Latest news with #Nambiar
Time of India
23-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Combat Army Aviation Training School holds passing out parade for skilled aviators, instructors
The Combat Army Aviation Training School in Nashik conducted a combined passing out parade, inducting officers as skilled aviators and instructors. Lt General Vinod Nambiar presided over the event, emphasizing technology's role and Army Aviation's future as first responders. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Combat Army Aviation Training School in Nashik on Friday held a 'combined passing out parade ' for the officers who were commissioned as skilled aviators and instructors after completing various aviation and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) courses. The CAATS, located at Gandhi Nagar airfield on Nashik Road, is a premier flying training institution of the Indian Army which functions under the aegis of Army Training Command, trained student officers, including the ones from Nepal and Nigeria, marched together and were awarded wings/badges. They were formally inducted as Combat Aviators and Aviation Instructors The number of such student officers was not immediately parade was presided over by Lt General Vinod Nambiar, Director General and Colonel Commandant of the Army Aviation Corps "Technology is in the DNA of every aviator. In near future, Army aviation will be the first responder in all operations. I am sanguine that the officers will wear their wings with a great sense of humility and being fully aware of the pious responsibility which they have as Aviators and qualified flying instructors," Lt Gen Nambiar said in his said CAATS, which was raised in 2003 and meant to conduct three courses, is now running 17 training programmes."I see more expansion in the training process in future. We have one simulator operational at present, and one training simulator will be made operational in co-operation with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd ," he highlight of the parade was the presentation of the prestigious Army Aviation Wings to officers from Nepal and Nigeria, as well as a female officer. Two female officers were also presented with the coveted Instructor's the newly commissioned aviators and instructors, Lt Gen Nambiar emphasised the evolving role of Army Aviation in peacetime and combat operations besides reconnaissance, surveillance, operational lift and attack skilled aviators also performed the "Sky Soldier' exercise, while trophies were presented to outstanding officers in recognition of their exemplary official said everybody got an opportunity to view the daring and challenging tasks that the aviators have to perform in their call of duty and the work they do with the help of their machines - LAH Dhruva, Cheetah, Chetak, Rudra and drones.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Online & instant: Reliance Retail, More and Spencer's begin seeing dark stores in good light
HighlightsReliance Retail, More Retail, and Spencer's Retail are opening standalone dark stores to compete with quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and BigBasket, which have captured significant market share in urban areas. According to NielsenIQ, ecommerce has seen a substantial increase, with a 40% growth rate, while traditional trade has experienced a decline, indicating a shift in consumer purchasing behavior towards online grocery shopping. More Retail has successfully launched 45 dark stores, with plans for an additional 100, while Spencer's Retail is piloting dark stores to enhance its quick commerce capabilities in cities with high demand. Chains such as Reliance Retail , More and Spencer's have started to open standalone dark stores to match the speed of their online competitors, company executives said. They had initially resisted the quick commerce model. Quick commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and BigBasket have eaten into the share of kiranas and retail chains in the top eight to 10 cities, as consumers seek instant gratification of what was their monthly grocery shopping. Dark stores are mini warehouses that typically serve a 2-3 km radius, allowing faster deliveries of online orders. Dinesh Taluja, chief financial officer at Reliance Retail, recently told analysts that while the retailer wants to deliver online orders in less than 30 minutes, it has started to set up dark stores in 'some dark pockets' where there's enough volume and which cannot be serviced from its store network in this timeline. He said the country's largest retailer is at present using its 2,000-odd stores to deliver within a 3-km radius, covering 4,000 pin codes. Vinod Nambiar, managing director of More Retail , said the company has just set up 45 dark stores, with 100 more in the pipeline. It has set up some of these in New Delhi. High Shopping Engagement Online The Amazon-Samara Capital-owned retail chain has exited its brick-and-mortar operations in Delhi. It is eyeing Mumbai too, where it has no operations currently. Nambiar said a dark store is viable in high-demand micro markets—with high population density and many high-rises—provided the rent is manageable. 'There are standalone dark stores in cities where we have no operations, while in cities where we have stores—such as Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Cochin—we will convert a hybrid store (which does both store and online business) into a dark store as the market matures into online,' said Nambiar. More is the largest preferred seller in Amazon's food and grocery business, Amazon Fresh, in India. NielsenIQ , FMCG market researcher, in its report for January-March, said there was a shift towards ecommerce in metros, with high shopping engagement impacting share of modern trade and kiranas. NielsenIQ figures show the growth of ecommerce was largely volume-driven — up 40 per cent compared to a 2.2 per cent fall in traditional trade growth rate and 7.7 per cent decline in modern trade. The researcher said this was supported by increasing online shopper penetration, more purchase occasions and increasing basket sizes, or more units purchased per shopper. Spencer's Retail chief executive Anuj Singh told analysts on Friday that though dark stores are not a focus area, it has piloted one in Kolkata, where it felt the store reach was not sufficient for a 30-minute delivery. He said the company's quick commerce service currently processes 1.7 lakh bills per month, which it wants to take up to three lakh per month in this fiscal, with expansion into markets such as Lucknow and Varanasi.
