Customer Speak

A conversation with Mr. Vinod Jadhav, Managing Director, SAVA Medica Limited, Pune

Biodeal Laboratories Private Limited was established in 1982 as a contract manufacturer for the Indian market. Today, Biodeal is an independent, state-of-the-art manufacturing unit with modern manufacturing facilities of international standards, wholly owned by SAVA.

1. Biodeal is now wholly owned by SAVA Medica Limited. Please tell us more about the acquisition.

Biodeal was part of a backward vertical integration strategy that SAVA was planning to implement.

With a strong network present across 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, SAVA was looking for its own in-house manufacturing facility and Biodeal fit the bill.

2. How do you handle compliance? Can you name some of the manufacturing standards that you comply with?

At SAVA, we have a strong regulatory team which keeps us aligned with the changing and emerging regulatory requirements across the world.

One of the most important standards we comply with is the export compliance policy — WHO GMP (Goods Manufacturing Practice). Our analytical and development laboratory, as well as our QC laboratory, comply with the best laboratory practices. Our plant has been approved and inspected by regulatory authorities of Iran, Tahu, Ukraine, Nigeria and a few other countries.

3. Tell us about your challenges in sourcing and financing expensive, high-precision equipment and raw materials.

We are fortunate not to face many challenges in sourcing. It becomes a challenge to raise funds, especially when we are looking at expansion plans at a growth rate of 100% per annum. Banks should provide SMEs some leverage funding, and should try to move away from the traditional norms of funding.

4. How does your banking partner help you manage the cash flow? What are the other aspects of your business that your banking partner support you in?

Our banking partner has been very helpful in fulfilling our funding requirements and in managing day-to-day accounts efficiently. The bank staff goes out of its way to expedite the operational processes. As a client, we really feel at ease while dealing with the bank. For example, we recently had a working capital requirement of `15 crore and the bank ensured that we received the funds on time. In addition to funding, our banking partner, YES BANK, provides us valuable, timely guidance and helps us manage risks thoroughly.

5. Are you planning to expand? What will be the role of your banking partner in making your future plans a reality?

Part of our immediate expansion plan is to set up a state-of-the-art R&D facility in Pune to support our new plant in Gujarat. This will involve expenses of about `120 crores. We also plan to grow aggressively in the Indian market and bring SAVA as a brand to India.

We will soon approach our banking partner, YES BANK, for our various funding requirements for this new plant, and we are confident that the bank will support and fulfill these requirements to facilitate our immediate expansion plan.

Maintaining Footfalls and Performance in the Indian Retail Space with Strong Financial Support

A conversation with Mr. Mohammad Imran, Managing Director, Aapoorti Supermall, Bhopal

Aapoorti Supermall, the well-known retail group in Bhopal, brings multiple high-end brands on a single platform. The exhaustive product range managed by Aapoorti includes garments, home appliances, jewelry, gift items, cosmetics and perfumes. The mall is spread across 50,000 square feet, with 35,000 square feet dedicated to an exclusive shopping area and 15,000 square feet for amenities and services.

1. Please describe Aapoorti – when the mall was opened to the public: the brand mix, the marketing activities you conduct in your mall.

Aapoorti Supermall has been launched recently in Bhopal. We offer a number of popular brands such as Arrow, Ruggers, Lee, Levis and many more. Our primary focus is on three business verticals — FMCG segment, garments, footwear and household appliances, and electronics, hardware and home solutions. As part of our marketing activities, we plan to execute many innovative ideas such as changing the appearance and the decor of the mall each season, displaying significant visual branding, and conducting special events/entertainment on festivals and holidays.

2. Operating in this Tier II city, do you think your mall management challenges are different from your counterparts in Tier I cities? How do you manage issues such as maximizing your rental income from leasable locations, financial structuring, optimizing walk-ins?

Unlike in the Tier I cities, a shopping mall is a relatively new concept in a Tier II city like Bhopal. Our challenge is to change people’s psyche, help them move beyond window-shopping and translate the footfall into purchase decisions.

We offer our customers a mix of traditional and modern retail items with branded merchandise in the three segments. There are also stores/counters where customers can get their laundry done, recharge their mobiles, have their pictures taken and even have garments mended and tailored. The message is – avail many services under one roof.

These stores/counters are leased out to the respective vendors. This mix helps us manage the rental expenses of the mall, as well as its infrastructure overheads.

3. How do you manage your cash-flow challenges — balancing revenue streams with planned rental income and mall maintenance costs?

If there is a financial crunch in any of the segments, we utilize funds from another segment and try to maintain a balance among all the three, so that the vulnerable segment does not get affected. The financial support from the bank helps us manage cash-flow more efficiently.

4. How does your banking and financing partner support you in your effort to manage the financial health of your mall?

Most of the financing for our mall is taken care of by the term loans and credit cash limits provided by our banking partner, YES BANK. The bank is quick in understanding our requirements, and has been really supportive and co-operative in terms of timely lending.

5. What are your plans for the further growth of Aapoorti? How do you see your banking partner assisting you in your future endeavors?

Aapoorti plans to expand across Madhya Pradesh by combining both traditional and modern retail. We are also considering other business growth options like the real estate segment. We are sure that YES BANK will continue to provide us the financial support for the development of the mall and for our future projects in the form of working capital and the operating expenses.