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Tag: Hinduja Group

  • Hinduja Group appoints Anand Agarwal as group president – finance

    Hinduja Group appoints Anand Agarwal as group president – finance

     MUMBAI: Money talks and so does experience. In a move that signals serious intent for its next phase of growth, the Hinduja Group has roped in financial veteran Anand Agarwal as group president of Finance. With a career spanning nearly three decades and multiple sectors, Agarwal is expected to steer the conglomerate’s financial strategy with a steady, seasoned hand.

    Agarwal brings to the table heavyweight credentials, he’s a chartered accountant, company Secretary, ICWA, CFA, and an executive MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. His résumé reads like a who’s who of Indian industry: Chambal Fertilisers (as CFO), Tata Power, Peepul Capital PE, AGS Transact Technologies, Aditya Birla Group, Reliance Industries, and ITC Limited.

    He has successfully raised capital from global private equity giants, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds, and helmed several high-stakes M&A deals across the Agri Inputs, Infrastructure (Power), FMCG, Cement, Metals, and Financial Services sectors.

    As group pof Hinduja Group HR Amit Chincholikar put it, “With the Group’s businesses entering a phase of strategic expansion, strong financial leadership is crucial. Anand’s vast experience in corporate finance and M&A, along with his proven ability to manage large-scale financial strategies, will be key in driving the Group’s growth.”

    Agarwal, too, sounds ready to get down to business: “My focus will be on enhancing financial efficiency, optimising capital deployment, and supporting the Group’s expansion plans.”

    With Agarwal’s appointment, the Hinduja Group appears poised to fine-tune its financial engine accelerating towards a future built on bold strategy, smart capital, and sharper execution.

  • Hinduja Group appoints Amit Chincholikar as group president – HR

    Hinduja Group appoints Amit Chincholikar as group president – HR

    MUMBAI: The Hinduja Group has announced the appointment of Amit Chincholikar as its group president – human resources, effective 2 January 2025. He succeeds Amanppreet Singh Bhatia, who successfully led the HR function for five years before moving on.

    With over three decades of experience in human resources, Chincholikar is set to lead the Hinduja Group’s HR strategy, leadership development, and transformation initiatives. His illustrious career spans diverse industries and geographies, including India, the United States, and Singapore.

    In addition to his HR acumen, Chincholikar has successfully led functions such as sustainability, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), corporate communications, and business excellence in previous roles.

    Before joining the Hinduja Group, Chincholikar served as the global chief human resources officer at Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (OHT). His career highlights include significant contributions at Tata Consumer Products, Tata Sons Limited, Aditya Birla Group (ABG), and Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

    Chincholikar’s ability to design and execute transformative HR practices has positioned him as a sought-after leader in the field.

    Amit Chincholikar holds a Master’s degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and a Bachelor’s degree in science, specialising in statistics and operations research, from Bombay University.

    The Hinduja Group expressed confidence in Chincholikar’s ability to drive its HR vision forward. His leadership is expected to strengthen the group’s focus on employee engagement, sustainability, and business excellence, aligning with its mission to foster growth and innovation across its global operations.

  • Network18 Media shuffles senior management

    Network18 Media shuffles senior management

    MUMBAI: Reliance Industries group company Network18 has made some senior management changes, which it made public through a regulatory filing on the Bombay stock exchange on 12 October 2024.

    Shweta Gupta has been appointed as company secretary and compliance officer, replacing Nitten Gupta as the compliance officer who moved out of Network18 on 12 October 2024.

    Sanchayan Paul has also been roped in as chief human resource officer who will join Network18 from 1 November 2024. He replaces P. Sakthivel who will be moving into another role within the company from 31 October 2024.  The company had made the announcement of Sachayan’s  joining as CHRO designate in June 2024.

    Gupta is a qualified company secretary & law graduate with more than 20 years’ experience in the areas of  secretarial, corporate governance, legal and compliance functions.  Her last posting was as company secretary & compliance officer & legal head of Gulf Oil Lubricants India, a Hinduja group company. Before Gulf, she was associated with Hindalco Industries and JSW Steel.

    A graduate from Delhi university and a postgraduate from XLRI Jamshedpur, Sanchayan is a a veteran HR professional with more than 25 years’ experience. He was previously associated with Modenik Lifestyle, a PE-backed enterprise that he landed into after journeying through companies as varied as Reliance Industries, Thomson Reuters, Eicher Consulting Services, Hutchison Essar Telecom and Vodafone. He also took a stab at entrepreneurship, founding KaryaMitr, a tech-enabled platform for skill building and training aimed at the vernacular workspace. Sanchayan has also completed his digital business leadership pogramme from Cornell University.

  • NxtDigital launches its flagship integrated solution ‘OneDigital’

    NxtDigital launches its flagship integrated solution ‘OneDigital’

    Mumbai: Hinduja Group’s NxtDigital has announced the introduction of its flagship integrated solution, OneDigital. This customised customer solution provides a wide range of services, including wi-fi, digital TV, OTT, voice/intercom, broadband, and CCTV.

    When compared to broadband packages, which range in speed from 10 mbps to 1 gbps, the TV solution offers clients up to 650 TV channels in both standard and high definition.

    Customers can access over 3,00,000 hours of OTT content from top global and regional platforms through OneDigital on any device.

    Customers can still be reachable over an IP or telecom network and have a personalised landline number with the help of its partners’ VOIP (voice over internet protocol) service, which is available nationwide. ONEDigital may offer customised CCTV solutions and wi-fi-enabled internet access in public spaces as part of the solution.

    Speaking at the launch of OneDigital at SCAT 2022, NxtDigital’s broadband subsidiary OneOTT Intertainment chief operating officer and OneDigital project lead Sanjeev Agarwal said, “Consumer preferences are radically changing in the way they not only consume but also access and engage digital services at home or at work. OneDigital has been designed specifically based on that premise to give customers access to all digital solutions for their home and office through a single business conduit  facilitating true digital convergence and much needed convenience.”

    He further added, “The USP is that this is a bespoke end-to-end solution and can be tailored based on a customer’s specific needs—whether for home or a small, medium, or large business. This is the start and we will, of course, continue to add more products to the OneDigital portfolio over time.”

    The company also unveiled its future OTT content aggregator app, which will enable users to access OTT content from leading local and international platforms.

    The app, which will soon be accessible online, will allow users access to over 3,00,000 hours of international and local material at first and pave the way for the integration of education, gaming, and other apps within the solution.

    The company has already built an ecosystem of partners to provide quality VOIP and CCTV hardware and software solutions. In order to fulfil customer demands from pre-sales and installation to service support and troubleshooting, NXTDIGITAL has started training its digital franchisees throughout its TV and broadband businesses. OneDigital is now being introduced in Mumbai and will be made available in additional significant cities by the end of the year.

    NxtDigital chief operating officer NK Rouse said, “We have over the years built a robust infrastructure, a strong subscriber base, and a national network of franchisees, all backed by best-in-class technology, including our HITS platform and our award-winning NxtHubs.”

    He further added, “OneDigital and NxtPlatly are extensions of our solutions portfolio, focusing on emerging technologies and the need to develop solutions with an eye on the future. We have also commenced training our franchisee partners to make the paradigm shift to digital solutions providers, ready for the next decade of growth that will also include broadband over satellite.”

    The award-winning NxtHubs that NxtDigital owns and operates, which just passed 100 locations and already provide digital TV, broadband, and OTT solutions in the majority of locations, will try to offer one digital solution.

    NxtDigital is hoping to leverage the strength of its planned broadband-over-satellite service to augment the solution in countries where terrestrial connectivity may be an issue.

  • OneOTT Intertainment crosses 1 mn broadband subscribers

    OneOTT Intertainment crosses 1 mn broadband subscribers

    MUMBAI: OneOTT Intertainment (OIL), the broadband subsidiary of NXTDigital (NDL), the media vertical of the global conglomerate, Hinduja Group announced that it has crossed one million wired home broadband subscribers.

    OIL achieved this milestone by adding over 200,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2021-2022 recording a growth of 65 per cent as compared to the financial year 2020-2021. One Broadband claims to now be India’s fourth-largest private Internet Service Provider (ISP), extending its presence across India.

    The increased competition in this space fuelled by the demand for more online services has triggered consolidation which has benefitted larger ISPs, enabling OIL’s growth inorganically. Commenting on this milestone, OneOTT Intertainment CEO Yugal Kishore Sharma said, “The significant growth trajectory of One Broadband’s high-speed internet connectivity has been achieved by its “available-reliable-affordable” offerings.”

    “Its focussed approach towards predictable proactive customer responsiveness and care has been highly appreciated by subscribers. Internet use has moved beyond browsing and social networking to work-from-home, online Education, OTT Entertainment, e-Gaming, online-Shopping online-Health, e-Governance and others,” he added.

    “At OIL, we have adapted to this consumption surge by doubling our internet capacity on the supply side without passing any additional cost to our consumers to maintain a consistent customer experience during the pandemic,” Sharma stated.

    One Broadband, under its flagship brand, OneGigaFiber claims to offer speeds of up to 1 Gbps on its FTTH (Fibre-To-The-Home) Network.

     

  • NxtDigital revenue grows 12.8% to reach Rs 807.6 crore in 9MFY2022

    NxtDigital revenue grows 12.8% to reach Rs 807.6 crore in 9MFY2022

    Mumbai: Integrated digital platforms company NxtDigital, the media vertical of Hinduja Group announced its results for the nine month period ending 31 December 2021 and Q3 of FY22.

    The company’s consolidated revenue for the nine months grew by 12.84 per cent to Rs 807.6 crore, up from Rs 715.71 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year. During the same period, the Earnings Before Interest Depreciation and Taxes (EBIDTA) on a consolidated basis was Rs 155.8 crore as against an EBIDTA of Rs 149.81 crore during the corresponding period of the previous year, at a growth of 4.01 per cent.

    The company ended the third quarter with a 10.9 per cent year-on-year growth in EBIDTA at Rs 52.92 crore. It grew by 2.48 per cent over Q2 of this fiscal – after allowing for AGR payment of Rs three crore.

    The company said that its subscription revenues both for digital video and data businesses continued to be completely prepaid thereby generating healthy cash flows.

    NxtDigital also shared that it has paid its debt of Rs 260 crore in line with the objects of the “Rights Issue,” and completed land sale in January 2022 for a consideration of Rs 69.30 crore, reducing debt further by this amount. Debt-to-equity ratio now stands at 1.5, down from over four at the start of the fiscal. The board also reiterated in-principle approval for transfer of the media & entertainment business to Hinduja Global Solutions to fuel its next phase of growth; subject to regulatory and other approvals.

    Vision For NxtDigital

    The company also recorded progress on the acquisition of the digital and media businesses by Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd (HGSL) which is subject to all statutory or regulatory approvals and approval of the shareholders. The move aims to fuel the expansion plans of NDL in the digital space, as it looks to grow its digital portfolio across video, broadband, OTT and WIFI services. The company said that it has also appointed independent valuers to carry out the valuation exercise and will submit a detailed report including the share exchange ratio once ready.

    Post the proposed acquisition, the company said it will review and assess proposals received, to define new business verticals for the future that will be moulded on the same lines, defining a robust roadmap for growth.

    Key Business Drivers For Growth In Q3

    The company said it took several digital initiatives to provide an end-to-end digital user experience for its customers – covering digital video, broadband and OTT services; the success of which is reflected in the growth of its subscriber base across its digital platforms.

    It continued to push its broadband penetration into new markets, expanding its subscriber base, and also launched the first “combo” product that offers offers up to 700 digital television channels + up to 300,000 hours of OTT content from leading international, national and regional OTT platforms + broadband, with speeds up to 1,000 Mbps – all through a single product offering.

    NxtDigital CEO and MD Vynsley Fernandes said, “Our Q3 strategy hinged on leveraging our unique technology, national footprint and our digital product portfolio to adapt to changing customer preferences vis-à-vis consumption of digital services. Whether our broadband push, our roll-out of NXTHUBs nationally or the launch of the first ‘combo’ product covering digital TV, OTT and broadband – our focus was on giving our customers a unique digital user experience.”

    Growth Drivers In Q4

    For Q4, it said the focus will remain on not just rolling out more NXTHUBs but also increasing the product capability that could extend shortly to WiFi and other e-services. “Broadband will remain a key driver for growth, as it continued to proliferate into NxtDigital markets offering currently digital television only. The ‘combo’ product offering nationally and operationalisation of its infrastructure sharing platform further drive growth as the media group continues on its path of digital transformation,” it stated on Saturday.

  • Nxtdigital’s rights issue subscribed by 194 %, receives Rs 560.13 cr

    Nxtdigital’s rights issue subscribed by 194 %, receives Rs 560.13 cr

    New Delhi: Nxtdigital has announced that the company’s rights issue of equity shares of two shares for every five shares held in the company (aggregating a total of 96,20,463 shares) which closed on 29 November was subscribed 1.94 times.

    The company has reported receiving a total of Rs. 560.13 crores or 194 per cent of the Rights Issue size of Rs. 288.61 crores. This is a clear statement of confidence in the company demonstrated by the shareholders and vindicates the vision of the media group in continuing to transform to an end-to-end digital solutions platform, the company said on Wednesday.

    “The Rights Issue was another positive step taken by the company towards our stated objective of reducing our overall debt,” said Nxtdigital MD and CEO Vynsley Fernandes. “With this, the debt-to-equity ratio is expected to significantly come down to approximately 1.5 times vis-à-vis the pre-issue debt-to-equity ratio of over four times. This is, without doubt, a robust position from which to continue on our path of digital transformation”.

