MARKETS, P12 ECONOMY, P2 COMPANIES, P4 RBI DATA EASE OF DOING BUSINESS VACCINE WAR Forex reserves rise by $2.229 billion to $634.965 billion in week ended Jan 14 Govt taking big steps to boost start-up ecosystem: Goyal Moderna to make over 3 bn doses of Covid shots in 2022 NARCL Bankers await RBI nod on revised bad bank structure LUCKNOW, SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 2022 VOL XV NO. 45, 20 PAGES, `10.00 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 59,037.18 ▼ 427.44 NIFTY: 17,617.15 ▼ 139.85 NIKKEI 225: 27,522.26 ▼ 250.67 HANG SENG: 24,965.55 ▲ 13.20 `/$: 74.43 ▲ 0.08 `/€: 84.39 ▲ 0.17 BRENT: $87.16 ▼ $1.22 GOLD: `48,458 ▼ `77 GLOBAL CUES Sensex slumps over 2,000 pts in 4 days as bears run riot IN THE NEWS Centre eases spending limits for Q4 & March WITH THE pace of capital expenditure slowing down in the third quarter of the current financial year, the finance ministry has relaxed spending norms to allow government departments to spend more than the customary level of a third of the annual budget outlays in the fourth quarter and in the final month of March, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. Of course, the spending leeway will be subject to the ceiling of revised estimates (RE) for FY22 to be presented in the Budget for FY23 on February 1. Rupee recovers 8 p, aided by drop in crude prices, weaker greenback Sensex Intra-day, January 21 PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Mumbai, January 21 58,800 SENSEX AND NIFTY nursed losses for the fourth session on the trot on Friday, in lockstep with a sell-off in global equities as concerns over inflation and monetary policy tightening sapped risk appetite.Relentless foreign fund outflows further weighed on sentiment,though fag-end buying in select bluechip counters helped the bourses limitthe losses. Sensexended427.44points or 0.72% lower at 59,037.18. Similarly,Niftyplunged139.85 points or0.79% to 17,617.15. BajajFinservwasthetoplaggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling 5.37%, followed by Tech Mahindra,TataSteel,BhartiAirtel, IndusInd Bank, L&T, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance.In contrast,HULwasthebiggestgainer, climbing 2.68% a day after it 59,400 59,200 59,039.37 59,037.18 Open Close 59,000 Previous close 59,464.62 58,600 58,400 10-year bond yield Intra-day (%), January 21 6.645 6.630 6.626 6.595 `/$ (Inverted scale) Intra-day, January 21 74.35 74.40 6.615 74.51 74.45 6.600 74.43 74.50 6.585 6.570 Open Previous close 6.614 Close reported an increase in consolidated net profit for the Decemberquarter.Maruti,HDFCtwins, Nestle India and TCS were amongtheotherwinners. On a weekly basis, Sensex lost 2,185.85 points or 3.57%, Efficiency: How far can your car go on a litre of petrol? We drive the Honda City (petrol) for a few hundred kilometres to measure how high real-world fuel efficiency modern petrol engines can deliver, in different driving settings ■ Motobahn, P7 Open whiletheNiftyslumped638.60 points or 3.49%. S Ranganathan, head of research at LKPSecurities,said,“Indiceswitnessed a 4% cut this week as FPIsbookedprofitsacrosslargecaps and select high quality QuickPicks Ahead of Budget,calls for urban MGNREGA-like scheme get louder GIVEN THE stubbornly high urban unemployment rate, the demand for an MGNREGS-like employment guarantee scheme for the urban poor has grown, reports Surya Sarathi Ray in New Delhi. However, given the lasting fiscal burden a new welfare scheme could impose on the government — the MGNREGS outlay has been rising relentlessly — the finance ministry may have to assess the cost of the scheme over the medium term before unveiling such a scheme for the urban poor. PAGE 2 Zomato shares hit fresh 52-week low, slip below listing price ZOMATO SHARES slipped below their listing price for the first time since their July listing, as the counter has been witnessing selling pressure for the last few sessions, reports Yoosef KP in Mumbai. The food delivery platform’s stock dropped another 9.2% on Friday to close at `113.75 on the BSE. The stock is still trading about 50% higher to the offer price. Trading volume at Zomato’s