read to lead · 2020-05-20 · mumbai,thursday,may21,2020 only25%oftcs workforcetowork...

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Terms and conditions of ICICI Bank apply

FE BUREAUNewDelhi, May 20

THECABINETONWednesdayapproved the proposedpartialcreditguaranteescheme(PCGS)2.0 worth `45,000 crore toimprove liquidity for low-ratedshadowlenders,and eased cer-tain criteria for thepooledpur-chase ofNBFC assets by state-run banks under the existingPCGS 1.0. The Cabinet alsoapproved a special liquidityschemeworth `30,000 crore,underwhich theReserve BankofIndiawillindirectlypurchasedebtsoldbynon-bankingfinan-cialcompanies(NBFCs),housingfinance companies (HFCs) andmicro-finance institutions(MFIs), a senior governmentofficial said.A large state-runbankwill set up a special pur-posevehicle (SPV) tomanage astressed asset fund,whichwillraisemoneyby issuing securi-tiesworth`30,000crore guar-anteed by the government.These securities will be pur-

chasedonlybytheRBI.TheCen-tre will contribute `5 croretowardstheequityoftheSPV.

“Beyond that (`5 croretowardsSPVequity),thereisnofinancial implication for thegovernmentuntil the guaran-tee involved is invoked.How-ever,on invocation,the extentof government liabilitywouldbe equal to the amount ofdefault subject to the guaran-tee ceiling,” according to anofficial statement.

ContinuedonPage2

CABINETAPPROVAL RESTARTING OPERATIONS


AUTO MANUFACTURERSMAY have reopened their fac-tories and spruced up theirshowroomsbutareunlikelytostep up production untilthey've cleared inventories.Aquick poll reveals mostautomakers have about amonth’s stock of vehicles intheiryardsandwithdealers.

Maruti Suzuki, forinstance,isnotproducinganycars justyetateitherof its twoplants. Although it has beenpermittedbytheHaryanagov-ernment to employ 100% ofitsworkers, it is workingwithjust 33% for the moment.Maruti had earlier this weekstarted operations at its sec-ond plant at Gurgaon afterresumingoperationsatMane-sar fromMay12.

The twoplantsduringnor-maltimesproduce5,000vehi-cles every day but as the com-panyhasaround1,30,000carsin its inventory network –stockyards aswell as dealers –the first attempt is toclear it.

Sources said that at thetime of lockdown on March25,therewerearound67,000bookings and this needs to be

completed.Post-lockdown, almost

half of these consumers arestill interested ingoingaheadwiththeirpurchase.Sofar,thecompany has been able toopen around 1,350 dealer-ships and delivered around5,000vehicles.

ContinuedonPage2


ONLINE TAXI AGGREGATOROla said onWednesday it hasdecided to let go of 1,400employees as the Covid-19pandemic has dealt a severeblowto itsbusinesses.

Revenues for the Ben-galuru-based firm havereduced 95% in the past twomonths, co-founder & CEOBhavish Aggarwal wrote in anote toemployees.

The job cutswill be imple-mentedacrossmobilitywhichaccountsforabout80%ofrev-enues and foods and financialservices verticals. Aggarwal,however, said the downsizingwouldbea“one-timeexercise”and no more Covid-relatedcutswill bedone.

The process will be com-pleted by the end of thisweekforIndiamobilitybusinessandbytheendofnextweekforOlafoods and Ola Financial Ser-vices,thecompanysaid.

“The prognosis ahead forour business is very unclearand uncertain. It is going totake a long time for people togo out and about like before.Social distancing,anxiety,andan abundance of cautionwillbe theoperatingprinciples foreveryone,”Aggarwal said.

ContinuedonPage2

● COVID IMPACT

Ola to layoff 1,400employees

Most automakershave about amonth’sstock of vehicles intheir yards andwith dealers

FY18 POWER SHOCK

INTHETIME OFCOVID

FE BUREAUMumbai, May 20

TWOMONTHSAFTERthegov-ernment suspendeddomesticflightoperations,Unionminis-ter for civil aviation HardeepSinghPuri onWednesday saiddomestic passenger flightswould resume“in a calibratedmanner”nextweekonwards.ByThursday,theDirectorateGen-eralofCivilAviation(DGCA)willissuedetailedguidelinesonhowtheflightswillrecommence.

Puri hadearlier told airlinesto stop taking ticket bookingstill thegovernment’sgo-ahead.Flightswere stopped inabid tolimit the spread of Covid-19,which has caused over 3,300deathsinthecountry.

ContinuedonPage2

Low-ratedNBFCs cantackle temporaryliquiditymismatch;move to aid last-milefinancing ofMSMEs

QuickPicks

B2B entities exempted fromcertain digital paymentmodes

THECBDTsaid entities that primarily transactedwith other businesses (B2B) electronically areexempt from installing facilities for digital paymentlikeRupaydebit card, unifiedpayment interface

(UPI) andUPIQRcodeas suchbusinesses usually transact inlarge amount forwhich thesemodeswere impractical,reports fe Bureau inNewDelhi. Last year, itwasmandatedthat any entitywith anover `50-crore turnover in thepreced-ing year had toprovide aforementionedpayment facilities.

FCs recovered over 64%ofadmitted claims via IBC inQ4

FINANCIALCREDITORS (FCs) realised 64% oftheir admitted claims through insolvency inJanuary-March, much higher than the historicalaverage of about 46% over the period up to

December 2019, reports fe Bureau inMumbai. Theimproved realisationwas due in large part to the JaypeeInfratech resolution,where FCs recovered `23,223 crore,over 100% of the amount claimed, showed an Insolvencyand Bankruptcy Board of India newsletter. PAGE 10

‘Over70%cosmaycontinuework fromhome for6months’

OVER70%ofcompanies are likely to continue thework-from-homepolicy for apercentageof theirtotal staff for the next sixmonths tomaintain socialdistancing and for business continuity, according

to a surveybyKnight Frank, reportsPTI. Most respondentssaid their companyproductivitywas not affecteddue to theforcedwork-from-homearrangement since the lockdown.The survey, however, foundout that connectivity anddistraction from familywere twocritical challenges.

COMPANIES, P4

LETTERTO SHAREHOLDERS

INTERNATIONAL, P8

SENSEX: 30,818.61 ▲ 622.44 NIFTY: 9,066.55 ▲ 187.45 NIKKEI 225: 20,595.15 ▲ 161.70 HANG SENG: 24,399.95 ▲ 11.82 `/$: 75.80 ▼ 0.16 `/€: 82.96 ▼ 0.32 BRENT: $35.46 ▲ $0.81 GOLD: `47,165 ▲ `115

MUMBAI, THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020

Only 25%ofTCSworkforce toworkfrompremises by 2025

COVID BLUES

Rolls-Royce plans9,000 job cuts oncollapse in air travel

OPINION, P6

ALAHIRI & UR PATEL EDITORIAL

Indiamust have

ubiquitousCovid-19 testing

CycloneAmphan shows

pandemic readiness & climate

change/disaster readiness

can't bemutually exclusive

VOL. LX NO. 117, 14 PAGES, `7.00 PUBL I SHED FROM : AHMEDABAD, B ENGALURU , CHAND IGARH , CHENNA I , HYDERABAD, KOCH I , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBA I , N EW DELH I , PUNE

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

READ TO LEAD

ISHAANGERANewDelhi, May 20

GOING BY THE figures ofCovid-19 infections that theDelhigovernmentreportsinitsmedical bulletin, the capital’sinfectionlevels—proportionofthosetestingpositivetothetotaltestsdonedaily—werearound8.2% at the end of the third

lockdown (L3). While that ismuchlowerthanMaharashtra’s21.4—61%ofMaharashtra’sinfections are fromMumbai—another set of figures beingreported by theDelhi govern-ment,to theDelhiHighCourt,suggest the infection is around22%.Whichiscorrect?

ContinuedonPage2

Amphanmakes landfallAcycle rickshaw on the Howrah Bridge in Kolkata onWednesday. Packingwinds ofup to 190 kmph, cycloneAmphan roared intoWest Bengal, dumping heavy rain andleaving a trail of destruction that left at least two people dead

KURTWAGNERSan Francisco, May 20

FACEBOOK IS MAKINGanother run at building ashopping empire — and thistime it has the direct involve-ment of the company’s mostimportant executive, MarkZuckerberg.

The Facebook chief execu-tiveofficerannouncedahand-ful of updates onTuesday sig-naling the company’scommitment to online shop-pingandcommerce,oneofthe

areashehighlightedasaprior-ityforthisyear.Themainprod-uct, called Shops, is a newver-sion of an existing Facebookfeature with a similar name,and will let retailers uploadproductcatalogs to theirFace-book page or Instagram pro-file.UserscanfindtheseShopsdirectly from the retailer’spage, or by clicking on an adthat will redirect them to aShop inside Facebook insteadof the retailer’sownwebsite.

Eventually, Zuckerbergsays,theseShopswillbeacces-

sibleacross theFacebookfam-ily, includingMessenger andWhatsApp, giving retailers awaytoreachFacebook’snearly3 billion userswith one prod-uct catalog.

“This is really the first verymajorpushthatwe’regoingtobemaking into that next steparound commerce,” Zucker-berg said in an interview onMonday.He also highlightedthe importance of Shops forsmall businesses,almost all ofwhich are operating exclu-sivelyonlineduringtheCovid-

19pandemic.The“vastmajor-ity”ofFacebookadvertisersaresmall businesses, Zuckerbergsaid, so ensuring they canoperate is important to Face-book’sbusinessaswell.

“All these toolsareopenforbusinessevenwhenyourphys-icalstorefrontcan’tbe,”hesaidon a livestream on Tuesdayannouncing the new feature.Facebookstockrosemorethan3% after the news, adding togains fromearlier in theday.

ContinuedonPage2

ADD TO CART

Facebook’s Zuckerberg recommits to commercewith ‘Shops’

Weaker NBFCs to gainfrom easy PCGS criteria

This is really the first verymajor push thatwe’regoing to bemaking intothat next step aroundcommerce. All thesetools are open forbusiness evenwhenyour physical storefrontcan’t be.—MARK ZUCKERBERGFACEBOOK CEO

Special Features

The “remoteeverything”trendwill sustain, and techintensitywill continue toaccelerate, saysMicrosoft’sSamikRoy, talking about howtopcompanies aswell as kidsare usingMicrosoftTeams■eFE, P9

Don’t spray a sanitiser ordisinfectant directly on yourphone.Wet awipewith anon-abrasiveor alcohol-baseddisinfectant to clean it,anddon’t forget to cleanyour smartphonecase too■Gadgets, P9

Teamshasmore than75milliondailyactive users

Howto cleanyourphone therightway&keep it Covid-safe

DELHI DISCREPANCY

0

3,000

6,000

9,000

12,000

Tests done per day

May 6

May 6

May 7

May 8

May 9

May 10

May 11

May 12

May 13

May 14

May 14

As perHigh Court

As per High Court

As per

medical bulletin

As per medical bulletin

1,373

4,082

6,391

1,807

(difference between data given to

Delhi High Court & Medical Bulletin)Infection levels(Infected people as share of tests done)

10.5

8.5

8.2

7.8

4

8

4.8

5

7.4

31.2

12.8

20.9

15.5

20.9

17.1

31.9

21.7

26.1

Are Delhi’s infectionlevels at 7%or 22%?

LIQUIDITYBOOST

`45,000-crpartialcreditguarantee

scheme2.0 forNBFCs,govt tobear first20%loss

PCGS1.0extendedby9months toMar

2021, eligibility relaxed

AssetsofNBFCsunderSMA-1ontechnicalgroundoneyearbeforeAug2018

tobecovered

Under theproposed

`30,000-crscheme,RBI to indirectlybuydebtsoldbyshadowlenders

Domestic flights to start againfromMay 25; guidelines today

Marutihasopened twoplants:Manesar&Gurgaon

■ Both togetherhave capacity toproduce5,000vehicles aday

■Productionlines stillnotworking

■Has inventoryof130,000units

■Had67,000bookings at thetimeof lockdownonMarch25

Hyundaihasopened itsplantatSriperumbudur

M&M hasopened3outof its6 autoplants

■HasPVinventoryof15,000units

TataMotorshasopened3outof its 5plants

■HasPVinventoryof20,000units ■Hascapacity to

produce2,000vehiclesaday

■Currentlyproducing200aday

■Has inventoryof35,000units

■Has4,367newbookings

Maruti,Hyundai focus ondeliveries; production low

ANUPAMCHATTERJEENewDelhi, May 20

THE UDAY SCHEME couldhave had even lesser efficacythan claimed by the centralgovernment in nursing thestressed electricity discomsback tohealth.

Though data put out bythe states and compiled bythe Union power ministryshowed a reduction in thecombined financial losses of

discoms — from `51,562crore in the financial year2015-16 to `15,132 crore inthe financial year2017-18—state-run Power Finance Cor-poration (PFC), the principallender to these entities, hasnow found that their com-bined lossesstoodat`33,365crore inFY18,morethandou-ble the level reported earlier(see chart).

ContinuedonPage2

Discoms' losses (` cr)As submitted by states

As audited by PFC

*Icraprojection

51,562

38,080

15,132

28,036

30,000

48,619

38,460

33,365

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

FY20*

FY16

FY17

FY18

UDAYscheme fared evenworse?

1,06,750TOTALCASES

5,611NEWCASES

COVID-19 UPDATE

3,303DEATHSSOFAR

75%of testing kits nowprocured locallyABANTIKAGHOSHNew Delhi, May 20

INDIA IS NOW procuringabout 75%of its testing kitsfromdomesticmanufactur-ers,officials said onWednes-day.Whilethenumberofsam-ples tested crossed1 lakh for

the second day on Tuesday,efforts are on to further raisedailytesting,maybeevendou-ble itbytheendof June.Amidprojections of cases rising inJune-July, self-sufficiency intesting kits forms an impor-tant part of the central gov-ernment’s Covid-19 strategy.

“In the first fortnightofApril,wewerestrugglingalittlewithsupplies,”saidCKMishra,envi-ronmentsecretary.

ContinuedonPage2China’s newoutbreakshows signsvirus couldbechanging, Page8


INDICATING ITS READINESStoforegoalargepartof itsrev-enue from coal mining if itresults in a jump in the coun-try’s coal production,thegov-ernment on Wednesdayapprovedanewmarket-deter-mined revenue share modelfor auctioning off coal assets,ending the fixed fee/tonneregimethat turnedoffprivateinvestors, even as the sectorhas graduallybeenopenedupto themin recentyears.

However, a coal miner inIndia still has to pay assortedtaxes to the central, state andlocal governments — includ-ing royalties, a hefty`400/tonne GST compensa-tion cess and contribution todistrictmineralfunds—whichworkout tomore than50%ofthebasepriceofthefuel,muchhigher than in other coal-richcountries like Australia (7%),SouthAfrica (11%)andtheUS(4%),analysts said.

With coal imports surgingand becoming a drag on thecountry’s current account

(importswere$24.5billion inFY19 and $18.3 billion inApril-January, financial year2019-20), the governmenthas over the last more thantwo years taken a series ofsteps to populate the sectorwithmore investorsandtech-nologyplayers.

ContinuedonPage2

Revenue sharemodel forcoal auction gets nod

FY20*FY19FY18FY17*April-January

FY16

13.2

639.2

657.9

675.4

728.7

14.9

21.524.5

18.3

COAL IMPORTS(in $ billion)

Domestic coal production(in MT)

FY20

FY19

FY18

FY17

FY16

729.1


THE GOVERNMENT is “cau-tiously optimistic” about therevival of growth later in thisfiscal, despite the pandemic-induced lockdown, and thecountry's current accountmaywitness a small surplus in theJune quarter, the financemin-istry has said in its monthlyreportonthemacroeconomy.

AlthoughsomeagencieshaveforecastzerotonegativegrowthforFY21followingthelockdown,chiefeconomicadvisorKrishna-murthy V Subramanian haspegged it at 1.5-2%.As for the

country's current account, thedeficit declined to just0.2%oftheGDPintheDecemberquar-terofFY20,comparedwith2.7%a year earlier and 0.9% in theSeptemberquarter.

The report said inflationoutlook remains benignwitheconomic inactivity leading toa broad-based deceleration inprice pressures, particularly

energy. Even though supplychains were disrupted by theCovid-19outbreak,harvestingand procurement operationsgatheredmomentum,with anactive FCI and supportive rail-ways increasing volumes oftransferredgrains.Thegovern-ment refrained from releasingtheretailinflationdataforAprilon ground of disruptionscaused by the lockdown.How-ever, retail inflation inMarcheasedto5.91%from6.58%inthepreviousmonth.

The external sector hasacquired“resiliencemanifestinimprovementinbalanceofpay-ments position despite beingchallengedbynetFPIoutflows”for some time."A comfortableBoP rests onmanageable cur-rentaccountdeficit (CAD),pru-dent external debt and robust

availabilityofforeignexchangereserves adequate to financemore than eleven months ofimports.Asaconsiderabledropin domestic economic activitysignificantly curtails imports,India’scurrentaccountbalancemaygenerateasmallsurplusinthe first quarter of 2020-21,”thereportforAprilhighlighted.

On the external front, therupeeweakenedagainstthedol-larwith sharp foreignportfolioinvestor outflows. “Yet, rupeeoutperformeditsEMpeersdis-playing anewfound resiliencein the forex market. Further,rupee depreciation did notinflatecrudeoilimportbillasitspricecrashedinglobalmarkets,”it said.However,gold importsturned costlierwith gold pricespiking, riding on the yellowmetal’ssafehavenappeal.

EconomyTHURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020

FLYAGAIN

Hardeep Singh Puri

@HardeepSPuriDomestic civil aviation operationswill recommencein a calibratedmanner fromMonday, May 25, 2020.

FINANCIALEXPRESS2

● FINMIN REPORT GSTwaiver a bad idea, feels govt

Current a/c surplusseen in June quarter

From the Front Page

`15,340-cr GSTcompensationto statesTHECENTREHASreleased`15,340-croreGSTcompensation to thestatesandtheUnionTerritories so far in thecurrent fiscal,despiteaninsignificant revenuemopupowingto the lockdown,according tosources.

UPbuildersget6-mthextensionTHEUTTARPRADESHRealEstateRegulatoryAuthority (UP-RERA)onWednesdayextendedthedeadline forcompletionof real estateprojectsbysixmonths inviewofdisruptionscausedbyCovid-19.

Quick

View

WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

Govthopeful about growthrevival byendof the fiscal

Cabinet approval:WeakerNBFCs togain fromeasyPCGS criteriaTHEOFFCIALstatementadded:“Theceilingof aggregateguar-antee has been set at `30,000crore, to be extended by theamount required as per theneed.”

The SPV will manage astressedassetfund(SAF)whosespecial securities would beguaranteedbythegovernmentand purchased by the ReserveBank of India (RBI) only. Theproceedsof saleof suchsecuri-tieswouldbeusedbytheSPVtoacquire short-term debt ofNBFCs/HFCs.The schemewillbeadministeredbythedepart-mentoffinancialservices.

The decisions will helpNBFCs,hithardbytheCovid-19crisis, tackle their temporaryliquidity mismatch and alsoenablethemtocontinuetolendandaidlast-milefinancing.Theriskaversionofinvestorstolow-ratedNBFC andMFI firms hasonly intensified in recentmonths,whichwasreflected inthe fact that banks onlyaccepted half themoneypro-videdbythecentralbankunderthefirsttrancheofthetargetedlongtermrepooperations2.0.

As for the PCGS 2.0,whichwas part of the packagesannouncedbyfinanceministerNirmalaSitharaman lastweek,the existing PCGS will beextended to coverborrowings,such as primary issuance ofbonds/commercial papers ofsuchfirms,whereinthegovern-mentwill bear the first20%ofloss.The government saidAA-ratedpapersandbelow,includ-ingunratedpapers,willbeeligi-ble for investment.Itwill coverNFBCs,HFCsandMFIs.

The government has nowextended the validity of theextant scheme (PCGS 1.0) bynine months through March2021.Italsorelaxedconditionsto make those NBFCs, whichwere reported under the SMA-1 categorymerelyon technicalreasonsoneyearbeforeAugust2018, eligible to tap thisscheme. Earlier NBFCs/HFCsreported as SMA-1 or SMA-2duringthisperiodwereineligi-ble. Similarly, NBFCs, whichmade profits in at least one ofthe past three financial years(andnottwoyears),willbeeligi-ble to be covered under thePCGS1.0.

The Cabinet also cleared aproposalforthegovernmenttoofferfull guarantee tobanks toprovide `3 lakh crore as auto-matic collateral-free loans tomicro, small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) whoseaccounts are still standard, in

syncwith the announcementlastweek.For this purpose,thegovernment has earmarked acorpus of `41,600 crore overthe current and the next threefinancialyears,itsaidinastate-ment after the Cabinetmeet-ing.BorrowersundertheMudrascheme,whichpromotesaspir-ing entrepreneurs,will also becoveredunderthisplan.

“Under the scheme,100%guarantee coverage to be pro-videdbyNational CreditGuar-antee Trustee Company foradditional funding of up to `3lakh crore to eligible MSMEsand interestedMudra borrow-ers,intheformofaGuaranteedEmergencyCreditLinefacility,”accordingtothestatement.

The government will pro-vide emergency credit line toMSMEsfrombanksandNBFCsup to 20%of their entire out-standing credit as of February29.Borrowerswith up to `25crore outstanding and `100crore annual turnoverwill beeligible.Suchloanswillhavea4-year tenorwithmoratoriumof12monthsontherepaymentofthe principal amount. Theinterestwill be capped and thescheme can be availed untilOctober31.

Revenue sharemodel for coalauction gets nodITALLOWEDcommercial coalmining by the private sectorandremovedtheend-usecurbsforcaptivecoalmines,virtuallyremovingthecaptive/non-cap-tivedistinction.Also,100%FDIisnowallowed in the sectorviatheautomaticroute.

TheCabinet onWednesdayapproved a new auctionmethodologyforcoal blocks asperwhichthefloorpricebench-marked for the auctionswouldbe 4% of the revenue share,incrementing in multiples of0.5%.If bidders raise the gov-ernment’s revenue share tomorethan10%intheauctions,bidswouldbeaccepted inmul-tiples of 0.25%of the revenuesharethereafter.

Sources said that therequirement of prior experi-enceforprospectivebiddersforcoal blocks has also beenremoved from the list of eligi-bility criteria for the bidders.Also, the price of coal for com-mercial mining are said to bedetermined on the basis of a‘National Coal Index’, whichwouldincludeaweightedcom-bination ofmonthly prices ofcoal in various channels oftransaction.The national coalindex will update the priceseverytwomonths.Theupfrontamountpayablebythehighestbidderwouldbe0.25%ofvalueof geological reserve of the

mines,cappedat`100croreformineswith up to 200milliontonne reserves and`500 crorewith blocks with higher coalreserves.

Analysts say the newmethodologymight be attrac-tive for domestic user indus-trieswhich are likely to bid forcoal assets more aggressivelynowwith the removal of end-use restrictions thatwill allowthemtosellsurplusaftermeet-ing own requirements in theopen market. However, whilethe idea may also be to bringglobal mining giants such asBHP Billiton, Rio Tinto andGlencore into India’s coalmin-ingsector,thesefirmsareseem-ingly withdrawing from thesectorinagradualmannerandas a result don’t seemtohave akeeninterestinIndia’scoalsec-toratthis juncture.

“The methodology is ori-ented tomakemaximumcoalavailable in themarket at theearliestand italsoenablesade-quate competitionwhichwillallowdiscoveryofmarketpricesfor the blocks and fasterdevel-opment of coal blocks.Higherinvestment will create directand indirect employment incoal bearing areas especially intheminingsectorandwillhavean impact on economic devel-opment of these regions,” thegovernment said in a state-ment.

Ola to layoff1,400 employeesWITHMORE companies pre-ferring to have a large numberofemployeesworkfromhome,air travel limited to essentialtrips and vacations being putoff forbetter times,the impactofthecrisisisgoingtobe“long-drawn”,Aggarwaladded.

Ola’s total losses stood atover`2,590crore intheyeartoMarch2019,slightlylowerthanlossesof`2,842.3crorepostedinFY18.

Public transport services inIndia have been suspendedsincetheimpositionofthelock-down startingMarch 25. Cabaggregators like Ola andUberwere allowed to resumepartialoperations only in early May.After the government permit-tedmoreeconomicactivitiesinthe fourth phase of the lock-down,thecompaniesrestartedservices in more cities. US-headquarteredUberundertooktwo downsizing exercises thismonth,slashing close to6,700jobs globallyapart fromreach-ingadecisiontoshut45offices.

Ola said all the impactedemployeeswill receive amini-mumfinancial payout of threemonths of their fixed salary,irrespectiveofthenoticeperiodbesidesbeingeligibleforinsur-ancecoverandcareersupport.

Maruti,Hyundaifocus ondeliveries;production lowTHESCENEisnotmuchdiffer-entatHyundaiMotorIndia,thecountry's second largest pas-sengervehiclemanufacturer,which has also startedwork atitstwoplantatSriperumbudurin Chennai from May 8. Thecompany,which used tomake2,000 cars every day, is cur-rently making only 200 carsdaily.

ThefocusforHyundaiisalsoto first clear inventorieswhichit ishopefulofdoingasaround5,379 of its showrooms havenow begun functioning.Hyundai's inventory is around35,000. Hyundai's bookingsstood at 4,367 and it has sincetheopeningofplantandshow-roomsdelivered2,771vehicles.

Both the companies saidthat their vendors are alsoslowlyresumingoperationsbutitcannotbesaidthatallofthemare fully functional so con-straints in full swing produc-tion will continue for some-time. Further, the companiesare in the process of ascertain-ing how much of customerenquiries come which wouldhelpthemingaugingdemand.

Though Tata Motors andMahindra andMahindra, theother twobig players in the PVsegment, did not share theirbookingsanddeliveries,indus-try sources said the scenario isno different there also fromMarutiandHyundai.

For instance, out of its sixplants in the automotive seg-ment,M&Mhasresumedoper-ationsinthree–Nasik,Igatpuri,andHaridwar.However,actualproductionworkhasnotstarted.Dealer checks indicate thatM&M's inventoryinthePVseg-mentisaround15,000units.

Similarly,Tata Motors hasstartedoperationsatbothcom-mercial and passengervehicleplants located at Pantnagar(Uttarakhand) and Sanand(Gujarat).“Nearly 200 dealer-ships and 300 workshops forpassengervehiclesandover400sales outlets and 885 work-shops for commercial vehicleshave begun operationswith anewset of standard operatingprocedure defining minimalinteractions andmaintainingprudent social distancewhileengagingwithcustomers.Overthe last few days, customershave initiated new bookings,deliveriesofpassengervehicleshave commenced and work-shops are seeing increasinginflowofvehiclesforservicing,”thecompanysaid.

Dealer checks indicate thatthecompany'sinventorystands

ataround20,000units.

AreDelhi’sinfection levels at7%or22%?BASEDONthemedicalbulletin,Delhi had472 fresh infectionsonMay14outoftotalof6,391fresh tests; in theHigh Court,however,theDelhigovernmentsaid1,807testswereconductedonMay14.The discrepancy inthe numberof tests thatDelhiconducts is at the heart of thecontroversy. On May 6, forinstance, the high court wasinformedthat1,373testsweredone but the state’s MedicalBulletin puts the number at4,082.OnMay14,theHCwastold that 1,807 testswere con-ductedwhile theMedical Bul-letinputs it at 6,391.There aresimilardiscrepanciesforalldaysinbetween.

TillMay15, theDelhi gov-ernment reported six sets ofdatatotheHC;oneofthesewas‘fresh samples taken’ andanother‘reports received’.Thelatterreferredtothenumberoftests done during the day.OnMay 6, for instance, the HCreport shows 6,153 pendingsamples; on May 7, a total of1,608freshsamplesweretakenand 3,499 reports werereceived.Addthependingsam-plesonMay6 to the freshoneson May 7 and deduct thereports received onMay7,andyouget4,262whichthereporttotheHCshowedwasthenum-berofpendingsamplesonMay7. The same exercise can bedone for other days and itmakes it clear the number oftests done was the same as‘reportsreceived’.

On May 16, however, theDelhi government changed itsmethodofreportingdatatotheHC and added the number ofsamples taken during a day tothenumberof reports receivedand clubbed them under theheading “Number of samplestested during the day (bothpublic&privatelabs)”.Eventhis,however,doesn’t fix the prob-lem since, on May 16, the HCdata talks of 3,381 testswhilethe medical bulletin talks of5,656tests.Addtothis,thecon-troversyoverwhetherthecityisreportingthenumberofCovid-19deaths,anditisclearthesys-temofreportingneedsadrasticoverhaul.

Domestic flightsto start againfromMay25;guidelines today“DOMESTIC CIVIL aviationoperationswillrecommenceina calibratedmanner fromMay25.Allairports&aircarriersare

being informed to be ready foroperations fromMay25.Stan-dardOperating Procedures forpassengermovement are alsobeing separately issued by theministryof civil aviation,”PurisaidonTwitter.

Airlinesareawaitingfurtherclarityonwhich sectorswouldbethefirsttoopenupfromMay25, multiple executives said.Earlierthismonth,theAirportsAuthority of India (AAI) hadissued detailed guidelines onhowoperationswillbehandledat airports. The directivesassumed that flightsmay ini-tially be limited to Tier-I andmajorTier-II cities.“Once thelockdownperiod is declared tobe over,airports shall be facili-tating limited domestic/inter-national scheduled flights inphases,to startwith,maybe at30% capacity to facilitaterequiredsocialdistancing,"AAIsaid.

