Latest news with #India-focussed
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
‘See huge blue ocean opportunity in India for regional jets, perfect fit between turboprops, larger planes': Raul Villaron
Hitherto a small player in India's aviation landscape, Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has its sights set on India as its next growth market—for commercial as well as defence aircraft. The company is already in the running for the Indian Air Force's (IAF) medium transport aircraft procurement project, and is also pitching its portfolio of regional commercial jets—a segment yet to take off in India—to fast-expanding Indian airlines. As part of the effort to capitalise on the opportunity, Embraer recently announced an India-focussed subsidiary. In a freewheeling interaction with Sukalp Sharma, Embraer's President and Group CEO Francisco Gomes Neto and Embraer Commercial Aviation's Head of Asia-Pacific Raul Villaron discuss the company's India ambitions and vision, including the possibility of local manufacturing. Edited excerpts: The Embraer C390 is seen as a frontrunner for the IAF's medium transport aircraft procurement project. How confident are you about winning the contract? How does the C390 stack up against competing aircraft like Lockheed Martin C130? Neto: We are convinced that the C390 is the best solution for the Indian Air Force. If you look at the last orders we got for C390—Portugal, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria—most of them replaced the C130 with the C390 because our aircraft is more modern, faster, and carries more load. It's multi-mission by design, it is more flexible. With the C390, you can perform the same missions with less aircraft. At what stage are your conversations with the IAF and the government? When do you expect a decision? Neto: I think we're moving well. They are learning more and more about the features of our aircraft, and we believe we have a good chance, although nothing is decided…We expect a decision in a couple of years. But this is not in our hands. This is more in the hands of the Indian Air Force. If you get the IAF contract, you will be setting up an FAL (final assembly line) to build the aircraft in India. Are you also open to having an FAL here for your commercial jets as well? Neto: Everything depends on the size of the order. In the case of a C390, the expectation is to have a deal for 40 to 80 aircraft, which is a lot for that size of aircraft. If the orders (for commercial aircraft) are large enough, it would be possible for us…We are bringing a procurement team already to India because we want to explore a supply chain, even without selling many commercial jets here. We already want to find component suppliers here for aircraft to be sold in other markets. Coming to commercial aircraft, Embraer specialises in regional or small narrow-body planes. This segment did not take off in India, even as the country emerged as a massive market for larger aircraft. What is Embraer's view on the India opportunity in the segment? Villaron: We see a huge blue ocean opportunity in India, where most of the unserved markets are either too long for turboprops or too thin for (typical) narrow-bodies. We see a potential for 300 (small narrow-body) aircraft in the next 10 years, and 500 aircraft in the next 20 years in India. Historically, Indian airlines either ordered turboprops or larger narrow-bodies. We feel turboprops now have a mature network in India and there aren't many growth opportunities left. It's limiting the airlines' ability to expand regional networks because the (turboprops') range doesn't let them go beyond the short sectors. Also, with improvement in India's roads and airport infrastructure, the benefits of turboprops are eroding with time. Meanwhile, the regular narrow-bodies are upgauging (getting bigger). So, the gap between a turboprop and a typical narrow-body is widening and is becoming difficult to bridge. You want to replace a 70-seater (turboprop) due to higher demand, but a 180-seater (regular narrow-body jet like Airbus A320 and Boeing 737) has more seats (than needed). But a small narrow-body like ours—up to 146 seats—fits perfectly in that gap. Why couldn't Embraer break into India's commercial aviation market? Villaron: Embraer didn't have a strong penetration in India compared to the US, Europe, and some other markets, as our earlier E1 (series) aircraft's main value proposition was trip cost, while the seat cost was higher, which did not suit a country like India where yields are very low. But our new E2 (family of aircraft) comes with more seats, and its seat cost is very competitive—same as larger narrow-body planes—while the trip cost is still 20-25 per cent lower than theirs. Are you in active discussions with Indian airlines for your E2 aircraft? Villaron: Yes. Our main partner in India is (regional airline) Star Air (with five previous generation Embraer regional jets), and they have announced their plans to expand their fleet. So, we are talking to them to understand their needs. They took delivery of another Embraer aircraft just a month ago. The business plan and the opportunity that we see for the airline is interesting, so we are talking to them. What about major Indian airlines that are predominantly in larger narrow-body operations? Villaron: As good salespeople, we talk to everyone. We want to present these opportunities that are so clear to us. We want to make sure the airlines visualise that as well. The big ones (IndiGo, Air India, etc), I think are busy with the large aircraft orders they have placed and the expansion internationally. But they also recognise there is a need to work on the regional network. IndiGo has a turboprop fleet, which at a certain point will need to be replaced and we believe that jets are going to be the next phase of the regional network expansion in India. As for Air India, their main competitor (IndiGo) has a regional network, while they don't. So, I believe they would need to look at these opportunities. We are the leaders in the regional segment, so we are confident that we will be considered. Airbus, which has a significant presence in India, also has a small narrow-body product, A220. What is your pitch to the airlines for your E2 portfolio—E190-E2 and E195-E2—vis-à-vis the A220? Villaron: If we do a nose-to-nose aircraft comparison, the E2 is much more efficient. It's about 10 per cent cheaper to operate due to lower fuel burn. It's a much lighter aircraft, has a higher-aspect-ratio wing with better aerodynamics. It has a longer interval, so maintenance cost is lower. We use a similar engine as the A220 but because our aircraft is lighter, it stays longer on the wing…We are confident that even though our competitor is strong in India, when you compare the two aircraft, our product is better. Also, if you're looking for something that really complements the gap in India's fleet, you need to buy something from the gap, not something that's almost as big as the thing you're not looking for. The A220, with around 160 seats, is very close to a (regular) narrow-body that has 180 seats. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Fintechs lose loan steam; Google's AI platform shift
