NEW DELHI, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2022 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XLVIII NO. 225, 16 PAGES, `10.00 (PATNA & 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 ELECTORAL CONSIDERATIONS WEIGH ON GOVT'S MIND Budget to steer clear of major reforms, PSB sale CAUTIOUS APPROACH Govt has decided to go slow on stalled financial-sector and expenditure reforms that could potentially lead to political backlash PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, November 20 IN THE NEWS COP27 delivers on fund for 'loss & damage’, little else THE UN climate summit in Egypt concluded on Sunday with a landmark decision to establish a fund to address loss and damage, but the outcome on other crucial issues such as India's call for phasedown of all fossil fuels reflected little progress. India termed COP27 "historic" for securing an agreement on establishing a fund to address loss and damage due to climate changeinduced disasters, saying "the world has waited far too long for this". ■ PAGE 11 ● EDIT: COPOUTATCOP27, PAGE 6 Twitter in a tough spot today, says former India CEO THE TURMOIL at Twitter is expected to continue for a long time as Elon Musk is trying to change the model on which the microblogging site functions on the user side as well as business, and that's not going to be easy, Manish Maheshwari, former Twitter India CEO, told Rishi Raj in New Delhi. ■ PAGE 4 UPI: NPCI in talks with RBI on volume cap deadline THE NATIONAL Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs the UPI digital pipeline, is in talks with RBI on the implementation of its proposed December 31 deadline for limiting the volume cap of players to 30%. So, two players, Google Pay and PhonePe, account for a market share of about 80%. `2.3 trillion may remain elevated in FY24, too, if global hydrocarbon prices don’t moderate RUN-UP TO THE BUDGET for any major disinvestment now in the banking or insurance sector. Even many BJP leaders are against privatisation,”another official said. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech of 2021-22, had announced that two PSBs and one state-run general insurer would be privatised, adding that Bills would be introduced in Parliament for this pur- pose. The voting rights cap of 10% for a non-government shareholder irrespective of her shareholding is among the key constraints identified for the privatisation of PSBs. The government will need to either amend or repeal the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Acts of 1970 and 1980, usually referred to as nationalisation Acts, to remove the hurdle. While the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was listed as part of the legislative business for the winter ses- sion of Parliament that concluded on December 23, 2021, it is yet to be tabled in the House. The Cabinet, too, has to ratify the draft Bill before it is introduced in Parliament. Continued on Page 2 Finmin turns down proposal to expand tax remission scheme for exporters ● ALSO SEE, PAGE 2 Choose a better route. IL&FS unsecured creditors may recover 10-20% JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, November 20 UNSECURED CREDITORS IN InfrastructureLeasing&Financial Services (IL&FS) could recover10-20%oftheirinvestments of over`10,000 crore. Among these creditors are private sector provident and pensionfundsofcompanieslike Infosys,Tata Power and Lupin. Government-owned Food Corporation of India,State Bank of India, Indian Oil Corporation andArmypensionfundslikethe Army Group Insurance Fund had also invested in non-convertible debentures of IL&FS. Around `16,360 crore — including `11,295-crore cash and`5,065-croreInvITunits— is now available across the IL&FS Group.The new board’s proposal of interim dividend payouts across group firms, including holdcos, without waiting for a final resolution was approved by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in May. PAYOUT PLANS New IL&FS board has set resolution target at `61,000 cr or 61% of the near `1-trn outstanding loans ■ Unse- cured creditors may recover 10-20% of their `10,000-cr investments ■ They include pvt sector provident & pension funds of firms like Infosys, Tata Power and Lupin ■ Govt-owned FCI, SBI, IndianOil & Army pension funds are also investors “The first payout under interim dividend was done for Rapid Metro Gurgaon Rail (RMGL), as per framework approved by NCLAT, and more would soon follow,” an IL&FS spokesperson said. Earlier this month, IL&FS distributed`623.38crore,onan interim basis, to the secured lenders/secured financial creditors of RMGL comprising Union Bank of India, Bank of India, Indian Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Indian Overseas Bank.The total claims of these lenders were `715 crore and translates into arecoveryof 83%. So far,the new IL&FS board has maintained its resolution target at `61,000 crore or 61% ofthenear`1trillionoutstandingloans.Ithasalsoannounced that`55,000croreoftheoverall resolution would