MUMBAI

FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31, 2023

₹10 • Pages 10 • Volume 30 • Number 89
Regd. TN/ARD/14/09­11, RNI No. 55320/94

..............................................................................................................
Bengaluru ­ Chennai ­ Coimbatore ­ Hubballi ­ Hyderabad
Kochi ­ Kolkata ­ Madurai ­ Malappuram ­ Mangaluru
Mumbai ­ Noida ­ Thiruvananthapuram ­ Tiruchirapalli
Tirupati ­ Vijayawada ­ Visakhapatnam

CM
YK . . . . . . . . BM­BME

J2 . bl . news
Competition law: NCLAT ruling on
‘effects analysis’ leaves CCI in a fix
TOPSY­TURVY. NCLAT stance may impact CCI’s ongoing investigation of the Big Tech, say experts
KR Srivats
New Delhi
In a setback of sorts for the
CCI, the National Company
Law Appellate Tribunal
(NCLAT), in the Google An­
droid ruling, has held that ‘ef­
fects analysis’ is required to be
done for proving any abuse of
dominance under the compet­
ition law. The test to be em­
ployed in the effect analysis is
whether the abusive conduct
is anti­competitive or not.
This latest legal stance of
NCLAT would mean that the
CCI may have to show effects
in all Big Tech cases. All Big
Tech cases currently being in­
vestigated by CCI will now go
for a toss, say experts.
“For proving abuse of dom­
inance under Section 4, effect
analysis is required to be done,
and the test to be employed in
the effect analysis is whether
the abusive conduct is anti­
competitive or not,” said the
‘Tata Tea’s hyper­local strategy paying off’
Our Bureau
Mumbai
Tata Consumer Products’
Tata Tea is witnessing an up­
tick in demand for its region­
specific products. The com­
pany, which started the hyper­
local campaign in 2019, offers
tea bags in eight distinct
blends.
Its region­specific
products include Hyderabad
Irani Chai, Mumbai Cutting
Chai, Kolkatta Street Chai,
and Cream of Assam.
“Our hyperlocal agenda has
been driven by our flagship
brand directly premium. We
are in a country which is very
Global MFs: Should you invest before March 31 for tax sops?
Kumar Shankar Roy
BL Research Bureau
With the new MF taxation
rules kicking in from April 1,
some fund houses have re­
sumed investments in select
international funds.
Asset managers such as
Edelweiss, Mirae and Frank­
lin have announced that some
of their international funds
are open for subscriptions till
they breach the overseas in­
vestment limit.
The opening of such inter­
national funds comes at a
time when global stock mar­
kets are going through a cor­
rection phase. For instance,
the Nasdaq 100 is down
nearly 15 per cent in the last
one year, compared to less
than 2 per cent for domestic
benchmark BSE Sensex.
As you may be aware, from
April 1, investors buying mu­
tual funds with less than 35
per cent domestic equity ex­
posure and holding them for
over three years, will no
‘India aims to explore coking coal markets in
Mongolia, ramp up output in Mozambique’
Shishir Sinha
Abhishek Law
New Delhi
India is exploring coking coal
sourcing options beyond Aus­
tralia, its largest supplier, as it
taps into new markets such as
Mongolia. The country is also
firming up plans to ramp up
production at its own mines in
Mozambique, said Nagendra
Nath Sinha, Secretary, Steel
Ministry.
Discussions are on to in­
crease sourcing of coking coal
sourcing from Russia, too, he
said. India, the world’s second­
largest producer of crude steel,
is also the largest importer of
coking coal, a key raw material
for making steel. The domestic
requirement is 57 million
tonnes (mt), a majority of
which is imported.
Coking coal imports saw a
near 9 per cent rise year­on­
year in the April­February peri­
CM
YK
order issued by NCLAT Bench
comprising Ashok Bhushan,
Chairperson and Alok Srivast­
ava, Member (Technical).
NCLAT’s ruling is signific­
ant as the CCI had, in the An­
droid case, refrained from un­
dertaking any effects analysis,
but concluded that Google had
abused its dominant position
in the Android ecosystem.
At present, the law does not
require competition watchdog
to establish ‘actual effects’ of
the anti­competitive conduct
of dominant undertakings.
Introduction of effects­
based doctrine was a key de­
mand of the big tech industry,
and the representatives of the
sector deposed before the Par­
liamentary panel seeking its
incorporation into the law.
It maybe recalled that the
Parliamentary Standing Com­
mittee on Finance, headed by
Jayant Sinha, had recommen­
ded that effects­based ap­
proach be incorporated in the
Competition Act for examin­
culturally and culinary di­
versity, and food and beverage
preferences vary from region
to region and district to dis­
trict. In Tata Tea Premium,
one of our strengths has been
we have blends that cater to
regional preferences. Al­
though they are under the
flagship of premium, it is our
continued focus on soaking
up through hyper­local cam­
paigns,” said Puneet Das,
President, Packaged Bever­
ages (India and South Asia),
Tata Consumer Products
The company recently
launched Tata Tea Premium
— Street Chais of India that
has tea flavours inspired by
the streets of India. “The be­
longer enjoy long­term cap­
ital gains treatment with in­
dexation benefits. This af­
fects a host of funds,
including international
funds.
Edelweiss Mutual Fund
has opened up seven of its in­
ternational funds for lump
sum subscription and switch­
in transactions. Mirae Asset
Mutual Fund has allowed
lump sum and switch­in
transactions with no upper
limit in 3 schemes, but fresh
SIP/STP registrations are not
allowed. Franklin is allowing
lump sum subscriptions or
switch­in in three interna­
od to around 52 mt, with steel
mills resorting to sourcing
from nations such as Indone­
sia, Russia, the US, Mozambi­
que and Canada, to counter
price fluctuations and sup­
ply issues faced with Australian
coking coal.
“Currently, Australia is the
largest supplier for Indian steel
mills. And, in order to de­risk,
we have been exploring other
options and trying to source
from other countries. Accord­
ingly, in October 2021, we
entered into an agreement
with Russia to supply coking
coal. We are now exploring
sourcing options form other
countries like Mongolia and
Mozambique, where we have
our mines,” Sinha
told businessline.
Discussions are on to in­
crease coal supplies from Rus­
sia, too, which generally comes
at a discount of up 20­30 per
cent. Trade sources sugges­
t Russian coking coal supplies
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. In the Android case, the CCI
had refrained from undertaking any effects analysis, but
concluded that Google had abused its dominant position
ing cases of abuse of domin­
ance. The government, how­
ever, rejected this suggestion.
WHAT NCLAT SAYS
The NCLAT Bench high­
lighted that the objective of
the Competition Act is to pre­
vent practices that have an ad­
verse effect on competition.
“For finding of abuse under
nefit it has for different kinds
of tea preferences is what the
States enjoy. We were pos­
sibly the first FMCG company
that did it at a product and
marketing mix level, and the
strategy has been fairly work­
ing for us,” said Puneet
To expand its reach further
with brand packaging, the
company will be launching
special tea packs inspired by
Odisha handloom for Utkala
Dibasa in Odisha.
In 2022, the company or­
ganised a similar campaign
for Durga Puja with 15 festive
edition tea packs, including
Shola, Dokra, Terracotta and
Kalighat art forms from dif­
ferent parts of West Bengal.
tional schemes. Fund houses
may suspend the subscrip­
tions when investments
come close to the permissible
limit.
However, investing for tax
advantages alone can result in
sub­optimal returns. While
the motivation for fund­
houses to solicit flows from
investors can be due to busi­
ness reasons, the same are
not applicable to an investor.
FOCUS ON GEOGRAPHY
The three broad categories of
international funds recently
opened up falls under US,
Europe and Asia/EM. As for
to India saw a 130 per cent in­
crease year­on­year to 2.64 mt
(1.15 mt).
Mongolia exports coal at
prices set via auctions on the
Mongolian Stock Exchange
(MSE) beginning February,
and has reportedly stopped
signing direct sales contracts
with overseas buyers. It has ap­
proved a regulation requiring
parties involved in coal exports
to make trades through open
electronic trading via the MSE.
Under the previous trading
mechanism, buyers only paid
mine­mouth prices to miners
and sorted out the logistics on
their own. The new so­called
border prices will factor in the
transportation fees and aim to
simplify the coal export
process.
According to Sinha, discus­
sions are also on with the Min­
istry of Coal to increase sup­
plies to steel mills. Plans are
also afoot to allow steel mills to
set up washeries.
Section 4 relating to the dom­
inant position, it has to be held
that the conduct is anti­com­
petitive. We, thus, accept the
submission of the learned
Counsel for the Appellant
(Google’s counsel Arun Kath­
palia) that statutory scheme of
the Competition Act delin­
eated by Section 4 and Section
18 indicate that conduct of a
‘IPO activity likely to be subdued in first half of FY24’
Our Bureau
Mumbai
Activity in the primary capital
markets is expected to remain
subdued in the first couple of
quarters in FY24 due to mar­
ket uncertainty and other do­
mestic and global factors, said
Prime Database.
The prevailing weakness in
the secondary markets that hit
initial public offerings in FY23
is likely to persist for some­
time, the report said, adding
that small­sized IPOs could be
floated, but “it will be a while
before we see larger sized
deals, especially in light of lack
Some fund
houses have
allowed investors
to resume
investments in
select
international funds
the US, economic situation
especially in the backdrop of
banking problems (SVB and
Signature Bank) needs a close
watch. Decline in retail sales
and industrial production
show the economy has been
slowing.
The sharp hike in interest
rates, aimed to cool down in­
flation, will leave a long­last­
ing impact. In this scenario,
the US market may not be a fa­
vourable destination for one­
time strategic investments. It
is better to look at pockets
where correction has made
valuations cheaper.
In the broader interna­
tional fund universe, we re­
commend NASDAQ funds
The march of generative AI systems and the call for speed bumps
Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda, experts ask
Ayushi Kar
Mumbai
Influential names in the
tech world, including the
likes of Tesla and Twitter
CEO Elon Musk and Apple
co­founder Steve Wozniak,
have asked for a halt on the
training of Artificial Intelli­
gence systems more power­
ful than GPT­4 for at least
six months.
A whole legion of big
names, including scientists
and philosophers, have
signed an open letter
framed by the Future of Life
Institute, an American non­
profit that claims to work to
reduce risks associated with
transformative
technologies.
The letter says that even
as AI labs are locked in an
out­of­control race to de­
dominant enterprise or group,
which is held to be abusive, has
to be anti­competitive con­
duct, and there has to be effect
analysis on the above point,”
said the order.
Samir Gandhi, Partner &
Co­Founder, Axiom5, a law
firm, said the CCI has been se­
lective in conducting an ef­
fects analysis in some cases
since the language of the Com­
petition Act does not require it
to do so. The decision of the
NCLAT that such an analysis
is required, therefore, comes
as no surprise and is consist­
ent with the recommenda­
tions of the Parliamentary
Standing Committee, and the
CCI’s own past decisional
practice, Gandhi added.
Avaantika Kakkar, Partner
& Head­Competition, Cyril
Amarchand Mangaldas, said:
“We think that the NCLAT’s
clear mandate is much needed.
A formalistic approach to the
idea of abuse of dominance
does more harm than good.”
of sustained interest from
FPIs”.
The pipeline for the next
fiscal year, which starts on Sat­
urday, looked strong with 54
companies having SEBI ap­
proval to raise ₹76,189 crore.
Nineteen other companies
looking to raise about ₹32,940
crore are awaiting SEBI
approval.
Raising of funds via IPOs
halved in FY23 from a year ago
due to market volatility, mod­
erate listing gains and investor
fatigue, said Prime Database,
adding it was still the third­
highest year for IPO fund­rais­
ing over the last decade. A
little more than ₹52,000 crore
due to reasons such as unique
business models, solid mon­
etisation opportunities, reas­
onably diversified in terms
sectoral exposure. We at bl­
.portfolio recommended buy­
ing NASDAQ funds in Octo­
ber 2022 when the index was
near 10,700 levels and now is
at 12,800, up 20 per cent.
The index is trading in­line
with 5­year average price­to­
earnings (PE) valuation mul­
tiple (28 times) and at a
premium to 10­year average
PE multiple (25 times).
In the Indian MF land­
scape, there are more than
half a dozen schemes that of­
fer NASDAQ exposure.
Check with the fund houses
to know which schemes are
still open for subscription.
The case for downside ex­
ists if interest rates in the US
firm up and start impacting
growth. An Indian MF in­
vestor may not be able to av­
erage holding cost due to the
overseas investment limits
set by SEBI and the fund­
houses’ control on the fund
flows.
velop even more powerful
digital minds, proper plan­
ning management is not
happening to appraise and
control the consequences of
such technologies. It comes
at a time when reports sug­
gest that big tech players
have recently laid off em­
ployees from their ‘respons­
ible AI’ teams.
“Contemporary AI sys­
tems are now becoming hu­
man­competitive at general
tasks, and we must ask
ourselves: Should we let ma­
chines flood our informa­
tion channels with propa­
ganda and untruth? Should
we automate away all the
jobs, including the fulfilling
ones?” the letter asks.
DIVIDED VIEWS
Indian experts have a di­
vided view on the letter. In­
DIIs most bullish on markets since
FM’s corporate tax cut in 2019
Palak S Shah
Mumbai
Bullish bets by domestic in­
stitutional investors (DIIs)
on India’s stock markets
touched a three­year high
this week. Data showed that
DIIs were holding net long
positions in the index futures
segment, comprising mainly
the benchmark Nifty and the
Bank Nifty index, to the tune
of 79,050 contracts on March
28, the highest since March
2020.
The all­time­high DII long
position in index futures was
seen in September 2019
around the time when
Nirmala Sitharaman an­
nounced a cut in corporate
tax rates followed by a major
market rally.
In comparison to the
bullish bets, foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs) held
156,000 contracts of net
short positions in the index
futures.
This indicated that FPIs
were still bearish on India’s
market, which is also reflec­
ted in their daily selling in the
was raised on the mainboard
by 37 companies, compared to
the ₹1.1­lakh core raised a year
ago by 53 companies. Of the
total raised this year, Life In­
surance Corporation accoun­
ted for ₹20,557 crore.
Spooked by the volatile
market conditions several
companies such as Fab India
Most equity new fund offers of MFs
post negative returns in last one year
Suresh P Iyengar
Mumbai
Blame it on market melt­
down, most of the equity
and hybrid new fund offers
made by mutual fund houses
since January 2022 are quot­
ing below their face value of
₹10.
In all, there were 40
equity and hybrid NFOs
mopping up ₹40,462 crore
since January 2022 till last
month, according to data
sourced from the Associ­
ation of Mutual Funds in
India
Investors in NFOs are a
worried lot as these funds
are down between 2.55 per
cent and 10.68 per cent in
last one year. The bellwether
Sensex was down marginally
by 0.68 per cent or 400
points to 57,614 points last
month, from 58,014 points
logged in January 2022,
amid intense volatility in
ternet researcher Srinivas
Kodali felt the concerns are
valid. However, Internet
Freedom Foundation
founder, Prateek Waghre,
warned that the letter’s con­
tent could be subject to hy­
perbole. “The tech hype
train has a tendency to over­
sell criticism without ad­
dressing the proximate
harm associated with it. The
letter has not defined the AI
technologies that are more
cash segment. “The posi­
tioning of both DII and FPIs
in line with the current mar­
ket sentiments, which is at its
nadir, suggests that indices
are ripe for a sharp rally. Ma­
jor bad news has been dis­
counted on the domestic as
well as the global front since
the feared banking crisis
seems to be no more bother­
ing the global markets, too.
Most importantly, the US
Federal Reserve is almost
near the end of its rate hike
cycle. These are signs of a re­
versal,” said Rohit Srivastava,
strategist, Indiacharts.
MARKET DECLINE
According to Srivastava, DII
long positions even in the
and Joyalukkas decided not to
go ahead with their IPOs. Of
the 68 companies that filed
draft offer documents with
SEBI, 37 companies let their
approvals lapse during the
year, while 12 companies with­
drew their offer documents.
Together, the last two categor­
ies accounted for over ₹62,000
crore worth of potential fun­
draising. On an overall basis,
total funds raised through the
issue of equity fell 56 per cent
on year in FY23 to ₹76,076
crore. Apart from LIC, other
large IPOs in the year were
that of Delhivery, which raised
₹5,235 crore, and Global
Health, which raised ₹2,206
last 13 months. Quant Large
Cap fund has delivered the
highest negative return of
10.68 per cent year­to­date
as of March 27 with a NAV of
₹9.03, while White Oak Cap­
ital Large Cap fund is down
7.51 per cent at ₹8.85.
Though ICICI Pru Hous­
ing Opportunity and Band­
han Multi­cap have de­
livered 11.92 per cent and
11.58 per cent in the last
nine months, year to date
they are down 2.72 per cent
and 5.05 per cent.
MARKET VOLATILITY
Whiteoak Capital Flexi cap,
which raised ₹550 crore dur­
ing the NFO, gave a negative
return of 7.40 pe cent with a
NAV of ₹9.66. Given the
volatility in the market, NJ
Balanced Advantage Fund,
which raised a record ₹5,200
crore, has managed to de­
liver 1.28 per cent return
with NAV of ₹10.34.
Santosh Gaikwad, Dir­
ector, Smart Investors, said
powerful than GPT­4. At the
same time, it has failed to
highlight the existing risks
of AI, such as the iterations
of generative AI and large
language models that are
already in the market. There
is also an issue in the way we
are indiscriminately rolling
out existing AI technolo­
gies, and that has not been
addressed in the open let­
ter,” he said.
This is indeed being seen.
Researchers observed that
generative AI is making dis­
information easier and
cheaper to produce, thus
spreading it at an unpreced­
ented scale.
Others have reported
that the chatbots produce
believable answers that are
completely wrong. More
sinister reports have also
emerged, where Bing Chat­
MUMBAI
businessline.
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31 ­ 2023
DIIs were
holding net
long positions
in the index
futures segment
to the tune of
79,050 contracts
on March 28
light of market decline show
their confidence on the pos­
sible recovery from oversold
levels.
“Nifty support near 16,830
has ended up being protected
because of this buying. On
the other hand, FIIs that held
a record number of short
contracts on index futures
last week, have started to re­
duce their shorts in the last
few days,” said Srivastava.
FPI short positions had
reached an all­time record of
196,000 contracts in March,
from where it fell to 138,719
contracts as on Wednesday,
indicating unwinding of
bearish bets. DII long posi­
tions, too, fell to 70,190 as on
March 29.
crore. The average deal size
was ₹1,409 crore.
As many as 25 out of the 37
IPOs were bunched up in May,
November and December
when the markets were the
least volatile. The current
quarter that ends on Friday
has seen the lowest amount
being raised in the last nine
years.
According to Prime Data­
base, the overall response
from the public was moderate.
Of the 36 IPOs for which data
is available, 11 received a mega
response of more than 10
times, while seven were over­
subscribed by more than three
times.
investors generally panic
when their investments get
eroded, particularly when
they are handled by experi­
ence fund managers, but
they should understand that
these are difficult times for
market with domestic un­
certainty and strong global
headwinds.
“Investors should give at
least three years before they
guage performance of in­
vestments and switch over if
they are unhappy,” he
added.
Kaustubh Belapurkar,
Director (Manager Re­
search), Morningstar India,
said investors should con­
tinue to focus on picking
funds that meet their asset
allocation requirements,
which is determined by their
goals and risk return
objectives.
It is also important to re­
balance the portfolio in case
the exposure to the desired
allocation is not doing well
due to market movement.
bot, for example, has not
only provided inaccurate in­
formation, but also in­
dulged in abusive behaviour.
VAGUE FEARS
Emily M Bender, Professor
in the Department of Lin­
guistics at the University of
Washington, and the co­au­
thor of the first paper the
letter cites, stated in a Twit­
ter thread that the letter is
contributing to AI hype it­
self and misusing her re­
search.
According to Bender, the
contents of the letter are es­
sentially misdirections,
where vague future harms
of an “all­powerful AI” are
being pointed at, instead of
the more immediate con­
cerns of generative AI,
which her paper spoke
about.
... . . . . . . BM­BME
 MUMBAI
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31, 2023
₹10 • Pages 10 • Volume 30 • Number 89
Regd. TN/ARD/14/09­11, RNI No. 55320/94
..............................................................................................................
Bengaluru ­ Chennai ­ Coimbatore ­ Hubballi ­ Hyderabad
Kochi ­ Kolkata ­ Madurai ­ Malappuram ­ Mangaluru
Mumbai ­ Noida ­ Thiruvananthapuram ­ Tiruchirapalli
Tirupati ­ Vijayawada ­ Visakhapatnam