    The company has also been taking steps to liquidate non-core assets and pare its debt thereby.

    According to Nxtdigital’s whole-time director and CFO Amar Chintopanth, the company has already received 25 per cent of the total consideration of Rs 69.30 crores in line with its objectives of paring debt, against the sale of land at Hyderabad. “Considering that the conditions precedent for the sale have been completed within the agreed timelines the company expects the transaction to close before the end of the financial year and the entire proceeds to be realised. Such proceeds would also be utilised towards reducing of the company’s debt”.

    The integrated digital platforms company had recently launched its innovative concept of owned-and-operated NXTHUBs across the country – which besides video and broadband, promise to be future-ready to offer customers a slew of additional digital services including OTT and WiFi.

    The company is also working to operationalise the infrastructure sharing model with other Multi-System Operators (MSOs) on HITS. The model is set to help MSOs not just reduce cost and improve their quality of service, but also facilitate their expansion into markets, especially rural, where connectivity costs are a deterrent to digital proliferation, it added further.

  • Nxtdigital launches 40 new Nxthubs across India

    Nxtdigital launches 40 new Nxthubs across India

    Mumbai: Integrated digital distribution company Nxtdigital Ltd (NDL) has launched 40 Nxthubs across India and unveiled a value-added app for its last-mile owner (LMO) on Thursday.

    Following the launch of its pilot in Ranchi, these Nxthubs were electronically launched at an event in Hyderabad across 13 states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, amongst others.

    Each Nxthub is owned and operated by NDL and is equipped with the latest technology comprising an ADDS or advanced digital distribution system – to distribute over 650 digital TV services received via satellite to LMOs and their customers. The Nxthub plug-and-play model eliminates the need for LMOs to invest in head-end and related technology. Besides video and broadband, these Nxthubs are future-ready to offer a slew of additional digital services including OTT and WiFi.

    According to the company, each location has been strategically chosen to augment the company’s footprint across the country, which today stands at over 4,400 pin codes, as well as focus on markets where LMO growth is constrained by the ability to invest. For LMOs, this plug-and-play solution facilitates them to go ‘digital’ literally overnight, offering their customers over 650 digital television channels and other digital services including broadband.

    NDL has planned a total of 100 such Nxthubs for this financial year that will further strengthen the NDL footprint across the country.

    “One of the key principles of the Hinduja Group is ‘partnership for growth’. After 2.0 saw the launch of headend-in-the-sky (HITS) to connect LMOs in even the most remote locations through the only satellite-based cable TV platform in India; 3.0 focuses not just on strengthening the overall ecosystem we have built, but harnessing the convergence of technologies – to be delivered through a national network of Nxthubs,” said Nxtdigital Ltd MD and CEO Vynsley Fernandes. “Video and broadband are only the start of the digital highway of services that we have developed for roll-out, backed by a robust suite of innovative apps developed by service providers, exclusively for our LMOs and subscribers.”

    Nxtdigital regional head for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana SY Srikumar said the company is proud that 16 of the 40 Nxthubs are in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone. “This national launch from Hyderabad reflects our commitment to LMOs here and the subscribers who expect a high quality of service. We believe this unique model will help stimulate growth and we have already lined up not just new products but also many more Nxthubs across the region,” he added.

    NDL also announced the launch of its new APIs or application programme interfaces for its Nxtdigital HITS service as well as a pre-integrated mobile app solution from ‘Mobiezy’ – under its VAAP program or ‘value-added apps for partners’. These APIs are designed to provide LMOs a way to develop or integrate their own subscriber mobile applications to automate activation/deactivation of subscriber packages directly into NDL’s systems, thereby enhancing the user experience it announced on Thursday.

    “This initiative will empower subscribers to pay online and subscribe to the channels they want to watch and get it activated on their TV sets in real-time without any delay. Without needing to undertake any software development, LMOs can approach Mobiezy for their pre-built and pre-integrated solution that uses Nxtdigital’s new APIs and can be up and running with their own mobile apps within just a few days,” said Nxtdigital group chief technology officer Ru Ediriwira.

    NDL has also been working on an infrastructure sharing model which will help other MSOs reduce operating costs, improve quality of service and extend services to hitherto unviable markets, especially rural; by riding on the HITS platform that covers all of India.

  • NXTDigital revenue up 13.5% in Q1FY22

    NXTDigital revenue up 13.5% in Q1FY22

    Mumbai: NXTDigital Ltd, the media vertical of the global Hinduja Group and an integrated digital distribution platform delivering services through digital cable television, HITS (Headend-In-The-Sky) and broadband, continued to leverage innovation and strategy to combat the challenges of the second wave to post strong results for the quarter ending 30 June.

