Innholdsfortegnelse for 11 June 2023 i Business Today

Gautam Singhania has a spring in his stride these days. The flamboyant boss of Raymond Ltd has just completed a stellar FY23, where his company has clocked a billion dollars in revenues for the first time in its 98-year existence. The 58-year-old Singhania can afford to be satisfied with the performance of his company, given that it was teetering on the edge just a couple of fiscals ago, battered by the pandemic and the consequent lockdowns. Today, not only has Raymond been able to bounce back into the black, FY23 saw profits doubling along with highest-ever revenues. Hit by the pandemic, when revenues from its businesses from branded textiles to engineering & auto components plunged, leading the company to a ₹297-crore loss in FY21, Singhania went about undertaking a series…

▶ IF THE RECENT decline in inflation has got your hopes high, you may be in for a rude shock. Prices of white goods are not coming down anytime soon. In fact, the opposite is likely to happen. White goods makers, which have been steadily increasing their prices over the past two years, are likely to do so this year as well. Prices of consumer durables from ACs and refrigerators to smart TVs and washing machines are likely to go up. A further rise is expected in the second half of FY24 as the prospect of a normal monsoon is less assured. 30 per cent HIKE IN PRICES OF LARGE-TICKET CONSUMER APPLIANCES SINCE LATE 2020 Since late 2020, when the inflation cycle started, prices of large-ticket consumer appliances like ACs…

WHILE STOCKS seem to have shrugged off, correctly, the setback for the BJP in the recent Karnataka polls, it brought again to the fore the question of whether elections could still emerge as a potential risk for markets in 2024. This is significant because it is a raft of global factors that top the list of worries for most investors and market participants in India. Rising US interest rates, bank collapses, geopolitics and recession are among other issues that could act as speed breakers to the India growth story. As far as the domestic picture goes, investors seem pretty relaxed—decent growth, recovering capex, stable macro and steady earnings growth with only minor irritants, like El Niño or some slowdown linked to global causes, clouding an otherwise sunny outlook. But what…

ATUL SINGH, 62 GROUP VICE CHAIRMAN, RAYMOND GROUP ▸ Joined Raymond in July 2022. Long-time leader of Coca-Cola. Brings in deep understanding of global business and expertise in supply chain and distribution “We are available in a lot of small towns. But there are hundreds of towns that we are probably not available in because our distribution network doesn’t go that far. Those are opportunities for us to expand” SUNIL KATARIA, 55 CEO-LIFESTYLE BUSINESS, RAYMOND ▸ Joined Raymond in March 2022 from Godrej Consumer Products, where he was CEO for India and SAARC. Ace marketer and economics graduate “Styling and fashion are becoming more personalised. Whatever I wear, do I stand apart in a crowd? So, this is an area where we have started investing a lot in terms of…

▸ Most recovery agencies (RAs) are sole proprietorships with no training setup, and have a hand-to-mouth existence. Players can enter and exit at will, and the space has a high mortality rate ▸ The problem is worse in the NBFC space. The RBI recently uncovered gaps in the process to empanel repossession agencies at a large NBFC. This problem is common at many smaller NBFCs ▸ A large untrained force of recovery agents solely catering to NBFCs operates in the space. Finally, in August last year, the RBI mandated compulsory training and certification to appoint recovery agents in the NBFC sector ▸ Another common practice is some private banks neglecting training requirements for recovery agents; they also fail to conduct pre-employment police verification for recovery agents ▸ Training institutes for…

MAY’03 Fair practices code for lenders that says they should not resort to intimidation or harassment of borrowers. To recover loans, the lenders should not resort to persistently bothering the borrowers at odd hours, use of muscle power for recovery of loans, etc. NOVEMBER ’06 Guidelines on code of conduct in outsourcing all kinds of activities by banks; banking regulator says banks should ensure the recovery agents are properly trained APRIL ’08 RBI asks for police verification of recovery agents; informing borrowers their details and recording the content/text of the calls made by them. The regulator also requests IBA to formulate, in consultation with IIBF, a certificate course for direct recovery agents with minimum 100 hours of training AUGUST ’22 The central bank includes all regulated agencies under its recovery…

THE SOUND OF construction crews working in commercial spaces has been a constant accompaniment to life in a metro city for the past few years. Earlier, this din was associated with some shopping mall coming up; then it was co-working spaces; in recent times, it has mostly been hospitals—either existing ones being given a glitzy makeover or new ones being built. But such developments cost money—which the private healthcare space has in ample amounts thanks to healthy investor interest, especially from private equity (PE) players. Take the recent case of Manipal Health Enterprises, in which PE major Temasek acquired a majority stake for ₹16,400 crore, at a valuation of ₹40,000 crore. Temasek, which already held an 18 per cent stake in the hospital chain, acquired another 41 per cent. “We…