SPARKING A ROW. DATA FOCUS.

An amendment made by the UK to Despite having smallest share
the code of practice for basmati rice in household assets, mutual funds
has triggered a controversy p6 record 80% growth in 2 years p2

QUICKLY.
FTA WITH UK
Gujarat pivot leaves ACC, ‘Top 5 large conglomerates
Ambuja Cements staff shaken should be dismantled’
Push for bilateral migration,
mobility commitment

New Delhi: India is hoping to ing field with international

persuade the UK to weave in
provisions of the bilateral
migration and mobility
agreement, that allows
opportunity for professionals to
live and work in each other’s
countries, into the FTA being
negotiated to make mobility
concessions “institutionalised”
and permanent, sources said. p8
PRESSURE BUILDS UP. Adani group firms shift roles to Ahmedabad; employees fear job cuts
Janaki Krishnan
Mumbai
Employees of ACC and Am­
buja Cements are out in the
market looking for jobs,
with the new owner, the
Adani Group, relocating sig­
nificant roles to
Ahmedabad, sources said.
Both ACC and Ambuja
Cements, acquired last year
by Gautam Adani, have
their headquarters in Mum­
bai.
However, with the ac­
quisition by the Adani
Group, the focal point is
shifting to Gujarat and so
are some of the key roles in
the company.
For instance, Ajay Kapur,
Chief Executive Officer of
the cement business of the
Adani Group, operates out
of Ahmedabad, while other
leadership roles, including
the heads of divisions such
as procurement, supply
chain, health and safety
have also been shifted out
of Mumbai.
STAFF UNDER STRESS
People reporting to such di­
visional chiefs either spend
substantial time outside
Mumbai and Maharashtra
conglomerates in the city.
In response to queries sent
by businessline, a spokesper­
son for the Adani group
replied, “We do not com­
ment on our employee re­
lated matters.”
UNDER SCRUTINY
Besides the relocation is­
sue, there is a disquiet
among employees due to
the uncertainty triggered by
corporate governance is­
sues surrounding the group
and intense scrutiny by
stakeholders.
There is also fear of job
LOOKING FOR OPTIONS cuts as the group grapples
£ ACC had over 6,000 permanent employees on its rolls with huge debt on its bal­
at the end of FY22 ance sheet and is looking
£ Ambuja Cements has 4,700­odd staff with roughly 70%
for ways to reduce and op­
of them in the management cadre
timise costs.
ACC and Ambuja Ce­
ments have an employee
base of over 10,000 and
or shuttle between Mumbai People who have not re­ Mumbai, being the
and Ahmedabad. Sources located are compelled to headquarters, most of them
said this is exerting a lot of travel because their bosses are located there. At the end
stress, resulting in a large are no longer sitting in of FY22, ACC had over
number of people prefer­ Mumbai, said sources. A 6,000 permanent employ­
ring to look for other op­ similar situation prevails in ees, with management staff
tions. some of the other locations, constituting 60 per cent and
Women with family re­ sources added. shop floor workers making
sponsibilities and those Competing firms in the up the rest.
who are not willing to relo­ industry, based in Mumbai, Ambuja Cements has
cate have little option but to have been receiving calls for 4,700­odd employees with
look for alternative job op­ job vacancies as have com­ roughly 70 per cent of them
portunities. panies belonging to other in the management cadre.
Our Bureau
Mumbai
Former Deputy Governor of
Reserve Bank of India Viral
Acharya has suggested that
the top five Indian conglomer­
ates, including Mukesh Am­
bani­backed Reliance group,
Tata Group, Aditya Birla
Group, Adani Group, and
Bharti Telecom be dismantled
as their market dominance
could be responsible for keep­
ing core inflation persistently
at a high level.
Acharya wrote in a paper to
be presented at a Brookings
Institution panel on emerging
markets that these conglom­
erates have grown at the ex­
pense of smaller local firms. At
the same time, the govern­
ment’s “sky­high tariffs” have
shielded these conglomerates
from competition from for­
eign firms.
‘TRUST BUSTER’ STRATEGY
“One way out of their breadth
of presence is the good old
Theodore­Roosevelt or Wil­
liam­Howard­Taft style “trust
buster” strategy of simply
breaking up large industrial
firms and their monopolies or
oligopolies by regulatory fiat
or via competition commis­
sion diktat,” Acharya said.
“An alternative route would
be to throw sand in the wheels
by making it economically un­
peers.
“In contrast, barring the ex­
ception of tech service ex­
ports, most of the Big­5 reven­
ues in India are domestically
sourced, and barring the ex­
ception of e­commerce,
without much foreign com­
petition. Secondly, these
countries undertook a series
Viral Acharya,
former RBI Deputy Governor of supply­side or factor­mar­
ket reforms in land, labour,
power, and financial sector,
attractive to remain a large among others,” Acharya said.
conglomerate unless pro­
ductivity gains are truly large,” OTHER PROPOSALS
he added. The economist recommended
In summary, he wrote, cre­ 4 other things India should do
ating national champions, to achieve its full potential, in­
which is considered by many cluding reducing tariffs to in­
as the industrial policy of crease the country’s share of
“new India”, appears to be global goods trade and reduce
feeding directly into keeping protectionism; ensuring the
prices at a high level, with the bankruptcy code is ready to
possibility that it is feeding deal with large conglomerate
“core” inflation’s persistently defaults should they material­
high level. ise; reducing fiscal deficits and
While countries like Korea public sector borrowing re­
also had the national­cham­ quirement as well as reining in
pion policy where large con­ inflation (especially the per­
glomerate groups such as Hy­ sistent core) closer to man­
undai and Samsung have dated targets, which would re­
become significant interna­ duce external sector
tional players in several sec­ vulnerability and free up mon­
tors, there are at least two crit­ etary policy from the spectres
ical differences when it comes of fiscal and dollar dominance;
to India. First, these countries and addressing gaps in skilling
did not protect their conglom­ and education, for example, by
erates with sky­high tariffs as setting up charter schools and
India does. That is, their con­ giving corporates incentives
glomerates were competing to improve women labour
on a much greater level play­ force participation.

Investors rush to debt MFs before tax advantage ends

Suresh P Iyengar
Mumbai
With just a day to go before
the long­term capital gains
tax becomes history, mutual
fund houses are hard selling
passive Target Maturity
Funds (TMF), which provide
targeted returns over time.
While scrapping the long­
term capital gains tax benefit
for debt funds through the
Finance Bill amendment last
week, the government has al­
lowed investments made up
to March 31 to be grand­
fathered for the next three
years to avail of the long­
term capital gains tax.
At present, investors in
debt funds pay income tax on
capital gains according to the
tax slab for a holding period
of three years. After three
years, these funds pay tax of
either 20 per cent with in­
dexation benefits, or 10 per
cent without indexation
benefit.
Come April 1, capital gains
arising from debt­oriented
mutual fund schemes will be
treated as short­term capital
gains, irrespective of the
holding period. Investors in
such schemes will have to
pay tax in line with their in­
come slab.
Most of the mutual fund
distributors are convincing
investors to break some
money from bank fixed de­
posit and invest in TMF be­
fore March 31 to take advant­
age of the tax benefit.
Radhika Gupta, MD &
CEO, Edelweiss Mutual
Fund, said: “We see a good
inflow of investments into
TMF as the fiscal year comes
to an end.”
Pankaj Pathak, Fund
Manger, Quantum AMC, said
there is an opportunity for
investors to enjoy the long­
term capital gain benefit if
they invest before March­
end. “However, tax arbitrage
is not the only thing that
debt funds offer. Now, with
similar tax treatment as fixed
deposit, investors will look at
other important aspects of
debt funds like diversified
portfolio, market­linked per­
formance and liquidity,” he
said.
RISE IN INTEREST RATE
The debt fund asset under
management has been falling
steadily in the last few
months with a steady rise in
interest rate. It has dipped 13
per cent last month to
₹12.30­lakh crore against
₹14.09­lakh crore in Febru­
ary 2022, according to the
Association of Mutual Funds
in India data.
Even with the tax advant­
age, debt funds witnessed a
net outflow of ₹2.3­lakh
crore last year amid consist­
ent rising interest rate cycle.
This was much higher than
an outflow of ₹34,545 crore.
The proposed changes tar­
get mainly high networth in­
vestors and family offices
that gained from the tax ar­
bitrage under the existing
tax regime. The tax policy of
the country is slowly moving
to a simple, consistent tax re­
gime, with no room for tax
exemptions and arbitrage,
said Sanjay Rathore, an inde­
pendent MF distributor.
A Balasubramanian, Man­
aging Director, Aditya Birla
Sun Life Asset Management
Company, said the high net­
worth investors and corpor­
ates will prefer debt MFs as
part of their cash manage­
ment despite the removal of
long­term capital gain tax
because breaking a fixed de­
posit attracts hefty penalty;
besides, they also get the ad­
vantage of mark­to­market
gain.
Mahendra Jajoo, CIO,
Fixed Income, Mirae Asset
Investment Managers, said
there was a fair amount of
traction towards TMF but
the flows would have been
substantial if the investment
opportunity provided was
more than one week.

IPL franchises set to score big with 80% revenue growth

The T20 league bucks the recessionary trend with strong sponsorship support
Meenakshi Verma Ambwani
New Delhi
Despite a tricky pitch in terms
of a challenging economic cli­
mate, the Indian Premier
League (IPL), which kicks off
on Friday, seems to be batting
well with strong sponsorship
support in this edition. IPL
franchises are projecting a
high double­digit growth in
revenues over last year, riding
on both sponsorships and
share of the central pool.
SLEW OF SPONSORS
Satish Menon, CEO, Punjab
Kings, said the team has seen
a growth of 20­25 per cent in
sponsorship revenues over
the last season. It has signed
several new sponsors this
season, which include P&G
(Tide), ITC’s B Natural, con­
fectionery brand Orion and
Campa­Cola.
Similarly, Gujarat Titans
said it has signed a slew of
new sponsors including
GOING FOR THE MAXIMUM. Gujarat Titans has got 15
partners on board while 11 have continued their association
Bisleri, Havmor ice­cream,
Croma, Nestle Munch and
Rario. Arvinder Singh,COO,
Gujarat Titans, in a state­
ment said the team has as
many as 15 new partners on
board while 11 have contin­
ued their association.
With the new cycle of me­
dia rights kicking in, IPL fran­
chises have much to cheer
about as the central pool kitty
has grown.
Santosh N, Managing Part­
ner, D&P Advisory, said, “The
central pool is now pegged at
about ₹9,000­10,000 crore
which includes media broad­
cast rights fees and central
sponsorships. Almost 50 per
cent of this will be distributed
to the teams, which works out
to ₹450­500 crore for each
team.
MEDIA EYEBALLS
“Add to that, team sponsor­
ships that franchises have
bagged, which is estimated to
be in the range of ₹75­100
crore per team. So, each of the
IPL franchises will be looking
at total revenue in the range
of ₹500­600 crore this season.
This will be 80­100 per cent
growth in revenues over last
year.”
At the same time, with two
media rights holders — Dis­
ney Star and Viacom18 —
slugging it out to grab a higher
number of eyeballs, brands
are padding up to ride on this
battle.
Star Sports has roped in 13
official sponsors which in­
clude Dream11, Asian Paints,
Charged by Thums Up, Air­
tel, Cadbury Dairy Milk,
Mountain Dew, Parle Bis­
cuits, Kamala Pasand, Rupay,
Britannia, Tata Neu, besides
Jindal Panther and LIC.
Meanwhile, JioCinema
has roped in 21 official spon­
sors including Dream11, Jio­
Mart, PhonePe, Tiago EV,
Appy Fizz, ET Money,
Castrol, TVS, Oreo, Bingo,
Sting, AJIO, Haier, RuPay,
Louis Philippe Jeans,
Amazon, Rapido, Ultra Tech
Cement, Puma and King­
fisher Power Soda.

