MUMBAI, New deLHi, beNGALUrU, kOLkAtA, cHeNNAi, AHmedAbAd, HyderAbAd, cHANdiGArH*, pUNe*
66
Monday, March 20, 2023
In historic deal, UBS QUICK EDIT
agrees to buy Credit Web-dark
Suisse to end crisis Punjab
Bloomberg
feedback@livemint.com
U
BS Group AG agreed to
buy Credit Suisse Group
AG in a historic, govern-
ment-brokered deal
aimed at containing a cri-
sis of confidence that threatened to
spread across global financial markets.
The two largest banks in the wealthy
Alpine nation famed for its banking
prominence have been in negotiations
throughout the weekend, with the
government, the central bank and
financial regulators all involved.
The Swiss bank is paying more than
$2 billion for its rival, according to peo-
ple with knowledge of the matter. It
will be an all share deal and priced at a
fraction of Credit Suisse’s price at the
close on Friday, when the bank was
valued at about 7.4 billion francs ($8
billion.)
UBS was being urged by the authori-
ties to get a deal over the line before the
stock exchange reopens at 8am GMT
on Monday, in a bid to reassure inves-
tors and avoid a wave of contagious
panic on the markets.
The plan, negotiated in hastily
arranged crisis talks over the weekend,
seeks to address a massive rout in
Credit Suisse stock and bonds over the
past week following the collapse of
smaller US lenders.
A liquidity backstop by the Swiss
central bank failed to end a market
drama that threatened to send clients
or counterparties fleeing, with poten-
tial ramifications for the broader
industry.
US authorities have been working
livemint.com
The Swiss bank is paying more than $2
billion for its rival BLOOMBERG
with their Swiss counterparts because
both lenders have operations in the US
and are considered systemically
important in Switzerland, Bloomberg
reported earlier. Authorities sought an
agreement before markets opened
again in Asia.
Swiss authorities were examining
imposing losses on Credit Suisse bond-
holders as part of a rescue, Reuters
reported citing two people aware of
the discussions on Sunday, while
European regulators were apprehen-
sive for fear it could hit investor confi-
dence elsewhere.
The Swiss authorities felt they had
no choice but to push UBS into over-
coming its reluctance, due to the enor-
mous pressure exerted by Switzer-
land’s major economic and financial
partners, fearing for their own finan-
cial centres, said Blick newspaper.
AFP & Reuters contributed to the
story.
VOL. 6 NO.
It’s disturbing that mobile inter-
net access was thought best shut
off in Punjab during the police
manhunt for Amritpal Singh, a
separatist leader. It’s clear that
calls for a Sikh state mustn’t find
listeners. A return to the turmoil
of the 1980s would only cause
misery. A large mob mobilized
by Singh last month to defy law
enforcers, however, may have
fed fears of sizeable solidarity
with him. “If one can talk about
a Hindu rashtra and raise slo-
gans for it, if Communists can
aspire to create a Communist
state,” Singh had argued, “why
have peaceful aspirations of
Khalistan been criminalized?”
For one, that mob was armed; it
stormed a police station and
interfered with law enforce-
ment. For another, nationhood
based on religion—which must
play a private and not public
role—is an ill-advised concept:
it’s likely to end up fragile and
fundamentalist. Crucially,
India’s map cannot be redrawn
in blood. National integrity
demands no quarter be given to
any armed insurgency. Our
Constitution offers space for
diverse aspirations. But the web
snap-off was a bad decision for
the anxiety it betrayed over
news getting around. Singh
wasn’t nabbed. Instead, he was
the talk of Punjab and beyond.
 PLAIN FACTS

In five charts: How war

fed Indo-Russia trade
BY NANDITA VENKATESAN

O ne year into the Ukraine war, goods trade between Russia and India has touched new highs. The New Delhi-Moscow
relations have withstood the West’s pressures, and bilateral trade has been the biggest benefactor as well as a catalyst
in this transformation. However, a sharp surge in imports from sanctions-hit Moscow has made trade figures over-
whelmingly one-sided. Historically, India’s imports from Russia have stayed under five times its exports to the country, with
the ratio touching 4.1 in 2017-18, previously the highest under the Narendra Modi government. But in 2022-23 till January,
imports have been 15 times the exports.
As a result, Russia has emerged India’s fifth-biggest trading partner, from 25th rank last fiscal. Total trade touched $39.8
billion in the first 10 months, up 277% on year. While imports have risen 384%, exports slid 13% in the period. (Country-wise
and commodity-wise trade data is available only until January.) The trade basket has also diversified, even for exports. For
instance, the share of Russia in India’s exports of agricultural goods and minerals has increased markedly.
“India has been facing problems in exporting goods to Russia, partly because of the sanctions and also because of a redraw-
ing of trade routes, due to issues such as Ukraine port closures and rerouting of oil tankers,” said Saon Ray, professor at Indian
Council for Research on International Economic Relations. “There are also logistical problems such as the availability of
ships and containers.”

India's imports from Russia touch new highs Crude imports sizzle; export of
this fiscal, exports stay tepid agriculture products sees a rise in FY23
India's bilateral trade with Russia ($ billion) Trade mix with Russia, by commodity groups (%)
37.3
Exports Imports Manufactured goods Agricultural and allied products
Ores and minerals Petroleum & crude
Other commodities

Exports

22 27
FY17-FY22 FY23
3

78 70

9.9 Imports
8.6
7.1 14
5.8 25
5.5 5.5 11
4.6
3.3 56 FY17-FY22 2 FY23
2.4 3.0 2.6 2.5 4
1.6 1.9 2.1
14
73
2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23*
*FY23 figures till January 2023 Source: CMIE, Mint calculations

Crude Sizzles Russia became the third-largest crude

products supplier for India this fiscal
CHEAPER CRUDE oil has dominated India’s imports from Top importers of petroleum, crude and related
Russia. From 25% in the preceding six years (FY17-FY22), its products, Apr 2022-Jan 2023
share in India’s import basket from Russia has risen to 73%, Latest rank Imports Year-on-year
(change in rank) Country ($ bn) change (%)
making Russia the third-largest supplier of petroleum and
crude products to India, up from ninth. These imports stood at 1( ) Iraq 29.5 25.1
$27.2 billion during April-January, a whopping 817% year-over- 2( ) Saudi Arabia 28.2 36.5
year rise, and higher than crude imports from Qatar, Kuwait, 3 (6) Russia 27.2 817.2
and Oman combined. 4 (1) UAE 23.2 46.8
With over 85% of the demand for petroleum products being 5 (1) USA 12.1 16.1
met by imports, experts point out that apart from better pricing, 6 (1) Qatar 12.1 40.1
the Russian tilt is also part of India’s moves to reduce oil 7( ) Kuwait 9 17.9
dependence from West Asia. “Wherever we are able to import 8 (2) Nigeria 5.8 -27.6
commodities from Russia at a better/fairer price, we have used
9 (1) Oman 4 11.5
that opportunity. Russia also is keen to export as many goods as
possible, because they also require foreign exchange,” points 10 (2) Angola 3.1 65.7
Source: CMIE, Mint calculations
out Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.

Diversification on mind, non-crude

items’ import also rose from Russia
Non-crude Growth
Russia's share (%) in total imports of key commodities. WHILE INDIA’S crude imports have largely dominated the
FY17-FY22 2022-23 headlines, a Mint analysis of other items also threw up interesting
trends. India’s imports of spices, edible oil, agro-chemicals,
Fertilizers fertilizers and coal also saw a sharp spike. Although the value of
imports of these items is nowhere close to that of petroleum
Vegetable oil products, the growth has been stark. Imports of these products
from Russia have more-than-doubled this fiscal year, compared
with the FY17-FY22 average. Edible oil, coal and fertilizers are
Coal
among the goods clocking the highest growth: 335%, 390% and
425%, respectively.
Ores Exports also saw compelling trends. India’s exports of surgical
items, transport equipment and minerals saw sharp escalations as
Spices the West choked its supplies to Russia. Exports of surgical items
grew close to 77%, while that of processed minerals swelled to $70
0 5 10 15 20
million, from just $1.4 million a year in the preceding six years (a
FY23 data is till January 2023. Source: CMIE, Mint calculations 4,939% rise). India’s exports of tobacco also grew 168%.

Way Forward How the world sees India a year

since the Russia-Ukraine war
AT A time of a divided world order, with most Western nations % of survey respondents, by their perception about India:
isolating Russia, has India’s policy of diplomatic moderation An ally A necessary partner Don’t know
and non-alignment helped it avoid the worst for itself? Experts A rival* An adversary*
Mint spoke with say it has. “In terms of our energy security, it Russia
has helped—India has avoided a very difficult situation, given
UK
that we are so import-dependent not just for crude, but even
products like oil seeds and fertilizers,” Ray said. Sabnavis added: USA
“There has been respect shown to the fact that India has taken
China
its own political decision about how to deal with Russia. So, we
are not seeing any bias in terms of trade with other countries.” Turkey
India’s unique position presents an opportunity to shore up EU9
trade, and services can be a sweet spot. With the goods-related
0 20 40 60 80 100
supply chain disruptions unlikely to end anytime soon, Ray Survey based on 19,765 respondents, conducted in late December
feels India must focus on improving services exports since there 2022 and early January 2023. * Rival is one with which a country needs
is potential. to compete, while adversary is a country with which it is in conflict
Source: European Council on Foreign Relations
nandita.venkatesan@livemint.com
PARAS JAIN/MINT

PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz

 MuMbAI, NEw DELHI, BENGALURU, kOLkATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE*
Monday, March 20, 2023
SENSEX 57,989.80 0.00
Shapoorji Pallonji
nears major revamp
The two-tier structure was conceived by the Mistry brothers
Varun Sood & Satish John
varun.sood@livemint.com
BENGALURU & MUMBAI
T
he Shapoorji Pallonji
Group, one of India’s oldest
business conglomerates, is
undertaking a major
restructuring by creating
two holding companies to house its
diverse businesses, ranging from real
estate and construction to oil and gas,
to be overseen by children of brothers
Shapoor and Cyrus Mistry, according
to two people aware of the develop-
ment.
As part of the reorganization,
Shapoorji Pallonji Co. Pvt. Ltd will
cease to operate as the holding and
operating entity for group compa-
nies. The mantle of the holding com-
pany will go to S.P. Finance Pvt. Ltd
and S.C. Finance Pvt. Ltd, each of
which will own a sizable 47.69% stake
in Shapoorji Pallonji Co. Pvt. Ltd, the
people said, requesting anonymity.
Both S.P. Finance and S.C. Finance
will be overseen by an advisory board
with four family members, including
Shapoor and his son, Pallon, and late
Cyrus Mistry’s two children, Firoz
and Zahan.
To be sure, Shapoor and son Pal-
lon, had initiated the move by resign-
ing from the board of Shapoorji Pal-
lonji Co. on 3 January this year, only
VOL. 6 NO. 66 Rs. 10.00 16 PAGES
Why Pramila Devi uses her Behind Gopinathan’s abrupt exit,
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Amazon seeks to
buy MX Player in
Maha govt to
buy iconic AI
DON’T MISS
building for
bid to boost reach ₹1,600 crore
Anu Sharma & Mihir Mishra
Gaurav Laghate anu.sharma@livemint.com
gaurav.laghate@livemint.com NEw DELHI
MUMBAI Adani group suspends work on
₹34,900 cr petrochem project
M
aharashtra is poised
freSh STArT
A
mazon.com Inc. is in to become the new Adani Group has suspended work on a
advanced talks to owner of the iconic ₹34,900 crore petrochemical project at
As part of the reorganization, Shapoorji Pallonji Co. Pvt. Ltd will cease
acquire MX Player, the Air India building at Nariman Mundra in Gujarat as it focuses on resources
to operate as the holding and operating entity for group companies.
video streaming platform Point, Mumbai, following the to consolidate operations and address
STAKEHOLDING IN DEBT BURDEN AT owned by Times Internet, state government’s fresh offer investor concerns following a damning
SHAPOORJI PALLONJI CO.* SP GROUP three people with direct of ₹1,600 crore to acquire the report by a US-based short seller. >P5
1.03 Shapoor Mistry
1.28
Sterling
Investment
1.03
Cyrus Mistry
(late)*
₹32,500 crore
knowledge of the develop-
ment confirmed.
property.
State-owned AI Assets Wheat harvest delay likely as
Debt at the beginning of 2022 The US e-commerce giant Holdings Ltd, a company rain slams standing crop
1.28
Cyrus has hired one of the Big Four formed to manage Air India’s
Squally weather and rains have damaged
Investments
(in %) 47.69
₹12,500 crore
accounting firms to carry out
due diligence of MX Player
The deal is likely to be in the
range of ₹600-900 cr BLOOMBERG
debt and assets after the air-
line’s acquisition by the Tata
wheat crops in almost all key producer states,
but ascertaining the extent of losses might
47.69 Amount repaid during the year exclusively, and the process is group in January 2022, take weeks, according to preliminary
expected to take 30-40 days, tion streaming service Prime rejected a previous proposal assessments by a panel formed in view of
₹20,000 crore
one of the three people said,
requesting anonymity.
Video and an ad-supported
MiniTV service in India. Ama-
from the state government for
office space in the Air India
anticipated early-summer heatwaves. >P2
S.C. Finance S.P. Finance Debt at the beginning of 2023 A deal could happen within zon launched the free MiniTV building. Two-wheeler brand Ampere moves
* As of March 2021 Source: Company, Mint Research two months if all goes well, service in May 2021 within the “The fresh offer by the
the second person said, also Amazon shopping app for Maharashtra government has
to resolve chassis breakage issue
NEW STRUCTURE declining to be named. Android phone users, which been accepted, and the pro- Greaves Cotton’s electric mobility unit, which
“The talks have been on for was later offered to iPhone cess is on within the govern- owns two-wheeler brand Ampere, has issued
The Group’s mantle bOTh will be SP Group wants to advisories to its dealers in some states to fix
will go to S.P. Finance overseen by an separate the a while,” said the person. users as well. ment to clear the sale. The
potential chassis-related issues after reports of
and S.C. Finance advisory board responsibilities “Earlier, Times Internet was Prime Video targets top final approval will come from breakages in the main frame chassis tube of its
asking for over $100 million SEC (socio-economic classes) the ministerial group (headed flagship Magnus model surfaced. >P7
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT
for MX Player, while Ama- segments and is bundled with by Union home and coopera-
to rejoin the board after being con- cited above. The brothers had multi- zon’s internal team valued it the Prime subscription, which tion Minister Amit Shah),” an
vinced by the lenders to time the res- ple discussions before working on at around ₹500 crore ($60 also offers free shipping on official said on a condition of Market regulator Sebi puts IPO
ignations to coincide with regulatory putting up this structure last year, the million). The deal is likely to eligible items and ad-free anonymity. drafts under close scrutiny
approvals of the restructuring person said. Cyrus died in a car acci- be in the range of ₹600-900 music apart from video con- The official further said that After Paytm’s IPO fiasco, Sebi has turned
scheme. This two-tier structure, dent in September last year, while his crore.” tent. the department of investment cautious while giving clearance to the initial
which takes a leaf out of companies father, Pallonji Mistry, passed away in Queries sent to spokespeo- However, for miniTV, there and public asset management share sales as it has returned the preliminary
from Europe but is rare among Indian June last year. The rationale behind ple for Amazon and MX is no subscription required, is assessing Maharashtra’s papers of half a dozen companies, including
firms, was conceived by the two Mis- this structure is that SP Group wants Player remained unanswered and it is targeted at the masses fresh bid. Oravel Stays, which runs hospitality chain
try brothers, Shapoor and Cyrus, till press time. Oyo, in over two months. >P4
according to one of the two people TURN TO PAGE 6 Amazon owns the subscrip- TURN TO PAGE 6 TURN TO PAGE 6
02 Monday, 20 MaRch 2023
MuMbai ECONOMY & POLICY LIVEMINT.COM

STRAIGHT
F O R WA R D
Wheat harvest delay likely Rebate, free
regn to scrap
SHASHI SHEKHAR

Respond to this column at

feedback@livemint.com
as rains slam standing crop pvt vehicles
in new policy
PTI
PARLIAMENT COULD Adequate harvests are critical this year amid wheat shortages and high food inflation
feedback@livemint.com
NAGPUR

DO WITH A LITTLE
U
nion Minister of State
Zia Haq Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh for Environment Ash-

LESS OF ANIMOSITY zia.haq@htlive.com

NEW DELHI
and Tamil Nadu in the past 24 hours,
the IMD said.
“Half of my crop has fallen. When
wini Kumar Choubey
on Sunday said the govern-
ment has taken various steps

S
qually weather and rains have rains soil the crop, winds easily knock to bring down pollution and

T
he ongoing Parliament session is seething with political damaged wheat crops in them off,” said Budh Singh, a farmer will soon unveil a policy on the
animosity, with the exception of a few pleasant moments. almost all key producer from Amritsar and a local leader of the scrapping of private vehicles
Which is why, after the Indian documentary The Elephant states, but ascertaining the Bharatiya Kisan Union. Wheat prices aged more than 15 years.
Whisperers won an Oscar, a brief discussion in the Rajya Sabha extent of losses might take have taken a hit, traders said. “It’s like He was addressing reporters
warmed the cockles of the heart. weeks, according to preliminary getting rains on a wedding-reception at ‘Meet the Press’ in Nagpur.
Why can’t this occur throughout the session? Can’t our law- assessments by officials of a panel day. Everything was normal. Farmers A policy is already in place for
makers swear to discuss every issue openly? It goes without say- formed in view of anticipated early- kept harvested grains in the open. Spot scrapping old government
ing that every minute, ₹2.5 lakh is spent on parliamentary pro- summer heatwaves. prices have fallen,” said CP Gupta, a vehicles. Replying to a query
ceedings, though the average daily spending of about 25% of the Storms, rain or hail could batter wholesaler in Kota, Rajasthan. on whether a similar policy
nation’s population is less than ₹32. Essentially, our legislatures almost the entire country for another In Madhya Pradesh, which has an will be brought for private
are turning into panchayats of the rich. Can’t our legislators show two days, an update by state-run India early crop cycle, growers have har- vehicles older than 15 years,
any respect for their largely poor constituents? Meteorological Department (IMD) said vested nearly 50% of the crop with Choubey said, “A high-level
This question is more pertinent, now that the current Parlia- on Sunday. Several rain-bearing sys- higher yields, a second official said, but joint meeting of the Ministry
mentary session is experiencing an unprecedented uproar. This tems are currently active, it said. A farmer checks wheat crop damaged due to unseasonal rain and hailstorm in there are concerns about the remain- of Environment and nine
time, many opposition parties are working together to corner the Crop-shrivelling hot spells have Bagli village on the outskirts of Bhopal AFP ing half. other departments was held
government over the Adani group issue. In Parliament, placards however not struck any wheat-growing “Hail, rains and winds of up to 80 km recently.
calling for a joint parliamentary committee are being waved. state in March so far, as predicted, bar- according to farmers, meteorologists, “At this stage, rain and strong storms hit many parts like Khajuraho and Bho- The government is working
State legislatures, such as the one in Bihar, are also affected by ring pockets of Gujarat and Konkan in traders and officials. will damage fully ripened wheat, inun- pal,” said Mahesh Palawat, a weather on a policy to encourage pri-
this trend. For years, parliamentary procedure has been gravely western India. Adequate harvests are critical this date fields, but to what extent is diffi- expert with private forecaster Skymet. vate vehicles older than 15
trashed. India is on alert over heatwaves year amid wheat shortages and high cult to say unless officials survey In Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitput, Jhansi, years to go for scrapping after
Those demanding a JPC now want to keep the Adani issue hot which could pressure the economy, food inflation. Cereal prices climbed reports are in,” a senior scientist from western UP, Banda, Chitrakoot, Rae getting a (vehicle) health cer-
until the next election. What will the benefits be, if any? Chowki- especially agriculture, the Indian Council of Bareli, Amethi and Noida, wheat, gram tificate.
dar chor hai was Rahul Gandhi’s campaign slogan at the last elec- power generation and THREAT TO HARVEST Agricultural Research and mustard fields have been hit. “The “The government will give a
tion. He continued to bring up the Rafale controversy at election water supply. Prime Min- said, wishing anonymity. damage in Bundelkhand seems to be 25% rebate on the purchase of
rallies after the Supreme Court’s rejection of these charges. What ister Narendra Modi has INDIA is on alert CEREAL prices SQUALLY weather While harvesting is widespread and farmers should be new vehicles (to those) having
came out of it? It is also important to note that the Securities and been reviewing the situa- over heatwaves climbed 16.73% in
which could pressure February, against a
over the past week
harmed wheat in UP,
now set to be delayed, the compensated,” said Prof Sudhir Pan- the scrap certificates. Besides,
Exchange Board of India has already started working on the probe tion, spelling out emer- economy, especially rise of 16.12% in MP, Punjab, Haryana “losses should balance war of Lucknow University. new vehicles will be registered
that the Supreme Court directed it to conduct on the Adani issue. gency measures. agriculture January and Rajasthan out overall” because Not all of the rain is bad, as they will free,” he added.
It has to be noted that while the Opposition is launching a cam- Yet, the weather took a wheat crops that are not replenish soil moisture after a dry, Describing the proposed
paign against Adani and the investigative agencies, the ruling turn around mid-March, yet fully mature “will get warm winter especially in peninsular move as a “revolutionary step”,
party is asking Rahul Gandhi to apologize for what he said in Lon- as gale-force winds and precipitation 16.73% in February, against a rise of more time, especially since the threat India, said Amit Kochhar, an agri-ware- the minister said advisories are
don. over the past week harmed wheat in 16.12% in January. India has forecast a of harvest-time heatwaves has almost housing agent. There are apprehen- being sent to all states to pre-
The ruling coalition’s members are resolute about not allowing Uttar Pradesh, the largest grower, Mad- wheat output of 112.3 million tonnes, completely receded”, the expert said. sions that India could face a monsoon- pare a new scrap policy for pri-
the House to function until he apologizes. Meanwhile, Congress hya Pradesh, the second-largest pro- the highest ever. Harvesting is due by Heavy rainfall has been recorded in destroying El Nino weather pattern this vate vehicles, which will prove
general secretary (organisation) K. C.Venugopal moved a notice ducer, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, month-end. Punjab, Haryana, Odisha, Telangana, summer. beneficial for them.
of breach of privilege against the prime minister in Rajya Sabha,
demonstrating that the Congress will
When dealing continue its offensive. But how effec-
with the BJP,
Congress must holding
tive will this attack be when no one is
his/her tongue?
Whatever Rahul said in London may
Centre warns OTTs States to get rewards for organic farming
remain cool,
strong
not have been “treason”; but it would
restrained, and have been better if he was more careful
with his words. He set a record last
on ‘obscene’ content Gireesh Chandra Prasad &
Puja Das
Finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman had announced in
month by going on 4,000 km padyatra gireesh.p@livemint.com the budget for FY24 that a
over 136 days non-stop. No politician Lata Jha Thakur said at a press confer- new scheme--PM programme
has ever come to the streets with determination of such a long lata.j@htlive.com ence in Nagpur. NEW DELHI for restoration, awareness,
march. This had a significant impact on his image. People began NEW DELHI In the past, the government nourishment and meleora-

T
to take him seriously. But his comments in London have dented has cracked down on web origi- he Central government tion of mother earth (PM Pra-

