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Sunny Sen

Sunny Sen was part of Hindustan Times’ nationwide network of correspondents that brings news, analysis and information to its readers. He no longer works with the Hindustan Times.

Articles by Sunny Sen

Now, book travel tickets, order food on Snapdeal

Snapdeal, India’s second-largest e-commerce company, has stitched alliances with online food ordering firm Zomato, and online travel and ticketing firms Cleartrip and Redbus, but without investing in them

Rohit Bansal Co-founder & COO and Kunal Bahl, Founder & CEO of Snapdeal.(Photo Courtesy: Snapdeal)
Updated on Apr 23, 2016 01:42 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

All you need to know about Ola, Uber surge pricing in 5 points

Taxi aggregator service Uber has been operating in India for almost two years without anyone bothering about ‘surge pricing’ -- where cab fares multiple with rising demand.

Taxi aggregator service Uber has been operating in India for almost two years without anyone bothering about ‘surge pricing’ -- where cab fares multiple with rising demand.
Updated on Apr 21, 2016 07:40 AM IST
By, New Delhi

For LeEco, the battle for marketshare is more about videos, not phones

Atul Jain opens an app on his LeEco smartphone. The screen shows a cluster of television channels. Jain, the head of LeEco (India) clicks on one of them – it buffers, the 4G connection is patchy, but it works. “It works perfectly fine on 3G as well... You don’t have to be in front of your television anymore to see your favourite serial, or a live cricket match,” he said.

A file photo of LeEco;s head of India, Atul Jain.(HT Photo)
Updated on Apr 21, 2016 01:27 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

How MapmyIndia turned to e-com to counter Google

MapmyIndia started geo-tagging homes to facilitate deliveries; e-com now makes up 25% of its revenues

Rohan Verma, executive director of MapmyIndia.(HT Photo)
Published on Apr 15, 2016 03:22 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Blackstone left nothing unturned to bag Mphasis

The $1.1-billion deal shows the PE fund, which has made big bets on real estate, is eager to grow its tech portfolio. That should not surprise anyone who knows the reality of realty

The $1.1-billion deal shows that Blackstone, which has made big bets on real estate, is eager to grow its tech portfolio.(Livemint)
Published on Apr 11, 2016 11:12 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Micromax bets on payments biz with mobile wallet UDIO

With a number of e-wallets such as Paytm, Mobikwik and Freecharge already in the market, Micromax is betting on UDIO to be a differentiator

Micromax Canvas Juice 3(HT Archive)
Published on Apr 11, 2016 10:55 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Oyo Rooms raises $100 million from Softbank, others

The business of hotel aggregation is not new, but the entry of players such as Oyo and Zo have also got incumbent online travel agencies, including Makemytrip, Cleartrip, Expedia and Yatra, worried

OYO Rooms founder Ritesh Agarwal: Sitting pretty(Handout photo)
Updated on Apr 12, 2016 12:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

With Rs 330 crore in pocket, Shopclues goes shopping

In the next couple of weeks, ShopClues will close its acquisition of Momoe, the wallet company. The Momoe deal is not only to get a play in the wallet business, but it will have a larger role in the unicorn’s future. It will help ShopClues’ merchants to do mobile banking, a service that is not yet available on the platform, while offering a wallet service like that of Snapdeal and Paytm.

Sanjay Sethi, co-founder and CEO of ShopClues says that the company will spend around $50 million, or around Rs 330 crore to acquire companies to plug-in gaps.(Livemint)
Updated on Apr 07, 2016 07:18 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

As market shifts to petrol, carmakers struggle with diesel capacity

Just four years ago, the country was in the grip of a diesel drive. Price decontrol of the fuel and greater green concerns have since led to a turnaround, and auto makers have been left clutching at straws with demand rapidly shifting to petrol

Capital turnaround: With the ban on large diesel engines, Toyota cannot sell the Innova in Delhi any more. And 12% of its sales come from the Capital.(HT File photo)
Published on Apr 05, 2016 03:43 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi:

Beyond phones: Xiaomi wants to be an Internet major

Xiaomi vice-president Hugo Barra wants the company to evolve in India with a combination of devices, community and services. Phones are aplenty. In days to come Hungama will have exclusive content on Xiaomi phones -- videos, music, games and value-added services. And maybe investments in areas of healthcare and education

Xiaomi vice-president Hugo Barra with the Redmi Note 3. The company is looking beyond phones in India, and wants to be in services, and even community services(Sonu Mehta/HT Photo)
Published on Apr 04, 2016 06:14 PM IST
By, New Delhi

Superplex to be the next blockbuster for PVR and the Bijli brothers

Ajay Bijli had very little to do with the business of cinema while growing up. His family was in the transport business. But they also owned the Priya cinema hall in New Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area. Ajay used to watch back-to-back shows, sometimes of the same movie, at Priya. He soon fell in love with cinema.

