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MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE* VOL. 3 NO. 183

THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020

LIVEMINT.COM

SENSEX NIFTY DOLLAR EURO GOLD OIL

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mint primer
QUICK EDIT
Cryptocurrency Education
poses a threat to overhaul
govt’s monopoly After a gap of 34 years, India’s
education policy is set to get a
major makeover. On Wednes-
BY KARAN BHASIN day, the cabinet approved a
New Education Policy. With
There has been growing interest in cryptocurrencies since Bitcoin
captured the imagination of people. With Facebook creating its own vast changes planned, its adop-
cryptocurrency, governments are watching this development as it tion could result in a significant
threatens their monopoly over issuing money. Mint takes a deep dive. transformation of India’s edu-
cation system. As reported, it
Crypto craze aims to universalize education
Investors’ interest in cryptocurrencies sparked the rapid increase in Bitcoin's value gradually, introduce a new cur-
and stability in the last couple of years. The data shows stable growth in Bitcoin's ricular and pedagogical struc-
price over the last year, making it a reliable store of value. ture, offer students a better
12000 range of subjects, promote
Bitcoin Closing Value (in US $) 10,971.45
11000
regional languages and
improve governance. At higher
10000 levels, the new policy may even
9,630.66
open the field up to foreign uni-
9000
versities of repute.
8000
If implemented well, it could
address many of the ills that
7000 Indian education suffers from,
and create a foundation for an
6000
1 Aug 2019 28 Jul 2020 economy that must adapt to the
Source: Yahoo Finance information age. Yet, its success
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT
will lie in its finer details. How
How do you define How are they different clearly the policy lays down
1 cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies are e-currencies
2 from actual currency?
Unlike cryptocurrencies, an actual
specific objectives and the
means to achieve them will
that are based on decentralized currency is issued by the determine the level of support
technology and operate on a government. That is, the money is it gets. This is crucial, given that
distributed public ledger called the created or printed by the suspicions within academia of a
blockchain. Blockchain records all government which has a particular ideological inclina-
transactions updated and held by monopoly in terms of issuing tion seem to have trailed the
currency holders. The technology currency. Central banks across the
project for half a decade. It must
allows people to make payments world issue paper notes and
and store money digitally without therefore create money and assign pass the test of acceptability
having to use their names or a paper notes their value. Money across a diverse cross-section of
financial intermediary such as created through this process India. Like our Constitution, its
banks. Cryptocurrency units such derives its value via government neutrality must speak for itself.
as Bitcoin are created through a fiat, which is why the paper
‘mining’ process which involves currency is also called fiat
using a computer to solve currency. In the case of
numerical problems that generate cryptocurrencies, the process of
coins. Bitcoin was one of the first
cryptocurrencies to be launched
creating the currency is not
monopolized as anyone can create
MINT METRIC
and was created in 2009. it through the mining process. by Bibek Debroy
BLOOMBERG

This is more than levity.

3 How do cryptocurrencies
derive their value?
Any currency has its value if it can be
For micro and lunar gravity,
exchanged for goods or services and if it is
Challenge of a lunar loo,
a store of value (it can maintain purchasing Prize for a design breakthrough,
power over time). Cryptocurrencies, in
contrast to fiat currencies, derive their
A posterior poser for posterity.
value from exchanges. The extent of
involvement of the community in terms of
demand and supply of cryptocurrencies
helps determine their value. QUOTE OF THE DAY
People have more ways to
4 What is behind the
cryptocurrency ban?
While some governments have
5 Will the govt control of
money end as a result?
The present structure of the global
search for information than
recognized the potential of the financial system puts central banks
ever before—and increasingly
technology underlying at its center, making them an this is happening outside the
cryptocurrencies, most remain integral part of economies. This
sceptical and several have banned happens through the sovereign’s
context of only a search engine.
them. Regulators fear that Bitcoin monopoly on issuing fiat currency.
and the others could be used to With Facebook announcing
circumvent capital controls or project Libra, discussions are on to
launder money. Moreover, they find potential ways to regulate its
can be used for illegal purchases or adoption. Governments, central SUNDAR PICHAI
for other criminal activity. Several banks are unlikely to let go of the CHIEF EXECUTIVE
regulators have discussed their state’s monopoly to issue currency OFFICER, GOOGLE
systemic concerns—they could while they use regulation to ban or
destabilize or undermine the discourage cryptocurrency use.
control of central banks on their Karan Bhasin is a New Delhi-based
respective economies. policy researcher.

m MINT SHORT

Bezos’s net worth soared by $63.6 bn this year

MINT
Bloomberg Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
feedback@livemint.com Another CEO set to testify, Mark
Zuckerberg of Facebook Inc., has grown

T
he message from Jeff Bezos: Big
Tech’s not so powerful. The mes-
sage from is his personal fortune:
Oh yes it is.
As Bezos and three other technology
magnates prepare to defend their busi-
nesses at a Congressional hearing on
antitrust worries Wednesday, their fast-
growing wealth provides a breathtaking
measure of their companies’ economic
might. The Amazon.com Inc. founder
has seen his net worth soar by $63.6 bil-
On one day this month, the Amazon
founder’s net worth leaped by $13 bn.
lion this year. On one day this month, it
leaped an unprecedented $13 billion.
The world’s richest man is now on the
cusp of another record: a fortune
exceeding $200 billion, according to the
$9.1 billion richer this year, placing his
fortune within reach of the centibillion-
aire status already held by Bezos and Bill
Gates. The mind-boggling accumula-
tion of money underway in technology
is unrivaled in speed and scale. No other
group of executives has prospered to
such a degree. Indeed, the world’s rich-
est people are growing even richer, even
faster, as the coronavirus pandemic
upends the global economy and drives
ever more activity online.
Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

FLIP SIDE
T
U RA L E
O
Y SV
N E W m
Mint Lite
A daily wrap of news and views, opinions and talking points to start your day

AFTER THREE decades, India has a new education policy. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the new National Educa-
tion Policy (NEP). The aim is to increase spending on education to 6% of the gross domestic product, up from the current
3-4%. Among the other changes: the HRD ministry is now known as the education ministry, foreign universities can set up
India campuses, the MPhil course has been discontinued, and all higher educational institutions will have a single regulator.
For the rest of the national and world news, here’s Mint Lite.

SLUM CLUSTERS AT HIGH RISK?

DAYS AFTER a survey found about a quarter of Delhiites may
have covid-19, Mumbai officials said over half the residents of
slums are probably infected. About 57% of slum dwellers in
Mumbai have tested positive for antibodies to the coronavirus
in a serological survey of 7,000 people conducted by the
Mumbai corporation, NITI Aayog and Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research. In contrast, only 16% of those living
outside slums had been exposed to the virus, pointing to vast
social, economic and governance inequities. About 65% of
Mumbai’s 12 million live in slums, where physical distancing is
hard to follow. The civic body is reading the results as a positive
sign, saying the city is “inching towards herd immunity”. A few
days ago, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said “herd
immunity”, when enough people become resistant to a disease
to stop its spread, is a long way off for covid-19.

THE LIGHT SHINES ON BEZOS

A DAY after Jeff Bezos appears before a US congressional sub-
committee examining monopoly concerns, Amazon will
announce its second quarter results on Thursday. The world’s
biggest e-retailer is growing and gaining market share during
the pandemic as shoppers sheltering at home shift their
purchases online. Its already lucrative cloud business is also
growing. Amazon’s shares have risen 25% since 30 April, but
the company has warned that expenses for covid-19 testing and
other safety and staffing measures could outpace rising revenue
in the second quarter. Analysts now say these pandemic-related
expenses could touch $4 billion—the question is whether
investors will continue to prioritize growth over profit when the
results are declared. Amazon reported operating income of $3.1
billion in the second quarter of 2019, and forecast that quarterly
operating income could rise or fall by $1.5 billion this time.

CHINA’S INDIA ORE BINGE China’s iron imports from India

highest since 2012
CHINA’S PURCHASES of iron ore from India
touched an eight-year high in the first half of 2020 China’s H1 iron imports from India (in million tonnes)
despite the pandemic and rising tensions between the 27.8
two countries. Supply from China’s main sources,
Australia and Brazil, was disrupted due to the covid-19
outbreak, but China’s steel output continued at the 19 20
same pace this year. Shipments of the raw material
from India more than doubled to 20 million tonnes
between January and June this year compared to the 10
8 9
same period last year, according to China’s customs 7
data. It was also the highest since the first half of 2012, 5
when India exported 27.8 million tonnes. While 1
India’s exports are rising, it is still a fraction of China’s 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
total iron ore imports of 547.2 million tonnes in the
Source: General Administration of Customs, China; Bloomberg
first half of 2020, Bloomberg reports.
PARAS JAIN/MINT

ON ROAD TO REBUILD MOSUL

THE FIRST phase of a project to rebuild Mosul’s 12th century
Great Mosque of Al Nuri has been completed with the help of
300 Iraqi residents pitching in to remove mines and munitions,
collect historical artefacts, and classify and document them.
This is part of a $50.4 million restoration project financed by
the UAE and implemented by Unesco. The second phase, which
includes slowly rebuilding churches and heritage homes, will
begin at the end of 2020. Many buildings and artefacts in the
historic Iraqi city were destroyed between 2014 and 2017 when
IS held it. Statues in its museum were defaced and restorers say
it will be at least a decade before it can be reopened. Mosul
station, once a stop on the route of the famed Orient Express, is
also a rusting relic now. Mosul was the gateway to Turkey, and
to Europe. The last train passed through in 2010, before 80% of
the station was destroyed in a battle with IS.

IN CONGO: COVID, EBOLA

CORONAVIRUS AND Ebola are testing the limits of Congo’s
healthcare system. After two years, the country is witnessing a
renewed Ebola outbreak while it’s battling the pandemic.
Authorities have reported a sharp increase in Ebola infections
in the remote northern parts of the country, just a month after
they managed to contain an outbreak in the east. This year, so
far, more than 2,300 people have died of Ebola in Congo, Wall
Street Journal reports. The country of 88 million has registered
over 8,800 covid-19 cases, with 208 deaths. Testing is limited
and the real number of infections could be higher. Containing
this outbreak may be harder as the international community is
hesitant to deploy health workers, and donors and the
government are running out of cash. Ebola is far deadlier than
covid-19, killing around two-thirds of those it infects. Congo is
also battling measles—an outbreak has killed 6,000 since 2019.

Curated by Shalini Umachandran. Have something to share with us?

Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com or tweet to @shalinimb

PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz


MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE*
India overhauls
education policy C
Focus shifts to learning outcomes, vocational training
Prashant K. Nanda
prashant.n@livemint.com
NEW DELHI
I
ndia approved a new
National Education Policy
after 34 years, paving the
way for radical reforms,
including the introduction
of local languages as the
medium of instruction till class
V, initiation of vocational train-
ing and coding classes in school
and offering senior students
more choice in how they want
to pursue studies.
The policy, which was cleared
by the Union cabinet on
Wednesday, aims to promote
autonomy in the higher educa-
tion sector, and lays greater
emphasis on learning outcomes.
The policy has been designed to
benefit students, education pro-
viders and the labour market
through an emphasis on voca-
tional training.
Under the policy, multiple
higher education regulators,
including the University
Grants Commission, All Indian
Council of Technical Educa-
tion and National Council of
Teacher Education, will be
merged into a single regulator
to reduce the multiplicity of
Tractor output
suffers as curbs
hit parts supply
Amit Panday
amit.p@livemint.com
MUMBAI
S
poradic lockdowns in
automobile hubs such as
Aurangabad, Pune and
Bangalore in July have severely
disrupted production of trac-
tors, one of the few sectors that
have seen a spike in demand
post the coronavirus pan-
demic, senior industry execu-
tives said.
The farm equipment seg-
ment saw capacity utilization
recover swiftly to about
90-95% in June after the
nationwide lockdown was
lifted as an above-normal mon-
soon and higher crop acreage
generated demand, but much
of the gains have been lost in
TURN TO PAGE 9
Feud with China aids global firms
Prasid Banerjee
prasid.b@livemint.com
NEW DELHI
G
rowing anti-China sen-
timents in India and the
government ban on
Chinese apps seems to have
helped global companies more
than those from India.
According to app analytics
firm Sensor Tower, only one of
the top three apps that gained
from the ban on TikTok was
Indian—Roposo. The other two
were New York-based Dub-
smash and short-video app Zili,
which is owned by Chinese
smartphone maker Xiaomi.
The number of installations
of Zili app surged nearly three-
For short takes on the news
before you start your day,
follow our daily podcast Mint
Lite Morning Shot with
Shalini Umachandran on
htsmartcast.com
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THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
LIVEMINT.COM
m MINT GRAPHITI
A CLASS ACT
The new education policy aims to benefit students as well as the
larger labour market. A look at key provisions of the policy
BREAKING THE WALL BETWEEN ARTS AND SCIENCE
THE new education policy seeks to remove the distinction
between science and arts streams, allowing students more
flexibility in choosing subjects that they are interested in, and
gives equal weightage to curricular and extracurricular activities.
10+2 MODEL MAKES WAY
FOR 5+3+3+4 FORMULA
CHILDREN aged 3-8 will be in
the foundation stage (5 years);
those 8-11 will be part of the
preparatory school (3 years);
11-14 in middle school (3
years); and 14-18 in secondary
education (4 years)
regulations. The new policy
will also rename the human
resource development (HRD)
ministry as education ministry,
HRD minister Ramesh Pokhri-
yal said.
The policy will initiate the
Payment cos face mkt
share, transaction caps
Tarush Bhalla
tarush.b@livemint.com
BENGALURU
N
ational Payments Corp.
of India (NPCI) has
capped the number of
Unified Payments Interface
(UPI) transactions that pay-
ment apps such as Google Pay
and PhonePe and their partner
banks can execute, in attempt
to limit the damage to the pay-
ments ecosystem in case one of
their systems collapses, two
people directly aware of the
development said.
The decision on this was
taken earlier this month but the
rules on capping of market
share will apply retrospectively
from 1 April, the people said on
condition of anonymity.
NPCI first proposed the plan
to limit the number or value of
Samsung gained market share
in the smartphone space. MINT
fold in the three weeks follow-
ing the June-end ban on Tik-
Tok, rising to 8 million installs
from about 3 million in the
prior period. Installations of
Chinese Snack Video rose to a
FILLING THE BLANKS IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
THE multiple entry and exit
option under the new educa-
tion policy introduces an
academic credit bank that
allows professionals to return
to the education system and
pursue their studies from
where they left off.
phasing out of the affiliation
system at the university level,
making way for three catego-
ries of institutions—research-
focused universities, teaching-
TURN TO PAGE 11
The regulator’s move is
expected to hurt payment
apps such as Google Pay.
transactions in August last year.
It then said that payment apps
will hit the limit if they exceed
50% of all UPI transactions in
the first year of the implemen-
tation of the rules, 40% in the
second year and 33% from third
TURN TO PAGE 11
lifetime high of 23.5 million
downloads from India and
ranked No.1 on Apple’s App
Store in the week of 13 July.
Both Zili and Snack Video may
face bans in the future, accord-
ing to recent reports, but they
are fully operational in the
country right now.
A survey by influencer mar-
keting firm, Influencer.in,
found most of the country’s
influencers have been “leaning
towards” Facebook-owned
Instagram to distribute con-
tent. The firm noted that while
other platforms are being
explored, current data suggest
Instagram has “emerged a clear
TURN TO PAGE 11
Listen to Mint Evening
Market Wrap for Nasrin
Sultana’s detailed analysis of
the day’s news from Dalal
Street and other markets on
htsmartcast.com
VOL. 3 NO. 183
Unlock 3 offers little respite for biz
Lata Jha & Suneera Tandon
NEW DELHI
inemas, entertainment
parks and bars will con-
tinue to remain shut,
the government said on
Wednesday as part of its rules
for Unlock 3, opting for lives
over livelihood at the cost of
disappointing restless consum-
ers and businesses.
The notification spelling out
areas of continuing restrictions
comes as a blow to several
industries that are already
struggling after four months of
lockdown.
Re-opening dates will be
decided separately, based on the
assessment of the situation, the
home ministry said as it unveiled
a list of curtailments that include
all “social, political, sports,
Scale up MSME
lending: Modi
Shreya Nandi
shreya.n@livemint.com
NEW DELHI
P I
rime Minister Narendra
Modi met heads of top
private and public sector
banks and non-bank lenders
on Wednesday and urged
them to scale up lending to
TURN TO PAGE 11
Sebi breather
for brokers in
margin trading
Jayshree P Upadhyay
jayshree.pyasi@livemint.com
MUMBAI
T
he Securities and
Exchange Board of India
(Sebi) on Wednesday said
new rules designed to reduce
risks in margin trading will roll
out on 1 August as planned, but
the old system will run in paral-
lel till August-end, in a partial
relief for brokers who had pro-
tested against them.
DPA Brokers had made five repre-
sentations to the market regu-
lator and the finance ministry,
highlighting practical difficul-
ties in implementing the new
norms announced in February.
Earlier, a trader could utilize
his shares as margins by giving
a power of attorney (PoA) to his
TURN TO PAGE 9
Games, sops are
ways to motivate
staff in WFH age
Rashmi Menon
rashmi.m@livemint.com
MUMBAI
A
bout four months ago,
helping out a colleague
or going beyond the call
of duty only earned Sukrit
Sarkar, 24, a pat on the back.
Now, the associate product
manager at human resources
(HR) platform Springworks
earns points every time he does
something to help a team mem-
ber. Sarkar had the most points,
300, until another colleague
overtook him on the leader-
board last week.
Appreciation is fuel in any
organization, but while work-
ing from home, it’s often easy to
miss thanking that one team
member who goes the extra
TURN TO PAGE 11
FIRST BATCH OF RAFALE
JETS LANDS IN INDIA
A man rides past parked taxis during a lockdown in Kolkata on
Wednesday. Gyms have been allowed to reopen in Unlock 3.
entertainment, academic, cul-
tural, religious functions and
other large congregations”.
Metro rail, too, was kept shut.
The news came as a further
blow to the movie business that
has already suffered an esti-
Covid takes toll on bellwether firms
Deborshi Chaki &
Nasrin Sultana
MUMBAI
ndustry bellwethers Maruti
Suzuki India Ltd, IndiGo
and Bharti Airtel Ltd posted
sharply weaker fiscal first-
quarter earnings on Wednes-
day, highlighting the havoc
unleashed by the covid-19
pandemic on India Inc.
THURSDAY, 30 TH JULY 2020 | 5:45PM - 6:45PM
Yashish Dahiya
CEO & Co-Founder, PolicyBazaar.com
Vivek Sunder
COO, Swiggy
Shanthi Padmanabhan
VP, Customer Success, Salesforce India
www.livemint.com
Rs 6.00
uP14
AP
mated loss of around ₹1,000
crore in the first half of 2020,
compounded by zero revenue
for the first time in its history. A
large number of single screens
and independent properties
have shut shop, while the tem-
While the erosion in profits
and revenues in the June quar-
ter was not entirely unex-
pected, analysts warned poor
visibility on demand and dis-
ruptions to supply chains will
be a key concern for investors
in the near to medium term.
Maruti, the country’s top
carmaker, recorded its first
quarterly loss in 17 years. The
Suzuki Motor Corp. unit
reported a net loss of ₹249
START-UPS
will have to learn
to stay afloat
A playbook for growth in the
new normal. For Startups.
CEO WEBINAR
Upasana Taku
Co-Founder & COO, MobiKwik
GV Ravishankar
MD, Sequoia Capital India
Navneet Chahal
Partner, Bain & Company
mint.live
TIKTOK FACES FINAL US
SECURITY TEST THIS WEEK
porary closure of multiplexes
has deprived shopping malls of
nearly 30-40% footfalls.
India’s screen count of
around 6,327 single screens
and 3,200 multiplexes in 2019
is projected to come down
drastically due to the crisis.
“The film sector has been badly
hit over the past four-and-a-
half months, given that it was
one of the first to shut down
and evidently (will be) the last
to reopen,” Kamal Gianchan-
dani, director at the Multiplex
Association of India, said. The-
atre owners, hopeful of being
allowed to reopen this time,
had prepped cinemas with
safety and hygiene measures.
The guidelines also contin-
ued to impose restrictions on
TURN TO PAGE 11
crore in the three months to
June, from a year-earlier net
profit of ₹1,435 crore. Revenue
fell 80.37% year-on-year
(y-o-y) to ₹3,677.5 crore.
For InterGlobe Aviation
Ltd, which runs IndiGo, reve-
nue from operations dropped
91.9% y-o-y to ₹766.7 crore in
the June quarter, resulting in a
record net loss of ₹2,844.3
TURN TO PAGE 11
#PivotorPerish
livemint live_mint
16 PAGES
uP3
DON’T MISS
SPICEJET LOSSES
ALARM AUDITORS
Auditors of SpiceJet Ltd,
S.R. Batliboi & Associates,
have raised doubts over
its ability to carry on as a
going concern after it
posted a ₹807 cr loss. >P3
IT HIRING MAY
PICK UP IN Q3
Going against the trend,
hiring of software
professionals is expected
to gain momentum only
by Q3 as recruitments
have been deferred. >P6
RECOVERIES HIT
1 MN MILESTONE
Covid recoveries in India
crossed 1 million after
clocking over 30,000
recoveries per day for
the sixth consecutive
day on Wednesday. >P14
CARD PAYMENTS
GAIN CURRENCY
The pandemic has
prompted consumers
to move from cash to
card transactions, says
CRED co-founder and
CEO Kunal Shah. >P6
PIVOT BOOSTS
KODAK STOCK
Shares of Eastman Kodak
Co. have leapt 2,441%
this week after it won a
US govt loan to help
produce ingredients
used for covid drugs. >P3
livemint
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

02 THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI
PLAIN
FACTS

CURIOUS CASE OF THE PILOT FACTION

The rebel MLAs supporting Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan are wealthier than those supporting Ashok Gehlot, but lack the same kind of electoral clout
m MINT GRAPHITI
Rangoli Agrawal, howindialives with the median MLA 29% Chart 1
Chart 2
Gehlot supporters are more experienced
4
feedback@livemint.com wealthier than the median Sachin Pilot's camp is wealthier than Ashok
MLA of the 81 member-strong
Gehlot's faction and the other parties 4.5 % share of MLAs in each camp/party 7

