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

Target: Top of the pyramid

Mainstream food brands, which have long milked the bottom of the pyramid to drive volumes, are now eyeing the top end to build value. Last month, Hindustan Unilever’s coffee brand Bru stepped up its regular brew portfolio by bringing to market Bru Exotica, a super premium coffee in three variants: Brazil, Columbia and Kilimanjaro. GlaxoSmithKline’s Horlicks too bolstered its premium credentials with the launch of Horlicks Gold at a 30 per cent premium to the base variant, in sel...

Source

Business Standard (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

LIBA Establishes India’s First Research and Innovation Center for BOP

LIBA (Loyola Institute of Business Administration), among India’s leading management institutes today announced the establishment of "Prof. C.K Prahalad Center for Emerging India’, India’s first research and innovation center focused exclusively on BOP marketing and among the early pioneers across the globe in this space. The center will be a key landmark to India’s growing BOP market estimated at 835 million and recognized as among the larges...

Source

India PRwire (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

India’s Most Famous Investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Pledges to Give Away 25% of His Wealth

MUMBAI: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, India’s most famous investor, has pledged to give away 25% of his wealth during his lifetime. He is the fourth Indian businessperson - after Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar and GM Rao - to make a statement of intent to give away a substantial part of their personal wealth to philanthropy. Announcing this on Monday evening at an event organised by GiveIndia, a giving facilitator, the 51-year-old said he planned to route all his charity through his R Jhunjhunwala ...

Source

The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Agriculture

Region

South Asia

Citi, OPIC, Bank Danamon Back Indonesia?s Microfinance with USD20 Million Loan

Citi Indonesia, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Bank Danamon will extend a USD20 million term loan to fund the growth of Bank Danamon’s microfinance programme, Danamon Simpan Pinjam (DSP), and to promote the financial inclusion of microentrepreneurs and small businesses in Indonesia. This loan will be the first from Citi and OPIC for the microfinance sector in Indonesia, and is part of Citi’s and OPIC’s USD250 million joint global initiative to support micro...

Source

The Asset (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Technology

Region

South Asia

Tags

telecommunications

The Microfinance Crisis: Is There a Way Out?

For the better part of nine months, the microfinance industry has been in paralysis because of restrictions put in place by the government of Andhra Pradesh, the state that was the center of micro-lending in India. Almost immediately, banks turned off the credit tap that allows microfinance lenders to operate, and borrowers abandoned the high repayment rates of the past and stopped paying. Recently, the full impact of the crisis has been revealed. SKS Microfinance, the stock market-list...

Source

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

Region

South Asia

Meet Mr Sunshine

Mumbai: For A Ramon Magsaysay awardee, Harish Hande is surprisingly easy to reach. Scarred by my previous experiences with tight-fisted companies’ fortress-like PR mechanisms that make it as difficult as possible for the media to reach their clients, I dialled the number on the website of the Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO) India with consternation, only to be greeted by an affable team that put me in touch with their Managing Director, no less, in a matter of ...

Source

NDTV (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Working With GE to Develop Products for Rural India: MART

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) Consultancy firm MART today said it is working with US-based diversified giant GE to develop affordable healthcare products for the Indian rural market. The firm that advises big firms such as HUL, Shell, Colgate, Heinz, Intel and John Deere, said it is currently helping GE in developing a host of products, including baby warmers and products to treat cardiac problems. "We are working with GE to develop very affordable healthcare products for rural India," ...

Source

MSN News (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Region

South Asia

Tags

scale

Debate on the Role of Growth and Redistribution in Poverty Alleviation in India

The capacity of Indian intellectuals to argue even when they lack data either to refute the opponents’ position or support their own far exceeds that of their counterparts anywhere else in the world. This means that issues that have been largely settled elsewhere remain subject of endless heated debate in India. Nothing illustrates this better than the debates on the role ofgrowth and redistribution in alleviating poverty, which go unabated in the real and virtual forums around the countr...

Source

The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia