FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024

24 pages in 2 sections www.business-standard.com

NEW DELHI
~13.00
VOLUME XXX NUMBER 237

THE MARKETS ON THURSDAY chg#

Sensex 71,186.9  313.9

Nifty 21,462.3  109.7
Nifty Futures* 21,527.4 65.2
AKASA AIR TO BRING 150 BOEING KHAN MKT TO HAZRATGANJ,
p
Dollar ~83.1 ~83.1 **
Euro ~90.5 ~90.4 **
Brent crude ($/bbl)
Gold (10 gm)###
77.8##
~61,722.0 
*(January) Premium on Nifty Spot; **Previous close;
78.1**
~306.0 737 MAX AIRCRAFT ON BOARD AYODHYA THEME REIGNS
# Over previous close; ## At 9 pm IST;
### Market rate exclusive of VAT; Source: IBJA P U B L I S HE D S I M UL T A N E OUSL Y FR OM A HM ED AB AD , B ENG AL UR U, B HO PAL , B HU BANE SW AR , C HAND I G ARH, CHE NNAI , HY DE R AB A D, K OC H I, K O L K A TA, L U C K N O W , MU M B AI , N E W DE L H I A N D P U N E
2 COMMERCIAL
>
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024

THIS IS A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT A PROSPECTUS ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN INVITATION OR OFFER TO ACQUIRE, PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE TO SECURITIES. THIS PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION OR
DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY OUTSIDE INDIA.

MAXPOSURE LIMITED Corporate Identity Number: U22229DL2006PLC152087

Our Company was incorporated on August 17, 2006 as 'Maxposure Media Group India Private Limited', a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956, pursuant to a certificate of incorporation dated August 17, 2006 issued by the Registrar of Companies, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Haryana. Subsequently,
pursuant to a resolution passed by the Board of Directors in their meeting held on August 26, 2023 and by the Shareholders in their EGM held on October 9, 2023, the name of our Company was changed to 'Maxposure Private Limited' and a fresh certificate of incorporation dated October 26, 2023 was issued by the Registrar of
Companies, Delhi and Haryana at Delhi. Further, our Company was converted into a public limited company pursuant to a resolution passed by the Board of Directors in their meeting held on October 26, 2023 and by our Shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held on October 27, 2023 and a fresh certificate of incorporation
dated November 3, 2023 was issued by the Registrar of Companies, Delhi and Haryana at Delhi and consequently the name of our Company was changed to 'Maxposure Limited'. For details relating to change in the Registered Office of our Company, please refer to “History and Certain Corporate Matters” on page 91.
Registered Office : Ground Floor, 62, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase - 3, South Delhi, New Delhi - 110 020, Delhi, India.;
Telephone: +91 114 301 1111; E-mail: info@maxposuremedia.com; Website: www.maxposuremedia.com; Contact Person: Sakshi Mishra, Company Secretary & Compliance Officer;

OUR PROMOTERS: PRAKASH JOHARI AND SWETA JOHARI

INITIAL PUBLIC OFFER OF UPTO 61,40,000 EQUITY SHARES OF FACE VALUE OF ? 10/- EACH (“EQUITY SHARES”) OF MAXPOSURE LIMITED (THE “COMPANY” OR “MAXPOSURE” OR “ISSUER”) AT AN ISSUE PRICE OF ? 33 PER EQUITY SHARE (INCLUDING A SHARE PREMIUM OF ? 23 PER EQUITY
SHARE) FOR CASH, AGGREGATING UP TO ? 2026.20 LACS (“PUBLIC ISSUE”) OUT OF WHICH 3,72,000 EQUITY SHARES OF FACE VALUE OF ? 10/- EACH, AT AN ISSUE PRICE OF ? 33 PER EQUITY SHARE FOR CASH, AGGREGATING ? 122.76 LACS WILL BE RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIPTION BY THE
MARKET MAKER TO THE ISSUE (THE “MARKET MAKER RESERVATION PORTION”). THE PUBLIC ISSUE LESS MARKET MAKER RESERVATION PORTION I.E. ISSUE OF 57,68,000 EQUITY SHARES OF FACE VALUE OF ? 10/- EACH, AT AN ISSUE PRICE OF ? 33 PER EQUITY SHARE FOR CASH,
AGGREGATING UP TO ?1903.44 LACS IS HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AS THE “NET ISSUE”. THE PUBLIC ISSUE AND NET ISSUE WILL CONSTITUTE 26.99 % AND 25.36 % RESPECTIVELY OF THE POST- ISSUE PAID-UP EQUITY SHARE CAPITAL OF OUR COMPANY.

THE FACE VALUE OF THE EQUITY SHARE IS ? 10/- AND ISSUE PRICE IS ? 33/-.
THE ISSUE PRICE IS 3.3 TIMES OF THE FACE VALUE OF THE EQUITY SHARE
ANCHOR INVESTOR ISSUE PRICE: ? 33 PER EQUITY SHARE THE ISSUE PRICE IS 3.3 TIMES OF THE FACE VALUE

Risks to Investors:
•Our expansion into new product categories and an increase in the number of products offered by us may expose us to new challenges and more risks.
•The Merchant Banker associated with the Issue has handled 19 public issues in the past two years out of which no issues closed below the Issue Price
on Listing date
•Average cost of acquisition of Equity Shares held by the Promoter Mr. Prakash Johari and Mrs. Shweta Johari is Rs. 0.49 and Rs. Nil per Equity Share
and the Issue Price at the upper end of the Price Band is Rs. 33 per Equity Share.
•The Price/ Earnings ratio based on Diluted EPS for year ended March 2023 for the company at the upper end of the Price Band is 12.42.
•Weighted Average Return on Net worth for Fiscals 2023, 2022 and, 2021 is 7.76%

BID/ ISSUE BID/ ISSUE OPENED ON: MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2024
PERIOD BID/ ISSUE CLOSED ON: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2024
ANCHOR INVESTOR BIDDING DATE WAS: FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2024
The Issue is being made through the Book Building Process, in terms of Rule 19(2)(b)(i) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957, as amended (“SCRR”) 2) Allotment to Non-Institutional Investors (After Technical Rejections)
read with Regulation 253 of the SEBI ICDR Regulations, as amended, wherein not more than 50% of the Net Issue shall be allocated on a proportionate basis to The Basis of Allotment to the Non-Institutional Investors, who have Bid at cut-off Price or at or above the Issue Price of Rs. 33/- per Equity Share, was finalized in
Qualified Institutional Buyers (“QIBs”, the “QIB Portion”), provided that our Company may, in consultation with the Book Running Lead Managers, may allocate up to consultation with National Stock Exchange of India Limited. The category has been subscribed to the extent of 1938.94 times. The total number of Equity Shares
60% of the QIB Portion to Anchor Investors on a discretionary basis in accordance with the SEBI ICDR Regulations (“Anchor Investor Portion”), of which one-third Allotted in this category is 880000 Equity Shares to 220 successful applicants. The details of the Basis of Allotment of the said category is as under (Sample Basis):
shall be reserved for domestic Mutual Funds, subject to valid Bids being received from domestic Mutual Funds at or above the Anchor Investor Allocation Price. In the No. of Shares Applied for No. of Application % to Total Total No. of Shares Applied % to Total Total No. of Shares Ratio
event of under-subscription, or non-allocation in the Anchor Investor Portion, the balance Equity Shares shall be added to the Net QIB Portion. Further, 5% of the Net (Category wise) Received in each Category Allotted
QIB Portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis only to Mutual Funds, and the remainder of the Net QIB Portion shall be available for allocation on 8000 28652 57.74 229216000 13.43 120000 1 955
a proportionate basis to all QIBs, including Mutual Funds, subject to valid Bids being received at or above the Issue Price. However, if the aggregate demand from 12000 5934 11.96 71208000 4.17 36000 1 659
Mutual Funds is less than 5% of the Net QIB Portion, the balance Equity Shares available for allocation in the Mutual Fund Portion will be added to the remaining Net 16000 1637 3.30 26192000 1.54 16000 4 1637
QIB Portion for proportionate allocation to QIBs. Further, not less than 15% of the Net Issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Non- 20000 1081 2.18 21620000 1.27 12000 3 1081
Institutional Bidders and not less than 35% of the Net Issue shall be available for allocation to Retail Individual Bidders in accordance with the SEBI ICDR Regulations, 24000 818 1.65 19632000 1.15 12000 3 818
subject to valid Bids being received at or above the Issue Price. All potential Bidders (except Anchor Investors) are required to mandatorily utilise the Application 28000 1306 2.63 36568000 2.14 20000 5 1306
Supported by Blocked Amount (“ASBA”) process providing details of their respective ASBA accounts, and UPI ID in case of RIBs using the UPI Mechanism, if
32000 3590 7.23 114880000 6.73 60000 3 718
applicable, in which the corresponding Bid Amounts will be blocked by the SCSBs or by the Sponsor Bank under the UPI Mechanism, as the case may be, to the
36000 826 1.66 29736000 1.74 16000 2 413
extent of respective Bid Amounts. Anchor Investors are not permitted to participate in the Issue through the ASBA process. For details, see “Issue Procedure”
40000 993 2.00 39720000 2.33 20000 5 993
beginning on page 182 of Prospectus.
44000 377 0.76 16588000 0.97 8000 2 377
The bidding for Anchor Investors opened and closed on January 12, 2024. The Company received 4 Anchor Investor Application Forms from 4 Anchor Investors
48000 312 0.63 14976000 0.88 8000 1 156
(including Nil mutual funds through Nil Mutual Fund schemes) for 27,40,000 Equity Shares. The Anchor Investor Allocation price was finalized at Rs. 33/- per Equity
52000 251 0.51 13052000 0.76 8000 2 251
Share. A total of 17,00,000 Equity Shares were allotted under the Anchor Investor portion aggregating to Rs. 561.0 Lakhs.
56000 150 0.30 8400000 0.49 4000 1 150
The Issue (excluding Anchor Investors Portion) received 5,67,396 Applications for 3,95,09,12,000 Equity Shares (before technical rejections) resulting in 889.84
60000 409 0.82 24540000 1.44 12000 3 409
times subscription (including reserved portion of market maker). The details of the Applications received in the Issue from various categories are as under (before
64000 340 0.69 21760000 1.28 12000 3 340
technical rejections):
68000 160 0.32 10880000 0.64 8000 1 80
Detail of the Applications Received:
72000 195 0.39 14040000 0.82 8000 2 195
S. Category No. of No. of Equity Shares Equity Shares Reserved as No. of times Amount (in Rs.) 76000 85 0.17 6460000 0.38 4000 1 85
No. Applications applied per Prospectus Subscribed
80000 250 0.50 20000000 1.17 12000 3 250
1 Retail-Individual Investors 517708 2070832000 2048000 1011.14 68,33,74,56,000 84000 87 0.18 7308000 0.43 4000 1 87
2 Non-Institutional Investors 49623 1706272000 880000 1938.94 56,30,69,76,000 3) Allotment to QIBs excluding Anchor Investors (After Technical Rejections)
3 Market Maker 1 372000 372000 1 1,22,76,000 Allotment to QIBs, who have bid at the Issue Price of Rs. 33/- per Equity Share or above, has been done on a proportionate basis in consultation with National Stock
4 Qualified Institutional Buyers 64 173436000 1140000 152.13 5,72,33,88,000 Exchange of India Limited. This category has been subscribed to the extent of 152.13 times of QIB portion. The total number of Equity Shares allotted in the QIB
(Excluding Anchor Investors) category is 1140000 Equity Shares, which were allotted to 63 successful Applicants.
5 Anchor Investors 4 27,40,000 1700000 1.61 9,04,20,000 Category FI's/Banks MF's IC's AIF FIIs/FPIs NBFC'S TOTAL
Total 567400 3953652000 6140000 643.91 1,30,47,05,16,000 QIB 84000 - 16000 284000 480000 276000 1140000
Final Demand 4) Allotment to Anchor Investors (After Technical Rejections)
A summary of the final demand as per NSE as on the Bid/ Issue Closing Date at different Bid prices is as under: The Company in consultation with the BRLM has allocated 17,00,000 Equity Shares to 4 Anchor Investors at the Anchor Investor ISSUE PRICE of Rs. 33/- per Equity
S.No. Bid Price Bids Quantity % of Total Cumulative Total % Cumulative Total Shares in accordance with the SEBI ICDR Regulations. This represents 60% of the QIB Category.

1 31.00 7560000 0.1668 4532448000 0.1668 Category FIs/BANKS MF's IC AIF FIIs/FPIs NBFC'S TOTAL
2 32.00 4696000 0.1036 4524888000 0.1036 Anchor - - - 788000 912000 - 17,00,000
3 33.00 3397516000 74.9598 4520192000 74.9598 The Board of Directors of our Company at its meeting held on January 18, 2024 has taken on record the basis of allotment of Equity Shares approved by the
4 CUT OFF 1122676000 24.7697 4520192000 24.7697 Designated Stock Exchange, being National Stock Exchange of India Limited and has allotted the Equity Shares to various successful applicants. The Allotment
4532448000 100.00 18097720000 100.00 Advice Cum Refund Intimation will be dispatched to the address of the investors as registered with the depositories. Further, instructions to the SCSBs have been
dispatched/ mailed for unblocking of funds and transfer to the Public Issue Account on or before January 19, 2024 and payment to non-Syndicate brokers have been
The Basis of Allotment was finalised in consultation with the Designated Stock Exchange, being National Stock Exchange of India Limited on January 18, 2024. issued on January 19, 2024. In case the same is not received within ten days, investors may contact the Registrar to the Issue at the address given below. The Equity
Shares allotted to the successful allottees shall be uploaded on or before January 19, 2024 for credit into the respective beneficiary accounts subject to validation of
1) Allotment to Retail Individual Investors (After Technical Rejections) the account details with the depositories concerned. The Company is in the process of obtaining the listing and trading approval from National Stock Exchange of
The Basis of Allotment to the Retail Individual Investors, who have Bid at cut-off Price or at or above the Issue Price of Rs. 33/- per Equity Share, was finalized in India Limited and the trading of the Equity Shares is expected to commence on January 22, 2024.
consultation with National Stock Exchange of India Limited. The category has been subscribed to the extent of 1011 times. The total number of Equity Shares Allotted Note: All capitalized terms used and not defined herein shall have the respective meanings assigned to them in the Prospectus dated January 18, 2024 filed with the
in this category is 2048000 Equity Shares to 512 successful applicants. The details of the Basis of Allotment of the said category is as under: Registrar of Companies, New Delhi (“RoC”).
INVESTORS, PLEASE NOTE
No. of Shares Applied for No. of % of Total Total No. of shares % of Total No. of Equity Ratio Total No. of The details of the allotment made has been hosted on the website of the Registrar to the Issue, Bigshare Services Private Limited at website:
(Category Wise) application applied Shares Allotted Shares Allotted All future correspondence in this regard may kindly be addressed to the Registrar to the Issue quoting full name of the First/ Sole Bidder Serial number of the ASBA
received per Applicant form, number of Equity Shares bid for, Bidder DP ID, Client ID, PAN, date of submission of the Bid cum Application Form, address of the Bidder, the name and address
of the Designated Intermediary where the Bid cum Application Form was submitted by the Bidder and copy of the Acknowledgment Slip received from the Designated
Retail Individual Investor 517708 100 2070832000 100 4000 1:1011 2048000 Intermediary and payment details at the address given below:

BIGSHARE SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED

Office No. 56-2, 6th Floor, Pinnacle Business Park, Next to Ahura Center, Mahakali Caves Road, Andheri East, Mumbai-400 093, Maharashtra, India.
Tel: +91 22 6263 8200 Fax: +91 22 6263 8299 Email: ipo@bigshareonline.com Website: www.bigshareonline.com Investor Grievance Email: investor@bigshareonline.com
Contact Person: Babu Rapheal C SEBI Registration Number: INR000001385;
On behalf of Board of Directors
For MAXPOSURE LIMITED
Sd/-
Place: Delhi Ms. Sakshi Mishra
Date: January 18, 2024 Company Secretary & Compliance Officer
THE LEVEL OF SUBSCRIPTION SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN TO BE INDICATIVE OF EITHER THE MARKET PRICE OF THE EQUITY SHARES ON LISTING OR THE BUSINESS PROSPECTS OF MAXPOSURE LIMITED.
Disclaimer: MAXPOSURE LIMITED is proposing, subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, receipt of requisite approvals, market conditions and other considerations, to make an initial public offer of its Equity Shares and has filed the RHP with the Registrar of Companies, Delhi on January 08, 2023 and thereafter
with SEBI and the Stock Exchange. The RHP is available on the website of NSE Emerge at https://www1.nseindia.com/emerge/index_sme.htm and is available on the websites of the BRLM at www.gyrcapitaladvisors.com Any potential investors should note that investment in equity shares involves a high degree of risk and for details
relating to the same, please refer to the RHP including the section titled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 25 of the Prospectus.
The Equity Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or any state securities laws in the United States, and unless so registered, and may not be offered or sold within the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject
to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in accordance with any applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Equity Shares are being offered and sold outside the United States in 'offshore transactions' in reliance on Regulation under the Securities Act and the applicable laws of each jurisdiction where such offers and
sales are made. There will be no public offering in the United States.
FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024
24 pages in 2 sections
NEW DELHI
~13.00
VOLUME XXX NUMBER 237
THE MARKETS ON THURSDAY
Sensex 71,186.9
Nifty 21,462.3
Nifty Futures* 21,527.4
Dollar
Euro
Brent crude ($/bbl)
~83.1
~90.5
79.3##
Gold (10 gm)### ~61,722.0
*(January) Premium on Nifty Spot; **Previous close;
# Over previous close; ## At 9 pm IST;
### Market rate exclusive of VAT; Source: IBJA
INFLATION SHOULD
ALIGN WITH TARGET BY
Q2FY25: RBI REPORT
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI)
State of the Economy report,
released on Thursday, said the
objective for the next financial year
(FY25) is to sustain the growth
momentum by securing GDP growth
of at least 7 per cent, while the
headline inflation needs to align
with the target of 4 per cent by the
second quarter (Q2) as projected.
Tata Steel to shut blast
furnaces at Port Talbot
plant, 3K jobs at risk
Tata Steel has rejected a trade union
proposal to keep the blast furnaces
operational at Port Talbot Steelworks
in Wales, the UK, potentially
jeopardising nearly 3,000 jobs,
according to a report by The Guardian.
The company’s plan, which is
expected to be formally announced
on Friday, involves shutting down
Port Talbot’s blast furnaces while
constructing electric arc furnaces
designed to produce steel from
recycled scrap, as part of the transition
to greener steel production. The news
was reportedly delivered during a
meeting with union representatives at
a Taj hotel in London.
BS REPORTER
Sun Pharma to buy Taro’s
remaining stake for ~2.9K cr
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has inked an
agreement with Taro Pharmaceutical to
acquire the balance 21.52 per cent stake in
the Israel-based company for a cash
consideration of $43 a share, amounting
to ~2,892 crore.
Apni khushiyon ko
roz thoda samay dena
hai zindagi ki SIP
Zindagi ke liye SIP
Adhik jaankari ke liye apne MFD/RIA
se sampark karein ya scan karein
An Investor Education and Awareness Initiative
SIP - Systematic Investment Plan. Visit https://www.hdfcfund.com/information/key-know-how to know more about the process to complete a one-time Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to invest in Mutual Funds.
Investors should only deal with registered Mutual Funds, details of which can be verified on the SEBI website (www.sebi.gov.in/intermediaries.html). For any queries, complaints & grievance redressal, investors may reach out to the
AMCs and / or Investor Relations Officers. Additionally, investors may also lodge complaints directly with the AMCs, if they are unsatisfied with the resolutions given by AMCs they may raise complaint through the SCORES portal on
https://scores.gov.in. SCORES portal facilitates investors to lodge complaint online with SEBI and subsequently view its status. In case the investor is not satisfied with the resolution of the complaints raised directly with the AMCs
or through the SCORES portal, they may file any complaint on the Smart ODR on https://smartodr.in/login.
Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.
chg#
 313.9
 109.7
p 65.2
~83.1 **
~90.4 **
78.1**

~306.0
P UB L I S HE D S I M UL T A N E OUSL Y F ROM AHM ED AB AD , B EN GAL UR U, B HO PAL , BHU BAN ESW A R, C HAND I G ARH, CHE NNAI , HY DE R AB A D, K OC H I, K O L K A TA , L U C K N O W , MU M B AI , N E W DE L H I A N D P U N E
WITH ONLINE MONITORING SYSTEM GOING LIVE...
PC imports turn
a trickle in Nov
Inbound shipments drop on monthly and yearly bases
4>
ASIT RANJAN MISHRA
New Delhi, 18 January
A
fter the govern-
ment’s online mon-
itoring system for the
import of electronic hard-
ware items went live on November 1,
inbound shipments of laptops and tab-
lets slipped in November to a nine-
month low at $225 million, contracting
17.15 per cent year-on-year.
This decline was primarily driven by
reduced imports from Singapore (down
43.7 per cent), Hong Kong (down 27.4 per
cent), and China (down 14 per cent),
according to the data released by the
commerce department. China
accounts for approximately 83 per cent
of such imports.
In addition to personal computers,
another significant item on the IT hard-
ware import monitoring list — data pro-
cessing units or servers — saw a contrac-
tion of 31.8 per cent in inbound shipments
at $140.2 million in November. Imports
from major sources, such as China and
the US fell by 8.8 per cent and 3.6 per cent,
respectively.
On August 3 last year, the Centre
announced plans to categorise products
in the information technology hardware
segment, such as laptops, tablets, all-in-
one personal computers, ultra-small form
factor computers, and servers, under the
“restricted” label. Following this, the
2> import of laptops and tablets shot up in
www.business-standard.com
COMPANIES P2 WORLD P10
PROJECTS WITH DISCRETIONARY SPENDS ‘INTEREST RATES MAY FALL
ARE DOWN: LTIMINDTREE CEO & MD BUT LAST MILE VERY TRICKY’
Khan Market to Hazratganj,
Ayodhya theme reigns
Among the things that have caught
Temple’s inaugural event to people’s fancy are thematic merchandise,
and gold and silver coins with Ram
bring in business worth darbar and Ram etched on them
~1 trillion, CAIT estimates CORPORATE
VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT, events, proces-
INDIA ON
OVERDRIVE
AKSHARA SRIVASTAVA, sions and tem- TO CELEBRATE
PEERZADA ABRAR, SHARLEEN ple-themed merchan- MANDIR
D’SOUZA & ISHITA AYAN DUTT dising. EVENT
TAKING Lucknow/New Delhi/Bengaluru Come Sunday even- P5
TEMPLE FEVER
/Mumbai/Kolkata, 18 January ing, and the Khan
GRIPS INDIANS,
STOCK From New Delhi’s upscale
Market high street, a
haunt of diplomats and LIFTS TRAVEL
Import of laptops
and tablets after
Khan Market to the vibrant
streets of Lucknow and the
Delhi’s who’s who, will
begin the celebrations
DEMAND AND
HOTEL
the government bustling bazaars of Mumbai, with a kirtan, and fol- BOOKINGS
announced new saffron flags flutter and the air low it up with a havan
measures in 2023 is charged with a sense of cele- on Monday, the day of the
bration. The inauguration of inauguration, which will be dara. Some 2,000 candles and Mehra, president, Khan
the Ram temple in Ayodhya livestreamed. Later, a rath diyas will also be lit. “All the Market Traders’ Association.
on January 22 has brought yatra with the deity’s idol will ceremonies will be held at the “It is a historic event, and we
together traders, associations be taken out in the market, [nearby] Gopal temple as will celebrate it with full zest.”
and communities to mark the and the two-day festivities directed by the Vishva Hindu TRADE ASSOCIATIONS LINE UP
occasion with a myriad of will conclude with a bhan- Parishad,” says Sanjeev 30,000 EVENTS P5
‘HIGHLY CONFIDENT’ AKASA AIR TO BRING PAGE 2
150 BOEING 737 MAX AIRCRAFT ON BOARD
‘VERY STRICT’
ACTION IF AIRLINES
DEEPAK PATEL & AJINKYA KAWALE officer of the airline, at the Wings VIOLATE NEW
Source: Commerce department
Hyderabad/Mumbai, 18 January India Summit 2024 in Hyderabad RULES: SCINDIA
on Thursday.
September (by 41.8 per cent) and October Akasa Air, which made a debut some This is Boeing’s first order since EXPECT SCHEDULE
(by 29.7 per cent) amid fear of licensing 17 months ago, has placed an order the recent Alaska Airlines
requirements. However, the government for 150 B737 MAX aircraft with incident, where a B737 MAX 9’s
NORMALCY BY
deferred the implementation until American planemaker Boeing. This emergency exit door plug blew
NEXT WEEK: INDIGO
November 1 after the industry expressed order — comprising 737 MAX 10 and out after takeoff, forcing an
serious concerns over the decision, which 737 MAX 8-200 variants — is set to be emergency landing. INDIA NEEDS
was originally aimed at reducing import delivered between mid-2027 and 2032, Notably, no Indian airlines 2,840 NEW PLANES
dependence on China and ensuring a announced Vinay Dube, chief executive operate the B737 MAX 9. Turn to Page 6 > IN 20 YRS: AIRBUS
trusted supply chain. Turn to Page 6 >
SIP ke fayde
Market ki timing Nivesh raashi
se azadi chunne ki azadi
2 COMPANIES NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024

STOCKS > Ashok Leyland

Bags order for 1,225
> Puravankara
Launches ‘wellness’
> South Indian Bank
Q3FY24 net surges
> Dynamatic Technologies
Inks pact with Dassault
> Ajmera Realty & Infra
JV bags redevelopment
IN THE NEWS buses from Karnataka themed development about 3x Y-o-Y to Aviation for making aero project with GDV of
State Transport project in Chennai ~305 crore structures for Falcon 6X ~760 cr in Mumbai
~173.7 CLOSE ~229.9 CLOSE ~30.8 CLOSE ~5,727.6 CLOSE ~574.7 CLOSE
p1.3% UP* p3.4% UP* p8.6% UP* p9.2% UP* p13.5% UP*
*OVER PREVIOUS CLOSE

>

Jet Airways case: N WINGS INDIA 2024 N

Sun Pharma,
SC directs JKC to
deposit ~150 crore
‘Strict’ action if airlines Taro finalise
BHAVINI MISHRA
New Delhi, 18 January

The Supreme Court on

Thursday ordered Jalan
Kalrock Consortium(JKC), the
successful bidder for bankrupt
Jet Airways, to deposit ~150
crore in two weeks in the
escrow account of the State
Bank of India (SBI) as part of
the resolution plan. The apex
court, setting aside the order
of the National Company Law
Appellate Tribunal
(NCLAT) of August
2023, said the
amount is to be
deposited before
January 31, failing
which, it will be
non-compliant with
the resolution plan to
take over Jet Airways.
“The question of adjust-
ment of ~150 crore (through
bank guarantee), we will keep
it with the NCLAT. You (JKC)
have to (pay),” the Supreme
Court said.
JKC was supposed to pay
~350 crore as part of the first
payment. It had deposited
IN BRIEF
Tata Comm issues termination
notice to Vodafone Idea
A subsidiary of Tata Communications has issued a termination
notice to its customer Vodafone Idea after the Aditya Birla group-
Vodafone PLC joint venture company did not pay the Tata group
firm in time. Tata Communications, which did not name the telco,
said it is in discussion on a disengagement transition plan with
the “customer.” In a notice to the stock exchange, the company
said the carrying amount of trade receivables (including unbilled
revenue) from the customer was ~221.19 crore as on December
2023. “The group believes that the balance is a good and
~100 crore by August 31, 2023,
and another ~100 crore by the
end of September 2023. The
lenders in the NCLAT had
questioned the source of the
money and said it was
non-compliant with the res-
olution plan.
The Consortium also said
since it has already pledged a
bank guarantee of ~150 crore,
this could be invoked by the
lenders. However, the lenders
had argued that the bank guar-
antee of ~150 crore is a
backup and cannot be
invoked at this stage.
They had objected
to encashing the
bank guarantee.
Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta,
appearing for the
lenders, told a bench of CJI D
Y Chandrachud and Justices J
B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra
on Wednesday that the total
admitted claim of the financial
creditors is ~7,800 crore but the
financial package offered by
JKC is ~4,783 crore, which is
payable in tranches in
five years.
violate new rules: Scindia
DEEPAK PATEL taken,” he added.
merger pact
Sun Pharma to buy balance 21.52%
Hyderabad, 18 January In the SOP, the DGCA has asked airlines
to cancel flights that are anticipated to be THE TIMELINE
T
he government will take “very delayed or are delayed for more than three May 2023: Sun Pharma
May 2007: Sun Pharma
strict” action against airlines if they WE HAVE INSTRUCTED AIRLINES hours on account of fog or other adverse
signs pacts to acquire announces non-binding
are found to be violating new rules THAT IF THEY THINK THE FLIGHT weather conditions.
Taro Pharmaceutical indication of interest to
that have been issued to them to sensi- WILL BE DELAYED BY MORE THAN This will help obviate “congestion at
tively handle passengers affected by fog- the airport and mitigate passenger incon- Industries in a acquire all outstanding
THREE HOURS, THEY MUST TREAT
induced flight disruptions, Aviation venience”, it noted. It had also asked air- $ 454 mn deal ordinary shares of Taro
THAT FLIGHT AS CANCELLED. SO,
Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on THE QUESTION OF SIX-HOUR lines to sensitise their airport staff to “suit- for a purchase price of
May 2008: Taro $38 per share in cash
Thursday. DELAYS AND EIGHT-HOUR ably communicate with and continuously improperly terminates
Between Sunday and Wednesday, hun- DELAYS SHOULD NOW BECOME A guide and inform the passengers about Dec 2023: Sun Pharma
merger agreement; Sun
dreds of flights across the country have THING OF THE PAST” flight delays”. proposes it will buy all
Pharma challenges the
been delayed and cancelled due to dense In a bid to ensure better fatigue man-
JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA action in the Supreme outstanding shares of
fog. On Tuesday, the minister had asked agement, the DGCA on January 8
the airlines to set up war rooms to address UNION MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION revamped the flight duty time limitation Court of New York Taro’s ordinary shares for
issues of affected passengers immediately. (FDTL) regulations for pilots. The latest a purchase price of
Sept 2010: Sun Pharma $43.00 per share in cash
He also asked the carriers to report fog- rules include additional rest for pilots, revi- acquires controlling stake
related incidents thrice a day. sion of night duty regulations, and direc- of 48.7% in Taro Jan 2024: Enters into
This was in addition to the standard tions for airlines to submit pilot fatigue merger agreement to
operating procedure (SOP) that the reports. The regulator has mandated air- August 2012: Sun Pharma acquire balance 21.52%
Directorate General of Civil Aviation line operators to comply with the new noti- proposes to buy Taro stake at $43 per share
(DGCA) had issued on Monday, asking air- fication by June 1 this year. Certain airlines shares at $39.5 per share
lines to give real-time updates on flight are worried that the new rules could ulti- Note: Sun Pharma has gradually raised its shareholding in taro to
delays. “One of the things that we have mately affect their flight schedules but 78.48% over the years
done in those SOPs is that we have Scindia said that there can be no compro-
instructed airlines that if they think the mise on safety. SOHINI DAS according to the applicable
flight will be delayed by more than three Scindia added, “As the civil aviation Mumbai, 18 January laws,” said Sun in a regulatory
hours, they must treat that flight as can- minister, I am not a minister for airlines, I filing on Thursday. Sun
celled. So, this question of six-hour am not a minister for airports, I am a min- Sun Pharmaceutical Pharma’s shares were trading
delays and eight-hour delays should ister for every stakeholder in my ecosys- Industries has entered into an at ~1,314.95 a piece on BSE in
now become a thing of the past,” tem. It means when airlines or airports or agreement with Taro morning trade.
Scindia said here at Wings India passengers or flight crew have a pain point, Pharmaceutical to acquire the “The merger would pave
Summit 2024. it is my responsibility to resolve it. balance 21.52 per cent stake in the way for consolidating its
“In terms of cancellations and delays, Therefore, this issue with regards to the Israel-based company for positioning in the US/rest of
in terms of the war rooms that I have asked
every airline to set up at every airport, in
being monitored by the DGCA on a thrice
daily basis. This is being done every
flight crew, when it was flagged to me, I
told the DGCA that we must look at all the
a cash consideration of $43 /
share, amounting to $347.73
the world (RoW) markets. Also,
this would allow Sun to make
terms of informing passengers on SMS,
email or WhatsApp — all these SOPs are
day....These rules are in place. Any viola-
tion of that and very strict action will be
international peers (US aviation regulator's
rules, for instance).”
million (~2,892 crore).
Sun already owns a con-
better use of Taro's $1.3-billion
cash. The transaction is at a 4
trolling stake of 78.48 per cent per cent premium to the last
in the company. This transac- traded price,” said Kunal
IndiGo schedule to India needs 2,840 tion is expected to be com-
pleted by 2024-25.
Post acquisition, Taro will
Randeria, analyst, Nuvama
Institutional Equities.
Dilip Shanghvi, MD of Sun
new aircraft in become a privately-held com- Pharma, said, “Over the years,
be back to normal 20 years: Airbus
pany and its shares will be
delisted from the New York
Stock Exchange. Its shares
with Sun Pharma’s strategic
interventions, Taro has
remained a key player in the

by next week: CEO

recoverable basis for its on-going interactions with the ended the trading session at generic dermatology market
customer,” Tata Communication said. The dues from Vodafone PRESS TRUST OF INDIA $41.28 apiece on Wednesday. in a challenging environment.
Idea increased from ~171.5 crore as on March last year. Also, Tata Hyderabad, 18 January “The transaction is subject After completion of the
Communications on Thursday reported an 88.6 per cent drop in its to approvals of the share- merger, the combined entity
third-quarter net profit to ~44.81 crore. The firm had a net profit of DEEPAK PATEL India will need 2,840 new aircraft and 41,000 holders of Taro, including will firmly move forward, lev-
~393.88 crore in October-December 2022. DEV CHATTERJEE & PTI Hyderabad, 18 January pilots as well as 47,000 technical staff in the most of its minority share- eraging its global strengths
next 20 years, Rémi Maillard, president and holders participating in the and capabilities to better serve
IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, is managing director of Airbus India and South vote, and subject to other req- the needs of patients and
PhonePe sells over 9 million expecting its entire flight schedule to
fully come back to normal in terms of
Asia said on Thursday.
Maillard said Airbus will double its sourcing
uisite statutory approvals, healthcare professionals.”