Time of India
18-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Online & instant: Reliance Retail, More and Spencer's begin seeing dark stores in good light
Chains such as Reliance Retail , More and Spencer's have started to open standalone dark stores to match the speed of their online competitors, company executives said. They had initially resisted the quick commerce model. Quick commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and BigBasket have eaten into the share of kiranas and retail chains in the top eight to 10 cities, as consumers seek instant gratification of what was their monthly grocery shopping. Dark stores are mini warehouses that typically serve a 2-3 km radius, allowing faster deliveries of online orders. Dinesh Taluja, chief financial officer at Reliance Retail, recently told analysts that while the retailer wants to deliver online orders in less than 30 minutes, it has started to set up dark stores in 'some dark pockets' where there's enough volume and which cannot be serviced from its store network in this timeline. He said the country's largest retailer is at present using its 2,000-odd stores to deliver within a 3-km radius, covering 4,000 pin codes. Vinod Nambiar, managing director of More Retail , said the company has just set up 45 dark stores, with 100 more in the pipeline. It has set up some of these in New Delhi. High Shopping Engagement Online The Amazon-Samara Capital-owned retail chain has exited its brick-and-mortar operations in Delhi. It is eyeing Mumbai too, where it has no operations currently. Nambiar said a dark store is viable in high-demand micro markets—with high population density and many high-rises—provided the rent is manageable. 'There are standalone dark stores in cities where we have no operations, while in cities where we have stores—such as Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Cochin—we will convert a hybrid store (which does both store and online business) into a dark store as the market matures into online,' said Nambiar. More is the largest preferred seller in Amazon's food and grocery business, Amazon Fresh, in India. NielsenIQ , FMCG market researcher, in its report for January-March, said there was a shift towards ecommerce in metros, with high shopping engagement impacting share of modern trade and kiranas. NielsenIQ figures show the growth of ecommerce was largely volume-driven — up 40% compared to a 2.2% fall in traditional trade growth rate and 7.7% decline in modern trade. The researcher said this was supported by increasing online shopper penetration, more purchase occasions and increasing basket sizes, or more units purchased per shopper. Spencer's Retail chief executive Anuj Singh told analysts on Friday that though dark stores are not a focus area, it has piloted one in Kolkata, where it felt the store reach was not sufficient for a 30-minute delivery. He said the company's quick commerce service currently processes 1.7 lakh bills per month, which it wants to take up to three lakh per month in this fiscal, with expansion into markets such as Lucknow and Varanasi.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
More Retail plans Rs 2,000-cr IPO in 2026 to aid expansion, reduce debt
Amazon and Samara Capital-backed supermarket chain More Retail is planning to raise around Rs 2,000 crore through an initial public offer (IPO), which is expected to hit the market in the calendar year 2026, a top company official said on Monday. The proposed fund-raise plan will be mostly through fresh capital infusion, with no significant offer-for-sale component, as promoters, Samara Capital and Amazon, who hold 51 per cent and 48 per cent stake respectively, are unlikely to offload their shares, he said, adding that the remaining stake is held by family offices. "We are looking at an IPO in 12-18 months, depending on valuation and market conditions. We hope to raise Rs 2,000 crore, and the current promoter dilution could be about 10 per