I
ndian politics has, over the Gehlot camp (See chart 1).
past few decades, increas- However, when it comes to Median of total declared assets of MLAs 1 term 7
(in  crore) 2 terms
ingly become a club of the electoral performance, the 3 terms
wealthy. The richer you Pilot faction is relatively Others 82
4 or more terms
are, the greater are your weaker. Both the median vote
electoral prospects. However, margin and the median vote
3.5
the link between wealth and share of the Pilot faction are at
power is not always straightfor- least 2 percentage points lower
2.6 2.9 11 11
22
ward and linear. The ongoing than the Gehlot faction. As
power-play in Rajasthan is a many as 13 of the 18 MLAs who 5
case in point. support Pilot won the 2018 11
The 18 legislators backing Assembly elections by a single-
former Rajasthan deputy chief digit margin. More impor- Gehlot
11 Pilot BJP
minister Sachin Pilot are, on tantly, three of four MLAs in Others BJP Gehlot faction Pilot faction faction 56 faction 73 14 46
average, significantly richer Pilot’s camp are first-time legis- 22
than the members of the legis- lators and thus have limited Chart 3 58
lative assembly (MLAs) backing electoral experience (See chart Pilot's camp is relatively older 18
chief minister 2). % share of MLAs in respective group
Ashok Gehlot. The electoral Most Assembly
They are also clout of the rebel segments that Chart 4

wealthier than MLAs indicates Pilot’s MLAs rep- 41 Pilot’s camp has the most MLAs with 3+ criminal cases
the average MLA the leverage Pilot resent also per- Gehlot camp % share of MLAs in each group with criminal cases
in the Assembly. formed poorly Pilot camp 74
Yet, their ability
enjoys as he during the 2019 30 75
to win elections negotiates with Lok Sabha polls,
Zero 84
does not quite the Cong and BJP the most recent 21
67
match their electoral contest 11
wealth. the region saw. 16 16 14 One-two 23 Pilot camp
16 Gehlot camp
The electoral clout of the While performance in Lok 26
rebel MLAs matters—it pro- Sabha polls depends on a broad BJP
vides an indication of the lever- range of factors, the clout of the 5 16 Others
age Sachin Pilot enjoys as he incumbent MLA does play a Three or more 1
Source: Association of Democratic Reforms, TCPD,
negotiates with the Congress role in influencing voter Below 40 years 40-55 years 55-70 years Above 70 years 7 Ashoka University, Election Commission of India
and its rival the Bharatiya Jan- choice. On that metric, most AHMED RAZA KHAN/MINT

ata Party (BJP). If the past rebel MLAs don’t score too
events of Karnataka, where 17 well. Most Congress MLAs saw the backing of the parties to win be leveraged against more camp has a higher share of within the Congress, crossover Pilot has assembled a group his camp are from eastern
rebel MLAs who joined the BJP vote shares decline in the Lok the re-election in case of a fresh powerful opponents in such those in the 40-55 age group. to the BJP, or build a regional of MLAs that represent all the Rajasthan, which Pilot also rep-
had to stand for re-election, Sabha elections in their respec- contest. Four of 18 MLAs sup- contests. However, on all these The largest cohort in the Pilot front of his own. None of the major caste groups in the state. resents. If these leaders leave
were to be repeated in Rajast- tive Assembly segments. The porting Pilot have a vote share factors, the Gehlot faction out- camp belongs to the 55-70 age options will be easy. The acri- Key leaders from each of these the party, Congress may expe-
han, the ability to get re-elected median MLA belonging to the of above 50%. Two among scores the Pilot faction. group (See chart 3). mony with Gehlot means that major groups such as Bhanwar- rience a setback in the eastern
will become a key factor in the Pilot camp saw vote-share ero- them lead the charts across par- Pilot himself came into A higher share of MLAs in the Pilot faction MLAs are not lal Sharma (Brahmin), Ramesh belt. However, it also implies
power equation. sion of 9 percentage points ties. However, they are the prominence as one of the the Gehlot camp are graduates going to be the favourites of the Chand Meena (Meena), Gajen- that Pilot’s faction will have to
Congress MLAs in Rajasthan between 2018 and 2019, while exceptions in an otherwise young turks of the Congress, compared to the Pilot camp. current administration. A dra Singh Shaktawat (Rajput), work harder in other parts of
are on average richer than the median MLA belonging to weak group. but his faction has a smaller Also, a lower share of the Geh- switch to the BJP might involve and Vishvendra Singh and Bri- the state if they were to launch
those of the BJP. The median the Gehlot camp saw vote- In the battle of perceptions, share of young MLAs com- lot faction have three or more re-elections, an outcome that jendra Singh Ola (Jat) have won their own party to become a
MLA belonging to the Gehlot share erosion of 12 percentage however, other factors matter pared to the Gehlot faction. criminal cases as compared to all MLAs may not be comforta- polls even when their party had viable regional party of Rajast-
camp is 21% wealthier than the points over the same period. beyond past performance. Fac- The share of below-40 MLAs in the Pilot camp (See chart 4). ble with. The third option may performed poorly. However, a han.
median BJP MLA. The Pilot Most MLAs belonging to the tors such as youth, clean image both groups is roughly the It is unclear as whether Pilot work in the long term but there majority of them are new. howindialives.com is a search
camp is even more wealthier, Pilot camp would likely need and education can sometimes same. However, the Gehlot will find a suitable compromise are near-term challenges. Besides, 16 of the 18 MLAs in engine for public data.

m BRAND DASHBOARD Educational mobility eludes rural India

The Mint-YouGov Brand Dashboard provides a glimpse into how different brands are perceived in the country Sneha Alexander educational attainment of
based on a proprietary tool called BrandIndex developed by YouGov. BrandIndex continuously measures public sneha.a@livemint.com children in rural India and
perception of brands among internet users spread across 180 cities within the country. MUMBAI China using 2010 data from
The Travel sites dashboard captures the public perception of the China Family Panel Stud-
27.3
E
leading online travel companies. It offers the current perception BrandIndex Score ducation is believed to be ies and the 1999 Rural Eco-
% point change from a month ago a long-term panacea for nomic and Demographic Sur-
metrics and the change in perception over the past few weeks. (▲▼) all troubles of developing vey for India. It tests whether a
countries. But getting one is parent’s education translates
still a matter of privilege in into a decision to invest in chil-
Travel sites many parts of the world. New dren’s education.
Brands MakeMyTrip Trivago GoIbibo Yatra Booking.com ClearTrip research shows that the occu- The authors find that educa-
pation of parents can deter- tional mobility—or the degree
mine the educa- to which the A family’s occupation can determine the investment in a child’s
tion of children a m SNAP FACT younger lot education a lot more in rural India than in rural China. HT
OVERALL 37.6 20.3 18.1 13.1 8.2 8.1 lot more in rural diverge away
SCORE (▲ 2) (▲ 0.1) (▲ 1) (▲ 0.9) (▲ 1.6) (▲ 2.4) India than in from their par- farm jobs make it easier to say, is that India’s education
rural China. ents’ generation—is lower in invest in children’s education, system is dominated by private
The decision of investing in rural India than China even if say the authors. players unlike China’s. Expen-
BY GENDER a child’s education in rural the parents have similar edu- However, the study shows sive private education weighs
India depends on whether the cational backgrounds. Chil- that India had more inequality in the decision of investing in
Male 34.6 (▲ 2.1) 20.0 (▲ 0.3) 17.6 (▼ 0.2) 11.9 (▲ 0.6) 7.6 (▲ 0.6) 8.2 (▲ 2.4) household is in an agricultural dren from non-farm house- in education levels of children the child’s education, and
or non-agricultural occupa- holds tend to see higher edu- from farm and non-farm tends to be difficult to afford
Female 40.4 (▲ 1.8) 20.7 (▼ 0.1) 18.7 (▲ 2.2) 14.3 (▲ 1.3) 8.8 (▲ 2.5) 8.0 (▲ 2.4) tion, says a World Bank work- cational mobility than farm households. In India, parents’ for agricultural households.
ing paper by M. Shahe Emran households in both countries. education as well as jobs work Also read: Occupational
BY GENERATION of Columbia University and Economic forces explain the in tandem in determining how dualism and intergenerational
others. difference. Higher income and well the child would study. educational mobility in rural
The study compares the social capital earned from non- A major reason, the authors economy (bit.ly/308yKFX).
Generation X 41.9 (▲ 5.7) 26.1 (▲ 4.5) 23.8 (▲ 8.8) 18.7 (▲ 7.1) 11.0 (▲ 2.2) 11.0 (▲ 4.1)
Millennials 36.9 (▲ 1.5) 18.8 (▲ 2.4) 19.4 (▼ 2.5) 12.0 (▼ 1.9) 8.1 (▲ 1.9) 7.4 (▲ 2.8)
Generation Z 28.8 (▲ 2.7) 16.3 (▼ 6.5) 11.1 (▲ 0.1) 3.9 (▲ 0.3) 3.6 (▼ 0.5) 3.2 (▲ 1.7)

BY REGION m NEWS IN NUMBERS CORRECTIONS AND

CLARIFICATIONS
North 39.7 (▲ 3.5) 22.2 (▲ 0.4) 19.9 (▲ 3.3) 13.2 (▲ 2.5) 6.8 (▼ 0.9) 8.8 (▲ 3.8) AP

South
260 7 Mint welcomes comments,
32.7 (▲ 4.1) 15.1 (▼ 1.6) 14.6 (▲ 0.8) 10.8 (▼ 2.5) 10.0 (▲ 3.2) 4.3 (▼ 0.6) What is it? The number of fishing boats What is it? The suggestions or complaints
East 37.9 (▲ 1.6) 21.7 (▲ 1.3) 19.4 (▲ 2) 12.0 (▲ 0.3) 10.3 (▲ 3.7) 8.6 (▲ 4.3) with Chinese flags sailing about 320km number of about errors.
away from the Galapagos Islands. bowlers who have
West 42.1 (▼ 0.1) 23.7 (▲ 1.3) 20.5 (▼ 0.4) 15.6 (▲ 2.8) 6.9 (▲ 1.2) 11.5 (▲ 2.8) Why is it important? The boats are on the taken 500 wickets Readers can alert the
newsroom to any errors in the
edge of the exclusive 302km zone around or more in Tests. paper by emailing us, with your
BRANDINDEX SCORE
the islands intended to protect the fragile Why is it full name and address to
The Index score is a composite metric derived as an average of Impression, Quality, Value, Reputation, Satisfaction and ecosystem. The presence of the fleet has important? feedback@livemint.com.
Recommendation scores for the brands mentioned above, collected from close to 2000 respondents over 4 weeks by YouGov, raised alarm bells in Ecuador, which has England’s Stuart
increased patrolling in the marine reserve Board is the latest It is our policy to promptly
as part of their syndicated brand tracking solution. Sample sizes for various sub-groups reported above range between 185 – 1150 respond to all complaints.
respondents. to avoid a repetition of a 2017 incident to enter the elite club after he claimed 10 Readers dissatisfied with the
when a Chinese vessel was captured with wickets in the series-clinching match response or concerned about
Generation X here refers to people born between 1965 and 1980. Millennials here refer to people born between 1981 and 1996 300 tonnes of marine wildlife. against the West Indies. He is the second Mint’s journalistic integrity may
Generation Z here refers to people born after 1996. Regions are defined as follows : North: Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Tell me more: Ecuadorian President Lenin English player (after James Anderson, who write directly to the editor by
Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand; South: Moreno said the country would consult has 589 wickets) to achieve the milestone. sending an email to
Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana; East: with Colombia, Peru, Chile, Panama and Tell me more: The top 3 wicket-takers are asktheeditor@livemint.com
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal;
West: Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Costa Rica, which lie on the coast of the spinners—Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Mint’s journalistic Code of
Pacific, to address the threat together. Shane Warne (708) and Anil Kumble (619). Conduct that governs our
Data from 25 June to 23 July Comparison date is from 27 May to 24 June. newsroom is available at
www.livemint.com
Data and text compiled by Howindialives howindialives.com is a search engine for public data

FOR ANY QUERIES/DELIVERY ISSUES

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

VAMAN VASSUDEV KAMAT (EDITOR); PUBLISHED/PRINTED BY DINESH MITTAL (Interim) ON BEHALF OF HT MEDIA LTD, 9th Floor, Tower 3, Indiabulls Finance Centre, Senapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone Road (West), Mumbai-400013
Printed at HT Media Ltd. Press at Plot No. 6, TTC Industrial Area, Thane - Belapur Road, Navi Mumbai - 400 708.
RNI Registration MAHENG/2018/76720; Mint welcomes readers’ responses to all articles and editorials. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. Send in your views to the editor at letters@livemint.com. ©2020 HT Media Ltd All Rights Reserved
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

NEWS THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI 03

mint

Auditors flag risks as Adani Ports SEZ raises

SHORT TAKES $750 million through
Mindspace RIET IPO subscribed 13
times despite covid-led disruption
New Delhi: Mindspace Business Parks REIT on Wednesday
SpiceJet’s losses swell an offshore bond issue
closed its three-day initial public offering (IPO) with a subscrip-
tion of 13 times on strong investor interest, despite covid disrup- Swaraj Singh Dhanjal
tion. The portion reserved for institutional investors was sub- swaraj.d@livemint.com
scribed 10.65 times; that for other investors was subscribed 15.83 Raised doubts over airline being a ‘going concern’ on record loss MUMBAI
times, stock exchange data showed. ASHWIN RAMARATHINAM

B
Read more on livemint.com illionaire Gautam Adani-
Rhik Kundu controlled Adani Ports
rhik.k@livemint.com and Special Economic
Execution challenges will limit NEW DELHI Zone (SEZ) Ltd on Wednesday
launched an offshore bond
R-E growth to 8GW in FY21: Icra

A
uditors of SpiceJet Lim- offering, raising as much as
REUTERS
ited, S.R. Batliboi and $750 million.
Boeing to Associates Llp, have This is the third and the larg-
cut 787/777
production
raised doubts about the est offshore bond deal The capital raised will be used
as covid-19 company’s ability to con- launched by an Indian com- to repay loans of Adani Ports
hammers tinue as a going concern as the pany since the pandemic dis- and its subsidiaries. AFP
sales no-frills airline reported its highest rupted global markets in
bit.ly/33j2lyz ever quarterly loss during the March March. State-owned REC Ltd ing cost for issuers has gone
quarter primarily due to muted travel and agrochemicals major UPL down substantially due to
demand following the coronavirus Ltd raised $500 million each in Mifor collapse, the market isn’t
outbreak, the grounding of Boeing May and June, respectively. there yet in terms of its evolu-
737Max fleet, and pricing pressures. The Adani Ports bond sale tion for non-IG (investment
“The company has incurred a net comes after SoftBank-backed grade) issuers from India,” said
loss during the current and previous Indian renewable company SB Shantanu Sahai, managing
Mumbai: Capacity addition in the renewable energy (RE) year and, its current liabilities Energy pulled back its $600 director and head of debt at
sector is expected to remain subdued at 8 GW in FY21 in exceeded its current assets in the bal- million bond offering in July. Nomura India.
view of the execution challenges, including supply chain ance sheet, till date. These condi- According to the terms of the “The markets had started to
disruption and labour availability, amid the covid-19 crisis. tions...indicate the existence of a deal, seen by Mint, Adani Ports open up secularly since early
A report from credit ratings agency Icra said challenges material uncertainty that may cast sig- The airline reported a full-year loss of ₹934.76 crore in 2019-20, compared to a is raising the capital through June which had led to the hope
related to delays in land acquisition and receipt of evacua- nificant doubt about the company’s loss of ₹316.08 crore reported in FY19. MINT seven-year bonds, maturing in that HY (high yield) issuers
tion approvals, regulatory delays in tariff adoption and ability to continue as a going con- 2027, at a rate of 4.2%. Invest- would be able to access it in July
obtaining financial closure in a tight financing environ- cern,” said S.R. Batliboi and Associates reported in FY19. Revenue, however, accumulated losses as on 31 March ment banks Barclays, Bank of or August, but the opening has
ment, will add to the sector’s woes TANYA THOMAS Llp. The auditors have been raising rose 42.65% to ₹13,206.42 crore. 2020 would have been higher by America and Citigroup, among stalled while the market moves
Read more on livemint.com similar concerns about the airline The auditors said the company ₹714.53 crore,” it said. others, are advising Adani Ports sideways in the past two-three
during the past quarters. would have reported a wider loss had SpiceJet said it continues to incur on the bond sale. The capital weeks. The only HY issuance
SpiceJet reported its highest ever it not recognized other income and various costs for its grounded Boeing raised will be used to repay that has been seen has been
Myntra ties up with Emaar Group’s quarterly loss of ₹807.07 crore in the foreign exchange gains. “In our view, 737Max planes. During the quarter loans of Adani Ports and its sub- from China,” said Sahai.
March quarter, compared to a net there is no virtual certainty to recog- ended 31 March, the company recog- sidiaries, which could include He added that the second
e-comm portals to enter West Asia profit of ₹56.29 crore in the year-ago nize such income and related receiva- nized ₹134.5 crore towards aircraft the debt of Krishnapatnam Port coronavirus wave across Asia as
Bengaluru: Flipkart-owned fashion marketplace Myntra has period. and supplemental Co. Ltd, which Adani agreed to well as concerns over ratchet-
partnered with UAE-based conglomerate Emaar Group’s e-com- Five analysts polled MOUNTING CONCERNS lease rentals and other acquire in January. The deal is ing US-China rivalry and the
merce platforms Noon and Namshi to enter the West Asia mar- by Bloomberg had esti- identified expenses, as yet to be closed. economic recovery have been
ket, marking the homegrown startup’s international foray. It has mated a ₹687 crore SPICEJET reported AIRLINE would have LOSSES are because other income for the Earlier in July, Adani Ports’ the primary reasons for inves-
launched Myntra Fashion Brands, which will offer a curated loss for the airline. Spi- highest ever loss of reported a ₹978.31 cr of muted demand,
₹807.07 cr in Q4FY20, loss in Q4FY20 had it grounding of the
reported quarter. board had approved offshore tors becoming more cautious
selection of its private labels on both these platforms, with a focus ceJet’s revenue of compared to ₹56.29 not recognized other Boeing 737Max fleet, Indian airlines are bond capital raise of up to $1.25 around credit. Last December,
on casual and leisure wear. MADHURIMA NANDY ₹3,057.34 crore, how- cr profit in Q4FY19 income, forex gains pricing pressures staring at a revenue billion. A spokesperson for Mint had reported that after
Read more on livemint.com ever, beat analysts’ loss of ₹1.3 trillion Adani group could not be tapping the dollar bond market
expectations. In Janu- between fiscal 2020 immediately reached for com- twice in 2019, Adani Ports was
ary-March 2019, it had reported a rev- ble,” the auditor said. and 2022 because of the covid-19 pan- ment. According to industry preparing for a fresh issuance
TVS Motor reports loss of enue of ₹2571.83 crore. Total “Had the company not recognized demic, which has severely hit experts, offshore bond issuan- of dollar bonds in 2020.
expenses in the March quarter rose such other income (including its demand, rating agency Crisil said in a ces from Indian corporates In June 2019, Adani Ports
₹139 crore in June quarter 53.6% from the year-ago period to related foreign exchange restate- report earlier in July. continue to be muted, espe- had raised $750 million
BLOOMBERG
₹3,864.42 crore. ment), the reported loss for the quar- In a separate development, Spice- cially for below-investment- through a bond sale, and fol-
The airline reported a full-year loss ter and year ended 31 March 2020 Jet’s chief financial officer Kiran grade issuers or so-called high- lowed it up with a $650-million
of ₹934.76 crore in 2019-20, com- would have been ₹978.31 crore and Koteshwar will step down on 31 yield issuers. buyback offer for bonds matur-
pared to a loss of ₹316.08 crore ₹1,649.30 crore respectively, and August, the airline said. “I think that while the hedg- ing in 2020 in the next month

Kodak shares surge

Mumbai: TVS Motor Co. Ltd (TVS) has reported ₹139 crore
loss in its standalone results for the June quarter due to cov-
2,441% after drug shift
id-19 related disruptions. It had reported a profit of ₹142
crore during the year-ago period. The company’s standal- Bloomberg
one revenue from operations stood at ₹1,432 crore, down feedback@livemint.com
68% year-on-year from ₹4,469 crore during the year-ago

S
period. AMIT PANDAY hares of Eastman Kodak
Read more on livemint.com Co. have leapt 2,441%
higher this week, send-
ing its market valuation to
Tyre manufacturer Ceat reports nearly $2 billion, after it won a
government loan to help pro-
₹35.24 crore net loss in Apr-Jun duce ingredients used in key
New Delhi: Ceat Ltd—one of the country’s largest tyre manufac- generic medicines to fight the
turers—on Wednesday reported a net loss of ₹35.24 crore in the coronavirus.
June quarter on account of covid-19 related disruptions, which Kodak, the storied photog-
led to subdued demand for its products in India and export mar- raphy giant whose business
kets. The company reported a net profit of ₹82.66 crore in the and shares were devastated by
corresponding period last fiscal. MALYABAN GHOSH the switch to filmless cameras,
Read more on livemint.com gained as much as 655% on
Wednesday, triggering at least
six halts for volatility along the
Vedanta seeks to increase size of way. More than 110 million
shares traded hands, more
delisting loan to $3.25 billion than 23 times its typical vol-
New York: Vedanta Resources Ltd is seeking to increase the size ume. The company’s value
of a planned loan to fund the delisting of its India unit by as much climbed to $1.99 billion as of
as $500 million, said people familiar with the matter. The addi- 10:25 am in New York, after
tion would take the total planned debt sought by the conglomer- closing on Friday shy of $100
ate to as much as $3.25 billion, the people said, asking not to be million.
identified. The new loan tranche matures in April 2021 and could Kodak shares tripled on
give Vedanta room to increase a planned offer for its Mumbai Tuesday on news of a $765
listed unit, should it need to do so, the people said. BLOOMBERG million loan to shift part of its
Kodak gained as much as 655%
on Wednesday. AP
factories to produce drug
ingredients.
The loan development bank
loan was the first of its kind
under the Defence Production
Act in collaboration with the
US department of defence, and
intended to speed production
of drugs in short supply and
those considered critical to
treat covid-19, including
hydroxychloroquine, the con-
troversial antimalarial drug
touted by President Donald
Trump.

Yes Bank takes US treasury to advise Trump on

over ADAG HQ
Gopika Gopakumar TikTok this week, says Mnuchin
gopika.g@livemint.com
MUMBAI Alexandra Alper ers for potential national secu- but added that TikTok was
feedback@livemint.com rity risks and is led by Treasury. working to “develop a best-in-

Y
es Bank Ltd has taken WASHINGTON “TikTok is under CFIUS class security infrastructure”
possession of Reliance review. We will be making a and promote a safe app experi-

U
Centre, the headquarters
of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani
Group (ADAG) in Mumbai. In an
advertisement published in the
Financial Express on Wednes-
day, the bank has informed that
it has taken possession of the
over building in Mumbai,
besides two floors at Nagin
Mahal in South Mumbai, which
was ADAG’s earlier HQ. It took
possession of the building on
22 July under the Securitisa-
tion and Reconstruction of
Financial Assets and Enforce-
ment of Security Interest Act.
S treasury secretary
Steve Mnuchin said on
Wednesday that Tik-
Tok was under a national secu-
rity review and that his agency
would make a recommenda-
tion to the president about the
popular Chinese-owned video-
sharing app this week.
The comments marked the
first time the US government
has acknowledged that TikTok
was under review by the Com-
mittee on Foreign Investment
in the US (CFIUS), which scru-
tinizes deals by foreign acquir-
recommendation to the presi-
dent this week so we have lots
of alternatives,” Mnuchin said.
Reuters reported in Novem-
ber that the app’s Chinese par-
ent, Beijing ByteDance Tech-
nology Co was being probed by
CFIUS over its $1 billion pur-
chase of social media app Musi-
cal.ly, after lawmakers raised
concerns over how it stores
personal data as well as allega-
tions of censorship.
A TikTok representative
said the company could not
comment on CFIUS matters,
ence.
The committee can force
ByteDance to unwind the deal,
or take other measures to miti-
gate the national security
threat.
Reuters reported earlier on
Wednesday that ByteDance
has received a proposal from
some of its investors, including
Sequoia and General Atlantic,
to transfer majority ownership
of TikTok to them.
Some ByteDance investors
are valuing the popular app at
about $50 billion. REUTERS
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

04 THURSDAY, 30 JULY 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

38,071.13 -1.10 11,202.85 -0.86 9,096.10 -0.50 26,433.05 0.47 11,310.85 -0.68 13,762.55 0.68 12,972.35 0.43
PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN

38,492.95 38,427.15 11,300.55 11,276.90 9,141.75 9,135.50 26,309.75 26,337.85 11,388.40 11,369.55 13,668.92 13,709.38 12,917.42 12,961.34
HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

38,617.03 37,884.41 11,341.40 11,149.75 9,180.70 9,057.90 26,509.75 26,281.95 11,428.15 11,258.80 13,828.27 13,701.82 13,076.38 12,948.36

Maruti’s operating loss must make

mint

SHORT TAKES
China’s economic rebound
loses its momentum in July
China’s economic recovery lost some upward
momentum in July, with the effect of stronger mar-
investors rethink pricey valuations
ket sentiment damped by muted demand in the
real economy. The overall indicator for the econ- Harsha Jethmalani recent earnings surprises by some
investors sit up and take notice.
omy in July was unchanged from last month, after harsha.j@livemint.com companies, such as in the cement sec-
It’s not like the road ahead will be a Sales skid
improving in May and June. The calculation of the tor, investors’ hopes had risen.bed of roses. In a post-earnings con- Maruti’s car sales volume saw a steep decline in the June quarter, impacted

I
indicators has been revised from this month to ndian companies, including
include metrics for car purchases, realty sales and many in the manufacturing sec-
“Since 24 March, Maruti and other
ference call with analysts, the man- by the nationwide lockdown.
stocks have rallied very sharply, and
agement said consumer demand Growth (year-on-year, in %)

the building sector. The world’s second-largest Oil holds tor, have impressed this earnings these bad results will give an opportu-
reflected in the enquiries, bookings Sales to other
above $41 Light original
economy returned to growth in the second quarter, with weaker
season. They resorted to heavy nity for investors to book profit and
and retails is ~85-90% of the pre- Mini and Utility commercial equipment
while consumers have been less willing to return dollar, cost-cutting and have offset the wait for better entry points,” said
covid situation and going forward will compact Mid-size vehicles Vans vehicles manufacturers
spending to their pre-covid levels. Renewed virus falling US impact of covid to some extent. Arjun Yash Mahajan, head of institu-
completely depend on how the cov-
outbreaks and Yangtze River flooding have had lit- stockpiles Of course, this isn’t true of all of tional business at Reliance Securities.
id-19 situation evolves. On the
tle direct economic effect so far, but may be keep- bit.ly/3jSgWG them. In the case of demand front, as the
ing optimism in check. BLOOMBERG M Maruti Suzuki India BUMPY RIDE lockdown is gradually -77.3
Ltd, the June-quarter being lifted in some
-80.8
results were a washout FOR Maruti Suzuki SALES and WHILE the stock has markets, demand is -82.7 -81.9
-83.4
on all key parameters. India Ltd, the production were hit, been surging, the inching back to pre-
Getting complacent June-quarter results
Production and were a washout on
which led to a loss of Ebitda loss may make
₹863.4 crore at the investors sit up and covid levels. However, -91.4
Volatility for high-risk currencies is falling as sales were severely all key parameters Ebitda level take notice it is too early to say if Source: Maruti Suzuki press release
the month of August draws near. impacted by the this is pent-up demand,
Rand option-implied 1-month volatility SATISH KUMAR/MINT
nationwide lockdown, and if it will sustain, the
Rupiah Rupee with volumes falling 81% year-on- Maruti shares have jumped about company added on the call. for essentials but also for discretion- According to Bloomberg’s estimates,
35
year. This led to an unusual loss of 54% from their lows in March, and are Importantly, since automobile ary items like paints. However, with the Maruti Suzuki stock is trading at
30 ₹863.4 crore at the Ebitda level. now down only about 12% compared demand is related to discretionary the number of coronavirus cases ris- a rich one-year forward price-to-
25 Ebitda stands for earnings before to mid-February levels, i.e. before the spending, it will be a while before vol- ing in rural areas as well, consump- earnings multiple of 26 times, the
20 interest, taxes, depreciation and markets started correcting to factor in umes bounce back meaningfully. tion demand from this part of the highest among peers. While a valua-
15 amortization. the impact of the pandemic. It should be noted that in recent economy may fizzle out. tion premium for the market leader is
15 12
11 One can argue that the loss was While the stock has been cruising months, demand from tier-2 and While the company’s management justified, investors appear to be
10
5 more or less in line with the Street’s in the past few months, the loss at the tier-3 cities is being cited as a driver is still cautious of a revival, the stock’s underestimating the impact on earn-
5
6 estimates, but given some of the Ebitda level should hopefully make for consumption demand, not only valuations show a different picture. ings in the medium-term.
5
0
1 Jan 2020 28 Jul 2020
Source: Bloomberg

SATISH KUMAR/MINT

EMs approach awful Aug

amid signs of complacency Hexaware gives investors another Dr Reddy’s Q1 tides over pandemic
Some investors may be sleepwalking into one of
the riskiest months for emerging markets (EMs).
MSCI’s index of developing-nation currencies has
reason to demand pound of flesh blues, but margins may not sustain
declined in August in seven of the last 10 years, with
volatility spiking in eight of those amid lower
liquidity as traders depart for mid-year vacations. Mobis Philipose Clifford Alvares ment is likely to do well and get the viated new drug applications pend-
For currencies like South Africa’s rand, Turkey’s mobis.p@livemint.com
Buying cheap clifford.a@livemint.com benefits of the API stocking tail- ing in the US. Interestingly, the
lira, Indonesia’s rupiah and India’s rupee, August Baring is attempting to buy minority shareholders fairly cheap, and winds, growth rates may abate in company has about 28 ‘first-to-file’
the reverse book building will throw up a much higher delisting price.