Airports have been prepar-ingtorestartoperationsaccord-ing to the AAI’s directives, anexecutivewithaprivateairportoperator said.“We needmoreclarityfromtheministryontheSOPs,butwehavebeenprepar-ing the airport for social dis-tancing measures such asmaintaining distance of twometresbetweenpassengersanddisinfectingbaggage,”theexec-utivesaid.Thecountryhasbeenunder lockdown since March25tocurb the spreadof coron-avirus.

Morethana lakhtestedagain inaday“BUTTODAY,thathaschangedin twoways — the supply hasimproved and we have alsoproactively takenmeasures toreduce the dependence onimports forourtesting.Tohelpus go ahead,wemade surewehandhold all organisationswhichcanproduceRNAextrac-tion kits andVTM (viral trans-portmedium) kits. Iwould saythatmorethan75%ofthesup-pliesare fromdomesticmanu-facturers and newplayers arecoming in every day,” saidMishra, who is also the chair-man of the empowered grouponhospitals,quarantine facili-ties,disease surveillance, test-ingandcriticalcare.

Meanwhile, the total num-berof cases across the countryhastouched1,06,750,ofwhich5,611 cases were reported inthe last 24 hours. With 140more deaths, the toll is now3,303while42,297haverecov-ered.With 1,08,121 samplesbeing tested in the last 24hours,thetotalnumberoftestshas now touched 25,12,388.The current sample positivityrate isaround4%.

Respondingtoaquestiononwhether India is planning to

change its policy for use ofhydroxychloroquine for treat-ment and post-exposure pro-phylaxis,DrRRGangakhedkar,head of epidemiology andinfectious diseases at ICMR,said: “We are considering theevidence,wewill take a call onit.”

In a new comparison, theHealthMinistrysaid ina state-ment:“Compared to theglobalscale,wherethereare62.3casesper lakh,India still hasonly7.9cases/ lakh population. Simi-larly,formortalityperlakhpop-ulation,whiletheglobalaveragerate is 4.2, India’s figure ispeggedat0.2.Therelativelylowdeath figures represent timelycase identification and clinicalmanagementofthecases.”

UDAYschemefared evenworse?ITMAYbenotedthatthestatesthemselves have reported aspike in discom losses to`28,036croreinFY19andIcraprojected the FY20 losses ofthese entities to be slightlyhigherat`30,000crore,pend-ingreleaseofofficialdata.

Ofcourse,PFC,inits“Reporton financial performance ofstate powerutilities 2017-18”bearsoutthefactthattheUjwalDiscom Assurance Yojana(UDAY) scheme, launched inFY16,indeedhelped in reininginthe losses in the initialyears.In terms of other parameterstoo, the schemehas been rela-tively successful although thestiff targets could not bemet.The discoms started being lessintent on sticking to theUDAYmandate since FY19. Theschemeallowedpartsofdiscomlosses to be absorbed by thestateswithFRBMforbearance.

UDAY aimed to reduceaggregate technical and com-mercial (AT&C) losses of dis-comsto15%andeliminatethegapbetweencostofsupplyandrevenuerealised(ACS-ARRgap).According to thegovernment'sUDAYportal,AT&C losseswere18.9% and the ACS-ARR gapwas `0.42/unit at the end ofFY20. In FY16, when thescheme was launched, AT&Closseswere20.7%andtheACS-ARRgapwas`0.59/unit.

The government has citedfactors such as inadequatehikes in power tariffs, inade-quaterisein‘openaccess’trans-actions and outstanding duesaccumulating from state gov-ernment departments amongthereasonsforthediscomsnotmeetingtheUDAYtargets.

Tobesure,theFY18lossfig-ures released by the govern-mentwere based on the provi-sionaldataenteredbystatesonthe UDAY portal. The FY18auditeddatabyPFCalsobeliedthe government’s earlier claim

that discoms inUttarPradesh,TamilNadu,Punjab,Karnatakaand Madhya Pradesh havereducedtheirFY18booklossesbymorethan50%incompari-sontoFY16.ApartfromAndhraPradesh andMadhya Pradesh,losses have actually increasedfor the other statesmentionedin the period.Also,powerpur-chase costs in states such asChhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jhark-hand and Punjab haveincreased fromFY16 to FY18,contrary to the government’sclaimthatthereversehadhap-penedduetotheUDAYscheme.

However,therewere indeedsome improvements recordedin Assam, Gujarat, Haryana,MaharashtraandRajasthan,asdiscoms in these states turnedrevenue surplus, with theiraverage revenue realised sur-passing the supply cost (nega-tiveACS-ARRgap) inFY18.

Discoms inDelhi andWestBengalalsorecordedanegativeACS-ARRgapthoughtheywerenot part of the UDAYscheme.AT&C losses of discoms weredownfrom23.56%inFY17to22.31% inFY18,but the sameincreasedyear-on-yearinafewstates such as Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Punjab andTelangana, revealed the PFCreport. Also, states haverecordedimprovementsinsub-sidydisbursals,with all statesexcept Himachal Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Rajasthan,TelanganaandPun-jab releasing entire subsidybooked by their respective dis-coms inFY18,according to thePFCreport.

Stateshavenowbeenaskedto reduceAT&C losses of theirdiscoms and also reduce theACS-ARR gapwhich will earnthemadditionalnetborrowingspace of 0.25%of the respec-tive gross state domestic prod-uct inFY21.

Zuckerbergrecommits tocommercewith‘Shops’THEREALsignificanceofTues-day’s announcement, though,maybe Zuckerberg’s personalinvolvementintheeffort.Face-book has built shopping fea-tures into its service beforewithout much traction. Priorefforts around buybuttons inusers’ feeds and sellingvirtualgiftsnevertookoff.Facebook has even offeredproduct catalogs for years,including a “Facebook PageShop”thatletsbrandslistprod-ucts within a “digital storefront”–muchofthesamefunc-tionality that Zuckerbergannounced on Tuesday butunderadifferentbanner.

—BLOOMBERG

SUMITJHANewDelhi, May 20

THECENTREISnotinclinedtoaccedetotheindustrydemandforGSTwaiveratthis juncture.Eventhoughafinalcallonratereductions will have to betaken at the GST Council,where the Centre and thestatesfollowademocraticvot-ing system,officials are of theviewthattheindustry’scallforaGSTwaiver forsixmonths tospurdemandismisplaced,asitdoesn’t factor in the adverseimpactof suchamove.

Theconsequenceswouldbefelt not only by the industryitself but also by consumersand states, these sources said.Furthermore,keepingtheGSTin abeyance would allowimports to gain an unfairadvantage over domesticallymanufacturedgoods,theyfelt.

An official said if GST iswaived on final products, itwould also block the input taxcredit (ITC) which the selleradjusts against the eventualtax liability in normal course.The seller thenwould have norecourse but to raise the priceofthecommodity,thusdefeat-ing the purpose of creatingmoredemand.

Further,aGSTwaiverwouldlead to a demand of refund ofITClyinginbalancewithman-ufacturers,tradersandserviceproviders,whoarealreadysuf-fering from acute liquidityproblems.“However,refundofseveral lakh crore in the formITC,lyingutilisedwithtaxpay-ers,isnearimpossible,”anoffi-cial said.

Additionally, the states’financeswouldsufferfromnilGST collection as nearly 70%of this indirect tax revenuegoes to the states' coffers as acombination of their ownshare (state GST) and devolu-tion fromtheCentre’s share.

“In addition to the collec-tion targets coming underpressure,GSTwaiverswouldbedifficult to administer as theycould lead to divergence ofpricingmechanismacrosssec-tors and inverted duty struc-ture situations,” MS Mani,partneratDeloitte India,said.

A GST waiver would alsounwittingly promoteimported goods that have notsuffered any tax in theirdomestic jurisdiction,anotherofficialsaid.HeaddedthatGSTexemption on sanitary nap-kins in the past and PPE kitsmore recently showed the

adverse impact on prices anddomesticmanufacturers.

However,someexpertssaidinstead of GSTwaiver acrossthe board, an exemption oncertain essential items couldbe implemented.

The government canmakeessential commodities zero-rated including food,housing,public transport,andpharma-ceutical products, so that theconsumer are freed from theburdenoftaxes,andbusinesseshave easier compliance,”RajatMohan, senior partner atAMRG&Associates,said.

Another official saidwhilea final decision is in the GSTCouncil’s domain, the bodymay find that the option onlybrings hardship to the busi-nesses and state finances,while providing virtually norelief to customers.

“The government shouldlook at rationalising the taxratesingeneralwhichcanhelpbring down the cost of thesemass-marketgoods.Suchcon-cession will not only have apositive impact onpublic sen-timent but will also improvethe revenue for exchequer onaccountofenhanceddemand,”AyushAMehrotra, partner atKhaitan&Co,said.

GDP

PFC-REC to clear genco dues directly fromdiscom loansFE BUREAUNewDelhi, May 20

POWER SECTOR LENDERSPFC and REC will use the`90,000-crore loan amountallottedtostate-runpowerdis-tributioncompanies(discoms)to directly pay power genera-

tors(gencos)whichowemoneyfromtheseentities.

“The payment shall bereleased directly to CPSUgen-cos /RE rencos/IPPs/ CPSUtranscos based on authorisa-tionofdiscomsinthis regard,”policy notes separatelyreleased by the lenders

explaining the disbursalmechanism of the ‘speciallong-term transition loan todiscomsforCovid-19’said.

The`90,000-croreloanwasannouncedbyfinanceministerNirmalaSitharamanlastweek.Discoms will be eligible fortheseloansonlytotheextentof

theamountreceivabletothemfromtheirrespectivestategov-ernmentsintheformofunpaidsubsidies and dues (pendingbills of civic bodies and othersuchinstitutions),restrictedtooutstanding dues of gencosandPowerGridCorporationofIndia. Such government

department dues to discomscurrently stand at about`54,000croreacrossthecoun-try. If the states avail the fullquantumof the loan,much ofthe outstanding receivables ofthe gencos, which stood at`93,066 crore at the end ofMarch2020,wouldbecleared.

79 lakh newEPFmembers in FY20,up 29%AN ESTIMATED 79 lakh newmembers, around 29%morecomparedwith 2018-19, gotregisteredwiththeEmployees’Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO) in 2019-20,according

to itsnetpayroll data.The data of net new sub-

scribersisbasedontheUniver-sal Account Number (UAN)generated in the system andwhere the first non-zero sub-

scription was received, theEPFOsaid.

The EPFO said its data isprovisional as updation ofemployees records is a contin-uousprocess. —FEBUREAU

3FINANCIALEXPRESS

WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020

FE BUREAUPune, May 20

BAJAJAUTOREPORTEDamarginal0.4%year-on-yearriseinitsnetprofitduringtheMarchquarterof FY20 to`1.310.38crore.Thecompany’srevenuesdeclined8.2%dur-ing the quarter to `6,815.85 crore. BajajAutohadaone-timegainof`342croreafteritreversedachargewhichithadmadeforaneducationcessandpenaltyimposedbytheUttarakhand government. The companychallenged this in the SupremeCourt andwonthecase.Bajajalsobenefitedfromforexgains.Therewasalsoa44%growthinotherincome`532croreduringQ4FY20.Bajaj’soperatingmarginduring thequartergrewto18.4%compared to16.5%inthecorre-sponding quarter last year. The marginimprovementwas attributed tobettermixbetweenmotorcycles,commercialvehiclesandexports.Thecompanywitnesseda17%decline in total twoand threewheelervol-umesduringQ4FY20to9.91lakhunits.

The companyhad resumedoperationsafterpartialeasingonlockdown.Themanu-facturing facilities in Chakan,Waluj andPantnagarhadopenedbutwerenotwork-ing at full pace and in thenear future theyare expected to continue to witness theimpact of this lockdown.Rakesh Sharma,ED,BajajAuto,saidtherewasalockdownvir-tuallyineverymarkettheysoldinacrosstheglobe. However, the second half of FY21wouldseeasmartrecovery.

FE BUREAUHyderabad, May 20

PHARMAMAJOR DR REDDY’S Laborato-riesreportedanetprofitof`764.2croreforthefourthquarter,upby76%from`434.4crore in the corresponding quarter of lastyear,onthebackofgreatercontributionofrevenues fromtheUSandEuropeanmar-kets.Revenuesstoodat`4,431.8crore,upby10% from theyear-ago period.For thefull year,net profit increased by11.2%at1,949.8crore,asagainst`1,879.5crore,ona revenue of `17,460 crore, up by 13%from`15,385crore.

The company’s global generics seg-mentclockeda20%year-on-yearincreaseto `3,639.8 crore.Among other geogra-

phies, Europe’s segment saw a jump of80%inrevenuewhileNorthAmericaandemerging markets rose 21% and 15%,respectively,whileIndiarevenuesrose5%year-on-year.

“FY20hasbeenaverypositiveyearforthe company. Progress made during theyearincludesVAIstatusforCTO6,healthyproduct pipeline build up, productivityimprovementandstrongfinancialperfor-mance across our businesses,”GVPrasad,co-chairmanandMD,said.

CompaniesFINANCIALEXPRESS4 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020

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POST-COVIDSCENARION Chandrasekaran, chairman, TCS

Whenweemerge out of this crisis, theworldwill be avery differentplace.We arewitnessingmany of those changes already.Withcloud and the newclass of collaboration tools, people arediscovering that they are able to collaboratewith each other just aswellworking fromhome, as they did in person in the pre-Covid era

Khatabook raises$60 m in funding ledby B Capital GroupKHATABOOK,WHICHprovidessolutionstohelpmicro,smallandmedium-sizedbusinessestrackbusinesstransactions,onWednesdaysaidithasraised$60million(over`454crore)infundingledbyBCapitalGroup.TheSeriesBroundalsosawparticipationfromnewandexistinginvestors,includingSequoiaIndia,PartnersofDSTGlobal,Tencent,GGV,RTPGlobal,HummingbirdVentures,FalconEdgeCapital,Rocketship.vcandUnileverVentures,astatementsaid.AngelinvestorsKevinWeil,AlexanderWill,KunalShah,KunalBahlandRohitBansal(Snapdealfounders)alsoparticipated,itadded.

ShareChat laysoff101employeesoverCovid-19

REGIONALLANGUAGEsocialmediacompanyShareChat is layingoff101employeesamidmarketuncertaintiesdue to theCovid-19pandemic.Inanemail toemployees,theTwitter-backedplatformoutlinedsteps it is taking to“become leanerandposition thecompanybetterforthe future”.“Wewouldbesayinggoodbye to101ofourShareChatwasis today...This is averytoughcall forus.Ihopeyouunderstandthatwehadtodo it fortheorganization tosustainandsee itthroughto theothersideof thispandemic,”AnkushSachdeva,co-founderandCEOofShareChat,said.

JubilantFoodWorksQ4netprofitdown58%

JUBILANTFOODWORKSonWednesdayreporteda57.96%declineinconsolidatednetprofitat`32.53croreforthefourthquarterendedMarch2020,duetothecoronaviruspandemicandsubsequentlockdown.Thecompany,whichoperatesfastfoodchainsDomino’sPizzaandDunkin’Donuts,hadpostedanetprofitof`77.38croreinJanuary-Marchquarterayearago,JubilantFoodWorkssaidinaBSEfiling.

JKLakshmiCementQ4net jumpsovertwofold

JKLAKSHMICementonWednesdayreportedamore thantwofold jumpinconsolidatednetprofit to`98.63crore forthe fourthquarterendedonMarch2020,helpedbycostreductions.Thecompanyhadpostedaprofit of`39.38crore in theJanuary-Marchperiodayearago,itsaid ina regulatoryfiling.However,itsrevenue fromoperationsduring thequarterunderreviewwasdown11.08%at`1,137.47crore,against`1,279.33croreayearago.

WebCargo,IBStieupforthird-partyintegration

WEBCARGO,ANarmofdigitalfreightplatformFreightosGroup,andKerala-basedIBSSoftwarehaveteamedupforan“industry-first”partnershipempoweringaircarrierstobecomefullydigitalwithanoff-the-shelfsolution.Withamajorityofbookingsstillbeingmadeoffline,ratemanage-mentanddistributionhavebecomecriticaltokeepsupplychainsmovingduringtheCovid-19pandemic.

Flipkart inpartnershipwithVishalMegaMart

TOFACILITATEthedeliveryofessentials at consumers’doorsteps inthe fastest andsafestmannerpossible,Flipkart announced itspartnershipwithVishalMegaMart.Underthispartnership,consumersacrossmore than365VishalMegaMart storeswill beable toorderproductsandget themdeliveredattheirdoorstepsbyFlipkart.

VentureCatalystsinvestsin7start-upsduringlockdown

INTEGRATEDINCUBATORVentureCatalystshasinvestedinsevenstart-upsduringtheCovid-19lockdown.Ithasalsoclosedinvestmentsin14start-upssinceJanuary2020andisworkingonclosingmanymore.Therecentinvestmentsrangefrom$500,000to$1millionandsomeareinthebracketof$1.5millionto$2million.

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ASMITADEYNewDelhi, May 20

TROUBLE HAS BEEN brewing in therestaurant industryeversince the start ofthe lockdown,which has paralysed busi-nesses.Having logged zero sales for twomonths nowand no certainty as towhenrestaurantswouldbeupandrunning—norelief has come from the governmenteither— firms are looking to shut outletsunless landlordsare forthcomingenoughtoease the rentalburden.

Priyank Sukhija, CEO at First FiddleRestaurantsthatownsbrands likeLordofthe Drinks and Plum by Bent Chair, saidalthough currently the firm has no plansto shut, there is a possibility of the com-panyclosingafewoutletsofthe31itoper-ates,if the landlordsdonotagree toa rev-

enue-sharingdeal postwithdrawal of thelockdown.“After lockdown, therewill beless business, restaurantswill openwithrestrictions and may operate only at amaximumof60%occupancy.There isnopoint inbookingfurtherlosses foroutletsthat do not get decent footfalls,” SukhijatoldFE.

In fact,AnkitMehrotra,CEOat restau-rant discovery platform Dineout, saidnearly10%of its50,000restaurantpart-nershavedeclaredclosure,about20%areunsureofthefutureandanother10%willshutdownsomeoftheiroutletswheretherents are high and the footfall is not asheavy.Mehrotrasaidleasecostisthehigh-est fixed cost component besides payrolland energy costs.Nearly 40 lakh jobswillbeaffectedbyCovid,Mehrotrasaid.“Mostrestaurantshavefurloughedoraskedtheir

staff to leave citing lack of funds. Theindustry is expecting a revenue loss ofnearly five lakh crore in this fiscal yearitself,”Mehrotra said.

As per Dineout estimates, of the4,05,000 QSRs (quick service restau-rants)/takeawayswithCFT(costfortwo)oflessthan`700,nearly90,000willshut.Ofthe 75,000 casual dining restaurants,pubs and bars with CFT of `700-1500,around 11,000 will close and of the20,000 luxury dining and five-starswithCFTof over `1,500,around 1450 outletswill shut.

Inderjeet SinghBanga,directoratBig-gie Hospitality that owns brands likePiratesofGrill andPrankster,said if land-lordsdonotgivesupport,thecompanywillbeforcedtoshutpartialoperations.Salarycutsbetween25%and50%acrossdiffer-entlevelswouldhavetobedonetosustainbusiness,Bangasaid.

Movement ofmigrant labourers backhome is another problem for the sector.

MihirDesai,founderandowneratCorumHospitality that operates brands like TheBar Stock Exchange, said the firm is leftwithmerely 600 staff from about 1,20010daysago.Ifthelockdowncontinuesforsomemore time and rents keep on accu-mulating, therewill be no option but toexit those propertieswhere landlords failtogiveanyleewayin rentalpayments.

JoySingh,co-partneratYetiandRaasta,saidthehospitalitysectorisexpecting60-70% job cuts and staring at large scaleshutdowns.“If the current situation pre-vails,wewill needbetterpolicies,supportandreliefpackagestosustain,”Singhsaid.

A recent survey by community socialmediaandconsumerplatformLocalCirclesshowed about 74%citizens said theywillnot bevisiting their favourite restaurantsinthenext30daysevenif theywereopen.

Lockdown:With an emptyplate, restaurants staring at closure

Bajaj Auto’s Q4net profit risesmarginally

SHUBHRATANDONMumbai, May 20

INTHENEXT fiveyears,only25%ofTataConsultancyServices(TCS)employeeswillneed to work out of its facilities at anygiven point in time, said RajeshGopinathan, CEO andMD of TCS, in hisletter to shareholders, in the company’sannual report fortheyear2019-2020.

Gopinathan said thatwhilemaintain-ing stringent security controls, the com-panyhas pivoted a newoperatingmodelthatitcalls‘SecureBorderlessWorkspaces’(SBWS).

The Secure Borderless Workspacesmodel is an extension of the OpenAgileWorkspaces framework that powered theinnovative Location Independent Agilemodel that the company pioneered twoyearsago.“It leveragesallourpriorinvest-ments,andincorporatesthelearningsandbest practices around networkmanage-ment,astandardservicedeliveryenviron-ment, cloud-enabled governanceprocesses,heavy use of digital collabora-tiontools,andaninternalSecurityOpera-tions Center benchmarked to the best inthe industry,”he said.

HesaidthateventhoughSBWSis initsearly days, the outcomes from the newmodel have been impressive.“Our cloud-

basedprojectmonitoringsystemhasbeentrackingtheprogressofover23,000ongo-ingprojectsonareal timebasis,”he said.

Calling SBWS the future of work,Gopinathan said that the company’s cus-tomers are comfortablewith this modeland in factwant the company to take onmorework that the“others arenotable tohandle”.

“This has given us the confidence tocome outwith a bold newVision 25x25.Webelieve that by2025,only25%of ourassociates will need to work out of ourfacilities at any point of time; and every

associatewillbeabletorealizetheirpoten-tialwithout spendingmore than 25%oftheirtime inaTCSoffice,”he said.

While announcing the results for therecently ended fourth quarter, theman-agement of TCS had said the Covid-19pandemic had hurt the softwaremajor’sbusiness,butwashopefulitwouldbebackwhere it had been before the outbreak byQ3FY21.

Gopinathan said that the near-termimpact on the revenue side of what isunfoldingaround is comparable toglobalfinancialcrisisanditspeakimpactisgoingto come in the next quarter.“Aswe lookforward beyond that, assuming that thepeak is inQ1,wehavemodelled it thatweshould get back to where we were inQ3FY20 by the timewe get to Q3FY21.Exit rate of Q4FY21 will be similar towherewe are in Q4FY20 and immediateperiodswillbefairlyuncertain,if Iweretolookat theworst case scenario”hesaid.

TheMarchquarterwasamixedoneforTCS.The consolidated net profit for thethreemonthsofJanuary-Marchremainedflatat`8,049crore.Revenuesatthecoun-try’s biggest software services exporterstood at `39,946 crore, flat compared tothe December quarter. The company’'sconstant currency (CC) revenue growthwas3%onayear-on-yearbasis.

Only25%ofTCSworkforce towork frompremisesby2025


LOWERCOSTSAND stable pricing cametotherescueofUltraTechevenasthepan-demic impacted itsMarchquarterperfor-mance.UltraTech Cement reported a 6%year-on-year increase in its consolidatednet profit at `1,131 crore for the quarterendedMarch31.Thisisthecompany’snor-malisedprofit.

The company has reported both nor-malised andnetprofit numbers this quar-ter, on account of deferred tax liabilitiesbecause of change in the tax regime from35% to the new25%.Normalised profitaftertax(PAT)of`1,131croreisbeforecon-sideringthebenefitof`2,112croreofrever-sal of deferred tax liabilities as onApril 1,2019,duetochangeinincometaxrates.Thecompany’s reported net profit stood at`3,243crore,includingthegainofdeferredtaxliabilities(DTLs).

According toHDFC Securities Institu-tionalResearchDesk,UltraTech’svolumessuffered (down 16%y-o-y) in theMarchquarterowingtotheCovid-19impact.How-ever,stable pricing and lower energy costdroveunitaryEbitda expansion14%y-o-ytoa solid`1,139/MT(up13%quarter-on-quarter), thus moderating consolidatedearningsbeforeinterest,taxes,depreciationandamortisation (Ebitda) decline to4%y-o-y.“Subsequently,higher treasury gainsandlowertaxratedroveupadjustedPATby6% y-o-y. During FY20, strong profits(Ebitda/Apatup28/51%),alongwithwork-

ingcapitalreleaseandflattishcapexboostedfreecashflowsanditsnetdebtfell25%y-o-yto`16.9billion.Netdebt/ebitdacooledoffto1.8xvs3xy-o-y,”thebrokeragesaid.

The consolidated revenue fromopera-tionsdeclined13%y-o-yto`10,579croreonaccount of disruptions ledbyCovid-19related shutdowns,resulting in lowersalesvolumesduringthequarterandthefullyear.“Inthefaceoftheunprecedentedsituationarisingoutofthepandemic,thecompany’soperationsacrosslocationswereshutdowninlinewiththegovernmentdirectives.Con-struction activity across the countrywashalted,which is normallyat its peak in themonth of March, leading to an adverseimpactonthecompany’soperationsduringthe quarter ended March 31, 2020,” thecompanystatementsaid.

Firms are looking to shut outletsunless landlords are forthcomingenough to ease the rental burden

Calling the Secure BorderlessWorkspacesmodel the future of

work, the company’s CEO&MD saidthat the company’s customers arecomfortablewith thismodel

For the full year, net profit increasedby 11.2% at 1,949.8 crore, as against`1,879.5 crore, on a revenue of`17,460 crore, up by 13%

● LETTERTO SHAREHOLDERS

UltraTech sees 6% rise inQ4 consolidated net profit

DrReddy’sQ4net rises76%

Dreamdebut: RIL-Rights Entitlementprice jumps 40%; closes at `212 onNSEPRESSTRUSTOF INDIAMumbai, May 20

DE-MATERIALISED TRADING OFReliance Industries Ltd-Rights Entitle-ment(RIL-RE)madeastrongdebutonthestock exchanges onWednesday, rising bynearly40%tosettle at`212.

Oil-to-telecom behemoth RelianceIndustries’ `53,125-crore mega rightsissue opened for subscription by share-holdersonWednesday.

It becamethe first issuewhereeligibleshareholders got the rights entitlements(REs) in demat,which could be traded onstockexchanges.

RIL-REclosedat`212on theNational

Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday,39.5% higher over the previous closingpriceof`151.90.

The Rights Entitlement share price(closing price as ofMay19) is the differ-encebetweenthepreviousclosingpriceofRILat `1,408.9 and the rights issue priceof`1,257pershare.

Accordingtomarketdata,online trad-inginRIL’sREsreachedhighvolumeswithbuyers outpacing sellers and the pricesoaring.The RIL-RE share price jumpednearly40%afteropeningat`158.05.

Its trading volumewasmuch higherthanRIL.TradingvolumesofRIL-REstoodatover2.91croreshares,whileRILvolumewas2.55crore sharesontheNSE.

Atmarket close,theREtradedat`212and RIL shares traded at `1,437.40 —which is at a differential of `180.4 over`1,257.

The companywill offer one share forevery15sharesheldat`1,257pershare.

RIL is issuing new shares to existingshareholders at aprice lower than its cur-rentmarket price.Also, an eligible share-holderwill get 18months to pay for thenewsharesoverthree installments.

The eligibility date to get these sharesonpreferred termswasMay14.

This will be the first issue where theRightsEntitlementswillbecreditedtoeli-gible shareholders’ demat accounts andwill be freelytradable.

Revenuefrom ops Ebitda Net profit*

Ebitdamargin (%)

25

22

«« «

Q4FY19 Q4FY20 Chg (%)(` cr)

13 1« « 6 300bps

12,170

2,672

1,064

10,579

2,639

1,131

*Excluding gain of opening deferred tax liabilities(DTL) reversal of `2,112 crore due to change inincome tax rates (34.944% to 25.168%)

MALINI BHUPTAMumbai, May 20

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has had anunexpected impact on the residential realestatemarket.Withfamiliesspendingmoretime at homeduring lockdown,organisedreal estate players have noticed a risinginterest from buyers.Also looking at thepropertymarket rather seriouslyare non-resident Indians,who are seeking digitalpresentations fromdevelopers across themetrocities.SanjayDutt,MD&CEOofTataRealty,toldFE,“NRIsarecomingbackwant-ingtoinvestinIndia.WenoticedthisinFeb-ruaryandMarch.AlotofNRIshavereturnedto India andmanymaynot go back.TheywantthesafetyofowningahomeinIndia.”Aweakerrupeeand lowerinterest ratesarealsocontributingtothedecision-making.

Withwork-from-home becoming thenew normal, developers say that in themetropolises existing buyers are comingback andchanging theirexistingbookingsas they look for larger apartments.WhilenumbersarenowhereneartheMarchquar-ter sales, large developers say there is sup-presseddemandbuthowfor it to translateintosales,the jobmarketandeconomyhastorevive.SaysArvindSubramanian,CEOofMahindraHappinestandCEO-designateofMahindra Lifespaces,“I feel therewill notonlybearecoverybutareboundinresiden-tial. Being locked up in homes for twomonthshasprecipitatedthedecision-mak-ing,withconsumersnotwillingtolivewithcompromises.Actual purchasingmaytake6-12 months as real estate is a highlyinvolved category, but I do feel that firsthome and mid segment buyers will bepromptedtodothatbytheexperienceinthelasttwomonths.”

Demandwas seen to be picking acrossIndia’s top 7 cities over the last twoyearswith unsold inventory levels declining by7%in2018and4%in2019,saysAnarockResearch. The outbreak of Covid-19 willadverselyimpactnewlaunchesandabsorp-tion in the affordable housing segment,whichaccountfor40%ofthenewlaunchesover the last fewyears, as jobs are at risk.AnarockResearchsaid inareport thatwithaffordablehousing accounting for36%ofunsoldinventoryacrosstop7citiesasofQ12020,thissegmentwasbeingtestedandthepandemic would worsen the situation.Manymayeven reconsiderpurchase deci-sionsinlightwagecutsandjoblosses.

