Mumbai, NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE*, LUCKNOW* VOL. 7 NO.

255

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Solution in sight for EU-India Retail investors hurt as smids

livemint.com bond mess uP1 shed ₹26 trillion in 3 weeks uP1

This announcement appears as a matter of record only.

BANKER OF CHOICE!
Leadership in Equity Capital
Market Transactions
Period under review: YTD

Successfully closed 39 Capital Market Transactions amounting to ~ ₹81,584 Cr

For Blackstone Fund

Vedanta Bajaj Housing Finance Samvardhana Motherson Prestige Estates Nexus Select Trust

`8,500 Cr. `6,560 Cr.

` `6,438
` Cr. `5,000 Cr.
` `4,554
` Cr.
QIP IPO QIP QIP Block
July 2024 September 2024 September 2024 August 2024 August 2024

For Promoters

Brainbees Solutions Bajaj Auto Grasim Industries Limited Samvardhana Motherson Bank of Maharashtra

`4,194 Cr. `4,000 Cr.

` `3,999 Cr.
` `3,638 Cr.
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IPO Buyback Rights Issue Block QIP
August 2024 March 2024 January 2024 March 2024 September 2024

Union Bank of India Spicejet Sona BLW Precision Sobha Ltd. Juniper Hotels

`3,000 Cr. `3,000 Cr.

` ₹ 2,400 Cr. `1,999 Cr.
` `1,800 Cr.
`
QIP QIP QIP Rights Issue IPO
February 2024 September 2024 September 2024 June 2024 February 2024

For-Florintree Capital Partners LLP

Entero Healthcare TBO Tek Ceigall India Lloyds Metals & Energy Data Patterns

`1,600 Cr. `1,551Cr. `1,253 Cr.

` `1,218
` Cr. `1,102 Cr.
`
IPO IPO IPO QIP Block
February 2024 May 2024 August 2024 July 2024 February 2024

Chalet Hotels DB Realty Park Hotels KEC International Bazaar Style

`1,000 Cr. `920 Cr. `920 Cr. ₹ 870 Cr. `835 Cr.
QIP QIP IPO QIP IPO
March 2024 March 2024 February 2024 September 2024 September 2024

Keystone Realtors Le Travenues Tech Cello World Gopal Snacks Rashi Peripherals

`800 Cr. `740 Cr. `737 Cr. `650 Cr. `600 Cr.
QIP IPO QIP IPO IPO
May 2024 June 2024 July 2024 March 2024 February 2024

For-Highdell Investment limited

Macritchie Investment PTE. Ltd

Stanley Lifestyles GPT Healtcare Ask Automotive CarTrade Western Carriers

`537 Cr. `525 Cr. ₹ 537 Cr. `505 Cr. `493 Cr.
IPO IPO OFS Block IPO
June 2024 February 2024 September 2024 June 2024 September 2024

PDS Shiva Cement Ltd. Ami Organics Sundaram Clayton

`430 Cr. `400 Cr. `400 Cr. ₹ 400 Cr.

QIP Rights Issue QIP QIP
August 2024 April 2024 June 2024 October 2024

Source: Prime Database | Block Deals & OFS executed by subsidiary of JM Financial Limited

JM Financial Limited
Corporate Identity Number: L67120MH1986PLC038784 | SEBI Registration Number: INM000010361 (Merchant Banker) | Registered Office: 7th Floor, Cnergy, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi,
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 MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE*, LUCKNOW* VOL. 7 NO. 255

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Think Ahead. Think Growth.

mint primer QUICK EDIT

New Noida city: All eyes

Will it spur NCR’s on Brics
Much global attention this week
realty market? is expected to focus on Kazan in
Russia, where leaders of an
expanded Brics grouping are
BY MADHURIMA NANDY meeting. More than 20 heads of
The Uttar Pradesh government’s approval last week to develop New state will be present, including
Noida city, near Greater Noida, is expected to spur real estate and those of China and Iran—US
infrastructure activity in the National Capital Region (NCR). This adversaries that were clubbed
could impact the overall NCR property market. Mint explains how: with Russia and North Korea as
MINT an “axis of upheaval” by an
American think tank. As host,
Russian President Vladimir
Putin will probably try using the
event as a show of strength in
non-Western resistance to the
West’s power. If progress is
made on taking trade off the US
dollar, it may serve as grist for
political mills in America, which
may not just disapprove, but, if
Donald Trump wins the White
House, even impose punitive
measures, going by his cam-
paign rhetoric. Since India, a
founding BRICS member,
would not want the US rubbed
What is the New Noida What kind of activity the wrong way, de-dollarization
1 city plan?
‘New Noida’ is a new, planned city
2 is expected?
As per the plan, New Noida will
may remain just a paper plan.
New Delhi is unlikely to risk any
that will be developed in phases have industrial and logistics hubs, signal going out of giving up its
over 15 years, focusing on the homes, commercial office and neutral stance in geopolitics
Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad region. retail projects, and hospitals. The and has clarified that it has no
The plan, to be carried out by focus is on building integrated qualms using the dollar. Still,
Noida Authority, entails large- industrial townships, with the summit’s highlight might
scale land purchases from nearby affordable housing as well as
turn out to be any direct inter-
villages in Gautam Buddh Nagar ample living facilities for industrial
and Bulandshahr districts. The workers. The long-term plan also action between Prime Minister
state government has also includes an Olympic City, as well Narendra Modi and China’s Xi
approved a master plan, to be as plans to develop a ‘Korean City’ Jinping, given recent signs of a
executed by the Yamuna Express- and a ‘Japanese City’, which will be thaw in bilateral relations.
way Industrial Development industrial hubs. These plans are
Authority, which includes 55 expected to spur sharp growth in
villages in Bulandshahr. The New the Noida and Yamuna Expressway
Noida city will house 600,000 regions across different real estate
people, and will be developed in
four phases, with the first phase
asset classes, which would
contribute to the overall economic
MINT METRIC
expected to be ready in four years. development of Uttar Pradesh. by Bibek Debroy
PTI

In Telangana, a man learning to drive

3 Where does the Jewar
airport fit into the plans?
Noida International Airport in Jewar
Is thankfully still alive.
occupies a prominent place in the
He left the road beyond
development. The airport, expected to be And drove into a pond,
operational next April, is triggering real
estate and industrial activity. Government
A learner ready to dive.
agencies have big plans to acquire land
near the airport. This has resulted in a
surge in land prices that have tripled since
2018, when work on the airport started.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Russian-Indian relations have
4 How will it impact the
NCR property market? 5
The airport and New Noida plans
When will New Noida
become liveable?
A few housing, hotel and retail
the character of a particularly
have already started pushing up projects are already underway in
privileged strategic partnership
land transactions and prices in and around the region. Developers and continue to actively
Greater Noida and Yamuna have started launching projects
Expressway. Noida property prices near the new airport, which are
develop.
have shot up by 20-25% in the last expected to be ready in three-four
two-three years. New Noida, years. Real estate activity should
experts say, will have the biggest pick up significantly once the
impact on Greater Noida. With Jewar airport opens next year.
improved connectivity and Jobs, economic activity and social VLADIMIR PUTIN
infrastructure, the region will infrastructure will fuel demand for PRESIDENT, RUSSIA
attract more capital. Office, retail real estate in New Noida. Last
and data centre activity, which has week, developers bought nine
been inclined towards Noida and plots for ₹1,034 crore to develop
Gurugram, will spill over to premium housing projects near
Greater Noida. the airport, through an e-auction.

MINT NEWSLETTERS

TICKER EASYNOMICS COMPANY OUTSIDER

BY VIJAY L. BHAMBWANI BY VIVEK KAUL BY SUNDEEP KHANNA
A newsletter that delves into the mar- Understand how the economy Track the business of companies with
kets, providing impacts your every- Sundeep Khanna,
insightful and for- day life with ‘Easy- who brings with
ward-looking analy- nomics’. This him over three dec-
sis from one of weekly newsletter ades of reporting on
India’s leading capi- sits at the intersec- India Inc. With
tal market gurus. tion of macroeco- crisp insights on the
‘Ticker’ is recom- nomic trends and goings-on in the
mended reading for a weekly guide to popular culture, with Vivek Kaul, the corporate world, ‘Company Outsider’
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investor or a passive one. own sharp social commentary. those who aspire to the C-suite.
 PLAIN FACTS

Freebies are for votes,

but we’d still like some
BY PRAGYA SRIVASTAVA & PAYAL BHATTACHARYA

Respondents across party lines disliked freebies but supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were more
likely to find them unnecessary, a vote-seeking ploy, and hurting the country’s financial situation.

Indians generally don't like freebies but Rich and poor are also divided over
North-South divide exists over their merit the need for freebies
Share of respondents (%) who agreed with these statements, Share of respondents (%) who said the following* on free goods and
by region services, by self-identified economic class**
Free goods and services given by governments are Poor Lower middle class Upper middle class
unnecessary freebies. Affluent/rich class
North & Central 62 Free goods and services
West 60 given by governments are
unnecessary freebies.
East & North-east 51
Promises of free goods
South 48 and services by politicians
Promises of free goods and services by politicians are are mainly aimed at
mainly aimed at getting votes. getting votes.
North & Central 81 Giving free gas cylinders,
West 77 laptops, phones, scooters
etc. may hurt the country’s 40 60 80 100
East & North-east 76 financial situation.
South 76 *Includes those who picked 'strongly agree' or 'agree'. The other options were
'neutral', 'disagree', and 'strongly disagree'. **Respondents were asked to describe
Giving free gas cylinders, laptops, phones, scooters their family’s economic situation (Based on a sub-sample of 9,802 respondents,
etc. may hurt the country’s financial situation. of which 5% called themselves poor, 43% lower middle class, 45% upper middle
class, and 7% as affluent/rich class.)
North & Central 66
West 63 Over 90% of Indians want education, health,
East & North-east 58 farmers' products free or subsidized
South 53 Respondents (%) who said the extent to which the following goods
and services should be provided for free or subsidised
BJP supporters shun the idea of freebies Completely free Somewhat subsidized No need for subsidies
the most but others also not far behind Education
Share of respondents (%) who agreed with these statements
Healthcare
Free goods and services given by governments are Agricultural products
unnecessary freebies. for farmers
BJP supporters 64 Transport for women
Congress supporters 49 Electricity
AAP supporters 50 Gas cylinders
Overall 56 Petrol & diesel
0 20 40 60 80 100
Promises of free goods and services by politicians are
mainly aimed at getting votes.
Higher-income groups more likely to want
BJP supporters 81
free goods and services
Congress supporters 78 Respondents (%) who said the following goods and services should
AAP supporters 76 be completely free, by monthly income level
Overall 78 62 60 58 Below ₹50,000 Above ₹50,000
57
Giving free gas cylinders, laptops, phones, scooters etc.
may hurt the country’s financial situation.
BJP supporters 69 32 36 30 31
23 21
Congress supporters 53 19 15 17
AAP supporters 58 10
Overall 61 Education Agricultural Electricity Petrol & diesel
Includes those who picked 'strongly agree' or 'agree'. The other options were products for Transport
'neutral', 'disagree', and 'strongly disagree'. Based on a sample of 10,314 Healthcare farmers for women Gas cylinders
respondents. Of these, 34% were from North & Central India, 21% from West Based on a sub-sample of 6,948 respondents who reported their income, of
India, 17% from East and North-east India, and 28% from South India. 46% which 54% earned below ₹50,000 per month and 46% earned above ₹50,000.
supported the BJP, 15% Congress and 3% AAP. Source: YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey (July 2024)
PARAS JAIN/MINT

M
ost urban Indians look down upon electoral called themselves rich) agreed that freebies were aimed at
promises of free goods and services, or “freebies”. votes, but the views diverged on the other two questions.
However, that does not stop them—especially As opposed to 84% of self-identified ‘rich’ respondents,
those higher up the income ladder—from wanting some only 46% of the ‘poor’ said freebies were detrimental to the
amenities for free (health and education) or at subsidized country’s financial situation. On the need for such
rates (gas cylinders and electricity). That’s a key finding promises, both the ‘poor’ and ‘lower middle class’ agreed
from the latest round of the YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial far less than the rich.
Survey, held in July against the backdrop of election The class identification is based on responses to a
campaigns focusing on freebies. question on how participants rated the financial situation
The latest survey was the 12th in a biannual series of their households (5% poor; 43% lower middle class; 45%
conducted by Mint in association with survey partner upper middle class; 7% rich).
YouGov India and Delhi-based think tank Centre for
Policy Research. The survey asked 10,314 respondents in PUBLIC PARADOX
200 cities and towns their views on three statements Even though freebies are disliked greatly, respondents
related to freebies. Of them, 56% said they were did want some goods and services for free or at somewhat
unnecessary, 78% said they were mainly aimed at getting subsidized rates. High-income respondents expressed a
votes, and 61% said they could hurt the country’s financial stronger desire for subsidies or free giveaways.
situation. This is similar to the response to the same Over 90% of the respondents think education, healthcare
question in the previous round held in December 2023, and agricultural products for farmers should be free or come
only the distaste for free goods and services has increased. at subsidized rates. When it comes to transport for women,
Respondents across party lines disliked freebies. electricity, gas cylinders and fuel, three in four respondents
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters were more likely think they should be free or subsidized.
to find them unnecessary, a ploy to seek Those with higher incomes showed
votes, and hurtful to India’s financial YouGov-Mint-CPR more inclination compared to the low-
situation, with 64% saying they were Millennial Survey income group. Barring education and
m
unnecessary freebies (higher than 59% Part 4: Freebie politics healthcare, for all other goods and
in the previous round); 49% supporters services listed by the survey, a higher
of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the same. share of respondents earning over ₹50,000 a month
Notably, AAP’s policies in Delhi and Punjab have brought expressed the view that they should be free.
into focus free services like electricity. The Congress has The divide is the highest for free petrol and diesel (17% of
made cash transfers part of its electoral discourse. those earning above ₹50,000 compared to 10% of those
(Around 46% of the respondents were BJP supporters, earning below ₹50,000) and gas cylinders (21% and 15%,
15% supported Congress, and 3% AAP.) respectively). Free electricity and free transport for
India has always had subsidies on some goods and services, women, which have found popularity through several
including food and fuel, since Independence. However, the election seasons, also attract more high-income earners.
debate over whether such moves are fiscally responsible was All in all, the discourse about the alleged freebies culture
reignited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2022 is impacting views among urban voters, but the country’s
when he attacked Opposition parties over the “revdi culture” overall approach to a welfare economy still finds
and said it was “dangerous for the country’s development”. resonance with a large share of the population. This
The previous round of the survey found that BJP nuance could shape how the debate on the topic evolves
supporters, despite their disapproval of subsidy policies, over the next few state elections.
were supportive of those launched by BJP governments This is the fourth part of a series about the findings of the
and distrusting of those launched by Congress. The vice- 12th round of the survey. The previous two parts covered
versa was true for Congress supporters. political attitudes and the third part was
about middle-class aspirations These
CLASS CLASH surveys are skewed towards urban, well-
Despite an overwhelming opinion against freebies, there to-do netizens, with 90% of respondents
was some disagreement over the merits of such policies falling under the NCCS-A socio-economic
across the rich-poor divide. A clear majority across both category. Scan the QR code to follow the
sides (70% of those who identified as poor; 88% of those who full series.

PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz

 MUMBAI, new delhi, bengaluru, kolkata, chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, chaNdiGarh*, pune*, lucknow* VOL. 7 NO. 255 Rs. 10.00 18 pages

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Can Kerala succeed in wooing India has maintained fiscal

livemint.com investors? uP10 discipline: FM Sitharaman uP2

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Solution in sight for Retail investors hurt most as DON’T MISS

PTI

Smids shed ₹26 tn in 3 weeks

EU-India bond mess Ram Sahgal
ram.sahgal@livemint.com
Mumbai
Market mauling
The recent market pullback has eroded ₹26 trillion in investor
Designated EU bank, third-party bond dealer among proposals wealth in BSE’s mid- and small-cap counters since 20 September.

I
nvestors pumping money Mid-cap Small-cap Market capitalization (in ₹ trillion)
into stocks of small- and 95
Hyundai IPO a coup for parent.
Subhash Narayan & Rhik Kundu mid-sized companies, or 91.5 What do retail investors get?
New Delhi WAY FORWARD Smids, have seen their wealth 90
Stock of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, only the
erode by a staggering ₹26 tril- 85 second pure-play passenger vehicle maker to

C
lose to 24 months after India and EU look to allow European banks to continue trading in lion since 20 September, when 81.6 be listed on the Indian stock exchanges after
76.6 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, debuted on the NSE
the European markets’ Indian bonds while addressing ESMA’s oversight concerns. the market capitalization of 80
regulator rattled the the relevant indices hit record at ₹1,934 on Tuesday, a slight discount to its
75 70.5 issue price of ₹1,960. >P4
ongoing mechanism ESMA, RBI differ THE issue
highs. 1

for banks in Europe to over the oversight could hinder Comparatively, provisional 70
trade in Indian government bonds of Indian clearing India’s bond data from the BSE shows that
20 Sep 2024 22 Oct 2024 Allianz in talks to exit both
Source: Bloomberg
and other securities, a solution to houses market growth the top 10 companies by mar- insurance JVs with Bajaj Finserv
the impasse may be within sight. ket capitalization have cumu- Allianz, the world’s largest insurer, is in early
The European Securities and INDIA for oversight SOME European latively seen erosion of ₹5.58 1.15% to 80,220.72 and the ₹76.56 trillion. discussions to exit its two long-standing
Markets Authority (ESMA) and the by designated regulators have let trillion over the same period. Nifty declined 1.25% to Comparatively, the BSE joint ventures (JVs) with Bajaj Finserv after
banks or third-party banks trade on battling with the Indian financial services
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have bond dealers CCIL for now These companies’ market cap 24,472.10. The advance-de- Sensex’s market cap fell ₹9 tril-
company to increase its stake in these
been engaged in talks for some time comprises more than a fifth of cline ratio on BSE stood at lion from ₹167.49 trillion to ventures. >P4
now, working to find a way to break the entire listed universe, 0.14. Twenty-nine stocks on ₹158.38 trillion over the same
the logjam, two people aware of the EU has shown a INDIAN bonds underscoring the underper- the Sensex fell, and only one period.
willingness to find a more attractive Drone makers in talks to boost
matter said. solution to the due to inclusion formance of Smids versus their (ICICI Bank) rose. The biggest On Tuesday, Smid counters localization via self-regulation
“The talks between the EU and impasse in global indices large-cap peers. drags on the Sensex were Reli- fell the most in two-and-a-half
India to find a solution have been “It shows how the small ance Industries, HDFC Bank, months. The BSE Smallcap India’s drone firms are in talks with each other
going on both at the government- investor, who typically invests Mahindra & Mahindra, State index fell by 3.8% to 53,530.92 as well as the defence forces and the civil
aviation ministry to establish a self-regulatory
to-government level and also at the in Smids, has bled from the Bank of India and L&T, which and the BSE Midcap Index code of operations. While talks have been on
level of the financial regulators. We by the Indian central bank that can In October 2022, the ESMA correction over the past three contributed to over half of the tanked 2.52% to 45,974.31. for a while, an increased urgency has been
expect a breakthrough soon,” the override the ESMA regulations,” derecognized the Clearing Corpo- weeks,” said G. Chokkalingam, index’s 930-point fall This fall reinforced experts’ proposed by the aviation regulator. >P7
first person mentioned above said, the second person said, also ration of India Ltd (CCIL) and five managing director of Sebi- The market cap of the BSE belief that the negative market
requesting anonymity. requesting anonymity. “We want other Indian clearing houses, registered research firm Equi- Midcap Index, comprising 132 sentiment has been driven by Go First’s foreign funding
The second person quoted above the options to be considered and because it did not have the rights to nomics, adding that he expects stocks, has fallen ₹11.06 trillion a confluence of factors such as push to test insolvency law
said that solutions being proposed discussed to resolve the deadlock audit or inspect their transactions. the weakness to persist for a from a high of ₹81.58 trillion sluggish macroeconomic indi-
Go First is seeking permission for a foreign
by India include allowing European between EU authorities and Indian (The derecognition took effect on “few weeks to a couple of on 20 September to ₹70.52 cators, FPI (foreign portfolio funding lifeline to pursue a high-stakes
banks’ investments in Indian bonds policymakers regarding audit over- 30 April 2023.) months until a bottom is trillion on Tuesday. The BSE investor) outflows amid rising arbitration case against Pratt & Whitney
to be facilitated by a designated sight rights.” CCIL provides clearing and set- formed”, while remaining Smallcap Index, comprising bond yields and presidential (P&W).If granted, the move would mark an
European lender, acting as a dealer. Spokespersons of the RBI, the tlement services to banks and other bullish on the long term 946 scrips, has seen wealth elections in the US, the Middle unprecedented shift in India’s Insolvency and
“Alternatively, the EU can accept finance ministry, and ESMA didn’t “structural” story. erosion of ₹14.95 trillion from Bankruptcy Code. >P9
a third-party bond dealer suggested respond to emailed queries. TURN TO PAGE 6 On Tuesday, the Sensex fell a high of ₹91.51 trillion to TURN TO PAGE 6

No startup too India cruises, US gathers speed Ambuja inches closer to

small to IPO in in IMF outlook for year ahead UltraTech with Orient win
a bull market Rhik Kundu
rhik.kundu@livemint.com
New Delhi
2.8% in 2024 and 2.2% in 2025,
against 2.6% and 1.9% forecast
for the same periods in the
Nehal Chaliawala
nehal.chaliawala@livemint.com
New Delhi
C. K. Birla Group company,
comes in quick succession to
rival and market leader Ultra-
Priyamvada C. & Mansi Verma July outlook. Meanwhile, the Tech’s July purchase of India

T T
Bengaluru/Mumbai he International Mone- IMF expects China’s economy uesday’s acquisition of Cements Ltd.
tary Fund (IMF) on to grow at 4.8% in 2024 and Orient Cement Ltd The latest deal was not an

V
enture capital investors Tuesday maintained its 4.5% in 2025. marks an escalation in easy one, since at least two
are increasingly global growth forecast for “Likewise, in emerging India’s cement wars as rivals major rivals had their eyes on
encouraging some of 2024 and 2025 at 3.2%, and markets and developing econ- Adani group and Ultratech Ltd Orient: Aditya Birla Group and
their early- to mid-stage port- kept India’s growth projec- omies, disruptions to produc- jostle for assets, squeezing pri- the JSW Group. It wasn’t cheap
folio startups, such as IntrCity, tions unchanged at 7% for tion and shipping of commod- ces and margins industrywide, either, valuing Orient at almost
BHive, and Leverage Edu, to FY25 and 6.5% for FY26. ities—especially oil—conflicts, and edging out smaller players. $114/tonne of enterprise value
go public, hoping to take The latest IMF forecasts in civil unrest, and extreme In the fourth major transac- for existing 8.5mtpa capacity.
advantage of a bullish stock its October 2024 World Eco- The forecasts are on the same weather events have led to tion in India’s cement sector in Gautam Adani, chairman, This compares to just under
market and return capital to nomic Outlook are similar to lines as July’s. AFP downward revisions to the less than a year, Ambuja Adani group. $100/tonne paid by UltraTech
their investors. those in its July 2024 World outlook for the Middle East Cement scooped up 46.8% in for its acquisition of India
Mobility startup IntrCity is Economic Outlook, though ticular, the largest European and Central Asia and that for Orient Cement from its pro- pipeline. Orient also owns a Cements’ 14.45mtpa capacity
in early discussions with The rush for startup IPOs also “notable revisions have taken countries,” the Washington- sub-Saharan Africa,” the IMF moters and some of the public mining lease for over 120mt of
investment bankers for an ini- comes as lifecycles of many place beneath the surface, headquartered agency said in said. shareholders, to be followed by limestone reserves at Chittor in TURN TO PAGE 6
tial public offering likely in the funds are near end. ISTOCKPHOTO with upgrades to the forecast a statement. “These have been compen- an open offer. For Ambuja, the Rajasthan, sufficient to build a
third quarter of next year, a for the US offsetting down- According to the latest fore- sated for by upgrades to the acquisition opens doors to Ori- new 6mtpa unit in the state Sector pangs hurt
person with direct knowledge work, and was last valued at grades to those for other cast, the world’s largest econ- ent’s 8.5mtpa cement capacity where Ambuja is absent. UltraTech >P4
of the matter told Mint. The $110 million, according to data advanced economies—in par- omy is now poised to grow at TURN TO PAGE 6 and another 8.1mtpa in the Ambuja’s dash for Orient, a
company intends to raise $250 from Tracxn.
million from the IPO, which India offers more relaxed
will entail a large secondary rules for companies to go pub-
component where early inves-
tors sell some of their stake to
institutional buyers, the per-
lic—requiring at least $100
million in revenue as com-
pared with the US, which man-
Stability in freight markets is reviving logistics dealmaking
son said. dates at least $250-300 mil-
“The suggested timelines lion—allowing startups to Paul Berger tation and logistics markets is deal in recent years. weighing “high-quality inbound
and public offering numbers is launch IPOs much earlier in feedback@livemint.com key to the renewed activity. “A lot of the valuations were offers,” according to a person
one option for us among sev- their growth phase. The Covid-19 pandemic was rationalized in the last year, familiar with the process.

