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Small & Mid Cap Visual is for illustration purpose only. purpose illustration for is Visual st February'21 In v est ors underst will beatHighrisk and thattheirprincipal OPINION, P6 MARKETS, P11 INTERNATIONAL, P8 MADAN SABNAVIS S SUBRAMANIAN NORMS COMPLIANCE AMERICAN DREAM Better to have moderate India seeing K-shaped Sebi extends Biden to propose recovery, with the formal expectations from the sector doing well while relaxations given 8-year citizenship upcoming Budget the informal one lags for rights issues path for immigrants

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IN THE NEWS DATA PRIVACY ● IN THE OFFING SBI, ICICI Bank, Govt plans HDFC Bank still Withdraw new policy: changes to 'too big to fail': RBI RBI ON Tuesday said state- norms on FDI owned SBI, along with private sector lenders ICICI Centre to WhatsApp in e-comm Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be Domestic ADITYAKALRA Systemically Important Banks Says new policy raises grave ‘Sanctity of personal & KRISHNA N DAS (D-SIBs) or institutions which concerns over implications for New , January 19 are 'too big to fail',reports communications PTI. SIBs are subjected to choice & autonomy of Indians THEGOVERNMENTISconsid- higher levels of supervision must be maintained’ ering revising its foreign so as to prevent disruption in KIRAN RATHEE FE BUREAU investment rules for e-com- financial services in the event , January 19 New Delhi, January 19 merce,threesourcesandagov- of any failure. ernment spokesperson told TERMING ITS NEW privacy policy unilateral, EXPRESSING CONCERN overWhatsApp’s new Reuters, a move that could Govt to sell entire unfair and unacceptable, the ministry of privacy policy on sharing commercial user data compel players, including electronics and information technology with parent Facebook,communications and IT Amazon,to restructure their YOUNG GUNS CONQUER GABBA 26.12% stake in (MeitY) on Tuesday asked WhatsApp to ministerRaviShankarPrasadonTuesdaycategor- tieswith some majorsellers. Man of the Match Rishabh Pant carries the Border-GavaskarTrophy as he celebrates VSNLthis fiscal withdraw it and reconsider its approach to icallysaidsanctityandprivilegeofpersonalcom- The government discus- with teammates after a historicTest series win againstAustralia at the Gabba, Brisbane information privacy, municationsneedto sions coincide with a growing THE GOVERNMENT will sell Centre’s freedom of choice and bemaintained. number of complaints from its entire 26.12% stake in instructions datasecurity. Be it WhatsApp, Responding to bricks-and-mortar retailers, Tata Communications (TCL), toWhatsApp In a strongly-worded be it Facebook, be aquestionbyIndian which have for years accused GROWTH CAPITAL erstwhile VSNL, through letter to CEO Will Cath- it any digital plat- Express Group’s Amazon and Walmart-con- Provide details offer for sale and strategic ofservices in cart, the ministry has form, you are free executive director trolled Flipkart of creating sale route in the current India, categories of also sought a detailed to do business in AnantGoenkaatthe complex structures to bypass Dunzo raises $40 m from fiscal, reports PTI. The data collected and information about its India but do it 15th India Digital rules, allegations the US com- transaction is to be permissions sought data sharing protocols without impinging Summit organised panies deny. completed by March 20, and business practices. byIAMAI,he said all Indiaonlyallowsforeigne- 2021, DIPAM said. Explain ifconducting MeitY has also raised upon the rights digital firms are free commerce players to operate Google, Lightbox & others profiling ofIndian objections to the differ- of Indians. to operate in India as a marketplace to connect users, explain E-comm exports: ential treatment — butwithoutimping- buyers and sellers.It prohibits FE BUREAU difference RAVI ■ Dunzo offers a full-stack of Agri-tech firm accorded by WhatsApp ing upon the rights themfromholdinginventories New Delhi, January 19 between SHANKAR services across commerce, Amazon partners toitsusersinIndiacom- PRASAD, ofIndians.“Thisisan of goods and directly selling DeHaat gets privacy policy in India IT MINISTER courier and commute Startup India and other countries paredwith those in the issuethatmydepart- them on theirplatforms. ONLINE DELIVERY START-UP European Union. ment is working Amazon and Walmart’s Dunzo on Tuesday said it has ■The company Prosus backing AMAZON ON Tuesday said it WhatsApp’s new on...it will not be FlipkartwerelasthitinDecem- raised a fresh $40 million from said it is now has partnered Startup India, privacy policy was to be implemented from properformetomakecomments,excepttoflagone ber 2018 by investment rule newand existing investors.The about $100-m PROSUS NV IS investing in Sequoia Capital India and February 8 but has been put on hold till thingveryclearly,be itWhatsApp,be it Facebook, changes that barred foreign e- investment, part of the com- annualised agritech companyDeHaat in a FiresideVentures to launch May 15 due to user backlash; the policy aims beitanydigitalplatform,youarefreetodobusiness commerce players from offer- pany’s ongoing Series E finan- GMVbusiness bet on India’s $350-billion an accelerator programme to to share commercial user data with in India but do it without impinging upon the ing products from sellers in cial round, saw participation farming industry, reports ■ So far, the company has help early-stage start-ups parent Facebook. rightsofIndianswhooperatehere,”hesaid. whichtheyhaveanequitystake. from Google, Lightbox, Evol- Bloomberg. The Dutch e- take their brands to global raised nearly $135 million vence, Hana Financial Invest- in funding commerce group with assets audiences, reports PTI. Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 12 ment, LGT Lightstone Aspada all round the globe led a Series andAlteria,amongothers. C funding round of $30 mil- ● Thefreshcapitalwillbeused markets,thefirmsaid. lion that DeHaat will use to CASH TRANSFER FIN-TECH TALK to expand in Mumbai,Chennai hire more staff,develop new Special Features and Pune, its fastest growing Continued on Page 12 technology and improve its DBTscheme supply chain, the head of Pro- Three behavioural biases to Payments space to sus Ventures India,Ashutosh for fertiliser Salesforce invests in Darwinbox Sharma,said in an interview. The DeHaat platform uses avoid when investing SALESFORCE.COM IS mak- Bloomberg. The US giant’s artificial intelligence to help Portfolio performance tends to subsidy may mature: Sharma ing its first investment in an venturearmisleadinga$15- around 350,000 farmers be poorwhen a majority ofthe Indian company,a developer million financing round for source raw materials, find buy and sell decisions are be rolled FE BUREAU We at Paytm believe that of human resources software Darwinbox, its first in India advisory and credit services ` Hold suboptimal because of New Delhi, January 19 we would stand for an that serves several of Asia’s anditsonlyinvestmentinAsia and sell theircrops. irrational investing behaviour. largest tech start-ups,reports outsideofJapan. ■ Page 4 52-Week Low Buy out in FY22 opportunity that India Avoid such biaseswhen PAYTMFOUNDER&CEOVijay Report on Page 4 52-Week High creates. A company, a set Exit investing to prevent losses PRASANTASAHU Shekhar Sharma on Tuesday ■ Personal Finance, P9 New Delhi, January 19 said competition in the pay- of people that India mentsspacewillbecomemore creates that can go out ENDINGYEARSOF dither- mature.“Inthenexttwoyears, there and rule the world. Hope to see reforms that drive ing, the Centre may finally every payments business in We want to be the one shift to the direct benefit this country will talk sustain- that can take India’s flag transfer (DBT) for delivering ability, profitability,”Sharma to places and consumption: Panasonic fertiliser subsidy to farmers said in a conversation with Manish Sharma, president & effective FY22. Anant Goenka, executive say that here is CEO,Panasonic India & South The department of fer- director,The Indian Express,at an Indian Asia, says Budget 2021 should tilisers and the ministry of the India Digital Summit. company. offer manufacturers incentives agriculture are working out Commenting on the com- —VIJAY SHEKHAR to make energy-efficient the details of the DBT petitive scenario in payments, SHARMA, products alongwith reforms scheme, which may be Sharma observed that much PAYTM FOUNDER to improve consumer demand announced in the Budget for like in other industries there & CEO ■ eFE, P9 FY22,sources toldFE. arealwaysseveralstartersafter According to an estimate which there will be a period of say that two years ahead our by the fertiliser department, rationalisation. “When we challengers will be different on an average, a lump sum of startedasapaymentsbusiness, fromthosetoday,”hesaid. `5,000-6,000 is required to ourchallengersweredifferent, QuickPicks be transferred to each farmer todaytheydon’texist.AndIcan Continued on Page 2 annually as fertiliser subsidy. India starts supplying vaccines This would be in addition to income support of `6,000 EMI bounces ease a little in December to neighbouring countries today annuallybeing given to farm- INDIAWILL start the supply of Covid-19 vaccines ers under PM-KISAN. THE FAILURE rates of auto- tion of India (NPCI), reports under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, The Centre’s annual sub- debit transactions on the Shritama Bose in Mumbai. Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles sidy on fertilisers is a little NationalAutomatedClearing The share of unsuccessful from Wednesday, reports fe Bureau in New over`70,000 crore.Over14.6 House (NACH) platform, auto-debit requests in vol- Delhi. This is in keeping with India’s stated commitment to crore farmers with average many of which are EMI ume terms stood at 38.09% use indigenous vaccine production and delivery capacity to farm size of 1.08 hectare are requests,easedinDecember, in December against 40.5% help humanity fight the Covid pandemic. In respect of Sri the intended beneficiaries. showed data released by the inNovember. Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius, confirmation of their National Payments Corpora- ■ Report on Page 10 necessary regulatory clearances is awaited. PAGE 3 Continued on Page 2 SC upholds 10% threshold for CAUTION homebuyers to move NCLT THE SUPREME Court onTuesday upheld the People with fever, pregnant Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2020, that mandates a threshold of at least 10% of homebuyers in a project or 100 of the total women should avoid Covaxin allottees for initiating insolvency proceedings against the real estate developer, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi.This means PRESS TRUST OF INDIA a single homebuyer is barred from approaching the National Hyderabad, January 19 Serum: Don’t take Company LawTribunal (NCLT) under Section 7 of the IBC to shots if allergic initiate insolvency proceedings against the builder. PAGE 2 BHARAT BIOTECH'S FACT sheet on Covid-19 vaccine to ingredients Covaxin has advised pregnant PEOPLESEVERELYallergic PMC Bank admin sets Feb 1 or breastfeeding women, to any ingredient of Cov- besides peoplewith high fever ishield are advised not to deadline for final rescue plans or bleeding disorders, not to take it,Serum Institute of THEADMINISTRATOR for Punjab & take the antidote. India said, reports PTI. Co-operative (PMC) Bank has set February 1 as the The vaccine maker in the According to the fact sheet deadline for prospective investors to submit final fact sheet on Covaxin, forthevaccine recipient by offers for the reconstruction of the bank, reports posted in its website,said the receivingthevaccinedoesnot Serum,one should not get Shritama Bose in Mumbai.The due diligence process is curr- clinical efficacyof thevaccine mean other precautions theCovishieldvaccineifthe ently being carried out by three interested parties, admini- is yet to be established and related to Covid-19 need not personhadasevereallergic stratorAK Dixit told depositors in a letter.The bank had is being studied in Phase 3 be followed. reaction after a previous issued an EoI on November 3, 2020, inviting investors for a clinical trial and hence it is doseofthisvaccine.■ P4 revival or reconstruction of PMC Bank. PAGE 10 important to appreciate that Continued on Page 12

Pune 2 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM INDIA GROWTH

Amitabh Kant, Niti Aayog CEO

If India has to grow at 9-10% over a ❝three-decade period, it must be open,❝ it must be an integral part of the global economy...It must be an integral part EconomyWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 of the global supply chain. Quick ● FIFTH TOT BUNDLE NHAI sets ambitious SC upholds threshold View At least 6 firms submit highway project for homebuyers bids for NHAI stretch awards target for Q4 to move NCLT SURYASARATHI RAY ing),weexpectmajortractionin New Delhi, January 19 awardingduringQ4FY21.” FE BUREAU floorprice forhighwaybundles Ofcourse,alltenderpipeline New Delhi, January 19 Canadian investor undertheTOTmodelatthetime THE NATIONAL HIGHWAYS does not turn into actual CDPQ, Singapore’s of inviting bids; itwould rather Authority of India (NHAI) has awards,but Deora is optimistic THE SUPREME COURT on leaveitforthepotentialbidders set the target to match the that a significant part of the Tuesdayupheld the Insolvency MP gets govt Cube Highways to discover the price.The floor highway project awards in the 3,500-km pipeline might and BankruptcyCode (Amend- among bidders price or the initial estimated first nine months of the cur- translateintoactualawards. ment)Act,2020,thatmandates nod to raise concession value (IECV) will be rent fiscal in the January- Talking to FE,NHAI’s chair- a threshold of at least 10% of `1,423 cr more disclosed only“after receipt of March quarter.The authority man had,in last month,said of homebuyersinaprojector100 SURYASARATHI RAY authoritysaid. technical bids and afterdeclar- awarded 2,423 km the total projects around of the total allottees forinitiat- THEFINANCEMINISTRY New Delhi, January 19 UndertheTOTmodel,oper- ing the selected bidder”.The national highways till 60% were awarded ing insolvency proceedings onTuesdaysaidMadhya ational highway projects are highestbidderwilltakethebun- Decemberof the cur- through the hybrid againsttherealestatedeveloper. Pradeshhasbeenpermit- AT LEAST HALF a dozen firms, given on a long-term lease (15- dleonalong-termlease. rent fiscal. In the annuitymodel(HAM) This means that a single tained by a single applicant,is tedtoraiseadditional including Canadian institu- 30years)toprivateentitiesona NHAI’s first public-funded whole of 2019-20 and the remaining home-buyer is barred from perceivedasaveritablethreatto `1,423croreviamarket tionalinvestorCDPQandSinga- long-term concession basis highwayassetmonetisationpro- fiscal, NHAI had throughtheengineer- approachingtheNationalCom- thefulfillmentoftheobjectives borrowingafterthestate pore-based Cube Highways, against an upfront payment. grammethroughtheTOTmodel awarded 3,211 km ing procurement and panyLawTribunal(NCLT)under oftheCode.Thecontinuanceof implementedpowersector have submitted bids to take on During the concession period, fetched the authority `9,681 national highways, up construction(EPC)model, Section 7 of the IBC to initiate the applications could not, reforms.ItsaidMPhasstar- the long-term lease around the TOT operator collects user crore — 1.5 times higher than from 2,222 km in 2018-19. inwhichthegovernmentbears insolvencyproceedingsagainst therefore,beinpublicinterest.It tedDBTofpowersubsidyto 160-km highwaystretch offer- fee on the stretches following the base price set byit in 2018. A senior NHAI official said allexpenses.Deorasaidtheten- the real estate developer/ is,asif,theLegislatureintended farmersinonedistrictwith edbytheNHAIagainstupfront theprescribedratesbytheNHAI Noneofthebiddersmatchedup totalhighwayprojectawardsin der pipeline is dominated by builder.Section 3 also allows toapplyitsbrakesintheformof effectfromDecember paymentthroughthetoll-oper- torecouptheirinvestments;but the floor price of `5,632 for thecurrentfiscalcouldbeinthe HAM with a 55% share fol- home-buyerstoseektheCorpo- asking the applicants to obtain 2020.Ithassuccessfully ate-transfer(TOT)route. the operatorhas to operate and 586.55-kmlengthinthesecond range of 4,800-5,200 km, lowedby38%throughtheEPC rate Insolvency Resolution the consensus of a minimum rolledoutoneofthestipu- Among the domestic firms maintainthestretches. bundle,forcing NHAI to aban- higherthanthe4,500-kmorig- model. Two projects are Process (CIRP) against builder numberofsimilarstakeholders, latedpowersectorreforms. whichhavesubmittedtechnical Under the fifth round of don the plan. Cube Highways naltargettheauthorityhadset plannedtobeawardedthrough only when 100 allottees or at beforetheapplicationscouldbe aswell as financial bids are IRB TOT,NHAIisofferinga20-year quoted just a little above the foritselfforthecurrentfiscal. therevampedBOT-Tollmodel. least 10% of allottees make a furtherprocessed.” JanDhanaccounts Infrastructure,Adani,Prakash lease period for two bundles IECV to emerge as the highest AlokDeora,leadanalyst,Yes SourcessaidtillDecember,a jointapplicationtoNCLT. InitsAugust2019order,the cross41-crmark: Asphalting & Toll Highways with a total length of 159.5 bidderforthe third bundle.The Securities, said, “The current total of 7,203 km length has Prior to the move,a home- SC had upheld the government (PATH)andtheNagpur-basedD km.The last date for submis- fourthbundlewasannulled. hugetenderpipelineofaround been awarded by all agencies buyer—justlikeanyfinancialor decision to grant home-buyers Financeministry P Jain.While the technical bids sion of the bids for both the The proceeds from asset `72,000 crore indicates thatincludeNHAI,NHIDCLand operationalcreditor—couldfile thestatusoffinancialcreditors. THEFINANCEMINISTRY were opened on Tuesday, the bundleswas January18. monetisation are used to repay towardsstrongawardinglikely the MoRTH.Only 3,434 km of aninsolvencycaseagainsttheir Subsequently,the government onTuesdaysaidthatmore financialbodsofthetechnically- Justafewdaysaheadofinvit- NHAI’sdebt,whichmountedto during the Q4FY21.Also,con- highway project was awarded realty developer if the default introduced the IBC (Amend- than41crorepeoplebene- qualifiedbidderswillbeopened ingbidsforthefifthbundle,the `2.72 lakh crore,as on Novem- sideringNHAI’sawardingtrend during the April-December amount involved is `1 lakh or ment)Act,2020,thatmandated fitedfromthePradhan in a fortnight, a source in the NHAI decided not to disclose ber,andtodevelophighways. (Q4 witnesses massive award- periodofthelastfiscal. more. However, this rule was a threshold of at least 10% of MantriJanDhanYojana,a tweakedwiththeaimtoprevent home-buyersinaprojector100 flagshipschemeofthe a fewpotentiallyunscrupulous of the total allottees for initiat- governmenttopromote elements within the home- ing insolvency proceedings financialinclusion.Ason RE projects:Transmission Farm laws: SC panel to submit buyercommunityfromabusing againsttherealestatedeveloper. January6,thetotalnumber the spirit of the IBC by unset- This was done to prevent real ofJanDhanaccountsstood charge waiver extended tling real estate companies at estate projects from being at41.6crore. ‘unbiased’report in 2 months the behest of or in connivance stalled by few disgruntled FE BUREAU commissioning on or before with rival firms. However, home-buyers/investors. Start-up council: New Delhi, January 19 June30,2023,isgrantedexten- FE BUREAU biggestchallengeistoconvince won’t,Ghanwat said the farm home-buyers continue to be Legalexpertssaidthatbring- 28 non-official sion of time from the commis- New Delhi, January 19 the agitating farmers to come sector reforms are much- treatedasfinancialcreditors. ing such a threshold just for IN ABID to provide relief to sioning on account of force and speak with us.We will try neededandnopoliticalpartyin ABenchledbyjusticeRohin- home-buyers was arbitrary members named renewablepowerproducersfac- majeureorfordelayonthepart MEMBERS OF THE Supreme our level best and we will defi- the next 50 years will ever tonNarimandismissedaround while no such thing exist for THEGOVERNMENTON ing delays in project commis- of the transmission providerin Court-appointed panel to nitelywanttospeakwiththem.” attempt them again if these 40petitionsfiledbyhome-buy- other financial or operational Tuesdaynominated28 sioning due to reasons beyond providing the transmission resolve the farmers' protest Notedagricultureeconomist laws are repealed.He also said ers and others challenging the creditors. “SC has upheld the non-officialmembers, their control,the government evenafterhavingtakenthereq- againstthreefarmlawsmeton Ashok Gulati, who is also a that the laws implemented in rule,sayingthepetitionershave amendment, however, has includingByju’sfounder has allowed solar and wind- uisite steps in time; or on Tuesdayandchalkedoutaroad member of the panel,said the thelast70yearswerenotinthe failed to prove arbitrariness in failedtoconsiderseveralcrucial andCEOByjuRaveendran based generation projects to accountofdelaysonthepartof map for next two months for best views and the collective interest of farmers and about the provision of the threshold nuanceswithrespecttoprivate andKrisGopalakrishnan avail transmission charge anygovernmentagency,andthe submitting an “unbiased” wisdom of the commit- 4.5 lakh farmers have that was introduced by the lenders.Homeallotteesandpri- fromAxilorVenturesonthe waiverseveniftheyfailtosetup power plant is commissioned reportwithin deadline. tee on the farm laws, committedsuicide. 2020amendment. vate lenders have been painted NationalStartupAdvisory their plants within June 30, beforetheextendeddate;itwill “Our views may be differ- and also views of Briefing media “A vested right under a with the same brush,whereas Council.Thecouncilwasset 2023—thedeadlinesetforpro- get benefit of waiver of inter- ent.When a responsibility like farmers and other after the panel's statute can be taken away by a lenderswerealwaystheoriginal uplastyeartoadvisethe jectstoreceivethebenefit. state transmission charges on this is given by the court, we stakeholders, first meeting, retrospective law.Aright given intendedbeneficiaryofIBC.The Centreonmeasuresneeded The move is seen to benefit the transmission of electricity have to work in an unbiased would be collated Ghanwatsaidthe under a statute can be taken onlyrelief forpending applica- tobuildastrongecosystem about 6,000 MW of solar pro- generatedbythepowerplant”. and transparent way. In the andputinaproper first round of awaybyanotherstatute.Wecan- tions that are deficient,is that fornurturinginnovation jects that are currently facing Transmission charges add report, we cannot give our framework and consultationswith not ignore the fact that there theywill be permitted to with- andstartupsinthecountry. delays in construction due to about `0.20–0.50 per unit to views and that is very clear,” communicated to farmers and other wasconsiderablepublicinterest draw and refile before NCLT issues such as land availability, everyunitofthermalpower.The said PK Joshi,one of the mem- theSupremeCourt. stakeholders has been behind such a law. The sheer without having to repay court Draftschemefor inadequatetransmissioncapac- policyofwaivingthischargefor bers of the committee. Under attack from scheduled for Thursday. numbers,inwhichapplications fees.However,onlytwomonths’ jobsto25youthin ity and supply disruptions due renewables was designed to Joshi, a former south Asia protesting unions for their Sources, however, said the proliferated,combinedwiththe time has been granted to meet to Covid.At present,as much as make solar and wind more head of International Food “pro-government” public panel will meet onWednesday resultsitcouldproduce,cannot the threshold. This paves the everytribalvillage 13,816 MW solar plants are attractiveforcash-strappeddis- Policy Research Institute stand on three contentious too.It could not be ascertained bebrushedasideasanirrational way for corporate debtors to UNION MINISTERNITIN beingconstructedthroughauc- coms.As FE recently reported, (IFPRI), also said the commit- farm laws,the panel members if panel members would also orcapriciousaspecttohavebeen retaincontroloftheirotherwise Gadkari onTuesdayasked tionsconductedbytheCentre. solar projects with combined tee is hopeful of completing are believed to have discussed join the talks between govern- guided by in making the law. insolvent enterprise at the cost the tribal affairs ministry Through its latest order capacityof18,000MWarefac- thereportwithintwomonths, howtoreachouttotheprotest- mentandunionsscheduledfor Beinganeconomicmeasure,the ofhelplessindividuals,advocate to coordinatewith the issued on Tuesday, the Union ing grim prospects with the as directed bythe SC. ing farmers, including option Wednesday. wider latitude available to the SrijanSinhatoldFE. MSME ministryand come power ministry said that “any state-run discoms developing Acknowledging the opposi- ofvisiting the protest sites. Last week,one of the mem- Law Giver,cannot be lost sight “We aim to file a review in upwith a scheme to renewable powerprojectwhich coldfeetonbuyingpowerfrom tion to the committee by As farmer unions want bers of the panel, Bhupinder of,”theapexcourtsaid. order to seek certain clarifica- provide employment to is eligible for waiver of inter- them, as tariffs under subse- protesting farmer unions, complete withdrawal of the SinghMann,recusedhimselfof Accordingtotopcourt,“from tions as well as modifications,” 25 people in everytribal state transmission charges and quentauctionshavefallentothe another member and farmer three laws,which the govern- thepanelafterhisorganisation the standpoint of public inter- Sinha,whoappearedforAssoci- village in India. is having its scheduled date of recordlowof`1.99/unit. leaderAnil Ghanwat said:“The ment has made it clear that it removedhimaspresident. est, every application main- ationofKarvyInvestors,said.

