Business Standard Podcast

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been trying to drive on to Indian roads for some years now. But, he has been hitting a speed bump of import duties. India, now the world’s third-largest vehicle market, refused to agree on Tesla Inc’s request to lower the import duty on cars, which can be as high as 100 per cent. While the government insisted Tesla to make in India, the electric carmaker wanted to test the market first with imports. With automaker changing its approach recently, the deadlock may not last long. Tesla is now open to manufacture in India. Does this mean you could soon get behind the wheel of a Tesla? What challenges will Tesla have to overcome before that can happen?  If the latest rounds of negotiations work out, a proposed Tesla Model 2 could be your next all-electric ride. Moving on, last week the Finance Ministry had announced the inclusion of international credit card transactions under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. Now it will attract a 20% tax collected at source, or TCS from July this year. Amendment of the Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transaction) Rules has raised concerns from several quarters that have been sending money abroad. Finf out how the 20% TCS on foreign remittances will affect you. The revision of Liberalised Remittance Scheme last week was aimed at prudent foreign exchange management and prevent by-passing of the LRS limits in international transactions. Meanwhile, equity markets in India witnessed downbeat sentiment last week as concerns over a looming US debt default made investors jittery. As Q4 earnings now come to a wrap, will equities shrug off the volatility and stage a turnaround in the near term?  The ongoing US debt ceiling concerns and worries about higher interest rates for a longer period and a looming recession are going to keep investors on tenterhooks this week. India and the UK, on the other hand, are back on the negotiating table to thrash out contours of Free Trade Agreement. But a tussle is brewing between the whisky makers of both the nations. It is over ‘angel’s share’. What is it? And why whisky makers are sparring over it? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

What’s in focus today is India’s economy. India’s goods exports fell by over 12% in April 2023 -- reflecting the slowing demand in the inflation-hit foreign countries. The industrial output grew just a tad above 1% in March, which was slowest in five months. Inflation numbers meanwhile offered some breather. So what do these three crucial parameters of India’s macroeconomic growth tell about its growth story?  The world economy went into a tailspin when the pandemic struck. And countries are still paying the price. But WHO recently said that it is no longer a global health emergency. Sohini Das recently caught up with prominent epidemiologist K Srinath Reddy to find out where we stand now. And what is the road ahead?  While every aspect of our lives was impacted by the pandemic, Indian markets somehow remained immune to the virus. Over the years, the Nifty IT has closely mirrored moves in the NASDAQ index. Calendar year 2023 so far, however, has proved to be different with both these indices performing differently. So, is the correlation between the two indices ending?  If you are someone who uses credit cards for international transactions, we have news for you. From July 1st, your credit card transactions abroad will get costlier. Not only will you have to pay a 20% TCS on each of these transactions, but you will also have to limit the spending to under $250,000 in a financial year. This episode of the podcast breaks it down for you.

In our first story today, we take a peek at the road ahead for India’s electronics exports. In 2018, during the peak of the US-China trade war, Washington had imposed a 25% tariff on a slew of Chinese electronics products. While the move riled China, its smaller competitors rejoiced. They saw an opportunity. Since then, nations like Vietnam, Malaysia and Mexico, have seen a surge in their exports to the US. India, however, seems to have lagged behind. So how can it catch up in the US-electronics exports race? Twitter is all the rage right now. Like it has always been. And it has been rife with controversies since Elon Musk took over. He had fired almost 50% of the workforce including its CEO Parag Agarwal. He also privatized Twitter. And now, Musk has appointed Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO. So will she tick the right buttons and restore sanity at Twitter?  While the Twitter saga will continue, let us see what is exciting the investors in India. The real estate sector has been on investor's radar. Institutional investment in the sector jumped 37% to 1.65 billion dollars during January-March quarter, driven by higher inflow in office and housing properties. The related stocks, too, have given a stupendous return during this period. So will the sector and the stocks continue to remain a favorable bet going ahead?  While Indian markets are looking up, European stocks meanwhile stumbled yesterday on May 17. Wall Street banks and asset managers are on the edge. But why? Believe it or not, the United States of America is staring at a default. Its leaders, including President Joe Biden, are holding meetings to avert it by raising the debt ceiling. But what is a debt ceiling? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers. 

