MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HyDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE* VOL. 6 NO.

86

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

livemint.com

mint primer QUICK EDIT

Decoding rain Pursue

forecasts: a rural that deal
It’s indeed reassuring that talks
India poser between India and the UK over
a free trade agreement that has
been in the works have not
BY SAYANTAN BERA stalled. These negotiations are
The Met has predicted normal rains in the June-September monsoon “going on as we speak,” India’s
season—in spite of the likelihood of El Nino conditions developing by finance minister Nirmala
July, which usually negatively impacts rainfall. But private forecaster Sitharaman said at an event in
Skymet expects rains to be below normal. Mint takes a close look. Washington. Negotiations are
also underway with the EU and
Off the mark? Canada, she added. Earlier,
In four out of five previous years, actual rainfall during monsoon was there had been reports in some
beyond the forecast range. of the British media that India
Actual rainfall beyond
(% of long period IMD Skymet Actual forecast range had suspended trade talks,
or 50-year average) (error margin of +/-5%) demanding that UK authorities
2023 96 94 NA denounce the recent attack on
2022 99 98 106 Yes the Indian High Commission in
London by Khalistani flag
2021 98 103 99 No wavers. Had that been true, it
2020 100 100 109 Yes would have been unfortunate.
Such agreements are important
2019 96 93 110 Yes
to boost trade as new align-
2018 97 100 91 Yes ments take shape across the
Note: Comparisons based on first long range forecast of moonsoon issued in April, respective years
world. As far as possible, eco-
Source: IMD, Skymet nomic matters should not be
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT
mixed with other issues, espe-
What has the IMD How exact are these cially when it involves countries
1 forecast?
The India Meteorological
2 forecasts?
While IMD predicts a normal
with which we’ve generally had
warm relations. No doubt, Brit-
Department (IMD) has forecast the monsoon, Skymet expects rainfall ish law enforcers need to do bet-
June-September south-west to be below normal, at 94% of LPA ter in keeping mobs off the
monsoon to be normal, at 96% of (2 percentage points lower than premises of our diplomatic mis-
the long period or 50-year average IMD forecast). Rainfall is sion there. But commercial ties
(LPA). Monsoon is termed ‘normal’ considered to be below normal cannot be allowed to snap over
when rainfall is in the range of 96- when it is 90-95% of LPA. Both
a stray British failure on that
104% of LPA. If the forecast turns forecasts come with an error
out to be correct, 2023 will mark margin of +/-5% which means the front. In world affairs, we must
the fifth straight year of normal to actual numbers could well turn always keep what’s important in
excess rains. The forecast is a out to be short of normal. A focus. May our trade ties thrive.
major relief for rural India as comparison of forecasts by both Both countries will benefit.
nearly half of India’s kharif crop agencies shows that between 2018-
area which does not have assured 2022, in four out of five years, the
irrigation depends on monsoon predictions were off the mark,
rains. However, a lot will depend after accounting for the error
on rainfall distribution over time
and across regions since both are
margin. The situation will be clear
when IMD issues an updated
MINT METRIC
important factors for crop yields. forecast in May. by Bibek Debroy

In UK, when their owner died,

3 What about El Nino
conditions?
The IMD has said that El Nino conditions
In a shelter two dogs did reside.
are likely to develop by July which could
They were alcohol addicted,
mean lower rainfall in the second half of One passed away, severely afflicted.
the monsoon (August and September). El
Nino phenomenon refers to the warming
How this happened, tough to decide.
of the equatorial Pacific Ocean waters.
However, of the fifteen El Nino years
between 1951-2022, six witnessed normal
to above normal rains.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
The structural reforms
4 How critical is
monsoon to farming? 5
Over the years, Indian agriculture
Will there be an impact
on rural income?
Even in situations when food
approach has ensured that India
has become more resilient to sub- production is not severely affected,
remains a globally attractive
par rains. This is due to better profitability on the farm can take a destination for investment,
access to irrigation and use of hit. This is due to higher spending
electric or diesel water pumps. on providing irrigation, leading to
supported by the rising
Lower rains do not have any higher cultivation costs. This is domestic consumption of
significant impact in Punjab, particularly true of eastern UP,
Haryana and western Uttar Bihar and West Bengal where
the middle class...
Pradesh, India’s bread baskets. access to irrigation is poor. In
However, deficit rains in central Jharkhand and Bundelkhand
and western India can lead to deficit rains can cause distress
lower production of pulses and migration among marginal
oilseeds where India is dependent farmers and the landless. So, sub- NIRMALA
on imports. In 2018-19 when rains par rains can delay consumption SITHARAMAN
FINANCE MINISTER
fell short, food production did not recovery in rural India.
see any dip. sayantan.bera@livemint.com

STO C K TA L K DOWNLOAD THE

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GODREJ PROPERTIES KPR MILL
Godrej Properties In Q4FY23, we
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ever quarterly and segment to decline
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pletions led to record high collec- 293bps YoY, led by gross margin
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NUVAMA RESEARCH (ON 10 APRIL) ELARA SECURITIES (ON 11 APRIL)

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4.0% volume growth tion would be impor-
TARGET PRICE TARGET PRICE
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Q4FY22. We expect
₹508 tant catalysts, in our
view. If the produc-
CURRENT PRICE CURRENT PRICE
₹4,265 gross margins to ₹459.40 tion continues to
improve by 245 basis ramp up and profita-
points year-on-year to 40.5%. We also bility stays intact, JLR has the poten-
expect EBITDA margins to expand. tial to be net debt-free by FY25F.
PRABHUDAS LILLADHER (ON 11 APRIL) NOMURA (ON 10 APRIL)

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint.
 PLAIN FACTS

The district view of

India’s goods exports
By howINdIAlIvES.com

A
core component of the new foreign trade policy announced last month is the focus on districts as export hubs. The
aim is to promote exports at the district level and develop a so-called ‘grassroots trade ecosystem’. Thus, states and
districts have been asked to earmark products with export potential—realized or unrealized—and enable their expan-
sion. The objective is also to broaden the source base of India’s exports, which are currently lopsided.
Among states, Gujarat alone accounts for one-third of overall exports, followed by Maharashtra with 16% share. Both are
among the most industrialized states in India. The Centre first mooted a focus on districts to promote exports in 2019. Noting
that export promotion was previously entirely the Centre’s domain, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said: “…export
promotion activity had to be decentralized to boost local production and make districts active stakeholders in driving export
growth of local products/services.”
At the district level, exports are even more concentrated. The top 15 districts (out of 733) accounted for close to 50% of
total goods exports of ₹29.7 trillion for the 10-month period from April 2022 to January 2023. The biggest exporting district,
by a big margin, was Jamnagar in Gujarat, with a 16% share. Reliance Industries has its oil refinery in Jamnagar. With oil prices
rising sharply over the past year, Jamnagar’s share of exports has risen by 4 percentage points since 2021-22. Even adjusting
for Jamnagar, Gujarat is still one of the biggest exporters, though it then becomes comparable to Maharashtra.

Half of India's goods exports is from Reliance hub Jamnagar alone accounts for
Gujarat and Maharashtra 16% of exports
Share of India's goods exports in 2022-23 (%) Share of India's goods exports in 2022-23 (%)

33.3 Jamnagar (Gujarat) 15.9

Surat (Gujarat) 3.8

Mumbai Suburban (Maharashtra) 3.3

Mumbai (Maharashtra) 3.3
16 Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu) 2.9
Pune (Maharashtra) 2.8
Gautam Buddha Nagar (UP) 2.3
Bharuch (Gujarat) 2.3
9
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) 2.2

6.2 Kachchh (Gujarat) 2.1

4.9 Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka) 2
4.5
3.5 Bengaluru Urban (Karnataka) 1.8
2.9
2.5 2.4
Devbhumi Dwarka (Gujarat) 1.7
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) 1.4
Gujarat Tamil Uttar Haryana Telangana
Nadu Pradesh Visakhapatanam (AP) 1.3
Maharashtra Karnataka Andhra West Odisha
Pradesh Bengal Data for the 10-month period from April 2022 to January 2023.
Data for the 10-month period from April 2022 to January 2023. Source: Ministry of Commerce

Sectoral Plays The extent of concentration varies

across sectors
Top district by
WITHIN THE 21 broad sector categories (called ‘sections’), the Sector export share Share (%)
extent to which exports are dispersed across the country can vary Mineral products Jamnagar, Gujarat 65.9
sharply. At one end is animals and animal products, where West
Pearls, precious metals Surat, Gujarat 35.6
Godavari in Andhra Pradesh is the top-exporting district with a
share of only 7.6% in all-India exports in the sector. At the other Chemicals and allied Bharuch, Gujarat 11
extreme is Delhi, which accounts for almost all exports of arts and Machinery Gautam Buddha Nagar, UP 17.4
antiques from India. Base metals, iron & steel Jharsuguda, Odisha 16.6
Other sectors where production is more widely dispersed, with Vehicles, aircraft, etc Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu 16.4
the top-exporting district having an export share of less than 15%, Vegetable products Karnal, Haryana 11.6
are prepared foods and beverages (led by Kachchh in Gujarat), Textiles Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu 21.2
wood pulp and paper (Morbi, Gujarat), chemicals and chemical
products (Bharuch, Gujarat) and vegetable products (Karnal, Animals, animal products West Godavari, AP 7.6
Prepared foods &
Haryana).There are nine sectors where the share of the top- beverages, tobacco Kachchh, Gujarat 8.9
exporting district exceeds 35%. This includes the two sectors that Graphic shows top 10 sectors (out of 21) for the 10-month period from April
2022 to January 2023, arranged in descending order of exports. Sectors are
lead India’s exports, namely mineral products (Jamnagar, based on sections within the ITC (HS) product classification.
Gujarat) and pearls and precious metals (Surat, Gujarat). Source: Ministry of Commerce

In 36 of 91 categories, the top district's

share exceeds 50%
Export Clusters
Number of product categories by export share THROUGH THE district-level export data, it is also possible to
of top district (total: 91) identify export clusters, where a single district accounts for a bulk
31 of exports within 91 narrower product groups. There are only 24
product groups where the share of the top district was less than
24 25% in 2022-23 (April 2022 to January 2023). There are six
product groups where a single district accounted for 100% of
20
exports in 2022-23: clocks and watches (South District, Sikkim),
cocoa (Darrang, Assam), furskins and artificial fur (Farrukhabad,
Uttar Pradesh), musical instruments (Barpeta, Assam), umbrellas
10
(Kalahandi, Odisha), and arts and antiques (New Delhi, Delhi).
6 A 2021 report by the Institute for Competitiveness and the Niti
Aayog had noted that “only 24 states had a valid export
promotion policy. However, not all states have a district export
Below 25% 25-50% 50-75% 75-99% 100%
Data based on ITC (HS) two digit sector code. Data for the 10-month period
action plan”. Recent policy moves nudge states to form a district
from April 2022 to January 2023. export promotion committee to examine each district’s export
Source: Ministry of Commerce performance, potential and roadblocks.

Regional Shifts Copper products has seen big district

shifts in just a year
WHILE CERTAIN districts and states dominate some sectors, Change in export share of copper products (2023-24 vs 2022-23)
(percentage points)
like oil refineries and precious metals, there are also shifts. A case Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu
in point is copper products. In 2021-22, Bharuch in Gujarat Dadra & Nagar Haveli
accounted for 66% of the sector’s exports of about ₹8,000 crore. Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Medak, Telangana
In 2022-23 (till January), the sector registered exports of ₹2,300 Kota, Rajasthan
crore and nothing from Bharuch. Districts that gained share were Arvalli, Gujarat
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
as wide apart as Thiruvallur in Tamil Nadu, Moradabad in Uttar East, Delhi
Pradesh, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Rajsamand, Rajasthan
Sikar, Rajasthan
Similarly, in tanning, dyeing and pigments, the centre of Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh
exports within Gujarat range from Vadodara and Valsad to Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan
Chittorgarh, Rajasthan
Ahmedabad. A formal district lens and reporting structures can Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh
nurture new possibilities. While it’s still early days for this district Dhar, Madhya Pradesh
Bharuch, Gujarat
focus, the years ahead will shed light on its ability to enable -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20
districts to unlock and maintain export performance. Data based on ITC (HS) two digit sector code 74. Data for 2022-23
www.howindialives.com is a database and search engine for for the 10-month period from April 2022 to January 2023.
public data. Source: Ministry of Commerce
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT

PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz

 MuMBAI, NEw DELHI, BENGALURU, kOLkATA, cHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, cHANDIGARH*, PUNE* VOL. 6 NO. 86 Rs. 10.00 16 PAGES

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

How Patanjali and pandemic Vedanta in talks with Farallon

livemint.com reshaped Dabur uP10 to raise $1 bn uP5

SENSEX 60,157.72 311.21 NIFTY 17,722.30 98.25 DOLLAR ₹82.13 ₹0.14 EURO ₹89.62 ₹0.21 OIL $84.13 $0.05 GOLD ₹60,100 ₹49.0

IMD sees normal Prudent for global

biz to diversify
Retail rushed
to buy Adani
DON’T MISS

stocks as
rainfall this season supply chains: FM funds sold
Anirudh Laskar &
Positive Indian Ocean Dipole likely to offset El Nino: forecaster Gireesh Chandra Prasad Mayur Bhalerao
gireesh.p@livemint.com
NEw DELHI MUMBAI IMF lowers India’s growth
Puja Das & Gireesh Chandra Prasad projection for FY24 to 5.9%
SIgH oF relIeF
F D
puja.das@livemint.com inance minister Nirmala espite the controversies The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on
NEw DELHI Sitharaman on Tuesday surrounding the Adani Tuesday lowered India’s economic growth
The monsoon rainfall is expected to total 96% of the long-term average
said it is prudent for group, retail investors projection for the current fiscal to 5.9% from

I
ndia Meteorological Depart-
ment (IMD) predicted a normal
monsoon this year, offering hope
to millions of farmers a day after
private forecaster Skymet
warned of below-normal rainfall fol-
lowing the development of the El
Nino weather pattern linked to
droughts.
The government forecaster said a
positive Indian Ocean Dipole and
lower northern hemisphere snow
cover would likely counter the
effects of the El Niño condition.
The southwest monsoon, which
usually hits the southern tip of Ker-
ala around 1 June and retreats in Sep-
tember, is expected to total 96% of
the long-term average this year with
an error margin of 5%, M. Ravichan-
dran, secretary at the ministry of
earth sciences, told reporters on
Tuesday.
The long-term average (LPA) of
rainfall is the precipitation recorded
over a particular region for a given
interval (like a month or season)
average over a long period like 30
years or 50 years, according to the
IMD definition.
IMD’s prediction comes as a relief
to farmers across the country, who
this year with an error margin of 5% 6.1% it had estimated earlier. Yet India will
global businesses to spread out once again demonstrated their
Skymet and IMD first predictions versus actual rainfall over the years continue to be the fastest-growing
their supply chains rather than appetite for risk by buying
Skymet first forecast IMD first forecast Actual rainfall economy in the world.
120
concentrating them in one shares worth at least $3.1 billion
place, pitching India as an of the embattled group during
100 attractive alternative as China the March quarter, following Brand India label to push
emerges from prolonged pan- short-seller Hindenburg domestic steel products
80 demic curbs. Research’s report alleging
The government plans to introduce a ‘Brand
Speaking at the Peterson Nirmala Sitharaman, Union fraud and stock manipulation India’ label for steel products made in India
60
Institute for International finance minister AFP in January. under strict quality control. Steel minister
40 Economics in Washington DC, The surge in interest saw as Jyotiraditya Scindia said these products will
Sitharaman said that however be the best in terms of the skill many as 2.25 million public set new benchmarks for credibility and
20 much one would think that sets that Indians, particularly shareholders buying shares of quality. >P2
NA** NA** supply chains would move out the youth, have,” Sitharaman Adani group companies,
0 of China, that would not be the said. despite a collapse in share pri-
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Investors pump ₹31,000 crore in
case. The minister said at the ces, suggesting they were hop-
NOTE: All figures are as per cent of Long Period Average (LPA). All the forecasts
are with a model error of plus and minus 4 or 5%., **Not available A combination of China and event that people in the age ing to make a quick buck on a
a week into debt mutual funds
Source: Skymet, IMD
others could be a realistic solu- group of 15-29 years constitute potential rebound as mutual Investors pumped in a whopping ₹31,179
WEATHER BETS tion, the minister said. “Even nearly 27% of India’s popula- funds and other institutions crore into debt mutual funds (MFs) in the
as China is opening up again tion. So, there is every reason dumped the shares. Regard- week ended 31 March, as they tried to take
A normal monsoon BountIFul rain will SkYMet, on Monday, advantage of long-term capital gains tax and
could give a boost to also help hike crop said it expects a after the zero-tolerance policy for global businesses to come less, Adani stocks did recover indexation benefits for the last time before
farm incomes output, cool inflation below-normal rainfall and everything, I would still and invest and also tap a cap- some of their lost value towards they got withdrawn from 1 April. >P5
think there would be a lot of tive domestic market, the min- the end of the quarter.
investment interest and man- ister said. Sitharaman also said Data from exchanges
depend heavily on monsoon rain for rainfall as ranging between 96% and ufacturing interest going back that some other South East showed that new retail inves- Cars above ₹1.5 crore account
irrigation. A normal monsoon could 104% of a 50-year average of 87 cm to China or restoring them- Asian countries may also be tors, totalling at least 1.1 million, for 25% of Merc’s sales in India
help boost farm incomes and sup- (35 inches) for the four-month sea- selves in China. So, it would be pitching for investments. invested in shares worth at least Almost one in four Mercedes Benz cars sold
port economic growth. Bountiful son. According to the first forecast of unrealistic to think everything “It just sends a very strong $1.8 billion across the Adani in India has been a top-end model, led by
rain will also help increase crop out- IMD on monsoon 2023, some will get out of China. But yet, message that the world did not group’s nine core companies in AMG, the high-performance arm of the
put and lower food prices, support- regions of northwest India and parts the shock that had happened notice or did not choose ear- the March quarter. The carmaker. Merc will launch two more AMGs
ing the government’s efforts to curb of west-central states and some in terms of supply chain justi- lier. That is, spreading your remaining 1 million sharehold- within a year, as it seeks to shift focus away
inflation. fies more than one location from volumes to high-value models. >P5
IMD defines average, or normal, TURN TO PAGE 6 and countries like India would TURN TO PAGE 6 TURN TO PAGE 6

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02 WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi ECONOMY & POLICY LIVEMINT.COM

m MINT SHORTS
Govt employees entitled to annual
Brand India label for quality India, Italy
to sign
increment till retirement
New Delhi: The Supreme Court held that government employees
are entitled to an annual increment even if they retire a day after
earning the financial benefit.The significant verdict came on an
domestic steel products soon defence
pact in May
appeal of the state government-owned Karnataka Power Trans-
mission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) challenging the judgment of a Shashank Mattoo
division bench of the Karnataka High Court that employees were shashank.mattoo@livemint.com
entitled to annual increment even if they are to superannuate the Products to set benchmarks for credibility and quality, strengthen domestic manufacturing
I
very next day of earning the benefit. PTI ndia and Italy plan to sign a
defence agreement next
Subhash Narayan engaging with stakeholders from the month with the intention of
Centre announces quality subhash.narayan@livemint.com steel industry and the government deepening cooperation, two
departments and ministries—such as people aware of the matter said.
control orders for 31 items NEW DELHI
environment, forests and climate The agreement is expected to

T
he government plans to boost change, power, Bureau of Energy Effi- make it easier for officials to
the reputation of Indian- ciency, new and renewable energy, and coordinate on security matters
made products by introduc- NITI Aayog—to work out a strategy to and smoothen the path for Ital-
ing a ‘Brand India’ label for decarbonize Indian steel. ian defence firms looking to
steel products that will be In line with India’s global commit- enter India. New Delhi and
manufactured under strict quality con- ments, Scindia said 13 key components Rome are currently discussing
trol. have been identified as levers for the low a possible visit by defence min-
Steel minister Jyotiraditya Scindia carbon transition of the steel sector. ister Rajnath Singh to Italy in
said these products will set new bench- A task force has been constituted with May for signing the agreement.
marks for credibility and quality and the involvement of experts and industry Alternatively, a visit by Italian
strengthen domestic manufacturing in to discuss, deliberate and brainstorm defence minister Guido Cro-
line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initia- over each of the components and to setto to New Delhi is also being
tive. come up with actionable points. considered.
New Delhi: The ministry of textiles announced Quality Con- Only products made to the standards Scindia said that after the success of Queries sent to the Indian and
trol Orders (QCOs) for 31 items, comprising 19 geo textiles and of 13 sector-specific metrics formulated By 2030-31, the operational capacity of crude steel production of SAIL will rise the PLI scheme for specialized steel, Italian foreign ministries
12 protective textiles, following due process of notification of by the government and industry would from existing 19.51 million tonnes per annum to around 35.65 MTPA. MINT where MoUs for 57 applications from 27 remained unanswered at press
technical regulations. These orders mark the first technical reg- get the Brand India label. companies were signed on 17 March, a time. The purpose of the agree-
ulation from India for the technical textiles industry, said Rajeev These metrics cover the production teria and QR code components for steel both in domestic and global markets. new PLI 2.0 is being considered by the ment is to strengthen coordina-
Saxena, joint secretary, ministry of textiles. SAURAV ANAND process, location, product design and manufacturers,” Scindia said. “The ministry of steel has invited steel ministry. This may be launched tion on defence issues, which is
quality standards for steel products. He said state-owned SAIL and private other Indian steel plants to participate in after consultation with stakeholders to in line with Italy’s desire to
“Since August 2022, the ministry of sector producer Jindal Stainless Ltd will branding their steel products under the finalize the products and categories to “reboot” its security ties with
New data protection bill to be steel, in collaboration with the Depart- soon initiate a pilot to manufacture ‘Made in India’ label scheme. QCI is be covered under the scheme. India. Italy also hopes to secure
ment for Promotion of facilitating the smooth The government is looking to a larger foothold for its defence
tabled in Monsoon session Industry and Internal BRANDING STEEL onboarding of these steel strengthen the steel sector in order to firms involved in the Indian
New Delhi: The Centre told the Supreme Court that a new data pro- Trade (DPIIT) and QCI plants,” the steel minister boost production that will be required to market. “Not only are major Ital-
tection bill is ready and will be introduced in the Monsoon session of (Quality Council of India) GOVT proposes to TO integrate tech CENTRE is engaging said. meet rapidly growing domestic demand ian companies involved but also
Parliament in July, as the apex court heard a matter related to privacy has been working on a rope in local steel
manufacturers to
platforms of SAIL &
JSL with the label,
with stakeholders to
work out a strategy
In order to integrate the and facilitate infrastructure develop- innovative small and medium
concerns of social media users. Attorney General R. Venkataramani framework to showcase start promoting QCI team visited to decarbonize technology platforms of ment. As per steel ministry’s estimates, Italian firms. The range of feasi-
told a Constitution bench headed by Justice K.M. Joseph the bill will the strength of the Indian Brand India steel their plants. Indian steel SAIL and JSL with the by 2030-31, the operational capacity of ble technologies and products is
address all the concerns raised in the present petitions. PTI steel industry by leverag- ‘Made in India’ label, the crude steel production of SAIL will rise wide, from torpedoes to UAVs,
ing the ‘Made in India’ QCI team visited the JSL from existing 19.51 million tonnes per from flight control systems to
label on steel products in both domestic these world-class steel products. Hisar plant and the Bokaro plant of annum to around 35.65 MTPA. electronic equipment for
Pak condemns India’s decision and export markets. As part of this effort, Once the pilot is complete, the gov- SAIL. Both SAIL and JSL have now been SAIL has already achieved an all-time defence, from vessels and ship-
stakeholder consultations were con- ernment proposes to rope in all local successfully integrated with the Made in best annual production in FY 2022-23 of building to aircraft,” Italian
to hold G20 meetings in Kashmir ducted with leading Indian steel plants steel manufacturers to join the initiative India platform. Apart from branding the 19.4 million tonnes of hot metal and 18.2 ambassador to India said in an
to draw a consensus on the scheme cri- and start promoting Brand India steel steel industry, the ministry of steel is also MT crude steel. interview to Mint.

Tax dept issues new ‘Study on covid vaccines’ efficacy soon’

cost inflation index
Gireesh Chandra Prasad
Priyanka Sharma
priyanka.sharma@livemint.com
with almost 75% prevalence in grammes. However, many
total cases. Surely, it will not be studies have proven that vacci-
NEW DELHI as bad as we saw in Delta nes cannot prevent infection
CII is calculated using the infla- because Omicron is mild and but reduce the severity and

T
gireesh.p@livemint.com tion rate. If the holding period he National Institute of most cases are asymptomatic. hospitalization and mortality
Islamabad: Pakistan expressed its “strong indignation” over of certain assets exceeds a cer- Virology (NIV Pune) But from a public health per- due to covid-19. Viruses have

T
India’s decision to hold the G20 Tourism Working Group he Central Board of tain period, the assets can be plans to conduct a study spective, yes there is alarm, the propensity to mutate, and
meeting in Jammu and Kashmir next month, terming it a Direct Taxes has notified classified as long-term assets, to determine the efficacy of and we follow safe practices some of these alterations may
“self-serving move”. India assumed the year-long presidency the new cost inflation and the assessee can claim the vaccines with covid variants. including the use of masks, be more likely to evade the
of the G20 in December last year and aims to host a leaders’ index for the purchase price of benefit of inflation rises via the The study will find out why hand hygiene and physical dis- immune response generated
summit in New Delhi in early September. The G20 is an long-term capital assets, bene- inflation index,” explained Om people have been contracting tancing as much as possible. by vaccination or natural
important forum of the world’s 20 major developed and fiting those who have to pay tax Rajpurohit, joint partner (cor- covid even after taking booster What is the situation in infections but immunization
developing economies. PTI on capital gains. porate and international tax) shots , said Pragya Yadav, the other countries? would still protect from deaths
A CBDT order said the provi- with AMRG & Associates, an NIV scientist who isolated the XBB.1.16 is now spreading and severity.

