India 29 November 2016: The move clearly points at the cash economy going away, what better news for the startups, most of which are online, or are moving online. In the short run, the spending will go down, but taking a long-term view, the economy will benefit. A cash economy results in a lot of leakage, which can be checked when transactions go online.
From our business point of view, since we have a presence across India, in new destinations, we rely on a local vendors, and even before the 'demonetisation', a few of these vendors were using apps like paytm and were registered online users.
When the demonetization happened, I was travelling in the interiors of Maharashtra, I had no cash, but I encouraged and taught the taxi and auto rickshaw guys how to install and use online payment apps, and they easily, without cribbing made that transition.
Also, the villagers seemed quite happy with the move. You see, in rural areas, usually there is a barter system and rarely is cash used for buying. In fact, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes are not used at all. They are hoping that the move will do away with the biggest bane in their lives, the moneylenders, who charge exploitative interests on the cash loans. So while on my trip to these places, and interaction with people, I realised they were quite happy with the move.
About V Resorts
V Resorts is a new age travel solutions company that provides standardised premium experiences in the leisure travel space. Giving our guests a taste of the local – and we're not just talking food here – is the V Resorts way. After working so hard, there are times you want to be pampered and just be at leisure in a spectacular but unobtrusive landscape. That's a code our resorts work by. Each resort is a self-contained destination by itself. The resorts are far away from the cities, have interesting line-up of activities
that allow guests to explore the outdoors and unique essence of the area. We aim to introduce the harried Indian traveler to new and unexplored places in India, and towards that we are developing new destinations — and — ideas for tourism. Today, we have 60+ resorts in 13 states across India. And are
growing rapidly.
Aditi Balbir, Founder & CEO, V Resorts
An ISB alumnus, Aditi Balbir is the founder and CEO of V Resorts (www.vresorts.in), a chain of full service boutique resorts offering experitial stays to leisure travellers across India. Balbir started the company with two resorts (driven by her passion for India and travelleing) and within a span of less than three years led the company's expansion to 60+ resorts across 14 states in India. Armed with finance and law degrees, she quit a well-settled job with McKinsey & Company to initiate V Resorts. She is breaking the glass ceiling in the country for women by being the only woman in India to lead a travel company, usually seen as a man's domain. For her ground breaking work, V Resorts got featured on Young Turks CNBC for being a disruptive player in travel that is headed and run by a woman entrepreneur. Balbir is also a powerful voice in the advocacy of fostering entrepreneurship in women, she has held sessions with the women's SIG and has been part of jury at TiE (The Indus Entreprenuers), Your Story, Assocham, Afaqs and Outlook Traveller Boutique Hotel Awards and speaker at India Today Woman Conclave. She believes, travel can contribute in the development of the rural India and empowement of women, and works towards that by creating destinations in the hinterland, providing employment to women, and creating a market for indigenous arts and crafts. She has been selected as ‘Dell Foundation’s 200 most powerful women entrepreneurs in the world’ in 2016. Balbir has also been chosen from among women entrepreneurs worldwide to mentor and guide women in business programmes by the Cherie Blair Foundation, in an initiative to empower women to be entrepreneurs across the world. A hectic work schedule doesn't stop her from spending time with her son and husband, with whom she takes short recuperating breaks. Great at multitasking, she even pursues her passion of writing and has extensively written for - Economic Times, Times Internet, Entrepreneur Magazine, YourStory, India Today and Askmen.