Sonalika Records Highest Domestic Growth in Industry at 41.6%; Surpasses Industry Growth (est. 26.7%) in FY'21

  

After consistently achieving records of excellence month after month in FY’21, Sonalika Tractors has added yet another feather of superlative achievement to the hat of its glorious journey. Sonalika has recorded its highest ever annual sales of 1,39,526 tractors in FY’21 and among the leading market share gainers in the industry. The company has registered a phenomenal domestic growth rate of 41.6% over FY’20 volumes, which is highest in industry and beaten industry growth (est.26.7%) by a significant margin. Alongside, Sonalika has recorded its highest ever annual rotavator sales of 50,000 units in FY’21, recording double the volumes registered in FY’20. Overall, Sonalika Tractors has sold 13,093 tractors in March’21, registering a whopping 135% growth over March’20. 

Commenting on the superior performance in export markets, Dr. Deepak Mittal, Managing Director, Sonalika Group, said, “I am very pleased to see the extraordinary outcome this year. Our strong foundation has served as a unique platform for the company to continue recording extraordinary results even in the most challenging year and we have become the first Indian tractor company to cross 22,000 tractors exports in a single year. This success is credited to the committed team along with our distributors, dealers, financiers and loyal customers who stayed connected and performed in the markets under the adverse conditions without much travel or physical connect. We are proud of our market leadership in 6 countries and close second in another 5." 

Upbeat about the company’s performance, Mr. Raman Mittal, Executive Director, Sonalika Group, said, “Achieving a significant landmark of phenomenal domestic growth of 41.6% in FY’21, which is highest in industry and surpassing industry growth (est. 26.7%) by a significant margin amidst the most challenging year is a testimony that we have laid a strong foundation to remain closely knitted with our farmers and the society at large, which has only strengthened with time."

"Our plans were not deterred by the external unforeseen situations as we have always remained consistent with our approach to grow and serve our customers. Our innate ability to re-engineer our approach across all business functions powered us to come out as a clear winner month after month, throughout the year.” 

He added, “Our pace of transformation during the year has been faster than ever before across various verticals."

Manufacturing - We were among the first one to start production within all the prescribed safety protocols and attained full capacity operations within 2 months.

Sales - We have widened our channel network at a pace faster than ever before (145+ new channel partners added), thereby strengthening our national presence.

R&D and Product Innovation - Introduced the highest number of products during the year (6 new models), including the much talked out Tiger Electric model, and our regional technology introductions Mahabali and Chhatrapati, while constantly upgrading products with latest technology features like 4 wheel drive technology, multi speed transmission and precision 5G hydraulics.

Customer Care - Rolled out the 3X2 service to reach consumers closer to their farms and extended warranty of all tractors during the COVID-19 period.

Marketing - Pivoted our farmer-centric marketing programs on digital as well as other media platforms with high responsiveness.

Finance - We re-strategized our financial discipline to control unnecessary cost escalations arising due to unforeseen situations.

HR - We ensured 100% wages to the labour and also rolled out employee welfare initiatives as a support to households whose families were impacted by the pandemic.

CSR - A host of new initiatives were rolled out viz. dedicated 2 isolation centers (Delhi and hoshiarpur), Corona mobile testing van, PPE kits, sanitisation drives across states, developed ventilator system and many more.

Every single parameter of our business functions worked cohesively towards setting up new benchmarks of performance. We remain committed to bring technologically advanced products for our farmers & lead them to farm prosperity. ” 

 

About Sonalika Tractors

Sonalika Tractors, one of India’s leading tractor manufacturers and the No. 1 Exports brand from India, has established its robust presence in the domestic as well as in over 130 countries with 11 lakh+ customers. Sonalika manufactures the widest heavy duty tractor range in 20-120 HP and 70+ implements at its Hoshiarpur facility in Punjab that caters to the varied needs of customers across the globe. Being a farmer-centric brand, the Govt. of India has chosen Sonalika as the only tractor brand to contribute to the Niti-Aayog for its inspirational project of doubling the farmer’s income in the country.