‘
sional CII for FY24 is 348, as accounting firm. CII is linked to first SARS-CoV2 virus in 2020. covid surge in the country? gradually in about 28 Is NIV doing any study to
TOEFL to be shortened by an hour against 331 for FY23, making consumer price index based Asked if there’s a need for a There was a lot of concern countries. understand
computation of capital gain inflation. For now, the inflation 4th dose, Yadav said in an when last year Omicron According to the immune
from July, offer real-time score more in tune with index has been interview, “Before we talk emerged, and everybody was the data that Many studies have e s c a p e
New Delhi: The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) general inflation. According to a notified on a pro- about 4th dose, we should in a panic. Gradually, many is currently proven that vaccines response of
will now take less than two hours to complete instead of three Inflation index- CBDT order, the visional basis, and enhance coverage of 3rd pre- Omicron variants appeared a c c e s s i b l e , can’t prevent infection the vaccine?
hours and the candidates will be able to see their official score ing is allowed for provisional cost it may be said that cautionary dose to enhance which other countries although The vac-
release date upon completion of the test, according to the Educa- long-term capital inflation index for it is rising faster the immune response.” reported too. Fortunately, there has but reduce the cine neutral-
tional Testing Services (ETS). The changes will be effective from assets like prop- compared to last Only about 228.7 million India did not suffer any major been increase hospitalization and izing study is
FY24 is 348, as
26 July. The test is accepted by more than 11,500 universities and erty and shares. year, said Amit Indians have received the surge. Currently, we have in cases from mortality due to covid now being
other institutions in over 160 countries, including the US, the UK, These assets are against 331 for Maheshwari, tax third dose—the more than 5% to 7% in planned in
FY23 Pragya Yadav
Canada and Australia. PTI reported in the partner at AKM booster shot— INTERVIEW
m 37,000 active the US, the Scientist, NIV
order to com-
books of taxpay- Global, a tax and so far. cases. It is time virus XBB.1.15 prehend the
ers at historical consulting firm. Discussing for everyone to still domi- vaccine
Finance ministry exempts CBSE cost or cost of acquisition. Due “The reason for notifying the the present testing strategy, be on alert and take precau- nates most of the country. response.
to the effect of inflation, the gap same provisionally may be due Yadav said the government tions. When XBB variant, a Whereas it has been shown in Deaths are being reported.
from paying income tax between purchase price and to the payment of advance tax should increase the number of recombinant variant of Omi- the past that dominant vari- Are they a cause of worry?
New Delhi: The finance ministry has exempted the Central Board sale price could get inflated. instalment which is due on or samples taken for genome sur- cron emerged with two of the ants replicate more quickly, It’s time to monitor these
of Secondary Education (CBSE) from paying income tax on earn- Inflation indexing offers relief before 15 June. Taxpayers will veillance. At the moment, only variants—BA.2.75 and XBB.1.16 has the benefit of cases and analyse the data
ings from examination fees, sale of text books and publications, to taxpayers from the effect of have a tentative idea by then to 5% of samples are taken for BA.2.10.1—there was a concern 1.5-fold transmission over properly. The majority of
besides others. The income tax exemption has been given retro- price rise. calculate the advance tax on the genome surveillance which that cases would go up. How- other variants due to its higher these fatalities affect the eld-
spectively from the financial year 2020-2021 (for the period from “The cost inflation index capital gains assuming the final she said is inadequate to deter- ever, cases did not go up with R0 number. erly and those who are either
1 June 2020 to 31 March 2021) and for fiscal year 2021-22 and serves as the foundation for cal- index is notified somewhere mine the genome in circula- emerging XBB.1.15 variant like India has hybrid immunity unvaccinated or have con-
2022-23. The exemption will continue in the current fiscal and the culating long-term capital after 15 June,” said Mahesh- tion. Edited excerpts: other countries. In India, cur- due to natural infections and comitant illnesses along with
next financial year (2024-25). PTI gains on stocks and real estate. wari. How do you see the present rently XBB.1.16 is in circulation excellent vaccine pro- covid-19.

Opec+ output cut may lead to higher oil prices, push up import bill: IEA CORRECTIONS AND
CLARIFICATIONS
A chart accompanying the 10
PTI After a bilateral meeting with ments. such, we require strong oil and Russian oil is being sold at a April Long Story, ‘The cold
feedback@livemint.com commerce and industry minis- India is the world’s third- electricity demand,” he said. discount to international reality about India’s middle
PARIS ter Piyush Goyal, Birol said, largest oil-importing and con- On Russia’s invasion of benchmarks because some class’, should have implied that
4.6% households in India
“The cut of the additional pro- suming nation. It meets 85% of Ukraine, the IEA chief said the western nations have stopped
owned either a two-wheeler or

T
he International Energy
Agency (IEA) on Tuesday
termed the decision of
Opec+ to cut oil production as
“risky for the global economy”,
saying it may push up already
high prices, leading to higher
import bills for nations like
India.
Global oil markets were
already set to tighten in the sec-
ond half of 2023, with the
potential for a substantial sup-
ply deficit to emerge, said Fatih
Birol, head of the Paris-based
energy watchdog.
duction would mean that we
have all the reasons to believe
that there could be an upward
pressure on the prices.”
“At this juncture of time
when the global economy is
still very fragile and many
emerging countries have diffi-
culties with economic per-
formance, I found this decision
risky for the global economy,”
he noted.
Goyal is here to meet his
counterpart and French CEOs
to promote trade and invest-
ments between the two coun-
oil needs through imports.
It spent $118 billion on oil
imports in the first 11 months of
the 2022-23 fiscal.
Birol said India’s economy is
strong and continues to be
stronger.
“We expect the Indian econ-
omy will soon be the third larg-
Higher oil prices will translate into inflationary pressure on other est economy of the world and
commodities. MINT the growing economy needs...
we do revise our numbers all
tries. will also lead to a larger import the time but I expect that the
Higher oil prices will not just bill for nations like India, which Indian economy will still be
translate into inflationary pres- are dependent on overseas strong this year, one of the
sure on other commodities but supplies to meet their require- strongest in the world. And as
war has led to a big push for
clean energy solutions.
Asked about the impact of
sanctions on Russia, he said the
objective of reducing Russian
oil revenue has been achieved.
“Our numbers show that in
one year since 24 February,
when the war started, the Rus-
sian oil and gas export revenues
declined, dropping by 60%. If
we consider that the oil and gas
export revenues are a very
important input for the Russian
budget, it is a major challenge
for the Russian economy.”
buying it and their insurance
companies are no longer pro-
viding cover for ships carrying
such oil.
India is one of the countries,
which utilised the opportunity
to buy discount oil to cut its
import bill.
The IEA head said India was
doing this in a transparent way
and within the international
rules and regulations. “And
India is profiting by...importing
of crude at a lower discounted
price than the others. This is
definitely a legitimate step.”
four-wheeler, and a mobile, TV
and computer in 2011, as
against 7.9% households in
2019-20. The error is regretted.
Mint welcomes comments,
suggestions or complaints
about errors. Readers can alert
the newsroom to any errors in
the paper by emailing us, with
your full name and address to
feedback@livemint.com.
Mint’s journalistic Code of
Conduct that governs our
newsroom is available at
www.livemint.com

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First published in February 2007 to serve as an unbiased and clear-minded chronicler of the Indian Dream.

SRUTHIJITH KURUPICHANKANDY (EDITOR); PUBLISHED/PRINTED BY MANHAR KAPOOR ON BEHALF OF HT MEDIA LTD, 9th Floor, Tower 3, Indiabulls Finance Centre, Senapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone Road (West), Mumbai-400013
Printed at HT Media Ltd. Press at Plot No. 6, TTC Industrial Area, Thane - Belapur Road, Navi Mumbai - 400 708.
RNI Registration MAHENG/2018/76720; Mint welcomes readers’ responses to all articles and editorials. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. Send in your views to the editor at letters@livemint.com. ©2023 HT Media Ltd All Rights Reserved
LIVEMINT.COM DEALS, TECH & STARTUPS WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi 03

m MINT SHORTS
Carlyle-backed VLCC hires former
UGRO Capital plans to Ex-ChrysCapital
MD floats food
Nykaa SuperStore chief executive
New Delhi: Former Nykaa SuperStore chief executive officer
Vikas Gupta has been appointed as CEO of beauty and skincare
brand VLCC with immediate effect.The announcement comes
raise ₹341 crore equity startup Notto Sin
after Carlyle, a global investment firm, announced a strategic Anuj Suvarna
partnership with VLCC through the acquisition of majority stake Anuj.s@livemint.com
in the company in December 2022. STAFF WRITER BENGALURU
₹240 crore from govt of Denmark’s impact fund; ₹101 crore through QIP
S
enior investment profes-
Alibaba to roll out generative AI sional Ashish Agrawal
Malvika Maloo has quit private equity
across apps, Beijing flags rules malvika.maloo@livemint.com firm ChrysCapital and has
AP
BENGALURU taken the leap into entrepre-
neurship by floating his own

F
intech platform UGRO Capital food startup.
Ltd, which is focused on micro, Agrawal, who was managing
small and medium enterprises director at ChrysCapital, said
(MSMEs), will raise ₹341 crore in he has moved on from the PE
equity, the company said on firm to start Notto Sin.
Tuesday. “I am in the process of Ashish Agrawal said he is in the
The board of the Mumbai-based listed launching a consumer brand process of launching a
fintech firm, backed by TPG NewQuest, in the packaged snacking consumer brand in the
approved a preferential allotment of space with a vision to enable packaged snacking space
shares worth ₹240 crore to the govern- youngsters to remove the guilt
ment of Denmark’s Investment Fund for whilst experiencing the joy of an investment professional.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Tuesday showed off its gen- Developing Countries IFU (Investerings- consuming indulgent food,“ Several other PE and venture
erative AI model—its version of the tech that powers chat- fonden for Udviklingslande). he said in a LinkedIn post. capital executives in India
bot sensation ChatGPT—and said it would be integrated IFU, an impact investor supporting sus- He added, “I got the oppor- have previously taken the
into all of the company’s apps . The unveiling, which came tainable development in developing tunity to work alongside many plunge and started their own
on the heels of the launch of a slew of new AI products by countries, will buy 15.3 million shares of amazing entrepreneurs and startups in the consumer sec-
SenseTime this week, was swiftly followed by the govern- UGRO at ₹157.50 apiece through its Dan- witness the growth of tor. These investors
ment’s publication of draft rules outlining how generative ish Sustainable Devel- multiple portfolio used their experi-
AI services should be managed. REUTERS opment Goals Invest- companies over the ence and networks
ment Fund K/S. Shachindra Nath, managing director, UGRO Capital. years. The passion gained through
The fundraising, and excitement of these pro- investing to launch and grow
South Korea fines Google $32 mn however, is subject to regulatory and “We intend to gain 1% market share Ltd in 2016, after acquiring non-banking moters has had a huge rub-off their own ventures.
shareholder approvals. Simultaneously, with 1 million small businesses—it has finance company Chokhani Securities and effect on me. There has been For instance, Manish Tan-
for blocking games for rivals UGRO will raise up to ₹101 crore through been our endeavour to change the lives of merging another lending firm with it. an urge to jump to the other eja, previously a principal at
South Korea’s antitrust regulator has fined Alphabet Inc’s Google Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), small businesses, and having a global The company operates on an omnichan- side for some time and now I SAIF Partners, co-founded
42.1 billion won ($31.88 million) for blocking the release of mobile which allows an Indian-listed company to development financial institution like IFU nel distribution model with a physical and have finally decided to take the Purplle, an e-commerce plat-
video games on a competitor’s platform.The Korea Fair Trade raise funds from domestic markets with- as a partner would help us achieve our digital presence. It uses Goods and Services plunge.” form for beauty
Commission (KFTC) said Google bolstered its market domi- out submitting any pre-issue filings to mission,” said Shachindra Nath, Manag- Tax, banking and bureau data with sectoral Agrawal was Several other products. Sameer
nance, and hurt local app market One Store’s revenue and value regulators. The company’s analysis to provide capital the investment PE and VC Maheshwari, who
as a platform, by requiring video game makers to exclusively board approved the fundrais- ImpACTFUL INVESTmENTS access to small businesses. lead in financial executives have worked as an
release their titles on Google Play in exchange for providing ing on Monday at a floor price UGRO, which also has services and con- previously taken investment pro-
in-app exposure between June 2016 and April 2018. REUTERS of ₹149.54 per share, according UGRO board has ATIVIR alternate UGRO Capital will private equity firms ADV sumer sectors fessional at
the plunge and
to a separate filing with the okayed the
fundraising at a floor
Investment Funds,
SBI Life, among
use the capital to
fuel growth,
Partners and IndGrowth as during his tenure Sequoia Capital
exchange. backers, raised $5 million via at ChrysCapital. started their and Bessemer
price of ₹149.54 per others, are likely to primarily for onward
Ethereum upgrade to unlock over Ativir alternative investment share participate in issue lending to MSMEs external commercial bor- He deployed own startups Venture Partners,
fund, SBI Life, SBI General, rowings (ECB) from Liech- over $1 billion co-founded
$33 billion of ether coins this week GoDigit and Chattisgarh tenstein-based EMF Micro- across 20 invest- HealthKart, an
Investors are finally set to gain access to more than $33 billion of Investment Trust are likely to participate ing Director, UGRO Capital. The firm has finance Fund, AgmvK, in October. ments, including in Axis Bank, e-commerce platform for
ether this week under a planned revamp of the blockchain. A new in the issue, which opened on 11 April and ₹6,000 crore in assets under manage- In February 2022, it raised ₹138 crore AU Small Finance Bank, Hero health and wellness products.
software upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain, dubbed Shapella, closes on 13 April 2023, according to a per- ment, with a monthly disbursement of ($18.5 million) as its first impact-focused Fincorp, National Stock Ankit Oberoi, formerly an
will let market players redeem their “staked ether”—coins they son close to the development. over ₹500 crore as of March 2023. debt capital from Swiss firm ResponsAbil- Exchange, and Wow Skincare. associate at Accel, founded
have deposited and locked up on the network over the past three The company will use the capital to fuel UGRO Capital was founded by Sha- ity in the form of dollar-denominated Agrawal joins the list of AdPushup, a platform that
years in return for interest. About 15% of all ether is staked, total- growth, primarily for onward lending to chindra Nath, who quit as group chief ECBs worth ₹31 crore and rupee-denomi- investors who put on the helps publishers optimize
ing $33.73 billion in market value. REUTERS MSMEs, it said in an exchange filing. executive officer at Religare Enterprises nated NCDs amounting to ₹107 crore. entrepreneur hat after being their ad revenue.

Goldman tops India investment BankBazaar.com to go public Blackstone global

banking fees with $20.2 million real estate fund PTI
feedback@livemint.com

Anuj Suvarna
Anuj.s@livemint.com
NEW DELHI F raises $30 billion
ing fees reached $50 million,
up 15% from a year ago, making
it the highest first-quarter fee
intech firm BankBa-
zaar.com on Tuesday said
it plans to go public in the
total since 2021. next 12-18 months. Beena Parmar

I
nvestment banking activi- Meanwhile, debt capital The company had a net rev- beena.parmar@livemint.com
ties in India generated market (DCM) underwriting enue of ₹160 crore in FY23. MUMBAI
$261.5 million during the fees totalled $71.4 million, up The initial public offering

first quarter of 2023, a 2%
increase from the same period
last year and the highest start
to a year since 2021, according
to Refinitiv, a unit of the Lon-
don Stock Exchange Group.
Goldman Sachs took top
position for overall investment
banking fees in India, account-
ing for 7.7% share of India’s
investment banking fee pool,
with a total of $20.2 million.
Equity capital markets
(ECM) raised $5.3 billion dur-
ing the quarter, up
42.4% from a year
ago, marking the
highest first quarter
by proceeds since the start of
2021. The number of ECM
offerings grew by 50.9% year-
on-year.
The industrials sector
accounted for majority of ECM
I-banking activities in India
generated $261.5 mn during
the first quarter of 2023. ISTOCK
activity, with 36.1% market
share worth $1.9 billion in pro-
ceeds, a significant increase
from a year ago. Materials cap-
tured a 14% market
share, followed by
retail and energy &
power with 11.3% and
10.8% shares, respectively.
Jefferies LLC led the rank-
ing for India’s ECM underwrit-
ing, with $1.87 billion in
related proceeds and 35.5%
market share.ECM underwrit-
22% from a year ago. Syndi-
cated lending fees also grew by
86% from the comparable
period last year, and generated
$59.6 million in the first quar-
ter of 2023.
Completed M&A advisory
fees fell 35% year-on-year and
totalled $80.5 million.
Although the number of ini-
tial public offerings (IPOs)
from Indian issuers saw a
35.7% increase year-on-year,
the proceeds from these offer-
ings were down 86.7% from a
year ago, raising only $142.8
million during the first quarter
of 2023. Follow-on offerings,
which accounted for 97% of
India’s overall ECM proceeds,
raised $5.1 billion, up 95.0%
from a year ago, while the
number of follow-on offerings
grew by 68.0% year-on-year.
(IPO) plans are in progress
with an aim to list in 12-18
months, co-branded credit
card issuer BankBazaar.com
said in a statement.
Prior to the IPO, BankBa-
zaar is planning to raise a
round of capital and has
appointed ICICI Securities to
advise it on the same.
The company grew its net
revenue for FY23 by 60% over
FY22 on the back of a 60%
growth in its credit card issu-
ances.
The growth was driven by
its completely paperless and
contactless offering of digital-
first, co-brand credit cards in
partnership with leading
banks that enable consumers
to track and improve their
credit score, earn rich digital
rewards, and access hundreds
Adhil Shetty, co-founder and CEO, BankBazaar.com.
of no-cost EMIs every month,
BankBazaar.com said.
Adhil Shetty, co-founder
and CEO of BankBazaar.com,
said riding on a 60% growth
momentum in FY23 while
narrowing the adjusted
EBITDA burn to ₹20 crore, the
company is well positioned to
accelerate the revenue growth
rate further in FY24 while tar-
geting full-year EBITDA prof-
itability.
“This strategy for profitable
and sustainable growth has
been in the works for over
three years. We’ve built a
co-branded portfolio of digital
products with proven cus-
tomer traction, which has cre-
ated sustainable revenue while
improving margins,” he said.
EBITDA refers to earnings
before interest, taxes, depreci-
ation and amortisation.
India’s retail credit outlook
continues to look strong and
was up 20.4% year-on-year in
January, according to RBI
data.
G
lobal alternative asset
manager Blackstone
Inc on Tuesday
announced it has raised $30.4
billion for its latest global real
estate fund, the largest real
estate or private equity draw-
down fund ever raised.
The fund, called Blackstone
Real Estate Partners X, is 48%
bigger than the asset manage-
ment giant’s previous real
estate fund which closed in
2019. Blackstone has delivered
a 16% net IRR on over $100 bil-
lion of committed capital in
the BREP global funds over
more than 30 years, it said in a
statement on Tuesday.
Blackstone’s three oppor-
tunistic strategies (Global,
Asia, Europe) now have $50
billion capital commitments.
Anticipating changing mac-
rotrends, Blackstone Real
Estate shifted away from assets
facing headwinds
The fund, Blackstone Real
Estate Partners X, is 48%
bigger than the co’s previous
real estate fund. REUTERS
The private equity behe-
moth’s real estate business was
founded in 1991 and has $326
billion of investor capital
under management. Black-
stone is largest owner of com-
mercial real estate globally,
owning and operating assets
across every major geography
and sector, including logistics,
residential, office, hospitality
and retail.
In India, Black-

‘ChatGPT-like experience will be useful to us if it’s integrated’ such as traditional

office and malls and
is approximately
stone manages total
assets worth $50 bil-
lion, including in PE
80% concentrated in logistics, and real estate. It has made
Abhijit Ahaskar ML. This is something that is tally fine-tune the model and that we can use on our corpus. rental housing, hospitality, lab over a billion dollars in real
abhijit.ahaskar@livemint.com very clear to everyone. We are make it more travel specific. Any plans to offer ChatGPT office and data centres. estate share sales alone in past
NEW DELHI using it for the differentiated And after that we will start like services in your app? “Sector selection has never year, Reuters reported.
set of offerings that we have. incorporating it. We are pretty We can do it outside just to been more critical as we wit- Bullish on the India story, at

T
he pandemic era has The other part obviously is close. You will see some of see what people are interested ness the bifurcation of per- a press briefing two months
been difficult for travel security and privacy which is these coming out pretty soon. in through plugins and all that formance within real estate,” ago, Jonathan Gray, Black-

platforms.However,
with things opening up, the
industry has been on the path
to revival. Platforms like Mak-
eMyTrip are now looking to
use artificial intelligence (AI)
and other new age
technologies to
improve customer
experience. In an
interview, Sanjay Mohan,
Group CTO of MakeMyTrip,
discussed how the company is
planning to use generative AI,
among other things, to offer
better personalization for its
customers. Edited excerpts:
What are your core focus
areas as the CTO of a travel
super app?
The future is purely AI and
getting harder. Both parts are
fundamentally AI driven.
So, where is MakeMyTrip
using AI?
We have an AI/ML led price
lock feature where we use
insights to figure
out when prices
will fluctuate and
by how much to
allow users to lock fare at a cer-
tain price. There is also a fare
calendar which shows when
the dates in an entire month
are going to be the cheapest.
We are working on person-
alization and customization.
Things that you want to see
should be prominently shown.
Also, when anything becomes
too cluttered at any point of
time it is important to show
that all the offerings are there.
The only way to solve it is
through a search. There is a
search button on top, which is
mostly for flights and hotels
right now. We are looking at
generative AI for that.
Do you have any immediate
plans to use generative AI?
‘
Can you elaborate? ChatGPT is offering. But it Ken Caplan, global co-head of stone’s president and chief
One of the won’t be very Blackstone Real Estate, said in operating officer, said that
things that useful to us as a statement. India will continue to be
these large We are doing proof of it’s not an Blackstone shares were up Blackstone Inc’s biggest mar-
language concepts right now. integrated near 1% in premarket trading. ket in Asia.
models (LLM) There are two or three experience.
are very good The beauty
at is summa- popular large language will be to get
rizing very models we are it within the
smartly and experimenting with product.
crisply, from a MMT has
Sanjay Mohan
We are doing proof of con- large corpus Group CTO, MakeMyTrip dabbled in
cepts right now. There are two in a language NFTs. Any
or three popular large lan- that you and I plans to
guage models we are experi- will understand. build a metaverse for
menting with. Then we will For instance, in the case of travel?
take one of those proven lan- reviews, if someone is saying We did NFTs when they
guage models from one of the outstanding and someone is were hot. It is more of a mar-
popular vendors and superim- saying excellent, it knows that keting thing now. Sometimes
pose our travel content data on both are the same. So that you just do these things to be
top of it, which will fundamen- summarization is something on top of the hype cycle.
04 WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi MARK TO MARKET LIVEMINT.COM

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

60,157.72 0.52 17,722.30 0.56 14,867.25 0.52 38,379.65 0.22 17,540.80 0.54 24,541.01 0.40 27,942.80 0.62
PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN

59,846.51 60,028.60 17,624.05 17,704.80 14,790.55 14,854.65 38,296.75 38,467.55 17,446.30 17,528.45 24,443.02 24,466.96 27,771.00 27,815.48
HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

60,267.68 59,919.88 17,748.75 17,655.15 14,893.60 14,814.35 38,580.05 38,245.60 17,571.05 17,476.20 24,619.45 24,435.82 27,973.73 27,814.83

m MINT SHORTS
China’s weak inflation fuels
New year, new hopes for Maruti?
calls for more policy stimulus Vineetha Sampath
Slow progress onwards post the commencement of ued production of diesel models ahead
China’s consumer and producer inflation remained vineetha.s@livemint.com deliveries of Fronx and Jimny and of the adoption of Bharat Stage-VI
muted in March, suggesting more monetary or fiscal Maruti Suzuki India has not seen a meaningful improvement in its passenger aided by a strong response to new emission standards in April 2020.
vehicle market share through the quarters of FY23.

stimulus may be needed to strengthen the economy’s
recovery. The consumer price index rose 0.7% last month
from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said on
Tuesday, weaker than the 1% forecast by economists in a
Bloomberg survey. Producer price deflation worsened
to 2.5%, the lowest since June 2020. Core inflation,
which excludes volatile food and energy prices, climbed
slightly to 0.7% from 0.6%. The “economic recovery is on
track but not strong enough to push up prices,” said
Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Man-
agement Ltd. “This suggests the economy is still running
below its potential. There is room for fiscal and monetary
policies to boost growth further.” While the economy has
been recovering post-covid, the figures indicate domes-
tic demand remains weak. BLOOMBERG
M
aruti Suzuki India Ltd’s fight
to recoup market share has
been a struggle. In fact, the
launch of sport utility vehicles (SUVs)—
Grand Vitara and new Brezza—too did
not do enough to increase the com-
pany’s passenger vehicle (PV) market
share in FY23. Recall that the auto-
maker’s weak presence in the SUV seg-
ment had weighed heavily on its mar-
ket share, which had dropped sharply
to 43% in FY22 from 48% in FY21.
The new SUV launches are yet to
move the needle in a big way for Mar-
uti. “Although the launch of Grand
Vitara and upgraded Brezza were suc-
cessful, it had no significant impact on
Maruti Suzuki’s recovery of domestic
passenger vehicle market share,” said
analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Ser-
vices in a report on 10 April.
One reason for the lack of meaning-
ful improvement in Maruti’s market
share could be the competitive inten-
sity. Peers Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
and Tata Motors Ltd have a strong foot-
hold in the SUV segment. Adding to the
woes for Maruti is the muted demand
in the entry-level segment, which
Brezza and Grand Vitara,” said Aniket Meanwhile, Maruti is set to report its
Maruti Suzuki's domestic passenger vehicle volume (in units) Market share (in %) (right-hand scale) Mhatre, analyst at HDFC Securities. Q4 results on 26 April. Analysts expect
“However, its target to go back to 50% the automaker to see year-on-year and
4,50,000 50
market share, is likely to take much sequential expansion in its Ebitda mar-
longer.” gin. Ebitda is earnings before interest,
3,60,000 40 Eventually, the rising tax, depreciation and amor-
share of SUVs would have a MARKET tization. This is owing to
positive bearing on Mar- MECHANICS factors such as lower raw
2,70,000 30 uti’s average selling price. material costs and operat-
Also, the improved mix GRAND Vitara and ing leverage. Total Q4 vol-
would lead to better mar- new Brezza, the SUV
launches are yet
ume was up by 5% y-o-y and
1,80,000 20
gin. to help Maruti in 10.5% sequentially.
There is another lever for a big way While FY24 can be a year
900,00 10 Maruti’s market share of decent recovery for Mar-
recovery. The shift to Bha- STIFF competition uti’s market share, the risk
and lack of demand
rat Stage-VI, phase 2 norms in entry-level is that the momentum in
0
Q1FY22 Q2FY22 Q3FY22 Q4FY22 Q1FY23 Q2FY23 Q3FY23 Q4FY23
0 effective April 2023 has segment may have the overall PV industry is
prompted many automak- hurt Maruti’s plans slowly moderating on the
Note: These are wholesale numbers; Q4FY23 market share is based on Source: Company,
the volume estimate of the passenger vehicle industry HDFC Securities
ers to exit the small diesel back of factors such as wan-
engines in the compact car ing pent-up demand and
SATISH KUMAR/MINT and sedan segment. The new emission rising interest rates. As such, the auto-
forms the largest share of its total vol- mated) in the March quarter (Q4FY23). norms have led to a substantial rise in maker’s shares are down by about 11%
ume. In FY23, the mini and compact But it augurs well that the share of costs for mid-sized diesel engines, from their 52-week highs of ₹9,769
segment contributed 68% to total utility vehicles is on the rise from 15% in point out Motilal Oswal analysts. They apiece seen in October. The stock
domestic wholesale PV volume. FY19 to almost 23% in FY23. Further, added, “Maruti Suzuki’s compressed trades at nearly 24 times its FY24 esti-
In this backdrop, as the chart along- the upcoming SUV launches—Fronx natural gas and strong hybrid portfolio mated earnings, according to Bloom-
side shows, Maruti’s PV market share and Jimny would aid volume growth. should benefit from the resultant berg data. Recovery in market share
through the quarters of FY23 rose by “Maruti’s market share is expected to impact on diesel portfolio of competi- would be a key trigger for investors in
just 100 basis points to 41.6% (esti- see a notable recovery from Q1FY24 tors.” Note that Maruti had discontin- the stock.

