4 COMPANIES | TUESDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2020 1 > Retailers write to govt against SubhashChandra’snetworth sinks amid deluge of debt Amazon, Flipkartfestive sales SURAJEET DAS GUPTA of gold, bank balances, loans, New Delhi, 19 October and advances. However, he has not PEERZADAABRAR of commerce brought press note No 2 He was once in the coveted For- declared any immovable asset Bengaluru, 19 October on December 26, 2018. He claimed that tune list of Indian billionaires, for FY20, unlike FY15 when he the hefty discounts being offered now ranked 27th with a net worth of put in the value of a bungalow he Federation of All Vyapar seem to be a violation of the press note. over $4.7 billion in 2018. in Cuffe Parade (Mumbai) that Mandal (FAIVM), the apex body Another senior functionary of However, 70-year-old media he had bought in 1982 and T of traders and retailers represent- FAIVM, Sushil Poddar, who is also pres- baron Subhash Chandra (pic- developed at ~30 crore. ing 40 million merchants, has requested ident of Confederation of West Bengal tured) — also a Rajya Sabha Essel group promoters had finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Traders Association, felt there is some member — declared a few days 41.6 per cent stake in Zee and commerce minister Piyush Goyal to “wrongdoing” related to credit and deb- ago that the value of his per- Entertainment Enterprises probe some suspected aspects of the fes- it cards, where banks are offering cash- sonal assets had slumped to debt burgeoning to over ~12,000 (ZEEL), and the initial plan was tival sales by Amazon and Flipkart. back of up to 10 per cent to buyers. under ~10 crore for FY20. crore, much of which he had to sell only 50 per cent stake. In a letter jointly written to Sithara- Poddar said he is “surprised” that Chandra, who filed details raised by pledging his shares to However, following the sale man and Goyal, and which has also been banks charge heavily for services from pertaining to his financials to banks and mutual funds in his of mortgaged shares by many addressed to Prime Minister Narendra business customers on one hand, and the Ethics committee of flagship company Zee Entert- lenders, burgeoning debt, and Modi, the FAIVM alleged that three on the other, they are offering cashback Parliament, said the total value ainment Enterprises (ZEEL) the delay in sale of infra proj- issues need to be scrutinised. of up to 10 per cent on transactions done of his assets stood at ~9.85 crore. after many of the groups infra- ects, they changed strategy and They include hefty discounts in the on e-commerce platforms. The media mogul had, in an structure bets did not take off. currently their shareholding nature of predatory pricing; cashback by He said debit and credit cards are for earlier declaration as required Through a major restructur- has reduced to just 4.9 per cent, banks via credit and debit cards, and cent to 10 per cent,” said V K Bansal, deposit of GST into government coffers facilitating an e-transaction and they under the rules for members, ing, the group has been able to even though Puneet Goenka high rate of interest on EMIs (equated national general secretary of the FAIVM. collected by the new 650,000vendors. have certain service charges from ven- submitted that his personal pay off over ~11,500 crore, albeit runs the business. monthly installments) offered to buyers. He said reports indicate that the Since most sales are happening in dors. He suggested that this entire issue assets in FY15 stood at ~39.07 at a high cost. It inked a pact with The FAIVM said it is concerned gross merchandise value (GMV) of e- tier-2 and 3 cities and villages and that of cashback on credit and debit cards crore — or nearly 4x the present In his latest filing, Chandra Oppenheimer to sell its 11 per whether goods and services tax (GST) commerce in this festive season is too on cash on delivery (COD), he said be examined. declared value. made it clear he was listing only cent stake to the US-based fund collected by vendors is being properly expected to be $7 billion (about ~50,000 there is not much awareness on the Another issue raised by the FAIVM is An Essel spokesperson, unencumbered assets. These manager for ~4,224 crore, which deposited with government as per crore). This is an 84 per cent increase GST system. that buyers who purchased on EMI are however, declined to comment. include investments in listed was used to pare debt. In norms. This is because about 6.5 lakh over last year’s festival sales. According to him, the government being charged interest ranging from 20 Chandra has been an inde- and unlisted shares worth ~6.18 November 2019, Chandra new vendors have been added by the e- Bansal cited reports, saying that 50 needs to check whether after collecting per cent to 36 per cent by non-banking pendent sitting member in the crore (mostly on book value), stepped down as chairman of commerce portals. The retailers’ body million new shoppers are expected to GST, the vendors are properly paying the financial companies (NBFCs). Besides, Rajya Sabha since 2016 from with the largest chunk being in Zee after