Business Today 29 October 2023

Nothing is certain in life, it is said, barring death and taxes. And India’s gaming industry, buzzing with frenetic activity till recently, is realising the truth of the idiom as it grapples with a massive tax burden that threatens to derail the sector and slam the brakes on its growth. The $3-billion Indian online gaming industry was growing smartly, with reports pegging it at $8.6 billion by FY27, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 27 per cent. But the tax authorities had other plans. While online games of skill were taxed at 18 per cent GST earlier, and those of chance at 28 per cent, the GST Council has, with effect from October 1, 2023, brought all real-money online gaming under a blanket 28 per cent GST slab…

SOURCE INDIAN ART INVESTOR, GRANT THORNTON ₹1,145.5 CRORE Total turnover of the Indian art market in FY23 through the sale of 3,833 artworks—a growth of 9 per cent YoY 42 PER CENT Share of artworks sold in FY23 that fetched higher prices than estimated, demonstrating strong demand ₹51.75 CRORE The winning bid for ‘Gestation’ by S.H. Raza at an auction on August 31, making it the most expensive Indian artwork sold at an auction 90.4 PER CENT The share of artworks bought by patrons against the total number of pieces (4,240) auctioned in FY23…

61,346₹/10 gm THE ALL-TIME HIGH GOLD SCALED ON MAY 4, 2023, UP 17 PER CENT SINCE THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR, AS PER DATA FROM MCX 11 per cent THE GAINS SILVER WITNESSED IN THE PAST YEAR COMPARED TO THE 10 PER CENT AND 13 PER CENT RISE REGISTERED BY GOLD AND THE SENSEX, RESPECTIVELY 65 THE NUMBER OF TRANCHES OF SOVEREIGN GOLD BONDS THE RBI HAS LAUNCHED SO FAR SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2015, WHICH INDICATES ITS POPULARITY AS AN INVESTMENT OPTION 4,740 tonnes TOTAL GLOBAL DEMAND FOR GOLD IN 2022, UP 18 PER CENT FROM THE 4,012.8 TONNES IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, ACCORDING TO THE WORLD GOLD COUNCIL A BRIGHT FUTURE PRICES OF PRECIOUS METALS MAY CONTINUE TO RISE IN THE NEXT 12-24 MONTHS, SAY EXPERTS…

▶ IN MID-SEPTEMBER, Byju’s ushered in a leadership transition, bidding farewell to its India CEO Mrinal Mohit, a founding employee and former student of Founder Byju Raveendran, and handed the reins over to another former student, Arjun Mohan. This change of guard signalled the beginning of a crucial transformation in the 12-year-old education juggernaut. Mohan is not merely another protégé plucked from Raveendran’s pool of students to serve as a stopgap for optics. An alumnus of IIM Kozhikode, he helped Raveendran as a consultant for years before joining full time in 2016. He left the company in 2020 to become CEO of another edtech firm, upGrad, before rejoining Byju’s this July. He comes back at a time of intense turmoil as the company finds itself entangled in a legal dispute…

Arjun Mohan, a former student of Byju Raveendran and ex-CEO of upGrad, has taken on the role of India head and is leading a restructuring Raveendran has withdrawn from day-to-day operations to focus on corporate-level matters, including settling the $1.2-billion term loan Mohan has assumed control of operations, and is focussing on igniting a cultural shift in Byju’s sales strategies Online and offline verticals are being merged into two primary lines of businesses—K12 and test prep—resulting in 3,500 more job cuts Byju’s has also set up a working group consisting of promoters and top investors in an effort to improve the relationship with key stakeholders…

▶ BURDENED BY DEBT, Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Limited’s decision to split into six different entities has not been entirely unexpected. With repayments of around $1.4 billion due in the next six months, and another $3.5 billion—a combination of bank debt, inter corporate deposits and bonds—due in FY25, the move speaks of the depth of challenges at the conglomerate with a market capitalisation of around $10 billion. The five new firms—Vedanta Aluminium, Vedanta Power, Vedanta Base Metals, Vedanta Oil & Gas and Vedanta Steel & Ferrous—are expected to be listed by FY25, while Vedanta Ltd already trades on the bourses. The decision has not gone down too well with those tracking the group. A report by Kotak Institutional Equities has termed the vertical split “six steps backward”, adding that the move…