A war of words has erupted between Go First and aircraft lessors -- who want their planes back from the cash-strapped airline. While the Aviation Working Group, which represents the lessors, has put India on a watch list, the Wadia group-owned airline has termed it as an attempt to influence an ongoing case in NCLAT, where lessors have challenged NCLT moratorium on the airline’s assets. The moratorium bars lessors from recovering their aircraft. So how will this tussle between Go First and lessors impact the Indian aviation sector?  Boeing, meanwhile, has said that Indian airlines are likely to require over 2,200 aircraft in the next 20 years, and the Go First episode can't knock the growth trajectory of India’s civil aviation market off course. Moving on, one of the largest conglomerates of the country, Larsen and Toubro, has been flying high for decades now - leaving behind a trail of development projects and much more. Recently it has seen a change of guard. So where is L&T headed from here?  Despite a lower-than- estimated Q4FY23 earnings, several top brokerages like Jefferies and Nuvama have retained their positive views on L&T stock. Moving on, at 6,480 crore rupees, net inflow into equity mutual funds hit their lowest level since November last year. The flows declined even as debt funds saw inflows of over 1 trillion rupees. So, what caused this sharp drop in equity mutual fund inflows? And what is the road ahead?  Once a favourite investment option, debt mutual funds seem to have lost their charm after the government withdrew long-term tax benefits it used to enjoy. But, as they say, where there is a will there's a way. High net worth individuals are now turning to private credit funds. So what are they? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

Doug McMillon, the chief executive officer of the biggest retail company of the world, Walmart, was in India recently. During this time, in a conversation with Business Standard, he indicated that the retail giant’s aspiration for multi-brand retail might be a thing of the past. What then is Walmart’s future Indian strategy?  Like the retail giant Walmart, WhatsApp too has been eyeing the large Indian market. In a matter of few years, it has become part of daily lives of over 480 million people in India. But, scammers also came along. And despite all the checks and regulations in place, an increasing number of people are falling prey to their tricks. People now are also reporting unsolicited calls from unknown international numbers. Why is it so? And what are WhatsApp and Indian regulators doing to make this platform safe?    During his interaction with Business Standard, the Walmart CEO said that both Flipkart and PhonePe will eventually go for IPOs and the call on timing will be taken by independent boards. The company is waiting for that right moment. Meanwhile, according to a report, over 50 companies are expected to raise a combined 76,190 crore rupees via IPOs in FY24. But primary market activity has remained muted so far in 2023 with weaker-than-expected participation by retail investors. So, what’s keeping retail investors away from IPOs? And will the trend change in the days to come?  Go First has also been planning to raise money from the primary market since 2015. But the airline is now grounded, and its owners have filed for voluntary insolvency. This has left aircraft lessors in a fix and they too have approached NCLAT for relief. But what are aircraft lessors? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers.

Dust over the campaign trails in Karnataka has settled now. Loudspeakers have fallen silent and EVMs are back in store rooms. Over three crore voters have elected 224 MLAs, and the suspense over the results is now over. So what next for Karnataka?  Both the BJP and Congress had made a host of promises for the state’s young population. While the BJP had vowed 10 lakh new jobs, the Congress had announced a monthly allowance to unemployed graduates and diploma holders. But why is a large section of Indian youth not landing jobs despite degrees and diplomas? Recently the central government has also told the Parliament that the number of students going abroad for higher education has jumped by 68% in 2022. Why then are so many Indian students flying abroad for higher  degrees?  Moving on, while the overall market has remained volatile so far this year, the midcap and smallcap pockets are emerging as winners, outperforming the large caps. Find out the reasons supporting their upward movement and whether the strength will sustain ahead. The stock markets of neighbouring Pakistan, meanwhile, crashed and its rupee fell to a record low after the arrest of opposition leader Imran Khan last week. While the country’s Supreme Court later termed the arrest illegal, and a high court granted him bail, the country remains on the edge. The cricketer-turned-politician was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case. But what is this controversy all about? Listen to the podcast for answers.   

Cash-strapped Go First has now been granted bankruptcy protection. The airline wants a “comprehensive debt restructuring” and its planes may well hit the runways soon. But will the future bring clear skies or more turbulence for Go First? And, what do the latest developments mean for the Indian civil aviation sector?  Bengaluru’s airport, meanwhile, has been ranked among the most punctual airports in the world in 2022. It bagged 20th spot in the list by Cirium -- an aviation data analytics company. The city, which is also famous as India’s IT capital, has been the driving force behind Karnataka’s economic growth. And that of the country’s too. Karnataka, which has seen eight chief ministers since 2008, is also the third largest state economy in India. So, as the people of the state wait for the new assembly after a historic 73% turnout, find out if there is more to the numbers than what meets the eye,  Moving on to financial markets, US-based investment arm Invesco recently slashed Swiggy’s valuation to 5.5 billion dollars, nearly 50% down from its peak valuation of over 10 billion dollars. This also coincided with a new delivery platform ONDC spreading its wings in the domestic market. All of this sent Zomato’s shares down 5% between May 9 and 10. But is there more pain ahead for the stock? Will Zomato’s valuation also come under threat? And what should investors do amid the ongoing uncertainty?  After the markets, let us shift focus to our privacy. “Messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted. No one outside of this chat, not even WhatsApp, can read or listen to them.” If you are a WhatsApp user, you are sure to have read this message on at least one of your contact’s message windows. But have you ever wondered what it means to have your messages end-to-end encrypted? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers. 