I
his hard-won reputation. nformation and broadcast- nals like Mirzapur and Tandav, has designed a scheme nam) will be rolled out to
Two of his statements had raised eyebrows even during this ing minister Anurag Thakur both on Amazon Prime Video. for rewarding states incentivize states to promote
padyatra. In the first instance, while in Maharashtra, he said, on Sunday warned the gov- The move marks a departure that push organic farming in a alternative fertilizers and bal-
“Savarkar ji wrote a letter to the British and said, ‘Sir, I want to be ernment will not back down from government statements measure to cut ballooning anced use of chemical fertiliz-
your servant.’” His coalition partner Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav from taking action against that have stressed self-regula- subsidies for chemical fertil- ers. Details were not
Thackeray, was taken aback. “Such utterances can cause a rift in over-the-top platforms, follow- tion by platforms and content izers. announced in the budget.
the Maha Vikas Aghadi, thus Rahul Gandhi should avoid such ing complaints about obscene creators. As per the plan, if promo- The NITI Aayog member
issues. We disagree with what he said about Savarkar,” Sena and abusive content. “The process so far is that the tion of organic farming by a also said that the Centre is
leader Sanjay Raut had to say while outlining his party’s stand. “Abusive language in the producer has to resolve the state leads to a decline in the working with states to mone-
A few days later, Rahul again made headlines by saying, “Our name of creativity will not be received complaints at the first use of chemical fertilizers, Govt is working to monetize agriculture waste by procuring it from tize agriculture waste by pro-
forces are being beaten by the Chinese army on LAC, and Beijing tolerated. The level. 90 to 92 % of then half the subsidy saved on farmers and turning it into energy, said Ramesh Chand. MINT curing it from farmers and
is preparing for war.” government is In the past, the the complaints are that account will be trans- turning it into energy. This
Not only his opponents but also his allies would look to capital- serious about the government has resolved by them ferred to the state, said Pro- compared to the average of escalation in global markets would also help boost farm-
ize on the situation such utterances create. No surprise Lalu complaints of cracked down on by. The next level fessor Ramesh Chand, mem- last three years, whatever the following the Russia-Ukraine ers’ income, Chand added.
Yadav’s son Tejashwi and Nitish Kumar, a key ally of the United increasing abu- web originals like of resolution is at ber, NITI Aayog. The federal amount is, half of that will be war. As a part of the Biodegrada-
Progressive Alliance in Bihar, have placed the onus on him to sive and obscene the level of their policy think tank worked with given to the state government Although the government ble Waste Management com-
Mirzapur and
forge Opposition unity and beat the BJP in the upcoming elec- content on OTT association, Central government depart- concerned,” Chand said. had originally estimated only ponent under Swachh Bharat
tions. platforms. If there Tandav, both on where most of the ments on the modalities of the There will be about Rs one tril- Mission (SMB-G), the Centre
These astute allies insist that the Congress should concentrate is a need to make Amazon Prime complaints are scheme. some conditions The scheme is lion for making had launched GOBARdhan
on the 262 seats in which it finished first or second in the last gen- any changes in resolved. At the Chand said the scheme is attached to how designed to check plant nutrients scheme in April 2018 to gen-
eral election. Allies should be given responsibility for the remain- the rules regard- last level, it comes designed to check excessive some of the funds excessive and available to farm- erate energy and income in
ing seats. Regional parties strive to strengthen their positions in ing this, the ministry is willing to the government, where and indiscriminate use of have to be util- indiscriminate use ers at affordable addition to cleanliness by
this political game of chess. Members of the Trinamool Congress to consider that. These plat- action is taken on the depart- chemical fertilizers as part of ised by the state prices in FY23, it processing manure and whole
of chemical
and the Nationalist Congress Party were absent from the march, forms were given freedom for mental committee level, the government’s efforts to but the rest can later sought agricultural waste materials
organized under the leadership of Congress, from Parliament to creativity, not obscenity. And according to the rules in place. make farming more sustaina- be used as per the fertilizers, said additional such as straw, manure and
the Enforcement Directorate office. In such a case, Congress when someone crosses a limit, But somewhere, complaints ble. Robust agriculture state’s own Chand spending per- crop residues in rural areas.
must be more vigilant and cautious. then abusing, rudeness in the have started increasing in the growth, price stability of farm choice. mission from The scheme is being imple-
When dealing with the BJP, Congress must remain cool, name of creativity cannot be last few days and the depart- produce, and sustainability The fertilizer Parliament. The mented under the SBM-G
restrained, cooperative, and strong. Rahul must avoid any unnec- accepted at all. Whatever nec- ment is taking it very seriously. are priorities for NITI Aayog subsidy burden has shot up revised fertilizer subsidy esti- Phase II, primarily focusing
essary row. His followers have much higher expectations of him. essary action needs to be taken If there is a need to make a in the farm sector. sharply in the current finan- mate for this fiscal is around on increasing farmers’
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are per- on this, the government will change, we are willing to con- “If there is any saving in fer- cial year on account of the ₹2.25 trillion, as per budget income and turning biowaste
sonal. not back down from doing so,” sider it,” Thakur said. tilizer subsidy in any state, supply disruptions and price documents. into compressed biogas.

Govt calls for reviving defunct hydro projects to meet summer demand CORRECTIONS AND
CLARIFICATIONS
Mint welcomes comments,
Rituraj Baruah & Saurav Anand erational generation units is international coal prices. power generators not to shut Additional capacity of suggestions or complaints
rituraj.baruah@livemint.com required as April is expected to Power demand across the down generating units in April 2,920MW will be available about errors.
NEW DELHI be a crunch demand month,” country is expected to reach and the first two weeks of May. through new coal-based plants
Readers can alert the
said one of the persons men- 229GW next month with a Further, the ministry has which will be commissioned
newsroom to any errors in the

T
he government has
asked hydro- power pro-
ducers to revive non-op-
erational units in a bid to avert
a power crisis in the summer
months of April and May.
Recently, the power minis-
try asked NHPC and Himachal
Pradesh State Electricity
Board Ltd (HPSEBL) to opera-
tionalize unit 1 of Kishenganga
project and unit 2 of Sainj
project, respectively, by 31
March, said two people aware
of developments.
“The availability of non-op-
tioned above.
Unit number 1 of Kishen-
ganga hydroelectric project
has been under forced outage
since 23 November 2022 and
unit 2 of the Sainj Hydroelec-
tric Project has been under
planned or forced outage since
24 November 2022. The Kish-
enganga project is on the Kish-
enganga river, a tributary of
the Jhelum in Bandipora dis-
trict of Jammu & Kashmir. The
capacity of the Kishenganga
and Sainj project is 330MW
and 100MW, respectively.
daily energy requirement of
144 billion units.
The ministry has also taken
steps to ensure coal supplies
during the period including
invoking section 11 of the Elec-
tricity Act directing all
imported coal-based power
plants to run at full capacity
The efforts come in the backdrop of the power crisis in April-May from 16 March.
last year while there was low availability of domestic coal. AFP On 9 March, the ministry
said it has a multi-pronged
Queries sent to the Union The move comes follows a strategy to ensure adequate
power ministry, NHPC and power crisis in April-May last availability of power during
HPSEBL remained unan- year, marked by low availabil- the summer.
swered till press time. ity of domestic coal and high The ministry has directed
directed power utilities to
undertake maintenance of
coal-based power plants well
in advance so that no further
maintenance is required dur-
ing the crunch period.
The government has also
decided to use gas-based
power to meet peak demand.
NTPC will run its 5,000MW
gas-based power stations dur-
ing the period. Another
4,000MW of gas-based power
capacity will be added by other
entities for the summer
months.
by the end of March.
In addition, after direction
from the ministry, two units at
Barauni (2X110MW) will be
made available during the
crunch period.
The government’s focus on
hydro power plants also comes
on the back of its ambitious
target to achieve 500GW of
installed renewable energy
capacity by 2030.
India has a total installed
hydro power capacity of
46.85GW which is 11.4% of the
total installed capacity.
paper by emailing us, with your
full name and address to
feedback@livemint.com.
It is our policy to promptly
respond to all complaints.
Readers dissatisfied with the
response or concerned about
Mint’s journalistic integrity may
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First published in February 2007 to serve as an unbiased and clear-minded chronicler of the Indian Dream.

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LIVEMINT.COM DEALS, TECH & STARTUPS Monday, 20 MaRch 2023
MuMbai 03

m THE MONDAY QUIZ

1) wHicH ministry 2) wHo will
Deals at 9-yr low in Feb as Big-ticket deals boost
funding in week to 17 Mar
funding winter continues
launched a user griev- succeed Rajesh By Priyal Mahtta & Malvika Maloo
ance chatbot on What- Gopinathan as the next feedback@livemint.com
sApp last week? CEO of TCS? The total value of private equity and venture capital deals
in India more than doubled in the week to 17 March from
3) wHaT is the name of long-standing CEO of game the previous week, thanks to a couple of big-ticket
streaming platform Twitch who resigned last week? transactions.
The aggregate transaction value jumped above $800
4) How many OneWeb 5) wHicH social media million in the week through Friday from under $350 million
satellites will ISRO launch platform launched edu- Just one startup received funding every 10 hours during February the previous week, data collated by VCCircle showed.
by March-end to com- cational courses on gen- The number of deals also edged higher last week to 24
plete the constellation? erative AI last week? from 18 the previous week, signalling a rebound in funding
Anuj Suvarna & Malvika Maloo activity after a month that saw angel investments and
anuj.s@livemint.com Startup funding falls in volume and value venture capital funding in Indian startups plummet to a
nine-year low.

S
Value ($ mn) Volume of deals (right-hand scale)
GLOSSARY tartup deal volume in India
plunged to a near nine-year
6,000

5,000
250

Multi-modal input: It is engineering, tech subjects
the ability of an application and scientific research.
or tool in accepting various
formats of content as input Privilege escalation
from a user. Such apps bug: A form of software
allow users to submit que- vulnerability, privilege
ries or commands in text, escalation bugs refer to
image or voice format. flaws that fail to restrict
They offer a diverse range access to critical storage
of outputs—such as the lat- and memory sections of a
est generation of ChatGPT device—thus giving hack-
Plus being able to under- ers access to either control-
stand images to produce ling the device’s behaviour,
superior responses. or stealing sensitive infor-
mation. While every soft-
ware includes restrictions
to which commands and
applications can access cer-
tain core sections of it, a
privilege escalation bug
ends up failing to enforce
such restrictions.
Exit strategy: A go-to
STEM: An umbrella term term for entrepreneurs
that groups together four and investors, it is a set of
distinct disciplines, STEM plans and conditions that
stands for science, tech- are pre-defined by a per-
nology, engineering and son investing in a business.
mathematics. The term is These conditions lay down
largely used to define a certain business objec-
combination of these sub- tives, and typically define
jects at an early academic when an investor would
stage, such as in schools, or look to cash out of a busi-
in research projects. STEM ness. It is often looked
programmes typically upon as fail-safes for pre-
involve overlapping of venting losses for investors.
Emmett Shear 4) 36 5) Linkedin
1) Ministry of Consumer Affairs 2) K. Krithivasan 3)
THE MONDAY QUIZ ANSWERS:
200
Consumer-focused and fintech companies took the
centerstage during the week gone by, in contrast to the
low in February, underscoring previous week when software-as-a-service startups were
a worsening funding winter in 4,000 in the spotlight in terms of funding activity.
150
the startup ecosystem.
Just one startup received funding 3,000 Companies raise $809 million
100
every 10 hours during the month, com- 2,000 Deal value ($ mn)
pared with the peak just about a year Investors
50
ago when it happened every three 1,000
hours, showed data collated by
VCCEdge, the data research platform of 0 0
Jan 2021 Feb 2023
VCCircle.
Between 100 and 150 startups on 500
Startup funding volume in February (2015-2023) Lenskart
average received angel investments and  Abu Dhabi
venture capital funding every month 200 Investment Authority
over the last eight calendar years. 160
In 2022, even as investors tightened 120 103
their purse strings after the public mar- 80 66
ket re-rating of tech- 40
nology companies in 0
Feb 2015 Feb 2023
the West, on average, Source: VCCEdge
more than 120 ven-
PARAS JAIN/MINT
tures received funding every month.
To be sure, most of the deals investments sank sharply last year. Meanwhile, February deal volumes 200 PhonePe#
announced in the recent past were But, this, too, seems to be flagging was the lowest since June 2014, the first  Walmart
sealed months after they were formally now as per the last data. month under Prime Minister Narendra
negotiated. This shows that how despite Last month, just 66 Indian startups Modi-led government, which saw 65
growing concerns about valuations, raised a combined $471.6 million. There deals. The government had been push-
startup deal volumes remained robust have been a few months in the past ing startup activity in the country as a HealthPlix
at more than 180 in the first quarter of when the total funding value was lower big win over the last few years. 22  Avataar Venture Partners
2022. Concerns over sky-high
The Ayurveda Co
Although the scenario FunDing cruncH valuations during 2021 12.2  Sixth Sense Ventures
turned uncertain thereafter, when India crossed the
barring one or two months, 100-150 startups on laST month, just 66 THE total deal value milestone of having 100
11 Arohan Financial Service
2022 managed to record on an average received Indian startups
funding every month raised a combined
in Feb was propped
up by FreshtoHome,
unicorns, or startups with a  FMO
average, more than 100 over the last eight funding of $471.6 which accounted for valuation of $1 billion or
deals every month. calendar years million. over a fifth of it. more, grew as tech peers in 10 Gynoveda
The new year began on a the developed markets got  India Alternatives Fund
slow note, but deteriorated re-rated, and had a domino 10
last month, showed the early data com- than this, but deal volumes remained impact on tech ventures in the coun- One Impression
piled by VCCEdge. strong. try. 9.1  Krafton Jumbotail*
 Alteria Capital,
While the big cheques of 2021 had all In terms of funding value, February is As investors turned cautious, several Innoven Capital
but disappeared last year, angel and the lowest since July 2020. Last startups have been facing a severe 5 Aerem
seed-stage activity remained buoyant. month’s total deal value was propped up financial crunch. This has led to belt- 5 BuyStars  Avaana Capital
This helped arrest the decline in the by fish and meat e-tailer FreshtoHome, tightening measures, including layoffs.  Lumikai
*Includes debt financing
total number of startups receiving which accounted for over a fifth of the Many others had to shut operations or #
part of a larger $1 billion funding round
Source: VCCEdge, VCCircle,
media reports
funding even as the total value of total money. were forced to merge with their peers.
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT

HOW TO ATTRACT MORE Crypto left

INVESTMENTS FROM JAPAN with little
ity.) This perception discourages Japanese
options after
EXPERT
companies from taking large bets on India.
The resulting smaller and cautious bets (such bank chaos
as posting a few expat managers to scout the
VIEW market) rarely lead to outsized returns and
this creates a vicious cycle: lack of meaning-
Bloomberg
feedback@livemint.com
ABHISEK MUKHER JEE ful success stories discourage new bets.

C
Therefore, the Japan-India corridor needs rypto startups are left
Respond to this column at a different kind of pioneer from the West. searching for alterna-
feedback@livemint.com The evangelization needs to focus on how to tive banking solutions
access the market and how to de-risk mean- after the collapse of three US

I
n the nineties, pioneers of Indian IT had to
sell India before selling their services. Often,
the first slide used to be a world map, with
US and India marked out with airline routes.
The pioneers sold well. Within three decades,
we have crossed $300 billion in IT services
exports and the trillion-dollar figure is within
reach.
Over the past three years, I have worked
with multiple Japanese clients who are build-
ing businesses in India. This engagement
accelerated after the management consulting
firm I co-founded became part of a Tokyo-
listed (and Singapore-headquartered) consult-
ing and investment company. Over the past
three months, I have met dozens of Japanese
companies to understand their India plans.
What I learnt may be summarized in three
statements:
One, many Japanese companies, and almost
all conglomerates, are keen to invest in India.
Two, many are unsure about how to enter
India. Three, most are scared about the inher-
ent ambiguities and uncertainties in the Indian
market. Let me elaborate:
One, nobody doubts the fundamental
opportunity of the Indian market. In fact, one
Japanese leader told us that after ChatGPT,
India is the second most-discussed topic in
Japanese boardrooms. Thirty years of growth
and evangelization has re-established Bharat
as the land of milk and honey. Establishing
the opportunity is no longer the challenge.
Two, there is significant confusion on how
to enter India. We heard many questions: Do
we acquire or build organically? Given the
noise in the M&A market, how do we find the
right targets? Can we manufacture in India,
or should we import for the domestic mar-
ket? Which state has the best incentives? Are
consumers ready to pay for Japanese quality?
Do we hire local leadership or send expatri-
ates? Do we build ourselves or partner with a
local player? How can we identify the right
partner? These questions indicate that a
standard playbook for the Japan-India corri-
dor is yet to emerge.
Three, there is a palpable sense of fear
about the Indian market, which to the rela-
tively orderly and disciplined Japanese,
appears to be the embodiment of VUCA (vol-
atility, uncertainty, complexity and ambigu-
ingful bets, rather than the opportunity.
There are four ways to do this:
First, industry-specific advocacy groups
(such as Nasscom for IT) comprising individ-
uals and companies with deep roots in Japan
and India need to be built. The members of
this group need to have deep experience and
networks in both markets, and they need to
run focused campaigns with Japanese com-
panies on how to enter India and de-risk
investments.
While the relationship is well-established
in auto and manufacturing, such advocacy
groups are required for IT, deeptech, con-
sumer products, and so on.
Second, these advocacy groups must
curate industry-
Japan’s market specific lists of
is shrinking, potential Indian
and India is last partners. Having a
body that is trusted
large market by both parties that
left to drive vets potential part-
global growth ners will help
address the risk per-
ceptions Japanese
companies have on India.
Third, there is an opportunity to build
funds (both venture capital and private
equity) focused on the Japan-India corridor.
These funds should pool investments from
Japanese companies and build a track record
of successful investments in India, across
sectors. This will help Japanese companies
build confidence in the Indian market while
avoiding direct exposure.
Finally, there is space for specialized advis-
ers, who have networks, capabilities and
experience in both markets, to emerge as
facilitators in the Japan-India corridor.
These advisers need to be committed to this
corridor, as given the cultural and linguistic
nuances, customized solutions are necessary.
These advisers should help build the stan-
dard playbook for Japanese investments in
India.
Japan’s population (and therefore, market)
is shrinking, and India is the last large market
left to drive global growth. It is for us to lose
billions of dollars of Japanese investment.
Abhisek Mukherjee is a Partner at YCP Auc-
tus.
banks with ties to the digital-
asset industry and its backers.
Years of regulatory scrutiny
have effectively blocked most
crypto firms from traditional
banks. So the failure of Silicon
Valley Bank has thrown many
groups’ day-to-day mechanics
like payroll and bill processing
into flux, while the shuttering
of Silvergate Capital Corp. and
Signature Bank has closed vital
on-off ramps between crypto
and traditional currencies.
“Everybody’s in limbo,” said
Dan Matuszewski, co-founder
at crypto investment fund
CMS Holdings.
Now crypto startups are
weighing their options—many
of which are likely to push the
industry further into the frin-
ges of the financial sector—
including the creation of a
community-run credit union,
launching a blockchain-based
solution or even utilizing
crypto credit cards.
To be sure, venture capital
firms are helping portfolio
companies find new banking
partners. Cross River Bank has
emerged as a preferred option
after it was reported Circle
Internet Financial Ltd. was
shifting business there from
SVB, where it had $3.3 billion
deposited.
But, given most banks’
reluctance to partner, others
are looking to take matters
into their own hands, said
David Pakman, managing
partner at crypto VC firm
Coinfund LLC.
Chats between VCs,
founders and others in the
crypto community on plat-
forms like Telegram boil down
to a simple, urgent message, he
said: “We must build an alter-
native.”
04 Monday, 20 March 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 1-WEEK CHANGE (%) ClOsE 1-WEEK CHANGE (%) ClOsE 1-WEEK CHANGE (%) ClOsE 1-WEEK CHANGE (%) ClOsE 1-WEEK CHANGE (%) ClOsE 1-WEEK CHANGE (%) ClOsE 1-WEEK CHANGE (%)

57989.90 -1.94 17100.05 -1.80 14420.85 -1.76 37787.35 -0.78 16964.80 -1.62 24112.01 -2.06 27167.74 -2.81
1-MONTH CHANGE (%) 3-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-MONTH CHANGE (%) 3-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-MONTH CHANGE (%) 3-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-MONTH CHANGE (%) 3-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-MONTH CHANGE (%) 3-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-MONTH CHANGE (%) 3-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-MONTH CHANGE (%) 3-MONTH CHANGE (%)

-4.94 -5.46 -4.70 -6.40 -3.89 -7.77 -1.70 -12.09 -4.27 -8.03 -2.32 -6.32 -3.13 -7.96
6-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-YEAR CHANGE (%) 6-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-YEAR CHANGE (%) 6-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-YEAR CHANGE (%) 6-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-YEAR CHANGE (%) 6-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-YEAR CHANGE (%) 6-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-YEAR CHANGE (%) 6-MONTH CHANGE (%) 1-YEAR CHANGE (%)

-1.45 0.22 -2.46 -1.08 -5.40 -2.04 -14.30 -7.97 -5.43 -3.09 -5.66 1.21 -6.96 -1.94

m MINT SHORTS Challenges outweigh Stellar response to luxe

Riskiest corporate borrowers project Arbour comes
are left in lurch by bank havoc
It’s getting harder for the riskiest corporate borrowers to
raise cash. As the banking crisis this past week largely
brought corporate bond and loan offerings to a halt, bor-
ICICI Pru’s prospects as booster shot for DLF
rowing costs for junk-rated issuers surged, tipping the Bavadharini KS & Vineetha Sampath Harsha Jethmalani
Needs uptick In good stead
market value of debt for some of the most vulnerable bavadharini.ks@livemint.com harsha.j@htlive.com
companies into distressed levels. The average yield ICICI Prudential Life’s annualized premium equivalent growth has been lacklustre DLF shares are flat in CY23 so far,
however, they have outperformed

I
over the past few years.

