India

India projects several trends which will underline the dynamics of India’s IT industry:

Mobile App vs Mobile Web. 2016 will see 2 main developments in Indian telecom industry and market. (i) 4G will be rolled out in a big way, with Vodafone and Reliance Jio launching their services, in addition to Airtel expanding its current offering to more circles; (ii)  basic (feature) phones will be outsmarted by smartphones (in terms of number of units projected to be sold). These 2 events will enable more people to come online for the first time and ecommerce is set to benefit from this. However, the amount of storage space on mobiles will still be limited, and  apps will experience roughly similar number of uninstalls as compared to installs.

This will put mobile web-apps at the forefront of the battle and companies will strive to bring out the ‘lite’ versions of their services, giving an app-like experience.

More M&A. The cashback model is good for generating trials in the customers, but these are not customer-acquisition techniques.

Consolidation in the industry is imminent. The acquirer will try to add more firepower in its arsenal without starting from scratch, the acquired will let go of control as it will need more money and leadership guidance. Moving away from hyperlocal, some other companies need to add new features in their offerings.

Flipkart will need a mobile payment solution to ease its operations, Snapdeal needs to add to its logistics to serve customers better. One of the quicker ways to accomplish tasks like these will be investing in companies which have mastered these already.

New Names in Ecommerce. These names might be a little new in Ecommerce, but  not in the internet space. Google and Twitter are likely to provide customers with a new experience of shopping online, directly through search results and tweets.

Pinterest introduced a ‘buy’ button in 2015, and Twitter is expected to launch the feature soon in India. As more Indians embrace Twitter, buying and selling services through tweets can become a full-fledged feature on the platform.

This will give this micro-blogging service a great means to add to its top-line growth. Google already has a Wallet service, and adding INR to it will make the jump to Ecommerce easier. Buying directly from search results will be one of the prime objectives of Google, helping it pocket more money from commissions. The return of mobile web-apps might just be what the doctor ordered for Google Ecommerce.

Women to Drive the Rally. Ecommerce is set to grow by staggering amounts till 2020. The growth will be seen across all age groups and across all cities. But the biggest chunk of growth will be seen in the number of women online shoppers. Women shoppers are expected to grow by 30% in urban areas and by 157% in rural areas by 2016 .

The increase in women internet base in India will be due to increased internet penetration, adoption of ecommerce, empowered youth (especially in rural areas) and increased spending power.

New Products and Services will Expand the Horizon

One of the biggest verticals will be automobiles. PayTm has already been selling Mahindra 2-wheelers, and by end of 2015, Flipkart started piloting Maruti cars and Bajaj (and KTM) bikes to be sold online. New services will act as differentiators for these established players, be it 1-hour deliveries or 90-minute returns.

Also, services ecommerce set to go through a boom cycle when players like Amazon and others start offering such services, giving UrbanClap and the like, a run for their money. With GST expected to get implemented in the next fiscal, ecommerce players will find it quite easy to do and grow business here.

Companies will do well if they start focusing their energy on these trends and try and grasp every opportunity that comes their way. This is going to be one of the most important ways to win big in Indian ecommerce and 2016 might just be the year of reckoning for the industry.

India’s IT sector is expected to grow at a rate of 12-14% for FY2016. The sector is also expected to triple its current annual revenue to reach US$ 350 billion by FY 2025, according to its National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM). India is the 4th largest base for new businesses in the world and home to over 3,100 tech start-ups and is set to increase its base to 11,500 tech start-ups by 2020. The core of India’s IT competencies and strengths have attracted significant investments from major countries. The computer software and hardware sectors in India attracted a cumulative Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows worth US$ 20.42 billion between April 2000 and December 2015. Indian start-ups are expected to receive funding worth US$ 5 billion by the end of 2015, a 125% increase in a year

The Private Equity (PE) deals increased the number of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) especially in the e-commerce space in 2014. The IT space, including e-commerce, witnessed 240 deals worth US$ 3.8 billion in 2014, as per data from Dealogic.

About 554 start-ups received funding in 2015, with seed and venture capital investments worth US$ 3.4 billion. VC funding to the IT & ITes sector amounted to 55%

Most large technology companies looking to expand have focused primarily on bigger enterprises, but the small and medium businesses presented a lucrative opportunity worth US$ 11.6 billion in 2015, which is expected to grow to US$ 25.8 billion in 2020.