At the fag-end of January this year, when Adani group stocks were falling like house of cards, heads had started turning towards another highly-leveraged conglomerate: Vedanta Resources Ltd. But, during the last three months, both the companies have trimmed their debt, and some skepticism too. So can we safely say that Adani and Vedanta have come out of the woods?  Experts, meanwhile, point out that better planning and foresight may have saved the two big groups the hassle they have just gone through. Moving on, we also need to devise a wise strategy to ensure a hassle-free retirement. The EPFO recently came out with a long-awaited replacement methodology for contribution towards higher EPS pension. But what is it? And why are some people still skeptical about it? And will it not add extra burden on the retirement fund body?  Let us move on to markets now. Analysts believe that India Inc could be embarking on a new phase of capex cycle. With capacity utilisation at around 75%, orders are streaming in for related companies. At the bourses, shares of capex-related companies have surged in the range of 13-41% thus far in 2023. So, is there any headroom for more gains?  The stock of Zomato slipped on bourses on May 9 amid reports that government-backed ONDC may hit its business. People are hailing the lower prices of food items being offered on ONDC. But there is much more to it? In our decoded segment, This episode of the podcast tells about ONDC and more.  

Slowly but surely, Paytm became part of our lives. But the company, which spearheaded digital payments in India, has been reporting losses for quite some time now. But, it seems, things are looking up for its parent company One97 Communications now. It has been cutting down losses, slowly but steadily. It further dropped in the recent Q4 results. And for its CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the next milestone is to make Paytm cash flow positive. Is it possible?  Innovations, experts believe, were the key driving force behind Paytm’s success. In this age and time, companies don’t have any other option but to beat the competition with innovations. Ideas indeed change lives. It holds true for the humble ceiling fan too. They have managed to stay relevant in this age of air conditioners. But how did they do it? Are ceiling fans spinning in a new direction?  Meanwhile, fanned by the prospects of good Q4 results, shares of automobile companies have seen a stellar run in the past one month. However, will this upside continue in the near-term as well or a correction is on the horizon?    After action in the automobile sector, let us shift our attention to the one around ports. A cargo ship, carrying 20,000 bags of cement, chugged out of Kolkata port on May 4 -- operationalising the waterway component of Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport project. The ship will reach Sittwe port in Myanmar on May 9. In this episode of the podcast, we tell more about this ambitious project. 

Nothing should come between you and your favorite restaurant. Those who believe in this idea must be a happy lot as government-operated ONDC, it seems, is picking up. And the prices of your favourite dishes are coming down. Those ordering food on it are unable to hide their excitement, and are hitting the social media platforms to express it. With delivery fees and some other charges gone, the food they say is now 20 to 30% cheaper when compared to established food delivery platforms. So should Swiggy and Zomato worry? Will ONDC’s considerably cheaper deliveries deal a blow to their business?  Struggling with losses, Swiggy had recently appealed to its Swiggy One members to share food and not passwords. Following the Netflix footsteps, it amended its membership to restrict the privilege to two mobile phones. Moving on, what if you do not have to remember scores of passwords for all the subscriptions and accounts, and could login using your fingerprint? This is essentially what Google aims to do, with rollout of passkeys. Google is not the only one to launch passkeys. Microsoft and Apple have done the same in the past few years. It is generally accepted that passkeys which use biometrics, patterns, and PIN locks are more secure than passwords. And convenient too. So are we heading to a world without passwords? Meanwhile, Bengaluru that houses offices of tech giants like Google and Microsoft is now breathing easy. Campaigning for Karnataka polls ended on May 8. So, how will markets react to the outcome of this high-stake election?  After the markets, let us shift our focus to state-owned companies which are grabbing eyeballs. The government recently granted Navratna status to  Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). But ever wondered what Navratnas and Maharatnas are? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers.