Brands
Nemetschek appoints Alok Sharma as managing director and vice president for India
Veteran software leader to drive India strategy and enterprise growth
MUMBAI: Nemetschek Group has appointed Alok Sharma as managing director and vice president for India, underscoring the company’s ambitions in one of the world’s fastest-growing construction markets.
The appointment comes as India accelerates investment in infrastructure, urban development and public sector modernisation, with digital tools increasingly central to efficiency, compliance and lifecycle management across construction projects.
Based in Mumbai, Sharma will lead Nemetschek’s India growth strategy. This strategy will focus on deeper enterprise and government engagement, expanding the local partner ecosystem and accelerating the shift towards subscription and SaaS-led digital construction models. A key priority will be scaling building information modelling (BIM) adoption across infrastructure and real estate projects.
Sharma brings over 30 years of experience building and scaling software businesses across India and the Saarc region, with a strong focus on the architecture, engineering, construction and operations sectors. His background includes leading large enterprise deals, driving public sector engagements and guiding transitions from perpetual licensing to cloud-based delivery.
Commenting on the appointment, Nemetschek Group senior vice president Pete Nicholson, said India is a critical market as digital mandates gather pace across the construction industry.
Sharma said India’s built environment is entering a decisive phase of digital transformation, creating a strong opportunity to expand BIM and advanced digital workflows across both public and private sector projects.
The appointment signals Nemetschek’s intent to consolidate its India operations and align its multi-brand technology portfolio with the country’s expanding digital construction ambitions.
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.
