THE ECONOMIC TIMES
WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM
BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD.
Now, Foreign
Placement Offers
Plummet at IITs
Job offers for global postings have
plummeted at the Indian Institutes
of Technology (IITs) this year. Days
into the final placements which
started on December 1, interna-
tional offers made to students
across the premier engineering
colleges have fallen by as much as
77% in IIT Roorkee, around 54% in
IIT Madras, 44% in IIT Kharagpur
and 18% in IIT Guwahati. IIT place-
ment sources said that the compa-
nies increased focus on the India
story has led to a decline in the
number of foreign offers. 6
Inside story
Ola Plans to Extend Ride-sharing
Feature to Auto, Kali-Peeli Cabs
Bengaluru-based taxi aggregator firm Ola is
considering an expansion of its ride sharing
feature beyond taxis to any and every mode of
transport it operates in currency such as auto
rickshaws or kali peelis, Mumbais traditional
hallmarked cabs.
Disruption: Startups & Tech6
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Railway Ministry Rejects Finmin
Proposal of Safety Cess on Tickets
Railway ministry has not accepted finance
ministrys suggestion to levy a safety cess on
tickets to set up a Rs 1.19 lakh crore rail safety
fund. The railway ministry has told the finance
ministry that it would be not be right to levy any
cess on tickets since the number of people
travelling by train is declining and railways
could lose more passengers if fares are in-
creased further.
Economy: Macro, Micro & More18
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Removing Old Trucks from Roads
may Cost Govt `16,000cr in GST
The rollout of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) will
cost the government up to `16,000 crore to get
moving on its ambitious programme to remove
old, polluting trucks off-road under the Volun-
tary Vehicle Modernisation Programme.
Economy: Macro, Micro & More18
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
SC Seeks Responses of Search
Engines on Rape Videos Online
The Supreme Court on Monday sought re-
sponses of Internet search engines, such as
Google India, Yahoo India, Microsoft and Face-
book, on a plea to block rape videos posted
online, and also asked the Centre to hold off a
proposal to make sexual offenders list public.
Careers: The Fast Track6
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Post Rekhy Retirement, KPMG to
Hold Second CEO Election in a Year
KPMG is undergoing CEO elections second time
within a year after incumbent Richard Rekhy
announced his retirement recently. Three senior
partners have put their hats in the ring Deputy
CEO Akhil Bansal, head of tax practice Girish
Vanwari and audit services leader Jamil Khatri.
Careers: The Fast Track6
Market Tracker
LAST % Change
Nifty
Sensex
8,128.75
26,349.10
BSE Midcap 12,280.06
BSE Smallcap 12,114.72
`/$ 68.22
Gold Std* 28,703#
Silver (`/kg) 41,000#
Brent ($) 53.79
-0.15
*(`/10gm); #Prices in Bengaluru Compiled by ETIG Database
Can a rate cut in the upcoming policy
review cushion impact of demonetisation?
45% 43% 12%
YES NO CANT SAY
TODAYS QUESTION
Do you think the Tata-Mistry fight has now
been reduced to an ego battle?
www.economictimes.com
Jayalalithaa
No More, OP to
Take the Reins
Three-day mourning
declared, body to
be kept in state in
Rajaji Hall today
Our Bureau
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister J Jayalalithaa passed
away at 11.30 pm at the Apollo
Hospitals Chennai on Monday. A
hospital bulletin issued a little
past midnight said that her un-
derlying conditions rendered
her unable to recover and she
passed away... She was 68. The
mortal remains of Jayalalithaa
will first be taken to Poes Garden
and after completion of rituals,
will be taken to Rajaji Hall on
Tuesday.
A three-day mourning was de-
clared following the death of the
popular leader who showered
the poor with populist pro-
grammes.
In his condolence address,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
said: Jayas demise has left a void
in politics. Her connect with citi-
zens will be an inspiration.
Even as her death was an-
nounced, the AIADMK MLAs
were meeting at the party head-
quarters and elected loyalist O
Panneerselvam as the legisla-
ture party leader, who will take
the reins.
Party sources also indicated
that Jayalalithaas close aide Sa-
sikala Natarajan will play a cru-
cial role in keeping the party
discipline intact.
