ONGC squandered its future once. Can it be different this time?
Many veterans in the Indian energy sector still swear by that relatively pleasant day of February 1974. A roar of triumph echoed across the Arabian Sea, as engineers and seismic surveyors confirmed what they long envisioned – a vast oil reserve beneath the seabed off the coast of Mumbai. This discovery, which would later be known as Mumbai High, added fuel to India's energy dreams. And at the core of all the actions was Oil and Natural Gas
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Time of India
11 minutes ago
- Time of India
Tecno India says building components ecosystem with Dixon, to expand R&D focus
NEW DELHI: Transsion Group 's Tecno said domestic manufacturing of electronic components will support innovation in the country and contribute to the brand's long-term success in India. 'The ( electronic components manufacturing ) scheme supports local innovation, which is critical to our long-term success in India. We plan to continue to expand our local research & development and production capabilities to tailor our products to the needs of Indian consumers,' Arijeet Talapatra, chief executive officer (CEO), Tecno India , told ETTelecom. He said that Tecno and homegrown contract electronics manufacturer, Dixon Technologies , are jointly working to build a domestic electronics component ecosystem in India, supported by the ECMS 2.0 scheme. Atul Lall, MD of Dixon, said during the company's most recent earnings call that Transsion and Dixon have a joint venture (JV) in the electronic components domain to deepen manufacturing initiatives domestically. The Central government, earlier this year, notified the electronics components manufacturing scheme (ECMS) with an outlay of over ₹23,000-crore, which aims to drive the local manufacturing of sub-assemblies, bare components, and selected bare components such as display and camera sub-assemblies, passive components, multi-layered printed circuit boards (PCBs), Li-ion cells, and others. Ashwini Vaishnaw, union minister for electronics & IT, told news agency PTI in a recent interview that the government has received 70 applications for this scheme, with a majority of applicants from the small and medium enterprises sector. Talapatra further said that Tecno is actively pursuing to develop localised artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and collaborating to improve the design of its smartphones to differentiate against rivals. It has established a new R&D centre in Noida with up to 60 engineers, which will drive the development of new AI features and regional product design for India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. According to the executive, the smartphone maker expects to grow at 200% year-on-year in the ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 5G smartphone segment , led by the rural markets, as demand in the urban regions starts maturing. 'We are strategically intensifying our focus on the ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 smartphone segment, which is currently the fastest-growing category in India, to cater to aspirational consumers seeking premium features at accessible prices,' the chief executive said. 'The demand for affordable yet feature-rich 5G phones is also growing rapidly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities,' he added. Transssion operates three brands in India – iTel, for budget-grade feature phones and smartphones; Tecno, for mid-range devices; and Infinix, for the premium, or flagship segment. Tecno India, according to the top executive, is focusing on a balanced growth strategy. 'We are emphasising profitability and volume at the same time. Backed by a strong global supply chain, we are aiming at further cost efficiency, and we will launch smartphones across all price points, including a ₹80,000 Tecno device,' he said.
Time of India
11 minutes ago
- Time of India
Chinese mobile companies making more in India to dim regulatory glare
New Delhi: Chinese smartphone brands are increasingly outsourcing production to Indian contract manufacturers, benefitting the likes of Dixon Technologies and Bhagwati Products (Micromax), following what industry executives see as an unofficial nudge from the having excess capacities in their own manufacturing facilities in India, Chinese smartphone brands are outsourcing a large part of production to companies that are participants in the government's production-linked incentive scheme, industry executives and market trackers are not just outsourcing volumes, but also shifting the risk of government interventions and scrutiny, they said. They are on course to become more asset-light in India, where they face a tough regulatory environment. Offloading manufacturing — which incurs huge capital and operating expenses and has additional compliance issues — helps in cutting costs at a time when they are facing a liquidity crisis and stressed balance sheets, executives aware of the development told ET. According to Counterpoint Research, Oppo's shipments from its Noida factory fell 34% on-year in 2024 due to the increasing contribution of outsourced manufacturing by Dixon Technologies and Bhagwati Products. At a recent earnings call, Dixon Technologies chief executive Atul Lall projected the sales volume in India's smartphone market to be around 150 million a year. 'Out of that 150-odd million, Android space is around 135-140 million. Various brands are manufacturing in-house. And the outsourcing opportunity is around 90 million. And including our new tie up of Vivo, we are targeting for around 60-65 million by next year,' he said. Dixon made 28.3 million smartphones in fiscal 2025. Its projection for the ongoing fiscal year is 43-44 million. Lall said Dixon will be manufacturing 7-8 million smartphones for Realme (an Oppo subsidiary), which will be expanded in the next few years. It will also be supplying around 15-16 million smartphones to Vivo in the January-March quarter of 2026, by when it expects to get government approvals for its joint venture with the Chinese company. Brands such as Transsion and Vivo have also signed strategic partnerships with Dixon to form joint ventures where the volumes and revenues are split between the two partners. 