KOLKATA, New deLHi, mumbAi, beNGALuru, cHeNNAi, AHmedAbAd, HyderAbAd, cHANdiGArH*, puNe*
197
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Singapore’s GIC set
to invest in Paper
Boat maker Hector
Sneha Shah
sneha.shah@livemint.com
mumbAi
S
ingapore’s sovereign fund
GIC Pte. Ltd is looking to
invest $70 million in Hector
Beverages, the maker of
Paper Boat beverages and
packaged foods, three people aware of
the development said. The deal, likely
to be announced soon, values the com-
pany at $250-280 million, the people
said on the condition of anonymity.
“The paperwork is going on, and the
deal is almost done,” one of the people
cited above said. “The primary fund raise
is around $50 million, with a secondary
stake sale of another $20 million.”
Hector Beverages will sell new
shares in the funding round, while
some existing investors will sell some
of their holdings.
“GIC is likely to hold a significant
minority stake in the company post the
deal,” the second person said. In the
last three years, the company has
raised capital from investors including
Sofina Ventures, A91 Partners and
Advent Management.
Founded in 2010 by former Coca-
Cola executives Neeraj Kakkar and
Niraj Biyani, Hector sells packaged jui-
ces, coconut water, and traditional
Indian snacks such as chikki and aam
papad. It has also entered the dry
fruits-based snacks and zero sugar
snacks segment. Its products are avail-
able across 500,000 outlets.
In an emailed response, Neeraj Kak-
kar, chief executive of Hector Bevera-
ges, said, “The only thing I can com-
ment on is that company is doing phe-
livemint.com
The potential deal values the
company at up to $280 million. MINT
nomenally well post-covid. We are at a
run rate of ₹700 crore, almost 100%
growth over the last year’s number. We
are profitable.” Queries emailed to a
GIC spokesperson remained unan-
swered.
VCCircle was the first to report the
company’s fundraising plans in Janu-
ary this year. The company aims to be
a house of brands and seeks to acquire
smaller players in the food and bevera-
ges (F&B) segment. “The company will
look to buy brands in the wellness and
health segment and is in talks with
around half a dozen players already,”
the third person said.
Kakkar said the company’s goal is to
be a platform for F&B innovation. “We
have the distribution pipe to launch
innovation across the health and well-
ness spectrum. Our philosophy com-
bines what Ayurveda has to offer with
the scientific advances in F&B ingredi-
ents,” he said.
VOL. 16 NO.
QUICK EDIT
Anchor
anxiety
Amid much suspense, Sri
Lanka apparently buckled to
Beijing’s pressure in allowing a
Chinese spy ship to dock at its
Hambantota port, which China
partly funded, built and then
effectively took over from it on
a 99-year lease via a deal which
reeked of a debt settlement.
That Colombo would fall into a
Beijing-laid trap and end up
aiding its suspected strategy of
encircling India with bases had
been a worry in New Delhi all
along. The crisis-hit island
nation’s government is no
longer as well disposed to its
biggest creditor as it was. The
vessel, assessed to be equipped
with devices that could monitor
all projectile launches from
India and carry out other forms
of surveillance in the region,
received a lukewarm reception
from its host. Reports have also
surfaced of conditions being
placed on the ship that seem
designed to reassure India.
While we must not overreact,
it’s important to impress upon
Colombo that a tilt away from
China is not only in its best
interest, it needs to work out
clear limits on what Beijing can
extract from it. Sri Lanka’s
economy needs a multilateral
agency bailout, and it mustn’t
do anything that raises the risk
of Indo-Pacific instability.
 PLAIN FACTS

Young men unhappier

with digital life: survey
BY TANAY SUKUMAR

A large section of young urban Indians, especially men and the less privileged, appear to be disillusioned with the digital
world, according to the latest round of the YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey.
The overall figures are positive, because the others, such as older and well-to-do Indians, and young women, are
happier. Around 60% of the 10,271 respondents said social media and mobile apps had been a positive influence on society
and culture. Two-thirds said they had made life convenient and made them more aware about the world. A narrower majority
(56%) said the digital phenomenon had enriched their lives.
However, post-millennial respondents (those born after 1996), who have grown up almost entirely in the digital age, were
nearly evenly split when asked whether it had made their lives better or had made them compare their lives with others’.
Around 44% found a negative impact of the digital era on society. As respondents got older, the responses got more positive.
All in all, when asked to rate the digital world on four aspects, 48% respondents saw the negative side in two or more cases.
Among post-millennials, this was 52%. Among those who had not studied beyond school, this was true for 55%.
The survey, conducted in June and July jointly by the Indian arm of the global market research firm YouGov, Mint, and
the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research, was the eighth in a series of bi-annual online surveys aimed at examin-
ing the aspirations, anxieties, and attitudes of India’s digital natives.

Most urban Indians give a nod to Digital world not working as well for the
increasing digitization of life young, and the poorer, less educated
How digital world (social media/mobile apps) has changed life Respondents who rated digital world negatively on at least
two of four metrics* (in %)
(All figures show responses in %)
By age
Made me more Pre-millennials 46
Made my aware about Has had a
life more Made me a Millennials 46
the world better positive impact
convenient on society and Post-millennials 52
individual/
68 enriched my life culture
64 By education
59
56 Up to school 55
Diploma/college certificate 51
Graduate - general 47
Graduate - professional 44

By gender
Women 45
Men 52
By monthly income
<₹20,000 53
₹20,000-50,000 48
32 ₹50,000-1 lakh 45
36
41 >₹ 1 lakh 45
Left me more 44
Made me feel confused with
disconnected *Respondents were given four pairs of options (see chart on the left)
information Made me Has had a about the impact of the digital world, and were asked to pick one in each
overload compare my life negative impact case. Post-millennials are those born after 1996, millennials were born
with others' lives on society between 1981 and 1996, and pre-millennials were born earlier.
The survey covered 10,271 respondents. Source: YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey (June-July 2022)

Gender Divergence Men unhappier with digital life,

but so are many older women
OFTEN LINKED with gendered abuse and misogyny, the Respondents who rated digital world negatively on at least
internet is also where many women have found freedom and a two of four metrics* (in %)
sense of solidarity away from patriarchal structures. It seems Men Women
the latter sentiment holds more value. Women (55%) were more
Pre-millennials 43 48
likely to be happy with the digital revolution than men (48%).
Young men were the unhappiest lot. While 62% of under-26
women saw a positive impact on society, only 53% of men in Older millennials 41 50
that age group said so. However, women aged over 41 had a
negative outlook relative to men in their age group, an
Younger millennials 44 51
exception to the trend.
However, it must be noted that women are far less likely than
men to use smartphones in India and this survey reflects the Post-millennials 46 56
views of those already with some access. The survey covered
largely affluent households (based on ownership of consumer 40 45 50 55 60

goods). Respondents were across 204 towns and cities, a large *Refer to the first chart for more details.
Source: YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey (June-July 2022)
section (62%) of whom were born after 1989.

Perception of democracy's health

linked with perception of online world
Online Politics
Respondents who picked the given statement, among those POLITICAL DISCOURSE is an overpowering element of the
who say democracy has ______ in the last 10 years (in %) online world, especially social media. The survey found distinct
Declined Remained same Improved links between political affiliations and what Indians felt about the
Made me feel 39 digital arena. Supporters of regional parties were more likely
disconnected with 37 than those of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress to
the society 33
see the online world as problematic. Among those who felt India’s
Left me more 34
confused with 34 democracy had deteriorated in the past decade, this sentiment
information overload 30 was more common, with 39% feeling the online world had left
Made me 48 them disconnected with society, 34% saying it had left them more
compare my life 44 confused, 48% saying it made them compare their lives with that
with others' lives 42 of others, and 46% feeling it had had a negative influence on
Has had a 46 society. Among those who felt democracy had improved, the
negative impact 41
on society 37
figures were markedly lower in each case: 33%, 30%, 42%, and
The survey had 10,271 respondents. This chart excludes those who said 37%, respectively. The perception of an improved democracy is
'no opinion' on the democracy question. more common among BJP supporters (39%) than among those
Source: YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey (June-July 2022)
favouring other parties (23%), we reported earlier this week.

Digital Happiness Happiness with life and happiness

with digital world are connected
ONE QUESTION in the survey sought to understand how Average score on satisfaction with life (out of 30)
satisfied Indians were with six aspects of their lives: family, social for respondents based on how happy they are with
the digital world
life, city or town, achievements, the country’s political scenario, 21.6
19.6 20.5
and career. Those who were negative on the digital world also 19 19.4
exhibited much lower satisfaction in these aspects of life.
Individuals who were negative on all four questions on the
digital world gave an average satisfaction rating of 19 out of 30 for
life. Those who picked the positive option in all four questions
rated their life 21.6 on 30. This finding shows undeniable linkages
between the digital world and overall quality of life in today’s Totally Highly So-so Somewhat Totally
negative negative positive positive
times.
Perception of digital world
Major findings of the survey, related to economic and political Respondents were asked to rate (out of 5) satisfaction level with six
outlook of respondents, were released earlier this week (“A portrait aspects of life (family, social life, city/town, achievements, political
scenario, career). For perception of digital world, refer to first chart
of the evolving Indian”, 15 August; https://bit.ly/3c3G8Ll). Raw data ("Totally negative": negative view on all four questions; "Totally
and methodology is now available: https://bit.ly/3dFUhz6. positive": positive view on all four questions).
tanay.sukumar@livemint.com Source: YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey (June-July 2022)
PARAS JAIN/MINT

PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz

 KoLKaTa, NeW deLHI, MuMBAI, BeNGALuRu, cHeNNAI, AHMedABAd, HydeRABAd, cHANdIGARH*, PuNe* VOL. 16 NO. 197 Rs 15.00 20 PAGeS

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Can Dr Lal Pathlabs carve out UK inflation hits double digits

livemint.com a new path? uP10 for first time since 1982 uP8

Sensex zips past 60K

as risk regains favour
Analysts divided whether surge in stocks is a bear market rally or start of fresh bull run
Ujjval Jauhari omy and the lack of negative
ujjval.j@livemint.com SoarIng agaIn surprises in the quarterly earn-
NeW deLHI
The benchmark Sensex has been steadily climbing of late as foreign ings season have boosted inves-
portfolio investors return amid improving global risk appetite. tor sentiment.

T
he benchmark
Sensex zoomed past
the 60,000 mark on
Wednesday, contin-
uing its recent
upward trajectory, as foreign
portfolio investors returned to
India with global risk appetite
improving.
The index rose 0.7% on
Wednesday to close at 60,260.13,
a level not seen since 5 April. Fol-
lowing the sharp rally of more
than 17% from June lows, the
benchmark indices are just 3-4%
shy from their record highs.
This rally has made many
experts rethink whether the
ongoing rally is a bear market
rally or the beginning of
another bull market.
“India has been an outper-
former over the past 45 days
relative to both emerging and
developed markets peers, gain-
ing for cooling inflation expec-
tations as a commodity
importer as well as reducing
equity risk premia, as a growth
Sensex
55,792.3
17 Aug 2021
Source: BSE, NSDL
CLOSING THE GAP
The Sensex closed at
60,260.13 on Wednesday, a
level not seen since 5 Apr
COMPILED BY NITI KIRAN/MINT; SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT
market,” said S. Hariharan,
head of sales trading at Emkay
Global Financial Services.
Declining commodity prices
have eased inflation concerns
in India. Even the July US infla-
tion numbers coming below
expectations have lent support
to the belief among investors
that the US Federal Reserve
FPI turning
60,260.1 consistent buyers
17 Aug 2022 Net FPI investments in equities
40,000
(₹ crore)
20,000
0
-20,000
-40,000
-60,000
Aug 2021 Aug 2022*
* Data up to 17 August
The index has seen a The benchmark
sharp rally of more than indices are just 3-4%
17% from its June lows shy from record highs
may not resort to an even more
restrictive monetary policy.
The stocks’ rally is being
supported by the belief that the
Fed may not raise rates aggres-
sively, increasing the probabil-
ity of a soft landing of the US
economy, experts said. In addi-
tion, the strong growth
momentum in the Indian econ-
FPIs turning into consistent
buyers is driving the rally fur-
ther.
Nilesh Shah, group presi-
dent and managing director,
Kotak Mahindra Asset Man-
agement Co., said: “Keep faith
in India’s growth story and use
corrections as an opportunity
to add to your equity portfolio.”
High crude prices, which
have weighed on investor sen-
timent, have also dropped sig-
nificantly from the peak of
more than $130 a barrel to
around $93-94. This, in turn,
supports the rupee, as India has
to pay fewer dollars to fulfil its
energy needs.
Sugandha Sachdeva, vice-
president of commodity and
currency research, Religare
Broking Ltd, said that the rupee
edged higher amid a “risk on”
mood and splendid gains wit-
nessed in the domestic equities.
After almost nine months
TURN TO PAGE 6

DON’T MISS
Microloan disbursals decline
Microfinance firms’ loan disbursal in June quarter fell
from the preceding quarter, a phenomenon experts
attributed to a recent RBI guideline revising risk
assessment practices for these lenders. >P6
Fundraising via QIP plunges
Fundraising via qualified institutional placement
(QIP) route fell 82% in 2022, as macro headwinds
and stock market volatility reduced opportunities
for firms to tap the market to raise equity. >P3
Tech stocks sink biggest fund
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s
largest, shrank by 1.68 trillion kroner ($173.2 bn) in
the first half of the year, weighed by tech stocks,
the Norwegian central bank said Wednesday. >P8

Power tariffs likely Telcos pay up part

to vary over the day of spectrum dues
Rituraj Baruah & Subhash Narayan Regulators, comprising central Gulveen Aulakh
NeW deLHI and state electricity regulatory gulveen.aulakh@livemint.com
commissions, has already dis- NeW deLHI

T
he government is plan- cussed the matter.

ning to extend the time-
of-day power tariff sys-
tem to retail customers, two
people aware of the matter said.
Currently, this system, under
which electricity costs more or
less depending on the time of
the day, is available for some
commercial and industrial
users.
The government wants to
roll out the system in phases
after completing the ongoing
smart metering project, the
people cited above said on con-
dition of anonymity. Though
existing rules permit time-of-
day tariff, its implementation
will be decided by respective
state regulatory commissions,
they said, adding the Forum of
I
According to one of the two
people cited above, the system
will initially work for around
four months, possibly April-
May and September-October,
when the demand peaks and
the country faces power short-
ages. “The idea is that one who
uses more power during peak
demand hours should pay
more. If his expenses increase,
then he would use some power-
consuming appliances such as
washing machines during lean
demand hours when tariffs are
low,” the official said.
The system, under which
power consumption during
peak-demand hours costs more
TURN TO PAGE 6
ndia’s three private wireless
operators have paid ₹17,855
crore as advance payments for
the spectrum bought in an auc-
tion earlier this month, exceed-
ing government estimates from
the sale for the year.
On Wednesday, Bharti Airtel
Ltd said it paid ₹8,312.4 crore to Jio, Airtel and Vi have paid
the telecom department, cover- ₹17,855 crore as advance
ing payments for the first four of payments for spectrum. MINT
the 20 years it has to pay a total
of ₹43,040 crore. line for payment.
However, rival Reliance Jio The government has given
Infocomm Ltd only deposited telcos 20 years to pay the ₹1.5
its first-year installment of trillion they bid for spectrum.
₹7,864 crore, as did Vodafone While Reliance Jio, India’s
Idea, which paid ₹1,679 crore, largest operator, bought air-
two people aware of the devel- waves for ₹88,078 crore,
opment said, requesting ano-
nymity. Tuesday was the dead- TURN TO PAGE 6

Shiprocket raises funds, joins unicorn club

MINT
Aman Rawat The last Indian startup to small and medium-sized busi-
aman.rawat@livemint.com achieve the status before Ship- nesses, direct-to-consumer
NeW deLHI rocket was 5ire, which made it brands and social commerce
to the list on 15 July. sellers.

Z
omato-backed logistics
platform Shiprocket
became the latest
entrant into the coveted uni-
corn club after raising ₹260
crore (around $33 million)
from existing investors Tem-
asek Holdings and Lightrock
India.
The latest investment
bumped up the company’s val-
uation to $1.2 billion, filings
with the corporate affairs min-
istry showed.
After minting unicorns, or
startups valued at $1 billion or
more, at a record pace in 2021
and the initial months of this
year, the number of new uni-
corns created in India has
slowed down as the unwinding
of global liquidity and volatil-
ity in public markets made pri-
vate investors more discern-
ing.
Only 20 Indian startups
have turned unicorns this
year, most of them in the first
three months of the year, com-
pared with 42 in the previous
year.
Shiprocket, operated by
BigFoot Retail Solutions Pvt.
Ltd, sold 59,793 Series E2
compulsorily convertible pref-
erence shares for ₹43,394.13
apiece. The company’s board
approved the sale in a meeting
on 10 August.
Temasek and Lightrock put
in ₹78 crore and ₹75 crore,
respectively. Bertelsmann
Nederland, March Venture
Capital Management Services
LLC, Moore Strategic Ven-
tures LLC, Huddle Collective
and Paypal Inc. brought in the
remaining capital.
Emails sent to spokespeople
for Shiprocket, Temasek and
Shiprocket offers logistics
services to small and medium-
sized firms, direct-to-consumer
brands, social commerce sellers.
Lightrock India did not elicit
responses.
In December, Shiprocket
raised $185 million as part of its
Series E round co-led led by
Zomato, Temasek and Light-
rock.
Founded in 2017 by Gautam
Kapoor, Saahil Goel, and Vish-
esh Khurana, Shiprocket
offers logistics services to
The startup claims to serve
more than 29,000 PIN codes
in India.
In a June interview, Goel
said that Shiprocket’s core
business is profitable without
disclosing the details.
In fiscal 2020-21, the com-
pany’s revenue more than
doubled to ₹364 crore from
₹161 crore in the previous year,
according to VCCircle’s data
and intelligence platform
VCCEdge. However, the com-
pany has yet to report its earn-
ings for FY22. In July, Goel
also said that the company is
not looking for an initial public
offering now but wants to be
ready for it, without specifying
a timeline.
For the past few months,
Shiprocket has been actively
TURN TO PAGE 6
02 ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA ECONOMY & POLICY LIVEMINT.COM

Quality standard
norms for highway
Cabinet nod for 1.5% interest
construction soon subvention on farming loans
Subhash Narayan
subhash.narayan@livemint.com
NEW DELHI
The Union cabinet also approved enhancement of ECLGS corpus by ₹50,000 cr to ₹5 tn
T
he government may
soon come up with a India is home to more than
standard operating pro- Dilasha Seth government of India has proactively 300 species of snakes. MINT
cedure (SOP) for strict adher- dilasha.seth@livemint.com decided to restore interest subvention
ence to quality standards by
contractors, developers, and
NEW DELHI on short-term agriculture loans to 1.5%
for all financial institutions,” the govern- Snakebites

engineers in construction of
roads and highways across the
country, ministry of road
transport and highways secre-
tary Giridhar Aramane said on
Wednesday.
Quality control has emerged
as one of the biggest issues in
the road construction as even
the biggest of developers do
not have proper quality con-
trol measures, Aramane said at
a programme on road opera-
tion and technology organised
by Highway Operators Associ-
ation (India). “This practice
Giridhar Aramane, secretary,
MoRTH.
as the bad surfaces of the
roads, including some being
filled with potholes, which
could cause accidents.
A policy is already in place
whereby the National High-
ways Authority of India (NHAI)
can penalize contractors if the
quality of road is substandard.
There is also a provision for
T
he Union cabinet gave a boost
to the farm sector on
Wednesday by approving
restoration of the interest
subvention on short-term
agriculture loans for all financial institu-
tions, which will ensure steady availabil-
ity of credit for the agriculture sector
and support lending institutions amid
rising interest rates.
The Cabinet approved a 1.5% interest
subvention on short-term farm loans up
to ₹3 lakh, which will be provided to
lending institutions for the financial
year 2022-23 to 2024-25.
To support sectors affected by the of credit to the agriculture sector and support to lending institutions.
ment said on Wednesday.
With this, banks will be able to absorb
an increase in cost of funds and will be
kill 58,000;
encouraged to grant short-term loans to
farmers for agriculture requirements
and enable more farmers to get the ben-
govt seeks
efit of agriculture credit. This will also
lead to generation of employment as national
short term agri-loans are provided for all
activities including animal husbandry,
dairying, poultry, and fisheries, the gov-
action plan
ernment said.
Farmers will continue to avail short- Priyanka Sharma
term agriculture credit at an interest priyanka.sharma@livemint.com
The centre’s move on interest subvention is aimed at ensuring steady availability rate of 4% per annum while repaying the NEW DELHI
HT loan in time. To ensure that the farmers

cannot continue too long and
in the coming months you will
see a very large number of
penalties being imposed on
contractors, developers, and
even engineers who certify
sub-standard work,” he said.
Highways should be seen as
vehicles of economic progress
and growth and any compro-
mise on quality would deter
people from using such roads
and would thus affect eco-
nomic activity.
Highway development has
picked up pace in the country,
but the experience of motor-
ists about the quality of roads
has not been particularly good.
This is because of factors such
authorities imposing a fine of
₹1 core to 10 crore on contrac-
tors for substandard work and
even blacklisting them from
road projects for three years.
The policy would now get
strength with the SOP initiat-
ing trigger points for imple-
mentation of strict action for
sloppy work. The government
also intends to use technology
and equipment to bring in
quality control. Aramane said
the aim is to ensure smooth
movement of traffic on high-
ways and the Fastag system
would be made more efficient
to ensure the wait time is not
more than 20-30 seconds at
any toll booth.
G
pandemic, the meeting chaired by have to pay minimal interest to the bank, iven the large number
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also enable these business enterprises to will entail an additional budgetary provi- the government had introduced the of snakebites in India,
approved an enhancement of the Emer- meet their operational liabilities and sion of ₹34,856 crore for the period Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS), now the Union health min-
gency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme continue their businesses. FY23-FY25 under the scheme. renamed the Modified Interest Subven- istry plans to launch a dedi-
(ECLGS) corpus by ₹50,000 crore to ₹5 The 1.5% interest subvention scheme “In view of the changing economic tion Scheme (MISS), to provide short- cated national programme for
trillion. The increased amount is exclu- for the farm sector is aimed at ensuring scenario, especially the increase in the term credit to farmers at subsidized the prevention and control of
sively earmarked for hos- interest rate and lending rates. snakebite.
pitality and related sec- SUPPORT TO FARMING SECTOR rates for the financial Under this short-term agriculture Venomous snakebite is a
tors. Up to 5 August, loans institutions especially loan scheme offering rate of interest of significant cause of morbidity
of about ₹3.67 trillion INTEREST MEASURE will entail FARMERS will cooperative banks and 7% per annum, an additional 3% subven- and mortality, especially in the
have been sanctioned subvention scheme
aims at ensuring
additional budgetary continue to avail
provision of ₹34,856 short-term credit at
regional rural banks, the tion is given to farmers for prompt and hinterlands, affecting mostly
under the ECLGS, which adequate agriculture cr for FY23-FY25 interest rate of 4% government has reviewed timely repayment of loans. Therefore, if males between 20 and 55 years
is valid till 31 March 2023. credit under the scheme per annum the rate of interest sub- a farmer repays his loan on time, he gets of age.
The enhancement in vention provided to these credit at the rate of 4% per annum. Recently, a national consul-
the corpus is aimed at pro- financial institutions. It is This support, given through financial tation meeting was held on the
viding “much needed relief” to enter- adequate agriculture credit in the rural expected that this will ensure adequate institutions, is totally funded by the issue by the directorate gen-
prises in these contact-intensive servi- economy and maintaining the financial credit flow in the agriculture sector to Centre and is the second-largest scheme eral of health services that was
ces by incentivizing lending institutions health and viability of lending institu- the farmer and also ensure that the of the department of agriculture and also attended by the ministries
to provide additional credit of up to tions, especially regional rural banks financial health of lending institutions is farmers’ welfare with regard to budget of animal husbandry, agricul-
₹50,000 crore at low cost. This would and cooperative banks. The measure good…To address this challenge, the outlay and coverage of beneficiaries. ture, tribal affairs, central zoo
authorities, government vac-
cine manufacturers, the
Indian Council of Medical

Govt to curb Big Tech’s data collection Monetary threshold for arrest Research (ICMR), NITI Aayog,
the National Centre for Dis-
ease Control and the World
Gireesh Chandra Prasad
gireesh.p@livemint.com
number of transactions, vol-
ume of data aggregated, and
for smuggling raised by CBIC Health Organization.
According to ICMR, snake-
bites cause 58,000 deaths
NEW DELHI revenue, besides its bargain- annually in India and 232,000
ing position compared to its Gireesh Chandra Prasad of smuggling of fake Indian people every year suffer from

T
he Centre has started business users and consumers, gireesh.p@livemint.com currency notes, arms, ammu- significant disability because
hectic deliberations we well as its ability to set the NEW DELHI nitions and explosives, of it. India is home to more
over regulating Big rules for the ecosystem. antiques, art treasures, wildlife than 300 species of snakes of

Tech’s data collection and
usage policies after parliamen-
tarians expressed their con-
cerns over the use of data for
stifling genuine competition
in the market.
The inter-ministerial talks
saw the participation of minis-
tries of corporate affairs, elec-
tronics and information tech-
nology, as well as Competition
Commission of India, three
people with direct knowledge
of the discussions said.
One proposal was to bring
out a new Digital Markets Act
to govern business practices,
including data collection and
use by digital economy com-
panies, or to introduce certain
guidelines in Competition Act
to address the concerns, said
one of the three people, add-
ing that global best practices
are being evaluated to arrive at
a consensus.
The issue has become a pri-
ority after the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Com-
merce tabled a report in Rajya
Sabha in July recommending
an ‘ex-ante’ approach to regu-
T
According to Neil Hildreth, he Central Board of items and endangered species which about 60 are venomous
executive director at law firm Indirect Taxes and Cus- of flora and fauna. In such or mildly venomous. Four
Lumiere Law Partners, intro- toms (CBIC) on cases, arrest, if required, on the major venomous species are
ducing an ex-ante provision in Wednesday issued orders rais- basis of facts and circumstan- Russell’s Viper, Indian Cobra,
Indian antitrust law is the way ing the monetary threshold for ces of the case, may be consid- Common Krait, and Saw-
forward. “However, parame- arrest and prosecution for ered irrespective of the value Scaled Viper. Snakebite is a
ters and criteria for holding an smuggling as part of efforts to of goods involved. neglected tropical disease
entity as a ‘gatekeeper’ should streamline penal provisions. “In an effective justice sys- (NTD) and developing and
be framed after considering Two separate orders from tem, prosecution and arrest tropical countries account for
One proposal at inter-ministerial deliberations was to bring out a the views of all stakeholders so CBIC showed that the mone- should be initiated only in sit- around 95% of the total snake-
new Digital Markets Act to govern business practices. MINT as to ensure big businesses are tary threshold for prosecution uations involving substantial bites of the world.
not discouraged,” he added. and arrest for smuggling has Threshold for arrest raised to duty evasion. Pursuant to the “Although, there is a stan-
late competition in the digital interest. It will also entail “Usage of data has two sides. been increased to ₹50 lakh ₹50 lakh. ISTOCK revised monetary limits pre- dard treatment guideline for
market economy instead of the defining big tech companies One, efficiency enhancement from ₹20 lakh. In the case of scribed by the government, snakebite cases published by
‘ex-post’ model followed now. acting as ‘gatekeepers,’ that is, by facilitating the consumer to commercial fraud, the thresh- Instances of commercial while the civil proceedings the health ministry, its imple-
This will prevent anti-compet- business platforms that act as a make best possible choice and old has been raised to ₹2 crore fraud where the new threshold would continue for duty, mentation is very poor both at
itive behaviour, instead of ini- gateway for small firms to save time. But the danger lies raised from ₹1 crore. of ₹2 crore will apply include interest and penalty recovery; private and government
tiating a probe reach out to the in the use of data by those who While the Customs Act does misdeclaration in the descrip- prosecution and arrest would health facilities. Almost 80% of
and penalizing The ex-ante end consumer. have access to it to distort the not specify any value limits for tion of goods or concealment be initiated in cases where the snakebite mortality happens
after a breach model of This will help market. The broad principle is exercising the powers of of goods aimed at importing financial severity is high,” said outside the hospital because of
occurs. . regulation entails regulate digital to collect only that data which arrest, it is clarified that arrest restricted or prohibited items. Abhishek Jain, partner, indi- lack of awareness and delay in
The ex-ante a code of conduct markets better. is needed for improving effi- in respect of an offence should These instances also include rect tax at KPMG in India. reaching hospital and because
model of regula- The standing ciency and not for any other be made only in exceptional an attempt at duty evasion and By these circulars, CBIC has people opt for traditional ther-
for the Big Tech
tion entails a code committee on purpose,” said a second person situations, one of the orders fraudulent use of duty draw- not only increased the thresh- apies. We gave our input from
of conduct for the including on data commerce led by also seeking anonymity. said. It said such exceptional back. They also cover cases old monetary limit for arrest, a research perspective on
Big Tech includ- collection and use YSR Congress Email queries to the corpo- situations might include cases where an instrument from any prosecution and bail but has snakebite, training and capac-
ing on data col- Party’s V. Vijaya- rate affairs ministry and the of unauthorized imports in authority has been obtained by also provided a more illustra- ity building and what kind of
lection and use. It sai Reddy said CCI on Tuesday and to the baggage or cases under trans- fraud, collusion, wilful mis- tive list of scenarios where infrastructure is required to
will ensure data harvested digital market gatekeepers ministry of electronics and fer of residence rules, where statement or suppression of offences can lead to arrest, said deal with such cases,” said Dr
from consumers will not be may be defined based on the information technology on the market value of the goods facts. The enhanced monetary Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner Joy Kumar Chakma, ICMR’s
used for any purpose other number of registered users or Wednesday did not elicit any smuggled involved is ₹50 lakh threshold in the orders, how- at EY. “This move will help in nodal scientist doing research
than serving the consumer’s active consumers, sellers, and response till press time. or more, the order said. ever, does not apply in the case reducing litigation, he said. on snakebites.