counter quadrupled to 6.6 crore on Friday against the 10-day average volumes clocked on the BSE and the NSE. PAGE 12 Rabi crops prospects brighten with winter rainfall: Govt ADEQUATE WINTER rainfall in key rabi cropsgrowing states along with ‘extremely good’ water reservoir position has brightened the crop prospects, the agriculture ministry said on Friday, reports Sandip Das in New Delhi. While stating that the third wave of Covid-19 has virtually no impact on the sowing of winter crops, the ministry noted that availability of soil moisture condition in the country indicates good prospect for the forthcoming summer crops such as pulses, corn, fruits and vegetables as well. PAGE 2 VODAFONE IDEA’S NET loss widened to `7,234 crore during the October-December quarter on the back of higher operating expenses. The net loss was wider than the Bloombergconsensusestimate of `6,840 crore.The company had posted a net loss of `7,132 crore in the preceding quarter. However, the tariff hikes undertaken by Vodafone Idea saw its average revenue per user (Arpu) rising to `115 from `109 in the preceding quarter. The flip side of the hike was that the company’s churn — loss in subscribers — rose 3.9% compared with 2.9% in the previous quarter. It lost 5.8 million users during the quarter. Tariff hikes also helped the company post a higher revenue, up 3.3% on a sequential basisto`9,717crore.However, this, too, was lower than estimates of `9,756 crore. Ebitda at `3,817 crore was 86.75 87.05 87.0 Key operating metrics of VIL Q2FY22 Arpu (`) 85.5 85.0 Open Previous close 88.38 Close mid-caps. Rising oil and input prices coupled with a moderating rural economy kept investors watchful as markets turnedvolatile.” Q3FY22 109 115 JIO PLATFORMS ON Friday reporteda2%sequentialrisein its net profit at `3,795 crore. Revenue from operations during the quarter was up 4.1% at `20,597crore,whileEbitdawas up 7.7% at `10,008 crore. Ebitda margin expanded to 48.6% compared with 47% in the preceding quarter, an increase of 160 basis points. The company lost 8.5 million subscribers during the quarter, which is better comparedwiththeprecedingquarter when the net subscriber numbers slipped sharply, witnessing a decline of 11.1 millionusers.Theaveragerevenue per user (Arpu) at `151.6 was much ahead of estimates.Analysts had estimated an Arpu of around `144. Continued on Page 2 ■ RILposts stellar quarterly results, boosted by 2 'Rs' , P4 Supply chain woes showing early signs of easing, says CEO Anish Shah RAGINI SAXENA & HASLINDAAMIN January 21 SUV AND TRACTOR maker Mahindra &Mahindraexpects automobile sales in the nation to recover strongly this year as the industryemerges from the worst of the pandemic and supplychain constraints show early signs of easing. “Theautoindustryispoised for a very strong rebound because it has been buffeted by a number of factors over the last two to three years,” AnishShah,managingdirector and chief executive officer of theMahindraGroup,saidinan interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday. “We’re starting to see a lot IN HIS WORDS Starting to see a lot more demand, so bullish on the auto industry Supply chain issues across the industry have become much better It will take four years for electric car sales to pick up Automakers making investments to assemble battery cells ANISH SHAH MD & CEO, Mahindra Group more demand and therefore, I would be very bullish on the auto industry,”Shah added. Continued on Page 2 Smartphone shipments hit new high at 169 million PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, January 21 down 1.2% quarter-on-quarter,again lower than estimates of `4,033 crore. Margin also contracted to 39.3% against 41.1% in the preceding quarter. Continued on Page 12 Continued on Page 12 Total wireless data traffic (million MB) 5,517,000 5,242,000 Avg voice consumption per user per month 620 FE BUREAU Mumbai, January 21 Mahindra: Auto sales to rebound strongly Continued on Page 12 INDIA'S SMARTPHONE MARKETregistered itshighest-ever shipmentsat169millionunits in 2021, according to a report by Counterpoint Research. Preliminary data from Counterpoint Research’s