India has nearly 51 million such businesses of which 12 million have a high degree of technology influence and are looking to adopt newer IT products.

Some of the major developments in the Indian IT and ITeS sector are as follows:

• PurpleTalk Inc, a US based mobile solutions company, invested US$ 1 million in Nukkad Shops, a Hyderabad based uber-local commerce platform that helps neighbourhood retail stores take their businesses online through a mobile app.
• KartRocket, a Delhi based e-commerce enabler completed its US$ 8 million funding round by raising US$ 2 million from a Japanese investor, which will be used to enhance Kraftly, a mobile-first online-to-offline marketplace targeting small sellers, individuals and home-based entrepreneurs in India in product categories such as apparel and accessories.
• JustRide, a self-drive car rental aggregator, raised US$ 400,000 in pre-series A round of funding from a group of angel investors, including Redcliffe Capital’s Mr Dheeraj Jain, which will be used to enhance its technology.
• Mumbai-based baby care and kids products e-tailer, Hopscotch.in, raised US$ 13 million in a Series C round of funding from Facebook co-founder Mr Eduardo Saverin, which will help the firm in growth and expansion of its technology platform.
• MoMark Services, a mobile based customer engagement platform for small and medium businesses, raised US$ 600,000 from YourNest Angel Fund and LNB Group, to scale up its product offerings and talent acquisition.
• Shouut, a social discovery app by Giant Tech Labs Pvt Ltd, which helps consumers discover deals, buy event tickets or redeem coupons, raised US$ 500,000 in angel funding from a high net-worth individual angel investor based in India.
• Apple Inc. plans to set up its first technology development centre outside the US in Hyderabad with an investment of US$ 25 million, which is expected to create 4,500 jobs
• Xpressbees, an e-commerce logistics firm operated by Busybees Logistics Solutions Private Limited, raised US$ 12.5 million in a Series A funding, led by its existing investors SAIF Partners, IDG Ventures, Vertex Ventures and Valiant Capital, which will be used to strengthen technology initiatives and processes of the firm.
• Housejoy, an online home services provider, raised Rs 150 crore (US$ 22 million) in a Series B round of funding led by Amazon, and which also includes new investors such as Vertex Ventures, Qualcomm and Ru-Net Technology Partners.
• Global PE firm Blackstone Group acquired a minority stake in an Indian travel, transportation and logistics software firm, IBS Software, for US$ 170 million, by buying the stake from General Atlantic and few other shareholders.
• India’s top-tier IT company, Infosys Ltd, bought a minority stake worth US$ 3 million in Whoop, which is a US-based start-up that makes activity trackers worn by athletes.
• Microsoft Ventures plans to incubate 500 start-ups in India in the next five years with a vision to create a viable and profitable business out of the booming start-up sector in India.
• National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) plans to open four more tech start-up incubation centres in different parts of India, in addition to existing three, in support of Government of India’s ‘Start-up India’ initiative.
• Nasscom Foundation, a non-profit organisation which is a part of Nasscom, has partnered with SAP India to establish 25 National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) centres in 12 cities across India, as a part of Government of India’s Digital India initiative.
• Infosys, India’s second largest Information Technology services company acquired US-based Noah Consulting, a provider of advanced information management consulting services for the oil and gas industry.
• US-based Callidus Software Inc, cloud-based sales, marketing, learning and customer experience solutions provider, opened its centre in Hyderabad and also launched its ‘The Lead to Money’ suite in Indian markets.
• Wipro Ventures, Wipro’s US$ 100 million corporate venture arm, plans to invest in early-stage Venture Capital (VC) funds based in the US to pursue a strategy of investing/partnering country-focussed VCs.
• A recent study by research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) suggests that India may soon be able to catch up with the global technology trends that have disrupted enterprises, industry and the way consumers behave and transact.
• Reliance is building a 650,000 square feet (sq ft) data centre in India—its 10th data centre in the country—with a combined capacity of about 1 million sq ft and an overall investment of US$ 200 million.
• Intel Corp plans to invest about US$ 62 million in 16 technology companies, working on wearable, data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT), in 2015 through its investment arm Intel Capital. The Indian IoT industry is expected be worth US$ 15 billion and to connect 28 billion devices to the internet by 2020.

