Business
‘GST cut to ease entry level stress,’ says Godrej Enterprises executive director – The Times of India
MUMBAI: The rejigging of GST slabs will make products more affordable for consumers, easing stress for the entry level market segment, said Nyrika Holkar, executive director at Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG), which is expecting reduction in taxes to give a boost to festive purchases. The move, Holkar said, will also push premiumisation. Availability of financing options has made it easy for consumers to buy products without paying for it upfront and lower taxes will only put more money in the hands of people, aiding spending. “The change in GST for appliances is very positive for us. It will put less strain on consumers, the entry level segment of the middle class remains stressed today and we should see that segment picking up in the festive period. Today, appliances (ACs) shouldn’t be discretionary purchases; given the climatic shifts and other factors, they have become essential,” Holkar said.For GEG, which has four consumer businesses, the appliances segment comprising AC portfolio will benefit from the GST reset. ACs which were earlier taxed at 28% have been placed under the 18% tax slab, broadening its accessibility for a larger share of low and middle-income households. The appliances business, in which Godrej competes with a mix of local and global players such as Tata’s Voltas, Samsung and LG, makes up for about 30% of the group’s revenues. In India, penetration of ACs stand at 10%. GEG’s appliances portfolio includes dishwashers, which too will see a reduction in tax although the share of sales is not high.For GEG, which has been premiumising its consumer portfolio across appliances and furniture, the GST boost provides an opportunity to expand its market share. India Inc is hopeful that lower taxes will give a leg up to broader consumption as consumers will be able to spend more. GEG is stepping up omni-channel play in its Interio (furniture) business which has set a target of doubling revenues to Rs 10,000 crore in three years. The strategy will be to build new store formats as consumers become more experiential and strengthen its play online (own website) which enables companies to reach more consumers.In a market where online platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart are rapidly innovating and 10-minute delivery players are rewriting the rules, competition for legacy companies has intensified. There is a change in the way people today buy and browse, said Holkar, and GEG will step up its online play. “More than 80% of searches today start online. We will also shorten our delivery time,” Holkar said. Following the Godrej Family’s split last year, GEG refreshed its brand identity and accelerated digital transformation. On Tuesday, the group also launched a refreshed brand identity for the Interio business.
Two ads promoting British beef and milk have been banned after television presenter and environmental campaigner Chris Packham complained that they misled consumers about the products’ carbon footprints.
Both ads for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) Let’s Eat Balanced campaign used the carbon footprint of British beef and milk to promote the products, firstly stating: “British beef not only tastes great, but has a carbon footprint that’s half the global average*.”
The asterisk linked to text that stated: “Full lifecycle emissions of CO2 eq (carbon dioxide equivalent) per kg of beef.”
The ad for milk stated: “British milk not only tastes good, but is also produced to world-class standards, and has a carbon footprint a third lower than the global average.”
Packham complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ads, and specifically the carbon footprint claims, were misleading as they did not reflect the full environmental impact of British meat and dairy.
The AHDB said the ads’ mention of carbon emissions would be understood in relation to the environmental impact of beef and milk that occurred between the “cradle-to-retail” stages.
But the ASA said the average consumer “being reasonably well-informed, observant and circumspect” would understand the claims to apply beyond the retail stage and include actions such as cooking and wastage.
The ASA said: “While we acknowledged the potential difficulties in producing post-retail emissions data, the claims in the ads suggested those emissions were included and we therefore expected the evidence provided to also include them.
“We therefore concluded that the evidence presented was insufficient to support the full life-cycle claims in the ads, which was how the average consumer was likely to interpret them.
“We reminded AHDB that environmental claims should be based on the full life cycle unless the ad stated otherwise.”
AHDB’s director of communications and market development, Will Jackson, said: “Let’s Eat Balanced is doing what it was designed to do, providing clear, factual, evidence-led information about British food, nutrition and farming standards.
“Since the investigation began, we have conducted independent consumer research which found that the majority of respondents interpreted these adverts as relating to the production phase only, from farm to retail.
“This research provides important insight into consumer understanding and supports our belief that consumers were not misled by the information we shared in these two specific adverts.”
BENGALURU: India’s Gen Z workforce is embracing what experts describe as “portfolio careers” – balancing multiple professional identities and income streams simultaneously. New research from LinkedIn shows that 75% of Gen Z entrepreneurs in India now manage multiple income streams, significantly higher than the 62% among Gen X entrepreneurs. The findings point to a growing preference among younger professionals for flexibility, autonomy and diversified sources of income. “We’re also seeing the rise of the ‘portfolio era’, with more professionals creating multiple income streams and redefining what a career can look like. This shift is making entrepreneurship more accessible than ever before,” said LinkedIn India country manager Kumaresh Pattabiraman.Rather than depending on a single full-time role, many professionals are simultaneously building businesses, freelancing, consulting, creating online content and monetising specialised skills through digital platforms. The trend comes amid a broader rise in entrepreneurial activity in India. LinkedIn recorded a 104% year-on-year increase in members adding “Founder” to their profiles – the highest growth among all global markets.AI is also emerging as a major enabler of this shift. The report found that 85% of Gen Z entrepreneurs consider AI and digital tools important to their business operations.
Sam Altman said Elon Musk tried many times for total control of OpenAI, which he’s now suing.
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