Pvt brands of Flipkart and Amazon under govt scanner; Meladath Auto wins Atal New India Challenge

The government continues probe of ecommerce giants Amazon and Flipkart. Karnataka government-backed automotive startup wins innovation award.

Private brands businesses of Amazon, Flipkart under government scanner

The department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has asked private brands and digital payments businesses of ecommerce giants Amazon and Flipkart to submit various details, The Economic Times reported.

The details asked by DPIIT include the total percentage of sales that come from private labels, sourcing and categories in which these companies sell private labels. 

The government has also asked Amazon and Flipkart whether they run promotional schemes for users to use their digital instruments on their marketplaces and the proportion of total payments that take place from their prepaid payment instruments, the report added. 

Automotive product startup Meladath wins Atal New India Challenge 

Bengaluru-based Meladath Auto Components, a startup mentored by the Karnataka government, has won the Atal New India Challenge (ANIC) under the e-mobility challenge - How to increase the share of electric mobility solutions. 

“We won the Atal New India Challenge for our retrofit conversion kit for petrol scooters. By fitting this kit, a petrol scooter can easily be converted to electric scooters. In case the user is not satisfied, the electric system can be removed to revert to petrol. The kit can be fitted in 30 minutes. Our retrofit conversion kit makes the scooter a hybrid, enabling the rider to alternate between electric and petrol,” said Rakesh MK, founder, Meladath Auto Components.

ANIC shortlisted 519 startups out of 950 applications received from across the country for secondary evaluation. While 143 startups presented the idea before the selection committee, 26 were selected for the grant.

All the short-listed startups will be funded up to Rs 1 crore.

ANIC is an initiative of Atal Innovation Mission, which is focussed on supporting innovators who create products based on advanced technologies in areas of national importance and social relevance. 

Meladath is an automotive product company with in-house capability to design and  develop products for automotive applications.