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livemint.com Payments Bank venture uP1 heatwave fuels power crisisuP2
94 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI
LIVEMINT.COM

DELHI JAL BOARD, GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER (WW)-II/ EE (E&M) II
WAZIRABAD WATER WORKS, TIMARPUR, DELHI-110054
E-Mail: eeemww2.nic.in
F-87/DJB/EE (E&M) II/WZD/2022/521 Dated: 16.05.2022
PUBLIC NOTICE
Due to depletion of pond level at Wazirabad Pond 669.40 feet against the normal level of 674.50 feet and reduction in release of raw water by
Haryana in river Yamuna, water production has been affected from Water Treatment Plants at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla. Water supply
shall be affected since the Morning of 17.05.2022 and so on till the pond level improves to normal.
The areas likely to be affected are Civil lines, Hindu Rao Hospital and adjoining areas, Kamla Nagar, Shakti Nagar and adjoining areas, Karol
Bagh, Pahar Ganj and NDMC areas, Old & New Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar (East & West), Baljeet Nagar, Prem Nagar, Inderpuri and adjoining
areas, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Tugalkabad, Sangam Vihar, Ambedkar Nagar, Prahladpur and adjoining area, Ramleela Ground, Delhi gate, Subhash
Park, Model Town, Gulabi Bagh, Punjabi Bagh, Jahangirpuri, Moolchand, South Extn., Greater Kailash, Burari and adjoining areas, Parts of
Cantonment areas and South Delhi
Therefore, public is advised to make judicious use of water and water tankers shall be available on demand from following water emergencies:
Central Control Room - 1916/23527679/23634469
Chandrawal WW No. 02 - 23810930
Greater Kailash - 29234746, 29234747
Idgah - 23537397, 23677129
Punjabi Bagh - 25223658
Rajinder Nagar - 28742340
Okhla Phase-2 - 26388976
Burari - 27619244, 27617609
Kewal Park - 27677877, 27681578
Jal Sadan - 29819035, 29824550
I.P. Station - 23370911, 23378761
Gole Market - 23362949
Mandir Marg - 23363519
Inconvenience caused to the Public is regretted.
ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) “STOP CORONA: Wear Mask, Follow Physical (Yogesh Lohchab)
Advt. No. J.S.V. 112 (2022-23) Distancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene” EE (E&M) II
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livemint.com

mint primer QUICK EDIT

Why India needs Let the law

to improve its prevail
A court in Varanasi ordered the
productivity city’s Gyanvapi mosque sealed
after rumours arose of an idol
spotted on its premises. No
JAGADISH SHETTIGAR & POOJA MISRA authority confirmed any such
India’s total factor productivity (TFP) growth has seen a moderate sighting, but it led to a commo-
decline compared to the global experience, though it remains above tion around the site as word
that of emerging markets and developing economies, according to a spread. The local court had
recent report. Mint examines what it means for the economy. asked for the filming of its archi-
tectural details while entertain-
Mixed results ing petitions of access for Hindu
TFP growth rate for India for the period 2010-2019 was approx. 2.2%, better than worship. Since our historical
emerging market and developing economies. records indicate the construc-
6
Annual growth rate in total factor productivity (in %) tion of a mosque on the spot of a
demolished temple in 1669
4
under Aurangzeb’s reign, any
2.0
2 India physical signs of its history
should be no surprise.
-0.7
0 EMDE India’s past has much that is
-0.5 indefensible, but what should
-2 World concern us today is our future.
The Ayodhya dispute hardened
-4
2001 2022 tensions for decades before the
EMDE: Emerging markets and developing economies Supreme Court awarded that
2022 numbers are projections. Source: Total Economy Database site for a temple on the grounds
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT
of likely longer Hindu occupa-
What does TFP How has India fared tion. It also held the 1992 demo-
1 measure?
Productivity levels measure the
2 thus far?
A recent Reserve Bank of India
lition of the Babri mosque ille-
gal. Under the Places of Wor-
relationship between total (RBI) report points to a moderate ship (Special Provisions) Act of
products or output, and inputs or decline in TFP growth compared 1991, such structures must stay
factors of production employed. to the global experience. TFP just as they were when India
Labour productivity is a growth rate for India during the attained freedom. A failure on
measure of total output 2010-2019 period was this would cast Indian priorities
divided by the units of labour approximately 2.2%, as against -
in doubt when we must focus on
employed in the process of 0.3% for emerging markets and
production, while total factor developing economies. During the the challenge of our economic
productivity is a measure of total pandemic, the TFP for India emergence. We should not let
output divided by a weighted declined by 2.9% in 2020 and divisive distractions from the
average of inputs; i.e., labour and marginally improved by 0.1% in olden days get in the way.
capital. Improvements in TFP 2021. In 2022, TFP growth rate is
bring down production costs, raise projected to increase to 2%. As per
output levels, and lead to a higher estimates, TFP growth contributed
gross domestic product. While to 30% of India’s GDP growth
total productivity measures all-
inclusive productivity, TFP is a
during 2010-2018. It was largely
driven by public administration,
MINT METRIC
measure of production efficiency. quality education and social works. by Bibek Debroy

Addressing a man as bald

3 What has been the TFP
trend across the world?
Global productivity growth has witnessed
Has now been stalled.
a prolonged slowdown since 2010, with
At least in Britain,
the deceleration sharper in emerging and A tribunal has written,
developing economies. This is ascribed to
a weakening investment climate, and
It is discrimination if so called.
lower employment growth levels in
developed economies, among others. TFP
growth for the world economy was 0.7% in
2021 and may shrink by 0.5% in 2022.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
The macro indicators are really
4 What are the ways to
improve TFP
India’s initiatives around skill
5 How can the industry
improve productivity?
Improved TFP minimizes per-unit
looking good, the GST
development and the new cost facilitating the horizontal
collection we have all seen is
education policy are steps in the expansion of consumption all-time high in April, the e-way
right direction, since they focus on demand, thereby improving the
boosting manpower employability. standard of living. Employers have
bills have picked up, I would
Quality education, better fortunately started acknowledging say all sectors of the
healthcare, nurturing of the fact that manpower is an
innovation, introduction of essential component in profit
economy have opened up.
efficient technology and processes earnings. Today, the focus has
in domestic companies and shifted to retaining talent, which is
reduction in misallocation of limited in supply. This positive
resources can help improve TFP transformation seen after the
levels. Though the country’s pandemic needs to be further NIRANJAN GUPTA
CFO, HERO MOTOCORP
ranking in the Global Innovation extended.
Index, 2021 has improved to 46, it Jagadish Shettigar and Pooja Misra
still has some distance to go. are faculty members at BIMTECH.

MINT PODCASTS

WHY NOT MINT MONEY? MINT BUSINESS NEWS THE SKETCH

Do you need a new financial plan that Stocks, companies, mergers, acquisi- In this podcast, Mint’s editor-in-chief
suits your current needs or maybe tions and more. Here is all the news Sruthijith K.K. speaks with business
even avenues that that will keep you leaders, not only
can fetch good divi- well-informed about the perform-
dends for your every morning. This ance of their busi-
investments? Here podcast by Gopika nesses but also
is a way that helps Gopakumar gets about their convic-
you navigate the you all the action tions, their meth-
tricky world of sala- from the world of ods, their influen-
ries, taxes, insurance, mutual funds, business, both local and global. Also, ces, and their journey. Through the
and more. This podcast covers ideas brush up on your knowledge with the conversations, the podcast aims to
that help you make and save money. ‘Business Term of the Day’. paint in the listeners’ mind, a sketch.
 PLAIN FACTS

Rise of retail investors

and the risks therein
BY ARJUN SRINIVAS, HOWINDIALIVES.COM

O n 4 April, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hailed Indian retail investors for investing large sums of money
in Indian stocks, thereby cushioning the markets from external shocks. This was in response to a question in Parliament
on the flight of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) against the backdrop of a war in Ukraine and a hike in interest rates
by central banks worldwide. Greater buying of Indian stocks by retail investors is partly offsetting such sales, though this has
its own vulnerabilities.
As of December 2021, the latest month with official data available, retail investors owned 9.7% of companies listed on the
National Stock Exchange (NSE), a 14-year high. In December 2019, this was 8.4% and has risen steadily since. Of the eight catego-
ries of investors, private Indian promoters and retail investors are significant gainers in ownership share. FIIs, the second-largest,
have seen the largest drop in share, along with the government. The December 2021 FII share of 19.7% was a nine-year low.
Direct investment by retail investors in Indian equities, as opposed to indirectly through mutual funds, has seen a significant
increase over the past two years. This has been spurred by people being homebound because of the covid-19 pandemic, mobile
apps that made share trading easier, and rising stock markets. The total number of active demat accounts, which one needs
to trade on stock exchanges, has more than doubled between March 2020 and March 2022, and is 89.7 million at present. This
is likely to have further increased during the initial public offering (IPO) of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

In the last 2 years, retail investors saw the The surge in retail investors coincided with
second-highest ownership increase the pandemic and growth in trading apps
Breakup of ownership of companies listed on the National Number of new demat accounts (million)
Stock Exchange by investor category (%)
December 2019 December 2021
3.5
Private Indian
promoters

36.4
32.2
Retail 2.5
investors

Non-promoter corporate

1.5
Domestic mutual funds
8.4 9.7

3.5 3.7 7.8 Banks, financial

7.4
institutions, 0.5
5.4 insurers
4.4
9.8 Foreign 0
9.7 promoters
8.2
5.7 Government
-0.7
Mar Dec Mar
Foreign 2018 2019 2022
Investor categories
22.2 institutional
19.7
arranged in descending investors (FIIs)
order of change.
Source: National Stock Exchange India Ownership Tracker, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)

Risk Factors In the March quarter, retail investors

were caught out by the market
A MARKET laden with stories has held out the promise of quick Average change in stock price during March 2022 quarter (%)
gains and stoked interest among retail investors. Since March Companies Companies
2020, the Nifty has appreciated 89%. A significant section of where holding where
increased holding fell
corporate India has delivered higher profits. New businesses
Private promoters 6.3 3.6
have listed, including internet businesses such as Zomato and
Paytm. Many new retail investors have only seen gains. But how FIIs 2.3 -2.7
will their portfolios perform amid growing volatility like now or High net-worth individuals 0.2 -4.3
even a sliding market? Mutual funds -1.6 -5.3
Retail investors are naturally disadvantaged in market Domestic institutions -2.1 -3.8
understanding and information flow. This gets highlighted in
Insurance companies -4.1 -0.7
challenging markets. In the March quarter, for example, retail
investors saw their shareholding increase in 994 NSE-listed LIC -5.9 4
companies, but the average stock returns delivered by this set Retail investors -7 8.9
was (-)7%. Further, the set of 699 companies where retail Government of India -17.9 2
investors trimmed their shareholding posted average stock gains LIC: Life Insurance Corporation; FIIs: Foreign institutional investors
Source: Prime Infobase
of 8.9% during the quarter.

Foreign investments have swung

between extremes in the last two years
Point And Counterpoint
Net investments by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) FOR NOW, the significance of retail investors in the domestic
in Indian stocks ($ billion) equity market is underscored by the volatility of foreign fund
40
inflows into India over the past decade. Foreign investment is
30 typically hot money and is extremely responsive to interest rate
differentials between countries. FII inflows into India remained
20 consistently high between 2009-10 and 2014-15. With interest
rates in developed economies being very low because of a
10
monetary stimulus following the 2008 financial crisis, investors
-18.5 sought higher returns elsewhere.
0
However, net FII flows remained muted between FY16 and
-10 FY20, before surging to a record $36.2 billion in FY21, as the
covid-19 pandemic necessitated a monetary stimulus and a cut in
-20
interest rates. However, in FY22 negative global cues led to a
2008-09 2021-22
record net outflow of $18 billion. A strong domestic retail investor
Source: National Stock Exchange India Ownership Tracker
base can countervail the extreme volatility of FIIs.

Sectoral Spread In the pandemic years, retail investors

increased their holding in 8 of 11 sectors
AFTER A three-year hiatus, domestic retail investors turned Retail investor ownership on the National Stock
net buyers in 2020, making net purchases of ₹51,200 crore on Exchange by sectors (%)
NSE. In 2021, this increased further to ₹1.43 trillion. A sector- 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
wise analysis reveals that retail investors are diversified across Financials
sectors. Financials (20.3%), followed by materials (15.3%) and Materials
information technology (12.5%), are the top picks of retail Information technology
investors. Unlike the government and FIIs, which have high Consumer discretionary
exposure to the financial sector (38.5% and 34.8%, respectively), Industrials
retail investors have a more even spread. Consumer staples
Over the past two years, retail investors have increased Healthcare
ownership in eight of the 11 sectors studied. This includes those Energy
December 2019
that benefited from the pandemic, such as IT and healthcare, Communication services December 2021
while stakes in financials and energy came down. The current Utilities
volatility in stock markets will test the resolve of Indian retail Real estate
investors and will determine if they are here to stay or not. Source: National Stock Exchange India Ownership Tracker
www.howindialives.com is a database and search engine for
AHMED RAZA KHAN/MINT
public data.

PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz

 New DelhI, MUMbAI, bENGALURU, kOLkATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDAbAD, HYDERAbAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE* VOL. 16 NO. 117 Rs 5.00 IN DELHI-NCR; Rs 6.00 OUTSIDE DELHI-NCR. PRICE WITH HINDUSTAN TIMES Rs 10.50 (FOR DELHI & NCR) 22 PAGES

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

India’s textiles need to China’s economic distress

livemint.com weave a new story uP12 deepens amid lockdowns uP10

SENSEX 52,973.84 180.22 NIFTY 15,842.30 60.15 DOLLAR ₹77.45 ₹0.00 EURO ₹81.07 ₹0.73 OIL $111.49 $0.48 GOLD ₹50,071 ₹204

Infosys rolls out large pay Adanis to infuse SBI may take DON’T MISS
a relook at
$3 bn in equity to
hikes, retention bonuses fund Holcim deal
Jio Payments
Bank venture
Firm offers 12-13% average raise and up to 23% hike for high-value employees Deborshi Chaki, Ujjval Jauhari &
Gopika Gopakumar
[email protected]
Swaraj Singh Dhanjal MUMbAI
Devina Sengupta Jack Ma exits Paytm Mall, sells
retaININg taleNt
S
[email protected] MUMbAI/NEW DELHI tate Bank of India (SBI) is 43% stake for about ₹42 crore
MUMbAI likely to reconsider contin- Jack Ma-led Alibaba and Ant Financials have
Infosys posted a record attrition of 27.7% in the March quarter, faster than the

T
he Adani family plans to uing as a partner in the Jio exited Paytm E-commerce Pvt. Ltd, the parent

I
nfosys Ltd is enticing employees 10.9% in the year-earlier and 25.5% turnover rate in the December quarter. bring in $3 billion as pro- Payments Bank joint venture entity of Paytm Mall. Paytm E-commerce bought
with bumper raises, retention STAFF STRENGTH moter equity for its $10.5 with Reliance Industries Ltd if back stakes of Alibaba (28.34%) and Antfin
bonuses, work rotation and pro- Employees billion buyout of Holcim Ltd’s the payments bank fails to (Netherlands) Holding (14.98%), a total of 43.32%,
27.7 for ₹42 crore, according to company’s filings. >P3
motions to reverse record turn- Voluntary attrition (in %) stake in ACC Ltd and Ambuja develop a business plan to start
over levels as companies com- 25.5 Cements Ltd, while banks will full-fledged operations, an offi-
pete for a limited pool of workers in finance the rest, two people Adani has offered to buy ACC cial aware of the matter said. Coal India to auction shut mines
digital, cloud computing, artificial 10.9 aware of the financing agree- shares at ₹2,300 apiece. MINT The indecision in arriving at as heatwave worsens power crisis
intelligence (AI) and data science. 314,015 ment said. a business model has delayed
Coal India Ltd (CIL) will invite bids from the
The company plans to offer an On 15 May, the Adani family fund based in West Asia, the the formal launch of the pay- private sector to reopen 20 closed mines in
average raise of 12-13% to its employ-
292,067 said the acquisition would be first person said, adding, “the ments bank by more than four the next few weeks, two people aware of the
ees in India, while high-potential funded through an offshore spe- remaining portion will be years. The bank was set up as a matter said, outlining a move to revive pits
employees will get hikes of 20-23% 259,619 cial purpose vehicle, which will funded via debt which will be joint venture between SBI and once considered unprofitable as a severe
and a retention bonus. Infosys is also acquire the Swiss company’s raised by the promoters in their Reliance Industries in April heatwave drives demand for power. >P2
offering top performers better roles entire stake in two of India’s personal capacity.” 2018, and their five-year agree-
and opportunities to learn new skills leading cement companies. “A clutch of foreign banks ment ends early next year. Startup layoffs may worsen
such as AI and machine learning “The said offshore entity has will fund close to $7 billion in “Reliance is an important
(ML). The company is benchmarking been created in Mauritius in debt, which will initially be business partner. They have
as investor pressure mounts
31 Mar 2021 31 Dec 2021 31 Mar 2022
salaries with peers and plans to offer which the promoters plan to raised as a term loan, against told us that they will come up The startup sector could let go of about 5,000
special benefits to key employees. SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT
infuse $3 billion as equity,” said which lenders will have a with a strategy by September. employees over the next couple of quarters
“Infosys will offer top performers across companies. attrition rate of 23.8%, while HCL one of the two people cited charge on the assets,” the sec- We will take a call after that. We as they face pressure from investors to
improve bottom lines and focus on the core
between 20-23% increment. There Surging demand has prompted Technologies reported 21.9%. above, both of whom spoke on ond person said, adding, “the would like it to be a mutually business, recruiters said. They are also less
is also a retention bonus for them,” employees to switch jobs in record A spokesperson for Infosys condition of anonymity. debt portion will be eventually agreed decision to part ways if likely to focus on new verticals . >P6
an industry executive said, request- numbers in search of higher salaries, declined to comment. “The acquisition is fully refinanced via bonds.” that happens,” the official cited
ing anonymity. better roles and stock awards. As a The elevated rate of job switching funded by way of approved A query emailed to Adani above, a banker with SBI, said
Demand for tech workers has result, Infosys posted a record attri- is a key driver behind wage inflation commitments from our rela- group remained unanswered on condition of anonymity. Jet fuel prices rise 5% to record
been surging since the pandemic tion rate of 27.7% in the March quar- in technology companies. tionship banks—Barclays, till press time. The partnership between SBI high; airfares set to increase
began as companies initiated digital ter, faster than the 10.9% in the year- However, with 314,015 employees Deutsche Bank and Standard On Monday, the Adani family and Reliance Industries was Jet fuel prices rose to all-time high on Friday, with
transformation projects to cope with earlier and 25.5% turnover rate in the as of March-end, Infosys is going Chartered Bank and equity announced separate open offers expected to dwarf other payment rates surging by 5.29% to ₹1,23,039.71 per kilolitre
the disruptions caused by lock- three months ended 31 December. beyond salary hikes to keep its work- infusion by the Adani family,” to the public shareholders of the companies. RIL was expected to in Delhi. Airfares are likely to go up further with
downs, remote working and the In comparison, larger rival Tata force from quitting. Managers have Adani said on Sunday. two cement companies to leverage Jio’s pan-India telecom the latest hike as aviation turbine
popularity of e-commerce. Inflation, Consultancy Services Ltd reported been asked to assure employees that Some of the promoter equity acquire an additional 26% stake network and Reliance Retail’s fuel prices account for a significant chunk of
which hit an eight-year high in April, an attrition rate of 17.4% during the is expected to be raised from a operating costs of an airline. >P4
is also pushing compensation higher March quarter. Wipro clocked an TURN TO PAGE 6 prominent sovereign wealth TURN TO PAGE 6 TURN TO PAGE 6
02 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI ECONOMY & POLICY LIVEMINT.COM

m MINT SHORTS
Non-profit behind Terra Ecosystem
CIL to auction shut mines as India revises
its covid-19
announces compensation plan
New Delhi: The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), a non-profit
organization that supports the Terra Ecosystem, has announced
plans to compensate remaining users of stablecoin terraUSD
heatwave fuels power crisis surveillance
strategy
(UST), starting with the smallest holders. “The Foundation is
looking to use its remaining assets to compensate remaining Priyanka Sharma
users of $UST, smallest holders first,” LFG said in a twitter state- [email protected]
ment on Monday. STAFF WRITER Once the mines are auctioned, they will have the potential to add 150 mt of coal annually
W
ith covid cases pla-
teauing to just over
Southwest monsoon debuts Subhash Narayan be outsourced on payment of a fee,” 2,000 in the last 24
[email protected] said the coal ministry official. hours, the government has
over Andaman & Nicobar: IMD NEW DELHI The auction of closed mines will fol- revised its surveillance strategy,
low the MDO model that will need which will now involve selective

C
oal India Ltd (CIL) will bidders to share revenue share with 6-8 lakh RT-PCR tests per day of
invite bids from the pri- the government. The mines’ owner- OPD patients showing symp-
vate sector to reopen 20 ship will remain with CIL, and win- toms of flu.
closed mines in the next ning bidders will extract the coal for “Now RT-PCR testing is being
few weeks, two people sale. done for those patients with
aware of the matter said, outlining a The 20 mines to be auctioned in symptoms like fever, cough and
move to revive pits once considered first phase are spread over five subsid- cold or with flu like symptoms
unprofitable as a severe heatwave iaries of CIL. The extractable reserve visiting at the sentinel sites such
drives demand for power. of these mines is about 380 million as hospitals. This is going to be a
State-owned CIL has finalized a rev- tonnes, with an annual production selective testing strategy of
enue-sharing model for the mines potential of 30 million tonnes. A few of around 6-8 lakh every day across
which are largely unremunerative and the mines have been shut since 1999, India to understand the pattern,
New Delhi: Southwest monsoon advanced into the Anda- underground. It is preparing to invite while some work is going on at some of variation and transmission rate
man and Nicobar islands on Monday, the India Meteorolog- tenders from private sector power the others. CIL has closed nearly 100 of the virus. Now, people are
ical Department (IMD) said, signalling the start of the four- producers, including those depending CIL has finalized a revenue-sharing model for the mines which are largely mines in the last 4-5 years, while a thinking that covid is mild and
month seasonal rains that are crucial to the largely agri-de- on imported fuel, the people cited unremunerative and located underground. BLOOMBERG similar number remains abandoned most of the people don’t go to
pendent economy. The Andaman and Nicobar islands and above said on condition of anonymity. due to the high cost of extracting coal hospital for testing. This surveil-
adjoining areas have been experiencing rainfall due to “Bids for the first set of closed mines ties, irrespective of surges in power The auction plan has generated good and serious technical challenges for lance strategy will keep a close
strengthening south-westerly winds in the lower tropo- of CIL may come within a few weeks or demand. investor interest from these compa- mining. watch on virus so that scientists
spheric levels, the weather office said. PTI early next month. This pilot may be In February, the coal ministry held nies. With new technologies brought by are aware of the disease pattern
followed up with over 200 mines a stakeholders’ consultation with pri- The coal ministry has made the bid- private miners, these challenges are in India,” said a government offi-
being brought under auctioning in vate companies, which was attended ding process easier to ensure the auc- expected to be overcome. Higher coal cial requesting anonymity.
Consumers between 35 and 40 phases,” one of the peo- tion sails through. There production is expected to help Queries mailed to health
years most credit healthy: Report ple said. EASING POWER WOES is no minimum technical restore power supply in the country, ministry spokespeople on
Queries sent to the criteria for bidders, as a rise in demand this year due to an Monday remained unanswered
New Delhi: An insights report by Paisabazaar, a digital market- coal ministry and CIL did CIL has finalized a IT will invite tenders THE 20 mines to including the require- early onset of summer resulted in a at press time.
place for consumer credit, revealed that consumers between 35 not elicit a response till revenue-sharing
model for the mines
from private power
producers, including
be auctioned in
first phase are
ment of the firm’s mini- crisis-like situation with fuel-starved “If fewer samples are tested,
and 40 years of age are the most credit healthy, while those below press time. A coal minis- which are largely those depending on spread over five mum net worth to qual- power plants struggling to meet there are chances that one can
25 years are the least credit healthy. In the last 6+ years, over 2.7 try official, however, said unremunerative imported fuel subsidiaries of CIL ify for bids. A bank guar- demand. miss catching the virus,” said the
crore consumers have accessed their free credit score and report seeking anonymity, that antee would be sufficient India’s the total coal production official. Another official said the
from the Paisabazaar platform. Analysing the data of its large con- the process of identify- to participate. stood at 772.59 million tonnes (mt) in government is also planning to
sumer base, Paisabazaar has launched the 2nd edition of its “Mak- ing the mines is on. Once all the mines by Essel Mining, Adani, Tata, JSW and “With the mine developer and oper- 2021-22. The targeted production for expand sewage sample surveil-
ing India Credit Fit” Insights Report. STAFF WRITER are auctioned, they will have the JSPL. Since some of these companies ator (MDO) model already existing, FY23 is around 880 mt. With the addi- lance. “Sewage samples let us
potential to add about 150 million ton- also run power plants using imported companies bidding for shut mines tion of coal from abandoned mines know that if cases are going to
nes of coal annually -- sufficient to run fuel, access to domestic coal, which is need not be technically qualified to do this number could go up to 900 mt by increase in any particular area, the
Two out of three Indians get 3 all power projects at stipulated capaci- 150-200% cheaper, may attract them. the mining work and the same could the end of this year. viral load in the sample increases.”
or more pesky calls every day

Duty cuts fail to Centre-state tie-up can cut fuel taxes: Bajaj
check cotton prices Staff writer
[email protected]
stones at $5 trillion by 2026-27 central and state governments
and $9 trillion by 2030-31. should scale up their expendi-
The finance ministry said ture on public health and edu-
Ravi Dutta Mishra

C
cotton was ongoing, the minis- entral and state govern- last week that the April update cation to make these services
[email protected] try of agriculture did not want ments should collabo- of the World Economic Out- accessible to all.
NEW DELHI the farmer’s sentiments to be rate to cut taxes on pet- look (WEO) of the IMF implied “This will drive inclusive and
impacted and opposed an rol and diesel in order to mod- that the cost of restraining equitable growth, improve

T
he reduction in import exemption beyond Septem- erate inflation, said Sanjiv Bajaj, inflation will be slowing global workforce productivity, and
New Delhi: About 64% of Indians get three or more spam duty on cotton has failed ber,” the official said. chairman and managing growth. The multilateral make the economy more resil-
phone calls on average on their mobile number each day to curb cotton prices as However, the government director of Bajaj Finserv and agency projected growth of ient. This will also drive con-
with most trying to sell financial services like new accounts, the duration of the exemption could impose a complete ban newly elected president of global output to decline from sumption demand, the biggest
loans, insurance and real estate offers. Interestingly, 95% was not long enough, a govern- on cotton exports as the last Confederation of Indian Indus- 6.1% in 2021 to 3.6% in 2022 as engine of the economy, by
of mobile subscribers that have registered on Do Not Dis- ment official told Mint, adding resort to curb prices. The price try (CII). well as 2023. reducing out of pocket
turb (DND) list issued by the sector regulator say they still that the ongoing sowing season of cotton per candy has crossed The industry body expects If global inflation does not expenses on these two essen-
get unwanted and pesky phone calls, according to findings for cotton played a crucial role ₹1 lakh, doubling from nearly the economy to grow in the sufficiently decline despite tials leaving people with more

‘
of a survey done by LocalCircles, which underlines the una- in the decision making. ₹45,000 a year back. range of 7.4-8.2% in FY23, central bank may favour more aggressive monetary tight- to spend,” the statement said
bated rise of pesky calls and messages despite guidelines With cotton prices at record Tamil Nadu Chief Minister “with the outlook critically aggressive rate hikes in June to ening sharply quoting Bajaj.
from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) levels, the domes- M.K. Stalin on hinging on the trajectory of cool prices. slowing He also sug-
firmly in place. GULVEEN AULAKH tic textile industry Tamil Nadu CM Monday wrote to global crude oil prices,” said a According to Bajaj, global growth, it An immediate gested that
is witnessing a M.K. Stalin has Prime Minister statement from CII quoting headwinds and inflation will points at the measure to providing uni-
serious disrup- written to PM Narendra Modi Bajaj. have to be countered with pol- persistence of moderate inflation versal cover-
Indian Army says China building tion due to rising Narendra Modi expressing con- “An immediate measure to icy reforms to unlock the supply-de-
could be to moderate and education
age in health
input costs. Sev- cern over rising moderate inflation could be to growth potential of the econ- mand imbal-
infra near Arunachal border eral units in the
expressing
cotton prices. Sta- moderate taxes on fuel prod- omy. “Tailwinds that are sup- ances that taxes on will create
Guwahati: The Indian Army’s Eastern Command chief, General country are oper- concern over rise lin in a social ucts, which constitute a large portive of growth in the short- only coordi- fuel products good quality
Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Lt Gen R.P. Kalita on Monday ating at little to no in cotton prices media post said share of the retail pump prices term include government capi- nated action jobs at scale.
Sanjiv Bajaj
said China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is engaged in infra- margins as manu- the price rise has of petrol and diesel... CII would tal expenditure, private sector by world lead- President, CII
He said the
structure capacity enhancement across the international border facturers are find- had a negative encourage Centre and state investment which is showing ers can country should
in Arunachal Pradesh. PTI ing it difficult to pass on costs to impact on the state where the governments to collaborate in an uptick aided by strong resolve, the extend the
customers. textile industry is a major reducing these duties,” the demand in some sectors and ministry said last week in its production linked incentive
“The import duty cut on cot- employer. “The continuing statement said quoting Bajaj. the production linked incen- monthly economic review. IMF scheme to more sectors, espe-
Elisabeth Borne appointed ton did not have the desired price rise of cotton and yarn has The appeal to cut taxes on tive push in the others, good expects India’s economy to grow cially those which are labour
impact. The exemption period widespread ramifications for petrol and diesel comes in the agriculture season on the back at 8.2% in 2022-23. The govern- intensive such as leather, foot-
France’s new Prime Minister should have been longer to cool the textile industry in TN context of retail inflation meas- of the expectations of a good ment’s optimism stems from wear and toys, and sectors where
Paris: Centrist politician Elisabeth Borne was appointed prices because it takes nearly which is traditionally an ured by consumer price index monsoon and positive export scaled-up capital spending, tax imports are high. He said
France’s new Prime Minister on Monday to become the second three months to import cotton employment generator. I (CPI) surging to an eight-year- momentum,” Bajaj said. buoyancy and some other high employment linked incentive
woman to hold the post in the country. Borne, 61, succeeds Jean and traders won’t benefit from request you to take serious note high in April at 7.79%, led by a He said the Indian economy frequency indicators like elec- schemes should be launched for
Castex, whose resignation was expected after President Emma- a short term exemption. of this situation and rein in the surge in food and fuel prices. It has the potential to reach $40 tricity consumption. select services sectors with high
nuel Macron’s re-election last month. PTI “Since the sowing season for price rise,” Stalin said. raised expectations that the trillion by 2047, with mile- Bajaj suggested that both growth potential.

