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There is a saying in Hindi, Aapko Aam khanese matlab hai ya ghutli ginnese? For Dr S Ramadoss and his feuding son, Dr Anbumani, the PMK and its symbol, the Mango have come to a collision point in their succession battle for taking over the party. In this bitter battle, not just Dr Anbumani but even his wife Sowmya has been targeted by Dr Ramadoss senior stating that her ambition has made the father-son dispute irrevocable. He claims that even as he had brought the alliance with AIADMK to almost closure in 2024, Sowmya sabotaged it with her hectic hospitality, inviting Annamalai to their Thailapuram residence and overturned the alliance as BJP was her choice. The impasse has come to a point where Dr Ramadoss says Dr Anbumani is no longer the party head and leader, even as the son insists that his term lasts till 2026 according to the Election Commission. Going a step higher, Sowmya has taken the matter to the Gods. She travelled with her two daughters to Rameshwaram, Dhanushkodi and to the temple of Nambu Nayaki Amman, a temple where thousands of devotees seek the Goddess’s blessings for their problems. This is highlighted by a ritual …fresh green turmeric is ground on stone grinders here then the turmeric paste is offered to Nambu Nayaki. Sowmya, seasoned bahu and politician went a step further …. She offered luscious looking mangoes too , to the Goddess …probably praying that her husband succeeds in getting both party and leadership in this bitter power struggle in the PMK. Considering that 80 % of the followers are silently throwing their hats in favour of Dr Anbumani, the turmeric and mangoes could well be a winning combo.
In view of the deteriorating situation because of the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, the Government of India launched Operation Sindhu to ensure safety and security of Indian nationals in Iran. As a first step, the Indian Embassy has evacuated 110 Indian students from northern Iran, assisting them safely to cross over into Armenia on June 17. The students have travelled by road to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, under the supervision of our Missions in Iran and Armenia. These students departed Yerevan on a special flight at 1455 hrs (2.55 pm) on June 18 and will arrive in New Delhi in the early hours of June 19 as part of the initial stages of Operation Sindhu. The Government of India is grateful to the Governments of Iran and Armenia for the smooth facilitation of the evacuation process, the MEA said in a release. India accords highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad. As part of the ongoing operation, the Indian Embassy in Iran has been assisting large numbers of Indian nationals in moving from areas seeing increased hostilities to relatively safer areas within the country and to subsequently evacuate them using the available and feasible options. Indian nationals in Iran have been advised to stay in touch with the Indian Embassy in Tehran through its emergency helpline, and with the 24×7 Control Room established by the MEA, in New Delhi.
PM Narendra Modi’s 35-minute phone call with the U.S. President Donald Trump since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack was clearly aimed at sorting out misgivings back home. He told firmly that no mediation or trade deal led to cessation of hostilities with Pakistan. The highlight of the phone call was when Prez Trump asked PM Modi if he could visit the U.S. on his return from Canada. PM Modi politely declined the offer citing his prior engagement of visiting Croatia. But, interestingly, Prez Trump has accepted PM Modi’s to visit India for the QUAD meeting later this year. As per Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri read out of the phone chat, “PM Modi told President Trump clearly that during this entire series of incidents, never was talks held at any level on India-America trade deal and mediation between India and Pakistan by America. The talks regarding cessation of military action was held directly between India and Pakistan under the existing channels established between both militaries, it was done at Pakistan’s request…” He shared that the phone-call overtly clarified that India, “has never accepted mediation, does not accept it, and will never accept it. There is complete political unanimity in India on this issue.” Meanwhile Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was dismissive about Misri’s statement. He said “Understand the ‘triple jhatka’ that the Indian foreign policy and diplomacy has received. Today Field Marshal Asim Munir whose provocative, incendiary, inflammatory comments are directly linked to the Pahalgam terror attacks…is invited for a one-on-one special lunch with President Trump.…” BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya hit back calling Jairam “a congenital liar — much like Rahul Gandhi. He is now peddling yet another falsehood, claiming that Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s statement doesn’t match the U.S. readout — while dramatically waving his phone around. ” But here is the catch: the readout he is citing...
With L&T, Adani and Birla Group already having bauxite mining licences in Odisha’s eastern ghats, the focus now shifts to Anil Agarwal controlled Vedanta Aluminium. This is because Vedanta, India’s largest aluminium producer does not have its own captive bauxite mine in Odisha since 2007 and buys bauxite from Odisha Mining Corporation. The current BJP-run government in Odisha is getting ready to hand over to Vedanta Sijimali bauxite mining which has 311 million tonne bauxite deposit covering 1549 hectares at Koraput. Corporate observers say this is an important move after Vedanta failed to get mining rights in Niyamgiri, Koraput district recently. The only hitch is protests from the tribal leaders. And the Supreme Court ruling here is very clear, Vedanta can mine bauxite provided majority of tribals give their consent. The general feeling is Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal is an old hat in this game of winning such battles. He will easily wade through ongoing tribal protests at Sijimalli Hills since the opposition numbers are much smaller. It seems Agarwal has the backing of the state’s Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari who is pulling all stops to encourage businesses to set base and expand in Odisha. And the government walked the talk by not allowing social activist Medha Patkar from entering Rayagada for the next two months to stage protests against Vedanta’s mine project. This gives Vedanta Aluminium enough time to win trust and confidence of local tribals.
The possibility of political merger of Maharashtra’s most powerful political family, the Pawars, has been ruled out by the family patriarch Sharad Pawar. There had been much speculation following the uncle-nephew (Ajit Pawar) sharing dais on multiple occasions. Underscoring that those aligned with the Congress ideology would not accept the BJP and view them as opportunists, senior Pawar also stressed how those who had left him in his political journey had ended up defeated out of the electoral race. His daughter Supriya Sule, who has now emerged as a strong voice within the NCP-SP since her takeover as the working president, is said to be averse to the idea of reuniting with her cousin. Sharad Pawar’s partymen, known to lead sugar industries and banking institutions, have been reportedly itching to return to power. Sharad Pawar’s good personal equations with PM Narendra Modi clearly are not proving fruitful for his partymen. Being out of power also isn’t helping the senior Pawar faction particularly with Ajit Pawar, known to leverage his position as Maharashtra’s finance minister, for his partymen. Ajit Pawar continues with his mission to poach from his uncle’s party with his official position clearly giving him an edge in the poaching exercise. The BJP too seems to be poaching party leaders from opposition parties with a vengeance and this exercise seems to have picked up steam now with the local body elections around the corner.
Cricket fans always look for an English summer to keep them excited for a period around five months. This season, a major event of the English Summer was the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final that South Africa won, bringing down the mighty Australians at the home of cricket, the Lord’s cricket ground. Kudos to skipper Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada and Alden Markram the rainbow nation staged a second innings comeback to trounce the Aussies. While the WTC final riveted attention on both teams, another burning topic the cricket fraternity in India is glued onto is the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decision — after consulting the BCCI — to retire the Pataudi Trophy and rename the England-India Test series after Jimmy Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar, both the nation’s outstanding cricketers who dominated the scene for over two decades. The unveiling of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has been put off because of the Ahmedabad air crash victims. The trophy will be unveiled a few days before the first day of the first Test at Headingley, Leeds on June 20. A cross section of the cricketing fraternity in India is unhappy with the change, but the argument is that the present generation has seen and taken a thrill at the fantastic displays with the bat and ball by Tendulkar and Anderson and the ECB decision was most appropriate in keeping with the times. Perhaps advised by a few legends of Indian cricket the BCCI, without interfering with the ECB call, has asked if it can name one of the individual awards and continue the legacy of Pataudi-Iftikhar Ali Khan and Mansur Ali Khan, both well known in English and Indian cricket.
The war of words between the Kerala government and Kitex Garments Ltd (KGL) seems to be never ending. The latest flare-up owes its origin to Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s decision to send his Textile Minister S Savitha to Kerala to woo Kitex to AP. Savitha, who visited KGL’s headquarters at Kizhakkambalam near Kochi, was impressed with the facilities and made a formal invitation to managing director Sabu Jacob to set up a unit at Amaravati, the capital of AP. The AP offer to set up a new unit comes at a time when Bangladesh, a major textile manufacturer, is facing a political crisis. KGL is the world’s largest maker of cotton and organic cotton ready-to-wear garments for infants and children between 0 – 24 months. The war of words between the ruling LDF government and KGL, began when Jacob decided to float a political party, Twenty-20 in 2015. The party was successful in bagging the Kizhakkambalam and nearby Panchayats from LDF. Twenty-20 transformed the panchayats into a successful model for any panchayat to emulate – 24-hour water, health facilities including insurance, better schools, roads, including grocery shops offering minimum prices etc. Jacob who presented a Rs 3,500 cr investment proposal at the Ascend Global investment meet organised by Kerala government withdrew the proposal following harassment by the state government through various raids. It was at this juncture that the then Telangana government of K Chandrasekhar Rao rolled out the red carpet. Sabu set up two yarn-to-garments facilities in Hyderabad and Warangal which is expected to generate employment to 50,000 people when fully operational. In fact, the Telangana government showcased the Kitex project as a major achievement at the World Economic Forum, Davos. KGL, part of the diversified Anna Kitex group, is the largest employment generator in Kerala with 11,000 people on its rolls.
