MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE* VOL. 3 NO.

291

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2020

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mint primer
QUICK EDIT
Jabs for all versus Cap and
enough shots for trade
herd immunity India has reportedly set up an
interministerial committee that
will monitor an action plan to
BY SHREEJAY SINHA achieve our climate change
mitigation goals, as committed
The Centre says India need not administer covid-19 vaccine jabs to the
entire population. Rather, inoculating a “critical mass” on priority will under the 2015 Paris Agree-
help break the chain of transmission. If the earlier presumption was ment. The Apex Committee for
that all would be given the shots, what does this mean? Mint delves in. Implementation of Paris Agree-
ment is expected to act as a
What each covid vaccine shot could cost you national authority for the regu-
One of the drivers behind the government opting for vaccinating only a part of lation of a carbon market in
the population at first is to save cost. For instance, if Centre were to procure India. Its mandate would be to
Covishielf and inoculate 1.3 billion people, the jabs alone would cost $7.8 billion. formulate guidelines for pro-
SERUM GAMALEYA- PFIZER MODERNA jects and carbon pricing, which
INSTITUTE DR REDDY'S is vital if a market mechanism is
to help us reduce gas emissions
Likely that cause global warming.
price/dose
750-1,500 1,500 750-3,750 We need to drastically cut
down the volume of pollutants
250-1,000
spewed into the atmosphere.
Supplying
300-400 1,000 1,300 1,000 From an economic perspective,
capacity
(doses in mn) by April by December by December by April it’s unrealistic to choke all car-
bon pollution right away. A
Indian companies working on a covid vaccine are Bharat Biotech-ICMR, Cadila Health, Biological E
Lower end of Serum's price range is for government purchases, upper end for private markets workable way out would be to
Source: Company releases, media reports create a limited set of emission
rights that reduce gradually in
+ What does govt mean What explains limited accordance with our targets,
1 by “critical mass”?
The government aims, in the first
2 vaccination strategy?
Evidently, it’s got to do with
and which industrial units must
buy at prices determined by
instance, to vaccinate 250-300 supplies. There are several vaccine demand and supply. This way,
million “priority” populace in six candidates being developed at a cost-conscious firms would be
months after a vaccine is available. record pace, but only one of them, incentivized to achieve carbon
They would include healthcare Pfizer-BioNtech’s, has been neutrality. Those that actually
workers such as doctors, nurses, approved so far and that too in the clean the air should get carbon
paramedic staff, frontline workers UK. Others are yet to seek
credits they could monetize.
like sanitation staff, security approvals, or those that have done
personnel, elderly and those with are being evaluated by regulators. With Joe Biden set to lead the
comorbidities. Together, they Serum Institute of India aims to US, hopes have soared that a
make up the critical mass. It is ready 300-400 million shots of global market for carbon kicks
important to immunize frontline the two-dose Covishield by April. off and helps save the planet.
workers—as they can be carriers of That’s the one being developed by
the virus due to the nature of their Oxford University. SII is a
job. This should break the chain of manufacturing partner. Covishield
transmission, reducing infection would cost $3 per dose. If Centre
rate. As for the elderly and those
with health conditions, they are
were to procure it and inoculate
the entire 1.3 billion people, the
MINT METRIC
very vulnerable to the infection. jabs alone would cost $7.8 billion. by Bibek Debroy

Tolochko and Margo marry,

3 Should the rest of people
be worried in that case?
As long as the virus exists, people do need
May their union be legendary.
to take precautions. Once the government
Tolochko a body-builder in thrall,
has been able to give protective jabs to the Margo his beloved sex doll,
“critical mass”, which should presumably
include the poor, and as supplies increase,
Thus the wedding is extraordinary.
others can buy vaccines at pharmacies and
get themselves inoculated. Observing
covid-appropriate behaviour remains key
throughout this fight. QUOTE OF THE DAY
That (companies using UPI
Will the recovered When can we expect
4 need to be inoculated?
This is being debated nationally
5 vaccine drive to begin?
Serum Institute of India hopes to
platform) will increase the
competitive intensity in
and globally. Generally, those who apply to the country’s drug payments. India is showing the
have had a viral infection develop regulator for emergency-use
antibodies that fight off its authorization of the AstraZeneca way by mandating zero-fee at
recurrence. But what is moot is vaccine in about two weeks, even the front end and bringing the
how long those antibodies last. as it awaits the completion of its
There have been stray reports of trials by December-end. Thus, a rigor of risk management
re-infections, suggesting that the vaccination drive will likely begin at the back end.
antibodies do not last long or only next year, subject to safety
provide durable protection against clearance by the relevant
the virus. But such incidents have authorities. There are other
been few and far between and candidates, such as the one being NANDAN NILEKANI
most people who have recovered developed by Bharat Biotech, NON-EXECUTIVE
are unlikely to get sick again as Zydus Cadila and Russia’s Sputnik CHAIRMAN OF INFOSYS
long as they observe basic V, but their late-stage trials have
precautions such as masking up. only just begun.

m MINT SHORT

Singapore approves sale of lab-created meat

REUTERS
Bloomberg “We want Singapore to be the focus of
feedback@livemint.com our manufacturing globally,” chief exec-
utive officer Josh Tetrick said in an inter-

E
at Just Inc., a maker of meat and egg
substitutes, has been approved to
sell its laboratory-created chicken
in Singapore, which becomes the first
government to allow the sale of cultured
meat. The product, created from animal
cells without the slaughter of any chick-
ens, will debut in Singapore under the
GOOD Meat brand as a chicken bite with
breading and seasoning in a single res-
taurant. Eat Just is initially working with
local manufacturer the Food Innovation
The product will debut in Singapore
under the GOOD Meat brand.
and Resource Centre to make the cul-
tured chicken. Additionally, the com-
pany is buying more equipment to
expand sales to other restaurants.
view. He added that the chicken’s flavour
and taste are the same as the real thing.
Singapore is moving quickly to allow the
sale of alternative proteins like cultured
meat, a move that fits into its broader
food-security agenda. The densely pop-
ulated nation, which relies mostly on
other countries for food, has deepened
its focus on getting enough to eat for its
5.7 million people as the covid-19 crisis
exposes fragility in supply chains world-
wide.

X
 T
U RA L E
O
Y SV
N E W m
Mint Lite
Stories, opinions, news and views that matter, from around the world.

THE ALL India Motor Transport Congress, an apex body of transporters, has come out in support of agitating farmers. The
AIMTC, which represents about 9.5 million truckers and other entities, has threatened to halt operations in northern India
from 8 December if the government fails to address concerns of the farming community. Thousands of farmers from Punjab,
Haryana and several other states have been protesting for seven consecutive days at the borders of the national capital against
the Centre’s new farm laws. For more updates, here’s Mint Lite.

SIP inflow rises after 7-month dip

Breaking a half-year streak of decline, India’s investment in
mutual funds through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) rose to
₹7,800 crore in October indicating a return to normalisation for
the retail investor. The industry raised ₹7,800 crore through the
SIP route last month, compared with ₹7,788 crore garnered in
September, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India
showed. This is the first time since March this year—the month
when the first lockdown was announced—that SIP inflows have
increased. A total of 1.127 million SIPs were registered in October,
while 787,000 were discontinued or whose tenure completed.
Considering the fact that economy is slowly reviving and job
market is also reaching pre-covid-19 levels gradually, FYERS
Head (Research) Gopal Kavalireddi told PTI that investors are
resuming their investments, which was either paused due to
paucity of funds or withdrawn to meet expense.

World leaders at special UN session

A TWO-DAY special session of the UN General Assembly on
covid-19 to be held today and tomorrow, will see world leaders,
the top leadership of the UN and vaccine developers discuss the
pandemic’s impact as well as the multi-faceted, coordinated
response required to address the greatest global health crisis in
decades, reports PTI. The world organisation said government
leaders, United Nations’ principals and other relevant
stakeholders would be able to engage in dialogue on the impact
of the pandemic on people, societies and economies. The two-
day special session will allow many stakeholders to share their
experiences in fighting the pandemic, reflect on the global
response to date, and forge a united, coordinated, and people-
centered path forward. French President Emmanuel Macron,
Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel are expected to address the session.

WFH led to more TV viewing

WORKING FROM home may be stressful for many,
+ but according to a new survey by research firm
Nielsen, it has increased our connect with the idiot
box. According to the survey, professionals working
from home during the pandemic are spending two
hours and 10 minutes more per week watching TV
during the day than they did before the coronavirus
struck. About 65% of consumers surveyed back in
August said they were watching videos during breaks,
but more than half also said they tune in while
working. This can be an important finding for the
advertising industry, which can now reach out to its
target audience even outside of its regular hours. The
unemployed and those not in labour force, however,
watched less daytime TV during the pandemic.

Warmer year busts weather records

THIS HAS been a year for many extreme weather conditions.
From hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves, floods, droughts and ice
melt. All of this has been a result of overheating world which
obliterated weather records in 2020, the United Nations’
weather agency reported on Wednesday. While the globe
partly shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, extremes
linked to human-caused climate change intensified, the World
Meteorological Organization said in its State of the Global
Climate report. The report kicked off a day when the United
Nations pushed for new climate action with two reports and a
major speech by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
describing the woeful state of the planet, reports AP. By the time
it ends, 2020 will go down as one of three warmest years on
record, despite a La Nina cooling of the central Pacific that often
lowers temperatures globally, the WMO report said.

New species found in deep-sea

WITH THE help of high-definition underwater cameras,
scientists have indentified, for the first time, a small gelatinous
blob in the deep sea as a new species, reports The Guardian.
Officially called the Duobrachium sparksae, the newly
discovered creature is actually a species of comb jelly. While it
was actually discovered in an underwater canyon north-west of
Puerto Rico in April 2015 , it is only now that it has been
described in a research paper. No physical specimens of the
animal have been collected but the species was declared from
video taken 3,900 metres below the surface in an expedition led
by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Comb Jellies can be just a few millimetres long but are
carnivores that eat small arthropods and are able to propel
themselves forward by beating rows of hairlike structures
found on their surface. They are not closely related to jellyfish.

Curated by Sohini Sen. Have something to share with us?

Write to us at feedback@livemint or tweet to @shohinisen

PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz

X
 MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE* VOL. 3 NO. 291 Rs 6.00 16 PAGES

IT FIRMS EYEING HYBRID WORK INDIA INVITES BORIS JOHNSON

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2020
LIVEMINT.COM
MODEL: NASSCOM’S GHOSH uP6 AS CHIEF GUEST ON R-DAY uP14

Sebi questions BSE on Transporters

threaten stir
DON’T MISS
SALESFORCE TO BUY SOFTWARE
MAKER SLACK FOR $27.7 BILLION
in solidarity
its nod for Future deal
Salesforce.com Inc. agreed to buy Slack
Technologies Inc. for $27.7 billion in cash and
with farmers stock, giving the corporate software giant a
popular workplace-communications
platform in one of the biggest technology
Shreya Nandi deals of the year. >P3
Regulator asks how deal was cleared despite 4 unresolved complaints shreya.n@livemint.com
NEW DELHI
m MINT GRAPHITI BHARTI AIRTEL BUYS 4.94% STAKE
Anirudh Laskar

I
ndian truckers threatened IN BHARTI INFRATEL FOR ₹2,882 CR
anirudh.l@livemint.com
MUMBAI
REGULATORY INQUIRY The authorization clears the way for the deployment of a vaccine
that Pfizer and its German partner have said is 95% effective. REUTERS
to strike indefinitely from 8
December in solidarity with
Bharti Airtel Ltd, through its wholly owned
subsidiary Nettle Infrastructure Investments
Sebi has questioned BSE’s alacrity in farmers protesting against Ltd, on Wednesday acquired an additional

T Pfizer vaccine gets

he markets regulator has
questioned BSE’s alacrity
in clearing the share cap-
ital reorganization of
Future Group firms, as
part of a $3.5 billion acquisition by
okaying the share capital reorganiza-
tion of Future firms. The chain of events:
29 AUG
Future Retail (FRL) board okays
the amalgamation of group firms
with Future Enterprises and sale
25 OCT pro-market agricultural laws, 4.94% stake in tower company Bharti Infratel
stoking fears that the move Ltd for ₹2,882.32 crore, according to an
SIAC gives interim award in favour
of Amazon, restrains Future from may cripple the movement of exchange filing. >P6
selling any asset to RIL or taking any
step with regard to the ₹24,713 cr deal

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL),
despite four unresolved complaints
against the deal, including one by
Amazon.com Inc.
According to a 27 November
notification issued by the Securities
of retail and wholesale biz to RIL
3 OCT
Amazon files complaint against
FRL with Sebi, accuses it of grave
and material breach of fiduciary
duties and acting against investors
28 OCT
Amazon writes to Sebi accusing
Future group of misleading investors
on the deal with Reliance and asks the
regulator to suspend the agreement
6 NOV
BSE issues NOC to Future group
with regard to the draft scheme of
green signal in UK
Bloomberg & ready to be delivered from Bel-
Neetu Chandra Sharma gium.
neetu.s@livemint.com The UK regulator, the Medici-
nes and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency, said on
goods, fuel shortages and pos-
sibly upend the nascent eco-
nomic recovery.
The All India Motor Trans-
port Congress (AIMTC), the
country’s largest truckers’ body,
on Wednesday said it will ini-
tially stop movement of essential
goods in north India from 8
SC STAYS PROBE AGAINST FLIPKART
BY COMPETITION REGULATOR
The Supreme Court has ordered a stay on the
National Company Law Appellate Tribunal
order directing the Competition Commission
of India to launch a probe against Flipkart
over allegations of abuse of its dominant

and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
that sought an explanation from
BSE, the country’s oldest exchange
gave its no-objection certificate to
the Future Group companies on 6
November. Rival National Stock
Exchange hasn’t cleared Future
Group’s scheme of amalgamation.
“There are four complaints
against Future Group companies
and the (RIL) deal, which are regis-
tered under Sebi’s Scores mecha-
nism. The regulator has sought clar-
ification from the designate
exchanges on these unresolved
complaints,” a person aware of the
matter said on condition of ano-
nymity. Investor complaints against
+ publicly traded firms and interme-
diaries are registered through the
Scores online platform.
Spokespersons for BSE and NSE
5 OCT
Amazon moves SIAC against
Kishore Biyani, Future Coupons and
FRL, seeking emergency interim
relief by cancelling the deal with RIL
7 OCT
Six Future group companies
submit to BSE a draft scheme
of arrangement to amalgamate
certain businesses
declined to comment on the matter,
citing the sensitivity of the issue.
Amazon has written two letters to
Sebi and the stock exchanges, urging
the regulators not to clear the deal
since it would disregard the Singa-
pore International Arbitration Cen-
tre’s (SIAC) interim award, which has
blocked Future Group from selling
any assets or taking any step in this
amalgamation of group firms as
part of the deal with Reliance
27 NOV
Sebi asks BSE to clarify the basis
on which NOC was given to Future
group for the scheme against the
backdrop of pending complaints
SIAC: Singapore International Arbitration Centre
NOC: No-objection certificate
RIL: Reliance Industries Ltd
Source: Mint Research
direction until a final verdict is pro-
nounced by the arbitration court.
Amazon has said that Future Group
has misled public investors through
false information and breached cor-
porate governance norms, allegations
that have been denied by the Indian
firm. Amazon has told Sebi that if the
TURN TO PAGE 9
T
he UK became the first
Western country to
approve a covid-19 vac-
cine, with its regulator clearing
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s
shot ahead of decisions in the
US and European Union.
The emergency authoriza-
tion clears the way for the
deployment of a vaccine that
Pfizer and its German partner
have said is 95% effective in
preventing illness. The shot
will be available in Britain from
next week.
“This is going to be one of the
biggest civilian projects in his-
tory,” UK health secretary
Matt Hancock said in a radio
interview, with 50 hospitals
preparing to administer the
vaccine and 800,000 doses
Wednesday that the vaccine “met
its strict standards of safety, qual-
ity and effectiveness”. Pfizer,
along with Moderna Inc. and the
University of Oxford’s partner,
AstraZeneca Plc, has sprinted
ahead in a bid to deliver covid
vaccines in record time.
Pfizer and BioNTech earlier
this week sought regulatory
clearance for their vaccine in the
European Union, putting the
shot on track for potential
approval there before the end of
the year. In the US, a Food and
Drug Administration panel is set
to meet on 10 December to dis-
cuss the vaccine.
India, too, is expected to
approve some of the covid-19
TURN TO PAGE 9
December, before extending it
to other parts of the country if
the government does not
address the concerns of farmers.
Transporters will decide on
shutting operations from 8
December, starting with Delhi,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Pun-
jab, Himachal Pradesh and
Jammu and Kashmir, said
Kultaran Singh Atwal, presi-
dent of AIMTC, which repre-
sents more than 9.5 million
truckers, around 5 million bus
owners and other transporters
across the country.
“If the government does not
look into the farmer’s demand,
then we will do a chakka jam
and stop vehicles,” he said.
TURN TO PAGE 9
position in the market. >P6
THREE ENTITIES EXPRESS THEIR
INTEREST TO BID FOR BPCL STAKE
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said
that the government has received three
expressions of interest (EOIs) for the bidding
process to privatize the state-owned Bharat
Petroleum Corp. Ltd , and added that there
was a lot of interest in the proposal. >P8
INFOSYS, ROLLS-ROYCE SIGN
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING DEAL
Infosys is to provide a full range of high-end
engineering and research and development
services integrated with advanced digital
service to Rolls-Royce under a partnership it
signed with the British aerospace and
defence company. >P8

Small investors flock RCap’s assets get SC rejects Vedanta’s

to Burger King IPO multiple suitors plea to reopen plant
Nasrin Sultana & Shayan Ghosh & The sale process is being Japnam Bindra
Ravindra Sonavane Swaraj Singh Dhanjal managed by SBI Capital Mar- japnam.b@livemint.com
kets and JM Financial Services. NEW DELHI
MUMBAI MUMBAI The asset sale was initiated by

T
the committee of debenture he Supreme Court on

B R
urger King India Ltd’s eliance Capital Ltd holders of Reliance Capital, Wednesday refused to
share sale was subscribed (RCap) has received pre- represented by Vistra ITCL. allow Vedanta Ltd to
more than three times on liminary bids from pri- According to the people reopen its Sterlite Copper plant
RBI is expected to maintain status quo on the benchmark rates in the first day of the initial public vate equity firms, including cited above, who spoke on con- in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi
the monetary policy review on Friday. PRADEEP GAUR offering (IPO), powered by Blackstone, Bain Capital and dition of anonymity, the while the case against its
retail investors seeking a slice Oaktree, for the businesses it group’s insurance businesses— alleged environmental viola-

Focus on surplus of the popular quick-service

restaurant chain.
The ₹810 crore issue
The share sale was subscribed
more than three times on the
has put up for sale, three people
aware of the development said.
Assets on the block include
Reliance General Insurance
and Reliance Nippon Life
Insurance Ltd—have attracted
tions is pending.
Vedanta filed the interim
petition in top court after the
Villagers from Thoothukudi
opposed the reopening of the

liquidity with rate

received bids for 233.20 mil- first day of the IPO. BLOOMBERG Reliance Capital’s general and maximum interest. Madras high court on 18 August plant even on a trial basis. REUTERS
lion shares against the 74.49 life insurance, asset recon- Blackstone, Bain Capital and disallowed it from reopening
million on offer, translating high net worth investors (HNIs) struction, stockbroking, and ChrysCapital are among those the smelter that was sealed in Nariman adjourned the case to
into a 3.13 times subscription, 70%. With a price band of investments in companies such who have submitted expres- May 2018. The Tamil Nadu January when it will be heard in

cut seen remote stock exchange data showed.

Gopika Gopakumar ity, which is helping the con-
gopika.g@livemint.com sumption revival,” he said.
MUMBAI However, some believe the
central bank should announce
Of this, the retail individual
investors’ category was sub-
scribed 15.54 times, while the
other categories were not fully
subscribed. The qualified insti-
tutional buyers (QIB) category
was subscribed 16% and the
₹59-60, the three-day share
sale will end on 4 December.
The company has already
raised ₹364.5 crore from
anchor investors.
Previous IPOs in FY21 such
TURN TO PAGE 9
as Paytm E-commerce Pvt. Ltd
and Naffa Innovation Pvt. Ltd.
Interested parties were allowed
to bid for the entire business or
a part of it.
The last date to submit
expressions of interest (EoIs)
was 1 December.
sions of interest for Reliance
General Insurance. Potential
suitors for Reliance Nippon
Life Insurance—where Reli-
ance Capital’s 51% stake is on
sale—include Multiples Alter-
TURN TO PAGE 8
government shuttered the
plant after protests over sus-
pected environmental pollu-
tion from it led to a confronta-
tion, in which 13 demonstrators
died in police firing.
A Supreme Court bench
headed by justice Rohintan Fali
detail.
During Wednesday’s argu-
ments, villagers from Thoo-
thukkudi opposed the reopen-
ing even on a trial basis. The
counsel for villagers argued that
TURN TO PAGE 8

W
ith the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI)
expected to main-
tain status quo on benchmark
rates in the monetary policy
review on Friday, expert opin-
ion is divided on whether the
time is ripe for the central bank
to absorb surplus liquidity.
measures to address excess
liquidity that is likely causing
the equity markets to overheat
and stoke retail inflation,
which touched 7.27% in
November, way above RBI’s
upper margin of 6%.
“With so much liquidity
Honey brands fail sugar syrup test Tales from the pandemic
floating around, and bank PRIYANKA PARASHAR/MINT

According to estimates, credit still on the slow growth Suneera Tandon 2003 and 2006 investigations M. Raghuram
there is currently ₹5.31 trillion trajectory, as a matter of pol- suneera.t@livemint.com into soft drinks; more damaging feedback@livemint.com
excess liquidity in the banking icy, RBI should be directing NEW DELHI to our health than perhaps any- MANGALURU
system following a series of liquidity flow towards the thing that we have found till

steps by the central bank to
boost liquidity to revive a con-
tracting economy impacted by
the pandemic.
Harihar Krishnamoorthy,
treasurer at FirstRand, said RBI
should continue with its
accommodative policy stance
to sustain the fragile economic
recovery with the latest set of
GDP numbers registering a
better-than-expected rebound.
“The current liquidity sur-
plus has pushed retail savers to
invest in cars and real estate.
We will need many more
months to ensure sustained
recovery. The possibility of a
rate cut is low at this point, and
RBI hopefully should not
announce any measures that
will suck out the excess liquid-
H I
long-end given the excessive
fall in short-end yields. One
way of achieving this is by
advancing the CRR (cash
reserve ratio) cut, which is
expiring on 27 March, which
would lead to the draining of
₹1.46 trillion from the market.
To balance that, RBI should
announce a simultaneous
open market operation of an
equivalent amount,” said Sou-
myakanti Ghosh, chief econo-
mist, State Bank of India.
Some experts also believe
that instead of squeezing out
the liquidity, RBI could tread
the middle path by fixing the
floor price on overnight rates
that have fallen to record lows.
TURN TO PAGE 9
oney sold by 10 major
brands, including
Dabur, Patanjali, Zandu
and Apis Himalaya, were found
adulterated with sugar syrup in
tests carried out by non-profit
Centre for Science and Envi-
ronment (CSE).
CSE, in a report released on
Wednesday, called the adulter-
ation nefarious as people are
consuming increased amounts
of immunity-boosting prod-
ucts, including honey, amid the
coronavirus pandemic.
Only three brands—Saffola,
Markfed Sohna and Societe
Naturelle—cleared all the tests,
including the internationally
accepted nuclear magnetic res-
onance spectroscopy, or NMR,
test for sugar syrup.
CSE found honey from 10 firms,
including Dabur and Patanjali,
adulterated with sugar syrup.
One sample of Nature’s Nec-
tar passed the NMR test while
another failed it.
Investigations by CSE with
laboratory studies in India and
Germany found 77% of the
samples sold in India adulter-
ated with sugar syrup.
“This is a food fraud more
nefarious and more sophisti-
cated than what we found in our
now—keeping in mind the fact
that we are still fighting against a
killer covid-19 pandemic with
our backs to the wall. This over-
use of sugar in our diet will make
it worse,” said CSE director gen-
eral Sunita Narain.
“We know that households
today are consuming more
honey because of its intrinsic
goodness—anti-microbial and
anti-inflammatory properties.
Our research has found that
most of the honey sold in the
market is adulterated with
sugar syrup. Therefore, instead
of honey, people are eating
more sugar, which will add to
the risk of covid-19. Sugar
ingestion is directly linked to
TURN TO PAGE 9
t’s the ultimate pandemic
road trip. Three individuals,
aiming to study the effects
of the coronavirus on ordinary
lives, have set out on an odys-
sey along the borders of India,
covering 25,000km and 30 (From left) Ahmer Siddiqui, Neha Chaturvedi and Siddhartha
states by car. Dutta will complete their journey on 17 December.
The idea is to raise money for
those who have been hit, listen tion strategist Ahmer Siddiqui on the kacha-pakka roads on the
to their stories and study the and visual art expert Neha borders, we wish to raise aware-
response to the pandemic. Chaturvedi—call their modi- ness and resources to help peo-
The trio—Siddhartha Dutta, fied sport utility vehicle ‘Road ple facing difficulties due to the
who works for non-profit Ashram’.
organizations, communica- “Through our 60-day drive TURN TO PAGE 9
For short takes on the Listen to Mint Evening
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X
 02 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI
PLAIN
FACTS

