MAM
Rajasthan Royals eyes 20% growth on back of UltraTech Cement sponsorship deal
MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals is targeting a 15-20 per cent revenue growth this year on the back of its sponsorship deal with UltraTech Cement.
The IPL franchise‘s strategy is to first stitch the big deals before spreading out as it will help them get better rates in a slowdown economy.
Says Rajasthan Royals chief executive officer Raghu Iyer, “The Ultratech Cement deal accounts for around 30-35 per cent of our sponsorship revenue.The key is to get the big deals in place. Then the smaller deals will happen.”
Rajasthan Royals earlier announced it had roped in UltraTech Cement, part of the Aditya Birla group, as its Principal Team Sponsor for the fifth season of the IPL.
According to Ultratech Cement joint executive president Shashank Awasthi, the company’s marketing budget will be similar to that of last year‘s. “70 per cent of the marketing spend goes towards below the line activities. The deal with the Rajasthan Royals has over the years helped build relationships with our dealer network and customers.”
Ultratech Cement will launch contests and hold ‘meet and greet‘ meetings with the stars for their dealers and customers. The company also supports cricket at the grassroots level.
Rajasthan Royal‘s associate sponsors are Kingfisher, HDFC Life, Supertech, Arihant Superstructures and Puma.
“The Kingfisher deal accounts for 10-15 per cent of our sponsorship revenue,” says Iyer.
The majority owner of Emerging Media Sporting Holdings, the company that owns Rajasthan Royals, is Tresco International Ltd (Suresh Chellaram Family) with a 44.2 per cent stake. The other shareholders are Emerging Media Ltd (Manoj Badale – 32.4%), Blue Water Estate Ltd (Lachlan Murdoch – 11.7%) and Kuki Investments Ltd ( Raj Kundra & Family – 11.7%), according to the disclosures made by the company.
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UltraTech Cement is principal team sponsor of Rajasthan Royals
Brands
Airtel, Jio, Vi quietly raise tariffs with tweaks ahead of major hike
Airtel, Jio and Vi test subscriber response with subtle plan changes
NEW DELHI: India’s top telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, are quietly reworking their prepaid plans in what appears to be a calculated run-up to a broader tariff hike expected later this year.
Rather than announcing headline-grabbing price increases, the operators are opting for subtle tweaks that are less likely to trigger immediate consumer backlash. Industry observers describe this as a “testing the waters” approach, where small changes help gauge subscriber sensitivity while gradually improving revenues.
Among the most visible moves is plan pruning. Airtel has discontinued its popular Rs 799 pack, widely seen as a high-value offering, while nudging up the price of its Rs 859 plan to Rs 899. The changes may seem marginal, but across millions of users, they translate into meaningful revenue gains.
Reliance Jio, on its part, has taken a sharper route by slashing the validity of its Rs 195 plan from 90 days to just 30 days. The price remains unchanged, but the value per day has dropped steeply, effectively raising costs for consumers without altering headline tariffs.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea is restructuring its “NonStopHero” packs, limiting unlimited data benefits to night hours in several circles. The move trims usage flexibility while keeping plan positioning largely intact.
Another common tactic is bundling. Operators are increasingly pairing plans with OTT subscriptions such as streaming services, framing price adjustments as value additions even when the core offering remains largely unchanged.
The broader goal behind these moves is to lift ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), a key profitability metric in the telecom business. Airtel is targeting an ARPU of around Rs 300, up from roughly Rs 250, while Jio is under pressure to demonstrate stronger revenue growth ahead of a potential IPO. For Vodafone Idea, the urgency is more immediate as it seeks higher cash flows to fund 5G expansion and manage outstanding dues.
Industry estimates suggest that these incremental changes are a precursor to a larger, industry-wide tariff hike of 15 to 20 per cent, likely towards the end of 2026. The delay in announcing a full-scale increase is partly due to macroeconomic concerns, including inflation and volatile fuel prices, which could dampen consumer sentiment.
The push to monetise 5G is also gathering pace. After investing more than Rs 3 lakh crore in next-generation networks, operators are expected to gradually phase out free 5G data and reposition it as a premium service.
For consumers, the impact is already visible in small but steady increases in monthly bills. For telcos, however, this is a carefully choreographed build-up, easing users into higher spending before the bigger pricing reset arrives.
