OPINION, P6 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P8 EDITORIAL CLEAN ROUTE iSLASH Reliance boosts green energy push with two more deals Apple set to cut iPhone 13 production goals due to chip shortage OECD Inclusive Framework on BEPS will benefit India Malaria vaccine a big leap in the fight against the disease, India should consider roll out HYDERABAD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2021 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XVIII NO. 137, 12 PAGES, `6.00 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 SENSEX: 60,737.05 ▲ 452.74 NIFTY: 18,161.75 ▲ 169.80 NIKKEI 225: 28,140.28 ▼ 90.33 HANG SENG: 24,962.59 ▼ 362.50 `/$: 75.37 ▲ 0.14 `/€: 87.12 ▲ 0.15 BRENT: $82.73 ▼ $0.69 GOLD: `47,248 ▲ `129 THE FIGHT BETWEEN Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE)anditslargestshareholder, Invesco Developing Markets Fund,continuesunabated. AdayafterZEEreleasedaletter stating that Invesco had tried to pressurise its CEO and managing director, Punit Goenkaintoadealwithentities of a large Indian group,Invesco hit back saying that it was Goenkaandthemembersofthe promoterfamilywhohadnegotiated a potential deal with Reliance Industries (RIL). ZEE UNDER FIRE FOR technical glitches plaguing the new income tax return filing portal, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh on Wednesday said the new portal is seeing "steady progress" and already 1.9 crore returns have been filed, reports PTI. He further said that taxpayers' concerns are being "progressively addressed". India-China trade on course to hit record $100 bn ■ Allegations against Invesco is a ‘tactic’ to delay EGM RILsays it never resorted to any hostile transactions Bombay High Court to hear ZEE’s petition again on October 21 hadnotnamedthelargeIndian group on Tuesday but Invesco named RILonWednesday. Continued on Page 2 Dish TV board rejects Yes Bank’s EGM request DISH TV INDIA’S board on Wednesdayexpresseditsinabilitytoconveneanextraordinary general meeting (EGM) as requisitioned byYes Bank, citing various regulatory and procedural hurdles, reports THE INDIA-CHINATRADE volume looks set to cross record $100 billion this year as the total has already touched $90 billion in the first nine months, despite a chill in bilateral ties due to the Ladakh standoff, reports PTI. fe Bureau in Mumbai. According to the company, Yes Bank’s shareholding in DishTVwasduetoinvocation ofpledges,andthisprevented placingtheresolutionsbefore shareholders. ■ Page 4 1,600 mn tonne (from 1,210 mt in 2020) FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 13 STRESSING HOW QUALITY infrastructure could fast-track thecountry’sdevelopmentand economiccompetitivenessand lamenting the ‘waste’ of resources over the years in the absence of a holistic and wellcoordinated approach to this vital element of nation-building, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a National Master Plan for ‘multi-modal connectivity’, and called it PM Gati Shakti. The new initiative is a GISbasedplatformwithasmanyas 600layers,capturingallutilities andnetworklinkagesinvarious economic clusters.Ambitious targets have been set underthe plan for capacity addition in various infrastructure sectors for2024-25 (see chart). The new plan will complement the `111-lakh-crore National Infrastructure Pipeline and multiple efforts to generate resources for it, includingtheNationalMonetisation Pipeline and the devel- mega food parks and agro processing centres Highway network: `10,000 crore in each PM GATI SHAKTI (National Master 2 lakh route kilometre 220 Plan 2024-25) airports/ heliports/water aerodromes 11 Cargo capacity at ports of 1,759 MMTPA (from 1,282 MMTPA in 2020) opment finance institution (DFI) being operationalised. Gati Shakti will help cut logistic costs, increase cargo handling capacity at ports and reduce the turnaround time, Modi said here, addressing a gathering after inaugurating a Special Features Bull run Spine surgery goes high-tech with O-arm robotics Markets climb to new record highs ■ eFE, P7 MSI Prestige 15 A11SCX: This laptop packs quite a punch MSI Prestige 15 A11SCX from Taiwan’s Micro-Star International is a thin and lightweight laptop priced at `1,34,990 that’s great for work, gaming, learning or watching films ■ Gadgets, P7 QuickPicks FM says GDP to expand at close to double-digit rate in FY22 INDIAN ECONOMY will expand close to double digit in the current fiscal and will likely grow by 7.5-8.5% thereafter for a decade, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday during a conversation at Harvard Kennedy School, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. She said her observations are based on growth projections of the World Bank, IMF and rating agencies and that ministry of finance has not done any assessment as yet about the growth number. PAGE 2 Maruti does over 1.16-lakh loan disbursals under Smart Finance DESPITE MARUTI Suzuki’s car sales falling due to the production cut owing to semiconductor shortage, an increasing number of customers are buying cars using its Smart Finance scheme, a company executive said, reports Vikram Chaudhary in New Delhi. Shashank Srivastava, executive director (marketing & sales), Maruti Suzuki India, told FE that almost 25,000 loan disbursals are happening every month under Smart Finance, up from about 10,000 earlier this year. PAGE 4 Sajjan Jindal first Indian to be elected Worldsteel chairman JSW STEEL chairman and managing director Sajjan Jindal has been elected as the chairman of the World Steel Association (worldsteel), becoming the first Indian to hold the post at the Belgium-headquartered industry body, reports PTI. The association has also appointed Tata Steel CEO TV Narendran and ArcelorMittal chief LN Mittal to the executive committee. On Wednesday, worldsteel declared the list of its newly elected officers and members. 