The residential real estatemarketwasexpectingthefirstquarterofthenewfinan-cialyeartobeacompletewashoutwithzerosales,but the lockdown is tilting the deci-sion-making in favourof owning a homeversus renting it.In the first 40days of thelockdown, theMaharashtra governmenthasreportedlyseensaleofonly3,806prop-erties, which earned the state a meagreamount in registration fees.Typically, thestate government earns `25,000 crore ayearfromtherealestatesector.Whilemanystategovernmentshaveallowedonlinereg-istrations,developers say that theyexpectdemandtonotjustreturnbutrebound.

Mahindra’sSubramaniansaysthereareveryinterestingpatternsasfarasdemandisconcerned.Enquiriesarecomingfrompeo-plewhohavenevervisited the site and arerespondingtodigitaladvertisements.Devel-opers are also seeingexistingbuyers comebackandseeklargerapartments.MohitMal-hotra,MD&CEOofGodrejProperties,saysconsumers are realising the importanceofowningahome.Hesays,“Whileitistooearlytogiveanyforecastgiventhescaleofthesit-uation,peoplearestillwillingtotransact.Weexpect strong demand revival once lock-down is lifted,providedpeople have somecertaintyover their jobs.In the short-termwearegearingupfordisruptiononthesup-plyanddemandside.”IntheMarchquarter,Godrej Properties sold3000homes,whichwasitshighestquarterlyperformance.

Whiletheoutlookfortheresidentialsec-torlooksmostpromisingcomparedtoretailandcommercial,a full-blownrevival is stilltwoyearsaway.Developersbelievethat thetrendofdigitalsaleswillalsopickupintimesto comeas innovative sales andmarketingsolutionsarebeingworkeduponanddroneshoots andvirtual tours are becomingparforthecourse.

As families spendmore timeathomeduring lockdown,realtyplayers see risingbuyer interest

Unsold inventory (top 7 cities)(units)

2016

2017

2018

2019

7,90,505

7,26,218

6,73,200

6,48,399


INASETBACKtoMonsantoanditsIndianJV partner Maharashtra Hybrid SeedsCompany (Mahyco), theDelhi High CourtonWednesdayclearedthewayfortheCom-petitionCommissionofIndia(CCI)tocon-tinue probe into allegations of abuse ofdominant position in the BTCotton tech-nologymarket.

The controversy relates to the trait feecharged by Mahyco Monsanto Biotech(India) andalso theothertermsandcondi-tionsimposedbyitforusingthetechnologyformanufacturingBTCottonseeds.

JusticeVibhuBakhru,while dismissingappeals filed by theMonsanto group,said

that the court did not find any reason tointerfere with the CCI’s order directinginvestigation. It held that the CCI orderpassedunderSection26(1)oftheCompeti-tionAct“is an administrative order”and,therefore,unlessitisfoundthatthesameis“arbitrary”and“unreasonable”,nointerfer-encewouldbewarranted.“Areviewonmer-its is impermissibleatthisstage,andthere-fore,thiscourtisrefrainingfromexaminingthemeritsofthedispute,”thejudgesaid.

AccordingtoJusticeBakhru,theCCIhadmerelyissuednoticeandaffordedtheMon-santo group an opportunity to be heardbefore considering the complaints filedbythe informants under Section 33 of theCompetitionAct, thus there is“no reasonwhatsoevertointerferewiththeorder”.

HCdismissesMonsantoplea againstCCIprobe

ICONIC BIKE MAKER RoyalEnfieldonWednesdaysaidithasdecidedtorecall15,200unitsofthe Interceptor650,Continen-tal GT 650 and Himalayanmotorcyclessoldabroad,duetoacorrosion-relatedissue.Thecompanysaidithaddis-

covered a brake caliper corro-sion-related issue in a smallnumberofmotorcyclesinsomespecificcountries.Uponinvesti-gation,itwas revealed that thiscorrosion is brought about bysustained,long-termexposureto riding on roads treatedwithcertainsalts,oracombinationofsalts,topreventformationoficeduringwinters.This corrosion causes dam-

age to the brake caliperpistonbore and assemblies, and canresultinunusualbrakingsound,increased brake drag,andmay

impact braking action,a state-ment said.While the issue hasbeen reported only in a smallnumberof cases,Royal Enfieldhas decided to undertake a

proactive,safety-relatedserviceaction on the Interceptor650,ContinentalGT650andHima-layanmotorcycles sold acrossgeographies.—FEBUREAU

COMPANIES 5FINANCIALEXPRESS


HDFC Asset Management Company LimitedA Joint Venture with Standard Life Investments

CIN: L65991MH1999PLC123027

Registered Ofice: HDFC House, 2nd Floor, H.T. Parekh Marg, 165-166, Backbay Reclamation,Churchgate, Mumbai - 400 020. Phone: 022 66316333 • Toll Free Nos: 1800-3010-6767 / 1800-419-7676

Fax: 022 22821144 • e-mail: [email protected] • Visit us at: www.hdfcfund.com

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that HDFC Trustee Company Limited, Trustee to HDFC Mutual Fund(“the Fund”), has approved the declaration of dividend in HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund, anOpen-ended Balanced Advantage Fund (“the Scheme”) and ixed Tuesday, May 26, 2020 (or theimmediately following Business Day, if that day is not a Business Day) as the Record Date for thesame as given below:

Name of the Scheme / Plan / Option Net Asset Value(“NAV”) as onMay 19, 2020(` per unit)

Amount ofDividend#(` per unit)

Face Value(` per unit)

HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund - Regular Plan -Dividend Option^ (Payout and Reinvestment)

18.801

0.230 10.00HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund - Direct Plan -Dividend Option^ (Payout and Reinvestment)

20.198

^ Dividend option - Monthly Frequency# The dividend will be subject to the availability of distributable surplus and may be lower, dependingon the distributable surplus available on the Record Date.

Pursuant to payment of dividend, the NAV of the Dividend Option(s) of the aboveScheme would fall to the extent of payout and statutory levy, if any.

Income distribution will be done / Dividend will be paid, net of tax deducted at source (TDS), asapplicable, to those Unit holders / Beneicial Owners whose names appear in the Register of Unitholders maintained by the Fund / Statements of Beneicial Ownership maintained by the Depositories,as applicable, under the Dividend Option(s) of the aforesaid Scheme on the Record Date (includinginvestors whose valid purchase / switch-in requests are received by the Fund till cut-off timings inrespect of the aforesaid Scheme, on the Record date, subject to realization of cheques / demanddrafts). However, in respect of subscriptions for an amount equal to or more than ` 2 lakh (atUnit holders’ PAN and holding pattern level), the Applicable NAV shall be based on realization offunds as per the provisions of SEBI Circular CIR/IMD/DF/21/2012 dated September 13, 2012 andNo. CIR/IMD/DF/19/2010 dated November 26, 2010, as may be amended from time to time, on uniformcut-off timings for applicability of NAV.

Unitholders who have opted to receive dividend by way of physical instruments may note that the samewould be dispatched once the courier / postal services resume and that due to the unprecedentedCOVID-19 situation as also depending on availability of courier / postal services, there may be a delayin delivery of dividend payment instruments.

With regard to Unit holders of the aforesaid Scheme who have opted for Reinvestment facility underthe Dividend Option(s), the dividend due will be reinvested net of TDS, as applicable, by allottingUnits for the Income distribution / Dividend amount at the prevailing ex-dividend NAV per Unit on theRecord Date.

In view of individual nature of tax consequences, each investor is advised to consult his / her ownprofessional inancial / tax advisor.

For HDFC Asset Management Company Limited

Place : Mumbai Sd/-Date : May 20, 2020 Authorized Signatory

MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO MARKET RISKS, READ ALL SCHEMERELATED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY.

3. The above is an extract of the detailed format of Quarterly Financial Results filed with the Stock Exchanges under Regulation 33 of the SEBI (Listing and

Other Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The full format of the Quarterly Financial Results is available on the Stock Exchange websites

www.nseindia.comandwww.bseindia.comandon theCompany'swebsitewww.tatapower.com.

4. Figures for the quarters ended 31stMarch, 2020 and 31stMarch, 2019 are the balancing figures between the audited figures in respect of the full years and

the restated figures of ninemonths ended 31stDecember, 2019 and31stDecember, 2018 respectively.

For and on behalf of the Board of

THE TATA POWER COMPANY LIMITED

PRAVEER SINHA

CEO & Managing Director

DIN 01785164Date: 19th May, 2020Place: Mumbai

EXTRACT OF CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE QUARTER AND YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 2020

a. Total Income from Operations 6,620.80 7,071.03 7,229.84 29,136.37 29,881.06

b. Profit / (Loss) before Exceptional items and tax 549.60 365.44 470.54 2,142.00 2,073.26

c. Profit / (Loss) before Tax 869.73 365.44 319.13 2,368.16 3,819.09

d. Profit / (Loss) for the period/year 474.70 262.00 171.57 1,316.44 2,605.66

e. Total Comprehensive Income 1,121.37 324.33 58.84 2,152.64 2,770.15

f. Paid-up Equity Share Capital (Face Value: ₹ 1/- per share) 270.50 270.50 270.50 270.50 270.50

g. Total Reserves 17,795.52 16,535.01

h. Earnings Per Equity Share (of ₹ 1/- each) (not annualised)

Basic and Diluted: (In ₹)

(i) From Continuing Operations before net movement in

regulatory deferral balances 2.31 0.38 (0.49) 5.33 8.29

(ii) From Continuing Operations after net movement in

regulatory deferral balances 2.70 0.62 0.39 4.64 8.54

(iii) From Discontinued Operations (1.38) (0.05) (0.09) (1.52) (0.46)

(iv) Total Operations after net movement in regulatory 1.32 0.57 0.30 3.12 8.08

deferral balances

Quarter

ended

31-Dec-19

(Unaudited) *

Quarter

ended

31-Mar-20

(Refer Note 4)

Quarter

ended

31-Mar-19

(Refer Note 4) *

Year

ended

31-Mar-20

(Audited)

Year

ended

31-Mar-19

(Audited) *

Consolidated

Sr.No.

₹ crore

Notes:

1. The above results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 19th May, 2020.

2. Financial Information of the standalone financial results of the Company is as follows:

Registered Office: Bombay House, 24 Homi Mody Street, Mumbai 400 001 Website: www.tatapower.com CIN : L28920MH1919PLC000567

* Restated

Quarter

ended

31-Dec-19

(Audited)

Quarter

ended

31-Mar-20

(Audited)

(Refer Note 4)

Quarter

ended

31-Mar-19

(Audited)

(Refer Note 4)

Year

ended

31-Mar-20

(Audited)

Year

ended

31-Mar-19

(Audited)

StandaloneSr.No.

a. Total Income from Operations 1,764.42 1,932.22 2,169.44 7,726.39 8,255.25

b. Profit / (Loss) before Exceptional items and tax 55.21 (2.87) 106.90 656.88 1,179.01

c. Profit / (Loss) before Tax (157.17) (2.87) 61.90 350.53 2,347.00

d. Profit / (Loss) for the period/year (309.94) 6.94 69.16 148.12 1,768.70

e. Total Comprehensive Income (317.30) (1.90) 40.37 95.36 1,724.06

f. Paid-up Equity Share Capital (Face Value: ₹ 1/- per share) 270.50 270.50 270.50 270.50 270.50

g. Total Reserves 13,491.47 13,919.10

h. Earnings Per Equity Share (of ₹ 1/- each) (not annualised)

Basic and Diluted: (In ₹)

(i) From Continuing Operations before net movement in

regulatory deferral balances 0.57 0.34 0.28 3.23 6.72

(ii) From Continuing Operations after net movement in

regulatory deferral balances 0.08 (0.08) 0.19 1.44 6.36

(iii) From Discontinued Operations (1.38) (0.05) (0.09) (1.52) (0.46)

(iv) Total Operations after net movement in regulatory

deferral balances (1.30) (0.13) 0.10 (0.08) 5.90

₹ crore

HDFC Asset Management Company LimitedA Joint Venture with Standard Life Investments

CIN: L65991MH1999PLC123027

Registered Ofice: HDFC House, 2nd Floor, H.T. Parekh Marg, 165-166, Backbay Reclamation,Churchgate, Mumbai - 400 020. Phone: 022 66316333 • Toll Free Nos: 1800-3010-6767 / 1800-419-7676

Fax: 022 22821144 • e-mail: [email protected] • Visit us at: www.hdfcfund.com

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that HDFC Trustee Company Limited, the Trustee to HDFC Mutual Fund(“the Fund”) has approved the declaration of dividend as under in the below-mentioned Schemes /Plans / Options of the Fund and ixed Tuesday, May 26, 2020 (or the immediately following BusinessDay, if that day is not a Business Day) as the Record Date for the same:

Name of the Scheme / Plan / Option NAV as onMay 19, 2020(` per unit)

Amount ofDividend(` per unit)

Face Value(` per unit)

Plans launched under HDFC Fixed Maturity Plans - Series 29:

HDFC FMP 370D March 2014 (1) -Regular Option - Normal Dividend Option

12.3558Distributable

surplus, as reducedby applicablestatutory levy

10.00HDFC FMP 793D February 2014 (1) -Regular Option - Flexi Dividend Option

16.4937

HDFC FMP 793D February 2014 (1) -Direct Option - Flexi Dividend Option

16.6241

Pursuant to payment of dividend, the NAV of the Dividend Option(s) of the abovePlan(s) would fall to the extent of payout and statutory levy, if any.

Income distribution will be done / Dividend will be paid, net of tax deducted at source (TDS), asapplicable, to those Unit holders / Beneicial Owners whose names appear in the register of Unit holdersmaintained by the Mutual Fund / statement of beneicial ownership maintained by the Depositories, asapplicable, under the Dividend Option(s) of the aforesaid Plan(s) as on the Record Date.

Unitholders who have opted to receive dividend by way of physical instruments may note that the samewould be dispatched once the courier / postal services resume and that due to the unprecedentedCOVID-19 situation as also depending on availability of courier / postal services, there may be a delayin delivery of dividend payment instruments.

For HDFC Asset Management Company Limited

Place : Mumbai Sd/-Date : May 20, 2020 Authorized Signatory

MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO MARKET RISKS, READ ALL SCHEMERELATED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY.

For NIPPON LIFE INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED

(formerly known as Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Limited)

(Asset Management Company for Nippon India Mutual Fund)

Sd/-

Authorised Signatory

Mumbai

May 20, 2020

Make even idle money work! Invest in Mutual Funds

Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks,read all scheme related documents carefully.

(Formerly Reliance Mutual Fund)

Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited(formerly known as Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Limited)

(CIN - L65910MH1995PLC220793)

Registered Oice: Reliance Centre, 7th Floor, South Wing, OfWestern Express Highway,Santacruz (East), Mumbai - 400 055.

Tel No. +91 022 4303 1000 • Fax No. +91 022 4303 7662 • www.nipponindiamf.com

NOTICE CUM ADDENDUM NO. 17

Revision in Exit Load Structure

Notice is hereby given that Nippon India Mutual Fund (“NIMF”)/ Nippon Life India AssetManagement Limited (“NAM India”) has decided to revise the Exit Load of Nippon IndiaLarge Cap Fund w.e.f. May 22, 2020. The details of the same are as follows:

Existing Exit Load Revised Exit Load

10% of the units allotted shall be redeemed without any exit load,on or before completion of 12 months from the date of allotmentof units.

Any redemption in excess of such limit in the first 12 months fromthe date of allotment shall be subject to the following exit load.

Redemption of units would be done on First in First out Basis (FIFO):

• 1% if redeemed or switched out on or before completion of 12months from the date of allotment of units.

• Nil, if redeemed or switched out after completion of 12monthsfrom the date of allotment of units

1% if redeemed orswitched out on orbefore completionof 7 days from thedate of allotmentof units. Nil,thereafter

W.E.F. October 01, 2012, Exit Load If charged to the scheme shall be credited to the schemeimmediately net of goods and service tax, if any. The revision in exit load shall be applicableon aprospective basis to; (a) all the subscription transactions (including switch-in) processedwith NAV of May 22, 2020 and thereafter, irrespective of receipt of application. (b) all thesystematic transactions such as Systematic Investment Plan and Systematic Transfer Planetc. where registrations / enrolments have been done on or after efective date.

This addendum forms an integral part of the Scheme Information Document / KeyInformation Memorandum of the Schemes. All the other terms and conditions of theaforesaiddocuments readwith theaddenda issued fromtimeto timewill remainunchanged.

Royal Enfield to recall 15,200units of 3models sold abroad

JSWEnergynetprofit jumpsto`108.44crinMarchquar-ter:JSWEnergyonWednesdayreported 28-fold jump in itsconsolidated net profit to`108.44 crore for the fourthquarter endedMarch,mainlydue lowerexpenses. —PTI

Hyundai India launchesnewVerna:HyundaiMotorIndiaonWednesday launched India’sfirst fully connectedmid-sizesedan,thenewVerna.Thevehi-clecomeswithauniquedesign,andispricedbetween`9.3lakhand`15lakh. —FE BUREAU


FINANCIALEXPRESS6 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

❝ ❝

CROWNINGGLORYPrimeminister Narendra Modi

Itwouldmakeevery Indianproud that thenumberof

AyushmanBharatbeneficiaries has crossed1crore.

In less than twoyears, this initiativehashada

positive impacton somany lives

THERE SEEMS TO be aplateau in the number ofCovid tests per day thatIndia aspires to—about100,000.Atthisrate,closeto

two years would elapse before 5% ofIndiansaretestedonce.So,whyisacoun-tryof1.3bn seeminglysanguine aboutthepaceof testingwhenithasacceptedone of the strictest lockdowns for twomonths,whichmeans ithasnotunder-estimated thepublic health challenge?Or,whyarecountrieswithsmallerpopu-lations trying to enhance their testingcapacity fromcurrent levels?TheUS isaimingforamilliondailytests.Germanyalreadyhaswalk-intestcentres.

Themain driverof increasedCovidtestinggloballyistheneedtomakepeo-ple safe,and for themto feel safe,whileengaginginmarketactivities.Thisisfun-damental to get the economymovingagain.Onemight think that theneces-sityof earning a livingwill forcepeopletoreportforwork.But,decisionsregard-ingmarket activity are not just aboutgoingtowork.Innormaltimes,peoplegoforoutings—toshop,dineout,andvaca-tions. These actions sustain a wholeecosystemofbusinessesandlivelihoods.As an example,the tourismandhospi-tality sector in India employs 40 mnworkers—estimatedtobeabout10%oftotalemployment.UnlessIndiansbeginto engage regularlywith someof theseactivities,this component of the econ-omy, and those whose livelihoods arederivedfromthesesectors,can’trecover.

More generally, the virus hasimpacted activities involving interac-tionsbetweenpeople.Interactionsoccurbothatwork,andwhileconsumingout-sidethehome;thelattercreatetheirownbusiness supplychain.Asdemanddriesupindownstreamconsumptionindus-tries,businesses upstream,suppliers tothe former, will shut down, too. Thischainofbrokenlinksiswhatneedstobe

repaired quickly, forwhich a plausiblerequisite ismakingpeoplemore confi-denttoengageinmarketactivities.

It is,perhaps,asignofourtimesthatin the incessant cacophony,and conse-quent disappointment over fiscal andfinancial packages,relatively little dis-cussion has occurred on the potentialexpenditure required forpublic healthsafety.Tothebestofourknowledge,littlebeyond the `15,000 cr announced inMarchbytheCentre for increasedbud-getaryspending for the sectorhasbeenheard.Yet,without safetyon thehealthfront, the risk of a sharper and longerdecline in economic activity stays ele-vated.It is,perhaps,notanexaggerationtosurmisethatglobalinvestmentdesti-nationswillbeinfluencedbytherelativereputationofnationaltestingprotocols.

Ubiquitous testing is necessary formultiplereasons.Theviruscurrentlyhasnoeffectivetreatment,andasafevaccineis possibly a year away; even recoveryfrominfectiondoesn’tguaranteefutureimmunity.There is uncertainty aboutthe levelandthelongevityof immunityacquiredthroughinfection.Thisisattheheart of the necessity ofmultiple andregular testing of workers to protectworkplaces,and impart confidence toco-workersthattheywillbesafe.Hence,eventhepreviouslyinfectedwillhavetocontinuetobetested.Inaddition,alltestshaveassociatedchancesoffalsenegativeand false positive results—both errorsareproblematic.

So,howwidespreadmusttestingbe,

and howmuchwill it cost? If one onlytargetsurbanworkersinIndia,thetest-ingpool isapproximately200mnpeo-ple.Tomakeworkplacessafe,atamini-mum,everyworker needs to be testedat least once everyweek over the nextyear, or till such time as a vaccinebecomesavailable.Onadailybasis,thisisaround21testsperthousandpeople.By comparison, 100,000 daily testsimply a rate of only 0.08perthousandpeople.

The cost of RT-PCRtests in India rangesbetween `1,000 and`2,500.Thiswillundoubt-edly decline going for-ward,asmoreprivateplay-ers enter the field and thegovernmentrefrainsfroma licence-permit rajpredilection. With scaleeconomies and extensivepooltesting,itmaynotbeunreasonableto budget an averageprice of `500pertest.Thetotaloutlayonthistestingplanwould amount to 2.5%ofGDP.Whilenot an amount to be sneezed at, thismoneycanbefound.Thecostofhavingacomatose economydue to limited test-ingwillpossiblybehigherthanthis.

Implementationofthisstrategywillrequiremobilisation on awar footing.Thenumberof labs that can test fortheviruswillhavetobeincreasedtoat least2,000,witheachlabhavingthecapacityto test 5,000 samples a day.Moreover,labs need to be spread out across the

country; presently,a third of all autho-rised testing labs are in three states.Another approachwould be to incen-tivise private investment in point-of-care testingmachines that give quickresultsandfacilitatedecentralisation.

Testingatthisscalewillalsodemandaquantumincrease in suppliesof com-ponents like swabs and reagents.Thesecanbeconstraints.UniversitylabsintheUShave developed alternative testingmethods that don’t require reagents.Indiawill have to incentivise itsuniver-sities,researchlabs,andbiomedicalsup-plychainstojointhismissiontodevelopcheaperandfastertestingmethods.

The approachneedsmassive hiringoftesters,transporters,andcontacttrac-ers.Theresultantincreaseindemandforlabourshouldprovidejobstotheunem-

ployed.Hence, itwill pro-vide employment insur-ancewhilesimultaneouslystimulatingdemand.

Ubiquitoustestingwilllikelybeaworldwidephe-nomenon over the nextyear or two, and worlddemand for testing kitswillexplode.IfIndianbusi-nesses can respond to thechallengebyquicklybuild-ingcapacitytoproducerel-

ativelycheaptestingkits,thiscouldsparkaboomin thebiomedical industry.Thepandemic could do for the biomedicalindustrywhat theY2Kscaredid for theIndian ITsector. India needs to give anunambiguoussignaltoitsentrepreneursaboutthecentralityof thismission.Theskillandenterprisearebothavailable.

Meeting the challenge could be aperfect launchpad for a globalMake-in-India offering. We have alreadyreachedananalogouspositioninpartsof the pharmaceutical industry.Abot-tom-of-the-pyramid virus testingproductwill beagamechanger.

● LIVINGWITH CORONAWITHNOEFFECTIVEPHARMACOLOGICALINTERVENTIONONTHEHORIZON,UNCERTAIN IMMUNITYTOTHEVIRUS,ANDTHEEXIGENCIESOFECONOMICRECOVERY,WIDESPREADTESTING ISCRUCIAL

AMARTYA LAHIRI&URJIT R PATELLahiri is Royal Bank Professor ofEconomics,

University ofBritishColumbia & Patel is formerGovernor, RBI.Viewsare personal

STEPHENMIHMBloomberg

WHILETHERE’S STILLmuchwedon’tknow about the health effects of thecoronavirusonchildren,thereisagrow-ing consensus about the psychologicaldamageithasalreadyinflicted.Fromthedisruptionof schooling to forcedquar-antines to the traumaofwatchingpar-entslosetheirjobs,thepandemicthreat-enstobecomewhatisbeingdescribedasaonce-in-a-generationdisaster.

These concerns should be takenseriously, but so should the history ofpriordisruptions.Collective crises cansometimeshaveparadoxicallypositiveeffects on children,building characterasmuchasdestroying it.

Sceptical? Perhaps, it is time to re-read the classic longitudinal study“Children of the Great Depression.”Written by sociologist Glenn Elder, itmineddata first collected ina studyof167adolescentslivinginOakland,Cal-ifornia,in the1930s.This cohort,bornin 1920-21,went from the prosperityof that decade to the economiccalamitythat followed it.

The study amassed staggeringamounts of data on every single indi-vidual,theirotherfamilymembers,theirpsychological profile, their householdincome and expenditures, and sociallives.Subsequent researchers trackedthekidsintotheir60sandbeyond.

Elder’s contributionwas to actuallydo something with the material thatviewed these lives over the long run.Hecodedandanalysedtheinformationthathadbeengathered,comparingdifferentcohortsbymeasuressuchassocial classand the economic hit sustained by thefamily.Then, he compared how theseexperiences ramified through theseindividuals’ lives as they grew up andstartedfamiliesoftheirown.

Manyofthesechildrendirectlyexpe-riencedtheravagesoftheGreatDepres-sion:Parentslostjobs,familieslostsocialstatus, and downward mobility wascommonplace, though some familieslargelyescapedunscathed.Thosenotsofortunatetried,oftenunsuccessfully,toadapt:Mothers often took on jobs out-side thehouse tohelpmakeendsmeet,for example, while fathers took onmenialworkwellbelowtheirtraining.

These changes drove additionalshifts:Manygirls assumed significant

responsibilities within the home intheir mother’s absence, while boyssought toworkatpart-time jobs.All ofthiswas accompanied bywant,depri-vation,andevenhungeronascalethatmost contemporaryAmericanswouldfindunthinkable.

At the time, conventional wisdomheld that these experienceswould scarchildrenforlife.Onepsychoanalystfromthe1930scitedthe“devastatingeffectsof thebreakdownofmorale inparents,”andpredictedthatthisgenerationwouldsufferpermanentanxiety,fear,discour-agement,andlossofconfidence.Simplyput,theywouldneverfullyrecover.

But, that is notwhat actually hap-pened.Yes,Elder found that these chil-dren who grew up amidst economicdeprivation—definedasalossofhouse-hold income of 35%ormore—carriedthe scars of their childhood.For exam-ple,theyweremorelikelytoexhibitanx-ietiesabouttheirsocialstatus,andtheyworriedmoreabouttheopinionoftheirpeers than childrenwhodidn’t experi-encethesamedeprivation.

But,whatwasfarmorestrikingaboutElder’s findingswas the fact that eco-nomicdeprivationwas correlatedwithgreatersuccess.As theboys in thestudybecamemen,theymovedup the occu-pationalladdermorequicklyandaggres-sively than theirmore fortunate coun-terparts; they also took advantage ofeducationalopportunitiesmore readilyaswell.While this effectwasmost pro-nouncedamongmiddle-class children,working-class boys exhibited some ofthesesamepatterns.

The fate of the girls was different,though no less interesting. As theyreachedadulthood,girls fromdeprivedbackgroundstendedtogravitatetowardcareersashousewives—afunction,Elderspeculated,of the roles theyhad earlyassumed in childhood.But, in general,thesesamewomentendedtomarrymenfromahigher social class thanwomenwhohadescaped theworstof theGreatDepression.Thiswasakindofsuccess,atleastbythesexiststandardsofthe1950s.

Finally,bothmen andwomenwhosustaineddeprivationaschildrenexhib-itedhigherscoresonpsychologicalteststhatmeasuredresilience,determination,andself-confidence.Theyalsotendedto

be less defensive.Finally,theyreportedgreatercontentmentandhappinesslaterin life.Elderexplainedthesefindingsbynoting that forboys, the experience oflooking for part-time work and con-tributing to the family income pulledthem toward adulthoodmore quicklythantheircounterparts,fuellingadriveandfocusthatpaidoff.Somethingsim-ilarhappenedwithgirls,whoshoulderedadultresponsibilitiesatarelativelyearlyageandthenmovedseamlesslyintorais-ingfamiliesoftheirown.

Elder concluded that the GreatDepression had effectively deprivedthe children of a childhoodwhile set-ting themupfor long-termsuccess.Ashe concluded,“It seems that a child-hoodwhich shelters the young fromthehardshipsoflifeconsequentlyfailsto develop or test adaptive capacitieswhicharecalledupon in life crisis.”

Somethingsimilarcanbeglimpsedin studies of other kinds of collectivetraumas, such as war. In the wake ofWorldWarII,forexample,researchersweresomewhatmystifiedtolearnthatchildren in Britainwho had grownupundernear-constantbombingshowedlittletonolong-termtraumafromtheexperience. The exceptions, oddlyenough,were the children shipped tothe countryside—in order to sparethem trauma. These kids sufferedfrom a host of mental health issuescreated by forcibly separating themfromtheirparents.

These,andother studies confirmedthatmaterial deprivation—to saynoth-ingofbombingsandotherhorrors—hasfarlessofanimpactonchildrenthanweinstinctivelybelieve.And,in crises thatforce otherwise sheltered children tograpplewith reality in a constructive,focused fashion,theymaywell producehappier,healthieradults.Suchindividu-alsmaynot enjoy the privileges of the“extendedadolescence”thatnowdefinesyoungergenerations,buttheymayulti-matelygainsomethingthatmorefortu-natechildrenneverexperience.

If so,theremayyetbeasilverliningto the cloud that has settled overthecountry.

