Sanjay Kumar Kar

An Insight into the Growth of New Retail Formats in India

The Indian retail sector is going through a transformation and this emerging market is witnessing a significant change in its growth and investment pattern. Both existing and new players are experimenting with new retail formats. Currently two popular formats -hypermarkets and supermarkets are growing very fast. Apart from the brick -mortar formats, brick -click and click-click formats are also increasingly visible on the Indian retail landscape. Consumer dynamics in India is changing and the retailers need to take note of this and formulate their strategies and tactics to deliver value to the consumer. This paper investigates modern retail developments and growth of modern formats in this country. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities available to the retailers to succeed in this country.

Modeling Hydrologic Processes and NPS Pollution in a Small Watershed in Subhumid Subtropics Using SWAT

The soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) has been calibrated and validated to predict stream flow, and to transport sediment and non-point source (NPS) pollutants to the downstream water resources from a small (1,695 ha) watershed in sub-humid subtropics that receives variable monsoon rains. Observed rainfall, temperature, stream flow, and sediment yield data for three years have been utilized to test the models prediction capability for daily stream flow and sediment yield during the monsoon months from June to October. Because of the variability of monsoon rains, the model has been calibrated for a normal rainfall year (M-SD M-SD and RF < 0:8M). The results reveal that a calibrated model for a normal rainfall year can be used successfully for predicting hydrologic processes and NPS pollution for a relatively dry rainfall year. However, for the medium rainfall year the model prediction shows more deviations from the measured values. The Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies in dry and medium rainfall years are 0.70 and 0.62 for daily stream flow and 0.73 and 0.69 for daily sediment yield. NPS pollutants simulation results indicate that a calibrated SWAT model is used in estimating hydrologic responses related to water quality prob- lems of watersheds situated in monsoon regions in which the nature of rainfall shows varying characteristics every year. The results of the study have implications for watershed management to reduce the sediment and NPS pollutants load into downstream water bodies. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0000458.

Drivers of Green Economy: An Indian Perspective

Sustainable economic development is much needed to ensure human well-being and reduce social inequality. In recent times, global leaders have come closer to arrive at consensus to transform current unsustainable economic developments into sustainable green economic growth. Viability of green economy depends on several factors such as government policy, investment climate, and concerns for environment. This chapter discusses drivers of green economy and the role of renewables to drive green growth in India.

Managing natural gas business: a case of Bharat Natural Gas Company Limited

Title – Managing natural gas business: a case of Bharat Natural Gas Company Limited.Subject area – Marketing – value proposition and value delivery, switching cost, customer acquisition and retention, positioning, pricing, distribution and retailing, role of trust and transparency to build sustainable relationship in B2B context, and efficient service delivery.Study level/applicability – Undergraduate and graduate students in marketing, business administration, strategy, retailing, B2B marketing, services marketing and general management courses. Also, it can be used for executive management/training programmes.Case overview – The case focuses on an existing scenario of a natural gas business in Gujarat, India, in order to provide understanding of marketing challenges, especially in the B2B context, faced by organisations in this evolving business environment. The case examines the strategies and policies implemented by the company and their impact on the customer. The case presents reactions and response...

Insights into Wind Energy Market Developments in India

Wind power is gaining a stronger position in the Indian electricity market, mainly due to preferential feed-in tariff and other incentives given by the Central and State governments. This chapter assesses the growth of the Indian wind market compared to other leading markets in the globe. Then, State-level progress is discussed in detail. The chapter reviews policy measures and incentive schemes devised by the Central government, State government, and regulatory bodies to achieve the desired objectives. The authors discuss the challenges of increasing wind penetration in India and conclude with steps to achieve greater wind penetration through active participation of the Central and State governments and the regulatory bodies by working cohesively and collaboratively to iron out implementation failures and take appropriate measures for successful implementation of various rules, regulations, and policies.