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Data privacy: examining the Personal Data India’s appetite for 5G will be tions,all players he said would ProtectionBillandmakingsuch overpowering as a good com- worry about whether they can Withdraw new a momentous change for DBT scheme for fertiliser subsidy may be rolled out in FY22 mercialenterprise,”hesaid. monetisethecustomerbase. Indian users at this time puts On the production-linked Sharma observed that pay- policy,Centre tells the cart before the horse.Since Besidesbettertargetingof Fertiliser subsidy (` crore) fullpayment. to liquidity problems for the incentive scheme for domestic mentsareveryfundamentalso WhatsApp the Bill strongly follows the the subsidy to farmers with 1,60,000 Currently,thegovernment fertiliser industry and short- handsetmanufacturing,Prasad inevitablyvarious options will principle of “purpose limita- small land holdings,who are releases subsidy amount to ageoffertilisersinmanyparts said itwas launched during the exist, including credit cards, 1,20,000 In its letter, MeitY has said tion”,thesechangesmayleadto seen benefiting less in the fertiliser manufactures peri- of the country.Given the agi- height of the pandemic inApril thoughthewaythesewouldbe 81,124 70,605 70,100 the terms of service and the significant implementational current regime, the lump 80,000 66,441 odically, based on - tation overthe farm Bills,and 2020anddespitethatallthetop used would change. “What, proposed privacypolicyare an challenges for WhatsApp sum moneywould discour- 40,000 1,36,309 authenticated sales via point the fact that the agriculture companies have applied with however, sets Paytm aside in ‘all-or-nothing’ approach, shouldtheBillbecomeanAct. agerampant/unscientificuse of sale (PoS) machines,which sector is proving to be silver commitment to make mobile the game is that we do not 0 whichtakeawayanymeaning- Raising objections against of fertiliser by large farmers FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 was rolled out from April 1, lining on the cloud of eco- phonesworth`10lakhcrorein dependonanyoutsideplayerto ful choice from Indian users. differential and discriminatory and reduce pilferage, the *Includes extra `65,000 crore BE* 2018,inthefirstphaseofDBT. nomicslump,thegovernment the coming fiveyears,ofwhich build on scale and abilities,”he The ministry has also sought treatment meted out to Indian sources added.Subsidy com- provision made under stimulus In the stimulus 3.0 can’taffordpaucityoffertilis- `7lakhcroreisforexports. said,”Sharmaadded.“Therewill detailed answers to a set of 14 users,theministrysaiditowesa ponentwasfixedforP&Kfer- package to clear arrears announced on November 12, ersintherabiseason. “India is today the hub of be face payments too in this questions.Thelettermentions sovereign responsibility to its tilisers effective April 2010 the Centre has made an extra AccordingtoNabard,there mobilemanufacturingandthis country very soon,” he said, “ thatWhatsApphasnotifiedits citizenstoensuretheirinterests and this has resulted in sub- over70%.Earlier,thefertiliser provisionof`65,000crorefor is a general tendency on the process is irreversible...India where faces would be scanned users’that it will collect a vast are not compromised.The dis- sidies on these fertilisers ministry was considering to fertiliser subsidy for FY21, part of farmers to resort to mustbecomethebiggestman- tomakeapayment”. amountofhighlyinvasiveand criminatorytreatment of Indi- declining from `41,500 introduce a system under overandabove`71,309crore overuse of fertilisers and pes- ufacturingcentre oflaptops,of Banks and fin-techs are co- granular metadata from their an users shows lack of respect crore in FY11 to `26,369 which a farmer would have budgeted.Thiswillensurethat ticides expecting higher machine-to-machine equip- existing, Sharma said, adding chats with business accounts for the rights and interests of croreinFY20.Ureasubsidyin paid the market price upfront entiresubsidyduestothefer- yields,leadingtounnecessary ment, of tablets etc. I want to theyareallbabiesofaregulator and share it with other Face- Indiancitizens,whoformoneof the period, however, and promptly received the tiliser companies, including rise in input costs.To address develop that ecosystem for called the central bank.“We are book companies. thelargestuserbaseforit. increased from `24,337 subsidy amount in his/her `48,000 crore arrears,will be this problem,the Centre has mobile phones and smart- happytohavebuiltpartnerships “With this,any meaningful The ministry has sought crore to `54,755 crore. Aadhaar-linkedbankaccount. cleared in the current fiscal. startedtheinitiativeofissuing phones to laptops,tablets and with banks.When it comes to distinctionbetweenWhatsApp detailsaboutexactcategoriesof While the production cost Thisideawaslaterjunkeddue Thisisanunprecedentedstep, soil health cards so that the IoTdevices.Indiamustbecome techcompanies,ifthereisalevel and Facebook companies will data that WhatsApp collects of gas-based urea is about to concerns that farmerswith as a major part of subsidy for farmer can balance the appli- a huge centre of these equip- playing field,we are the unam- cease to exist.Given the huge from Indian users.The app has `900/45 kg bag,the farmers small holdings might find it anyyearusedtobereleasedin cation of micro nutrients, mentmanufacturing,”hesaid. biguous winners,”he said. He user base that WhatsApp and been asked about permissions getitfor`242,atadiscountof difficult to make the upfront thesubsequentyear/s,leading otherfertilisersandpesticides. On Chinese companies saidconcentrationofpowerco- FacebookhaveinIndia,thecon- and user consent sought and offeringtheirproductsinIndia, uldnotstopprogressintechnol- solidation of this sensitive the utilityof each of thesewith Prasad said, “Yes, we banned ogyelsewewouldnothaveseen informationalsoexposesavery respect to the functioning and know whether the app cap- be respected. This is the first Indiabydevelopingacomplete compromise on data sover- someappsbecausetheissuewas so many technology giants.So largesegmentofIndiancitizens specificserviceprovided.What- tures information about the time that he spoke on the new ecosystem in this regard,”the eignty,”Prasadsaid.Healsosaid data privacy, the issue was manybiggiantshaveneededto togreatersecurityrisksandvul- sApphasbeenaskedtoprovide other apps running on the privacy policy of the popular ministersaid.He,however,said, theDataProtectionBillisunder national security,the issue was acquire other companies, he nerabilitiescreatingahoneypot details about the difference mobile device of the users and encryptedmessagingappWhat- asdataislinkedtodigitalsover- examination by the select Par- nationalsovereignty.Therefore, pointedout. ofinformation,”MeitYnoted. between its privacy policies in whether WhatsApp has pro- sApp which has earned a huge eigntyofthecountry,itmustbe liament panel and once the in any exposure of companies, Assuagingconcernsaround The government is particu- Indiaandothercountries.Also, vided any access to a third backlash, so much so that the procured through consent and report comes, it will be fast- the national securityangle will securitythatariseoutofPaytm larly concerned about the lack thegovernmentwantstoknow partyto a user’s personal data. company,which was to imple- on a voluntary basis and must trackedforParliament’snod. alsobetaken,beitprivateorgov- being backed by Chinese of options for Indian users of ifWhatsAppconductsprofiling mentthepolicyfromFebruary8, be used for the objective for Speakingon5G,theminister ernment.As far as the relevant investors,Sharma said“at least WhatsApp as the new policy of Indian users on the basis of Sanctity of personal hasputitonholdtillMay15. whichithasbeencollectedand askedIndianplayerstocreatean financial routes are concerned, in our board and in our opera- does not provide a mechanism their usage of application and communications While doing everything to thedatafiduciarywhoprocures Indian5Gmodel.“Asfaras5Gis some changes have also taken tions, we run all our software for them to opt put. “This the nature of profiling con- protectdataprivacy,Prasadsaid the data must ensure proper concerned,itisstillevolving.We place with regard to countries technology platforms by our- approach leverages the social ducted.“Does WhatsApp share must be hewants India to become a big safetyandsanctityofthedata. missed2Gand3Gbutwedon’t having physical adjacencywith selves...noshareholderhasasay significance of WhatsApp to datawithanyotherapporbusi- maintained: Prasad centreofdataeconomy.Hesaid “I do acknowledge the want to miss 5G.Therefore,we India,”hesaid. on what we should do. Effec- forceusersintoabargain,which nessunitofthesamecompany Citingexamples,Prasadsaid thecountryhasthepotentialto implicitneedofthedatamove- developed an Indian test bed, tively, all shareholders are may infringe on their interests or associated companies,”the adoctortalkingtohispatient,a become a data refinery where ment across the globe to keep and IITsare involved,so that all Payments space to treated as commercial share- inrelationtoinformationalpri- ministryhasasked.Thegovern- lawyer talking to his client or a cleaning,processing and inno- digitalcommerceintactbutthe innovativeaspectsof5Gcanbe mature: Sharma holders.Theboardseatandthe vacyandinformationsecurity,” ment has sought details about family talking among each vation of data can happen.“So ground rule is that the move- considered.5G must be devel- Whilethecumulativeoppor- board control is in India’s theministryhassaid. theserverwheredataofIndians otheronaWhatsAppgroupare many new data centres are ment must be clearly laid out. opedinordertoenableinclusive tunitywasenormousandwhile hands.WeatPaytmbelievethat Further, the ministry has ishostedandtransmitted. all privileged communications comingupintheprivatesector. There must be reciprocity of character of its processes for it would be‘fancy’to count the wewouldstandforanopportu- said Parliament is already MeitY has also sought to andthesanctityofthatneedsto Data economymust prosperin datasharingandweshallnever healthcare,education,farming. number of payments transac- nitythatIndiacreates.”

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 FINANCIAL EXPRESS ECONOMY 3

● SELF-RELIANT INDIA Budget: Aluminium industry seeks hike in customs duty DedicatedVC fund for start-ups on anvil, FE BUREAU sent 7.5% and 2.5% respec- In their representation to In comparison to India’s to open up govt market: Kerala CM Need to increase R&D New Delhi, January 19 tively to 10%,in the Budget the finance ministry,the in- current installed capacity of FE BUREAU forstart-upswiththebackingof for2021-22,to rein in the ris- dustry association has said 4.1 million tonnes per an- Kochi, January 19 KeralaBankandKeralaStateIn- DOMESTIC ALUMINIUM ing imports. that despitesufficientdomes- num (MTPA), domestic de- dustrialDevelopmentCorpora- investment,leverage MANUFACTURERS have Theyalsowanttoeliminate tic capacity,nearly60% of the mand for aluminium is KERALACHIEFMINISTER tion (KSIDC).This will be done urged the government to raise GST compensation cess on domestic demand is currently around 3.7 MTPA. However, PinarayiVijayanonTuesdaysaid beside opening up the govern- basic customs duty on both coal, around `400 per tonne, being met through imports imports in 2019-20 were at that a proposal is under active ment market for startup con- ITprowess,saysTrai the primary aluminium and tosupportthepower-intensive against the spirit of the self- 2.15 MT or around 60% of consideration to set up a dedi- sortiumsandhikingthespecial aluminium scrap from pre- aluminium industry. reliance India. the demand. catedventure capital (VC) fund fundforstartupdevelopment. PRESS TRUST OF INDIA technologyspace,whichiscriti- New Delhi, January 19 cal foreconomic and statistical perspective,we need to trans- INCREASING R&D INVEST- form from consumer to pro- MENTtoexpandtechnologyde- duceroftechnology,”hesaid. velopment capabilities and To upgrade and expand leveraging Indian ITindustry’s technologydevelopmentcapa- prowess to serve requirements bilities,investmentsneedtobe of Indian and global telecom made in the complete ecosys- players can help in moving to- tem,he added. wards Aatmanirbhar Bharat This requires a complete (self-reliant India), Trai chair- overhaul of the existing prac- manPDVaghelasaid. tices and policies and industry- Speaking at the 15th India academia linkages need to be DigitalSummit,TelecomRegu- established,hesaid. latoryAuthority of India (Trai) “The commercial research Chairman PDVaghela outlined innovations standardisation some of the steps that can be andproductdevelopmentneed takentomake“speedyprogress tobeincentivised.Suchinnova- and to make India self-reliant” tion can also focus on meeting inthetelecomspace. developing countries’require- “Weneedtoincreaseinvest- mentinthemosteffectiveman- ment in research and develop- nerandthiswillopenvastmar- ment (R&D),this isveryimpor- ketforsuchproductsforIndia,” tant...To be self-reliant in the headded. IndiatostartsupplyofCovid vaccinestoneighbouring countriesfromtoday FE BUREAU quirements while supplying New Delhi, January 19 abroad. Before the delivery of vac- INDIAWILL START the supply cines, a training programme, of Covid-19 vaccines under covering administrative and grantassistancetoneighbour- operational aspects, is being ing countries — Bhutan, Mal- conducted on January 19-20, dives, Bangladesh, Nepal, 2021,for immunisation man- Myanmar and Seychelles — agers,cold chain officers,com- from January 20, 2021. In re- munication officers and data spect of Sri Lanka, managers of the recipient Afghanistan and Mau- countries,both at national ritius, confirmation of andprovinciallevels. theirnecessaryregula- India had earlier sup- tory clearances is plied hydroxychloro- awaited. quine, Remdesivir and This is in keeping with In- paracetamol tablets,aswell as dia’s stated commitment to diagnostic kits, ventilators, using indigenousvaccine pro- masks, gloves and other duction and delivery capacity medical supplies to a large to help humanity fight the number of countries during Covid-19 pandemic. the Covid-19 pandemic. The immunisation pro- India has also provided grammeisbeingimplemented training to several neighbour- in India,as in other countries, ing countries to enhance and in a phased manner to cover strengthen their clinical thehealthcareproviders,front- capabilities,underthe Partner- line workers and the mostvul- ships forAccelerating Clinical nerable. Keeping in view the Trialsprogramme. domestic requirements of the Separately,severaltraining phased rollout,India will con- courses have been organised tinue to supply Covid-19 vac- for healthcare workers and cines to partnercountries over administrators of partner thecomingweeksandmonths countries under the Indian in a phased manner. It will be TechnicalandEconomicCoop- ensured that domestic manu- eration programme, sharing facturers will have adequate ourexperienceindealingwith stocks to meet domestic re- the pandemic. Govtwasteland forfarming on lease agreement

FE BUREAU For the purpose, the state Ahmedabad, January 19 government has initially TAKING A CLUE FROM CEN- identified 50,000 acres of TRALAsiancountryUzbekistan, barren land in five districts GujaratgovernmentonTuesday including Surendranagar, invited high net-worth individ- Sabarkantha, Patan, Kutch uals, institutions and corporate and Banaskantha for horticulture farming on lease agreement on barren wasteland owned by the state government. els.For the first five years,the For the purpose, the state leaseholderswill not have to pay government has initiallyidenti- anytaxes orrent.From the sixth fied 50,000 acres of barren land year onward,per acre `100 to infive districtsincludingSuren- `500 rent would be charged dranagar, Sabarkantha, Patan, from them. Kutch and Banaskantha and al- As part of the security de- lowed farming on lease contract posit,the leaseholders will have under‘Chief Minister Horticul- to pay ` 2,500 per acre and it ture Development Mission’. wouldbemandatoryforthemto “During myvisit to Uzbek- develop the leased land within istan, the government there of- five years. fered barren land to Indian en- The leaseholderswill have to trepreneurs on lease with a growonlythose crops identified plethora of incentives.We are by the state government as the trying to replicate the same intention of the mission is to in- model in Gujarat to transform crease agriculture exports barren land in cultivable land,” through value addition, he said said Chief MinisterVijayRupani adding, “We are anticipating while announcing the mission. massive employment opportu- Accompaniedbya high-level nity through lease farming on businessdelegation,Rupanihad government wasteland.” visited Uzbekistan to attend the In case a leaseholderwants Central Asian country’s first in- to return land ahead of the lease vestment summit modelled on period,no compensation would the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in be given. Land allotment October 2019. process would be monitored by Already the state govern- a high-powered committee menthasputalistoflandblocks headed by the Chief Minister for land allotment through I- himself. Khetdut portal of the state agri- Manish Bhardwaj, Secretary culture department. Under the Agriculture and Cooperation mission, an applicant, not nec- said that of the state’s total 196 essarilya farmer,can applyfora lakh hectare land 50% (around piece of barren land ranging 98 lakh hectare) is being used from minimum 50-hectare for agriculture purpose,20.60 (125 acres) to maximum 1000- lakh hectare is barren and hectare (400 acres) land on 30 nearly 14 lakh hectares is gov- years lease. ernment wasteland. AccordingtoRupani,theGu- AccordingtoBhardwaj,there jarat government would offer are ample opportunities for in- priorityassistance to leasehold- dividuals,corporate andinstitu- ers of barren land fordrip sprin- tions having adequate financial kler fountains, electricity con- resources to convert these bar- nection (agriculture) and even ren lands into cultivable land installation of solar power pan- and earn money out of it.

Pune 4 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM FUNDING BOOST

Jayant Paleti, co-founder, Darwinbox

The capital influx will help boost the R&D initiatives ❝that we believe will define the future of work. Our❝ association with Salesforce will also expose us to best-in-class practices across customer success, WEDNESDAY,Companies JANUARY 20, 2021 enterprise sales as well as product engineering.