This columndoesnotnecessarilyreflect theopinionofthe editorial

boardorBloombergLPand its owners

The grave threat of afood crisisFood security systemensures thatavailability, accessibility, andaffordability of food to all people atall times.Thepolicymakers, too,were confident tomaintain thedefinitionwordbyword. However,the practice, at present, is not so,with the invasion of theCovid crisis.Themostvulnerable section is thepoor—labourers of all segments,from industry to agriculture toinfrastructure. Suffering is imminentto them.Asuddenmoveof theCentre fromaone-day homecurfewto a 21-day lockdown, andsubsequent phase 4.0 of thelockdown, has thrownmen andmatters into uncertainty. Covid-19really brought a global disaster byincreasing food shortage aswell aslacunae in life-supportingbasicamenities.World FoodProgramme'sestimation showing acute foodinsecurity for 135million people in55 countrieswould be agrave threatahead.Aswe know, food insecurityleads to a chain ofevents includingmalnutrition and low immunity,resulting inmore number ofdeaths.The time is now to take instant andimmediate steps to solve the crisis offoodmanagement.— Santosh Kumar Satapathy

Playing politicsIn view of the devastating problembeing faced bymigrant labourers,the UPgovernment and theCongress party are playing politics.If somebody comes to the rescue ofthe helplessmigrantworkers,whyhas the UPgovernment beenbehaving as a stumbling block byraisingminor objections for thecorrectness of buses. Undoubtedly,theremay beminor infirmitieswhilesending a list of 1,000 buses,what isthe difficulty in sending themigranthelplessworkers through theremaining buses found to begenuinely fit. Sinceworkers arealready in agony, the UPgovernment should allow allgenuine buses (maybe 500 or evenless) to transport themigrantworkerswithout any delay.— SK Khosla, Chandigarh

The Great Depression deprivedchildren before helping them buildresilience and thrive as adults

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR

Can’t get away fromubiquitous testing

The paradox of economic crises

Global demand fortesting kitswillexplode over thenext year or two,and a low-cost,

effective kitwill bea game-changer

Prepare againsta doublewhammy

Amphan shows pandemic preparedness can't remainseparate from climate-change & disaster preparedness

Wages of arbitrariness

RealityBYTEVirtual reality could gain ground in the Covid 19 era,but only if innovations come about, and prices fall

EXTREMELYSEVERECYCLONEAmphanthathitWestBengal,Odisha,andBangladeshonWednesdayforegroundsthecompoundedchallengeofdeal-ingwithnatural disasters—increasinglyexacerbated byclimate amidst apandemic.Tosavelives,OdishaandWestBengalhavehadtoevacuateover

4.5 lakh people,andBangladesh22 lakh. In normal times,such evacuationwouldhavebeenadisastermanagementtriumph.But,inaCovid-19world,it representsagovernance challenge thatneitherof the two IndianstatesnorBangladesh is readyfor.Giventhedamagetopower,road,housing,andotherinfrastructure,evacueesarelikelytobestrandedincyclonesheltersfordays,ifnotweeks,andsincecycloneshel-tersaredesignedtominimiselossof lifebypackingasmanypeopletogetheraspos-sible,distancing,oneofthekeymeasurestocontainCovid-19spread,maysimplynotbepossible.Forperspective,whileWestBengal’scycloneshelterscanholdupto5lakhpeople,distancingwouldmeanonly2lakhpeopleareaccommodatedintheseshel-ters,whileanestimated3.3crorepeopleare inthepathofcylconeinthetwoIndianstates.Inanycase,Covid-19hadensuredsignificantdiversionofpublicinfrastructureforcreationofcontainment facilities.Odisha,for instance,hadconverted105of its403cyclonesheltersintoquarantinecentresmuchbeforetherewerewarningsofthecyclonedeveloping—27of thesewere inGanjam,adistrict that sawa largenumberofmigrantsreturningoverthelastfewdays,withmanytestingpositive.Thankfully,Ganjamwasnot impactedbyAmphan,but thedistricts inWest Bengal andOdishathatwere,arealsosomeofthosethatseethelargestemigrationinthetwostates,andarelikelytohavealsoseenaninfluxofreturneesoverthepastfewdays.Beyondthat,therewill be extensive crop damage in the coastal districts of both states,pushingmillionsintovulnerabilityintermsof lost incomeanddiminishedfoodsecurity.

Covid-19has,for themoment,pushed climate change to themargins of globalattention.But,asagroupofscientists fromtheMassachusetts InstituteofTechnol-ogyandotherpremierglobalhighereducationinstituteswrite inNature,pandemicpreparednessandclimatechangeaction—alongwithrelateddisasterpreparedness—canno longerbemutually exclusive.Studies and data analyses showthat storms,flooding,anddroughtswill likely cause the displacement ofmillions over the next12-18months,withlow-incomenationsintheGlobalSouthbearingtheworstbrunt.TheGulfCoast of theUS is bracing fora severehurricane seasonevenas Louisiana,whichwasbatteredbyKatrina,hasbecomethecountry’sCovid-19mortalityhotspot.InZimbawe,severalmillionswillbewithoutaccesstocleandrinkingwater,letalonewaterforwashinghands,and“atriskofacutefoodinsecurity”duringJune-Septem-ber2020.Predictedintenseheatwavesinmanycountriesare likelytoleadtoaspikeinheat-relatedmorbidityandmortality,straining the already-bucklinghealthcaresystemsinmanycountriesfurther.Allthis,whilelockdownsanddistancingrequire-ments are alreadydisrupting global and local food supply chains,worsening foodsecurityfornearly200millionpeopleintheworld,aspertheWorldFoodProgramme.

Countrieswillneedtocarefullybalancedisaster-preparednesswithpandemic-pre-paredness.Whilethiswillcallforriskassessmentattheintersections—ofawiderangeof health,climate,economic,and social progress indicators—this also calls forpre-emptive deployment ofmeasures rather than trying to reconcile disaster responsewithpandemic response.Countrieswill have to castwide safetynets fornutritionalsecurity,accesstowaterandhealthcare,andeveninfrastructuralneeds—asAmphanshows—suchasclimateresilienthousing.Else,thedoublewhammyofclimatechange-relateddisastersandtheCovidpandemicwillincreasesocioeconomicandhealthvul-nerabilitiestoascalethatbecomeshardfornationstomanage,letalonereverse.

WITH COVID-19 DISTANCING eroding the real world experienceformost,virtual reality’s (VR’s) star is on the rise.Again.Whilework-from-homemeant video-conferencing, file-sharing, etc,appssawasurgeindownloads,life-at-homehasthrownalifeline

toVR,whichhadseenexcitementsimmerdownsincethehalcyondaysoftheFace-book-Oculus deal inMarch 2014. Indeed,as analysis byVenture Beat shows,1Q2020 sawdeal size andvolume in the space shrink to 2013 levels.Then,Apple,aweekorsoago,announceditsfirstsignificantVRacquisition—NextVR,whichpro-ducesVRcontent—aheadof its scheduledVRheadset launch.

AppleisnottheonlycompanyupbeataboutVR’sprospects;acrosschannels,com-paniesare lookingtoexpandtheirportfoliobyhostingvirtualconferencesandexhi-bitions,andmostbelievethatthiswillbethetrendforthenextfewyears,orevenper-manently for some companies, if they realise there are significant gains fromwork-from-home.However,asignificantdriverofVR’ssuccessisinnovationandpric-ing.WhileFacebooklaunchedalower-pricedproductinthemarket,othercompanieshave hefty asks for theirVRgear.Until costs come down,buyersmaynot be thatenthused.Innovationisalsoparamount;companieshavebetteredtheirproductsusingfacial expression recognition,hand tracking,and eyeball tracking,but these tech-nologiesandfeaturesbuiltonthemarestill inthenascentstage.VRdevicesalsoneedsignificantinternetbandwidthtooperateand,atpresent,manydevelopingeconomiesdonothavethewherewithal tomanagethis.Thesectoriscertainlysetforaboom;allitneedsnowistherightinnovation,especiallythatwhichbringsdowncosts.

It is just aswell that govtwithdraws its wages order

THE GOVERNMENTHAS donewell to scrap its order requiring all indus-triesandcommercialestablishmentstocontinuepayingfullwagestotheiremployees for the duration of the lockdown even though operationsremainfrozen.TheMarch29orderhadinvokedtheDisasterManagement

Act,whichmeantthatfailuretocomplycouldinvitepunitiveactionfromtheauthor-ities.Inascenariowheretheeconomywasslowinglongbeforethepandemic,andallfirms—includingMSMEs—werefacinganuncertainfateasrevenuescrashed,forc-ingindustrytopayregularwageswasdistinctlyanti-business.Indeed,withtheecon-omysettocontractinthecurrentfiscal,thegovernmentneededtobetryingevery-thingpossibletokeepfirmsafloatratherthansaddlingthemwithdiktatsonwages.The diktat, as it happened,wouldmake thingsworse for labourers aswell.Whilefirmsmaystillhavebeenabletosurvivewithsomepaycutsandlayingoffasectionoftheemployees,forcingthemtopayeveryonefullwageswoulddrivethemtobank-ruptcy,andriskthefutureofallemployees.Insuchasituation,evenwhenthelock-down eased and the economyhobbled back toward normalcy, therewould be noimprovementas thefirmwouldhavealreadyshutshop.

Itisnotclearifthegovernmentwithdrewtheorderbecauseitrealiseditmadethingsworse and,in anycase,with the lockdowneasing,workerswould start earning theirwagesagain.AnotherpossibilityisthatthegovernmentrealisedthatthecasesonthismatterintheSupremeCourtweregoingagainstit,soitdecidedtobeatahastyretreat.Intwocases,theSCforbadecoerciveactionbythegovernmentagainstfirmsthatwerelayingoffworkersorcuttingtheirsalaries;nofinalorderhasbeenpassedasthecasesarestillbeingheard.Onepetition,filedwiththeBombayHighCourt,evenarguedthattheorderviolatedtheSection25Cand25MoftheIndustrialDisputesAct,1947,whichdealwithpaymentof50%wageswhenaworkerislaidoff,andtheexceptiontolayoffworkersduringanaturalcalamity.Indeed,lastmonth,theParliamentaryCommitteeonLabour,in its reporton the IndustrialRelationsCode,2019,reasonedagainst thepaymentofevenlimitedwages,saying“incaseofnaturalcalamities,paymentofwagesto theworkersuntil the re-establishmentof the industrymaybeunjustifiable”.At atimewhenthegovernmentistryingtoimprovethecountry’sbusiness-friendlyimage,thefact thatsuchanorderevergotpassedsuggeststhattheoldcommand-and-con-trolmindset—andinnocenceofeconomics—hasn’tquitedisappeared.

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Opinion

AREWEACTUALLYwitness-inghistorynotinthemaking,but the remaking?And,on amuch bigger,grander scale?At leastwhen it comes toone

key driver of prime minister NarendraModi’sextraordinary“vocalaboutthelocal”push:MSMEs.Micro,Small,andMediumEnterprisesorMSMEshavereceivedahugefillip in the recently announced relief inModi’s `20 lakh crore,2020AtmanirbharBharat Abhiyan package. On May 13,finance minister Nirmala Sitharamanpromised credit guarantees and sans col-lateral loans amounting to `3 lakh crore.Thisboldstep,expectedtobenefitsome45lakhMSMEs,isaimedatspurringlocalpro-ductivityandemployment.

But, for a moment, leaving aside theknotty question of whether the MSMEbailoutwillsucceed,letuspausetoaskwhereModi’sMSME idea comes from.Myviewisthat its source lies in his experiences andexperimentsasthechiefministerofGujarat.ModibecameGujaratCMinaratherunex-pectedmanner in2001.ThenCMKeshub-haiPatelwasinpoorhealth.TheBhujearth-quakethatthePMmentionedinhistalkonMay 12 had devastated parts of NorthGujarat.Patel’smishandlingofthecrisishadbeenwidelycriticised.Modi,asked to fire-fight,declinedthedeputyCM’spost.SworninonOctober7,2001,hewontheRajkotby-electionthefollowingyearbyanarrowmar-

ginof14,728votes,defeatinghisCongressrival,AshwinMehta.

When IvisitedRajkot inMarch2003,Iwas totally taken aback by its transforma-tion. I’d been visiting this sleepy hub ofSaurashtrasincethelate1970s.Itusedtobebrokendown,dirty,andovercrowded,withbadinfrastructureandfacilities.Apartfromthe old palace and fewtraces of grandeurfromitsprincelypast,thewholetownwasamess.Modihadremade it totally,ashehadmuchofGujarat.NotonlywasKutchrebuilt,buttherewereimpressiveplanstobringtheNarmadawaters right down to the dustyplainsofSaurashtra.

AsItravelledinthestate,Inoticedthat

thehighwayswerevastlyimproved.Rurallife had improved.Nearly everyone had acarortwo-wheeler,economicactivitywasubiquitous.OntheroadsideIsawallkindsof products for sale at unbelievably lowprices, from ceramic sinks and toilets,whitegoodsofallkinds,cricketbats,evenknockeddowndesktopcomputerkits.Nobills, no taxes; only cash and carry.Therewasconsiderabletrustbetweenbuyerandseller,sodefectiveproductscouldactuallybe returned.

Whowasmaking all this stuff, I askedmy hosts? “Small and medium enter-prises”,was the instant answer. In thosedays,practically anyone couldmake any-

thing and sell it at anyprice they thoughtfeasibleorprofitable.Modi’s long inningsas Gujarat CM ended only in 2014whenhemovedtoDelhias India’sprimeminis-ter. During this period, the state pro-gressedeconomicallyasneverbefore.Per-haps, Modi’s `20 lakh crore packageannouncedat20:20hoursin2020willdoforIndiawhathedidforGujaratinhisear-lieravatar.At least,that isourhope.

Asifoncue,appearingonCNBC,minis-terofroadways,NitinGadkariexplainedonMay14thatMSMEscouldbetheenginetomakeIndiagloballycompetitive,reducingourimportsandkickstartingtheeconomyinapost-Covid-19world.He stressed that

providing employmentwas the primarychallenge in a shrinking economy.Howtooffsetmassive job losses and deprivationsufferedbythepoor?ThroughMSMEs.HegavetheexampleofhowbeforetheCovid-19 crisis, Indiamade hardly anypersonalprotective equipment (PPE), but now, injust twomonths,ourMSMEmanufactur-ers had risen to the challenge. In Nagpuritself,which is his constituency,Gadkarisaidentrepreneurswereproducingworld-quality PPE priced at extremely competi-tiveprices,below`600.

Appearing on the same programme,economist Venkatraman AnanthaNageswaran reminded viewers that the

relief should extend tomicro, small, andmedium farmers and agri-businesses.Agrape grower, say, inNasik should be abletosellhisproducewherehewantstoandatwhateverpricehemayask for.

All this sounds reallygood,but there isone big catch that several experts havespokenof.Howtoweedout thedeservingand viable from the unworthy andcrooked? It is allverywell to throwmoneyat a non-functioning system,but there isnoassurancethatmoneyalonewilldothetrick. Assisting those businesses whoought better to die anatural death is akinto flogging theproverbialdeadhorse.Themoneywill be lost, and the horsewill notbe revivedeither.

By assuring lenders that governmentwillrepaytheloaniftheMSMEfalters,arewe not opening up a pandora’s box?Unscrupulous borrowers, in collusionwith corrupt lenders,will cost the exche-quer losses amounting to lakhs of crores.The package, in other words, can onlywork if conscientious and responsiblelendersdotheirduediligencebeforelend-ingoutourmoney.As always,in India,wenever talk of quality,whether it is peopleor businesses.Without quality control,indiscriminate reliefmeasuresmaybe asbadasno relief at all.

TheAtmanirbharBharatAbhiyanpack-ageisagreatidea.But,ifwefailorfalterinitsexecution,itcouldturnintoabigdisaster.

OPINION 7FINANCIALEXPRESS


THEGUJARATMODEL

AMARENDUNANDY

Assistant Professor, IIM Ranchi.Viewsare personal

THESUSPENSIONOFeconomicactivityduetotheongoingglobalpandemic is likelytoaffectglobalgrowthandstability.The IMFprojects a3%con-tractioninworldGDPduetothe‘GreatLockdown’,leaving170countrieswith lowerGDPpercapita

by the end of 2020.TheWTOexpects a decline 13-32% inglobal trade,contingentupon the lengthofCovid threat andprotracted lockdown policy.TheUNCTADhaswarned of abrewingdebtcrisisinemergingmarkets.

Negativeshockstoglobalgrowthandtradewillgetpassedtothedomesticeconomyviafactorflows,financial flows,andmovementsinrelativeprices.Onerelatedandsignificantchal-lengeconcernstheeffectonIndia’sremittances.

TheWorldBank’slatestMigrationandDevelopmentBriefestimatesasubstantialdropinremittancestolowandmiddle-incomecountries—from$554bnin2019to$445bnin2020.For India,whichhasbeen the topmost recipient over the lastdecade,thefallwillbemuchsharper—from$83bnin2019to$64bn in2020—a23%decline.The consequencesof suchasubstantialfall inremittancescanbedamaging.First,itshallcreatecomplexinternalbalanceissues.Imme-

diateandlong-termeconomicadjustments inhostcountrieswill certainlyhave cascading effects on labourmarkets,andsubsequentlyonours.Demandfor labouris likelytobe ratio-nalised in host economies through the implementation ofautomationcapabilitiesacrossthevalue-chain,arguablyinjobswithhighcontactintensity,mainlyinvolvingmigrantlabour-ers. Notwithstanding the outstanding contributions ofmigrants incritical frontlineoccupations in the fightagainstthepandemic,immigrantshavebeenmadeconvenientscape-goats for the spreadof thedisease.In thepost-Covidperiod,suchahostileattitudetowardsimmigrantsislikelytorise.

Consequently,wemaysee a spike in returnmigration ofunskilledandsemi-skilledworkers,particularlyfromtheGCCcountries.Withmutedgrowth,domestic labourmarketswillunlikelybe in aposition to absorb such returnees,worseningthedomesticunemploymentproblem.Elsewhere,wherehosteconomieshavemoreaccommodativestancetowardsimmi-grants,downwardwage adjustmentswill severely limit theabilityof themigrants to sendmoneybackhome impactinghouseholdwelfare.Second,itmaygenerateseveregrowth-andwelfare-reduc-

ingoutcomes.Theestimated$20bn fall in remittance flowswillshaveoffmorethan0.7%ofGDPand have a deeper impact sub-nationally.Kerala,Punjab,TamilNadu, Andhra Pradesh, UttarPradesh, Rajasthan and Biharaccountformorethanfour-fifthsofinwardremittances.Forstateslike Kerala, which currentlyreceivesover`1trillioninremit-tances,amountingtoabout35%

ofGSDP,theimpactcouldbeprofound.A2018RBIstudyreportsthatalmostthree-fifthsofremit-

tances receivedbyhouseholdswere for familymaintenancepurposes.Sucha substantial fall in transfersmaypushmanymigranthouseholds back topoverty,and,inmoredisadvan-tagedmigranthouseholds,promotechildlabour.Third,unlike inthepast,whenremittanceflowsexhibited

countercyclicalmovementsduringcontractionsorrecessions,theywill nowbeprocyclicalwith respect toGDPandmightunsettle India’s current account balances.The pandemic islikely toworsen India’smerchandise tradedeficit.Due to fallinforeignincomesandre-introductionofnon-tariffbarriers,India’sexportsareexpectedtocontractby$49bnto$265bninFY21.While importsarealsoexpectedtofall to$350bnonthe assumption of benign oil prices,oil demand could nor-malisequickly.Also,productioncutof9.7mnbarrels/dayundertheOPEC+ deal could exert upward pressure on oil prices,increasingtheimportbill,andthereby,thetradedeficit.Insucha scenario,a fall in remittanceswill be adoublewhammyforthecurrentaccountbalances.

Onthedomestic front,expansionaryfiscal andmonetarypolicies;highertransferpayments;ensuringgreaterreachandeffectiveness of livelihood schemes canall go a longway.Ontheexternalfront,tocounterrestrictiveimmigrationpolicies,India’s trade and investment agreements need to be broad-basedandintertwinedwithIndia’sstrategicinterestsinlabourexports.Expandingeconomicrelationstonewergeographiescanalso facilitate labourflows,anddiversifysourcesofcross-bordertransfers.

Remittances have been the largest source of externalfinance (ahead of ODAand FDI) for India,and have servedimportant developmental goals,yet,has occupied lessmindspaceofpolicymakers.It is about timewe reassess ourpolicyprioritiesinthisregard.

India’s ailingremittances

TheMSMEpush

MAKARANDRPARANJAPE

Director, Indian Institute ofAdvanced Study, ShimlaViewsare personal

The govt’s credit package can onlywork if conscientious

and responsible lenders do their due diligence

Remittances havebeen the largestsource ofexternalfinance for India, itis about timewereassess our policy

priorities

AN ANIMATED DEBATE isunderway in India—andindeed in other emergingmarkets—about what theappropriate fiscal response

toCovid-19shouldbe.Monetarypolicyhasmoved swiftly and aggressively inmanyeconomies,but questions remain on itsincremental efficacy. Concerns aboundthat highly risk-averse financial systemswill thwart the efficacyof lowerrates andhigherliquidity.Sowhilemonetarypolicymayhave space,howmuchefficacywill ithave?Fiscalpolicycanhavemuchefficacy.Buthowmuchspacedoesithave?Thereinliesthedebate.

Thus far, the “fiscal space” debate inIndiahascentredexclusivelyonthisyear’sdeficit and how itwill be financed.Howmuchwillthedeficitgoup?Howmuchcanit go up? Who will absorb the extraissuance?But,amoreholistic assessmentoffiscalspace—andonethatratingsagen-cies and foreign investorswill eventuallyfocus on—is the government’s intertem-poral budget constraint andhowIndia’sDebt/GDP evolves in the coming years.HowmuchwillIndia’sDebt/GDPjumpupthisyear?Moreimportantly,whathappensthereafter?WillDebt/GDPkeeprisingyearafter year? Or will it start declining? Asresearchhas found,it is typically the tra-

jectory of Debt/GDP—more than thelevel—thatimpactsfuturegrowth.

The evolution of debt is essentially afunction of threevariables: the primarydeficit (fiscal deficit net of interest pay-ments)andtherelationshipbetweennom-inal GDP growth and the government’scostofborrowing.Thehigheristhediffer-ence betweennominalGDPgrowth andcostofborrowing,thegreateristhedepre-ciation of the existing debt stock. Highgrowth allows countries to“growout”oftheir debts. In contrast, high primarydeficitsworsenthedebtburden.

India comes into Covid-19 with aDebt/GDP of about 70%, a primary

deficit across the Centre and states ofabout 2.5% of GDP (including the cen-tre’s extra-budgetary resources)—basedontheRevisedEstimatesfor2019-20—aweighted average sovereign borrowingcost of about 7.5% (on the stock of debt)andanestimatedpre-CovidnominalGDPgrowth of 7.5% in 2019-20. In otherwords, the favourable gap betweengrowth and borrowing costs had closed.With this backdrop, one can simulatewhat happens toDebt/GDP in the com-ing years under different growth, fiscalandinterest-ratescenarios.

Whatdowefind?Thatevenunderrela-tively benign scenarios (nominal GDPgrowthof4%andafiscalexpansionof3%ofGDPthisyear)India’sDebt/GDPwillbal-loon towards80%bythe endof theyear.But,Indiawill not be alone.Public debt isexpected to balloon all over theworld.Sothat should not be a binding constraint.Instead,whatwillmatterforsustainabilityis the trajectoryof debt thereafter.DoesDebt/GDPcomedownorkeepgoingupinsubsequentyears?

In turn, the subsequent trajectorydepends overwhelmingly on medium-term growth. Consider this: even if thisyear’s combined fiscal deficitwidens by6%ofGDP(andisthenwithdrawnoverthenext threeyears) as long asnominalGDPgrowthis10%inthemediumterm(whichcorresponds to real GDPgrowth of 7%),Debt/GDPgets on to a constantlydeclin-ingpathafterthethirdyear.Thissuggestsabigger fiscal intervention is sustainable,butonlyifmedium-termgrowthprospectscanbepreservedand/orliftedintandem.

Incontrast,if thisyear’sdeficitwidensmoreconservatively—sayby3%ofGDP—butifmedium-termnominalGDPgrowthsettlesat8%(i.e.realGDPgrowthof5%),Debt/GDPrises relentlessly for the nextdecadetowards90%ofGDP.Thissuggestseven a relatively-conservative fiscalresponsethisyearbecomesunsustainableif medium-term growth prospects arediminished.Small changes inmedium-termgrowthhave large implications forfiscalsustainability.

Themain takeaway: howmuch fiscalspaceIndiahastorespondinthecrisisyearwill depend crucially onwhat potentialgrowth is likely tobe in the comingyears.

Themore that India’s policyresponse canpreserve,protectandboostmedium-termgrowth—both through thenature of thepolicy intervention this year and theaccompanyingreforms—thelargerthefis-cal response India canmount.Put differ-ently,thefiscaldebatebetween“need”and“affordability” is endogenous. Themedium-termsustainabilityof anyfiscalpackagethisyearwilldependonthenatureof growth-enhancing interventions andreformsthataccompanyit.Evenlargerfis-cal responses are sustainable if accompa-niedbycommensurategrowth-enhancingreforms. If medium-term growthprospects shrink, even smaller fiscalresponsesbecomeunsustainable.

Sowhatcouldthesegrowth-preservingor enhancing interventions potentiallycompriseof?First,policymustensurethatallviableenterprisessurvivethepandemic.If economically-viable but illiquid smalland medium enterprises go-under, theimplicationsbothforunemploymentandIndia’s underlying production capacitycouldbe severe.Thegovernment’s credit-guarantee scheme is, therefore, veryimportant,and should hopefully inducebanks to provideworking capital to keepsmallbusinessesafloat.

Itwill be equally important,however,tojumpstartarisk-aversefinancialsectorintofundinganeconomicrecovery,morebroadly.Lastweek’s bondmarket inter-ventions (special liquidity and partialguarantee funds) are a good start to eas-ingmonetaryconditions at the financialperiphery, though executionwill be key.Over time,however, liquiditymust giveway to capital and reform.Preemptivelyrecapitalising public sector banks forgrowth and resolution capital, conduct-ing anAQRfor theNBFC sector (once thedust settles from the panic) with anaccompanyingresolutionplan,thencon-vertingwell-runNBFCsintobankstoavailofastabledepositfranchise,andmodify-ingtheincentivesunderwhichpublicsec-tor banks operate will be crucial tostrengtheningthefinancialsector.Higherpotential growth is only feasible if thefinancial sectorisable tofundit.

But, real reforms must accompanythose in the financial sector.Thegovern-ment’s announcement on unshacklingagriculture—ifcarriedthroughtoits log-ical conclusion—is potentially game-changing for farmers andwill be a land-mark reform for the sector.But, reformsareaprocess,not anevent.What else canwecontemplate?AsCovid-19hastensthereorganisation of supply-chainswithinAsia, India must seize the moment tointegrateintotheAsiansupplychain.Whynot revisit a Special Export Zone (SEZ)model (with the appropriate regulatoryenvironment to avoid the pitfalls of thepast) to help create discrete ecosystemswithin the country that enable globally-competitive export production? Pathdependencewill bekey.If the first oneortwo SEZs succeed in attracting invest-mentandjobs,itwouldcreateapowerfuldemonstration effect both externally (tohelp attractmore firms into India) andinternally (inducing different states tocompetetocreate theirownSEZs).

Finally,ifthevirushastaughttheworldanything,itisthecriticalityofsocialinfra-structure.Indiawill not be able to funda-mentallyalteritsgrowthpotentialwithoutcrucial investments inhealth andeduca-tion.Thegovernment’sannouncementtoboost health spending is therefore verywelcome.Buthowwillthisbepaidfor?Thisiswherepolicymustgetcreative.Existingassets on the public sectorbalance sheetmust be aggressivelymonetised to fundgrowth-enhancing investments inphysi-cal and social infrastructure. This willsimultaneously take the pressure off thefiscal and financial sectors,anddeliver aproductivity-enhancingswaponthepub-licsectorbalancesheet.

All told,India’sevolvingeconomicsce-nario couldwarrant a larger fiscal stimu-lus.But,forthatstimulustobesustainable,itmust be accompanied by reforms thatboostunderlyingpotentialgrowth.Indeed,higherpotential growth is theantidote tomanypressures, from jobs to incomes todebt sustainability. To the extent thisunprecedentedcrisiscreatespoliticalspaceand capital to reform, the opportunitymustbeseized.

Revival,reforms and

ratingsHowmuch fiscal space India has to respond this

yearwill depend crucially onwhat growth-

enhancingmeasures accompany the fiscal response

ILLUSTRATION:ROHNITPHORE

SAJJID ZCHINOY

Chief India economist, JPMorganViewsare personal

●COVID STIMULUS

Debt/GDP evolution under different scenariosFiscal widening: 3% of GDP;

medium term nominal growth=8%

% of GDP

87.1

79.9

70

Source: JPMorgan calculations

Fiscal widening: 6% of GDP;medium term nominal growth=10%

90

85

80

75

70

65FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26 FY27 FY28 FY29 FY30

●AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

AGENCIESWashington, May 20

PRESIDENTDONALDTRUMPhassaidit isa“badge of honour”forAmerica to“lead”theworldwith1.5millionconfirmedcoro-navirus cases since itmeans theUS is test-ingmore people for the disease that haskilledover300,000peopleacrosstheworld.

TheUShas1.5millionconfirmedcoro-navirus cases and over 91,000 deaths,both theworld’shighest.

“By the way,” he told reporters, “youknowwhenyou say thatwe lead in cases,that’s becausewehavemore testing thananybody else.”“Sowhenwe have a lot ofcases,”hecontinued,“Idon’tlookatthatasa bad thing, I look at that as, in a certainrespect, as being a good thing because itmeansourtesting ismuchbetter.”