AIADMK headquarters speak-
er Avadi Kumar told ET that
Jayalalithaa, as chief minister,
had put in place a system that
was effectively functioning
while she was undergoing treat-
ment and that plan in accord-
THE JAYA FACTOR3
APPEAL THROUGH LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS
Mistry Requests
Govt to Intervene
in Tata Trusts
Governance reform in
trusts must for Tata
Groups sustainability,
says ousted chairman
Megha Mandavia
& Devina Sengupta
Mumbai: Ousted Tata Sons chair-
man Cyrus Mistry on Monday as-
ked the government to intervene
in the functioning of Tata Trusts,
which hold 66% in Tata Sons, alle-
ging mis-governance and inappro-
priate interference in the business
decisions of group companies.
Mistry appealed to the govern-
ment through a letter to the share-
holders of Tata Steel, Tata Motors,
Tata Chemicals, Tata Power, TCS
and Indian Hotels. These compani-
es are holding extraordinary gene-
ral meetings this month to remove
Mistry as a director.
0.52
0.45
At the heart of the sustainability
(of) the Tata Group is governance
reform, throughout in the institu-
tion. This would mean the govern-
0.66 ment ensuring the working of Tata
Trusts, which are public charitab-
0.26
le trusts, the property of the people
of India, have a defined, transpa-
0.01
rent governance structure. The ve-
0.34 ry future of the Tata Group lies in
how the trustees govern the Tata
1.22 Trusts, since the main trust pro-
perty is the holding of shares in Ta-
ta Sons, he added.
Tata Trusts, chaired by Ratan Ta-
ta and governed by about 20 truste-
es, were instrumental in the sack-
ing of Mistry on Oct 24. Since then,
Mistry has raised questions about
the governance structure of Tata
Trusts, which control the salt-to-
software conglomerate. After Tata
Trusts, Mistrys Shapoorji Pallon-
ji is the second-largest sharehol-
der in Tata Sons with
18.4% stake.
Checks, Balances Needed18
BENGALURU | 22 + 4 PAGES OF ET PANACHE | .` 3.50 ONLY
1948-2016
PM MODI TWEETS
Jayas demise has left
avoid in politics. Her
connect with citizens
will be an inspiration
ance with her instructions con-
tinues to be in place.
On Sasikalas emergence as the
decision-maker in the party, he
said: She (Sasikala) was taking
care of all the personal needs of
the chief minister who was un-
dergoing treatment for the past
two months, and about her politi-
cal responsibilities, she will act
as instructed by the chief minis-
ter.
DAM
ARIN
OUT IN THE COLD Russia protests post-demonetisation limits on cash withdrawal for embassy;
other countries also up in arms; Indian diplomats abroad may face retaliatory restrictions
No Cash for a Decent
Dinner: Russian Envoy
DipanjanRoy.Chaudhury
@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: With so little cash, you
cant even have a decent dinner,
forget running regular diplomatic
business, the Russian ambassador
to India told New Delhi in a strong-
ly-worded letter as the country, a
major global player and a key de-
fence supplier for India, officially
critiqued demonetisation-in-
duced cash shortage for its diplo-
matic staff.
Diplomatic missions of Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Sudan
have also sent protest letters on
cash withdrawal restrictions. ET
had reported on December 3 (De-
monetisation Dollar Spat Between
India, Pak) that the Pakistan High
Commission staff had refused to
take salaries protesting new rules
on withdrawing dollars.
Russian ambassador Alexander
Kadakin, an old India hand, wrote
to the ministry of external affairs
on December 2: Please just imag-
ine if we in Moscow mirror this or-
Yellow Metal No Longer Red Hot
for Visiting Non-resident Indians
Jewellers say NRI purchases, which happen in cash, have fallen 30-40%
Sutanuka.Ghosal
@timesgroup.com
Kolkata: Non-resident Indians
(NRIs) who had been buying gold
in India during their visits and
stashing it away in lockers have be-
come cautious while spending
money on the yellow metal. Jewell-
ers said that NRI purchase has fall-
en by 30-40% as they have become
careful after the government made
Tata Safari
Wins Army
Contract
The Indian Army will
replace its iconic Maruti
Gypsy fleet with a new
range of SUVs, having
selected the Tata Safari
Storme for an initial order
of close to 3,200 vehicles, mily office, for about `. 100 crore,
which could increase
10-fold in the coming
years, reports Manu
Pubby. While an official
announcement is yet to
be made, ET has learnt
that Tata Motors beat off
the Mahindra Group, industries, a Fabindia spoke-
which fielded its Scorpio
SUV for the competition.
FULL REPORTPAGE 5
Auto Cos Dangle Freebies as Stocks Pile up
Cos offer steep discounts of 10-20% in December even as they announce hikes from January
Ketan.Thakkar
@timesgroup.com
Mumbai: Buy now for a dis-
count or buy later and pay more!
The threat of higher prices in
future has always been implicit
in discount offers but automa-
kers are now signalling loud and
clear that consumers have only a
few weeks to cash in on lower
prices before they move up.
Toyota Kirloskar has already
announced a price hike of 3%
starting January while Honda
Cars India is likely to increase
prices by 1.5-2% from the same
month. Other carmakers such
as Hyundai and Mahindra &
Mahindra are also evaluating a
similar move.
Car companies, however, have
announced steep discounts of
Just imagine if we in
Moscow mirror this
order of SBI when
50,000 roubles will
not be enough to pay
for a decent dinner,
not to mention
functioning of such a
big embassy as ours
Russian ambassador
in a letter to MEA
der of SBI when 50,000 roubles will
not be enough to pay for a decent
dinner in a restaurant, not to men-
tion functioning of such a big em-
bassy as ours in New Delhi or In-
dias in Moscow.
it clear that jewellery or ornaments
bought with explained source of in-
come will not be taxed, but any-
thing bought with unaccounted
money will come under the scan-
ner. NRIs generally visit during
this time of the year to attend fam-
ily weddings.
NRIs prefer to buy gold in cash,
but at the moment theres a cash
shortage due to demonetisation
and banks are focusing more on ba-
sic operations. They come here and
Nilekani & Wife Rohini Shop
for 2% Stake in Fabindia
Deal carried out via Nilekanis family office reported to be worth `. 100 cr
Shambhavi.Anand
@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: Infosys cofounder
Nandan Nilekani and wife Rohi-
ni have acquired a 2% stake in Fa-
bindia, joining crosstown tech
czar Azim Premji, who owns 25%
in the ethnic wear company.
Two people familiar with the de-
al said the Nilekanis purchased
the stake in Fabindia Overseas
Pvt Ltd through Entrust, their fa-
pegging the valuation of the com-
pany at around `. 5,000 crore.
We are delighted to have Rohi-
ni and Nandan Nilekani as share-
holders they have believed in
and supported our vision and
mission of working with arti-
sans and farmers on creating
markets for the diversity and gre-
at beauty of Indias traditional Moet Hennessy for about `. 360
crore.
sperson said without specifying
the investment amount.
Earlier this year, PremjiInvest,
the personal investment entity of
Wipro Chairman Azim Premji
10-20% in December as they try
to clear inventory of 15-30 days
owing to weak demand caused
by Prime Minister Narendra
Modis currency swap move.
Maruti Suzuki is giving dis-
counts of Rs 50,000-60,000, or
10-15%, on small cars as part of
its December offer. Hyundai is
Year-end Gifts
Carmakers sitting Cos offering record
on over several discounts of up to 20%
days of stocks to clear inventory
Maruti giving Hyundai offering five-
15-20% year-old prices on Eon
discount on and i20 & up to 10-15%
small cars discount on other models
Renault giving `1.2 lakh Toyota offering
discount on Duster AMT, 100% finance for
`1 lakh on Lodgy its new Innova
TUESDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2016
SBI informed the Embassy that
the cash limit withdrawal availa-
ble to the Embassy is now Rs 50,000
per week under the government of
India directives with no excep-
tions unless otherwise advised by
the RBI, he wrote. Such an
amount is totally inadequate as re-
gards the embassys salary and op-
erational expenditure require-
ments.