No. 1 Heavy Duty Customised Crop Solutions

Sonalika tractor portfolio is customised as per the needs is equipped with efficient engines which give higher power output and remain affordable with low maintenance for better total cost of ownership and experience. Sonalika is the leading brand in more than 50 HP tractor segment and is strengthening its presence in more than 40HP segment to achieve the leadership position.

As the farm mechanisation expert, SonalikaAgro Solutions offers a wide range of implements to address various stages of crop cycle ranging from land preparation to post harvesting operations including residue management. Sonalika has also forayed into Custom Hiring Centres, a platform that offers small and marginal farmers an access to advanced agri machinery on rent, thereby aims to increase farm output in a cost effective way. The company has introduced ‘Agro Solutions’ app for easy access of requisite machinery to farmers, thereby promoting farm mechanization in the country.  

No. 1 Exports Brand from India

Sonalika is the No. 1 Exports brand from India and is proudly associated with 1.25 lakh customers in markets outside India, a true sign of acceptability of an Indian company across 130 countries. Having a 100% presence across all European countries, our tractors are successfully operated by more than 20,000 satisfied customers in diversified European conditions. Sonalika has also set up a spare parts centre in Germany that caters to the regional requirements with an aim to provide better service and customer satisfaction. 

About the World No. 1 plant

The Hoshiarpur plant of Sonalika is the World’s No. 1 vertically integrated tractor manufacturing plant that is designed to manufacture customised farm machinery as per the farmer’s crop-specific applications. The facility is fully equipped to manufacture almost every element in-house which goes in the making of a tractor and is powered by robotic as well as automation. 

Financial News Bureau

Kinara Capital Secures INR 52 Crores from IIX's Women's Livelihood Bond Series for HerVikas Discounted Loan Program for Women Entrepreneurs

Designated Funds to Extend Financial Inclusion to an estimated 2500+ Women-Owned Small Businesses in India

Kinara Capital, a leading socially responsible fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today announced securing INR 52 crores from Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) for the advancement of women entrepreneurs in India. This sustainable investment fund will be disbursed via Kinara Capital’s established HerVikas discounted loan program to an estimated 2500+ women-owned small businesses. The expected impact of the partnership between IIX and Kinara Capital will generate an incremental income of INR 320 crores for women entrepreneurs.

The HerVikas program by Kinara Capital enables ‘her progress’ with an automatic upfront discount of 1% on interest costs on fast, collateral-free business loans in the range of INR 1 lakh to 30 lakhs. Kinara is effectively addressing the inequitable credit gap and related systemic issues by providing access to formal credit, industry knowledge, and personalized customer service to women entrepreneurs.
 
IIX’s CEO and Founder, Professor Durreen Shahnaz, said, “Having supported Kinara in one of their initial equity rounds and having watched the company grow steadily and with impact for nearly a decade, we are proud to invest in Kinara Capital again from the proceeds of the third tranche of the Women’s Livelihood Bond Series. At a time when COVID-19 caused governments, investors, and businesses to turn inward and leave behind millions of underserved women, women-led enterprises like Kinara Capital are spearheading COVID-resilience from the ground up by accelerating financial inclusion and empowering women entrepreneurs to be part of the solution for economic recovery. IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series is doing what no one else dares to do – valuing women and making them a part of the global financial system. But we’re not stopping there. We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries by continuing to expand the Women's Livelihood Bond Series so that we create truly systemic change that will outlast any pandemic.”

The Women’s Livelihood Bond 3 (WLB3) is part of the USD $150 million Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB Series), a series of innovative debt securities that create sustainable livelihoods for over 3 million women across developing countries. The WLB3 is supporting women-focused enterprises in India, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines that are directly supporting women to respond to, recover from, or rebuild their livelihoods in the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Women-owned businesses are about 20% of the 60+ million MSMEs in India, however, the majority of these remain in the micro category. With data-driven credit decisioning, Kinara ensures a bias-free risk assessment of women business owners. Moreover to addressing the credit gap with collateral-free loans, Kinara tackles systemic bias against women by defying common practices such as asking for the presence of a male relative to apply for a loan. In addition, Kinara hosts customer meets and digital workshop series with useful tips and information in vernacular languages to help women entrepreneurs scale their business.
 