S T
is historically the worst month of the year, based on hares of Hexaware Tech- he deceleration in the domes- the coming quarters. drugs as well, which generally tend
the average decline over the past five years. This nologies Ltd have risen Valuation multiple* tic pharmaceutical market Dr Reddy’s 48% y-o-y revenue to command better margins.
year won’t be an exception, even as covid-19 curbs 43% since majority share- Company (Acquirer) EV/revenues Price/earnings did not quite stall Dr Reddy’s growth in Europe, given covid-19 DRL has pushed new product
travel, according to Investec Bank Plc and Societe holder Baring Private Equity Sep ‘13 Hexaware (Baring PE) 1.7 Laboratories Ltd’s Q1 growth rate. disruptions during the quarter, has launches across geographies,
12.3
Generale SA. Yet investor anxiety, as measured by Asia said it plans to acquire Apr '15 Igate (Capgemini) 3.4 The company’s revenue jumped been ahead of expecta- despite higher freight
33.3
implied volatility for those currencies, is at the low- minority shares and delist the about 15% year-on-year (y-o-y), tions. The stock’s rates in the last quar-
Oct '15 Zensar (Apax Partners) 1.2
est since at least March. BLOOMBERG firm. Investors tend to demand 11.9 thanks in part to the sharp growth However, other valuations may ter.
their pound of flesh in such Apr '16 Mphasis (Blackstone PE) 1.1 14.3 in the active pharma ingredient regions grew largely not sustain unless As a result, selling
instances, and Hexaware will Jul '18 Syntel (Atos) 3.6
19.2
(API) segment. But since the stock on expected lines like the firm continues and administration
Philippines central bank be no exception. Mar '19 Mindtree (L&T) 2.1
21.4
has run up about 50% this year, fur- the 6% y-o-y rise in US
to surprise costs were higher in
The firm’s June-quarter ther gains could be capped. revenue. Q1. This dragged down
may issue digital currency results give minority investors
Apr '19 NIIT Tech (Baring PE) 2.1
21.3 In fact, Dr Reddy’s pharmaceuti- The generics pric- positively, say the company’s Ebitda
The Philippine central bank has created a panel to another strong reason to stick Jun '20 Hexaware (Baring PE) 1.5
12.7 cal service and API businesses’ rev- ing environment analysts margin during the
look at the feasibility and policy implications of their ground. Hexaware’s reve- * Valuation multiple uses trailing 12-month revenues and earnings; Hexaware multiples enue growth of 88% y-o-y was a bit seems to be stabilizing quarter to 26.3% from
based on indicative offer price of ₹285 per share; EV stands for enterprise value
issuing its own digital currency, governor Benja- nue fell just 0.9%, sequentially, of a surprise, and could taper in the in the US, while the 29.5% a year ago.
Source: Emkay Global Financial Services
min Diokno said on Wednesday. We have to first despite a 10% exposure to the coming quarters. company also gained from a weak Ebitda is earnings before interest,
look at the findings of the group before making a troubled travel and transporta- SATISH KUMAR/MINT One reason for this was a lower rupee. taxes, depreciation and amortiza-
decision, he added. Some of the world’s major cen- tion vertical. What makes this investors. And, the fact that this roughly 2.1 times trailing base last year. While the sequential With six new product launches tion.
tral banks, including the Bank of England and Bank remarkable is that most other comes in the middle of the 12-month revenues. In stark jump of about 19% is quite good, and with some of its existing prod- Gross margins were a bit on the
of Japan, have teamed up to assess the potential of mid-sized IT firms posted reve- delisting process may just contrast, Baring’s indicative demand was because companies ucts doing well, growth in the com- higher side, showing a jump of
developing their own digital currencies as new nue dips of 5-7%. increase the resolve of minority offer valued Hexaware at only stocked inventory. ing quarters could be fair in the US. about 430 basis points over the
technologies and companies issuing their own dig- What’s more, Hexaware shareholders to demand a rela- 1.5 times trailing revenue and at Analysts say that while this seg- Note that DRL has about 100 abbre- year-ago period. While the com-
ital tokens pose a challenge to monetary authori- made some drastic cost cuts, tively higher exit price. about 12 times trailing profit. pany attributes it to a favourable
ties. BLOOMBERG which resulted in a 14% Baring had initially indicated Assuming a valuation multi- Booster PSAI revenue (in ₹) (Left-hand scale) Growth (year-on-year, in %) product mix and rupee tailwinds, it
sequential jump an offer price of ple close to past deals, the 900 90 could well come off. Some products
in operating If Hexaware gets ₹285 per share. acquisition price would be shot 88
may have got the benefit of pricing.
profit. “The delisted, it will be But as analysts at above ₹400 per share. Hexa- Dr Reddy’s overall 750 70 Hence, gross margins may see slip-
No worries strong margin at a price closer to Emkay Global ware shares currently trade at revenue outpaced
855 pages, say analysts.
Risk barometers show no signs of funding beat was led by the current mar- Financial Services ₹372 apiece. Its valuations have expectations, as Besides, the stock’s run-up also
600 50
stress now or on the horizon. the growth of
headcount ket price, rather pointed out in a risen to about 16 times trailing active ingredients
poses a headwind for investors.
Spread between 3-month Libor and overnight index swaps reduction (6% than Baring’s note back then, it earnings, compared to less 454 DRL’s galloping shares may be out-
reported a 450 30
Spread between December forward rate agreement on
3-month Libor and OIS
quarter-on-quar- offer price results in fairly low than 12 times before the delist- sharp jump. pacing its expected earnings
140 ter),” Motilal valuation multi- ing announcement. While fur- 300 10 growth.
120 Oswal Financial ples, especially ther upside may be limited, it The stock is trading quite high on
Note: PSAI stands for
100 Services Ltd analysts said in a when compared to previous does look like an eventual pharmaceutical services 150 -10 the valuation price band at about 24
80
note. Of course, it remains to large transactions. The previ- delisting, if it happens, will be and active ingredients times FY22 consensus earnings.
16
be seen how much of this is sus- ous two transactions last year, at a price closer to the current 0 -30 This may not sustain unless Dr
60 Q1 Q1
34.68 24.79 tainable. However, a strong involving NIIT Technologies market price, rather than Bar- Source: Company
Reddy’s continues to surprise posi-
40 FY20 FY21
showing does raise the hopes of Ltd and Mindtree Ltd, were at ing’s indicative offer price. tively, say analysts.
20 SATISH KUMAR/MINT
18.7 24.6
0
31 Dec 2019 5 Jun 2020
Source: Bloomberg

SATISH KUMAR/MINT

Defaults won’t stop central Unlike Britannia, Nestle fails to cash in on the demand for packaged food
banks’ funding frenzy
In a world riven by disease and credit risk, traders Pallavi Pengonda were adversely impacted due to Nestle’s higher urban salience growth was more disappointing.
are betting that central bankers will pin down pallavi.p@livemint.com the lockdown, leading to produc-
Not delicious Domestic sales growth (year-on-year, in %)
hurt as well.” Meanwhile, Nestle’s After its results, on Wednesday,
global borrowing costs for years to come—regard- tion disruption across factories. enough 13.1 e-commerce channel increased the Nestle stock fell 3%. The com-

O
less of the consequences. With banks awash with pportunity knocks but
cash, money markets are signalling that unsecured once. And, the covid-in-
lending rates will stay near historic lows across duced opportunity was
Europe and the US, even as rising corporate bank- the spike in demand for packaged
ruptcies add pressure to bank balance sheets. Euro- food. In that sense, Nestle India
dollar futures, benchmarked to the three-month Ltd has missed the boat, but peer
London interbank offered rate for dollars, suggest Britannia Industries Ltd was able
that borrowing costs will barely budge until at least to capitalize on it. Nestle’s June-
the first quarter of 2023. Funding gauges in other quarter year-on-year revenue
parts of the world also paint a very similar picture. growth of about 2% fell short of
BLOOMBERG analysts’ estimates. In contrast,
Britannia’s 26.4% revenue
For more reports and analysis growth was slightly better than
on the markets, follow our the Street’s optimistic estimates,
Mark to Market podcast with following the company’s indica-
Pallavi Pengonda and Aparna tions prior to the results that the
Iyer on htsmartcast.com quarter was shaping up well.
Nestle maintains that its sales
Further, demand in the “out-of-
home” channel saw a considera-
ble decline. Nestle derived 4.4% of
its operating revenues from
exports, which fell by 9%. Domes-
tic sales contributed 95.6% of rev-
enues and increased by 2.6% over
the same period last year.
Note, the food and beverage
segments of Hindustan Unilever
Ltd and ITC Ltd, too, performed
relatively better in the June quar-
ter. Nestle’s performance in the
March quarter had raised hopes as
well. Analysts from Kotak Institu-
tional Equities said: “Given this
(strong March quarter) and, in
view of Nestle’s portfolio and exe-
Nestle India’s June
quarter domestic
sales growth was the
slowest in at least the
past seven quarters,
as covid-19 disrupted
its supply chain.
Source: Edelweiss
Securities Ltd
cution strength, we hadn’t
expected any supply-chain issues;
to that extent, supply chain issues
in Maggi surprised.”
Kotak analysts wrote in a report
on 28 July: “We note that other
12 by 122% in the June quarter, and pany has restored its eight facto-
10.5 10.7 now contributes 3.6% to domestic ries almost to their pre-covid
10.2 10
sales. Jefferies India Pvt. Ltd said: manufacturing capabilities. With
“Earnings before interest, tax growth momentum back, it would
depreciation and amortization be interesting to watch the extent
(Ebitda) margin expanded 80 to which Nestle can offset the
2.6 basis points year-on-year to demand loss it had incurred in the
24.9%.” One basis point is one- first half of 2020. Nestle’s finan-
hundredth of a percentage point. cial year ends in December and
Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
CY18 CY19 CY19 CY19 CY19 CY20 CY20 “Margins however came to the the June quarter is its second.
rescue and allowed Nestle to meet While the firm is well-placed to
SATISH KUMAR/MINT our forecast,” it added. ride the packaged food consump-
FMCG companies smartly lever- A sharp decline in other tion theme, the stock’s expensive
aged third-party distribution expenses boosted Ebitda. This valuations leave little room for an
(including startups), rationalized looks good considering gross upside. Nestle’s shares trade at a
SKUs to drive cost savings and cut margin declined by 180 bps owing valuation multiple of nearly 77
down on trade incentives or pro- to inflation in dairy inputs. times trailing 12 months earnings
motions (aided gross margins). Even so, the subdued revenue and that’s hardly cheap.

Mark to Market writers do not have positions in the companies they have discussed here

Govt rewrites India’s public
procurement rulebook
DPIIT has made it compulsory to give preference to local suppliers while awarding tenders
Utpal Bhaskar
utpal.b@livemint.com
NEW DELHI
T
he National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government
at the Centre has rewritten
the country’s public pro-
curement rulebook and, in
the process, the government’s age-old
dictum of simply seeking out the low-
est price to award a tender, said two
people, requesting anonymity.
As part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, or
the self-reliant India strategy, the
department for promotion of industry
and internal trade (DPIIT) has, in an
order on 4 June, made it compulsory
to provide purchase preference to
local suppliers. The document was
reviewed by Mint.
In a wider decoupling exercise, as
part of India’s economic response to
China, firms defined as Class-I local
suppliers with local content of at least
50% will be the only ones eligible to
bid for contracts that has a sufficient
domestic capacity. The nodal ministry
will “notify goods and services with
sufficient local capacity”, it said.
Even for international tenders, if
the lowest bidder (L1) is a Class-I local
supplier, the full contract quantity will
be awarded to the L1. In case the L1 bid
is not being placed by a Class-I local
supplier, only half of the order quan-
tity shall be placed with the L1 bidder.
Then, if the lowest bidder among the
Class-I local supplier matches the Ll
price, or falls within its range, the
remaining 50% of the contract will be
awarded to the domestic firm.
Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney
NEWS
price or accepts less than the offered
quantity, the next higher Class-I local
supplier within the margin of pur-
chase preference shall be invited to
match the L1 price for remaining
quantity, and so on, and the contract
shall be awarded accordingly. In case
some quantity is still left uncovered on
Class-I local suppliers, then such bal-
ance quantity may also be ordered on
the L1 bidder,” it said.
India wants to leverage its growing
market to prepare an economic
defence against China and also play a
larger role in global supply chains.
New Delhi has already upped the ante
against Beijing by restricting compa-
nies based in countries with which it
shares land borders from participating
The public procurement order seeks to promote manufacturing and production in bids for government procurement
of goods and services in India, to boost income and employment. BLOOMBERG without approval from competent
authorities, by amending the General
This comprehensive ‘public pro- local suppliers are Class-II local sup- Financial Rules 2017.
curement’ order seeks to give prefer- pliers, who supply local content of Also, where the estimated value of
ence to local suppliers and more than 20% but less purchase is less than ₹200 crore, no
promote manufacturing LOCAL than 50%, and non-local global tender will be issued. The
and production of goods PUSH suppliers who supply local DPIIT’s June order is a modification
and services in India, to content of less than 20%. and addition of previous orders and
boost income and employ- FIRMS defined as “In procurement of all covers all types of engineering, pro-
ment. Class-I local goods, services or work in curement and construction contracts
suppliers will be the
A commerce and indus- only ones eligible to respect of which the nodal and services.
try ministry spokesperson bid for contracts ministry or department has With tensions mounting along the
confirmed the develop- communicated that there India-China border, India’s ministries
ment. “All central minis- IF lowest bidder isn’t is sufficient local capacity and departments have started turning
Class-I local supplier,
tries, departments and only half of the order and local competition, only the screws on Chinese firms. A case in
central public sector units quantity shall be a Class-I local supplier, as point is the Union power ministry’s
are implementing the placed with L1 bidder defined under the order, strategy of erecting tariff barriers and
order,” said the spokesper- shall be eligible to bid irre- other obstacles, including subsidizing
son. spective of the purchase finance for promoting local power
Three categories of suppliers have value,” the order said. equipment makers and prior-permis-
been defined in the binding order. “In case such lowest eligible Class-I sion requirements for imports from
The two categories other than Class-I local supplier fails to match the L1 countries with which it has a conflict.
RBML to invest up to ₹3,000 cr in fuel retail biz
Kalpana Pathak
kalpana.p@livemint.com
MUMBAI
R
eliance BP Mobility Ltd
(RBML), a joint venture
of Reliance Industries
(RIL) and UK’s energy major BP
Plc, will set up battery swap-
ping stations at its fuel outlets
and spend around ₹3000 crore
to expand the fuel retail net-
work, two officials aware of the
plans said. RIL and BP, which
set up RBML this month, will
operate under the Jio-BP
brand. BP will pay ₹7,000 crore
to RIL for its 49% stake in the
venture.
“In addition to conventional
fuel options, RIL plans to pro-
vide a gamut of alternative
THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020
MUMBAI 05
‘NBFC assets to shrink for first time
in 20 years as disbursements drop’
Shayan Ghosh two biggest segments—hous-
shayan.g@livemint.com ing and vehicle financing.
MUMBAI Second, there is a sharper
focus on liquidity as incremen-
T
he total assets under tal funding is hard to come by
management (AUM) of for many players in a confi-
non-bank lenders are dence-sensitive scenario.
expected to fall 1-3% in FY21, Third, stiff competition from
the first time in nearly two dec- banks as funding costs for many
ades, as disbursements saw a NBFCs remain relatively high.
sharp drop, rating agency Crisil And finally, tightening of
said on Wednesday. The last underwriting standards by
de-growth in the AUM of non- NBFCs amid weak economic
banking financial companies activity and expectations of
(NBFCs) was seen in FY2003, NBFCs are facing competition increasing delinquencies.
said a spokesperson for Crisil. from banks as funding costs “Crisil’s analysis shows that
Apart from non-bank len- remain relatively high.BLOOMBERG most segments can see contrac-
ders, Crisil analysed data of tion in the current fiscal year.
housing finance companies but talization of interest accumu- The silver lining, however, will
not of state-owned NBFCs. If lated will, however, help limit be gold loans, which constitute
the top five NBFCs are the downside. around 5% of the AUM. Growth
excluded, then the decline It said four factors are at play here will be relatively higher as
would be even sharper at 7-9%, for disbursements. First, is the more enterprises go for it to
Crisil said in report, adding challenging macroeconomic meet urgent funding needs,”
lower repayments during the scenario that will curb underly- said Krishnan Sitaraman, sen-
moratorium period and capi- ing asset sales, especially in the ior director, Crisil Ratings.
energy options to its custom- “We will replace transportation acquired Chargemaster, the
ers. This includes electric vehi- fuels with clean electricity and UK’s largest EV charging com-
cles (EV) charging points, bat- hydrogen,” RIL chairman pany, and renamed it BP
tery swapping stations, freight Mukesh Ambani had said at the Chargemaster.
aggregation,” said one of the company’s annual general The company operates
two people cited meeting on 15 Polar, the largest EV charging
above, both of RBML plans to July. network in the UK, with more
whom spoke set up battery With its eye on than 7,000 public charging
under the condi- swapping stations building an opti- points, providing a compre-
tion of anonymity. at the fuel retail mal mix of reliable, hensive public charging solu-
RIL did not clean and afforda- tion.
outlets, expand
reply to an email ble energy with In Union Budget 2019,
sent on Monday. their number to hydrogen, wind, acknowledging the need for a
RBML plans to over 5,500 solar, fuel cells, reliable EV infrastructure in
expand fuel retail and battery, RIL India, finance minister Nirmala
outlets to over aims to become Sitharaman invited global com-
5,500 from the present ‘net carbon-zero’ by 2035. panies to set up mega manufac-
over-1,400. It also plans to RIL, said the second official, turing plants in sunrise and
build full-stack electrolyzer is expected to tap the expertise advanced technology areas
and fuel cell solutions in India of BP for its EV charging and including lithium storage bat-
which will be used to run battery swapping initiatives. teries and charging infrastruc-
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. BP had in 2018 June ture.
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

06 THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI CORPORATE
VIRUS EFFECT
Hiring in IT services
‘Businesses will be forced to find may gather pace only
creative and frugal ways to grow’ by December quarter
Ayushman Baruah
Tarush Bhalla haven’t lost jobs or income, while consumer brands to connect to of 2-3 years and will continue to ble startups because they are ayushman.b@livemint.com
tarush.b@livemint.com avenues to spend have reduced. users. Eventually, we are creating a build newer products. becoming efficient and improving BENGALURU
BENGALURU CRED’s focus continues to be on the gated club of users, wherein multi- Has covid forced you to look at unit economics across many new

B
top 25 million Indian consumers, ple parties will have benefits to stay profitability over growth? categories. ucking the trend, hiring

T
he covid-19 crisis saw
credit card use falling
drastically with the lock-
down restricting the
movement of people and
avenues to spend. CRED, which
incentivizes customers for paying
credit card bills, is however witness-
ing a sharp recovery and expects to
clock pre-covid volumes by Septem-
ber, as the festive season kicks in. In
an interview, as part of Mint’s Pivot
or Perish series, Kunal Shah,
co-founder and chief executive offi-
cer of CRED, said the pandemic has
prompted consumers to move from
cash to card transactions, and will
also lead to more efficient and prof-
who proved to show profit pools in in the ecosystem. Over 118 brands
the past, versus going behind the have been part of Discover since
next 300 million users. launch, including 66 direct-to-con-
sumer brands.
How do you see monetization
happening on CRED?
Internet businesses think about
Automation
partner
Growth
partner
distribution first, and we have 3 mil-
lion customers already with credit
scores of over 750 (median score is
What product pivots did you 830) in under two years. Now, Rent-
consider? Pay, Stash are the revenue-making
Internally, we noticed that a lot of part of the business, along with
consumers were struggling with e-commerce platform Discover and
liquidity, and needed additional our brand platform WIN.
buffer for medical emergencies. We make revenue on Discover
Hence, we thought of readily availa- through listing fees, and follow a
ble loan products, which doesn’t commission-based model on WIN
Internet companies don’t have of software professionals
the luxury to think about profitabil- this year is expected to
ity, with the real question being dis- gain momentum only by the
tribution. Look at the early days of fiscal third quarter, considered
Amazon or even Jio, unless, distri- a seasonally weak quarter for
bution is coming at an insane cost of the sector, as recruitments
burn. Covid will cause businesses to have been deferred due to the
find creative and frugal ways of coronavirus pandemic.
growth versus spending cash for “Typically, the peak of hiring
customer acquisitions. At CRED, we is during the first two quarters The US’ temporary ban on H-1B
thought of that by incentivizing cus- (April-September) and the visas is set to boost hiring. HT
tomers to pay credit card bills. third quarter is seasonally slow.
Rather than spending extensively But, this year, we expect hiring tougher immigration rules will
on marketing, we have been part- to pick up in Q3 as many of the prompt more people being
nering with banks, which are spon- projects got deferred and we hired in India. Captives are also
soring CRED’s solutions, and can also expect tapering of the expected to show enhanced
making us an official part- pandemic from there on after hiring trends in India as more
ner. Hence, businesses will peaking in August,” said Sanju outsourcing happens,” said