B
spread—extra money investors demand for holding CICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. uyers of luxury residential the Nifty Realty index.
weaker debt—on US bonds with the worst credit ratings Ltd’s (ICICI Pru) shares gained nearly Total annualized premium equivalent (in ₹ crore) Year-on-year growth (in %) (right-hand scale) properties tend to be immune
vaulted past 1,000 basis points. Leveraged loans—the 6% in the past two trading sessions. to rising home loan rates. 105

other main financing option for risky companies— On Thursday, the company said ICICI 9,000 40 DLF’s announcement to the stock DLF Nifty Realty

plunged to a 10-week low, and companies pulled debt Bank’s executive director Anup Bag- exchanges on The Arbour project in
deals at the fastest pace in a year as buyers fled. “When chi will take charge as ICICI Pru’s new 7,500 30
Gurugram is testament to that. On 100.07
high-yield companies come up for air, they are going to managing director (MD) and chief execu- Thursday, DLF said it clocked pre- 100

see much tighter financial conditions. This is a pretty big tive officer (CEO) with effect from 19 formal launch sales worth about
shock to the financial system,” said Michael Anderson, June. 6,000 20 ₹8,000 crore of the luxury high-rise
head of US credit strategy for Citigroup Inc. BLOOMBERG Investors hope that Bagchi will be able residences project. This comprises
to drive premium growth, which has been five towers with 1,137 homes priced at 95
4,500 10
a sour point. “Investor expectations are ₹7 crore onward per unit.
for improved growth that can aid re-rat- “While the earnings impact from a
3,000 0
ing; we see pick-up from FY25,” said ana- revenue perspective from The
lysts from Jefferies India in a report on 16 Arbour project will come over a 90

March. “ICICI Pru’s current CEO (Mr. 1,500 -10 period of time, near-term cash flows
92.40
N.S. Kannan) led diversification of chan- will improve,” said Parikshit Kand-
nels/ products & better underwriting. 0 -20 pal, institutional research analyst at
ICICI Pru can gain from Mr. Bagchi’s FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 HDFC Securities Ltd. 85
estimated 30 Dec 2022 17 Mar 2023
strengths in savings platforms & client Source: Company Data, Jefferies
The project marks DLF’s foray into
Values rebased to 100 Source: Capitaline
engagement,” they added. Gurugram’s micro market of Golf
SATISH KUMAR/MINT SATISH KUMAR/MINT
Note that subdued annualized pre- Course Extension. It’s worth men-
mium equivalent (APE) growth weighed banca channel has been weak, so ICICI try expects clarifications and relaxations tioning that the company has said been flat; however, the Nifty Realty
on ICICI Pru stock even as it put up a Pru is focusing on other partnerships to in this regard, it could have a near-term more than 95% of the buyers are indi- index has declined by almost 8% dur-
strong show in its value of new business offset weak growth in ICICI Bank’s banca impact across all life insurance compa- viduals who have bought into The ing the period. A relatively higher
(VNB). VNB is measure of profitability for channel,” said analysts from Motilal nies. Arbour for their end usage. “We exposure to the luxury housing seg-
insurance companies. Oswal Financial Services Ltd in a report ICICI Pru’s of share non-unit linked highlight that social media and sales ment is aiding the stock, along with
According to ICICI Pru, under Kan- on 17 March. Accordingly, the mix of policies with annual premium of above ₹5 channels were abuzz, with strong the company’s focus on paring debt.
The abrupt recalibration in Fed rate bets are signalling one nan’s tenure, the company is on path to ICICI Bank in overall APE has moderated lakh is about 6% of its total APE for sales from the project by end-Febru- But a meaningful upside from the
more hike is the most likely scenario at this stage. REUTERS double its FY19 VNB by FY23. Company’s to 16.9% in 9MFY23 from 48.8% in 9MFY23. ary, the company has formally made current levels could be slow.
VNB margin was at 17% in FY19 and has 9MFY20. On the other hand, other banca Plus, there is a fear that government’s the announcement only now,” said Kotak’s analysts point out, strong
risen consistently each year. channel’s mix improved to 13.5% from push towards the new tax regime would analysts from Kotak Institutional sales should prompt DLF to lay down
Bond market set for tumult VNB margin for nine months ended 4.4%, the Motilal Oswal analysts said. reduce the appeal of life insurance prod- Equities. its plans for the next leg
with Fed’s next move in limbo December (9MFY23) was ucts as tax-saving instru- Despite rising inter- A relatively higher of land monetization,
Bond investors battered by the wildest swings in decades 32%. The growth was pri- TESTING TIMES ments. In this backdrop, as est rates, the mid and exposure to which is a key catalyst
are hunkering down for their next big test: navigating the marily driven by better taxpayers plan for tax sav- premium residential luxury housing is for stock performance.
Federal Reserve’s response to the mounting financial product mix towards high- INVESTORS expect LOWER APE growth FY24 budget ing, the ongoing March categories have shown aiding DLF shares, “Continuing moneti-
instability that threatens to derail its fight against infla- margin products. better growth to aid has weighed on ICICI proposals that will quarter is expected to see a resilience with listed zation of the residual
re-rating, and Pru while there has be effective from along with the
tion. No matter what the central bank does, investors face But growth in APE has Jefferies India sees been a strong show April could be a bump up. companies reporting land bank could add
more pain after volatility surged to levels not seen since been subdued over past few pick-up from FY25 in VNB growth dampener Meanwhile, valuations robust pre-sales in company’s focus incremental value to the
the 2008 financial crisis. The recent plunge in Treasury years (see chart). Analysts are not demanding. Despite recent quarters. In the on paring debt company—we expect to
yields and the abrupt recalibration in Fed rate bets are point out that VNB growth rising in the past two days, nine months ended see strong activity on
signalling one more 25 basis point hike is the most likely via margin expansion can be sustainable To be sure, while APE growth appears ICICI Pru’s shares are down 10% so far this December (9MFY23), this front in the next few
scenario at this stage. Now what’s getting Wall Street only to a certain extent. Beyond that, pre- challenging due to weakness in the ban- calendar year. “Stock trades at steep dis- DLF clocked pre-sales or advance quarters,” said the Kotak report
really anxious is what officials will do after that. Traders mium needs to grow. cassurance distribution channel, the count of 1.5 times price to embedded bookings of ₹6,599 crore. “But with dated 16 March. Factoring in acceler-
currently see the central bank’s benchmark ending the One factor that has hurt premium FY24 budget proposals that will be effec- value, compared to peers like HDFC Life, this kind of pre-sales, the base for ated sales from The Arbour in its esti-
year around 3.8%, more than a whole percentage point growth is the sharp drop in ICICI Bank tive April could be a dampener for trading at around 2.2 times price to next year will be higher, making sus- mates, Kotak has revised DLF’s fair
below the Fed’s rate estimate in the December “dot plot” channel’s contribution to APE. In the past growth. embedded value,” said Madhukar Ladha, tainability of sales momentum cru- value to ₹430 per share from ₹400
that comes as part of the quarterly economic projections. few years, ICICI Bank preferred to sell The budget has proposed to tax matur- director, Nuvama Institutional Equities. cial,” added Kandpal. per share.
Inflation has remained elevated and the labor market has certain categories of ICICI Pru’s insur- ity proceeds on life insurance policies But for a re-rating to happen, one of the To be sure, for now, this has On Friday, DLF’s shares closed
shown resilience despite the most-aggressive tightening ance products, which has taken a toll on with an aggregate annual premium of main factors is the visibility on premium helped the stock stay on firm ground. 4.2% higher at ₹375.25 apiece on
campaign in decades. BLOOMBERG its overall APE growth. “Growth in the over ₹5 lakh. While the insurance indus- growth, he added. So far in CY23, DLF’s shares have NSE.

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

Sebi puts IPO drafts Foreign investors drive negative bets on Nifty to 3-year high
under close scrutiny That sinking feeling
Ram Sahgal
ram.sahgal@livemint.com
around the time the pandemic
struck, said Rohit Srivastava,
Three US banks going under and one teetering on the brink
tech-focused banks.
FPIs take such futures posi-
itself could result in a reversal
of markets in the event of any
founder, IndiaCharts . tions to either hedge their cash positive trigger as that would
PTI have led FPIs to mount huge hedges on benchmark indices.

A
mid increased global
feedback@livemint.com uncertainty induced by
the collapse of three US
At the time, FPIs shorted market portfolios or to simply force FPIs to cover their shorts.
173,133 contracts, which Bank Nifty Nifty punt on anticipated volatility in Between 10 March and 17
resulted in the Nifty tanking 40,500 40,485.45 17,500
17,412.9 the short term. March (5 trading sessions)

A
fter Paytm’s IPO
fiasco, Sebi has turned
cautious while giving
clearance to the initial share
sales as it has returned the
preliminary papers of half a
dozen companies, including
Oravel Stays, which runs hos-
pitality chain Oyo, in over two
months.
These companies have
been asked to refile their draft
red herring prospectus
(DRHP) with certain updates.
Apart from Oyo, the firms
whose draft papers have been
returned by the regulator are
— Go Digit General Insurance
Ltd, a firm backed by Canada-
based Fairfax Group; home-
grown mobile maker Lava
International; B2B payments
and services provider Pay-
mate India; Fincare Small
Finance Bank India and inte-
grated services company BVG
India, according to an analysis
of data with the Securities and
Exchange Board of India
Sebi has returned preliminary
papers of half a dozen cos. MINT
shares in 2021 and according
to data compiled by Primeda-
tabase.com, the average time
taken by the markets regula-
tor in approving an IPO in
2022 was 115 days.
“After the IPO fiasco fol-
lowing the listing of new age
digital companies like Paytm,
Zomato and Nykaa in which
investors lost heavily, Sebi has
tightened the approval norms
for IPOs. This is welcome and
is in the interest of investors,”
V.K. Vijayakumar, chief
investment strategist at Geojit
banks over a week, foreign
portfolio investors (FPIs) have
raised cumulative bearish posi-
tions on Nifty and Bank Nifty
futures to a three -year high of
171,679 contracts. The positions
have been built ahead of the US
central bank meeting on inter-
est rates later this week and
amid western banking regula-
tors scurrying to create back-
stops to prevent contagion
from the crisis-hit Silvergate
Corp., Silicon Valley Bank, Sig-
nature Bank, and Swiss lender
Credit Suisse.
The last occasion when FPIs
initiated such huge short posi-
tions was on 17 March 2020
Banking MFs lose 6% in a week as US bank crisis hits sentiment
PTI
feedback@livemint.com
1,456 points to a multi-year low
of 7511.1 just five days later. To
be sure, markets began a recov-
ery after that.
This time around too, ana-
lysts say such a bearish creation
could cause short-term volatil-
ity in the run up to the Fed pol-
icy decision on Wednesday,
wherein the US central bank is
widely expected to hike the rate
by 25 basis points (bps) (0.25%)
and provide details on emer-
gency measures to prevent a
financial contagion.
“There’s no real domestic
trigger, just global news flows
behind the FPI actions,” said
Rajesh Baheti, managing
However, experts believe that
the direct impact on the
Indian banking sector was
40,000
39,598.1
39,500
39,000
38,500
10 Mar 17 Mar
director, Crosseas Capital, one
of the country’s largest propri-
etary brokers. “They expect a
bumpy ride as the banking cri-
ses in US and Europe unravel
and as the Fed sheds light on
safety of depositors’ money at
its mid-week meeting. Until the
situation stabilizes, volatility
17,300
17,100.05
17,100
16,900
10 Mar 17 Mar
Source: NSE
PARAS JAIN/MINT
will be the order of the day.”
Interestingly, Sunil Singha-
nia, founder of Abakkus Asset
Management, told Mint earlier
that a rate hike of even 25 bps
would be construed as a “nega-
tive” with markets having
priced in a pause induced by
the collapse of the three US
A bearish futures contract
position enables them to offset
a loss on their portfolios in the
event of a market correction.
This is because through the
contract, they sell the Nifty or
Bank Nifty indices at a prede-
termined rate.
If indices fall thereafter, they
gain as buyers are obliged to
buy the indices at the higher
rate contracted earlier. Actu-
ally, only the price difference is
exchanged as indices cannot be
delivered.
“What such positions do is to
offset the loss to their cash mar-
ket portfolios,” said Srivastava.
He believes the heavy shorting
Services Fund, LIC MF Bank-
ing and Financial Services
Fund, and Nippon India
alone, FPIs increased their
cumulative bearish bets by
50,792 contracts.
Coinciding with this, the
Nifty fell 1.8% to 17,100 while
the Bank Nifty slipped 2.2% to
39,598.
Market experts expect more
downside pressure on indices
until the US Fed’s rate decision
on Wednesday to which Indian
markets are expected to react
on Thursday.
“There will be more down-
ward pressure until clarity
emerges on what Fed is doing
to stop any likely contagion,”
said Rajesh Palviya, technical
head, Axis Securities.
of lower net interest margins,
higher cost of funds and
impact on credit growth

(Sebi).
The six companies had
filed their preliminary initial
public offering (IPO) papers
with Sebi between September
2021 and May 2022 and their
papers were returned during
January-March (till 10
March).
Together, these companies
were hoping to raise at least
₹12,500 crore.
Sebi has become stricter in
its approach while giving its
go-ahead to IPOs after inves-
tors lost their money in some
of the high-profile initial
B
Financial Services, said.
However, ultimately inves-
tors have to apply their minds
while applying for IPOs and
avoid high-priced issues, he
added.
One97 Communications,
the parent entity of digital
payments firm Paytm, made a
disappointing debut on the
bourses in November 2021.
The company’s ₹18,300-crore
IPO was the biggest on Dalal
Street after Coal India.
The digital payment firm
stock was still trading 72%
lower from its issue price.
anking mutual funds
(MFs) have lost up to 6%
in the last week follow-
ing the collapse of Silicon Val-
ley Bank (SVB) and Signature
Bank that dented investors’
sentiment in the banking and
financial services space.
The failure of the two
US-based banks sent shock-
waves across the global finan-
cial system and weakened the
sentiments in the banking
sector in India too, wherein
shares took a beating and
declined in the range of 3-13%
in the week under review.
negligible to low.
The incessant selling in the
bank stocks is clearly
reflected in the banking sec-
tor mutual funds, as evident
from the short-term perform-
ance returns of the 16
schemes under the category.
Of the 16 banking sector
mutual funds, all of them have
given negative returns to
investors in the range of 1.6%
to 6% in the week ended 17
March, according to an analy-
sis of data compiled by ACE
MF Nxt.
So far this year, these funds
Banking and Financial Servi-
ces Fund.
However, on nine-month
and 1-year time frames, the
returns are positive, in fact, all
the banking and financial ser-
vices funds have given returns
of up to 20% and up to 12%,
respectively, the data by ACE
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank weakened MF Nxt showed.
the sentiments in the banking sector in India. REUTERS The reasons for the fall in
these thematic mutual funds
have given negative returns are Aditya Birla Sun Life can be attributed to the vola-
ranging from 8% to 10%, the Banking and Financial Servi- tile stock market conditions
data showed. ces Fund, Tata Banking and and the rising interest rates.
The funds which have lost Financial Services Fund, Ever since the rate hike cycle
more than 5% in the last week HDFC Banking and Financial commenced, the expectations
abound, Gopal Kavalireddi,
head of research at FYERS,
said.
With banks increasing the
deposit rates with a lag, com-
pared to the Repo rate hikes
by the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI), the impact was delayed
but inevitable, Kavalireddi
added.
Moreover, foreign portfo-
lio investors (FPIs) have been
on a selling spree since Octo-
ber 2021, paring down their
investment holdings in many
banks and financial sector
entities.
LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai 05

Adani suspends work ‘Strict norms to add stocks on indices’ Staff writer whose Nifty 50 index lists

at ₹34,900 cr project I feedback@livemint.com

nclusion or exclusion of
stocks from Nifty indices are
transparent, non-discre-
tionary, based on criteria such
as market capitalization and
trading frequency and devoid
Group writes to suppliers to suspend all work at Mundra petchem project of human discretion once cri-
teria are crystallized, accord-
ing to the National Stock
PTI Exchange (NSE), the country’s
feedback@livemint.com premier stock exchange.
New DelhI “….inclusion and exclusion
of stocks in various Nifty indi-
Adani Enterprises and Adani
Ports.
However, NSE clarified that
“Once the index criteria have
been crystallized, NSE Indices
or its committees exercise no
human discretion in deciding
on inclusion or exclusion of
stocks in any of its indices.
Based on the well[1]defined
index criteria available on NSE
and NSE Indices website, mar-
ket participants are able to
predict the changes in index
NSE’s comments come in the wake of the Adani Group crisis. constituents in various indices

A
dani Group has suspended ces on periodic basis have in the upcoming index
work on a ₹ 34,900 crore pet- been as per transparent poli- resent. For example, the inclu- denied any wrongdoing and review.”
rochemical project at Mundra cies. All Nifty indices are main- sion of stocks in Nifty 50, prepaid all of its $2.1 billion Furthermore, the NSE
in Gujarat as it focuses on tained by NSE Indices Limited India’s flagship index, is based share-backed financing and a added that given the current
resources to consolidate oper- (NSE Indices), a subsidiary of on free-float market capitali- $500 million bridge loan for pre-announced, transparent,
ations and address investor concerns fol- NSE, and are based on index zation, impact cost, trading financing the acquisition of rules-based, automatic, non-
lowing a damning report by a US-based methodologies that are objec- frequency, and availability of Ambuja Cement. discretionary regulatory
short seller, people familiar with the matter tive, non-discretionary, rules- stock for trading in the F&O On 9 February, global index framework for surveillance
said. based, pre-announced and (futures and options) segment provider MSCI reduced the measures and for index inclu-
The group’s flagship Adani Enterprises transparent,” the exchange of the exchange.” weightings of Adani Enter- sion/ exclusion at NSE, “no
Ltd (AEL) had in 2021 incorporated a whol- said in a press release late Sun- NSE’s comments come in prises, Adani Transmission, human discretion is possible
ly-owned subsidiary, Mundra Petrochem day evening. the wake of the Adani Group Adani Total Gas and ACC, for anyone and this entire pro-
Ltd for setting up a greenfield coal-to-PVC “The index criteria for crisis, which triggered unprec- which would result in an esti- cess and practice has been
plant at Adani Ports and Special Economic including any stock into an edented volatility in shares of mated $450 million in out- running for decades.”
Zone (APSEZ) land in Kutch, Gujarat. index or excluding any exist- Adani Enterprises, Adani flows from these companies. NSE Indices is compliant
But after Hindenburg Research’s 24 ing stock from an index is well Transmission, Adani Total Gas The provider subsequently with IOSCO’s Principles for
January report alleging accounting fraud, defined, documented and and Adani Total Gas. deferred the weighting cut in Financial Benchmarks and fol-
stock manipulation and other corporate made available on NSE and The crisis, which began Adani Transmission to May as lows a strong index govern-
governance lapses chopped off about $140 AEL had in 2021 incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Mundra Petrochem Ltd for NSE Indices website after US-based short-seller several investors said they ance practise through various
billion from the market value of Gautam setting up a greenfield coal-to-PVC plant at APSEZ land in Kutch, Gujarat. AP (www.nseindia.com and Hindenburg Research cast couldn’t exit the stocks, which governance committees to
Adani’s empire, the apples-to-airport www.niftyindices.com). The allegations of corporate mal- hit lower circuits daily back monitor index criteria policy
group is hoping to claw back and calm jit- gations” for Mundra Petrochem Ltd’s strong. We have industry-leading project specific methodology for each feasance against the ports to then. changes or policies related to
tery investors and lenders through a come- Green PVC project “till further notice.” development and execution capabilities, Nifty index may be different renewable energy conglomer- The action by MSCI resulted constituent index changes.
back strategy. This is following “unforeseen scenario”. strong corporate governance, secure based on the objective of the ate, has wiped $118.36 billion in anticipations in certain mar- These committees also
The comeback strategy is based on The management, it said, was “re-evaluat- assets, strong cashflows, and our business index and the underlying mar- off the market cap of ten listed ket quarters of some include external independent
addressing investor concerns around debt ing various project/s being implemented at plan is fully funded. We remain focused on ket that the index seeks to rep- entities. Adani Group has announcements by NSE, members.
by repaying some loans, consolidating group level in different business verticals. executing our previously outlined strategy
operations, and fighting off the allegations. Based on future cashflow and finance, to create value for our stakeholders,” the
The group has denied all allegations lev- some of the project/s are being re-evalu- spokesperson said.
elled by Hindenburg. As part
of this, projects are being
re-evaluated based on cash-
All hAnds on deck
“AEL will be evaluating the
status of growth projects in the
primary industry vertical over
US watchdog may commence SVB breakup
flow and finance available. group hopes to comebAck plan is green PVC project the coming months”.
And of the projects the claw back and calm
jittery investors and
to repay some loans, is among the ones
consolidate the group has
The unit used to have a Bloomberg ing to sell the failed bank in at bilities, the people said. Sepa- broaden the pool of potential
group has decided not to pur- lenders through a operations, and fight decided not to poly-vinyl-chloride (PVC) pro- feedback@livemint.com least two parts, said the people, rately, the regulator will take buyers for all or some of the
sue for the time being is the 1 comeback strategy off allegations pursue for now duction capacity of 2,000 who asked to not be identified bids by Wednesday for SVB franchise, the people said.

U
million tonne per annum KTPA (kilo tonne per annum) S regulators are moving because the matter isn’t pub- Private Bank, or the remnants No final decisions have been
(MTPA) Green PVC project, requiring 3.1 MTPA coal that toward a breakup solu- lic. of Boston Private, the wealth- made, and the timeline or
two people with knowledge of the matter ated for its continuation and revision in was to be imported from Australia, Russia tion for Silicon Valley A representative for the oriented bank SVB acquired in structure of the sales process
said. timeline.” When reached for comments, a and other countries. Bank (SVB) after failing to line FDIC didn’t immediately 2021. could change.
The group has shot off mails to vendors group spokesperson said AEL will be evalu- PVC is the world’s third-most widely up a suitable buyer for the respond to requests for com- The FDIC had tried to sell Silicon Valley Bank col-
and suppliers to “suspend all activities” on ating the status of growth projects in pri- produced synthetic polymer of plastic. It entire company, according to ment. them together over the week- lapsed into FDIC receivership
an immediate basis. mary industry vertical over the coming finds wide application—from flooring, to people familiar with the mat- Bids are due Friday for the end with bids initially due earlier this month, after its
In the mails, seen by PTI, the group has months. making sewage pipes and other pipe appli- ter. so-called “bridge bank” that Sunday, but the regulator long-established customer
asked them to “suspend all activities of the “The balance sheet of each of our inde- cations, in insulation on electrical wires, The Federal Deposit Insur- the FDIC set up to take receiv- recently told suitors it was base of tech startups grew con-
scope of work and performance of all obli- pendent portfolio companies is very packaging and manufacture of aprons, etc. ance Corp. (FDIC) is now seek- ership of SVB’s assets and lia- moving the deadline to cerned and yanked deposits.

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06 Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai CORPORATE LIVEMINT.COM

Shapoorji
Pallonji
nears major
revamp
FROM PAGE 1
to separate the responsibilities of
promoters as custodians, and the
management, according to the
second person.
“Each vertical will not have
any cross-holdings. Every clus-
ter drives its own destiny and
Behind Gopinathan’s abrupt Maha govt to buy
iconic AI building
exit, simmering tensions for ₹1,600 crore
FROM PAGE 1
Buying the Air India build-
Differences over key issues had cropped up between Gopinathan and Tata Sons chairman ing makes eminent sense for
Maharashtra since Mantra-
laya, the state government’s
Varun Sood & Satish John ship team most upset was that the out- administrative headquarters
varun.sood@livemint.com going boss always kept “an eagle’s eye built in 1955, is located nearby.
BeNgALuru on the bottom line and margins, even As part of the divestment
willing to forsake multi-million-dollar plan of Air India, the govern-