'For Chinese companies, there seems to be an informal diktat from the government of India encouraging them to have some part of their volumes manufactured by Indian players. This is happening even though these companies have significant unutilised in-house manufacturing capacity,' an industry executive who did not wish to be named told ET. Samsung, Oppo and Vivo each have around 60 million units of capacity in India, while their annual sales are around 20-25 million, market trackers said. Emailed queries to Oppo and Bhagwati didn't elicit any response till press time Tuesday. 'Given the low margins in assembly, to have a positive unit economics you need a large scale, which is there with EMS (electronics manufacturing services) players like us. You can only achieve so much scale with making for your own brand. The trend of in-house manufacturing moving towards outsourcing, it's primarily to deleverage their balance sheets,' Lall told ET. Another industry executive told ET that Chinese brands are choosing to make only their high-end and flagship models in-house, outsourcing the entry-level models to Indian contract manufacturers. 'The budget segment of the smartphone market in India has not been growing for the past three-four years. In fact, it has been declining. Making these budget phones in-house is becoming less economical for the brands themselves,' the executive said. Recently signed partnerships with Chinese ODMs (original design manufacturers) by Indian contract manufacturers are also facilitating increasing outsourcing to them. Dixon has tied up with Longcheer, the largest Chinese ODM, and is making smartphones for Realme. Meanwhile, Bhagwati has formed a strategic joint venture with Huaqin, the second-largest ODM from China, and is churning volumes for Oppo and Vivo. 'With these ODM partnerships in place, Dixon and Bhagwati are in a stronger position to attract more outsourced manufacturing from Chinese brands who are far more comfortable working with fellow Chinese manufacturers than Indian brands,' one of the executives said. The executive added that Indian players have supervisors from the Chinese ODMs in place to monitor the shift in production from their in-house facilities. Indian contract manufacturers, who are beneficiaries of the PLI scheme, are also offering competitive pricing to the Chinese companies. 'A large portion of the PLI incentives, around 80% of it, are passed down to the customers, with the EMS companies keeping only a small part of it, helping customers achieve cost parity with manufacturing in places like China,' one of the executives said.
Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
Kamal Haasan's Thug Life outpaces Akshay Kumar's Housefull 5 in advance bookings — A clash of genres and star power
Kamal Haasan's 'Thug Life' is leading in advance bookings, grossing ₹3.42 crore, surpassing Akshay Kumar's 'Housefull 5' which garnered ₹2.15 crore. 'Thug Life' dominates in Tamil Nadu, fueled by Kamal Haasan's comeback and Mani Ratnam's direction. Despite 'Housefull 5' appealing to a broader audience, 'Thug Life' is poised to potentially steal the box office spotlight. The Indian box office is heating up this week as two highly anticipated films, Housefull 5 and Thug Life, gear up for release just a day apart. While Housefull 5, the latest installment in the popular comedy franchise headlined by Akshay Kumar , Abhishek Bachchan and Ritiesh Deshmukh , enjoys brand recall and a loyal fanbase, it's Kamal Haasan 's Thug Life that's emerging as the front-runner in terms of Day 1 advance booking numbers. As per the latest data, Thug Life has registered an impressive Rs 3.42 crore gross in advance bookings (excluding block seats), selling over 2 lakh tickets across9050 shows. Factoring in block seats, the total shoots up to a massive Rs 9.72 crore, reflecting the film's tremendous hype among audiences. The film has particularly dominated in Tamil Nadu , where it raked in Rs 2.94 crore in the Tamil 2D format alone, with 1.7 lakh tickets sold. In comparison, Housefull 5 has managed a Rs 2.15 crore gross in Day 1 advance bookings (excluding block seats), selling over 70,000 tickets across 10549 shows. Including block seats, its total stands at Rs 5.7 crore — a respectable figure for a comedy entertainer but notably behind Thug Life. What makes this trend more striking is the genre and audience base these films cater to. Housefull 5, with its slapstick humor and multi-star cast, traditionally appeals to a pan-India audience across metros and tier-2 cities. Yet, it appears to be lagging behind Thug Life, a gritty gangster drama helmed by Mani Ratnam , a director known for his intense narratives and urban-centric appeal with it's reach limited to Tamil audience and post Kamal Haasan's language controversy- the film wont be releasing in Karnataka . Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning For Working Professionals. BITS Pilani WILP Apply Now Undo A key factor contributing to Thug Life's lead is Kamal Haasan's monumental comeback with Mani Ratnam' and their combineds brand value and the ensemble cast including STR, Trisha , Joju George, and Ali Fazal. The film's buzz in South Indian markets, especially Tamil Nadu and Telugu states, is palpable — with premium formats like IMAX and 4DX also contributing to its numbers. Additionally, Thug Life's stronger performance in Hindi markets, though modest at Rs 14.4 lakh in 2D advance bookings, edges past expectations for a non-Hindi mainstream film. With both films releasing just a day apart, the industry is closely watching this box office face-off. As it stands, Thug Life is clearly trending ahead — and unless Housefull 5 picks up momentum through word-of-mouth or strong spot bookings, Kamal Haasan might just steal the weekend spotlight. Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