Quick INDIA DIGITAL SUMMIT ‘Big opportunityin telecom Merely producing engineers View not enough: NitiAayog CEO BeyondSkool raises FE BUREAU $2m seed funding from equipmentwith Open RAN’ New Delhi, January 19 Tomorrow Capital KIRAN RATHEE mentsthatleveragedOpenRANsawcapex ASSERTINGTHATMERELYproducingengi- BEYONDSKOOL, A FIRST-OF-ITS- New Delhi, January 19 savings of as high as 49%,while another neersisnotenough,NitiAayogCEOAmitabh KINDLIVEOnlineUpSkillingAcademy study projects average savings for cloud KantonTuesdaycalledonIndianacademic ForKids,hasraisedseedfundingof$2 TELECOMREGULATORYAUTHORITYof networkdeploymentstobe37%overfive institutions to restructure curriculum,so million from Tomorrow Capital, an India(Trai)chairmanPDVaghelaonTues- years. that emphasis can be given on specialised early-stage strategic investment fund day said that use of Open RAN and soft- Vaghela said the timing is also appro- skillsets like artificial intelligence (AI) and focussed on helping early-stage busi- ware defined telecom networks will open priate for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ as the datascience,whichareinhugedemand. nesseswithcapital,accesstoblue-chip new opportunities for Indian entities to existing supply chains are getting dis- Speaking during the India Digital Sum- talent,industry networks,and other enter the network equipment market.He rupted andnewopportunitiesare emerg- mit organised by the Internet and Mobile tion,energy.“Ourengineers and ourscien- resources. said that the government's move to ing.“In the field of telecommunications, AssociationofIndia(IAMAI),KantsaidIndia tists must be able to find technologysolu- encourage local companies to roll out the developments related to Open RAN and has a lot of engineers but there is a great tions to these challenges andwithout tech- Venture Catalysts 4GnetworkofBSNLwillprovideanimme- software defined networks are opening shortage of product designers and data sci- nologicalleapfroggingwewillnotbeableto diate opportunity for the Indian manu- We can leverage the new opportunities for Indian entities to entists,as the country needs more people findsolutions,”Kantsaid. invests in CreditEnable facturers in the equipment space. capabilities of the IT sector enterintothenetworkequipmentmarket. with specialised background in fields like He said with Bharatnet spreading to VENTURE CATALYSTS,INDIA’S first “Wecanleveragethecapabilitiesofthe ❝to build, operate and In order to succeed while competing in artificialintelligence. rural areas,once the optical fibre reaches and largest integrated incubatorand IT sector to build, operate and maintain thisspace,wemustthinkend-to-endsolu- “Indian academic institutions need to allvillages,technological changewill hap- accelerator,alongwith its UKarm, software products which can serve India maintain software tionsandtoimproveourcapacityandpro- restructuretheircurriculum…focusneedsto pen.“I look after the aspirational districts JPINVenture Catalysts,has recently aswellasglobaltelecomindustryatarea- products which can serve ductivity.We need to invest in capacity be laid on emerging areas of technology. andwhenIvisitthem,Ifindthatmorethan led a $2 million investment round in sonable price.We all know the maximum ❝ building for future needs and manufac- Merelyproducing great numberof electric physical infrastructure like roads, they CreditEnable,anAI-driven SME credit value addition is in the technology devel- India as well as global turing facilities. We should invest in and electronics engineers is not adequate. need internet connectivity and that will marketplace that uses data analytics opment,”Vaghela said at the 15th India telecom industry at a design,R&D of latest products and ser- You need product designers…that iswhere helpinprovidinghealthcareandeducation andAI to support SMEs in procuring DigitalSummit,organisedbytheInternet vices,”he said. great amount of value can be created and in these areas.”This makes it crucial for different business loans and helps and MobileAssociation of India (IAMAI). reasonable price. India should take more interest in each one of our institutions need to really India to augment digital infrastructure to lenders improve approval rates. He said that earlier it was difficult for developing telecom standards at the ITU. work around this,”Kant said.He said India utilise frontier technology in economic — P D VAGHELA , CHAIRMAN, TRAI Indian entities to enter into telecom “We need to increase investment in R&D cancreateupto$1trillionofeconomicvalue development. Digital is the future, Kant Flipkart acquires BCMS equipment space but with Open RAN, to be self-reliant in technologyspace,”the fromthedigitaleconomyby2025,upfrom said,addingthatifIndiawantstoimprove therewillbeanopportunityforlocalfirms Trai chairman said. around$200billioncurrently.“Wehaveover thesocialorhealthsectors,goingdigitalis certification from BSI to produce some components of the sys- makes up for the majority of the network Vaghela added there should be a time- halfabillioninternetusersandthenumber critical. Kant said the global electronics FLIPKARTHASACHIEVED the tem.Forexample,Reliance Jio has already cost. Open RAN enables telecom service boundandtransparentprocessinplacefor isrisingrapidlyineverypartofthecountry. marketisestimatedtobeworth$2trillion, distinction of becoming India’s first started talking about their Open RAN. providerstodiversifysupplychains,bring anykind of permissions required bycom- Thiswill create a huge market fora host of andIndia’sshareinithasgrownfrom1.3% e-commerce companyto get a ThereishugeopportunityforIndianman- in unprecedented levels of interoperabil- panies like requirement of spectrum for digital services,platforms,applications and in2012to3%in2018.“Itisstillconsidered Business ContinuityManagement ufacturers,he said. ityandagility,whichcanhelpreducetheir development of wireless technology. He contentandsolutions,”hesaid. tobeminiscule.So,thegovernmentcameup System (BCMS) certification after Usually,radio access network (RAN), capex byalmost 50%. alsohighlightedtheneedtopushtelecom TheNitiAayogCEOhighlightedthechal- with the production-linked incentive having met the stringent whichincludesbasestationandantennas, A recent study found that 5G deploy- production in India. lenges faced byIndia in healthcare,educa- schemefortheelectronicsindustry.” requirements set byBritish Standard Institute,an accredited business standards company,forthe highly regarded certification. Govt should encourage Indians to back local entrepreneurs: Kamath Cashfree announces FE BUREAU to get people to look at investing.We need wealth of India within the country.“Just youshouldbeabletomakemoneyfromthis New Delhi, January 19 people of this country to be backing the doing structural changes to save on some people.Unfortunately,in our country,the tie-upwithAramex entrepreneurs of this country.If this hap- taxesorjusttomakeiteasierforaninvestor… issueisthat5-6crorepeoplefileincometax CASHFREE HASANNOUNCED that THEGOVERNMENTSHOULDfindwaysto pens,wedonothavetorelyonforeigncapi- IdonotthinkIndiansshouldgoaboutmov- returns.Lessthan2crorepeoplemakemore the leading global providerof encouragemoreIndianstobacklocalentre- talasmuchaswerelytoday,”Kamathsaidat ing a lot of wealth out of this country,” than`5lakhperyearasincome.Butitisjust logistics and transportation preneurs who primarily bank on external the15thIndiaDigitalSummit.Kamathwas Kamath said. The government has been amatteroftimebeforewebecomeanequal solutions,Aramex,has partneredwith investors to start new ventures, Nithin in conversation with Sunil Jain,managing expressing concerns over foreign entities inthegame,”Kamathsaid. the companybyintegrating Kamath,founderandCEO,Zerodhasaidon editor,FinancialExpress. pickinguplargestakesinstart-ups,particu- Kamath lauded companies like Swiggy, Cashfree’s Global Payouts solution. Tuesday. Kamath, however, acknowledged that larlyattheearly-stageseedcapitalandatvery ZomatoandOlaforhavingbeenabletobuild This partnershipwill allowAramex to “The government needs to encourage there has been a palpable change in the lowvaluations.Kamathisnotworriedabout robust businesses.,which lastyear paysellers in India forfunds collected peopletothinkaboutmovingmoneyaway broader mindset and believes that the Indiacreatingfarfewerunicornscompared valueditselfat$1billion,aimstobroadenits against postpaid orders from from gold, bank deposits and real estate. emergingcropofnewinvestorswillbemore preneursaswegrowolder,”Kamathsaid. tomajormarkets. presenceintheconsumeradvisorysegment. international buyers inWestAsia. Oncemoneygoesintotheseassets,theyget forthcominginsupportingIndianentrepre- TheCEO,wholeadsoneofthesuccessful “Theproblemwiththecountryistherev- “Thatessentiallyisournextplaytofindways locked in.It is not helping the economy in neurs.“Icanseepeopleinmygeneration…we brokerage firms in the country, said con- enue pool.We have a lot of people in this to help our customers take the right deci- Ripplrgets $3 mn from anyway.Ithinkincentiveshavetobemade willallprobablyinvestalotinIndianentre- scious efforts should be made to keep the countryand for building large businesses, sion,”Kamathsaid. ZephyrPeacock,others RIPPLR,ATECH-ENABLED DISTRIBUTION and logistics ecosystem platform,onTuesdaysaid Darwinbox to be Salesforce’s Prosus bets on AI Those allergic to ingredients it has raised $3 million (about `21.9 crore) in funding from Zephyr to help reshape Peacock India Growth Fund,Chand first investment in India should not take Covishield: SII FamilyOffice,Yukti,and existing India’s $350-bn investor3one4 Capital.The seriesA SARITHA RAI PRESS TRUST OF INDIA funding comes on the heels of strong January 19 farm industry New Delhi, January 19 growth and execution companyin the last fewquarters,a statement said. SALESFORCE.COM IS MAKING its first PEOPLEWHOARE severelyallergic to any investmentinanIndiancompany,adevel- LONI PRINSLOO ingredient of Covid-19 vaccine Covishield Infosys launches oper of human resources software that January 19 areadvisednottotakeit,SerumInstituteof servesseveralofAsia’slargesttechstart-ups. India(SII)hassaid. applied AI Cloud TheUSgiant’sventurearmisleadinga PROSUS IS INVESTING in agritech com- According to the fact sheet for the vac- INFOSYS ONTUESDAY announced $15 million financing round for Darwin- panyDeHaatinabetonIndia’s$350-billion cinerecipientissuedbySII,apersonshould the launch of an Infosys Cobalt box, its first in India and its only invest- farming industry.The Dutch e-commerce not get the Covishieldvaccine if theyhad a offering — its appliedAI cloud. The ment in Asia outside of Japan.Headquar- Thestart-uplastraisedfundsin2019and group led a Series C funding round of $30 severeallergicreactionafterapreviousdose appliedAI cloudwill enable tered in Hyderabad, the start-up has has grown 300% since then, co-founder million that DeHaat will use to hire more ofthevaccine. developers and project teams to already raised $35 million from backers Jayant Paleti said. staff,develop technology and improve its TheingredientsofCovishieldvaccineare Vaccine’s export quicklyand easilyaccessAI hardware including Lightspeed India,Sequoia Cap- “Adoption of cloud-based services by supplychain,headofProsusVenturesIndia, “L-Histidine, L-Histidine hydrochloride and software stacks,across both ital and 3one4 Capital among others. enterpriseswas double the global average AshutoshSharma,saidinaninterview. monohydrate,Magnesium chloride hexa- begins today private and public clouds,to build Darwinboxcountssomeoftheworld’s before the pandemic,” Paleti said in a TheDeHaatplatformusesartificialintel- hydrate,Polysorbate 80,Ethanol,Sucrose, contextualised services that deliver largestbrandsandAsianstart-upsamong phone interview.The former investment ligence to help around 350,000 Indian Sodium chloride,Disodium edetate dihy- THE FIRSTEXPORT consignment AI-first business processes for its customers, including Puma, Nivea, banker cofounded the start-up in 2015 farmers source raw material,find advisory drate,Waterforinjection,”SII said.The fact of 2.5 lakh doses of the Covishield enterprises,a statement said. Indonesian online mall Tokopedia and along with a colleague and a childhood andcreditservicesandsell crops. sheet posted on the website of the vaccine is being shipped out from Serum Singapore’s Zilingo. It develops touchless friend, a former McKinsey consultant. Agrowing population and increasingly majoristohelptherecipientunderstandthe Institute of India (SII) on Snapdeal adds more attendance systems and provides hiring “Since the pandemic,we are seeing a shift erratic climate is forcing India’s mostly risksandbenefitsoftheCovishieldvaccine. Wednesdaymorning from Pune andonboardingandemploymentengage- to the cloud within a few quarters that small-scalefarmsectortoinvestintechnol- Thevaccinemakersaidthatthevaccine airport.The orders have been energyefficient products menttoolstomorethanamillionemploy- would have otherwise taken three or four ogyto improveyields.One in nine agricul- recipient should also tell the healthcare placed bythe Indian government E-COMMERCE PLATFORM Snapdeal eesof500customersacross60countries. years,”he added.— BLOOMBERG tural technology start-ups worldwide are provider about all the medical conditions and thevaccine doses have been onTuesdaysaid it has partneredwith from India,according to a report by Nass- theyhavebeforegettingtheCovishieldvac- priced at `200 perdose.The first dealers and manufacturers of energy- com.“India needs something that could cineincluding,“ifyouhaveeverhadasevere one lakh doses are being flown to efficient products and appliances. NTPC records highest power generation scale the farming industry fast,and tech- allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) after any Maldives and 1.5 lakh doses to This has been donewith aviewthat nologyistheonlyleveragethatcandothat,” drug,food,anyvaccineoranyingredientsof Bhutan,companysources said. users increasinglyadopting energy- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA daygrossgenerationof1,009millionunits saidSharma. Covishieldvaccine”. The ministryof external affairs has efficiencyproducts to manage rising New Delhi, January 19 onJanuary18, acompanystatementsaid. Prosusmaylooktomarketcrop-protec- Therecipientsshouldalsotellthehealth- procured these doses from SII and electricitybills,a statement said. As per recent data published by the tion serviceAerobotics,inwhich its parent care provider if they have fever,a bleeding will hand them overearlyon STATE-RUN POWER GIANT NTPC said Central Electricity Authority, NTPC Sin- companyNaspersisaninvestor,toDeHaat’s disorderorareonabloodthinnerandifthey Wednesday.— FE BUREAU JBMAuto bags order itrecordeditshighest-everdailyelectricity grauli unit number 1 in Uttar Pradesh, farmers. Prosus will also explore ways to areimmuno-compromisedorareonmedi- generation of over one billion units on whichhadcommencedoperation38years connect DeHaat with its other large ven- cine that affects the immune system, it tion to the healthcare providerif theyhave from DTC for700 buses January 18. The achievement reinforces ago,achieved the highest Plant Load Fac- tures. “We are already working with our added.The fact sheet also says that if a per- receivedanotherCovid-19vaccine,SIIsaid. JBMAUTO ONTuesdaysaid it has the group’s commitment towards tor of 100.24% for the period from April food-deliverycompanySwiggy,forinstance, sonispregnantorplanstobecomepregnant AccordingtotheUnionhealthministry, bagged an orderfrom DelhiTransport excellence in operation across its power 2020 to December2020. tosupplyfreshproduceonthegroceryplat- or is breastfeeding, she should tell the 3,81,305beneficiarieshadbeenvaccinated Corporation (DTC) forsupplyof 700 stations,itadded. This reflects the operation and main- form,although it’s still in an experimental healthcareproviderbeforetakingthejab. till5pmonMondayand580adverseevents BS-VI compliantAC low-floorCNG NTPCGroupgenerateditshighest-ever tenance capabilityof NTPC,it added. phase,”Sharmasaid.— BLOOMBERG Thevaccine recipient should also men- werereported. buses. The companywill be supplying 700 CITYLIFE buses,equippedwith smartcard ticketing system,real-time passengerinformation system, Amazon partners with Startup India, others to boost e-commerce exports intelligent transport management system and more,JBMAuto said. PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Amazon has constituted a mentorship total equity free grant of $50,000 from get access to global markets,” Deepak New Delhi, January 19 boardconsistingofAmazonleadersfrom Amazon. Bagla,MD and CEO of Invest India,said. Tata Metaliks posts Indiaandacrosstheworld,VCsandsenior Amazon will also host open virtual Amit Agarwal,global seniorvice pres- AMAZON ON TUESDAY said it has part- leaders from Startup India.The applica- mentorship sessions focused on peer ident and country head,Amazon India, record pig iron deliveries nered with Startup India, Sequoia tion process will be open for about three learning by inviting veteran entrepre- saidAmazon Global Selling is witnessing TATAMETALIKS’ PIG iron division Capital India and Fireside Ventures to weeks, following which 10 start-ups neurs and members from its mentorship tremendousmomentumwithincreasing recorded the highest quarterly launchanacceleratorprogrammetohelp would be chosen forthe accelerator. board for start-ups,to network and learn interest from exporters across India. deliveries in last 5years, higherby early-stage start-ups take their brands to The programme will feature a six- from theirexisting ecosystem. “WithAmazonGlobalSelling,wewillcon- 4% and 3%,compared to the second global audiences. week 1:1 mentorship module for the “The adoption of technology and dig- tinue to make exports simple and acces- quarterof the ongoing fiscal and third The Amazon Global Selling Propel shortlisted participants where they will italtransformationhaspaved thewayfor sible to businesses of all sizes and fulfil quarterof FY20 respectively.The (AGSP) programme has been designed to gettointeractwithAmazonleadersfrom worldwide through its exports pro- India to be at the forefront of innovation, our commitment of enabling $10 billion companyreported a profit aftertax of supportearlystagestart-ups(raisedfund- India and worldwide and get first-hand gramme, Amazon Global Selling, he givingrisetosomeofthebeststart-upsin in e-commerce exports from India by `75 crore forthe third quarterwith ing in post seed to pre-seriesAstage,if knowledge on building and scaling up added. the world. There are many promising, 2025,”he said. revenue from operations at `526 funded) in the consumer products space exports business through e-commerce, These start-ups will then get an emergingbrandsthathavethecapability Launched in 2015 with about 100 crores.Forthe nine months period the to launch in international markets and Abhijit Kamra,director,global trade at opportunity to showcase their business to become big and go global. exporters,AmazonGlobalSellingenables companyreported a PATof `145 create global brands from India through Amazon India,said. proposition to partnerVC firms,Sequoia “This is a timely initiative by Amazon morethan70,000Indianexporterstosell crore and revenue from operations of Amazon’s Global Selling programme. Amazon will provide the support for Capital India and Fireside Ventures,and whichcanprovetobeabigsteppingstone ‘Made in India’ products through its 15 `1,256 crore. As part of the start-up accelerator, these start-ups to launch their products three of them will get a chance to win a for start-ups to build their business and internationalwebsites.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 FINANCIAL EXPRESS COMPANIES 5

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT PURSUANT TO SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA ("SEBI") CIRCULAR NO. SEBI/HO/MRD/DSA/CIR/P/2016/110 DATED OCTOBER 10, 2016 ("EXIT CIRCULAR") FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE Operating profits of tyre PUBLIC SHAREHOLDERS OF COMET FILAMENTS (INDIA) LIMITED CIN:U31504UR1978PLC004666 cos to surpass pre-Covid Registered Office:27, Race course, Dehradun, Uttrakhand-248001; Email ID:[email protected]; Tel: 9822025365 The Public Announcement ("PA") is being issued by Mr.Arvind Subhashchandra Bharati, Promoter levels,states Crisil note (On behalf of promoter group) of Comet Filaments (India) Limited ("the Company")pursuant to the Circular issued by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) vide SEBI/HO/MRD/DSA/ FE BUREAU from the commercial vehicle (CV) seg- CIR/P/2016/110dated10th October, 2016, ("Exit Circular") to provide exit opportunity to all public Chennai, January 19 ment.This would get partiallyoffset by shareholders (Non Promoters) of the Company. robust demand from the tractor seg- Background THEOPERATINGPROFITSoftyreman- ment,itsaid. "The Company" being exclusively listed at Delhi ("DSE"), upon de-recognition ufacturers are expected to register Replacement demand is seen slip- of DSE, has been placed on the Dissemination Board of BSE Limited. The Management after growth this year,surpassing pre-Covid ping just 2% because of support from consideration was of the view that the Company is not eligible to migrate to the main board of levels,despitethelowervolumes.Higher pent-up demand from existing CVs, Nationwide Stock Exchanges and decided to provide an exit opportunity to all public realisationsandbenigninputpriceswill uptickinfreightmovementandimprov- shareholders. helpoffsettheimpactof4-6%volumes ingeconomicactivity.Exportsvolumeis As provided in clause (i) of Annexure A of the Exit Circular issued by SEBI, the Company have decline,and enable a 6-8% growth in expected to sustain because of increas- appointed M/s Khambatta Securities Limited, (Reg. No. MB/INM000011914) a SEBI operatingprofitsfortyremanufacturers ingreplacementdemandintheoverseas Registered,Category- 1 Merchant Banker as Independent Valuer from BSE's panel of Expert Valuers on 11th November, 2020 for valuation of shares of Comet Filaments (India) Limited. in fiscal 2021,said a research note by markets for tractor and CVtyres,which CrisilRatings,basedonanalysisofIndia’s accountfor90%oftyreexports.Hence, The said Independent Valuer, after taking into account the applicable valuation methodologies, top six tyre manufacturers,accounting thetyresectorislikelytologonlyamod- has issued its Fair Valuation Report dated 04th January 2021 and determined the fair value of One Equity Share of the Company as Rs. (0.15/-). The said fair Valuation report will be available for80% of the `60,000 crore automo- eratevolumedeclineof4-6%,Crisilsaid. for inspection at the registered office of Company during office hours for a period of 10 days biletyresectorrevenue. AnujSethi,seniordirector,CrisilRat- from the date of this Public Announcement. That,alongwithphasedimplemen- ings said, “Improved realisations on Shareholding: tationofcapitalexpenditureplans,will account of increased share of replace- ensure stable credit outlook for tyre mentdemand(to60%from58%infis- As on date, the issued, subscribed and paid-up equity share capital of the Companyis Rs.2,41,34,912/- and having calls in arrears of Rs. 80,088/-, divided into 24,21,500 equity share manufacturers. The sector derives cal2020)andexports,whichcommand having face value of Rs 10/- each, out of which promoters are holding 21,61,300 (fully paid) 28% of its volume (in tonnage terms) better prices,will drive the increase in equity shares representing 89.25% of total paid up share capital and balance 2,60,200 equity fromoriginalequipmentmanufactur- operatingprofitsoftyremanufacturers shares representing 10.75% is held bypublic shareholders. ers(OEMs),58%fromthereplacement this fiscal. Tyre makers have also Financial Summary: market,10%fromexports,andtherest increasedpricesinthedomesticmarket from imports. after imports were placed on restricted As per the Audited Financial Statements for last three financial years i.e. 2019-20, 2018-19 and 2017-18, Company's Net worth and Net profit /loss after tax is as follows: Tyre offtake by OEMs is seen skid- listinJune2020.Theaveragerealisation ding 5-7% this fiscal primarily on pertonneoftyresisexpectedtoincrease (Amount in Rs.) account of a sharp decline in demand 4-5%thisfiscal.” Particulars 31st March, 2020 31st March, 2019 31st March, 2018 (Audited) (Audited) (Audited) Paid up equity share 2,41,34,912 2,41,34,912 2,41,34,912 Capital (Face Value Cognizant Tata Motors of Rs. 10) Reserve and Surplus (2,45,73,869) (2,42,18,457) (2,32,09,306) to acquire received 98 Net worth (4,38,957) (83,545) 9,25,606 Magenic Tech patents in 2020 Net Profit/Loss After Tax (3,55,412) (10,09,151) (24,96,682) Para (II) of Annexure A to the said SEBI Circular states that in case the Fair Value determined by the Independent Valuer is positive, the Promoter of the Company shall acquire share of such FE BUREAU AUTO MAJORTATAMotorsonTuesday Company from the Public Shareholders. In the present case, the fair value determined by the Chennai, January 19 said it has received 98 patents lastyear Independent Valuer being negative, i.e. Rs (0.15/-), therefore the Promoters need not to pay any underitsaccelerateddriveforengineer- consideration to the Public Shareholders of the Company. US-BASED ITSERVICES companyCog- ing excellence and innovation. These In view of the above, the Promoter will be making an application to BSE Ltd. requesting them to nizant,which has significantworkforce patents predominantly relate to the remove the name of the Company from the Dissemination Board after 10 days from the date of presence in India, has entered into an megatrend of CESS (connected,electri- this Public Announcement. agreementtoacquireMagenicTechnolo- fied,sustainable and safe) automobiles, We, hereby undertake to redress the grievances of all public shareholders pursuant to the gies,a privately-held custom software thecompanysaidinastatement. removal of name of the Company from the said Dissemination Board. development services company head- Thepatentsalsoencompassaneclec- OTHERDETAILS quartered in Minneapolis,Minnesota. tic mix of improvements in automotive 1. Promoters are responsible for information contained in this Public Announcement. Thetransactionisexpectedtocloseinthe electronics,noisevibration&harshness, 2. The Public Announcement is expected to be available on the website of the BSE Limited i.e. firstquarterof2021,subjecttothesatis- conventional and advanced powertrain www.bseindia.com. faction of closing conditions.Financial systems,and crash safetyundervarious detailsofthedealwerenotyetdisclosed. categories of industrial designs,copy- 3. For any query/Clarification regarding this Public Announcement: The acquisition will expand Cog- rights and notarisations,the statement Contact Person: Arvind Subhashchandra Bharati nizant’s software product engineering added.Thecompany“accelerateditsdrive Contact No. 9822025365, E-mail:[email protected] footprint,adding 475 employees in the forengineering excellence and innova- For andonbehalf of Promoters of USacrosssevenlocationsandmorethan tionin2020byfiling80andreceiving98 Comet Filaments (India) Limited 350employeesinManila,Philippines. patentsin2020”,itsaid. — PTI Sd/- (Arvind Subhashchandra Bharati) Date: 20th January, 2021 OfferingPromoter Place:Uttrakhand

Pune 6 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM ON FARM LAWS

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

The new farm laws are designed to destroy the ❝agriculture sector.I support the protesting farmers ❝ 100% and every single person in the country should support them as they are fighting for us OpinionWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021

● AMERICAN DREAM EVEN IFJOBS INTHE US RETURN INTHE NUMBERSTHATPRECEDED COVID-19, ECONOMIC SHOBHANA INEQUITIESTHATHAVE BEEN BUILDING FOR DECADESWILLMOSTLIKELYSTILLBE UNRESOLVED SUBRAMANIAN