Economic recovery remains uneven

After recording a fast uptick in the first half of Nov, some high-frequency indicators reversed gains post Diwali, shows Mint’s state recovery tracker
m MINT STATE RECOVERY TRACKER
Tanay Sukumar, Nikita Kwatra Three other indicators, which Chart 1
Top six states Rest of India Chart 3
& Pooja Dantewadia serve as proxies for economic Post-Diwali dip in top six state economies drags down national recovery Indians are again spending a lot
activity, including electricity
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI consumption, goods and servi- Caseload share Mobility Electricity use Vehicle registrations more time at home after Diwali
ces tax collections, and vehicle (in %) (in %) -19.4 Year-on-year change (in %) Year-on-year change (in %) Increase (in %) in time spent in residential areas,
4.2 as compared to baseline (pre-pandemic) period

T
he Indian econ- sales, are also considered. 70 -20 10 0
63 -15
omy’s festival- The pace of economic reco- 60 -30 -20
-21.1 0
driven economic very weakened in most large -26.2
50 -40 2.3 -40
recovery appeared state economies, barring a few -10
t o l o s e s t e a m such as Karnataka and Kerala. 40 -50 -60
towards the second half of Gujarat had the worst set- 37 -20 Shimla
30 -60 -80 16%
November, according to back in terms of mobility after
Mint’s state recovery tracker. Diwali. The state had reached 20 -70 -30 -100
Apr Nov Apr Nov Apr Nov Apr Nov
The recovery was possibly 88% of the pre-pandemic level
interrupted because of post- of public movement by the Mobility data (as of 27 November) depicts the percentage gap in footfall at public places as compared with the baseline period (3 January to 6 February).
Top six states (by GSDP) are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and West Bengal.
Diwali fears of a second covid time of the festival, but is set to
Chart 2
wave in some states. The slow- end November at nearly 70%,
down after mid-November which is worse than Septem- West Bengal continues to outperform other major states in economic recovery
was most evident in high-fre- ber. The state enforced night Relatively low Relatively high Recovery Year-on-year change in %, November
quency indicators such as curfews in major cities in the State Virus case growth in mobility GST Electricity Vehicle
mobility and last week of (% share in India's GDP) rate (CDGR in %, Nov) (in % points, Nov) collections consumption registrations
power demand. GST collections in November amid a Maharashtra (13.9) 0.3 3.4 -6 6 -15 East Khasi Hills
Public mobil- major states such fresh outbreak of Tamil Nadu (8.5) 0.3 -4.7 10 -3.4 -14.3 16%

ity in the six larg- covid. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (8.5) 0.4 7.9 -3 -2.7 -35.7 Ahmedabad
as Maharashtra, Karnataka (7.9) 0.3 3.4 -1 5.9 -30.6 21%
est state econo- UP, Karnataka UP were the only
mies reached major states Gujarat (7.7) 0.6 -8.8 11 4.7 -42.7
and Kerala fell West Bengal (5.7) 0.9 5.2 8 1.6 -11.5
84% of pre-pan- where mobility
demic levels by below last year’s improved in the Rajasthan (4.9) 1.0 2.7 2 11.4 -29.1
levels in Nov Andhra Pradesh (4.6) 0.2 -3.4 12 -3.7 NA
Diwali on 14 second half of Telangana (4.4) 0.4 5.5 -5 -17.3 NA Chennai
November, but November. Madhya Pradesh (4.2) 0.6 4.2 2 23.1 NA 18%
scaled back to Power demand Kerala (4.1) 1.2 3.2 -7 1.5 -2.8 Ernakulam
17%
79% in the next two weeks, increased at the slowest pace Delhi (4) 1.3 -2.6 -15 -3.3 -4
Google data showed. These since September, data from Medium-sized economies (11.8) 0.5 3.7 0.8 2.4 -22.4 0-3 3-6 6-9 9-12 12-15 >15%
states—Maharashtra, Tamil the National Load Despatch Small-sized economies (6.2) 0.4 2.7 3 1.6 -0.1
The baseline period is 3 January to 6 February. Latest data is as of 27 November
Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karna- Centre showed. In November, India 0.5 1.8 0.5 3.3 -21 (seven-day average). Some districts not marked due to lack of data.
taka, Gujarat and West Ben- overall power demand was 3% Analysis covers 12 states with highest GSDP (2017-18). Medium-sized economies are Haryana, Punjab, Bihar and Odisha. Small-sized economies are Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand
and Uttarakhand. Mobility data is till 27 November, and refers to seven-day moving average of public movement. Recovery is in percentage points and refers to the difference Source: National Load Despatch Centre, Google mobility reports, road transport ministry,
gal—matter most in the recov- higher than last year’s level. In between figures for 31 October and 27 November. NA—Not available. CDGR—Compound daily growth rate of coronavirus cases. GST collections at the national level refer to health ministry, finance ministry, MoSPI
revenues from domestic transactions.
ery as they make up half of the first half of the month,
AHMED RAZA KHAN/MINT
India’s economic output. The power demand was trending
rest of India, which accounts higher than the year-ago (8%) last year’s levels (see chart 2). data from the road transport around 43% and 29% lower lected 6% less GST than a year resumed in most states, bar- Indians experienced a good
for the other half of GDP, level but dropped below year- For the first time since April, ministry. However, the deficit than year-ago levels. ago and Kerala 7%. Delhi’s col- ring Maharashtra and Kerala. part of the coronavirus out-
recorded 81% of the normal ago levels in the second half mid- and small-sized state against the year-ago period Mid-sized state economies lections also remained sharply However, with most Diwali- break without major festivals.
footfall at public places by (-1%). Andhra Pradesh, West economies were not remarka- remains large at (-) 21%. such as Punjab, Haryana, Bihar below last year’s levels. related activity now ended, At a time when the spread of
November-end (see chart 1). Bengal, Gujarat and Tamil bly ahead of larger states on Kerala and Delhi, despite and Odisha registered 22% Andhra Pradesh (12%), Gujarat this has changed in two weeks. the virus began to slow down,
The tracker looks at the 12 Nadu saw sharp drops in this count, with 2% higher fresh coronavirus outbreaks in fewer vehicle registrations (11%) and Tamil Nadu (10%) saw A district-wise analysis of festivals finally came into the
largest state economies indi- power demand in the second power usage than the year ago. recent weeks, recorded the than November 2019. sharp improvements in GST Google data showed that picture. The aftermath brings
vidually, each with at least a 4% half compared to the first. The trends in vehicle regis- best vehicle sales figures rela- GST collections in major collections, which pulled up across India, people are warning signs. A lax approach
share in India’s GDP, and clubs The big drop in power con- tration varied widely across tive to last year. Kerala states such as Maharashtra, overall collections. increasingly staying home to the pandemic can lead to
mid-sized economies (2-4% sumption in Tamil Nadu and states. Around 1.8 million new recorded just a 3% year-on- UP, Karnataka and Kerala fell The robust GST collections once again. The national flare-ups and harm rather than
share) and small ones (1-2%). Andhra Pradesh in the second vehicles were registered in year decline and Delhi 4%. below last year’s levels in in some states partly reflect the mobility picture looks more help economic recovery.
+ Public mobility is one of the half pulled their overall con- November, the highest in Vehicle registrations in Guj- November, having increased festive effect. By October, pub- homogenous than ever in the tanay.sukumar@live-
indicators in the tracker. sumption in November below seven months, according to arat and Rajasthan are still in October. Maharashtra col- lic movement had largely last three months (see chart 3). mint.com

m BRAND DASHBOARD Tech imports lift manufacturing exports

The Mint-YouGov Brand Dashboard provides a glimpse into how different brands are perceived in the country Shijith Kunhitty R. Rijesh of Delhi’s Institute
based on a proprietary tool called BrandIndex developed by YouGov. BrandIndex continuously measures public feedback@livemint.com for Studies in Industrial Devel-
perception of brands among internet users spread across 180 cities within the country. THRISSUR opment arrived at this finding
using data on how much
The Job portal dashboard captures the public perception of

T
echnologies are Indian firms spent to import
leading online job-related portals. It offers the current BrandIndex Score 18.8 imported by manufac- technology during 1995-2016.
perception metrics and the change in perception over the % point change from a month ago
past few weeks.
(▲▼) turers either as physical Tech imports let firms make
goods such as machinery, or in better products, making them
the form of the right to use more competitive in the global
them, such as licences or roy- market and thus export more.
Job portal alties. A study has linked an Imports of embodied tech-
brands LinkedIn Naukri.com Indeed TimesJobs Monster increase in both nology improved
kinds of technol-
ogy imports with
m SNAP FACT exports of inter-
mediate and cap-
The import of technology by Indian firms has a positive impact
on the country’s overall manufacturing exports, finds a study.
OVERALL 17.6 9.9 6.3 5.2 3.2 a rise in manufac- ital goods used to
SCORE (▲ 1.5) (◀▶ 0.0) (▲ 0.2) (▲ 0.2) (▲ 0.1) turing exports. make other products. Imports grown, with the country pro- cal capability internally has a
A 1% increase in spending on of disembodied technology viding around 40% of India’s positive effect on exports too.
imports of embodied technol- boosted exports of capital and embodied technology imports The author concludes that
BY GENDER ogy, the one sold in physical consumer goods. in 2016. improving India’s manufac-
form, has been found to raise India was more dependent Firms in emerging econo- turing exports will come about
Male 17.7 (▲1.8) 10.7 (▲0.7) 6.9 (▲0.2) 4.5 (▼0.3) 2.7 (▲0.1) manufacturing exports by in the late 1990s on the US, mies such as India haven’t had not just by importing technol-
0.6%. A similar increase in Germany and Japan for an incentive to invest in ogy, but also by creating local
Female 17.6 (▲1.2) 9.1 (▼0.6) 5.8 (▲0.1) 5.9 (▲0.7) 3.7 (▲0.2) spending on the other kind, imports of embodied technol- research and development technological capability.
disembodied technology ogy, with around half of its (R&D) as they have found it Also read: Trade liberalisa-
imports, raises manufacturing imports by value coming from cheaper to import technology. tion, technology import, and
BY GENERATION exports by 0.3%, according to them. Since the mid-2000s, The study finds that investing Indian manufacturing exports
the study. China’s contribution has in R&D to build up technologi- (j.mp/39eVA3q).
Generation X 18.8 (▲2.3) 12.6 (▲5.6) 9.5 (▲4.0) 7.6 (▲2.4) 5.3 (▲2.4)
Millennials 18.3 (▲3.1) 12.2 (◀▶0.0) 7.6 (▼1.2) 4.9 (▼0.7) 3.9 (▼1.2)
Generation Z 13.6 (▲2.7) 6.0 (▲1.7) 4.4 (▲1.6) 2.8 (▲0.9) 2.0 (▲1.3)

BY REGION
m NEWS IN NUMBERS CORRECTIONS AND
CLARIFICATIONS
REUTERS
North 15.9 (▲2.8) 7.8 (▼2.0) 5.6 (▼0.8) 4.0 (▼0.7) 1.7 (▼0.6) 63 million tonnes 230 Mint welcomes comments,
South 18.0 (▲1.3) 10.2 (▲0.5) 6.5 (▲0.3) 4.4 (▼0.3) 2.4 (▲0.1) What is it? The quantity of plastic What is it? The suggestions or complaints
produced by China in 2019. number of cases about errors.
East 17.6 (▲6.3) 12.8 (▲4.8) 5.9 (▼0.6) 4.3 (▲0.8) 5.2 (▲2.1) Why is it important? While about 30% of child trafficking
Readers can alert the
West 20.6 (▼2.6) 11.9 (▼0.5) 7.9 (▲2.0) 9.4 (▲2.5) 6.1 (▲0.8) was recycled, most of the remaining went in the first half of
newsroom to any errors in the
to landfills. The country also produces 2020 in Mali. paper by emailing us, with your
about 3 million tonnes of single-use, non- Why is it full name and address to
BRANDINDEX SCORE biodegradable shopping bags every year. important? It’s up feedback@livemint.com.
The Index score is a composite metric derived as an average of Impression, Quality, Value, Reputation, Satisfaction and
Now, China’s ministry of commerce has from 215 cases
mandated retailers to report their plastic reported in all of It is our policy to promptly
Recommendation scores for the brands mentioned above, collected from close to 2,000 respondents over four weeks by respond to all complaints.
YouGov, as part of their syndicated brand tracking solution. Sample sizes for various sub-groups reported above range between consumption to manage wastage better. 2019, driven by the closure of schools, not Readers dissatisfied with the
185 and 1,150 respondents. Earlier, it had banned single-use plastic only because of covid-19 but also due to response or concerned about
and utensils in major cities. conflicts, insecurity and teachers’ strikes. Mint’s journalistic integrity may
Generation X here refers to people born between 1965 and 1980. Millennials here refer to people born between 1981 and 1996. Tell me more: Last year, the Jiangcungou The trafficked children are forced to work write directly to the editor by
Generation Z here refers to people born after 1996. Regions are defined as follows: North: Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, landfill, the country’s largest, became full in informal gold mines, many of them sending an email to
Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand; South: 25 years ahead of schedule, receiving controlled by armed groups. asktheeditor@livemint.com
Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana; East: 10,000 tonnes of rubbish a day, four times Tell me more: In August, the army ousted
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal; Mint’s journalistic Code of
West: Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
more than planned. ruler Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in a coup. Conduct that governs our
newsroom is available at
Data from 29 October to 26 November; comparison date is 30 September to 28 October SATISH KUMAR/MINT www.livemint.com
Data and text compiled by Howindialives howindialives.com is a search engine for public data

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

SRUTHIJITH KURUPICHANKANDY (EDITOR); PUBLISHED/PRINTED BY DINESH MITTAL ON BEHALF OF HT MEDIA LTD, 9th Floor, Tower 3, Indiabulls Finance Centre, Senapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone Road (West), Mumbai-400013
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X
 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI 03
TOP ST RIES
m MINT SHORTS
China buys Indian rice for first time
Salesforce to acquire DHFL lenders
file personal
insolvency
in decades as supplies tighten
Mumbai: China has started importing Indian rice for the first
time in at least three decades due to tightening supplies and an
offer from India of sharply discounted prices, Indian industry
Slack in $27.7 billion deal case against
Wadhawans
officials told Reuters. “For the first time China has made rice pur-
chases. They may increase buying next year after seeing the qual- Gopika Gopakumar
ity of Indian crop,” said B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice gopika.g@livemint.com
Exporters Association. Indian traders have contracted to export The transaction, Salesforce’s largest-ever acquisition, is expected to close by July-end MUMBAI
100,000 tonnes of broken rice for December-February ship-

L
ments at around $300 per tonne, industry officials said. REUTERS enders to Dewan Housing
Bloomberg Finance Corp. Ltd have
feedback@livemint.com moved the Mumbai bench
NGT directs complete ban on of the National Company Law

S
alesforce.com Inc. agreed Tribunal (NCLT) to initiate per-
sale, bursting of firecrackers to buy Slack Technolo- sonal insolvency proceedings
PTI
RBI’S MPC gies Inc. for $27.7 billion against erstwhile promoters
starts
deliberation
in cash and stock, giving Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan,
on policy rate the corporate software according to a person aware of
bit.ly/37r9FIP giant a popular workplace-commu- the matter.
nications platform in one of the Union Bank of India has filed
biggest technology deals of the the case on behalf of all lenders
year. against the entire exposure of
The transaction, Salesforce’s ₹38,000 crore. Alvarez & Mar-
largest-ever acquisition, is sal has been appointed the res-
expected to close by the end of July, olution professional (RP) in this
the San Francisco-based company matter. The move comes at a
said Tuesday in a statement. Slack time when the resolution proc-
investors will receive $26.78 for ess for the bankrupt mortgage
New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has directed that each company share as well as financier is underway, and len-
there would be a total ban on the sale and use of all kinds of 0.0776 share of Salesforce—repre- ders have called for a fresh
firecrackers during covid-19 pandemic in the NCR and all senting a 55% premium to Slack’s round of bidding from existing
cities/towns in the country where the ambient air quality price on 24 November, the day bidders for the fourth time.
falls under the ‘poor’ and above category. A bench headed before reports about deal talks “The process to initiate
by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said its between the companies. Salesforce chief executive officer Marc Benioff. BLOOMBERG insolvency proceedings started
direction to restrict the use of firecrackers in cities/towns Salesforce chief executive officer two months ago, and the case
where air quality is ‘moderate’ or below to green crackers Marc Benioff has orchestrated Stewart Butterfield, Slack’s closing at $241.35. The stock has could help that effort. Slack, was filed on Tuesday evening.
and for the duration of not more than two hours will con- more than 60 acquisitions in 21 co-founder and CEO, will continue jumped 48% this year. Slack’s launched in 2013, went public via a The RP can invite other credit-
tinue. PTI years, taking his company from to run the business as a Salesforce shares were little changed after direct listing in 2019. Bloomberg ors to seek claims on their
dot-com era upstart to a titan of unit when the deal is completed. He closing at $43.84. The stock has News and other publications dues,” said the person cited ear-
cloud computing. The Slack deal said he is excited to join the com- almost doubled in 2020, with reported that companies including lier. DHFL is facing claims of
Hyundai to launch dedicated EV would give Salesforce, the leader in pany that sparked the cloud revolu- about half of that gain coming since Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft and ₹87,031 crore from financial
programs for managing customer tion. the acquisition talks were reported. Alphabet Inc.’s Google expressed creditors, including ₹39,000
platform in bid to cut time, costs relationships, another angle of “The opportunity we see Salesforce, among the first of the interest in buying Slack at various crore from banks.
Seoul: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group said on Wednesday attack against Microsoft times when it was still pri- In October, the Wadhawans
it will introduce an electric vehicle-only platform early next year Corp., which has itself CASH AND STOCK DEAL vate. Benioff for years has had proposed to pay more than
that will use its own battery technology to cut production time become a major force in turned to acquisitions to ₹43,000 crore to all creditors
and costs. The plan underscores efforts by the world’s No.5 auto internet-based computing. SLACK investors will STEWART THE Slack deal would SALESFORCE keep his product lineup without any haircut.
group to become a major player in the global EV market. REUTERS Microsoft’s Teams prod- receive $26.78 for Butterfield, Slack’s give Salesforce
each company share CEO, will continue to another angle of
strives to generate
year-over-year
fresh. He has set an annual Last week Mint reported that
uct, which offers a work- as well as 0.0776 run the business as a attack against revenue increases of revenue goal of $35 billion Wadhawan had approached
place chatroom, automa- share of Salesforce Salesforce unit Microsoft Corp more than 25% for Salesforce by fiscal NCLT against the mortgage
Tata Sons buys 0.71% stake in Tata tion tools and videoconfer- 2024, compared with $17 lender’s administrator and the
ence hosting, is a top rival billion in fiscal 2020. The committee of creditors (CoC)
Chemicals for around ₹76 crore to Slack. together is massive,” Butterfield fast-growing cloud software com- company bought analytics firm over the bids made by the suit-
New Delhi: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd, promoter of Tata Chemicals, “Together, Salesforce and Slack said in the statement. “This is the panies when it went public in Tableau Software Inc. in an all- ors seeking to take over its
bought 1.81 million shares, or 0.71% for ₹76 crore, in an open mar- will shape the future of enterprise most strategic combination in the 2004, strives to generate year- stock deal valued at $15.3 billion last assets. He also requested the
ket transaction on Wednesday. Bulk deal data on NSE showed software and transform the way history of software, and I can’t wait over-year revenue increases of year, which was Salesforce’s big- NCLT that he should be
+ that Tata Sons acquired 1,807,245 shares of Tata Chemicals for everyone works in the all-digital, to get going.” more than 25%. Slack, which is gest acquisition at the time. The allowed to be a part of the CoC
₹420.92 apiece totalling to ₹76.07 crore. ASHWIN RAMARATHINAM work-from-anywhere world,” Ben- Salesforce’s shares declined expected to increase its sales almost year before, in 2018, Benioff took meetings as his plea to the
Read more on livemint.com ioff said in the statement. about 4% in extended trading after 40% to $877 million this fiscal year, over MuleSoft Inc. for $6.5 billion. administrator has not worked.

X
 04 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI

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

44,618.04 -0.08 13,113.75 0.04 10,858.15 0.21 30,992.55 0.84 13,244.35 0.14 17,167.35 0.55 17,129.25 0.68
PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN

44,655.44 44,729.52 13,109.05 13,121.40 10,835.15 10,856.25 30,734.70 30,849.55 13,225.70 13,243.00 17,073.08 17,125.79 17,013.04 17,096.33
HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

44,729.64 44,169.97 13,128.50 12,983.55 10,866.15 10,755.90 31,017.90 30,671.25 13,254.85 13,115.20 17,184.90 17,002.84 17,136.17 17,008.35

m MINT SHORTS
Globalization is kicking in
Auto stocks cheer Nov sales data,
trade’s big 2020 comeback
The covid-19 pandemic was supposed to put the
final nail in the coffin of globalization and prompt
a retreat into a new era of protectionism. Instead,
but there’s little margin for safety
some are now calling the crisis the Great Acceler-
ator. The drop in international commerce was Clifford Alvares pickup in October, which explains the volumes. Tata Motors PV sales jumped
quick and steep during the first lockdowns, but a clifford.a@livemint.com sequential dip. Still, all is not bad on
108% over last year, while Mahindra Looking up Year-on-year growth (in %)

rebound fuelled by emergency fiscal and mone- the retail side as registrations are seen
and Mahindra Ltd’s auto division sales Volumes in Maruti Suzuki 2

A
passenger vehicles,
tary stimulus has been almost as sharp. Global uto stocks are on cruise picking up. Registrations for PVs weregrew by about 4% y-o-y. Maruti Suzuki M&M Auto 4
two-wheelers and
trade is finishing the year on a strong upswing. mode, but November’s up 11% y-o-y last week, noted Jefferies
Ltd’s volumes show a growth of 2% tractors grew y-o-y Tata Motors PV 108
Following two years of the US-China tariff war, Gold to vehicle volume trends India in a client note. This means that
y-o-y. in November, with
recover to Bajaj Auto 5
trade carried out through sprawling networks of ₹49,100,
were mixed. Sales of pas- channel stocking should hold up in the Among two-wheeler makers, TVS commercial vehicles
suppliers—the bogeyman of protectionism back- says ICICI senger vehicles (PVs) and coming months with decent wholesale Motor’s sales rose 21% y-o-y, while segment as an Hero MotoCorp 14
ers—are acting as lifelines to consumers and Securities two-wheelers were in line with Street despatches. Hero MotoCorp Ltd and Bajaj Auto exception. TVS Motor 21
shock-absorbers for many businesses.BLOOMBERG bit.ly/3ofV6yl expectations. Tractors continued to “We expect volumes to improve in Ltd grew 14% and 5% y-o-y. Royal
Royal Enfield 6
steam ahead, while Enfield saw its wholesa-
commercial vehicle THE ROAD AHEAD les grow a modest 6%, Escorts 33
(CV) sales were in the which isn’t so bad con- M&M Farm 56
One percenter slow lane. Most auto LONG festive season THE commercial WHILE tractors and sidering that the firm
-5 Tata Motors CV
Benchmark US Treasury yields head back stocks gained between contributed to the
growth in Nov over
vehicle segment is
still in the slow lane
PVs are expected to
cruise ahead, stocks
had lower production
towards 1%. 0.5% and 3%, Eicher last year, aided by a days. -17 Ashok Leyland MHCV
with volume growth are pricing in hopes
Motors Ltd was flat, favourable base Rural demand con- Source: Emkay Global
US 10-year yield (in %) missing estimates of better volumes Financial Services
Eicher Motors CV 3
1.4
while TVS Motor Co tinues to drive overall
1.16 Ltd dipped 2.4%. tractor volumes, with SATISH KUMAR/MINT
1.2
A long festival season contributed to the coming quarters on strong rural November sales surging nearly 50%. missing the Street’s estimates. Tractors and PVs are expected to
1 0.92
the growth in November over last year, sentiment, low-interest rates, improv- But this was still below expectations of “The tractor segment demand continue to cruise ahead on rising
further aided by a favourable base. ing finance availability and a gradual some investors as channel stocking remains buoyant amid improving demand. But auto stocks are pricing in
0.8
Two-wheeler sales rose 16% year-on- pickup in business and economic was expected to happen due to low farm sentiments. Medium and heavy expectations of better volumes. “Valu-
year (y-o-y), but disappointed with a activity. H2 wholesales growth should stocks. M&M’s tractor volumes commercial vehicle segment and ations reflect the recovery to sustain in
0.6 sequential dip of 22%. PV sales showed be aided by a favourable base,” said jumped 56% y-o-y and Escorts Ltd’s three-wheeler segment remain lag- the coming quarters, leaving a limited
a 9% increase over last year, but slowed analysts at Emkay Global Financial grew 33%. On the other hand, the gards in terms of volume recovery,” margin for safety for negative sur-
0.4 about 14% compared to October. Services in a client note. commercial vehicle segment is still in said analysts at Kotak Institutional prises,” said Motilal Oswal Financial
2 Mar 2020 2 Dec 2020 Note that despatches saw a sharp A few companies stood out in sales the slow lane with volume growth Equities in a client note. Services in a note to clients.
Source: Bloomberg

SATISH KUMAR/MINT

Treasury yield spike risks

sparking a domino effect
One of the year’s biggest spikes in Treasury yields
has investors mapping out the impact of rising
PI Industries overtakes UPL Phoenix Mills-GIC deal looks good,
rates on markets ranging from stocks to corporate
bonds. Renewed optimism about US stimulus
talks pushed the benchmark 10-year yield to a
as biggest agrochemical stock but knowing actual cash inflow is key
+ high of 0.94% on Tuesday, a move which if con- Ujjval Jauhari Harsha Jethmalani
tinued could spark a domino effect across risk Mills’ already strong cash reserves “Since it is a mix of primary infu-
assets trading at all-time highs thanks to low ujjval.j@livemint.com
Marching ahead harsha.j@livemint.com of around ₹1,800 crore, say analysts. sion and secondary purchase of
interest rates. At issue is whether the jump in PI’s strong domestic and export growth prospects, firm order Analysts add that the valuation of equity shares, actual inflow is not
book and strong balance sheet are driving investor sentiments.