The question of whether Aamir Khan’s overexposure could hinder the success of Sitare Zameen Par is a compelling one. Aamir Khan is not only a celebrated filmmaker but also a masterful marketer. His ability to craft and dictate marketing strategies has played a significant role in the success of many films he has produced and starred in, including Lagaan, Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and more. He has consistently demonstrated an understanding of what resonates with audiences, employing innovative marketing techniques that have included unique promotional stunts and celebrity engagements. However, with Sitare Zameen Par, Aamir’s omnipresence in the media raises concerns. He is currently everywhere — on podcasts, TV interviews, and social media—actively promoting the film by inviting celebrities and influencers to his home for discussions. While this level of visibility can create buzz, it risks becoming counterproductive. The saturation of Aamir Khan in promotional activities may lead audiences to feel overwhelmed, diluting the film’s impact and excitement. Effective marketing should strike a balance between visibility and intrigue. While traditional methods such as social media campaigns, public relations efforts, and billboard advertisements are essential, they should be complemented by innovative strategies that captivate the audience’s imagination. The current promotional approach for Sitare Zameen Par seems to rely heavily on routine visibility without offering a compelling narrative or unique engagement. Aamir Khan has previously employed similar strategies with his son Junaid’s film Loveyapa where he invited notable personalities like Raj Thackeray, Sachin Tendulkar and Salman Khan for special pre-release screenings. However, despite the visibility, the film did not perform well, highlighting that increased exposure does not guarantee success.
Club versus country is an old debate in football in which the club game can at most times seem bigger than inter-country matches except perhaps in the World Cups. There are any number of soccer players who have given up playing the international game because they must satisfy, with their performances, their immediate employers, which are clubs. The Clubs may understand what loyalty to the country means, but they can be mean enough to believe that players owe them loyalty first as they pay their yearly wages and may have been responsible for spotting them and nurturing them. The fine West Indian striker – yes, there are new terms from soccer for batsmen these days — Nicholas Pooran has become an extreme example of loyalty to the club first in his retirement from international cricket at the age of 29. And the very next day he was named captain of the MLC league team MI New York. He has bowed to money in quitting wearing the colours of the West Indies in international cricket to play multiple leagues across the world in which he can make a good living without having to meet availability conditions that countries demand, especially during the peak season from November to March when their teams play a lot of international cricket. Pooran had just struck a six-hitting record in 2024, the year in which he made170 hits beyond the boundary and he had continued that rich form of six-hitting in IPL Season18 too. The fact is money calls and so does an easier life with less fierce expectations to fill when you turn up for a T20 league or Cup game as opposed to turning up in international cricket. Truth to tell, money is thicker than patriotism.
For now, Odisha has missed the opportunity of scripting new history in steel making. ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, a JV between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, established in December 2019 after acquiring Essar Steel ambitious plan of setting up 12-MTPA steel plant in Kendrapara, Odisha may not fructify it seems according to knowledgeable sources. Reason: Land acquisition issue. Since March 2021 the Odisha government has been moving at a snail’s pace over land acquisition compared to Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu’s proactive approach. AM/NS India shifted its steel investment to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as it feels very confident in the leadership of the chief minister Naidu who is part of the NDA dispensation. It is learnt that Naidu’s son and IT Minister Nara Lokesh played a pivotal role to persuade Aditya Mittal, Lakshmi Mittal’s son, to move the steel plant to Andhra — with whom he has been engaged since 2018. His constant follow-up with Aditya by guaranteeing him quick land allotment and special status seems to have tilted in Andhra’s favour. Reportedly, AM/NS was forced to take this decision as nothing moved from 2021 between BJD and the current BJP government. AM/NS India is initially establishing 7.3 MTPA steel plant in Anakapalli district, Andhra Pradesh as part of its plans to set up a state-of-the-art integrated steel plant in Rajayyapeta involving an investment of Rs 147,162 crore (Rs 61,780 crore in phase I and Rs 85,382 crore in phase II). Earlier, Sajjan Jindal group JSW’s electric vehicle also shifted out of Odisha to Maharashtra. It’s about time the Majhi government woke up and smelled the coffee.
Businesspersons in this part of the world are usually perceived to be quiet doers. Often, they are attached with the tag of `conservatists’ by the world outside. But these so-called `conservatists’ were pioneers in very many ways. First corporate school (Thriveni Academy), first corporate film company (GV Films), first leasing firm (First Leasing), first corporate hospital (Apollo), first hostile takeover (of Wendt India by CUMI)…. and several such firsts … all happened in Chennai. This little known company from the city of Chennai attracted $4.1 bn investment from the American fund TFCC International in December 2021 and became a talking point in the business media. Ram Charan Company Private Ltd, founded by Kaushik Palicha, has since gone quietly to pen a pact with the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to put up a pilot project for carbon capture and utilisation. What has surprised the long-time India business watchers is the fact that a public sector undertaking of the SAIL kind has chosen to take the lead-role in striving to roll out a robust waste management system across its units. If this pilot cooperative initiative succeeds, it is bound to trigger a huge transformation in the way the Indian production environment is managed. If grapevine has to go by, a top industrial house is also picking up a cue or two from the SAIL gambit. Well, innovators and risk-takers are aplenty in Dravadian land it appears.
Twenty-two families occupying residential apartments in the ongoing Rs 2500 crore Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) approved project – Rizvi Utopia – in the western suburb of Kalina, Mumbai have to vacate within the week. The directive from the SRA comes in the wake of the finding that ‘C’ wing in the triple-tower complex lacks the requisite Occupation Certificate (OC) despite which possession of 22 of the 25 two-bedroom apartments was handed over to unsuspecting homebuyers. The statutory authority, in its October 18 missive to the project developer Rizvi Land Development Pvt Ltd (RLD) states, “You are hereby directed to vacate all occupied flats in sale wing C of your building immediately… within seven days.” The SRA directive comes in the wake of the report submitted by the Mumbai Fire Brigade in September, 2023, after inspection of all A, B and C wings. The fire brigade report states, “The developer has not obtained an occupation certificate for C wing from the CFO department or SRA. The fixed fire-fighting system is not in working condition.” The SRA action comes as a double jolt to Rizvi builder in particular after he deposited Rs 6 crore with the Bombay High Court over the sale of four commercial office spaces in the realty project without commercial components being part of its approved plans. Why the SRA waited over a month after the fire brigade’s report is another question that remains unanswered?
You may be driving around with an auto brewery syndrome that can land you trouble with cops. Chances are that you will be caught for drunk driving. The breathalyser will beep even if you didn’t consume a drop of liquor! Blame it on your bad gut health which can create this issue and you will never be able to win any argument with the police. You will have to cough up the fine and prove your innocence in the court with the help of a medical certificate. Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, chairman and Chief of Gastroenterology at AIG Hospitals, has narrated this ‘case study’ involving the daughter of a friend of his and how she had a harrowing time. Her stomach had apparently a brewery factory, he said at an event by FICCI Ladies Organisation’s Hyderabad chapter. The gut breaks down the foods we eat and absorbs nutrients that support the body’s functions. Research shows that our gut microbiome can affect every organ in our body. Now, gut health is widely discussed among medical circles the topic of the world as it could be the root cause of many diseases. Human stomach is full of bacteria both good and bad. The intestines have 1000 species. In his friend’s daughter’s case, she acquired bad bacteria in childhood, Dr Reddy said. So, maintain good gut health, have regular medical checks to keep medical bills and police penalties under check!
Sridhar Vembu, the business visionary who set up the multi-billion dollar Zoho Corporation at Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu, plans to replicate the model in rural Kerala. Vembu proposes to set up Zoho Corporation’s R&D centre at Kottarakarain, Kollam, 65 km from Thiruvananthapuram. The unit, which has the blessings of the Kerala government, will provide jobs for 1000 people. Vembu had only one condition to set up the unit in Kerala, when Kerala’s officials approached him, “Find a leader to head the operations”, according to Anoop Ambika, CEO, Kerala Start-Up Mission (KSUM). And KSUM was looking to persuade Dr Jayaraj Poroor, Zoho’s former research head who is now an academician, to head the project. In Tenkasi, Zoho converted what was once a nondescript fruit pulp manufacturing unit, into a tech centre par excellence on the world map. Vembu wanted to debunk the idea that location plays an important part in the success of a company. According to Anoop Ambika, once the project takes off, it will not only bring technology and jobs to the local talent pool but also put Kerala on the technology map.