Govt extends tenure of DCGI

m MINT SHORTS to Adani Green Energy for two wind projects of 286 MW
and 234 MW for an investment of over $500 million in
the country’s Northern province, energy and power
BoB raises ₹1,000 crore
through issuance of bonds chief VG Somani by 3 months
CORRECTIONS AND
CLARIFICATIONS
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Cargo movement to NE via day. Wijesekara said in a tweet that he met officials of the extended the tenure of Drug suggestions or complaints
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Bangladesh port successful tainable Development Authority on Tuesday to discuss VG Somani by three months.
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LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA 03

ReNew Power inks Market mayhem cuts

$1-bn loan pact for
hybrid power project fundraising via QIPs
Rituraj Baruah
rituraj.baruah@livemint.com
New delhI
Amount raised in the January-July period down 80% to ₹5,039 crore
N
asdaq-listed ReNew
Power on Wednesday
said it has tied up a $1 Swaraj Singh Dhanjal
billion project finance loan swaraj.d@livemint.com
from 12 international lenders mUmbAI
led by Rabobank. The company

F
will utilize the external com- undraising by India Inc. through
mercial borrowing (ECB) for its the qualified institutional place-
hybrid round-the-clock (RTC) ReNew has a total portfolio of ment (QIP) route fell 82% in 2022,
battery-enabled project. 12.8 GW of renewable energy as global macro headwinds and
ReNew has signed a power projects across India. BLOOMBERG
purchase agreement (PPA)
with the Solar Energy Corp. of sound monetary management,
stock market volatility reduced
opportunities for companies to tap the
market to raise equity.
Blackstone to sell
India (SECI) for this project, Sinha said.
which will include wind and In April, Mitsui & Co., Ltd,
solar farms set up across Karna- acquired a 49% stake in the
QIP is a capital-raising tool through
which listed companies can sell shares,
fully and partly convertible debentures, or
stake in Sona BLW
taka, Rajasthan, and Maharash- project, which will provide securities other than warrants that are
tra. The project will supply power to SECI at ₹2.90 per convertible into stocks, to institutional Swaraj Singh Dhanjal a low in June. The markets
power day and night and com- unit. The tariff will increase 3% investors. swaraj.d@livemint.com have delivered a 17% return
pete against the baseload of fos- annually for 15 years and then Till July, only seven companies used mUmbAI till date, and foreign investors
sil-fuel energy providers, such stabilize for the remaining 10 QIPs to raise ₹5,039.49 crore, while the are rushing back to Indian

P
as coal. The company said that years of the 25-year PPA. same period last year had seen 26 compa- rivate equity major equities.
the interest rate, after hedging, Last month, the company nies raise ₹28,177.09 crore, data from pri- Blackstone will sell This has created a window
is expected to be lower than the said it has refinanced its 2024 mary market tracker Prime Database Sona BLW Precision of opportunity for all existing
current average cost of debt on maturity dollar-denominated showed. Forgings Ltd’s shares worth shareholders to explore sec-
its balance sheet. bonds worth $525 million with “QIPs are a bull market product and, Since hitting its 2022-low of 51,360 on 17 June, the benchmark Sensex has seen a 17% ₹3,971.7 crore through a block ondary share sales through
Sumant Sinha, founder, amortizing project debt from thus, in volatile markets, or markets that recovery so far. PTI trade today, according to the block trades, said experts.
chairman and an Indian non- are trending downwards, few companies terms of the deal. The Blackstone block trade
CEO, ReNew, The project will banking financial will use this route to raise funds. And that’s in the markets, reduced global oil prices deals are always a precursor to a rebound Shares of the auto compo- for Sona BLW comes immedi-
said: “This loan— supply power day company. why this year the quantum of fundraising and more optimism that the US may not in primary deals, which take a bit longer to nent manufacturer will be ately after KKR’s ₹9,185 crore
the single-largest and night and ReNew has a through QIPs has been low,” a Mumbai- have a prolonged economic recession, we execute, given the documentation and dil- sold at a floor price of ₹500 block trade for Max Health-
project finance in compete against gross total portfo- based investment banker said on the con- continue to see more discussion on possi- igence process required under the regula- apiece, or at a 7.24% discount care, which helped the private
India’s renewable lio of 12.8 GW of dition of anonymity. ble fundraises by corporates,” said Pra- tions of Securities and Exchange Board of to its last closing price of ₹539 equity firm to sell its entire
the baseload of on the NSE. At the base price stake in the hospital chain.
sector—high- renewable energy To be sure, since hitting its 2022-low of shant Gupta, partner, national practice India “We are seeing interest in QIPs cur-
lights the interest fossil-fuel energy projects across 51,360 on 17 June, the bench- rently from financial services Blackstone will be selling 63.5 The trade also follows the
of global lenders providers India. The Gold- mark Sensex has seen a 17% LOOKING UP and manufacturing or indus- million shares, or 10.87% secondary sale by Uber, which
in ReNew as it man Sachs- recovery, with foreign insti- trial sector companies. These stake in the firm for ₹3,177.3 sold its entire 7.78% stake in
helps spearhead backed company tutional investors (FIIs) mak- QIPS are a bull HOWEVER, Sensex MARKETS have seen companies have reported crore. food delivery platform
India’s historic clean energy has massive expansion plans. In ing a comeback to Indian market product,
thus, in volatile
recovery and FIIs
coming back to
secondary deals
which are a precursor
decent earnings and growth Blackstone has the option Zomato for ₹3,088 crore ear-
shift and shows its continued May, it announced investing ₹1 stock markets. This has raised markets, few firms Indian stock markets to a rebound in in the last few quarters, and to raise the deal size by lier this month.
ability to access financing at trillion in total in both Maha- hopes that companies waiting use this route have raised hopes primary deals we expect these will be the another 15.8 million shares, Blackstone held 34.12% in
much lower rates than several rashtra and Karnataka in on the sidelines are likely to first to access the primary which will fetch it another Sona BLW as of 30 June,
years ago, despite the current renewable energy projects, reevaluate their plans and markets in coming months,” ₹794.3 crore. 2022. The private equity firm
volatility in the currency mar- including battery storage. It has may launch QIPs. head, capital markets at law firm Shardul said Gupta. Nomura Financial Advisory had sold a large chunk of its
kets and a rising interest rate also announced its foray into On 3 August, AU Small Finance Bank Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. The stock market closed higher on and Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd shareholding worth ₹5,250
environment.” the green hydrogen space. In Ltd was the first to launch a QIP since May. The markets have seen some large sec- Wednesday, as investors pinned their is the sole broker for the crore during the company’s
This also shows the financial April, along with Indian Oil “We are seeing more interest in QIPs in ondary deals recently involving KKR-Max hopes on strong earnings data amid signs trade. initial public offering (IPO) in
community’s faith in ReNew’s Corp., and L&T, ReNew Power the last few weeks. We recently completed Healthcare, Aberdeen-HDFC Life, Uber- of cooling inflation, sending the Sensex The Blackstone deal comes June last year.
growth plans, innovation, had announced a joint venture the AU Small Finance Bank QIP which Zomato and Temasek-Crompton. above 60,000 level for the first time since on the back of a resurgence in In the IPO Sona sold its
project execution abilities, and to produce green hydrogen. raised ₹2,000 crore. With more stability According to Gupta, such secondary April 5. the stock market after hitting shares for ₹291 apiece.

Experts to Akasa Air on track Unity SFB’s OTS scheme fails to impress depositors
look into use for growth: CEO Gopika Gopakumar interest. We can go back to say Unity. Within three months,

of common PTI
gopika.g@livemint.com
mUmbAI
we are stopping it as the actual the bank paid ₹3,800 crore to
take off is not much.” depositors after the Deposit
The Reserve Bank of India Insurance and Credit Guaran-
chargers
U
feedback@livemint.com nity Small Finance had taken over the operations tee Corporation (DICGC) certi-
New delhI Bank, formerly PMC of the Punjab and Maharashtra fied the valid accounts. The
Bank, has offered a one- Cooperative Bank, and had bank will pay another ₹2,000
PTI

A
kasa Air is well-capital- time settlement option against capped cash withdrawals and crore over the next five years.
feedback@livemint.com ised and its growth is all future payables for custom- launched an investigation into Bindra said the bank may
New delhI secure with the finan- ers who maintained deposits its accounting lapses on 24 offer the OTS because deposi-
cial means to place an order for worth up to ₹15 lakh. The OTS September 2019. It was placed tors who availed the DICGC

T
he government will set
up expert groups to
explore the adoption of
common chargers for mobile
and all portable electronic
devices and submit a detailed
report in two months, Con-
sumer Affairs secretary Rohit
Kumar Singh said Wednesday.
Following a meeting with
industry stakeholders, the sec-
retary said the government can
initially think of exploring
shifting to two types of char-
gers, including a C-Type port.
“It is a complex issue. India
has a position in the manufac-
turing of chargers. We have to
understand everybody’s per-
spective -- industry, the users,
manufacturers and environ-
ment -- before taking a final
decision,” he said. Each stake-
holder has a different perspec-
tive and expert groups will be
formed to examine the issues
separately, he said. Separate
expert groups will be formed to
study charging ports used in
three segments: mobile and
feature phones, laptops and
ipads, and wearable electronic
devices. The groups will be
notified this month and will
submit the recommendations
in two months. While the sec-
tor-specific associations and
more planes, chief Vinay Dube
said on Wednesday, days after
the passing away of the air-
line’s key investor Rakesh
Jhunjhunwala.
The carrier, which took to
the skies on August 7, received
its third aircraft on August 16
and the same will be used for
flights on the Mumbai-Benga-
luru route shortly.
With the passing away of ace
investor Jhunjhuwala, whose
backing itself had provided a
tailwind for the country’s new-
est airline, the future trajec-
tory of the airline will be
closely watched.
Against this backdrop, Dube
on Wednesday thanked Jhunj-
hunwala for his support in
recruiting some of the best avi-
ation talents in the country.
“He wanted us to have a top-
notch leadership team that
made all day-to-day decisions
Regional film industry buckles under steep star cast, technicians’ fees
Lata Jha
lata.j@livemint.com
New delhI
Vinay Dube, chief executive
officer of Akasa Air. MINT
at the airline without having to
fall back on him or any other
investor,” Dube, founder and
chief executive officer of the
carrier, said in a statement.
Seeking to dispel any possi-
ble apprehension about the
way forward for Akasa Air, he
said the airline will continue to
grow its fleet by adding one
new aircraft every two weeks.
“Thanks in no small part to
Jhunjhunwala, for which we
will always be grateful, Akasa
Air is a well-capitalised airline
with the financial means to
induct 72 aircraft over the next
five years,” he said.
industries.
“The issue is the same across
industries. Actors and techni-
cians are taking away such a big
scheme offers an opportunity
to customers to receive the
deposit amount upfront, albeit
at a discount of 37%, instead of
having to wait for 10 years.
As part of the Early Encash-
ment Scheme, the bank paid the
first tranche in July, followed
by a second instalment on 13
August. The next tranche will
be paid out on 15 December.
“After the amalgamation of
the bank in January, there was
a strong request from a certain
cross section of people to be
able to get liquidity against the
scheme promised to them over
the next few years. These are
people who have more than ₹5
lakh deposits with the bank,
mainly senior citizens,” Jaspal
Bindra, promoter of SFB, said.
“It’s a voluntary scheme and it
had very limited draw down.
Our first preference was that
they go with the (amalgama-
As per the amalgamation of PMC Bank with Unity Small Finance Bank
PMC Bank depositors will get their money back over 3-10 years. MINT
tion) scheme,” he added.
According to the scheme of
amalgamation of PMC Bank
with Unity Small Finance Bank
PMC Bank depositors will get
their money back over a period
of 3-10 years, and zero-interest
payment against deposits for
five years after 31 March 2021,
and subsequently, a maximum
of 2.75% interest on unpaid
deposits. Unity SFB will make
payments of up to ₹5 lakh or
less received from DICGC to
the eligible depositors. For the
remaining amount, it would
pay ₹50,000 above the pay-
ment already made by January
2023, followed by ₹50,000 by
January 2024, ₹1 lakh by Janu-
ary 2025, ₹2.5 lakh by January
2026 and ₹5.5 lakh at the end
five years (January 2027).
However, despite the strong
interest for the OTS, there was
not much demand for with-
drawing deposits and the bank
is set to close it after December
this year, Bindra said.
“The number withdrawn is
still below ₹100 crore. There is
not much demand. Given the
next five years, ₹2000 crore
needs to be paid. Most people is
ready to wait till the due date
rather than take its upfront. We
just responded to the custom-
ers because there was so much
actors demanding higher rates share of profits if a film is a hit,”
for projects as they believe the he added.
success of old movies is based
on their box office draw and fan rates with producers looking to
under restrictions after investi- money chose to deposit it back
gations revealed that it was with the bank. “From the origi-
guilty of misre- nal disbursement
porting loans to we made of ₹5
Housing Develop- In 2019, the RBI lakh to all the
ment and Infra- had taken over people, under the
structure Ltd the operations of mandatory pay-
(HDIL). the PMC Bank, out, we expected
In June 2021, and had capped that money to be
RBI cleared the withdrawals over fully withdrawn.
decks for its take- accounting lapses But 40% of it has
over by the Cen- remained with
trum Group and bank, that is, cus-
payments com- tomers who got
pany BharatPe, and subse- the money put it back in the
quently a banking licence was bank as deposits,” he added.
issued to set up the small That said depositors are not
finance bank in October. Cen- happy with the scheme as they
trum’s micro, small and feel they are losing their own
medium enterprise (MSME), money. In fact, deposit holders
and microfinance businesses have filed a petition against
will be merged with the new implementing the RBI scheme
Unity SFB. of amalgamation and the mat-
Earlier this year, the Centre ter is expected to come up for
notified a scheme for the amal- hearing before the Bombay
gamation of PMC Bank with High Court next month.
ing a reduction in overall rates.
The Telugu Film Chamber
Technicians too have hiked of Commerce has also called for
an urgent resolution on the

manufacturers agreed to the
concerns of e-waste, they
sought more discussion on the
matter, he added.
Electronics Products Inno-
vation Consortium Foundation
and HCL founder Ajai Chow-
dhury, Manufacturers’ Associa-
tion of Information Technol-
ogy president Rajkumar Rishi,
India Cellular and Electronic
Association chairman Pankaj
Mohindroo, Consumer Elec-
tronics and Appliances Manu-
facturers Association president
Eric Braganza and Indian Elec-
trical and Electronics Manufac-
turers’ Association president
Vipul Ray were present in the
meeting.
T
he Indian film industry is
in for tough times with
escalating costs of pro-
jects, primarily due to the
unreasonable fee hikes by the
lead star casts, and a section of
technicians, despite the poor
show at the box-office, said
industry insiders.
Skyrocketing costs have not
only made projects untenable,
producers are also not making
enough profit to even consider
launching their next films, and
have decided to put upcoming
projects on the back burner.
The trend is not only damag-
ing Bollywood’s prospects, but
also that of the Tamil, Telugu,
Malayalam and Punjabi film
chunk of film budgets that pro-
ducers are left with nothing,
even if the movie manages to
make some profit. Film budgets
have risen disproportionately
in the past five years and it is
indirectly killing box office
potential,” Atul Mohan, editor
of trade magazine Complete
Cinema, said.
With the likes of Allu Arjun,
Ram Charan and Mahesh Babu
for instance, charging upfront
fees of ₹80-100 crore, Telugu
producers suspended shooting
of films earlier this month to
negotiate and come to some
agreement on remunerations.
According to people in the
know, star fees have risen five
With skyrocketing costs, producers are not making enough profit
to even consider launching their next films.
to 10 times in recent years. The
VPF (virtual print fee) charges
for digital distribution players
such as UFO Moviez, varying
between ₹12,000 and ₹15,000
per screen, and shorter window
for premiere of movies on over-
HT
the-top (OTT) platforms, have
also added to the woes.
“While producers are to be
blamed for using box office col-
lections as a marketing tool to
generate buzz around films, the
strategy has backfired with
following,” make larger-than- window between theatrical and
Mohan said. life spectacles to digital premieres of films,
Producers pay- Producers and lure audiences to which the body feels is hurting
ing for a star’s theatre owners theatres, besides the prospects of movies in cine-
e n t o u r a g e , have difference of the VPF costs paid mas. Producers said small and
including secu- opinion over by producers for medium-budgets films that do
rity, managers, splitting the costs showing their not feature popular stars
gym trainers and paid to digital films using digital deserve variable pricing on
on their accom- service providers projectors and tickets and cannot cost the
modation are technology, same as big, tent-pole titles.
unfair, especially remains conten- “Producers in south have
when they are tious, he said. always been more united and
charging high fees, said Sunny In fact, producers and thea- proactive in taking up industry
Khanna, a film producer and tre owners have difference of issues. In Mumbai, while the
distributor. “Producers are opinion over splitting the costs issues are the same, nobody
making peanuts even if the film paid to digital service provid- sees eye to eye on how to go
is a hit. The idea (of negotia- ers, such as UFO. Both parties about it. But if Telugu film
tions) is to make stars see sense are trying to ensure the burden makers succeed in resolving
and have them come on board does not fall on one of the the issues, other industries will
as a partner who can have a stakeholders and are negotiat- definitely follow,” Mohan said.
04 ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
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S&P BSE Sensex Nifty 50 Nifty 500 Nifty Next 50 Nifty 100 S&P BSE Mid-cap S&P BSE Small Cap
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60,260.13 0.7 17,944.25 0.67 15,379.05 0.64 43,313.05 1.02 18,235.55 0.71 25,182.00 0.64 28,343.00 0.53
PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN

59,842.21 59,938.05 17,825.25 17,868.15 15,280.50 15,325.35 42,877.50 43,035.85 18,107.25 18,154.20 25,020.92 25,108.71 28,194.37 28,287.11
HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

60,323.25 59,857.80 17,965.95 17,833.35 15,398.45 15,306.55 43,372.80 43,017.00 18,258.15 18,125.85 25,211.50 25,089.99 28,391.76 28,283.74

m MINT SHORTS Bearish view persists Margin pressure is

Japan’s trade gap hits record on bottoming out for
commodities impact, weak yen
Tokyo: Japan’s trade deficit hit a record high in July as the
impact of soaring commodities and the yen’s 24-year low
added to the headwinds for the nation’s economic recov-
amid lower inflation Apollo Tyres
ery. The trade deficit widened to 2.13 trillion yen ($15.9 bil- Harsha Jethmalani Vineetha Sampath
lion) on a seasonally adjusted basis,the finance ministry harsha.j@htlive.com Causing discomfort vineetha.s@livemint.com
Racing ahead
reported Wednesday, extending the sequence of shortfalls High and sticky inflation remains the biggest tail risk to the portfolios of global In Q1FY23, Apollo Tyres’

G
consolidated operating margin

T
to a 14th month. The trade balance has been in the red for lobal fund managers are no fund managers. he Apollo Tyres Ltd stock ral-
exceeded analysts' expectations
the longest continuous streak since 2015. Imports gained longer apocalyptically bear- lied by more than 10% in the last aided by price hikes.
47.2% from a year ago, led by continued year-on-year gains ish. Expectations that infla- two trading sessions following
Inflation stays high Consolidated Ebitda margin (in %)
in energy prices, while exports rose 19%, boosted by ship- tion and interest rate shocks its June quarter (Q1FY23) earnings
20
ments of autos and chip-making equipment. Both figures are beginning to end seems announcement on Friday after mar-
beat forecasts. The record deficit does not bodes well for to be gradually replacing the gloom and Global recession ket hours. The shares continued their
Japan’s economic recovery as higher import bills, espe- doom sentiment with hope. However, move up on Wednesday and hit a 16
cially for energy and food, can cool domestic activity. the bearish outlook remains. 52-week high of ₹261.90 apiece on the
Exports continued to recover, but also face slowdown con- Economic outlook and equity alloca- Hawkish cental banks NSE. 12
cerns in key trading partners such as the US and Europe, tion improved in August from the dire Investors are rejoicing its decent
where governments are actively tamping down demand low levels in July, according to the latest Q1FY23 results and the management
8
to contain rampant inflation. BLOOMBERG survey by BofA Securities. After hitting a Systemic credit events commentary on easing cost inflation.
record low in July, the proportion of This comes against the backdrop of
those who expect a stronger economy Net respondents (in %) tyre manufacturers seeing their mar- 4
Covid-19 resurgence
rose in August. Also, a net 72% of those July August gins skid in the recent quarters, hurt
surveyed expect global profits to decline by elevated input costs. 0
over the next month, compared with a In Q1, the cost of the company’s raw Q1 Q1
Russia-Ukraine conflict FY21 FY23
79% in July, which was the highest read- material basket rose 7-8% sequentially Note: Ebitda is earnings before interest, tax,
ing since October 2008. 0 10 20 30 40 and, to tackle this, it hiked prices by depreciation and amortization
Even so, most respondents are of the Source: BofA Global Fund Manager Survey 3-8% in the domestic market and Source: Company data,
Motilal Oswal Financial Services
view that current sentiment is still too 6-9% in European markets. In
bearish for an immediate reversal in the SATISH KUMAR/MINT
Q2FY23, its commodity basket could SATISH KUMAR/MINT

bear market rally and that they remain senior market analyst, UK & EMEA, at ucts and market strategist at DSP Invest- inch up further by about 3% sequen- Besides margin, a sustained upside
“patient bears”. broking house Oanda. “I wonder how ment Managers. “RBI’s commentary on tially, keeping margins under pres- in the stock from the current levels
Inflation remains the top tail risk to long that can last even if US inflation this, whether the quantum of rate hikes sure, and then peak out, the manage- will also depend on how demand pans
fund manager portfolios followed by shows further signs of pulling back from reduces or their stance becomes neutral, ment said. out. In the past one year, shares of
global recession and hawkish central the peak. Recessions around the world is a crucial near-term trigger for Indian The company is on a price hiking Apollo Tyres have risen by 17% versus
banks. The net percentage of investors are coming and inflation is not falling fast equity markets,” he said. spree to protect margin erosion. In 9% appreciation in the Nifty 500
The jobless rate inched down to 4.3% for the May-to-July who think that the global economy will enough,” he cautioned in a note to clients In August, the RBI raised the repo rate July, it raised prices by 3% across cate- index. The management expects
period, according to the government data. ISTOCK experience recession in the next 12 dated 16 August. by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.40%. In this gories, the management told analysts. overall demand to moderate in Q2
months continued to rise and was 58% in In India as well, inflation measured via calendar year so far, RBI has raised the Although its consolidated Ebitda versus Q1 on seasonality.
August. the consumer price index softened to key lending rate by 140 bps. margin at 11.6%, fell by 75 basis points Apollo Tyres reiterated its FY23
Hong Kong’s jobless rate eases Inflation in the US fell from a record 6.71% in July from 7.01% in June. How- Apart from that, how corporate earn- year-on-year in Q1FY23, capital expenditure gui-
as economy mounts recovery high in June to 8.5% in July, ings pan out, especially in thanks to price hikes and A sustained dance of ₹900 crore for
Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s unemployment rate continued but continues to be at a mul- DEEP WOUNDS the context of falling infla- operating leverage, this upside in the the India business and
to ease in the three months ended July as the economy ti-year high. The concern is tion, is something that metric beat the esti- stock from the $40 million for the
attempts to mount a tepid recovery from tough covid that despite this positive DESPITE easing EXPECTATIONS of INDIA’S retail investors will keenly watch. mates of analysts. Cor- current levels will European business. The
restrictions this year. The jobless rate hit 4.3% for the May- data there is not enough inflation, global fund the global economy inflation softened In Q1FY23, on an annual- rection in crude oil and company is focusing on
managers don’t see a facing a recession in in July, but remained also depend on
to-July period, government data showed. That was lower clarity on whether the US reversal in the bear the next 12 months above the RBI’s ized basis, profit after tax natural rubber prices improving the return on
than a forecast of 4.5% in a Bloomberg survey and also Federal Reserve will con- market rally soon increased in August comfort level of 6% grew 12% for Nifty50 com- bodes well for tyre com- how demand capital employed before
lower than the 4.7% rate in a similar period ended June. tinue to raise rates or pause. panies, higher than the con- panies. “Margins are pans out any major expansion,
“The labour market should continue to improve, though As global central banks sensus estimate of 8%, close to bottoming out, which according to ana-
the extent of improvement will depend on the pace of eco- remain focused on tackling inflation, ever, it is hovering above the Reserve Kapoor noted. as the impact of peak lysts is positive.
nomic revival amid tightened financial conditions,” said some economists are of the view that it Bank of India’s (RBI) comfort level of 6%. Meanwhile, India still commands pre- crude price will be captured in Q2. Kotak Institutional Equities ana-
secretary for labour and welfare Chris Sun. The recovery may be too early to conclude that peak Similarly, inflation measured using the mium valuations to Asian peers. The Starting Q3, tyre makers will start lysts said the company’s return ratios
will depend on covid cases, but the launch of consumption central bank hawkishness is a thing of the wholesale price index, slipped to a five- MSCI India index is trading at a one-year benefitting from moderation in input remain poor at 8-10%, which, despite
vouchers earlier this year should support the city’s econ- past. month low of 13.93% in July. With global forward price-to-earnings multiple of costs (rubber, crude). Meanwhile, the achieving over 80% utilization levels,
omy, he said. The rate has inched down from a recent high Investors are gaining confidence amid commodity prices on a downtrend, infla- around 20x, higher than MSCI Asia industry continues to display good remains a concern. “Also, recession-
of 5.4% at the peak of the city’s fifth covid wave, when a recovery in stock markets in recent tion is seen heading southward. Ex-Japan and MSCI Emerging Markets pricing discipline with regular price ary risks persist in European markets,
shops were forced to cut business hours and intense social weeks rather than feeling anxious about More reasons are emerging for India’s Index, showed Bloomberg data. For this hikes, even if slightly behind the cost which could overall put pressure on
curbs were imposed, but is far from the lower levels seen its sustainability against a worrying eco- central bank to become less hawkish, valuation multiple to justify, India Inc’s curve,” said analysts at IIFL Securities the operating performance of its sub-
before the coronavirus outbreak. BLOOMBERG nomic backdrop, explained Craig Erlam, according to Sahil Kapoor, head of prod- earnings have to improve, said analysts. Ltd in a report on 17 August. sidiaries,” they said in a report.