N A
yields is accompanied by an economic recovery iche product busi- potential deal between mall this deal is attractive and instils con- known now,” brokerage house
UPL PI Industries Mcap (in ₹ crore)
and moderate levels of inflation that would allow nesses typically com- developer Phoenix Mills Ltd fidence about the sector’s assets. ICICI Direct said in a report.
the Federal Reserve to keep rates low. So far, it mand strong investor 50,000
44307.0 and private equity firm GIC It indicates that private equity Analysts estimate that after
seems investors are positioning for that scenario, confidence. PI Industries Ltd, has got the Street excited. investors are ready to pay a pre- adjusting for Phoenix Mills’ ₹1,600
with the Treasury curve steepening overnight the niche player in the agro- 40,000 34,915.3 Phoenix Mills has signed a non- mium for these assets in spite of the crore debt, cash flow of around
and US stocks rallying to fresh record.BLOOMBERG chemicals custom synthesis binding term sheet with GIC to sell coronavirus lockdown ₹1,000-1,500 crore
and manufacturing (CSM) 30,000
a 26% stake in select assets. These having impacted con- Closure of the could come from this
space, has gained more than 33,767.0 include its Mumbai (Kurla) and sumption and rental deal would mean deal.
UK reinsurer Conduit rises 50% in the past year. It is now
20,000
20478.2 Pune malls and Mumbai (Kurla) income for FY21, the additional cash Also, GIC has an
the most valuable agrochemi- offices having a total leasable area of analysts said. inflow to Phoenix option to increase its
after $1.1 bn London IPO cal player by market capitaliza- 3.36 million sq. ft. “The deal is much stake in these assets to
Mills’ already
Reinsurer Conduit Holdings Ltd rose as it started tion. Its market cap stands at 10,000 The total enterprise value of better versus our 35% within 12 months
trading in London after a £826 million($1.1 bil- around ₹35,000 crore, com- 28 Nov 2019 2 Dec 2020
these units has been pegged at enterprise value esti- strong reserves of the proposed trans-
lion) initial public offering, the second largest by pared to United Phosphorus
Source: Capitaline
around ₹5,600-5,700 crore. mate of ₹4,800 crore of ₹1,800 crore action.
a British company on the London Stock Exchange Ltd’s (UPL) valuation of SATISH KUMAR/MINT
Phoenix Mills said it intends to for these assets,” ana- If the company opts
this year. The stock climbed 5.6% to 528 pence at ₹33,750 crore. reflecting the strength in the ting Q1 sales in key geograph- use the proceeds from this deal to lysts at HDFC Securi- for this alternative,
9:06 am from the offering price of 500 pence. The For PI, the momentum in the agri economy. Similar triggers ies, the second half may be fund its growth plans via greenfield ties said in a note to clients on 2 then that would translate into
company sold 164.1 million shares, according to a CSM business remains strong should support UPL’s domestic much stronger. Price hikes in and brownfield expansions. December. ₹1,500-2,300 crore of cash flow,
statement on Wednesday. The order book closed in export markets. Exports prospects too. UPL clocked a emerging markets will take Reacting to this development, Clearly, the stock’s sharp run-up analysts at Antique Stock Broking
on Tuesday, two days earlier than planned. The grew 25% in Q2. Its order book strong 18% year-on-year care of currency devaluations, the stock surged more than 11% on reflects these positives. However, Limited said in a report.
newly established underwriting business is bet- of $1.5 billion should help sus- growth in Q2 on a much higher while high domestic soy and the NSE on Wednesday. the actual cash inflow—the most Analysts, however, warn that the
ting on rising prices for commercial insurance. Its tain growth in the medium base. UPL’s revenue stood at corn prices in Brazil pushing Closure of the deal would mean crucial part—would be known only Street seems to have priced in the
cost, which had already been increasing for the term. The company now plans ₹1,409 crore against PI’s ₹359 farmers’ incomes adds to additional cash inflow to Phoenix after the deal is finalized. best-case scenario from this deal.
last few years, has jumped as the coronavirus pan- to enter the crore. prospects. PI nevertheless Note that the transaction is cur-
demic raises risks across multiple lines of busi- pharma and fine On valuations, UPL overall is a scores in terms of a stronger rently non-binding and subject to
ness. chemicals busi- much larger peer balance sheet and its net debt
In recovery mode signing of definitive agreements
BLOOMBERG PI is trading at a
ness segments, with marketing to Ebitda (earnings before Phoenix Mills said consumption at malls has picked up in Q3FY21 with the first and due diligence. So, it will take
much richer four weeks of November seeing a rise to 87% of the consumption last year.
which is expected 44 times FY22 presence in multi- interest, tax, depreciation and some time to get clarity on the
to aid growth.
analysts’ earnings ple geographies. amortization) stood at 0.3x nature of the deal.
Consumption in November 2020 as a % of year-ago period
On a tear Timely execution Its India business compared to UPL’s around 3.1x Also, there are some near-term
Xiaomi Corp’s shares have more than doubled of capex is key to estimates vs contributes just at the end of FY20. 89
99
94 risks due to uncertainty around
UPL’s 8.3 times 85
this year. drive execution about 16% to over- On valuations, PI is trading at regional lockdowns, and investors
66
Year-to-date growth in Xiaomi stock (in %) capabilities. all revenues. It a much richer 44 times FY22 need to be watchful of those.
180
In its domestic derives much of its analysts’ earnings estimates v/s There could be an impact on
150 business, the acquisition of the revenue from Latin America UPL’s 8.3 times. To sustain footfall and rental incomes for mall
120 Asia portfolio of Italy-head- (about 47%) and the rest from these, PI will have to continue developers, which can have an
quartered Isagro is expected to Europe, US and other markets. its growth momentum. For effect on valuations.
90 High Street PMC PMC PMC PMC & Palladium
125.4 help growth prospects. Its Though the company’s UPL investors, playing Phoenix & Palladium Bangalore Pune Mumbai Chennai Having said that, the prospect of
60 domestic revenue growth of H1FY21 performance may have catch-up will mean the likely Note: PMC is Phoenix Market City. Source: ICICI Securities Research high cash inflows is certainly a wel-
30
33% remained strong in Q2, been soft with pandemic hit- deleveraging fructifies soon. come development.
SATISH KUMAR/MINT
0
0
-30
31 Dec 2019 2 Dec 2020
Source: Bloomberg

Xiaomi sinks in HK after

SATISH KUMAR/MINT

Rise in production, sales volumes boost Coal India’s revival hopes

record $3.1 bn placement Ujjval Jauhari ter with a 10% sales growth comes
Room for improvement 10-year average at power plants, The increase in renewable capac-
Xiaomi Corp. dropped the most ever in Hong ujjval.j@livemint.com at a good time. Cumulative pro- despite a dip in inventories, note ities also poses a threat.
Kong after China’s No. 2 smartphone maker duction is up 3% y-o-y and sales The growing production and sales volumes of Coal India analysts. Another worry is the high
hint at a better second half.

A
raised $3.1 billion in the city’s biggest top-up fter several months of
placement on record. The stock fell as much as tepid volume growth and
12% on Wednesday, the biggest intraday loss since rising renewable capaci-
its 2018 listing. Xiaomi’s shares were halted dur- ties, investors had shied away
ing the session after the company failed to dis- from Coal India Ltd. Its stock
close the placement in time for the open, surpris- dropped to all-time lows in Octo-
ing some market participants. Xiaomi eventually ber. But a recovery in sales and
confirmed it had sold shares at HK$23.70 apiece— low valuations is lifting senti-
a 9.4% discount to its last close—in a filing ments. November’s production
released during the midday break. Xiaomi lost and sales volumes were up 3.3%
6.5% to HK$24.40 at 3:21pm. BLOOMBERG and 8% year-on-year (y-o-y). The
stock gained 2.6% on Wednes-
For more reports and analysis day. However, it’s still about 39%
on the markets, follow our away from its pre-covid highs.
Mark to Market podcast with While the lockdown impacted
Pallavi Pengonda and Aparna the company’s volumes signifi-
Iyer on htsmartcast.com cantly during the June quarter, a
recovery in the September quar-
are down by just 1.8%.
Demand is up for thermal
power generation lately. Power
generation had slipped in April-
August, but has recovered
sharply since. Thermal fired elec-
tricity generation increased 10%
y-o-y in November. Other user
industries seeing a rebound in
activities are contributing to bet-
ter traction in coal demand too.
Improving demand is a posi-
tive for the company’s e-auction
volumes and realizations. E-auc-
tions’ premium ranged from 10%
to 30% in November as against
zero premiums in the first half of
FY21. Credit Suisse India data
“Even inventory at Coal India’s receivables, which touched
Production (in mn tonnes) Year-on-year change (right-hand scale in %) pits remain elevated at 52.4 mt ₹21,200 crore in end-September
60 40
Sales (in mn tonnes) Year-on-year change (right-hand scale in %)
50 30
(million tonnes) vs 20.9 mt last against ₹14,400 crore in March.
20
year. We believe this is likely to But the low valuations and a
40 impact production growth in high dividend payout (₹12 in
10
30 4QFY21E,” said analysts at Equi- FY20) are in favour of investors.
0
20
rus Securities in a client note. “Coal India faces headwinds
-10 Still, plans to raise production from moderate electricity
10
-20 to substitute imports could drive demand growth, rising share of
0
Apr 2020 Nov 2020
-30 volumes. The company plans to renewables and commercial coal
Source: Company achieve production of 1 billion mining. However, with the stock
tonnes by FY23-24 from about trading at 2.3 times FY22
PARAS JAIN/MINT
602 mt. However, note that sev- adjusted Ebitda, we believe these
also suggests that premiums are While this is good, note that eral plans to raise production in headwinds are priced in,” said
higher for spot and non-power volume growth could slow down the past have seen little success. analysts at Equirus Securities.
auctions. This is paving the way due to higher inventories at coal Further, longer-term concerns Ebitda is earnings before inter-
for further e-auction price recov- mines and power plants. Coal could rise as private miners are est, tax, depreciation and amorti-
ery in the fourth quarter. inventories are still above the exploring commercial mining. zation.

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

X
 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI 05

X
 06 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI

TOP ST RIES
IT firms eyeing hybrid work H-1B ruling offers
relief to American
model: Nasscom president IT firms, workers
Nandita Mathur present where the customers are. Nandita Mathur
nandita.m@livemint.com But if that’s going to be a problem, nandita.m@livemint.com
NEW DELHI then the customers will come to NEW DELHI
where the talent is. But this is an

The aggregate shareholding of
Bharti Airtel and Nettle Infra
Investments in Bharti Infratel
has increased to 41.66% REUTERS
Airtel buys
4.9% stake
T T
alent development needs opportunity for India to focus on ighter H-1B visa rules
to become a national pri- talent. If we can ensure that we are India records will not come into
largest
ority for India since the the best place for digital talent for reductions in
effect from 7 December
demand for new-age dig- the world, then the world will come malaria cases after a US court ruled against
ital skills is now eight to us for their innovation and talent. in South-East two H-1B regulations pro-
times higher than supply, said Deb-
jani Ghosh, president, the National
What can IT companies do to
become more resilient in the
Asia: WHO
bit.ly/3lq0Jbu
posed by the Trump adminis-
tration to restrict the ability
Association of Software and Service post-covid world? of American companies to
Companies (Nasscom), adding by
2024, it is expected to be 20 times
There are four things that are key
to organizations becoming resil-
hire foreign employees. The
ruling come as major relief to

in Bharti higher than supply. In an interview,

Ghosh spoke on new technologies,
work-from-home for IT companies
ient. The first one is the trust that
becomes the key currency of this
world. In the last eight months,
thousands of skilled Indian
workers as well as Indian and
American IT companies. The new rules, now invalid,
Infratel for and digital talent. Edited excerpts:
How can enterprises and busi-
Indian IT has shown that it is tre-
mendously trustworthy. We have
The new rules, now
invalid, would have dramati-
would have dramatically
reduced US businesses’ ability
nesses unlock the potential of managed to keep businesses run- cally reduced US businesses’ to hire skilled foreign workers.
₹2,882 cr new technologies like AI?
We did research with McKinsey
ning of all our global clients with-
out any disruption. We moved
ability to hire skilled foreign
workers and irreparably hurt market in several areas. The
and found that in the next few more than 95% of our workforce to companies and the economy US department of homeland
Ashwin Ramarathinam years, if India can use artificial work from home. The second by forcing businesses to dis- security changed the defini-
ashwin.r@livemint.com intelligence (AI) right, then it has building block is talent. It’s the tal- charge current employees. It tion of speciality occupation,
MUMBAI the potential to add an incremental ent that differentiates my ability to could have disrupted ongo- employee-employer rela-
of around $500 billion to our GDP. build those solutions that my cus- ing projects and imposed sig- tionship and limited the

B
harti Airtel Ltd, through
its wholly owned subsidi-
ary Nettle Infrastructure
Investments Ltd, on Wednes-
day acquired an additional
stake of 133 million shares or
There are several gaps today, which back 100% on campus, nor are we out, but if the US has to continue to tomer will need for their success nificant costs, in some cases validity of an H-1B visa for
have to be taken into account, but going to see 100% remote working. lead in innovation, they need talent better than you can build your solu- forcing companies to transfer one year, instead of three, for
the secret sauce is execution. So, But the pandemic has taught us more than ever. Indian IT compa- tions, you know if we are compet- work to locations outside the a worker placed at a third-
identifying what problems, for that there are tremendous benefits nies take less than 10% of the H-1B ing. Talent is what will define com- US. party worksite.
example, of increas- to remote working. visas. More than 90% are taken by petitive advantage. The third one is The H-1B visa, heavily used The Interim Final Rule was
ing supply chain m INTERVIEW One of them is the the MNCs, and the companies that the ability to innovate, but even the by Indian IT professionals, is set to go into effect on 7

4.94% in tower company Bharti
Infratel Ltd for ₹2,882.32 crore,
according to a filing.
Prior to the acquisition,
Bharti Airtel and Nettle Infra-
structure held 23.04% and
13.69%, respectively, in Bharti
lnfratel. With this acquisition
by Nettle, the aggregate share-
holding of Bharti Airtel and
Nettle has increased from
36.73% in the September quar-
ter to 41.66% in lnfratel.
The stake was acquired from
private equity firm Providence
Equity Partners, which sold
77.08 million shares for an
average of ₹215.44, aggregating
+ to ₹1,660.61 crore.
These were held through P5
Asia Holding Investments
Mauritius Ltd and EdgePoint
Global Portfolio and EdgePoint
Growth & Income Portfolio,
which sold 31.21 million and
18.11 million shares, respec-
tively, for ₹672.83 crore and
₹390.44 crore.
In September, Bharti
Infratel’s board decided to pro-
ceed with the scheme for
merger with Indus Towers, and
‘
effectiveness or ability for people to are the biggest takers of H-1B innovation lens is changing. a non-immigrant visa that December but will not now as
water conservation is a huge one work from their home towns, are also the biggest Today, innovation allows US companies to a result of the ruling by judge
where AI can play a big role. It’s which allows them more time to do investors in inno- is becoming about employ foreign workers in Jeffrey White in the US dis-
important for us to identify the pri- things. This will also support the vation and R&D, Given that there is a moving those speciality occupations that trict court for the Northern
orities and the problems you want gig economy and spur higher which means need to fuel the pace ideas/solutions require theoretical or techni- District of California.
to solve, then build out the national involvement of communities in there’s a strong of innovation, there’s from lab to market, cal expertise. White held that the evi-
data sets for these particular verti- smaller towns. There’s also a bene- correlation the quickest. The In October, the Trump dence did not support the US
cals, make sure that the protocols fit of enabling people whether it is between our talent going to be a stronger last is how quickly administration announced government’s assertion that
are in place for the utilization of your gender or any other special and the innovation need to get access to do you do it. Thus, salary requirements on com- the unemployment crisis was
data, build out the talent, and build needs, disabilities, where you could that’s happening the right talent. agility becomes panies employing skilled for- caused by the pandemic.
out the regulatory framework. So not go to work but have the ability in the US. Given extremely impor- eign workers and limits on “We welcome the court
Debjani Ghosh
that’s the approach that has to be to do so. Companies should have that there is a need Nasscom president
tant, and resilience speciality occupations decision that clearly recog-
taken. the right to decide what works for to fuel and acceler- goes with it. These because of coronavirus-re- nizes the importance of the
With most companies working them, whether it’s 60-40, 70-30, ate the pace of are a few things lated job losses. high-skill visa programs to
from home, what is the model 30-70 ratio. innovation, there’s going to be a that will shape the competitive Under the new rules, mini- the United States; and that
moving forward? How will the new regime in the stronger need, therefore, to also get advantage, be the core differentia- mum wages for H-1B workers the IFRs issued previously
We’re going to move towards a US impact the H-1B visa issue? access to the right talent. In today’s tors of Indian IT and the playbook were set to rise by an average did not hold legal statute,”
hybrid model for sure. None of the I don’t do much crystal ball gaz- world, honestly, it’ll be great if the for higher resilience in the new of 40% across roles and loca- said industry body Nasscom
large companies are going to go ing. We’ll wait and see how it plays talent can be on-boarded and normal. tions, pricing them out of the in a statement.
SC stays order demanding Flipkart probe Retail investors splurge on
Japnam Bindra
japnam.b@livemint.com
trading in cryptocurrency aside the earlier order passed
by CCI absolving Flipkart of
NEW DELHI unfair practices using its domi-
nant position and directed it to Prasid Banerjee age, while most of CoinDCX’s executive, WazirX, the Bitcoin

F
that the cash consideration lipkart got some relief on ask its probe arm to investigate prasid.b@livemint.com users fall in the 25-40 years boom has created a “positive
chosen by Vodafone Idea Ltd Wednesday with the the allegations. NCLAT said NEW DELHI bracket. sentiment”, which has pushed
for its 11.15% stake in Indus Supreme Court staying that AIOVA had successfully Spending can be from any- more retail investors to jump

Towers is expected to be about
₹4,000 crore.
The merger was completed
last month.
Vodafone Idea has received
cash consideration of ₹3,760.1
crore for its 11.15% shareholding
in Indus, while Vodafone
Group and Providence were
allotted 28.2% and 3.2% respec-
tively.
Bharti Infratel Ltd posted a
24% drop in consolidated net
profit to ₹733 crore for the
quarter ended September
2020 against a net profit of
₹964 crore in the correspond-
ing period of 2019-20.
Consolidated revenue grew
2% to ₹3,695 crore during the
reported quarter from ₹3,638
crore in the year-ago period.
Shares of Bharti Infratel
closed at ₹224.80 on Wednes-
day, up 4.10% from its previous
close, while the Sensex lost
0.08% to close at 4,4618.04.
Bharti Airtel was up 1.16%.
the National Company Law
Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)
order directing the Competi-
tion Commission of India (CCI)
to launch a probe against the
e-commerce firm over allega-
tions of abuse of its dominant
position in the market.
The SC bench headed by
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde also
issued a notice to CCI and the
All India Online Vendors Asso-
ciation (AIOVA), a group of
more than 2,000 sellers, who
trade on e-commerce market-
places such as Flipkart, Ama-
zon and Snapdeal.
Predatory pricing is an issue
to be considered against the
dominant player as a case of
abuse of power, but his client
has not been held as a domi-
nant player, submitted senior
advocate Harish Salve, repre-
senting Flipkart.
The bench, also comprising
Justices A.S. Bopanna and V.
Ramasubramanian, observed
Flipkart has now stayed both investigations against it. One stay
was granted by Karnataka HC and now another by the SC.
that CCI has categorically men-
tioned in the findings of the
case that Flipkart does not have
a dominant position. The court
added that the NCLAT findings
on the dominant position have
not been reversed as of now.
Subsequently, the top court
told counsels appearing for the
vendors’ association that the
matter could be remanded
back to NCLAT if they agreed
that the tribunal should have
considered the issue of domi-
nant position. The AIOVA
counsel pleaded that the matter
should be argued in the court.
The three-judge bench will
hear the case at length on the
next date.
MINT
“Flipkart has now success-
fully stayed both investigations
against it. One stay was granted
by the Karnataka High Court
and now this one by the
Supreme Court. For CCI, this is
another blow as several orders
initiating an investigation have
been stayed by various high
courts across the country. The
ultimate decision of the top
court will decide whether the
matter ends here or whether
the NCLAT decision ordering
an investigation will be upheld
as was the case with Uber in
2019,” said Abdullah Hussain,
partner, L&L Partners, a lead-
ing full service law firm.
On 4 March, NCLAT set
made its case here.
In November 2018, AIOVA
had approached CCI, alleging
abuse of market dominance by
the e-commerce major. AIOVA
had alleged abuse of market
dominance against Flipkart
India Pvt. Ltd, which is into
wholesale trading/distribution
of books, mobiles, computers
and related accessories, and
e-commerce marketplace Flip-
kart Internet Pvt. Ltd.
However, CCI passed an
order on 6 November 2018 that
the practices of Flipkart and
Amazon are not in violation of
CCI norms and rejected allega-
tions of abuse of market domi-
nance made by AIOVA. CCI
ruled that looking at the struc-
ture of the online marketplace
platforms in India, “it does not
appear that any one player in
the market is commanding any
dominant position at this stage
of market evolution”.
PTI contributed to this story.
R
etail investors aged
25-40 years are spend-
ing millions on trading
in cryptocurrency in India
every day, according to two of
the top exchanges in the coun-
try.
The country’s largest crypto
exchange, WazirX, said it has
seen a 125% increase in user
signups in the past six months,
while rival CoinDCX said
there’s been an 85% growth in
traders in its exchange in the
last quarter.
According to Sumit Gupta,
co-founder and chief execu-
tive officer, CoinDCX, the plat-
form sees $20-25 million
worth of trading every day,
about 75% of which comes
from Indian investors. On the
other hand, WazirX sees
$19-26 million daily trading
volumes, with 89% of the
transactions coming from
India. And 70% of WazirX’s
users are under 30 years of
where in the ₹100-200
bracket to thousands and
more. One can buy a crypto
asset like Bitcoin on WazirX
for as little as ₹148 right now.
Experts expect the number
of retail investors to grow even
faster now that Bitcoin, by far
the best known digital cur-
rency, has hit a lifetime high.
According to industry veteran
Vincent Poon, expectations
are that the price of Bitcoin
could rise to as much as
$100,000 this time. The
world’s largest digital asset
rose to $19,577.47 on 30
November, achieving an all-
time high. Its previous high
was at $19,511, which it hit in
December 2017, before losing
70% of its value in the next two
years. Poon said a “fear of miss-
ing the 100,000 price point”
will lead a lot of people to
invest in Bitcoin now.
According to Nischal
Shetty, founder and chief
into crypto trading in India.
The exchange saw a 52%
increase in the number of
trade orders on 29 and 30
November, as Bitcoin was sur-
ging. Overall crypto trading
volumes grew by 27% during
the same period.
“It seems like the institu-
tions are powering this mas-
sive Bitcoin rally. Large, pub-
licly listed companies like
Microstrategy and Square are
investing portions of their
treasury into BTC,” said Raghu
Mohan, CEO and co-founder
of Lumos Labs, an innovation
management company. He
added that such companies
allowing merchants to use
cryptocurrencies on their plat-
forms have brought a “sense of
credibility” to Bitcoin, as has
the fact that billion-dollar
hedge funds and asset manag-
ers around the world are
“looking for exposure into Bit-
coin”.