insurance policies since Sep 2021 on-time performance by next week,

its chief executive officer (CEO) Pieter
Walmart-owned PhonePe has sold over 9 million overall policies,
with over 4 million being sold in the last year alone, the fintech
firm said on Thursday. PhonePe started offering insurance on its
Elbers said here on Thursday. The air-
line along with other carriers has been
facing harsh criticism from pas-
platform in September 2021. The company said it has contributed
to over 65 per cent growth for two-wheeler digital insurance in
India, in the last two years. The Bengaluru-based company also
sengers on social media since Sunday
morning as hundreds of flights across
the country have been cancelled and
facilitated over 75 million vehicle insurance quotes and 400 delayed due to dense fog.
million quotes across insurance products. The digital insurance The company’s CEO rubbished
market is growing at a CAGR of 24 per cent, with a large part of this reports on social media that IndiGo —
growth coming from PhonePe, it said. PEERZADA ABRAR due to its large market share — does
not care for its passengers, saying:
“You know what. I am going to be
Meta enhances monitoring blunt with you. That is nonsense.”
“Can you run an airline of 3 lakh
of app usage by teens customers (per day) by just saying ‘I
don’t care’? You can’t. Our
Meta announced on Thursday new features to support teens and frontline staff, our teams, they care a
families to make it easy to manage and monitor the time they spend lot,” he said. Market share is the out-
on apps. It announced the features as it came under attack after come of what happened in the mar-
unredacted documents revealed that the social media company not ket, Elbers noted, adding, “We care for
only intently marketed its messaging platform to children, but was our customers”.
also aware of the volume of inappropriate and sexually explicit On fog-induced disruptions, he
content being shared with children, said a TechCrunch report. As part said: “I made some comparison with
of the announcement, Meta said that they are bringing parental Chennai, and what happened in the
supervision to Messenger. SHIVANI SHINDE first week of December. We had can-
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers refuted the
allegation that the airline does not
care for its passengers
celled hundreds of flights as the city
was flooded. We were back (to normal)
at an incredible speed of 36-38 hours.
This was because it was all concen-
trated in one place...This one (fog-
induced disruption) has been
more difficult and challenging. What
happened on Sunday created a cas-
cading effect.
“If you have 2,000 daily flights, you
have got a massive machine. If the
machine is disrupted, and if in one-
third of your network, you have fog,
the largest station of Delhi is com-
pletely blocked, it takes a couple of
days to get it back to normal,” he said.
from India to $1.5 billion by the end of the dec-
ade from the existing $750 million.
He said that last year Airbus got
orders for 750 aircraft and
delivered 75 units to Indian
Haldiram’s may buy
carriers — 41 to Indigo, 19
to Air India, 14 to Vistara
and one to Go First.
rival Prataap Snacks
“India is a force that will REUTERS stage and a valuation has not
power global aviation over Mumbai, 18 January been discussed, though it
the next decades...the forecast could be at a premium to
is that India will require 2,840 new aircraft over Snacks maker Haldiram’s is Prataap’s stock price.
the next 20 years to serve the needs of its grow- in talks to acquire a majority Haldiram’s is considering a
ing aviation market,” he said. stake in listed rival Prataap majority stake of at least 51
The company also said it has signed con-
tracts with Tata Advanced Systems Limited
Snacks, which is valued at
$350 million (about ~2,900
per cent, but a final number
has not been decided, said
(TASL) and Mahindra Aerospace Structures
Private Limited (MASPL) to procure commercial
crore), to expand its presence
in the potato chip market,
the sources, who declined to
be named as the discussions
aircraft components. two people with direct knowl- are confidential. Prataap is
Under the contract, TASL and Mahindra edge of the matter said. known for Yellow Diamond
Aerostructures will manufacture metallic detail Prataap Snacks shares in brand of chips and competes
parts, components and assemblies for Airbus’ Mumbai jumped about 13 per with Pepsi’s Lay’s brand and
A320neo, A330neo and A350 programmes. cent to their highest levels other snack-makers.
The aviation firm has also partnered with since 2018 after the news, Haldiram’s CEO Krishan
Air India for setting up a pilots training facility before paring some gains to Kumar Chutani, Prataap CEO
in Gurugram, Haryana, under a 50:50 joint ven- close 9.7 per cent higher. Amit Kumat, and Peak XV all
ture, it said on Thursday. The talks are at an early declined to comment.

‘Projects with discretionary spends down significantly’ LTIMindtree shares

Amid a challenging macro-economic environment, LTIMindtree posted a tepid sequential there is a situation where we have The insurance component of the BFSI significant portion of our deal
slump 11% on
revenue growth of 1.2 per cent at ~9,017 crore in Q3 on account of higher-than-expected seen deal cancellations. Projects with portfolio is quite resilient. As far as pipeline is large deals.
furloughs across all verticals. Q3 is a seasonally weak quarter for IT companies due to
higher furloughs resulting in lower billable hours. DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, chief executive
discretionary spends have
significantly come down.
banking and financial services is
concerned, this is one vertical where What are your initiatives on
weak Q3 earnings
officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), LTIMindtree, speaks about the overall demand we saw a higher impact of furloughs, Shares of LTIMindtree
environment and company’s strategy, in a virtual interview with Why has your banking, financial specifically in Q3. But we expect
generative artificial intelligence
(GenAI)? plummeted nearly 11 per NOSEDIVE
Ayushman Baruah. Edited excerpts: services & insurance (BFSI) vertical gradual recovery as we go along. We have launched a separate cent on Thursday, wiping LTIMindtree intraday
declined 1.4 per cent quarter-on- horizontal practice on GenAI. The out ~19,844.7 crore from (Price in ~)
How is the overall demand to the next quarter. And, given that quarter (Q-o-Q) in Q3? As a larger combined entity now, are idea is that GenAI has to be infused in its market valuation, as 6,400
environment and what’s your many of the deals are cost take-out, you chasing more large deals? all the service lines we have. We have the company’s December 6,277.7
outlook for Q4 and beyond? multi-year ones, it is going to take We have always had a dedicated team completed our target of training quarter earnings came 6,000
As far as the demand environment is more time in ramping up revenues. In for large deals for quite some time 10,000 associates in GenAI and the weaker-than-expected.
5,602.3
concerned, it is a very challenging terms of outlook, it's very difficult to now. If you look at the overall order eventual goal is to have the entire The stock tanked 5,600
macroeconomic one. There are call out anything specific at this point deal flow of $1.5 billion during Q3, we organisation trained on it. 10.76 per cent to settle at Change
significant delays in decision in time. The macros that are have quite a few large deals that span ~5,602.30 apiece on the -10.8%
making with restrained client playing out — inflation rate, over multiple years. Right now, a Do you have any acquisitions in the BSE. During the day, it
5,200
spending. The only areas elections in many countries, pipeline? What’s your acquisition slumped 13.40 per cent to
Jan 17,’24 Jan 18,’24
Source: Bloomberg
clients are spending are including the US, and wars — strategy for FY25? ~5,436. On the NSE, it fell Compiled by BS Research Bureau
around cost take-out are probably playing in the THE ONLY AREAS CLIENTS ARE We do not call out details of our by 10.73 per cent to ~5,602
initiatives or some specific DEBASHIS minds of clients. This is SPENDING ARE AROUND COST acquisition plans. We are per share. The company’s market valuation eroded
regulatory or cyber initiatives. CHATTERJEE forcing them to behave in this continuously looking at targets, by ~19,844.7 crore to ~1,65,919.60 crore.
These are expected to give unprecedented manner.
TAKE-OUT INITIATIVES OR SOME which can be strategic additions to Avdhut Bagkar, technical and derivatives analyst
CEO & MD,
them return on investment LTIMindtree SPECIFIC REGULATORY OR CYBER our overall strength. In terms of at StoxBox, said, “LTIMindtree shares fell after its
(RoI) in the short term. There While slowdown in deals is INITIATIVES THAT ARE EXPECTED criteria, the target has to create a Q3FY24 earnings came weaker-than-expected.”
is a tremendous amount of caution in known, have you seen any TO GIVE THEM RETURN differentiation in our service line “It delivered a soft Q3, impacted by higher-than-
the environment right now. cancellations yet? capabilities or a specific geography usual furlough and weakness in discretionary proj-
We were supposed to close a few We are seeing a delayed decision ONINVESTMENT IN THE we are operating in. We will never do ects, which is likely to extend into Q4,” according to
deals this quarter, which got deferred making from clients but I don't think SHORT TERM an acquisition just to add numbers. a report by HDFC Securities. PTI

NEW DELHI : Printed and Published by Nandan Singh Rawat on behalf of Business Standard Private Limited and printed at The Indian Express (P) Ltd. A-8, Sector-7, Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar-201301 and published at Business Standard Private Limited, Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002
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.
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 COMPANIES 3
<

Samsung to make AI-driven

Galaxy S24 series in Noida
Meant for export as well; devices are
priced at ~79,999 to ~1,59,999 apiece
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
San Jose, 18 January
Samsung has priced
Galaxy S24 series smart-
phones with storage capacity
WHAT THE PHONE OFFERS
FLAT DISPLAY: Uniform refresh rate across PROCESSORS:
models; QHD+ resolution in the Plus model, The Galaxy S24
up from fullHD+ in the predecessor Ultra is powered
by Qualcomm

S
amsung will manufac-
ture its latest artificial
intelligence-loaded
Galaxy S24 series at its India
factory for both domestic sale
as well as exports, senior com-
pany officials said.
The company unveiled its
latest flagship device — Galaxy
S24 series — with focus on
Artificial Intelligence (AI)-
based applications to enhance
productivity like real-time
voice call and message trans-
lation in select languages,
including Hindi, improved
image editing, camera effects
to woo content creators, and
Corning Gorilla Armor glass to
enhance durability of display.
“This is a device of the
future. While the world talks
about AI as the next big thing,
the Galaxy S24 series brings it
live to you. I am very happy to
announce that Galaxy S24
series will be manufactured at
our Noida factory in India,”
Samsung India President and
CEO J B Park said.
He said consumers in India
can start pre-booking Galaxy
S24 series smartphones from
January 18 and it will go on
sale from January 31.
in the range of 8GB system AI: There is Galaxy AI deeply integrated Snapdragon 8
memory (ROM) and 256 GB across various sections for enhanced Gen 3 system-
storage (RAM) to 12 GB ROM user experience
with 1 terabyte (TB) RAM.
on-chip. The
The devices will be avail- other two
PROTECTION models in the
able in India in the price range AND
of ~79,999 to ~1,59,999 apiece. line-up, the
DURABILITY: Galaxy S24 and
“At Samsung, we are proud
Titanium Galaxy S24 Plus,
to be driving premiumisation
frame and are powered by
in India. I am positive that
India will be at the forefront Gorilla Glass its in-house
of embracing the AI revolu- Armor to developed
tion by operating Galaxy S24,” protect the Exynos 2400 SoC
Park said. Samsung India display
Senior Vice-President for
mobile business Raju Pullan SOFTWARE: The firm has committed
said the entire S24 series will to provide up to seven years of
be manufactured in India for Android OS updates and security
India as well as for the other patches for all Galaxy S24 series
parts of the world. “Entire
range of Galaxy S24 series will
be manufactured in India, for
India and we will be also mak- Company targets double-digit
ing it available for the world
from India,” Pullan said.
The firm has come up with
sales growth for flagship series
promotional offers . “There is Samsung is targeting double-digit growth for its latest
a special announcement for flagship smartphone series, powered with an array of new
India. We will have an upgrade artificial intelligence features. The devices include built-in live
programme for India where voice and text translation of calls and a new search tool that
consumers can buy Galaxy lets users circle an image on the phone to get related
S24 Ultra 512 GB at an effective information, tapping the AI suites of Samsung and Google.
price almost equal to the price Samsung is taking a hybrid approach of combining its own AI
of Galaxy S23 Ultra 256 GB ver- technologies with those of Google, according to TM Roh, head
sion,” Pullan said. of Samsung’s mobile business. BLOOMBERG

‘Airtel aims to power 250 mn smart meters’

SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY
New Delhi, 18 January
Having already secured con-
tracts to power close to 50 mil-
lion smart meters, Airtel
Business is looking out for
further deals and is aiming to
power 250 million smart
meters in India, Chief
Executive Officer (CEO)
Ganesh Lakshminarayanan
said. Smart meters remain a
major part of the company’s
growing internet of things (IoT)
business, he said in an interac-
tion. Airtel Business has a
56 per cent market share in IoT
solutions in India.
Overall, the company has
signed contracts for close to
50 million smart meters. “We
We are working with smart
meter manufacturers to ensure
they get access to the right
technology for communication,
and are able to test it with
various meters
GANESH LAKSHMINARAYANAN
CEO, AIRTEL BUSINESS
are working with smart meter
manufacturers to ensure they
get access to the right technol-
ogy for communication, and
are able to test it with various
meters. We are enlarging our
network to ensure smart
meters communicate with
each other across the country.
We are building infrastructure
to store this data, and bringing
software applications needed
to monitor and manage the
meters,” he said.
ICRA anticipates the award-
ing of smart meters by the state
distribution utilities (discoms)
to increase to 222 million over
the near to medium term from
99 million so far. The replace-
ment of conventional power
meters with smart meters is a
key initiative of the Revamped
Distribution Sector Scheme
(RDSS) launched by the Centre
in July 2021 .
“There is a strong incentive
for discoms to digitise the dis-
tribution of power. Today, all
the discoms put together in the
country lose about ~60,000
crore a year due to a wide vari-
ety of reasons. Some of the
main challenges are how to get
real time data of actual
demand and supply of power
in the country, how to make the
distribution of power a lot less
error-prone in terms of billing,
and make sure there is no reve-
nue leakage,” Lakshminara-
yanan said.

RESULTS CORNER
Polycab India
Q3 profit rises
15% to ~412 cr
Polycab India on Thursday
reported a 15.35 per cent
growth in consolidated net
profit to ~412.85 crore for the
third quarter ended December
2023.The company’s net profit
stood at ~357.88 crore in the
corresponding period of the
previous financial year, Polycab
India said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue from operations
grew 16.83 per cent to ~4,340.47
crore during the quarter
compared to ~3,715.18 crore a
year ago. "Our robust business
momentum continued in the
third quarter, leading to the
highest-ever quarterly
revenues in the history of the
company. Nine-monthly
revenues and profitability too
created newer highs.Chairman
and Managing Director Inder T
Jaisinghani said. Shares of the
company on Thursday closed at
~4,431, down 0.20 per cent
on BSE. PTI

Jindal Stainless
profit jumps
39% to ~692 cr
Jindal Stainless on Thursday
reported a 39.15 per cent year-
on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in
consolidated net profit in the
December quarter of the
current financial year to
~692.33 crore from ~497.51
crore in the same quarter last
year. Revenue from operations
at ~9,127.45 in Q3FY24 crore was
higher from ~9,062.50 crore in
the same period last year.
Sequentially, profit was
down by 10.59 per cent and
revenue by 6.83 per cent as the
company took a shutdown.
The board of Jindal Stainless
has given an in-principal
approval for the acquisition of a
100 per cent stake in Iberjindal S
L, a subsidiary company based
out of Spain. ISHITA AYAN DUTT
4 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
>
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 1

Das cautions against exuberance in lending

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das urged institutions like
IMF to recognise the efforts of emerging market
economies in protecting their domestic economies
from global currency fluctuations and volatility
ANJALI KUMARI
Mumbai, 18 January
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor
Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said there
shouldn’t be exuberance in lending, and
there should be some correlation
between deposit base and credit growth.
Das said the central bank had not
mandated any number on credit
deposit ratio, and neither did it propose
to. While he acknowledged signs of exu-
berance in personal and unsecured
loans, he reassured that the central
bank had taken pre-emptive measures
to prevent potential stress in the bank-
ing sector.
“All that I can say is that there should
not be exuberance in lending. Number
two, there should be some correlation
between your deposit base and your
credit growth. There should be some
correlation. But in terms of hard-coding
it, in terms of a particular number, there
is no such proposal in our mind and we
have not prescribed any such number,”
Das told CNBC-TV18 in an interview at
Davos. The RBI governor cautioned
against interpreting share prices as a
direct reflection of a company’s funda-
mentals. He emphasised that stock
prices are influenced by various factors
and may not necessarily represent the
financial health of a company, includ-
ing those in the banking sector.
The disappointing earnings for the
December quarter had led to an over 8
per cent fall in the stock of
HDFC Bank on Wednesday,
accounting for more than
half of the losses for both
Sensex and Nifty — where
it holds a weighting of 14.7
per cent and 12.7 per cent,
respectively. Further, the
RBI governor urged institutions like the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) to
recognise the efforts of emerging mar-
ket economies in protecting their
domestic economies from global cur-
rency fluctuations and volatility. He
said the stability of the rupee could be
attributed to a number of factors
beyond the RBI’s intervention. India’s
robust macroeconomic
fundamentals and the
stability inherent in the
Indian financial sector
contributed to the stabil-
ity of the rupee, he said.
Additionally, the
foreign capital inflows
have played a pivotal role in
maintaining the rupee’s stability. He
specifically noted the surge in foreign
portfolio investment (FPI) inflows,
highlighting India’s position as one of
the larger recipients.
China curbs may be
eased: DPIIT secy
The Indian government could ease
its heightened scrutiny of Chinese
investments if the two countries’
border remains peaceful,
Department for Promotion of
Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)
Secretary said in the first signal that
the four-year-old curbs could be
lifted. Border tensions, the biggest
irritant to relations, have eased,
which could lead to improved
investment ties, he said. REUTERS

NRBI MONTHLY BULLETINN

Coaching centres
can’t enrol students
below 16 years: Govt
Inflation needs to align ‘Food inflation
can potentially
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhii, 18 January

Coaching centres cannot enrol

students below 16 years of age,
make misleading promises
and guarantee rank or good
marks, according to new
guidelines announced by the
Ministry of Education.
antee rank or good marks to
parents for enrolling students
in the coaching centres.
The institutes cannot enrol
with target by 2nd qtr impact headline’
students below 16 years of
age. Student enrolment
Report says priority for FY25 is to sustain growth momentum of at least 7% MANOJIT SAHA
should be only after second- Mumbai, 18 January
ary school examination,” the MANOJIT SAHA
guidelines said.
“The coaching institutes
Mumbai, 18 January
KEY OBSERVATIONS D elving into the contentious issue of whether monetary pol-
icy should look through rise in headline inflation due to

I
The guidelines for regulat- cannot publish or cause to be ndia should sustain the n Potential output is picking up with spikes in food prices, which are caused by events that cannot
ing coaching institutes have published or take part in the strong growth momentum in actual output running above it be controlled by interest rate changes, a research paper by
been framed to address the publication of any misleading the next financial year by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Michael Patra,
need for a legal framework advertisement relating to any securing at least a 7 per cent expan- n December inflation data edged along with Joice John and Asish Thomas George, concluded
and manage the unregulated claim, directly or indirectly, of sion in GDP while the headline up mainly due to an that there are times when food inflation mimics core inflation.
growth of private quality of coaching or the inflation needs to align with the tar- unfavourable base effect “With its large share in the consumption basket, food infla-
coaching centres. facilities offered therein or the get of 4 per cent by the second quar- n Core inflation moderated to 3.8% tion has the potential to affect headline inflation. And, it can
It comes following com- result procured by such ter of FY25, as projected, said the in December, its lowest print in also affect non-food inflation in the event of large and repeated
plaints received by the govern- coaching centre or the stu- Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) state of food price shocks,” the paper said. While the authors are from
more than 4 years
ment about rising cases of stu- dent who attended such the economy report issued on the RBI, the views do not represent that of the central bank.
dent suicides, fire incidents, class," it added. Thursday. The report said the “potential n Govt’s thrust on capex starting to The report observed that in the wake of the pandemic –
lack of facilities in coaching The coaching centres can- output is picking up with actual output crowd-in private investment exacerbated by the war in Ukraine – the intersecting incidence
incidents as well as method- not hire the services of any running above it, although the gap is of food price spikes has had an overbearing influence on head-
ologies of teaching tutor or person who has been moderate,” indicating there is no n Food and energy prices on the ebb... line inflation in India.
adopted by them. convicted of any offence overheating in the economy. the genie of inflation is being bottled Widely regarded as tran-
“No coaching centre shall involving moral turpitude. An “…the virtuous thrust to sient, these shocks appear “WITH ITS LARGE SHARE
engage tutors having qualifi- institute will not be registered investment from government to have imparted volatility IN THE CONSUMPTION
cations less than graduation. unless it has a counselling sys- capex must be partnered and adding the rate of real fixed investment and persistence to food BASKET, FOOD INFLATION
The institutions cannot make tem as per the requirement of even led by the corporate sec- per cent in November. is at a historic high in 2023-24 which inflation which averaged HAS THE POTENTIAL TO
misleading promises or guar- these guidelines. tor, supplemented by foreign Commenting on the augurs well for enhancing the productive 6.7 per cent during April AFFECT HEADLINE
direct investment,” said the report, National Statistical Office’s (NSO’s) first capacity of the economy. 2022 to November 2023, it INFLATION AND IT CAN
authored by RBI staffers including advance estimates which projected the The report said that the global econ- said. Food has a weight of ALSO AFFECT NON-FOOD
deputy governor Michael Patra. The Indian economy to grow at 7.3 per cent in omy has displayed extraordinary 45.9 per cent in the con- INFLATION IN THE EVENT
IN BRIEF report does not represent the views of 2023-2024, the report said the stronger- resilience amid enduring wars, tight sumer price index OF LARGE AND REPEATED
the central bank. than-expected growth was underpinned financial conditions and havoc-wreaking (CPI). But its contribu- FOOD PRICE SHOCKS
On the December inflation data by a shift from consumption to invest- climate change. Economies across the tion to overall inflation
-Research paper by RBI’s
HDFC Bank seeks Singapore which edged up to 5.7 per cent from 5.6
per cent in November, the report noted
ment, with the government’s thrust on
capex starting to crowd-in private invest-
world are adapting better than expected
and this provides a strong bedrock for
has increased from 48
per cent in April 2022 to
MICHAEL DEBABRATA
PATRA, deputy governor,
bank licence to grow biz it was mainly due to an unfavourable
base effect of around 50 basis points
ment as high corporate profitability quar-
ter after quarter has begun to induce the
the year ahead, it said.
“…projections are being consistently
67 per
November 2023.
cent in
and Joice John and
Asish Thomas George
HDFC Bank, the country’s biggest private sector lender, is (bps), which more than offset a negative creation of fixed assets. proved pessimistic by incoming data. The report titled
seeking to open its first branch in Singapore, signaling its price momentum of around 30 bps. In this context, the report noted, the Projections of global growth that are cur- ‘Are Food Prices the
overseas ambitions after sewing up a landmark merger with “The negative momentum in overall housing market is seeing its highest sales rently converging well below 3 per cent True Core of India’s
mortgage financier Housing Development Finance CPI was on account of a month-on-month in more than a decade and real estate is for 2024 may once again be belied on the Inflation?’ highlighted
Corporation last year. The bank has applied to the Monetary decline in food prices by 73 bps,” it said. exhibiting remarkable resilience and upside,” it said. two factors. They are
Authority of Singapore for a banking licence and is awaiting Importantly, the report observed adaptability. “Anecdotal evidence points Highlighting food and energy prices the rising vulnerability
approval, according to sources familiar with the matter. It is that the core inflation moderated to to home renters becoming owners of big- on the ebb — crude prices fell in spite of of food prices to cli-
not clear what kind of banking licence HDFC Bank is seeking 3.8 per cent in December, its lowest ger homes – a development that is wide- production cuts — the genie of inflation mate change. Second
in Singapore, said one of the people, who declined to be print in more than 4 years, from 4.1 ly expected to become a trend,” it said, is being bottled. is the weaponisation
identified as the information is confidential. BLOOMBERG of food as a conse-
quence of geopolitical
conflict and restrictive
‘Poverty fell over transparent NRI deposit flows RBI net-sells India emerging trade practices.

system, people participation’ double to $7.3 bn $1.9 billion global leader

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (pictured) asserted
on Thursday that a transparent system put in by
in April-Nov ’23 in November in GCC: Report RBI asks ombudsmen to guide
his government, its honest efforts and
emphasis on people’s participation have led
The flow of money into non-resident
Indians’ (NRIs’) deposits doubled to
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold
a net of $1.9 billion in the domestic
The RBI’s State of the Economy
report observed that India was REs over recurring complaints
to nearly 250 million people being lifted out of $ 7.3 billion in April-November 2023 foreign exchange spot market in rapidly emerging as a global leader Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Swaminathan J
poverty in the last nine years. Nobody could from $3.63 billion in the same period November, according to the central in hosting global capability centres has asked the internal ombudsmen of regulated entities (REs)
have thought that poverty in India can a year ago. Inflows into foreign bank’s monthly bulletin. The central (GCCs). GCCs are offshore units of to proactively guide them to address recurring complaints
decline but the poor has shown that it can currency non-resident (FCNR) bank bought $34.98 billion, while it multinational corporations that of customers, the regulator said in a press statement on
be if they are given resources, he said in accounts increased to $2.5 billion in sold $36.91 billion in November. The operate across the globe. “The Tuesday. “He called upon the internal ombudsmen to
an address at the 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp April-November 2023 as against an headline foreign exchange reserves, primary catalyst is the preference provide valuable inputs for enhancing internal systems
Yatra' event. PTI outflow of $199 billion in the same excluding the forward book, stood at global corporations have towards and processes as well as to proactively guide the regulated
period in 2022, according to Reserve $604 billion at the end of November. owning their resources and locating entity in taking remedial measures to address recurring
Had ‘frank conversation’ with Bank of India (RBI) data. The
outstanding NRI deposits rose by $1
These reserves expanded by about
$61 billion in 2023. As of December
them in India, which boasts quality
real estate, competitive rental rates,
complaints,” the RBI said following a conference of internal
ombudsmen of select regulated entities. Swaminathan also
Maldivian counterpart: EAM billion to $144.5 billion at the end of
November 2023, up from $143.5
30, 2022, India’s foreign
exchange reserves amounted to
an extraordinary talent pool, and a
consistently growing economy,”
outlined the RBI’s expectations from the board/ top
management of the regulated entities by emphasising that a
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met his Maldivian billion in October. ABHIJIT LELE $562.8 billion. ANJALI KUMARI it said. MANOJIT SAHA well-functioning internal ombudsman mechanism is
counterpart Moosa Zameer in Kampala and the two leaders had a beneficial for all stakeholders. AATHIRA VARIER
“frank conversation” on ties between the two countries. The
meeting between Jaishankar and Zameer in the Ugandan capital
city of Kampala came amid an unease in the Maldives' bilateral ties
with India. Jaishankar is in Kampala to represent India at the two-
day summit of the Non-Aligned Movement beginning Friday. The
ties came under some stress as Maldivian President Mohamed
Muizzu maintained after assuming charge as the president in
Coal India’s power generation entry gets Cabinet nod
November that he will keep his election promise of evicting Indian the private sector. So for this
military personnel from his country. ~5.6K cr equity investments in two
PTI
thermal power projects also okayed 3-officer level posts additional capacity to come in,
the projects need to be
for 16th FC okayed planned and awarded now,”
14 students, 2 teachers dead SHREYA JAI 1,600 Mw supercritical ther- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime
Vikram said. “The peak
capacity touched this year was
as boat capsizes in Vadodara New Delhi, 18 January mal power plant
Sundargarh district through
in Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday
approved the creation of three posts
240 Gw and if the demand
were to grow by 7-7.5 per cent,
Fourteen students and two teachers died after a boat overturned The Union Cabinet Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd for the 16th Finance Commission additional thermal capacity
in a lake on the outskirts of Vadodara in Gujarat on Thursday, Committee of Economic (MBPL), a wholly-owned sub- (FC), which was constituted on that would be required by the
officials said. Those on board the ill-fated boat were on a picnic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday sidiary of Mahanadi Coalfields December 31, 2023. The three posts end of the decade is estimated
when the tragedy occurred at Harni lake in the afternoon, the approved the ~22,000 crore Ltd (MCL), another arm of include two posts of joint secretary to be 60-70 Gw,” he said.
officials added. “Sixteen persons, comprising 14 students and two two maiden thermal power Coal India. and one post of economic adviser. While renewable capacity
teachers, died in the boat capsizing incident. One student who generation units planned by “CIL, the largest coal min- “The newly created posts are would grow at its pace, the
was rescued has been admitted in SSG Hospital,” a Harni police Coal India Ltd (CIL) in collab- ing company in the world, will required to assist the Commission in additional 30-35 Gw of ther-
station official said. National Disaster Response Force officials said oration with its subsidiaries. set up two pithead thermal carrying out its functions. All other mal capacity over and above
four persons were still missing and the search and rescue These units, slated to come power plants through its sub- posts in the Commission have the capacity already under
operation at the site was continuing. PTI at pithead (in the vicinity of sidiaries with a view to provide already been created as per the construction is required to
coal mines), are also part of cheaper power to the country,” delegated powers,” a government meet the rising demand. “This
the Centre's increased efforts said the government state- statement said. RUCHIKA CHITRAVANSHI is also in line with the Centre’s
Bilkis Bano case: 5 convicts to have more pithead units.
The CCEA approved 660
ment. Senior company offi-
cials said the project would
initiatives towards ensuring
energy security,” he said.
move SC seeking more time megawatt (Mw) Amarkantak
supercritical coal-based ther-
require 7-9 years to commence
operations as the land acqui-
ators, Union Power Minister R
K Singh said India would need
There is currently 25 Gw of
thermal power capacity under
the government had been
encouraging thermal power
The CCEA also approved
equity capital infusion of ~823
Days after the Supreme Court quashed the remission the Gujarat mal power plant (TPP) in sition, and technology part- 80 Gw of coal-based thermal various stages of develop- projects lately due to the surge crore by SECL in the joint ven-
government had granted them, five of those convicted of gang- Anuppur district of Madhya nership will soon begin now. power generation capacity to ment. Of this, close to 15 Gw is in demand. “The commentary ture building the Amarkantak
raping Bilkis Bano and massacring seven members of her family Pradesh, through a joint ven- The Centre has been push- be built as against 27 Gw under being constructed by state- from the government is that power units. It also approved
during the 2002 communal riots moved the Supreme Court on ture between CIL subsidiary ing state-owned companies to construction. “Renewable owned power generation India would require close to equity capital of ~4,784 crore
Thursday seeking more time to surrender. The reasons include South Eastern Coalfields enter into power generation — energy capacity addition behemoth NTPC. The Centre 80 Gw of additional thermal by MCL for its upcoming unit
failing health, impending surgery, son’s marriage and harvesting Limited (SECL) and Madhya both coal and renewable ener- alone cannot help meet the has planned 500 Gw of renew- power capacity by 2030. The in Odisha. Equity investment
ripe crops. The top court had on January 8 annulled the remission Pradesh Power Generating Co gy — in order to build suffi- rising electricity demand that able power by the end of this current pipeline of under-con- by CIL beyond 30 per cent of
the Gujarat government granted to the 11 convicts in the high- Ltd (MPPGCL), owned by the cient power availability. In has already peaked at an all- decade. Vikram V, vice-presi- struction thermal projects is its net worth in the JV of
profile case while slamming the State for being “complicit” with state government. November, in a meeting with time high of 241 Gw in 2023,” dent and co-group head (cor- around 30 Gw, with another 7 SECL-MPPGCL and in MBPL
an accused and abusing its discretion. PTI The Cabinet also approved all state-owned power gener- Singh had said. porate ratings) at ICRA said Gw likely to be revived from was also approved.
.
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS 5 <

