Latest news with #Bajpai
Hindustan Times
20-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Five dead as car plunges into dry riverbed near Khed
Mumbai: Five persons were killed and two others were injured when their speeding car plunged into a dry riverbed in Ratnagiri district in the early hours on Monday. The group was on its way to Devrukh in Ratnagiri to attend a funeral. According to the police, the group of seven passengers from two families left for Ratnagiri from the Indraprasth building in Poonam Sagar complex in Mira Road around 11.30pm on Sunday. They were travelling in a seven-seater car via the Mumbai-Goa highway. Between 5am and 5.30am on Monday, while the car was crossing the Jugbudi river bridge near Khed, it went out of control and crashed into the side wall before plunging into the gap between two carriageways of the bridge. Local residents and the police rescued the passengers from the mangled vehicle and rushed them to the hospital where five persons were declared dead on arrival. They were identified as Megha Paradkar, 42, Saurav Paradkar, 22, Mitali More, 45, Nihar More, 19 and Shreyas Sawant, 25. Parmesh Paradkar, 51, who was driving the car, sustained severe injuries and is under treatment while Vivek Shriram More, 47, suffered minor injuries. The latter told the police that they were travelling to Devrukh to attend the last rites of his father-in-law. 'We have registered a case of accidental death (ADR) and are investigating the matter,' said an officer from the Khed police station. Ranvir Bajpai, a neighbour of the deceased and a Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader, said the entire housing complex in Mira Road was saddened by the sudden deaths. Parmesh Paradkar, who was driving the car, was a resident of Nalasopara and a family friend of the Mores who reside in the Indraprasth building, he said. 'On Sunday night, Parmesh Paradkar, his wife Megha and relative Saurav had picked up the Mores from their residence and set out for Ratnagiri,' said Bajpai. 'After we heard the news of their accident, we informed the relatives of the Mores in Ratnagiri. They visited the spot and arranged to bring the bodies of the deceased to Mira Road.' The last rites of the five deceased would be performed in Mira Road on Monday night, he said. Meanwhile, in videos of the accident circulating on social media, local engaged in rescue efforts are heard saying that at least 14 accidents had occurred at the same spot on the bridge in the past one year due to a flaw in design. When speeding vehicles pass the spot, they tend to bounce due to which drivers lose balance and plunge into the gap between two carriageways which is not visible from a distance, the locals are heard saying. 'After seeing the videos, we have sent letters to the concerned authorities to rectify the blackspot and avoid more loss of lives,' said Bajpai. Vaibhav Khedekar, a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader from Khed, told HT that he had participated in a protest against frequent accidents at the spot in 2019. 'When some civic officials visited the protest site, we explained to them what the problem was in detail. But since they were unwilling to acknowledge it, we tied up one the officials,' said Khedekar. He was imprisoned for a month and a half later for tying up the civic official and released after he moved the high court, he said. Dhananjay Kulkarni, Superintendent of Police in Ratnagiri, said the entire stretch of road near the accident spot was accident prone. 'We installed blinkers and radium lights along the route today. We also barricaded the sides of the bridge with concrete blocks which will serve as early warning for speeding drivers speeding,' he said.