60,900 Sensex Intra-day, Oct 13 60,737.05 Nifty50 60,800 60,619.91 18,070 18,000 18,097.85 Prev close: 17,991.95 Open Close 10-year bond yield 60,600 6.33 6.315 6.32 60,500 6.31 Previous close: 60,284.31 Open Close 6.30 6.314 Prev close: 6.326 Open Close CRISIS CONTROL Coal stocks improve slightly, may avert widespread power outages FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 13 THE GOVERNMENT ON Wednesday claimed that coal supplieswere improving,even as fuel stocks with thermal power stations were still hovering around abysmally low levels and hitting electricity supplies in many parts of the country. Coal stocks at power plants on Wednesday were about 7.3 million tonne (MT), enough to meet just 4 days’ requirement. Coal supplies to power units on Tuesday stood at 2 million tonne (MT), which Coal supply at 2 MT/day now against demand of 1.9 MT/day ■ Electricity shortage of 82 million units on October 12 ■ Supply shortage in first 12 days in October worst since March 2016 gas pipelines 38 electronics manufacturing clusters with production target of `15 lakh crore Renewable energy capacity of 225 GW (from 87.7 GW now) NewExhibitionComplexatPragati Maidan.The idea is to lend more power and speed to projects by connecting all concerned departments on one platform,he said. Continued on Page 2 ■ Less than 6 days' fuel stock with 68% of coalbased thermal capacity CAR SEARCH PLATFORM CarDekho on Wednesday said it has raised $250 million (around `1,881 crore) at a valuation of $1.2 billion. The Jaipur-based firm said it has raised $200 million in Series E funding and $50 million debt in its pre-IPO round. Withthelatestfundraising, the companyjoins the unicorn club with a valuation of $1.2 billion and becomes the first unicorn based in Jaipur, Rajasthan,it noted. It is the largest ever fundraisebyCarDekhoandthe proceeds will be used to accelerate growth in the used car transactions, financialservices and insurance businesses, build robust product and technology functions, increase brand awareness, and expand into new markets,it added. "The new fundraise will help us expand our used car transactions and financial services businesses.The trust and conviction of ourinvestorswill help us to accelerate our growthplanswhilstweprovide our customers with an experience that will continue to re- Q2 EARNINGS THE COUNTRY'S SECONDLARGEST software services exporter,InfosysonWednesday beat Street estimates on all the fronts in its July-September earnings. The company also raiseditsfull-yearrevenueguidance to 16.5-17.5% from 1416% projected earlier on the back of continued strong businesspace.Therevenueguidance ishigherthananalysts’expectations. The company has, however,retaineditsoperatingmargin guidance at 22-24%. Infosys posted a net profit of `5,421 crore, up 4.3% on a sequential basis. Bloomberg consensus estimate had pegged the net profit at `5,288 crore. Revenues at `29,602 crore was up 6.1% compared to the preceding quarter. Bloomberg estimate was of `29,365 crore. On the operating margin front,Infosys saw a sequential Report card Q1FY21 (` crore) Q2FY22 Revenue Operating profit 6.1 %, q-o-q Net profit were slightly above the daily average consumption of 1.9 MT/day, Union coal minister Pralhad Joshi said. He added that if supplies were sustained, it would help power plants to build up reli- ablestocksattheirend.“Weare increasing coal dispatches to powerplants furtherto ensure sufficient coal stocks at power plants,”Joshi tweeted. Continued on Page 11 Latest funding round was led by LeapFrog Investments, a global impact investor ■ Other new investors were Canyon, Mirae Asset, Franklin Templeton and Harbor Spring Capital ■ CarDekho currently buys cars from customers in more than 100 markets It has a catalogue ofover 3,000 certified pre-owned cars for online purchase CarDekho operates in India, Indonesia and Philippines define car buying and selling," CarDekhoco-founderandCEO Amit Jain said in a statement. The latest funding round was led by LeapFrog Investments,aglobalimpactinvestor focused on financial services and healthcare access. Continued on Page 2 5.6 Operating margin % 23.7 Foxconn, Nokia, Tejas among 31 shortlisted for telecom PLI KIRAN RATHEE New Delhi, October 13 23.6 4.4 10 bps decline of 10 bps to 23.6% mainly due to wage hikes, but itwas stillwithin the guidance provided by the company. Continued on Page 11 Wipro Q2 consolidated profit rises 17% ITCOMPANYWIPRO posted a 17% jump in consolidated net profit to `2,930.6 crore