OPINION, P2 FE LINES MIND & GAMES Whose law, whose order? CLIMATE CHANGE IS DEVASTATING CORAL REEFS WORLDWIDE: STUDY A pricey meal Find out about restaurants from around the world with exorbitant menu prices Page 6 The world lost 14% of its coral in just a decade Page 10 ACROSS THE AISLE , P CHIDAMBARAM LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL XVI NO. 19 THE 90s NOSTALGIA FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY AHMEDABAD SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2021, 16 PAGES, `10 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 E N N A I , READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , FESTIVE DAMPENER K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , ● Few discounts as semiconductor, chip shortage hit production ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 The e-grocery bandwagon EXERCISING RIGHTS September woes ■ Maruti registered a steep fall of 56% on a year-on-year basis in sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market at 66,415 units ■ Hyundai Motor India also slipped into the negative with domestic sales declining 34% y-o-y to 33,087 units FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 9 Amid the pandemic, several small grocery start-ups are finding scalability in niche markets, betting big on demands of the community and supplementing ways to sell fresh produce. But the struggle to compete with big chains remains CONSUMERS WHO GENERALLY wait for Diwali to pur- ■ As per initial estimates, passenger vehicle sales could chase new vehicles at attractive discounts and other freebies may be in for disappointment this year. With shortage of semiconductors, almost all major passenger vehicle manufacturers have resorted to production cuts,whichhasledtolongwaiting forpopularmodels. As a result, manufacturers anddealersareinnopositionto offer attractive discounts this Diwali.SalesaroundDiwali,generallyreferred to as festival seasonsales,arebigforautomakers as around 30% of their annual saleshappenaroundthisperiod. However, supply side constraints are going to play spoilsport now.Auto dealers had last month stated that retail sales ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 Building a brand Thought and action are expertly balanced in a guide for growth and progression ROHNIT PHORE see a year-on-year decline of around 43% during the festival season are goingtobelacklustrebecauseof chipshortage,whichhasslowed down the supply of popular models. They had said the inventoryofvariants that are in demand,such as Baleno,Ertiga, Brezza,Creta,etc,is continuing to dip. In fact, the inventory is the lowest this time compared tootheryears.Normally,dealers stock huge inventories of more than a month in the run-up to the festival months. “With manufacturers drastically cutting down productions due to unavailability of semiconductors andABS chips, shortageofcontainersandhigh metal prices,customers for the first time may not get a vehicle of their choice and lucrative schemesduringthisfestiveseason,” the dealershave said. Manufacturers and dealers said whatever little discounts will be on offer would be on some entry-level models, where the offers are anyway not very attractive since the prices are comparatively low. Basic entry-level models do not have many electronic components so chip shortage has not affected their production in a major way. Continued on Page 11 ● As many as 72 corporate resolutions have been rejected since March ’20 Shareholders holding sway Of the 72 resolutions rejected, 34 were related to directors' appointments, 13 for directors' remuneration, and 11 for related party transactions VIKAS SRIVASTAVA Mumbai, October 9 Factors playing key roles in resolution rejections are: WITH SHAREHOLDERS GETTING moreawareandexercising their rights guided by proxy advisory firms, more than 72 corporate resolutions were rejected by them between March 2020 and September 2021.Corporate advisoryfirms believethetrendislikelytocon- ■ Lower participation by promoters during AGM voting ■ Negative recommendations by proxy advisory firms ■ Insufficient communication to convince investors about the appointment of directors or their remunerations tinue in future with minority shareholders becoming more aware in raising questions. Of the 72 resolutions that were rejected,34 resolutions related to directors’ appointments, 13 resolutions related to directors' remuneration,and 11 were for related partytransactions. Balance related to issues such as extension of ESOPs to subsidiarycompanies,raisingof securities and change in document charter. Girish Vanvari, founder of Transaction Square, a tax regulatory and business advisory firm, said the shareholderactivismisgoingtobean issue forever and likely to get more aggressive. Continued on Page 11 India, China Indian Space Association talks today to be launched Monday INDIA AND CHINA will hold another round of high-level military talks on Sundaywith a focus on making some forward movement in the disengagement process in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, government