As electricity demand soars, wind and hydropower come to the rescue CORRECTIONS AND
CLARIFICATIONS
Mint welcomes comments,
Subhash Narayan & ing states. This in turn has freed southwest monsoon. It tweeted of 10.77 GW on 29 April. fuelled by domestic coal had suggestions or complaints
Utpal Bhaskar up its coal-fuelled power gen- on Sunday, “Southwest mon- “Karnataka is not using its less than a fourth of their pre- about errors.
[email protected] eration capacity to cater to soon likely to advance into requisite quota of coal to fire scribed fuel stock and were at a
Readers can alert the
demand in other parts of the South Andaman Sea, Nicobar the power plants but has critical level. Also 10 plants run-
newsroom to any errors in the

A
pick-up in wind speed country. Islands & adjoining Southeast engaged all its wind mills to ning on imported coal had criti- paper by emailing us, with your
in Karnataka and Tamil Similarly, Tamil Nadu is Bay of Bengal during next 24 meet the shortages and even cal coal inventory as of 15 May. full name and address to
Nadu before the onset planning to switch to renewa- hours.” Usually, the monsoon supply surpluses to neighbour- Also 10 plants running on [email protected].
of early monsoons is helping bles to meet a large part of its covers the Andaman and Nico- ing states. Tamil Nadu itself is imported coal had critical coal
meet electricity demand across power needs from 21 May, bar Islands on 22 May and planning to switch a large part inventory as of 14 May. It is our policy to promptly
respond to all complaints.
India, said two government based on an assessment that reaches Kerala by 1 June. of its power needs to renewa- The union power ministry Readers dissatisfied with the
officials aware of the develop- suggests favourable weather The maximum power bles from 21 May,” said the sec- has directed India’s largest response or concerned about
ment. and predictable wind condi- demand met on Sunday was ond government official who power sector lenders—state run Mint’s journalistic integrity may
With water levels going up in tions. Also, with 1 gigawatt Karnataka is meeting more than 60% of its power demand from 191.25 GW, according to state- also did not want to be named. Power Finance Corporation and write directly to the editor by
reservoirs due to rains and high (GW) of hydropower expected renewable energy sources. ISTOCK run Power System Operation According to the Central REC Ltd—to arrange loans for sending an email to
wind speed over the last 15 to come from the Bhakra dam Corp Ltd (Posoco) that oversees Electricity Authority (CEA), the six months to financially [email protected]
days, Karnataka is meeting in Himachal Pradesh, there before an expected early mon- said one of the officials cited the country’s critical electricity 173 power plants that it tracks stressed imported coal-based Mint’s journalistic Code of
more than 60% of its power may be some short-term res- soon, there has been some above requesting anonymity. load management functions. have a coal stock of 20.74mil- power generation plants to ena- Conduct that governs our
demand from renewable pite to the ongoing power crisis relief in meeting the power India Meteorological India recorded an all time high lion tonnes, less than a third of ble them to restart generation. newsroom is available at
energy sources, and selling sur- in the country. demand. Also there is a pick up Department (IMD) has pre- peak power demand of 207.111 the required stock of 66.49 mt. Rituraj Baruah in New Delhi www.livemint.com
plus wind power to neighbour- “With wind speed picking up in hydropower generation,” dicted an early onset of the GW and a peak power shortage A total of 80 power plants contributed to this story

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LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI 03

Jack Ma exits
Paytm Mall;
sells 43% for
₹42 crore
Arti Singh
[email protected]

F
ive years after making its big-
gest bet in India’s e-com-
merce market, Jack Ma-led
Alibaba and Ant Financials
have exited Paytm E-com-
merce Pvt. Ltd, the parent entity of
Paytm Mall.
Paytm E-commerce bought back
the entire stake of Alibaba (28.34%)
and Antfin (Netherlands) Holding
(14.98%), a total of 43.32%, for ₹42
crore, according to the company’s fil-
ings.
This values the company at a mere
₹100 crore, plunging from $3 billion,
the valuation the Vijay Shekhar Shar-
ma-led company fetched in its last
fundraising that was in 2020.
Paytm Mall, inspired by Alibaba’s
T-mall in China, raised $200 million
in its first funding from Alibaba at
about $1 billion in 2017. In total, the
company raised more than $800 mil-
lion from Alibaba, Ant Financial,
SoftBank, Elevation Capital (earlier
SAIF Partners) and eBay.
Paytm E-commerce has proposed
reducing the company’s equity share
capital and securities premium
account and said it would hold an
extraordinary general meeting on 23
May.
“Despite investing significant
amounts of capital in growing its
business and expanding market
share, the company suffered opera-
tional losses. Given that the online
business space is evolving rapidly
with the onset of unique business
models, changing technologies and
new regulations, it is expected that
additional capital and efforts will be
required to be committed. The sector
continues to be highly competitive
and is marketed by the presence of
several large competitors. Finally, the
ongoing pandemic has thrown up
unique challenges for different busi-
nesses, and the company has also had
to deal with declining market eco-
nomics and demanding circumstan-
ces that impose continuous pressure
on financial metrics,” the company
said.
“Against this backdrop, the speci-
fied shareholders (Alibaba and Ant
Financial) have expressed their
desire to exit their investments in the
company,” it said.
“The company has resolved to pur-
sue the path of a capital reduction, to
extinguish equity shares and pay sur-
plus cash to the specified sharehold-
ers. Upon completion of the capital
reduction, the company will have the
right balance of the capital and share-
holders, to build a path of revival and
growth on a new trajectory,” it said.

Yellen says world

faces food crisis
because of the
war in Ukraine
Bloomberg
[email protected]

U
S treasury secretary Janet
Yellen said Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine has created a global
crisis by exacerbating food security
issues for the whole world. “The war is
having an impact beyond Ukraine and
it’s something that we’re very con-
cerned about,” she said in Warsaw on
Monday. “I’m afraid we really have a
global crisis on our hands.”
On Monday, wheat jumped by the
exchange limit to near a record high
after India’s move to restrict exports,
exposing just how tight global sup-
plies are amid the conflict in Ukraine.
The Group of Seven nations’ agricul-
tural ministers criticized the move for
making the world’s crisis worse.
Yellen is in Europe to attend the G-7
meeting of finance ministers and cen-
tral bankers in Germany later this
week. She said that officials will
release an action plan to address food
insecurity. It “will include the ways in
which you’re stepping up to provide
surge support,” she said.
“I’d like to recognize the efforts the
Polish government and other neigh-
boring governments are making to
help Ukraine develop roots for its agri-
cultural exports, for wheat, for com-
modities, that global markets desper-
ately need and are very hard to export
because of the blockades of Odesa and
other ports,” she added.
The US has pledged $40 billion in
aid for Ukraine and $5 billion for food
security “that’s making it’s way
through the Senate,” Yellen said. “We
want to make sure that the assistance
gets to where it’s needed.”
04 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI MARK TO MARKET LIVEMINT.COM

S&P BSE Sensex Nifty 50 Nifty 500 Nifty Next 50 Nifty 100 S&P BSE Mid-cap S&P BSE Small Cap
CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE

52,973.84 0.34 15,842.30 0.38 13,571.20 0.74 38,074.05 1.51 16,079.00 0.58 22,145.10 1.51 25,605.99 1.15
PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN

52,793.62 52,946.32 15,782.15 15,845.10 13,471.50 13,540.25 37,507.50 37,858.45 15,986.50 16,062.65 21,815.66 21,983.02 25,315.75 25,535.53
HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

53,428.28 52,632.48 15,977.95 15,739.65 13,646.30 13,434.45 38,250.80 37,447.10 16,199.25 15,946.80 22,189.31 21,773.55 25,659.81 25,274.80

m MINT SHORTS
China April property sales see
For DMart, all eyes Weak build
In the last decade, Ambuja Cements and ACC have lagged their peers in
capacity addition and lost market share in volumes.
10 year volume CAGR 10 year capacity CAGR (in %)

are on recovery now

16

steepest drop since 2006 12

Beijing/Hong Kong: China’s property sales in April fell
at their fastest pace in 16 years as lockdowns to contain
the spread of coronavirus further cooled demand despite 8

more policy easing steps aimed at reviving a key pillar of Pallavi Pengonda
the world’s second-largest economy. Property sales by [email protected]
Slow progress 4

value in April slumped 46.6% from a year earlier, the big- Avenue Supermarts’ revenue per store in Q4FY22 has risen by just 2% CAGR

T
gest drop since August 2006, and sharply widened from he shares of Avenue Super- vis-à-vis Q4FY19, a pre-pandemic quarter. 0
Shree Cement UltraTech Cement Dalmia Bharat ACC Ambuja Cements
the 26.17% fall in March, according to Reuters calculations marts Ltd rose 10% on Mon- CAGR is compound annual growth rate Source: Kotak Institutional Equities estimates
40
based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics day on NSE, reversing most of
(NBS) released on Monday. Property sales in January- the losses seen last week when Revenue per store (in ₹ crore) SATISH KUMAR/MINT

April by value fell 29.5% year-on-year, compared with a

22.7% decline in the first three months. A further cut in
mortgage loan interest rates for some home buyers
the stock had declined by
nearly 12%. As on Friday, shares of the
company that runs the DMart chain of
30
29.6
31.5
Adani-Holcim deal to
announced by Chinese authorities on Sunday did little to
convince investors and analysts that it could revive slug-
gish property demand. REUTERS
retail stores were as much as 45% below
their 52-week high of ₹5,900 seen on 18
October on NSE. 20
not hurt pricing much
The comparatively lower valuation
prompted quite a few analysts to Vineetha Sampath losing market share in volumes. The
upgrade their ratings for the stock. [email protected] 10-year volume compound annual
ICICI Securities Ltd changed its rec- 10
growth rates for Ambuja and ACC are

S
ommendation on the DMart stock to buy hares of Ambuja Cements Ltd 3% and 2%, respectively, compared
from sell. On 15 May, the broking firm and ACC Ltd rose by 2.5% and to UltraTech Cement’s 9%, according
said: “A broad-based market correction 4% respectively on Monday to Kotak Institutional Equities.
(and possibly some technical factors) 0
after the Adani Group’s announce- Ambuja and ACC’s combined capac-
does bring rationality to buy-at-any- Q4FY19 Q4FY22 ment to acquire Holcim Ltd’s stake in ity at March-end was about 67.5 mil-
price stories. In FY22-24E, we believe it CAGR is compound annual growth rate Source: Company, JM Financial Ambuja and ACC through an off- lion tonne.
has value and volume tailwinds: inflation shore special purpose vehicle. The As such, the deal could bring a
(higher absolute gross profit per unit, SATISH KUMAR/MINT
deal triggers an open offer, including turnaround. “Adani is unlikely to
operating leverage) and likely higher crore. DMart’s gross margin narrowed DMart said that in the discretionary non- which the total value of the transac- give the incumbents any opportunity
footfalls as more consumers prioritize by 5 basis points to 14.3%. One basis FMCG segment, it is hard to estimate if tion is $10.5 billion. Even after con- to take further market share from
value.” point is 0.01%. the relatively slower growth is because sidering Monday’s share price gains, Ambuja-ACC but we do not see any
In a report on 14 May, JM Financial However, earnings before interest, of a secular change over time because of the offer prices are at a premium by risk to market pricing discipline,”
Institutional Securities Ltd too tax, depreciation and amortization a shift to e-commerce or inflation or sig- about 5% each. said Kotak’s analysts in a report on 16
Gas output in key locales in the US has slowed this year, upgraded its rating on DMart to buy (Ebitda) margin widened 18 basis points nificantly higher covid-related negative Jefferies India analysts reckon that May.
partly because of insufficient pipeline capacity. BLOOMBERG from hold “after two years, to take to 8.6%, helped by efficient cost control. economic impact on some shoppers. the deal value implies an enterprise Further, both the companies will
advantage of the recent steep price cor- Revenue per store was a bit under- “We would be able to give that qualita- value per tonne of $164 benefit from synergies
rection.” whelming, though. As JM Financial’s tive interpretation only if there are no and $152 for CY22 and Investors have to because of the presence
The target prices of ICICI Securities analysts said: “Average revenue per store more covid shutdowns or restrictions CY23 estimates, respec- watch how the of Adani companies
Surging prices of natural gas and JM Financial for the DMart stock are for the March quarter has grown at just over at least two more quarters,” said the tively. “Given the pre- across sectors, which
competitive
squeeze US industrial sector ₹3,900 and ₹3,675, respec- company. As such, the lack mium valuation Adani intensity shapes would enable margin
Houston/Chicago: Skyrocketing natural gas prices tively. On Monday, DMart’s KEY MONITORABLES of further potential covid group is paying for the
up and what the expansion. Also, “there
have raised manufacturing and transportation costs shares closed at ₹3,561 waves would also help acquisition, the could be 5-7% increase
across many US industries and the situation is likely to apiece. THE trend of DEMAND pickup in IF there are no faster sales recovery. required Ebitda per impact will be on in per tonne Ebitda
persist as the US exports more gas to Europe to make up The appreciation seen average revenue per the discretionary further waves of the Meanwhile, the com- tonne is about Rs2,000 pricing margins for the two
store of Avenue segments is a crucial pandemic, it may
for Russian supplies lost to sanctions. US natural gas could limit sharp gains in Supermarts in Q4 factor to watch out support faster pany opened 50 stores last to achieve double-digit companies if Adani
futures have doubled this year, far more than the the near future. The stock was slower for sales recovery fiscal year, taking the total return on equity were to discontinue the
increases in retail petrol and diesel that have made Amer- now trades at almost 70 count to 284. Store expan- (assuming 1:1 debt to equity, 7% inter- technical know-how fees that
icans angry at the US energy industry and the govern- times the estimated FY24 sions are a key monitora- est rate and 80% capacity utilisa- Ambuja and ACC used to pay to Hol-
ment. Many industrial company executives believe the earnings, according to Bloomberg data. 2% CAGR versus March 2019 quarter’s ble. DMart’s e-commerce business has tion),” said Jefferies’ analysts in a cim (at 1% of sales),” pointed out a
US, once a large importer of natural gas, should stop Investors would do well to watch the undisturbed pre-pandemic level. DMart also gradually expanded over time and is report on 16 May. Ebitda is earnings report by Nomura on 16 May.
exporting gas and prioritize its own needs. However, gas pace of sales recovery on normalization. had compounded per-store revenue by now present in 12 cities. That said, the before interest, tax, depreciation and Announcements on growth plans,
producers are pushing for more export capacity along DMart’s March quarter earnings 8.8% p.a. on an average (FY17-20) prior slower-than-expected turnaround in the amortization. funding, and a potential merger of
with more permits for drilling. Gas output in key locales (Q4FY22), announced on Saturday, to the pandemic.” CAGR is compound e-commerce business is a risk for the Investors will now have to watch Ambuja and ACC would be key fac-
in the US has slowed this year, partly because of insuffi- show that the Omicron wave hurt sales annual growth rate. DMart stock, as would be an increase in how the competitive intensity shapes tors to watch out for. The transaction
cient pipeline capacity. Bad weather also cut production momentum in mid-January. Specifically, the growth pickup in the the competitive intensity from online up and what the impact will be on is expected to close in the second half
and boosted demand. The Russia -Ukraine war and sub- March saw a good recovery. Overall, discretionary segment needs monitor- grocery retailers. Moreover, it remains pricing. In the last decade, both of CY22, making Adani the second
sequent sanctions have caused a scramble for US exports standalone revenues in the fourth quar- ing even as the fast-moving consumer to be seen if demand gets hurt because of Ambuja and ACC have lagged peers largest cement producer in India in
of gas chilled to liquid form. REUTERS ter rose by 17.8% year-on-year to ₹8,606 goods (FMCG) segment is doing better. inflation. in terms of capacity addition, thus terms of capacity.

Mark to Market writers do not have positions in the companies they have discussed here

eMudhra’s Offshore funds see $1.28 billion outflow Retail investors remain bullish
IPO price PTI
despite 14% plunge in stocks began to invest in safe-haven net outflows of $475 million

band set at [email protected]

NEW DELHI
investments, such as gold or the during the quarter. Flows into
US dollar, it said. offshore funds are generally
India-focused offshore funds considered to be long-term in bloomberg equity sales trading at JM
₹243-256
I
ndia-focused offshore funds and ETFs are some of the nature, whereas flows into off- [email protected] Financial Institutional Securi-
and exchange-traded funds prominent vehicles through shore ETFs indicate short-term ties Ltd.

I
(ETFs) saw a net outflow of which foreign investors invest investment. The trend of flows f bets in the futures market It also signals complacency
PTI $1.28 billion in the three in the Indian in the India-fo- are any guide, India’s retail and hence a possible risk for
[email protected] months ended March 2022, equity market. Investors began cused offshore investors remain optimistic stocks if the mood sours, he
NEW DELHI making it the 16th consecutive Through calen- to move out of funds and ETFs about equities despite a 14% said.
quarter of withdrawal, accord- dar year 2021, emerging markets would revolve plunge in the stock market Retail investors have

D
igital signature certifi- ing to a Morningstar report India-focused off- and began to around how it from a record high hit last become increasingly impor-
cate provider eMudhra released on Monday. This was shore funds and fares against com- year. The ratio of outstanding tant in Indian equity markets.
invest in safe
Ltd on Monday said it far higher than the net outflow Q4FY22 was the 16th straight ETFs had a net parable econo- long-to-short positions in sin- Official figures show they
has fixed a price band of ₹243- of $435 million registered dur- quarter of withdrawal ISTOCK outflow of $2.45 havens like gold mies on growth gle stock futures is at 6.74 accounted for 45% of trading
256 a share for its ₹413-crore ing the December 2021 quar- billion, sharply and the US dollar prospects from a times versus a 10-year mean of Retail investors are now even in 2021, up from 33% five years
Initial Public Offering (IPO). ter. causes, prompted investors to lower than the net long-term per- 3.74, according to data com- more vital to Indian markets. HT earlier.
The initial share-sale will Escalation in geopolitical turn risk-averse during the outflow of $9.26 spective, the piled by Bloomberg. About 14.2 million retail
open for public on 20 May and tensions because of the war quarter under review, the billion in 2020. report explained. Some factors, That is down from about threats. accounts were opened and
conclude on 24 May, and the between Russia and Ukraine, report noted. During the three months such as how the scenario 10.4 in January. However, the The still-elevated ratio registered with the country’s
bidding for anchor investors hikes in interest rates by the US Subsequently, investors ended March 2021, the India- unfolds on global inflation and fact that it remains elevated shows that “retail traders two main depository houses
will open on 19 May, according Federal Reserve along with its began to move out of emerging focused offshore fund segment economic growth, and the could point to the risk that remain sanguine despite the from April to October last year
to the company. The company hawkish guidance, volatile markets such as India, which witnessed a net outflow of Fed’s decision to hike rates fur- retail investors are too opti- fall” in stocks this year, accord- as stocks rebounded from the
has cut the size of the fresh crude prices, and surging infla- are riskier and more prone to $800 million. India-focused ther, will be closely watched by mistic and vulnerable to disap- ing to Shrinivas Balasubrama- crash that followed the out-
issue from ₹200 crore to ₹161 tion globally, among other such challenging times, and offshore ETFs also experienced foreign investors, it said. pointment from an array of nian, director of institutional break of coronavirus.
crore. Besides, there will be an
offer-for-sale (OFS) of 9.835
million shares by promoters
and existing shareholders.
As part of the OFS, promot-
ers—Venkatraman Srinivasan
Jet fuel prices rise 5% to touch record high; air fares set to increase
and Taarav Pte Ltd—will off-
load 3.289 million equity and Rituraj Baruah they were in January, the fares ing to some extent. industrial production and economic slowdown in China
4.516 million equity shares [email protected] are up by 30-40% on average Oil prices eased on Monday retail sales data released today is a major concern for the oil
respectively. In addition, NEW DELHI on most sectors . Compared to as traders booked profits. At (Monday) showed signs of market as the country is a one
Kaushik Srinivasan will divest same period last year, airfares the time of writing the article, increasing pressure on the of the largest importers of the

P
510,000 equity shares, rices of aviation turbine on some popular routes have the July contract of Brent on economy amid zero tolerance commodity.
Lakshmi Kaushik 504,000 fuel (ATF) touched new gone up by more than 50%,” the Interconti- covid policy,” said Despite the volatility in the
equity shares, Arvind Sriniv- highs on Friday. The said Aloke Bajpai, group chief nental Exchange Rising ATF prices Ravindra Rao, oil market, retail prices of pet-
asan, 881,000 equity shares price of ATF increased by executive officer and was trading at continue to head of commod- rol and diesel in India contin-
and Aishwarya Arvind 133,000 5.29% to ₹1,23,039.71 per kilo- co-founder, Ixigo. $111.00 per bar- dampen industry ity research, ued to remain unchanged. In
equity shares. At the upper end litre in the national capital. On Over the next six months, he rel, lower by earnings, with Kotak Securities. Delhi, petrol is sold for ₹105.41
of the price band, the public 2 May, it was raised to said, a lot would depend upon 0.49% from its On Monday, per litre, while diesel is priced
prices in May 2022
issue is expected to fetch ₹1,16,851.46 per kilolitre. the outcome of the Russia- previous close. China reported a at ₹96.67 a litre.Retail trans-
₹412.79 crore. Proceeds from Airline fares, which are Ukraine crisis and if there is a The price of ATF rose to ₹1,23,039.71 per kilolitre in the national The June con- being higher by drop in retail sales port fuel prices, which directly
the fresh issue will be used to already high, are likely to resolution on the table to bring capital. On 2 May, it was raised to ₹1,16,851.46 per kilolitre. MINT tract of West 89.2% y-o-y and industrial affect the common man, have
repay debt, support working increase further with the latest oil prices down. “Travel Texas Intermedi- production in been unchanged for around
capital needs, purchase equip- hike as ATF prices account for demand remains muted com- to dampen industry earnings, Since the Russia-Ukraine ate on the April. Retail sales 40 days after increasing by ₹10
ment and pay for other related a large part of the operating pared to where the industry with prices in May 2022 being war broke out in February, the NYMEX fell 0.3% to $110.16 declined 11.1% in April from the per litre during March
costs for data centre planned in costs of an airline. expected it to be because of higher by 89.2% on a year-on- oil market became more vola- per barrel. year-ago period and industrial 22-April 6 on the back of soar-
India and overseas, and for gen- “If we look at current high airfares,” he said. year (y-o-y) basis, said a recent tile and crude prices reached Prices are likely to be ele- production dropped by 2.9% ing oil prices amid the Russia-
eral corporate purposes. domestic airfares versus what Rising ATF prices continue report by Icra. multi-year highs, before eas- vated, analysts said. “China’s in April on a y-o-y basis. The Ukraine conflict.
LIVEMINT.COM
TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI 05

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ANDHRA PRADESH
#1 IN 2020 #1 IN 2021
SKOCH STATE OF GOVERNANCE REPORT
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YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

• Andhra Pradesh has already surpassed its 5-year cumulative score, from year 2014-2019, in just 2 years i.e., from 2020-2021
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

