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FE BUREAUNewDelhi, December 28

THEWORLD’S MOST expen-sive automobile firm, Tesla,valuedatmorethanmorethandouble the combined value ofToyota, Ford and GeneralMotorswill‘startoperations’inIndia early next year, roadtransport minister NitinGadkari said at the ExpressGroup’s IdeaExchange.A day prior to this, in

responsetoaquestionbyafanonwhetherTeslawould be inIndia in January, Tesla CEOElonMuskhadreplied“No,butdefinitelythisyear”.Gadkari said Tesla would

first start by selling its carsin India — the India price ofthe Tesla Model 3 should bein the `55-60 lakh range —and depending upon theresponse, maybe look at

assembly andmanufacturingoperationsaswell.“India is going tobecomea

number one manufacturinghubforelectricvehicles in fiveyears”,Gadkari said.Gadkari added that Indian

companieswere alsoworking

on electric vehicles and indue course of time,“you willget electric carswhichwill beequal to Tesla. I amconfident and the costwill beveryless”.

ContinuedonPage2

ALLCHARGED UP PRIMARYMARKETS

FE BUREAUMumbai, December 28

THE PRIMARY MARKETShaveallbuteclipsed thestun-ning rally in the secondarymarkets in2020withcompa-nieshavingraisedawhopping`1.77 lakh crore. That’s a116% increase over lastyear’s `82,241 crore andtopped the `1.6 lakh croreraised in 2017, data fromPrimeDatabase show.Moreover, the average

listing gains from the top 15IPOs (initial public offerings)havebeenarewarding35.5%,way above the 22.3% thatinvestors got in2017.In all, companies mopped

up `26,611 crore throughIPOs, 115% more than the`12,362 crore that compa-

nies had raised in 2019 butsmaller than the `33,246crore raised in2018.PEs and VCs cashed in on

the good sentiment andwereable to sell equity worth`8,026 crore.As PranavHaldea,manag-

ing director, Prime Database,pointed out, the increasedglobal liquidity created bythe accommodative stance ofcentral banks, low interestrates and positive outlook onemerging markets like Indiahad facilitated the largefund-raising.“The good quality paper

at attractive valuationshas also resulted in therecord fund-raising,”Haldeasaid.

Continued on Page 2

LISARICHWINELosAngeles, December 28

WONDER WOMAN 1984pulled in $36.1 million atworldwide theatres over theChristmas holiday weekendandboostedstreamingviewer-shiponHBOMax,WarnerBrossaid onSundayas it confirmedplans for a third film in thesuperherofranchise.Anestimated$16.7million

of the box office total camefromUSandCanadiantheatres,theAT&TInc-ownedstudiosaid

on Sunday.That ranked as thehighestdomesticopeningsincetheCovid pandemic shutteredtheatres inMarch, though thenumbers were a fraction ofusual receipts for a big-budgetaction flick.The 2017WonderWoman film opened with$103.2milliondomestically.With two-thirds of North

American theatres closed,Warner Bros opted for anunusual arrangement,makingWW84 available at the sametimetoUScustomersofAT&T’sHBOMaxstreamingservice.

MillionswatchedthefilmonHBOMax,thecompanysaidinastatement,but itdidnotspecifyhow long they tuned in. Totalviewinghourson theplatform

tripled on Friday com-pared with a typicaldayin thepreviousmonth,the state-mentsaid.

The movie“exceeded ourexpectationsacross all of ourkey viewing andsubscribermetrics

in its first 24hours on the ser-vice,” saidAndyForsell,execu-tivevice-president andgeneralmanager of WarnerMediaDirect-to-Consumer.Warner Bros said it would

accelerate development of athirdWonderWomanmoviealsowritten and directed by PattyJenkins and starringGalGadotas the lasso-wielding warrior.The studio didnot announce areleasedate.PaulDergarabedian,senior

media analyst at research firmComscore, said WW84 per-

formedwellintheatersgiven“anextremelychallengingmarket-place”.“Considering the avail-abilityofthisblockbusterfilmathome,thenumbers forthe the-atrical debut of WW 1984shouldactuallybeencouragingtotheatricalexhibition,”hesaid.WW84 faced competition

fromcriticallypraisedPixarani-matedmovie Soul,whichWaltDisneyCodelivered to theDis-ney+ streaming service andsometheatersoverseas.

ContinuedonPage2

A GOOD RUN

FEBUREAUNewDelhi, December 28

IN A RELIEF to three TataGroup trusts, the IncomeTaxAppellate Tribunal (ITAT) hasupheld the tax exemptionsgiven to them under Section11of the IncomeTaxAct.The tax department, in

revised assessment orders,had sought to cancel theexemption.The I-T commissioner

concerned had issued revisedorders for the assessmentyear 2014-15 based on theadditional materials receivedfromTata Sons’ former chair-man CyrusMistry, some timeafterhisouster.Mistry had alleged that

Trustees had exercised a lot ofcontrol over the business.Besides, Ratan Tata and RVenkatramanan were takingservices and benefits fromTata Sons, the commissionerhad noted, as informationreceived fromMistry.However, the tribunal’s

Mumbaibenchhasnownotedthat the revision of the orderswas a tactic by the tax depart-ment to extend the timeforscrutiny.

ContinuedonPage14

● BREATHER

Tax tribunalrestoresexemptionsgiven toTataTrusts

IN THE NEWS

Govt lifts curbson onion exportsfromJanuary 1THEGOVERNMENTonMonday notified its decisionto lift a ban ononion exportsfromJanuary 1, as domesticsupplies improvedwith freshcrop arrivals andpricesremained steady, reportsfe Bureau inNewDelhi.Themove comes as aNewYeargift for farmers,who hadcalled theban “arbitrary”.

Adani JV’s dollarbond issuanceoversubscribedADANI INTERNATIONALCon-tainerTerminal (AICTPL) onMonday said itsmaiden$300-millionbond issuancewitnessed10 timesoversub-scription, reportsPTI.AICTPL, a JVbetweenAdaniPorts andSEZandTerminalInvestment, is a containerterminal operating firmbasedout ofMundra.

Serum tomake300mvaccinedoses by JulySERUM INSTITUTEwill bereadywith 300million dosesof the Covishield Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19vaccine by July 2021,reportsGeeta Nair in Pune.CEOAdar Poonawalla saidthey have a stockpile of40-50million doses already.

Record `1.77L crraised in 2020

FARMERS’ STIR


THE GOVERNMENT ONMonday wrote to leaders of40 farmer groups,expressingits willingness to discussin detail the issues raisedby them concerning thecontentious new farm laws,with ‘pure intent’ and an‘open mind,’ but sought todelay the talks by a daytoWednesday.While farmershadmooted

a four-point specific agendafor the meeting, including“modalities for the repeal” ofthe three laws and mecha-nismstomake“remunerativeMSP a legally guaranteedentitlement”, agriculturesecretary Sanjay Agarwal’sletter referred to the twodemands in more genericterms as “issues relatedto the three farm laws” and“system of procurementatMSP”.

Yet, the government’s let-ter reflected a more accom-modative stance than earlier.The discussions would be

“in the context of farmers’explanations” of the issues,Agarwalwrote in the letter tothe farmers.

ContinuedonPage2

Agriministry’s letterleaves out demandfor repeal of laws,legally guaranteedMSP; farmerssay govt being‘cleverwithwords’

CRACKDOWN

REUTERSBeijing, December 28

CHINA'S CENTRALBANK hasdisclosedithadaskedthecoun-try’spaymentsgiantAntGroupto shake up its lending andotherconsumerfinanceopera-tions, the latest blow to itsbillionairefounderandcontrol-lingshareholderJackMa.The announcement came

more than amonth after Chi-nese regulators abruptly sus-pendedAnt’s blockbuster$37-billion initial public offering inShanghai andHongKong,andonly days after the country’santitrust authorities said theyhad launchedaprobe intoMa’se-commerce conglomerateAlibabaGroupHolding.ChineseregulatorsandCom-

munist Partyofficials have setaboutreininginMa’ssprawlingfinancial empire afterhe pub-liclycriticisedthecountry’sreg-ulatorysysteminOctoberforsti-fling innovation. RegulatorshaveurgedAnt to rectifyfinan-

cialregulatoryviolations,includ-ing in its credit, insurance andwealth management busi-nesses, and overhaul its creditrating business to protect per-sonalinformation,People’sBankofChina (PBOC)vice-governorPanGongshengsaidonSunday.

ContinuedonPage14

China pushesAntGroup overhaul

QuickPicks

Maintaining4% inflationappropriate for India: RBI paper

MAINTAINING4% inflation is appropriate for Indiaas targeting a lower rate could impart deflationarybias to themonetarypolicy, said aReserveBankpaper, reportsPTI. Under the current dispensation,

RBI hasbeenmandatedby thegovernment tomaintain retailinflation at 4%with amargin of2%oneither side.Thepaper,authoredbyRBI deputygovernorMichael Debabrata Patraandanother official HarendraKumarBehera, has foundasteady fall in trend inflation to 4.1-4.3% since 2014.PAGE14

