'Excellent feature on Ronnie Screwvala's vast media empire'
Congratulations to Ajita Shashidhar for an excellent feature on Ronnie
Screwvala's vast media empire and Disney's grand plans for the future
(Waiting for the Echo, August 18).
Razor Sharp
Congratulations to Ajita Shashidhar for an excellent feature on Ronnie Screwvala's vast media empire and Disney's grand plans for the future (Waiting for the Echo, August 18). It was, indeed, enlightening to read the comparison between Walt Disney and Screwvala. It was also great to hear about Screwvala's theatre days and the learnings he has carried forward since then. I've had the opportunity to meet Screwvala and he comes across as downright humble. But at the same time he doesn't miss the tiniest of details. He is naturally blessed with razor-sharp business acumen.
Subramanium K.S., on email
Key Step for Air India
Kudos to Business Today for bringing out an outstanding story on Air India (Back on the Runway, August 4). As you have rightly pointed out, the advantage of the Boeing 787 for Air India will be to speed up recovery of its $6-billion investment and help it achieve faster profits. The key step Air India must take - cost optimise its cash operating costs as much as possible. Cash optimisation at TAROM Romanian Air Transport, the national airline of Romania, achieved a net cash saving of $4 million in an annual fuel bill of $62 million. Air India can save much more.
Mark D. Martin, Founder & CEO, Martin Consulting LLC, on email
Poor Execution
It was a great idea to list some of the dream development concepts which never worked out in practice (Going Kaput, August 18). It is easy to make grand plans; executing them is another matter. All those buzz words of a few years ago - SEZ, UMPP, PPP, NELP, etc - now sound so meaningless.
Rupin Shah, on email
Viable Alternative
Thanks for publishing a report on Islamic venture capital funds that was both timely and highly relevant (Growing Interest, August 18). Alternative sources of funding such as these will bring diversity to the fund pool available, as well as derisk the businesses using them to some extent. The regulatory hurdles for those taking the NBFC route are many and may take years to overcome.
Athar Shahab, on email
Guiding the Young
Your cover story The Best Companies to Work For (August 4), will provide guidance to young jobseekers. It is the work environment in a company that determines how attractive it is to work for. But it is partially true that Gen-Y employees look for both meaning and fun, too.
S. Lakshminarayanan, Cuddalore
Congratulations to Ajita Shashidhar for an excellent feature on Ronnie Screwvala's vast media empire and Disney's grand plans for the future (Waiting for the Echo, August 18). It was, indeed, enlightening to read the comparison between Walt Disney and Screwvala. It was also great to hear about Screwvala's theatre days and the learnings he has carried forward since then. I've had the opportunity to meet Screwvala and he comes across as downright humble. But at the same time he doesn't miss the tiniest of details. He is naturally blessed with razor-sharp business acumen.
Subramanium K.S., on email
Key Step for Air India
Kudos to Business Today for bringing out an outstanding story on Air India (Back on the Runway, August 4). As you have rightly pointed out, the advantage of the Boeing 787 for Air India will be to speed up recovery of its $6-billion investment and help it achieve faster profits. The key step Air India must take - cost optimise its cash operating costs as much as possible. Cash optimisation at TAROM Romanian Air Transport, the national airline of Romania, achieved a net cash saving of $4 million in an annual fuel bill of $62 million. Air India can save much more.
Mark D. Martin, Founder & CEO, Martin Consulting LLC, on email
Poor Execution
It was a great idea to list some of the dream development concepts which never worked out in practice (Going Kaput, August 18). It is easy to make grand plans; executing them is another matter. All those buzz words of a few years ago - SEZ, UMPP, PPP, NELP, etc - now sound so meaningless.
Rupin Shah, on email
Viable Alternative
Thanks for publishing a report on Islamic venture capital funds that was both timely and highly relevant (Growing Interest, August 18). Alternative sources of funding such as these will bring diversity to the fund pool available, as well as derisk the businesses using them to some extent. The regulatory hurdles for those taking the NBFC route are many and may take years to overcome.
Athar Shahab, on email
Guiding the Young
Your cover story The Best Companies to Work For (August 4), will provide guidance to young jobseekers. It is the work environment in a company that determines how attractive it is to work for. But it is partially true that Gen-Y employees look for both meaning and fun, too.
S. Lakshminarayanan, Cuddalore
