ECONOMY, P2 MARKETS, P6 TARGET SET Government eyes 20% ethanol blending with petrol by FY24: Goyal COMPANIES, P5 COVID BLUES STELLAR DEBUT CHEQUE-IN Urban men lost more jobs than women in second wave of pandemic: CMIE Zomato IPO ends with bumper 38 times oversubscription OYO raises $660-m term loan funding from global institutional investors NEW DELHI, SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2021 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. XLVII NO. 118, 18 PAGES, `10.00 (PATNA `10.00, RAIPUR `10.00) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E IN THE NEWS Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui Pulitzer winner Siddiqui killed in Afghanistan DANISH SIDDIQUI, A Pulitzer Prize winning Indian photojournalist who worked for Reuters news agency, was killed on Friday in Afghanistan while covering the fierce fighting between Afghan troops and the Taliban militants near a border crossing with Pakistan in Kandahar province, reports PTI. Consortium gets over `792 cr in Mallya case: ED THE STATE BANK of India-led consortium that lent loans to fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Friday received `792.11 crore in its accounts after some shares, earlier attached under the anti-money laundering law, were sold, the Enforcement Directorate said, reports PTI. MEGA DEBUT Paytm gears up for `16,600-crore IPO Files DRHP for the issue; high-profile, large investors to sell part of shares `28 billion `4 trillion 333 million 114 million 21 million ASMITA DEY New Delhi, July 16 800K 142 billion 64 million `52 billion 3 million `52 billion DIGITAL PAYMENTS FIRM, Paytm,which on Fridayfiled its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an aggregate offer size of `16,600 crore via an initial publicoffering,wouldseemost ofitslargeaswellashighprofile backers like SoftBank, Ratan Tata,Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathway Holdings, Saif Partners (now Elevation Capital), Ant Group,Alibaba, etc, selling a part of their shares. revenue from operations* # of total users** Total payment devices** Total deposits** total gross merchant value* Annual transacting users* Commerce GMV*** # of loans disbursed* 7.4 billion total transactions* Total merchants** Total payment bank accounts** Wealth AUM** *FY 2021; **March 31, 2021; ***FY 2020 TheIPO,whichwouldbethe largest since the 2010 issue by state-owned Coal India,would see the company raising `8,300 crore through fresh equity and another `8,300 crore through offer-for-sale. Paytm’s large investors includeChina’sAlibabaandAnt Financial, which own a combined 36.8% stake,followed by SoftBank Vision Fund with 19.6%. Saif Partners owns 17.2%,according to the filing. ● CURRENT AFFAIRS Discom losses down 38% in FY20; may have risen in FY21 ANUPAM CHATTERJEE New Delhi, July 16 LOSSES OF POWER distribution companies (discoms) were down 38% on year at around `38,000 crore in FY20, Union powerministerRKSinghsaidon Friday. The losses had surged 83%annuallyto`61,360crore in FY19,mainly due to delayed subsidy disbursal by state governments,inefficientbillingand tariffcollectionandinadequate tariffhikes.Theannouncement was made bythe ministerwhile releasing the “Integrated RatingsforState-ownedPowerDistributionUtilities”forFY20. The aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses — an indicator of pilferage — improved to 21.2% in FY20 from 21.9% in FY19. Continued on Page 2 IN THE BAG Reliance Retail buys 41% in Just Dial for `3,497 cr The company’s total stake in the online search platform will go up to 66.95% post open offer ASMITA DEY New Delhi, July 16 RELIANCE RETAIL VENTURES (RRVL), the retail arm of Reliance Industries (RIL), on Friday said that it will acquire a majority stake of 66.95% in search engine platform,Just Dial. According to a joint statement by the companies, Reliance Retail has signed agreement to acquire 40.95% in Just Dial for a consideration of`3,497croreandwouldsubsequently make an open offer toacquireadditional2.17crore Analysts believe Reliance could be looking to leverageJust Dial’s capabilities to boost the growth of JioMart equitysharesofJustDialrepresenting 26% in accordance with the takeover regulations. As per the agreement signed on Friday, Just Dial founder VSS Mani will continuetobethemanagingdirector and CEO of the company. Of the 40.95% acquired by Continued on Page 2 Xiaomi trumpsApple, becomes world's No. 2 smartphone maker CHINESE SMARTPHONE MAKER Xiaomi overtook Apple in the second quarter to becometheworld’sNo.2smartphonemaker, market research firm Canalys said in a report onThursday,reports