People in Chennai may have read the news item with much emotion. Three young women employees of Writer’s Cafe, Priyatharshini, Parimala and Komala are all set to fly to Dubai for a three month high-end training at its International Centre for Culinary Arts. So what’s special about these women? Time was when none of them could even come out in public and face the world, literally, all victims of severe burns, traumatised by domestic violence or sexual exploitation. They owe their total rehabilitation and entry into a work life of self-esteem to one man — the visionary marketing Guru, international foodie and serial entrepreneur restaurateur who transformed baking from mere bread to Hot Breads. M Mahadevan, founder of Oriental Cuisines which runs bakery chain Hot Breads gives new meaning to CSR and employability to the underprivileged. Mahadevan‘s motto, no expectation of life time allegiance from his beneficiaries. He encourages them to grow wings and find their own space. The story of the three women employees from Writer’s Cafe (started as a partnership with Higginbothams, the iconic book shop) is organised and funded by Mahadevan. Mahadevan assures them, after your return you can start your own enterprise or come back to us. That’s a classic Mahadevan CSR. India has many such societally exploited groups begging on the streets. If more Mahadevans open their hearts and purse, socially shunned and marginalised persons can become self-sufficient.
Kollywood’s Lady Superstar Nayanthara is in the news for many facets …blessed with riveting beauty, she is now talked about for her smart business sense too, even as she launched her beauty brand 9SKIN with elan and style in Malaysia. Fresh off the pan India success of her movie Jawan with SRK, and the just launched psycho thriller Iraivan with Jeyam Ravi. Not many film stars have ventured into an enterprise that brings beauty, skin care and marketing mix in an innovative brand portfolio. If you thought Nayan is cannily cashing in on her filmi status, you are wrong. She is thinking beyond her film star shelf life. Ayurveda and ancient Indian plant based skin care basics like turmeric, essential plant oils, sandalwood are coveted. The saga of Fair & Lovely has cautioned the consumers and entrepreneurs about the dangers of chemical-based skin products. Now, global beauty brands, L’Oréal and Estee Lauder are keen to invest in such home grown enterprises. According to Euromonitor International, the Indian beauty market which was valued at $12 bn in 2018 is projected to jump to $17 bn by 2025. Clearly, Nayanthara knows that her own glass skin is the best blurb for her products.
This is one of the oldest chambers in the country. This industry body is over 100 years old now. The Southern India Chamber of Commerce Industry (SICCI) is indeed an iconic association in Chennai. The SICCI was promoted ostensibly with the idea of serving the Indian business by protecting and promoting its interests at the regional, national and international levels. Indeed, SICCI was the founder-member of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). SICCI saw eminent industrialists from Chennai such as AC Muthiah, MA Alagappan, A Vellayan and like heading it at one point or the other. Ar Rm Arun, son-in-law of AC Muthiah, is now serving as its president. SICCI has chosen to change. This move put the spotlight on the century-old chamber. SICCI has decided to constitute a Core Advisory Council (CAC). More than its constitution, what has surprised many is the power vested with the CAC to oversee the induction/ replacement of the executive committee members. CAC is also sought to be vested with powers to recommend right candidates for top positions at SICCI, which has hitherto been the domain of the board members. Why CAC at all? With CAC in place, what will be the role of the executive committee? Surely, SICCI is set for interesting times ahead.
This was one of the respected industrial houses in Tamil Nadu. Once upon a time, this group was at the forefront leading the State industrialisation. Brothers DC Kothari and HC Kothari were respected names in the Indian corporate world then. Post their demise, Kothari House was in the news for all wrong reasons. An internecine feud broke out between cousins Pradip Kothari (son of DC Kothari) and Shyam Kothari (son of HC Kothari) when Shyam (son-in-law of Dhirubhai Ambani) bought into Pradip-controlled KICL. The dispute between them took legal overtones. In the end, the case went in favour of Pradip. Several years have gone by since then. Today, KICL has changed quite a bit. A new management is in place under the leadership of J Rafiq Ahmed. Ahmed is firmly in the saddle with his own set of professionals. He is now working hard to bring the yester-year glory back to KICL. As KICL breaks into new areas such as digital, drones, footwear et al, it is looking to attract overseas investors. A leading investor from an oil-rich nation appears to have been impressed by the initiatives of Rafiq Ahmed. A turning point in the annals of KICL appears on the cards!
At a time when Cruise services are turning popular in India, Kerala has found a new way to counter the exorbitant air fares to the Gulf. Come December 2023, Malayali expats can travel home in luxury cruises. The Kozhikode-based Malabar Development Council and Indian Association, Sharjah, have planned to ply private luxury cruises between UAE and Kerala. Each cruise will have a capacity of 1300 passengers and the three day trip will cost Rs 10,000 one-way. Each passenger will be allowed to carry baggage of 200 kg. The fare will be 50% lower than the present average airfare between UAE and Kerala. The associations behind the cruise project, have approached the Kerala Government and the Kerala Maritime Board with the proposal. Once the clearances come through, the promoters will approach the Central Government for a formal approval. The Kerala government had earmarked Rs 15 crore to resolve issues faced by expats travelling between UAE and Kerala. The promoters hope that this money could be used as seed money to start the operations. A vessel currently being constructed at the Cochin Shipyard could be diverted for the project. The Andaman and Nicobar Administration which placed the contract for the vessel has now backed out for unknown reasons.
The defining moment started for Shekhar Sardessai, CMD, of the 28-year old Goa-based Kineco Ltd, when the rocket carrying India’s moon lander Chandrayaan-3 took off on 23 August 2023. The next 23 days were very anxious for all 50 people involved in the project. Having had a long relationship with ISRO, Sardessai and his team should have been more blasé about their latest project, but it was a bag of mixed emotions. Sardessai always had an ambition to be in aerospace and space since 2002, and his first big moment was when we won the bid for supplying 10 antennae for India’s space programme in 2012-13. This project has established the Kineco group’s credentials, rocketing its reputation from being a company that was “too small for this game” to a situation where it is rubbing shoulders with international giants. The opportunities now available to Kineco and other Indian companies are “huge”. This is a very interesting era, in which the next generation of entrepreneurs can give their dreams the power to take them anywhere they want to go.
Tamil Nadu is known for its iconic business families. TVS, Murugappa, Amalgamations, Rane, Spic et al – the list can go on and on. They are to a large extent responsible for the early industrialisation of the state. The foresight of the elders of these industrial houses has pushed Tamil Nadu into the national forefront. Of course, many multi-nationals have come into the state since then. But these traditional industrial houses have to tackle a problem of an unusual kind. When families expand, fissures creep in. How best are these handled? That is indeed a big challenge. In the not so distant past, the Murugappas have put an end to the internecine quarrel with a female member by penning a peace accord. Some months ago, the four branches of the illustrious TVS group legally went their own ways in an extraordinary arrangement. The Murugappas perhaps are likely to follow the TVS template. What is this TVS model about? According to grapevine, the key to the TVS model is the generosity of big members (in terms of their market capitalisation) who chose to adequately compensate others who were managing businesses that had inherent growth limitations. The early apportionment of businesses among different branches allowed some to get high growth fields and others not-so-high growth businesses. The appreciation to erase the initial disadvantage is the stand-out feature of the TVS model.
The traditional joint family system in India has the unique way of sorting out skirmishes among different branches. An informal red line defines the limit within which each member conducts himself/herself. Ostensibly the objective of this informal understanding is to foster a sense of family unity for generations to come. When a female member of a branch Valli Arunachalam, elder daughter of late MV Murugappan, chose to take the internecine quarrel public and the topic became a discussion subject in social media for long, this Chennai-based industrial group and the estranged female member smoked peace pipe for the larger good. For the elders of the Murugappa group, family unity has all along been paramount. Hence, the daughters have stayed away from the business. They have played no small role in sustaining the unity of the Murugappa family. If grapevine has to go by, daughters are never included as part of the promoters in Murugappa group. Not surprisingly, daughters’ shares aren’t considered as part of the promoters’ holdings. The shareholdings of wives, however, are part of the promoter holdings! This philosophy has worked well for the group since it was founded. No murmurs from daughters all along. The Valli episode appears to be an aberration. A closer reading of the recently-released statement on the peace proposal appears to suggest that the Murugappa family is keen to sustain family unity for generations to come.
