FRIDAY • OCTOBER 11, 2019 CHENNAI ₹10 • Pages 22 • Volume 26 • Number 241

AUTO FOCUS HURT PIRAMAL MOVES SEBI FM TO THE RESCUE Maruti’s S­Presso is positioned bang in Piramal Enterprises has moved SEBI, Nirmala Sitharaman has promised legislative the centre of the entry­level small­car asking it to act on ‘misleading rumours’ steps to prevent PMC Bank­like crises and segment. Will it be a cuppa joy? p19 against its financial services business p12 ensure more teeth for the regulator p10

Ahmedabad Bengaluru Chennai Coimbatore Hubballi Hyderabad Kochi Kolkata Madurai Malappuram Mangaluru Mumbai Noida Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirapalli Tirupati Vijayawada Visakhapatnam Regd. TN/ARD/14/2012-2014, RNI No. 55320/94

QUICKLY Air India buy: Tata Sons back at the Moody’s cuts India GDP FESTIVAL BOOM Consumer durables players upbeat growth forecast to 5.8% New Delhi, October 10 Consumer durables retailers and drawing board, may place bid soon Ind­Ra, too, lowers A credit crunch among non­ bank financial institutions companies remain cautiously optimistic estimate, to 6.1% about the remainder of the ongoing Amit Shah­headed panel likely to hold crucial Tatas and the Maharaja (NBFIs) had compounded the problem, Moody’s noted. festival season. Going by initial trends, they ■ said there has been an uptick in demand talks next week on privatising flag carrier In 1932, JRD Tata set up an OUR BUREAU As a consequence of the recent and expect it to continue in the upcoming aviation department within New Delhi, October 10 corporate tax cut, the agency ex­ days in the run-up to Diwali. p3 RAJESH KURUP status of an aviation major,” a the Tata Group, which later Slowdown concerns have pects the fiscal deficit to be 3.7 Mumbai, October 10 source close to the development became Air India pushed two agencies, Moody’s per cent of GDP against the BusinessLine Tata Sons wants a bite of legacy, a told . ■ Air India was nationalised in and India Ratings, to lower In­ Budget estimate of 3.34 per cent. COMMODITY FORAY dash of its own aviation history 1953 dia’s growth projection sharply “A prolonged period of slower and a whole lot of sky under its Due diligence for the current year. nominal GDP growth not only BSE has done well, says its MD ■ wings. While the plan to bid for Air In­ If the Tatas land Air India now, However, India Ratings & Re­ constrains scope for fiscal con­ Mumbai, October 10 After going back and forth for dia is yet to be tabled before the it will be the group’s third search (Ind­Ra) reckons there solidation, but also keeps the The BSE will be completing one year in the a bit, the salt­to­software con­ Tata Sons board, the company aviation venture after full- will be a recovery during the government debt burden higher commodity derivatives market this month. glomerate is finally readying to has already held a couple of dis­ service carrier Vistara and second half of the fiscal, from Oc­ for longer,” it said. Though one year is very little to gauge the bid for Air India, India’s flag car­ cussions on a potential deal. A low-cost carrier AirAsia India tober 1. Ind­Ra’s lowering of its growth success of an exchange, the BSE has gained rier, and is believed to have star­ decision will be taken only after Moody’s cut the growth pro­ projection is the second such ac­ enough confidence to levy trading charges, ted initial discussions internally seeing the contours of the final jection to 5.8 per cent, which is tion in two­and­half months: in reversing its earlier stance of offering it for for placing an offer. divestment papers, even though with an annual outgo of more chi to Mumbai, marking the first 100 bps (or 1 percentage point) August, it had cut the forecast to free, says the exchange’s MD Ashish Chavan The move comes ahead of a the group is looking at bringing than ₹4,000 crore to service it. flight of Tata Air Services. Later, lower than its previous projec­ 6.7 per cent from 7.3 per cent. The in an interview with BusinessLine. p16 crucial meeting to decide on the in external agencies for due dili­ The debt­laden airline has been in 1953, the government nation­ tion. This is the lowest among all agency had cited a slowdown in airline’s privatisation plans, gence, another source said. given a ₹30,000­crore