selling off a major por- also said most sales are taking place in be added to the e-shoppers’ list. About government. they are also charging a one-time pro- Haryana. The reduction in val- Essel Infra Projects (~3.40 crore). tion of the promoters’ stake in tier-3 towns and rural areas where aware- 50 per cent of this will join from tier-3 CH Krishna, president, Federation of cessing fee. The FAIVM added there is a ue of Chandra’s assets comes Besides, Chandra has declared the company, and now serves as ness on GST is not adequate. cities and rural areas. All India Distributors Association (FAI- need for intervention by the Reserve close on the heels of the group’s assets that include 96.80 grams chairman emeritus. “The share of e-commerce is likely Jayendra Tanna, national president, DA), said to check the predatory pricing Bank of India (RBI) on such exorbitant to double this festive season from 5 per the FAIVM, said he is sceptical about the by e-commerce companies, the ministry rates of interest. Traditional brands bank on e-com giants to tap buyers Digital media FDI rules put PEERZADAABRAR products ranging from tradi- “This year, some tradition- and reach out to a wider set of understanding of what con- focus back on Chinese apps Bengaluru, 19 October tional silk saris, footwear to al brands are exploring wider consumers across the country,” sumers are seeking. work-from-home furniture. market access with us. We are says P.A. Ravindhiran, general This helped it customise VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO to the government said. provide a level playing field to With coronavirus restrictions The pandemic has accelerated enabling them to expand their manager at The Silks. offerings. For the first time, The Mumbai, 19 October The government has made domestic media companies,” playing a spoilsport for physi- the shift to online retail. The reach and acquire more cus- As a heritage brand operat- Chennai Silks has co-created a it mandatory for news aggrega- said Karan Taurani, vice-presi- cal retail, an increasing number huge growth of e-commerce is tomers.” ing in the country for range of affordable silk sarees The foreign direct investment tors and new agencies, which dent, research, Elara Capital. of regional brands are banking driven by consumers in tier-2 For instance, sari These firms are over five decades, that consumers can purchase (FDI) rules announced recently supply information to digital INS’ letter had highlighted on e-commerce platforms such and tier 3 towns. These brands buying has tradition- discovering new is conveniently. will help the government to media firms and companies the same, saying that Chinese as Flipkart and Amazon to are also discovering new fron- ally been an in-store frontiers and one of the largest Leveraging its presence of monitor foreign firms, espe- uploading news and current and foreign-owned news aggre- reach customers on a massive tiers and consumers by creat- experience. But the consumers with regionally-renowned over 700 stores, Kolkata-based cially, Chinese ones, who’ve affairs on websites, apps and gators had spent $200 million in scale during the festive season. ing special product lines cater- pandemic is leading the help of brands operating in footwear retail player Khadim’s been investing in India’s digital other online platforms, to com- promoting its apps in India over Walmart-owned Flipkart is ing to the pan-Indian market. The Chennai Silks to Flipkart, Amazon . The is closely working with e-com- media market, experts said. ply with the 26 per cent foreign the past few years. hosting its biggest six-day “Enabling brands to break reach out to cus- partnership with merce partners to service News aggregator apps such investment cap. "Additionally, they accumu- flagship festive sale ‘Big geographical barriers and ven- tomers in innovative ways. Flipkart has provided the busi- online orders from its stores. as Dailyhunt and InShorts have Experts said security clear- late Indian consumer data and Billion Days’ (BBD) and its ture into the hinterland is an “At a time when people ness an opportunity to build a This is ensuring faster nearly 80 per cent foreign own- ance to the CEO and foreign attempt to monetise it and rival Amazon is conducting a important focus this year,” says could not directly walk into our relationship with over 250 mil- delivery and improving the ership and do not adhere to the personnel of a digital media potentially share it with foreign month-long ‘Great Indian Nandita Sinha, vice-president, stores, our collaboration with lion customers online. customer experience. Khadim’s FDI norms for digital news firm will put pressure on for- partners,” the body said. A lev- Festival’ (GIF). events, engagement and mer- Flipkart has enabled us to Flipkart has also provided has been operating in the coun- media ownership, a letter by the eign firms to fall in line with el-playing therefore is a must, These brands are selling chandising at Flipkart. maintain business continuity The Chennai Silks with a deep try for over 35 years. Indian Newspaper Society (INS) local regulations. “The aim is to argue some media experts.