will be independently accounta-
ble to shareholders. The families
will play more of an ownership
role than that of managers,” said
the second person aware of the
development.
For now, SP Group is seeking
regulatory and other stake-
holder clearances for the reorga-
nization, which it expects to
have by 30 September. An SP
Group spokesperson did not
respond to queries.
“This is the right way to go for-
ward,” said Kavil Ramachan-
dran, professor of entrepreneur-
ship and family business at the
Indian School of Business.
“Ownership should not be the
criterion to decide who should
operationally manage a busi-
ness; it must be based on the
required capabilities of the indi-
vidual.”
This is the model followed by
all lasting family businesses
across the world, he said.
“Focusing on holding company
will enable the family owners to
have a strategic perspective
across the businesses and not get
tied down to any of the strategic
business units. This will avoid
the formation of silos; instead,
this will build synergy”.
The reorganization at the SP
Group comes after the conglom-
erate sold a few of its businesses,
including Eureka Forbes and
Sterling and Wilson Renewable
Ltd, and paid back ₹12,500 crore
last year to its creditors as part of
a one-time resolution deal with-
out a haircut. As a result, the
group has halved its debt to
₹20,000 crore.
L
ast week, when Rajesh Gopi- orders to protect margins”. “You have ment took over Air India’s debt
nathan resigned as the chief to grow your top line (sales revenue) of about ₹45,000 crore and all
executive of Tata Consultancy and sacrifice margins at times to opti- non-core assets (about 111
Services, Tata Sons chairman mize fixed costs,” one executive said. properties), including the Govt will also sell Air India’s
Natarajan Chandrasekaran While a CEO has to balance topline office building and housing booking office in New Delhi HT
accepted his resignation without a growth with margins, in an aggressive colonies, estimated to be val-
demur, indicating that the differences market for tech services where others ued at ₹14,718 crore, according decided to sell Air India’s
between the mentor and the successor found ways to be flexible, this led to to a government statement booking office near Safdarjung
over how India’s largest software servi- TCS losing some substantial contracts. issued in 2021. airport in New Delhi to the
ces firm was being run had reached an To be sure, Chandrasekaran’s A decision was also taken state-owned airport operator
impasse, multiple people close to the unhappiness over what can be called that assets, where the rights of Airports Authority of India for
situation said, speaking on the condi- relative underperformance of TCS the land were with govern- ₹15 crore. “The ownership of
tion of anonymity. compared to Accenture Plc. and Infosys ment departments or state the land, where the building
Issues ranging from certain aspects Ltd is not new. In November 2021, Mint governments, would be sold to stands, is with AAI and, hence,
of Gopinathan’s management style to reported that Chandra had expressed the respective entity. The the property has been trans-
some of the strategic decisions taken by his displeasure at a strategic meeting in Maharashtra government had ferred to the airport operator,”
the company and relative underper- Switzerland in August that year on the handed the land for the sea- said another official.
formance had become enduring sour- company’s slow growth compared to facing property to Air India in So far, most properties with
ces of stress and the CEO ultimately peers. 1970 for a 99-year lease. clear records have been sold
might have picked up on the sense of The abruptness of Gopinathan’s decision surprised senior employees, analysts At TCS’s annual strategy meeting in Air India, the erstwhile under four rounds of e-auc-
waning enthusiasm for his leadership and peers as TCS has had a very stable leadership since inception REUTERS Doha last month, there was no bitter- state-run airline, has made tions, and a few big-ticket
from the group chairman, these people ness between Chandra and Gopinat- several attempts to sell the properties are under process
said. Accenture, which ended with $61.5 departure to the style of his predeces- han, Mint reported last week, citing Nariman Point to be monetized,
Gopinathan has steered TCS to grow billion in revenue last year, added more sor, who balanced being tough and three executives familiar with the mat- building since The Maharashtra including the
its quarterly revenue from $4.45 billion than $30 billion in new business in the demanding with a personal outreach ter. 2018, but the pro- government had Vasant Vihar col-
at the end of March 2017 to $7.075 bil- last six years. that built loyalty over the years and Gopinathan offered to resign before cess has not been handed the land ony spread over
lion at the end of the December quarter, A Tata Sons spokesperson declined across the ranks. the board, after which a three-member successful. Sev- for the sea-facing 30 acres and a
an impressive 59% growth. to comment on the development. Another difference, one person who nomination and remuneration com- eral state-run large plot meas-
companies,
property to Air
But Infosys reported a faster growth One of the aspects of Gopinathan’s has observed both senior leaders in mittee, headed by former State Bank of uring 14,326
than TCS in 2020, 2021 and 2022, management style that ultimately TCS CEO roles observed, was that India chairman Om Prakash Bhatt put including the Life India in 1970 for a square meters at
while Accenture, too, reported company veteran K. Krithivasan at Insurance Corp. 99-year lease Baba Kharak
higher growth than TCS in 2021 GROWING DIVIDE the helm last Thursday. of India and Jaw- Singh Marg in
and 2022. Under Gopinathan’s Chandrasekaran and Hanne Bir- ahar Lal Nehru Delhi. The deci-
watch, TCS is expected to add $10 CHANDRASEKARAN’S GOPINATHAN’S THE outgoing boss kept SOME members of gitte Breinbjerg Sorensen are the Port Trust, had shown interest sion on the Delhi headquarters
billion in incremental revenue unhappiness over relative management style
underperformance of TCS and some of the key
‘an eagle’s eye on margins, the Tata Sons board
even willing to forsake were kept in the loop
two other members of the panel. in acquiring the 23-storey of Air India will be taken next
between 1 April 2017 and 31 March compared to Accenture decisions became multi-million-dollar about the change of Chandrasekaran had confided commercial tower in the past. year as the Tata Group has the
2023 (TCS declares its fourth-quar- and Infosys is not new sources of stress orders to protect margins’ guard at TCS about the change of guard at TCS The state of Maharashtra right to use that building until
ter and full-year numbers on 12 with some members of the has been one of the foremost January of 2024, the second
April). But during this same period, 10-member board of Tata Sons and parties interested in the com- official added.
Infosys will add at least $8.5 billion in became a liability for him was that he while Chandra weaved client visits into kept Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of mercial tower by the Arabian All the sale proceeds will be
incremental revenue. Put simply: The could be abrasive in review meetings his work regime and would not hesitate Tata group, in the loop, one of the exec- Sea, as it has a shortage of used to service interest pay-
gap between TCS and Infosys is closing without regard to the seniority of the to “wait at the door” of a client, Gopi- utives cited above said. space for its departments, and ments on non-convertible
even though TCS, which ended with person at the receiving end. This had nathan preferred to meet the chief But it was a “gracious exit”, keeping the building may become a debentures issued as part of
$25.7 billion in revenue last year, is rubbed a number of senior leaders at executives of the company’s customers, in mind the long relationship the two part of the government secre- various Air India debt restruc-
comfortably ahead of Infosys, which TCS the wrong way. This was felt including large banks and retailers. personalities—Chandra and Gopinat- tariat. turings in the past and are part
ended with $16.3 billion in revenue. acutely also because it was in sharp But what made TCS’s senior leader- han—enjoyed, he said. The government has also of AI Assets Holdings now.

Amazon in advanced Legal sector heads for more competition

talks to buy MX player Priyanka Gawande &
Devina Sengupta
to practise foreign law and
diverse international law and
start practice is to take over
teams they have previously
arbitration matters in India. worked with, there is likely to
FROM PAGE 1 already present in over 100 MuMBAI The rules will help flow of for- be a mass movement,” said
million users’ smartphones eign direct investment (FDI) Pritha Jha, partner at Pioneer

C
with smartphones and data and was clocking 50 million ompetition in corpo- and make India a hub for Legal. Jha expects “consolida-
connections. The addition of daily users at that time. Today, rate law practices will International Commercial tion” may be another outcome.
MX Player will give a massive MX Player claims over 300 increase following the Arbitration. “Salaries will go Apart from increasing
boost to Amazon’s AVoD million users globally. entry of foreign law firms in up, which is a good thing, as rivalry for legal cases, com-
(advertiser video-on-demand) However, the company, India. Several firms, such as young Indian lawyers were pensation is expected to see an
business. which last raised around $111 Saraf and Partners, Pioneer paid less than desirable rates. uptick with the new entrants.
The report is being held up because of a battle between rich and MX Player was initially million in a funding round led Law, Nishith Desai and Associ- We will see collaborations, “Foreign firms are expected to
developing countries over emissions targets and financial aid AP developed by a South Korean by Chinese internet giant Ten- ates, DLA Piper and Spice partnerships and other “buy bring with them a war chest
app developer as a media cent, has not been able to gen- Route Legal, among others, out” like transactions (espe- large enough to shake up the

Fight over science player for down-

loaded videos. In 2018, Bennett
erate enough cash
for a while to fund
In 2018, Ben- Coleman & Co Ltd expansion, and
said charge out rates will
increase, referrals from for-
eign firms will cease and a
Compensation is expected to
see an uptick MINT
cially among law firms whose
growth rates are plateauing),
and generally seeing an
current pay scales. The imme-
diate impact is likely to be
high. Whether this will be

holds up key UN nett Coleman &

C o
(BCCL)-owned
L t d
(BCCL)-owned
Times Internet,
acquired MX
Times Internet
has been selling
off some of its
large number of Indian profes-
sionals will join the local arm
of the global law firms.
workflow in next 10-15 years,”
said Mohit Saraf , founder of
Saraf and Partners, adding that
upgrade in the local market,”
Mathew Chacko, partner,
Spice Route Legal, said.
effective in the long term will
depend, like all other firms, on
profitability,” Jha added.
Times Internet, businesses. Legal heads said the devel- the charge out rates for Indian Competition in the legal Concerns are also being
climate report acquired MX Player for ₹1,000
Player for ₹1,000
crore (around
crore
In February last
year, the com-
pany sold its
opment will be akin to how
Singapore has opened up in
the past two decades as a hub
law firms will significantly
improve due to the entry of
global peers. Essentially,
sector will heat up as foreign
law firms will soon be able to
set up offices in India. They
raised on the need for clarity
on the guidelines applicable
for the new entrants. “A big
Associated Press that agreement on the main $140 million at short-video plat- for global corporate litigation. charge out rates refer to the can advise clients on transac- concern for most Indian law
feedback@livemint.com text may need to be postponed that time) to mark its entry into form MX Takatak to Temasek- “We need foreign law firms amount charged from custom- tional and corporate work firms is whether foreign law
BerLIN to a later meeting. They spoke video streaming after a couple backed ShareChat. In May as they have the bench ers for an hour of legal work by such as joint ventures, mergers firms will indirectly or in a sur-
on condition of anonymity of failed attempts, including 2022, Times Internet sold strength and capability to han- lawyers and law firms. This is and acquisitions, intellectual rogate manner practice Indian

P
ublication of a major new because of the confidential BoxTV. Dineout to Swiggy in a stock dle the growth we are staring likely to see a marked increase property rights cases, drafting laws. This is where stricter
UN report on climate nature of the talks. MX Player was later deal, while later in December, at for next 10-15 years. Without when international law firms contracts and other related oversight will be required,”
change is being held up The unusual process of hav- relaunched as an ad-sup- it sold lifestyle publications— presence of international law get involved. jobs. “Firms will stand to lose said Nishith Desai,founder of
by a battle between rich and ing countries sign off on a sci- ported video streaming app. MensXP and iDiva—and an firms in India, it would be chal- On 15 March, the Bar Coun- referrals from foreign law Nishith Desai and Associates.
developing countries over entific report is intended to The biggest advantage the influencer marketing firm lenging for Indian law firms to cil of India’s circular allowed firms once they set up shop in priyanka.gawande@live-
emissions targets and financial ensure that governments player had was that it was Hypp to Mensa Brands. do justice to the additional foreign law firms and lawyers India. Since the easiest way to mint.com
aid to vulnerable nations. accept its findings as authorita-
The report by hundreds of tive advice on which to base
the world’s top scientists was their actions. At the start of the
supposed to be approved by meeting, UN Secretary-Gen-
government delegations on eral António Guterres called on
Friday at the end of a weeklong delegates to provide “ cold,
‘Will make major investments in North India, Central Asia’
meeting in the Swiss town of hard facts ” to drive home the
Interlaken.The deadline was message that there’s little time Priyanka Sharma expand your footprint out- tries. more transparency in the sys- fessors do not get time for clini-
repeatedly left for the world priyanka.sharma@livemint.com side India? What about expansion tem. cal practice. In that case, we
extended as offi- IPCC meetings to limit global New DeLhI Our immediate plan is to set plans in India? Do you have any plan to need to have staff, one for
cials from big have increasingly warming to 1.5 up Aakash Health Medicity in First of all, Delhi-NCR is the establish medical colleges? teaching and other one for

A
nations such as become degrees Celsius akash Healthcare is in the heart of Tashkent city. We key area. Our target is to scale Establishing a medical col- treatment of patients. How-
China, Brazil, politicised as the (2.7 Fahrenheit) process of establishing have already done a memoran- up our bed capacity to 1,000 lege is a natural growth plan for ever, we are exploring and also

‘
Saudi Arabia, as
stakes for curbing compared with Aakash Health Medicity dum of understanding with the beds in this region. Therefore, any private hospital, espe- evaluated a few existing
well as the United preindustrial in Uzbekistan at an investment Uzbekistan government, and we are in an advanced stage of cially if they medical col-
States and the global warming times. While aver- of $100 million. The plan is to they are providing us 25 acres acquiring already running 300 have a back- leges, one of
European Union increased age global tem- develop a tertiary care centre in land to develop a modern terti- bedded hospitals in Nodia, ground of The rules and them based in
haggled through peratures have 25 acres that will also have a ary hospital with the latest North & South Delhi and education. regulations for infra Ghaziabad
the weekend over already increased medical educa- infrastructure, Meerut respectively. We are The only chal- requirement to having sus-
the wording of key phrases in by 1.1 Celsius since the 19th cen- tion institution m INTERVIEW medical equip- going to transform them with lenge so far is tainability
the text. The report by the UN tury, Guterrres insisted that the for doctors and ment, skilled latest medical facilities, trained the rules and develop medical issues. In near
Intergovernmental Panel on 1.5-degree target limit remains nurses, said Dr. doctors and doctors and make these hospi- regulations colleges are a challenge future, we will
Climate Change is meant to cap possible “with rapid and deep Aashish Chaudhary, managing nursing staff. Aakash Health country only, and if any patient tals self-sustained by the end of for infrastruc- in India come up with
a series that digests vast emissions reductions across all director, Aakash Healthcare. In Medicity will also have medical who would want to travel out- this year and also add 100 more ture require- our own med-
Aashish Chaudhary
amounts of research on global sectors of the global economy.” India, the hospital chain is close colleges; for examples, nursing side, will have to get the NOC beds. ment to MD, Aakash Healthcare ical college.
warming compiled since the Observers said the IPCC meet- to acquiring hospitals in Noida, colleges. The project involves from us only if cannot operate What do you think about develop medi- Are you
Paris climate accord was agreed ings have increasingly become Delhi and Meeru, Chaudhary an investment of $100 million them. Besides, this, we are government’s Heal in India cal colleges, planning
in 2015. A summary of the politicised as the stakes for said in an interview. The com- and almost 3,000 jobs will be exploring other markets in programme? although the government has any new medical facility at
report was approved early Sun- curbing global warming pany is also exploring ways to created for Indian medical pro- Bahrain, Mongolia and Fiji to We are awaiting govern- made some relaxations. Now, your hospital?
day, but three sources close to increase, mirroring the annual open its own medical college in fessionals in the country. Our establish our healthcare setup ment’s Heal in India platform to the challenge in India is that We are setting up infrastruc-
the talks have told The Associ- UN climate talks that usually India. Edited excerpts: plan is to provide medical servi- as a lot of international patients register ourselves. This will most of the doctors who are ture to carry hand transplants
ated Press that there is a risk take place at the end of the year. What is the plan to ces in Uzbek population in the come to India from these coun- stop middlemen and bring going to work as teachers/pro- at our hospital.
LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai 07

Ampere works to solve Specialty chemical cos’ worries may ease Ujjval Jauhari pressure. Certain product pri-

chassis breakage issue ujjval.j@livemint.com

NEw DElhI
ces like domestic soda ash pri-
ces also declined sequentially,
impacting the performance of

A
fter a strong perform-
ance in the last two
financial years, spe-
cialty chemicals manufactur-
ers have seen margin head-
Greaves’s e-two-wheeler arm issues advisories to dealers, offers new parts winds in the first nine months
of FY23, led by high raw mate-
rial and logistics costs, but ana-
Alisha Sachdev lysts expect these concerns to
alisha.sachdev@livemint.com ease gradually.
NEw DElhI However, caution prevails
on global demand considering
domestic manufacturers.
That said, global slowdown
concerns still persist for spe-
cialty chemical firms with high
exposure to exports or discre-
tionary sectors. Based on some
commentaries from global
peers, Q4 exports for Indian
companies may remain sub-
dued, said analysts at Centrum
In Q3 FY23, firms reported some moderation in exports MINT Institutional Research. The
impact of inventory destock-

G
reaves Cotton’s electric the recessionary environment benefit from ‘China plus one’, China may lead to improved ing, weak demand and infla-
mobility unit, which owns in the developed world. said other experts. Meanwhile, demand for Indian manufac- tion pressure are also likely to
two-wheeler brand Ampere, On the positive side, growth plant closures in Europe could turers in the coming quarters, be seen, they added.
has issued advisories to its for specialty chemicals firms is benefit Indian manufacturers. said analysts. However, con- Analysts said global chemi-
dealers in Rajasthan, Uttar set to continue despite margin Sharekhan analysts expect cerns persist with the threat of cal companies remain appre-
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Madhya blips, CareEdge said in a note. plant closures in Europe to a looming recession in devel- hensive in the near term and
Pradesh to fix potential chassis-related The rating agency is confident provide a ‘Europe plus one’ oped countries, especially in expect the performance for
issues after reports of breakages in the that growth, primarily driven opportunity and market share Europe, which has been wit- January and March to be sub-
main frame chassis tube of its flagship by strong domestic demand gain for Indian chemicals play- nessing a slowdown. dued, and marred with volatil-
Magnus model surfaced. and exports, is bolstered by the ers, considering massive capex In Q3FY23, Indian chemical ity. Recovery is expected only
Instances of Ampere Magnus EX scoot- China plus one policy of major plan. Fall in stock price of qual- firms reported some modera- in the second half of 2023, said
ers’ front chassis breaking into two have global economies. It projected ity companies provides good tion in exports, while rising analysts at Centrum.
been reported from Meerut, Uttarakhand, sales to rise by over 19% until entry opportunity, as long- inflation had been among rea- While Jan-March is likely to
and Rajasthan. One incident occurred last FY25. Notably, it is better than term outlook for earnings sons impacting demand for see some respite in input cost
week when an Ampere Magnus EX broke the 17% demand growth of the growth is intact, said analysts the discretionary sectors. Spe- pressures and logistics cost,
down on a busy road in Meerut. sector in FY21 and FY22. With the optimism around a cialty chemicals manufactur- inventory destocking and
Greaves told Mint that it strengthened The confidence on domes- ‘China plus one’ and ‘Europe ers reported a mixed perform- sluggish exports remains a
its chassis in September when it had first tic demand will remain strong plus one’ opportunity, relaxed ance with the portfolio related short-term negative, said ana-
learned of the instances of breakages in Greaves Cotton has over 750 touchpoints for its EV business, and 50% of its sales are and Indian manufacturers will covid norms and opening up of to discretionary sectors under lysts.
vehicles with heavy-duty cycles in specific derived from markets other than tier-1 and 2 cities REUTERS
terrains in north India, and all the prod-
ucts it has rolled out since then have not fix the broken chassis. Dealers have also instance on these vehicles,” Behl said.
seen any issues.

before September, the company is issuing

been instructed to inspect the scooters for Greaves’s Ampere has a strong pres-
For the over 65,000 scooters it had sold other faults related to services and repairs. ence in tier-2 and tier-3 markets in north
“As part of our standard practice, we do India but is facing a challenge from rivals
‘Bhutan tourism to hit 2019 levels in 3 yrs’
advisories to dealers based on “real-time send out a regular communication to deal- in the startup space. Bajaj Auto has intro-
data” and root-cause analysis of the cases ers for quality improvement and upgrade duced a range of lower-cost variants of its Varuni Khosla “We expect about 100,000 ans now have to pay ₹1,200 per the number one earner after
reported to the company. It said the extent solutions, if any. Our process also includes Chetak EV, and TVS Motor Co. is also varuni.k@livemint.com travellers in 2023, of which the day per person to visit, unlike hydel power. “In a way, we
of incidents was sporadic, and issuing proactive advisory on any customer feed- expanding the coverage of its iQube mar- NEw DElhI bulk is from India. We should before when it was free. Other started from ground zero last
advisories in specific markets ket. Ola Electric and Ather be able to come back to 2019- foreign travellers are required year...In 2019, we received
CAUGHT SNAPPING
B
was sufficient to cater to the Energy have been topping the hutan, closed to outsid- 2020 levels by 2025,” Dorji to pay a heftier fee of $200 a 315,000 tourists, on the back of
current extent of the prob- sales charts when it comes to ers for the better part of Dhradhul, direct- person daily, up 50 years of tourism,” he said.
lem. “If in the future our data INSTANCES of GREAVES said that GREAVES’S Ampere electric two-wheeler startups, 2022, will offer incen- or-general of After 2.5 years of from $65. Given the prolonged shut-
ever suggest any structural or Ampere Magnus EX
scooters’ front
it strengthened its
chassis in Sep when
has a strong
presence in tier-2
as brands like Hero Electric tives to visitors to try and boost Bhutan’s Depart- a covid shutdown, As per the gov- down Dhradhul sees 25,000
process-related issues, we will chassis breaking into it had first learned of and tier-3 markets in and Okinawa, which would the tepid inflow since the Him- ment of Tourism Bhutan saw about ernment’s calcu- arrivals as a “big number”.
be ahead of the market to two were reported the instances north India earlier dominate the electric alayan kingdom reopened its said in an inter- 25,000 tourists, lations, it will take However, Bhutan is dealing
issue a recall as safety and two-wheeler market, suffer a doors to tourists in September, view.
including 10,000 nearly three years with limited access in terms of
quality are paramount for us,” sustained drop in sales. a top official said. Other visitors for tourism to international flights and mainly
said Sanjay Behl, executive director and back-related quality upgrades that may be Greaves Cotton has over 750 touch- The initiative is to jumpstart mostly were from from India, in the recover to pre- operates its own airline. “The
chief executive, Greaves Electric Mobility. required at any point in time. In this spe- points for its EV business, and 50% of its tourism without competing the US, the UK, last six months pandemic levels readiness of the industry may
Ampere has been issuing advisories to cific case, we attended to customer feed- sales are derived from markets other than with Thailand or Nepal. Vietnam and of 300,000 a take some time to come back to
dealers for weeks now, providing them back on a real-time basis and identified tier-1 and 2 cities. It plans to open 20-25 After two-and-a-half years of Singapore, he year. full capacity since for a good
with new parts to reinforce the gusset improvements in a few markets with new touchpoints every quarter. Ampere a covid-induced shutdown, added. Since the pandemic, Until 2019-20, tourism con- part of those 2.5 years, tourism
plate. However, there have been reports of heavy-duty cycles. We have integrated sold over 5,800 electric two-wheelers in Bhutan saw about 25,000 tour- Bhutan has also imposed a daily tributed about 5% to Bhutan’s was shut and domestic travel
customers and dealers taking matters into upgraded process in our manufacturing February, according to Vahan vehicle reg- ists, including 10,000 from sustainable development fee gross domestic product (GDP), was also limited,” Dhradhul
their own hands by having local welders operation and didn’t receive any reported istration data. India, in the last six months. for international tourists. Indi- and in foreign exchange, it was said.

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08 Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai GLOBAL LIVEMINT.COM

m MINT SHORTS What the loss of Silicon Vladimir Putin visits

Trump says he expects to be Russia-occupied
arrested, calls for protests
New York: Former US President Donald Trump on Saturday
said he expects to be arrested on Tuesday as New York prosecu-
tors consider charges over a hush money payment to a porn star,
Valley Bank means for city of Mariupol
and called on his supporters to protest. A spokesman for Trump
said the former president had not been notified of any arrest.
“Protest, take our nation back!” said Trump. REUTERS Silicon Valley AFP
feedback@livemint.com
moScow

R
ussian President Vlad-
Syrian President Bashar al Assad imir Putin visited the
city of Mariupol, the
arrives in UAE for an official visit Kremlin’s press service said
REUTERS
Sunday, according to Russian
news agencies.