Kinara Capital’s HerVikas discounted loan program for women-owned MSMEs is available in 90+ cities across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and UT Puducherry.

About Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)
 
IIX is the pioneer in impact investing and the global leader in sustainability. We have transformed the financial system so that women, the environment and underserved communities are finally given a value and a voice in the global market. Over the past decade, we have built the world’s largest crowdfunding platform for impact investing (Impact Partners), created innovative financial products such as the Women's Livelihood Bond and the Women’s Catalyst Fund, operated award-winning enterprise technical assistance programs such as IIX ACTS, and established an Impact Institute and Research & Advisory to build the sustainable investing market. To date, our work has spanned 53 countries, unlocked US$215 million of private-sector capital, and positively impacted over 87 million direct and household lives, and avoided over 1.2 million tons of carbon. The foundation of IIX's work is IIX Values, the world’s first impact verification solution for every organization, which effectively measures the social and environmental impact of an investment and gives value to the voices of the underserved. IIX has received numerous awards for its work including the Oslo Business for Peace Award, the ‘Nobel Prize for Business.’ Learn more here: iixglobal.com
 
About Kinara Capital

Kinara Capital is a socially responsible fintech non-banking financial company (NBFC) propelling the financial inclusion of small business entrepreneurs with fast & flexible collateral-free business loans. To date, the company has disbursed INR 2000+ crores across 56,000+ collateral-free small business loans. The company boasts a women-majority management team and is globally recognized for its innovations in SME lending. IFC/World Bank named Kinara Capital as ‘Bank of the Year-Asia 2019’ and Financial Times ranked it among the Top 100 High-Growth Companies in Asia-Pacific. Headquartered in Bangalore, the company operates 110 branches in 90+ cities in India. Kinara Capital is recognized as a Systemically Important NBFC by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is a debt listed entity on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Click here for more information kinaracapital.com and follow us on Twitter @KinaraCapital
 
This press release may contain projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and reflect our current beliefs and expectations with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risk and uncertainties and subject to change at any time. Given business risks and uncertainties, undue reliance on these forward-looking statements should not be placed. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the projections or forward-looking statements.

Financial News Bureau

Comviva introduces Digital Services Delivery Platform for Banking Industry

 

Comviva, the global leader in providing mobility solutions, today introduced the new generation Digital Services Delivery Platform (DSDP) for banking industry. The platform empowers banks to offer diverse digital content services and create super app to deliver best possible experience for customers. The solution also allows banks to provide hyper-personalized experience through customized price bundles, content, and service offerings.

Comviva's DSDP Banking suite offers advanced digital capabilities for both banks and its customers. Customers can subscribe and discover hassle free services across multiple genres such as entertainment, travel, food, education, fitness etc. in just few clicks. Banks can build, manage, optimize and deliver the subscription services through seamless integration with multiple partners using its Subscription Lifecycle Management capabilities on the same infrastructure.This significantly reduces operational costs and service procurement timelines while driving customer analytics and simplifying partner management. It further provides a robust and agile framework for continuous innovation and digital service delivery.

"Comviva's DSDP is a next-gen platform for Banks to offer  digital services and  comes with rich set of capabilities to explore and realize new opportunities arising out of digital without exposing them to risks or escalating costs. The platform has a robust roadmap to ensure that it remains ahead of market needs and business requirements," further added Manish.

By deploying the DSDP Banking suite, Banks  are able to manage all available subscription plans via a common interface. Also, banks will be able to launch these plans in real-time without experiencing network downtime. Banks can offer flexible discount plans, based on the subscriber's usage patterns. The platform is flexible to configure various  nodes as per the bank requirements. The platform also enables partner management capability that ensures smooth onboarding of different partners and manage their lifecycle, reconciliation and settlement.

Its future ready, micro services based, cloud ready multi-tenant architecture provides a common role based interface for accessing different capabilities of the platform invariably making it a Capabilities as a Service (CaaS) Platform. The micro services are made available in the form of open APIs for consuming these platform capabilities. The architecture supports API security and multilevel API response along with web-based reporting tool.