M
eral others,” IntrCity’s The rush for startup IPOs ergers and acquisi- a boon to freight companies but which helped get this deal Logistics specialists say activ-
co-founder Manish Rathi said, also comes as several fund tions are making a a barrier for logistics-sector done,” Armstrong said. ity has slowed sharply on the
adding that the firm is also managers are sitting at the end comeback in the logis- sales. The health crisis drove There have been several hundreds of smaller deals that
evaluating other options with of their fund lifecycles, tics sector as the roller coaster huge cargo volumes that fed large logistics deals in the U.S. usually flow through the sector.
private and public investors. prompting them to encourage earnings that defined the pan- into bumper earnings, which in over the past year. United Par- There were just 872 mergers
“We continue to seek inputs some of their trophy assets— demic era come to an end. turn acted as a brake on M&A cel Service recently sold its and acquisitions in the global
from all investment sources as even those at a fairly early or M o r e activity as freight-brokerage unit, Coyote transportation and logistics
the best path forward for us.” mid-stage—to go public so companies buyers and Logistics, to rival middleman market last year, according to
IntrCity, which also oper- they can sell some stake and are scout- sellers RXO for just over $1 billion . consulting firm KPMG, down
ates RailYatri and SmartBus return capital to their limited ing pur- struggled to Trucking company Forward 21% from 2021. The value of last
ticketing platforms, says it has partners, who are investors in chases or considering a sale, agree on prices based on lofty Air is exploring a sale amid year’s deals totaled just under
been profitable since mid their funds. according to finance and logis- valuations. activist pressure following a $43 billion, a decline of 76%.
2022-23. The company, Blume-backed Leverage tics executives, signaling the Industry specialists say the Lower interest rates are also helping spur logistics companies to contentious recent takeover of Now, that landscape is
founded in 2011, has so far Edu and BHive are also end of a two-year period in past year of relatively weak but sell themselves or look for acquisitions. BLOOMBERG Omni Logistics. changing. Armstrong said his
raised about $30 million from expected to tap the public which the once-bustling cor- steady freight demand is pro- Greenwich, Conn.-based firm tracked 12 deals of more
investors, including Blume markets at a fairly early stage ner of the M&A industry viding the benchmarks buyers utive of research group Arm- warder DSV’s acquisition of contract logistics provider GXO than $100 million in the first six
Ventures, Infosys Ltd in their growth. slowed. Bankers, private-eq- and sellers need to reach a con- strong & Associates, said stable Deutsche Bahn’s logistics arm, , which had revenue last year of months of this year, up from
co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s uity firms and consultants say a sensus on valuations. earnings are helping with sales DB Schenker, for more than $12 $9.8 billion, recently received an
family trust, and Omidyar Net- TURN TO PAGE 6 return to stability in transpor- Evan Armstrong , chief exec- this year, such as Danish for- billion , the biggest logistics unsolicited bid and is now TURN TO PAGE 6
02 WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI ECONOMY & POLICY LIVEMINT.COM

m MINT SHORTS
Talks on road map for over 20%
Govt to resume chana sales ‘Need to
digitize
ethanol blending in petrol on: Puri
New Delhi: Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hard-
eep Singh Puri said on Tuesday that the government has started
discussions on a road map for ethanol blending in petrol beyond
as prices cloud festive spirit urban land
records’
20%. He said ethanol blending in petrol stands at 16%. Under the
ethanol blended petrol programme, the government aims to Manas Pimpalkhare
blend up to 20% ethanol in petrol sold across India by 2025 to manas.pimpalkhare@hindustantimes.com
lower its dependence on crude oil imports. RITURAJ BARUAH Under Bharat dal scheme, 300,000 tonnes of chana dal have been allocated for distribution NEW DELHI

A
s rural land records
India likely to grow at 7.2% in Dhirendra Kumar As of 21 October, the retail price of evolve, urban land
dhirendra.kumar@livemint.com chana dal in Delhi has risen to ₹100/kg, management must also
FY25: RBI deputy governor NEW DELHI representing a 13.6% increase from ₹88/ rise to meet the demand of
PTI
kg a year ago. Masoor dal is priced at rapid urbanization, said minis-

T
he Centre is set to resume ₹90/kg in the city. ter of state for rural develop-
selling subsidized Bharat The resumption of Bharat dal sales ment Chandra Sekhar Pem-
chana dal this week amid assumes significance given that pulses masani in New Delhi on Tues-
soaring food inflation, two play a crucial role in India’s food infla- day, adding that India has
people aware of the matter tion due to their importance as a staple already digitized land records
said. and a key source of protein. of 625,000 villages.
“The pulse will now be available at “The decision comes at a time when More than administrative
₹70 per kg, an increase of ₹10 from the the festival season, including Diwali, is tools, accurate land records are
previous price,” the first person said. around the corner, and chana dal is the backbone of socio-eco-
“The discounted chana dal will be commonly used to prepare sweets and nomic planning, public service
sold until December. With the expected various other food items for the festivi- delivery, and conflict resolu-
arrival of about 1.3 million metric ton- ties,” said Ashim Sanyal, CEO of Con- tion, the minister said at a
New York: India’s GDP growth is projected at 7.2% in nes of chana from Australia, starting in sumer Voice. workshop on surveying for
2024-25, around 7% in the next fiscal, and after that there the first week of November, prices of Pulses are a staple food and a key source of protein in the Indian diet. MINT “This move is expected to provide urban land records, according
is a strong likelihood that it will revert to the 8% trend, said this essential food item are expected to much-needed relief to consumers, par- to a press release.
Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Michael Debab- come down.” rainfall and severe heat conditions cur- scheme at ₹89/kg, almost matching the ticularly those belonging to low-income Pemmasani’s remarks
rata Patra. “...I do believe with all the strength of my con- The average retail price of chana dal is tailed output. Production of the gram market price, whereas moong will be groups.” underscore the Centre’s focus
viction that India’s time has come,” he said, and highlighted ₹95/kg, which is 14.5% higher than last declined to 11 million tonnes in FY24 sold at ₹107/kg, the same as when it was The production of all pulses declined on using technology in land
that the nation heads into its future with the youngest pop- year’s ₹83/kg. from 12.2 million tonnes in FY23 and first launched in December. Currently to 24.5 million tonnes in FY24 from 26 records to reduce disputes. In
ulation in the world with a median age of 28. PTI Retail inflation, based on the Con- 13.5 million tonnes in FY22, according moong dal is sold at ₹123/kg. million tonnes in FY23 and 27.3 million July, union finance minister
sumer Price Index (CPI), rose to to data from the ministry of “All pulses under the Bharat tonnes in FY22, according to Nirmala Sitharaman
5.49% in September from agriculture. brand will be available in 1-kg agriculture ministry data. announced major reforms for
India’s cotton output to fall on 3.65% in August. This was About 300,000 tonnes packs and will be sold As per consumer affairs land, labour, and technology in
lower area, excess rain: CAI the highest retail inflation
rate since December ₹95
Avg retail price per
of chana dal have been through Kendriya Bhan-
allocated for distribu- dar outlets and most big
Inflation rate for
ministry data, pulse
9.81%
imports have increased
her budget speech.
These would include assign-
Mumbai: India’s cotton production in 2024/25 is likely to fall by 2023, when it was 5.69%. tion under the Bharat retail chains such as Big significantly in recent ing a Unique Land Parcel Iden-
7.4% from a year ago to 30.2 million bales due to lower area and However, the inflation kg—14.5% higher dal scheme, the first per- Basket and Reliance pulses & products years, up 44% in CY2023 tification Number, also known
excessive rainfall damaging the crop, the Cotton Association of rate for pulses and prod- than last year. son said. The pulses are Retail,” the second person in September. to 2.99 million tonnes from as “Bhu-Aadhaar,” to land pie-
India (CAI) said on Tuesday. India’s cotton imports are likely to ucts was as high as 9.81% in processed and packed by said. 2.07 million tonnes in ces, digitizing cadastral maps,
rise to 2.5 million bales in the new year from 1.75 million bales a September, the ministry of the National Agricultural “We have a comfortable CY2022. Imports until July conducting surveys of map
year ago, CAI said.The country’s exports are expected to fall to 1.8 statistics & programme imple- Cooperative Marketing Federa- stock of chana.” this year stood at 1.4 million tonnes. sub-divisions based on current
million bales from 2.85 million bales a year ago, it said. REUTERS mentation said on 14 October. tion of India Ltd and the National About 300,000 tonnes of moong dal India imports tur dal from Mozam- ownership, establishing a land
The sale of government-procured Cooperative Consumers’ Federation and 25,000 tonnes of masoor dal have bique, Tanzania, Malawi and Myanmar; registry, and linking it to the
chana dal retailed under the ‘Bharat’ of India Ltd. also been allocated for distribution urad from Myanmar and Brazil, and farmers’ registry for rural land.
Retail inflation for farm, rural brand, which started in July last year, Unlike subsidized chana dal, masoor under the Bharat brand, this person masur dal from Canada, Australia, Rus- To read an extended version
was discontinued in June after late dal will be sold under the Bharat dal said. sia and Türkiye. of this story, go to livemint.com
workers rises in September
MINT

Neo to pick Ceigall Modi hails Russia ties at Brics summit

equity for ₹450 cr Bloomberg & PTI
feedback@livemint.com
and as I have said before, we
believe that the solution to
these issues should be through
Subhash Narayan

P
bridges, tunnels, highways, rime Minister Narendra peaceful means,” Modi said,
subhash.narayan@livemint.com expressways and runways. Modi hailed India’s grow- adding that he and Putin would
NEW DELHI The road project is a four- ing relations with Russia discuss the conflict at their
lane, 65-km stretch from Mal- as he met President Vladimir meeting. “We support the

N
New Delhi: Retail inflation for farm workers and rural eo Infra Income Oppor- out in Punjab to Sadhuwali in Putin on the sidelines of the resumption of peace and stabil-
labourers increased to 6.36% and 6.39%, respectively, in tunities Fund (NIIOF) is Rajasthan on a hybrid annuity Brics summit of emerging pow- ity as soon as possible.”
September from 5.96% and 6.08% in August this year.The set to pick up the entire mode under the Bharatmala ers. India has been discussing a
All-India Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers equity of Ceigall India Ltd in its scheme. “In the past three months, long-term crude-supply deal
(CPI-AL) and Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) registered an operational four-laned road “The concession period is my visiting Russia twice dem- with Russia. Oil minister Hard-
increase of 7 points each in September 2024, reaching lev- stretch extending from Punjab for 17 years, including two onstrates our close relationship eep Singh Puri said on Tuesday
els of 1,304 and 1,316 points, respectively, a labour ministry to Rajasthan for around ₹450 years of construction period. and deepening friendship,” Modi will have very fruitful
statement said on Tuesday. PTI crore. The project got completed on Modi said on Tuesday in tele- meetings in Moscow but
According to two people 6 June, 2023,” said the first vised remarks. Putin also declined to comment on what
aware of the development, person quoted above. praised the “strategic partner- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin on was expected on the energy
India-US low carbon cooling Ceigall India is in “Ceigall is ship” between the two nations. the sidelines of the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia. PTI front.
advanced talk Ceigall India is in expected to get India’s friendship with Rus- As Russia offers deeper dis-
initiative announced with parent Neo talks with parent capital receipt sia, which has become a major countries are expected to during a visit to Moscow that counts on its oil amid restric-
New Delhi: The United States Agency for International Devel- Asset Manage- Neo Asset earning of any- oil supplier to the South Asian attend the three-day gathering coincided with a deadly Rus- tions imposed by the US and its
opment on Tuesday announced an India-US low carbon “comfort ment to sell 100% Management to where between nation, has increasingly irri- in the city of Kazan. sian missile strike on a chil- allies, India has increased its
and cooling collective” initiative, aiming at mobilizing $1 billion stake in the Mal-
sell 100% stake in ₹180-200 crore tated US President Joe Biden’s The US’s ability to pressure dren’s hospital in Ukraine’s purchases of Russian crude
for super-efficient cooling technologies by 2030. Two other initi- out highway from this 100% administration as Putin’s inva- India is limited by Washing- capital, Kyiv. more than 20 times compared
atives—US-South Asia Mayoral Platform on Clean Energy and project for an four-lane Malout stake sale. Fur- sion of Ukraine continues for ton’s competing Despite dis- with pre-war levels. Recent
Sustainable Cities and Clean Energy Investment Facilitation Plat- enterprise value highway project ther, a term loan the third year. While New Delhi strategic priority Modi and Chinese comfort in New imports reached just shy of 2
form—were also announced. . PUJA DAS of ₹400-450 liability of ₹280- has argued for a peaceful settle- of nurturing President Xi will Delhi over the million barrels a day.
crore. 300 crore will be ment of the conflict, it’s turned closer ties with hold a bilateral worst fighting in Prime Minister Modi and
Neo Asset Management is transferred to Neo as part of into the second-biggest sup- the country as a meeting on the Europe since Chinese President Xi Jinping
ADB to lend $241 million to boost the alternative asset manage- the deal,” the person added. plier of restricted technologies counterweight to
sidelines of the World War II, will hold a bilateral meeting on
ment arm of Neo Group that The deal is expected to be to Russia. China in Asia. India has avoided the sidelines of the BRICS sum-
power distribution in W. Bengal runs Neo Infra Income Oppor- sealed in the last quarter of the Putin is playing host at the Tuesday’s talks BRICS summit on censuring Russia mit here on Wednesday, for-
New Delhi: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved tunities Fund. current financial year. Both summit to the biggest gather- marked the sec- Wednesday for invading eign secretary Vikram Misri
a $241.3-million loan to improve electricity distribution in West Ceigall India is an infra- Neo and Ceigall refused to ing of world leaders since he ond meeting Ukraine, abstain- said.“I can confirm that there
Bengal in order to help enhance people’s quality of life.“This ADB structure construction com- comment. The Malout high- ordered the full-scale invasion between Putin ing at United will be a bilateral meeting
programme is aligned with the government’s Revamped Distri- pany that has built over way project also includes 31 of Ukraine in February 2022, and Modi in just over three Nations votes on the issue. between Prime Minister Modi
bution Sector Scheme, which aims to strengthen the operational 1,739.88 lane km of roads, km of slip and service roads. highlighting the challenge to months. In July, Modi “We have been in constant and Chinese President Jinping
efficiency of power distribution companies,” ADB principal highways, elevated roads, fly- To read an extended version the West’s efforts to isolate him embraced Putin and hailed the touch regarding the situation tomorrow,” Misri said at a
energy specialist Roka Sanda said. PTI overs, bridges, railway over of this story, go to livemint.com over the war. Leaders of 32 Russian leader as a “friend” between Russia and Ukraine, media briefing.

India has maintained fiscal discipline, controlled inflation: Sitharaman CORRECTIONS AND
CLARIFICATIONS
Mint welcomes comments,
Rhik Kundu measures to strengthen manu- (CPI), rose to 5.49% in Septem- percentage of their GDP, try,” she added, referring to a suggestions or complaints
rhik.kundu@livemint.com facturing, a focus on digital ber from 3.65% in August external debt remains uncom- programme to develop the about errors.
NEW DELHI and financial systems, simpli- because of higher food prices. fortably high at 18.8% of our coastal regions and waterways
Readers can alert the
fication of regulatory proce- However, it remains within GDP as of June 2024,” Sithara- and make exports more com-
newsroom to any errors in the

I
ndia’s economy has main- dures, and enhancements in the RBI’s tolerance range of man said. petitive. paper by emailing us, with your
tained a balance between ease of doing business. 2-6%. She added that India’s bank- “India is also looking to full name and address to
growth and stability amid “India’s recent economic The government has ing system has remained boost domestic capacities, feedback@livemint.com.
global geopolitical tensions performance has been partic- pegged its fiscal deficit target robust, with low levels of non- become more self-aware in
and trade fragmentation, with ularly noteworthy for its bal- at 4.9% of gross domestic performing assets and high critical sectors, and build resil- It is our policy to promptly
respond to all complaints.
inflation under control and the ance between growth and sta- product (GDP) in its budget for capital adequacy ratios. ience against external shocks,” Readers dissatisfied with the
fiscal deficit set to hit a tar- bility,” she said. “While many FY25, compared with 5.6% in “The financial sector has she said. response or concerned about
geted low next year, finance countries have struggled with the previous fiscal year, which been crucial in sustaining “As nations re-evaluate their Mint’s journalistic integrity may
minister Nirmala Sitharaman inflationary pressures, India was lower than the revised growth by providing the nec- supply chains, India hopes to write directly to the editor by
said on Tuesday. has successfully kept inflation Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman was speaking at an event at estimate of 5.8%. The govern- essary credit to fuel invest- become a key part of many sending an email to
Speaking at an event at New within manageable limits.” New York’s Columbia University. REUTERS ment aims to reduce the fiscal ments,” she said. countries seeking to diversify asktheeditor@livemint.com
York’s Columbia University, The Reserve Bank of India’s deficit to 4.5% or less by FY26, “Meanwhile, India’s infra- their sources of goods and ser- Mint’s journalistic Code of
Sitharaman said India’s high (RBI’s) monetary policy com- growth among major econo- ces activity, the economy grew maintaining its proposed fiscal structure development has vices,” the finance minister Conduct that governs our
economic growth could be mittee (MPC) expects the mies. Buoyed by healthy strongly at 8.2% in FY24. glide path. surged forward, with projects added. newsroom is available at
attributed to covid manage- Indian economy to grow at domestic demand, a surge in Retail inflation, based on “Even as major economies such as Sagarmala ensuring To read an extended version www.livemint.com
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LIVEMINT.COM DEALS, TECH & STARTUPS WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI 03

Paytm profit rises

on ticketing biz sale
Firm gets boost from one-time gain of ₹1,345 crore
Nishant Kumar &
Priyamvada C.