Dubai: Syrian President Bashar al Assad arrived in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday for an official visit,
accompanied by his wife Asma al Assad, at a time when
more Arab states have signalled openness to easing the iso-
lation of Damascus. The visit was marked with more cere-
mony than his previous trip to the UAE last year. REUTERS
Iran’s Raisi ‘welcomes’ invitation
by Saudi king: official
Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has favourably received
an invitation from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to visit the king-
dom following the reconciliation deal between the two countries,
an Iranian official said Sunday. “In a letter to President Raisi... the
King of Saudi Arabia welcomed the deal between the two broth-
erly countries (and) invited him to Riyadh,” tweeted Mohammad
Jamshidi, the Iranian president’s deputy chief of staff for political
affairs, adding that “Raisi welcomed the invitation”. AFP
Kuwait court reinstates former
parliament, rekindling crisis
Kuwait’s constitutional court annulled results of last year’s parlia-
mentary polls and reinstated the former National Assembly,
potentially rekindling a long-running political dispute that had
hindered decision-making in the OPEC member. BLOOMBERG
S
ilicon valley is a tough place to
be a banker. Startup bosses call
with references but no revenue.
Loans can seldom be secured
against physical assets. Many
clients fail. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) net-
ted nearly half of America’s venture-
backed technology and life-science firms
as clients by providing what a venture
capitalist calls the “the white-glove, red-
carpet treatment”. This was not just about
the lunches and events it put on for cli-
ents: SVB established itself as a reliable
cog in Silicon Valley’s dream machine. In
the Financial Times, Michael Moritz of
Sequoia Capital, a grand venture-capital
outfit, lamented the loss as akin to a
“death in the family”.
Thanks to regulators, SVB’s demise has
not meant a Silicon Valley cash crunch.
Tech workers need only worry about their
jobs as much as they did before. For some,
relief at a bullet dodged has turned into
anger at the companies quickest to pull
deposits, which helped bring down their
beloved bank. The next stage of grief ought
to be sober risk management. According to
the venture capitalist, the chance to replace
SVB as banker to Silicon Valley is a “tremen-
dous opportunity”. There will be no short-
age of institutions with eyes on the $300bn
of venture-capital dry powder waiting to be
ploughed into startups. But SVB’s collapse
will scale back Silicon Valley’s ambitions in
other ways.
Exactly where the dust and deposits set-
tle remains uncertain. Reports suggest reg-
ulators are attempting another auction of
SVB, having been unable to find a buyer
last weekend. Banks and private-equity
funds are circling. Nonetheless, startups
are finding new homes for their cash. In the
chaos of last week, companies with
accounts elsewhere transferred their
funds. Others tripped on red tape as they
frantically opened new ones. Some even
The loss of SVB is likely to have a chilling effect on an industry already suffering from
higher interest rates
wired money to personal accounts. Fin-
techs had a busy weekend, too. Brex, one
such firm, opened 3,000 new accounts.
Yet relationships between fintechs and
regional banks, which have suffered in the
wake of SVB’s collapse, may scare off
potential long-term clients.
The big banks are likely to be the main
custodians of Silicon Valley’s cash in
future. Bank of America, Citigroup and
JPMorgan Chase can scarcely open
accounts quickly enough. Once there,
startups can expect a safer, if considerably
less intimate, service. Call it the grey-car-
pet treatment. On March 13th SVB’s Brit-
ish operations were acquired for £1 ($1.21)
by HSBC, a multinational behemoth. The
new business will account for less than 1%
of loans, deposits and profits at the firm.
Whether the largest institutions reassess
the way they bank the smallest tech firms
remains to be seen, but such firms will
never be their core concern.
Another question is what will happen
to the venture-debt market. SVB was a
major player, with $6.7bn of such loans
outstanding when it went under. Start-
ups used this low-cost lending to top up
balance-sheets between equity funding
rounds. Most now expect such loans to
become more expensive, especially for
AP
the youngest firms. Venture-capital out-
fits are unlikely to lower themselves en
masse to the comparatively small returns
offered by this variety of lending. Other
wheels on the venture-capital machine
will need oiling, too. For example, SVB
often provided bridge financing to ven-
ture-capital firms, which enabled them to
strike deals while awaiting cash from
investors.
The loss of SVB is likely to have a chill-
ing effect on an industry already suffering
from higher interest rates. Limits on
financing and difficulties banking small
firms will make venture capital’s adjust-
ment to this new world harder than it oth-
erwise would have been. Bankers may
have to wait to see venture capital’s dry
powder hit their deposit accounts—after
all, in the last quarter, the amount of
money flowing into startups globally fell
by two-thirds. But sooner or later the
expectations of investors and startups will
realign, and firms will face dreaded
“down-rounds” at lower valuations. Trips
to the bank might then remind dealmak-
ers of their own mortality. After years of
exuberance, that is not necessarily a bad
thing.
©2023 THE ECONOMIST NEWSPAPER LIM-
ITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
This is the Russian leader’s
first trip to the port city in
southern Ukraine, which Mos-
cow captured after a long
siege. Putin was in Crimea on Russian President Vladimir
Saturday to mark the ninth Putin. REUTERS
anniversary of the peninsula’s
annexation. hospital in Mariupol was a war
The visit came after Putin crime.
travelled to Crimea on Satur- The ICC issued an arrest
day in an unannounced visit to warrant on Friday against
mark the ninth anniversary of Putin, accusing him of the war
Russia’s annexation of the crime of illegally deporting
peninsula from Ukraine, and hundreds of children from
just two days after the Interna- Ukraine, a highly symbolic
tional Criminal Court (ICC) move that isolates the Russian
issued an arrest warrant for the leader further.
Russian leader. While Ukraine’s President
Mariupol, which fell to Rus- Volodymyr Zelensky has made
sia in May after one of the war’s a number of trips to the battle-
longest and bloodiest battles, field to boost the morale of his
was Russia’s first troops and talk
major victory Mariupol, which strategy, Putin
after it failed to fell to Russia has largely
seize Kyiv and in May, was remained inside
focused instead Russia’s first the Kremlin
on southeastern while running
major victory
Ukraine. what Russia calls
Putin flew by after it failed to its “special mili-
helicopter to seize Kyiv tary operation” in
Mariupol, Rus- Ukraine.
sian new agencies Kyiv and its
reported citing the Kremlin. It allies say the invasion, now in
is the closest to the front lines its 13th month, is an imperial-
Putin has been since in the istic land grab that has killed
year-long war. Driving a car, thousands and displaced mil-
Putin travelled around several lions of people in Ukraine.
districts of the city, making “The head of state also
stops and talking to residents. examined the coastline of
Mariupol, on the Sea of Mariupol in the area of the
Azov, was reduced to a smoul- yacht club, the theatre build-
dering shell after weeks of ing, memorable places of the
fighting. The Organization for city,” theInterfax agency cited
Security and Cooperation and the Kremlin’s press service.
Europe (OSCE) said Russia’s Reuters contributed to this
early bombing of a maternity story

Buffett in touch with Biden on banking crisis

Bloomberg US regulators unveiled
feedback@livemint.com extraordinary measures to

So what assuage customers last week-

B
erkshire Hathaway end, promising to fully pay out
Inc.’s Warren Buffett uninsured deposits in the
has been in touch with failed banks. Shares in

are the senior officials in President

Joe Biden’s administration in
recent days as the regional
regional banks continued to
fall this week on fears the pain
would spread.
banking crisis unfolds. Biden’s team, wary of politi-

Editor's Picks There have been multiple

conversations between
Biden’s team and Buffett in the
past week, according to people
cal blowback, has moved to
orchestrate backstops that
don’t require direct govern-
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett has a long history of ment spending from taxpay-

for today? familiar with the matter, who

asked not to be identified
because the information is pri-
vate. The calls have centered
stepping in to aid banks in crisis

sis, leveraging his cult invest-

around Buffett possibly invest-
ing in the US regional banking
Read stories curated by sector in some way, but the bil-
lionaire has also given advice
the Editor, exclusively and guidance more broadly
about the current turmoil.
on the Mint app Buffett has a long history of
stepping in to aid banks in cri-
ing status and financial heft to
restore confidence in ailing
firms. Bank of America Corp.
won a capital injection from
Buffett in 2011 after its stock
plunged amid losses tied to
subprime mortgages. Buffett
also tossed a $5 billion lifeline
to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
in 2008 to shore up the bank
following Lehman Brothers
AP
Holdings Inc.’s collapse.
Representatives for Berk-
shire Hathaway and the White
House didn’t immediately
respond to requests for com-
ment. Officials at the US Trea-
sury Department declined to
comment.
ers, including the Federal
Reserve’s actions. Big US
banks voluntarily deposited
$30 billion to stabilize First
Republic Bank this week, a
move regulators described as
“most welcome.” Any invest-
ment or intervention from
Buffett or other figures would
continue that playbook, look-
ing to stem the crisis without
direct bailouts.

Big funds cling onto emerging markets

Bloomberg banks not having to tighten as
feedback@livemint.com much.”
Growth is the key. Develop-

A
mid the banking tur-
moil that’s sent global
capital markets into a
tailspin and raised the prospect
of a full-blown recession in the
US economy, true believers in
the bull case for emerging mar-
kets are digging in.
For veteran managers from
Franklin Templeton to Morgan
Stanley Investment Manage-
ment and State Street Corp.,
the tumult in major markets
last week as US regional banks
failed reinforced the case for
many developing nations,
where the fight against infla-
tion started earlier than in the
US and Europe. The adoption
Scan to Download
of stronger risk-control meas-
ures for corporate and govern-
ment assets also stands to
reward bulls with heftier pay-
offs.
“We are investing more as
we speak,” said Franklin Tem-
pleton’s Chetan Sehgal. “For
us, there is ample opportunity
at all points in time within the
market. There is enough
The conviction for the emerging-market bulls, is that some of the
recent selloff was triggered by shifts in risk sentiment elsewhere. AFP
value.”
The conviction, at least for
the emerging-market bulls, is
that some of the recent selloff
was triggered by shifts in risk
sentiment elsewhere. The
banking turmoil spurred a
repricing of bets on how much
further the world’s most-influ-
ential policymakers will
increase interest rates, with
bond traders now eyeing
potential Federal Reserve cuts
later in the year.
While a pronounced slow-
down in the US is bound to
impact the global economy,
less tightening by major central
banks and a sluggish dollar may
help a bounce in developing
assets, said Jack McIntyre, a
money manager at Brandywine
Global Investment Manage-
ment.
“This is not stress emanating
from EM,” he said. “People are
going to sell any risk asset, but if
you extend your time horizon a
little bit, this could be a net pos-
itive because it gets central
ing nations are still expected to
expand at a faster pace than
their mature peers, improving
the outlook for earnings.
“We still like the emerging
markets equity trade that is
held at very underweight levels
in institutional portfolios,” said
Daniel Gerard, senior multi-as-
set strategist at State Street
Corporation, which has $3.5
trillion under management.
“They are starting to see a bet-
ter earnings outlook and get a
tailwind from better demand
and desire to return to normal-
ity in portfolios.”
Chinese equities are “one of
the few good stories” across
global financial markets this
year, he said.
On Friday, China’s central
bank cut the amount of cash
banks must keep in reserve in
an effort to stimulate the econ-
omy. Market watchers were
divided on whether the move
was a reaction to the stresses
seen in the global banking sec-
tor last week.
LIVEMINT.COM NEWS WRAP Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai 09

TWEETS & QUOTES

Amitabh Kant Faggan Singh Santosh Iyer
Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro G20 Sherpa Kulaste MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India
Minister, Bahrain Pleasure speaking to Tata Union minister I still see India to be shining
We have one of the highest 1mg CEO Prashant Tandon at Our government among all the other countries.
literacy rates & like India, an event. We spoke about launched PLI scheme for When we see our global reports
human capital is our great- Indian startups, how there will specialty steel to the growth is still there in India
est asset...We believe India never be a shortage of funds for become Atmanirbhar in even in the first two months of the
is well placed to support us startups with a good business specialty steel output year. (It is) too early to call for the
in higher education model & good governance... and increase its capacity full year....

Selection of new sUMMER sPLAsH Applications for RBI

LIC chairman soon deputy gov invited

T T
he Financial Services Institutions Bureau he government has invited applications
(FSIB), the headhunter for directors of for the post of a deputy governor at the
state-owned banks and financial Reserve Bank of India as M.K. Jain, one of
institutions, may select a new chairman of the deputy governors, retires in June. Jain is
insurance behemoth LIC this month. currently in charge of banking supervision at
The chairman will be selected from the four RBI. The candidate should have 15 years of
managing directors of the company, sources commercial banking experience with expertise
said. According to sources, the bureau may in corporate banking, bankruptcy law and risk
conduct an interview for the position towards management, according to a newspaper
the end of next week if all members of the advertisement. The selected candidate will
committee are available. FSIB is likely to make serve as deputy governor for three years. The
a selection this month, subject to the applicant should not be more than 60-years-old
availability of members due to Parliament’s as on 22 June. The post carries a pay of ₹2.25
Budget session, officials said. The final decision lakh per month. Interested candidates are
on the FSIB recommendation will be taken by required to apply by 10 April to the department
the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet of financial services.
headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jain was appointed deputy governor for three
One of the managing directors B.C. Patnaik years in June 2018. Later in 2021 he was re-
retires on 31 March. The government has appointed for a period of 2 years.
already appointed Tablesh Pandey as his GOPIKA GOPAKUMAR
replacement. PTI

A car passes through the waterlogged Delhi-Gurugram Expressway service road after heavy rains in Gurugram on Sunday. PTI

Hunt on for radical preacher Tata Motors has already upgraded its PVs to
conform to stricter emission norms . BLOOMBERG
Co is targeting ₹240 crore revenue this year.

Vaidyaratnam
ISTOCK

Singh; Punjab cops raise vigil Carmakers race to

comply with norms
plans IPO by 2030
T
ata Motors has upgraded its passenger

T
hrissur-based ayurveda group
Vaidyaratnam is looking at closing the
current fiscal with a ₹240 crore revenue
and doubling this by 2030 when it hopes to go
public. The 99-year-old entity, which follows
the Ashtavaidya tradition, was started by the late
Eledath Thaikkattu Neelakandan Mooss in
vehicle portfolio to conform to stricter
Associates of Amritpal, who were arrested in Punjab, have been brought to Dibrugarh emission norms while Maruti Suzuki
India and Mahindra & Mahindra are confident
of transitioning their respective product range
PTI The police earlier said they would soon arrest Punjab shall be further suspended from 19 March before the 1 April deadline.
feedback@livemint.com the fugitive radical preacher. The Punjab govern- to 20 March to prevent any incitement to violence The Indian automobile industry is currently
ment had on Saturday launched a major crack- and any disturbance of peace and public order,” an working to make their products meet the

Thaikkattussery in Thrissur.The company
recorded a revenue of ₹220 crore, of which ₹170
crore came from products/medicines and the
rest from services in FY22.This year, they expect
only a marginal increase in revenue to ₹240
crore (₹190 crore from products and the rest
from services) due to the sharp spike in input
costs.
“Our 2030 plan envisages more than
doubling the turnover to ₹500 crore. We hope
to drive this primarily by entering new
categories of treatment like infertility, sports
and lifestyle diseases, among others—and also
launching new medical products, especially in
the nutraceuticals,” said Ashtavaidyan Yadu
Narayanan Mooss and Ashtavaidyan Krishnan
Mooss, who are the executive directors of the
group.
F
our arrested members of an outfit headed
by Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh
were brought to Assam’s Dibrugarh on
Sunday even as the hunt for the radical
peacher and his associates continued.
The Punjab government also extended the sus-
pension of mobile internet and SMS services till
Monday noon and security forces took out flag
marches at several places in the state, including
Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
The state authorities had on Saturday sus-
pended internet and SMS services till Sunday
noon.
Police said four associates of Amritpal, who were
arrested in Punjab, have been brought to Dibru-
garh. “They were brought in a special flight and
kept in Dibrugarh central jail,” a police officer said,
PTI without elaborating.
down against Amritpal, with the police arresting 78 official order issued on Sunday said. Broadband second phase of Bharat Stage VI, equivalent to
members of an outfit headed by him, officials said. services are not being suspended so that banking, Euro-VI emission norms, in real-time driving
The elusive preacher, however, gave the police hospital and other essential services are not dis- conditions.
a slip and escaped rupted, the order Four-wheeler passenger and commercial
their dragnet when issued by the addi- vehicles will need more sophisticated
his cavalcade was Security was tightened at Amritpal’s tional chief secretary equipment to be added to meet the next level of
intercepted in Jalan- native village Jallupur Khera, where said. emission standards.
dhar district, even as Security was also The second phase of BS-VI emission norms
authorities stepped his father Tarsem Singh alleged that tightened at Amrit- are set to kick in from 1 April.
up security at several his son has been detained by police pal’s native village Car prices are also expected to rise as
places in the state. Jallupur Khera in automobile companies are investing to add
“In exercise of Amritsar, where his additional equipment in powertrains. PTI
power conferred on me under the India Telegraph father Tarsem Singh alleged that his son has been .
Act, 1885, it is directed that all mobile internet ser- detained by police.
vices (2G/3G/45/5G/CDMA/GPRS), all SMS servi- The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Sunday
ces (excluding banking and mobile recharge) and issued a notice to the Punjab government on a
all dongle services provided on mobile networks, habeas corpus petition seeking “release” of Singh
RIL, BP to relaunch
except voice calls, in the territorial jurisdiction of from the alleged illegal custody of police.
KG-D6 gas auction

R
eliance Industries Ltd and its partner BP
JSPL to make fire- plc have re-launched an auction for sale of
Power usage rises 10% in April-Feb natural gas from their eastern offshore
resistant steel KG-D6 block after incorporating the
government’s new marketing rules to give CNG-
was 1245.54 BU. selling city gas companies first priority over

J
indal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) on Sunday
said it will manufacture India’s first fire-
resistant steel structures at its unit in
Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. With the production
of a special steel item for the first time in India,
the company will target segments like refineries,
bridges, metro projects, industrial structures,
steel, power plants, hospitals, commercial and
residential buildings, JSPL said in a statement.
“JSPL has received BIS certification to
manufacture India’s first fire-resistant steel
structures at its rail mill in Chhattisgarh. The BIS
15103 grade steel structural steels are designed
to withstand temperatures up to 600 degrees
celsius for 3 hours,” it said.
Govt has estimated peak power demand in
the country at 229 GW during April. BLOOMBERG
In entire fiscal year 2021-22, power
consumption was 1374.02 BU, which is less
than 1375.57 BU recorded during April
2022 to February 2023 period.
Experts say power consumption is
expected to grow in double digits in the
coming months in view of forecasts of
unprecedented demand, especially in
summer. The power ministry has
estimated peak power demand at 229 GW
during April this year, which is higher than
the 215.88 GW recorded in the same
month a year ago. The ministry has taken
many steps to meet high power demand
and also asked state utilities to not go for
Union home ministry has started the process for
eviction and sale of enemy properties. HT
Govt starts sale of
supplies. Reliance and its partner BP
Exploration (Alpha) Ltd (BPEAL) will sell 6
million standard cubic meters per day of gas in
an e-auction planned for 3 April, a tender notice
said. The price is indexed to the global LNG
marker, JKM but will be subject to the
government-notified ceiling price.
The partners had originally planned the
auction in January but days before that the
ministry of petroleum and natural gas, on 13
January, published new rules for the sale and
resale of gas produced from discoveries in deep
sea, ultra-deep water and high-pressure-high
temperature areas. PTI

I enemy properties
The grade is being imported at present.
The new grade steel structures will help the
nation to reduce dependence on imports, the
company said. Part of OP Jindal Group, JSPL has
a presence in the steel, mining and
infrastructure sectors with investments worth
$12 billion across the globe.
ndia’s power consumption surged 10% to
1375.57 billion units (BU) during April-
February this fiscal year and has already
surpassed the electricity consumed in all of
2021-22.
Government data showed that power
consumption in April-February 2021-22
power cuts or load shedding.
The ministry has also asked all imported
coal-based power plants to run on full
capacity from 16 March to 15 June.
Besides, it has asked other thermal
power generators to import coal for
blending with domestic dry fuel.
‘Need policy for
T
he Union home ministry has started the
process for eviction and sale of enemy
properties, the immovable assets left
exports via e-comm’
PTI behind by people who have taken citizenship of

PTI Pakistan and China.
There are a total of 12,611 establishments
called enemy property, roughly estimated to
be worth over ₹1 trillion, in India.
As many as 20 NanoSniffers to be installed at airports by June The enemy properties are vested with the
Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI),
an authority created under the Enemy
I
ndia should target $350 billion worth of goods
export through e-commerce by 2030 and for
that the government needs to address pain
points of the sector by taking steps like
formulating a separate policy, a report by
economic think tank GTRI said.
The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI)

T
he Airports Authority of India (AAI) is in the process of installing 20 Property Act. said the current e-commerce export provisions
NanoSniffer explosive trace detectors (ETDs) at airport checkpoints by According to a home ministry notification, in India are a patchwork over the rules framed
June, an AAI official said. the guidelines for disposal of the enemy for regular B2B (business-to-business)
NanoSniff Technologies, a startup incubated by IIT Bombay, developed the properties have been changed under which the exporters. India’s e-commerce exports have the
NanoSniffer technology. It was launched by former Union education minister process for eviction of enemy properties now potential to grow at a faster pace than its IT
Ramesh Pokhriyal in 2021. The product is manufactured by Vehant shall be initiated with the help of the district exports did in the early 2000s, it said.
Technologies. magistrate or deputy commissioner concerned With Global business-to-consumer (B2C) e-
“The AAI will be installing NanoSniffers at some of its airports by June. These before the sale of properties. commerce exports estimated to grow from
are the world’s first microsensor-based ETDs that can detect dangerous In case of the enemy properties valued below $800 billion to $8 trillion by 2030, India’s
explosives like nitroglycerine, ammonium nitrate and RDX in less than 10 ₹1 crore, the custodian shall offer for purchase strengths in high-demand customized products,
seconds,” an AAI official said on the condition of anonymity. to the occupant first and if offer of purchase is expanding seller base, and higher profit margins
The NanoSniffers will be used at airports in Dehradun, Pantnagar, Adampur, refused by the occupant, then the enemy per unit of export place it in prime position to
Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Varanasi and Kushinagar among others. property shall be disposed of in accordance benefit from this trend. GTRI has identified 21
NanoSniffer can detect explosives in less than 10 seconds, and identifies and with the procedure specified in the guidelines, action points for accelerating the country’s
categorizes explosives into different classes. NEHA L.M. TRIPATHI AAI will install ETDs at airport checkpoints by June. MINT the notification said. PTI exports through online medium. PTI
10 Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai LONG STORY LIVEMINT.COM

WHY PRAMILA DEVI USES

her SlIpperS SpArIngly
Sales of mass footwear items have slid—an indicator of stressed incomes and faltering consumer demand

(Left): Pramila Devi from Methi village in Muzaffarpur district. She wants better wages and
more workdays under the rural jobs scheme to pay for the rising cost of living. (Right top):
Asif Ali, a trader. At the wholesale footwear market in Muzaffarpur, more than 11 traders
shut shop in the past two years. (Right bottom): Mohammad Irshad, a small footwear
retailer. He purchased merchandise worth ₹70,000 during the festive season last year, but
could sell less than a fourth of it. SAYANTAN BERA/MINT

Sayantan Bera year in April 2022) under the rural jobs
sayantan.bera@livemint.com scheme which promises to provide 100
MUzAffArpUr/NeW DelHi days of work to rural families in a year. The
work was allocated after repeated protest
sales tanked 35% in 2020-21 after the
pandemic hit, observes a note published
(January 2022) by ICICIDirect, a broker-
age. Between 2022-2025, consumption
wear to the well-off, to counter falling Muzaffarpur town, 36-year-old Asif Ali,
mint
SHORT sales of cheaper items. said that monthly revenues dropped
STORY The slide in sales of mass footwear items from over ₹10 lakh in 2016 to less than ₹5
produced by popular brands, however, lakh now. “Small retailers are unable to