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

SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT

Gas prices in
Asia surge to
Nifty 50: A rebalancing act
By Niti Kiran
niti.k@livemint.com

highest in The next semi-annual rejig of the Nifty 50 index of the National Stock Exchange is likely any time soon. Since June 2009, the index has been computed using a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted method. The representation of the
sectors in the benchmark index has undergone a remarkable change, wherein some sectors gained momentum while a few lost steam. As many as 44% of the companies that were part of the index in 2009 are no longer there, but a host of
stalwarts still cling on. Here is a look at how the index composition has evolved over the years.
five months The bellwether index has moved from being well-balanced to a more focused one How the BFSI sector gained weight
The 50-pack index was fairly balanced a decade ago but just two sectors currently contribute more than half. The BFSI sector has traditionally dominated the index, while FMCG
Bloomberg Weights of various sectors (%) in Nifty 50 index has picked up gradually. Defensives like IT have scaled down after
peaking last year, and autos are on a reverse gear.
feedback@livemint.com Dec 2009 Jul 2022 Weights of top 5 sectors (%) at the end of each year
100

A
global rush to secure
shipments of liquefied
natural gas for winter
catapulted Asian prices to the Metals and 80
IT and ITeS mining FMCG
highest level in five months. Automobile Automobile
12.6 8.8 8.2
The Asian benchmark spot 5.8
60 FMCG
LNG price jumped close to $60
per million British thermal BFSI IT and ITeS Oil and gas
units on Tuesday, the highest 22.7 Automobile Telecom 15.1
level since early March when 5.2 4.0 Infra and Metals 40
Infra and engine- and IT and ITeS
the Russia-Ukraine war engineering Pharma Others ering mining
upended energy markets. 7.7 and 5.3 3.6 3.4
Russia’s move to curb gas health- 20
Power care
shipments to Europe is sending 3.6 2.4 Pharma Power
Telecom

prices of the power plant and and 1.9

Cement

Capital Construction BFSI

Others

heating fuel surging around the Oil and gas FMCG goods and realty BFSI Oil and gas healthcare 0
world. Utilities in Asia and 36.5 12.6 3.9 2.2 Cement 2009 2022
17.9 6.1 4.0 2.7 1.1 1.1 1.4 All figures at year-end; 2022 figure as of July 2022
Europe are accelerating efforts
to secure LNG spot cargoes for
delivery in winter, when con- Pharma and healthcare has gained the A slew of energy, BFSI firms have Meanwhile, some old guards are Private sector's weight in Nifty 50
sumption peaks, which is exac- most recently, oil and gas going out exited the index since 2015 still standing tall has jumped impressively
erbating a shortage and fuelling The index mirrored the pandemic-led changes in the overall economy, Companies that have exited the Nifty 50 since 2015 The 26 firms that have been on the index since 2009 Ownership-wise weight of constitutents in
the rally in prices. with healthcare adding the most stocks to Nifty in recent past. Number of companies (some mentioned in chart below) mostly belong to Nifty 50 index
Several Japanese utilities are Sectorwise number of companies in Nifty 50 BFSI, auto and IT segments. (in %) MNCs Private PSUs
2019 2020 2021 2022 Banking 2 Stocks that have been the part of the index since 2009, by sector
in the market to procure more Automobile
100
6 6 6 6 Infra and Telecom
LNG shipments for delivery Cement 2 engineering BFSI
BFSI 10 11 11 11
from December onward, (SBI, ICICI
according to traders with Cement 1 2 2 2 Oil and gas 2 Power Bank) 80
3.8
3.8
knowledge of the matter. Korea FMCG 4 4 4 4 Power 2
7.7 19.23
Gas Corp, one of the world’s top Infra and engineering 2 2 2 2 Pharma and 60
buyers of the fuel, also aims to Engineering 1 healthcare
IT and ITeS 5 5 5 5 7.7
scoop up more winter supply, Media and entertainment 1 0 0 0 Financial services 1
traders said. (in %) 40
Metals and mining 5 4 4 4 1 7.7 15.4
Meanwhile, supply disrup- Media Metals and
tions from Australia to the US Oil and gas 5 5 4 3 mining
Metals 1 (Tata Steel) 7.7
are curbing the amount of LNG Others 4 4 5 5 Automobile
20

available. Several firms, includ- Pharma and healthcare 3 4 4 5 Pharmaceuticals 1 FMCG

11.5 15.4 (Hero
MotoCorp,
(Hindustan
ing Uniper SE and Marubeni Power 2 2 2 2 Unilever, ITC) Maruti
0
Realty 1 Suzuki)
Corp, were bidding for LNG Telecom 2 1 1 1 2009 2022
Oil and gas (Reliance
shipments to Asia during S&P All figures at year-end; 2022 figure as of July 2022
Only those companies were considered that never entered back after exiting. Industries, ONGC) IT and ITeS (Infosys) All figures at year-end; 2022 figure as of July 2022.
Global’s market on close pro- BFSI: Banking, financial services and insurance; FMCG: Fast-moving consumer goods. Mint's sectoral classification may differ from NSE's official categories in some cases. Sources: NSE, Capitaline, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Mint analysis
cess on Tuesday, traders said.
LIVEMINT.COM DEALS, TECH & STARTUPS ThuRsdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA 05

Exponent
m MINT SHORTS
Smartwatch shipments jump
From only online, Razorpay Energy bags
fourfold in Q1 to 6.4 mn units
New Delhi: Smartwatches remained the fastest growing cate-
gory of devices among wearable gadgets, with shipments surging
four times from a year earlier in the June quarter, even as overall
sees an omnichannel future $13 mn in
Series A
demand for consumer electronics tapered, according to market
researcher International Data Corp. (IDC). IDC’s Monthly Anuj Suvarna
Wearable Devices Tracker said smartwatch shipments rose to 6.4 anuj.s@livemint.com
million units during the quarter from 1.6 million units a Razorpay bought a 100% stake in payments solutions startup Ezetap in a cash-and-stock deal bEngaluRu
year ago. SHOUVIK DAS

E
lectric mobility infra-
Ranjani Raghavan Instead of buying a PoS machine, they structure startup Expo-
WhatsApp’s new app works ranjani.raghavan@livemint.com can accept payments using phones. nent Energy Pvt. Ltd, on
With Ezetap, Razorpay has made its Wednesday, said it has raised
even when phone has no net mumbai
sixth acquisition to date. Thus far, $13 million (around ₹102 crore)

T
iger Global-backed fintech Razorpay has stuck to acquisitions to in Series A funding round led
unicorn Razorpay Inc, which plug gaps in its product offerings or to by Lightspeed Venture Part-
made its latest acquisition of enter new markets. ners. The existing backers
Ezetap Mobile Solutions, sees Razorpay, which was valued at more YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital
an omnichannel future as than $7.5 billion in its last funding round and AdvantEdge VC also par-
businesses want to retain both offline in December 2021, bought IZealiant ticipated in the round.
and online modes of payments for trans- Technologies, a provider of payments The company, focused on
actions, chief executive and co-founder technology solutions for banks in March fast charging for electric vehi-
Harshil Mathur said in an interview. this year. In February, it acquired cles, is aiming to streamline
Razorpay bought a 100% stake in pay- Malaysia’s Curlec, a recurring revenue e-pack production. The fresh
ments solutions startup Ezetap in a cash- platform in a deal that allowed the com- funds will be used to scale the
and-stock deal, according to the com- pany to expand into Southeast Asia. charging network to 100 loca-
pany. The deal involved purchasing Prior to this, it had acquired TERA tions per city starting with Ben-
New Delhi: WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messag- stakes of the company’s investors, Finlabs, an artificial intelligence galuru.
ing app, has introduced a new native app for Windows per- founders, and employees. (AI)-based risk tech SaaS Platform in “Our technology already
sonal computers that will work even if your primary phone The deal valued Ezetap at least $150 2021. delivers a seamless charging
does not have an active internet connection. The new app million, said a person familiar with the It acquired Opfin, a payroll and experience and with our vehicle
can be downloaded directly from the Microsoft Store, and transaction on the condition of ano- human resource management provider partnership in place, we’ll scale
comes as the service has introduced a feature called ‘linked nymity. Sharehold- in 2019 and Thirdwatch in 2018, an our pro-
devices’ to help users simultaneously link up to four devices ers of Ezetap stand Ezetap offers a point-of-sale device to businesses to let customers make payments AI-based fraud analytics platform. duction
with a primary account. TECHCIRCLE to gain another $50 using cash, cheque, cards, UPI or QR-based payment, wallets or SMS Pay. ISTOCK Mathur said while Razorpay is still and net-
million based on scouting for acquisitions to improve its work pres-
achieving certain milestones, which physical and digital channels and will nered with Samsung to facilitate pay- product offerings, it may not make ence to 100 e-pump location
Garuda Aerospace ventures into could swell the deal value to $200 mil- expect a unified payment experience ments at retail stores through PoS devi- acquisitions of the size of Ezetap for points per city. This funding
lion, the person said. through a single integrated platform, ces, through which Paytm will be able to sometime till it integrates both busi- now allows us to execute even
Africa with drones for farming The deal is expected to close by this both in the offline and online world,” offer EMI or payments on credit to cus- nesses. faster and make 15-minute rapid
New Delhi: Chennai-based drone startup Garuda Aerospace has month end, the person said. Mathur said. tomers. Ezetap’s 300 employees, including its charging the new normal,” said
partnered with Harare Institute of Technology and Nyangani Mint reported on Wednesday that “Around 5-10 years ago, offline and A report published by Cashfree Pay- chief executive Byas Nambisan, will join Arun Vinayak, co-founder and
Virtual University to offer drones-as-a-service to the agriculture Razorpay had agreed to take a Razorpay after the completion of chief executive of Exponent
sector in Zimbabwe. This is Garuda’s second global venture and majority stake in Ezetap in a $126 ExpAnDInG FOOTpRInT the deal. Energy.
the first in Africa. In June, Garuda announced that it is setting up million deal, which covered the bulk Razorpay’s acquisitions typically Founded by Ather Energy’s
a drone factory in Malaysia in collaboration with HiiLSE Drones, of the investors’ stake. EzETAp deal SEVERAL online THUS far, EzETAp’S 300 staff range between $15 million and $20 former chief product officer
a Malaysian drone company. TECHCIRCLE Ezetap offers a point-of-sale will allow Razorpay
to enter the
payment firms are
finding it necessary
Razorpay has stuck
to acquisitions to
including CEO will
join Razorpay after
million. Arun Vinayak and Sanjay
device to businesses to let custom- offline payments to offer offline plug gaps in its the completion of The company did not provide Byalal, his colleague at Ather
ers make payments using cash, space payment modes product offerings the deal revenues for the financial year Energy, Exponent Energy
Graas makes maiden India bet with cheque, cards, UPI or QR-based ended March 2022. It recorded rev- claims that its solution can
payment, wallets or SMS Pay. enues of ₹1,000 crore in FY21. unlock 15-minute rapid charg-
Shoptimize acquisition for ₹200 cr The Ezetap deal will allow Razorpay, online had completely different stacks. ments earlier this week said that soft- In an interview this May, Mathur said ing for EVs using regular lithi-
New Delhi: Singapore-based e-commerce solution provider Graas which offers online payment and lend- Over the last five years, that boundary is ware-based PoS (softPOS) is growing. the company has no plan to raise fresh um-ion cells while maintaining
(growth-as-a-service) has forayed into the Indian market with the ing services to businesses, to enter the starting to blur a lot,” he said. SoftPOS stands for software point-of- capital for the next 12-18 months. a charging cycle count of 3,000.
acquisition of artificial intelligence-backed D2C platform Shopti- offline payments space, the company Several other online payment gate- sale and allows merchants to take pay- On Wednesday, Mathur said the In December 2021, Exponent
mize for over ₹200 crore in a cash-and-equity deal, said a top execu- said. way firms are finding it necessary to ments from contactless cards, mobile- company was at least three years away raised $5 million in pre-Series A
tive. The deal follows Graas announcing a $40 million (around ₹317 “We believe that the businesses of offer offline payment modes to custom- based payment systems without using from an initial public offering. He did round led by YourNest Venture
crore) Series A fundraising round. SHUBHOBROTA DEVROY tomorrow will not distinguish between ers. On Tuesday, Paytm said it had part- any additional hardware PoS machines. not elaborate. Capital.

Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ to Yes Bank invests in two funds

buy stake in Sahyadri Hospitals Aman Rawat
aman.rawat@livemint.com
years.
Meanwhile, 9 Unicorns
nEw dElhi Accelerator Fund, a CAT I AIF,
Joseph Rai each in Nashik and Karad. The launched by the founding mem-

Y
joseph.rai@livemint.com company aims to add more es Bank Ltd has become bers of Venture Catalysts, is a
nEw dElhi than 500 beds in the next five a limited partner (LP) in sector-agnostic investor that
years, the statement said. two funds of Venture funds early-stage startups. To

T
he Ontario Teachers’
Pension Plan Board has
agreed to buy a signifi-
cant majority stake in Sahyadri
Hospitals chain from the Ever-
stone Group in the Canada-
based investor’s first control
private equity buyout in India.
Both Everstone and Sahy-
adri’s top management and
their founders will retain
minority stakes in Sahyadri,
said Ontario Teachers’ in a
Sahyadri clocked net sales
of ₹544 crore in fiscal 2020-21,
up from ₹467 crore in the pre-
vious year, according to
VCCEdge, the data and intelli-
gence platform of VCCircle.
Operating profit rose to ₹130
Ontario Teachers’ expects the
crore from ₹84 crore during
the period.
Homegrown pri-
deal to close by this year-end.
Catalysts Group, Beams Fin- date, it has invested $100 million
tech Fund, a category-II alter- in nine unicorns.
nate investment fund (AIF) and “We believe that this partner-
the early-stage sector-agnostic, ship is a step in the direction to
9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund, becoming the go-to-bank for Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, founder and managing partner of Stride
by investing an undisclosed technology startups,” said Ajay Ventures. MINT
sum. Venture Catalysts is an Rajan, India head— transaction
integrated incubator offering
funding, mentorship and net-
working opportuni-
The firm has backed more than
110 startups since 2016. GETTY
banking, Yes Bank. “India is at
the cusp of massive growth and
the collaboration between banks
Stride exceeds

Sahyadri just a little over two

statement. It didn’t disclose
the value of the deal and the
quantum of stake that would
be bought from Everstone.
Ontario Teachers’, one of
Canada’s biggest pension
funds, expects the deal to close
by this year-end.
years after investing in the
firm. Everstone took a control-
ling stake in Sahyadri in April
2019 and the deal was con-
cluded later that year.
Founded by neurosurgeon
Charudutt Apte in 1994, Sahy-
adri runs eight hospitals with
vate equity firms
IDFC Alternatives
and ICICI Venture
were among the earlier inves-
tors in Sahyadri. Raju Rupare-
lia, senior managing director,
private capital, Asia-Pacific at
Ontario Teachers’, said the
investor believes that it can
leverage its significant global
experience in the healthcare
ties to startup
founders, right from
their inception to the
growth stages. Since its found-
ing in 2016, the firm has backed
more than 110 startups across
multiple sectors, with over 35
successful exits.
Venture Catalysts launched
the Beams Fintech Fund this
year and the 9 Unicorns Acceler-
down on their investments in
tech startups.
The Beams Fintech Fund will
actively invest in growth-stage
fintech firms, including embed-
ded finance, software-as-a-ser-
vice (SaaS) for banks and finan-
cial institutions, personal
finance management and neo-
banking. The fund is in the pro-
cess of adding strategic investors
and tech companies—especially
with fintech - will play a critical
role in this journey,” he added.
second fund target
“Collaborating with and sup-
porting tech companies to ide-
ate and experiment on various
use cases such as agriculture,
to raise $200 mn
healthcare, commerce, educa- Beena Parmar tech, agritech, B2B (business-
tion, logistics, open banking, beena.parmar@livemint.com to-business) commerce,
supply chain finance, payments, nEw dElhi health-tech, B2B software-as-
digital banking, among others a-service (SaaS), mobility and

VCCircle reported in August
2021 that Everstone had
begun the process of exiting
900 beds and 300 critical-care
beds in Maharashtra, six of
which are in Pune and one
sector to help scale Sahyadri
into a national healthcare pro-
vider in the coming years.
ator Fund in 2020. With a fresh
infusion from Yes Bank, both the
funds will be looking to double
and aims to deploy $180 million
across 10-12 Series B and C
investments over the next three
V
has been a key driver of Yes enture debt financier
Bank’s innovation strategy,” said Stride Ventures has
Yes Bank. announced the final
close of its second flagship
fund, raising $200 million
(around ₹1,600 crore) from
energy solutions sectors.
The fund’s portfolio also
includes Zepto, Yubi (Cre-
dAvenue), BluSmart, Uni,
Upstox, WayCool, Medi-
Buddy, Wiz Freight, Perfios,

AN IdeAl pOlIcy fRAMewORk fOR INdIA’S web3 INduSTRy investors.

In April, VCCircle reported
that Stride Ventures India
Moneyview, VideoVerse,
Chalo and Groyyo.
“Stride Ventures has
Fund II is likely to surpass the already committed a large
and capital flowing outward from our country and a loss of tion of a contract with the terms of the agreement between two target size of ₹1,000 crore portion of the fund to indus-
India-centric IPs in the Web3 space. Currently, the policy nar- parties written directly into the code. when floated in May last year try-leading startups, and our
EXPERT rative around Web3 is unfortunately seen from the prism of a
single-use case of crypto trading.
Second, an ideal Web3 policy must nurture the pathways that
allow Indian entrepreneurs and platforms to flourish. A sand-
by exercising a greenshoe
option to raise an additional
goal is to continue being a
preferred lender while devel-
VIEW This is not surprising given that crypto exchange was the eas- box regulatory framework would help facilitate this as it will ₹875 crore. oping innovative alternative
iest to capture the imagination of millions of non-crypto savvy oversee live testing of new Web3 products or services in a con- The four-year-old Stride financing solutions for
M A N I S H AG A RWA L Indians. However, the applications of blockchain / Web3 are trolled/test environment for which regulators may permit cer- Financier, which has pro- founders,” said Ishpreet
evolving into all spheres of economic activity across agritech, tain relaxations. vided debt finance to startups Singh Gandhi, founder and
Respond to this column at DeFi, GameFi, HealthFi, eSports etc. For example, the applica- And third, an expert panel may be constituted under MeitY such as MyGlamm, Sugar managing partner of Stride
feedback@livemint.com bility of NFTs, other than gaming and art, is also huge – NFT with members from NITI Aayog’s Cosmetics and Ventures.
birth certificates; academic transcripts; NFT could also serve as Web3 will end Frontier Technologies vertical, Mensa Brands, The fund has an

T
he internet, conceptualized to deliver the promise of a potential tool to eliminate counterfeit products as each trans- the rigid control experts and industry representatives, marked Fund II’s average ticket size of
democratizing information sharing and wealth creation, action in the logistics chain gets recorded on the blockchain.
has rapidly evolved into the centralization of power in the Regulating NFTs solely on the basis of the risks emanating from and exploitation who can then collaboratively analyze
observations from the regulatory
first close at ₹550
crore in August last year.
around $4-5 million
(around ₹30-40 crore), up
hands of a few large platforms with their own “closed wall gar- their usage in one particular application would be unfair. faced by sandbox, study global best practices “Similar to the first fund, from $2-3 million in the first
dens”, all under the guise of building an open ecosystem. India shouldn’t be cast aside to the periphery in a mere back- creators and and track industry needs. This would the second fund witnessed fund.
This stands even more pronounced in Web 2.0 gaming, end-servicing role to the Web3 hotspots emerging globally developers establish an open channel of commu- participation from leading Venture debt refers to vari-
wherein game publishers retain 100% of the money invested by right now. Policymakers need to look beyond trading nication between regulators and the banks, marquee family offi- ous debt financing products
gamers while buying virtual items in the form of in-app pur- exchanges while formulating policies and work with the indus- industry; and will go a long way in ces, corporate treasuries, sov- applicable to venture capital-
chases. Unlike any other economy, in Web 2.0 games, players try to make India a global hub of innovation. driving innovation, employment and revenues to the state ereign funds, PE funds, insur- backed companies. It is pri-
don’t even own the assets they have purchased. This inherent There are a few things that must be considered while looking exchequer. ance firms, and HNIs (high marily a loan offered to early-
lop-sided sharing of economic value makes Web 3.0(Web3) at Web3 policy. First, Web3 relies on the core concepts of trust- Web3 will end the rigid control and exploitation faced by cre- net worth individuals) con- stage, high-growth compa-
gaming a very promising and disruptive business model. Web3 lessness and permissionlessness. It is a Privacy-First, decentral- ators and developers through subjective parameters issued by tributing to its success,” the nies with venture capital
promises open, decentralized technology platforms that are ized infrastructure where users can thrive in an environment BigTech, which influences the form, reach and monetary bene- company said in a statement backing.
directly accountable to their users; and offer higher data integ- where they don’t have to gain authorization from a governing fit their content will have on the internet. The policymaking without naming its limited The Gurugram-based firm
rity and security. body (permissionlessness) to create or trade. Also, they can process should focus on building a holistic, facilitative frame- partners (LPs)/investors in has so far invested in more
A 2021 NASSCOM Industry report on Cryptotech has esti- interact directly with each other without an intermediary work for a new digital economy that establishes India as a formi- the fund. than 20 companies from its
mated that over 800,000 new jobs could be created by the year (trustlessness) thanks to “programmable trust” via smart con- dable Web3 leader. The sector-agnostic fund first fund, sanctioning over
2030 in the Indian Web3 industry. But the vacuum around pro- tracts. A smart contract is essentially any program that runs on Manish Agarwal is the chief executive officer of Nazara Tech- has debt investments in com- ₹1,600 crore to over 70 com-
active policy discussions could eventually snowball into talent the Ethereum blockchain and oversees the independent execu- nologies. panies across consumer, fin- panies.
06 ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA CORPORATE LIVEMINT.COM