50
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25 20.95
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• Andhra Pradesh has kept its position at the top of star performers in • Sectors that have seen enhanced focus in 2021 RURAL DEVELOPMENT
both 2020 as well as 2021 than from year 2020 • Above sectors have seen stable focus over sports facilities to encourage
last two years sports in the state. SANITATION

RURAL DRIVES DEVELOPMENT

I
t was the morning of and security performed at the #2 in Disaster Management YSR AASARA Government
16th February 2021, outcome-based level. The state has secured second Schemes and Service Delivery
when Sameer Kochhar, Come 2022, YS Jagan place in Disaster Management. at the Doorstep of the
Chairman, SKOCH Group Mohan Reddy has once again The Heatwave Prediction Citizens programmes are well
was received by Chief Minister emerged as the Chief Minister and Mitigation project by the performers.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in his of the Year for 2021. The state Andhra Pradesh State Disaster
office in Vijayawada. The Chief has ranked #1 in the SKOCH Management Authority has #2 in e-Governance
Minister was being conferred State of Governance 2021 helped the state improve The state has maintained its
the SKOCH Chief Minister report card. It maintains its preparedness and counter position as #2 with a score
of the Year Award based on position in the top spot for a the risks posed by global of 3.1 Noteworthy projects
a year-long assessment of second year in a row. warming. include Apita Academic
project-level outcomes. While Andhra Pradesh has Resources Center and
conferring the award Kochhar consistently performed well #4 in Skill Development SPANDANA.
had said, “The state has taken and a three-year analysis from The state climbs up from #6 in
several revolutionary measures 2019 to 2021 establishes the 2020, which had no rank for NEW SECTORS
benefiting the citizens to make state’s commitment to good the same in 2019. The Upscal- #1 in Animal Husbandry &
governance more efficient and governance initiatives. ing Skill Development Process Fisheries
transparent.” through e-learning Methods The state is ranked #1 in
He further reminded 4 SECTORS IMPROVE project by the Andhra Pradesh Animal Husbandry and
the Chief Minister, his #1 in Agriculture State Skill Development Cor- Fisheries. Projects include
conversation with YSR Reddy, It was unranked in 2019, poration is helping the state Domestic Marketing, Aqua
the then Chief Minister of climbed up to #5 in 2020 with make progress in the sector. E-Crop and the most impactful
unified Andhra Pradesh, when a score of 0.05 and is now #1 of the lot - the Domestic Fish
he had said that his priorities with a score of 4.1 for 2021. GOOD GOVERNANCE Marketing initiative.
and focus are the upliftment Important projects include SOCIETY FOR ELIMINATION OF RURAL POVERTY, #1 in Police & Safety
of rural areas and reducing the Rythu Bharosa Kendralu DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT Andhra Pradesh climbed from #3 in Transport
the hiatus between rural and (RBKs) and Farmers Welfare #4 in 2019 to #1 in 2020. The Andhra Pradesh has been
the urban. Post division, programmes. � YSR CHEYUTHA � YSR AASARA state has maintained the #1 rank ranked #3 for Transport. The
Andhra Pradesh has inherited in 2021. Projects including the Andhra Pradesh State Road
more rural than urban and #1 in District Governance Central Lock-up Monitoring Transport Corporation project
how Jagan Mohan Reddy’s, Andhra Pradesh has climbed System in Guntur, Operation on Rooftop Solar Plants has
walking in the footsteps of to the #1 spot for District DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES Samaikhya in Chittoor and helped secure its top in the
his father, is making a marked Governance in 2021 with a GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH 3 NETRA in Tirupati Urban Top 3.
difference, added Kochhar. score of 8.55. The state has have performed well.
Schemes like the YSR turned out several important #4 In Education
Rythu Bharosa Kendralu projects, including work done #1 in Rural Development The state is ranked #4 in
(RBK), YSR Cheyutha, Disha under the MGNREGS & The state moved from #3 Education for 2021. The
and Abhay have all stood Integrated Water Management with a score of 0.05 for Design and Development of
out as interesting model for Programme and the YSR Rural Development in 2019 Online Teaching and Learning
village-level procurement, Nethanna Nestham scheme. DOMESTIC MARKETING AQUA E-CROP to #1 with a score of 4.15 System - A Tool-Kit initiative
economic empowerment of District Vizianagaram has in 2020. The state is #1 in by the Andhra Pradesh State
middle-aged women and done well in Rice Fortification 2021 as well, with a score Council of Higher Education
enhancing women’s safety and in Natural Farming. of 7.2. The YSR Cheyutha, has made a mark. �

NOMINATE NOW: award.skoch.in [email protected] skochgroup skochgroup skochtv @skochgroup @skochsameer

06 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI CORPORATE LIVEMINT.COM

Canara Bank
Startup layoffs may worsen SBI may take a
eyes up to 10%
relook at JV with
loan growth
this fiscal year as investor pressure mounts Jio Payments Bank
PTI FROM PAGE 1 ments Bank went unanswered.
[email protected] In FY21, Jio Payments Bank
MUMBAI online and offline reach for its reported a loss of ₹89.7 crore on
Firms may review disproportionate hirings across functions and may not focus on new verticals for now payment bank. SBI, on the other a revenue of ₹13.39 crore. In the

S
tate-owned Canara Bank hand, was expected to provide its previous year, it reported a profit
is expecting an 8-10% expertise in structuring products of ₹50.36 lakh on a revenue of
growth in advances as Devina Sengupta & the pandemic as education went online. and a mass distribution network, ₹19.39 crore.
well as a healthy double-digit Ranjani Raghavan Now, with schools re-opening, demand helping the payments bank get In FY21, Jio Payments Bank
rise in corporate loan portfolio for online programmes has gone down,” more business. was fined ₹1 crore by the
in the current financial year, MUMBAI Aditya Narayan Mishra, director and “But Jio Payments Bank did Reserve Bank of India for delay
managing director and CEO L. CEO, Ciel HR Services, said. In many not take any initiative in mer- in applying for reappointment

T
V. Prabhakar said on Monday. he startup sector could let go startups, the leadership is very young chant or customer acquisition. of its managing director and
In the fiscal ended March, of about 5,000 employees and they hired to drive home the point The bank played a minor role in chief executive.
the lender’s gross advances over the next couple of quar- that they are a growing business, Mishra their larger scheme of things. Last year H. Srikrishnan, the
grew by 9.77%. ters as they face pressure from said. That has now backfired on them. SBI was just an investing part- then chief executive, “offered
“Last year (FY22), we had investors to improve bottom The edtech sector has 400,000- ner,” a former SBI official said himself for reappointment” but
targeted a loan growth of 7.5% lines and focus on the core business, 500,000 employees, and 5,000 people on condition of anonymity. later resigned. The board of the
and closed the year at 9.77%. recruiters said. They are also less likely being retrenched over the next two SBI said it infused ₹9.48 payments bank then appointed
For FY23, we have given gui- to focus on new verticals and are quarters will not stop one from joining crore in the payments bank in Vinod Easwaran, a senior exec-
dance of a minimum growth of expected to review functions where the industry, he said. Some startups said its notes to utive of Reliance
8%. However, going with the they have gone overboard in hiring. they were still hiring, despite rationaliz- accounts accom- Industries, as the
present trend, we expect we “It looks like someone has made a tiny ing staff in a few divisions. Those that panying the The payments new CEO on 18
will grow at 10%,” Prabhakar prick in the bubble. Overall, the sector The startup sector may let go of about 5,000 staff in the next couple of quarters had raised capital last year have a buffer March quarter bank model November.
said in an interaction. may continue to hire but there is inves- as they face pressure from investors to improve bottom lines, recruiters said. MINT and will continue hiring in specific verti- earnings. The faces several The payments
“Overall we are targeting tor pressure on several e-commerce and cals, two startup executives indicated, country’s largest hurdles and has bank model faces
that by March 2023 our bal- edtech firms,” said Shiv Agrawal, man- tive, India. “We also expect salary hikes resigned from White Hat Jr in the past seeking anonymity. lender owns 30% several hurdles
not taken off as
ance sheet size will be more aging director, ABC Consultants. Some to stabilize.” two months after it asked employees to The Vedantu spokesperson said it of Jio Payments and has not taken
than ₹20 trillion as compared new-age firms had started new business Edtech startups have let go of at least report to office in Mumbai and Guru- plans to hire 1,000 people this year, Bank, with Reli- intended by the off as intended by
to ₹18.27 trillion today,” he said. verticals during the last two years, which 1,500 employees, including teachers, gram, said a person in the know. Inc42 VCCircle reported in May. ance holding the central bank the central bank
The bank’s retail, agriculture are not working out, Agrawal said. contract workers and sales staff. and Financial Express reported 800 Swiggy shut its grocery deliver verti- rest. According to when guidelines
and MSME (RAM) segment, “Those hired in sales, delivery and oper- Earlier this month, Vedantu Innovation White Hat Jr employees had resigned. cal in five cities, but would map out roles the person cited were issued in
which constitutes 57% of its total ations in the lower strata have to be let Pvt. Ltd said it was laying off 200 employ- The edtech firm had offered reloca- for all of its Supr Daily staff in other verti- earlier, the latest capital infu- 2014. “Customers are no longer
loan book, rose 10.94% in the go,” he said. ees after “load rebalancing” of specific tion support and provided exceptions cals across the business, a person aware sion is part of the original willing to pay fees on payment
previous fiscal. Within RAM, ABC Consultants has asked its out- roles, based on growth expectations. In for medical and other emergencies, said of the matter said. A blog post said senior agreement. transactions as other options are
retail grew 9.51%, agriculture by placement team to keep a watch on this April, Unacademy said it let go of nearly a White Hat Jr spokesperson. executives of Supr Daily had been In a report accompanying the available. So, payment banks
12.75% and MSME by 9.87%. sector for retrenchment and subse- shifted to other unts. Swiggy also FY21 results, Jio Payments Bank have to look at volumes to make
Corporate loan book, which quent placements. EMPLOYEE CHURN took on 500 employees as part of the said it has opened current money. But not all payment
witnessed a growth of 8.27% in A Bengaluru-based recruiter, who Dineout deal last week, the person accounts jointly with Reliance banks can look at a volume-
FY22, is expected to grow at 10%. works for the startup sector, expects THERE is investor SO far startups EDTECH firms SOME startups said said. Retail as part of the JioMart mer- driven growth,” said R. Gandhi,
The bank is seeing a good trac- 4,000-5,000 employees overall to pressure on several
e-commerce and
have retrenched staff
after identifying
have let go of at least
1,500 staff, including
staff separation had not
happened because of
Meesho let go of 150 employees as chant onboarding programme. a former deputy governor of the
tion in corporate loan portfolio be retrenched. “During two years of ed-tech firms, redundancies, and after teachers, contract layoffs but relocation it integrated its grocery business The bank offers features such as Reserve Bank of India.
and has a pipeline of covid, we knew exactly where and recruiters said acquisitions workers and sales staff requirements into the main app. However, social the instant opening of accounts, RBI has allowed payments
₹65,000-70,000 crore. why the layoffs are happening. How- and e-commerce startup Meesho real-time settlements and pay- banks to convert into small
“We are getting a lot of ever, this time, it is worrying us said it plans to hire more in tech and outs for point-of-sale transac- finance banks (SFB) after five
inquiries as far as infrastruc- because there is no clear cause.” 800 employees, including those from Earlier this year, edtech Lido Learn- product roles. “We hired a record 150 tions. years of operation. Existing banks
ture, renewable energy and So far startups have retrenched PrepLadder, which the edtech firm had ing asked employees to resign after the employees in tech last quarter. We plan “The idea behind the pay- like Paytm Payments Bank and
manufacturing sectors are con- employees after identifying redundan- acquired last year. Back then, the edtech startup could not pay salaries because of to hire close to 1,000 employees this ments bank was to integrate with Fino Payments Bank have already
cerned. At least we are having cies, sometimes after acquisitions. “In firm said redundancy and performance its inability to raise capital or find buy- year, which includes doubling our tech the Jio ecosystem. That’s why applied for a small finance bank
about ₹65,000-70,000 crore the absence of funding, and massive issues were key reasons for the layoffs. ers. Lido Learning chief executive offi- team,” a Meesho spokesperson said. their branches were located next licence. However, the likes of Air-
of corporate loan proposals selloff in tech stocks globally, startups A few startups said employee separa- cer Sahil Seth, on Sunday, disputed the Fintech OkCredit, furniture rental to Jio stores. But the bank has tel Payments Bank and Jio Pay-
with us for appraisal. “Already, are now being forced to focus on cash tion had not happened because of lay- number of employees who had to leave business Furlenco, and social commerce not integrated very well. So, we ments Bank will not be allowed to
we have underwritten hybrid flows and profitability leading to ration- offs but because of relocation require- but did not offer details. startup Trell have also let go of employ- have been asking them to for- apply for an SFB licence, as RBI
annuity mode (HAM) projects alization of headcount and other costs,” ments and better job opportunities. “The startup sector has many edtech ees since January, according to multiple mulate a model,” the person said. rules bar large firms from owning
worth ₹35,000 crore,” he said. said Anshul Lodha, head of Page Execu- As many as 200-250 employees have firms that hired in large numbers during media reports. Emails sent to SBI and Jio Pay- commercial banks.

Wheat prices climb to record Infosys hikes pay to retain staff

high after India bans exports FROM PAGE 1 85,000 freshers last fiscal and
plans to hire about 50,000 col-
they will be given opportuni- lege graduates in FY23. A sen-
AFP 20-40% in recent weeks, com- ties to work in different teams ior tech consultant said that the
[email protected] merce secretary B.V.R. Subrah- and learn in-demand skills such top companies have no option
PARIS manyam said on Sunday. as AI and ML. but to absorb the rising
Because of the sharp rise in “Infosys and its competitors employee costs until the attri-

W
heat prices surged to global prices, some farmers have to also work on legacy tion levels ease.
a new record high in were selling to traders and not technologies, and today, The tech sector with the
European trading on to the government. This got the employees want to get on with highest churn rate also has
Monday after India decided to government worried about its AI and ML and learn new skill non-compete policies, and that
A file photo of Ambuja Cements. Adani has offered to acquire ban exports of the commodity buffer stock of almost 20 million sets. So, line managers are assur- of Infosys is in focus. The Union
Ambuja shares at ₹385 apiece. BLOOMBERG as a heatwave hit production. tonnes—depleted by the pan- ing the teams that the top lot will labour ministry is expected to
The price jumped to €435 demic—needed for handouts to get to work on projects involv- hold a “joint discussion” on

Adanis to infuse ($453) per tonne as the

Euronext market opened, up
from the previous record of New Delhi said the move was
millions of poor families and to
avert a possible famine.
“Contrary to Russia which
ing the new technologies. It is no
longer about onsite opportuni-
ties only,” another executive
Infosys managing director and
chief executive Salil Parekh.
Tuesday on the enforcement of
the non-compete clause, which
prevents an employee from

$3 bn in equity to €422 reached on Friday.

On the Chicago Board of
Trade, just before trading
needed to protect the food
security of its 1.4 bn people. PTI
has had an export quota and tax
system in place for years, India
no doubt has more difficulty in
who works with the firm said,
requesting anonymity.
Another person aware of the
“We also see that many of the
initiatives that we have put in
place with regard to employee
joining a rival tech firm within
six months of exiting Infosys.
The meeting will be between
opened the price of the SRW tries. India, the world’s second- controlling exports,” said Dam- changes said Infosys is also engagement, compensation, the chief labour commissioner
fund Holcim deal wheat futures contract hit $12.35
a bushel, an increase of 4.9%.
Global wheat prices have
largest wheat producer, said on
Saturday that it was banning
exports after its hottest March on
ien Vercambre at grains bro-
kerage Inter-Courtage.
The export ban drew sharp
planning a flexi-benefit policy
that will offer more perks to its
key employees.
rotation of work, career pro-
gression, those are already
starting to have an impact, and
and Nascent Information
Technology Employees Senate
(NITES), the Pune-based
FROM PAGE 1 at a significant premium of 9% soared 40% on supply fears since record, with traders needing criticism from the Group of Rivals may now have to we anticipate they will have an labour union that had appealed
and 7% to the Friday closing Russia’s February invasion of agri- express government approval to Seven industrialised nations, match the hikes in Infosys as impact over the coming quar- to the ministry seeking removal
in them. Adani has offered to price of ACC and Ambuja, cultural powerhouse Ukraine, enter into new deals. which said that such measures the Great Resignation trend ters, so we believe we have sev- of Infosys‘s non-compete
buy ACC shares at ₹2,300 apiece respectively. Further, the agreed which previously accounted for New Delhi said the move was “would worsen the crisis” of ris- continues in the tech sector. At eral of these initiatives in place clause, and representatives of
and Ambuja shares at ₹385, deal value ($10.5 billion, includ- 12% of global exports. needed to protect the food secu- ing commodity prices. its post-earnings press confer- that will help us as we go the company.
spending a total of ₹31,139.5 ing the open offer) meets market The spike, exacerbated by fer- rity of its own 1.4 billion people Export deals agreed before ence, Infosys managing ahead,” Parekh said in April. An earlier meeting in April
crore if the open offer is fully expectations of a deal between tilizer shortages and poor har- in the face of lower production the directive issued on 13 May director and chief executive The increased employee was cancelled as Infosys
subscribed. On Monday, shares $10 billion and $11 billion, said vests, has fuelled inflation glo- and sharply higher global prices. could still be honoured but Salil Parekh said that the com- engagement will attract more informed the ministry that it
of ACC and Ambuja closed 3.7% Uttam Kumar Srimal, senior bally and raised fears of famine Some parts of India have seen future shipments needed gov- pany’s new initiatives would laterals and fresh graduates to did not receive a copy of the
and 2.59% higher at ₹2,194.90 research analyst at Axis Securi- and social unrest in poorer coun- prices in wheat and flour jump ernment approval, it said. help bring down attrition. the tech firm. Infosys hired public grievance.
and 368.10, respectively. ties. “Since the deal has hap-
In an analysts’ call on Mon- pened at a premium to market
day, Jan Jenisch, chief executive price, it is working in favour of
officer of Holcim, the world’s both companies,” added Srimal.
largest cement maker, said the The valuation assigned to
group does not expect any capi- ACC works out to be $132/
‘There is a strong domestic demand for scrap and metals’
tal gains tax liability from the 6.4 tonne (12.9 times 12 months’
billion Swiss francs it will receive trailing enterprise value or EV/ Swati Luthra repair whatever we can and which recycling is the only Once we have that, there will instead of scrap collection.
from the sale. Ebitda), whereas [email protected] then recycling comes. For cir- option going forward. The be more business and employ- How is the vehicle scrap-
“The transfer of The Adani family the valuation NEW DELHI cular economy, recycling is a mines that are being dug; the ment opportunities. ping policy helping?
shares will take has said that the assigned for must because the whole pro- resources will get exhausted in As per the scrappage pol- The government made this

W
place between acquisition would Ambuja works out ith the govern- cess of circular economy is 30-40 years. We have to mine icy, will our domestic scrap policy after talking to the
Holcim Nether- be funded to be $226/tonne ment’s focus on ‘cir- incomplete without recycling. above the earth and not below prices be impacted? stakeholder involved. It will
lands and the or 18.2 times 12 cular economy’, How can the recycling indus- it. India has been recycling for With the government’s take a couple years to show
through an
Adani family Mau- months’ trailing merchants are facing challen- try reduce energy intensity the last 100 years. The impor- scrappage policy, domestic effect. As a result, vehicles are
ritius SPV, and the offshore special EV/Ebitda, said ges in scrap availability, said of industrial projects? tance of recycling has grown scrap prices will reaching the
deal will fall under purpose vehicle Motilal Oswal Material Recycling Associa- With the concept of recy- significantly in 40 years. West- be impacted. We are hardly organized sector.
the ambit of India- Financial Services tion of India president Sanjay cling itself, energy can be ern countries have adopted Steel prices have recycling 7-8% of We have been
Netherlands bilat- Ltd. For the com- Mehta in an interview. reduced. (When) you use any the best principles of recycling fallen in the last e-waste in an scrapping vehi-
eral tax treaty,” the first person bined entity, EV/tonne works Mehta said there is a very iron ore to make steel, energy is and now for the last 5-6 years, two months but organized cles for years
added. Under India’s agreement out to be $168/t (14.9 times 12 strong demand of scrap, steel required. Sec- India is adopt- the demand has
for the avoidance of double taxa- months’ trailing EV/Ebitda).
manner. The govt now. It is mostly
and other metals, with the ondary produc-
tion and prevention of fiscal eva- The valuations on a replace- scrappage policy having an tion will require m INTERVIEW ing them.
E-waste is a
not moved down.
There is a very is promoting
done locally, by
local vendors.
sion with the Netherlands, ment cost basis remain fair, impact on domestic scrap pri- only 20% of the big problem. Material Recycling Association strong demand awareness Their practices
investments by Dutch firms get looking at the fact that ACC has ces. This comes at a time when energy used during the primary What are the challenges of India president Sanjay Mehta. for scrap, steel or are not environ-
exemption from capital gains higher dependence on south- China, the largest producer of production process. Recycling you face in recycling them? any other metal. mental friendly,
when shares in Indian compa- ern Indian markets and also has scrap has banned exports. takes care of 20-25% of the car- Most people have several ner. The government policy is The requirement is increasing but ours are. The scrap is
nies are sold, subject to certain old capacities, said Motilal Edited excerpts: bon emissions. electronic wastes lying around promoting awareness towards every month and domestic reaching the steel making fac-
conditions. Mint reported in Oswal analysts. Comparatively, How does recycling lead to What kind of savings would their homes that they haven’t it. There is a lot of scope in consumption has also gone up. tories, locally. We have to
April 2019 that India has been in Ambuja has been a regional a circular economy? this entail in mining and given to proper authorities to e-waste recycling. We are at China is the largest producer ensure these practices spread
negotiations with the Nether- player and has generated Recycling is the basis for cir- energy intensive processes? be recycled. They often end up 30% level and we have to reach of scrap but has banned across the nation now. It will
lands to amend the tax treaty to stronger Ebitda per tonne com- cular economy to roll on. We Savings is the main game. in the unorganized sector. We 100%. Plastic and e-waste exports. The US is the largest take a couple of years but it will
secure greater taxation powers. pared to ACC, said Motilal ana- have to reduce our day-to-day You want to save the environ- are hardly recycling 7-8% of recycling are sectors where exporter for India as we face be a big aid to the industry as it
Analysts said the deal was struck lysts. usage; we have to reuse and ment, carbon emissions for e-waste in an organized man- more awareness is required. challenges in scrap availability will generate more scrap.
LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI 07

EESL prepares for big Government projects, edtech firms boost

tablet sales amid slump in retail demand
push into retail space Shouvik Das
[email protected]
New DelHI
from Samsung.
On Monday, Cybermedia
Research said in a report that
Lenovo, Apple and Samsung

T
he resurgent demand were the top three brands in
for tablets is being the domestic tablet market.
PSU JV plans to offer smart bulbs, inverter bulbs, energy efficient ACs to consumers driven by government Private edtech firms are also
projects, the ed-tech sector driving tablet sales and is the
and new office set-ups, while second-highest contributor
Rituraj Baruah demand from retail consum- for the device, said IDC’s
[email protected] ers which contributed to the Singh. “Byju’s, for instance,
New DelHI 28% rise in tablet sales in 2021, ships tablets as part of its edu-
declined in the March quarter, cation bundle. In fact, if they

S
tate-run Energy Efficiency Servi- said industry experts. were to make their own tab-
ces Ltd (EESL) plans to increase While India’s tablet market lets, Byju’s would probably be
its presence in the business-to- grew 68% from a year earlier India’s tablet market grew 68% from a year earlier in the March quarter, third or fourth in shipments
consumer (B2C) retail space in the quarter ended 31 March, with the Centre and states accounting for a big chunk of orders. BLOOMBERG by tablet OEMs in India.”
through offline and online chan- government departments However, despite the posi-
nels, with products such as smart bulbs, accounted for bulk of the between large-screen phones yana announced a personal- tive trend, experts said tablet
inverter bulbs, energy efficient ACs, fans orders, according to Cyber- and laptops, but 2021 was dif- ized, adaptive learning pro- sales are unlikely to see very
and induction cooking stoves with an ini- media Research. ferent considering that tablets gramme, and appointed con- high growth in the long run.
tial investment of around ₹30 crore, the Navkendar Singh, research were a more affordable alter- sulting firm Samagra to supply Singh said while commer-
company’s sales head Animesh Mishra director, International Data native to laptops for the retail 500,000 tablets to students of cial demand will compensate
said. Corp. (IDC), said, with laptop consumers as they scurried to grades 10, 11 and 12 for all gov- for falling retail consumer
In a bid to give a major push to its customer manufacturers failing to meet set up remote working sta- ernment schools in the state. demand, 2022 tablet sales will
outreach, the company, a joint venture of var- demand due to supply-chain tions at home and for online Aditya Chopra, vice-presi- be flat at about 4.3 million
ious public sector units, plans to set up 1,000 issues over the past two years, education, apart from supply dent, Samagra, said it has won units. Smartphone makers
brick-and-mortar shops across the country in the Union government and side issues for laptops . a tender to supply an addi- such as Xiaomi and Realme
a franchise model. states placed bulk orders for However, with the fall in tional 500,000 tablets for 9th are planning to launch new
The company, which already has a pres- tablets. covid infections, while retail graders. Indian Institute of Android-based tablets to woo
ence in the direct-to-consumer e-com- According to Tanvi Sharma, demand has declined consid- Technology, Bombay, (IIT-B) customers, but people are not
merce space with EESLmart.in, wants to A file photo of a post office. State-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd has tied up with the research associate, Counter- erably, government depart- is providing the software for likely to spend money on tab-
complement its online push. Department of Post to expand its retail outreach . MINT point Research, the tablet seg- ments are driving tablet sales. the hybrid learning interface. lets over smartphones in the
In an interview, Mishra said that the ini- ment had long been squeezed For instance, on 5 May, Har- Samagra is sourcing tablets future, Singh added.
tial investment in this retail push would be Post and CSC have already been associated ces space, would start an appliances pro-
₹30-31 crore. He noted as sales go up, with EESL. Through them, the PSU distrib- gramme that would include “super energy
investment may reach around ₹300 crore uted its light bulbs under the Centre’s Ujala efficient” ACs and light bulbs, he added.
over the next five years.
He said the company plans to expand its
scheme. EESL is also going to launch inverter bulbs,
Detailing its plan for opening offline which would give a backup of two hours
retail outreach through four channels. First stores, Mishra said: “We have planned a after a power cut, he said. The company
Biological E. cuts Corbevax jab price to ₹250
is the ongoing channel partner programme structure around it and initially, we are tar- already has ACs under its portfolio, but Priyanka Sharma ing emergency use authoriza- Individuals can currently Corbevax in collaboration
where local businesses and retail sales are yet to pick up. [email protected] tion (EUA) for children book a slot through the with the Texas Children’s
individuals who have signed FRANCHISE MODEL The company recently New DelHI between 5 and 12 years of age. Co-WIN portal for children Hospital and the Baylor Col-
up with EESL market the launched BLDC fans with a The previous aged 12 to 17. lege of Medicine.