‘
itable startups in India. Edited require one to go through the on lead conversions, and other have to think of more Ballurkar, president at Experis, Lohit Bhatia, president, Indian
excerpts: physical processes. metrics. WIN creative methods to put the IT recruitment arm of Man- Staffing Federation.
What has been the impact of Assessing the mar- employs gamifica- the word out. powerGroup India. Most of the large enterprises
covid-19 on your business? ket situation, we We are witnessing a tion to create skill- How do you see Demand over the next few in the banking and retail seg-
During the covid-19-led lock- chose to launch quick recovery as based games, managing capi- months will be driven by cap- ments have embarked on digi-
down, we saw spending on credit CRED Stash, our individuals are using which build tal versus tive businesses in the health- tal transformation at some
cards dip by almost 40%, especially credit line, and engagement growth play- care and telecom sectors as level, and consequently, skills
with categories like travel, vacations CRED RentPay, credit cards to pay among members, ing out? they have seen increased in the digital space will con-
and fuel taking a big hit. Now, the earlier than we for groceries, as well as and 35 brands have At such momentum throughout the tinue to witness greater
impact has reduced to 20-25%, and anticipated. In fact, for larger purchases signed up already. times of pandemic, said demand.
witnessing a quick recovery as indi- we shipped Rent- We are also helping uncertainty, Ballurkar. “IT ser- In Q1FY21, the “Robotic proc-
Kunal Shah
viduals are using credit cards to pay Pay in just three Co-founder & CEO, CRED brands, some inter- it is best to lay vices firms will net addition of ess automation
for groceries, as well as for larger weeks, since we national, to engage low and sur- continue to employees at the (RPA), full-stack
purchases. Recovery will also be realized that after with consumers by vive the cri- account for mass top IT firms was developer, Python
aided by the festive season. We credit card bills, the second largest creating immersive experiences. sis. Alterna- hiring, though.” are seeing high
lowest in years
expect credit card spends to be at expense is paying rents. Hence, we The same goes for banks, which tively, this is In Q1FY21, the demand as well as
pre-covid levels by September on worked to free up liquidity by allow- want to cross-sell credit cards or also a time to net addition of as lateral hiring roles in cloud,
the CRED platform. ing users to pay rent through their financial products to our customers. take bold crea- employees at top was deferred cybersecurity,
Our consumers weren’t impacted credit cards. We also launched our CRED’s innovation is in creating tive bets. In a year’s time, IT companies was and analytics.
much by covid-19, because most Discover platform in April for young distribution, and we have a runway we will see way more profita- the lowest in sev- Salesforce, SAP
eral years as most of the lateral continue to have a large need
hiring and new joining were and other newer skill areas like
deferred. While at Tata Con- Kubernetes, microservices are

‘Fixing power sector stress and economic recovery are inter-linked’ sultancy Services (TCS) Ltd, the growing too,” Bhatia added.
headcount declined by 4,788 IT hiring in the digital space
employees, at Infosys Ltd and will rise in a post-pandemic
Wipro Ltd, it dropped by 3,138 world as “digital solutions have
Gireesh Chandra Prasad nomic adviser (CEA) Arvind organized by the Centre for power sector,” he said. Centre for Economic Policy. depends on a lot of subsidies. If and 1,082 respectively on a seamlessly dovetailed into the
gireesh.p@livemint.com Subramanian. Policy Research, a think tank. Renewable energy firms He cautioned against it is going to require support, sequential basis. overall business strategy of
NEW DELHI Reviving the power sector, “Boosting recovery and eco- should be realistic and honest renewable energy boosterism let us be explicit about it,” he The US government’s tem- organizations to ensure better
saddled with loss-making dis- nomic activity is a sine qua non about their sustainability and and said one needs to look said. It is imperative for the porary ban on H-1B visas will adaptability to the new nor-

R
esolving the stress in the
power sector, improving
the health of the finan-
cial system, and economic
recovery are inter-connected,
according to former chief eco-
tribution utilities and genera-
tion companies unable to use
full capacity, will depend a lot
on the broader economic
recovery, he said at a webinar
on the future of electricity
for anything to do with reviv-
ing the power sector. For (eco-
nomic recovery), the financial
system needs to be fixed. Part
of fixing the financial system
has to be fixing NPAs in the
natural gas should be a part of
India’s transition to a low-car-
bon economy, said Subrama-
nian, who is a professor at
Ashoka University and found-
ing director of the Ashoka
harder into the sustainability
of the clean energy sector,
which relies on subsidies and
import of cheap components
from China. “At this stage, the
sustainability of the sector
sector to make an honest
assessment of its sustainability
so that the cost of having
renewable energy over fossil
fuels is known upfront for
decision-making, he added.
also lead to an uptick in hiring mal”, said Ramesh Alluri
by either global in-house cen- Reddy, director (managed ser-
tres (GICs) or captives in India vices & professional staffing),
as they will need to fill the void Adecco India. “Q3 will see a
created by the lack of onshore good amount of revival across
talent. “The lack of visas and IT services,” he added.

Govt fast-tracks payment cycle for stressed road developers Serum Institute asked to modify
Tanya Thomas
tanya.t@livemint.com
protocol for Oxford vaccine trial “Earlier, contractors had to toll collections fell sharply
reach physical construction during the early lockdown
MUMBAI milestones and then bill NHAI period, welcomed the move.
or MoRTH. This period varied “This was a very helpful and Leroy Leo id-related proposal in the apex Serum Institute of India had

T
o help infrastructure between one to three months, proactive step by NHAI,” said leroy.d@livemint.com drug regulator, a copy of applied to the government for
developers reeling depending on the complexity Krishna Prakash Maheshwari, NEW DELHI which was seen by Mint. approval for the clinical trial of
under covid-led challen- of the milestones. These bills CEO of Adani Transport Ltd. An message sent to Serum about 1,600 participants over

ges, the ministry of road trans-
port and highways (MoRTH)
and the National Highways
Authority of India (NHAI) have
adopted faster payment mech-
anisms and shortened the cash
cycle for road developers con-
tracted with them, to ensure
project execution does not suf-
fer during the lockdown.
According to MoRTH data,
between April and May, it dis-
bursed ₹18,700 crore to devel-
opers, up 46 times from the
₹400 crore released in the
year-ago period. NHAI dis-
bursed ₹10,295 crore between
22 and 31 March, and another
₹15,000 crore in April-June.
Both MoRTH and NHAI
Under the hybrid annuity model, NHAI released funds for working
capital needs of developers even before milestones were reached.
migrated from a milestone-
based payments system to a
monthly payments mode. In
the earlier system, billing and
payments under the engineer-
ing, procurement, construc-
tion (EPC ) model were linked
to the completion of pre-de-
termined physical milestones.
For hybrid annuity model
(HAM) projects, NHAI
released funds for working
capital needs even before the
milestones were completed.
The funds were offered at 200
basis points above bank lend-
ing rates, and offered low-cost
working capital to developers.
The payments are later set off
against settlements that the
government owes the contrac-
tor under the HAM projects.
A
were then certified by an inde- “It demonstrates that NHAI is committee of experts Institute spokesperson on the the age of 18, according to a
pendent engi- one of the few at the Central Drugs development has remained report by news agency PTI on
neer. Subse- The road ministry agencies which Standard Control unanswered. Saturday.
quently, it would and NHAI have has shown Organisation has deferred a The panel has The panel has The company,
take 30-40 days migrated from a maturity and decision on Serum Institute of asked the com- asked the firm to which is the
for the money to milestone-based promptness in India Pvt. Ltd’s covid-19 vac- pany to demar- demarcate phase world’s largest
be disbursed,” payments. It has cine trial and has asked the cate phase 2 and vaccine manufac-
payments system helped both con- 2 and 3 of the
said Rajeshwar company to amend its proto- phase 3 parts of turer by number
Burla, vice-presi- to a monthly tractors and con- col for the phase 2 and 3 clini- the protocol and protocol and to of doses pro-
dent of corporate payments mode cessionaires like cal trials of the University of has also asked for specify the role of duced and sold
ratings at Icra. us for HAM pro- Oxford’s vaccine candidate. the trials to be ICMR in the trial globally, had last
“Since NHAI and jects.” “After detailed deliberation, distributed across month signed an
MoRTH moved to the monthly The move helped construc- the committee recommended India. It has also agreement with
billing system, the cash con- tion across national highways amendment to the protocol… asked the company to specify British-Swedish multinational
version cycle has shrunk for to pick up pace. Data from Accordingly, the firm should the role of the Indian Council pharmaceutical firm Astra-
developers, who can now get MoRTH shows project execu- submit a revised protocol for of Medical Research (ICMR) in Zeneca, the co-developer of
funds within 15-30 days after tion in the June quarter rose to evaluation of the committee,” the trial. Mint could not ascer- the vaccine, to supply an addi-
the monthly billing.” 1,823km, from 637km in April, according to the minutes of tain a link between the ICMR tional 1 billion doses, princi-
Developers, especially those but lower than the 2,155km in Tuesday’s meeting of the sub- and Serum Institute’s trial of pally for low- and middle-in-
who faced a cash crunch when the year-ago period. ject expert committee for cov- the Oxford vaccine candidate. come countries.

mint products launched by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Cipla

Delhi government delinks some Under insolvency resolution, Jet‘s
Ltd. It will be sold only on prescription, the company said. Favipira-
SHORT TAKES vir is used in treating mild-to-moderate covid-19 patients. As part
of the clinical management protocol, patients are administered 122
pills over two weeks. Therefore, Hetero’s Favivir will cost ₹7,198
hotels from serving as hospitals
PTI
loss widens to ₹5,536 cr in 2018-19
New Delhi: Jet Airways, which
is undergoing an insolvency res-
MINT

ADB approves $3 million grant for
India to combat covid-19 pandemic
BLOOMBERG
New Delhi: Asian Development
Bank (ADB) on Wednesday said
it has approved $3 million (about
₹22 crore) grant to India from its
Asia Pacific Disaster Response
Fund to further support the gov-
ernment in procuring essentials
for strengthening the country’s
response to the covid-19 pan-
demic.
PTI
for the entire course. LEROY LEO olution process, saw its loss wid-
Read more on livemint.com ening to ₹5,535.75 crore in the
year ended March 2019, mainly
due to surge in expenses. In
Rajasthan cabinet says assembly 2018-19, the airline’s total
income declined to ₹23,314.11
session could begin from 14 August crore from ₹23,958.37 crore in
New Delhi: In what is likely to be a peace deal offering, the chief the year-ago fiscal, according to
minister Ashok Gehlot-led state cabinet late on Wednesday even- a regulatory filing. PTI
ing put forth a fresh proposal to call the assembly session from 14
August instead of 31 July. While the Congress is hopeful the move
will help resolve the stalemate, the official stand of governor Kalraj Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal
Mishra is yet to be known. Congress New Delhi: The Delhi government on Wednesday said
launches early-stage VC fund
HT

feels the new proposal takes care of
two things: abiding by the three-
Hetero launches favipiravir under week notice, starting 23 July, and side
stepping Mishra’s recommendation
‘Favivir’ brand at ₹59 per tablet for a trust vote.“We have the num-
New Delhi: Hetero Healthcare Ltd on Wednesday launched a bers, but if we have to wait for the ses-
generic version of covid-19 drug favipiravir in India under the sion then so be it,” a senior minister
‘Favivir’ brand name. The medicine will be available at all retail and said requesting anonymity. ANUJA
hospital pharmacies across India for ₹59 per pill, cheaper than the Read more on livemint.com
hotels attached to hospitals are being released as coronavi-
rus cases continue to decline in the national capital. The
Aam Aadmi Party-led government had earlier attached
nearly 40 hotels to hospitals to increase bed capacity follow-
ing a surge in coronavirus cases in May and June. Over the
last two weeks, Delhi has seen a sharp decline in the number
of people testing covid-positive. PRETIKA KHANNA
Read more on livemint.com
Bengaluru: Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal has floated an early-
stage venture capital fund named Aroa Ventures, which will focus
on investments in growth-stage startups in consumer, technology,
and leisure infrastructure sectors. The fund also includes Gaurav
Gulati, co-founder and ex-COO of Innov8 as a co-owner. The VC
fund’s website indicates the average deal size of the firm is between
$1 million and $10 million. SALMAN S.H.
Read more on livemint.com
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

NEWS THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI 07

Reopen IBC courts in the LUXURY TO MASS MARKET, BRANDS

REACH CONSUMERS IN NEW WAYS
next 3 months: Acharya ORDINARY
To reassure anxious consumers, Farah Malik
Bhanji, chief executive and managing director of
footwear retailer Metro Brands Ltd, has introduced
home-visit and drive-through services—the latter
POST being the domain of food companies so far. The ser-
vice is available at all its stores that are not in contain-
IBC shouldn’t have been suspended for a yr as it’ll delay debt resolution, he said SHUCHI BANSAL ment zones. In drive-through, customers can either
drive to Metro stores and share their requirements
Respond to this column at or call in advance and have their footwear and acces-
Gopika Gopakumar shuchi.b@livemint.com sories delivered to their parked cars.
gopika.g@livemint.com At fast-food chain McDonald’s, Saurabh Kalra

W
MUMBAI hen Manu Sharma, group vice-president, explained the thinking behind launching the new
Reliance Brands, spoke to Mint last on-the-go service at almost all its outlets that are

T
he government must look to month, he took pains to explain how the operational. Kalra, director, strategy and operations,
reopen the insolvency and bank- Sequoia- company, which has brought premium and luxury McDonald’s India West and South, said after lock-
backed
ruptcy courts within the next three Hevo raises
brands to India, was reaching out to customers. “Dis- downs were eased, its 60 drive-through restaurants
months to help fresh bankruptcy $8 million in tance selling” was the new mantra for its portfolio of were the fastest to see sales recovery. “They gave
cases during the pandemic, said Series A fashion and lifestyle brands such as Diesel, Gas, very strong indicators that this is a new stage availa-
Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of the funding Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade and Steve Madden. It ble to us to play on,” he said.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Insolvency bit.ly/3hSUQlX meant reaching out to its wealthy customers via calls Globally, McDonald’s thrives on its drive-through
and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) should not have over Zoom, Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp, offer- outlets. In India, people prefer to get down and sit in
been suspended for one year as it will delay ing video tours of the stores and new ranges, closing a restaurant to eat. “That’s also because here eating
the resolution of debt, Acharya said at the deals and getting the products delivered home. out is not a daily affair,” Kalra said. But covid has
Entrepreneur Awards event on Wednesday. Among the affluent, whose incomes have not changed that. The company devised a plan to con-
“I’m personally not in favour of suspension been impacted by the pandemic, Reliance Brands vert even its non-drive-through outlets into drive-
of the bankruptcy code for fresh bankrupt- billed more than 3,000 customers for bags, shoes, throughs by serving customers in their parked cars
cies. It’s too long. At best it could have been children’s wear, jewellery and casual wear between if they opted for the On-the-Go feature on its McDe-
three months. Maybe push it a bit further. But May and June. livery app.
firms have to restructure debt. If debt restruc- Even Titan Co.’s jewellery division chief executive Now, instead of looking
turing does not take place, there is no possi- officer Ajoy Chawla spoke of closing transactions Footwear for a McDonald’s drive-
bility of resolving debt. I see this as a potential with 2,000 customers of Tanishq via video calls. retailer Metro through restaurant, cus-
problem for cleaning up of old sectors and However, most Tanishq shoppers preferred to pick
also financial restructuring of those that have The former deputy governor of RBI also said entrepreneurs who have been impacted by the their jewellery on their own from the stores. Chawla has introduced tomers can drive to any
store in close proximity
got into trouble. We should consider reopen- covid-19 pandemic require long-term financing as they are in a fog of uncertainty. MINT said customer behaviour is unlikely to return to pre- home-visit and and be served in their
ing of bankruptcy in the next three months,” covid-19 days in a hurry. drive-through cars.
he said. how the IBC is not producing resolutions in formula itself. What is the point of a one year India has a historical context to selling luxury. services With little additional
Entrepreneurs who have been impacted by a timely manner. RBI should use the Finan- loan repaid in monthly instalments when the Traditionally, it was customary for merchants to visit cost, the company has
the covid-19 pandemic require long-term cial Stability Report’s stress test to recapitalize micro entrepreneur earns when the invest- the rich, the aristocrats and the noble with their been able to scale up its
financing as they are in a fog of uncertainty, the banking system, he suggested. ment comes to fruition or a farmer earns only wares. “Street bazaars were the norm for the general business and Kalra thinks that some of these new
said Acharya. This will happen once banks are Cash flow credit should be made available once the harvest is done. Making cash flow populace, while the rich were always serviced at practices will outlast covid. For instance, customers
better capitalized to absorb losses, he con- to all individuals and getting a credit score credit available to every Indian could be a home,” said Abhay Gupta, founder and chief execu- in cities with long commutes could continue availing
tended. should be as easy as getting an “Amazon score solution to the problem of financial inclu- tive, Luxury Connect and Luxury Connect Business the new service. The pandemic is likely to change
“Banks need to be well capital- sion.” School. Some modern-day luxury retailers, too, some consumer habits for good. “Convenience,
ized. They need to have capital on ACHARYA’S INSIGHT The central bank can help adopted similar methods for their ultra-premium comfort, security and privacy are becoming the new
the balance sheet to absorb losses. sachetisation happen through the clients. But the pandemic has ensured this becomes foundational norms for any relationship. The trend
What has happened in the country FIRMS have to BANKS need to have WHAT has happened creation of public credit registry a standard practice across brands as the fear of step- is likely to continue and evolve further,” Gupta
is that large number of banks over restructure debt. If capital on balance
they don’t, there’s no sheets to absorb
in India is that banks
have been fighting the
(PCR) and account aggregator, he ping out and contracting the disease looms. observed.
the past decade have been fighting possibility of debt losses. They need to legacy problem, said. The PCR aims to be a compre- With phased unlocking of the country, brands Has covid-19 pushed companies to pamper the
the legacy problem.” resolution, he said be well capitalized Acharya added hensive database of information have been quick to innovate. To access customers reluctant customer? Kalra doesn’t agree: “Busi-
“That has prevented them from for all credit relationships in the reluctant to visit stores, they have resorted to various nesses exist to solve a problem from a consumer
having the right risk-return atti- country, from the point of origina- formats. Some have created digital e-stores, yet oth- standpoint. Whenever there’s disruption, busi-
tude to newer loans to potentially healthy of a book”, Acharya remarked. Sachetising tion of credit to its termination (repayments, ers carry goods to client sites for a display and sell nesses shift to offer added value to the consumer.
ideas. The banking sector and the non-bank- finance or making available small financial restructuring, default, resolution and so on). set-up. “Mass-market brands have also created And they appreciate by giving us more business. It
ing financial company sector should be in products could also help further financial The account aggregator, on the other hand, ‘mobile stores’—a concept adopted from ‘food augurs well for the long-term health of the brand.”
great shape,” he added. inclusion, he said. allows users to demand their data from finan- trucks’. It is now not unusual to see mini stores cre- Shuchi Bansal is Mint’s media, marketing and
In his interview to The Economic Times on “The financial services provider must cial services providers in real time, in a ated inside well-decorated trucks or buses parked in advertising editor. Ordinary Post will look at pressing
Wednesday, Acharya raised concerns over reduce the size of packaging and rethink the machine-readable format. residential areas on specified days,” Gupta said. issues related to all three. Or just fun stuff.

DELHI JAL BOARD, GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

OFFICE OF THE EE (PLANNING) WATER-II
401, VARUNALAYA PHASE-I, JHANDEWALAN
KAROL BAGH, NEW DELHI-110005
Phone: 011-23678380-82, Extn 206
PRESS Tender Notice No.: 01/Plg-W-II/2020-21
Name of Work Tender Amount/ Date of release of Tender in Last date/time of receipt of
Earnest Money/Tender Fee e-procurement system/ID No. tender through e-procurement
system
Engagement of 3rd Party Inspection Item Rate/ 28.07.2020/ 18.08.2020
Agency for DJB works over 1 crore Rs. 10 Lakh/ 2020_DJB_193066_1 upto 3.00 pm
for a period of 5 years Rs. 1500/-
Further details in this regard can be seen at website https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in
ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) Sd/-
Advt. No. J.S.V. 117/2020-21 Executive Engineer (PLG.) W-II

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08 THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI

REPORTAGE | TALKING POINTS | IDEAS | INSIGHT | THE BOTTOMLINE

WHY GVK IS ON A
WING AND A PRAYER
The struggling infra player is being squeezed on multiple fronts. Can it protect its golden egg: the Mumbai airport?

Mumbai International Airport Ltd, where

the listed group company GVK Power and
Infrastructure Ltd holds a 50.5% stake, is
finding debt servicing difficult as airport
operations continue to be in peril due to the
pandemic. HT

Anto T. Joseph ment-run City and Industrial Develop-
feedback@livemint.com ment Corporation of Maharashtra (Cidco),
MUMBAI which owns 26% equity in the Navi Mum-
bai airport, has raised concerns about a
know, Jaipur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad,
Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru,
buying into India’s second-busiest airport
made eminent sense.
An independent committee headed by
mint
SHORT a retired civil servant is meeting the
STORY project-affected people to clear individual
cases. “We are trying to complete the
two power plants were mothballed for five
years due to lack of gas supply, a coal-fired
plant struggled with fluctuating coal pri-
ces following the rebidding of a mine ear-