Sensex reclaims 60,000 peak New RBI rule trims Q1 RBI paper asks
how fees can
as stocks continue their rally be levied on
FROM PAGE 1

of incessant outflows, domes-

Broad-based surge
Strong momentum across sectors, but IT, metals remain down.
microloan disbursals digital systems
Gopika Gopakumar
tic equities have been seeing BSE Auto BSE Information Technology BSE Metal BSE Oil & Gas gopika.g@livemint.com
net inflows since July. 140 134.0 MuMBAI
Besides, the decline in crude
Microlenders must assess the indebtedness of the borrowing household
T
oil prices has eased concerns he Reserve Bank of India
120
about elevated inflation, fur- (RBI) on Wednesday
ther supporting the domestic 126.9 released a discussion
currency. 100
Shayan Ghosh paper on charges levied by
91.8
“The ferocity of the rally has shayan.g@livemint.com payment systems.
proved wrong the majority who 91.4 MuMBAI The discussion paper follows
80
believed that this is a bear mar- an announcement in December

ket rally,” said Dr V.K. Vijaya-
kumar, chief investment strate-
gist at Geojit Financial Services.
“It is important to appreciate
the fact that there is global sup-
port to this rally, with the S&P
500 and the Nasdaq bouncing
back by 18 and 24% from their
June lows,” he added.
Vijaykumar said it makes
sense to remain invested and
buy on dips despite high valua-
tions.
In the past 45 days, foreign
portfolio inflows have totalled
$1.5 billion, more than double
the inflows from domestic
institutions. However, domes-
tic retail investors have not par-
ticipated in the recent rally,
Hariharan said, adding that
there may still be dry powder
left with retail investors to
cushion any fall caused by
60
17 Aug 2021
Note: Rebased to 17 Aug 2021 = 100
COMPILED BY NITI KIRAN/MINT; GRAPHIC BY SATISH KUMAR/MINT
global factors.
Banks, industrials and autos
have been the leaders and con-
tinue to attract incremental
flows, said analysts.
Devang Mehta, head of
equity advisory at Centrum
Wealth, said that with the fes-
tive season in India across the
next few months, many con-
sumption-oriented sectors
would find favour, and with
credit growth and capex
coming back, financial servi-
ces would also be a benefici-
ary.
“Clearly, the sentiment,
along with liquidity and macro
plus micro fundamentals, are
M
17 Aug 2022
Source: BSE
supportive for a long-term
rally, but yes, it will have its
share of speed breakers and
volatility,” Mehta added.
US and European markets
were mixed ahead of the
release of key euro zone growth
data.
Investors are also waiting for
the minutes of the Federal
Reserve’s July meeting for
more cues.
Asian markets were also pos-
itive as investors expect China
to roll out more stimulus meas-
ures to boost economic growth,
said Siddhartha Khemka, head
of retail research at Motilal
Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
icrofinance companies’ loan policy last year where RBI said it
disbursal in June quarter fell would seek public comments on
from the preceding quarter, a how charges should be levied
phenomenon experts attrib- on digital systems.
uted to a recent Reserve Bank The paper covers all aspects
of India (RBI) guideline revising risk assess- relating to charges in payment
ment practices for these lenders. systems such as Immediate
Aggregate microfinance disbursal in the Payment Service (IMPS),
June quarter stood at ₹57,842 crore, down National Electronic Funds
35% from the March quarter, showed data Transfer (NEFT) system, Real
from microfinance institutions’ industry Time Gross Settlement
body Sa-Dhan. These include loans by non- (RTGS) system and Unified
banking financial company-microfinance Payments Interface (UPI) and
institutions (NBFC-MFIs), universal banks, various payment instruments
small finance banks, non-banking financial such as debit cards, credit
companies and not-for-profit companies. Aggregate microfinance disbursal in April-June stood at ₹57,842 cr, down 35% from the March quarter. cards and Prepaid Payment
Noting that this was a result of lenders Instruments (PPIs).
adjusting their policies to the new RBI men. He added that in the coming days, the reduces your risk. Lending to indebted cli- “While there are many
framework, experts said the first quarter of industry will get more familiarized with the ents could come to hit you back later and intermediaries in the pay-
a fiscal typically sees fewer loans being dis- new policies and the teething troubles will while rejection rates have gone up, espe- ments transaction chain, con-
bursed than the preceding three months. be behind. cially in urban areas, it is not a cause for con- sumer complaints are gener-
Effective 1 April, RBI capped the loan An internal Sa-Dhan study showed that cern,” said Alok Misra, chief executive and ally about high and non-trans-
repayment obligation of a household at 50% rejection rates have gone up from 30% ear- director of industry body Microfinance parent charges. Charges for
of monthly income. This includes all repay- lier to an average of about 42% at present. Institutions Network. payment services should be
ments that a household has to make, not just The primary reason for rejection rates going Misra said if the rejection rates go up reasonable and competitively
for microfinance loans. According to analysts up was because some applicants were unable because some borrowers are overleveraged, determined for users while
at ICICI Securities, more microloan applica- to meet the new criteria on equated monthly it shows risk management systems are work- also providing an optimal rev-

Shiprocket joins unicorn club tions have been rejected after

FROM PAGE 1
chasing growth through
acquisitions. Last month,
Shiprocket acquired Arvind
Ltd’s omnichannel technology
business Omuni for about
₹200 crore.
Omuni was Shiprocket’s
fifth acquisition. In June, the
startup bought Pickrr for
around $200 million in a mix
of cash and stock.
Earlier this year, the com-
pany acquired Glaucus Supply
Chain Solutions, Rocketbox
and Wigzo Technologies.
In the interview, Goel said
that the company would con-
tinue to look at inorganic
growth opportunities in the
post-purchase category,
including customer services,
shipping, packaging, returns
and refunds. He added that the
company has enough cash
reserves without specifying a
number and that most of them
are reserved for acquisitions.
He also sought to dismiss
the perception that it is look-
ing to take on the big players of
the logistics space, such as
Delhivery and Xpressbees,
who are also its partners.
Shiprocket also expanded
into the international market
last year with its entry in Saudi
Arabia.
implementing the guidelines,
with the interest rate increasing
CREDIT HURDLE
ing. He does not see rejections
dampening growth. “The mar-
ket comprises 250-300 million
enue stream for the intermedi-
aries. To ensure this balance, it
was considered useful to carry
to 50% from 30-35% earlier. FROM 1 April, RBI THIS includes all LOAN rejections have borrowers and we have reached out a comprehensive review of
“This is the initial stage of capped the loan
repayment obligation
repayments that a
household has to
gone up from 30% to
an average of about
only about 60 million. There the various charges levied in
implementing the new regula- of a household at 50% make, not just for 42% now as applicants are many new-to-credit cus- the payment systems by high-
tory norm, and will therefore of monthly income microfinance loans fail to meet new norms tomers whom we have not lent lighting different dimensions
take a little time at the ground to, and areas where we have not and seeking stakeholder feed-
level as people need more yet reached,” said Misra. back,” RBI said in its paper.
training. That apart, certain internal systems instalments (EMIs) being capped at 50% of Meanwhile, ICICI Securities, in a report RBI did not specify whether
need to be tweaked as well,” said Jiji Mam- the total income. on Wednesday, said among microloan pro- it is in favour of or against levy-
men, executive director and chief executive Others said the new RBI guideline pro- viders, RBL Bank saw the sharpest sequen- ing charges on customers in its
of Sa-Dhan. vides the industry guardrails on risk prac- tial fall in assets under management, at 23%, discussion paper. The regula-
Now, there is a more elaborate exercise to tices to avoid future delinquencies. in Q1, followed by Spandana Sphoorty (down tor instead has asked a series of
be carried out to assess the indebtedness of “If you have a prudent framework in place 16%) and Bandhan Bank, Indusind Bank and questions seeking public com-
the household and not just the borrower, and you are rejecting a loan application Credit Access Grameen seeing 4-7% decline ments on charges in different
and that is also taking more time, said Mam- because it exceeds the prescribed ceiling, it in AUM. payment systems.

Electricity Three telcos pay ₹17,855 crore for spectrum Australia lobby pitches for
tariffs likely FROM PAGE 1
more cuts in wine tariffs tive of Bharti Airtel. soon roll out 5G services.

to vary over smaller rivals Bharti Airtel and

Vodafone Idea spent ₹43,084
Vittal told investors in a con-
ference call last week that the
company will roll out 5G servi-
Vittal said Airtel would front-
load its capex to prioritize 5G roll-
outs, funded through internal Ravi Dutta Mishra & Dilasha Seth The Australian wine industry to 50% over 10 years. For bottles
the day crore and ₹18,799 crore,
respectively.
ces in August and cover 5,000
towns and cities with 5G by
cash flows. “Our operating cash
flows of the business are strong
new deLhI has been under pressure ever
since China hiked its duty on
over $15, the duty will be reduced
from 150% to 75%, and, subse-

FROM PAGE 1
and during lean-demand hours
costs less, aims to lower con-
sumption and load during
peak-demand hours. It will also
help people who consume less
power, largely from the eco-
nomically weaker sections,
lower their power bills by
reducing consumption during
peak hours. The plan comes
after India escaped a major cri-
sis in April and May due to sur-
ging power demand and a
shortage of coal supplies.
As industries recover from
the pandemic, power demand is
expected to grow further.
India’s peak power demand hit
a record 211.856GW on 10 June
amid a heatwave. In June,
power minister R.K. Singh said
demand may stay elevated and
that 205GW is the new baseline.
“Smart meters will be a big
enabler in implementing this
time-of-day tariff system in
terms of retail consumers. Con-
The upfront payment, cou-
pled with the moratorium on
spectrum dues and adjusted
gross revenue (AGR) related
payments for four years, will
free up future cash flows and
allow Airtel to dedicate resour-
ces to focus on 5G rollout, the
company said in a statement.
Spokespeople for Reliance
Jio and Vodafone Idea declined
to comment.
Over the past year, Airtel has
also cleared ₹24,333.7 crore of
its deferred spectrum liabilities
ahead of scheduled maturities.
“Airtel also has access to
₹15,740.5 crore in capital from
Law firms scramble to rein in attrition amid unprecedented talent flight
Priyanka Gawande &
Devina Sengupta
MuMBAI
March 2024. “By March 2024,
we believe we will be able to
cover every single town and
key rural area. In fact, detailed
network rollout plans for 5,000
towns in India are in place. This
will be one of the biggest roll-
Airtel alone paid ₹8,312.4 crore to outs in our history,” Vittal said.
the telecom department. MINT Jio was widely expected to roll
out 5G services on Independ-
the rights issue, which is yet to ence Day after Akash Ambani,
be called. With the ideal spec- chairman of Reliance Jio, said
trum bank, best technology the company would celebrate
and adequate free cash flow, we “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” with
are excited to bring to the a 5G rollout across India. How-
country a world-class 5G expe- ever, the company is yet to
rience,” said Gopal Vittal, man- announce the launch formally.
aging director and chief execu- Vodafone Idea is also expected to
The state of corporate lawyers
Law firms might suffer high rates of attrition.
(in %)
Do not see themselves
continuing to work with their Moving to a different firm
T
enough for us to find any require- he Australian wine indus- Australian wines to over 200% in quently, to 25% over 10 years.
ment for capex,” he added. The try is pitching for further 2020. “A strong collaborative “Australia looks forward to
carrier’s operating cash flow for cuts in duty ahead of relation improves our ability to resuming negotiations on a full
FY22 stood at ₹32,448 crore, up India-Australia negotiations for advocate for policy, technical and Comprehensive Economic
from ₹21,970 crore the previous a comprehensive free trade regulatory improvements as well Cooperation Agreement (CECA)
year. Airtel will also decide in the agreement next month. as supporting advocacy for fur- with India as soon as possible. In
next couple of months on the Experts believe the negotia- ther reduction in import tariffs CECA, we will be seeking to
timing of the second call for its tions on alcoholic beverages with under the next negotiating build upon Economic Coopera-
rights issue, where ₹15,500 crore Australia could become the tem- rounds for the CECA,” Australia’s tion and Trade Agreement out-
is pending, joint managing plate for future deals with other national association of winegrape comes in goods and services,
director Harjeet Kohli had said. developed nations such as the UK. and wine producers said. and include cross-cutting issues,
Vittal said Airtel is yet to An association representing For the first time, India reduced such as digital trade, and new
decide on the pricing of 5G, add- 2,500 Australian winemakers tariffs on alcoholic beverages in an areas of cooperation,” the
ing that globally 5G had not led to said its members are looking for FTA, and agreed to reduce duties spokesperson of the Australian
incremental average revenue per further cuts in import tariffs in on Australian wines with a mini- High Commission said.
user (Arpu) growth. However, he the Comprehensive Economic mum import price of $5 per bottle Queries sent to the commerce
added that tariffs on existing Cooperation Agreement (CECA) from 150% to 100% on the deal’s and industry ministry on Monday
plans needed to rise. negotiations. implementation and subsequently remained unanswered at press time.
with conglomerates, well- so no uptick was seen. “We have
The best law firms to work funded firms saw a surge of grown in number, so additions
for in India, 2022 M&A, dispute resolutions, etc. are more than attritions,” said
Firms with 250+ professionals But now, firms are relooking Dina Wadia, senior partner,
Shardul Amarchand
at their functioning styles, member of executive committee
10.5

sumers will get messages on
phone (on consumption behav-
iour),” a second official said. It is
expected to give consumers the
freedom to plan their electricity
usage as per their needs and
resources, he said.
The Centre aims to install 250
million smart prepaid meters for
all domestic consumers by March
2025. Data from the National
Smart Grid Mission showed 4.82
million smart meters were
installed till 12 August.
Queries sent to the power
ministry remained unan-
swered till press time.
“Time-of-day tariff would be
very helpful. It helps in flatten-
ing the load curve by lowering
the load on the grid during peak
hours,” said Debasish Mishra,
partner at Deloitte. Smart meters
will be able to capture consump-
tion data which existing ana-
logue and digital meters cannot,
he added.
The Centre plans a revamp of
the power sector as part of its
Vision 2047 to meet the coun-
try’s enhanced energy demand
and drive economic growth.
L
aw firms are up against an
unprecedented exodus of
junior, mid-level and senior
talent primarily due to long work-
ing hours, poor remuneration
and benefits, and a lack of cultural
alignment with an organization’s
long-term goals, according to a
study by legal search and consult-
ing firm Vahura.
Vahura said if the law firms “do
not act urgently and imminently”
to build a focused and fair work-
place, and fail to look after the
well-being of people, “they will
continue to expose themselves to
a high degree of attrition”. The
findings of the survey were
shared exclusively with Mint.
“Indian law firm domain, on
the whole, risks losing excep-
tional people to other jurisdic-
tions and segments: trends that
have already begun,” the report,
titled The Vahura Best Law Firms
to Work Study, 2022, noted.
Historically, jobs at India’s
leading corporate law firms are
highly sought after. Corporate
law firms usually absorb the top
talent from India’s law schools.
Law firms Mint spoke to said
current firms in the
long-term
49.7%
50.3%
Moving to an operational role (KM, BD,
Growing with
the same firm
legal tech, corporate communication, etc)
they are taking steps to rein in
attrition rates by monitoring
work hours, offering hybrid-
work options, improving leave
policies and rolling out more
benefits to attract and retain
talent. “All law firms have seen
attrition during covid times.
This can be attributed to vari-
ous reasons such as the choice
of settling in hometown, want-
ing to spend more time with
family, etc.,” said a senior exec-
utive from one of India’s top
three law firms, seeking ano-
nymity, adding that the firm
within the same practice area
Moving to an in-house legal team
Moving to a flexible role
Leaving the firm to upskill/
pursue higher education
Setting up your own practice
Leaving law altogether 2.9
Moving to an international tirm 2.5
Moving to a freelance role 0.9
0.8
Other
has changed its compensation
structure and floated a hybrid
work policy to retain people.
Vahura said around 50% of the
1,450 survey participants said they
were not considering long-term
stints with their current employ-
ers. “The pandemic period has
been the best and worst times for
law firms. Best times as it was the
highest revenue-earning periods
for firms. Worst in terms of stress,
mental health and attrition,” said
Ritvik Lukose , chief executive
officer, Vahura.
While 10% of respondents were
JSA Mangaldas & Co
8.4 Trilegal
4.4
3.9
Firms with 51-250 professionals
3.4
King Stubb
& Kasiva Saraf and Partners S&R Associates
Firms with 10-50 professionals
Panag & Babu Rajaram Legal
BTG Legal
12.1
Source: Vahura
PARAS JAIN/MINT
considering moving to a different to newer law firms offering more
firm within the same practice, equitable ownership structure.”
40% were not inclined to continue “Attrition was always a key
working for law firms and were issue for law firms, as eventually
exploring flexible roles or setting it depends on its ability to retain
up their own practice, while 8% talent by fulfilling professional
were willing to join in-house legal and financial aspirations. How-
teams of corporates. ever, now the added dimension
Mohit Saraf, founder and is of physical and mental well-
managing partner, Saraf and being,” said Rajat Prakash, man-
Partners, said: “Firms often have aging partner of Athena Legal.
a translucent structure where Over the last two years while
most benefits accrue to the court-based litigations slowed
founders. Because of this we are down, impacting advocates
seeing number of senior lawyers adversely, chambers and bou-
moving along with their teams tique firms; those associated
cross-checking with employ-
ees on their well-being more
often. Mint has learnt that one
of India’s leading law firms is
changing its compensation
structure as attrition gnaws
away the best of their teams.
Athena Legal is “moving to a
more transparent compensa-
tion structure”. It is also explor-
ing a different compensation
structure for flexible and
remote working options.
Vahura’s study said most pro-
fessionals strongly believe mov-
ing forward, their ideal working
model will be hybrid, with 83% of
professionals reporting that their
ideal working model is either
hybrid or fully-remote.
Law firms are taking a closer
look at exit interviews, asking
staff to utilize their leaves in the
wake of rising attrition.
But the overall employee
strength balances out, for those
on a hiring spree. J Sagar Associ-
ates, which is one of the top three
law firms according to the report,
told Mint that their attrition lev-
els are pretty much the same as
they have been these last 3 years,
and head of talent.
The exits are coming in at a
time when around 87% of the
professionals reported that they
work upwards of 8 hours a day.
Around 45% of professionals who
reported working between 10-12
hours a day, said they routinely
felt stressed and tensed during a
workday. The problem appears
to be even more acute for profes-
sionals who reported working 12
plus hours a day, with over 70% of
such professionals reporting that
they routinely felt stressed and
tensed during a workday.
However, Padmini Rathore,
CEO, DSK Legal, said exits were
taking place because of better
roles, fitment issues with the cur-
rent team, onto the client side,
among others. “A 5-7% of attrition
is normal for law firms and is not
a cause for concern,” Rathore
told Mint.
Scan the
code to
access the
report
LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE ThuRsdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA 07

‘ESG as an investment theme MOBILITY, DIGITAL SCREENS

FUELLING OUT-OF-HOME ADS
not fully understood in India’ ORDINARY
ing and financial services, retail and media mak-
ing a beeline for billboards. “Out-of-home is
back,” he said.
The medium matured in the last couple of
Swaraj Singh Dhanjal other hand, strategic interest is driven years in terms of measurement. Earlier, the
swaraj.d@livemint.com
mumbai
by broader corporate goals towards
energy transition. One specific pocket
POST industry depended more on “guesstimates” or
old-fashioned tickers and physical counting of
that we see are getting increasingly SHUCHI BANSAL passersby and vehicles to study traffic. Technol-

T
he ongoing resurgence in aggressive is the old-world energy and ogy has not only introduced digital screens but
India’s stock markets and resource majors. We have seen compa- Respond to this column at also given rise to several mobile apps to measure
return of foreign investors nies like Shell and Thailand’s PTT take shuchi.b@livemint.com such data in real time. “This, layered with exten-
have raised hopes of more a large bet on Indian renewable market sive Google mobility reports, and our own pre-

V
primary market fundraising and we continue to get more and more ideo streaming services have returned to dictive analysis, has changed the way outdoor is
this year, especially through initial pub- inbounds. spending big bucks on billboards to grab measured,” said Mehta.
lic offerings (IPOs). In an interview, Why is the renewable sector absent eyeballs for their shows. In June, Mint Revival in traffic at airports, cinemas and malls
Debasish Purohit, co-head, India Invest- from the capital markets? Isn’t it a reported that the category, with its miscellane- is driving ad spends on outdoor media. New
ment Banking at Bank of America spoke concern that domestic investors ous foreign and homegrown brands such as Net- touch points have also emerged. Data indicates
about the outlook for IPOs and qualified don’t have access to one of the most flix, Disney+Hotstar and Hoichoi, among others, that a lot of mobility is still within our own catch-
institutional placements (QIPs), the exciting sectors in the Indian econ- is estimated to spend Rs 400 crore on outdoor ment areas leading to advertising being targeted
impact of the recent public market cor- omy? advertising in a year. around residences. “So, digital out-of -home is
rection on private market fundraising That’s true. There has not been a sin- In a couple of recent interviews, senior execu- coming into elevators, lobbies of high-rise build-
and the bank’s focus on ESG themes, gle pure play renewable IPO in India. It tives of Page Industries that sells innerwear ings and of gated communities,” Mehta said.
especially renewables. Edited excerpts: has a lot to do with the fact that Indian brand Jockey, and footwear retailer Metro But the bigger revolution in outdoor medium
markets and investors are yet to see Brands Ltd also spoke of the value of out-of- has been brought about by digital screens.
Will the current secondary market renewable sector differently from tradi- home (OOH) advertising in their media mix. Kar- Kinetic recently created a 3D anamorphic illu-
rally lead to opening of IPO, QIP tional utilities, where public investors thik Yathindra, chief marketing officer, Jockey sion for Thums Up in Bengaluru for Independ-
fundraising opportunities for com- have had indifferent experiences in the India said although the brand’s investment in ence Day.
panies or is the investor sentiment past. On the other hand, ESG as an social digital marketing has increased, outdoor is Revival in traffic As the population
still weak? investment theme is again not fully a big stay as it gives the opportunity to showcase at airports, of digital screens
There are signs of life back after an understood in India. We are still to see products in a larger-than-life manner. increases, it will facili-
almost three-month hiatus. Having domestic pools of ESG capital. However, Alisha Malik, president, e-commerce and mar- cinemas and tate programmatic
printed four trades (deals) in a week, we things are changing. A lot of traditional keting at Metro Brands, too, said hoardings can’t malls is driving buys, Mehta said, aid-
certainly feel very encouraged by the utility companies now have massive be ignored. “It really does tell the customer that, ad spends on ing outdoor to grab a
reversal in fund flows, return of FPIs into renewable portfolio and investors are hey, I’m in your city, especially if it’s a new city,” outdoor media share of digital media
equity transactions and a bout of market admirable discipline on capital outlay demand across capital structure. We are appreciating this transition. ESG theme she said, adding that the company has started spends too.
stability. Like in any capital raising cycle, and willing to recalibrate growth plans market leaders in Indian renewables in public domain is slowly gaining trac- using digital screens in malls. But digital screens
it’s the quick-to-market trades like while conserving capital. We will see with a near 70% M&A market share. We tion. Sebi recently proposed a frame- A new report by GroupM’s outdoor agency will make better sense if they are internet-ena-
blocks and QIPs that get executed first, rounds happening in certain pockets also took India’s largest renewable work for ESG rating, which is likely to Kinetic recognizes that covid-19 pandemic has bled and smart and able to trigger contextual
followed by longer lead products like but the extent of that will be driven by player public in the US last year. help the cause. been “pivotal” in the transformation of the OOH advertising. For example, if the Air Quality Index
IPOs. While secondary exits will con- the ability of companies to ride through Will the deal-making momentum in How big is the energy transition sector. It said outdoor has become one of the fast- in Delhi winters increases, the screen should be

‘
tinue, QIP opportunities will be a func- the current market weakness and speed renewables continue for the opportunity? est growing mediums today and an integral part able to trigger an ad for an air purifier. Or, may be
tion of primary raise by listed compa- of market reversal. It would be quite nat- rest of the year? As I mentioned, of campaigns as consumers spend a dispropor- a tea or coffee brand when it rains, Mehta said,
nies. While we feel very confident about ural to see realignment and consolida- Absolutely. With renewable energy tionate time out of home with covid restrictions explaining smart digital screens.
IPO markets coming back at some point tion along the way. the Russia-Ukraine Our national ambition requires an investment easing. Also, reverse migration during the pan- In some Southeast Asian markets, especially,
later this year, one has to stay patient Given the focus on ESG, how impor- war, energy transition of 50% renewable of $230 billion. Broader demic from urban, especially large metros, to Thailand, the share of out-of-home in total ad
and be tactical around tant is the renewable theme is now merging energy by 2030 energy transition rural and smaller towns, led brands to deploy spends is 7-8%. The country is home to massive,
market windows.
Given the current
m INTERVIEW sector for you?
We, as a bank, cham-
with energy security
goals as countries real- requires massive
includes other themes
like green hydrogen
campaigns across a larger number of cities, giv-
ing a fillip to outdoor advertising.
impactful digital screens. There’s headroom for
growth in India where the share of outdoor is
challenges for tech pion ESG and have taken ize they need to diver- investments of over ($100bn), storage Ajay Mehta, managing director, Kinetic India, around 3%. “Globally, we are under-indexed as
companies to tap capital markets leadership position in this segment. sify away from fossil $230 billion ($250bn), and e-mobil- said spends on outdoor ads started seeing an compared to some of our peers. That’s because
and valuation corrections expected Renewable energy is right at the centre fuels. Despite macro ity ($150bn) which uptick in October 2021. “So far, August 2022 has there’s not enough quality supply,” Mehta said.
Debasish Purohit
in the private markets, what is the of ESG-themed investments. It’s even headwinds, ESG focus Co-head, India Investment together require addi- been our biggest month. From a spending per- Also, the out-of-home industry in India is
outlook for tech fundraising? more contextual for India given our pace is only increasing fur- Banking at Bank of America tional capital of $500 spective, the way the last quarter has panned out, highly fragmented and could benefit from con-
We haven’t seen the public market of growth with 80% of today’s electricity ther and we see that billion. Divestment of this festival season is probably going to be the solidation. Lastly, uniform, nationwide laws to
corrections follow through to private generation relying on fossil fuels. Our panning out in the assets is one of the best festive ever,” Mehta said. regulate the sector could drive growth. Cur-
markets yet, helped partly by the abun- national ambition of 50% renewable processes that we are running now. strategies that may become popular as The growth is being fuelled by a lot of the new- rently, the rules are framed by different munici-
dance of capital available in the private energy by 2030 requires massive invest- Many of the large infra/ESG focused companies look to free up capital. We age companies such as edtech startups, online palities within cities.
space. Moreover, a lot of larger private ments of over $230 billion. We expect funds have raised massive funds helped don’t think it would negatively affect groceries and fintech firms. “The old and the big Shuchi Bansal is Mint’s media, marketing and
tech companies are sitting on comforta- significant institutional and FDI inflows by post-pandemic liquidity and are ESG scores as most of this capital will get boys are coming back, too,” Mehta said, referring advertising editor. Ordinary Post will look at
ble capital cushion and are showing into the sector to meet financing looking to deploy aggressively. On the reinvested in new capacities. to advertisers like real estate and builders, bank- pressing issues related to all three. Or just fun stuff.
08 ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA GLOBAL LIVEMINT.COM