SpiceJet’s cargo arm SpiceXpress

m MINT SHORTS him, officials said. The DCGI arrived at the conclusion on
Wednesday based on the recommendations of an independent
expert committee which has also opined that compensation
should not be paid to the volunteer, they said. Last week, the
SC defers Tata-Mistry case’s
final hearing to 8 December
PTI
gears up for vaccine distribution
New Delhi: SpiceXpress, the TWITTER@FLYSPICEJET

JPMorgan cuts EPS on RIL, seeing
limited upside to its stock rally
BLOOMBERG New Delhi: JPMorgan has cut its
earnings per share (EPS) on Reli-
ance Industries Ltd (RIL) admitting
that its longstanding neutral rating
on the stock has not worked so far.
Shares of the Mukesh Ambani-led
company has been one of the best
performing large cap stock in 2020,
outpacing benchmark indices by a
wide margin. NASRIN SULTANA
Read more on livemint.com
DCGI finds no link between covid
jab, ‘adverse’ reaction in volunteer
New Delhi: A probe initiated by the Drugs Controller General
of India (DCGI) into an alleged “serious adverse event” reportedly
suffered by an Oxford covid-19 vaccine trial participant in Chen-
nai has found that it was not related to the shot administered to
40-year-old man who was a volunteer in the third phase of the cargo arm of no-frill carrier Spi-
vaccine trial in Chennai claimed to have suffered serious neuro- ceJet Limited is ready to trans-
logical and psychological symptoms after taking the experimen- port covid-19 vaccines for dis-
tal shot. PTI tribution through a specialized
service called Spice Pharma
Pro, the airline said on Wednes-
Lionsgate launches independent day. The Gurugram-based air-
line, which has transported
video streaming app in India 85,000 tonnes of cargo since
New Delhi: Hollywood studio Lionsgate has launched its inde- March, has tied up with cold chain logistic companies for trans-
pendent video streaming app Lionsgate Play in India, becoming portation of vaccines, it said. RHIK KUNDU
the 11th country where this service is being introduced. Priced at Read more on livemint.com
₹99 a month and ₹699 a year, Lionsgate will curate Hollywood
blockbusters but will also produce local originals for the Indian New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear the final argu-
market. Since August 2019, Lions- ments on alleged mismanagement and oppression of GDP growth to move into positive
gate Play was offered in India minority investors at Tata Sons Ltd beginning 8 December.
through distribution partnerships Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Tata Sons, will
territory in Q4: NITI Aayog’s Kumar
with telecom services and other open the arguments. The final hearing was initially New Delhi: The Indian economy is coming out of the pandemic-
fibre-to-home networks such as expected to start on Wednesday, but a bench headed by induced degrowth and GDP growth will enter the positive terri-
Vodafone Idea Ltd and Reliance Jio Chief Justice S.A. Bobde deferred it as the parties filed new tory in the fourth quarter of this fiscal, NITI Aayog Vice-Chair-
which the studio said will continue applications. JAPNAM BINDRA man Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday. “The second quarter GDP
to expand. LATA JHA Read more on livemint.com figure (contraction of 7.5%) reflects that the economy is coming
Read more on livemint.com out of this pandemic-induced degrowth phase,” he said. PTI

X
 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI 07
TOP ST RIES
AI, omnichannel strategy RBI’S TRIPLE CHALLENGE IN AN
UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD
key in a post-covid world EXPERT
basic reforms like inflation targeting. Building
up its credibility takes time and it’s too soon to
tackle more complex strategies.
But even if EMs do not pursue unconven-
VIEW tional policy, they would still find themselves at
the receiving end of loose policy in advanced
Prioritize gaining consumer trust, say experts at Mint Virtual Workplace 2.0 webinar P R A N J U L B H A N DA R I economies. And that could turn out to be a dou-
ble-edged sword.
Respond to this column at The good news is that advanced economies
Abhijit Ahaskar feedback@livemint.com would do a lot of the easing for the EMs. Loose
abhijit.a@livemint.com financial conditions and related economic

I
NEW DELHI ndia’s central bank faces a triple challenge. recovery globally could help EMs both directly
First, inflation is running high and beyond its (via lower rates and growth enhancing inflows)

C
ovid-19 has changed
consumer behaviour
drastically, nudging
organizations across
sectors to tailor their
pro-ducts and services to meet the
new expectations.
The transition has been easier for
many as India was already on the
path of digitization.
The goal now is to take it to the
next level with an omnichannel
approach, better engagement and
security strategy to win consumer
trust and by using more artificial
intelligence (AI) to predict cus-
tomer behaviour, industry leaders
said at the Mint Virtual Workplace
2.0 webinar held recently.
“During covid-19, digital transac-
tions for us increased by 17%, which
is a big number for a bank of our
size. What customers want is a
dynamic, paperless, contactless
and customized experience,” said
Ravindra Pandey, deputy manag-
ing director (strategy) and chief
digital officer, State Bank of India.
“Customized experience leads to
customer intimacy and will make
them stick to you,” said Rajarshi
Purkayastha, head, pre sales, India,
MECAA (Middle East, Central Asia
and Africa), Tata Communications.
However, adopting an omni-
channel approach is also very
important.
“Covid has taught us that an
omnichannel strategy is important.
You can’t limit yourself to popula-
tion in tier-1 and 2 cities or those
with smartphones. Apps are there,
+ but you also need to do something
(From left) Aloknath De, corporate VP and CTO, Samsung Electronics; Venkat Neelakantan, VP and head,
corporate real estate services, India and APAC, Capgemini; Rajarshi Purkayastha, head, pre sales, India, MECAA,
Tata Communications; Ravindra Pandey, deputy MD, SBI and Ananth Subramanian, VP, IT, Kotak Mutual Fund.
on SMS for people in rural areas,”
said Purkayastha.
The sudden shift to online mode
of communication and transaction
has also exposed users to new cyber
risks. Organizations need to con-
vince users that their data is secure,
in addition to improving grievance
redressal systems, experts said.
“At the end of the day, the con-
sumer needs to know he can reach
out to us in whatever way possible.
All systems need to get integrated
so complaints can be addressed.
You also need to ensure informa-
tion is going to the right person
with the necessary level of authen-
tication,” said Ananth Subrama-
nian, vice-president, information
technology, Kotak Mutual Fund.
There are a lot of new entrants
with low digital literacy who may
not be able to keep up with the pace
of transformation and they are the
ones who are more at risk, said
Aloknath De, corporate vice presi-
dent and chief technology officer,
Samsung Electronics.
“There is a need for a grievance
redressal system where a mentor
can teach and guide them. People
also need a sense of security that
their data is secure. Companies
need to build a mechanism that will
protect, guide and alert them,” De
said.
Pandey added, “Instead of a rule-
based risk management system, we
need a real-time risk management
system.”
Another focus area for organiza-
tions, especially in the banking,
financial services and insurance
sector, is data analytics and use of
artificial intelligence to predict
consumer behaviour.
“As far as consumers are con-
cerned, big data tools are definitely
going to help us by assessing buy-
ing behaviour and customer emo-
tions. Many of them have already
Coronavirus
vaccines could
be targetted
by criminals,
Interpol
sounds alert
bit.ly/39ue6Fk
addressed that in a short time,” said
Venkat Neelakantan, vice-presi-
dent and head, corporate real estate
services, India and APAC, Capgem-
ini.
However, the big challenge they
face is how to make sense of that
data and then relate it back to reali-
ties on the ground.
“Having an AI engine that can
churn some insights out of the data
is very easy. However, mapping it
back to consumer requirements is
difficult. Execution after you have
some insights is very important,”
said Purkayastha.
Neelakantan also drew attention
to that fact that organizations have
two problems to solve. When they
talk about consumers, they also
need to talk about their employees
as they are the key.
“While transforming them from
a work environment to one that is
remotely managed, you need to
engage with them and make them
feel they are part of the system,
even if its distributed,” he said.
6% tolerance level over the past seven
months. Second, government borrowing is set
to reach a record high this year. The third and
biggest challenge is that capital inflows remain
strong.
While a surge in overseas cash may sound like
a positive, it’s actually a problem for the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI), as it needs to intervene in
the currency markets—otherwise the rupee will
appreciate and hurt export competitiveness—
but such intervention to mop surplus dollars
would add to surplus domestic liquidity, threat-
ening to stoke an already high inflation rate.
So the question is, when will these large for-
eign capital inflows stop? To get a handle on
this, it is important to look at what’s happening
overseas.
Fiscal and monetary policies around the
world have become far more adventurous and
unconventional. The last few months have wit-
nessed a dramatic rise in the use of terms such
as Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), QE-infin-
ity and yield curve control.
The MMT view of the world suggests that, as
long as inflation is not a problem, governments
can keep spending and central banks can keep
printing money. Some believe that the exit from
expansionary fiscal policy in advanced econo-
mies has previously been too abrupt. This time,
they say, the loose fiscal stance should stay for
longer.
And to ensure all this extra government bor-
rowing doesn’t overwhelm the bond markets,
several advanced central banks have used tools
like quantitative easing—where they buy gov-
ernment bonds—and this time without any lim-
its. Or they use yield curve control, which sets
upper limits on government bond yields.
But what does this all mean for emerging
markets like India?
Advanced economies might have earned the
right to be more adventurous. However, India
is still in the early years of implementing more
and indirectly (via recovery in export demand).
But in some cases, the large quantum of eas-
ing could become a policy headache; for
instance, loose policy abroad resulting in con-
tinued inflows into India, stoking domestic wor-
ries such as inflation.
Given this backdrop, what should RBI do at
its upcoming policy meeting on 4 December?
It could perhaps strike a balance among its
objectives on inflation, bond yields and the
rupee by doing a bit for each but not going over-
board on any.
We believe it shouldn’t make many changes.
Keeping its bench-
RBI may strike a mark repo rate
balance among unchanged at 4%
its objectives on while maintaining an
accommodative
inflation, bond stance may be the
yields and the most prudent strat-
rupee egy.
Still, RBI will likely
have to update some
of its macro forecasts, for instance marking up
its inflation forecast for the current year, now at
5.8%. Or perhaps lowering its estimate of how
much the economy will shrink this year on aver-
age, now at 9.5%.
It may also want to share its insights on some
matters that continue to confound the market.
Why is inflation so high at a time of weak
demand?
Is the liquidity glut at the short end of the
yield curve expected to linger for long? What is
the central bank’s strategy for this? And for how
long will the recovery need the crutch of excess
domestic liquidity?
On the last question, we believe monitoring
bank credit growth and core inflation is key. If
the former picks up, or the latter holds steady,
RBI may want to recalibrate its strategy.
Pranjul Bhandari is chief India economist at
HSBC Research.

India to position STOP CORONA

WASH YOUR HAND, WEAR MASK & MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCE
DELHI JAL BOARD, DELHI SARKAR
HT Media Limited
CIN: L22121DL2002PLC117874

IIFCL like China OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER (T)

VARUNALAYA PHASE-II, KAROL BAGH
Registered Office: Hindustan Times House,
18-20, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 110 001
Tel: +91-11-66561608, Fax: +91-11-66561445
Website: www.htmedia.in E-mail: investor@hindustantimes.com
18TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (“AGM”)
NEW DELHI-110005
Development Bank Applications are invited from the eligible officers for filling up the post of Member
(Water Supply) in Delhi Jal Board on deputation basis initially for a period of one
The 18th AGM of HT Media Limited will be held on Tuesday, December 29, 2020
at 04:00 PM (IST) through Video Conferencing/Other Audio-Visual Means (“VC/
OAVM”) pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (“Act”)
read with General Circular Nos. 14/2020, 17/2020 & 20/2020 issued by Ministry of
year in the Pay Band of Rs. 37,400-67,000 with a grade pay of Rs. 10,000/- (Pre- Corporate Affairs on April 8, 2020, April 13, 2020 and May 5, 2020, respectively,
and SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015,
Gireesh Chandra Prasad & revised)/Level-14 under 7th Central Pay Commission, within 21 days from the date to transact the business set out in the Notice convening the AGM.
Shreya Nandi of this advertisement to the Member (Administration), Delhi Jal Board. For further Electronic copy/version of the Notice convening the AGM, procedure &
information, please visit our website www.delhijalboard.nic.in. instructions for e-voting and Annual Report for FY 2019-20 will be sent to those
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Members who have not registered their e-mail address, are requested to register
Advt. No. J.S.V. 246/2020-21 ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER (T) the same - in respect of shares held in electronic form, with their Depository

I
ndia plans to reshape the Participant(s); and - in respect of shares held in physical form by clicking on https://
Indian Infrastructure ris.kfintech.com/email_registration/ or by writing to the Company’s Registrar and
Finance Company Limited Share Transfer Agent (RTA) viz. KFin Technologies Private Limited, with details of
folio number and self-attested copy of PAN card at KFin Technologies Private
(IIFCL) in a new avatar and Limited, Unit: HT Media Limited, Selenium Tower B, Plot No. 31 - 32, Financial
GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA District, Nanakramguda Serilingampally Mandal, Hyderabad – 500032, or by
position it as a development PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT sending email to einward.ris@kfintech.com.
finance institution on the lines PRESIDENCY DIVISION, MUMBAI Members may obtain the Notice convening the 18th AGM and Annual Report
of China Development Bank Email : presidency.ee@mahapwd.com for FY 2019-20 via email, by updating their email ID by accessing the link https://
(CDB), a finance behemoth E- TENDER NOTICE NO 35 FOR 2020-21 ris.kfintech.com/email_registration/. Alternatively, Notice of AGM can be
downloaded from the link https://evoting.karvy.com/public/Downloads.aspx.
powering Beijing’s growth Online E- Tenders in B-1 Form For the Following Work are invited by the Executive Engineer,
The Company will provide facility to Members to exercise their right to vote by
strategy. IIFCL plans to tap around 10% Presidency Division, PWD, 2nd floor, Bandhakam Bhavan, 25 Murzban Road, Fort, Mumbai electronic means. The instructions for joining the AGM through VC/OAVM and the
400 001 (Tel. No- 22016975/22016977) from contractors registered in appropriate class of the Public process of e-voting, (including the manner in which Members holding shares in
A Bill to be tabled in the of govt’s ₹111 tn infrastructure
Works Department. Right to reject/accept of all or one tender is reserved by the undersigned. physical form or who have not registered their e-mail address can cast their vote
budget session of Parliament investment opportunity. through e-voting), will form part of the Notice of AGM.
Sr. Name of Work Amt
will seek to expand the finan- Notice convening the AGM and Annual Report for FY 2019-20 will be available on
No. Rs. (Lacs) the website of the Company at www.htmedia.in, and the stock exchanges viz. BSE
cial muscle and scope of discussions within the finance
1 Repairs to flooring, Plastering, Doors & windows, M.T. Roof, staircase, Providing 54.91 and NSE at www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.com in due course.
investment of state-owned ministry, the person quoted Kitchen Otta, Painting, Renovation to Toilet of Servant Qtrs of Rocky Hill Building For HT Media Limited
IIFCL, said a person aware of above said. 1 & 2 at N.D. Road, Mumbai. Dinesh Mittal
the discussions in the govern- To achieve the ₹111 trillion Place: New Delhi (Group General Counsel &
2 External Repairs in plaster & providing Weather shed & External Painting to 87.39 Date: December 2, 2020 Company Secretary)
ment. The changes planned investment, two critical suc- Rocky Hill Building 1 & 2 at N.D. Road, Mumbai.
will convert the non-bank len- cess factors will be important, Issue Date :- 2.12.2020 to 9.12.2020
der into a development a shelf of investible projects Opening Date :- 10.12.2020
finance institution that will and right financial instru- All the corrigendum/Changes pertain to notice will not published in newspapers that will published in
lower its cost of finance and ments with long-term tenor E-tendering process.
give access to a wider set of and competitive cost of capital, All the detail Information is available on following websites NEXT MEDIAWORKS LIMITED
infrastructure projects, which said Abhaya K. Agarwal, part- 1) www.mahapwd.com CIN: L22100MH1981PLC024052
is expected to include pre- ner, strategy and transaction, 2) www.mahatenders.gov.in Registered Office: Unit 701A, 7th Floor, Tower-2, Indiabulls Finance Centre
Senapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone Road, Mumbai - 400 013
mium housing. infrastructure and govern- No.PD/ TC/7959 Tel.: +91-22-44104104, E-mail: investor.communication@radioone.in,
IIFCL plans to tap about 10% ment and public sector, EY Office of the Executive Engineer, Website: www.nextmediaworks.com
of the ₹111 trillion infrastruc- India. “Needless to say, the two Presidency Division, P.W.D., 2nd floor, 39TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF NEXT MEDIAWORKS LIMITED (“NMW”)
ture investment opportunity go hand in hand. Giving flexi- Bandhakam Bhavan, 25, Murzban Road,
The 39th AGM of NMW will be held on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at 11:00 AM
Presidency Division, Mumbai. SD/- (IST) through Video Conferencing/Other Audio-Visual Means (“VC/OAVM”)
the government bility to IIFCL to Fort, Mumbai 400 001 (C.T. Naik) pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (“Act”) read with
has envisaged A new Bill likely to raise competitive Date : 27/11/2020 Executive Engineer General Circular Nos. 14/2020, 17/2020 & 20/2020 issued by Ministry of Corporate
over the next few be tabled in the capital from the DGIPR/2020-2021/ROC 1327 Presidency Division Mumbai. Affairs on April 8, 2020, April 13, 2020 and May 5, 2020, respectively, and
SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, to
years, support- budget session market will go transact the business set out in the Notice convening the AGM.
ing efforts to will expand the long way in Electronic copy/version of the Notice convening the AGM, procedure & instructions
turnaround the achieving this for e-voting and Annual Report for FY 2019-20 will be sent to those Members whose
non-bank lender’s plan envisaged by email IDs are registered with the Company/Depository Participants (DP).
economy, the
person men- scope of the government,” Members who have not registered their e-mail address, are requested to register the
same - in respect of shares held in electronic form, with their Depository
tioned above said investment said Agarwal. Participant(s); and - in respect of shares held in physical form by clicking on
on condition of IIFCL lends to https://ris.kfintech.com/email_registration/ or by writing to the Company’s
Registrar and Share Transfer Agent (RTA) viz. KFin Technologies Private Limited,
anonymity. One projects at rates with details of folio number and self-attested copy of PAN card at KFin Technologies
of the key changes expected is starting from 9%. With the Private Limited, Selenium Tower B, Plot No. 31-32, Financial District, Nanakramguda
Serilingampally Mandal, Hyderabad – 500 032, or by sending email to
to let IIFCL lend to all projects flexibility to raise short-term Growth is einward.ris@kfintech.com.
defined by the department of debt, the lender’s cost of bor- not just about chasing Members may obtain the Notice convening the AGM and Annual Report for
economic affairs as infrastruc- rowing could come down to success. It’s also about FY 2019-20 via email, by updating their email ID by accessing the link
https://ris.kfintech.com/email_registration/. Alternatively, Notice of AGM can be
ture, going beyond the 6-6.5% from close to 9% now. learning from failures. downloaded from the link https://evoting.karvy.com/public/Downloads.aspx.
‘Scheme for Financing Viable At present, it cannot raise debt The Company will provide facility to Members to exercise their right to vote by
Infrastructure Projects’ that of less than 10 years except to Growth is...On. electronic means. The instructions for joining the AGM through VC/OAVM and the
IIFCL operates now. IIFCL is refinance high-cost debt in a process of e-voting (including the manner in which Members holding shares in
physical form or who have not registered their e-mail address can cast their vote
also likely to get flexibility to falling interest rate regime. Follow us: through e-voting), will form part of the Notice of AGM.
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and invest in infrastructure for remodelling IIFCL is the due course.
investment trusts (InvITs), a Brazilian Development Bank For Next Mediaworks Limited
tax efficient investment vehi- or BNDES. (Diksha Singh)
Date: December 2, 2020 Company Secretary
cle in the sector, according to gireesh.p@livemint.com