forthequarterendedonSeptember 30, 2021, reports PTI. The company had posted a net profit of `2,484.4 crore in the same $200 million in Series E funding, $50 million debt in its pre-IPO round ● EQUIPMENT MAKERS Infy ups FY22 sales guidance to 17.5% FE BUREAU Bengaluru, October 13 18,140 60,700 60,400 Intra-day 18,161.75 18,210 Additional Car search platform raised PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, October 13 « Surgery with O-arm robotics is a huge step-up not only in improving patient outcomes in regular spine surgeries, but also in more complex spine procedures, says Indian Spinal Injuries Centre’s HS Chhabra Equity gauges Sensex and Nifty on Wednesday climbed to new record highs, stretching their winning run to the fifth consecutive session, as investors continued to lap up auto, power and infra shares. After scaling a lifetime intraday high of 60,836.63, the Sensex settled at 60,737.05 — its all-time closing high. The Nifty rallied 169.80 points to a new closing peak of 18,161.75. FE BUREAU Electricity transmission network of 4,54,200 circuit km 17,000-km TARGETS industrial corridors in four phases comprising 32 nodes Defence goods and services turnover of `1.7 lakh crore including export of `35,000 cr 5,195 RAJESH KURUP Mumbai, October 13 ■ Invesco refutes charges it negotiated a deal with RIL Two defence corridors with investment of 5,421 I-T portal seeing steady progress, says Infosys CEO Invesco says its role was to facilitate a potential transaction 197 Cargo handling by the Railways: Raises $250 million to accelerate growth 6,972 RIL says deal fell through because of differences between promoters and Invesco PM launches National Master Plan 2024-25, sets stiff targets At $1.2-bn valuation, CarDekho turns unicorn 6,603 AS RETAIL INFLATION in edible 'oils and fats' surged to second highest level in 2021 in September, the government on Wednesday cut agriculture cess on imported oils to 5% and 7.5% on various items from 20% earlier while also removing 2.5% basic import duty, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. Infrastructure gets Gati Shakti boost CAPITAL GAINS 29,602 We didn’t negotiate deal with Reliance, Goenka did: Invesco BUILDING BLOCKS 27,896 WAR OF WORDS IN THE NEWS Import taxes on edible oils cut sharply period a year ago. The ITcompanysaid that it has surpassed $10-billion (around `75,300-crore) annualised revenue run rate and is in position to hire 25,000 people in the next financialyear. ■ Page 4 THE GOVERNMENT IS set to announce names of the selected companies for the production-linked incentive (PLI) for manufacturing telecom equipment. Of the 36 companies that have applied forthe scheme,a go-ahead has been given to 31 firms,including Foxconn, Flextronics, Nokia, Jabil, Rising Star, Dixon Technologies,VVDNTechnologies, HFCL, Tejas Networks, among others. According to officials, the selected firms are expected to invest over `3,300 crore and bring in incremental production of about `1.80 lakh crore over five years. Some of the notable absentees for the scheme include Samsung and Cisco. Samsung has reportedly not applied because of lack of opportunities in 5G equipment market for it. Reliance Jio is the only operator which has deployed Samsung radio network for4G but for 5G, the company has indicated to utilise homegrown solution and so far, not committed to Samsung. Continued on Page 11 WIDENING CRACKDOWN Globetrotting SPAC bosses shun China amid mounting tensions CRYSTAL KIM & JULIA FIORETTI October 13 THE GLOBETROTTING DEALMAKERS starting blankchequecompaniesareincreasingly telling investors there’s one place theywon’t go: China. Atleastfourspecialpurpose acquisition companies have revised their IPO filings in recent months to remove Chinafromtheirareasofinterest.ThechangescomeastheUS securities regulator demands volumes of disclosures on the risks of doing business in China,whileBeijingauthorities are scaring the market with their widening crackdown on corporate excesses. WhenAsia-focusedPacifico Acquisition first unveiled its listing plans in July, it said its searchwould focus on Chinese new energy, biotech and education companies. “China” appeared 45 times in that initial filing as Pacifico touted the hot prospects for those industries inAsia’s biggest economy. ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE Just two weeks later, it amendeditsprospectustosayit would look everywhere in the regionexceptforChina.Iteventually raised $57.5 million and started trading last month. Former UBS Group AG banker Patrick Ngan’s Nova VisionAcquisition and Kairous Acquisition, started by Malaysia venture capital investor Joseph Lee, also updated their plans to explicitly say they’ll avoid China on their hunt for an Asian deal. The SPAC boom encour- aged many dealmakers with China connections to start theirown blank-cheque firms, hopeful that the country would prove a good place to find hot startups seeking a shortcutto the public markets. Things changed over the summer, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission began demanding that issuers include increasingly strident warnings about how Chinese deals could go wrong. Continued on Page 11 HYDERABAD