MAM
Bharti Cellular to expand operations in north India
MUMBAI: Bharti Cellular Limited, India’s leading cellular service provider, today announced major expansion plans for AirTel in Uttar Pradesh (west) and Uttaranchal with a planned additional investment of Rs 800 million in the financial year 2003. This will take the total investment made by AirTel, to Rs 2.3 billion within 22 months of operation in the region.
In a press release, AirTel also announced its plans to roll out services in 25 new towns of UP (west) and Uttaranchal in Firozabad, Hathrus, Gajraula, Philkua and Mawana by the end of November. AirTel also announced its plans of installing 104 new base stations thereby taking the total number of base stations in the region to 340.
The release claims that this will be the highest number of base stations by any service provider and reflects AirTel’s commitment of providing an unmatched mobile service experience on a congestion free network. AirTel also announced a slew of initiatives customised to the needs of its customers in UP (west) an Uttaranchal.
Announcing this, Bharti Cellular north central region CEO Sanjay Nandrajog says: “AirTel is a promise of the best network, customised service and a complete mobile service experience. Having firmly established our leadership position in Delhi and most of the other markets in the country, we are all set to replicate the experience in UP (west) and Uttaranchal. With a planned roll out of our services in 25 new towns and with significant investments on infrastructure, we are also well on course to ensure that the AirTel mobile service experience is available to a larger base of customers within a very short time.”
In phase II, services will be rolled out in Sambhal, Pilibhit, Badaun, Shamli, Deoband, Haldwani, Radrapur, Kathgodam, Kashipur, Bajpur, Kicha, Chandausi, Bilaspur, Kaladhunghi, Ramnagar and Fatehpur Sikri.
AirTel has also launched the North India Roaming Facility. The service comprises of the following features:
* North India Roaming service will be available to customers without any additional security deposit.
* The service will be available at a monthly rental of only Rs 30. However, the service will be free of rental till 30 October 2003.
* The mobile circles of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan form a part of the North India roaming service.
* A customer while roaming in these circles will be able to make outgoing calls to all the five circles of North Roaming and his home circle. They can however, receive calls from anywhere in the world
AirTel has also announced special ISD rates to the Middle East till the end of the month for both postpaid as well as prepaid customers.
* ISD Calls to Middle East in September can be made at Rs 11.99 per minute instead of the usual rate of Rs 15.99 per minute for post-paid and Rs 16.99 per minute for pre-paid customers.
* These rates are 50 per cent cheaper than landline rates for ISD calls.
AirTel customers will now be able to make STD calls to Delhi at Re 1.00 per minute on a post-paid connection and Rs 1.99 per minute on pre-paid connection during weekends.
Bharti Tele-Ventures (BTVL) claims to have an aggregate of 4.9 million customers as of 31 August 2003, consisting of approximately 4.4 million mobile and 469,000 fixed line customers. We are the largest mobile service provider in the country. The all-India market share as on 31 August 2003 was 25.2 per cent.
For the quarter ended 30 June 2003, revenues and EBITDA as per un-audited IAS accounts were Rs 10.36 billion and Rs 2.89 billion respectively. As on 30 June 2003, the company has made a gross investment of over Rs106.50 billion (US$ 2.3 billion) in building telecom in India.
Brands
Dabur buys minority stake in Ras Beauty for Rs 60 crore
Dabur Ventures deal backs fast-growing luxury skincare brand
MUMBAI: Dabur India Limited has dipped into the world of luxury skincare, signing a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in Ras Beauty Private Limited for Rs 60 crore. The investment marks the first bet from Dabur Ventures, the FMCG major’s Rs 500 crore platform set up in October 2025 to back high-potential, new-age direct-to-consumer brands.
Founded in Raipur by Shubhika Jain, her sister Suramya Jain and their mother Sangeeta Jain, Ras Beauty has grown from a family-led passion project into a fast-scaling “Farm-to-Face” skincare label. Its range of face elixirs, serums and moisturisers blends essential oils with nature-derived actives, striking a balance between botanical purity and laboratory precision.
The numbers tell their own story. Ras has clocked a three-year Cagr of around 75 per cent and an annual run rate of approximately Rs 100 crore, all while maintaining strong gross margins. That growth has been fuelled by a digital-first approach, in-house R&D and manufacturing, and a sharp focus on clean, sustainable sourcing.
Dabur India executive director and group head corporate strategy Abhinav Dhall, said the company was drawn to Ras’s distinct positioning at the intersection of nature, science and luxury. He added that the premium beauty segment is poised for robust expansion over the coming decade, and that Ras is well placed to capture that opportunity.
For Ras, the partnership is as much about scale as it is about shared philosophy. Co-founder and CEO Shubhika Jain said Dabur’s 141-year legacy of building trusted, purpose-led brands makes it a natural ally. The capital infusion, she noted, will help accelerate the brand’s omnichannel footprint, deepen research capabilities and invest in team and brand building, with an eye on establishing Ras as a leading Indian luxury skincare name both domestically and overseas.
With this move, Dabur is not just investing in a skincare label. It is placing an early wager on India’s growing appetite for premium, conscious beauty, and signalling that heritage FMCG players are ready to play in the new-age D2C arena.