X
 08 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI
Automation firms are bullish
about 2021 growth prospects
Industry executives expect India’s manufacturing sector to invest heavily in automation next year
Ayushman Baruah
ayushman.b@livemint.com
BENGALURU
A
utomation startups,
which help compa-
nies cut costs and
improve user experi-
ence, are expected to
gain further momentum in India
and globally in 2021 as the econ-
omy recovers and firms return to
pre-covid levels of business.
Top executives believe automa-
tion went mainstream this year
and has received the right amount
of attention at the C-suite level.
For California-based robotic
process automation (RPA) com-
pany Automation Anywhere, the
growth in its India market this year
has been mainly driven by existing
customers migrating to the cloud
and those that have completely
revisited their operating model Experts say automation is finally receiving the right amount of attention at the C-suite level. RAMESH PATHANIA/MINT
due to the pandemic.
“Cloud lowers the cost of own- will be led by manufacturing.
ership and it prepares them for a
significant scale-up when the sector focused on getting their money valuation of $6.8 billion. In UiPath, 48% of businesses globally
economy recovers next year. In work-from-home model in place, July, competitor UiPath raised are planning to increase RPA
fact, many of the new
logos we have signed up
in the last 12 months have
straightaway started on FOR Automation
the cloud,” said Milan Anywhere,
India was driven by
Sheth, executive vice existing customers
president-IMEA, Auto- migrating to cloud
mation Anywhere.
While growth this year
has been driven by the services but as that stabilizes, next year we $225 million in a Series E round at this surge. UiPath did not com-
sector related to banking, financial expect them to invest heavily in a post-money valuation of $10.2 ment on the story.
services & insurance, utilities and automation,” said Sheth.
hospital management, next year it
+ TV and OTT will co-exist, but they are bound to evolve, said
Infosys partners
Rolls-Royce for
aero engineering
Ayushman Baruah
ayushman.b@livemint.com
BENGALURU
R
olls-Royce will transi-
tion a significant part of
its engineering centre
capabilities for civil aerospace
in Bengaluru to Infosys with
the IT services firm partnering
the British aerospace and
defence company.
“Leveraging its expertise in
core engineering services, dig-
ital transformation capabili-
ties, and Rolls-Royce product
knowledge acquired through
the partnership, Infosys will
provide a full range of high-
end engineering and research
and development (R&D) servi-
ces integrated with advanced
digital service to Rolls-Royce,”
Infosys said.
India has grown to become a
key contributor to the Rolls-
Royce global engineering eco-
system, delivering high levels
of technical capability to sup-
port a range of businesses, said
Kishore Jayaraman, president,
Rolls-Royce India and South
Asia.
“Our vision is to continue
this high capability engineer-
ing work in India, in partner-
ship with Infosys…. We are
committed to India and
remain positive about the
long-term prospects in this
market,” Jayaraman said.
Over the past decade, Rolls-
Royce has established a multi-
disciplinary engineering cen-
tre in Bengaluru, which has
been an integral part of its
engineering and R&D servi-
ces. Rolls-Royce will continue
these complex engineering
activities in India in partner-
ship with Infosys.
“We have always believed it
is important to integrate the
physical knowledge of a prod-
uct with digital capabilities
like Industry 4.0, additive
manufacturing, and predictive
analytics. The Rolls-Royce
engineering team at Benga-
luru has been at the forefront
of these innovations and we
are delighted to welcome
them to Infosys,” said Jasmeet
Singh, global head of manufac-
X
“This year, the manufacturing November last year at a post- Forrester Consulting on behalf of
ROSY FUTURE
GROWTH in 2020
growth in was propelled by
sectors such as BFSI, including RPA, are
utilities and hospital accelerating digital
management
Automation Anywhere raised public offering (IPO) in 2021.
L&T to sell
UK marine
tech arm to
Rolls-Royce
Tanya Thomas
tanya.t@livemint.com
MUMBAI
L
arsen & Toubro Ltd
will sell its
UK-based inte-
grated marine automa-
tion solutions provider
Servowatch Systems Ltd
to Rolls-Royce’s Power
Systems Division, the
engineering conglom-
erate said, without dis-
closing the deal value.
A leading supplier of
advanced and innova-
tive integrated ship con-
trol systems, Servo-
watch Systems has
grown into an interna-
tionally recognized pro-
vider of marine automa-
tion platforms over the
past eight years of L&T’s
ownership.
The sale is part of
L&T’s plan to divest
non-core businesses
and boost its balance
sheet strength. In
August 2020, L&T con-
cluded the strategic
divestment of its electri-
cal and automation
business to Schneider
Electric. L&T said its exit
from the electrical and
automation business, as
well as Servowatch Sys-
tems, is a part of the stra-
tegic portfolio review
process.
turing, Infosys.
Over the past two decades,
Infosys has invested in build-
ing a strong engineering servi-
ces practice and has been
delivering end-to-end solu-
tions to customers in the tur-
bomachinery, propulsion
(TMP), aerospace and defence
industries.
$290 million in a Series B in
INTELLIGENT A survey found that
automation tech,
48% of global firms
are planning to
increase RPA spend
transformation over the next year
billion and has plans for a US initial
Three entities submit EoIs for BPCL stake
Utpal Bhaskar
utpal.b@livemint.com
NEW DELHI
O
il minister Dharmen-
dra Pradhan on
Wednesday said the
government has received
three preliminary bids in the
privatization process of state-
owned Bharat Petroleum
Corp. Ltd (BPCL).
Speaking at a webinar orga-
nized by Swarajya magazine,
he said there was a lot of inter-
est. “I think three parties have
given their expression of inter-
est for the bidding process,”
Pradhan said. “As I have earlier
said, the government is com-
mitted to offload its share from
some of the state-owned com-
panies. That way, more profes-
sionalism, more competition
will come and we are commit-
ted and keen on that aspect.”
He said India is currently
using only 6% of the world’s
primary energy and the coun-
try’s per capita energy con-
sumption is only one-third of
the global average. He added
that this is rapidly changing
Infy awards achievers in science RCap’s assets get
Ayushman Baruah
ayushman.b@livemint.com
BENGALURU
T
he Infosys Science Foun-
dation (ISF) awarded the
winners of the 12th Info-
sys Prize 2020 for their out-
standing contributions to sci-
ence and research in a virtual
ceremony on Wednesday. The
prize includes a pure gold
medal, a citation and a purse of
$100,000.
Arindam Ghosh from the
Indian Institute of Science
(IISc), Bengaluru won the prize
in the Physical Sciences cate-
gory for his development of
atomically thin two-dimen-
sional semiconductors to build
a new generation of functional
electronic, thermoelectric and
optoelectronic devices.
In the Life Sciences category,
Rajan Sankaranarayanan from
the Centre for Cellular and
Molecular Biology (CCMB),
Hyderabad won the prize for
TOP ST RIES
According to a recent survey by
spend over the next year.
It also revealed that the
world has seen more digi-
tal transformation in the
past few months than in
the preceding five years
and intelligent automa-
tion technologies, includ-
ing RPA, are accelerating
Mumbai-based Fractal Analyt-
ics is seeing a steep rise in business
State-owned BPCL is India’s second-largest fuel retailer.
and India will drive global
energy demand growth, given
that the country’s energy con-
sumption is projected to grow
at 3% annually up to 2040.
India is currently the
world’s third-largest oil
importer and the fourth-larg-
est buyer of liquefied natural
gas.
The Centre had earlier said
it has received expressions of
interest (EoIs) from “several”
domestic and international
investors for BPCL.
Vedanta Group has con-
BLOOMBERG
N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys
founder and president of ISF.
fundamental contributions
towards understanding the
error-free translation of the
genetic code to make protein
molecules.
Prachi Deshpande from the
Centre for Studies in Social Sci-
ences (CSSS), Kolkata won the
prize in the Humanities cate-
gory for her nuanced and
sophisticated treatment of
South Asian historiography.
Professor Hari Balakrishnan
from Massachusetts Institute of
as it expects to clock ₹250 crore of
revenue in the March quarter
translating to a revenue run rate of
₹1,000 crore for FY21.
“As the world economy revives
and digital transformation accel- Indigenous
Aircraft
erates, we expect significant Carrier to be
growth of 35% year-on-year dur- commissioned
ing FY22,” said Srikanth Velama- by next year
kanni, co-founder, group CEO and end or by
early 2022
executive vice chairman, Fractal. bit.ly/3myBuoJ
Given the demand forecast, the
company has major expansion
plans for next year. “We are on a
hiring spree. We have just crossed
2,000 people at an organizational
level,” said Velamakanni. It plans
to hire another 500 people in the
next few months including about
300 fresh recruits from campuses
and about 200 laterals in various
skills like data science, AI and
cloud engineering.
Chennai-headquartered hyper
automation services company
Vuram expects to see further
growth in 2021 as customers con-
tinue to prioritize their digital
transformation initiatives.
“We expect investments from
financial services. Any business
with cash flow is going to continue
to invest the money back into
technology to improve their mar-
gins and efficiencies. Also, other
lower-margin industries would
consider prioritizing technology,
especially small and medium busi-
nesses, which were probably
affected a little more than the
larger players,” said Raghav Sri-
ram, vice president, global sales
and customer success, Vuram.
apart from the government are
foreign portfolio investors,
Life Insurance Corporation,
mutual funds and BPCL Trust.
Qualifying bidders in the
first EoI phase will be asked to
make a financial bid in the sec-
ond round. PSUs are not eligi-
ble to participate.
The sale of a 53% stake in
India’s second-largest fuel
retailer is expected to fetch the
Centre around ₹45,000 crore
and is essential for meeting the
MINT
record ₹2.1 trillion target the
finance minister has set from
disinvestment proceeds in the
firmed submitting its EoI. The budget for 2020-21.
Economic Times newspaper on India has so far managed
24 November reported about around ₹6,100 crore in disin-
Apollo Global Management vestment proceeds.
also submitting an EoI. The qualifying bidder will
The government had not only have a controlling
extended the deadline for pre- stake in BPCL but will also get
liminary EoI in BPCL four access to 25.77% market share
times this year due to the coro- in India’s fuel retailing seg-
navirus pandemic that origi- ment, along with 15.3% of
nated in Wuhan, China. India’s total refining capacity.
BPCL’s business interests BPCL operates four refiner-
span across upstream, mid- ies in Mumbai, Kochi, Bina and
stream and natural gas sectors. Numaligarh, with a combined
The other shareholders in capacity of 38.3 million tonnes
India’s third-largest refiner per annum (mtpa).
Technology won the prize in
the Engineering and Computer
multiple suitors
Science category for his broad
contributions to computer net- FROM PAGE 1
working, mobile and wireless
systems. Alternate Asset Management
In Mathematical Sciences, and Bain Capital, besides the
Sourav Chatterjee from Stan- holding company of a private
ford University won the prize sector bank.
for his work in probability and Given the foreign direct
statistical physics. investment cap of 49% in the
Professor Raj Chetty from insurance sector, it remains to
Harvard University won the be seen how these investors,
Infosys prize in Social Sciences especially foreign private
for his pioneering research in equity funds, structure their
identifying barriers to eco- proposed investment as they
nomic opportunity, and for will have to partner with local
developing solutions that help firms or investors, said one of
in alleviating poverty. the three people cited above,
“The trustees of the Infosys adding that several domestic
Science Foundation dream of private equity funds have
an India where the poorest shown interest.
children can have reasonable The insurance sector is of
access to nutrition, education, key interest to most private
healthcare and shelter, and equity funds, he added.
have confidence in a better Reliance Nippon Life Insur-
future,” said N.R. Narayana ance has already hit the FDI
Murthy, Infosys founder and cap, with Japan’s Nippon Life
president of ISF. holding a 49% stake.
ORDINARY
POST
SHUCHI BANSAL
Respond to this column at
shuchi.b@livemint.com
BLURRED LINES
MAKE CASE FOR OTT
SELF-REGULATION
T
he lines between television and over-the-top (OTT) video
streaming platforms are blurring. Increasingly, in urban
India at least, people are streaming their digital content on
large screens at home. “These may be smaller numbers but these
are things that will suddenly hit a tipping point and take over,”
Ajay Gupte, chief executive, South Asia, at WPP’s media agency
Wavemaker, said in an earlier interview, referring to the growing
importance of OTT.
Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit last
week, Uday Shankar, president of the Walt Disney Company
APAC, and chairman, Star and Disney India, too, said, from a con-
sumer point of view it matters little whether content is on a
streaming service or on TV. “If content has power, it will find its
way into your living rooms, and on your devices,” he said.
For now, there are no numbers available on how many people
watch streaming content on phones vis-a-vis TV screens. What
we do know is that nearly 400 million people watch videos online
in India, according to a report by KPMG. There are about 22 mil-
lion subscription-based video on demand (SVoD) users or people
who are paying for online video content. This figure will touch
40 million in 2025, the report said.
The work-from-home regime that has come as a fallout of the
coronavirus pandemic has led to a surge in time spent on TV and
digital streaming, which is reflected in the spike in sales of large
screens, reported by companies such as Panasonic India, LG
Electronics India and Infinity Retail (Croma).
Given a choice, people would like to watch content on a big
screen rather than mobile phones unless they are on the move,
said media industry expert Raj Nayak. With more and more smart
TVs having access to streaming apps,
Increasingly, the number of such people will only
people are rise. As the time spent online rose dur-
streaming their ing the pandemic, streaming platforms
fed their content pipelines to lure
digital content more subscribers. Most major services
on large TV spent several crores of rupees to
screens at home acquire new films that could not be
released in theatres. To push such con-
tent, OTT platforms forged partner-
ships with telecom companies offering broadband packages with
an eye on building family audiences.
Nayak. They will not mimic each other, “but I would like to
believe that TV shows will have to develop and find a middle
ground even though cost will be a big issue for them”, he said.
Nayak expects TV to change gradually “as one fine morning they
won’t know what hit them unless they also become future-ready
and make small changes to address the evolving audience”.
Luckily, most big broadcasters have their own OTT platforms,
which makes it easier for them to start experimenting to create
content that can straddle both platforms, he said.
An advocate of creative freedom, Nayak slates suggestions for
regulation for streaming. Even films should be rated, not cen-
sored, he said. “The right way to ensure that creative freedom is
not abused is to ask the stakeholders to develop self-regulation
guidelines. Within the platforms, they can set parental guidance
parameters so that children cannot access adult content,” he said.
At HT’s Leadership Summit, Shankar also spoke of consumers
being way ahead of where governments and regulators believe
they are. They are far more open and mature, he said. At present,
streaming follows no content guidelines. It will be important to
see whether OTT regulation is over-prescriptive or allows room
for creativity and imagination, he said.
If the government imposes restrictions, content providers
have the right to make their case. “We are a democracy and we
have a Constitution. Within the framework of that, (content) pro-
viders have access to judicial redress and the right to go to the
government,” he said.
Yet, he called out “global services” for being “irresponsible”
and taking their freedom for granted. The amount of abusive lan-
guage, sex and violence shown on all platforms doesn’t serve any
constructive purpose, he said.
People will watch shows that they like on a device that’s conve-
nient for them. “But if the family is watching together, it is almost
sure they will watch it on the TV set,” Nayak said. If web content
is increasingly watched on living room screens, it’s probably time
the sector viewed self-regulation through this lens.
Shuchi Bansal is Mint’s media, marketing and advertising edi-
tor. Ordinary Post will look at pressing issues related to all three. Or
just fun stuff.
SC scraps
Vedanta plea
to open plant
Oaktree Capital and JC FROM PAGE 1
Flowers and Co. are among
those who have shown interest wells have dried up in the local-
in the entire business, the peo- ity, drinking water has turned
ple cited above said. poisonous, and residents are
The company, which has falling victim to cancer.
been looking to monetize its Vedanta’s counsel told the
assets to repay debt, said on 27 bench that it is necessary to
November that it has defaulted reopen the plant, which
on interest payments of ₹5.48 employed 4,000 people and
crore to Housing Development provides indirect employment
Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC) and to more than 2 million people.
Axis Bank. Vedanta said the high court
Reliance Capital’s total order was not based on princi-
financial indebtedness stood at ples of natural justice, and that
₹20,077 crore, which includes the court heard all intervenors
accrued interest up to 31 Octo- but did not provide adequate
ber. hearing to Vedanta.
Spokespersons for Oaktree, A Madras high court division
Blackstone, Multiples PE bench of justices T.S. Sivgna-
declined to comment. nam and V. Bhavani Subba-
Emails sent to other bidders royan heard the case for 42
remained unanswered till press days beginning December
time. 2019, before reserving judg-
shayan.g@livemint.com ment on 8 January.

MINT
BSE gave its no-objection
certificate to the Future Group
companies on 6 Nov. MINT
Sebi seeks
clarity on
BSE nod to
Future, RIL
agreement
FROM PAGE 1
regulator approves the RIL-Fu-
ture deal, it will not only mean
disrespect for the SIAC but will
also be detrimental to the inter-
est of public shareholders and
discourage foreign companies
from forging alliances with local
firms.
Future Retail has filed a
counter lawsuit against Ama-
zon in the Delhi high court to
stop it from blocking the deal.
Six Future Group firms—
Future Consumer Ltd, Future
Enterprises Ltd, Future Market
Networks Ltd, Future Lifestyle
Fashions Ltd, Future Supply
Chain Solutions Ltd and Future
Retail—submitted their draft
schemes of arrangement on 7
October to BSE, as the Kishore
Biyani-led Future Group
moved to consummate the
₹24,713 crore asset sale agree-
ment with Reliance Industries.
Amazon has claimed that a
2019 stake purchase agree-
ment with an unlisted Future
Group company bars the latter
from selling a stake in Future
+ Retail without its consent.
Amazon bought a 49% stake in
Future Coupons Pvt. Ltd,
which then acquired a 7.3%
stake in Future Retail. The
agreement also gave Amazon
the right to increase its stake in
Future Retail in the future.
But the pandemic-induced
lockdown triggered a crisis at
the Future Group, forcing it to
enter into an agreement with
Reliance Industries to sell its
retail, wholesale and logistics
assets. The deal was
announced on 29 August.
Future Group and Amazon
have been since blaming each
other on various counts with
regard to the legitimacy of the
sale.
Future’s contention is that
Future Retail and Future Cou-
pons are separate companies
and that Amazon should not
interfere in the deal with Reli-
ance Industries.
Future wants to pursue the
case in two different ways
because the deal with Amazon
was entered into with Future
Coupons, while the deal with
Reliance Industries entails a
sale of assets by Future Retail.
The case in the Delhi high
court is to secure approval for
Future Retail to go ahead with
the Reliance Industries deal.
Simultaneously, both parties
have agreed to continue their
arbitration in Singapore.
Honey brands flop sugar syrup test Tales from the coronavirus pandemic
FROM PAGE 1
more vulnerable to life-threat-
ening infections,” she added.
The report said the adultera-
tion cannot be caught because
Chinese companies have
“designed” the sugar syrup so
that it can pass the Indian labo-
ratory tests.
Narain described the Food
Safety and Standards Authority
of India (FSSAI) in an editorial in
Down To Earth magazine as
“completely missing in action—it
is difficult to say whether it is
clueless or complicit”. Narain is
the editor of the magazine.
The companies refuted the
allegations. Patanjali said that it
makes 100% natural honey,
which tested pure on more
than 100 standards laid down
by FSSAI for honey.
“It...seems to be an interna-
tional marketing design to pro-
mote German technology and
X
THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI 09
TOP ST RIES
Trade deficit at 10-month Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine gets green
high as exports dip in Nov signal in the UK
AP
FROM PAGE 1
Exports fell 9.1% while imports contracted 13.3%, resulting in a deficit of $10 billion vaccine candidates. Pune-
based Serum Institute of India
is in a process to manufacture
Asit Ranjan Mishra
asit.m@livemint.com
Covishield, the vaccine devel-
oped by Oxford University and
NEW DELHI pharma giant AstraZeneca,
which is undergoing clinical
I
ndia’s outbound shipments con- trials in the country. Hydera-
tracted for the second straight
month in November as the sec-
ond wave of the coronavirus
Amazon is
laying the
groundwork
bad-based Dr Reddy’s Labora-
tories is conducting clinical
trials of Russia’s Sputnik V vac-
for its own
pandemic hit consumer
demand in its largest markets in
quantum
computer
bit.ly/2I6OBPa
cine and will distribute it in A successful immunization
India. Another coronavirus programme will help the global
Europe. Exports fell 9.1% while vaccine—Covaxin—is being economy accelerate 4.9% in 2021.
imports contracted 13.3%, resulting
in a trade deficit of $10 billion, the
developed by Bharat Biotech in
association with the Indian followed by 6% growth in 2021.
highest in 10 months, according to Council of Medical Research The British government in
preliminary data released by the (ICMR). Gujarat-based pharma late November invoked a spe-
commerce ministry. giant Zydus Cadila Ltd is also cial rule allowing its drug regu-
Major export items that dragged developing an indigenous vac- lator to move ahead of the EU as
down growth include petroleum cine, which is in the second the country prepares for the
products (-61%), engineering goods phase of clinical trials. Brexit transition period to con-
(-8.3%), chemicals (-8.1%), ready- China has given authoriza- clude at the end of this year.
made garments (-1.2%) while phar- tion to its three front-runners The Indian National Expert
maceuticals (11.1%), gems & jewellery for emergency use. Russia Group on Vaccine Administra-
(4.1%), electronic goods (1%) regis- cleared the Sputnik V vaccine tion for covid-19, in consulta-
tered positive growth. Items that in August, while a second inoc- tion with state governments,
drove imports and widened the ulation was approved in Octo- has prepared a detailed blue-
trade deficit include crude petro- Items that drove imports include crude petroleum chemicals, electronic goods, fertilizers and gold. BLOOMBERG ber, even as the last stage of print of vaccine storage, distri-
leum chemicals (36.1%), electronic trials to establish safety and bution and administration, offi-
goods (12.3%), fertilizers (29.3%) and lowed by a 7.2% rise in 2021. In April, lier projection of a 9% contraction in ter, before changing our forecasts,” efficacy are still cials in the Union
gold (2.7%). the trade body projected global mer- GDP in FY21 as it awaited more it said on Monday. on. Pfizer and health ministry
India’s merchandise trade had chandise trade to drop by 13% to 32% proof of sustained recovery in eco- Separately, trade minister Piyush A successful BioNTech sought said.
been weakening even before the in 2020 because of the pandemic. nomic activities. “While there are Goyal on Wednesday chaired the immunization pro- clearance for Prime Minister
covid-19 pandemic hit external The pace of contraction in the now upside risks to growth due to a Board of Trade meeting, which dis- gramme will help their jab in EU, Narendra Modi
demand. In 15 of the past 17 months, Indian economy slowed in the Sep- faster recovery in population mobil- cussed the strategy to be adopted to the global economy
putting it on track has said the gov-
starting June 2019, the boost domestic manufactur- accelerate 4.9% in ernment will
for potential
country’s exports have REPORT CARD ing and exports under the 2021 after shrink- ensure a vaccine
approval by Dec reaches every
declined. However, since upcoming Foreign Trade ing about 4% this
March of this year, both INDIA’S merchandise IN 15 of the past 17 WTO now projects TRADE minister Policy for the five-year end- year, according to Indian as soon as
exports and imports started trade had been
weakening even
months, starting
June 2019, the
the volume of world Piyush Goyal chaired ing 2026. Board of Trade
merchandise trade to a meet on Wed to
Bloomberg Eco- possible.
declining in high double before covid-19 hit country’s exports decline by 9.2% in ’20, discuss strategies to comprises of state trade nomics. Meanwhile, India’s covid-19
digits, leading to a trade sur- external demand have declined and a 7.2% rise in 2021 boost exports ministers, secretaries of key For the UK, which is suffer- burden continued to increase.
plus in June for the first time ministries and export pro- ing one of the worst slumps The caseload exceeded 9.5 mil-
in 18 years. motion councils among among advanced nations this lion on Wednesday. The num-
Data compiled by the World tember quarter to 7.5% from a his- ity and household spending, the other officials. Goyal called for mov- year, the vaccine could be a ber of daily new covid-19 cases
Trade Organization (WTO) showed toric high of 23.9% contraction in pandemic is not fully under control. ing beyond the traditional thinking game-changer. Bloomberg in the past 24 hours is 36,604.
global merchandise trade fell 21% in the June quarter. While some We will wait for more signs that on trade, which centres around gov- Economics expects Britain’s At least 77% of the new cases are
the June quarter. WTO now projects research agencies have raised their infections have stabilized or fallen, ernment schemes and a shift gross domestic product to from 10 states and UTs. Kerala
the volume of world merchandise GDP forecasts for India, S&P Global together with high-frequency activ- towards support to more free-flow shrink 11.4% this year, the deep- reported the highest daily new
trade to decline by 9.2% in 2020, fol- Ratings on Monday stuck to its ear- ity data for the fiscal year third quar- trade. est contraction in 300 years, cases at 5,375.
All eyes on RBI’s liquidity stance Burger King IPO oversubscribed Transporters
FROM PAGE 1 FROM PAGE 1 food delivery businesses, the
threaten stir
“The simplest solution is for as Happiest Minds Technolo-
company is well-positioned to
expand its footprint in India. At
in solidarity
RBI to introduce variable rate
reverse repos (VRR) for a fixed
gies, Rossari Biotech Ltd,
Route Mobile, Computer Age
₹60, the stock is available at 2.9
times FY20 enterprise value/ with farmers
quantum of say ₹4 trillion. By Management Services, Chem- sales,” said ICICI Direct.
encouraging banks to bid con Speciality Chemicals and Burger King India is the FROM PAGE 1
closer to repo rate in this VRR, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, national master franchisee of the
RBI can push up the weighted too, had received 46-157 times Burger King brand, with exclu- The strike call by the trans-
average remuneration to retail subscriptions. sive rights to develop, establish, porters is likely to test the
banks in the LAF (liquidity “Indians eating out are mil- operate and franchise Burger resolve of the Narendra Modi
adjustment facility) window. lennials, which represent the The retail individual investors’ King branded restaurants in administration, which has
This would then pull up rates age group from 15 to 34 years category was subscribed India. Its master franchisee ruled out reversing the farm
in the call and tri-party repo old. Burger King India’s com- 15.54 times. REUTERS arrangement allows it to use laws although it has met farm-
markets,” said ICICI Securities petitive position depends on Burger King’s globally recognized ers to allay their concerns.
in a recent note. There is currently an additional ₹5.31 trillion excess liquidity in their continued ability to offer kerage firm. brand name to grow its business Thousand of angry farmers
Another option for RBI could the banking system, according to estimates. MINT products that have a strong Burger King India has 55% of in India while leveraging the from Punjab, Haryana and
be to introduce a standing appeal. The company tailors its its stores located in malls and 25% technical, marketing and opera- Uttar Pradesh have camped in
deposit facility (SDF) to absorb auctions. However, due to Khajuria, executive director menu, promotions and pricing in high-street locations. Region- tional expertise associated with Delhi and its suburbs demand-
deposits from commercial huge capital flows and negative and chief financial officer, Fed- to the Indian tastes and prefer- ally, 50-55% stores are located in the global Burger King brand. ing that the government repeal
banks without giving govern- growth rates, the intervention eral Bank. This combination of ences through its customer the North, 40-45% in the South Burger King is the second- the laws that they claim will
ment securities in return that by RBI in both currency and forex purchases and domestic proposition,” said Motilal Oswal and West, and the rest in the East. largest burger chain globally, only benefit large corporates.
has been handy in sucking out rates market is resulting in a purchases resulted in core or Financial Services in a report. Despite making losses, ana- with a global network of over “The road transport fraternity
large amounts of excess liquid- liquidity flood, as RBI is buying durable liquidity surplus Presence in high-visibility lysts find its valuation attractive 18,675 restaurants in more than of India extends its unstinted
ity in extraordinary situations. foreign currency and bonds in exceeding ₹9 trillion. locations such as high streets, on expectations of its growth 100 countries, as of 30 Septem- support to the agitation by farm-
“RBI has been intervening parallel to meet the aforesaid RBI has accumulated $93 shopping malls and food courts prospects. “Benefiting from ber. Burger King India has 261 ers. Thousands of trucks carry-
in the forex market to manage objectives of checking volatil- billion in forex reserves (over offers a significant opportunity reduced competition from restaurants, including eight sub- ing food, vegetables and other
volatility in the exchange rate ity in exchange rates and sup- ₹6 trillion) in this fiscal so far, for Burger King India given the unorganized smaller local res- franchised Burger King restau- perishable and non-perishable
and also in the bond market to port growth by keeping inter- the highest on record since the thrust on infrastructure pro- taurants due to covid-related rants, across 17 states and union items coming from Punjab, Har-
create demand for government est rates low,” said Ashutosh fiscal year 2008. jects countrywide, said the bro- disruptions and expansion of territories. yana, Himachal Pradesh Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand and
Jammu and Kashmir are
impacted. We still support them
as 65% of the trucks are engaged
in carrying farm produce,”
AIMTC said in a statement.
Agriculture minister Naren-
dra Singh Tomar and food and
public distribution minister
machines, which cost crores of and packed with no added FROM PAGE 1 sought their views on the pan- had gone dry and the only hope journey on 17 December,” Piyush Goyal met farmer rep-
rupees. Besides, it is an attempt sugar or other adulterants. We demic and the future course of to stay alive was our villages, Dutta told Mint. resentatives on Tuesday, but
to lower the market share of also assure our consumers that pandemic. Alongside, we will management of the pandemic. where our roots lie and where we “We heard from a lot of the meeting remained incon-
Indian honey in international Dabur does not import any share videos and stories of “They told us that protocols could get food water and shelter, women about domestic vio- clusive. The government has
trade,” said Acharya Balkrishna, honey/syrup from China and India’s diverse cultures, places, need to be standardized in this thanks to the values of life that lence as liquor shops were called for another round of dis-
managing director, Patanjali our Honey is sourced entirely and everything else that makes fight against the pandemic, par- still live in villages”, the trio said. closed and their husbands cussions on Thursday.
Ayurved. from Indian beekeepers,” said a India what it is—a diverse, col- ticularly where food, water and In Odisha, West Bengal and vented their frustration on The truckers warned of an
An Emami spokesperson said: company spokesperson. ourful and fascinating country medical help are concerned,” Bihar, shut schools meant their wives,” said Dutta. acute shortage of essential items
“Emami as a It said Dabur is now under the shroud of the said Siddiqui. hunger for chil- Migrants walking home in in the next few days if the conflict
responsible orga- The report said the only company pandemic. How the core values The group has The idea is to raise dren. “Schools peak summer spoke of how peo- is not resolved. “It is the season of
nization and Chinese firms in India to have an of the society behaved during learnt that gov- money for those provided mid-day ple in some places had removed apples, which are being wasted.
ensures that its have ‘designed’ NMR testing the pandemic is the crux of our ernments are who have been hit, meal for the chil- roadside handpumps fearing Potatoes, onions, and other fruits
Zandu Pure Honey the sugar syrup so equipment in its odyssey,” said Siddiqui. fighting the pan- listen to their dren. In families they would become infected. and vegetables, as well as other
conforms and own laboratory, The Road Ashram project demic differ-
that it can pass stories and study that had many And there are heart-warm- essential commodities such as
adheres to all the which is used to expects to raise at least ₹20 lakh, ently. The Cen- children, feeding ing tales too. “A young man medicines and milk, are also
protocols and the Indian regularly test its which will go into a fund for tre and states the response to them has become from Sunderbans in West Ben- stuck, which is leading to a short-
quality norms and laboratory tests honey sold in India. ‘Rise Against Hunger India’ often deal with it the pandemic a big chal- gal got to know that his high age in Delhi and in other north-
standards laid Apis Himalya (RAHI), an international hunger in their own lenge.But the vil- school teacher was in abject ern states,” the statement said.
down by the gov- declined to com- relief organization, and support ways. Communi- lagers could tide poverty,” said Dutta. “This looks like a wild threat at
ernment of India and its autho- ment immediately on the matter. Save the Children India, also a cation wasn’t always very over by helping each other,” “He met his teacher at his this point of time. It may not be
rized entities such as FSSAI.” For the CSE report, samples non-profit, said Dutta. clear; guidelines kept chang- said Dutta. home and left a bag of grocery easy to stop movement of goods.
Dabur called the CSE report were first tested at the Centre The team has travelled ing, and “what was described Dutta wants to write a book behind. Later, the teacher called Truckers are already in a dire
motivated. for Analysis and Learning in along the China and Nepal as good today was found to be on the journey and plans to to say he had forgotten his bag. state due to covid,” said S.P.
“We assure our consumers Livestock and Food at the borders in Uttarakhand, Uttar bad the next day”. make a documentary that will The student replied he won’t be Singh, senior fellow and coordi-
that Dabur Honey is 100% pure. National Dairy Development Pradesh and Bihar. It has met Labourers who walked hun- propose solutions. “We plan to able to pick it up, and that he nator at the Indian Foundation of
It is 100% indigenous, collected Board in Gujarat. well-known sportspersons, dreds of kilometres to their meet government functiona- should use it. He did not want to Transport Research and Train-
naturally from Indian sources social leaders and writers, and home villages “told us lifelines ries when we complete the embarrass his teacher.” ing.
 10 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI

REPORTAGE | TALKING POINTS | IDEAS | INSIGHT | THE BOTTOMLINE

INDIA’S QUEST TO FIX

ITS PAYMENTS PUZZLE
Amid suspicion about foreign firms and a new 30% market share cap in UPI, fintech is headed for upheavals

UPI processed more than 2 billion monthly transactions in October and November. When it was launched in 2016, few expected such explosive expansion. PRADEEP GAUR/MINT

Mihir Dalal large as it is, address concerns about sys-
mihir.d@htlive.com temic risk to UPI? And, by stopping What-
BENGALURU sApp from making a full launch, which
was expected to bring tens of millions of
with Yes Bank (entities without a banking
license need tie-ups with banks to offer
UPI services) suffered a service outage
after the Reserve Bank of India issue a
of income in a space with scanty margins.
mint
SHORT By removing MDR, the government
STORY wanted to incentivize merchants to adopt
UPI. But while UPI usage has increased
realistically become a very large No.1
quickly, and that would be an even bigger
concentration of power than the current
situation with PhonePe and Google Pay.”

T
he debate around how to regu- new users to UPI, NPCI may have hurt its moratorium on the latter. It caused a crisis because of the pandemic, transaction fail- NPCI is also unsure if the present UPI
late internet businesses in India own mission of promoting the payment not just for PhonePe but for NPCI, too, as WHAT ure rates have soared, some say, partly infrastructure is equipped to handle a del-
is being increasingly defined by network, according to entrepreneurs and a large part of UPI collapsed instantly. because banks aren’t investing enough. uge of new users that a full WhatsApp
worries over national sover- fintech executives that Mint spoke to. Though PhonePe resumed its service Recently, NPCI, which runs UPI launch may have brought, the person
eignty. And because of the phe- within 36 hours after promptly finalizing and RuPay, announced market RESTRICTIONS ON WHATSAPP quoted above said. NPCI will monitor how
share caps on third-party UPI
nomenon of network effects—and sheer CATCH-22 FOR NPCI
money power—many internet spaces in
India, including email, messaging, social N PCI has landed in this difficult situa-
tion mostly as a result of its own suc-
a partnership with ICICI Bank, NPCI’s
fears about systemic risk were realised.
On 5 November, NPCI said that from
apps, the largest of which are
owned by two large American
O n the same day that NPCI announced the infrastructure holds up once What-
the 30% cap, it also gave approval to sApp launches to 20 million users, and
WhatsApp to launch on UPI. NPCI said decide on letting the messaging app
networking, video streaming and e-com- cess. It was formed in December 2008 as January 1, 2021, it would cap the share of a firms, Walmart and Google that WhatsApp could expand its UPI user expand accordingly, the person said.
merce, are dominated by American plat- a not-for-profit entity owned by India’s single third-party app at 30%, which is to base in a “graded manner” starting with NPCI has said that 30% cap is only for
forms, chiefly Amazon, Facebook and biggest private sector and public sector be determined on the basis of transaction 20 million, ending a nearly three-year third-party apps, not for firms that own a
Google. banks. Its mandate was to create and man- volume processed during the preceding AND wait for the American firm. (WhatsApp’s banking license. So, the cap doesn’t apply
The scale and speed at which these age state of the art infrastructure to enable three months. PhonePe, Google Pay and launch was delayed because of legal to apps by SBI or Paytm. But that qualifica-
American companies (and a few Chinese payments with a focus on the digital space. other existing third-party apps have been The payments body also finally troubles, lobbying by existing payment tion is unlikely to affect the existing order
firms, now banned) have established dom- Its biggest and most impactful innovation given an additional two years to comply allowed WhatsApp Pay, which companies and others, and demands that of UPI for now as other apps are unlikely to
inance in so many businesses troubles pol- has been UPI, which was launched in April with the cap. had been barred from expanding the company comply with data localiza- splurge on marketing and cashbacks,
iticians and regulators who have tried to 2016 and went live in August that year. However, experts said that the 30% cap its pilot for three years, to launch tion requirements and other reasons). which are seen as necessary to attract
address their fears by calling for data local- Since then, UPI has emerged as the fast- doesn’t necessarily reduce the dominance its service but to less than 5% of The timing of the two NPCI announce- users away from the market leaders,
isation, applying operational restrictions est-growing payment mechanism in the of American platforms nor does it address its users in the country for now ments wasn’t a coincidence. PhonePe and Google Pay.
and undertaking ambitious antitrust country. It processed more than 2 billion systemic risk concerns in a meaningful Ever since Facebook-owned WhatsApp The two American firms are neverthe-
investigations. monthly transactions in October and manner. piloted its payment service in early 2018, less unhappy with the 30% cap, and
In early November, National Payments November, with its growth having been NOW many entrepreneurs, fintech executives believe that they have been short-
Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs boosted during the pandemic as cash FINTECH LICENCE RAJ and investors have predicted that it would changed by NPCI. The 30% cap has
The recent moves have
the unified payments interface (UPI), usage declined. When UPI was launched,
RuPay and other digital payments infra- few expected such explosive expansion.
structure, went further than most regula- At that time, NPCI executives believed
T o start with, though the collective
share of PhonePe and Google Pay will
be capped at 60% from its current level of
evoked analogies with the
licence raj and prove how
lead to a dramatic expansion in India’s dig- “implications for millions who use UPI for
ital payments market. For all its success, their daily payments and could impact the
UPI is estimated to have around 100 mil- further adoption of UPI and the end goal
tors have dared. NPCI announced market that the UPI ecosystem would comprise of 80%, the slack is likely to be picked up by vexatious internet regulation in lion regular users, a minority of the more of financial inclusion,” said Sajith Sivan-
share caps on third-party UPI apps, the a combination of banks, local startups and WhatsApp Pay or even Amazon Pay, both India is becoming. Critics say the than 600 million internet users. What- andan, business head, Google Pay and
largest of which are owned by two large international platforms. But UPI has of which are American firms. 30% cap is arbitrary sApp, with its easy-to-use interface, Next Billion User initiatives, India.
American firms, Walmart and Google. largely been dominated by two third- NPCI is obviously thinking: Let’s get a spending power and, most importantly, its On a long-term basis, however,
NPCI also finally allowed WhatsApp Pay, party apps, Walmart-owned PhonePe and handle on the situation before any player large and sticky user base of more than PhonePe and Google Pay may come to
which had been barred from expanding its Google Pay, which together account for becomes too big because it’s much more Another potential problem with the 400 million, was expected to attract view the NPCI as a blessing. With both
pilot for nearly three years, to launch its roughly 80% of all UPI transactions and difficult to restrain them afterwards, 30% cap is that it may put off users, espe- hordes of new users to UPI, which would companies netting a share of about 40%,
service but to less than 5% of its users in are far bigger than Paytm, Amazon Pay according to Subramanya SV, co-founder cially if there are glitches in the execution turbocharge its growth. they will certainly lose some business. But
the country for now. and others in the fray. Apps by traditional and CEO of Fisdom, a wealth management of the cap. Mint learns that NPCI is still Unlike PhonePe and Google Pay, which given the wild popularity of WhatsApp
NPCI was evidently attempting a balan- banks as well as BHIM, which was startup. working out the final details of the imple- are pure payment apps that started from and the expected success of its payment
cing act—of meeting politicians’ desire to launched by NPCI in the wake of demone- “But on any platform like UPI, which mentation of the cap and consulting with scratch, WhatsApp offers its payment ser- service, the market share cap may end up
rein in the burgeoning presence of foreign tisation, have been walloped by PhonePe has standardized protocols, the critical payment companies and banks. It cur- vice as a feature within its messaging app. putting a floor on the downside for the
players in the sensitive sector of financial and Google Pay. success factors are capital and managing rently favours restrictions on adding new The fact that many WhatsApp users log on PhonePe and Google Pay by curbing
services and reducing This chafes at NPCI’s scale of technology and data, which favour users if apps have exceeded the 30% cap, to the app dozens of WhatsApp’s market
systemic risk to UPI promoters, and more so Big Tech rather than startups or non-tech rather than putting limits on transactions times every day is likely share.
without demolishing its UPI has been dominated by at the government, companies. This is the dilemma for NPCI. by existing users. to provide a formidable Ever since WhatsApp piloted Meanwhile, PhonePe,
existing playing field, two third-party apps, which is leery of interna- On the one hand, UPI has resulted in mas- “The 30% cap is a throwback to the advantage to the mes- its payment service in early Google Pay and other
which has come about as tional platforms domi- sive adoption and value for customers and licence raj,” said a second fintech entre- saging app in its efforts digital payment compa-
a result of NPCI’s own Walmart-owned PhonePe nating an emerging has brought millions to online payments. preneur, who was privy to NPCI discus- to cross-sell its pay- 2018, many have predicted nies are attempting to
framework and policies. and Google Pay, which medium within financial On the other, UPI-like platforms favour sions on the restriction. “The restrictions ments service. Its inter- that it would lead to a wield more influence
In doing so, however, services, which is con- Big Tech at the expense of startups and will affect either existing UPI users or face has already wowed with NPCI. Last week,
NPCI has evoked analo- together account for roughly sidered an especially the banks,” he said. delay onboarding of new users. So it will users in the pilot. dramatic expansion in India’s NPCI announced that it
gies with licence raj era sensitive sector. In addi- Others said that applying a 30% cap affect customer experience in some form, For NPCI, however, had added 19 new share-
regulators and proved 80% of all UPI transactions tion, NPCI believes that doesn’t remove systemic risks to UPI. which could slow down UPI adoption, and the attraction of seeing digital payments market holders including
how vexatious internet the systemic risk to UPI “I don’t understand how a 30% cap will that’s ironically not something that NPCI rapid growth in new UPI PhonePe, Google Pay,
regulation in India is becoming. Critics say increases when so much of it is dominated solve the problem,” a veteran fintech wants.” users is overshadowed by the possibility Paytm Payments Bank and Amazon Pay,
that the 30% market share cap on third- by one or two third-party apps. entrepreneur said, on condition of ano- One recent regulatory change has that WhatsApp could rapidly establish selling 4.63% of its equity shares. Though
party apps is arbitrary and introduces To address these concerns, for at least nymity. “It’s not that much lower than already hit banks and payment apps on dominance. these companies presently have a much
operational distortions that will limit the two years, NPCI has been considering 40% (the rough market shares of PhonePe UPI. Last December, the government “When there are already concerns smaller stake than the banks, their rising
ability of UPI apps to expand and poten- capping the market share that a single and Google Pay each currently). Tomor- removed the merchant discount rate on about MNCs like PhonePe and Google Pay clout—and popularity with users—will
tially hurt customer experience on UPI— third-party UPI app can accumulate. Its row, if PhonePe or Google Pay goes down, UPI transactions, making it less lucrative having such a large share in UPI, NPCI present a regulatory headache for NPCI
and still leave UPI dominated by the resolve was strengthened after the Yes 30% of the system will still be gone. So for traditional banks to invest more in UPI. didn’t want to take the risk of allowing a for many years to come. In effect, the bat-
American third-party apps. Bank-PhonePe fiasco earlier this year. In how does putting a 30% restriction solve MDR was a processing fee charged by full WhatsApp launch,” a person familiar tle over who gets to process India’s pay-
They also question how will a 30% cap, March, PhonePe, which had partnered for systemic risk?” banks to merchants, an important source with NPCI’s thinking said. “WhatsApp can ments may have only just begun.

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 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI 11
MINT M NEY
The pros and cons MINT50 SCHEMES TO INVEST IN
We have hand-picked 50 mutual funds for your portfolio that have jumped through hoops of good returns, low risk,
good portfolio hygiene and our own qualitative research. We have restricted the choice universe to 16 categories out

of target bond ETFs

of the total 32 and given you at least three options to pick from each. In equity, stay with your risk appetite. Match
your investment horizon to the debt fund category you pick. Pick eight to 10 schemes and revisit them every year

3-year return 5-year return 10-year return Corpus Expense

E Q U I T Y (%) (%) (%) (₹ cr) ratio (%)
LARGE-CAP (CORE)
HDFC Top 100 1.81 8.22 8.46 15,922 2.03
ICICI Prudential Bluechip 5.06 10.15 11.07 23,486 1.72
Find out if investing in target maturity bond ETFs works for you Mirae Asset Large Cap 6.68 12.39 13.19 18,999 1.67
Nippon India Large Cap 1.59 7.76 10.05 9,677 1.87
NIFTY 100 TRI 7.86 11.56 10.08
Neil Borate
neil.b@livemint.com Performance matrix Category average 5.60 9.46 9.97

Interest rate cuts have fuelled the returns LARGE-AND-MID-CAP (CORE)

O
n 4 December 2019, of the older Bharat Bond ETFs, though
Invesco India Growth Opportunities 6.25 11.15 11.19 3,018 1.96
the Union cabinet yields are lower.
2.34 1.67 What the Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip 9.02 16.20 19.70 11,929 1.77
gave its approval to
Return (in %) 10.82 12.93 two new Principal Emerging Bluechip 4.18 12.73 14.11 2,120 2.09
the launch of the Bha- Bharat Bond
rat Bond Exchange- NIFTY LARGEMIDCAP 250 INDEX TRI 5.68 11.88 11.24
ETF NFOs
Traded Fund (ETF). Two such ETFs mean for Category average 3.76 10.06 11.09
were launched later that month, 6.56 6.58 subscribers
maturing in 2023 and 2030, respec- 5.32 bit.ly/2VpOt05 MULTI-CAP (CORE)
Yield (in %) 4.49
tively. A year later, there are four Aditya Birla Sun Life Equity 5.07 11.76 11.54 10,980 1.91
Bharat Bond ETFs and various Kotak Standard Multicap 6.11 11.49 12.49 29,807 1.64
mutual funds have launched their Parag Parikh Long Term Equity 13.84 14.13 NA 5,008 2.06
own versions such as the Nippon NIFTY 500 TRI 6.20 11.22 9.90
CPSE Plus SDL ETF 2024 in Novem- Launch Dec Jul Dec Jul
Category average 4.49 9.62 10.84
2019 2020 2019 2020
ber 2020. The assets under manage-
ment (AUM) of the Bharat Bond ETFs MID-CAP (CORE)
Maturity date 2023 2025 2030 2031
have reached almost ₹30,000 crore. DSP Midcap 7.25 13.22 14.15 8,407 1.85
In this piece we look at the concept Data as on 27 Nov 2020
Source: Value Research, BharatBond.in Kotak Emerging Equity 5.34 12.30 14.09 7,668 1.82
of a target maturity bond ETF and
L&T Midcap Fund 1.33 11.06 13.40 5,776 1.92
who it works for. A target maturity
bond ETF expires at a given target NIFTY MIDCAP 150 INDEX TRI 3.35 11.91 12.19
date and holds bonds of maturities Category average 3.46 9.96 13.24
that are aligned with its own tenure.
SMALL-CAP (SATELLITE)
WHAT IS THE PRODUCT? Axis Small Cap Fund - Growth 10.01 13.47 NA 2,984 1.97
Bharat Bond ETFs are passively man- Nippon India Small Cap 1.57 11.39 16.73 9,392 1.99
aged debt funds with extremely low have a target maturity. In case of ally invest in slightly riskier compa- SBI Small Cap 4.80 15.45 18.71 5,424 1.88
expense ratios (capped at 0.0005%). Motilal ETF, the attempt is to main- nies to generate the higher yield. “I NIFTY SMALLCAP 250 INDEX TRI -5.66 5.73 8.04
They buy AAA-rated bonds of public tain a constant maturity of five years. recommend banking and PSU debt Category average 0.14 9.81 13.48
sector units (PSU) with a maturity funds which are similar in risk profile
corresponding to their term and hold THE FLIP SIDE to the Bharat Bond ETFs. They have VALUE/CONTRA (SATELLITE)
them till maturity. Thus, investors On the flip side, the Bharat Bond higher expense ratios, but their Invesco India Contra 6.78 12.61 12.96 5,027 1.85
holding these ETFs to maturity end ETFs are so far restricted to debt yields are also higher,” said Viral
L&T India Value 0.99 9.07 12.84 6,197 1.90
up with a return very close to the from PSUs and, hence, have lower Bhatt, founder, Money Mantra, a
Tata Equity PE 2.05 11.15 11.82 4,427 1.95
yield of the ETF. yields than debt funds which invest Mumbai-based mutual fund distri-
For investors who do not have in corporate debt. They are also bution firm. NIFTY 500 TRI 6.20 11.22 9.90
demat and trading accounts needed marked-to-market and, thus, anyone Several actively managed open- Category average 1.93 8.93 10.88
to buy the ETFs, there are fund-of- who is unable to hold to maturity can ended funds, including banking and
funds (FoFs) investing in the ETFs. see sharp price movements on PSU debt funds have embraced the FOCUSED (SATELLITE)
FoFs are those funds that invest in account of change in interest rates. “roll down” strategy. This essentially Axis Focused 25 Fund 10.67 14.78 NA 11,895 2.01
other funds or ETFs. These FoFs can The largest downside with these means holding bonds till the target SBI Focused Equity 8.63 12.63 15.01 10,620 1.83
be purchased and redeemed from ETFs at present is their low yields (see maturity date (read bit.ly/3qeyhNi). Motilal Oswal Focused 25 Fund - Growth 8.42 11.27 NA 1,340 2.22
the fund house, just like any other graph), which is an out- This makes them simi- NIFTY 500 TRI 6.20 11.22 9.90
ordinary mutual fund. come of the Reserve Being able to hold lar to Bharat Bond ETFs Category average 5.12 10.08 10.08
+ Bank of India’s (RBI) target maturity in structure, except that
WHO DOES IT WORK FOR? rate cuts. Having bond ETFs till the they do not terminate ELSS (CORE)
The Bharat Bond ETFs are posi- aggressively cut interest end of the tenure and pay out investors Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 3.77 9.98 11.18 11,158 1.89
tioned well to attract fixed deposit rates post the covid-19 when the target date
is an important IDFC Tax Advantage 1.93 9.72 11.42 2,235 2.08
(FD) investors willing to take on a lit- pandemic, RBI looks matures. Instead they
tle more risk, for the benefit of a unlikely to cut rates fur- part of following simply build a new port- Invesco India Tax Plan 7.00 11.07 12.68 1,154 2.14
higher yield and lower tax rate. The ther, however. Persist- this strategy folio with a new target Tata India Tax Savings 4.23 10.77 NA 2,117 2.07
tax advantage comes because debt ently high inflation date. Investors need to NIFTY 500 TRI 6.20 11.22 9.90
funds held for a longer tenor than above 6% since April redeem their units in Category average 3.68 9.21 10.91
three years are taxed at 20% and get 2020 is a major factor staying the such funds on their own on the target
the benefit of indexation as well. FD central bank’s hand. date. H Y B R I D
interest rate, however, is taxable at “We are not taking a call on inter- Bhatt also recommended invest- AGGRESSIVE HYBRID (CORE)
the investor’s marginal slab rate, est rates here. The beauty of Bharat ing in schemes of different maturities Canara Robeco Equity Hybrid 9.44 10.82 12.15 3,567 1.99
which can go as high as 42.7%, Bond ETF is that the indicative yield in order to deal with the possibility of DSP Equity & Bond 7.33 10.80 10.59 5,587 1.90
including surcharge and cess. you see is the yield you get when the higher rates in the future. The SBI Equity Hybrid 7.27 10.11 11.56 31,773 1.68
In addition, as interest rates fall, product matures,” said Radhika maturity should correspond to your
CRISIL HYBRID 35+65 - AGGRESSIVE INDEX 9.19 11.39 9.97
expense ratios matter more in debt Gupta, chief executive officer, Edel- financial goals, he said.
mutual funds. For instance a 0.3% weiss Mutual Fund, which manages Investors who do not wish to take Category average 4.14 8.36 9.78
expense ratio makes a bigger differ- the Bharat Bond ETFs. on credit risks and/or higher costs of
ence to a debt fund with a 5% yield actively-managed debt funds will CONSERVATIVE HYBRID (SATELLITE)
than one with a 10% yield. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? find Bharat Bond ETFs more geared Canara Robeco Conservative Hybrid 8.44 8.05 8.78 297 1.97
Also, government bond ETFs, Some distributors still prefer actively towards their needs. Being able to BNP Paribas Conservative 5.82 7.37 8.37 283 2.18
such as the recently launched Motilal managed funds, noting their higher hold the ETF to maturity is an impor- IDFC Regular Savings Fund 5.42 7.15 8.48 173 2.27
Oswal five-year G-sec ETF, do not portfolio yields. Such debt funds usu- tant part of following this strategy. CRISIL HYBRID 85+15 - CONSERVATIVE INDEX 9.52 9.94 9.28
Category average 4.86 7.02 8.26

#
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Franklin India Feeder - Franklin U.S. Opp. 25.38 17.80 NA 2,282 1.61
ICICI Prudential Global Stable Equity 8.08 7.39 NA 83 1.29

Always compare a fund’s performance with ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity

S&P 500 INTL. TOTAL RETURN NET INDEX
19.44
na
15.39
na
NA
na
834 2.53

Category average 10.55 10.47 7.15

that of the benchmark index and its peers D E B T

1-year return
(%)
3-year return
(%)
5-year return
(%)
Corpus
(₹ cr)
Expense
ratio (%)
SHORT DURATION (CORE)
ISTOCKPHOTO
Srikanth Meenakshi The next factor to consider IDFC Bond Fund - Short Term 9.64 8.52 8.15 13,210 0.80
is the fund’s strategy. Some L&T Short Term Bond 9.57 8.40 8.03 4,208 0.75
I am 35 years old and have market cycles favour a particu- SBI Short Term Debt 9.55 8.26 8.20 19,097 0.84
at least a 10-year horizon lar strategy over others. The CRISIL SHORT TERM BOND FUND INDEX 10.36 8.76 8.55
for mutual fund invest- third factor is that perform- Category average 9.82 7.83 7.89
ments. I have been invest- ance also depends on when
ing ₹1,000 every week in you entered a fund or at what CORPORATE BOND (CORE)
Axis Long Term Equity points you invested. Investing Aditya Birla Sun Life Corporate Bond 11.84 9.34 9.09 23,395 0.44
Fund since two years and through an SIP during a rally- ICICI Prudential Corporate Bond 10.54 8.74 8.59 18,906 0.59
recently started investing ing market like 2017 sends Kotak Corporate Bond 9.63 8.87 8.60 7,286 0.62
₹1,000 each in HDFC Gold average costs up. When you’re
CRISIL CORPORATE BOND COMPOSITE INDEX 12.35 9.05 9.27
Fund and SBI Small Cap greeted with a steep market
Category average 10.61 8.81 8.61
fund as well. I am planning fall or a prolonged bearish
to start a similar weekly market as we saw early this
1-month 3-month 1-year return Corpus Expense
systematic investment plan year and for much of 2018- LIQUID (FACILITATOR) return (%) return (%) (%) (₹ cr) ratio (%)
(SIP) in Franklin Feeder US 2019, your returns will look DSP Liquidity* 0.26 0.79 4.35 10,556 0.23
Opportunities for interna- poor.
IDFC Cash* 0.26 0.79 4.21 10,190 0.20
tional exposure. Please ASK MINT What other parameters Therefore, always see per-
advise if these four funds m MUTUAL FUNDS should I check to deter- formance in comparison to the Kotak Liquid* 0.27 0.80 4.33 28419 0.30
would be a well-diversified mine if I should exit any of benchmark index and peers, CRISIL LIQUID FUND INDEX 0.31 0.96 4.82
set of funds for the long the funds? and understand the fund’s Category average 0.27 0.81 4.39
term. returns. Therefore, it cannot —Anish strategy. When a fund lags
—Nimesh play the same role that debt When you look at your index and peers for three or ULTRA-SHORT (FACILITATOR)
Please note that Axis Long does in a portfolio and cannot fund’s return, it needs context. more quarters and by a signifi- Kotak Savings 0.37 1.13 6.03 13,539 0.76
Term Equity is a tax-saving substitute debt. This context is the market cant margin of more than 3 L&T Ultra Short Term 0.32 0.95 5.71 3,055 0.39
fund and each investment will As and when you can itself and what other funds in percentage points, it is under- SBI Magnum Ultra Short Duration 0.35 1.14 6.11 14,207 0.49
be locked in for three years. increase your investment the same category are doing. performing. In such cases, stop CRISIL ULTRA SHORT TERM DEBT INDEX 0.44 1.29 6.30
The fund itself is a quality and amount, add debt funds such While your fund may be in SIPs but watch performance. If Category average 0.39 1.21 5.78
steady one to hold. The other as corporate bond funds, losses, this could be because there is no improvement in the
funds where you have SIPs are short-duration funds or bank- markets are going through a succeeding quarters— which
LOW DURATION (FACILITATOR)
also fine. You can continue ing and PSU debt funds to your corrective phase. If the mar- means the fund has not closed
SIPs in all your funds, as well as portfolio. ket’s fall is worse than your the gap by which it trails the Canara Robeco Savings 0.44 1.32 6.53 1,324 0.55
the US fund you have picked. funds’ fall, then it indicates index and peers—and it’s strat- IDFC Low Duration 0.48 1.40 7.06 7,175 0.51
With HDFC Gold, note that I had invested in five funds that your fund has in reality egy is such that recovery is still SBI Magnum Low Duration 0.46 1.41 6.82 12,452 1.10
gold acts as a hedge against three years back. Three managed better than the mar- a way off, you can choose to CRISIL LOW DURATION DEBT INDEX 0.60 1.69 7.61
equity; it rises when there is a have given me negative ket. Again, your fund holds exit the fund. Category average 0.53 1.59 7.34
risk-off scenario in global returns of 6-10%. It is gen- good if peer funds have seen Srikanth Meenakshi is
Returns as on 27 November 2020; *Returns as on 30 November 2020; Corpus and expense ratio as on September-end 2020; #For satellite portfolio; NA: Not applicable because the
equity markets which pushes erally advised that inves- worse performance than your co-founder, PrimeInvestor.in. fund has not completed the requisite period; na: Data was not available; Growth option in regular plans has been used; Data up to 31 March 2019 considered for evaluation;
equity returns down. Gold can tors should not worry own fund. The same holds true Queries and views at mint- Opp: Opportunities; INTL: International
spend years delivering low about short-term returns. during rising markets. money@livemint.com Data and analysis from Quantix by CRISIL Research Compiled by Sunita Abraham

X
 12 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI

V EWS
OUR VIEW THEIR VIEW
REUTERS

The language of lockdowns and

challenges of policy articulation
We could reduce the risks of lockdown semantics by avoiding a reductionist discourse on covid-19

a restaurant where the menu asks how
salty, on a scale of 0-10, you want your
food to be. Chaos will ensue, with some
customers who ordered a seven com-
plaining that they received a salty des-
sert, and others who asked for a zero
grumbling about their bland pizza.
Tragically, this situation has parallels
in the real world of pandemic manage-
KAUSHIK BASU ment, where policy has various dimen-
is professor of economics at Cornell sions. For example, governments can
possible. The problem with this policy
became evident after a week or two. The
authorities had made no provision for
the country’s poor migrant workers
who, stranded in urban centres without
work or pay, had no choice but to walk
hundreds of miles back to their homes,
mostly in the countryside. So, although
India’s cities, towns, and economy were
locked down, the opposite was true of
23-40 million migrant workers. This

Why we should nuance

University lock down bars while keeping schools
open, or ask people who do not wear
face masks to remain at home while
allowing those who do to go outside.
They can also insist on social distancing
misstep is now showing up in statistics.
India’s number of daily covid cases rose
without interruption for six months, a
trend seen in very few places. India’s
CMR of 99 is now the highest among

our approach to China O

ur recent experience with covid
and the word “lockdown” once
again illustrates the power of
language to influence our lives and
for vulnerable populations while impos-
ing fewer restrictions on those with
immunity to covid. To ignore these
choices when designing interventions is
South and East Asian countries, largely
because the “lockdown” actually
unlocked the coronavirus and scattered
it nationwide.
well-being. The infinite variety of real- to court disaster. But instead of lamenting the past, we
ity, and the finite number of words and That said, one big pattern that has need to move on. At least until a safe,
The Centre’s inclusion of Huawei representatives in discussions on India’s 5G rollout plan phrases we have to describe it, creates not received enough attention is the effective covid vaccine becomes availa-
an inescapable philosophical challenge geography of covid. The difference ble, all countries need different forms of
hints at a softer stance on Chinese participation. This is pragmatic. Let’s go by self-interest to articulating policy. Adding to the between the Americas and Europe, on tailored, limited lockdowns and rules of
challenge is our tendency to regard a one hand, and Africa, Asia and Oceania, behaviour. And as far as possible, this
person’s usage of certain words as a on the other, in terms of cases and should be implemented through per-
signal of political ideology. deaths is too great to be attributed to suasion and leadership rather than by

E
ven as Indian and Chinese forces stay
eyeball-to-eyeball across the Line of
Actual Control in the Himalayas, a
reassuring development in our rela-
tions is hard to miss. This week,
India’s department of telecom
announced the constitution of working groups
to lay out roadmaps for the use of 5G technol-
ogy in eight key sectors. For healthcare and
fintech, the panels are reported to include rep-
resentatives of Huawei, the Chinese telecom
equipment maker that has been in the eye of a
global storm—whipped up chiefly by the US—
+ over its alleged use of mechanisms that could
compromise a country’s security. America not
only banned Huawei’s telecom gear in its own
market, it has been pressuring other countries
to do likewise, in spite of the company’s seem-
ingly attractive 5G deals on offer for network
operators. By inviting Huawei to join official
went against Chinese exporters, though the In managing the pandemic, much of policy alone. For example, it would be police enforcement.
primary aim of this was to shield our manufac- the policy discussion has coalesced utterly disingenuous for Philippine Here is a suggestion. We have to begin
around lockdowns. But reducing the President Rodrigo Duterte to proclaim to rely on people who have already had
turers from global competition. On many of issue to a binary question (Should we the success of his pandemic policies by covid and are now immune. Instead of
those measures, a marked shift in New Delhi’s lock down or not?), or even a linear one comparing his country’s crude mortal- resorting to compulsion, we should
stance seems unlikely. In the trade arena, India (How much should we lock down?), ity rate (CMR)—the number of covid offer people with certified immunity
has opted to stay out of the Regional Compre- oversimplifies a complicated problem. deaths per million people—of 76 with attractive pay to take jobs that involve
The binary tendency has been promi- Spain’s CMR of 964. It would be equally physical human interaction and contact.
hensive Economic Partnership on apprehen- nent in US President Donald Trump’s fallacious to say that US policy has failed This will help to keep supply chains
sions that Beijing would dominate this pact, recent statements. At an Iowa campaign because America’s CMR is 827 while open and the overall economy running.
and there is no sign yet of a rethink on this rally shortly before the presidential elec- that of Vietnam, a much poorer country, Once governments take the lead, market
decision. But still, there seems enough scope tion, Trump claimed that, “The Biden is only 0.4. The geographic pattern is so forces will kick in and do the job. This
for enhancing bilateral ties in our self interest. plan will turn America into a prison state, marked that there has to be an explana- option is not risk-free. But it has huge
locking you down.” He also tweeted that, tion in terms of past illnesses and immu- potential, and economies that develop a
Globalization may have slowed over the past “Biden wants to lockdown our Country, nities, viral strains, ecology, or some functioning “immune labour market”
decade or so, but supply chains still straddle maybe for years. Crazy! There will be no other factor that we are yet to identify. can reap big benefits.
borders and Indian producers remain depend- lockdowns.” Trump’s brazen politiciza- To see the effect of policy, we need to With the US election over, there
ent on Chinese inputs in various sectors. Apart tion of the covid policy debate put left- make within-region comparisons. seems more flexibility in the lockdown
from telecom gear and active pharmaceutical wing groups on the defensive, because, The experience of India also demon- debate. Assuming that Trump, who has
unlike the president, they accepted the strates the risks of lockdown semantics. adamantly opposed any lockdown, does
ingredients for drugs, a large chunk of elec- science and usually favoured certain On 24 March, the Indian government not lock himself down in the White
tronic parts used here are shipped in from aspects of lockdowns. announced a “lockdown” that suppos- House beyond 20 January, the US
China. Automobiles on Indian streets also have To see why linearizing the lockdown edly was even more severe than those in response to covid is likely to be over-
Chinese components, while numerous other debate is equally problematic, consider Europe, often described as the strictest hauled. © 2020/PROJECT SYNDICATE

discussions of India’s 5G plans, the govern-
ment appears to have signalled that our eco-
nomic emergence need not be held hostage by
friction at the border. Unless a nasty surprise is
sprung upon us even in the business arena, this
pragmatic disposition could be widened to all
items of daily utility are imported from there.
Given their cost effectiveness, clamps on these
imports tend to push up our expenses and
work against the Indian economy. Also, while
our security concerns deserve investigation,
Chinese apps that pose no threat should be www.livemint.com New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh*, Pune* Friday, December 3, 2010 Vol.4 No.287 `3.00 32 PAGES

sectors where the gains of Chinese participa- allowed. Vibrant rivalry could catalyse domes- WSJ: ECB extends special
liquidity measures >27

There is no level
TELECOM: Pradip Baijal, Siddharth

tion are judged to outweigh the dangers. tic innovation. As for Huawei, if it can serve our EXCLUSIVE PARTNER
Behura to brief public accounts panel >4
CORPORATE: Blackstone may invest
around $100 million in Visa Power >3
TOBACCO: Cigarette, beedi makers
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QUICK EDIT that will save us from

Sebi probes LIC’s A degree
from joining 5G trials here, though our tele- then we should let it. Evidence of injury rather of comfort

com firms displayed an understandable reluc- than the place of origin ought to determine our
stock exchange deals
B Y A NIRUDH L ASKAR
anirudh.l@livemint.com
·························
MUMBAI

E ven as officials of the Life In-

surance Corp. of India (LIC)
are under investigation by gov-
ernment agencies for their role
in the bribes-for-loans scam that
rocked share markets in late No-
vember, the country’s largest fi-
bought or sold by LIC and if
there has been any irregularity in
the trading patterns of these
stocks,” said one of the two per-
sons. The other said the Sebi
probe is likely not related to in-
vestigation by the Central Bu-
reau of Investigation into the
bribes-for-loans scandal.
A Sebi spokesperson declined
comment on the issue. Respond-
F ood inflation in India
is, at 8.6%, the lowest
it has been in 18 months
(since May 2009); it is
also the first time in
four months that it has
ventured into single-digit
territory. The reduction
in the rate at which
corona, because
the problem is not
food prices have
been increasing
for the past two years

tance to engage it after this year’s military posture. We must also bear in mind that many
nancial institution has become
the target of a separate probe
D OMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN/IMF launched earlier this week by the
Securities and Exchange Board
ing to an email, an LIC spokes-
person said that he was not
aware of this probe.
One strand of the Sebi investi-
is being attributed
to more supplies.
Whatever the reason, it
will make the job of the
Indian central bank that

The risk in Asia is

of India (Sebi). gation will be on whether broker much easier. Managing
India’s capital markets regula- cartels pushed up the prices of growth, soaring asset
tor is taking a close look at large shares through circular trading prices, the inflow of

the levels set

secondary market share deals in- and then drew LIC into block foreign funds looking
volving LIC, which has equity in- deals at artificially high prices.

standoff. The government, after all, had Indian firms have business interests in China,
for higher returns, and

in growing too fast

vestments in more than 1,000
companies and a share portfolio
valued at `3.75 trillion as on 30
September.
Two persons with knowledge
of the investigation said that Sebi
B Y S ANJIV S HANKARAN
A SIT R ANJAN M ISHRA
&
mint INTERVIEW tions. It seems they are not effec-
tive as they should be. That is
has begun scrutinizing all bulk
and block deals done by the
························· something leaders of the Euro- state-run insurer in the past year
Information on block deals
and bulk deals are also used as
trading cues by other investors
and, hence, advance information
on such large deals could benefit
traders. Stock exchanges dissem-
inate information on all block
deals and bulk deals for the day
only at the end of trading hours.
inflation isn’t an easy job
and the Reserve Bank of
India has coped manfully
with the challenges.
With analysts expecting
food prices to stay at
the same level till
the end of March

responded to Beijing’s territorial misadven- some of which seem well placed to profit off its
(the end of India’s

by government, but
NEW DELHI is still wrong. The recovery is tak- pean Union are clearly aware of. on the Bombay Stock Exchange “Since all bulk and block fiscal year), the central

D ominique Strauss-
Kahn’s stint as manag-
ing director of the Inter-
national Monetary Fund (IMF)
has been marked by reforms
ing place at different levels. I still
don’t see decoupling, (except)
maybe in Europe. Europe is a bit
different partly because of the
debt crisis.
I think they have a clear view of
not only what is happening, but
also finding solutions.
Moving from Europe, IMF has con-
cluded most Asian currencies are
and the National Stock Ex-
change. Both persons requested
anonymity because of the sensi-
tive nature of the matter.
“The probe will primarily try
deal transactions are disclosed
on the exchanges, it can poten-
tially lead to an upward or down-
ward movement in shares, de-
pending on the background and
bank will have one less
variable to worry about.
Another variable could
still force its hand, but
going purely by food
within the organization in terms In Asia, what do you see as the risk undervalued relative to their medi- to find out whether there has the track record of the buyers. If inflation data, status
of a gradual increase in the im- factors? um-term fundamentals. been any price manipulation in quo seems in order.

ture by tightening curbs on inward invest- growth. In time, it could yet turn out that
portance of emerging markets in You mentioned it. The risk is Let us be candid; it starts with the stocks of the companies TURN TO PAGE 2®
the governing structure, and the growing too fast. It is a bit of an the renminbi in China and oth-
institution’s attempt to cope with irony to say that. In Asia, growth ers wanting to peg to renminbi

economic and debt crisis in de-
veloped markets. Strauss-Kahn,
now into his fourth year as MD of
IMF, spoke about these and oth-
er issues in an exclusive inter-
view during a routine visit to In-
above potential will create ten-
sions. You already see that on
the inflation side it will create
tension on the current account.
That’s the real problem. (But) It’s
a problem people would like to
is people mentality
for understandable reasons.
What happens in China has con-
sequences on many other coun-
tries. We believe there is sub-
stantial undervaluation. But you
are absolutely right. The main

ments from China, banning a wide swathe of Indian openness to commercial engagements
dia. Edited excerpts:
The Asian economy is growing al-
most twice as fast as the world’s
average, and simultaneously get-
have in other parts of the world.
Both are areas where India has had
problems. How do these affect the
country’s growth prospects?
Inflation is rather high, but
point is in China, (where there is
a) shift from export-led growth
model to domestic-led growth
model. The shift has been decid-
ed by the Chinese authorities

ting more integrated with the
globe. You have been sceptical
about the decoupling hypothesis.
Could you explain what is happen-
nevertheless, still under control.
I think the steps taken by the Re-
serve Bank of India are the cor-
rect one. The consequence on
and behaviour.
rightly, it is what the US Federal
Reserve was advocating for
years. It is not going to happen
overnight, it is a huge economy.

Chinese apps (over 200 at last count), and and a reciprocal Chinese policy combine to
ing here; is there some risk to
Asia’s growth that has not got
enough attention?
There are two concerns which
are big: the uncertainty in United
States and the situation in Eu-
rope. But the idea of decoupling
(that one part of the world can go
on, and remain almost unaffect-
current account is normal for
such a big expansion. So, the
problem is more of taking this
opportunity of high growth to
consolidate and that is what the
government has in mind. It is the
right time to have the deficit go-
ing down.
You were the French minister for
The logic of the shift is that it
goes a long way in revaluation of
the renminbi because it gives
household purchasing power. I
think, over time, we will see the
renminbi revaluating. I would
say it is more of the consequence
than cost of the policy.
You have said you want IMF to be

directing several state-run entities to exclude dial down geopolitical tensions. As the govern-
ed by near-catastrophic happen- finance in the late 1990s when the
ings in another) was wrong and euro was introduced. Europe needs
internal rebalancing. Given the
problems there, does Europe pose
a far greater policy challenge than
the US?
There are two points. The first
is the high level of debt, not only
an organization with more teeth,
perhaps an organization which
would do research with uncompro-
mising honesty to tell the world
where it stands. If you were to
take a brutally frank look at the $4
trillion of debt that is due to be re-
financed over the next two years,
what do you see?

DE PHI LOSOP HE R D J KYOS

for countries at the edge of the

suppliers from that country in their solicitation ment assures us, Indian armed forces are well
cliff like Greece and Ireland, but
even for the core countries (of
the European Union) where the
level of debt is higher than it
used to be before the crisis. The
issue is to reassure markets
about the commitment to go
back (on debt and spending). At
the same time, they (govern-
Well, first, the idea of having
teeth doesn’t mean I believe the
IMF should dictate. Now the
problem is not capital account,
the problem is current account,
and certainly our mandate needs
to be expanded.
Now on your question of refi-
nancing, I am not that much

of tenders. In some import-heavy fields, the equipped to defend the country. But we must
ments) have to take care of
growth. Immediately, there will
be tough measures that will kill
growth. It is a difficult trade-off.
Mint is also available for R5.50 with The second challenge has to
Hindustan Times under a combo offer do with the European institu-
worried. The main problem we
are facing is what seems the right
policy for one country for do-
mestic reasons may have large
TURN TO PAGE 2®

Centre also raised tariff barriers in moves that also guard all that’s good for our economy.

MY VIEW | BEHAVIOUR BY BRAIN

The behavioural barriers that covid vaccines must break

only increase in the next few weeks. The fact
BIJU DOMINIC that many of the vaccines developed have to
be taken in two doses adds to the problem.
As seen in the case of medication for tuber-
culosis and several other diseases, as the
number of doses goes up, the chance of the
as a separate segment, and each group needs densome behaviours against covid-19. The be easier to build group responsibility
to be managed differently. The majority of promise of a tangible and immediate benefit, towards the vaccination project than relying
our people are numerically ill-literate. So like not having to wear a mask, would be far on individual-level responsibility.
communication that cites medical facts, more persuasive than an intangible future One might assume that talking about the
numbers and percentages will not make for benefit, like protection from the virus. easy availability of vaccines might encour-
good persuasive communication. What Vaccination in most countries is seen as an age higher participation in a vaccination

W
e have reached a crucial stage in
covid pandemic management.
Multiple companies have devel-
oped a vaccine in record time. With several
innovations in supply-chain management,
all that is possible is being done to take the
vaccine to people around the world. But the
most critical question is, are people looking
whole course of medication being com-
pleted decreases proportionately. Ensuring
adherence to medical advice is a tough prob-
lem of human behaviour.
The pet solution suggested by many poli-
cymakers for all behavioural problems is to
develop awareness campaigns. While public
campaigns that talk about the benefits of a
could help break behavioural barriers and act that is done to protect children from dis- programme. Rather, this strategy might be
induce changes in behav- eases. In general, children counterproductive. Too much freedom will
iour are emotional appeals. are considered more vul- create a sense of complacency and raise the
Most people are now We should nerable to illness, and con- tendency to endlessly postpone the decision
highly fatigued, having cern for them tends to be to get vaccinated. It would be better to
adopted various new forms devise policies higher among households. announce a certain time period beyond
of behaviour in the last few So, while grown-ups may which vaccines will not be easily available, or
months. If getting vacci-
and campaigns be more likely to catch beyond which their prices will increase. This

is the chief evangelist, Fractal

forward to get vaccinated?
There will, of course, be a set of those who
Analytics and chairman,
FinalMile Consulting
will voluntarily get vaccinated without
much persuasion. However, a recent report
showed that, between July 2018 and May
2019, only 47% of adults in the US got a flu
shot. It is imperative that a far greater pro-
portion of people, globally, are willing to
take a covid vaccine for the world to achieve
much-needed mass immunity levels.
Achieving those numbers will not be easy.
Already, several ‘experts’ have appeared
on social media offering opinions of why a
covid vaccine is not required, questioning its
efficacy and, worse still, warning of vaccina-
tion side effects. This false propaganda will
vaccine, explain its procedure and allay any
fears of it will surely be a good starting point,
that will not be enough. Most human behav-
iour problems occur not because of lack of
awareness. They happen because of an
awareness-action gap. That is, awareness
not translating into action. Humans are not
always rational beings, as we consider them
to be. So just awareness alone will not be
enough to motivate people to walk to a
nearby health facility and get vaccinated.
Those who are not interested in getting
themselves vaccinated should not be seen as
a single homogenous group. There are dif-
ferent behavioural barriers in the way. Peo-
ple with each such barrier should be treated
nated is seen as yet another
new task to be done for the
that could covid, it might not be
advisable to focus a vacci-
‘limited offer’ feel will create the requisite
sense of urgency to get vaccinated. Studies
country to fight the pan-
demic, there is a likelihood
overcome any nation campaign on them.
Instead, communication
by Dan Ariely and Klaus Wertenbroch have
shown that externally imposed restrictions
that people will want to reluctance to should project a covid vac- are the best bet to minimize the tendency to
skip this onerous ordeal. cine as protection for the procrastinate. All countries around the
Instead, people should be get a covid jab entire family. This column world are accustomed to creating such tem-
commended for taking the had earlier suggested that poral and locational restrictions for their
necessary precautions and Community of Practice, a election processes. India did an excellent job
putting in so much effort to maintain a group of people who share a concern or a of this strategy during its Aadhaar-card
clean-slate during the pandemic. Vaccina- passion for something they do and who enrolment process.
tion should be positioned as an ideal culmi- interact regularly, are ideal targets for many Over the past few months, we have done
nation of their months of effort, as a finale of a behaviour change initiative. It will be a many things to curb the spread of the covid
sorts. The vaccine can be framed as a once- good idea to get the leaders of such groups to pandemic. But none might be more crucial
and-for-all substitute for the inconvenience take responsibility for getting everyone than the last-mile exercise of managing a
of wearing masks and adopting other bur- under their influence vaccinated. It would vaccination programme well.