CM
YK . . . . . . . . BM­BME
2 . bl . news
MUMBAI

businessline.
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31 ­ 2023

QUICKLY.
PhonePe’s deal with MFs, with smallest share in household
assets, record 80% growth in two years
Niranjan Gupta appointed

Zestmoney called off

CEO of Hero MotoCorp

ted for just 35.3 per cent of

New Delhi: The Board of Hero
MotoCorp on Thursday
appointed Niranjan Gupta as
the company’s new CEO,
effective May 1, elevating him
from the post of Chief
Financial Officer,
Head­Strategy and M&A.
Pawan Munjal will continue as
the Executive Chairman and
Wholetime Director. OUR BUREAU
DCB Bank raises ₹300 cr
through tier­II bonds
Mumbai: DCB Bank has raised
₹300 crore via the issue and
allotment of tier­II bonds at a
coupon rate of 9.35 per cent.
The bonds have a face value of
₹1 crore each, and a tenure of
10 years. ,The bank will use the
proceeds to support business
growth and further improve its
capital adequacy. OUR BUREAU
REASON. Due diligence did not meet required standards: Sources
Yatti Soni
Bengaluru
Fintech major PhonePe has
called off the acquisition of
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)
start­up, Zestmoney, after
months of business due
diligence.
According to a source,
“PhonePe is not going ahead
with the deal because the busi­
ness due diligence of Zest­
money did not meet the re­
quired standards.” Another
source added that the deal was
called off for multiple reasons,
including the tough macroe­
conomic environment and
growing regulatory scrutiny
around lending companies.
VALUATION JUMP
PhonePe was in talks to ac­
quire Zestmoney for $200­300
million since November 2022.
Ram Narayan Murthy GDP in March 2022,
Chennai amounting to ₹83.6­lakh
crore.
Indian households have con­ Financial liabilities are
IN A NUTSHELL siderable fire­power as far as primarily held in the form of
their savings go. Financial as­ loans and borrowings from
£ PhonePe started talks for acquisition of Zestmoney in
sets of Indian households ac­ banks, non­banking financial
June 2022 counted for 93.4 per cent of companies (NBFCs) and
£ Zestmoney was valued at $200­300 million in this deal; the Gross Domestic Product housing finance companies
but in its last funding round, the company was worth (GDP) in March 2022, at (HFCs).
$450 million ₹221­lakh crore.
£ Tough macroeconomic environment and growing BANK DEPOSITS
Bank deposits have the
regulatory scrutiny around lending companies, also DATA FOCUS. highest share of the total
cited as reasons for deal being called off
household assets at 52 per
While the assets crossed cent. Next comes life insur­
100 per cent of GDP in the ance at 24 per cent, followed
As of October, Zestmoney had latest funding round and the first year of the pandemic in by currency at 13 per cent
a network of over 10,000 on­ company also announced hit­ FY21, it has declined slightly and mutual funds at 10 per
line partners and 75,000 phys­ ting an annualised total pay­ since then, according to the cent.
ical stores. It has built a plat­ ment value (TPV) run rate of Reserve Bank of India’s Although mutual funds
form that integrates mobile $1 trillion (₹84­lakh crore) in latest monthly bulletin. have the smallest share
technology, digital banking March 2023. In a recent earn­ With so much wealth at among financial assets held
and artificial intelligence, en­ ings call, Walmart CFO John their disposal, it’s no wonder by Indian households, they
abling people to apply for and David Rainey said this valu­ that banks and other institu­ have witnessed the highest
get a digital credit line. ation was supported by the tions are vying for a piece of growth. From ₹11.9­lakh
PhonePe and Zestmoney fintech company’s annualised the pie. Financial assets crore in March 2020 to
did not share any comments TPV reaching more than $950 comprise currency, bank de­ ₹21.5­lakh crore in March
on this development. PhonePe billion (about 50 per cent posits, debt securities, mu­ 2022, mutual fund assets
was valued at $12 billion in its higher than a year ago). tual funds, insurance, pen­ have grown about 80 per
sion funds and small savings. cent. The next highest
These assets have also growth was witnessed in the
grown at a robust pace of life insurance category —

Axis Bank, Shriram Housing

In third round of layoffs, 28.7 per cent between March
2020 and March 2022. On the
other hand, the total liability
from ₹38.8­lakh crore to
₹52.8­lakh crore in the same
period.

Unacademy cuts 12% staff

ink co­lending agreement
Mumbai: Axis Bank has entered
into a co­lending pact with
Shriram Housing Finance. Both
the lenders will offer secured
MSME and home loans to
middle and low­income
borrowers in rural and
semi­urban regions. The
partnership will leverage the
lenders’ respective expertise to
provide loans at competitive
rates. OUR BUREAU
Yatti Soni
Bengaluru
Closely after hiving off Co­
deChef, Unacademy is now
cutting down 12 per cent of its
workforce in the company’s
third round of layoffs.
“We will be reducing the
size of our team by 12 per cent
to ensure that we can meet
the goals we are chasing in the
current realities we face. I did
not anticipate I would have to
do this again, and I’m very
sorry,” CEO Gaurav Munjal
said in a note to employees on
March 30. businessline has re­
viewed the note. The im­
pacted employees will be
given severance pay equival­
ent of notice period and an ad­
ditional one month’s pay.
Accelerated vesting of one
year for employees who have
been with Unacademy for at
least one year and medical in­
surance coverage for addi­
tional six months, that is until
September 30. The company
will also offer dedicated place­
ment and career support to
laid off employees.
‘NOT ENOUGH’
Munjal added that Un­
academy has taken every step
in the right direction to make
its core business profitable,
yet it’s not enough. “We have
to go further, we have to go
deeper,” he said.
Unacademy laid off 600
employees in April 2022 and
another 350 employees were
given the pink slip in Novem­
ber 2022. Unacademy­owned
Relevel has also cut 40 jobs in
January 2023, as it changed
business focus. Further, the
company announced spin out
of coding platform CodeChef
as an independent entity on
Wednesday. Unacademy will
continue to hold 30 per cent
stake in CodeChef.
of households has grown at a
slightly slower pace of 19.7
per cent. With Indian house­
holds being more conservat­
ive in taking on too much
debt, total liabilities accoun­
ASSETS V/S
LIABILITIES
Household assets
have also grown at a
robust pace of 28.7
per cent between
March 2020 and March
2022. On the other
hand, the total
liability of households
has grown at a
slightly slower pace of
19.7 per cent
Currency and bank depos­
its also showed a growth of
29.2 per cent and 19.3 per
cent, respectively during the
same period.
THE BORROWINGS
The banking sector, which
includes commercial banks
and co­operative banks, has
an 80 per cent share of
households’ total liabilities,
while the remaining 20 per
cent share belongs to other
financial institutions such as
NBFCs and HFCs.
The household borrow­
ings from both the banking
sector and other financial in­
stitutions have grown 20.7
per cent and 16.1 per cent,
respectively in the March
2020 to March 2022 period.

TODAY’S PICK.
JK Lakshmi Cement (₹767.10): BUY
Gurumurthy K
bl. reserach bureau
The short­term outlook for the
stock of JK Lakshmi Cement is
bullish. The 5.24 per cent surge
on Wednesday indicates that
the upmove is gaining strength.
This rise has taken the stock
well above ₹140 — a key
resistance. The 100­day moving
average is poised near that.
This level of ₹140 will now act
as a good support. Dips to ₹140
is more likely to see fresh
buyers coming into the market.
The share price of JK
Lakshmi Cement can rise to
₹810 in the next two­three
weeks. Traders can go long at
current levels. Accumulate on
Day trading guide
17235 » Nifty 50 Futures
S1 S2 R1
17160 17035 17330 17450
₹1588 » HDFC Bank
S1 S2 R1
1570 1545 1615
dips at ₹750. Revise the
stop­loss up to ₹775 as soon as
the stock moves up to ₹785.
Move the stop­loss further up
to ₹780 when the share price
touches ₹795. Exit the long
positions at ₹805.
Note: The recommendations are
based on technical analysis. There is
risk of loss in trading.
R2 COMMENT
Wait for dips and go long at 17180.
Keep the stop­loss at 17140
R2 COMMENT
1640 Wait for dips. Go long at 1575. Keep
the stop­loss at 1565
Welspun completes acquisition
of Sintex­BAPL for ₹1,251 crore
Our Bureau
Mumbai
Welspun Group, a leading con­
glomerate with interest in tex­
tile, steel, line pipes and floor­
ing solutions, has acquired
water tanks and other plastic
product maker Sintex­BAPL
for ₹1,251 crore.
The resolution plan of the
company was approved by the
NCLT, Ahmedabad, on March
17. In a separate deal, earlier
this month, Mukesh Ambani­
led Reliance Industries com­
pleted its ₹3,567­crore acquis­
ition of textile company Sintex
Industries, a month after the
NCLT approved the
transaction.
The Sintex­BAPL deal was
executed by Welspun Corpor­
ation Propel Plastic Products
and another group company
Plastauto. Following the exe­
cution of the deal, both the un­
listed Welspun companies will
be merged to Sintex­BAPL.
The company’s re­consti­
tuted board of directors also
executed a business transfer
agreement and hived­off its
auto business to Plastauto for
₹110 crore.
‘STRATEGIC ADDITION’
Balkrishan Goenka, Chair­
man, Welspun, said the acquis­
ition is a strategic addition to
strengthen the company’s
consumer connect and on
ground presence. Sintex brand
EXPANDING
PORTFOLIO
With the acquisition of
Sintex, Welspun will
be an integral part of
many more
households
nationwide, expanding
its building material
portfolio which is a
huge part of the
larger B2C strategy
is synonyms to the category
and is known for its legacy of
quality products, he said.
Sintex­BAPL has a strong
foothold over consumers in
the water tank market and
brand connect. The consolid­
ated turnover of Sintex­BAPL
for the year ended March 31,
2022, was ₹934 crore.
As of January, total claims
worth ₹3,266 crore that were
due to creditors of Sinxtex
were admitted, the bulk of
them being financial creditors.
Welspun Corp has already ac­
quired Sintex­BAPL’s non­
convertible debentures with
an outstanding of ₹1,231 crore
for a purchase price of ₹421
crore through its subsidiary
Mahatva Plastic Products and
Building Materials.
‘B2C STRATEGY’
Sintex’s auto business already
has a strong portfolio of OEM
as well as tier­1 customers na­
tionally and globally. The Ro­
totech space of Sintex is an­
other big opportunity for the
Welspun Group.
With the acquisition of Sin­
tex, Welspun will be an integ­
ral part of many more house­
holds nationwide, expanding
its building material portfolio
which is a huge part of the lar­
ger B2C strategy. After foray­
ing into sectors like warehous­
ing, flooring and advanced
textiles to create strong emer­
ging businesses with the ac­
quisition of Sintex.
Financial services business
demerger: Shareholders
of RIL to vote on May 2
Janaki Krishnan
Mumbai
Reliance Industries Ltd has
initiated the process to de­
merge its financial services
business by calling for a meet­
ing of creditors and share­
holders on May 2. According
to the company, its share­
holders will get one share in
the new demerged entity for
every share held in RIL.
After the demerger, the
shares of Reliance Strategic
Investments, which will be re­
named as Jio Financial Ser­
vices, will be listed on the NSE
and BSE, the company said in
an exchange filing. The ap­
proval of the board for the de­
merger came in October last
year.
The financial services busi­
ness of the company consists
of Reliance Retail Finance,
Reliance Payment Solutions,
Jio Information Aggregator
Services and Reliance Retail
Insurance Broking to Reli­
ance Strategic Investments
and Jio Payments Bank and
Reliance Industrial Invest­
ments and Holdings.
NEW STRATEGY
On the spinning off of its fin­
ancial services business into a
separate entity, RIL said,
“Further growth and expan­
sion of the financial services
business would require differ­
entiated strategy aligned to
its industry­specific risks,
market dynamics and growth
trajectory.
The demerger would help
the financial services entity
attract different sets of in­
vestors, strategic partners,
lenders and other stakehold­
ers having a specific interest
in the financial services busi­
ness. As a separate entity, it
would have higher leverage
and also unlock value for
shareholders of Reliance
Industries.

₹1383
S1
» INFOSYS
S2 R1 R2 COMMENT ‘Don’t want to list subsidiaries, Kotak Gentari looks to expand business in India
1380 1365 1400 1445 Go long above 1400. Stop­loss can
be kept at 1390 Bank’s stock to reflect Group’s value’ Rishi Ranjan Kala
₹383 » ITC New Delhi
S1 S2 R1 R2 COMMENT
average price target of ₹2,225. We are doing
K Ram Kumar This includes a wide range of Malaysian clean energy solu­ feasibility projects on
380 377 387 390 Go long now and also at 381. Keep Hamsini Karthik estimates with ICICI Direct tions provider, Gentari, is
the stop­loss at 379 Anshika Kayastha producing green
and HDFC Securities suggest­ keen on expanding in India,
Mumbai ing a price target of around focusing on utility­scale re­ hydrogen and
₹149 » ONGC ₹2,170 to Jefferies and ICICI newable energy (RE) pro­ converting it to
S1 S2 R1 R2 COMMENT
Kotak Mahindra Bank doesn’t Securities pegging it as high as jects, manufacturing green ammonia and also
148 146 151 153 Go long only above 151. Stop­loss want to list any of its subsidi­ ₹2,400, following the recent hydrogen, public EV char­ looking at exports
can be kept at 149 aries and want the bank’s acquisition of Sonata Finance. ging infra and leasing EVs to
shares to reflect the integrated Manian added that the bank logistics companies. SUSHIL PUROHIT
₹2235 » Reliance Ind. Gentari CEO
value of the Kotak group, said is not planning to raise any Gentari has three core
S1 S2 R1 R2 COMMENT
Wholetime Director KVS KVS Manian, Wholetime capital in the near term as portfolios — renewable en­
2220 2195 2260 2290 Go long on a break above 2260. Manian. “We have followed a Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank none of the key subsidiaries ergy, hydrogen, and green ables, we plan to have capa­ three­wheelers in India. We
Keep the stop­loss at 2245 philosophy that we don’t want require any growth capital. “ mobility. CEO Sushil Puro­ cities of 30­40 GW, including are now looking to scale it up
to list our subsidiaries, we They are adequately capital­ hit said the company is posi­ in India. We will focus on by 2023­end to 4,000 three
₹516 » SBI want to see Kotak Bank stock time, the markets will take ised. The bank is well capital­ tioning itself as an integrated utility­scale solar and wind and four­wheelers across 10
S1 S2 R1 R2 COMMENT
as the integrated one single care of valuation,” he said. The ised,” he said. clean energy provider target­ projects. Similarly, we aim to cities,” he added.
514 510 520 523 Go long now and at 515. Stop­loss play across financial services,” bank’s shares ended 1.7 per Kotak Securities, Kotak ing the three segments glob­ produce 1.2 million tonnes
can be kept at 513 Manian told businessline. cent lower on Wednesday at Mahindra General Insurance, ally, including India. per annum (mtpa) of green businessline.
Asked if he thinks the ₹1,724.35 on the NSE. The Kotak Mahindra Capital, Ko­ hydrogen...” Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify
₹3138 » TCS bank’s stock is then ad­ stock has seen steady correc­ tak Mahindra Prime, Kotak RENEWABLES Gentari has deployed 162 & make appropriate enquiries to satisfy
themselves about the veracity of an
S1 S2 R1 R2 COMMENT equately priced, Manian said tion since November 2022, Mahindra Life Insurance, Ko­ “ ...We are looking at India to charging points in seven advertisement before responding to any
published in this newspaper. THG
3130 3120 3155 3190 Wait for dips and go long at 3135. markets determine stock which has kept valuation be­ tak Mahindra Asset Manage­ produce green hydrogen and charging hubs across four PUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher &
Owner of this newspaper, does not vouch for
Stop­loss can be kept at 3120 prices in their own ways and low the 52­week high of ment, Kotak Investment Ad­ export it... With India also cities, which it will scale up the authenticity of any advertisement or

S1, S2: Support 1 & 2; R1, R2: Resistance 1 & 2.

eventually the stock will find
its price.
“From a business strategy
businessline is not responsible for the recommendations sourced from third
party brokerages. Reports may be sent to: blmarketwatch@gmail.com point of view, we are doing the
right things. Over a period of
CM
YK
₹1,997.55.
STRONG UPSIDE
Analysts predict strong upside
in the stock in 2023, with an
visors and BSS Microfinance
are the bank’s domestic subsi­
diaries in addition to the inter­
national subsidiaries under
Kotak International Business.
consuming hydrogen, it will
provide scale, which will
bring down costs,” Purohit
told businessline.
Purohit said, “In renew­
to ten cities by 2023­end,
Purohit said. “We also have
Vehicle As A Service (VAAS)
offering where we have de­
ployed close to 1,000 electric
advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s
products and/or services. In no event can the
Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s,
Employees of this newspaper/company be
held responsible/liable in any manner
whatsoever for any claims and/or damages
for advertisements in this newspaper.
... . . . . . . BM­BME