Ajay Bijli, CMD PVR, on the left, and Sanjeev Bijli, MD PVR, on the right, at PVR in Noida.(Sunil Ghosh/ HT Photo)
Updated on Apr 04, 2016 09:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Snapdeal’s Bahl vs Flipkart’s Bansal: All’s not well with etailers

The Twitter spat is nowhere close to battle that Ambani and Wadia fought, but Bansal and Bahl have started feeling the heat and pressure from investors. In its last round of fund raising Snapdeal was valued at $6.5 billion, lesser than its GMV of $7 billion. That’s unusual.

The Twitter spat is nowhere close to battle that Ambani and Wadia fought, but Bansal and Bahl have started feeling the heat and pressure from investors.
Updated on Mar 28, 2016 01:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi:

Cab clash: Uber sues Ola for ‘bogus’ bookings, seeks Rs 49 crore in damages for tarnished image

Uber claims Ola booked rides and cancelled them, and created thousands of fake accounts on its app

App wars: Ola is under Uber fire
Published on Mar 23, 2016 11:35 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

It’s more about Max, less Micro for Rahul Sharma

Rahul Sharma still feels bad that his father never bought him a motorcycle. He first asked for it in the 10th standard. Much later, the father got him a scooter, whose memory still makes Sharma scoff.

Rahul Sharma still feels bad that his father never bought him a motorcycle. He first asked for it in the 10th standard. Much later, the father got him a scooter, whose memory still makes Sharma scoff.
Updated on Mar 21, 2016 08:29 AM IST
Hindustan Times | BySuveen Sinha and Sunny Sen, New Delhi

Uber, Ola losing sheen in India as driver incomes fall

Taxi aggregators improved the lifestyles of cab drivers, but now there are too many of them, while the pie -- in the form of cab-users -- has only gotten smaller

Now playing on Indian roads: Roo many cabbies, too few clients(Handout photo)
Updated on Mar 16, 2016 01:12 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Small merchants find bankers in e-tailers

Some merchants have raised up to Rs 5 crore, while the average loan value is Rs 20 lakh

Getting a bank loan has four pain areas: financial data, collateral, documentation, and frequent bank visits(Shutterstock Picture)
Published on Mar 14, 2016 12:35 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

For new shoppers, Shopclues goes to villages

It wasn’t a usual order Shopclues receives. It was from this small village named Raliang village in Jowai district in Meghalaya – a Samsung LED television. The village has hours of power cuts and

Updated on Mar 14, 2016 04:14 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

For online tickets, there is only one showstopper

An idea that germinated in the wilds of South Africa and burst with the dotcom bubble in Y2K, Bookmyshow is alive and kicking today, thank you very much

Ashish Hemrajani got the idea of Bookmyshow while holidaying in South Africa. He tenaciously stuck with it through bad times, and now, life is good(Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)
Published on Mar 07, 2016 01:36 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Commercial vehicles driving back with a bang

In 2011, sales of commercial vehicles (CVs) peaked. And then it fell, to almost half in 2013. It was the “worst recession ever for CVs,” recalled Volvo Eicher Motor’s MD and CEO Siddhartha Lal. Ashok Leyland MD Vinod K Dasari referred to it as the “perfect storm”.

For the first time, Tata Motors, which owned half the market, saw marketshare dip to 44% as others nibble away at it. Ashok Leyland grew from 13.7% to 18%, while Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV) rose from 5.8% to 6.6%.(Reuters File Photo)
Updated on Mar 07, 2016 11:32 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

E-grocers struggling to get the right model in India

Thin margins have forced a lot of grocery delivery startups to shut shop in India.

