CHENNAI PLUS

The Centre for Family Business & Entrepreneurship (CFBE) at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, has released its Indian SME Family Business Trade Confidence and Internationalisation Report , a comprehensive study of export confidence among India’s SME family businesses. Conducted in partnership with Hansa Research, the survey drew on 461 responses from owner-managers, directors, CEOs, and senior leaders of Indian SME family businesses actively engaged in international trade. Respondents represented 14 cities — from Ludhiana to Hyderabad and Jaipur to Kolkata — spanning every business-size category, every generational stage, and major industry, from manufacturing to trading. On average, these firms have been exporting for 16.4 years, with 82% reporting more than a decade of international trading experience. The report is the first of its kind to deploy a four-index architecture that measures trade confidence holistically, se...

Lava International Limited, India’s trusted homegrown smartphone brand, bagged the Gold Award in the category of “Best Innovative Kaizen for Quality” at the prestigious 12th CII National Kaizen Circle Competition 2026, organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The recognition highlights Lava’s continued focus on efficiency, cost optimization and sustainable manufacturing practices. Commenting on the achievement, Vipan Singla, SVP – Quality, Lava International Ltd said, "This recognition is a testament to our consistent efforts in improving product quality standards, optimizing costs and delivering enhanced product experiences to our users. Kaizen projects have enabled industries across sectors to set new benchmarks and significantly improve India’s manufacturing capabilities. I appreciate the entire team that has relentlessly worked hard to deliver superlative performance. I am thankful to CII for this recognition, which encourages us to strengthen our design, qualit...

HCLTech, a leading global technology company, today announced a strategic collaboration with Red Hat to deliver enterprise-grade AI infrastructure for organizations accelerating their AI adoption journeys. This collaboration strengthens   HCLTech’s AI Factory solution ecosystem, which brings together global technology leaders to provide best-in-class AI Infrastructure solutions to its clients.   The HCLTech AI Factory with Red Hat, built on Red Hat AI Enterprise, provides an integrated foundation for running AI workloads consistently across on-premises, cloud and edge environments. The solutions are designed to improve infrastructure efficiency and reduce inference costs through model optimization, distributed serving and unified operations, while offering an enterprise-grade data foundation with governance and lineage to support reliable AI operations at scale.   “Enterprises are moving beyond experimentation to operationalizing AI across their core businesses,” said Ram...

Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG) has introduced India’s first Multi‑Ion battery technology for electric forklifts through its Material Handling Equipment (MHE) business, one of the market leaders in India’s material handling segment. The launch addresses the growing need for efficient, reliable, and sustainable energy solutions as India’s manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing sectors scale rapidly, to enable25% lower total cost of ownership, higher equipment uptime, and cleaner industrial operations, with a battery designed to last through the full operational life of the forklift.   India’s industrial and warehousing market continues to demonstrate strong momentum, with over 11 million sq. ft. of leasing across the top eight cities in Q1 2026, registering a double digitsyear‑on‑year growth, driven by demand from 3PLs, e‑commerce, and manufacturing‑led supply chain modernisation. As warehouses grow denser and throughput intensifies, the need for energy‑efficient, safe, and futu...

This Mother’s Day, Chennai’s gifting choices leaned strongly towards familiar, comfort ‑ driven treats and regional staples. Brownie cakes emerged as the city’s top gifting pick, alongside a steady preference for classic chocolates and local favourites. Together, these choices reflected Chennai’s inclination towards warm, dependable flavours, with the overall gifting mood centred on intimate, at home celebrations built around nostalgia and trusted, celebratory staples. Instamart’s Mother’s Day Gifting Trends 2026 shows gifting is moving from simple gifting to more thoughtful, care-first choices. And yet, some rituals remain unchanged: flowers peaked early in the morning, cakes in the evening, and the 8–9 PM window emerged as the busiest gifting hour. The sweet spot for big gifting was around ₹ 5,500, where most of the week's highest-value carts clustered. What India Gifted This Mother’s Day ●        Chocolates and flowers continued to be the universal...

  Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), India’s largest private airport operator, and IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world’s leading hospitality companies, have signed a landmark managed hotel portfolio agreement to develop five hotels across key airport-linked and high-growth urban destinations in India. The agreement will add close to1,500 keys across multiple brands and locations, in line with IHG’s growth plans for India. The development aligns with rising travel demand and the rapid expansion of India’s aviation, tourism and airport-led urban infrastructure sectors.   The portfolio includes a Kimpton hotel in Jaipur as well asHoliday Inn,and Holiday Inn Express hotels within upcoming hospitality -led mixed-use developments as part of the Adani Airport cities. These hotels are planned across Navi Mumbai, Mangaluru, and Thiruvananthapuram. AAHL is also in advanced discussions with IHG to further deepen and expand this partnership.   The partnership also mark...