T
he peacock-inspired giant can- potential breach in the shareholder’s Adani, which is a growing player in the process as quickly as possible, but due to lier allotted to the group.
opy of Chhatrapati Shivaji agreement for the new airport if Mial real estate sector, is also keen on develop- WHAT covid-19, there is an unavoidable delay. The pandemic has disemboweled
Maharaj International Airport doesn’t quickly get on with project imple- ing the land parcels available around these Being a government agency, we can’t India’s hospitality industry, and TajGVK,
in Mumbai looks a tad ostenta- mentation. airports—the gilded carrot for airport GVK faces a severe cash crunch, hurry with evictions during the pandemic 50% owned by GVK group, is no different.
tious in times of the pandemic. To make life more complicated, South developers. The huge land bank held by raids by investigative agencies, and the monsoons,” he added. The management has shut down four
That’s not only because air traffic move- African company Bidvest, a minority part- Mial (it holds 194 acres of land around the litigation by a minority partner, Cidco had meanwhile dashed off a letter hotel properties and the other two are
ment at India’s second-busiest airport has ner in Mial, has now moved Delhi high airport) is surely an added attraction for pressure from its bankers and to GVK, quizzing it about the financial operating with minimum staff. Taj Deccan
practically ground to a halt; few hundreds court to oppose GVK’s bid to raise funds Adani. partners, and a powerful health of the group. “We have received a in Hyderabad is open for business while
of masked fliers are barely noticeable in by selling stake in GVK Airport Holdings, However, its plans received a setback in competitor waiting in the wings response saying GVK is ready to execute Taj Santacruz is open for medical staff and
the T2 terminal designed to handle 60 a subsidiary of GVKPIL, to new investors. January when an arbitration tribunal pre- the project. They should go for the finan- other guests too. They are operating the
million passengers annually. Finally, earlier this month, CBI filed a vented a minority shareholder of Mial cial closure and start the work quickly. hotels with a skeletal food and beverage
What is more than evident is how the first information report (FIR) based on an from selling its stake to a third party. AND They can’t keep blaming Cidco for the services and staff.
airport’s operating company Mumbai anonymous letter, accusing the GVK Adani had signed a share purchase agree- delay,” said Narnaware. A company official said most of the staff
International Airport Ltd (Mial)—and its group chairman G.V.K. Reddy and his son ment to buy out Bidvest from Mial. But The CBI/ED investigation comes The Mial official quoted earlier said was sent on leave without pay. “Almost
parent, the infrastructure developer GVK G.V. Sanjay Reddy, managing director of GVK rejected it and chose to exercise its on the heels of Adani Group’s Cidco had given deadlines of 31 December 70-80% staff is outsourced and will be
group—are constantly in the limelight Mial, of siphoning off ₹705 crore from the first right of refusal, and matched the failed bid to buy into Mial and 2019, and then 31 March 2020, both of back on duty when the hotels reopen,” he
these days. airport’s kitty. The Enforcement Director- ₹1,248-crore offer that the Adanis made to edge out GVK. Also, Mial’s plans which have lapsed. When the board met said on condition of anonymity.
The bad news doesn’t seem to be stop- ate (ED) quickly followed up with a sepa- Bidvest. to monetize the land it holds on 3 July, there was no fresh commitment A downgrade by rating firm ICRA in
ping for the Secunderabad-headquar- rate case pressing money-laundering “It’s our right and we are not going to around the airport are delayed from Cidco on the land acquisition. “They June has made the company’s lenders
tered GVK group, which is being squeezed charges, and raided offices earlier this leave it,” said an official from Mial on con- are working towards it. It is true that the nervous. “Hotels, including TajGVK, have
on multiple fronts. It faces downgrades, week. It said Reddys would be called for dition of anonymity. project is running behind schedule. You high operating and financial leverage,
defaults and a severe cash crunch; raids by questioning soon. Bidvest has now taken the fight to Delhi BUT know, in India, when villages have to be making these highly susceptible to any
the investigative agencies; litigation by a The investigation, currently underway, high court. Irked by a long delay in its pro- moved, it takes time,” said the Mial board reduction in revenues… The sharp con-
minority partner; pressure from its bank- may not have any immediate impact on posed exit from Mial, Bidvest has moved The Navi Mumbai airport is facing member. traction in revenues will impact the com-
ers and partners; and a powerful competi- the airport operating company lying para- the court against GVK’s move to sell 79.1% delays in financial closure. With So far, Mial has invested around ₹2,000 pany’s liquidity position, given that
tor waiting in the wings. lyzed by the pandemic. But the raids by in its GVK Airport Holdings to three new huge capacity lying unused in crore in the equity of the Navi Mumbai air- TajGVK would still need to incur non-de-
To make matters worse, GVK group’s the investigative agencies have sent out a investors—National Investment and Mumbai, thanks to covid-19, the port company. With huge capacity lying ferrable fixed expenses,” said the rating
other businesses are in poor shape. That’s shock wave in the infrastructure playing Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), PSP Invest- delay doesn’t look that critical at unused in Mumbai, thanks to covid-19, the firm.
why the struggling group is desperately field where politics and business are seen ments of Canada, and the Abu Dhabi the moment delay in the new airport doesn’t look that
trying to protect its as strange but necessary Investment Authority (ADIA). Bidvest has critical at the moment. IN CONCLUSION
golden egg: the Mumbai
airport, which reported
900-odd air traffic
bedfellows.
“The delay in project
execution will not have
argued that since GVK Airport Holdings
owns 50.5% in Mial, any change in the
holding company will reduce GVKPIL’s
liquidity challenges for upcoming debt
servicing on real estate deposit (RESD)
“When services resume
to 100%, there will still
be capacity available at
A s of now, Mial looks
severely cash-
strapped with its work-
movements per day in any serious impact (on stake and give substantial indirect stake to loans, which are meant to be serviced the existing infrastruc- ing capital availability
the pre-pandemic era. the aviation industry) the new investors. through the monetization. ture. This gives the sinking to a paltry ₹130
But today, Mial, since the capacity burst- Any breach by GVK or other investors operator some breath- crore as of 12 May 2020,
where the listed group ing-at-seams situation poses the danger of termination of the THE NEW AIRPORT ing space for Navi Mum- according to Crisil.
company GVK Power
and Infrastructure Ltd
(GVKPIL) holds 50.5%
at Mumbai airport has
suddenly disappeared
with covid-19. The pan-
Navi Mumbai airport concession agree-
ment and it could substantially erode the
valuation of its shareholding in Mial, Bid-
T he delay in financial closure is hold-
ing up the Navi Mumbai project. The
new banker SBI has agreed in principle to
bai airport,” said avia-
tion analyst Ameya
Joshi.
While its ability to gen-
erate quick funds
remains in doubt, the
stake, is finding debt The new airport has a demic has given a two- vest has said in a Delhi high court filing. underwrite and fund the project. It has, Being a government company is staring at a
servicing difficult as air- year breather to the On the matter of land, the steady fall in however, put forth a precondition that the GVK’S FINANCES debt servicing obliga-
port operations con- two-year breather. But I Navi Mumbai airport,” agency, we can’t hurry tion of over ₹200 crore
tinue to be in peril. In am surely worried about said Vinayak Chatterjee,
late May, Crisil down- chairman of Feedback
commercial real estate prices in Mumbai
has jeopardized Mial’s plans to monetize
the land it holds around the current air-
entire land should be made available
unencumbered before they start releasing
funds.
W hile the delay in
the Navi Mumbai
airport is a rare silver
with evictions (to for project loans.
The unexpected
graded Mial’s proposed GVK’s falling financial Infra, a leading infra- port. Of this, it has monetized only three Exactly a year after Hardeep Singh Puri, lining for the GVK acquire land) during the breakdown in airport
non-convertible deben- structure services com- parcels so far totaling around 6 acres. A the minister of state for aviation, told the group, the fact remains operations has forced
tures of ₹2,000 crore, health pany. “But I am surely company representative said it is in talks Lok Sabha in a written statement (on 25 Mumbai airport pandemic Mial to look for options
term loans against real VINAYAK CHATTERJEE worried about GVK’s with the Canadian Brookfield Asset Man- July 2019) that the land acquisition for accounts for nearly 90% PRASHANT NARNAWARE such as deferment of
estate deposits and CHAIRMAN, FEEDBACK INFRA falling financial health,” agement for developing the land parcel. entire 1,160 hectares of the core airport revenues of GVKPIL, JOINT MD, CIDCO revenue share pay-
other project loans. he added. “Because of covid-19, there is a delay in area had been completed by the state gov- which is accumulating ments to AAI and addi-
No wonder the Mial board meeting on A questionnaire emailed to GVK drew a signing the deal,” said the Mial board ernment, land acquisition continues to be losses due to various reasons. The total tional debt financing. Feedback Infra’s
3 July via video conferencing was unusu- “No comment” from its spokesperson. member quoted above. a big hindrance. loss for the nine months ended December Chatterjee hoped that GVK group would
ally long. Its immediate concern was the Actually, a deal in existing conditions While GVK claims that only up to 80% 2019 aggregated ₹387.92 crore, much be able to get SBI and other lenders on
delay in the new ₹16,000-crore airport THE ADANI OVERHANG would mean less realization for Mial. On of the total land is available now, Cidco more than the loss of ₹265.89 crore it board, and get on with the project imple-
that Mial is building in Navi Mumbai, an
hour’s drive from the island city. T he CBI/ED twin investigation comes
on the heels of Adani Group’s failed
After Yes Bank pulled out of the Navi bid to buy into Mial and edge out GVK.
the other hand, even if it wants to sell it
without realizing the actual value, it can’t
because it will trigger the government
insists that 97% of the land is ready. “Of the
total land required for the work to start,
only 4 hectares remaining to be acquired,
reported for the corresponding nine mentation as quickly as possible. For GVK,
months of the previous financial year. it is crucial now to get the Navi Mumbai
In a filing to the stock exchange on 14 project off the ground . That at the end of
Mumbai airport project, the State Bank of For the Gautam Adani-led conglomer- probe as the AAI holds 26% stake in the with 93 structures having to be removed. February, the company disclosed that the the day is the only way it can prove its cre-
India (SBI) stepped in a couple of months ate, which has already won the mandate to company. These structures, mostly houses and small group delayed payment of loans and inter- dentials as a financially-stable developer.
ago, but some pre-conditions are delaying run six Airports Authority of India The rating agency said the delay in temples, are spread over the area,” Pra- est, and certain loan accounts were classi- Anto T. Joseph is a senior journalist based
the financial closure. Then, the govern- (AAI)-built non-metro airports in Luc- monetizing real estate may result in shant Narnaware, joint MD of Cidco, said. fied as non-performing by banks. While in Mumbai
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

NEWS THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI 09

Tractor output
Airfares on select routes Panel to suggest ways
skids on gaps
in parts supply on funding infra plan
FROM PAGE 1

July as intermittent lockdowns

spike amid low demand Shreya Nandi
shreya.n@livemint.com
NEW DELHI
in the hubs to contain the virus

have thrown production into
disarray.
For instance, more than 75
covid cases were reported at
German automotive supplier
Bosch’s Bangalore plant earlier
this month as a result of which
production of critical parts and
supplies were disrupted. Simi-
A
government panel set
up earlier this year to
Fares between Mumbai and Delhi were 20.7% higher in June as compared to last year find resources for
India’s ₹111 trillion infrastruc-
ture plan is expected to recom-
Rhik Kundu mend the creation of develop-
rhik.k@livemint.com ment finance institutions
NEW DELHI (DFIs) and infrastructure recy- The government has already
cling, besides other steps, a started work on setting up a

larly, several parts suppliers
based in Aurangabad had to
shut their facilities after local
authorities ordered a lockdown
during the second week of July.
“The localized lockdowns
enforced in certain cities are
hampering the ramp-up of the
supply chain and, thus, affect-
ing production at OEMs (origi-
nal equipment manufactur-
ers),” said Hemant Sikka, presi-
dent, farm equipment sector at
Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd,
which has a 42% share of the
domestic tractor market.
“Many suppliers were either
in the containment zone or
were forced to shut plants
under new regional lockdowns
during July. Plant capacity util-
ization, which was 90% in June,
dropped to 50-65% in July as
tractor production came to a
halt due to a shortage of key
parts,” Bharat Madan, group
chief financial officer, Escorts
Ltd, said in a phone interview.
Hoshiarpur-based Sonalika
Group, which recorded its
highest-ever retail billing of
15,200 tractors, including
exports in June, saw its July
production drop sharply
month-on-month.
The company, which com-
mands roughly 15% market
share in the tractor market, did
not disclose its adjusted pro-
duction volumes during July.
A
irfares on select domes- government official aware of DFI for infrastructure. MINT
tic routes in June were UK the matter said. The committee
researchers
considerably higher trial robots
is expected to submit its report aged by the coronavirus dis-
than a year ago, as air- to ease this week. ruption. On Monday, Reserve
lines operated at lim- social care The government has already Bank of India governor Shak-
ited capacity amid low demand due burden started work on setting up a tikanta Das said there was a
to the covid-19 crisis, data from bit.ly/334BpCf DFI for infrastructure, the offi- need for a big push for mega
online travel companies showed. cial said on condition of ano- infrastructure projects to
One-way fares for Chennai-New nymity. The committee, which restart the economy, in which
Delhi, Hyderabad-Mumbai, Hyder- includes finance ministry offi- private and public sectors will
abad-New Delhi, Mumbai-Hydera- cials, private financial entities have to play an important role
bad, Mumbai-New Delhi, Mumbai- and pension funds, aims to tap in financing investments.
Kolkata and Mumbai-Patna were banks, financial markets and The official cited earlier said
higher than last year, according data global investors for India’s the finance ministry has
from online travel companies Clear- planned national infrastruc- already started working on the
trip and Ixigo. ture pipeline. structure of a new
Average one-way fare for Chen- An average one-way fare for Chennai-New Delhi in June was ₹8,079, up 19.66% from ₹6,751 in the year-ago, while on “The initiative The government DFI—a govern-
nai-New Delhi travel in June was the Hyderabad-Mumbai route it was up 51.28% from the year-ago to ₹5,234. REUTERS has been private committee, which ment-backed spe-
₹8,079, up 19.66% from ₹6,751 a year sector driven. We includes private cialized institu-
ago, while on the Hyderabad-Mum- routes. This can be due to a decrease However, according to data from “After domestic operations have formed five firms and pension tion to offer funds,
bai route, it was up 51.28% from a in flight capacity as compared to Cleartrip, one way airfares on other- resumed in May, it was noticed that sub-groups under
funds, is expected where borrowers
year ago to ₹5,234, according to pre-pandemic levels,” said Rajnish wise busy routes, such as New Delhi- there was strong demand for flights panel, comprising are unable to get it
Ixigo. In June, average one-way Kumar, co-founder, Ixigo. Kolkata, New Delhi-Bengaluru and from bigger cities like Delhi and officials from pen- to submit its from commercial
fares between Hyderabad and New “Under normal circumstances, a New Delhi-Mumbai fell 7-10% annu- Mumbai to smaller cities and towns sion funds, invest- report this week lenders—which is
Delhi were 11.4% higher, while decrease in capacity on a busy route ally in June. like Patna, and Indore. This was ment banks, State likely to be final-
Mumbai-Hyderabad and probably because the work- Bank of India, and ized and set up in
Mumbai-Kolkata were GAINING ALTITUDE force, who were stuck in NIIF (National Infrastructure the next six months. Currently,
higher by 64.8% and 63.9%, these cities during lock- Investment Fund), among oth- DFIs are sector-specific, such as
respectively. Fares between IN June, average AIRFARES CURBS by state govts THE overall yields down, returned home in ers to look at various methods Rural Electrification Corp. Ltd
Mumbai and New Delhi, one-way fares between Mumbai
between Hyderabad and Patna saw a
on flight operations to
and from Mumbai and
for airlines are down,
as only a few routes
masses.” of infrastructure financing. (REC) for the power sector,
one of India’s busiest routes, and New Delhi were massive rise of Kolkata pushed up are seeing good “Fares remained high on Asset recycling (to improve and National Bank for Agriculture
were 20.7% higher, com- 11.4% higher 74.53% airfares in the sectors demand routes which saw higher mobilize resources through and Rural Development (Nab-
pared to June 2019, while demand as compared to InvITs, toll-operate-transfer ard) to provide financial assist-
Mumbai-Patna saw a mas- routes which were seeing model in highways sector), ance to irrigation projects, agri-
sive rise of 74.53%. like Mumbai leads to an 80-85% The overall yields for airlines are lower demand,” the official added. It project finance, creating DFIs, culture storage and marketing
Restrictions by state govern- increase in airfares as seen in the down, as only a few routes are seeing must, however, be noted that air among others,” the official said. infrastructure and food proc-
ments on flight operations to and past. However, due to airfare cap- good demand, while airlines are fly- fares are currently being regulated The development assumes essing in the agriculture, and
from Mumbai and Kolkata pushed ping by the government, the ing near-empty planes on other by the government, which has significance as focus on infra- Indian Railway Finance Corp.
up airfares in the sectors. “Spike in increase in cost of air travel is still routes, a Delhi-based senior airline imposed a cap on fares that can be structure sector is expected to to fund rail infrastructure
airfares are largely for ex-Mumbai limited,” Kumar added. official said, requesting anonymity. charged by airlines. help restart the economy dam- among others.

‘Govt must rejig GST Sebi relaxes margin trading norms after some provisions draw flak
rates to revive demand’ FROM PAGE 1
broker. But, beginning 1
Goutam Das August, he would be required
goutam.das@livemint.com to pledge them with the broker
NEW DELHI to use them as margin. Besides,
brokers must collect margins
which misused client securities
and pledged them with banks
to raise funds.
A Sebi circular allowing both
systems to run in parallel
comes after the Association of
National Exchange Members in
“We request Sebi to allow the
existing system to run parallel
for two months and allow cli-
ents to transfer their DP shares
to normal and MTF collateral
account till such time the back-
office systems are in place for
demic...representations
received from stock brokers and
stock broker associations...it has
been decided that the system of
parallel acceptance of the client
securities by way of title transfer
shall be available only up to 31
client’s account, after which
the client shall pledge the same
to the broker through explicit
instructions. Brokers claimed
this change did not reduce risks
taken by them if clients refuse
or delay the pledge, but Sebi
pens to the risk taken by bro-
ker? How does the broker
protect his interest here? How
do we assess the credibility of
clients, when we don’t even
have access to credit scoring
systems that are available to

D
K. Aggarwal, president upfront before executing India (ANMI), among its vari- the benefit of clients,” ANMI August,” the Sebi circular said. refused to roll back the change. other lenders?” ANMI said in
of the PHD Chamber of trades. The rules were aimed to ous demands, requested two had told Sebi The new pledge guidelines “What if the client refuses a representation on Wednes-
Commerce and Indus- prevent a debacle like the one more months to implement “In view of the prevailing sit- require that margin-funded or delays to provide pledge to day before Sebi issued the cir-
try, and chairman of SMC at Karvy Stock Broking Ltd, back-office changes. uation due to the pan- stock be first delivered to the the funded shares? What hap- cular.
Investments and Advisors Ltd,
said that small companies in
India may face stiffer competi-
tion in the months ahead
because the demand pie has
shrunk. With everyone chasing D.K. Aggarwal, president of
fewer customers, it will impact the PHD Chamber of
their pricing and margins. The Commerce and Industry.
government must, therefore,
reconsider the goods and servi- items. If the 18% slab is merged
ces tax (GST) rates to revive with 12%, it would lead to ease of
demand, he said in an inter- doing business and would have
view. Edited excerpts: a much bigger impact on Extract of Standalone Unaudited Financial Results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020
What is your demand. Second,
assessment of m INTERVIEW the reduction in Quarter ended Year ended

the economic repo rates have to SI. No. Particulars June 30, 2020 March 31, 2020 June 30, 2019 March 31, 2020
situation? be passed on by banks. Demand Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Audited
We have to live with covid-19 would revive if the interest rates 1 Total Income from Operations 41,065 1,81,987 1,97,198 7,56,106
until we have a vaccine. Most are low for home loans, vehicle 2 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period (before Tax, Exceptional and / or Extraordinary Items) (3,457) 15,755 19,109 70,648
industries have started. Some loans and consumer appliances.
3 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period (before Tax, after Exceptional and / or Extraordinary Items) (3,457) 15,755 19,109 70,648
of them are operating at 50% Third, if the export income of
capacity utilisation; others are MSMEs are made tax-free, it 4 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period after Tax (after Exceptional and / or Extraordinary Items) (2,494) 12,917 14,355 56,506
at 75%. By Diwali, we should be would be a boost when domes- Total Comprehensive Income /(Loss) for the period [comprising Profit / (Loss) for the period (after tax) and
5 (1,507) 10,732 12,661 52,089
back to 80-90% capacity utili- tic demand is low. Other Comprehensive Income /(Loss) (after tax)]
zation. Earlier, there was What are the headwinds 6 Equity Share Capital 1,510 1,510 1,510 1,510
uncertainty about covid-19. MSMEs face today? 7 Reserve as shown in the Audited Balance Sheet of the previous year 4,82,860
Now, there is more confidence The loss MSMEs suffered for 8 Earnings Per Share (of INR 5 each) (for continuing and discontinued operations)
among people who are coming three months have broken
(a) Basic (8.26) 42.76 47.52 187.06
out of their homes, going to their backbone. If the morato-
offices and factories. Things are rium period (on repayment of (b) Diluted (8.26) 42.76 47.52 187.06
much better than what they loans) is not extended, there
were two months ago. will again be cash flow issues. Extract of Consolidated Unaudited Financial Results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020
What about the Many MSMEs fear
demand side? ‘MSMEs require a these loans might Quarter ended Year ended
So far there was second round of turn into non-per- SI. No. Particulars June 30, 2020 March 31, 2020 June 30, 2019 March 31, 2020
an equilibrium package because forming assets, Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Audited
because there was covid-19 is going which would 1 Total Income from Operations 41,106 1,82,077 1,97,326 7,56,600
less demand and mean closure of
less supply. The
to last between business. The sec- 2 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period (before Tax, Exceptional and / or Extraordinary Items) (3,697) 16,186 18,530 71,028

supply-side is six and nine ond challenge is 3 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period (before Tax, after Exceptional and / or Extraordinary Items) (3,697) 16,186 18,530 71,028
more in control of months’ the cost of 4 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period after Tax (after Exceptional and / or Extraordinary Items) (2,683) 13,223 13,768 56,776
the businesses. It finance. The Total Comprehensive Income /(Loss) for the period [comprising Profit / (Loss) for the period (after tax) and
5 (1,692) 11,038 12,074 52,359
is the demand banks are lending Other Comprehensive Income / (Loss) (after tax)]
side that is not in control. Here, at 7.5-9%. However, most 6 Equity Share Capital 1,510 1,510 1,510 1,510
we need some support from the MSMEs don’t have exposure to 7 Reserve as shown in the Audited Balance Sheet of the previous year 4,92,620
government. If the ₹3-trillion banks. They have exposure to
8 Earnings Per Share (of INR 5 each) (for continuing and discontinued operations)
package to the micro, small and non-banking financial compa-
medium enterprises (MSMEs) nies, where the cost of funding (a) Basic (8.88) 43.77 45.58 187.95
sector comes to circulation, it is 12-14%. Third is the demand (b) Diluted (8.88) 43.77 45.58 187.95
could boost some demand, but side. Unless immediate meas-
not entirely—much of the ures are taken to boost Note: The above is an extract of the detailed format of the Standalone and Consolidated Financial Results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 filed with the Stock Exchanges under Regulation 33 of
the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The full format of the Standalone and Consolidated Financial Results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 are available
money will be used for working demand, there will be more
on the websites of BSE and NSE at www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.com and on Company’s website at www.marutisuzuki.com.
capital, for buying inputs. competition—more companies
What more do you expect would target the same demand. For and on behalf of Board of Directors
the government to do on the That would affect pricing and
demand side? margins. MSMEs require a sec- Place: Gurugram (Kenichi Ayukawa)
GST can be reduced across ond round of package because
all the four slabs. The 12% and covid-19 is going to last Date: July 29, 2020 Managing Director & CEO
18% slabs are for manufactured between six and nine months.
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

10 THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI PERSONAL FINANCE

Borrowers face hurdles How much a house costs in Bengaluru

A house is probably the biggest spend for most Indians. And
with urban population increasing manifold, buying a house
in a large city, which is where most jobs are likely to be, has

from EMI moratorium

become difficult—the main obstacle being cost. Determining a
property’s value is difficult. Our compilation of property prices of
prominent localities in major cities and surrounding areas across
India may help you compare and make an informed decision.
Here are the prices of some properties across four bands.

Some borrowers on moratorium saw EMI deduction and the levy of ‘bounce’ charges Location
No. of
bedrooms
Average unit
size (sq. ft)
Average price
(₹/sq. ft)
Approximate
price (₹ lakh)
ISTOCK
Renu Yadav Under ₹50 lakh
renu.yadav@livemint.com Things to keep in mind Chandapura 1BHK 550-650 3,300-3,800 19.3-23.3
Electronic City Phase- 1 2BHK 900-1,150 3,700-4,300 39.0-43.0