White-sugar futures jumped as much 4.3% on Tuesday,

touching the highest since 2011. BLOOMBERG Bank of Baroda investors need to look beyond good Q4 biz update
Sugar extends surge to highest Bavadharini KS 27% y-o-y and formed 22% of share of the floating rate portfo- rising to meet the credit
Healthy growth
in a decade on supply fears bavadharini.ks@livemint.com domestic advances. Also,
Bank of Baroda’s Q4FY23 business update shows that its deposits
lio is higher for public sector demand, the banking sector
Sugar extended its surge to the highest in more than a BoB’s total deposits were up have increased by 15.1% year-on-year.
banks including BoB. NIMs are expected to moderate.

S
decade in London on mounting worries about tight hares of Bank of Baroda 15.1% y-o-y. In their Q4 banking sector Further, the tapering of credit
Deposits (in  crore) Year-on-year change (in %) (right-hand scale)
global supplies, threatening to maintain pressure on (BoB) rose by around 3% With the tightening of preview report dated 5 April, growth, too, is likely to put pres-
global food inflation. White-sugar futures jumped as on Tuesday. Investors are liquidity, banks are racing to 15,00,000 20 the analysts said, “We expect sure on the net interest income
much as 4.3% on Tuesday, touching the highest since pleased about the bank’s March mobilise deposits to meet their 12,00,000 15 margins to remain healthy and NIMs.
2011. Prices of the sweetener have jumped on prospects quarter (Q4FY23) business credit demand and the trend in given continued repricing of “BoB’s loan growth is likely to
9,00,000 10
for limited exports out of key shipper India and lacklustre update, which indicated that deposit growth is likely to con- MCLR-linked loans.” moderate to 15-16% in FY24
supplies from countries including Pakistan and Thailand. the public sector lender is likely tinue. 6,00,000 5 Against this backdrop, from 19% in FY23. The bank’s
There have also been concerns that oil’s recent push to end FY23 on a good note. As Nitin Aggarwal, head of BoB’s net interest margin NIM can be expected to moder-
3,00,000 0
higher may spur Brazilian and Indian mills to divert more In Q4, the bank saw healthy BFSI research, institutional could improve marginally in ate in H2FY24,” said Aggarwal.
cane to making ethanol. Millers can decide whether to loan (credit) growth of 19% equities, Motilal Oswal Finan- 0
Q1FY22 Q2FY22 Q3FY22 Q4FY22 Q1FY23 Q2FY23 Q3FY23 Q4FY23
-5 Q4. To be sure, BoB’s diversified
make more sugar or biofuel. “The sugar market is really year-on-year (y-o-y) to ₹9.74 cial Services said, “Compared But all is not hunky dory. portfolio mix has aided loan
Source: Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Company data
tight,” said Francois Thaury, an analyst at Paris-based trillion. Domestic advances to many other banks that have Usually, with the rising cost of growth in FY23 and should
adviser Agritel. “We have had downward revisions of accounted for 82% of total released their Q4 updates so SATISH KUMAR/MINT
funds, NIMs of banks come help, going forward as well.
production in major countries.” Higher sugar prices are loans and grew at a slower far, BoB has fared better on can be expected to continue in net interest margin (NIM) could under pressure. Investors seem to be factoring
adding to the expense of making products like confec- pace of 16.9%. CASA and overall deposit FY24 as well.” get some cushion in Q4. JM Accordingly, that is a key the optimism to a good extent.
tionery and baked goods at a time when energy, fuel and Within this, retail advances growth. The same trend in Faster repricing of loans than Financial Institutional Securi- monitorable for investors in After all, the stock has risen by
labor costs have also risen. BLOOMBERG grew at a faster rate of nearly deposit growth vis-à-vis peers deposits means that the bank’s ties Ltd analysts note that the FY24. Also, with deposit rates 42% in the last one year.

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

Sebi nudges AIFs to NSE IPO plan hits Sebi hurdle Rupee falls past 82 per dollar
launch direct plans despite weakness in greenback
Reuters
feedback@livemint.com
senior regulatory official. Sources have said NSE in 2016
A delayed NSE IPO will test had targetted offering 10% of
the patience of its core share- its total shares in a listing, and
PTI Reuters

T
he National Stock holders—banks, insurance given current ‘grey’ market fundamentals and carry trade
feedback@livemint.com Exchange of India’s companies and foreign funds - valuation of ₹2 trillion ($24.35 feedback@livemint.com appeal.
(NSE) share listing plan who have been waiting for an billion), the IPO size may be “We think most investors

T T
o bring transparency in
expenses and curb mis-
selling, markets regula-
tor Sebi has asked alternative
investment funds (AIFs) to
provide an option of “direct
plan” for investors and intro-
duced a trail model for distri-
bution commission.
In addition, the regulator
came out with guidelines with
respect to excluding an inves-
tor from an investment of AIF.
This came after regulator
observed inconsistency and
lack of adequate disclosure in
Private Placement Memoran-
dum (PPM) with respect to
certain industry practices.
The new rules are aimed at
providing flexibility to inves-
tors for investing in AIFs,
bringing transparency in
expenses and curbing mis-
selling, the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
said in two separate circulars.
The framework for direct
plan will come into force from
Sebi’s new rules are aimed at
providing flexibility to
investors. MINT
rately charging the investor
any fee such as advisory fee or
portfolio management fee, are
on-boarded through direct
plan only.
Introducing a trail model
for distribution commission,
Sebi said category III AIFs
would charge distribution fee
from investors only on an
equal trail basis. It means no
upfront distribution fee would
be charged by such AIFs
directly or indirectly from
their investors.
will not be approved by the
market watchdog until pend-
ing legal and regulatory cases
involving the nation’s biggest
bourse are resolved, two sour-
ces familiar with the matter
said.
The Securities and
Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
has formed an internal view
that due to the pending cases it
won’t approve NSE’s applica-
tion made last year for an IPO,
the sources said.
“Till the legal and regula-
tory issues are cleared there is
no chance that Sebi will
approve NSE’s IPO plans,” said
one of the sources, who is a
Bitcoin climbs past $30,000 for first time since June 2022
Bloomberg
feedback@livemint.com
exit opportunity in rising mar- near $2.5 billion. he Indian rupee are yet to price in the struc-
kets. A listing would allow NSE NSE is also world’s largest declined past the key tural changes in the current
to have a broader derivatives psychological mark of account deficit (CAD) over the
shareholder base Till legal and exchange in 82 per dollar on Tuesday on last few quarters,” Anubhuti
like its biggest regulatory issues terms of contracts likely corporate outflows and Sahay, head of South Asia Eco-
competitor, BSE are cleared traded, and its importer demand for the nomic Research (India), Stan-
Ltd. there is no chance core sharehold- greenback, traders said. dard Chartered Bank, wrote.
Sebi and NSE ers include Life The rupee finished at This week, the rupee will take “A sharp pick-up in services
that Sebi will
did not reply to Insurance Corp. 82.1250 to the dollar, having cues from the India and US exports, increased smart-
emailed requests approve NSE’s of India, State declined up to 82.15 during the inflation data. HT phone exports and savings in
for comment. IPO plans Bank of India, session. It closed at 81.98 on the oil import bill...have likely
The sources Canada Pension Monday. demand through the session. altered India’s CAD perma-
declined to be Plan Investment Persistent dollar-buying A move towards 82.20 could nently.”
named as matter is confiden- Board, a Tiger Global fund and when the dollar index is set the rupee for further weak- This week the rupee would
tial and the regulator does not a Morgan Stanley fund. It has weaker indicates there is an ness, they said. take cues from the India and
comment on specific entities. been embroiled in a long run- outflow, a trader said. So far, companies and bank- US inflation data, both, due
The regulator’s reluctance ning case since 2016 related to However, dealers couldn’t ers have had a bias towards Wednesday, with the former
to approve NSE’s IPO has not equitable access to all its trad- identify the nature of the out- rupee appreciation on considered more crucial by
been previously reported. ing members. flow. They also cited importer improving macro economic traders.
both technical and fundamen- industry is still facing agency’s characterizations.
tal reasons,” said Mati Green- immense scrutiny. Crypto But even with the setbacks,
span, Quantum Economics exchange Coinbase Global Inc. Bitcoin’s rally has gained

May 1, while those related to
excluding an investor from an
AIF investment will become
effective immediately.
Directing AIFs, Sebi said,
“schemes of AIFs shall have an
option of ‘Direct Plan’ for
investors” and through such
direct plans, investors will
have the opportunity to partic-
ipate in an AIF without having
to pay any distribution fee or
placement fee.
AIFs will have to ensure that
investors who approach the
AIF through a registered
intermediary, which is sepa-
B
Further, any distribution
charge paid would be only
from the management fee
received by the managers of
such category III AIFs.
For other two categories,
AIFs may pay up to one-third
of the total distribution fee to
the distributors on upfront
basis, and the remaining dis-
tribution fee would be paid to
the distributors on equal trail
basis over the tenure of the
fund. Also, Sebi asked AIFs to
disclose distribution fees to
the investors at the time of
on-boarding.
itcoin climbed above
$30,000 for the first
time since June 2022,
rallying more than 80% since
the start of the year.
The rebound is even more
intense than a nearly 20% gain
on the Nasdaq 100—with
which Bitcoin has tended to
move in tandem—and retraces
some of the digital token’s
losses from 2022 following a
series of crypto-related blow-
ups. Still, Bitcoin is down more
than 50% from its all-time high
in November 2021.
“30k is very significant for
chief executive officer. “The
resistance has been building
up for three weeks straight and
has now finally broken. This is
the first time we’ve crossed
that level since the collapse of
Terra/Luna and Three Arrows
Capital. It basically means that
the price has fully recovered
from Celsius, FTX and the US
regulatory crackdown.”
Bitcoin’s breakout above
stiff resistance at $30,000
comes after a so-called
squeeze of the Bollinger Band,
which saw historical volatility
fall to the lowest since January.
said it has received a notice
from the Securities and
Exchange Commission declar-
ing its intention to bring an
enforcement action. The SEC
has sued crypto mogul Justin
Sun for allegedly violating
securities rules in a case Sun
said lacks merit. And else-
Bitcoin’s rally has gained strength over the past month following where, the US Commodity
the collapse of three US banks. REUTERS Futures Trading Commission
has sued Binance founder
The compression back then patterns may now be looking Changpeng Zhao and his
resulted in a sharp move at the $30,800 area as a first crypto exchange for alleged
upward that looks similar to potential objective, followed violations of derivatives regu-
Tuesday’s upside breakout. by $31,200. lations, though Binance said it
Traders following technical To be sure, the crypto doesn’t agree with many of the
strength over the past month
following the collapse of three
US banks, which revived the
narrative among Bitcoin bulls
that the token offers a more
attractive alternative to tradi-
tional finance.
Furthermore, analysts say a
drop in liquidity to a 10-month
low—after market makers lost
access to US banking rails pro-
vided by Silvergate Capital
Corp. and Signature Bank —
could explain the rebound, at
least in part. With lower trad-
ing volume, price swings can
look more dramatic.
LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi 05

Cars priced above ₹1.5 crore Debt MFs see inflow of

fetch 25% of Merc India sales
Alisha Sachdev
alisha.sachdev@livemint.com
New DelhI
₹31k cr in single week
A
lmost one out of every
four Mercedes Benz Anil Agarwal, chairman of
cars sold in India has Investors extracted benefits from this asset category for the last time Vedanta Ltd. MINT
been a top-end model, led by
AMG, the high-performance
subsidiary of the German car- Ram Sahgal Vedanta in
maker. The cheapest model in ram.sahgal@livemint.com Big draw
this segment is the GLS seven-
Debt schemes of mutual funds saw massive inflows in the last week of talks with
I
seater sport utility vehicle with nvestors have pumped a whopping March after the government withdrew LTCG and indexation benefits on
an on-road price of ₹1.5 crore.
The most expensive car in
the AMG series is the G63, at
₹31,179 crore into debt mutual funds
(MFs) in the week ended 31 March, as
they tried to take advantage of long-
such funds from 1 April.

Debt-oriented schemes
Farallon to
₹3.80 crore. Mercedes Benz,
India’s largest luxury car man-
term capital gains tax and indexation
benefits for the last time, with the govern-
Open-ended schemes
Corporate bond fund
Net inflow for 24-31 March (in ₹ crore)
10,344.28
raise $1 bn
ufacturer, will launch two Mercedes Benz will launch two AMGs within a year, as it seeks to ment deciding to withdraw the benefits on
more AMGs within a year, as it shift its focus away from volumes to high-value models. REUTERS this asset category from 1 April. Banking and PSU Fund 5,371.74 Bloomberg
seeks to shift its focus away “Net investments into schemes where Long-duration Fund 3,854.50 feedback@livemint.com
from volumes to high-value this narrative. We are a luxury three months. The GLS has a investors have three- to five-year horizon
3,745.66

V
models. brand and the story for us is to six-month waiting period. The typically was a little over ₹31,000 crore in Dynamic Bond Fund edanta Ltd., billionaire
The company saw a 37% rise deliver customer experience. waiting period also depends the last week of March,” said A. Balasubra- Gilt Fund 2,727.69 Anil Agarwal’s com-
in the average selling price of If we mix volumes with this on allocations because many manian, chairman, Association of Mutual modities major, is in
Gilt Fund with 10 year constant duration 1,321.42
its vehicles between January strategy, we’d be going down of them are CBUs (completely- Funds in India (Amfi), the nodal association talks with US-based Farallon
and March 2023 from the year the path of bringing in prod- built up cars) we import, so this for mutual funds. Short duration fund 905.47 Capital Management to raise at
ago, with the top-end vehicle ucts at lower price points, but means it’s not the potential for The inflows are significant, considering Medium duration fund 533.01 least $1 billion, according to
segment growing 107%, a sen- don’t represent the best in our growth but availability of vehi- that investors had pulled out an average people familiar with the matter.
ior company executive said. portfolio. We have a clear top- cles that will keep contribu- ₹14,235 crore from debt schemes every Credit Risk Fund 157.34 The structure of the fund-
Mercedes Benz on Tuesday end strategy. It’s not about the tions restricted to the 22-25% month in FY23. These include schemes Medium to long-duration fund 29.34 raising hasn’t been finalized,
launched its first ever plug-in volumes now but to enhance range,” Iyer said. like overnight funds, liquid funds, and Closed-end schemes
and discussions are ongoing,
hybrid vehicle, which is based desirability of the brand,” San- “AMG’s contribution to our ultra-short-duration funds, where the Fixed-term plan said the people who declined to
2,189.11
on an F1-derived hybrid pow- tosh Iyer, managing director sales swings rapidly based on investments are for the short term. Amfi be identified as the talks are pri-
ertrain. The AMG and chief execu- the arrival of cars, but they are data for the week includes schemes where Interval schemes vate. The proposal, if it comes
Income/debt-oriented schemes -0.1
GT63 S E Per- In 2022, Mercedes tive officer, Mer- definitely the backbone of our allocations are normally made for the long to fruition, will lessen the need
formance has a Benz sold nearly cedes Benz India, top-end vehicle category story term (see table). Source: Amfi to raise money through a syndi-
starting price of 16,000 units in said in an inter- and is a forerunner in the seg- The amended finance bill 2023, which cated loan, one of the people
₹3.3 crore. India, out of view. ment,” he added. “We have 10 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 24 March, said. Agarwal has been relying
The perform- While t h e launches planned for this year, deemed the transfer of units of specified before the 31 March deadline. The weekly Reserve Bank of India to avail of higher on dividends from the Mum-
which 22% were in
ance hyper-car is Stuttgart-based and half of them will be in this mutual funds acquired on or after 1 April, as inflows were also driven by the entry of coupon rates. bai-listed company to repay
Mercedes Benz’s the ₹1 crore-plus automaker’s stra- segment. Our typical AMG short-term capital gains, taking away the investors who were otherwise waiting, as This drives down the prices of the bonds debts at his London vehicle,
most powerful category tegic focus will be customer would already own indexation benefits of cost of acquisition in they expected the interest rate cycle to they sell, while they hunt for higher yields. which has faced mounting
production vehi- to increase sales 5-6 luxury cars, and about half computing capital gains and When rates begin to fall, investor concerns over its cash
cle yet for India, of top-end mod- will be Mercedes Benz models, bringing them on par with winDow oF opporTuniTy investors flock to paper with flows as interest rates soared.
and the second AMG launch els, Iyer does not expect the so we want to keep our focus bank fixed deposits. higher coupons, raising the Other plans to raise money had
this year, after the AMG E53 contribution of ultra-luxury on this segment of customers.” Till 31 March, capital gain on govErnMEnT THE move led to a MF industry bond prices. met with challenges.
Cabriolet in January. cars to its total sales to rise this Mercedes Benz is also going debt schemes held for at least decided to withdraw
the benefits on debt
surge in investors
parking their funds
veterans expect
more allocations to
MF industry veterans such Vedanta didn’t respond to an
Last year, Mercedes Benz year due to supply-side con- to introduce four new electric three years would be taxed at a mutual funds from in long-duration equity or hybrid as Nilesh Shah, managing email and phone calls seeking
had sold nearly 16,000 units, straints. cars in the next 12-18 months. flat 20% after indexation. 1 April debt funds schemes from FY24 director and group president, comments. An email to Faral-
out of which 22% were in the ₹1 “These are models have the “We launched the EQB and According to new rules, capital Kotak AMC, expects more lon Capital was unanswered.
crore-plus category. The auto- longest waiting periods. The the EQS in the last quarter of gains on these funds will be allocations to equity or hybrid The company had also been
maker commands a 50% share Maybachs are sold out for the 2022, and we are already look- added to an investor’s income, and taxed at have peaked, Balasubramanian said. schemes from FY24. in talks with at least three banks
in India’s luxury vehicle mar- next 6-8 months, G-Wagons ing at close to 4% of our total the applicable slab rate without indexation. Bond yields and prices move inversely. The funds attracting investors in the last including Barclays Plc, JPMor-
ket, followed by German peers are sold out for 12 months, the sales coming from these mod- The government’s move led to a surge in In a rising rate cycle, as witnessed since week of March were corporate bonds, gan Chase & Co. and Standard
BMW and Audi. GLS Maybach is sold out, the els,”Iyer said. The EQS is Mer- investors parking their funds in long-dura- May 2022, investors sell bonds purchased credit risk funds, and medium to long dura- Chartered Plc for a syndicated
“Globally, we want to shift EQS is unavailable for the next cedes’ flagship electric sedan. tion debt funds to avail of the benefits previously and buy those after a hike by the tion funds. dollar-denominated loan.

Financing costs to surge, says India Ratings Export cuts may hit
PTI
feedback@livemint.com
green goals: OECD est rates for FY24, the agency
has factored in a 25% increase
MuMbAI in financing cost in FY24 from
FY22. While the repo rate has Bloomberg “The research so far suggests

T
he rising interest rate gone up to 6.5% from 4% feedback@livemint.com that export restrictions may be
burden, which is near between March 2022 and playing a non-trivial role in

A
the pre-pandemic levels April 2023, banks’ average sharp increase in international markets for criti-
and already up 30% over FY22 lending rate (MCLR-based) for export restrictions by cal raw materials, affecting
levels, will force companies to outstanding loans has countries including availability and prices,”
reverse their deleveraging increased to 9.67% from China and India on raw materi- researchers Przemyslaw
course this fiscal, according to 8.72%. als critical for green technolo- Kowalski and Clarisse Leg-
The financial sector can play a pivotal role in mobilising a report. Interest cost has increased gies has a potentially sizable endre said.
resources and their allocation thereof in green projects. MINT The current fiscal is also for all sectors led by chemicals, impact on the global economy The findings come as the
likely to witness a 25% increase crude oil, iron & steel and and could make climate goals OECD also said a significant

RBI releases rules in interest servicing cost, it

added.
Top 3,360 plus non-finan- Tailwinds of lower interest burden due to a low-interest rate
infrastructure in FY22. On
average, there will be a com-
pound annual growth rate
harder to meet, research by the
Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development
scaling up of production and
trade in the materials is needed
to meet an expected four-to-

on acceptance, use cial, debt-heavy corporates

have a debt burden of about
₹36 trillion as of H1 FY23 and
regime and debt reduction are likely to reverse in FY24.

interest burden owing to a

ISTOCK

irrespective of the size of the

(CAGR) growth of 16% across
all sectors between FY22 and
FY24. For the top debt-heavy
(OECD) shows.
The restrictions — most fre-
quently taxes, but also quanti-
six-fold increase in demand for
the green transition.
Lithium, rare earth ele-
their interest outflow will low-interest rate regime and a corporate in FY24 compared sectors, interest costs will rise tative limits — have increased ments, chromium, arsenic,
of green deposits jump to ₹3.38 trillion in FY24
from ₹2.52 trillion in FY22,
according to an analysis by
debt reduction are likely to be
reversed in FY24, even with-
out a meaningful increase in
to FY22.
A sharp rise in interest rates
and higher working capital
to ₹2.84 trillion in FY24 from
₹2.09 ltrillion in FY22, as per
the report.
more than five-fold in the last
decade to a point where 10% of
the global value of exports is
cobalt, titanium, selenium and
magnesium saw the largest
increase in production in
PTI to encourage REs to “offer India Ratings. leverage, which however, is financing are likely to increase Interest rate transmission subject to at least one measure, recent years.
feedback@livemint.com green deposits to customers, To tame the stubbornly unlikely to lead to any broad- interest outflow to ₹3.38 tril- for large corporates gained the OECD said. “While the production and
MuMbAI protect interest of the deposi- high inflation, the Reserve based credit deterioration, lion in FY24 from ₹2.52 trillion traction in H2 FY23 amid the China, India, Argentina, trade of most critical raw mate-
tors, aid customers to achieve Bank has hiked the key policy given the headroom available in FY22, said the report, which repo rate hikes, owing to the Russia, Vietnam and Kazakh- rials has expanded rapidly over