shobhana.subramanian @expressindia.com Biden needs to Organised cheer, think big on the economy unorganised fear ENS OFMILLIONS of Employment-to-population ratio last Americans are scrambling peaked in 2000. Household incomes India is witnessing the classic K-shaped recovery with the to keep a roof over their haven’t kept upwith the cost of living, heads,foodontheirtables, leaving half of households with less formal sector doing well while the informal one lags education for their chil- NIR KAISSAR & thanalivingwageevenbeforethepan- drTen and access to health care during demic began. HELARGECROWDSthatturneduptowatchtheTamilfilmMasterareates- an epic public health and economic TIMOTHY L O’BRIEN As we have noted before, tackling tament to consumers’pent-up demand finding a release.With lockdown crisis. President-elect Joe Biden these issues isn’t simply about moral- restrictionshavingallbuteased,schoolsarereopening,manymorearegoing Bloomberg acknowledgedthathardshipThursday ity and social justice, although those T to the office,the shops and malls are busier and more flights are taking off night by calling for a $1.9 trillion fed- are good reasons, too.Americans have eachday.Inshort,asNomura’sresumptionofbusinessindexshows,businessisfastnor- eralrescuepackagethatwoulddeliver ping sharply in the spring. Gross entertainment—the areas hardest hit enjoyed lush economic growth for malising.There is an uptick in the momentum; loan growth,for instance,was a lot urgentlyneeded—buttemporary—aid domestic product, the broadest and by the pandemic. The number of decades because the country has had healthierinthefortnighttoJanuary1whilecoreimportshaverisenby13%inthefort- to workers and families as well as to perhapsmostcloselywatchedmeasure underemployedworkersisalmostcer- anunusuallylarge,healthy,diverseand nighttoJanuary14,upfrom8%year-on-year(y-o-y)inDecember.Thejumpinthegen- state and local governments strug- oftheeconomy,reboundedstronglyin tainlyhighertoday,whichmayexplain well-educatedmiddleclass;consumer erationofE-WaybillsinDecemberwasreassuring. gling to support them.Asecond,more the third quarter and is estimated to why an alarming number of Ameri- spendingfuelsroughly70%ofgrowth. Ithelpstoseetheglassashalffull,especiallyasvaccineshavearrived.But,wemustn’t ambitious recovery plan to address have grown at a real annual rate of cans,upwardof50millionbyoneesti- With the middle class and workers getcarried awaybya rebound,whichhascomein a littleaheadof the anticipated time- longer-term problems such as infra- 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Headline mate,face food insecurity. withering, the economy’s underpin- lines.Thefestive,weddingandholidayseasonshavenodoubtbuoyedsales.But,weseem structureandclimatechangeisalsoin unemployment has fallen to 6.7% Thesenumbersraisetheworrisome ningswillwitheralongside them. tobeforgettingwehavelosttwoyearsofgrowthandthat,evenbeyondFY22,theecon- theworks.Butevenbroadervisionwill from more than double possibilitythatthesever- This is where Biden’s recovery plan omyisn’texactlygoingtobegalloping;fromthelookofthings,onecouldhopefor6-7% be required to reverse lingering dam- that rate inApril. ity and duration of this can play a crucial role in addressing growthinFY23.So,whiletherewillbebusinessesthatdoexceptionallywell—ITplayers, age to the economy. But all is notwell. With narrow control pandemic has already both the short- and longer-term risks forinstance—and therewill be lots of jobs for persons Biden’srescueplanfollowstwofed- More than 10 million donelonger-lastingdam- to the labour market. Taking on big withcertainskillsets,forthevastmajorityofthecoun- eralreliefeffortsthatjointlyclockedin Americans are still out of of both chambers of age to the economy, a pressing problems,such as infrastruc- try’sworkforce,householdsandsmallerenterprises,itis at about $3.6 trillion in spending.It work, according to the Congress for the prospectthateconomists tureandclimatechangeaswellaspub- goingtobeaslowandpainfulrecovery. Whether it is 10% or calls for direct payments of $1,400 to BureauofLaborStatistics next two years, andpolicymakersdesper- lic health and education,will require a Thegovernment’screditsupportnotwithstanding, 12%, FY22 will see individuals, $400 a week in supple- (BLS), and that doesn’t atelyhopedtoavoidwhen robust labour force.Afederal jobs pro- mentary unemployment benefits include about 4 million Biden can try this crisis began.If that is gramme is an opportunity to marshal alargenumberofmid-sizedandsmallbusinesseswill good growth, but the through September, $350 billion for workerswhohaveleftthe mustering the will thecase,itmaytakeyears that labourforcewhile providing a liv- fall,hitbytheweakerdemand,lackofaccesstoafford- way things are right state and local governments,andvari- labor force since Febru- and a legislative for millions of unem- ing wage to millions of unemployed able credit and the increasing formalisation of the ousotherfundingforschools,vaccina- ary—and an additional 6 ployed and underem- and underemployed Americans. It economy.They have been struggling since GST and now, it is difficult to coalition project a growth of tion, child care and food and rental million part-time work- ployed Americans to could lift the wages of all workers by wouldhavebecomeevenmoreuncompetitivenow. assistance.Itwould also raise the min- ers who can’t find full- return to work. If so, competing with private-sector Letusrememberthatlargercompaniesareturn- more than 6-7% in imumwage to $15 an hour. time jobs. The labour Biden’s rescue plan— employers,particularlyastheeconomy ingmoreprofitablenotmerelyonthebackofhigher FY23 if the Budget While additional relief is obviously market also appears to be moving in which,like its predecessors,is a short- emerges from the pandemic. It could revenues but also due to better productivity,effi- doesn’t repair the necessary,the key assumption under- the wrong direction. Nearly 1 million term financial Band-Aid—won’t be alsosupportyoungerandfuturework- ciency and automation.And they are doing increas- Covid-induced lying the rescue efforts so far, includ- Americans filed for unemployment enough.And Congress, even one con- ersthroughfundingforvocationaland ingly better. In the September 2020 quarter, for ingBiden’s,isthatallthecountryneeds last week, the highest one-week tally trolled by Democrats, isn’t likely to technicaltraininginindustriesthatare instance,listed cement firms grewtheirvolumes by damage isabridgetotransportitsafelypastthe sinceAugust. keep cutting trillion-dollar checks most in demand. 6% whereas others reported an 11% fall.Again, pandemic.Then the economy,ideally, And that may understate the eco- everyfewmonths. Biden’s plan isn’t there yet,but it listed steel players gained 10% in volumes whereas willbebackonsolidground,businesses nomic hardship facing Americans.A Even if jobs return in the numbers shouldbe.Whatisneededisvisionand others lost 3%. will rebound,Americans will return to recent study published by the Center that preceded Covid-19, economic will.Withnarrowcontrolofbothcham- Asthesecompaniesbecomestronger,smallerbusinessesbecomeweaker—inturn, work, and government coffers will be forLawandSocialPolicy,anonpartisan inequities that have been building for bersofCongressforthenexttwoyears, hurtingthosethatareevensmaller—dealingablowtoemployment.Byoneestimate, replenishedwith fresh tax revenue. research group that advocates forlow- decades—and that have no doubt Biden can try mustering the will and a 18 million jobs have been lost,and unemployment is running high at 7-8%,accord- Bythelooksoftraditionaleconomic incomepeople,foundthataboutonein inflamedthesocialandpoliticalunrest legislative coalition. Now let us see ing to CMIE. Both the Naukri JobSpeak index and the Monster employment index measures, that day may not be far off. 10 workers were underemployed in gripping the country—will most likely about thevision. remained 10% lower y-o-y in December; the Monster index was flat month-on- Leadingeconomicindicatorsarenear- 2016, double the number the BLS still be unresolved.Wage inequality,as This column does not necessarily ing theirpre-Covid levels (and in some reportedatthetime.Thejobstendedto measured by the Gini index, began reflect the opinion ofthe editorial month.AnEdelweissanalysisshowstheprivatesector’swagebill,excludingBFSIand caseshavesurpassedthem)afterdrop- be in education,retail,travel,food and climbing in the 1980s and 1990s. board orBloomberg LPand its owners IT,contracted in the six months to Septembereven as the total bill showed a smaller increase.As Pranjul Bhandari, HSBC’s India chief economist, has observed, it is the small and informal firms that make up 85% of the labour force.We could also see pressure on ruralwages given some part of the migrant labourforcewould not have LETTERS TO moved back to the cities because theirjobs no longerexist. THE EDITOR Indeed,in the short run,the accumulated savings of high earners can support the India’s economic future economy.But once that wears off,the lack of demand can potentially lower medium- term growth.Urban consumption has been slowing with several sectors such as con- Inauguration of Biden struction,tourism,civil aviation,restaurants,retailing and hospitality,and other ser- The growth of a technologically vices hit hard by the pandemic.The continued high rate of deposit growth suggests The inauguration ofJoe Biden as the consumersremainwaryofspending;theriseinpricesofgoodsandservices—following advanced start-up ecosystem is NIRVIKAR next president of the US takes place theriseinpricesofcommodities—isn’tgoingtomakeiteasier. not a substitute for faster SINGH on January 20 with scaled down Foreveryuptick,thereisonethatsuggeststherecoverymayturnouttobeaveryfrag- growth in labour-intensive pomp, ceremony and celebrations ileone.Despitethefestivefervour,leadingstoreslikeShoppersStopfaredpoorlyinthe amidst tight security and fears of Professor of Economics, University of armed protests by Trump Decemberquarterwithrevenuesdownsharply.Infact,factoryoutputcontracted1.9% manufacturing California, Santa Cruz. Views are personal y-o-yinNovemberhavingexpandedintheprevioustwomonths;worryinglymanufac- supporters. The change of turinggrowthturnednegativeonceagain.Thefallmayhaveresultedfromfewerwork- administration marks a welcome THEFARMERS’PROTEST change and a change for the better. ing days in November,but surelyan economythat is supposedlyrecoveringwell—and overthenew technologies that come into play out software upgrades and cybersecurity agriculturereformlawshavehighlighted ofsightofconsumers,insidetheoper- issues. India’s digital infrastructure is It is widely known that the incoming onethatwascrawlingin2019-20andnotexactlygallopingin2018-19—shouldshow some severe policy deficiencies in how ations of businesses or in their supply probablylessrobustthanrawstatistics Biden administration will make a alittlemorespunk. the national government handles the chains.The second is described in the such as access numbers indicate, complete break with the outgoing Again,while the rise in core imports in December has been cheered,capital goods agriculturalsector,includingitspolicies report as“deep-tech,”a term that cov- because of the inadequate bandwidth, Trump administration. The biggest importscontracted7%y-o-y,thetenthconsecutivecontractionsinceMarch2020.And, fordomesticfoodsecurity.Many,includ- ers a range of frontierareas,including too much downtime, obsolete equip- challenge awaiting Biden on his until the capex cycle turns,growth can’t pick up meaningfully.As economists have ing myself,have nowwritten on these artificial intelligence, blockchain and ment,and so on. assumption of power is the Covid- pointedout,thepandemicwillhurtthealready-anaemicinvestmentbytheprivatesec- topics.But,theprotestsalsoshoulddraw big data. In this context, it is worth The NASSCOM report does not shy 19 pandemic. He is sure to rely on tor.Rightnow,nottoomanycompaniesareinvestingsincethereismorethanadequate attention to another,even more impor- recalling howIndia’s forayinto digital away from listing challenges and out- science and deploy more resources capacityforthe moment and equitycapital is hard to come by.But even if theywere to tant,nationalpolicyfailure,intherealm technology started out,doing routine lining areas where government policy for the containment of the makeplans,theymightnotfindlenderstobackthembecausebanksremainrisk-averse. of industrial development.Despite the and back-end services for global lead- could be more supportive.Certainly, pandemic. He has already ItisalsotruethatIndiaIncremainsleveragedandthatinsectorssuchasroadsandcon- government’sattemptstoacceleratethe ers, to the extent that the country’s the perspectives in this report are announced plans to vaccinate 100 struction,veryfewpromotersarecreditworthy. growth of India’s industrial sector, softwareworkersweredismissedbyat much more useful in thinking about million people in the next 100 days. Meanwhile,asinvestmentscrawl,kharifincomeisestimatedtogrowbyonly9.4% includingactivitiesthatmightfallunder least one Western academic as where India can and should be head- He is set to re-impose coronavirus thisyear,as perBofAestimates,slowerthan 12% in the last season.Moreover,global atraditionalclassificationofservices,as “techno-coolies”.Thepointtobemade ing, as compared to the national gov- travel restrictions lifted by Trump in growthestimatesfor2021arebeingpared;oneestimatenowpegsthegrowthatsub- well as the more obvious case of manu- is the history of India’s dynamism in ernment’sownformulationof“Digital his final days in office and tighten 4%comparedwith5%earlier,andthiscouldhurtglobaltradeandIndia’sexports.We facturing,progress has been slow.The this sector.Another important obser- India”.Therearealsounansweredques- them. Another important task for need a big dose of stimulus. lack of growth of employment in the vation is that serving tions in the report: tucked the new president is to unify the industryhas left too manypeople stuck global customers away toward its end is the country. He will make a call for inagriculture,orinruralareasmoregen- allowed India’s firms to Despite the govt’s observation,“However, to national unity in his inaugural erally,orstrugglingonthemarginsofthe learnbydoing,andmeet attempts to date, success rates of I/A address. He is also expected to LabourSHARE urban economy if they abandon their international quality accelerate the [incubators/accelerators] empower the marginalised places of origin.Punjab,at the forefront standards, something are abysmal”.But, I could communities facing structural As the Supreme Court recently said, unpaid domestic of the farmer protests, is merely the thatwill always matter. growth of India’s findnoanalysisofwhythis barriers and inequalities. On the starkest example of India’s failure to There is much more industrial sector, is so. My guess is that the economic front Biden will roll out his work by women needs better recognition from society “modernise”forthemasses. in the report that gives progress has been answer may lie in the cul- “Build Back Better” plan. He will actualise his commitments to rejoin Since we are starting a new year, cause for optimism. In slow.The lack of tureofgovernmentandof RECENTORDER whereonetraditionallylooksforsignsof addition to the obvious universities, neither of the Paris Climate Accord and invest oftheSupremeCourtrecognisestheunpaidworkdoneby growth of womenathomeinitsentirety.Hearingadisputeoverinsuranceamountdue renewalandhope,perhapswecanfindit acceleration of digitisa- which supports experi- more in green energy and incentivise adoption of a green to the survivors of a deceased couple—the man was a professional and the in a new NASSCOM report (prepared in tion created by the pan- employment in mentation, risk-taking or partnership with consulting firm Zin- demic, specific sectors results orientation.Again, lifestyle. As promised, he will scrap woman,a homemaker—the court observed that the notional income from industry has left too A nov)onIndia’stechstart-upsystem.The such as health, educa- the report praises the the travel ban imposed on several unpaidhouseworkbywomenshouldfactorintheirlabouraswellastheir“sacrifices”;the report describes a vibrant and resilient tionandfinanceprovide many people stuck BharatInclusionInitiative predominantly Muslims countries. apexcourtrevisedtheinsuranceamountupwards.Theseven-pointmanifestobrought ecosystemfortechstart-ups.Somewhere global growth opportu- in agriculture at IIM-Ahmedabad, but He is sure to consider immigration outbyKamalHaasan’sMakkalNeedhiMaiampartyintherun-uptoAssemblyelections between 11,000 and 12,500were born nitiesforIndia.But,what one cannot get a sense of as a humanitarian issue; he will inTamilNadualsotalksabout“duerecognition”ofwomen’sunpaidhousework.Fixinga since 2015, the cumulative number are the cautions that we what sets it apart from so facilitate the reunion of families notionalincome—whenpayingwomenforhousework,withinthedominantsocialpar- growing at 8-10% a year.Of these,38 should register? The growth of a tech- many other efforts to support innova- separated at the US-Mexico border. adigmseemsanearimpossibility—establishesrecognitionofhouseworkaslabour,nudg- have valuations over $1 bn,the fabled nologically advanced start-up ecosys- tions on the long road from idea to There is now hope that he will ingsocietytoacknowledgeitsvaluewithintheeconomy. statusof“unicorn,”withadozenofthose temisnotasubstituteforfastergrowth commercial success. salvage the Iran nuclear deal. The As perNSSO’sTime Use Survey2019,92% of thewomen in the 15-59 age group enteringthatcategoryin2020.Another in labour-intensive manufacturing. Ultimately,a report like this one has Biden presidency could have an reported doing unpaid daily housework vis-a-vis 29% of men,and women spend a headlinenumberistheexistenceofover India has too many people who need tobedissected,challengedandabsorbed influence on other countries to lot more time on domesticwork,too,(299 minutesversus 97 minutes formen).This 500incubatorsandaccelerators,spread good jobs to not make that a priority. tothepointwhereitchangespoliciesand respect human rights and avoid hassurelycome down fromthe dayswhen the correspondingfigureswere352min- across more than 100 cities. More But,we know that the growth of tech institutionsontheground.Thiswillhap- discrimination against minority utes versus 57 minutes—then the widest such gap in the world.But, the fact is that broadly,Indiahasover750mnInternet firms can create ancillaryjobs,andnot pen at the level of states and cities, communities. We tend to believe the participation of women in paid labour has been declining,which means a lot of subscribers, and increasing “digital just receptionists and drivers.What is though the national government has a that the change of administration in women could likely be doing unpaid labour at home.Juxtapose this against the fact maturity”amongIndianenterprises. sometimes underappreciated in India role to play in areas such as tax policies Washington augurs well for the thatonly38%ofwomeninthecountryownanylandorahouse.Thus,thereisaneed OtherimportantfeaturesofIndia’s is the large number of jobs that are that incentivise risk-taking,or building future ofAmerica and the world. We torecogniseunpaiddomesticworkbywomentoattempttocompensatethem.What start-up landscape are its breadth and requiredtomaintainthehardwareand out the core digital infrastructure.The are happy and proud that Kamala has been a double whammy for many women is that they have to share the bulk of itspresenceonthefrontieroftechnol- software infrastructure fora digitally- frameworkofthisreporthasthepoten- Harris of Indian origin becomes the vice-president ofAmerica. unpaid domestic work even when they are employed—a significant number report ogy.The first is captured in the range based economy.The range of skill sets tial to launch a new chapter in the of sectors where start-ups are emerg- requiredhereissubstantial,fromiden- decades-old saga of howa handful of IT — G David Milton, Maruthancode productivity erosion in the professional sphere because of domestic work.ILO esti- ing, including retailing, finance, edu- tifying physical problems with net- firms,new and old,showed that India matestheunpaidcareworkeconomytobearound9%oftheglobaleconomy—mon- cation, health and media, as well as works and equipment to managing couldholditsownontheworldstage. ●Write to us at [email protected] etising this forwomenwill need careful policychoices.

R.N.I. Reg. No. MAHENG/2010/34809 Printed and published by Vaidehi Chintaman Thakar on behalf ofThe Indian Express Private Limited and printed at The Indian Express Private Limited Press, Survey No. 288, Plot 1 and 2, Raisoni Industrial Park, Village Maan, Taluka Mulshi, District Pune-411027 and published at The Indian Express Private Limited, Express House, Plot No. 1205/2/6, Shirole Road, Shivajinagar, Pune-411004. Phone: 67241000, Fax: 67241047. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Managing Editor: Sunil Jain, Resident Editor: Malini Bhupta* (*Responsible for selection of news under PRBAct)© Copyright: The Indian Express Private Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Financial Express®

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 FINANCIAL EXPRESS OPINION 7

● BUDGET FY22 GSTvaccine for ailing economy

AYUSH A MEHROTRA, UPKAR AGRAWAL & RAARAH GURJAR

Mehrotra is partner,Agrawal and Gurjar are associates, Khaitan & Co

HE UNION BUDGET FY22 can be postulated as the most anticipated economic event due to the unprecedented conditions caused by Covid-19. Whileeconomiesacrosstheworldareseemingly recoveringfromtheCovid-19trauma,industrial growthinIndiaisatanall-timelow.TheexpectationsintheT market for innovative economic policies offering tangible corrective measures,therefore,appearto be reasonable. Onesuchprognosticationisaddressingtheissuesunder goods and servicestax laws tomake GSTa‘good andsimple tax’.Giventheescalationofdisputesinrelationtothisfairly

ILLUSTRATION: ROHNITPHORE nascentlegislation,theexpectationistoaddressfewofthose issues,in linewith the spirit and philosophyof GSTlaw: ◗ Among other things, one of the frequently disputed HEANNOUNCEMENTOFany already spoken of states chipping in, as issuesundertheGSTregimerelatestotransitionoftaxcred- UnionBudgetfollowsafamil- well as leaving it to the private sector to its from the erstwhile regime,which have been blocked iar pattern.There are signals MADAN cater to those who come under the non- eitherduetotechnicalglitchesontheonlineGSTNportalat from the concerned ministry SABNAVIS essentialcategories.Suchanexpenditure the time of filing relevant form GSTTran-1,or due to non- thatsomethingbigiscoming. outlay can limit the scope of increasing availabilityofalternativestorectifyinadvertenterrorsinfil- IndustryTisrifewithoptimismthatthere Chief economist, CARE Ratings, and the author of ‘Hits & otherexpenditure.Infact,intuitively,the ingsuchform.Takingcognisanceoftheplightoftaxpayers, will be groundbreaking measures. Indi- Misses: The Indian Banking Story’.Views are personal outlays made in this Budget will tell us whileHighCourtsacrossjurisdictionshavepermittedsuch vidualsexpectthat therewillbebenefits about what needs to be filled by the a transition, the government continues to contest taxpay- for them in terms of tax cuts. However, states,with the balance being left to the ers’requests.It is noteworthyto highlight that courts have, once the Budget is presented, there is people to buyin the open market. in the past, taken a consistent view to condone procedural general dissatisfaction, and the more A tough call has to be taken on lapses to allow substantive politically-proper response is that it was whether or not the relief programmes, benefit,if entitled.Thus,a res- a pragmatic one. Moderate your which include the MGNREGA,free food, olution of the instant conun- The hype is understandable because cashtransfersforfarmers,etc,havetobe The government drum will not only save litiga- there is reason to be optimistic about continued at the same level orhave to be must rationalise tion costs of the government, expectations, especially under the cur- scaledback.Itmayberecollectedthatthe GST rates for inputs but also allow businesses to rent circumstances as the lockdown has PM-Kisan cash transfer scheme came in and input services optimise theirworking capital caused considerable stress to everyone. expectations justbeforethe2019electionsandwillbe requirements to combat chal- Butoneshouldrealisethattherearelim- hard to roll back. Even in the case of the with corresponding lengesarisingduetoCovid-19. itations of any Budget because of three MGNREGA,the government has towalk output supplies to ◗ Real estate is suffering reasons.First,it is merely a statement of the tightrope of perseveringwith the `1 avoid accumulation fromunreasonabledistinction accountofthegovernment,andhenceis lakh crore mark,which has been done of tax credits carved between those who a futuristic profit and loss account.The from the this year for another year. While the develop property for sale as maintaskistobalanceexpenditureswith migrantshavestartedreturninginsome against others who use it for revenue,and judiciously plan the bor- sectors, the services segment is still commercial leasing.While the rowing programme. Second, the main closed.Itwouldbenecessarytocontinue formerare allowed to avail input tax credit,the lattersuffer juiceofaBudget,whichusedtobethetax providing such support.The same holds from the bar imposed under GST.Asimple change offering rates,isnowoutsidethepurviewbecause Budget for subsidies where the government has parity to the two categories of developers can help avoid of the GST regime. These rates were to carefully plan any cutback as it can unnecessarylitigation,and provide a panacea to the sector. changedofteninthepre-GSTregime,but send the poorback to distressed times. ◗Similarly,the ITeS sector,which forms the backbone of are now more or less fixed.There is dis- While sectors may want more from the government in Therefore,theessentialexpenditures theworld’s backend operations,has been questioned on its cretionarypowertoincreaseexciseduties which have to be retained for a longer exports with the onset of GST.Expecting status quo as the onsingoods,buttherehasneverbeenan terms of policies, there have already been myriad policy time cannot be compromised much this earlierregime,serviceprovidersinthissectorexpectamore instance of these being reduced.More announcements since May 2020 for various sectors and year, which, in a way, puts some con- descriptiveclarificationregardingan‘intermediary’andtax- often,these are raised during the course straintsontheBudget.Thereisaclamour ability of its activities.Similarly,MNCs crave indulgence to of the year when the need arises.Third, hence it would not be realistic to expect more on forhighercapex,whichcurrentlyisofthe amend‘place of supply’specified forresearch and develop- while sectors may want more from the orderof`4.12lakhcrore(withadditional ment activities carried out for their offshore offices, from government in terms of policies, there February 1, 2021.The Budget anyway is merely a announcements of `25,000 crore being locationofperformanceofsuchservices(i.e.inIndia)tothe have already been myriad policy statement of account of the government, and tax rates made during the year).Of this,around locationoftheservicerecipient(i.e.outsideIndia)andhelp- announcements since May forvarious `1.12 lakh crore was for defence,which ingitqualifyasexportsupplies.Thesechangesmayhelpthe sectors and hence it would not be realis- are outside its purview because of the GST regime means that around `3 lakh crore in the governmentinfulfillingmultipleobjectives,namelyimpe- tic to expect more on February1,2021. Budget was for non-defence.The scope tus to foreign investments, generation of employment in There are also other practical issues for increasing these numbers substan- India and combating brain drain in the R&D industry. that we need to remember.The govern- concession in the higherlevels of income IndiaorConcorshouldhavealreadybeen tiallyisquitelimited,andhencenotmore ◗Thenthereisstreamliningtheconditionsforinputtax menthastomovealongafiscalconsolida- can be ruled out.Therefore,providing a in place even before the announcement than 10% increase is realistically possi- credit.A myopic reading of the extant provision gives an tionpathandthelibertythatwastherein consumptionboostbyincreasingdispos- wasmadewiththeexercisestartingfrom ble given the tight constraints. impression that the recipient of goods and/or services is FY21hasnot,inaway,leveragedthrough able incomes of households can be ruled April1.Butthisisneverthecase,andeven The challenge really for the finance mandatedwith an impossible compliance of ensuring pay- extravagant expenditures,aswas done in out.Any tax cuts at the lower level will be nine months through the year,the min- ministeristobalanceallthesepressures, mentoftaxbyitssupplier,beforeavailingthecreditthereof. the West.For 2020,it has been accepted moreoftokenism.Evenlastyear,creating istry is still not sure of the way forward. starting with building the path to fiscal Thisinterpretationisnotonlycontrarytotheconceptofuni- thattheworldwouldoperateonhighfiscal analternativescaleforchoosingtaxeswas Hopefully, the disinvestment depart- consolidation.Therefore, it does appear fied tax,but also detrimental to honest taxpayers. deficits and these numbers would not probably less meaningful and did not ment would have plans in place for such that expectations from the Budget ◗ This Budget presents an opportunity for the govern- have mattered when the multilateral really benefit too many people.The gov- sales as these companies have been on should be moderated and the success of menttointroducepoliciesthatarealignedwithits‘Makein agencies viewed them.But with recovery ernment could, on the contrary, opt for the discussion board for a fairly long any such exercise will hinge on present- India’and‘VocalforLocal’campaigns.Inpursuanceofthese on the anvil at least in statistical terms in taxing the higher income levels with a time. Even the companies being spoken ing numbers that look practical rather objectives,itisimperativethatthegovernmentrationalises 2021,runningahighfiscaldeficitwillnot higher rate,with a Covid-19 cess being abouthavenotreallychanged,andhence than overstating revenues to present GST rates for inputs and input services with the corre- bepalatable.Aglidepath,hence,hasto be broughtin.Thiswillmilitateagainstcon- the pros and cons should bewell known. aggressivespendingwhichcannotbeful- spondingoutputsuppliestoavoidaccumulationoftaxcred- defined for sure.And the pace of the tra- sumption as it is the higher income level This really leaves the income side filled.The lowtaxable basewill put reins its.Illustratively,the Pesticides Manufacturers & Formula- jectorywouldbeanareaofinterest. peoplewhohavethespendingpower. being fairly predictable,with little room onthetaxrevenuethatcanbegenerated, torsAssociation of India (PMFAI) has filed a representation Given this limitation, what can the The other big issue that is up for dis- fortinkeringwith numbers. whilethecompulsionstoperseverewith for reduction of GST on farm-based inputs such as insecti- government really do? A normal sugges- cussion is disinvestment. It has been How about expenditure? The year various relief schemes will be a major cides,plant growth regulators,etc,from 18% to 5%. tionistocuttaxes.Corporatetaxrateshave observed that,conventionally,the disin- 2021-22 will be the one where concen- consideration. Future growth has to be We note that the finance minister recently promised a alreadybeencut,andthereislessscopefor vestment amount that is plugged into trationhastobeonthevaccinationdrive. driven by private investment and con- ‘neverbeforelike’Budgetwhileconcludingpre-Budgetcon- reducing these further. Individual tax the Budget document is a balancing Iftheentirepopulationof130crorewere sumption, with the government sup- sultations.Whilethiscanbeindicativeofarationalreformist rates can be cut, but this class is a fixed number to match income and expendi- tobegiventwodosesofthevaccinebythe porting through adequate incentives in policy,the government will need to strike a balance to find income source for the government,and ture after fixing the fiscal deficit. If one central government free of cost, the a proactive manner,which has beenwit- therightdosageofvaccinetocuretheeconomicslowdown, while there can be some space given to were serious about this exercise, ideally expenditure(at`400persetoftwodoses) nessed all through the year. Budgetary which has onlyintensifiedwith the pandemic. individualsbelowthe`5lakhbracket,any the plan for disinvesting LIC, BPCL,Air will be `52,000 crore.The Centre has numbers have theirlimitations.