Hard copy in this digital age is passe. Today, all communications are in digital or electronic form save for doctors writing their prescriptions. So it was surprising to see Uday Kotak, Managing Director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd sending a handwritten resignation letter on September 1 to his chairman Prakash Apte. The 3-pageletter captures the journey of Uday Kotak which started in 1985 with three employees in Mumbai’s Fort area. Today, this successful bank which has over a lakh employees has presence all over India and five other countries. Interestingly, Kotak has tweeted his handwritten letter. Generally, handwritten notes are written to add that personal touch and some CEOs do take that extra effort to send a thank you card or good wishes hand written. This gesture conveys that they care. Ratan Tata is known to do that; he sends handwritten letters especially if it is outside business. He has very good handwriting. This writer has seen some of his handwritten notes. Coming back to Kotak, he has truly built a formidable bank. In his words, “an investment of Rs 10,000 with us in 1985 would be worth around Rs 300 crore today.” All his stakeholders are laughing all the way to the bank.
It is one of the oldest private banks in the country. And, this private lender is over 100 years old. A Nadar community-floated bank, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has consistently found itself hitting the headlines for several years. An internecine quarrel between the promoter groups saw it lose control to the Ruias of the Essar group in mid-90s. But the Ruias faced resistance and had to give it up somewhere along. In came the serial entrepreneur C Sivasankaran. But he too had to retreat. After several twists and turns, TMB went public in September 2022. TMB remains in focus for all the wrong reasons. Sometime ago, the income-tax officials conducted a search at its headquarters in Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin). It has returned to focus yet again now. The TMB publicly corrected itself for quite a number of errors in its annual report for 2022-23. At least half-a-dozen discrepancies – some minor and a few major – have crept into the annual report. The private lender, a few days ago, was forced to come out with a corrigendum in a local publication. The corrections related to numbers in some places. In still others, it pertained to the shareholding of the directors. Big or small, a slippage is a slippage. Is there a sense of nonchalance in preparing the annual report? Perhaps, TMB is still adjusting itself to the post IPO situation.
He is a veteran in the field. He had a successful term as the head of a public sector insurance firm. When the government opened up the industry for the private sector, he was among the first to get into the private sector space. But he chose to do differently. Star Health Insurance, the company he floated, was not the usual insurance company that a commoner comes to know. His was a daring initiative. Star Health was the country’s first standalone health insurance. Today, it is a highly successful one. V Jagannathan, who founded Star Health, has completely come out of it. An active person like Jagannathan, who has an abiding interest in Tamil literature, can’t keep idle. If grapevine has to go by, Jagannathan is seriously contemplating his next move. For a veteran in the insurance field like him, there must be plenty of options. Will he float an insurance firm yet again now that the non-compete period is over? Speculations are indeed doing the rounds. A little bird however suggests that he should be looking deeply at unexplored terrain in the insurance space. Is there any? Yes, indeed. There are possibilities beyond the subject of human insurance. Cattle insurance space offers immense scope. In a country like India which strives hard to boost farm economy, cattle insurance is an interesting subject to explore. Why not?
They have been in the news for all wrong reasons. One of their own members dragged them to the court. That member happens to be a female, adding a gender twist to a corporate feud — should we say domestic dispute. More than the legal battle, what has been hurting the group most is the negative publicity that the whole issue was getting them. To be sure, the family members of the Chennai-based $ 5-billion Murugappa Group have shown extraordinary restraint in the face of an avalanche of media reports which featured the versions of Valli Arunachalam, the elder daughter of late MV Murugappan who was the head of Carborundum Universal. Post his demise, Valli and her sisters insisted that they be accommodated in the businesses of the group. Valli even reportedly suggested that they be bought out in the group. All of a sudden on a leisurely Sunday (Aug 20), both sides have agreed to bury the hatchet and settle amicably out-of-court. This could put an immediate end to the washing of dirty linen in public. They have a 90-day window to work out an amicable deal to part ways. Will there be a friend in need for the family to get Valli off their back? Well, interesting times are ahead at Murugappa Group.
Three successful Sarawat businessmen — Ullas K Kamath, former jt managing director of Jyothy Labs (Ujjala) now venture capitalist, Pradeep Pai, managing director, Hangyo Ice Cream and Siddharth Sinkar founder director Global Chamber of Saraswat Entrepreneurs — have joined hands with UK & Co, World Konkani Centre and Global Chamber of Saraswat Entrepreneurs to encourage business ideas from their community. The trio have organized a two-day business conclave at Wonderla Amusement Park & Resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru to meet one-on-one aspiring businessmen from the Saraswat community. The first-of-its-kind Conclave promises to provide instant funds to start-ups. Kamath promises that every bright start-up idea will get a minimum cheque of Rs 5 lakh and the deserving one will get seed capital. The star attraction of the conclave will be the presence of Nandan Nilekani and Mohandas Pai from the Saraswat community to guide, mentor, and fund startups and SMEs. The objective is to promote and encourage young entrepreneurs from the community who will be provoked to become entrepreneurs by choice rather than by default. Well, all attendees will be treated to Hangyo ice cream. The Saraswat Chamber held its first conclave last year in Goa.
Words such as cartel, price fixing and the like are the creation of a bygone era. Today, they have yielded a new term. Cooperative competition is the fresh name of the game. This has embraced all fields. The next edition of the popular IPL (Indian Premier League) is a few months away. Yet, there is an intense debate. Will he or won’t he? As fans were speculating on whether Mahi will come back to play the next edition of IPL, MS Dhoni indicated that he would play IPL one more time for the sake of his adorable fans. CSK owners will want their skipper to stay put. Mumbai Indians (MI) owners, too, must be nursing the same wish for their own enlightened self-interest! Streaming IPL matches for the first time in several languages, Jio Cinema, belonging to MI owners, took the rival Disney Star (Star Sports) head on with zooming viewership during the last IPL season. Looks like Ambanis are wishing that Dhoni plays IPL 2024 edition. The IPL streaming saw Jio Cinema registering record viewership across languages when Dhoni played. Revenue and valuation improved significantly for Jio Cinema. All these augur well for Jio Cinema to get ready for an eventual public float. Co-operative competition appears to be a fair game. Well, it’s cricket after all.
Change is the only constant, it is often said. The change, however, gives a clue or two to the inner dynamics. How else could one view this? Well, the Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA) has welcomed a new president in Neeraj Akhoury, who is the Managing director of Shree Cements. Just before his ascension to the top slot, the CMA has managed to ink a wage pact with the unions. The industry has seen eight such national cement wage settlements in the past. A fresh pact was due in April this year when the earlier wage agreement expired. It took a long while to strike a new wage agreement since the unions were insisting that the issue of temporary workers be resolved first before deliberating on a fresh wage pact. Only 18% of the workforce in the cement industry is permanent employees. Obviously, the unions were worried over this increasing trend in the industry. Similar pay for similar jobs is what the unions were demanding irrespective of the permanent or temporary tag attached to a workman. Hopefully, the recent wage accord did manage to find a way out to this thorny issue. The latest industry wage agreement comes months after India Cements went on its own to strike an independent agreement with the unions. Some churning is happening around the industry, it appears.
There was a time when growth was the focus of many enterprises. Soon enough, this has given way to a new mantra. The corporate honcho realised mere growth is of no use. The growth has to be accompanied by profitability. So, the emphasis turned to growth with profitability. As the focus shifts, so much has changed in the global business environment. Not surprisingly, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a critical component of the corporate growth process. In fact, CSR has been made mandatory for corporations through a legal requirement. And, companies have to necessarily apportion a specified percentage of its profit process to activities related to CSR. That, perhaps, is the good thing that has happened. For, corporations have a larger responsibility towards society. Well, CSR has now come to occupy a new meaning, at least informally in the corporate world. And, the HR (human resources) team has now begun to identify a section of employees within an organisation for classification as CSR. There are dead wood. There are those about to retire. And, there are those who just come into an organisation through a quota system of recommendatory kind. These people are now termed as “CSR guys”. They are also there but don’t serve. Well, the CSR guys are a cost indeed for corporations!
EaseMyTrip, a leading online platform that offers “end to end” travel solutions is expanding its operations in the UK and Europe markets. Confirming this move is its young co-founder Rikant Pittie. Thirty-four year old Pittie is gearing up to serve the travel needs of high-street customers. EaseMyTrip.com is strategically planning to extend its presence beyond the UK market. It is learnt that this online platform is eyeing the entire European markets. Pittie has also put in place a team to focus on this market, and make necessary preparations and forging partnerships to ensure a successful launch and operation in these new regions. Rikant’s primary objective is to offer highly competitive prices on flights, hotels, and package holidays for his customers in the UK. Additionally, he is also exploring opportunities to expand its offerings and include exclusive non-air products for his customers. The company will soon introduce distinctive products that meet their various requirements and preferences of its customers.