T
he Reserve Bank of India their sustainability agenda, rates by 250 basis points (bps) in terms of significant delever- is based on the interest costs sharp deterioration in the stan are the top six in terms of the last ten years, growth is not
(RBI) on Tuesday issued address greenwashing con- so far since May 2022 and at aging and margin growth with on a net basis of around 3,365 banking system liquidity. And new curbs in the last decade. keeping pace with projected
detailed guidelines for cerns and help augment the 6.50% it is already 25 bps more most large companies, the non-financial, debt-heavy cor- the agency is expecting trans- Those are also among the demand for the metals and
acceptance of green deposits flow of credit to green activi- than the pre-February 2020 agency said on Tuesday. porates with a total debt of mission to intensify in FY24, countries many of the OECD’s minerals needed to transform
by banks and non-banking ties/projects”. levels. The cost of debt is likely to about ₹36 trillion as of H1 driven by the sharp rise in members depend on for sup- the global economy,” the
financial companies (NBFCs) Further, the central bank The tailwinds of a lower increase across all categories FY23. On extrapolating inter- MCLRs. ply, the organization said. OECD said.
wherein the funds could be said the allocation of proceeds
used for financing activities raised from green deposits
like renewable energy, green should be based on the official
transport and green buildings. Indian green taxonomy.
Climate change has been Pending finalisation of the
recognised as one of the most taxonomy, as an interim meas-
B2B commerce GMV to hit $125 billion by 2027: Avendus
critical challenges and glo- ure, REs would be required to
bally, various efforts have been allocate the proceeds raised Staff writer marketplaces to flourish, said According to Avendus Capi- Series E funding round.
taken to reduce through green feedback@livemint.com the financial services firm. tal, covid helped the market- “India is the seventh largest
emissions as well The projects deposits towards Avendus anticipates “strong places witness a baseline shift manufacturing hub and fifth

T
as promote sus- must encourage a specified list of echnology-backed busi- value creation” in B2B com- in growth with most companies largest retail distribution mar-
tainability. energy efficiency green activities/ ness-to-business (B2B) merce and at least half a dozen across retail and manufactur- ket, presenting over $2 trillion
The financial in resource projects. marketplaces are likely to public listings by 2027. ing scaling five to 10 times in B2B opportunity that is yet to
sector can play a The projects hit gross merchandise value “If the market would have this period. Funding momen- see meaningful disruption
utilization and
pivotal role in must encourage (GMV) of $125 billion in the been more positive for initial tum saw significant uptick with over 1% tech penetration.
mobilising reduce carbon energy efficiency next five years, growing at a public offerings (IPOs), com- post-covid with Traditional sup-
resources and emissions in resource utili- compound annual growth rate pared to what we have seen in two-thirds of the Over the next five ply chains still
their allocation sation, reduce (CAGR) of 45%, according to a the last 12 months, some com- capital infused years, vertical operate in highly
thereof in green carbon emissions report by Avendus Capital. panies would have gone public. coming during marketplaces will inefficient, frag-
activities/projects. and greenhouse gases, pro- In the last few years, many Maybe in the next one year we that time and cre- drive the next leg mented as well as
Green finance is also pro- mote climate resilience and/or structural and macro tailwinds will see two-to-three IPOs. In ation of nearly all
of technology-led localized manner
gressively gaining traction in adaptation and value and have supported digitization of the next 24 months, we will current unicorns through many
India, RBI said as it issued the improve natural ecosystems B2B commerce in India, such definitely see at least a couple of In the last few years, many structural and macro tailwinds have in the space. growth with a intermediaries.
framework for acceptance of and biodiversity. as the de-risking of global sup- meaningful IPOs,” Varun supported digitization of B2B commerce in India. ISTOCK India currently 45% CAGR We expect B2B
green deposits by regulated Renewable energy, energy ply chain, China-plus-one pol- Gupta, managing director, dig- has seven uni- marketplaces to
entities. efficiency, clean transporta- icy and government-backed ital and technology investment scale and offer solutions for supply chains from discovery to corns in this seg- drive exceptional
Some regulated entities tion, climate change adapta- production-linked incentive Banking, Avendus Capital, said. retail distribution to manufac- delivery, it said. ment, and investments of over growth, driving tangible bene-
(REs) are already offering tion, sustainable water and schemes. The favourable con- Over the next five years, ver- turers and companies across “There is a huge opportunity $5 billion have so far flowed fits for all stakeholders across
green deposits for financing waste management, and green ditions offered growth oppor- tical marketplaces will drive the segments, such as construction to create multibillion-dollar into these startups. Globally, the value-chain and poten-
green activities and projects. buildings, are among the list of tunities to both domestic busi- next leg of technology-led and industrial materials, con- outcomes across categories there are 45 unicorns. In 2021, tially benefiting 10 million
The framework will come projects/activities where reg- nesses and exports. That apart, growth with a 45% CAGR lead- tract manufacturing, medical given that there are no sophisti- Zetwerk, a B2B marketplace for SMEs. We anticipate strong
into effect from June 1, 2023. ulated entities could allocate the massive adoption of tech- ing to an over $125 billion mar- supplies and fast-moving con- cated traditional incumbents contract manufacturing was value creation leading to 6-7
The purpose and rationale the proceeds raised through nology post-covid, created the ket, the report said. sumer goods and address chal- or horizontal ecosystems in valued at over $1 billion after it IPOs over the next five years,”
for the framework, RBI said is green deposits. right environment for the B2B B2B marketplaces operate at lenges unique to individual India unlike US and China.” raised $120-million as part of a said Gupta.
06 WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi CORPORATE LIVEMINT.COM

Law schools bring in ‘Prudent to diversify global supply chains’

FROM PAGE 1 port of the state, which is what

AI, climate courses resource basket of the supply

chain is a far more prudent
way of continuing in business,
however much the cost com-
is implied in most of these
write-ups, I would ask-- would
the Muslim population in
India be growing than what
was in 1947 as opposed to Paki-
plications make it difficult in stan?” the minister asked.
other places, and the cost-ben- The minister also said that
efit makes it possible to con- Indians showed resilience and
Need for fresh talent capable of handling crypto, data, AI is on the rise centrate in one jurisdiction,” enterprise in taking on the
Sitharaman said. challenge posed by the pan-
The finance minister is cur- demic despite tragedies at
Devina Sengupta & Priyanka Gawande rently in the US to attend the home. Community service and
devina.sengupta@livemint.com spring meetings of the World the government’s humanitar-
MuMBaI Bank and the IMF and to ian assistance and schemes for
attend G20 meetings. reviving the economy too

W
ith large corporations Sitharaman said there are Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman with US treasury helped. With vaccination
diversifying their busi- pain points in the way the secretary Janet Yellen in Washington AFP completed and booster shots
nesses, and expanding to green agenda is being pursued are given, India can take on
new markets, several globally. She highlighted that The solutions being steel, the minister said. any contingency, the minister
leading Indian law col- the $100 billion committed by explored “to make the world In response to a question on said. Sitharaman also said that
leges have incorporated courses in climate developed nations for climate greener, I am afraid, are not whether the perception India has taken the route of
justice, artificial intelligence, mental action in developing countries working in favour of all,” abroad about Indian opposi- free trade agreements.
health, European Union Law and space law had not materialized yet and Sitharaman said. The minister tion MPs losing their status or “Between 2019 and now, we
in their curricula, said deans, recruiters and that India fulfilled its COP21 also expressed her worry Muslim minorities getting have at least three major
law firms. commitments given in Paris about the possibility of world subjected to violence is affect- agreements signed. We shall
Requirement for fresh talent capable of largely out of its own funds. trade eventually shutting ing capital flows into India, the proceed on that route also with
handling crypto, AI and climate-related The minister also flagged her doors to non-green steel, minister said that India has the the United Kingdom, the EU
arbitration is on the rise, and private law worries about the carbon bor- which will favour producers in second-largest Muslim popu- and Canada. All three are hap-
colleges have stepped up efforts to cater to der adjustment mechanism, a certain markets. “I wish that lation in the world. “And the pening as we speak, and nego-
the growing demand, they added. tax that non-EU producers will money (the proceeds of carbon population is only growing in tiations are going on. We are
“Demand for lawyers in 2022 was 30% have to pay for the emissions border tax) is available for all of numbers. If it were reality, very clearly moving forward
more than in 2021. Both Indian and over- they make for accessing the us producing steel” to convert their lives were difficult or on bilateral preferential trade
seas companies and law firms are in need of EU market. non-green steel into green made difficult with the sup- agreements,” Sitharaman said.
talent,” Ritambara Vasudeva, director at Private law colleges have stepped up efforts to cater to the growing demand in new-age
recruitment firm Michael Page, said. sectors, experts said MINT
Demand is especially for legal experts in
AI, crypto, data privacy and competition students opt for over a five-year pro- industry-ready, such as lessons on the latest
law, Vasudeva added. gramme. These courses were designed fol- promotion strategies, and using artificial
Mumbai-based BITS Law School, for lowing detailed feedback from all industry intelligence, Chat GPT, and X Culture to
Credit Suisse repays some emergency funds
instance, has launched courses including stakeholders. further their career goals.
air and space law, forensic science, and “Subjects such as data protection, or AI, Business projects are being incorporated Reuter market liquidity after it quit takeover by rival UBS, another mist at J.Safra Sarasin, said the
criminal investigation, besides Metaverse, and international arbitration, should be by the Indian Institutes of Management to feedback@livemint.com negative interest rates last 200 billion francs in liquidity decline could be attributed to
AI and cyber crime blockchain for its specifically taught to equip students with ensure students are prepared to work on September. was also made available by the Credit Suisse paying back

C
courses in technology and media law skills required in the professional world,” global projects, and understand the chal- redit Suisse has already In recent weeks sight depos- SNB. some of the emergency liquid-
among others. lenges of working across time paid back some of the its have soared as Credit Suisse As a result sight deposits ity it took and no longer need-
“We spoke to law firm part- NEW SYLLABUS zones and cultures.“Law is not emergency liquidity received emer- rose from 515 bil- ing to draw on the central bank
ners as well as judges to under- cloistered, but has to operate offered by the Swiss National gency liquidity The pay back lion in mid March support.
stand skill sets that students MUMBAI-based SOME of the new INDIA’S B-schools in the real world. In a globaliz- Bank (SNB), data suggested on infusions to head signals an ebbing to peak at 567 bil- “Confidence in the bank has
must learn now. Many judges BITS Law School has age topics are part of are also designing
launched courses on electives which courses to make
ing 21st century, professionals Tuesday, signaling an ebbing off a bank run as of the liquidity lion francs as the been restored by the UBS
today graduated from law forensic science, students opt for students more are expected to deal with of the liquidity crisis which nervous custom- crisis which SNB deposited merger, and from this data it
schools a few decades ago, so metaverse, crypto over a 5-yr course industry-ready uncertainty, ambiguity and triggered the lender’s fall. ers pulled out the cash with would appear customer out-
triggered the
we needed to figure out what stress,” Shashikala Gurpur, Sight deposits - cash held by their cash. Credit Suisse, an flows have stopped,” Junius
to teach to be relevant in director, Symbiosis Law commercial banks overnight The lender last Credit Suisse upward trend said.
30-40 years from now,” said Ashish Bhar- said Sameer Jain, managing partner, PSL School, said. Symbiosis has introduced with the SNB - fell by 31 billion month said it downfall which reversed “A bank run has been
adwaj, dean, BITS Law School. Advocates and Solicitors. “Some colleges mental health law as part of its health law Swiss francs ($34.3 billion)last intended to bor- last week as sight stopped by the SNB coming in
Some current topics may soon become and universities do teach these subjects as courses, and is also set to launch specialized week, data published by the row up to 50 bil- deposits fell to and offering massive liquidity
obsolete, he added. “But subjects such as electives, but the need is for the Bar Coun- classes on telecom media technology, in central bank showed. lion francs from the SNB in a 532 billion francs. and customers are reassured
corporate and financial law will always cil of India to update the mandatory curric- line with the increasing demand from the The drop was the second- last-ditch attempt to save itself Credit Suisse, the SNB and by UBS being there too. Credit
remain relevant.” ula (to include such courses),” he said. industry following the rollout of 5G, which biggest weekly decline on after confidence evaporated UBS declined to comment on lines from other banks would
Some of the new age topics in law India’s management colleges are also is expected to overhaul the medical, agri- record, second only to when following a string of blunders. the development. also appear to have been re-es-
schools are part of elective courses which designing courses to make students more cultural, retail and auto industries. the SNB started mopping up Following a state-sponsored Karsten Junius, an econo- tablished.”

US small businesses face worst China cos join offshore push

credit in a decade after SVB Bloomberg
feedback@livemint.com
ent visited for the first time
after China ended its Covid
Zero restrictions, the first thing
Bloomberg

C
environment after a year’s hinese car parts makers he asked about was the com-
feedback@livemint.com worth of interest-rate hikes are facing growing pany’s plans to set up an over-
from the Federal Reserve. The pressure from overseas seas plant, voicing his concerns

M
ore US small busi- dimmer news on credit, along customers to set up factories about rising tensions between
nesses reported hav- with a deteriorating outlook for outside the country as mount- China and the West.
ing greater difficulty sales and expansion plans, ing trade tensions and three On the taxi ride from the air-
getting a loan in March after helped drive the NFIB’s small- years of Covid lockdowns make port to the factory, the manager
IMD will issue an updated forecast for the monsoon season in multiple bank failures led to a business optimism index down them wary of relying too heav- and his client agreed to visit
the last week of May AFP further tightening of credit 0.8 point to a three-month low ily on China. Vietnam and Thailand to scout
conditions.A net 9% of owners of 90.1 — well below pre-pan- Carmakers from Europe and for opportunities.

IMD sees normal who borrow frequently said

financing was harder to get
compared to three months ear-
lier, the most since December
rainfall this season 2012, according to a survey
from the National Federation
The fall of SVB and others
demic levels. Some 26% of
owners who borrow said they
paid a higher interest rate in
elsewhere are making direct
overtures to manufacturers of
everything from cooling com- Trade tensions are making
“I don’t even like taking
planes,” said Wang, who asked
to be identified by only his sur-
March compared to three ponents to brake systems and name so as not to reveal his
have tightened standards

ahead, most immediate is con-

AFP
months earlier, the biggest
share since 2006. Even though
auto charging parts, pressing
them establish plants in places
firms wary of relying on China

Asia’s biggest economy, the

employer or main customer.
“But it looks like I have no
of Independent Business out cern that a banking crisis could credit is getting a bit more diffi- like Vietnam and Indonesia so shift is an increasing threat to choice. Move out, or lose the
in relief to farmers Tuesday. The same share
expects tougher credit condi-
tions in the next three months,
develop.”
The collapse of four banks in
March, most notably Silicon
cult, it ranks well below infla-
tion and quality of labor as the
single biggest problem for
they can still benefit from their
expertise and long-held rela-
tionships but avoid the risks
China’s status as the world’s
factory and its bid to regain the
trust of global business amid
business.”
It’s not just auto parts makers
feeling the pressure of what has
FROM PAGE 1 conditions have changed to matching the highest level in a Valley Bank and Signature small businesses.The share of China poses right now, accord- the unpredictability of Presi- come to be known as China+1:
neutral over the equatorial decade.“Small-business own- Bank, prompted many lenders owners who say they believe ing to a number of suppliers dent Xi Jinping’s rule. the push to establish at least
pockets of north-eastern Pacific region, and El Niño con- ers are cynical about future to tighten standards on busi- the next three months will be a interviewed by Bloomberg For one manager at a Jiang- one factory outside the home
regions of the country are likely ditions are likely to develop economic conditions,” Bill ness loans. That’s made it even good time to expand fell to the News. su-based maker of electric-car base of China. Most notably,
to get normal to below normal during the second half of the Dunkelberg, NFIB chief econo- more difficult for smaller firms lowest since 2009, the report While some international charging components, the Apple Inc. and its suppliers are
rainfall. IMD will issue an monsoon,” said IMD director- mist, said in a statement. to borrow, compounding what showed. Firms also dialed back names like Airbus SE and Tesla pressure is crystal clear. moving production out of the
updated forecast for the mon- general Mrutyunjay Mohapa- “There are major uncertainties was already a tough financing capital spending plans. Inc. are doubling down on When his key European cli- country.
soon season in the last week of tra. All El Niño years were not
May. “These are very prelimi- bad monsoon years in the past
nary forecasts. A forecast is only (1951-2022) years, he added. El
a conjecture, and this has no Niño refers to a phase of warm-
bearing on the crops. The ing of the ocean surface in the
actual monsoon spread is central and eastern tropical
Retail investors rushed to purchase Adani stocks as MFs sold
important, especially in areas Pacific Ocean. While the IMD
with less access to irrigation has forecast a normal monsoon FROM PAGE 1 Green from 1.28% to 1.36%. Surge in interest Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Elara India Opportunities Fund
facilities, which will be known at 96% of long period average, Since September 2022, LIC has New retail investors invested in shares worth at least $1.8 bn
Adani Green and Adani Trans- Ltd (an FII), during the March
only in June-September,” said the probability forecasts sug- ers were public non-retail raised its stake in the company across the group’s 9 core companies in Q3. mission in the March quarter, quarter, lowered its holding to
Madan Sabnavis, chief econo- gest a 51% chance of a below- investors, including so-called from 1.15% to 1.45%. In Adani Share of retail investors (%) Dec 2022 Mar 2023
as US-based GQG Partners 3.62% in Adani Transmission
mist at Bank of Baroda. Mon- normal or deficient monsoon, high net worth individuals who Transmission, too, LIC raised bought a stake in these compa- from 3.88% in September
soon rainfall is according to Aditi purchased shares worth more its holding to 3.68% in the Adani Green nies from the promoters. 2022. While most of the asset
critical for agri- The probability Nayar, chief econ- than ₹2 lakh each. March quarter from 3.65% in ACC The SB Adani Family Trust managers have monetized
culture produc- forecasts suggest omist and head of As a result of the Hindenburg the December quarter and sold 211.3 million shares for ₹. their stakes, a few mutual funds
tion, which a 51% chance of a research and out- report, the Adani group’s mar- 3.46% in the September quar- Adani Power 15,446 crore to GQG Partners, are still betting big on Adani
accounts for below-normal reach at rating ket value plunged by $145 bil- ter. Similarly, in Adani Total Ambuja using part of the proceeds to group firms. During the March
about 18% of the agency ICRA Ltd. lion, pulling founder Gautam Gas, LIC boosted its stake to prepay the group’s debts. quarter, Tata Mutual Fund
monsoon, Aditi Adani Wilmar
economy and is The volume of Adani from the third to 21st 6.02% during the March quar- The Adani group used the raised its stake in ACC to 1.56%
the largest Nayar of ICRA rainfall, its timing place on Forbes’ global rich list. ter from 5.96% in December proceeds to prepay several from 1.33% in December. SBI
Adani Enterprises
employer. Kharif said and dispersion Despite Adani group stocks and 5.77% in September. loans against shares and got a Mutual Fund too increased its
Adani Ports 48,19,823 71,08,007
or summer crops will crucially plummeting, some public In the March quarter, the 47% bulk of the promoter group stake in Adani’s newly acquired
account for about influence crop shareholders, including the group’s flagship Adani Enter- Adani Transmission share pledges released to calm cement firm to 1.8% during the
half of India’s farm basket. sowing and output, as well as government-run Life Insur- prises Ltd, Adani Total Gas, and Total Public shareholders
investors’ nerves and cut the March quarter from 1.32% at
“A good monsoon is neces- prices, she said. “In the event ance Corp. of India, added Adani Transmission saw signif- Adani Total Gas group’s leverage levels. the end of December.
sary for a good crop though the that the monsoon turns out to shares in the group’s nine listed icant growth in their public 0 5 10 15 20 25 For instance, in March, the On the other hand, while for-
Source: Exchanges
spread is more important. be below normal, we currently firms. As a result, the public shareholding base, with promoters fully repaid $2.15 eign investors have mostly
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, foresee a downside of up to 50 shareholder base grew by 47% increases of 195% (750,000), billion margin-linked, share- increased their stake in Adani
Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra basis points to our GDP growth during the March quarter, 122% (300,000), and 115% Power from 12.1% to 13.3% in 2.7%, and in ACC from 12.7% to backed funding before its 31 Transmission during the
Pradesh and Telangana are the forecast of 6% for FY24,” Nayar reaching approximately 7.1 mil- (330,000), respectively, prima- the March quarter. Similarly, in 13.7%.However, mutual funds March deadline. Additionally, March quarter, Elara India
states that depend the most on said. Skymet on Monday pre- lion.Insurance giant LIC also rily driven by retail purchases. Adani Transmission, retail sold 71 million shares in nine Adani also prepaid a $500 mil- Opportunities Fund Ltd has
monsoon for kharif crops. This dicted a below-average mon- made several opportunistic Retail shareholding in Adani holding grew from 2.7% to Adani group firms during the lion loan facility for acquiring lowered its holding to 3.62%
will determine not only the soon, saying the coming season purchases in Adani Group Enterprises rose from 6.53% to 3.9%, in Adani Wilmar from March quarter, while retail and Ambuja Cements, taking the during the latest quarter from
output of crops but also the is likely to bring only 94% of the firms during this March quar- 7.9%, in Adani Ports from 6.33% 10.4% to 10.7%, in Ambuja other public investors picked total prepayment by the Adani 3.88% in the September quar-
health of rural demand,” Sab- rain the country usually gets ter. In the March quarter, LIC to 7.8%, in Adani Green from Cements from 9% to 11.8%, in up the same number of shares. family to $2.65 billion. ter.
navis said. “Currently, La Niña from June to September. increased its stake in Adani 23% to 24.2%, and in Adani Adani Total Gas from 1.8% to Promoter holdings fell in The latest data reveals that anirudh.l@htlive.com
LIVEMINT.COM
WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi 07

I F¹FFÊ»F¹F, ³F¦FS ´FFd»FI d³F¦F¸F, ·Fû´FF»F

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Ii . 03/¹FFa.d½F./2023 d³Fd½FQF AF¸FaÂF¯F §Fû¿F¯FF-´FÂF ·Fû´FF»F, dQ³FFaI 06.04.2023
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S. Tender ID Name of Work Probable Earnest Money Cost of Period of SOR
N Amount of Deposit (EMD) Bid Completion
o. Contract (In Rs.) Document (in Months)
(Rs. in lakhs) (In Rs.)
CONSTRUCTION OF URBAN HEALTH AND
2023_ 06 Months MP UAD
WELLNESS CENTRE AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS
1 UAD_ 1,70,62,878/- 85,314/- 12500 (including D ISSR
IN ZONE NO 01 TO 07 AND OTHERS UNDER
266032_1 rainy season) 2021
BMC (EMPANELMENT BASIS)
1. Interested bidders can view the NIT on website https://www.mptenders.gov.in/
2. The Bid Docoment can be purchased only online from 10:30 A.M. (time) 07.04.2023 (date) to 17:30 P.M. (Time) 24.04.2023 (date).
3. Amendments to NIT (if any) would be published on website https://www.mptenders.gov.in/ only, and not in newspaper.
4. For electrification related works : it is mandatory for bidder should have own “A” Class electrical registration or agreement with
“A” Class electrical registration Holder (Attach as per).
5. E.M. Deposit will not be refunded till the end of contract Period.
6. Contract will be awarded to top 04 contractors (L1 to L4) only and Weightage in Awarding the Work Will be Given to the Lowest
Bidder.
7. Minimum Rate Quoted (L1) by any Bidder will be Applicable to all 04 Empanelled Contractors.
8. Site/Place of Construction may be changed as per the requirement.
9. The initial period of 3 (Three) year after completion shall be treated as Defect Liability Period (DLP).
In. Chief Engineer
Municipal Corporation Bhopal
d³F.Ii . 41/023/024 District Bhopal

DELHI JAL BOARD, GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

OFFICE OF THE ADDL. CHIEF ENGINEER (M)-10/AEE(T)
ENGINEERS BHAWAN 2nd FLOOR, ANDREWS GANJ
NEAR MOOL CHAND CROSSING, NEW DELHI-110049
NIT NO. 01/ACE(M-10)/AEE(T)/2023-24
S. Description Amount Put to Date of release of Last date/Time of receipt
No. Tender, EMD, tender in E-Procurement of Tender Through
Tender Fee Solution E-Procurement Solution
1. Replacement of damaged water line from Rs. 1,36,82,477/- 10.04.2023 29.04.2023
A-1 Niti Bagh to underpass HUDCO Place on Rs. 2,73,700/- Tender I.D. No. At 2.00 P.M.
August Kranti Marg under AC-43 Rs. 1000/- 2023_DJB_239432_1
Further details in this regard can be seen at (https://govprocurement.delhi.gov.in)
ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) “STOP CORONA:Wear Mask, Follow Physical (Rohan Jharkhariya)
Advt. No. J.S.V. 08 (2023-24) Distancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene” ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (T) M-10