BUDGET FY22

N THE FORTHCOMING Union Bud- outcome is to have a large number of get,itwould beworthwhile trying to hotels coming up on reasonably priced shift to a growth trajectory that cre- land and competingwith each other. atesmoreproductiveandbetter-pay- Giving tourism Forthesedevelopmentstoacquirecrit- ing jobs.Accelerating the pace of job icalmass,provisionoflong-termdebtisan Icreation would naturally lead to faster essential requirement.The need for long- decline in poverty as well as reduction in term finance forinfrastructure through a inequality.Thewaytodothisistoidentify priority this year developmentfinancialinstitutionisbeing sectorswhere there is a huge potential for felt.The sooner the government makes creating better jobs.We need the equiva- this a reality,the betteritwould be forour lent of the Production-Linked Incentive Investment needed to medium-term growth prospects. The (PLI) scheme for creating jobs; an ELI develop the tourism investment required for developing the (Employment-Linked Incentive) scheme. tourismpotentialinIndiaissolargethata An identified job-creating sector would potential in India is so large separate development financial institu- need a scheme crafted specificallyforit. tion for tourism may well be warranted. Ifthisapproachwereadopted,tourism that a separate development TheCentreneedsto makelong-termdebt would then become a very high priority financial institution for availabletostatetourismagenciesbacked sector,which is not the case as yet. India AJAY bytheirstate governments. welcomed around 10 million tourists tourism may be warranted The state governments should under- annually before Covid-19,whereas Thai- SHANKAR take some degree of islanding of premier landgotaround40millionandChina145 touristlocationsbyprovidingexpressway The author is distinguished fellow,TERI, and former secretary, DIPP million. India has so much to offer. It connectivity from the airport, quality should not be difficult to catch up. round-the-clockelectricityandwatersup- Notwithstanding the Incredible India inpartnershipwithstatesandotherstake- gapore or Dubai. This loss in revenue holyplaceof Sarnath.Anewglobal tourist land and the basic structure of the build- ply, better and friendly policing, electric advertising campaign,the fact remains holders should identify destinations would be more than made up in the destinationmustalsoplanforandprovide ing were given for completion and fur- vehicles only for clean air, and attractive thatwe are notyet the tourist destination where a critical mass of hotel rooms and medium term with higher tax revenues facilities for interesting things to do after nishing to run the hotels on a long-term and convenient pedestrian areas.Levying that we can and should be. Even wealthy relatedtourisminfrastructureneedstobe that growth in tourismwould generate. savouring the natural attractions of the leasewithafixedrentalpaymentorashare higher rates and user charges would be a Indians prefer seeing more of the rest of developed, and then marketed as an Foranynewdestination,attractingpri- place.Agra has not been gaining in the of revenue,whichever was higher.These consequence.Thetwobasicsofcleanliness the world, instead of visiting attractive attractive destination to global holiday vate investment is difficult as potential number of night halts on this account. became highly profitable investments and courtesyin public places are also pre- destinations within India. Tourism is tour operators. Scale would be essential. investorsdonotseedemand.Theabsence Rajasthan, on the other hand, has been overtime.Landshouldalsobeofferedata requisites. These are not difficult to labour-intensive and will remain so. For any one of these,an airport and the of hotel rooms and related infrastructure succeedingbyofferinginterestingexperi- fixed price onafirst-comebasisfordevel- achieve with sustained local efforts and Tourism in India generates around 8% of equivalentoftheAerocityclusterofhotels resultsindemandnotrising.Theonlyway ences such as camel rides,etc. opment of hotels.Auctioning land is not would make a huge difference. totalemploymentandaround9%ofGDP. (near Delhi’s international airport) would togetoverthisconundrumisforthestate The state government tourism devel- the right way to proceed as it needlessly This is a good time fordeveloping new Aviablestrategywithsmartpolicyinstru- be required.In addition,taxes on aviation to assume leadership. It needs to prepare opment agency would need to assemble pushes up prices. The consumer at an global tourist destinations. Construction ments needs to be put in place to take fuel need to be brought down so that air a good master plan.Great locations are land. At greenfield or underdeveloped Indian tourist destination should be pay- activity would create jobs and generate growth of tourism to a different level and travel from Delhi to destinations within being ruined by untidy development. sites, the state agency may do what the ing prices for hotel stay comparable to demand for industrial goods with a large begin catching up. India,suchasKerala,OdishaortheNorth- Nainital and Mussoorie are good exam- NDMC and the DDAdid a generation ear- what she would pay in Thailand for simi- multiplier effect.This would accelerate Tobeginwith,the central government East, should cost less than a flight to Sin- ples. So is the area around the Buddhist lier to get the two Taj Hotels of Delhi.The lar facilities.The only way to get such an recoveryconsiderably.

Pune 8 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM MEMORABLE INDIAN TESTWIN

Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet @sundarpichai One of the greatest test series wins ever.Congrats India and International well playedAustralia, what a series #INDvsAUS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021

● POST-PRESIDENCY LIFE Woman who may have tried to sell Pelosi’s Biden eyes 8-yr citizenship Prez Trump leaves town an computer device held path for immigrants FEDERALAUTHORITIES HAVE arrested a Pennsylvania woman accused of steal- ASSOCIATED PRESS ing a laptop computer or hard drive from Washington, January 19 outcast,trailed by pandemic US House of Representatives Speaker NancyPelosi’s office during the storming US PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden plans to of the Capitol by supporters of President unveilasweepingimmigrationbillonDay DonaldTrump,US media reported. One of his administration,hoping to pro- Rather than being unburdened from the pressures of the presidency, he will have to Riley June Williams, who has been vide an eight-year path to citizenship for defend himself in his 2nd impeachment trial over his incitement of the Capitol riot charged with unlawfully breaching the an estimated 11 million people living in Capitolbuildingandwithdisorderlycon- thecountrywithoutlegalstatus,amassive ductwas arrested on Monday,theAssoci- reversalfromtheTrumpadministration’s BLOOMBERG ated Press said, citing a Justice Depart- harsh immigration policies. January 19 ment official. The legislation puts Biden on track to TheFBIsaidinacourtfilingonSunday deliver on a major campaign promise DONALD TRUMP DEPARTS Washington thatWilliamswas seen onvideo taking“a important to Latino voters and other would“undo the damage”while continu- onWednesdaywithAmericansmorepolit- laptop computer or hard drive” from immigrant communities after four years ing to maintain borderenforcement. ically divided and more likely to be out of Pelosi’s office.It is investigating whether of President Donald Trump’s restrictive Under the legislation, those living in workthanwhenhearrived,whileawaiting shetriedtosellthedevicetoRussianintel- policies and mass deportations. theUSasofJanuary1,2021,withoutlegal trial for his second impeachment - an ligence. It provides one of the fastest pathways statuswouldhaveafive-yearpathtotem- ignominious end to one of the most tur- The New York Times reported that tocitizenshipforthoselivingwithoutlegal porary legal status,or a green card,if they bulent presidencies inAmerican history. Williams had turned herself in to local statusofanymeasureinrecentyears,butit passbackgroundchecks,paytaxesandful- Trumpintendstoleaveinthemorning police on Monday. The Justice Depart- failstoincludethetraditionaltrade-offof fil otherbasic requirements. for his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, ment did not respond to Reuters’request enhanced border security favoured by Fromthere,it’sathree-yearpathtonat- Florida,arrivingbeforePresident-electJoe for comment.According to the affidavit many Republicans, making passage in a uralisation, if they decide to pursue citi- Biden is inaugurated. filedwiththeUSDistrictCourtfortheDis- narrowlydivided Congress in doubt. zenship. There, the ex-president will begin his trict of Columbia, the FBI received a tip Expectedtorunhundredsofpages,the For some immigrants, the process post-presidencylifeattendedatleasttem- from someone who said they were a for- billissettobeintroducedafterBidentakes wouldbequicker.So-calledDreamers,the porarily by a handful of former White merromantic partnerofWilliams. theoathofofficeWednesday,accordingto young people who arrived in the US ille- House staffers. The tipstersaidWilliams“intended to a person familiarwith the legislation and gally as children, as well as agricultural The last president who chose not to send the computer device to a friend in granted anonymityto discuss it. workersandpeopleundertemporarypro- attend his successor’s inauguration was Russia,whothenplannedtosellthedevice As a candidate,Biden called Trump’s tectivestatuscouldqualifymoreimmedi- Andrew Johnson in 1869, another ton among all but his most loyal support- to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence ser- actions on immigration an “unrelenting atelyforgreencardsiftheyareworking,are impeachedleader.WhileTrump’sabsence IGNOMINIOUS END ers in the wake of the deadly January 6 vice,”the affidavit stated.—REUTERS assault” on American values and said he in school ormeet otherrequirements. will break more than a century of prece- insurrection at the US Capitol,which was dent that has reinforced the peaceful ■ Trump’s popularity has fallen inspired by Trump’s refusal to accept transferofpowerintheUS,Bidenhassaid considerably since the election defeatandrecogniseBiden’svictoryinthe MAPPING THE VIRUS As WHO fumes at it’sa“goodthing”Trumpwon’tobservehis and the Capitol riot Novemberelection. Cases exceed The coronavirus has swearing-in. ■ The Washington that Trump Unemployment is more than a third exposed the“catastrophic western drugmakers, Biden will arrive in Washington on leaves looks more like a military higherthanwhenheenteredoffice.About 95.6 million effects” of ignoring long- Tuesday,where Trump isn’t expected to base than the seat world’s 400,000 Americans are expected to be term risks such as China fills vaccine void pandemics, and the give him a meeting, according to people longest-standing democracy deadofCovid-19bythetimeTrumpleaves familiarwith the matter,even though the theWhite House onWednesday. Deaths surpass economic and political BLOOMBERG consequences could cause January 19 president-elect will stay at Blair House Yet Trump has left the door open for a 2 million more crises for years to across the street. after the inauguration to lay a wreath at second act in national politics,buoyed by come, according to the FORMONTHS,THE Allofthenation’sotherlivingex-pres- theTomb of the Unknown Soldier. the74millionpeoplewhovotedforhisre- Recoveries World Economic Forum. WorldHealthOrgani- identsexceptJimmyCarter,whois94,will Theoutgoingpresidenthasbeentrans- election despite his failure to contain the The European Union wants to set up a mechanism that zation has called on countries to come joinBidenatArlingtonNationalCemetery formedintoapoliticalpariahinWashing- US coronavirus outbreak. would allow the sharing of surplus COVID-19 vaccines with together to ensure a fair distribution of 66,945,955 poorer neighbouring states and Africa, the EU health chief Covid-19 vaccines among rich and poor said on Tuesday, in a move that may undercut a WHO-led � Russia says second nations.Nowit’s starting to lose patience. global scheme. approved vaccine is 100% On Monday, WHO Director-General effective Immunological efficacy of the second Russian vaccine, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said drug EpiVacCorona --developed by Vector State Virology and Biden moves to take charge as virus deaths near 400,000 � More than 44 million Biotechnology Center in Siberia --is 100%, based on clinical manufacturers had prioritised regulatory shots given worldwide trial data, Tass reported, citing public health agency approval in rich countries,where profits WITH THE UNITED States approach- the Lincoln Memorial, where 400 movewhen he takes office onWednes- � Germany extends Rospotrebnadzor. are highest, rather than submitting full ing a once-unthinkable coronavirus lights will be illuminated along the day,before it was scheduled to go into lockdown to Feb. 14 on France isn’t facing an exponential spread at this time, even if dossiers to get the greenlight from the pandemic death toll of 400,000 peo- perimeter of the reflecting pool. Each effect. fears of Covid variants the situation remains“worrisome,” according to the minister. global health body.“The world is on the ple,Joseph R.Biden Jr.,on the eve of his is meant to represent approximately Trump’s order was issued at a time of � Kids sign up for vaccine Veran said 1.4% of positive PCR tests in the country are of brink of a catastrophic moral failure,” inauguration as president, is assum- 1,000 Americans who have died dur- heightened anxiety over the coron- trials in next step to more transmissible variants of Covid-19. Tedros said. ing the role of mourner in chief and ing the pandemic. avirus andwhat Biden haswarnedwill conquer Covid Singapore will defer reopening some nightclubs and The WHO’s struggles have opened the karaoke outlets until further notice following an increase in projecting an air of command of the On Mondaynight,as PresidentTrump be a “dark winter.” The country has � doorforChina to startramping up itsvac- UAE administers 2 the number of community cases. The reopening under a issue that has vexed the Trump ordered an end to the ban on travellers experienced a post-holidays surge in million vaccines as pilot programme was due to start this month. cine diplomacy, with Foreign Minister administration for the past year. from Europe and Brazil that had been cases that has overwhelmed some inoculation gathers pace Wang Yi pledging last week to hand out The London Metal Exchange will propose permanently The president-elect will arrive in the aimed at stopping the spread of the hospitals and led to record numbers of � IMF urges Germany to closing its open-outcry trading floor, putting an end to the more than a million doses during a swing nation’s capital Tuesday evening for a coronavirus to the United States, deaths. keep economy on century-old practice of setting the world’s metals prices in a throughSoutheastAsia.Thatamountedto somberinauguration-eve ceremonyat Biden’s aides said hewould rescind the —NYT pandemic support daily shouting match. a geopolitical win just before the inaugu- ration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Quick ’ profits more VW challenges Tesla in China profit beats View than double, despite pandemic estimates with its new electric SUV BLOOMBERG Spending on global ASSOCIATED PRESS BANK OFAMERICApost ed a drop January 19 New York in fourth-quarter profit on Tues- energy transition day that still topped Wall Street VOLKSWAGEN HAS SET the starting hits record $500 bn GOLDMAN SACHS SAID its profits more expectations and pointed to signs price of its first locally built all-electric thandoubledfromayearearlierthanksto of an economic recovery as the sports-utilityvehiclewithitsChinesepart- THEWORLDSPENTarecord$501.3 a surge in both trading and advising rev- pace of consumer spending gath- ner FAWGroup at 199,900 yuan billionin2020onrenewablepower, enue. ers steam.Underscoring its confi- ($30,800) after subsidy, descending into electricvehiclesandothertechnologies The NewYork-based investment bank dence in the economy, the bank the mass market as a growing number of tocuttheglobalenergysystem’s said it earned a profit of $4.36 billion, or omywill be in ayearortwoyears’time. joined peers JPMorgan Chase and players jostle forshare. dependenceonfossilfuels.The $12.08pershare,upfromaprofitof$1.72 Goldman’s profits were driven higher Citigroupinreleasingsomeofthe The ID.4 Crozz is built onVW’s MEB account for about 40% of global vehicle investmentsinthetransitiontoalow- billion,or$4.69ashare,inthesameperiod byitsinvestmentbankandtradingdesks, cashithadsetasidetocovercoro- electric vehicle manufacturing platform, deliveries and a large chunk of profits. In carboneconomymarkeda9%increase a year earlier.The earnings were signifi- the cornerstone to the bank’s business navirus-driven loan losses. which is also used in some models ofAudi May,itstruckdealswithtwoChinesecom- over2019andcamedespite cantly better than the $7.45-per-share models.Investmentbankingrevenuewas “In the fourth quarter,we contin- and Skoda.The car is cheaper than Tesla’s panies, broadening its strategic footprint disruptionsfromtheCovid-19 profit that analystswere expecting. up 29% from a year earlier to $2.73 bil- ued to see signs of a recovery, led recently launched Model Y crossover, as the coronavirus sparks the worst eco- pandemic,accordingtoareportout Goldman’s results reflect that Wall lion.The bank saw higher underwriting by increased consumer spending, whichstartsat339,900yuanandisn’teli- nomic contraction in decades. TuesdayfromBloombergNEF.The Street had a strong year,despite the pan- revenues - fees the bank collects to take stabilising loan demand by our gible forsubsidies. New-energyvehicleretailsalesinChina growthwasn’tspreadevenlyacrossthe demic and millions of Americans out of companiespublicorunderwritedebtthey commercial customers, and The vehicle can run as far as 400 kilo- rose 9.8% in 2020 to 1.11 million units globe.Investmentinrenewablepower work.AfterplungingsharplyinMarchand want to offer - as well as trading revenue, strong markets and investing meters (249 miles) on a single charge.VW and surged 58% year-on-year in Decem- capacity,whichaccountedforthe April, the stock market went basically which rose 23% from ayearearlier. activity,”Chief Executive Officer isalsosellingaversionwitharangeof550 ber to 206,000, the China Passenger Car biggestchunkofspendingtalliedby straight up for seven months as investors Thebanksalsosawrevenuegainsinits Brian Moynihan said. kilometers,starting at 219,900yuan. Association said earlier this month. Of BNEF,soared52%inEuropecompared tried to look beyond the near-term death wealth management arm as well is —REUTERS ChinaisacriticalmarketforGermany’s those December deliveries, 23,804 cars tolastyear.Butitfell20%intheUSand andpainandfocusonwheretheUSecon- nascent consumerbanking business. VW; its sprawling Chinese operations wereTeslas. 12%inChina. Citrix to buycompetitor Boeing 737 MAX to Birkenstock in talks Wrike for$2.25 bn get EU flight China’s car-chip shortage could for $5 billion sale to CITRIX SYSTEMS HAS agreed to buy Wrike for $2.25 billion in cash to add clearance next week CVC Capital collaboration software to its products serving remote workers. REUTERS persist for as long as a decade BLOOMBERG The deal,expected to close in the Paris, January 19 January 19 first half of the year,will be Bloomberg Carmakersaroundtheworldhavebeen “modestly dilutive”to Citrix’s BOEING’S 737 MAX airliner will receive January 19 hit in recent weeks by a worsening global BIRKENSTOCK,THE GERMAN company earnings in 2021,Citrix said. final clearance to resume flying in Europe semiconductorshortage that’s led to pro- behindtheiconicsandalswornbyhippies next week, the head of the EU’s air safety CHINA’S AUTOMOTIVE-CHIP shortage duction cuts and staff layoffs. and preppies alike, is in talks to be taken 134 cars crash as snow watchdog said onTuesday. could persist foras long as a decade,but it AdeputysecretarygeneraloftheChina overbyCVCCapitalPartners,accordingto hits Japanese highway TheEUAviationSafetyAgency(EASA)is has little to do with the current supply AssociationofAutomobileManufacturers people familiarwith the matter. oneofthelastmajorregulatorstoapprove glitchessnarlingproduction,accordingto said last week that the chip shortages The private equity firm is in advanced ATLEAST134 carswere involved in a changes to the MAXand its anti-stall soft- the official who oversees the nation’s key could’ve had a relatively big impact on negotiationswiththefamilyownersofthe series of crashes in Japan onTuesday ware, blamed for two deadly crashes that new energy vehicle technology develop- China’s car industry from late December nearly 250-year-old brand, according to when a snowstorm struck a stretch of grounded the jet in March 2019. ment platform. and maypersist into the second quarter. the people,who asked not to be identified highwayand one personwas killed in TheEuropeanagency,whichpublished Short-term factors like mistakes in TheproblemasYuanseesitismoresys- discussing confidential information. A the chaos.The crashes occurred on a draft airworthiness directive in Novem- ordering due to incorrect forecasts and temic.The nation’s supply chain will con- dealcouldvaluethebusinessatmorethan theTohoku Expresswayin the ber, has made largely presentational factory disruptions because of Covid-19 A deputy secretary general of the tinuetobevulnerabletoglobalforcesuntil 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) including northern prefecture of Miyag around adjustments after public consultations, willresolvenaturally,YuanChengyin,gen- China Association of Automobile Chinese companies build up their own debt,the people said. noon. Executive Director Patrick Ky said in an eral manager of the National New Energy Manufacturers said that the chip manufacturingcapabilities and make the WhileBirkenstocklauncheditssandals online media briefing. Vehicle Technology Innovation Center, shortages could’ve had a relatively semiconductors used in electric vehicles in the 1960s,the brand’s roots stretch all Gates-led fund raises “We expect to publish it next week, said. Rather, China’s rising demand for big impact on China’s car industry themselves. “That’s the huge challenge,” thewayback to 1774,when JohannAdam $1 bn for clean tech whichmeanstheMAXwillbeclearedtofly electriccars,itslackofdomestictechnical from late December and may saidYuan,who’salsobehindthecountry’s Birkenstock was working as a cobbler in again,”Kysaid. knowhowand sustained geopolitical ten- first government-backed car-chip indus- the German state of Hesse.That heritage THE CLEAN-TECH venture capital TheUSFederalAviationAdministration sions will emerge as much more serious persist into the second quarter. try body, the China Automotive Chip has appealed to shoppers who gravitate fund led byBill Gates,has raised $1 (FAA) and Brazilian authorities both issues. IndustryInnovationStrategicAlliance.“If toward products with a back story.CVC billion fora second round of invest- cleared the MAX for flight in November. “China’s chip industry is under wedon’taddressit,theautoindustrycould already controls high-profile brands like ments afterbacking 45 startupswith Canada is expected to follow suit on tremendous pressure,” Yuan said in an day.“I don’t think the issue can be solved go back to where it was decades ago” in Breitling, the Swiss watchmaker. it took its first billion. Wednesday. interviewwith Bloomberg News on Tues- overnight.” terms of competitiveness. overin 2017.