He added: “So I view it as a badge ofhonour.Really, it’s a badge of honour.”“It’a great tribute to the testingandall of theworkthatalotofprofessionalshavedone,”the president said.According to the Cen-ters forDisease Control, a federal agency,theUShadconducted12.6millioncoron-

avirus testsbyTuesday.The Democratic National Committee

has criticised the Republican president’scomments, tweeting that the 1.5millionCovid-19 cases in the US represented “acomplete failureof leadership”.

Meanwhile, Republicans on a Housecoronavirus oversight subcommittee aredemanding that the panel’s Democraticmembers pursue the testimony ofWorldHealth Organization Director-General

Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus and Chi-neseAmbassadorto theUSCuiTiankai.

Following the leadof PresidentDonaldTrump, Republicans in Congress areattempting to focus on the roles of Chinaand the global health organisation in thepandemicat thesametimeDemocratsarecriticisingtheadministration’shandlingofthe outbreak. In a letter Tuesday to thepanel’s chairman, Representative JimClyburnofSouthCarolina,theRepublicans

saidthenewsubcommitteeshouldinvesti-gate“China’s obfuscation of the origin ofCovid-19”and“manipulation of theWHOtocoveruptheseverityoftheoutbreak.”

Thepanel’sRepublicans,ledbytheNo.2HouseRepublicanSteveScaliseofLouisianaandRepresentativeJimJordanofOhio,alsoarepushingtolookintoallegationstheChi-nesegovernmentisstealingAmericanmed-ical research and disrupting the medicalsupplychain.

J&Jwon’t sell talc babypowder in US,Canada

Democratic NationalCommittee says 1.5mCovid-19 cases in the USrepresents ‘a completefailure of leadership’

Nestle to build newfacility in China

NESTLESAIDONWednesdayitwouldspend100millionswissfrancs($103.58million)onexpandingitsmanufacturingfootprintinChinatoincludeanewplant-basedfoodfacilityandwidenitsproductionlines. Thecompanysaiditsfirstplant-basedfoodfacilityforAsiawouldbebuilt inTianjinEconomic-TechnologicalDevelopmentAreaandthatitcouldlaunchfauxmeatproductsbytheendofthisyear.

Facebookto limitofficesto25%capacityFACEBOOKWILLLIMITofficesto25%occupancy,putpeopleonmultipleshiftsandrequiretemperaturecheckswhenit letsemployeesbackintoworkplacesbeginninginJuly,accordingtopeoplefamiliarwiththematter. ThesocialmediacompanyoutlinedtostaffgloballyhowitplanstohandleareturntomajorjobsitesstartingJuly6.

CarlosGhosn’ssuspectedaccomplicesnabbedinUSTWOMENCHARGEDinJapanwithaidingtheescapeofCarlosGhosnwerearrestedinMassachusettsWednesdaymorningandarebeingheldforpossibleextradition.MichaelLTaylorandPeterMaxwellTaylor,hisson,arescheduledtoappearbyvideoinMassachusettsfederalcourtWednesdayafternoon.

Quick

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DeutscheBankCEO:Remoteworkcouldhelpcut costs

InternationalFINANCIALEXPRESS8 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM


REUTERSMay 20

JOHNSON & JOHNSON will stop sellingits talc Baby Powder in the United Statesand Canada, it announced on Tuesday,saying demand had fallen in thewake ofwhatitcalled“misinformation”abouttheproduct’s safety amid a barrage oflegal challenges.

J&J faces more than 19,000 lawsuitsfrom consumers and their survivorsclaiming its talc products caused cancerdue to contamination with asbestos, aknown carcinogen. Many are pendingbeforeaUSdistrict judge inNewJersey.

“Iwishmymothercouldbehere toseethis day,” said Crystal Deckard, whosemotherDarlene Coker alleged BabyPow-der caused her mesothelioma. Shedroppedthesuit filed in1999afterlosingherfighttocompel J&Jtodivulge internalrecords.Cokerdiedof thecancer in2009.

In its statement, J&J said it “remainssteadfastlyconfident in the safetyof talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder,” citing“decadesof scientific studies.”

J&J has faced intense scrutiny of thesafety of its baby powder following aninvestigative report by Reuters in 2018thatfoundthecompanyknewfordecadesthatasbestos lurked in its talc.

Internal company records, trial testi-monyandotherevidence showthat fromat least1971to theearly2000s,the com-pany's raw talc and finished powderssometimes tested positive for smallamountsofasbestos.

The Reuters article prompted a stockselloff that erased about$40billion fromJ&J’smarketvalue in one dayand createda public relations crisis as the healthcare

conglomeratefacedwidespreadquestionsabout thepossiblehealtheffectsofoneofitsmostwell-knownproducts.

J&J has also been the target of a federalcriminal investigation intohowforthrightithasbeenaboutitstalcproducts’safety,aninvestigationby41statesintoitsbabypow-dersales,whichitdisclosedinApril,andaninvestigation into health risks of asbestosintalc-containingconsumerproductsbyaCongressional subcommittee.US Repre-sentativeRajaKrishnamoorthi,wholedtheCongressionalinquiry,describedJ&J’sdeci-sion to stop selling talc babypowder as“amajorvictoryforpublichealth”.

“MySubcommittee’s14-monthinves-tigation revealed that Johnson& Johnsonknewfordecadesthatitsproductcontainsasbestos,”he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESSFrankfurt, May 20

GERMANY'S DEUTSCHE BANK says it isin good financial shape and will pushaheadwith cost cuts to bolsterprofitabil-ity - and its CEOsaysworking fromhomecouldplaya role in that.

CEOChristianSewingsaidatthecom-pany's annual shareholdermeeting,heldonline due to the coronavirus outbreak,that thecompanywasontracktomeet itsgoals for cutting its cost base to 17.0 bil-lion euros ($18.6 billion) in 2022 from21.5billioneuros lastyear.

Thecompanywillnotpayadividendasit carries out a far-reaching restructuringaimedateliminatingriskierandlessprof-itable businesses and focusing on itsEuropeanclientbase.

SewingsaidfinancialreservesexceededregulatoryrequirementsandthattheFrank-furt-based bankwas sticking to financialgoals setout lastyear.Hesaid thecompanywas“partofthesolution”duringthecrisis.

❝ ❝

DEMOCRACY&DIALOGUETsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese president

Iwant to reiterate thewords ‘peace, parity,democracy, and dialogue’.Wewill not accept theBeijing authorities’ use of ‘one country, twosystems’ to downgradeTaiwan and undermine thecross-strait status quo.

❝ ❝Really, it’s a badge ofhonour... It’ a great tributeto the testing and all of thework that a lot ofprofessionals have done

—DONALDTRUMP, US PRESIDENT

BLOOMBERGBeijing, May 20

CHINESEDOCTORSAREseeingthecoro-navirus manifest differently amongpatients in its new cluster of cases in thenortheastregioncomparedtotheoriginaloutbreak inWuhan, suggesting that thepathogenmay be changing in unknownways and complicating efforts to stampitout.

Patients found in the northernprovincesofJilinandHeilongjiangappearto carry the virus for a longer period oftime and take longer to test negative,QiuHaibo,oneofChina’s topcritical caredoc-tors,told state televisiononTuesday.

Patients in the northeast also appearto be taking longer than the one to twoweeks observed in Wuhan to developsymptoms after infection, and thisdelayed onset is making it harder forauthorities to catch cases before theyspread,saidQiu,who isnowin thenorth-ern region treatingpatients.

“The longer period during whichinfected patients showno symptoms hascreatedclustersof family infections,”saidQiu,whowasearliersenttoWuhantohelp

in the original outbreak. Some 46 caseshave been reported over the past twoweeksspreadacrossthreecities—Shulan,Jilin city and Shengyang — in twoprovinces, a resurgence of infection thatsparkedrenewedlockdownmeasuresovera regionof100millionpeople.

Scientists still donot fullyunderstandif thevirus ischanginginsignificantwaysand the differences Chinese doctors areseeingcouldbeduetothefactthatthey’reable to observepatientsmore thoroughlyand froman earlier stage than inWuhan.When the outbreak first exploded in the

central Chinese city, the local health-caresystemwassooverwhelmedthatonlythemostseriouscaseswerebeingtreated.Thenortheast cluster is also far smaller thanHubei’s outbreak,which ultimately sick-enedover68,000people.

Still, the findings suggest that theremaininguncertaintyoverhowthevirusmanifests will hinder governments’effortstocurbitsspreadandre-opentheirbattered economies.China has one of themost comprehensive virus detection andtesting regimes globally and yet is stillstruggling tocontain itsnewcluster.

Rolls-Royce plans 9,000job cuts on collapse inair travel amid outbreak REUTERS

London, May 20

BRITAIN'S INFLATIONRATEsankinApriltoitslowestsinceAugust2016asthecoro-naviruspandemicpusheddownglobaloilprices and clothing stores slashed prices,bolstering the prospect of more Bank ofEnglandstimulusnextmonth.

Consumer price inflation dropped toan annual rate of 0.8%from 1.5% inMarch, official data showed onWednes-day.Thatwas thesharpestone-monthfallinoveradecadeandtookinflationfurtherbelowtheBoE's2%target.DeputyGover-nor Ben Broadbent has said it could dropbelowzerobytheendof2020.

The BoE increased its bond-buyingprogramme by a record 200 billionpounds inMarch as the COVID-19 crisisescalated, andmany economists expectanother increaseon June18.

MarketsseeachancetheBoEcouldcutinterest rates belowzero for the first timebytheendof theyear.

RuthGregory,aneconomistwithCap-ital Economics, said underlying pricegrowth would stay subdued as weakdemandmorethanoffsetanyinflationaryimpact fromthepandemic.

"Against this background,we expecttheBanktoexpanditsquantitativeeasingprogrammefurther,"she said.

USbirthsdecline to lowest in35yearsASSOCIATED PRESSNewYork, May 20

US BIRTHS CONTINUED to fall last year,leadingtothefewestnumberofnewbornsin35years.

The decline is the latest sign of a pro-longed national “baby bust” that’s beengoingonformorethanadecade.Andsomeexpertsbelievethecoronaviruspandemic

and its impact on the economywill sup-press thenumbers further.

“This unpredictable environment,andanxietyabout the future, is going tomakewomenthinktwiceabouthavingchildren,”saidDrDeniseJamieson,chairofobstetricsandgynecologyatEmoryUniversity.

The latest numbers were releasedWednesday by the Centers for DiseaseControlandPrevention.Thereport,which

is considered preliminary, is based on areviewofmore than 99%of birth certifi-cates issued lastyear.

The CDC found the number of birthsfellabout1%from2018,toabout3.7mil-lion.Birth rates continued to fall for teenmomsandforwomen in their20s.

Aside froma one-yearuptick in 2014,USbirthshavebeenfallingeveryyearsince2007,whenarecessionhit thecountry.

BRAZIL'S DAILY DEATH toll from thenew coronavirus jumped to a record1,179onTuesdayasPresident JairBol-sonaro doubled down on chloroquineas a possible remedy and U.S. leaderDonaldTrump said he is considering atravel ban fromBrazil.

ThehighestdailytollbeforeTuesdayhadbeen881deaths onMay12.

The pandemic has killed at least17,971 people in Brazil, according totheHealthMinistry.

Brazil overtook Britain onMondayto become the countrywith the third-highest number of confirmed infec-tions, behind Russia and the UnitedStates. Brazil's confirmed cases alsojumpedbyarecord17,408onTuesday,

for a total of 271,628 peoplewho havetestedpositive for thevirus.

Bolsonaro, an ideological ally ofTrump,has been criticized forhis han-dling of the outbreak, such as opposi-tion to restrictions on movement hesees as toodamaging to the economy.

Bolsonarosaid InterimHealthMin-isterEduardoPazuellowould issuenewguidelines onWednesday expandingthe recommended use of the anti-malarial drug chloroquine to treat thecoronavirus.

Two trained doctors have resignedasHealthMinisterinthepastmonthasBolsonaro defies public health expertadvice.

—REUTERS

CANADIAN INFLATIONWENTnega-tive for the first time since the 2009recession after the coronavirus lock-down put the brakes on the worldeconomy.Consumer prices dropped0.2% inApril from the samemonth ayearearlier,StatisticsCanadareportedWednesdayfromOttawa.That’sdownfroma0.9%annualrateinMarchand2.2%inFebruary.

Thereportaddsinflationtothelistof economic indicators showing anhistoric impact from the coronaviruspandemic.Collapsing gasoline priceshave pulled inflation lower over thepast twomonths. —BLOOMBERG

BLOOMBERGLondon, May 20

ROLLS-ROYCE CEOWarren East’s five-yearbid to revive earnings has been shat-tered by the coronavirus as the U.K.engi-neering giantmoves to scrap 9,000 jobsandconsiders closingsites.

The jet-enginemakerwill cut 17%ofits workforce and boost savings goals tocontendwith a travel slump that’s drasti-cally shrunk the aviationmarket, it saidWednesday.Theplansassumethatairlinerdemand will contract by about a thirdfrom 2019 levels and take three to fiveyears to rebound,East said.

“TheimpactofCovid-19onglobalavi-ation is not going to be short term andthereforeourreactioncan’tbeshortterm,”the CEO said on a conference call.“We’retrying toprotect jobs forthe future.”

Rolls-Royce is particularly exposedbecause of its focus onwide-bodyaircraftthatwillplayareducedrole inglobalfleetsas travel comes back.The pandemic crisishas depressed economies,and the returnto flyingwill be colored byhealth-relatedrestrictionsthatdiscourage long-distancejourneys.EastsaidbeforetheoutbreakthatLondon-based Rollswas turning a cornerafteryearsofrestructuringthatsawitelim-inate about 10,000 posts in an effort tobecomemoreagileandproductive.

Now, the company faces the test ofrapidlyresizing itsbusiness.TheCEOsaidonthecall thattheaerospacefirmalreadyhas sufficient liquiditytoget through thepandemicbutmustprotect future jobsby

actingnow.Rolls-Roycesharestraded4.9%higher

at280.60penceasof1:45p.m.inLondon.The gain pares the decline this year to59%,valuing the business at 5.4 billionpounds ($6.6billion).

East said the company aims tomakemore than half of the job cuts this year,after union consultations that could takemonths.He added that two-thirds of theemployees in civil aerospace are in theUnitedKingdomwithone-thirdintherestof theworld and that’s “a good proxy”forwhere theaxwill land.

❝ ❝

The impact ofCovid-19 onglobal aviation is not goingto be short term andtherefore our reaction can’tbe short term.We’re tryingto protect jobs for the future

—WARREN EAST, ROLLS-ROYCECEO

J&J has faced intense scrutiny of thesafety of its baby powder followingan investigative report by Reutersin 2018 that found the companyknew for decades that asbestos

lurked in its talc

TESTINGTIMES■Newpatients appear to carry thevirus for a longer period and alsodevelop symptoms later

■Differences Chinese doctors areseeing could be because they’re ableto observe patientsmore thoroughly

■Delayed onset is making it harderfor authorities to catch cases beforethey spread

TrumpsaysUS leadingworld incoronacases is‘badgeofhonour’

Brazil suffers recordCovid-19deaths asTrumpmulls travel ban

China’s newoutbreak shows signsthat coronavirusmaybe changing

UK inflation slumps to lowestsince 2016 as coronavirus hits

Inflation falls belowzero inCanada firsttime since2009

Boris Johnson, British PM

Cases top

4.9millionDeaths exceed

323,000

MAPPINGTHEVIRUSChloroquine is now recommended for all patients from thefirst day of symptoms related to the coronavirus, according toa protocol released by Brazil’s Health Ministry. Medications canbe used in caseswithmild symptoms. Patients need to sign aconsent form, and the drugsmust be prescribed by a doctor

Drugmakers racing tomakeCovid-19 vaccines and therapies areseeking out specializedmanufacturers such asModerna’spartner Lonza Group that can scale up production to billions ofdoses needed to supply theworld

Translate Bio, a 100-person company based outside Boston,has joined forceswith Sanofi to develop a vaccine based onsimilar technology being used byModerna that comeswithone significant drawback: It must be stored atminus-112degrees Fahrenheit. Thatmeans proving that such animmunizationworks is only a first step

PrimeMinister Boris Johnson said the UKwill have a track-and-trace system in place by June 1 capable of dealingwith 10,000new coronavirus infections a day

Inovio soared after highlighting results for its experimentalCovid-19vaccine inmice and guinea pigs, published in thepeer-reviewed journal Nature Communications,“demonstrating robust neutralizing antibody andTcellimmune responses against coronavirus SARS-CoV-2”

Worldmerchandise tradevolume is likely to fall “precipitously” inthe first half of 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic on globaltrade flows, according to theWTO.TheGoodsTrade Barometer,a forward-lookingmeasure, fell to 87.6 inMarch

The number of confirmed new coronavirus infections in Russiarose by 8,764 over the past day, the lowest sinceMay 1, takingtotal cases to 308,705.The number of deaths increased by arecord 135 to 2,972.

The European Union is poised to announce theworld’s greenestrecovery package nextweek, as it seeks to curb pollution andsave its economy from the coronavirus pandemic.The plan ispart of the package that the EU executivewill unveil onMay 27for the bloc’s jointly financed response to the pandemic-induced recession.

USfundingcutshurtemergenciesprogramme,WHOsays

Australia’s closedborders harkenback topre-global economy

Boris Johnson has aBrexit problemwithworkers staying home

Emirates seeks to scraplast fiveA380 orders

CambridgeUniversitymoves lectures onlineuntil 2021

❝❝ ❝❝

MONEYMATTERSMahendra Negi, CFO, Trend Micro

Acompany’s current financial strength is becomingamore important factor now, as venture capitalistsare largely holding back investment duringthis period.

Every crisis offers new learnings and theCovid-19 situation is no different.The lock-down and social distancing have maderemote working and learning the new nor-mal.“Asweentertheeighthweekofanation-wide lockdown,we have started embracingnewwaystosurviveandthrive,”saysSamikRoy, country head, Modern Workplace,Microsoft India.TeamsisthefastestgrowingappfromMicrosoft,auniquecommunicationandcollaborationplatformthatprovidestheability to work from anywhere,anytime andonanydevice.“InApril,globally,wesawmorethan 200 million Microsoft Teams meetingparticipantsinasingleday,generatingmorethan 4.1 billion meeting minutes.Thirty outofthecountry’stop50companiesareworkingremotelyonMicrosoftTeams,”hetellsSudhirChowdhary in an interview,while empha-sisingthat‘remoteeverything’trendwillsus-tainandtechintensitywillcontinuetoaccel-erate.Excerpts:

HowisMicrosoftsupportingitscustomersacrosssectorsinthesechallengingtimes?

Thelockdownandsocialdistancinghavemaderemoteworkingandlearningthenewnormal.Technologyistheenablerforalmostallthatwedo,beitforwork,communicatingwithfriendsandfamilyororderingyourgro-cery.This has accelerated India’s organisa-tions and individuals on thepathofdigitaltransformation.Currently,MicrosoftTeamsisbeingused

acrossvariousindustries,includinghealth-care,education, information technology,manufacturing,bankingand financial ser-vices and governments.Thirty out of thecountry’s top 50 companies areworkingremotely onMicrosoft Teams.Organisa-tionssuchasWipro,Mindtree,AdityaBirla,educational institutions such as BritishSchool, Amity Institutions, Delhi PublicSchoolInternationalandmedicalcarecom-paniessuchasFortisandHealthCareGlobalareleveragingMicrosoftTeamsextensivelyeveryday.Manyof thegroupcompaniesofconglomerates such as Tata, Reliance,Mahindra and L&T are leveraging theMicrosoftworkplacesuiteofproducts.

WhatdotheTeamsusagenumberssay?Datatrendsandconversationswithour

customershighlightthattheworldisrealis-ing thatwe can effectively connect acrossdistances in awaywehave perhaps neverthoughtwaspossible before.InApril,glob-ally, we saw more than 200 millionMicrosoftTeamsmeetingparticipants in asingleday,generatingmorethan4.1billionmeetingminutes.Teamshasmorethan75milliondailyactiveusersandtwo-thirdsofthem have leveraged Teams beyond justcommunication (video/audiocalling,chat-ting,meetingetc)andhaveuseditscollabo-

rationfeatureslikeco-authoring,co-editing,sharingoffilesandmore.

HowisMicrosoft ensuring securityandprivacyofusersofTeams?WemadeTeamsavailabletoeveryonefor

free and our productivity solutions havehelpedorganisations inensuringbusiness,learning and healthcare continuity. AtMicrosoft, privacy and security areingrained in the core design principles ofeveryproduct.InTeams,weprovideprivacyandsecuritycontrolsforvideoconferences,safeguarduserprivacy,secureuseridentity

andaccount information,aswellasprotectcustomerdataanddefenditagainstcyber-securitythreats.

Howdoyouseetechnologyimpactingthewayweworkevenafterthiscrisisisover?It’sinspiringtoseehowourtechnologyis

helpingorganisationsandindividualscon-tinue towork and learn amid the currentglobalcrisis.Everysingleday,weliveourmis-sionofempoweringeverypersonandeveryorganisation to achieve more. And amomentcomes,but rarelyinhistory,whenwe rise beyond ourselves and keep moreorganisationsupand runningwith securetools. Although the way we work haschanged, it is heartening when our cus-tomerstellusthatourdrivetoconnectwitheach other is often stronger than the cir-cumstancesthatkeepusapart.Wearehum-bled andprivileged to be able to serve thecountryanditspeople.WhenweovercometheCovid-19crisis,

childrenwillgobacktotheirphysicalclass-rooms,andphysicalmeetingswill be rein-statedinourcalendarsalongwiththevirtualones.Butthe“remoteeverything”trendwillsustain,and tech intensitywill continue toaccelerate.Parents,students and teachersshould continue to communicate and col-laboratefornewerlearningapproaches.It’sencouragingto learnthatthefuture

operatingmodel ofTata ConsultancySer-viceswill have 25%of theirworkforce attheirfacilitiesandtheywillcontinuetodrivehighproductivitywithanytime,anywhere,collaborativeworking.Geographicallydispersed teams should

continue to connect and collaboratesecurelyandefficientlyvirtually.That’showwewill beable to transformourselvesdigi-tallyandusher in anewera of highereffi-ciencyandproductivity.

SUDHIR CHOWDHARY

COVID-19 HAS BROUGHT about someinstrumentalchangesinourlifestyles.Andwithnoimmediatesignofitabatingany-time soon,even governments have saidthatweneedtoadoptanevolvedlifestyle.Wearingamaskormeasurementofbodytemperature at public places are just fewof themeasures to staysafe.In syncwiththistrend,anewnon-contactthermome-terhas arrived that promises saferwork-placesandhouseholds.French consumer technology firm

Zoookhasmadeavailable its contact-lessmedicalgradethermometerdevelopedinaccordancewith the requirements in thewakeofCovid-19.Theinfrareddigitaldualmode thermometer,named InfraTemp,enables quick detection of the tempera-tureofabodyorasurface.Withouttouch-ing the surface, it acquires accurate tem-peraturereadingwithinonesecond.The non-contact thermometer,

which comes with one-yearwarranty,hasaninbuiltalertmechanismandringsan alarm if temperature is beyond per-missible limit.Also part of themecha-nismislight-basedalerts,whereinscreenlight turns white, orange and red fornormal temperature,high temperatureandfever,respectively.Toeasescreeningprocess atworkplaces,the InfraTemp isfurther capable of storing upto 30groups ofmeasurement readings.Thislarge storage capacity would act as aready reckoner of employees’ tempera-turerecords foracompany.Thetemper-aturescanbetakenandrecordedinbothCelsius aswell as Fahrenheit, as per therequirement and the on-screenmenugivesanoptiontochange theunits.Special focus has also been given to

the look of the apparatus. Infra Tempcomes with a tri-colour backlit LCDscreen, and the large screen display isaided by a brightwhite backlight,mak-ing the readings easily readable evenduringnighthours.ThelatestofferingbyZoook is furtherequippedwithan intel-ligentshutdownsystem,whichmeansitshuts down automaticallywhen not inuse. Ultra-low power consumption,power display and low-power reminderadd to the virtues of the device,whichhas IPXDprotection against liquidpen-

etration.AllweneedaretwoAAAbatter-ies tokeep InfraTempfunctional.Achin Gupta, country head-India,

Zoook,says:“While thereareothersimi-lar products in the market, it is InfraTemp’saccuracyanduserfriendlyattrib-

utesthatmakeittheperfectchoiceinthecurrent scenario.”This product is available onAmazon

and ispricedat`3,999.

■ Estimated street price: `3,999

● INTERVIEW: SAMIK ROY,Country Head, ModernWorkplace, Microsoft India

THE SHEERNUMBER of digital technolo-giesandthebenefitsderivedbysomeofthetrailblazing businesses byadopting thesehaveprompted anumberof companies toaugment theiroperations or rethink theirmethodsoffunctioningandembarkonthedigitaltransformationjourney.However,sofar,mostofthesuccessstoriesinIndiahavebeen related to large companies or busi-nesses born on the internet.Theunprece-dentedchangesthathavetakenplaceinthewake of Covid-19 are throwing up com-pellingreasonsandopportunitiesforMSMEsegment to also rethink their customerrequirementsandtheirbusinessmodels.Digital transformation isnot just using

appsorsocialmedia,it has tobe aligned tothe business goals andbusiness processeswith clearlydefinedmetrics to justify theefforts and the investment.There are fourclearreasonsforMSMEsegmenttoembracedigitaltransformationwhicharecrucialspe-cially in the context of Covid 19 and theresultantbusiness climate.The first areaoffocuswouldbetoidentifynewcustomersasexisting customersmaybe cash-strapped,mayhavereduceddemandormayhavesim-plyperishedonaccountofCovidcrisis.

Nowthenethastobecastwideandthishas tobedone smartlywith speed inordertoensuretherevivalofthebusiness.Strate-gicdigitalsupportwouldenablethecompa-niestohelpgeneratenewleadsandalsocus-tomise the solutions based on the newdemandsthatbubbleup.Second,adoptingthedigitaljourneycan

ensurethatexistingcustomersareservicedeffectively,thus leading to farmingofnewopportunities.Several customers are seek-ing discounts and are renegotiating con-tractsduetoconstraintsfacedandwill havetochoosewhomtoworkwithinthedemandchallenged situation.Businesses that cancontinue to retain theattentionof thecus-tomers and use digital means to servicethem–viafrequentcommunications,shar-inganalysisoftheoutcomesfrompreviousengagements and providing proactiveexamples of how they could go the extramile toservice themusingdigital channelswithoutenhancedcostswouldhaveahead-startinthenextphaseofbusiness.Third, streamlining the supply chain.

Almost all industries are facing challengesduetobrokensupplychainsandthebottle-necks thereof atmultiple stages.Supplierswouldcontinuetofacethesechallengesforquite sometime—even after the currentrestrictions are relaxed and in future cus-tomerswould laysignificant emphasis onhaving alternatives andensuringbusinesscontinuity plan is finetuned to dealwithextremesituations.The fourth reason is tomanage its peo-

pleandtheirmotivation.Virtualofficesandremoteworkingarehere to stay.This is theright time to create digital frameworks tofoster higher levels of employee engage-mentthroughcollaboration,upskillingandbuildingabridgebetweentherolesandthenewcompetenciesrequired,thusestablish-ingnewbenchmarksinproductivity.In order to seize the opportunity to

remodel theirbusinesses,the construct forthenextincarnationofMSMEsshouldcom-prise levers forone ormore trajectories ofdigitaltransformationasoutlined.Whiletheimmediate need is to steady the ship andensureitisabletosailintroubledseas,inthenext phase of India growth story,amongsttheMSMEbusinesses,thereareopportuni-tiesforsometomoveintothebigboys’clubbasedonhowwell theyare able to acquiretherightammunitionandfirepowertotakeon the rough seas ahead.Digital transfor-mationcouldbethatammunition!

Thewriterisexecutivechairperson,GlobalTalentTrack,acorporate

trainingsolutionscompany

Time to godigital

IN THEWAKE of the coronavirus out-break, various protective measuresadopted by people (social distancing,wearing a mask, etc.,) are the norm tokeepsafe.Butwhataboutpersonalacces-sories such asmobile phones,watchesand other electronic gadgets that wetouchonaregularbasis?Howcanwedis-infect them?After all, themobile is anindispensableiteminourhandformak-ing or answering calls,watchingvideos,ordering online items,making digitalpayments and more. Various studies

have suggested that the novel coron-avirusisabletosurviveonsomesurfacesformanydays.In the given scenario, it is extremely

importantforyoutosanitiseyourmobilein the right manner after you havereturnedhomefromavisitoutside.Sam-sunghasupdatedonitswebsitethatyoucanuseanalcohol-basedsolution(70%)andapplyittoyourphonewithamicrofi-brecloth.Vivorecommendsthatsanitis-ers orcleaningagents shouldnotbeputdirectlyontothesmartphonescreenasit

canharmthedelicatecompositionofthedisplay.Smartphonescreensaremadeofdel-

icatematerial andhenceputtinga sani-tiser (with 70%alcohol) can easily stripthe Oleophobic andHydrophobic coat-ingsofthescreenthatkeepoilandwaterfrom damaging your display and otherports.Herearesomeimportantpointersto help you disinfect your smartphoneandclean it in theCovid-19era.

■ Spray a non-abrasive or alcohol-based (70% isopropyl) disinfectant

directlyonasoft lint-freeclothandwipedown your device while it is powereddownandunplugged.

■Smartphonescarrydifferentopen-ings in the form of ports and hence youneed to be careful about these openspaceslikeearphonejack,chargingport,speaker,earpiecegrill,etc.Theliquidcandamagethefunctionalityoftheseports,therefore,theyought tobe cleanedwithgentlehands.

■ Incaseyouareusingasmartphonecase–itneedstobecleanedseparately;ifyoursmartphonecase ismadeof siliconorhardplastic,feelfreetowashit inrun-ningwater.Youcanalsousesoaporhandwashing liquid for cleaning purpose.Waterisastrictno-no incaseofnon-sil-iconorplasticmaterial.