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU

P
aytm parent One 97
Communications on
Tuesday reported a
profit after tax (PAT)
of ₹930 crore for the
September quarter, benefitting
from a one-time exceptional
gain of ₹1,345 crore from the
sale of its entertainment ticket-
ing business.
The company said it
achieved 11% quarter-on-quar-
ter (q-o-q) revenue growth due Paytm used AI to bring down its employee costs. MINT
to a 5% q-o-q increase in gross
merchandise value (GMV), bet- wider merchant base and 23% from Q3 FY24 while
ter realization from devices and increase our financial serv-ices improving efficiencies and
a 34% q-o-q rise in revenues distribution revenue,” said making us leaner,” said
from financial services. Paytm. In a post-earnings call Sharma. He added that the
“Our net payment margin with analysts, Paytm founder company has significantly
increased 21% q-o-q to ₹465 Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the boosted the productivity of its
crore, largely due to improve- company was becoming more tech teams by adopting AI.
ment in payment processing disciplined in terms of costs. Moving forward, Sharma
margin, better device realisa- “UPI incentives have helped said that cost discipline will
tion and growth in on costs front. As remain a key focus area. How-
GMV. Financial WHAT other factors like AI ever, the company plans to
Services revenue IMPROVED advance, we will continue investing in sales
was ₹376 crore, up become more cost employees and marketing to
34% q-o-q, on PAYTM’S net efficient. The mod- drive growth among mer-
account of increase payment margin
rose 21% q-o-q due
els and costs chants and consumers.
in collection bonus to better payment deployed will Sharma said the company
in merchant loans processing margin become phenome- was focused on reducing capi-
due to better asset nally low,” Sharma tal expenditure by retrieving
quality trends, and THE company said it said during the call. inactive merchant payment
achieved 11% q-o-q
higher share of revenue growth due He added that the devices, refurbishing them,
merchant loans,” to a 5% rise in gross company had and redeploying them to new
Paytm said in an merchandise value reduced its staff merchants. While this process
exchange filing. strength by 60% would temporarily reduce
“With even over the previous 10 Paytm’s merchant count, the
greater confidence in our mer- months. “We continue to find company plans to redeploy

Have fun with

chant loan distribution busi- optimization opportunities on these devices over the next two Catch the latest column of
ness, where we help in distribu- the costs front and we continue to three quarters, which is

facts on Sundays A
tion and collection, we have to find many areas as possible,” expects will result in a larger
started working with select len- Madhur Deora, Paytm’s chief active merchant base and
ders by giving the default loss financial officer, said in the call. higher revenue.
guarantee (DLG) for select “Implementation of AI For an extended version of
portfolios. In the long-term, across businesses has helped us this story, go to livemint.com. A quiz on the week’s development.
this will allow us to serve a bring down employee cost by nishant.kumar@htdigital.in
hindustantimes htTweets www.hindustantimes.com
04 WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI MARK TO MARKET LIVEMINT.COM

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

80,220.72 -1.15 24,472.10 -1.25 22,814.45 -1.93 71,158.65 -2.90 25,348.05 -1.52 45,974.31 -2.52 53,530.92 -3.81
PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN

81,151.27 81,155.08 24,781.10 24,798.65 23,263.25 23,277.10 73,285.35 73,296.50 25,739.50 25,760.15 47,164.93 47,164.27 55,648.96 55,636.45
HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

81,504.24 80,149.53 24,882.00 24,445.80 23,306.20 22,789.70 73,351.90 71,049.85 25,828.15 25,322.60 47,240.79 45,916.30 55,646.73 53,441.58

Hyundai IPO a coup

Sector pangs hurt UltraTech for parent. What do
Harsha Jethmalani
harsha.j@htlive.com Soft patch
UltraTech Cement’s volume
Also, consolidation in the sector is The management has guided for a
rising. Adani Group’s Ambuja capex of ₹8,000-9,000 crore for
Cements announced buying a 47% FY25 and around ₹9,000 crore each
retail investors get?

U
ltraTech Cement Ltd growth was lower than expected stake in Orient Cement on Tuesday. in FY26 and FY27. On the flip side, Dipti Sharma & Alisha Sachdev
in Q2FY25 amid weak demand
saw a spate of earnings The move gives Ambuja access to consolidated net debt rose to ₹8,792 MUMBAI/NEW DELHI
Domestic cement volumes (in million tonnes)
downgrades after a markets of south and west India. crore in Q2FY25 from ₹5,482 crore

S
washout September 40 UltraTech also picked a stake in in Q1FY25. Analysts at Motilal Oswal tock of Hyundai Motor
quarter (Q2FY25) show. south-based India Cements recently. Financial Services have cut Ultra- India Ltd, only the second
The industry bellwether felt the heat Interestingly, Ultra- Tech’s earnings per pure-play passenger
30
of sectoral headwinds of muted 26.4 Tech has gained market TURNING A share estimate by 15% vehicle maker to be listed on
demand and weak prices. share in southern and CORNER and 7% for FY25 and the Indian stock exchanges
Its domestic grey cement volumes 22.1 eastern regions and will FY26, respectively, due after Maruti Suzuki India Ltd,
20
grew 2.7% y-o-y to 26.4 million ton- be chasing profitable THE Sep quarter is to higher interest debuted on the National Stock
nes in Q2FY25, below expectations, growth, the management seasonally weak for
cement cos, but an
expense in Q2FY25. Exchange (NSE) at ₹1,934 on
with capacity utilization at 68%. said in Q2 earnings call. extended monsoon On the bright side, sof- Tuesday, a slight discount to its
10
UltraTech’s management sees a flat Simply put, the unfa- badly hurt sales tening fuel consumption issue price of ₹1,960.
industry volume growth in Q2FY25. vourable demand-supply costs and with high-cost The issue—a milestone for Hyundai Motor Group chair
The September quarter is season- scenario could keep the IN H2FY25, UltraTech fuel contracts nearing an both the company’s parent Euisun Chung at the listing. PTI
0 expects to
ally weak for cement sector, but an Q2FY23 Q2FY25 sector’s realizations out- outperform the end, UltraTech is poised Hyundai Motor Co. and the
extended monsoon badly hurt sales. UltraTech’s capacity addition plans Source: Company, Prabhudas Lilladher
look bleak. Spot cement industry’s double- to save on input costs. Indian stock market as the dividend of ₹107.82 billion to
UltraTech’s grey cement realiza- are on track. REUTERS prices have risen margin- digit volume growth With other cost-saving country’s largest public offer- Hyundai Motor Co. following
PRANAY BHARDWAJ/MINT
tion was lower sequentially and ally in October to ₹354 initiatives, UltraTech ing so far—is a key part of strong earnings. This
y-o-y. Higher maintenance shut- FY25 and FY26 Ebitda estimates by umes in H2FY25 could further delay per cement bag of 50 kg eyes ₹300 per tonne sav- Hyundai’s strategy to enhance amounted to a dividend of
down costs and one-time employee 14% and 8%, respectively. a revival in cement prices. from the Q2FY25 average of ₹348. ings in operating costs in the next two the valuation of its global busi- ₹13,270 per equity share. Over
bonus pushed expenses higher. Cement demand is likely to be rel- Pent-up demand may drive vol- UltraTech’s capacity addition to three years. Meanwhile, this CY24 nesses as part of the South the past three years, dividends
The upshot: “UltraTech’s Ebitda atively better in H2FY25, when umes, but supply is also set to rise. In plans are on track. It is expected to so far, UltraTech stock is up 3%, lag- Korean government’s Corpo- have increased steadily, from
per tonne fell 23% y-o-y to ₹732—the UltraTech expects to outperform the both FY25 and FY26, industry-wide commission 8mtpa capacity in ging the Nifty50’s 13% returns. At rate Value-Up Program. ₹1,838 per share in FY22 to
lowest in last six years,” said IIFL industry’s double-digit volume capacity addition of 30 million ton- H2FY25. It targets a capacity of FY26 EV/Ebitda, the stock trades at The programme seeks to ₹5,727 per share in FY23.
Securities in a 22 October report. To growth. But a worry for investors in nes per annum (mtpa) is expected, of 183.5mtpa (excluding assets of Keso- a multiple of 18 times, showed improve operational efficien- The mixed market reaction to
factor in lower volumes and decline cement stocks is that after a subdued which about 50% in each year would ram Industries Ltd and India Bloomberg data, which is unattractive cies in large conglomerates like the IPO has sparked discussions
in Ebitda per tonne in Q2, IIFL cut its H1FY25, the battle for higher vol- be done by UltraTech, it said. Cements Ltd) by FY27. in the current backdrop. Hyundai, while enhancing cor- about its implications for retail
porate value and returning and institutional investors alike.
more cash to shareholders. “It’s a significant moment for the
By the end of the day, the Indian stock market, as we can

Bajaj Housing’s biz is low-risk, but valuation is a concern stock had fallen
nearly 5% from its While the QIB
listing price. portion of the IPO Reliance Power
absorb such a large
issue. In 2007,

Despite the luke- was subscribed was the biggest

Manish Joshi spread and the business model holding value in Bajaj Hous- reflects the pressure on inter- warm opening, IPO with a size of
Risk averse 6.97 times, the
feedback@livemint.com has less risk by virtue of it being ing, even after factoring in a est spread. The only solace is Hyundai’s initial ₹11,563 crore, and
Bajaj Housing’s interest spread has been narrowing due to stiff retail segment
a mortgage lender. But, its competition for onboarding salaried home loan borrowers holding company discount of that the spread has been stable public offering although it turned
was subscribed

B
ajaj Housing Finance Ltd return on assets (RoA) at 2.5% Portfolio yield Cost of funds Interest spread (in %)
25%. Notably, HDFC Bank, the sequentially at 1.9%, indicating (IPO) is seen as a out to be a disaster,
has come out with its first for Q2FY25 is much lower biggest private sector lender it might have bottomed out for pivotal moment 0.5 times the market man-
11
quarterly results post list- than parent Bajaj Finance’s with a substantial mortgage now. Other income surged for the Indian aged to absorb it.
ing, after its separation from RoA of 5%-plus in Q1FY25. 10.1 9.9 book after its merger with 43% y-o-y to ₹184 crore, stock market, The size and scale
10
Bajaj Finance Ltd. After a Generally, a higher RoA HDFC, is quoting at a P/B driven by a sharp growth in showcasing its depth and of IPOs change over time,”
bumper listing, the stock’s per- business also means a higher 9 value of 2.25x (excluding the income from derecognized liquidity. Kranthi Bathini, director of
2.4 1.9
formance has been muted. This return on equity (RoE), culmi- value of subsidiaries) based on loans. The cost-to-income Hyundai’s IPO of ₹27,870 equity strategy at WealthMills
could indicate investor concern nating in a higher valuation. 8 FY25 estimates. This either ratio dropped. Profit after tax crore was the biggest in the Securities, told Mint.
about the shrinking interest Bajaj Finance stand-alone is 7.9 means Bajaj Finance and rose by 21% to ₹546 crore. country, exceeding state-run However, while institutional
7.7
spread, or the gap between quoting at a price-to-earnings 7 HDFC Bank are undervalued While Bajaj Housing Life Insurance Corp. of India’s investors displayed strong inter-
Q1FY24 Q2FY25
yield on advances and the cost (P/E) multiple of 25x, while Note: Numbers have been rounded off Source: Company or Bajaj Housing is overvalued. appears like a decent bet on initial share sale of ₹21,000 est, with the qualified institu-
of borrowings, to 1.9% in the Bajaj Housing is at 50x based In Q2, net interest income the salaried home loan seg- crore in 2022. Hyundai had tional buyer (QIB) portion sub-
September quarter (Q2FY25) on Bloomberg consensus esti- PRANAY BHARDWAJ/MINT
(NII) grew by only 13% year- ment having benign credit fixed a price band of scribed 6.97 times, the retail seg-
versus 2.3% a year ago. mates for FY25. On price-to- according to Bloomberg. mium to Bajaj Finance. The on-year to ₹2,227 crore costs, it would not be a bad ₹1,865-1,960 per share. ment was subscribed 0.5 times.
Lower interest spreads lead book (P/B), too, the former is Against this backdrop, the premium becomes glaring if despite a loan book growth of idea to keep a tab on the valua- The offering consisted of Many retail investors are focused
to lower return ratios. Sure, at 4.6x and the latter at 5.7x moot question is whether Bajaj Bajaj Finance’s market capital- 27% to ₹89,878 crore. Slower tion of parent company Bajaj 142.19 million equity shares, on immediate listing gains, and
Bajaj Housing has a lower based on FY25 estimates, Housing should quote at a pre- ization is adjusted for its 89% NII growth versus loan book Finance and HDFC Bank. with Hyundai Motor Co., the the stock’s underwhelming
promoter, selling a portion of debut left some disappointed.
its stake in the Indian subsidi- Read an extended version of
Mark to Market writers do not hold positions in the companies discussed here unless otherwise informed ary. In March this year, Hyun- this story at livemint.com.
dai Motor India paid a special dipti.sharma@livemint.com

‘Trading in Zomato to raise ₹8,500 crore via QIP NLC India eyes ₹4,500 cr IPO
F&O can’t Sowmya Ramasubramanian said in a letter to shareholders public market listing later this for green energy arm by June
be national sowmya.r@livemint.com
BENGALURU
on Tuesday. “We believe that year at a valuation of around $15
capital by itself does not give billion, though a final valuation
anyone the right to win (and will become clearer as the road Rituraj Baruah based energy, while renewable
pastime’
T
he board of Zomato has that service quality is the key shows begin. Another rival rituraj.baruah@livemint.com projects comprise about
approved a proposal to determinant of success), but we Zepto has raised over $1 billion NEW DELHI 1,431MW. Currently, NLCIL
raise ₹8,500 crore via a want to ensure that we are on a from private investors in the operates 1,380MW of solar
Neha Joshi

S
qualified institutional place- level playing field last six months tate-run NLC India Ltd is power plants in the southern
neha.joshi@livemint.com ment of shares to help the food with our competi- The firm noted alone. It is also looking to raise about districts of Tamil Nadu and the
MUMBAI and grocery delivery company tors, who con- that the fundraise eyeing an IPO ₹4,500 crore through the Andaman & Nicobar Islands,
take on competition from rival tinue to raise addi- will not be used next year. initial public offering (IPO) of and a 51MW wind power plant

A
s India cements its posi- players like IPO-ready Swiggy tional capital,” to make any Zomato’s net subsidiary NLC India Renewa- in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli
tion as a global leader in and Zepto. Zomato founder profit grew nearly bles Ltd (NLCIRL) in April- district.
minority
derivatives trading, the The Gurugram-based com- Zomato posted a nearly 5-fold and CEO Deepin- fivefold to ₹176 June 2025, its top official said. As part of its expansion plan
markets regulator is tightening pany’s cash balance fell to jump in net profit in Q2. REUTERS der Goyal said. investment or crore in the Sep- NLC will offload 51% shares and in line with the Centre’s
oversight to curb speculative ₹10,800 crore in the Septem- The firm noted acquisition tember quarter, of the renewable energy arm, Prasanna Kumar Motupalli, goal of 500GW of non-fossil
excesses, warning that ber quarter of FY25 from ticketing business for ₹2,014 that the fundraise from ₹36 crore a Prasanna Kumar Motupalli, CMD, NLC India. fuel capacity by 2030, NLC has
unchecked enthusiasm in ₹14,400 crore when it crore in August, in an effort to is only to year ago, driven chairman and managing set an ambitious target to con-
futures and options (F&O) launched an initial public offer- broaden its service offerings. strengthen the balance sheet by massive growth in its quick director (CMD) at the public jects with a cumulative valua- tribute 10.11GW through vari-
could drain retail savings and ing (IPO) in 2021, mainly due to Zomato now believes it and will not be used to make commerce business Blinkit and sector lignite miner, told Mint. tion of about ₹8,000 crore, to ous renewable projects across
disrupt the financial ecosystem. funding past quick-commerce needs to enhance its cash bal- any minority investment or restaurants supplies business The company is currently in the subsidiary, he said. Tamil Nadu and other states,
Ashwani Bhatia, whole-time losses and some equity invest- ance given the competitive acquisition. Hyperpure. the process of transferring all Of the 6,071.06MW of its contingent upon their techni-
member of the Securities and ments and acquisitions. The landscape and the much larger This comes as rival Swiggy is Read an extended version of its renewable energy assets, power generation capacity, the cal and commercial feasibility,
Exchange Board of India, firm acquired Paytm’s events scale of the business today, it gearing up for a $1.25 billion this story at livemint.com. largely comprising solar pro- majority of it is lignite and coal- says its annual report for FY24.
sounded a sharp warning on
the risks retail investors are tak-
ing in their chase for quick
profits. He cautioned against
turning F&O trading into a
national pastime, likening the
Allianz in talks to exit both insurance joint ventures with Bajaj Finserv
trend to a ticking time bomb.
“Globally...more than 50% of Anshika Kayastha The two companies are market ing to exit its JVs with Bajaj to exit should not materially majority stakes in both compa-
the F&O volume happens in anshika.kayastha@livemint.com leaders in their respective sec- pursue alternatives in the impact Bajaj since it has been nies.
India. F&O cannot be and MUMBAI tors. Indian insurance market. running the companies from “Allianz has been apprecia-
should not be a national pas- “Allianz has indicated to An industry official told the start. tive of the growth so far and

A
time,” Bhatia said at the Morn- llianz SE, the world’s Bajaj that given its strategic pri- Mint, “Bajaj Finserv has had the While Allianz has said the relations have been cordial
ingstar Investment Conference. largest insurer, is in orities, it is actively considering controlling stake growth of the JVs between the partners. But in
Bhatia pulled no punches in early discussions to exit an exit from the life and general from day one. Allianz has been s o f a r h a s light of the Indian growth story,
highlighting the dangers retail its long-standing joint ventures insurance joint ventures,” Bajaj They have con- keen to increase exceeded its it would have liked to increase
participants face in the boom- (JVs) with Bajaj Finserv after Finserv told the exchanges on trolled every- its stake in the expectations, it its exposure to India,” the offi-
ing derivatives market. “Your battling with the Indian finan- Tuesday, adding that Allianz thing from busi- two JVs, but the has been keen to cial cited earlier added.
odds are terrible,” he said. cial services company to has said it remains “committed ness strategy and increase its stake The Bloomberg report sug-
Bajaj Group has
In the last three years, retail increase its stake in these ven- to the Indian insurance mar- management to in the companies gested Allianz may re-enter the
investors have incurred losses tures. ket.” The world’s largest insurer holds a 26% stake in each of Bajaj operations and been reluctant to as it feels recent Indian market through a new
totalling ₹1.8 trillion, with 93% Allianz has two JVs with “Discussions are at a prelimi- Allianz Life Insurance and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. REUTERS on-ground sales dilute its holding r e g u l a t o r y partnership, one in which it has
of participants losing money. Bajaj Finserv—Bajaj Allianz nary stage and there is no pro- because it knows changes present a bigger stake or even a major-
Meanwhile, just 1% of F&O Life Insurance and Bajaj Allianz posal before the board of the Bajaj in ensuring a smooth stakeholders of the insurance the Indian retail better opportuni- ity stake. The world’s largest
traders capture 99% of the General Insurance—dating company or its insurance sub- transition to the Bajaj brand, companies,” it added. financial markets and the regu- ties in the Indian market. How- insurer may also choose to
profits, he highlighted, under- back to 2001. It holds a 26% sidiaries in this regard. Allianz, keeping in mind the interest of Bajaj Finserv’s comments latory landscape very well.” ever, the Bajaj Group has been enter the market on its own.
scoring how institutional play- stake in each while Bajaj Fin- in case it exits the joint venture, policyholders, business part- followed a report by Bloomberg The official said on the condi- reluctant to dilute its stake and Read an extended version of
ers reap the lion’s share. serv holds the remaining 74%. has committed full support to ners, employees and other that said that Allianz was look- tion of anonymity that Allianz’s wants to continue to hold this story at livemint.com.
LIVEMINT.COM
WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI 05
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TP CENTRAL ODISHA DISTRIBUTION LIMITED (TPCODL) STORY

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P Central Odisha workflows. This included real-time monitoring dashboard COVID-19 restrictions, the payment platforms and customer customers to switch from has saved the company `12
Distribution Limited everything from indenting and that provides stakeholders digital transformation was distrust in online payment offline to online payment crore annually. Additionally,
(TPCODL) has been tendering to business associate with up-to-the-minute insights, completed in a record time of methods. Most payments were methods. the elimination of manual
recognised for its exceptional (BA) registration, evaluations, further streamlining operations. two months, ensuring business made in cash, leading to delays The results were reconciliation processes has
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two innovative projects— transforming a six-month to equally noteworthy. Internally, rapid transformation underlines Through a phased strategy, digital transactions increased overall quality of service and
Digitalisation of Procurement one-year procurement cycle staff who were accustomed to the agility and resilience of TPCODL introduced several from 1.04 lakh to 6.71 lakh, productivity.
Process and Digitally Karan. into just 70 days. manual processes underwent TPCODL’s digital strategy. innovative solutions to representing a 499% growth A key component of the
These initiatives have This transformation significant training to adopt promote digital payments. . The success of this initiative Digitally Karan initiative is its
significantly modernised enabled 100% paperless the new systems. Externally, Digitally Karan These included the integration was particularly pronounced focus on customer education.
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challenging circumstances, goals. The company also digital platforms. As a result, payment mechanisms across accessible. Collaboration rebates has enhanced customer TPCODL worked tirelessly
especially during the pandemic, increased transparency and BA satisfaction rates have TPCODL’s vast service area with IndusInd Bank, IDBI, satisfaction, as customers now to increase digital literacy
making their success even more confidentiality in its processes. soared to 90%, while internal of 30,000 square kilometers, HDFC and CSC e-Governance immediately see the benefits of and trust among its customer
remarkable. Let’s explore the Notably, BAs could now customer satisfaction is at encompassing 28 lakh Servicesensured that customers, paying digitally. base. These efforts, combined
impact of each initiative. participate in procurement 85%. Real-time tracking of customers across nine districts. especially in rural areas, had The cost-saving implications with incentives like the Mega
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TPCODL fully digitised its SKOCH Group SKOCH Group TP Central Odisha SKOCH Group SKOCH Group TP Central Odisha Procurement Process follow. �

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06 WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI CORPORATE LIVEMINT.COM

Stability in
Jewellery firms cut making EU, India close to
freight mkts resolving dispute
revives deals
in logistics
charges, weight to lift sales over bond trading
FROM PAGE 1
FROM PAGE 1
investors for investments in
nine such deals in all of 2023. The move comes as rising gold prices threaten to hit jewellery sales in the festive season government securities, for-
He said his firm, which advises eign exchange, money mar-
on potential mergers and kets, over-the-counter (OTC)
acquisitions, is seeing much Suneera Tandon drove this growth. While the Shraadh derivatives, and rupee interest
more interest from companies suneera.t@htlive.com period and volatile gold prices had rate derivatives.
of all sizes looking to sell. New Delhi some impact, higher footfall from July The action against CCIL was
Industry specialists say the to August largely offset these factors. the result of a regulatory con-