—TENDER CARE — —Advertorial

Regd.Office: BombayHouse,24, Homi Mody Street,Fort, Mumbai -400 001 Tel: +91 22 6665 8282 Website: www.tatachemicals.com “BANK OF BARODA INDIAN BANK SIGNS MOU WITH CIN:L24239MH1939PLC002893 Email: [email protected] INTEGRATES BANKING SYSTEM MOHUAAND SIDBI NOTICE WITH RURALECONOMY” NOTICE is herebygiven pursuanttoRegulation 29(1)(a) read with ndianBank signed Memorandum of Understanding with Min- Regulation 47(1)(a) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure ank of Baroda cele- istry of Housing and UrbanAffairs, GoI and Small Industries Requirements) Regulations,2015 thatameeting of the BoardofDirectors of brated the “Baroda IDevelopment Bank of India for payment of subsidy and cash Tata Chemicals Limited is scheduled to be held on Thursday, BKisan Diwas” to com- incentives to street vendors under PM SVANidhi Scheme. The October29, 2020 to inter-alia, consider and approvethe Audited Standalone and Unaudited ConsolidatedFinancial Results forthe second memorate “BarodaKisan MoU was signed at New Delhi quarterand half year ended September 30, 2020. Pakhwada” organized from by Sanjay Kumar,Joint Secre- Theinformation contained in this Noticeisavailable on the websiteofthe 1st October to 15th October tary (NULM), MoHUA, Vikas Ku- Companyatwww.tatachemicals.com and also on the websiteofthe Stock 2020 with an aim to have mar,Field GM, New Delhi, Indi- Exchanges viz. BSE Limited at www.bseindia.com and the National Stock mass financial outreachto an Bankand Subodh Kumar, Exchange of India Limited at www.nseindia.com. Farmers,Agri &Allied sectors acrossIndia. SSelvaraj CGM, GM,SIDBI in the presence of ForTataChemicals Limited NABARD, Chennai and R. Sivalingam, Director of Agriculture Durga Shanker Mishra, Secre- Sd/- Department, were the Chief guests. On this occa- tary (MoHUA) andDebashish Place: Mumbai Rajiv Chandan sion, R. Mohan, Zonal Head, BoB, Chennai Zone extendedap- Panda,Secretary Financial Services, MoF.Padmaja Chunduru, Date:October 19, 2020 General Counsel &CompanySecretary plaudstoFarmers who are the backbone of our economy and MD &CEO, MKBhattacharya, KRamachandran, Executive Di- congratulated them for contributing commendably to the eco- rectors, Imran Amin Siddiqui,General Manager and otherEx- nomic growth despite the ongoing Pandemic. ecutives of Indian bank participated through virtual mode from Chennai. INDIAN BANK ADMINISTERS COVID –19PLEDGE MSME CREDIT CAMPOFINDIAN BANK ,HYDERABAD ZONE ndian Bank administered COVID –19Pledge at Cor- etailand MSME Iporate Office, Chennai. As Credit Campaign part of the campaign, COVID- Rwas organized 19 pledgewas administered by IndianBank ,Hyder- by IndianBank MD &CEO, abad Zone in Begumpet Padmaja Chunduru and Exec- Branch on 16th Oct utive Directors, M.KBhattacharya,VVShenoy and KRa- 2020.The occasion was machandran on 17.10.2020. All Executives and staffmem- graced by Bank’s Field bers at Corporate Office, Chennai took the pledge. General Manager A.K. Mohapatra ,Zonal ManagerArun Kumar Mohapatra and RM- SIB ANNOUNCES Q2 FY 21 NET PC Head SLNPrasad.The Camp has distributed50Nos sanc- tionsunder retail Loans for Rs 15.65 Crores that includes Hous- PROFIT AT RS.65.09 CRORE ing Loan ,Vehicle and Education Loans and 21 Nos of MSME outhIndianBankhasannouncedtheQ2resultswithanet prof- loans amounting to Rs 17.60 Crores.The Credit camp was cel- it of Rs. 65.09 Crore as against Rs. 84.48 Crore during the cor- ebrated with lotsofenthusiasm and fervour with the presence Sresp of our beloved customers and all the Branch Manager of Indi- onding period of the previous year.Operating profit for the second quarter has grown from Rs. 411.45 Crore to Rs. 413.97 Crore an Bank. Sametype of campswill be emulated in other branch- (0.61%) Y-o-Y.Core Depositsupby9%Y-o-Y.Current Depositsupby es also to boost Bank’sCredit portfolio. 12%Y-o-Y.SavingsDepositsupby11%Y-o-Y.CASAupby11%Y-o-Y. NRI Depositsupby12% Y-o-Y.Advances up by 2% Y-o-Y.Business INDIAN BANK CONDUCTS PAN- Segment Loans up by 12% Y-o-Y.Personal SegmentLoans up by 4% INDIA CAMPAIGNFOR HOME Y-o-Y.GrossNPAreducedto4.87%ason30.09.2020from4.92%ason LOANS AND VEHICLE LOANS 30.09.2019andNetNPAto2.59%ason30.09.2020from3.48%ason 30.09.2019.ProvisionCoverageRatioimprovedmarkedlyfrom48.07% ndian Bank has to 65.21% on Y-o-Y basis. The net interest income improved from Rs. launched Festival Bo- Inanza for Home Loans 584.30CroretoRs.663.11Croreduringthequarterregisteringagrowth of 13% Y-o-Y.Net Interest Margin improved from 2.61% to 2.78% Y-o- and Vehicle Loansupto Y. The Gross NPAofthe Bank stoodwell contained at 4.87% (vis-a-vis 31st January 2021 with at- 4.92% last year) and Net NPAimproved to 2.59% as against 3.48% a tractive rate of interest and yearago.MuraliRamakrishnan,whohasrecentlytakenchargeasMD concessions in processing &CEO of the Bank, while announcing the resultsmentioned that de- charges and concession in Interest ratefor women borrowers. spite the COVID Pandemic scenario in the country,Bank could regis- To give athrust to retail loans during the upcoming festival sea- terareasonablegrowthintheBusinessandPersonalSegmentLoans son, Bank is conducting Home Loan and Vehicle Loan Cam- during the period.As part of the business strategy to reduce the expo- paigns across the country.Indian BankAsanzol, Bhubanesh- sureinthe CorporateAdvances, Bank has brought down the share of war,Chandigarh, Delhi Central,Gaya, Guwahati, Jabalpur, corporateadvancesfrom30.83%asonSeptember30,2019to25.10% Kolkata–I,Kolkata–II, Raipur,Siliguri,Amaravati, Bengalu- asonSeptember30,2020.Headdedthatthegrowthinthedesired port- ru, Chennai North, Chennai South, Salem, Tiruvannamalai, foliosandthereductionintheCorporateexposurehasfurther strength- and Zones conducted Home Loan and Ve- ened Bank’sBalance sheet. Business Segment Loans has grown at hicle LoanCampaigns. Zonal Manager,Jabalpur,V.R.Rao dis- 12%Y-o-Y.Personal Segment Loansgrew by 4%Y-o-Y. tributing the Home Loan sanction ticket to the customer.