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08 WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi GLOBAL LIVEMINT.COM

m MINT SHORTS
Britain names MI5 deputy as first
Deeper financial turmoil set to
slow global growth, warns IMF
female cyber spy boss
London: Britain named Anne Keast-Butler as the first female
director of its intelligence communications agency GCHQ on
Tuesday, tasked with protecting the country from terrorists,
cyber-criminals and malign foreign powers. She will take over the
role in May, succeeding Jeremy Fleming who is stepping down
after a six-year tenure. She is currently deputy director general
at Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, known as MI5. REUTERS
The IMF is forecasting global real GDP growth at 2.8% for 2023 and 3% for 2024, a sharp dip from 3.4% in 2022
Buffett’s firm ups stakes in
Reuters
Japanese trading houses
REUTERS
feedback@livemint.com
WAshiNgToN
Projection
for India cut
T
he International Monetary
Fund on Tuesday trimmed
its 2023 global growth out-
look slightly as higher inter-
est rates cool activity but
to 5.9% for
warned that a severe flare-up of finan-
cial system turmoil could slash output fiscal year
to near recessionary levels.
The IMF said in its latest World Eco- PTI
nomic Outlook report that banking feedback@livemint.com
system contagion risks were con- NeW Delhi
Omaha, Nebraska: Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company tained by strong policy actions after

has increased its investments in five major Japanese trading the failures of two US regional banks
houses to give Berkshire Hathaway control of 7.4% of each and the forced merger of Credit Suisse.
of those conglomerates. Buffett disclosed the new invest- But the turmoil added another layer of
ments Tuesday in interviews with Nikkei and CNBC while uncertainty on top of stubbornly high
he is vists Tokyo this week to meet with executives at the inflation and spillovers from Russia’s
Japanese companies. Buffett said he is “very proud” of his war in Ukraine.
investments in the trading houses that were first disclosed “With the recent increase in finan-
back in 2020. AP cial market volatility, the fog around
the world economic outlook has thick-
ened,” the IMF said as it and the World
Microsoft, Citizen Lab say Israeli Bank launch spring meetings this
week in Washington.
spyware used to hack civil society “Uncertainty is high and the balance
An Israeli firm’s hacking tools have been used against journalists, of risks has shifted firmly to the down-
opposition figures and advocacy organizations across at least 10 side so long as the financial sector
countries, according to new research published Tuesday by Mic- remains unsettled,” the Fund added.
rosoft Corp and the internet watchdog Citizen Lab. Citizen Lab The IMF is now forecasting global
said in its report that it had identified a handful of civil society vic- real GDP growth at 2.8% for 2023 and
tims whose iPhones had been hacked using surveillance software 3.0% for 2024, marking a sharp slow-
developed by QuaDream Ltd—a lower-profile competitor to bet- down from 3.4% growth in 2022 due
ter known Israeli spyware company NSO Group. REUTERS to tighter monetary policy.
Both the 2023 and 2024 forecasts
were marked down by 0.1 percentage
Volcano erupts in Russian far point from estimates issued in Janu-
ary, partly due to weaker performan-
east, followed by an earthquake ces in some larger economies as well as
AP
expectations of further monetary
tightening to battle persistent infla-
tion.
The IMF’s US outlook improved
slightly, with growth in 2023 forecast
at 1.6% versus 1.4% forecast in January
as labor markets remain strong. But
T
he International Mone-
tary Fund (IMF) on
Tuesday lowered India’s
economic growth projection
for the current fiscal to 5.9%
from 6.1% earlier. Yet India will
continue to be the fastest-
growing economy in the
world.
In its annual World Eco-
IMF director of the research department Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas speaks at a news conference during the World Bank/ nomic Outlook, IMF also low-
IMF Spring Meetings at the IMF headquarters in Washington on Tuesday. ered the forecast for 2024-25
AP
fiscal (April 2024 to March
the Fund cut forecasts for some major not halt their fight against inflation monetary policy tightening and reli- 2025) to 6.3% from the 6.8% it
economies including Germany, now because of financial stability risks, ant on uninsured deposits—creates a had predicted in January.
forecast to contract 0.1% in 2023 and which look “very much contained”. situation where “funding conditions The growth rate of 5.9% in
Japan, now forecast to grow 1.3% this While a major banking crisis was for all banks tighten, due to greater the 2023-24 fiscal compares
year instead of 1.8% fore- not in the IMF’s baseline, concern for bank solvency and poten- with an estimated 6.8% in the
cast in January. The IMF raised its Gourinchas said a signifi- tial exposures across the financial sys- previous year.
The IMF raised its core inflation cant worsening of finan- tem,” the IMF said. IMF growth forecast is lower
2023 core inflation fore- forecast for 2023 cial conditions “could This “moderate tightening” of than projections by the
cast to 5.1%, from a 4.5% from January’s result in a sharper and financial conditions could slice 0.3 Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
prediction in January,
4.5% prediction to more elevated down- percentage point off of global growth RBI sees a 7% GDP growth in
saying it had yet to peak turn.” for 2023, cutting it to 2.5%. 2022-23 and a 6.4% in the cur-
in many countries 5.1%, saying it was The report included The Fund also included a severe rent fiscal that started on 1
despite lower energy and yet to peak two analyses showing downside scenario with much broader April. The government is yet to
food prices. financial turmoil causing impacts from bank balance sheet risks, release full-year GDP numbers
“Our advice is for moderate and severe leading to sharp cuts in lending in the for 2022-23.
monetary policy to remain focused on impacts on global growth. US and other advanced economies, a China’s growth rate is pro-
bringing down inflation,” IMF chief In a “plausible” scenario, stress on major pullback in household spending jected to be 5.2% in 2023 and
economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas vulnerable banks—some like failed Sil- and a “risk-off” flight of investment 4.5% in 2024 against its
told reporters. In a Reuters interview, icon Valley Bank and Signature Bank funds to safe-haven dollar-denomi- growth rate of 3% in 2022.
Gourinchas said central banks should burdened by unrealized losses due to nated assets.

China plans security reviews for Kim to enhance war defences,

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia: One of Russia’s
most active volcanoes erupted on the far eastern Kam-
chatka peninsula on Tuesday. Around 24 hours after the
services similar to ChatGPT cuts hotline with South Korea
volcano began erupting, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck
off the coast of Kamchatka, the geological survey said. Lava Bloomberg Corp. among the many tech Bloomberg nuclear strikes against the US
flows from the volcano melted snow and prompted a warn- feedback@livemint.com companies exploring genera- feedback@livemint.com and its two allies that host the
ing of mud flows along a nearby highway. REUTERS tive AI, which can create origi- bulk of American troops in the

C N
hina plans to require a
security review of gen-
China minister, Intel CEO discuss erative AI services
before they’re allowed to oper-
semiconductor industry chain ate, casting uncertainty over
Beijing: China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao met with ChatGPT-like bots unveiled by
Intel’s CEO Patrick Paul Gelsinger on Tuesday in Beijing, and the country’s largest tech com-
exchanged views on maintaining the security and stability of the panies including Baidu Inc.
global semiconductor industry chain, the Chinese commerce Providers of services must
ministry said.China will provide a broader market for multina- ensure content is accurate and
tional companies, including Intel, the ministry quoted Wang as respects intellectual property,
saying. REUTERS and neither discriminates nor
endangers security, the Cyber-
space Administration of China
Head of British business lobby said in draft guidelines seeking
public feedback. AI operators
sacked over misconduct must also clearly label AI-gen-
London: Britain’s main business lobby group announced Tues- erated content, the country’s
day the sacking of director general Tony Danker, which follows internet overseer said in a state-
allegations of sexual misconduct that have rocked the Confedera- ment posted on its website.
tion of British Industry. The CBI suspended three other employ- The CAC’s requirements add
ees and apologised to victims as it expressed “revulsion” over to Beijing’s growing attempts
their stories and admitted “serious failings” in its handling of the to regulate the explosive
matter. AFP growth of generative AI since
China’s plan seeks to ensure
accruracy of content. REUTERS
OpenAI’s ChatGPT fired up the
industry in November. Compa-
nies from Alibaba Group Hold-
ing Ltd. to SenseTime Group
Inc. and Baidu all aim to build
the definitive next-generation
AI platform for the world’s larg-
est internet market. That mir-
rors a growing wave of devel-
opment abroad with Alphabet
Inc.’s Google and Microsoft
nal content from poetry to art
just with simple user prompts.
Alibaba shares gave up much
of their initial gains on Tuesday
after the CAC announcement,
while SenseTime was down
slightly. The larger e-com-
merce company on Tuesday
described how it planned to
build generative AI into its
Slack-like work app and Ama-
zon Echo-like smart speakers,
before expanding that portfolio
to its other services. A day
before, SenseTime demon-
strated the large AI model
SenseNova and a user-facing
chatbot called SenseChat.
That followed Baidu Inc.’s
Ernie bot, which was released
for selective testing about a
month ago. The company, the
domestic leader at present, was
down 7% in Hong Kong.
orth Korean leader Kim
Jong Un called for
“practical and offen-
sive” war capabilities as his
state issued a fresh warning to
the US and cut communica-
tions links with South Korea
used to reduce tensions on
their heavily armed border.
Kim told a meeting of mili-
tary officials that he wanted to
step up the country’s defences
due to “the ever-worsening
security on the Korean Penin-
sula,” the official Korean Cen-
tral News Agency reported
Tuesday.
His state was determined to
“strengthen the war deterrent
of the country in every way to
cope with the escalating moves
of the US imperialists and the
south Korean puppet traitors to
unleash a war of aggression,”
North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un. AP
KCNA said. North Korea’s offi-
cial media almost never refers
to its neighbour by its formal
name.
North Korea stepped up its
pressure campaign by last week
cutting off the communication
links with South Korea. This
year it has also ratcheted up
tensions by testing new weap-
ons and systems to deliver
region—South Korea and
Japan.
That response also included a
new undersea “Haeil” drone
North Korea tested recently that
it said could deliver a “radioac-
tive tsunami”—a claim doubted
by South Korea’s military.
The US, Japan and South
Korea this month held joint
anti-submarine drills in waters
off the South Korean island of
Jeju. North Korea responded
by warning that the US and its
“puppet state” allies were
bringing grave danger to them-
selves and saying its nuclear
arsenal was ready to be used at
any time to deter the “war
maniacs’ reckless moves.”
The two Koreas had set up
hotlines in 2018 after a series of
summits aimed at decreasing
tensions.

US classified documents may have leaked via chatroom for gamers

AP chat until a few weeks ago, don’t know. And is that a matter appeared in recent weeks in the of what might happen in the Ukrainian leader” might also
feedback@livemint.com when they began to circulate of concern to us? You’re darn discussion forums. They Russia-Ukraine war in certain retain domestic and foreign
WAshiNgToN more widely on social media right it is.” include a top-secret analysis of “wild card” scenarios, includ- support as well, it says.
and get picked up by major Chris Meagher, top spokes- deepening intelligence service ing if Russian President Vlad- The investigative journalism

A
major leak of classified
US documents that’s
shaken Washington
and exposed new details of its
intelligence gathering may
have started in a chatroom on a
social media platform popular
with gamers.
Held on the Discord plat-
form, which hosts real-time
voice, video and text chats, a dis-
cussion originally created to talk
about a range of topics turned to
the war in Ukraine. As part of
debates about Ukraine, accord-
ing to one member of the chat,
an unidentified poster shared
documents that were allegedly
classified, first typing them out
with the poster’s own thoughts,
then, as of a few months ago,
beginning to post images of
papers with folds in them.
The posts appear to have
gone unnoticed outside of the
news outlets. The leaks have
alarmed US officials and
sparked a justice department
investigation.
The records have provided
startling and surprisingly
timely details of US and Nato
assistance to Ukraine. They
also provided clues about
efforts to assist Ukraine in its
war with Russia, including an
anticipated spring offensive.
The scale of the exposure has
yet to be determined. Also
unclear is whether any govern-
ment worked to share the doc-
uments or manipulate them.
Asked on Monday if the US
government was effectively
waiting for more intelligence
documents to show up online,
National Security Council
spokesman John Kirby replied:
“The truth and the honest
answer to your question is: We
man for the Pentagon, urged
caution in “promoting or ampli-
fying any of these documents,”
adding that “it does appear that
slides have been doctored.”
But the breach underscores
the difficulties the US and other
governments face in securing
classified information. Con-
gressional reviews and experts
have long warned of weak-
nesses in US counterintelli-
gence, of the challenges of
monitoring an estimated 3 mil-
lion people with security clear-
ances, and of agencies produc-
ing and over-classifying so
much information that the US
cannot reliably control it.
“I think that the intelligence
agencies have adjusted and
gotten better at preventing all
sorts of mass electronic leaks,”
said Kellen Dwyer, a former
justice department prosecutor
Leak of classified US documents is believed to have happened
on a chatroom on Discord, a platform popular with gamers.
who was part of the team that
brought a federal case against
WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange. “But clearly, they
haven’t gotten good enough.”
The Associated Press inter-
viewed a person who said he
was a member of the Discord
chat group in which docu-
ments appeared for several
AP
months. The person, who said
he was 18 years old, refused to
give his name, citing concerns
for his personal safety.
The AP could not independ-
ently confirm many details
shared by the person, and the
original chatroom has been
deleted. The AP reviewed
images of documents that
ties between Russia’s FSB and imir Putin or Ukrainian Presi- organization Bellingcat, which
agencies in the United Arab dent Volodymyr Zelensky were specializes in digging through
Emirates, the oil-rich Persian to die. The analysis is marked social media and open-source
Gulf nation that hosts a US air secret, a lower level of classifi- records, interviewed the same
base and cooper- cation than top- person and two others in the
ates on many The breach shows secret. Discord chatroom, called
security matters the difficulties the Were Putin to “Thug Shaker Central”.
with Washington. US and other fire his top mili- Bellingcat reported Saturday
Citing signals governments face tary advisers and that documents from Thug
intelligence, the the war to esca- Shaker Central appear to have
in securing
March analysis late, the docu- been shared in another chat-
says officers from classified ment speculates room, “WowMao”. From
the FSB were information he might autho- WowMao, the documents
caught claiming rize the use of tac- appear to have spread more
that the UAE had tical nuclear widely—and eventually
agreed with Russia “to work weapons if “elites question became the subject of a story in
together against US and UK Putin’s decision-making and The New York Times on Thurs-
intelligence agencies”. Russian forces are unable to day, which first reported that
A spokesman for the Emirati overcome manning and equip- the Pentagon was investigating
government said the allega- ment shortfalls.” a breach.
tions “are categorically false”. The death of Zelensky, in a Associated Press writers
US officials at several agencies worst-case scenario, might Lolita C. Baldor and Eric Tucker
declined to comment on the prompt Europe to restrict in Washington, and Michelle R.
document. weapons shipments, the docu- Smith in Providence, Rhode
The AP also saw an analysis ment says. But a “high-profile Island, contributed to this report.
LIVEMINT.COM NEWS WRAP WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi 09

TWEETS & QUOTES

Alicia Garcia-Herrero Mamta Murthi Mukesh Agarwal
Manish Sharma Chief economist for Asia VP, Human development, CEO, NSE Indices
Chairman, Panasonic Life Pacific, Natixis World Bank REITs & InvITs are recognized as
Solutions India & SA China’s inflation data for March As a small land-locked strong alternative financial instru-
...Robotic tech will change out and scary: CPI inflation even country, Kyrgyzstan can ments to raise funds against cash
future of construction, lower than in Jan-Feb: only 0.7% only compete by having generating infra & real estate
automating mundane and PPI -2.5% all below expecta- quality “Human Capital” projects. For investors, these
tasks & enhancing effi- tions. China remains in excess to sustain economic instruments provide exposure to
ciency, precision, & safety supply territory growth & build resilience real estate or infra assets.

‘India’s FDI flows to MODERN MAIL India logs 21 covid

see modest rise’ deaths in last 24 hrs

I I
ndia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) flows n the past 24 hours, India has reported 5,676
may pick up only modestly in fiscal 2024 after new covid-19 cases and 21 fatalities,
a fall seen in the first 10 months of fiscal 2023, according to the Union health ministry’s
economists at Citi said in a note on Tuesday. update on Tuesday. The total number of active
Citi expects net FDI flows, which include both cases now stands at 37,093, with the country
outflows and inflows, to be at $35 billion in fiscal having recorded 44.9 million cases and
2024. Net FDI flows in the first ten months of 531,000 deaths thus far.
fiscal 2023 stood at $26.5 billion, a decline of Epidemiologists have observed that the
14.3% year-on-year. Gross FDI flows for the number of covid-19 cases is doubling every
April-January period stood at $61.5 billion, four to five days, leading to a daily reporting of
down nearly 13%, as per Citi. over 5,000 cases in India. In response, the
The FDI decline resembled a wider global Centre is urging citizens to wear masks in
phenomenon amid investor uncertainty, crowded areas and to complete their
worsening profitability of multinational vaccination doses. The Centre has
corporations, and moderation in private equity recommended that states assess the situation at
and venture capital investments. a micro level, specifically focusing on districts
However, some concerns over the decline in and sub-districts. This approach aims to ensure
potential growth (in India), widening income the prompt and effective management of
inequality and some macro stability issues in covid-19, while maintaining strict compliance
2022 could have also weighed in on FDI, the with necessary measures. PRIYANKA SHARMA
economists said. REUTERS

Workers at the construction site of a first-of-its-kind 3D printed post office building in Bengaluru on Tuesday. PTI

HDFC Bank will discuss the fund raise at its board

Startups move Delhi HC to stop SCI owns and operates bulk carriers and crude oil
tankers among others. BLOOMBERG
meeting on 15 April.

HDFC Bank to raise

MINT

Google’s in-app billing system Govt may invite

bids for SCI in May
₹50,000 cr in debt
T
he government plans to invite financial

P
rivate lender HDFC Bank Ltd on
Tuesday said that it would consider
raising debt of ₹50,000 crore over the
next one year.
HDFC Bank will discuss the fund raise at its
board meeting on 15 April, when it is also due
to report earnings for the January-March
quarter.
bids for the privatization of Shipping Corp
Filing marks latest tussle between Google, startups over ‘unfair business restrictions’ of India Ltd (SCI) next month, as it looks to
sell the state-run company after years of delay,
two government officials said.
Reuters promptly even as Google’s 26 April implementa- pany must stop forcing developers to use its pro- The government had, in 2019, announced
feedback@livemint.com tion date of the so-called User Choice Billing sys- prietary in-app payment system, labelling it an plans to privatize a number of state-run
new delhI tem (UCB) is nearing. abuse of Google’s dominant market position. companies, including selling its stake in SCI,
The 744-page filing asks the court to “keep the Google has denied any wrongdoing and chal- which was stalled due to regulatory delays.

The proposed fund raise would be by
issuing perpetual debt instruments, or
Additional Tier-1 (AT-1) bonds, Tier-II capital
bonds and long-term bonds, the bank said in
an exchange filing.
The fund raising will be on a private
placement basis, HDFC Bank said.
The proposed fundraising comes ahead of
HDFC Bank’s merger with Housing
Development Finance Corp Ltd, which is
likely to be completed by the end of June.
In December, HDFC Bank had raised
₹5,000 crore via 10-year Basel III-compliant,
Tier-II bonds at a coupon of 7.84%.
Last September, it issued Basel III-
compliant AT-1 bonds worth ₹3,000 crore at a
coupon of 7.84%. REUTERS
A
group of Indian startups has asked a
court to suspend Alphabet Inc Goo-
gle’s new in-app billing fee system
until the Competition Commission
of India (CCI) investigates the US
firm for alleged non-compliance with its direct-
ives, a legal filing showed.
The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF)
last month asked India’s antitrust regulator to
investigate Google for devising a new system
startups say still charges them a high service fee,
despite an antitrust directive in October to allow
use of third-party billing services for in-app pay-
ments.
In its 10 April filing at the Delhi high court, the
Alliance of Digital India Foundation argues that
the antitrust body is yet to hear its complaint
implementation of Google’s UCB in abeyance” lenged the antitrust ruling. SCI, which owns and operates bulk carriers
until CCI hears the complaint. The new service fee system, it says, supports and crude oil tankers, among others, had to spin
The court is likely investments in Goo- off its non-core assets before the government
to hear the plea later gle Play app store could sell its 63.75% stake, which hit a roadblock
this week. The The filing asks the court to “keep the and the Android over the amount of funds to be transferred to the
Competition Com- implementation of Google’s User mobile operating demerged entity. SCI completed the spinoff last
mission of India did
not respond, while Choice Billing system in abeyance” system, ensuring it
distributes it for
month after getting regulatory approval late in
February. This demerged entity, called SCI
Google declined until CCI hears the complaint free, and covers Land Assets Ltd, will have to be listed before 23
comment. developer tools and April and the government plans to do that soon,
The filing marks analytic services. one of the two officials said. REUTERS
the latest tussle between Google and rival start- But Indian startups argue Google’s User Choice
ups, which have repeatedly criticized the US com- Billing system still imposes a “service fee” of
pany for what they say are unfair business restric- 11-26%, compared with the earlier in-app pay-
tions. ment system that charged a fee of 15-30%. The
In October, the Competition Commission of new system is “cloaked as another version” of
Samsung’s 3 public
India fined Google $112 million and said the com- Google’s earlier system, the ADIF filing stated.
policy officers quit

T
hree public policy executives of the India
521,000 LLP forms team of Samsung Electronics have
SP Group weighs $2 bn asset sales resigned, people aware of the matter said,
filed in new portal in simultaneous departures as the country’s
biggest smartphone player faces several
an adviser to seek buyer for its holdings in regulatory headaches.

O
ver 521,000 forms related to limited
liability partnerships have been filed in
the new version of the MCA21 portal in
FY23, showed official data from the ministry of
corporate affairs. This is an improvement over
474,000 LLP forms filed in the previous
version of the statutory filing portal in FY22,
said the ministry. In the case of company
related forms too, since 23 January, when
company incorporation and name reservation
forms and 46 forms have been rolled out in the
new version of the portal, about 270,000 forms
have been filed by stakeholders, the ministry
informed. The numbers indicate the new
system of statutory filings built from the
The Group may sell stakes in its flagship
engineering business and some ports. REUTERS
Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, a Mumbai-
based infrastructure construction
company, the people said. SP Group is
also looking to sell some ports, said the
people, who asked not to be identified as
the information is private. Gopalpur Port
on the east coast of India could be among
assets that SP Group is looking to sell, one
of the people said. Considerations are at
an early stage and SP Group can decide to
keep the assets for longer, the people said.
A representative for SP Group didn’t
provide any immediate comment.
Founded in 1865, SP Group built luxury
hotels, stadiums, palaces and factories
Covovax has been added on CoWIN as a
heterologous booster dose for adults.
SII suggests Covovax
Public policy teams have increasingly critical
roles in companies efforts to balance regulatory
issues as the government has boosted domestic
electronics manufacturing while backing
tougher regulations on tech firms.
Binu George, who looked at corporate affairs
and strategy, Surabhi Pant who worked on
policy and public affairs, and Nikhil Kaura from
the same team quit last week, two people briefed
of the issue said.
They were part of a seven-member team
headed by Rajiv Aggarwal, a former bureaucrat
who, before joining Samsung in December, led
public policy at Meta and Uber in India. REUTERS

scratch has stabilised. Earlier, professionals
had highlighted in social media their
difficulties with respect to filing certain forms.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in
February asked the ministry to form a special
team to address public grievances on priority
and to monitor the issues on a daily basis.
S
hapoorji Pallonji Group, controlled
by billionaire Shapoor Mistry, is
weighing asset sales including a
controlling stake in its flagship
engineering firm that could raise about $2
billion, according to people familiar with
the matter. The company is working with
as a booster dose
across Asia, including the RBI building
and the heritage Tower Wing of the Taj
Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai. Afcons
Sebi issues price
A
specializes in engineering and mid covid surge and poor coverage of
construction including marine
infrastructure, tunnels, bridges and roads,
booster dose, Serum Institute of India (SII)
CEO Adar Poonawalla recommended band framework
according to its website. BLOOMBERG elderly people to take Covovax booster dose. He

STAFF WRITER informed that the vaccine is now available on
CoWIN portal and is excellent against all the
variants.
Right now, the coverage of precaution dose
Tim Cook to visit India to open Apple stores in Mumbai, Delhi is 228.7 million of the total 22.066 billion
vaccination dose.
“As covid cases have been rising again with
T
o check irregular movement in stock
prices, the Securities and Exchange Board
of India came out with a new framework
for fixing the price band for trading in shares on
the first day of listing after an initial public
offering. The decision has been taken after
discussions with stock exchanges and Sebi’s

A
pple Inc chief executive officer Tim Cook has scheduled a trip to open Omicron XBB & its variants, it can be severe for secondary market advisory committee (SMAC),
the iPhone maker’s first stores in India next week, underscoring the the elderly. I’d suggest for the elderly, mask up according to a circular. For trading on the first
company’s ambitions for the country as a growth market and & take the Covovax booster which is now day pursuant to IPO or re-listing, Sebi said that
manufacturing base. available on the COWIN app. It is excellent call auction sessions would continue to be
Cook is likely to preside over the opening of the twin outlets in New Delhi against all variants & is approved in the US & conducted separately on individual exchanges
and Mumbai, people familiar with the matter said, asking to remain Europe,” Poonawalla tweeted. and orders would be matched by respective
anonymous discussing private plans. According to the officials, Covovax has been exchanges after computation of equilibrium
Apple will open a store in Mumbai on 18 April and another in New Delhi on added on CoWIN portal as a heterologous price. In case the difference in the equilibrium
20 April. Cook is set to open Apple’s first India store inside an upscale mall in booster dose for adults, means, for those price between exchanges in percentage terms is
the Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, or BKC, as the neighbourhood is individuals who have already vaccinated with more than the applicable price band for the
called. A few days after that, he is set to unlock the doors on the New Delhi Covishield or Covaxin. Last year in March, scrip, a common equilibrium price (CEP) would
store, in a high-end mall in the Saket neighbourhood. Drugs Controller General of India also be computed by exchanges. “The CEP would be
The trip comes seven years after the CEO’s maiden visit in 2016. approved the vaccine for the 12-17 age group the volume weighted average of equilibrium
Apple is betting on India to diversify its assembly operations beyond China and children aged 7- 11 years under certain prices on individual exchanges as determined
amid strained Beijing-Washington relations. BLOOMBERG Cook’s trip comes seven years after the CEO’s maiden visit in 2016 AFP conditions. PRIYANKA SHARMA by the call auction,” the regulator said. PTI
10 WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi LONG STORY LIVEMINT.COM

HOW PATANJALI AND

pAnDemIC resHApeD DAbur
The 139-year-old firm is pressing ahead with an ambitious but risky diversification plan

