Brands
Hitech Mobiles looks at Rs 500 crore turnover by FY16, set up assembling units at Rs 30 crore
KOLKATA: Kolkata-headquartered budget smartphone maker Hitech Cellphone (HCPL) is looking to achieve a turnover of Rs 500 crore by the end of next fiscal 2015-16 as opposed to Rs 200 crore reported last fiscal, eyeing more than 100 per cent growth.
The company, which began mobile accessories business in Kolkata and grew to become a phone brand, is mulling setting up an assembling unit in West Bengal at an investment of Rs 30 crore. The idea of setting up an assembling unit here comes on the back of “uncertainty on import duty.”
“Our present revenues are Rs 250 crore of which mobile phone sales account for Rs 200 crore and the rest comes from accessories. We are bullish about the growth prospects and aims to become a Rs 500 crore company in the coming fiscal,” said HCPL managing director Mohammed Gyasuddin.
Hitech has expanded its product lines and reach, grew its revenue and market share as well.
HCPL at present is working on importing cellphones from Shenzhen, China. It procures products from original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) and original device manufacturers (ODMs). “We sell around 20 lakh phones in the domestic market every month,” informed Gyasuddin.
“We export to Nepal and Bhutan and we are planning to expand it to Bangladesh as well as Sri Lanka,” he said.
Talking about the increased import duty, he said, “Previously, the import duty was two per cent and it went up to seven per cent. Now, we don’t know if it’ll shoot up more. In that case, we will assemble the phone here (in India) and we may either opt for West Bengal or Himachal Pradesh to set-up the final assembly plant.”
When being asked about the markets they are betting on for growth, Gyasuddin said that the company is expecting major growth from upcountry areas in Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat and Rajasthan among other markets.
The company further said that the brand Hitech has a strong presence in rural and urban market. “Our monthly sales growth in rural and urban population is around 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. Moreover, our products are recognized all over India through our e-commerce and channel distribution partners,” he said.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