J
recent pullback in interest rates ewellery makers are luring con- However, the retailer is closely mon- flict. Under ESMA regulations,
is also helping spur activity. sumers back to stores with lower itoring the recent surge in gold prices. services used by European
They say some of the greatest making charges and lighter pie- Ramesh Kalyanaraman, executive banks from non-European
potential M&A activity is in com- ces this festive season as gold pri- director, Kalyan Jewellers, is optimistic entities must be vetted by it.
panies owned by private-equity ces continue to zoom ahead of about third-quarter demand. Price But India has refused to grant ESMA’s move may have a
firms, which usually buy and peak festivities. fluctuations often lead to temporary ESMA supervisory authority bearing on India’s bond
hold companies for about five Gold prices hit an all-time high on pauses in consumer buying but the over its clearing corporations, market growth. BLOOMBERG
years. Some of those firms have Thursday amid geopolitical tensions in company has strong festive season as it doesn’t allow any such
had to wait to sell companies the Middle East and uncertainty plans, including campaigns, pre-book- extra-territorial jurisdiction to could again attract more Euro-
because of the pandemic-driven around the US elections. 24-carat gold ings, and budget-friendly jewellery any global regulator. pean FPIs back into the Indian
volatility in the freight market. touched a high of ₹78,293.0 for 10 designs, he said. The European regulator’s government bond market.
“The floodgates are opening, grams in the national capital on Friday. Given the volatility in gold prices the move may have a bearing on Currently, foreign inflows into
especially on the private equity The yellow metal scaled a new peak to retailer is ensuring it makes pieces that India’s bond market growth. Indian bonds, particularly
side from people that want to trade at ₹78,348 per 10 gm as of 6:45 fit the consumer’s budget. “If shoppers Foreign banks are big pur- government securities, are
exit and haven’t been able to,” p.m. on Monday, according to MCX walk in with say a budget of ₹2 lakh or chasers of Indian government crucial for maintaining liquid-
said John Anderson , an operat- data. ₹5 lakh, they may not get the same bonds, and the country’s ity and stabilizing yields,” said
ing partner at private-equity India, the world’s second-largest grammage as they got last year given a inclusion in global bond indi- Venkatakrishnan Srinivasan,
firm Greenbriar Equity Group. gold consumer, often sees a surge in Gold prices hit an all-time high on Thursday amid geopolitical tensions in the jump in gold prices. So we keep that in ces such as the JP Morgan managing partner at Rockfort
Private-equity firm H.I.G. demand during festive seasons and Middle East and uncertainty around the US elections. MINT mind and design pieces that fit their Emerging Market Bond Index Fincap Llp, a financial advi-
Capital earlier this year sold weddings that typically fall in the sec- price range.” has only made Indian sover- sory firm. “With India’s inclu-
Cardinal Logistics, a U.S. sup- ond half of the fiscal year. However, ris- However, high gold prices remain a light weight just for the festive season The retailer has expanded its eign bonds more attractive. sion in the JP Morgan Emerg-
ply chain services provider, to ing gold prices threaten to dampen concern, he said. “I can’t deny that in Tanishq; and in Mia, of course, virtu- 18-carat jewellery offerings to meet A report from ing Market Bond
Ryder System for an undis- purchases this year. there is some concern, because many ally everything is lightweight,” Chawla growing demand for affordable options CCIL said, ahead India has refused I n d e x , the
closed sum, about five years “Whatever our indication shows, people are interested, and they are just said. “Given the volatility in gold prices in smaller cities. “Up until two years ago of the inclusion of to grant ESMA demand for
after acquiring the company. (the consumer) sentiment is high. waiting to see if any correction hap- we have introduced the best rate such pieces were only available in large Indian sovereign supervisory I n d i a n d e bt
Dan Howard , a managing There may be a little bit of dampener pens,” he said. offer—you can pick it up now, pay a metros, now we see demand for such bonds in the JP authority over its among global
director and head of North due to gold prices,” Ajoy Chawla, CEO In response the jeweller that oper- small advance, and buy it closer to pieces in tier-II and tier-III cities, too,” Morgan index, investors has
clearing
America transport at Goldman of Titan’s jewellery division said in he said. This lifts the constraints that FPIs already risen, and
corporations,
Sachs , said the strong growth an interview with Mint. KEEPING THE GLITTER around buying gold despite escalat- increased their
going by rules
providing Euro-
in freight demand early in the In the September quarter, ing prices.The move comes as com- ownership of pean investors an
pandemic triggered a seller’s Titan’s jewellery division that 24-CARAT gold THE yellow metal CONSUMER CUSTOMS duty had petition in organized jewellery is these bonds by alternative route
market in which private-equity comprises brands such as Tanishq touched a high of
₹78,293.0 for 10
scaled a new peak to demand rose after
trade at ₹78,348 per the cut in customs
led to a strong
double-digit uptick
growing. In July, Aditya Birla over $10 billion. could further
firms used low borrowing costs and Mia reported a 25% jump in grams in the national 10g as of 6.45pm on duty on gold imports in gold (plain) for the Group announced its entry into the Since the official inclusion on accelerate inflows,” he added.
to outbid strategic investors. domestic demand compared with capital on Friday Monday from 15% to 6% September quarter branded jewellery business, mark- 28 June, they infused ₹10.6 To be sure, the Federal
Today, he said, with interest the previous year. Titan is among ing the presence of yet another trillion in the debt segment. Financial Supervisory Author-
rates still elevated, most of the the largest organized jewellers in large conglomerate in India’s ₹6–7 The first person cited earlier ity of Germany, BaFin, and
activity is being driven by stra- the country. ates over 475 stores has dialled up its Diwali, and you can pick it at whichever trillion jewellery market. said EU was willing to resolve French regulator AMF have
tegic investors. Consumer demand significantly gold buyback scheme, increased the rate is lower…We are also dialling up “Every organized player is expand- the issue. “We are confident allowed their countries’ banks
“It’s all buyer driven,” How- picked up momentum after the reduc- number of lightweight ornaments in its our gold exchange programme.” ing at a certain aggressive rate because that the present deadlock to continue to trade on the
ard said. “Unsolicited knocks tion in customs duty on gold imports collection and cut making charges. Meanwhile, Kerala-based Kalyan of the formalization,” Titan’s Chawla would not prevent European CCIL platform.
on doors and bilateral conver- from 15% to 6%, leading to a strong dou- “In our system today, about 50% of Jewellers reported a 39% year-on-year said. “More organized players will institutions from participating subhash.narayan@live-
sations.” ble-digit uptick in gold (plain) for the our stock keeping units, or SKUs, are revenue growth in its second quarter. expand, and competitive intensity on in the Indian bond market,” mint.com
©2024 DOW JONES & COM- quarter, the company said in its quarter lightweights optimized for gold. We Strong in-store sales across all markets gold rate and on making charges will the person added. For an extended version of
PANY, INC. update on 4 October. have introduced 500 new designs in and a reduction in gold import duties remain.” “Such an arrangement this story, go to livemint.com.

Market fall hits retail the most Ambuja Cement inches closer
FROM PAGE 1 shares of food delivery com-
pany Zomato fell 3.6% to
to UltraTech with Orient win
East conflict, and tepid earn- ₹256.2 after the company ‘s Q2
ings growth. PAT (profit after tax) of ₹176 FROM PAGE 1 This compares to UltraTech
Nilesh Shah, managing crore missed Street expecta- Cement’s 200mtpa target a
director of Kotak Mahindra tions. or about $84/tonne it paid for year before that.
AMC, pointed to recent macro FPIs have sold ₹72,136 crore Kesoram’s 10.75mtpa capacity. Other than industry leaders
data that he said has increased this month through 21 Octo- However, analysts at Investec UltraTech and Adani, promi-
market uncertainty. ber, the highest outflows in led by Ritesh Shah noted that nent independent cement
“GST collections in Septem- any month so far. On Tuesday, this may not be the right metric makers in India include Heidel-
ber (6.5% y-o-y) grew below provisional FPI sales stood at to value the transaction, as it berg Cement, Nuvoco Vistas,
IMF expects China’s economy to grow at 4.8% in 2024 and 4.5% in the nominal GDP, exports are ₹3,978.61 crore while DIIs doesn’t Account for the addi- JSW Cement, Shree Cement,
2025. BLOOMBERG hit by rising container freight (domestic institutional inves- tional greenfield and brown- Dalmia Bharat and Ramco
rates, and record high passen- tors) purchased a provisional field expansion options availa- Cement.

IMF keeps India’s ger vehicle inventories (almost

800,000) are pointing to slug-
gish demand,” Shah said.
On Tuesday, only three Nifty
stocks closed in the green. PTI
₹5,869 crore.
The NSE figure on retail cli-
ent sales was unavailable at
ble to the buyer.
With the Orient deal, the two
groups have between them
UltraTech has pocketed
Kesoram’s cement unit and
Meanwhile, the C. K. Birla
group, which exits cement
making with this deal, will real-
“To top that, FPI outflows Veteran investor Shankar press time, but heightened acquired six cement companies locate resources to sectors that
growth forecast from India have intensified
ahead of the US presidential
Sharma said that the fifth year
of a bull market normally wit-
sales by FPIs in index futures—
by 3,102 contracts—and long
in a little over two years, since
the Adani Group entered the
India Cements. REUTERS

group founder Gautam Adani

align with its strategy and
vision, Madhavan H., chief
elections and amid rising bond nesses a “breather” and that liquidation by retail /HNI cement sector in September has stated before. The Aditya financial officer and head of
unchanged at 7% yields in the US on strong jobs
growth, which could slow the
pace of rate cuts by the Fed.
was what investors are experi-
encing now.
“Retail should avoid Smids,
(10,841 contracts closed out)
caused investor wealth to
decline by ₹9 trillion.
2022 with the acquisition of
Ambuja and ACC.
While Ambuja has acquired
Birla Group has no intention of
giving up its leadership posi-
tion either.
strategy said in reply to a query.
“In recent years, the group
has invested significantly into
FROM PAGE 1 June the World Bank raised Earnings growth in Q2 also is which have fallen sharply, and A pullback is characterised Sanghi Industries, My Home Currently, the odds are in the the healthcare business along
the country’s growth forecast showing that valuations have look to deploy funds in those by a 5–10% fall from highs Group’s cement business and favour of the latter. with making organic and inor-
forecast for emerging Asia, for the current financial year run well ahead of fundamen- scrips whose fall has been while a correction happens Penna Cement during this Adani has targeted 140mt of ganic investments across busi-
where surging demand for by 20 basis points to 6.6%, cit- tals in certain small- and mid- more gradual,” Sharma said. below 10–20% from high, and period, UltraTech has pock- consolidated annual capacity ness sectors,” he said.
semiconductors and electron- ing strong growth momen- cap counters,” he added. The prevailing negative a bear market below 20%. eted Kesoram Industries’ by FY28. The valuation of the deal sig-
ics, driven by significant tum. These factors have affected sentiment was reflected by On Tuesday, only three cement unit and India Cements This includes Orient and nals the quality of business
investments in artificial intelli- India could potentially grow Smids more, which typically Hyundai listing at a discount of stocks- ICICI Bank (up 0.74%), in the last two years. Penna Cement’s additional built at Orient Cement,” he
gence, has bolstered growth,” at 9% annually in the absence outperform large caps in a rally 1.5% to its issue price of ₹1,960 Nestle (up 0.10%) and Infosys Adani’s intent is clear: capacity in the pipeline as well said.
it added. Overall, global of internal and external and underperform during a and closing down 7.12 % at (up 0.04%) closed in the green Become India’s top cement as Ambuja and ACC’s brown- For an extended version of
growth is expected to remain shocks, and the current pullback or a correction. ₹1,820.40 on Tuesday. Then, in the Nifty index. maker by no later than 2030, as field expansions. this story, go to livemint.com
stable yet underwhelming, growth forecast of 7% to 7.2%
IMF said. takes into account the impact
Russia and India drove most of these shocks, said N.R. Bha-
of the upward revision for numurthy, director of the
emerging markets and devel- Madras School of Economics.
oping economies, the IMF “I think the risks to Indian
No startup’s too small for an initial share sale in a bull market
report added. economic growth in the near
“In India, the future are global FROM PAGE 1 diately respond to Mint’s chain startup Blue Tokai, and data. Chachra explained that
outlook is for Russia and India inflation, rising request for comment. Awfis health supplements brands mid-stage startups don’t want
GDP growth to drove most of the oil prices – which “We want the best funds of made its stock market debut in BBetter to go public in 26–50 to keep diluting their equity at
moderate from upward revision could have a cas- the country to hold our stock May. months. Easebuzz is currently low valuations during private
8.2% in 2023 for emerging cading impact on for a 7-year period… an IPO “We have been strong pro- valued at $120 million and fund-raises, mainly when the
(FY24) to 7% in commodity pri- can happen anywhere on that ponents of going public. In Blue Tokai at about $150 mil- public markets are attractive.
markets and
2024 (FY25) and ces – and China’s 1–4 year timeline, and I should fact, we encourage founders to lion, while BBetter has a valua- “For a startup to raise $100
6.5% in 2025 developing latest stimulus have more clarity as the busi- take their companies public tion of $4.6 million. million takes about six months
(FY26) because economies package,” he said. ness becomes stronger every even without waiting for the Whether these companies in a private market. If they are
pent-up demand “The IMF had quarter,” edtech startup Lev- mythical unicorn valuation in will be listed on the SME a successful venture post-IPO,
accumulated increased its erage Edu’s founder Akshay the private markets,” said (Small and Medium Enter- they can raise the same
during the pandemic has been India growth projections in Chaturvedi said, and added Vikram Gawande, vice presi- prises) or the regular board is amount in a span of two
exhausted, as the economy April. I don’t think they are that the company is taking a dent, growth, at Blume. “We unclear. SME IPOs are typi- weeks,” he said.
reconnects with its potential,” over-cautious about the coun- measured approach amid the have a strong pipeline of com- cally preferred by companies Broadly, startup IPOs have
it said. try,” he added. frenzy to go public. It is cur- panies going public over the with a much smaller scale and increasingly become a func-
The IMF’s overall forecast Meanwhile, acknowledging rently valued at about $150 next three years.” valuation when private financ- tion of generating returns to
for emerging markets and that the global battle against million. Several venture capital Several VC firms are under pressure to deliver returns to investors, ing can no longer meet their investors. The proportion of
developing economies inflation has largely been won, Office space provider firms are under pressure to and IPOs have emerged as a viable route in a bull market. PTI growth requirements. offer-for-sale options has
remained stable for the next IMF’s chief economist Pierre- BHive, which competes with deliver returns to their inves- In August, Zappfresh filed increased over the last three
two years in its latest outlook, Olivier Gourinchas cautioned the likes of WeWork and Awfis tors as they near their fund lif- avenues such as mergers and tures. “While we will have our its draft IPO papers with the years as funds look to sell part
hovering around 4.2% and that downside risks are Space Solutions Ltd, plans to ecycle, and IPOs—a rarity for acquisitions, IPOs, and sec- own club of… $50-100 billion Securities and Exchange of their stakes in startups and
steadying at 3.9% by 2029. increasing and now dominate raise about ₹800 crore Indian startups not too long ondary share transactions companies, there will be lots of Board of India to list on the return capital to their inves-
The Reserve Bank of India the outlook. An escalation in through an initial public offer- ago—have emerged as a viable have opened up. $500 million to $10 billion BSE SME platform. The tors.
(RBI) meanwhile expects the regional conflicts, especially in ing in the next financial year, route to selling some of their “The IPO market opening companies.” direct-to-consumer meat priyamvada.c@live-
Indian economy to grow at the Middle East, could pose according to an Economic investments. up is the healthiest thing,” said Among his portfolio compa- delivery startup was valued at mint.com
7.2% in FY25 on the back of serious risks for commodity Times report published in Also, global investors are Vikram Chachra, founder of nies, Chachra anticipates fin- $42.3 million as of 20 June For an extended version of
strong domestic demand. In market, he added. August. BHive did not imme- optimistic about India as exit early-stage VC firm 8i ven- tech startup Easebuzz, coffee- 2023, according to Tracxn this story, go to livemint.com.
LIVEMINT.COM CORPORATE WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI 07

Premium alcohol
sales to grow up to More localization for drones?
25% y-o-y in Q3 Firms are in talks with the aviation regulator for setting standards to develop more sophisticated drones locally
Varuni Khosla
varuni.k@livemint.com
NEW DELHI Shouvik Das & Mihir Mishra “considerable overlap” with other that even the most advanced defence
shouvik.das@livemint.com electronics industries, such as smart- drones do not need to be sourced from

W
ith Diwali and the NEW DELHI phones and home appliances. “Asp- abroad,” said Ankit Mehta, chief exec-
wedding season ects like cameras, display and software utive of IdeaForge.

I
approaching, the ndia’s cohort of drone firms are in should be increasingly localized, as Prem Kumar Vislawath, chief exec-
alcoholic beverages industry is talks with each other, as well as the should software-based systems such as utive of Hyderabad-based Marut
anticipating strong and early three defence forces and the civil autopilot. We’re promoting a self-reg- Drones, said that three key aspects dis-
growth in the December quar- aviation ministry, to establish a ulatory stance for the cussed as part of the
ter, driven by increased con- self-regulatory code of operations. industry since the market SECURITY DGCA’s push to encour-
sumer spending as inflation While talks have been going on for a for drones in India is not STANDARDS age self-regulation of
cools. The industry is expecting while, an increased urgency has been big enough for the Centre operational standards for
10-25% growth in this period, proposed by the Directorate General to tie it down with regula- TALKS on these drones included batteries,
and is optimistic that particu- Festivals, weddings drive up to of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is now tory strictures,” he said. standards picked up encrypted software plat-
pace after the attack
larly the higher end alcohol 45% of alcohol cos’ revenue. HT keen on helping drone firms in India Multiple companies, on Hezbollah carried forms, and tamper-proof
segment will drive demand. to localize a greater percentage of their including the BSE-listed out by Israel collision avoidance sys-
Firms like Radico Khaitan, Generally, during this time of key components. IdeaForge Technology tems. “We’ve had multiple
Diageo India and DeVANS year, the demand comes from Three senior industry executives Ltd, have been involved in MULTIPLE firms like discussions, with the idea
BSE-listed IdeaForge
Modern Breweries (makers of across the country and not just confirmed to Mint that the discussions Component localization for drones has “considerable overlap” with other these discussions. Technology have that increasingly sensitive
Godfather beer and Gianchand the northern states. We are also between India’s drone industry and electronics industries, said a government official. PTI “There is an increasing been involved in components and sub-
whisky) are gearing up for selling special edition packs,” ministry officials have been focused on amount of collaborations these discussions components need to be
robust growth this quarter he said. Festival and wedding establishing a self-regulatory set of devastating attack on Hezbollah car- more business value in the drone sec- between drone compa- localised by design. The
spurred by rising consumer demand accounts for about standards for localization, collaborat- ried out by Israel. tor—it is a matter of national security. nies—we’re in talks with discussions have been to
spending. Sequentially too, this 40-45% of the revenue of most ing on research and development pro- “Discussions are still at an early A number of cross-ministerial discus- various industry stakeholders to arrive set-up a graded approach to self-regu-
quarter is expected to be strong alcoholic beverage firms. For grammes for advanced drone tech, stage, but the government recognizes sions have taken place on how the at a self-regulatory consensus, based latory mechanisms, with one-year,
as the earlier part of the year spirits major Diageo India, the and building proprietary, cutting- that there is an increasingly urgent localization of component manufac- on the approach that the government three-year and five-year targets for the
saw slow sales marred by dry story will be similar, led by edge drones akin to how specialized need for India to create its own turing can take place for drones,” a has suggested. We’re looking to com- drone sector,” Vislawath said.
days and the general elections super deluxe whisky and companies in the US have done. advanced drones to be used in defence senior government official told Mint. plement R&D initiatives and develop shouvik.das@livemint.com
countrywide. tequila. “We are seeing positive Talks on these standards have forces. Further, component localiza- The official further added that com- advanced technologies and their For an extended version of this story,
Amar Sinha, chief operating consumer sentiment for luxury picked up pace in the aftermath of the tion is not just a matter of generating ponent localization for drones has respective intellectual properties, so go to livemint.com.
officer (COO) at Radico Khai- and bottled-in-origin (BIO)
tan, told Mint that the market offerings especially in the pre-
for premium and above brands mium, super deluxe whisky
is very strong right now. The
‘consume better’ or premiumi-
sation trend that came about
and tequila category across
states like Haryana, Punjab and
Chandigarh and overall buoy-
Market facing muted demand, says Nestle India chair Narayanan
during covid has stayed on and ancy in states like Uttar Pradesh
the market for premium prod- which have higher retail quotas Suneera Tandon in large urban cities, even as a beverages sector which used to chairman and managing dire- in the middle of announcing week. Narayanan has been
ucts is growing at high single this quarter. We are optimistic suneera.t@htlive.com good monsoon ensured a be double digits a couple of ctor of Nestlé India told report- September quarter earnings. among the few consumer
digits year-on-year, with some that we will see an uptick in NEW DELHI revival in rural demand. Nestle quarters ago, is now down to ers in a select media briefing at Last week, Tata Consumer goods CEOs to flag the impact
prestige categories growing premiumisation in the coming reported a 1% jump in Septem- 1.5% to 2%. It is a combination of the company’s plant in Samal- Products Ltd too called out of high food inflation on con-

P
even higher. months with increasing retail ackaged food maker Nes- ber quarter revenue with food inflation. The food infla- kha, Haryana on Tuesday. “softness” in urban demand. sumption. The market is cur-
“In the October-December purchases and consumer inter- tle India said middle-in- demand especially stressed for tion debate was once again “Tier-1 and below towns “We are probably underesti- rently “polarized”, he said, with
period, our premium and high- est, the onset of festivities and come households are not milk products and chocolates. rekindled a few days ago, when seem to be reasonably stable as mating the stress on the con- middle income households
end brands will grow at 15% return of a strong wedding sea- buying enough packaged foods Volumes declined marginally there were talks about a sharp far as we are concerned, rural is sumer in terms of the food shrinking their expenditure
with sales driven by including son,” said Ashish Parikh, COO and beverages as high food year-on-year. uptick in (prices of) fruits and really reasonably stable, the inflation,” Sunil D’Souza, MD while the wealthy continue to
Jaisalmer craft gin, Royal Rant- of Diageo India. inflation continues to cripple “The market is facing muted vegetables, and of course in oil pressure points are coming and chief executive officer at spend.
hambore whisky, Magic For an extended version of household budgets. This is demand. It’s extremely clear. prices. This is cause for con- from mega cities and metros,” the firm, said during the tea and For an extended version of
Moments vodka and others. this story, go to livemint.com. especially true for consumers The growth in the food and cern,” Suresh Narayanan, he added. Consumer firms are salt maker’s earnings call last this story, go to livemint.com.