H
products and sell them both to EESL is venturing THE company plans THE state-run firm power consumption of 30 yderabad-based Bio- private market The end-user has So far, 43.9 Prior to receiving EUA for
businesses and other custom- into the business-to- to set up 1,000 brick- invites tenders to
consumer space with and-mortar shops manufacture energy
watts, compared with conven- logical E. has sharply price for the vac- to pay ₹400 per million doses of vaccination, the company
ers. The second mode would an initial investment across the country in efficient appliances tional fans, which consume cut the price of its cov- cine was ₹990 a dose, including Corbevax have conducted phase II and III
be the e-commerce model of around ₹30 crore a franchise model from manufacturers power of 80 watts. BLDC id-19 vaccine Corbevax from dose, including taxes and been adminis- multicentre clinical trials on
through its own direct-to-con- stands for brush-less direct- ₹840 to ₹250 per dose at pri- taxes and vaccine tered to children 624 children aged 5-12 and
administration
sumer (D2C) platform. current motor, which con- vate vaccination centres. administration across the coun- 12-18.
“We are also planning a retail outlet geting to have at least 1,000 stores across sumes less electricity. The end-user has to pay charges. charges, the try and the com- The Centre started covid-19
model, retail shops which will be EESL India in the next two to three years. We will EESL, a PSU under the Union ministry of ₹400 per dose, including Corbevax is company said pany has sup- vaccination for the age group
franchisee stores across India and the be piloting it very soon, probably starting power, also plans to add induction cooking taxes and administration also offered in a plied close to 100 12-14 years on 16 March. So far,
fourth one is obviously to tie up with the sometime in July with 10-15 stores, largely stoves to its offerings in the future. charges, the company said in a single-dose vial. million doses to more than 31.7 million adoles-
Department of Post and the next stage in major tier-II and tier-III cities.” The company invites tenders to manufac- statement. This eliminates vaccine wast- the Union government, it cents have been administered
would be to tie up with CSC (common ser- The company, in order to expand its ture energy efficient appliances from manu- The decision comes within age, which is a major advan- said. the first dose of covid-19 vac-
vices centre),” he said. The Department of product portfolio in the consumer applian- facturing companies. weeks of Biological E. receiv- tage for private hospitals. Biological E has developed cine.

Consumer durables market may EU to keep using Russian gas

grow in double digits: BNP Paribas Bloomberg
[email protected]
payment complete. The gui-
dance matches what Bloom-
berg reported on Saturday.
Staff writer

T
commodity inflation can ease he European Union said European gas prices
[email protected] margin pressure, it added. companies can keep extended losses on Monday.
Household appliances and buying could keep buy- European companies are

I
ndia’s consumer durable consumer electronics saw an ing gas without breaching starting to move ahead to com-
manufacturers may post a increase in demand as the pan- sanctions, as it softened its ply with Russian demands and
low double-digit compound demic forced consumers to stance in a standoff with Mos- keep the gas flowing. Italian
annual growth rate (CAGR) in spend more time indoors. This cow over energy supplies. energy giant Eni SpA will
revenues over the next decade will help companies clock 22% The European Commission move to open accounts in
Amid the continued increase in inflation, it is almost certain that helped by low penetration of growth in revenues in FY22. sent its revised guidelines to rubles and euros with Gaz-
RBI will raise rates in forthcoming June and August policy. MINT some product categories and “While covid impacted reve- member states on Friday, a prombank by Wednesday so
stronger brands looking to con- nues in 4QFY20 and FY21, the spokesperson said on Monday. that it can make payments on

At least 59% of rise solidate their market presence,

BNP Paribas said in a report.
“The consumer electricals
The consumer electricals
industry is witnessing a market
sector recovered sharply with
pent-up demand playing out.
Thus, we estimate FY22 reve-
In the updated recommenda-
tions, it said companies should
make a clear statement that
Companies can buy Russian
gas keeping with sanctions. AP
time this month and avoid any
risks to gas supplies, according
to people familiar with the sit-

in inflation due to industry is witnessing a market

share shift from the unorgan-
ized to the organized sector.
share shift, a report said. MINT

over next decade,” BNP Paribas

nue growth at 22% (using
Bloomberg consensus for non-
covered companies), helped by
they consider their obligations
fulfilled once they pay in euros
or dollars.
regarding the payment
already fulfilled by paying in
euros or dollars, in line with
uation.
The company was waiting
for those guidelines to be for-
The disruptions such as said in the report issued on a low base. Importantly, we EU sanctions “do not pre- the existing contracts.” mally published before acting,
Ukraine war: SBI demonetization, GST imple-
mentation and the pandemic
have hastened such market-
Monday.
It, however, noted that fur-
ther commodity inflation could
estimate the revenue growth
reverting to the long-term
trend. We expect the same to
vent economic operators from
opening a bank account in a
designated bank for payments
The guidance does not pre-
vent companies from opening
an account at Gazprombank
one of the people said.
German giant Uniper SE
and Austria’s OMV AG have
Staff writer that are largely domestic) and share shifts. We estimate that impact demand and also put happen by end-FY23 as sea- due under contracts for the and will allow them to pur- also said they expect gas pur-
[email protected] Fuel and Light & Transport 30% of the industry is still unor- pressure on margins of compa- sonal products like ACs and air supply of natural gas in a gase- chase gas in accordance with chases to continue.
contributed 52% of the increase ganized which presents a huge nies. Commodity inflation, coolers are yet to experience a ous state, in the currency spec- EU sanctions following Rus- German Economy Minister

A
t least 59% of the in overall inflation since Febru- opportunity to listed Indian demand slowdown and rising full summer without lock- ified in those contracts,” the sia’s invasion of Ukraine. But it Robert Habeck expressed
increase in inflation is ary. If we also add the impact of players over the medium term interest-rate scenario are obvi- down,” BNP Paribas said. commission said. “Operators stops short of addressing the optimism Monday that Ger-
because of geopolitical input costs particularly on the to further consolidate their ous near-term challenges, it It estimated that aggregate should make a clear statement requirement by Moscow to man utility companies will be
conflict and it is futile to blame FMCG sector, thus adding the market share. Helped by such said. revenues of ten companies in that they intend to fulfil their open a second account in able to make their next gas
central banks, according to a contribution of personal care market-share gains, we expect A real-estate cycle revival the consumer durable sector obligations under existing rubles, which according to a payments to Moscow, despite
report from the State Bank of and effects, the total impact at organized sector to grow at a can add strong tailwinds to the grew in double digits CAGR contracts and consider their decree by President Vladimir the sanctions regime and Mos-
India’s economic research all India level comes to 59%, faster rate, closer to mid-teens sector while a correction in over the past decade contractual obligations Putin is needed to make the cow’s new rules.
department. purely because of war,” the
The report authored by Sou- report said.
mya Kanti Ghosh, group chief Amid the continued increase
economic adviser, SBI, said in inflation, it is now almost
inflation continues to be a bug- certain that RBI will raise rates
bear and it appears unlikely to in forthcoming June and
India to become 3rd largest lodging market globally: Hilton
correct anytime soon. August policy and will take it to
The latest inflation numbers, pre-pandemic level of 5.15% by Varuni Khosla cerned, particularly the hotel catch up and catch up quickly. a younger age and buy into the Conrad and Waldorf Astoria
however, reveal August. [email protected] sector is early in its journey. If So, it’s an unfair comparison entry level hotels and then buy brands, but we will continue to
that while in the The SBI report However, the New DelHI you contrast India with China, today but in the longer term, up during their careers so to grow with our core brands.
rural areas, the said inflation key challenge for India has only 2.6 million keys it’s not. The demographics of speak. Those big hotel deals we Hilton is the most recog-

A
impact has been continues to be a the central bank lan Watts, president, or rooms for 1.4 billion people the two markets, their GDP did in China, they’re all at the nized and valued brand in hos-
disproportion- bugbear and it remains whether Asia Pacific at Hilton versus China’s about 3.2 mil- growths, and, in fact, India’s Hilton Garden Inn sort of price pitality and so we continue to

‘
ately higher for
appears unlikely inflation will tread was in India for the lion guest rooms for 1.4 billion competitive advantage, point. So the huge explosion leverage that. You won’t see
food prices, in down meaning- launch of a 619-key dual- people. particularly is yet to hap- any new creative brands for
urban areas, it is to correct fully because of branded hotel complex in Ben- What that means is in the with youth, is pen in India. India and we feel it’s mid-scale
higher as far as anytime soon such rate hikes if galuru in partnership with longer term, India’s expansion yet to be real- Obviously, China was What about and full services where the
fuel price impact war-related dis- Embassy Office Parks REIT, a from a GDP perspective, from ized. ahead from a the luxury growth is.
and pass through ruptions do not real estate investment trust. In urbanization and moderniza- Which seg- hospitality investment segment? Many of your competitors
are concerned since the Russia- subside quickly. an interview, Watts spoke tion in the major cities, it stands ment do you I think lux- have ventured into the
Ukraine war began, as per the In particular, as retail loans about India’s hospitality indus- to become the third largest see the maxi- perspective and a lot of ury gets a lot home stays and boutique
report. are benchmarked to an exter- try catching up with China, the lodging market in the world. m u m the Chinese business of attention. travel business, what about
“We did a dipstick study to nal rate (mostly to RBI’s repo disproportionate attention Both from the domestic mar- The difference between that g r o w t h has state investment. There are a lot you?
understand the exclusive rate) with quarterly reset given to luxury segment, and ket, which is where the major- market (and India) is a time c o m i n g of credible We look at Hilton Garden
Alan Watts
impact of war on inflation tra- clause, so the interest rate on why India is a critical market ity of the business is today but issue. Obviously, China was from? President A-pac, Hilton players in lux- Inn which caters to that need
jectory in both the rural and loans benchmarked to repo for the company. Edited also from an India outbound ahead from a hospitality invest- I certainly ury, but it’s and we do have a brand called
urban areas. Using February as rate will increase directly with excerpts: market perspective, it is a criti- ment perspective and a lot of think it’s in not where the Hampton which is the fastest
the base case (the beginning of the increase in repo rate. As of cal market for us. We need to the Chinese business has state the mid-scale and full service explosion is set to follow in growing brand in China.
the Ukraine and Russia con- last December, around 39.2% What are Hilton’s expan- make sure we’re building our investment in it. So, some of the segments. These properties comparison to other markets. We may deploy Hampton in
flict), our study reveals that of the loans were benchmarked sion plans in India? brands where our customers state-owned vehicles invest in like the Hilton Garden Inn, and Q: Are you bringing any new the future course as more mid-
because of war alone, Food and to external benchmarks, so the We’ve got 24 hotels trading want us to be. the travel and tourism sector. Hilton, that’s predominantly brands to India in the com- scale demand picks up. But in
Beverages (assuming that vege- increase in repo rate will even- today in India and 14 under India is still a minnow as In India, the under-construc- where the market is going to ing years? the short term, we’ll continue
table price increase was mostly tually increase the interest cost, construction. As far as the India Hilton has about 460 hotels tion pipeline across all brands is grow, as it did in China. We’re always on the lookout with Hilton Garden Inn which
because of seasonal factors, the report said. hospitality market is con- in China and 24 in India. a lot smaller, but eventually it’ll People join the workforce at for aspirational luxury for our has been our lead vehicle.
08 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI DEALS, TECH & STARTUPS LIVEMINT.COM

Mamaearth
m MINT SHORTS
Capgemini to acquire management
Baring PE Asia buys 85% in parent buys
consulting firm Chappuis Halder
Bengaluru: French IT services firm Capgemini said it has
entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire Chappuis
Halder & Cie (Chappuis Halder), a global strategy and manage-
IGT Solutions for ₹6,300 cr stake in
Dr Sheth’s
ment consulting firm specializing in the financial services
industry. The transaction is expected to be completed in the Debjyoti Roy
coming months. Financial details of the acquisition were not dis- [email protected]
closed. AYUSHMAN BARUAH The deal was concluded a few days ago after receiving all the regulatory approvals NEW DELHI

H
onasa Consumer Pvt.
Wearable shipments grow 20%, Beena Parmar Ltd, the parent of
[email protected] Mamaearth and The
watches up 173% in Q1 22: Report MUMBAI Derma Co., has acquired a
BLOOMBERG
majority stake in luxury skin-

H
ong Kong-based Baring care brand Dr Sheth’s for about
Private Equity Asia was ₹28 crore, said two people
acquired an 85% stake in familiar with the deal.
specialist backend services Varun Alagh, co-founder,
firm IGT Solutions, for- Honasa, will also join the board
merly InterGlobe Technologies, from of Dr Sheth’s as part of the
an affiliate of Apollo Global Manage- transaction, the people said
ment for around $810 million (around requesting anonymity. They
₹6,300 crore), two people aware of the did not disclose the size of the
deal said. stake bought by Honasa.
Baring bought the stake from AION Founded in 2016, Dr Sheth’s
Capital Partners, which was formed as a makes personal care products
New Delhi: India shipped 13.9 million wearable devices joint venture between Apollo Global such as sunscreens, brighten-
including watches, wristbands and earwears in the first and homegrown private equity investor ing cleansers, eye creams and
quarter of 2022, a 20% increase from a year earlier, accord- ICICI Venture. The partnership was ter- peels. It claims its products are
ing to the International Data Corporation (IDC). Watches minated in April 2020, and AION Capi- vegan and free from chemicals
formed the fastest-growing category with a 173% growth. tal’s existing portfolio is currently man- such as paraben, sulphates or
IDC attributed the growth to “new launches, discounts aged by Apollo. phthalates. The company is
across channels.” The average selling price (ASP) of weara- “The deal got completed a couple of backed by investment platform
bles declined by 17.1% from a year earlier, due to lower ASP days ago after receiving all the regula- Mumbai Angels Network.
of watches, which fell 41.5% to $50.3 in the March quarter tory approvals. AION Capital, which had Both companies confirmed
from $86 a year earlier. ABHIJIT AHASKAR first invested in the firm in 2019, will the deal.
continue to hold the “We will
remaining 15% utilize our
SAP Labs MD Sindhu Gangadharan stake,” one of the two IGT provides digital contact centre services, digital services and solutions, including chatbots, travel analytics. ISTOCK expertise
people said, request- and profi-
appointed to Siemens’ India board ing anonymity. tion along with other co-investors, ately respond to emailed queries. acquisition by Baring in the Indian servi- ciency in digital marketing to
New Delhi: Sindhu Gangadharan, senior vice president and man- AION Capital acquired IGT Solutions, including Goldman Sachs, which took a Baring beat the world’s largest BPO, ces space in the past few years. An active accelerate the growth and scale
aging director, SAP Labs India and head, SAP User Enablement has the business process outsourcing (BPO) minority stake as a limited partner in the Teleperformance SE, to emerge as the investor in the technology space, Baring growth for Dr Sheth’s and we
been appointed to Siemens India board of directors as an inde- services arm of InterGlobe Enterprises transaction. highest bidder. Other suitors in the race also acquired listed infotech firm are confident that we will make
pendent director. With this appointment, Gangadharan brings Pvt. Ltd, the parent of India’s budget air- The first person cited above said were US investment firm KKR & Co., Coforge Ltd (formerly NIIT Technolo- it a 100 crore run rate brand in
decades of experience in technology and corporate leadership to line IndiGo. gies) and Virtusa. The PE firm also 2 years,” said Alagh.
help Siemens accelerate its growth in the region. TECHCIRCLE Around January 2019, AION Cap- MAKING BIG BETS has a stake in HT Global IT Solutions “They (Honasa) bring a level
ital paid around $250 million, of and mid-sized Indian software ser- of operational excellence that
which $150 million was equity, and THE 85% stake has A person privy to BARING beat the IGT Solutions is the vices firm Hexaware Technologies will make our expertise and our
Lenskart invests $100 million in the rest was infused through debt, been acquired
from an affiliate
the deal said Apollo
would likely sell the
world’s largest BPO, third acquisition by
Teleperformance SE, Baring in the Indian
Ltd. IGT was founded in 1998 by products accessible to a wider
the second person said. InterGlobe Enterprises. It is focused community. Their experience
Singapore-based Neso Brands of Apollo Global
The Apollo investment vehicle is Management
remaining stake over to emerge as the
the next few years highest bidder.
services space in the
past few years on the travel and hospitality indus- as a house of brands will also
Bengaluru: Eyewear brand Lenskart Solutions Pvt. Ltd on Mon- understood to have garnered 55% try and has more than 70 marquee help us optimize our innova-
day said it has invested over $100 million in seed funding in Sing- returns and a multiple of 4.5 times customers globally. It provides digi- tion and bring about a great
apore-based Neso Brands. Neso Brands will use the fresh capital on the 3.5-year investment bet. The Apollo would likely sell the remaining Mumbai-based WNS Global Services tal contact centre services, digital servi- range of skincare that com-
to invest in consumer eyewear brands and grow them by leverag- gains from the transaction are around stake over the next few years. and Asia-focused alternative asset man- ces and solutions, including chatbots, bines the best of both worlds -
ing synergies across the Lenskart Group to accelerate interna- $520 million, the person added. Spokespeople for Apollo Global, Bar- ager PAG. robotic process automation, travel ana- science and nature,” said
tional expansion, according to a statement. ANUJ SUVARNA AION Capital had made the acquisi- ing and Goldman Sachs did not immedi- IGT Solutions has been the third lytics and social media services. Aneesh Sheth, CEO, Dr Sheth’s.

Govt can leverage Uber as SaaS offering Eight Roads Ventures launches $250 mn
Prasid Banerjee
[email protected]
India-dedicated fund to tap healthcare sector
are able to leverage this data, I they’re able to leverage. I think
think we have some partner- we have that in some places. Not
NEW DELHI ships with city governments. In in India, but other places.
certain cities, in the US, the cit- How is the tech adapting to Joseph Rai the healthcare sector had two

R
ide-hailing platform ies actually want to work with us the change in mobility with [email protected] core themes—pharmaceuticals
Uber has announced to help. In these cases, we use electric vehicles (EVs) etc? NEW DELHI on the generic side and health-
plans to add 500 employ- the data to help make decisions. I think the tech has to be care services covering hospitals

E
ees at its technology centres in Same thing in India. Wher- ready by the time this comes to ight Roads Ventures and diagnostics. However, in
Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The ever it’s available, we use it, and scaling. We are already doing launched its first India- the last two to three years, sev-
company had hired 250 engi- it’s an ongoing work for us. This some of this. Like in the US, we dedicated life sciences eral new themes have become
neers in India in 2021 and the is why we actually want to part- have thousand-odd Tesla cars and healthcare fund of $250 the mainstay of healthcare such
new hires will raise its India ner with the Government of being rented through Hertz (a million, hoping to exploit a as digital health, consumer

‘
headcount to 1500. All these Karnataka to be able to build rental car company). boom in the healthcare sector health, self-care, medical
employees will work on Uber’s a tech centre in Are flying that has been one of the core devices and technology, point
global technology offerings, one of their taxis and investment themes for the ven- of care devices, animal
including important applica- universities Right from the r e a l l y ture capital firm. health, drug discovery and bio-
tion programming interfaces the beginning, we were very and actually beginning, we were futuristic Eight Roads Ventures, which tech.
(APIs), which allow third parties clear that we will be leveraging partner with very clear that we will means of began its India operations in Healthcare sector is a core investment theme for the VC firm. ISTOCK This was largely driven by
and governments to utilize its the talent here to build our core them very transport 2007, will use the fund to invest two main factors—the pan-
platform. In an interview, Prav- technology. Like in Bengaluru, closely. be leveraging the talent still within in 15-20 companies over three ment in segments established sumer, fintech etc.,” said Pav- demic and tailwinds from gov-
een Neppalli Naga, vice presi- our teams work on the core Basically, in India to build our the tech to four years, Prem Pavoor, in healthcare which are largely oor. ernment policies such as the
dent and head of mobility engi- platform that is a critical path of build a centre of core technology purview? senior partner, head of India pharmaceuticals and health- “The launch of this health- Ayushman Bharat, a health
neering at Uber discussed how our regular functioning around excellence for A b s o - and healthcare investments care services. The second strat- care fund reflects our confi- insurance scheme, rolled out in
Praveen Neppalli Naga
the company is pre- the world, which is transportation. Vice president and head of
lutely. We said in an inter- egy is to dence in the evo- 2019, and the National Digital
paring for electric our API platform. If That helps us to mobility engineering at Uber are building view on Monday. invest in Eight Roads, lution of the India Health Mission (NDHM)
and autonomous that doesn’t work, integrate with our tech and “We are sub companies which began its market and our floated last year, he said.
vehicles of the then Uber will not some of the we are segment agnostic, with an aim India operations commitment to Pavoor said the firm also
future, and what its India teams work. So, that’s just a testament public data to see how we can already partnering with third stage agnostic and investment to build leaders in in 2007, will use help ambitious looks at a “differentiation” fac-
will do. Edited excerpts: to how we are operating from solve state-level problems in parties, like New York Cabs, size agnostic. We are happy to segments that are
the fund to invest founders scale,“ tor while making investments
India. If we do global tech sites, terms of traffic, usage and all San Francisco Cabs, and Auto make small size investments still nascent. Daniel Auerbach, and is not hesitant to take a
People in Indian tech cen- we can actually understand and that. Cab in Europe. That’s the tech and even growth stage ones “ H e a l t h c a r e in 15-20 firms over senior managing “contrarian” bet that he
tres of companies usually do help each other. I think if you So in this case, the Uber plat- we are building, which we will that will go up to $40 million,” has always been a 3-4 years Partner and believes has reaped greater
back-end and maintenance don’t do it, you’re missing out. form is also going to be lev- be able to expand to be able to he said. key focus for us at head of global returns so far. For instance, in
work; what do Uber’s India Are you tapping into gov- eraged by a public body as bring in, say, autonomous cars. The new fund will continue Eight Roads glo- ventures at Eight 2012, it invested in Laurus Labs
tech centres do? ernment and state-level well, right? But we’re making sure we to follow its two-pronged strat- bally. About 40-45% of all of Roads Ventures, said in a state- “when almost no one was
I think I’ve seen that happen public data that’s being built Yes. In places where we’re understand which routes those egy for investing in companies. our investment have been in ment. investing in the API (active
in other companies and I think in India right now? able to offer Uber as a software- will work on. Autonomous First is the win-from-behind the healthcare sector and the Pavoor explained that when pharmaceutical ingredient)
they’re missing out. Right from Yes and no. I mean, yes, we as-a-service (SaaS) offering, might not work on all the roads. strategy that involves invest- balance being in tech, con- he joined the VC firm in 2008, space.

Live video apps get boost from spending surge in non-metro cities
Shouvik Das keting experts have often said keting firm Zefmo. said 70% of the company’s spending at least ₹500 per investments in the past two thing that is visible through
[email protected] that they discourage brands According to Varun Saxena, 150,000 to 200,000 users user per month on the plat- years, which means moneti- creator earnings through
NEW DELHI from spending on these plat- co-founder of Bolo Live, a live come from tier-2 and -3 cities. form and about 20% of crea- zation will be at the top of these platforms,” he said.
forms as they are new and video platform, the average She said that about 15% of the tors take home over ₹1 lakh their agendas. To be sure, there’s still

L
ive video applications, don’t have evolved monetiza- daily spends by users from audience “actively engage” every month. Last Gautam Madha- work to be done. Ajay Bar-
which rushed to fill the tion tools and mechanisms tier-2 cities more than dou- with the company’s products. November, a AREA of van, founder and man, a former TikTok star
void created by the ban- such as Instagram or even bled to ₹80 currently from Like Bolo Live, Roposo also report by advisory CoNCERNS chief executive of who had two accounts with a
ning of TikTok nearly two TikTok. ₹35 per day in January 2021. offers users a virtual asset services provider influencer mar- total of 3.5 million followers,
years ago, are starting to “Even in terms of moneti- He said more than 300,000 called Roposo Coins. Media Partners MoNETIzATIoN is keting firm Mad said a very limited number of
entice their target zation, the more users are spending money to Virtual assets on short Asia valued India’s aplatforms
concern for such
that have
Influence, said creators are using newer
audience to spend established plat- watch live streams from crea- video platforms are not to be total video market, only enhanced their tier-2 and -3 users platforms to publish original
more on these forms are way tors on his platform, with confused with cryptocurren- which includes user base so far are the idea target content, instead choosing
platforms. ahead of the more than 85% belonging to cies. Unlike crypto, they can- on-demand servi- groups for Meta’s (formerly Facebook)
Some platforms have even smaller ones. Neither brands tier-2 and -3 cities. Short video platforms have not be traded and are usually ces, short and live INfLUENCER livestreaming Instagram. He said lacklustre
marketing experts
seen a surge in spending from nor creators have voluntarily On Bolo Live, users can buy raised over $2 billion in the not built on blockchain plat- video, at an esti- discourage brands social media plat- monetization avenues for
users in non-metro cities mandated being on these digital gifts to send to crea- past two years. MINT forms. mated $11.6 billion. from spending on forms. creators as a key reason for
since January 2021, according apps, and a big reason for that tors. The revenue from these Saxena claimed that as a It said that crea- these platforms “These users this.
to industry executives. is the lack of detailed analytics gifts is split between the plat- ₹10,000 on the platform result of this, top creators on tors were earning collectively have Rising inflation in the
Monetization has been an and data in terms of audience form and creators in a 70-30% every month. the platform earn up to ₹1.4 a n y w h e r e more money to country is also a threat,
area of concern for such plat- engagement and returns,” ratio. The gifts are priced in Mansi Jain, general man- lakh per month, while most between $2,500 to $65,000 spend on these platforms than though Madhavan added that
forms, which have only been said Shudeep Majumdar, the range of ₹10 to ₹500, and ager of Roposo, the short earn at least ₹1,500 per month per month on such platforms. tier I users, and livestreaming it hasn’t impacted brand
able to enhance their user co-founder and chief execu- Saxena claimed that some video platform owned by from Bolo Live. Jain, on the Short video platforms have platforms are already seeing spends in the influencer mar-
base so far. Influencer mar- tive officer of influencer mar- users spend more than InMobi’s Glance platform, other hand, said viewers are raised over $2 billion worth of higher user spends—some- ket space yet.
LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI 09

McDonald’s
Govt puts Pawan Hans sale Multiplexes’ ticket
to sell its price hike may hit
business in
Russia
on hold after NCLT order small budget films
Lata Jha
[email protected]
AFP NEW DELHI
[email protected] The order will be scrutinized before DIPAM issues a letter of award to the winning consortium
W
NEW YORK ith multiplex chains
across India raising
Gulveen Aulakh

A
merican fast-food giant ticket, and food and
McDonald said Monday [email protected] beverage (F&B) prices, by at
it will exit Russia in the NEW DELHI least 20% post-covid, small
wake of the Ukraine invasion, budget films may suffer as the