A
conversation with the demonstrations before local government was estimated to grow at a compounded has not translated into any increase in pay me on time. In this market alone, 11
women of Methi blurs the offices. In December, the federal govern- annual growth rate of 8-10%. Sales WHAT sales of lesser-known smaller brands or wholesalers have shut shop in the past
distinction between neces- ment withdrew the pandemic assistance picked up in 2021-22 after lockdown unbranded products which constitute two years. This is due to a variety of rea-
sity and luxury. For urban of 5kg of free food grains (in addition to restrictions were lifted and the threat of Sales of footwear picked up around 70% of the industry. sons: falling consumer demand, an
Indians, owning a pair of another 5kg per person per month pro- infections waned. in 2021-22 after lockdown “Current sales volumes of smaller units increase in the number of wholesalers
footwear is a necessity, but not for the vided under the food security scheme). But in the ongoing financial year restrictions were lifted. But are 30% lower compared to pre-covid supplying to smaller rural markets and
women of this village, about an hour’s ride The families often borrow from local (2022-23), sales of low-priced open foot- in 2022-23, sales of low-priced years. Most units are working at 60% or growing online sales.”
from Muzaffarpur, the second most popu- money lenders at exorbitant interest rates wear products have stuttered. Relaxo open footwear products lower capacity and several have shut shop “A decade back, I purchased an expen-
lated city of Bihar. of 5% per month to meet their grocery and Footwears, a leading mass market brand, have stuttered. in recent years,” said Subhash Jagga, gen- sive bike and pre-paid the loan in a few
For instance, Pramila Devi uses her sole sudden medical expenses. reported an 8% drop in sales volumes eral secretary of Footwear Park Associa- months. But recently, I bought a ₹15,000
pair of Hawaii chappal (flip flops) sparingly. “I spend a lot of time collecting fire- and revenues in the third quarter (Octo- tion in Bahadurgarh, Haryana, home to mobile phone on a six-month EMI. And I
She wears her pink worn-out pair to move wood because I cannot afford cooking gas. ber-December) of 2022-23, which WHY over 1,000 manufacturing units. am still using that 10-year-old bike,” Ali
around after sun down but seldom during In the past one year, we were able to buy includes major festivals like Diwali and “The hike in GST (in January 2022) said.
the day, to prolong its life. The pair will not just a few sets of clothes. I use my slippers Dussehra when shoppers throng mar- Demand was negatively coupled with reduced purchasing power Seventy one-year-old Nagina Shah, a
last more than six months if used daily. carefully because if it gives way, I will not kets in large numbers. impacted by high inflation, which of consumers are to be blamed for this third-generation clothes retailer in a local
Besides, moving around barefoot does have a pair to wear when I step out of the “The management indicated that impacted the purchasing power slowdown in sales,” Jagga added. market in Turki, Muzaffarpur, said stag-
not raise eyebrows in a village. It’s left to village,” Pramila Devi said. demand continued to remain subdued of consumers at the bottom of nant wages and fewer jobs has hurt the
one’s choice and means. When most of For Rinku Devi, who lives a short dis- and was negatively impacted by high the pyramid. Some shifted to Shutting Shop post-covid recovery in consumption.
cheaper unbranded products.
what a family earns is spent on purchasing tance away from Methi, not able to buy a
food, a pair of slippers, a bar of soap, or a pair of slippers is the least of her concerns.
set of clothes are indulgences. In February, she travelled barefoot as part
inflation, which impacted the purchasing
power of its core customer. The mass cat-
egory of open footwear had declined due
D uring a visit to local markets in “There was a time when during festive
Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, Mint months we would not have the time to
spoke to footwear retailers and wholesal- eat. Now, we mostly sit around. Only
Pramila Devi’s seven-member family is of a rights group to Delhi’s protest corner, to customers shifting to cheaper BUT ers to get a sense of the changing market. pharmacies and grocery stores are doing
dependent on day wages earned by her Jantar Mantar, to air her grievances on the unbranded products,” ICICIDirect said in October and November of 2021 were brisk business. My situation is such that I
son, a former migrant worker who used to rural jobs scheme. She wants more days of a note last month. A silver lining in this bleak the best-ever months when monthly sales had to sell a plot of land to clear bank
work in a textile factory in the National work under the scheme and wants the According to Gaurav Dua, executive consumption scenario is rising touched ₹2 lakh, said Sanjay Kumar, 42, a dues,” Shah said.
Capital Region and send government to withdraw director at Relaxo, lower sales in 2022 volume of remittances—money small retailer from A silver lining in this
around ₹4,000 home an order which man- were primarily due to a sharp increase in sent by migrant workers to their Muzaffarpur town who bleak consumption sce-
every month. But after a The slide in sales of mass dates that attendance be raw material prices and a hike in the families in rural India—which can sells both branded and The market dynamics has led nario is rising volume of
minor accident scraped footwear items produced by registered on a mobile goods and services tax (GST) from 5% to boost consumption demand. unbranded products. to ‘premiumization’. remittances—money
the flesh off one of his app, twice daily. After 12%—which pushed Relaxo to increase The record sales came sent by migrant workers
fingers while working popular brands, however, has working through the retail prices. But it was later forced to on the back of soaring Companies are selling to their families in rural
on a machine, Pramila not translated into any day, at times, their lower prices twice, in May and Septem- mostly sells premium footwear (an aver- demand after lockdown expensive footwear to the India—which can boost
Devi coaxed him to attendance is not ber, to arrest the slide in sales, taking a hit age pair costs around ₹1,500 compared to restrictions imposed consumption demand.
return home in January. increase in sales of recorded due to poor on its bottom line. ₹165 for Relaxo), posted a revenue growth during the covid pandeic well-off, to counter falling “After a sharp drop in
He now works as a farm mobile connectivity. “Demand for open footwear shot up of 24% in the third quarter of 2022-23. were eased. But sales 2020-21, we are now
hand, earning ₹250 a lesser-known smaller brands. “After a piece of metal after the lockdown was announced. In So, while mass market sales are dropped by around 25% sales of cheaper items. witnessing 20% higher
day. The wages have pierced my foot, I visited 2022, we lost market share to unorgan- stressed, premium categories performed in the festive months of remittances (in value
remained stagnant over the past few years a market in Delhi but ₹150 was too much ized smaller players following the price better, an indication of the often-dis- 2022. In January this year, the numbers terms) compared to pre-covid levels. But
and finding work—on or off the farm — to spare for a pair of slippers,” Devi said, hikes. As of now, there is no problem in cussed K-shaped economic recovery. were even lower at ₹1.25 lakh. the average ticket size has remained
even for 15 days a month, is tough. laughing. “I would rather spend that urban areas but demand recovery in rural “Urban centres and premium prod- “In the order of household priorities, unchanged at ₹3,000-4,000 in the past
Meanwhile, food expenses shot up. As money on food for my children.” areas is slower than usual,” Dua told Mint. ucts performed well in the past few footwear ranks behind grocery and non- several years,” said Shailesh Pandey, chief
wheat prices climbed over the past year, Pramila Devi and Rinku Devi belong to “But we expect the market to stabilize quarters but value segments are suffer- food items like clothes. Also, more people sales officer at Fino Payments Bank, which
the family now spends ₹600 more every the bottom of India’s consumption pyra- and share of organized players to grow in ing, including for footwear, fashion and buying shoes online has affected sales,” provides banking and remittance services
month compared to a year ago just to mid. But they are also part of an 800-mil- future,” he added. lifestyle items. This is largely due to sub- Kumar said. The result: Kumar is now through 1.3 million merchant outlets
meet their flour requirement. Same goes lion-strong consumer base who are A look at Relaxo’s third-quarter num- dued demand in rural areas and small considering to return to the family busi- across India.
for edible oils, pulses and other staples acutely dependent on subsidized food bers (FY2023) show that even if it main- towns. Relaxo is a prime example of this ness of selling sweetmeats. A healthy growth in corporate and pub-
on which Pramila Devi spends around rations—accounting for 60% of India’s tains similar sales volumes (as reported in phenomenon as 70% of its products Kumar also pointed to a proliferation lic sector salaries will lift urban incomes in
₹7,000 now, compared to less than population. A little more income in their FY2022) in the fourth quarter, the com- cater to the mass market,” said Priyesh in the number of retailers post-pan- 2023-24 but growth in rural incomes will
₹5,000 in 2020, before the pandemic hands can drive consumption of numer- pany will sell 160 million pairs in 2022-23, Ruparelia, vice president- corporate rat- demic, of shoes and other products and be subdued (due to lower crop prices and
hit. That is for a diet which has very little ous items, from fast moving consumer about 11% fewer pairs than what it sold in ings at Icra Ltd. services, which impacted volumes. a 33% cut in spending under the rural jobs
fruits, fresh vegetables, dairy or meat products to clothes and footwear. But fall- the pre-pandemic year 2019-20. Ruparelia added that most of the pan- “Many who returned to their home towns scheme), Crisil Research said in a report
products. And calorie-heavy meals ing sales of low-priced footwear in India, Similarly, Bata India reported a 5% drop demic relief measures have been rolled and villages during the first-wave of the in March. The report added that “the
whose sole purpose is to fill stomachs, the second largest producer globally, is an in sales volumes in the third-quarter of back while the inflation build up has eaten covid pandemic did not want to go back pressure on rural consumption is
such as a watery potato curry to go with indicator of severe income stress in these 2022-23, even though its average sale into household earnings. This likely to big cities. Some of the sold their assets expected to continue as flat wages and
wheat flatbreads. low-income families. price (ASP) per pair grew 13% due to a pushed low-income families to defer pur- like land to set up retail stores. In this high inflation (seen at 6% in fiscal 2024)
Of late, managing household expenses focus on selling more premium products chase of items like footwear and clothes. town, there are more than 200 footwear crimp spending power.”
has become a daunting task, the women of Slide in SaleS (resulting in 7% growth in revenues), According to Icra, the market dynamics shops now, leading to fierce competition Which means consumers like Pramila
Methi complain. They worked for just 12
days (since the beginning of the financial I ndians purchased an estimated 2.6 bil-
lion pairs of footwear in 2019-20 but
according to a note from HDFC Securities.
In contrast, Metro Brands, which
also led to a new trend of ‘premiumiza-
tion’: companies selling expensive foot-
and lower margins.” Devi may continue to postpone their pur-
At the Islampur wholesale market, in chases—a warning for footwear makers.
LIVEMINT.COM
Shifting gears: Bandhan MF plans
to unlock its growth potential
The fund house has done well on debt side but equity has been a mixed bag. It plans to increase stocks coverage
By Jash Kriplani
jash.kriplani@livemint.com
I
t was hitherto known as IDFC
Mutual Fund (IDFC MF). It is now
Bandhan MF. The name change
comes after the Securities and
Exchange Board of India
approved the acquisition of IDFC MF
by Bandhan Financial Holdings (the
parent company of Bandhan Bank),
GIC (Singapore government’s sover-
eign wealth fund) and private equity
firm ChrysCapital.
How does the acquisition help
Bandhan group? It can now tap into
the fast-growing ₹40 trillion mutual
fund (MF) industry. And Bandhan MF
can take advantage of Bandhan
Bank’s numerous outlets in rural
areas. And, it has already put in place
its expansion plans.
Debt side story
Bandhan MF had ₹1.18 trillion of
average assets under management
(AUM) in the December quarter,
according to data from Association of
Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). It is the
9th largest fund house in the country.
The asset mix of the fund house is
tilted towards debt schemes. Of the
₹1.18 trillion AUM, 60% is held in debt
funds, 21% in equity funds and the rest
in different asset categories.
What has worked in favour of the
fund house, say experts, is its debt
scheme performance. “The fund
house has followed a well-structured
investment process and has shown
strong capability on interest rate calls
and credit selection. As an investment
philosophy, the fund house has
always focused on high-rated securi-
ties on the credit spectrum, well
before the credit crisis emerged in
2018,” says Kaustubh Belapurkar,
director, fund research, Morningstar.
“We recognize the need to offer
high-quality fixed income products
with mostly moderate duration risks
over relevant investment time hori-
zons, as a core set of fixed income
offerings. Furthermore, we have a
suite of satellite products that take
higher credit or duration risk as per
mandate. This framework has helped
us navigate investment risks better,
which is backed by a robust credit
research process and team,” says Suy-
ash Choudhary, head-fixed income,
Bandhan MF.
“Additionally, we do in-house mac-
ro-economic research and analysis,
which is a key input into our duration
risk management,” he adds.
While the fund house has done
well on the debt side in terms of per-
formance, it has been more of a mixed
bag on the equity side.
For instance, Bandhan Flexi Cap
has delivered CAGR (compound
annual growth rate) returns of 14.4%
in three-year period, as against cate-
gory average of 19.1%. Over a five-year
period, the fund has delivered 6.9%
CAGR returns against category aver-
age of 10.1%.
What a personal loan costs you
P ersonal loans are a way to use tomorrow’s income today, and the process involved
is simple. But you must note that the interest rates are much higher than, say, for a
car loan. This is because personal loans are unsecured loans. This means that the loan
is not backed by any asset. The loan amount and interest rate depend on parameters
such as your income, existing credit, repayment capacity, and others. As personal loans
come with high interest rates, continuous default will put you on a downward spiral.
Here are some of the lowest personal loan interest rates offered by various banks.
Loan amount: ₹1 lakh; tenure: 5 years
Interest
Lender
rate (%)
Union Bank of India 9.30-13.40
Bank of Maharashtra 9.50-12.80
Indian Bank 10-12.40
Bank of India 10.35-14.85
HDFC Bank Ltd 10.35-21
Axis Bank Ltd. 10.49-13.65
Catholic Syrian Bank Ltd. 10.49-24
IDFC First Bank 10.49-24
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd 10.50-24
ICICI Bank Ltd. 10.75-19
Bank of Baroda 10.90-18.25
IDBI Bank Limited 11-15.50
State Bank of India 11-14
Punjab & Sind Bank 11.15-12.75
Punjab National Bank 11.40-16.25
Data as on 16 March 2023, as per banks’ websites. The EMI range is indicative and calculated on the basis of interest rate range. In an actual
situation, it may include other fees and charges. The interest rates are for salaried individuals and pensioners for unsecured personal loan. Actual
applicable interest rate may vary based on the credit profile, loan amount, tenure, company you work for and as per bank’s discretion.
SATISH KUMAR/MINT
Bandhan MF: Looking for new wings of growth
Future plans
 Widen the stock coverage
from 250 to 400-plus
 Bring more innovation in
products to offer new asset
class to investors
 Use learnings from AI-based
₹1.18 trillion
PMS for new product
developments
 Making deeper penetration
in B30 locations; leverage
Bandhan Bank's presence in
semi-urban and rural areas
 Eyeing international
mandates to manage foreign
investors' money
Investor category
Asset split (in %)
Retail
14
HNIs
37
Corporates 48
Institutional* 1
Based on 28 Feb AUM and folio count; *includes banks and
financial institutions
Source: Bandhan MF
Performance of equity schemes
Bandhan Flexi Cap
Category (average returns)
Bandhan Large Cap
Category (average returns)
Bandhan Core Equity (Large & Mid Cap)
Category (average returns)
Bandhan Tax Advantage (ELSS)
Category (average returns)
Bandhan Sterling Value
Category (average returns)
Bandhan Focused Equity
Category (average returns)
Bandhan Emerging Businesses (small cap)
Category (average returns)
Returns as of 15 March 2023
Bandhan Focused Equity has deliv-
ered CAGR returns of 12.6% (see
graphic) as against the category aver-
age of 18.8% in three-year period.
Over a five-year period, the fund has
delivered 4.9% CAGR returns, against
the category average of 9.4%.
The Bandhan Emerging Business
Fund, which is a small cap fund
launched in 2020, has delivered
CAGR returns of 28.7% over three-
year period, as against the category
EMI
(₹)
2,090-2,296 Up to 0.50% of the loan amount (Minimum ₹500) + applicable GST
2,100-2,265 1% of the loan amount + GST
2,125-2,245 1% of the loan amount (Maximum ₹10,000); Nil for Govt/PSU employees
2,142-2,371 2% of the loan amount (Minimum ₹1,000 and Maximum ₹10,000)
2142-2705 Up to 2.50% of the loan amount subject to a max of ₹25,000/- for salaried
2149-2309 Website on maintenance
2149-2877 1% of loan amount, Minimum ₹250
2149-2877 Min- ₹6,999 upto 3.5% (PF+ Insurance) of loan amount+ GST
2149-2877 Upto 2.50% of loan amount + GST & other charges
2162-2594 Upto 2.5% of loan amount plus GST
2,169-2,553 1% to 2% of the loan amount ((Minimum ₹1,000 and Maximum ₹10,000) + GST
2,174-2,405 1% of the loan amount (Minimum ₹2,500)
2,174-2,327 1.50% of the loan amount (Minimum ₹1,000 and Maximum ₹15,000) +GST
2,182-2,263 0.50% to 1% of the loan amount + GST
2,194-2,445 1% of the loan amount; Nil for defence personnel
MINT MONEY Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai 11
POWER
POINT
RU PA L I S I N G H A N I A
We welcome your views and comments at
mintmoney@livemint.com
DOUBLE TAXATION:
NO RELIEF YET FOR
the fund house from 250 to 400-plus,
and strengthen its equity research
team. “While Bandhan MF had a
EPF, OTHER SCHEMES
strong investment process on the
Bandhan MF's asset mix Bandhan Bank's reach
E
equity side, Gunwani will bring in mployees Provident Fund (EPF), National Pension Scheme
Fund of funds-overseas No. of banking outlets: 5,639
0.3 0.02
additional focus and granularity to (NPS) and Superannuation Fund (SAF) find a prominent
Hybrid ETF the investment process,” points out place in the retirement corpus of salaried individuals. Ear-
6 10 Belapurkar. lier, EPF had always been under (exempt- exempt- exempt) EEE
Metro
13 37 Kapoor says learning and fine-tun- category which means that there was no taxability at the time of
Asset size: Cash Semi-urban ing the investment process is part of contribution by employers, no taxability on accrual of interest
18
Urban an ongoing process for the fund and no taxability on withdrawal, subject to certain conditions.
60 (share %)
(share %) house. “With every new market cycle, Similarly, NPS and SAF also were tax exempt subject to the provi-
21 Debt
Equity there is a new learning. We are dis- sions of the Act.
35 cussing if it is possible to use some The Union budget 2020 introduced tax on contributions
Rural risk indicators more proactively, above ₹7.5 lakh and interest thereon, in a financial year, in respect
which can bring in more consistency of all the above three retiral schemes. The intention was to bring
and give early warning alerts to the parity with the tax of high-paid employees who were able to
Based on quarterly average assets in Dec 2022 quarter Data as of 31 March 2022
Source: Bandhan MF Source: Bandhan Bank Annual Report 2022
fund managers about,” he says. design the salary packages in a way that a large part of the salary
According to Gunwani, lot of risk was paid by the employer in these tax exempt funds.
management metrics are very price- Accordingly, the definition of term perquisites was amended
oriented. “But price is an outcome to include contribution to the EPF, NPS and SAF exceeding ₹7.5
Folio count
that one cannot control. So, that can’t lakh in a financial year as a taxable perquisite. This is a cumulative
15,55,997 be the starting point. I think as active limit in respect of all the three funds. Further, the annual accre-
fund managers, there are three fun- tion in the form of interest, dividend or any other amount on such
damental risks that needs to be man- contributions exceeding ₹7.5 lakh are also taxed as perquisite.
1,90,573 aged – business model, management These provisions have taken away the EEE status of the retiral
and valuations,” he says. schemes for highly paid employees. Not only that, in certain situ-
“The inherent assumption of active ations, these may also result in double taxation in the hands of the
14,986
fund management is that the current employee. The withdrawal from recognized Provident fund is
stock price doesn’t fully reflect value exempt from tax only when the employee withdraws after 5 years
51 of the company, being considered for of continuous service or withdrawal is done on events of death
(From left to right, Bandhan MF's team) Gaurab Parija, head-sales and investment. So, a price-based or / incapacity or the funds are transferred to another employer reg-
marketing; Manish Gunwani, head-equities (joined in Jan 2023); Vishal benchmark-based risk management istered with EPF. In case any employee withdraws EPF before 5
Kapoor, CEO; Suyash Choudhary, head-fixed income tool is not a good starting point,” he years then the accumulated balance is subject to tax. Now if the
adds. contribution had exceeded ₹7.5 lakh in the year of contribution,
Performance of debt schemes Will Bandhan’s reach help? then the excess amount, which was
CAGR (in %)
3-years 5-years
CAGR (in %)
3-years 5-years
Bandhan Bank has 5,639 banking This double already considered as perquisite in the
outlets across the country, with more taxation puts a year of contribution will be taxed again
14.4 6.9 Bandhan Ultra Short 4.5 NA than 70% of these outlets in semi-ur-
19.1 10.1 Category (average returns) 4.4 5.1 ban and rural areas.The remaining financial strain at the time of withdrawal. Similarly,
the interest on contribution over ₹7.5
16.3 9.1 Bandhan Low Duration 4.9 5.9 are in metro and urban locations. on retirement lakh which was subject to taxation in
17.6 9.5 Category (average returns) 5.6 5.5 “For the next two-three years, the corpus of the the year of accrual of interest is also
21.5 9.5 Bandhan Banking & PSU 5.9 7.2
sales team is looking to build on the individuals subject to double taxation at the time
already existing distribution chan- of withdrawal.
20.8 10.2 Category (average returns) 5.6 6.6
nels and make deeper inroads there,” Also, the employer’s contribution to
28.2 11.1 Bandhan Corporate Bond Fund 6.0 6.5 says Gaurab Parija, head-sales & mar- EPF is exempt only to the extent of 12% of the salary. In case any
19.1 9.1 Category (average returns) 5.6 6.5 keting, Bandhan MF. employer contributes any amount towards EPF in excess of 12%,
Bandhan Bond Fund Medium Term
For now, Bandhan Bank is in early then the excess is also subject to tax. This will also result in double
31.6 10.2 4.5 6.0
Category (average returns)
stages of its wealth management taxation where the total amount of contributions exceeds ₹7.5
24.0 9.0 5.9 5.2
offerings. Its income from MF distri- lakh. Similarly, in case of NPS, the employer’s contribution upto
12.6 4.9 Bandhan Bond Fund Short Term 5.3 6.4 bution was just ₹3.7 crore as of 31 10% of salary is exempt from tax. Any contribution over this 10%
18.8 9.4 Category (average returns) 5.7 5.7 March 2022, against ₹527 crore of MF was anyway subject to tax. This excess amount may fall into ₹7.5
28.7 NA Bandhan Credit Risk Fund 4.8 5.7 assets. lakh bracket and may be taxed again.
32.2 12.1 Category (average returns) 7.2 4.3 “Bandhan Bank wants to expand its To provide retirement benefits, many employers contribute
wealth management, they are setting to the SAF. This contribution has also been covered in this cumu-
Bandhan Dynamic Bond 4.6 6.9
up systems, they are hiring people. lative limit of ₹7.5 lakh. The withdrawal from SAF is exempt from
Category (average returns) 5.4 6.4
We will work closely with them like tax only if the withdrawal is done in specific situations like death
Bandhan G-Sec (Constant Maturity) 4.5 8.1 every other partner and give best-in- or retirement or on becoming incapacitated or transfer to NPS.
Category (average returns) 4.5 7.5 class trainings, certifications. And if at In case SAF is withdrawn before retirement at the time of chang-
Bandhan G-Sec
the end of the day they see value in ing jobs, the same is subject to taxation. This again may lead to
5.1 7.9
what we are doing, hopefully they double taxation of the component in excess of ₹7.5 lakh which
Category (average returns) 4.7 6.9
give us a larger share,” Parija says. has already been subject to tax as perquisite in the year of contri-
Source: Ace MF Apart from focusing on increasing bution.
retail share, the fund house also wants This double taxation scenario puts a financial strain on the
to widen its institutional investor retirement corpus of the individuals. Till the time any clarifica-
average of 32.2%. The equity jigsaw base. At present, it has 51 folios or tions are issued by the government, the individuals should care-
On the other hand, the fund house Equity scheme performance is investment accounts in the institu- fully review their status to check whether their personal circum-
has delivered strong performance in important for any fund house. tional category (including banks and stances are resulting in any double taxation scenario. If so, an
its equity linked savings scheme and Vishal Kapoor, chief executive offi- financial institutions), with assets option of claiming income tax refund on the income doubly taxed
value fund. The Bandhan Tax Advan- cer, Bandhan MF, says the fund house under management of ₹1,310 crore. earlier can be explored as the legislation does not intend to tax
tage has delivered CAGR returns of needs to take steps to shore up per- Kapoor adds that the fund house is same income twice. However, this would have its own issues.
28.2% over a three-year period, as formance in some of the key catego- also exploring the opportunity to The tax authorities at lower levels might challenge the position
against category average returns of ries. manage foreign money through GIFT and the relief can be expected only at the higher levels.
19.1%. The Bandhan Sterling Value Towards this end, Manish Gun- City (Gujarat International Finance It was expected that the government will address these issues
has delivered CAGR returns of 31.6% wani, who took over as head-equity Tec-City). but no clarifications were incorporated in the Union budget
over a three-year period, as against from Anoop Bhaskar, has been tasked (For an extended version of this 2023. Guess we will have to wait for some more time.
category average returns of 24%. with increasing the stocks coverage at story, go to livemint.com) Rupali Singhania is FCA and partner, Areete Consultants LLP.
How to pick best health policies for parents?
Tapan Singhel launched riders to cater to
end-to-end requirements for
I am working for a multina- senior citizens along with
tional company in Ireland. standard health insurance
My ageing parents, who are coverage. These riders include
currently living in India, services like emergency or
are covered under my com- planned ambulance services,
pany’s policy. However, the physiotherapy services at
Processing fee premiums for senior citi- home, nursing care at home,
zen polices are substan- fall detection services, and
tially higher. Are there any unlimited medical tele-con-
other policies specific to sultation services.
senior citizens that will add A fall detection device is
an extra layer of security used to notify the service pro-
for them? vider in case of a fall, who
—Sammit would then send emergency
support services to help the
It is commendable that you insured.
are looking out for your aging citizens to provide coverage Insurers have also gone a
ASK MINT
parents back home in India m for their age-related medical step ahead by providing servi-
since it can get quite worri- INSURANCE conditions. Senior citizen ces like booking for electri-
some to care for them living in health insurance plans typi- cians, plumbers, carpenter
another country. As your par- policy as well so that they get cally cover pre-existing dis- services, travel bookings, and
ents are already covered by access to the best medical care. eases, hospitalization blocking debit/credit cards
your company’s group medi- The first thing I would rec- expenses, along with benefits among other value-added ser-
cal policy, they have a medical ommend is a top-up policy for of lesser waiting periods, pre- vices, specifically tailored for
cover in place in case of any your parents, which can com- ventive health check-ups, nil the needs of senior citizens.
immediate exigency. I would plement the group cover you sub-limits, etc. for pre-existing Tapan Singhel is MD & CEO,
advise you to, however, be have for them and can act as a diseases, and some even cover Bajaj Allianz General Insur-
apprised of the sum insured buffer in case of any serious domiciliary or at home care ance.
and coverage offered in this ailment. Having a separate expenses.
policy, especially if they cover individual cover for them, It is natural to still be wor- Do you have a personal
your parent’s medical needs. however, is something which ried about one’s parents, espe- finance query? Send in your
As your parents will continue you must look to do as well. cially about how they go about queries at
to age, their medical require- Some insurers have intro- their day-to-day activities mintmoney@livemint.com
and get them answered by
ments will change which must duced policies in the market without much assistance.
MyMoneyMantra.com & bank websites industry experts.
be covered by your insurance designed exclusively for senior Recently, some insurers have
12 Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai VIEWS LIVEMINT.COM