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Have fun
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08 WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI GLOBAL LIVEMINT.COM

HSBC kicks off

Nuclear-powered AI: Big tech’s big restructuring
bold solution or a pipedream? under new CEO
Bloomberg
feedback@livemint.com

H
SBC Holdings Plc
Tech giants are investing billions in nuclear power, but projects are years away and rely on unproven technology unveiled a broad
restructuring across
different business lines and
Katherine Blunt high. Microsoft’s emissions rose 40% geographies as newly
feedback@livemint.com during the three years through June appointed chief executive offi-
2023, while Google’s surged nearly cer Georges Elhedery embarks

T
he tech industry is enam- 50% in the four years through on an ambitious effort to cut
ored with nuclear power, December. Materials and power for costs at the banking behemoth.
but for now it will lean data centers were among the factors The lender will combine its
heavily on fossil fuels to driving the increases. global commercial and institu-
power its artificial-intelli- Microsoft said it is committed to tional banking operations
gence boom. procuring more clean energy and under Michael Roberts and it’s
Amazon.com , Google and Micro- reaching its goal of becoming carbon creating a new international HSBC’s new CEO embarked on
soft each struck recent deals meant to negative by 2030. wealth and premier banking an effort to cut costs at the
bring more nuclear power online to Sustainability commitments for business that will be overseen banking behemoth. BLOOMBERG
satiate burgeoning energy demand the big tech companies are taking a by Barry O’Byrne.
tied to AI. They are betting billions of back seat to the AI arms race, accord- It is also revamping its director in its 159-year history.
dollars that nuclear power can help ing to McKinsey. The consulting firm regional operations around the She joined in 2013 as audit head
curb surging carbon emissions tied to says the top challenge for data-center world. before overseeing risk and
the data centers, which threaten their development cited by tech compa- Taken together, the changes compliance.
climate pledges . nies is power availability. mean HSBC is embarking on its “She is highly respected and
Some of the projects depend on Tech companies are increasingly biggest restructuring in at least well known to the board and
unproven next-generation technol- willing to build data centers that will a decade. They’re the latest sign was the unanimous choice,”
ogy, and each is slated to take years to be powered by natural-gas plants, that Elhedery has been under Chairman Mark Tucker said in
complete, in part because of financial according to investment bank Jeffer- pressure to trim costs in order a statement.
and technological challenges that ies. to protect the firm’s margins as As part of the new geo-
have stymied the growth of the U.S. Dominion Energy , a utility com- central banks around the world graphic set up, HSBC will have
nuclear industry for decades. pany that supplies electricity in Vir- begin to cut interest rates. an Eastern regional unit
In the meantime, utility companies Amazon, Google and Microsoft each struck recent deals meant to bring more nuclear power online to satiate ginia, home to one of the largest data- “The new structure will including Asia Pacific and the
and power providers need to burn burgeoning energy demand tied to AI. AP center markets, expects power result in a simpler, more Middle East, and a Western
fossil fuels to supply the power tech demand in its territory there to dou- dynamic, and agile organiza- market that includes its non-
companies need. Some have pro- bend the curve and drive emissions at the end of the decade. the pitfalls of traditional nuclear pro- ble by 2039. Dominion last week tion as we focus on executing ring-fenced bank in the UK,
posed new natural-gas plants, which downward,” said Michael Terrell , Days later, Amazon said it had jects. For example, adding two reac- filed with Virginia regulators a plan to against our strategic priorities, Europe and the Americas. It
are faster and cheaper to build than senior director for energy and climate signed agreements with utilities in tors at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear plant, meet the expected growth in demand which remain unchanged,” also made Hong Kong and UK
nuclear reactors, while others have at Alphabet ’s Google. “We’re com- Virginia and the state of Washington cost billions more and took years by developing carbon-free electricity Elhedery said in a statement. standalone units.
contemplated extending the lives of mitted to our goals, and we feel like to support the build-out of SMRs. It longer than expected. sources as well as new natural-gas- Investors largely shrugged Some key executives are
coal plants that had been slated for we have a good path.” said it would also invest in X-energy , Some small modular reactors are fired plants. The company called nat- off the announcement, which leaving as part of the restruc-
closure. Tech companies have become the an SMR reactor and fuel developer “not going solve anything in the ural gas “critically important” in didn’t include estimates for turing. They include Stephen
The tech giants years ago set ambi- nation’s largest buyers of wind and whose technology Amazon said will 2020s,” Matt Garman, the CEO of meeting the projected demand surge how many roles might be elimi- Moss, who runs Middle East
tious goals to slash their carbon emis- solar power, but even when paired be used in the Washington project. Amazon’s cloud-computing unit, said and said it could account for roughly nated or how much savings the and North Africa, along with
sions by purchasing clean energy with lithium-ion batteries, those Some tech companies are looking Monday at The Wall Street Journal’s 20% of added resources. Amazon has bank would net with the moves. Colin Bell, who led operations
such as wind and solar power. The technologies alone can’t supply the to repurpose existing Tech Live event. In the agreed to explore the development of Shares of HSBC were little across Europe. Greg Guyett,
development of ChatGPT and other nonstop electricity data centers reactors, or revive Utility companies 2030s and beyond, an SMR project near one of Domin- changed in London at 9.06am. the current CEO of global
large language AI models, which con- require. The companies have lately recently closed ones. and power “they could be an excel- ion’s existing nuclear plants. “No sin- “There has been growing banking and markets, was
sume enormous been exploring Last month, Constella- providers need to lent source of energy.” gle energy source, grid solution or speculation over some form of named chair of the strategic cli-
amounts of elec- other technolo- tion Energy and Micro- burn fossil fuels X-energy Chief Exec- energy-efficiency program will relia- restructuring at HSBC in ents group, a newly created
tricity, has gies that can soft struck a deal to utive J. Clay Sell said bly serve the growing needs of our recent weeks as new CEO role.
to supply the
upended those potentially supply restart the undamaged Amazon’s commitment customers,” said Ed Baine , president George Elhedery makes his With some of the changes,
promises and set off a scramble power around the clock. reactor at Pennsylva- power tech would help X-energy of Dominion Energy Virginia. mark,” Ed Firth, an analyst at HSBC is turning to a playbook
among the companies to find more Nuclear bonanza nia’s Three Mile Island , companies need develop the supply Google’s Terrell said the company Keefe Bruyette & Woods, said recently used by rival Citigroup
clean power. Large data centers can Last week, Google announced the the site of the country’s chain needed to build its has been working on ways to reduce in a note to clients. “Unfortu- Inc.
consume roughly the same amount of first deal in the U.S. supporting the worst nuclear-power first plant, and then data-center electricity consumption nately without any numbers is Last year, the New York-
electricity as a midsize city. commercial construction of small accident. Microsoft has signed a refine the design and strategy for at times when the grid is strained. He tough to make any meaningful based company eliminated the
The tech industry’s nuclear invest- modular nuclear reactors , or SMRs, 20-year power-purchase agreement future ones.“Ultimately, it allows us said the company should become judgment.” roles held by three regional
ment is something of a gamble. His- a developing technology aimed at with Constellation, which expects to to get on a pathway to build these more involved in helping utilities find New CFO chiefs who oversaw operations
torically, efforts to build nuclear- avoiding some of the hurdles associ- spend about $1.6 billion to restart the plants, wring out the risk of execution carbon-free ways to meet projected The changes will cut the in about 160 countries around
power plants in the U.S. have run bil- ated with building large nuclear- reactor by early 2028. and wring out the risk of supply-chain demand. “Gas has just been the tradi- number of executives who sit the world along with legions of
lions of dollars over budget and taken power plants. Under the deal’s terms, An SMR has yet to be commercially performance,” he said. “The policy, tional way that utilities have met on the newly named key oper- managers with that same geo-
years longer than expected. Few reac- Google committed to backing about deployed in the U.S. Proponents say political and financial tailwinds for demand growth, and so we have to be ating committee to 12 from 18. graphic focus. Those changes
tors have been built in recent dec- seven reactors to be built by nuclear- their smaller designs, advanced tech- nuclear have become quite strong.” looking at what are the new ways to HSBC also named Pam Kaur are part of what’s allowing the
ades. energy startup Kairos Power. The nology and means of streamlining the Sustainability versus speed do that,” he said. chief financial officer, making firm to cut more than 20,000
“It’s going to take some time to goal is to add 500 megawatts starting construction process will help avoid For tech companies, the stakes are ©2024 DOW JONES & CO. INC her the first female finance jobs across the company.

TikTok is changing how Simple economic explanations keep

Gen Z speaks breaking down. Here’s why.
James Mackintosh economy than any time since touching faith in economic
feedback@livemint.com World War II, aside from the forecasts should consider the
deep recession after Lehman consensus one, two and three

I
nvestors love a simple nar- Brothers collapsed in 2008 years ago.
rative, and economists are and the pandemic itself. The In October 2021, the U.S.

T
he word “demure” is delighted to oblige. There’s economy also kept growing was expected to expand by 4%
old—it describes the sort just one slight problem: The relentlessly, expanding faster in 2022, according to the regu-
of modest lady Victori- obvious stories about the U.S. than the Federal Reserve’s lar survey by Consensus Eco-
ans esteemed—but it is freshly economy have been repeat- estimate of the long-run sus- nomics. By October 2022, that
fashionable. There are some edly wrong since the Covid tainable level in all but one growth for the year had
800,000 posts on TikTok pandemic. quarter. So inflation should dropped to 1.7%, and econo-
with the tag #demure. Young- Three basic assumptions have kept rising, right? Well, mists were sure that recession
sters today are using the word underpin the simple narra- no . was imminent. The Fed’s “dot
with lashings of irony, invok- tives: Government spending Blanchard says the stimulus plot” median was even more
ing it to describe everything matters, monetary policy mat- ended up having less impact depressing, projecting 2022
from Saturn to sunset to New ters and there is a natural link than he anticipated because growth of just 0.2%. Private-
York City’s bin service. New words spread far and fast on social media. ISTOCKPHOTO between growth, unemploy- much of it was saved, smooth- Consumer demand has been expanding as fast as it was before sector economists forecast
TikTok is changing how ment and inflation. None of ing out the effect over time. the pandemic. MINT growth of 0.2% for 2023.
young people talk. Other fusty well as those that are memora- leaks into the mainstream. the three proved reliable in the However, the inflation spike The latest data show gross
words, such as “coquette”, are ble in written form. Linguistic Other slang comes from spe- past four years, yet each seems is just as easily explained by least to be growing more tionship between unemploy- domestic product actually
fashionable again. Colloquial- code has emerged, dubbed cific groups: black people have self-evidently true, baked into extended supply-chain diffi- slowly. ment and wages or unemploy- grew 2.5% in 2022, and by
isms are on the rise: members “algospeak”, to dodge content- innovated and spread hun- the very structure of the econ- culties—what Fed Chair Jer- The remaining followers of ment and inflation. Blanchard October 2023 economists
of Gen Z say “yapping” instead moderation algorithms. It dreds of English words over omy. It is, in a word, confusing. ome Powell initially called Milton Friedman’s moneta- and former Fed Chairman Ben were back up to predicting
of “talking” and trim “delu- includes euphemisms (sex the years, from “cool” to “tea” Each of the three assump- “transitory” problems, before rism had a brief moment of Bernanke developed a new 2023 growth of 2.2% (though
sional” to “delulu”. New words workers are called “account- (gossip). Journalists and tions has dominated the dis- they went on so long as to success as they predicted that model taking into account even that was too low), but
have also become popular. ants”), and misspellings screenwriters popularise such course at times. make the word seem a mis- rampant money-printing by how many unemployed work- they penciled in only 0.9% for
Take “skibidi”, a term popular- (“seggs” instead of sex). words; now TikTokers do, too. Government spending was take. Once they were resolved, the Fed would generate infla- ers are available for each job this year. Now? They are back
ised by a meme of an animated The mutation of language All of this speeds up the evo- the first to sound alarm bells inflation eased. tion. The super-simple model being advertised—but they up to 2.6% for this year, but
head singing in a toilet; it on TikTok is also due, in large lution of language. That about inflation. In 2021, Law- Monetary policy hasn’t been of looking at the broadest U.S. thought the jobs market would only at 1.7% for next year.
means “cool”, “bad” or “very”, part, to the age of its users. delights logophiles but befud- rence Summers , former U.S. particularly useful for fore- measure of money, or M2, have to weaken more than it The recent record suggests
depending on the context. Most are 18-34 years old. That dles dictionary-makers, who Treasury secretary, and Oliv- casting, either. As one Fed pol- showed a sharp rise in cash in has to bring infla- that if economists
On social media words matters because “Young peo- must keep a record of the ever- ier Blanchard , former chief icymaker put it, if you had bank accounts, which mone- tion down so far. Simple narratives are right this time,
spread far and fast. At least 100 ple are language innovators,” expanding lexicon. The economist asked any tarists said was a surefire sign By this point can be useful in it will be more
English words are produced, says Christian Ilbury, a linguist Oxford English Dictionary at the reputable of inflation to come. economists will examining market luck than judg-
or given new meaning, on Tik- at the University of Edinburgh. (OED), Britain’s most illustri- Interna- economist But while the model be raising their behaviour, but ment. The econ-
Tok a year, reckons Tony For decades youngsters have ous chronicler of language, t i o n a l what would appeared to work—the infla- hands and saying
Thorne, director of the Slang created words to distinguish only adds a word after it has Monetary Fund, warned that happen to the economy if you tion that followed was hang on, things
one can’t expect omy has repeat-
edly refused to do
and New Language Archive at themselves from adults. On been used for about five years. President Biden’s $1.9 trillion jacked up rates from zero to extremely high—it then pre- are complicated. them to explain what basic models
King’s College London. Some social media such neologisms That is too slow to keep up stimulus package was far too above 5% in a little over a year, dicted deep trouble ahead, Yes! The prob- the economy suggest it should,
linguists think the platform is find a big audience. Mr Ilbury with modern parlance. The big given the lack of spare they would have predicted a perhaps even deflation and lem is that we and no one knows
changing not just what young- describes this as “linguistic OED is just now adding words capacity in the economy. deep recession . Instead, surely a recession, as M2 only get the com- if the excuses—
sters are saying, but how they identity work”; parents have such as “binge-worthy”, which Sure enough, inflation everything was hunky-dory. shrank year-over-year for the plexity with hindsight, and saved stimulus checks, snarled
are saying it. A “TikTok long called it attention-seek- already feels tired; its own soared, and they appeared The Fed thought it would first time in modern history. investors tend to focus on one supply chains, productivity,
accent”, which includes ing. “word of the year” for 2023, right . Spending big when the bring down inflation by reduc- So far, that has been wrong. thing at a time. We now know, immigration—were one-offs
“uptalk”, an intonation that The platform brings “rizz” (charm), which origi- economy is already running ing demand, but since the Fed The jobs market has been for example, that productivity or if there will be a new reason
rises at the end of sentences, together fan groups and com- nated and was popularised hot will create inflation. Sim- started raising rates consumer messy, too. Some version of seems to have grown fast, and next year to explain why they
may be spreading. munities, from #kpopfans online, has not yet made the ple. demand—measured by after- the so-called Phillips curve that mass immigration were wrong.
The platform’s versatility (people who like Korean pop cut. TikTok has just the phrase Yet, the government kept inflation consumer spend- that shows a trade-off between boosted the labor force, mess- Simple narratives can be
encourages experimentation. music) to #booktokers (people to describe such a modest on spending into a hot econ- ing—has been expanding as unemployment and inflation ing with the Bernanke-Blan- very useful when examining
Users can combine audio, text who love reading). These approach: very demure. omy. Over the past two years— fast as it was before the pan- is built into most macroeco- chard equation and helping how markets behave, but don’t
and video in a single post. That groups create their own slang, ©2024 THE ECONOMIST NEWS- well after the pandemic stimu- demic and seems to be acceler- nomic models, but it hasn’t reduce wage pressure and expect them to explain the
means words that sound espe- says Adam Aleksic, a linguist PAPER LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS lus—the federal deficit has ating. If higher rates were really worked. Since the pan- expand output. economy.
cially satisfying can go viral, as and influencer. Some of it RESERVED. been larger as a share of the affecting demand, it ought at demic, there has been no rela- Investors who still have a ©2024 DOW JONES & CO. INC.
LIVEMINT.COM News Wrap WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI 09

NEWS
₹8,100 cr ₹82,479 cr
THE PRICE for which Ambuja Cements, THE NET sales by foreign portfolio
₹930 cr
THE NET profit reported by Paytm parent
3,500km
THE RANGE capability of India’s fourth
9,000
THE NUMBER of workers Indian
IN part of the Adani group, is to buy a 46.8% investors in the equities market so far in One97 Communications in Q2 of FY25, nuclear-powered ballistic missile apparel firm Raymond Lifestyle will hire
NUMBERS stake in Orient Cement from its existing
promoters and select public shareholders.
October, marking the highest monthly
outflow on record, as per Trendlyne data.
thanks to the gain of ₹1,345 crore from its
entertainment ticketing business sale.
submarine (SSBN) launched this week,
compared to its first SSBN’s 750km range.
for the 900 stores it plans to open
in the next three years.

HOWINDIALIVES.COM

StanChart to focus TRAPPED BSNL will not raise

on affluent, SME biz tariffs: CMD Ravi

F B
ollowing the recent sale of its personal loan harat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL),
business to Kotak Mahindra Bank, India’s fourth-largest telecom company,
Standard Chartered India is now looking to will not increase tariffs, chairman and
“double down” on affluent banking, SME (small managing director Robert Ravi said, adding
and medium enterprise) loans, and wealth that it will focus on improving the quality of
management, a top official of the bank said. its services to retain the customers gained
Aditya Mandloi, managing director and head from rivals over the past quarter.
of wealth and retail banking—India and South “I can say for certain that BSNL will not be
Asia, said that the mindsets of resident Indians raising tariffs in the near future,” Ravi said on
are changing. “As their affluence increases, their the sidelines of the launch of the company’s
outlook becomes more global. Their needs and new logo and a slew of services on Tuesday.
wants are going beyond the geographical BSNL was the only telco that did not raise
boundaries of the country,” he said. At the same tariffs in June when larger rivals Reliance Jio,
time, Mandloi added that bank’s global network Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea increased
also allows non-resident Indians to extend their them by 10-21%. Jio and Airtel also started
banking relationships to India. charging for 5G services on unlimited usage
On the SME side, the bank expects growth to plans, beginning the trend of monetisation of
be faster, allowing more opportunity to cross- 5G in India.
sell and offer wealth management and invest- State-owned BSNL gained 2.9 million
ment solutions to self-employed individuals and mobile phone users in July while others lost
business owners. ANSHIKA KAYASTHA subscribers, according to the telecom
regulator’s data issued last month. The
company had 88.5 million mobile phone
users, or about 7.5% of the nation’s total.
The new services—seven in all—were
launched by communications minister
An under-construction building collapsed in Hennur, Bengaluru on Tuesday, trapping many construction workers under the debris. Three labourers Jyotiraditya Scindia. BSNL has come up with
died, and three more are still missing, while 14 were rescued. At least five people were killed in separate incidents in the city as incessant rains over the its own 4G telecom stack, which can be
past three days caused widespread flooding in several residential areas and turned roads into virtual rivers. PTI migrated to 5G, Scindia said, terming it a huge
accomplishment for India. GULVEEN AULAKH

Go First’s foreign
The total income of Adani Energy Solutions
witnessed a robust growth of 69%. AP
funding push to
Adani Energy Q2
net profit up 3-fold test insolvency law
A
dani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) on
Tuesday posted a nearly threefold jump
in its consolidated net profit to ₹773.39
crore in the September quarter, mainly on the
back of higher revenues. It seeks funds to pursue case against P&W
The consolidated net profit of the company
stood at ₹284.09 crore in the quarter ended on
30 September 2023, according to a regulatory Krishna Yadav where Go First is claiming over $1 bil-
filing. Its total income surged to ₹6,359.80 crore krishna.yadav@livemint.com lion in damages.
during the period under review against new delhi The airline attributes its downfall
₹3,766.46 crore in the same quarter a year ago. to P&W’s faulty engines, which

G
“The company remains focused on timely o First, the grounded grounded its fleet in May 2023 and
project commissioning as well as achieving airline entangled in disrupted operations beyond repair.
operating efficiencies. The power demand bankruptcy proceed- Under the terms of the agreement,
trends in both utilities and new transmission ings, is seeking permis- the loan from Burford Capital will
project wins are very encouraging and we are sion for a foreign fund- only be repaid if Go First wins the
making progress with the installation of smart ing lifeline to pursue a high-stakes arbitration. With creditors refusing
metres in all our contracts,” Kandarp Patel, CEO arbitration case against Pratt & Whit- to extend additional funds—having
of AESL, said in a statement. ney (P&W). If granted, it would mark already invested ₹160 crore—the RP
According to the statement, its total income an unprecedented shift in India’s turned to Burford, arguing that the
witnessed a robust growth of 69% on account of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code arbitration is the airline’s sole
the contribution of the newly operationalized (IBC), potentially reshaping how dis- remaining asset capable of unlocking
transmission assets (KVTL, KBTL, WKTL lines), tressed companies fund litigation. any recovery for lenders.
partial completion of lines at underconstruction The New Delhi bench of the According to its insolvency filings,
projects (MP-II) and a rise in energy sales. PTI National Company Law Tribunal Go First owes at least ₹11,463 crore
(NCLT) has yet to make a final deci- collectively to banks, international
sion, expressing initial reluctance. lessors and vendors. Of this, at least
But the case has already sparked ₹6,000 crore is owed to financial
49 flights get bomb a larger debate about third-party creditors, including Central Bank of
funding in India, where insolvency India, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank and
threats in a day laws remain untested for such sce- Deutsche Bank. The airline had
narios. hoped to restart
“Foreign with an interim
Go First owes at least financing from
N
early 50 domestic and international funding can
flights of Indian carriers received bomb provide addi- ₹11,463 cr collectively to these lenders,
threats on Tuesday, taking the total tional financial but its aircraft
number of flights that have received the threats resources, which banks, international lessors objected
since Monday night to around 80, according to might help in lessors and vendors saying their dues
people aware of the matter. settling debts should be cleared
The people in the know said 13 flights each of more effectively first.
Air India and IndiGo, over 12 flights of Akasa and potentially increase the value For Go First’s creditors—Central
Air and 11 flights of Vistara received the threats recovered by creditors,” said Vishwa- Bank of India (₹1,934 crore), Bank of
on Tuesday. On Monday night, 10 flights each nathan Iyer, partner at Anand Baroda (₹1,744 crore), and IDBI Bank
of Air India, IndiGo and Vistara had received Sharma and Associates. (₹75 crore)—this arbitration is now
the threats, with three Jeddah-bound IndiGo In early September, Go First for- their last hope for recovering dues
flights getting diverted to airports in Saudi mally filed for liquidation, citing a from the defunct carrier.
Arabia and Qatar. In little over a week, more lack of assets and a viable revival plan. Allowing foreign litigation fund-
than 170 flights operated by Indian carriers Having exhausted all moratorium ing would set a new precedent in
have received bomb threats. extensions under IBC, the airline’s India’s bankruptcy system. While
An Akasa Air spokesperson said some of its resolution professional (RP) sought third-party funding is common in the
flights operating on Tuesday received security the court’s approval to secure $20 US, the UK, and Australia, in India,
alerts and that the airline is following all safety million from Burford Capital, a this concept is still relatively unfamil-
and security procedures in coordination with US-based litigation finance firm. The iar, with only a handful of cases
local authorities. funds will be deployed to pursue an reported so far.
The airline did not mention the number of arbitration case in the Singapore For an extended version of this story,
flights that received the security alerts. PTI International Arbitration Centre, go to livemint.com