W
hen Noida-based
Sriram Natara-
jan, 33, who
works in the hos-
pitality sector,
faced a salary cut of 40% in March,
he applied for a moratorium from
March to May on his personal loan.
He got a refund for March. He once
again applied for the moratorium
when the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) extended it till August. But
Natarajan’s bank allowed him to
apply for the extension only two
days before his equated monthly
instalment (EMI) due date of 5
June. His EMI was deducted by the
bank for the month of June and he
got the refund a month later, that
too after several emails and multi-
ple follow-ups.
Due to lack of proper infrastruc-
ture and shortage of staff, some len-
ders have struggled to cater to the
large volume of requests for EMI
moratoriums. Like Natarajan, sev-
eral others have faced a delay in
refunds of EMIs, lenders deducting
EMIs even after borrowers have
opted for moratorium, charging
EMI bounce charges, and so on.
We tell you some of the common
problems being faced by borrowers
and the recourse available to them.
EMI DEDUCTION
Many borrowers are complaining
that their EMIs were deducted even
though they opted for the morato-
rium. “This is a common problem
borrowers are facing. This could
happen due to delay in opting for
the moratorium by the borrower or
delay on the part of bank in proc-
essing the request due to shortage
of staff and lack of appropriate sys-
tems,” said Raj Khosla, founder and
managing director, MyMoneyMan-
tra.com, a Delhi-based financial
services provider.
Natarajan’s bank deducted his
July EMI too, even though he had
opted for the moratorium within
the specified time frame. Banks
generally ask borrowers to opt for
moratorium five to seven days
before their EMI due date. He has
raised a request with his bank but
he was yet to receive a refund when
we spoke to him last.
Now, Natarajan is wondering
ECS can make payment of EMIs, bills and contribution to PPF easier
Nilanjana Chakraborty
nilanjana.chakraborty@htdigital.in
ECS or electronic clearing
service is a scheme intro-
duced by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) to facilitate the
transfer of funds from one
bank account to another in an
automated way.
In India, ECS debit is han-
dled by the National Auto-
mated Clearing House, which
is a clearing house mecha-
You can get moratorium if you were not
1 an NPA for the bank before 1 March Electronic City Phase- 2 2BHK 900-1,100 3,500-3,900 35.0-39.0
You can’t avail of moratorium for loans
2 taken after 1 March Home loan Gottigere 2BHK 800-1,000 3,700-4,100 33.1-37.1
moratorium
can affect Tumkur Road 2BHK 800-1,200 4,000-4,800 42.0-46.0
You need to apply for moratorium
3 five-seven days before the EMI due date tax benefits
Kengeri 2BHK 950-1,150 4,200-4,600 44.2-48.2
bit.ly/30aWgSO
If you opt for it after the EMI due date,
4 you’ll get EMI refunds in seven to 10 days ₹50 lakh-₹75 lakh
You can’t get it for previous month. So you Kanakapura 3BHK 1,300-1,600 4,600-5,000 67.6-71.6
5 can’t apply for July moratorium in August
Varthur 2BHK 950-1,200 4,700-5,200 51.2-55.2
After the request is accepted, there
6 are no EMI bounce charges K.R. Puram 2BHK 1,100-1,300 4,600-5,000 55.6-59.6
You can make partial or full loan prepayment Kadugodi 2BHK 1,000-1,200 4,600-5,100 51.4-55.4
7 even after opting for EMI moratorium
Bannerghatta 2BHK 1,000-1,300 5,500-6,000 64.1-68.1
Availing of moratorium won’t impact
8 your credit score Thanisandra 2BHK 1,050-1,250 4,900-5,300 56.7-60.7
EMI moratorium doesn’t provide any
9 interest waiver
₹75 lakh-₹1.0 crore
Sarjapur Road 3BHK 1,300-1,700 5,800-6,800 92.5-96.5
whether the bank will charge him vice-president, Federal Bank. decided to pay his EMI on 18 April Yelahanka 3BHK 1,400-1,900 5,100-5,800 87.9-91.9
additional interest for the entire Some of the banks are taking cor- instead of the due date of 10 April. Harlur Road 3BHK 1,300-1,700 5,800-6,500 90.3-94.3
period despite the fact that EMI for rective actions in such cases. “As Coincidentally, that was the last
the month of June was deducted per the bank’s policy, the applica- EMI he was supposed to pay Marathahalli 2BHK 1,100-1,550 5,800-6,500 79.5-83.5
and refunded only in July. tions that are approved for morato- towards his loan. However, his
Experts advise that borrowers rium will not be levied any bounce bank deducted another EMI next Whitefield 2BHK 1,200-1,500 5,500-6,500 79.0-83.0
should approach the respective charges. If any such charges are lev- month and also slapped extra inter- Above ₹1.0 crore
banks to get the issue resolved. “If ied, necessary corrective steps are est. Now, he is struggling to get the
the refunds are delayed even if the being taken by the bank and future additional money refunded. Hebbal 3BHK 1,600-2,400 8,000-11,000 188.0-192.0
borrower applied for the morato- EMIs are not presented for pay- “In principle, the moratorium
J.P. Nagar 3BHK 1,700-2,100 7,000-9,500 154.8-158.8
rium in time, then ment during the mor- was never an interest waiver, so if a
banks should ideally Many customers atorium period,” said person has delayed EMI payment, Banashankari 3BHK 1,600-2,200 8,000-10,000 169.0-173.0
not charge the interest are facing Rohit Rao, chief com- he or she is liable to pay interest for Look out for real estate data in this space for cities such as Delhi and NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata,
Pune and Hyderabad. The list is not exhaustive. Data as on June 2020.
for that period. For problems due to munication officer, the time the EMI was delayed. If the PARAS JAIN/MINT Source: Cushman and Wakefield Research India
any concerns regard- lack of standard Kotak Mahindra borrower thinks additional interest
ing untenable charges, Group. is charged, he or she can approach
procedures
the customer must If your bank has not the bank to get it reversed,” said
contact the bank’s cus- followed by reversed the charges Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bankba-
tomer care. The reso- lenders on its own, request the zaar.com.
lution is provided bank to do so. In most Many customers are facing prob-
mostly within seven
days,” said Khosla.
cases, it will happen, lems due to the lack of a standard
but if it doesn’t, you can approach procedure followed by lenders and
the RBI ombudsman. lack of clarity about the morato-
Stagger your investments to take
EMI BOUNCE CHARGES
Banks levy a penalty fee on the bor- OTHER PROBLEMS
rium rules. So it’s important to
know the rules around moratorium
rowers if they miss paying their Chennai-based Shiv Shankar, 34, (see graph). It is also important to
advantage of the market volatility
EMI. However, they are not allowed who works in the sales division of find out the guidelines of your bank ISTOCK
to levy these charges from borrow- an electronics company, opted for as different banks may have differ- Srikanth Meenakshi
ers whose EMI moratorium request EMI moratorium for April as a pre- ent procedures.
has been approved. cautionary measure. However, as Disha Sanghvi contributed to the My portfolio is giving nega-
“During this six months’ time, he didn’t face any pay cut, he story tive returns. Can you please
banks are not expected to raise any review it? I invest in sys-
demand by way of NACH (National tematic investment plans
Automated Clearing House), For more stories about how to manage your (SIPs) of the following
cheque collection, ECS, auto-re- money life, listen to the podcast Why Not Mint funds: ₹5,000 each in L&T
covery and standing instruction Money with Mint’s Personal Finance team on Emerging Business
from borrowers whose EMI mora- htsmartcast.com. Invest smartly to make every (started in August 2017)
torium request has been penny count. and Axis Bluechip (July
approved,” said Babu K.A., senior 2019); ₹3,000 each in IDFC
Focused Equity (Septem-
ber 2017) and Mirae Asset ASK MINT in, invest in some of the funds
Large Cap (July 2019); m MUTUAL FUNDS in the first week, some in the
₹2,000 each in Axis Long second week, and so on.
Term Equity (August 2017), This would help you maxi-
HDFC Mid-Cap Opportuni- across fund houses and cate- mize your opportunity to
ties (August 2017) and ICICI
Prudential Bluechip (July
gories. As much as 40% of the
investments are going into
invest in market falls in these
times. Regarding lump sum
2019); as well as ₹1,500 large-cap funds, 30% into mid- investments, you have tried to
Under the scheme, you can tutions and organizations for lower than that charged on each in Aditya Birla Sun cap, and the remaining into ride the trend of current crisis
give standing instructions to making automated payments other fund transfer services Life Tax Relief 96 (August diversified funds, including by investing in healthcare and
the bank you hold an account such as dividends, and sala- like NEFT. 2017) and DSP Tax Saver equity-linked savings gold funds. You may have seen
with authorizing the transfer ries and pensions. Having an ECS mandate in (August 2017). I have a total schemes. There is nothing some gains from this part of
of an amount at a prescribed To start an ECS, you have place can make life easier by lump sum investment of ₹2 wrong about your fund selec- your portfolio. Nevertheless,
frequency to the designated to sign a form authorizing the ensuring that you don’t miss lakh (done between Octo- tion. It is simply a matter of you should make sure that you
recipient. This is especially payment instructions given EMIs or bill payments. How- ber 2019 and May 2020) in being patient and disciplined exit these investments at the
useful for payment of loan to your bank. You need to fur- ever, make sure your bank Axis Focused 25, Mirae about investments. The mar- right time since these are cyc-
EMIs, as well as regular bills. nish your bank account account has adequate funds, Asset Healthcare, Nippon kets are topsy-turvy and you lical areas in the market that
You can even use the ECS details in the form and sign it because if the ECS bounces, India Pharma, IDFC Gov- need to continue investing will be prone to downturns as
facility to make regular con- before submitting it. While you might be required to pay ernment Securities and through the volatility. and when the tide turns.
nism governed by the tributions to your Public there is a service charge a penalty equivalent to that DSP World Gold fund. One thing you may want to Srikanth Meenakshi is
National Payments Corp. of Provident Fund account. ECS applicable to ECS transac- applicable to a bounced —Tapan do to take advantage of the ups co-founder, PrimeInvestor.in.
India (NPCI). is also used by financial insti- tions, it is typically much cheque. You are investing ₹25,000 a and downs is to spread invest- Queries and views at mint-
month in a mixture of funds ments through the month—as money@livemint.com

REVIEW THE INSURANCE DOCUMENT, VERIFY AGENT’S CREDENTIALS BEFORE BUYING

ISTOCK
erally show is 4% and 8%. Since these are the returns that the
insurer earns, your returns will be lower. The 4% and 8% band is
INSURANCE carefully selected to set reasonable expectations. A promise of
higher return is not credible. This illustration also details out the
STREET fund amount that you can withdraw each year.
In health insurance, the main documents to review are the pro-
K A P I L M E H TA posal form and your policy itself. Both will be sent by the insurer
as standard practice. The proposal form outlines the information
Respond to this column at that has been shared with the insurer by the sales person or you;
mintmoney@livemint.com and this information has formed the basis of underwriting. Any
verbal discussion beyond this form is not considered. The policy
can and communication from their official emails. Insurers put
up a list of terminated agents on their websites. And, the insur-
ance regulator publishes the list of active corporate agents, bro-
kers, web aggregators and other distributors on its website
(irdai.gov.in). Other reliable sources of information are policy-
holder.gov.in for policyholder information; gicouncil.in, the Gen-
eral Insurance Council’s website; lifeinscouncil.org, the life insur-
ance counterpart; and ibai.org, the insurance brokers’ association
website.
You can also Another good practice is to drop a
write to the message to the insurers’ support and

E
very once in a while, someone in our company gets an email
from my official account asking them to immediately trans-
fer money to a third-party bank account. These are phishing
emails, where someone impersonates me, to steal. Cybercrimes
have increased during the lockdown. Recently, 130 Twitter
accounts of prominent personalities were hacked and about
$120,000 stolen. Not all crimes are digital though. Last year a
friend’s health claim was rejected for non-disclosure because a
sales team had hidden his ill health from the insurer.
Insurance buyers often describe unkept promises. In life insur-
ance, the most common are the promise of a high return, 15% or
more; the assurance that only a few premiums need be paid; the
understanding that in a pension plan, funds can be withdrawn at
will; and a guarantee that buying insurance makes you eligible
for a loan. In health insurance, the broken promises are that pre-
existing health conditions are covered immediately even if not
declared; and all continuity benefits have been protected when
you bought a new insurance.
The broken promises would be fewer if buyers verified infor-
mation more diligently. There are many regulatory safeguards
and diligence is easy. The main diligence document in life insur-
ance is the sales illustration. It is mandatory for insurers to have
you sign this and send a copy with your policy. The illustration
lists out your premium payments over the years and outlines pos-
sible returns. The interest rate range that these illustrations gen-
has details of continuity benefits, dates of birth recorded and pre- helpdesk sites, to clarify any of your
existing conditions that have been noted. These two documents insurer’s doubts. They will respond but even if
let you know if the insurer is aware of your pre-existing health support or they do not, the fact that you shared
conditions and if your waiting periods are over. helpdesk sites your understanding with the insurer
Some buyers would like to get more detail about an insurer. to clarify doubts will be useful if there is a dispute.
Specifically, their claim settlement, complaint and grievance Also, insurers make a welcome call
rates, and financial strength. These can be determined from pub- in many cases after you have bought an
lic disclosures that each insurer publishes quarterly on its web- insurance policy. This is another opportunity for you to clarify.
sites. Life insurers’ form L-22, on analytical ratios in public dis- I have seen situations where the welcome caller clarified and cus-
closure has the insurer’s performance on sales, net worth, persis- tomer acknowledged that the insurance was no guarantee of a
tency and investment returns. Forms L-39 to 41 have excellent loan. Yet a few months later, the customer complained of a bro-
information on claims and grievances. For health insurance, the ken promise.
equivalent forms to read are NL-24, 25, 30 and 41. More direct questioning, insistence on written responses and
To verify the credentials of the person selling you insurance, your own research through verified sources will prevent sur-
find out if they are an individual agent, web aggregator, corporate prises.
agent, broker or some other approved entity. Ask for an ID if you Kapil Mehta is co-founder, SecureNow
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

NEWS THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI 11

Cinemas, bars
Antitrust hearing kicks off 34 years on, India
to stay shut in
Unlock 3 decides to overhaul
FROM PAGE 1

opening up of bars, placing fur-

ther challenges on the food ser-
vices sector that is already reel-
ing under the impact of the ear-
lier lockdown, restricted
timings and consumer fears
over visiting crowded spaces.
India’s restaurant industry
employs 7.3 million people.
The National Restaurant Asso-
ciation of India (NRAI) esti-
as 4 Big Tech CEOs testify its education policy
FROM PAGE 1
Heads of FB, Amazon, Google, Apple answer to US Congress for their firms’ practices focused universities and auton-
omous colleges.
As suggested in the draft
AP report, the final policy has done
feedback@livemint.com away with the M.Phil degree
WASHINGTON and makes under-graduation
degrees either three or four-

mates that nearly 40% of them
have been impacted by lock-
downs and business closures
due to covid.
“In these guidelines, the one
positive is the night curfew
being lifted, but we are very
surprised that they haven’t
opened bars and allowed ser-
vice of liquor,” said Anurag
Katriar, NRAI president, and
executive director and CEO of
deGustibus Hospitality.
“Job losses have only intensi-
fied in the last month-and-a
-half and our ability to continue
people on the payrolls is dimin-
ishing. Earlier, smaller compa-
nies were struggling, but now
even the bigger ones are find-
ing it hard.”
There was good news for
gyms and yoga centres though.
Almost four months of sus-
pended operations have cre-
ated a dent in the fragmented
fitness market where a majority
of gyms, fitness centres and
yoga studios are standalone
companies that are largely
dependent on running work-
ing capital. Strict lockdowns
have impacted revenues lead-
ing to job losses. According to
industry estimates, there are
around 90,000 gyms and yoga
studios in the country, employ-
ing over a million people.
Schools, colleges and coach-
ing institutions will continue to
remain closed till 31 August.
Saumya Tewari and Eliza-
beth Roche contributed to the
story.
F
our Big Tech chief execu- year. Besides, it will allow mul-
tive officers (CEOs)—Face- With tiple entry and exit options and
WhatsApp’s
book’s Mark Zuckerberg, new
introduces a new concept of
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Sun- feature, academic credit bank so that
dar Pichai of Google and group working professionals can The new policy emphasizes
Tim Cook of Apple—answer for notification come back and pursue educa- educating students in their
s may finally
their companies’ practices before stop being a
tion from where they left. mother tongues. HT
Congress as a House panel caps its problem Masters-level degrees can be
year-long investigation of market bit.ly/3hMg8R
of one or two years. Currently, Students in the age group of 3-8
dominance in the industry. X one-year degrees are not recog- years will be part of the founda-
The powerful executives defend nized in India. And after mas- tion stage, 8-11 age group for pre-
their companies as buttressing ters, one can directly pursue a paratory schooling, 11-14 years
competition and offering essential Ph.D. The new policy also talks for middle school and 14-18 for
services to consumers. The four about special education zones secondary level.
CEOs were testifying remotely for (SEZs) aimed at helping bring in The policy emphasizes edu-
a hearing Wednesday by the House foreign universities to India. cating students in their mother
Judiciary subcommittee on anti- “We have gone for systemic tongues. “Wherever possible,
trust at press time. reform than incremental the medium of instruction until
US President Donald Trump, (From left) Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai of Google and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. AP reform. The multiple-entry- at least Grade 5, but preferably
meanwhile, continued to and-exit system, less regula- till Grade 8 and beyond, will be
denounce the big tech companies, bedrock protections that have gen- innovation, raise prices for con- enforcement funding is needed. tion, graded the home lan-
which he has accused, without evi- erally shielded the companies from sumers and pose a danger to soci- Subcommittee chairman Rep. autonomy are sig- The high stake guage/mother-
dence, of bias against him and con- legal responsibility for what people ety. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island nificant steps,” board exams at tongue/local lan-
servatives in general. In a tweet, he post on their platforms. In its bipartisan investigation, Democrat, has called the four com- higher education class X and XII guage/regional
challenged Congress to crack down The four tech CEOs command the judiciary subcommittee col- panies monopolies, although he secretary Amit levels, will be ‘low language,” the
on the companies. corporations with gold-plated lected testimony from mid-level says breaking them up should be a Khare told report-
stake’ and may be HRD ministry
“If Congress doesn’t bring fair- brands, millions or even billions of executives of the four firms, com- last resort. While forced breakups ers. Khare said the said.
ness to Big Tech, which may appear unlikely, the Centre and states conducted more The policy says
they should have done MARKET DOMINANCE wide scrutiny of Big Tech will work than once a year vocational educa-
years ago, I will do it myself points toward possible new together to tion will be inte-
with Executive Orders,” TRUMP, in a tweet, HIS justice dept has PROPOSED changes KEY question is if restrictions on its power. increase educa- grated from class
Trump tweeted before the challenged Congress urged Congress to
to crack down on
would strip some of antitrust laws and
roll back protections protections that have policies are
The companies face legal tion spending to 6% of GDP as VI and an internship of 10 days
start of the hearing. “In the big tech for online platforms shielded them from adequate or new and political offensives on against the current 4.4%. at the school level will be made
Washington, it has been companies like FB and Twitter legal responsibility legislation is needed multiplying fronts, from Increasing the spend on educa- part of the system. It reduces the
ALL TALK and NO Congress, the Trump tion has been a long-standing rigid course structure between
ACTION for years, and the administration, federal and demand from educators. science and arts streams, curric-
people of our Country are sick and customers, and a combined value petitors and legal experts, and state regulators and European At the school level, the policy ular and extracurricular activi-
tired of it!” greater than the entire German pored over more than a million watchdogs. The justice department redraws the schooling system ties, and emphasizes the need to
Trump’s justice department has economy. One of them, Bezos, is internal documents from the com- and the Federal Trade Commission on a 5+3+3+4 formula instead of track the learning outcome of
urged Congress to roll back long- the world’s richest individual; panies. A key question: whether have been investigating the four the current 10+2 model. Besides, students from pre-school level
held legal protections for online Zuckerberg is the fourth-ranked existing competition policies and companies’ practices. the high stake board exams at to school-leaving grade. The
platforms such as Facebook, Goo- billionaire. century-old antitrust laws are ade- Each company has a distinct pro- class X and class XII level, will be new policy also plans to intro-
gle and Twitter. The proposed Critics question whether the quate for overseeing the tech file and each tech titan has his own ‘low stake’ and may be con- duce computational thinking
changes would strip some of the companies stifle competition and giants, or if new legislation and approach and story to tell. ducted more than once a year. and coding from class VI.

NPCI puts caps on market share Covid-19 takes a toll Global cos gain from anti-China tilt
FROM PAGE 1

year onwards. NPCI will trigger

on bellwether firms every day. So why penalize con-
sumers by forcing them to use
anything but the best apps/ser-
FROM PAGE 1

warnings to payment apps and
sponsor banks if they near the
threshold.
In case of a breach of the man-
dated threshold, NPCI will start
penalizing payment firms and
banks, and ask them to stop
onboarding new customers
with immediate effect. NPCI did
not respond to Mint’s queries.
“NPCI has explained that this
is undertaken as a part of ensur-
ing risk management review
across products, and the impact
of market capping will be dis-
cussed with each firm. Execu-
tion details will also be dis-
cussed with them in detail,”
said one of the two people cited,
who didn’t want to be named.
This move is expected to
hurt payment apps such as
Google Pay, which commands
a 42% market share, and Flip-
kart-owned PhonePe, which
has a 35% share, along with
Amazon Pay, which have been
Flipkart-owned PhonePe has a
35% market share. BLOOMBERG
working to spread the accept-
ance of UPI. It is also likely to
influence WhatsApp’s pay-
ment offering, which has been
running pilots for over two
years and is awaiting approval
from the Reserve Bank of India.
“UPI is a completely open
and interoperable ecosystem
by design. There is no barrier to
entry to new entrants at all.
New players are still entering
vice providers available at any
time?” said Sameer Nigam,
co-founder and CEO, PhonePe.
Though nobody is near the
50% market share range now,
the real challenge will start
from next year when the limit is
reduced to 40%, he added.
NPCI is expected to give pay-
ments apps three months to com-
ply with the rules, starting July.
“Market capping got trig-
gered even further after the Yes
Bank moratorium in March,
which caused outages on the UPI
infrastructure. NPCI came in
with the understanding that by
capping market share, the risk of
outages due to ‘one player being
too large’ can be mitigated. But
in reality, it is counterproductive
to the UPI ecosystem and will hit
players which are spending on
behalf of NPCI to increase the
penetration of UPI,” said a senior
executive of a payment firm,
who didn’t want to be named.
FROM PAGE 1
crore. India’s largest private
airline had a net profit of
₹1,203 crore a year earlier.
At Bharti Airtel, net loss
widened to ₹15,933 crore in
the June quarter from ₹2,866
crore last year mainly due to
provision towards regulatory
dues. Besides, prolonged lock-
downs and curbs on move-
ment slowed net additions of
4G users to two million.
“We are going through an
unprecedented crisis. Despite
this, our teams have served the
country well and kept our cus-
tomers connected,” said Gopal
Vittal, managing director and
chief executive officer, India
and South Asia at Bharti Airtel.
For manufacturers such as
Maruti, future outbreaks of
covid and ensuing lockdowns
could disrupt plans to meet
production and sales targets.
“The results were worse than
our estimates. We see a 18%
volume decline in Maruti,
resulting in a 33% fall in earn-
ings per share in FY21 due to
pressure on margins,” said
Shashank Kanodia, auto ana-
lyst, ICICI Securities.
For aviation,, the picture is
bleak, though IndiGo is poised
to recover faster than other
domestic carriers given its
adequate cash reserve.
“We believe operations will
remain under pressure. With
free cash of ₹7,528 crore on its
balance sheet, IndiGo is best
placed among airlines to
weather the =crisis,” said Jyoti
Roy, equity strategist at Angel
Broking Ltd.
But for rival SpiceJet, which
recorded a ₹807 crore loss,
covid could sound the death
knell as on Wednesday, auditors
to the carrier once again raised
concerns around its viability.
winner”.
Google-owned YouTube
recently announced there are
now 2,500 creators on its plat-
form who have over one mil-
lion followers. The company,
however, did not attribute the
increase to the ban.
The trend is in line with what
experts had predicted after the
29 June ban on 59 apps by the
Indian government including
TikTok and CamScanner.
Indian platforms like Chingari
and Mitron, which gained from
the ban, are too early in their
life cycle for influencers to
really benefit.
Meanwhile, Samsung gained
market share in the smart-
phone space. Data from Coun-
terpoint Research showed that
the South Korean smartphone
maker rose to the second spot
in the smartphone market,
with 26% market share in the
June quarter; a sharp increase
from the 16% market share it
had in Q1 of this year. China amid extra scrutiny,”
It toppled Vivo for the sec- said Shilpi Jain, research ana-
ond spot, which retained its 17% lyst at Counterpoint.
market share from the last Samsung lost its lead in the
quarter. Realme and Oppo, smartphone market over a year
which are also Chinese phone ago, and hasn’t been able to
makers, shed 3% market share regain that spot since. Retailers
each in the second quarter of had earlier predicted that anti-
the calendar year. Vivo, Oppo Chinese sentiments could ben-
and Realme are owned by efit Samsung, which has also
China’s BBK Elec- ramped up its
tronics. The number of product portfolio
“The contribu- installations of Zili in the country
tion of Chinese app surged nearly during the quar-
brands (to the threefold in the ter. The company
smartphone mar- launched four
three weeks
ket) fell to 72% in affordable smart-
Q2 2020 from 81% following the June- phones under its
in Q1 2020. This end ban on TikTok M series during
was mainly due to the quarter, capi-
the mixture of talising on the
stuttering supply for some pent-up demand and anti-
major Chinese brands such as China sentiments.
Oppo, Vivo and Realme, and Indian smartphone makers
growing anti-China sentiment Micromax, Lava and Karbonn
that was compounded by strin- were expected to launch smart-
gent actions taken by the gov- phones soon, but they will have
ernment to ban more than 50 an uphill battle, having lost
apps of Chinese origin and their place in the market to Chi-
delay the import of goods from nese brands over the years.