MUMBAI
businessline.
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31 ­ 2023
New Foreign Trade Policy
to be announced today
Amiti Sen
New Delhi
The government will an­
nounce the much­awaited new
Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) on
Friday, seeking to support ex­
porters, especially those in the
MSME sector, amidst a slow­
down in global trade.
The focus of the new FTP,
which is set to aim for an ex­
port target of $2 trillion worth
of goods and services by 2030,
will be on simplification and
reforms, improving ease of do­
ing business, reducing compli­
ance burden, IT­enablement,
promoting e­commerce and
supporting district export
hubs.
“Although Indian exporters
are looking forward to a sup­
portive FTP, new incentive
schemes won’t be many as the
WTO does not allow direct ex­
port subsidies. The idea is to
have a policy that will make the
existing schemes more effect­
ive and simpler and make it
easier and cheaper for export­
ers to operate,” a source close
to the development told
businessline.
Indian exporters are going
through a rough period at the
moment due to a slowdown in
global demand, owing to high
global inflation, rising interest
rates, and key economies mov­
ing towards recession.
VISION STATEMENT
For the first time, the FTP will
have a vision statement that
will lay down the strategy for
export growth in the years to
come. The statement may
touch upon areas such as the
evolving global system; setting
the domestic context; trade
CM
YK
news . bl . 3
strategy; MSMEs for exports;
innovation and start­up eco­
system; integrating nari shakti
(women power) into interna­
tional trade and value chains;
product & markets; service
sector; co­operative federalism
and improving institutions;
and improving trade resilience
(with reference to Black Swan
events).
The policy may also come up
with goals for 2047, such as in­
creasing India’s share in global
trade to 10 per cent and raising
share of exports in GDP to 25
per cent, the source said.
The new FTP was initially
scheduled on April 1 2020, but
it was postponed several times
and the old policy was exten­
ded to deal with the uncertain­
ties unleashed by the Covid­19
pandemic. The last extension
of the FTP (2015­20) is set to
expire on March 31 2023.
Apart from new chapters on
e­commerce exports and dis­
trict export hubs, one on dual
items under Special Chemic­
als, Organisms, Materials,
Equipment and Technologies
(SCOMET) is also likely to be
introduced.
India’s exports of goods in
the current fiscal have slowed
down since July and are set to
post only a small increase over
last fiscal’s exports of $422 bil­
lion.
... . . . . . . BM­BME
4 . bl . think
Ajay Srivastava
I
ndia’s energy imports are
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31, 2023 estimated to grow 43.6 per cent
Lending justice
in FY2023 over the previous year.
Energy imports include coal,
coke, crude oil, LNG, and LPG.
Energy­related products dominate
India’s import basket and account for
36.6 per cent of the total merchandise
Due process of law essential to establish bank fraud import bill. India’s energy import bill for
FY23 is estimated to be $260 billion.
he crux of the recent Supreme Court ruling
T
High growth in energy­related
in State Bank of India vs Rajesh Agarwal is that imports is mainly due to the challenging
external environment. If the present
it affirms the right of a borrower to be given energy import growth rate continues,
a fair hearing before his NPA account is declared as the energy import bill will exceed the bill
fraud. The reasons given are rather convincing: first, for all remaining merchandise imports
in the next two years. And the energy
the principle of natural justice, where both parties import bill will exceed the $1­trillion
must be heard, must be observed in all situations; mark by December 2026. The situation
second, there can be no reason for denying this right will look worse if the import value of
goods like photovoltaic cells and
to a borrower who has been declared fraudulent Lithium Ion batteries required for clean
when similar rights are extended to an NPA energy is added.
borrower who is a wilful defaulter. Currently, four factors are leading to a
surge in the price of oil, coal, and other
A wilful defaulter is one who does not pay energy sources. These are the disruption
his dues despite having the capacity to do of oil supply chains due to the US
sanctions on Russia post the Russian
so. ‘Fraud’ is indicative of deceitful acts. It invasion of Ukraine and the weakening
can be ‘red flagged’ if, for instance, there are of the US­Saudi Arabia 1970s deal that
irregularities such as the same collateral led to the dollar becoming the world's
being charged to a number of lenders. Since reserve currency and leading to the sale
of oil and currencies other than the
both wilful defaulters and fraudsters are dollar.
faced with similar punitive consequences The remaining two issues are high
(more so in the case of the latter), it stands inflation in developed countries,
to reason that due process to establish guilt including the US, Canada, Germany, and
the UK, and the US effort to create
be equally robust in both cases. Wilful alternate supply chains excluding China.
defaulters and fraudsters will not be able to As these issues may linger long, the price
access equity and debt funds for five years. rise may be here to stay.
Under IBC, they will lose control over their Petroleum crude and products: The
firms. However, Para 41 of the order estimated values of petroleum imports
for FY 2023 are $210 billion. This
observes that a wilful defaulter does, in fact, includes crude oil with an import value
get a chance to present his side and of $163 billion and LNG and LPG of
question the assessment of the committees $17.6 billion and $14 billion,
looking into his case, whereas an NPA respectively. Crude imports grew by 53
per cent over the last fiscal.
account holder declared fraud does not. India bought crude from various
Such a regulatory gap is open to misuse; it countries. The top suppliers are Iraq
can be used by business interests looking to ($36billion), Saudi Arabia ($31billion),
dub their competition as fraudulent in Russia ($21billion), UAE ($17billion),
the US ($11.9billion). Imports from
collusion with banks. Russia zoomed by 850 per cent over last
The apex court has also observed that a year.
six­month period allowed under RBI India paid prices ranging from $90­92
regulations to establish fraud is good per barrel for imports from Iraq, Russia,
enough to allow for borrowers’ feedback — and the US. In comparison, it paid the
price ranging from $101­103 per barrel
in doing so, the court annulled another case for imports from Saudi Arabia and UAE.
cited in this context, which suggests that One tonne of crude equals 7.35 barrels.
where time is running out to act against India used its refining capacity to
mala fide interests, natural justice can be set process part of the imported crude oil
and exported products worth $96
aside. Allaying apprehensions of bankers, billion. The key exports were diesel ($45
the court has clarified, again citing case law, billion), petrol ($15 billion), and ATF
that there is no need to rope in the ($16 billion).
borrower when the forensic audit is in Coke, coal: While coal is a significant
process, as that can compromise the contributor to CO2 emissions, it
remains the critical fuel for electricity
investigation. However, on completion of generation for most countries.
the investigation the borrower must know Disruption in oil trade due to sanctions
the grounds for being declared as
fraudulent. He should be issued a
show­cause notice in a duly prescribed
manner. For bankers who fear lengthy
processes, it is important to note that the
court does not insist on a judicial process
RBI’s timely move to ring-fence banks
for feedback. In fact, if a due process of
feedback is in place, litigation on this score Banks are in a good position to make higher provisioning against exposure to top 20 business houses
will come down.
That said, the accused borrower should
K Srinivasa Rao
be given a specified time frame to respond
to the show­cause notice, so that the
A
mid the rising spillover risks due
six­month process remains undisturbed. to the recent spate of US bank
The RBI should draw up clear rules for failures and stress building up in
explicitly including borrowers’ feedback in Credit Suisse, the RBI rightly began
specific actions to further strengthen
the process of establishing fraud. As for banks.
insolvency resolution, the onus lies on Customising systemic controls to
banks to identify problem accounts on time domestic banking, the RBI rightly urged
and proceed accordingly. They should not banks to make extra provision against
exposure to top 20 business houses that
cite natural justice requirements as an face higher external risks.
excuse. The pandemic period strengthened
the banking system. The corporate
sector deleveraged their balance sheets
by trimming debts. Banks too recovered
loans.
POCKET RAVIKANTH The renewed flow of funds to
commercial sector and speedy bank
credit growth during FY23, supported by
the right blend of fiscal and monetary
policy measures, led to steady growth of
the economy.
According to RBI’s Financial Stability
Report (December 2022), the banking
system is strong and resilient and is
well­positioned to withstand the
LETTERS TO EDITOR Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859­860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.
Promoter­driven firms
This refers to ‘When promoters rule’
(March 30). It is true that almost all
the large conglomerates in India are
“ruled” by promoters. It is a
misconception that absolute power
is necessary for faster growth.
Promoters taking actions that are
self­serving and detrimental to
minority shareholders’ interests are
not uncommon. Also, the risk of
fraud, corruption and
non­compliance in promoter­driven
companies is disproportionately
high. Even the share of these
companies in the overall bad debts in
the banking system has also been on
the increasing.
As these companies focus on growth
with least attention to ethical
standards of conducting business,
the chances for occurrence of frauds
Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai­600002 and Printed by N. Vaidyanathan at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No. 22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai­400701 on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai­600002. Editor: Raghuvir Srinivasan (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).
CM
YK
Energy imports
must be slashed
WAY AHEAD. Boosting exploration of local
oilfields and enhancing coal output will help in
cutting the crippling import bill
on Russia and the weakening of the
US­Saudi Arabia 1970 oil deal put
pressure on governments to secure
long­term coal supplies.
India’s estimated coke and coal
imports for FY2023 are $51 billion. India
imports both coking coal and thermal
coal. While coking coal is used as raw
material for making steel, thermal coal is
used to generate electricity.
The coking coal imports may exceed
$20.4 billion, an 87 per cent increase
over last year.
The most significant addition is a rise
in average import price from $250/tonne
to $370/tonne. India imports about 60
per cent of coking coal from Australia
($11.8 billion). We also bought coking
coal from the US ($2.7 billion) and
Singapore ($2.1 billion). Singapore does
not mine coal.
Steam coal imports in FY 2023 are
estimated to exceed $23.2 billion, a 105
per cent increase over last year. India
imports about 59 per cent of steam coal
from Indonesia ($13.6 billion). Other
significant suppliers are South
There’s not enough
scope for reducing the
import of coking coal
as India does not have
high­quality reserves.
spillover risks of the external sector.
The ratio of gross non­performing
asset (GNPA) had gone down from a
high of 11.2 per cent in March 2018 to a
seven­year low of 5 per cent. The net
non­performing assets touched a
10­year low of 1.3 per cent in September
2022.
The provision­coverage ratio at 71.5
per cent affirms its further soundness.
STRESS TESTS
The RBI’s stress tests for credit risk also
indicated that banks will be able to
comply with the minimum capital
requirements even under severe stress
scenarios. A forward outlook of RBI
indicates that banks will be able to
maintain capital to risk weighted assets
ratio (CRAR) much beyond the
minimum threshold even in severe
stress scenario.
Banks increased their loans to the
retail, agriculture and MSME sectors
and brought down the exposure to large
borrowers (₹5 crore and above) a tad —
from close to 48 per cent in March 2021
to 47.3 per cent in September 2022.
But banks managed to bring down
are also high. Also, the collateral
damage to the markets due to
malpractices in these conglomerates
is enormous. Here, the role of the
regulator assumes significance. It is
the regulator, through formulation
and strict implementation of
stringent compliance framework and
periodical and compulsory scrutiny,
that can prevent unethical business
practices in these family­owned
companies.
Kosaraju Chandramouli
Hyderabad
Mining equipment
Apropos, ‘India to start exporting
coal from FY26’ (March 30), the
government must consider
abolishing the discretionary power
of DGMS (Directorate General of
Mines Safety) to grant approval for
Africa($3.8 billion), Australia ($1.7
billion), and Russia ($1.6 billion). The
most increase in imports is on account
of the rise in prices. Country­wise price
rise in 2022 over 2021­Indonesia — 22
per cent, South Africa 49 per cent,
Australia 35 per cent, Russia 46 per cent.
REDUCING IMPORTS
India must reenergize the exploration of
local oil fields and enhance production
through coal mines. Enhanced domestic
production will substantially cut the
energy import bill and improve the
current account. India, in the 1980s, met
85 per cent of its crude oil needs mainly
from ONGC’s Bombay High offshore oil
field, but now we import 85 per cent of
our needs. A renewed focus on
exploration in India will help.
India has 26 sedimentary basins
divided into the following four
categories: Category I (7 Basins) —
established commercial production;
Category II (3 Basins) — known
accumulation of hydrocarbons but no
commercial production as yet; Category
III (6 Basins) — indicated hydrocarbon
reserves considered geologically
oil­bearing; Category IV (10 basins) —
uncertain potential may be prospective
by analogy with similar basins
worldwide; and deep­water reserves
Crude oil and natural gas production
in India is from category­I basins and
RIGHT MOVES. Strengthening the
banking system
large borrowers’ share in the stock of
GNPAs, from 75.6 per cent of the pool to
62.2 per cent during the period.
The asset quality of the top 100
borrowers also improved considerably,
as their share in GNPA declined from 6.8
per cent in March 2021 to 5.4 per cent in
September 2022.
In its advisory against exposure to top
20 business houses, the RBI allowed
banks to decide the quantum of extra
provision while maintaining a minimum
level of 5 per cent.
mining machinery for underground report, the group was seen to have a
coal mines. high debt/loan overhang even as its
The responsibility of mines safety gross earnings to debt is nearly
and productivity lies with mine double the limit for companies to
owners, who should be given full stay within the safe financial health
autonomy to decide which threshold. The group is since seen
machinery is best for their mine. servicing its debt obligations in a bid
DGMS seems to be more inclined to to shore up the price of its stock.
only approve, renew obsolete The report, for right or wrong
technologies and has shown reasons, has been a leveller of sorts, a
reservations in accepting advanced timely catharsis in the repair of
foreign mining equipment and group’s own image and the
technology. reputation of the Indian market.
Prem Amarr Bhasin R Narayanan
Sydney, Australia Navi Mumbai
Adani group shares Angel tax
Adani group has sought more time With reference to ‘Angels and the
to pay ACC, Ambuja debt, and had demon’ (March 30), the inclusion of
earlier initiated the prepaying $2.15 non­resident investments in
billion of margin­linked loans. In domestic unlisted companies under
limelight post the Hindenburg the latest angel tax provisions would
MUMBAI
businessline.
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31 ­ 2023
deep water areas. Hydrocarbon
discoveries have been made in
Category­II basins, but commercial
production is yet to commence. India
must evaluate its options to increase
local production.
India must also focus on reducing coal
imports. There’s not enough scope for
reducing the import of coking coal as
India does not have high­quality
reserves. But, the import of thermal coal
can be managed. Coal imports have
increased mainly because of demand
from new power plants that use only
high­grade imported coal. Several issues
favour imports.
These include the low quality (high
ash content of 30­40 per cent) of Indian
coal, the inability of Coal India Ltd to
increase production and use technology
to increase the calorific value of coal,
and within­country transport
restrictions. An early resolution of these
issues will reduce the imports
substantially.
India’s merchandise imports for the
fiscal year ending March 2023 are
estimated to touch $710 billion, up from
$613 billion in FY2022, an increase of
over 15.8 per cent over last year.
Containing energy imports will ensure
that the overall import bill does not
strain the current account.
The writer is is founder, Global Trade Research Initiative
Depending on individual capabilities,
bank boards can decide the quantum of
provisions. Currently, banks are
required to make a general provision for
standard assets at 0.25 per cent of
outstanding loans to agriculture/small
and micro enterprise, and 1 per cent for
real estate commercial and 2 per cent for
teaser housing loans. All other standard
loans to attract provision of 0.40 per
cent.
Some data points could be indicative
of a bank’s ability to implement RBI’s
advisory. Taking the bank credit
outstanding on March 2022 at ₹122.08
trillion and 17.4 per cent of it flowing to
top 100 borrowers, the data on exposure
to top 20 businesses will be far less than
that.
Given banks’ healthy profitability
level, they can apportion the additional
provisions to create the buffer. The
present move will strengthen credit risk
management and improve resilience to
withstand unexpected shocks to asset
quality.
The writer is Adjunct Professor, Institute of Insurance
and Risk Management, Hyderabad. Views e are personal
be a setback both for investors and
companies, especially in the
prevailing funding winter in PE/VC
investments in India.
This warrants disclosure of the
excess consideration received by
global investors from the sale of
unquoted shares over and above the
fair market value, hitherto applicable
only for domestic investors. Billions
of dollars in angel funding have
flowed into Indian start­ups, and
incumbent angel investors, in
successive rounds of funding these
small entities, are likely to pocket
substantial capital gains on exit.
As aptly pointed out, imposing tax on
capital raised by start­ups from
non­residents is illogical and impact
the very sustenance of these entities.
Sitaram Popuri
Bengaluru
ISSN 0971 ­ 7528
. . . . . . . . BM­BME
 think . bl . 5
MUMBAI

businessline.
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31 ­ 2023

Guns and violence Ashish Kundra

Decarbonisation of road
“D
ecarbonisation” is
US lawmakers aren’t acting to curb mass shootings the holy grail of