Sumant Banerji
sumant.banerji@livemint.com
neW delHi

O
n 2 December 2020, Sunita
Narain, the present
director general of the Cen-
tre for Science and Envi-
ronment (CSE), a research
and advocacy body, dropped a bombshell.
Citing an investigation, Narain claimed
that 10 of the biggest honey brands in India
had flunked a purity test. The list included
Dabur Ltd, the country’s leading branded
honey seller. The company had the most to
lose on reputation and market share.
Dabur rubbished the investigation.
Subsequently, a bitter battle ensued on
the sidelines, not so much with the CSE
but with a rival company.
Marico Ltd started advertising that its
product, Saffola Honey, was the purest.
Marico had ventured into the honey seg-
ment only a few months earlier and was
one of the three brands that had cleared
the test conducted by the CSE.
Dabur wasn’t amused. There was a
recent history of bad blood between the
two companies, too. Earlier in 2020,
Dabur had taken the Harsh Mariwala-
owned firm to the Delhi High Court alleg-
ing that the latter had imitated the pack-
aging of its honey to confuse customers.
Now, on the issue of purity, both the com-
panies traded multiple barbs and soon
found themselves at the altar of advertis-
ing regulator, the Advertising Standards
Council of India (ASCI). Eventually, Mar-
ico changed its packaging and also
stopped using the advertisements.
“Their product (Marico’s) was cheaper
than ours and they said there was a quality
issue (with Dabur). We couldn’t sit idle
and fought back tooth and nail,” said
Mohit Malhotra, the 53-year-old chief
executive officer (CEO) of Dabur.
“Whether it is retail, visibility, prices, con-
sumer promotion or advertising, we did
not want to give them any space.”
This sort of aggression was new and
quite uncharacteristic for a company that
is synonymous with Ayurveda in India.
Founded by Dr S.K. Burman in 1884,
famous for providing low cost Ayurvedic
medicines to the people of rural Bengal,
Dabur is now known for a range of prod-
ucts. Apart from honey, the company sells
herbal dietary supplements (like Chya- Mohit Malhotra, the 53-year-old chief executive officer of Dabur, wants the company to experiment and take risks. PRIYANKA PARASHAR/MINT
wanprash); herbal digestive tablets (Haj-
mola); Ayurvedic medicines (Pudin Hara);
beverages (Real fruit juices); oral care
products (Dabur Red Paste); hair oil is—the face of Patanjali. egize, Dabur found itself particularly mint
(Dabur Amla) and even mosquito repel- Though the company was set up to tar- stuck. SHORT
HEALTHY GROWTH
lents (Odomos). get multinationals, Dabur felt the heat. Most of its offerings fell under the dis- STORY
At the turn of the century, the company Patanjali unleashed a disruptive pricing cretionary spending category—it had no Demonetization, the introduction of GST, or even covid-19 had little impact
transitioned from being family-run to strategy in the initial years—it started staples to sell. A mighty scramble to pro- on Dabur's performance.
being steered by a professional manage- selling honey at ₹70 against Dabur’s ₹120 cure emergency passes from the authori- WHAT 12,000
Revenue Profit (in  crore)
ment. Dabur 2.0 began with the com- per 250 gm. The result? Dabur lost signif- ties for business ensued.
pany’s first ‘outsider’ CEO, Ninu Khanna icant market share between 2016 and “It was a big realization. We needed to Dabur’s revenue and profit have
9,000
(November 1998-January 2002). Sunil 2017 in segments like honey (20 percent- add some staples to our portfolio as a grown at a steady clip over the
Duggal, who had worked at Wimco, Ben- age points) and chyawanprash (2 per- de-risking strategy, which will help us in a last decade. However, the 6,000
nett & Coleman and PepsiCo before join- centage points). black swan event like covid,” Malhotra said. company faced serious
ing Dabur in 1995, took over as CEO in “Patanjali was a big wake-up call for Subsequently, the company ventured challenges along the way, which 3,000
April 2002. He ran the company for a mar- us. They came in and took significant into segments such as edible oil, ghee, forced it to diversify.
0
athon 17 years, making several acquisi- market share from under our feet; they sauces, tea and spices. Recently, it 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23*
tions, streamlining the business, and lay- discounted products by 50-60%,” Mal- acquired Badshah Masala Pvt Ltd, a spice * Apr-Dec 2022
ing the foundation for overseas expansion. hotra said. “I was a bystander at that maker. The company also expanded its SO 1,20,000 Dabur’s FMCG sales mix in India
Malhotra, who joined Dabur as an time, and it was painful. There was a sen- beverage brand Real to include milk- Marketcap (in  crore)
intern in 1994 and rose through the ranks, timent at board meetings that we were shakes and carbonated fruit juices. During the pandemic, Dabur Share of revenue, FY22
80,000
becoming the CEO in 2019, is trying to not able to do anything. Baba is an evan- More launches are now a priority. Four realized that it did not have
9.9
erect a superstructure on that foundation. gelist with many die-hard followers. years back, Dabur would, on an average, non-discretionary products such OTC &
40,000
He wants the company to take the next big They were putting their life savings into launch 12 new products every year. Today, as staples. It has now ventured Ethicals
into segments such as edible oil, 16.9 19.4
leap. Project Dabur 3.0 is playing out. retail outlets and creating a channel for it does 16 in a quarter alone. 0 Food
Hair care
“The company, in the past, was a bit Patanjali. How could a company like “The ability to experiment and try new ghee, sauces, tea and spices. 2012-13 2022-23 Beverages

fearful. Sometimes, we were too respect- Dabur counter that?” things is the essence of the fearlessness Dabur’s diversification gamble
ful of our rivals. I want this company to be Dabur, eventually, did get into a bruis- that I am trying to instill. Nothing is off the Industry size Industry growth (in %) 17.6
fearless and not afraid to take risks,” Mal- ing price war and emerged triumphant—it charts for Dabur now,” Malhotra said. “A BUT (in  crore) rate (in %) Oral Care
hotra said. “The Dabur of today and recouped almost all the market share in few years back, you could not have imag- Tea 18,000 4-5 20.5
tomorrow does not believe in losing mar- two years. ined us getting into fizzy drinks but now This diversification strategy is not Spices 50,000 20-25
Health
without risks. Categories such as 5.5 Supplements 4.3
ket share at any cost. As in the case with How did Dabur win? we are. Why not?” Edible oil and ghee 87,000 7 Digestives Skin Care
honey, we will never cede an inch.” “Patanjali shook companies across the spices, sauces and condiments 20-22
Milkshake 1,700 5.9
While the company’s revenue and entire FMCG (fast-moving consumer Will it Pay off? are highly fragmented whereas Home Care
Carbonated beverages 36,000 10
ghee and edible oil have bigger,
profit have grown at a steady clip over the
last decade (see chart), it faced serious
challenges along the way. And two events
goods) industry and it showed just how big
the potential for Ayurveda was and that
the industry was not tapping into it fully,”
T his diversification strategy is not
without risks. Dabur is venturing into
categories that hold the promise of growth
well entrenched players.
Fruit drinks 7,500 10-12 Sources: Industry estimates

SATISH KUMAR/MINT

have largely shaped the aggressive Dabur said Abneesh Roy, executive director of (see chart). However, they are either highly
of today. Nuvama Institutional Equities, a broker- fragmented (like spices, sauces and condi- products. The Ayurveda products market take it for granted either. “The old guard at and high margin products; between forti-
age. “Eventually, to win in FMCG, it comes ments) or have bigger, well entrenched size was estimated at ₹1 trillion in 2020-21 Dabur does not really like it (the diversifica- fying its core Ayurveda business and press-
Wake-uP call down to regular innovation, agility, players (like carbonated beverages, ghee by the Ayush ministry. It is expected to tion) but they do not want to be seen as ing the accelerator in newer segments. And

B efore taking over as the CEO, Mal- extremely strong feet on the ground in
hotra managed Dabur’s international terms of sales, use of analytics and the flex-
business division—the ibility on pricing. This is
or edible oils).
“In some categories that are adjacent to
segments where it is already well estab-
double in five years and quintuple in 10
years. This sort of growth potential will
attract competition.
averse to change. They will get a voice if even though predicting the future in the
growth stalls or profitability dips,” said a world of corporates is nearly impossible,
board member who did the CEO does seem to
international business where there is a gap lished, Dabur has a definite right to win. In And then, comes the issue of margins. not wish to be identified. have time on his hands.
spans over 120 countries Diversification can also act between Patanjali and a others, like ghee and tea, the company is Unlike pure-play Ayurveda products, Having spent over Dabur would need to strike a Considering he is 53
and netted revenue of as a distraction, especially company like Dabur,” he very late and I think it will be more of an mass market staples do not offer high mar- three decades in the balance between low and now, Malhotra has at
nearly ₹2,806 crore in added. e-commerce play,” said Roy of Nuvama gins. So, a big bang foray would not only company, Malhotra is least a seven-year run-
2021-22, a quarter of its at a time when more The Patanjali threat Equities. be capital intensive but also see margin well aware of the pitfalls. high margin products; way ahead of him. In any
consolidated topline. companies are showing withered away with “The biggest challenge in new product dilution. Dabur, today, has a healthy 21% “I faced huge resist- between fortifying its core case, age is not a barrier
But he had a ring side demonetization in 2016 launches is that failure rates are very operating margin that compares favoura- ance—not just from the at Dabur—Duggal was 62
view of the challenge interest in Ayurvedic and implementation of high,” said Prakash Kapadia, principal bly with peers like Marico or Procter & board but from every- Ayurveda business and when he retired in 2019.
posed by a new company the goods and services officer, Anived Portfolio Managers, a port- Gamble. The likes of Adani Wilmar Ltd in one. I told them you Malhotra is definitely
on the block, Patanjali products, a sunrise sector. tax (GST) the following folio management services firm. “How- edible oil or KRBL Ltd (which sells India made me the CEO, so expanding in newer segments. preparing for the long-
Ayurved Ltd. year. It exposed Patan- ever, Dabur has always been a diversified Gate Basmati Rice) have significantly you have to bear with me haul and internally, has
The company, which sells a range of jali’s vulnerabilities in supply-chain. company. That works well for them as cer- lower margins. for some time,” he said. set a stiff target—of doubling the com-
products, from Ayurvedic medicines to tain segments face issues – due to compe- “It is true that these dilute our margins. Malhotra is hoping that a majority of his pany’s market capitalization to ₹2 trillion
natural food products, burst into limelight Pandemic lessons tition or rural slowdown—other catego- So, we are not going all out. But it is a con- plans would work out and that he can live by the time he hangs up his boots.
in 2015. It benefitted from two tailwinds.
A nationalistic fervour was sweeping I
ndia declared the first lockdown in
March 2020 to battle the covid-19 pan-
through the country and two, popular demic. While every other FMCG company
ries make up for lost sales,” he added.
Diversification can also act as a distrac-
tion, especially at a time when more com-
scious call to build our food business,”
Malhotra said.
While the CEO has the backing of the
with a 40% failure rate. “We are preparing the organization not
He has his work cut out though. As for today or tomorrow but for generations
Dabur spreads its wings, the company to come,” he told Mint at the end of a long
yoga guru, Baba Ramdev, was—and still ran helter-skelter to deal with it and strat- panies are showing interest in Ayurvedic promoters and the board right now, he can’t would need to strike a balance between low interview.
LIVEMINT.COM MINT MONEY WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi 11

Is it necessary to add gold to Compare your bank FD rates

B ank fixed deposits (FDs) continue to be popular investment products not just
among senior citizens, who are looking for guaranteed income, but also among

your investment portfolio? investors who can’t stomach risk. But overexposure to FDs is not good, and you need
to assess your asset allocation and goals to decide how much money you should
park in them. For instance, saving for your child’s
higher education that’s 15 years away through FDs
may not be effective as the post-tax interest rate
of an FD may not give you a real return (return
that’s above the rate of inflation). But if you plan to
take a holiday in two years, an FD can help. Before
choosing an FD, you should compare the interest
Gold does not beat equity over a multi-decade period, but it is a great diversifier in portfolio rates on offer. Here is a list of banks that offer the
highest FD rates for deposits up to ₹1 crore over
various tenures.
Neil Borate
neil.b@livemint.com Sensex versus gold: Both assets have a separate use case Interest rates (%) for fixed deposits up to ₹1 crore
Equity grows faster than gold, but latter's negative correlation stabilizes the portfolio.

H
ere is the reason why all 6 months 1 to < 2 2 to < 3 3 to < 5 5 years
that glitters is gold now 80
Returns (in %) Gold performs worse than the Nifty Equity has compounded faster than gold to < 1 year years years years and above
and also why many inves- over various time periods. It has a over a multi-decade horizon.
NIFTY 50-TRI
tors have taken a shine to 60 lower 3-year rolling return and a lower DCB Bank 6.25 7.25-8.0 7.60-8.0 7.60 7.60
Nippon India Sensex
the yellow metal. Gold minimum 3-year rolling return.
ETF Gold BeES Times
prices have delivered more than 14% 40 50-50 portfolio Nippon India ETF Gold BeES increase CAGR IndusInd Bank 5-6.25 7.5-7.75 7.75 7.25-7.75 7-7.25
returns in the one-year period ended Nippon India ETF Nifty 50 BeES
30 March even as equity markets have Axis Bank 5.75-6 6.75-7.15 7-7.26 7.00 7.00
20
remained tepid during this period. For 41.1 57,960 105 13.4%
instance, the S&P BSE Sensex delivered 34.7 549.43 HDFC Bank 4.5-6 6.6-7.10 7.00 7.00% 7.00
0
returns of just 2% in this period. 1986 30 Mar
Equity or gold, or both? That has IDFC First Bank 5-6.75 6.75-7.75 7.75 7-7.75 7.00
Correlation Gold
been the subject of a long standing -20
of -0.6 over (Price in ₹) 141,326.5 YES Bank 4.75-6.25 7.25-7.50 7.50-7.75 7.00 7.00
debate in personal finance. Equity- 2013-22
bulls point out the wealth creation -40 Min 10.1 11.1 31 10%
FY13 FY22 4,625.1 ICICI Bank 4.75-6 6.7-7.10 7-7.10 7.00 6.9-7
power in stocks that comes from eco-
nomic growth and the increase in cor- Standard deviation -5.8 1986 30 Mar Canara Bank 6.25-6.50 6.90-7.25 6.85 6.80 6.70
Max -8.9 Medium
porate profits over time. Gold, how-
Period from 29 Mar 2008 to 29 Mar 2023, Average gold price for 1986, starting sensex
ever, does not yield any interest or divi- value on 1 April 1986 Union Bank of India 4.4-5.25 6.3-7.25 6.3-7.3 6.7-7.30 6.70
daily rolling
dends. A rise in gold prices is simply the 23.9 12.5 9.3 Source: ACE MF Source: World Gold Council, PIB
result of its finite supply even as the Federal Bank 4.75-6 6.80-7.25 6.75-7.25 6.60 6.60
PARAS JAIN/MINT
stock of money chasing it keeps rising.
Add to this the demand for gold jewel- nation, it suddenly soars. enhances the stability of the portfolio, funds. However, the gains will be Bank of Baroda 4.5-5.75 6.75-7.05 6.75 6.50-6.75 6.50
lery among women, particularly in Equity, which exhibits a more steady giving you a more consistent invest- treated as short term regardless of
Indian Overseas Bank 4.95-5.35 6.45-7 6.40 6.50 6.50
Asia. Also, it has a negative correlation upward climb, is also volatile. It goes ment experience. This is the sole rea- holding period with effect from 1 April.
with equity. So, despite its grim out- through long spells where there are no son for having gold in your portfolio, In contrast, gains in physical gold after Punjab National Bank 5.50-5.80 6.80-7.25 6.80-7 6.50-7 6.50
look, gold has a place in an investor’s returns. This can be observed if you even if having it means that you are sac- a 3-year period will be taxed at 20% and
portfolio because it is a powerful diver- compare the three-year rolling returns rificing some return compared to a you will get the benefit of indexation. State Bank of India 5.25-5.75 6.80 7.00 6.50 6.50
sifier. of the two assets. Rolling returns is a 100% equity portfolio. Normally, finan- The same treatment applies to gains in
The very long term concept that adjusts for cial planners recommend sovereign gold bonds after a 5-year Jammu & Kashmir Bank 4.50-6 7.25 6.75 6.50 6.50
If you look at very long periods of different start and end A rise in gold an allocation to gold that lock-in period. These bonds are issued
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank 6-8 7-7.25 6.75 6.50 6.50
time, gold does not create wealth like dates. The minimum prices is simply ranges from 10% to 20%, by the government periodically and
equity does. The starting value of the 3-year rolling return in the result of its depending on your risk track the price of gold. You can buy RBL Bank 4.75-6.05 7-7.80 7.00 7.00 6.25-7
Sensex was 549 in 1986. It was around equity (using NiftyBeES, a finite supply even appetite and market con- them through your bank or broking
58,000 as of 30 March. From 1986 to Nifty exchange traded ditions. “Due to its nega- account. If you hold them till maturity Data taken from respective bank's website as on 06 April 2023; Only main entity of the merged banks are taken.
as the stock of Banks which merged with its main entity are removed from the table; The list of 15 banks is based on highest fixed deposit
2023, the Sensex compounded at fund as proxy) over the tive correlation with rela- (eight years), the proceeds are tax-free. rates available for 5 years and above
13.4%. In 1986, the average price of gold past 15 years is -6%. In the money chasing it tively risky assets like You can also invest in gold though Source: www.Bankbazaar.com

was ₹4,625 per ounce. Today, it is
around ₹1.6 lakh. What has gold’s
return been? The answer is a com-
pound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
10%. This means that a single rupee
invested in Sensex in 1986 has yielded
₹105 while the same invested in gold is
worth just ₹31 today. The disparity in
the two applies over shorter time-
frames also. The 10-year CAGR of gold
is 6%, compared to 13% for equity.
What’s worse is that gold’s returns are
lumpy. After prolonged periods of stag-
case of gold, this figure is keeps rising equity, gold is a good way multi-asset funds which hold various
-9%. The average to diversify one’s invest- asset classes such as equity, debt and
(median) 3-year rolling ment portfolio. Gold is also gold. However, check the asset alloca-
return for equity is also higher at 11.1%, a good diversifier for periods when the
compared to 10.1% for gold.
Gold in your portfolio
rupee is depreciating sharply. Gold
allocation can be part of one’s portfolio
tion in such funds. If the allocation to
equity is 35% or below that, it will be
treated like a debt fund, which means
How can I build a good portfolio
The case for gold is one of diversifi- and rebalanced at regular intervals to
cation. If you compare the returns of maintain your original asset allocation
the assets for each financial year from target,” said Deepesh Raghaw, founder
the capital gains will be taxed at inves-
tor’s income tax slab rate. Equity at 65%
or more will mean that the tax rate
for future, long-term life goals?
2013 to 2022, you will see that the two of PersonalFinancePlan. drops to 10% for gains above ₹1 lakh.
assets have a negative correlation of How can you invest in gold? This is applicable when the holding
-0.6. In other words, equity performs You can invest through gold ETFs period is more than one-year and long- Harshad Chetanwala ASK MINT invest ₹9,000 per month for 16
well when gold falls and vice versa. This (exchange traded funds) or gold savings term capital gains tax rate apply. m MUTUAL FUNDS years as the ₹2 lakh in MFs can
I am a 33-year-old IT pro- also be mapped to this goal. If
fessional with a 1-year-old become approximately ₹3.2 the total monthly investment
daughter and have just lakh. For the remaining ₹21.8 amount at this stage appears to

NSE launches India’s first Reits and InvITs Index started investing in mutual
funds (MFs). I have nearly
₹8 lakh in my savings
lakh, you will need to invest
₹28,500 per month. This will
meet your goal if the invested
be higher than your monthly
surplus, then you can follow
the strategy of increasing the
account and ₹2 lakh in MFs. amount grows at 10% p.a. monthly investment amount
Staff writer Reits and InvITs are invest- ment such funds get,” said I want to start investing for As for the other goals, you every year by 10-20% as you
feedback@livemint.com ment vehicles that own reve-
How Reits and InvITs stack up Deepesh Raghaw, founder of my retirement and my have 22 years for your retire- grow further in your career.
The NSE index has six constituents, including Reits like Embassy
nue-generating real estate and and Mindspace, and InvITs like Powergrid and Indiagrid.
PersonalFinancePlan. daughter’s education. I ment and nearly 16 years to Following are the funds you

N
SE Indices Ltd, a sub-
sidiary of National
Stock Exchange (NSE),
has launched India’s first ever
Real Estate Investment Trusts
(Reits) and Infrastructure
Investment Trusts (InvITs)
Index.
The new index— Nifty Reits
and InvITs index—aims to
track the performance of Reits
and InvITs that are publicly
listed and traded on the NSE.
The weights of securities
within the index are based on
their free-float market capital-
ization, subject to a security
cap of 33% each and aggregate
weight of top-3 securities is
capped at 72%. The Nifty Reits
& InvITs Index has a base date
of 1 July 2019 and a base value
of 1,000. The index will be
reviewed and rebalanced on a
quarterly basis.
infrastructure assets, respec-
tively. Reits and InvITs can be
an option for investors looking
for regular income generation
through a diversified portfolio
of real estate or infrastructure
assets.
“Reits and InvITs are recog-
nized as strong alternative
financial instruments to raise
funds against the cash-gener-
ating infrastructure and real
estate projects. For investors,
these instruments provide
exposure to real estate or
infrastructure assets and offer
diversification of risk from
regular asset classes like
equity, debt and gold and gen-
erate regular income,” said
Mukesh Agarwal, chief execu-
tive officer, NSE Indices.
“Globally, Reits and InvITs
have been a good way for
investors to diversify their
The top constituents of would also like to upgrade accumulate for your daugh- can consider investing for
Total return CAGR (%) Huge divergence between Nifty Reits & InvITs index to a new home for which I ter’s higher education. Some these goals: UTI Nifty Index
price return and total return
NSE Reits &
10.48 due to distributions.
include Embassy Office Parks would need ₹25 lakh in the idea on the goal amount and Fund, Parag Parikh Flexi Cap
InvITs Index Reit (32.9% weight), Power- next five years. How much employees’ provident fund Fund, IIFL Focused Equity
(in %)
Nifty* 12.06 grid Infrastructure Investment should I invest and which (EPF) balance would have Fund, ICICI Prudential Blue-
0.2 (20.2%), Mindspace Business MFs are good for this? been helpful here. If we chip Fund, Kotak Emerging
Correlation 0.38 10.48 Parks Reit (15.3%), India Grid —Name withheld on request assume your current monthly Equity Fund and SBI Large &
Price Total return Trust (15.3%). expenses to be ₹60,000, then Mid Cap Fund
Period from 1 July 2019 to 10 April 2023 return
*Nippon India ETF Nifty BeES used as proxy The index has delivered You have three goals now considering the inflation of You should review these
total returns of negative 2.1% and reasonable time to build a 6%, you will need to accumu- funds every six months to
Tax treatment year to date, while in a one- corpus for each of these goals. late about ₹5.95 crore for your ensure that you are on the
Types of distributions Taxation year period, it has delivered You may set your house post-retirement needs from right track. The key to invest-
Dividends Return of loan total returns of negative 1.7%, upgrade as the top priority, the age of 56 to 85 years. Dur- ing in equity MFs is to have a
 Tax free if Reit/InvIT has To be reduced from cost of which includes share price followed by the other two ing this period, you may with- long-term horizon, which you
not chosen concessional acquisition as long as all such
corporate tax regime. payments made by the trust performance and income dis- goals. A part of the money can draw nearly ₹2 lakh per month have in terms of your goals.
don't exceed issue price. Post tribution to shareholders. be turned into a contingency to take care of your monthly Harshad Chetanwala is
Rent Interest
Taxed at Taxed at
that, to be treated as 'other Since inception (1 July fund. For this, you can keep expenses in line with the co-founder at MyWealth-
income' taxed at slab rate. 2019), the index has delivered aside 6-9 months of your annual inflation of 6%. To Growth.com.
slab rate slab rate
Source: NSE Indices
total returns at compounded monthly mandatory expenses. reach the retirement goal, you
annual growth rate (CAGR) of The rest of the amount can be must invest ₹66,000 per Do you have a personal
portfolio. But in India, the option for investors to con- 10.48%, as against 12.06% invested for your home month for 22 years. finance query? Send in your
market is fairly new and still sider a diversified portfolio delivered by Nippon India upgrade. If we assume you For your daughter’s educa- queries at
developing. If a mutual fund rather than bet on a single Reit ETF Nifty BeES. The index has invest ₹2 lakh from the bank tion, if we assume you want to mintmoney@livemint.com
and get them answered by
launches a fund tracking such or InvIT, but we will have to 57.5% weight to realty, 35.6% account for this goal, then at accumulate ₹50 lakh in 16
industry experts.
an index, it could be a good see what kind of the tax treat- to power and 6.8% to services. 10% per annum (p.a.) it could years, then you will need to

WHY TAX ARBITRAGE ARGUMENT IS NOT VALID FOR THE CHANGE IN DEBT FUND TAXATION
accrual book value of the debt fund’s assets, creating the possibility funds, like target maturity funds, make them similar to FDs,
of an investor incurring capital gains and losses. hence the need for tax parity. However, the assets-under-man-
POWER The earlier tax regime took cognizance of this fact by providing
for both short-term capital gains (STCG) and LTCG for such
agement (AUM) under this category is broadly 10% of the total
AUM of debt mutual funds and does not warrant a tax overhaul
POINT funds. Of course, STCG taxation still exists for debt funds, but of all debt funds. In any case, when even the substitutability of a
only in name: it is the same as the taxation of interest income from liquid fund with a FD is debatable, equating the latter with a tar-
R AV I S A R AO G I FDs. The tax department is effectively saying that gains earned get maturity fund is a far cry.
through debt funds consists of only accrued interest. This is, at The tax change also creates a deviation between taxation of
We welcome your views and comments at best, only partly true for certain categories of debt funds , such as debt funds and their underlying
mintmoney@livemint.com liquid funds that focus on generating accrual interest income for The reason investments- direct bonds, which con-
their investors. Because the duration of their portfolio is very low, behind tax tinue to receive LTCG taxation. Debt