Pune 9 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

ON RETIREMENT PLANNING

Vinay M. Tonse, MD & CEO, SBI Mutual Fund

Most of us give serious thought to retirement planning PersonalFinance ❝when it is too late to build a sizeable corpus for our ❝ needs. This may lead to a compromised lifestyle and WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 emergency during medical situations.

● EQUITY INVESTING ● BUDGET ROADMAP 2021: PENSION Three behavioural biases to avoidwhen investing RAJIV BAJAJ Senior citizens comparedtoitspreviousloworwhetherit Portfolio performance COSTLYMISTAKES ismoreexpensivecomparedtoits52-week seek tax-free tends to be poor when a high.Investors must understand that the ■ Disposition effect is when stockpricereflectsthefundamentalsofthe majority of the buy and sell investors sell very quickly business and that the low or high price pension and decisions are suboptimal stocks whose value has might have strong fundamental reasons increased but hold on to their behind that. It is not necessary that the because of irrational stock is undervalued if it is close to its 52- annuity income losing stocks because they do investing behaviour weekloworovervaluedifitisneartoits52- not want to book losses weekhigh. THE BUDGET 2021 to be presented by ■ Anchoring is another costly finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will Hold Social proof PSARAVANAN & MANAS MAYUR ` mistake when investors bekeenlywatchedbyseniorcitizens.Interest compare the current price of a You should not buyshares just because rates have been sliding downwards for the OVER THE LAST 30years,the equitymar- yourfriend orcolleagues are buying them. lastfewyearsandhasimpactedtheregular share with its 52-week low or ketshaveperformedextremelywellbutyou This tendency to take comfort in doing income needs of investors,especially the mayfindthatsomesegmentsofyourport- high price instead of realising thingswhichothersaredoingiscalledsocial retired.The inflation is not looking to go folio have not done that well. One of the the stock price reflects the proof. One of the common examples of awayin a hurryin 2021which could make majorreasonscouldprobablybebuyingand 52-Week Low Buy fundamentals of the business social proof is online reviews or ratings thecostoflivingdearer. sellingsharesatjustabouttheworstpossible ■ Social proof or tendency to whichinfluencespeople’sdecisions.Wefeel Withrisingmedicalcostsandafterpay- pointintime.Often,themajorityofthebuy take comfort in doing what safeandcertainifsomethingiscertifiedby ingahighpremiumforhealthandlifeinsur- and sell decisions prove to be suboptimal many people. Rather, as an investor you ance,the imposition of tax on the annuity because of irrational behaviours.One can 52-Week High friends are doing instead of shouldpayattentiontothefundamentalsof income of senior citizens is leaving them learn to make betterdecisions.Yes,it is not Exit paying attention to the the company and how it will react to the withlimitedfundstomeettheirhousehold easybutitispossible.Tobecomeasuccessful fundamentals of the company external factors,instead of going by social needs.Theseniorcitizensmayexpectsome investor,oneshouldrecogniseandavoidthe can lead to wrong buy and proofalone. income tax relief orenhancement in exist- followingbehaviouralbiases. sell decisions Toconclude,invariablyeveryinvestorat ing tax incentives to help them meet their some point of time has encountered the householdexpenses. Disposition effect ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD above biases.It is important to recognise A common regret that most investors quickly stocks whose value has increased fixatedonthestockpricealone. take long for the investors to understand such biases and deal with them appropri- Tax-free pension haveisnotholdingsomeofthegreatstocks since the time of purchase but hold on to thattheygottrappedinbadstocksandthat ately to become a successful investor and One big relief that can come the senior forlong.OftenIndianinvestorsrepentsell- theirlosing stocks.The reason fornot sell- Anchoring the free fall in the prices had solid reasons getbetterreturnsonyourportfolio. citizens’wayis to make pension tax-free in ing some of the multi-bagger stocks with ing loss making shares is that generally Another common mistake is compar- behind them. This tendency to rely too their hands in the year of receipt.When all very little gains. On the other hand, one investorsarehesitanttobookloss.Toover- ingthecurrentpriceofasharewithits52- much on the recent or one piece of infor- P.Saravananisprofessoroffinance& throughtheirearningperiodspanningover maybe holdingvalue deteriorating stocks come this tendency, it is very important weekloworhighprice.Manyinvestorsbuy mation available is called anchoring. accounting,IIMTiruchirappalli. 2-3 decades, they have paid tax on their inplenty.Thisispopularlyknownasdispo- that investors look at the quality of busi- stockswhen the price is lowerthan its 52- Investorsanchoredtopreviouspricelevels ManasMayurisassociateprofessor,Goa income,it is fair that theirannuityincome sition effect wherein investors sell very nessbeforebuyingandsellingandnotget weekpriceasitappearstoocheap.Itdidnot to findacheaperprice;whetheritislowas InstituteofManagement,Goa gets relief from taxation during the retired years.Annuityorregularpensionisreceived from several schemes such as immediate ● YOUR QUERIES annuityscheme,NPS,PradhanMantriVyay VandnaYojna(PMVVY)oreventhepension receivedaftersuperannuation.NPSisapop- ular investment option to save for retire- ment.While the commuted portion at age e 60 is tax-exempt, the monthly annuity receivedthereafteristaxableinthehandsof FE investors.Even interest received from the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme is taxable which the senior citizens want to be made Chaitali Dutta tax-exempt. ● BUDGET 2021: INTERVIEW: MANISH SHARMA, themarket,especiallyfortheACcategory. Studyloan paid but President & CEO, Panasonic India & South Asia What would be the manufacturers’ expectationsfromtheBudget? classes deferred? Formanufacturers,reformssuchasthe reduction of corporate tax and introduc- Ask bank to extend Our expectation is to see tion of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme were welcomed and it dis- loan period,take playsthegovernment’sintenttopromote healthybackwardintegrationandprovide simple interest reforms that drive consumption impetustodomesticmanufacturingwhile ` elevatingIndia’spositionasaglobalman- I had applied foran education loan Air conditioners and televisions are no Withthisbackdrop,westronglybelieve ufacturingchampion.Toeasesupplychain Pension ` lastyearformyson’s master’s longer luxury items; these have become thattheconsumerdurablesandelectron- challenges,Iwould urge the government Fund programme.Nowhe has returnedto essential household items, says Manish icsindustry,whichsawpositivefestivesea- to consider the‘One Nation,One Permit, ` India as the universityinAustralia has Sharma,president&CEO,PanasonicIndia sonlastyear,hasthepotentialtohelpour One Tax’system for a seamless and effi- ` ` onlyonline classes.What should I do &SouthAsia.“DuringtheupcomingBudget economyrecoverfaster.And,ourexpecta- cientroadtransportexperience. `` with the loan amountwhich is already session, the government should consider tionfromtheUnionBudget2021istosee The continuous tightening of the paid bythe bank to the university? rationalisation of tax rates on such con- reforms that drive consumption and energynorms,uppingtheR&Dandmate- —Deepak Kumar sumerdurable electronic items.The Union improveconsumerdemand. rialcost,putupwardpressureonpricesfor The next stepswill be taken after Budgetshouldofferincentivesformanufac- energy-efficient products,furtherdamp- ascertaining fromyoursonwhetherhe turerstoproduceenergy-efficientproducts What are the areasyouwouldwant the eningtheconsumersentiments.Lowering has taken a deferred semesterorhe has whichwillbeinlinewiththegovernment’s governmenttoaddressintheBudget? the GST tax slabs for eco-friendly and ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD abandoned the programme altogether. sustainability agenda,”he says while dis- DuringtheupcomingBudgetsession, energy-efficient products such as ACs, Theamountofpensionreceivedisadded Based on his decision, cussing the pre-Budget expectations with Iwould urge the government to consider refrigerators,washing machines,etc.,will to one’s income and is taxed as per the you need to inform the SudhirChowdhary.Excerpts: rationalisationoftaxratesoncertaincon- drive demand and increase the adoption income tax slab.In case of senior citizens bank and take the next sumerdurableelectronicssuchasaircon- of sustainable appliances by consumers. between age 60 and 80, income up to `3 steps.In case it is a As one of the leading brands in the ditioners (ACs) and television (TVs).These The Budget should additionally offer lakh is tax exempt while for those who are deferment,the bank appliance and consumerelectron- are no longer ‘luxury’ items and have incentives for manufacturers to produce above 80 years, income up to `5 lakh is maybe agreeable to ics(ACE)industry,howdoyouseethe become common and essential house- theseenergy-efficientproductswhichwill exemptedfromtax. hold the loan andyou Union Budget 2021 contributing to hold.The energyefficiencyof air-con- be in linewith the government’s sustain- To illustrate,if a taxpayer has accumu- LOANS maycontinue paying theeconomicrecovery? ditioners has steadily increased and abilityagenda. latedanNPScorpusof`50lakhonhis60th the simple interest on India’s lockdown in Q1 of FY21 did theynowofferadded features such birthday,then he can take back 60% of the the outstanding loan.Formallyapplyto have a significant impact on the GDP asair-purificationwhichisimpor- Whatdoyouexpectforconsumers? same, i.e., `30 lakh as tax-exempt com- the bank to extend the period of the loan. which contracted an unprecedented tantinurbanareas.Loweringthe Fromaconsumerperspective,increas- mutedportion. If the course is abandoned,you have to 23.9%.However,overthelastfewmonths, tax slab to 18% from 28% ing the deduction under Section 80C to Nowonthebal- Introducing a tax- close the loan and paythe outstanding macroeconomic indicators are showing would help offset the price `3 lakh from current levels of `1.5 lakh anced amount free annuity scheme amount to the bank immediately. signsofrecovery.RBIalsopredictsthatthe pressure and spur demand will help reduce the tax burden giving of `20 lakh if will help retired economic shrinkage is overand GDPwill for both air conditioner more spending power to people.We are he takes an people enjoy the I took aloan from HDFC onwhich Igot growinthenextfewquarters.Thegovern- (SplitandWindow)andtele- highly optimistic about the upcoming annuity with annuity stream PMAYsubsidyof `2.7 lakh.Now,Iwant ment continues to show commitment vision (above 68 cm), Union Budget and expect it to usher in a annual return without worrying to transferthe loan to SBI.But HDFC towards introducing long-due reforms therebyimproving affordabil- balancedcombinationofreformsandreg- of 6%, his says the subsidyhas to be returned to leading to‘Ease of Doing Business,’mak- ity among customers, attracting ulations,whichwill,inturn,boostthe ACE annualannuity about taxation. The the government if I balance transfer ing India ‘AtmaNirbhar’ by promoting investments in component manufac- industry,contributingpositivelytoIndia’s income will be government may myloan.What should I do? ‘MakeinIndia’initiativesaggressively. turing,andhelpinpenetratingdeeperinto growthstory. `1.2 lakh or also provide a cut-off —Amit Lomate `10,000 per limit up to which the PMAYcan be availed onlyonce.The month. As per ● CYBERSECURITY pension received subsidyis calculated as an interest rate securityprocessingusingAItoolswillhelp the current tax from existing benefit forthe tenure of the loan.If the companiestoachievethisflexibilitylevel. provision, this loan is closed (eitherwithyourown Endpoint security:As organisations annuity schemes could be savings orbytransferring the balance to expand work-from-home and remote income is fully tax-exempt anotherbank),the interest benefit forthe Why data protection is important workingsolutionsfortheiremployees,the taxable and if unexpired tenure has to be surrendered. numberofvulnerableendpointsincreases. the senior citi- So,you have onlytwo options: give up the cyberattacks in the first quarter (Q1) of actions with the power to programmati- In such a situation,centralised security zenisinthe30%taxbracket,hisnetannu- remaining PMAYbenefit and shift to SBI Businesses will not only 2020,as compared to the fourth quarter cally detect, investigate, and remediate systems prove ineffective because of the ity income will be only `7,000 per month. orstaywith HDFC to continuewith the need to manage their (Q4)oflastyear. cyber threats without human interven- disrupted landscape.“Endpoint security Bymakingthistax-exempt,thegovernment full advantage of PMAY. Asorganisationsembracedigitaltrans- tion.The system will identify incoming willbecomeanecessitytomanagemulti- cangiveadditionalspendingamountsupto extensive workloads, but formation,it will be imperative to better threats from both external and internal ple open points and help regulate data `3,000 per month,which would be a big I bought a flatwith a homeloan five also ensure that data flow protect and manage theircritical data by stakeholders,andalerttheDBAsasperthe traffic through data loss prevention and reliefforseniorcitizens. years ago.Iwantto sell it but Ican’t deploying robust data protection solu- priority and level of threat.Automating monitortheincomingandoutgoingcon- The government may also introduce a prepaythe loan.What do I ask the is secured tions.Bajwasays,“Itwillalsobeanecessity nection of sensitive and mission-critical newtax-freepensionschemeforseniorcit- buyerto do as he maynot takea loan? forCTOsandCIOsandnotachoicetopro- data,”saysBajwa. izens. Introducing a tax-free annuity —Surjit Kanwar tect and secure the data of their cus- Increasedinvestmentincybersecu- schemewillhelptheretiredenjoytheannu- Forsale of a flatwhere a home loan is SUDHIR CHOWDHARY tomers.”A few trends,which Dell Tech- rity and privacy solutions: Today,data itystreamwithoutworryingabouttaxation. running,once the deal is finalisedwith nologiesbelieves,wouldsetthecoursefor protection has transformed itself into a Thegovernmentmayalsoprovideacut-off the buyer,get a loan outstanding letter THE CURRENT SITUATION has made us thedataprotectionlandscapein2021are: priority for CIOs and organisations are limituptowhichthepensionreceivedfrom fromyourbank.Also,let them knowthat realise that digital transformation has Securityautomation:Theincreasing investing heavily to safeguard their IT existingschemescouldbetax-exempt. youwill be closing the loan.The buyer, becomeabuzzwordacrossindustriesand cyber attacks in the year 2020 has made architecture against any kind of cyber Anotherbigreliefthattaxpayersinclud- eitherbyhis own funds orbytaking a inrecenttimeshastransformedintoakey organisationsrethinktheirsecuritymea- threat or malware attack.Bajwa says,“In ing seniorcitizensare lookingforward tois loan,will first payoffyourhome loan element of business strategy.It has even sures,especiallyintermsofenterprisedata theyear2021,about42%oforganisations thatthegovernmentdoesnotintroduceany outstanding.The original property become an indicatorof an organisation’s security. “Security automation is the in India and globally, will continue to newtaxintheformofcessorsurcharge.Any documentswill be released byyourbank, growth and success.“We have witnessed answerfororganisationslookingtosecure invest in cybersecurity and privacy solu- new tax may bring down the take-home whichwill be handed overto the buyeron growth of digital transformation in our their critical data in the future,”he says. tions to steerawayfrom the rising cyber- income, leaving less for meeting regular receipt of the balance amount of the countrybutatthesametime,manyorgan- Securityautomation is machine- attacksintheeraofremoteworking.” expenses.If there is more moneyleft in the payment inyourname. isationsmissoutonagiledataprivacyand based execution of security The pandemic has forced organisa- hands of the individuals,more will be the securityinfrastructure,”says Ripu Bajwa, tions to take a relook at their IT budgets. incentive to invest and spend the balance. The writeris founder,AZUKE director& general manager,Data Protec- Ripu Bajwa, director & Hence, customers will be more keen to Both personal investments and consumer Personal FinanceAdvisory tion Solutions,Dell Technologies,India. general manager, Data invest in specific solutions like data pro- spendingareinstrumentalingivingaboost (www.azukefinance.com). AccordingtoKasperskySecurityNetwork Protection Solutions, Dell tectionforendpointsoragainstmalwares, totheeconomyinthelongrun. Send yourqueries to (KSN)report,Indiasawa37%increasein Technologies, India. ratherthaninvestingintheentiresuite. [email protected] Thewriterischairman&MD,BajajCapital

Pune 10 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

MORATORIUM BENEFITS

C VR Rajendran , MD & CEO, CSB Bank

In the context of the withdrawal of the moratorium Markets ❝benefits by the regulator, we decided to be ❝ prudent by holding provisions in excess of the WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 regulatory provisions on the stressed assets...