India Inc on overdrive for Ram Mandir event

Companies rushing to do their bit and be a part of mega celebrations PITCHING IN
n Dabur India to
donate portion of profits
Temple fever grips travel
from all its products sold
between January 18 and
January 31 to Shree
portals, hotels, e-com firms
Janmabhoomi Teertha
Kshetra ARYAMAN GUPTA ~70,000 per night in select testament to this, and witness-
New Delhi, 18 January hotels, according to data from ing the excitement firsthand as
n Reliance Industries travel aggregator platform I join in the grand ceremony
sets up water Online travel portals are flood- EaseMyTrip. “The event is will be truly humbling,” said
distribution stall and ed with flight and train book- expecting an initial attendance Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and
will hand out free ings, hotels teeming with of nearly 7,000 guests, project- Group CEO, OYO.
packaged water to requests for accommodation, ing a daily footfall between The event has also given a
devotees that it and spiritual merchandise on e- three to five lakh visitors post- fillip to e-commerce sales, with
commerce platforms is selling inauguration,” said Nishant companies like Meesho wit-
otherwise sells under the
like hotcakes. As the consecra- Pitti, CEO, EaseMyTrip. To cater nessing an uptick in sales for
brand- Independence tion ceremony of Ram Mandir to this increased traffic, products related to the cultural
n Adani Wilmar plans in Ayodhya on January 22 Ayodhya has, of late, seen a dra- significance of the event. In the
to distribute over 25,000 draws near, Indians across the matic rise in the number of past one and a half months, the
jalebis, will organise country are putting their travel- hotels available. “There are a company has observed a three-
‘mega-bhog' to be ling boots on as the temple fren- host of new hotels and homes- fold increase in demand for
zy catches on. tays coming up and such items.
prepared with the
India’s largest travel technol- getting listed in the Spiritual “There has been an
brand’s products ogy (traveltech) platform area, and the sup- merchandise increase in demand for
n Nova Dairy to MakeMyTrip (MMT) has wit- ply is ramping up sales on Ram Mandir models and
provide 100 tonnes nessed a substantial four-fold expeditiously. e-commerce T-shirts. Nearly 70 per
of ghee for the increase in bookings for Ayodhya is poised platforms have cent of these orders
preparation of prasad Ayodhya compared to the previ- to become one of surged ahead came from Tier-2 and
at the ceremony ous year. “Given the compara- the major spiritual of Ram Mandir beyond cities such as
tively small visitor base for destinations of the consecration Gorakhpur, Raipur and
n Uber is running EV Ayodhya previously, we see a 5X country,” Magow Vijaywada among oth-
SHARLEEN D'SOUZA, AKSHARA SRIVASTAVA, A crowded street in Ayodhya on Thursday. Uber and Green Cell Mobility autorickshaw service upside in searches (year-on- added. ers,” said a Meesho
PEERZADA ABRAR & SHIVANI SHINDE have announced mobility services in the temple town PHOTO: PTI in Ayodhya year) and are already recording Hospitality major OYO is spokesperson.
Mumbai/New Delhi/Bengaluru, 18 January 4X more bookings as compared ramping up its footprint in The fervour around spiritual
to the last year. Expectedly, the Ayodhya. The Softbank-backed journeys extends beyond

A
s much-awaited consecration ceremony
of the Ram Mandir on January 22, and as
millions of pilgrims and devotees pour
into the holy city for the momentous event, com-
panies are rushing to do their bit and be a part of
the mega celebrations.
Some are offering a part of their profits as dona-
tions, telcos are beefing up the number of cellular
towers to ensure better connectivity, and there are
those distributing jalebis and food platters.
Take Reliance Jio. It has upgraded its network
in Ayodhya and increased the number of towers
in the city for both 4G and 5G networks so that
pilgrims who come for the inauguration ceremo-
ny do not face any issues with connectivity.
Reliance Industries has also set up a water
distribution stall and will hand out free packaged
water to devotees. RIL sells the packaged water
under the brand, Independence.
Not to be outdone, Adani Wilmar, under its
Fortune brand, plans to distribute over 25,000
jalebis (which is supposed to be Lord Ram’s
favourite dessert) over seven days. The jalebis
will be in the shape of its logo. There are also
plans to introduce a pakoda platter, made with
the brand’s products, at 10 snack shops across
Ayodhya. And then there will be a ‘mega-bhog'
for over 5000 people, which will feature foods
prepared with the brand’s products.
Ayurveda major Dabur India has decided to
donate a portion of the profits from all Dabur
products sold between today and January 31 to
Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the
trust set up by the government for the construc-
tion and management of the Ram Mandir.
“We have committed to donate a portion of
the profits generated from the sale of our prod-
ucts from today till 31 January to Shri Ram
Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra. Besides ramping
up the distribution of our products in the city
anticipating the demand surge for daily essen-
tials, we are also creating special experience
zones where visitors and pilgrims can touch, feel
and experience our range of products like Real
juices, Dabur Amla hair oil and Dabur Vedic Tea,”
Mohit Malhotra, chief executive officer at Dabur
India, told Business Standard. Dabur has also tied
up with dhabas and eateries on the Lucknow,
Gorakhpur and Varanasi highways leading to
Ayodhya. Mangaldeep, ITC’s agarbatti (incense
sticks) brand, is also spearheading a series of ini-
tiatives to be a part of the celebrations. On the
day of the inauguration, the brand will install a
‘Khushboo Path’ within the temple premises. The
corridor will be adorned with five-foot tall agar-
battis to diffuse fragrance throughout the temple
precincts.
The brand has installed two agarbatti stands
at Ram Ki Phedi, where devotees can light
incense sticks and offer prayers to Lord Ram. In
addition, it has set up puja outlets and platforms
for devotees at the river’s ghats. ITC will also be
donating its dhoop (incense cones) for a period
of six months from the temple’s opening date.
Dairy company Nova Dairy said it would pro-
vide 100 tonnes and 1500 kg of ghee for the prepa-
ration of the prasad (offerings) at the Pran
Pratishtha ceremony.
“We are deeply honoured and humbled that
the Ram Mandir committee has chosen our ghee
for such a significant and sacred event,’’ said
Ravin Saluja, director with Sterling Agro
Industries.
Not to be left behind, Havells India is provid-
ing lighting solutions on the temple premises.
The company is installing linear in-ground lights,
spot in-ground lights and 24 carat gold-plated
spotlights around the idol of lord Rama in the
temple. “The inauguration of the Ayodhya Ram
Mandir marks a historic milestone. Havells has
supplied and meticulously installed, tested, and
commissioned highly customised architectural
lighting elements, crafted from materials such
as aluminium and brass,” said Parag Bhatnagar,
president, Havells India.
Coca Cola India too has jumped into the fray
to try to participate in the celebrations. The com-
pany has started activations in the Hindi lan-
guage for the first time ever in a brown colour
theme for branding, as mandated by the govern-
ment. The maker of Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite
has placed 50 reverse vending machines in the
city to help curb pollution.
Moreover, the company is placing coolers and
boards to deck up stores and increase the busi-
ness for local shopkeepers. It is also setting up
changing rooms for devotees in the city.
Ride-hailing firm Uber has started its electric
auto-rickshaw service in Ayodhya under its pop-
ular category, Uber Auto. The company has
announced its commitment to offer convenient,
affordable, and sustainable mobility solutions as
the footfall to the holy city is expected to soar in
the coming days and months.
Following the launch of its electric auto-rick-
shaws, Uber will start operating UberGo, its most
affordable car product, and Uber Intercity, the
fast-growing mobility product that will support
all inter-city travel needs to and from Ayodhya.
Green Cell Mobility, an electric mobility solu-
tions provider, will deploy 150 intra-city electric
buses in Ayodhya for the ceremony.
duration of January 10-22 is
seeing a sharp increase in book-
ings,” said Rajesh Magow, co-
founder and Group CEO,
MakeMyTrip.
Room night bookings in
Ayodhya are currently almost
10 per cent of the top pilgrim-
age sites in the country, accord-
ing to MMT data.
Online travel portal Ixigo has
seen a similar uptick in on-plat-
form searches. “We are seeing
more than a 100 per cent
increase in domestic flight
searches week-on-week for
Ayodhya since the launch of the
new airport, and more than a 60
per cent week-on-week increase
in train travel searches,” said
Aloke Bajpai, co-founder and
Group CEO, Ixigo.
Leading up to the inaugura-
tion, occupancy rates in
Ayodhya’s hotels have risen
from 80 per cent to 100 per
cent, resulting in substantial
price hikes reaching up to
firm has seen a tremendous 350
per cent increase in searches for
the city on its platform over the
past year. In the lead-up to the
consecration ceremony, the
company has opened 65 home-
stays and hotels in partnership
with the Ayodhya Development
Authority and the UP State
Tourism Development
Corporation to support the
anticipated surge in tourism.
According to OYO, Ayodhya
has consistently held the top
position in searches on its app
over the past year. On New
Year’s Eve, the city witnessed a
70 per cent surge in searches,
surpassing popular leisure des-
tinations such as Goa at 50 per
cent and Nainital at 60 per cent.
“Spiritual tourism in India is hotspots across the country.
on the precipice of a monumen-
tal surge, poised to be one of the EasyDarshan – a platform spe-
biggest growth drivers of our
industry in the coming five
years. The opening of the Ram
Mandir in Ayodhya stands as a
Ayodhya. Over the last year,
traveltech firms and hotel
aggregators alike have wit-
nessed a substantial
uptick in demand for
spiritual tourism.
“Spiritual tourism as a cate-
gory has grown by 35 per cent in
just over a year in the country,
with a majority of this being fed
by spiritual centres like
Varanasi, Amritsar, Katra, Puri,
Shirdi, Haridwar and Tirupati,”
said Magow. This segment,
while furnished by only four
per cent of the total cities listed
on MMT’s platform, contributes
to over 12 per cent of the com-
pany’s overall transactions.
OYO announced expansion
plans in major spiritual
EaseMyTrip has introduced
cialising in pilgrimage packages
in India – which has recorded a
45 per cent surge in travel book-
ings to spiritual destinations.

‘Faith creating new businesses’:

Trade bodies line up 30K events
> FROM PAGE 1
Over at Connaught Place, the
New Delhi Traders’
Association, which covers the
14 blocks of the inner and outer
circles, Regal Building, Rivoli
Building, Scindia House and
Old Janpath market, has
ordered 6,000 metres of run-
ning flags to deck up the
sprawling space. The plan is to
light over 100,000 diyas on
Monday evening, and an 11-kg
laddoo has also been ordered.
The idea of livestreaming
the event, organising a light
and fireworks show, and play-
ing bhajans was, however,
stymied because of the
Republic Day dress rehearsal
scheduled for Tuesday. “We
did not get permission for it,”
says Atul Bhargava, the associ-
ation’s president.
That’s a small setback,
though, given the estimated
business the event is expected
to bring in, India-wide.
Praveen Khandelwal,
national secretary-general of
the Confederation of All India
Traders (CAIT), puts the figure
at ~1 trillion after gathering esti-
mates from trade associations
across 30 cities. CAIT, which
represents some 70 million
traders, had earlier projected
the business to be worth
~50,000 crore. “The faith of the
people is creating new busi-
nesses,” says Khandelwal as he
lists the 30,000-odd pro-
grammes that trade associa-
tions across the country have
lined up: Shri Ram Chowki, ral-
lies, pad yatras, and car rallies,
assemblies, and much more.
Over 50 million Ram tem-
ple models are expected to be
sold across the country, for
which small manufacturing
units are working night and
night across cities, he adds.
Dhol, tashe, nafiri, shehnai
players, band groups and
craftsmen preparing tableaus
for the yatras will also con-
tribute significantly to the tem-
ple economy, he says.
In the neighbourhood
Over in Lucknow, thematic
merchandise is a hot commod-
ity in popular markets like
Hazratganj, Aminabad,
Nishatganj, Mahanagar, and
Jankipuram. The flags, ban-
ners, headbands, posters, fes-
toons, stickers, badges, minia-
ture statuettes and temple
models are selling for as low as
~20 for a mini-flag to upwards
of ~500 for a large-sized poster
and banner. The suburbs, too,
are doing brisk business.
Ramesh Pal, a vendor from
Jankipuram, expects business
to remain robust even after the
consecration ceremony.
In the bedecked markets of
Narhi and Bhootnath, trader
bodies have asked their mem-
bers to install a Ram dhwaj
(flag) atop their shops. On the
anvil is a large cutout of Ram
at Atal Chowk, says Sanjay
Gupta, president, UP Adarsh
Vyapar Mandal.
The 10,000-odd buses of
the Uttar Pradesh State
Roadways Transport Corpo-
ration will play Ramdhun (reli-
gious song in reverence of the
deity) for its 1.5 million daily
commuters. The UP Power
Corporation intends to provide
uninterrupted power supply
on Monday. The state has also
announced a helicopter taxi
service to Ayodhya from
Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorak-
hpur, Agra, Mathura and
Prayagraj. Once launched, the
service will cost between
~11,000 and ~35,000. Direct
flights have started from New
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
Ahmedabad and Bengaluru to
Ayodhya.
Mumbai in Diwali mood
The mood is equally celebra-
tory in the markets of Mumbai-
Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Many of the shopping destina-
tions here have been organis-
ing Ram chowki, kirtan and
bhajan for the last few days.
Giant hoardings have come up
to announce the big event.
Between January 5 and 22,
sales worth ~10,000 crore are
expected in Mumbai-MMR,
says Shankar Thakkar, CAIT
secretary general, Maharashtra
chapter.
In Kolkata, business & a rally
Over at Jadubabur Bazar, an
old market in the south of
Kolkata, Biswajit Mitra’s flag
and festoon stall is a splash of
orange with “Jai Shri Ram”
flags on display. In the last four
days, sales have been in the
region of ~10,000-15,000, but
he is expecting them to shoot
through the roof during the
weekend. Another nearby stall
is also waiting in anticipation
with a heap of diyas stacked up.
“Jai Shri Ram” flags and
festoons are new to West
Bengal, and according to a sup-
plier in Burrabazar, the action
is more in the BJP-ruled states.
Burrabazar is one of the largest
wholesale markets in India.
Rohit Gupta of Novelty
Stores, manufacturer and sup-
plier of flags and election mate-
rials, says Assam accounted for
85 per cent of its flag sale,
Agartala (Tripura) around 10
per cent and West Bengal and
other neighbouring states the
remaining 5 per cent. Gupta’s
production capacity per day is
15,000-20,000, but the demand
has been far higher.
6 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
>
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 1

RECORD NOD FOR HYDROPOWER PROPOSALS IN ONE GO SBI raises

12 Gw pumped storage ~5K cr via WHY INDIAN 1: BUSES CARRY MORE PEOPLE
THAN METRO RAIL IN MOST CITIES

CITIES MUST
Daily ridership (in mn)  Buses  Metro

AT1 bonds

4.5
projects get green signal TAKE THE BUS

2.9

2.5
2.5

2.5
State Bank of India (SBI), the
country’s largest lender, has
Dedicated lanes for public

0.6
raised ~5,000 crore in capital

0.3
0.3
transport can be more

0.1
NITIN KUMAR

0.1
each, belonging to Sterlite Grid and through Basel III compliant
New Delhi, 18 January Gandhwani Energy in Chhattisgarh, Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds
received recommendations. One project at a coupon rate of 8.34 per economical than Metro networks Bengaluru Chennai Delhi Mumbai Kolkata

T
he Ministry of Environment,
Forest, and Climate Change
(MoEFCC) has given the environ-
ment-related go-ahead to pumped stor-
age hydropower projects with a capacity
of 11.98 gigawatts (Gw).
This marks the largest tranche of
these new-tech energy storage projects
to be approved in one go in the country.
The clearance has been granted for eight
projects, with an investment of ~81,981
crore, spread across five states, according
to the notifications posted on the
Parivesh portal of MoEFCC.
Pumped storage hydropower is a type
of hydroelectric energy storage that uses
water stored in two reservoirs at different
elevations to generate electricity. When
there is excess electricity available, such
as during off-peak hours or from renew-
able sources like solar and wind, it is used
to pump water from the lower reservoir
to the upper reservoir. When there is a
demand for electricity, the water is
released from the upper reservoir back
down to the lower reservoir, passing
through turbines that generate electric-
Record 141K firms
Eight projects, with an investment of
~81,981 crore, have received clearance
ity. According to the minutes of the meet-
ing of the 5th Expert Appraisal
Committee (EAC) on River Valley and
Hydroelectric Projects in December
2023, Greenko Energy’s proposal for a
3.66 Gw project in Uttar Pradesh’s
Sonbhadra district was the largest project
to receive an environment clearance
recommendation.
Two projects with capacities of 1.2 Gw
WTO MC13
of Oju Subansiri Hydro Power
Corporation of 2.22 Gw for Arunachal
Pradesh and one project of JSW Energy
of 1.5 Gw for Maharashtra were also given
the nod.
The Non-Conventional Energy
Development Corporation of Andhra
Pradesh Limited’s (NEDCAP’s) 1.2 Gw
project in Annamayya district was given
terms of reference (ToR) clearance.
NEDCAP’s 1 Gw project in YSR district
also received an environmental clearance
nod. According to the ToR documents, a
land area totaling 2,507 hectares has been
allocated for the projects. The operation-
alisation of the project is anticipated
within the next 3-4 years.
The only project to be deferred
by the committee was JSW Energy
PSP Six’s 1.68 Gw project in Sonbhadra
district of Uttar Pradesh. The committee
has sought comments from the Central
Electricity Authority on the overlapping
of the project with the Kandhaura
Closed Loop Pumped Storage Project
(1.68 Gw) and Sonbhadra Pumped
Storage Project (1.2 Gw).
cent amid tight market con-
ditions.
This was the bank’s sec-
ond AT1 bond offering in the
current financial year.
Earlier, it raised ~3,101 crore
via AT1 bonds in July at a
coupon of 8.10 per cent.
SBI executives said the
market conditions were
tough in terms of appetite.
The spread over the bench-
mark was 102 basis points for
this issue as against 96 basis
points for the offering in July.
Dinesh Khara, Chairman
SBI, in a statement said:
“The tight pricing and the
diverse investor base for an
instrument which has its own
challenges show the trust
investors place in the bank.”
The issuance is significant
as the bank has been able to
diversify and raise long-term
non-equity regulatory cap-
ital, he added. BS REPORTER
When New York City initiated a dedicated bus Source: A report by Infravision Foundation and IIT-Delhi
transport system in 2008, the service had lim-
ited infrastructure and used fare collection 2: GUJARAT LEADS IN
machines repurposed from the subway sys- PRIORITISING BUS TRANSPORT
tem. But for people stuck in traffic, seeing a Cities with dedicated bus lane
bus pass by on a dedicated lane reportedly
 Operational network (in km)
made for a compelling case to use the service.
Buses in major Indian cities carry nearly Status
four times as many people as do their Metro Surat Operational 101
rail systems, which are said to have lower Ahmedabad Operational 97
ridership than projected. Buses rarely have
dedicated lanes in India. Delhi’s Metro serv- Bhopal Operational 24
ice, the largest in the country, carries Pune-Pimpri Operational (partial) 22.5
roughly the same number of people as buses -Chinchwad
do in the city. This despite the city dismant- Hubli Dharwad Operational 22.4
ling a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in Jaipur Operational (partial) 20
2016. Bengaluru’s buses carry 47 times the
Indore Operational 11
daily Metro ridership of 100,000, the largest
gap among major cities. Rajkot Operational 10.7
A study in Bengaluru estimated that Vijayawada Operational (partial) 10
invest ments for a Metro would be 40 times Amritsar Operational (partial) 9
the cost of a BRTS, while carrying four Delhi Dismantled in 2016 5.8
times the number of passengers. A BRTS
Source: International Centre for Environment Audit
will be cheaper and have greater flexibility and Sustainable Development (Bus Rapid Transit In
than Metro rail systems, which work better India- A Compendium Report)
for large groups of people travelling long
distances. A Metro is said to be viable for 3: NUMBER OF REGISTERED
distances of around 10 km or more. Most
Indians travel less than this distance in
VEHICLES REMAINS LOW
Buses per million population
their daily commute. Surat and Ahmedabad
Mumbai Chennai Bengaluru
both have around 100 km of dedicated bus
routes. Except Bengaluru, most Indian cities
have fewer than the recommended 400-600

incorporated in India to push for public

buses per million people. Buses in Curitiba, 220 280 300 310 400 450
Brazil, and Lahore, Pakistan, have been suc-
cessful as public transport. Delhi Kolkata Recommended

FY24 so far: MCA stockholding of grains

RUCHIKA CHITRAVANSHI
New Delhi, 18 January
More than 141,000
companies have been
incorporated in the
current financial year
SHREYA NANDI
New Delhi, 18 January
NEW BEGINNINGS
Companies incorporated India, in the 13th ministerial
LLPs incorporated conference (MC13) of the
(April-Jan 10) World Trade Organisation
(WTO) in February, will push
for fast-tracking its demand
141,620
137,761
SNAPSHOT
 India has found support
from a group of developing
nations, including Africa
 India has invoked the
‘peace clause’ under WTO
India will need a mix of Source: Report by The (national service
options for its urban Infravision Foundation
and IIT-Delhi level benchmark)
transport needs.
SACHIN P MAMPATTA
terms, compared to the
2013 Bali peace clause.
Public stockholding pro-
gramme is a policy tool
used by the government
to meet food security and
safeguard millions of its
hunger-stricken popula-

norms to protect its food

till January 10, acccord- for a solution on public stock- tion. India has found sup-
procurement programme
44,093

ing to data available holding for food grains, over port from a group of
28,721

with the Ministry of negotiations on other agricul-  India maintains that it has to developing nations at the
Corporate Affairs ture-related issues. protect the interest of poor WTO, including Africa.
(MCA). Official sources “The public stockpiling of A solution is crucial
said this was the high- food grain is the longest-pending issue. since member nations have been raising
est number of firms Promise was made by the members in the Bali questions over India’s minimum support price
FY23 FY24
incorporated so far ministerial conference (in 2013) and then later programme for grains, particularly rice, since
under the ministry. 4.5 5.1 endorsed by subsequent conferences… with- the subsidy has breached the limit under the
More than 44,000 lim- out that, we will not take part in any discussion trade norms thrice. India has invoked the
ited liability partner- Forms filed (mn) on any other issue on agriculture,” a senior ‘peace clause’ under WTO norms to protect
ships (LLPs) were government official said on Thursday. its food procurement programme against any
incorporated till Companies registered in Nov India wants to seek a permanent solution action from member nations in case the limit
January 10, 2024, 2022 2023 on public stockholding with more enhanced is breached.
compared to a little Limited by 12,763
over 28,000 in the shares*
corresponding period
13,230
last year.
Official sources said
Limited by 81
guarantee** 114 IndusInd Bank Q3 profit Poonawalla South Indian NESFB offloads stressed
Fincorp net Bank profit micro-loans of ~500 cr
that this was indicative
of increased economic
activity in the country.
LLPs refer to limited liability partnerships;
*the liability of the shareholders to
creditors of the company is limited to the
capital originally invested;**the liability
rises 17% to over ~2K cr jumps 76% rises 197%
A LLP refers to a type of of its members is limited by an amount Private-sector lender cent from ~4,495 crore in the North East Small Finance cess of raising fresh capital of
general partnership the members guarentee to pay if the IndusInd Bank posted 17.2 per year-ago period. The other Non-banking lender Poona- South Indian Bank said its Bank (NESFB) has sold up to ~200 crore in the cur-
company is wound up
where every partner's Source: MCA cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise income rose by nearly 15.38 walla Fincorp on Thursday net profit increased almost stressed loans in its microfi- rent financial year. This cap-
liability towards the in net profit to ~2,301.49 crore per cent to ~2,395.85 crore. said its net profit rose 76 per twofold (197 per cent) in the nance portfolio of over ~500 ital infusion is expected to
debts of the partnership are limited in nature. during the third quarter of Meanwhile, the net inter- cent to ~265 crore for the third quarter of financial year crore to Edelweiss Asset meet capital adequacy norms
The new registrations are on the Version 3 of the MCA por- financial year 2023-24 (FY24), est margin (NIM) of the December quarter on higher 2023-24 (Q3FY24) at ~305.36 Reconstruction Company and create a base for further
tal, and the government has been working to resolve its initial compared to ~1,963.64 crore lender stood at 4.29 per cent, disbursement and better crore, compared to ~103 crore (ARC) as a step to clean up its rounds of capital infusion,
glitches. “The system is working very well. Calls on our help in the FY22-23. Steady growth inching up from 4.27 per cent asset quality. in the same period in FY23. books and release capital the bank’s executives said.
desk are much fewer than any of the previous year,” an official in both interest income and sequentially. The Pune-based firm The bank’s operating profit ahead of a proposed merger After the sale of
source said. other income aided profit Speaking on the margins, said the quarter saw the was up by 138 per cent at ~483 with Slice group. Even after the stressed asset portfolio,
Industry representatives said that teething issues have been growth. Sumant Kathpalia, Managing highest-ever profit, led by crore, compared to ~203 crore the sale of stressed assets, the the Non-Performing
resolved, such as problems with login, submission, and down- Net interest income (NII) Director & CEO, IndusInd the highest-ever quarterly in Q3FY23. Gross non-per- bank's capital adequacy ratio Assets (NPA) percentage of
loading of forms. “Incorporation is now pretty seamless. The — the difference between Bank said that disbursements of ~8,731 forming assets reduced remains below the regulatory the bank significantly decre-
only problem is the issuance of a certificate of incorporation, interest earned and paid — he expects NIM to remain crore, about 159 per cent by 74 basis points , from 5.48 requirement of 15 per cent, ased to approximately
which takes a lot of time. GST registration is also not seamless,” stood at ~5,296 crore for the range bound between 4.2 to higher against the year-ago per cent to 4.74 per cent year- mandated for small finance nil as of September 30,
said Amit Gupta, a senior company secretary. period which was up 17.81 per 4.3 per cent. AATHIRA VARIER period. PTI on-year. BS REPORTER banks. NESFB is in the pro- 2023. ABHIJIT LELE

Kejriwal refuses to FROM PAGE 1 >

system has been put into place until
September 2024.
placed the world’s largest aircraft
order for 500 A320neo family
planes). The airline is set to have 25
planes in its fleet by March 2024, > BS SUDOKU # 4183
depose before ED PC imports... Akasa Air...
planes with Airbus. In February
2023, the Air India group ordered
470 planes: 250 with Airbus and 220
Dube said.
According to the Akasa Air CEO,
the B737 MAX on order will help the
for fourth time In a further step-down, the govern-
ment announced that it would not Air India Express, SpiceJet, and
with Boeing.
Civil Aviation Minister
airline in domestic expansion, and
the efficiency and economics of
Delhi Chief Minister restrict the import of such elec- Akasa Air, which operate 32 B737 Jyotiraditya Scindia, referring to these new airplanes shall assist the
Arvind Kejriwal on tronic products from any territory, MAX 8 aircraft, were ordered by the Akasa Air’s order at the summit, carrier in launching international
Thursday refused to while also introducing a new con- Directorate General of Civil highlighted India’s growing impor- routes.
depose before the tactless import authorisation sys- Aviation (DGCA) to inspect their tance in the aviation market. He The airline is looking at a mix of
Enforcement Direc- tem. planes’ emergency exits, with all said: “Today India has become the destinations, including Southeast
torate for the fourth With the import monitoring sys- checks completed satisfactorily. largest purchaser for aircraft in the Asia, West Asia, Commonwealth of
time and termed the tem now in place, the government When asked about any concerns world, after the US and China. Independent States countries, East
BATTLEGROUND summonses issued to is able to collect data about specific following the January 5 Alaska Therefore, the aircraft fleet in India Africa, Malé (the Maldives), Sri
2024 him “illegal” and part of products coming in from different Airlines incident, Dube was clear: is going to grow from 730 right now Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and
a “political conspiracy” sources. “No. We don’t have any concerns to upwards of 2,000 in the next dec- other countries that can be reached
to arrest him before the India’s key trading partners have with that. We do not fly the MAX 9. ade.” “India had been replete with within six hours, Dube had told
Lok Sabha polls. expressed concerns over the online We fly the MAX 8 (and MAX 8- stories of airlines shutting down. In Business Standard last year.
Kejriwal said he is busy with the Budget monitoring system at the World 200)… We are highly confident in the past 10 years, under the Prime The airline claims to have served
preparations for Delhi. The Delhi Budget Trade Organization. US Trade what we are flying.” Minister's growth initiative, we have over 6.3 million passengers since
will be presented in the Assembly in the Representative Katherine Tai raised He noted that only 1 per cent of seen the birth of a new airline in the launch of its commercial oper-
session starting from February 15. PTI the issue last week during the India- planes built by Boeing and Airbus India. An airline that has grown ations. In 2023, it commanded a
US Trade Policy Forum (TPF), have door plugs. “That is a modifi- from two planes to 20 in 12 months. domestic market share of 4.1 per
which she co-chaired with cation. One is that we don’t have the An order of 76 aircraft, of which 22 cent. It connects 18 cities across
Assam govt, CM Commerce and Industry Minister
Piyush Goyal. Tai commended
MAX 9 (which has door plugs). Two
is that we don’t intend on getting
have landed in India, and today an
additional order of 150 aircraft --
India, including Mumbai,
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai,

most corrupt, India for implementing the import

says Rahul Gandhi
Kickstarting the Assam leg of 'Bharat Jodo
Nyay Yatra' on Thursday, Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi claimed the state perhaps has
the “most corrupt government” and the
“most corrupt CM” in the country.
Addressing a public gathering at
Haloating in Sivasagar district,
Gandhi slammed the ruling BJP and its
ideologue Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) for “spreading hatred and looting pub-
lic money”. PTI
management system in a facili-
tative manner that has so far mini-
mised the impact on trade, and
urged India to ensure that the end-
to-end online system currently in
operation and related policies do
not restrict trade going forward. Tai
later told reporters that she stressed
the need for India keeping the
country, as well as relevant stake-
holders informed about its plan for
the import monitoring system for
laptops, tablets, and select IT hard-
ware. India has already said that the
any non-standard modifications
done. A MAX 8 is a MAX 8 and that
is what we get. When it is a MAX 10,
it is going to be a normal MAX 10
with no door plugs,” he added.
In 2021, Akasa Air initially
ordered 72 MAX planes from Boeing
and then expanded the order to 76
in 2023. Of these, 22 have been
delivered, with the remaining 54
due by mid-2027.
Akasa Air's latest order is the
third major aircraft order by an
Indian aviation firm in the past 12
months. In June 2023, IndiGo
this is a first in the civil aviation his-
tory of the globe,” he further said.
Akasa Air, which began com-
mercial operations in August 2022,
added the 20th aircraft to its fleet
in August 2023, qualifying it for
international flight operations.
Indian regulations require carriers
to have at least 20 aircraft in their
fleet to be eligible for international
flights.
Currently, the airline has a fleet
size of 22 aircraft, which includes 21
737 Max 8 and one Boeing 737 Max
8-200 aircraft (two separate types of
Kochi, Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala,
and Pune.
About the new aircraft order,
SOLUTION TO #4182
Medium:
Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief
operating officer, said: “This mile-
«««
Solution tomorrow
stone demonstrates the strength of
our partnership with Akasa Air and HOW TO PLAY
is a testament to the capabilities of Fill in the grid so that
the 737 MAX family to further the every row, every col-
airline’s operational priorities. The
umn and every 3x3
efficiency and versatility of the 737-
box contains
10 and 737-8-200 will support Akasa
Air’s expansion to meet soaring the digits 1 to 9
demand for air travel in the region
for many years to come."
>
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS 7