Some firms keep staff motivated with sops Scale up MSME lending: Modi to lenders
FROM PAGE 1
mile. Companies such as
Procter & Gamble (P&G) and
Goodera as well as startups like
Springworks have turned to
gamification to induct new
employees, motivate existing
staff, and run training modules
remotely during the covid-19
pandemic. Gamification
encourages healthy competi-
tion, and the immediate incen-
tives range from gift vouchers
to virtual one-on-ones with the
CEO for racking up a certain
number of ‘karma points’.
“When you work from home,
other people in the team don’t
know what you’re doing. And
it’s nice when your teammates
and managers recognize your
contribution,” says Sarkar. “In
office, we’d chat or congratulate
one another. That was missing.”
Bengaluru-based Spring-
works built a gamified peer-to-
peer recognition platform and collaboration are engaging Srinivas, head, HR, India sub- FROM PAGE 1 frauds. Since March, the Reserve
called ‘Springengage’ in late and interactive, a gamified continent, Procter & Gamble. “It was a feedback-taking Bank of India (RBI) and the
April after its staff moved to module was created on its app. At Goodera, gamification has micro, small and medium session with the prime minis- finance ministry have
work remotely. ‘Kudos’ (appre- As the interns completed man- worked to get its young staff to enterprises (MSMEs) and agri- ter. He told banks and financial announced a slew of measures
ciation and gratitude for help) datory and optional training interact again, and ease work culture and ‘relook at its prac- institutions to continue to to help businesses tide over
from a fellow staff member courses on the app, answered stress. Over the last few months, tice’ to ensure stable credit focus on economic revival. the covid-19 crisis. However, a
earns the person 10 points, quizzes and challenges, they the tech firm working in corpo- growth, amid a disruption Banks have been assured sup- sustained rise in infections,
while a ‘shoutout’ (when some- accumulated points. This was rate social responsibility has caused by the coronavirus port from the government,” and a partial lockdown in some
one goes beyond his or her role tallied on a leaderboard on the rolled out a virtual volunteering pandemic. another official said. states have continued to put
or does something app with the top facility. While employees met An official statement from On Tuesday, a statement businesses and lenders under
that helps the Game-based scorers getting all their deadlines, morale the Prime Minister’s Office on from the Prime Minister’s pressure, with most of them
firm) brings in 100 activities are also gift hampers. seemed to be flagging. So, Wednesday said that lenders Office said subjects of discus- expecting a second round of
points. The scores helping firms “We wanted to founder Abhishek Humbad should not treat all proposals sion would include credit stimulus from the govern-
are displayed on a induct recruits innovate and truly introduced virtual volunteer- with the same yardstick. There products and efficient models ment.
leaderboard,
and interns, all of translate our ing. But it really took off when is a need to distinguish and for delivery, financial empow- Banks, particularly, may
which creates a on-ground ‘GetIn’ staff could earn ‘karma points’ identify ‘bankable proposals’ PM Modi met heads of top erment through technology, come under immense pres-
healthy competi- whom are joining onboarding pro- for individual and team effort, and ensure that they don’t private and public sector banks prudential practices for stabil- sure. Last week, the central
tion. work remotely gramme to a fully social impact of the voluntary become bad loans. and NBFCs on Wednesday. PTI ity and sustainability of the bank said non-performing
Game-based virtual experience. work and more. The points, The progress of schemes— financial sector. assets are expected to rise to a
activities are also Gamifying the which reflect on a leaderboard the ₹3 trillion emergency Aatma Nirbhar package—was Top officials from the 20-year high to 12.5% of total
helping companies induct new experience with deliberately on Goodera’s internal platform, credit line for the labour inten- also reviewed. finance ministry, including advances by March 2021. RBI
hires and interns, all of whom planned touch-points increased earn staff gifts, e-commerce sive MSME sector, additional Banks were asked to should financial services secretary warned that if the economic
are joining work remotely now. the overall participation and vouchers or a virtual one-on- kisan credit cards for the farm- adopt technology similar to Debashish Panda, heads of conditions worsen further, this
For the first time in its history, engagement on the app. This one meeting with the CEO. ers, liquidity window for non- the fintech firms to increase State Bank of India, Punjab may soar to 14.7% under the
P&G India inducted 90 interns also created a sense of commu- “People notice what others are banking financial companies credit penetration, increase National Bank and Bank of very severely stressed scenario.
into a two-month stint virtually nity, drove engagement and doing, and it also nudges them and micro finance institutions ease for customers, lower costs Baroda, among others, were Anuja contributed to the
this year. To ensure learning motivated interns,” says P.M. to do more,” says Humbad. (MFIs), under the ₹20 trillion for banks and also reduce part of the meeting. story.
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

12 THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI VIEWS

OUR VIEW MY VIEW | OTHER SPHERE

RAMESH PATHANIA/MINT

Gandhi, King, Lewis and others

who lit an eternal flame of valour
We should pass the inspiration we have gained from our childhood heroes down the generations

I was soaking up books, which, even to
me now, seems totally incongruous
with my age then. The number was also
abnormal. Almost a book a day. So, I just
cannot recollect where I read of the
young man who stayed up one night in
Nashville, writing a list of non-violent
‘do’s and don’ts’ to help his fellow stu-
dents if they got arrested. The last point
ANURAG BEHAR in that list was: “Remember the teach-
is CEO of Azim Premji Foundation and also ings of Jesus, Gandhi, Thoreau, and
leads sustainability initiatives for Wipro Ltd Martin Luther King Jr”. That this line
was not a figment of my childhood
imagination got settled only recently,
when I read one of my most treasured
when sirens would blare at night during
the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Lying on
the floor in my Mausi’s room, in the
usual scorching summer afternoon of
Raipur, I remember picking up a book
with a green cover. It was 1979, and by
then my Nana had moved from Bhopal
to Raipur. I didn’t drop it till I finished it
late that night. The back-flap listed the
author’s other books. The next morn-
ing, I went with Nana, who dropped me
at his university’s library, which by then
was used to the odd requests of a kid.
They searched for the other books,
and got me Under the Sea Wind and The

A recovery that has very

gifts, Taylor Branch’s Parting the Edge of the Sea.

T
he crashing monsoon rain beyond Waters, in which the incident is Mausi and I fought the next two
the shut windows and the hushed described as I remembered it. nights. She wanted me to switch off the
tones is as alive as this morning. I can’t recollect whether I read first lights, and I would not, lost as I was in
Blurting out my defiance of insufferable about Dharasana or Selma. They are Rachel Carson’s lyrical conjuring of the

little steam of its own oppression with all the might of a seven-
year-old is also vivid. So is the cutting
glare from my Mausi (aunt), my best
friend, barely having entered college
fused in my head. And into Webb Mil-
ler’s wrenching words that were first
read by millions in mid-May 1930: “Not
one of the marchers even raised an arm
wonder of nature, magical enough to
vanquish the atrocities of the Raipur
summer. Ever since, a copy of Silent
Spring has been with me, like the Gita or
then, and her whispered warning, “You to fend off the blows. They went down the Bible. And Rachel (she can’t be
will also be jailed and so will all of us.” like ten-pins. From where I stood, I called Carson) is among my heroes.
An incipient revival of the Indian economy after the lockdown seems to have stalled. Merely All this in the dining room of my Nana’s heard the sickening whacks of the clubs Some years ago, I started going regu-
(maternal grandfather’s) bungalow in on unprotected skulls.” larly to Washington DC. On every visit, I
unlocking India is not enough and demand looks too weak to rise without government help Bhopal, back in 1975. The first skull to be cracked open on would think of trying to meet Lewis.
Then they went back to talking about 7 March 1965 in Selma was that of the And then my courage would fail. I was
“JP, George and Dharia” in low voices. young man who led the 600 protesters afraid that I would start crying when I
At some point, I heard Nana mention across that bridge. And he was the same saw him. He was himself and that was

A
few indicators of economic
activity had looked up in May, as
India began to reopen for busi-
ness after a prolonged covid
lockdown, but since then, this
incipient recovery appears to
have lost momentum. Key aspects of the pre-
vailing gloom are captured by the latest update
of the Mint Macro Tracker published in this
newspaper on Wednesday. Of the 16 big varia-
bles under its watch, 12 were in the red—that is,
doing worse than their five-year average per-
formance. While tractor sales bounced up in
June, consumption measures such as sales of
passenger vehicles and air tickets showed a
crash. Industrial production, non-food bank
credit, rail freight traffic and core infrastruc-
ture growth clawed back in May and June from
earlier depths, but not enough to return to
their pre-covid trends. If the external sector
had better numbers, it was because foreign
reserves stayed high and imports shrunk even
more than exports, resulting in a positive trade
Some analysts now expect our gross domestic a king, and that had he been alive, young man who prayed to the flame enough. But he was also King and Gan-
product to contract by even more than 5%, he would have come, to struggle in that passed from Jesus to King, through dhi, and Selma and Dharasana. Not only
solidarity, for the freedom of the people Gandhi and Thoreau. because he crossed that bridge in 1963,
with the second half of the year showing only who gave him Gandhi. Thus, John Lewis became muddled but because he had kept crossing the
mild improvement over the first. Off-and-on These days, about once a year, I run in my head with Gandhi and King and bridge to good trouble, every day, since.
curbs on business operations have played a past that house—as all the others I have Thoreau. When I saw the terrifying On 16 July 2020, I read one of
role in this, with a patchwork of intermittent lived in—and their memories in that city Dharasana scene in Attenborough’s Rachel’s countless resplendent lines
which is home. Remembrances of that Gandhi in 1982, I saw Lewis fall. I read again: “Against this cosmic background
lockdowns under local authorities bringing distant a time, form as they did in a more about him. Never methodically, the lifespan of a particular plant or ani-
back memories of our permit raj days, when child’s head, must be jumbled. But not but just along the way in my chaotic but mal appears, not as drama complete in
petty officials would encash their power to in mine. I asked Nana who this king of copious reading. His preaching to itself, but only as a brief interlude in a
badger private producers. But a bigger reason ours was, who could not come to save chickens as a child because he wanted panorama of endless change.” The next
for the economy’s dim outlook is compressed us. That is how I first heard of him— to be a priest, one of the original 13 day, the 80-year-old Lewis passed away.
when Nana said, “Not the king, but Freedom Riders, leading the March on And it dawned on me how completely
expenditure by private agents, the classic Martin Luther King, Junior.” Since Washington in August 1963, and more. wrong my hero Rachel was.
cause of a deep recession. Yes, it is true that our then, King and Gandhi have lived Forever in good trouble—as King had The life of Lewis and Rachel’s own
rural sector has not been as badly hit as the rest together in my head. Even when I have advised him. life are no brief interludes. But eternal
of India. It is also undeniable that some retail playfully jostled with who was the bet- While my heroes are muddled in my flames of moral clarity and courage.
investors appear gung-ho on stock market ter of the two, they were inseparable. head, my memories of events are clear When I fail to carry that fire, you and
By the time the Emergency was lifted, all the way back to the age of three, others still will. Because they lived.
speculation. Yet, as things stand, the impulse
to spend rather than conserve cash is unlikely
to stage a sudden comeback even if a vaccine
were to overcome health anxieties.
So far, the Centre has been signalling a need
to abide by pre-covid fiscal restraints, hinting
of stimulus measures aimed at demand only www.livemint.com New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh*, Pune* Friday, July 30, 2010 Vol.4 No.180 Rs. 3.00 32 PAGES
+ 4 PAGES + 8 PAGES MARKETING FEATURE

Q&A: GeorgeOsborne on
balance for a change. The broad picture is not later, once the pandemic is past its peak. This strengthening India-UK ties >4
EARNINGS: Hero Honda posts 1.2% fall
in profit, revenue up >3

just dismal, it seems to confirm what was feared
frame of analysis adheres too strongly to the
WSJ: Federal Reserve report says US economic
activity remained sluggish >27
EXCLUSIVE PARTNER
RAGHURAM RAJAN: On how US used easy credit
as a palliative for middle-class anxieties >31

in April—that a revival would not be a simple notion that it is always unwise for a govern-
SENSEX 17,992.00 Æ 34.63 NIFTY 5,408.90 Æ 11.35 DOLLAR Rs46.54 æ Re0.21 EURO Rs60.88 Æ Re0.04 GOLD Rs17,745 æ Rs20 OIL $77.51 Æ $2.05

Maruti plans CLEARING HOUSE HD TELECAST QUICK EDIT

general
insurance firm GST, a step Doordarshan gets a What the
fxxx?
matter of unlocking our economy. Ravaged by ment to spend beyond its means. It also seems for customers
B Y A NIRUDH L ASKAR
S HALLY S ETH
·························
&

closer to
Games mascot: DD
B Y A BHILASHA O JHA
abhilasha.o@livemint.com
·······················
NEW DELHI
N ews that Goldman
Sachs has banned
the use of profanity in
emails shouldn’t surprise
anyone. After all, it True peace is not merely
MUMBAI

P oliticians may be taking wasn’t too long back that

an abrupt halt of commerce and wracked by to assume that the economy will get going by B
realization
anned by the Insurance potshots at Suresh Kal- an email describing a
Regulatory and Develop- madi, the man organizing the deal as s@#*ty came back

the absence of tension,

ment Authority (Irda) from
selling motor insurance to its
customers, Maruti Suzuki In-
dia Ltd, the nation’s largest
passenger car maker, is look-
ing to float a general insurance
firm with a local partner.
October Commonwealth to haunt the investment
Games in New Delhi; main- bank. At a Senate
stream media may be high- investigation into alleged
lighting the city’s lack of pre- irregularities at Goldman
The move will ensure MODEL MECHANISM paredness for the event; and Sachs, senator Carl Levin
each state gets its THE NEWS
several high-profile sport-
spersons may have already
used the s@#*ty word as
a punctuation mark,
share of revenue and

uncertainty, it needs more than just a simple itself after covid-19 recedes as a scare. Further,
The company had been sell-
ing motor insurance under its
umbrella brand, Maruti Insur-
ance, since 2002.
In fiscal 2010 alone, it sold at
The Centre and states choose NSDL to indicated their unavailability uttering it at least 21
set up the clearing house needed to
provide tax information usher in GST and to resolve tax
for the Games, but India’s times. Suffice it to say
state-owned national broad- that he made an impact.
to the authorities collections and credits
caster is excited about the Would the impact have
THE BACKGROUND event. director general of Doordar-

least 2.5 million policies, but
won’t be selling any more as
the regulator has cancelled its
agency licence, according to
it is the presence
been the same had the
B Y S URABHI A GARWAL The empowered committee of state Excited enough, in fact, to shan. deal been described as
finance ministers in November proposed
surabhi.a@livemint.com get itself a mascot for the The mascot, which looks “very bad”? In semantic
························· a clearing house model and dubbed it
IGST. The panel’s report stated that the event, which it will telecast in like a mechanical insectoid, terms, maybe not, but
NEW DELHI
government could skip some high definition (HD), no less. integrates the national chan- there would have been

restoration of supply. Demand matters, too, it seems to ignore its underlying weaknesses.
an Irda official familiar with
the development.
The move came after insur-
ance companies alleged that
Maruti service stations were
inflating bills and pushing
them into losses through hefty
T
he efforts to usher in a time-consuming steps involved in using Prasar Bharati, the state- nel’s logo and abbreviated no other difference.
goods and services tax third parties to create the backbone for owned broadcaster that has name. The Senate would have
(GST) received a big GST in order to fast-track the process the exclusive rights to tele- To be launched in the first still wanted to know
boost with the states as well as THE IMPLICATION cast the event, has named the week of August, DD (the mas- why Goldman Sachs was
the Centre agreeing to the set- The clearing house, a key part of the mascot DD, after its flagship cot) has been conceptualized recommending a scheme
ting up of a clearing house to GST architecture, is expected to channel Doordarshan. DD by Ogilvy and Mather (India) its own internal emails
resolve tax collections and ease the creation of the common (the mascot) is to be used to Ltd (O&M) at a cost of rough- described as “very bad”.

of justice.
claims. credits under the National Se- market promote the HD telecast of ly Rs2 crore. O&M had creat- At a time when John
“We are recasting our busi- curities Depository Ltd the event on DD (the chan- ed the award-winning Doe thinks Wall Street

and it looks too weak to get back up on its own. These were visible in flagging sales in various
ness model as directed by Irda.
In the meantime, we are en-
suring that there is no impact
on customers,” said Kanwal-
deep Singh, general manager
(corporate) at Maruti Suzuki.
“We are looking at floating a
new insurance company in
joint venture with an Indian
(NSDL), India’s oldest deposi-
tory, as a special purpose ve-
hicle.
This entity will then be spun
off as an independent compa-
ny in which NSDL will retain
10% and the balance will be
distributed between the Centre
and the states. A meeting of
nel); this will be the first time Zoozoos for telecom operator bankers are all a*@#%^*s,
handling volume as the nature the Games will be broadcast Vodafone Essar Ltd. banks do not need to get
of such transactions would re- in HD. The mascot will be used on employees to work on
quire,” said Guru Malladi, “The mascot has been cre- all the five Doordarshan their English. But some
partner of audit and consulting ated to generate audience in- channels that will showcase work in math and
firm Ernst and Young. NSDL terest for the Commonwealth finance may help.
also operates the tax informa- Games,” said Aruna Sharma, TURN TO PAGE 2®
tion network on the direct tax-
es side.

Unfortunately, July figures may not be much sectors even before the virus showed up, possi-
company. It may also be a
three-way joint venture.”
Foreign companies can’t
hold more than 26% of any In-
dian insurance venture. With
Japanese parent Suzuki Motor
Corp. holding a majority stake
in Maruti, it will not be able to
hold a 74% stake because of its
the empowered committee of
state finance ministers, sched-
uled for 4 August, is to decide
on the proportion of the equity
share between the Centre and
the states.
The in-principle approval to
go ahead with a clearing house
was accorded at the last meet-
The GST clearing house will
be similar to a stock exchange.
All the states will be members
and the agency will make sure
tax revenue is transferred to
the right state after every
transaction.
The backbone needs to meet
three conditions to start opera-

better than June’s. The question of a post-lock- bly an outcome of sclerotic investment. The
overseas partner’s indirect ing of the empowered commit- tions: businesses must be able

holding. This means it will be a
three-way joint venture.
“Considering the scale of
Maruti’s operations, it would
benefit both Maruti and its
customers,” said an insurance
expert at a large consultancy
company, who did not want to
tee on 21 July.
The clearing house, a key
part of the GST architecture, is
expected to ease the creation
of the common market, ensure
that each state gets its share of
revenue and also provide use-
ful tax information to the au-
MA RTI N LU THE R K I N G , JR .
to register online, taxes can be
paid after self-assessment and
returns can be filed online.
“The clearing house mecha-
nism is very industry-friendly
as it will eliminate the hassle
for dealers to register in all the
states,” said Pratik Jain, execu-

down rebound in growth was always based on relief package unveiled by the government in
be named. Globally, there have
been instances where the car
makers themselves have en-
tered into the motor insurance
business to cater to their cus-
tomers.
For instance, Ford Motor Co.
TURN TO PAGE 2®
thorities. The proposal envis-
ages a standard electronic re-
turn, which each of the esti-
mated eight million
establishments will be re-
quired to file every month.
To facilitate the implementa-
tion of the clearing house, the
department of revenue, under
tive director at audit and con-
sulting firm KPMG.
GST is an attempt to trans-
form India’s indirect tax sys-
tem by dismantling fiscal bar-
riers between states and creat-
ing a common market. It is ex-
pected to lower operating costs
for businesses and lower pric-

hope more than a realistic assessment of this May seems too reliant on credit disbursals to
the ministry of finance, has no-
tified a group under the chair-
manship of Nandan Nilekani,
head of the Unique Identifica-
tion Authority of India. Apart
from Nilekani, the group for
GST (IT infrastructure) includes
Y.G. Parande, member, Central
Board of Excise and Customs
es for consumers.
The states, through the em-
powered committee of state fi-
nance ministers, in November
proposed a clearing house
model and dubbed it IGST (in-
ter-state transactions of goods
and services). The finance
ministry accepted the IGST

crisis. It is not just a failure to contain the prove very effective. It is time to spur demand
(CBEC); K. Jose Cyriac, addi-
tional secretary, revenue; Satish
Chandra, member-secretary,
empowered committee; and
F.M. Jaswal, director general
(systems), CBEC. The commit-
tee will also include two state
government representatives.
“Institutions such as NSDL
proposal in January.
In its report on 9 June, Mint
had reported that the govern-
ment could skip some time-
consuming steps involved in
using third parties to create the
backbone for GST in order to
fast-track the process as the 1
April deadline for implement-

spread of coronavirus that has resulted in out- directly, lest revenue collections drop even
may have the experience of ing GST is fast approaching.

Mint is also available for Rs5.50 with Hindustan Times under a combo offer

put forecasts for 2020-21 getting grimmer. more, making a worrisome situation worse.

GUEST VIEW

A plan for Indian self-sufficiency in an AI-driven world

AI power, the field has basically become a
PARMINDER JEET SINGH race between the US and China. All other
countries are fast being left behind. The
International Monetary Fund’s chief
recently expressed fears of a “digital Berlin
Wall”, with countries forced to pick a side.
countries will be “forced to negotiate with erning non personal data, led by Infosys Note that the report does not call for the
whichever country supplies most of their AI co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, recently sharing of data that is private to a business;
software—China or the United States—to put out its draft report for public consulta- rather, only such data need be shared that is
essentially become that country’s economic tion. At the report’s core is an effort to ensure collected from sources not owned by it, and
dependent, taking in welfare subsidies in that non-personal data is actually shared and is about others in the community. Further,
exchange for letting the ‘parent’ nation’s AI made available widely to enable the develop- all businesses, while having to share data,

G
eo-political and economic power in
the industrial age was determined by
one’s expertise in manufacturing. In
a digital society, it’s likely to be based on
command over artificial intelligence (AI). As
an information age takes over, hastened by
the covid crisis, every country has to assess
where it stands in terms of AI. This could
To avoid becoming AI dependent, coun-
tries and regions like the UK, France, Euro-
pean Union (EU) and India are shaping their
AI strategies towards establishing a strong
domestic AI industry. AI has two elements:
one is the technology itself, and the other is
the social element of intensive, granular
information about potential subjects of AI,
companies continue to profit from the ment of a strong domestic AI industry. The also get access to the data gathered by other
dependent country’s report characterizes data businesses, which could be a considerable
users”. Observers such as collected from a commu- net gain. Digital businesses must shift from
Elon Musk and the late Ste- Ensuring wide nity or society as “commu- data hoarding as a key competitive advan-
phen Hawking have nity data”, and asks for it to tage to devising innovative uses of widely-
warned of the unprece- data availability be shared for the commu- shared data for the benefit of consumers. All
dented dangers of a con- nity or society’s benefit. players could gain from such a shift, so
centration of AI power.
may help India Such data should be availa- would the Indian economy, and it could help

is a member of the Kris

Gopalakrishnan committee on
non-personal data governance
and works with IT for Change,
an NGO
decide its position in the global hierarchy.
AI is a not a separate sector. Rather, it’s
expected to manage and lead every sector.
There is mobility AI, education AI, health AI,
agriculture AI, and so on. If every sector was
earlier controlled by whoever had prowess
over mechanical and chemical technology in
that sector, it would now be led by whoever
has the best AI for a given sector.
AI competence in every sector tends to get
concentrated in one or two top companies.
AI capabilities also work across sectors. Goo-
gle’s parent company Alphabet, for instance,
is into automobiles, media, health, educa-
tion, travel and perhaps more. With an
immense emerging global concentration of
or what we call data.
While also providing directions for tech-
nical development, AI strategies of most
countries focus on widespread availability of
data for the development of their domestic
digital industries. The US occupies the top
AI position, partly because its first-mover
digital platforms have gained from network
effects, turning many of them into global
data monopolies. Only China has been able
to match the US, because its internet fire-
wall—first set up for political reasons—let
local data companies emerge, develop
quickly, and become globally competitive.
Kai-Fu Lee, AI scientist and businessman,
wrote in The New York Times that all other
What are the options for
countries like India to
develop its AI ble to the local AI industry.
Data being a highly val-
India avoid an abject dependence for its AI
needs on the two global AI superpowers.
retain AI independence
and self-sufficiency? AI
industry and ued resource, enforcing its
sharing would require a
In a digital age, being self-sufficient in
terms of AI is central to any conception of an
strategies cannot just hope avoid external legal basis. The panel has Atmanirbhar Bharat. This requires India’s
for greater data sharing. gone to a considerable data to be made widely available for use by
There is no reason for dependence length to develop a con- the Indian AI industry. For this, the Gopala-
global AI monopolies to ceptual framework for this. krishnan panel seeks legislation and a new
voluntarily share their data Since such community regulator. India has considerable technical
hoards for the facilitation of domestic start- data is about—and arises from—the commu- capabilities in AI; data availability would ena-
ups that would compete with them. Some nity, it is considered to “own” it. All collec- ble a robust AI industry to emerge. Once the
form of mandatory sharing of data is thus tors of such data can only do so on the process is set in motion, positive feedback
being mulled in places like the EU, UK, implicit condition that it will be made availa- loops will keep improving AI technology as
France and Germany. ble to startups, if sought. This would be well as data availability. This is a reliable
It was against this backdrop that a com- legally enforceable, thanks to “community route to an India that is self-sufficient in AI.
mittee set up by India’s government on gov- ownership” of data. These are the author’s personal views
 Get Stock Market Updates from Telegram app: https://t.me/KittusWealthJourney

VIEWS THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2020

MUMBAI 13

MY VIEW | BEHAVIOUR BY BRAIN M I N T C U R AT O R

ISTOCKPHOTO

Devolve corona problem-solving

to local ‘communities of practice’
Groups with common routines and goals tend to develop expertise in identifying challenges as well as solutions that work

ISTOCKPHOTO

Three-quarters of the world’s food crops could be impacted by a lack of bees

We need the buzz of bees to keep ourselves fed

A lack of bees in agricultural areas is limiting the supply of some food crops, a
new US-based study has found, suggesting that declines in the pollinators may
have serious ramifications for global food security. Species of wild bees, such as
bumblebees, are suffering from a loss of flowering habitat, the use of toxic pesticides
BIJU DOMINIC and, increasingly, the climate crisis. Managed honeybees, meanwhile, are tended
is the chief executive officer of Final Mile to by beekeepers, but have still been assailed by disease, leading to concerns that
Consulting, a behaviour architecture firm. the three-quarters of the world’s food crops dependent upon pollinators could fal-
ter due to a lack of bees. The new research appears to confirm some of these fears.
Of seven studied crops grown in 13 states across America, five showed evidence that
a lack of bees is hampering the amount of food that can be grown...
The Guardian