The happenings in the Chennai-headquartered financial services group Shriram have been hitting the headlines ever since the mega restructuring of its ownership some time ago. Post the revamp, Shriram Finance has emerged as the country’s largest retail asset financing non-banking finance company. Shiram has hit the news yet again. It has announced a new partnership with One97 Communication Ltd, the owners of payment app Paytm. Under the arrangement, Paytm will facilitate digital credit for merchant and consumer loans from Shriram Finance. The duo is expecting the partnership to herald a new and wholesome digital loan experience for merchants whose credit needs remain largely un-served. The tie-up with Paytm comes even as Ajay Piramal’s company and TPG India Investments (a private equity player) cashed out of Shriram Finance by selling their holdings of 8.34% and 2.64% respectively, a few days ago. The Piramals may have to cash out its investment in the insurance business of the Shiram group in the wake of their acquiring Dewan Housing Finance Ltd, which too has an insurance arm. It is learnt that the Piramals have already been in discussion with the top leadership of the Shriram group to find an exit option for its insurance investment. In the midst of hectic happenings around the Shriram group, TPG, which has just exited Shriram Finance, is reportedly toying with the idea of investing in Shriram Housing. Well, Shriram appears to be an irresistible conglomerate!
The Navi Mumbai-registered ideaForge Technology Ltd (iFTL) is coming out with its maiden public issue valued at Rs 567 crore. The IPO consists of a fresh issue of Rs 240 crore from the company and an offer for sale of Rs 327 crore by one promoter, five individual shareholders and eight corporate shareholders of the company. The price band is Rs 638-672 for Rs 10 paid-up share. The 2007-registered iFTL was a loss-making company until fiscal 2021. The company could wipe out its accumulated deficit only in fiscal 2022. The company claims to be the pioneer and the pre-eminent market leader in the Indian unmanned aircraft systems market, with a market share of approximately 50% in fiscal 2022. It has one of the industry’s leading product portfolios targeted at civil and defence applications. It has a broad range of products with feature-based differentiation. Sixteen year-old company was not eligible for making an IPO on its own financial performance and has adopted a `technical route’ to float its maiden public issue. If the company’s prospects are promising, why are so many big shareholders offloading their stake and making their cost of residual holding negative? Unstable past performance, unassuming promoter stake and absurd issue pricing make the IPO a risky proposition. For detailed story click https://investlive.net/
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted US First Lady Jill Biden a lab grown 7.5 carat green diamond during his recently concluded 3-day state visit to the US . Questions were raised about the nature of the jewel. The diamond is eco-friendly, as eco-diversified resources like solar and wind power were used in its making. It reflects earth-mined diamonds’ chemical and optical properties. The Green Diamond is sculpted with precision and care using cutting edge technology. It emits only 0.028 grams of Carbon per carat and is certified by the Gemological lab, IGI. A diamond maker from Surat described the lab grown green diamond as “an atma nirbhar step that is giving jobs to millions of people all around India.” PM Modi’s US visit seems to have offered some goodies to overseas Indians. In a major boost to software professionals, PM Modi announced that US consulates would be opened in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. And an Indian consulate would be opened in Seattle. He also conveyed that people may not have to leave the US once their H1 B visa expires. He also had a personal interaction with Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc and Google. He invited Pichai to explore further avenues of collaboration in the domains of Artificial Intelligence; fintech; cybersecurity products & services; as well as mobile device manufacturing in India. PM and Pichai also discussed collaboration between Google and academic institutions in India to promote R&D and skill development.
He came. He stayed. And, he is leaving now. Piramal Enterprises of Ajay Piramal has decided to quit Shriram Finance by selling its entire holding. Whichever way one looks at his original wisdom to get into the Chennai-based Shriram group, it is clear that his game plan has gone horribly wrong somewhere along. Surely, he would have gotten a handsome return on his investment in the Shriram. That need not necessarily crown this businessman as a wiser strategist. He must have seen in Shriram an opportunity to propel his dream of making it to the big league in the field of non-banking finance. Perhaps, he did not bargain for the deep cultural mismatch with the Shriram group. The Shriram group has remained an enigma for many outsiders. Piramal the investor perhaps discovered this only after getting into it. Maybe, he was in a hurry to overhaul Shriram. Luckily, Ajay Piramal’s group company managed to acquire Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code route in September 2021. Post-Dewan, Shriram is no attraction for Piramal. One thing is clear, however. The cleaning of the shareholding cobweb at Shriram was in no small measure due to Piramal pressure. For the man who has been successful in the pharma space with spate of takeovers his calculations in the case of Shriram seems to have gone wrong. You win some, you lose some.
The Agra-registered HMA Agro Industries Ltd (HAIL) is coming out with its maiden public issue valued Rs 480 crore (82.05 lakh equity shares at the cap price). The offer is being made through the book-building route with a price band of Rs 555-585 for Rs 10 paid-up share. HAIL, promoted by five brothers, have been in the meat business for more than four decades. HAIL is the flagship company of the group and is a three star export house. HAIL is currently among the largest exporters of frozen buffalo meat products from India and it accounts for more than 10% of India’s total export of frozen buffalo meat. A disturbing aspect of the promoters is they have disassociated themselves from as many as eight companies during the last three years preceding the date of the Red Herring Prospectus. It is family-run business with brothers and children occupying key positions. Promoters hold 100 per cent stake. When compared to the other frozen food players, HAIL’s Return on Net Worth and Return on Capital Employed is quite impressive. In terms of price discounting too, HAIL compares reasonably well with frozen food heavyweights like Venky’s. Nevertheless, a disturbing aspect of HAIL is, the promoters and their relatives would be holding more than 83% of the post-IPO capital of Rs 50 crore at a negative cost which makes the stock vulnerable post lock-in period. By arrangement with https://investlive.net/.
The stock market is in a bull phase with both the benchmark indices — Sensex, Nifty50 – touching new highs every week. The market which is constantly looking for a trigger to scale to new highs seems to have got a big one. According to Mint “Participatory notes are poised for a comeback, this time through the International Financial Services Centre, Gift City, Gujarat, after nearly a decade of being discouraged by Indian regulators. Some leading global banks that currently issue P-Notes from global jurisdictions, such as Singapore, are considering shifting to GIFT City as the special economic zone offers both tax sops and regulatory clarity.” The return of P-Notes will be like music to the ears for the stock market players. According to The Hindu Business Line report “foreign investors had patronised P-Notes for 14 years between 2004 and 2018. At the peak, P-Note linked investments in India stood at around Rs 4-lakh crore. But P-Notes lost their charm after SEBI restricted its use and banned them completely in the derivatives segment.” Currently, India is parched for foreign money in stock markets and allowing P-Notes could act like steroids, experts say. On a net basis, the foreign portfolio investors sold Indian equities worth more than $20 bn in 2022. Tax arbitrage has forced FPIs to move to other jurisdictions.
Irony! Kerala’s Left Front Govt In Talks With Tatas, Adanis To Bail Out Kannur International Airport
It is rare that the fortunes of an airport are tied to an airline. One of the big casualties of Go First’s insolvency is Kerala’s second public-private airport, Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL). Set up at a cost of Rs 2500 crore in 2018, the airport which has attracted over 20 million passengers is today defaulting on salaries and all infrastructure payments. In fact, things have turned worse in the last two months, with the airport defaulting on interest payments on borrowings which have now risen to Rs 1200 crore. Go First used to operate 240 flights per month from KIAL to domestic and international destinations. These operations earned it a revenue of Rs 5 crore every month. Also, KIAL was used by Go First as a major parking bay for its fleet of aircraft. The airlines which operate from KIAL today are Air India Express and Indigo, which do only four or five flights per day. The Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is worried that the airport could turn out to be another white elephant. It is believed that his government has approached the Tatas and Adanis to bail out KIAL. This is ironic, as the same Pinarayi government had vehemently opposed the privatisation of Trivandrum International to Adani. Critics say that Vijayan will go to any extent to save KIAL, as it is in the backyard of all the top Kerala CPM leaders.
