Bata India Ltd is the largest footwear retailer and the leader in the footwear industry in India. The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing and trading of footwear and accessories through their retail and wholesale network. Their products include leather footwear, rubber/canvas footwear and plastic footwear. They are having their production facilities at Batanagar in West Bengal, Patna and Hathidah in Bihar, Faridabad in Haryana, Bangalore in Karnataka and Hosur in Tamilnadu. Their wholly owned subsidiaries include Bata Properties Ltd, Coastal Commercial & Exim Ltd. and Way Finders Brands Limited.Bata India Ltd was incorporated in the year 1931 as Bata Shoe Company Pvt Ltd in Konngar, West Bengal, which was then shifted to Batanagar. Batanagar was the first manufacturing facility in the Indian shoe industry to receive the ISO 9001 certification. The company went public in 1973. They changed their name to Bata India Ltd. Over the years, the company has established a leadership position in the footwear industry and is easily the most trusted name in branded footwear.The company has entered into an agreement with Bata Ltd of Toronto, Canada for supply of technical know-how and services such as Footwear technology and design, brand development, product development, retailing and information systems for a period of ten years from January 1, 2001.The company bagged the Retailer of the year award for the year 2006 in the footwear category as a part of the Reid and Taylor Award for Retail Excellence which was presented during the Indian Retail Summit 2006. They received the country's most coveted Retail Award at the 4th Images Retail Awards (IRA) 2007.The company was honoured with Most Admired Brand of the year 2006-07 in Footwear category. They were rated as one of the Top 10 super brands in India and awarded Super Brands Award on April 12, 2007. In February 21, 2008, they were given AMITY Corporate Excellence Award 2008. This award was given for Bata's excellent performance and retail growth during 2007.The company entered into a joint development agreement with Calcutta Metropolitan Group Ltd for developing around 262 acres of land in Batanagar. The company formed a special purpose vehicle called Riverbank Holdings Pvt Ltd. The development of 262 acres was split into two parts, IT SEZ for 25 acres developed by Riverbank Holdings Pvt Ltd and the remaining 237 acres will be done by the new company Riverbank Developers Pvt Ltd.In the year 2009, the company opened 69 new Bata stores, which are all in large format with an average of over 3000 square feet. They also renovated 40 existing stores and closed down 73 stores which were in small format and unviable. In the year 2010, the company won the 'Consumer Awards 2010' as 'India's Most Preferred Retailer' given by CNBC Awaaz. The company opened 108 new large format stores across all major towns in India. Bata India renewed its Technical Collaboration Agreement with Global Footwear Services Pte. Ltd., Singapore (GFS) with effect from 1 January 2011 for a period of ten years. In terms of the said Technical Collaboration Agreement, Bata India receives guidance, training of personnel and services from GFS in connection with research & development, marketing, brand development, footwear technology, testing & quality control, store location, layout & design, environment, health & safety, risk & insurance management, etc. Recognizing needs of the young consumers, Bata India created new retail concept - Footin in the year 2012. It is a new business model with a different approach to cater to the young customers who are style conscious and trend-savvy shoppers and need quality merchandise at affordable price.Bata India changed the financial year from January-December to April-March and extended the financial year to 31 March 2015 covering a period of fifteen months. During the period under review, due to certain unexpected problems with the implementation of new supply chain IT systems, the retail stores of the company could not be supplied with adequate stocks of footwear and accessories. As a result, the company's performance for the fourth and fifth quarter in 2014-15 was adversely affected. In order to improve volume and profitability, the company took various steps during the period under review, i.e., initiatives to achieve same store growth, investment behind new channels and stores, cost control and manpower rationalization. During the period under review, Bata India continued its modernization plans at its Manufacturing Units at Batanagar - West Bengal, Bataganj - Bihar and Southcan - Karnataka. The modernization plans implemented in these Manufacturing Units have improved quality of the products and also increased productivity.During the fifteen month period ended 31 March 2015, Bata India opened 159 new retail stores across India. The new stores are larger in size and are based on global design, making them look complete and enticing with adequate space to display the products. The year 2014-15 was a milestone year for Bata India's premium footwear brand Hush Puppies as it completed 20 years of its existence in India. During the period under review, Hush Puppies endeavoured to re-position itself as a new International Premium Lifestyle Casual Footwear brand.During the period under review, Bata India further strengthened its customer care division. Following a successful pilot, a customer loyalty program, viz., 'The Bata Club' has been introduced at major metro cities.During the period under review, Bata India entered into Long Term Agreements with several Trade Unions.As mutually agreed inter alia, between Riverbank Developers Private Limited (RDPL) and Bata India vide New Development Agreement dated 28 April 2010 read with Addendum Agreement dated 5 December 2013, Bata India received approx. 1,36,955 sq. ft. of constructed space in the Integrated Township Project at Batanagar, West Bengal during the 15 month period ended 31 March 2015.Bata India formed a new wholly owned subsidiary, viz., Way Finders Brands Limited on 26 December 2014. Bata India had to overcome the unexpected challenges in implementation of new supply chain IT system which led to disruption and delay in supply of footwear from the factories and warehouses to the retail stores during the beginning of the financial year 2015-16 impacting the volume offootwear sold and also loss of market share. During the year under review, the company took several corrective measures in order to overcome such challenges including focus on same store growth, replenishment of stock in retail stores based on store requirement/sales, liquidating inventory level through various schemes and also cost reduction initiatives. As a result, the company started registering volume growth from the third quarter of the financial year 2015-16. In 2015-16, Bata India introduced various new designs of footwear which are contemporary, stylish and also affordable. Modernization of the factories and manufacturing processes of the company continued during the year under review. During the year under review, Bata India opened 26 new retail stores across India. The new stores are larger in size and are based on global design, making them look complete and enticing with adequate space to display the products. The company's online business grew well during the year under review. The company sold more than 3.8 lacs pairs of footwear through online channels.During the year under review, Bata India's e-commerce division mainly focused on increasing its customer database by reaching out to new set of target audience and also establishing successful association with many reputed companies and banks, e.g., HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, State Bank of India, Deutsche Bank, Samsung, SpiceJet Airlines, etc. Such alliances helped the company increase its brand awareness and customer database. The company's products continued to be sold through its partners' websites including Amazon, Myntra, Jabong, Flipkart, etc.The year 2015-16 was a milestone year for the company's international premium brand Hush Puppies as the company sold over a million pair of the brand in the year 2015 itself. During the year under review, Hush Puppies embarked on a journey of re-positioning itself as an International Premium Lifestyle Casual Footwear brand.During the year under review, Bata India introduced its customer loyalty program viz. The Bata Club' in more than 800 retail stores across 47 cities in India. These Club members are communicated on priority about various new marketing offers and promotions as and when planned by the company.During the year under review, Bata India strengthened its urban wholesale business monitoring team and efforts are being made to increase its market share in the wholesale footwear business.Pursuant to approval of the shareholders obtained at the Eighty Second Annual General Meeting, Bata India sub-divided the face value of its equity shares of Rs. 10/- each, fully paid-up into two equity shares of Rs. 5/- each, fully paid-up. The company had fixed 8 October 2015 as the Record Date for the purpose of ascertaining the eligible shareholders for receiving the aforesaid sub-divided equity shares.During the year under review, Bata India amicably settled its protracted litigations with Relaxo Footwear Limited relating to SPARX' Trademark. Necessary consent terms have been filed with the appropriate Trademarks Authorities and before the Delhi High Court. As mutually agreed inter alia, between Riverbank Developers Private Limited (RDPL) and Bata India vide New Development Agreement dated 28 April 2010 read with Addendum Agreement dated 5 December 2013, Bata India took possession of the remaining 1,95,075 sq. ft. of constructed space in the Integrated Township Project at Batanagar, West Bengal during the year under review. Accordingly, RDPL's obligation to handover 3,32,030 sq. ft. of constructed space to Bata India has been completed.During the year under