According to a study conducted by Assocham-Pricewaterhouse Coopers, India”s e-commerce industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 35% to reach US$ 100 billion size in the next five years.

India has a varied range of weather conditions and varied topography. It has four seasons: winter (January -February), summer (March – May), monsoon (rainy) season (June – September), and a post-monsoon period (October – December).

The ideal time to visit India is between late October (the end of the monsoon season) up to mid-March. However Rajasthan can be chilly in December and January. April and May can be very hot and humid, with daytime temperature of more than 100F/40C on the northern plains, but these are considered ideal months to go trekking the Himalayan foothills and the hill stations of Shimla and Darjeeling. High summer is pleasant in Kashmir and Ladakh. The monsoon rains start in late May in the south, gradually moving north over the following six weeks, although it doesn’t rain all day.

Mid-winter sees the most marked contrasts between the climates of north and south India. Capital city Delhi may be ravaged by chill winds off the Himalayas, the Tamil plains and coastal Kerala; in contrast, the south still experience fierce post-monsoon sunshine. As spring gathers pace, the centre of the Subcontinent starts to heat up again, and by late March, temperatures decrease at 33°C across most of the Gangetic Plains and Deccan plateau. Temperatures peak in May and early June. Above the baking Subcontinental land mass, hot air builds up and sucks in humidity from the southwest, causing the onset of the monsoon in late June.

It is advisable to avoid the 10-day the festival of Diwali (October 23), when Indian families holiday en masse and stay up late.

India is host to a variety of colorful festivals throughout the year. Among its significant festivals are as follows:

• Bikaner Camel Festival (22-24 January): This annual event includes a range of colourful camel performances from races to dance displays, all designed to pay homage to the ships of the desert, swirling human dancers, fire performers and a dazzling fireworks display.
  Jaisalmer Desert Festival (30 January – 03 February): The beautiful fort city of Jaisalmer hosts a desert festival, emphasizing local culture and heritage, with events including camel racing, turban tying, and the longest mustache competition.
  Holi Festival of Colour (23 March): Celebration of the arrival of spring and new beginnings; most colourful festival and most popular with visitors. Holi celebrations include the throwing of coloured water and powder at others dressed in white, and bonfires are lighed the night before.
• Hola Mohalla (24 March): Takes place a day after the Hindu festival of Holi, this 3-day Sikh festival is an occasion for Sikhs to demonstrate their martial skills in simulated battles with dramatic mock martial arts battles (or Gatka as they are more commonly known), displays of weaponry, archery and wrestling. The festival is held in the town of Anandpur Sahib.
• Hemis Festival (14 July):held in the Buddhist monastery of Hemis in the state of Ladakh to honour the 8th-century Indian Buddhist master, Padmasambhava. During the festival ceremonial items are placed around the monastery, the courtyard fills with pilgrims and traditional music and dance performances are held. The festival highlight is the gathering of the llamas around the central flagpole performing the mystic mask dances (Chams) and sacred plays.
• Ganesh Chaturthi (05-15 September): Runs for 11 days, the Ganesh Chaturthi Hindu festival honours the elephant-headed god Ganesh with numerous images of Ganesh made and paraded through the streets and installed in temporary shrines. At the end of the festival, the clay idols are immersed and dissolved in a nearby lakes and ponds.
• Durga Puja (07-10 October): Celebrating the Mother Goddess and warrior Goddess Durga’s victory over an evil demon, Durga Puja honours the divine feminine energy with great pandals, decorated stages that exhibit statues of the goddess Durga. Live music accompanies the colourful art works and at the end of the festival the statues are paraded through the streets to be immersed in local rivers. Durga Puja is celebrated in West Bengal, particularly in the city of Kolkata.
• Diwali Festival of Light (starts on 30 October): Families come together all across India to celebrate Diwali Festival of Light and the triumph of light over dark, good over evil. Small diyas (lamps) are lit and placed outside homes with firework displays at night. Over the course of five days various prayers and rituals are performed and a wonderful time to check into a guesthouse to share the festivities with local Indian families.
• Pushkar Camel Fair (November): a unique spectacle with thousands of camels bought and sold, alongside horses and cattle. As part of the fair camel races are held along with longest moustache competitions, bridal competitions and various dance performances. In recent years a cricket game between a local team and random foreign visitors.