Sridhar Krishnaswami
I
t hardly matters if and when
President Joe Biden is going
to visit Nashville, for another
horrific tragedy has taken place at
a school where three youngsters
aged nine lost their lives to a
shooter who was determined to
wreak havoc that day. And
President Biden is not the only
one “sick” to his stomach to see
firearms are the leading cause of
death among children going by
statistics put out by government
agencies.
What happened at the
Christian school in Nashville
where a total of six persons died
was the 19th shooting incident at
an educational institution this
year; and the deadliest since the
attack on an elementary school in
Uvalde, Texas, last May that took
21 lives.
President Biden has been long
enough in politics and in the
hallways of Congress to know that
the tragedy of gun violence is not
going to impact lawmakers all that
easily, especially a small hard core
who always keep looking for
reasons and rationales.
The fact that nearly 50,000 lives
are lost annually because of an
assortments of gun­related
injuries or that about 50 people
are killed every day by firearms
does not seem to move lawmakers
who latch on to Second
Amendment rights or in one way
or another beholden to the gun
lobby that keeps repeating the
slogan “guns don’t kill people;
people kill people”.
LOOKING FOR RATIONALES
Even after the horrific Nashville
shooting, elected officials seem to
look for rationales other than
tightening the screws on guns,
especially assault weapons.
It is strange that in a country
where practically one cannot buy
a pack of cigarettes or a pack of six
beers until the age of 21, there
seems to be far fewer restrictions
on the modalities for the purchase
of weapons or how it may be
carried on oneself. It is said that
one could be as young as 14 to
have a rifle for hunting purposes.
A 2018 study revealed that
there were 390 million guns in
circulation in the US, or 120.5
firearms per 100 residents — up
from 88 per 100 in 2011. This
figure is quite high when
compared to those in Europe and
Canada.
Interesting, for all that outrage
after mass shootings, only 57 per
cent of Americans are in favour of
gun control; 32 per cent would
leave the laws as it were, and 10
businessline.
TRIGGER HAPPY. Gun laws in
the US need to be tightened
per cent felt that laws should be
“made less strict”.
The Nashville killing has given
an additional handle to the
political right. Soon after the
shooting, law­enforcement
authorities identified the killer,
28­year­old Audrey Hale, as a
transgender. That gave the
pro­gun hawks a “trans” angle to
hammer away their theory that
somehow transgenders are far
more prone to violence,
forgetting conveniently that just
about all of the mass shootings in
America are the handiwork of
cisgender white men and
transgenders are victims of
violence.
“How much hormones like
testosterone and medications for
mental illness was the
transgender Nashville school
shooter taking?” posed
Republican Congresswoman
Marjorie Taylor Greene in a tweet.
And Donald Trump Jr was not to
be left behind. “… rather than
talking about guns we should be
talking about lunatics pushing
their gender affirming bullshit on
our kids” he said. The sad
commentary has been a deliberate
attempt by right wing
conservatives to try and tweak
media headlines from assault
weapons to trans­phobia and all
the diversions that come along
with that.
President Biden’s heart may be
in the right place, but deep down
he is also aware that he may not be
in a position to swing the outrage
in favour of an all out ban on
assault weapons.
After Uvalde in 2022 Biden did
manage to come up with a Bill that
was substantial but still far short
of coming to terms with banning
assault weapons or toughen up
background checks. But with 2024
elections round the corner, the
White House knows that
Congress will have little appetite
to tackle the issue favouring
Democrats.
The writer has been a senior journalist in
Washington DC for 14 years covering North
America and the United Nations
climate warriors.
Global climate
negotiations have
so far been marked by platitudes and
transport gathering pace
homilies. Developed nations would
hector the poorer ones on their climate
obligations, while nations like India CLEAN DRIVE. Registration of electric vehicles is witnessing healthy growth.
would argue for “shared but
differentiated responsibilities.” At the But to sustain EV production and demand, govt support is needed
heart of the diplomatic smokescreen lie
emission cut commitments.
While consensus eludes the global
community, recent times have seen
tangible gains in one segment which is
worthy of note. Decarbonisation of road
transport has received strong political
endorsement, more so among G20
nations. Electrification of mobility is
driving this transition. India’s
leadership of G20 this year revolves
around “LiFE — Lifestyle for
environment”.
GLOBAL SCENE
Global trends analysed by International
Council on Clean Transportation reveal
that light duty electric vehicle (EV) sales
stood at 9 per cent of light duty vehicles
in 2021 and touched 13 per cent in the
later part of 2022. China has crossed the
20 per cent mark, while Europe is close
behind. California has unveiled a bold
plan of moving to 100 per cent zero
emission vehicles by 2035.
The UK has announced that all new
cars and vans will be zero emission by
2035, while putting an end to the sale of
new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.
SUDHAKARA JAIN
Germany crossed the one million
electric vehicle mark last year. In the
heavy­duty vehicle segment, buses are manufacturers rolled out by the Central registration data of last year reveals that Therefore, production efficiencies must
leading the charge. Shenzhen, in China, Government, coupled with a demand in the three­wheeler goods segment, offset the inherent cost disadvantage.
boasts of the largest electric bus fleet in aggregation for procurement across adoption has already reached the tipping Nearly 40 per cent of an EV’s cost is on
the world, with over 16,000 buses. cities, helped drive down costs of point, with more than 60 per cent of new account of batteries. Cell manufacturing
Where does India stand in the pecking electric buses. An ambitious plan to registrations being electric. is yet to take off in India, though an
order? Nationally, the numbers are induct 50,000 electric buses across the The demand for passenger auto aggressive Central Government push
modest so far. Overall, 5 per cent of new country has been announced under the rickshaws was far lower, though will see some results over the next
vehicle registrations were electric in national bus electrification programme. e­rickshaws proliferated. In the couple of years.
2022, though in absolute numbers we Delhi is well on course to inducting four­wheel segment, electric cab Secondly, charging infrastructure
crossed the one million mark. Mega 8,000 e­buses by 2025. Mumbai, registrations almost touched the 50 per must be planned scientifically, not just
cities are in pole position, with tier­two Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata are cent mark. Lower cost of operations are in cities, but along the highways. The
and tier­three cities catching up. equally enthusiastic. Some private bus bound to ensure that city level Centre is working on a programme of
In Delhi, more than 10 per cent of new operators such as Green Cell mobility, commercial operations will turn electrifying highways, powered by solar
vehicle registrations were electric. The backed by global investment funds, have electric. energy. This would help in adoption of
pattern of electrification varies across started intercity electric bus operations. These include logistics, last mile heavy duty and medium duty trucks,
geographies — in States like Uttar Is this the end of the road for deliveries and e­commerce operations. which are heavily polluting.
Pradesh, 85 per cent of adoption is led by conventional fuel vehicles? It is perhaps Two­wheeler owners are equally price Thirdly, the source of power itself for
e­rickshaws, while in Maharashtra, a early to proclaim so, but a discernible conscious and a solution which is easier electrification must be green, for it to be
similar percentage is on account of shift is underway. Let us take the on the pocket is definitely an attractive truly zero emission. Current models, in
two­wheelers. example of Delhi as a trend marker, option. Personal four­wheelers is a a way are simply shifting the pollution
In Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and being the national leader in electric different value proposition, as car load. Fourthly, corporate India must put
Gujarat, more than 90 per cent of EVs vehicle adoption. Deep dive into owners don’t want to be bogged down by money where their mouth is. Lofty
are two­wheelers. In Delhi, 55 pe rcent range anxiety as they drive along pronouncements for the long term
of EVs are two­wheelers, while 34 per highways for a holiday. Yet, won’t suffice.
cent are a mix of auto rickshaws and Nearly 40 per cent of environmentally conscious consumers G20 summit is an occasion for India
e­rickshaws. Adoption of electric an electric vehicle’s cost are making a switch. to demonstrate global leadership by
four­wheelers is relatively slower — the announcing a roadmap for
largest share being in Delhi, is on account of TOUGH ROAD AHEAD decarbonising transport, which would
Maharashtra, Telangana. batteries. Cell So far, we have reaped the low hanging only help breathe clean air into LiFE.
Electrification of public transport has fruit. The road ahead is more arduous.
strong government backing. A manufacturing is, however, For one, subsidies for buyers or sellers The writer is Principal Secretary Transport, GNCT of
combination of subsidies for yet to take off in India. would dry up in the medium term. Delhi. Views are personal
Jobs, health and a greying population
Trishna Sarkar registering online. Work from home
option is also available on various job
₹5.96­lakh crore or ₹4,470 per capita)
at 48.2. This is an improvement from

S
enior citizen job portals have
TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY. become popular these days.
These include some government
March 31, 2003 websites like ‘SACRED’. This is a
positive development. After all, a
Apollo Tyres won’t use Modi Rubber facility: Kanwar person’s productivity cannot be
Apollo Tyres’ efforts to get a foothold in North India through contract determined on the basis of a cut­off
production of tyres at the manufacturing facility of Modi Rubber has run into year or age, which is why it is absurd to
rough weather. The tyre major has now admitted that its agreement with Modi declare someone as “retired” out of the
Brothers is for all practical purposes null and void. blue.
So, the corporate and public sector’s
Forex inflow dip to hit govt borrowings compassion for senior citizens seems
With forex inflows slowing down considerably in recent weeks and restraining convincing. This could raise the
the relentless build­up of the central bank’s reserves, the party for large­scale self­esteem of those who have over the
market borrowings by the Government at low interest rates may soon be over. years gained a fair degree of experience
Already, there are signs of liquidity tightening, both in the short as well as and knowledge. Age is, after all, a
long­end of the market. number. According to the Agewell
Foundation, more than 60 per cent of
DoT may propose higher WLL licence fee senior citizens are looking for jobs. The
The Department of Telecommunications is evaluating a package including Centre has launched a scheme for
imposition of an additional one­time entry fee and enhanced licence fee for re­employment of senior citizens.
limited mobility (WLL) services as also allowing more operators in the mobile Citizens above 60 years who have
sector, in order to bring about a level playing field. These options are likely to retired can apply for the job again by
be suggested to the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal.
portals for senior citizens. All these
provisions seem motivating.
But there are some sobering facts to
be considered. First, according to the
National Statistical Office’s (NSO’s)
‘Elderly in India’ 2021 report, the
elderly population (aged 60 and above)
is projected to touch 194 million in
2031 from 138 million in 2021, a 41 per
cent increase over a decade. India
seems to be greying fast.
The youth, which is expected to
work here and look after their parents,
are increasingly shifting abroad in
search of jobs as India’s unemployment
rate, according to CMIE, is in the
region of 8 per cent. On the one hand,
as the public sector is contracting, its
security umbrella is also shrinking. On
the other, the informal sector is
absorbing a large number of
unemployed, but they are highly
insecure and underpaid. These factors
SENIORS. Much to worry about
are forcing the youth to go abroad,
leaving behind ageing parents.
HEALTHCARE COSTS
Second, the cost of medical care has
surged. Private healthcare costs and
rising insurance premiums are
draining out savings.
Economic Survey 2022­23 put
out­of­pocket expenditure as a
percentage of total health expenditure
(which includes government and
private expenditure, estimated at
the 64.3 per cent in 2013­14, but it is
still high.
Third, the pandemic has pushed up
healthcare expenses, while also having
affected the job market adversely,
specifically the informal sector. The
rise in unemployment among the
younger members of the family in the
informal sector has forced the senior
members to return to work.
Fourth, food and fuel inflation has
also risen, causing anxiety among those
with limited income to meet
day­to­day expenses.
Finally, the greying population is
now burdened with concerns about its
ability to support itself due to the
weakening social security system. Poor
employment prospects have cast a pall
of gloom over the old and young alike.
The writer teaches economics at Bhim Rao Ambedkar
College, Delhi

BL TWO­WAY CROSSWORD 2252 EASY NOT SO EASY

ACROSS DOWN ACROSS DOWN

1. Cutting­off, separation (9)
5. Pull along with a rope (3)
7. A parent's sister (4)
8. Engine's firing­system (8)
10. Put name forward (8)
11. A metropolis (4)
13. To reiterate (6)
15. Influenced one by strength
of mind (6)
18. Grain (4)
19. (Shaped like) caudal fin (4­4)
22. In error (8)
23. Extended (4)
24. The lot (3)
25. Heraldic arms of a
deceased person (9)
1. A wrench (7) 1. There's never case for wriggling out of cut­off pay (9) 1. It was a wrench when the pens ran haywire (7)
2. Snake's poison (5) 5. Give one a hitch to the West (3) 2. It was spite that made me no other way after five (5)
3. To nullify (6) 7. Relative to tease about losing head (4) 3. How to deny the unending teenage revolution (6)
4. Wickedness (4) 8. It is turning one gin into method of firing in an engine (8) 4. It may be a misfortune to dwell upside­down (4)
5. Trifling (7) 10. How to name a Tom ­­ nine letters (8) 5. It could rival it at being unimportant (7)
6. Affected by strong breezes (5) 11. It appears, in Cyprus, to be where business is done (4) 6. Is scared that it's blowing up outside (5)
9. To work flour into dough (5) 13. Again say that it's a second viewing (6) 9. Work at making dough out of necessity, one is told (5)
12. Be engaged in combat (5) 15. It is bequeathed to the French in an uncultivated area (6) 12. Box for gift that might contain heroin (5)
14. A sunshade (7) 18. Old jokes may be an indication of trouble afoot (4) 14. Father taking solar arrangement that would
16. Great pleasure (7) 19. It will move side to side as it's shaped like a swimmer's protect him (7)
17. Unspeaking (6) rear (4­4) 16. Much pleasure around 3rd August it held, perhaps (7)
18. Punctuation mark (5) 22. Having the wrong idea, could create a stink with me (8) 17. Is up fast, and saying nothing (6)
20. Sun­dried mud brick 23. Yearn to have more than the average number in a particular 18. A butterfly that may make one pause mid­sentence (5)
construction (5) suit (4) 20. Nothing found in a bed made of sun­dried
21. To get money for 24. Everything is the same either side on court (3) mud brick (5)
cheque (4) 25. Arms of dead person that men set out around the church (9) 21. In short, cent has to be changed for ready money (4)

SOLUTION: BL TWO­WAY CROSSWORD 2251

ACROSS 1. Potent 4. Secret 9. Overdid 10. Tabor 11. Iota 12. Burr 13. Due 15. Drip 16. Bank 19. Ill 21. Pole 22. Scan 24. Inter 25. Courier 26. Yarned 27. Ragged
DOWN 1. Profitability 2. Treated 3. Node 5. External 6. Rabid 7. Three­cornered 8. Odour 14. Disperse 17. Kicking 18. Flock 20. Later 23. Pupa

CM
YK ... . . . . . . BM­BME
6 . bl . commodities.agri.business
MUMBAI

businessline.
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31 ­ 2023

QUICKLY.
China’s 2023 iron ore
output to hit 8­year high
Row over UK’s new FALLING ON HARD TIMES

CoP for basmati rice

Qingdao: China’s annual iron ore
output is set to hit an 8­year high
at 290 million tonnes, analysts said
on Wednesday, after the world’s
top metals consumer lifted tough
Covid measures and as new
capacity came online. The
production, highest since 2015,
supports Beijing’s plans to reduce
its dependence on imports of the
steelmaking raw material. REUTERS
Changes in transaction fees
for rebar futures contract
CONTENTIOUS. It questions credibility of Seeds Act, say experts
Subramani Ra Mancombu
Chennai
An amendment made by the
UK to the code of practice
(CoP) for basmati rice, which
assures its quality for con­
sumers there, has triggered a
controversy.
The All India Rice Export­
ers Association (AIREA) says
the change could benefit In­
dia, but experts have ques­
tioned it charging the UK
with diluting the area of cul­
tivation and questioning the
credibility of the Seed Act,
1966.
(AIREA) was consulted. “The
amended code has a list of 35
varieties of basmati. The six
varieties deleted are no
longer being used. The new
code will strengthen our hold
in the basmati market. We
had been taking this up with
them,” said AIREA executive
director Vinod Kaul.
SPARKING Chandrasekaran said there
are a few issues that pertain
CONTROVERSY
to India’s credibility in the
The code has diluted
new code. “How can the UK
the boundary of arbitrarily delist seed variet­ WEATHER WOES. Farm workers harvest turmeric on a field on the outskirts of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. The production of
basmati which was ies that figure in the Seed Act, turmeric this season has been estimated lower at 13.14 lt against 13.29 lt last year. Production in Andhra Pradesh is projected to be 10%
referred to as 1966? This means the credib­ lower as the crop was affected by unseasonal rains, pests and diseases GIRI KVS
Indo-Gangetic plains ility of the Indian authority is
being questioned,” he said.