T
he Finance Act 2023 removed the benefit of long-term cap-
ital gain (LTCG) tax for debt mutual funds. In the absence
of a clear communication from the finance ministry as to
why this was done, many arguments have been put forward as the
rationale for this change but none of them pass the test of reason.
The most prominent explanation cited for the tax change is
that it levels the playing field between fixed deposits (FDs) and
debt funds. The argument is that since both these products earn
interest income, there should be tax parity between them. This,
however, misses the point that debt funds and FDs are funda-
mentally different products. While debt funds are marketable
investments, FDs are not. An FD cannot be transferred, sold, or
bought from an existing holder of such deposits. They are
patently unmarketable and carry no market valuation risk. Debt
funds are different as their buying or selling happens at market
prices. This market price can deviate significantly from the
the impact of market interest rates on such funds is also low.
However, this is not a given.
During the taper-tantrums in 2013, many liquid funds deliv-
ered negative overnight returns, and some even negative weekly
returns. During the same period, FDs remained unaffected. Thus,
even liquid funds, a category of debt funds that come closest to
a FD, carries market risk.
In the case of medium to long duration debt funds, capital gains
and losses can be significant. For instance, during 2020, when
interest rates were declining, these funds reported returns of
more than 10%, which was significantly higher than the yield-to-
maturity (YTM) of their underlying bond portfolio. The return
in excess of the YTM was being contributed by capital gains.
Under the new tax regime, this capital gain will be taxed puni-
tively as accrual income.
It is important to note that the above-mentioned “excess
change could be funds are a tax pass-through vehicle,
and yet, the taxation of debt funds is
very simple—to now in variance with the taxation of
garner tax the underlying bonds it holds!
revenue The case that the tax change was
done to remove the tax arbitrage that
debt funds had over FDs rests on very
return” is actually a compensation to the investor for taking market shaky grounds. Presumably, there were extraneous factors at play
risk. Such capital gains can very easily become capital losses. Dur- behind this tax change. Given the fragility of the banking sector
ing 2022, when interest rates started to increase, several debt in the developed world, the tax change could be a pre-emptive
funds with high duration showed negative returns– some were action to shore up bank deposits. Or, maybe we are unnecessarily
under the water by more than 10%. building elaborate theories to rationalize the tax change when
Debt funds carry significant interest rate risk which generates the reason could be very simple—to garner additional tax reve-
an equally significant certainty of earning capital gains or losses— nue.
a reality which the new tax regime ignores. Ravi Saraogi is a Sebi Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) and
There have been noises that product innovations in debt co-founder of www.samasthiti.in.
12 WednesdAy, 12 ApRil 2023
MuMbAi VIEWS LIVEMINT.COM

OUR VIEW MY VIEW | ON THE OTHEr HANd

ISTOCKPHOTO

Retail investors have shown only

weak evidence of maturity so far
SIP stoppage patterns reveal large numbers unprepared for the ups and downs of stock investing

on the higher side. Given that a fixed
amount of money is being invested
through an SIP, this automatically limits
the number of units of the MF being
bought in the process.
When the stock market is not doing
well, the NAV is on the lower side, which
increases the number of units being
bought. Hence, an SIP over a period of
VIVEK KAUL time ensures that investors buy more
is the author of ‘Bad Money’. units when the market isn’t doing well
and less when it is, driving up long-term
returns through cost averaging. Now for
the SIP strategy to succeed, the key is
3.5 million. A demat account is required
to buy and sell stocks. Indeed, on 18
October 2021, the BSE Sensex had
touched its then all-time high of 61,766
points, having jumped 138% in less than
19 months.
Hence, all this talk about the maturity
of the retail investor is overdone, given
that since October 2021, 18.2 million SIP
accounts have been discontinued or
their tenure has ended. Of course, 34.6
million new SIP accounts have been
opened since then. It remains to be seen
whether these new SIP accounts stay

The Pentagon leak can

that the investor keeps investing for at invested for the long-term and display
least five years. This allows different the maturity required.

I
n his wonderful book Several Short stock-market cycles to play out, ensuring So, what does this tell us? Many retail
Sentences about Writing, American that cost averaging happens and drives investors, including SIP investors, end
writer Verlyn Klinkenborg says: “A cli- down the average price of MF units up investing around a point when the

make a fine case study ché isn’t just a familiar, overused saying.
It’s the debris of someone else’s think-
ing… The only thing to do with a cliché is
to send it to the sports page… Or the
bought and thereby driving up the
return on investment. Given this, any-
one investing in stocks through an SIP is
deemed to be a mature investor.
stock market is peaking, looking at
stocks to make a quick buck.
There are several other unique factors
at work when we consider the last few
speechwriters, where it will live forever.” But is this happening? In February, 2.1 years. First, interest rates crashed, push-
In fact, cliches don’t just thrive on million new SIP accounts were opened. ing investors towards stocks. Second,
Be it a real loss of confidentiality or a weapon of mass deception, this stash of US intelligence sports pages or in political speeches, Also, 1.4 million accounts were discon- many investing apps offered incentives
they are employed even by those in the tinued or their tenure was completed. to lure investors. Third, many financial
files on the Ukraine war should be studied in India for an update on information warfare business of selling stocks, directly or This implies a stoppage ratio of 68% influencers got into the business of rec-
indirectly, to retail investors. A cliché (accounts discontinued divided by ommending stocks and MFs, attracting
that has thrived in recent years is that the accounts opened), the highest in 27 online audiences of retail investors.
Indian retail investor, who invests in months. In the last one year, these factors have

J
ust ahead of Ukraine’s much-anticipated
‘spring offensive’ against Russia, a clutch
of secret documents leaked online has
given us what looks like a sneak peek at
the US Pentagon’s view of the war in
Europe. Since the US relaxed its secrecy
for wider sharing of espionage inputs
after 9/11 plans slipped past its spies, such a leak
is perfectly plausible (recall WikiLeaks). And
since the US has ordered a probe plus damage
review, these files have acquired an air of
authenticity, although the leak’s origin is yet to
be traced more than a month after the stash
emerged on Discord and Telegram chat forums
before being spotted by Western media. Kyiv
called it a red herring, a Russian ploy to mislead
the West, but was also suspected of anxiety (and
altering plans on the sly). Some war bloggers
also identified this lot of Pentagon papers as a
weapon of mass deception, but one aimed at
Moscow instead. On its part, the Kremlin used
the leak’s news to score an old point: “We don’t
have the slightest doubt about direct or indirect
involvement of the United States and Nato in
missile strikes, and of dangers in Ukraine’s east, stocks indirectly through the mutual In fact, a stoppage ratio of 68% implies weakened. Interest rates have gone up.
where a slow battle of attrition is seen headed fund (MF) route, has really matured. that many investors have been discon- Apps are no longer offering the kind of
The rationale offered by those tinuing their SIPs. Hence, while the incentives that they were. And India’s
for a stalemate. While the leaked files are also employed by the Indian MF industry is overall number of SIP investors has been market regulator has cracked down on
reported to have revealed some of Kyiv’s army that in the last few years, the number of going up as newer accounts keep getting financial influencers.
formations and arms inventory, right down to outstanding systematic investment plan added, at the same time many investors Finally, this lack of maturity in many
daily ammo use, what has wowed and worried (SIP) accounts has gone through the are dropping out. Given this, they’re retail investors is still in evidence,
many reviewers is how closely US spooks may roof. The number stood at 62.8 million really not gaining from the SIP strategy despite a good ad campaign launched by
as of February, a jump of 136% since April of investing for the long-term, implying the Association of Mutual Funds in India,
have bugged Russia’s war machine. The trove 2019. that the idea of a maturing Indian retail an MF industry lobby, which empha-
has enough on enemy troop movements, inter- An SIP is a way of investing routinely investor has little to support it. sized the importance of staying invested
cepted attack targets and battle strategies to in an MF, typically an equity fund, which It is well documented that many retail in equity MFs for the long-term. What all
suggest an active network of eyes and ears run then invests the money collected largely investors tend to invest in stocks when this tells us is that many retail investors
by America. As some of these printouts are in listed stocks. Under an SIP, an investor prices are at their peak and slowly drop really do not have the mental makeup to
commits to investing a certain amount of out as they are disappointed with the bear the ups and downs that come with
reported to bear code marks that might identify money regularly, usually every month, returns. This stands true for SIP inves- investing in stocks, though they may
sources (something even journalists aren’t so taking stock market timing out of the tors as well. From April 2019 onwards, want to earn a quick buck from it. As
careless about), the Western worry is whether equation and bringing acquisition cost the stoppage ratio of SIPs was the lowest Klinkenborg put it, “A cliché is dead
US spies will now get caught and valuable tip- averaging into the picture. in October 2021, when it was at 36%. Fur- matter.” So is the game of trying to make
offs be cut off. This particular risk, along with a When the stock market is doing well, ther, in October 2021, the number of a quick buck by investing indirectly in
the net asset value (NAV) of the MF is new demat accounts opened peaked at stocks through the SIP route.
few feathers of allies ruffled by other leaked
portions, has tilted much opinion in the West
against the leak being an American ruse.
Yet, no major disaster has befallen Nato so far
that we know of. Even Moscow has not picked
on anything to call the US-led alliance out as a
hostile combatant. One document refers to www.livemint.com
New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh*, Pune* Friday, April 12, 2013 Vol.7 No.87 `3.00 in Delhi­NCR/`4.00 outside Delhi­NCR 24 PAGES
+ 4 MARKETS PAGES

the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.” All almost 100 Nato special-force personnel in IN DETAIL: The challenges
in urban planning >10­11
EARNINGS: RIL may see 33%
profit growth in March quarter >6
Asking journalists to
that’s clear from this haze is the rising role of Ukraine, but these could just be trainers. At this CONTENT PARTNER
TELECOM: SC restricts Airtel from
adding 3G customers in seven circles >3
AUTO: Toyota, Honda, Nissan recall
3.4 million cars for airbag flaws >6 denounce leaks because
information in 21st century warfare. stage, it would be best for neutral analysts to SENSEX 18,542.20 Æ 127.75 NIFTY 5,594.00 Æ 35.30 DOLLAR `54.52 ® EURO `71.15 æ `0.16 GOLD `29,390 ® OIL $104.74 æ $1.02

The documents in focus are dated from mid- resist hasty conclusions and study the files for
CLARITY CONCERNS

Fresh hurdle
GLOBAL PC SHIPMENTS PLUMMET
PC shipments plummeted across the world in the quarter ended 31 March as buyers opted
for smartphones and tablet computers and Microsoft’s newest operating system met with
weak demand. Shipments fell 11.2% to 79.2 million units in the quarter from a year earlier,
said a preliminary report released on Thursday by Gartner. The numbers fell below 80
million for the first time since the second quarter of 2009. IDC had said on Wednesday
that global PC shipments fell 13.9% to 76.3 million, worse than the forecast decline of 7.7%.
NSE plans to
go global
through
QUICK EDIT
IMF points
to dangers of their deleterious effects
for EU free partnerships I
Every PC maker except China’s Lenovo saw sales slump as businesses chose to install n the wake of the
Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system on employees’ computers instead of the newer

on the functioning of
financial crisis that hit
Windows 8, Jay Chou, an analyst at IDC, said, adding that consumers the world in 2008-09,
also shunned Windows 8 in favour of smartphones and tablets. 37.17 B Y V YAS M OHAN & central banks across the
See Page 4 34.91 A NIRUDH L ASKAR globe dramatically

February to early March. Although anyone what they say about reliance on hot information
························· loosened interest rates.

trade deal
15.3 Shipments (in million) MUMBAI That stance has
Total

11.69 11.65 11.67

Jan-Mar 2012
Jan-Mar 2013
89.20
79.21 T he nation’s biggest bourse,
National Stock Exchange
of India Ltd (NSE), is planning
continued till date.
On Thursday, the
International Monetary
9.84 to go global. Fund said in its Global
9.58
8.73 The exchange, which started Financial Stability Report
operations in 1994 with a fully that the longer these

government is as hopeless
Parliamentary panel 6.84

looking them up to catch the Pentagon playing for modern-day combat. After all, sitting atop
directs government not
to move ahead until its
members get chance to
review details of accord
B Y A SIT R ANJAN M ISHRA
to be named. electronic trading platform, policies are continued,
“Government should tell 5.55 5.36 the first in the country, is in the greater the danger of
how various wish lists have talks with potential partners in systemic risks.
been addressed in the deal,” different markets to explore For one, the balance
he said. new business opportunities. sheets of central banks
T.S. Vishwanath, principal NSE is looking at forming have bloated. For
adviser at APJ-SLG Law Offic- joint ventures with overseas another, risks may spread
es, said concerns expressed by HP Lenovo Dell Acer Asus Others companies to start businesses to other parts of the
the standing committee mem- in the market infrastructure financial system and the

closet commander of Nato forces is likely to be an information asymmetry can overcome an

asit.m@livemint.com bers are genuine and they Market share (in %) space—ranging from setting global economy.
························· need to be properly briefed by up new exchanges to clearing The problem is deeper.

as asking an airline to
Q1 2012 Q1 2013 Change (in %)
NEW DELHI the government. houses, offering exchange- While cheap money has
HP 17.2 14.8 -23.6
T he government’s plan to
bring the long-drawn
negotiations on a free-
trade agreement (FTA) with
the European Union (EU) to a
“India must close the deal
keeping in mind its own inter-
ests,” he said. However, the
committee should not inter-
fere in the timelines for such
Lenovo
Dell
13.1
11
14.7
11
0.1
-11.2
traded products, settlement
services and data distribution,
among others.
It is keen on joint ventures
for allied services rather than
allowed banks to survive,
it has not led to the
desired economic
momentum in other
sectors of these
close next week faced a set- negotiations, Vishwanath said.
Acer group 10.9 8.6 -29.3 setting up new exchanges, Ravi economies. Job growth

disappointed, they do appear to have this war adverse stack-up of military hardware. This
back, with a parliamentary Unlike countries such as the Asus 6.2 6.8 -3.5 Narain, NSE’s non-executive has remained tepid even
panel warning that such an ac- US and groupings such as the chairman, said on Thursday in if “green shoots” abound.
cord should not be signed EU, the Indian government Others 41.7 44.1 -6.1 an interview. For cheap money to work,
without the pact being exam- doesn’t require legislative ap- Total 100 100 -11.2 Associated with the ex- there need to be organic

denounce jet fuel because

ined by its members.
With India’s trade minister
Anand Sharma scheduled to
meet his EU counterpart Karel
De Gucht in Brussels on 15
proval for bilateral trade
agreements. In the US, the
government needs a negotiat-
ing mandate from Congress
before starting any trade nego-
change since it was set up in sources of growth such as
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs, including mini-notebooks, 1992, Narain, 57, spent six manufacturing. Those
but not media tablets such as the iPad
years as deputy managing di- options are not available
to Western economies.
Source: Gartner, Bloomberg
TURN TO PAGE 2®

theatre mapped out in detail. Estimates marked effect may well have sharpened. Ukraine’s stout
AHMED RAZA KHAN/MINT
April, the parliamentary stand- tiations. As for the EU, even af-
ing committee on commerce ter closing negotiations, the
on Thursday directed the gov-
ernment not to move ahead
deal has to be vetted by the 28
member countries, which can Two deep sea
with the trade pact until its
members had the opportunity
seek changes in the agree-
ment. port projects

of its impact on
of reviewing the details of such Senior BJP leader and Public
an accord, according to two
people with knowledge of the
Accounts Committee chairper-
son Murli Manohar Joshi on
on east coast

“low confidence” put Russian losses at 189,500- resistance to Russia can be attributed to grit,
development.
The committee, headed by
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
leader Shanta Kumar, ex-
pressed concern that the deal
would lead to the flooding of
India’s markets with European
set to get nod
Wednesday demanded a com-
prehensive debate in Parlia-
ment on all FTAs, especially
the proposed pact with the EU. B Y P . M ANOJ &
Speaking on behalf of the U TPAL B HASKAR
BJP, Joshi warned the govern- ·························
ment against signing the pro- BANGALORE/NEW DELHI

surplus dairy products, hurting posed trade deal with the EU,
I n an ambitious push to build

the environment.
Indian farmers, and harming holding that it would lead to a key port infrastructure to ca-

223,000 soldiers killed or wounded, with guns and a data advantage—with satellite inter-
the business of cooperatives
such as Amul.
Although the matter was not
on the agenda of the commit-
tee’s meeting, the issue was
raised owing to the urgency of
the matter, said a committee
member belonging to an oppo-
sition party, who spoke on
flooding of the Indian market
with dairy, poultry, sugar,
wheat, confectionary and
oilseeds, among other prod-
ucts.
The deal, touted as India’s
most ambitious trade agree-
ment, has been facing opposi-
tion from several quarters such
ter to demand on India’s east
coast and strengthen its Look
East policy, the Union cabinet
will shortly approve the setting
up of two new deep sea ports in
West Bengal and Andhra
Pradesh.
These two port projects will
be set up through the public-

Ukraine’s placed in a range of 124,500-131,000. net links chipping in—for strategy. Whether or
condition of anonymity, since
members are not allowed to
disclose deliberations at such
meetings.
Another member of the
committee, who belongs to the
ruling coalition, confirmed
that the resolution seeking
scrutiny was passed unani-
as healthcare activists and au-
tomobile companies since
talks on the bilateral trade and
investment agreement started
in 2007. The two sides have
missed at least four deadlines
to complete negotiations.
The Society of Indian Auto-
mobile Manufacturers (SIAM)
private partnership route with a
capacity to load 116 million
tonnes (mt) of cargo a year and
will require an investment of
around `20,500 crore.
“The port in West Bengal is to
come up at Sagar Island and
the feasibility report has been
prepared for the facility. The lo-

Other intelligence reports speak of gaps in not the latest leak constitutes a salvo, we may
mously. “We want to know lobby group said on Wednes- cation for the Andhra Pradesh
more about the deal. That does day that customs duties on ful- port is yet to be decided,” said

not mean we oppose the deal,”
he said.
While there is always an ele-
ment of secrecy in bilateral
trade negotiations, unlike mul-
tilateral talks, more informa-
tion should be disseminated
ly imported cars and engines
must not be lowered as is be-
ing proposed in the negotia-
tions, adding that such a step
will severely harm the sector.
Releasing a White Paper on the
proposed India-EU FTA and its
B E N JA MI N WI T TE S
shipping secretary P.K. Sinha.
“The award of the West Ben-
gal port will be done in this cal-
endar year. These ports will re-
vive growth in the eastern parts
of the country,” he said.
India, the largest country in

Ukrainian weaponry, especially its air defences never find out. Either way, it looks like a case
before closing the deal, said a possible implications for the South Asia and Asia’s third
trade expert who didn’t want automobile sector, SIAM said, largest economy, introduced its
“It has to be avoided at all Look East policy in the early
Mint is also available for R7 with
Hindustan Times in Delhi-NCR only
TURN TO PAGE 3® TURN TO PAGE 3®

after their recent battery by Russian drone and study fit for the Indian Military Academy.

MY VIEW | EX MACHINA

India needs a principles-based approach to regulate AI

regulated. There is no doubt that it is on
RAHUL MATTHAN track to becoming an all-pervasive technol-
ogy that seeps into various aspects of our
lives. That being the case, many of the regu-
latory frameworks we currently rely on will
become redundant. And it is never too early
European AI Board and institute a penalty From what we have seen so far of genera- can apply these principles across all the dif-
regime that is even steeper than the General tive AI, it is capable of unpredictable emer- ferent ways in which AI is, and will be,
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), with gent behaviour that often has no bearing deployed—across a wide range of sectors
fines of up to 6% of global turnover for trans- whatsoever on the programming it received. and applications. Sector regulators can then
gressions. These systems are adaptive, capable of mak- refer to these principles, using them to iden-
Both these regulatory proposals attempt ing inferences far beyond what their human tify harms at the margin and take appropri-

L
ast week, amid all the buzz and hoopla
around artificial intelligence (AI), an
open letter authored by a few notable
individuals threw a bucket of cold water on
all the excitement. Apparently inspired by a
letter from the Future of Life Institute, it
raised fears that AI would threaten jobs in
the country and hinted at the doom that
to start thinking about how to deal with this.
As it happens, over the past few years,
more than a few countries have attempted to
do just that. The US Office of Science and
Technology Policy issued a Blueprint for a
Bill of Rights for AI that took a predictably
laissez faire approach. Apart from reiterating
the need to protect users from unsafe and
to fix what we believe we know—based on developers might have envisioned. They are ate corrective action before the effects
our current experience—is also autonomous, making become too widespread.
wrong about algorithmic decisions that often have This is the approach that the UK govern-
systems. They prevent the Let’s define the no corelation whatsoever ment seems to be taking in its recently pub-
discrimination we’ve seen with the express intentions lished Pro-Innovation Approach to Regulat-
these systems perpetrate contours within of their human creators. ing AI. Rather than putting in place a new
because they have been And are often executed regulatory framework, it intends to follow an
trained on human data,
which AI should without their control. If our agile and iterative approach designed to

is a partner at Trilegal and also

has a podcast by the name Ex
Machina. His Twitter handle is
@matthan
would befall us if we did not immediately
regulate it.
As regular readers of this column will
know by now, I am bullish on AI. I believe it
will be the transformative technology that
creates the next big orbit shift in the way
society functions. As with all ‘tech’-tonic
changes, it will change the ways in which we
work, making many of the jobs that cur-
rently exist irrelevant. But in their place will
come new jobs, and fresh skills that human-
kind will have to learn in order to make the
most of the opportunities that it offers.
Which is why I don’t share their pessimism.
Having said that, there certainly is merit in
starting to think about how AI ought to be
ineffective systems, ensure that AI systems
are designed so that they don’t discriminate
and take steps to address privacy concerns
around notice and user autonomy, the blue-
print did not explicitly stipulate what AI
companies actually have to do.
The European Commission, on the other
hand, has come up with a full-blown legisla-
tive proposal that lists in excruciating detail
how it is going to regulate “high risk AI sys-
tems”. This includes requiring AI companies
to ensure constant iterative evaluation of
risks; making sure they only use error-free
data-sets for training; and imposing on them
an obligation to establish audit trails for
transparency. It also intends to establish a
with all its implicit biases.
And attempt to mitigate
work so that we regulatory solution is to
hold the developers of
learn from actual experience and to continu-
ously adapt. Recognizing that rigid legisla-
privacy harms that could
occur when AI systems use
balance its risks these systems personally
liable for this emergent
tion can retard technology innovation, it
does not intend to place these principles on
our information for pur- with the returns behaviour, they will be a statutory footing. Instead, it is looking to
poses other than what they forced to shut down any issue them on a non-statutory basis, so that
were collected for or pro- it could offer further development for they can be implemented by existing regula-
cess it without notice. fear of the liabilities they tors, which will leverage their domain-spe-
These are issues that do will have to suffer on cific expertise to tailor regulations to the
need to be addressed, but designing our reg- account of the very emergent behaviour that specific contexts in which AI is used.
ulatory strategy to only solve issues after is its strength. So far, India has refrained from regulating
they have become problems will not help us What if there is another way? What if we AI despite the exhortations of a few to do so
deal with a technology that is capable of adopt an agile approach to AI regulation that post-haste. However, when we do eventually
evolving as rapidly as AI is. Just as applying is grounded in a set of cross-cutting princi- start, we would be well advised to follow the
a traditional approach to liability will be ples that describe, at a very high level, what UK approach. AI has much to offer us and we
utterly misplaced. we expect AI systems to do (and not do)? We should not stifle its potential.
LIVEMINT.COM VIEWS WEdnEsdAy, 12 ApriL 2023
MuMbAi 13

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

Conundrum of working women in China’s CATL has a tight grip

on the global transition to EVs
India: Our menfolk must step up Its success is a tough act to follow but its monopoly heft is a worry

Time-use studies show we must address a gender bias in our work-life balance as India aspires for women-led development

ISTOCKPHOTO

Time spent across activities (Share in %)

Self-care and maintenance
Employment and
related activities 7 7 ANJANI TRIVEDI
5 is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering
Unpaid domestic 7
services for industrials across Asia Pacific
household and family 10
16
SHAMIKA RAVI members
is a member of the Economic Advisory Council Working 46 Non-working 50
Socializing and
female female
to the Prime Minister communiation,
community participation
and religious practice
26
Culture, leisure, mass 26

T
media and sports he world’s largest battery maker
practices doesn’t need Ford or Tesla. It’s global
Production of goods carmakers, desperate to go electric