Fintechs lose loan steam; Google's AI platform shift Also in the letter: Listed fintechs feel the pinch of lenders going slow on unsecured lending Measuring the impact: Paytm parent One97 Communications saw personal loan disbursals drop to Rs 1,422 crore, down from Rs 1,746 crore in the December quarter. Mobikwik's revenue from financial services fell 28% to Rs 402 crore in FY25, compared to Rs 558 crore a year earlier. Paisabazaar distributed only 517,000 credit cards, one of its key products, compared to 583,000 a year back. Tell me why: Impact on biz: Unsecured consumer loans scaled rapidly, offering quick growth for valuation-hungry fintechs. Some players have come under pressure on contribution margins. Fintechs are doubling down on their core payments businesses to extract maximum value. To reignite growth, many are now shifting focus to secured lending, offering products like loans against property, gold loans, home loans, and others. Sundar Pichai sees platform shift as AI brings tech research to life New launches: Google on Tuesday rolled out AI-powered search in the US, featuring advanced reasoning capabilities An updated version of Gemini 2.5 Flash will be available from June, announced Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind Technologies. Pichai also confirmed that Google will expand Gemini to over 200 countries and territories. Google's AI bet: Committed $75 billion to building AI data centres Integrated AI across its entire suite of products and services Quote, unquote: Sponsor ETtech Top 5 & Morning Dispatch! Why it matters: The opportunity: Reach a highly engaged audience of decision-makers. Boost your brand's visibility among the tech-savvy community. Custom sponsorship options to align with your brand's goals. What's next: Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Mid-tier IT poised to win big AI market share, says Sonata CEO: Nazara Technologies buys game publisher Curve Games: Former partners target raising Rs 250 crore corpus with early-stage fund: Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Wednesday! Digital lenders bore the brunt of the unsecured lending slowdown last fiscal. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ Changing AI market paradigm■ Nazara's latest buy■ 247VC unveils its India-focussed fundA sharp slowdown in unsecured loan disbursals by banks and non-banking finance companies has weighed on the FY25 performance of listed fintech financial institutions are treading cautiously in the unsecured personal loan segment. Rising defaults and the RBI's hawkish stance on consumer lending have made them wary of fintech partnerships. Instead, banks are now looking to leverage fintechs for their technology infrastructure rather than loan Pichai, CEO, GoogleArtificial intelligence (AI) has 'brought decades of research within reach of people , businesses and communities around the globe', said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, at the Google I/O developers' its competitors, Google has been investing significantly in AI. It has:"In our biggest markets, like the US and India, AI overviews are driving over 10% growth in the types of queries that show them. And what's particularly exciting is how this growth increases over time. It's one of the most successful launches in search in the past decade," said Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship Dhir, CEO, Sonata SoftwareMid-tier software service companies are emerging as alternatives for their fatigued large-cap peers to accelerate modernisation and artificial intelligence (AI) projects, said Samir Dhir, chief executive officer at Sonata Technologies has acquired UK-based PC and console game publisher Curve Games for Rs 247 crore, marking its biggest international acquisition to venture capital (VC) firm 247VC, founded by former cofounders Yagnesh Sanghrajka and Shashank Randev has launched its first India-focused fund with a base corpus of Rs 200 crore and a green shoe option of Rs 50 crore.■ A billion streams and no fans': Inside a $10 million AI music fraud case ( Wired ■ What it's like to interview for a job at DOGE ( Wired ■ How phony job ads on Facebook and Telegram lure tech workers to scam compounds ( Rest of World
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Former 100X.VC partners launch early-stage fund, target raising Rs 250 crore corpus
Early-stage venture capital (VC) firm 247VC , founded by operator-investors Yagnesh Sanghrajka and Shashank Randev , has launched its first India-focussed fund with a base corpus of Rs 200 crore and a green shoe option of Rs 50 crore. The fund, registered as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), will offer institutional seed cheques to startups across sectors such as consumption, enterprise tech, deep tech, and Industry 5.0, which includes advanced manufacturing, industrial and allied domains, managing partner Sanghrajka told ET in an interaction. Early backers of the fund include Sachin Tagra, managing partner at JSW Ventures; Vivek Mathur, former partner at VC firm Elevation Capital; and Shailendra Majmundar, a generative AI and machine learning expert at Johns Hopkins University. 247VC plans to invest in around 30 startups over the next three years, with an average cheque size of about Rs 7 crore, including follow-on investments in top-performing portfolio companies. The firm is targeting the first close of the fund within the next four months. 'We will start with Rs 3-4 crore and then inch ourselves up in terms of maintaining our stake with the portfolio as we go along and put more money in future rounds. I think opportunity is pretty much everywhere. But having said that, there are some key themes that are emerging,' said Sanghrajka. Before launching 247VC, Sanghrajka and Randev co-founded Mumbai-based early-stage VC firm alongside Sanjay Mehta and Ninad Karpe. The duo exited in November 2024. 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 The fund's launch comes amid a challenging environment for early-stage funding in India, as VC firms adopt a more cautious stance due to declining valuations and tepid investor sentiment. However, average cheque sizes at the seed and pre-Series A stages have risen, even as VCs grow more selective. 'I have seen a lot of funds that are straddling between pre-seed and seed investments. However, a lot of large funds are now coming to the seed stage. They are calling it backward integration, as they also want to come into seed. So, we feel we should be able to partner with some of them in the VC ecosystem,' said Sanghrajka. 'This is giving us an opportunity to collaborate with certain larger VCs who want to also come in and join the round when we are cutting our first cheque.' In their previous roles, Sanghrajka and Randev have backed startups, including Knight Fintech, EMO Energy, abCoffee, and Zeron, among others.