Navy rescues ship in Gulf balkrishna industries limited

CIN : L99999MH1961PLC012185
Regd. Office : - B-66, Waluj MIDC, Waluj Industrial Area,
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar - 431136, Maharashtra, India.
Tel No. +91 22 6666 3800 Fax: +91 22 6666 3898/99
Website: www.bkt-tires.com E-mail: shares@bkt-tires.com

of Aden after drone attack

NOTICE
Notice is hereby given pursuant to Section 91 of the Companies Act, 2013
and applicable rules thereunder and Regulation 42 of SEBI (Listing Obligations
and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the Company has fixed
Friday, 2nd February, 2024 as record Date for the purpose of ascertaining
the eligibility of the shareholders for payment of 3rd Interim Dividend on
9 Indians were part of vessel; India says deeply concerned over security equity shares for the financial year 2023-24 to be declared, if any, at the
Board Meeting of the Company to be held on Wednesday, the 24th January,
2024. The said 3rd Interim Dividend shall be credited/ dispatched within 30
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA deployed in Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy days from the date of declaration as per applicable provisions of Companies
New Delhi, 18 January operations, swiftly responded to a distress Act, 2013 to such Shareholders as on record date.
call by Marshall Island flagged MV Genco The said notice may be accessed on the Company's website at www.bkt-tires.com

I
n a swift operation, a guided missile
destroyer of the Indian Navy intercept-
ed a cargo vessel with 22 crew mem-
bers, including nine Indians, little over an
hour after the Marshall Island-flagged ship
came under a drone strike in the Gulf of
Aden on Wednesday night.
The strike on the cargo vessel MV
Genco Picardy around 60 nautical miles
South of Port Aden came amid increasing
global concerns over attacks on merchant
ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
There was no report of any casualties
and the fire on the vessel was contained,
officials said. The Indian Navy’s frontline
warship INS Visakhapatnam responded
within an hour to the distress call by M V
Genco Picardy following the drone attack
at 2311 hours on Wednesday, they said.
NS Visakhapatnam swiftly responded to
a distress call PHOTO: PTI
The Indian Navy’s EOD (Explosive
Ordnance Disposal) specialists boarded
the vessel early Thursday morning to
inspect the damaged area, they said,
adding the vessel was cleared further tran-
sit following thorough scrutiny. The vessel
is proceeding to the next port of call.
“The INS Visakhapatnam, mission
Picardy following a drone attack at 2311 and also on the Stock Exchanges website at www.bseindia.com and
www.nseindia.com.
hours on January 17,” the Navy said. It said For Balkrishna Industries Limited
the warship intercepted the vessels at 0030 Sd/-
Vipul Shah
hours Thursday in order to provide assis- Director & Company Secretary &
tance. "Indian Naval EOD specialists from Place: Mumbai Compliance Officer
INS Visakhapatnam boarded the vessel in Date: 18th January, 2024 DIN: 05199526
early hours of January 18 to inspect the
damaged area. The EOD specialists, after
a thorough inspection, have rendered the
area safe for further transit," the Navy said
in a statement.
Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek
Madhwal said INS Visakhapatnam was
undertaking anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf
of Aden.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson
Randhir Jaiswal said India is “deeply con-
cerned” over the unfolding security situa-
tion in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

UP sweetens state price of

sugarcane by ~20 a quintal
SANJEEB MUKHERJEE AND
VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT
New Delhi/Lucknow, 18 January
With national elections round
the corner, the Uttar Pradesh
(UP) government has raised the
state advised price (SAP) of all
sugarcane varieties by ~20 per
quintal for the 2023-24
(October 2023-September
2024) season to ~370 for early-
sown varieties.
However, farmers in west-
ern UP, who have been
demanding a hike in SAP, don’t
seem to be too impressed,
terming the hike as “inade-
quate.” “Though the hike is
very inadequate and we were
expecting the price to be raised
to at least ~400 per quintal,
hence, our fight for remunera-
tive prices will continue. But
we are ending the agitation for
now,” Dharmendra Mallik,
spokesperson for Bhartiya
Kisan Union (apolitical), said.
UP is one of India’s largest
sugarcane-producing states
and has most private sugar
mills.
Of the total 120 sugar
mills in UP, the private
sector leads with 93 plants,
followed by the cooperative
sector with 24 units and UP
State Sugar Corporation
(UPSSC) with three.
Girishkumar Kadam, senior
vice-president and group head
— corporate ratings, ICRA
Limited, said this increase is in
line with the industry expecta-
tions. It will result in an
increase of sugar production
cost by ~1.7/kg, he added.
ICRA expects the profitabil-
ity of sugar mills in UP to
remain comfortable, given the
PRICE CHECK
SUGARCANE SAP IN UP
(in ~/quintal)
Year* SAP**
2017-18 315
2018-19 315
2019-20 315
2020-21 315
2021-22 350
2022-23 350
2023-24 370
*Season runs from Oct to Sept
*State advised price or SAP is for
early maturing varieties which
constitute bulk of the sugarcane
grown in Uttar Pradesh
Source: Government and traders
firmed-up domestic sugar
prices. They traded at ~38-
38.5/kg as of December 2023,
he said. Nearly 5 million farm
households are directly associ-
ated with sugarcane farming in
UP and cane byproducts.
These include sugar, ethanol
and molasses, among others,
generating nearly ~50,000
crore for the state.
Thereby, it makes sugar-
cane farmers an important
electorate for any political par-
ty in the state.
“In UP, the SAP, which was
earlier determined by input
cost, is now dictated by elec-
tion schedule. The state BJP
government hiked sugarcane
SAP in 2021 just before the
Assembly elections. And now,
it raised the price just before
Parliamentary elections to
India likely to have harvested
355 mt horticulture crops
The country is estimated to have harvested 355.35 million tonnes
of horticulture crops in the 2022-23 crop year, about 8.07 million
tonnes more than the previous year, as per
agriculture ministry data released on
Thursday. The ministry has come out with
the third production estimate after the
harvesting of the 2022-23 horticulture
crops.Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda
said despite challenges surrounding
climate change, horticulture production
has gone up. As per the third estimate
released by the ministry, total production of
horticulture crops has increased 2.32 per cent (8.07 million tonne)
to 355.25 million tonnes in the 2022-23 crop year — July-June —
from 347.18 million tonnes in the previous year. AGENCIES
influence the farmers vote,” sugarcane increased from ~350
professor Sudhir Panwar, a for- per quintal to ~370 for early
mer member of UP Planning maturing varieties; from ~340
Commission, told Business to ~360 for common varieties
Standard. He, too, termed the and from ~335 to ~355 for late
hike as insufficient as it won't maturing or unsuitable sugar-
cover the inflation during the cane varieties, said a senior
last three years since 2021. government official.
“Considering the inflation, UP sugarcane payments
the government has increased during the crushing season
19 per cent the dearness 2023-24 are expected to top
allowance of employees (4 per ~36,000 crore. Last year, sugar
cent is expected soon) while production stood at nearly 10.7
the increase in sugarcane price million tonnes.
is only 5.7 per cent. This rise UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana,
(sugarcane price) is just not Punjab, and Karnataka are
enough to cover inflation,” among states that fix their own
Panwar said. sugarcane purchase price on
Uttar Pradesh has three the basis of input costs or SAP.
varieties of sugarcane — early, Other states follow the fair and
ordinary, and rejected. The first remunerative price decided by
variety usually comprises over the Centre on the recommen-
95 per cent of the sugarcane dation of the Commission for
cultivated (in the state), fol- Agriculture Cost and Prices.
lowed by 2.7 per cent for the “Even after this hike, UP
ordinary variety and the reject- farmers will get ~16 per quintal
ed variety constitutes barely 0.3 lower than Haryana and ~21 per
per cent. quintal less than Punjab farm-
With the latest hike, SAP for ers,” Panwar said.

Ban on commercial Telecom industry

release of GM crops
against national wants govt to junk
interest: Govt to SC USOF, slash duties
Making a strong case for growing genetically mod-
ified (GM) crops for enhanced food security, the SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY show. More importantly, the fund
Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that New Delhi, 18 January continues to have an unused
India is already importing huge quantities of edible surplus of ~77,113 crore, reaching its
oil extracted from genetically altered oilseeds for Telecom services providers have highest levels ever. The Coai has
domestic consumption and urged the Ministry of Finance to requested exemptions on Customs
“unfounded fears” of their The apex court suspend the universal service duty on certain telecom equipment,
adverse impact is hurting reserved its obligation (USOF) till the existing which presently increases the cost
farmers, consumers and order on a corpus is exhausted. of rolling out this critical
industry. plea seeking In their Budget recomme- infrastructure. Rising over a period
The Supreme Court moratorium ndations, they have also pressed for of five to six years, duties have now
reserved its order on a pleas on release of an exemption from the service tax hit 20 per cent. Currently, operators
seeking moratorium on genetically on “assignment of right to use are paying goods and services tax
release of genetically modi- modified natural resources” and the slashing (GST) under a reverse charge
fied organisms (GMOs) into organisms of Customs duty on telecom mechanism (RCM) on payment
the environment. into the equipment to zero. The Cellular made to the DoT towards license
Solicitor General Tushar environment Operators Association of fees, spectrum usage
Mehta, appearing for the India (Coai), which RUN-UP charges, and payment
Centre, told the court that represents private sector of spectrum acquired
approximately 55-60 per cent of edible oil con- telecom operators
TO THE in auction.
sumed in India is imported. “Strengthening of plant Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, “Payment of GST in cash
breeding programmes including the use of new and Vodafone Idea, called on a reverse charge basis
genetic technologies such as genetically engineered for abolishment of USOF and subsequent input tax
technology is critical for meeting emerging chal- levy. “Further, licence fee
lenges in Indian agriculture and ensuring food secu- should be brought down INTERIM credit (ITC) utilisation has
resulted in substantial
rity while reducing foreign dependency,” Mehta from 3 per cent to 1 per BUDGET accumulation of ITC within
told a Bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Sanjay cent at the earliest to cover 2024-25 telecom firms, leading to a
Karol. The law officer told the court the total edible only administrative costs significant blockage of
oil demand in India in 2020-21 was 24.6 million by the Department of Telecomm- working capital and thereby,
tonnes while domestic availability stood at 11.1 mil- unications (DoT),” it said. imposing a substantial financial
lion tonnes. USOF inflows come from the burden on these companies,” the
“In 2020-21, 13.45 million tonnes (54 per cent) of collection of universal access levy Coai said. The industry body has
our total edible oil demand was met through import (UAL) from telecom service also requested the introduction of a
worth about ~1,15,000 crore, which includes palm providers who have to pay 5 per cent special regime for the telecom
oil (57 per cent of total oil import), soybean oil (22 of their adjusted gross revenues operators under Section 72 of the
per cent), sunflower oil (15 per cent) and a small yearly to the fund. As on December Income Tax Act, 1961, where busi-
quantity of canola quality mustard oil. In 2022-23, 31, a cumulative ~1.55 trillion has ness losses can be carried forward
155.33 lakh tonnes (55.76 per cent) of our edible oil been collected by the government and set-off till 16 assessment years
demand was met through import,” Mehta said. PTI historically as UAL, official figures from eight years now.
8
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NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 1
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NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 9
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10 WORLD
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NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024

Pakistan retaliates with Interest rates to keep

falling but last mile ‘very
strikes inside Iran, 9 dead
China offers to ‘play a eign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, very tricky’: IMF chief
said, adding that Pakistan’s charge d’affaires, its
constructive role’ most senior diplomat in Tehran, had been sum- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
moned to give an explanation. Davos, 18 January
REUTERS In Islamabad, a foreign ministry spokesper-
Islamabad, 18 January son said Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva on
Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar would cut short a visit to Thursday said interest rates should

P
akistan used killer drones and rockets to
strike separatist Baloch militants inside
Iran on Thursday, Pakistani authorities
said, two days after Tehran said it had attacked
the bases of another group within Pakistani ter-
ritory. Iranian media said several missiles hit a
village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that
borders Pakistan, killing at least nine people.
Earlier reports said three women and four chil-
dren were killed, all non-Iranians.
China offered to play a “constructive role” to
ease tension between Pakistan and Iran follow-
ing their missile strikes against each other over
the last two days and asked the two countries to
“exercise restraint and calmness and avoid esca-
lation”. The neighbours have had rocky ties in
the past, but the strikes are the highest-profile
cross-border intrusions in recent years and come
amid growing worries about instability in the
West Asia.
“A number of terrorists were killed during
the intelligence-based operation,” Pakistan’s for-
eign ministry said, describing it as a “series of
highly coordinated and specifically targeted pre-
cision military strikes against terrorist hideouts”.
“Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of
Iran,” the ministry added in its statement.
“The sole objective of today’s act was in pur-
IN BRIEF
US jobless claims plunge to
lowest since September 2022
Initial applications for US unemployment benefits
unexpectedly dropped last week to the lowest level in more
than a year, underscoring the resilience of the labor market to
start the year. Initial claims decreased by 16,000 to 187,000 in
the week ending January 13, according to Labor Department
data released on Thursday. The figure was below all estimates
in a Bloomberg survey of economists. BLOOMBERG
Shell begins hundreds of job
cuts in push to boost operation
Shell has started to make hundreds of job cuts, with positions
in its low-carbon solutions unit among the first to be
eliminated, said people familiar with the matter. Staff were
told details about the cuts this week, after the broader plan for
headcount reductions was announced internally in December,
the people said, asking not to be named because the
information was private. Workers in the corporate affairs
division have also been notified and other departments to
follow, two of the people said. BLOOMBERG
China vows ‘strict’ assessment
of how policies affect economy
People gather at the site of Pakistani strikes, at
an Iranian village on Thursday PHOTO: REUTERS
suit of Pakistan’s own security and national
interest, which is paramount and cannot be
compromised.”
A senior Pakistani security official told
Reuters the military was on “extremely” high
alert and would meet any “misadventure” from
the Iranian side forcefully.
Iran strongly condemns the strikes, its for-
Israeli offensive kills
16 in southern Gaza
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafah, 18 January
An Israeli airstrike on a home killed 16
people, half of them children, in the
southern Gaza town of Rafah on
Thursday. The military continued to
strike targets in areas of the besieged
territory where it has told civilians to
the World Economic Forum in Davos and return keep falling in 2024 but cautioned
home. “The precision strikes were carried out that there is no room for any policy
using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions error as the last mile is “very,
and stand-off weapons,” a Pakistani military very tricky”.
statement said. It said the targets were bases In an interview with the World
used by the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and Economic Forum during its Annual
the associated Baloch Liberation Army. Meeting 2024, she said that the cen-
Iran said on Tuesday it had hit targets inside tral banks should not tighten pre-
Pakistan that it alleged were bases of Jaish al Adl maturely because then they may
(JAA). All the targeted groups are ethnically lose the victory that is now in
Baloch, but it was not clear if JAA has links with their hands.
the other two. Nuclear-armed Pakistan said civ- Expecting the positive trend to
ilians were hit and two children killed, warning continue in 2024, she said, "The World Bank President Ajay Banga with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva
of consequences for which Tehran would be inflation rate is going down, on during a meeting of the World Economic Forum. Georgieva said central
responsible. aver- banks should not tighten prematurely PHOTO: REUTERS
age.”
Economic challenge alert
The standoff with Iran comes as Pakistan is in
the midst of a crippling economic crisis with its
“What
we have
now is a
‘OpenAI coup less stressful
$350 billion economy beset by high inflation
and yawning fiscal and current account deficits.
very
diverse
than superintelligent AI’
It is undergoing a tough $3 billion International range. Sam Altman said that his dramatic and quickly-reversed firing at OpenAI
Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme that In some countries, the job is already was less nerve-wracking than how the world approaches making artificial
pulled it from the brink of default last summer. done, and inflation is low enough intelligence as capable as humans. “As the world gets closer to AGI, the
Pakistan’s international bonds fell after its for them to have an accommodative stakes, the stress, the level of tension — that’s all going to go up,” the
foreign ministry said it conducted strikes inside monetary policy. She called on poli- ChatGPT-maker’s chief executive officer said. Altman’s
Iran on Thursday, two days after Tehran cymakers in various countries to ouster by the board in November was “a microcosm of
attacked the bases of another group within continue exercising caution, and to it, but probably not the most stressful experience we
Pakistani territory. focus on the data. “The US has a ever face,” he said. BLOOMBERG
very tight labour market. What does
that mean? People have more
money to spend. And when they
AS THE WORLD GETS CLOSER TO AI, THE
STAKES, THE STRESS, THE LEVEL OF TENSION
spend more, that puts pressure on
prices upwards. So that last mile is — THAT’S ALL GOING TO GO UP”
very, very tricky,” she said. SAM ALTMAN, CEO, OpenAI
AI tools boost ad Ties with Saudi Arabia key to
campaigns’ returns end war: Israel President
by 32%, says Meta Normalising ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia is a key element of
Ads running on Meta Platforms ending the war with Hamas and a gamechanger for the entire West Asia,
apps saw return on spending Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday at the World
increase by an average of 32 per Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss town
cent with the help of artificial of Davos. “It’s still delicate, it’s fragile, and it will take a
intelligence, global business long time, but I think that it is actually an opportunity
group head Nicola Mendelsohn
said. Ads using AI also reduced
to move forward in the world and the region towards a
better future,” Herzog said. ASSOCIATED PRESS
the cost of acquisition by about 17
per cent, Mendelsohn said to IT'S STILL DELICATE, IT'S FRAGILE,
Bloomberg at the World Economic AND IT WILL TAKE A LONG TIME”
(Left) Smoke rises following Israeli Forum in Davos on Thursday.
strikes in southern Gaza; (above) a ISAAC HERZOG, Israel President
man looks at a house destroyed by
the strikes on Thursday PHOTOS: REUTERS
Associated Press footage from the hos-
pital showed relatives weeping over the
bodies of loved ones.
Sheryl Sandberg, who turned Meta into
“They were suffering from hunger,
they were dying from hunger, and now digital ad empire, exits Board after 12 yrs
they have also been hit,” said Mahmoud
Qassim, a relative of some of those who ASSOCIATED PRESS
were killed.
Internet and mobile services in Gaza
San Francisco, 18 January

China’s top economic planner vowed a “strict and meticulous” seek refuge.
evaluation of how Beijing’s policies affect the economy, weeks There was meanwhile no word on
after surprisingly harsh gaming curbs sparked a multi-billion whether medicines that entered the ter-
dollar stock rout. “Strengthening policy coordination has been ritory Wednesday as part of a deal bro-
increasingly important, given the relatively weak social kered by France and Qatar had been
expectations,” Yuan Da, director of the National Development distributed to dozens of hostages with
and Reform Commission’s Department of National Economy, chronic illnesses who are being held
said at a briefing on Thursday. REUTERS by Hamas.
Since, the war started on October 7,
more than 24,000 Palestinians have
IEA raises 2024 oil demand been killed, 85 per cent of the narrow
coastal territory’s 2.3 million people
growth forecast again have fled their homes, and the United
Nations says a quarter of the population
The International Energy Agency (IEA) made a further upward is starving.
revision to its 2024 oil demand growth forecast on Thursday, But Israel has continued to strike
citing improved economic growth and lower crude prices in the what it says are militant targets in all
fourth quarter. “The consensus economic outlook has parts of Gaza, often killing women and
improved somewhat over the last few months in the wake of children. Talat Barhoum at Rafah’s el-
the recent dovish pivot in central bank policy,” the IEA said in Najjar Hospital confirmed the death toll
its monthly report. “The fourth-quarter 2023 slump in oil prices from the strike in Rafah and said
acts as an additional tailwind.” REUTERS dozens more were wounded.
have been down for five days, the long-
est of several outages during the war,
according to internet access advocacy
group NetBlocks. The outages compli-
cate rescue efforts and make it difficult
to obtain information about the latest
strikes and casualties.
US strikes on Yemen continues
The US military fired another wave of
ship- and submarine-launch missile
strikes against Houthi-controlled sites
Wednesday, US Central Command
said, marking the fourth time in days
it has directly targeted the group in
Yemen as violence that ignited in the
wake of the Israel-Hamas war con-
tinues to spill over in the Middle East.
The strikes were launched from the
Red Sea and hit 14 missiles that the
command deemed an “imminent
threat.”
Sheryl Sandberg, who helped to
transform Facebook from a tech
startup into a digital advertising
empire, will step down from
the board of Meta, Facebook’s par-
ent company.
“With a heart filled with grat-
itude and a mind filled with mem-
ories, I let the Meta board know that
I will not stand for reelection this
May,” Sandberg wrote in a
Facebook post.
Sandberg left Google to join
Facebook in 2008, four years before
the company went public. As the
number two executive at Meta
under CEO Mark Zuckerberg,
Sandberg also took a lot of heat for
some of its biggest “mis-steps”.
She stepped down as the chief
operating officer of Meta in 2022
but remained a member of the
WITH A HEART FILLED
WITH GRATITUDE AND
A MIND FILLED WITH
MEMORIES, I LET THE
META BOARD KNOW THAT
I WILL NOT STAND FOR
REELECTION THIS MAY”
company board. She had served as away,” Sandberg wrote.
COO of Facebook, and then Meta,
for 14-and-a-half years and as a
Sandberg said she will continue
to serve as an advisor to the com-
board member for 12 years. pany. Sandberg announced that
“Under Mark’s leadership, Javi she was launching a girls leadership
Olivan, Justin Osofsky, Nicola programme through her founda-
Mendelsohn, and their teams have tion to respond to what she calls
proven beyond a doubt that the “stubborn gender inequities”. The
Meta business is strong and well- girls leadership programme
positioned for the future, so this includes a middle-school curricu-
feels like the right time to step lum as well as resources for adults.

Ukraine starts to rebuild towns ‘for every person who should return’
REUTERS
Trostianets, 18 January
An excavator belches out fumes as
it clears earth and rubble from
between the train and bus stations
in the Ukrainian town of
Trostianets to make way for a
reimagined transport hub.
Badly damaged in fighting with
Russian forces almost two years
ago, Trostianets is one of
six settlements being rebuilt
with state funds in a pilot
programme to develop the skills
and experience needed for
a far broader reconstruction
drive later.
Mayor Yuriy Bova said time was
running out to breathe life back
into towns, or risk losing millions
of Ukrainians who could help
redevelop the country to
permanent exile in Europe.
“We’re fighting for every person
who should return; for every child
who needs to return and build
their future here,” he said. Officials
in Kyiv have also signaled the
urgence of rebuilding Ukraine, an
effort that will require hundreds of
billions of dollars and involve more
than quick fixes to critical sites
such as hospitals, power stations
and railways.
The war, however, shows no
signs of abating. Short on cash,
Ukraine is defending against new
Russian attacks after its own
counteroffensive failed to yield
significant gains. Moscow has also
resumed a campaign of mass air
strikes on population centres far
beyond the front line.
For Pavlo Kuzmenko, the
mayor of Okhtyrka, a town only 20
km down the road from
Trostianets that also bears the
scars of heavy Russian bombing at
the start of the war, resurrecting
town squares is a luxury Ukraine
cannot afford right now.
Officials in Okhtyrka were slow
to finish clearing away the rubble
on the main boulevard that was
once the city hall and have not yet
fixed the gutted department store
across the street.
Workers reconstruct a street, which was damaged in the first months of
Russia’s attack, in the town of Trostianets, Ukraine
Kuzmenko, who publicly
criticised the plans for Trostianets
last year and bemoaned a lack of
resources, said the focus should be
on patching up homes and critical
infrastructure only. Any other
available funds should go to the
military.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Economies win wars
In a sign of the tension, officials in
the Odesa region cancelled more
than $9 million of tenders during
the last three months of 2023,
saying spending on things such as
road repairs, the renovation of a
stadium and software was
“unacceptable” during wartime.
The disputes highlight the need
for a clearly communicated
government strategy for what
recovery and, more broadly, a war-
adapted economy should look
like, said Orysia Lutsevych at
the Chatham House think-tank
in London.
She said officials must urgently
unlock Ukraine’s economic
potential by restoring income-
generating growth opportunities
that can help defeat Russia - and
that meant luring people back as
well as stopping more leaving the
country for good.
“Militaries win battles, but
economies win wars. It’s part of the
same equation,” she said.
It might make sense, for
example, to build more schools in
the comparably safer western city
of Lviv for the many Ukrainians
displaced there by fighting
elsewhere, so they will stay and
contribute to the wartime
economy, Lutsevych said.
“This is what rebuilding is:
Won't discuss nuclear arms control
with US while it backs Ukraine: Russia
Russia said on Thursday it was impossible to discuss nuclear arms
control with the United States without taking into account the
situation in Ukraine, accusing Washington of seeking military
dominance. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference
that Washington had proposed separating the two issues and
resuming “strategic stability” talks between the two countries, which
hold by far the world’s biggest nuclear arsenals. REUTERS
maybe it's not fancy playgrounds, head of Ukraine’s Agency for
maybe it's not new zoos,” she said. Restoration and Infrastructure
“But it must be a category of Development, told Reuters. “We
projects that fits within the wider don’t have that kind of
strategy of how Ukraine will experience.”
sustain this war.” That’s why Kyiv picked six
One of the officials in charge of projects, each with different
rebuilding Ukraine, Mustafa challenges, to be financed by a
Nayyem, acknowledged that state fund comprised mainly of
reviving heavily damaged towns seized Russian assets. The aim was
such as Trostianets would require a complete transformation of
major administrative muscle. those places into something better,
“The state has never done a Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal
comprehensive reconstruction of said when unveiling the
settlements before,” Nayyem, programme in April.

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OPINION 11
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VOLUME XXX NUMBER 237 ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA

the house, as it is in the green zone. The development
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 authority, in performing this legislative function, is
one of a piece with the Indian administrative state —

Regulating fintech the rule of officials — where the basics of democracy

are faltering. Their legislative actions run through the
executive branch and often constitute expropriation
RBI draft guidelines kick off the process without compensation. Some courts have directed the
development authority to acquire the land and convert

T
he Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) draft norms for self-regulatory organ- the same into a park within a specified timeline or
isations for the financial technology sector (SRO-FT) broadly define the release the land from the green zone classification. In
ideal qualities these bodies should possess, but they leave some room practice, this seldom happens, and landholders often

for flexibility within the contours. The draft framework notes, to maintain
credibility, an SRO-FT should operate independently — remain free from the influ-
ence of a single member or a group of members, avoid conflicts of interest, and
ensure unbiased oversight of its members. Independence would enhance an SRO-
FT’s reputation as a neutral and reliable entity, which is essential for gaining the
trust of industry participants and regulators. It is important that these entities
have a robust information technology infrastructure and the ability to deploy tech-
nological solutions “within a reasonable timeframe”. They should also have sufficient
net worth and a demonstrated capability to establish the necessary infrastructure.
An SRO-FT should be capable of motivating its members to align with regula-
tory priorities and promote a culture of compliance. It should also be empowered
Cities: Trapped in
find themselves running around development author-
ities without any relief.
The anger of expropriated individuals, and the eco-
nomic incentive for private persons to rationally use
land in ways not imagined by the central planners cre-
central planning ate a mess. Town plans are violated on a large scale.
Violations are grounded in corruption, and create arbi-
trary power for authorities who can choose which pri-
vate person to attack.
India’s urban policy continues to follow old-style bureaucratic Another culprit is building regulation. They require
land to be left open for many reasons. There are set-
control, leading to dysfunctional cities. An overhaul is needed backs from plot boundaries, from other buildings and
cart tracks. The regulations provide for approach roads

I
to investigate and take disciplinary action against members for non-adherence to magine a greenfield city being built from the
codes, standards, and rules. This would help it shape a regulatory environment ground up. Imagine also that there is no statutory
conducive to innovation while ensuring consumer protection. Though membership monopoly on the development of colonies or lay-
outs as granted to a Delhi Development Authority or
of an SRO-FT would be voluntary, financial technology companies (fintechs) would a Bangalore Development Authority. Imagine that
be encouraged to become members. The draft norms have left it to the sector to the private sector is building on the land in an unco-
decide whether there should be one or multiple SROs for fintechs, but they seem ordinated way, based on simple self-interest. What
to nudge stakeholders in the direction of the latter. The draft notes, given the would go wrong?
diverse nature of fintechs, not restricting the number to one might dilute some Simple profit-seeking behaviour of private individ-
uals would lead to excessive use of land for private
industry concerns. On the other hand, having multiple SRO-FTs could undermine
projects, leaving insufficient land for parks and streets.
the representative character of self-regulation. Fintechs will have to find a consensus Urban infrastructure, such as water, sanitation, solid
on this subject. Assuming that multiple SROs are set up, the guidelines leave room waste, electricity, and telecom would also be poorly
for different SRO-FTs to achieve the goals in different ways. executed in a simple uncoordinated pri-
The draft also lays down guidelines on structure. The SRO should be set up as a vate-sector sprint. There is market fail-
not-for-profit company registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. The ure, which motivates state intervention.
The field of urban policy consists of
applicant should represent the fintech sector with membership of entities across
understanding this market failure, and
sizes, stages, and activities. If representation is inadequate at the time of application, devising the most effective path for state
a road map for achieving this within a reasonable timeline should also be given. The intervention to address the failure. The
RBI clearly outlines its veto powers on the fit-and-proper status of the applicant com- fact that India does not have nice cities
pany, the board of directors, and key managerial persons. It could also nominate proves that at present, urban policy —
observers on the board and inspect the books of the SRO-FT, or arrange to have that is, the tactics, techniques and pro-
cedures of state intervention in city for-
the books audited. The expenses of such an inspection or audit would be borne by
mation — works poorly.
the SRO-FT in question. Most fintechs are not directly regulated at present. In the brilliant inaugural lecture at AARTHIKAM
This fast-growing industry has been a prime mover when it comes to enabling
financial inclusion. However, there is a need to find ways to create incentives for
the Emerging Markets Conference in
Mumbai in December, urban thinker
CHINTANAM
SRO membership. The sector must adopt the best governance and operational Bimal Patel drew our attention to the K P KRISHNAN
practices. SROs would be expected to monitor the sector and guide growth in the ground reality of how town planning
works at present in India. There is widespread rhetoric
right direction. This draft does well in setting up broad guidelines for the tasks
that after 1991, India put an end to central planning.
they must fulfil, without imposing a straitjacket on processes. But there is a big gap between this slogan and the
ground reality of the Indian state, where intricate inter-
vention into the economy happens on an extravagant
Policy learnings scale. And so it is with town planning. Far from adopt-
ing a restrained role in focusing on streets, parks, and
urban infrastructure, the state has aspired to control
the built environment in great detail.
Within each city (or a bigger urban agglomeration),
there are “development authorities” that meticulously
plan the city in great detail. They write “comprehensive
development plans” that carve out the city into resi-
dential, commercial, industrial, and green zones, and
specify the use of all the space in minute detail. These
are not aspirational documents that seek to inspire
private landowners to think better: They are binding
and legally enforceable.
This approach works poorly because no govern-
ment organisation knows enough about society to cor-
rectly centrally plan it. The right way
to organise a society is to base it on
freedom, where private persons do
what they want, with narrow excep-
tions for state intervention that are
motivated by market failure and
enveloped in constitutionalism and
the rule of law. While many in the
Indian elite readily slip into dreams
of a planned city like Chandigarh, the
fact is that the great cities of the world
evolved organically, through myriad
decisions by private persons, without
central planning.
Leaving aside the high objective of
achieving nice cities, there is a more
basic problem of violations of consti-
tutional principles. You could be the owner of a piece
of land that falls in the green zone (e.g. meant for
parks). The development authority is legally within
its rights to refuse you permission to build a house if
the land is vacant. Worse still, if there is an existing
house in which you are living, the development author-
ity can refuse you permission to modify or reconstruct
within plots and require common open space and an
additional setback from the common open space! In
addition, there are requirements for greenery, parking,
space for fire tender movement and clearances from
trunk infrastructure and natural features. Over and
above this, most cities have regulations restricting
building coverage. All these rules waste land.
Mr Patel’s big idea is that land in Indian cities is
poorly used. Between 50 and 60 per cent of land is
used up for private open spaces with just under a quar-
ter available as building footprint. In nice cities abroad,
less than 10 per cent of land is private open space. In
addition to a building footprint of over 50 per cent on
an average, they also have close to 40 per cent space
for parks and streets. In India, we have the worst of all
worlds, with a shortage of land in parks, in streets and
in privately built structures.
The failures of town planning in India are ground-
ed in the lack of economics knowledge. As pointed
out by Alain Bertaud, “unfamiliarity with basic urban
economic concepts by those in charge of managing
cities is one of the major problems of our time”. A
good reorientation of the foundations for India is the
problem statement of the Barker review of 2006 in
the UK, where the terms of the reference were “to
consider how planning policy and procedures can
better deliver economic growth and prosperity along-
side other sustainable development goals”.
As with most fields in India, the need of the
hour for Indian urban policy is a new level of intel-
lectual capability in understanding market failure,
in establishing frugal tools of state intervention,
and in designing laws and organisations that
achieve state capacity.
The writer is an honorary professor at CPR, member of a few
for-profit and not-for-profit boards, and a former civil servant

ASER findings should shift the debate

A Landscaping growth with tech

ny broader analysis of India’s human capital, arguably the most important
source of its long-term growth and development, paints a sobering picture.
The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) by the non-profit

L
organisation Pratham is no different. It gives a glimpse of what 14-18- and, a vital factor of production, plays a pivotal
year-olds in rural India are doing. The report must be commended for the insights it role in economic growth. For the world’s most
gives into the preparedness of a cohort that would soon take responsibility as adult populous country, escalating pressure on land
citizens and join the workforce. However, as the findings over the years have shown, calls for efficient land management practices. Yet, inef-
ficiencies persist, often due to deep-rooted vested inter-
although students complete elementary education, many of them just fail to acquire
ests. Consequently, the untapped economic potential
basic foundational skills. This will not only hamper their chances in the labour market of land remains suboptimally harnessed. Recent
but also impede the pursuit of higher education or professional training. reforms and technology interventions are changing
Some of the pointers in the latest report need attention and should prompt the landscape, though more needs to be done.
recalibration of policy intervention. Among those surveyed, over 86 per cent in the Economists emphasise that geospatial information
age group of 14-18 years were enrolled at educational institutions. This is heartening can contribute 0.5 per cent to annual gross domestic
product growth. Although Geographic Information
and shows that efforts to increase enrolment have been fairly successful. Despite
System (GIS) as a commercial technology has been
the hardships and uncertainties caused by Covid in recent years, the fact that house- available since 1981 when Esri made ArcInfo accessi-
holds continued their children’s education is an encouraging sign. However, the ble, its governmental use in India remained limited,
educational institutions, perhaps, are not doing justice to the expectations of both except in Gujarat. Narendra Modi, as
students and their parents. As the report shows, about 25 per cent of those surveyed chief minister, leveraged GIS for spatial
could not read Class-II-level text fluently in their regional languages, and only a planning and decision-making in the
2000s. However, the formation of the
little over half could read sentences in English. Further, only a bit more than 40 per
National Centre of Geo-informatics,
cent could solve basic division problems (three digits by one digit), and just about with the assistance of Bhaskaracharya
50 per cent could do other calculations like adding weights and calculating time. National Institute for Space
Interestingly, the study this time also delved into the prevalence of digital Applications and Geo-informatics (BIS-
awareness. The outcomes present both opportunities and threats. About 90 per AG) in 2015, and the subsequent eleva-
cent of the youth reported having smartphones in the household and knowing tion of BISAG into a national institution
in 2020, brought about a paradigm
how to use them. However, access to smartphones was much higher for males,
which, in a way, could indicate discrimination within households. Further, over
shift. GIS started to be seamlessly incor-
porated into e-governance applications
OFF THE GRID
90 per cent reported using social media in the reference week. But among those across India. Nevertheless, one limita- AJAY KUMAR
using social media, only about half knew about safety settings. Given the presence tion persisted: Until 2021, GIS was based
of smartphones in households and students having access to them, this medium on Google Maps as Indian policy did not allow the
can be leveraged to improve learning outcomes. Modules can be prepared to freedom to create maps.
Peter Drucker’s wisdom, “What you cannot mea-
supplement classroom teaching. However, the prevalent use of social media is sure, you cannot manage”, starkly highlights the
clearly a risk. With a limited understanding of how such mediums function, this absurdity of the regressive Map Policy of 2005. This
cohort could be targeted with content that might cause harm in some way. policy, reminiscent of colonial restrictions, imposed
At the broad policy level, considering the learning outcomes, some funda- burdensome licensing requirements on map-making.
mental issues must be debated. It is now clear that enrolment is no longer a Ironically, while Indian entities grappled with these
policy challenge. Several initiatives taken by both the Union and state govern- stifling restrictions, Google Earth freely provided
high-resolution maps, exposing the folly of the sys-
ments have ensured higher enrolment. Thus, the focus should now shift to learn- tem. Attempts by MapMyIndia, India’s first mapping
ing outcomes. What will it take to dramatically improve learning outcomes? Is startup, to map India ended with criminal charges
there a significant shortage of teachers, or do teachers lack the incentive to per- in a Kafkaesque legal struggle. In a major reform,
form? Do states need to build better monitoring systems, or are teachers them- geospatial guidelines of February 15, 2021, shattered
selves not adequately trained? Answers to some of these questions are important. these barriers, opening doors to unhindered geospa-
tial data collection and transfer. Subsequently, drone
A lack of adequate education for India’s youth would not only undermine growth
rules instituted on August 25, 2021, sanctioned drone
and development goals but also exacerbate inequality in a world driven by skills. surveys, marking a seismic shift in India’s mapping
framework. If 1991 is remembered as the year of eco-
nomic liberalisation, 2021 will remain etched as the
year of geospatial liberalisation.
GIS has enabled unprecedented social and eco-
nomic benefits. As has been said, the application of
GIS is limited only by the imagination of those who
use it. The Svamitva scheme, using drone surveys,
provides a record of rights to millions of people in vil-
lages. PM Gati Shakti, a GIS-based national masterplan
for multimodal connectivity, provides great efficiencies
in infrastructure investments. The Ministry of Defence
(MoD), the largest land-owning government ministry,
with over 177,800 acres of land, mostly in inaccessible
areas, completed its land-survey for the first time since
independence using satellite and drones. Traditional
survey maps were two-dimensional (2D). In hilly or
sloping terrain, 2D maps can be inac-
curate by 50 per cent in surface area
measurement. The use of Lidar, pho-
togrammetry or Structure in Motion
techniques allowed creation of 3D GIS
maps, extremely pertinent for our
remote borders.
Cantonments are now part of met-
ros occupying prime urban land.
Established by the British to meet
their colonial security needs, these
enclaves are not required from a secu-
rity perspective. On the contrary,
there is an additional burden of secur-
ing these neighbourhoods from
ingress of alien elements. If it is possible to redevelop
cantonments retaining essential defence facilities like
offices and housing, about 100,000 acres of urban
land could be released. Another potential opportunity
is streamlining the 2011 MoD security guidelines that
restrict construction around any defence establish-
ment, thereby locking acres of private land.
Technology-based security measures such as laser
sensing, thermal imaging, drone surveillance, video-
analytics, and smart lighting offer enhanced security
over physical distancing. Reform in these outdated
policies alongside modern technology-based planning
could unlock trillions in economic activity.
While government entities hold vast expanses of
land, there was no centralised database for the same.
Initiated in 2015, the effort required persistent ded-
ication over the years, as government entities exhibit
intense land-hoarding tendencies. The Government
Land Information System, now developed, contains
details on 95,742 parcels of land measuring 384,000
acres. However, the extent of unutilised/under-
utilised land remains contentious, with depart-
ments/organisations conservatively assessing what
can be spared. Technology emerges as a game-
changer. In 2021, the Directorate General, Defence
Estates (DGDE) under MoD pioneered artificial intel-
ligence or AI-based image analysis technology, pro-
viding detailed identification of land-use based on
satellite or drone imagery. This technology should
be used to assess surplus land. State governments,
responsible for managing land resources such as
seacoasts, riverbanks, forests, should make extensive
use of the aforementioned technology as well.
Governments, despite extensive land holdings,
have a penchant for additional acquisitions.
Geospatial technology can help intelligently identify
available government land before any new acquisi-
tions are made as tried by DGDE. In Arunachal
Pradesh, land acquisitions by entities like the
Railways have raised concerns, especially because
the land prices are fixed administratively and lack
market validation. Land prices vary hugely for dif-
ferent types of land — grasslands, rocky, hilly, agri-
cultural, with road access, and so on. Given inacces-
sible terrain, in the past it was difficult to verify the
actual category of land being acquired. The DGDE
used AI and satellite imagery to correctly assess land
category in recent cases. A framework for land acqui-
sition which develops on DGDE experience could
bring greater efficiency in government acquisitions.
Thousands of acres of government land have
been encroached upon over the years. Such adverse
possession becomes difficult to evict if the encroach-
ments are not detected early. An AI-based system,
which uses satellite imagery and longitudinal image
analysis, can help here. It ensures timely detection
of encroachments and unauthorised constructions.
Continuous surveillance acts as a deterrent for
potential encroachers. These technologies have been
deployed in cantonments. An institutional mecha-
nism needs to be put in place for its rollout in munic-
ipal bodies throughout the country.
Technology coupled with enabling policies can
upend entrenched interests in land and significantly
contribute to the vision of Viksit Bharat.
The writer is a distinguished visiting professor, IIT Kanpur,
and former defence secretary

Capitalism is dead, long live the techno-rentiers

any service. Consumers do not have any
options, either, to move out of this
system. They are locked in by Big Tech.
We are essentially in a rentier economy
and Technology overlords are the
new aristocrats.
Mr Varoufakis builds his case
BOOK REVIEW painstakingly. It helps that he has not
written what would be considered a
PROSENJIT DATTA hardcore economics volume. It is
instead a wide and rambling journey
techno-feudalism, is essentially his
view of all that is wrong currently.
The first couple of chapters are
slightly circuitous and dart off in
different directions, giving glimpses of
Mr Varoufakis’ thinking and ideas. It is by
the third chapter that he starts focusing
on the thesis he is proposing — about
why we are not living in a capitalist era
even though we often mistake it for one.
Cloud capital, according to Mr
class has been noted by other scholars in (and Silicon Valley) shows that
different countries — though none of dominance can be fleeting — either
them have gone as far as Mr Varoufakis to because the entrepreneurs made wrong
pronounce the end of capitalism. Earlier bets about the direction of the next big
technology giants have become too authors had pointed out that when the tech revolution or because regulators
powerful — and become too big to Soviet Union disintegrated and Russia stepped in. Apart from regulators and
be disciplined. and the other former USSR states competition, I think geopolitical strife
Across the globe, regulators have embraced market economy, it was not will also play a big role in curbing the
become worried enough to try cutting really a free economy in the classical unfettered rise of the Big Tech of Silicon
them down to size — and in the US, there form that they adopted. Instead, Valley. China’s ambitions in tech and
is even some thought powerful oligarchs European worries about digital
of breaking down TECHNO-FEUDALISM: cropped up in the technologies are likely to help curb
some of the most What Killed chaos, building Silicon Valley’s powers.
powerful Big Tech Capitalism businesses that Does that mean that things are not
companies in order Author: were more about quite grim and we can all sleep more

Y
anis Varoufakis, maverick Marxist
economist, former finance
minister of Greece, and raconteur
par excellence, proposes an original and
controversial theory in his new book,
Techno-Feudalism . While many of his
contemporaries have bemoaned the fact
that we are experiencing the darkest side
of capitalism, Mr Varaoufakis says that
capitalism — at least as it is understood in
the classical sense — is already dead. It
has been replaced by something
infinitely worse — a new form of
feudalism where tech giants have
essentially taken over all assets and force
citizens of the world to pay rent for using
that uses philosophy, material science,
pop culture, mythology, technology,
and economic and political history to
illustrate his points. The book is in the
form of a letter to his father, who died
recently. It is a conversation exploring
strands of earlier conversations.
Georgios, Yanis’ father, was a Greek-
Egyptian communist who retained the
faith till the very end. He rose to be the
chairman of one of Greece’s biggest
steelmakers. Yanis credits him for many
of the early lessons he learned about all
sorts of subjects. He, too, has not shed
communism — and his view of
capitalism and feudalism, or rather
Varoufakis, has replaced old capital and
the era of Big Tech overseers is not really
any form of capitalism. This shift was
aided and abetted by the low interest
rates and easy money policies followed
by central banks to help their economies
recover from the 2008 global financial
meltdown. In turn, this allowed
technology giants to become powerful
and unleash a different economic model
than what was practised till then.
The book couldn’t have come at a
better time. The rise of Generative AI
(GenAI) as well as the dominance of
Silicon Valley’s Big Tech has accelerated
the debate about whether multinational
to curb their power.
In Europe,
lawmakers have
long frowned upon
Big Tech and they
are increasingly
bringing in
legislation and regulations to curb the
amount of harm the companies can do.
In other parts of the world too, curbs on
many big platforms and companies are
being contemplated.
I am not very sure if I would agree with
all of Mr Varoufakis’ assertions, though
he has argued his case very well in the
book. Certainly, the rise of the rentier
Yanis Varoufakis rentiers than
Publisher: Penguin capitalism.
My
Pages: 214
disagreement with
Price: ~799 Mr Varoufakis’
thesis is that I do
not think we have
shifted to a techno-feudalism system as
yet, despite some characteristics of the
rentier economy in specific areas. Sure,
half a dozen Big Tech players from
Silicon Valley have become dominant in
multiple areas — and their business
model is not what is classically
understood as capitalism. However, a
reading of the history of technology
peacefully now? Not really. While we
may not see a full-fledged techno-feudal
rentier economic system taking over the
world, I doubt we are going back to better
times anytime soon. Marxism has failed
and capitalism has reached a point
where it is exacerbating inequality. The
future is gloomy — unless you are one of
the fortunate members of the 0.1 per
cent of the world’s elite. But we are not
shifting to a new form of feudalism and
rentier economy either.
The reviewer is editor, Prosaicview.com,
and former editor, Business Today and
Businessworld
12
>
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024
RETAIL ASSET CENTRALISED PROCESSING CENTER
Ground Floor, A-Block, Administrative Office Building,
11, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001. Phone No: 011-23374471 E-mail: racpc1.lhodel@sbi.co.in
Date: 11th January, 2024
NOTICE FOR SALE OF MOVABLE ASSETS
E-Auction Sale Notice for sale of Movable Asset under the seizure as per Loan Agreement/SARFAESI Act 2002.
Notice is hereby given to the public in general and in particular to the Borrower(s) and Guarantor(s) that the below described movable
property hypothecated/charged to the Secured Creator, the physical possession of which has been taken by the Authorized Officer of
State Bank of India, the secured creator, will be sold on “As is Where is, As is what is and whatever there is” on 24.01.2024
from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. basis for recovery of Rs.4,65,565.00 (Rupees Four lakh sixty five thousand five hundred sixty five only)
up to 10.01.2024 plus further interest thereon from 11.01.2024 plus expenses and other charges less recovery due to SBI, the secured
creditor from Mr. Rohit. The reserve price of vehicle will be Rs.1,60,000/- (Rupees One lakh sixty thousand only) and the earnest money
deposit will be Rs.16,000/- (Rupees Sixteen thousand only).
(DETAILS OF MOVABLE ASSETS)
Vehicle in the name of: Mr. Rohit Vehicle No. : DL1CAB9646
Make & Model: Maruti S-Presso VXI+ Colour: PRL Starry Blue, Fuel: Petrol
Mfg Year: 2019 Chassis No: MA3RFL41SKJ102537
Engine No: K10BN2260120 Odometer reading: 108911 Km.
Contact Person: Mr. Arun Mishra (M/s. D.S.A. Associates) Contact No: 9795324241
For detailed terms and conditions of the sale, please refer to the link provided in the State Bank of India, the secured creditor’s
website: https://www.sbi.co.in, https://ibapi.in, https://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/ibapi/index.jsp
Authorised Officer, State Bank of India
Branch: (540561) Holumbi Khurd,
Near Maan Public School,
Holumbi, Delhi-110082
[RULE 8(1)] POSSESSION NOTICE (For Immovable Property)
Whereas the undersigned being the authorised officer of Union Bank of India, HOLUMBI
BRANCH, HOLUMBI KHURD, DELHI-110082 under the Securitisation and
Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement Security Interest (Second) Act, 2002
(Act No. 54 of 2002)and in exercise of powers conferred under Section 13(12) read with
rule 9 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued a demand notice dated
19.10.2023 calling upon the borrower Mr. Sudhir Kumar Mishra to repay the amount
mentioned in the notice being Rs. 7,61,491.03 (Rupees Seven Lakh Sixty One
Thousand Four Hundred Ninety one and paise Three only) within 60 days from the date
of receipt of the said notice.
The borrower having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the borrower and
the public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the property described
herein below in exercise of powers conferred on her under Section 13(4) of the said Act
read with rule 8 of the said rules on this 15.01.2024.
The borrower in particular and the public in general is hereby cautioned not to deal with the
property and any dealings with the property will be subject to the charge of the Union Bank
of India for an amount Rs. 7,61,491.03 (Rupees Seven Lakh Sixty One Thousand Four
Hundred Ninety one and paise Three only) and interest thereon.
The borrowers attention is invited to provision of subsection(8) of section 13 of the
Act, in respect of time available to the borrower to redeem the secured asset
Description of Immovable Property
All that part and parcel of the property consisting of Freehold DDA Build-up Janta Flat,
Bearing No. 45, on Second Floor, (Plinth area 18.00 Sq. mtrs), In Pocket-11, Sector- A-6,
situated in the layout plan of DDANarela, Residential scheme, Narela, Delhi- 110040
in the Name of Mr. Sudhir Kumar Mishra.
Bounded: East - Open Parking West - Service Lane
North - Flat no. 31 South - Entry
DATE: 15.01.2024, AUTHORISED OFFICER,
PLACE: Delhi UNION BANK OF INDIA
Branch: (540561) Holumbi Khurd,
Near Maan Public School,
Holumbi, Delhi-110082
[RULE 8(1)] POSSESSION NOTICE (For Immovable Property)
Whereas the undersigned being the authorised officer of Union Bank of India, HOLUMBI
BRANCH, HOLUMBI KHURD, DELHI-110082 under the Securitisation and
Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement Security Interest (Second) Act, 2002
(Act No. 54 of 2002)and in exercise of powers conferred under Section 13(12) read with
rule 9 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued a demand notice dated
19.10.2023 calling upon the borrower Mr. Raman Kumar to repay the amount mentioned
in the notice being Rs. 7,82,547.27 (Rupees Seven Lakh Eighty two thousand Five
hundred Forty seven and paise Twenty seven only) within 60 days from the date of
receipt of the said notice.
The borrower having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the borrower and
the public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the property described
herein below in exercise of powers conferred on her under Section 13(4) of the said Act
read with rule 8of the said rules on this 15.01.2024.
The borrower in particular and the public in general is hereby cautioned not to deal with the
property and any dealings with the property will be subject to the charge of the Union Bank
of India for an amount Rs. 7,82,547.27 (Rupees Seven Lakh Eighty two thousand Five
hundred Forty seven and paise Twenty seven only) and interest thereon.
The borrowers attention is invited to provision of subsection(8) of section 13 of the
Act, in respect of time available to the borrower to redeem the secured asset.
Description of Immovable Property
All that part and parcel of the property consisting of DDA built up freehold flat No. 161, on
Second floor, under Janta category, Pocket-3, Sector- B-4, Situated in the layout plan of
Narela residential Scheme, Narela Delhi- 110040 area measuring 18 sq. mtrs.
in the Name of Mr. Raman Kumar
Bounded: East - Entry to Gali West - Road
North - Flat No. 162 South - Staircase
DATE: 15.01.2024, AUTHORISED OFFICER,
PLACE: Delhi UNION BANK OF INDIA
1
Branch: (540561) Holumbi Khurd,
Near Maan Public School,
Holumbi, Delhi-110082
[RULE 8(1)] POSSESSION NOTICE (For Immovable Property)
Whereas the undersigned being the authorised officer of Union Bank of India, HOLUMBI
BRANCH, HOLUMBI KHURD, DELHI-110082 under the Securitisation and
Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement Security Interest (Second) Act, 2002
(Act No. 54 of 2002)and in exercise of powers conferred under Section 13(12) read with
rule 9 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued a demand notice dated
19.10.2023 calling upon the borrower Mr. Satpal to repay the amount mentioned in the
notice being Rs. 10,93,783.10 (Rupees Ten Lakh Ninety three Thousand Seven
Hundred eighty three and paise ten only) within 60 days from the date of receipt of the
said notice.
The borrower having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the borrower and
the public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the property described
herein below in exercise of powers conferred on her under Section 13(4) of the said Act
read with rule 8 of the said rules on this 15.01.2024.
The borrower in particular and the public in general is hereby cautioned not to deal with the
property and any dealings with the property will be subject to the chdrge of the Union Bank
of India for an amount Rs. 10,93,783.10 (Rupees Ten Lakh Ninety three Thousand
Seven Hundred eighty three and paise ten only) and interest thereon.
The borrowers attention is invited to provision of subsection(8) of section 13 of the
Act, in respect of time available to the borrower to redeem the secured asset.
Description of Immovable Property
All that part and parcel of the property consisting of DDA built up Freehold Expendable
Flat bearing No.298, Ground Floor with its Roof rights, in Pocket-7, Type -A , Sector-A-6,
situated in the layout plan of Narela Residential scheme, Narela, Delhi-110040.
Area measuring 22.50 Sq. Mtrs.
in the Name of Mr.Satpal
Bounded: East - Flat no 297 West - Flat no 299
North - Road South - Service lane
DATE: 15.01.2024, AUTHORISED OFFICER,
PLACE: Delhi UNION BANK OF INDIA
Branch: (540561) Holumbi Khurd,
Near Maan Public School,
Holumbi, Delhi-110082
[RULE 8(1)] POSSESSION NOTICE (For Immovable Property)
Whereas the undersigned being the authorised officer of Union Bank of India, HOLUMBI
BRANCH, HOLUMBI KHURD, DELHI-110082 under the Securitisation and
Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement Security Interest (Second) Act, 2002
(Act No. 54 of 2002)and in exercise of powers conferred under Section 13(12) read with
rule 9 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued a demand notice dated
19.10.2023 calling upon the borrower Mr. Rakesh Kumar to repay the amount mentioned
in the notice being Rs. 8,12,621.74 (Rupees Eight Lakh Twelve Thousand Six Hundred
Twenty one and paise Seventy four only) within 60 days from the date of receipt of the
said notice.
The borrower having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the borrower and
the public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the property described
herein below in exercise of powers conferred on her under Section 13(4) of the said Act
read with rule 8of the said rules on this 15.01.2024.
The borrower in particular and the public in general is hereby cautioned not to deal with the
property and any dealings with the property will be subject to the charge of the Union Bank
of India for an amount Rs. 8,12,621.74 (Rupees Eight Lakh Twelve Thousand Six
Hundred Twenty one and paise Seventy four only) and interest, thereon.
The borrower's attention is invited to provision of subsection(8) of section 13 of the
Act, in respect of time available to the borrower to redeem the secured asset.
Description of Immovable Property
All that part and parcel of the property consisting of Property bearing No.15, Ground Floor,
Freehold DDA Build-up Janta Flat, Area measuring 22.00 Sq. mtrs, In Block-I, Pocket-11,
Sector- A-6, situated in the layout plan of Narela Residential scheme, Narela,
Delhi- 110040 in the Name of Mr.Rakesh Kumar
Bounded: East - Open space West - Service lane
North - Flat no. 01 South - Entry/ Flat no. 13
DATE: 15.01.2024, AUTHORISED OFFICER,
PLACE: Delhi UNION BANK OF INDIA
.
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024
CHANGING
TRACKS
Should the railways revise its
approach towards general and
sleeper class travellers?
DHRUVAKSH SAHA
New Delhi, 18 January
O
n the evening of November
10 last year, two days
before Diwali, the busy
Ring Road next to Delhi’s
Kashmere Gate Inter-state
Bus Terminus was at a near-standstill.
Scores of people were trying to board
some half a dozen buses, and the queues
spilled over onto the road.
Rakesh, a daily-wage worker from
Delhi’s Shakurbasti area, was in the
crowd, scampering for a seat on a bus
that would take him to his hometown in
Uttar Pradesh. He caught his breath to
say: “I wanted to take the train. But we
just came here from the railway station;
it is impossible to get on a train.”
The missing seats in the general
classes in the railways is a rarely
discussed casualty of Covid-19. When the
pandemic hit India, the nationwide
lockdown and social distancing hobbled
the railways. The worst hit was the
general class: Nearly 90 per cent of its
passenger volumes vanished. As the
pandemic returned, normalcy returned,
but more to the premium classes.
Around Diwali, around the time
Rakesh was scampering for a bus, a
person died in a stampede at the Surat
railway station in a crowd of migrant
workers looking to go home for the
Chhath Puja — the vital Sun-worship
festival in UP and Bihar. This came at a
time, civil society leaders pointed out,
when the government appeared to be
focusing more on premium travel,
including Vande Bharat trains.
Peaks and troughs
According to estimated figures based on
the FY24 Budget, passenger travel in the
general and second classes, which
account for a bulk of mass transit, is lower
than it was in 2008-09. Second class
travel has likely fallen by 25 per cent since
the last pre-pandemic year of 2018-19.
Premium air-conditioned classes have
largely remained at the pre-Covid levels
and, in some cases, increased.
According to Railway Minister
Ashwini Vaishnaw, the national
transporter ferried 6.5 billion passengers
in 2022-23, and was slated to handle up to
7.5 billion in the current financial year.
Some have argued that the Indian
Railways simply does not have the space
to meet the demand. However, data
shows the national transporter in FY23
was nowhere close to its highest
passenger volumes, 8.43 billion,
recorded in 2018-19. Experts say
passenger demand has almost returned
to pre-Covid levels, but the lower
numbers are partly attributable to
insufficient supply of coaches and trains
for general class.
The Ministry of Railways is in
consultation with the finance ministry
and the NITI Aayog to
introduce a solution for its
mass transit woes, a top
TICKETLESS
government official says. The
railways’ decision to reduce
TRAVELLING
general and sleeper coaches IN INDIAN
on some routes, he says, had
more to do with technical RAILWAYS
restrictions, as it planned Change %
to increase the maximum
Sleeper
and average speed of
passenger trains.
Class 85
“It is not feasible to have Third AC
sleeper and general coaches in 226.43
superfast trains running
beyond 130 km an hour, as the Second AC
pressure from the wind and 219.67
dust in these coaches (with Chair Car
open windows) may pose a 169.59
concern,” he says. In 2020,
the railways decided to phase First AC
out non-AC coaches on trains 291.39
running at more than
130 kmph.
Former additional member at the
Railway Board, Vijay Dutt, says the
CAPEX UTILISATION (Percentage of allocation used) nFY18 nFY19 nFY20 nFY21 nFY22
109.06
110.38
101.32
98.64
99.37
97.29
94.15
87.91
72.70
67.07
55.66
55.21
36.99
37.11
New Lines Doubling
(Construction) Renewals
Source: Indian Railways
CLASSES AND
THE MASSES
Passenger volumes over the years
(2008-2023, in ’00s)
Grand total for AC classes
Total sleeper class
Total first/second class
AC classes include first AC, executive class, AC sleeper, AC
3-tier and AC chair car; sleeper classes include sleeper
class ordinary and sleeper class mail
problem is not necessarily one of
coaches, but of capacity. “If the railway
track network can be expanded to
100,000 km, the problem will be tackled
to a large extent,” he says. Today, the
railways are 67,000 km and roads
6.3 million km.
However, a former general manager
with the railways says that with 95 per
cent routes not allowed to go beyond 110
kmph, this rationale does not
explain the falling numbers
in general and sleeper
passenger travel.
According to revised
estimates for 2022-23
(presented in February last
year), roughly 1.5 billion
general and second-class
passengers are likely to have
travelled in mail and express
trains in the previous
financial year, which is
almost 2.5 times its volumes
in 2021-22. The national
transporter expected this
number to go up to 1.7 billion
in the present financial year.
According to data shared
by the railways, 3.7 billion
passengers travelled in
sleeper and general coaches
(across express and regular
trains) in the first seven months of FY24,
which represents over 95 per cent of the
railways’ total passenger volumes.
126.70
99.85
99.98
99.18
99.75
99.10
92.68
86.95
87.62
74.29
68.11
Track Rolling
Stock
TAKE TWO 13 <
Slowing down while money from the Centre has been construction of new railway tracks, passenger business. Climate
The railway ministry has said it is aplenty, it was the execution which had compared to 36 per cent in FY18. consciousness will play a role.
running more trains than the pre-Covid been an issue. With the railways front- Officials with the railways say most of “Industries will have to make the shift
levels. In FY24, 562 more trains were run loading its capex plans, this is now the expansion works will bear fruit by to the railways to meet their own carbon
daily than the pre-Covid period, of which showing improvement. For example, the FY25. Till then, it has to strike a balance emission goals,” says a sector expert.
354 were long-distance mail and express railways in FY22 used 77 per cent of its between its commercially profitable That could help bring things back
trains. This, however, is against an revised Budget allocations for freight business and the loss-making on track.
estimated increase of nearly 800 million
second class passengers in FY24,
according to the railways’ own budget
estimates.
The situation has also given rise to a
surge in ticketless travelling in trains. As
of November, ticketless travelling in the
third AC coaches of non-suburban trains
more than trebled year-on-year in 2023-
24, with 941,000 passengers travelling
without bookings. Similarly, ticketless
travel in sleeper coaches nearly doubled
to 7 million passengers.
The first and second AC coaches,
which typically remain partly protected
from ticketless travellers, also saw
multifold spikes in ticketless travelling
(see chart). This data was provided on
Rail Drishti, an open data portal of the
Indian Railways launched by then
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in 2019.
However, this, along with other railway-
related data has been removed from the
public domain now.
A look at coach production plans for
the current financial year, with its multi-
ple revisions highlighted in an earlier
media report, shows that the railways
may have been caught off-guard in its
estimation of passenger volumes.
In the coach production plans for FY24
made in July 2022, 162 general or Deen
Dayalu coaches were first sanctioned.
These were eventually revised to 254 in
April 2023, and later increased to 438 in a
third revision in May 2023.
Similarly, sleeper coaches, which
had been allocated only 138 units in
April 2022, were revised up to 704
coaches by May 2023.
According to Lalit Chandra Trivedi,
former general manager of East Central
Railway, running more Deen Dayalu,
Antyodaya, and Jan Sadharan trains
should be on the Centre’s agenda. “These
are trains with only second class coaches,
and one such train can relieve the
railways of the pressure of at least
2,000 passengers,” he says.
The railways plans to launch a
number of fully non-air conditioned
‘push-pull’ trains, which work via two
locomotives, one at the front and the
other at the back, making movement
easier.
Capacity expansion
“The January to March quarter sees a lot
of projects commissioned, and mobility
on the network gets impacted adversely,”
the railway minister told Business
Standard in February last year.
This is the reason why the Centre kept
modest revenue goals for the railways
despite the sizeable investment. The
Budget estimates for FY24 were largely in
line with the revised estimates of FY23,as
the focus would be on expansion and
renewal works.
The railways has been allotted close to
~13 trillion over the past decade to
modernise and expand its infrastructure.
An analysis of the capital expenditure
trends over the past five years shows that
101.74
100.06
104.2
93.82
93.18
93.51
85.24
84.53
79.86
74.93
Leased Electrification Investment in
assets JVs/SPVs
14
>
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 1