bailout alised Air India. the forecasts after the Reserve both urban and rural consump­ probably next week. A Group of When contacted, a Tata Sons package by the government. Tata Sons holds a 51 per cent Bank of India (RBI) trimmed its tion demand growth as a key RCEP MEET Ministers (GoM), headed by spokesperson declined to com­ stake in low­cost carrier AirAsia forecast to 6.1 per cent recently. reason for the revision in August. Piyush Goyal headed to Bangkok Home Minister Amit Shah, has to ment, terming the bidding plans JRD Tata’s legacy India; the balance stake is held Fitch group company India The CSO’s growth estimate for New Delhi, October 10 take a final call. as speculation. JRD Tata, the patriarch of the Tata by AirAsia Bhd. AirAsia India Ratings went along with the April­June 2019shows the slow­ Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush “The Tatas were aviation pion­ In India, Air India holds the Group, was the first person to be commenced operations in June RBI’s forecast and cut its projec­ down was sharper than expec­ Goyal is leaving on Friday for Bangkok to eers and, for the group, the coun­ highest number of slots, routes issued a pilot’s licence in India. 2014 with Bengaluru as its tion by 60 basis points from 6.7 ted, falling to 3.1 per cent against give a final shape to the proposed Regional try’s aviation history is linked to and real estate, which makes it a In 1932, he set up an aviation de­ primary hub. per cent. Both agencies cited the 7.2 per cent a quarter earlier and Comprehensive Economic Partnership its own. Further, with the com­ prize catch for any bidder. How­ partment within the Tata Group, The Tatas also hold a 51 per slowdown in consumption and 7.3 per cent a year earlier. For the (RCEP) pact India is negotiating with ASEAN, pany holding a stake in two carri­ ever, the possible deterrent is the which later became Air India. On cent stake in full­service carrier investment demand as reasons April­September period, the China and four other nations before the ers already, Air India will, if ac­ airline’s debt, which is among October 15, 1932, JRD Tata flew a Vistara, with the remaining for their action. agency estimates GDP growth to scheduled announcement of its conclusion quired, propel Tata Sons to the the highest, at ₹58,000 crore, Puss Moth aeroplane from Kara­ stake held by Singapore Airlines. Noting that India’s growth be 5.2 per cent; it is likely to re­ next month. “The Minister will hold a series will remain weaker than in the cover to 6.9 per cent in October­ of bilateral meetings with his counterparts recent past, Moody’s said: “We March, mainly on account of the from Japan, Singapore, China, Australia and forecast real GDP growth to de­ base effect. New Zealand during the Bangkok cline to 5.8 per cent in the year Ind­Ra said it welcomes the Ministerial,” said a release. p4 Former Fortis promoter Shivinder Singh arrested ending March 2020 from 6.8 per measures announced to arrest cent in fiscal 2018, and to pick up the slowdown, but it believes AGENCIES diverting public money ment. When the new man­ is absconding, and a lookout circu­ to 6.6 per cent in fiscal 2020 and they will likely support growth MINING BLUES New Delhi, October 10 and investing in other agement took over, they lar has been issued against him. around 7 per cent over the me­ only in the medium­to­long Poor response to coal mine auction The Delhi police on Thursday ar­ companies, they said. found that a loan had been The arrests mark the beginning dium term.” term. Noting that most of the New Delhi, October 10 rested former Fortis Healthcare A complaint was filed taken, but the money had of the final act in the precipitous At 5 per cent year­on­year in policy responses to revive Market sentiment and expectations from promoter Shivinder Singh and by Religare Finvest Ltd been invested in other fall of what was once one of India’s the April­June quarter, real GDP growth, such as lower GST rates, commercial mining have resulted in a tepid three others in an alleged fraud (RFL), which alleged that companies linked to Singh most prominent business famil­ growth has slowed markedly. addressed the supply side, the response for the blocks on offer during the case, officials said. Singh had taken the loans and his brother,” said a ies. The Singh brothers were heirs What started as an investment­ agency said the bigger challenge current round of coal auctions. These mines Kavi Arora, Sunil Godhwani and while managing that Shivinder Singh senior police officer. “They to an empire that included top led slowdown has broadened is from the demand side, since are being auctioned under the 8th, 9th and Anil Saxena were also arrested by firm, but that the money filed a complaint with the drugmaker Ranbaxy, and later its into consumption, driven by fin­ consumption demand has col­ 10th round of bids simultaneously being the Economic Offences Wing was invested in other companies. EOW.” second­largest hospital chain, ancial stress among rural house­ lapsed and private investment is conducted by the Coal Ministry. “In all, 45 (EOW) of Delhi Police for allegedly “RFL saw a change in manage­ Shivinder’s brother Malvinder Fortis. holds and weak job creation. not forthcoming. bids were received for the blocks on offer,” said a top Coal Ministry official. P2 TCS may miss double-digit PORTFOLIO 120 MoUs signed for exports to China Festival loans: What’s on offer growth target this fiscal Ahead of Modi­Xi This Diwali, e-commerce majors and many ZY other consumer durable Q2 profit growth meet, China pledges and retail outlets are slows down to 1.8% to fix trade imbalance offering huge discounts. Also, the Centre and the RBI OUR BUREAU OUR BUREAU are trying to boost credit Mumbai, October 10 New Delhi, October 10 growth through loan Macroeconomic issues and a Private companies from India melas, revised micro- slowdown in the banking sector and China signed more than 120 finance lending/eligibility limits and lower in the US and Europe, along with MoUs for export of various benchmark interest rates. We list some delays in retail sector deal execu­ products from India, including options for you so that you can plan your tions, slowed down TCS’ second­ sugar, chemicals, fish, plastics, major purchases. P9 quarter profit growth to a mere “We’ve seen an increase in pharmaceuticals and fertilisers 1.8 per cent. ahead of the meeting of Prime both deal sizes and India’s largest IT services firm Minister Narendra Modi and duration... it’ll take time for on Thursday reported consolid­ Chinese President Xi Jinping in it to convert into revenues.” TRENDING ated net profit at ₹8,042 crore for Mamallapuram on Friday. WWW.THEHINDUBUSINESSLINE.COM the quarter ended September 30, RAJESH GOPINATHAN “China is working to bring CEO of TCS against ₹7,901 crore in the year­ YZ down its trade surplus with India. IRCTC IPO allotment ago period. Sequentially, the In the first eight months of this There’s a lucky draw for profit dipped 1 per cent. TCS’ op­ Achieving a better H2, how­ year, India’s trade deficit went allotment in the retail category. erating margins for the quarter ever, will not be easy for TCS. For down by 1.6 per cent to $37.9 bil­ What are your chances? stood at 24 per cent, while net one, H2 is seasonally weak for IT lion,” Zhu Xiaohong, Counsellor, margins came in at 20.6 per cent. services, and BFSI is not showing Embassy of China, pointed out at Flight fares Revenues grew 5.8 per cent to any signs of improvement. Al­ the India­China Business Meeting ₹38,977 crore in the July­Septem­ though a further weakness in the & Signing Ceremony organised If you haven’t booked your ber quarter, against ₹36,854 rupee could help TCS make up by FICCI. School students form the Mandarin characters for the name Xi Jinping, in Chennai, on Thursday. The Chinese holiday tickets yet you may end crore in Q2 FY19, as concerns re­ for the lost growth in Q2, it may Modi and Xi will hold the President will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mamallapuram, near Chennai, on Friday BIJOY GHOSH up spending a fortune mained in its largest vertical, not be enough to carry it to second India­China Informal BFSI. double­digit growth. Summit on October 11­12; the two Director General, Foreign Trade “Chinese consumers want gital India’ campaigns and their Where’s LVB headed? “Our numbers (in Q2) were “Insurance, regional European are expected to announce addi­ Department of Ministry of products that are competitive. investment in India has exceeded lower than what we had expec­ banks and small banks are doing tional confidence­building meas­ Commerce. Also products lacking innovation $8 billion,” he said. Will Lakshmi Vilas Bank rise from ted at the start of the year,” ac­ well, but large banks in Europe ures to strengthen diplomatic, India’s trade deficit with China cannot succeed in the Chinese “In the next 15 years, China will the ashes like Dhanlaxmi Bank or knowledged TCS CEO Rajesh Gop­ and the US are under pressure, trade and security relations. fell to $53 billion in 2018­19 from market,” he cautioned. import $30 trillion of goods and go the GTB way? inathan. “We’ve seen an increase and there is pressure across the Over 60 Chinese entrepreneurs over $60 billion a year ago, but it The Chinese Ministry of Com­ $100 billion of services from the in both deal sizes as well as dura­ board. In retail, deals have been from 34 sectors will carry out still accounts for almost a third of merce is willing to strengthen co­ world. As the only two major de­ Ground report tion, which is good for long­term pushed further than expected. trade promotion activities in In­ India’s overall trade deficit. operation with departments in veloping countries with a popula­ growth. But it’ll take time for it to However, since there are no can­ dia; these enterprises have form­ Zhu said that attract Chinese India to improve economic and tion of over 1 billion, China and In­ Does Virat Kohli put in more convert into revenues. We would cellations yet, we hope to convert alised trade agreements with or­ customers, India needs to focus trade development, said Liu. dia are focussing on time on the field than Lionel need to deliver H2 much higher them in the next few quarters,” ders of about $100 million, on compatibility, competitive­ “Chinese enterprises have respon­ development,” he said. Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? than H1 to get to double digits.” Gopinathan said. pointed out, Liu Changyu, Deputy ness, creativity and cooperation . ded to the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Di­ More reports p4 One in 7 diabetics is visually impaired: Survey OUR BUREAU agar in Tamil Nadu (21.2 per cent). blindness and visual impairment New Delhi, October 10 Of the total diabetic population of was linked to poor blood sugar con­ One in eight persons above the age of 6,717 persons, 144 were blind and 923 trol among patients. While most pa­ 50 in India is a diabetic; one in every visually impaired. “Prevalence of tients surveyed (85.7 per cent) were 46 diabetics is blind; and one in seven blindness among diabetics was 2.1 on oral tablets for diabetic manage­ has some form of impairment in vis­ per cent and visual impairment 13.7 ment, only 39.5 per cent of known ion due to high blood sugar levels, ac­ per cent,” states the report. diabetics had controlled their ran­ cording to a diabetes and diabetic In all the diabetics, 16.9 per cent dom blood glucose to less than 200 retinopathy survey by the All India In­ had diabetic retinopathy or damage mg per dL. stitute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in to retina, 7 per cent had diabetic mac­ collaboration with the Ministry of ulopathy or damage to macula — a Poor awareness Health and Family Welfare, carried part of the eye which provides cent­ Up to 60.5 per cent had poor control out between 2015 to 2019. ral vision —and 3.6 per cent had sight­ of sugar. And a majority of the diabet­ Of 56,771 persons over 50 years of threatening diabetic retinopathy, the ics had never sought an eye check­up. age assessed in 21 districts, 6,717 (up report estimated. “ 90 per cent of known diabetics had to 11.8 per cent) were found to be dia­ Globally, diabetic retinopathy is re­ never gone for fundus evaluation for betic. The highest prevalence of dia­ sponsible for 1.06 per cent of blind­ diabetic retinopathy,” states the re­ betes (over 20 per cent) wasobserved ness and 1.16 per cent of visual port. In India, there are an estimated in Thrissur, Kerala (29.4 per cent), impairment, according to 2015 7.296 crore cases of diabetes in North Goa (24.7 per cent), Kapurthala estimates. adults. in Punjab (22 per cent) and Virudhun­ The reason for diabetes leading to Details p17

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