▶ It’s not just Vedanta, but also the Tata group that is keen on stepping into the semiconductor business. Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran recently said that the company plans to use a part of its $90-billion investment over the next five years to set up ATMP and chip fabs. He also intends to foray into advanced chip manufacturing in a few years. The diversified conglomerate has recently appointed semiconductor industry veteran Randhir Thakur as the CEO & MD of Tata Electronics, a company with expertise in making precision electronics components. The greenfield chip business will also be housed under it, which has a manufacturing facility in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu. “We will start with manufacturing. Then we’ll get into assembly and packaging. The next stage will be…

RAKESH ARORA (name changed) was pursuing engineering from a small regional college in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, when he had to think about his next big move in life. With his brother encouraging him to pursue his interests, Arora found a side gig: teaching students preparing for competitive examinations at a nearby coaching centre that paid ₹5,000 a month. Arora’s headline moment came when one of his students aced the coveted JEE Mains (Joint Entrance Examination for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology) and got accepted into IIT Delhi, one of India’s premier engineering colleges. “Har koi chahta hai ki humara padaya hua bachha IIT jaye (Every teacher wants his student to get into an IIT),” he says. Following this success, Arora realised that teaching was his true calling. He skipped…

1 CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS NO TCS ON FOREIGN TRANSACTIONS UP TO ₹7 LAKH; FROM JULY 1, TCS OF 20 PER CENT WILL BE LEVIED ON AMOUNTS ABOVE THIS LIMIT 2 UPI INDIAN DIGITAL PAYMENT SYSTEMS LIKE UPI ARE AVAILABLE IN THE UAE, SINGAPORE, NEPAL AND BHUTAN 3 FOREX TRAVEL CARDS THEY CAN BE LOADED WITH ONE OR MULTIPLE FOREIGN CURRENCIES AND IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES INTERCHANGEABLY 4 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUES THESE WERE WIDELY RECOGNISED, BUT IN THE PAST 8-10 YEARS THEIR POPULARITY AND ACCEPTANCE HAVE DECLINED 5 FOREIGN CURRENCY CASH CAN BE STOLEN OR LOST. THERE IS ALSO A CAP ON THE AMOUNT OF CASH THAT CAN BE CARRIED WHEN TRAVELLING ABROAD…

L.C. Singh, the 74-year-old Founder of global consulting and services company Nihilent, is an avid photographer. “By training I am an engineer but I have always had a lot of respect for the right side of the brain,” he smiles, adding that he got interested in photography nearly 15 years ago. “I am fascinated with nature and how it is able to hide engineering. Sophisticated models covered beautifully. So it is my fascination with nature that led to photography,” he says. Singh only shoots nature—landscapes, birds and wildlife — with his Nikon Z9. “I don’t like shooting human beings,” he says. The Nihilent Founder has always used Nikon products and currently has lenses from 12mm to 1,200 mm. “I also use nearly 18 different pieces of software to process the…

PERSEVERANCE, grit, strong leadership skills, high risk appetite, and a flashy and fast lifestyle don’t necessarily go well with naiveté. But Gautam Hari Singhania, 58, has shades of them all. No matter what you think of the Chairman & MD of Raymond, the fact is that he has shown exemplary leadership skills in the toughest of times to pull his organisation out of the losses wrought by Covid-19, and onto a sustained growth trajectory. In a candid conversation with Business Today, Singhania lays bare his strategy for Raymond’s turnaround. Edited excerpts: The pandemic was a bad time for Indian industry. Are there any instances that stand out for you as symbols of what happened and what changed the company or you as a person? You’re right, the pandemic was an extremely…

₹10.09 lakh crore Total amount written off by scheduled commercial banks in the past five fiscals ₹2.89 lakh crore Total amount of retail loans, or 28.63 per cent of the total written-off loans ₹7.43 lakh crore Gross NPAs in the banking system ₹2.12 lakh crore Share of retail NPAs of banks ₹29.08 lakh crore The value of the loan book in the NBFC sector, with retail loans making up 28.05 per cent ₹1.77 lakh crore Gross NPAs in the NBFC sector, which is 6.1 per cent of the total advances ₹49‚000 crore Share of retail NPAs in the NBFC sector DATA AS MARCH 31, 2022; SOURCE PARLIAMENT QUERIES AND RBI REPORTS…

