Brands
Godrej Capital’s ‘Do se teen’ celebrates women scaling businesses
Aarohi loans cross Rs 1,000 crore AUM milestone for women entrepreneurs
MUMBAI: Godrej Capital has launched a new campaign, ‘Do se teen’, ahead of International Women’s Day, spotlighting India’s emerging women entrepreneurs and the families increasingly backing their ambitions.
The film centres on a woman entrepreneur preparing to expand her warehouse business from two outlets to three. A brief misunderstanding, when her mother-in-law mistakes the expansion for a pregnancy announcement, quickly turns into a moment of encouragement as the family supports her decision to sign a business loan and grow the venture on her own terms.
The campaign forms part of Aarohi Loans for Women, an initiative by Godrej Capital’s subsidiaries designed to expand access to credit for women borrowers. The programme removes a longstanding barrier in lending by allowing women to apply for loans without a mandatory male co-applicant, giving them greater financial autonomy.
“Across India, more women are stepping forward to build and scale their own businesses, but access to formal credit remains a challenge,” said Godrej Capital managing director and chief executive Manish Shah. “Through Aarohi, we aim to remove some of these barriers and make it easier for women to access capital and grow with confidence.”
Since its launch, the initiative has gained traction among women entrepreneurs. Loans worth Rs 1,890 crore have been disbursed under the programme, helping the portfolio cross the Rs 1,000 crore assets under management (AUM) milestone. The company is targeting roughly Rs 1,200 crore AUM by the end of the current financial year.
Beyond lending, the programme also focuses on strengthening the ecosystem for women-led businesses through financial literacy initiatives, training partnerships and community programmes aimed at building entrepreneurial capabilities.
As part of its outreach, the company recently opened an all-women branch in Pune to deepen engagement with women entrepreneurs and local business networks.
Godrej Capital says the campaign underscores a broader cultural shift: as families increasingly support women’s ambitions, and credit becomes easier to access, women-led enterprises are poised to expand their role in India’s small-business economy.
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.