Other Events

Indians love cricket. The cricket tournament for 2016 was held on 8 March – 03 April, dubbed as 2016 ICC World Twenty20 cricket tournament, with matches held in Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai, Dharamshala, Delhi, Mohali and Nagpur. In total 16 teams competed including South Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand.

India Standard Time is five and a half hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time standard, written as an offset of UTC + 5:30.

Unless joining an escorted tour, first-timers should avoid starting their holiday in Mumbai or Kolkata due to the overly crowded places, the traffic and the persistent beggars, which may cause culture shock.

VISA

• All Individual visa seekers are requested to apply for the Indian Visa through online application link. Or apply by typing the URL: http://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/
• No hand written application form will be accepted by any of the Indian Mission/ Post, where-ever online Visa facility has been implemented.
• Upon completion of application form completed, submit to the concerned Indian Visa Application Center (IVAC) or directly to Indian Mission/ Post in absence of IVAC, on the scheduled date of interview along with the requisite supporting documents.
• Instructions for filling the form and scheduling the appointment can be referred at Instructions for Regular Visa Application. Important technical information for filling online Indian visa application can be referred at Technical Instructions.
• To check status of application, please follow the link for Visa Enquiry. Further details / description shall be available on the Visa Enquiry page.

Processing Time: 3 working days depending on the nationality of applicant

Visa Fees: The visa fee depends upon the type of applied for and duration of visa. Visa fee is divided into various types depending upon the case viz; Basic fee, special fee, processing fee by out-sourcing agency. Fee will be displayed at  the end of the application. Thes fee shall be indicative only and final fee shall be charged while submitting the application at the respective counters

Fees are non refundable even if the visa application is withdrawn, the visa is not granted, or if visa issued is of shorter duration of period than applied for or otherwise issued or returned at a time or on terms and conditions that may vary from those sought by the applicant.

eTourist Visa (eTV)

Services of e-Tourist Visa involves completely online application for which no facilitation is required by any intermediary / agents etc. It is advised not to believe or fall in trap of any such unscrupulous elements. For any clarification or doubt may contact to indiatvoa@gov.in

Eligibility

• International Travellers whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation , sight seeing casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit.
• Passport should have at least six months validityfrom the date of arrival in India. The passport should have at least two blank pages for stamping by the Immigration Officer.
• International Travellers should have return ticket or onward journey ticket,with sufficient money to spend during his/her stay in India.
• International Travellers having Pakistani Passport or Pakistani origin may please apply for regular Visa at Indian Mission.
• Not available to Diplomatic/Official Passport Holders.
• Not available to individuals endorsed on Parentâl/Spousal Passport i.e. each individual should have a separate passport.
• Not available to International Travel Document Holders.

Currency: Indian Rupee

Currency code: INR

Currency exchange rate: INR1 = US$0.015 (US$ = INR 66.41)

INR 1= GBP 0.010 (1GBP=INR97.02)

Hindi is the most widely spoken language in northern parts of India. “Hindi” refers to a broad variety of “Hindi languages” which consists of the following most spoken languages in India: (in millions) Hindi (422m), Bengali (83m), Telugu (75m), Marathi (71m), Tamil (60m), Urdu (51m), Gujarati (46m), and Punjabi (29m). A census in 2001 showed that 45% know Hindi but only 25% of them have declared Hindi as their mother tongue. Indian English is recorded as the native language of 226,449 Indians (in the 2001 census).

English is also considered a national language and widely used in government, business and media.

Most companies start around 9am and end around 6pm, but do not follow a strict in/out time. Most open between 9-11AM and close around 6-8PM. But for companies in manufacturing/BPO, within large software companies, projects where a 24×7 support is required, strict shifts policies are enforced.

Based on the international timings, there are four types of shifts. General shift  (9pm to 5 am), morning shift, afternoon shift and night shift.

Banks are open on Saturdays the whole day except every 2^nd and 4^th Saturdays of every month which have been declared as public holidays