‘Bajaj Fin tightens checks for those with multiple loans’

B
ajaj Finance continues to tighten its underwriting norms for a cohort of
customers on the back of data that showed those with multiple
unsecured loans exhibit greater probability of default, its managing
director Rajeev Jain said on Tuesday.
“When we looked at the portfolio movement across secured and unsecured
portfolios, one thing stood out in general that those clients who have more
than three or more live unsecured loans are showing higher propensity to
default and have lower collection efficiencies,” Jain told analysts after
announcing the lender’s September quarter financials.
Bajaj Finance witnessed a deterioration in asset quality in the September
quarter. On a consolidated basis, its gross non-performing assets (NPA) and
net NPA stood at 1.06% and 0.46%, respectively, as of 30 September against
0.91% and 0.31% a year earlier. Its loan losses and provisions rose 77% on a on-
year to ₹1,909 crore. Its deposit book grew 21% on year in Q2 to ₹66,131 crore,
Bajaj Finance MD Rajeev Jain. RAJEEV JAIN/LINKEDIN and deposits contributed 20% of consolidated borrowings. SHAYAN GHOSH
10 WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI LONG STORY LIVEMINT.COM

CAN KERALA SUCCEED

in wooing investors?
With its economy sinking into a quagmire, ‘God’s own country’ has to embrace a new model of development

Madhavan N.
madhavan.n@livemint.com
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/CHENNAI

A
fter decades of planning and
years of delay, the Vizhinjam
International Transhipment
Deepwater Multipurpose
Seaport, India’s deepest nat-
ural port and its only container transship-
ment hub, located 25 kilometres from
Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, is
ready for operation.
Developed by Adani Ports and Logistics,
the port’s trial run began in July this year.
Its record since then has been impressive,
going by its handling of what the industry
calls twenty-foot equivalent unit or TEUs,
a measure of the size of containers.
In just a couple of months, the port has
unloaded 75,000 TEU containers from
large mother vessels and loaded them into
smaller feeder vessels—they sailed to
smaller ports. It has already exceeded the
60,000 TEUs target it had set for itself till
March 2025.
Now, the bad news. Connectivity to the
port is not ready yet. A narrow single-lane
road links the port to the Thiruvanantha-
puram-Kanyakumari highway a few kilo-
metres away. This road is incapable of car-
rying even large trucks, let alone con-
tainer trailers. “It will take another 12 to 18
months for proper connectivity,” says an
Adani Vizhinjam port spokesperson.
The Vizhinjam port, in a way, is a reflec-
tion of Kerala’s problem today and the
hope it holds for its future.
The state’s economy is in a crisis. Its
gross state domestic product (GSDP) is not
growing fast enough (see chart). Its unpro-
ductive expenses far exceed its revenues.
Borrowings bridge the gap. This has put
the state perpetually in debt.
The famed Kerala Model of Develop-
ment that ensured significant improve-
ment in human development parameters
such as life expectancy, literacy levels and
population control is now throwing up
demographic changes that are beginning
to hurt. Society is ageing and people live MSC Claude Girardet, a container vessel, unloads cargo at the Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport, near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
longer. This is adding pressure to the pen-
sion payouts and healthcare budget. The
nature of migration from the state is
changing and this is impacting the remit- lent to a quarter of the state’s economy borrowings, which is 34% of its GSDP, go
tances that oil the state’s economy. and 1.9 times its revenue receipts. The to meet its revenue expenses and has left
mint
SHORT
TORTOISE AND THE HARE
“High levels of debt, higher elderly pop- huge inflow of remittances triggered a the state in a debt trap. STORY Kerala is among the slowest growing states in the country
ulation and the low retirement age have consumption boom. Money went into “With 71% of its revenue receipts GSDP growth (in %)*
resulted in high-interest payments, pen- buying gold, consumer goods and build- going towards meeting committed High on debt
7
sion and salary outflows, thereby curbing ing houses. This boosted Kerala’s eco- expenditure such as payment of salaries, WHAT Gujarat
Assam 6.8
Kerala borrows to fund its revenue expenses.
39
the fiscal space of the state to expend on nomic growth but in a skewed manner. pensions and interest, productive Telangana 6.7 Debt (% of GSDP)
development activities,” says Paras Jasrai, expenditure like building roads and Kerala’s economy is in a crisis. Odisha 6.5 37
economist, India Ratings and Research. DUTCH DISEASE EFFECT other infrastructure has been ignored, Its gross state domestic product Tamil Nadu 6.2
(GSDP) is not growing fast Andhra Pradesh 6.2 34.2
S
Kerala is realizing the need for a new trong remittance inflow triggered the says K.J. Joseph, director, Gulati Insti- 35
Karnataka 6.1
model of development and the Pinarayi ‘Dutch Disease Effect’. In 1959, the Gro- tute of Finance and Taxation. enough. Its unproductive Chhattisgarh 6.1 34.3
33
Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front gov- ningen natural gas field, the largest gas field Kerala’s capital expenditure as a share expenses far exceed its revenue Jharkhand 5.9 2023-24 (RE)
32
ernment is attempting a course correc- in Europe, was discovered in the Nether- of GSDP, at 1.4%, is far lower than many with borrowings bridging the gap. Bihar 5.7 31
Rajasthan 5.2 2019-20 2024-25 (BE)
tion. It is wooing investors hoping to boost lands. This discovery, and the consequent states (see chart). “This has caused the RE-revised estimate, BE-budget estimate
All India average 5.2
industrial development. It wants to take export of gas, led to a strong foreign state’s economic growth to underper- 5
advantage of projects such as the Vizhin- exchange inflow, which strengthened the form,” he adds. AND Haryana
Punjab 5
Money in
While remittance is rising in absolute
jam port. A few weeks back, the state sur- guilder, the local currency. It also made Nonetheless, K.N. Balagopal, the state’s Madhya Pradesh 5 terms, it has wavered as a share of NSDP.
prised many by topping the ease of doing imports cheaper. Eventually, this led to the finance minister, remains hopeful of High levels of debt, higher elderly West Bengal 4.9
( trillion) % of NSDP
business (EoDB) ranking for 2021-22. Can decline of the Dutch manufacturing sector. things turning around soon. “There are a population and low retirement Maharashtra 4.4
age has resulted in high interest Kerala 4.1
Kerala shake off its anti-investor image, “In Kerala’s case, the strong remittances lot of small enterprises in Kerala, and we Uttarakhand 3.8
25.5 22 30.7 19.2 13.5 23.2
attract investments and extract itself from flow and the consumption boom it trig- are trying to bring them into the tax net to payments, pension and salary
* Compounded annual real growth rate between FY18 and
the quagmire it finds itself in? gered, especially in the construction sec- improve the tax efficiency,” he told Mint. outflows, curbing the fiscal space FY24; GSDP is gross state domestic product 2.16
tor, pushed up the wages significantly. Balagopal blames the state’s fiscal chal- to expend on development.
Low on capex
MONEY ORDER ECONOMY This hurt the agriculture and manufactur- lenges on the Centre’s wrong devolution Kerala spends far less on infrastructure than other south

S oon after its formation in 1956, Kerala ing sectors in a big way,” says K.N. Harilal,
implemented efficient policies that chairman of the seventh State Finance
transformed its social parameters. “Liter- Commission. Agriculture became unre-
criteria. “Kerala accounts for 3.8% of
India’s GDP but gets only 1.9% of the divis-
ible pool. That apart, in the last three
NOW
Indian states.
6.6
Capex (% of GSDP in FY24)

0.71
0.85
acy rate, life expectancy, maternal mortal- munerative and many industries shifted to years, the quantum of grants has dropped Kerala is realizing the need 3.4 0.43
ity rate, infant mortality neighbouring states. As by 56%,” he claims. for a new model of 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.4 0.14 0.18
rate and total fertility of 2022-23, agriculture Mint couldn’t verify this claim. development. It is wooing
rate improved way ahead Between 2022-23 and accounted for just 9% investors and has identified Uttar Telangana Gujarat Karnataka Tamil Kerala 1998 2003 2008 2013 2018 2023
Pradesh Nadu NSDP: Net state domestic product
of India average and September 2024, over while industry contrib- GERIATRIC CAPITAL 22 knowledge economy-based
Source: India Ratings and Research, PRS Legislative Research, Kerala Migration Survey 2023
priority sectors.
were even on par with
some South-East Asian
countries,” says K.P.
300,000 medium and small
uted 28% (construction
and not manufacturing
accounted for a large
E ven as the state battles the fiscal crisis,
past successes, thanks to the Kerala
Model of Development, are throwing up
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT

enterprises have started

Kannan, former director, share here) followed by new challenges which will further worsen to the US, Europe, Canada, Australia and LICENSE-FREE are another focus area. “Between 2022-23
Centre for Development
Studies, Thiruvanantha-
puram. This gave birth to
operations, involving an services (63%). “Scope to
raise taxes was thus low
investment of ₹19,876 crore. as services were not
its already fragile finances.
The state saw significant success in
population control decades ago. This has
New Zealand where they intend to settle
down. They will not be sending remittances
back to Kerala,” explains IIMAD’s Rajan.
A large television in the Thiruvanan- and now (September 2024), over
thapuram office of P. Rajeeve, Ker- 300,000 MSMEs started operations, involv-
ala’s industry and law minister, runs a ing an investment of ₹19,876 crore. They
the Kerala Model of effectively taxed prior to meant that the share of the elderly popula- KMS 2023 estimates that 250,000 stu- countdown timer. On a mid-October employ 654,000 people,” says Rajeeve.
Development–one that delivered signifi- the advent of goods and services tax tion in society is much higher than the rest dents left the state to study abroad that evening, it read ‘512 days, 12,298 hours What about large manufacturing com-
cant human development and welfare (GST),” says Harilal. of the country. The government estimates year, spending at least ₹50,000 core in and 737,909 minutes. panies? “We do not want large-scale man-
despite low per capita income. those above 60 years of age to account for different countries. “It reminds me and my team of the time ufacturing. They need a large parcel of
However, the strong social sector POOR GOVERNMENT, RICH PEOPLE 17% of the population as against the India That is not the only outflow. we have (before the next state election is land and may not suit Kerala’s sensitive
achievements did not translate into
immediate economic growth. Lack of jobs B ut successive governments have
failed to raise taxes where they could
triggered migration in the 1970s, espe- and take advantage of the consumption
average of 7%. “Kerala is fast becoming the
geriatric capital of the country,” says Hari-
lal. The state’s pension bill and social secu-
This writer met Sachin Das (27), a native
of Cooch Behar in West Bengal, at a tea
stall in Ulloor area of Thiruvananthapu-
notified) to get our work done,”
the minister explains. He wants
to make Kerala an investor-
ecology. We want to attract
knowledge-based industries
that can employ our highly
cially to the Gulf States which were expe- boom the remittances created. “It is a rity spending are on the rise. So are the ram. He had decided to rest after a sudden friendly state. skilled local youth,” he adds.
riencing an oil boom. By 1998, 1.4 million clear case of poor economic management. healthcare expenses as Kerala offers free burst of rain disrupted work. Rajeeve has already met over There’s yet another bottle-
Keralites were living outside the country, The state’s collection efficiency is poor universal healthcare for its people. “I have never climbed a coconut tree back 4,000 entrepreneurs and neck—Kerala’s virulent trade
93.8% of them in the Gulf States. As per and the system reeks of rent-seeking Migration and the remittances that home in West Bengal. These days, that’s my sought their suggestions. A unions. “That is a perception
the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) 2023, behaviour,” says Kannan. This is a travesty ensued were a boon to the Kerala econ- job. I earn ₹23,000 a month climbing 40 committee was set up to review Liked this issue. No company has been
it reached a peak of 2.4 million by 2013. for a state which consumes 20% of India’s omy over the years. That boon is on the trees a day,” he says, sipping tea. the advice and bring about nec- story? Share affected by labour issues in the
“Migration turned out to be a boon for gold but with just 2.7% of the country’s wane. For one, the number of migrants is He is one among 3.5 million domestic essary amendment of rules. it by scanning last three decades,” Rajeeve
the state. With the countries in West Asia population, he adds. declining. As per KMS 2023, 1.8 million of migrants who have come to Kerala to take “Today, anyone can start and the QR code. explains. If such fear was true, the
not allowing Indians to own assets or settle The state’s tax revenue between them have returned. up menial jobs that locals refuse to do. run a business with an invest- state would not have topped the
down permanently, they sent their earn- 2017-18 and 2023-24 grew by 6.5% which Gulf states are today home to just 81% of “They send back at least ₹40,000 crore ment of ₹50 crore or less without a EoDB ranking for 2021-22 as it was entirely
ings back to Kerala as remittances,” says S. is less than the state’s nominal GSDP the migrants, down from 94% in 1998. every year and that money is not spent in license,” the minister says. For larger based on investor feedback, he adds.
Irudaya Rajan, chair at International Insti- growth of 8.5%. While remittances in absolute terms con- Kerala,” says Rajan. investments, a bureau has been set up to If Rajeeve has his way, the Vizhinjam
tute of Migration and Development It is this, that has left the state govern- tinue to rise (₹2.16 trillion in 2023), it has Remittances into Kerala, going ahead, give composite licenses within seven days port, going ahead, will not only have road
(IIMAD) at Thiruvananthapuram and ment poor despite its people being rich. fluctuated as a share of net state domestic are expected to fall. of application, he adds. connectivity but also a large manufactur-
author of KMS 2023. The state does not have the funds to meet product (NSDP). “We can’t solve this problem overnight. In addition, the state has identified 22 ing cluster nearby. That cluster someday
Remittances soon became an important its routine expenses. In 2024-25, the reve- What is worse is that the nature of migra- We are planning for an environment knowledge economy-based priority sec- will be able to import components, assem-
source of revenue for the state, earning it nue deficit is estimated at ₹27,845 crore tion is changing. “Earlier, people used to where more money will come into the tors—such as global capability centres, food ble them and export the finished product.
the monicker ‘money order economy’. In (2.1% of GSDP). The government borrows migrate for work. Today, youngsters are state through tourism and investments,” processing and medical device manufactur- In other words, a model of industrializa-
1998, it aggregated ₹13,652 crore, equiva- to bridge the gap. As much as 50% of its migrating for education, and they are going says Balagopal. ing. Medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) tion Kerala isn’t that familiar with.
LIVEMINT.COM MINT MONEY WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI 11

How to transfer or gift your Compare your bank FD rates

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

MF units held in demat form investors who can’t stomach risk. But overexposure to FDs is not good, and you need
to assess your asset allocation and goals to decide how much money you should
park in them. For instance, saving for your child’s
higher education that’s 15 years away through FDs
may not be effective as the post-tax interest rate
of an FD may not give you a real return (return
that’s above the rate of inflation). But if you plan to
take a holiday in two years, an FD can help. Before
This is an extremely cumbersome and paper-driven process with no online alternative choosing an FD, you should compare the interest
rates on offer. Here is a list of banks that offer the
highest FD rates for deposits up to 1 crore over
Anil Poste & Neil Borate
various tenures.
MUMBAI Process for transfering your MF units to your friends/family

Y
Interest rates (%) for fixed deposits up to 1 crore
ou can transfer your mutual 1 Open a demat
fund (MF) units from one account for
6 months 1 to < 2 2 to < 3 3 to < 5 5 years
demat account to another, both parties
either to your own or to to < 1 year years years years and above
those belonging to your 2 Convert units to DCB Bank 6.20-7.25 7.10-8.05 7.50-7.55 7.40-7.75 7.25-7.65
family members and friends. However, demat form (if not
this is an extremely cumbersome and already in demat) Axis Bank 5.75-6.00 6.70-7.25 7.25 7.10 7.00
paper-driven process with no online
alternative. This makes holding MF HDFC Bank 4.50-6.00 6.60-7.25 7.00-7.35 7.00-7.40 7.00
3 Fill out the delivery
units in demat form extremely disad- instruction slip (DIS) IndusInd Bank 5.00-6.50 7.75 7.25-7.75 7.25 7.00-7.25
vantageous. That said, the only way to
gift MF units to someone is through the RBL Bank 4.75-6.05 7.50-8.10 7.50-8.00 7.10-7.50 7.00-7.10
demat mode. 4 Mention the DP ID
and BOID of the YES Bank 5.00-6.35 7.25-8.00 7.25 7.25 7.00-7.25
The dematerialization process
transferee’s account
First, open demat accounts for the
on the DIS ICICI Bank 4.75-6.00 6.70-7.25 7.00-7.25 7.00 6.90-7.00
transferor and the transferee. “We get
two demat accounts—one for the trans- Canara Bank 6.15-6.25 6.85-7.25 6.85 6.80 6.70
feror and one for the transferee. If units 5 Submit the DIS to
the broker
are in physical form, they must first be Dhanlaxmi Bank 5.00 6.75-7.25 6.50-6.75 6.50-7.25 6.60-7.25
dematerialized,” explains Amit Sahita,
director of Fincode Advisory Services 6 Your broker carries Federal Bank 5.50-6.50 6.80-7.40 7.05-7.40 7.00-7.40 6.60
Pvt. Ltd. out video/OTP
verification Bank of Baroda 5.60-6.85 6.85-7.30 7.00-7.15 6.80-7.15 6.50-6.80
If the MF units are currently held as
a statement of account (SoA), they must Bank of Maharashtra 5.25-6.90 6.50-7.15 6.50-7.25 6.50 6.50
be converted to demat form. This How to swtich back to SoA?
Challenges of holding MF units in demat form Central Bank of India 6.00-6.25 6.85-7.45 6.50-7.00 6.75 6.50
requires filling out a ‘mutual fund Obtain remat Fill Attach self-
dematerialization form,’ available from  CAN only transact through the broker’s
platform, even if you change ARN on form request form and attested Indian Overseas Bank 5.75 7.10-7.30 6.80 6.50 6.50
the depository participant or broker. from broker sign copies of required
 BROKER-related fees (e.g. annual demat
The form asks for important details maintenance charges) apply documents State Bank of India 6.25-6.50 6.80-7.25 7.00 6.75 6.50
such as the MF name, folio number and  HARD to exit a bad broker. DIS transfer process is
the number of units to be materialized. Union Bank of India 5.00-7.40 6.60-7.25 6.40-6.60 6.50-6.70 6.50
slow and cumbersome RTA verfies Broker Submit
The dematerialization process typi-  ONCE in demat form, you cannot transact on RTA, and processes sends documents* IDFC First Bank 4.50-5.75 6.50-7.75 6.80-7.25 6.75-6.80 6.50-6.75
cally takes three to four business days. MFU, MF websites, MF Central the request request to RTA to broker
The delivery instruction slip  BROKER consent needed to pledge MFs for loan Data taken from respective bank's website as on 17 October 2024; Only main entity of the merged banks are taken. Banks which merged
with its main entity are removed from the table; The list of 15 banks is based on highest fixed deposit rates available for 5 years and above
Once the MF units have been dema- against MF Note: The remat process usually takes 20-25 days. Source: www.Bankbazaar.com
terialized, the transferor must fill out a  CANNOT get capital gains statement from RTA Extra charges may apply for MF transactions held in demat.
delivery instruction slip (DIS) to initiate *Required documents: RRF form, PAN card and valid address
the transfer. This can be obtained from Costs and tax implications of the transfer process proof (voter ID, driving licence, passport or masked Aadhaar)
your broker. The DIS requires impor-  TRANSFER charges. For example, ₹25 or
tant information, including:
• ISIN number: The International
Securities Identification Number
0.03% of transaction value per ISIN at
Zerodha plus 18% GST
 RECIPIENT must manually adjust the Things to remember
Real estate: Can an NRI benefit
(ISIN) of the MF units mentioned in the
account statement.
• Transferor’s details: The deposi-
acquisition price for accurate tax reporting
 NON-family recipient has to pay income tax on gift if
value of units exceeds 50,000 a year
 FOR lock-in schemes, submit a separate RRF for
each scheme and mention the lock-in period
 ENSURE the mode of holding matches when
from reinvesting capital gains?
tory participant’s ID and beneficial  FAMILY member doesn’t pay income tax on gift but converting from SoA to demat. eg: Single or joint
ISTOCKPHOTO