● Money Matters TRANSACTION FAILURES Sensex soars 834 points on US stimulus G-SEC EMI bounces ease hopes; banking,metal stocks shine The benchmark yield fell 0.009% due to buying support FE BUREAU Mumbai, January 19 Sensex Intra-day, January 19 Rupee up 11 paise in December, 49,600 49,398.29 5.905 INDIAN EQUITIES ON 5.875 Tuesday recovered to 73.17 against $ lossesandendedthedayhigher.TheSensex 49,400 isonceagainkissingdistanceawayfromthe THERUPEEGAINED11 paise to 50,000-mark,thanks to the synchronised 48,900.31 settle at 73.17 against the US dol- show NACH data 49,200 marketrallyglobally. lar on Tuesday on the back of rally January 8 January 19 TheSensexroseby834points(1.72%)to in domestic equities and weak while bounce rates in value terms have closeat49,398.29whiletheNiftyralliedby 49,000 American currency. In value terms,the bounce improved over the last few months, in 239.85points(1.68%)tocloseat14,521.15. A rebound in regional curren- `/$ rate in Dec eased to 29.18% terms of volumes they are persistently Investorsentimentremainedupbeaton the 48,800 cies amid growing risk appetite high. hopeofabiggerfiscalstimulusintheUnited among investors also supported The rupee ended higher 0.153% from 31.13% in Nov Anil Gupta,sectorhead- financial sec- StatesofAmerica. the local currency. 48,600 on share market gains tor ratings, Icra, said, “This shows that Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have Open Close At the interbank forex market, and a weak dollar SHRITAMA BOSE smaller ticket-size borrowers are finding continuedtopumpincapitalintotheIndian the rupee opened at 73.16,and hit Mumbai, January 19 it harder to make repayments, as com- marketsonaccountoftheincreasedliquid- an intra-day high of 73.14 and a Inverted scale 73.17 paredtolargerticketborrowers.Thistrend ityabroadaftercentralbanksdecidedtocut such as France, Germany and the United lowof 73.31. It finallyfinished at 73.25 THE FAILURE RATES of auto-debit trans- has been continuing ever since the mora- interest rates in the previous year.Since Kingdom up between 0.10% to 0.14%. 73.17, higher by 11 paise over its actionsontheNationalAutomatedClear- toriumwas lifted.” November,aftertheUSpollstheIndianmar- Additionally,theDowJonesminifutureswas last close. ing House (NACH) platform, many of Atthesametime,assetqualityisbeing kets have seen strong buying on the part of upby200pointsduringthetimeofpress. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which are EMI requests,eased in Decem- closely watched as slippages could soar globalinvestorswithbrokeragesexpectingit Asian markets reacted to JanetYellen’s which gauges the greenback's ber,showed data released by the National oncetheSupremeCourtbaragainstrecog- tocontinueincalendaryear2021aswell.In announcement of a big stimulus push and strength against a basket of six cur- January 9 January 19 Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). nitionofpost-August31badloansislifted. January,FPIs have pumped in $2.5 billion benchmarks in Taiwan, South Korea and rencies, fell 0.22 per cent to 90.52 The share of unsuccessful auto-debit Inarecentreport,EmkayGlobalFinancial and in the last two months, they have HongKongroseby1.7%to2.7%. ahead of the testimony of US Sec- requestsinvolumetermsstoodat38.09% Serviceswrotethatproformaslippagesare pumped in $16.4 billion.Domestic institu- Whatcontributedthemosttotherallyin retary of the Treasury nominee C=/$ inDecember,against40.5%inNovember. likelyto be opticallyelevated in Q3 due to tional investors (DIIs),however,have been the stock markets are the Nifty PSU Bank Janet Yellen later in the day. Invalueterms,thebouncerateinDecem- the spillover from Q2 and the elapsing of selling stocks with the outflow in January stocks,NiftyMetals,andNiftyFinancialSer- — PTI The euro rose against 0.439% ber eased to 29.18% from 31.13% in the the 90-day period after the end of the standing at `12,365.77 crore.The FPIs on vices.Also,the market’s feargaugewhich is the dollar previousmonth.Bankershavebeeninsist- moratorium.“...but our discussions sug- Tuesdayboughtstocksworth$34.7million the IndiaVIXdropped by6.13% to close at tofourquarters.KotakInstitutionalEquities, ing that the high bounce rates are due in gest that overall NPA (non performing whereas,the DIIs sold stocksworth `199.3 22.9.Thefeargaugehasbeenrisinginthelast said,“Possible earnings upgrades and low 1.2218 large part to defaults at fintech lenders, asset) formation as well as restructuring crore. fewtrading sessions on account of the sell- bond yields may partly mitigate high 1.2130 whosecollectionsarestillbelowpre-Covid proposals are meaningfully lower than U R Bhat,director,Dalton CapitalAdvi- offandweaknessintheoverallmarkets. absolutevaluations.”Thebiggestgainerson levels. expectedthoughoneneedstobewatchful sors,said,“From the size of the inflows that Experts believe that the markets have the Niftywere Bajaj Finserv,Bajaj Finance, The NACH data showed that of the ofthetail-endrisk,”thebrokingfirmsaid. weareseeinginthelastfewdays,itappearsas reached their full valuation and the risk- Tata Motors,Hindalco and up 84.04 million debit requests for `81,576 Stress remains elevated in products iftheenthusiasmoftheFPIsiswaningabit. reward ratio is neutral.The markets have by6.76%,5.26%,5.2%,3.62%and3.53% croreworthofpaymentsmadeinDecem- such as commercial vehicle (CV) loans, Whetherthisisaprecursortoachangeinthe largelypricedinthestrongeconomicrecov- respectively.The biggest losers on the Nifty January 8 January 19 ber,32millionrequestsfor`23,809crore creditcardsandmicrofinanceloans.Stress broadtrendwehaveseenhitherto,onlytime ery,robustearningsgrowthinFY21toFY23 were ITC,,Britannia,aswell were declined.Bounce rate of anything on non-bank lenders’ books could also will tell and this space needs to be closely withpotentialearningsupgradesandlikely asMahindraandMahindradownby0.36%, above 25% is a cause for concern as it perk up in the December quarter as the watched.”European markets in countries stabledomesticbondyieldsforthenextthree 0.28%,0.08%,and0.05%. shows retail delinquencies remain well quantum of restructuring by them has above pre-Covid levels.Analysts said that been limited,Emkaysaid. Quick Home First Finance Company IPO to open tomorrow Failure of auto-debit transactions View % bounce (by volume) % bounce (by value) PRESSTRUSTOF INDIA `1,153.71crorecomprisesafreshissueofup `75 crore and `4.84 crore to Orange Clove New Delhi, January 19 to`265croreandanoffer-for-saleaggregat- InvestmentsBV,anaffiliateofWarburgPin- 50 45.4 ing up to `888.71 crore bypromoters and cus,andtoitscertainemployees,respectively, 45 41.9 40.3 40.8 40.1 40.5 MORTGAGE FINANCIER HOME First existingshareholders,thecompanysaidina bywayofpreferentialissue. 38 40 36.4 38.1 FinanceCompany(HFFC)onTuesdayfixeda statement. The IPOwould be open forsubscription 33.8 pricebandof`517-518ashareforitsinitial Theoffer-for-saleconsistsofsharesworth on January21 and close on January25.The IRFC IPO subscribed 35 31.5 38.1 31 36.7 share-sale,whichwill open forpublic sub- `435.61crorebypromoterTrueNorthFund anchor investors’portion will be open for 30 33 1.22 times on Day 2 32.2 31.7 32.3 31.1 scriptiononJanuary21. VLLP, `291.28 crore shares by promoter subscriptiononJanuary20.HFFCintendsto 30.3 29.2 THEIPOOFIndianRailwayFinance 25 27.6 Thiswouldbethethirdinitialpublicoffer Aether(Mauritius),`120.46crorebyinvestor utilisethenetproceedstowardsaugmenting 24.8 24.9 Corporationwassubscribed1.22times 20 (IPO) thisyearafterIndian RailwayFinance BessemerIndiaCapitalandupto`41.3crore its capital base to meet its future capital ontheseconddayofsubscriptionon Corporation (IRFC),which is currentlyopen bytwoindividualshareholders—PSJayaku- requirements.Halfoftheissueisreservedfor 15 Tuesday.Theofferreceivedbidsfor FebJan AprilMar JuneMay AugJuly OctSept DecNov for public subscription,and Indigo Paints, marandManojViswanathan. qualifiedinstitutionalbuyers,35%forretail 1,52,64,04,775sharesagainst Source: NPCI whichwouldbelaunchedonJanuary20. Thecompanyhasreducedthefreshissue investors and 15% for non-institutional 1,24,75,05,993sharesonoffer,asper The HFFC IPO aggregating up to sizefollowingtheallotmentofsharesworth buyers. thedataavailablewithNSE.The categoryreservedfornoninstitutional investorswassubscribed24%and Six shut Franklin ANALYST CORNER retailindividualinvestors(RIIs)2.33 Feb 1 deadline set for final times. Templeton MF IIFLFinance,StandardC schemes get `669 cr rescue plans of PMC Bank Piramal Enterprises: Few inco-lendingpartnership FAIRFAXAND CDC-backed IIFL in first 15 days ofJan SHRITAMABOSE The bank had total deposits positive synergies to emerge Finance onTuesdaysaid itswholly- Mumbai, January 19 of `10,727.12 crore, total advances owned subsidiaryIIFLHome Finance FE BUREAU ICICI SECURITIES advantage ofdiversification and redu- and Bank have Mumbai, January 19 THE ADMINISTRATOR FOR Punjab & of `4,472.78 crore and gross NPAs ced concentration risk and optional entered into a co-lending arrange- Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank has worth `3,518.89 crore as on PIRAMALCAPITALAND Housing value from this deal lead us to PELvalue ment forextending MSME loans. THE SIX SHUTTERED debt schemes of setFebruary1asthedeadlineforprospective March 31, 2020 Finance'sresolution plan was duly of`2,028 (earlier `1,470). Key risks, litig- Underthis partnership,IIFLHome FranklinTempleton Mutual Fund continue investorstosubmitfinaloffersfortherecon- approved by CoC of Dewan Housing ation by other contenders on bidding Finance and the Standard Chartered toreceivecashflows.BetweenApril24,2020, struction of the bank. The due diligence Finance (DHFL) by majority voting as the outcome can defer the process; and Bankwill co-originate these loans and and January 15,2021,they have received processiscurrentlybeingcarriedoutbythree sitionofprimary(urban)co-operativebanks successful one, inching Piramal Group higher mark-down on acquired portfolio. the IIFLHome Financewill service the `13,789 crore from maturities, pre-pay- interested parties,administratorAK Dixit (UCBs)intosmallfinancebanks(SFBs)dated (PEL) closer to claiming its rights over Theway forward towards inking the customers through the entire loan ments,and coupons.In the first 15 days of toldthebank’sdepositorsinaletter. September27,2018,”thedocumentsaid. DHFL'sfranchise.We await specific deal: Piramal, Oaktree Capital,Adani life-cycle. the current month,the schemes got `669 The bank had issued an expression of Accordingtonewsreports,UK-basedLib- contours of the deal to gauge financial Capitalwere the contesting bidders for crore,ofwhich `617 crorewas received as interest(EoI)onNovember3,2020,inviting ertyGroup,acombineoftheCentrumgroup implications and value accretion. DHLF's acquisition — though individual J&KBank board to shift pre-payments. investors for a revival or reconstruction of and BharatPe, and two business families Nonetheless, few positive synergies bidding involved several specific Inalettertoinvestors,SanjaySapre,pres- PMCBank.Initially,fourinvestorshadshown fromMumbaiandHyderabadhadexpressed emerge for the business model. Ifthe qualitative and quantitative dynamics. 8.23% stake to Ladakh identofFranklinTempletonAssetManage- interest.Further process has been under- interestintakingoverthebank. deal consummates, strategic portfolio After CoC approved Piramal's bid and J&KBANKONTuesdaysaid its board ment (India), said of the total amount takenbythreeofthem.“Theinvestorsneedto TheinitialEoIsaidthataninvestorshould diversification intent (towards 50:50 withvoting being notified, the resolution has given in-principle approval to received sinceApril 24,2020,slightlymore have a full understanding of the financial ideally bring in the capital required for wholesale to retail mix)will be achieved plan needs to be approved by NCLTand transfer8.23% stake to Union thanhalfhadbeenfromsecuritiesrated“A”, positionoftheBankbeforegivingtheirfinal enablingthebanktoachievetheminimum sooner; reduced dominance ofwhole- regulators for the deal to go through. Territoryof Ladakh. followedbysecuritiesrated“AA”.Muchofthis offer.Accordingly,theyareatvariousstagesof requiredcapitaltoriskweightedassetsratio sale portfolio can help ease the borro- Weare awaiting the specific contours of cash had been generated from securities conducting detailed due diligence. The (CRAR) of 9%.They may also explore the wing cost; multi-asset retail digital lendi- the dealwith respect to the mode of whichwereunlisted,orwherethefundhouse investors have been allowed time till optionofrestructuringapartofdepositlia- ng can get further fillip from the existing recovery to creditors (through upfront wasamajority-holder. 01.02.2021 for submission of their final bilities into capital orcapital instruments. DHFLfranchise; and unallocated net cash, debt conversion, interest CSB Bank reports “Most importantly,all of this cash has offer,”thelettersaid. The bank mayapproach the Deposit Insur- worth of~`50-60billion can now comm- capitalisation etc).Also, given the beenreceivedwithoutanysecondarymarket Thebiddocumentputoutbytheadmin- ance and Credit Guarantee Corporation and some optionalvalue (utilised towar- developments through the bidding 89% y-o-y rise in sale(activemonetisation)ofthesecuritiesin istratorAKDixitsaidthattheobjectiveofthe (DICGC)foritssupporttopayupto`5lakhto ds retail business ramp up). Better-than- process, there is likelihood ofcontenders the six schemes.This points to the fact that process of invitation of EoIs is to identifya depositors.Afterevaluation,viableproposals anticipated revival in real estate filing litigation against the bidding Q3 net profit thesecuritiesheldinthefundscanbemon- suitableequityinvestororgroupofinvestors will be forwarded to the Reserve Bank of sentiment, scale up ofretail providing outcome and dragging it to the court. etisedatfairvalueifgivenappropriatetime willingtotakeovermanagementcontrolso India (RBI) forits consideration forprepar- CSB BANK ONTuesday reported an 89% undernormalmarketconditions,”saidSapre. astorevivethebankandcommenceregular ing a draft scheme of reconstruction and year-on-year(y-o-y)increaseinitsthirdquar- Even Franklin India ShortTerm Income day-to-dayoperations. otherconsequentialactionunderSection45 ter net profits to `53.05 crore on higher Planturnedcashpositiverecently,takingthe “Subsequent to commencement of the ofBankingRegulationAct,1945. Mindtree: Maintain‘sell’,cost interestandtreasuryincome. totalnumberofcashpositiveschemestofive. normalday-to-dayoperations,itwillbeopen The bank had total deposits of TheThrissur-based lenderhad reported Thefivecashpositiveschemeshave`9,190 fortheinvestor(s)toconvertthebankintoa `10,727.12 crore, total advances of a net profit of `28.1 crore in Q3 FY20 and croreavailabletoreturntounit-holdersason smallfinancebankbymakinganapplication `4,472.78 crore and gross non performing management impressive `68.9croreinthesecondquarterofthecur- January 15, subject to fund running to Reserve subject to compli- assets (NPAs)worth `3,518.89 crore as on rent fiscalyear.Non-interest income of the expenses. anceoftheRBIguidelinesonvoluntarytran- March31,2020. KOTAK INSTITUTIONALEQUITIES marginwas up 290 bps QoQ and 760 lenderisseenhigherby130%yearonyearat bpsYoYand beat our estimate by a huge `116 crore for the third quarter of FY21 FLEX OFLEVERS drives an 11-year high margin.Afew factors aided margins - against `50.6 crore in theyear-ago period. margin but unsustainable. Mindtree 430 bps increase in utilisation rate at an Total income during the period rose to reported good revenue growth of4.6% all-time high of83.1%, increase in `599.24crorefrom`439.29crore. BoM Q3 net profit up 14% to `154 cr QoQ in c/c. Cost control combinedwith offshore component ofrevenues and Total deposits grew16%YoYand CASA sharp utilisation increase led to ebit tight leash on costs. Mindtree's financials ratio stood at 30.4% as on December 31, FE BUREAU The rise in net profit was driven by Rajeev said the bank’s CASA deposits margin expansion of290 bps QoQ , suggest that it has made an additional 2020,against 28.6% as on December 31, Pune, January 19 10.12% y-o-y growth in net interest improved by 300 basis points to 50.91%, impressive. However,elevated margins provision in respect ofEPFthough the 2019. Advances (net) grew at 22% YoY, income to `1,306 crore coupled while provision coverage ratio improved to may not sustain aswage revisions, non-recurring component,which is not mainlycontributed bygold loan growth of (BoM)onTues- with NIM improving to 3.06% 90%.There was 22% growth in the retail, decline in utilisation and increase in clearly spelled out. Underlying ebit 61%.Managingdirector&CEOCVRRajen- dayreported 13.91%year-on-yeargrowth agricultureandMSMEadvancesduringthe costs start seeping itsway through in margin for the quarter is higher than dran said recent revival of the economic innetprofitforthequarterendedDecember quarter.BoM’sretailadvancesgrew28.89% the coming quarters.Wetake reported 19.6%. Net profit of`3.3 billion activitywashavingapositiveimpactonthe 2020to`154crore.Theriseinnetprofitwas to`27,540crorewhileMSMEadvanceswere cognisance ofimpressive operational (+28.7% QoQ and 65.7%YoY) beat our bankingindustryasawhole. drivenby10.12%y-o-ygrowthinnetinter- of `955 crore.According to the Supreme up 26.31% to `20,304 crore during the performance and FX gains and raise estimate by 13% driven by outperfo- “In the context of thewithdrawal of the estincometo`1,306crorecoupledwithnet Courtorder,thebankhasnotclassifiedthese quarterunderreview.According to the MD, FY2021-24E EPS by 9-14%.The stock at rmance at the ebit level and higher-than- moratorium benefits by the regulator,we interestmargin(NIM)improvingto3.06%. accounts as NPAs but had made additional thiswasnotjustpentupdemandorfestival 20.3X FY2023E EPS is expensive. expected Fx gain of`258 million. decidedtobeprudentbyholdingprovisions BoMMD&CEOASRajeevsaiditwasforthe provisionof`150crore,ofwhich`30 crore sales.Thebankexpectsgrowthinretailloans Maintain'sell' rating. Weare impressedwith cost inexcessoftheregulatoryprovisionsonthe first time in four years that the bank had wasinthethirdquarter. tocontinueinthefourthquarterofFY21and Mindtree reported sequential revenue management and efficiency improve- stressed assets. Apart from the core NII crossedtheNIMof3%. Its cost to income ratio had gone down evenimprovefurther. growth of5% to $274 million (4.6% in ment that have led ebit margin to an 11- growth,improvedtradingincome/provision The bank’s gross NPAs as on December slightlyandthiswasmainlybecauseofaone- Banks have benefitted from the with- c/c) led by-12.6% Q-o-Q growth in travel year high of19.6%.Acouple ofother reversalsattreasurybackedbythefavourable 31,2020,were 7.69% against 16.77% on time expenditure of `230 crore on wage drawal of NBFCs from the market,Rajeev and transportation and 5%+ growth in factors also helped-decline in discret- yieldmovements,netincomebywayofPSLC December31,2019,whilenetNPAsreduced arrears payable to retired employees and said.Thishashelpedinretailgrowth,socom- communications, media & technology ionary and travel costs. However,there saleetcsupportedusontheincomeside,”the to2.59%inthequarterunderreviewagainst retirementbenefitscontribution,whichwas pared to 16%-18% growth last fiscalyear, and retail, CPG & manufacturing are certain aspects thatworry.Mindtr- CBSBankCEOadded. 5.46%inthesameperiodlastyear.Thebank completelyabsorbedintheDecemberquar- they had seen 26% to 28% growth in the verticals.The top client grew 3.5% QoQ ee’s utilisation rate stands at 83.1% (~86- —FE BUREAU has made a cumulative Covid-19 provision ter,theMDsaid. retailloansthisyear,headded. and constitutes 28.5% ofrevenues. EBIT 87% on comparable basiswith peers).

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 FINANCIAL EXPRESS MARKETS 11

SBI,ICICI Bank,HDFC Bank Welspun One Logistics Park launches alternative investment fund FE BUREAU Welspun Group India, said, `75croretothefund.Thefund Mumbai, January 19 “India’s logistics sector will is likelyto acquire land parcels systemicallyimportant: RBI continue to be the backbone inhighdemand,pre-identified WELSPUN ONE LOGISTICS of economic growth and markets,and develop Grade-A SIBs are seen as ‘too Park on Tuesday announced warehousing is a key compo- warehousing parks,whichwill PRESS TRUST OF INDIA big to fail’, creating the launch of its first alterna- nent of this ecosystem. be leased on a long-term basis Mumbai, January 19 expectation of tive investment fund (AIF) Through thisAIF,the investor to‘AAA’credit tenants. ‘Welspun One Logistics Parks can reap the benefits of the These tenants would be THE RBION Tuesday said government support FundI’.Thisfundwouldgivean returns by owning units of a from sectors such as e-com- state-owned SBI, along with for them in times of opportunitytodomesticinsti- fund,instead of an asset.” merce, FMCG, third-party private sector lenders ICICI financial distress. tutions, high net-worth indi- He also stated that cur- logistics (3PLs), pharma and Bank and HDFC Bank con- These banks also enjoy viduals, family offices and rently domestic investors can auto-ancillaries. On comple- tinue to be Domestic System- certain advantages in NRIs, to invest in the ware- onlyinvestinthishighgrowth tion, these assets would be ically Important Banks (D- funding markets housing and industrial real sector by investing directly in divested to institutional SIBs)orinstitutionswhichare estate sectorin India. warehouses. investors including private ‘too big to fail’. WelspunOneLogisticsPark Thefundhasatargetsizeof equity,pension and sovereign SIBs are subjected to isapan-Indiaintegratedfund, `500 crore with a tenure of funds,REITs,among others so higherlevelsofsupervisionso Based on the bucket in development and asset man- Group. India’s first warehousing fouryears and a hurdle rate of as to provide an exit and as to prevent disruption in (D-SIBs), under the same which a D-SIB is placed, an agement platform backed by The fund, a Sebi-regis- fund. Commenting on the 15%.The Welspun promoter deliver the targeted returns to financial services in the event bucketing structure as in the additional common equity the $2.7 billion Welspun tered Category II AIF,will be launch BKGoenka,chairman, family office has commited the fund investors. of any failure. 2018 list of D-SIBs,”RBI said requirement has to be applied The Reserve Bank had in a statement. to it. issuedtheframeworkfordeal- The additional Common In case a foreign bank hav- ICICI Lombard Q3 net grows 6.6 % ingwith D-SIBs in July2014. EquityTier 1 (CET1) require- ingbranchpresenceinIndiais The D-SIB framework mentforD-SIBswasphased-in a Global Systemically Impor- NON-LIFE PLAYER ICICI Lom- against the industry’s 4.9% requires the central bank to fromApril1,2016andbecame tant Bank (G-SIB), it has to bardonTuesdayreportedamar- growth. The combined ratio disclose the names of banks fully effective from April 1, maintain additional CET1 ginal6.6%growthinnetincome improved to 97.9 compared to designated as D-SIBs start- 2019. The additional CET1 capital surcharge in the coun- to`314crorefortheDecember 98.7,thecompanysaid. ing from 2015 and place requirementwillbeinaddition try as applicable, proportion- quarter,boosted bythe massive The net income grew at a these lenders in appropriate to the capital conservation ate to its RWAs. rally in the equity markets slowerpaceasithadtobudgetfor buckets depending upon buffer,the central bank said. SIBs are seen as ‘too big to swellingitsinvestmentgains. thehighertaxesupfronttowards their Systemic Importance The additional CET1 fail (TBTF)’,creating expecta- It had posted a net profit of “expensing of acquisition cost Scores (SISs). requirementasapercentageof tion of government support `294.11 crore in the year-ago relativetothegrowthof9.2%in “SBI, ICICI Bank, and RiskWeightedAssets(RWAs)in for them in times of financial period, the company said in a grossdirectpremiumincomefor HDFC Bank continue to be case of the distress.Thesebanksalsoenjoy regulatory filing. Gross direct thequarter,asthefullbenefitof identified as Domestic Sys- (SBI) is 0.6%, while for the certain advantages in funding premiumincomegrew9.2%to earnedpremiumwillberealized temically Important Banks othertwo banks it is 0.2%. markets. `4,034crorefrom`3,693crore, overthepolicyperiod”.—PTI P-notes investment hits 31-month high of `87,132 cr in Dec PRESS TRUST OF INDIA (April). New Delhi, January 19 The investment level fell to an over 15-year-low of INVESTMENT THROUGH `48,006 crore at the end of PARTICIPATORY notes (P- March amid significant notes) in the domestic capital volatility in broader markets market rose to a 31-month on concerns over the coron- high of `87,132 crore at avirus-triggered crisis. December-end, reflecting the Of the total `87,132 crore bullish stance of FPIs. invested through the route till P-notes are issued byregis- December, `78,870 crore was tered foreign portfolio invested in equities, `7,562 investors (FPIs) to overseas croreindebt,and`700crorein investors who hybrid securities. wish to be part of This is the highest Divam the Indian stock level of investment Sharma, co- market without since May 2018, founder of Green registering them- when the fund Portfolio, said selves directly. that flows into They, however, inflow through this equities in need to go route stood at December were throughaduedili- `93,497 crore higher than in gence process. November sug- According to gesting continu- Sebi data, the value of P-note ityof bullish stance from FPIs. investmentsinIndianmarkets ThenumberofFPIregistra- — equity, debt, and hybrid tions has crossed 10,000 this securities —increased to month,which again confirms `87,132 crore till December- the bullish stance of foreign end from `83,114 crore at the capitaltochaseequityassetsin November-end. emerging markets, including This is the highest level of India,he added. investment since May 2018, Recent structural changes whenthefundinflowthrough and policy announcements this route stood at `93,497 under Aatmanirbhar Bharat crore. P-notes investment was have further enhanced the `78,686 crore at the end of investor interest in Indian October2020,although it had equities among other emerg- declined to `69,82 crore in ing market peers, he said. September after witnessing Besides,the assets under the growth since March. custody of FPIs have reached Prior to that, the invest- `41.82lakhcrore,whichisthe ment level was `74,027 crore highest level in history,vali- inAugust,`63,228crore(July), dating their conviction on `62,138crore(June),`60,027 Indianmarkets.Thiswas`38.5 crore(May)and`57,100crore lakh crore at December-end. Sebi extends relaxations for compliance with rights issues PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, January 19

MARKETS REGULATOR SEBI on Tuesday extended relaxations for companies with regards to compliance with procedural norms pertaining to rights issues opening till March 31 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Earlier,this relaxation was given for rights issues opening till July 31, 2020,which was fur- therextended till December31,2020. Based on the representations received from the marketparticipants,thevalidityofrelaxationsisfur- therextendedandshallbeapplicableforrightsissues opening up to March 31,2021,the Securities and ExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi)saidinacircular. Under the relaxations, the abridged letter of offer,applicationformandotherissuesmaterialto shareholderscanbeundertakenbyelectronictrans- mission as alreadyprovided underthe ICDR(Issue ofCapitalandDisclosureRequirements)norms. Failuretoadheretomodesofdispatchthrough registered post or speed post or courier services due to prevailing coronavirus-related conditions will not be treated as non-compliance. However,the issuerswill have to publish the let- terof offer,abridged letterof offerand application formsonthewebsitesofthecompany,registrar,stock exchanges,andtheleadmanagerstotherightsissue. Further, the issuer company, along with lead manager,needstoundertakealladequatestepsto reachouttoitsshareholdersthroughothermeans such as ordinary post, SMS, and audio-visual advertisement on television orinternet. Theissue-relatedadvertisementneedstocon- tain additional details as regards the manner in whichtheshareholderswhohavenotbeenserved notice electronicallymayapply. The advertisement should also be made avail- able on the website of the issuer,registrar,lead managers and stock exchanges.

Pune WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 12 FINANCIAL EXPRESS

From the Front Page

Dunzo raises $40 m nottobenamedbecausethedis- cussions are private.The cha- from Google, nges could hurt Amazon as it Lightbox & others holds indirect equity stakes in two of its biggest online sellers InOctober2019,aclutchof in India.Amazon said e-com- investors had infused about mercecreated“hugejoboppor- $45 million in Dunzo. So far, tunities”andisasignificantcon- thecompanyhas raisednearly tributor to economic growth. $135 million in funding. “Any major alterations”to the The Bengaluru-based firm policy will adversely impact thatdeliversarangeofitemsto small-andmedium-sizedbusi- itscustomersstartingfromgro- nesses,itsaid.WalmartandFlip- ceries,perishables to pet sup- kart did not immediatelyresp- plies andpackages across eight ondtoarequestforcomment. cities gained more users amid Yogesh Baweja, the the pandemic as home-bound spokesman for the ministry of consumers moved online for commerce & industry,which is servicing regular needs. The workingontheissue,confirmed company claims to have to Reuters any changes will be recorded a two-time GMV announced through a so-called growth in 2020 overthe previ- “pressnote”,whichcontainsfor- ous year and said it is now a eigndirectinvestmentrules.He nearly$100millionannualised did not give details.“It’s a work GMV business.“The growth in inprogress,”Bawejasaid,adding 2020 comes on the back of aninternalmeetingonthesub- strong, organic user demand ject last took place about a while maintaining gross mar- monthago.“OfcourseAmazon’s gin profitability for the overall a big playersowhateveradvice, business,”thefirmsaid. whateversuggestions,whatever Inthelastsixmonths,Dunzo recommendations they make, supportedover300neighbour- they are also given due consid- hoods across markets,deliver- eration.”— REUTERS ingessentialstouserswithin29 minutes on average.“Through People with fever, ourIndia Digitisation Fund,we pregnant women are committed to partnering withIndia’sinnovativestartups should avoid to build a trulyinclusive digital economy that will benefit Covaxin everyone,”saidCaesarSengupta, “You should not get Bharat V-P,Google. Biotech’s Covaxin if you have any history of allergies. Have Govt plans changes highfever.Havebleedingdisor- to norms on FDI in der or are a blood thinner. Immune compromised orare a e-commerce medicine that affects your Now,thegovernmentiscon- immune system.Are pregnant. sidering adjusting some provi- Are breast feeding.Have rece- sions to prevent those arrange- ived anotherCovid-19vaccine. ments,even if the e-commerce Anyotherserioushealthrelated firmholdsanindirectstakeina issues,asdeterminedbythevac- seller through its parent,three cinator/officersupervisingvac- sources said.The sources asked cination,”thefactsheetsaid.

