Brands
YS TV
Discover
Events
Newsletter
More

Follow Us

twitterfacebookinstagramyoutube
Yourstory

Resources

Stories

General

In-Depth

Announcement

Reports

News

Funding

Startup Sectors

Women in tech

Sportstech

Agritech

E-Commerce

Education

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Art & Culture

Travel & Leisure

Curtain Raiser

Wine and Food

Videos

Top stories this week: a digital court for MSMEs and decoding the journey of one of India’s oldest rice brands

This week, SMBStory spoke to the founder of Lord’s Mark Industries, which is foraying into the EV space, and why Gwalior-based Dennison India found it easy to make the overnight shift from offline to online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top stories this week: a digital court for MSMEs and decoding the journey of one of India’s oldest rice brands

Sunday October 24, 2021 , 5 min Read

In undivided India, two brothers — Khushi Ram and Behari Lal — wanted to bring quality essentials for customers. In 1889, they set up a small business dealing in rice, edible oil, and wheat in Lyallpur (now in Pakistan).  


However, as the differences between India and Pakistan widened, the brothers called it quits and made their way to India. They started from scratch and formed a company called KRBL (an acronym of their names) in Lahori Gate, New Delhi. 

KRBL

Like many small entrepreneurs, they had to hustle, struggle, and work against the odds to sustain the company.

 

At present, the small business from the pre-independence era stands as a roaring successful publicly-listed business, with revenue close to Rs 4,000 crore. It launched its IPO in 1998. Its flagship product ‘India Gate Basmati Rice’ has been serving its customers for over 100 years.

 

In an interaction with SMBStory, Priyanka Mittal, a fifth-generation entrepreneur and the Whole Time Director of KRBL Limited, discusses the operations of the family-owned business, which runs on the core ethics and vision of the founders. 

 

She also talks about KRBL’s impact and how the brand has grown multifold, taking Indian basmati rice worldwide.

 

Read the full story here. 

Solving the grievances for MSMEs digitally 

Jupitice

The problem of delayed payments among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is a grave concern. Reports suggest that MSMEs have submitted nearly one lakh applications in the last four years, stating the non-clearance of their dues. It puts the financial health of these businesses at stake, which still need a lot of support from government institutions to come out of the traditionally-running shell. 

 

Though the government has been urging the central and state departments, PSUs, and others to clear MSME dues within 45 days of receiving goods through its MSME Delayed Payment Portal - MSME Samadhaan, the problem has only been aggravated.

 

To resolve these issues, Raman Aggarwal started MSME Digital Court under Jupitice in September 2021, one of the first ‘private digital courts’ for the private justice system, which is offering an out-of-the-court settlement, but in a digital way. 

 

He says the issue is not just about payment delays, but also about non-payment by the parties. There is an addressable solution to delayed payment, but what if the party is in denial mode? In both cases, it gives rise to a dispute, which again has to follow a formal procedure of filing a complaint and running a case in the court by law, which takes a lot of time.

For this, Raman has developed one of India’s first digital courts to swiftly resolve the rising disputes among small to mid-level businesses and help with civil and commercial disputes through the private justice delivery mechanism. 

Read the full story here.

Other top stories of the week-

Riding the EV boom

Lord's Mark Industries

From startups to large businesses and companies seem to be rushing to cater to the EV segment to leverage the industry’s growth. This September, Ola Electric sold Rs 1,100 crore worth of its S1 electric scooters in two days. 

 

Ecommerce major Amazon also announced e-mobility initiatives to contribute to reducing the carbon footprint. Players like Ather Energy, Okinawa Scooters, Hero Electric, and Tata Motors have added to the boom.

 

Another company to hop onto the EV bandwagon is Lord's Mark Industries. Started in 1998 by Sachidanand Upadhyay, the Mumbai-based company is known for manufacturing health, pharma, and energy products such as LED bulbs, solar street lamps, and more.

 

Last year in October, the company rolled out its first product, a range of e-scooters — Lord’s Zoom and Lord Zoom - Li — that have a speed of 25 kmph and are available in four colours. Additionally, these scooters are GPS-enabled. While the base model has a lead-acid battery pack, the Li model has a lithium-ion battery pack.

 

Lord’s Mark’s foray into EV is not limited to vehicles only. It manufactures battery packs of lead-acid and lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4). It will launch EV charging stations by the end of this fiscal year.

 

The company is also open to partnering with OEMs. Going forward, Sachidanand says Lord’s Mark plans to launch scooters with greater speed, e-bikes, e-rickshaws, and even e-vintage cars.

 

Read the full story here.

 

Leveraging ecommerce to thrive

Dennison India

Years before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed retail businesses online, ready-to-wear menswear brand Dennison Garments was steadily building its online presence.

 

The Gwalior-based business’ digital investment paid off in 2020. Dennison India, the garment company's online arm, was growing between 2014 and 2020. However, Dennison saw a jump in sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue doubling from Rs 2.06 crore in FY20 to Rs 4.65 crore in FY21.

Dennison’s digital journey began way back in 2014, when Ashwini Seth joined his family business. An MBA graduate, Ashwini was sure that sitting in his father’s shop to wait for customers to arrive was not his cup of tea. He had been following the ecommerce trend since 2011 and knew that the space had the potential to grow. 

Ashwini’s father, Rajendra Seth, set up Dennison Garments, which sells shirts and trousers for men, in 1988. Over three decades of existence, the business saw several changes. However, nothing could have prepared it for a pandemic. 


Almost overnight, companies had to rethink operations to fit into the new normal. For Dennison, which was an early entrant in the ecommerce game, the shift was relatively easier to handle. 

 

Read the full story here.



YourStory’s flagship startup-tech and leadership conference will return virtually for its 13th edition on October 25-30, 2021. Sign up for updates on TechSparks or to express your interest in partnerships and speaker opportunities here.


For more on TechSparks 2021, click here.


Edited by Kanishk Singh