T
ending a more than three-dec- he government has put the move may keep audiences
ade run begun in the hopeful strategic sale of state-owned recovering from economic
period near the end of the Cold Pawan Hans Ltd on hold after stress away from the theatres.
War. the National Company Law Trade experts said while the Multiplexes have raised ticket
The restaurant chain, which Tribunal passed an adverse multiplexes are trying to make and F&B prices by 20%.
launched in Moscow in January order against one of the members of the up for the loss incurred during
1990 to great fanfare almost winning consortium, two people aware the pandemic, it is also a pre- in the week of Eid which was
two years before the Soviet of the matter said. cursor to adopting more luxury unheard of,” he added.
Union was dissolved, charac- The tribunal’s order will be scrutinized formats. For instance, PVR has Kamal Gianchandani, chief
terized the withdrawal as diffi- before the department of investment and struck a deal with France’s Oma executive, PVR Pictures Ltd,
cult but necessary. public asset management (DIPAM) issues Cinema to upgrade 25% of its said while the company is wit-
“The humanitarian crisis a letter of award to the consortium, which theatres to premium category nessing inflationary pressures
caused by the war in Ukraine, was selected by the government as the with unique tiered balconies or and has increased prices in the
and the precipitating unpre- winning bidder for Pawan Hans, one of the pods similar to those in opera past few weeks, the outcome
dictable operating environ- two people said on condition of anonym- houses, and consider it to be has been positive. “We have
ment, have led McDonald’s to ity. “The letter of award has not been crucial to woo audiences back anyway always practised varia-
conclude that continued own- issued yet. We will do a legal examination to theatres. ble pricing for big-ticket films
ership of the business in Russia of the NCLT order before proceeding fur- INOX, too, is looking at lux- and on weekends, but in this
is no longer tenable, nor is it ther,” he added. Pawan Hans’ divestment process was completed nearly five years after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs ury formats like INSIGNIA and case, the hikes are reflecting
consistent with McDonald’s On 22 April, the Kolkata bench of the approved the strategic disinvestment in October 2016. HT IMAX making up 30% of its because a lot of these major
values,” the company said in a NCLT sanctioned Cayman Islands-based overall screen count. titles were released over the
statement. The chain is looking Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC, the hold following allegations made by the Maharaja Aviation Pvt. Ltd, and Almas crore), besides Star9 Mobility. “All cinema chains raised past few weeks and enjoyed a
to sell “its entire portfolio of majority partner entity of the winning con- company’s employees association that the Global Opportunity Fund SPC, by June- The reserve price for the sale of the prices and it is phenomenal
McDonald’s restaurants in Rus- sortium Star9 Mobility, for wilful contraven- deal was undervalued, and Nandal end, subject to regulatory clearances. government’s 51% stake in Pawan Hans definitely having Food and run,” he added.
sia to a local buyer.” tion of an approved resolution plan of EMC Finance and Leasing Ltd, the winning bid- The consortium had placed a winning was fixed at ₹199.92 crore. ONGC will an impact as a beverage prices Amit Sharma,
The burger giant is one of Ltd, and forfeited its performance bank der, and JPM Industries Ltd, which had bid of ₹211.14 crore for the defence PSU. sell its 49% stake to the winning bidder section of audien- at multiplexes chief executive,
numerous foreign firms that guarantee of ₹30 crore. The tribunal also also participated in the process, were The Pawan Hans divestment process at a price decided by the government. ces are staying vary based on the Miraj Cinemas
have pulled out of the country asked Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of related as the companies had one common was completed nearly five years after the However, the choice of taking that away at least for said the company
show time and
or suspended operations fol- India and ministry of corporate affairs to director. This case is also pending before Cabinet Committee on Economic share will be with Star9 Mobility. certain films. has taken a 5-7%
lowing Moscow’s invasion of lodge a complaint against the company in a the National Company Law Appellate Tri- Affairs approved the strategic disinvest- The second official said the disinvest- Some films were day of the week, hike in ticket pri-
Ukraine in late February. special court under the Companies Act ment was done after scrutinizing green-lit and shot said analysts ces for certain
Earlier on Monday, French for contravention of the resolution plan, YET ANOTHER DELAY records provided by the successful before the pan- locations but a
automaker Renault announced under which it was bound to pay ₹568 bidder at two separate stages, down- demic. But audi- film’s budget and
it had handed over its Russian crore to EMC’s creditors. THE NCLT had THIS is the second AN official said the THERE were some playing social media rumours and ence tastes have changed dras- the buzz around it dictate the
assets to the government, A copy of the order was seen by Mint. passed an adverse
order against a
instance where a
divestment process
Pawan Hans
disinvestment was
allegations from
Congress party that
allegations from Congress party that tically in these two years,” said price. “We reduce prices after
marking the first major nation- This is the second instance where member of the has been put on hold done after the deal was done the deal was done without due dili- a film trade analyst who sought the opening weekend if the
alization since the onset of a strategic divestment process has winning consortium after a bid was selected scrutinizing records without due diligence gence and to a newly incorporated anonymity. He said cinema films do not perform up to
Western sanctions against been put on hold after the winning company without credentials. “The chains are happy that viewers expectations,” Sharma said,
Moscow’s military campaign. bid was selected by the government. consortium of bidders had a net are still turning up in hordes for adding that F&B rates have
Russia’s President Vladimir Strategic disinvestments involve sale of bunal. The Centre is consulting legal ment in October 2016. The government worth of ₹691 crore at the time of issuing large-scale spectacles such as gone up by 5-10% due to infla-
Putin ordered troops into the government’s complete sharehold- experts in this case as well. had received seven expressions of inter- preliminary information memorandum. Doctor Strange and K.G.F: tion. F&B prices vary in multi-
Ukraine on 24 February, trig- ing in a public sector enterprise along A senior government official had told est, and shortlisted four bidders. It was ₹710.08 at the time of request for Chapter 2, but do not realise plexes depending on the show
gering unprecedented sanc- with transfer of management control to Mint last week that the reins of Pawan Finally, it received three financial bids proposals, much higher than the ₹300 that the franchises that have time and day of the week, said
tions and sparking an exodus of a private company. Hans will be given to Star9 Mobility, the from a consortium of Skyone Airway crore minimum eligibility,” he added. die-hard fans are few. “On the analysts. According to Gian-
foreign corporations including Earlier this year, the Centre had put the special purpose vehicle created by a Pvt. Ltd and Skyone FZE (₹181.05 crore), Queries sent to the ministry of finance other hand, Hindi film Hero- chandani spends on F&B were
H&M, Starbucks and Ikea. divestment of Central Electronics Ltd on consortium of Big Charter Pvt. Ltd, and Enormous Nivesh Pvt. Ltd, (₹153.15 did not elicit any response till press time. panti 2 had to be discontinued up 20%.

WAPCOS LIMITED, a Public Sector

Undertaking requires Jr. Assistant
(Finance) in the IDA Pay Scale of
Rs. 19,000-66,000/-. Those who
applied earlier need to apply again. For
details please see our website- www.
wapcos.co.in at Career option for details
& profoma. Further amendments, if any,
shall be displayed on the official website
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10 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI GLOBAL LIVEMINT.COM

Curbs worsen China’s economic woes

Economists call for implementing more aggressive stimulus measures; slowdown is worst since the initial covid outbreak in 2020
Stella Yifan Xie he expressed optimism that the diffi- sales by value were down 44% and
[email protected] culties would prove to be short- 47%, respectively, from a year ear-
term. lier, worse than March’s slide, offi-

C
hina’s economy On Monday, Citigroup cut its cial Chinese data released Monday Sri Lankan dollar notes due in
descended deeper into year-over-year gross domestic prod- showed. 2029 were down 1.2%. BLOOMBERG
a Covid-19-induced uct growth forecast for the second The larger challenge facing Bei-
doldrums last month,
raising questions about
quarter to 1.7% from 4.7%, and its
full-year forecast to 4.2% from 5.1%.
jing, economists say, is stimulating
demand even as businesses and con- Lanka heads
whether Beijing’s planned stimulus As the outlook deteriorates, a sumers turn more pessimistic—and
measures can prevent a prolonged
downturn.
number of Chinese economists and
scholars, speaking at a forum in Bei-
senior Chinese leaders reaffirm
their insistence on stamping out all
towards first
Consumer spending and factory
output tumbled in April, while
growth in infrastructure invest-
jing on Saturday, called for a more
aggressive policy response.
“We’ve reached a point where we
Covid-19 infections.
In a reflection of waning invest-
ment appetite, growth in corporate
default on
ment—which Beijing has been
counting on to prop up growth this
should use policies to save the econ-
omy at all costs,” said Huang Yiping,
mid- to long-term loans slowed
sharply in April from March. Total foreign debt
year—slowed sharply, China’s an economics professor at Peking household loans, meantime,
National Bureau of Statistics University and a former central- dropped by 1.7%, as demand for new Bloomberg
reported Monday. bank adviser, according to an official mortgage and consumer debt both [email protected]
China’s headline jobless rate, transcript. contracted.

S
meantime, surged to a two-year high Zhaopeng Xing, senior China In contrast to their counterparts ri Lanka is sliding inexo-
of 6.1%, further evidence of the eco- strategist at investment bank ANZ, in most developed economies, rably into default as the
nomic damage unleashed by the said China’s economy faces two including the U.S., policy makers in grace period on two
country’s strictest pandemic con- challenges: The room for monetary China since the start of the pan- unpaid foreign bonds nears an
tainment measures in more than easing is narrowing and business demic have avoided handing out end, the latest blow to a coun-
two years. and consumer sentiment is deterio- cash or beefing up unemployment try rattled by economic pain
While activity could snap back if rating. A rapid rebound similar to benefits to households. Instead, Bei- and social unrest.
lockdowns are ultimately lifted, the the one that followed Wuhan’s lock- jing has said it would channel The island nation could be
damage from China’s commitment down in 2020 is nearly impossible, cheaper loans to businesses and formally declared in default if
to stamping out outbreaks of Cov- he said, given the higher transmissi- offer as much as 2.5 trillion yuan, it fails to make an interest pay-
id-19 is rippling through the econ- China’s stimulus measures since the pandemic first exploded have focused on the supply side. AP bility of the Omicron variant of the equivalent to $368 billion, in tax ment to bondholders before
omy and lingering. The question coronavirus. refunds to companies and business Wednesday, when the 30-day
now is whether policy makers in the “[China] is facing some extraordi- felt in China’s manufacturing sector, Year-over-year growth in fixed- The worsening economic picture owners this year. grace period for missed cou-
world’s second-largest economy will nary headwinds that I think its lead- where struggles to get workers on asset investment, including infra- wasn’t enough to prompt China’s “The real weakness is on the pons on dollar bonds ends.
be able to soften the blow with fiscal ership is not responding to effec- factory floors, combined with sof- structure and real-estate projects, central bank to cut its lending rates demand side, but almost all of the That would mark its first
and monetary policy tools. tively,” said Mr. Roach, a former tening overseas demand for Chinese slowed to 6.8% for the first four on Monday, as many economists had economic measures implemented default. Sri Lanka’s govern-
China’s stimulus measures since chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. goods, crippled output and dis- months of the year from 9.3% for the expected. Despite subdued con- are supply-side measures,” said ment announced in mid-April
the pandemic first exploded have The hardest-hit sector of China’s rupted supply chains. first quarter. sumer inflation, economists say Michael Pettis, a finance professor at it would stop paying back its
focused on the supply side. Beijing’s economy, according to Monday’s Industrial production in April was The surveyed urban unemploy- there is limited room for monetary Peking University. foreign debt to preserve cash
reluctance to support households data, was consumer spending. Retail down 2.9% from a year earlier, after ment rate, China’s headline measure easing, as rate increases by the Fed- Shen Jianguang, chief economist for food and fuel imports as it
directly and its continuing Covid-19 sales in April a 5% gain in of joblessness, exceeded the official eral Reserve’s fuel concerns about at JD.com, questioned the effective- struggled with a dollar crunch
restrictions have sapped the power were down 11.1% March. Output in 5.5% target for the second consecu- capital outflows from China. ness of existing policy responses and that’s led officials to imple-
of consumer demand to boost the from a year ear- the automotive tive month in April, climbing to The People’s Bank of China did, called for the government to distrib- ment capital controls and
economy, economists say. lier, the second- sector plunged 6.1%—the highest since February however, let banks cut mortgage ute consumption vouchers to boost import curbs. A few days later,
Infrastructure spending, another straight monthly decline and the 43.5% by volume as Covid-19 swept 2020’s 6.2%. Joblessness among rates for first-time home buyers on demand. it failed to service a $78 million
favored tool of Beijing’s policy mak- biggest contraction since March through key production centers in those ages 16 to 24 rose to 18.2%, the Sunday, in a move to prop up the “Few companies will benefit from coupon on its dollar bonds due
ers that leader Xi Jinping has pro- 2020. and around Shanghai and in north- highest level since before the pan- sagging property sector. Many tax cuts if the growth of their income in 2023 and 2028, leading S&P
moted in recent weeks, may not In Shanghai, the citywide lock- eastern Jilin province, overcoming demic. economists, however, are skeptical and profits suffer sharply,” he said at Global Ratings to declare a
work as well as it has in the past, down meant not a single car was sold efforts by makers including Tesla Fu Linghui, an official at China’s that such moves can reverse a gov- Saturday’s Peking University forum. selective default.
owing in part to current debt levels, last month, the Shanghai Automo- Inc.—whose Shanghai factory is its statistics bureau, said Monday that ernment-induced spiral that is now —Grace Zhu and Bingyan Wang “Without an agreement,
said Stephen Roach, an economist bile Sales Association said Monday. largest globally—to keep operations the challenges facing the economy a year old. contributed to this article. there will be a formal default,”
and Yale University lecturer. Covid-19 restrictions could also be going by having workers live on-site. have exceeded expectations, though April new-home starts and home ©2022 DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC said Carlos de Sousa, a money
manager at Vontobel Asset
Management in Zurich.
“Legally that matters. But for

Warren Buffett spends big on energy stocks as market sell-off continues markets, Sri Lanka is already
de facto in default, so the price
effect of such an event is prob-
ably not going to be signifi-
Akane Otani buying—as well as what it has others are fearful.” That phi- some time. senior equity research analyst that seemed worth investing cant.”
[email protected] been selling—when it files losophy was likely difficult to Energy stocks have been by at Edward Jones. in for the long term, Mr. Buf- Sri Lankan dollar notes due
what is known as Form 13F practice for much of the past far the best-performing group Dividend-paying stocks fett said to shareholders in his in 2029 were down 1.2% to

T
he stock market’s selloff with the Securities and two years, during which in the S&P 500 this year, ben- have outperformed the S&P annual letter sent out in Feb- 38.7 cents on the dollar Mon-
has been bad news for Exchange Commission on investors’ mood largely efiting from a surge in com- 500 this year, in part as inves- ruary. It had $106.3 billion in day, after touching an all-time
most investors. Monday. seemed anything but fearful. modities prices that began tors whipsawed by market cash as of March 31, down low of 37 cents on the dollar
Not for Warren Buffett and The SEC requires all insti- Now that the market is slump- after Russia’s invasion of volatility have sought out from $146.7 billion at the end last week, indicative pricing
his team. tutional investors that man- ing, Berkshire is in a prime Ukraine raised concerns stocks that can offer steady of 2021. data compiled by Bloomberg
Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire age more than $100 million to position to add to its mam- about disruptions to oil and cash returns. This year has changed that. showed. The extra yield inves-
Hathaway Inc. has used the file the form within 45 days of moth stock portfolio, inves- gas supply lines. Chevron “It fits the profile,” Mr. Sha- With tightening monetary tors demand to hold the notes
slump as an opportunity to the end of each quarter. tors say. shares are up 43% this year, nahan said of Berkshire’s policy, slowing economic over US Treasuries is at 37 per-
increase spending on stocks, Because institutions must dis- “Cash is dry powder, and he while Occidental shares have Chevron and Occidental growth and sustained supply- centage points, according to
deploying tens of billions of close their equity holdings on has a lot of gone up share purchases. chain disruptions putting JPMorgan Chase & Co. That’s
dollars the past couple of the form, as well as the size it,” said 121%. In With stock volatility markets on edge, Mr. Buffett far above the 1,000-basis point
months after ending 2021 and market value of each R u p a l compari- remaining elevated, many is in his element, said David threshold to be considered
with a near-record cash pile. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire position, investors often use Bhansali, son, the investors and analysts expect Kass, a finance professor at distressed.
The Omaha-based com- Hathaway has used the dip to 13Fs to gauge how large chief investment officer for S&P 500 has fallen 16%. Mr. Buffett, as well as Berk- the University of Maryland’s While a default is widely
pany bought 901,768 shares raise holding. BLOOMBERG money managers are playing global equities at Ariel Invest- “They’re clearly owning shire portfolio managers Ted Robert H. Smith School of expected by investors, it has
of Occidental Petroleum the stock market. ments, of Mr. Buffett. Ms. companies that are likely to Weschler and Todd Combs, Business. important implications. Many
Corp. last week, according to stake in Chevron Corp., One takeaway from Berk- Bhansali manages Ariel’s be an inflation hedge,” Ms. to keep putting cash to work “This is what I’d consider to of Sri Lanka’s bonds have
a regulatory filing. placed a merger-arbitrage bet shire’s filing is likely to be global mutual fund, which Bhansali said. in the market over the coming be Warren Buffett’s sweet so-called cross-default clauses,
The move likely makes on Activision Blizzard Inc., this: The market’s tumult has owns Berkshire shares. Energy stocks also offer two months. spot,” Mr. Kass said. “The which drag all the outstanding
Occidental, in which Berk- bought an 11% stake in HP Inc. allowed the company to go on Ms. Bhansali, among oth- characteristics that Mr. Buf- Berkshire ended last year almost wholesale selling in dollar debt into default if
shire began buying shares in and continued adding to its a spending spree. ers, also believes that Berk- fett has traditionally gravi- with a mountain of cash on its the market has provided there’s a missed payment in a
late February, one of its 10 position in Apple Inc., its big- Mr. Buffett, a longtime shire’s investments in Chev- tated toward: low valuations, hands—not necessarily out of Berkshire an opportunity to single bond. On the debt due
biggest holdings. gest stockholding. practitioner of value invest- ron and Occidental might as well as shareholder returns a desire to build up its war buy securities at bargain pri- in 2023 and 2028, the clause is
In the past few months, Investors will get a look at ing, has long advised that reflect a bet that commodities in the form of buybacks and chest, but because it had been ces.” triggered if any payment that
Berkshire has also boosted its what else Berkshire has been investors “be greedy when prices will stay elevated for dividends, said Jim Shanahan, impossible to find companies ©2022 DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC exceeds $25 million is not met.

Ukraine military regains ground in northeast, targets another river crossing

Vivian Salama attacks in at least two districts through the worst of the Thursday to request unani- two Nordic nations to join the
[email protected] in the region on Monday, Mr. fighting, and that the eastern mous agreement from all 100 alliance a “serious mistake
KYIV Sinegubov said, adding that cities of Huliaipole, Severo- senators to allow a vote on the with far-reaching consequen-
there were at least three donetsk and Lysychansk were bill immediately. ces” that would increase mili-

U
krainian forces in the active fires in the city of shelled. On Sunday, Secretary of tary tensions in the region.
northeastern region of Kharkiv. Ukraine’s Air Force said State Antony Blinken met Ryabkov’s remarks echo
Kharkiv have regained Russia has inflicted on the late Sunday that it struck a with Ukrainian counterpart comments from Russian Pres-
territory at the Russian bor- Kharkiv region some of the bridge in central-eastern Dmytro Kuleba in Berlin, ident Vladimir Putin, who on
der, the regional governor worst devastation Europe has Ukraine to prevent Russian where he conveyed details Saturday told his Finnish
said, while Russian forces seen since World War II. In forces from crossing the regarding the latest tranche of counterpart in a phone call
continued to shell cities in the city of the same name, Inhulets river. Last week, U.S. security assistance to bol- that reversing decades of
Donbas and carried out a rare which is Ukraine’s second Ukrainian forces released ster Ukraine’s defenses, as nonaligned defense policy
missile strike in western most populous, some 2,000 footage of a similar operation well as growing concerns over would be a mistake that risked
Ukraine. high-rises have been in which they said they food security and other issues damaging Russian-Finnish
Kharkiv regional governor destroyed, according to the destroyed Russian military related to Russia’s invasion of relations.
Oleh Sinegubov said Monday municipality. Nearly three vehicles and a pontoon bridge Russia has inflicted on Kharkiv some of the worst devastation Europe has seen since World War II. AFP Ukraine, the State Depart- European Union foreign
that even as Ukraine wins months of in eastern ment said. ministers were meeting on
back territory seized by Rus- shelling Ukraine attack. threatens those most vulnera- On Saturday,Zelensky met The war has prompted two Monday to discuss a possible
sia in recent months, the situ- has turned along the Zelensky has been warning ble across the globe.” in Kyiv with a visiting U.S. new countries on Russia’s embargo on Russian oil, a
ation across the region much of it Siverskyi for days that Russia’s offen- On Monday, U.S. Treasury Senate delegation, led by Sen- western flank to join the move that Hungary so far has
remains extremely volatile. into a landscape of eviscer- Donets river. sive in Ukraine is sparking Secretary Janet Yellen was ate Minority Leader Mitch North Atlantic Treaty Organi- blocked, saying it would
He warned civilians not to ated buildings, shrapnel-lit- The British Ministry of food shortages around the also scheduled to meet with McConnell (R., Ky.), as he zation. impose unacceptable costs on
become complacent, adding tered streets and burned-out Defense said the failed cross- world as Russia blocks Polish Prime Minister continued to rally for more The leaders of Finland and the country’s economy. EU
that Russia is focusing its cars. ing of the Siverskyi Donets Ukrainian grain from leaving Mateusz Morawiecki to dis- military and economic assist- Sweden have confirmed they foreign-policy chief Josep
efforts on holding its posi- As attacks continued else- was further indication that port. cuss the impact of the Ukraine ance from allies around the intend to join the military alli- Borrell said on his way into
tions and is preparing an where in the country, Ukrain- Russian commanders were Similar sentiments were war and the rising threat of world. In the Senate, a $40 ance, signifying a historic the meeting in Brussels that
offensive in the area of Izyum. ian President Volodymyr Zel- increasingly coming under echoed by foreign ministers food insecurity. billion aid package for Nordic policy shift and depar- an agreement might not
“I reiterate the need to be ensky vowed to bring “the pressure to advance. from the Group of Seven More than half of the six Ukraine is stalled over objec- ture from military nonalign- emerge Monday, with oppos-
careful not to ignore alarms,” feverish activity” by Russian It added that Russia lost nations, who said Saturday in million people who have fled tions from Republican Sen. ment as they seek to bolster ing positions remaining
he said on his official Tele- forces to an end. Late Sunday, “significant armored maneu- a joint statement that “Rus- Ukraine since the conflict Rand Paul of Kentucky. their defenses in the face of “quite strong.”
gram messaging account. he said that at the weekend a ver elements” of at least one sia’s war of aggression has began have gone to neighbor- Mr. McConnell and Senate Russia’s invasion. Mauro Orru and Laurence
“The danger to the civilian missile struck the western battalion tactical group, generated one of the most ing Poland, according to the Majority Leader Chuck Schu- Russian Deputy Foreign Norman contributed to this
population still exists.” region of Lviv, which has which typically comprise severe food and energy crises United Nations refugee mer (D.N.Y.) had pushed for Minister Sergei Ryabkov on article.
Russian forces carried out remained relatively safe about 1,000 troops, in the in recent history, which now agency. the bill’s passage together Monday called plans from the ©2022 DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC
LIVEMINT.COM NEWS WRAP TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI 11

TWEETS & QUOTES

Radhika Gupta Brahma Chellaney Gautam Adani
Indraneel Chitale @iRadhikaGupta @Chellaney @gautam_adani
@cIndraneel MD & CEO, Edelweiss MF Author Chairman, Adani Group
Co-founder, Herbea This (no celebrity endorse- Era of cheap oil & gas Our belief in the India story is
One of learnings amidst ment for cryptos) is a very is over, thanks to unshakeable. Combining
pandemic has been that good step by Sebi to ensure geopolitics.Rewiring Holcim‘s cement assets in
you cannot change the consumers are aware of the EU economies as shift India with our green energy
system unless you risks of investing in an unreg- to alternative sources and logistics will make us the
become part of it ulated product will be a costly world’s greenest cement co

SBI increases OF FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS ‘Reserve Bank to

lending rate by 0.1% raise rates again’

T T
he country’s largest lender State Bank of he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will follow
India (SBI) has raised its marginal cost of its surprise May rate rise with another hike
funds based lending rate by 10 basis points at its meeting next month, according to a
or 0.1% across all tenures, a move that will lead to majority of analysts polled by Reuters who were
an increase in EMIs for borrowers. This is the exceptionally split on the size of the move.
second hike in a month raising the cost by 0.2% India’s retail inflation accelerated to an eight-
with the two consecutive increases. year high in April, remaining above the central
The revision follows an off-cycle rate increase bank’s tolerance limit for a fourth month in a
by the RBI earlier this month. The central bank row, and is likely to stay elevated.
hiked the repo rate — at which it lends short The sudden change in views on surging
term money to banks — by 0.40% to 4.40%. The inflation and how to tame it means the RBI will
lending rate revision by SBI is likely to be likely take the repo rate, currently at 4.40%,
followed by other banks in the days to come. back to at least its pre-pandemic level next
With the increase, EMIs will go up for those quarter and not in 2023 as previously thought.
borrowers who have availed loans on marginal In the latest Reuters poll, over a quarter of
cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR ), not for economists, 14 of 53, expected the RBI to hike by
those, whose loans are linked to other 35 basis points to 4.75% next month, while 20
benchmarks. SBI’s external benchmark based expected a larger move ranging from 40-75
lending rate (EBLR) is 6.65%, while the repo- basis points, including ten who forecast a 50
linked lending rate (RLLR) is 6.25% effective 1 basis point hike. REUTERS
April. PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba during an event in Lumbini, Nepal, on Monday. PTI

India to set up a public health Anurag Tandon, managing partner of Wunderman

CBIC will soon issue action points for officials.

CBIC discusses
HT
cadre for medical professionals Thompson.