Groceries constitute 70% of the $600-billion Indian retail market(Shutterstock)
Published on Mar 04, 2016 03:51 PM IST
Hindusstan Times | By, New Delhi

Xiaomi changes tactics to woo Indian users, moves beyond flash sales

Company says it has got 75% local manufacturing, though much of this is assembly

Hugo Barra, vice-president Xiaomi global talks about the Redmi Note 3 while launching the new phone in New Delhi on Thursday. He said that for doing business in India, it makes sense to assemble in India(Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times)
Published on Mar 04, 2016 02:20 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Micromax founders forced back to helm the company as sales plunge

The return of Rahul Sharma and Vikas Jain to Micromax and the departures of its chief executive seem to suggest that some companies may be best managed by founders, rather than professional CEOs

Founders, keepers: Rahul Sharma (left) and Vikas Jain ar back at the helm of Micromax(HT file photo)
Updated on Mar 04, 2016 02:52 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Maruti hikes prices by up to Rs 34,494 to offset infra cess impact

Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday hiked prices of its vehicles across models by up to Rs 34,494 in order to offset the impact of infrastructure cess proposed in the Union Budget 2016-17.

Maruti Suzuki India's 'Alto 800' is displayed at a showroom in New Delhi.(HT File Photo)
Updated on Mar 03, 2016 11:41 AM IST
PTI | By, New Delhi

How women founders are breaking gender shackles

Anisha Singh was two months pregnant when she started Mydala.com, a website that offers deals online. People thought she was crazy. Maybe she was.

Anisha Singh, founder of online deals website Mydala.com. Singh is one of many women founders who are breaking down gender stereotypes and shackles in India.(Photo courtesy: Mydala.com)
Updated on Feb 29, 2016 08:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Restaurant reservation apps have diners calling for more

A bunch of restaurant reservation apps such as DineOut, EazyDiner and Tablewalla have mushroomed, offering attractive deals and discounts.

A bunch of restaurant reservation apps such as DineOut, EazyDiner and Tablewalla have mushroomed, offering attractive deals and discounts.(Illustration: Jayanto)
Updated on Feb 26, 2016 07:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

After the bubble, job cuts arrive at e-commerce companies

After a rush to get funding and increase headcounts, a number of startups have been firing employees in the past few months. More than a thousand workers have lost their jobs in the layoffs.

Snapdeal company has put 200 employees in the contact-centre business on performance improvement programme.(Reuters File Photo)
Updated on Feb 26, 2016 01:16 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

How yoga guru Ramdev turned FMCG business on its head with ‘upkar’

Ramdev’s inputs are not limited to product concepts. He made it a point to fill his purchase department with ascetics because he thinks they are too honest to steal.

Yoga guru Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna pose during the launch of Patanjali Atta Noodles.(HT File Photo)
Updated on Feb 22, 2016 06:54 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Paytm appoints payments bank CEO

Vijay Shekhar Sharma was not in a hurry to appoint the head of the payments bank business. He didn’t want to make any decision in haste, after all payments bank is Sharma’s trump card. “We will bring wealth and money management on to the mobile,” the CEO and founder of Paytm, had told HT earlier.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma was not in a hurry to appoint the head of the payments bank business. He didn’t want to make any decision in haste, after all payments bank is Sharma’s trump card.(Sunil Ghosh/ Hindustan Times)
Updated on Feb 19, 2016 01:44 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

Paytm targets credit and debit cards in big offline retail push

Vijay Shekhar Sharma has a rival, and it is big — cash. The founder and CEO of Paytm, India’s largest mobile wallet company is looking to take his battle to cash transactions, and wants to take over 30% of these this year.

Three months into offline transactions, Paytm is doing 3.5 million transactions every month.
Updated on Feb 17, 2016 01:10 AM IST
By, New Delhi

Snapdeal still has a long way to go to overtake Flipkart: Experts

It was not long ago that Kunal Bahl, CEO and co-founder of Snapdeal, announced that by the end of the current fiscal, that is 2015-16, his company will overtake Flipkart as India’s largest e-commerce company.

In November, Flipkart said that it was valued at $15.2 billion, which is almost two-and-a-half times Snapdeal’s valuation.
Updated on Feb 16, 2016 12:42 AM IST
By, New Delhi
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