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Business Standard
16-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Ixigo eyes double-digit growth, maintains booking block to Turkiye
Travel aggregator Ixigo on Friday said its decision to block bookings to Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and China will stay amid the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan where the West Asian countries have taken a pro-Islamabad stand. 'We remain dedicated to reviewing our position on this issue as the situation evolves. We will reassess our stance on the basis of how the geopolitical equations change, and will do what is right for the broader travel ecosystem,' Aloke Bajpai, chairman and group chief executive officer (CEO) of Ixigo, told Business Standard. The travel aggregator is among several India-based players that have stopped taking bookings to the countries, and have witnessed a sharp rise in cancellations over the past week or so. Ixigo expects to clock a double-digit revenue growth in the coming years while sustaining an over 40 per cent growth in gross transaction value (GTV) in the ongoing financial year 2025-26 (FY26), as travel momentum continues in the country. In its results for the fourth quarter of 2024-25 (Q4FY25) announced earlier this week, the company reported a 128 per cent hike in net profit to ₹16.7 crore from ₹7.3 crore in the year-ago period. GTV on the platform crossed ₹4,418.4 crore in the quarter. While flight and bus GTV each grew 92 per cent annually, train GTV grew by 41 per cent. The company recorded market share gains in FY25, with a 58 per cent share in the OTA (online travel agency) train market, and a 15-16 per cent share in the bus OTA space. 'Our flight segment is growing steadily, now in double digits, up from 5-6 per cent last year. The most exciting part of this is that 50 per cent of new flight bookers are first-time flyers,' Bajpai said. For the player that competes with MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, Easemytrip, and other platforms, customer experience remains of utmost importance, which is why Bajpai said that Ixigo had launched services like 'flight tracker pro' and 'price lock' to add value to bookings. 'I want to sell peace of mind to my customers and these features are aiding the growth of spending per person. We have seen a 22 per cent year-on-year increase in average spend per user as they continue to upgrade their travel choices while also buying either higher-value products or more value-added services that we sell on top,' he said.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Need better infra to attract more international tourists to India: Ixigo group CEO
India needs to have better infrastructure and more high-quality hotels to attract a higher number of international tourists, Ixigo Group CEO Aloke Bajpai said on Thursday. In an interview to PTI, the travel booking platform's chief shared that the recent terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam cast a "significant blow" to the state's tourism momentum, at a time when it was witnessing a major growth in bookings by customers. The ixigo Group CEO expressed confidence that it aims to surpass the travel industry's growth projections this year. "Industry projections suggest the overall travel market will grow by 8-9 per cent this year, with online travel expected to grow at over 18 per cent. We're aiming to grow significantly faster than the market and are aspiring to maintain GTV (gross transaction value) growth in the 40 per cent range, in line with our momentum from last year," Bajpai said. On Wednesday, ixigo reported a profit after tax of Rs 16.8 crore in the fourth quarter ended March (Q4 FY25), compared to Rs 7.3 crore in Q4 FY24, an increase of 128 per cent on a YoY basis. "This has been our strongest quarter yet, driven by consistent quarter-on-quarter acceleration across all lines of business. ...We're also seeing operating leverage kick in as demonstrated in our robust cash flow from operations amounting to Rs 122 crore in FY25," Bajpai said. Live Events Responding to a question on why inbound tourism has yet to return to pre-COVID levels, he said this is part of a larger global trend, with many governments actively promoting domestic tourism. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories "At the same time, there's a clear need for better infrastructure and more high-quality hotels if we want to attract more international tourists," he said. Sharing his insights on the impact on business due to the Pahalgam terror attacks and the subsequent Operation Sindoor , Bajpai said the "Pahalgam terror attacks happened at a time when Jammu and Kashmir was seeing a 70 per cent YoY growth in bookings for us in the month of April. The attack marked a significant blow to the state's tourism momentum and the region's security environment".