Officials in the Russian embassy,
who spoke off record, told ET that
its New Delhi mission has a staff of
200 (family members excluded)
and that Rs 50,000 per week cash
withdrawal limit was simply not
enough, since per head cash at
hand works out to Rs 250 a week.
Kadakin in his letter urged MEA
to intervene so that the withdraw-
al restrictions for diplomatic staff
is lifted.
ET was told by a very senior diplo-
mat in Delhi that many missions
have taken their case to MEA and
many more are likely to follow.
Some diplomats said retaliatory ac-
tions against Indian diplomats may
follow if the situation continues.
get their dollars exchanged in ru-
pee to buy gold, but thats not hap-
pening this time. Also, they are a bit
unclear about the measures the
government is taking to clean up
the economy, said Rajiv Popley, di-
rector of Mumbai-based jewellery
firm Popley & Sons. Most of the
larger pieces of gold that NRIs buy
during their visits are treated as as-
sets and are kept in lockers here.
Analysts say No Need for Worry18
ARINDAM
and an existing investor in Fa-
bindia, bought an 8% stake in the
company from L Capital, the pri-
vate equity arm of Louis Vuitton
outside India, hasnt filed its con-
Premji now owns 25% in the
company and the rest is owned by
the Bissell family, which founded
the company, the employees and
other minority shareholders.
offering i10 and Eon at 5-year-old
prices while Grand i10 and Elite
i20 are being clubbed with be-
nefits of Rs 35,000-91,000. The
Verna and Santa Fe are being
sold at discounts of Rs 1-2 lakh.
Rakesh Srivastava, sr V-P, sales
& marketing, Hyundai , said this
was biggest discount the compa-
Illustration: ANIRBAN
Finmin
Pushes for
e-payments
The finance
ministry has
asked all
departments to make
electronic payments to
suppliers, contractors or
institutions if the value of
an order exceeds `. 5,000,
marking another step
towards pushing cash-
less transactions.16
Service
Sector Feel
Ban Chill
Indias services
sector con-
tracted sharply
in November as lack of
cash following the shock
demonetisation dis-
rupted demand, ending
16 months of expansion.
The Nikkei India Services
Business Activity Index
fell to 46.7 in Nov16
CENTRE KEPT
CLOSE WATCH
ON NOTE
RECALL
FEEDBACK
PAGE 16
Cash Crunch
Takes Focus
Off Bad Loans
Banks are so
busy trying to
cope with cash
crunch that the task of
going after bad loans is
falling by the wayside. 16
At present, Fabindia has 229 sto-
res in India and 10 abroad. The
company also runs an online por-
tal for selling its products.
Fabindia, founded in 1960 by
John Bissell to market Indias tra-
ditional crafts, started out as an
exporter of home furnishing.
The first retail store was opened
in New Delhis Greater Kailash
area 15 years later. In 2000, the
company added a non-textile
range to its portfolio. It also sells
organic foods and personal care
products. Fabindia has now fora-
yed into western wear under the
brand Fabels.
According to the latest results fi-
led with the Registrar of Compa-
nies, Fabindia posted a 20.4% rise
in sales at `. 911.6 crore in the do-
mestic market with profit before
tax at `. 72 crore during the year en-
ded March 2016. The company,
which has a significant presence
solidated financial report yet.
The ethnic wear segment, which
is mostly fed by the unorganised
market, is seeing aggressive ex-
pansion driven by newer players.
ny had ever offered. Things are
improving, enquiries are gro-
wing. Through these offers, we
hope to convert the enquiries
into sales. These are the best
prices considering the impen-
ding price increase next month,
said Srivastava. Similarly,
M&Ms big deal December offer
has benefits of Rs 26,000-86,000
on utility vehicles. The liquidity
in the market has prompted
most vehicle makers to offer
100% financing. Volkswagen is
giving customers the option to
buy now and pay in EMIs star-
ting 2018 for the Crest edition of
Polo, Vento and Ameo. Renault
Toyota is offering 100% finance.
Renault has discounts running
up to Rs 1lakh on Lodgy and
Duster, and Toyota is offering
benefits of Rs 35,000-70,000 on
Etios and Corolla Altis.