Financial News Bureau

Consumer and Personal Loans Bolstered Fintech Lending in FY 2021 - Equifax SIDBI Fintech Pulse

SIDBI and Equifax launched the second edition of "Fintech Pulse", a quarterly publication highlighting key trends of the fast growing NBFC (Non- Banking Financial Company) Fintech segment.

"Fintech Pulse" aims to provide insights on trends in the Indian Fintech industry - from disbursements to delinquencies to top growing states and top loan categories.

Key highlights:

•  Consumer and Personal Loans continue to be strong for NBFC-Fintechs with 87% share in active loans

•  There is a 38% increase in outstanding portfolios value year on year, with personal loans growing while business loans showing a decline in value

•  Despite growing, consumer and personal loans have seen average ticket sizes come down by more than 40%, to less than INR 9000

•  Disbursements for personal loans are down 71% year on year

•  In overall industry, NBFC-Fintechs have market share of 2.44% in business loans by number of active loans and 1.2% by portfolio outstanding

•  Business loan disbursements by all lender types declined post pandemic began, but started recovering from Apr-June 2020 quarter for Public Sector Banks

•  90+ delinquencies for business loans by NBFC-Fintechs deteriorated YoY

•  Top 5 states contributing 50% of total loans disbursed by Fintechs were Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and Rajasthan

On the launch, Shri V. Satya Venkata Rao, Deputy Managing Director, SIDBI said, "Fintech Lending has changed the approach of credit delivery in India through Innovative products and real time solutions. The industry has witnessed 38% YoY growth as on Sep'20, despite COVID pandemic. As we move in new normal, the Fintech Lending industry will play a crucial role in delivering credit to last mile borrowers. I hope the Fintech Pulse will provide key insights to stakeholders."

About Equifax

At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employees, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by more than 11,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 25 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com


About SIDBI

Small Industries Development Bank of India has been established under an Act of the Parliament in 1990. SIDBI is mandated to serve as the Principal Financial Institution for executing the triple agenda of promotion, financing and development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME sector) and co-ordination of the functions of the various Institutions engaged in similar activities. Over the years, through its various financial and developmental measures, the Bank has touched the lives of people across various strata of the society, impacted enterprises over the entire MSME spectrum and engaged with many credible institutions in the MSME ecosystem. Under Vision 2.0, SIDBI has spearheaded various Initiatives to address the Information Asymmetry in MSME sector like 'MSME Pulse', the health tracker of MSMEs and 'CriSidEx', for gauging the MSE sentiments & aspirations and 'Fintech Pulse', for credit data insights on Fintech lending segment, 'Microfinance Pulse', insight report on Microfinance sector and 'Industry Spotlight', a comprehensive report on major industry sectors.

Financial News Bureau

HDFC Bank Invites Start-ups to Apply for SmartUp Grants

•  To focus on start-ups in ed-tech, skill development sectors creating social impact

•  Partners with nine premier incubators to screen, mentor & monitor start-ups

​HDFC Bank is inviting applications from start-ups and solo entrepreneurs for its SmartUp grants. SmartUp grants by HDFC Bank under #Parivartan – the bank’s umbrella CSR brand – is aimed at finding and deploying long-term, sustainable solutions at scale, to address social issues and contribute to the economic and social development of the country.
 
This year, the bank will focus on start-ups creating social impact at scale in sectors such as education – technology (ed-tech) and skill development, among others.
 
To screen, mentor, and monitor start-ups, HDFC Bank has partnered with nine start-up incubators registered with the Govt of India’s MeitYplatfrom. The nine incubators are from premier institutes and include IIT – Delhi, IIT – BHU, AIC BIMTECH Noida, IIM Kashipur, GUSEC Gujarat, C-CAMP Bangalore, Banasthali University – Jaipur, Villgro Incubation – Chennai, and T – HUB Hyderabad.
 
How to apply and process:

1.  Start-ups making a social impact can send in their applications by clicking here. The application window opens today and closes on Feb 16, 2021.