be completed bythisyear,subjecttoapprovals. Now, the disbursement of additional amounts to the unsecured financial creditors and unsecured creditors is also under process. Aim to stay ahead with HDFC Business Cycle Fund (An open ended equity scheme following business cycle based investing theme) Continued on Page 2 SATELLITE IMAGERY NORMS LOADED AGAINST LOCAL FIRMS MapMyIndia seeks level playing field with Google SALMAN SH Bengaluru, November 20 DOMESTIC DEVICE MANUFACTURERS and app makers may have got relief from the Competition Commission (CCI) against Google’s monopolistic practices in theAndroid space, but homegrown MapMyIndia, which works on geospatial data, continues to seek a level playing field with the US tech giant on the usage of satellite imagery. The Indian government’s regulations put a limit on domestic companies working with geospatial data with regard to satellite imagery,but as Google is a US company,it is free from such restrictions. “Private companies in India using satellite imagery for either consumer or enterprise use cases cannot put out imagery finer than one-metre resolution. However, Google Maps does not comply with this directive and offers even finerand crisperresolution on their maps to consumers, making this regulation a grey area.ThiswayGoogle is able to offer fine imagery on its apps, ROHAN VERMA, CEO, MapMyIndia ❝ Contact your MFD /RIA. Private companies in India using satellite imagery...cannot put out imagery finer than 1-metre resolution. Google Maps does not comply with this directive...This way Google is able to offer fine imagery on its apps, which we are not able to do. ■ Govt regulations put a limit on domestic firms working with geospatial data with regard to satellite imagery Since Google is a US firm, it is free from such restrictions which we are not able to do, and this is definitelynot a level playing field,” Rohan Verma, CEO and executive director, MapMyIndia,told FE. MapMyIndia, which started operations in 1995, today offers multiple, digital mapping, navigation, and geospatial tech offerings and currently has a client base of 2,000 enterprise customers. “From 1995 to 2004, we were primarily in the B2B ■ Homegrown MapMyIndia’s app Mappls offers features like road conditions and traffic patterns in real time space selling tech to large corporates, especially in FMCGs like Coca-Cola and Marico.But 2004 iswhenwe launched our consumer internet mapping platform which was India’s first interactive mapping platform. But building a consumer-facing digital map is a tough business and it took us 10 years to cover a majority of the country,”Verma said. Continued on Page 2 SCAN TO KNOW MORE HDFC Business Cycle Fund aims to invest in businesses likely on the cusp / midst of a favourable business cycle. Name of Scheme HDFC Business Cycle Fund This product is suitable for investors who are seeking*: Riskometer# To generate long-term capital appreciation/ income Moder oderate Highately to te M Hi w era Investment predominantly in equity & equity related instruments of business cycle based theme Very High FIFA EARNED record revenues of $7.5 billion in the four years of commercial deals tied to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the governing body of soccer said. First to be held in West Asia, the World Cup kicked off on Sunday. ■ PAGE 11 Centre’s FY23 fertiliser subsidy bill of A SIP of ` Though it successfully managed to privatise ailing Air India this year, the govt abandoned the privatisation of fuel retailer-cum-refiner BPCL gh FIFA nets record $7.5 bn for current World Cup period Nine state Assembly elections are to take place before the general election, to be held latest by May 2024 Mo Lo d THE BUDGET 2023-24 will likely sidestep major reform initiatives, be it the targeting of fertiliser subsidy via direct benefit transfer (DBT) or the privatisation of public sector banks (PSBs) and state-run insurance firms,people familiar with discussions in the government told FE. This is because the Centre has decided to go slow on stalled financial-sector and expenditure reforms that could potentially lead to any political backlash and cost it electorally. Nine state Assembly elections are to take place before the general election, which will be held latest by May 2024. “The government doesn’t want to antagonise people just when so manystates are going to the polls ahead of the general elections in early 2024. Politicalopponentscouldinstil fear among people about reforms even though they are well-intentioned,”aseniorofficial said.“There is no appetite Low Direct benefit transfer for fertiliser subsidy on hold RISKOMETER *Investors should consult their financial advisers, if in doubt about whether the product is suitable for them. Investors understand that their principal will be at very high risk #For latest riskometer, investors may refer to the Monthly Portfolios disclosed on the website of the Fund viz. www.hdfcfund.com Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. New Delhi