■ Avoid touching your face,nose ormouthwhile cleaningyourdevice.

■Throwthemicro-fibre cloth/tissueproperly in the dustbin after the clean-ingprocess isover.

■ Put the case and phone backtogetheroncebotharecleananddry.

■Oncedone,cleanyourhandsprop-erlywithsoaporhandwash.Yourmobile phone is nowclean and

readytobeusedagain.

Askari writes on communications,technology and gadgets at

TelecomDrive.com

Yourmobile phone can bea carrier ofmicrobial lifeforms, including bacteria,viruses and fungi.Here'show to disinfect andmake them safe to use

● ZOOOK INFRATEMP

● INDIAN MSME

Stay safe, stayhealthy

Digital transformation isnot just using apps or socialmedia, it has to be alignedto the business goals andbusiness processes

Anon-contactthermometer, Infra Temppromises saferworkplacesand households

Teamshasmorethan75milliondailyactive users

FINANCIALEXPRESS9 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

●COVID SAFE

How to clean your phone the rightway

Gadgets

eFETHURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020

Take your examremotelyTHEEXAMSCHEDULEofeducationinstitutionsandexamconductingboardshavebeendeeplyimpacteddue tothecurrentpandemic.Auniquetechnologysolution fromTCS iON,astrategicunitofTataConsultancyServices (TCS),promises toaddress thischallengebyenablingstudents toappearforexamsfromhomeoranywhere.Thenewoffering,RemoteAssessments,enablesuniversitiesandexamboards toconduct secure,freeandfairexamsatscale,ina remotemodel.It enablescontrols at three levels,basedontheinstitution’s requirements.At thebasiclevel,it locksdownthecandidate’sdevice–desktop,laptop,tabletorsmartphone,and just enables it tocaptureexamresponses.At thesecondlevel,theproduct leverages thecameraof thedeviceandsendsavideostreamtoacentral serveronthecloud.ThesevideostreamsareanalysedusingAIandMLframeworks todetectmalpracticeattemptsandalert the invigilators.Thethird level includesall these featuresaswell asenables invigilators toproctorcandidates in real-time,fromanywhere.VenguswamyRamaswamy,Global

Head,TCS iON,said,“TCS iONRemoteAssessmentswill ensure thatexamadministratorsareable toconductexams inasecureway,at speedandwithnodependencyonthecandidates’,proctors’orexamadministrators’location.Thiswillhelpauthoritiesquicklyscheduleandcomplete theexamprocess.”

CloudsecuritymattersTHENEGATIVEECONOMIC impactforceduponbusinessesbytheCovid-19pandemichas led toconcerns in thechannel communitywhen it comes tochoosing the right cybersecurityvendors.“Financial strengthshouldbeakeyconsiderationwhenchoosing theright cybersecurityvendorin theCovid-19era,”saidMahendraNegi,CFO,TrendMicro.“Financial strengthdirectlytranslates into investment inR&Dandnewproducts,”he said speakingat thecompany’svirtual regionalpartnerconference,PartnerTRENDs2020.TrendMicroholds35%of thehybridcloudsecuritymarket share.Its software-as-a-service (SaaS) customerbase surpassedthe traditionalon-premisecustomerbase in2019.Twotrends thatTrendMicrohasobserved: theneed tosecurethehybridcloudenvironmentandtheneed tosecure thesecurityoperationscenters (SOC).

Tech

Bytes

UmaGanesh

ZiaAskari

● JAYPEE INFRATECH RESOLUTION


FINANCIAL CREDITORS (FCs) realised64%of theiradmitted claims through theinsolvencyprocessinJanuary-March,muchhigher than thehistorical averageof about46%overtheperioduptoDecember2019.

The improved realisation was due inlargeparttotheresolutionofJaypeeInfrat-ech(JIL),whereFCsrecovered`23,223crore,over100%of the amount claimed,showsthelatestissueofthenewsletterbytheInsol-vencyandBankruptcyBoardofIndia(IBBI).

With the resolution of the JaypeeInfratechasset,the insolvencyprocessfor

eight of the 12 cases identified by theReserve Bank of India (RBI) for referralunder the Insolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC) has been completed. AmtekAuto,Era InfraEngineering,LancoInfrat-ech andABGShipyard are still in process,with the lattertwobeing liquidated.

Simultaneously,NBCC’s bid toacquireJaypee Infratech continues tobeheardbytheNational CompanyLawAppellateTri-bunal (NCLAT), even as the tribunal hasrefused tostaythe resolutionplan.

About 56.98%of the corporate insol-

vency resolution processes (CIRPs)whichwere closed ended in orders for liquida-tion,ascomparedto13.77%endingwitharesolutionplan.“However,itisimportantto note that 72.46%of the CIRPs endingin liquidation (637 out of 879 of whichdata is available) were earlierwith BIFRand/or defunct. The economic value inmostoftheseCDs(corporatedebtors)hadalreadyerodedbeforetheywereadmittedintoCIRP,”thenewslettersaid.

TheIBChasbeenanimportanttoolforbanks to resolve stressed assets since the

RBI began to push it as a mode of stressresolution in 2017.Not only have banksevolvedconsultativeandresolutionmech-anisms centred around the IBC,the legis-lationiswidelybelievedtohaveinspiredachangeinthebehaviouroferrantpromot-ers.This is set to change over the next 12monthsasthegovernmenthassuspendedall fresh insolvency proceedings againstcompanies forayear.

Analystssaywhileofferingrelieftocom-panies, the suspension of IBC couldmakerecoveriesdifficultforbanks.Icravice-pres-identAbhishekDafriasaid,“Thetimeframeofoneyearappearsadequateatpresentforthe entity to sort any temporarycash flowmismatches;however,if theseverityofthepandemicweretoincreasetherebyincreas-ingthelongevityofthelockdownorleadtofreshlockdownslateron,thusdelayingeco-nomic revival, thenwe could see a suddensurgeincasesbeingreferredundertheIBCafter the one-year period.This would bedetrimentaltotheresolutionprocesswhichisalreadyfacingchallengesfromover-bur-denedtribunals.”

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIAMumbai, May 20

THERUPEEDEPRECIATEDby14paisetoclose at 75.80 against the dollar onWednesday as headwinds due to the US-China trade tiff andworries over the sec-ond wave of coronavirus infectionweighedon investorsentiment.

Forex traders said positive domesticequities supported the local unit,whilesustained foreign fund outflows, US-China trade tiff and concerns over coron-aviruspandemicweighedonthelocalunit.

At the interbank foreign exchange,therupee opened at 75.60 but pared initialgains tofinallycloseat75.80,registeringafall of 14 paise over its previous close.OnTuesday, the rupee had settled at 75.66.“The Covid-19vaccine trials temporarilyexcitedthemarket.ButthereareheadwindsduetoongoingUS-Chinatradetiffandwor-riesoverthesecondwaveofinfection,”saidRahulGupta,head of research - currency,EmkayGlobalFinancialServices.


FRANKLIN TEMPLETON TRUSTEE Ser-vices on Wednesday appointed KotakMahindra Bank (KMB) as an adviser toassist themutual fundwith all portfolioactions pertaining to the six funds thatwere shuttered lastmonth.

The Securities and Exchange Board ofIndia (Sebi) had advised the trustees toappoint an independent adviser whowould assist themwith the process, evenas the approval of unit holders is beingsought forthewindingup.

Commenting on the development,SujataGuhathakurta,president,debtcapi-talmarkets,KMB,saidthebankwouldworkcloselywith the trustees and theAMC toassisttheminthewindupoftheschemes.

An email sent to investors onWednes-day said,“Trustees of FranklinTempletonMutual Fund are pleased that KotakMahindraBankwould,whereverrequired,actas theiragentandprovide its indepen-dentadvice andassistance to theTrusteesthrough the entire process.The appoint-mentofKotakMahindraBankwillprovidethetrusteeswiththeaddedexperienceandability tomonetise assets at the earliestpossible time.”

FranklinTempletonMFhad shutteredsixofitsdebtschemesinAprilandinformedinvestors they could not redeem invest-mentsdue to illiquidmarket conditions inthewakeof theCovid-19pandemic.Thesesixfundswere:FranklinIndiaLowDurationFund,FranklinIndiaDynamicAccrualFund,Franklin India Credit Risk Fund,FranklinIndia Short Term Income Plan, FranklinIndiaUltra Short BondFundandFranklinIndiaIncomeOpportunitiesFund.

All redemptions and fresh investmentswerestoppedinApril.MarketsregulatorSebihad advised the trustees of FranklinTem-pletontoappointanindependentadvisertoliquidatetheportfolioandrepayinvestors.

Shuttering of the six schemes putinvestors ina lurch,leadingtomanyotherspulling outmoney fromother credit riskfundsthroughApril.

` drops 14 p ontradeworries,corona scare

Franklin appointsKMBas adviserto helpwindup six schemes

Sensex builds on gains, jumps622 pts; Nifty reclaims 9k-mark


FINO PAYMENTS BANK onWednesdaysaid it turned a profit in theMarch quar-ter of FY20 and an operating profit on afull-year basis. The bank did not shareprofit figures. Its revenues stood at `689crore fortheyear.

During FY20, Fino Payments Bankfacilitatedtransactionsworthover`1lakhcrore, doubling on the previous fiscal’sthroughput.Intermsofvolumes,transac-tions grew to over 380million from 195million inFY19.

For the bank, domestic remittance(urbantorural)transactionsaccountedforover40%oftheFY20throughput,placingit among the top five players in the IMPSbusiness.MicroATMandAadhaarenabledPayment System (AePS)-led digital trans-actions (withdrawals) contributed over30%tothebusiness.

The interoperable digital platformsallowedcustomersofallbankstotransactatFino points, leading to a quadrupling inwithdrawals over the last fiscal.Thebank’scurrentaccountsavingsaccount(CASA)cus-tomerbaseincreasedbyover65%inFY20.

Fino Payments BankMD&CEORishiGupta said not having an asset productmakesthepaymentsbankmodelrisk-free.

“Weworked towards turning this per-

ceived liability and a payments-onlymodelintoanasset.Ourstrategicfocusonhavingaleanvariablecostmodelridingondigitalplatforms,increasingtransactionsand highmargin-products enabled us togrowbyover86%inFY19-20,”Guptasaid.

Like its rivals in the payments bankspace,Paytmand India Post,Finohad lastyear spoken of plans to transition to thesmallfinancebank(SFB)model.Thereafter,RBI in December 2019 came out withnorms stipulating that a payments bankmust have completed fiveyears of opera-tionstobeallowedtoturnintoanSFB.

Earlier this week,Gupta told FE thatFinowillneedafewmoreyearstoseehowthe‘newnormal’worksout inthewakeofCovid-19 and how that may impact aforay into lending.

Fino Payments Bank turnsa profit inMarch quarter

With JIL resolution, theinsolvency process for8 of 12 cases identified byRBI for referral underIBC has been completed

Sundaram HomeFinance Q4 netat `82 croreSUNDARAMHOMEFinance,thehomefinancesubsidiaryofSundaramFinance,hasregisteredanetprofitof`82croreforthefourthquarterendedMarch31.Thecompanyhadregisteredanetprofitof`26crorein thecorrespondingquarterofthepreviousyear.Asaresultoftheone-timeexceptional itemmentionedabove,thenetprofit forthetwoquarters isnotcomparableonaliketolikebasis,thecompanysaidinastatement.Forthewholeyear,it registeredanetprofitof`218crore(includingaonetimeexceptional item).

NCDEXtolaunchIndia’sfirstagri-futures indexLEADINGAGRI-COMMODITYbourseNCDEXonWednesdaysaiditwilllaunchthecountry’sfirstagri-futuresindex,NCDEXAGRIDEX,onMay26.Initially,theexchangewillofferfuturescontractsthatwouldexpire inJune,July,SeptemberandDecember,itsaid.Announcingthelaunch,VijayKumar,MD&CEOofNCDEXsaid,“TheintroductionofAGRIDEXFutures isanotherimportantstepinthesamedirection.Thecontractswillprovideinvestorsonemoretoolfortradingandriskmanagementatacomposite level.

Quick

View

MarketsFINANCIALEXPRESS10 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM


Jaypee Infratech

ILC Industries

Noble Explochem

SRS Meditech

Aditya Estates

100.2 23,223

7.21

57.3

13.75

263

Realisation as a share of claims admitted (in %)

Source: IBBI

Amount realised byfinancial creditors (` cr)

IBC resolutions in Jan-Mar 2020

66.33

54

46.83

44.31

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIAMumbai, May 20

BENCHMARK INDICES MARCHEDhigher for the second straight day onWednesday as robust gains in marketheavyweights HDFC twins and RILoffsetlacklustreglobal cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed622.44 points or 2.06% to settle at30,818.61,while the broader NSE Niftyrose187.45points,or2.11%,to9,066.55.

Traders said encouraging corporateresults bolstered investor confidence,though rising Covid-19 cases in Indiacappedthegains.

Further, media reports said financeministerNirmalaSitharamanhasnotruledoutannouncingmoremeasurestohelpthecoronavirus-hit economy,which added tothebuyingmomentum,theyadded.

M&Mwasthe topgainer in theSensexpack, surging 5.92%, followed byHDFC,L&T,Tata Steel,Bajaj Finance,HDFCBankand Sun Pharma.Only four Sensex con-stituents ended in the red — IndusIndBank,HeroMotoCorp, Bharti Airtel and

AsianPaints,sheddingupto2.85%.“Domestic markets opened flat but

gained higher later during the day led bybuyingacrossallsectors.PositivestatementsfromtheFinanceMinisteralso couldhaveliftedmarkets (and showed) that the gov-ernmentwaswithindustryandwoulddoasmuch as possible depending on how thecoronaviruspandemicwill panout,imply-ing therecouldbe furtherstimulusahead,”said Paras Bothra, president of equityresearch,AshikaStockBroking.

Money Matters

May 20May 6

6.027 5.782

The benchmark yieldrose due to sellingpressure

0.007%

G-SEC

May 20May 6

75.765

Inverted scale

75.797

The rupee depreciatedon global cues

0.21%

`/$

May 20May 6

1.0791.096

The euro rose againstthe dollar

0.39%

C=/$

❝ ❝

CAUTIOUSOUTLOOKLDuraiswamy, MD, Sundaram Home Finance

The outlook is one of cautious optimism. Housing marketremains under-penetrated.With the govt’s funding sup-port, it will continue to grow in the longer term. But inthe next few quarters, it will remain muted.We expecttier 2 & 3 towns to recover faster than the urban areas.

ANALYSTCORNER

UpgradeUjjivan SFB to‘buy’with fairvalue of `37

KOTAK INSTITUTIONALEQUITIES

WEUPGRADEUjjivan SFB (UJSFB) to'buy' from 'sell' (fair value: `37 from`45earlier) andmaintain ourpositiveviewonUjjivan Financial Services (Ujjivan)with a 'buy' (FV: `330 from`490earlier).Thequarter’s performance is less rele-vant, given the current deterioration inbusiness environment. However,webelieveUjjivan shouldbe able to navi-gate the situationbetter, given itswell-diversified loanmix, comfortable liqui-dity situation andhealthyCAR levels.TheMFI business shouldbeoneof theearly businesses likely to turn around.Ujjivan SFB reported a~30%growth

in PBTledby a125%y-o-y operatingprofit growthbut offset by higherprovisions (up~8Xy-o-y, primarilyCovid-related at 0.5%ofAUM).NIIgrowth remained robust at ~45%y-o-y,ledby~28%AUMgrowthwhileNIMexpanded~30bpsq-o-q to 11.2%.Disbursementsdeclined~20%y-o-y ledbyCovid-related lockdowns.Cost-income ratiowas at 65%.Depositswereflat q-o-q (~45%growth y-o-y); holdingupbetter than certain larger privatebanks. CASAratio improved~200bpsq-

o-q to 14%.Asset quality remainedstablewithGNPLratio at 1% (flat q-o-q)andNNPLratio at 0.2% (down~20bpsq-o-q)while 90%of the loanbook (99%byvalue) is undermoratorium.Ujjivan SFB is reasonablywell-placed

for thepost-Covid era in its segment.UJSFBhas awell-diversifiedportfoliofromageographical standpoint inMFIwhich should enable thebank towith-standunexpected shocks.As abank,the access to liabilities is far better.Theshareof retail deposits is at ~45%curr-ently.Thebank has a comfortableCARof28%whichgives significantly higherheadroom toabsorb anyuntowardlosses.Wewould argueUjjivan, as thesituation normalises, shouldbe able tocomeout far better than the rest.WeupgradeUjjivan SFBwith 'buy'with anFVof`37,valuing thebank at 2Xbookand20XMarch 2022EPS.Wevalue theholding company’s stakeof83% in thebank forUjjivan at `330.Theholdingfirm is trading at adiscount of~55%ofcurrentmarket price (~120% toour FV).Webelieve the leakage invalue is not ashigh as anticipatedby investorswhichshould result in better returns byown-ing theparent comparedwith thebank.

Financial creditors recoveredover64%ofadmittedclaims throughIBC inQ4

Sebi issues listing norms forMF schemes that arewinding upPRESSTRUSTOF INDIANewDelhi, May 20

MARKETSREGULATORSEBI onWednes-daycameoutwith guidelines for listing ofmutualfund(MF)schemeswhichareintheprocessofwindingup,whereintheAMC,itssponsor,employeesandtrusteeswillnotbeallowedtotransact insuchunits.

This comes after Franklin TempletonMutualFundclosedsixofitsdebtschemeslast month citing redemption pressuresand lackof liquidityin thebondmarkets.

Under the norms, there are severalsteps envisagedwith respect towindingup of mutual fund schemes before thescheme ceases to exist. During thisprocess,suchunitscanbelistedandtradedon a recognised stock exchange, which

mayprovideanexit route to investors.“The units of mutual fund schemes

which are in the process ofwinding-up...shall be listed on recognised stockexchange,subjecttocompliancewithlist-ing formalities as stipulated by the stock

exchange,”Sebi said inacircular.However, pursuant to listing, trading

onstockexchangemechanismwillnotbemandatoryforinvestors.Rather,if theysodesire, theymay avail the optional chan-nel toexitprovided to them,it said.

Initially,trading inunits of such listedschemes that are in the process ofwind-ing up have to be in dematerialised form.Further, asset management companies(AMCs) need to enable transfer of suchunitswhichareheldinformof‘statementofaccount’orunit certificates.

Detailed operational modalities fortrading and settlement of units of MFschemesthatareintheprocessofwindingupwillbefinalisedbythestockexchangeswhere units of such schemes are beinglisted,inconsultationwithSebi.

Sensex

30,159.59

30,818.61

Open Close

Intra-day, May 20

29,500

29,900

30,300

30,700

31,100

Fino Payments BankMD&CEORishi Gupta

Big 4 auditors have lost credibilityamong57% investors: IiAS surveyPRESSTRUSTOF INDIAMumbai, May 20

INMORETROUBLES fortheauditingfra-ternity,an investor surveyhas found that57%largeinvestorsandsell-sideanalystsdo not have any faith in the Big 4 auditfirmsas theyhave lost credibility.

According to a surveyby InstitutionalInvestor Advisory Services of 63 largeinvestorsandsell-sideanalystsnumbering89,conducted online duringApril 13-21,asmuch as 57%of each of them have found“the Big 4 audit firms havinglost their credibility withinvestors and are thereforeopen tomovebeyond themiftheywerebanned”.

Between qualified andunqualified accounts, 73%support qualified accountsbecause they feel that at least they got tohearauditorconcernsandiftheyaskedforlean accounts, the riskwas that the audi-torswouldbemuzzled.

EversincetheSatyamComputersscan-dal that came out in January 2009, theauditworld, especially the Big Four,havebeenunderfire fromtheregulators.

WhilemarketwatchdogSecuritiesandExchangeBoardhadbannedPwCin2018from auditing listed companies for twoyears in the Satyam scam, the Securities

Appellate Tribunal quashed the ban andtheSebi challenged it.

In June2019,theReserveBankbarredSRBatliboi & Company,an affiliate of EY,fromcarryingoutstatutoryauditofcom-mercialbanksforayearafterit foundsev-eral lapses in thebooksofYesBank.

In the IL&FS case, the SFIO chargedDeloitteHaskins&SellsandBSR&Associates(partoftheKMPGnetwork),fortheirfailureinnotdisclosingthetruefinancialhealthof

IL&FS Financial Services andare looking at banning themfromundertakingaudits afterthey got some reprieve fromtheDelhiHighCourt.

In theCGPower fraud,theNCLT had thrown out thereportpreparedbyViashAsso-ciates, terming it unprofes-sionalandfullofifsandbuts.

Ontopofthese,therehavebeen frequent resignations of auditors,creating doubts on the quality of theaudits being presented and also manyinstancesofdivergentaudit reports.

IntheUS,auditorscannotpublishqual-ifiedresults.Butonly23%supportmovingto the American model by shifting ouraccountingstandardsalsomoveinthesamedirectionandinsistonunqualifiedaccounts.Thisisdespite77%ofthembelievingthat“only unqualified accounts are true andfair”asoneget tohearauditorconcerns.

Ever since theSatyam scandalbroke out in 2009,the auditworld,especially Big 4,have been underfire from regulators

SUBHADIP SIRCAR & DIVYAPATILMumbai, May 20

BORROWINGSBYTHECentre,states andstate-run firmsare set to cross13%of thenation’sGDP,threateningtocrowdouttheprivatesectorfromthedebtmarket,accord-ingtoanHSBCHoldingsnote.

Debt sales by these state entitiesmayhave alsowidened the fiscal deficit for theyearendedMarch31to10.2%ofGDPfromthe 9%estimated by the bank before thecoronaoutbreak,HSBCeconomistsPranjulBhandariandAayushiChaudharywrote.

“Thechallengewiththehighpublicbor-rowingsapproach,however,is that it is liketreadingonthin ice,”theeconomistswrotein thenote datedMay19.“Authoritieswillhavetobeextremelymindfultoensurethatthepublicsectorstepsbackquicklywhentheprivate sector shows signs of wanting tospend/invest.” Policymakers around theglobe have been tapping debtmarkets astheyroll outmore stimulus to counter theeconomic falloutof thepandemic.Thepri-vate sectormakes up75%of total invest-mentdemand,accordingtothenote.

Borrowingcostsforstate-backedissuers

isalsoontherise.State-ownedREConTues-daypricedrupeebondsmaturingin10yearsat a coupon rate of 7.79%.That’s 24basispointshigherthanasimilardealclosedlastweek. Another state-run issuer PowerFinanceCorponWednesdaypriced`4,890croreofbonds,thefifthissuancebythecom-panyinthisfinancialyear.

—BLOOMBERG

‘Listed firmsmustdisclose Covid-19impact to investors’

SEBI ON Wednesday asked listedfirms tomake disclosure about theimpactof theCovid-19pandemicontheirbusiness to investorsandstake-holders in a timelyand cogentman-ner,reportsPTI.ListedentitiesshouldevaluatetheCovid-19impactontheirbusiness,performanceandfinancials,bothqualitativelyandquantitatively,totheextentpossibleanddisseminatethesametoinvestors,Sebisaid.

Abandoning austerityIncreased borrowing will widen the fiscal gap

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

India deficit as a % of GDP

fiscal deficit-last price

Q1FY02 Q1FY21

3.5

Source: Govt data compiled by Bloomberg

Centre, states borrowing spree towiden fiscal gap to 13%:HSBC

MARKETS 11FINANCIALEXPRESS


CCIprocuresrecord92Lcottonbales this seasonNANDAKASABEPune, May 20

THE COTTON CORPORA-TIONofIndia(CCI)procureda record 92 lakh bales fromcotton growing regionsacross the country onWednesday,accordingtotopof the corporation.

PAlliRani,CMD,CCIsaidthat this isaglobal recordofprocurement by any singleagency. The total procure-ment by CCI is valued ataround `25,000 crore. CCIhad purchased a record 90lakh bales in the year 2008,which was again a nationalrecord,she said.

Of the total crop of 360lakh bales,around 297-300lakhbaleshavearrivedinthemarket so far. Farmers haveanother 60 lakh balesremaining with them ofwhich 25 lakh bales arelikelytoarriveinthemarket,Alli Rani said.Of this,CCI islikely to procure around 10lakh bales. Currently, CCI isprocuring some 45,000bales a day.

The cotton procured sofarhasbeenpurchasedfromfarmers in Gujarat, Maha-rashtra,Haryana,Telanganaand Punjab. The season inTamil Nadu has just begunand will continue till Sep-tember30.

The minimum supportpriceforthemedium-staplevariety of cotton is `5,255per quintal and that for thelongstapleoneis`5,550per

quintalthisyear.TheCottonAssociation of India haspegged 2019-20 crop at354.5 lakh bales, comparedwith312lakhbaleslastyear.

In Maharashtra, CCI isprocuring about 15,000bales a day, Alli Rani said.However,the state govern-ment has now threatenedaction against cotton gin-ners forkeeping theirunitsshut and not cooperatingwith the state cotton fed-eration and the corpora-tion. CCI had suspendedcotton procurement dur-ing the lockdown andrestarted operations fromMay 3. Farm activistKishore Tiwari had thensought action against gin-ners and pressers for notreopening their units dur-ing this period.

801, 802 & 803, 8th Floor, Windsor, Of C.S.T. Road, Kalina, Santacruz (E), Mumbai 400 098

NOTICE

RECORD DATE FOR PAYMENT OF DIVIDEND

NOTICE is hereby given that Edelweiss Trusteeship Company Limited, Trustee to Edelweiss Mutual Fund, has approved declaraion of

dividend under the following Schemes Edelweiss Mutual Fund, as per the details given below:

Name of the Scheme/Plan/OpionAmount of

DividendRecord Date

NAV per unit as on

May 19, 2020

Face Value

per unit

Edelweiss Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan - Monthly Dividend Opion` 0.09

per unit*

Tuesday,

May 26, 2020**

`11.4533

`10.00

Edelweiss Equity Savings Fund - Direct Plan - Monthly Dividend Opion` 0.09

per unit*`11.8928

Edelweiss BalancedAdvantage Fund - Regular Plan -MonthlyDividendOpion` 0.20

per unit*`15.91

EdelweissBalancedAdvantageFund -DirectPlan -MonthlyDividendOpion` 0.20

per unit*`17.2

Edelweiss Aggressive Hybrid Fund- Regular Plan - Dividend Opion` 0.19

per unit*`15.23

Edelweiss Aggressive Hybrid Fund- Direct Plan - Dividend Opion` 0.19

per unit*`16.13

Pursuant to payment of dividend, the NAV of the aforemenioned Dividend Opions of the Schemes will fall

to the extent of dividend payout and statutory levy, if any.

*Distribuion of the above dividend is subject to availability of distributable surplus as on the Record Date and as reduced by the amount

of applicable statutory levy, if any. Considering the volaile nature of the markets, the Trustee reserves the right to restrict the quantum of

dividend upto the per unit distributable surplus available under the Schemes on the Record Date in case of fall in the market.

**or the immediately following Business Day if that day is a Non-Business Day.

All Unit holders whose name appears in the Register of Unit holders of the aforemenioned Dividend Opions of the Schemes as at the

close of business hours on the Record Date shall be eligible to receive the dividend so declared.

Investors are requested to take note of the above.

For Edelweiss Asset Management Limited

(Investment Manager to Edelweiss Mutual Fund)

Sd/-

Place : Mumbai Radhika Gupta

Date : May 20, 2020 Chief Execuive Oicer

For more informaion please contact:

Edelweiss Asset Management Limited (Investment Manager to Edelweiss Mutual Fund)

CIN: U65991MH2007PLC173409

Registered Oice: Edelweiss House, Of C.S.T Road, Kalina, Mumbai - 400098

Corporate Oice: 801, 802 & 803, 8th Floor, Windsor, Of C.S.T. Road, Kalina, Santacruz (E), Mumbai 400 098

Tel No:- 022 4093 3400 / 4097 9821, Toll Free No. 1800 425 0090 (MTNL/BSNL), Non Toll Free No. 91 40 23001181,

Fax: 022 4093 3401 / 4093 3402 / 4093 3403, Website: www.edelweissmf.com

MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO MARKET RISKS,

READ ALL SCHEME RELATED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY.

HERITAGE FOODS LIMITEDCIN: L15209TG1992PLC014332

Regd. Office: # 6-3-541/C, Panjagutta, Hyderabad-500082, Telangana. Tel:+91-40-23391221/2,

Fax:+91-40-23318090, E-mail: [email protected] Visit us at: www.heritagefoods.in

NOTICE TO THE SHAREHOLDERS(for Transfer of Equity Shares of the Company to the Investor Education and Protection Fund)

Place : Hyderabad

Date : 20/05/2020

For HERITAGE FOODS LIMITED

Sd/-

UMAKANTA BARIK

Company Secretary & Compliance Officer

M. No. FCS-631

NOTICE is hereby given to the Shareholders of the Company that pursuant to Section 124(6) of the Companies Act, 2013 and

the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016 as amended (herein

after called ‘the Rules’), all shares in respect of which dividend has not been paid or claimed for seven (7) consecutive years or

more, by any shareholder(s) shall be transferred by the Company to the ‘Investor Education and Protection Fund’ (IEPF).

The Unpaid or unclaimed dividends pertaining to all financial years up to and including FY 2011-12 have already been transferred

to IEPF as required under the Act and Rules thereof. All shares in respect of which dividend has not been paid or claimed for

seven (7) consecutive years or more (relevant shares) up to and including 2011-12 were transferred by the Company to the

IEPF Authority. Next due date for such transfer would be August 19, 2020 with regards to the final dividend paid for the financial

year 2012-13.

The full details of the shareholder(s) and the number of share(s) due for transfer are also placed on the website of the Company

at www.heritagefoods.in. Shareholders are requested to verify the details of their share(s) liable to be transferred to the IEPF

Authority.