2.  Further, the bank’s incubator partners and the SmartUp team will jointly scout for start-ups.

3.  Bank and incubators will jointly reach out and engage with start-ups through the SmartUp portal hosted on the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY's) platform

4.  Incubator partners will screen and shortlist applications and the SmartUp team will select finalists.

5.  Finalists will pitch their start-ups to a jury comprising senior Management of the Bank.

 
Evaluation criteria:

1.  Market reach, penetration and scalability of the product

2.  Degree of social impact in beneficiaries’ lives

3.  Economic viability of product at scale

“We begin the new decade with a renewed focus to enable and nurture social sector start-ups,” said Ms. Smita Bhagat, Country Head – Government, E-commerce and Start-ups, HDFC Bank. “Our partnership with incubators will mentor the winners to scale up their ideas. Enterprises working in the social sector are doing commendable work in changing the lives of millions of Indians. SmartUp grants is one way of offering our support and encouragement in this journey. We want to be a pillar of support for social entrepreneurs who want to bring a positive change to the society.”

For information please log on to www.hdfcbank.com/csr 

Financial News Bureau

BW Festival of Fintech: A Comprehensive Fintech Colloquy

 

Business World’s Festival of Fintech is a two-day informative summit that will inform, illustrate and recognize the changes in the dynamic Fintech industry.

 

Business World brings forth Festival of Fintech, an exclusive conclave on Fintech innovation and growth on the 12th and 13th of February 2021. The event will include expert panels and an industry award ceremony that recognizes excellence in all the ambits of the Fintech field. 

 

The event will serve as a horizon for industry experts, leaders, service providers, government bodies, financial institutions, consultants, enablers, entrepreneurs, enthusiasts and other stakeholders alike. The panels with comprise an array of experience and insights on topics ranging from the challenges, the advantages, regulatory compliances, banking infrastructure, lending ecosystem, security concerns, retail transactions and the future that lies ahead for Fintech. The eminent speakers who will inform the panels include- Rashmi Mohanty- Interim CEO and Group CFO of Clix, Nitya Sharma- Co-Founder and CEO of Simpl, Madhusudan Ekambaram- Co-Founder and CEO of KreditBee, Ganesh Rengaswamy Co-Founder of Quona Capital, Charles d’Haussy, Director of ConsenSys, Arun Nayyar CEO of NeoGrowth Credit, Yogi Sadana CEO of CASHe, Sharat Chandra Chapter President of GBA, Satyam Kumar- Loan Tap’s CEO and Co-Founder, Samant Sikka- Founder of Sqrrl, Shivpriya Nanda- Partner at JSA Advocates, Nitin Vyakaranam CEO and Founder of Artha Yantra Corp, Subramanya SV Co-founder and CEO of Fishdom, Panagiotis Kriaris who leads Unzer group’s Business Development and Media Mogul Dr Annurag Batra- Chairman and editor in chief of exchange4media and Business World.  

 

The industry awards ceremony will honour and highlight the exceptional achievers and companies in the field. The distinguished jury will be presided by M Damodaran, Chairperson of Excellence Enablers Pvt who will lead an illustrious company that includes the likes of- S Ravi- Chairman and Director of Tourism Finance Corporation of India Ltd, Dr Emandi Sankara Rao-MD and CEO of IFCI, Sanjeev Aggarwal Senior MD and Co-founder of Helion Ventures, Girish Kulkarni MD and CEO of Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Ninad Karpe- partner at 100X.VC, Anjali Bhansal Founder of Avaana Capital, Srinath Sridharan who is a member of the Governing Council for Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment, Rajan Mehra-a partner at March Venture Advisors, Pravir Vohra ICICI Bank’s Former President and Group CTO and the Chairman and Editor-in-chief of BW-Dr Annurag Batra.

 

The nominations for the awards are now live on bwevents.co.in/bw/FinTech/

Business World aims to host all facets of the leadership of the dynamic innovation landscape of the Fintech industry that makes contributions to sustainable economic development. It will track the developments of the Fintech industry as it changes the course of the financial world and delivers novel alternatives to traditional methodologies.  

 

For partnership, queries reach out to Talees Rizvi- talees.rizvi@businessworld.in. (+91 9310634007)

 

For speaking opportunities contact Devika Kundu Sengupta who can be found at devika@businessworld.in (+91 9871654991)