NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Sachet King Moves to Shed Regional Tag

Chinni Krishnan Ranganathan is best known for selling shampoo in 50-paise sachets in the seventies - almost a decade before multinational competitors such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble woke up to the huge potential in India’s bottom of the pyramid market. But CavinKare’s Chairman and Managing Director has many others firsts to his credit, enhancing his reputation as somebody who is super-fast in spotting new opportunities. So when sachet became commoditised, Ranganathan t...

Source

Business Standard (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Sam Pitroda To Deliver Keynote Address At Sankalp 2011

Mumbai, Maharashtra, April 28, 2011 / India PRwire / -- Mr. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, and Chairman of the National Innovation Council is scheduled address over 500 social enterprise enthusiasts at the 3rd Annual Sankalp Social Enterprise and Investment Forum (www.sankalpforum.com), scheduled for May 5-6 at Taj Lands End in ...

Source

India PRWire (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Paymate, IFMR tie up to drive financial inclusion

Paymate, India’s leading mobile payments company, and IFMR Rural Finance, have announced a tie-up to launch multiple financial inclusion projects through Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS) entities. As a part of this initiative, the company has unveiled a mobile phone based person-to-person money transfer initiative in the Delhi to Uttarakhand corridor as well as piloted a micro-loan repayments in villages in Ganjam, Orissa. Commenting on the launch of these initiatives, Aja...

Source

Business Standard (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

GE Remodels Businesses in India

BANGALORE, India-As General Electric Co. assessed the lingering impact of the global financial crisis, it saw that some emerging markets-chief among them India-had come through the trauma better than the developed world. The Fairfield, Conn., company has been in India for more than a century, but it revamped its operations there only a few years ago to tap into the country’s large consumer m...

Source

The Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Region

South Asia

Tags

scale

Amit Bhatia’s Aspire: Matching Rural Workers With Jobs

BIG IDEA: To supply India’s booming economy with millions of young workers who come from rural and disadvantaged backgrounds. Bhatia’s company, Aspire, trains high-school and college students to become English-speaking, tech-savvy, problem-solving whiz kids ready for hire. The company then connects students to jobs, often in the technology and service sectors, at major corporations such as IBM, Accenture, Wipro, and Infosys. This year, Aspire will work with rough...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

FMCG Firms Bank On Higher Volumes In Rural Market

NEW DELHI: Aiming for a deeper penetration in rural markets, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) majors, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Britannia, are introducing products in low price points particularly in the Rs 5 category as part of their strategy to shore up volumes. While global beverages firm Coca-Cola has introduced ’Fanta Fun Taste’ powder sachet for Rs 5 targeting the lower end of the market, Pepsico had also recently brought out 200 ml bottle for Rs 5 for its popular ...

Source

The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Inclusion Banking to Turn Into Profits Soon: Union Bank

MUMBAI, APR 24: Union Bank of India, the fifth largest public sector lender with over Rs 3.55 lakh crore in assets, has said its financial inclusion project, called the ’new bankable class’, will turn profitable sooner than expected. "Going by our experience with the financial inclusion project, which we call ’banking for the new bankable class’, this will turn in profits sooner than later, especially when the cash transfer facilities under Adhaar s...

Source

The Hindu (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Govt’s Microfinance Model Promises to Empower Poor

GANDHINAGAR: At a time when controversy surrounding microfinance institutions charging higher-than-usual interest rates from its poor borrowers - mainly womenfolk - refuses to die down in Andhra Pradesh and some other parts of India , Gujarat government claims to have resolved the issue, coming up with a new model envisaging, to quote a document, "a ...

Source

The Times of India (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia