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OPINION, P6 ECONOMY, P2 INTERNATIONAL, P14 UTTAM GUPTA SUNIL JAIN POLLUTION PROBLEM DESPERATE EFFORT Can’t curb urea Govt must spend now; those No overnight solution, Trump leans into fear focusing on deficit must realise diversionwithout this will rise, in relation to the continuous efforts tactics in bid to win price reforms,DBT GDP size, if growth slows needed:Javadekar Midwest states

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VOL. XI NO. 226, 14 PAGES, `6.00PUBLISHEDFROM:,BENGALURU,CHANDIGARH, ,,KOCHI,,LUCKNOW,, NEWDELHI, READ TO LEAD

NO CALLYET DISINVESTMENT PATH TO REVIVAL Idea in a Plans afoot to raise Strong demand for blue-collar bind as ,Bharti workers, full-time jobs on offer `1 lakh crore in FY21 SHUBHRATANDON ment is expected to surpass Mumbai, October 18 January2020levels. delaytariff hikes The good is that Mop-up to be FY21 disinvestment target, only BUSINESSACTIVITY MAY not nearly80%ofthejobsonoffer `2.1 lakh cr half of this amount may be realised have recovered to pre-pan- are for full-time employment, The top two Vodafone Idea almost half the demiclevelsbut,at0.5million, Pravin Agarwala, co-founder (` crore) April-June Likely strategic sales* 500 326.65 FE 400 318 openings for blue collarwork- and CEO, Betterplace told . operators feel a hike 10,659 target, Centre to Centre’s stake Market value (` cr) 300 ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE Revenue BPCL ers in the July-September “The demand during the fes- being sold (%) (as on Oct 16, 2020) 200 at this stage would rely mainly on 100 (BSE, `) periodwerereasonablystrong. sourced from Betterplace, a tiveseasonstemsmainlyfrom Ebitda 4,098 BPCL 0 privatisation of 39,069 May 15, Oct 15 Some of this relates to the technology platform for man- the retail sector so some some help VIL revive itself 52.98 upcoming festive season but a aging the lifecycle of informal of this is for temporary jobs. Net loss -25,467 2020 2020 BPCL, IDBI Bank IDBI Bank 18,995 60 largepartofthisdemandisfor and semi-formal workforce, But demand for full-time jobs RISHI RAJ Total AGR 47.1 20.25 33.6 58,250 40 permanent jobs. shows nine million interviews is expected to sustain post the New , October 18 dues ConCor Experts say it’s likely 2020 have been targeted. The festive season,”Agarwala said. AGR dues 6,957 20 IDBI Bank PRASANTA SAHU 30.8 (BSE, `) could end with 1.4 million demand in segments such as paid 8,000 0 WITH RELIANCE JIO and , October 18 Shipping Corp. 1,547 May 15, Oct 15 vacancies being filled. Data delivery and healthcare seg- Continued on Page 2 BhartiAirtelplayingthewaiting Outstanding 50,250 63.75 2020 2020 AGR dues BEML game and being in no hurry to DESPITETHE MARKETcondi- 1,353 500 378.2 357.35 raise tariffs,Vodafone Idea has tions not being conducive,the 54.03 400 Gross `1.18 300 COVID-19 beencaught in a bind.While Jio Centre will strive to garner at *No revenue from Air privatisation, only the Centre’s ConCor debt debt liability will reduce; Centre’s stakes in BPCL and 200 lakh cr (BSE, `) and Bharti can afford to delay least `1 lakh crore from disin- Concor were worth `60,000 crore and `11,000 crore 100 0 taking a decision on hiking tar- vestment this year. Yet, this respectively in November 2019; stake sales are expected May 15, Oct 15 Festivals are super spreaders iffs, the same cannot be said court. represents a big slippage from at a premium to current market prices 2020 2020 about Vodafone Idea. While Thelasttimethethreeoper- theall-timehighBudgettarget ISHAAN GERA assembleinlargenumbersdur- companiesarenotcommenting ators had raised tariffs byup to of `2.1 lakh crore. been factored in. Friday’s closing price. The New Delhi, October 18 ing the festival season. An FE sees big on their strategy and timing of 50%wasinDecember,2019. Strategic sales in fuel While bulk of the shortfall process is on despite the BPCL analysis of infections during surge in infections announcing a hike in tariffs, "We do not think Vodafone retailer-refiner BPCL, Con- willbeduetoalikelydeferment stocklosing35%invaluefrom WHILE FESTIVITIES ACROSS GaneshChaturthiinMaharash- analysts have noted that any Idea (VIL) can raise enough risk tainer Corporation (ConCor) of the mega IPO of Life Insur- about`60,000croreinNovem- thecountryhavebeensubdued, traandMumbaishowsfestivals KERALA WAS consid- delay on the part of Vodafone capitaltosurvivewithoutaprice and IDBI Bankwould be com- anceCorporation(a10%stake ber 2019,around the time the the government is justified in canbesuperspreaders. ered a model state in Idea is going to cost the com- hike for too long.The viability pleted in the year,an official salecouldhavefetchedaround stake sale proposal was tellingpeopletomaintainsocial terms of managing the panydearly. challenge facingVILis real and source said. `80,000 crore), the Air India approvedbytheUnionCabinet. distancingandaskingthemnot Continued on Page 2 coronavirus but last Telecom operators were massive.A moratorium here,a Recently,while the Centre privatisation won’t yield any However, the actual week it became the hoping that theTelecom Regu- deferral there, a small cash has announced its decision to revenue to the Centre. While receipts will depend on valua- Maha celebrations, maha infections eighth state in India to latoryAuthority of India (Trai) inflowfrom Indus stake sale to not alter the enhanced bor- the government hasn’t offi- tion and consideration of a Case additions Daily growth in cases (%, compounded cross three lakh infec- will come outwith a regulation , some inflows rowinglimitof`12lakhcrore ciallyputofftheLIClisting,the premium (ONGC had bought over the fortnight daily growth rate, RHS) tions, reportsFE fixing floor price for tariffs from fibermonetisation,resid- when it unveiled the H2 cal- paceofprocessclearlyindicates the Centre’s stake in HPCL in 40,000 1.6 Bureau. 1.28 which would take care of the ual contracted cash inflow of a endar,economicaffairssecre- thereceiptswon’tcomeinearly FY18 at a premium of 14% to 28,578 Onlytwo months ago,it hikes.However,withchancesof billiondollarfromVodafonePlc tary Tarun Bajaj said it fac- enough to be budgeted for the the stock’s price).The Centre 30,000 1.2 had one of the lowest 1.01 suchamovefadingwithtime – pertaining to regulatoryliabili- tored in potential stimulus currentyear. recently extended the expres- 20,000 0.8 infection rates in the with a new chairman taking ties,etc do not change the big requirement and lower-than- Withhalfoftheyearalready sion of interest submission 15,777 country but now it charge onlyearlier this month, picture,” Kotak Institutional expected disinvestment rev- over,theCentreisnowmakinga deadline from potential bid- 10,000 0.4 ranks third in terms of FE ifatallsuchamovematerialises, Equitieswroteinarecentreport. enues. has learnt that a determined effort to sell its ders forBPCLto November16. 0 0 daily case infections. itwouldtakequitealongtime– slippage of over `1 lakh crore 52.98% stake in BPCL,which 23 5 18 3 17 30 13 ■ Page 2 theballisbackintheoperators' Continued on Page 2 in disinvestment revenue has wasworth`39,069croreatlast Continued on Page 2 July Aug Sept Oct

● EXCISE/CESS SPECIALS Centre to rake in 90% FE from auto fuels in FY21 ANUPAM CHATTERJEE Boon in difficult times New Delhi, October 18 Tax revenue from petrol & diesel (post-devolution) BOTHTHE CENTRE andstates (` lakh crore) Change (y-o-y) are facing unprecedented tax Centre States 93% 10% revenue deficits this year, but 4.0 petrol and diesel will still be a 3.0 cashcowforthem.TheCentre’s 2.0 3.8 tax revenue from the two auto

1.0 2.2 2.0

fuels, post-transfers to the 1.97 0.0 states,could be `3.8 lakh crore FY20 FY21(E) FY20 FY21(E) ■ BRANDWAGON, P10 in FY21,up a whopping 90%, accordingtoanFEestimate.The for the year (annual sales are Kia Motors’hinterland drive states could also find their tax seendownby11%byCrisil)and The automaker is making inroads into tier IV towns, revenuefromthefuelsrisingin the sharp increase in tax rates but its low brand awareness could come in the way theyear– an estimated 10% is (mainlybyCentre)comparedto stilladecentgrowthinthepan- theratesprevailedinFY20. ■ demic year.The estimates are eFE, P8 basedonlatestsalesprojections Continued on Page 2 AI is reinventing business models Al can deliver solutions fast but actual decision still ● START OF SEASON belongs to humans, says Genpact’s Sanjay Srivastava Most summer crops being ■ PERSONAL FINANCE, P9 Keep it simple: Saral Jeevan Bima sold below support prices Saral Jeevan Bima will be offered by all insurers as a standard PRABHUDATTAMISHRA individual term life insurance policy but the price may vary New Delhi, October 18

■ INFRASTRUCTURE, P11 MANDI PRICES OF seven among the 10 key summer- Hydrogen gains traction for storage sown crops are ruling below With expensive batteries a hurdle in adoption of green energy, their minimum support prices the use of hydrogen technology promises a viable alternative (MSPs),indicatingthatprocure- ment by the designated agen- abean at prices 8-38% below ■ & TECH, P12 cies hasn’t yet gathered their MSPs during October 1- momentum.Kharif harvesting 15.Onlyarharanduradarecost- Digitally ready seasonstartedafortnightago. lier to wholesalers than their An analysis of prices by FE MSPs,whiletherateforpaddyis Start-ups need to factor in the cost of cybersecurity, showedthatfarmerssoldseven closertotheMSP. "all is well" approach will not work kharif crops including jowar, bajra, maize, moong and soy- Continued on Page 2

FARM LAWS Govt’s massive outreach to dispel myths PRABHUDATTAMISHRA be in English,Hindi and major New Delhi, October 18 regional languages.The pan- chayatirajministryhasalready WHILETHE POLITICALbroad- shared the data of grass-root side against the new farm laws level leaders who will spear- continues unabated, the gov- head the campaign,with the ernment has decided towage a agriculture ministry strong, orchestrated counter- “The minister (Tomar) is campaign.Whileseniorgovern- taking care of the political ment functionaries,including managementsinceopposition ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE theprimeminister,haverepeat- parties have made it political edly assured farmers that the out to farmers throughvarious 2.6 lakh sarpanches (head of issue.Heispersonallyinvolved new laws would help increase central government agencies panchayats) and gram prad- in this outreach programme their income andwon’t under- and state government officials hans (village heads) articulat- implementation,”an agricul- mine the APMC mandis or the andlocalleaders. ing merits of the laws and also ture ministry official said minimum support price (MSP) Underthe plan,agriculture dispelling the notion that requesting anonymity. operations,a detailed plan has minister Narendra Singh mandis would be closed, now been chalked out,to reach Tomarwillwriteletterstoover sources said.These letters will Continued on Page 2

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COMMUNITYTRANSMISSION Harsh Vardhan, Union health minister Community transmission is ❝ ❝limited to certain districts, occurring in a limited number of states. EconomyMONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020 Gold imports ● HEALTH HAZARD Kerala daily Covid growth rate down 57% to $6.8 bn in ‘Pollution issue can’t be fixed 3 times that of national average FE BUREAU Keralaisalsooneofthefew H1 of FY21 New Delhi, October 18 Different strokes states that has seen infections Daily infections, five-day jump when the rest of the in a day,steady efforts needed’ KERALA WAS CONSIDERED moving average countryisrecordingafall.This a model state in terms of India Kerala (RHS) has led to a dramatic increase 1,20,000 10,800 paise.Ialsodriveane-scooty.” managing the coronavirus 7,819 inpatientsinICUsandonven-

New Delhi, October 18 Transition to BS-VI Thegovernmentintroduced but last week it became the tilator support. On Saturday, standard is another BS-VIfuelwhichreducesvehic- eighth state in India to cross 80,000 7,200 Kerala reported 756 ICU UNIONENVIRONMENTMINIS- revolutionary step in ular emissions by up to 60%. three lakh infections. Only admissions and 180 patients

TER PrakashJavadekaronSun- Metro and e-buses have also two months ago,it had one of 63,505 onventilators,anovertwofold mitigation of vehicular 40,000 53,877 3,600 day said the pollution problem been introduced to reduce the lowest infection rates in increaseover301ICUpatients pollution.❝ BS-VI fuel cannot be resolved in a dayand vehicularpollution,hesaid. the country but now it ranks 1,131 and72ventilatorsonSeptem- reduces NOx (nitrogen 0 0 continuouseffortsareneededto ❝ “Transition to BS-VI stan- third in terms of daily case ber16. Aug 5 Oct 18 tackle each of the contributing oxides) emission by 70% dard is another revolutionary infections. Kerala,however,has one of factors. in diesel cars, by 25% in step in mitigation of vehicular Last week, Kerala added thelowestcasefatalityrates— PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Interactingwithpeopledur- petrol cars and reduces pollution. BS-VI fuel reduces 59,901 Covid infections more of the less-reliable anti- totaldeathsupontotalcases— New Delhi, October 18 ing a Facebook Live event, he particulate matter in NOx(nitrogenoxides)emission whereas added gen tests, positivity has been inthecountry.OnSunday,Ker- saidthemajorfactorsbehindair vehicles by 80% by70%indieselcars,by25%in 64,601 and consistently rising. A month ala had registered a death rate GOLDIMPORTS,WHICHhave pollutioninthecountryaretraf- Environment minister petrolcarsandreducesparticu- added 70,731.But in terms of ago,just about half of the tests of 0.3%; in contrast, the a bearing on the current fic,industries,waste,dust,stub- Prakash Javadekar latematterinvehiclesby80%,” the daily growth rate of cases, wereconductedusingRATbut national average was five- accountdeficit(CAD),plunged ble, geography and meteorol- he said.The government is tak- Kerala ranks first. Infections that has jumped to over 70%. times higherat 1.5%. 57% to $6.8 billion (around ogy.Dust is the major factor lem cannot be resolved in one reviewedtheprogress,”hesaid. ingstepstophaseoutpollution- have been growing at 3.3% On Saturday, of the 52,067 On Friday, the Centre `50,658crore)duringthefirst behind air pollution in north day.Continuous efforts needed The same approach will be causing power plants by 2022. dailysincethestartofOctober, people tested, 9,016 or announced that it had sent halfofthisfiscalamidaslump India,theministersaid. to tackle each of the contribut- adopted for another 100 cities Zigzag technology has been whereas India’s growth rate 17.32%were found positive. high-level Central teams to indemandduetotheCovid-19 ThesoiltypeinnorthIndiais ingfactors.” in India to improve their air brought in forbrick kilnswhile has come down to 1%. Until a month ago, Kerala Kerala, Karnataka, , pandemic,showed data bythe alluvial.Therefore,there’s a lot TacklingpollutioninDelhiis qualityinthenextthreetofour industries are using piped nat- Despite the state using had a positivityof 8.28%. ChhattisgarhandWestBengal. commerce ministry. of dust,which is the major rea- not just the responsibility of years,hesaid. uralgas,Javadekarsaid. In the corresponding son behind air pollution in the municipalcorporationsandthe Javadekarsaide-vehiclesare The minister said that the periodayearago,goldimports region,hesaid. city government, the Union becomingpopularandovertwo number of ‘good’ air days has India successfullytest-fires navalversion of BrahMos stood at $15.8 billion (about “Dust suppressant and minister said,adding,“The air lakhe-vehicleswerebeingused increased from 106 in 2016 to `1,10,259 crore). water sprinklers are used to shed is large and includes parts inIndiacurrently,withthegov- 218 in 2020 for the period PRESS TRUSTOFINDIA The missile was fired from DRDOchairmanGSatheesh Similarly, silver imports tackleit...Wehavealsobeenask- of Rajasthan, , Uttar ernment having provided sub- betweenJanuary1andSeptem- New Delhi, October 18 INS Chennai, a stealth Reddy, too, congratulated the during April-September 2020 ing all agencies,(state) govern- Pradesh.” “After a number of sidyforaround70,000ofthose. ber 30. The number of “poor destroyer, and it hit the scientists and all personnel too dipped 63.4% to $733.57 mentsandcorporations,toclose meetingsovertheyears,wehave “I myself use an e-vehicle. quality”airdaysdecreasedfrom ANAVALVERSIONoftheBrah- involvedinthetest-firingofthe million (about `5,543 crore), unpaved roads,”Javadekarsaid. prepared short-term,medium- The e-car is economical... one 156in2016to56in2020dur- Mos supersonic cruise missile target with pin-point missilewhichhesaidwilladdto the data showed. He added,“The pollution prob- term and long-term plans and can travel a kilometre in 70-80 ingthecorrespondingperiod. wassuccessfullytest-firedfrom accuracy after performing the capabilities of the Indian The decline in gold and sil- an indigenously built stealth “extremely complex” ArmedForcesinmanyways. ver imports has helped in nar- destroyerof the Indian Navyin manoeuvres In the past fewweeks,India rowing the country’s trade theArabianSeaonSunday,offi- has test-fired a numberof mis- deficit, difference between Jio planning to sell 5G smartphones forless than `5k apiece cialssaid. siles including a newversion of importsandexports,at$23.44 PRESS TRUST OF INDIA “Jiowantstobringthedevice India free for consumers,who Ambanihadalsoannounced The missile was fired from ment. the surface-to-surface super- billionduringApril-September New Delhi, October 18 for less than `5,000.When we were required to pay a refund- aninvestmentof`33,737crore INSChennai,astealthdestroyer, BrahMos Aerospace, an sonic cruise missile BrahMos 2020-21asagainst$88.92bil- scaleupthesales,itcanbepriced able deposit of `1,500 for a Jio byGooglefora7.7%stakeinJio and it hit the target with pin- India-Russiajointventure,pro- and anti-radiation missile lion in theyear-ago period. RELIANCE JIO IS planning to intherangeof`2,500-`3,000,” phone. Platforms,andsaidJiowillpart- pointaccuracyafterperforming ducesthesupersoniccruisemis- Rudram-1. Indiaisthelargestimporter launcha5Gsmartphoneforless theofficialsaidonthecondition At the 43rd annual general nerwith the tech giant to build “extremely complex”manoeu- sile that can be launched from India also carried out suc- of gold,which mainlycaters to than `5,000 and gradually ofanonymity. meeting, anAndroid-based smartphone vres,theysaid. submarines, ships, aircraft, or cessful test-firing of a laser demandofthejewelleryindus- reduce the price to `2,500- An email query sent to chairmanandmanagingdirec- operatingsystem. “BrahMos as ‘prime strike fromlandplatforms. guidedanti-tankguidedmissile try.Involumeterms,thecoun- `3,000 a unitwhen it scales up Reliance Jio did not elicit any tor Mukesh Ambani had The companyis alsowork- weapon' will ensure the war- Defence minister Rajnath andnuclearcapablehypersonic try imports 800-900 tonne of operations,accordingtoacom- response. asserted to make India “- ing on its own 5G network ship's invincibilitybyengaging Singh congratulated the missile'Shaurya'. gold annually. panyofficial. Atpresent,5Gsmartphones mukt (free of 2G connections)” equipmentandhasrequested naval surface targets at long DefenceResearchandDevelop- The successful test firing of Gemsandjewelleryexports The company will target are available in India starting and emphasised the need to theDepartmentofTelecomto ranges, thus making the mentOrganisation(DRDO),the Rudram-1 was seen as a major declinedbyabout55%to$8.7 around 30 crore mobile phone from`27,000. acceleratemigrationof350mil- allocate it spectrum for test- destroyer another lethal plat- BrahMos Aerospace and the milestone as it is India's first billion in April-September userswhouse2Gconnectionat Jiowas the first companyto lionIndiansfrom2Gphonesto ing before exporting these form of Indian Navy,” the IndianNavyforthe“successful” indigenously developed anti- 2020 amid the pandemic. present. launch mobile phones in affordablesmartphones. products. defenceministrysaidinastate- test-firingofthemissile. radiationweapon.

From the Front Page

Vodafone Idea Plans afoot to re-assurethefarmingcommu- webinars at the grassroots,the Strong demand forblue-collarworkers,full-time jobs on offer nity that the official procure- official said. The agriculture in a bind as Jio, raise `1 lakh mentwillstayhasn’tbeenvery ministry has created a cell to Also, employers are keen on collar workers in sectors like effective in quelling the monitor the performance of Bharti delay crore in FY21 skilled manpower and are Demand trends in retail, security services and protestssofar. theseMTsandSMTs. willing to pay a premium of key blue collar facilities management.Sec- After advancing procure- As there is objection to the tariff hikes 15-20% for experience.The tors like logistics, manufac- ment by a few days from the newlawsfrommanyopposition Other stake sales likely to averagesalaryrangesbetween job roles turing and healthcare have normal schedule of October 1, ruled states, the agriculture materialize in the year (` cr) According to Kotak, VIL’s `18,000 and `30,000 per seen an increase in hiring of the Centre has purchased ministry has already pressed averagerevenueperuser(Arpu) month for delivery persons 10-15%.Interestingly, a- 62.42 lakh tonne of paddy intoserviceitsownofficialsand IRCTC OFS Delivery Security Facility needstoatleastdoublefromthe 3,200 and `12,000--`20,000 for Agents Guards Management third of the demand is ema- (worth `11,786 crore at MSPs) alsostaffofitsowninstitutions current levels in the next 3-4 security guards.Nurses com- natingfromKarnataka,Tamil untilOctober14,whichismore like National Institute of Agri- IRFC IPO Jan-Mar 2020 2.3 lakhs 26,000 60,000 years for the company to have 3,000-4,000 mand monthly salaries of Nadu and . Maxi- thanthedoublethelevelayear culturalMarketing(NIAM)and any shot at surviving and stay- anywhere between `13,000 Oct-Dec 2020 2.59 lakhs 27,000 58,000 mum job creation will hap- ago.Theaggressivepurchaseby National Institute of Agricul- ing competitive in the market. RailTel and `28,000 per month; Source: Betterplace peninBengaluru,followedby the government is the main tural Extension Management In this backdrop,according to 900-1,000 thesehaverisenbymorethan Hyderabad,Delhi and Mum- reason for mandi prices of (MANAGE)fortheoutreachpro- the brokerage, VIL’s strategic MIDHANI OFS 30%inthelastfewmonths. ing environments against usualtransactional(perdeliv- bai. Chennai is projected to paddy ruling at MSP level. On grammeinthosestates. choice should be rather clear – 400 Employees are being Covid.“Along with safe and ery) model,”Agarwala said. end the year at 100% of its the other hand, even though SinceJune5,thedaytheCen- gun forprice increases as quick wooed with medical insur- healthy working conditions, To be sure, the numbers Q1 demand while Mumbai, 41.67 lakh tonne of oilseeds tre promulgated three Ordi- aspossible. ance, emergency financial employeesarealsolookingat are down about 10% com- Hyderabad and Bengaluru and pulses are approved for nancesreformingthecountry’s “The pandemic has delayed After a failed attempt a few support, safety procedures a fixed component to their pared to last year.Nonethe- willrecovergreaterthan70% purchase, the total procure- agriculture marketing (these thepaceofpricerises,butweare yearsback,thegovernmentwill and protocols for safe work- wages as compared to the less,thereisdemandforblue- of demand. mentwasonly687tonnecom- were replaced by legislations now at the point where prices shortlyinvitebidsforits47.1% prising moong and urad from passed by Parliament in the most likely have to rise around stakeinIDBIBankworthabout ,Maharashtra and monsoonsession),mandishave 20%inthenext1-2monthsfor `18,995croreatFriday’sclosing Amongotherdisinvestment debt capital receipts will be of lower tax incidence in April Most summer Haryana,untilFriday. seemed to gradually lose their VIL to be able to make its AGR priceofthestockontheBSE.LIC routes, the Centre could sell immense help forthe Centre to (steeptaxhikeswereeffectedin Rollingoutapackageofprice market shares in many areas. payment due in March,” New isthepromoterofthebadloan- about15%stakeinIRCTCviaan keep spending momentum to May). crops being sold deficiencysupportschemesfor Some economists have said Street Research wrote in its laden lenderwith a 51% stake offerforsale(OFS)toraiseabout boot economic activity amid Of course, increased Cen- agricultural crops,the govern- even as theAPMC mandis have report. after it acquired the majority `3,200 crore at current prices. likely 10-15% contraction in tral government duties will belowsupport ment had announced an extra anarchaicandexploitativetrait, Quite in contrast, Jio and stakeinJanuary2019. The Centre plans to sell 10% realGDPinFY21. raisethetaxablevalueofpetrol Budget outlay of over `15,000 farmersinmanyregionshavea Bharti can afford to play the After clarityon land leasing stake in and diesel for the levy of state prices crore for procurement of non- “symbiotic relationship”with waiting game and both do not policy from Indian Railways (MIDHANI) via OFS that could salestax/VAT.“Thishighertax- National Food Security Act themandisandthemiddlemen seemtobelookingathikingtar- thathastobeapprovedbyCabi- fetch it about `400 crore.The Centre to rake ablevalueofthefuelisprovid- Mandi prices* (NFSA) crops during the 2018- whocontroltheAPMCsystem. iffsanytimesoon. net,theEoIfor30.8%stakesale listing of Indian Railway ing additional sales tax of % change against MSP 19 crop year (July-June).It also Withthefuroreoverthenew The dilemma, therefore, in ConCorwill be invited soon. FinanceCorporationandRailTel in 90% more about `3 per litre to states on Paddy (common) -0.2 enhanced the government laws governing marketing of beforeVodafoneIdeaisthatitis Despitetightraceagainsttime, mayfetch about `3,000-4,000 weighted average basis,”Ankit guarantee for Nafed to under- agricultureproducethreatening Jowar not sure that if it takes the first the transaction could be com- crore and `900-1,000 crore, from auto fuels Hakhu,director,Crisil Ratings -16.6 takeprocurementofpulsesand to erode its political capital,the steptowardsannouncingatar- pleted byMarch 31 byrunning respectively. wrote. Bajra -38.4 oilseeds by `16,550 crore to Narendra Modi government iffhike,theothertwooperators multiple processes simultane- Afew CPSEs,including Coal in FY21 Many states such as Maize -34.6 `45,450crore. seemstobeslowingthepaceof, wouldfollowsuit. ously.The market value of the IndiaandKudremukhIronOre Forinstance,theCentre’stax , Haryana, Delhi, Moong -11.5 ifnotabandoning,theall-impor- According to analysts, it Centre’s 30.8% stake on offer Company,are expected to buy on diesel (basic excise, special Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Soyabean -7.8 tant subsequent reforms in the makes sense for (out of 54.8%) in ConCor was back shares from the govern- additionalexciseandroad/infra Karnataka have also increased Govt’s massive sector.Topgovernmentofficials andJionottohiketariffsoonas `6,957croreonOctober16. mentandothershareholdersby cess) is currently `31.83/litre, the sales tax/VAT on the two Groundnut -16.7 on October7 had asserted that *pan-India weighted average in Oct 1-15 they do not have any cash Similarly,bidswillshortlybe March31,2021. comparedwithjust`15.83/litre transportation fuels. States Source Agmarknet outreach to the policy of open-ended pro- mismatch and a hike at this invitedfortheCentre’s63.75% Given the fresh uncertain- in early October 2019. Corre- earned around `1.8 lakh crore curement (OEP) at minimum point of time would end up in Shipping Corporation ties caused by Covid-19, an sponding figures for petrol are from sales tax and VAT on dispel myths support prices (MSPs) would helping Vodafone Idea revive (`1,547croreatcurrentmarket inter-ministerial group (IMG) `32.98 and `19.98.The divisi- petrolanddieselinFY20;Crisil Startingfromkharif2018,it Besides,theagriculturemin- continue. Senior government itself. prices) and 54.03% in BEML onAirIndia(includingAirIndia bleportionofthetaxpool,how- expects this figure to rise to wasdecidedtokeepMSPsat1.5 istryhas identified 197 master functionaries have been assur- As is known,Jio is currently (`1,353 crore).Among others, Express) privatisation has ever, remained the same at `1.96lakhcroreinthecurrent timestheircosts(A2+FL)forthe trainers(MTs)fromamongoffi- ingthefarmingcommunitythat the number one operator on strategic sales of Pawan Hans favoured allowing bids for the `4.83(diesel)and`2.98(petrol), fiscal.FE has estimated the 14 kharif crops, for which the cials of both Central and state therecentreformswon’tunder- both subscriber and revenue andCentralElectronicsare also loss-makingcarrieronthebasis which explains the big jump totaltaxreceiptsofstatesfrom government fixes MSPs every governments who will hold minetheMSPsystemnorman- marketsharefront.Astatusquo beingfast-tracked. of its enterprisevalue,sans any projected for the Centre’s rev- thetwofuelsinFY21atcloseto year. online meetings though webi- diswouldbeclosed. approach suits it better at the The Centre mobilised a pre-determined level of 'sus- enueinFY21,whilestates’(post- `2.2 lakh crore,including the While the MSP hike was in nars to reach out to farmers Meanwhile,farmers leaders moment. Analysts at Kotak record`1lakhcroreinFY18and tainable debt'for the potential devolution) revenue is seen to divisible pool share,while the the range of 4-52% (y-o-y) in directly.SomeoftheseMTswere ofPunjabwalkedoutofameet- point towards such a strategy. `85,000croreinFY19fromdis- biddertoreckonwith.Underthe risemodestly. same was `2 lakh crore in kharif 2018,it was raised in 2- imparted an online training on ingwith union agriculture sec- “We believe Jio would prefer a investment of its stake in vari- currentplan,thebidderistotake The Centre hiked special FY20. 7%thisseason. October9 inwhich joint secre- retary Sanjay Agarwal on status quo on pricing....Jio tak- ous companies including a few over the airline’s estimated additionalexcise/cessleviedon With the gradual lifting of Mandi prices ruling below tariesinagricultureministryPK Wednesday demanding they ing price increases allows the PSU-to-PSU acquisitions residual debt of `23,286 crore petrol and diesel sharply in the lockdown,petrol saleswere MSPs, particularly in the har- Swain andVivekAgarwal made would like to meet Modi and thirdplayer(readVIL)afighting (ONGC-HPCLin FY18 and PFC- outofits`60,000croredebt.So October2019,March2020and up 2% annually in September, vesting period when farmers detailedpresentationaboutthe Tomartodiscusstheirdemand. chance at reviving itself,” it REC in FY19). However, stake on net basis,therewon’t be any theninMay.Thesetaxesarenot the first month in the current bringtheircropsinhordesisnot provisions in the laws and also Agarwal had to postpone the wroteinitsreport. sale receipts stood at only cashflowtotheCentrefromthis part of divisible pool,only the fiscal to post a positive growth. newas12monsoon-sowncrops answered questions of the par- October 8 scheduled meeting Same is the casewith Bharti `50,300 crore or 23% lower deal,which will at best reduce basicexciseis. Dieselsales,however,remained were7-43%belowtheirbench- ticipants,thesourcessaid. aftertheprotestingfarmerlead- Airtel.Thecompanyisinaposi- than the FY20RE of `65,000 thedebtandannuallossburden Crisil has estimated an down7%annuallyeveninSep- mark rates in 2018 while 11 “If required,these MTs will ersrejectedhisofferoftalks.The tion where it does not need to crore.“So PSU-to-PSU acquisi- ontheexchequer. annual11%dropinsalesofthe tember. were 8-37% ruled belowMSPs also enrol some Sub-master Modi governmentwhile on the initiatepricehikesimmediately tions can’t also be ruled out in Withnettaxrevenuedeclin- auto fuels in FY21. It sees 80 Taxes on petroleum prod- lastyearinthefirstmonthofthe trainers (SMTs) to compliment one hand has deputed union as it has no pressing cash flow- some of the proposed strategic ing by about 30% on year and milliontonne(MT)ofpetroland uctscompriseabout65%ofthe season. the efforts so that the message ministers and BJP leaders to mismatch or leverage issues. stake sales this fiscal also,”an non-debt capital receipts by dieseltobesoldinthelastthree petroleumsector’scontribution However, the prices being is reached at the earliest,”said mobiliseopinioninfavourofthe Competition wise it may also officialsaid. 63.5%inApril-August,analysts quartersofthefiscal.Inthefirst to the Central exchequer.Cess lower than MSPs may further theofficialquotedearlier. newlaws,alsoontheotherkept feel that any price hike at this Sofarinthecurrentfinancial see the Centre's fiscal deficit quarter,theCentre’s taxcollec- and royalty on domestic crude fuel the agitations by farmers More such training pro- anofficialchannelofdiscussion point of timewould helpVoda- year, the Centre has garnered more than doubling from the tions from the two fuels was production, customs duty on against new farm laws,partic- grammeswill be conducted for open as agitations in many foneIdeamorethanitself. only`6,389 crore or3% of this budgeted level of `8 lakh crore only `42,094 crore,owing to a crude imports, dividends etc. ularly in the northern region. the MTs and SMTs depending places of Punjab and Haryana fiscal’sdisinvestmenttarget. for FY21.So maximising non- sharp dip in sales and relatively makeupfortherest. The government’s attempt to onhowtheyareconductingthe continue.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS NATION 3 ● EXPERTWARNING RBI paper: Higher ‘Can’t rule out possibilityof NPAs block monetary policy transmission

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA tled‘BankCapitalandMone- 2nd Covidwave inwinter’ Mumbai, October 18 tary Policy Transmission in India’. PRESS TRUST OF INDIA HIGHINCIDENCEOF non- Inanenvironmentofsus- New Delhi, October 18 performing assets (NPAs) in tained asset quality stress Pollution may increase transmissibility: Experts banks acts as a major road- impacting the capacity of THE NUMBER OF new coron- blockintransmissionofmon- banks to lend, the govern- aviruscasesanddeathshasde- AIR POLLUTION may in- pollution levels. etarypolicyactionsoftheRe- ment has infused capital in clined in the last three weeks creasetransmissibilityofthe Thesefactorsarelikelytobe- serveBankofIndia,aworking public sector banks, it said. as the spread of the pandemic novel coronavirus making come more effective during paper prepared by officials of TheRBIhasalsodeferredthe has stabilised in most states, people more vulnerable to the festive season and the thecentralbanksaid. implementation of the last Niti Aayog member VK Paul Covid-19, experts have said, winter,hesaid.“Italyshowed The working paper also tranche of Capital Conserva- said on Sunday. He did not, while warning that those a possible link between PM madeastrongcaseforcapital tion Buffer up to April 1, however,rule out the possibil- who have had the infection 2.5concentrationandexcess injection in state- 2021, to pro- ity of a second wave of infec- in the past may also face mortality to the extent that owned banks, ar- This finding calls vide some tions in thewinter. challenges. one unit increase is associ- guing that such a for the need for respite to Paul,whoisalsothechiefof Withwinterapproachingand Covid-19. Like the common ated with a 9% increase in move would in- countercyclical banks. the National Expert Group lockdownbeingeased,Delhi- cold,thetransmissionofthis Covid-19 mortality,” Dr crease the credit capital buffer for “Though these Adani to complete 1,000 MW on Vaccine Administration NCRis bracing formonths of virus is expected to increase Gupta said. flow to the real the Indian banks to measures have for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), said poor air quality.The capital’s withariseinpollutionlevels. Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, se- sector,inaddition helped some protect their once a vaccine is available, air quality was in the ‘poor’ We maysee a surge in cases.” nior consultant of internal to ensuing public sector line in Mumbai by Dec 2022 therewill be enough resources categoryonSunday. According to Dr Neeraj medicine at Apollo Hospi- smoother trans- balance sheet banks to come tomakeitaccessibletocitizens. According to doctors, respi- Gupta,a professor in the de- tals,saidpeoplewithrespira- mission of mone- against losses, the out of the reg- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA “In India, the new coron- ratoryillnessesincreasewith partmentofpulmonary,crit- tory illnesses were at much tarypolicy. paper said ulator’s critical Mumbai, October 18 avirus cases and number of a spike in pollution levels as ical care and sleep medicine higher risk of contracting “Presence of purview, the deaths have declined in the poor air quality leads to in- atSafdarjungHospital,mor- the coronavirus infection. non-performing bank credit LTD last three weeks and the pan- flammation in the lungs. tality has been linked with Doctors warn that even assetsinabankalsoweakens grewbyonly13.4%in2018- (ATL) on Sunday said it will be demic has stabilised in most Dr Neeraj Nischal,an associ- population density,proxim- those who have already re- monetary policy transmis- 19 and 6.1% in 2019-20,” able to execute a transmission states. However, there are five ate professor in the depart- ity of people and heavily in- covered from Covid-19 are sion and lowers the loan the paper said. line and sub-station project at states (Kerala, Karnataka, Ra- ment of medicine at AIIMS, dustrialisedorurbanisedar- not out of thewoods. growth rate,”said the work- “There is a positive associa- Vikhroli in Mumbai,which will jasthan, and said, “This year, we have eas which have higher — PTI ing paper, co-authored by tion between bank equity enhancethepowersupplytothe “Adaniiscommittedtocom- West ) and three-four Silu Muduli and Harendra and credit growth.This find- financial capital by 1,000 MW pleting the Kharghar-Vikhroli Union Territories,where there Behera, Department of Eco- ing calls for the need for bytheendofnextyear,asperthe transmissionlineprojectwithin is still a rising trend,”Paul said resurgence of Covid-19 cases north India and the festival cilities to an extent and the nomic and Policy Research countercyclicalcapitalbuffer mandated deadline. the timeline set byThackeray,”a inaninterview.HesaidIndiais with the onset ofwinter. season,wehavetobeverycare- numbercan be augmented. (DEPR),RBI. for the Indian banks to pro- In a review meeting held fol- spokespersonforthegroupsaid. inasomewhatbetterposition, “We cannot rule [this] out ful...comingmonthsareachal- “Once the vaccine is avail- TheRBIsaidtheviewsex- tect their balance sheet lowinglastMonday’spowerout- ATL said in a statement that but still has a long way to go [in India].Things can happen lenge. One would be worried able, there will be enough re- pressed in the paper are of against losses from changes age,MaharashtraChiefMinister it will execute two critical pro- because90%ofthepeopleare and we are still learning about that we could lose the gains sourcesfordeliveringvaccines the authors and not of the in economic conditions dur- UddhavThackeray had asked all jects which will create an addi- still susceptible to infection. thevirus,”Paul said. thatwe have made,”Paul said. andmakingitaccessibletothe central bank. ing the recessionary phase,” stakeholderstoexpeditethepro- tional transmission capacity of OnwhetherIndiacouldsee He stressed on Covid-19- To a query about storage citizens,” Paul said. The working paper is ti- the papersaid. jectbyadheringtothetimelines. 1,000 MWeach. a second wave of infections in appropriate behaviour. “Be- and distribution of a vaccine thewinter,Paul said countries cause of the winter season, once it is available, he said In- across Europe are seeing a some increase in pollution in diahasenoughcoldstoragefa- CASHEWNUT PROCESSING SERVICE We are processors of Raw Cashewnut in Karnataka at Mangaluru - City with excellent Rail, Road & India set to lose Farzad-B Airport Connectivity

STRESSED ASSET MANAGEMENT BRANCH We offer 2 units with 125 Bag gas field as Iran prefers Janmangal, 4th Floor, 45/47, Mumbai Marg, Capacity per day Fort, Mumbai-400001  Tel. No. (022) 22630883  Email : [email protected] / [email protected] domestic company Head Office : Lokmangal, 1501, Shivajinagar, Pune-411 005 For your requirements of Raw Cashewnut Processing NOTICE FOR DEFERMENT OF E-AUCTION Contact PRESS TRUST OF INDIA conclude the contract for Due to technical reasons, E-auction sale under SARFAESI Act 2002 in the 9743443488 / 9845251224 New Delhi, October 18 Farzad-Bdevelopmentwithan account of M/s. J. M. Ferro Alloys Iraniancompany,sourceswith Limited scheduled on 20.10.2020 is Email: [email protected] INDIAHASALL but lost the directknowledgeofthedevel- hereby deferred till further notice. ONGC Videsh-discovered opmentsaid. Sd/- Farzad-B gas field in the Per- OVL, however, continued Date : 17.10.2020 Authorized Officer sian Gulf afterIran decided to its engagements with NIOC Place : Mumbai prefer domestic companies over the development of the over foreign firms for the de- field and sought terms and velopmentofthefield,sources conditions of the proposed said. contractforitsevaluation,they ONGC Videsh (OVL), the said,addingthatIranhassofar overseas investment arm of not responded to the Indian state-owned Oil and Natural firm’srequest. GasCorp(ONGC),hadin2008 Farzad-B holds total re- discovered a giant gas field in serves of around 21.7 trillion NOTICE is hereby given that the Farsi offshore exploration cubic feet of which around a meeting of the Board of block.OVLanditspartnershad 60% is recoverable,and pro- Directors of the Bank will be held offeredtoinvestupto$11bil- duction is slated to be around on Monday, 26th October 2020 lion for development of the 1.1billioncubicfeetperday. to consider and take on record discovery, which was later Sources said unconfirmed the unaudited standalone and namedFarzad-B. informationsuggestsIranhas consolidatedfinancial results AftersittingoverOVL’spro- identified a local firm for the of the Bank for the quarter and th posal for years, the National development of the field,but half year ended 30 September Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) in- OVLhasnotyetgivenuphopes 2020. formed the firm in February andcontinuestochaseIranian LIMITED Bina Chandarana thisyearaboutitsintentionto authoritiesforthecontract. Mumbai JointPresident& October 17, 2020 Company Secretary

NOTICE CUM ADDENDUM NO. 33/2020 THIS NOTICE CUM ADDENDUM SETS OUT THE CHANGES TO BE MADE IN THE STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (“SAI”), SCHEME INFORMATION DOCUMENT (“SID”) AND KEY INFORMATION MEMORANDUM (“KIM”) OF DESIGNATED SCHEMES OF MIRAE ASSET MUTUAL FUND (“MAMF”) REVERT TO NORMAL CUT-OFF TIMINGS IN THE DESIGNATED SCHEMES OF MAMF: NOTICE is hereby given that in reference to our notice-cum addendum dated April 06, 2020, April 17, 2020 and April 30, 2020 on “Change in cut-off timings for the schemes of MAMF” and pursuant to SEBI letter no. SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/OW/P/2020/17288/1 dated October 15, 2020 on “Proposal to revert to normal cut-off timing of 3.00 pm in respect to certain schemes”, investors are requested to take note of the following changes w.e.f. Monday, October 19, 2020: Sr. Name of the Scheme(s) Transaction Existing Revised No. Type cut-off timings cut-off timings 1. Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund 2. Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund 3. Mirae Asset Hybrid Equity Fund 4. Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund 5. Mirae Asset Great Consumer Fund 6. Mirae Asset Healthcare Fund Subscription and 7. Mirae Asset Focused Fund 1.00 pm 3.00 pm Redemption 8. Mirae Asset Midcap Fund 9. Mirae Asset Nifty 50 ETF 10. Mirae Asset Nifty Next 50 ETF 11. Mirae Asset Equity Allocator Fund of Fund 12. Mirae Asset Equity Savings Fund 13. Mirae Asset Arbitrage Fund Further, the cut-off timing as mentioned in our notice-cum addendum dated April 06, 2020 on “Change in cut-off timings for the schemes of MAMF” shall continue to be in force till further notice for all open ended debt schemes: Sr. Name of the Scheme(s) Transaction Applicable No. Type cut-off timings 1. MiraeAsset Cash Management Fund (MACF) and Mirae Subscription 12.30 pm Asset Overnight Fund (MAOF) Redemption 1.00 pm 2. For all Debt Schemes of MAMF except MACF and Subscription 1.00 pm MAOF Redemption 1.00 pm All other provisions relating to applicability of NAV for Subscription and Redemption Transactions remains unchanged. All the other terms and conditions of SAI, SIDs and KIMs of the Scheme(s) will remain unchanged. For and on behalf of the Board of Directors of MIRAE ASSET INVESTMENT MANAGERS (INDIA) PVT. LTD. (Asset Management Company for Mirae Asset Mutual Fund) Place : Mumbai Sd/- Date : October 18, 2020 AUTHORISED SIGNATORY MIRAE ASSET MUTUAL FUND (Investment Manager: Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Private Limited) (CIN: U65990MH2019PTC324625). Registered & Corporate Of�ce: 606, Windsor, Off CST Road, Kalina, Santacruz (E), Mumbai - 400098.  1800 2090 777 (Toll free), [email protected] www.miraeassetmf.co.in Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.

Pune MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 4 NATION FINANCIAL EXPRESS

● OVER `60K-CR WRITE-OFF LIKELY Adani,Piramal among four DHFL bidders

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, October 18

ADANI GROUP AND Piramal Enterprisesareamongthefour entities that have placed bids for DHFL, the first financial services player undergoing insolvency process, according to sources. Besides, sources said, US-based Oaktree and -based SC Lowy has bid for submitted bids for DHFL on DHFL's `40,000-crore October 17, the last date to wholesale and Slum submit final bids. Rehabilitation Authority In November,the Reserve portfolio, valuing it at Bank referred DHFL, the third `3,000 crore, sources said largest pure-play mortgage lender, to the National Com- pany Law Tribunal (NCLT) for insolvencyproceedings.DHFL hasquotedRs12,000crorefor was the first finance company the business and is asking for to be referred to NCLT by the 18% yield on this portfolio, RBI using special powers theysaid. undersection 227. According to bankers, the Priortothat,thecompany's bid of SC Lowy,the fourth bid- board was superseded and R der, comes with so many con- Subramaniakumar was ditions that it is unlikely to be appointed as the administra- considered. tor. He is also the resolution Bankers are of the opinion professional under the Insol- that resolution of DHFL vency and Bankruptcy Code throughtheNCLTwillresultin (IBC). a massive write-off for the According to sources, Oak- lenders and they will be stuck tree has submitted bid for the with over `60,000 crore non- entire company and the bid performing asset (NPAs). value is `20,000 crore as DHFLdidnotrespondtoan against the admitted liability email seeking comments on of`95,000crorewith`10,000 the matter. crore cash in hand. With this kind of heavy Therefore, sources said, write-off, sources said, it does accepting Oaktree bid would not seem to be a good deal for resultinawrite-offof`65,000 lenders. SBI is the lead banker crore for the lenders led by with an exposure of over State (SBI). `10,000 crore to DHFL,while Adani Group has bid for LIC and EPFO will also have to DHFL's `40,000-crore whole- write-off nearly `10,000 sale and Slum Rehabilitation crore. Authority (SRA) portfolio, As of July 2019,the com- valuing it at `3,000 crore, pany owed `83,873 crore to sources said. banks, the National Housing PiramalEnterpriseshasbid Board, mutual funds and for DHFL's retail portfolio. It bondholders. APMC mandis lose grip on Maha FPCs

Direct sales to food processors, retailers on the rise

NANDA KASABE Pune, October 18

FARMER PRODUCER COM- PANIES (FPCs)inMaharashtra are increasingly bypassing Thorat, MD, MahaFPC said mandistoenterintodealswith thattheFPChasalsoregistered private players. Some of them on electronic platforms like dream of building brands in AgriBazarforsaleofcommodi- the vegetable business,while ties. His company is also tap- others are looking to tap the ping corporates such as ITC international market. and COFCO forbusiness. Lastweek,farmers inBuld- Thorat’s company initially hana district of Maharashtra used the PSS (Price Support met with a pleasant surprise Scheme) model of purchasing when they got a bonus from a at minimum support price to farmer producer company Jai widenitsreachamongfarmers Sardar FPC for selling their and has now ventured into maize to them. Jai Sardar had commercial procurement as purchased around 3120 quin- well.MahaFPCrecentlycollab- tals from the farmers in their oratedwithNafed’sarmFeder- region and had sold the maize ation of Farmer Producer to a private company in Muz- Organisations and Aggrega- zafarpurin Biharfor`45 lakh. tors (FIFA) to set up e-Kisan “We decided to share some mandi in Pune.Nafed plans to LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Limited of the profit with the farmers create 50 to 100 such mandis (Investment Managers to LIC Mutual Fund) who had sold theirmaize to us over the next year across the CIN No: U67190MH1994PLC077858 and distributed a bonus of Rs country bringing farmers, Registered Office: Industrial Assurance Bldg. 4th Floor, Opp. Churchgate Station, Mumbai - 400 020 Tel. No.: 022-66016000, Toll Free No.: 1800 258 5678, Fax No.: 022-22835606, Email: [email protected] • Website: www.licmf.com 10 per quintal to the farmers. traders and buyers on a com- The amount is small but is a mon platform. NOTICE-CUM-ADDENDUM No. 27 of 2020-2021 gesture of appreciation,” ManishMore,apostgradu- Change in cut-off timings for schemes of LIC Mutual Fund Ashish Nafade, founder of the ateinagricultureusedhisstint In line with SEBI letter No. SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/OW/P/2020/17288/1 dated 15th October, 2020 Unitholders/ FPC said."The Centre’s Farm with Reliance Fresh and Big Investors are advised to take note of revised Cut-off timing for transactions in schemes of LIC Mutual Fund w.e.f. Bills give us more freedom to Bazaar to get into home deliv- 19th October, 2020: sell anywhere and we need to eryoffreshvegetables.During keepfarmershappyifwewant the lockdown, he gathered Cut-off timing(s) Cut-off timing(s) Sr. them to bewith us,”he added. like-minded friends to form Scheme Name / Category in case of in case of No Nafade’scompanyhasbeen KisanConnect Farmer Pro- Subscription Redemption among the first FPCs to regis- ducer Company out of Rahata 1 LIC MF Liquid Fund & LIC MF Overnight Fund 12.30 p.m. 1:00 p.m. ter and trade on NCDEX and inAhmedagardistrictandJun- NEML,besides tying up with narin Pune district to sell Rs 5 Debt Schemes, LIC MF Debt Hybrid Fund & LIC MF G-Sec 2 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. AgriBazaar for online trading. croreworthvegetables to con- Long Term ETF TheFPCiscurrentlydealingin sumers in Mumbai and Pune. 3 All schemes other than those mentioned above at Sr. No. 1 & 2 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. soybean and maize and also KisanConnect is aiming to getting into cattle feed trade build a brand name in vegeta- Investors/ Unitholders are requested to note that, for switches made from Equity scheme(s) / LIC MF Equity foradditional income. blesandaimstogopanIndiain Hybrid Fund to schemes/category referred at Sr. No. 2 above of LIC Mutual Fund (irrespective of the amount of Since the three farm laws a few months through tie-ups switch transactions), the existing cut-off timing of 1:00 p.m. shall continue to apply till further notice. were passed, FPCs in Maha- with FPCs in otherstates. All other provisions relating to applicability of NAV for Subscription, Redemption and Switch Transactions remains rashtra have seen newer mar- Interestingly, Maharash- unchanged. kets opening up that were tra's first women FPC Jeevan This Addendum forms an integral part of the Scheme Information Document (SID) and Key Information unavailable till now. Techni- Sangini Krishi Vikas Women Memorandum (KIM) of Schemes of LIC Mutual Fund. cally,FPCs or other traders are Farmers Producer Company freetobuydirectlyfromfarm- located out of Buldhana dis- All other contents of the SID and KIM remains unchanged. ers, but the APMC had the trict also has plans to brand its For LIC MUTUAL FUND ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED power to levy cess ranging pulses under the brand name Date : 17/10/2020 Sd/- from 1.05% to 1.5% on the 'Jeevan Sangini' and sell these Place: Mumbai Authorized Signatory transaction. in a packaged form while the As part of Go-Green initiative, investors are encouraged to register/update their email ID Around 12 FPCs in Latur MannDeshiMahilaFPCbased andOsmanabadhavesupplied out of Mhaswad in Satara dis- and Mobile Number with us to support paper-less communication. over 1,200 tonnes of soybean trict, facilitated perishables Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. to private player ADM Agro andnon-perishablesworth`8 Industries Private Ltd.Yogesh crore afterthe lockdown.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS 5

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Soc., Lokmanya Near Jogeshwari Temple, Nagar, Navi peth, Pune-30. Above Shri Samartha Agency, Tel: 9766594567. Pune-2. Ph.no. 64005767/ MARKET YARD - 24492149/ 30227516. Purandar Publicity BIBVEWADI - Pvt Ltd., Ad Services, RaviRaj Kru. Unit No. 201, 4th Amol Nalawade, floor, Gangadham- Kondhwa Sr. No.659/28, Rajiv Gandhi Rd., Pune-37. Tel: 24260980, Nagar, Upper Last Bus Stop, 24265996. Bibvewadi, Pune-17. Mobile Tanishka Ads, 9420729914, 9021851460 15/117, Maharshinagar, Akash Advtg, Near Durgamata Temple, C. S. Sawar, 645/1, Shop No.4, Pune-411 037. Rasakar Campus, MUKUNDNAGAR - B Sudhanva Jadhav, Naval Publicity, Greetwel, 1250 Deccan Vega Centre, 'D' Wing, 5th Gymkhana, F. C. Road, floor, Shankarsheth Road, Pune-4. Ph.no. 25531409, Swargate, Pune. 9423566508. 66014132. 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Fair & Fast Advertising, Aakar Advertising, 1170/05, Kartik Chambers, Mr. V. D. Gandhe, Umed Model High School Corner, Bhavan, Bldg., Near Bhosale Bhuyari Marg, Pimpri Stn Rd, Pune-18. Ph.no. Pune-411005. 27421840, 27421874. Ph. No. 25511054, Aniket Vision, 25512719. M: 9881987777/ At Post Wakad (Kaspate 9422502650. Vasti), Pimpri-Chinchwad, KARVE RD - Hinjawadi, Pune-57. Jaya Advertising Pvt Ltd, PRABHAT ROAD - 612/3 Anupam Darshan, Karve Saransh Adds, Rd, Kothrud, Pune. Purushottam Aravind Lele, Manas Enterprises, Chinar Heights Prabhat Road, Sanjay Jaganath Hagawant, Lane No 5, Above Shubham 34/3, Swaroon Chhaya Apt, Medical, Opp. Lijjat Papad Lane No 2, Happy Colony, office, Pune-4. Tel: 25442624/ Karve Rd, Pune. Ph. No. 25442649. 64004637, 9767428509. PUNE-SATARA ROAD - Virgo Advertising & Media Chain Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Publication, Mezzanine Floor, Shri Vivek W. Lawand, Shankaranand, Shop-5, Plot-24, Pune Satara Road, Kakade Complex, Pune-9., Ph.24221925. Nr Bhairavnath Temple, Karve RAVIWAR PETH - Nagar, SP Publicity & Design, Pune-52. Shakir Shaikh, 1047, Raviwar KOTHRUD - Peth, Opp Dilliwalla Sweet Minat Advertising, Mart, Pune. 164/12 Shinde Building, RASTA PETH - Shastri Nagar, Kothrud, Pune. Sharad Press Service, Ph. No. 9960111193/ Mr. Sharad Nawle, 444-b Rasta MOVE ahead with 9822110193/ 66020354. Peth, Deenbandhu Building, Sneha Communications, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Plot 39, Flat No.7, Pune-11. Swapan Apartments, Right Ph.No. 9822031027/ Bhusari Colony, Paud Road, 9822504630. Kothrud. Ph. No. 25282791/ SADASHIV PETH - EXPRES 9422031002. Dolphin Advertising, S Pradnya Communications, Rahi Chambers, 20, Sadashiv Rohini Dnyaneshwar Mohol, Peth, Pune-411 030. Ph. No 83/165, Shastri nagar, Near 24333772/ 9822214872. Careers Sainath Mandir, Kothrud, Shipra Associates Depot, Pune. Prashant T Kadam, 567 M. 9422015746. Sadashiv Peth, Pioneer House. Shubhangi Ads., Laxmi Rd. Pune, Tel: 24465335/ Every Monday & Thursday in Plot No.30, Madhavbaug Co- 24452500. Op. Soc., Shivtirth nagar, Paud Surekha Advertising Service, Road, Kothrud, Pune-411038 Sachin S Patil, 1264, Om Apt, M. 9822173930, 9850965214 Lane No 6, Shubhg Nagar. Nr. KOREGAON PARK - Bajirao Rd, Opp Wadia, Pune. Taurus Advertising Agency, Ph. No. 24484106, 9823477223. The Indian EXPRESS, Mr. Pt. J. Pillai, 398/a/1, Pallavi Ads, Goldfield Park, South Main Sachin Pandurang Raskar, Road, Pune. Tel. 9860577086. 1437, Nandan Apartments, Nr. Prime Ad World, Khajina Vihir Chowk, Opp. S. P. FINANCIAL EXPRESS& LOKSATTA Mrs. Rani Wilfred, A/l0/l, College, Sadashiv Peth, Pune. Meera Nagar Society, Phone: 9604351010. Koregaon Park, Pune-1. Revell Ads, Palnet Publicity, B-204, Ackruti Sankul, 5th Flat No. 2, Ground floor, floor, Vijaynagar Colony, Tilak For Advtg. details contact: 67241000 Aishwarya Soc., Wadgoan Road, behind Sony Showroom, Sheri, Pune. Ph. No. Sadashiv peth, Pune-30. Ph. 8149097475. 24333121/2.

Pune 6 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM FIGHT OR FLIGHT

US president Donald Trump

Running against the worst candidate in the history of ❝presidential politics puts pressure on me. Could you❝ imagine if I lose?What am I gonna do? I'm not gonna feel so good. Maybe I'll have to leave the country OpinionMONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020

● FERTILE FOR REFORM RationalExpectations THE GOVT MUST FREE UP UREA PRICING AND OPT FOR DIRECTTRANSFER OF FERTILISER SUNIL SUBSIDIES TO FARMERS; NO OTHER STEPS TO CURB UREA MISUSE WILLWORK JAIN

[email protected] @thesuniljain Rational use of urea: GDPgrowthwill fix Chasing a mirage?

VER THE LAST five goaded to produce as much as possi- debt,so spend now years, the Narendra ble,thanks to the cover of the NPS. Modi-led government On the other hand,in the case of P has made several UTTAM and K fertilisers, there are deterrents Those arguing for containing deficits/debt don’t realise these efforts to tackle diver- on both demand (due to ever increas- sion,Ohoarding, black marketing and GUPTA ing retail price) and supply (due to will rise anyway when firms shut down and GDP starts to slow excessive use of urea—a widely-used Delhi-based policy analyst ‘uniform’ and often inadequate sub- HOSEADVOCATINGFINANCEministerNirmalaSitharamanshouldnotspend fertiliser that accounts for nearly half www.uttamgupta.com sidy), leading to less consumption toomuchmoretostimulatetheeconomyasthiswillraisebothdeficitsanddebt of India’s total fertiliserconsumption. even when SHC says‘use more’. are positing a false alternative.While theywarn the likelyjump in bondyields— These include (i) mandatorily In the past, many committees had T as the Centre borrows more—will raise costs and so depress India Inc’s invest- requiring all manufacturers/ Currently,there is excessive use of reimbursed forthe shortfall in realisa- recommended that the policy dispen- ment,thisassumesthat,weretheFMtorestrictspending,neitherdebtnordeficitwillrise. importerstodoneem-coatingofurea urea—a dominant source of ‘N’—vis- tion from sales via the subsidy on a sationforureabebroughtonaparwith InApriltoAugust,taxcollectionsfellbyafourth(y-o-y)insteadof,asbudgeted,rising supplies (2015); (ii) making disbursal à-vis complex fertilisers such as ‘unit-specific’basisunderthenewpric- that for P and K fertilisers—the last by12%.Assumingthatthiswillholdfortherestoftheyear,andGDPfallsby7%innom- of subsidy to manufacturers condi- diammonium phosphate (DAP), the ing scheme (NPS). The MRP is kept such recommendation was given by a inal terms (that’s a 10% real fall with a 3% inflation level), taxes will fall short by `5.3 tional upon actual sales to farmers main source of ‘P’, and muriate of unchanged(today’spriceisthesameas committeeunderthechairmanshipof lakh crore and the FY21 deficitwill rise byawhopping 2.6 percentage points. and sales getting registered on point- potash (MOP), the main source of ‘K’. in2002)evenasallcostescalationsare then agriculture minister Sharad This iswhat JP Morgan’s chief India economist Sajjid Chinoyargued (bit.ly/2FvprrZ) in of-sale(POS)machines(March2018); This has led to increasing imbalance absorbed byraising the subsidy.In the Pawar (2012). Forget one subsidy rate this newspapersome months ago (see graphic foran updated chart). If thisyear’s consoli- (iii) restricting purchase to 100 bags in the NPK-use ratio.On an all-India case of Pand K fertilisers,there is‘uni- for the entire industry (as under NBS), dateddeficitwidensby4.5%ofGDPbutthetrendnominalGDP growthsettlesat8%,debt per transaction by each purchaser basis,currently,thisratio form’ subsidy on per attempts to give ‘uniform rate within levelswillrisetowards100%ofGDPoverthedecade. Butevenifthedeficitincreasesby7% (downfrom999bagsearlier)andcap- is 6.7:2.4:1 against the nutrientbasisforallman- specified groups’,as recommended by ofGDPthisyearwhiletrendnominalGDPsettlesat10%, debt/GDPstabilisesaround90% ping number of transactions per ideal of 4:2:1, with con- ufacturers under the the Dr Hanumantha Rao committee andthenbeginstocomedown;trendgrowthmatterscriticallyfordebtsustainability. month (August 2020) and (iv) track- sequent adverse effects The different policy Nutrient Based Subsidy (1998) and the Expenditure Reforms Interestingly,withtheIMF’slatestWEOreporttalkingofglobaldebtlevelsat100%of ingtop20ureapurchasersineachdis- on crop yield, soil and treatment for (NBS) Scheme. They are Commission (2000),have failed. GDP,itisunlikelyanincreaseinIndia’sdebtlevelsto90-95%ofGDPwillgetcredit-raters trict and initiating action against human health. Modi’s subsidies of urea free to fix MRP, but are Will things change?Will the coun- todowngradeIndia.Indeed,thelatestMoody’sstatementonIndiatalksof“thesmallscale those violating the purchase norms. statement on the possi- and the P&K expected to reflect the tryever see a change in urea policy? ofthestimulus…tosupporttheeconomyduringaverysharpcontraction”being“acredit Now, the Centre is working on a bility of reversing this subsidy. Even as the sub- Will excessive use of this fertiliser be negative”.It goes on to add,“in total,the two rounds of stimulus bring the government’s plan to cap the number of subsidised trend and making way fertilisers is also sidyremains unchanged, curbed? For an answer,let us look at direct spending on coronavirus-related fiscal support to around 1.2% of GDP.This com- fertiliserbagsthatindividualfarmers for improvingthe NPK- part of the problem rsing costs mean ever- two hard facts. pareswithanaverageofaround2.5%ofGDPforBaa-ratedpeersasofmid-June”. can buy in any cropping season. Cur- use ratio comes against increasing MRPs. First, within the Marathe com- In a fundamental sense,the real issue is rently, anybody, non-farmers this backdrop. Juxtapose these vary- mittee (1976) that came upwith the aboutthedamagetotheeconomyiftheFM Debt levels will rise included,can buy fertiliser through In 2016-17, the urea ing policy dispensations Retention Price Scheme (RPS)—the doesn’t spend enough; this will take the the PoS mode (they only need to fur- consumption in the country stood at forthetwofertilisertypes,anditisclear earlier incarnation of the NPS— shapeofmillionsoffirmsshuttingshopand if growth falters nish their Aadhaar unique identity 30 million tonnes (mt).Of this,24 mt that the MRP of urea has been consis- which was launched in 1977, the that,in turn,will depress GDP revival.That Debt, % of GDP number).The government suspects were produced domestically and 6 tently lower than that of non-urea fer- majority view was in support of iswhat the latest IMFreport calls‘scarring’. that a lot of black marketing is hap- mt had been imported.Slashing use tilisers,prompting farmers to use more allowing costs on ‘group basis’.Yet, 100 97.7 How much the economy has got scarred Debt levels at peningatthislevel,andbelievesitcan by half would mean aiming at 15 mt oftheformerandlessofthelatter. thegovernmentofthedayoverruled 5% real GDP growth alreadyisdifficulttoestimate,butthereare be curbed by implementing its latest by 2021-22.Against this target, in ItistruethattheModigovernment this and opted forthe minorityview waystotryandapproximatethedamage. plan, as purchase above the cap will 2019-20,urea consumption was at has frontfooted the soil health cards supporting“unit-wise”costs.Indeed, Demonetisation,forinstance,wouldhave 90 have to be at unsubsidised/full price. ~33 mt (24 mt from domestic pro- (SHCs)schemetoguidefarmersonhow this has stayed with us for close to hitlakhsofproducersas86%ofthecashgot Alas! None of the earlier measures duction and 9 mt imported). From much of each fertiliser to use keeping four-and-a-half decades. sucked out— Covid-19 will have an even 86.8 havemadeanymeaningfuldentonthe this level, to come down to 15 mt in in mind the nutrient-status of their Second,the need for a comprehen- deeperimpact—though,believeitornot,the 80 Debt levels at problem.This is because the bureau- just about twoyears,i.e.,by2021-22, land.But,this is of no usewhen flawed sive action plan to increase the MRPof officialdatashowsIndia’sgrowthpickedup 7% real GDP growth crats are missing the big picture and is well nigh impossible. policies give signals to the contrary. ureawasrecognidedbytheDrGVKRao post-DeMo!Apossible explanation,assum- are not in sync with what the prime Thelackofanyprogressonthegoal Giving urea at a throwaway price committeeonConsumerPriceofFertil- ingthedatawasnotmassaged,wasthatlakhs 70 ministerwould expect them to do. set by the PM has a lot to do with (the prevailing MRP is `5,360 per izers (1987).Yet,we see the retail price of firms window-dressed their accounts to 68.2 On December5,2017,in his Mann archaic policies that are completely tonne,less than a fourth of the actual remainingfrozenforseveraldecades. show higher sales in order to be able to Ki Baat radio address,Modi said,“Can divorcedfromcontemporaryrealities cost) is bound to push farmers A sustainable solution to India’s deposit their black money in the bank,and 60 our farmers take a pledge to reduce butcontinuetobepursuedbybureau- towards indiscriminate use; this also fertiliser woes lies in urea decontrol that is what the data captured.Though the FY19 FY30 urea use by half by 2022? If, they crats working in silos. lies at the root of the continued large- andgivingsubsidydirectlytofarmers. governmentlaterrubbishedit,theNSSPeri- Source: JPMorgan promise to use less urea in agricul- TheUniongovernmentcontrolsthe scale diversion despite many admin- This will also save the officials from odic Labour Force Survey showed unem- ture, the fertility of the land will MRPofurea—setatalowlevel,without istrativesteps).Farmerswilldoiteven playing‘cat-and-mouse’and let them ployment jumping from the historic 2-2.5% to 6.1%; this suggests a massive shutting increase and the lives of farmers will any relation to the cost of production if the SHC says ‘don’t use or use less’. use their energy for something pro- downofenterprisesduetodemonetisation. start improving.” and distribution.Manufacturers get On the supply side,too,factories are ductive.Will Modi crack the whip? In the current Covid-19 context,the sharp jump in NPAs suggests the same story is beingrepeated.RBIseesNPAsrisingfrom8.5%inMarch2020to12.5%inMarch2021 inabaselinescenario,andto14.7%inaseverestresssituation.HigherNPAslowercredit availabilityasbanksrepairtheirbalancesheets.AssuminganICORofaround5rightnow, theriseinNPAs—to14.7%—willraisetheICORtoaround5.6.Andassuminga25%invest- mentrate—itislowerrightnow—thismeansIndia’spotentialgrowthfallsby1.5%orso. LETTERS TO Anotherwayto estimate the Covid-19‘scarring’is the dip in potential output overthe next4-5years.IfFY21GDPfallsfrom100to90,thelowerbasewillmeanrecoveringtothe MaybeApple isn’t as green as it claims THE EDITOR old trajectorywill take severalyears.And growth rates from FY21-25 can also change due tothelossofproductivecapacityasfirmsshutdown,workersgobacktovillages,etc.Thelat- Feed India’s hungry estIMFreportdoesn’tgetintowhichofthetwofactorsisatplay—maybebothare—butsays When it comes to India’sGDPwillbe12-13%lowerthanitwouldhavebeeninFY25duetothe‘scarring’. for development Butifbondyieldsdoriseasthegovernmentborrowsmore,surelytheimpactoftheextra recycling old phones, the ADAM If past experience is anything to go spendwilllowerprivatesectorgrowth?Chinoyarguesthisisunlikely—CreditSuisseIndia company's lofty rhetoric by, India’s abysmal rank in the StrategistNeelkanthMishramakesmuchthesamepoint(bit.ly/2FA0DPK)inarecentcol- MINTER Global Hunger Index (GHI) is umninTheIndianExpress—asthelikelyFY21BoPsurplusof3.5%ofGDPimpliesIndiahas is colliding with its unlikely to be taken as a reality excesssavingsofthismagnitude.Thisextrasaving,Chinoyargues,isnotonlykeepingbond bottomline Bloomberg check or as a wake-up call by the yieldsfromspiralling,itisensuringRBIdoesn’thavetobuythatmuchofgovernmentdebt. government or the wider society. InApriltoSeptember,Chinoysays,thegovernmentborrowed`9.5lakhcroremorethanlast But it must be taken thus if we truly yearbywayofGSecs,SDL andT-Bills,andyetRBIboughtjust`1.6lakhcroreofthis. UPGRADINGTOAN iPhone 12?Apple duction phase.To its credit,Apple has aggressively against laws that might care for our less fortunate But,andhere’sthe nextquestion,even ifthegovernmentspends,whatdoesitspend Inc.is happyto takeyourold phone off tried to mitigate these harms.Among require such concessions. compatriots. Similar reports in the on? Apart from the fact that there could be much higher cash transfers to the poor and your hands.“If it’s in good shape,we’ll otherthings,itnowusesrecycledtinand I have covered the recycling indus- past have not galvanized the greaterbankrecapitalisation—especiallywithmoreNPAspilingup—mostsuggestabig- helpitgotoanewowner,”thecompany rare-earth elements, which is a big tryformore than a decade,and in that government into taking tangible ger infrastructure rollout.The latter sounds good, but there aren’t too many ready-to- promisesonthewebsitepromotingits improvement overusingvirgin materi- time, I hve encountered numerous action to the needed level to roll-out infrastructure projects right now; and why would firms,for instance,invest in trade-in program.“If not,we’ll send it als. And the company’s trade-in pro- executiveswhohaveexpresseddismay mitigate hunger. The low rank in all newpowerplantswhile the SEBs are too broke to even paytheirdues on time? toourrecyclingpartner,sowecansave gramme provides a steady stream of at Apple’s requirement that at least the four interconnected indicators One quick way, though, is to extend concessions to sectors that have the ability to more precious materials and take less usedphonesthatcanberefurbishedand some perfectly reusable devices be in respect of children under the investimmediately.Slashingspectrumprices—eitherfor4Gor5G—couldresultinlarge from the earth.” resold.Initsmostrecentenvironmental recycled. None of them advocated age of five—undernourishment, expenditure; around $15-16 bn foreach operatorover2-3years in the case of 5G.Abol- For years, Apple has used such report,Applesaysthatitrefurbished11.1 breakingcontractsanddivertingthose wasting, stunting and mortality— ishinglicence/spectrumchargeswouldalsostimulatecapeximmediately.Sharplyreduc- rhetorictoconvinceconsumersthatitis million devices for new users in 2019, devices to secondhand markets. But, in GHI underscores the enormity of ing levies on oil and gas—orallowing market prices to be charged forall production,not a greener and more sustainable com- and notes that each one“represents a I’m not surprised that employees at the problem of hunger in India. justthenewones—wouldgivefirmsenoughcashtobeabletoinvestquicklyinnewfields panythan its competitors.Increasingly, smarterandmoreenvironmentally-effi- GEEPwouldthinktodoso.Seeingtrea- Hunger exists as a daily lived ortosimplyrampupexistingproduction.SellingPSUswouldhavethesameimpact;just it’sfairtoaskhowsincereitis.Earlierthis cient use of the resources and materials sure where others see junk is a well- reality for the impoverished seewhatVedanta did to raise HZL’s investment and output to understand this. year, it filed a lawsuit against GEEP werelyontobuildourproducts.” worn path to recycling profits. people; it persists not because of TheshortpointisIndianeedstospendalotmoreifitwantstofixthepermanentdam- Canada,arecyclerithadhiredtodestroy Yet, that laudable commitment So how does Apple decide which lack of resources or food agetotheeconomythatwilloccuriflakhsofproducerfirmsshutdown;whenthishappens, and recycle old devices.Rather than do has long been in tension with the devices should be reused and which production but because of the lack itwillbothraisedeficit/debtlevelsandevenbeinflationaryassupplychainsbreakdown. the contracted job, Apple says, GEEP company’s drive to sell new devices. recycled? When I asked, a company of political will to raise the Asithappens,theBoPsurpluspresentsagoldenopportunitytokeepthecostsdownforan employees determined that many of Sometimes Apple is upfront about spokesperson would only say that it nutritional levels of people expansionaryfiscalpolicy.Giventhis,itisnotclearwhythegovernmentishesitating. these deviceswere still perfectlyusable, this. In 2019, chief executive officer subjectsthemto“rigoroustesting.”She universally. The eradication of anddivertedatleast100,000forresale. Tim Cook blamed weaker-than- alsowarnedthatdevicesthatarerefur- hunger is certainly not an Afteraninvestigation,Applefoundthat expected new iPhone sales on dis- bishedwithnon-Applepartsrepresent unachievable goal. It may require manyofthelostphoneswerebeingused counted battery replacements. But asafetyconcern.But,thereislittlepub- the reversal of policies heavily BestSHOT inChina—presumably in“goodshape.” more often, the company quietly lic evidence to support that claim. In skewed towards the affluent Apple’s anger at GEEP is certainly takes actions that limit the numberof 2018, 176 million used smartphones classes. The claim that India is an Targeting the elderly for Covid-19 vaccine roll-out will understandable if those charges are old devices that can compete with were shipped globally, yet malfunc- emerging superpower is belied by true. But consumers who entrusted newmodels.Itrefuses to provide even tioning parts simply don’t factor into its very low rank in the GHI. Health benefit from anti-ageing drugs to bolster immune response Appletomanagetheirusedgoodsinan basic repair documentation to users, the leading causes of smartphone- is wealth; a country in which MMUNOSENESCENCE—ortheimmunesystemlosingitsvigourintheelderly—isper- environmentally-friendlywaycouldbe for instance, or to sell replacement related injuries. children are anaemic and hapsoneofthefactorswhyCovid-19hasaffectedtheolddisproportionatelyinmany forgiven for holding their own grudge. parts to customers and unlicensed The good news for iPhone 12 emaciated cannot achieve its full countries.Whatmakesitworse,though,isthefactthatitislikelytounderminevaccine When the details of the case recently repair shops. It has also lobbied upgraders is that they don’t have to potential in the coming decades. — protectionamongseniors.Someexpertsfearvaccinesmaynotevenmeetthe50%effi- came to light, plenty of people in the rely on Apple to ensure that their G David Milton, Maruthancode I tech world objected. In this case and deviceshavelongafterlives.IntheUS, cacythresholdthattheWHOhasadvisedforvaccinecandidatesqualifyingforuse. While some vaccines have reported equal efficacyin older as well asyounger subjects, others,it is clearthatApple has repeat- Apple refuses to provide hundreds of businesses will buy old edly failed to live up to its own lofty iPhonesforrefurbishmentandresale, Fighting flu someothershaveshownconsiderablyreducedresponseamongstseniors.Ascountriesdraw even basic repair uptheirvaccineroll-outplans—Indiaistargeting,amongothers,elderlypeoplewithco-mor- promises on managing old devices.In and they often pay handsomely. Few A universal flu shot will be a blessing bidities for first vaccines that will become available in the country—theyhave to contend doing so, it has diverted consumers documentation to users, or of these companies make the kinds of in these cursed times of Covid-19, withthisproblem.Againstsuchabackdrop,interventionsthatwillpump-primetheimmune fromseekingoutmoresustainableand to sell replacement parts to sweeping sustainability claims that in which hundreds of thousands systemamongtheelderly,asNaturereports,couldbecomequiteimportant.Ahigh-poten- lucrative outlets for their unwanted customers and unlicensed Apple does. But, unlike Apple, they have died in poor and rich countries gadgets, and undermined its case for don’t have to worry that their used alike. If flu can be dealt with tialinterventioncouldbeaclassofanti-ageingdrugsthatinhibitaproteincalledmTORthat repair shops. It has also isakeyelementofcell-growthspathways.A2018studyinvolving264participantsreceiv- beingagoodenvironmentalsteward. products are competing against their comprehensively, the pressure on ing low-dose mTOR inhibitorshowed that those received the drug had lowerincidence of Making a new smartphone isn’t lobbied aggressively against new ones. our healthcare capacity won’t be so infections and responded better to the fluvaccine.At a timewhen there are uncertainties always a pretty process. According to laws that might require such much that it crumbles completely. — surroundingtheefficacyanddurationofprotectionofaCovid-19vaccine,thebestshotfor Apple, 79% of the carbon emissions concessions This column does not necessarily Sumona Pal, Kolkata Indiaandothercountrieswouldbetoconsidersupplementsthatincreasethechancesofthe associated with the total lifespan of an reflect the opinion ofthe editorial vulnerablegettingdueprotection. iPhone 11 are emitted during the pro- board orBloomberg LPand its owners ●Write to us at [email protected]

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TheCBDTisknowntosethightaxcol- lection targets for field officers, forcing ● TAXATION OF DIGITAL BIZ them to be aggressive collecting advance tax, issuing inappropriate assessment orders,leadingtotaxterrorism,orinpurs- ing litigation at various forums.With the Not just a new faceless assessment and appeal sys- tem, this target-setting may become meaningless,reducing scope fortaxpayer click away intimidationandlitigation. While the faceless assessment and appeal system will address the adminis- tration issues,the CBDT should focus on AJAY resolutionofthehighnumberofpending appeals before various authorities.The ROTTI CBDT has indicated that 88% of appeals pending with Commissioner (Appeals) Author is partner, DhruvaAdvisors LLP will be sent to the new faceless appeal process,which engages 85% of the cur- rent strength of Commissioners NTHE GLOBAL tax arena,tax challenges arising from (Appeals).In terms of priority,the CBDT digitisation are the most talked about topic, and the should fast-track the settlement of ongoingworkbytheOECD/G20InclusiveFramework appeals pending with Commissioners needs no introduction.After rounds of releasing pol- (Appeals)sincethenetcollectibledemand icy documents and holding public consultations, the ILLUSTRATION: ROHNITPHORE is expected to be a minuscule 1.2% in OECDI on October12,2020,held a press conference to pro- In some instances, even the Supreme 2018-19.The ITD should target to com- vide an update on the ongoing work under Pillar One and Courtdecisionisnoteffectedurgently. plete all pending appealswithin the next Pillar Two proposals to address the tax challenges arising TV MOHANDAS PAI Thelargequantumofpendingtaxdis- one year and release the inappropriately from digitalisation.The OECD has released the Blueprints putes show that high-pitch assessments collectedtaxestotaxpayers. on PillarOne and PillarTwo. & S KRISHNAN indeedcontinue.Theaccompanyingtable Inthecaseofappealspendingathigher TheBlueprintsprovideanoutlineforafutureagreement showsthetrendoftaxarrearsoverthepast levels,the ITD should target to settle all thatwouldadheretotheconceptofnettaxationofincome, Pai is chairman, Aarin Capital Partners, and Krishnan is a tax consultant fiveyearsending2018-19. casespendingatITATsinthenexttwoyears avoiddoubletaxation,andbeassimpleandadministrableas Demands difficult to recover have and all cases pending with the courts possible.The Pillar One Blueprint proposes solutions for been increasing year after year, and within the next three years. The CBDT attribution of revenues and taxing rights to market juris- ● accounted for98.8% of the total arrears should publish on its homepage on a dictions,andthePillarTwoBlueprintdealswithimposition TRANSPARENTTAXATION of demands in 2018-19, as against monthlybasisareportonthetotalnumber of a minimum tax rate.The Blueprints provide significant 98.2% in 2017-18.The net collectible ofappealspendingatthebeginningofthe insighttothefinalsolutionsthatareexpectedtobeadopted; demand decreased by `5,566 crore to month,disposedofduringthatmonthand however,thereisnoconsensusonthemannerinwhichprof- `14,593 crore in 2018-19.It is a minus- the pending appeals at month-end along itsaretobeallocatedunderPillarOneandthereisnoagree- cule 1.2% in 2018-19 and has been less with the amount of appeals disposed of ment or plan on the minimum rate of tax to be proposed Withdraw than 4% during these five years! This andtheamountlockedupattheendofthe underPillarTwo. clearly indicates taxpayer harassment month.This needs to be reviewed every While thework of the OECD towards a global consensus and a colossal waste of monthbytheFM,justasthe is ongoing,the pressure on governments for revenues is time,moneyandenergyfor PM reviews infrastructure leading to many countries implementing or announcing litigants.Andtaxpayersare The CBDT should projects.Thiswouldincrease unilateralmeasuresfortaxingdigitisedbusinesses.Further, untenable tax helpless in this regard. transparencyand the public on one hand,while countries like France,Australia,the UK, Income-tax authorities enhance monetary would be aware of the India and have or are in advance stages of implemen- indicate that the design of limits for filing progress.As recommended tationofunilateralmeasures,theUS,ontheotherhand,has thefacelessassessmentsys- appeals by the ITD by Tax Administration initiated investigations against France, India and other temshouldreducelitigation to `1 crore before Reforms Commission countriesforunilateralmeasures.TheUShasevenproposed litigation since taxpayers will no (TARC) headed by retaliatory tariffs against French goods if France does not longer be attached to a spe- ITATs, `5 crore ParthasarathiShome,ondis- withdraw its proposal to tax US digital giants.While such While the faceless assessment and appeals could cific office or territory or before HCs and posalofcasesbyHCs/SCand measures maymeet the objec- jurisdictionforassessments. `10 crore before on judgments accepted by tive of governments to collect prevent harassment, all pending appeals should Instead, the National e- the SC the ITD, the CBDT should taxes, these can also lead to Assessment Centre (NeAC) make it a standard compul- trade wars and multinationals While unilateral be cleared urgently to give succour to taxpayers willbethemaingatewayfor sory practice to withdraw would end up paying taxes in measures may communication between appeals in anypending case multiple jurisdictions. meet the objective taxpayersandtaxauthorities.Dataanalyt- involving the same issue within a maxi- India has been actively RIMEMINISTER Narendra higher refund could be exaggerated icsandartificialintelligencewillbeusedto mum of two months.The ITD should be involvedandhasimplemented of governments to Modi launched the platform demandsraisedbythedepartmentduring select cases for assessment and an auto- penalisedforfailingtodoso. unilateral measures to tax the collect taxes, these ‘Transparent Taxation—Hon- the previous financialyears to meet their mated allocation system will be used to The CBDT should enhance monetary digitisedeconomy.Thenewest can also lead to ouring the Honest’on August revenuecollectiontargets.” assign e-assessment cases to a specific limits for filing appeals by the ITD to `1 being the introduction of trade wars 13,2020,comprising of face- Whenitcomestoappeals,taxofficers assessment unit in any one Regional e- crorebeforeITATs,`5crorebeforeHCsand EqualisationLevyonnon-resi- Pless assessments, faceless appeals and a needlessly pursue these at higher levels, AssessmentCentre(ReAC).Theassessment `10crorebefore theSC.TheCBDTshould dent e-commerce operators taxpayer’s charter. Faceless assessment regardless of the outcome since there is processwillhavemultiplelayersofreview alsoensurethatallappealsfiledbytheITD selling goods or services or and appeals aim to eliminate physical no penalty on the ITD and its officers. bydifferentunitsincludinganautomated beforehigherauthorities(belowthemon- facilitatingsaleofgoodorservicesiftheydonothaveatax- interface between taxpayers and tax CasespendingwiththeITATincreased2.4 examination tool, thereby reducing the etary limits) are immediatelywithdrawn able presence in India. authorities, thereby hopefully bringing times in 2018-19,to 92,205,compared scope for a tax officer’s discretion,result- andthecollectedtaxesarerepaidimmedi- The Inclusive Framework team members note the tech- ingreaterefficiencyandtransparencyto to 37,572 cases in 2017-18. The total inginafairandreasonableorderandcon- ately.Theseenhancedlimitswouldprevent nical challenges to develop a workable solution as well as the assessment and appeal process.This casespendingathigherlevels(ITATs,high sequentlylowerlitigation. tax officers from filing routine frivolous some areas where critical policy differences remain,which is a significant reform in the tax admin- courts,the Supreme Court) increased to Allassessmentorderswillbepassedby cases and enable judicial authorities to will have to be resolved to reach an agreement.The biggest istration process, reducing tax officer’s 1.35 lakh in 2018-19 compared to 0.82 the NeAC except in cases assigned to cen- focusonhigh-valuelitigations. challenge for them now is not a technical architecture or a discretion, tax terrorism, and scope for lakhcasesin2017-18.TheCBDThasindi- tralchargesortointernationaltaxcharges. Obtaining refunds is another chal- solution, but the political acceptance of the same across corruption and litigation. catedthatofthe31,325appealspending The ReAC is required to send the draft lengeforataxpayerafteranappealisset- nations.TheUSwithdrawingfromtalkshasbeenasetback, It is well known that the Income Tax with the Commissioners of Income-tax assessment order to the NeAC,which will tled.The tax officer faces no prescribed butapossiblechangeofguardintheUSadministrationafter Department (ITD) is amongst the largest (Appeals) for more than five years as on examinethesameaccordingtoariskman- time limit for issuing the refund.A time the upcoming elections could change some of it.Unilateral litigants in India. The Receipt Budget April 1, 2019, only 7,597 appeals have agement strategy specified by the CBDT. periodof30daysshouldbesetforrefunds actions may not solve the problem and could create newer 2020-21 indicates that the amount of been disposed of till end-November The NeAC mayfinalise the assessment as consequent to such orders, and if the ones.However,at this point,one cannot rule out unilateral taxesonincomeunderdisputewas`8lakh 2019—a very poor reflection of tax per draft assessment order or provide an refundisnotpaidwithin30daysfromthe actions bycountries running out of patience. crore at the end of 2018-19. This is 5.8 administration.Thisindicatesapendency opportunityto the taxpayerto respond in date of order,the ITD should pay double TheBlueprintsreleasedbytheOECDalsohighlightthat times the tax amount not under dispute ofover75%.AnytaxdisputeinIndianor- case a modification is proposed or assign the interest rates for the period of delay. a probable solution to taxing the digitised economycould (`1.38 lakh crore)! About 60% of out- mallytakes15-20yearsfromthetimean thedraftassessmentordertoareviewunit Tax officers should be appropriately bethroughmultilateralinstruments,theimplementation standing disputes have come up in 2017- assessment is completed to the time the in any one ReAC,through an automated penalisedforthedelayinissuingrefunds. of which will be complex, owing to political factors 18and2018-19,bothintheNDAregime. Supreme Court possiblytakes a decision. allocationsystem. There is no parity in the interest rate involvedandtheneedforinternationalcooperation.Most Ofthis,corporationtaxamountunderdis- chargedontaxpayersforvariouskindsof countries will have to amend their domestic tax laws to puteattheendof2018-19was`4.06lakh Arrears of demand delays/default and the ITD for delayed enable implementation. crore—4.9 times the corporation tax refunds.Therateofinterestpayablebythe Having said that, one would not deny that commend- amount not under dispute (`0.83 lakh (` crore) ITD should be increased to the same rate able efforts are being made by the OECD and the status of crore).This ratiowas lowerat 3.7 times at Earlier Current Total Difficult Net % of net aspayablebytaxpayers. the same will be presented to the G20 finance ministers theendof2013-14. FY year's year's demand to recover collectible collectible While the faceless assessment and soonforfurtherdiscussions.Inputsfromstakeholdersare Thequarterlytrendofrefundsprovided appeals is welcome and could prevent invited through public consultation, to further fine-tune by the CBDT indicates that a significant 2014-15 5,68,724 1,31,424 7,00,148 6,73,032 27,116 3.9% harassment,allpendingappealsshouldbe and simplify the proposed solution and the process for portionofcorporationtaxcollectedduring 2015-16 6,67,855 1,56,356 8,24,211 8,02,256 21,955 2.7% clearedurgentlytogivesuccourtotaxpay- arriving at a consensus is proposed to be completed by the first quarterof a financialyearis used 2016-17 7,33,229 3,11,459 10,44,688 10,29,725 14,963 1.4% ers and clean up the entire system.Only mid-2021.Publicconsultationwouldfollowthereceiptof torefundpreviousyear’sexcesscollection. thenwillthepromisetoeliminatetaxter- inputsfromstakeholders(thelastdateforwhichisDecem- Itwasabout48%duringthefirstquarterof 2017-18 7,36,975 3,77,207 11,14,182 10,94,023 20,159 1.8% rorism byour formerFM and to overhaul ber 14,2020).Meanwhile,countries would continue uni- 2018-19 and 39.8% and 48.7% during 2018-19 9,46,190 2,87,888 12,34,078 12,19,485 14,593 1.2% the dispute resolution mechanisms and lateral measures and one can only hope global consensus thefirstquartersof2017-18and2016-17, Source: Directorate of Income Tax (Organisation & Management Services), Demand & provide a non-adversarial and conducive is arrived at soon. respectively.TheCAGindicatesinits2020 Collection report (CAP-1) for the month of March of respective financial year tax environment by the BJP in its 2014 report that “the possible reason for this manifesto,beeffectuated.

INDIA’S SOLAR STORY

T HAS BEEN announced that India to be enough.It requires a policy focus on would levy a basic customs duty on Solar cells/photovoltaic cells whether or not a host of otherfactors such as financial import of solar cells and modules to atmanirbharta limitations,facilitation of high-end tech- furtherrestrict imports and encour- Is assembled in module/panel nologies, skill development and training agedomesticmanufacturing.Thisis Value in $ million workshops, etc. Similarly, for provisions Inot a new development; in fact, a similar 4,500 like DCR,involvement of different stake- proposition earlier had led to a World 4,000 3,837.57 holders, the private sector, and local and TradeOrganisation(WTO)caseagainstthe international businesses in the designing that easy? 3,500 country. The Covid-19 pandemic has of such provisions can help in obtaining a broughtwith itself a rising consciousness Safeguard duty alone won’t be enough. Government must 3,000 clear strategy for catalysing local manu- forlocally-producedproducts,espousedin 2,500 facturing. Past research studies have thenewgovernmentmantraofAtmanirb- demonstrated a failure of such measures tackle financial limitations & R&D needs of domestic firms 2,000 har Bharat. However, to compete with an 1,348.47 whenindustryisshelteredfromcompeti- established solar giant like , India 1,500 tion or is given protection to offset high would need to provide more than just AMRITA GOLDAR 1,000 costs. On the other hand, measures that imposition of duties. 500 213.77 succeed contribute to realisation of Under our forthcoming research, part 820.95 128.8 economies of scale and ultimatelyexpose of the ‘IDFC-ICRIER Project on Global & SAJAL JAIN 0 the sector to competition, balancing the Competitiveness of Indian Economy’,we 2009-10 ‘10-11 ‘11-12 ‘12-13 ‘13-14 ‘14-15 ‘15-16 ‘16-17 ‘17-18 ‘18-19 ‘19-20 ‘20-21 incentives provided. Goldar is senior fellow and Jain is consultant, ICRIER. Views are personal (P) found that thevalue of import forsolar Chinahasachievedthedominantposi- cells/photovoltaic cells has been rapidly tioninthesectorduetothepolicyofcom- falling.Fromapeakvaluein2017-18,the between the local and foreign solar mar- The local content landscape facturing took a hit and the local demand cism. In 2018, the Supreme Court gave a pletegovernmentsupporttotheindustry, current value of imports stands at just kets.The Ministry of New and Renewable Different measures have been under- fell. Further, the WTO considered DCR as judgment on the imposition of safeguard along with a focus on technological $128.8 million for April-July 2020.This Energyevenacknowledgedina2017con- taken to deal with the issue of local com- inconsistent with rules of free and fair duty on import of solar panels and mod- advancement. Along with government was perhaps a result of the extension of cept paper that the domestic capacity in petitivenessinthepast.Thetwomainini- internationaltrade.Onthisline,therewas ules from China and Malaysia.The said support,an acknowledgment of the exis- previously imposed safeguard duty, in the country was not utilised to the opti- tiatives include the domestic content adisputebetweenIndiaandtheUS,where duty was put in place to restrict the inva- tence of a skills gap and adequate mea- view of the pandemic and import restric- mum capability due to “…obsolete tech- requirement (DCR) and the imposition of the US dragged the DCR clauses to the sionofcheapimports,believedtobeham- suresforitsreductionarecrucialtoensure tions.Thesolarsectoralbeitisanindustry nology as the existing capacity is mainly anti-dumping dutyin the solarsector. WTO, claiming inconsistency with trade pering local business prospects. While effective operationalisation of domestic that relied heavily on imports,and such a under the conventional technology of Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National agreements.The end-result was an even- recognisingtheneedtoprotectlocalman- manufacturing endeavours. India, thus, drastic fall could prove to be detrimental multi-crystallineAl-BSFsolarcells…”While Solar Mission (JNNSM) in 2010,DCR was tualscrappingofDCR.TheDCRschemein ufacturers, the industry, however, also needstofocusonbuildingdomesticman- forthe sector. the pandemic did bring back a renewed introducedtopromotelocalmanufactur- India was not a significant contributor to feared an increase in costs forsolardevel- ufacturingcapacitiesaswellasincreasing Many reports and previous research focusonthedevelopmentofthedomestic ing of solar PV. However, the DCR clause eitherimprovementincompetitivenessor opers,leading to a rise in powertariffs. researchinthefieldtotapinnovativetech- have attributed the high import depen- solarsector,italsobroughttotheforelim- did not include thin film modules.The job creation. In accordance to a CEEW- nologies. India could utilise the Interna- dencytosignificantlylowercostofforeign itations in the domestic setup.When the result was a majority of installations opt- NRDC study,DCR actually even distorted Not just protectionist measures tional Solar Alliance (ISA) platform to modulesincomparisontothelocalIndian sectorwas alreadysuffering from the dis- ing for low-cost financed imported thin the market towards thin film solar cell Withalimitedandrestricteddomestic encourage cooperation and learning counterparts.This high price of domestic advantagesofhighimportdependencyin filmmodules,inoppositionofthedomes- technologywhen the domestic manufac- solarsector,itwouldbedifficulttoachieve amongst solar-rich nations to develop a modules can then actually be traced to a thepre-Covid-19era,thenewrestrictions tic manufacturers majorly using crys- turing capacityforthe samewas limited. a completely self-reliant domestic solar greener and more interdependent world, huge gap that still exists with respect to coupled with a limited domestic reach talline silicon (c-Si) PV cells and modules. The imposition of anti-dumping duty sector through only protectionist mea- from a monopolised one-country control operationalandtechnologicalcapabilities have onlyadded to its troubles. Asaresultofthisbias,thec-Silocalmanu- in 2018was also metwith a lot of criti- sures. Safeguard duty alone cannot serve of the market and thus the entire sector.

Pune 8 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

BETTING BIG ONTECH

Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister for electronics & IT, communications & law & justice Technology at times overwhelms us, but we welcome❝ AI to generate development and promote equity. ❝India's application ofAI will be a beacon for the world. eMONDAY,FE OCTOBER 19, 2020

● ● INTERVIEW: SANJAY SRIVASTAVA, Chief Digital Officer, Genpact THE SPOKEN WORD Voice tech: AI is reinventing business models forcompanies The future of PriortoCovid-19,manybusinesseswereon Howhastheindustryacceleratedgrowth tionslikeMicrosoftTeams. Second,transformation services that help afive-yearroadmaptodigitisetheiropera- and consumption of digital transforma- AIandanalyticsaremainstream:Ana- discover plan, change, manage, and pro- tions.Now most want to become fully digi- tionservicesinCovid-19? lytics professionals have never been in as grammaticallydrivecloudprojectsacrossall business tal within just two years, says Sanjay One of the things the pandemic has muchdemand.Executivesworkingonfast- fourassets in ourcompany,people process Srivastava,chiefdigitalofficer,Genpact.“In shownusisthatdigitaltransformationisno changingeconomicandbusinessstrategies dataandtechnology.Andthird,theabilityto fact, there has been an accelerated con- longera“nicetohave”,it’sa“musthave”.The need more information,insights and pre- bring together the building blocks of ser- Voice is breaking sumptionofcloud-basedservicesandsolu- digitaltransformationchoicesthatorgani- dictionsthaneverbefore. vicesonacloudbackboneinanagileway. technology barriers making tions leading to 10x faster acceleration to sations make todaywill help them prepare AIrequireshumansintheloop:Aland We are partnering with top cloud the cloud.This will lead to a consistent user for a future in which they will need to dataanalyticscandeliverpossiblesolutions providers such as AWS, Cloud,and human-technology experience, improved productivity and demonstrate a more holistic outlook, act at amazing speed but “the last mile,” the MicrosoftAzureandstrategicgo-to-market interaction simple, intuitive openmoreroomsforinno- more transparently and actual decision,still belongs to humans partners such as Deloitte to bring these vation,” he tells Sudhir ethically, and deliver only and is how enterprises can cloud-basedsolutionsinallourhighpriority and a personal form of Chowdhary in a recent hyper-personalised expe- trulyactwithconfidence. areas,suchasfinanceandaccounting,sup- communication interview.Excerpts: Al and data analytics can riences. Digital transfor- End-to-end digitisation plychainmanagement,bankingoperations,

deliver possible solutions mation is an imperative. enables shift from auto- and insurance operations.Forexample,for What technologydoyou Prior to Covid-19, many mation to autonomous: alargeindustrialclient,wearere-imagining at amazing speed but foreseetobealifesaverin were on a five-year Enterprise processes are their cash collections process to reduce “the last❝ mile”, the actual theITindustry? ❝ roadmap to digitise their increasingly moving from errorsinpaymentsandimproveregulatory Most enterprises are decision, still belongs to operations. Now, most automated to autonomous. compliance byre-platforming theircollec- alreadyinagreementthat humans only and is how wanttobecomefullydigi- Thedifferenceisinautomat- tionsapplicationtoAmazonWebServicesin ArtificialIntelligence(AI) enterprises can truly act talwithinjusttwoyears.In ing some components of a ordertodriveimprovedcashflows. can bring unparalleled with confidence fact, we are seeing a 10x process versus automating value to their organisa- faster business accelera- theentireprocess. WhataretheinitiativesandservicesGen- Tarun Dagar tion.We don’t think of AI tion to the cloud.Compa- pactisofferingincloud? as artificial intelligence, nies understand that they What are the essentials AtGenpact,wecombineourdeepindus- we think of it as aug- mustacceleratetheirdigi- for a successful digital try and business process knowledge with WE LIVE IN the age of convenience where mented intelligence—that which aug- taltransformationsorbeleftbehind. transformation? unique cloud accelerators,best practices, we demand everything at our fingertips. ments a human’s capabilities with We’realsoseeingseveraltrendsthatare Successfuldigitaltrans- andplatformpartnerstodelivercloudsolu- Technology has allowed us to satisfy these machinelearningandAI.Atthesametime, causing customers in the IT industry to formation, leveraging tionsalignedtotheneedsofourclients’busi- wants,beitquickandcontactlesspayments, AIischangingthefutureofworkandrein- expeditetheirfive-yearroadmaptodigitise cloud-based solutions nesses.Wefocusonwherewecanaddvalue controllingsmarthomeappliancesoreven venting business models for enterprises. theiroperations.Thesekeytrendsinclude: require three competencies tointroducetherightcloudservices,forthe thesmartfeaturesonourphones.Nowvoice With digital transformation moving Cloudjourneysareaccelerating:Gen- that customers are investing right processes,at the right time.Deep and is breaking technologybarriers by making beyond the CIO,value is being created by pact is seeing a significant acceleration to in: First,deep domain knowl- varied partnerships provide speed and human-technology interaction simple, driving true experience-led journeys that thecloudasanincreasingnumberofexecu- edge to drive the functional expertise in this fast-paced,ever-changing intuitiveandapersonalformofcommuni- reimagine siloed organisations as seam- tives experience the availability,resilience, design and configuration of environment,andwe are constantlydeep- cation.Soon,everything thatwas oncewas less end-to-end enterprises. and performance of cloud-based applica- new business architecture. eningourecosystemofpartners. atourfingertipswillbecontrolledbyvoice. Today,voice assistants have emerged as one of the biggest drivers of innovation. Fromvoice-assistant-enabledsmartphones Tech to connected devices like Amazon Echo, voice technologyis transforming the tech- nology industry and creating a niche for itselfamongbrands. According to the report‘VoiceTechnol- Bytes ogy in India: Now and Future – Consumer Gadgets and Business Perspective’byWATConsult, 76% of the users are familiar with the speech and voice recognition technology. WithitsfastadoptionintheIndianmarket, ● MOTOROLA RAZR 5G circa 2020,with minimal errors). brands,devicemakersandtechnologyagen- Then comes the third mode which is cies are increasingly realising the unique really smart where the full power of the opportunity voice assistants present to device is there to see on the Quick View engagewithcustomers. The return of the Razr display.When the Razr 5G is closed,you can swipe down to get to the control spot with the new Razr 5G.Every choice SPECIFICATIONS panel.Swipingupleadstonotifications, The new Razr’s flippable is a sacrifice,said awise philosopher.So, swipinglefttakesyoutothecameraand design makes it one of the ifyouwantthissnazzypocketableform- ■ Display: 6.2-inch HD+ Display, rightleadsyoutoseeagridofapps.Swipe factor,expect to make some sacrifices. 2.7-inch Quick View Display to the right again to see contact best one-handed use As the mobile revolution sweeps the favourites,forquick dialing. phones; it is also the globe, phone makers around the world ■ Processor: Qualcomm The second interesting thing in this areinventinganewcategorycalled‘Fold’, Snapdragon 765G Processor device is the camera which Motorola world’s first ‘creaseless’ Chirag Rachh, founder & CEO, anditcomesinmanyvariants.Somefold ■ Memory & storage: 8GB RAM, touts as theworld’s best selfie camera at Aditi Tracking folding phone—the hinge inwards,others outward,some are a tri- 256GB ROM 48MP.It workswellforZoomcallsalso.It fold(thoughstillnotlaunchedcommer- has Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), Aditi Tracking brings is invisible cially) while still others like Motorola ■ Camera: 48MP rear camera, f/1.7largeapertureandlaserautofocus. have come upwith the iconic flip phone 20MP front camera IthasthepopularNightVisionModeand location spotting tool SRIVATSA KRISHNA which is also foldable. ■ Battery: 2800 mAh Lithium-ion some AI (artificial intelligence) stuff to for Dial 102 call centre The Motorola Razr 5G is the world’s battery enhance the userexperience. AS ONE OF my mentors at Harvard,the first “creaseless” folding phone, thanks The third point is that this is a true MUMBAI-BASED GPS technologyfirm lateClaytonChristensen,hadpredicted, toaniftyengineeringanddesignmarvel ■ Estimated street price: `1,24,999 worldphonewhichcanworkalmostany- AditiTracking Support has introduced eventhemostoutstandingcompaniesin whichisapatentedtechnologyallowing whereontheplanetevenascompetition an integrated advanced call centre theworldcandoeverythingrightandyet the hinge to disappear seamlessly.The comes in differentvariants fordifferent Voice technologyoffers the best hands- solution byCarbyne (-based public losemarketleadership.Motorola,which debut avatar of Razr launched last year 2,00,000-fold lifespan is enough to last markets. It is compatible with over 300 free and natural experience forconsumers safetytechnologycompany) forDial 102 was once at the peak of the clamshell/ had some glitches and many of them long, and the creaseless technology 5G bands that support it globally.It also withaminimalinvestmentintimetolearn project forMaharashtra to deliver flip-phone market and then saw mar- have been taken care of in this new reduceswearand tearaswell. supportscarrieraggregation(3X20CA– thetechnology.Ithasformedanecosystem advanced IP-enabled communication ketshare disappear rapidly, is one such model.The new Razr is built from alu- There are some very interesting 60Mhz)and4X4 MIMOforblazing-fast thatincludesdevelopersandvoiceagencies features and callersolutions.Thiswill be example.Itisnowtryingtoregainitsold minum with Gorilla Glass 5 and feels things to note in the new version. The 5G performance as perMotorola claims andthispromisesonlyanupwardclimbfor a part of a free referral transport service solidcomparedtotheplasticfeelof functionality of the front screen has though that could not beverified. theindustry.However,therearestillgapsin known as JSSKprogramme (‘Janani the previous one. The been improved dramatically and if you The battery life is still not as much as the market when it comes to awareness of Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram’) provided usethefrontscreenmostlythenthebat- the latest phones in the market have as voicetechnologyanditsapplication. to pregnantwomen and infants.With tery lasts longer.There are the challenge is to get a bigger battery Smartphones created an entire market Carbyne’s technology,callers in three different modes on intothistinyfoldformfactorwithaslim andindustryforitselfwithnumerousdevel- Maharashtra can nowreceive a linkvia the front screen itself.The design. So,you sacrifice battery for the opers,startups,and otherbusinesses com- text orWhatsApp that can provide first lets you peek at noti- formfactor,whichsomepeoplesurpris- ing into existence. Similarly, with the additional tools such as accurate fications by pressing and inglydoprefer.Likewise,thefingerprint entranceofvoicetechnology,businessesare location services andvideo capabilities holdingthem,whichwas scanner takes some getting used to as it nowthinkingvoice first and looking to get without downloading anyapp.The therelasttimearoundas is somewhat awkwardly positioned on themselves on voice-enabled platforms service helps speed up response time and well.The next mode is the phone. rightaway.Therearecurrentlythousandsof decreases the numberof idle calls that onewhereyou can tap, In sum,the 2020 Razr 5G marks the developers,agencies,and brands that are can cause delays.With Carbyne,the exact hold and swipe notifi- return of the Razr,the best one-handed working onvoice technologyfor India and location can be easilyspotted byLive cations to respond to usephoneintheworld.Itisanadmirable internationalmarkets. Video Sharing servicewherein,the them.The keys cover device with many nifty uses. Can Organisations in the medical field are person isvisiblevia satellite map.Chirag the screen but it’s not Motorola perhaps make a slightlywider nowoptingforvoiceinterfaceintheirtech- Rachh,founder& CEO,AditiTracking too tough to typewith phone,and make it as a nology.Healthcaremonitorsthattrackvitals said,“Carbine’s technologyallows us to swipe-typing or with product, like the first one was, for its suchasbloodpressure,pulse,bodytemper- turn anycall into rich data voice to text which is next avatar? ForIndia and fortheworld, ature,etc.,could onlybe operated bytouch (location/video/chat) in real time now exceedingly accu- from India? in the past.With the introduction ofvoice, without the need of an app.” rate with both Android patients,especiallythe elderly,can interact andSiri(Iusevoicetotextfor The authoris an IAS officer. without moving,touching,oreven looking GoDaddy,EduSkills to help 90% of mymessaging and dictations in Views are personal @srivatsakrishna atthedevice. InacountrylikeIndia,wherevernacular youth get digital training isstrongandliteracyratesarenothigh,voice GODADDY,ANAMERICAN ● PTRON BASSBUDS PLUS assistantsallowpeopletoaccesstechnology domain registrarandweb hosting with ease. According to a Google-KPMG company,has joined handswith report,nine out of 10 internet users seek EduSkills,a non-profit social enterprise local language content in India.Access to forboosting entrepreneurship and Keep the music playing vernacular voice technology will enable digital skills development in India.The s them to access content with ease and will partners aim to create a talent pool of It’sveryimportanttochecktheover- eight hours from the charging case to directlyincreasethenumberofusersinthe thousands of skilledyouth in the Easy to use and set up, all sound quality and wearing comfort keep you going. The Mono and Stereo country.Additionally,withchildrenforming countrybyoffering GoDaddy’s newly these wireless earbuds when you go for a new pair of earbuds modessupportworkingwitheither a significant part of the user base, the created online training and certification and trust me, the Bassbuds Plus do not one earbud or both together. edutechindustryhasseensuddenuptakein programme,GoDaddyAcademy.The deliver clear sound for both disappoint one bit. Plus,the built-in microphones voicetechnology.Duetoitseasyaccessibil- programme aims to train educators music and phone calls This pTron device delivers clear in both earbuds supportvoice ity,children across age groups are moving across EduSkills’partneruniversities sound for both music and phone calls, assistant and phone calls. towardsvoice technologyfor education,as and engineering colleges across India. thanks to the 8mm dynamic speakers. The best part I liked about wellasentertainment.Asmoreclientsoptto NikhilArora,vice president and SUDHIR CHOWDHARY Thepremiumsoundismadepossibleby this pairof earbuds is the one- create skills forplatforms likeAlexa in new managing director,GoDaddyIndia said, itsdynamichigh-endcopperdrivers.The step insta pairing. Just sync industries,thetruesignificanceandimpact “With thevarietyof challenges and CUTTHE CORD,saygoodbyetoannoy- Bassbuds Plus comes in a compact and with your device and you are willbeunderstood. uncertainties being experienced bythis ing wires and enjoy unhindered move- ergonomic design with three colour good to go. In addition, Currently, in India, there is a gigantic global pandemic,digital technologyhas ment anytime,anywhere—this,in nut- options. A fast and stable connection the passive noise can- opportunityforvoicetechnologyintheIoT, become integral to thewaytheworld shell,is the promise that new-age True with your mobile phone is enabled by cellation feature automation,and robotics industry,as well. operates,especiallyin a developing WirelessStereo(TWS)earbudsaremak- BT5.0+A2DPtechnology. ensures that unneces- Thefutureoftechnologyisthevoiceandthe nation like India.We believe that the ing to customers. While there are Theergonomicallydesignedcompact sary distractions are opportunityitholdsforvariousindustriesis studentswho embrace these digital skills numerousoptionsavailableinthemar- case keeps the earbuds always charged kept at bay. unbounded.Thepotentialislimitless. todaywill be the skilled entrepreneurs of ket, pTron’s Bassbuds Plus earbuds are up and readyto pairas soon asyou open tomorrow,shaping the future of a digital fairlynewin the market and can be a thecase.Yougetfourhoursplaytimeper ■ Estimated street ThewriterisfounderandCTO,Voxogenic first India in the post Covid-19 new worthy pick. charge from the earbuds and additional price: `1,299 Technologies,aGurgaon-based normal environment.” voicetechnologiesfirm

Pune 9 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

While ’ current valuations are above historical EXPERTVIEW averages, the premium vs market is in line with the historical trends, and we raise our target PE multiple to 28x (from 25x), in line with our increase for the Investor sector overall —HSBC MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020

Infosys’s market share of incremental revenues has gone up ● POWER: Q2 PREVIEW to 21-24% (vs 16-19% over FY16/19 and 11% in FY15) Incremental cc revenues ($ bn) TCS CTSH Infosys HCLT 8.0 7.3 Significant

5.6 6.0 5.2 5.0 4.1 4.1 recovery for 4.0 3.6

2.0 the sector 0 National tariff policy,change (2.0) (1.3) in law and other positives FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21e FY22e Source: Company; HSBC expected to lead to re-rating; NTPC, are top picks ● INFOSYS RATING: BUY POWER DEMAND RECOVERED signifi- cantly in Q2FY21 resulting in improved thermalPLFsandsubsequentlyhigheroff- A strong showing takefromCoalIndia(CIL).H1FY21gener- ation was lower, only 8.7% y-o-y (vs - 16.4% in Q1FY21) and thermal PLFs improved300bpsfromQ1FY21to49.6%. Peak demand reached 176.6GW on 18th in Q2 by company Sep’20(loweronly3.9%fromFY20levels of183.8GW).ThisresultedinCILregister- ing 9.6%y-o-ygrowth in Q2FY21. Opening up of the economy helped Margin beat a huge surprise; FY21/22e EPS up 4/3.7%; incrementalrevenueshasgoneupto24% mateswith revenue growth of 4% cc q-o-q `1,085): Key operating metrics were all improve collections for discoms and fur- stock best long-term bet in sector; TP raised to `1,295 (vs 18% of total revenues). (vsStreetexpectationof2.6%).Infosysalso strong and lend confidence to the near- therdisbursalthroughPFC/RECschemeis In the near term,we see a pause in the continuedtooutperformpeerswithy-o-ycc term performance.Thus,we raise ourEPS expected to ease the receivables situation earningsupgradecycle,notjustforInfosys revenue growth of 2.2% in Q2vs a decline estimates by 4.0%/3.7% for FY21/22. in coming months.This, combined with INFOSYS REPORTED A strong QF2Y21. spend on digital technologies, the trans- but for the sector. However, we think of3.2%/3.4%forTCS/Wipro.Thecompany Whilecurrentvaluationsareabovehistor- two other eagerly awaited developments Margin expansion of 270bps q-o-q to formation of legacy infrastructure and Infosys remains the best placed IT com- upgradedguidanceforbothrevenuegrowth ical averages,the premiumvsmarket is in – passing of Electricity Amendment Act 25.3% was a bigger surprise than the hence the need to migrate to the cloud. panyto playthe long-term compounding (2-3% vs 0-2% previously) and the Ebit linewithhistoricaltrends,andweraiseour and National Tariff Policy – are expected modest revenue beat. Unexpectedly, the Also, in our view,50% of the global IT offering from the sector.In terms of mar- margin (23-24%vs 21-23% before).Most targetPEmultipleforInfosysto28x(from toresultinsectorre-rating.NTPCandCoal margin beat came from employee costs, spendoccursin-house,whichmaymovea gins,Q2 margins of 25.3% are likely to keyverticals have a strong outlook.A deal 25x),inlinewithourincreaseforthesector India are ourtop picks in the sector. whichdeclinedmarginallyq-o-qdespitea bittooutsourcingpostCOVID-19.Infosys comedowninH2(22-24%guidance),led winof$3.15bninthequarterwasitshigh- overall.This leads to a new TP of `1,295 100% bonus and special incentive for benefits from these industry tailwinds by wage inflation, hiring and reversal of estever,with16largedeals.Importantly,its (from `1,085);we retain ourBuy rating. Several initiatives being undertaken by employees.Wecontinuetobelievethesec- (includingvendorconsolidation)andmar- some cost-cutting in H1 (travel,etc). shareofnewdealswas86%. GoI to support the sector tor will benefit from the tailwinds from ket share gains. Infosys’s market share of Q2 summary: Infosys beat street esti- Retain Buy; lift TP to `1,295 (from HSBC These include: (i) Fiscal support via PFC/REC loans to discoms to the tune of `900 bn (`278.5 bn alreadydisbursed up to1stOct’20;quantummaybeenhanced); (ii) privatisation of distribution in UTs (Chandigarh, Puducherry and Daman & DiutobecompletedwithinFY21;and(iii) coal gasification/liquefaction through Personal Finance projects totalling `400 bn.

● LIFE INSURANCE Keeping it simple: Saral Jeevan Bima

excluding taxes will be paid and the sum ● RATING: BUY Saral Jeevan Bima will be assuredwillnotbepaid.Thispolicywillbe offered by all insurers as a voidifthelifeassuredcommitssuicideat anytimewithin12monthsfromthedate Prospects for standard individual term ofcommencementofrisk. life insurance policy but Incaseofregularandlimitedpremium paymentpolicies,thedeathbenefitwillbe Voltbek JV the price may vary highest of either 10 times of annualised premium,or 105% of all the premiums are bright paid as on the date of death or absolute SAIKATNEOGI amount assured to be paid on death.For Additionally,GoI is expected to release single premium policies,itwill be higher theNationalTariffPolicyshortly,whichwill It could lead to `298/share ASPEOPLE’SINTERESTinlifeinsurance, of 125% of single premium or the addressmostoftheprevailingissuesinthe of value over 10 years; top especiallyterm plans for pure protection absolute amount assured to be paid on sector.These measures are in addition to has grown, the insurance regulator has death.TheFreeLookperiodwillbe15days theNationalInfrastructurePipeline,which pick in sector; ‘Buy’ retained issued guidelines forstandard individual (30daysifthepolicyisanelectronicpolicy envisages investments of `25 trn in the term life insurance policy Saral Jeevan orispurchasedthroughdistancemarket- sectoroverFY20-FY25,andtheElectricity WE HOSTEDARCELIKA.S.(ARCLKTI,Not Bima.Thestandardproductwillhelpthose ing) from the date of receipt of the policy Act amendment,expected to be tabled in Rated) management to better understand who cannot devote adequate time and documentbythepolicyholder. thewintersessionofParliament. their global experiences and strategy for energytomakeinformedchoicesandfind The insurermayseek proof of contin- India.Managementindicatedthatastrong itdifficulttoselecttherightproduct. ued insurabilityfrom the policyholderto Q2FY21e preview– Keyactionables brand and distribution network, rather The regulator has underlined that a ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD deciderevivalofthepolicy.Thisincludesa Maintain NTPC as one of ourtop picks: than manufacturing, are the two critical standardproductwillmakeiteasierforthe experience.Therewillbenomaturityben- the prices may differ.For the first-time form of declaration of good health,med- Significant capacity commissioning may ingredientsforsuccess,basedontheirexpe- customers to make an informed choice, efitandnosurrendervalueunderthispol- buyers of life insurance,the planwill be a ical reports,special reports and any such continue (>5GW addition expected in rience in other markets.This is addressed enhance the trust between the insurers icy.The policywill be offered to individu- boonsincetheproductisthesame,regard- documentasmaybecalledforbyit. FY21) while improvement in capital effi- with a strong partner like Voltas,in India. andtheinsured,andreducemis-sellingas alswithoutrestrictionsongender,placeof lessoftheinsurancecompanyofferingit,” ciency and integration of acquired assets Moreover,Arcelik’s strong R&D/technol- well as potential disputes at the time of residence, travel, occupation or educa- saysSantoshAgarwal,chiefbusinessoffi- Rider options is helping drive strong earnings growth. ogy,expertise in thewhite goods segment, claim settlement.All life insurance com- tionalqualifications. cer,LifeInsurance,Policybazaar.com. Insurers can offer approved accident NTPC’s Q2FY21 earnings are expected to efficient single-product plants,affordable panieswill have to mandatorilyofferthis The minimum and maximum entry benefit and permanent disabilitybenefit increase3.6%y-o-y,althoughPATmaybe positioning and experience of grabbing policyfromJanuary1nextyear. ageswillbe18yearsand65yearsrespec- Waiting period,death benefit riders.Riderisanadd-onbenefitwhichthe slightly impacted if part of the balance share from rivals (e.g.,large Korea-based tively.Thepolicytermwillbe5-40years Thewaitingperiodwillbe45daysfrom proposerwill have to purchase separately `5.5 bn rebate is provided.A large quan- companies like LG,Samsung,etc) in other Pure risk plan and the maximum maturity age 70 thedateofcommencementofriskandin in addition to basic benefits as specified tumoftherebateisexpectedtorecoverin competitivemarketsshouldhelpthecom- SaralJeevanBimawillbeanon-linked years.Theminimumsumassuredwillbe case of revival of the policy,the waiting underthispolicydocument.Theriderpre- FY21 itself through higher LPS expected panybesuccessfulinIndia. non-participatingindividualpureriskpre- `5 lakh and the maximum will be `25 periodwillnotbeapplicable.Thepolicywill miumwill be in addition to the premium as states continue to defer payments.We Intermsofpaybackperiod,whileArce- mium life insurance plan,which will pay lakh.Thepremiumpaymentoptionswill cover death due to accident only during paid under the base policy towards the expectfurtherrecoveryincoalPLFsgoing lik usually targets seven years for invest- thesumassuredinlumpsumtothenom- be regular premium, limited premium thewaitingperiodof45daysfromthedate additional cover/benefit opted underthe forward.Maintain BUYwithTPof `165. ments, it is fine with a slightly longer ineeincaseofthelifeassured’s deathdur- payment term for 5 and 10 years and ofcommencementofrisk.Incaseofdeath rider.The rider sum assured will be the Coal India is our other top pick: tenureforstrategicinvestmentslikeIndia. ing the policy term. Non-participating single premium.“The product will have of the life assured other than due to acci- assuredamountpayableonhappeningof Improvement in demand resulting in We believe Voltbek has the catalysts to meansthepolicyisnoteligibleforashare thesamefeatures,benefits,inclusionsand dentduringthewaitingperiod,anamount a specified event covered under the rider higher thermal PLFs supported by Coal becomesuccessfulinIndia,giventhecon- of profit depending upon the company’s exclusions across all life insurers though equal to 100% of all premiums received andoptedbythepolicyholder. India’sinitiativetopushe-auctionvolumes solidated of the segments like by lowering premiums and import substi- refrigerator, individual strengths of net- tution resulted in higher volumes in work/service of Voltas and technology/ Q2FY21. In Q2FY21, production was experience ofArcelik. 115.1mnte(+10.6%y-o-y)andofftakewas As highlighted earlier,we believe there What makes investors chase certain stocks? 134.2mnte (+9.6% y-o-y).We expect coal is strong potential ofvalue accretion from PLFs to recover further from Q3FY21 this JV, even with conservative assump- performingfundwithabadrating.Unfor- analyst’s fault. Investing in under-per- onwardswhichwillhelpmaintaincoaloff- tions of ~10% market share in segments Advisors and investors are tunately,ratings also tend to follow good formingmanagersandsellingstrongper- takegrowthmomentum.WeestimateCIL’s by 2030 (which the company targets by performance, so investors are back to formersmayendupbeingagoodstrategy Q2FY21e profit to increase by 9.9% y-o-y. 2025) and Ebitda margins of ~10%.This not judged by the quality square one.In fact,in many cases,rating butcomeswithsignificantcareerrisk. MaintainBUYwithTPof`258/share. couldpotentiallyleadto~`298/shofvalue of their decisions but by upgradestendtohappenafteraperiodof IPPs:Weexpecthigherprofitsy-o-yfor (Voltas’share)overthenexttenyearscom- their investment outcomes good performance.This again is a type of Outcome bias JSWEnergy(+3.3%)butlowerprofitsy-o- paredto~`120/shcurrently,basedonour return-chasingbehaviour. Advisors and investors are not judged y for (-45.6%) and CESC assumptions. We also anticipate strong bythequalityoftheirdecisionsbutbytheir (-13.5%) in Q2FY21e. Each of the three long-termgrowthvisibilityfortheACseg- ● YOUR MONEY Reversion to mean investment outcomes. A good decision companies was able to recover from the mentinIndia.Thus,wemaintainVoltasas Alotofstudiesshowmeanreversionin going souris a sign of poordecision mak- lockdownimpactduringthequarter.Since ourtoppickinthesectorwithaTPof`840. PRATIK OSWAL theinvestmentindustryaswell.Bydefin- ing.Awrongdecisionwithalittlebitofluck CESCandTorrentareinvolvedindistribu- ition,meanreversionisatheorythatsug- isasignofsuperiordecisionmaking.Good tion franchise business as well, they were NOMURA WITH HUNDREDS AND thousands of gests that asset prices tend to revert to an performers talk about their investing affected more as these businesses were mutual funds out there, high returns average level over a long enough point in prowess,andlowperformersspeakabout badly hit due to billing and collection Share price and target price becomethedefaultfilter.Buyingamutual time. This theory also suggests that badluck.Notmanytalkabouttheirinvest- issues, and although they have recovered As of October 9, 2020 (`) fund is equivalent to trying to decide investorsfollowingtheoppositeofreturn ingprocessandframeworks. theyare still belowpre-Covid levels. 850 between 1,000 different hair dryers.The chasingshouldideallymakemoremoney, 750 best decision is to buy a decent one and i.e.,sellgoodperforminginvestmentsand FOMO (fear of missing out) ICICI SECURITIES 650 sticktoitforaverylongtime.Butinvestors buypoorperforminginvestments.Intech- This one is relativelyself-explanatory. ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD 550 keeponbuyingthebesthairdryerandsell nical terms,this means‘portfolio rebal- It’sthereasonwhyequityflowstendtobe Q2FY21e result estimates 450 the worst hair dryer.They don’t under- ancing’ and yes, it works wonders and technically the fund’s fault. If he sells a highestatmarketpeaks.Fearofshortterm Company Sales Ebitda PAT 350 stand that juggling hair dryers is more forms the basis of intelligent investment poorlyperformingfundwhichthendeliv- loss (FOSTL) is the reason why nobody Change (%) y-y q-q y-y q-q y-y q-q 250 Closing price damaging over the long run. Every hair management. Unfortunately, many erspoorreturns,thenthatistheadvisor’s invests during market bottoms.Overall, Coal India 5.9 16.7 42.2 68.2 9.9 86.4 150 Target price change dryergoes through good and bad perfor- investorsdotheoppositeofrebalancing— fault.IfsomeoneadvisesInfosysasastock FOMO and FOSTLlead to poorlong-term NTPC 11.0 7.8 23.0 0.7 3.6 10.9 Recommendation changes 50 manceoveralongertimespan. buy more of good performing funds by recommendation and if the company investmentoutcomes. JSW Energy 8.3 27.2 4.1 30.5 3.3 71.0 0 If returns are the first filter for sellingpoor-performingfunds. underperforms, something is probably CESC 0.9 19.7 (0.9) 19.1 (13.5) 59.1 Jan 1 Jul 1 Jan 1 Jul 1 Jan 1 Jul 1 Thewriterishead,PassiveFunds, 2018 2019 2020 investors,thenextfiltertendstobestarrat- If an advisor sells a good performing wrongwith Infosys.But if an analyst rec- Torrent Power (16.7) 6.4 (24.2) (17.5)(45.6) 134 Source: ThomsonReuters, Nomura research ings.Very rarelywill investors see a good fund and it does not perform, then it’s ommendsasmall-capstock,thenitisthe MotilalOswalAMC Source: I-Sec research

Pune 10 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

● NUMEROLOGY 22% consumers say their shopping spends will remain same or increase 75% consumers in tier II-III cities prefer buying offline 50% consumers in tier I cities prefer buying offline BrandWagonMONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020 — Anarock-RAI report

DEVIKA SINGH pany’s success depends on whether it is collaborating with existing dealers,” says Review Corner SOUTH KOREAN AUTOMAKER Kia AmitKaushik,countryhead,JatoDynam- Motors,whichenteredIndialastyear,has ics. Servicing is a crucial aspect and most recordeditshighest-evermonthlysalesin dealers recover about two-third of their Venkata Susmita Biswas September 2020 at 18,676 units, and investmentbyofferingtheservicingfacil- reviews five ads that have now commands over 6% share in the ity.However,if the companyropes in new country’s passenger car market. Its sales dealers for servicing, it could impact the woven cricket into their volumerosealmost2.5timeslastmonth, sustainabilityof existing dealers. stories to ride the IPL wave comparedtothesameperiodlastyear,on As per industry estimates,for a mass- the back of its newly launched compact market brand, an investment of `50-80 SUV Sonet — 9,266 units of which were lakh is needed to establish a service deal- sold in the launch month — at a starting ership, depending on the service load. price of `6.72 lakh. Meanwhile, an authorised dealership Apart from Sonet,Kia Motors has two (including retailing, spare parts, servic- other brands in its portfolio — mid-SUV ing,etc)of KiaMotorsin atierIcitycould Seltos (starting at `9.89 lakh) and MUV cost `6-7 crore. Carnival(startingat`24.95lakh).Present Mapping the potential of these mar- in 265 touch points across 160 cities,the kets in the absence of adequate data, carmaker plans to expand further into ● AUTO Kaushik says, is another challenge for the country. the companies. Lenskart — NazarGhati, “The expansion is focussed mainly on Consumers in smaller towns,experts Durghatna Ghati tierIVandupcountrytowns,aswehavecov- say,have a tendencyto preferestablished ered a major part of tier I,II and III cities,” Kia Motors’hinterland drive brands like and Hyundai. Conceptualised in-house by Lenskart, saysManoharBhat,headofsalesandmar- It is uncertain if they would be keen on this ad uses wordplay,and unfortunate keting,KiaMotorsIndia.Morethanhalfof The automaker is making inroads into tier IV towns and spending on a new and premium brand. misses and drops on the cricket field to itssalesforSonetandSeltoscomefromtier VG Ramakrishnan, managing part- convey that hampered vision leads to IIandbeyond,thecompanyinforms. beyond,but its low brand awareness could come in the way ner,Avanteum Advisors LLP, says that mishaps.In 15 seconds,the ad tickles competition in the SUV segment will the viewer and introduces its BLU Changing gears onlyintensifyas othercarmakers launch computer glasses with a punch.The ad Kia Motors is now aiming to set foot into are service and spare part modules; the to raise brand aware- products going ahead. Presently, Seltos also scores on its clever use of an older underpenetrated regions such as North- vehicle is retailed through the nearest big ness. For Sonet, faces stiff competition from Hyundai IPL match footage,at a time when eastIndia,NorthernTelangana,Karnataka outlet.“Weareintheprocessofconceptu- meanwhile, Kia Creta. Consider this: Kia Motors sold physical shoots for fresh ads are harder andWesternRajasthan,andisinthemidst alising a model, especially for smaller Motors launched a 9,079 units of Seltos in September, than usual. of identifying areas for new dealerships. towns,whichwilloffermorethanthecur- digital brand film in 2020, whereas Hyundai sold 12,325 “We are choosing locations that can help renti2Sdealerships,”Bhatadds.Ithasalso Hindi on the occa- units of Creta. ● RATING: 9/10 usreachneighbouringtownsanddistricts introduced mobile service vans for areas sion of ‘Hindi Diwas’, “The other segments where Kia aswell,”says Bhat. where there are no dealerships. says Shakti Upadhyay, GM Motors is strong globally, are unlikely to These dealerships,he says,are being The company’s dealerships in smaller – marketing and PR, Kia Motors’ success in the hinterland gain substantial share here in India. establishedonasmallerscale,tominimise townsplayakeyroleinitsmarketingcom- Motors India. depends on its dealership strategy there, Hence,it has to create a market for these capitalandreducethebreak-eventime.In munication.Forinstance,lastyear,before sayanalysts. segments,”saysRamakrishnan,referring the smaller markets,Kia Motors has been debuting with Seltos in the market,the Speed bumps ahead “Whileitisagoodideatogetintothese totheautomaker’sunsuccessfulrunwith operating through i2S dealerships,which companyheldaroadshowacross26cities While it may have ambitious plans,Kia areas through service outlets,the com- Carnival so far.

In The Dream 11 — YeApna Game Hai The title sponsor of IPL 2020,Dream 11,is urging Indians to‘drop everything News they’re doing’and play fantasy cricket Motobahn on the app.The series of ads conceptualised byTilt Brand Solutions BARC to pause has cricketers do mundane things like flipping a water bottle and playing viewership ratings of with bubble wrap,to get people to news channels make their teams on Dream 11.These spots are mildly funny in execution. BARC BOARD HAS What is impressive,however,is that proposed that its they manage to land the message in technical just nine seconds. committee review and augment the current standards of ● RATING: 7/10 measuring and reporting the data of niche genres,to improve theirstatistical robustness and significantlyhamperthe potential attempts of infiltrating the panel homes.This exercise,expected to take around 8-12weeks,will coverall Hindi,regional,English news and business news channels. GautamThakarmoves on ● CAR REVIEW: AUDI Q2 Swiggy— Matchday Mania from StarSports Inthisad,Swiggyispersuadingpeopleto STARSPORTS INDIA’S ordermoreonmatchdaysandtake president and chief PricelessPriceless maybe, maybe, but but not not priced priced less less advantageofthespecialdiscounts.For executive officer, this,ithasintroducedaneighbourduo GautamThakar,has wantingtooutdoeachotherwhenit stepped down.Sanjog comestofoodordering.Thenewconcept Gupta,executivevice isnotasendearingastheadsfromlast president of StarTV The cabin looks dated; the exterior year,anddoesnotgettheviewerinvested — Network,will reportedly Amazing engine tech, is looks rich especially that low-roof inthestory.Theaptcricketcommentary take his place.Thakarhad joined Star lovely to drive, but the design that gives the Q2 a coupe thatdescribesthesituationasitunfolds, India in 2018.He has previouslyworked appearance. Power flows effortlessly isthewinningelementinthead. with organisations such as LivingSocial, cabin looks dated from its 2.0-litreTFSI petrol engine — eBayand Shopping.com. (190bhp; 320Nm) accelerating it ● RATING: 5/10 VIKRAM CHAUDHARY from 0-100 km/h in just 6.5 seconds TCS ropes in Cheil India WHILEDRIVINGTHE newAudi Q2,I the steering wheel. It’s a lovely car to as its integrated wantedtoadjustmyseatingsettings.My drive.Also, once you (manually) adjust communication agency hand intuitively reached the right hand your seat,the position offers you very sideofthedriver’sseat,onlytofindthere good all-roundvisibility. CHEILINDIA are no buttons.The Q2,an entry-level Model: Q2 40TFSI quattro Rear seating space is tight for three HASwon the Audi,insteadhastheage-oldadjustment Variant Price adults, but good for two. Luggage com- integrated leverunderthefrontleftedgeoftheseat. (ex-showroom) partment is spacious (405 litres, can be communication duties forTata Italsodoesn’tgetAudi’snewdualtouch- Standard `34.99 lakh expanded to 1,050 litres). ConsultancyServices,following a multi- screen infotainment system,but the old Bingo — Match Start Premium `40.89 lakh agencypitch.TCS offers a consulting-led MMI Navigation plus with touch, mak- Should you buy one? Bingo! Start integrated portfolio of business, ing the cabin look somewhat dated. Premium Plus I `44.64 lakh The Q2 is definitely expensive, but technologyand engineering services And mind you,the Q2 is priced from Premium Plus II `45.14 lakh Audi India has tried to sweeten the deal Bingo ties snackingwithwatching and solutions. Rs 35 lakh to Rs 49 lakh (ex-showroom)! byofferingthePeaceofMindpackagefor cricket forits IPLcampaign thisyear.The Technology `48.89 lakh ButifyouareanAudilover,theQ2has free—it includes five-year service pack- ad shows a man down on his knees, Group bags a thing or two to offer. One, a very pow- age with 2+3 years extended warranty about to pop the question to his erful engine and a lovely-to-drive char- Powerflows effortlesslyfrom its 2.0- inDelhi’straffic,itreturnedmefuel-effi- and 2+3years roadside assistance. blindfolded beloved.On hearing that the two newbusinesses acter(it’saquattrofour-wheeldrive,after litre TFSI petrol engine (190bhp; ciencyof 15.1 km/litre. However,thecompetition—BMWX1 match is about to start,he makes a dash HARMAN,AWHOLLY-OWNED all), and two,while the cabin may look 320Nm)—accelerating it from 0-100 The steering feedback—mechanical and Volvo XC40—not only offers some forthe sofa,alongwith a pack of Bingo subsidiaryof Samsung Electronics,has dated,theexteriorlooksrich—especially km/h in just 6.5 seconds.The engine is signals that the front tyres send to the betterluxuryand semiautonomous dri- snacks,while his partnerwaits endlessly. awarded its integrated creative and that eye-catching low-roof design that mated to the seven-speed S tronic dual- steering wheel—is so accurate that you vingfeatures,butalsoslightlybiggercars The ad tries to be quirky,but the slapstick media communication mandate to gives it a coupe look. clutchtransmission.Drivingall-daylong feel every bump and dip on the road via at more orless similarprices. humourfalls flat. Havas Creative India forits brands JBL and Harman Kardon.The agencywill ● RATING: 4/10 handle the creative and digital strategy, ● INTERVIEW: WARREN HARRIS, CEO & MD, Tata Technologies Ltd and overall media buying and planning forboth offline and online. ‘The real challenge for e-mobility in India is cost’ Essencewins integrated Tata Technologies,the engineering and this centre? first and foremost, providing software tion of e-powertrain in India? media mandate of Melorra productdevelopmentdigitalservicescom- Both us (Tata Technologies) and technology to GKN for their prod- The global e-powertrain market is GROUPM’S pany,and GKN Automotive,the driveline and GKN believe that India ucts and solutions that they deliver to anticipated to cross $600 billion by ESSENCE HAS systemsande-powertraintechmajor,will represents a resource pool the global automotive industry, so 2026,with the growing shift towards e- been hired as soon open a global e-mobility software thatisunmatched,soforthis rightnowthefocus(ofthiscentre)is mobility.Thecurrentoutsourcingmatu- the integrated media agencyof record by engineeringcentreinBengaluru.Thenew centre we will be recruiting exclusively to deliver software to rityofpowertrainengineeringinIndiais Facebook — Jersey jewellerybrand Melorra.Essence’s centre,Warren Harris, CEO & MD,Tata only from India; we will find GKN that will support its relation- significantly low.The real challenge for In this 30-second spot,Facebook tries to Bengaluru officewill oversee media Technologies,says,willleverageTataTech- andretainthebestandbright- shipswith OEMs. e-mobilityin India is prices,so there is a portrayitswide network and efforts to planning,media activation and content nologies’expertise in electric and embed- est forthis centre. Atthesametime,thiscol- need to have the ability to apply frugal support small and medium sized innovation forthe brand. dedsystemsaswellasitsabilitytoattract laboration will signifi- innovationorengineeringcapabilitiesto businesses.Conceptualised byTaproot India’s software engineering talent to Will the solutions cantly contribute the technologies being developed. Dentsu,the ad shows howone girl’s dentsuXwins backAMFI work on GKN’s next-generation e-Drive that get developed towards development However, with the government’s desire to create the usual fervouraround technologies.In an interview with FE’s at the Bengaluru of next-generation of emphasis on scaling up electric vehicle IPLends up helping a small business DENTSU X INDIA has won the media Vikram Chaudhary, he adds the aim is centre be shared electricvehicles. manufacturing in India, there is an ownerwho is out ofwork because of the mandate of the Association of Mutual tohaveaworkforceofover100engineers with your cus- opportunity for growth. Organisations pandemic.The ad aims to spread hope, Funds in India (AMFI). dentsu X had and support staffby end-2020.Excerpts: tomers aswell? What kind of chal- are doubling down on electric vehicle but the jaded execution fails to evoke the been handling the brand since 2016, As the centre lengesdoyoufore- development as part of increased R&D desired effect. and retained the account after Will you be hiring only from India for is focused on, see in the adop- priorities brought about byCovid-19. contending in a multi-agency pitch. ● RATING: 6/10

Pune 11 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

Gujarat private ports’ volumes were flat m-m in EXPERTVIEW Sep’20. Mundra volumes fell marginally m-m from 11.55mnt in Aug’20 to 11.46mnt in Sep’20, though still above the pre-lockdown average levels of 11.05mnt. Q2FY21 traffic at Mundra rose 11.7% y-y —Nomura InfrastructureMONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020

With expensive batteries Resources Institute (Teri).According to a senior government official, the ultra- DATA MONITOR still a hurdle in adoption of mega renewable energy parks being green energy, the use of planned in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthancouldproducegreenhydrogen Port container traffic grows y-o-y, a first in FY21 hydrogen technology to through electrolysis, a process wherein Major ports’ overall volumes at 53.5mnt in September 2020 rose 3.6% m-m power cells promises a electricity generated at such units is put (-1.9% y-o-y). Port volumes for coal rose 6% m-o-m but remained below in water to create hydrogen and oxygen. pre-COVID levels. Container volumes rose 6% m-o-m (+2% y-o-y) in viable alternative Driven by the transport, industry and tonnage terms. In TEU terms, container volumes at 814kTEUs rose 6.7.% power sectors, demand for hydrogen m-o-m (+2% y-o-y), improving and only marginally below the pre-COVID- could increase by 3-10 times by 2050, 19 levels. This is the first y-o-y growth rate after six months of decline. ANUPAM CHATTERJEE Teri has said. State-run power generator NTPC has EVENASTHE countryaimstoreducefos- already signed an MoU with for Major ports’ volumes fell Container volumes rose 6.7.% m-o-m, sil fuel-based emissions by building production of green hydrogen from the -1.9% y-o-y; rose 3.6% m-o-m improving and only marginally below renewable energy capacity and promot- company's renewable energy plants and in September 2020 average pre-COVID-19 levels ing the uptake of electric vehicles, the its use in transportation. It has also Major port volumes (mnt) Growth (%, y-o-y) Major ports container volumes (TEU) and growth (% y-o-y) cost of such a transition remains unaf- planned pilot projects to run five hydro- 70 20 % Growth 15 950 Monthly major ports (RHS) 40 fordable for many Indian consumers. gen-cell electric buses and five cars in 65 Among the avenues being explored by Delhi and Leh.In its laboratories,NTPC is 10 900 container traffic (TEUs) 30 60 5 850 20 the government to circumvent the prob- ● RENEWABLE ENERGY designing a prototype for hard/sea water 0 800 10 lemandreducedependenceonimported electrolysis and reactors for hydrogen 55 -5 750 0 -10 700 -10 products is the use of hydrogen technol- production through the photo-electro- 50 ogyto store electricitythat can run vehi- chemical process. -15 650 -20 45 -20 600 -30 cles and balance power systems, with The too is tar- -25 550 -40 Hydrogen gaining 40 -30 500 -50 such batteries being cheaper and more getting development of fuel cells for efficient than the lithium-ion batteries greenmobilitysolutionsandindigenous Sept 2014 Sept 2020 Sept 2014 Sept 2020 Note: As of September 2020 in use at present. hydrogen storage solutions. The coun- While the costs of lithium-ion battery try’s largest refiner has also put into use Private port volumes wereflat sequentially in September 2020 vs August 2020 packshavefallenbyasmuchas90%from traction for storage hydrogen generation technologies from (mnt) Private Ports Gujarat the 2010 levels, to about $150/kWh in companies like Germany’s Linde, Den- 19 2019,they are still prohibitively high for long to charge.According to experts, as Agency(IEA)hasestimatedIndiabecom- mark’s HaldorTopsoe and the Nether- 18 theIndianpowersector.Acheaperbattery againstthemorethan90minutesittakes ing the largest market for utility-scale lands’ KTI across its refineries. Planning 17 storage system provided by hydrogen a heavy batteryelectricvehicle to charge, battery storage by 2040. According to to become ‘net carbon-zero’ by 2035, 16 technology would make renewable hydrogenfuelcellvehiclescanbecharged IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2020, bat- Reliance Industries has said it would 15 energy-based power more reliable by in 5-15 minutes. tery storage will gain huge ground as a build full stack electrolyser and fuel cell 14 13 reducing its dependence on the vagaries It is this comparative advantage that source of power system flexibility,with solutions,helpingrunhydrogenfuel-cell 12 of nature. In the transport sector too, its has made several state-owned and pri- global investment increasing six-fold to vehicles.“We will replace transportation 11 use could result in a sea change.While a vatecompanieschartlong-termplansfor $25 billion by 2030. fuels with clean electricity and hydro- 10 majorityoflightpassengervehiclescanbe the use of the technology.Also driving Green hydrogen or hydrogen pro- gen,” Mukesh Ambani, the company’s April 2017 Sept 2020 electrifiedthroughlithium-ionbatteries, themistheexponentialjumplikelyinthe duced from renewable energy has been chairman,saidinJuly,perhapsindicating Source: IPA, Gujarat Maritime Board, Nomura research the technology is unviable for heavier use of utility-scale battery storage in the cited as the next ‘clean energy prize’ in a where the future lies as far as green goods carriers which take impractically coming years.The International Energy recent policy brief by The Energy and mobility is concerned. Quick Quick View Startups View

● STUDYIQ Smart courses for smart preparation ners100millionmonthlyorganicviews This bootstrapped which makes it one of India’s most- ed-tech startup gets watchedYouTubechannelsacrossgenre. The average watch time per video on 100 million monthly YouTube is around five and a half min- organic views on its utes—alsooneofthehighestacrossgen- res. Given that the average length of a YouTube channel coursevideo is 10 minutes,students are consumingmorethan50%ofthevideo. Power demand grew “Execution has been the key mantra Govt to spend extra SUDHIR CHOWDHARY forStudyIQ.Wehavemanagedtobuilda by 4.6% y-o-y in the well-oiledmachineovertimethatworks `37,000 crore on month of September FOUNDED IN 2014, StudyIQ is a fast- with consistent efficiency to bring out infrastructure projects growing test preparation platform for the best results,” says Garg.The startup SIGNALINGAPICK-UPinindustrialand government employment examina- launched its app in April 2020 to max- AS PARTOF a largerpackage aimed at commercialactivity,electricitydemand tions.Interestingly,the founders—Gau- imise its reach and accelerate growth. boosting the economy,Finance Minister grewby4.6%y-o-yto112.4BUin ravGargandAbhishekJain—metduring The app has paid and free lessons,with Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday September,makingitthefirstmonthin theirstintsatNewDelhi-basedcoaching bilingualcontent.ThereareEMIoptions announced additional expenditure of theongoingfiscaltopostpositiveyear- institute,TIME.As educators and aspir- forthe more expensive courses. `37,000 crore on infrastructure projects. on-yeargrowth.WhileGujaratrecorded ingentrepreneurs,theysensedthemas- “StudyIQhasbeenprofitablefromits Besides the budgeted sum of `4.13 trn animpressive10.7%demandhikein sive opportunity in the education space first year, all the while remaining boot- forcapital expenditure in FY21,the September,theriseinPunjaband in India.While Jain’s prowess at quanti- strapped,” says Garg.“We have grown Union governmentwould spend another Maharashtrawas8.1%and4.2%, tative mathematics had fuelled his path fromstrengthtostrengthovertheyears, `25,000 crore on roads,defence respectively.However,powerconsump- to being a math educator,Garg was a Gaurav Garg, co-founder, StudyIQ relying on ourhigh engagement level to infrastructure,watersupplyand urban tioninTamilNaduandWestBengalwas dental surgeon turned mass communi- GAINING TRACTION drive completely organic user acquisi- development,she said.The Centrewould around2-3%lowerthaninthesame cations professional.They began their StudyIQ now boasts 25,000 videos tion.StudyIQ’srevenuehasgrownnearly also provide interest-free 50-yearloan of monthlastyear.Powerconsumptionfell journeyoffline,withaphysicalcoaching ■ StudyIQ’s revenue grew 7x across 100 subjects. It offers 120-plus 10x in the past three fiscals,with over a `12,000 crore to the states forspend on by8.5%to625.6BUinthefirsthalfof centre in Delhi with just two teachers from `1.9 crore in FY 2017 to `13 courses for government exams ranging 30% profit margin.” capital projects.Out of this `12,000 cr, thefiscal.Powerdemandinstateslike and a handful of students.Quickly real- crore in FY 2020 from UPSC, legal exams such as StudyIQ now plans to add new exam `1,600 crorewould be given to north- Gujarat,Maharashtra,TamilNaduand ising that offline teaching was plagued ■ The startup recorded 40,000 CLAT/AILET,Railways,SSC,IBPS PO & categories such as judiciaryexams to its eastern states and `900 crore to WestBengal—whereindustrialand with inefficiencies and scalability con- daily active users and about Clerk, insurance to defence exams such list of prep courses. It is also looking at Uttarakhand and , commercialconsumerscomprisemore straints,it didn’t take too long for them 4 lakh monthly active users as NDA/AFCAT/CDS besides the state streamable courses on its website.“We while the remaining stateswould than40%ofelectricityusage—was toconcludethattherealopportunitywas (MAU) in its second month PCS and clerk exams among others.The plan to expand our offerings to areas get `7,500 crore.Asum of `2,000 crore lowerby12.5%,11.6%,12.9%and online.There has been no looking back content in these courses is primarily such as K12, JEE, judiciary,NEET exams would be given to states that fulfilled 13.7%,respectively,intheApril- for these two first-generation entrepre- ■ Monthly revenue (including bilingual(EnglishandHindi).Currently, inthenearfutureandalsoinvestheavily pre-stated reforms,Sitharaman said. Septemberperiod. neurs since then. from YouTube) grew over 3x It has 15 full-time teachers who create intechnologytoensureaseamlessexpe- Both Garg and Jain realised that live from `1.29 crore in March 2020 video content. rience for the learners.The future looks Demerger,divestment of Discoms'dues to gencos up sessions are neither effective nor effi- to `3.94 crore inApril 2020 With 8.46 million cumulative sub- promisingasweexpecttocloseFY2021 cient.Optingforrecordedlessonvideos, scribers,StudyIQ’sYouTubechannelgar- with a revenue of `35-40 crore.” Nagarnarsteelplantokayed 37%y-o-yto `1.33 trn THEGOVERNMENTONWednesday THETOTALOUTSTANDINGduesof approvedthedemergeroftheunder- distributionfirmstopowerproducersrose ● GENROBOTICS constructionNagarnarSteelPlant(NSP) byover37%y-o-yto`1.33trninAugust fromNMDCanditsdisinvestmentbysale 2020.Discomsowedatotalof oftheCentre'sentirestaketoastrategic `96,963croretopowergenerationfirms buyer.State-ownedNMDC,underthe inAugust2019,accordingtoportal Tech for a noble cause MinistryofSteel,isconstructingthe3- PRAAPTI.Thetotaloverdueamount, MTPAintegratedsteelplantatNagarnar whichwasnotclearedevenafter45daysof ThisTrivandrum-basedroboticscompany inChhattisgarhatanestimatedcostof graceperiodofferedbygenerators,stoodat The Trivandrum-based has deployed its Bandicoot robots across `23,140crore.Theprocessofdemerger `1,20,439croreinAugust,asagainst robotics startup has 11statesinthecountry.Soonafteritssuc- anddisinvestmentwouldbeinitiatedin `78,646croreintheyear-agoperiod.The cessful implementation at Coimbatore parallel,withthestrategicdisinvestment totaloutstandingduesinAugustincreased deployed its Bandicoot smart city,the Central ministry has sug- expectedtobecompletebySeptember onamonth-on-monthbasisaswell.The manhole cleaning robots gestedBandicoot2.0asagoodexamplefor 2021,agovernmentstatementsaid.With totaloutstandingduesof discomsstood enablingzerohuman-interventioninthe thedemerger,itsaid,NMDCcouldfocus at`1,30,452croreinJuly.Meanwhile,FE across 11 states seweragecleaningprocess. onitscoreactivityofmining. reportedonWednesdaythatthepower Genrobotics has raised `2.5 crore in ministry’sproposaltoreducelatepayment pre-SeriesAfundingroundfromexisting Work gets underwayon surchargefordiscomscouldpotentially SUDHIR CHOWDHARY investors led by Unicorn IndiaVentures. providethemareliefofabout`6,000crore MahindraGroupchairmanAnandMahin- strategic Zojila tunnel annually. DESPITE PROGRESS IN terms of aware- drahasalsoinvestedinGenroboticsinhis (L-R) Genrobotics co-founders Vimal Govind MK, Rashid K, Arun George UNIONMINISTERNITINGadkarion ness as well as legislation,manual scav- personalcapacityinthisroundalongwith and Nikhil NP Thursdayvirtuallylaunchedworkonthe Airtraffic in Septwas 66% enging— the practice of manually clean- SEA Fund. Without doubt, the young 14.15-kmZojilatunnelproject,which ing,carrying,disposingorhandlinginany startup professionals at Genrobotic have technologyandrobotics.” Kerala,the prototype was readyand they wouldprovideall-yearconnectivity lowerthan lastyear manner,humanexcretafromdrylatrines receivedashotinthearmwhenMahindra VimalGovind,co-founderCEO,Genro- needed funding for a commercial-ready betweenSrinagarvalleyandLeh,through ATOTALOF39.43lakhdomestic and sewers—still persists in our country. praised their innovation and expressed botics,says,“We are so happythat Bandi- product,”saysAnil Joshi,managing part- theceremonialfirstblast.Whilethe passengerstravelledbyairinSeptember Using modern technology,an innovative interesttohelpthemscaleup.Afterseeing coot is bringing smiles to those innocent ner,Unicorn IndiaVentures.“We decided projecthasacompletionschedule thisyear,66%lowerthaninthe startupistryingtomakeadifferencehere. theirwork and thoughtful intentions on ones and we believe that our efforts will tobackthemaswesawthepotentialrobot- ofsixyears,theministersaidthe correspondingperiodlastyear,aviation An automated manhole cleaning robot reaching services to the unreached ones, bring light into the stinking realities of icscanbringtocertainsociallyimportant governmentwasconfidentofexecuting regulatorDGCAsaidonWednesday.Inall, calledBandicoot2.0,developedbyGenro- he tweeted:“There’s a lot of nervousness manual scavenging in India.”The funds issues especially if the team backing the itin4years.Theprojectholdsstrategic 21.07lakhand28.32lakhpeoplehad botics, is doing its bit to eradicate this about the role of robots and AI in the raised will be used for further scaling up business is as passionate aswe have seen significanceasZojilaPassremainsclosed travelledbyairdomesticallyinJulyand unhealthypractice. future.But frankly,if robots can liberate production of Bandicoot and to develop with Genrobotics.Theyhave developed a duringwinterduetoheavysnowfall. August,respectively.WhileIndiGo The ministry of housing and urban peoplefromthismostdegradingjobinthe new products and R&D to leverage the globallyrelevant product and are already Theprojectwasre-awardedthisyearto enjoyed57.5%shareofthemarket, affairsandSmartCityMissionIndiahave universe,thenIpromiseIwilldiscardany technologyforthehealthcaresegment. in talks with some international govern- MeghaEngineering&Infrastructure SpiceJetwasatthesecondspotwith recognisedthepotentialofBandicoot2.0. doubts and always pray at the shrine of “Whenwemetthemtwoyearsbackin ingbodiesforitsdeployment.” whichemergedasthelowestbidder, 13.4%share,accordingtothedata. quoting`4,509.5crore.

Pune 12 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

The Covid-19 lockdown has fostered deeper ties EXPERTVIEW between teachers and students. Since hybrid learning has become the new normal, teachers are devising new methods to teach students effectively, Education increasing their involvement with students. —Survey by Brainly, the learning platform MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020 ● EDTECH MAJOR ● NEP 2020 IMPLEMENTATION Testbook.com Running the PESTLE risk-analysis tool slashes prices Reconstruction of school education: Looking ahead ThePESTLEanalysisforeducationvis- tive profession forgraduating students? ofits courses Only the best executions à-vistheNEP2020presentsfourmatrices: Important-medium: Ensuring age- PRMM (Preventive Risk Mitigation Model) & ECP (Education Continuity Plan) make the best strategies Critical-severe: A major challenge in appropriatelearninglevelsisaconcernwe Starts upskilling courses at March 2020 July 2020 theimplementationphasewillcomefrom havenotaddressedadequately.TheWorld political consensus. Education often Bank has flagged India as suffering from an affordable `300; enrols ASHOK PANDEY & AMIT KUMAR Survival Digital learning blueprint for future education becomesapoliticalissuebetweentheCen- learning poverty. Our record of learning Five months treandstatesduringtheimplementation levelssubmittedunderSDG4.1.1couldbe 40,000 students in a month THENATIONALEDUCATIONPolicy2020 August 2020 December 2020 phase.Similarly,howthegovernmentpre- much better.The role of parents as part- arouses varied emotions for practising Reconstruction NEP 2020 implementation; ECP roll-out; PRMM framework pares educational rehabilitation in the ners in learning and their obligations are FE BUREAU educators,parentsandstudents.Giventhe (NEP 2020) Five months wake of natural or human-made calami- notdefined.Steeringclearoflegalhurdles pandemic, the policy comes across as an ties is a risk in this matrix. in discharge of educational EDTECH START-UPTestbook.com,which PESTLE (political, instrument of reconstruction of the sec- January 2021 April 2021 … & beyond Allocationoffunds(proposed services has been a concern. caters to students preparing for govern- tor.A three-phased approach of survival, 6% of GDP) should not economic, social, Initiativestakeningoodfaith ment job exams, has diversified into reconstruction and leading-by-example, Lead by example Skill-building hubs operational Sustainable growth remain a dream unfulfilled. technical, legal and often come under legal courses that will enable upskilling at an supported by the PRMM (Preventive Risk Three months … & beyond Critical-medium: The environmental scrutiny, negatively impact- affordable price point. The first five Mitigation Model) and ECP (Education goal of education is to build influences) analysis ing the morale of educators. courses can be purchased under `300 for ContinuityPlan),is a potent strategy. society. Health and socio- ThePESTLEanalysisofthe ayearlysubscription.Inlessthanamonth, of the NEP 2020 A study by Fortune established that political, economic, social and technical quality, utility and financial outlay accu- emotional wellbeing of its NEP 2020 helps in identify- thestart-uphasenrolled40,000students 90%ofunsuccessfulstrategiesoweittoa (PEST) factors influence the business and mulatedovertheyearshavenowassumed stakeholders are important. can help identify ing potential risks and chal- forthe life-skills courses offered byit. singlemostimportantcause:weakexecu- service environment.PESTLE,avariant of such massive proportion that they must Does the policy provide ade- risks & challenges lenges.A well-crafted policy Withonlineeducationgainingtraction tion.Conclusion:onlythebestexecutions PEST,is a strategic planning and risk-pre- betackledwithutmosturgency.”Anexam- quate emphasis on these? has saved itself from harsh due to the pandemic, edtech companies makethebeststrategies.Thesuccessofthe vention approachwith legal and environ- pleofhowpolicyneedslegalandconstitu- Howwill the education sys- criticism. However, both the haveemergedasacatalystinsmoothtran- NEP2020,likewise,dependsonameticu- mental influences included. tional support is the Right of Children to tem ensure a comprehensive mapping of supporters of the policy and detractors sitioningfromclassroomtodrawingroom lous execution pursuing global standards While the NEP 2020 is yet to enter Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE future skills and putting in place the have raised reservations about its imple- education in the country. of programme and project management. implementation phase, it would be pru- 2009).TheprovisionintheDirectivePrin- means to impart them? mentation.As the government burns the Aconsumersurveyrecentlyconducted The NEP 2020 has triggered thinking dent to learn the lessons from past expe- ciplesoftheConstitution(notenforceable) Important-severe: The NEP states midnight oil to roll out a programme of byTestbook revealed that 83.1% of the hats.Howdoschoolslookattheirstructure riences (policies of 1968,1986,revised to provide education to everychild reiter- that public, private and philanthropic action, a proactive, preventive and inclu- users on the platform preferred to learn ofprimary,middleandsecondarytoactas 1990and1992,initiativesinthepasttwo ated in each policycould be implemented partnershipwillbeencouragedinthesec- sive approach to looming gaps require skills like online teaching,digital market- skill-building hubs aligned with higher decades) through a PESTLE lens.A candid after it became anAct,making free and tor.Whatwillbethetermsofengagement? bridges. A robust education continuity ing, content writing, data analytics, data education, industry and human capital admissionofpolitical,socialandfinancial compulsoryeducationtokidsaged6-14a Will the government incentivise the pri- plan at the school level,coupled with life- entry,spokenEnglish,web&appdevelop- formation? How will schooling produce constraints in the NEP 1986,as modified fundamental right.Another case in point vate sector, or will it continue to regu- long learning opportunities as envisaged ment,programming,taxation,etc. theholisticpersonalitiesimbuedwithcul- in 1992, reads,“The general formulation is the moral emphasis on early child care larise?The‘lightandtight’approachraises intheNEP2020,willbuildaseamlesssup- Through these courses,Testbook.com ture,characterand curiosity?The recruit- incorporated in 1968 Policy did not get and education (ECCE) in the NEP 1986— risks of interpretation.Another risk ele- ply-chain forAtmanirbharBharat. will be focusing on reaching out to aspi- ment,retention,professional growth and translatedintodetailedstrategyofimple- in the implementation phase it did not ment in this matrix is non-alignment of rants in tier-2and tier-3 towns byprovid- wellbeingofteacherswillplayasignificant mentationaccompaniedbyassignmentof meetthechallengesofpolitical,socialand school education with higher education. Pandey is director,Ahlcon Schools,and ing online skill courses, bridging the gap role in the policyrollout. specific responsibilities, financial and economic streams.As a result, early child Theindustry-schoolcollaborationismiss- Kumaris founder-directorofShabda-Risk between college education and market FrancisJAguilarofHarvardarguedthat organisational support.As a result access, care did not become a national mission. ing.How would teaching be made attrac- Assessment and Consultancy Services demand,and making them employable.

● LEGALTECH ● NEWS BRIEF Second cohort NMIMS school gets of Prarambh Science & tech ABET accreditation SVKM’s NMIMS’s Mukesh Patel Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas School ofTechnology Management & Engineering has starts Prarambh 2.0, India’s receivedABETaccreditation for first legaltech incubator five programmes;ABETis global KANISHK GAUR ● DIGITALLYREADY entire database. accreditor on science courses. An analysis done by leading cyber- FE BUREAU THE PANDEMIC HAS changed the way security think tank reveals that 23% businesses run.And, the world is grav- data available on the dark web is avail- Addverb opens LAW FIRM Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas itating towards a new normal.Social Start-ups need to able to download,however,around 69. (CAM) has launched the second cohort of distancing,minimising physicaltouch- 2% of data is available as bounty. Singapore office what it says is India’s first legaltech incu- points, and movement of customers With no data protection law cur- bator,Prarambh.Launched in February from offline to online channels is the rently existing in India and weak Robotics majorAddverbTech will 2019 as a part of CAM’s focus on innova- reality businesses must now live with. factor in the cost of Indian IT Act, most companies end up set up its first offshore entity, in tion and technology, Prarambh is recog- Offline businesses taking the help of denying breaches publicly.Many com- Singapore. Sangeet Kumar, CEO & co-founder, said, “Singapore nised for supporting the domestic talent online aggregators to survive is also the With the world moving to holds a significant importance in in developing quality legaltech products, new norm,which has led to a sudden theAsia Pacific region.” andenhancingtheinterestinadoptionof wave of digital availability of many cybersecurity more digital transactions technologyamongst the legal fraternity. business products and services. and offline business relying Applications for Prarambh Cohort 2 However, this has also increased Start-ups don’t discuss cyber-security strategy and on online, assuming all is XR Central launches opened on October 12, and will close on attack surface for online businesses well and revealing October 25.The duration of the cohort is with new categories and catalogues mitigation strategy with investors during a fundraise little to investors is a CUBE virtual space 10weeks,andiseligibleforstart-upsinthe getting added. Due to increased prod- “developmentand/orready-to-scalestage. uct categories and to fulfil customer and offer third party reports stating "All is well " risk many start-up XR Central has started CUBE, a Focusareasareimprovingaccesstojus- demand thousands of new codes get founders have platform that enables businesses tice,increasingtransactionalefficiencies, added to e-commerce, banking, e- decided to live with to expand their growth strategies improvinglawfirmoperations,improving retail, e-trading applications. Security with the application of XR-based litigation competencies,accessing gov- by design gets left out in the name of tech.The platform is scalable and ernment programmes and reforms, and speed, agility, growth and customer adapts to customised space (3D) with options for collaboration. enabling remoteworkforce operations. fulfilment. panies alsohire cyberinvestigationand The law firm said the focus is also on While most of the online businesses cyber law firms to prepare a response “mentoringexistingstart-upsinthelegal- use third parties to develop applica- for auditors,investors and issue public techspace,todevelopsolutionsthatalign tion, host and manage infrastructure, statements. Microsoft, AICTE to with the practical requirements of law codewritten bydevelopers does not go However, media and public state- firms, corporate legal departments, judi- through coding best practises that have ment denying breaches and not reveal- skill students ciaryand independent practitioners.” high-security standards.This leads to ing what the company has done to Over 1,500 courses from Microsoft multiple security weaknesses,which improve its securityposture has a long- will soon be available to students are exploited by organised hacktivists term impacton the companies’growth. and educators free of cost ● FOREIGN EDUCATION and script kiddies. A responsible disclosure of data throughAICTE’s e-learning portal. Organisations using traditional breach and mitigation strategy fol- New Zealand coding practices not moving to Kuber- lowed by the organisation seems to netes,for deployment often face the have a positive impact on stocks of CFI, Pedagogy to issue of seed,timeline and managing listed companies. welcomes back release. Dev-sec ops is another way The JP Morgan Chase breach in educate 1,000 kids through which an organisation can 2014,forinstance,is an examplewhere The Coaching Federation of India foreign students identify and correct vulnerable code data breaches didn’t impact its stock (CFI) and app company Pedagogy through increased automation,collab- growth negatively. In fact, its stock will deliver education to needy oration with teams which will ensure prices soared because the company students; in 2020-21 session, they robust security protocols. offered a mitigation strategy and dis- will train 1,000 students of Hindi However,most of these practices are closure of complete investigation into medium for exams like JEE Basic, often ignored,andwhen organisations the breach. NEET,JEEAdvanced for free. are caught in a bind with a sophisti- Digital start-ups, today, live with cated cyberattack, the worst mistake the fear of investor backlash, start-up they make is to deny breach. leaders feel investors, who have put PGP in data science During the pandemic, multiple moneyin the company,mayjump ship, Indian organisation and government and this could also impact upcoming by Careerera starts agencies data has been exfiltrated by rounds of investments.It can also have Careerera has announced a PGP in organised hacking groups. Organised a negative impact on companyvalua- Data Science. “Six months after VIKRAM CHAUDHARY hacking groups and individual hack- tion and M&A activity. the course, if a graduate doesn’t tivists then sell this data on the dark The bigger issue is that these start- get data science job, they will be NEWZEALANDgovernmenthassaidthat web, transacting using cryptocurren- ups don’t discuss cyber-security strat- refunded all money they spent,” anewborderexceptioncategorywillallow cies. egy and mitigation strategy with saidVivek Singh, CEO, Careerera. 250internationalPhDandPGstudentsto The health record data of 120 mil- investors during a fundraise and offer enterNewZealand and continue studies. lion Indian consumers comprising of third party reports stating"All is well". Education New Zealand (ENZ), the discharge summaries, consultation With theworld moving to more dig- Top firms tie up Crown Agency responsible for interna- papers, x-ray scans, CT scans are all ital transactions and offline business tional education, said enabling a small available for sale on the dark web. The relying on online,assuming all is well with Great Learning cohortofPGstudentstoenterthecountry source of the leak is unknown,how- and revealing little to investors about isasignalofNewZealand’sstrong,contin- ever,since most of the appointment, cybersecurity risks an online business Firms like OCWEN Financials,AGS ued commitment to international educa- consultation and prescription is now could face in a hyper-competitive mar- Health, Diageo, Maersk, Nielsen have collaborated with edtech tion and international students. available online for multiple hospitals ket is a risk many start-up founders major Great Learning as their Grant McPherson, chief executive of today, the most likely source of this have decided to live with. preferred diversity hiring partner. ENZ,said,“NewZealandwelcomesthecon- data is a large hospital chain. Hence,manyventure capitalist and tributionsinternationalstudentsmaketo E-retailers have been a major target private equity investors have started ourcountry.Inturn,aNewZealandeduca- of hacktivists during the pandemic and appointing cyberexperts to carrycyber tion globalises students’ thinking, gives the resultant lockdown.Data of multi- risk assessment as part of the due dili- Testbook.com now themtheskillstoworkacrossbordersand ple e-retail companies breached during gence process. teams up with SBI cultures, and enables them to be part of lockdown has heavy demand on these properverification and investigation. Indian Dealers containing their per- ground-breaking research.All of this will channels.Onesuchcompanywhich has Other leaks include a database of sonal identifiers and complete trans- Disclaimer: Data on Indian Edtech majorTestbook.com has becomeevenmoreimportantastheworld been long denying breach,but hack- 3.5 million unique email addresses and action details. breaches was sourced fromdark web. collaborated with SBI.This step recovers from global effects of Covid-19.” tivists claiming to have its data, is personal information of customers of An imminent strategy adopted by The information has not been verified provides SBI Yono’s 41 crore ENZwillworkwithtertiaryprovidersas LimeRoad.The authenticityand credi- deliverystart-up Dunzo.Anotherdata- hacktivists today is making some part by India Future Foundation. customers with the services of they identify eligible students, and work bility of this data,however,can only be base available on the dark web for sale of hacked data public on the dark web The author is founder,India Testbook at an over-the-counter withNewZealandgovernmentagenciesto verified post-purchase by running are the details of bank accounts of and then seek bountyforthe obtaining Future Foundation discount of 20% on the card rate. ensure a safe and considered process is FE BUREAU developedforstudentstoenterthenation.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS 13

MAHINDRA MANULIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED (Formerly known as Mahindra Asset Management Company Pvt. Ltd.) Corporate Identity Number: U65900MH2013PTC244758 Registered O�ce : “A”Wing, 4th Floor, Mahindra Towers, Dr. G.M Bhosale Marg, P.K. Kurne Chowk, Worli, Mumbai 400 018 Corporate O�ce: 1st Floor, Sadhana House, 570, P.B Marg, HDFC Asset Management Company Limited Worli, Mumbai – 400 018 A Joint Venture with Standard Life Investments Tel: 1800 4196244; website: www.mahindramanulife.com; CIN: L65991MH1999PLC123027 email id: m�[email protected] Registered Of�ce: HDFC House, 2nd Floor, H.T. Parekh Marg, 165-166, Backbay Reclamation, Churchgate, Mumbai - 400 020. Phone: 022 66316333 • Toll Free Nos: 1800-3010-6767 / 1800-419-7676 NOTICE - CUM –ADDENDUM NO. 39/2020 Fax: 022 22821144 • e-mail: [email protected] • Visit us at: www.hdfcfund.com THIS NOTICE - CUM – ADDENDUM SETS OUT CHANGES TO BE MADE IN THE SCHEME NOTICE-CUM-ADDENDUM to the Scheme Information Document(s) (“SIDs”) / INFORMATION DOCUMENT(SID) AND KEY INFORMATION MEMORANDUM (KIM) OF Key Information Memorandum(s) (“KIMs”) of Scheme(s) of HDFC Mutual Fund THE SCHEMES OF MAHINDRA MANULIFE MUTUAL FUND (FUND) CHANGE IN UNIFORM CUT-OFF TIMINGS Normal Cut-o� timings to be restored for all schemes other than debt schemes of the Fund NOTICE is hereby given that in accordance with SEBI communication dated October 15, 2020, the Investors/unitholders are requested to note that, in terms of SEBI’s communication dated April 30, 2020, the cut- cut off timing for acceptance of transaction requests and applicability of Net Asset Value (NAV) for o� timings for transactions in the schemes of the Fund were revised for a temporary period, as communicated to ALL schemes of HDFC Mutual Fund (“the Fund”), except those categorized as Debt Schemes, the investors/unitholders vide our notice-cum-addendum no. 17/2020 published on May 3, 2020. Conservative Hybrid Scheme and HDFC Retirement Savings Fund - Hybrid - Debt Plan i.e.“Debt Pursuant to SEBI’s letter no. SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/OW/P/2020/17288/1 dated October 15, 2020, the normal/original Oriented Schemes” shall be restored to original timing i.e. 3:00 p.m. with effect from October cut-o� timings of 3.00 p.m. for applicability of NAV for both subscription and redemption for all schemes of the 19, 2020. For Debt Oriented Schemes, the temporary revision in cut-off timings applicable from Fund other than Debt schemes, shall be restored with e�ect from October 19, 2020. April 7, 2020 will continue till further notice. Further, in case of Debt schemes of the Fund, the existing reduced cut-o� timings will be continued till further notice by RBI on the truncated market hours. Thus, below cut-off timings will apply: Accordingly, e�ective from October 19, 2020, the cut-o� timing(s) for applicability of NAV for the schemes of Scheme Category Subscriptions / Redemptions / the Fund shall be as under: Switch-ins switch-outs Liquid Funds viz. HDFC Liquid Fund and Sr. Scheme Name/Category Cut-o� timing(s) in Cut-o� timing(s) in 12:30 p.m. 01:00 p.m. No. case of Subscriptions case of Redemptions HDFC Overnight Fund 1. Mahindra Manulife Liquid Fund (MMLF) and 12.30 p.m. 1.00 p.m. Debt Oriented Schemes except Liquid Funds 01:00 p.m. Mahindra Manulife Overnight Fund (MMOF) ALL Schemes other than above 3:00p.m.exceptthatfor switch out from 2. Debt Schemes other than MMLF and MMOF 1.00 p.m. 1.00 p.m. these schemes to Debt Oriented Schemes (including Liquid Funds), the cut-off time shall 3. All schemes other than those mentioned above at 3.00 p.m. 3.00 p.m. be 1.00 p.m. Sr. no. 1 & 2 All other provisions relating to applicability of NAV for subscription / purchase, switches and redemption All other provisions of various SEBI Mutual Funds regulations w.r.t applicability of NAV in respect of subscriptions mentioned in the SIDs and KIMs of the Scheme(s) shall remain unchanged. and redemptions shall remain unchanged. All other terms and conditions of the Scheme(s) remain unchanged. This addendum forms an integral This notice-cum- addendum shall form an integral part of the SIDs / KIMs of all the schemes of the Fund as amended from time to time and shall override the con�icting provisions, if any in this regard. part of the SID(s) and KIM(s) of Scheme(s) of the Fund as amended from time to time. All the other provisions of the SIDs and KIMs of the schemes except as speci�cally modi�ed herein above For HDFC Asset Management Company Limited remain unchanged. Place : Mumbai Sd/- For Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited

n.00833 Cno. Date : October 18, 2020 Authorized Signatory (Formerly known as Mahindra Asset Management Company Pvt. Ltd.) MUTUALFUNDINVESTMENTSARESUBJECTTOMARKETRISKS,READALLSCHEME Place: Mumbai Sd/- RELATED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY. Date: October 18, 2020 Authorised Signatory

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Pune MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 14 BACKPAGE FINANCIAL EXPRESS ● EU’S APPROACH NEEDS TO CHANGE Trump leans into fear tactics in bid to win Midwest states damn well be president. In Democratic rival Hillary Clin- Janesville, October 18 Wisconsin, he wondered how ton and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan UK: Door‘ajar’for hewould process a loss. Omar.) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP “Canyou imagine if I lose? I Whitmer, a Democrat,was leaned into feartactics on Sat- willhavelosttotheworstcandi- the focus of a kidnapping plot urday as he accused the left of date in the historyofAmerican by anti-government extrem- trying to “destroy the Ameri- politics,”hesaid.“WhatdoIdo?” istswhowere angered bylock- post-Brexit deal talks canwayof life”in a late reelec- Trump has continued to hold downmeasures.Thirteenmen tion pitch to voters in Michi- rallies despite the threat of the have been charged in connec- to the oneAustralia has,“based gan and Wisconsin — two coronavirus,whichhospitalised tion with the scheme,which Door‘ajar’ for post- on simple principles of global Midwestern states that were him forseveral days earlierthis included plans to storm the Brexit trade deal freetrade.” instrumental to his 2016 vic- month. state Capitol and to hold some A so-called“Australia deal” tory but may now be slipping Wisconsinbroketherecord kind of trial forthe governor. talks: Gove means that the UKwould trade from his grasp. fornewpositivevirus cases on “You got to get your gover- on World Trade Organization In back-to-back rallies, Friday — the third time that’s nor to open your state and get terms: as a countrywithout an Trump accused the left of happened in a week.The state yourschoolsopen.Theschools , October 18 EU trade agreement,like Aus- wanting to “erase American Arizona and Georgia, as well Michigan into a refugee also hit record highs for daily have to be open, right?”said tralia,tariffswould be imposed history”and“purge American as Pennsylvania. camp.”Addressing the coron- deaths and hospitalizations Trump, who also took credit BRITISH SENIOR MINISTER underWTOrules,likelycausing values.” He claimed, with no As he tries to energise his avirus crisis, Trump warned this pastweek. for federal law enforcement’s Michael Gove said on Sunday significantpricerises. basis,thatDemocraticrivalJoe base and keep on-the-fence that Biden would “shut down But there was little evi- role in foiling the plot. the door remained “ajar” for Johnson’s critics saythat an Bidenwouldputcommunities voters from turning against the country, delay the vaccine dence of concern among the Whitmer’s digital director, talksonapost-Brexittradedeal Gove earlier on Sunday Australian-style deal is simply at risk. him,Trump sought to paint and prolong the pandemic.” thousands of supporters Tori Saylor, urged Trump to to continue if the European said the UK is code for no deal at all with Trump offered the dark Democrats as“anti-American Public health experts say Trump drew in both states, stop. Unionchangeditsapproach. Britain’s largest export market. message as he faces head- radicals” and said moderates the nationwould be in farbet- where audience members “Every single time the “I think the EU effectively “increasingly well- Australia’s trade with the EU is winds not only in national had“a moral duty”to join the tershape hadTrump’s admin- stood closely together in the President does this at a rally, ended the current round of prepared” for a no-deal dwarfedbyBritain’s. polling, which shows Biden Republican Party. istration taken more aggres- cold,mostlywithout masks. the violent rhetoric towards talks last week.It was the case Brexit even as businesses More than 70 British busi- leading,but also in key bat- “The Democrat Party you sive action earlyon. Trumpcontinuedtocallon her immediately escalates on we were making progress but urged Britain and the nessgroupsrepresentingover7 tleground surveys. His com- once knew doesn’t exist,” he And while he repeatedly MichiganGov.GretchenWhit- social media,”she tweeted.“It then the EU retreated from European Union to million workers made a last- ments come after his cam- said. predicted victory, Trump mer to roll back restrictions has to stop. It just has to.” that,”hetoldBBCTV. find a compromise ditchattemptonSundaytoper- paign,with far less cash than Itwas the same on issue af- seemedtograpplethroughout that remain in place to try to Biden, meanwhile, had no Askedifthedoorwasajarfor suade politicians to get back to Biden’s, largely retreated ter issue, as he claimed in hy- the daywith the prospect that halt the spread of the virus, public events planned forSat- over trade terms talks to continue,Gove said:“It thenegotiatingtablenextweek from TV advertising in the perbolic terms that Biden’s he could indeed lose in No- prompting the crowd to break urday. But in a memo to sup- is ajar.Wehope that the EUwill andstrikeaBrexitdeal. Midwest,shifting much of its electionwouldspur“thesingle vember. into a “Lock her up!” chant. porters, campaign manager changetheirposition;we’recer- Thegroupsrangedfromthe moneyto Sun Belt states such biggest depression in the his- In Michigan, he quipped (Thesamechantalsobrokeout Jen O’Malley Dillon warned tainly not saying if they do pandemicworsens. ConfederationofBritishIndus- as Florida, North Carolina, tory of our country”and“turn that, in January, he “better after he mentioned his 2016 about becoming complacent. change their position that we “Itisnotmypreferreddesti- try,TheCityUK and techUK to can’ttalktothem.” nation,”Govesaidinanopinion the National Farmers’ Union, Gove earlier on Sundaysaid pieceintheSundayTimesnews- British Retail Consortium and theUKis“increasinglywell-pre- paper.“But if the choice is be- the Societyof Motor Manufac- Italy approves new stimulus pared”forano-dealBrexiteven tween arrangements that tie turersandTraders. asbusinessesurgedBritainand ourhandsindefinitely,orwhere Gove has previously said the European Union to find a we can shape our own future, while the British government package to help virus-hit economy compromiseovertradeterms. then that’s no choice at all.And wanted an agreement with A tumultuous “no deal” fi- leaving on Australian terms is , it was not going be REUTERS naletotheUK’sfive-yearBrexit anoutcomeforwhichwearein- “held hostage”.“Itwill require a Milan, October 18 crisiswould sowchaos through creasinglywell-prepared”. fundamentalchangeinattitude, the delicate supply chains that Prime Minister Boris John- policyand politics from the EU ITALYHAS APPROVED a newstimulus package stretch across Britain, the EU son said on Friday that Britain togetthingsbackontrack,”Gove inits2021budgettofosteraneconomicrebound and beyond — just as the eco- should get readyfora dealwith wroteintheSundayTimes. fromtherecessioncausedbythecoronaviruscri- nomichitfromthecoronavirus the European Union similar sis,a government statement said on Sundayaf- teralate-nightcabinetmeeting. The ruling coalition,led by the anti-estab- lishment 5-Star Movement and centre-left US, Israeli envoys fly to Bahrain to PD party,agreed a preliminaryversion of the stimulus package,a government source said, leaving final details to be hammered out. One of the European countries worst hit by advance nascent ties Among measures to support the health and the pandemic,Italyhas forecast a 9% economic education system,the governmentwill set up contractionfor2020andabudgetdeficitequat- ASSOCIATED PRESS betrayalandanunderminingof The Israeli official said the a 4 billion euro ($4.7 billion) fund to com- ingto10.8%ofgrossdomesticproduct. Jerusalem, October 18 theArabstancethatrecognition Israeli embassy was expected pensate companies worst hit by coronavirus Theexpansionarypackageisexpectedtokeep of Israel should come onlyafter to open in Bahrain in the com- lockdowns. Italy’s deficit next year to 7% of economic out- AJOINTAMERICAN-Israelidel- Palestinians achieve an inde- ing months. Similar to the The budget also extends temporary lay-off put,up from a 5.7% forecast inApril,reflecting egation headed on Sunday for pendentstateoftheirown. UnitedArab Emirates,Bahrain schemesforcompanieswithworkersonfurlough theadditionalspending. Bahrain,where officials will be As part of the deal to nor- isexpectedtoopenitsembassy and offers tax breaks to support employment in Italyhas forecast economic growth of 6% in signing a number of bilateral malise relations, the two Gulf at some point in the city of Tel thepoorsouthofthecountry.ItalianPrimeMin- 2021.Expansionarymeasures nextyearwill to- agreements following an an- ArabstatesandIsraelwilleventu- Aviv,where most foreign em- ister Giuseppe Conte is expected on Sunday to tal 40 billion euros,including cheap loans and nouncementlastmonthtonor- allyestablishembassiesandex- bassies are located because of also announce newmeasures to curb the steady grants from the European Union’s Recovery maliserelations. changeambassadors. Jerusalem’s contested status. spikeinCovid-19casesoverrecentweeks. Fund,Gualtieritoldlawmakersthismonth. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Prime MinisterBenjaminNetanyahu’s national security adviser,Meir Ben-Shabbat,ledthedelegation that flew out of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurionairport. Israel’s commercial El Al flight973—anodtotheinter- national dialing code for Bahrain — will fly through Saudi Arabia’s airspace en route to Manama,where dig- nitaries from all three coun- tries will speak at a ceremony afterlanding. US,IsraeliandBahrainiflags festooned the tarmac before take-off. Ben-Shabbat, one of thekeyIsraeliofficialsinvolved in negotiations with Bahrain, said ahead of take-off that the visit will“translate plans to ac- tions and concrete agree- ments” with the signing of a range of deals involving fi- nance, investment, trade, tourism, communications, technologyandagriculture. Another Israeli official said the visit represents the official establishmentofdiplomaticre- lations between the two coun- trieswith the sides expected to signajointstatementestablish- ingfulldiplomaticrelations. Thedecisiontoestablishties with Israel has outraged the Palestinians,whose leadership has blasted the Bahraini move, and a similar Emirati deal,as a Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company Limited Registered & Corporate Of�ce : 10th Floor, Motilal Oswal Tower, Rahimtullah Sayani Road, Opposite Parel ST Depot, Prabhadevi, Mumbai - 400 025 l Toll Free No.: +91 8108622222, +91 22 40548002 l Email : [email protected] l CIN No.: U67120MH2008PLC188186 l Website: www.motilaloswalmf.com and www.mostshares.com Notice cum Addendum to the Scheme Information Document (SID) and Key Information Memorandum (KIM) of the Schemes of Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund Amendment in Cut-off time for applicability of Net Asset Value (NAV) for Subscriptions / Redemptions (Including Switches) of units in the Schemes of Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund (MOMF) In continuation to our notice cum addendum dated April 6, 2020, April 17, 2020 and May 01, 2020 and in accordance with SEBI letter having reference no. SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/OW/P/2020/17288/1 dated October 15, 2020, unitholders are requested to take note of following changes in the cut-off timings for applicability of NAV for the Schemes of MOMF w.e.f. October 19, 2020: Sr. Name / Type of the Schemes Transaction Existing Revised No. cut-off time cut-off time a) For Motilal Oswal Ultra Short Term Fund Subscription 1:00 p.m. No change Redemption 1:00 p.m. No change b) For Motilal Oswal Liquid Fund Subscription 12.30 p.m. No change Redemption 1.00 p.m. No change c) For all Schemes of MOMF other than (a) and (b) Subscription 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. Redemption 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. This notice cum addendum forms an integral part of the SID and KIM of the Schemes of MOMF as amended from time to time. All other contents remain unchanged. For Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company Limited (Investment Manager for Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund) Sd/- Place : Mumbai Navin Agarwal Date : October 18, 2020 Managing Director & Chief Executive Of�cer MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO MARKET RISKS, READ ALL SCHEME RELATED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY.

Pune