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Ixigo logs 128% rise in Q4 net profit; operating revenue up 72%
Le Travenues Technology , the parent company of online travel aggregator Ixigo, saw its net profit increase significantly by 128% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 16.7 crore for the quarter ended March. The company reported operating revenue of Rs 284 crore for the quarter, up 72% from Rs 165 crore a year ago, on account of growth across all lines of business. The company's total expenses rose to Rs 263 crore in the March quarter from Rs 152 crore in the same period last year. A significant amount of the expenditure was attributed to employee benefits and other expenses. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Dubai villas | search ads Get Deals Undo With this, Ixigo's revenue for 2024-25 increased 39% to Rs 914 crore from Rs 656 crore in the previous fiscal. Its net profit went down 18% to Rs 60 crore from Rs 73 crore. 'In the flights and buses business, we are seeing material acceleration and some gains in market share as well. Buses, in fact, now have the largest share of contribution margin across our lines of business, so we are a much more diversified business in that sense,' said Aloke Bajpai, cofounder and chief executive, during a post-earnings analysts call on Wednesday. Live Events Revenue from train reservations stood at Rs 126 crore, up from Rs 94 crore a year ago. Revenue from airlines and buses stood at Rs 87 crore and Rs 66 crore, respectively. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Founded in 2007 by Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, Ixigo allows users to book train, flight, and bus tickets while offering various utility tools and services such as train PNR status and confirmation predictions and updates for train seat availability. It also provides personalised recommendations and automated customer support. According to the company, it has 544 million annual active users with 83 million monthly active users. According to Bajpai, macro developments also contributed to the company's growth. 'The Mahakumbh Mela in January and February 2025 saw a surge in searches and bookings for us across our three lines of businesses and not just for Prayagraj but also for nearby towns such as Varanasi , Lucknow, Kanpur, Ayodhya,' he said. Earlier, ET had reported that spiritual and devotional platforms along with travel and hospitality firms saw significant growth during the Mahakumbh festival. 'Our FY25 performance has proved that the market is evolving exactly how we expected it to, with flights and buses becoming our fastest-growing verticals, both in GTV (gross transaction value) terms and revenue terms,' Bajpai added. Commenting on the recent escalation in India-Pakistan tensions, Bajpai noted that the Pahalgam terror attacks occurred during a period when Jammu and Kashmir was experiencing a 70% YoY surge in bookings on the platform for April. Ixigo had suspended all bookings—both flights and accommodations—to Turkey, China, and Azerbaijan amid concerns over the perceived diplomatic leanings of Turkey and Azerbaijan towards Pakistan during the conflict. 'We remain dedicated to reviewing this position as the situation evolves. Should geopolitical equations change, we'll reassess the stance and we'll do what is right for the broader travel ecosystem,' he added. Ixigo was listed on the exchanges on June 18 last year at Rs 138, a premium of 48.5% over its issue price of Rs 93. It closed on Wednesday up 0.24% at Rs 165.90 on the BSE . The results were declared post-market hours.
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Business Standard
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Ecom companies cut Turkish brands' visibility amid Indo-Pak tension
E-commerce (ecom) platforms in India are quietly reducing the visibility of Turkish brands, a move seen as aligning with the country's national interest and sovereignty, according to people familiar with the matter. The shift follows recent reports of closer diplomatic and military ties between Turkey and Pakistan after a flare-up in tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad. 'Over the weekend, we decided to de-prioritise the visibility of Turkish brands on our platform,' said an executive at an online fashion retailer, who asked not to be named. 'We are also evaluating whether to delist them entirely,' he added. Some of the leading Turkish fashion brands active on Indian platforms include Trendyol, Mavi, Koton, Lc Waikiki, Oxxo, Grimelange, Penti, Ipekyol, and Dogo. Chinese fast-fashion brand Shein, which was on Indian platforms, was banned by India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) in June 2020, following a spike in tensions with China. Nearly five years later, the company — now based in Singapore — has re-entered the Indian market through a partnership with Reliance Retail, one of the country's largest retailers. Ecom experts said several online Indian travel companies have already taken steps to limit ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan, citing the countries' perceived alignment with Pakistan amid recent India-Pakistan tensions. "In solidarity with India's national interest and sovereignty, Flipkart Travel and Cleartrip are suspending all flight, hotel and holiday package bookings to Turkey and Azerbaijan. Our stand is clear. Our loyalty, unwavering. We stand with India. Always," the Flipkart group shared on social media. On Saturday (May 10), Aloke Bajpai, group CEO of online travel portal Ixigo, announced a complete suspension of flight and hotel bookings to Turkey, Azerbaijan, and China. 'Enough is enough! Blood and bookings won't flow together. We are suspending all flight and hotel bookings for Turkey, China, and Azerbaijan on Ixigo,' Bajpai said. EaseMyTrip, another major player in the Indian travel sector, issued a travel advisory for its customers, warning against non-essential travel to Turkey and Azerbaijan.