SKMaini,promoter of India’sfirst electric carReva,dies at 87

THEFOUNDERof theMainiGroup,Dr SudarshanKumarMaini,whoencouragedhis sonChetanMaini to commercialise India's first electric carReva, hasdied, his family sources saidonMonday,reportsPTI.According to familymembers,Mainidied in Bengaluru at his residenceonDecember

26 after prolonged illness at the ageof87.He is survivedbywifeReva and three sons, Chetan,GautamandSandeep.Maini established theMainiGroup in 1973.PAGE4

ECONOMY, P2

GSTCOMPENSATION

INTERNATIONAL, P8

SENSEX: 47,353.75 ▲ 380.21 NIFTY: 13,873.20 ▲ 123.95 NIKKEI 225: 26,854.03 ▲ 197.42 HANG SENG: 26,314.63 ▼ 71.93 `/$: 73.50 ▲ 0.05 `/€: 90.03 ▼ 0.36 BRENT: $51.77 ▲ $0.48 GOLD: `50,074 ▲ `287

PUNE, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2020

Finmin releases`6,000 crore asninth instalment

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UKwarns of 'bumpy'post-Brexit transitiondespite dealwith EU

OPINION, P6

ABOSE & JJ NEDUMPARA EDITORIAL

UnderBiden, expectcontinuation of statusquo on trade policy

Pre-pack for insolvency

resolution shouldn't erode

IBC gains, must not give

promoters the upper hand

VOL. XI NO. 284, 16 PAGES, `6.00 PUBL I SHED FROM : AHMEDABAD, BENGALURU , 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

$10-bn buyback plan fails to halt stock slide

ALIBABASHARES slumped9%totheirlowestsinceJuneonMonday,asthecompany’supsized$10-billionbuybackprogramme failed to easeconcerns about a regulatorycrackdown on co-founder

Jack Ma’s e-commerce andfinancial empire, reportsReuters.Asharpsell-offovertwo sessions has knockedalmost $116 billion off thetech giant’s Hong Kong-listedshares. ■Page8

SNOWFALL IN SHIMLAPeoplewalk on a snow-covered road in Shimla after it received the season’s firstsnow onMonday

● RELIEF RALLY

AMID PROTESTS against theCentre’snew Acts governing agriculture andmarketing of agriculture produce,transport andMSMEminister NitinGadkari on Monday sought to allayfearsthatcontractfarmingwill lead

tolargecorporationssnatch-ing away farmers’ land,

reportsfeBureauinNewDelhi.Speak-ingattheIdeaExchangeProgrammeofthe IndianExpressGroup,healsosug-gestedmoreflexibilitiesinthe`3-lakh-crore loan guarantee programme forMSMEs,professionals and largerenti-ties in 27 stressed sectors to improveslowingofftake.■Report onPage2

WonderWoman1984hits pandemichigh in cinemas,streaming

BLOOMBERGDecember 28

GOLDHEADEDFOR thehigh-estcloseinsevenweeksafterUSPresidentDonaldTrumpsigneda$900-billion coronavirus sti-muluspackage,pumpingmorestate funds into theworld’s topeconomy.Silvertoosurged.Thehavenbuilt on a runof

fourweeklygainsfollowingthebreakthrough on the package,which Trump had initiallydeclinedtoendorseamidadis-pute on the size of checks tosupport households amid thepandemic.Thedollareased.Bullion is set to post the

first monthly gain since July

after a run of losses promptedby the development of effec-tive coronavirusvaccines.

ContinuedonPage2

Govtproposestoholdnext roundoftalkswith farmer

unionsonWednesday; theyhadsuggestedTuesday

Govt's latest letter to farmerssays"issues relatedtothree farmlaws"and"systemof

procurementatMSPs"willbediscussed

Farmershadmooted4-pointagenda, including:

■Modalities tobe adoptedfor the repeal of the threeCentral FarmActs

■Mechanisms tobeadopted tomake “remunerativeMSPinto a legally guaranteedentitlement for all farmers andall agricultural commodities"

Govt cautious overagenda for talks

Underaproduction-

linked incentivescheme, thegovernment

offerscompaniessettingup

advancedbatterymanufacturingfacilities

`18,100crore

over fiveyears,as it seekstopromoteuseofelectricvehicles

NITIAayoghassaid Indiacouldcut itsoil importbillsbyasmuchas$40billion

ayearby2030 ifEVswerewidelyadopted

Over10states, includingAndhraPradesh,Karnataka,Maharashtra,NewDelhiand

UP, havemootedpolicies to incentiviseEVs

InDelhi, for instance, thosebuyingelectrictwo-wheelers,e-rickshaws

or freightvehiclesqualifyforabenefitofupto`30,000; forfour-wheelers,the incentivegoesupto`1.5 lakh