T
he covid-19 epidemic will not be the
last problem to become a global crisis.
The world is bound to face more such
problems in the future. What is the key
learning from the present crisis that we
should keep in mind while tackling
similar challenges that may arise?
There are different types of problems in the
world. These can be classified on the basis of two
parameters. One parameter of evaluation is
whether the key behaviours causing the problem
occur in a continuum from our private space to the
public space. The other parameter for considera-
tion is whether the problem is caused by an indi-
vidual’s behaviour or by group behaviour.
Based on this framework, most problems around
the world can be classified as those occurring
because of individual actions in private spaces
(example: marital infidelity), individual actions in
public places (example: open defecation), group
actions in a personal space (example: loud partying
in a flat) and group actions in public places (exam-
ple: the spread of communicable diseases).
When a problem happens in a private space,
caused by an individual action, then its solution
lies with the individual. As the problem moves
along the continuum from private space to the
public domain, and from individual action to
group action, it becomes less of an individual prob-
lem and more of a social problem. Policymakers
rarely take this process of transition into consider-
ation. This shortcoming has been evident during
the present pandemic too. It is quite clear that it
was aggravated by the irresponsible behaviour of
clusters of individuals in public places. But policy-
makers have been trying to solve the problem by
targeting individuals.
A belief seems to prevail among citizens that the
moment a problem is considered a social issue, the
State will take care of it. The State mostly tries to
generate behaviour change through enforcement
and legislation. During the present crisis too, the
State used the same strategy. It did work to some
extent. But was this the best use of State resources?
Is there a better way to solve these social problems?
In their book, The New Localism: How Cities Can
Thrive in the Age of Populism, urban experts Bruce
Katz and Jeremy Nowak reveal where the real
power to create social change lies. According to
them, power is shifting in the world: downward
from national governments and states to cities and
metropolitan communities; and horizontally from
the public sector to networks of public, private and
civic actors. The book tells the stories of a few cities
that are at the vanguard of problem-solving by
using the new-found power of localism.
The concept of solving problems at a local level
has been taken to a different level by cognitive
anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist
Etienne Wenger. They introduced the concept of
Communities of Practice (CoP). A CoP is a group of
people who share a concern or a passion for some-
thing they do, and learn how to do it better as they
interact regularly. They tend to develop expertise
in identifying their local community’s key challen-
ges and selecting viable solutions. A recent paper,
Supporting Communities of Practice: A Journey to
Effective Problem-Solving by Christina Hanschke
and others published by Gates Open Research,
proposes a framework for systematically under-
standing the stages that a CoP may go through as it
develops its capacity to identify and solve prob-
lems and implement good practices.
If we look at the covid-19 pandemic through the
lens of CoPs, we realize that the real problem is not
singular. The key problems each community is
grappling with are different. Medical experts are
focused on understanding the novel coronavirus
to develop a vaccine for it. For school authorities,
the main problem is all about conducting examina-
tions and adjusting to digital teaching. Shopkeep-
ers are desperate to keep their businesses alive.
It is not possible for the State to directly solve the
problems of all these groups and communities.
The members of each community understand
their own problems the best. So each community is
best equipped to come up with solutions that work
in the local context. When solutions are made
closer to home, people tend to become more
engaged in the process and are thus more invested
in the outcome.
During the covid-19 crisis, safe behaviours like
the wearing of masks and maintaining social dis-
tancing norms, etc, are enforced by the State from
a remote centre. If these safe behaviourial codes
were positioned as essential to solving the key
problems of a community, its members would have
taken the responsibility of enforcing those. As
various CoPs work towards solving different facets
of a larger problem, social capital—as embodied in
mutual understanding , empathy and reservoirs of
goodwill—accumulates. This social capital is the
fuel that drives behaviour change at scale.
What is the downside of such a community
focus? Each CoP will naturally try to maximize its
gains. This could lead to conflicts between various
communities. This is where the State has to step in
to create a larger vision of solving the problem
among different communities and ensure that they
do not grow too far apart.
The next time we face a new social problem, it
might be more prudent to trust various Communi-
ties of Practice for a variety of solutions.
Man nabbed trying to smuggle 2.2mn cigarettes
A Malaysian national has been busted trying to smuggle more than two million
cigarettes into New Zealand in Customs’ largest-ever tobacco seizure. He was
arrested on Wednesday for attempting to evade $2.72m in duty and GST and trying
to smuggle 2.2m cigarettes through the border. Customs’ group manager of intelli-
gence, investigations and enforcement, Dana McDonald, said the tobacco seizure
-... was “yet another example of organised crime involvement in tobacco fraud”.
“Criminals will do whatever they can to make money, regardless of the commodity
– it’s just business for them,” she said. “With cigarette prices in New Zealand
amongst the highest globally, tobacco fraud is seen as a lucrative business venture
for criminals, and sadly we expect this trend to continue.”
The New Zealand Herald
Microbes brought to life after 100 million years
S cientists have persuaded ancient microbes to wake up, grow and start reproduc-
ing after laying dormant on the sea floor for more than 100 million years — in
a discovery that has boosted hopes of finding life on Mars. The organisms are from
the oldest marine sediment samples ever studied, collected 10 years ago during an
expedition to the South Pacific Gyre, from up to 75 metres below the seafloor and
nearly 6,000 metres below the ocean’s surface. They have remained in an energy-
saving state since dinosaurs roamed the planet, in an atmosphere where living con-
ditions are harsh and the nutrients that fuel the marine food chain are extremely
limited. “We knew that there was life in deep sediment near the continents where
there’s a lot of buried organic matter,” said study author Steven D’Hondt…
The Independent
Now, flies named after Stan Lee and Deadpool
A ustralian scientists said on Wednesday they have given five fly species scien-
tific names that pay tribute to the Marvel comic universe, including one named
for wise-cracking anti-hero Deadpool and another after superhero creator Stan Lee.
The five flies were part of 165 discoveries named by the scientists over the past year,
which included two fish, three subspecies of bird, and even a mite that lives on a
lizard, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
said in a report... “Without a scientific name, these species are invisible to science.”
The Stan Lee’s fly was named for characteristic markings that look like the comic
titan’s sunglasses and white moustache, while the Deadpool’s fly has marks on its
back that resemble the character’s red-and-black mask, CSIRO said.
Reuters
Watch that quartz: This desert moss may want it
T o humans, a desert oasis may conjure an image of a blue pool encircled by a
coronet of palm trees. But to certain mosses, an oasis takes the form of a pebble
of milky quartz. The cloudy crystal dilutes the sun’s piercing ultraviolet rays and,
in the dry desert heat, traps moisture beneath it, creating a microclimate perfect
for a moss. Kirsten Fisher, a biologist at California State University, Los Angeles,
first spotted these miniature oases in 2014, somewhere off a highway in the western
Mojave Desert in Wrightwood, Calif. She was studying the sex life of the moss Syn-
trichia caninervis, and progress was slow… Bunking under a rock can be luxurious.
Astrobiologists have long studied arctic and Antarctic cyanobacteria that grow
under translucent rocks to trap moisture while still being able to photosynthesize.
The New York Times

GUEST VIEW

What economic studies say about our marriage market

Research in economics and other social
ANIRUDH TAGAT sciences provides a useful abstraction of how
to think about such situations. In typical
economist style, this is described as a “mar-
ket” for marriages—where eligible men and
women search for their “ideal” partner. The
can also be motivated by monetary or busi-
ness concerns, and may have very little to do
with companionship. In India, social stratifi-
cation in the form of caste groupings (occu-
pation based-signalling to ensure similar
social status between households) also
norms of a woman moving into the house of
her husband’s family, the bride is already in
a position of disadvantage. This is in stark
contrast to what Indian Matchmaking and
Taparia propose, as her clients try to marry
at par with their own qualifications or crite-
voice explicit concerns about his future part-
ner being able to help his mother at home,
rather than work anywhere.
Despite all the evidence that suggests
matchmaking is more than just a matching
of preferences, with deep underlying roots

S
ocial media and the internet is awash
with the world’s latest fascination with
India: How marriages are made by
matchmakers. Thanks largely to Netflix’s
latest special, Indian Matchmaking, the spot-
light and discussion is on how matches
might be made in heaven elsewhere, but in
India, it’s down to the matchmaker. The
theory that researchers appeal to here is that
of matching, the same idea that was pio-
neered by 2012 Nobel Prize winner Alvin E.
Roth to describe how organ donations can
be facilitated efficiently in health care sys-
tems. The catch is, much like Indian Match-
making depicts, marriages in India are often
between families and not individuals. Thus,
assumes centre stage. As shown by the work ria, or have criteria that may be difficult to fit in India’s caste system, Indian Matchmaking
of World Bank economist into traditional models. chooses to focus on a specific set of modern
Girija Borker, Cambridge Existing inefficiencies Indian families (either staying in India or
economist Kaivan Munshi A matchmaking identified by researchers in abroad). The themes covered do include the
and their colleagues, con- the marriage market have case of divorced individuals re-entering the
cerns of caste tend to drive show on Netflix been put forth as an expla- marriage market, but the show stays away
matching in Indian mar- nation for skewed sex ratios from tackling the issues of caste and wealth
riage markets, and could
seems to skim (via gender selection), head on, both of which are linked closely to

is research author at the

show documents various individuals who
Sima Taparia, a matchmaker based in Mum-
department of economics,
Monk Prayogshala
bai, attempts to match with future partners
on the basis of parameters set by them. Typi-
cally, a person who approaches the match-
maker submits a document (biodata) on his
or her personal characteristics and also pref-
erences of desirable qualities in a future
partner. Taparia returns to her database and
goes by these parameters to match them
with one or several biodata submitted by
others. The criteria vary by gender, age,
country of location (there is a particular
emphasis on non-resident Indians, or NRIs,
in the show), and by parental influences,
among many other independent variables.
parents often have almost as much say (if not
more) in the choice of partner for their chil-
dren as the lovesick children themselves. A
matchmaker in such cases must not only
mediate the process and match candidates
on the basis of the preferences of adult chil-
dren, but also of their parents.
Research by Fali Huang and her co-au-
thors in American Economic Review among
Chinese households (another culture where
arranged marriages are common) suggests
that parental steering of matchmaking can
overrule children’s choices for a very impor-
tant reason: money. Indeed, something that
the Netflix show fails to overtly acknowledge
is that marriages between families in India
ultimately cause child sex
selection among families
over the market
as well. There is similar
work by the Nobel laureate
deficiencies that
Abhijit Banerjee and his scholars have
colleagues, too.
The term “assortative studied in depth
positive matching” used by
economists best character-
izes the matching seen in marriage markets.
Put simply, this means that individuals (and
families) seeking partners in the marriage
market want to “marry up”, or at least into
their own group—that is, into a family of
higher or equal wealth, caste, or educational
qualification. Typically, due to patrilocal
lower parental investment
in the education of a girl
child, and historically low
female labour market par-
ticipation in India. These
are all linked closely to eco-
nomic growth and devel-
opment, as economists
Andrew Foster and Mark
Roszenweig pointed out in a 1999 paper.
In recent years, there has been a change in
this overall trend that favoured men dispro-
portionately in the Indian marriage market,
but this is determined largely by region-spe-
cific cultural beliefs and social norms. In the
Netflix show, for example, we see Akshay
economic status in India.
There also exist ways to encourage
women to participate in the country’s labour
market, thereby delaying their marriage and
raising their prospects of a better life. Vari-
ous state governments (like that of Haryana,
where the sex ratio is particularly skewed in
favour of males) have been promoting
schemes such as Apni Beti, Apna Dhan.
These programmes, aimed at providing
women with opportunities for investment in
their own skills and well-being, could enable
them to turn the tables on men in the Indian
marriage market. Until then, we’ll wait for
the return of Sima Taparia in future seasons
of Indian Matchmaking.
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First batch of five Rafale fighter TWITTERVERSE

jets arrives at Ambala airbase

Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
‘Power firm NPAs Project Tiger was
need to be fixed’ IAF looks to integrate the jets in the air defence system soon amid ongoing border tensions with China launched in 1973 with 9
Resolving power sector tiger reserves. Today, we
stress and economic have 50 reserves having
revival are inter-linked, Elizabeth Roche ensure speedy integration, the IAF 2967 tigers. Increased
said ex-CEA Arvind count is a testimony of
elizabeth.r@livemint.com has opted for the French HAMMER
Subramanian.See Page 6
NEW DELHI air-to-ground precision-guided robust bio-diversity.
weapon system. The jets come

Govt panel to help
speed up infra plan
A government panel is
expected to submit a
report on different ways
to fund infra projects this
week. See Page 9
Govt tweaks public
procurement rules
The Centre has now
made it compulsory to
give preference to local
firms while awarding
tenders. See Page 5
NBFC assets set to
shrink, says Crisil
The total AUM of NBFCs
are set to fall 1-3% in FY21,
the first time in nearly 20
years, rating agency Crisil
said. See Page 5
F
ive French multi-role
Iran fires Rafale fighter jets landed
ballistic
at the Indian Air Force’s
missiles
from (IAF) Ambala station on
undergroun Wednesday in a significant
d for the boost to India’s military arsenal and
first time
the onset of a new chapter in its mil-
bit.ly/3fc00HE itary aviation history.
Their touchdown comes almost
four years after India signed a deal
with France to procure 36 Rafale
jets for ₹59,000 crore. The last
major fighter jet purchase by India
was 23 years ago when it inducted
the Russian-designed Sukhoi air-
craft. India began its search for a
state-of-the-art fighter jet to
replace its ageing fleet of Russian
MiG-21s 19 years ago.
The arrival of the Dassault Avia-
tion-made Rafales come amid esca-
lating border tensions with China
that have made the military wary of
the possibility of a two-front war
with China and Pakistan.
“The Birds have landed safely in
Ambala. The touchdown of Rafale
combat aircraft in India marks the
beginning of a new era in our mili-
tary history. These multirole air-
craft will revolutionise the capabili-
ties of the @IAF_MCC,” defence
minister Rajnath Singh tweeted
after the first jet touched down at
Ambala. “I am extremely happy
that IAF’s combat capability has got
armed with the beyond visual
range (BVR) air-to-air Meteor mis-
sile and 13 India-specific enhance-
ments — with the IAF billing it as a
“game changer.”
With the MiG-27s decommis-
sioned last year, the IAF is already
down to just over 30 squadrons, far
less than the sanctioned 42 Hardeep Singh
required for a war on two fronts— @HardeepSPuri
Pakistan and China. Most of the jets Since the launch of the
in Pakistan’s inventory comprise 1st UDAN flight in April
US-made F-16s besides some Chi- ’17 by Hon’bl PM from
nese JF-17s. China has over 600 Shimla to Delhi, 268
fourth generation and fourth gen- routes have been oper-
eration-plus jets. ationalised connecting
“For each of Pakistan’s F-16 in 45 airports & 3 heliports
A Rafale combat aircraft lands at the Air Force station, in Ambala on Wednesday. PTI the air, India has had to deploy two
Sukhois,” said a person familiar
a timely boost,” he said in a second tronic warfare capabilities are The five jets comprise two twin- with the matter, pointing to the
post. amongst the best in the world. Its seater trainers and three single-seat F-16’s superior radar and arma-
In a veiled warning to Pakistan arrival in India will make the IAF aircraft. Besides Ambala, where the ments. With the Rafales added to
and China, Singh said: “I would like much stronger to deter any threat deployment of the Rafales is seen as the Indian inventory, the equation
to add, if it is any- a counter to the changes in India’s favour, the per-
one who should be BOOST TO MILITARY ARSENAL threat posed by son said adding: “to match one
worried about or Pakistan, a second Rafale in the air, Pakistan will have
critical about this ARRIVAL of the THEIR touchdown THE deployment of squadron is to be to scramble two F-16s.” Joe Biden @JoeBiden
new capability of Rafale jets marks the comes almost four
onset of a new years after India
the Rafales is seen as
a counter to the
stationed at Hash- Manmohan Bahadur, a former
the Indian Air chapter in India’s imara in West air vice marshal, who is currently This election is not just
signed a ₹59,000-cr threat posed by
Force, it should be military history: govt deal with France Pakistan and China Bengal to take on additional director general at New about voting against
those who want to the Chinese threat. Delhi-based Centre for Air Power Donald Trump. It is
threaten our terri- With tensions Studies think tank, rated the Rafa- about rising to this
torial integrity.” that may be posed to our country.” on the border with China running les as “many leagues better than the moment of crisis and
understanding people’s
“This aircraft has very good fly- Prime Minister Narendra Modi high, the IAF is looking to integrate F-16s and the JF-17s in terms of
ing performance and its weapons, also welcomed the arrival of the the Rafales in the air defence sys- range, armaments and electronic struggle
radar and other sensors and elec- Rafales on Wednesday. tem as quickly as possible. To warfare capability.”

‘India must contain Number of coronavirus recoveries in India breaches 1 million-mark

virus spread to make
recovery sustainable’
Cause for cheer
Neetu Chandra Sharma
neetu.s@livemint.com
India clocked more than 30,000 recoveries per day for the
stands at 478,582. Active cases
are under medical supervi-
410 private facilities. said Dr Suneela Garg, director,
Public health experts said community medicine, Maulana
NEW DELHI sion,” the ministry said in its the high recovery rate is heart- Azad Medical College.
sixth straight day on Wednesday.
1600000
daily bulletin issued at 4pm. ening, but the authorities also Garg added that people have

T
he number of recovered
covid-19 patients in India
breached the 1 million-
Asit Ranjan Mishra mark, after clocking over 1000000
asit.m@livemint.com 30,000 recoveries per day for
NEW DELHI the sixth consecutive day on
Wednesday. In the last 24
Confirmed cases 1,577,528 The recovery rate across need to look at other measures to be forthcoming in terms of
1400000
Recovered Active Dead states was also in direct propor- to limit the spread of the dis- disclosure to health authorities
1200000 tion to the disease burden. ease, such as focussing on so that necessary action can be
1,015,082 Maharashtra has so far wit- asymptomatic patients, home- taken, but the fear of stigma and
800000 nessed 2,39,755 recoveries, isolation provisions and bring- discrimination are prompting
600000
Tamil Nadu recorded 1,72,883, ing more patients individuals to stay
527,119 while 118,633 patients were to hospitals for The recovery rate away from hospi-

T
400000
he International Mone- hours alone, about 35,286 cured in Delhi. As on Wednes- declaration of the is encouraging, tals.
tary Fund on Wednes- patients were cured, according 200000 day, the case fatality rate was disease. but authorities “Apart from the
day said India has policy to Centre and state govern- 0 34,899 2.23%, the lowest since 1 April. “A majority of above measures, it
10 Mar 29 July need to look at
space, both on the fiscal and ments’ data, taking the total State and Union territory the covid-19 cases is necessary to
Source: Centre, state govts other measures
monetary policy side, to raise count to over 1,015,082 with a (UT) governments under the in India are mildly focus on mental
resources in order to put the recovery rate of about 64.51%. Centre’s guidance are ramping symptomatic or to limit the spread health, discrimi-
economy on the growth path. While the number of total where the vast number of is a cause for worry if these are up testing to ensure prompt a s y m p t o - of the disease nation, gender
However, it said that the coun- covid-19 cases in India surged infected symptomatic people high. A sustained fall in new identification and isolation of matic.Thereby issues and effec-
try needs to contain the spread to 1,577,528, with 34,899 fatali- were expected to recover even- cases, with high levels of testing covid-19 cases. With 408,855 the disease is tive use of resour-
of the pandemic on a priority ties, the recovery rate was tually,” said Dr Preeti Kumar, and low positivity will provide samples tested in 24 hours, the silently spreading to other ces,” Garg said, adding that res-
for a sustainable recovery. IMF recognized that India had encouraging, said experts. vice-president, public health an indication of a declining epi- number of tests per million rose community members. People ident welfare associations and
“Containing this virus first is limited fiscal space available “A million recoveries from system support, Public Health demic,” said Dr Kumar. to 12,858, while cumulative are taking self-medication by communities need to be well
very important. Without con- going into the crisis. REUTERS covid-19 are significant and we Foundation of India (PHFI), a The health ministry was also testing crossed 17.7 million. themselves unless symptoms informed so that home care
taining the covid-19 virus, the can feel good about the num- public-private partnership ini- upbeat. “With such consistent The testing infrastructure in deteriorate. More patients are becomes the ultimate solution
economic recovery will be needs to issue a large amount bers at this stage. However, tiative. increase in recoveries, the gap India has also been strength- turning up at hospitals whose for mild to moderate cases to
very difficult. Protecting peo- of government bond, some they reflect a picture of the epi- “We need to pay attention to between recovered patients ened to 1,316 labs, including source of infection cannot be reduce the burden on the
ple’s lives and their livelihood degree of monetization of the demic two to three weeks ago, the number of new cases and it and active cases currently 906 state-operated labs and traced, which is a problem,” healthcare system.
in the short-term period will deficit may be unavoidable.
provide the basis for economic “But that has to be met with
recovery,” Changyong Rhee, some concrete plan to get back
director, Asia Pacific, IMF, said to normal without hurting the
during a webinar jointly orga- central bank’s independence,”
nized by the National Stock Rhee added.
Exchange and the IMF. “If you look at what the
Raising concerns over rising credit rating agencies have
Centre proposes to study link between covid high-risk groups, NCDs
cases of covid-19 on a daily said they are willing to look
basis, Ranil Sal- through the cov- Neetu Chandra Sharma NCDs to prepare a national pol- communicable diseases and cation burdens. Therefore, all
gado, assistant Protecting lives id-19 crisis. Their neetu.s@livemint.com icy framework. their occurrence. Several steps NCD programmes need imme-
director, Asia and livelihoods in concern is that NEW DELHI A review by the National taken to minimize the spread of diate strengthening,” said Dr
Pacific, IMF, said the short-term growth in the Centre for Disease Informatics infection, social distancing, Anoop Misra, executive chair-

C
high-frequency will provide basis medium term onsidering the high and Research under the ICMR, restricted mobility and advise man, Fortis-C-DOC centre for
indicators sug- remains high, and case fatality rate in cov- published in the International to stay indoors, diabetes, meta-
for economic
gest the eco-
recovery, the
there is fiscal con- id-19 patients with non- Journal of Noncommunicable have resulted in According to the bolic diseases and
nomic recovery solidation after communicable diseases (NCD), Diseases, said the key domains disruption of rou- ICMR paper, over endocrinology.
has flattened after organization said the covid-19 cri- such as diabetes, cancer, heart will be to study epidemiology, tine healthcare two-thirds of The research in
picking up in sis,” Salgado said, and kidney ailments, the gov- healthcare delivery, use of access and service covid deaths in NCDs must focus
early June. adding that ernment has mooted a study on technology, surveillance, mon- delivery, and sup- on reducing long-
“The concern we have is though India stands out for the plies to essential
India were from
this high-risk patients category, itoring, and evaluation, behav- term morbidity
that things have started to pla- structural reforms during the as they may develop severe ill- ioural and communication food, medicines NCDs like and mortality, and
teau as the positive impact pandemic, these will be bene- nesses after they are infected research, besides the govern- and diagnostics,” diabetes, others must under take a
from exit is not as strong as the ficial in the medium to long with the novel coronavirus. ance and policy framework. The high-risk patients category may develop severe illnesses said Dr Prashant complete, well-
negative impact of the lock- term than for immediate With India having a huge According to the paper, over after they are infected with the novel coronavirus. AFP Mathur and Dr designed epide-
down,” Salgado said. growth prospects. burden of such diseases, the two-thirds, or 61.8%, of covid-19 Sukanya Rangamani, authors miological assessment of NCDs
While recognizing the fact Salgado said IMF expects research agenda, proposed by deaths in India were from besides other urogenital, blood “The covid-19 pandemic is of the review. and the risk factors at a national
that India had limited fiscal food price to continue to grad- the Indian Council of Medical NCDs—cardiovascular diseases and endocrine ailments. It said characterized with attenuation “There were cases of severe and sub-national level using
space available going into the ually decline in the current fis- Research (ICMR), can strategi- (28.1%), chronic respiratory dis- the risk of premature deaths in of innate immunity and a pro- diabetes seen in those suffering standardized tools and meth-
covid-19 crisis, Rhee said in an cal year from the shock cally guide the preparedness of eases (10.9%), neoplasms people below 70 years was 23% inflammatory response, which from covid-19. All this will ods, besides studying the
extreme situation, where India increase in end-2019. the health system to include (8.35%) and diabetes (6.5%), higher for people with NCDs. could accelerate many non- increase diabetes and compli- impact of NCDs on covid-19.