Brands
Aerem names Anupam Agrawal COO at solar lender NetZero Finance
MUMBAI: Aerem Group, a full-stack platform for distributed solar, has appointed Anupam Agrawal as chief operating officer of its RBI-licensed subsidiary, NetZero Finance. The move sharpens Aerem’s push to unclog credit for rooftop solar as demand accelerates across homes, MSMEs and EPCs.
NetZero Finance bills itself as India’s only solar-focused NBFC, offering collateral-free loans for rooftop systems, supply-chain finance and a slick, app-led journey via Aerem. The platform says it has already enabled more than 1.2 GW of projects across industrial, commercial and residential users, working with EPC partners nationwide.
Agrawal, a chartered accountant and ISB MBA, brings nearly two decades across fintech and regulated finance. He has held senior roles at Edelweiss, Cars24 Financial Services, Drip Capital and Cashfree Payments, spanning strategy, underwriting, risk, operations and governance. His brief: build scale without wobble, launching new credit lines, hardening risk frameworks and keeping regulators comfortable.
The appointment underlines Aerem’s blend of fintech and clean energy. The group supports more than 3,200 EPC partners and estimates its platform, including AeROC monitoring and Aerem Asset Assurance, have helped avoid over 35 million tonnes of CO₂.
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.