OUR VIEW GUEST VIEW

AFP

Technology, not geopolitics, may

recast the world monetary order
Tech enablers are freeing global payments from the dollar’s clutches but the renminbi isn’t a gainer

as a surprise. But will other countries
also move in this direction? When
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited
Saudi Arabia late last year, there was talk
of the Saudis taking payment for their oil
exports in renminbi. China has recently
concluded renminbi clearing arrange-
ments with Pakistan, Argentina and Bra-
zil. Just last month, Iraq’s central bank
BARRY EIChENgREEN announced a plan to allow direct ren-
is professor of economics at the University minbi settlement for trade with China.
of California, Berkeley, and the author, Yet, this kind of broader shift is not
most recently, of ‘In Defense of Public Debt’ visible in the data. According to the
International Monetary Fund, the ren-
Rather than putting their eggs in
China’s basket, other countries, in Asia
and elsewhere, have been seeking to use
their own currencies for cross-border
payments. Singapore and Thailand have
connected their real-time fast payment
systems, PayNow and PromptPay, thus
enabling customers of participating
banks to transfer funds between the two
countries using just a mobile number.
Similarly, Bank Negara Malaysia and the
Bank of Thailand have expanded their
ringgit-baht direct settlement frame-
work to enable Malaysians and Thais to

Adani’s U-turn amplifies

minbi’s share of global foreign exchange make direct payments through commer-
reserves remains less than 3% of the cial banks. Five Southeast Asian central

W
hen the United States and its reported global total. Moreover, the ren- banks have signed an agreement to link
G7 partners imposed sanctions minbi accounts for less than 2% by value their fast payment systems, bypassing
on Russia’s central bank and of all instructions for cross-border inter- the need to use either the dollar or the

questions of compliance barred Western financial institutions

from doing business with Russian coun-
terparties, commentators warned of far-
reaching changes in the global monetary
bank payments sent through Swift.
To be sure, not all countries report the
currency composition of their foreign
reserves, and the countries most worried
renminbi for cross-border transfers. And
Indonesia, during its G20 presidency,
established a Local Currency Settlement
Task Force to identify regulatory
and financial order. Other countries about sanctions are the least likely to reforms to encourage the practice.
would see those sanctions as yet another report. Instead of using Swift’s electronic Similarly, on foreign-reserves, a push
The group has acknowledged Vinod Adani as a member, but we need clarity on whether it step in the West’s “weaponization” of messaging service, their banks are most for diversification away from the dollar
finance. Fearing that they, too, might likely to arrange cross-border transfers has not meant shifts in favour of the ren-
flouted a free-float rule, manipulated its shares and gained from a regulatory look-away one day be at the receiving end of sanc- through old-school alternatives like minbi, in the main, but rather towards
tions, governments and central banks email, telephone and fax. the Korean won, Singapore dollar, Swed-
would reduce their dependence on the But, special cases like Russia notwith- ish krona, Norwegian krone and other
US dollar, US banks, and the US-domi- standing, there is also reason to think non-traditional reserve currencies.

I
n a U-turn that amplified questions raised
by the Hindenburg report of 24 January,
the Adani Group has quit distancing itself
from its chairman Gautam Adani’s elder
brother Vinod Adani. On 16 March, it
informed India’s stock market that the
latter was a member of the promoter group.
“We would like to submit that Mr Gautam
Adani and Mr Rajesh Adani are individual
promoters of various listed entities within the
Adani Group and Mr Vinod Adani is an immedi-
ate relative of the individual promoters,” its
filing said. “Accordingly, as per the applicable
Indian regulations, Mr Vinod Adani is part of
the ‘promoter group’ of various listed entities
within the Adani Group. This fact has been
submitted to Indian regulatory authorities
from time to time, in various disclosures.” Its
rebuttal of Hindenburg’s charges, in contrast,
had deflected a set of queries by saying, “Vinod
Adani does not hold any managerial position in
any Adani listed entities or their subsidiaries
and has no role in their day to day affairs.” This,
however, did not square up with one big fact:
failure of compliance. An episode of share-price nated Society for Worldwide Interbank that China has limited gravitational pull These trends reflect not so much geo-
jitters in 2021 over this suspicion prompted the Financial Telecommunication (Swift). financially. US complaints that China politics as developments in technology.
China, went these predictions, would may be helping Russia with war materiel Because payment systems like PayNow
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), be the principal beneficiary. So far, raise the possibility that Beijing could and PromptPay are digital natives, they
our market regulator, to explore the need for a China has sought to remain above the become subject to secondary sanctions, are readily linked, removing the need to
free-float definition that would exclude shares fray in the dispute between Russia and in which case there will be little if any use the dollar or renminbi when trans-
held by institutions as well (and not just pro- the West. It has a large banking system. It scope for doing cross-border business ferring funds. The currencies of these
moters). The logic of keeping strategic interests has created a cross-border interbank via Chinese banks. smaller countries have also become
payment system to facilitate renminbi Moreover, China’s government has easier to hold and cheaper to trade, with
out of the count did not get far. But it matters. settlement and provide an alternative to repeatedly changed its posture towards the rise of digital foreign-currency plat-
After all, only a sliver of a firm’s equity pie being Fedwire and the Clearing House Inter- the private sector. This points to the forms with automated market-making
openly traded exposes it to easy manipulation. bank Payments System (Chips) through possibility that it may change terms of and liquidity-provision algorithms. This,
That leads us to the second question. Did Adani which dollar payments are made. access for foreign central banks holding in turn, makes such currencies more
use an overseas network to manipulate its share Russia already accepts renminbi in reserves in Shanghai and for commercial attractive for payments and as a form of
payment for fully 14% of its exports. Its banks seeking to transfer funds through international reserves.
prices? This is for a Sebi probe to answer. But sovereign wealth fund holds $45 billion its cross-border payment system. The presumption has been that geo-
we need not delve into forensic trails to identify worth of renminbi securities and depos- China’s capital controls provide levers politics will reshape the global monetary
a few tell-tale signs. Even for a blistering pace of its, and Russian companies issued $7 with which to make such changes, and and financial order in China’s favour. But
growth, Adani scrips had zoomed off the charts billion worth of renminbi-denominated Xi’s centralization of power means that technology may have the final say. If it
in terms of their price-earning ratios, which had bonds last year. Given Russia’s current there are few countervailing forces to does, it may alter that order in a very dif-
circumstances, none of this should come prevent him from taking such steps. ferent way. ©2023/PROJECT SYNDICATE
reached multiple hundreds in a bazaar where
a ratio above 30 needs a jackpot on its way to
justify such a high price. Inflated valuations do
have a motive. Equity can be pledged for loans,
as Adani did. Although the group has lowered
its debt slightly after a share sale to Rajiv Jain’s
US-based fund GQG Partners—steadying its www.livemint.com
New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh*, Pune* Wednesday, March 20, 2013 Vol.7 No.68 `3.00 in Delhi­NCR/`4.00 outside Delhi­NCR 24 PAGES
+ 4 MARKETS PAGES

the elder brother’s control of Endeavour Trade market capitalization that had more than
MINT METRIC
TELECOM: Sunil Mittal, others
summoned in 2G case >9
NATION: Lok Sabha passes anti­rape Bill >19

and Investment Ltd, which acquired ACC and halved since Republic Day—what enabled its
MARKETS: Tax­free bonds issued by
state­owned ports get poor response >15
CONTENT PARTNER INTERNATIONAL: Cyprus parliament
may reject bank levy >24

Ambuja Cements for about $10.5 billion from over-leverage has kept eyebrows raised.
SENSEX 19,008.10 æ 285.10

POLICY SIGNAL
NIFTY 5,745.95 æ 89.30 DOLLAR `54.37 Æ `0.20

MARKETS TUMBLE
EURO `70.38 Æ `0.30

DMK out (for

GOLD `29,595 Æ `100 OIL $108.18 æ $1.07

QUICK EDIT by Bibek Debroy

Your turn BSE's benchmark Sensex slumped the most this month
on Tuesday after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
now); weaker Roiled by

Holcim last year to mark yet another market The final question is of India’s infrastructure government risks
(DMK) withdrew support to the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) over the coalition government’s inaction
on its demand that India vote against Sri Lanka at
19,366.58 United Nations Human Rights Council hearings. The
stays in office
now, RBI E
9.15am move sparked political uncertainty and fears that a conomics and politics
general election may have to be held ahead of schedule. rarely intersect as
Markets were also weighed down by the Reserve Bank
of India's (RBI’s) guidance that any scope for further B Y L IZ M ATHEW & dramatically as they did
rate cuts was limited. A RUNDHATI R AMANATHAN on Tuesday morning,
19,248.27 ························· when two announcements

entry by the infra-focused group. As this frater- mega-thrust involving the private sector that
11am NEW DELHI/CHENNAI
RBI announces
rattled the markets at
19,234.23
F
tells govt
policy review or much of its second term nearly the same moment:
11.13am in office that started in the Reserve Bank of India
DMK withdraws support to UPA 2009, the United Progressive warned it does not have
Alliance (UPA) has been in cri- too much leeway to cut
sis mode, and it went into an- interest rates further
other on Tuesday when a key while the Dravida
constituent, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam—

nal link had duly been disclosed, even the docu- could deliver what the country needs, but also
Central bank cuts key
repo rate by 25 bps to
7.5%, but signals that
the rate­easing cycle
may be nearing an end
B Y D INESH U NNIKRISHNAN
dinesh.n@livemint.com
For the financial market,
RBI’s rate action was largely a
non-event as it had factored in
the move, but the apex bank’s
caution on future rate cuts
weighed heavily, driving the
bellwether equity index, the
S&P BSE Sensex, by 353 points
below the psychologically im-
portant 19,000 mark.
The numbers in Parliament
AIUDF 1 BPF 1
19,008.10
3.30pm
Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK),
withdrew its support, weaken-
ing the government’s ability to
pass key items of legislation
and take decisive steps to re-
vive a faltering economy, al-
though there is no immediate
danger to its continuance in
power.
The DMK, which is the sec-
which has 18 MPs in the
Lok Sabha—said it would
pull out of the ruling
alliance in New Delhi.
The Indian central
bank would like to
support growth, but it
knows that large
monetary easing will lead
to even more inflation.
In Maharashtra, a college headmaster
mentation record left Adani’s stance hollow. has some aspects that risk creating conditions
························· The rupee fell by half a per- IUML 2 KC 1 JD(S) 3 ond largest constituent of the It also did well to

Took bribes faster and faster.

MUMBAI NC 3 Others 6 RJD 3
centage point and bond yields RLD 5 Congress-led coalition, with 18 implicitly point out that

T
Outside support
he Reserve Bank of India rose. NCP 9
representatives in the Lower much of the problem lies
(RBI) on Tuesday The Sensex later pared some 22 21 18 House of Parliament, pulled in New Delhi, at about
SPBSP
trimmed its key lending of its losses to close the day at DMK out on account of New Delhi’s the same time that we
rate by a quarter percentage 19,008.10 points, down 1.48%, stance on human rights viola- were reminded that
point, doing so for the third while the rupee ended at 54.38, tions by the Sri Lankan govern- political risks could rise
time in the past one year, to down 0.37%. The yield on In- ment against an ethnic Tamil in the run-up to the next
breathe life into Asia’s third dia’s 10-year bond ended at 203 242 minority, but threw a lifeline to general election, putting

Three questions assume urgency. First, did for crony capitalism. So, did Adani’s apparent
largest economy, but signalled 7.91%, up from 7.87% at the Others reforms and fiscal
Congress
that its rate-easing cycle may last close. TURN TO PAGE 4® discipline at risk.
be nearing an end despite con- More than the RBI action, Out of 540 Lok The economic situation

He allowed students to cheat,

cerns of slowing growth.
The widely anticipated cut is
unlikely to result in a lower
cost of funds for retail or cor-
porate borrowers, and, in its
guidance, the central bank ex-
the decision by the Dravida Sabha members continues to be glum
ALSO SEE
Munnetra Kazhagam to with- while the political heat is
draw support from the Con- NCP: Nationalist Congress Party; RJD: Rashtriya Janata Dal; JD(S): Janata Dal (Secular); RLD: Rashtriya Lok Dal; NC: Jammu and
Kashmir National Conference; IUML: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, BSP: Bahujan Samaj Party; SP: Samajwadi Party; BPF: >Mark To Market: Impact of political risk rising. It’s not a pretty
gress-led United Progressive Bodoland People’s Front; KC: Kerala Congress; AIUDF: All India United Democratic Front on markets >P14 picture.
Source: Mint research, Bloomberg
Alliance government damp- >OurView: Another crisis in New Delhi>P22
SARVESH SHARMA/MINT
ened market sentiment, ana-

Adani violate India’s free-float norms? On status as a ‘national champion’ of sorts attract a
pressed its concern over infla- lysts said.
tion and the size of India’s cur-
rent account deficit (CAD). Banks may not take Cabinet nod for
“Headline inflation is ex-
pected to be range-bound
signal
The 25 basis points (bps) cut revised food
security Bill
So the exam was a treat,
around current levels over in the repo rate, at which RBI
2013-14... Risks on account of lends short-term funds to
the CAD remain significant. banks, to 7.5% will not benefit

paper, the group’s listed companies barely met regulatory look-away? While Adani’s sharp rise
Accordingly, even as the policy
stance emphasizes addressing
the growth risks, the headroom
for further monetary easing re-
borrowers in the near future as B Y R AGINI V ERMA &
leading banks have ruled out L IZ M ATHEW
any immediate cuts in lending ·························
rates. A basis point is one-hun- NEW DELHI

mains quite limited,” RBI said.

And, while admitting the
role of a low interest rate re-
gime in boosting economic
dredth of a percentage point.
“A repo rate cut doesn’t
mean much for the banking
T he cabinet on Tuesday ap-
proved the revised food se-
curity Bill that, when passed by
system, as it will not bring Parliament, will commit the

But ₹500 as fee a disaster.

growth, it emphasized that it down our cost. Any significant government to provide subsi-

the minimum equity of 25% that should be and perceived proximity to the current regime
was more important for the
government to address issues
related to capacity building,
fiscal prudence and govern-
ance itself.
The apex bank kept the cash
reserve ratio (CRR), the por-
tion of deposits banks need to
park with RBI, unchanged at
cut in lending rates is unlike-
ly,” said Pratip Chaudhuri,
chairman of State Bank of In-
dia, the country’s largest lend-
er. A cut in CRR would have
enabled the bank to lower its
lending rates further, he add-
ed.
R.K. Bansal, executive direc-
dized foodgrains to two-thirds
of the country’s population.
The government will intro-
duce the Bill in the Lok Sabha
on Thursday. The legislation
seeks to provide 5kg of
foodgrains per person per
month to 67% of the popula-
tion.

available for public trading. If a chunk of their are embroiled now in a political row, the epi-
4%. tor of IDBI Bank Ltd, also ruled
out any immediate reduction
in rates. “The deposit rates
have to first come down before
reduction in lending rates, but
OFFERS THE HIGHEST high inflation poses hurdles to
Food security was among
the promises made by the
United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) in the campaign for the
2009 general election that
brought the coalition back to

400
RATE OF INTEREST lower the deposit rates,” power for a second consecu-
Bansal said. tive term. The government
For companies, there was wants to make sure the legisla-

float portion is found to be under Vinod Adani’s sode has put the country’s institutional frame-
not much reason to cheer. “CII tion is in place with national
(Confederation of Indian In- elections a year or less away.
Prime Minister Manmohan
DAYS DEPOSIT TURN TO PAGE 5® Singh is betting on the legisla-
tion, the drafting of which was
10.00 % 10.10 % ALSO SEE overseen by Congress presi-
General Public Senior Citizens dent Sonia Gandhi, to woo vot-
>Tamal Bandyopadhyay | RBI lobs the ball ers. The programme may in-
in govt’s court >P6 crease the government’s food

effective control via a web of offshore entities, work to a test. For the sake of our bet on market
Toll Free No : 180 0425 0426
www.tmb.in
Mint is also available for R7 with
Hindustan Times in Delhi-NCR only
>Ajit Ranade | Rate cut amid political subsidy bill to about `1.25 tril-
uncertainty >P6
lion annually from `85,000
>Jahangir Aziz | RBI continues with
contorted guidance >P6 crore this year, widening the
>Mark To Market: Reserve Bank of India
on monetary policy guidance >P14 TURN TO BACK PAGE ®

as alleged by Hindenburg, then it would imply a democracy, we need clear answers.

MY VIEW | MoDERN TIMEs

Why it takes high talent to produce middlebrow work

scoff at entertainment are usually people who
MANU JOSEPH are incapable of entertainment. Highbrow
can be exquisite, but most of it is boring and
designed to be extolled by the intellectually
frail who wish to hide the fact. Lowbrow, on
the other hand, is a gamble of merchants on
anymore. Also, from a metaphorical point of and cliched, but also have a reason to exist. experiences than many “important” issue-
view, only ‘highbrow’ makes sense because The problem it must solve is how it can still based hours of drudgery I have suffered.
humans cannot or do not make their eye- surprise you. Everything that can be said has Good writers almost never write a story for
brows ‘low’ or ‘middle’. Even if they did, they been already; there are no more new stories, the sake of the story. The origin is always
will not convey what the terms hope to. Mid- or even characters. Audiences know all the something else, and the story then becomes
dlebrow and lowbrow are derived from high- tropes. Yet, they need to be startled. a device to contain that purpose, which could

T
here are no spoilers in the next line. In
The Last of Us, the hit HBO web series,
most of humanity dies in a fungi pan-
demic. The fungus takes over the brains of
the infected, and manipulates them to attack
and bite the healthy, who then become
infected in a matter of minutes or hours or
longer, there is no telling. Then, they too turn
what they think most people would enjoy. At
the heart of the lowbrow is the notion that
serious artistic talent is the enemy of enter-
tainment. Yet, despite going by ‘what people
want’, a large proportion of lowbrow crea-
tions fail, as bets tend to.
Middlebrow is art that reaches out. Its clar-
ity is in its desire to succeed. Through enter-
brow and are substandard metaphors. Even The Last of Us, an adaptation of a video be to show us a character, or to mine an emo-
so, the creative works they game, does that. In the pro- tion. Sometimes, what you really want to say
represent are real. You may cess, this series exposes the does not need the whole expanse of a film or
not agree with what I con- Middlebrow is ‘genre’ of a story as non- a book. When I think of the relationship
sider middlebrow, but that sense. Broad classifications between a story and the point of telling the
does not stop me from per- art that reaches like ‘comedy’ and ‘horror’ story, I am often reminded of the zeppelin.
suading you that semi- may be practical, but, gen- Most of this old air-ship’s volume is just air,
commercial-art is the
out and is hard erally, most labels that sto- but its whole point is the tiny gondola where

is a journalist, novelist, and the

into rabid undead mushrooms. I know I
should have just said it is a zombie story. But
creator of the Netflix series,
‘Decoupled’
I was reaching out to some of you who may be
infected by snobbery. Even though we will
never be friends, I did not want you to deny
yourself this series, which belongs to a broad
class of storytelling that requires real artistic
talent—the middlebrow.
What is considered highbrow is usually a
product of self-absorption and narcissism,
even when it is pure and really good. A highly
networked megalomaniac with limited talent
but a powerful personal experience or mental
ailment can achieve highbrow. Its unspoken
claim that true art is primarily anthropology
and not entertainment is bogus. People who
tainment, it attempts to win the right to say
what might not be entertaining. It is hard to
create. In comparison, the purity of highbrow
is facile. Anyone can write a dense unreadable
book about his mama’s dreams.
It is the middlebrow that requires talent. In
its bid to be commercially successful, it does
not aim to be extraordinary in every frame.
What a good middlebrow work has is islands
of excellence in an ocean of familiar tropes.
I am aware that terms like ‘highbrow’ and
‘middlebrow’ are abstract and subjective.
What is highbrow to some might be middle-
brow to others, and so on. When I first read
Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, I was
around 16 and I thought it was highbrow. Not
greatest form of art.
I can, though, pass on a
to create while ries are given, like ‘literary
fiction’ and ‘coming-of-
its passengers sit. In a middlebrow work, the
story occupies disproportionate space, but
reasonable definition of the
middlebrow. It is some-
the purity age’, are marketing rubbish.
In The Last of Us, which is a
the reason for its existence is that little thing
that the eye may miss.
thing that needs word-of- of highbrow ‘zombie film’, there are epi- The most interesting element in The Last
mouth to succeed. That is sodes where you do not see of Us is the interaction between its two central
why the persistence and work is facile a single zombie. Its science characters, a violent alpha male and an
survival of the middlebrow is more persuasive than the orphaned teenager (not that the alpha is not
is a triumph of fun-loving theories in Interstellar. One orphaned). It is possible that the whole pur-
people, who are its patrons and evangelists. episode, which appears early, is almost pose of the series was a writer’s attempt to
Review journalism and the acclaim industry entirely the love story of a gay couple. portray a father-daughter relationship. If so,
usually do not celebrate the middlebrow. In I have never seen a bad zombie movie. That to embed it in a zombie story was a master-
India, especially, you will find more fuss is probably because I have seen only five, stroke. I would say if you have anything to say
around dull “issue-based” or “important” including Michael Jackson’s famous Thriller at all, anything important and dense, and
works than entertaining films and books. A music video. Zombieland, World War Z and I complex, and thus with no market value, just
middlebrow work of quality has to be familiar Am Legend were, like The Last of Us, better frame it as a zombie story.
LIVEMINT.COM VIEWS Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMBai 13

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

Our new trade policy must calm Britain’s economy improving

may not keep Sunak in power
fears of rising import restrictions London’s budget is unlikely to shake off the gloom of a ‘vibecession’

Such barriers may put FTAs and global value chain integration at risk; external imbalances can be addressed with other tools

ISTOCKPHOTO

THERESE RAPHAEL
is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion
covering health care and British politics.