cent," More Retail Managing Director Vinod Nambiar said. He said the funds will be used primarily to expand the store count to 3,000 by 2030 and to make the company nearly debt-free. The current debt stands at about Rs 500 crore, consisting of loans and non-convertible debentures (NCDs), the company official said. Both promoters have a long-term commitment to the business and pumped in Rs 900 crore over the past five years in addition to the acquisition cost of Rs 4,300 crore. "More Retail raised Rs 150 crore in the last 120 days from family offices to benchmark valuation," Nambiar said. The retail chain, which is expanding aggressively, is set to cross 1,100 stores soon and aims to become EBITDA-positive with Rs 60 crore profit in FY'26, he said. The company reported a Rs 65 crore EBITDA loss in FY'24, as per Ind AS accounting standards. "It will take two years to achieve PAT-level profitability," he added. The retailer is also deepening its partnership with Amazon Fresh. Currently, 270 of its stores serve Amazon Fresh, and this number is expected to rise to 370 by July, and further to 500-600 stores by the end of the current fiscal year, Nambiar said. The company's offline and hybrid store count is projected to exceed 1,100 by FY'26, while the number of 'dark' outlets will also grow from the existing 40 to 100 by then. 'Dark' stores only cater to online orders. Most of the expansion will take place in smaller towns, and during the current fiscal, Jharkhand and Odisha will be added to its footprint, Nambiar said. More Retail currently has a strong presence in South India, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, and the NCR, having exited from Delhi city and Mumbai. Meanwhile, Nambair said West Bengal is a key market and the company is the largest in West Bengal in terms of the number of stores. The company has 109 stores in Bengal and will add 90 outlets in the next two years.>
Time of India
12-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
More Retail eyes Rs 2,000 cr from IPO in 2026, chalks out expansion plans
Kolkata: More is likely to raise Rs 2,000 crore through a primary issue in its proposed public offering, expected between April and Dec 2026. The promoters' stake is likely to be diluted by 10% following the IPO, More CEO Vinod Nambiar said on Monday. and Amazon are the two main promoters of More, along with some HNI and family offices. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Samara holds 51% in the holding company of More Retail, while Amazon holds 48%. Samara bought More from Aditya Birla Group a few years back for Rs 4,300 crore. Samara and Amazon gave Rs 900 crore to More for funding losses. In the last two months, the promoters funded another Rs 150 crore for said the IPO would most likely be through a fresh issue of shares and chances of an offer for sale from promoters were less. "Both our promoters are optimistic about the business and long-term prospects," he proceeds from the IPO may be used to retire some debt as well as for expansion, Nambiar added. Currently, the company has a debt of Rs 500 crore. By the IPO, it wants to reduce the debt by at least Rs 250 crore. "After the IPO, we want to have minimum debt," he claimed that the company would become EBITDA positive before the IPO. He expected an EBITDA of Rs 60 crore in FY 26. However, it would take some time for the company to become PAT (profit after tax) reported a negative Rs 60 crore EBITDA in FY 25, which was even more in FY 24. According to him, More has a revenue of Rs 4,985 crore in FY 25 and had set a target of Rs 6,000 crore revenue by FY 26 and Rs 7,500-8,000 crore by FY on expansion, Nambiar said in the next five years, More would have 3,000 stores from the current level of 775. In Bengal, More has 109 stores and would add 40 more in the current fiscal year. In FY 27, it would further add 50 stores in the state. "Now, our focus would be on B, C and D category towns in Bengal as well as nationally," he added.