    On a consolidated basis, the company’s revenues grew by 13.5 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year 2021-22 to Rs 266.6 crore against revenues of Rs 234.8 crore during the same period in the previous year. The broadband business continued to grow touching 6.7 lakh subscribers which amounts to 93 per cent growth over Q1 FY21.  

    Several contracts in the video and broadband segments of business which got delayed due to the second wave were signed by the company.

    “The Q1 performance exhibits the company’s agility and reflexes – being able to innovate and maintain its momentum through a quarter impacted by the second wave,” said NXTDigital Ltd, MD & CEO, Vynsley Fernandes. “With the situation easing up, we are confident that implementation of our PaaS platform and the roll-out of our 100 NXTHUB project will see traction. Whilst we look to commence our infra sharing model with Siti Networks and then extend it to other MSOs, our 100 NXTHUB launch later this month from Ranchi and then on to other geographies, will continue to keep us well on the growth track.”

  • NXTDIGITAL’s revenue grows by 3.4% to Rs.234.82 crore in Q1

    NXTDIGITAL’s revenue grows by 3.4% to Rs.234.82 crore in Q1

    KOLKATA: NXTDIGITAL announced its results for the first quarter of the current financial year – a quarter that was significantly impacted by the Covid2019 pandemic. Against this challenging backdrop, the company continued its growth story, with revenues for Q1 standing at Rs. 234.82 crores.

    On a consolidated basis, revenues grew by 3.4 per cent on a sequential basis over the previous quarter and 2.7 per cent over the same quarter of the previous year. The company posted an EBIDTA of Rs.50.36 crore for the quarter; posting a growth of 99 per cent on a sequential basis over the previous quarter and 2.6 per cent on a year-on-year basis. 

    The company has not only been able to maintain its subscriber base but even grow its video and data businesses, in spite of the serious negative sentiments of the pandemic. It has maintained its collection efficiency of over 99.5 per cent under its prepaid collection model.

    The board considered  a capital raising exercise in the agenda and has constituted a committee of directors to analyse and explore various options including Preferential Allotment, Rights Issue or such other means as the Board may consider appropriate for an amount up to Rs.500 crore.

    Performance Drivers

    NXTDIGITAL launched a series of key initiatives during Q1 to counter the challenges of the pandemic, while ensuring the safety of all its personnel, its franchisees and other ecosystem partners. The company looked to focus on three key aspects during the difficult quarter.

    Accelerated “digital payment” adoption by subscribers – the company worked actively to ensure nation-wide adoption of “digital” and “contactless” subscription collection models. Over 85 per cent of the franchisee base, today collects subscriptions from customers digitally, including using “Easebuzz”, a digital collection platform that NXTDIGITAL partnered with, even before the lockdown was implemented.

    Focused on content innovation to ensure subscribers remained connected and had access to their favorite content – launched innovative content packages like the “Vishesh Manorajan Pack” where customers could enjoy over 400 channels for a small fee; while facilitating a credit period for Local Cable Operators (LCOs) facing challenges to physically collect

    NXTDIGITAL Ltd. CEO Vynsley Fernandes reiterated that “As an essential service providing critical video and data connectivity, it was and is imperative to step up and deliver uninterrupted services to customers whilst ensuring, without exception, the safety of our personnel, our partners and the ecosystem. The performance in Q1 against the challenging backdrop is a reflection of those carefully thought out and implemented strategies, consistent innovation, and singular commitment to our customer base.”

    Vision for Growth

    NXTDIGITAL continues to focus on consolidating and growing its serviced subscriber base, expected to cross 10 million; including onboarding of more than 5 million of managed services customers. The potential base for managed services stands at over 69 million cable TV customers today – comprising smaller independent and regional MSOs. A significant portion of these customers are in semi-urban, semi-rural and rural markets; where the company has a growing presence by virtue of being able to deliver digital services to any part of the country through its HITS platform.

    It is also developing innovative products and solutions to leverage the onset of the festival season and help customers derive maximum value. The “NXTGO” solution is an innovative dongle-type device that can be plugged into an OTT Set Top Box (STB) or an Android-based television and provide immediate access to “live” television channels – securely. The “NXTCONNECT” STB, a next-generation solution, is a single device for customers to access “live” television channels, OTT content, social and other apps, games, and much more.

    The company is also working with partners to launch a Cloud-based mobile app – allowing customers to gain easy access to local services in their community, managed by NXTDIGITAL LCOs. The objective is to build a strong ecosystem of local merchants around the LCO – connecting merchants to consumers, seamlessly; thereby facilitating a new revenue stream for its thousands of LCOs.