largest economy by 2024.

India is on track to become the world’s third-largest economy with the GDP crossing the $5 trillion mark and the goal is now to reach a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

The Union government has adopted a ‘Team India’ approach to achieve the goal of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047 by taking the states on board.

PM Modi emphasised that the country needs to take advantage of the opportunities that are emerging due to the technological and geopolitical changes taking place in the world. AGENCIES

 Indian equity indices opened at an all-time high on Monday following positive sentiment in the global peers.

At the start of the trading session, Sensex and Nifty made a new all-time high of 81,749 and 24,980.

At 9:37 a.m., Sensex was at 81,679, up 347 points or 0.43 per cent, and Nifty was up 84 points or 0.34 per cent at 24,919.

Banking stocks lead the markets. Bank Nifty is up 590 points or 1.15 per cent at 51,881.

Buying is also seen in the smallcap and midcap stocks. The Nifty midcap 100 index is up 376 points or 0.65 per cent at 58,144 and the Nifty smallcap 100 index is up 210 points or 1.72 per cent at 19,064.

NTPC, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, L&T, Infosys, and Maruti Suzuki are the top gainers in the Sensex pack. Titan, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, ITC, JSW Steel, HUL, and M&M are the top losers.

All major Asian markets are trading with the gains. The US market closed on a positive note in Friday’s session.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking said, “After a gap-up opening Nifty can find support at 24,900 followed by 24,850 and 24,800. On the higher side, 25,000 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 25,100 and 25,200.”

“The charts of Bank Nifty indicate that it may get support at 51,200, followed by 51,000 and 50,900. If the index advances further, 51,500 would be the initial key resistance, followed by 51,700 and 51,800,” he added. AGENCIES

 Setting a goal to surpass the targeted growth in the collection of state excise by the end of the current financial year 2024-25, the West Bengal government is mulling the possibility of increasing the prices of different liquor and beer brands.

Sources in the state excise directorate said that the new prices will be announced after evaluating the expressions of interest (EOI) to evaluate the existing cost of production of liquor and beer brands.

The last time, when the state government went for a hike in liquor and beer prices was in February 2023 and before that also the EOIs were sought from the liquor manufacturers to evaluate the production cost.

“On the basis of the EOI evaluations, the final per-bottle price and the state excise to be imposed on it are determined. This year the process of seeking EOIs from the liquor manufacturers and evaluating the same has already started and the final reflection of that evaluation report on the prices of liquor and beer brands would be felt soon,” he said.

Sources said that in the case of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), the per-bottle price might increase in the range between Rs 5 and Rs 100 for 750 ML bottles. In the case of country spirit, the per-bottle- price might increase by Rs 5 for a 600 ml bottle. Beer might be costly from Rs 20 to Rs 30 per bottle.

Insiders from the state excise directorate said that the interim rise in the prices of liquor and beer bottles is aimed at surpassing the targeted collection in state excise as set in the budget estimates for 2024-25.

As per the budget documents for 2024, the targeted state excise collection in the estimates for the same fiscal has been set at Rs 21,846.36 crore, as against the figure of Rs 18,851.06 crore as per the revised estimate figures for 2023-24.

Sources said that the internal target for state excise collection by March 31, 2025, is now being set at Rs 25,000 crore. AGENCIES

  A total of 1,284 inmates at Makala Central Prison in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), will be granted conditional release to ease the prison’s overcrowding, DRC State Minister for Justice Constant Mutamba announced.

The inmates will be released in groups of about 400 per week, said Mutamba, who approved the release of the first 421 inmates on Saturday from the country’s largest prison, located in the DRC’s capital Kinshasa, Xinhua news agency reported.

A decongestion commission was set up to examine the cases of prisoners eligible for conditional release. The prisoners, who were arrested for embezzlement of public funds, will not qualify, said the minister.

The first 421 prisoners released had served at least three-quarters of their sentence and were deemed to behave well during their incarceration.

The release is part of a series of measures, aimed at improving detention conditions, and reforming the DRC’s prison system.

“We have taken the step of rehabilitating all the toilets in all the pavilions and rehabilitating the health centre,” he noted.

“We are looking into drastically decongesting and rehabilitating the prison from top to bottom. We have identified a new site to build a modern prison.”

Built for 1,500 prisoners in 1957, Makala Central Prison now holds around 15,000 prisoners in cells, according to local media. AGENCIES