For decades business houses in Tamil Nadu have kept the business out of bounds for women members. That thinking is slowly changing. Now, the corporate world in this Dravidian land is turning gender-agnostic. With the four groups in the larger TVS family quietly going their separate ways legally, the yester-year hurdle (somewhat perceived, though) has disappeared for the womenfolk in their families. Suresh Krishna’s daughters are running the show in Sundram Fasteners. Venu Srinivasan’s daughter is also firmly in the family business. Of course, Mallika Srinivasan is driving the Amalgamation group. The iconic Apollo Hospitals is managed by Pratap Reddy’s daughters. N Srinivasan’s daughter Rupa Gurunath is well entrenched in The India Cements. Cavinkare has seen C K Ranganathan’s daughter too is getting into her father’s business. The Sengol fame Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers has already welcomed a fifth generation (four daughters) into the business. Perhaps the Murugappa group is an exception at the moment where one of the women members of the family –Valli Arunachalam — is engaged in a bitter legal wrangle with others over the denial of her right to get her due in the business of the group. Incidentally, it was the eldest daughter who alerted her father and MD of Pricol Vikram Mohan to the raid by Minda on his company! Well, women power has truly come to party in the family business.
They have immense pride in identifying themselves as manufacturing jewellers. They are the fourth generation entrepreneurs. Their four girl children have also gotten into the business. Founded in 1900, this iconic brand from the city of Chennai has come under the national focus when the Vummidis were traced to be the maker of “Sengol” that the Adeenams had gifted to Pandit Nehru to symbolise the transfer of power from the British. The Modi Sarkar has now installed that “Sengol” near the Speaker’s seat in the new Parliament. The installation of “Sengol” in the new Parliament is a defining moment for the owners of Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers. The “Sengol” installation in its wake has cast on Brand Vummidi an additional responsibility. Yet, it has pushed the brand equity of Vummidi to a new level. It is an ideal time for the owners to spread out into the globe. Steps are already on in this direction. If one were to go by Amarendran Vummidi, Managing Partner, Vummidi Banguru Jewellers (VBJ) will spread wings to the U.S. and set up a store in Dallas very soon. There is a significant presence of the Indian diaspora in that part of America. The American foray will be through a newly-floated Indian subsidiary, Amarendran reveals.
The travel boom set off by the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is seeing action in every mode of transport, from roads to rail and, of course, flights. But while the Indian Railways are using the opportunity to push the new Vande Bharat Expresses with premium facilities and premium prices, a number of small airlines are still trying to find their bearings after the sector nosedived during the pandemic. One entrepreneur who is waiting to take off is Manoj Chacko, former vice-president of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Chacko, CEO of the recently registered Fly91, from India’s telephone dialling code, has seen it all. Air Deccan, the forerunner in the field that made flying affordable to all, took off well but made the mistake of going in for Airbus aircraft too early. “They should have stuck to the ATR with which they began,” he says. “Introducing a mixed fleet compelled them to compete in a different space.” Kingfisher’s acquisition of Deccan was a “big mistake”, says Chacko, who quit soon after. “Vijay Mallya called me back after three years, but too much water had already flowed under the bridge by then.” Flying to Hubli, Kolhapur and smaller places was not an issue, but the attempt to go international was the killer, he says. His new airline, headquartered in Goa, will operate small 76-seater aircraft from October 2023, with a plan to go national gradually in about five years. “We’ll be playing a test match, and aim to replace short rail journeys of 10 to 12 hours,” he explains, adding: “We won’t get into the ‘cheapest fare’ race: our fares will compare with those for the railways’ 2nd-class AC. We will pay salaries comparable to, say Indigo but keep a low-cost structure with neutral distribution channels and a consumer-friendly booking app.” Happy flying!
Coimbatore is an unlikely venue for a corporate contest. That’s why this one has come as a surprise. The out-of-blue equity buying in Coimbatore-based Pricol by its rival Minda Corporation Ltd a few months ago has stunned the traditional industrial groups in the city, which was once hailed as the Manchester of India. Minda bought a little over 15.7% shares in Pricol for Rs 400 crore. What emboldened Minda to embark on such a hostile raid on a traditional industrial establishment in Tamil Nadu? There could be several reasons for this. The Pricol family structure, perhaps, tempted Minda to have a go at this Coimbatore-based company. The battle is truly on now with the Pricol family doing everything – legally and strategically – to stop the raider on its track. The imbroglio arising out of this hostile takeover has already landed in courts. The Pricol-Minda battle takes one back to former times when non-resident Indians Swraj Paul and Manu Chhabria exploited a change in the rule for NRI investment in Indian companies to raid Escorts and L&T. That they did not eventually succeed is a different matter. But Pauls and Chhabrias have taught a lesson or two to India Inc. If Minda has to be stopped, Pricol owners have to solidify their equity position. The economics of ownership has indeed become dizzy.
A drive-in theatre provides a viewing experience of a relaxed kind. This one perhaps was the first one to come up in the city of Chennai. Located on the ECR (the East Coast Road (ECR), one of the loveliest stretches on the national highway leading up to the Union Territory of Puducherry, this one was a favourite destination for many a cinema lover. For, it gave them the comfort of a relaxing environment and a unique movie-watching chance. Prarthana Drive-in Theatre on the ECR had for long provided young and old alike an entertaining space to unwind even while serving them sumptuously. All good things will have come to an end. So did Prarthana. The owners downed shutters on it sometime in 2021 due to administrative reasons. Founded way back in the early 90s, this drive-in theatre will disappear altogether from ECR. Reports suggest that the land which housed Prarthana has changed hands. A leading construction company in Chennai is believed to have decided to build a high-rise residential complex in the space that measures around 25 acres. Post-Pandemic, there has been a flurry of activities around land acquisition by residential real estate developers. Chennai has already seen many iconic theatres disappear. Prarthana is the latest one to enter this list!
State governments – cutting across party affiliations – jostle with each other to attract global investment. Of late, the competition has become intense among them to woo investors from across the border. Copious flow of capital from the international investing community is often seen as an endorsement of positive policies pursued by them. Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin is gearing up to hold a Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) in January. This will be the first Global Investors Meet for the Stalin-led government. The previous two investor meets took place in 2015 and 2019 when the AIADMK was in power. Chief Minister Stalin has indicated that the upcoming Global Investors’ Meet will play host to investors from over 100 countries. The State machinery is sparing no effort to make the summit an extraordinary showpiece. Expectedly, the DMK government has decided to appoint a global management consultant. The Stalin regime has reportedly roped in Boston Consulting Group to make the upcoming GIM a grand success. Sometime ago, the Tamil Nadu Government issued a Request For Proposal for the ‘Selection of Global Management Consultant’ as a knowledge partner for the Global Investors’ Meet 2024. The knowledge partner will work with the stakeholders across the canvas to effectively articulate the focus fields to the international investing community. Will Boston bring a big boost to the TN GIM?
Numbers can’t just be wished away. Often, they give a clue or two to a decisive interpretation. A cursory reading of the FDI (foreign direct investment) equity inflows into the country has thrown up a revealing fact. In FY21-22, India recorded the highest ever annual FDI inflow of $ 83.57 billion. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) indeed comes out with data on FDI inflows across the districts in the country. A reading of the data for the last 11 quarters clearly suggests that there is a concentration of the FDI flow into a few districts. Surprisingly enough, two districts from Tamil Nadu figure among the top 10 which were consistent in terms of attracting FDI. The two districts are Chennai and Kanchipuram. They managed to attract over Rs. 500 crore FDI in nine out of eleven quarters. These two neighbouring districts in Tamil Nadu house some of the top-notch manufacturing industries. In fact, the Chennai-Kanchipuram stretch is an iconic one. Many big boys such as Hyundai, Saint Gobain and the like dot this stretch. That these two districts have been consistently getting FDI must make the political leadership sit up and ponder. Should it not facilitate an ecosystem that allows for equitable distribution of FDI flow across the state?
The latest news is that Pradeep Bhardwaj, Senior Strategy Director & Head of Industry Standards, Syniverse has been appointed by His Majesty the King as the High Sheriff in the historic rural county of Wiltshire in England. Bhardwaj is the first person of Indian origin, and the first Hindu to be appointed to this high office. Pradeep brings in a huge honour not just for himself but for the entire diaspora from the Indian sub-continent. With the presence of Hindu Chaplain from Leeds Krishnakant Atre at the ceremony Bhardwaj wrote history. The High Sheriff is the Sovereign’s representative in the county for matters of law and order. It is a direct appointment of the Sovereign by Royal Warrant and is the oldest secular Office in the United Kingdom after the Crown, dating back to the Saxon times in the 10th century, more than 1,000 years ago. High Sheriffs play an active role in upholding the principal parts of the Constitution i.e. members of the Royal family when visiting the County. Pradeep is recognised to have brought many firsts to India — first public email service, first public internet service, first Electronic Data Interchange service and setting up mobile and international telecom services in the island nation of Seychelles. Pradeep works very closely with the competitive telecom giants in India.
The $128 billion Tata Group with 29 listed companies, has decided to rejig their real estate business. The new thinking of the management is to focus only on developing commercial properties and move out of housing development space. According to an informed source, Tatas, like other major corporations, are finding it difficult to manage consumer expectations in the residential property space; this business needs an owner driven approach with personal skin in the game to handle the daily challenges as well as managing individual consumer’s expectations. As part of the group’s restructuring process, the Tata group has already brought Tata Projects, Tata Consulting Engineers, Tata Realty and Infrastructure, and Tata Housing under a single umbrella in order to create a larger infrastructure vertical. It has integrated its real estate development entity, Tata Housing Development Company – a 100% subsidiary of Tata Sons – with Tata Realty and Infrastructure. Reportedly, the group is also looking to invest Rs 1200 crores in acquiring land parcels outright and through joint ventures in major cities across the country for commercial development.
Quietly, a lot of things are happening at this once upon a time iconic industrial conglomerate from the city of Chennai. A new management is already in place. And it is silently working to recapture the old image of this highly respected brand. For sure, the D C Kothari-promoted Kothari Industrial Corporation Ltd (KICL) isn’t going to vacate the fertiliser field though it has chosen to palm off its loss-making SSP (single super phosphate) plant at Ennore near Chennai on a slump sale basis. No doubt that would help the KICL management clean up debt. The sale move is a sensible one. But the new management under the leadership of Dr J Rafiq Ahmed is drawing up a different game plan for its fertiliser business. Well, the KICL is toying with the idea of establishing a new Single Super Phosphate (SSP) manufacturing unit at Thoothukudi, a port city in southern Tamil Nadu. The facility – whose contours are at drawing boards – however, will have the latest technology. It will come up on government-leased land. Ever since Ahmed took charge of the affairs of KICL, he has been on a mission mode. Under his stewardship KICL has made a foray into drone production. Also, the D C Kothari group is also now in the process of setting up Phoenix Kothari Footwear Park Tamil Nadu at Eraiyur in Perambalur district. Well, Kothari brand still commands huge pull.
FSN E-Commerce Ventures, popularly known by its listed name Nykaa, promoted by the high profile banker couple Falguni and Sanjay Nayar tapped the capital market in October 2021 with a public issue of Rs 5,352 cr. More than 475 lakh shares of Re 1 each were offered at an exorbitant price of Rs 1125 per share. The company which moved into black on the eve of IPO, saw its issue subscribed more than 45 times! Retail investors’ portion attracted around 11 times subscription, HNIs 111 times and QIBs 92 times. Thus, the Rs 5,352 cr issue attracted bidding for a whopping amount of Rs 244,495 cr!. Effectively, Nykaa, a decade old and yet to earn profits, asked for a market cap of Rs 53, 200 cr while highly rated MNCs like P&G and Colgate commanded a lesser market cap of about Rs 47,000 cr and Rs 42,500 cr respectively. The public float was a grand success. However, the gullible public did not realize that shares allotted to Anchor investors were locked-in only for 30 days. Nykaa listed on November 10, 2021 at a premium of 78% over the offer price and scaled Rs 2248 yielding 99.8% return. At the end of the one year lock-in period, the stock price went below the IPO rate inflicting 13% capital loss on the IPO investors. Sensing deep trouble, the management quickly declared a bumper 5 for 1 bonus issue which could temporarily arrest the price slide. Even though the top line is attractively growing, the company’s current bottom line (annualized) gives an abysmal EPS of 9 paise on Re 1 paid-up share. By arrangement with https://investlive.net.
The current push from both the Indian and UK governments to expand their engagement on defence, aerospace and homeland security has seen an intensity of engagement between the two countries that is unprecedented since Independence. A recent meeting with the UK’s national security advisor, on the sidelines of a meeting in London for cooperation in the defence industry, showed the ‘huge’ respect India now commands from the world. The delegation met three UK ministers including the minister for defence procurement, besides the national security advisor and many senior bureaucrats. Says a ‘happy and proud’ Shekhar Sardessai, Executive Vice Chairman & Managing Director of the Goa-based Kineco Ltd and Kineco Kaman Composites, who was part of the delegation: “I have seen how we were treated 10 years back as an insignificant country. The same people are now keen to woo India as a partner. All credit to what our government has done in the past few years to build a formidable position for our country.” Other business leaders agree. “Great!” says Senator Dr PKC Bose, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of the Bengaluru-based Enercon Windenergy, a subsidiary of Germany’s Enercon Group. “It’s India’s time.”
Environmental issues continue to dog the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport being built by Adani Airports. As the project secures extension of Environmental Clearance to allow Adani to complete the project, green groups are up in arms against what they called misleading Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted by the company. The EIA quotes exhaustively the research report by the BNHS which called for protecting and conserving at least five major wetlands as migratory bird destinations. The State-government owned city planner CIDCO would take steps to implement these suggestions. Moreover, the controversial golf course planned by CIDCO filling two wetlands – NRI and TS Chanakya – was cancelled, the EIA said. But the ground reality is totally contradictory as the wetlands continue to be under attack, green groups Save Navi Mumbai Environment and NatConnect Foundation have complained to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Control. One wetland at Bhendkhal, has been completely buried, another one at Belpada majorly landfilled and a third – Panje – often goes dry as the intertidal water flow to it is blocked by “vested interests”, the greens said. The golf course plan is still alive as the project proponent has recently obtained Coastal Regulation Zone clearance. The tragic part is that CIDCO refuses to accept the existence of the wetlands identified by BNHS as well as the State Mangrove Cell, Nandakumar Pawar of NGO Sagar Shakti said.
Generally Rs 10 paid-up stock that carries a dividend of 1725% (Rs 172.50 per share) would have commanded a price of not less than Rs 2000. Taparia Tools, which earned more than Rs 200 per share from its operations and distributed Rs 172.50 as dividend for fiscal 2022, was quoted on March 20, 2023 at just Rs 10.50. At this price the dividend yield works out to 1643%! The company has now proposed a first interim dividend of 775% as against 700% first interim last year which indicates that in all probability current year’s yield may shoot up beyond 1700%! The Nasik-based Taparia Tools Ltd has been manufacturing hand tools in technical collaboration with a Swedish company since 1969. Its financials have been very impressive with topline growing from Rs 475 cr in FY20 to Rs 670 cr in FY22. In FY23 it is expected to touch Rs 750 cr. Likewise net profit more than doubled from Rs 30 cr to Rs 65 cr during the same period and expected to exceed Rs 75 cr in FY23. Why is the stock quoting so low? It has a small equity base of Rs 3.04 cr with promoters holding 69.73%, directors & relatives 13.72%, two corporate bodies 10.56% and 229 shareholders 3.84%. In the last 21 years, TTL was traded only on 39 days. In the first three months of 2023, the stock has been traded for 5 days. By arrangement with https://investlive.net/.
The USI Atma Nirbhar Bharat Initiative (USI-ANBI) has given new meaning has been given to the work of the United Service Institution (USI) of India in furtherance of its avowed objective of “furtherance of knowledge in the art, science and literature in the interest of national security”. Such initiatives bring defence industry players in contact with the Services departments dealing with procurement and indigenisation. In July 2022, for example, it had a panel discussion (PD) with Aditya Birla Securities Ltd on the impact of the geopolitical situation on global and India’s financial markets, followed by one with Microsoft on cybersecurity, where the apex cybersecurity officials were brought in. Start-ups are allowed to register and asked to join when there is a round table discussion (RTD), seminar or closed-door meeting on the issue relevant to them. USI of India is a strategic think tank with a wealth of retired officials from Services, IAS, IPS and IFS, explains Major General Dr Pawan Anand, AVSM (Retd), Distinguished Fellow and Head of USI-ANBI. “It is a great brand!” he says. “We are now planning on foreign industry offerings too at our RTDs.” Obviously, India’s role on the global stage continues to grow in its presidency of the G-20 which it took over in December last year.
Sometime ago, this one did an out-of-the box innovation to reward long-time loyalist-employees. This Chennai-based high-end product engineering company distributed 100 Maruti cars to staffers who have served the company for over five years. Now, it has come out with yet another innovative idea. With tech giants such as Google, Zoom and the like dishing out pink slips, Ideas2IT has decided to play Good Samaritan. It has now launched perhaps the country’s first proprietary up-skilling program. The idea is to help tech professionals bounce back from the adversity of recession and layoffs! “Pledge2Propel”, a career enhancement initiative, is primarily intended to help tech professionals affected by the economic slowdown and layoffs. This initiative aims to provide all the support they need to re-group and pursue new opportunities by means of up-skilling or venturing into entrepreneurship while prioritizing their mental health. To be sure, this initiative does not promise or guarantee a job. Along with IdeaRX, a HealthTech start-up, Ideas2IT hopes to help the laid-off professionals to navigate the psychological and professional challenges and guide them to reach a secure terrain. “With this association, we intend to transform the lives of many tech professionals through empathy, inspiration and empowerment,” says Gayathri, CEO of Ideas2IT. This non-profit program is available for free to all affected tech professionals across the globe. A twice-blessed initiative, indeed.