Beijing: The Shanghai Futures

Exchange said on Thursday it will
lower transaction fees for its
October delivery rebar futures
contract to 0.01 per cent of the
transaction amount from the
current 0.02 per cent.
Transaction fees for the rebar
futures contract for January
2024 delivery will be raised to
0.03 per cent of the transaction
amount from 0.02 per cent.REUTERS
EU expects oilseed output to
hit record high in 2023­24
Paris: The European Commission
expects 2023/2024 oilseed crops
to increase by 7 per cent from
the previous year to a record
33.6 million tonnes, mainly
because of a larger area sown, it
said on Thursday. In its
short­term outlook, the EU said
that attractive prices during the
sowing period boosted the
rapeseed area. REUTERS
Fertiliser sales up 2% in Apr­Feb of FY23
WHY THE COP
The CoP was introduced in
2005 by the UK Rice Associ­
ation (UKRA) along with
British Rice Millers Associ­
ation and British Retail Con­
sortium to “safeguard the
reputation of basmati rice
marketed in the UK”.
The code was evolved as
imported basmati was alleged
to be 50 per cent impure sev­
eral decades ago. The UKRA
came up with the CoP, which
was followed across the
European Union specifying
that basmati “could be no
more than 7 per cent im­
pure”. It also listed 15 permit­
ted varieties — nine of them
traditional and six that were
modern cultivars.
The CoP was implemented
through DNA fingerprinting
developed by Bangor Univer­
sity, Wales. “The system
worked well until 2017, when
the code was updated to add
25 new modern cultivars.
This followed an explosion
in new breeding in the 2000s
and 2010s,” said Katherine
Steele, senior lecturer in sus­
tainable crop protection at
Bangor University, in an in­
ternal newsletter.
Steele said the university
had developed alternative
DNA markers for fingerprint­
ing that showed six of the
new varieties — five from In­
dia and one from Pakistan —
were not properly bred for
fragrance. As a result, these
six have now been de­notified
or taken off the list of basmati
varieties.
But experts such as S
Chandrasekaran, author of
“Basmati Rice: The Natural
History Geographical Indica­
tion”, contend that the DNA
marking is a new invention by
the British and its efficiency
is yet to be proved.
“What samples were
drawn? How? What were the
parameters? Who authentic­
ated the findings?’ wondered
Chandrasekaran.
STRIKING FEATURE
A striking feature of the
amended code is that the
British Rice Millers Associ­
ation is no more part of the
code.
“The amended code says it
will ‘strive to uphold the
reputation’ from ‘concerned
to safeguard the reputation.’
The change in the word from
‘concern’ to ‘strive’ indicates
more action might follow,” he
said.
The code says the All­India
Rice Exporters Association
BASMATI BOUNDARY
Second, the code has diluted
the boundary of basmati
which was referred to as
Indo­Gangetic plains. “The
code issued in 2017 mentions
basmati­rice growing States
in the region. It has now been
amended as ‘on both sides of
the Indian and Pakistani bor­
ders’,” he said.
In particular it has
dropped “which currently in­
cludes Punjab (on both sides
of the Indian and Pakistani
border), Jammu, Haryana,
Uttaranchal and western Ut­
tar Pradesh in India”, the ex­
pert said.
Kaul said there was no
change in the Indo­Gangetic
plain. “The area remains the
same,” he said.
Chandrasekaran said there
were two other issues with
the amended code. “One,
APEDA is India’s nodal
agency for geographical in­
dication (GI) tag. Why was it
not consulted on this issue?
“Two, the amended code is
in contravention and a dilu­
tion to the notification the
Agriculture Ministry issued
on September 18, 2017, on
basmati rice­growing areas
and refers to the GI certific­
ate issued on February 15,
2016,” he said.
Robust overseas demand fuels
kabuli chana exports from India
Vishwanath Kulkarni
Bengaluru
An empty global pipeline has
fuelled demand for Indian
Kabuli chana, the premium
variety of chickpea, and
shipments have more than
doubled in value during
2022­23, compared with the
previous year. Trade sources
said the outlook for next
year’s shipments is good on
firm demand, and prices are
expected to rule firm despite
the crop being better than
last year.
Strong demand from buy­
ers such as the UAE and Sri
Lanka has boosted Kabuli
chana shipments to over
$112 million during April­
January of the current fiscal,
compared with $46.47 mil­
lion during the same period
a year ago, DGCIS data said.
“The pipeline is empty the
world over and an early Ra­
madan has boosted demand
for the bigger size calibre of
12 mm (bold) chickpeas”
said Harsha Rai, vice­presid­
PepsiCo, Cropin launch crop
ent ­ sales, Mayur Global
Corporation, an interna­
tional broker and
manufacturer.
Rai said India and Mexico
are the two producers of the
bold variety of kabuli chana
and the harvest in Mexico
will start next month. Also,
the Mexican crop is lower
than the last year, and it does
not have carry­over stocks,
which worked to India’s
advantage.
YIELD WORRIES
The global demand for ka­
buli chana is such that even
the smaller variety has seen
good demand. “Maharashtra
has come up with a good
crop for the smaller 8 mm
calibre and exports have
been consistent. The stocks
are not going into cold stor­
age or stocking and is going
into exports and consump­
tion,” Rai added.
Satish Upadhyay, an inter­
national agri­commodities
broker, said fresh demand
from Dubai and Algeria and
some concerns over crop
yield on account of bad
weather, are keeping prices
steady to firm. The earlier
prediction was that the crop
was larger than last year’s,
but the arrivals of the 12 mm
calibre has been affected by
the weather, Upadhyay said.
Vivek Agrawal of JLV Agro
said the export trend was
good and continuous buying
was keeping prices firm. “In­
dia has a good crop this year,
and we expect good ex­
ports,” Agrawal said.
Indrajit Paul, AGM, Com­
modities Research, DeHaat,
said prices have jumped by
15­16 per cent over the past
one month on good export
demand. As against earlier
expectations for 4.5 lakh
tonnes, the crop is likely to
be around 4 lakh tonnes on
account of the heat.
During April­January, ka­
buli chana exports more
than doubled to the UAE at
$33.72 million ($14.64 m in
2021­22), Sri Lanka at
$12.92 million ($5.21 m)
and Algeria at $9.09 m
($2..86 m)
COMMODITY
CALL.
Retain long
positions in zinc
Akhil Nallamuthu
bl. research bureau
The price of zinc has been de­
clining for the last two
months. The continuous fu­
tures contract of zinc on the
MCX started to fall after fa­
cing the resistance at ₹300.
The contract is currently
hovering around ₹258.
Despite a bearish trend,
there contract has a strong
base around ₹250. The bulls
are likely to capitalise on the
support at ₹250 and push the
prices upward in the coming
weeks. The contract might
appreciate to ₹278 in the
near­term. A breakout of this
level can lift the price to ₹300.
On the other hand, if the
zinc futures break below the
support at ₹250, the trend
will turn bearish where we

Prabhudatta Mishra
New Delhi
Total sales of fertilisers in­
creased by 2 per cent following
a jump in urea sales by 7 per
cent and that of di­ammonium
phosphate by 15 per cent dur­
ing the April­February period
of the current fiscal. But the
use of two other categories of
fertlisers — muriate of potash
(MoP) and complex (combin­
ation of nutrients) — dropped
during the period. Experts
said the skewed usage may fur­
ther add to the fertiliser imbal­
ance in soils unless prices of
these fertilisers are changed.
India’s urea consumption,
which dropped for the first
time in five years during 2021­
22, was 341.18 lakh tonnes (lt)
during April­February of
2022­23, higher than 338.64 lt
in the entire 2021­22 fiscal.
Though the government is
hopeful of reduction in con­
HUGE JUMP. Urea usage during April­February of 2022­23 was
341.18 lt , higher than 338.64 lt in the entire 2021­22 fiscal
ventional urea consumption
after introduction of nano­
urea, which is not subsidised,
it may take more time.
SOLUTION
“Urea is the cheapest and in­
crease in prices of other fertil­
isers make the nitrogen­con­
tained nutrient more
attractive for farmers, espe­
cially who are not that aware.
Further, MoP now costs ₹400/
bag higher than DAP whereas
earlier both were available at
same rates and complex has
gone up very high,” said an in­
dustry official. Unless the pri­
cing anomaly is set right, it will
be difficult to prevent the
skewed usage, he said, adding
a slight increase in MRP of
urea every year could be a
solution.
At a recent briefing, a top of­
ficial of the Fertiliser Ministry
had said the government
wants to reduce the consump­
tion without affecting the food
security and it does not want
to force farmers to cut chem­
ical fertilisers usage without
ensuring alternative
bio­fertilisers.
According to the latest data,
sales of key fertilisers (urea,
DAP, MoP and complex) were
559.97 lt during the April­Feb­
ruary period of the current
fiscal against 547.09 lt in the
same period a year ago, up by
2.4 per cent. While sales of
urea DAP surged by 15.3 per
cent to 101.35 lt, those of MoP
declined 34.7 per cent to 15.21
lt and complex went down by
11.6 per cent to 102.23 lt.
The current retail price of
urea is ₹266.5/45 kg bag
whereas that of DAP is ₹1,350/
50 kg bag and MoP ₹1,750/50
kg bag. Complex fertilisers
sold at average ₹1,200­1,800/
bag depending on the
nutrients.
intelligence model for potato
Our Bureau
Mangaluru
PepsiCo India, through its
brand ‘Lay’s’, has announced a
crop and plot­level predictive
intelligence model.
A media statement said this
is aimed at helping farmers
maximise potato yields
coupled with quality via func­
tional dashboards on user­
friendly mobile apps.
Launched in collaboration
with Cropin, an agri­tech
company, this initiative is a
part of PepsiCo’s ‘precision
agriculture’ model for India
and is being implemented as a
pilot project in demo farms at
Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
It said potato yield losses
caused through the blight crop
disease can go up to 80 per
cent, if not forecasted early.
The system can
generate a
forecast up to 10
days in advance
which can assist
farmers in
identifying different
crop stages, and
close monitoring of
crop health
Significant yield loss caused
due to ground frost is another
serious issue for potato farm­
ers especially in the northern
parts of the country. This initi­
ative of PepsiCo has the po­
tential to address these chal­
lenges by using satellite
imagery correlated with re­
mote sensing data to provide
insights. The system can gen­
erate a forecast up to 10 days
in advance which can assist
farmers in identifying differ­
ent crop stages, and close
monitoring of crop health, in­
cluding a disease warning sys­
tem that relies on weather
forecasts and historical data.
PepsiCo works directly and
indirectly with over 27,000
farmers across 14 States, it
said, adding, 100 per cent of
the potatoes for ‘Lay’s’ brand
are sourced from farmers
within the country. In its pilot
stage, the necessary training
and hand­holding to the farm­
ers are being provided
through field agronomists
who are helping them under­
stand the dashboard and
leverage the insights. Cur­
rently, the model covers 62
farms — 51 in Gujarat and 11
in Madhya Pradesh — as a
trial.
might see a decline to ₹242, a
notable support. Subsequent
support is at ₹225.
Three weeks ago, we had
recommended traders to go
long at ₹260 with an initial
stop­loss at ₹245. Retain this
trade.When the contract re­
covers from the current level
and rises above the minor
hurdle at ₹278, revise the
stop­loss up to ₹270. Further
tighten the stop­loss to ₹278,
when the price rises above
₹286. Book profits at ₹295.
BUSINESS OFFER
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SHARES / INVESTMENTS

To tackle stubble burning, Haryana Natural rubber farming needs to spread far
to expand project to 8 more districts and wide beyond Kerala: Rubber Board Chief
Our Bureau
Chennai
Following the success of a pilot
project to address the issue of
stubble burning in association
with Deloitee, the Haryana
government will now expand
the project to eight more dis­
tricts. The project will now be
expanded to Fatehabad, Sirsa,
Jind, Kaithal, Kurukshetra,
Ambala, Yamuna Nagar, and
Karnal, which account for
nearly 90 per cent of fires in
the State,” said Narhari
Bangar, Director, Department
of Agriculture and Farmers’
Welfare, Haryana.
OUTREACH ELEMENT
Deloitte India said it had suc­
cessfully completed its pilot
climate leadership project on
“Crop Residue Management”
(CRM), which helped reduce
stubble burning incidents and
manage the air pollution in the
region.
CM
YK
The pilot project began in
Karnal district’s red zone vil­
lages and resulted in a 69 per
cent reduction in stubble
burning incidents. The initiat­
ive included mobilising farm­
ers, communities, and private
sector partners, it said.
An important element of
the outreach was a multilin­
gual mobile application
“Krishi Yantra Sathi”, de­
signed to bring all the relevant
stakeholders, including local
farmers, various custom hiring
centres, and farmer producer
organisations . The key object­
ive was to match the farmer’s
demand for equipment to
manage the crop residue with
the right equipment owners,
to efficiently and rapidly alloc­
ate the machinery.
SUBSIDY ELEMENT
Farmers have received sub­
sidies to the tune of ₹90 crore
under CRM since 2018. In ad­
dition, ₹18 crore equipment
subsidy will be extended this
year, Bangar said.
“Additionally, every farmer
of Karnal district who adopted
the ‘Parali Fasal Prabandhan’
will receive a subsidy of ₹1,000
per acre,” said Aditya Partap
Dabas, Deputy Director, De­
partment of Agriculture and
Farmers’ Welfare, Karnal. The
department, through a trans­
parent and competitive bid­
ding process, has selected a set
of farmers, FPOs,entrepren­
eurs, who will be provided
with the equipment at an
event on Friday, in Karnal.
V Sajeev Kumar
Kochi
After a four­yearstint as Exec­
utive Director of the Rubber
Board, KN Raghavan will step
down on March 31 after tak­
ing up a lot of significant
measures to extend natural
rubber cultivation to more
parts of the country beyond
Kerala.
In a farewell interaction
with businessline, Raghavan
stressed the need to focus
more on stretching rubber
farming to other regions
across the country, consider­
ing the shrinkage of cultivated
area in traditional growing
belt of Kerala.
Declining interest among
traditional growers can be
cited as a reason for this,
which can be seen more
among absentee landlords,
who are not directly involved
in natural rubber cultivation.
Currently, 5.5 lakh hectares
KN Raghavan, Executive
Director, Rubber Board
are under natural rubber cul­
tivation in Kerala and there
could be a drop of around 8­10
per cent in the next 10­15
years, he said.
ATMA’S SUPPORT
The Board, according to him,
has taken up a project for sup­
porting the development of
new rubber plantations in
North East (NE) with ₹1,000
crore funding from major tyre
companies represented by the
Automotive Tyre Manufac­
turers Association (ATMA) by
signing an MoU in March
2021.The plan is to develop
2,00,000 hectares of rubber
plantations in NE in five
years. Planting was done on
27,232 hectares in 2021 and
2022. Arrangements have
been completed for carrying
out planting on 50,000 hec­
tares in 2023.
Likewise, MoU was signed
with Navsari Agricultural
University, Gujarat to evalu­
ate the feasibility of cultivat­
ing rubber in the South Gu­
jarat region and with DY Patil
Agriculture and Technical
University, Talsande in Maha­
rashtra to explore the feasibil­
ity in the Kolhapur region.
Another MoU is to be
signed with Indira Gandhi
Vishwavidyalaya Raipur for
setting up rubber plantations
on a trial basis in the Bastar re­
gion in Chhattisgarh. If suc­
cessful, this can help to bring
down the incidence of ex­
tremist activities in that re­
gion, Raghavan said.
Rubber Board has started a
scheme for “adopting” plant­
ations lying untapped. To
date, 55,000 hectares of plant­
ations have been adopted, and
tapping resumed therein.
On production, he said the
figure has gone from 6,51,000
tonnes in 2018­19 to 7,75,000
tonnes in 2021­22, and the fig­
ure is expected to reach
8,40,000 tonnes in 2022­23.
On the fluctuations in nat­
ural rubber prices hitting
small farmers hard, Raghavan
said the RPIS scheme imple­
mented by the Kerala govern­
ment is a good initiative as it
helps to protect the interests
of small growers by providing
them with a safety net.
The Board has written to
the governments in other rub­
ber­growing States to con­
sider implementing similar
schemes.
The introduction of mRube
is proposed to complement
the existing trade system of
NR with more market visibil­
ity, Raghavan added.
... . . . . . . BM­BME