MONTEK SINGH AHLUWALIA

is former deputy chairman, Planning
Commission, and currently distinguished fellow
at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress

C
hancellor of the exchequer Jeremy
Hunt had some good news to deliver
Wednesday. Inflation, which

I
ndia’s new foreign trade policy, which is to be
announced shortly, will be watched closely.
Policy watchers will especially look to it for
guidance on future policy trends on import
restrictions, over which there have been some
conflicting signals. The government says it
wants India to integrate with global value chains
and also to take advantage of the ‘China plus one’
approach being adopted by many multinationals.
It is also negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs)
with important trade partners. These initiatives
play well with investors.
However, they also call for greater openness to
imports and this conflicts with signals emanating
from reports that commerce ministry officials are
working to identify “inessential imports”. The
concept of inessential imports brings back
memories of the 1970s, when the Chief Controller
of Imports and Exports used to decide whether
imports needed by businessmen should be
allowed. Imports were denied if they were deemed
“inessential”. They were also denied if they were
accepted as essential, but were indigenously
available. These decisions were taken on the basis
of advice by bureaucrats in the Department of
Technical Development (DGTD) who had no
experience of working in the private sector
and whose technical knowledge was hopelessly
out of date.
This system was widely viewed as a major factor
responsible for insulating Indian industry from
competition and creating a high-cost economy
that could not compete abroad and which grew
very slowly. Seminal studies by Jagdish Bhagwati
and Padma Desai, and later T.N. Srinivasan, had
established its inefficiency, but it had no effect on
the entrenched system.
Import restrictions through licensing were
finally abolished in 1991 for all except consumer
goods; consumer goods were liberalized much
later. But 1991, generally regarded as a turning
point, was more than three decades ago! This
means no Indian businessman below 50 years
of age has any idea of how bad that system was.
George Santayana’s much-quoted warning is
relevant: “Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it.”
Fears of a return to import licensing may be
exaggerated, but at a time when we are trying to
attract foreign investment and technology, we
need to send positive signals. The FTAs that the
commerce ministry is negotiating are meant to
reassure our trading partners that we intend to
facilitate trade by lowering tariffs. But if imports
can be restricted by non-tariff means, our
negotiating partners would worry that the
benefit of tariff concessions could be negated by
resorting to import curbs.
That is why the World Trade Organization
prohibits quantitative import restrictions, except
in circumstances of a balance-of-payments crisis.
Our credibility in wanting to integrate with
global value chains also requires assurances that
imports will not arbitrarily be restricted. We are
rightly trying to attract major manufacturers to
invest in India to produce items for global markets.
This is a constructive interpretation of “Make in
India for the world” and the right response to the
China-plus-one opportunity. But will major manu-
facturers want to locate investments in India for
global supply if there is a danger of arbitrary
restrictions on imports?
To address these issues, our foreign trade
policy should ideally declare categorically that
quantitative import restrictions will not be used to
reduce access to imports. Transparency of intent
in policy is critical for building trust, and trust is
essential to attract investors.
Of course, some restrictions are necessary
for safety reasons—for example, on toys with
harmful paints. There is a strong case for us to
upgrade our safety standards, but these should
apply to all items, including the locally made.
Imports are more likely to be affected because
they are cleared at points where adherence to
standards can be checked. Many domestic
producers, especially in the informal sector,
will escape this regulatory check because of
enforcement difficulties, but this has to be
accepted as part of a transition to modernization.
In the longer run, consumers who are conscious of
the need for higher standards will exercise their
own judgement.
Import restrictions are sometimes urged
because of our large trade deficit. This ignores our
large surplus on the ‘invisibles’ account, reflecting
booming service exports and also remittances. The
balance we need to worry about is not of our goods
trade, but our current account balance, which
takes into account the invisibles surplus. That
balance seems to be in reasonable shape. The com-
bined deficit is expected to be about 2.5% of GDP
and so there is no case for imposing controls on
imports to deal with this particular problem.
In any case, there are other ways of managing
the current account deficit. First, we have very
respectable foreign exchange reserves that can
take care of sudden temporary pressures. Indeed,
there is no point in having reserves except to take
care of a sudden but reversible deterioration in the
current account or the capital flows needed to
manage it. Second, the policy of a floating but
managed exchange rate gives the Reserve Bank
of India all the flexibility it needs to allow the
exchange rate to adjust in a way that will help con-
tain imports and simultaneously stimulate exports.
Finally, if we judge that the problem reflects an
excess of aggregate demand over supply, which is
spilling into our balance of payments, the solution
lies in tightening fiscal and monetary policy.
All these issues are in the realm of the finance
ministry and Reserve Bank of India. It is best to
leave those agencies to handle these problems with
appropriate consultation with the Prime Minister’s
Office. The commerce ministry is not the right one
to handle these problems, and it would be good if
India’s foreign trade policy makes this clear.
reached 11.1% in October, is now anticipated
to be 2.9% at the end of 2023. The economy
will shrink by only 0.2% instead of 1.4%. The
UK has swerved a technical recession and
public finances are looking tidier.
And yet, as Hunt knows, budgets are also
political documents. The purpose of
Wednesday’s pre-leaked budget announce-
ment was to telegraph stability and govern-
ing competence, which it largely achieved.
In fact, the longer Prime Minister Rishi
Sunak is in power, the more the cult of Boris
Johnson feels like a reckless affair and the
brief premiership of Liz Truss a bad dream.
But while those improving macroeco-
nomic data points do please bean-counters,
what matters most when it comes to the
next election will be whether people feel
optimistic about their own lives. On this
front, the Tories seem to be up against what
Kyla Scanlon dubbed a “vibecession”—
when the economy isn’t doing so badly, but
people feel glum about their prospects.
The problem Hunt and Sunak have is that
the numbers might be saying “we’re getting
better,” but ordinary voters will be feeling
something more unprintable. Indeed, half
a million workers were out on strike, includ-
ing teachers and doctors.
We’ve been here before. Many who have
looked at the reasons behind the 2016
Brexit vote recall an anecdote in Newcastle,
when King’s College professor Anand
Menon, an expert in European policy, was
explaining how Brexit was likely to result in
a hit to the UK’s GDP. “That’s your bloody
GDP, not ours,” a voice from the audience
shouted back.
Hunt, who voted to remain in the Euro-
pean Union but has since embraced Brexit,
will know exactly the danger. People tend to
vote with their guts rather than through a
decision-tree process that takes forecasts
and external events into account. They may
follow a charismatic leader who makes
them laugh or feel seen, as Boris Johnson
did. They may vote against a status quo that
makes them feel alienated or insecure—the
allure for many Brexit voters.
The Office for Budget Responsibility
notes that real household disposable
income is expected to fall by 5.7% over the
financial years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
That’s an improvement over the November
forecast but is still the largest two-year
decline since records began in the 1950s.
That’s mainly the result of the rise in
energy and core goods prices. It still means
real living standards are expected to be 0.4%
How people feel about their prospects can
determine ballot outcomes REUTERS
below pre-pandemic levels into 2027-28.
Other [forecasts] are less optimistic.
People will also face a stealth tax in the
form of what’s called fiscal drag, as freezing
income-tax thresholds pull more income
into the tax net. Among the hardest hit in a
Bloomberg analysis was a middle-income
family with two children.
It was good to see Hunt respond to the
growing clamour to support childcare costs,
given that the UK’s are some of the highest
in the world. But his solutions won’t neces-
sarily have moms lining up to vote Tory.
Previous state support began mostly when
a child turned three; that will now be
extended to children over nine months of
age. But it includes only 30 hours a week
during term-time, leaving parents with
large gaps to fill, including during the sum-
mer holidays. Both parents need to be work-
ing to claim the relief, too, which creates a
Catch-22 whereby a parent has to have
childcare to find a job and receive the bene-
fit. Labour will promise something much
more generous, though how it plans to pay
for it will be interesting.
There is a hope that more business
investment will lift growth. Maybe, but
Hunt’s measure to allow 100% of expendi-
ture on capital projects to be offset against
profits is limited to only three years, which
means that capital investment will be
brought forward and leaves uncertainty for
the future. The OBR expects growth in the
capital stock per worker to be 0.5 percent-
age points lower than in November over the
forecast horizon. Less of what economists
call “capital deepening” means less boost to
productivity growth.
A vibecession doesn’t make it entirely
easy for Labour either. There are no longer
grand philosophical differences, or even big
policy ones, between the two major parties.
The Tories have become adept at snatching
Labour proposals that poll well or make
sense, from windfall taxes to childcare. That
leaves Keir Starmer in the awkward position
of having to oppose a government that is
doing what Labour itself claims is needed
and looking rather competent.
Still, a bad vibe tends to favour change.
Hunt’s budget helps Rishi Sunak draw a line
under the chaos and restore a measure of
trust in the government. But to win a record
fifth election, the people need to feel that
their GDP is going up. ©BLOOMBERG

MY VIEW | PaRallax VIEw

Tackle climate change with logic instead of alarmism

unless we stop using fossil fuels over the next
SANDIPAN DEB five years.” Five years have passed, and as far
as I can make out, we are still using fossil
fuels and there is no immediate threat of us
humans being wiped off earth.
It’s that old story, all over again. Former
feet on nearly 30 secluded acres—barely
above the current sea level.
Why should we take anything that such
people say seriously? These are people who
are saying that the world will end unless we
do something dramatically different from
Interestingly enough, my Google
searches did not find any evidence that
Anderson had actually said something like
that. The closest he came to predicting
doomsday was when he said that continued
use of fossil fuels could cause irreversible
gated—after all, you need only to tap a but-
ton on your cellphone. Instagram is life.
Thunberg’s rants had a large audience
and she was even thought of as a contender
for the Nobel Peace Prize. The covid pan-
demic was a horrid setback for her, when

R
emember Greta Thunberg, the young
Swedish climate activist? This is an
excerpt from her famous 2019 speech.
“The popular idea of cutting our emissions
in half in 10 years only gives us a 50% chance
of staying below 1.5 degrees (Celsius), and
the risk of setting off irreversible chain reac-
tions beyond human control,” Thunberg
American vice-president Al Gore is the only
person other than George Bernard Shaw to
have won both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar.
Gore won the awards for his documentary
Inconvenient Truth (2006), which spoke of an
environmental catastrophe on its way.
In the film, he predicted that the global
sea level would rise as much as 20 feet “in the
the way we live our lives, and then buy damage to the polar ice caps. That is not even people worried that their lives were more at
insanely expensive homes close to humanity being risk from things other than coal or petrol.
right where the world is wiped out. In fact, the The Ukraine war has also been a problem, as
supposed to end. All of this Doomsayers whole history of human- people in the West figured out that you need
would be hilarious if it kind has been about inno- gas—specifically, Russian gas—to keep your
weren’t so disturbing. have hurt the vating and managing to homes from not getting really cold. And she
In the tweet that she has deal with environmental has now been upstaged in a way by Malala
since deleted, Thunberg
credibility of a forces that are much bigger Yousafzai, the Pakistan-born activist and

is a former editor of ‘Financial

Express’, and founder-editor of
‘Open’ and ‘Swarajya’
magazines
told the United Nations. “You have stolen
my dreams and my childhood with your
empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky
ones. People are suffering. People are dying.
Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are at
the beginning of mass extinction, and all you
can talk about is money and fairy tales of
eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
“How dare you” got instant life as a meme,
circulated millions of times by everyone
from woke environmentalists to jilted lovers
from South Sudan to Sultanganj.
Last week, Greta Thunberg deleted a
tweet she had posted in 2018. The tweet said:
“A top climate scientist is warning that cli-
mate change will wipe out all of humanity
near future”. Soon after garnering enormous
money and adulation for his film and con-
cern about impending doom, Gore spent $9
million to buy a sea-front villa in Montecito,
California, that, if his predictions were cor-
rect, would soon be submerged. And his
ancestral 10,000-plus-square-foot home in
Tennessee uses more electricity in one year
than the average American family uses in 21
years, according to a study done by the
American National Center for Public Policy
Research.
Former US president Barack Obama con-
sistently spoke about climate change and
hot rising oceans, but bought a $11-million
house in Martha’s Vineyard—6,892 square
was quoting Harvard pro-
fessor James Anderson,
valid cause by
who, she claimed, had said
that if we did not stop the
issuing false
use of fossil fuels by 2023, warnings much
the polar ice caps would be
gone. This, as far as my too often
understanding of scientific
reasoning goes, is as bal-
derdash a statement as any the Mad Hatter
or the dormouse could have made in Alice in
Wonderland. There is absolutely no logic
that can justify a prediction of all of us dying
if we don’t stop running our petrol-driven
cars in five years. And guess what—those five
years are already over!
than us and wholly oblivi-
ous of our limited interests
and hopes.
The last time I checked,
penguins were not wearing
cardigans and we were not
frying to death, whether in
Los Angeles or Lucknow.
Climate alarmism is a big
issue with a lot of ideological paraphernalia,
but we need to engage with it logically.
Greta Thunberg has been out of the news
cycle now for three years. Her statements
have been typical of our times, feeding an
incessant media appetite with little regard
for the truth or falsity of what is propa-
Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2014 who
reportedly charges more than $100,000 to
attend a function.
Let me cite a Vogue report on Yousafzai’s
appearance at the Oscar awards ceremony
last week: “Malala was styled by Dena Gian-
nini in a custom Ralph Lauren gown with
built-in headscarf, which was entirely cov-
ered in silver sequins. ‘She looked so beauti-
ful!’ Giannini told British Vogue. Malala’s
shimmering dress was accessorised with
antique earrings and a navette diamond
ring… The 25-year-old wanted her look to
‘symbolise hope’ Giannini told Vogue.”
Thunberg seems to have got left out. Was
she not invited to the Oscars?
14 Monday, 20 March 2023
MuMbai BUSINESS OF LIFE WORKPLACE LIVEMINT.COM

ISTOCKPHOTO

The art of creating a ‘net

energy positive’ office
heAd
office
A PA R N A EXTRACT
PIRAMAL
RAJE
Write to us at
businessoflife@livemint.com Bored of work?
The Atal Akshaya Urja
Bhawan, the new MNRE It could be your
headquarters, makes a
louder, and more manager’s fault
progressive, statement
about sustainability In ‘Purposeful’, the author talks
about ways to find purpose in work

A
huge cantilevered roof, lined
with solar panels and situated on Sandeep K. Krishnan
top of a government building on

Delhi’s Lodhi Road, is visually
striking. This is Atal Akshaya Urja
Bhawan, the new headquarters of the Union
ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE).
Even though the roof is prominent, it is the
thinking behind the building that makes a
louder, and more progressive, statement about
sustainability. Designed to be a “net energy pos-
itive” building, or one that generates more
energy than it consumes, the 4.10 lakh sq.ft Atal
Akshaya Urja Bhawan illustrates three impor-
tant principles of sustainable architecture.
The first principle is that constructing a
green building is all about strategic intent.
“Green buildings are not an afterthought. They
are by design,” says Shaon Sikta Sengupta, the
Delhi-based director of Edifice Consultants,
one of India’s best known architecture firms
and the practice engaged by the MNRE to
design and construct the headquarters. The
brief from the ministry was clear from the start,
to build a net zero building. An international
design competition was held in November 2015
and a jury composed of architecture profes-
sionals and government officials was convened
to judge entries. Edifice’s bid to construct a net
positive (not just net zero) building, as well as its
past experience with sustainable architecture
in other parts of the country, including office
buildings for Monte Carlo in Ahmedabad,
Amara Raja Batteries in Tamil Nadu and Infosys
in Indore, led it to be awarded the project. The
project has nine floors, including the ground
level, and three basements.
The building can seat 750 office workers, and
cost ₹266 crore. The construction at the site
began in June 2018, and was completed in April
2022. It is now fully occupied.
The second principle is that there is no one
silver bullet in a green building. I believe
designing a green building is a bit like trying to
lose weight. Everything counts, reducing the
consumption of energy, reducing the heat
going into the building and trying to maximize
the scope for energy generation—just like sus-
tainable weight loss is not based on fad diets, but
needs a comprehensive plan of working out,
eating right and getting enough sleep.
At Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan, energy con-
sumption has been reduced through a number
of strategies, including building orientation,
daylighting strategy, choice of materials, use of
passive cooling techniques and investment in
energy-efficient equipment. This energy con-
servation approach is then complemented by
Sengupta. The building has a hybrid system,
she adds, with “the heavy lifting being done
through radiant cooling, and additional com-
fort through air-conditioning.”
This design strategy also relies on a progres-
sive mindset by clients and architects, to find
a solution that is suited for the particular site
location, climactic conditions, stature of the
client and its net zero briefs. For example, even
though glass is associated with contemporary
architecture and the client initially wanted a
headquarters with a “modern outlook”, glass
was used only “sparingly and intelligently” to
avoid unnecessary heat gain, says Sengupta.
Glass was instead combined with Dholpur
stone, to remain contextual to Delhi’s institu-
tional architecture where public institutions
are often constructed in sandstone.
Finally, the building illustrates that it is pos-
sible to construct a net energy-positive building
in the middle of a city, on a compact plot of 2.76
acres, with a narrow sliver of land.
“The net zero concept typically comes up
with large campuses, which have many acres of
land where one can construct extensive solar
The 4.10 lakh sq.ft Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan building, which cost ₹266 crore, can seat 750 workers. farms, but how many such large campuses are
there?” Sengupta asks. Cantilevered roofs, solar
energy generation strategies such as the solar that the building would generate 1400 mega- panel-lined walls and radiant cooling—one
panel-lined roof and wall. Tremendous savings watt-hour per year and consume 1200 mega- would expect nothing less from a ministry dedi-
in energy are predicted. “The Energy Perform- watt-hour per year. Its electricity bills indicate cated to new and renewable energy.
ance Index measures consumption in the form it is on track to deliver these savings. Once again, it highlights that green buildings
of a kilowatt hour Reduced energy are constrained only by imagination and inven-
(kWh) h/square consumption has not tion and can be replicated across India. I would
metre/ per annum. Constructing a green building, in compromised human be surprised, though, if the average real estate
We have a benchmark large acres or in a small plot, comfort. developer made the same design leap for a cor-
number based on “The good thing porate office, given our propensity for glass
audited data of build- requires strategic intent as between conven- structures and limited willingness to look at
ings operating in vari- much as technical know-how tional cooling and sustainability with a strategic lens. Construct-
ous climate zones pan radiant cooling is that ing a green building requires strategic intent as
India, which is 70. with radiant cooling much as technical know-how.
Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan is expected to oper- you feel comfortable even at a higher tempera-
ate at around 45-50,” says Ankit Bhalla, man- ture, because all the surfaces, such as the ceil- Aparna Piramal Raje meets heads of organisa-
ager of GRIHA Council, India’s homegrown ing and the floor, are getting cold, and cool- tions every month to investigate the connections
green building rating system. ness is radiated all around, rather than a blast between their workspace design and working
When pitching the project, Edifice calculated of cold air just being targeted at one spot,” says styles
V
arious surveys and studies across the globe show that the
majority of employees are disillusioned with their jobs in
one way or another. Job satisfaction is connected to most
of the positive outcomes relating to employees in an organiza-
tion— their performance, their commitment to the job and the
organization, and their general sense of happiness. Beyond work,
job satisfaction can also impact life satisfaction. This means that
a lack of job satisfaction can create frustration at not only the
workplace but also at the home and beyond.
Interestingly, there are studies that have looked at the impact
of both work overload and lack of enough work (leading to bore-
dom) on employees. In an interesting recent study, researchers
found that lack of challenging or meaningful work can lead to
counterproductive behaviours. Work that is not meaningful can
be emotionally exhausting and often even lead to depressive
behaviours. Often, employees in this situation try to cope
through detachment and think of leaving their job or the organi-
zation. An unmanageable workload or an overload of work can
lead to burnout. In organiza-
tions, overload and burnout
are known problems that can
impact employee engage-
ment. However, lack of
engaging work can be a more
hidden phenomenon and is
often something employees
may avoid speaking about.
The manager can play an
important role in enhancing
job satisfaction among
employees as well as a criti-
cal role in how they perceive
themselves, their job, the
team and the organization.
Gallup’s thought leaders
Rodd Wagner and James Purposeful: Finding
Hartner in their book The Greater Meaning And
Elements of Great Managing Engagement At Work
say that the manager can By Sandeep K. Krishnan,
create the conditions that Penguin Random House
can enable great employee India,₹390, 240 pages.
engagement.
The manager can influence the employee’s sense of purpose
at work and alignment with the organization, and create human
engagement for the employee through appreciation and recogni-
tion, nurture learning, build connection for the employee with
the team members and provide him the necessary resources. All
this would add up to the manager becoming a role model in the
organization.
Excerpted from Purposeful: Finding Greater Meaning And
Engagement At Work by Sandeep K. Krishnan, with permission
from Penguin Random House India.
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

MONDAY MOTIVATION

‘Passion and strength drive a person forward in life’

Susanne Pulverer, geographies with Ikea, says India is an is unsaid. parts of the world. We went on a three-day
interesting challenge as every day is a new What’s your morning schedule? trek, staying in tents next to the Ganges. It
the CEO and chief day here and anything can happen and I start the day with reflecting and being was a great and serene experience. I have
sustainability officer of that’s the charm about working here. grateful for what I have. I ardently follow also undertaken week-long cycling tours
She has had plenty of mentors, many of a morning exercise routine or yoga, as it in several states of India. Cycling is a great
Ikea India, on mentorship them her managers, during her time at helps to calm my mind and body. I feel it’s way to explore a country.
and productivity Ikea but her one absolute role model is her
grandmother, a very strong woman.
important to keep myself healthy, men-
tally and physically.
What are some of the productivity
principles you follow that have
“My grandmother lived her life in a very Before the start of the day, I fill myself improved your professional and per-
Shrenik Avlani upsetting way for many; she played cards with nutritious breakfast to keep my sonal life?
with men and was the first hunter in her energy levels going throughout the day. I take good care of myself and my health

I
had travelled a lot in my youth and
always dreamt of living in Asia. That’s
when Ikea asked me if I could consider
a role in New Delhi. This was in 2007 and
it was my first stint in India,” says Susanne
Pulverer, the chief executive officer and
chief sustainability officer, Ikea India. Pul-
verer, who calls Malmo in Sweden her
home, has spent 26 years with Ikea and
has had 10 jobs during this journey.
This is her third stint in India. Pulverer,
63, says, “I am very curious. Coming here
from Europe, I was facing a whole new
culture and work culture. I had to under-
stand how things work and when they
don’t. There has been enormous develop-
ment in India between 2007 and 2023.
India has influenced me as a person. I was
much more prepared when I returned to
India for a third time.”
Pulverer, who has worked in multiple
village in Austria. She is my role model. I
have two elder sisters and was raised in a
family where women are strong,” says Pul-
verer, who now lives in Bengaluru.
In an interview, Pulverer, who holds a
master’s degree in leadership and strategy
from Lund University School of Econom-
ics and Management and enjoys yoga,
speaks about the importance of being
aware of her strengths instead of working
on weaknesses, why she started identify-
ing top 3 priorities for the day during the
pandemic, and how asking questions is
her chosen mode of mentoring. Edited
excerpts:
Who do you consider your mentor?
There have been several mentors who
have guided me to navigate through every
stage and role I have taken up at Ikea.
Many of them are still working within the
My grandmother is my role model, says Susanne Pulverer
company today.
One major insight you worked on
with your mentor’s guidance?
Instead of trying to work on improving
my weaknesses, I understood the impor-
tance of becoming aware of my true
strengths and building on them. It is pas-
sion and strength that drives a person for-
ward in life; both professionally and per-
sonally.
What does being a mentor mean to
you?
You can define mentorship in different
ways. I try to use a coaching approach,
where I ask more questions than give
answers. I believe a person develops more
when the answers are found from within.
I encourage myself to ask more open
questions and carefully listen to not
only what is being said but also to what
What’s the one positive work routine
you have developed during the pan-
demic?
During the pandemic, there were a lot
of urgent things that needed to be taken
care of, and to keep myself focused, I
started the practice of identifying the top
3 priorities for the day which I needed to
address. This has really helped me stream-
line things.
Any book or podcast recommenda-
tions about mentorship and work-
place growth?
Sociocracy 3.0 by Jef Cumps. It is a
hands-on methodology on how to become
more effective as a leader, be more inclu-
sive and make better decisions.
Any hobbies?
I absolutely love trekking. In India, I
have trekked around Rishikesh with my
cousins who joined me from different
with daily physical exercise, nutritious
food and quality sleep. Also, to find some
time for calmness, I rely on yoga, and find
time to reflect.
I normally assess what is more impor-
tant to focus on for the biggest impact
because every day is about prioritising. It
is also important to find time to communi-
cate with people around you, as there is so
much to learn from their experiences and
expertise.
On the work front, I make notes on what
to do so that I address and deliver before
the day is over.
Monday Motivation is a series featuring
founders, business leaders and creative
individuals who tell us about the people they
look up to and their work ethics.
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com