The Notice has already been communicated to such shareholder(s) on May 20, 2020 through e-mail, whose e-mail ids are

registered either with the Company or with the Depositories and a copy of the letter is also dispatched through courier as per the

address registered with the Company.

During the period of country wide Lockdown due to spreading of COVID-19, shareholders can send the scan copies of the

following documents to the e-mail: [email protected], latest by August 19, 2020 for claiming the unpaid dividend for the

financial year 2012-13 and onwards so that the shares are not transferred to IEPF.

i. ID Proof (a self attested copy of your PAN Card)

ii. Address Proof (self attested copy of your Aadhar Card/Passport/ Utility Bill (not more than 3 months old)

iii. Unsigned and cancelled cheque leaf of the bank where you are maintaining your active core banking account so that we

can transfer all subsequent dividend directly into your bank account

In the event, no communication received from such shareholder by August 19, 2020, the Company shall not have any constrained

to transfer the shares to the Demat account of the IEPF Authority in terms of the said rules. The concerned shareholder(s)

holding shares physical form and whose shares are liable to be transferred may note that the Company would be issuing new

share certificates held by them for the purpose of transfer of shares to IEPF Authority Demat Account as per the rules and upon

such issue, the original share certificates which stand registered in their name will deemed cancelled and non-negotiable.

In case we do not receive your claim for the dividends are aforesaid by 19th August, 2020, we shall with a view to comply with

the requirements of the said Act and Rules, transfer the relevant shares to ‘IEPF’ Account by following the procedures stipulated

in the Rules in this regard, without any further notice. Shareholders may kindly note that subsequent to such transfer of relevant

shares to IEPF Suspense Account all future benefits which may accrue there under, including future dividends, if any will be

credited to IEPF Account.

Shareholder(s) may further note that the details uploaded by the Company on its website www.heritagefodos.in shall be deemed

adequate notice is respect of issue of the new Share Certificates by the Company for transfer of physical shares to the IEPF

Authority. Please note that no claim shall be made against the Company in respect of unclaimed dividend and equity shares

transferred to the IEPF.

Shareholder(s) may note that in the event of the transfer of shares and the unclaimed dividend to the IEPF, concerned

shareholder(s) are entitled to claim the same from IEPF by submitting an online application in the prescribed form IEPF-5

available on the website www.iepf.gov.in and sending the physical copy of the same, duly signed to the Company at its Registered

Office along with requisite documents enumerated in Form IEPF-5.

In case the shareholder have any queries on the subject matter, they may contact the Company’s Registrar and Shares Transfer

Agents at Kfin Technologies Private Limited, Mrs. C. Sobha Anand, DGM, (Unit: HERITAGE FOODS LIMITED) Karvy Selenium

Tower B, Plot No. 21-32, Gachibowli Financial District, Nanakramguda, Hyderabad – 500 032, Tel No: 040-67161566, E-Mail:

[email protected] or the undersigned at the Company’s registered office.

The Tata Power Company Limited, Smart Center of Procurement Excellence,2nd Floor,

Sahar Receiving Station, Near Hotel Leela, Sahar Airport Road, Andheri East,Mumbai-

400059, Maharashtra, India

(Board Line: 022-67173941) CIN: L28920MH1919PLC000567

The Tata Power Company Limited invites tenders from eligible vendors for the

following package (TwoPart Bidding).

Services required for Coal Sampling and Analysis at Maithon Power Limited

(MPL).

For detailed NIT, please visit Tender section on website

https://www.tatapower.com. Interested bidder to submit Tender Fee andrd

Authorization Letter before 15:00 hrs. on Tuesday - 03 June 2020.

12 FINANCIALEXPRESS

WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COMTHURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020

Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertising copy,it is not possible to verify itscontents. The Indian Express (P.)Limited cannot be heldresponsible for such contents,nor for any loss or damageincurred as a result oftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapers orPublications. We thereforerecommend that readers makenecessary inquiries beforesending any monies or enteringinto any agreements withadvertisers or otherwise actingon an advertisement in anymanner whatsoever.

''IMPORTANT''

PUBLIC NOTICE

SCHEDULE : All that Piece and Parcel of land having Industrial Plot No. 55A/7 admeasuring about 5920 Sq. Ft., i.e. 550.18 Sq. Mtr. having constructionon Ground floor Machine Shop construction area 216.76 Sq. Mtr. andMezzanine area 46.36 Sq. Mtr. and First Floor area 216.76 Sq. Mtr. andGarage area 16.93 Sq. Mtr. and having total area / shed/ construction/building 496.81 Sq. Meter situated at, Survey no. 112A +113B/ 114+ 117+118+ 119/ 122A+ 123B+ 296B+ 297 + 318, situated at Hadapsar IndustrialEstate No. 2/ TP Scheme No. 2, Hadapsar, Pune 411013 within the limits ofPune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Taluka Haveli, District Pune, StateMaharashtra, The said plot is bounded as follows:

On or Towards East : 30 Ft. Road On or Towards South : 60 Ft. RoadOn or Towards West : Plot No. 55 A/8 On or Towards North: Plot No. 55 A/10

For Chetan Kale and AssociatesChetan Amrut Kale, Advocate and NotaryD - 106, D-Wing, Mega Center, Magarpatta,Opp. Ranka Jwellers, Hadapsar, Pune – 28

Mob.: 9823290851. Email : [email protected]

Place – PuneDate – 21/05/2020

It is brought to the notice of the public at large that the land bearing IndustrialFinal Plot No. 55 A/7 admeasuring about 550.18 Sq. Mtr. having totalconstruction 496.81 sq meter described in the Schedule written hereunderis owned and possessed by M/S. AAR EM ELECTRONICS PVT. LTD.Through DIRECTOR MR. RANJIT HANMANTRAO MOHITE, havingaddress at Plot No. 74-4, Ramtekadi Industrial Estate, Hadapsar, Pune -411028, as a self earn purchase property and said owners have agreed tosell the said properties mentioned in schedules hereunder to my client. Myclient also paid some token amount for the said transaction to above saidowners. The said owners have assured my client that the below mentionedproperties are free from all encumbrances & having clean, clear &marketable title. However any person/s having any Right, Title, Interest &claim in respect of the said properties by way of Sale, Mortgage, Inheritance,Succession, Exchange, Gift, Lease, Lien, Trust, Agreement, License,Possession, Easement, Attachment, Lis pendence, or otherwise whatsoeverin respect of the same are hereby required to intimate the same in writingto the undersigned at the address given below within 15 Days time from thepublication of this notice with documentary proof failing which my client shallcomplete the Sale Transaction & all such claims, if any, shall be deemed tohave been waived and/or abandoned.

Central Advertising Agency,Mahim (W),Phone : 24468656 / 24465555

Charudatta Advertising,Mahim (W),Phone : 24221461

Jay Publicity,Dadar (E),Phone : 24124640

Pallavi Advtg.Dadar (W),Mobile: 9869109765

Shree Swami SamarthAdvertising,Dadar (W),Phone : 24440631Mobile : 9869131962

Stylus Arts,Dadar (W),Phone : 24304897

Time Advertising,Matunga (W),Phone : 2446 6191

Vijaya Agencies,Dadar (W),Phone : 2422 5672.Mobile : 9920640689

Media Junction,Matunga (W),Phone: 022-66393184/ 022-66332340Mobile: 9820295353/ 9821656198

Achievers MediaBandra (W.),Phone : 22691584

NACBandra (W),Mobile : 9664132358

ReckonBandra (W.),Mobile : 9867445557

Space Age Advertising,Bandra (E)Phone : 26552207Mobile : 9869666222/9869998877

Kirti Agencies,Khar (W),Phone : 26047542.

Hindustan AdvertisingVile Parle (W),Phone : 26146229

PromserveVile Parle (W),Mobile : 9167778766

VentureAndheri (E)Phone : 61226000

Anuja MediaAndheri (W),Mobile : 9152895703

Bombay PublicityAndheri (W)Mobile : 9870703542

Carl Advertising,Andheri (W),Phone : 6696 3441 / 42.

Gauri Press Communication,Andheri (E),Mobile: 9820069565/ 9820069568

Keyon PublicityAndheri (E.)Phone : 28253077Mobile : 9920992393

Lokhandwala Advertising,Andheri (W),Phone : 26364274 / 26316960.

Multimedia InformaticsAndheri (W),8286013339

Prime Publicity Services,Andheri (E),Phone : 26839686 / 26830304.

Zoyz CreationsAndheri (W),Phone: 022-26288794Mobile: 9833364551/ 9820199918

P. V. Advertisers,Jogeshwari (W)Phone: 26768888Mobile: 9820123000

Neha Agency,Goregaon (E),Phone : 2927 5033.Mobile : 9819099563.

CSPGoregaon (E)Mobile : 8652400931

Shark Enterprises,Goregaon (E),Phone: 022-26863587

Adresult Services,Goregaon (W)Phone : 28762157 / 28726291.

Samartha Advertiser Pvt. Ltd.,Goregaon (E),Phone: 26852294Mobile: 9594969627

Target Media,Goregaon (E),Mobile: 8692959648/ 9702307711

AD Support Advertising,Malad (W),Mobile: 9869463650

Bijal Visual Ads.,Malad (W),Phone: 28835457/ 28805487Mobile: 9322265715

SignatureMalad (W),Phone : 022-28811012Mobile : 9820489442

Synergy Advertising,Malad (W),Phone : 28891428 / 22811012

Arihant Advertising,Kandivali (W)Phone : 28626679Mobile: 9004992568

New Boom Ads,Kandivali (W),Phone : 28640221Mobile : 8779275373

Popular PublicityKandivali (W),Mobile : 9820994485

Vikson Advertising AgencyKandivali (W),Phone : 28645005Mobile : 9820433200

Super AgeBorivali (E)Phone : 42872727

Express Advertising,Borivali (W),Phone : 2833 7799 / 2833 9977.Mobile: 9820401077

Falcon Multimedia Pvt. Ltd.,Borivali (E)Mobile : 9833226463

Jeet PublicityBorivali (W),Mobile : 9820006816

Nikharge Advertising,Borivali (W),Phone : 28921255Mobile : 9322210176

SarvodayaBorivali (W),Mobile : 9322139909

Ad PlusMira Road (E)Mobile : 8779657505

Ashansi Advertising & PressRelations,Mira Road (E),Phone: 022-28114235Mobile: 9833933502

M.S. Advertising,Bhayander (E),Phone: 022-28160100Mobile: 9769711727

Sugo Advertising,Vasai (W),Phone : 7756982329/ 7028565571

Mayuresh Publicity,Virar (W).Phone : 0250 – 2503913.Mobile : 9923935556

Plasma Advertising,Panvel.Phone : 022-27461970

Ronak Advertising,Vashi.Phone : 71012345Mobile: 9324102060/ 9820152753

Rahul AdvertisingVashi,Phone: 022-65119998Mobile: 9820200044

S.Kumar Publicity,Vashi,Phone : 27898472Mobile : 9820889848

Siba Ads & Communications,Vashi,Phone : 27892555/ 61372555

A.M. Corporation,Thane (W).Phone : 67311000.

Advait Advertising,Thane (W).Phone : 25345294 / 25380080.

Ashwini Communication,Thane (W).Phone : 2544 5007Mobile : 9820927100

Mangal Advtg & Consultancy,Thane (W).Phone : 2538 8134Mobile: 9869197367

Sahil AdvertisingThane (W),Phone: 25406749,Mobile: 9223355732

Sarathi Enterprises,Thane (W),Phone : 25426604Mobile : 9920003886

Shireen Advertising,Thane (W).Phone : 25343648 / 25341538

Surbhi AdvertisingThane (W).Phone: 67924448/9, 66743142

Swati Advertisers,Thane (W),Phone : 9820786203

Mayekar's Ad Junction,Dombivli (E).Phone : 0251-2862551Mobile : 9870017985

Aries Media,Dombivali (E),Phone : 0251 – 2430030Mobile : 9892333300

Budhkar Publicity Pvt. Ltd.,Kalyan (W).Phone : 0251 – 2205995Mobile : 9322400262

Dimensions Advertising,Dombivli (E) .Phone : 0251-2445074Mobile : 9322597885

Prabhakar Advertisers,Dombivli (E).Phone : 0251-2448917Mobile : 9819575111

Radha Advertising,Dombivli (E).Mobile : 99209091419833555898

Bajaj PublicityDombivli (E)Miblie : 9320962437

Y.B.Kulkarni Advertising,Dombivali (W).Phone : 0251 – 2480136Mobile : 9821467209

Pinky Advertising,Ambernath (E),Mobile : 9322681423

Ambition Advertising,Ghatkopar (E),Phone : 24210792 / 94.

Dattaguru AdvertisingGhatkopar (W),Mobile: 9870528143

K. Parth Publicity,Ghatkopar (E),Phone : 2501 3939 / 2501 2323

Sanjeevani Advtg.Kanjurmarg, LBS Marg,Phone: 022-25776168Mobile: 9819091044

Sandip Advtg.Bhandup (W),Phone: 022-25946518Mobile: 9820750922

Mahesh Advertising & Designing,Mulund (W),Phone : 25622469 / 25682469

Pratik Advertising,Mulund (W).Phone : 25911666Mobile : 9821154666

Shree MahapragyaMulund (E)Phone: 21634727Mobile: 9930350884

Synthesis CommunicationsMulund (E)Phone: 25638364/65

Riyo Advertising,Ghatkopar (W),Phone : 67704000/ 6500Mobile : 9821306406

Sadguru Advertising,Vikhroli (W),Phone : 6128 6128Mobile : 9820319546

CCLLAASSSSIIFFIIEEDD CCEENNTTRREESS IINN MMUUMMBBAAII

NATION 13FINANCIALEXPRESS


SPECIALISED ASSET RECOVERY MANAGEMENT BRANCH,3rd Floor Andhra Bank Building, Koti, Sultan Bazar,Hyderabad-500095. Phone No.040-24683311 /24683308. E-mail: [email protected]

NOTICE TO THE BORROWER INFORMING ABOUT SALE (30 DAYS NOTICE)(RULE 6(2) /8(6) OF SECURITY INTEREST (ENFORCEMENT) RULES 2002)

Borrower(s): 1. IVRCL Limited, Represented by liquidator Mr. Sutanu Sinha.Address: M-22 /3RT, Vijayanagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. Mortgager(s)/Guarantor(s): 2. Mr. Eragam Sudhir Reddy, S/o Mr. E.Yella Reddy, Address: M-22/3RT, Vijaynagar Colony, Hyderabad (Guarantor and Director). 3. M/s. TirumaniDevelopers Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B&2, Road No.2,Panchavathi Colony, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 4. M/s. IVR PUDLResorts & Clubs Private Limited: Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B&2, Road No.2,Panchavathi Colony, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 5. M/s. SiripuramDevelopers Private Limited: Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2, BanjaraHills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 6. M/s.IVR Prime Developers (Tuni) PrivateLimited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B&2, Road No.2, Panchavathi Colony,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 7. Absorption Aircon Engineers PrivateLimited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B Road No.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 8. Agaram Developers Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, VijayNagar Colony, HYDERABAD-500057, TELANGANA. 9. Annupampattu DevelopersPrivate Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, HYDERABAD-500057,TELANGANA. 10. Hindustan Dorr Oliver Limited. Under liquidation represented by itsliquidator. Address: Dorr-Oliver House, Link Road, Chakala, Andheri East, Mumbai-400099, Maharashtra. 11. Bibinagar Developers Private Limited, Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 12. DuvvadaDevelopers Pvt. Limited: Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills,Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 13. Dayyamarkham (India) Pvt. Limited.: Address:Dorr-Oliver House, Link Road, Chakala, Andheri East, Mumbai-400099, Maharashtra. 14.HDO Technologies Limited. Under liquidation represented by its liquidator. Address:Dorr-Oliver House, Link Road, Chakala, Andheri East, Mumbai-400099, Maharashtra. 15.Geo Prime Developers Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, RoadNo.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 16. Geo IVRCL Engineering Limited.Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 17. GajuwakaDevelopers Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 BanjaraHills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 18. First STP Private Limited. Address: No: 30A,South Phase, 6th Cross Road, Thiru V. Ka. Industrial Estate, Guindy-600032, Tamil Nadu.19. Eragam Finlease Limited. Address: Flat No. 305, Krishe Garden, Begumpet,Hyderabad-500016, Telangana. 20. Eluru Developers Private Limited. Address:"MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B&2, Road No.2, Panchavathi Colony, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 21. Chodavaram Developers Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 22. IVR PrimeDevelopers (Amlapuram) Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, RoadNo.2 Banjara Hills Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 23. Ilavampedu Developers PrivateLimited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 24.IVR Prime Developers (Araku) Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B,Road No.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 25. IVR Enviro Projects PrivateLimited: Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 26.IVR Prime Developers (Erode) Private Limited: Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B,Road No.2 Banjara Hills Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 27. IVR Prime Developers (RedHills) Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills,Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 28. IVR Prime Developers (Guntur) Private Limited:Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034,Telangana. 29. IVR Prime Developers (Guindy) Private Limited: Address: M-22/3RT,Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 30. IVR Prime Developers (Bobbli)Private Limited: Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills,Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 31. IVR Prime Developers (Egmore) Private Limited.Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 32. IVR PrimeDevelopers (Bhimavaram) Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, RoadNo.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 33. IVR Prime Developers (Adayar)Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057,Telangana. 34. IVR Prime Developers (Tambarram) Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 35. IVR Prime Developers(Palakkad) Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 36.IVRCL Multi Level Car parking Private Limited. Address:"MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 37.IVRCL Megamalls Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057,Telangana. 38. IVRCL Gundugolanu Rajahmundry ToolWays Limited. Address:MIHIR, 8-2-350/5/A/24/1-B &2 Road No.2, Panchavati Colony, Banjara hills Hyderabad -500034, Telangana. 39. IVRCL Solar Energy Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, VijayNagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 40. IVRCL RAIPUR-BILASPUR TOLL-WAYS LIMITED. Address: MIHIR, 8-2-350/5/A/24/1-B & 2 Road No.2, Panchavati Colony,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 41. IVRCL PSC Pipes Private Limited.Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 42.IVRCLPatiala Bhatinda Toll Ways Limited. Address: 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2,Panchavati Colony, Banjara Hills Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 43. IVRCL NarnaulBhiwani TollWays Limited. Address: MIHIR, 8-2-350/5/A/24/1-B &2 Road No.2,Panchavati Colony, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034, Telangana. 44. IVRCL PatlgangaTrucks Terminals Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 45. IVRCL Indore Gujarat Toll Ways Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 46. IVRCL Goa TollwaysLimited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 47.IVRCL Clubs Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057,Telangana. 48. IVR Vanaprasta Private Limited Address: M-22/3R IVRCL Clubs LimitedT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 49. IVRCL TLT Private Limited.Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 50. MummidiDevelopers Private Limited. Address: "MIHIR", 8-2-350/5/A/24/1-B & 2, Road No.2,Panchavati Colony, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad- 500034 Telangana. 51. Theata DevelopersPrivate Limited. Address: MIHIR, 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2, Banjara Hills,Hyderabad-500034 Telangana. 52. Vedurwada Developers Private Limited. Address:"MIHIR", 8-2-350/5/A/24/1-B & 2, Road No.2, Panchavati Colony, Banjara Hills,Hyderabad- 500034 Telangana. 53. Simhachalam Prime Developers Private Limited.Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034,Telangana. 54. Samatteri Developers Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay NagarColony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 55. Rudravaram Developers Private Limited:Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034,Telangana. 56. S.V Equities Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony,Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 57. Palladium Infrastructures & Projects Limited:Address: "Flat No.G-2, Block No.8 Hill Ridge Springs Apartments, Gachibowli,Hyderabad-500032, Telangana. 58. Indus Palms Hotels & Resorts Ltd. Address:H.No.2-55/H/H, Hill Ridge Springs, Gachibowli, Hyderabad-500032 and Telangana. 59.Kalyug Developers Pvt. Ltd. Address: Plot No.565/A, Road No.92, Opp. KBR Park,Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad-500033, Telangana. 60. IVR Hotels & Resorts Ltd.: Address:M22/3RT, Vijaynagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057. 61. Soma Hotels & Resorts Ltd.Address: Plot No.565/A, Road No.92, Opp.KBR Park, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad-500033,Telangana. 62. Rihim Developers Private Limited. Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay NagarColony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 63. Kunnam Developers Private Limited.Address: M-22/3RT, Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana. 64. KasibuggaDevelopers Private Limited. Address: MIHIR, 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2, BanjaraHills, Hyuderabad-500034, Telangana. 65. Vijaywada Developers Private Limited.Address: "MIHIR" 8-2-350/5/A/24/1B, Road No.2 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034,Telangana. 66. IVRCL Steel Constructions & Services Limited, Address: 22/3RT,Vijaynagar Colony, Hyderabad-500057, Telangana.Sub: Sale of property belonging to you for realization of amount due to Andhra Bank,under the SECURITISATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF FINANCIAL ASSETS ANDENFORCEMENT OF SECURITY INTEREST ACT 2002, (ACT 54 OF 2002).Whereas you have defaulted to pay the amount due from you inspite of demand made byme/Bank through Demand Notice U/s 13(2) dated 18.12.2019.The Authorized Officer, in exercise of the powers conferred under the above Act, took pos-session of the below mentioned properties on 11.03.2020.Even after taking possession of the property, you have not paid the entire amount due fromyou to Andhra Bank. As such, it has become necessary to sell the below mentioned prop-erties above the Reserve Price of Rs.18,45,00,000/- by inviting tenders/public auction /e-auction/Private Treaty after 30 days from the date of this notice.The date and time of auction and the details of the service provider shall be informedthrough a E-auction Sale Notice which shall be issued separately, and the properties wouldbe sold to the person who offers highest price.Since, the properties may be sold by Private Sale also or obtaining quotations from the per-sons also, subject to terms and conditions acceptable to the Bank and intending purchaser.If you have any such proposal of selling the properties to any person by private sale or by getting quo-tation, the same may be communicated to me within 7 days from the date of receipt of this Notice.Failing which, it will be construed that you have no such proposal and I will proceed withsale of properties by inviting quotations/tenders/public auction/e-auction/private treaty.Please take notice that if you pay the fund based amount due of Rs.6,24,22,31,910.90(Rupees Six Hundred Twenty Four Crore Twenty Two Lakh Thirty One ThousandNine Hundred Ten Rupees and Ninety Paisa Only) as on 30.11.2019 (Excluding BankGuarantee O/s. liability of Rs.118,83,05,931.00 as on 30.11.2019), for which the furthernotice will be issued separately upon invocation of Bank Guarantees by beneficiaries) withsubsequent interest thereon along with cost, other charges and expenses incurred by thebank till date before the date of publication of notice for public auction/e-auction or invitingquotations or tender from public or private treaty for transfer by way of lease, assignmentor sale of secured assets, no further action shall be taken for sale of the properties men-tioned in the schedule. {Right of redemption is available as per Section 13(8) of the Act}.

SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY & RESERVE PRICE DETAILSReserve price for all the following immovable properties considered as a single lot is fixedat Rs.18,45,00,000/- (Eighteen Crore Forty Five Lakhs only).

DESCRIPTION OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTIES

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY

1 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in OldSurvey No.649/1 and in New Survey No.4/1A measuring to an extent of Acre 2.00 Cents(Hectares 0.80.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.1, South by Survey No.4/1B,East by Survey No.4/2 and 294 West by Survey No.1 belonging to M/s. SiripuramDevelopers Private Limited. (Doc. No.448/08: SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

2 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District, com-prised in Old Survey No.105/1, 105/2 105/3 and 105/4A and in New SurveyNo.282/1 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.77 Cents (Hectares 0.31.50 Ares)bounded on: North by Survey No.261, South by Survey No.282/3, East by SurveyNo.282/2, West by Survey No.281 belonging to M/s. Siripuram DevelopersPrivate Limited. (Doc. No.449/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

3 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in OldSurvey No.104/2 and in New Survey No.281/3 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.70 Cents(Hectares 0.28.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.281/2, South by SurveyNo.286, East by Survey No.282, West by Survey No.288 belonging to M/s. SiripuramDevelopers Private Limited. (Doc. No.450/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

4 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, within the Marakkanam Panchayat Union,Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in Old Survey No.116/7 and in NewSurvey No.297/1 admeasuring to an extent of Acre 0.27 Cents (Hectares 0.11.00 Ares)bounded on: North by Survey No.295, South by Survey No.297/2, East by SurveyNo.297/2, West by Survey No.1 belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers PrivateLimited. (Doc. No.451/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

5 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprisedin Old Survey No.116/3 & 116/4 and in New Survey No.295/3 measuring to anextent of Acre 0.72 Cents (Hectares 0.29.00 Ares) bounded on: North by SurveyNo.295/1, South by Survey No.295/4, East by Survey No.295/2 and 295/5, Westby Survey No.1 belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited. (Doc.No.452/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

6 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in OldSurvey No.117/4 and in New Survey No.295/9 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.79 Cents(Hectares 0.32.00 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.295/8, South by SurveyNo.297, East by Survey No.296, West by Survey No.295/5 belonging to M/s. SiripuramDevelopers Private Limited. (Doc. No.453/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

7 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, within the Marakkanam Panchayat Union,Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in Old Survey No.116/1 & 116/2and in New Survey No.295/1 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.70 Cents(Hectares 0.28.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.294, South by SurveyNo.295/3, East by Survey No. 295/5, West by Survey No.1 belonging to M/s.Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, within the Marakkanam Panchayat Union, TindivanamTaluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in Old Survey No.116/3B and in New Survey No.295/2measuring to an extent of Acre 0.10 Cents (Hectares 0.04.00 Ares) bounded on: North bySurvey No.295/3, South by Survey No.295/3, East by Survey No.295/5, West by SurveyNo.295/3 belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, within the Marakkanam Panchayat Union,Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in Old Survey No.116/6 & 116/6and in New Survey No.295/4 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.54 Cents(Hectares 0.22.00 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.295/3, South bySurvey No.297, East by Survey No.295/5, West by Survey No.1 belonging toM/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.All totalling to an extent of Acre 1.34 Cents are within the Jurisdiction of Sub-Registration District of Marakkanam and Registration District of Tindivanam. (Doc.No.454/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

8 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, within the Marakkanam Panchayat Union,Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in Old Survey No.97/1A and in NewSurvey No.291/1 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.88 Cents (Hectares 0.35.50 Ares)bounded on: North by Survey No.280, South by Survey No.291/3, East by SurveyNo.289 & 291/2, West by Survey No.292 belonging to M/s. Siripuram DevelopersPrivate Limited. (Doc. No.455/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

9 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised inOld Survey No.97/3 and in New Survey No.291/4 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.40Cents (Hectares 0.16.00 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.291/3, South bySurvey No.291/5, East by Survey No.289, West by Survey No.292 belonging toM/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited. (Doc. No.456/08).

10 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, within the Marakkanam Panchayat Union,Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in Old Survey No.118/7A and in NewSurvey No.297/3 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.64 Cents (Acre 0.67 Cents asper Document) (Hectares 0.26.00 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.296,South by Survey No.297/2, East by Survey No.298, West by Survey No.297/2belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited. (Doc. No.457/08, SROMarakkanam, Tindivanam).

11 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in OldSurvey No.96/4 and in New Survey No.292/6 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.66 Cents(Hectares 0.26.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.292/5, South by SurveyNo.292/7, East by Survey No.291, West by Survey No.1 belonging to M/s. SiripuramDevelopers Private Limited. (Doc. No.491/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

12 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in OldSurvey No.116/7, 116/8, 116/9, 116/10, 116/11, 116/12, 116/14, 116/15, 116/16, 118/7A,118/7B, 118/8, 118/9, 135/1A & 135/1B and in New Survey No.297/2 measuring to anextent of Acre 4.50 Cents (Hectares 1.82.00 Ares) bounded on: North by SurveyNos.295/1, 295/4, 295/5 & 295/9, South by Survey No.307/1A & 307/1C, East by SurveyNo.297/3, 306/1A & 306/1B, West by Forest Land belonging to M/s. SiripuramDevelopers Private Limited. (Doc. No.881/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

13 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprisedin Old Survey No.97/2 and in New Survey No.291/3 measuring to an extent of Acre0.48 Cents (Hectares 0.19.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey Nos.291/1,South by Survey No.291/4, East by Survey No.289, West by Survey No.292belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprisedin Old Survey No.97/4 and in New Survey No.291/5 measuring to an extent of Acre0.29 Cents (Hectares 0.11.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.291/4, Southby Survey No.293, East by Survey No.289, West by Survey No.292 belonging toM/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Both totalling to an extent of Acre 0.77 Cents. (Doc. No.882/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

14 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprisedin Old Survey No.93/5 & 93/6B and in New Survey No.277/5A measuring to anextent of Acre 0.62 Cents (Hectares 0.25.00 Ares) bounded on: North by SurveyNo.277/3, South by Survey No.290/3, East by Survey No.277/5B, West by SurveyNo.277/3 belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited. (Doc.No.883/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

15 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised inOld Survey No.90/1, 90/2, 90/3, 90/4 & 90/6 and in New Survey No.279/1 measuring toan extent of Acre 1.22 Cents (Hectares 0.49.50 Ares) bounded on: North by SurveyNo.265, South by Survey No.262, East by Survey Nos.263/1, 263/2B, 263/12B, Westby Survey No.278 and 280 belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised inOld Survey No.90/5 & 90/7 and in New Survey No.279/2B measuring to an extent ofAcre 0.17 Cents (Hectares 0.07.00 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.279/1,South by Survey No.262, East by Survey Nos.279/1, West by Survey No.279/2Abelonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprisedin Old Survey No.86/1 and in New Survey No.262/1 measuring to an extent of Acre0.16 Cents (Hectares 0.06.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.264, Southby Survey No.262/2B, East by Survey Nos.262/2A, West by Survey No.279belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised inOld Survey No.84/12 & 84/13 and in New Survey No.264/12B measuring to an extentof Acre 0.10 Cents (Hectares 0.04.00 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.264/12A,South by Survey No.262, East by Survey Nos.264/12A, West by Survey No.279belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprisedin Old Survey No.86/2 and in New Survey No.262/2B measuring to an extent ofAcre 0.16 Cents (Hectares 0.06.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.262/1,South by Survey No.262/3, East by Survey Nos.262/2A, West by Survey No.279belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised inOld Survey No.89/4 and in New Survey No.262/4 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.31Cents (Hectares 0.12.50 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.279, South by SurveyNo.262/6 & 262/7, East by Survey Nos.262/2B and 262/3, West by Survey No.262/5belonging to M/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised inOld Survey No.89/1 and in New Survey No.262/5 measuring to an extent of Acre 0.32Cents (Hectares 0.13.00 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.279, South by SurveyNo.262/6, East by Survey Nos.262/4, West by Survey No.281 belonging toM/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised inOld Survey No.90/5 and in New Survey No.279/2Ameasuring to an extent of Acre 0.17Cents (Hectares 0.07.00 Ares) bounded on: North by Survey No.279/1, South bySurvey No.262, East by Survey Nos.279/2B, West by Survey No.280 belonging toM/s. Siripuram Developers Private Limited.All totalling to an extent of Acre 2.61 Cents (Doc. No.884/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

16 Land situated at Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram Dist, comprised in:

New Survey No. Extent in Acre-Cents Extent in Hectares-Ares

271/1 0.93 0.37.5

269/5 0.41 0.16.5

269/3 0.28 0.11.5

269/1 1.55 0.63.0

Total Extent 3.17 1.28.50

All measuring to an extent of Acre 3.17 Cents (Hectares 01.28.50 Ares) belonging to M/s.Siripuram Developers Private Limited. (Doc. No.1047/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).