I
n a standard economic model, agents maxi-
mize utility across goods, services and leisure.
Economic agents work and forgo leisure only
to earn wages or income to purchase goods
and services. Agents in these models are free
to form preferences over leisure, implying
that if there is an alternative source of income that
does not require an individual to work, then there
is a possibility that some agents might choose not
to work. However, for those agents who choose to
work, there is a further possibility that if they
become more productive and wage rates go up,
then they might reduce their labour supply. There
are opposing effects of an increase in wage rates: a
substitution effect that makes leisure more expen-
sive, and may therefore cause a substitution of lei-
sure for work, and a contrasting income effect,
such that if one’s overall income goes up due to
higher wage rates, the individual might reduce
work hours in pursuit of leisure. The effect that
dominates, however, is an empirical question. A
fundamental lesson from this simple model,
which is deprived of cultural and historical factors
and denies the role of institutions that limit an
individual’s actions, is that the pursuit of leisure is
one of the primary objectives of the individual. It is
only tempered to the extent that agents maximize
utility over other goods and services, some of
which can only be purchased from markets, which
requires an income. Even though leisure is a vital
utility-maximizing activity, there is limited focus
on it, and it is typically overshadowed by topics
related to work, employment and labour force
participation.
In this essay, I wish to quantify the proportion of
time in a typical day that people spend pursuing
leisurely activities. In particular, I wish to highlight
a conundrum working women face. My analysis
reveals that working women spend significantly
less time on leisurely activities than working men
and also compared to women who do not spend
any time on employment-related activities. A vast
body of research has attempted to explain the low
levels of participation by women in India’s labour
force. However, limited attention has been paid to
women’s differential trade-offs vis-à-vis work and
leisure. I wish to address this gap quantitatively.
I exploit the Time Use Survey (TUS) conducted
by the Union ministry of statistics and programme
implementation (Mospi) in 2019. The TUS was a
national representative sample that measured, in
30-minute intervals from 4am onwards, the time
spent by the population on nine major divisions of
activities: (1) Employment and related activities, (2)
Production of goods for own final use, (3) Unpaid
domestic services for household and family mem-
bers, (4) Unpaid caregiving services for household
and family members, (5) Unpaid volunteer, trainee
and other unpaid work, (6) Learning, (7) Socializ-
for own final use
Others
5 12
Age: 21-59 years. "Non-working"
7 CATL, will make its way to US soil with
refers to those who did not
spend any major time of the day
on employment and related
activities.
For each demographic, only the
Working
top four activities have been
labelled, and the rest have been
labelled as "Others". Apart from
the activities listed in the
legend, "Others" may also 35
include learning activities,
unpaid caregiving services, and
voluntary work. Charts based
on analysis by Mudit Kapoor
(Indian Statistical Institute).
Source: Mospi’s Time Use Survey, 2019
ing and communication, community participation
and religious practice, (8) Culture, leisure, mass
media and sports practices, and (9) Self-care and
maintenance. This classification of activities was
based on the 2016 United Nations’ International
Classification of Activities for Time-Use statistics.
The sample for the analysis comprised 257,677
individuals aged between 21 and 59 years, of which
126,134 (49%) were male and 131,543 were female.
My analysis revealed that in the age group of 21
to 59 years, 24% of women and 84% of men spent
some time of the day on employment-related
activities. We classify leisurely activities as: (a)
Socializing and communication, community
participation and religious practice; and (b)
Culture, leisure, mass media and sports practices.
Women who work spend 8.7% of their typical day
on leisure activities, while men who work spend
12% of their time on leisure activities. Women
who did not spend any time on employment and
related activities spent 17% of their time on leisure
activities, while non-working men spent 24% of
their typical day pursuing leisure. Moreover,
working women spent 26% of their typical day on
employment and related activities, while for
4 rary Amperex Technology Company, or
11
Non-working
male
49 male
55
10
13
working men, it was 35% of their time. However,
in addition to working, women spent 17.4% of
their time on unpaid domestic services for the
household and family members, which included
caregiving services. In comparison, working men
spent 2.5% of their typical day on such activities.
This analysis revealed the challenge of working
women in pursuit of leisurely activities.
A vast body of research has looked at social, cul-
tural and technological factors to explain low
levels of female labour force participation. In
addition, we need to focus on the sacrifice a
working woman has to make in terms of leisurely
activities and time for self-care and maintenance.
The double burden of employment and domestic
chores for working women comes at the expense
of leisure. If more women participate in employ-
ment-related activities while preserving the tradi-
tional household structure, then men must share
the burden of unpaid domestic responsibilities. A
gender bias in people’s work-life balance would
need to be addressed in the modern era—at the
societal level as well as within every family—as we
in India aspire for a women-led development
model. Our menfolk will have to step up!
quickly, that need the Chinese behemoth.
In recent months, news that Contempo-
partners like Ford and Tesla has rustled
feathers. The increasing number of auto-
makers turning to this Chinese firm that
has dominated the market for years raises
a broader question: How did a single com-
pany manage to position itself as such a
critical cog, with the world so dependent
on it? Even though few are willing to accept
this reality, CATL’s strong hold comes
from more than just size. Its batteries are in
Teslas, Mercedes and many other EVs. The
Fujian-based firm has backed realistic
technology, carved out targeted partner-
ships and tapped viable markets for pro-
duction at ever-lower prices. The ways it
scaled products and its facilities are key:
licensing intellectual property and taking
minority stakes. Where possible, CATL has
built huge factories and invested in raw
material mines for a grip on supplies. The
firm has gone deeper into the value chain
and backed small EV companies, too.
That’s led to a sprawling global empire of
partners and plants that have made CATL
all but indispensable to the global electrifi-
cation drive. Last year, overseas revenue
rose 176% and accounted for almost a quar-
ter of its sales. In Japan, CATL tied up with
Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu to supply EV
batteries. In Indonesia, it has invested
almost $6 billion into state-owned nickel
miners. That’s another astute move; Tesla
and Ford are also flocking there. In Thai-
land, where EVs have lagged, CATL is
licensing proprietary technology to Arun
Plus, a subsidiary of PTT. The state-owned
oil and gas major has been pushing EVs,
tying up with Hon Hai Precision Industry,
also known as Foxconn, and committing $1
billion for a new plant. In Bolivia, CATL is
helping tap reserves of lithium.
CATL’s most ambitious international
projects are in Europe, where regulatory
tightening has accelerated EV adoption.
The company has plants in Hungary and
Germany and is considering a third in the
region. Hundreds of people are being hired
to work at these factories. While no priority,
the US hasn’t been completely ignored
either. In 2020, CATL bought a facility in
Glasgow, Kentucky, investing almost $100
million well before the US Inflation Reduc-
tion Act spurred a battery factory boom,
with plans to hire around 350 workers.
Almost a third of this capital qualified under
CATL has girdled the globe to gain control
of the EV supply chain GETTYIMAGES
the Kentucky Business Investment pro-
gramme. Two years prior, the company had
opened a sales outpost in Detroit, the first in
North America.
It’s simplistic to attribute CATL’s rise to
Beijing’s helping hand. That alone doesn’t
explain how it became so crucial in the auto-
mobile and EV supply chain. As is evident
from the efforts of other manufacturers,
making good batteries at scale isn’t a cake-
walk. Beijing’s generous grants and subsi-
dies focused on batteries helped, no doubt.
However, they only make up a relatively
small portion of growing revenues. And, the
reality is, other companies have also been
beneficiaries of the state’s largesse. That
doesn’t give CATL a massive advantage over
domestic firms.
Each plant CATL now builds costs less,
and the raw materials and parts supply are
effectively captive while it keeps a firm grip
on research and development activities.
Battery production capacity is estimated to
rise to 800 gigawatt hours by the end of
next year, more than double at the end of
2022. The company spent just over 48 bil-
lion yuan ($6.97 billion) to do so and has
astutely restructured commodity pricing
contracts, helping margins. With over
5,500 domestic and 1,065 international
patents, CATL has been fiercely protective
of its intellectual property, waging legal
battles to keep a tight hold.
This expansion hasn’t come without pain.
CATL’s gross margins have halved in the
past six years from a heady 43.7% in 2017 to
a still high-20% as of December. However,
that was always going to be the balance it
had to strike: margins versus market share.
Investors have long been concerned about
that erosion and whether it will eventually
hinder growth, so CATL recently rejigged
how it prices batteries. That will help push
costs down more broadly.
The other issue is the hand that helped it.
With this dominant position, CATL is walk-
ing a fine line with Beijing and its antipathy
toward too-big private firms. But then
again, a large, legitimate hard-technology
giant with a globally important product is
what China always wanted—a key lever in
its relationship with the US.
At this pace and with its tentacles firmly
embedded across the world, it’s hard to see
CATL replaced or replicated by another
company anytime soon. ©BLOOMBERG

thEIr VIEW

The G20 must help create a global financial safety net

(IMF) in principle provides nearly universal
ANOOP SINGH access to external financing, it is actions by
the US Federal Reserve and other major
advanced-economy central banks that have
important implications for global financial
markets. As we saw, the US Fed and five
needs to ensure financially constrained
economies have unimpeded access to inter-
national liquidity. For these countries, the
reality is that China now, for many cases, has
an effective veto power that stops or delays
the Fund from lending (in a growing number
moved very slowly so far, intertwined with
delays in enhancing the Fund’s capital
though a quota review (now scheduled for
December 2023). These reforms need to be
carried forward—as was emphasized after
the global financial crisis—to allow the IMF
Special Drawing Rights (SDR), a facility
which remains underused, upgrading it over
time for it to serve as a multilateral currency.
In this context, the $650 billion General
Allocation of SDRs in August 2021—replicat-
ing on a larger scale what was done after the

I
n 1930, almost a century ago, and well other leading central banks recently took of countries such as the recent case of Sri to adapt its rules, re-establish its LOLR func- global financial crisis—was an important
before the Bretton Woods institutions new measures to improve global access to Lanka). How can it be that tion, and build a global step forward to boost the reserve assets of all
were established, Keynes wrote, “The dollar liquidity as financial markets reacted a LOLR with standing financial safety net. economies and help ease liquidity con-
ideal arrangement would surely be to set up to turmoil in the banking sector. These bilat- facilities is unable to lend IMF reforms It is politically unlikely straints. However, decisions now need to be
a supranational bank to which the central eral swap lines among advanced countries because we lack a “credible that these reforms will get taken to allow member countries that have
banks of the world would stand in much the helped address US dollar liquidity shortages and specific financing should aim for done by December 2023. strong external positions to channel their
same relation as their own member banks and stabilize global financial markets, but assurance” from one As such, the G20 should SDRs to liquidity constrained and low-in-
stand to them.” are clearly insufficient to deal with crises in shareholder—whose lend-
it to become build a sequenced reform come countries.

is a distinguished fellow at the

Centre for Social and Economic
Progress, and a former member
of the 15th Finance Commission
This arrangement could have made global
liquidity a public good. Recent events
re-confirm we are certainly not there yet. It
helps, however, that G20 countries have
taken up this issue during India’s Presidency
of the group. The challenge is to develop a
carefully sequenced agenda for the next few
years until political conditions allow a
broader reform of the international mone-
tary system. After the 2008 Global Financial
Crisis, the G20 was designated as the forum
to modernize the international financial
architecture. In 2023, India needs to push
the G20 towards this goal.
A global financial safety net: The reality is
that while the International Monetary Fund
other countries.
As for regional arrangements, the Euro-
pean Stability Mechanism (ESM) was used to
prevent contagion effects during the Euro-
pean debt crisis, and is generally now a well-
regarded regional financing arrangement.
But beyond Europe, there is an absence of
credible regional financing arrangements.
For example, in East Asia, the Chiang Mai
Initiative (CMIM) has not been tested, which
has raised a number of concerns about its
functionality. Hence, the unevenness of the
global financial safety net and need for a
global lender of last resort (LOLR), as Keynes
had in mind.
Where is the IMF in this?: A global LOLR
ing goes via institutions
that are official creditors
the lender of agenda that could be taken
politically forward over the
Looking ahead, in developing a
sequenced agenda for IMF reforms, the
but typically act like pri-
vate creditors in debt
last resort that next few years. Among the
steps to be considered as
institution should be charged—in coopera-
tion with national banks and other interna-
negotiations? Keynes had part of a sequenced agenda tional institutions—with the task of continu-
This is symptomatic of a are these: ously monitoring global flows of liquidity
global tension, where the envisioned One, the IMF needs to and preparing the ground for regulatory
rules developed by the redesign its precautionary decisions that would need to be taken to
world’s advanced coun- instruments—like flexible manage these. Empowered by this mission
tries (the Paris Club or G7) are not fully credit lines—to make them more usable, and also a better-fledged monetary asset, the
accepted by other key players—which in with lower costs, and ease of extension. Fund’s governing body could then decide, if
turn is symbolic of the reality that country Two, the IMF should be assigned respon- and when necessary, to add or withdraw
representation at the IMF (and other inter- sibility for monitoring movements in the liquidity, depending on the state of markets
national financial institutions ) is out of line capital account balances of countries, like it and economic conditions. This, then, would
with any objective metric. What this means watches current account balances. not be far removed from the mechanism
is that reforms of IMF governance have Three, the IMF must enhance the role of outlined by Keynes in the early 1930s.
14 WednesdAy, 12 April 2023
MuMbAi BUSINESS OF LIFE SPORTS LIVEMINT.COM

Tennis: Why clay courts

remain the real test GETTY IMAGES

hemisphere, the tennis season shifts from hard

courts to clay. The loose powered top layers
make the courts slippery and slow. Players need
to work on their balance, stability and lower
body strength to get a sure footing on the sur-
face. And then learn to run at full sprint on it.
Before she won the French Open in 2012, Maria
Sharapova had likened her movement on clay to
a “cow on ice.” Unlike the stop and start move-
ment on hard or grass courts, players developed Real Madrid’s talisman Karim Benzema. AFP
on clay are taught to slide into the shots—in
Spain it’s called skating.
Clay courts are some of the slowest on the pro
tour because the soft surface absorbs more
energy on impact, reducing speed and propel-
Real Madrid
ling the ball higher—think Rafael Nadal’s gre-
nades laced with topspin. It is why flat hitters
like Medvedev, who lost in the opening round
of the French Open on each of his first four trips
ready to kick
there, find it difficult to make a dent.
Since the ball comes slower, players have
more time to retrieve. This is why rallies, and
matches, on clay courts last much longer. There
into gear
are no cheap winners; almost every point is With Karim Benzema back, Real is
hard-earned on the surface. Which is why it is
seen as the ideal classroom for budding play- aiming for Champions league triumph
ers—easiest on the joints, it helps lay a strong
physical foundation while forcing them to learn
how to solve problems, to find the right shot, to AFP
experiment with speeds and spins, to add kick

and slice to the serve when pure pace won’t do.
“It awakens your tennis IQ,” former Spanish
player Jose Higueras, who once coached Roger
Federer, was quoted by the Washington Post in
Rafael Nadal , the 2019. “Obviously, if you learn how to play on
master of clay, and clay, it teaches you better strategy. The surface
(below) Coco Gauff forces you to build the points; you cannot get
away with a big serve, because the ball is going
AP to come back. It forces you to actually develop a
The European clay strategy, better movement and better concepts.”
In 2010, a year after finally winning the
court season has begun, French Open, Federer told The Independent,
“The reason why clay has not been so easy for
and whether they love it me is that on the other surfaces I can play my
game without thinking. Everything happens
or hate it, the world’s top naturally. On clay it’s not that easy. You can do
players will have to be it on 50 per cent of the points, but the other 50
per cent you’ll just donate to your opponent
ready for the clay test because you’ll be taking too many chances. I had
to learn how to play from far back in the court
and to use the angles better, when to attack. It
Deepti Patwardhan was more of a geometry lesson for me.”
feedback@livemint.com Till Nadal’s emergence in 2005, clay was the
realm of dogged dirtballers like Ivan Lendl, or
aniil Medvedev is meme-wor- Mats Wilander. These muscled men didn’t quite
W
hen Karim Benzema struck a magnificent hat-trick
against Barcelona last week in the Copa del Rey, it
served a dual purpose. The striker knocked Real
Madrid’s bitter rivals out of the Spanish Cup at Camp Nou, and,
with the world watching on, issued a powerful statement of intent
as the season reaches its business end.
Los Blancos welcome Chelsea on Wednesday to the Santiago
Bernabeu in a first leg Champions League quarter-final clash, and
the Blues will be on red alert trying to stop the irrepressible Ben-
zema. Madrid, aiming to win the trophy for the sixth time in 10
seasons, have burst into life in recent matches, scoring 12 goals
in their last three games, including the 4-0 romp against Barce-
lona. They suffered a 3-2 defeat on Saturday in La Liga against
Villarreal, but coach Carlo Ancelotti made six changes from the
side that beat Barcelona to keep the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka
Modric fresh to face Chelsea.
Benzema netted consecutive hat-tricks against Real Valladolid
and Barcelona before that, like Madrid he is finding his best form
at the crunch moments. “He’s hit the switch,” said Ancelotti after
the Clasico triumph. “Working in the international break has
helped him, he’s in good shape to make the difference.” The Ital-
ian likened his team to a boiler, hitting the right temperature at
the right time. “When the team is close
Real Madrid to a title, the temperature of the boiler
face Chelsea in goes up,” Ancelotti warned at the start

D thy, that much we know. From

sneakily flipping the bird to the
New York crowd in 2019 to
pulling off the ‘dead fish’ cele-
bration on winning his first major at US Open
2021, he’s built quite a catalogue. One of the
more entertaining, and instructive, entries was
catch the fancy in a world dominated by serve-
and-volley artists like McEnroe and Sampras.
But as courts around the world were slowed
down at the turn of the century to lengthen ral-
lies and generate more interest, Europe became
the epicentre of the game. The introduction of
graphite racquets and synthetic strings made
the first leg of

in May 2021, when Medvedev fought a losing
battle against Aslan Karatsev and the clay courts
at the Rome Masters.
During the 2-6, 4-6 defeat he pleaded to the
tournament supervisor, “Gerry (Armstrong)
please, disqualify me. I don’t want to be here. It
could get dangerous for everybody.” When
reprimanded for striking his racquet in frustra-
tion against the court, he argued with the
umpire that he couldn’t “damage a court that is
already bad.”
Medvedev is not the first to broadcast his dis-
like for the surface. Clay is an acquired taste.
The shifting granulated dust has tripped up
champions of the calibre of John McEnroe, Pete
Sampras, Venus Williams, Boris Becker, Stefan
Edberg and Martina Hingis. Like them, Medve-
dev—a Grand Slam champion and former
World No. 1—is not hard-wired for the soft stuff.
And as his outbursts against clay shows just how
finals at home
of March.
After the 4-0 win at Camp Nou
the Champions which saw Madrid reach the Copa del
League quarter- Rey final for the first time since 2014,
Ancelotti brought up the boiler again.
“The boiler has returned to the right
temperature at the most important
the surface not only defeats, but dismantles surface itself. the game more dynamic, allowing players to add moment of the season,” he said.
players ever so slowly. According to the official Roland Garros more spin to the ball . Players bred on Spanish, Benzema’s own temperature has fluctuated this season, from
The art of attrition is back in focus as the (French Open) website, clay courts came into French and Italian clay courts started crowding moments of high quality to weeks sidelined with injury problems.
European clay season began in full swing with being when British tennis stars, the Renshaw the rankings. Physicality and a bulletproof base- The 35-year-old Frenchman spent much of October and Novem-
the start of the Monte Carlo Masters the past brothers Ernest and Williams, used powdered line game became the bulwarks. Nadal was the ber on the sidelines and he missed the World Cup after sustaining
weekend. The first ATP 1000 event on clay of terra cotta in 1880 to cover the grass courts at symbol of this modern tennis warfare. And a thigh problem. Benzema failed to score a goal in the Champions
the season, it ushered Cannes to prevent French Open the final frontier. League group stages but hit three against Liverpool across both
in two of the most them from wilting. During his incredible run to 14 French Open legs of the last 16 clash.
intense months of Clay courts are the perfect Since then, the sur- titles in 18 years, and a total of 22 Grand Slams, Chelsea are familiar with the damage that the striker can do,
tennis. The men’s classroom for budding tennis face has been techni- the Spaniard has brought the surface to the with the striker netting a hat-trick last season at Stamford Bridge
tour will travel cally perfected. Mod- forefront of the tennis landscape. With it he also against the Blues in the quarter-finals in a 3-1 first leg win. Despite
through some historic players. They improve strength, ern clay courts are laid busted the myths about clay court tennis being Thomas Tuchel’s side battling back at the Bernabeu, the hosts
and picturesque cit- coordination and strategy out in five layers: just about mindless defence and waiting for forced the game to extra-time and Benzema headed home deci-
ies—like Monte Carlo, stones form the first, your opponent makes a mistake. The Spaniard sively in the 96th minute after Antonio Rudiger, now at Madrid,
Barcelona, Madrid then at least 30cm of preached the virtues of patience, of striking the slipped.
and Rome—in the continent before concluding gravel; coal residue forms the third layer, and balance between attack and defence, of embrac- It was a thrilling night of European football but despite Chel-
at the only clay court Grand Slam, the French then comes the 7cm of crushed white limestone. ing the struggle. Of survival. sea’s best efforts in a 3-2 win, Benzema and Madrid marched on
Open: the red brick road to tennis gallantry. The red signature brick dust is then sprinkled The dustbowls amplify the gladiatorial thea- —as they so often do. Madrid went on to lift the trophy by beating
What makes the clay season so gruelling is over the top, but is only 1-2mm deep. tre of tennis. And love it or hate it, all players, will Liverpool in the final in Paris. Now their sights are set on Istanbul.
not just how long it lasts, but the demands of the As winter gives way to spring in the northern battle for a lead part in it the next eight weeks. “On Wednesday we will be flat out,” said Ancelotti.

Why the Masters Week embodies golf’s timeless allure

The Masters Tournament For a marketer following the media increases their appeal. While specific sponsorships and part-
coverage, The Masters presents a fascinat- The single biggest revenue generator nerships may change over time, several
at Augusta National ing case study into what differentiates golf for Augusta National are the broadcasting brands have maintained long-lasting asso-
evokes golf’s exclusivity from other sports when it comes to the rights for the Masters Tournament that ciations with professional golf. Some of
attributes it can imbue a brand merely by the club negotiates with television net- the most prominent brands include lux-
and tradition to association. With traits like honour, integ- works, such as CBS (in the United States) ury brands like Rolex, sports brands like
profitable effect rity, honesty, etiquette, respect and and ESPN. These agreements are worth Nike, financial services companies like
sportsmanship inextricably intertwined millions of dollars. Mastercard and automakers like BMW.
with its character, golf is somewhat peer- Augusta National is somewhat opaque Mastercard sponsored the Asian Tour’s
Meraj Shah less in the legion of sport. when it comes to figures regarding tradi- DGC Open. The association with the
feedback@livemint.com When it comes to The Masters Tourna- tional sources of revenue for a golf club— event, and the prestigious Delhi Golf Club
ment, exclusivity, scarcity and heritage, member’s fee and hospitality. The club has dovetails into the brand’s ‘priceless expe-

‘M
asters Week’ just got over and
the excitement is yet to die
down. Online golf forums are
abuzz with fans’ analyses, while experts on
sports broadcasting networks continue to
debate over key takeaways from golf’s
most storied event—The 2023 Masters
Tournament.
Even those who don’t play the game
couldn’t have missed the expansive cover-
age of the tournament that dominated
sports media last week. Just the fact that
the phrase (Masters Week) is used perva-
sively without explanation or context
underlines the brand awareness (not
hype) that the event has created in popular
imagination. The Masters Tournament is
arguably the most coveted ‘Major’ tourna-
ment in professional golf—one of four
marque events—that include the Open
Championship (British Open), the US
Open, and the PGA Championship.
are key elements of the event’s identity
that have been assiduously emphasised
and preserved over the 89-year history of
the event. The club’s focus has been on
maintaining its reputation as one of the
world’s most exclusive and prestigious
golf clubs, rather than maximising reve-
nue. As a result, many of its practices, such
as limiting sponsorships and commercial-
isation, are geared towards preserving the
club’s image and the Masters Tourna-
ment’s unique character. And that perme-
ates into every aspect of the event—
whether it’s the elite tier of pros who make
it to the field, or the golf fans who are lucky
enough to attend the event. Those in
attendance are not referred to as the ‘gal-
lery’, or ‘spectators’, but as ‘patrons’. To
attend, the ‘patrons’ pay big premiums to
acquire the limited number of daily tour-
nament tickets, practice round tickets,
and series badges. The messaging, which
The Masters Tournament and its loyal ‘patrons’.
is now deeply imprinted in popular imagi-
nation, is that the Masters Tournament is
special, and to witness it in any form is a
privilege. That brand positioning is key for
all the sponsors associated with the event.
The major global sponsors—IBM and
AT&T—pay unspecified yet clearly sub-
stantial amounts to be associated with the
Masters Tournament.
Given the unparalleled popularity of
the Masters Tournament, the club could
AP
potentially make a substantial amount of
money through sales of merchandise. But
here’s where the rub lies: Augusta
National steadfastly chooses to preserve
its exclusivity over bottom line figures.
Sure, there’s a vast merchandising opera-
tion but it’s only active during Masters
Week. So, while everything from apparel
to home goods featuring the tournament’s
logo can be purchased, they are only avail-
able for purchase on-site, which further
a small and exclusive membership, with an
estimated 300 members. While the exact
cost of membership is unknown, it’s spec-
ulated that the initial fee ranges from
$40,000 to $100,000, with annual dues of
several thousand dollars. To be invited to
be a member here is something that peo-
ple would pay any amount of money for.
But you’d still need to be invited.
In the US, and most of Europe, this
‘exclusivity’ angle is one that’s comple-
mented by the game’s accessibility and
popularity. The game is played by millions
of people and enjoys significant interna-
tional coverage. Brands leverage this to
promote their products and services to a
wide audience, often through advertising
or sponsorship deals with tournaments or
individual players.The game is associated
with an affluent demographic, which is an
attractive target market for luxury brands
and high-end products.
riences’ campaign. “With sports being a
key passion point for people cutting across
geographies, Mastercard sponsors a vari-
ety of sports, such as soccer, tennis, rugby,
and golf,” says Mukul Sukhani, Senior VP,
Business Development, Mastercard.
“Through its partnership with the prestig-
ious Delhi Golf Club (DGC), Mastercard
aims to target affluent customers and
HNIs, who are willing to pay for the exclu-
sive experiences they can access by being
a Mastercard cardholder,” he adds.
There’s one last piece of the puzzle that
helps golf score over other sports: Golfers
often have long careers. This longevity,
and loyal fans, means that brands can
develop long-term relationships with
players and their fan bases. Golf is rarely
about instant gratification, and that
needs to be factored into any brand strat-
egy. It works, but you’ve got to play the
long game.