▸ INDIA’S HEALTHCARE SECTOR SAW PE FIRMS INVESTING AROUND $2.5 BILLION IN 2022; IT WAS AROUND $2.1 BILLION IN 2021, PER EY ▸ IN 2022, THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR DELIVERED STRONG RETURNS TO INVESTORS, MAKING UP NEARLY 16 PER CENT OF TOTAL EXITS AT $3.5 BILLION, PER BAIN & COMPANY ▸ THE YEAR SAW KKR’S EXIT FROM MAX HEALTHCARE, WITH AN EXIT VALUE OF $1.6 BILLION IN FOUR YEARS. ANOTHER LARGE EXIT WAS EVERSTONE’S FROM SAHYADRI HOSPITALS ▸ CARLYLE AND BRITISH INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT ALSO EXITED DURING THE IPOs OF MEDANTA (GLOBAL HEALTH) AND RAINBOW HOSPITALS, RESPECTIVELY, IN 2022 ▸ HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON GROWTH LED BY SCALE EXPANSION, INCREASED SPECIALISATION, AND COST OPTIMISATION INITIATIVES, WHICH HAVE RESULTED IN IMPROVED UTILISATION AND BETTER MARGINS ▸ WITH ROBUST AND STREAMLINED MODELS…

▶▶ FOR THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY, ENGINEERS ARE THE CORE TALENT NEEDED. IN INDIA, 2.5 MILLION STUDENTS ENROL IN ENGINEERING COURSES EVERY YEAR ▶▶ ENGINEERS FROM THE ELECTRONICS AND MECHANICAL STREAMS ARE THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER TALENT IN THE CHIP-MAKING INDUSTRY ▶▶ AROUND 125,000 ENGINEERS ARE ALREADY WORKING IN CHIP R&D AND DESIGN IN INDIA ▶▶ GLOBALLY, AROUND 2 MILLION SKILLED WORKERS WERE WORKING DIRECTLY WITH SEMICONDUCTOR DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN 2021 ▶▶ WITH THE DEMAND FOR SKILLED WORKERS ESTIMATED TO GROW BY 1 MILLION BY 2030, THE GLOBAL INDUSTRY WOULD NEED TO ADD MORE THAN 100,000 WORKERS ANNUALLY SOURCE: DELOITTE, INDUSTRY…

1 • Covid-19 turbocharged the edtech industry but when the pandemic began to fade, edtech firms started developing hybrid models—of online and offline teaching—to sustain growth. This has created a war among edtechs to provide the best teachers and services 2 • Edtech firms started offering handsome salaries to poach teachers from rival firms—that would also attract their students to their platform. They even offered ESOPs and other perks to attract the best teaching talent 3 • The recent months have also revealed the pressures of a decline in funding within the edtech industry, with teachers saying that the pressure to sell courses and generate revenues for the company has increased 4 • The investor community believes that edtech players should innovate. They must leverage tools like AI and ChatGPT…

1 ▸ With the suspension of flights by Go First and the revival of Jet Airways now in limbo, market sentiment has been negatively impacted 2 ▸ Airfares, especially on routes serviced by Go First, have jumped due to capacity contraction 3 ▸ A rise in lease rentals and insurance premiums paid by Indian carriers is likely to make air travel costlier 4 ▸ A prolonged crisis may affect the country’s plans to develop allied activities such as MRO infrastructure and aircraft leasing 5 ▸ In the case of Go First going bust, ground handling jobs will be particularly impacted…

As a group, Raymond has clocked a billion dollars in revenue for the first time in its 98-year history It is now solidly in the black, with two successive years of growing profits after sinking into the red during the pandemic The promoter has hired a slew of professional leaders over the past two to three years to drive sustained growth Real estate has become a surprise revenue and profit contributor, with the company leveraging its landholding in Thane All of Raymond’s businesses are growing well, across textiles, apparel, real estate, engineering and auto components, and denim Raymond believes the western world’s China-plus-one play will be beneficial not just for India as a country, but also for the company’s businesses…

1 Need for regulations in terms of who can start a recovery business, KYC and minimum capital requirement 2 To set up an RA, there has to be minimum infrastructure, especially the technology setup 3 Recovery agents should be trained in soft skills offline; they need to be graduates instead of the current Class 10-pass 4 Incentives and commissions should be capped 5 Data protection and privacy laws need to be enforced to avoid data leakage from smaller RAs 6 Sharing of customer data with RAs should be allowed only for wilful defaulters 7 Need for a centralised record of RAs that have been blacklisted or terminated by banks and NBFCs 8 A centralised grievance redressal mechanism needs to be set up 9 The Reserve Bank of India needs to run campaigns to educate borrowers about their rights SOURCE:…