Thompson selects
boosting revenue managing partner

W
underman Thompson India has

C
entral Board of Indirect Taxes and appointed Anurag Tandon as its
Customs (CBIC) has held a top-level The plan was approved by health minister at the recent Chintan Shivir held in Gujarat managing partner to lead its Mumbai
meeting of chief commissioners of operations with immediate effect. In his new
customs and Central GST in the first week of role, Tandon will focus on growing the
May to discuss revenue augmentation, litigation Priyanka Sharma group. This will take a little time. Yes, it has been “The initial discussion started in February this company’s clients in Mumbai and work with
management and performance management, [email protected] given the go-ahead from the top leadership, and year and now has been approved by the health teams on providing business solutions for
according to a communication from the indirect NEW DELHI it is very important for India because we are deal- minister. I think covid has convinced policymak- brands by leveraging the agency’s capabilities of
tax authority. CBIC’s annual conference of top ing with a dense population where we need public ers that there is a need for a public health cadre. creative, technology, strategic consultancy,

I
officials discussed compliance management as ndia will set up a central public health cadre health cadre,” a government official who was part Medical health professionals have been urging for commerce and data-driven experience and
well as innovative solutions for efficiency for medical professionals along the lines of of this meeting in this system for the design. Tandon joins Wunderman Thompson
improvement offered by its young officers, Central services officers recruited through Gujarat s a i d, last 30 years,” said from DDB Mudra where he served as managing
CBIC said in a communication posted on its the Union Public Service Commission. As part requesting ano- another govern- partner heading its Mumbai and Ahmedabad
website. The conference stressed the “need to of the plan, all health professionals, including nymity. The mechanism will decide who will ment official on the operations focused on driving top line growth
maintain a good balance between achievement those working for the directorate general of “The public be qualified to come into public condition of ano- and delivering profitability.
of goals/targets and the means of achieving health services (DGHS), will be recruited through health cadre will
these,” CBIC said. the permanent cadre and help the government help the govern- health. It might be doctors, it might nymity. Queries emailed
He was also global brand director for
Unilever’s ice cream business and was
The tax authority will soon issue action points implement healthcare policies. ment in implement- be from the nurse’s cadre to the health minis- responsible for developing integrated brand
for officials to follow. The plan was approved by health minister ing healthcare poli- try spokesperson on strategies and communication plans in markets
The emphasis on revenue augmentation Mansukh Mandaviya at a recent Chintan Shivir cies. We do have 11 May remained across SEA, NAMET and LATAM. STAFF WRITER
comes at a time the government is focusing on held in Gujarat to discuss the challenges faced public health departments in medical colleges, unanswered.
structural changes to GST to boost revenue because of the covid pandemic. but the public health cadre will play a much more “We do have public health doctors in the gov-
receipts and to prevent tax evasion. “This is a new proposal. The mechanism will important role. The cadre should be the imple- ernment of India and medical colleges. But I think
The meeting was held to prepare an action
plan for the tax administration in the current
decide who will be qualified to come into public
health. It might be doctors, it might be from the
menting arm of the public health policies. Hence, it is very important to have them at the field, state,
the framework is being constituted within the district and sub-district levels,” said Preeti Sudan,
Tata Power bags
financial year. STAFF WRITER nurse’s cadre, or it might be from a non-medical health ministry,” the official said. former union health secretary.
NHPC solar project

T
ata Power Solar Systems on Monday said
NSE IFSC-SGX it has bagged 300 MW solar project
LIC shares to list on bourses today worth ₹1,731 crore from state-owned
Connect starts NHPC.
“Tata Power Solar Systems, one of India’s
period from 4 to 9 May. The initial share largest integrated solar companies and a

N
SE IFSC on Monday said it has sale fetched ₹20,557 crore to the wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power,
introduced Negotiable Large Trades government. Post listing, the state-owned bagged an order of 300 MW solar project
(NLT) from Singapore Exchange (SGX insurer will become the fifth-largest worth ₹1,731 crore, inclusive of tax from
Group) in GIFT City, marking the company in India with a valuation above ₹6 NHPC,” a company statement said.
commencement of the NSE IFSC-SGX Connect. lakh crore. According to the statement, the project site,
This is the first phase in the operationalization Only Reliance Industries, TCS, HDFC located in Rajasthan, will be developed under
of the NSE IFSC-SGX Connect which is Bank and Infosys will have more the Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU)
expected to contribute significantly to the capitalisation than the insurance giant. scheme of Indian Renewable Energy
development of markets in GIFT City, The Centre had fixed the issue price of Development Agency (IREDA).
according to a statement. LIC shares at ₹949 per piece for allotment The project, which is expected to be
The foundation for the Connect was laid in to investors. LIC policyholders and retail Scott Kleinman, co-president of Apollo, called life completed within 18 months, aims to reduce
August 2019 when NSE and SGX Group entered investors have got the shares at a price of sciences a significant growth area for the firm. around 6,36,960 carbon emissions, and is
into a collaboration agreement to create a The Centre had fixed the issue price of LIC ₹889 and ₹904 apiece, respectively, after expected to generate approximately 750
unified liquidity pool for Nifty products in GIFT
City, in Gujarat, via an innovative Connect
shares at ₹949 per piece for allotment. MINT taking into account the discount offered.
The IPO of LIC closed on 9 May and
Apollo to buy stake million units annually. PTI

in European Life
L
model. ife Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) shares were allocated to bidders on 12 May.
The Connect is expected to go live in July initial public offering (IPO) listing date The government sold more than 22.13
2022, with the onboarding of SGX Group’s is finally here and the country’s largest crore shares or a 3.5% in LIC through the
Hero expects
A
members. NLT is a privately negotiated large- insurer will list itself on the bourses on 17 IPO. The price band of the issue was ₹902- pollo Global Management Inc. is
sized trade at or above a certain minimum
volume threshold. The NLT is transacted off the
May. LIC’s IPO witnessed a good response
from the investors, getting subscribed 2.95
949 a share. However, shares were
allocated to investors on 12 May at the
acquiring a minority equity interest in
Sofinnova Partners, a European venture growth in FY23
exchange’s electronic trading facility but is times after a marathon 6-day subscription upper end of the price band. LIVEMINT capital firm that invests in life sciences

T
subsequently reported to the clearing house. PTI companies. The alternative asset manager will he country’s largest two-wheeler maker
commit as much as 1 billion euros ($1.04 billion) Hero MotoCorp expects the two-wheeler
in managed capital to Sofinnova’s investment industry to bounce back in the current
funds. As part of the deal, Sofinnova will get fiscal with economic activity picking up and
Cannes Film Festival kicks into full swing for 75th anniversary access to Apollo’s global investment platform,
including the firm’s expertise in credit, equities,
high grain prices augmenting rural incomes.
With macro economic indicators looking
real estate networks and capital markets, positive, the company expects industry to grow

T
he Cannes Film Festival is gearing up for a bumper 75th anniversary according to the statement. Apollo will also get a in double digits in the current financial year.
edition with a selection of big Hollywood names, buzzy newcomers and stronger foothold in life sciences, which Scott “The macro indicators are really looking
previous Palme d’Or winners, a splashy return even as the conflict in Kleinman, co-president of Apollo, called a good, the GST collection we have all seen is all-
Ukraine looms over festivities. significant growth area for the firm. time high in April, the e-way bills have picked
“I honestly think this is one of the best Cannes line-ups in years,” said Scott “Having the Sofinnova expertise to help us do up, I would say all sectors of the economy have
Roxborough, European bureau chief for The Hollywood Reporter. better diligence is really powerful,” Kleinman opened up,” Hero MotoCorp CFO Niranjan
The festival runs from 17 -28 May, resuming its traditional calendar said. He added that there’s potential for the two Gupta said.
following two years of pandemic disruptions. firms to develop products together. Apollo owns Grain prices are high, they are augmenting
It was cancelled in 2020, and last year moved to July, when it was held healthcare assets like drugmaker covid pharma. rural income, the monsoon forecast is decent,
under strict covid protocols. Besides life sciences, Apollo has identified and so on and so forth, and it is clearly evident
This year, the parties are back and Hollywood heavyweights will include several areas including financial technology, also that while covid may not have gone away,
Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun Maverick,” — bringing the star to Cannes for the first and software, where it can find opportunities to everyone has learned now to get on with their
time in three decades — as well as Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, starring partner with other funds. Under a similar model, livelihoods and hence the consumer
Austin Butler and Tom Hanks. Actor Forest Whitaker will be on hand to it invested in fintech specialist Motive Partners confidence and spending are bouncing back
receive the festival’s Honorary Palme D’Or for lifetime achievement. REUTERS Cannes Film Festival is gearing up for 75th anniversary edition. REUTERS last year. BLOOMBERG easily and actually solidly, he noted. PTI
12 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI LONG STORY LIVEMINT.COM

REPORTAGE | TALKING POINTS | IDEAS | INSIGHT | THE BOTTOMLINE

INDIA’S TEXTILES NEED

TO WEAVE A NEW STORY
China’s loosening grip on world textile trade has opened a door. Will Indian manufacturers finally step up?

The textile industry is one of the country’s largest sources of employment, with an estimated 45 million people directly engaged in this sector. BLOOMBERG

Sindhu Bhattacharya CHINA PLUS ONE according to a CII-Kearney report titled, with other exporters like Bangladesh and diate raw material security as cotton and
mint
[email protected]
NEW DELHI G lobal textile trade has traditionally
been dominated by China with its
economies of scale and duty-free access to
“Creating a competitive advantage for
India in the global textile and apparel
industry”. The Indian government and the
SHORT
STORY
Vietnam. An EU FTA would similarly ben- yarn prices have flared up. In the short
efit the industry as would agreements with term, the government could calibrate
moderate-sized markets such as Australia, exports of cotton and yarn—restrict these

A
few months ago, a large Ger- large markets like the European Union industry have set their sights on taking tex- Canada and Japan. through quotas or an export duty levy—in
man brand, which has been (EU) and the US. tile and apparel exports to $100 billion by WHAT There are snags in the system, of course. addition to having removed the 11% effec-
sourcing T-shirts from The pandemic has dented this suprem- 2030, up from just $44 billion in 2021-22. The Amended Technical Upgradation tive import duty on cotton till September.
China for many years, acy. Supply chain disruptions are a factor. That means textile exports need to have a After a disappointing three years, Funds (ATUF) scheme, which provides a “India urgently needs to increase capacity
reached out to a supplier in More crucial could be the US decision in high cumulative annual growth rate in the India’s textile exports have capital investment subsidy of 10-15% to tex- while investing in green factories which
Tirupur, Tamil Nadu’s famous textile December 2021 to ban imports from Xinji- next eight years. “If we hit $65 billion in jumped to $44 billion in FY22 tile manufacturers, is about to expire and meet and exceed international standards
hub. Enquiries were made, due diligence ang province due to alleged human rights textile exports by 2026, India’s share in compared to $33 billion in FY21, the industry has little clarity on whether the in environmental sustainability, compli-
done, and the company then promised a violations. To put this in context, the US global textiles trade will jump to 6.6%. This buoyed by new orders and scheme is getting an extension. As for credit ance and safety. Our time to grow in the
four-lakh piece T-shirt order for this fis- market alone accounts for about 15% of will place the industry favourably on the record high prices. support, banks continue to be hesitant to international apparel supply chain is
cal to Warsaw International. Raja Shan- global textile and apparel imports. path to achieving $100 billion in exports by offer credit to small and medium textile now,” says Nair.
mugham, managing director of Warsaw, Other western markets too have come 2030,” says Karan Dhall, partner at Kear- units, which form a bulk of this industry.
says the brand indicated it wanted to shift around to the ‘China Plus One’ strategy that ney, a global management consulting firm. AND Dhall of Kearney says Indian companies BETTING BIG
a part of its business away from China but aims to cut down on an exclusive depend-
did not want to discuss the reasons for ence on Chinese supply chains and do busi-
doing so. “In the last few months, many ness with more countries. This might trig-
The truth, however, is that India con-
tinues to punch below its weight in the
world textiles trade. From second position
Export demand for garment
makers is expected to grow
lack scale, with manufacturing fragmented
for most parts of the value chain. Shanmu- S ome Indian textile companies are
already committing investments to
gham of Tirupur says replacing Chinese expand in the near term. IndoRama is
Tirupur-based suppliers have seen ger a seismic change in the global textiles in 2015, India lost its share of trade, slip- 12-15% this fiscal. Customers are suppliers is difficult precisely for this rea- investing ₹600 crore in expanding capac-
increased orders from international trade order—away from China. ping to the fifth spot by 2019 with just 4.5% diversifying their suppliers due to son. “Tirupur has 2,000 exporting facto- ity to six lakh tonnes by 2023-24, by when
brands and we think this is at least partly And so, the Chinese crisis is not some- market share. In the same period, smaller the Sri Lankan crisis and the ries and the quantities we produce together turnover should increase to ₹6,000 crore
due to their lessening dependence on thing that India can afford to waste. The economies Bangladesh and Vietnam covid wave in China. are managed by just 50 factories in China. (₹4,000 crore in 2021-22). Lohia says
China. But no customer has said so three markets (US, EU and UK) account surged past India. “We lost share partly Just a handful of units here have 5,000 demand for Indian products has increased
clearly,” he says. for nearly half of our textile and apparel due to covid’s impact on the industry and machines; Chinese manufacturers work in the last 18 months and his factories are
After a disappointing three years, exports, after all. also because of continued restricted BUT with up to 20,000 machines each,” he says. now using 100% installed capacity.
India’s textile exports have jumped to $44 This opportunity ties in well with the access to key markets. US, UK and the EU One of the reasons for this is high capi- Nair’s company has increased capacity
billion (compared to $33 billion in government’s ambitions to generate jobs together account for nearly half of all Indian firms lack scale and have tal expenditure and unattractive returns by 40% and plans to further double it in
2020-21) in 2021-22, buoyed by some new and incomes. The textile industry is one of Indian textile and apparel exports but we restricted access to key markets. on investments. “The sector sees a subop- two years with a turnover target of ₹1,200
orders and record high prices. The num- the country’s largest sources of employ- face punitive duties in these markets due Factor costs such as labour and timal investment-to-return ratio of 8-11 %, crore (₹550 crore in 2021-22) by 2024-25
bers have brought cheer, since textile ment, with an estimated 45 million people to absence of trade deals, while competi- power are higher vis-a-vis that is below the typical cost of capital from the apparel business.
exports had been declining at a compound directly engaged in this sector, including tors Bangladesh and Vietnam are much Bangladesh and Vietnam, making (12–15 %). Capex is costly as most machines According to CRISIL Ratings’ analysis,
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% a large chunk of the rural population and better off due to zero or much lower India’s exports uncompetitive. are imported and they attract import duty there would only be a marginal increase in
between 2018-19 and women (specially in duties,” says Dhall. of about 27 %,” Dhall the working capital
2020-21. India’s total activities like sericul- Gautam Nair, owner of Matrix Clothing, says. It is hardly any sur- requirement for gar-
exports declined in the Free trade agreements with ture). a garment manufacturer with units in mugham says apparel makers have been prise that in garments, Exporters need immediate ment exporters because
same period too, but by a the UK and EU would benefit In a report tabled in Gurugram and Ranchi, points out that in “dire straits” for nearly 18 months as small- and medium- raw material security as of an improved working
narrower margin of 6% the Budget session of China too has been losing share of the input prices have more than doubled, and sized players account for capital cycle. So, while
CAGR. the industry as would Parliament this year, the global apparel market. In 2012, it held they have been unable to pass the costs on 90% share of manufac- cotton and yarn prices have domestic as well as
For example, polyes- pacts with moderate-sized standing committee on more than a third or 38% share of the to customers. Small companies are bear- turing; in fabrics, less flared up. In the short term, export demand will
ter manufacturer Indo- commerce said India global apparel business but this reduced ing the brunt of this price escalation and than 5% production hap- remain healthy in the
Rama Synthetics markets such as Australia, needs to leverage ‘China to 29% by 2019. Decisions to increase min- some of these units are on the verge of clo- pens in large organized the government could restrict current fiscal, ready-
clocked its highest ever Plus One’ to become an imum wages (they nearly doubled in five sure, he says. mills, and the remaining made garment manufac-
turnover of ₹4,000 Canada and Japan. alternative investment years) and labour shortages that some say share is made up by exports of these inputs. turers are expected to
crore (about $515 mil- destination for major are a fallout of the one-child norm have ADVANTAGES AND HURDLES handlooms, power have enough unutilized
lion) in 2021-22. Chairman and manag- global companies. “The committee there-
ing director O.P. Lohia says factories are fore recommends that policy measures to
running full steam and he would be benefit from the strategy should be
played their part.
While Shanmugham, Lohia and many
other Indian exporters have got larger
N evertheless, India has several things
going for it. We have an integrated
market with enough raw material sup-
looms and hosiery manufacturers. capacity to meet the expected surge; capi-
Shanmugham says the MITRA scheme tal spends are not expected to be high.
could help create large players. “One or It is hard to argue with the fact that
investing a significant amount in capex devised … to develop a business-friendly orders recently, most Indian textile plies; the government has taken steps to two companies from Tirupur will benefit opportunity is knocking on India’s door
in the next 12-18 months in anticipation environment and best-in-class infrastruc- exporters have not been able to cash in on help textile manufacturing such as setting if a park comes up in Tamil Nadu. But it in a new world order. But we can exploit
of another spike in demand. According ture for incoming investments. It further the opportunity. up textile parks (Mega Integrated Textile could take up to three years to set it up, it only when Indian textile manufactur-
to a CRISIL Ratings projection, export recommends that the government should “So far, loss of business for China has Region and Apparel or MITRA) and since it needs 1,000 acres of land and ers think big and get adequate policy
demand for readymade garment makers endeavour to pursue Free or Preferential benefited Bangladesh and Vietnam, not launched a production-linked incentive many clearances,” he says. support to set up manufacturing at scale.
should grow by 12-15% this fiscal, despite Trade Agreements (FTA) or an interim India. Vietnam was nowhere in 2010 but (PLI) scheme worth ₹10,683 crore for Besides lack of scale and restricted Input prices need to be secured, manu-
a higher base. and mini trade agreement with countries in 2021-22, its apparel exports were far man-made fibre garments, fabrics and access to key markets, factor costs— facturing processes improved and deliv-
Worldwide, overseas customers are that seek to invest in India under the more than India’s. Bangladesh exported technical textiles. labour, power—in India are higher vis-a- ery timelines streamlined so that a weak-
continuing to diversify their supplier base ‘China Plus One’ strategy,” it said. apparel worth more than double what Negotiations for a trade agreement with vis Bangladesh and Vietnam, making our ening Chinese grip can result in more
in light of the economic crisis in Sri Lanka India did. We did just $16 billion worth of the UK have re-started and the industry exports more uncompetitive. Bangladesh order flow towards India, instead of
and the fresh covid wave in China. A larger THE OPPORTUNITY apparel exports last fiscal,” Nair says. expects a pact by the end of this year or enjoys up to 40% lower power costs and Bangladesh or Vietnam. Else, the $100
geopolitical shift is also pushing global
firms to look for alternatives to China. G lobal textile trade (exports) is projec-
ted to be $940 billion by 2026,
The recent spike in cotton and yarn pri-
ces has only made matters worse. Shan-
early next year. This will allow duty-free
access to Indian textiles and put us on a par
up to 20% lower labour costs, for example. billion export target by 2030 may remain
Nair says Indian exporters need imme- just a pipe dream.
LIVEMINT.COM MINT MONEY TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI 13

Things millennials should know POWER

POINT
while buying health insurance A R C H I T G U P TA

We welcome your views and comments at

[email protected]

CHANGED RULES
Experts say buyers should consider insurers who maintain more than 95% of their claim settlement ratio
OF TAX BENEFITS
Navneet Dubey
[email protected]
can be taken in addition to your health
policy, considering the substantial
medical costs incurred by critical ill-
ON DONATION

G
enerally, many buyers in nesses like cancer, heart attack, paral-
their 30s or early 40s ysis, etc.
struggle to arrive at a Experts say, “Insurers sell critical ill-
decision on buying the ness riders along with health insur-
right health insurance ance. However, it becomes important
policy. Their problem stems from a for you to check whether to buy a criti-
range of confusing options on offer: cal illness rider or not. For instance, if
from the sum insured, rider options to cancer is a genetic problem that runs
even policy pricing. So, if you are one in your family, you can zero in on a
of those millennnials looking to buy a rider for cancer treatment. Else, there
health policy, here are some factors to is no need for a separate critical illness
consider. rider. Also, look for the waiting period.
Type of policy If the period is short, it may not be nec-
The first and foremost thing to essary to buy the rider in your late 20s,
decide is whether to enroll in a family but you can buy one when you cross

M
floater plan or an individual policy. the age of 35.” illions of people often give to charity to support causes
Buyers with families must decide Besides, Nerurkar said, “One thing they believe in. The government provides some tax bene-
whether to cover all members under to note in critical illness policies is the fits under section 80G of the Income-tax (I-T) Act on
individual health policies or a com- ‘condition of survival’ period. In order donations. However, it can only be availed by those opting for the
mon family floater plan. to get a claim, the insured needs to sur- old tax regime. To ensure transparency and to prevent bogus dona-
Rakesh Goyal, director, Probus vive for a specific number of days after tion tax claims, the government has recently provided that the
Insurance Broker Pvt. Ltd., says, being diagnosed with a listed ailment charitable trusts or institutions receiving donations should file a
“While buying health insurance, keep to make a claim. However, this condi- statement of donation to the I-T department. The government has
your family members and their ages in tion varies from insurer to insurer.” notified Form 10BD for declaring donations received during the
mind. Buying a separate policy for the Waiting period year. Also, post-filing the statement of donations in Form 10BD, the
elderly would save on the additional When you buy a new health insur- charitable trusts or institutions shall issue the certificate of dona-
insurance premiums that otherwise suggest one should ideally opt for a General Insurance, said, “When you ers look at the proven track record of ance policy, it is important to know tion in Form 10BE to the donor.
would be charged based on their age separate health policy. buy health insurance, you must con- insurers on payment of claims. This is that all ailments are not covered from Hence, the burden of compliance has now gradually shifted to
under the family floater plans. More- Sum insured sider the treatment you might need in a critical element because one must day one. You need to serve a specified charitable organizations. It started from re-validation of registra-
over, having a separate policy for them Sum insured is the maximum pay- case of any medical contingency. Also, know that insurance is not consumed waiting period to get certain covera- tion to avail benefits under section 12A and 80G, followed by chari-
would help you accumulate `No Claim out that your insurer will revise your sum insured when it’s bought but consumed when ges. Chhabra said, “There are three table organizations with section 80G approval having to file a state-
Bonus’, which wouldn’t be the case if cover as per the coverage every 2-3 years. If not, do there is a claim. types of waiting periods. Policies come ment of donations in Form 10BD. Form 10BD for every financial
they had been under the same plan (as you have opted for in Sum insured is the this every five years at Always check on the claim settle- with an initial waiting period of 30 year needs to be filed before 31 May of the immediately following
increasing age might lead to more case of any claim. maximum payout least so that you can avail ment experience of insurers by visit- days during which only accidental financial year. This is effective from assessment year 2022-23, (for
claims).” Chhabra said, “Gener- that your insurer the best quality treat- ing their websites and social media, hospitalisation is covered. Also, there financial year 2021-22) and the due date to file Form 10BD is 31
“Besides, family floater plans typi- ally when you buy a will cover as per ment. This will help indi- and also reading customer reviews. is a specific disease waiting period of May.
cally come with a waiting period of two health policy with a the coverage you viduals, especially those You must also speak to other people to two years for medical conditions like Impact of this amendment
to four years for several ailments like lower sum insured, say have opted for in who have a problem with understand their claim settlement hernia, piles, cataracts, and even those If we deep dive, this amendment has far-reaching effects
diabetes, hypertension, and asthma ₹5 lakh, you get a policy case of any claim their family health his- experience with a particular insurer. that need knee replacement surgeries. beyond compliance.The procedure to avail the section 80G
that are common during old age. The with co-payments and tory.” Experts say buyers should consider The third is the waiting period for pre- deduction for a donor before the said
whole purpose of having health insur- sub-limits. In such a sce- Insurer experience insurers who maintain more than 95% existing diseases (PEDs). Some of the The burden of amendment was quite simple. The
ance becomes pointless when you nario, you should look Many buyers look at of their claim settlement ratio. most common PEDs include hyper- compliance has charitable trust/ institution just had to
have to wait to avail yourself coverage for a higher sum insured policy which price as the primary criteria when Critical Illness rider tension, diabetes, asthma, and CVD ensure that the donation receipt was
for pre-existing ailments,” said Amit doesn’t have sub-limits.” choosing a health insurer, or the num- A comprehensive health policy will (cardiovascular diseases). On all such now gradually issued to the donor with a valid 80G
Chhabra, head of health insurance, Bhaskar Nerurkar, head of health ber of cashless hospital tie-ups that an typically cover all hospitalization PEDs, insurers apply a waiting period shifted to certificate. Based on which the donor
Policybazaar.com. Hence, experts administration team, Bajaj Allianz insurer might have, but very few buy- expenses. Still, a critical illness policy of up to four years.” charitable would easily avail section 80G deduc-
organizations tion while filing the income tax return
for the donation given. Apart from this,
the charitable trust or institution did

Are sale proceeds received from inherited property taxable? not have any other obligations to fulfill to ensure that the donor was
eligible to claim the benefit of section 80G deduction.
Now, after the amendment, the donor can avail the deduction
under section 80G only if the trust or institution (donee) reports
Sonu Iyer asset, the taxable capital gain of India tax return (31 July), Australia for taxes paid in India the correct information to the I-T department via Form 10BD
will be full value of considera- there is an option to deposit the against doubly taxed income as about the donation. It then issues a certificate (Form 10BE) to the
I am a citizen of Australia, tion less expenditure incurred amount of capital gain in a Cap- per the applicable provisions of donor. The deduction will be pre-filled while filing the income tax
but of Indian descent. My wholly and exclusively in con- ital Gains Account Scheme (not the Double Taxation Avoid- return.
three siblings have decided nection with such transfer less later than the due date of filing ance Agreement (DTAA) Form 10BD requires the donor name and address, donor unique
to sell the inherited family indexed cost of acquisition the India tax return) and subse- between India and Australia. registration number (Aadhaar, PAN, passport and the like), the
home in India and share the (actual cost of acquisition quently withdraw this amount Tax on LTCG can be either date of issue of this unique registration number, the type of dona-
proceeds with me. I want to adjusted as per cost of inflation for reinvestment in the new paid by way of advance tax in tion (whether it is corpus, specific grant, or others), donation
repatriate my share of this index (CII)) less indexed cost of residential house within the four instalments (15% by 15 receipt mode (cash, kind, cheque, or digital modes), the donation
to Australia. Do I have to pay the improvement. stipulated period (2 years/3 June, 45% by 15 September, amount (and the currency). Form 10BD can be filed electronically
tax on my share in India. If The long-term capital gain years, as the case may be). 75% by 15 December and 100% through the income tax e-filing portal. Go to ‘e-File’ > ’IncomeTax
so, how much will this be? (LTCG) is taxable at 20% (plus If the entire amount is not by 15 March) or before filing of Form’ > ‘Form 10BD’ (Persons not dependent on any Source of
Can I opt to pay tax in Aus- applicable surcharge and reinvested or not deposited in a tax return by way of self-as- Income). Fill in the basic information, details of donors and dona-
tralia instead? health & education cess). the scheme, the remaining por- sessment tax along with inter- tions, and complete the verification. After all the details are filled,
— Name withheld on request A caution point here: if the tion of the LTCG will be taxa- est by 31 July. complete the process by e-verification and the form is successfully
ASK MINT 2001, the cost can be substi- stamp duty value of the prop- ble. The requirement to pay submitted. Once Form 10BD is filed, Form 10BE can be generated
Under the income-tax (I-T) m N R I TA X AT I O N tuted with fair market value erty is more than 10% of sale Thus, your share of capital advance/self-assessment tax under ‘Filed Forms’. These certificates should be downloaded and
law, the value of any asset (but not exceeding the stamp value, the stamp duty value gains on the sale of immovable will arise if the buyer of the resi- issued to all the donors listed in Form 10BD.
received under a will or by way duty value on 1 April 2001) if may be regarded as the full property in India will be taxable dential property does not Form 10BE is necessary for the donors now to avail section 80G
of inheritance is not taxable in asset. For inherited property, such fair market value is higher value of consideration receiva- in India if not claimed as deduct full tax payable by you. deduction. Hence, if the donee fails to generate this in time or has
India. However, the income the holding period would be than the original cost. The cost ble for computation of capital exempt from Income-tax to the Sonu Iyer is tax partner and incorrect or no information about its donors, the donor will not be
arising from transfer or use of calculated from the date of of improvement i.e., capital gains. extent the capital gains are people advisory services leader, able to avail the benefit. Next time the donors may reconsider giv-
inherited property in India will acquisition by the original expenditure incurred for mak- The LTCG from sale of resi- reinvested in India . EY India. ing any donation to the same charitable trust if claiming Section
be taxable in India. owner. ing additions or alterations to dential property can be claimed You cannot choose to pay tax 80G deduction is a hassle.
Sale of immovable property Further, the cost of the prop- the property incurred after 1 as exempt from Income tax to in India or Australia. If you Do you have a personal Consequences of non-compliance
will be taxable in India in the erty will also be reckoned with April 2001 by the original the extent the capital gains are qualify as a resident of Australia finance query? Send in your Any charitable trust/institution receiving donations will need
year of sale of property. Any reference to the cost incurred owner or taxpayer can also be being reinvested in “specified and if such income on the sale queries at to file Form 10BD for compliance and to give the benefit of section
immovable property held for a by the original owner. If the considered in the computation bonds” in India of immovable property is also [email protected] 80G to their donors. If they fail to do so, a penalty of ₹200 per day
and get them answered by
period of more than 24 months property was acquired by the of capital gains in such transfer. If the LTCG remains un-in- taxable in Australia, you may shall be imposed as per the I-T Act.
industry experts.
is classified as long-term capital original owner prior to 1 April In case of a long-term capital vested till the due date of filing claim the foreign tax credit in Archit Gupta is founder and CEO, Clear

