Business Today 6 August 2023

An outside-in perspective very often yields good results as far as strategic changes in an organisation are concerned. In the case of the `1.75-lakh crore auto-to-software Mahindra Group, this came in the form of Group MD & CEO Anish Shah, 53. Shah, who had stints in GE Capital and Bain & Company, took charge at Mahindra in 2021 after joining the group in 2014. One of the key areas where Shah has been able to make an impact is in the auto business, a critical part of the group and one that contributes close to `60,000 crore to its top line. Over the past couple of years, Mahindra has seen its auto business get infused with a good dose of new energy, powered by a slew of new launches, a…

A Bharat Petroleum Corporation oil refinery in Mumbai’s Mahul SOURCE CMIE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK, PPAC 39 PER CENT The decline in Brent crude oil prices in the past year—from $122.7 a barrel in June 2022 to $75.1 in June 2023 222.3 MILLION TONNES The total consumption of petroleum products in the country in FY23, up 10 per cent from 201.7 million tonnes in FY22 `16.8 LAKH CRORE The value of imported crude and petroleum products in FY23, which is 29 per cent of India’s total imports of `57.3 lakh crore…

Going Steady THE BSE AUTO INDEX AND THE SENSEX HAVE MOVED IN TANDEM IN THE PAST DECADE Data has been indexed to 100; Source: ACE Equity Charging Ahead THE CYCLICAL RISE AND RECOVERY IN URBAN DEMAND DROVE THE COMBINED TOP LINE OF BSE-LISTED AUTO AND AUTO ANCILLARY FIRMS TO A RECORD HIGH IN FY23 Source: ACE Equity Stepping on the Gas THE CONSOLIDATED NET PROFIT OF THESE COMPANIES ALSO JUMPED NEARLY 13 TIMES IN FY23 FROM A LOW OF `3,468 CRORE IN FY19 Prime Movers TATA MOTORS AND MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA WERE THE TOP 2 AUTOMAKERS IN TERMS OF SALES IN FY23, THANKS TO PERSISTENT HIGH DEMAND FOR THEIR LATEST MODELS *Samvardhana Motherson International; Source: ACE Equity Pole Position MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA AND MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA WERE THE TWO MOST…

THE BULLS HAVE seized control of the domestic stock markets, sending benchmark equity indices soaring to fresh record highs in July and announcing a successful beginning to the earnings season of Q1FY24. On July 18, the benchmark BSE Sensex scaled the 67,000 summit intra-day for the first time, thanks to sustained inflows from FIIs. The Nifty 50, too, hit a high of 19,819. Just days earlier, the Sensex had breached the 66,000-mark intra-day on July 13, after market participants gave a thumbs up to the financial results of IT majors TCS and HCL Technologies. TCS, the largest IT firm by revenue, recorded a net profit of `11,074 crore in Q1FY24, up 17 per cent year-on-year (YoY), while HCL Tech reported a net profit of `3,534 crore, up 7.6 per…

WHEN THE INDIAN government had announced an incentive scheme in December 2021 to develop a semiconductor ecosystem in the country, the only Indian business house that committed to the opportunity was Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group. With no prior experience in electronics manufacturing, let alone semiconductors, the gas-to-metals conglomerate had entered into a joint venture with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) to apply for it. Along with a partner who would bring in the technology and know-how needed to produce chips—which only a handful of companies in the world possess—the two were to set up one of the first semiconductor fabrication plants in the country. With a 67 per cent stake in the joint venture (JV), Vedanta was responsible for building the fab, while Foxconn was responsible for bringing in…

Vedanta and Foxconn had announced their joint venture in February 2022 with plans to invest $19.5 billion to set up semiconductor fabrication plant in India Vedanta, with a 67 per cent share in the JV, was responsible for setting up the fabrication facility, whereas Foxconn, with a 33 per cent share, was responsible for bringing in the technology partner The Vedanta-Foxconn JV had resubmitted its application based on its licence for 40 nanometre node. The JV was in the process of obtaining technology licence for 28 nm With Foxconn walking out of the JV, it is not clear if Vedanta still retains the technology licence for the node, while reportedly both the companies are scouting for new partners With no prior experience in electronics or semiconductor production, any company that…