Lack of domestic Fewer western SANJEEB MUKHERJEE attributed due to lack of active western one in December and another in January
New Delhi, 18 January disturbance due to El Nino. but their impact was mainly confined to
disturbances The India Meteorological Department
It also said that strong jet streams are
also causing the cold conditions.
Gujarat, north Maharashtra, East Rajas-
than and Madhya Pradesh. As a result,

causing foggy (IMD) today said that the very dense fog “Generally, 5-7 western disturbances Western Himalayan Region has received

capital a hurdle for

and severe winter prevailing since Dec- (WDs) impact Northwest India during very less precipitation (rain or snow) dur-

winter, says IMD ember 25 over the entire northern plains

starting Amritsar to Dibrugarh across
Haryana, Delhi, UP and Bihar can be
December to January. But this winter no
such western disturbance has been rece-
ived. Two affected the country this year,
ing the month of December which is
roughly about 80 per cent less than nor-
mal over the region,” the IMD.

startups: Murthy
ARYAMAN GUPTA
New Delhi, 18 January
IT IS DESIRABLE TO

T
he availability of
domestic capital to
fund startups and an
ability to attract tal-
ent in the early days are
among the biggest challenges
faced by entrepreneurs,
Infosys Co-founder N R
Narayana Murthy said on
Thursday.
“It is desirable to create a
policy that makes it attractive
for domestic institutions like
family offices of HNIs (high
net-worth individuals),
insurance companies or large
corporations to invest in ven-
ture capital funding,” he said
at the T N Chaturvedi
Memorial Lecture 2024 in
New Delhi’s Prime Ministers’
Museum and Library.
Among the other hurdles
that startups and entrepren-
eurs face is attracting the best
talent to form a team of early
adopters, due to financial con-
straints and the lack of brand
value, according to Murthy,
who spoke on the topic, “Ent-
repreneurs, Ethics and Good
Governance in Creating a
More Prosperous India:
Lessons of a Practitioner”.
He said that budding
entrepreneurs need to earn
the respect of the government
and society by ensuring good
corporate governance prac-
tices, and stressed that entre-
preneurship and innovation
were key to bringing about
prosperity in a nation.
“Respect from customers
enhances repeat business.
Respect from employees
enhances retention. Respect
from investors attracts more
long-term investors. Respect
from the government gives
confidence to the government
CREATE A POLICY
THAT MAKES IT ATTRACTIVE
FOR DOMESTIC INSTITUTIONS
LIKE FAMILY OFFICES
OF HNIs, INSURANCE
COMPANIES OR LARGE
CORPORATIONS TO
INVEST IN VENTURE
CAPITAL FUNDING”
N R NARAYANA MURTHY
Co-founder, Infosys
to create business-friendly
policies and regulations,” he
said.
Murthy added that entre-
preneurs can garner respect
via good corporate govern-
ance practices, adhering to
fairness, transparency and
accountability with every
stakeholder.
“Good governance
depends on the quality of the
chairman of the board of the
company. Any company
where the board, or the chair-
man in particular, are gullible
or have been brought up with-
out good training in corporate
governance, lack a sound
value system,” he said.
Murthy advised entrepre-
neurs to follow a set of golden
rules to ensure proper govern-
ance. “First, do unto others
what you want them to do
unto you. Second, remember
that the softest pillow is a
clear conscience. Third, and
most importantly, the most
valuable and enduring posi-
tion for an individual is
respect from society and not
material wealth.”
Murthy claimed that the
only way nations can usher in
prosperity is by creating an
environment where commu-
nities can thrive economically
through innovation and
entrepreneurship.
Murthy emphasised the
importance of the English
language in furthering inno-
vation in India.
“It is important to remem-
ber that the English language
has the largest and fastest
growing reservoir of knowl-
edge in science, technology,
engineering and manage-
ment (STEM). If we forsake
English, we will fall further
behind in our attempt to use
STEM to solve the basic prob-
lems of our poor and in our
desire to make India prosper-
ous,” he said.
Murthy also said that gov-
ernment initiatives and pol-
icies such as Startup India and
the National Education Policy
(NEP) had proven “extremely
valuable.”
“Startup India is likely to
yield positive results in the
medium term, while NEP will
lay a strong foundation to
make India an innovative and
prosperous nation in the long
term,” he said.
 QUICK TAKE: BANK OF INDIA’S RETURN ON ASSETS TO IMPROVE “The paring back of rate cut

The Smart expectations is definitely a factor

Investor
(Share prize in ~)
The stock of Bank of India is up 25 per cent from its low but for Asia, the bigger
driver is the growth
in December. ICICI Direct Research says that continued concerns around China.
healthy business growth, steady margins and moderation That continues to pose
NEW DELHI | in credit cost is seen to aid improvement in return on worries for investors”
FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 assets. Recovery from stressed & written off exposure KHOON GOH
could act as a rerating catalyst, says the brokerage Head of Asia Research, ANZ

HDFC Bank’s ADR premium shrinks ‘Higher valuations

to nearly zero as FPIs turn bearish the only spoiler for
Analysts scale back earnings growth estimates for the private sector lender equities this year’
ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA The market is headed for an eventful 2024, and most of the events are expected to throw up positive
SAMIE MODAK
Mumbai, 18 January NO LONGER A results for equities, says KENNETH ANDRADE, Chief Investment Officer, Old Bridge Asset Management,
a new entrant in the ~50 trillion mutual fund industry. In an email interview with Abhishek Kumar,
PREMIUM BUY Andrade says apart from valuations, the risks could emerge on the geopolitical front. Edited excerpts:

A
fter the latest rout, the
American depositary receipt
(ADR) premium of HDFC Bank
to its local shares has shrunk to nearly
zero. Shares of HDFC Bank on Thursday
fell 3.1 per cent to ~1,490, extending its
two-day decline to 11 per cent.
Meanwhile, the ADR has slumped
over 15 per cent in the past two trading
sessions. This is after the private sector
lender’s slower-than-expected margin
recovery during the December 2023
quarter triggered a sell-off in the stock.
A huge part of the selling pressure
has come from foreign portfolio inves-
tors (FPIs). They have pulled out
~20,000 crore from the overall cash
market in the past two days.
On the NSE, HDFC Bank has
clocked a trading turnover of ~12,040
crore on Thursday and ~13,319 crore a
day before. A month ago, the ADR
premium stood near the 52-week
average of 11 per cent.
The shrinking premium is indi-
cative of growing pessimism of over-
seas investors towards the country’s
largest private sector lender. The bank
is battling net interest margin (NIM)
woes following the $40-billion merger
with parent HDFC. Most analysts on
the Street have cut HDFC Bank’s NIM
and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts.
“We have cut our NIM estimates by
15 basis points (bps) across FY25-26F,
SAT refuses Markets feel the winter chill
as the benefit of funding mix improve-
ment appears to be a significant chal-
lenge and a much longer-term story.
As a result, we cut FY25-26F profit
after tax (PAT) by 6 per cent, with
return on assets cut 10 bps to 1.7 per
cent,” said Nomura in a note, down-
grading the stock to ‘neutral’.
It expects the lender to clock EPS
of ~89 in FY25, down from the earlier
estimate of ~94.5. Analysts believe
HDFC Bank will have to make some
painful adjustments, going ahead.
“They (HDFC Bank) have a stock
problem, not a flow problem. The
liabilities acquired from HDFC have
come at a 7.5-7.7 per cent funding cost
whereas the bank’s own cost of funds
is a good 300-350 bps lower,” said
Suresh Ganapathy, managing director
Since 2021, the average ADR
premium is about 14%
40
26.9
30
0.2
20
10
0 Policy continuity is key to
-10
Feb 18,’21 Jan 17,’24
Source: Bloomberg
(MD) & head of financial services 2021 and June 2022 from the Indian
research, Macquarie Capital. He added markets, the investment legroom for
that the bank will have to “consolidate.” FPIs expanded. Following this, FPIs no
“It is a painful process but you have longer felt the need to pay a hefty pre-
to get the loan growth down. Be it mium to buy US-listed shares of the
ICICI-ICICI Bank merger, be it ICICI lender. The FPI legroom increased
having non-performing loan issues in further after the HDFC-HDFC Bank
the past, be it Axis Bank or IndusInd merger became effective.
Bank — every bank had to get the loan At the end of the December 2023
growth down to restructure the bal- quarter, the FPI investment legroom
ance sheet. That is what the need of stood at nearly 20 per cent, which could
the hour is,” he added. fall further if the FPI selling continues.
During its heyday in early 2021, Analysts don’t rule out HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank’s ADR premium was as ADR slipping into discount to local
high as 31 per cent. One of the reasons shares, as domestic investors remain
for the premium was lack of invest- relatively more bullish on the stock.
ment room for foreign portfolio inves- Two other private sector lenders —
tors (FPIs) in the domestic market. ICICI Bank and Axis Bank — that have
However, following a record pull- active ADR programmes, also trade at
out of $30 billion between October a discount to their local shares.
What will be the key drivers
for the equity market in
2024? Do you see any
headwinds emerging?
It is going to be an eventful
2024, given that a lot of
countries, including India,
are heading for polls.
normalcy and
hence, even if
there is a
change in
guard in some
major econ- KENNETH ANDRADE With the US
omies, we CIO, Old Bridge Asset
expect a status Management
quo. In the run-
up to elections,
incumbent governments
tend to take populist meas-
ures, which could lead to
moderation in interest
rates in 2024.
This is the positive side of
what can transpire in 2024.
On the other hand, higher
valuation remains the only
spoiler for equities as an
asset class.
In current times, we have
hit a cycle where equity val-
uations should trade lower
than what they have traded
over the last 20 years. The
other headwind could
emerge on the geopolitical
front.
Commodities (mostly
metals and some agricul-
tural commodities) are also
not doing very well.
There are a few other sec-
tors in a similar state. We
look out for industries that
are in such phases — as
long as balance sheets
are solvent,
and the indus-
try is consoli-
dating.
Federal
Reserve rate-
cut hopes
building up, do
you see foreign portfolio
investor flows coming
back in a big way?
Most of our conversation
with foreign investors is
focused on the valuations
of the Indian market. While
as a country we have held
through all the volatility
across the world, buying at
any price is not what they
are comfortable with. In
that sense, FPI investment
may take a longer time to
come back into the Indian
market.
Which sectors will benefit
the most from easing of
rates in India? Will it be
negative for any sector?
Companies linked to gov-
ernment spending will
benefit the most. A decline
in interest rates creates
scope for companies to lev-
erage up for growth.
However, we think this not
going to be significantly
material as corporate India
is already a cash surplus.
Why did you choose a
focused fund as your
first offering?
The structure of focused
equity funds best fits our
investing style, where we
try to focus on segments
that could lead to the next
leg of the market cycle. We
build portfolios of
under-30 companies that
meet the criteria of capital
efficiency, low leverage,
and low valuation. This is

stay on Sebi’s PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

TOP 5 SENSEX LOSERS Mahindra, Tata Motors,
Going by your strategy of
identifying opportunities
a style and format with
which I have been man-

order against Mumbai, 18 January

Benchmark indices Sensex and

Brightcom
KHUSHBOO TIWARI
Mumbai, 18 January
The Securities Appellate
Tribunal (SAT) on Thursday
refused to interfere in the
market regulator’s order aga-
inst the Brightcom Group.
“Though investigations
are ongoing, examination of
transactions pertaining to
22 allottees out of 82 allot-
tees of preferential allot-
ments have pointed to
evidence of prima facie
diversion of funds by
Appellant No. 2. In the
absence of any evidence to
the contrary being filed by
the appellants before me, I
do not find any lacunae in
passing of the impugned
Nifty fell for the third day run-
ning on Thursday, dragged by
continuous selling in HDFC
Bank and profit-taking in con-
sumer durables and utility
shares. The 30-share BSE
Sensex fell by 313.90 points or
0.44 per cent to settle at
71,186.86. During the day, it
tanked 835.26 points or 1.16 per
cent to 70,665.50.
The Nifty 50 declined
109.70 points or 0.51 per cent to
21,462.25. During the day, it
plunged 286.4 points or 1.32 per
cent to 21,285.55.
The heavy fall in the mar-
kets comes on the back of a
recent record-breaking rally.
The BSE benchmark hit an all-
As on Jan 18, 2024
HDFC Bank
NTPC
Titan
Asian Paints
Power Grid Corp of India
Source: Bloomberg, exchanges
time high of 73,427.59 on
Tuesday, and the Nifty also
reached its lifetime peak of
22,124.15 the same day.
In three days, Sensex lost
2,141 points or nearly 3 per cent
while Nifty retreated by 635
points or 2.89 per cent to fall
below the key support level of
21,500 points.
Among the Sensex firms,
HDFC Bank fell the most by
Price (~) 1-day change (%)
1,486.8
299.4
3,736.1
3,163.7
233.5
Compiled by BS Research Bureau
3.26 per cent. The private
lender, which tanked more
than 8 per cent on Wednesday
on weaker-than-expected
third-quarter results, contrib-
uted 305 points to the fall.
NTPC, Asian Paints, Power
Grid, Titan, IndusInd Bank,
Nestle and Maruti were among
the major laggards.
However, gains in Reliance
Industries, Sun Pharma, Tech
Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis
Bank and Larsen & Toubro
helped trim losses.
-3.3
-3.2
“The benchmark indices
exhibited recovery from the
-2.5 day's low and ended in red
amid weak global cues, as
-2.4 investors are trimming bets on
-2.4 rapid FED cuts due to strong
US retail sales and the resulting
rise in global bond yields.”
“Furthermore, oil price
advances and rate escalation
risks have led to disruptions
in global shipping and crude
production. The broader mar-
ket continued its selling pres-
sure given the elevated val-
uation and profit booking
with an aim for sector rota-
tion,” said Vinod Nair, Head
of Research, Geojit Financial
Services.
by looking at the industry
cycle, which sectors seem
attractive?
aging money ever since
I started as a portfolio
manager.
Compared to the last five
years, chemicals as an What is your earnings
industry has moved growth expectation for
into a downturn. FY24 and FY25? Will it
be enough to sustain
current valuations?
IN CURRENT The current market is
factoring a mid-teen
TIMES, WE HAVE growth from corporate
HIT A CYCLE WHERE India in FY 2024 and
low-teens in FY 2025.
EQUITY VALUATIONS Of course, valuations are
SHOULD TRADE already factoring in
the future corporate
LOWER THAN WHAT performance. If execution
THEY HAVE TRADED disappoints, there
could be a near-term
OVER THE PAST challenge and we could
20 YEARS see an elongated consoli-
dation cycle.

INDIVIDUAL INVESTOR TREND IN AIFs COMMITMENTS

order,” noted Meera Swarup, Institutional investors continue to 80 per cent was garnered by Category I
technical member, SAT. drive commitments for the Alternative and Category II funds. 5.03
“I do not find any reason Investment Fund (AIF) industry, accounting In FY23, the participation by direct (BY CONTRIBUTION VALUE) IN % IN AIFs 30.54 27.00
to interfere in the impugned
order at this stage,” she
added.
INVESTORS’ for 55 per cent of the inflows. However,
individual investors, too, have warmed
up to investing in this relatively
investors rose to 42 per cent from 27 per cent
in FY19, while the distributor share has gone
down from 73 per cent to 58 per cent during
Institution Individual NRIs/foreign
75
Investment slab
n >~100 cr
n ~50-100 cr
All
categories
In an order dated August
22, 2023, the Securities and
Exchange Board of India
SHARE IN AIF high-risk investment vehicle.
As of September 2023, the share of
individual investors (domestic) stood at
the same period.
Last year, the market regulator also
streamlined upfront commissions in AIFs for
60
n ~25-50 cr
n ~10-25 cr
7.83
(in %)
6.50
(Sebi) had barred Bright- COMMITMENTS AT 40% 40 per cent, up from 35 per cent at the end distributors and introduced a trail model. 56 55
n ~5-10 cr
n ~2-5 cr n <~2 cr
10.60 12.50
com’s then chairman of FY23. Meanwhile, the share of NRIs and The Securities and Exchange Board of India 45
SK Reddy from the markets overseas investors shrunk to 5 per cent, (Sebi) has also asked AIFs to offer direct
35
and debarred from holding according to a report by CAMS and Equalifi plans for the schemes. Experts believe these 40 SHARE OF DIRECT INVESTORS RISING
director post in listed on alternative asset trends. With a 56 per changes may bring more direct investors. 30 n Direct n Distribution (in %)
companies. cent share, individual investors have The CAMS-Equalifi report also indicates a
Brightcom Group had emerged as the majority contributors in shifting trend in the age group of investors. FY19 27 73
appealed before the tribunal category III AIFs — which are hedge funds While there was a dominance of above 15
seeking stay on Sebi’s order investing mostly in listed equities. 60-year-olds in the total investors, with a 8 5 FY20 33 67
barring Reddy and the com- Though the minimum investment for 40 per cent share in FY19, it has now come FY21 40 60
pany’s Chief Financial AIFs is ~1 crore, two-thirds of the total down to 28 per cent, as of September 2023. 0
Officer Narayan Raju from investors have committed to a higher Meanwhile, women investors FY19 FY24* FY22 36 64
holding key positions citing ticket denomination of ~5 crore or more. accounted for nearly one-third of the total *Till Sept ‘23
impact on revenue and Of the total commitments, nearly investments. KHUSHBOO TIWARI Source: CAMS-Equalifi Report FY23 42 58
operations.
ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA

THE COMPASS NSE retains

Multiple headwinds ahead for ICICI Prudential Life
DEVANGSHU DATTA dragged down the profitability.
The net profit grew just 2.4 per
The ICICI Prudential Life cent Y-o-Y to ~227 crore.
Insurance Company's net pre- The commission expense is
mium income in the third due to the revamped commission
quarter (October – December) of structure. Unit-linked products
the current financial year recorded growth of 8.7 per cent
(Q3FY24) swelled by 4.9 per cent Y-o-Y in the APE. The product mix
year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to touch seems skewed towards par pro-
~9,929 crore. ducts and unit-linked instead of
Income from investment rose non-par products.
111.3 per cent Y-o-Y to touch ~16,315 Annuity products also saw a
crore. The Annual premium equiv- growth of 17.3 per cent Y-o-Y. On
alent (APE), and new business pre- the overall APE mix, unit-linked
mium (NBP) increased by 4.8 per products and annuity products
cent Y-o-Y. Both declined 7.5 per increased by 162bps and
cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, 68bps Y-o-Y, while other products
quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q). saw a decline.
Commission expenses and This hurt the value of the new
expenses of management (EOM) business (VNB) margin, which
declined by 1106bps Y-o-Y to 22.9
per cent. The management said
competitive pressure in the non-
par and annuity segments contrib-
uted to the margin compression.
The company saw an increase
in the sale of premiums in the
agency channel, which was due to
the capacity addition in Q2FY24.
The agency channel contrib-
uted 30.3 per cent to the overall
APE mix with a growth of 194bps
Y-o-Y.
The share of ICICI Bank in the
bancassurance channel stood at
13-14 per cent of the overall APE
mix, while other banks contrib-
uted 11 per cent of the APE mix.
The company uses derivatives
to hedge interest rate risks in its
Base=100 Strategic partnerships with
140 banks help in the diversification of
ICICI Pru. Life Insurance channel mix, which may aid rural
130 penetration. The management
expects more than 10 per cent Y-o-
120 Y growth in APE, which will be driv-
en by the mix of products, invest-
110 ment in channels, and initiatives
taken to ensure capacity addition.
100 The company has invested in
Sensex the proprietary channel, adding
90 28,750 agents during the nine
months of FY24.
80 The company expects that VNB
Dec 30,‘22 Jan 18,’24
growth will be driven by the growth
Source: Exchange in APE. The management remains
Compiled by BS Research Bureau focused on providing products that
fit the needs of customers for
non-participating guaranteed sav- example, the credit life product has
ings and annuities portfolio. seen APE growth of 20 per cent Y-
o-Y and will continue to drive
growth going forward.
On the product side, in the
nine-month FY 2024, par-linked
business has grown by 5.7 per cent,
while non-linked savings business
has declined by 4.5 per cent Y-o-Y.
Despite the uninspiring results,
there are positives such as the
diversified distribution channel,
growth in retail premium and new
product launches.
The company expects double-
digit growth in APE in Q4FY24
along with stabilising margins.
Productivity should also rise in Q4.
But it must meet challenges
like low premium growth, decline
in margins, and increasing com-
mission costs. Double-digit growth
would absorb higher fixed costs.
The company is also open to
the acquisition of new partners
and sourcing channels.
largest derivative
exchange tag
The National Stock Exchange
of India (NSE) has remained
the largest derivative exchange
for the fifth consecutive year in
2023, the bourse said in a state-
ment on Thursday citing statis-
tics maintained by World Fede-
ration of Exchanges.
The exchange ranked third
in the world in the equity seg-
ment by number of trades in
2023. In the same year, the mar-
ket capitalisation of listed firms
surpassed $4 trillion while the
number of unique registered
investors on the NSE crossed
85 million for the first time. The
equity derivatives to cash mar-
ket turnover ratio marginally
declined from 2.86 in calendar
year 2022 to 2.64 in calendar
year 2023, said NSE. BS REPORTER
2 THE SMART INVESTOR
>
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 1

Asian Paints needs fresh coat Counter high valuations, volatility

as margin pressures build up by investing in hybrid mutual funds
SARBAJEET K SEN
As competition intensifies, brokerages turn pale on paint maker’s stock GO HYBRID FOR A SMOOTHER RIDE
The bellwether Indian stock indices
RAM PRASAD SAHU at 18-20 per cent. saw their worst fall in 18 months on Average returns (%)  1-year  3-year  5-year  10-year
Mumbai, 18 January Kotak Research says that the stand- Wednesday with the BSE Sensex 22.7
alone operating profit margin was robust plunging over 1,600 points and the 20.7

A
weaker-than-expected sales per- and was similar to the pre-pandemic peak Nifty 50 dropping by 460 points. This 16.9 16.9
14.7
formance, concerns about higher and better adjusted for product mix happened at a time when the markets 13.1 12.8 13.7 13.4
competitive intensity in the cur- deterioration. Analysts led by Jaykumar have been hovering near their lifetime 10.2 10.2 9.3
rent year, and earning cuts by some Doshi of Kotak Research, however, remain highs. Investors in equity mutual funds
brokerages have weighed on the stock cautious on the stock given the deceler- are worried as a sudden selloff could
of the country’s largest paint maker, ation in underlying demand and potential erode the value of their portfolios.
Asian Paints. impact of Grasim’s launch on industry Some mutual fund categories and Balanced Advantage Multi- Asset Allocation Equity Savings
While the Q3 volume show was profitability. This would likely result in investment strategies can help mitigate
slightly below expectations, the com- negligible FY2024-26 earnings per share the impact of volatility. Returns are of direct plans
Source: NGEN Markets
pany’s operational and bottom line beat growth, says the brokerage.
estimates, benefiting from the falling raw Prabhudas Lilladher Research cut its Balanced advantage funds
material costs. The stock ended the day FY25 earnings per share (EPS) estimates These schemes, also known as dynamic
with a decline of over 2 per cent at ~3,175
apiece. The company reported a dec- LAGGING by 1.2 per cent and FY26 EPS by 1.4 per
cent given little scope to improve margins
asset allocation funds, invest in a mix of
bonds and stocks depending on how
orative paints volume growth of 12 per
cent over the year-ago quarter, which was
THE MARKET which are at all-time high levels excluding
the pandemic year on the expected
attractively they are priced. Fund
houses use different models that
marginally below brokerage estimates Asian Paints Sensex increase in competitive activity (Grasim’s consider factors such as value and
and was led by double-digit expansion in
130 entry) despite sustained double-digit vol- momentum to decide the allocation
117.01
the rural and urban markets. 120 ume growth expectations. between stocks and bonds (including
While the growth was supported by an Base = 100 110 Analysts led by Amnish Aggarwal of arbitrage positions). Fund managers Equity savings funds equity allocation can provide additional
extended festive season, the company the brokerage expects stunted growth in then pick stocks and bonds to design These funds maintain a stock allocation returns. “Debt provides stability to
100
highlighted that the benefit was offset by the medium term given near peak operat- portfolios. With stocks quoting at near ranging from 15 per cent to 35 per cent. portfolios and allows one to earn a
demand moderation in the second half of 90 ing profit margins, the likelihood of price all-time highs, the valuation-driven The remainder is invested in bonds and steady return. Investors can build a
the quarter. The growth in decorative 102.32 80 cuts (1.3 per cent in Q3FY24) and the entry Balanced Advantage Funds (BAFs) have arbitrage positions. The objective is to robust debt portfolio through a mix of
paints helped the company achieve a sales Dec 30,’22 Jan 18,’24 of Grasim in decorative paints in Q4FY24. reduced their equity allocation and provide a small stock allocation to short-duration funds, fixed deposits,
growth of 5.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o- Valuations at 52.5 times FY26 EPS allocated more to bonds. Later, if the investors seeking moderate equity non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and
Y). What weighed on the sales was a price doesn’t factor in a slowdown in profit markets tank and stocks turn more exposure. “Investors with a lower risk government securities,” says
and mix decline of 650 basis points (bps). 43.6 per cent, the best in the last 11 growth and an increase in competitive attractive, they will allocate more to appetite can consider equity savings Maheshwari.
While a price cut impact was 130 bps, an quarters. The 550 bps Y-o-Y improvement intensity fully, says the brokerage. stocks. This continuous process of funds, which offer a combination of
adverse product mix accounted for 400- in the metric was driven by growth in lux- Motilal Oswal Research remains cau- reallocation provides equity, arbitrage, and fixed Do not shun equities
500 bps on the back of downtrading and ury products and the softening of raw tious as the entry of new players with investors with a smoother income,” says Parul Despite the markets running up, avoid-
higher sales of economy products. material prices as well as operational effi- deep pockets and massive commitments investment experience. Maheshwari, a certified ing equities may not be a prudent invest-
Motilal Oswal Research points out that ciencies. The operating profit margin to investments may result in a shift in the “BAFs minimise risk and financial planner. ment strategy. Investors might lose out
sales have been sluggish due to price expanded 390 basis points Y-o-Y to overall industry’s market share and cost improve returns by adjusting Both equity savings funds on further gains if the markets continue
reductions and an unfavourable mix (low 22.6 per cent and was on the back of gross structures. These will be the key monito- the portfolio allocation during and BAFs maintain a gross to rise from current levels.
premium segment sales). margin improvement. rables in FY25, it said, while adding the a market rally or correction,” equity exposure of 65 per cent “Stretched valuations and
Lower input costs helped the company The company has reiterated its paints segment may not enjoy higher says S Sridharan, founder and by deploying money in spot- overbought scenarios are for the short
post a healthy standalone gross margin of medium-term target for the metric multiples of the past. chief executive officer, Wallet
Wealth.
YOUR future arbitrage positions,
even if their net equity
term. Invest in largecap equity-oriented
funds as they promise worthwhile gains
MONEY exposure is far lower. Hence, in the long term,” says Sridharan. Adds
Multi-asset funds these schemes are taxed as Ravi Kumar: “Nobody can time the
NHPC OFS booked 2.3x, institutional buyers bid for 802 mn shares Amid high valuation risk in equities and
the possibility of volatility in the future,
equity mutual funds and investors pay
tax on capital gains at lower rates.
equity markets. Those with long-term
view should continue their systematic
BS REPORTER a near 70 per cent rally in NHPC in the past one year. investors may also consider multi-asset investments in equity funds.”
Mumbai, 18 January About 35 million shares reserved for retail investors will be funds (MAF). These funds invest across Capital protection strategy
auctioned on Friday. At the end of December 2023 quarter, the equities, bonds, precious metals and A higher allocation to debt can reduce Invest over time
Institutional investors placed bids for 802 million shares in government held 70.95 per cent in NHPC. Following the OFS, international equities. “Different asset risks and safeguard capital. Investors Regardless of market level, invest in
the offer for sale (OFS) of NHPC, 2.3 times the 351 million shares its stake will reduce to 67.45 per cent. classes perform at different times, so with a long-term view can deploy 70 per stocks and equity mutual funds in a
on offer. Most of the bids came at around ~68 per share, higher Prior to the NHPC share sale, the government had mobilised diversification pays off over time. cent of their money in a well-managed staggered manner. “Use systematic
than the floor price of ~66 set by the government. ~10,000 crore by pruning stakes in listed PSU so far this finan- Investing across a broad range of asset short or medium-term debt fund and investment plans (SIPs) or systematic
Shares of NHPC fell 3.2 per cent to end at ~71. Through the cial year. It has sold shares in Coal India (worth ~4,186 crore), classes also makes the portfolio the balance in a well-managed flexi-cap transfer plans (STPs). To invest a lump
OFS, the government was looking to divest nearly 3.5 per cent Hudco (~1,050 crore), RVNL (~1,366 crore) and SJVN (~1,350 resilient,” says Ravi Kumar T V, founder, fund. Over five years, 70 per cent sum, choose a BAF or MAF,” says
stake in the hydropower firm. The share sale comes following crore) through the OFS route since April 1, 2023. Gaining Ground Investment. allocation can grow to 100, while the Maheshwari.

s
Notice of 66th Annual General Meeting
and Remote E-Voting information
Further to the Company’s newspaper Notice published on Tuesday,16th January 2024, Notice is hereby
given that the 66th Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of Siemens Limited (“the Company”) will be
held on Tuesday, 13th February 2024 at 3:00 p.m. (IST) through Video Conferencing (“VC”) / Other
Audio Visual Means (“OAVM”), to transact the business as set out in the Notice of AGM dated 30th
November 2023, in compliance with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (“Act”)
read with General Circular No. 14/2020, 17/2020, 20/2020, 02/2021, 21/2021, 02/2022, 10/2022 and
09/2023 dated 8th April 2020, 13th April 2020, 5th May 2020, 13th January 2021, 14th December 2021,
5th May 2022, 28th December 2022 and 25th September 2023, respectively, issued by the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs (“MCA Circulars”) and relevant provisions of Securities and Exchange Board of India
[SEBI] (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (“Listing Regulations”)
read with Circular No. SEBI/HO/CFD/CMD1/CIR/P/2020/79 dated 12th May 2020; Circular No. SEBI/HO/
CFD/CMD2/CIR/P/2022/62 dated 13th May 2022; Circular No. SEBI/HO/CFD/PoD-2/P/CIR/2023/4 dated
5th January 2023 and Circular No. SEBI/HO/CFD/CFD-PoD-2/P/CIR/2023/167 dated 7th October 2023,
issued by SEBI (“SEBI Circulars”).
In line with the MCA Circulars and SEBI Circulars, the electronic copy of the Annual Report
for FY 2022-23 (“AR”) containing Notice of AGM has been sent to all the Members whose
e-mail IDs are registered with the Company or their Depository Participant(s) (“DP”) on
Thursday, 18th January 2024.
The Notice convening the AGM and AR is available on the Company’s website www.siemens.co.in
as well as on the Stock Exchange websites (www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.com) and on the
website of National Securities Depository Limited (“NSDL”) - www.evoting.nsdl.com.
Members holding shares in physical form and who have not yet registered their e-mail
address are requested to register the same with the Company by sending an e-mail to
Corporate-Secretariat.in@siemens.com / csg-unit@tcplindia.co.in by submitting the requisite documents
as mentioned in the Notice convening the AGM. Members holding shares in electronic form are
requested to get their e-mail address registered with their respective DP.
In terms of Section 108 of the Act read with Rule 20 of the Companies (Management and Administration)
Rules, 2014, Regulation 44 of the Listing Regulations and MCA Circulars, the Company is providing
its Members the facility to cast their vote electronically (“remote e-voting”) and the business may be
transacted through such voting, on all the resolutions set forth in the Notice of AGM. The details relating
to remote e-voting are given hereunder:
1. The Cut-Off date for determining the eligibility of Members for voting on resolutions proposed in
the Notice of AGM either through remote e-voting or e-voting at the AGM is Tuesday, 6th February
2024. The voting rights of Members shall be in proportion to their shares of the paid-up equity
share capital of the Company as on the said cut-off date.
2. The remote e-voting period will commences on Friday, 09th February 2024 (9.00 a.m. IST) and
ends on Monday, 12th February 2024 (5.00 p.m. IST) (both days inclusive). The e-voting module
shall be disabled by NSDL thereafter.
3. Any person, who becomes Member of the Company post dispatch of the Notice of AGM and holding
shares as of the said Cut-Off date, may obtain the login ID and password by sending a request at
evoting@nsdl.com. However, if a Member has already registered with NSDL for remote e-voting
then the Member can use their existing user ID and password for casting their vote.
4. The Members who have not cast their vote through remote e-voting, can exercise their voting
rights during the AGM. The procedure for e-voting at the AGM is same as the procedure for remote
e-voting. Members who have cast their vote through remote e-voting may also attend the AGM but
shall not be entitled to cast their vote again.
5. The detailed instructions for attending the AGM through VC / OAVM and the manner of e-voting
are provided in the Notice convening the AGM. In case of any difficulty or queries connected with
attending the AGM through VC / OAVM or e-voting, Members may refer the Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs) for Members and e-Voting User Manual for Members available at the “Downloads”
section of www.evoting.nsdl.com or may also contact NSDL at its toll free no.: (022 - 4886 7000
and 022 - 2499 7000) or contact Ms. Pallavi Mhatre, Senior Manager, NSDL at evoting@nsdl.com.