Record all interactions—text messages, calls and emails—from the recovery agent Write to the recovery agency, bank or RBI’s Ombudsman listing the violations of the regulator’s code File a police complaint and document all the interactions File a civil suit in court for relief if the police complaint doesn’t yield any result File a defamation suit against the bank and its agent if they call your friends or relatives File an extortion case against recovery agents if they forcefully recover money Source: Industry…

Growing demand: The demand for quality healthcare services in India is increasing rapidly due to a rise in chronic diseases, a growing middle class population, and an increase in healthcare spending. This makes the hospital sector an attractive investment opportunity Favourable regulatory environment: The Indian government has introduced several measures to encourage private sector investments in the healthcare sector, including tax benefits, subsidies and the establishment of SEZs Improved infrastructure: India’s healthcare infrastructure has significantly improved in recent years, with more hospitals being built and equipped with modern facilities and tech Potential for high returns: The Indian hospital sector offers high growth potential and attractive returns on investment, which make it an attractive destination for global PE firms…

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER with a neighbour. An unexpected conversation, and off the two guys went to beat their start-up idea into shape. Once ready, Sandeep Bommireddi and Sravanth Gajula—Cofounders of AdOnMo that operates digital-out-of-home ad boards—pitched their idea to the mentors at T-Hub. But as fate would have it, their first application was shot down. But the co-founders who had met while working for Microsoft, were not ready to give up just yet. They knew that getting into T-Hub—that was operating from a 70,000 sq. ft facility located within the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad campus back then—would prove to be a game changer for their start-up. After months of persistent efforts, the start-up was finally admitted into one of the cohorts that T-Hub 1.0 was running. “We…

On Vedanta’s vision for chip and display manufacturing Akarsh Hebbar: India has historically always imported everything. But the fact is that our consumption of electronics went up to $53 billion in 2017-18… [and] about $100 billion today; [and] this is going to become $400 billion in 2027. These are staggering numbers. It has come at a time when we have the talent, an ecosystem that is starting to build up, and we are getting technology partners to build this. Our vision is to make sure that we are building a nucleus for an electronics hub—the next Silicon Valley for India, where we have chips and display glass. And that will start making about 100 companies come around it. It will give us about 21-25x GDP multipliers. This is to say…

RETAIL INFLOWS IN FY23 WERE THE LOWEST IN THE PAST THREE YEARS, TOUCHING ₹49,200 CRORE, COMPARED TO ₹1.65 LAKH CRORE IN FY22 AND ₹68,400 CRORE IN FY21 THE NUMBER OF RETAIL INVESTORS IN THE CASH SEGMENT OF NSE TOUCHED A RECORD 11.7 MILLION IN JANUARY 2022; A FALL OF NEARLY 4 MILLION BROUGHT THE NUMBER DOWN TO 8 MILLION IN MARCH 2023 THE SHARE OF RETAIL INVESTORS TAPERED SIGNIFICANTLY IN FY23 AS THEY REDUCED DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN INDIAN EQUITIES THROUGH SECONDARY MARKETS; THE NUMBER CONTRACTED 421 BASIS POINTS MONTH-ON-MONTH IN MARCH 2023 TO 36.5 PER CENT—THE LOWEST IN THE POST-PANDEMIC YEARS INVESTOR REGISTRATIONS HAVE BEEN FALLING SINCE HITTING A PEAK IN NOVEMBER 2021; OVERALL REGISTRATIONS FOR FY22 WERE MORE THAN 19 MILLION, NEARLY 81 PER CENT HIGHER THAN THE PREVIOUS…

AHMEDABAD-BASED YOJANA SINGH, a 40-year-old adventure seeker, cannot wait to visit the US. She has planned her first trip abroad down to the last detail, including a detailed packing list and an extensive shopping expedition. However, she hasn’t given much thought to financing options for international shopping, dining and travel. Singh is confused about whether she should carry forex from India or use an international debit or credit card in the US, and wants to know the best and most cost-effective option. “My credit card levies 3.5 per cent as markup fee plus GST for cross-border payments. I am looking for some cheaper options to make the most of my trip.” And just like Singh, even you should look for the cheapest options to carry forex abroad, as it is…

WHEN ALOKE BAJPAI, Co-founder and Group CEO of online travel aggregator platform ixigo, was around 10 years old, his grandfather gave him some British era coins. The young boy was fascinated and that started his love affair with coin collecting. Over the years, Bajpai has collected coins from the Mughal empire and also the Maratha period. “Some of these coins I found in a family chest. Some others were exchanged with other coin collectors,” says the 43-year-old. He also has old copper mohars that are undated. “I also have coins from the British era. I have coins released during the reign of Queen Victoria, King George V and King George VI. I also have bank notes from the time of George VI” Bajpai enjoys collecting coins that were released to…