17 Land situated in Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District, comprised in:

New Extent in Extent in New Extent in Extent inSurvey No. Acre-Cents Hect-Ares Survey No. Acre-Cents Hectares-Ares

272/6 0.23 0.09.5 265/4 0.21 0.08.5

273/6 0.30 0.12.0 277/5B 0.32 0.13.0

278/3 0.32 0.13.0 265/3 1.20 0.48.5

278/5 0.19 0.07.5 278/6 0.44 0.18.0

276/3 0.70 0.28.5 278/7 0.41 0.16.5

276/4 0.70 0.28.5 265/5 0.22 0.09.0

272/3 0.74 0.30.0 265/6 0.14 0.05.5

273/10 0.70 0.28.5 265/7 0.20 0.08.0

278/2 0.37 0.15.0 Total Extent 7.39 2.99.5

All measuring to an extent of Acre 7.39 Cents (Hectares 02.99.50 Ares) belonging to M/s.Siripuram Developers Private Limited. (Doc. No.1048/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).


New Survey No. Extent in Acre-Cents Extent in Hectares-Ares

275/1 0.865 0.35.0

276/1 2.075 0.84.0


All measuring to an extent of Acre 2.94 Cents (Hectares 01.19.00 Acres) belonging toM/s. IVRCL Prime Developers (Tuni) Private Limited. (Doc. No.1089/08, SROMarakkanam, Tindivanam).


New Survey No. Extent in Acres-Cents Extent in Hectares - Ares

275/3 1.25 0.50.5

272/1 0.21 0.08.5

272/7 0.40 0.16.0

275/6 0.14 0.05.0

276/2 0.45 0.18.0

275/4 0.025 0.01.0

275/5 0.59 0.24.0


All measuring to an extent of Acre 3.065 Cents (Hectares 1.24.1 Ares) belonging toM/s. IVR Prime Developers (Tuni) Private Limited. (Doc No.1255/08, SROMarakkanam, Tindivanam).


New Extent in Extent in New Extent in Extent inSurvey No. Acre-Cents Hect-Ares Survey No. Acre-Cts Hect-Ares

292/8 0.48 0.19.5 275/6 0.50 0.20.5

272/8 0.72 0.29.0 292/7 0.33 0.13.5

272/5 0.91 0.37.0 292/9 0.44 0.18.0

272/9 0.56 0.22.5 293/6 0.40 0.16.0

270/5 0.82 0.33.0 Total Extent 5.16 2.09.0

All measuring to an extent of Acre 5.16 Cents (Hectares 2.09.0 Ares) belonging to M/s. IVRPrime Developers (Tuni) Private Limited. (Doc No.1256/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).


Old New Extent in Extent inSurvey No. Sy.No. Acres - Cts Hect - Ares

116/7B, 116/8, 116/9, 116/10, 116/11, 297/2 1.39 0.56.5

116/12, 116/14, 116/15, 116/16, 118/7A,

118/8, 118/9, 135/1A, 135/1B.

649/2 4/2 0.66 0.26.5

72/1 274/2 0.29 0.11.5

69/3 274/3 0.41 0.16.5

73/1 273/9 1.09 0.44.0

67/4 270/6 0.72 0.29.0

71/2, 72/2A, 72/2B, 72/3 274/5 1.20 0.48.5

93/3, 93/4, 94/2, 94/3, 94/4 277/3 2.17 0.88.0

92/1, 93/6, 93/7 277/4 0.47 0.19.0

81/6 271/5 0.96 0.39.0

83/4, 84/5, 84/6, 84/7 265/2 1.68 0.68.0

96/9 292/4 0.01 0.00.5

92/1 278/1 0.11 0.04.5


All measuring to an extent of Acre 11.16 Cents (Hectares 0.19.32 Ares) belonging toM/s. IVR Prime Developers (Tuni) Private Limited. (Doc No.1625/08, SROMarakkanam, Tindivanam).



84/14 264/13 0.26 0.10.5

234/1 259/5B 0.655 0.26.5

236/2A1, 236/2A2 252/1 0.335 0.13.5

236/1, 236/2A, 236/2A2, 264/2B, 264/2B 252/2 1.30 0.52.5


All measuring to an extent of Acre 2.55 Cents (Hectares 1.03.0 Ares) belonging to M/s.Tirumani Developers Private Limited. (Doc No.1625/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).



84/12. 84/13 264/12A 0.38 0.15.5

235/8, 235/9, 235/10, 236/3 252/4 0.92 0.37.5

266/6 256/13 0.19 0.07.5

267/6 259/3 0.32 0.13.0

235/7, 235/10, 235/11 252/7 0.17 0.07.0

84/8 264/11 0.21 0.08.5


All measuring to an extent of Acre 2.19 Cents (Hectares 0.89.0 Ares) belonging to M/s.Tirumani Developers Private Limited. (Doc No.1627/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).



134/6 306/6 0.41 0.16.5

134/8 306/7 0.24 0.09.5


All measuring to an extent of Acre 0.65 Cents (Hectares 0.02.60 Ares) belonging toM/s. IVR PUDL Resorts & Clubs Private Limited. (Doc No.2050/08, SROMarakkanam, Tindivanam).



120/1, 120/2, 120/2A, 120/2B, 120/3. 300/1 1.70 0.69.0

113/3B 287/7B 0.40 0.16.0

83/1, 83/2, 83/3 265/1 0.48 0.19.5

64/1 266/1 0.23 0.09.0

82/7 269/2 0.53 0.21.5





99/10 289/10 0.35 0.14.0

647 6 0.92 0.37.2

74/3 272/2 0.38 0.15.5

135/1B 307/1B, 307/1D 1.32 0.53.4

134/2 306/3A 0.18 0.07.2





86/2 262/2A 0.17 0.07.0

84/5 264/5 0.22 0.09.0





68/2 273/2 0.42 0.17.0

99/18 289/18 0.26 0.10.5

76/2, 76/3, 76/4,

76/5, 78/2, 78/3, 78/4 276/2 0.77 0.31.0

62/4, 62/6 267/4A2 0.65 0.26.0

70 274/4 0.27 0.11.0

76/3 276/2 0.35 0.14.0

648/1 5/1 0.30 0.12.0

113/1 288/8 0.72 0.29.0

114/1, 114/2 287/2 0.64 0.26.0



29 Land situated in Koonimedu Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District, comprised inOld Survey No.134/1A,1B and in new Survey No.306/1A measuring to an extent of Acre0.17 Cents (Hectares 0.06.5 Ares) belonging to M/s. IVR PUDL Resorts & Clubs PrivateLimited. (Doc No.3111/08, SRO Marakkanam, Tindivanam).



81/3 271/2 0.72 0.29.0

81/4 271/3 0.82 0.33.0

98/2 290/2 0.78 0.31.5

101/2 293/7 0.51 0.21.0

113/3B 287/7A 0.36 0.14.5





100/1, 100/2 293/1 0.44 0.18.0

100/5 293/4 0.20 0.08.0

100/3 293/8 0.38 0.15.5





268/4 258/5 0.70 0.28.5

99/7 289/9 0.33 0.13.5

99/12 289/12 0.12 0.05.0

113/4 287/8 0.34 0.13.0

113/4, 114/5 287/8 0.71 0.28.5

117/2 295/6, 295/7 0.40 0.16.0

64/6 266/4 0.18 0.08.5

84/4 264/6 0.25 0.10.0

85/1A 263/1B 0.21 0.08.5

62/4, 5, 6, 7, 9 267/4A2 0.19 0.07.5

134/1A, 1B 306/1A 0.12 0.05.0





75/7, 75/8, 75/9, 75/10 275/6 0.16 0.06.5

84/7B 264/10 0.11 0.04.5

70 274/4 0.54 0.22.0



Place: Hyderabad Sd/- (E.Srinivasa Reddy) Chief Manager & Authorized OfficerDate: 30.03.2020 Andhra Bank (Now Union Bank of India)


THE CABINETONWednes-day approved the `20,050-crorePradhanMantriMatsyaSampadaYojana(PMMSY)tobring aboutBlueRevolutionthroughsustainabledevelop-ment of fisheries sectorovernext five years.The govern-mentalsoaimstodoubletheincomeof fishers,fish farm-ers and fishworkersby2024throughthescheme.

“ThePMMSYwill addressthe critical gaps in the fish-eriessectorandrealise itspo-tential — augmenting fishproductionandproductivityatasustainedaverageannualgrowth rate of about 9% toachievea targetof22milliontonnebyFY25 through sus-tainableandresponsiblefish-ing practices,” the govern-mentsaidinastatement.

Theschemewill alsohelpimproveavailabilityof certi-fiedqualityfishseedandfeed,traceabilityinfishandinclud-ing effective aquatic healthmanagement.Creationofcrit-ical infrastructure includingmodernisationandstrength-eningofvaluechainwill alsobeamajorfocusunderit.

The total investmentwillcompriseofCentre’s shareof`9,407crore,states’shareof

`4,880 crore andbeneficia-ries’shareof`5,763crore.ThePMMSYwillbeimplementedwith two separate compo-nents — Central SectorScheme(100%grantbyCen-tre) andCentrallySponsoredScheme(60:40betweenCen-treandState).Anyprojectap-proved under the CentrallySponsoredScheme,thebene-ficiarywillhavetoinvest60%whiletheCentreandthestatetogetherwillcontribute40%remaining costs. In case ofSC/ST/woman beneficiary,the government’s grantwillbe60%.

Thescheme,tobe imple-mented between FY21 toFY25,targets creating addi-tionaldirectemploymentof15lakhfishers,fishfarmers,fishworkers,fishvendors infishing and allied activitiesand 45 lakh indirect em-ployment.

`10k-cr formicro foodprocessing units

The Union Cabinet onWednesdaygaveapprovalforanewcentralschemewithanoutlay of `10,000 crore forproviding credit-linked sub-sidyto2lakhmicrofoodpro-cessing units across thecountry.The‘SchemeforFor-malisation of Micro foodprocessing Enterprises’ wasannounced as part of the`20lakhcroreAtmaNirbharpackage to tackle the eco-nomicslumpresultingfromCovid-19pandemic.

—(withPTI inputs)

`20,050-crscheme forfisheries sector

●CABINETNOD

The PradhanMantriMatsyaSampadaYojana isaimed at doublingincome of fishers,fish farmers andworkers by 2024

FE BUREAUAhmedabad,May 20

THOUGH GUJARAT GOV-ERNMENThasannouncedse-ries of relaxations for thetrade and industry as part ofthe lockdown4.0,unitsacrosstextile valuechain couldonly recom-mence opera-tions partiallyin the state.

Except fewexport mak-ing units likeArvind,mostof the spinning,weaving, textile processingand textile markets inAhmedabadandSurat could-n’t resume work for variousreasons. Hardly 20% of thetotal units across textilevalue chain in the statemight have commenced op-

erations in the state in thepast 2-3 days, says GaurangBhagat,executive committeememberofGujarat Chamberof Commerce and Industries(GCCI) and president ofMaskatiClothMarketAssoci-ation.

“Futureof entiretextilevaluechain de-pends onretail sec-tor. Till re-tail mar-kets, malls

and garment segments de-mandwillnotgenerate,thereis no point to commence op-erationforspinning,weaving,processing units andwhole-sale clothmarkets includingthat ofMaskati market. Cur-rently there is no demand,”says Bhagat.

Gujarat textile unitspartially resumeops


CONTINUINGTOPROVIDEsome relief to the states af-fected by revenue crunch,the Centre on Wednesdaysanctioned`46,038croreastheMayinstalmentofdevo-lutionofstates’share incen-tral taxes,basedontheFY21Budget estimate (BE).

“These releases, similarto April releases, have beencalculated based on tax re-ceipts projected in Budget2020-21& not as per actu-als.GoI’sprimeobjectivehasbeen protecting states rev-enues &meeting their liq-uidityrequirements intheirfight against Covid-19global pandemic,” financeministrytweeted.

For FY21, the 15th Fi-nanceCommissionhaskepttax devolution to 28 statesat41%of thedivisiblepool.InApril, the Centre had alsoprovided `46,038 crore,whichwas 110% of its netrevenues in themonth, ex-penditure secretaryTV So-manathanhas said.

Notwithstanding amas-sive tax revenue shortfall itis faced with, the Centre islearnt to have decided tosticktothepracticeofkeep-

ingthemandatorytransferstothestates fromthedivisi-ble pool at the same rate asbudgeted for FY21, till the10th instalmentdue in Jan-uary. As per extant norms,tax devolutions aremade in14instalments tostates inayear, one in eachmonth uptoFebruaryandthree instal-ments in March. Extratransfers could be adjustedin future instalments.

Thedecisiontoadhere tothis trendwouldgiveahugeboost to the states’ability tomeettheincreasedexpendi-ture requirements,withoutexcessive front-loading ofborrowingsorresorttootherformsofcostlyfund-raising.

On Wednesday, the fi-nance ministry also re-leased `5005.25 crore asfirst instalment of untiedbasic grants‘in advance’fornon-million-plus cities to28 states, pending finalisa-tion of the operationalguidelines.Thiswould pro-vide the stateswith vital fi-nancial resources at a criti-cal time,it said.

`46,038-crore taxdevolution to states

Centre sticks todevolution plan despiteweak tax receipts

Only those unitswhichalready have rawmaterial inventoriescould recommence

operations

GABRIELLA BORTERMay 20

BECOMING A NURSE in2018was a dream come trueforWilliamCoddington.

He loved helping peopleand feeling needed at hisWest Palm Beach, Floridahospital.The32-year-oldwason the upswing of a decade-longbattlewithopioid addic-tion and other substanceabuse, according to friendsand family,who said he wascommitted to his recovery.

It all started to unravel inMarch, as fatally ill Covid-19patients showed up in his in-tensive care unit.

It rattled Coddington tosee patients his age die, hismother Carolyn said. Hecould no longer attend his12-step recoverymeetings inperson. He was scared abouthowlittle personal protectiveequipment he had. He hadnightmares about alarms go-ing off on ventilators in theICU.

On the night of April 24,he spoke byphone to his bestfriend Robert Marks andsounded distraught, Markssaid. Coddington was caughtbetween thewarzone atworkand his confinement athome.

“Don’t take unnecessary

risks but hang in there,”Marks texted him.

The next morning, Cod-dington was found dead inhis car in a hotel parking lotin Deerfield Beach,Florida.

His family suspects a drugoverdose.Aspokeswoman forthe Broward CountyMedicalExaminer's office said thecase is pending.The BrowardCountySheriff'sOffice said itis still investigating but doesnot suspect foul play.Reuters reconstructed

Coddington's last weeks

through some of his textmessages, Facebook postsand interviews with his par-ents, brother and two closefriends.Reuters could not in-dependently verify Codding-ton's cause of death.

Frontline healthcareworkers are trying to copewith the trauma of treatingthe novel coronavirus,whichhas inundated US hospitalswith desperately ill patientsand killed more than 90,000Americans in less than threemonths. —REUTERS

BACK PAGE14 FINANCIALEXPRESS

WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COMTHURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020

ASSOCIATED PRESSRome, May 20

AS NATIONS AROUND theworld loosen coronavirus re-strictions,people are discover-ing that “the new normal” isanythingbut.Yetsomerealitieshave emerged: schools,offices,public transport, bars andrestaurantsarenowonthefrontlinesofpost-lockdownlife.

Howeach of those key sec-torsmanagessocialdistancingand tamps down on expectednewoutbreakswill determinethe shape of daily life formil-lions as researchers race to de-velopavaccinethatisstill likelymonths,ifnotyears,awayfrombeingavailable toall.

What a return to normallookslikevarieswidely.Forhun-grymigrantworkers in India,itwas finally being able to catchtrainsbacktotheirhomevillagesto farmwhile city jobsdriedup.Forcruiseshipworkersstrandedat sea formonths,itwas finallyreaching shore in Croatia. Forwealthyshoppers inMaseratisandRolls-Royces,itwas return-ing to thenewlyreopenedbou-tiquesofAmerica'siconicRodeoDriveinBeverlyHills.

In Italy,where good food is

an essential part of life itself,once-packed restaurants andcafes are facing a huge finan-cial hit as they reopen withstrict social distancing rules.The losses are forecast to pileupto30billioneuros ($32bil-lion) thisyear.

“We have to turn upsidedown all the activity that wedidbefore,”lamentedchefRaf-faele di Cristo,who nowmustwear amask and latex glovesasheprepares foodatthepop-ular Corsi Trattoria in Rome.“Everything is changed.Slowly,slowly,wewill trytoun-derstand and to adapt to thiscoronavirus.”Corsi reopenedfor business onMondaywithhalf its tables removed to en-

surethemandated1-meter(3-foot) spacing between tablesand customers.Hand sanitiz-ing gel was placed at the en-tranceandaneworderingsys-tem was installed socustomers can read themenuon their phones instead ofhandlingasharedplasticcopy.

Slovakiareopenedtheaters,cinemas and shoppingmallsonWednesday,allwithnewre-strictions on visitor numbers,eventhoughithashadonly28deaths fromCovid-19.

Thehead of theDutchhos-pitality industry welcomed adecision to allow bars andrestaurants to reopen June 1,butwarnedabouttheimpactofmandatory social distancing

conditions.“Therestrictionsareunfortunatelyunworkable”formany businesses, said RoberWillemsenofRoyalHospitalityNetherlands,adding thatmoregovernment support isneededto ensure the survival ofmanybarsandrestaurants.

Education is also facing aradical rethink.Cambridgebe-came the first university inBritain to cancel all face-to-face lectures fortheupcomingschoolyear,sayingtheywillbeheld virtually and streamedonline until summer 2021.Other institutions have takendifferent tacks: the CaliforniaState University system hasannounced that most classeswill be online for the fall.

Nationsreopenyetstruggletodefine‘anewnormal’Manygovernments,includingmanyUSstates,areinfiercedisagreementoverwhatthenewnormalshouldevenbe

●COVID CRISIS Trump allies lining up doctorsto prescribe rapid reopeningASSOCIATED PRESSWashington, May 20

REPUBLICANPOLITICALOP-ERATIVES are recruiting“ex-tremelypro-Trump”doctorstogoontelevisiontoprescribere-viving the US economy asquickly as possible, withoutwaiting tomeet safety bench-marks proposed by the federalCenters for Disease Controland Prevention to slow thespreadof thenewcoronavirus.

Theplanwasdiscussed inaMay11 conference callwith aseniorstafferfortheTrumpre-election campaign organisedby CNPAction, an affiliate ofthe GOP-aligned Council forNational Policy.

A leaked recording of thehourlong callwas provided toTheAssociatedPressbytheCen-ter forMediaandDemocracy,aprogressivewatchdoggroup.

CNP Action is part of theSaveOurCountryCoalition,analliance of conservative thinktanks and political commit-tees formedin lateApril toendstate lockdownsimplementedin response to thepandemic.

Other members of thecoalitionincludetheFreedom-WorksFoundation,theAmeri-can Legislative ExchangeCouncilandTeaPartyPatriots.

A resurgent economy isseen as critical to boostingPresident DonaldTrump's re-electionhopesandhasbecomea growing focus of theWhiteHouse coronavirus task forceled by Vice President MikePence.

TimMurtaugh, the Trumpcampaign communicationsdirector, confirmed toAP thatan effort to recruit doctors topubliclysupport thepresidentis underway, but declined tosaywhen the initiativewould

be rolledout.“Anybodywho joins one of

our coalitions is vetted,”Mur-taugh saidonMonday.

“And so quite obviously, allof our coalitions espouse poli-cies and say things that are,ofcourse,exactlysimpaticowithwhat the president believes....The president has been out-spoken about the fact that hewants to get the country backopenas soonaspossible.”

Duringanemergencysuchas the current pandemic, it'simportant that the govern-ment provide consistent sci-ence-basedinformationtothepublic, said DrWafaa El-Sadr,an epidemiology professor atColumbia University's Mail-manSchool of PublicHealth.

DrAnthony Fauci, the na-tion's top infectious diseaseexpert and a member of theWhite House's coronavirustask force, has been amongthe most visible governmentexperts warning that liftinglockdowns too quickly couldlead to a spike in deaths.

El-Sadr said havingdoctorsrelaycontradictoryinformationon behalf of the president is“quitealarming.”“Ifindittotallyirresponsibletohavephysicians

whoaretoutingsomeinforma-tion that's not anchored in evi-dence andnot anchored in sci-ence,”El-Sadrsaid.

“What often creates confu-sionisthemanyvoicesthatareout there, and many of thosevoicesdohaveapolitical inter-est,whichisthehugelydanger-ous situationweareatnow.”

Murtaugh said the cam-paign is not concerned aboutcontradicting government ex-perts.

“Our job at the campaign isto reflect President Trump'spoint of view,”Murtaugh said.“Wearehis campaign.There isno difference between us andhim.”

On theMay11 call,NancySchulze, a GOPactivistwho ismarried to former Rep. DickSchulze, R-Pa., said she hadgiventhecampaigna listof27doctors prepared to defendTrump's reopeningpush.

“There is a coalitionof doc-tors who are extremely pro-Trumpthathavebeenpreparingandcomingtogetherforthewaraheadinthecampaignonhealthcare,”Schulzesaidonthecall.

“Andwe have doctors thatare… in the trenches, that aresaying'It's time to reopen.'”

SYLVIAWESTALL&IVAN LEVINGSTONDubai/Tel Aviv, May 20

WHILE THE US struggled tocome upwith enough tests tomanage the world’s largestcoronavirus outbreak, a Chi-nese genetics company tooklessthanamonthtobuildtest-ingcenters thousandsofmilesawayin theMiddleEast.

By moving swiftly, Shen-zhen-based BGI Group wonhundredsofmillionsofdollarsin contracts with traditionalUS allies including Israel, theUnited Arab Emirates andSaudi Arabia. Now the US iswarning those countries thattheymaybe giving Beijing ac-cess to highly prized personaldata that will propeleconomiesof the future.

The push against adoptionofChinesetestingtechnologyispartofawiderrowbetweentheUS and China that’s compli-catedglobal efforts tomount aresponsetothepandemic.Pres-ident Donald Trump accusesChina of hiding informationabout the origins of the out-breakandhaswithheldfundingfromtheWorldHealthOrgani-zation,saying it’s overly influ-encedbyBeijing.ChinasaystheWhiteHouse is trying todivertattention from its own failingsasAmericandeathssoar.

AUSofficialdescribedBGItoBloombergasthe“Huaweiofge-nomics,”a reference to theChi-nesetelecommunications firm,HuaweiTechnologies,thattheUShasbeenseeking toblock fromdigital network deals on infor-mation-securitygrounds.Wash-ington has raised its concernsaboutBGIwithMideastpartners,theofficial saidonconditionofanonymity. —BLOOMBERG

Chinese geneticsfirm’s testing inMiddle East raisesnewUS tensions

Chloroquine is all the rage forBolsonaro in Brazil’s viruswarSIMONE IGLESIASBrasília, May 20

WITHCORONAVIRUSCASESsetting record after record inBrazil, an 86-year-old anti-malarial drug with an un-proven track record againstCovid-19istakingcenterstagein the country’s political de-bate andpublic life.

President Jair Bolsonaro ispoisedtoloosenprotocols laterthisweekfortheuseofchloro-quine for mild coronaviruscases despite dangerous sideeffects, experts’warnings andno demonstrated success inclinical trials.

Undeterred, the presidenthas ordered the military toramp up production of thedrug as hemakes it a key ele-ment in the anti-virus fight,losing two healthministers intheprocessdue inpart totheirobjections tohis strategy.

The controversy is just thelatest twist in Brazil’s erraticstrategy to tackle the virus,with Bolsonaro pushing torestarttheeconomywhilelocalauthorities trytoenforce lock-downsandrestrictactivitiestocontrol it. In thepast fewdays,Brazil has overtaken Spain,ItalyandtheUKandnowtrails

onlyRussia and theUS in con-firmed Covid-19 infections,withmore than a quartermil-lionpeopletestingpositiveandalmost18,000deaths.

On Tuesday, Brazil re-ported 17,408 new con-firmed cases and 1,179deaths registered over thepast 24hours—both records.

Since the start of the pan-demic, Bolsonaro has oftentouted the anti-malarialmedication. In small, yet fre-quent weekend demonstra-tions against social distanc-ing, his supporters oftencarry signs asking for it to beauthorized foruse in thepub-

lic health system.EvenUSPresidentDonald

Trump has backed the prac-tice, saying on Monday thathe’s been taking hydroxy-chloroquine, a sister drug, asa precautionarymeasure.

With the new guidelines,Brazil will allow for expandeduse of chloroquine to includeless serious cases and for pa-tients in the early stages of in-fection. Bolsonaro rarelymisses a chance to talk up thedrugtothepressandonhisso-cial media accounts, helpingfuel a fierce debatewithin theranks of Brazil’s medical pro-fession. —BLOOMBERG

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro

Anurse struggledwithCovid trauma.Hewas founddead incar

NurseWilliamCoddington

The hot newthing in clubbySiliconValley?An app called ClubhouseERINGRIFFITH&TAYLOR LORENZSan Francisco, May 20

MARCANDREESSEN,ASiliconValley investor,publisheda ral-lyingcrylastmonththatquicklyricocheted around the tech in-dustry.Init,heplacedtheblameforAmerica’sdismalresponsetothecoronaviruson“smugcom-placency,this satisfactionwiththe status quo and the unwill-ingnesstobuild.”

Heproposeda solution thatfit squarely into SiliconValley’sethosofingenuity.Itwastimetobuildthings,hesaid,likeuniver-sities, hospitals, skyscrapers,zero-emissionnuclearreactors,deliverydrones,hyperloopsandevenElonMusk’s“aliendread-noughts.”

“Building is howwe rebootthe American dream,” An-dreessen wrote in his post,whichhetitled“TimetoBuild.”

Itwasaninspirationalcalltoarms.ButoneofthefirstthingsAndreessen and other SiliconValleyventure capitalists havesince rushed to help buildwassomethingelseentirely: anappcalledClubhouse.

Clubhouse is a socialmediaappwhere venture capitalistshave gathered to mingle withone another while they arequarantinedintheirhomes.Theapp is,fornow,invite-only,andbuzzy:Seeminglyeveryonewhohas been allowed to join theearly testversion,fromcelebri-tieslikeMCHammertoactivistslike DeRay Mckesson, hastweeted about it.And it has re-centlybeen one of the hottestdealsonSandHillRoad,SiliconValley’sventurecapitalnexus.

Lastweek,Andreessen’sven-

turefirm,AndreessenHorowitz,won thedeal to invest inClub-house. Andreessen Horowitzagreed to put in $10 million,plus pay $2 million to buyshares fromClubhouse’s exist-ing shareholders,said apersonwithknowledgeofthefunding,whodeclined to be named be-causethedetailswereconfiden-tial.

The financingvaluedClub-house,which started this yearand has two employees, atnearly $100million.The dealwasreportedearlierbyForbes.

Andrew Chen, a partner atAndreessenHorowitz, said onTwitter thathe interpretedAn-dreessen’s “Time to Build” asbuildingmoreofeverything,in-cluding“newgamingcos,socialapps,fitnessandmore!”

The rush to invest inClub-house reflects thewaySiliconValley works.While cutting-edge technology and achange-the-world missionare paramount,much of thebig money in recent decadeshas ultimately been madefrom addictive social mediaapps. So when it comes tobuilding new things, SiliconValley often turns to what itknows—and that ismore so-cial networks.

Jeremy Liew,an investor atLightspeed Venture Partners,saidhisfirm,alongwith“mostofSiliconValley,”hadspokentothefoundersofClubhouseinrecentweeks.Theapp“got someearlytractionwithVCsandentrepre-neurs,andnodoubt that iswhysome firms leaned in,”he said,adding that Lightspeeddidnotpursue an investment. “Theygeneralizedfromtheirownpos-itiveexperiences.” —NYT

Clubhouse co-founder Paul Davison

Schools, offices, public transport, bars and restaurants are now on the front lines ofpost-lockdown life

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