Returns on my investments PNB MetLife’s dental care plan covers

Building a portfolio is a complex exercise, and it has to be maintained, too. A person’s portfolio holds different types of assets
based on his/her financial goals, and each asset class gives different types of returns, which is why a portfolio must have an ideal
mix of financial products. One must also keep in mind the volatility risk of the asset class, liquidity, lock-in rules and taxation.
Here's a look at how four commonly used asset types—equity, cash, gold and fixed income—have done in different periods.
fixed-benefit outpatient expenses
Navneet Dubey PNB MetLife has tied up dental dental procedures.
[email protected] with more than 340 dental Data from Allied Market
Returns (in %)

17.04tha%t
clinics, including Clove Dental Research indicates that the

P
Equity (Sensex) Cash (liquid fund) NB MetLife India Insur- and Sabka Dentist, two of Indian dental insurance indus-
ance Co Ltd has launched India’s largest dental clinic try would be worth $3.65 bil-
The return iven Gold Fixed income (fixed deposit)
a dental care plan— chains with clinics across key lion by 2030. According to the
gold has g ear India’s first insurance plan that cities in India, where policy- Indian National Oral Health
over a 3-y 17.04
covers fixed-benefit outpatient holders can enjoy the full value Survey, 90% of adults have oral
period expenses and provides finan- of their benefits. health issues and most dental
12.49 12.41 12.48 cial assistance with costs Ashish Kumar Srivastava, visits are for treatment of dental
11.83 related to overall dental health. managing director and chief problems such as gum infec-
8.75 As per the insurer, this is a executive officer, PNB MetLife, tion, decay, tooth loss, loosen-
8.43 one-of-a-kind, standalone den- said: “Dental treatment is ing of teeth, and significant
7.0 6.7 6.83
6.25 5.94 tal health insurance plan that expensive due to the requisite dental infection and vascular
5.0 5.25 covers major dental proce- skill, specialized infrastructure, damage. Several studies have
3.31 4.04
dures without the hassles of and impact of inflation. People even linked dental health to
hospitalization, said the firm. spend a lot of money and pay- per procedure and a sum some chronic disorders such as
“PNB MetLife Dental Care out of their own pockets for assured of up to ₹50,000. The diabetes and stroke.
Plan will help customers man- dental procedures.” plan also comes with a cashless This plan complements any
age their dental health and The plan offers access to facility and policyholders can current health insurance plan
ensure they do not have to dive insurance without having to avail of tax benefit exceptions in the market, such as medi-
1 YEAR 3 YEARS 5 YEARS 10 YEARS into their savings or reduce face the hassles of overnight under section 80D of the claim or critical illness, in
Data as on 13 May. Equity is the benchmark Sensex return (price); cash refers to the average return for liquid funds category as defined by their essential spending in hospitalization. Indian Income Tax Act. which the dental benefits are
Valueresearchonline; gold refers to domestic gold prices available on Valueresearchonline; and fixed income is historic SBI fixed deposit rates. order to make space for dental The PNB MetLife Dental Note that the dental care either uninsured or paid after
All returns are annualized. treatment,” the company said Care Plan also offers fixed ben- plan pays fixed benefits for the minimum hospitalization of 24
PARAS JAIN/MINT Source: BSE, SBI, Value Research in a release. efits ranging from ₹350-7,500 specific outpatient and acci- hours.
14 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI VIEWS LIVEMINT.COM

OUR VIEW THEIR VIEW

MINT

Benefactors must start working

out a Marshall Plan for Ukraine
The West could use this well-tested model to lend the war-ravaged nation a hand on reconstruction

received Marshall aid in 1948. It received there were concerns about corruption,
$300 million in 1947 under the auspices the ECA had hundreds of agents embed-
of the American Mission for Aid to ded in relevant ministries. Administra-
Greece, whose structure provided the tive reforms were a focus and precondi-
template for the Marshall Plan. tion for Marshall Plan aid.
Similarly, aid to Ukraine can start now, Ukrainians will be understandably
though it should be used with discretion. sensitive about foreign interference in
Repairing bridges that get destroyed their reconstruction programme. But
again by Russia would serve no purpose. foreign oversight is the price of foreign
BARRY EICHENGREEN It is also important to recall that Marshall aid, particularly on the scale that
is professor of economics at the University Plan funds were more than 90% grants Ukraine will require. The government
of California, Berkeley, and author of ‘In and just 10% loans. Today there are calls in Kyiv can provide reassurance by
Defense of Public Debt’ for the Western powers to guarantee enhancing the transparency of all its
new Ukrainian government bonds. This spending, for example by expanding

Business analysis is no
would bring its government’s borrowing its online public procurement portal
costs down to single digits and provide ProZorro.

T
alking up a Marshall Plan for funds for reconstruction. But it would The Marshall Plan had prioritized
Ukraine is a popular sport nowa- leave Kyiv even more heavily indebted, rebuilding export capacity. It recognized
days. The game starts by tossing when it already faces the challenge of the invigorating effects of international

government’s business out a figure for the cost of rebuilding

Ukraine from the ravages of the Russian
invasion: $250 billion, $500 billion or $1
trillion, depending on assumptions of
restructuring its legacy debt. Guarantees
for additional Ukrainian borrowing
would merely be a way for Western
nations to go cheap on aid.
competition and the political benefits of
European integration. Ukraine almost
certainly faces a long road to the nirvana
of EU membership. But the journey can
how much is destroyed, the cost of Moreover, the US created an inde- be expedited if Western aid is structured
refugee care, etc. The overall cost of the pendent agency to administer the Mar- to align Ukrainian institutions and
The Centre’s efforts to ease business and tighten rules must not take it into fields of activity post-World War II Marshall Plan is then shall Plan. Freed from the bureaucracies policies with those of the EU.
compared with US GDP in 1948, when of the US State and Treasury depart- Finally, the Marshall Plan allowed
beyond its role and ken. Specific bankruptcy risks are for enterprise stakeholders to track the programme started. This typically ments, the Economic Cooperation Europe to leapfrog a generation techno-
leads to the conclusion that the cost of Administration (ECA) could ramp up logically. Europe was decades behind
Ukrainian reconstruction relative to the quickly. It was able to tap private-sector the US in adopting the ‘high-speed
size of donor countries will be in the expertise, starting with its head, Paul throughput’ manufacturing methods on

T
he role of government in general stake in debtors staying worthy of credit. But same ballpark as the Marshall Plan. Hoffman, president of Studebaker. It which the golden age of postwar eco-
should be kept to providing a policy still, on specifics, it should exercise restraint. These kinds of comparisons are not avoided entanglements with the United nomic growth was based. Rather than
the best use of Marshall Plan history. It is Nations, where the Soviet Union’s mem- simply rebuilding European industry
frame that lets private enterprise Unless a bankruptcy occurs, for which defined impossible to put a number on the cost of bership would have caused problems. along pre-war lines, an effort was made
thrive on its own. Fields of business processes are in place, any take on its likelihood reconstruction as long as there remains Aid for Ukraine should similarly be to transfer state-of-the-art American
do require rules, but regulation is essentially an opinion. For specific cases, uncertainty about the duration of the administered by an autonomous agency manufacturing technology. European
should be minimal, and while the forming such opinions on the basis of business war and how much territory will be con- accountable to donor governments. officials, plant managers and trade
state must collate key financial data on private analysis is the job of lenders, investors and trolled by Ukraine’s legitimate govern- While it can consult and coordinate with unionists travelled to the US as part
ment. Just because the US was prepared the International Monetary Fund and of Marshall Plan-funded productivity
firms, as India’s ministry of corporate affairs other direct stakeholders, guided along by to provide post-World War II Europe World Bank, it should preserve its missions to learn about these techniques
does, it must let markets and businesses look credit rating agencies. It is they who must keep with nearly 5% of its 1948 GDP, spread independence, given Russian member- and returned with new knowledge,
after their own affairs. Curiously, though, a new watch, guard their interests and mount rescues over four years, tells us nothing about ship of both organizations. yielding tangible benefits for overall
proposal under the ministry’s consideration in good time. They may have done a poor job of whether this is the right level of support The Marshall Plan’s architects recog- productivity growth.
seems to overlook the limits of that role. In a it, as our recent record shows, but that does not for Ukraine. nized the need for ownership on the part Ukraine has an opportunity to leap-
Other aspects of this history are more of aid recipients, while proceeding on frog a generation of technologies to
slew of research projects getting a look-in, justify government intrusion. Even if the pro- relevant to Ukraine’s situation. It is the basis of “trust but verify.” European clean its energy system, modernize its
including one on asking unlisted companies for posal is academic rather than actionable, it revealing, for example, that Marshall governments submitted detailed plans transportation and telecom infrastruc-
climate reports and another on integrating its could generate sensitive data under a govern- Plan disbursals began even while there for spending down US funds. These were ture and update its urban planning.
MCA21 database with those of other regulators, ment stamp. Any publication—or leak—of likely was still some fighting in Europe. the bases for painstaking negotiations These are first and foremost tasks for
what stands out is the idea of making bank- failures that are identifiable could unsettle such Although the Greek Civil War continued with the ECA before monies were dis- Ukrainians. But the West can and
through the summer of 1949, Greece bursed. In countries like Greece, where should help. ©2022/PROJECT SYNDICATE
ruptcy forecasts based on data filed with it by firms, possibly even tip them over, should per-
businesses. Tools of data analysis may allow ceptions of their weakness impact operations.
patterns to be spotted for such risks to be The ministry’s tools could also be challenged,
assessed, no doubt, but no such exercise should conceivably, given that tracking such risks is
get a go-ahead without clarity and discussion not a competence it can claim superiority on,
on what end it is expected to serve. which would expose it to needless controversy.
As with a call for information on sustainability To be sure, the government sits atop loads of www.livemint.com New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh*, Pune* Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Vol.6 No.114 `3.00 32
24 PAGES
+ 4 MARKETS PAGES

and the easing of business regulation and data that could be mined in beneficial ways. It GRAPHIC: NCERT’s trysts
with controversies >6

What we call ‘algorithmic

WSJ: Greeks hold last-dItch coalition
talks >19

reporting—data filing duplication must end— has also put together a plan to open up chunks EXCLUSIVE PARTNER
MEDIA: Not more than 12 minutes of ads
per hour, Trai tells TV channels >4
MARK TO MARKET: L&T—order inflow
guidance challenging >14

that an integrated database would enable, the of it for public access. Within privacy limits and SENSEX 16,215.84 æ 77.14

Intelligence
committee to
NIFTY 4,907.80 æ 21.10

UNEXPECTED RISE

Inflation spurts, more global

record close in
DOLLAR `53.97 Æ `0.33 EURO `69.21 æ `0.12 GOLD `28,180 æ `205

Rupee falls to
OIL $110.87 æ $1.64

QUICK EDIT
Export
stablecoins’ aren’t really
Centre’s ability to crunch numbers and acquire with adequate safeguards, this is welcome. meet on govt
email hacking
B Y S AHIL M AKKAR &
A PPU E STHOSE S URESH
·························
rate cuts unlikely T
slump
B Y A NUP R OY & R EUTERS
·························
MUMBAI

he rupee fell to a record

close of 53.9750 to the dol-
bottlenecks
O n Monday, the
Union government
admitted that Indian
exporters end up losing
anywhere between 7% stable in the same way
a solvency monitor could well have a public Indeed, independent business analysis can be
NEW DELHI
Headline inflation rises lar as it joined in a global slump and 10% of the value of

I ndia’s joint intelligence com-

mittee (JIC) will hold a meet-
ing on Tuesday to resolve issues
to 7.23% in April, driven
by primary articles;
FURTHER PRESSURE
While headline inflation has been fluctuating since February, core inflation
of currencies against the green-
back. Traders said the Indian
currency is set to slump further
their exports due to time
taken to handle cargo at
ports, the slow pace of

that fiat-backed stablecoins

marginally accelerated to 4.8% in April after declining for four consecutive weeks.
between two important wings of food inflation in double and the central bank will be un- inland transportation
the Union government over the able to stem the slide as the ru- and other issues. These
alleged compromise of hun- digits after five months pee is following global cues, not infrastructural problems
dreds of email accounts, includ- domestic ones. The Monday have never received the
ing those of the home secretary, B Y A SIT R ANJAN M ISHRA & 10.88 close was near the lowest intra- attention they deserve.

purpose. If an anonymized trove of meta-data is aided by this initiative. The processing of data
(Year-on-year, in %)
Indian embassies, members of R EMYA N AIR day level of 54.30 that the rupee In the case of many
the armed forces and top bu- ························· reached on 15 December. labour-intensive exports,
NEW DELHI
reaucrats. The euro fell to a near-four- textiles and apparel,
The JIC, which functions un-
der the National Security Advi-
sor, will try to iron out differenc- F urther complicating policy
choices for the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI), head-
month low of $1.2854, having
lost 2.8% so far this month, af-
ter losing 0.8% in April on the
for example, this is a
substantial dent. Often,
it is sufficient to inflict

are. They’re more like

es between the National Techni- line inflation, riding on high possibility that Greece may exit a knock-out blow,
cal Research Organisation food prices in April, unexpected- WPI the euro zone, while worries especially when these
(NTRO) and the National Infor- ly accelerated to 7.23% from 7.23 about slowing Chinese and exporters have to

used as an aggregate indicator of businesses on by the government itself, however, must go

matics Centre (NIC) over the 6.89% a month ago, at a time global growth drove down compete with economies
sharing of content of the com- when concerns over growth higher-yielding currencies. that have far cheaper
promised email accounts. slowing down are mounting. The New Zealand dollar hit a labour, such as
NTRO, which is the country’s Industrial output contracted four-and-a-half-month low of Bangladesh and Vietnam.
elite technical intelligence agen- 3.5% in March, bringing down $0.7756, while the Australian There is a clear policy
cy, has prepared a list of hun- overall industrial growth in dollar hit a five-month low of lesson here: instead of
dreds of email accounts that 2011-12 closer to the crisis year $0.9958. trying to prop exports
have been “compromised” over level of 2008-09. The Index of In- 5.8 Stock markets fell globally, up with all manner of

structured products,
the last one year. The agency dustrial Production (IIP) growth with BSE’s benchmark Sensex stimulus packages, if the

the verge of going bust, it could act as a policy strictly by clarity on objectives, and that too,
was formed in 2004 with the averaged 2.8% in 2011-12 com- index shedding 0.47% to government is to spend
mandate of developing technical pared with 8.2% in the previous 16,215.84 points, its fifth suc- money in reducing these
capabilities in aviation, cyber se- fiscal year; in 2008-09, IIP growth CORE cessive drop and the lowest costs, Indian exporters
curity and strategic monitoring. averaged 2.5%. INFLATION closing since 16 January. Major will be in a much better
Among those email accounts
that the agency says have been
Most of the increase in infla-
tion came from the primary arti-
4.8 European markets were down
more than 2%. The Dow Jones
position to give a fight to
their counterparts from
hacked are those of the home cles segment, which grew 15.09% Apr Apr other Asian countries.
secretary, the tourism and cul- in April. While the fuel group 2010 2012 TURN TO PAGE 3®

input. Less general motives are also plausible. after wide consultation and due deliberation.
ture secretary, the earth and sci- rose 13.04% in April, prices of FOOD INFLATION (y-o-y change) FUEL GROUP
ences secretary, the naval atta- manufactured items increased

and they need upside if

ché to Teheran, several Indian 6.8% in the same month. 20.48% 13.6%
Apr 2010 Apr 2010
missions abroad, top investiga- While headline inflation has ‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’ ACTION
tors of the Central Bureau of In- been fluctuating since February, 10.49%
vestigation and the armed forc-
es. Mint has reviewed the list of
email accounts said to be com-
core inflation marginally accel-
erated to 4.8% in April after de-
clining for four consecutive
Apr 2012

RIL stock slumps on

promised. weeks. The fresh price pressures
11.03%
Moody’s comment
Since watching out for workers, small investors, Any monitor created for a reading of the private
The agency, which now wants came from fruits and vegetables,
0 Apr 2012
to further investigate the source pulses and cereals. Food infla- -0.68%
of the hacking, has sought infor- tion touched double digits after a Jan 2012
mation from NIC. gap of five months. Source: Department of industrial policy and promotion B Y A VEEK D ATTA gas price of $4.2 per million

they want to justify the risk.

AHMED RAZA KHAN/MINT
A high-ranking NTRO official, Finance minister Pranab [email protected] British thermal units.
who did not want to be identi- Mukherjee told reporters that sure. The International Mone- that there was at least a one-in- ························· “The even greater decline of
fied, confirmed that information food inflation was a matter of tary Fund has also said policy three likelihood of a downgrade MUMBAI 38.8 billion cubic metres in
has been sought from NIC for
further investigation and a meet-
concern, adding that additional
cold storage facilities and insti-
rates should stay at the current
level given persistent inflation-
of its sovereign rating within the
next 24 months. It said a down- C redit rating agency
Moody’s Investors Service
proved developed reserves will
require the company to make

suppliers, etc, is a legitimate aspect of the state’s sector’s pulse should only be for big-picture
ing is to be held on Tuesday on tutional support were required. ary pressure. grade was likely if the country’s Inc. said on Monday that Reli- further investments, although
the subject. C. Rangarajan, chairman of The inflation data was surpris- economic growth prospects dim, ance Industries Ltd’s (RIL’s) at this stage we cannot esti-
The row blew up after NIC re- the Prime Minister’s economic ing, said Abheek Barua, chief the external position deterio- move to downgrade its proven mate the amount of those addi-
fused to cooperate as it feared advisory council, described the economist at HDFC Bank Ltd. rates, and the political climate gas reserves by 7% was a “cred- tional investments,” Moody’s
that the move would breach the situation as uncomfortable. “The “There seems to be some conflict worsens or fiscal reforms slow. it negative” action. The RIL said.
privacy of the officials con- rise in inflation makes it difficult between the industry growth The April figure was a timely stock fell after the Moody’s RIL shares fell 2.32% on BSE
cerned. NIC provides email ac- for moderation of monetary poli- numbers that are coming in that reminder about not being exces- comment. to `681.15 each. The bench-
counts to all government or- cy. The scope for action from RBI would entail a downward pres- sively optimistic about India’s The oil-to-yarn and retail mark Sensex index lost 0.47%
gets narrowed when inflation is sure on interest rates and the in- inflation outlook, Rajeev Malik, conglomerate had said in its to 16,215.84 points. RIL was the

oversight remit, the government has an interest trends. It would need to be rigorously tested
TURN TO PAGE 2® increasing,” he said at an event flation number. It is a cause of senior economist at CLSA Singa- annual report posted on its third biggest loser among the
organized by the PHD Chamber concern. The figure that most pore, said in a note. website on 9 May that it had 30 Sensex companies. Dogged
of Commerce and Industry. analysts were expecting is sub- “We maintain that inflation cut the volume of its proven by issues such as falling gas
Rangarajan said the central stantially lower,” he said. will continue to be a challenge gas reserves by 0.43 trillion cu- output at its D6 block in the
bank would only have room to The depreciation of the rupee for some time despite weaker bic feet, or around 7% of prov- Krishna-Godavari basin and
cut key policy rates if non-food against the dollar may apply up- growth,” he said. “In fact, India en reserves, at the beginning of regulatory scrutiny, RIL’s stock
manufacturing inflation showed ward pressure on inflation is likely to continue with the fiscal 2012. It cut proved devel- price has lost 28.2% in the last

SA M BA N K MA N -F R I E D
definite signs of slowing. “It is a through the rising cost of im- combination of weak growth and oped reserves by 36.2%. one year, more than double the
sign of demand-side pressures ported items, economists said. still-high inflation, and it is best “The revisions are credit 12.5% fall in the Sensex.

in forestalling bankruptcies. As an owner of and must have no scope for arbitrary calls on
unlike food inflation,” he said. Core inflation could head not to expect much in terms of negative for the company as it The company had cash and
RBI cut policy rates by 50 basis higher if depreciation pressures easing from RBI.” confirms the technical difficul- cash equivalents of `70,252
points (bps) in its annual review persist, said Indranil Pan, chief Citibank India economists Ro- ties that it faces in its explora- crore and total debt of `68,259
in April, reversing the rate-tight- economist at Kotak Mahindra hini Malkani and Anushka Shah tion and production business crore on 31 March. It’s a debt-
ening cycle that began in March Bank Ltd. held to their expectation that from declining production and free company on a net basis.
2010 and resulted in 13 subse- The rupee on Monday there would be 25 bps of further consequently lower cash The credit rating agency also
quent policy rate hikes. A basis dropped to the lowest in nearly easing this year. flows,” the Moody’s report noted that the aforementioned
point is one-hundredth of a per- five months, reversing earlier said. revision had resulted in RIL’s
centage point. gains, to 53.97 per dollar. TURN TO PAGE 2® Moody’s said the cut in prov- reserve life “declining signifi-

banks that lend to businesses and have often companies. Instead of venturing into a tricky
Central bank governor D. Sub- Soon after the policy rate cut, en gas reserves will reduce to- cantly, especially for proved
barao had indicated at the time credit rating agency Standard ALSO SEE tal cash flows by some $1.7 bil- developed reserves, based on
that there wasn’t much head- and Poor’s had revised the out- lion (around `9,130 crore to- last year’s rate of production”.
Mint is also available for R6 with room for further monetary eas- look on India’s long-term rating >MARK TO MARKET: A helpless RBI >P14 day) over the life of its gas
Hindustan Times under a combo offer ing, given high inflationary pres- to negative from stable, warning >VIEWS: A time to wait and watch >P22 portfolio, based on the existing TURN TO PAGE 2®

needed fiscal back-up, it also has a big financial domain, the Centre should stick to its wiring.

GUEST VIEW

We need to usher in a Gov-Tech model of development

material costs (impacting corporate mar- communal tension (the hijab row, halal meat that has been a running theme of economic emerging sectors and learn to collaborate,
SHAHAN SUD gins), internet poverty (worsening existing controversy and vigilante attacks on inter- analysis for far too long. The government is engage and transact even in mixed-reality
social divides), and the middle class being faith couples), poor civic infrastructure and capable of achieving moonshots in domains settings.
squeezed into making choices that curtail tax terrorism on virtual digital assets. of healthcare, sanitation, education, clean- While the metaverse might give citizens
consumption rather than propelling it In order to sustainably move forward, tech and biotech, provided it transitions partial relief to modern day troubles like
(which makes recessionary pressures per- India will need to focus on getting major tech towards a Gov-Tech model of development. roads full of pot holes, rising fuel prices and

C
ovid and its multiple waves have not sist). On the other hand, Indians were also startup players and institutional capital With this shift towards a new model, the jammed traffic, it will not be able to deliver
only raised ‘persistent uncertainty’ gifted with abundant opportunities, as the (investors) to work with the government would be well on the promise of on-ground development.
and ‘agnostic anxiety’, but it has also pandemic gave entrepreneurs a chance to central and state govern- positioned to strategically Hence, governments will need to ally with
made us rethink our priorities. In addition to build brands that could capture unexplored ments to build a ‘Gov-Tech’ An alliance of capitalize on the innova- multiple startups. Think of it like an API
the waves of infection that we have success- spaces, which in turn fed a startup boom. alliance. This handshake tion that entrepreneurs integration for a SaaS venture in order to
fully combated through an effective public- Emerging sectors like Web3 and crypto saw can help us move away governments across the country are gen- service a product (which in this case would
private partnership approach, going forward, many new ventures sprout. Also, nature, from the shackles of scar- erating. SIDBI’s Fund of be developmental programmes approved by
we will probably continue to experience new briefly relieved of human pollution, got city and act as a catalyst for
with tech Funds and the setting up of governments), so that citizens’ ‘monthly

is an investment banker-
mutations of the covid virus that are currently
in stealth mode.
some breathing space.
At this crossroads, for investors to go truly
a future of abundance. This
partnership could give a fil-
startups and an expert committee to
look at a regulatory frame-
subscription’ to developmental pro-
grammes can smoothly be fulfilled.
turned-venture capitalist. He
tweets at @shahan_sud
As we reflect on our journey so far, we
must understand that the pandemic has
long on India, the country’s surging startup
ecosystem will need to work in sync with the
lip to a big chunk of policy
issues that are waiting to be
investors could work for the private equity
and VC industry are two
In conclusion, by adopting a Gov-Tech
model of development, as proposed, India
been a double-edged sword for India. While government, and the latter will have to be resolved. These have been boost India’s notable steps that could will be well poised to become a global eco-
some sectors have had a bumpy ride, busi- amenable to integrating new technologies in pending due to a lack of facilitate this process. Citi- nomic powerhouse over the next 3-5 years.
nesses operating in the horizontal B2B SaaS traditional frameworks of governance and technical capabilities and prospects zens would benefit as this In order to achieve this feat, Indians will
space, Web3, HR Tech, biotech, niche sec- public policy. Doing so could deliver wide- infrastructure support or Gov-Tech partnership simultaneously need to actively protect the
tors of edtech and consumer plays like gam- spread economic benefits. the fact that the govern- scales up and reduces the cultural fabric of India, preserve the social
ing and D2C with positive unit economics, While we need to correct the great Indian ment doesn’t have the funds needed to prices of many services. capital that Indians inherited from their
healthy margin profiles and good repeat duality, many pockets of India (like Benga- implement them in a timely manner. Further, one must note that while the forefathers, and keep a check on the moral
rates have been resilient. luru) are going through what I call their ‘San Additionally, the government needs to physical realities of India and Bharat remain compass of leaders that are mandated to
This is no different from the great duality Francisco moment’: a large section of citi- learn from the positive-sum game that the divergent, largely because the implementa- frame policies for citizens.
that India is experiencing. On one hand, we zens, businesses and institutional capital is venture capital (VC) industry espouses. This tion of government schemes is not as effi- The broad idea is to immerse India in a
have a cocktail of despair: an uneven recov- on the verge of being crowded out of regions attunement to a world of opportunities cient as that of election slogans, I trust that a technology-enabled growth journey. In my
ery and rising inflation fuelled by rising raw that are impacted by frequent flare-ups of would detract from the notion of scarcity large proportion of Indians will adapt to view, this strategy will help India prosper.
LIVEMINT.COM VIEWS TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI 15

GUEST VIEW M I N T C U R AT O R

Digital markets must be defined Sticky inflation in India could

have been seen in magic prices
well for competition regulation Pack resizing in 2021 by marketers like HUL should’ve alerted RBI

We need proper assessments of relevant markets so that India’s digital emergence story doesn’t end up stifled by overregulation

ISTOCKPHOTO

ANDY MUKHERJEE
is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering
industrial companies and financial services
in Asia.
SIMRAN DHIR, AKSHAT
KULSHRESTHA & ANUJA AGRAWAL
are, respectively, head and associates of the
competition law practice at S&R.

I
f it wanted to get ahead of the inflation
challenge, India’s central bank should
have paid more attention to Surf Excel.

T
he rise of the digital sector has pre- The price of this detergent went up by 20% Magic price-point targeting has been
sented unique challenges for Indian in January. While that’s hardly news when tough for HUL in recent times MINT
regulatory authorities, including the most daily-use items are getting dearer, the
Competition Commission of India interesting part was the retail price before says. “As electricity tariffs are raised over the
(CCI), thanks to significant differences the change: ₹10 for a bar. Such tiny bars of next 12 months, the urban cost of produc-
in the way such markets operate com- detergent are aimed at consumers who are tion and living could hurt growth.”
pared to traditional markets. Further, several often unable to spend a rupee more with- Not only electricity. Services demand is
issues emerging from the growth of digital markets out having to cut back on something else. still trying to catch up with pre-pandemic
are being analysed by regulators in other countries To prevent these customers from down- levels. As today’s recovery in contact-based
simultaneously, resulting in a lack of guidance grading to cheaper products, Hindustan industries like travel progresses, they will
from other jurisdictions. Unilever (HUL) relies on “magic price pass on some of their own cost pressures,
There is growing demand, worldwide and in points”—such as ₹5 or ₹10—that help buy- mimicking consumer-goods firms. Add
India, to hold digital platforms responsible and ers stay within tight budgets. “Almost 30% expensive food to this list, and it’s unclear if
accountable for adverse impacts caused by them. of our business comes from packs that April’s 7.8% inflation rate will go back to
This is evidenced by recent investigations initiated operate at magic price points,” Ritesh 4%—the midpoint of the central bank’s tol-
by the CCI into the operations of digital platforms Tiwari, chief financial officer of HUL, said erance range—any time soon. That muddies
such as Google, WhatsApp, Apple, Zomato, recently. For these packs, weight cuts are the outlook for how high India’s interest
Swiggy, etc. common. “As a result, even the same num- rates need to go and how much output
A preliminary step involved in such probes is ber of units sold leads to volume decline.” growth will have to be sacrificed for prices
that of defining a ‘relevant market’ within which Which is why most of the 11% growth in to get back within RBI’s target range.
such digital platforms operate. The Competition HUL’s sales in the last quarter of 2021 came Repricing and repackaging don’t always
Act of 2002 requires the CCI to define a ‘relevant from price hikes. The underlying volumes work out as envisioned. When companies
market’ based on what is regarded as interchange- rose only 2%. Rivals fared worse. India’s cut weights to defend prices, they also hope
able or substitutable by a consumer (“Relevant broader consumer industry saw volumes that the consumer will return more often.
Market Test”). The factors required for considera- fall, with rural areas seeing a 4.8% decline, That doesn’t always happen. Operating at
tion by the CCI while defining a ‘relevant market’ compared with a 0.8% drop in cities, magic price points is like running a high-
include the physical characteristics or end use according to NielsenIQ. school experiment in ‘titration’, dripping a
of goods, prices of goods or services, consumer As India’s largest consumer business, liquid of known properties into another of
preferences, regulatory trade barriers and local HUL managed to walk a tightrope between unknown concentration and stopping when
specification requirements, among others. only players in several cases related to digital business models today and the significant number quantity and price. But then commodity the colour changes. Except that unlike any
The CCI’s approach so far: Until 2016, while markets. For instance, it has defined the relevant of businesses that have add-on ‘online’ delivery cost pressures became too intense to keep substance in the lab, the consumer is an
defining a ‘relevant market’ for e-commerce market for (a) Google as “the market for Online channels. Accordingly, the CCI should define a up the illusion of affordability. Hence, the active participant in this experiment. In a
companies and marketplaces (such as Snapdeal, General Web Search Services in India and the ‘relevant market’ in the digital sector by taking January mark up of a ₹10 Surf Excel bar to country where families earning less than
Ebay, Yepme, Cloudtail, etc), the CCI viewed market for Online Search Advertising Services in into consideration all substitutable and inter- ₹12. This capitulation of some small packs to the median household income of roughly
online and offline segments as different channels India”, for (b) WhatsApp as “the market for Over- changeable products or services for each industry, non-magical pricing—plus the 41 mentions $2,300 account for only 10-15% of overall
of distribution and not different relevant markets. The-Top (OTT) messaging apps through smart- including what’s available offline. of “inflation” on HUL’s December quarter consumption, a large number of people
This was based on the CCI’s view that the two phones in India” and for (c) Apple as “the market One way to address concerns in various quarters earnings call—should have given the “would be very conscious about the money
segments differ in terms of discounts and the for app stores for iOS in India”. would be to conduct market surveys to explore Reserve Bank of India (RBI) a warning: costs outlay and they would be titrating the vol-
shopping experience, and buyers would typically Subsequent orders of the CCI in cases where consumer preferences, habits and dependence on were weighing too much on the profitability ume to protect their wallet because their
weigh both online and offline options before arguments were made that offline products or digital platforms, on a case-to-case basis. While the of even large firms for them to go by the wallet is so small and so limited,” HUL chair-
making purchase decisions. Further, if prices of services could be substitutable with online CCI has undertaken a few market studies, it needs niceties of consumer psychology. man Sanjiv Mehta said on the earnings call.
the same product or service available online were products or services did not clearly apply the to reach out to consumers on a wider scale and not Yet, to delay what even then looked like At 8.3%, inflation in the US is also stub-
to increase significantly, then the consumer was Relevant Market Test, and did not clarify whether limit its analysis to secondary studies or surveys. an inevitable increase in interest rates, RBI bornly high, but at least unemployment
likely to buy the product or service from an offline all products and services that could be considered Such an approach may seem rather costly and in February projected inflation at a benign there is at a low 3.6% and hourly earnings
channel, and vice versa. interchangeable by consumers were considered time-consuming. However, given the magnitude 4.5% for 2022-23. Its first rate hike—a 40 are rising. In India, it was only in April that
In 2018, when examining a complaint filed while arriving at a ‘relevant market’ definition. of consequences that could arise from the question basis point move—came on 4 May. By then employment surged by about 7 million after
against e-commerce companies that alleged ‘abuse The need of the hour: Given the pace at which of ‘relevant market’, each industry and sector must India’s inflation problem was entrenched a cumulative decline of 10 million in the
of dominance’ by way of predatory pricing and the digital sector is expanding in India, and the be given due consideration. and getting worse. Last month, a 500-ml previous three months, according to the
preferential treatment to certain sellers, the CCI emergence of several issues prompted by this India’s digital sector needs proper market pouch of Vim dishwashing liquid went up Center for Monitoring Indian Economy. Of
diverged from its initial view and recognized the growth, it is essential that the CCI carefully con- assessment and, in some cases, correction. For this, from ₹1 less than the magic price point of the 900 million eligible to work, only two-
possibility of a distinction between online and off- sider the question of ‘relevant market’, and more a consistent approach that’s inclusive of all stake- ₹100 to ₹4 more. fifths are employed or looking for jobs.
line segments. In October 2019, it drew a defined particularly, the question of whether the online holders, including the consumer, would ensure Pranjul Bhandari, India economist at Perhaps India’s central bank wanted a
distinction in its prima facie order initiating a and offline distribution segments of such a market that the country’s digital story does not face over- HSBC Holdings, estimates that only about stronger labour market recovery before
probe against MakeMyTrip by defining the ‘rele- are substitutable in each case and industry. Prima regulation or other unwarranted hindrances. half the increases in input costs over the hiking rates. But at least in January—a
vant market’ in its case as “the market for online facie analysis of the ‘relevant market’ would result In summary, it is imperative that the CCI’s past six months have been passed on to out- month before the start of the Ukraine war—
intermediation services for booking of hotels in in a more efficient and streamlined process of approach in digital markets is well considered, put prices. The cost pass-through is faster in it should’ve caught the worrying signals of
India”. This case is still under consideration. investigation. consistent and proportionate, so that the digital rural areas where unregulated prices of ker- magic prices. Now it’ll have to work harder
Following the MakeMyTrip case, the CCI has A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to this question will sector gets space for growth while safeguarding osene and bulk diesel have risen faster than both to slay inflation and compensate for its
considered ‘relevant markets’ for certain online- prove unsatisfactory, given the large variation in the interests of competition and consumers. regulated prices of electricity in cities, she loss of credibility. ©BLOOMBERG

MY VIEW | IT MATTERS

All isn’t well in the crypto world of decentralized finance

by ‘over-collateralization’; for example, $1 of coins is part of a trend called Decentralized these apps have formed an alternate banking “bean farmers” tending to “fields”, and their
SIDDHARTH PAI stablecoin is linked with $2 worth of crypto, Finance (DeFi). It involves apps that create system for savings and loans, but they are accounts (wallets) are referred to as “silos”.
to hedge the underlying crypto’s volatility. financial instruments using underlying cryp- based solely on a cryptocurrency and not any Beanstalk effectively operated as a bank.
The aim of this is to create the benefits of tocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. country’s legal tender. And, like chit funds, Apparently, some of Beanstalk’s bean
decentralization for stablecoins while main- Thanks to a recent explosion in DeFi apps, they are not insured by any country’s deposit farmers were encouraged to deposit crypto-
line crypto reserves absorb the impact of crypto is no longer just about a ‘new gold’ or insurance mechanisms. currencies such as Ether into a ‘silo’ to build

O
n 9 May, the ‘stablecoin’ TerraUSD market volatility. a new kind of money, it represents a way to In a separate incident last month, there was up the stablecoin’s reserves in exchange for
fell from a high of $119 to around 20 The third and technically the most difficult structure sophisticated the sensational defrauding voting rights over the operation of the orga-
cents. Its digital coin counterpart is to go for decentralized collateralization transactions. Each new app of another stable-coin nisation through a ‘decentralized autono-
Luna also fell to near zero. Unlike other cryp- using algorithms, like TerraUSD did. Here, that debuts in the DeFi The crash of through what appears to be mous organization’ (DAO). The point of a
tocurrencies like Bitcoin that can gyrate stablecoins are not linked to any kind of world seems to cook up a ‘legal’ set of tactics (or at DAO is to act like a company in the crypto
wildly in value, stablecoins are pegged to a reserve, but instead use smart contracts to new pieces of an entire a stablecoin least legal since the space is world, one that is controlled directly by its
country’s fiat currency. In most cases, this is monitor price fluctuations and programmes financial system. unregulated). In April, a shareholders with no governance structures
the US dollar, and the attempt is to keep the to issue and buy cryptocurrencies accord- Some of the more popu-
called Terra cryptocurrency named such as a board and/or executive manage-

is co-founder of Siana Capital,

stablecoin’s value pegged at $1. Stablecoins
are vital for the crypto world because they are
ingly. A ‘smart contract’ is a decentralized
application or programme that executes
lar De-Fi apps include pro-
jects such as PoolTogether
and ‘legal’ Beanstalk was defrauded of
more than $180 million.
ment panel.
Last month, a DAO vote at Beanstalk
and the author of ‘Techproof
Me: The Art of Mastering Ever-
used by traders as a means of retaining value
without leaving the digital asset ecosystem.
business logic in response to external events.
TerraUSD used algorithms to set underlying
which have “loss-less” lot-
teries that use Ethereum’s
defrauding of The attack featured unusual
tactics in which the attacker
resulted in the bank’s entire silo being trans-
ferred out of it in one go. The attacker had
changing Technology’. Investors turn to them during periods of triggers for the buying and selling of underly- smart contract layer to let Beanstalk have used borrowed funds to borrowed $80 million in cryptocurrency and
crypto volatility. ing crypto to keep its value constant. developers anywhere in the accumulate the voting deposited it in the DAO project’s silo, gaining
For a stablecoin to work properly, it needs After last week’s free fall, questions have world publish decentral- caused anxiety rights necessary to transfer enough voting rights to be able to instantly
sufficient collateral. Broadly, there are three arisen over whether collateralizing stable- ized applications with lim- all the money into his (or pass any proposal at this “bean bank”. With
ways to collateralize a stablecoin. coins via algorithms is tenable. Better known itless functionality. Unsur- her) own account. This heist that power, the attacker voted to transfer the
The first is to collateralize by fiat; this stablecoins such as Tether and USDC rely on prisingly, this tool has been quick to provide was reported on 18 April. contents of the treasury to him/herself, then
means the coins are backed by real assets in the ability to redeem tokens from holdings value to the gambling industry. The best way While Beanstalk itself is a network through returned the voting rights in the process of
reserve; for every stablecoin, there should be that are collateralized by fiat currency. There to describe a loss-less lottery in India would which digital currency transfers occur, its withdrawing the money, and subsequently
the equivalent in real currency assets. have been doubts about what proportion of be to liken it to a chit fund that randomly blockchain system provides users with crypto repaid the loan. All of this was done in a mere
The second is to collateralize with crypto- reserves are available to fiat-backed stable- picks a monthly winner of a pot, rather than units called ‘beans’, which are the official matter of seconds. It would have been both
currency, although price volatility is an issue coins, but that’s a topic for another day. using an auction mechanism to determine tokens of this platform. Those who make impossible and illegal on all sorts of counts in
here. So, stablecoin providers try to solve this The algorithmic way of creating stable- the month’s taker of the pot. Like chit funds, deposits on its network are referred to as the real world. Be wary!
16 TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022
NEW DELHI BUSINESS OF LIFE WELLNESS LIVEMINT.COM

ISTOCKPHOTO

How food can change your

mood and personality ISTOCKPHOTO

Yes, we all know how

important the gut is to
metabolism and
digestion. But did you
know that it also
impacts mental health?
Dieting is bad
Divya Naik for your health.
Here’s why
T
ired? Check. Cranky? Check.
Chronically stressed? Check.
It may be time to reassess your
gut health. According to a study
published in February, gut
microbiome and metabolomic pathways can
A new book explores why fad diets do
influence one’s personality in more ways than not work and what to eat instead
previously established, even affecting energy
levels, fatigue and mood. Researchers from
Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, who Dr Rajat Chauhan and Dr Darren Player
studied 20 participants, found that one out of

M
four personality traits in an individual was influ- any people spend large parts of their lives jumping from
enced by and associated with distinct bacteria. one diet to the next, hoping to find that magical bullet
For the most part, the gut microbiome does not that will help them get the body of their dreams. Nearly
change, but certain drugs, including antibiotics, all diets will work to some extent for a short period of time and
can alter the body’s bacteria and change a per- people will see changes within hours or days. However, in reality,
son’s demeanour. there should not be a diet. We should all follow the ‘no diet’ diet,
The researchers, led by Dr Ali Boolani, a pro- where we make permanent and sustainable changes to our eating
fessor of physical therapy at Clarkson, investi- habits. Here is some ‘food for thought’. We recommend reducing
gated participants’ stool samples to study dif- carbohydrate intake as most cultures promote its excessive
ferent levels of bacteria. The participants were intake. On the other hand, we would recommend increasing fat
interviewed and surveyed on the four traits and protein intake. Even though Rajat is a vegetarian, when it
that, according to Dr Boolani, are the basis of comes to a well-balanced diet, he suggests that everyone follows
personality—mental energy, mental fatigue, a non-vegetarian diet (i.e., diet that contains meat and animal
physical energy, and physical fatigue. While products). Being a pure non-vegetarian and consuming minimal
more work has to be done, some experts in vegetables and fruits is not advisable either. This does not mean
India believe that the research holds value in being a carnivore and only eating meat but being more mindful
terms of describing the link between gut health about where your food (and particularly protein) is coming from.
and personality. Proteins are the building blocks of your muscles and you need
them to recover faster after strenuous workouts such as walking,
THE GUT AND MENTAL HEALTH running, cycling, swimming, strength training, etc. Proteins are
“Personality is defined by the many behavioural also essential for all functions of the human body, so we must
patterns, and one can likely predict the behav- consider where we are getting them from. If you are unable to eat
iour that someone tends to indulge in,” says Jig- meat, ensure you have a wide range of vegetarian protein sources,
yasa Tandon, the founder of PSY-Fi Mental such as dairy, pulses, legumes, etc. Fats have got a lot of bad pub-
Health, a counselling psychologist, mental what we eat, and our surrounding environmen- development or exacerbation of gastrointestinal licity and are confused with fat in the body. They are important
health researcher and educationist. While gut tal factors. This, in turn, affects the microbiota.
microbes define our external consumption pat- It can also be affected by something small, such
terns, they also have the potential to influence as an illness. For instance, if you have taken an
Working on disorders, including gastrointestinal inflamma-
tion, has been suggested by many,” she says. She
adds that poor gut health results in negative
Proteins are
for you. In any case, women can
endure pregnancy for 9 months
because of higher fat content in their
the building
our behaviour by making us feel fatigued or antibiotic or travel and consume many pro-
energetic, she says. cessed foods, the microbiota is also altered,”
gut health behaviours, including irritation, frustration and
poor cognitive clarity. blocks of your bodies when compared with men. We
should pick best practices from the
Our personality depends on many molecular says Dr. Patel. Dr Kersi Chavda, consultant psychiatrist, PD muscles and diets that work for us. But definitely
u Consider adding prebiotics and
factors that impact how we perceive the world To illustrate why it is essential to ensure that
probiotics to your diet
Hinduja Hospital & MRC in Mumbai, says that you need them don’t go for extreme diets as they can
around us, and regulate our cognitive function- one eats healthy, he expounds that changing the there are many organisms present and respon- to recover faster be detrimental.
ing and emotions. “One can experience gastro- gut microbiota is a standard medical process. sible for the proper functioning of the gut. Fasting has been a part of cultures
u Try to maintain a balanced diet
intestinal pain while being under massive stress This is evident from food consumption patterns “Additionally, studies have been done to see like India for thousands of years, where
and a helathy lifestyle
or discomfort from the trauma standpoint,” she in India itself, where the typical diet of a South- if there is evidence of gut microbes affecting people fast once a week. Although intermittent fasting has
points out. Indian person is very different from that of a mental health or the personality of the individ- become popular in recent years, we all need to remember that we
u Avoid processed foods and stick to
Dr Rakesh Patel, a senior consultant-gastro- North Indian. While people may like to explore ual. There is some evidence of probiotics help- fast every single night. We do not wake up at night to eat. Before
home-cooked, fresh meals
enterologist at Fortis and taste cuisines of ing mental health. They help counter fatigue the invention of electricity, humans would eat only during cer-
Hospital, Kalyan, another region, they and assist in treating conditions like Irritable tain times of the day such as the sunrise or the sunset, etc. This
While gut microbes define our will not consume that u Review your dietary patterns from
believes that while it is Bowel Syndrome and Crohn’s disease. But there could mean extended periods of fasting, maybe up to 14 hours per
time to time
still too early to draw external consumption patterns, diet for long because has not really been any conclusive evidence as day, with a break from 6 p.m. (dark) to 8 a.m. (light). Breakfast is
broad conclusions called ‘break-fast’ for a reason; we are ‘breaking’ the ‘fast’!
from the study, its they also have the potential to their palate and gut
are used to specific
u Get enough sleep
the studies were conducted on a limited num-
ber of patients,” he clarifies. Another myth to bust is in the area of supplements, which are
findings are not influence outward behaviour types of food. He adds that there is some evidence of a posi- called exactly that for a reason. You only need to take them to
implausible. He offers “A North Indian tive effect on mood and irritability and a general supplement your regular food if something is missing from your
a detailed explanation person would not like always remains healthy. lessening of fatigue. But, in his opinion, much usual meals. Don’t let them be the main source of any nutrient.
of how gut microbes function and how they to consume South Indian food for a long time more information is needed in this respect There is also an argument on actually wanting or needing to lose
impact our physical and mental well-being. and will eventually want North Indian dishes OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS before solid conclusions can be reached. any weight at all. As the saying goes, ‘muscle weighs more than
He explains that the gut microbiome varies by to feature in their diet, as their geography, Tandon says that there can be significant rela- “In my private practice, I have had some good fat’. Fair enough, a kilogram of muscle will be as heavy as a kilo-
individuals and influenced by a number of fac- environment, and genes are used to a particu- tionships between the gut and the mental results with the use of probiotics in IBS and gram of fat, but muscle is a lot denser than fat. Hence, a kilogram
tors, including illness history, fasting, age, and lar kind of cuisine, which is different for both health of a person since gut microbes ensure the with Crohn’s. It also seems to help in cases of of muscle will take a lot less space than fat. With that considera-
more. In other words, the gut microbiota is the the regions. In conclusion, the gut microbiota healthy emotional and psychological well-being sluggish bowel movement that is often seen in tion, what we should be promoting is body re-composition where
mirror of the person and is regulated by what we is not the only indicator of a person’s charac- of the adult. cases of depression. But a lot of study is still fat is lost and muscle is gained.
consume. Ancient texts and Ayurveda also reit- teristics,” he says. That is why it is important to “On studying mental health disorders, one needed,” he says. Excerpted from MoveMint Medicine by Dr Rajat Chauhan
erate that one is what one eats. eat natural food that is freshly cooked and does can draw parallels between how the gut and the and Dr Darren Player with permission from Penguin Random
“Our identity is determined by where we stay, not have a lot of preservatives so that your gut mind are linked. The role of personality in the Divya Naik is a Mumbai based psychotherapist. House India

Why eating food low in food miles is good for you ISTOCKPHOTO

Choosing food that has dinner) together. item is transported during the journey transported by road and 50 times those
The light-hearted journey of the potato from producer to consumer, as a unit of sent by ship. It, therefore, makes sense to
travelled a smaller was the only way I could get through the measurement of the fuel used to trans- start asking questions about our food
distance between a farm discussion of our food production and its port it.” choices to determine if they are in season,
impact on climate change. The reality of Choosing foods that are low in food and if not, where on earth must they come
and your fork could help farming, food preparation, storing, and miles doesn’t mean that you compromise from to sate our cravings?
mitigate climate change transport around the globe can be equally
overwhelming as it is essential to discuss.
on the nutritional quality of your diet. I’ll
be so bold to say that no one needs super-
There are some obvious solutions to the
problem—not choosing out-of-season,
After all, we only have one planet and foods from a place halfway around the highly perishable food items, and sup-
Jen Thomas almost 8 billion people who need to eat. globe—there are superfoods and highly porting local farmers. You’ll find their
The big question—where does my food nutritious foods available at our local gro- produce at markets or in stores down your

P
lease take a journey with me. I am come from—has become a pervasive one. cers. I understand that it isn’t easy to tell street. If this isn’t accessible to you, there
the humble potato, and I probably It pushes through every time I open my how many miles your food may have trav- are great subscription services that will
travel more than you. To show up at fridge door and makes me eerily aware elled, especially when it may not be appar- send you food from a farmer based on sea-
your table, dressed in my finest spices, I that my choices haven’t reflected the ent whether your potatoes are coming sonal availability. Some of these farm-to-
may make an epic journey that may cost planet I would like for my son. from Uttar Pradesh or Sweden. It’s not fork deliveries will also include recipe
the planet. First, I must be grown in the We, as consumers, have been sheltered written on the package. cards to discover and try new foods that
ground where potatoes thrive. Once I’m from the reality of food production since However, we may be able to discern the you typically wouldn’t incorporate into
pulled up from the ground, I’m sorted very few of us own gardens or farms on our distance by simply looking at our food your diet.
from rocks in a big machine. Then, I travel own. We don’t see the vast quantities of choices. Our food hitches a ride on three If you think your small food purchases
to the warehouse for processing. My jour- pesticides and insecticides that are primary forms of transportation: road won’t impact the bigger picture, I urge
ney now involves traversing along a long sprayed onto our food impacting the soil transport, ship, or air cargo. According to you to think again. Think of your food
conveyer belt to the storage room. After I quality. We don’t notice the enormous Hannah Ritchie from Our World in Data, purchases as a vote towards a better future
hang out with my other potato friends for amount of water pumped for crop irriga- very little of our food is transported by air. and planet. The more you vote toward
a bit, I am washed, sorted, and packaged in tion, especially during water shortages. When it is, though, it leaves a huge envi- sustainable food production and fewer
a nice bag, ready to send to the store. How We don’t look twice at the trucks rum- ronmental impact. Ritchie tells us that food miles, the fewer times you vote for
I get to the store is sometimes the longest bling down our highways, the petrol they highly perishable, out-of-season foods highly produced and long-haul transpor-
part of the journey – travelling across the guzzle, or the cargo holds of aeroplanes in this climate change problem. When the food production narrative based on (which only last a few days on the shelf) are tation of the food that impacts our envi-
country or even to a new country! Finally, stuffed with exotic foods. countries and businesses start weighing what we buy. typically flown by aeroplane. ronment the most. Food companies will
when you and your family decide they While the issue is very complex, there and debating their responsibility in the As a consumer, a vital action you can Fancy some fresh berries in the winter? have to take notice when their bottom line
want potatoes for dinner, someone drives is one conclusion that I can make: we all equation, it is easy, as an individual, to fade take is to vote for food that travels less to They likely took a flight to get to your is affected by people who care about the
to the store, picks me off the shelf, and must do our little part. For me, it as simple into the background and let the powers get to your table. Foods that travel fewer table. According to an article, , The Facts planet.
goes back to your house, where I’m pre- as becoming aware of how far my food has that be take the lead. However, just as we miles are categorised as having low food About Food Miles, on BBC Good Food, pro-
pared and cooked with love. travelled from the farms to my fork. can control what goes into our bodies for miles. The Oxford Languages dictionary duce transported by aeroplane has 10 Jen Thomas is a Chennai-based weight-
I hope you enjoyed our journey (and our It’s easy to overlook our responsibility our health, we can have some control over describes it as “a mile over which a food times more carbon emissions than those loss coach