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Good morning. More and more Indians want to take their weddings to fancy destinations abroad. Preferred destinations vary between Vietnam to Portugal, with Gen Z leading the way among those who want destination weddings. What’s driving this change? 

In other news, beleaguered Indian fintech giant Paytm has applied to get back to payment aggregation yet again. Meanwhile, car makers like Tata Motors and MG Motors are trying to woo customers into a bad electric vehicles (EVs) market. 

DECODE THE NEWS

Gen Z Is Taking India’s Weddings Abroad Like Never Before

Destination weddings have always been a part of the big fat Indian wedding industry, but the demand for getting married abroad has grown exponentially post-pandemic. Skyscanner’s recent report titled Destination ‘I Do’, through a OnePoll survey with 2,000 respondents, revealed that Indians have a strong preference for destination weddings, with 85% of respondents planning or having had a destination wedding. Of these, 49 % were Gen Z, and 33% were millennials.

Several factors have led to this — the wedding guest lists are getting shorter, but budgets are not. Also, people in intercultural marriages are looking for a middle ground for their families to meet. 

Bengaluru-based Karuna Reddy, founder and creative director of The Mogra Stories, is hardly surprised at these statistics. Earlier this year, Reddy constituted a new business identity to cater specifically to this growing segment, called Host Stories. Of the only 11 weddings Reddy plans each year, 40% are international destination weddings. The number has been growing each year. 

CORE NUMBER

$6,031 

This is how much an Indian millennials spends on travel annually on average, according to a report by Collinson International. The report found that Indians have a taste for expensive vacations, with millennials spending the highest. Travel was the second highest expense for Indian respondents, making up a third of their annual expenditure. Apart from millennials, Gen Z spent an annual $2,622 on travel, according to the report.

FROM THE PERIPHERY

—🚗 Electric car manufacturers are scrambling to boost falling sales, amid a global EV slowdown. Tata Motors, whose August sales were down 15% year-on-year, is offering up to 20% discount on its popular models. Rival MG Motor, which has a joint venture with steel giant JSW, has introduced a battery rental plan in a bid to lower upfront costs. Batteries are the most expensive component of an EV. ‘Battery-as-a-service’ or battery swapping has worked successfully for electric two- and three-wheelers in India, especially for commercial users like fleet drivers. 

—✈️ SpiceJet has approached the Supreme Court to challenge a Delhi High Court ruling grounding three aircraft engines over unpaid dues to lessors. The court upheld the grounding after finding that SpiceJet violated a payment arrangement. The low-cost carrier was ordered to ground the engines by August 16, 2024, and hand them over to lessors Team France 01 SAS and Sunbird France 02 SAS. The Supreme Court will consider SpiceJet's plea for an urgent hearing on this matter.

—💰 The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is considering tighter oversight on micro-cap firms going public, focusing on fund usage monitoring and stricter due diligence for merchant bankers. The Business Standard reported potential measures include a longer track record of profitability and more scrutiny of financial statements. Despite investor requests, SEBI isn't keen on taking over small and medium enterprises listing approvals from the National Stock Exchange of India and Bombay Stock Exchange. As per Narinder Wadhwa, managing director at SKI Capital Services, SEBI aims to balance investor protection with market growth, possibly including a longer lock-in period for anchor investors.

—💳 Paytm will re-apply for a payment aggregator (PA) licence from India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the platform’s founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma said at their annual general meeting on Thursday. The RBI had previously rejected Paytm’s application for a PA licence, citing non-compliance with foreign direct investment norms. In August, it secured FDI approval from the government. Sharma also said it will focus on its core payments business and plans to deliver profitability soon. 

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