UK inflation reaches double

digits for first time since 1982
CPI rate rises to 10.1% in July from 9.4% in June; Economists expect BoE to raise rates to 2.25% next month Tech stocks saw a 28% fall as ease in Covid restrictions dragged
down giants such as Meta, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. ISTOCK

Reuters
feedback@livemint.com
LONDON
and a fall in crude oil prices as eco-
nomic growth slows around the
world.
Tech stocks sink
Economists also said global ship-
biggest sovereign
C
onsumer price inflation ping and commodity prices were
in Britain jumped to beginning to fall as Covid-19 supply
10.1% in July, the highest chain bottlenecks eased, which could
since February 1982,
making it the first major
rich economy to see price growth hit
cause inflation to slow around the end
of 2022.
“This would help to ease the Mone-
wealth fund
double digits as surging food costs tary Policy Committee’s fears about AFP a 28% fall as the end of restric-
intensified a squeeze on household high inflation becoming ingrained ... feedback@livemint.com tions related to the Covid-19
budgets. and thus convince them to stop hik- OSLO pandemic dragged down
The increase from June’s annual ing bank rate sooner than investors giants such as Meta, Amazon,

rate of 9.4% was above all economists’
forecasts in a Reuters poll and fuelled
bets by investors that the Bank of
England will keep on hiking interest
rates quickly.
Despite warning this month that a
recession was likely, the BoE raised
its key rate by 0.5% to 1.75% - its first
half-point rise since 1995. It saw infla-
tion peaking at 13.3% in October,
when regulated household energy
prices are next due to rise.
Citi economist Benjamin Nabarro
said that, after the latest figures, he
now expected inflation to peak above
15% early next year.
“With the Bank focused on signs of
more persistent inflationary pres-
sures, we think a hawkish reaction is
now all but inevitable,” he added.
Most economists in a Reuters poll
earlier this week already expected the
BoE to raise interest rates by a further
half point to 2.25% after its next meet-
ing in September.
Two-year British government
bond yields — which are sensitive to
interest rate expectations - hit their
highest since 2008 and investors
priced in BoE rates peaking at 3.75%
around March 2023, up from 3.25%
previously.
Britain is not alone in facing soar-
ing price growth but it is the first in
the Group of Seven economies to
N
currently expect,” said Samuel orway’s sovereign Apple and Microsoft.
Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconom- wealth fund, the Energy was the only sector
ics. world’s largest, shrank where the fund saw a positive
The forecasts that Britain’s infla- by some 1.68 trillion kroner development, with those
tion problem will last longer than in ($173.2 billion) in the first half shares up by 13%. Stocks
other countries stem in part from of the year, weighed down by accounted for 68.5% of the
price regulations that mean energy tech stocks, the Norwegian portfolio at the end of June.
companies must wait before passing central bank said Wednesday. The fund holds stakes in
higher wholesale costs on to consum- The fund, in which the state some 9,300 companies and
ers. places its oil revenues, posted controls around 1.3 % of global
The current typical annual house- a negative return of 14.4% in market capitalisation. The
hold energy bill is just under 2,000 the first six months of the year, value of its bond investments,
pounds ($2,420) — lmost double its with its total value dropping to which accounted for 28.3% of
Greater food costs adds to hit from higher energy bills. AP level a year ago — and is likely to rise 11.65 trillion kroner ($1.20 tril- its assets, shrank by 9.3%,
above 4,000 pounds in January, lion) at the end of June. while its unlisted real estate
experience inflation above 10%. Wednesday’s figures from the bond payments — hit its highest since according to industry analysts Corn- “Percentage-wise, it’s the holdings, which made up 3% of
There are signs too that it will Office for National Statistics (ONS) March 1981 at 12.3%. wall Insight. second-biggest decline for a the portfolio, climbed by 7.1%.
struggle with rising inflation for showed that prices rose 0.6% in July Surging energy prices in Europe Millions of British households will half-year result” since the fund The fund’s placements in
longer than other economies, includ- from June on a non-seasonally are the main driver of inflation and struggle with the higher bills, and was created in 1996 “and the unlisted renewable energy
ing peers in Europe, adjusted basis. are likely to tip Britain into a lengthy, supermarkets already say customers biggest decline in kroner”, the projects — which accounted
where energy prices Surging energy A 12.6% rise in annual if shallow, recession, later this year, are switching to cheaper brands. head of the fund, Nicolai Tan- for just 0.1 % of its investments
have leapt following prices in Europe food prices - the biggest according to the BoE. Bread, milk and cheese, as well as gen, said in a presentation. — also plunged by 13.3 %.
Russia’s invasion of are likely to tip since 2008— was the However, there were some hints in ham, bacon, vegetables and confec- Since the start of the year, All of the fund’s investments
Ukraine. Britain into a main cause of the jump the data that future inflation pressure tionery, were some of the foodstuffs markets have been rocked by are outside Norway, Western
Many economists
lengthy recession, in CPI inflation from might be starting to abate. rising most in price, the ONS said. rising interest rates and high Europe’s biggest oil and gas
believe U.S. inflation has June to July, while Although the prices charged by Frozen food chain Iceland said it inflation due in particular to exporter, so as to avoid over-
already topped out after later this year, higher energy and petrol factories rose by the most since 1977, would offer small interest-free loans soaring energy prices and the heating the Norwegian econ-
it dropped to 8.5% in according to BoE prices were the main jumping by 17.1%, the increase in pri- to help poorer customers. war in Ukraine, all of which are omy. While the fund — which
July from a four-decade driver over the year as a ces paid by factories cooled slightly, Data on Tuesday showed workers’ fuelling fears of a recession. is aimed at financing the
high of 9.1% in June. whole. Takeaway meals dropping to an annual 22.6% from earnings adjusted for the consumer The fund was weighed future needs of Norway’s gen-
British finance minister Nadhim cost more, as did package holidays. June’s record 24.1%. prices index fell by 4.1% in the three down primarily by its equity erous welfare state — lost
Zahawi said fighting inflation was his The annual rate of retail price infla- In month-on-month terms, input months to June, the biggest drop holdings, which declined by money during the first half of
top priority and the government was tion — an older measure which is still prices rose by only 0.1%, the smallest since records began in 2001, though 17%. Technology stocks per- this year, rising share prices
working on options to reduce house- widely used in commercial contracts increase so far in 2022, partly caused headline pay is still rising at a pace formed particularly poorly have helped it rebound in the
hold energy bills. and to set rail fares and government by weaker global demand for steel that concerns the BoE. during the period, registering beginning of the second half.

Intel left behind despite a US weighs plan to revive Iran nuclear agreement
rebound in technology stocks Bloomberg
feedback@livemint.com
cess was “underway and nego-
tiations have ended.”
Former President Donald
Trump withdrew from the
Energy markets roiled by nuclear deal in 2018, and
Bloomberg

T
ades, Intel lost its lead in semi- he Biden administration Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Biden had made restoring it a
feedback@livemint.com conductor process technol- is weighing Iran’s have been watching closely in top foreign-policy priority.
ogy, allowing companies like response to a European anticipation that hundreds of But the negotiations dragged

I
ntel Corp. has been conspic-
uously missing from a
rebound in technology
stocks that’s lifted almost
every other member of the
Nasdaq 100 since the index
bottomed in June.
The world’s biggest maker
of computer processors is one
of just six companies in the
tech-heavy benchmark whose
shares have lost ground since
June 16. Meanwhile, the index
has jumped 23% as cheaper
valuations and optimism that
inflation is cooling have
enticed traders to snap up
beaten-down tech stocks.
The lagging performance is
the latest sign that investors
are still hesitant to buy into
CEO Pat Gelsinger’s effort,
which is stretching into its 18th
month, to restore Intel’s chip
manufacturing prowess.
While a reduced profit and
revenue forecast in late July
didn’t help, similar weak fore-
casts from peers like Nvidia
Corp. and Qualcomm Inc.
Intel is one of the 6 companies
in the tech-heavy benchmark
whose shares have lost ground
since June 16. BLOOMBERG
haven’t stopped those stocks
from rallying. Shares of both
companies have gained more
than 20% since mid-June.
“Investors have put Intel in
the too-hard-to-turn-around
bin,” said Kim Forrest, founder
and chief investment officer at
Bokeh Capital Partners. “Peo-
ple have a shorter-term view
than the stock can promise.”
After dominating the semi-
conductor industry for dec-
Taiwan Semiconductor Man-
ufacturing Co. to overtake it.
Gelsinger has pledged to
restore the company’s leader-
ship in advanced production
by spending tens of billions of
dollars to build new factories
in the U.S. and Europe and
retool existing ones.
The company’s weak stock
performance, however, shows
investors are realizing that
even if Gelsinger is successful,
the turnaround will take a long
time. With Intel bleeding mar-
ket share with products built
on old manufacturing technol-
ogy, there may be more disap-
pointing earnings reports in
the interim. Until it can sort
out those issues, growth will be
hard to come by. Wall Street
analysts have taken an ax to
Intel’s profit estimates after
the disappointing second-
quarter earnings report. Pro-
jections for 2023 earnings per
share have fallen by 28% over
the past month, according to
data compiled by Bloomberg.
Union proposal aimed at
reviving the 2015 international
nuclear agreement, with offi-
cials on both sides of the Atlan-
tic signaling the possibility
that a deal could emerge now
after more than a year of false
starts.
While the US so far has
refused to comment in detail
on the proposal, floated by EU
foreign policy chief Josep Bor-
rell as a last-ditch effort to save
the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action, State Department
spokesman Ned Price said
Tuesday the big issues have
been “largely settled” and that
it was close to what the US was
looking for. “This is the text
that the EU has put on the
table that is substantially based
on the deal that has been on
the table for several months
now,” Price said.
Administration officials say
there are no plans to remove
the designation of Iran’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps as a foreign terrorist
The US so far has refused to comment in detail on the proposal,
floated by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell
organization — heading off a
political firestorm prompted
by reports that the move was
under consideration in Wash-
ington. The US openness to
the EU proposal, coupled with
an Iranian response received
on Monday night that one
European described as con-
structive, raised fresh hopes
that Iran, the US and other sig-
natories to the nuclear deal are
close to reaching an agree-
ment after months of tortured
negotiations.
Iran’s top foreign policy,
nuclear and security officials
met lawmakers in Tehran on
AFP
Wednesday to brief them on
their submission to the EU.
Speaking after the special ses-
sion a senior legislator said the
document included amend-
ments to clauses covering
sanctions, Iran’s demand for
guarantees that the US won’t
again leave the pact, and
nuclear safeguards.
“Whenever our interests are
met, Iran will be ready to sign a
good agreement,” said Vahid
Jalalzadeh, head of parlia-
ment’s National Security
Commission. Another law-
maker present, Abbas Moght-
adaei, said an agreement pro-
thousands of barrels of Iranian on for months, bedeviled by
crude could come back online Iran’s continued nuclear
per day once a deal is signed. advances, the arrival of a more
Brent oil futures fell as much hardline government in the
as 2.8% in London to trade at a summer of 2021 and disagree-
six-month low on Tuesday as ments over what to do about
traders weighed the many non-
the more produc- Brent oil futures nuclear sanctions
tive tone of the fell as much as that the Trump
Iran talks. 2.8% in London to administration
With all sides trade at a imposed during
refusing to give its waning days in
six-month low on office.
details, others
preached cau- Tuesday over Iran President Joe
tion. It’s still talks Biden has come
unclear why the under intense
prospects for political pressure
agreement would have from Republicans not to make
improved given that the terms any concessions given what
of the EU proposal don’t differ they describe as its more
dramatically from a February aggressive behaviour more
draft, said Michael Singh, a broadly. In recent days, prose-
former senior director for cutors charged an Iranian
Middle East affairs at the national with planning to kill
National Security Council. former presidential aide John
“It’s hard to see anything Bolton, while US officials have
that’s fundamentally changed condemned Iranian hardliners
unless things are happening for celebrating last Friday’s
behind the scenes that we just violent knife attack on writer
can’t perceive,” he said. Salman Rushdie.

Truss leads Sunak by 32 points in

m MINT SHORTS
China to send troops to Russia for
‘Vostok’ exercise from 30 August
Beijing: Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint
military exercises led by the
host and including India, Bela-
rus, and other countries, China
said on Wednesday. Last
month, Moscow announced
plans to hold “Vostok” exercises
from 30 August to 5 September.
Under President Xi Jinping and
his Russian counterpart Vlad-
imir Putin, Beijing and Moscow
have grown close. REUTERS
Fertilizer usage being pummelled
by Europe’s energy crisis
The energy crunch throttling Europe’s fertilizer output is threat-
ening to force the world’s farmers to use even less of the nutrients
crucial for growing food. Soaring prices of gas, a key feedstock,
have already curtailed a quarter of Europe’s nitrogen fertilizer
capacity, CRU Group estimates. Now, worries are mounting that
the crisis will worsen. For Europe, that could mean even less pro-
Tencent unveils first sales fall,
job cuts as economy sinks latest UK Tory members survey
duction and more dependence on imports of ammonia, from Liz Truss led Rishi Sunak by 32
which nitrogen products are made. That will also have a points in the latest survey of UK
knock-on impact elsewhere. Faced with higher prices and tighter Tory members by the Conserv-
supplies, farmers may cut global fertilizer usage as much as 7% ativeHome website, suggesting
next season, the most since 2008, the International Fertilizer she remains on track to win the
Association warns. BLOOMBERG race to succeed Boris Johnson
as PM. Some 60% of the 961
Tory members polled by the
Coinbase insider trading may be website said they favoured
Truss to become the Conserva-
wider than US case, study says tive Party’s new leader, while just 28% backed Sunak. BLOOMBERG
The US charge against a former Coinbase Global employee may
not be the only instance of insider trading at the exchange,
according to a new study. Some traders appear to have snapped Russia sees 38% rise in energy
up tokens ahead of 10% to 25% — or 15 to 37— of Coinbase listings Tencent Holdings logged its first-ever revenue decline
since 2018, wrote three aca- after a record fall in online advertising sales, underscoring
export earnings: govt document
demics at the University of the extent to which China’s worsening economy is hurting Moscow: Higher oil export volumes, coupled with rising gas pri-
Technology, Sydney. Federal its biggest corporations. The country’s most valuable com- ces, will boost Russia’s earnings from energy exports to $337.5
prosecutors had indicted a pany slashed 5,000 jobs or nearly 5% of its workforce — the billion this year, a 38% rise on 2021, according to an economy
former Coinbase worker last first quarterly drop in staffing since 2014 after layoffs rip- ministry document seen by Reuters. The jump in revenues, if it
month for profiting from at pling through the global tech sector finally hit the WeChat materialises, will help shore up Russia’s economy in the face of
least 14 announcements, in a operator. Revenue fell a deeper-than-projected 3%. Net waves of Western sanctions. It will provide Russia with cash to
sign of growing regulatory zeal income also plunged 56% in the June quarter. BLOOMBERG fund military spending or to boost wages and pensions at a time
in the asset class. BLOOMBERG when economy has fallen into recession. REUTERS
LIVEMINT.COM
TWEETS & QUOTES
Kumar Rajagopalan
CEO, RAI
Retail businesses across
the country are looking
good as healthy growth
in sales over pre-pan-
demic level continues
Vikram Solar to
raise funds via IPO
V B
ikram Solar has received capital markets
regulator Sebi’s go ahead to raise funds
through an initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO consists of a fresh issue of up to
₹1,500 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up
to 50 lakh equity shares by the selling
shareholders. Vikram Solar has received
capital markets regulator Sebi’s go ahead to
raise funds through an initial public offering
(IPO).
The IPO consists of a fresh issue of up to
₹1,500 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up
to 50 lakh equity shares by the selling
shareholders.
Vikram Solar, which filed preliminary IPO
papers with the markets regulator in March,
obtained its observation letter on 10 August, an
update with the Sebi showed on Wednesday.
In Sebi’s parlance, its observations imply its
go ahead to float the IPO. Vikram Solar is a
leading domestic module manufacturer. PTI
The panel is headed by BJP leader Jayant Sinha.
Competition Bill
HT
sent to Parl panel
T
he Competition (Amendment) Bill
introduced in the Lok Sabha during the
recently concluded monsoon session of
Parliament has been referred to the
parliamentary standing committee on finance
led by BJP leader Jayant Sinha for review,
showed an official communication.
The decision to refer the Bill to the House
I
panel was made by speaker Om Birla. The
standing committee has been asked to examine
the Bill and give its report in three months,
showed the latest Lok Sabha bulletin.
Getting the report from the panel will enable
the government to tweak the Bill wherever
needed and move for its passage in the winter
session of Parliament.
The Bill seeks to fine tune the regulatory
framework in line with the changes in business
models that have emerged over the last two
decades. It proposes global best practices like
settlement and commitment and enhanced
leniency provisions in addition to cutting short
the maximum time that can be taken for
clearing mergers and acquisitions.
GIREESH CHANDRA PRASAD
Flipkart fined for
sub-standard sales
T
he Central Consumer Protection
Authority (CCPA) has imposed a fine of ₹1
lakh on Flipkart for allowing the sale of
pressure cookers in violation of the required
standards. The watchdog also directed the e-
commerce giant to recall the pressure cookers
and reimburse their prices to consumers.
The ministry said that all pressure cookers
are required to be in accordance with IS
2347:2017 as per the Domestic Pressure
Cooker (Quality Control) Order, which came
into force on 1 February, 2021.
CCPA directed Flipkart to notify consumers
of all 598 pressure cookers sold on its platform,
recall the items and reimburse their prices to
the consumers and submit a compliance report
within 45 days.
“The company has also been directed to pay
a penalty of ₹1 lakh for allowing the sale of such
pressure cookers on its e-commerce platform
and violating the rights of consumers,” the
ministry of consumer affairs said in a
statement. RAVI DUTTA MISHRA
Nasa moves moon rocket to launchpad for 29 August mission
N
asa’s new moon rocket arrived at the launch pad Wednesday ahead of its
debut flight in less than two weeks. The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket
emerged from its mammoth hangar late Tuesday night, drawing crowds
of Kennedy Space Center workers, many of whom were not yet born when
Nasa sent astronauts to the moon a half-century ago. It took nearly 10 hours for
the rocket to make the four-mile trip to the pad, pulling up at sunrise.
Nasa is aiming for a 29 August lift-off for the lunar test flight. No one will be
inside the crew capsule atop the rocket, just three mannequins swarming with
sensors to measure radiation and vibration.
The capsule will fly around the Moon in a distant orbit for a couple weeks,
before heading back for a splashdown in the Pacific. The entire flight should
last six weeks.
The flight is the first moonshot in Nasa’s Artemis program. The space agency
is aiming for a lunar-orbiting flight with astronauts in two years and a lunar
landing by a human crew as early as 2025.
Debjani Ghosh
@debjani_ghosh_
President, NASSCOM
So stoked & proud to see
Nasscom feature as one of
the iconic milestones in
realm of business & econ-
omy, which shaped India’s
journey...
CAPITAL WOES
People residing on the banks of the Yamuna in New Delhi stand in a queue for food after the river flooded their dwellings on Wednesday,
BJP overhauls parliamentary
board; drops Chauhan, Gadkari
Party inducts six new members, including B.S. Yediyurappa and Sarbananda Sonowal
PTI
feedback@livemint.com
New delhI
n a major shake-up, the BJP on Wednesday
dropped Union minister Nitin Gadkari and
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan from its parliamentary board, its
apex organizational body, and brought in six
new members, including Karnataka leader B.S.
Yediyurappa and Iqbal Singh Lalpura, the first
Sikh representative.
The party also rejigged its central election com-
mittee (CEC) and named Maharashtra deputy
chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union
minister Bhupender Yadav among its new mem-
bers. Gadkari and Chouhan ceased to be CEC
members after their ouster from the board.
All parliamentary board members, which include
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers
Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and BJP president J.P.
Biden signs climate & healthcare bill
Biden signed the bill into law during a small
ceremony in the White House. AFP
U vaccine demand
S president Joe Biden signed
Democrats’ landmark climate
change and healthcare bill into law
on Tuesday, delivering what he has called
the “final piece” of his pared-down
domestic agenda, as he aims to boost his
party’s standing with voters less than three
AP The moon rocket took about 10 hours to make the four-mile trip.
NEWS WRAP
S Jaishankar
External affairs minis-
ter
I have a country that
has a per capita
income of $2,000.
These are not people
who can afford higher
energy prices
PTI
Nadda, automatically become part of the CEC, Punjab leader Lalpura, currently the chairman of
which has some additional members as well. the National Commission for Minorities.
The other new board members are K. Laxman, The board, which was once dominated by
Sudha Yadav and Satyanarayan Jatiya, three old upper castes, now has a majority of members from
party faithfuls but considered political light- non-general castes. Former Union ministers Jual
weights, besides Union minister Sarbananda Son- Oram and Shahnawaz Hussain have been
owal, a tribal leader dropped from the
from Assam. BJP CEC. After these
general secretary The board, which was once changes, the board
(Organization) B.L. dominated by upper castes, now has the full
Santhosh is an strength of 11 mem-
ex-officio member now has a majority of bers while the CEC
of the both bod- members from other castes has 15 leaders.
ies.The omission of The new entrants
former BJP presi- to CEC are Rajast-
dent Gadkari (65), considered close to the RSS, han leader Om Mathur and BJP women wing
and Chouhan (63) marks their diminishing stock chief Vanathi Srinivasan besides Fadnavis and
within the party, which has tried to make its key Bhupender Yadav. Srinivasan replaces her prede-
organizational bodies more socially and region- cessor Vijaya Rahatkar as the party’s ‘Mahila Mor-
ally representative by inducting members of dif- cha’ chief as its an ex-officio member. With Chou-
ferent communities, including former cop and han gone, there is no chief minister on the board.
months before the midterm elections.
The legislation includes the most
substantial federal investment in history to
fight climate change — some $375 billion
over the decade — and would cap
prescription drug costs at $2,000 out-of-
pocket annually for Medicare recipients. It
also would help an estimated 13 million
Americans pay for healthcare insurance by
extending subsidies provided during the
coronavirus pandemic.
The measure is paid for by new taxes on Bavarian Nordic A/S is the only company with an
large companies and stepped-up IRS approved vaccine for monkeypox. REUTERS
enforcement of wealthy individuals and
entities, with additional funds going to
reduce the federal deficit.
Bavarian can’t meet
Biden signed the bill into law during a
small ceremony in the State Dining Room
of the White House, sandwiched between
B
his return from a six-day beachside avarian Nordic A/S, the only company
vacation in South Carolina and his
departure for his home in Wilmington,
with an approved vaccine for monkeypox,
said it’s no longer certain it can meet
Delaware. AP demand as cases continue to rise across the
world. The Danish company is now exploring
the possibility of outsourcing some of the
production, including technology transfer to a
US contract manufacturer, to meet accelerating
demand.
“It’s a very dynamic market situation,” Rolf
Sass Sorensen, a vice president at the firm, said
by phone on Wednesday. “Demand keeps
rising and it’s no longer certain that we can
continue to meet the demand we’re facing
even with the upgrade of our existing
manufacturing site in Denmark.”
A move to outsourcing production would
mark a shift for Bavarian which until now has
said it could deliver on all orders from its Danish
facility. It also previously said a technology
transfer to a third-party producer —which
would allow bulk production of the vaccine
rather than just ‘fill-finish’ where the doses are
put into vials and packaging—would be too
cumbersome, expensive and take too long.
REUTERS BLOOMBERG
ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA 09
Hardeep Singh Puri
@HardeepSPuri
Union minister
In a landmark decision, all
Rohingya refugees will be
shifted to EWS flats in Bakkar-
wala area of Delhi. They will be
provided basic amenities,
UNHCR IDs...
Gautam Adani gets
VIP security cover
illionaire industrialist and Adani Group
Chairman Gautam Adani has been
accorded a ‘Z’ category VIP security cover
of CRPF commandos by the central
government, official sources said on
Wednesday. They said the all-India cover will be
on a “payment basis” and is expected to cost
about ₹15-20 lakh per month. The security cover
under the central list was accorded to Adani, 60,
on the basis of a threat perception report
prepared by central security agencies, they said.
The Union home ministry has asked the
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) VIP
security wing to take over the job and its squad is
now with the protectee, they said.
RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani was given a ‘Z
+’ category cover of CRPF commandos by the
Union government in 2013, followed by a lower
category cover to his wife Neeta Ambani some
years later. PTI
India on Wednesday recorded 9,062 fresh covid-
19 infections. AP
DGCA asks fliers to
follow covid SOPs
A
viation regulator Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday
asked all Indian carriers to strictly
enforce covid-19 protocol, including mask
mandate for passengers, in aircraft amid a rise in
infections across the country. In a statement, the
DGCA said it will be conducting “random
checks” in aircraft across the country to see if the
covid-19 protocol is being enforced or not.
Airlines have to ensure that passengers are
wearing face masks properly throughout the
journey and there is proper sensitisation of
passengers through various platforms, it
mentioned. “In case a passenger does not
comply with the directions, strict action will be
taken by airlines against the passenger,” it
added.
India on Wednesday recorded 9,062 fresh
covid-19 infections that took its tally to
44,286,256. PTI
ONGC, ExxonMobil
in exploration deal
I
ndian oil explorer and producer Oil and
Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said on Wednesday
it signed a heads of agreement (HoA) with
global petroleum giant ExxonMobil Corp for
deepwater exploration in the country’s east and
west coasts.
The two oil explorers would focus on the
Krishna Godavari and Cauvery basins in the
eastern offshore and the Kutch-Mumbai region
in the western offshore, ONGC said in a release.
India, the world’s third biggest oil importer
and consumer, ships in over 85% of its oil needs
from overseas. The country wants to quickly
monetize its oil and gas resources to reduce its
reliance on costly imports.
ONGC’s head of exploration Rajesh Kumar
Srivastava said his company is looking for a
“long-lasting partnership with Exxon”. Exxon
has been looking to buy a stake in local deep
water fields of ONGC for some time. REUTERS
China hikes 2022
rare earth quota
C
hina raised its annual rare earth mining
output quota by a quarter to a fresh
record high in the wake of rising global
demand.
China is the world’s dominant producer of
rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used in
everything from consumer electronics to
military equipment. The quotas are closely
watched as a supply indicator and typically
issued twice a year.
The full-year rare earth mining output quota
has been set at 210,000 tonnes, up 25% from
168,000 tonnes in 2021.
That includes a 100,800 tonne quota
granted for the first batch issued in January
and a 109,200 tonne quota in a second batch
announced on Wednesday by the ministry of
industry and information technology (MIIT)
and the ministry of natural resources said in a
joint statement.
China has raised the annual quota for five
years in a row. REUTERS
10 ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA LONG STORY LIVEMINT.COM

rePorTAge | TALkIng PoInTS | IDeAS | InSIghT | The boTTomLIne

CAN DR LAL PATHLABS

cArve ouT A new PATh?
Competition in the diagnostics industry is heating up. Older companies can’t afford to be complacent