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in India

The global environmental scene has changed fiercely over the last century. The changing scenario demands a greater concern and action-oriented enabling policy framework for the use of sustainable and renewable energy. The Government of India has taken necessary cognizance of the global developments and has initiated several green and environment friendly policy measures under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. One of the initiatives taken by the government is the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). This chapter discusses the objectives of JNNSM and the developments made so far to improve the share of solar energy, ensure supply security, and reduce energy poverty in India.

Sabarkantha Gas Limited: Challenges of Marketing Natural Gas

This case is set in June 2012 and brings out many operational issues and challenges faced by the management of Sabarkantha Gas Limited (SGL) to efficiently, effectively, and profitably market natural gas in Mehesana, Sabarkantha, and Gandhinagar districts of Gujarat, India. The company has been able to achieve some degree of success with its growing customer base, volume, and profitability. The business environment seems to be rapidly changing and SGL acknowledges the intensive competition in the near future, especially after the expiry of marketing exclusivity as granted by the regulatory body. Currently the company operates in small geographical territories but has the opportunity to expand. For SGL, economies of scale seems to be a big challenge. In India, the markets of some competing fuels are either artificially underpriced/subsidised and are cheap without consideration of environmental externalities. Marketing natural gas was found to be a challenging task. The company also faces emerging challenges like managing customer perception, customer acquisition and retention, price volatility, customer adoption cycle, and meeting customer expectations. Efficient management of such challenges could mitigate some of the business risks and improve the top-line and bottom-line. The opportunity of resolving pressing issues faced by SGL would keep the readers interested and allow them to test their knowledge on marketing and commercial strategy along with other functional strategies.

Building and Sustaining Natural Gas Business in India

Natural gas is a green fuel and the Government of India is highly committed to promote green fuel like natural gas to replace more polluting fuels. The chapter provides critical insights on demand–supply scenarios, enabling factors, challenges, and opportunities to build sustainable gas business in the country. It highlights the role of global factors such as demand, supply, pricing, and geopolitics in natural gas market developments in India. Author presents insightful analysis on natural gas business environment, industry growth, role of competition, new entrants, opportunities available, challenges experienced, and suggestions for sustainable natural gas market growth in the country.

Natural Gas to Drive Green and Sustainable Developments in India

The per capita primary energy consumption in India has been increasing and there is a great scope for growth to reach somewhere closer to the leading economies such as the United States, Russia, and China. India’s primary energy consumption is still dominated by coal with 54.5 % followed by oil (29.5 %), natural gas (7.8 %), hydro (5 %), renewables (2 %), and nuclear (1.2 %). India being one of the leading emerging economies requires plenty of energy to keep the pace of its economic growth. India’s economic development should be driven by green energy, with desirable level of environment protection and ecological preservation. Along with the renewable sources of energy, natural gas is considered to be the fuel for green and sustainable developments in India. The outcomes of green economy are green production, green marketing, green transport, green housing, green electricity, and green consumption. Current scenario suggests that natural gas could be one of the most preferred greener fuel by 2030 in India. Some of the enabling factors likely to drive gas based sustainable economy in India are: higher domestic production, import of equity gas, import of relatively cheaper shale gas (in the form of LNG) from the USA, import of dry gas through pipeline from central Asia, development of regasification infrastructure in India, and development of fully functional national gas grid.

Petroleum Exploration and Licensing Policy in India

This chapter lucidly brings out policy developments in the area of petroleum exploration in India. Authors discuss historical perspectives, existing policy frameworks and recent developments and set futuristic directions. Findings suggest that the current policy fails to attract desired level of investment and retaining confidence of investors. Therefore, to bring back petroleum exploration and production on track, the Government recently approved Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) in March 2016. The Government is strategically moving away from cost-sharing model to revenue-sharing model with marketing and pricing freedom for crude oil and natural gas produced by contractors under HELP. The new policy regime is expected to attract more investment to boost exploration and production of oil and gas from conventional and unconventional sources. Further, the HELP is designed to improve bidding for designated areas throughout the year in a very transparent manner.