sources said. The talks are scheduled to start at10:30amattheMoldoborder point on the Chinese side of the LAC in eastern Ladakh,sources said. —PTI PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi will launch Indian Space Association (ISpA),an industry body aspiring to be the voice of theIndianspacesector,onOctober11,thePMOsaidonSaturday.Hewillalsointeractwith representativesofthespace industry on this occasion. The ISpA will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian space domain, including the government and itsagencies. Echoing the Prime Minister’svisionof‘AatmanirbharBharat’,theISpAwillhelpin making India self-reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the space arena,the PMO said. Continued Page 11 PE INVESTMENT $1.8 bn for real estate in H1FY22 Top 5 deals in H1 FY22 ● However, average ticket size of deals declined 32% QuickPicks Capital provider & recipient Blackstone TRIL CHINESE PRESIDENT XI Jinping on Saturday made a strong pitch for the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland amid heightened tensions with the estranged island, saying the “Taiwan question” will be resolved and it brooks “no external interference”. Xi’s comments came after China sent a record number of military jets into Taiwan’s air defence zone for four days in a row, in a public show of force. He said the biggest obstacle to the reunification of China was the “Taiwan independence” force. PAGE 11 205 (Actis TREIT Holding) 155 Varde Partners 155 (Phoenix Group) PAG equity(PE) funds in the Indian real estate market grew 27% Y-o-Y to $1.79 billion, or roughly`13,500 crore,during April-September of this fiscal (FY22) as investors displayed confidence in the sector’s growth potential backed by strong fundamentals, especially in the office leasing and warehousing segments. According toAnarockProperty Consultants, commercial real estate (CRE) attracted the highest investments at 33%, followed by industrial & logistics (30%) and residential (22%) segments. The top 10 deals in H1 FY22 contributed nearly 81% of the total PE investments in the country.Of the total PE inflows, CRE again attracted the bulk of investments at around $591 million. The logistics sectorsawsignificant investments of about $537 million in H1 FY22, while the Xi vows to ‘reunify’Taiwan with China for‘best interest of all’ 500 CPPIB (RMZ) INVESTMENTS BY PRIVATE DELHI CHIEF MINISTER Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the national capital could face a power crisis and his government is taking adequate steps to avoid such a situation. He said he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention in making adequate arrangements of coal and gas for generation plants supplying electricity to the city. “Delhi could face a power crisis. I am personally keeping a close watch over the situation. We are trying our best to avoid it. In the meanwhile, I wrote a letter to Hon’ble PM seeking his personal intervention,” Kejriwal tweeted. In his letter to Modi, the Delhi CM noted that the city was facing coal shortage since August. (Deal size $ m) (Embassy Industrial Parks) RISHI RANJAN KALA New Delhi, October 9 Delhi could face power crisis, says Kejriwal; writes to PM (Kalpataru) 100 $ Source: Anarock Property Consultants residential sector witnessed investments to the tune of $394 million. Data centres, land and mixed-use developments attracted the remaining 15% of the overall inflows comprising 5% each.However, the average ticket size for PE deals declined 32%Y-o-Y, from $114 million in H1 FY21 to $78 million in H1 FY22. While the overall PE inflows in Indian Rupee increased,the share of foreign funds fell by 19% in H1 FY22 compared to H1 FY21. Continued on Page 11 3PL, e-comm driving warehouse demand H2 2020 H1 2021 81 68 Cities which led demand Bengaluru 6 Domestic 4 19 23% Chennai 8 7 56 APAC 14 14 APAC: Asia-Pacific; EMEA: Europe, The Middle East & Africa 3PL in recent years. Despite the short-term slowdown post the Covid pandemic, the sector started to bounce back from the first quarter 23% Delhi-NCR (%) 16% 30 Americas 44 37 Region-wise demand EMEA (%) H1 2021 Retail & logistics (I&L) industry registered healthy 13% halfyearly growth as enterprises leased 14 million sq ft (MSF) in H1 2021, with third party logistics (3PL), e-commerce and retail companies accounting for almost twothird of the space, real estate consultant CBRE said. “The I&L sector is evolving quickly, driven by continued policy interventions, robust growth in manufacturing and rise of e-commerce and H2 2020 E-comm THE DOMESTIC INDUSTRIAL Key demand drivers 3PL RISHI RANJAN KALA New Delhi, October 9 P U N E No cracking deals It’s a nay from shareholders for cars this Diwali WHAT'S INSIDE ODD & EVEN C H A N D I G A R H , Several television classics witnessed a revival of sorts amid the pandemic Page 7 of 2021 and a stronger recovery is expected in H2 2021,” CBRE said. 3PL, e-commerce and retail players dominated the Source: CBRE leasing demand with a contribution of 44%, 14%, 14%, respectively,during H1 2021. Continued on Page 11 Ahmedabad on