Reuters. The Chinese smartphone maker took the second spot forthe first timewith 17% share ofworldwide smartphone shipments,up 3% from the previous quarter, according to the research firm. Global smartphone shipments grew12% in the second quarter, led by Samsung Electronics with a 19% share, and Apple at third place with a 14% share. ■ Page 8 LOGICAL MOVE Special Feature Indians bought a `4 crore Lamborghini every 10 days In 2020 pandemic year, Lamborghini India sold about 36 cars (down by 30% over 52 units in 2019). Every 10 days an Indian bought a car costing `4 crore (average ticket size). ■ Motobahn, P7 QuickPick Scheme for health infra to cover loans from May 7 STATE-RUN NATIONAL Credit Guarantee Trustee Company has notified the proposed `50,000crore guaranteed credit scheme for bolstering health infrastructure, which will cover loans sanctioned between May 7, 2021 and March 31, 2022, or until the limit is exhausted, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. Credit, backed by sovereign guarantee, will be extended to private hospitals to expand their existing facilities or set up new units outside top eight cities to help fight the pandemic. PAGE 2 FedEx Express invests $100 m in Delhivery FE BUREAU New Delhi, July 16 IPO-BOUND DELHIVERY ON Friday said that it has secured a fresh $100-million equity investment from FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp.The development comes less than two months after the logistics start-up raised about $277 million in funding from a clutch of investors that valued the firm at an estimated $3 billion. The partnership entails a long-term commercial agreement between the two companies. FedEx Express will focus on international export and import services to and from India while Delhivery will, in addition to FedEx, sell FedEx Express’ international products and services in the India Fresh investment comes less than 2 months after Delhivery raised $277 million from a clutch ofinvestors ■ FedExwill transfer certain assets pertaining to its domestic business in India to Delhivery ■ Start-up gearing up to get listed early next year ■ Has fulfilled over 1 billion shipments to more than 300 million households across India market and provide pick-up and delivery services across the country. FedExwill also transfercertain assets pertaining to its domestic business in India to Delhivery,thetwofirmssaidin a joint statement. Continued on Page 2 SHARING CONTENT Mid-sized films now on multiple OTT platforms RAJESH RAVI & ASMITA DEY Kochi/New Delhi, July 16 IN WHAT CAN be seen as a new trend emerging in these pandemic times, Malayalam film-makers have begun experimenting with simultaneous release of small-budget movies across multiple overthe-top (OTT) platforms for wider reach. Last month, Malayalam anthology Cheraathukal was released on eleven regional (Malayalam) OTT platforms. The trend towards simultaneous release began in May when Aarkkariyam was released on more than one streaming regional platform. “Non-exclusive releases in multiple platforms help in reaching a larger number of people. This also helps cus- tomers who do not have any subscription view the film on a pay-per-view mode,” Jomon Jacob, producer of The Great Indian Kitchen, said. Co says investment inJust Dial will boost the digital ecosystem for millions ofits partner merchants, micro, small and medium enterprises He added that the Malayali diaspora across the world can this way view the film even in remote places, which otherwise is not possible. The Great Indian Kitchen, which released a couple of months ago, first debuted on a Malayalam platform, Neestream First, as no big platform was interested in taking it. But, having achieved critical acclaim it was subsequently released on Amazon Prime Video also once the three-month exclusive contract expired. Continued on Page 2 New Delhi The capital infused by RRVLwill help drive the growth and expansion ofJust Dial into a comprehensive local listing and commerce platform The platform maintained a database of nearly 30.4 million listings and had a consumer base ofabout 129.1 million quarterly unique users as on March 31, 2021. Reliance Retail, the company has received a preferential allotment of 2.12 crore equity shares, which is equivalent to 25.33% post preferential share capital at price per share of `1,022.25. Continued on Page 2
The Financial Express (FE) is a business paper that’s closest to the people who are in the business of business. From business policies to market trends to new developments, The Financial Express comes packed with incisive news on every relevant issue.