Aprajita Sharma
feedback@livemint.com
NeW DelHi
HEALTHY & STRONG
The company’s growth is being driven by higher patient volumes and realization

D
r Lal Pathlabs Ltd has a sto- Revenues (in  crore) 2,139.95
ried history almost as old as
independent India. Starting 1,632.59
out as a pathology service
provider and blood bank in 1,385.40
1,249.36
1949, it was incorporated in 1995, and has
1,088.13
the bragging rights to be the oldest and 939.92
leading player in the diagnostics industry.
Yet, with new entrants milling the diag-
nostics space, and the pandemic facilitat-
ing this overcrowding, the challenge
before Dr Lal Pathlabs isn’t about merely
staying relevant but staying innovative.
And it’s already on the job. FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22
The challenge is real, especially in a
market dominated by unorganized play- Net profit (in  crore) Stock performance
ers. Going by Dr Lal Pathlab’s FY22 4,500
annual report, its revenue figures are
robust at ₹2,140 crore. But the report FY17 155.58
4,000
also mentioned that only 17% of the mar-
ket belongs to the organized diagnostic
FY18 171.75 3,500
chains. A June 2022 report by ICICI
Securities put the size of the diagnostics
industry at ₹67,500 crore, with Dr Lal 3,000
FY19 200.46
Pathlabs having a 3% market share. It
shows just how fragmented the market 2,500
is. And this limited space itself is seeing FY20 227.58 1,774.15
a lot of traffic, driven largely by the pan- 2,000
demic. 2,486.45*
Several new players from the pharma FY21 296.47 1,500
industry (Lupin, Torrent Group, Mankind
Pharma), hospital chains (Apollo Hospi-
tals) and digital start-ups (Tata1mg, FY22 350.29 1,000
Jan 2020 Aug 2022
Healthians) are making inroads. Even cor- *As on 16 August closing
porate biggies are sniffing potential in this Source: Dr Lal Pathlabs Annual Reports, BSE
space.
PARAS JAIN/MINT
Lupin Diagnostics, which set up its
National Reference Laboratory in Navi
Mumbai, is looking for franchise partners mint entered India but quit a decade later. Its
and is aiming at a slot among the top five SHORT India operations were acquired by Strand
players. Tata Group launched its own STORY Life Sciences, which in turn sold it to
diagnostics wing, Tata Medical and Diag- Oncquest Laboratories in 2020. Last
nostics, in 2020 and also acquired year, pharmacy start-up PharmEasy
e-pharmacy 1mg a year after. Reliance WHAT acquired 66.1% stake in a large player like
Group has acquired e-pharmacy Net- Thyrocare.
meds, which is expected to bolster its Several new players from the Caution is the mantra at Dr Lal. “You
diagnostic business. Pharma retailer pharma industry, hospital need to keep acquiring new customers to
MedPlus is another serious entrant while chains, and digital start-ups, sustain in this business. We will carefully
there has been much buzz over Adani besides corporate biggies, are choose our battles as a higher level of
Group and Apollo Hospitals eyeing a making inroads in India’s competition awaits the industry,” says
stake in Metropolis Healthcare. diagnostics market. Manchanda.
Amid this churning, Dr Lal Pathlabs Vinay Bafna, research analyst at ICICI
knows that while it can bank on its brand Securities, says the noise over large con-
value, it can’t be complacent either. AND glomerates entering and disrupting the
“The competitive intensity is much industry is exaggerated. “I believe their
higher than what it was a couple of years Amid this churning, strategy is a multi-year one and with time
ago. We have to accept that brand aware- Dr Lal Pathlabs, one of the they wish to establish themselves across
ness for many brands has gone up. We oldest in the business, knows the whole healthcare system, diagnostics,
don’t want to lose on top-of-the-mind that while it can bank on its hospitals, pharmacies and so on.”
recall,” says Om Prakash Manchanda, the brand value, it can’t be
managing director. complacent either. New PAth
The company has upped its spend on
marketing and digital growth. The ad
spend went up from ₹31 crore in 2021 to SO
S o, what’s next for Dr Lal Pathlabs?
“We are focused on super specialty
segment and within that autoimmunity
₹37 crore in 2022. and gynaecology are key areas,” says Man-
Dr Lal has re-strategized its chanda. Genomics is another area of
Price wArs pricing and is improving its focus. To that end, it has started Gene-
logistics network to reduce
A nother game changer, or rather irri-
tant for players like Lal Pathlabs, has
been the price wars. It’s a situation akin
processing costs. The company
is also widening its geographical
volve, a division focused on genetic test-
ing and next generation sequencing. “We
have established India’s first centre of
to the big telecom battle when Jio dis- Om Prakash Manchanda, managing director, Dr Lal Pathlabs. reach and tests menu. excellence for autoimmune diseases. This,
rupted the industry with its price cuts. combined with a focus on specialized
According to the ICICI Securities report, tests, including genomics, has contrib-
Tata-backed 1mg offered four routine uted to our growth in the first quarter,”
tests (Thyroid, Lipid, Diabetes and Liver says Manchanda. and second, testing related to wellness “A hub lab in Lucknow can process the with Kolkata,” says Ranjan. says Bharath Uppiliappan, chief executive
profiles) at flat ₹100, when the industry There is a niggling concern in the mar- (preventive measure) which is 10% of the samples collected in, say, Sitapur or Kan- In November 2021, the company officer of Dr Lal Pathlabs.
average was ₹500-600 per test. Though ket too whether such price cuts are sus- market. nauj instead of taking them to Delhi, acquired Suburban Diagnostics to Also on the radar are specialized tests
these tests were offered under a limited tainable. “Thyrocare or Metropolis have One can’t take chances in the illness thereby trimming operational cost. We expand its footprint in the West region. like molecular diagnostics, flowcytome-
period promotional scheme, it posits a been active in Dr Lal’s home markets for segment. In the wellness segment, are also improving our logistics network With 38 labs and 177 collection points in try, histopathology/immunohistochemis-
much larger question. In a price-con- 15-20 years now. They are much cheaper though, low-cost packages and dis- to reduce processing costs,” says Man- Maharashtra and a strong presence in try, digital pathology and artificial intelli-
scious country like India, will the corpo- than Dr Lal, but haven’t been able to counts may influence decision-making. chanda. The company has opened 35 hub Mumbai and Pune, Suburban provides Dr gence.
rate biggies eventually hold sway in snatch its market share,” says an analyst “This is where most of the competitive labs so far. Lal Pathlabs a wide playground to “When I say trust, it is not just about
terms of pricing? who requested anonymity. intensity is being felt. But, Dr Lal mainly That’s where Dr Lal Pathlabs has a expand. diagnosing accurately but also early.
Manchanda begs to Manchanda agrees operates in the illness segment where clear head start over its rivals. The new- Besides, the com- These specialized tests
differ. “You cannot com- DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES t h a t p r o l o n g e d pricing is a less relevant parameter,” says bies will at some point face the same hur- pany is charting its HIGHLY FRAGMENTED and segmentation will
pare telecom with diag- INDUSTRY SIZE increased competition Ranjan. dles that Dr Lal did in scaling up. Even own flight path by wid- INDUSTRY help us to do so,” says
nostics. It is not a high- will impact its business, pharma companies with their wider ening its tests menu, Manchanda.
Standalone Hospital-based
frequency contact busi- but believes the pie will A logistics busiNess? reach and backing of doctors may not be offering 5,000 pathol- centres labs Yet, like any industry,
ness where price
elasticity matters. You
don’t go to a diagnostics
71,000 cr
(FY21)
get bigger as the shift
happens from the unor-
ganized to the organized
M eanwhile, new entrants face a for-
midable challenge—logistics.
While Dr Lal Pathlabs is a diagnostics
able to scale up that easily. “Pharma
companies have the advantage of doctor
connect, but they have no experience in
ogy and radiology
tests. The competitors
will need time to create
46 37
lack of skilled manpower
is a worry in the diagnos-
tics space too. “Talent
lab every month or even space. The company may firm for the consumer, its distribution net- running a supply chain. Executing such a comprehensive (in %) acquisition will be a key
year. People care for not have slashed prices work makes it a logistics firm. pharma at the ground level is totally dif- portfolio. growth driver,” says
quality more than the 98,000 cr but has kept them static The company’s home collection busi- ferent from running a pathology lab. Then there is the all- Manchanda. The
money when they have (FY23E) for the past few years. ness saw a spike from 5-6% of total sales They don’t enjoy an obvious advantage,” important question of 17 employee cost for Dr Lal
to get medical tests Interestingly, IIFL pre-covid to 11% currently. Customer con- says Ranjan of Marcellus Investment money. Dr Lal is sitting increased from nearly
Diagnostic
done,” he says. Securities, in its Q1FY23 venience is at the heart of any business— Managers. pretty on a net cash of chains 13% in Q1FY22 to 18% in
Yet, the company has earnings review report, but stuff such as home collections require ₹344 crore. With 20% Source: Dr Lal Pathlabs FY22 Annual Report Q1FY23.
Source: Dr Lal Pathlabs FY22 Annual Report
re-strategized its pric- has observed that while an efficient distribution network. In the A growiNg Portfolio CAGR in revenues and On the digital front,
ing without taking the the competitive inten- diagnostics space, the samples collected
race right to the bottom. It has shifted sity has been severe for the past 12-18 from patients have to reach the lab in time
focus on cost-effective offerings. Like the months, it hasn’t manifested into any for accurate results. The cost of processing
M oreover, new players are mainly
active in the metros. Any talk of
competition will be irrelevant if the
return on capital the company has a slew
employed at 44%, its finances are reasona- of initiatives, including datatbase crea-
bly sound. tion. “Lot of diseases run in a family. Such
Swasthfit plan, which is a bundled prod- pricing pressure for Dr Lal Pathlabs as a sample also matters. unpenetrated market in smaller towns While low entry barriers make it easy a database will help doctors find pat-
uct in different packages. The product evidenced from the company’s gross mar- “You cannot build a distribution net- isn’t accounted for. Whoever can attract for new players to set up shop, the ques- terns,” says Manchanda. Also, on the
contributed 21% to its revenues, up from gins sustaining at 77%, similar to that of work overnight. It has taken decades for business from this segment will grow its tion is, do they last? In 2003, Pathnet drawing board is building a patient com-
15% in 2020. pre-covid levels. us to reach this level,” says Manchanda. market share. Dr Lal has an impressive India, a joint venture between Gribbles munity where patients or their caretakers
“Assume there are two queues. One is Moreover, turnaround time, accuracy One big asset for the company is its geographical reach, with 277 labs, 4,731 Pathology Laboratory of Australia and Dr can interact with each other. “It is not
moving slowly, but offering a service at and quality of diagnosis matter more 40%-plus franchisee business. The ‘Hub collection centres and 10,599 pick-up Reddy’s Laboratory, began diagnostic happening in an active way but is a possi-
a discount. The other one is moving than pricing, says Rakshit Ranjan, port- labs’ model could be the next. Hub labs points across India. operations in India. The move was her- bility,” he adds.
faster but charging a premium. We are in folio manager at Marcellus Investment are not as big as centre labs, yet not as “About 15 years ago, Dr Lal was only alded as ‘corporatizing’ the diagnostics For a company that has been at the
the second queue. We won’t charge Managers. Ranjan says the diagnostics small as the satellite labs. A wide range of NCR-oriented. In the following five years, industry, and giving tough competition forefront of helping diagnose people’s
₹2,000 premium when others are charg- sector can be divided into two main seg- tests can be done here that helps the it became a dominant player in the North to the likes of Dr Lal. Within two years, health, Dr Lal Pathlabs is, for the
ing ₹100, but our pricing will be compar- ments: one, where testing is done related company foray deeper into tier II and tier organically. Over the last five years, it has Pathnet was acquired by Metropolis. In moment, well placed to analyse its own
atively higher along with more value,” to an illness, which is 90% of the market; 111 towns. focussed on North-East and East starting 2006, global player Quest Diagnostics and forge ahead.
LIVEMINT.COM MINT MONEY ThuRsdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA 11

The outlook of traditional MINT 20 MUTUAL FUND

SCHEMES TO INVEST IN
60:40 investment portfolio 20
We have hand-picked 20 mutual funds for your portfolio that have jumped
through hoops of good returns, low risk, good portfolio hygiene and our own
qualitative research. We have restricted the choice universe to 10 categories out
of the total 37 and given you at least two options to pick from each.

3-years return 5-years return Corpus

EQUIT Y (%) (%) (₹ cr)

In India, 60:40 portfolio is in the negative zone but has fared way better than its global peers LARGE-CAP
UTI Nifty Index Fund - Growth 17.69 13.76 7,941
HDFC Index Fund - Nifty 50 Plan 17.41 13.56 6,624
Abhinav Kaul Category average 17.13 13.23
abhinav.kaul@htlive.com Double whammy
EQUITY FLEXICAP
A 60:40 portfolio has been one of the mainstays of portfolio construction globally. However, stocks and bonds

T
he idea behind a 60:40 port- have fallen in tandem this year, raising questions over this strategy. Canara Robeco Flexi Cap 20.08 14.59 7,934
folio is simple: allocate 60% Parag Parikh Flexi Cap 25.21 18.62 24,595
to stocks and 40% to debt, Return (in %) 60:40 portfolio Annual inflation rate**
Category average 18.59 12.55
thus giving your investments 28
60:40 portfolio Inflation
the kicker of equity returns 10 year CAGR# 10 year EQUITY SMALL AND MIDCAP
and the safety of bonds. 23 CAGR Axis Midcap 24.55 18.47 18,677
However, according to a recent Mor-
11.54% 4.9%
19 SBI Small Cap 31.65 19.69 12,825
gan Stanley report, till 30 June this Inflation rate Category average Midcap 25.28 14.27
year, a 60:40 portfolio of the US equi- has stayed
between 6.01% Category average Smallcap 28.64 15.43
ties and the Aggregate Bond Index lost 15
& 7.79% in 2022
around 16% of its value, wiping out all EQUITY (TAXSAVER)
60:40 gains since September 2020. 10.02 Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver 22.76 16.44 3,957
Portfolios in the Europe suffered a sim- 9
7.79 Mirae Asset Tax Saver 21.93 16.13 12,615
ilar fate, data showed. 6.67 7 6.62
In India, a 60:40 portfolio compris- 4.91 4.95 5.13 Category average 18.54 12.05
3.33 3.94 3.73
ing S&P BSE 500 index and S&P BSE 3 3
India Bond Index is also in the negative 2 HY BR ID
-2 BALANCED ADVANTAGE
zone, but has fared much better than its
global peers— at -2% till 31 July. Edelweiss Balanced Advantage 15.68 11.38 8,458
In the Indian context, a moderate 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022* ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage 13.24 10.34 41,742
investor who wants to beat inflation Stocks are represented by S&P BSE 500 Index, Bonds are represented by S&P BSE India Bond Index Category average 11.69 8.91
and doesn’t want to take a lot of risk *Till July **Indian consumer prices data as per the World Bank #Stocks are represented by Nippon India ETF Nifty BeES Source: Mint research
bets on a 60:40 portfolio. This strategy ARBITRAGE
PARAS JAIN/MINT
also works for those who have already Kotak Equity Arbitrage 4.17 5.03 24,543
built their wealth, and now want to on the kind of asset allocation and equity market segments. who is young and has 10-15 years of Tata Arbitrage 4.22 NA 7,985
focus on saving their investments. papers you put in the portfolio. Direct investing or not, experts warn investment horizon or more, can digest Category average 3.92 4.79
Globally, the 60:40 investment Kirtan Shah, founder and CEO, Cre- that 60:40 is not a magical formula that volatility. For them, 80:20 or 90:10
strategy has been one of the mainstays dence Wealth Advisors, suggests split- investors can blindly follow. equity portfolio would make more 1-year return* 3-years return Corpus
of portfolio construction over the past ting the equity allocation equally The key aspects of building a portfo- sense,” said Shah. DEBT (%) (%) (₹ cr)
few decades as it usually works because between large, mid and small-cap lio are understanding one’s risk appe- While the 60:40 portfolio can be an SHORT TERM
equities and debt have negative corre- stocks. “Further, your debt side of the tite and the investment horizon. ideal portfolio for some, one must cus- HDFC Corporate Bond 2.70 6.37 21,551
24,430
lation. However, stocks and bonds have portfolio has to be largely on the side of “For example, if an investor is 35 tomize it as per their income and goals IDFC Corporate Bond 2.14 6.17 16,629
11,980
fallen in tandem this year, raising ques- taking duration risk.” years old and has 20-25 “Given the high-inflation, you may
Category average 2.86 6.30
tions over this strategy. Shah feels that interest While the 60:40 years of investment life want to consider upping your equity
Inflation has been going up steadily, rates will top out globally, portfolio can be left, it would make very lit- investments for the long term. Liquid
CREDIT RISK
and to combat it, global central banks provided China and Tai- ideal for some, tle sense to invest in a funds that offered 3.5% returns in the
HDFC Credit Risk Debt 3.76 7.54 8,631
24,430
have been on an interest rate hike wan tension does not one must 60:40 formula. If you past few months now offer 4.7% and are
ICICI Prudential Credit Risk 5.03 7.60 7,943
11,980
spree. “Interest rates going up have intensify. “Rates will start make broadly five buck- expected to improve to 5.25%, and that
customize it as Category average 6.37 4.98
reset equity valuations. And even topping out, so, duration ets, one bucket will obvi- should support your other debt invest-
though, in the long run, equities tend to as a play will look very per their income ously will have 60:40 allo- ments,” said Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bank-
beat inflation, in the short term, it does interesting for the coming and goals cation, which will fit 20% Bazaar.com DEBT (LESS THAN 1 YEAR)
6-month 1-year Corpus
return* (%) return* (%) (₹ cr)
have an impact on the risk-free rate cal- 2-3 years. If you’ve done a of the people. This isn’t a Ideally, a 60:40 portfolio is debt and
HDFC Money Market 1.99 3.83 12,325
culation. Therefore, valuations seem to large, mid, small-cap split magic bullet or formula equity-based. But given the state of
correct. Similarly, when rates go up, the in equity, and are playing duration on that everybody should follow,” said inflation, adding other asset classes Kotak Money Market 2.10 3.96 14,576
NAV (net asset value) of debt MFs take the fixed income, you will easily be able Amol Joshi, founder of Plan Rupee may make sense. “You can look at Category average money market 1.86 3.63
a hit, depending on the duration of the to beat inflation,“ he said. Investment Services. investing in gold as a hedge against
Returns since Date of Corpus
papers,” said Rishad Manekia, founder An alternative to a 60:40 portfolio is According to experts, an Indian equities and bonds, however, keep it OU T OF T HE BOX launch launch (₹ cr)
and managing director, Kairos Capital. investing in separate equity and debt investor who is aggressive can look at below 5% of your overall portfolio. Gold
BHARAT Bond ETF - April 2031 3.35 23 Jul 2020 11,023
Given the high inflation scenario, a funds or hybrid funds. The benefit is 80:20 or 90:10 portfolio, which is tilted has long periods of stagnation followed
60:40 portfolio is on route to give net that rebalancing inside a hybrid fund towards equity. On the other hand, a by brief and sharp spurts in price. The Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund 19.45 28 Apr 2020 2,571
negative returns this year for the first does not attract exit load or tax, how- conservative portfolio should have returns from gold in the last year were *Absolute Returns
Returns as on 12 August 2022; Corpus data as of July 2022; Growth option in regular plans has been used
time since 2018 in India. ever, the disadvantage is that an inves- 80% of the allocation in fixed income negative, and the 10-year return is
Data and analysis by CRISIL Research Compiled by Neil Borate
However, returns will also depend tor won’t have a say over allocation to and the rest 20% in equity. “Somebody around 5-6% (annualized),” said Shetty.
PARAS JAIN/MINT

How many funds
should I have in my
MF portfolio?
Harshad Chetanwala
I am 35 years old and doing
monthly SIPs (systematic
investment plan) in the fol-
lowing mutual fund (MF)
schemes: Canara Robeco
Blue Chip Equity and
HDFC Index S&P BSE
Sensex (₹6,000 each),
Edelweiss Balanced Advan-
tage and Mirae Asset
Hybrid Equity (₹5,000
each), Kotak Small Cap
(₹3,000) and SBI Magnum
Medium Duration
(₹10,000). Am I investing
in too many funds? Is there
any need for diversification
into debt / gold?
— Name withheld on request
Ideally, 6 to 8 funds are good
enough to build your MF port-
folio. As the size of the portfo-
lio increases, you may invest in
a maximum of 10 funds to
reduce the risk of being over-
dependent on any particular
fund or fund house.
However, the funds you are
investing in are across equity,
debt and hybrid categories. In
our opinion, you can select the
ISTOCK
ASK MINT
m
All the funds that you are
investing in are good and have
done well within their catego-
ries.
If your investment objective
is for the long term then you
can reduce the SIP in debt and
hybrid and invest more in
equity funds. In equity, you
can consider adding Parag
Parikh Flexicap Fund and SBI
Focused Equity Fund in your
investment portfolio.
From a hybrid fund per-
Edelweiss MF to launch India’s first gold and silver fund
Abhinav Kaul
abhinav.kaul@htlive.com
A
sset management com-
pany (AMC) Edelweiss
Mutual Fund is sched-
uled to launch India’s first
scheme that offers exposure to
gold and silver via a single fund
on 24 August. The new fund
offer for Edelweiss Gold and
Silver ETF Fund of Fund (FoF)
will close on 7 September. The
fund’s managers for the
scheme are Bhavesh Jain and
Bharat Lahoti.
India’s first gold fund, Nip-
pon India ETF Gold BeES, was
launched in March 2007,
while silver-based mutual
funds were first introduced in
January this year.
Securities and Exchange
KNOW YOUR BOND TRANSACTIONS AND THE TAX IMPLICATIONS
POWER
POINT
JOYDEEP SEN
Respond to this column at
feedback@livemint.com
Board of India (Sebi) had in
September allowed MF houses
to introduce silver exchange-
traded funds (ETFs) in the
Indian market. ICICI Pruden-
tial Silver ETF was the first sil-
ver-based fund in India.
Notably, Motilal Oswal MF
and ICICI Prudential MF had
applied for gold and silver
funds in February and Decem-
ber, respectively, but are yet to
launch the schemes.
Edelweiss’ new scheme will
target equal exposure to the
two metals and will rebalance
periodically. Since the AMC
doesn’t have a standalone gold
or silver fund, the scheme will
invest in units of gold and sil-
ver ETFs managed by other
fund houses or Edelweiss.
Radhika Gupta, managing
Precious twins
Gold has proven to a good hedge against inflation and
ment each other, and both
metals have a low correlation
precious metals have had an
inverse correlation with the
to equities.” dollar, and with the US econ-
has low correlation to equity markets.
Gold's performance during recession,
market downturns (in %)
Silver has outperformed
gold during bull markets due
to higher industrial demand
According to the scheme
note, gold performs well dur-
ing recessions and silver out-
omy weakening, the dollar
may weaken. This might be an
opportune time to look at a
31.7 Nifty 50 TRI** during the period
26.1 Gold performs during precious precious metals fund.
16 Gold Silver metal bull rallies. Both provide Although, experts suggest
11.3 7.1 a good hedge against inflation going slow on having exposure
4.4 15
-0.2 14 in the long run. to silver funds. “We do not
13 Data showed that the yellow need to have an allocation in
12 metal was up 26.1%, 31.7% and silver. The gold allocation has
-23.8 11 11.3% during recession and a history of being a pure hedge
10 market down-cycles in 2008, against inflation and market
-51.3 9 2011 and 2016, respectively. downturns. Silver has a huge
Jul 2020 29 Oct 2021 On the other hand, there is industrial usage, because of
2008 2011 2016 2022* Base value taken as 10
rising demand for silver in which, it tends to be volatile,”
*YTD **Total return index Gold and silver are spot
market prices as per MCX new-age technologies such as said Harshad Chetanwala, a
Source: Edelweiss note, Mint research
smartphones, electric vehicles Sebi-registered investment
PARAS JAIN/MINT
and solar panels. However, sil- adviser and co-founder of
director and CEO, Edelweiss the market. But if you look at ver hasn’t performed well over MyWealthGrowth.
MF, told Mint, “There are a lot the combined proposition of the past 10 years. Experts suggest that gold
of gold and silver products in gold and silver, they comple- Gupta argues, “Historically, can be 5-10% of a portfolio.
Certain cases of bond transactions are clear and simple. For ₹6. The logic is, though you are receiving ₹7 on cash basis, you
example, there is no capital gain if you purchase a bond in the pri- have not held the bond from the last payout date and till your deal
mary market and hold it till maturity. The coupon / interest you
receive at periodic intervals is taxable at your slab rate i.e. 30%
date. You have already compensated the seller for accrued inter-
est. Subsequently, after holding for more than one year from your
plus surcharge and cess. Suppose you purchase a bond in the pri- purchase date, you sell it in the secondary market. For illustra-
mary market for ₹100, it is listed at the exchange, you hold it for tion, let us say your total sale price is ₹101.25, of which ₹100 is face
more than one year and sell it for ₹102 prior to maturity. The cou- value, ₹0.5 is accrual and ₹0.75 is price premium. Then, how does
pons are taxable at your slab rate and the capital gain of ₹2 is taxa- taxation work? On the accrual compo-
ble at 10% plus surcharge and cess. Indexation is nent of ₹0.5, you pay tax at 30% plus
However, not all cases are as straightforward. When a bond not available on surcharge and cess.
transaction happens in the secondary market, there is a compo- For capital gains, you have to com-
bonds, except in pare