MarketMonitorservicesaidIndia’s smartphone shipments crossed 169 million units in 2021 to register11%year-onyear growth from about 152 million units in 2020. The market showed high resilience in a year that witnessed a second and more virulent Covid-19 wave as well as supply disruptions and price increases due to the ongoing component shortages,it added. The report said increased adoption and demand for 5G smartphones was one of the keyfactors forhigh shipments in 2021. Avg data consumption per user per month 14,809 MB 14,008 MB 630 Jio reports 2% rise in profit; Arpu at `152 ROAD AHEAD ● DEMAND PULL Vodafone Idea loss widens to `7,234 cr FE BUREAU New Delhi, January 21 87.5 86.0 Previous close 74.51 Close Q3 PERFORMANCE Special Feature ($/bbl) Intra-day, January 21 86.5 74.55 74.60 Brent ● REPORT CARD (minutes) Total voice traffic (million minutes) 480,000 465,000 BURNING BRIGHT The flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate being taken out to be merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial, in New Delhi on Friday EXPRESS PHOTO: ABHINAV SAHA ● START-UPS Unicorns mop up 61% of funds in CY21 FE BUREAU Bengaluru, January 21 INDIAN START-UPS RAISED around $24.1 billion in equity financing in CY2021, of which the majority was poured into unicorns,accordingtotheNasscom Startup Ecosystem Report 2021.The tech start-up ecosystem sawthe addition of around 2,250 entities during theyear. In CY21, Indian start-ups raisedaroundtwotimesmorein Overall funding volumes have already crossed $40 bn across 1,583 deals in CY21 India now has 85 unicorns, of which 42 were added in 2021 alone ■ ■ India also recorded 108 mega deals of $100 million and above in CY21 investmentsagainsttheprevious year,of which 61% were raised by42unicornsalone.Around1015% start-ups nowhave at least one woman co-founder,including 10 unicorns. Close to 24% unicornsand135potentialones identified by Nasscom are activelybuying,investing orcollaborating with other start-ups, contributingasizeablechunkto M&AdealsinCY21. Continued on Page 2 STRICTER NORMS US bill targeting Big Tech gets Senate panel nod despite hefty lobbying DIANE BARTZ Washington, January 21 THE US SENATE Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would bar tech giants like Amazon.com fromgivingpreferencetotheir own businesses on their websites, despite hefty lobbying from top executives like Apple chief executive Tim Cook. The biggest technology companies, including Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook and Apple Inc, have been under pressure in Congress because of allegations they abused their outsized market power. A long list of bills is aimed at reining them in, but none have become law. Lawmakers voted on an amended version of a bill introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Chuck Grassley,a Republican, that expanded the definition of companies covered by the bill to include firms like the ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE popular video app TikTok and specified that companies were not required to share data with firms that the US government considers national security risks. Republican Senator Ted Cruz said during the hearing that he spoke on Wednesday with Cook, saying he “expressed significant concerns about the bill”. Cruz, who voted for the measure,said Cook expressed a“reasonable”concern the bill would make it harder for Apple to allow consumers to protect their privacy by electing that apps not be allowed to monitor or track their online activities. Klobuchar, chair of the panel’s antitrust panel, said afterthevote that she also had spoken with both Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “I had discussions with them and I made my case and I listened to them. They are most likely never going to like this bill,” she said adding that she was open to changes but not to gutting the measure. “We’re not going to put a bill forward that does nothing.” The Cowen Washington Research Group said that despite the committee's 16-6 vote to approve the measure, enough of its supporters expressed reservations that it had less than a 50% chance of becoming law. Continued on Page 12 Lucknow