owner identification (BOID), a 16-digit pays capital gains tax when selling transferred units Harshal Bhuta opened under the Capital
 MF units cannot be redeemed during the remat
alphanumeric code that identifies the or transfer process
feedback@livemint.com Gains Account Scheme, which
beneficial owner of securities in a Eg: ‘A’ buys MF units worth 10 lakh in Oct 2020. This must be used within the pre-
rises to 15 lakh. ‘A’ then transfers the units to his son’s  TO avoid rejections, ensure your signature
demat account. matches demat records and details are accurately I’m a US citizen holding an scribed two-year period. There
• Transferee’s details: The deposi- demat account in Jan 2021. The value rises to 17 lakh Overseas Citizen of India is also a lock-in period of three
by Oct 2024. The son sells them in Oct 2024. Son has to filled
tory participant’s ID and the trans- (OCI) card. I own three years for the new residential
feree’s BOID. Note that this can also be pay capital gains tax on 17 lakh - 10 lakh = 7 lakh. apartments in India that I property, failing which the
a self-transfer with your own details as ARN: application reference number; BOID: beneficial owner identification; DIS: delivery instruction slip; MF: mutual fund; RRF: rematerialization request form;
purchased in the early amount of exemption earlier
the transferee. RTA: registrar and transfer agent; SoA: statement of account 2010s. I plan to sell two— claimed will be taken back.
• Quantity: The number of MF units one in December and the The Finance Act, 2023, has
PRANAY BHARDWAJ/MINT
being transferred in figures and words. other in February. Against introduced a cap of ₹10 crore on
The transferor must also select the demat account to the transferee’s Tax transacting on multiple platforms may the sale of these two apart- the cost of the new property to
reason for the transfer (e.g., family demat account. Chopra points out that no income tax consider rematerializing their MF ments, I plan to buy two new claim the capital gains tax
transfer, gift) on the DIS form. A coun- A senior executive at a small bro- is payable when transferring MF units units, i.e., converting them back to the apartments. Can I get the exemption. If the cost exceeds
tersignature is required in case of cor- kerage told Mint that the whole pro- to a family member without monetary SoA format. The process begins with benefit of reinvestment? ASK MINT ₹10 crore, the excess capital
rections or overwriting on the DIS. cess could take weeks or even months consideration. However, a non-family filling out a rematerialization request And is there any limit for m N R I TA X AT I O N gains will be taxed. This limit
The submission as there are delays, like BOID and recipient will be taxed if the value of the form and submitting it, along with the reinvestment? applies individually to each
The DIS, along with supporting doc- ISIN approval at the end of the trans- transferred shares exceeds ₹50,000. In required documents, to the broker. —Name withheld on request reinvestment.
uments like a client master report for feror's broker, and logistical challen- the case of family members, the tax is The broker then forwards the request the amount of capital gains into The India-US double tax
verification, must be submitted to the ges, such as mailing the DIS to the levied when the transferee sells the to the asset management company Your apartments would a new residential property. Sec- avoidance agreement does not
transferor’s DP or broker. You can visit broker. units (capital gains tax). In (AMC) or registrar and transfer agent qualify as long-term capital tion 54 does not limit how provide any specific relief from
the broker’s office or send the docu- However, Mohit If the MF units are this case, the transferor’s (RTA) for processing. assets, whose threshold is many times you can claim this capital gains tax in India. And
ments via courier. Mehra, vice-president at currently held as cost of acquisition is taken Once the request is processed, the defined to be a holding period exemption in a fiscal year, and despite claiming exemption
For transfers above ₹5 lakh in value, Zerodha, explains: “There a statement of into account. AMC or RTA issues an SoA reflecting of more than 24 months prece- hence the capital gains tax under Section 54, you may still
additional verification, such as video could be logistical delays account, they “The recipient must the holdings. The process may take a ding the date of transfer. exemption for both the sale be liable to pay tax in the US on
verification, may be required. because you need to cou- manually adjust the acqui- few weeks, depending on the accuracy Vide Finance Act (No. 2), events (December and Febru- the amount of capital gains
rier the DIS to the broker,
must be sition price in their demat of the information provided and the 2024, non-residents can no ary) can be claimed together computed as per US tax law.
Video and OTP verification
Once the broker receives the DIS, but once the DIS has converted to account to match the orig- AMC’s processing time. While there longer benefit from indexation, during 2024-25. You are recommended to con-
they will verify the details over a call or reached the broker, the demat form inal price paid by the are no charges for the rematerializa- but the tax rate has been In order to claim the exemp- sult a qualified US tax profes-
email to confirm the authenticity of the transfer typically takes a sender. This is crucial for tion, some depository participants or reduced from 20% to 12.5% tion, the prescribed time sional to understand your US
transfer request. A video verification of day or two.” accurately calculating cap- brokers may charge a nominal han- (plus applicable surcharge and period to purchase a new resi- capital gains tax implications.
the account holder may also be con- Charges ital gains or losses,” Chopra cautions. dling fee. cess). However, you can still dential property is one year Harshal Bhuta is partner at
ducted for higher-value transfers. The A fee is levied. For example, Zerodha Failure to report the correct acquisi- claim an exemption from tax on before or two years after the P.R. Bhuta & Co.
verification process is usually completed charges 0.03% of the transaction value tion price can lead to tax discrepancies capital gains under Section 54 if date of sale. However, suppose
within 48 working hours of receiving the or ₹25 per ISIN, whichever is higher, during audits, and proper documenta- Scan the QR you reinvest the capital gains you have not purchased the Do you have a personal
DIS. Upon successful verification, the along with 18% GST. While this might tion is necessary to avoid issues with code to read into a new residential property corresponding new residential finance query? Send in your
broker processes the transfer request. seem nominal for small transactions, the tax authorities. an extended (either by way of a purchase or properties by 31 July 2025. In queries at
Transfer completion larger transfers could incur significant Switching back to SoA: Remate- version of construction). Against each sale that case, you will need to mintmoney@livemint.com
and get them answered by
After the verification, the MF units costs. A stamp duty of 0.015% is also rialization this story. of a residential property, you deposit the unutilized capital
industry experts.
are transferred from the transferor’s payable on such transfers. Investors who prefer the flexibility of can reinvest the proceeds up to gains in a capital gains account

BENEFITS OF SECONDARY RESIDENCY FOR ULTRA-HIGH-NET-WORTH INDIVIDUALS

ish Golden Visa (also for an investment of at least €500,000). Geo- Enhance your global mobility
graphically European but not politically, the UK provides another European residency by investment programmes appeal because
POWER secondary residency option. This is in the form of the £200,000
Innovator Founder Visa.
they allow you to travel freely across the 29 countries making up
the EU Schengen area. Access to this area will become more com-
POINT Elsewhere, West Asia is home to the UAE Golden Visa, which plicated with the impending arrival of the EU entry/exit system
requires a minimum investment of $550,000. One particular ben- and the European Travel Information and Authorization Services.
DAV I D R E G U E I R O efit of this second residence is that UNHWIs can include domestic Avoid visa delays with a European residency card.
staff, along with family, on their application. Follow a route to citizenship
We welcome your views and comments at Finally, North America is the birthplace of residency by invest- With the exception of Malta, which
mintmoney@livemint.com ment, with the US EB-5 Investor Visa (with a minimum $800,000 North America offers its Citizenship by Investment Pro-
price tag). Let’s get into what benefits UNHWIs gain from second- is the birthplace gramme, and the UAE, residency can

I
n an era of global mobility and economic uncertainty, the con- ary residency options.
cept of secondary residency has gained significant traction Secondary residency helps formulate a plan B of residency by lead to becoming a national of the coun-
try you invest in. This is another way to
among ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs). This strate- The year 2024 is famously the year of elections. There is more investment, become more mobile. You become eli-
gic move offers a multitude of benefits, ranging from enhanced electoral activity than at any other time in history. A second resi- with the US EB- gible for a passport offering greater visa-
lifestyle options to significant financial advantages. dence offers the chance of a second base in a new place. 5 Investor Visa free access than the Indian one.
Secondary residency involves an economic contribution to the UHNWIs can escape the turbulent political landscape of their Build a legacy
host country or a real estate purchase in exchange for residency home country. Also, imagine the onset of a new pandemic. If you ISTOCKPHOTO If you become a citizen via naturali-
rights. There are residency by investment programmes, also found the 21-day nationwide lockdown restriction in India exces- eign students in American universities, boosting their chances of zation, you are securing financial and strategic benefits for yourself
known as golden visas, all over the world, but the most popular ones sive, there’s a chance to move you and your family into your more getting into the top schools. and future generations. Countries like Canada, Portugal and the
in UHNWI circles are in Europe, West Asia and North America. relaxed second residence, albeit only temporarily. Protect your assets and diversify your portfolio US offer citizenship after five years of residency, while Greece and
In Europe, established residency by investment programmes Give your children a better start in life A residency by investment is a foreign direct investment. Spain require seven and ten years, respectively.
include the Greek Golden Visa (€250,000 minimum investment). For Indian students aspiring to study abroad, the Oxbridge Besides residency, you can receive returns on a real estate invest- The decision to pursue secondary residency should not be made
There’s also the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (requir- Spires of the UK seemed further away following the restrictions ment with the potential for your property to increase in value. lightly. It’s essential to research thoroughly and seek expert advice.
ing UHNWIs to invest at least €150,000). Along with the Portu- after Brexit. Adding them to your Innovator Founder Visa can help Wherever you invest in the US through an EB-5, it doesn’t deter- Many programmes don’t allow direct applications and you may
guese Golden Visa (available for a minimum investment of their dreams become a reality. mine where you live, and you can choose to reside in tax-friendly need to go through a trusted residency by investment intermediary.
€500,000). Portugal’s Iberian neighbour, Spain, offers the Span- The EB-5 helps your children apply as residents rather than for- states such as Florida, New Hampshire and Texas. David Regueiro is the chief operating officer of RIF Trust.
12 WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI VIEWS LIVEMINT.COM

OUR VIEW MY VIEW | ON THE OTHER HAND

PTI

Public offers of equity no longer

raise capital for new businesses
Most IPOs are offers for sale by existing shareholders and not much goes into new business ventures

In an offer for sale, no new shares are Indeed, the structure of the Indian
issued; it is the promoters of companies IPO market has changed. As Kay puts it
and their existing large investors who in The Corporation in the 21st Century:
sell their shares to the public. “The purpose of the IPO is not to raise
In fact, all the funds raised through capital but to demonstrate to earlier
Hyundai Motor India’s IPO came from investors and employees that there is
an offer for sale. To get a clearer picture, value in their shareholdings and to
we need to account for the large size of enable some to realise that value. The
this IPO. How did the primary market objective of listing on a stock exchange
VIVEK KAUL look before this IPO? Data from Prime is not to put money into the business
is the author of ‘Bad Money’. Database suggests that as of 11 October, but to make it possible to take money
close to 49% of the IPO money raised out of the business.”
was through offers for sale. Hyundai’s This is the new reality. As Das states:
IPO has taken it to about two-thirds. “The nature of stock markets has been

Why an optimal balance

Indeed, in each of the years since changed by alternative sources of risk
2015-16, more than half the IPO money capital… [with] a shift to different forms

L
ast week, Hyundai Motor India raised has come through offers for sale. of business ownership, such as private
raised close to ₹28,000 crore In that sense, this has been happening equity.” These days, many companies
through its initial public offering for close to a decade. raise capital from venture capitalists,

of power is a challenge (IPO). Data from Prime Database sug-

gests that as of 17 October, 42 IPOs had
raised more than ₹78,000 crore during
2024-25. With the exception of 2017-18,
If we look at data from the start of
2015-16 until 17 October, ₹494,375
crore has been raised through IPOs. Of
this, ₹338,759 crore, or more than 68%,
private equity investors and even
wealthy individuals. A few years down
the line, these investors need an exit so
that they can make money from their
when ₹81,553 crore was raised by com- has been raised through offers for sale. investment, and IPOs provide that exit.
panies through IPOs, and 2021-22, If we look at a more recent period from Of course, the increase in offers for
Naidu’s and Stalin’s comments on population mask a deeper worry: India’s growing north- when over ₹1.1 trillion was raised, this is the start of 2020-21, ₹335,027 crore sale is also a function of the fact that the
the highest amount ever with more has been raised through IPOs. Of this, stock market has gone from strength to
south divide—not only in prosperity, but also over the future sharing of political power than five months left for the financial ₹216,563 crore, or close to 65%, was strength in the last few years, thus
year to end. Of course, these are abso- raised through offers for sale. encouraging promoters to offload their
lute numbers and don’t take the size of So, around a third of the money shares to the public, particularly retail
the Indian economy into account. raised through IPOs has involved fresh investors looking to make listing day

T
he wheel has come full circle. From and greater social empowerment of women, Historically, IPOs have typically been shares being issued. Now, does that gains. Given the public fascination for
a time when population control and the total fertility rate (TFR) of Andhra Pradesh, seen as a way for companies to sell the mean this money was raised for new IPOs, quite a few VC-backed companies
public new shares in order to raise investments and business expansion? that barely make any money and have
“Hum doh, hamaare doh” (two of us, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu money to finance new investments and Not really. As Pranav Haldea, managing flawed products and business models
two of ours) were national buzz- is only 1.73, below the national average of 2.1 expand their business. As Satyajit Das director of Prime Database, says: “The have managed to sell their shares on the
words, we now have Chandrababu and well below the 2.4 average TFR of the five writes in The Age of Stagnation: “Stock fresh capital raised does not necessarily stock market at high prices.
Naidu, chief minister of Andhra big heartland states of north and central India: markets are designed to facilitate capi- always go towards business expansion. A major reason behind capital gains
Pradesh and an important ally of India’s ruling Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajast- tal raisings for investments [in] pro- In several cases, it has also gone towards made from the selling of shares being
jects.” Or, as John Kay writes in Other retirement of debt or general corporate taxed at lower rates than other modes of
alliance, urging the people of his state to have han and Jharkhand. Taken in conjunction with People’s Money: “The first companies to purposes.” income was to encourage retail and
more children. Last Saturday, he promised to a 2002 decision of the Vajpayee government obtain listings on modern markets were Clearly, the reason why Indian com- other investors to invest in IPOs and help
enact a law allowing only those with more than that called for delimitation to be undertaken companies like railways and breweries, panies raise money through IPOs has entrepreneurs who are looking to raise
two children to contest local polls in Andhra. following the “first census after 2026,” this with large requirements for capital for changed over the years. If we look at fresh capital for business expansion. But
He is not alone. On Monday, Tamil Nadu chief opens up a can of worms. Why? There is a dis- very specific purposes. Building a rail- data for the period between 2001-02 that barely seems to be happening. So, it
way is expensive, and once you have and 2014-15, of the ₹171,676 crore makes sense to gradually end the rela-
minister M.K. Stalin suggested, not entirely in tinct possibility that the Centre will not wait till built it the only thing you can do with it raised, more than 75% was raised tively light taxation of capital gains made
jest, that rather than the 16 forms of wealth enu- 2031 for the next headcount, after covid broke is run trains. You cannot use a brewery through the issuance of fresh shares. from shares. Indian policy is already
merated in ancient Tamil texts which are tradi- the regularity of our decadal census due in 2021. except to brew beer.” If we leave out 2010-11, when a lot of moving in this direction. This income,
tionally invoked while blessing newly-weds, a Remember, the ruling BJP has a much stronger But that’s history. In 2024-25, a major money was raised through offers for like what people earn as salary and from
new invocation should be for 16 children. This base in the north than in the south, where the chunk of the funds raised so far through sale, close to 85% was raised through deposits, should be taxed at the marginal
IPOs in India came from offers for sale. the fresh issue of shares. rate of income tax.
sea-change in attitudes to population control in party has made inroads only in Karnataka.
two southern states masks a deeper and more Hence, any re-composition of Parliament based
worrisome issue: a growing north-south divide, on updated population data will work in the
not only in economic prosperity, but also in the BJP’s favour, notwithstanding its need for India
sharing of political power, a rupture that could to qualify as a truly representative democracy.
potentially strain our federal consensus. The underlying rationale of delimitation is
Naidu and Stalin are only voicing the fears indisputable. We must reduce, if not eliminate, www.livemint.com
New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh*, Pune* Thursday, October 23, 2014 Vol.8 No.253 `4.00 in Delhi-NCR/`5.00 outside Delhi-NCR 24
32 PAGES
+ 4 MARKETS PAGES

of many in the south (and perhaps in western the present inequity in representation, wherein CORPORATE: CBI
files first
chargesheet in Saradha scam >3
EARNINGS: HDFC net profit up 7% to `1,358 crore
in September quarter >3

states to an extent). Namely, that India’s long- MPs from populous states represent a much twitter.com/
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SPORTS: Pravin Amre, the doctor for ailing
batsmen >16-17
INTERNATIONAL: Currency wars evolve with the
goal of avoiding deflation >24

overdue delimitation exercise—by which Lok larger number of their countrymen than their
SENSEX 26,787.23 Æ 211.58 NIFTY 7,995.9 Æ 68.15 DOLLAR `61.28 æ `0.04 EURO `77.63 æ 0.55 GOLD `27,315 æ `85 OIL $86.29 Æ $0.07

Ben Bradlee, SAMVAT 2070

Wipro’s profit QUICK EDIT
who guided
Sensex logs best rises 8% in August to

Sabha representation will be rejigged—will counterparts from less populous states. But the Watergate
coverage, dies
OBITUARY
Ben Bradlee
gain in five years
Q2 but lags
estimates
B Y M OULISHREE S RIVASTAVA
moulishree.s@livemint.com
October
I t is said that a week is a
long time in politics. And
10 weeks seem long
enough for the
assumptions of economic
A simple way to take
further skew our already-skewed distribution flip side is that the resultant re-allocation of Lok
························· policy to be overturned.
NEW DELHI
1921-2014 Indian financial sector
Investors remain
W

measure of a country is to
ipro Ltd, India’s third- regulators met with the
B Y M ARILYN B ERGER
The New York Times
upbeat as Samvat 2071 SPARKLING MARKET largest software services
exporter, posted a lower-than-
finance ministry on 9
August as part of the new
························· kicks off on Thursday, The BSE Sensex jumped 26.1% in Samvat 2070, which started
expected fiscal second-quarter Financial Stability and
on 3 November 2013, posting its best gain since Samvat 2065.
but potential risks of a
B en Bradlee, who presided
over The Washington Post’s
Watergate reporting that led to
global slowdown loom
Six sectoral Indices outperformed the benchmark index, with
the BSE Capital Goods index leading the pack.
profit after effecting wage in-
creases in the preceding quar-
ter and taking a hit from ad-
Development Council. The
central bank has released
the abridged minutes of

of power among states. According to a paper Sabha seats among states will skew political
the fall of president Richard M. verse exchange-rate fluctua- that meeting for the first
Nixon and that stamped him in B Y A MI S HAH tions. time.
American culture as the quin- ami.s@livemint.com Sensex 26,787.23 Net profit rose 8% to The minutes reveal
tessential newspaper editor of ························· 21 Oct 2014 `2,084.8 crore in the three concerns about the
MUMBAI
21,239.36
his era—gruff, charming and months ended 30 September emerging risks to the

look at how many want in...

3 Nov 2013
tenacious—died on Tuesday.
He was 93.
Bradlee died at home of nat-
ural causes, The Post reported.
T he BSE Sensex rose the
most in five years in the
Hindu calendar year
Samvat 2070 as investors
from a year ago. Revenue rose
8% to `11,816 crore from a
year earlier. In dollar terms,
net income was $337 million
Indian economy because of
costlier global oil, following
the turmoil in West Asia, as
well as the prospects of

published in September by the Economic power even more to northern and central states
With full backing from his cheered a change in govern- on revenue of $1.9 billion. higher US interest rates
publisher, Katharine Graham, ment that raised hopes of Net profit was down 0.8% next year. Much has
Bradlee led The Post into the quick action to lift sagging eco- % change in Samvat 2070 from the previous quarter changed since then. Global
first rank of American newspa- nomic growth. S&P BSE Mid-cap 53.40 while revenue rose 5%. oil prices have tanked. And
pers, courting controversy and Investors remain upbeat as A Bloomberg poll of analysts while the US may still
giving it standing as a thorn in Samvat 2071 kicks off on S&P BSE Small-cap 74.46 had estimated profit to rise to begin to tighten monetary
the side of Washington officials. Thursday, but the probability S&P BSE500 32.16 `2,118.7 crore on revenue of policy next year, there is

and how many want out.

When government officials of higher interest rates in the S&P BSE Capital Goods 62.36 `11,678.3 crore. In dollar parallel chatter that the
called to complain, Bradlee US and a slowdown in global terms, net profit had been esti- weak recovery may force it

Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, the at the cost of those in the west and south, since
acted as a buffer between them economic growth loom as po- S&P BSE Consumer Durables 52.96 to postpone the inevitable.
and his staff. “Just get it right,” tential risks. S&P BSE Auto 46.24 TURN TO PAGE 2® The local worries
he would tell his reporters. The 30-share Sensex jumped remain: the financial
Most of the time they did, but 26.1% in Samvat 2070, which S&P BSE Healthcare 42.60 ALSO SEE health of banks as well as
there were mistakes, one so big started on 3 November 2013, S&P BSE Bankex 41.95 >We’re not far from getting back to the sharp rise in the sale of
that the paper had to return a posting its best gain since S&P BSE Power 28.74 posting double-digit growth: Senapaty >P9 bad loans by banks to asset
Pulitzer Prize. Samvat 2065. >Mark To Market: Wipro guidance belies reconstruction companies.
Source: BSE hopes of pickup in growth >P18
Bradlee—“this last of the lion- The Sensex rose to a record
AHMED RAZA KHAN/MINT
king newspaper editors”, as Phil 27,354.99 on 8 September.

five southern states contributed more than 30% the number of Lok Sabha representatives from
Bronstein, a former editor of The Currently, it is 2.1% off the ces. The BSE Capital Goods in-
San Francisco Chronicle, de- record at 26,787.23 points. dex led the pack, rising 62.4%
scribed him—could be classy or “The performance in the in Samvat 2070.
profane, an energetic figure with current year was a blockbuster The BSE Consumer Durables
a boxer’s nose who almost in- one. The mid-cap and small- index advanced nearly 53%
variably dressed in a white-col- cap (indices) also posted stel- while the BSE Auto, BSE
lared, bold-striped Turnbull and lar returns,” said Dipen Shah, Healthcare, BSE Bankex, and
Asser shirt, the sleeves rolled up. head of private client group re- BSE Power indices gained

of India’s GDP. In contrast, they account for the latter states is sure to fall in relative and pos-
When not prowling the search at Kotak Securities Ltd. 46.2%, 42.6%, 42% and 28.7%,
newsroom like a restless Gains were broad-based respectively.