MUMBAI
businessline.
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31 ­ 2023
QUICKLY.
Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies’
grant to Nimhans, NCBS
Bengaluru: Rohini Nilekani
Philanthropies announced a grant
of ₹100 crore to the National
Institute of Mental Health and
Neurosciences (Nimhans) and the
National Centre for Biological
Sciences (NCBS) to set up the
‘Centre for Brain and Mind’. The
foundation will fund the Centre for
five years from April. OUR BUREAU
HPCL signs pact with BPCL
for hydrogen synergy
New Delhi: HPCL on Thursday
said it has signed a pact with
BPCL for synergy in purchase
and sale of hydrogen between
the refineries they operate in
Mumbai. Hydrogen is required
for treating diesel and petrol to
produce low­emission fuel of
Euro­VI or Bharat Stage VI
specifications, and is vital for
reliable and safe refinery
operations. PTI
ICAI to open three more
Chapters in the US
New Delhi: The CA Institute plans
to open three chapters in the US
in Seattle, Ohio and Arizona, said
its President Aniket Sunil
Talatisaid in a video message to
members post a meeting of the
Central Council. ICAI now has
seven chapters in the US in Dallas,
New England, San Fransisco,
Houston, New York, Washington
DC and Chicago. Arizona chapter
will be launched on March 31,
sources said. OUR BUREAU
‘Health Ministry action sends strong
signal on good manufacturing practices’
PT Jyothi Datta
Mumbai
The cancellation of licences of
18 drug companies for making
spurious drugs has sent out a
strong signal on the adherence
to good manufacturing prac­
tices (GMP), say drug makers,
on a recent action taken by the
Health Ministry.
Even though details are
sketchy around the Health
Ministry’s action on these
companies, it comes at a time
when certain cough syrups
from India have come under
the scanner in Gambia and
Uzbekistan. This was followed
by another incident linked to
eye drops in the US. Recently,
the Lok Sabha was informed of
a medical alert from the World
Health Organization on con­
tamination in a product that
was used to treat cancer and
autoimmune diseases. This
was reported from Lebanon
and Yemen.
aha expands bouquet with MoD signs ₹32,000­cr deals for procurement
documentary content of vessels, missiles, radars and gun systems
KV Kurmanath
Hyderabad
aha, an OTT player focusing
on Telugu and Tamil con­
tent has forayed into docu­
mentaries. Marking Sri­
rama Navami today, it
started streaming aha Go-
davari, a documentary
made by Gyabo Network
Private Limited.
Produced by Swathi Mul­
lapudi, the one­hour docu­
mentary captures the jour­
ney of the river, which is the
lifeline of crores of people
in Maharashtra, Telangana,
and Andhra Pradesh. The
Godavari river, which is of­
ten referred to as Dakshin
Ganga, is the second­
longest river after the
Ganga.
“We are looking at devel­
oping local content that
captures the diversity of
CM
YK
‘Domestic steel use buoyant despite global uncertainties’
bl interview
Abhishek Law
Shishir Sinha
New Delhi
India’s steel consumption
remains “buoyant” despite
global economic
uncertainties and price
volatility. Driven by
government spending on
infrastructure, steel
consumption has grown 11
per cent this fiscal, says
Nagendra Nath Sinha, Steel
Secretary.
In an interview to
businessline, Sinha talks
about steel demand and
export outlook, price
volatility and
Made­in­India branding for
steel offerings and effect of
imposition of restrictive
trade practices like carbon
tax in Europe. Excerpts:
What is the steel
‘Spurious drug makers will not be spared’
Our Bureau
New Delhi
Companies making spurious
or adulterated medicines
will not be spared and strict
action will be taken against
offenders, Mansukh Man­
daviya, Union Minister of
Health and Family Welfare,
said on Thursday. The Minis­
ter was speaking post in­
specting a Jan Aushadhi
Kendra in Dehradun.
“For inspections, we have
drug controllers in each
State along with the Drugs
Controller General of India
(DGCI). If we find spurious
medicines anywhere, we will
take action against that com­
pany. Drives are being car­
ried out already,” the minis­
ter added.
This statement comes
against the backdrop of the
government revoking the li­
cences of 18 pharmaceutical
Recently, the Lok Sabha was
informed of a medical alert from
the WHO on contamination in a
product from India
“Any violation of GMP is a
public health hazard,” says Vivek
Sehgal, Director General with
the Organisation of Pharma­
ceutical Producers of India
(OPPI), a platform of multina­
tional drug makers. They have
been calling for the implementa­
tion of good manufacturing, dis­
tribution and promotional prac­
tices, Sehgal told businessline.
Pointing to the spurious
drugs issue, he said, “To counter
the issue of counterfeit drugs,
while making basic information
about the drug available to pa­
tients, the Drugs Technical Ad­
OTT player streams
aha Godavari, a documentary
on the 1,465­km river, a
lifeline for crores of people
culture and heritage,” an
aha spokesperson said at a
preview of the document­
ary.
“We wanted to capture
the cultural, religious, and
economic significance of
the river,” Swathi Mul­
lapudi, director and produ­
cer of the documentary,
said.
consumption outlook
for India?
Despite the global
uncertainties and
slowdown trends, Indian
steel consumption has
increased by 11 per cent so
far this fiscal. The rise was
driven by the government’s
thrust on infrastructure
and pick­up in construction
activities.
Going forward, the
Centre’s capex plans at
₹13.5­lakh crore and focus
by State governments on
infra development is
expected to boost
consumption of steel.
The World Steel
Association said India’s
steel demand is expected to
grow at 6.7 per cent for
calendar year 2023.
Prices continue to be
volatile though. Your
comments.
Steel prices are
market­driven and there’s
Union Health Minister
Mansukh Mandaviya PTI
companies on charges of
producing adulterated medi­
cines. The DGCI also con­
ducted inspections on 76 en­
terprises across 20 States.
GLOBAL CONCERNS
Three companies’ permis­
sion to manufacture specific
products were also can­
celled; and show­cause no­
tices were issued to 26 com­
panies. Business practices of
e­pharmacies are also under
the Centre’s radar.
Incidentally, Indian
visory Board has recommen­
ded introducing QR codes in
drug products to help authen­
ticate and track and trace these
drugs across the supply chain.
Such technology­aided solu­
tions will help address the drug
quality challenge.”
BLOCKCHAIN SOLUTIONS
The adoption of blockchain­
based pharma solutions can
help ensure higher quality con­
trol across the value chain –
vendors, distributors, bottling
and packaging, and retailing, he
said.
It is not clear if companies
will be given time to remedy
their manufacturing problems
and get back to the regulator or
whether they will remain shut ­
which raises concerns regard­
ing their employees. Public
health workers called for more
details on the action, including
the revoking of licence on three
products ­ whose details also
have not been revealed by the
health authorities.
Dalip Singh
New Delhi
The Ministry of Defence
signed big­ticket deals on
the eve of the financial year
closing, with four contracts
signed with indigenous
firms on Thursday for pro­
curement of vessels, gun
systems and missiles worth
₹32,000 crore.
The contracts with In­
dian shipyards were for ac­
quisition of 11 next­genera­
tion offshore patrol vessels
and six missile vessels at an
overall cost of about
₹19,600 crore, the ministry
said in a release.
Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL)
and Garden Reach Ship­
builders and Engineers
(GRSE) have together been
assigned the contract for
the 11 offshore patrol ves­
sels under Buy (Indian­
Indian steel prices are
also determined by
movement of steel
prices at a global level,
so even geo-political
issues or larger macro
economic issues impact
the price
NAGENDRA NATH SINHA
Steel Secretary
always some element of
volatility in that.
Indian steel prices are
also determined by
movement of steel prices at
a global level, so even
geo­political issues or
larger macro economic
issues impact the price.
After a brief increase in
2023, steel prices are
witnessing some cooling off
pharma companies have
come under the global scan­
ner after some of them were
held responsible for al­
legedly supplying contamin­
ated medicines that caused
fatalities in other nations.
Deaths of 70 children in
Gambia have been attributed
to four syrups produced by
Maiden Biotech, a company
headquartered in Haryana;
and deaths of 18 children in
Uzbekistan were attributed
to two syrups produced by
Marion Biotech, a company
based in Noida. There have
been reports surrounding an
eyedrop, manufactured by a
Chennai­based entity, that
was related to 55 adverse
events, including eyesight
loss and one death from a
bloodstream infection in the
US.
Export of medicines from
India, known as “the phar­
macy of the world”, rose to
over $24 billion in FY22,
FSSAI revises order on curd labelling,
allows use of regional names
Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Food Safety and
Standards Authority of In­
dia (FSSAI), on Thursday,
revised its order allowing
the use of regional com­
mon names on labels of
curd packets amidst a row
in Tamil Nadu over the
Hindi term Dahi.
In a statement on
Thursday, FSSAI said that
food business operators
can use the term “curd”
along with the prevalent
regional common name in
brackets on the label.
This statement comes
after the Tamil Nadu gov­
ernment raised objections
to the authority’s direction
to use of term dahion curd
packets. Aavin said it will
not use the Hindi term in
the labelling. Karnataka
Milk Federation and Kerala
IDDM) category at a total
cost of ₹9,781 crore. GSL
will build seven and GRSE
four. The delivery of the
ships is scheduled to com­
mence from September
2026.
Similarly, six next gener­
ation missile vessels
(NGMV) would be pro­
cured from Cochin
Shipyard Limited (CSL) at a
cost of ₹9,805 crore, said
the Ministry. The delivery is
scheduled to commence
from March 2027.
The MoD also signed a
contract with Bharat Elec­
tronics Limited for procur­
ing 13 indigenously de­
signed and developed Gun
Fire Control Systems for
warships at a cost of ₹1,700
crore.
“The 4th generation
completely indigenous sys­
tems will be installed on
New Generation Offshore
mid­March onwards. We
are keeping a watch on
price movement, but
demand in India remains
strong.
Exports have
continued to fall May
2022 onwards. Any
outlook of when some
stability can be seen
there?
nearly doubling over the past
decade.
COVID CASES RISE
Meanwhile, India reported
3,016 new Covid cases in the
past 24 hours, a 40 per cent
jump over Wednesday. The
daily positivity rate has been
recorded at 2.7 per cent and
the weekly positivity rate at
1.71 per cent, according to
data shared by the Union
Health Ministry.
The country’s Covid­19
death count on a 24­hour
basis increased to six (ex­
cluding reconciliation) —
three deaths were reported
from Maharashtra, two from
Delhi and one in Himachal
Pradesh in a span of 24
hours.
Active cases now com­
prise 0.03 per cent of the
total infections, while the na­
tional Covid­19 recovery
rate has been recorded at
98.78 per cent.
Milk Federation reportedly
had also raised similar ob­
jections.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minis­
ter MK Stalin, in a tweet on
Wednesday, said, “The un­
abashed insistence of
Hindi imposition has come
to the extent of directing
us to label even a curd
packet in Hindi, relegating
Tamil & Kannada in our
own States. Such brazen
disregard to our mother
tongues will make sure
those responsible are ban­
ished from the South
forever (sic).”
REGIONAL NAMES
The food safety authority,
on Thursday, said, “As
many representations were
received recently on the
omission of the term
“curd, from the Standards
of Fermented Milk
Products, it has been de­
cided that FBOs may use
Patrol Vessels. This move
will generate an employ­
ment of two lakh man­days
over a period of four years
and encourage active parti­
cipation of various Indian
industries, including
MSMEs, thus significantly
contributing to the govern­
ment’s efforts to achieve
‘Aatmanirbharta’ in de­
fence,” the ministry said in
the statement.
It has also got a contract
for improved weapon locat­
ing radars ‘Swathi’ (Plains)
at a cost of over ₹990 crore,
said the Ministry. Induction
is planned to be completed
in 24 months.
BRAHMOS MISSILES
The Ministry also inked a
deal with BrahMos
Aerospace Private Limited,
a JV between India and Rus­
sia, for procurement of next
generation maritime mo­
Our last numbers say,
export were to the tune of
8.2 million tonnes so far
this fiscal. Beyond the
export duty imposition —
which was withdrawn —
there are several global
factors that have played a
role here.
Key overseas markets
saw a slowdown in demand,
which hit numbers. Right
now demand push in key
markets is flattish.
However, the Indian steel
mills have been looking out
at new markets while
continuing to service
traditional ones.
There are opportunities
for exports in countries like
Turkey that the mills are
tapping into.
Does the proposed
carbon tax in the EU
impact Indian steel
mills?
The carbon tax is a proposal
at the moment and there
DO IT YOURSELF STYLING
RANGE UNLIMITED. A sneakers customisation platform K­KIX was launched in Chennai, on
Thursday. In the picture are (from left), Tanzeel Ur Rehman, COO, K­KIX; Karan Dayanidhi Maran,
Divya Dayanidhi Maran and Nivedita Arvind, co­founders, K­KIX BIJOY GHOSH
Food business operators can use
the term ‘curd’ along with the
prevalent regional common name
in brackets on the label
the term “Curd” along with
any other designation (pre­
valent regional common
name) in brackets on the
label.“
“Accordingly, curd can
also be labelled as per the
following examples­ “Curd
(Dahi)” ,Curd (Mosaru)”,
Curd (Zaamut daud)”,
“Curd (Thayir)” or “Curd
(Perugu)”,” it added.
bile coastal batteries (long
range) and BrahMos mis­
siles at an approximate cost
of over ₹1,700 crore under
Buy (Indian) Category.
These systems are sched­
uled to be delivered from
2027, the ministry stated.
AKASH WEAPON SYSTEM
The contract for procure­
ment of improved Akash
Weapon System (AWS) for
the 3rd and 4th Regiments
of Army Air Defence, com­
prising live missiles and
launchers with upgrades,
ground support equipment,
vehicles and infrastructure
₹8,160 crore was signed
with Bharat Dynamics Lim­
ited. The AWS is a short
range surface to air missile
(SRSAM) air defence sys­
tem, indigenously designed
and developed by Defence
Research and Development
Organisation.
news . bl . 7
will be adverse effects on
Indian steel mills.
We have held meetings
with integrated steel
producers and the
secondary mills to
understand their issues and
concerns. Concerns have
been raised regarding
conformity with the WTO
regime and the equity.
This is going to affect
access as this may lead to
adverse price structures.
There is some divergence of
views on the proposed tax
among some sections of the
Indian steel mills.
We are continuing to
deepen our understanding
of the new regime and work
with Ministry of Commerce
and others in this regard.
Some factors like
development of the carbon
credit market, or
integrating working of steel
mills with the evolving
carbon markets are being
looked at and are being
The food safety regu­
lator had notified provi­
sions for the omission of
the term “curd” from the
Standards of Fermented
Milk products in January
and only the term “dahi”
was mentioned.
“General Standard for
Milk and Milk Products’
under the ‘Food Safety and
Standards (Food Products
Standards and Food Addit­
ives) Regulations, 2011
clearly lay down guidelines
for use of dairy term(s)in
the nomenclature of dairy
products (milk, milk
product or a composite
milk product) and related
prohibitions for such use in
non­dairy products. Ac­
cordingly, when term
“curd” was written along
with “Dahi” in the said reg­
ulation, it was restricting
its used for non dairy
products,” the FSSAI ad­
ded in its statement.
‘Defence exports at ₹14,000 cr,
target is ₹40,000 cr by 2026’
Our Bureau
New Delhi
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh on Thursday said the
defence exports have gone
up manifold to ₹14,000
crore this financial year
from ₹900 crore eight years
ago, which shows the grow­
ing self­reliance in this sec­
tor.
The target is ₹40,000
crore by 2026, he said at a
function organised by a
private television channel.
TOP PRIORITY
Singh reiterated that na­
tional security was the gov­
ernment’s top priority and
‘Aatmanirbharta’ or self­re­
liance as the only medium to
achieve it.
Notification of positive
indigenisation lists; ear­
marking a record 75 per cent
of defence capital procure­
worked on. But this is a
work­in­progress.
Is the Made­in­India
branding for steel
happening?
Two corporates, Jindal
Stainless Ltd and the Steel
Authority of India Ltd, have
been selected in the first
round of trials for having
‘Made in India’ branded
steel. We are working with
the other players to bring
them on­board.
Factors like placement of
logo, printing
infrastructure, training of
personnel, integration of IT
systems are critical for the
scheme. So, very soon you
will see the scheme —
Made­in­India branded
steel offerings — being
rolled out in both domestic
and export markets. This is
another way in which we
would be adding to the
visibility and trust in Indian
steel.
Essar’s hydrogen
project to get funds
under UK’s carbon
capture programme
Our Bureau
New Delhi
Essar group on Thursday said
that the UK government has
chosen Essar Energy Trans­
itions’ Vertex Hydrogen project
one of the two hydrogen plants
that will help build the coun­
try’s hydrogen economy.
Essar welcomes the Depart­
ment for Energy Security and
Net Zero’s (DESNZ) cluster se­
quencing Phase­2 announce­
ment confirming its Vertex Hy­
drogen project, it said in a
statement. The announcement
follows the UK government’s
commitment to provide up to
£20 billionfor early deployment
of carbon capture, usage and
storage (CCUS) to help meet its
climate commitments, it added.
The funding supports private
investment and job creation in
locations including the North
West of England, Essar’s UK
home.
ment budget for domestic
industry in the financial
year 2023­24 and efforts to
provide local companies ac­
cess to international mar­
ket, are some of the steps his
ministry has taken towards
this end, Singh said.
The Minister stated that