review, Bata India entered into long term agreements with its Workers' Unions at its manufacturing units. During the year, your company successfully negotiated Long Term Settlements with the Workers' Union at Bataganj and with the Shop Employees' Union.Bata India incurred capital expenditure amounting to Rs.794.41 million in 2015-16 as compared to Rs.1538.77 million during the fifteen month period ended 31 March 2015.During the financial year ended 31 March 2017, Bata India endeavored to maintain its stature as the leading footwear brand of choice with an added focus to tap the fashion conscious youth, working women and children through introduction of newer and trendier styles of footwear and has also launched premium collections of footwear for men and women. During the year under review, the company opened 100 new retail stores and 23 franchised stores across India. These specious new stores are located in untapped and developing markets of the Country and are based on global design, making them look enticing with contemporary display of the products.The company's online business registered good growth during the year under review. The company sold more than 6.3 lacs pairs of footwear through online channels during the year. The year 2016-17 saw various new initiatives for Hush Puppies - the company's international brand known for comfort, quality and style. Launching of new 'Signature Collection' across its exclusive stores, marking a new tradition of contemporary and fashionable shoes for the new younger generation, etc. were the major highlights for the brand. During the year under review, Hush Puppies continued to strongly re-position itself as an International Premium Lifestyle Casual Footwear brand.Bata India incurred capital aggregating Rs.386.8 million in 2016-17 as compared to Rs.488.1 million (excluding Rs.306.3 million on account of the receipt of constructed space under the erstwhile joint venture project at Batanagar) during the previous year ended 31 March 2016.During the year under review, Bata India executed Long Term Agreements (LTAs) for settlements of dues with the Worker's Union at the manufacturing units of the company at Southcan, Bangalore and BataShatak at Hosur, Tamil Nadu. During the year under review, the company successfully implemented a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for workers at its manufacturing unit at Faridabad, Haryana wherein all the 170 workers accepted the VRS and operations at Faridabad unit were discontinued since December 2016.During the financial year ended 31 March 2018, Bata India carefully re-engineered key touch points in the consumer journey thereby stepping up the focus on Visual Merchandising via breath taking store windows, curating a shopping conducive playlist for instore music, refreshing the store decor to highlight different brands / features and employing trained stylists to better serve customer at the company's top stores in Metro's and to be gradually extended across all stores. With a view to bring back the swagger to Bata, the company launched its internationally developed 'Red Angela Store Concept' in Kolkata and Delhi. This concept is aesthetically designed and offers clutter-free shopping experience through merchandise focal points (in red & white) and exudes a premium look that adds up to a 'wow' feel. During the year under review, Bata India added over 100 new retail stores, 31 franchisee stores & renovated more than 90 stores across India. The company opened the first Bata Women Store in India in Bengaluru focussed on catering to footwear & accessories needs of woman consumers.During the year under review, the company's e-commerce division worked on opportunities to diversify brand reach in the existing online business models. The company further continued to strengthen its online customer database by reaching out to the leading telecom, airline and banking players in association with affiliated partners. Various market expansion strategies were put in place like increase of brand presence through marketplace model by listing products on high-traffic generating websites including TataCliq, ShopClues, GoFynd and Limeroad. The company's e-commerce website www.bata.in migrated to a secure AWS server for enhanced performance that includes features like auto scaling and elastic load balancing.The financial year 2017-18 saw various new initiatives for Hush Puppies - Bata India's international brand known for comfort, quality and style. Launching of new Signature Collection' across its exclusive stores, marking a new tradition of contemporary and fashionable shoes for the new younger generation, etc. were the major highlights for the brand.Bata India incurred capital expenditure of Rs. 930.77 million in 2017-18 as compared to Rs. 386.79 million in the previous year.During the year under review, the company executed Long Term Agreement (LTA) for settlement of dues with the Worker's Union at the manufacturing units of the company at Batanagar, Kolkata.