Business
Strong delivery segment growth likely in 2022 as online shopping behaviour takes roots among consumers: Vahan
Despite the growing cases of the highly infectious Omicron variant of Covid-19 across the country, India’s flourishing blue-collar segment is anticipating higher demand growth for blue-collar workers across the delivery category in 2022.
Although this developing situation has raised some uncertainty of a possible third wave, there is a strong likelihood of it manifesting itself through/accelerating shift in consumer behaviour towards a more digital world and triggering lasting changes in online shopping behaviours.
Vahan, a technology startup that enables companies to hire blue-collar workers at scale, sees the year 2022 as one of further acceptance of online shopping behaviours by consumers across categories. The company believes that this emerging situation will lend support to a massive surge in demand for delivery workers where metros will contribute over 60 per cent of the overall demand in 2022 followed by tier two and tier three cities.
Vahan witnessed rapid demand for delivery workers in the August to November 1st week period last year fuelled by contests, discounts, incentives, etc. running across the board around the IPL season and T20 world cup.
A rapidly growing cohort of consumers identifies speed, convenience, and quality as the most important elements of a positive customer experience. This trend is likely to hold true in the near future where grocery delivery service providers will extend quick commerce service to attract and retain customers.
Vahan data shows that the grocery delivery service providers offered quick commerce and narrowed the delivery radius to 2-3 km during the festive season last year.
This stoked cyclist demand and brought more temporary workers thereby increasing the hiring pool. The company is expecting a month-on-month increase in demand close to 30 per cent across industries in 2022 as against 25 per cent across industries in 2021 with the food delivery category as the major contributor.
Bike taxis and food and grocery delivery have lent heft to the booming e-commerce industry in India. This has been corroborated by Vahan’s data which shows that companies hired almost double of their business-as-usual (BAU) numbers in the festive period of 2021.
As per Vahan, bike taxis emerged as a preferred mode of commute during the pandemic period and its sustained demand in the August to November 1 st week period indicates changing travel patterns of consumers at large. Vahan expects bike taxis to gain more popularity in 2022 with demand coming from all across the country and an upward spiral in demand for e-commerce in tier 2 and 3 cities with rising Internet penetration pan India and consequent changes in consumer buying habits.
The year 2021 was marked by the increasing focus of organisations in the delivery space to achieve gender parity at the workplace. This indicated a change in perception that delivery work is not appropriate for women. This trend is likely to take root in 2022 onwards and open space for the women to enhance their contribution to the delivery segment to 15 per cent in 2022 up from around 7-10 per cent of the overall hiring requirement per month of delivery staff across industries from food delivery to e-commerce in 2021.
According to Madhav Krishna, Co-founder and CEO, Vahan, “The blue-collar job market in India is set to repeat its astounding growth performance in 2022 as online shopping behaviour and preference for speedy delivery takes root in the country. Vahan, with its technology enabled recruitment platform which seamlessly connect employers and delivery workers effectively, with speed and at an unprecedented scale is clearly sitting in a sweet spot given the growing number of organisations embracing delivery model and increasing number of blue-collar workers wake up to a new dawn of comfort and convenience online recruitment portals like Vahan brings to them.”
India has over 250 million blue-collared workers, and this number is growing with a decline in agricultural employment and the addition of around 7-8 million new college graduates to the workforce every year, 60 per cent of which lack employability skills and end up joining the blue/grey-collar workforce. This presents a massive opportunity for placement in the blue-collar industry.
Interest in Vahan’s placement solution is high. It is currently recruiting 10,000+ people a month and is set to become India’s largest blue-collar recruitment platform in 2022.
Business
Kutch Copper Ltd’s ‘Adani Copper’ becomes London Metal Exchange-registered brand