For Siemens Limited

Ketan Thaker
Company Secretary
ACS: 16250
Place: Mumbai
Date : 18th January 2024

Siemens Limited
CIN: L28920MH1957PLC010839
Regd. Office: Birla Aurora, Level 21, Plot No. 1080, Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai - 400 030
Tel.: +91 22 6251 7000 | Fax: +91 22 2436 2403
Contact / Email: Corporate-Secretariat.in@siemens.com / www.siemens.co.in/contact
Website: www.siemens.co.in
.l
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 3
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4 NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 1
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NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 5
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6 STOCKS
> 
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 1
IN THE
> STOCK
> Oracle Financial Services > Sobha > IRCON International

NEWS Top gainer

among A-group
Hits new all-time
high at ~1,552
Snaps 7-day
wining OF THE DAY
companies on BSE streak Welspun Corp
~5,087.4 PREVIOUS CLOSE ~1,325.9 PREVIOUS CLOSE ~208.4 PREVIOUS CLOSE Hits new all-time high at
~6,545.3 CLOSE ~1,478.1 CLOSE ~204.1 CLOSE ~608, Surged 96 per cent
p 28.7% UP p 11.5% UP  2.1% DOWN in last 6 months

NIFTY 50
Company Close (~) % Wt PE Company Close (~) % Wt PE
ADVANCES/DECLINE F&O SNAPSHOT DAY’S TOP GAINERS DAY’S TOP LOSERS
18 Jan ’24 Chg (%) Con Std 18 Jan ’24 Chg (%) Con Std Futures Cash Premium Futures Cash Discount Company Day’s high Close % chg* 3mth high 52 wk high Company Day’s low Close % chg* 3mth low 52 wk low
Adani Enter 2918.9 -1.8 0.9 136.1 161.6 ITC 465.5 -0.2 5.9 30.3 29.1 price price (%) price price (%)
Adani Ports 1154.1 -1.1 0.9 39.3 314.3 JSW Steel 803.7 -1.1 1.1 21.2 22.6 Oracle Fin 6613.8 6545.3 28.7 6613.8 6613.8 LTIMind 5436.0 5602.3 -10.8 4986.5 4120.0
MOST BULLISH MOST BEARISH
Apollo Hosp 5990.9 1.1 0.6 105.2 87.8 Kotak Mah Bank 1777.3 -0.1 2.7 20.6 27.3 Apollo Tyres 506.1 500.3 6.1 506.1 506.1 IEX 134.4 137.3 -6.8 121.3 116.1
Asian Paints 3163.9 -2.4 1.5 55.8 56.8 REC 427.0 424.3 0.6 Delta Corp 143.6 145.2 -1.1 Suzlon Energy 43.0 42.9 5.0 45.7 45.7 ICICI Prud Life 463.5 486.3 -5.6 463.5 381.0
L&T 3596.0 0.7 5.0 40.3 53.0
Axis Bank 1097.5 1.4 3.2 31.3 28.7 Tata Comm 1780.8 1769.6 0.6 Oracle Fin 6506.6 6545.5 -0.6 Aarti Inds 633.0 611.8 5.0 661.4 661.4 ITI 336.1 346.5 -5.6 250.7 86.5
LTIMind 5603.0 -10.7 0.5 36.1 37.0
Zee Enter 249.6 248.2 0.5 HCL Techno 1558.4 1567.6 -0.6 Tata Comm 1802.1 1775.0 4.6 1849.0 1956.9 IndiaMART Int 2395.0 2472.1 -4.9 2395.0 2179.8
Bajaj Auto 7083.6 -1.1 0.9 29.3 31.2 Mah & Mah 1617.3 1.2 1.7 19.6 21.6 Granules 424.1 422.0 0.5 TCS 3879.9 3902.6 -0.6 Maha Gas 1311.3 1301.9 3.8 1311.3 1311.3 RBL Bank 263.5 270.0 -4.5 209.9 131.6
Bajaj Fin 7265.6 -1.3 2.0 39.0 39.0 Maruti Suzuki 9924.5 -1.3 1.4 38.0 27.9 RBL Bank 271.1 269.9 0.5 SBI Card & Pay 746.0 750.3 -0.6 Aurob Pharma 1130.0 1125.1 3.4 1163.7 1163.7 Mphasis 2479.2 2512.9 -4.4 2068.5 1660.7
Bajaj Finsrv 1581.2 -0.3 1.0 34.0 215.2 Nestle India 2502.0 -1.6 0.9 - 81.2
Bharti Airtel 1087.1 0.2 2.8 81.0 - Petronet LNG 240.7 240.2 3.1 240.7 254.3 Ipca Labs 1061.7 1081.6 -3.6 933.6 670.0
NTPC 299.3 -3.2 1.4 17.2 16.0 BSE NSE Sun Pharma 1343.6 1335.7 2.8 1343.6 1343.6 HDFC Bank 1480.0 1486.8 -3.3 1460.6 1460.6
BPCL
Britannia
473.2
5015.2
0.3 0.5 48.2 3.7
-0.9 0.6 47.6 51.7
ONGC 233.6 0.6 1.2 8.3 9.5 Index Stock Index Stock PUT-CALL RATIO BHEL 212.9 212.0 2.6 213.2 213.2 NTPC 296.6 299.4 -3.2 227.8 162.7
Power Grid 233.5 -2.4 1.1 14.1 14.2 PAYTM 759.2 754.7 2.6 998.3 998.3 Berger Paints 567.0 576.4 -3.2 530.0 439.7
Cipla 1323.0 2.2 0.7 30.9 36.1
Reliance Ind 2735.9 0.5 9.6 27.0 42.9 FUTURE (Open Interest in Mn) Put Call PC Ratio
Coal India 375.7 -1.1 0.9 8.3 15.4 Contracts 1865 - 629147 1759830 Cipla 1326.6 1323.3 2.3 1341.3 1341.3 Max Fin Sre 891.9 899.2 -3.1 863.4 599.3
SBI 628.3 0.4 2.5 8.2 9.0 Market 2994.6 5581.8 0.5 Indus Towers 219.0 215.8 2.3 229.8 229.8 Au Small Fin 733.0 734.4 -3.0 630.9 548.2
Divis Lab 3700.2 -0.8 0.5 53.9 74.6 Open Int.(000) 10 - 18954 8126478
SBI Life Ins 1404.9 -1.1 0.6 - 76.4 Tech Mahindra 1369.2 1355.3 2.2 1401.5 1401.5 Mazagon Dock 2281.8 2319.5 -2.9 1742.0 612.8
Dr Reddys 5650.0 0.0 0.7 18.5 24.6 Shares(In Mn) - - 20.8 3186.9 Top 5 PC Ratio Bottom 5 PC Ratio
Sun Pharma 1335.8 2.8 1.5 37.5 435.9 HDFC AMC 3415.0 3404.0 2.0 3553.3 3553.3 Birlasoft 764.5 778.2 -2.8 509.7 250.4
Eicher Motor 3691.2 -1.6 0.5 28.2 30.8 Value(~ crore) 134 - 54939 144121
Tata Consumer P 1146.8 0.7 0.7 83.5 102.3 Oracle Fin 1.1 NTPC 0.2
Grasim Ind 2053.7 -0.7 0.8 20.5 93.1 OPTIONS * Ranked on the basis of percentage gain/loss on previous close
Tata Motors 819.1 1.7 1.5 17.8 61.8 Tata Consumer P 1.1 Britannia 0.2
HCL Techno 1567.6 -0.5 1.7 27.1 36.2 Contracts 21904206 - 561302550 7533777
Tata Steel 131.0 -0.5 1.1 - 65.3 Godrej Prpty 1.1 Shree Cement 0.2
HDFC Bank
HDFC Std Life
1486.2
607.8
-3.3 11.5 24.5 20.0
0.2 0.7 95.5 86.2 TCS 3902.6 0.5 4.0 31.8 34.0
Open Int.(000)
Shares(In Mn)
12723
-
- 709392
- 25666.8
7866983
10948.7
Trent 1.0 Page Inds 0.3 MOST TRADED TOP M-CAP TRENDS
Tech Mahindra 1355.2 2.1 0.9 36.7 44.1 IOC 1.0 SBI Life Ins 0.3
Hero MotoCorp 4394.0 0.5 0.6 31.3 25.5 Value(~ crore) 1567767 - 57089238 636346 Value Volume Rank Company Mcap (~ cr) Company % change Company % change
Hindalco 554.9 -1.0 0.8 12.3 44.9 Titan Company 3734.7 -2.5 1.6 102.0 97.5 BSE+NSE BSE+NSE
UltraTech 9892.3 0.4 1.2 50.2 51.4 1 Reliance Ind 1850345.8 BS200 Key Corp 40.7
HUL 2548.0 -0.6 2.3 59.2 58.4 (~ crore) (Mn shrs)
ICICI Bank 986.4 0.5 7.1 20.3 18.5 UPL 544.2 -1.2 0.3 22.0 30.6 ACTIVE CALLS ACTIVE PUTS HDFC Bank 12381.3 82.8
2
3
TCS
HDFC Bank
1428329.7
1128852.9
UP 7 DAYS DOWN 7 DAYS
IndusInd Bank 1612.9 -1.9 1.1 - 15.1 Wipro 482.7 0.1 0.7 22.3 28.2 Expiry Strike Traded Open % Chg Expiry Strike Traded Open % Chg Rail Vikas Niga 31.6 Sanmit Infra -32.7
IRFC 4374.6 300.4 4 ICICI Bank 692149.2
Infosys 1642.6 0.1 6.0 28.0 27.6 Nifty 50 21462.3 â-0.5 100.0 24.8 28.5 MARKET OVERVIEW (In Million) Date Price Qty Interest (OI) (In Million) Date Price Qty Interest (OI)
Oracle Fin 3414.0 5.5 5 Infosys 681751.3 DOWN J Taparia Pr -22.5
Index Index 6 Bharti Airtel 611262.2 Bajaj Finsrv -6.0 Adhbhut Infra -21.7
INDEX PE SHRS TRDS 1 YR Rail Vikas Niga 2817.8 116.8
S&P BSE SENSEX AGGREGATES C/S MN ‘000 ADV DEC RETURN Nifty
Nifty
18/01/24
18/01/24
21500
21450
2227.6
2126.9
18.7
14.4
1148.0
3849.6
Nifty
Nifty
18/01/24
18/01/24
21450
21400
2352.2
1949.7
30.2 968.4
17.3 215.4
Polycab India 1919.2 4.3
7
8
HUL
ITC
598689.8
580799.7
Bajaj Fin
UP 3 DAYS
-5.9 Kamadgiri
5Paisa Capital
-19.1
-18.0
Asian Paints 3163.7 -2.4 1.7 55.8 56.8 Maruti Suzuki 9921.2 -1.3 1.6 38.0 27.9 SENSEX 25.7/29.2 13.0 411 13 17 16.6 ICICI Bank 1799.3 18.3 Cochin Ship 12.2
NIFTY 50 24.8/28.5 387.3 9350 21 28 18.1 Nifty 18/01/24 21550 1198.5 6.2 261.2 Nifty 18/01/24 21350 1092.9 5.8 93.5 9 LIC India 569250.0 Shanti Edu Init -17.9
Axis Bank 1097.5 1.3 3.7 31.3 28.7 Nestle India 2502.6 -1.6 1.1 - 81.2 Nifty 18/01/24 21600 906.4 8.9 34.1 Nifty 18/01/24 21300 1085.7 8.6 57.1 LTIMind 1669.5 3.0 10 SBI 560732.6 BHEL 5.4
C = CONSOLIDATED; S = STANDALONE Vibrant Glob -17.3
Bajaj Fin 7265.2 -1.2 2.4 39.0 39.0 NTPC 299.4 -3.2 1.7 17.2 16.0 Nifty 18/01/24 21400 842.1 5.0 1229.3 Nifty 18/01/24 21500 841.4 5.2 -26.2 BHEL 1505.6 72.7 11 L&T 494370.7 IOC 5.0
Bajaj Finsrv 1581.1 -0.2 1.2 34.0 215.2 UP 3 DAYS
Power Grid 233.5 -2.4 1.3 14.1 14.2 CASH DERIVATIVES Stock Stock Zomato 1464.4 116.6 12 Bajaj Fin 448989.4 Apollo Hosp 1.6
Bharti Airtel 1086.7 0.1 3.3 81.0 - TURNOVER BSE NSE BSE NSE DOWN Golkunda Dmd 72.3
Reliance Ind 2734.9 0.4 11.2 27.0 42.9 Vodafone Idea 25/01/24 15 317.4 82.6 6.8 Vodafone Idea 25/01/24 15 129.1 97.2 5.2 Zee Enter 1455.3 57.8 13 HCL Techno 425391.8
HCL Techno 1567.6 -0.5 2.0 27.1 36.2 Vodafone Idea 25/01/24 16 247.0 201.7 7.0 Vodafone Idea 25/01/24 14 108.5 96.6 9.2 Indiabulls Hous -7.9 National Std 33.7
SBI 628.3 0.3 2.9 8.2 9.0 VALUE(IN ~ CRORE) 9841 127009 1567901 57924644 Reliance Ind 1443.9 5.3 14 Kotak Mah Bank 353286.7
HDFC Bank 1486.8 -3.3 13.4 24.5 20.0 Vodafone Idea 25/01/24 17 183.6 142.2 -6.2 Vodafone Idea 25/01/24 16 43.7 90.3 -4.8 15 Axis Bank 338492.0 Adani Energy So -7.2 Rane Eng Val 33.1
Sun Pharma 1335.7 2.8 1.7 37.5 435.9 SHARES(IN MN) 1163.3 5773.1 - 39823.1 Axis Bank 1286.9 11.7
HUL 2548.1 -0.6 2.7 59.2 58.4 TRADES(000) 5294 43544 - 145161 Vodafone Idea 25/01/24 18 91.2 221.8 -3.3 HDFC Bank 25/01/24 1500 34.9 4.4 22.3 16 Adani Enter 332714.7 ICICI Prud Life -7.0 Quick Heal 21.9
Tata Motors 818.9 1.7 1.7 17.7 61.7 Bajaj Fin 1276.8 1.8
ICICI Bank 986.6 0.6 8.2 20.3 18.5 Vodafone Idea 25/01/24 14 81.2 63.4 1.4 PNB 25/01/24 95 31.2 10.4 8.1 17â Titan Company 331686.5 Containr Crp -6.4 Captain Poly 20.5
Tata Steel 131.1 -0.5 1.3 - 65.3 PCBL 1207.1 39.7
IndusInd Bank 1613.2 -1.8 1.3 - 15.1 MARKET-CAP (~ CR) TRADED TOTAL 18 Sun Pharma 320462.5 Adani Green En -6.1 Dhanlax Roto 20.3
Infosys 1642.6 0.2 7.0 28.0 27.6 TCS 3903.5 0.5 4.7 31.8 34.0
NHPC 1182.1 168.9 19â Maruti Suzuki 311921.0 NTPC -5.7 Amic Forging 19.5
Tech Mahindra 1355.3 2.2 1.0 36.7 44.2 BSE 36,997,826 37,591,898
ITC 465.5 -0.3 6.9 30.3 29.1
JSW Steel 803.8 -1.1 1.3 21.2 22.6 Titan Company 3736.1 -2.5 1.9 102.1 97.5 NSE 36,518,602 37,182,946 SPURT IN VOLUMES Infosys
Cochin Ship
1074.6
1032.2
6.6
11.9
20
21
Asian Paints
ONGC
303457.3
293686.6
Deepak Nitrt
Others
-5.6 DOWN 3 DAYS
UltraTech 9892.7 0.4 1.4 50.2 51.4 DERIVATIVES 24,506,400 24,506,400 Northern Spirit -23.6
Kotak Mah Bank 1777.4 -0.1 3.1 20.6 27.3 Company Days 2-week Avg Change Close *Price 22â NTPC 290269.8 UP 7 DAYS
NTPC 1012.6 33.7 Sanghi Ind -20.6
L&T 3596.6 0.7 5.9 40.3 53.0 Wipro 482.3 0.0 0.8 22.3 28.2 Volume Volume % price %chg 23 UltraTech 285592.4 Utcrfs2Dmp 94.9
Mah & Mah 1617.2 1.1 1.9 19.6 21.6 BSE SENSEX 71186.9 â-0.4 100.0 25.7 29.2 TRADING ACTIVITY Naksh Precious 3150554.0 98964.1 3083.5 23.3 12.2
Tata Motors
SBI
1010.2
972.4
12.4
15.5
24 Tata Motors 272108.2 Ganga papers 78.2 Adinath Exim -14.3
C = Consolidated; S = Standalone (~ crore) FIIs MF 25 Bajaj Finsrv 252264.5 Dredgng Corp 46.2 Scooters I -14.3
Indo Thai Secur 730507.0 24042.6 2938.4 335.0 15.1 YES Bank 955.7 387.6
Equity Debt Equity Debt 26 Wipro 251946.7 MPIL Corpn -14.3
Net Net Net Net Medplus Health 1299720.0 67191.5 1834.4 737.7 -0.8 Bombay Wire Rop 44.6
South Ind Bk 918.2 302.5 27â Adani Green En 251789.5
WORLD INDICES On 17 Jan -10483 915 - - Birla Corpn 1521159.0 80469.1 1790.4 1378.5 -1.1 TCS 909.2 2.3 28â Adani Ports 249313.7
Cochin Malaber
Munoth Cap
43.8
40.7
Sonalis
Pharmaids
-14.3
-14.2
On 16 Jan 1182 2366 -568 -3176 SBISensex 121617.0 6548.9 1757.1 771.3 -0.5 ICICI Prud Life 855.0 17.9 29 Avenue Supermar 243981.5
Indices Close % Chg* Indices Close % Chg*
On 15 Jan 2015 644 -600 -3335 Arihant Acad 224000.0 13890.9 1512.6 175.0 4.2 30 Nestle India 241300.7 (T+2) cycleStocks which rose/fell continuously
L&T 831.9 2.3
Americas (Jan 17,24) Asia/Pacific (Jan 18,24) On 12 Jan -431 2613 1892 -900 Dspamc - Dsppsb 175316.0 12374.2 1316.8 58.7 1.1
Dow Jones 37266.7 -0.3 Jakarta Composite 7253.0 0.7 On 11 Jan -775 903 1351 2103 Oracle Fin 5512060.0 390383.8 1312.0 6545.3 28.7
Jan till date -5960 13084 -69 -75
Nasdaq Composite
S&P/ TSX Composite
14855.6
20695.0
-0.6
-1.2
Shanghai Se Comp
Taiwan Taiex
2845.8
17227.8
0.4
0.4 2024 till date -5960 13084 -69 -75
Crest Ventures
Mos Utility
682656.0
2075200.0
55566.7
192581.8
1128.5
977.6
341.7
125.2
10.8
20.0
BOARD MEETINGS INTRA-DAY
Europe/Africa (Jan 17,24) Kospi 2440.0 0.2 Quarterly Wendt Aarti Surfactan JANUARY 22 SunCare Traders
CAC 40 7348.4 0.4 Straits Times 3139.8 -0.1 FIIS IN DERIVATIVES 52 WEEK NEW HIGHS/LOWS Results Group T Kewal Kiran BS 200 Group X
JANUARY 19 Guj Leas Fin Navkar Corp Coforge Amerise Bioscie
DAX 16476.9 0.3 Stock Exchange of Thai 1377.9 -0.2 Company Price Company Price Company Price Company Price
(~crore) Index Stock Index Index Stock BS 200 Group X Pil Italica Lif Oberoi Relty Ashnisha Inds
FTSE 100 7440.0 -0.1 Kuala Lumpur Comp 1479.2 -0.8 NET Net Fut OI Opt OI OI Atul Axtel Ind Seshasa Pprs Group A Indian Infot
HIGH *Cupid Ltd . . . . . . . . . 2034.5 *Goa Carbon . . . . . . . . 748.9 *Last Mile Enter . . . . . . 414.2
IBEX 35 9841.1 -0.3 Volatility (Jan 17,24) BS 200 *Dolphin Off. . . . . . . . 1687.8 *TechNVision Ven . . . . 696.8 *PLANTER POLYSAC . 412.2 HUL Futuristic Sol Tatva Chintan Chennai Petr Moongipa Cap
On 17 Jan -61946 -5260 0.2 4.6 3.3
Asia/Pacific (Jan 18,24) CBOE Dow Jones 12.1 2.3 On 16 Jan -2596 -986 0.3 5.4 3.2 *Oracle Fin . . . . . . . . . 6613.8 *RPG Life . . . . . . . . . . 1556.7 *GE T&D Ind . . . . . . . 661.1 *Minda Corporati . . . . 409.5 PAYTM Morarka Fin Group P Datamatics Oasis Sec
Hang Seng 15391.8 0.8 CBOE S&P 500 14.7 -0.9 On 15 Jan -6418 -565 0.3 5.1 3.2 *Apollo Hosp . . . . . . . 6027.8 *Sobha Ltd . . . . . . . . . 1552.3 *KPT Indu . . . . . . . . 650.0 *Oil India . . . . . . . . . . . 406.4 RBL Bank Saptak Chem Gothi Plas Lloyds Metals Sumedha Fisc
On 11 Jan -76075 1251 0.2 2.7 3.1 *L & T . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3615.5 *Caplin Point . . . . . . . 1503.5 *PNGS Gargi Fash . . . . 625.4 *Utcrfs2Dmp . . . . . . . 398.1 Reliance Ind Svaraj Trad Group P MRPL SV Global
Nikkei 225 35466.2 0.0 * Change over previous close
On 10 Jan -68997 -1637 0.3 3.2 3.0 *Torrent Phar . . . . . . . 2494.1 TCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1503.0 *EIH Asso Ht . . . . . . . . 625.0 *Advanced Enzyme . . . 391.9 UltraTech Taneja Aero SICL Spandana Sph Yash Chemex
*Prataap Snacks . . . . 1450.0 *Welspun Corp . . . . . . 608.1 Aptus Value Hou . . . . . 365.0 Group A Group XT Group X TN Mercantile B Group XT
MAJOR INDICES Jan till date
2024 till date
-421625
-421625
-17600
-17600
-
-
-
-
-
-
*Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1435.2
*Sun Pharma . . . . . . . 1343.6 Ebbetf0425 . . . . . . . . 1181.0 *Eyantra Ve . . . . . . . 596.7
LOW
Central Bank Colab Cloud Comfort Finance VST Ind Amrawor Agri
*Maha Gas . . . . . . . . . 1311.3 *AGI Infra . . . . . . . . . . 1125.0 *Ajmera Rlty . . . . . . . . . 595.0 CESC Madhusud Ind High Energy Zensar Tech Atishay
Previous Close Open High Low Close Change % chng OI in number of contracts(million) BS 200
*Cochin Ship . . . . . . . . 896.7 *Global Health . . . . . . 1076.2 *Kirl Ferro . . . . . . . . . . . 581.0 CreditAccess Gr Mayukh Dealtrad ISF Group B Balgopal Commer
NONE Hatsun Agro Rahul Merch. LKP Sec Allsec Tech Biogen Pharma
S&P BSE Sensex 71,500.8 71,018.9 71,451.3 70,665.5 71,186.9 -313.9 -0.4 *Apollo Tyres . . . . . . . . 506.1 *WAA tech . . . . . . . . . 1034.8 *Balmer L Inv . . . . . . . . 570.0
Others Hind Zinc Sheetal Diam Tilak Vent Bharat Wire Clio Info
*HPCL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461.8 *Advait Infra . . . . . . . 1015.0 *CFF Fluid C . . . . . . . 549.0
S&P BSE Sensex 50 22,597.3 22,457.2 22,566.7 22,296.3 22,489.5 -107.8 -0.5 S&P BSE SECTORAL INDICES *Rail Vikas Niga . . . . . . 251.4 *MSTC . . . . . . . . . . 1008.0 *Cenlub Indus . . . . . . . 537.0
*Paushakltd . . . . . . . 5451.3
*HDFC Liquid . . . . . . . 1000.0
Sunteck Rlty JANUARY 20 Group XT Control Prnt Johnson Pharma
*IRFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155.0 *Mirae -ET . . . . . . . 1000.0 *Ganesh Hsg . . . . . . . . 535.0 Supreme Ind BS 200 ABC Gas Int IIFL Securities Wagend Infra Ve CG Power Tata Elxsi Orient Bell Duncan Engg Systematix
S&P BSE-100 22,302.3 22,177.5 22,269.0 21,963.2 22,200.1 -102.2 -0.5 Prev cls Close % Chng VIP Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545.5
*IOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145.6 *MAS Fin Ser . . . . . . . . 993.9 *Integrated Inds . . . . . 515.1 Tejas Networks Can Fin Home Comfort Int Ind Bank Hsg JANUARY 23 Glenmark Life Group B Puravankara KJMC Fina JANUARY 24
S&P BSE-200 9,640.9 9,591.4 9,627.1 9,478.7 9,600.7 -40.2 -0.4 HNGSNG BEES . . . . . . . 227.0 Group B ICICI Bank Esha Media Rese Indbank Merc BS 200
Auto 42,075.9 42,220.1 0.3 Others *Insolation Ener . . . . . 986.5 *Sharia bees . . . . . . . . 515.0 Gravita I Agro Tech Fd Sasken Comm La Tim Metal & BS 200
*TVS Supply Chai . . . . 191.6 Avantel IDFC First Bank Indo Credit Karur Vysya Axis Bank
S&P BSE-500 30,808.2 30,668.7 30,778.2 30,264.5 30,693.1 -115.1 -0.4 Bankex 52,020.3 51,802.8 -0.4 *ZF Commercial . . . 17095.0 *IST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924.0 *Kamdhenu . . . . . . . . . 511.2 GSFC Apcotex Ind Tanfac Ind Ludolow Jute Bajaj Auto
Virat Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . 175.5 Axita Cotton IREDA Mangalam Inds F Man Ind Granules
Cons. Durables 51,865.9 50,794.1 -2.1 *SG Mart . . . . . . . . . 12308.3 *Cosmic CRF . . . . . . . . 916.7 *Bondada . . . . . . . . . 500.7 ICRA Bhakti Gems Tips Industries Neil Ind Birlasoft
S&P BSE IPO 13,074.8 13,058.0 13,115.3 12,744.1 13,072.9 -1.9 0.0 Gss Infotech . . . . . . . . . 172.3 Galactico Corpo JK Cement Netlink Solu Monarch Net Havells I
Cap. Goods 56,322.8 56,590.0 0.5 *Voltamp Tran . . . . . . 7283.7 *PNB Hou Fin . . . . . . . . 905.0 *Quick Heal . . . . . . . . 500.0 Indoco Rem Bigbloc Const Ugro Cap SAR Auto Pr Canara Bank
*Adhbhut Infra . . . . . . . . 30.2 HT Media Persistent S Swastik Inv N R Agarwal Indus Towers
FMCG 20,273.0 20,172.3 -0.5 *Dynamatic T . . . . . . . 5950.2 *Dredgng Corp . . . . . . 885.0 Kwality Pharma . . . . . . 498.0 Infibeam Aven Bliss GVS Group T Upsurge Inv Dalmia Bharat
S&P Dollex-30 7,060.4 - - - 7,029.0 -31.4 -0.4 *Mount Hsg & Inf . . . . . . 28.6 Intense Tech Union Bank Trishakti Inds Parshva Ent JSW Energy
Healthcare 32,350.9 32,556.8 0.6 *GRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5300.0 Intell Des Aren . . . . . . . 868.2 *Dalal Street . . . . . . . . 494.7 Karnataka Bk Century Enka Cupid Ltd Group XT Exide Ind
*Sanmit Infra . . . . . . . . . 25.0 Onward Tech Group A Vardh Concre RPEL L&T Finance Hol
Nifty 50 21,572.0 21,414.2 21,539.4 21,285.6 21,462.3 -109.7 -0.5 Infra 508.6 506.7 -0.4 *Kirloskar Inds . . . . . 4027.4 *RPSG Ventures . . . . . 851.5 Vaibhav Global . . . . . . . 493.0 KEI Ind Cyient DLM Integra Essenti Guj Intrux Ind Ove Bank
KACL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.0 Ponni Sugar IDBI Bank Group Z SRG Housing Fin Maha Gas
IT 37,534.1 37,423.4 -0.3 Amber Enter Ind . . . . 3969.0 *Assoc.Cerami . . . . . . . 847.1 *HBL Power . . . . . . . . . 489.4 Lloyds Engineer EKI Energy Group T IIRM Hol IOC
Nifty next50 54,206.3 54,052.6 54,151.0 52,766.3 53,948.4 -257.9 -0.5 *Mega Nirman . . . . . . . . 10.8 Prime Sec J & K Bank Supreme Infr Transform Pidilite Ind
Metal 25,850.6 25,655.8 -0.8 *Cockerill . . . . . . . . . . 3619.0 *HDFC Sensex . . . . . . . 815.0 *Rane Eng Val . . . . . . . 481.6 Rallis Gandhar Oil Machhar Inds Jindal Cap RailTel Corp
*GACM Techno . . . . . . . . 7.5 SecUR Credentia Rajratan Glb Suraj Produc Vinyl Chem REC
Nifty 500 19,487.6 19,388.4 19,468.7 19,143.5 19,414.8 -72.8 -0.4 Oil & Gas 24,617.2 24,703.0 0.3 *Polychem . . . . . . . . . 3340.0 *Star Delta Tran . . . . . . 788.0 *Ceinsys Tech . . . . . . . 466.7 Route Mobile Lloyds Enterpri N K Indust. Krishna Vent Tata Steel
*Ashoka Refin . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Shree DigCem Rossari Biotech JANUARY 21 Group T United Spirt
Power 5,963.4 5,886.0 -1.3 Mastek . . . . . . . . . . . . 3066.1 *Systematix . . . . . . . . . 782.0 *FDC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445.5 RTN Power MPS Ltd Group X Purshottam Inve TVS Motor
India VIX 15.1 15.1 15.7 13.0 14.1 -1.0 -6.7 *10Gpg . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7 Sigachi Inds Group B Group B Authum Invest Group A
PSU 16,119.0 16,068.7 -0.3 *GSK Pharma . . . . . . . 2375.0 *Gulf Oil Lub . . . . . . . . . 761.2 *JK Tyre Ind . . . . . . . . . 431.0 Sona BLW Precis Muthoot Cap Alchemst Crp Simplex Mill Group A
Nifty CPSE 5,030.6 4,963.1 5,001.3 4,863.8 4,980.7 -50.0 -1.0 Realty 6,765.9 6,816.0 0.7 Virinchi Con 3P Land Holding BCG Gensol Engg ABB Power India Tanla Soluts NACL Inds Benares Htl Simplex Pprs Bharat Dyn
m m w w