TON Y B L A I R
coach, encouraging his hand- during the year, The BSE Mid- Among Sensex stocks, Maru-
picked reporters and editors, cap and BSE Small-cap indices ti Suzuki India Ltd was the top
he sat behind a glass office soared 53.4% and 74.5% re- gainer; it rose almost 93% in
wall that afforded him a view spectively, while the BSE500 the period. Axis Bank Ltd
of them and they a view of him. index added 32.2%. gained 73.9%, while Bharat
“We would follow this man Key indices rose to records Heavy Electricals Ltd, Larsen
over any hill, into any battle, in the run-up to and the after- and Toubro Ltd and Cipla Ltd

just 23.8% of the seats in the Lok Sabha. The sibly even absolute terms. Meanwhile, thanks to
no matter what lay ahead,” his math of the April-May general gained 67.3%, 58.4% and
successor, Leonard Downie Jr., election that brought the 49.9%, respectively.
once said. Bharatiya Janata Party to pow- “I think that the macro fun-
His rise at The Post was swift. er, making it the first party in damentals are set to improve,
A former Newsweek reporter, as 30 years to win a clear majority and corporate earnings are
well as neighbour and friend of in the Lok Sabha on its own. also going to get better. Inter-
John F. Kennedy’s, Bradlee re- The Congress bowed out of est rates are seen softening as
joined the paper as deputy man- power after 10 years at the well,” said Rakesh Rawal, head
aging editor in 1965 (he worked helm, its record tainted by cor- of private wealth management

imbalance between economic and political heft faster output expansion in the south, their con-
ruption scandals and under- at Anand Rathi Financial Serv-
TURN TO PAGE 13® mined by the easing of eco- ices Ltd, commenting on the
nomic growth to sub-5% levels outlook for the market.
for two years in a row and ina- “The new government
EDITOR’S NOTE bility to rein in stubbornly high should be able to revive the
There will be no edition of Mint on inflation. languishing economic growth
Friday on account of Diwali. For Foreign institutional inves- going ahead, and the equities
news updates and analysis, go to tors pumped $16.9 billion into markets may continue the mo-
www.livemint.com Indian equities in Samwat mentum,” said Rawal, adding

is bound to worsen, thanks to the remarkable tribution to India’s economy has risen relative
2070. that he expected the Sensex to
“Going ahead, the next year rise by 15-25% in the next one
NOTE TO READERS will also be good. Valuations
have the potential to rise if we
year.
Last weekend, the Narendra
The Media Marketing Initiative on see more reforms from the Modi government decided to
Page 23 is the equivalent of a paid- government and inflation decontrol diesel prices and put
for advertisement, and no Mint trends down,” said Shah, add- in place a new gas pricing re-
journalists were involved in ing that Kotak Securities was gime, triggering expectations
creating it. Readers would do well betting on infrastructure and of a stronger economic reform

success of southern states in population con- to other states. The resultant imbalance is
to treat it as an advertisement. cyclical stocks and also had a push in the days to come.
positive bias towards export- India’s economic growth re-
oriented firms. bounded to 5.7% in the quarter
Mint is also available for R8 with Six sectoral indices outper-
Hindustan Times in Delhi-NCR only formed the benchmark indi- TURN TO PAGE 2®

trol. Partly as a result of higher literacy levels bound to test our national and social fabric.

THEIR VIEW

Harris’s policy proposals are less risky than Trump’s

an expansion of government authority to duce some new tax credits for small busi- conductors and other inputs relating to AI. efforts to reduce emissions and accelerate
NOURIEL ROUBINI negotiate drug prices for US Medicare and nesses and extend the Trump tax cuts for The Biden administration has described the green transition.
Medicaid. She also favours a recent biparti- households earning less than $400,000 per its approach as creating a small yard with a However, like Biden, Harris would not try
san deal to crack down on illegal immigra- year. To pay for these policies, she would high fence. Harris would probably expand to join the successor to the Trans-Pacific
tion, which her opponent Donald Trump raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, that yard. Thus, tariffs—like the 100% levy Partnership, even though many strategists
convinced Republicans to scuttle, accepts raise taxes on the very wealthy (those cur- on Chinese-made electric vehicles—would believe that a ‘pivot to Asia’ needs an eco-

W
ith polls suggesting that Kamala fracking, and backs the more limited ($1 tril- rently with a top marginal rate of 39%), and be maintained, curbs on inward and out- nomic basis. While maintaining America’s
Harris has at least a 50% chance of lion) green spending in the Inflation Reduc- explore the possibility of a ward FDI with China would flexible exchange-rate policy, she may lean
winning next month’s US presi- tion Act. She has made little mention of cli- tax on unrealized capital be tightened, and many more on the threat of branding some coun-
dential election, questions about her eco- mate change in her speeches. gains. Finally, she has no Her economic proposals from the House tries as ‘currency manipulators.’ By the same
nomic-policy agenda have come to the fore. Although many of Harris’s other propos- plans to reform entitle- Select Committee on China token, she would continue to allow the US
Of course, much will also depend on down- als remain vague, she would seem to repre- ment schemes such as plans promise would be taken up. dollar to be used a weapon of national secu-
ballot outcomes. If the Democrats were to sent a continuation of President Joe Biden’s Social Security and Medi- Unlike Trump, though, rity (through sanctions). But, presumably,
win the White House and both houses of economic policies. She would support care. All told, the Commit-
relative stability Harris would not slap tariffs she would also be prudent enough to pursue

is professor emeritus of
Congress, they could implement fiscal poli-
cies with a simple majority (through the
efforts to re-shore manufacturing and create
an ‘opportunity economy’ with more inclu-
tee for a Responsible Fed-
eral Budget estimates that
as they’re far on friends and allies or pur-
sue across-the-board tariffs
policies designed to retain the greenback’s
status as the major global reserve currency.
economics at New York
University’s Stern School of
so-called budget-reconciliation process).
Otherwise, a Harris administration would be
sive growth. She would not shy away from
state intervention, especially industrial poli-
Harris’s proposals would
cost $3.5 trillion over a dec-
less radical than on all Chinese goods. She
would pursue a policy of
Thus, Harris’s fiscal, trade, climate, immi-
gration, currency and China policies would
Business and author of more constrained. cies to support sectors and technologies of ade, whereas Trump’s her electoral managed strategic compe- differ from her opponent’s. Trump’s agenda
‘MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous When Harris ran for president in 2019, the future. And she would attempt to rein in would cost $7.5 trillion tition with China, rather is more likely to cause inflation, reduce eco-
Trends That Imperil Our Future, her economic proposals were to the left of the power of large oligopolistic firms unless other taxes (such as rival’s agenda than full containment or nomic growth (through tariffs, a currency
and How to Survive Them’ the Democratic Party. Among other things, through regulation. tariffs) are introduced. decoupling. She would depreciation, and immigration restrictions),
she supported universal state-funded health In terms of fiscal policy, Harris proposes As for Harris’s trade pol- nudge Nato allies to spend and blow up the budget. But markets have
care, decriminalization of illegal border capping the cost of childcare at 7% of house- icies, they would be quite similar to Biden’s, at least 2% of their GDP on defence (23 out of not priced in the damage that Trump would
crossings, a $10 trillion ‘Green New Deal’ to hold income (implying a subsidy), reviving even if she has spoken little about China on 32 already are doing so), and would support do to the economy and markets. Perhaps a
address climate change, and a fracking ban. the child tax credit and giving a $25,000 tax the campaign trail. There would be contin- alliances, multilateral security pacts like the divided government would constrain him.
Now she is running on a more centrist plat- credit to first-time US homebuyers. Since ued de-risking, but not decoupling, in stra- Quad and Aukus, and bilateral relations with Perhaps his more moderate policy advisors
form that includes support for the Afforda- these measures might increase demand and tegic sectors such as critical metals, rare important partners like India and the Philip- or market discipline would dilute his most
ble Care Act (‘Obamacare’), albeit with some prices, she also has plans to increase the sup- earths, green tech and high tech, as well as pines. She would keep America in the Paris radical policy positions. Still, the choice is
new twists such as a price cap on insulin and ply of affordable housing. She would intro- sanctions and export restrictions on semi- climate agreement and try to strengthen its very clear. ©2024/PROJECT SYNDICATE
LIVEMINT.COM VIEWS WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2024
MUMBAI 13

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

Equities extend their reign atop Google’s GenAI podcast tool is

impressive, but is it also useful?
the chart of investment returns It turns research work into podcasts but its market value is unclear

Stock investments have a truly impressive record of rewarding investors but may not suit people looking for steady inflows

ISTOCKPHOTO

PARMY OLSON
covers technology and AI for Bloomberg
Opinion.

MADAN SABNAVIS
is chief economist, Bank of Baroda, and author
of ‘Corporate Quirks: The darker side of the sun’

G
oogle is having its own ChatGPT
moment. Technologists, scientists

F
or any individual looking to invest, the and OpenAI founder Sam Altman
challenge is to choose from different have been praising a feature added by GenAI has mastered the skill of making
alternatives. The element of ‘noise’ is NotebookLM, a free online research tool voices sound human-like. ISTOCKPHOTO
high in almost every avenue of invest- that Alphabet released last year. Uploading
ment, with contemporary developments documents to the site allows users to have through voice that naturally keeps us
able to swing the mood of investors and answer questions about their content or attentive. During my early years in radio, a
thus of the market at a moment’s notice. It could be synthesize it into summaries, briefing veteran told me that the secret to great
gold today or equity tomorrow. This is where one notes and more. Now it can also turn that news reading wasn’t any vocal inflection,
must be mindful. content into an eerily human-sounding but to simply pay attention to what you
Annual inflation in India has averaged 5.9% over podcast. The male and female AI-gener- were reading. For some reason, listeners
the past four years starting with the pandemic-year ated hosts not only have sonorous, FM-ra- found themselves more engaged. It’s hard
2020-21 and would be 5.5% over a five-year period dio voices but punctuate their conversa- to see how a computer could replicate that.
till the end of 2024-25 if this year’s reading comes tions with ums, pauses and catchy phrases The bigger question for Google is
in at 4.5%, as the Reserve Bank of India expects. As like “get this.” The banter sounds so seam- whether it will turn its magical feature into
a saver, one would like to get a real return that is trading works for dealers who work on minor rate less that you’d be forgiven for thinking the something useful for business. The com-
positive. The drift lately has been towards capital Equity emerges ahead over time movements, but does not really suit long-term conversation was between people. pany has a history of failing to execute on
markets, where returns have tended to be quite Metallic and food commodities have rewarded investors who may want to bet on a depreciation to I’ve used the tool to generate a 15-minute its own innovations. Its researchers, for
attractive. The remarkable exuberance seen since investors with high returns lately but equities make money. Crude oil can be traded in the futures podcast about a 208-page presentation, instance, famously invented a key algo-
covid has percolated to the market for initial public have been more consistent. market, but does not sound like a good investment which would have taken an hour or more to rithm called the Transformer—the T in
offerings (IPOs), where the high market prices of for the long-term as its price varies in response to read, while others have used it to generate ChatGPT—but OpenAI capitalized on the
newly listed shares have provided their allottees Returns (in %) factors that are subject to much uncertainty. There deep dives into research papers or their tech. Perhaps we should expect as much
Ten-year
substantial gains in recent times. average
Six-month* have been wild swings in both directions based on own diaries. NotebookLM has inspired a from a conglomerate cobbled together by
The accompanying table shows the returns on the geopolitical situation. Hence, taking a long- burst of viral experimentation similar to acquisitions like DeepMind, Android, You-
various instruments during the first six months horizon view is difficult. Besides, with the world the kind that first met ChatGPT. Tube and DoubleClick, and which has
of 2024-25. It is assumed that money was invested NSE Nifty 15.3 15.6 becoming cognizant of climate change and moving The system runs on Google’s flagship AI been hamstrung by the innovator’s
at the end of March and values in September 2024 to cleaner sources of energy, overall demand for model Gemini 1.5, which also powers the dilemma: Make AI searches too good and
have been used to gauge returns, with averages for Currency: /$ 3.0 1.0 crude oil may be expected to slow down over time. ‘AI overviews’ that are now replacing the Google risks cannibalizing its lucrative
these months taken for this purpose. Alongside, it Gold ($/ounce) 4.6 19.0 The market for fixed-income instruments is top results of many Google searches; but it search business.
shows comparable returns over the last 10 years another area of interest. Here, bank deposits have also has its own secret sauce to make the The ‘wow factor’ in AI can also lead to
ending 2023-24 to provide an idea of historical Silver (cents/kg) 2.1 22.9 given a return of around 7%, which covers inflation voices sound so human. “There’s some new hype and overspending, which means
trends, since the returns scenario of six months and yields a real return of about 1.5%. Similarly audio technology in there that is, I don’t investors should be cautious about novel
Crude oil ($/barrel) 2.5 -12.8
cannot be assumed to hold in the future. stable returns can be received from government think, fully public,” Steven Johnson, Goo- hits. Wall Street is already becoming wary
The first thing that will strike the reader is that 1-year Bank deposit 6.6 6.6 paper and treasury bills. Here, the variation could gle’s editorial director of NotebookLM, of the gap between the awe-inspiring expe-
the stock market is probably quite consistent in range from half a percentage point to 1% every tells me. “It’s the most realistic conversa- riences people first had with ChatGPT and
giving a return of 15% plus, going by the National 10-year G-Sec 7.1 7.0 year, with a standard deviation of only 0.63%. If tion that a computer has ever generated.” generative AI’s business utility.
Stock Exchange’s Nifty, a popular index. This is so 6-months T-bill 6.8 7.1 one opts for a basket of government paper that He added that there had been a “huge Google will eventually add other voices
not just over the first half of this year, but also over the NSE Composite G-Sec index is based on, then spike” in NotebookLM’s usage since it to its podcast generator, and Johnson tells
a span of 10 years. This is in line with what is usu- Chana (/quintal) 8.7 21.3 this year’s return was around 5.8%. Usually, with added the podcast-generator. me the company will eventually sell a pre-
ally said about equity markets: that one needs to savings held in a deposit or government security, Commentators have called the feature mium version, including one aimed at
Tur (/quintal) 11.4 2.5
stay invested for a long period of time to reap the yield is known over the debt’s tenure and cou- mind-blowing, while Andrej Karpathy, a businesses. In that sense, the audio over-
returns. Just how long should that period be? *September 24 over March 24 Source: CMIE
pon payments are guaranteed. co-founder of OpenAI and former head of views may simply act as a neat marketing
In three of the past 10 years, the broad return The table includes two products that can serve AI at Tesla, said it was “now my favourite trick for NotebookLM, whose utility is far
from Indian equities was negative. At its peak, the as theoretical investments, as they involve com- podcast.” Presumably, this is how Karpathy more obvious: a straightforward tool for
index registered a gain of over 70% in 2020-21. well as expected actions to be taken by the US Fed- modities that can only be traded in physical mar- consumes much of his content now. That using Google’s AI model on your own doc-
This was not unprecedented, as its increase was eral Reserve and the possible outcome of next kets. The two pulses included, chana and tur, are indeed may be where the real disruption uments and data. That fine-tuning process,
also above 70% in 2009-10, though this rise was month’s US election. The global dynamics of safe- products for which demand-supply mismatches potential for this technology lies; not in known as RAG (or Retrieval-Augmented
even more in the nature of a recovery, given the ty-seeking money mean that the price of gold tends ensure that returns are usually impressive. Note replacing podcasters, but in adding a new Generation) in the industry is typically
sharp drop after the 2008-09 crisis in the US trig- to move inversely with the dollar. The same holds that these commodities are associated with high way to assimilate information. Wireless more costly and complex when carried out
gered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. for silver. Demand has been especially high this inflation in the country. earbud shipments will grow 11% this year as part of an official subscription to Goo-
Returns vary from year to year. To gauge this year as central banks and exchange traded funds In the final analysis, it would seem individual and 16% in 2025, according to market-re- gle’s Gemini or other AI models.
risk, the standard deviation of annual returns can have bought the precious metal, pushing up its investors face a classic choice between fixed-in- search firm Canalys. If lifelike AI voices get more people
be assessed, as this tells us the general variation price. But over a longer period of time, the return come instruments and equities (via mutual fund My own take: The voices are extraordi- using NotebookLM and Gemini, Google
from the mean return. It was 26% for the decade. from gold is in a modest range of 2.1% to 4.6%. possibly). The long-term performance of equities nary and display a level of realism above will have turned its magic into revenue. But
Even if we stretch this analysis back by another 10 Currencies are evidently not a good investment has been impressive. But how long is ‘long’? A ten- any other AI-generated audio I’ve heard businesses are grappling with the true
years, the standard deviation works out to around proposition, as they offer very low returns even year frame of analysis appears to make a convin- before. But the user interface for Note- return on investment of GenAI, and one of
28%. Therefore, an investor risks annual returns over a long period of time. This can be explained by cing case in favour of equities, but that would not bookLM is infuriating to navigate, and after the field’s big sceptics, Daron Acemoglu,
varying by more than a quarter up or down. the fact that excess volatility always calls for some ensure a steady flow of income. For that, fixed- listening to several of its AI podcasts, I also just won a Nobel prize for economics, lend-
The precious metals duo of gold and silver has intervention, which ensures that the rupee’s income options would work better, even though found it difficult to pay full attention to ing credibility to looming questions about
done very well this year, with impressive returns. exchange rate moves in a certain band, even their returns are not very exciting. some of the conversations. Perhaps there’s AI’s real utility. For Google, that spells an
This was largely due to the West Asian imbroglio as though this is not intentional. Therefore currency These are the author’s personal views. an intangible connection that humans uphill battle. ©BLOOMBERG

MY VIEW | EX MACHINA

Wildlife authorities should not frown on camera traps

The next day, I had my son join me. Like camera trap is just a regular camera that has However, I cannot understand how this inhabit, the greater is the chance that
RAHUL MATTHAN me, he too is an avid wildlife photographer been modified so that recording is triggered restriction can extend to what I do at home. humans in those borderlands will come in
and I wanted confirmation that I wasn’t by a photo-electric sensor. This makes it There is no law that prevents me from using contact with them—often in aggressive cir-
dreaming. At 10 o’clock, we both saw the possible to automatically start shooting a camera in my house, whether I operate it cumstances. No forest department, no mat-
creature raise his head over the wall and when an animal comes within range of its manually or have it triggered by a sensor. ter how well-funded, can hope to monitor
slither down, following the same path he’d wide-angled lens. As a result, filmmakers can If that were indeed the case, every the movement of all wildlife in the buffer

L
ast week, after a couple of days of tor- taken the previous day. We both agreed that capture footage of wild animals that simply motion-sensitive camera installed in homes zones that border our forests, where these
rential rain, an unexpected visitor this was indeed a rare sighting of urban wild- would not show them- and apartment complexes incidents are most common.
showed up at our house. Just as I was life, a mongoose living in the heart of the selves if they even sensed around the country would That being the case, I would have thought
getting ready to go to work in the morning, city. It had probably been flushed out of its the presence of a human Private image have required prior per- they would welcome any additional infor-
I saw a large furry creature climb over the burrow by excessive rain. We made plans to being. It is an utterly non- mission. What are these mation they could get that would prevent
neighbour’s wall, saunter across our garden set up a camera trap to photograph our furry invasive and ecologically capturers could security devices if not cam- the occurrence of such incidents. Camera
and slip through the small gate that sepa- friend knowing that, without pictures to friendly way in which to eras that record video foot- traps on private property are a simple way to
rates our garden from the garage. At first prove it, no one would believe there was a record the movement of
in many cases age when they are trig- augment their information on the move-

is a partner at Trilegal and the

glance, I thought it was a bandicoot, but
something about the shape of its body and
wild animal running free in the city.
And then, later in the day, I saw news
highly elusive species of
wildlife without causing
be performing gered by the movement of
human beings?
ment of wild animals outside the territory
they patrol. Preventing well-meaning pri-
author of ‘The Third Way:
India’s Revolutionary Approach
the way it ran across the grass gave me pause.
Unlike rats that hug the wall when they run,
reports that quoted the chief wildlife warden
of Tamil Nadu as saying that the use of cam-
any disturbance to their
daily lives. Such devices
a public service How different can that
be from a camera trap that
vate citizens from performing this public
service makes little sense.
to Data Governance’. His X this creature was boldly running across the era traps without authorization was prohib- are widely used by conser- by tracking is triggered by the move- As it happens, we didn’t end up capturing
(formerly Twitter) handle is lawn, its bushy tail firmly parallel to the ited—even if set up on private property. vationists around the ment of an animal? If cam- any pictures of the grey mongoose. After
@matthan. grass. In a flash, it occurred to me that my What’s more, the wildlife department was world. wild animals era traps are illegal, then so over a week of incessant rain, the sun came
unexpected guest was a grey mongoose. planning to issue notices to all private estates No one other than the too are close-circuit televi- out and dried the once-flooded streets of the
I live in the heart of Bangalore city, a in the Nilgiris that were engaging in this forest department is sion (CCTV) cameras, and I city. Over the next two days, we kept check-
stone’s throw away from its central business practice. While the immediate objection of allowed to set up cameras like this within a know of no law that says this is the case. ing to see if our furry friend would show up
district. All around me, stretching for miles in the forest department was to a scene in a reserved forest without prior authorization. What is even more bizarre is why the wild- again—but it never did. I can only imagine
every direction, is the built-up concrete jun- wildlife documentary that showed a leopard This is understandable. After all, nobody is life department would want to crack down that the rains having stopped, water had
gle of this fast-growing metropolis. That a and her cubs at such close range that it must allowed to even step out of their vehicles in on camera traps in the first place. It is well drained out of the burrows that this wild ani-
wild animal, the likes of which I had only seen have involved camera traps, the intention these forests, so I can see why setting up a known that human-animal conflict is a seri- mal was accustomed to roaming around in,
before in the rainforests of South India, was was clearly to cast the net more widely. camera and a photo-sensitive trigger would ous and growing concern. The more we and it had happily returned to its normal life
scampering down my lawn, beggared belief. For those who don’t know how it works, a need special permission. encroach upon the spaces that wild animals below the city streets.