fund categories based on your
investment objective. The
debt funds can be used for
short- to mid-term objectives,
hybrid funds can be useful for
mid-term goals, and for the
long term, you can consider
investing in equity funds.
When you follow this
approach, your asset alloca-
tion will get structured based
on your financial goals, rather
than a predefined asset alloca-
tion.
At present, your monthly
investment of ₹35,000 across
all the funds is approximately
60% in equity and 40% in debt.
spective, both the funds that
you are investing in are good.
If you have regular investment
in debt in the form of EPF, VPF
or PPF, then you may stop the
SIP in SBI Medium Duration
Fund, if you are investing in
the fund for a long term.
Harshad Chetanwala is
co-founder at MyWealth-
Growth.com.
Do you have a personal
finance query? Send in your
queries at
mintmoney@livemint.com
and get them answered by
industry experts.
Y
ou can take exposure to bonds in various ways. You can
purchase them in the primary public issues, in the second-
ary market from the bond dealing houses or from the
exchanges (NSE / BSE) through a broker. Now, you can purchase
government bonds through RBI’s Retail Direct Gilt platform. The
basics of taxation of bonds are known. The key points are as fol-
lows:
sThe coupon or interest on bonds/debentures is taxable as
‘other income’, which is taxed at your marginal slab rate i.e. 30%
plus surcharge and cess.
sThe capital gains tax component is taxable at a relatively
lower rate.
sFor listed bonds, the holding period required for taxation as
long-term capital gains is one year.
sFor a holding period of more than one year, the rate is 10%
plus surcharge and cess.
sIndexation is not available on bonds, except Sovereign Gold
Bonds.
nent of accrued interest, from the last interest payout date upto price to price, which is pure price
the deal date. The rationale here is that the issuing company pays the case of apart from accrual component. In this
coupon on the defined payout date, which is usually annual for Sovereign case, your purchase price is ₹100.5 and
corporate bonds. In between, the bonds may change hands in the Gold Bonds sale price is ₹100.75. Hence on the
secondary market. The seller would not get interest from the long-term capital gain of ₹0.25 per
issuing company on the next coupon date. Hence, the buyer com- bond, you pay tax at 10% plus sur-
pensates the seller for the proportionate interest for that period. charge and cess.
Subsequently, the buyer may sell it, prior to maturity. In such So far so good. But, where would you get the details of this tax
cases, while the basic principles of taxation remain same, we have breakdown? For you, and also for the tax authorities, the base
to scratch the surface. document is the contract note or deal confirmation given by the
Let us say, there is a bond of face value ₹100. A secondary mar- bond dealing house, which usually has the clean price (pure price
ket transaction is happening through a bond dealing house, at a component) and the accrued interest, which add up to the total
deal value of ₹101.5. For your taxation purposes, you have to know deal value. The issue is when you are doing a deal on the NSE /
the break-down of ₹101.5. Of this, ₹100 is obviously the face value. BSE trading screen, what you see and deal on, is the total price
Let us say, for illustration purposes, the accrued interest is ₹1 and consideration. The details of accrual and clean price are not avail-
₹0.5 is the price premium. This bond has annual coupon payout, able on the trading screen or the usual contract note of an equity-
is listed, and you hold it for more than one year. When you receive oriented broker.
the next interest payout, say ₹7, you can adjust ₹1 and pay tax on Joydeep Sen is a corporate trainer and author.
12 ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA
OUR VIEW
Caste can’t be brushed
aside as a global worry
California-based Apple Inc’s adoption of an explicit ban on caste discrimination is a sign of
its harsh impact overseas. Denial of such a problem is untenable. Let’s be part of the solution
A
s Indians, are we too thin-skinned
about caste inequity than is good
for us? Official attempts to keep it
off the global agenda have lost
conviction as the world’s cradle
of digital innovation, that tech-
scape along America’s west coast which throbs
with techies of Indian origin, grapples with this
desi concept from a staff perspective. Going by
our past record, word of Apple Inc’s adoption of
an explicit policy that bars caste discrimination
within this company based in California is likely
to split opinion in India. As reported, not only
is caste named, a staff training module explains
the need of this ban to employees who are not
familiar with the concept. Apple’s code of con-
duct was updated a while ago to place it on a list
that includes race, religion, gender, age and
ancestry as markers that must not mark any
individual apart for unfair treatment. Such a
corporate spotlight on a touchy issue might
disturb those who have sought to keep it privy,
a matter for us to resolve among ourselves at
home. But this position has been weakened by
attitudes of desi origin in the US forcing major
businesses to reckon with hereditary labels that
are invisible to most Americans but can still be
visibly unfair to folks at the receiving end.
Awareness of caste in America Inc has been
low. In mid-2020, however, human resource
chiefs must have sat up and taken notice when
California’s job regulator sued Cisco Systems
on behalf of a techie who alleged that his career
had run into a barrier put up by company supe-
riors of higher caste. This lawsuit was an odd
case and attracted all the more attention for it.
America’s federal Civil Rights Law of 1964,
invoked by the prosecution, bars mistreatment
on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex and
Rushdie’s love songs to Indianness throb with passion
RAHUL JACOB
T
he opening paragraphs of Salman
Rushdie’s essay Imaginary Home-
lands, a meditation of how migration
can transform a writer, has one of the most
moving descriptions of homesickness ever
written. Rushdie describes standing outside
his childhood home on Warden Road in
what was then Bombay and soaking up the
is a Mint columnist and a
rich colours of the bougainvillea creepers
and the pointy-hatted towers and gabled
former Financial Times foreign
correspondent.
roofs of the house he grew up in. Despite the
fact that he was returning after decades
away, the Bombay phone directory still had
his father’s name in it. This experience led
him to write Midnight’s Children: “I felt as if
I were being claimed, or informed that the
facts of my faraway life were illusions: that
this—this continuity—was the reality.”
Much has been written about the techni-
cal virtuosity of Rushdie’s writing and of the
range and richness of the influences on his
writing, from Gunter Grass to the magical
realists of Latin America. He reshaped magi-
cal realism and gave it a subcontinental
VIEWS
BLOOMBERG
India is no longer hesitant in the
global pursuit of its self interest
Achieving influence in world affairs will depend on how well New Delhi overcomes key challenges
HarsH V. PaNt
is professor of international relations,
King’s College London
A
s the Russia-Ukraine crisis esca-
lated earlier this year, India’s
response to it generated a heated
debate in Western capitals. New Delhi
was accused of not supporting Ukraine
and siding with the West as it refused to
publicly name Russia as the aggressor.
India’s external affairs minister S.
Jaishankar responded to it frontally by
arguing that India’s foreign policy is not
about sitting on the fence just because it
may not be agreeable to some other
countries. “It means I am sitting on my
ground,” he said. Arguing that “Europe
has to get out of the mindset that
national origin. Caste prejudice made news as Europe’s problem is the world’s prob-
yet another scourge to be dealt with. Apple’s lem but the world’s problem is not
Europe’s problem”, Jaishankar made it
policy tweak to shield its workforce diversity clear that “I am one-fifth of the world’s
can be traced to around the same time. As the population. I am today the 5th or 6th
chatter over caste has grown louder in the US, largest economy in the world… I feel I
other tech majors such as IBM are observed to am entitled to have my own side. I am
be moving likewise. This is amid signs of dia- entitled to weigh my own interests, and
make my own choices… There is no
sporic resistance to how openly the issue is country in the world which disregards
aired. Recently, reports emerged of a divide its interests.”
within Google over a talk to be given by a leader It is certainly a basic tenet of interna-
of Equality Labs, a caste-focused advocacy tional relations that national interests
group that did a survey in 2018 which revealed are paramount, and India too, like other
nations, has pursued its interests when
a large proportion of Dalits in the US faced caste it comes to foreign and national security
bigotry at their workplace, schools and temples policies. But as it celebrates 75 years of
from others of South Asian descent. Indeed, the independence, what gives the country
scope for denial of such a problem has shrunk greater confidence in articulating
in recent years, especially since Sujatha Gidla’s an “India First” foreign policy is its
growing capabilities and sense of opti-
2017 book Ants Among Elephants won critical
acclaim and a readership in the US.
India has a record of testily framed responses
to what’s often seen as an internal matter. In
2001, at the United Nations Conference Against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South www.livemint.com
Africa, for example, our government roundly
rejected calls to have caste discussed. It did not
fit into the topic at hand, our foreign minister $113.75 SENSEX 17,691.08 Æ 33.87
CAG REPORTS
Corruption back on
then had argued, as the point of those talks national agenda
was to ensure that “states do not condone or
CAG pegs notional loss
from violations relating
to coal block allocation,
UMPPs, privatization of
airport at `3.03 trillion
encourage regressive social attitudes” and not
B Y T ARUN S HUKLA,
L IZ M ATHEW &
U TPAL B HASKAR
·························
NEW DELHI
T he country’s top auditor
has put corruption
squarely back on the na-
to “engage in social engineering within mem-
tional agenda, potentially com-
pounding the political problems
facing the Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) gov-
ernment.
In three separate reports,
quantifying the notional loss to
the exchequer at `3.03 trillion,
the Comptroller and Auditor
ber states.” While views vary on whether UN
General of India (CAG) has, for
the first time, directly cast asper-
sions on the role of the Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO) for its
failure to check what it claims to
be violations in awarding coal
mining contracts, besides which
it has found serious alleged in-
fractions in the implementation
huddles should ponder a social malaise that’s
of the UPA’s two boldest reform
initiatives—privatization of air-
ports and the setting up of large-
sized power generation capaci-
ties on a fast-track basis.
particular to India and Nepal as Hindu-majority
The government was quick to
deflect the allegations as prema-
ture, even while some of the
companies such as ArcelorMittal
were quick to dismiss the claims.
The three reports tabled in
Parliament on Friday were Allo-
cation of Coal blocks and aug-
mentation of coal production, Ul-
tra Mega Power Projects under
Special Purpose Vehicles, and Im-
plementation of Public Private
countries, we shouldn’t let hackles go up each
Partnership—Indira Gandhi In-
ternational Airport, Delhi.
In an indication of emerging
political challenges for the UPA,
the main opposition Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) announced an
intensified attack on the govern-
ment, especially Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, whom it held
time it’s identified abroad as a problem. Caste
“morally, politically and person-
ally responsible” for the “wrong-
ful” loss on the allocation of coal
blocks. The BJP has sought
Singh’s resignation and indicat-
ed that the party would raise this
again in Parliament when it
meets again on Tuesday.
However, political analysts
has gone global, taken so by our diaspora, and
said the opposition will only be
able to take advantage if it has a
comprehensive strategy in place.
“Corruption is not going to
evaporate from the political
scene now,” said Pralay Kanun-
go, chairperson of Centre for Po-
litical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
University. “Unless you succeed
we should not carp about its ill effects being
in making it a big campaign and
you resolve your own contradic-
tions, the opposition will not be
Mint is also available for R9.50 with Hindustan Times under a combo offer
called out. Let’s be part of the solution instead.
MY VIEW | WoRLd ApART
swerve and liveliness; the dialogue in Mid- it used to be. (Mahatma Gandhi’s occasion-
night’s Children and The Moor’s Last Sigh is ally bossy administrative assistant when he
full of fun and teasing. And if the multiple lived in South Africa was a dynamic Lithua-
narratives and interjections of his novels can nian woman, as Ramachandra Guha’s Gan-
be maddening for some, these aptly echo the dhi Before India reminds us.) It is also appar-
rhythms of conversation in India. Less ent in The Moor’s Last Sigh, whose descrip-
remarked upon is that his subcontinental tions of Fort Cochin and its warren of streets
novels are a love song to India. There is and warehouses of spices
plenty of nostalgia too, but it is not the kind facing the water are so
that Orhan Pamuk refers to when using the memorable that I am una-
Turkish word ‘huzun’. Instead of that melan- ble to visit the Kochi Bien-
choly, there is mostly celebration. nale without the alterna-
In Midnight’s Children, the moment when tive Rushdie visual tour of
the protagonist’s grandfather Aadam Aziz images from that book
knocks his nose hard against the earth while
praying and decides to become an atheist
playing alongside the art
on display. The Jewish
somehow also takes in the beauty of Kash-
mir valley. When Saleem Sinai loses control
synagogue in Kochi is not a
remarkable monument
of his bicycle and careers into a march of unless you have read this
angry protestors in Bombay demanding a book and contemplate the
separate state on linguistic grounds, in a Chinese blue tiles on its
novelist’s brilliant sleight of hand, it is the floor through Rushdie’s
young boy who gives the Gujarati marchers eyes: As she cleans them,
their rallying cry. the caretaker hallucinates because of her
This affection for the diversity of Bombay sorrow and guilt that her son abandoned his
and India extends to Saleem Sinai’s class- faith and married a Catholic.
mates who are multicultural and multi reli- The loss of an anchor within us that often
gious, including a character based on an East accompanies migration and the loss of reli-
European champion swimmer thrown in for gion are central themes of The Satanic Verses.
good measure. This too is India—or India as Lost in the anger caused by its controversial
LIVEMINT.COM
THEIR VIEW
mism about the future. More than any capabilities in every possible sector and
major power today, Indians view their that allows for a more clear-eyed
future in aspirational terms and that is engagement with its partners. The
shaping their domestic and foreign West, often used to a pontificating India
engagements. of the past, today hears an Indian voice
The consequences are remarkable. on the global stage that is capable of
Even as India’s position on the Ukraine articulating the narrative of a responsi-
conflict caused disappointment in the ble stakeholder that is steeped in its
Western world, the latter’s ties with own ethos.
New Delhi have gained momentum. The challenges confronting India are
So while the Western media has been serious and unlikely to disappear any-
lecturing India on its democratic time soon. China’s rise and its assault on
responsibilities, Western governments Indian interests is forcing New Delhi to
seem to understand India’s challenges reassess its old assumptions. There are
much better, and in an ironical way, this also institutional issues that need atten-
crisis has provided the means to both tion, from the size of the foreign minis-
New Delhi and the West to come closer try to forging a whole-of-government
and engage more substantively. approach to national security. Yet, New
The international order is evolving at Delhi’s readiness to address these chal-
a rapid pace and structural changes are
indeed compelling India and the West
to deal with each other on the basis of
21st century realities. But India’s
lenges is shifting the conversation in
ways that are quite revealing.
As it celebrates 75 years of freedom,
India wants to play the role of a “leading
response to its strategic priorities has power” in the international system, one
also evolved significantly. Today’s self- that shapes global norms and institu-
confident India has a new voice in the tional architecture, rather than these
global firmament—clear, rooted in its being shaped by others.
domestic realities and civilizational Towards this end, it is willing to forge
ethos, as well as firm in the pursuit of its partnerships that are likely to yield con-
vital interests. As Jaishankar remarked crete outcomes. Shedding its old diffi-
at this year’s Raisina Dialogue, it is dence, New Delhi is proclaiming that it
better to engage with the world on the is no longer non-aligned but willing to
basis of “who we are” rather than try and align based on shared interests. From
please the world. If India is confident the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the
about its identity and priorities, the Quad) to the BRICS, there is a long list of
world will engage with India on its memberships that India holds. Often
terms. In recent years, New Delhi has this is seen as old-style meandering. But
not been averse to challenging its look closely and one will find that India
adversaries and courting its friends is increasingly willing to articulate and
without the ideological baggage of the promote its priorities more sharply.
past. From being the only global power Today’s India is willing to set its own
to challenge Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road standards and this approach is now
Initiative as far back as 2014 to respond- shaping its external engagements as
ing to Chinese military aggression with well. This may or may not be a signifi-
a strong military pushback, from trying cant break from the past, but it is
to work with the US without entering certainly a reflection of contemporary
the full embrace of a formal alliance to domestic socio-economic realties in
engaging the West to build domestic India. The next few years will determine
capacities, India has been pragmatic to how successfully New Delhi transcends
the core and willing to use the extant the constraints of the global order and
balance of power to its advantage. domestic infirmities to achieve its aspi-
India’s focus today is on enhancing its rations on the global stage.
New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh*, Pune* Saturday, August 18, 2012 Vol.5 No.198 `5.00in Delhi­NCR/` 6.00 outside Delhi­NCR 16
12 PAGES
+ 20 PAGES LOUNGE + 4 MARKETS PAGES
MINT METRIC
Infosys Foundation’s
Q&A:
Murty on her new book >4
NATION: Assam calm; exodus
to North­East continues >3
EXCLUSIVE PARTNER
VIEWS: Tribunal may determine
competition jurisprudence >11
CORPORATE: Cox and Kings unit to
get $140 million Citi funding >10
NIFTY 5,366.30 Æ 3.35 DOLLAR `55.73 æ`0.02 EURO `68.72 Æ `0.11
REVISED PROJECTION
GOLD `30,040 Æ `135
QUICK EDIT
OIL $113.75 æ $2.41
by Bibek Debroy
GDP to grow 6.7% Misplaced
this fiscal, says EAC
B Y A SIT R ANJAN M ISHRA
R EMYA N AIR
·························
NEW DELHI
& Securities and Exchange Board
of India (Sebi) to examine the
suggestions
and advise him.
independently
optimism
U nwarranted optimism
is the norm in our
Union government. But
surely the government’s
advisers are expected not
A s finance minister P. The capital market regulator to generate gravity defying
Chidambaram promised announced on Thursday a se- numbers. On Friday, the
more steps to lift the capital ries of measures to revive the Prime Minister’s
LATEST BLOW FOR UPA markets and investor senti-
ment on Friday, the govern-
ment got an unexpected boost
mutual fund industry, boost
retail interest in initial public
offerings and ease fund-raising
economic advisory council
(PMEAC) just did that. It
pegged economic growth
CAPTIVE COAL BLOCKS when the Prime Minister’s for companies. for 2012-13 at 6.7%.
Teachers in a Punjab school
economic advisory council This followed consultative That’s not all: the
CAG findings (EAC) broke ranks with private meetings held last month PMEAC wants curbs to be
 The financial impact of the benefit to the private allottees in captive economists by projecting an among finance ministry, Sebi placed on imports of gold
coal block allocations estimated at R1,85,591.34 crore. optimistic 6.7% growth rate and mutual fund industry rep- and also wants the
 Non-encashment of bank guarantees.
for the economy in the current resentatives. The industry had government to raise diesel
Response fiscal year ending 31 March sought a relaxation in expense prices. Both ideas are
Sriprakash Jaiswal, coal minister: The allocation process 2013. ratio regulations, passing of removed from practical
was fully transparent. The policy was right in every way.
The council headed by C. service tax directly to investors realities.
The demand for coal was rising and it was necessary for
the sake of economic growth to give away more coal blocks.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is inquiring into the
matter.
Rangarajan said growth will
recover marginally to 6.7%
from 6.5% in 2011-12, while
and tax breaks for investment
plans. Sebi agreed to the first
two demands at its board
While gold imports are
worsening the country’s
current account balance,
Did something hardly cool.
private economists have start- meeting on Thursday. there is sound economic
ed lowering their projections Chidambaram said Sebi’s logic as to why individuals
to below 6%. However, the EAC measures will stimulate finan- have rebalanced their
UMPPs cautioned of risks from a sud- cial savings among households portfolio in favour of the
CAG findings den and rapid deterioration in as well as give a fillip to the metal from, say, equities,
 Undue benefit to Reliance Power. The overall financial benefit to the company due the international economy as mutual fund industry. “More bonds and other
to the impact of the difference in tariff works out to R29,033 crore, with a net also unexpected setbacks in and more households should investment options.
present value of `11,852 crore. delivering domestic policy and be encouraged to save in fi- Unless there are serious
 Inadequacies in identifying project developers. administrative action. nancial instruments rather reforms in the financial
 Irregularity in the appointment of Ernst and Young as bid consultant. Economists were sceptical of than in gold,” he said. markets—which seem
Response the EAC’s projections. “The examination by the unlikely in the years
 The government’s decisions on UMPPs were taken by an eGoM headed by then
About Heisenberg’s picture they were misled,
In a statement on Friday, government and Sebi is likely ahead—curbing gold
power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. He did not respond to phone calls or to a Chidambaram said there were to be completed in the next imports will be nothing
message left on his cellphone. a number of suggestions under two weeks. I have requested more than a Soviet
 Power minister M. Veerappa Moily on Friday said the consideration by the govern- chairman, Sebi (U.K. Sinha), to solution. The PMEAC
process of allocation of coal mines to Reliance Power for
its Madhya Pradesh project was transparent.
ment to boost savings and in- needs a dose of realism.
 Reliance Power had no role in the allotment of coal vestments. He has asked the TURN TO PAGE 2®
blocks and extent of coal reserves therein to Sasan
UMPP, said CEO J.P. Chalasani. Comparison between
Sasan and Chitrangi tariffs to quantify benefits is
misleading—no two projects can have the same tariff even
if the coal sources are the same, and even if the project is
being set up in the same location as part of an expansion.
AVIATION
CAG findings
The civil aviation ministry and the Airports Authority of India always
interpreted the provisions on financial matters in favour of
GMR Infrastructure-led DIAL during the modernization of the
Indira Gandhi International Airport and against the interests
of the government.
Response
Used a Breaking Bad character instead.
Former aviation minister Praful Patel oversaw the
With such teaching, who deserves the ferrule?
privatization of the Indira Gandhi International Airport from
2006 to 2010. He declined to comment. The aviation
ministry said it strongly refutes the loss figures and
other allegations made by CAG.
PARAS JAIN/MINT
able to take advantage of it.” notify the amendment after ap-
The BJP’s Arun Jaitley, leader proving it,” Jaitley said.
of the opposition in the Rajya The three reports came as a
Sabha, said the Prime Minister fresh blow to the UPA govern-
held the coal portfolio for five of ment, which has been mired in a
the eight years the auditor has series of corruption charges and
assessed. controversies, including the al-
“If in 2G spectrum allocation lotment of second-generation
irregularities, the PM’s involve- (2G) telecom spectrum. The lat-
ment was a politically vicarious est developments could pose a
liability, in this case, for a sub- fresh hurdle in the government’s
stantial period of time, he him- efforts to resume its initiative on
self was the minister in charge,” reforms and put an end to allega-
he said. “So he is politically, tions of policy paralysis amid an
morally and directly liable. The economic slump that could be
PM should seriously introspect, worsened by a rain-deficient
take up responsibility and quit monsoon that could erode farm
office.” growth and increase inflationary
“It took 25 months to prepare pressures.
a draft of the amendment in the The PMO went on the offen-
Mines and Minerals (Regulation sive against CAG.
and Development) Act to make “Media is hyping (the report),”
competitive bidding possible said V. Narayansamy, minister of
and it took almost one-and-a- state in the PMO. “CAG gets facts
half years for the government to from one source and the PAC
TURN TO PAGE 3®
dream sequences is that one of its central ment moved with Olympian speed to ban The
characters is a man broken by his loss of faith. Satanic Verses. By contrast, Rushdie’s friends
Migration also extracts its toll. But there is in London were heroic at that time. His long-
also the magical—and no other word will do— time agent Deborah Rogers, who had just
reworking of a horrific terrorist attack on an endured an angry break-up with the novelist
Air India aeroplane where the characters fall when he joined the mega literary agency of
to the earth reaffirming their Indianness by Andrew Wylie, put her country home near
singing, of all things, Raj the Welsh border at his disposal. He moved in
Kapoor’s Mera Joota Hai with a retinue of policemen a couple of days
His novels defy Japani. Again, Rushdie’s after a fatwa for his head was issued in Febru-
love of India shines ary 1989 by the Iranian government.
the ordinary but through. Is that depiction of I interviewed Rushdie in 2005, a few years
the aftermath of a plane after he came out of hiding. He beamed with
the puzzle blown apart insensitive, or delight when I remarked that no one cap-
is New Delhi’s is it an affirmation that
there is life after life?
tured the strength as well as withering wit of
Indian women on the page as he did. After a
response to a To make the case for
freedom of expression in an
three-hour lunch, he dropped me home,
regaling me with stories of India’s bureau-
horrific attempt India and a world where cratic ways, memorably likening it to what he
increasing numbers on called the “Sorry-No” Irani cafes of Mumbai.
on his life social media and in govern- Sadly, now as well as then, India’s response
ment believe only in airing has been lame. We would do well to remem-
and listening to their own ber the UK Home Office’s decision after The
point of view is to voice a meaningless plati- Satanic Verses was published to disallow any
tude even after last week’s horrific attack on further blasphemy prosecutions. It declared
Rushdie in the US. But the contrast between that governmental mechanisms are “inap-
forceful denunciations of the attack from propriate… for dealing with matters of faith
Washington DC, Paris and London and New and individual belief… the strength of their
Delhi’s lame comments on it has been puz- own belief is the best armour against mockers
zling. Then again, the Rajiv Gandhi govern- and blasphemers”.
LIVEMINT.COM VIEWS ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA 13

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

Indian philanthropy has a worthy Facebook did well to throw its

chatbot open to public scrutiny
record that could shine brighter Meta’s disclosures on how it was trained could help us improve AI

Much good work has been done and there’s much left to do that collaborative efforts among business families could focus on

ISTOCKPHOTO

PARMY OLSON
is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering
technology.