> BS 200
WHAT THIS STOCK PAGE CONTAINS AND WHY The third sub-set of The table also contains the (F&O) section a wide set of an option may be exercised. becomes valueless while compared with the previous XD after the traded quotes M
BSE NSE BSE NSE
information is the stock’s company’s price-earnings data has been provided. An option is “in-the-money” futures contracts are close, the close price is indicate that the scrip has
market capitalisation. The (P/E) multiple. The P/E Open Interest: OI is the if the market price exceeds compulsorily settled on underlined. A significant gone ex-dividend after that l ~100 q ~3 Aarti Inds ABB IndiaH
BS 200 stocks account for over paid-up value . Four
85 per cent of the volume of categories of information are market capitalisation is multiple is arrived at by number of contracts open at the SP (in case of a call option) expiry. On NSE, it is the last change means a 3 per cent date; XB denotes ex-bonus, PCLose (582.8) (583.0) (4771.6) (4773.0)
m ~50 H ~2 Open 600.5 601.1 4771.7 4765.0
shares, value and trades on provided: First, the basic shown in ~crore and is arrived dividing the day’s closing end of day in the futures and and the market price is below Thursday of every month. rise or fall in scrips whose XR ex-rights; XO ex-indicator
High 633.0 633.5 4792.5 4797.4
the Bombay Stock Exchange information on the day’s at by multiplying the closing price by its reported earning options segment. OI thus SP (in case of a put). Put/call ratio: The ratio of market values are over 10 for other corporate actions n ~20 « ~1
Low 600.5 601.1 4671.7 4665.0
and National Stock Exchange. trading. Information is also prices of shares with equity per share (EPS) for trailing 12 indicates traders’ Otherwise it is “out-of- open interest in put options & times paid-up value or 15 per like AGM/EGM/ preference u ~6 Face value Close 611.8 611.6 4710.7 4710.4
For BS 200 stocks, the given on the number of capital. It changes either months. EPS is calculated on expectations. High OI is money” call options. cent for the rest of the shares. shares/mergers and others . M of scrips is Shares 357K 9846K 3937 151K
because more shares have the basis of consolidated typical when traders see a Expiry date: The date on ABBREVIATIONS: When a The letters H or L appended denotes volume of shares in  ~5 ~10 in all PE 49.8 49.8 82.6 82.6
company name is followed by shares traded, and also the 52 Wk H/L 661/438 662/438 4984/2755 4990/2752
been issued (or extinguished) earnings wherever available. continuing trend. which a derivative expires . significant change occurs in to prices indicate a new high million, L in lakhs & K in cases if not
its BSE group in brackets and price trend with 52-week Q ~4 specified. Mcap 22176 22171 99819 99812
the symbol indicating the highs and lows. or the price has moved. In the futures and options Strike Price: The price at which An unexercised option the day’s closing value or low in the scrip; the letters ‘000’.

BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE BSE NSE
Abbott India ACC Adani Enter« Adani PortsH Adani Power Adani Total Gas« m H m mH H  « « « « m m «
(25734.3) (25730.7) (2252.9) (2251.8) (2970.8) (2971.1) (1168.1) (1166.8) (520.5) (521.5) (1003.7) (1004.1)
O 25501.2 25750.0 2240.2 2246.0 2979.0 2975.6 1171.9 1171.1 518.2 521.5 1005.1 1006.9 O O
25851.3 25875.0 2265.8 2267.1 2985.0 2985.0 1184.3 1184.3 530.0 530.3 1014.5 1014.7
w 25311.4 25301.0 2200.1 2201.1 2888.0 2885.1 1143.0 1143.5 508.0 509.0 973.7 972.5 w w
25613.3 25737.5 2260.4 2260.1 2918.6 2918.9 1154.2 1154.1 524.7 523.6 983.6 983.1
1246 14103 16051 228K 97243 2552K 377K 5919K 90371 1384K 102K 1850K
50.3 50.6 35.3 35.3 136.1 136.1 39.3 39.3 9.8 9.8 - -
W 26350/19900 26382/19900 2416/1594 2418/1592 3538/1017 3538/1017 1230/395 1230/395 589/133 589/132 3998/522 4000/522 W W
M 54428 54692 42448 42442 332715 332755 249314 249292 202354 201930 108171 108121 M M

Axis BankH Bajaj Auto Bajaj FinH Bajaj Finsrv« Balkrishna IH Balram Chini« Bandhan Bank Bank of BarodaH Bata India Berger Paints« Bharat Elctn« Bharat ForgeH Bharti Airtel BHELH Biocon BirlasoftH Bosch BPCL
(1083.4) (1082.3) (7165.4) (7166.0) (7357.1) (7358.9) (1584.9) (1586.2) (2555.9) (2555.9) (385.5) (385.3) (228.4) (228.3) (225.5) (225.5) (1543.9) (1543.4) (595.3) (595.2) (185.7) (185.6) (1205.4) (1206.0) (1085.2) (1085.3) (206.6) (207.1) (279.8) (279.7) (800.9) (798.5) (22901.3) (22919.5) (471.6) (471.6)
O 1064.7 1066.0 7159.9 7148.0 7331.5 7296.0 1583.2 1586.0 2560.7 2555.0 385.5 386.5 O 227.8 227.5 225.2 225.0 1543.9 1543.4 590.2 592.8 185.9 185.7 1200.0 1200.0 O 1078.0 1075.2 209.8 209.5 279.1 280.2 800.8 797.0 22691.0 22711.0 467.0 467.0
1108.0 1108.8 7187.5 7189.3 7346.3 7351.8 1604.0 1605.4 2587.6 2590.9 390.7 391.0 230.8 230.9 230.2 230.2 1543.9 1545.7 593.7 594.0 189.0 189.0 1237.5 1237.5 1095.5 1096.0 212.9 213.2 287.3 287.3 800.8 799.5 22999.5 23033.3 480.8 480.9
w 1064.7 1066.0 7073.0 7071.2 7233.0 7234.0 1558.7 1559.0 2510.6 2510.8 372.5 372.6 w 224.3 224.1 222.0 222.0 1512.9 1513.0 567.0 567.0 180.0 180.0 1186.6 1186.9 w 1075.0 1075.2 196.4 196.3 273.3 273.4 764.5 765.1 22572.0 22555.0 460.8 461.0
1097.5 1097.5 7083.2 7083.6 7265.2 7265.6 1581.1 1581.2 2560.3 2562.5 384.9 384.8 227.7 227.6 227.7 227.7 1517.2 1516.7 576.4 576.4 188.3 188.2 1223.3 1222.9 1086.7 1087.1 212.0 212.2 280.2 280.3 778.2 777.9 22810.3 22813.9 473.2 473.2
271K 11473K 10242 557K 66505 1687K 30033 1133K 6053 237K 370K 3819K 890K 9143K 1222K 16224K 16042 168K 80591 1434K 1879K 24832K 51851 1184K 107K 4407K 3742K 68992K 896K 5338K 144K 2189K 542 21477 2141K 9901K
28.7 28.7 29.3 29.3 39.0 39.0 34.0 34.0 49.3 49.4 16.5 16.5 14.4 14.4 6.9 6.9 67.0 67.0 69.0 69.0 41.6 41.6 47.8 47.8 81.0 81.0 1676.6 1677.8 67.5 67.5 56.7 56.7 31.6 31.6 3.7 3.7
W 1152/814 1152/814 7420/3551 7419/3551 8190/5487 8192/5486 1742/1216 1741/1215 2723/1912 2723/1909 486/350 486/349 W 272/182 272/182 240/147 240/147 1770/1381 1771/1381 679/440 680/439 190/87 190/87 1299/744 1299/744 W 1117/736 1117/736 213/66 213/66 295/192 295/192 806/250 806/250 23569/16366 23569/16366 482/314 483/314
M 338492 338507 200581 200593 448989 449011 252265 252272 49490 49532 7762 7760 M 36680 36664 117752 117752 19498 19493 67185 67185 137607 137570 56955 56936 M 611262 611459 73819 73872 33635 33653 21459 21449 67268 67278 102649 102649

Britannia« BSEH Can Fin HomeH Canara Bank CDSL CGCELH Chambal Fert Chola InvH CiplaH City Union Bk« Coal India Cochin Ship Coforge Colgate« Containr Crp Coromndl Int« Cummins (I)H Dabur India«
(5064.6) (5061.7) (-) (2287.0) (763.7) (764.1) (456.6) (456.8) (-) (1847.5) (316.6) (316.9) (384.8) (385.0) (1287.1) (1288.1) (1293.5) (1294.0) (144.4) (144.3) (379.9) (379.6) (849.1) (849.1) (6632.6) (6627.0) (2498.4) (2499.7) (850.2) (850.2) (1161.9) (1162.1) (2010.6) (2009.9) (549.5) (549.5)
O 5057.0 5061.0 - 2292.0 761.6 760.0 455.2 455.8 - 1845.0 314.1 315.7 O 380.2 380.6 1282.7 1281.9 1293.4 1285.1 144.1 144.2 381.0 380.8 857.5 857.0 O 6535.2 6595.5 2494.1 2491.0 851.5 850.0 1161.9 1157.1 1991.2 2002.0 545.3 546.2
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.l
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 7 <

Ministry of Textiles
Government of lndia
National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM)

lnvitation of application for empanetment of Companies for providing

internship under Technical Textiles
Ministry of Textiles, under National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), is inviting applications for
Empanelment of (l) companies engaged in production, Manufacturing or Assembling of different
application areas of technical textiles and value chain thereof including Specialty fibres and
composites; (2) Companies engaged in Manufacturing of any kind of machinery (preferably
Technical Textile Machinery manufacturers); (3) Textile Research Associations (TRAs)/Centre
of Excellences (CoEs) under Ministry of Textiles; and (4) National & State Industry Associations
& Chambers for providing internship to students in areas of Technical Textiles under the 'Grant
for Intemship Support in Technical Textiles (GIST)' of NTTM, The Government will provide
financial assistance to the empaneled companies for providing stipend to the interning students
who are pursuing under graduate courses in prestigious colleges like IITs, NITs, IISER, NIFT and
FORM B
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT other Premier Public/ Private Institutes in India. The stipend support to be provided is upto INR
(Regulation 12 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) 20,000 per student per month for a maximum period of two months. The General guidelines
Regulations, 2016) are available on the official website of Ministry of Textiles (https: //nttm.texmin.gov.in, under
FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE STAKEHOLDERS OF
M/S NATURE INDIA COMMUNIQUE LIMITED
Documents Tab).
Sl.
No.
PARTICULARS DETAILS Contact: dmd.nttm:textiles@nic.in
CBC 41101/11/0012/2324
1. Name of corporate debtor Nature India Communique Limited
2. Date of incorporation of corporate debtor 30/11/1981
3. Authority under which corporate debtor is Registrar of Companies, NCT Delhi & Haryana
incorporated / registered
4. Corporate Identity No. / Limited Liability L74120DL1981PLC012743
Identification No. of corporate debtor
5. Address of the registered office and R-815 New Rajinder Nagar, North East,
principal office (if any) of corporate debtor New Delhi, Delhi-110060
6. Date of closure of Insolvency Resolution 30/10/2023
Process
7. Liquidation commencement date of corporate 30/10/2023 (Intimation received from erstwhile RP
debtor on 12-01-2024)
8. Name and registration number of the Prabhat Jain
insolvency professional acting as liquidator IBBI/IPA-001/IP-P01980/2020- 2021/13123
9. Address and e-mail of the liquidator, as B-61,Flatted Factory Complex, Jhandewalan,
registered with the Board New Delhi-110055, Mob No.9810290371
Email: prabhat@pdmco.in
10. Address and e-mail to be used for B-61,Flatted Factory Complex, Jhandewalan, New
correspondence with the liquidator Delhi-110055,Mob No.9810290371
Email: prabhat@pdmco.in
11. Last date for submission of claims 18/02/2024
Notice is hereby given that the National Company Law Tribunal, New Delhi, Bench IV has ordered the
commencement of liquidation of the Nature India Communique Limited on 30/10/2023.
The stakeholders of Nature India Communique Limited are hereby called upon to submit their
claims with proof on or before 18/02/2024, to the liquidator at the address mentioned against item
No.10.
The financial creditors shall submit their claims with proof by electronic means only. All other creditors
may submit the claims with the proof in person, by post or by electronic means.
Submission of false or misleading proof of claims shall attract penalties.
Sd/-
Date : 18/01/2024 Name and signature of liquidator :
Place : New Delhi Prabhat Jain

HIMACHAL PRADESH
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
e-Procurement Notice Notice under section 13(2) of the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of
INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) Security Interest Act, 2002 (The Act)
1. The Executive Engineer, HPPWD Kotkhai, Distt. Shimla, H.P. on behalf of Governor of H.P. invites S. Name of Borrower(s) Particulars of Mortgaged Date Of Outstanding Amount
the online bids on percentage rates, in electronic tendering system, in 2 Cover System of the under NO (A) property/ (ies) (B) NPA(C) ( Rs.) (D)
mentioned work from the eligible and approved contractors / firms registered with HPPWD Department. 1 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. FLAT NO. SF-2 (M.I.G.), SECOND 10.12.2023 Rs. 17,04,475.31 (Rupees
HHLDMT00463968 FLOOR, MIDDLE SIDE, PLOT NO. Seventeen Lakh Four
Sr. Name of Work Estimated EMD Cost of Time Eligible 1. AVINASH DUBEY F-16, SLF VED VIHAR, VILLAGE Thousand Four Hundred
No. Cost Tender class of 2. ANJALI YADAV LONI, GHAZIABAD-201102, UTTAR Seventy Five and Paise
contractor PRADESH Thirty One Only) as on
1. C/o Additional Accommodation at Govt. Rs. Rs. Rs. 12 Class B 09.01.2024
Senior Secondary School Devgarh 2,42,50,168/- 4,85,100/- 5000/- Months & Class A 2 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. FLAT NO. FF-4, 1ST FLOOR, PLOT 10.12.2023 Rs. 14,94,055.76 (Rupees
Distt. Shimla, H.P.(SH:- C/o, Building HHLDMT00482120 NO. D-8/12, DLF ANKUR VIHAR, Fourteen Lakh Ninety
Portion, Water Supply and Sanitary 1. CHAMAN ALIAS CHAMAN GHAZIABAD-201102, UTTAR Four Thousand Fifty Five
Installation Septic tank Rain water h DEVI PRADESH and Paise Seventy Six
arvesting system & Site 2. SATVEER SINGH Only) as on 09.01.2024
Development) 3 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. FLAT NO. UGF-1, UPPER GROUND 04.01.2024 Rs. 14,73,952.69 (Rupees
HHLDCP00493191 FLOOR, FRONT RHS, PLOT NO. Fourteen Lakh Seventy
2. C/o School Building at Govt. Senior Rs. Rs. Rs. 12 Class B 1. VIJAY KUMAR A-76, KHASRA NO. 353, RAIL VIHAR, Three Thousand Nine
Secondary School Gumma (Kotkhai) 2,59,75,131/- 5,19,600/- 5000/- Months & Class A 2. URMILA DEVI VILLAGE SADULLABAD, TEHSIL Hundred Fifty Two and
Distt. Shimla, H.P. (SH:- C/o, Building LONI, GHAZIABAD-201102, UTTAR Paise Sixty Nine Only) as
Portion, Water Supply and Sanitary PRADESH on 11.01.2024
Installation Septic Tank Rain Water 4 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. FLAT NO.1807, 18TH FLOOR, BLOCK 11.04.2022 Rs. 39,91,946.62 (Rupees
Harvesting System and Site HHLDCP00205028 - I2, ECO VILLAGE-4, PLOT NO. Thirty Nine Lakh Ninety
Development) 1. POOJA PANDEY GH-01, SECTOR-16B, GAUTAM One Thousand Nine
2. SHOBIT PANDEY ALIAS BUDDHA NAGAR, GREATER Hundred Forty Six and
Tender document and other instruction scan be downloaded or viewed online from the portal SHOBHIT PANDEY NOIDA - 201308, UTTAR PRADESH Paise Sixty Two Only) as
https://hptenders.gov.in by the firm / individual registered on the website which is free of cost. on 19.12.2023
5 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. PROPERTY BEARING NO. I-34, 2ND 04.01.2024 Rs. 89,33,276.87 (Rupees
Dates:- HHLDMT00344246 FLOOR (HALF PORTION), (LEFT Eighty Nine Lakh Thirty
1. GAURVI PRASHANT SIDE), LAJPAT NAGAR-III, NEW Three Thousand Two
1. Date of Online Publication 24-01-2024 1100 HRS
KALYANI DELHI-110024 Hundred Seventy Six and
2. Document Download Start and End Date 24-01-2024 1130 HRS upto 07-02-2024 1730 HRS 2. PRSHANT VIRUPAY KALYANI Paise Eighty Seven Only)
3. Bid Submission Start and End Date 24-01-2024 1130 HRS upto 07-02-2024 1800 HRS 3. GAURAV KAD (GUARANTOR) as on 09.01.2024
4. Physical Submission of EMD and Cost of 08-02-2024 upto 1030 HRS
Tender Document 6 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. FLAT NO. 701, 7TH FLOOR, BLOCK 11.04.2022 Rs. 48,44,287.34 (Rupees
HHLDUB00216794 K1, ECO VILLAGE-4, PLOT NO. Forty Eight Lakh Forty
5. Date of Technical Bid Opening 08-02-2024 1100 HRS
1. SHRIKANT MURLIDHAR GH-01, SECTOR-16B, GREATER Four Thousand Two
6. Evaluation of Technical Bid flowed by
AKOJWAR NOIDA-201308, UTTAR PRADESH Hundred Eighty Seven
Opening of Financial Bid. Date to be announced
(THROUGH POA HOLDER and Paise Thirty Four
ANITA TYAGI) Only) as on 19.12.2023
Executive Engineer,
2. POONAM TYAGI AKOJWAR
(B&R) Division HPPWD, Kotkhai. (THROUGH POA HOLDER
5082/2023-2024 On behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh ANITA TYAGI)
7 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. FLAT NO. FF-4 (L.I.G.), 1ST FLOOR, 05.12.2023 Rs. 10,58,083.87 (Rupees
HHLDMT00320822 LEFT HAND BACK SIDE, PLOT NO. Ten Lakh Fifty Eight
1. YASH GUPTA D-4/4, DLF ANKUR VIHAR, PARGANA Thousand Eighty Three
PROPRIETOR PRACHI & TEHSIL LONI, GHAZIABAD-201102, and Paise Eighty Seven
TRADERS UTTAR PRADESH Only) as on 09.01.2024
2. AJAY GUPTA
3. GAGAN GUPTA
(GUARANTOR)
8 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. FLAT NO. 25, FIRST AND SECOND 04.01.2024 Rs. 36,38,092.05 (Rupees
HLAPEOK00211932 FLOOR (DUPLEX), CATEGORY-II, Thirty Six Lakh Thirty
1. VIVEK SARIN GODAVARI APARTMENTS, Eight Thousand Ninety
(CO-BORROWER, SON AS ALAKNANDA, NEW DELHI-110019 Two and Paise Five Only)
WELL AS LEGAL HEIR OF LATE as on 09.01.2024
AMRIT LAL SARIN)
2. NIMMI SARIN
(CO-BORROWER, WIFE AS
WELL AS LEGAL HEIR OF LATE
AMRIT LAL SARIN)
3. VALYOU HOSPITALITY PVT.
LTD.
4. VINITA SARIN ALIAS VINITA
MALIK (DAUGHTER AS WELL
AS LEGAL HEIR OF LATE
AMRIT LAL SARIN)
9 LOAN ACCOUNT NO. FLAT NO. 25, FIRST AND SECOND 04.01.2024 Rs. 45,06,797.43 (Rupees
HLAPEOK00170415 FLOOR (DUPLEX), CATEGORY-II, Forty Five Lakh Six
1. VIVEK SARIN GODAVARI APARTMENTS, Thousand Seven
(CO-BORROWER, SON AS ALAKNANDA, NEW DELHI-110019 Hundred Ninety Seven
WELL AS LEGAL HEIR OF LATE and Paise Forty Three
AMRIT LAL SARIN) Only) as on 10.01.2024
2. NIMMI SARIN
(CO-BORROWER, WIFE AS
WELL AS LEGAL HEIR OF LATE
AMRIT LAL SARIN)
3. VALYOU HOSPITALITY PVT.
LTD.
4. VINITA SARIN ALIAS VINITA
MALIK (DAUGHTER AS WELL
AS LEGAL HEIR OF LATE
AMRIT LAL SARIN)
That the above named borrower(s) have failed to maintain the financial discipline towards their loan account (s) and as per
books of accounts maintained in the ordinary course of business by the Company, Column D indicates the outstanding amount.
Due to persistent default in repayment of the Loan amount on the part of the Borrower(s) the above said loan account has
been classified by the Company as Non Performing Asset (as on date in Column C) within the guidelines relating to assets
classification issued by Regulating Authority. Consequently, notices under Sec. 13(2) of the Act were also issued to each of
the borrower.
In view of the above, the Company hereby calls upon the above named Borrower(s) to discharge in full his/their liabilities
towards the Company by making the payment of the entire outstanding dues indicated in Column D above including up to
date interest, costs, and charges within 60 days from the date of publication of this notice, failing which, the Company shall be
entitled to take possession of the Mortgaged Property mentioned in Column B above and shall also take such other actions as
is available to the Company in law.
Please note that in terms of provisions of sub-Section (8) of Section 13 of the SARFAESI Act, “A borrower can tender the entire
amount of outstanding dues together with all costs, charges and expenses incurred by the Secured Creditor only till the date of
publication of the notice for sale of the secured asset(s) by public auction, by inviting quotations, tender from public or by private
treaty. Further it may also be noted that in case Borrower fails to redeem the secured asset within aforesaid legally prescribed
time frame, Borrower may not be entitled to redeem the property.”
In terms of provision of sub-Section (13) of Section 13 of the SARFAESI Act, you are hereby prohibited from transferring, either
by way of sale, lease or otherwise (other than in the ordinary course of his business) any of the secured assets referred to in
the notice, without prior written consent of secured creditor. For Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd.
Place: GHAZIABAD/GREATER NOIDA/NEW DELHI Authorized Oicer
8
>.l
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 19 JANUARY 2024 1

Government of Jammu & Kashmir

Directorate of Floriculture (G&P) Department Kashmir
Tel-0194-2474234 Fax -2482032 – email: - kashflori@rediffmail.com
Subject: - Extension No.06.
In view of no response, the last date for submission of bids invited vide this office e-Tender Notice No.27 of 2023 dated.03.10.2023 for Outsourc-
ing of Entry Ticketing System of Hikers Park, Pahalgam is hereby extended as per the details given below: -

1. Period of downloading of bidding document 16.01.2024 from 02:30 PM to 30.01.2024 up to 02:00 PM

2. Bid submission Start Date 16.01.2024 from 03:00 PM
3. Bid submission End date 30.01.2024 up to 02:00 PM
4. Date and time of Opening of Tenders (Online) 02.02.2024 at 02:00 PM
Other terms and conditions shall remain same as laid down in the aforesaid Tender Notice.
Sd/-
Accounts Officer,
(Member Secretary)
No: -DFK/GS-704/4122-24 Dated:-15/01/2024 DIPK 15361

This is to inform that the original allotment letter, possession

letter, handing over to allotee and conveyance deed of the
property F-609, Rail Vihar, Sector-15 Part -2, Gurgaon-122001
have been lost/misplaced. Founder, is requested to return the
same at F-609, Rail Vihar, Sector-15 Part -2, Gurgaon-122001
or inform at 8006538240.
Any dealing in the property, on the basis of lost documents will
be an act of fraud.
For
Madhubala

— TENDER CARE — — Advertorial

STATE BANK OF INDIA,
LOCAL HEAD OFFICE, JAIPUR,
CELEBRATES JOY OF GIVING WEEK
State Bank of India has celebrated Joy of Giving Week
(Danotsav) from 08.01.2024 to 14.01.2024. In this sequence,
staff members of State Bank of India, Local Head Office, Jaipur
participated enthusi-
astically and donated
wearable clothes /
shoes & toys under
the leadership of Chief
General Manager,
Shri Rajesh Kumar
Mishra. 11 Cartons
filled with clothes /
shoes & toys donated by staff members during Joy of Giving week
and one day's ration for food to 500 people were handed over by
the Bank to Kamla Bai Charitable Trust Jaipur by Shri Rajesh
Kumar Mishra for distribution to needy people.
On this occasion, Mr. Mishra said that the bank staff has always
been involved in social concerns and said that there is a feeling
of immense happiness in helping the needy people. This
initiative involved active employee engagement with significant
emotional connect. Deputy General Manager and Circle
Development Officer Shri Kalyan Gajavelli expressed his
gratitude to Kamla Bai Charitable Trust for becoming a partner
of the Bank for this noble cause. Dy. General Managers Smt
Kavita Garg , Shri P.K. Panda, Kamal Kishore Singh, Pranesh
Prashant, Rajesh Kumar and other senior officers of the Bank
also graced the occasion.
BHEL BAGS EPC ORDER FOR SETTING
UP 2400 MW SUPERCRITICAL THERMAL
POWER PROJECT IN ODISHA
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has won a prestigious
order, under International Competitive Bidding (ICB), for setting
up a 3x800 MW pithead, greenfield Thermal Power Project, on
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis, at
Jharsuguda District in Odisha. Significantly, this is the largest
power sector order won by BHEL through competitive bidding.
Reposing confidence in BHEL’s technological and project
execution capabilities, NLC India Limited (NLCIL) has entrust-
ed BHELwith the contract for setting up the 2400 MW coal-based
thermal power project with supercritical parameters.
The comprehensive scope of the EPC contract includes
engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, and commis-
sioning of crucial equipment such as boilers, turbines, genera-
tors, and other auxiliary systems for the 3x800 MW Thermal
Power Project. The scope also includes boilers with biomass
co-firing capability and highly efficient latest pollution control
equipment to control SOx, NOx & particulate matter emissions
for meeting MoEF&CC guidelines. The project will be
commissioned within 64 months. On commissioning, this plant
will contribute in meeting the future base load requirement of
electricity in the country.
The major equipment will be manufactured at BHEL’s Trichy,
Haridwar, Hyderabad, Jhansi, Bengaluru, Ranipet, Bhopal,
Rudrapur, and Varanasi plants, while the company's Power Sec-
tor – Southern Region will be responsible for the civil works, and
erection and commissioning of the equipment.

CANARA BANK,REGIONAL
OFFICE,PANCHKULA CONDUCTS
SIGNING OF MEMORANDUM OF
CUSTOMER MEET
UNDERSTANDING FOR CARBON
NEUTRAL BETWEEN HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
LIMITED (HUDCO) AND NATIONAL
SECURITY GUARD (NSG)

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited

(HUDCO) took a significant step towards sustainable develop-
ment by signing a Mem-
orandum of Under-
standing (MoU) with the
National Security Guard
(NSG). This MoU will
pave way for setting-up
an advanced material
recovery facility under
the broader objective of
developing NSG Mane-
sar campus as carbon neutral. The MoU was executed in the
presence of Shri Sanjay Kulshrestha, CMD, HUDCO, and Shri
M A Ganapathy, IPS, DG, NSG, and under the guidance of Shri
Deepak Kumar Kedia, IPS, IG, NSG. This MoU will mark the
beginning of a CSR project aimed at establishing a Carbon-
Neutral Campus through sustainable waste management at the
NSG Manesar Campus.
The collaboration aims to implement a comprehensive waste
management infrastructure in the NSG Manesar Campus,
aligning with the Swachh Bharat Mission of the Government of
India. Shri M. Nagaraj, Director (Corporate Planning), and Mrs.
Manzil Saini, IPS, DIG (Admin), NSG, executed the MoU in the
presence of the top leadership.
Canara Bank,Regional office,Panchkula conducted a customer
meet where approximately 20 customers were present.Senior
Officials briefed the customers about various products.
QUARTER 3RD PROFIT OF BOM JUMPED
TO 1,036 CRORE
Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) posted a 33.61 per cent jump in net
profit at Rs 1,036 Crore for the December quarter. Total Business
grew by 18.89 per cent to Rs, 4, 34,404 Crore. Total deposit grew
by 17.89 per cent to Rs, 2, 45,734 Crore. The gross advances in-
creased by 20.20 per cent to Rs 1, 88,670. Credit–Deposit (CD
Ratio) improved by 76.78 per cent. Net NPAdeclined to 0.22 per-
cent. Provision Coverage ratio improved to 98.40 per cent. Net in-
terest income of the Bank increased by 24.56 percent to 2,466
Crore. Net Interest Margin (NIM) increased to 3.95 per cent. Re-
turn onAssets (ROA) improved to 1.55 percent. Return on equity
(ROE) improved to 24.51 per cent. CapitalAdequacy Ratio stood
at 16.85 percent with Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 12.92
per cent.