over 100 unicorns have
come up due to start­up­
based innovation ecosystem
created in the country.
... . . . . . . BM­BME
8 . bl . news
QUICKLY.
Banga poised to become
WB chief unopposed
Washington: Indian­American
business leader Ajay Banga is
poised to become the next
President of the World Bank
after the nomination period
closed and no country
proposed an alternate
candidate for the prestigious
post. Banga currently serves as
Vice Chairman at General
Atlantic. PTI
Australia passes landmark
laws on carbon emission
Canberra: The Australian
Parliament created landmark
new laws on Thursday that will
make the nation’s biggest
greenhouse gas polluters
reduce their emissions or pay
for carbon credits. Set to take
effect July 1, the reforms force
Australia's 215 most polluting
facilities to reduce their
emissions by 4.9 per cent a
year. PTI
Russia arrests WSJ
reporter for ‘espionage’
Moscow: Russia’s top security
agency says a reporter for the
Wall Street Journal has been
arrested on espionage charges.
The Federal Security Service,
said on Thursday that Evan
Gershkovich was detained in
the Ural Mountains city of
Yekaterinburg while allegedly
trying to obtain classified
information. AP
Vistara operates wide-body aircraft using
sustainable aviation fuel on long-haul route
Our Bureau
New Delhi
Vistara, a joint venture of
Tata group and Singapore
Airlines, became India’s
first carrier to operate a
wide­body aircraft using
sustainable aviation fuel
(SAF) on a long­haul route
today. The ground­breaking
ferry flight from Charleston
International Airport,
South Carolina to Indira
Gandhi International Air­
port, Delhi, was operated in
partnership with The Boe­
ing Company and GE
Aerospace, on Vistara’ s
newest GEnx­powered Boe­
ing 787­9 Dreamliner air­
craft, the fourth in its fleet.
By using a blend of 30 per
cent SAF with 70 per cent
conventional jet fuel,
Vistara was able to reduce
Bollywood to see big stars back on the silver screen
Industry experts hopeful of box office revenue bouncing back to pre­Covid levels
Meenakshi Verma Ambwani
New Delhi
With a strong lineup of big­
budget films in the next few
months, analysts believe the
Hindi box office revenues
could finally get back to pre­
Covid levels. Starting with
Ajay Devgn starrer B­
holaa on Thursday, a slew of
Hindi movies backed by big
stars are slated to be re­
leased in the June quarter.
This includes Salman Khan
starrer Kisi ka Bhai Kisi ki
Jaan, Prabhas’ Adipurush,
Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan,
Karthik Aryan’s Satya Ki
Prem Katha, and
Devgn’s Maidaan.
In fact, some movies are
getting released in June. Re­
ferring to the June lineup of
films, trade analyst Taran
Adarsh tweeted, “SRK­
Prabhas­Ajay Devgn­Kartik
Aaryan: June 2023 is packed
with biggies (sic).”
CM
YK
India’s mobility, migration push in
talks with UK now packs more power
CHANGED SCENARIO. With nod for partial entry of foreign law firms, New Delhi in stronger negotiating position
Amiti Sen
New Delhi
India is hoping to persuade
the UK to weave provisions
of the bilateral migration
and mobility agreement
into the free trade agree­
ment (FTA) that is being
negotiated to make mobil­
ity concessions “institu­
tionalised” and permanent,
sources said.
As the India­UK FTA ne­
gotiations gain momentum,
New Delhi is also keen that
a social security agreement
with the UK gets included
in the pact so that Indian
professionals working in
the country for a short
period don’t lose money in
social security contribu­
tions they cannot benefit
from, a source tracking the
matter told businessline.
The UK, however, has
Customs duty on drugs imported for treating rare disease waived
Shishir Sinha
New Delhi
The Finance Ministry has
decided to fully exempt all
drugs and foods imported
for the treatment of all rare
diseases listed under the
National Policy for Rare
Diseases 2021 from basic
customs duty.
The exemption applies to
items imported for personal
use.
Also, to avail of this ex­
emption, the individual im­
porter has to produce a cer­
tificate from the Central or
State Director Health Ser­
vices or District Medical
Officer/Civil Surgeon of the
district.
Drugs or medicines gen­
ECO­FRIENDLY. By using a blend of 30 per cent SAF with
70 per cent conventional jet fuel, Vistara was able to reduce
significant amount of CO2 emissions over the fuel’s life cycle
approximately 150,000
pounds of CO2 emissions
over the fuel’s life cycle.
Vinod Kannan, Chief Ex­
ecutive Officer, Vistara,
said, “We take immense
pride in carrying out an­
other pioneering initiative
to operate a wide­body air­
craft on a long­haul route
STAR­POWERED.June quarter will see a slew of big­budget
films from the likes of SRK, Prabhas, Ajay Devgn, Kartik Aaryan
Rajender Singh Jyala,
Chief Programming Officer,
PVR said, “We anticipate the
June quarter to be one of the
best quarters for the exhibi­
tion industry. The quarter is
looking very strong, looking
at the number of big Hindi
films that will get released.
So, it will definitely be just
like pre­Covid times and
much bigger in terms of box
office revenues compared to
the same period last fiscal.”
WIN­WIN. If India manages to convince the UK to include a social
security agreement in the FTA, it will be a big gain, sources say
been resisting both de­
mands made by India, the
source said. But with India
now in a position to give
some concessions in legal
services, its negotiating
hand might have become
stronger.
erally attract basic customs
duty of 10 per cent, while
some categories of lifesav­
ing drugs/vaccines attract a
concessional rate of 5 per
cent or NIL.
EXPENSIVE AFFAIR
While exemptions have
already been provided to
specified drugs for the
treatment of spinal muscu­
lar atrophy or duchenne
muscular dystrophy, the
government has been re­
ceiving many representa­
tions seeking customs duty
relief for drugs and medi­
cines used in the treatment
of other rare diseases.
Drugs or special foods re­
quired for the treatment of
these diseases are expens­
using SAF, as we took deliv­
ery of our all­new Boeing
787­9 Dreamliner. This is an
important milestone in our
commitment towards
achieving carbon
neutrality.”
“Since the very begin­
ning, Vistara had decided to
invest in modern and ad­
REVENUE RECOVERY
In a report, Karan Taurani,
Senior Vice­President, Elara
Capital said, “In our view,
Q1 and Q2 performances are
crucial for the exhibition in­
dustry to inch closer to pre­
Covid levels. We expect
Hindi box office revenue to
recover to 90 per cent of pre­
Covid levels in FY24 com­
pared to 75 per cent of pre­
Covid levels in FY23.”
Though the March
“If the migration and
mobility agreement is in­
cluded in the FTA then it
will become institutional­
ised and the provisions
can’t be changed easily.
That is why India is trying
so hard for it. With the Bar
NEW RULES. To avail of this exemption, the importer has to
produce a certificate from the Central or State Director Health
Services or District Medical Officer/Civil Surgeon of the district
ive and need to be
imported.
“It is estimated that for a
child weighing 10 kg, the
annual cost of treatment
for some rare diseases may
vanced new aircraft with
fuel efficient engines, and
we remain committed to­
wards reducing carbon
emissions across all areas of
our operations,” he added.
CLEANER ALTERNATIVE
Vikram Rai, Country Head –
South Asia & Indonesia, GE
Aerospace said, “GE
Aerospace congratulates
Vistara on this milestone.
The GEnx engine, like all GE
Aerospace engines, can op­
erate on approved SAF
blends today. Compatibility
with existing aircraft en­
gines is one of the reasons
SAF is critical to helping the
aviation industry reach its
goal to be net zero by 2050
and collaborations like this
encouraging greater adop­
tion of SAF globally helps
bring us closer to this tar­
get.”
quarter witnessed the stu­
pendous success of SRK­
’s Pathaan and Ranbir Ka­
poor’s Tu Jhoothi Main
Makkar reported healthy
box office collections, other
films did not do as well as
expected.
Taurani believes Bholaa
could kick­start the quarter
for the Hindi movie industry
on a high. “We expect Hindi
box office revenue growth of
18 per cent in Q1 FY24 vs
pre­Covid levels and 4 per
cent YoY led by a slate of
large budget films,” he
stated in the report.
Analysts believe this
strong content pipeline will
help cinemas attract strong
footfalls and take the share
of Hindi box office for multi­
plexes closer to pre­Covid
levels. Currently, Hindi
movies’ share in the box of­
fice is pegged at about 30 per
cent compared to about 50
per cent in pre­Covid.
Council now allowing par­
tial entry for foreign law
firms, India may be in a pos­
ition to negotiate harder.
The UK has been seeking an
opening in the Indian legal
sector for long,” the source
explained.
The migration and mo­
bility agreement, signed by
India and the UK in 2021, is
likely to lead to enhanced
mobility provisions for the
young citizens of both
countries and allow them to
live and work in the two
countries for up to two
years.
COST-SAVING MOVE
A social security agreement
with the UK can help Indian
professionals working tem­
porarily in the UK save up
to 500 million pounds every
year in compulsory contri­
butions for pension that
they would not be able to
vary from ₹10 lakh to more
than ₹1 crore per year with
treatment being lifelong
and drug dose and cost in­
creasing with age and
weight,” a statement issued
Virgin Atlantic expands codeshare
with IndiGo; to add 18 destinations
Our Bureau
New Delhi
Virgin Atlantic has expan­
ded its codeshare with In­
diGo to connect with Lon­
don and beyond, from
destinations such as
Varanasi, Srinagar, Goa
Mopa and Lucknow through
Delhi and Mumbai. The
partnership is adding 18
destinations to its existing
portfolio making it a total of
34 destinations.
Alex McEwaz, Country
Manager — South Asia, Vir­
gin Atlantic said, “We are
excited to more than double
the number of destinations
available in our codeshare
partnership with IndiGo.
This offers our customers
more choice when travel­
ling to and from India. By
combining IndiGo’s vast
Microsoft’s cloud practices are
anti-competitive, says Google
Reuters
Alphabet’s Google Cloud
has accused Microsoft of
anti­competitive cloud
computing practices and
criticised imminent deals
with several European
cloud vendors, saying these
do not solve broader con­
cerns about its licensing
terms.
In Google Cloud’s first
public comments on Mi­
crosoft and its European
deals its Vice President
Amit Zavery told Reuters
the company has raised the
issue with antitrust agen­
cies and urged European
Union antitrust regulators
to take a closer look.
In response, Microsoft
referred to a blogpost in
May last year where its pres­
ident Brad Smith said it ‘has
a healthy number two posi­
tion when it comes to cloud
services, with just over 20
percent market share of
enjoy as their work tenure
would end much earlier, the
source said.
‘BIG-WIN FOR INDIA’
“If India manages to con­
vince the UK to include a
social security agreement in
the FTA, it will be a big
gain. The problem is that
the UK would not gain
much from it as the number
of UK professionals work­
ing in India is low,” the
source added.
India and the UK con­
cluded their eighth round
of negotiations in New
Delhi on March 20­24 in a
hybrid mode.
Of the 26 chapters being
covered in the FTA, which
include goods, services, in­
vestments, government
procurement, e­commerce,
gender and IPR, about 13
chapters have been closed,
sources said.
by the Finance Ministry
said. Further, this exemp­
tion will result in substan­
tial cost savings and
provide much­needed relief
to the patients. The govern­
ment has also fully exemp­
ted Pembrolizumab
(Keytruda) used in the
treatment of various can­
cers from basic customs
duty.
In another notification,
the Central Board of Indir­
ect Taxes and Customs ex­
empted health cess for ten
goods that are used in man­
ufacturing X­ray machines.
These include Static User
Interface, X­Ray Diagnostic
Table, Vertical Bucky, X­Ray
Tube Suspension, High­Fre­
quency X­Ray Generator, X­
Ray Grid, among others.
network with Virgin At­
lantic’s three daily services
between India and UK, we
offer a range of connections
to and from India’s most
popular destinations.”
MORE ACCESS
Goa has proved particularly
popular with Virgin Atlantic
customers. The expanded
partnership will incorpor­
ate Goa’s second airport,
Goa Mopa, is providing
travellers with even more
access to one of their fa­
CLASH OF TITANS. Google has raised the issue of Microsoft’s
European deals, urging the EU’s antitrust regulators to take a
closer look at them
global cloud services reven­
ues’. “We are committed to
the European Cloud Com­
munity and their success,” a
Microsoft spokesperson
told Reuters on Thursday.
Microsoft has offered to
change its cloud computing
practices in a deal with a few
smaller rivals which in turn
will suspend their antitrust
complaints, a person with
direct knowledge of the
matter told Reuters. The
move will stave off an EU in­
Spouses of H-1B visa
holders can work
in US, rules court
Press Trust of India
Washington
In a big relief for foreign
workers in the US tech sec­
tor, a judge in the US has
ruled that spouses of H­1B
visa holders, a significantly
large number of whom are
Indians, can work in the US.
US District Judge Tanya
Chutkan dismissed a lawsuit
filed by Save Jobs USA which
had approached the court to
dismiss the Obama­era reg­
ulation that gave employ­
ment authorisation cards to
spouses of certain categor­
ies of H­1B visa holders.
BACKING FROM TECH
Tech companies such as
Amazon, Apple, Google, and
Microsoft had opposed the
lawsuit.
In her order, Judge
Chutkan said the primary
contention of Save Jobs USA
is that Congress has never
granted the Department of
Homeland Security author­
ity to allow foreign nation­
als, like H­4 visa­holders, to
work during their stay in the
US.
But that contention runs
headlong into the text of the
Immigration and National­
ity Act, decades of execut­
ive­branch practice and
both explicit and implicit
congressional ratification of
that practice, she wrote.
The judge wrote that
Congress has expressly and
knowingly empowered the
US government to authorise
employment as a permiss­
ible condition of an H­4
spouse’s stay in the US.
The fact that the federal
government has had long­
standing and open respons­
ibility for authorising em­
ployment for similar visa
classes further manifests
Congress’ approval of it ex­
ercising that authority, she
said. The Department of
Homeland Security and its
vourite destinations. Be­
sides Mopa, the codeshare
has been extended to
Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal,
Guwahati, Gwalior, Bagdo­
gra, Allahabad, Jammu, Leh,
Ranchi, Jodhpur, Jabalpur,
Kanpur, Lucknow, Patna,
Raipur, Surat, Srinagar and
Varanasi.
IndiGo and Virgin At­
lantic had announced a
codeshare agreement in Au­
gust 2022. Under the agree­
ment, Virgin Atlantic will be
allowed to sell seats to pas­
sengers connecting onto In­
diGo flights.
The expanded codeshare
allows the British carrier’s
Flying Club members to
reach their rewards faster,
with opportunities to earn
both Virgin Points and Tier
Points available on every
codeshare flight with
IndiGo.
vestigation. Zavery said in­
dividual deals struck with
several smaller European
cloud vendors only benefit
Microsoft.
“They’re selectively buy­
ing out those ones who
complain and not make
those terms available to
everyone. So that definitely
makes it an unfair advant­
age to Microsoft and ties the
people who complained
back to Microsoft anyway,”
he said.
MUMBAI
businessline.
FRIDAY ­ MARCH 31 ­ 2023
Congress has expressly
and knowingly
empowered the US
government to
authorise employment
as a permissible
condition of an H-4
spouse’s stay in the US,
Judge Chutkan wrote in
the ruling
predecessors have author­
ised employment not just
for students, but also for
their spouses and depend­
ents, Judge Chutkan wrote
in the ruling.
Also, the Department of
Homeland Security has long
extended work authorisa­
tion to spouses of foreign
government officials and
spouses of employees or of­
ficers of international or­
ganisations, the judge wrote
as she dismissed the lawsuit
filed by Save Jobs USA.
‘MUCH-NEEDED RELIEF’
Ajay Bhutoria, a prominent
community leader and ad­
vocate for immigrant rights,
applauded the court’s de­
cision and said, “With the
court’s decision to allow
H­1B visa holders’ spouses
to work, thousands of famil­
ies across the country will
be able to breathe a little
easier. This decision will
provide much­needed relief
to families who have been
struggling to make ends
meet and it will help to en­
sure that these families can
stay together and thrive,”
Bhutoria said.
Save Jobs USA said it
plans to appeal against the
court ruling.
MPP inks pact
with Aurobindo,
Cipla and Viatris
for HIV drug
Our Bureau
Mumbai
The Medicines Patent Pool
(MPP) has signed sub­licence
agreements with Aurobindo,
Cipla and Viatris (through its
subsidiary Mylan) to manu­
facture generic versions of
cabotegravir long­acting (LA)
for HIV pre­exposure prophy­
laxis (PrEP).
This was jointly announced
by MPP and ViiV Healthcare,
the global specialist HIV com­
pany, majority of which is
owned by GSK, with Pfizer
and Shionogi as shareholders.
The latest development fol­
lowed the signing of a volun­
tary licensing (VL) agreement
for patents relating to
cabotegravir LA for PrEP
between ViiV Healthcare and
MPP in July 2022, MPP said.
Through the MPP­ViiV
Healthcare agreement, the se­
lected generic manufacturers
will be able to develop, manu­
facture and supply generic
versions of cabotegravir LA
for PrEP, in 90 countries, sub­
ject to required regulatory ap­
provals being obtained. Auro­
bindo and Viatris will
manufacture in India; Cipla
will manufacture in India and
has plans to manufacture in
South Africa as well, MPP
said.
While oral PrEP options
are now available in many
countries, access to caboteg­
ravir LA for PrEP could signi­
ficantly contribute to redu­
cing HIV transmission by
providing people a choice in
their HIV prevention options,
according to UNAIDS
SELECTION PROCESS
The three manufacturers
were selected through an
open call for Expressions of
Interest, which included a
blinded assessment of applic­
ations and an on­site technical
assessment of short­listed ap­
plicants with proven technical
expertise, capacity, and readi­
ness (in terms of specialist
manufacturing equipment) to
develop long­acting nano­sus­
pension based injectable
formulations.
... . . . . . . BM­BME