Aster DM Healthcare Limited CIN: L85110KL2008PLC021703 Registered office : IX/475L, Aster Medcity, Kuttisahib Road, Near Kothad Bridge, South Chittoor P.O, Cheranalloor, Kochi, Kerala 682027, India T: 0484 6699228E: [email protected] W: www.asterdmhealthcare.com NOTICE Notice is hereby given in compliance with the Regulation 47 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, that a meeting of the Board of Directors of Aster DM Healthcare Limited is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, 9th February, 2021 inter-alia to consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the Company for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. For further details, please visit the website of the company at http://www.asterdmhealthcare.com/investors/.

For Aster DM Healthcare Limited Sd/- Date: January 19, 2021 Puja Aggarwal Place: Kochi Company Secretary and Compliance Officer

Pune WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 13 FINANCIAL EXPRESS LOKESHMACHINESLIMITED Regd. Office: B-29, EEIE, Stage – II, Balanagar, Hyderabad – 500 037 CIN: L29219TG1983PLC004319, Website: www.lokeshmachines.com E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +91-40-23079310 NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that Pursuant to Reg. 29(1)(a), Reg 33 and 47(1)(a) of the SEBI( LODR), Regulations, 2015 the Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on Thursday, January 28, 2021 at the Registered office of the Company to consider, approve and take on record the Un- Audited Financial Results of the Company for the quarter ended on 31st December, 2020. For LOKESH MACHINES LIMITED Place: Hyderabad Sd/- Date: 19th January, 2021 Matru Prasad Mishra Company Secretary

VEEJAY LAKSHMI ENGINEERING WORKS LIMITED Regd. Office: Sengalipalayam, NGGO Colony Post, Coimbatore – 641022 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.veejaylakshmi.com CIN: L29191TZ1974PLC000705 NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given pursuant to Reg.47 of the SEBI Listing Regulations, that a Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held through Video Conferencing on Thursday, the 11th February 2021 at 12.00 Noon at Sengalipalayam, Coimbatore – 641022, inter-alia, to consider, approve and take on record, the unaudited Financial Results of the Company for the quarter /period ended December 31, 2020. For VEEJAY LAKSHMI ENGINEERING WORKS LIMITED Coimbatore V.J. Jayaraman 12.01.2021 Chairman

MEGHMAYURINFRALIMITED (Formerly Poddar Infrastructure Limited and before that Known as Transoceanic Properties Limited) Regd. Office: MHB-11/A-302, Sarvodaya Co- Operative Housing Society Ltd, Near Bhavishya Nidhi Building, Service Road, Khernagar, Bandra (E), Mumbai – 400051 Email :[email protected] Tel No: 022-28993841 CIN : L51900MH1981PLC025693 NOTICE Pursuant to provisions of Regulation 29 read with Regulation 47 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015, Notice is hereby given that meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on Friday, the 29th January, 2021 at 11.30 a.m. inter alia to consider and approve the Unaudited Financial Results for the Third Quarter ended on 31st December, 2020 for the FY 2020-2021. For MEGH MAYUR INFRALTD Sd/- Mumbai Mitul Shah 20.01.2021 Managing Director

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Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy,itisnotpossible to verify its contents. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot be held responsible for such contents, nor for any loss or damage incurred as a result of transactions with companies, associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or Publications. We therefore ����������������������������������� recommend that readers make necessary inquiries ������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������ before sending any monies or ���������������������������������������������� entering into any agreements ���������������������� ������������������������ with advertisers or otherwise ���������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� acting on an advertisement in ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� any manner whatsoever. ����������������������������� ��������������������������� ������������������������������������ �������� �������������������������������� �������������������������������� �������� ���������� ����� ����������������������������� ���������� ���������� ���������������������������������������������� ���������� ���������������������� ������������������� ����������������������������� �������� ���������� ��������������� ������������������������ ���������� ���������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������� �����������������

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SAICON STEELS PVT. LTD. (In Liquidation) Regd. Office : Gala No. 8-B, D'souza Compound, Tilak Nagar, Sakinaka, Mumbai-400 072 E-AUCTION Sale of Assets under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 Date and Time of E-Auction : 29th January 2021 1:00 p. m. to 2:00 p. m. (With unlimited extension of 5 minutes each) The following Assets and Properties of M/s. Saicon Steels Pvt. Ltd. (in Liquidation) forming part of Liquidation Estate are for sale by the Liquidator on “AS IS WHERE IS BASIS”, “AS IS WHAT IS BASIS”, “WHATEVER THERE IS BASIS” and “NO RECOURSE BASIS”. The sale will be done by the undersigned through the e-auction platform provided at the Web Portal (https://www.bankeauctions.com/) Reserve EMD LOT Asset Price (INR) Amt. (INR) Land & Factory Building, and other structure situated LOT at Survey No. 375/1, 375/2 of Village Galonda, Next NO. 7,00,00,000/- 70,00,000/- to Polyline Recycling Solution, Kilvani Road, Silvassa, 1 Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli-396 230 Plant & Machinery lying at the factory premises details LOT of which may be examined during pre-examination. (The NO. 2,00,00,000/- 20,00,000/- shed over the building and all other related constructions 2 does not form apart of the plant & machinery). Interested applicants are requested to refer to the detailed E-Auction Process Document uploaded on the E-Auction website (https://www.bankeauctions.com/) Last date to apply is 28th January 2021. The Liquidator have right to accept or cancel or extend or modify, etc. any terms and conditions of E-Auction at any time. He has right to reject any of the bid without giving any reasons. Contact :- Address for correspondence : SBSK CONSULTANTS PVT. LTD., 604, Nucleus Mall, 1st Church Road, Camp, Pune, Maharashtra-411 001. [email protected] Tel. No.: 9960 612 993. sd/- Date : 19th January 2021 Jitendra Palande–Liquidator Place : Mumbai IBBI/IPA-003/IP- N00028/2017-2018/10188

SALE NOTICE ANKUR IRON (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED- IN LIQUIDATION Liquidator: Mr. Santanu T. Ray Liquidator’sCorrespondence Address: 301, A Wing, BSEL Tech Park, Sector 30A,Opposite Vashi Railway Station,Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400705 Email ID: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Contact No.: 8800865284 (Mr. Puneet Sachdeva), 9987400988 (Mr. Jigar Patel) E-Auction Sale of Assets under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 Date and Time of E-Auction:10th February, 2021 at 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm (With unlimited extension of 5 minutes each) Sale of Assets and Properties owned by Ankur Iron (India) Private Limited (in Liquidation) forming part of Liquidation Estate formed by the Liquidator, appointed by the Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai Bench vide order dated 3rd August, 2020. The sale will be done by the undersigned through the e-auction platform https://aaa.auctiontiger.net. Floor EMD Incremental Asset Block Price* Amount Value Commercial Office No. 404 & 405, 4th Floor, Dhoot Business Center, situated at Plot No. 74 of T.P.S. III Block bearing C. T. S. No. 5922 of Village Ghatkopar – Kirol at 2 Cr 2 Lakh 5 Lakhs R. B. Mehta Marg, Ghatkopar East, Mumbai, 1 Maharashtra -400077 having carpet area of 655 sq.ft.. ** *This is bidding starting price, not a reserve price. The liquidator has a right to accept or reject the final bid. The bidders have no right to claim or enforce acceptance of any bid. **The part of Property being ‘Commercial Office No. 404 & 405, 4th Floor, Dhoot Business Center, situated at Plot No. 74 of T.P.S. III bearing C. T. S. No. 5922 of Village Ghatkopar – Kirol at R. B. Mehta Marg, Ghatkopar East, Mumbai, Maharashtra -400077’ having carpet area of 655 square feet’. The Furniture, Fixtures and other interiors lying at ‘404 & 405’ are the subject matter of the auction. Terms and Condition of the E-auction are as under 1. E-Auction will be conducted on “AS IS WHERE IS’’, “AS IS WHAT IS” and “WHATEVER THERE IS BASIS’’ through approved service provider M/S E-procurement Technologies Limited (Auction Tiger). 2. The Complete E-Auction process document containing details of the Assets, online e- auction Bid Form, Declaration and Undertaking Form, General Terms and Conditions of online auction sale are available on website https://aaa.auctiontiger.net. Contact: Mr. Ramprasad Shivkumar Sharma at +91-6351896834/07961200584 & 6351896834 [email protected] / [email protected] (On going to the link https://aaa.auctiontiger.net interested bidders will have to search for the mentioned company by using either one of the two options, (i) Company’s name (Oneworld Industries Private Limited), or by, (ii) State and property type). 3. The intending bidders, prior to submitting their bid, should make their independent inquiries regarding the title of property, dues of local taxes, electricity and water charges, maintenance charges, if any and inspect the property at their own expenses and satisfy themselves. The prop- erty mentioned above can be inspected by the prospective bidders at the site with prior appoint- ment, contacting Mr. Puneet Sachdeva: +91-8800865284& Mr. Jigar Patel: +91-9987400988. 4. For the purpose of participating in the auction, the intending bidders are required to deposit Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) amount either through NEFT/RTGS in the Account of “ANKUR IRON INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED LIQUIDATION”, Account No.: 50200053287431, HDFC Bank, Branch: Plot No. 82, Sector 17, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400703, IFSC Code: HDFC0000540, or through DD drawn on any Scheduled Bank in the name of “ANKUR IRON INDIAPRIVATE LIMITED LIQUIDATION” 5. The intending bidder should submit the evidence for EMD Deposit and Request Letter for par- ticipation in the E- Auction along with Self attested copy of (1) Proof of Identification, (2) Current Address-Proof, (3) PAN card, (4) Valid e-mail ID, (5) Landline and Mobile Phone number, (6) Affidavit and Undertaking, as per Annexure 1, (7) Bid Application Form as per Annexure II, (8) Declaration by Bidder, as per Annexure III, the formats of these Annexures can be taken from the Complete E-Auction process document. These documents should reach the office of the liquidator or by E-mail, at the address given below before 5:00 PM of 5th February, 2021. Interested bidders will have to upload their KYC documents along with the EMD submis- sion details on https://aaa.auctiontiger.net before 5:00 PM of 5th February, 2021. 6. The Name of the Eligible Bidders will be identified by the Liquidator to participate in e-auction on the portal ( https://aaa.auctiontiger.net ). The e-auction service provider (Auction tiger) will provide User id and password by email to eligible bidders. 7. The bidding will start from a floor price, in case, a bid is placed in the last 5 minutes of the closing time of the e-auction, the closing time will automatically get extended for 5 minutes with unlimited extension. The bidder who submits the highest bid amount on closure of e-Auction process shall be declared as the H1 Bidder by the liquidator, subject to the liquidator being satisfied that the targeted price known to liquidator and Stakeholders has been achieved and not otherwise, a communication to that effect will be issued through electronic mode. The liquidator’s decision in this case would be final. 8. Upon the communication by the Liquidator to the H1 bidder via e-mail/any other electronic mode, of his bid being the successful bid, he shall be required to further deposit 10% of the bid amount within 2 working days of the e-auction. Failure to deposit such amount shall result in the forfeiture of amount deposited as initial EMD as per Point 4 and the bidder with the 2nd highest bid in value shall be declared as the successful bidder thereafter. The process shall continue until the payment of further deposit by the bidder, subject to the Second highest bidders bid being equal to or above the targeted price known to the Liquidator and stakeholder. The second highest bidder in such case will be called on to deposit 10% of his bid amount as EMD within 2 working days of such intimation. The initial EMDs paid by the remaining bidders shall be refunded within a period of 15 days from the date of e-auction. 9.Subsequent to payment of the further deposit, the Liquidator will issue a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the Successful Bidder and the Successful Bidder shall have to deposit the balance amount (Successful Bid Amount minus EMD Amount) within 30 days from the date of issuance of the LOI by the Liquidator, wherein the amount deposited as initial EMD and further EMD shall be adjust- ed towards the final sale consideration and the successful bidder shall be required to pay an adjusted amount of balance sale consideration. Default in deposit of the balance amount by the successful bidder within the time limit as mentioned in the LOI would entail forfeiture of the entire amount deposited (EMD + Any Other Amount) by the Successful Bidder. 10. The Successful Bidder shall bear the applicable stamp duties/transfer charge, fees etc. and all the local taxes, duties, rates, assessment charges, fees etc. in respect of the property put on auction. 11. The Liquidator has the absolute right to accept or reject any or all offer(s) or adjourn/post- pone/cancel the e-Auction or withdraw any property or portion thereof from the auction proceed- ing at any stage without assigning any reason thereof. 12. After payment of the entire sale consideration, the sale certificate/agreement will be issued in the name of the successful bidder only and will not be issued in any other name. 13. The sale shall be subject to provisions of Insolvency and bankruptcy code, 2016 and regula- tions made thereunder. 14. The liquidator shall provide all assistance necessary for the conduct of due diligence by inter- ested buyers.The interested Bidder(s) shall be provided access to the data room (“Data Room”) established and maintained by the Company acting through the Liquidator in order to conduct a due diligence of the business and operations of the Company. The interested bidder(s) shall be provided access to the information in the Data Room until the E- Auction Date. The access to, and usage of the information in the Data Room by the interested bidder(s) shall be in accordance with the rules as may be set forth by the Liquidator from time to time. 15. E- auction date & Time:10th February, 2021 from 3.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. (with unlimited extension of 5min) Date: 20-01-2021 Sd/- Place : Mumbai Santanu T. Ray Liquidator Ankur Iron (India) Private Limited IBBI Regn. No.: IBBI/IPA-002/IP-N00360/2017-2018/11055 Address: 301, A Wing, B S E L Tech Park, Sector 30 A, Opposite Vashi Railway Station Vashi, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra-400705 Email ID: [email protected]; [email protected] Contact No. 8800865284 (Mr. Puneet Sachdeva)

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Aarti Drugs Limited CIN: L37060MH1984PLC055433 Regd. Off.: Plot No. N-198, MIDC, Tarapur, Village Pamtermbhi, Dist. Palghar- 401 506, Maharashtra Tel: (022) 2404 8199 Website: www.aartidrugs.co.in Email ID: [email protected] NOTICE Pursuant to Regulation 29 read with Regulation 47 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, Notice is hereby given that the Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on Monday, January 25, 2021, to consider, approve and to take on record Audited Financial Results (Standalone & Consolidated) for the Quarter and Nine months ended December 31, 2020. This intimation is also available on the Company's website at www.aartidrugs.co.in and may also be accessed on the website of the Stock Exchanges, BSE Limited at www.bseindia.com and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. at www.nseindia.com. For Aarti Drugs Limited Sd/- Place : Mumbai Rushikesh V. Deole OIL COUNTRY TUBULAR LIMITED Company Secretary CIN L26932TG1985PLC005329 Dated : 18.01.2021 Regd. Office: 9, Kanchanjunga, King Koti Road, Hyderabad-500001 website: www.octlindia.com; Email:[email protected] Tel: +91-40-24785555 / Fax: +91-40-24759295 NOTICE Notice is hereby given that pursuant to appointment of the Resolution Professional ('RP') by the Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Hyderabad, and inaccordance with the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ('Code'), and pursuant to Regulation 29 of SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015, please take notice that on Saturday, 13th February 2021, Mr. Sisir Kumar Appikatla (IP Registration No. IBBI/IPA-001/ IP-P00751/2017-2018/11283), Resolution Professional, inter alia, shall consider and approve the Unaudited Financial Results of the Company for the Quarter ended 31st December 2020, and the same shall be duly authenticated and signed by him. For Oil Country Tubular Limited Mr. Sisir Kumar Appikatla Place: Hyderabad Resolution Professional Date: 19.01.2021 IP Registration No.IBBI/IPA-001/IP-P00751/2017- 18/11283

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Whilst care is taken prior to RECRUITMENT acceptance of advertising copy, it is not possible to verify its SITUATION contents. The Indian Express (P.) Limited cannot be held VACANT responsible for such contents, nor for any loss or damage REQUIRED Retired/ incurred as a result of transactions with companies, Working Person Or associations or individuals Consultant With advertising in its newspapers Experience In RBI, DPSS, or Publications. We therefore recommend that readers make MSME Matters Of necessary inquiries before Fintech Co. sending any monies or entering into any agreements ��� ������� ������� �� ���������� ������� �� ������ [email protected] with advertisers or otherwise 9322595348. acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever. ��� ���� ���� �������� ������������ ������ ������������ ������� �������������� ��������� �� ��������� ����� ��������� ������ ������ 0070726146-1 ��������� ���� �������� ���� ������� ����� ���� �������� ���� �������� ��� ������� ���� ����� � �������� ����� � �������� ����� � ������������ ����� � ���� ���� ����� � ������������ ������ � ���������� ������ ������������ ������ � ���������� ������ � ���������� ������ � ���������� ������ � ���������� ������� ���������� BUSINESSOFFER ����� ������������ ��������� ������������ ������������ ������ ����������� � ���������� ������� ��������� ������ ������ ����� � ������������ ����� ������ ��������� ���� �������� ���� ����� ���� ������ ���� ��������� ���� ����� � �������� ��������� ���� ����� � ���� � ������� ����� � �������� � �������� ������ � ���������� ������ � ���������� ������� ����������� ���������� ����� � ���� ���� ������� ���������� ����� � ���� � ������� ������ � ���������� �� ���� ������ � ���������� ������ ������������ ������ ����������� ������ ���� ���� ��� ����� ����������� ����� ������������ ������ ���� ��������� ���� ������ ����� ����������� ����� � �������� ������ � ���������� ����� ���� ������� ��������� ���� ����� ��������� ���� ����� � �������� ������ ������������ ������ ���� ������ � ���������� ������ � ���������� ������ � ���������� ������� ����������� � ����� ������� ���������� ������ ��������� ������� ���������� ����� � ���� � ������� ����� ���������� ����� ��� ���������� ������ � ���������� �������� ������������ �������� ��� ���� ���� ���� ������� ���������� ������ ��� ������ ������������ ������� ������������ ��������� ���� ������ �������� ����� � �������� ������ ����� ���� ������� ���������� ����� � �������� ���������� ������������ ����� � �������� � ��� ������� ���������� ����� � �������� �������� ��� � ������� ������������ ������ � ���������� ���� ������������ ������ � ���������� ����� � ������������ ��������� ����������� ��������� �������������� �������� ���� ��������� ���� ������ � ���������� ��������� ���� ������ ��� ����� � ���� ���� � ���� ����� ������ ������������ ���� ��� � ��������������� ������� ������������ ������ ����������� ������� ���������� ������ ������� ���������� ������� ���������� ����� ���� ��������� ������������ ����� � ��������� �������� ����� � �������� � �������� ���� ������������ ������ ���������� ���� ����� �������� ���� �� ����� ���������� ��������� ���� �������� ���������� ����� � ������������ ��������� ���� �������� ��� ����� ���� ���� ������������ ������ ����������� ����� � ��������� ���� ������ � ���������� ����� � ���� � �������� ����� ���� ����� ���� ������ � ���������� ����� � ���� ���� � ���� ���� ������ � ���������� ����� � ��������� ������ � ���������� ������ ����������� �������� ������� ������������ ���� ��������� ����� ������������ ���������� ������ ���� ������������ ������ ������������ ����� ������������ �������� ���� ����������� ��� ����� �������� ���� �������� ���� ����� � ���� ���� ������ � ���������� ����� ���� ����� ���� ����� ���� ������ � ���������� ������ ������������ ����� � ����������� ���������� ����� � �������� � ��������� ����� � ���������� ���������� ������� ���������� ������ � ����������

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● DOUBLE WHAMMY Captain Virat Kohli, PM Modi lead Trump’s legacy: A more divided tributes to India’s grit in Australia REUTERS New Delhi, January 19

CAPTAINVIRATKOHLI joined America,more unsettled world PrimeMinisterNarendraModi in paying tribute to Ajinkya both parties that let down the Capitol, mean his term is Rahane and his team who de- The disorderlytransfer poor, the working class and ending amid a swirl of un- fied massive odds to script a of powercomes rural regions that have strug- truths that millions of Re- memorable 2-1 series victory gled in recent decades. That publicans have taken to inAustralia onTuesday. against the backdrop base of support remains large heart,creating a serious chal- Kohli had returned home of rising spread of a — another likely legacy of the lenge forthe newadministra- to attend the birth of his pandemic thatTrump Trump era. tion to win their trust. daughter after the opening Alex Bruesewitz,an organ- The disorderly transfer of test loss,leaving behind a de- has downplayed iser for Stop the Steal, a pro- presidential power comes flated side who were skittled Rishabh Pant and Mohd Siraj celebrate after India defeated Trump group protesting the againstthebackdropofthein- out for 36 inAdelaide — their Australia in the fourth test match at Brisbane on Tuesday REUTERS election results,said the pres- creased spread of a pandemic lowest innings score in 88 Washington, January 19 ident retains his appeal to that Trump has downplayed, years of test cricket. the Gabba. the Brisbane decider. working-class voters.“They and mounting financial hard- Understand-inskipperRa- "Exemplary performance "We are all overjoyed at WHEN PRESIDENT DONALD felt like they were the forgot- ships from the deep recession hane, India levelled the series butthegritanddetermination the success of the Indian Trumpdeliveredhisinaugural ten men and women.And the spurred byit. inMelbourneanddrewinSyd- was the standout for us the Cricket Team in Australia. speechonJanuary20,2017,he president said,‘You are for- Keeping the country on neybeforetriumphinginBris- wholeway.Well done to all the Their remarkable energy and promised an end to“American gotten no longer’,”Bruesewitz edge, and prompting security bane to retain the Border- boys and the management. passion was visible through- carnage,”a bleak and dysfunc- said. lockdowns inWashington and Gavaskartrophy. Enjoythis historic feat lads." out. So was their stellar in- tional nation he had promised Trump’s refusal to con- state capitals, is concern that "WHATAWIN!!!Yessssss.To ModialsotooktoTwitterto tent, remarkable grit and de- that he alone could fix. House on Wednesday is likely nied anyracist animus. cede defeat to Democratic the pro-Trump mob’s siege of everyonewhodoubtedusafter congratulate the team, who termination..."he said. Closing out his presidency to beAmericans more politi- His staunch supporters ar- President-elect Joe Biden,and theCapitolonJan.6couldem- Adelaide, stand up and take showedgreatresiliencedespite The cricket board has an- exactly fouryears later,Trump cally and culturally estranged gue that he served as a correc- his encouragement of his bolden far-right extremists to notice,"KohlitweetedafterIn- losingtheirentirefrontlineat- nounceda`5crorecashaward leavesbehindanevenmorepo- from each other than they tivetoprioradministrationsof supporters to descend on the furtherviolence. dia's three-wicket victory at tack to injuries heading into forthe team. larised America, where thou- werewhen he took office. sands are dying daily from the At the heart of that divide, Covid-19 pandemic,the econ- Trump’sopponentssay,israce. omyis badlydamaged and po- Early in his presidency,he ini- liticalviolence has surged. tially resisted denouncing Trump didn’t create the white nationalists after a bitter differences that have deadly 2017 rally in Char- come to define American life. lottesville, Virginia, fuelling Still,he seized upon manyof perceptions that he sympa- them as tools to build his thised with their cause. His power base, promising to up- harshrhetoricoftenworsened lift rural America and the racial crises that flared over broader working class he said police killings of Black people had been neglected by the on hiswatch. Washington establishment. “Sadly, he is the natural When thousands of his an- outcome of the history of di- gryfollowers—thevastmajor- videandconquer,”inAmerican ity of them white — marched race relations, said Reverend on Capitol Hill on January 6, William Barber,a prominent they rallied behind Trump’s civil rights activist and co- false claims of a stolen elec- chairofthePoorPeople’sCam- tion.The rioting that ensued paign, an anti-poverty, anti- left a police officer and four racismmovementthatMartin other people dead, dozens LutherKinghelpedorganisein woundedandanationshaken. the1960s.“Thethingis,hejust Amajor part of his legacy pushed it all theway.” when he departs the White Trump has repeatedly de-

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