NEERA NUNDY &

RUMANA HAMIED
are, respectively, co-founder and partner,
Dasra, and managing trustee, Cipla Foundation

A
s one of this century’s most powerful
data brokers, Facebook is best
known for its role in sucking up the

I
ndependent India turning 75 is an opportunity
for us to introspect on the work of our forefa-
thers and mothers that brought us to this
moment and the work still left to do. Looking
back at philanthropy requires us to recall
the efforts of families like the Tatas, Birlas,
Hamieds and Bajajs, who played an important role
in India’s advancement. Today, philanthropic
families have an opportunity to shape the next 75
years by coming together as a community for the
purpose of strategic giving.
A brief history of family philanthropy: India has
had a rich culture of giving, primarily through
social networks and religious institutions. The
process of industrialization that began in the 19th
century created significant amounts of wealth that
business families could devote to philanthropic
projects. Early charitable efforts led to a period of
more institutionalized giving for vital causes like
education and health.
The most influential philanthropist during that
time was Sir Jamsetji Tata. Believing in the critical
need to nurture brilliant minds, he established the
J.N. Tata Endowment Scheme in 1892, much
before similar foundations were founded in the
West. Inspired by his conversation with Swami
Vivekananda on a voyage, Tata persevered for over
a decade and pledged half his wealth to establish
the Indian Institute of Science (IISC). Founded five
years after his passing, IISC remains one of his
most remarkable contributions to nation-building,
one that his estate continues to fund.
The next major shift was the consolidation of our
freedom movement under Mahatma Gandhi’s
leadership. He believed that ownership of wealth
must be held primarily in trusteeship for the bene-
fit of the poor, a view shared by prominent indus-
trialists like Jamnalal Bajaj, G.D. Birla, Ardeshir
Godrej and Dr. K.A. Hamied. Ardeshir Godrej
contributed a sum of ₹3 lakh to the Tilak Swaraj
Fund established by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920. In
1935, Mahatma Gandhi inspired Dr. K.A. Hamied
to establish Cipla with a vision to make India self-
reliant and create wide access to quality health-
care. A compassionate approach to medicine and
healthcare that goes beyond the pursuit of profit
has been Cipla’s legacy. Family philanthropists
also supported Mahatma Gandhi’s other objectives
like non-violence and the promotion of khadi.
Philanthropic families played a pivotal role in
endowing institutions and changing mindsets,
thus contributing to modern India. They have
helped found educational institutes that remain
prominent even today, such as the Birla Institute of
Technology in Pilani (G.D. Birla), the Indian Insti-
tute of Management (Kasturbhai Lalbhai) and the
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Sir Dorabji Tata).
Many families have established foundations and
trusts that work directly with non-profit organiza-
tions and local communities to address critical
issues like healthcare, quality education, skill
building and livelihood generation, thereby
helping the country foster a better society.
Beyond philanthropy, Indian family businesses
upheld social responsibility as a core value. They
considered business a force for good long before
corporate social responsibility (CSR) was a legal
mandate. In 2001, Cipla’s 3-in-1 fixed dose combi-
nation was the first anti-AIDS cocktail that brought
the cost of treatment down from $12,000 per
patient per year to less than $1 a day, enabling
millions across the developing world to access
life-saving therapy. Godrej’s ‘good and green’
approach to building a more inclusive and greener
India is an example of keeping sustainability at the
heart of business.
The role of family philanthropy today: According
to the India Philanthropy Report 2022 published
by Bain and Company and Dasra, Indian family
philanthropy is expected to grow at a robust 26%
compound annual growth rate from 2021-22 to
2025-26. There is still substantial scope to unlock
an additional corpus of ₹60,000 crore to ₹1 trillion.
Family philanthropists are willing to contribute
and increase their giving over time to social causes.
The covid pandemic has shown us how many
unmet needs there are and how much work is left
to do. Covid revealed systemic inequalities in our
society, as the most disadvantaged sections were
disproportionately impacted. Nowhere was this
more evident than the migrant crisis; millions of
daily-wage workers were forced to travel long dis-
tances with little to no sustenance and support.
Family philanthropy has enormous potential to
catalyse how society helps address these issues.
Wealthy families can bet large sums on solving
problems that remain underfunded. They also
have the wherewithal to take a systems design
approach to maximize the impact of their giving.
New age role models such as Azim Premji, Shiv
Nadar and Rohini Nilekani are setting an example
for strategic family giving and inspiring others to
follow suit.
Perhaps the most significant trend is an increas-
ing inclination among family philanthropists to
pool resources for collaborative efforts. For exam-
ple, Social Compact, a multi-stakeholder platform
founded with the support of philanthropists such
as Rati and Farhad Forbes, Anu Aga and Meher
Pudumjee, seeks to ensure greater dignity and
equity for 1 million informal workers and their
families. Such collaboration is an indicator of
Indian philanthropy transitioning to a new era.
The future of giving: As philanthropists come to
see the benefits of collaboration, they realize that
this should be done more systematically. Family
philanthropists can join hands to help scale up
efforts in areas of critical need and provide support
to new philanthropists. Towards the next 75 years,
business families can draw inspiration from their
rich tradition of giving during India’s formative
years and help build an inclusive India where a bil-
lion thrive with dignity and equity.
personal information of users for its adver-
tising clients. That lucrative model has led
to high risks—Facebook recently shared
private messages between a Nebraska
mother and her teenage daughter with
police probing the girl’s at-home abortion.
But in a completely different part of the
business, Facebook’s exchange of informa-
tion was going the other way and to good
effect. Meta Platforms this month published
a webpage demonstrating its chatbot, with
which anyone in the US could chat about
anything. While the public response was
one of derision, the company had been
admirably transparent about how it built
the technology, publishing details about its
mechanics. That’s an approach other Big
Tech firms should take more often.
Facebook has been working on Blender-
Bot 3 for years as part of its artificial intelli-
gence (AI) research. A precursor was called
M, a digital assistant for booking restaurants
or ordering flowers that could have rivalled
Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa. Over time it
was revealed that M was largely powered by
teams of people who helped take those
bookings because AI systems like chatbots
were difficult to perfect. They still are.
Within hours of its release, BlenderBot 3
was making anti-Semitic comments and
claiming that Donald Trump had won the
last US election, while saying it wanted to
delete its Facebook account. The chatbot
was roundly ridiculed.
Facebook’s research team seemed ran-
kled but not defensive. A few days after the
bot’s release, Meta’s managing director for
fundamental AI research, Joelle Pineau,
said in a blogpost that it was “painful” to
read some of the bot’s offensive responses in
the press. But, she added, “we also believe
progress is best served by inviting a wide
and diverse community to participate.”
Only 0.11% of the chatbot’s responses were
flagged as inappropriate, Pineau said. That
suggests most people who were testing the
bot were covering tamer subjects. When I
asked BlenderBot 3 who the current US
president was, it responded, “This sounds
like a test, lol, but it’s Donald Trump right
now.” The bot brought up the former presi-
dent two other times, unprompted.
Why the strange answers? Facebook
trained its bot on publicly available text on
the internet, which is awash in conspiracy
theories. Facebook tried training the bot to
be more polite by using special “safer dia-
logue” datasets, but that wasn’t enough.
Facebook wants people to engage volun-
Facebook’s BlenderBot 3 is clunky but at
least we can see why AP
tarily with its bot, and click ‘like’ or ‘dislike’
buttons to help train it. But the company’s
openness about the system and the extent to
which it is showing its work are admirable at
a time when tech companies have been
more closed about the mechanics of AI.
Alphabet’s Google, for instance, has not
offered public access to LaMDA, its most
cutting-edge large language model, a series
of algorithms that can predict and generate
language after being trained on gigantic
data sets of text. That’s in spite of the fact
that one of its own engineers chatted to the
system for long enough to believe it had
become sentient. OpenAI, the AI research
company co-founded by Elon Musk, has
also become more closed about the
mechanics of some of its systems. For
instance, it won’t share what training data it
used to create its popular image-generating
system Dall-E, which can generate any
image via a text prompt but has a tendency
to conform to old stereotypes—all CEOs are
depicted as men, nurses as women, etc.
OpenAI has said that information could be
put to ill use, and that it’s propriety.
Facebook, by contrast, has not only
released its chatbot for public scrutiny but
also published detailed information about
how it was trained. Last May it also offered
free, public access to a large language model
it had built called OPT-175B. That approach
has won it some praise from leaders in the AI
community. “Meta definitely has many ups
and downs, but I was happy to see that they
open-sourced a large language model,” said
Andrew Ng, former head of Google Brain
and founder of Deeplearning.ai, referring to
the company’s move in May.
Eugenia Kuyda, whose startup Replika.ai
creates chatbot companions for people, said
it was “really great” that Facebook had pub-
lished so many details about BlenderBot 3
and praised the company’s attempts to get
user feedback to train and improve the
model.
Facebook deserved much of the flak it got
for sharing data about the mother and
daughter in Nebraska. That’s clearly a
harmful consequence to collecting so much
user information over the years. But the
blowback over its chatbot experiment was
excessive and overdone. In this case, Face-
book was doing what we need to see more of
from Big Tech. Let’s hope this kind of trans-
parency continues. ©BLOOMBERG

MY VIEW | OThEr SPhErE

Meet the promise of education: It’s a national imperative

The powerful ideas of four people have
ANURAG BEHAR formed the deep subtext of Indian education:
Rabindranath Tagore’s’ universalism,
humanism and self-realization as the goal of
education; Mahatma Gandhi’s practical wis-
dom of education, about combining head,
the Indian education system, there is an era
before Naik and the one after him.
In the early 1960s, the Tamil Nadu govern-
ment started a systematic mid-day meal pro-
gramme in public schools. In 1981-82, the
state’s Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran
India. As a side effect, it attracted a vast num-
ber of highly capable people to school educa-
tion. It was also a model for collaboration
between public systems and civil society.
The first Saraswati Shishu Mandir was set
up in 1962 in Gorakhpur. As the numbers of
students relegated all subjects other than
math and science to a secondary status. It also
spawned India’s insidious tuition industry,
de-emphasizing learning and achievement in
schools, while making entrance tests all
important, converting our education system

T
o mark 75 years of our independence,
here is a (non-comprehensive) list of
events, people, trends and ideas from
modern India that have shaped our school
education, for better or for worse.
Savitribai Phule and her husband Jyotiba
ran three schools for girls in Pune in the
middle of the 19th century. Their courage in
heart and hand for self-reliance; Bhimrao
Ambedkar’s clear idea of education as the
foundation of real democracy, significantly
influenced by his own guru John Dewey; and
Jiddu Krishnamurthy’s notion of education
substantially focused on liberation of the self,
harmony and holism, which had a profound
influence on the ‘alternative schools’ move-
expanded and institutionalized it, forming these schools grew, Vidya Bharati was set up effectively into a testing system. It was in 1993
the basis for our current in 1977 to coordinate their that the National Council for Teacher Educa-
nationwide mid-day meal growth. Over the years, this tion was established to regulate and govern
programme that provides We have had developed into what must teacher education, along with a set of policies
at least one decent meal to be the largest private school which let in rampant commercialization.
millions of children from truly diverse network in the world, with a The second National Policy of Education
disadvantaged homes who real commitment to educa- came out in 1986, which was replaced only in
may otherwise go hungry.
influences on tion and an alternative to 2020 by the third . The District Primary Edu-

is CEO of Azim Premji

the face of all opposition demonstrated that
education is more than literacy and aca-
Foundation. demic subjects, it is potentially the most
powerful force for social reform.
Missionary schools spread across the
entire country, beginning in the late 19th
century, providing good education, some-
times along with religious zeal. These well-
organized schools were often better
resourced than others, and captured the
imagination of the rich and poor alike. As
decades passed, while these schools contin-
ued to spread and remain aspirational, the
phenomena of faux-convent schools grew,
with the sole intent of exploiting the hopes
of parents for their children.
ment in India.
In 1961, the National Council for Education
Research and Training was established with
a vision to lead education and foster educa-
tional thinking. Subsequently, equivalent
institutions were set up in states. The estab-
lishment of Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) in 1963
was an excellent demonstration of how good
education could happen within the public
system. Various high-quality public schools
have been modelled on these KVs since.
The Kothari Commission submitted a
report in 1966 that led to the National Policy
of Education of 1968, the first such compre-
hensive policy. The soul of this seminal effort
was J.P. Naik. In the practical architecture of
The Kerala Sastra
Sahitya Parishad (KSSP)
our educational
began in 1962 as a citizen
science movement to foster
system and still
scientific temper and have pledges
rationalism. It had a pro-
found impact on educa- to redeem
tional thinking across the
country. Kishore Bharati
and Friends’ Rural Society, and subsequently
other institutions such as Eklavya, developed
and ran the Hoshangabad Science Teaching
Programme (HSTP) along with the Madhya
Pradesh state government. The HSTP has
played a key role in developing the curricular
and pedagogical imagination of education in
commercial private schools,
few of which have an actual
interest in education.
Alongside, these schools
have played a pivotal role in
a resurgence of education
informed by and reinforc-
ing ‘Hindu culture’.
Low-cost private schools
have mushroomed, most of which sold the
promise of ‘Convent and English’ education
while delivering poor quality in every way.
Elite private schools also grew in line with
India’s middle-class growth post 1991.
The single-minded pursuit of engineering
and medical college entrance by parents and
cation Programme was initiated in 1993 to
universalize primary education across 272
districts. In 2001, with the launch of the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan, access to School Education
was transformed across India, ensuring that
there was a public primary school in every
habitation and a middle school nearby. In
2009, the Right to Education Act made it a
fundamental right for all 6-14-year-olds.
A quarter century hence, when Independ-
ent India turns 100, hopefully we would have
fulfilled the promise of education—“not
wholly or in full measure, but very substan-
tially”, in Jawaharlal Nehru’s words. If so, we
would have achieved our nationhood too,
very substantially.
14 ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA BUSINESS OF LIFE CULTURE LIVEMINT.COM

‘Chhayaankan’: The view

from behind the camera
Hemant Chaturvedi’s
documentary
‘Chhayaankan’ is a
loving tribute to Hindi
film cinematographers
from decades past Amazonian tribe
Uday Bhatia
uday.b@livemint.com
shoot, produce
their own film
A
century and some decades later,
we can safely say that Indian cin-
ema is terrible at documenting
itself. This includes the lack of
archiving, preservation and res-
toration of films but also the memories and wis-
‘The Territory’ follows hunter-gatherers
dom of film practitioners, especially those who in a protected area of the rainforest
are not actors or directors. This makes Hemant
Chaturvedi’s Chhayaankan: The Management of
Shadows all the more valuable. In this 138-min- Agencies
ute documentary, Chaturvedi, acclaimed cine- feedback@livemint.com
matographer on films like Maqbool and Com-

pany, interviews 14 cinematographers he
looked up to, from Govind Nihalani to A.K. Bir.
It’s a loving tribute, the simple talking-heads
format allowing space for the old pros to ramble,
joke around and reminisce. The film screens at
India International Centre in Delhi this week,
and an extended version should be online later
this year. Edited excerpts from an interview
with Chaturvedi:
You said at a screening that the film arose
out of unanswered questions you had
when you left cinematography in 2015.
My career was petering out for reasons I
couldn’t figure. I had a good body of work, yet I
was waiting for a year, two years to get a feature.
Advertising was starting to become more and
more corrupt. Everything has gotten diluted. I
felt I needed to do more meaningful things, over
which I had authorship.
I intended to do this film a long time back. I
always felt cinematographers here had not been
given their due. Of the 14 people in my cast, only
Govind Nihalani has been interviewed multiple
times, though more as a director as a cinema-
tographer. I don’t think any of the others have
been interviewed, at least not on video. So it’s
something I always wanted to do, and my leav-
ing cinematography was a catalyst to get my act
together.
The 14 people are chosen for a very specific
reason. These are the people I approached in
the late ‘80s and early ‘90s to work with. People
have asked me, you didn’t include P.C.
Sreeram, Goutam Ghose? I tell them, they’re
not my people!
Of course, they all shooed me off and never
gave me a chance to work with them. Over the
years they’ve become friends. When I told them
about the documentary, they were all excited to
do it.
We shot from December 2015 to January
2016. By and large, we spent a day with each of
them. I also interviewed several elderly light
boys, to understand how they see cinematogra-
phers. We wanted to do a 20-minute section on
that, but it didn’t fit in.
When was the film completed?
I kind of lost my marbles for a couple of years
in 2016 and ‘17. I wasn’t able to come to terms
with the big decision that I’d taken. Finally in
2017 I got my act together. When Ishwar Bidri
passed away (in December 2020) I simultane-
ously discovered Nadeem Khan had been in a
coma for two years. When I heard of these two
incidents, I thought, if my cast doesn’t get to see
the film it would be quite shameful on my part.
All told, it took six years to finish. Der aaye
W
hen Covid-19 reached Brazil’s Amazon, and an indige-
nous tribe sealed off its borders, director Alex Pritz
found an innovative way to finish his documentary—
he handed the cameras over to the Uru-eu-wau-wau themselves.
The Territory, to be released by National Geographic on Friday,
follows the plight of some 200 hunter-gatherers who live in a
protected area of rainforest, surrounded and encroached upon
by aggressive and illegal settlers, farmers and loggers.
While shown in the movie dressed in traditional garb and hon-
Baba Azmi and (right) A.K. Bir oring ancient customs, the Uru-eu-wau-wau and their young
leader Bitate—the film’s main subject—were more than happy
durust aaye... I’m glad it happened when it did. and I didn’t want to break that intimacy. Also, to use modern technology to fight back.
Did you have a common set of questions for the kind of budget we had, clips would be “When Covid happened, Bitate made the really bold decision
or ones specific to each person? extremely expensive. They (rights holders) to say ‘Okay, no more journalists coming into our territory, no
I had both. There was a series of 20-22 ques- drive you up the wall, whatever hair I have more filmmakers, no more Alex, no more documentary crew,
tions I asked everyone, and a small set of ques- would have fallen off. nobody,’” said Pritz. “We had to have a conversation with him
tions based on the specific work they’d done. I’d I wanted to a little sequence with my cast’s like, ‘Okay, are we done with the film? Do we have everything we
gone through their filmographies again, so I credits as assistants. I spoke to a couple of rights need? Is there more? Should we start editing?’
could question them on certain shots and holders and they wanted 3,000, 5,000 rupees “Bitate was really clear: ‘No, we’re not done. We still have a lot
sequences. When I sat down with Govindji a second. It didn’t make any sense. left to do. You guys weren’t done before, why should you be done
(Nihalani), he said, “I have one request, don’t ask Will the film be available for people to now? Just send us better cameras, send us audio equipment, and
me anything in a chronological way.” watch online? we’ll shoot and produce the last part of the movie.’”
Nihalani has a great anecdote in this, about It’ll happen before this year is over. Each The result was a “co-production model” in which an Uru-eu-
the fortune-teller who seems to predict his interview was at least two hours long. The film wau-wau filmmaker is credited as cinematographer, and the
career in film. is 138 minutes; with 14 people that means each community more broadly acted as pro-
Yes, and you might have noticed—everyone one has 7 minutes to speak. I thought, since The community ducers with a share of profits and a say
in the film is an accidental cinematographer. A they have given me the time, each interview act as producers in business decisions about the film’s
Malaysian friend, who’s a brilliant photogra- should be edited into maybe a 1 hour 20 minute distribution.
pher and documentary filmmaker, wrote to me capsule and made into a series of separate with a share of Besides enabling filming to con-
after seeing the film. He spoke about two things. interviews. profits and a say tinue into the pandemic, Pritz believes
His initial takeaway from the film was that the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC) is in business the decision to provide equipment and
interviews were horizontal, by which he meant going to help me put this together. It’ll be free— decisions training directly to the Uru-eu-wau-
the interviewees were speaking to one of their we’ll probably put it on the ISC site or on You- wau benefited the film by adding a
own people, so they spoke freely. The second inspired the people in the film. Mahajan saab, Tube. “firsthand perspective” on the group’s
thing he spoke about was the Malaysian concept Murthy saab and Ashok Mehta were the three What other projects are you working on? activities, which include patrolling the land to arrest interlopers.
of ‘angin’—an inner wind that stirs inside you. people I wanted to interview but could not, I’ve been doing a lot of still photography for “I shot a bunch of surveillance missions myself. None of them
S.M. Anwar talks about it in as many words—”I because they died in the previous decade. the past seven years. Between 2019 and 2022, I made the cut!” said Pritz. “Not because we wanted to transfer the
don’t know from where I got the energy to learn, There’s a great quote about how film used have driven in excess of 35,000 km in my jeep filmmaking... it was more raw, it was more urgent.”
learn, learn...” to ask technology to come up with some- across the country, photo-documenting single- Even before Pritz’s crew arrived, the Uru-eu-wau-wau had
This is also a tribute to film equipment and thing new, but in the digital age it’s tech- screen cinemas. I shot nearly 1,000 cinemas become adept at using the power of modern technology and
a kind of tactility nology that chal- across 15 states. It’s one of the biggest documen- media to champion their cause, positioning themselves on the
that’s been lost. lenges film. tations on the subject ever done, not just here global stage as guardians of a forest whose survival is bound up
Anwar corrects you In the film, they aren’t talking Technology allows but worldwide. in issues of climate change and biodiversity. “Bitate and this
about a film he shot about specific scenes; it’s you to do a lot more, If I find old 35mm projectors, and their opera- younger generation within the Uru-eu-wau-wau are digital chil-
on a certain cam- but without working tors, I do portraits with them. I’ve been photo- dren. He’s born in the late 90s. He’s on Instagram. And that’s part
era... more emotional, and I didn’t harder on set. Entire graphing booking office windows, seats, audito- of how he engages with the world,” said Pritz.
Talking of tactile, want to break that intimacy. skill sets used to exist ria, coasters. In the old cinemas, to differentiate When drones capturing stunning and harrowing footage of
50 years later he for before a film between male and female loos they used to have vast deforestation appear early in the documentary, many audi-
remembers the cam- started; now they the images of the star of the moment. My ences assume they belong to the filmmakers, said Pritz. But in
era he shot on. I don’t think a single cinematog- exist for after a film’s over. Generation of engi- favourite ones were Sanjeev Kumar in an aban- fact, the flying cameras were bought and are operated by the Uru-
rapher today remembers which Alexa or Red neers, carpenters, painters have now become doned cinema in Gujarat, and somewhere in eu-wau-wau themselves.
One they shot on. That emotional relationship three people in an air-conditioned room. Punjab I found Tabu on the women’s loo door. Access was possible because many settlers see themselves as
you had with your machine was something else. Was there ever a thought to use scenes shot I sent her the photograph—she was vastly heroic pioneers, speaking in interviews to Pritz about opening
Cinematographers like V.K. Murthy and by the subjects in the film? amused. up the rainforest for the good of their nation—a heady mix of
K.K. Mahajan are referenced through the No, never. It was always meant to be a inti- “Wild West” cowboy culture borrowed from American movies,
film, even though they aren’t in it. mate conversation. In the film, they aren’t talk- Chhayaankan is screening on 18 August, 6.30 and nationalist propaganda stoked by Brazilian President Jair
Chhayaankan is also about the people who ing about specific scenes; it’s more emotional, pm, at India International Centre in Delhi. Bolsonaro.

A glorious celebration of Mumbai and its city museum

In a new book, objects
from Dr. Bhau Daji Lad
Museum are used to
M
narrate the multi-layered
history of Mumbai
Mumbai: A City Through
Objects — 101 Stories
from the Dr. Bhau Daji
Lad Museum: Edited by
Tasneem Zakaria Mehta;
372 pages, ₹2,999
Shreemayee Das
feedback@livemint.com
umbai has been the subject of so
much art and literature that you
might wonder if anything is left to
be said about it. From the books of Rohin-
ton Mistry to the cinema of Ram Gopal
Varma, the city lends itself to countless
portrayals and discussions. Is there
another exciting and unique way of look-
ing at it?
In Mumbai: A City Through Objects—101
Stories from the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad
Museum, editor Tasneem Zakaria Mehta
attempts to do just that. Mehta is no
stranger to the museum—she was
involved with the restoration project in
the 2000s.
The book was released to honour the
museum itself, the contributions of those
who were instrumental in its building,
and, of course, the artifacts that find a
home there. Originally called the Victoria
and Albert Museum, it opened in the 19th
century, and a massive restoration
project was undertaken in the early 21st
century. Through the history of the
museum, the book also aims to write the
city’s history.
“The idea of reading the history of the
city through the objects in the museum
was inspired by former director of the
The museum ceiling with Star of David, and a bust of David Sassoon
British Museum Neil MacGregor’s
remarkable book, A History of the World in
100 Objects,” says Mehta. “But we differ in
that we have tried to tell the story of not
only the city, but also the museum,
through the objects, albeit from a post-co-
lonial perspective.”
It is no mean task. Mumbai has a rich,
diverse and intense history, right from its
days of commercial power in the 1900s to
its cultural values today. Yet, the objects
described give us some sense of how the
city has grown and developed. The book
pays tribute to the people who live or have
moved here (Mumbai is the quintessential
immigrant city, after all), the diverse wild-
life, as well as the trade it has seen thanks
to being a port city.
The book shares maps and artwork to
show what Mumbai looked like in the
18th and 19th centuries—vastly different
from the bustling metropolis we now
know it to be. With each artefact is a
write-up sharing the piece’s history and
DR BHAU DAJI LAD MUSEUM
how it has changed since its inception.
The book also gives us a brief history of
Dr. Bhau Daji Lad, Juggannath Sunker-
sett, and George Birdwood, the men
behind the museum.
In light of various civic issues that we
talk about in context of a busy and
crowded metropolis, the anecdote about
Florence Nightingale being instrumen-
tal in ensuring the city had a hygienic
drainage system—despite never visiting
Bombay—becomes a fascinating one.
Other iconic individuals too find
mention, like Jewish leader David Sas-
soon, whose family owned textile mills,
and Parsi merchant Jamshetjee Jeejee-
bhoy.
Apart from this, the area’s natural his-
tory and the evolution of industrial arts
find space in the book, in addition to the
paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, early mod-
ern paintings, and contemporary art.
The final section of the book explores
those artists who have collaborated with
the museum to showcase their work,
including Nalini Malani, Sudarshan
Shetty, Atul Dodiya and Reena Kallat.
When some of the classical paintings
with religious undertones found in the
book are seen in the context of the con-
temporary artists showcased, it gives the
reader a fair idea of how the arts in India
have evolved over the centuries.
This book is a glorious celebration of
both the museum and the city. Each object
that is written about has a deep history,
and leaves you wanting to know and learn
more. While this book is a great way to get
readers to want to visit the museum, it also
sparks curiosity about the many-layered
tales of the city itself.
For more stories on culture and the arts,
visit www.lifestyle.livemint.com/howtol-
ounge
 KolKata, New deLHi, mumbAi, beNGALuru, cHeNNAi, AHmedAbAd, HyderAbAd, cHANdiGArH*, PuNe* VOL. 16 NO. 197

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 KOLKATA, New deLHi, mumbAi, beNGALuru, cHeNNAi, AHmedAbAd, HyderAbAd, cHANdiGArH*, PuNe* VOL. 16 NO. 197

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94 ThursdAy, 18 AugusT 2022
KolKATA
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Replacement of damaged sewer lines at various 46,10,784/-
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Replacement of old and damaged water lines 42,97,243/-
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Pocket-12 in Jasola vihar in Okhla Constituency AC- 17.08.2022 upto 3.00 PM
54 under EE(M)-54.
8 Replacement of sewer line from H.No. 145 to 190 in 46,10,201/- 2022_DJB_227777_8 29.08.2022
Pocket-12 Jasola vihar in Okhla Constituency AC-54 17.08.2022 upto 3.00 PM
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