Laissez-faire is a policy of minimum governmental interference in the economic affairs of individuals and society. This freedom is the fulcrum around the real competitive world. Yet, we have a Competitive Commission. This does not, however, prevent competitive cooperation in the business world. If proof was required, it is available in plenty in the Indian business world. Every December, car makers – one by one – come out with announcements of impending price hikes. One can easily sense a collective design in their individual action. This kind of cooperative competition has now spread to new-age entities. Online food ordering and delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy are highly popular in India. No doubt, they are in a competing space. These new-age organizations often give a go by to the much acclaimed dictum `profitable growth’. Faced with the reality, Zomato and Swiggy appear to have struck an informal cooperation. So much so, you can now see a Zomato boy delivering an order placed with Swiggy! This kind of order diversion appears to be quite usual these days. None would like to lose out on business due to lack of network. Indeed, it is a sensible way to optimize each other’s network. Of course, they share their commission. Well, the survival instinct is at work indeed.
From a peak of Rs 24.33 tn (Rs 2,433,000 cr) last year Adani group’s market capitalization has already nose-dived more than 70% to Rs 7.16 tn (Rs 716,000 cr). Is this the end of the slide, or is it going to fall further? A close study of the Adani group stocks reveals that, in the first decade during which the group had just one listed company, Adani’s P/E multiples were in single digit which was far below the market average. In the second decade, when the group started unlocking the value of its closely-held companies, the discounting vastly improved. In the third decade, when the count of the group’s listed entities increased from 3 to 10, the P/E multiples shot up to three digits which were many times more than the market average. The current slide has corrected the group’s P/E from 147X to 43X. However, this is still far higher than the current market composite P/E of 25X. At the current market composite P/E, the Adani group’s market cap should be about Rs 4.2 tn (Rs 420,000 cr). In other words, the group’s market cap may possibly contract another 40% (about Rs 300,000 cr) under the present circumstances. By arrangement with https://investlive.net/.
The Bengaluru-based FreshToHome now has the financial backing of Amazon. Through its India-focused Smbhav Venture Fund, Amazon has made $104 mn series D funding. The 2015 incubated FreshToHome sells fresh fish and meat to consumers in South Asia and Middle East. FreshToHome would be a right fit for Amazon, which of late has expanded to the grocery and fresh category leveraging on its logistics infrastructure in South Asia. During its first phase of funding two years back, FreshToHome, raised $121 mn from Investment of Corporation of Dubai, IronPillar, Ascent Capital and US Government’s DFC. FreshToHome is one of the largest players in the $ 100 billion Indian fish and meat market. The size of the market indicates that India is not just a vegetarian country. FreshToHome plans to change the existing market set-up, run on age-old systems. The company proposes to bring in better efficiency by first streamlining the sourcing infrastructure of meat and fish. This will be backed by improved quality of produce and delivery time by using its own processing plants and vast supply chain network. “Customers ordering fish from Delhi to Dubai on a Monday, get their purchases delivered the latest by the next day,” says Shan Kadavil, co-founder and CEO of FreshToHome. The company today serves over 4,000 fishers and farmers and millions of customers in over 160 cities in India and UAE.
Air India’s mega aircraft order is expected to spell doom for the air-transit business from India. Also, the major beneficiaries till date, Emirates, Qatar and Etihad Airways will have to rework their strategies like Singapore Airlines, British Airways and Gulf Air did when the Gulf airlines took over the India transit business. Air India’s order for 40 Airbus A350s, 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777 -9s wide-bodied aircraft will see it offering multiple daily direct flights to all premium destinations in USA, Europe and Canada. Air India plans to have daily flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru to major U.S. cities, EU capitals, Australia and Canada to start with. The Gulf-based airlines have been fleecing Indian travellers transiting through Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, to USA and Europe with huge fares during the peak season. The trips are often camouflaged with free stopovers, lodging and site-seeing trips. Air India’s planned direct flights to USA and Europe should see the fares drop by as much as 30% to 40%. And more importantly, the flying time saved would be four to five hours plus stop over time which is a minimum of two hours. Gulf airlines will now have to rework their India strategies by cutting fares and reducing the number of connections. Some of them may look to tie-up/acquire one of the Indian domestic carriers. As things stand, Qatar Airways was in talks with Indigo and SpiceJet. Experts feel the weaker ones like SpiceJet and Go First could be the first to be approached.
Its financials have been strong all the while. Yet, this over 100-year-old private bank has consistently hit the headlines for all wrong reasons. After many twists and turns caused by internecine quarrels among promoter groups belonging to the Nadar community, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) finally made its maiden foray into the capital market on September 5 last year. A new Managing Director S Krishnan took over the bank a day prior to its IPO. Krishnan has his job cut out. Having come out with good Q3 numbers – first quarter results since it went public in September last, Krishnan is on a mission to take TMB pan-India and make it a much more efficient bank to compete effectively with its peers in the industry. He is now toying with the idea of going for a business process re-engineering (BPR). TMB is looking to engage the services of an external consultant to come out with a detailed report on BPR, and recommend solutions for the bank on the way forward. The BPR initiative is intended to bring about a rethinking in the way TMB does its work. The objective is simple: to improve customer service, cut operational cost and become efficient. The BPR could focus on the analysis and design of workflows and business processes within the organisation. It’s transition time at TMB!
Time was when Chennai airport was just workhorse functional, fliers comparing it to the glittering breathtaking Changi, and feeling second class. Frequent construction for cosmetic renovation was always knocking the fliers’ rush. Suddenly this not so glamorous poor cousin airport has emerged as an attractive, talked about airport. Parking bays, arrival and departure bays, all spruced up. But it is the mint new AeroHub adjoining the airport with an umbilical aero bridge that is now raved about. Even before the mall has come up, PVR cinemas have thrown open a razzle dazzle multiplex of 5 screens to showcase favourite films, all on the fly. Delayed flights, overnight transfers, waiting for technical glitch to resume your flight will turn into a fun experience as you walk across the bridge, drink, dine and dawdle over the latest film. The foyer decor, seating for 1150 people, Dolby sound , reclining seats, ample legroom, crystal clear projection on 5 screens , with Audi2 and Audi4 offering luxe viewing will definitely take the pain out of flying . Not just fliers, but outsiders are also welcome to come, drop a load of money on the peripheral attractions. Tamilians may appear stodgy and serious…but finally what they present in terms of entertainment and deluxe experience reminds one of Rajini’s dialogues, ”Naan lateaa vandalum latestaa varuven “ (I may be late, but I am the latest).
India is a cricket-crazy country. The IPL (Indian Premier League), which followed immediately after M S Dhoni-led Men in Blue winning the World Cup in Mumbai, has now become one of the largest annual sporting events in the country. From this year we will have a women’s premier league as well. The cricket mania is now really expanding. Industry body CII is now gearing up to hold Indian Corporate Cricket League (ICCL). It is a national-level initiative of the industry body. This will be a pan-India exercise, done at the behest of the Sports Ministry. It will happen across India in each state. At state-level, it will have a round-robin format. The Tennis Ball cricket will have T-10 matches at state-level in round-robin format. Post-qualifying round, it will take the T-20 format. The CII is reported to have commissioned the services of an event management organization, which will be entrusted with the job of providing end-to-end logistic and related support facilities for the conduct of the ICCL across the country. CII is hoping for a participation of 25 teams in each state in the round-robin level. If grapevine has to go by, the Union Sports Ministry is reportedly keen that this kind of a pan-India corporate initiative is spread to other sports such as kabbadi and the likes. Sports at long lost is given its importance. That’s a welcome sign, indeed.
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Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter
Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
Yes, we have created a brand (in a limited sense), created demand (readers) and created supply (senior journalists). But we are facing teething problems like all start-ups. What makes us happy and confident is the recognition of our efforts. For instance, we have an arrangement with the OPEN Magazine, part of the $4.5 billion Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka-RPG Group. This arrangement sees around 10 Short Post stories posted on OPEN Magazine website every week. This arrangement is testimony that our content has been well received! Also, I may add that the Maharashtra government has recognised Short Post and has allowed our senior editor to cover the Assembly sessions. Ditto: Odisha.
Our goal is to ensure that Short Post becomes a habit. I would like people to keep checking their smartphones to know the latest Authentic Gossip. As regards AI and the fear of it disrupting all businesses including media. On that, personally, I have no such fear as I am confident AI cannot smell news particularly Authentic Gossip. That’s the place we are well entrenched.