X
 THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020
MUMBAI 13
V EWS
GUEST VIEW M I N T C U R AT O R

Premature membership of RCEP Democrats’ education agenda

appears aimed at the affluent
would not serve Indian interests The party’s focus on America’s college-educated marks a big shift

Joining this trade bloc will not help India unless structural constraints on its industrial competitiveness are first addressed

BLOOMBERG

RAMESH PONNURU
is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and
visiting fellow at the American Enterprise
Institute
T. V. NARENDRAN
is CEO & managing director, Tata Steel

A
s Joe Biden prepares to take office
as president, the Democratic Party
is pushing for an economic agenda

N
early a year after India’s decision to
pull out the 16-member Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partner-
ship (RCEP), the remaining 15
nations have finally inked the deal.
The mega trade pact involving
countries from the Asia-Pacific region, however,
has kept the door open for India to join from the
very date the agreement goes into force.
Following the signing of the mega trade pact by
15 nations, the jury in India is out once again, ana-
lysing the possible consequences for the country.
India has stayed out of the block, citing existing
trade deficits with China and 10 other RCEP
countries as a major reason. India was also peeved
because members of the bloc failed to address
its concerns of inadequate measures against
an insurge of cheap imports and its demand for
easier access to its members’ markets for services.
While the Indian government remains unmoved
despite continuous cajoling by RCEP nations, both
through formal and informal channels, some
experts are not impressed with India’s sustained
indifference towards joining the pact. In the past
two weeks, a series of opinion articles have
+ appeared in the national and international media
questioning India’s decision of not joining RCEP;
some of them even termed it a “historic blunder”.
No one should question India’s intention of sin-
cerely exploring ways to remain a part of RCEP.
The government gave it adequate thought before
arriving at this decision. India participated fully in
all RCEP negotiation rounds, including several
inter-session meetings, and hosted two rounds of
talks in India. On the domestic front, more than
100 stakeholder consultations were organized
across big and small cities, with the aim of arriving
at a better-informed negotiating stance. Most
industry leaders across business sectors, big and
small, as also farmer associations and civil society
organizations, were not in favour of India joining
the trade bloc. And, in the end, the offers on the
table remained unfavourable to India.
By joining RCEP, India would have further
risked a flood of cheap Chinese imports in sectors
like electronics, which India has been trying to res-
urrect almost from the ashes. India had tried and
failed to win substantial concessions in areas like
work visas for its information technology-enabled
services. Two of India’s proposals—an RCEP busi-
ness travel card and an RCEP service supplier
card—failed to find favour with a majority of the
bloc’s members.
Let me now turn to address some of the oft-re-
peated arguments made in favour of India signing
up. Firstly, RCEP would have provided an excellent
opportunity for Indian firms to get integrated with
regional value chains. This, no doubt, is a strong
reason to stay in such a large trading block. How-
ever, merely joining a trade bloc does not automati-
cally result in integration with global value chains.
The complex nature of global production networks
requires a lot of economic and trade policy reforms
on the domestic front.
The second important argument made is that
India would lose an opportunity to access RCEP’s
common market, touted as the world’s largest
trading bloc (even bigger than the European
Union). But this argument too doesn’t hold much
water if Indian producers are not competitive.
Competitiveness is driven by factors both within
and beyond the control of domestic industry. Eco-
system costs, for example, are not in India Inc’s
control. So it would be an over-simplification to
assume that Indian industry does not have the
capability or appetite to be competitive. Often,
global competitiveness inside factory gates gets
diluted by costs borne outside those gates.
Countries and companies often export products
on the principle of marginal costing, and hence
tend to sell at lower prices in export markets than
they do domestically, as only a small proportion of
their output is exported. Labelling a domestic pro-
ducer as ‘uncompetitive’ just because an exporter
from elsewhere is willing to sell at a lower price
on a marginal-cost basis, by which all it aims to
recover is the add-on expense of additional output,
amounts to ignoring some fundamental issues.
Also, economies of scale in countries like China,
where most manufacturers are 8-10 times in size
because of their vast domestic markets and dec-
ades of exports, work to the disadvantage of Indian
manufacturers that are only in their initial stages of
achieving global scale.
If one analyses India’s export data of the last two
decades, the trend seems to weigh against free
trade agreements (FTAs). India’s merchandise
exports grew at an annual rate of more than 18%
between 2000-01 and 2010-11, which was largely a
pre-FTA period. In this period, India activated
only two FTAs—with Sri Lanka and Singapore.
India joined the FTA bandwagon in a big way
from 2010 onwards. It operationalized big trade
agreements with the 10-nation Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, Korea,
and separately with Malaysia. However, despite
these deals, India could realize annual merchan-
dise export growth of only 2.5% between 2010-11
and 2019-20. This disappointing performance
shows that FTAs are no magic wand for exports.
The message, then, is loud and clear: Unless we
address the structural issues that impact Indian
competitiveness, our domestic industry will find it
difficult to leverage any FTA to its advantage.
While RCEP may theoretically offer India new
opportunities for exports and integration with
pan-Asian production networks, we have a lot of
work to do internally before we are in a position to
make the most of free-trade deals.
that reflects the priorities of its new coali-
tion: one that has more college degrees,
and higher incomes, than past ones.
Based on the latest estimates, Biden got
almost exactly the same percentage of
votes for president that Barack Obama got
in 2012. But the composition of the Demo-
cratic coalition changed. While a majority
of college graduates voted against Obama’s
re-election, Biden seems to have won a
majority. Biden also expanded Obama’s
majority among holders of postgraduate
degrees. The Democrats have moved
higher on the income scale, too. They had
a big majority among voters making less
than $50,000 a year in 2012, but a smaller
one this year. They made up for those
losses among higher-earners.
If Democrats were trying to cater to their
new supporters, they would seek to relieve
student-loan debt and expand tax breaks
for the upper middle class while shielding
all but the very highest-earning house-
holds from tax increases. That’s exactly
what they’re talking about right now.
While there is debate about just how
regressive it would be for the federal gov-
ernment to forgive hundreds of billions of
dollars in student-loan debts, it would
unquestionably benefit many Americans
with high lifetime incomes while excluding
a lot of people who cannot look forward to
earning as much.
In the tax law they enacted at the end of
2017, Republicans capped the deduction
for state and local taxes at $10,000—a
change they knew would mostly hurt afflu-
ent residents of high-tax jurisdictions
politically dominated by Democrats. Ever
since, Democrats have wanted to get rid of
the cap. The Tax Policy Center has esti-
mated that following that course would, on
average, raise after-tax income for the top
fifth of U.S. households by nearly 1% while
having no detectable effect on the bottom
three-fifths.
Biden would claw back some of these
gains by raising taxes. But he has repeat-
edly vowed that tax increases would affect
only those households making more than
$400,000 a ye ar, which is to say the top
1.8% of all households. Obama, by contrast,
used $250,000 as his dividing line. Even
after accounting for inflation, Biden would
exempt more affluent households. If Dem-
ocrats stuck with a static definition of “the
rich,” it would expose more and more of
their own voters to tax increases. So they
are defining it upward.
Relieving students of college loans has
been a recent Democrat aim BLOOMBERG
Democratic politicians will rarely defend
these policies on the ground that they are
trying to make upper-middle-class profes-
sionals happy. But these priorities are hard
to justify on any other basis. Senators
Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren say
that student-debt relief should be part of
the federal government’s response to the
covid-19 pandemic, and House Democrats
have sometimes tied the issues together.
But owing money on student loans isn’t a
good proxy for economic need, or for eco-
nomic harm related to the pandemic. Many
hospitality-industry workers who never
attended college have been hit harder than
doctors and lawyers with educational
debts. In September, the Pew Research
Center found, unsurprisingly, that people
with the most years of schooling are having
the least trouble paying their bills.
Relief from student debts isn’t a good
means of economic stimulus, either. Take
$10,000 off the debt someone owes over
the next 10 years, and he might well spend
more money now. Surely, though, his cur-
rent spending wouldn’t rise as much as if
he simply received a check for $10,000.
Even if you grant that we need fiscal stimu-
lus, the debt relief is too backloaded to
work well.
Ending limits on the deduction for state
and local taxes is even more obviously a sop
to Democratic constituencies. House Dem-
ocrats included this measure, too, in their
covid-relief legislation. If the virus and the
resulting economic distress had taken a
disproportionate toll on high earners in
Connecticut and Illinois, then maybe it
would make sense to target them for relief.
But it hasn’t, and it doesn’t.
Political parties don’t run purely on cyn-
icism. If Democratic politicians are becom-
ing more solicitous of the interests of upper
middle class degree-holders, it’s surely in
part because more and more of them are in
that group themselves, just like their
friends, neighbours and donors. So student
loans touch them in a way that, say, plant
closures don’t.
Republican politicians are noticing.
Since the election, a lot have started refer-
ring to their party as the home of the work-
ing class. Based on the data we have so far,
that’s an overstatement, but one that’s get-
ting truer all the time, thanks partly to the
Democrats’ agenda. © BLOOMBERG

MY VIEW | OTHER SPHERE

The questionable virtue of social sector collaborations

Social sector organisations have their own
ANURAG BEHAR notion of what is virtuous in their world. In
addition to the matter of purpose and effi-
cacy, their list includes resilience and con-
nectedness-to-the-ground. Internal democ-
racy is another such. But it is an interesting
them are offended. Because they believe
that I am denigrating a virtue, an axiomatic
good within this sector.
Numerous meetings, conferences and
conventions are held for further collabora-
tions in the social sector. In the deluge of
programme with some people from within
the department and from some civil society
organizations. This group could together
develop textbooks, and then train govern-
ment schoolteachers on these textbooks.
Unlike this true collaboration, a grant-mak-
take two examples. Collaborating with
another organization limits the develop-
ment of your own capacity on what the other
organization is strong in. While that may be
the very reason for entering a collaboration,
it is equally critical to assess whether that

V
irtues for individuals and axiomatic
goods in a society are quite familiar to
all of us. Honesty, empathy, fairness,
justice and more. We will not wade into this
philosophical territory, which is as tricky as
all others. The notion of such axiomatic
goods carries over into the world of organi-
zations. Clarity of purpose, being effective in
one because it is unattainable in any organi-
zation because of the very nature and con-
struct of organizations. Honest ones don’t
profess to be democracies, they want merely
to be participative and inclusive. But too
many seem to adopt a hypocritical pretence
of democracy and tout it as a virtue.
The most curious case is that of collabora-
enthusiasm for collaborations, the actual
dearth of real and effective
collaborations is ignored,
and the causes are brushed Collaboration
aside. The solace gained
from the idea of collabora- is often seen as
tion as a panacea seems to
have become more impor-
some sort of
ing organization giving financial support to
a non-governmental orga-
nization (NGO) is not col-
laboration. Similarly,
development work around
a factory by an NGO funded
by a business is not collabo-
ration, it is outsourcing of
capacity is so important to your long-term
goals that you must actually develop it
in-house and avoid it getting stunted by a
collaboration. Second, forging a collabora-
tion implies accommodation of various
kinds. The line between accommodation
and ‘mission drift’ is not very clear. Because
it is never a big bang, but a series of whim-

is CEO of Azim Premji

Foundation and also leads
sustainability initiatives for
Wipro Ltd.
achieving this purpose, and the capacity to
be effective are all axiomatic goods or virtues
in an organization. For brevity, I will now
only use ‘virtues’; the list of such organiza-
tional virtues is long.
Unlike for individuals and society, the list
of virtues for organizations changes over
time much faster. Being socially responsible
is prominently in this list today, and was not
so 30 years ago. Stability was there in the list
back then, and is no more. Innovation, speed
and openness are all considered virtues
today for business organizations. Rarely is
there complete agreement on all virtues.
Nevertheless, there is usually a dominant
consensus.
tion as a virtue. It should be obvious that col-
laboration in itself cannot be a virtue. But
this seems to be lost in the fog of wishful
thinking. The challenges of our socio-politi-
cal sphere are gravely intractable, the finan-
cial backers of these organizations are fickle,
and executing anything day after day for
years extremely hard. Perhaps this is why
collaboration seems to have become a
hoped-for panacea.
Every few days, I get an email from some-
one who wants to collaborate with our Foun-
dation. In almost all such cases, I am able to
respond quickly that such a collaboration
would not be useful for us. A few people
appreciate a fast and clear response. Many of
tant than any actual collab-
oration.
panacea but the
Collaborations can be
useful or useless, or irrele-
act of joining
vant, and in some cases hands in itself
they may even be problem-
atic. These sentiments means little
mark me as a collabora-
tion-sceptic nearing her-
esy. Let me list a few other issues associated
with consecrating collaboration as a virtue.
First, the meaning of the word ‘collabora-
tion’ has been overextended. Collaboration
is when two or more organizations genu-
inely work together. Let’s take an example.
A state department of education may start a
work. An NGO training a
village community to
develop their watershed is
not collaboration either.
But many such situations
are described as such in the
hope of catching the star-
dust of that virtue. In effect,
making the meaning of the
word so nebulous as to make it useless.
Second, too often, clear-headed assess-
ments of collaboration costs are drowned by
the desire to embrace this consecrated vir-
tue. This is true of basic costs such as invest-
ment of management energy, and even
more so of some deep long-term costs. Let’s
pers. Over time you realize, “Yeh kahaan aa
gaye hum, yunhi saath saath chalte.” Where
have we reached, together?
Third, collaborations are the hardest to
pull off where they are most desperately
needed. Collaborating to restore the forest-
rights of tribal communities is very hard,
much more so than joining hands for a water-
shed. It is to face and resist power that collab-
orations are most needed. Collaboration for
courage is more important than collabora-
tion for capacity, but far more capricious.
India wouldn’t be independent without
collaborations in civil society. We should use
that history, instead of becoming bhakts of
the gospel of collaboration.

X
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China orchestrated Galwan TWITTERVERSE

Valley clash, suggests US panel

Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
DHFL lenders file We are deepening
insolvency case The seven-month-long military standoff was the ‘most severe border crisis in decades’, the report noted energy cooperation
Lenders to DHFL have with US, Russia, UAE,
moved NCLT to initiate Saudi Arabia, Brazil and
personal insolvency Elizabeth Roche when India detected Chinese several other countries,
proceedings against the to develop energy corri-
elizabeth.r@livemint.com intrusions into Indian territory in
Wadhawans. See Page 3
NEW DELHI Ladakh and Sikkim. India quickly dors for mutual benefit.
brought in extra troops to match

Govt to position
IIFCL like CDB
India plans to reshape
IIFCL and position it as
an institution on the lines
of China Development
Bank. See Page 7
H-1B ruling offers
relief to IT firms
Tighter H-1B visa rules
will not come into effect
from 7 December after a
US court ruled against
two curbs. See Page 6
+ the LAC for decades, but since
Automation firms
bullish about 2021
Industry executives
expect manufacturing
sector in India to invest
heavily in automation
next year See Page 8
T
here is evidence to sug-
Govt orders gest that China planned
Wikipedia to
the clash with Indian
remove link
showing troops in Galwan Valley
wrong map of in Ladakh in June, which
Jammu and resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian
Kashmir
soldiers and an unspecified num-
bit.ly/3g2gyUL
ber of Chinese personnel, a US
panel has concluded in a new
report to the US Congress.
The US-China Economic and
Security Review Commission report,
submitted on 1 December, also
characterized the more-than-sev-
en-month-long India-China mili-
tary standoff along the Line of
Actual Control (LAC) as the “most
severe border crisis in decades”.
The commission was set up by the
US Congress in 2000 and man-
dated with monitoring and submit-
ting an annual report on the
national security implications of
trade and economic ties between
the US and China.
China and India had engaged in
“multiple physical clashes” along
President Xi Jinping assumed
power in 2012 the “two countries
have seen five major altercations
along their border”, said the report.
“Some evidence suggested the
Chinese government had planned
the incident, potentially including
the possibility of fatalities,” it said
the Chinese deployment with both
sides now having tens of thousands
of personnel in an eyeball-to-eye-
ball confrontation. Despite many
rounds of talks, the two countries
have been unable to agree on dis-
engagement and de-escalation at
several friction points along the
border in Ladakh. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
“The exact motivation behind @kiranshaw
the Chinese government’s provoc- Pfizer vaccine approved
ative behaviour on the LAC this for use next week in UK.
year remain unclear. The proxi- Pfizer has won the 100m
mate cause of the clash appeared to sprint. Who will win the
be India’s construction of a strate- marathon? Time will tell
gic access road to support troops when we get durability
stationed along the LAC. China has data!
Since President Xi Jinping assumed power the two nations have seen five major altercations along their border. PTI also built extensive infrastructure
along the LAC in recent years,” the
about the clash on 15 June, which China’s state-owned tabloid Global 1,000 PLA (People’s Liberation report said.
the report described as “a massive Times warned that India would suf- Army) soldiers, the week before the If China’s goal was “to acquire
physical brawl in the Galwan Val- fer a ‘devastating blow’ to its trade deadly skirmish,” the commission territory...(the Chinese govern-
ley”. and economic ties with China if it said in its report. In the aftermath ment) might deem the moves a suc-
“Several weeks of the clash, China cess”, the report said. “If Beijing
prior to the clash CONFLICT REPORT “asserted sover- intended to dissuade India from
defence minister eignty over the building infrastructure on its side
Wei (Fenghe) CHINA had planned SATELLITE images US should take steps entire Galwan Val- of the LAC or warn it against align- António Guterres
made a statement the clash with Indian show a large
troops, including Chinese buildup in
to counter China’s
efforts to subvert the
ley, a new claim ing with the US, however, ‘the Chi- @antonioguterres
encouraging Bei- scope of fatalities, and significant nese moves have been ineffective,
the valley, the week principles of the UN,
jing to ‘use fighting the commission said before the skirmish the panel suggested change to the ter- if not counterproductive’,” the Violence against
to promote stabil- ritorial status report said. The US should take women is a global chal-
ity’. Just over two quo”, it said. steps to counter China’s efforts to lenge that has been
weeks before the incident, in got ‘involved in the US-China The clash resulted in the first subvert the principles of the UN worsening. Let’s end
this violence during the
another potential indication of Chi- rivalry’. Satellite images depicted a deaths along the LAC since 1975. and its organs and prepare a report
nese leaders signaling their intent large Chinese buildup in the Gal- Tensions between India and China on Beijing’s actions to influence pandemic and beyond.
to escalate tensions, an editorial in wan Valley, including potentially have been running high since May votes of UN members, it suggested.

In an apparent first in Eye on solar power projects, ISA to showcase Cochin airport
India, Twitter labels Utpal Bhaskar
utpal.b@livemint.com
“The objective of this work-
shop is to spread awareness
makers in member- countries run Indian Oil Corp. Ltd
to promote the role of public (IOCL) being roped in to

tweet ‘manipulative’ NEW DELHI among ISA member- countries

of the benefits of solarization
and private sector financing in aggregate the petroleum fuel
sustainable development. demand of small island coun-

T
he International Solar of airports and encourage AAI intends to actively con- tries, thus bringing down their
Alliance (ISA) plans to them to go solar,” said ISA tribute to efforts to accelerate fuel import costs and helping
Saumya Tewari showcase Kerala’s director general Upendra solar deployment in ISA coun- with their energy security
saumya.t@livemint.com Cochin International Airport Tripathy. tries. The state-run body plans efforts.
NEW DELHI Ltd (CIAL), the world’s first With clean energy projects to develop airports in foreign ISA is also working on help-
such facility to run exclusively comprising more than a fifth of countries, espe- ing around 500

I
n an apparent first in India, on solar power, this month to its installed power capacity, cially in India’s The airport will be hospitals across
micro blogging platform global airport companies and India has been leveraging its neighbourhood, showcased to 47 least developed
Twitter on Wednesday civil aviation authorities to solar energy credentials to and has already around 50 CEOs countries and
flagged as “manipulated promote solar energy. This in build solar projects overseas. entered into of global airports small island
media” a tweet on the ongoing turn may help state-run Air- As many as 88 countries have agreements for nation run on
and aviation
farmer protests from the offi- ports Authority of India (AAI) signed the ISA framework preparing solar electricity, in
cial account of the ruling Bhar- land deals in ISA member Aerial view of the solar park at Cochin International Airport. This is agreement, while 70 ratified it. project reports authorities at ISA what may help
atiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) IT countries. the world’s first such facility to run exclusively on solar power. HT The meeting is also for developing meet on 16 Dec provide a shot in
cell head Amit Malviya. ISA, which has become a expected to be attended by airports at Kalay the arm for India’s
“The referenced tweet was significant foreign policy tool, for implementing India’s global aviation authorities, New Delhi-based envoys of in Myanmar and “vaccine diplo-
labelled based on our syn- hopes to persuade airports global electricity grid plan. including senior representa- ISA member countries, with a Palaly in Sri Lanka. macy”. Having 24x7 electricity
thetic and manipulated media BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya. around the world to follow India has been trying to bag tives of the International Civil likely declaration calling for India and France have front- supply is important for power-
policy,” said a Twitter spokes- Kochi’s example and go solar. solar power contracts in ISA Aviation Organization (ICAO), airports to go solar. ended attempts to set up ISA, ing cold storages, which will
person in an emailed response deceptive manner, or if it is It is helping state-run NTPC member-countries against the a UN body promoting cooper- Under its ‘Coalition for Sus- with France terming it as a store the coronavirus vaccine,
to Mint. likely to impact public safety Ltd secure solar projects in 47 backdrop of China’s Belt and ation among its 193 member- tainable Climate Action’ (ISA- “political project”. Its efforts and running computers for
Twitter started applying or cause harm. Such content is least developed and small Road initiative. nations, are expected to attend CSCA) initiative, ISA enables have helped project India’s inventory management and
labels to tweets first in the US, flagged if it meets the first cri- island nations and was Around 50 chief executives ISA’s SunMeet to be held on 16 strategic partnerships presence among its members. ventilators in the remote areas
where most famously, teria and removed if two or appointed the nodal agency of international airports and December. between investors and policy- A case in point is the state- of these countries.
US President Donald more criteria are met.
Trump’s tweets were repeat- The flagged tweet by Mal-
edly flagged as disinformation viya was posted in response to
of various kinds. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
Wednesday’s incident can who had tweeted a news
potentially be the first in what agency photograph showing a
could doubtless be a politically policeman wielding his baton
sensitive path for Twitter in against a protesting elderly
India invites UK’s Johnson as 2021 Republic Day chief guest
India. Previously, Facebook farmer in Delhi with a caption
India had been in in Hindi loosely Elizabeth Roche from the UK. nomic Partnership that clubs countries in vaccine develop-
the eye of a storm Twitter said it translated as “It is elizabeth.r@livemint.com Prime Minister Narendra together the 10 South-East ment and manufacturing”. The
over allegations labels tweets that a very sad photo. NEW DELHI Modi extended the invitation to Asian Nations with China, reference was to the Serum
that it selectively include media Our slogan was Johnson during a phone con- Japan, South Korea, Australia Institute of India striking a deal

B
applied content that have been Jai Jawan Jai ritish Prime Minister versation on 27 November, and New Zealand, analysts in with British pharma giant
standards to Kisan but today Boris Johnson is according to a person familiar India have argued for pacts AstraZeneca to manufacture a
deceptively
favour the ruling PM Modi’s arro- expected to be the chief with the development. with groupings vaccine devel-
altered or
BJP. gance made the guest at India’s 2021 Republic India and the UK are looking such as the EU If Boris Johnson oped by Oxford
Twitter said fabricated jawan stand Day celebrations. Should John- to recast bilateral ties given and Britain. accepts, this will University.
under a new pol- against the son accept the invitation, it will Britain’s exit from the Euro- Neither the be the fifth time a The Indian
icy launched in farmer.” be the fifth time that a leader pean Union (EU) next year. The British nor the leader from readout said Modi
February, it actively labels In response, Malviya shared from Britain will be the chief UK is seeking a trade and Indian readout on and Johnson
tweets that include media (vid- a video clip labelling it as “real- guest at the Republic Day investment agreement with the Modi-John-
Britain graces the
“reiterated their
eos, audio, and images) that ity”, which showed the police- event, which is considered an India that would help it forge an son conversation Republic Day desire to impart a
have been deceptively altered man’s baton not touching the honour reserved for countries economic partnership with had reference to celebrations quantum jump to
or fabricated, to promote shar- farmer. Fact-checking website with which India enjoys very Asia’s third-largest economy India, UK are looking to recast ties amid latter’s exit from the EU. the invitation. the India-UK part-
ing of authentic information Alt News reported that Malviya close ties or those that it consid- and cushion it from the seem- The Indian read- nership in the
on its platform. It red flags had tweeted a clipped video of ers a strategic partner. ingly inevitable prospect of a Johnson in his previous ava- an India-UK trade deal that out said that Modi and Johnson post-covid, post-Brexit era and
content posted on its platform the incident suggesting that Then-Prime Minister John hard “Brexit” or severance of tar as British foreign secretary would be ready for signature had “exchanged thoughts agreed that there was tremen-
on three criteria: if it is signifi- the elderly farmer wasn’t hit. Major was the chief guest at the ties from the EU. The EU now in the government led by then with the UK’s exit from the EU. about the challenges posed by dous potential for enhancing
cantly and deceptively altered Anuja and Gyan Varma con- event in 1993, the last time accounts for 47% of UK’s total British Prime Minister Theresa With India sitting out of the covid-19 and reviewed the collaboration in trade, scien-
or fabricated, if it is shared in a tributed to this story India had invited a dignitary trade. May had campaigned hard for Regional Comprehensive Eco- cooperation between the two tific research, defence ”.