Ahmedabad, July 7: Kutch Copper Limited (KCL), a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, has earned London Metal Exchange (LME) certification for ‘Adani Copper,’ according to a statement issued by the company on Tuesday.
“Approval by the world centre for the trading of industrial metals validates KCL’s manufacturing excellence and responsible sourcing practices against strict global benchmarks, enabling Adani Copper cathodes to be delivered with warrants eligible for issuance against LME Copper futures contracts from July 10, 2026,” the statement said.
For the Adani Group, LME’s listing of Adani Copper as a Good Delivery brand for ‘Copper Grade A’ contracts places the brand alongside the world’s leading copper brands, conferring international recognition and market credibility on the Group’s entry into the metals sector and its emergence as a globally competitive producer of refined copper.
“Copper is the backbone of the global energy transition. Achieving LME brand status places Adani among the world’s leading copper producers and strengthens India’s role in building a resilient, responsible supply chain for this vital metal. Kutch Copper’s world-class infrastructure and ESG standards make this recognition both timely and well-deserved. It will enhance the global acceptance of Adani Copper. Apart from reinforcing India’s growing stature in the international metals industry, the registration is a landmark step towards self-reliance in refined copper,” Adani Enterprises’ CEO, Natural Resources, and Kutch Copper Ltd Managing Director Dr Vinay Prakash said.
An LME-brand certification is a rigorous process involving superior quality assurances — covering chemical composition, shape and weight — alongside strict responsible sourcing protocols. The LME listing enables Adani Copper cathodes to be placed on warrant in LME-approved warehouses, strengthening financing flexibility as LME-listed metal is recognised as a highly liquid asset that can be used as collateral. For the LME, the addition of Adani Copper broadens the exchange’s deliverable base with high-quality cathode from a major new production hub, deepening the liquidity and geographic diversity of the global copper market.
The $1.2 billion Kutch Copper facility with production capacity of 0.5 million tonnes — one of the world’s largest single-location custom copper smelting complexes, designed with state-of-the-art technology, advanced process automation, and sustainability-led design principles embedded across operations — strengthens domestic supply, reduces the nation’s dependence on imported copper, and advances India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ ambitions in a metal central to electrification, renewable energy and the energy transition, the Adani Group statement added.
Business
Sensex, Nifty trade higher in early deals amid positive global cues

Mumbai, July 7: Indian equity benchmark indices traded higher on Tuesday amid positive global cues and crude oil prices hovering around the $70-a-barrel mark.
Sensex jumped as much as 0.27 per cent or over 200 points to hit an intraday high of 78,504 in early trade, while Nifty was trading around 60 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 24,488.
Sectorally, IT, banking and financial stocks led the gains. Nifty IT rose 1.28 per cent, followed by Nifty PSU Bank which gained 0.45 per cent.
In contrast, Nifty Metal was the worst performer, falling 0.86 per cent, followed by Nifty Media, which declined 0.38 per cent. Nifty Chemicals and Nifty FMCG slipped up to 0.30 per cent.
Among the Nifty stocks, Trent was the biggest loser, plunging 8.81 per cent, followed by Bharat Electronics (BEL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which declined about 1 per cent each. Meanwhile, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) fell 0.88 per cent, while Coal India slipped 0.84 per cent.
According to market experts, there are distinct signs of an uptrend in the market.
They noted that two factors weighing on Indian markets — the crude price hike and sustained FPI selling — are now behind us and have reversed. Crude prices are back to their pre-war levels, while FPIs have turned buyers. Although FPI buying is not yet a strong trend, the fact that foreign investors have stopped selling and turned buyers marks a significant shift that is likely to be sustained, supported by strong fundamentals.
Technically, the Nifty’s breakout above its 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) for the first time since February has strengthened the market’s bullish structure, according to analysts.
They expect the 24,600 level to act as the immediate resistance, with a sustained move above it potentially paving the way towards 24,800, while the 24,400-24,300 zone is likely to provide near-term support.
International benchmark Brent crude rose about 1 per cent to $72.77 a barrel. Similarly, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 1.12 per cent to $69.32 a barrel.
Business
WhatsApp keeps ‘username feature’ launch on hold; wins more time to respond to govt notice

Meta-backed messaging platform WhatsApp has assured the Indian government it will not roll out its proposed username feature in the country until ongoing consultations with authorities are completed, sources familiar with the matter said.
The Meta‑owned messaging platform has also been granted an additional three days to respond to the government notice seeking clarification on the feature. The original deadline for WhatsApp’s reply had lapsed on Friday.
WhatsApp had proposed a username option which would allow users to communicate on WhatsApp without sharing their phone numbers.
The Central government issued a formal notice last week expressing concerns that such a move could heighten risks of online fraud, phishing and impersonation. The government asked WhatsApp to keep the feature on hold until discussions address its security and consumer‑protection concerns, and a Meta delegation met officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Friday to discuss the matter.
Earlier this week, WhatsApp reiterated that several safeguards have been built into the username feature to prevent impersonation, scams and unwanted contact as it prepares for a wider rollout later this year.
The messaging platform addressed a series of frequently asked questions on microblogging platform X after concerns were raised over the feature, including by the government, which has asked the company to defer its rollout in the country pending consultations.
The company said users will not be required to create a username and that existing Instagram and Facebook usernames, along with those of public figures, celebrities, government entities and Meta Verified accounts, have been reserved so they can only be claimed by their legitimate owners.
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