Reliance Jio, Micromax consortium bags smartphones deal in Chhattisgarh

A consortium led by Reliance Jio and Micromax plans to supply the smartphones for the Chhattisgarh government’s ambitious scheme aimed to bridge the digital divide.

Under the Sanchar Kranti Yojana (SKY) scheme that was launched last week, the state government would distribute smartphones to 5 million eligible beneficiaries. Besides college students, women staying in the rural areas and families living below the poverty line (BPL) in the urban areas would also get the smartphones.

Reliance Jio Micromax and Lava Airtel consortium participated in the tender floated by Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHIPS) thrice when first two attempts failed. “The consortium led by Reliance Jio and Micromax emerged as the lowest bidder and had been awarded the contract to supply smartphones for the scheme,” CHIPS officials said.

The company would provide handset for Rs 2,509.92 that was cheapest when compared to the price of same features model available in the market, they said. The state government had set a target to distribute the smartphones in the next four months.

Micromax plans to raise Rs 510-680 cr in next 12 to 18 months

Latest News - Indian handset maker Micromax Informatics has said it is planning to raise and invest an amount of Rs 510-680 crore ($75-100 million) in the next 12 to 18 months.

While the firm is primarily into procuring and marketing mobile handsets and consumer durables, it had invested in a few companies earlier on its own, unlike the proposed initiative where it will raise funds and lead the project.

According to Rahul Sharma, co-founder, Micromax, some of its past investments have provided huge returns (where the internal rate of return had been in “triple digits”) and thus it is willing to expand the “horizon”. Micromax had set up a corpus of Rs 2,700 crore ($400 million) in 2014 and has since invested in 10 firms. Here are some of them:

Transerv: Micromax Informatics had tied up with Transerv, a Mumbai-headquartered digital payment solution company, in early 2016 to offer (Read More)

Micromax sets up $75 mn fund to invest in consumer internet companies

Latest News - Handset maker Micromax is setting up a $75-million independent fund that will focus on investing in domestic and international consumer internet companies.

In the last two years, Micromax has already invested in about 10 startups, including ixigo, Gaana, HealthifyMe and Scandid.

The fund -- Orbis Capital -- aims to raise $75 million in the next 12-18 months. Backed by Micromax as an investor and strategic partner, the fund will focus on investing in consumer internet companies both locally and internationally.

"We have tasted a great amount of success with all our investments that (Read More)