OPINION, P10 MIND & GAMES FE LINES ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM Vivek Menon of Wildlife Trust of India and animal rights activist Alok Gupta talk about the ground realities of elephant existence and man-animal co-existence in the latest episode of The Sandip Roy Show Page 14 How brand collaborations and limited editions offer exclusivity and superior valuation of a product Page 9 Howto diminish parliamentarydemocracy 'S ASIA HAS EMPATHY FOR THE ELEPHANT' The X factor SPOTLIGHT Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM Vol. 16 No. 3 WASTETO WORTH FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY MUMBAI SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2023, 14 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 A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , How firms are using the three ‘R’s of waste management to tackle global challenges like climate change Pages 6-7 READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , 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 , P U N E TALKS ONGOING OVER SWISS BANK FATE UBS eyeing swoop for Credit Suisse WHAT'S INSIDE ● Move could dampen fears of banking contagion ■ LEISURE, P5 ‘We’ve become somewhat of a travel superapp’ MakeMyTrip co-founder Rajesh Magow talks about the platform’s new tech features, expansion plans, views on ChatGPT, metaverse and more ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 Nation vs religion Irfan Habib illustrates through the life of Maulana Azad the need for civic nationalism as opposed to religious nationalism BlackRock not working on rival bid Deutsche Bank eyes some assets REUTERS March 18 BLACKROCK DENIED THAT DEUTSCHE BANK IS moni- UBS WAS EXAMINING on Saturday a takeover of its embattled Swiss peer Credit Suisse, sources said,a move that could dampen fears the unfolding crisis might destabilise the global banking system. The 167-year-old Credit Suisse is the biggest name ensnared in the market turmoil unleashed by the collapse of US lenders SiliconValley Bank and Signature Bank over the past week, losing a quarter of its stock market value since Monday. To get the crisis under control, UBS was coming under pressure from the Swiss authorities to carry out a takeover of its local rival, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The plan could see the Swiss government offer a guarantee against the risks involved, while Credit Suisse’s Swiss business could it’sworkingonapossiblerival bid for Credit Suisse Group, after the Financial Times reported it’s interested in a deal.“BlackRockisnotparticipatinginanyplanstoacquire alloranypartofCreditSuisse, and has no interest in doing so,” said a spokesman. Continued on Page 2 toring the situation at Credit Suisse Group for a potential opening to acquire certain businesses, said people familiar with the matter. A Deutsche Bank representative declined to comment. Continued on Page 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Global Millet Conference in New Delhi on Saturday PM bats for higher millet output,inclusion in PDS FE BUREAU New Delhi, March 18 be spun off. UBS, Credit Suisse and Switzerland’s financial regulator FINMA declined to comment. Credit Suisse chief financial officer Dixit Joshi and his teams were meeting over the weekend to assess their options for the bank, people with knowledge of the matter said, and there were multiple reports of interest from rivals. Credit Suisse’s share price swung wildly this week, during which it was forced to tap $54 billion in central bank funding. Continued on Page 2 PTI 'India’s banking system strong' PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA banking system are strong even amid the turmoil currently rocking global markets,Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said on Saturday. Modi on Saturday called for increasing millet production and inclusion of the nutricereals in the public distribution system (PDS) for tackling food security. “Currently millet production has a share of 5-6% in the national food basket and there is a need to set achiev- INDIA’S ECONOMIC AND able targets for increasing nutri-cereals output by scientists and experts,”Modi said at the inauguration of a Global “Amidst a global crisis, today India’s economic system is strong, the banking system is strong.This is the powerofourinstitutions,”he said at a media event. PTI Millet Conference in the national capital. Continued on Page 2 MG Motor looks to buck the trend, Small cities’incentive ban disrupt EV space with Comet launch IN THE NEWS CURBING MALPRACTICE IN MUTUAL FUNDS Beijing will encourage foreign capital in markets PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina on Saturday inaugurated a `377-crore pipeline to transport diesel from India to northern Bangladesh, cutting cost and reducing carbon footprint, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 3 Jan 2023 (` crore) 33,79,935 AND Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) move to stop fund houses from incurring additional expenses on account of B30 incentives may not have a huge impact on the mutual fund (MF) business,say industryexecutives.Thetop30cities are referred to as T30, while others are referred to as B30 (beyond top 30),with the classification based onAMFI's best practices guidelines. “This was bound to be discontinued sooneror later,as it was introduced to give a push to MF products in smaller towns.The hit to profitability would depend on the fund house’s size. The larger ones with a wider reach may see some impact, but the smaller ones that may not have much of a presence beyond bigger B30 688,760 SECURITIES T30 3,391,551 THE ASSETS 688,865 SIDDHANT MISHRA Mumbai, March 18 Feb 2023 Scheme-wise contribution Equity-oriented Non-equity-oriented Jan 2023 Modi, Hasina inaugurate pipeline to Bangladesh likely to have low impact B30 Feb 2023 CHINAWILL encourage foreign capital to participate in its financial markets and may allow foreign-funded financial institutions to go public in the country when "conditions are ripe", local media quoted a former finance minister as saying on Saturday, reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 11 B30 79 21 45 55 T30 T30 (%) 79 21 46 54 Source: AMFI cities could see limited impact,” said the CEO of a fund house. From a distributor’s perspective, industry experts said those fully dependent on mutual fund sales would have to increase their corpus to make up for the losses or they will have to widen their product base. The B30 incentive is given to distributors for bringing in fresh inflows into schemes from cities other than the top 30 — an initiative started to widen the reach of MFs in smaller cities. As per AMFI data, the contribution of B30 cities to total assets of the MF industry stood at 17% in February. Assets from B30 locations as of Februaryamounted to`6.9trillion.Equityschemes held 79% of the assets from B30 cities in February,while in T30 cities the figure was 46%, showing that B30 regions lean towards equity. Continued on Page 2 ● Could be in price race with Tata Motors’ Tiago, Citroen e-C3 SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, March 18 BRITISH AUTOMOTIVE BRAND MG Motor India’s upcoming smallcar,Comet,willfacetough competitionfromTataMotors’ TiagoEVandCitroene-C3ifthe company goes ahead with its proposedpricerangeof`10-15 lakh.“Comet is not going to be cheap.Wearegoingtopricethe car between `10 lakh and `15 lakh,”GauravGupta,chiefcommercial officer, MG Motor India, told FE in an interaction centred on the car. Tata Tiago EV,which would be its nearest rival in comparison,is a much bigger,four-door THE COMPETITION ■ MG Motor's proposed price range for Comet is `10-15 lakh ■ Tata Tiago EV is a much bigger, four-door car and is priced under `10 lakh carandispricedunder`10lakh with a drive range of 250 km. Citroen e-C3 is also priced at `11.5 lakh with a bigger drive range.Although official figures are yet to be shared by MG, the Comet is expected to have a claimeddriverangeof200-250 km and a top speed of 100 km per hour.This would make the Comet a city-centricvehicle. The Comet comes at a time when the Indian car market has become fond of large and ■ Comet is expected to have a claimed drive range of 200-250 km and a top speed of 100 km per hour ■ Citroen e-C3 is also priced at `11.5 lakh with a bigger drive range stylish SUVs following ‘the bigger, the better’ philosophy, but MG Motor feels that ‘the smaller, the smarter’ proposition still holds traction for buyers. Named after a 1934 two-seater British airplane, the Cometwill be smallerthan the Tata Nano in length, with two doors instead of four, and will make its way into the showrooms in the next few weeks. It would test MG Motor’s resolve of being the company that bucks the trend with its every launch. However, instead of a petrol engine, the vehicle will be powered by an electric motor mated to a lithium-ion cell battery pack. “We offered internet in the Hector,autonomous Level 1 in the Gloster and AI and autonomous Level 1 in the Astor. We want to continue with this trend and the Comet can be a category creator. This product can get the customers curious and question their choices,”Gupta said. MG believes that the lower drive rangewillnot bea limitation as it has been designed purposely that way. “The Nielsen survey that we conducted before we chose to go ahead with the Comet states that about 88% of people surveyed travel less than 30 km a day and 71% either travelled alone or with one occupant,” Gupta added. Continued on Page 2 High spirits, low alcohol the coolest cocktail mix for today's generation ● Market for low alcohol, low calorie drinks booming VAISHALI DAR New Delhi, March 18 WITH SOCIALDRINKING onthe rise and health remaining a big factor post-Covid, people are raisingatoasttolowcalorieand moderate alcohol drinks. Terming it ‘sober-curious’, brands are responding to the demandwithofferingsthatplay withvariedflavoursandgoslow on the alcohol. For those who want the flavour but sans the spirit,thezero-alcoholcategory isyet anotherbooming market. “The consumer is shifting from the traditional ‘for-thekick’ consumption to savouring drinks, experimenting with flavours and discovering premium alternatives. The change is primarily led by the younger generation who are open to experimentation.This demand is being met by a plethora of new brands being introduced by manufacturers in the beverage space, be it beer, spirits or non-alcoholic beverages,” said Vineet Sharma, VP marketing — SouthAsia,ABInBev,whichhas energy drink Budweiser Beats and non-alcoholic beer Budweiser 0.0. It is a 50-calorie brew with zero sugar that offers the same taste of Budweiserwith 0% alcohol. “Thenewofferingstakeone away from the bitter tasting traditional alcohol, and have several options like mead, cider,seltzer,beerandwhiskey. The new-age, first-time drinker is also looking for a smooth transition from nonalcoholic carbonated (fizzy) drinks to flavourful drinks,” SOBER & CURIOUS ■ Meads, light beers, Low alcohol content ■ The beverages predicted to alcohol by volume outperform wider and ready-to-drink categories are the ‘it’ beverage alcohol market by drinks this summer 2025 1.2-5.5% ■ Social drinking and health factors driving demand for low alcohol products non-alcoholic beverages in great demand Unvined, a nonalcoholic wine with less than 0.5% alcohol ■ JohnnieWalker has launched Johnnie Walker Blonde, a light, sweeter version ofwhiskey ABVcontent (almost 5%), and variety of flavours popular sons Hotel, Bengaluru. “Gin and tequila in the form of cocktails,ready-to-drink beverages to chill at home and NOLO (no sugar or low alcoholic cocktails) is trending.” With India having one of the world's largest millennial populations and a fast-growing Gen Z population entering launched low alcohol drinks in the US, Japan; energy drink in India ■ Jacob’s Creek has ■ Hard seltzers with low said PranoyChakrabarty,chief operating officer,Bored Beverages,whichsellsNoLabelOriginal Mead, a honey wine made by fermenting honey at 7% alcohol byvolume (ABV). Post-Covid, this segment is the new rising star, said Sarath Nair, bar manager at Copitas, the bar at Four Sea- ■ Coca-Cola has thelegaldrinkingagecategory, Krupa Shah, co-founder of Indian Standard Time aka IST, a seltzer brand in Goa, added, “Thelow-caloriecocktailsoffer a refreshing alternative without compromising on taste andquality.” Hard seltzershave diversifiedthe alcoholicbeverage sectorand are addressing a shift in consumer behaviour towards low ABV content (almost 5%), and a less stressful approach to drinking with lemon, watermelon, strawberry,passionfruit,pomegranate and tangerine flavours. Among the 10 focus markets examined in the December 2022 release of the Inter- national Wine and Spirits Research (IWSR) No- and LowAlcohol Strategic Study (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States), the market value of no/low-alcohol products in 2022 surpassed $11billion, up from $8 billion in 2018. Globally, a robust demand for flavoured alcoholic beverages and the adoption of low alcohol content beverages is predicted to fuel the RTD alcohol industry and outperform thewiderbeveragealcoholmarket, increasing their market share to 8% by2025,as perthe IWSRDrinks MarketAnalysis. Unsurprisingly, there is innovation across categories among brewers, such as Anheuser-Busch, who launched their fruit flavoured non-alcoholic Hoegaarden in the US, and Molson Coor, whose introduction of Coors Edge hasthe lowest calorieand carbohydrate content in its category, Pernod Ricard’s launch of Ceder’s, William Grant&Sons’launchofAtopia, etc.Diageo-owned DistillVenturesinvestedinUS-basedRitual Zero Proof,which claims to be the firstAmerican company to produce a spirit alternative that smells and tastes like its alcoholic counterpart. CocaCola entered the RTD alcohol space with Fresca Mixed in 2022 in the US, a spirit-based alcoholic beverage, LemonDou, an effervescent lemon canned cocktail in Japan in 2018 and Topo Chico Hard Seltzer in 2020 in the US. In India,in the energydrink category,PepsiCohasStingand plans to scale up Rockstar Energy for women consumers, infused with hemp seed oil, spearmint, lemon balm and about80milligramsofcaffeine. Continued on Page 2