Tesla set to drive on

Indian roads in 2021

Contract farmingwon’t lead to farmers losing land: Gadkari

Total equity raised (` crore)*

*includes equity capital raised through IPOs, FPOs, QIPs, IPPs, IDRs, InVITs/REITsSource: PRIME Database

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

1,77,468

82,241

62,651

1,60,032

44,81968,505

39,078

45,440

36,253

17,481

97,746

Special Feature

Investorswho park theirfunds in savings bankaccounts for lack of low-risk options for the shortterm should instead go forliquid fundswhich can givea tadmore higher returns■Personal Finance, P9

Knowwhenyou shouldinvest in liquid funds

GOLD RUSHReturn (%)

2010 2013 2020

Source: Bloomberg

-30

-15

0

15

30

29.57 23.66

-28.28

Goldheads for7-weekhighasTrumpsigns stimulus

SensexIntra-day, Dec 28

Nifty50Intra-day, Dec 28

Bank NiftyIntra-day, Dec 28

47,050Open Close Open Close Open Close

47,150

47,153.59

47,353.75

47,250

47,350

47,450

Previousclose:46,973.54

13,780

13,810

13,840

13,870

13,900

13,815.15

13,873.20


30,400

30,550

30,700

30,850

31,000

30,558.85

30,880.95


Liquidity factor

Markets rally to newhighsStrongglobal cues, the promise of abundant liquidity, big buyingby FPIs and encouragingcorporate news continue todrive up the indices to newhighs. FPIs havebought stocksworthnearly $6 billion in December so far on the back of large purchases in the last fewmonths.

FE BUREAU

■ ItsAlipay appdominatesdigital payments inChina,withmore than

730millionmonthly users

■Ant traces itsbeginnings toAlipay,whichwaslaunched in 2004 as apayment service, and is33%ownedbyAlibaba

■ Itwaspoisedtobevaluedatmorethan

$300billionin itsstockmarketdebut

Pune

EconomyTUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2020

FINANCIALEXPRESS2


AMID FARMERS’ PROTESTSagainst the Centre, transportand MSME minister NitinGadkari onMonday sought toallay fears that contract farm-ingwill lead to large corpora-tions snatching awayfarmers’land.He also suggestedmoreflexibilities in the `3-lakh-crore loan guarantee pro-gramme for MSMEs, profes-sionalsandlargerentitiesin27stressed sectors to improveslowingofftake.Companies don’t get to

own the land, just like “youdon’t become the owner of acar by travelling in an Ola orUber vehicle,” he said at the

Idea Exchange Programme ofthe IndianExpressGroup.Confusionsabout the farm

Bills are being created byvested interests.The Bills freefarmers fromvariousshacklesand allow them to sell theircropswherevertheywant,justlike any other producer,Gad-kari stressed.Given that the market

prices of several farm com-moditieshavetrailedthemin-imum support prices (MSP),Gadkari pitched for diversifi-cationfromcertaintraditionalcrops,where the country has

huge surplus stocks, to biofu-els like ethanol. This will notjust cut excess stocks of thesecommodities (rice, corn andcane by-products like sugar)and prevent the prices fromany irrational slide but alsoopen alternative avenues forthe farmers to boost theirearnings,Gadkari added.As for crop diversification,

thegovernmenthasbeencon-sidering a proposal to allowethanol production from sur-plus rice, and not just fromcane juiceormolasses.If the proposal is finally

implemented,itwill be for thefirst time that thecountrywillbe using grains fit for humanconsumption tomanufacturebiofuel, industry executivessay.This also signals a funda-mentalshiftintheapproachofthe government that had inthepast refrained fromsuchamove for fear of jeopardisingfood security. Given that thecountryhasbecomeself-suffi-cientinriceproduction,allow-ing only a part of the surplus

stocks for ethanol productionmakesmuch sense, accordingtogovernmentofficials.“We are targeting to raise

the annual value of domesticethanol production fromabout`20,000croreto`1lakhcrore in a fewyears,”Gadkarihadsaid in June.Theministersaidhehaswrit-

tentofinanceministerNirmalaSitharaman to make the `3-lakh-croreguaranteedloanpro-grammemoreflexibletofurtherimproveofftake.Just like com-mercial banks,urbanco-opera-tives should also be allowed totap theEmergencyCredit LineGuaranteeScheme (ECLGS) foron-lending,headded.After a speedy pick-up in

initial months, the pace ofsanctionsundertheECLGShasslowed since November.As ofDecember4,banksandNBFCssanctioned`2.06lakhcroretoabout 8.1million borrowers,mostly MSMEs, since thescheme’s rollout on June 1.Ofthis, an amount of `1.59 lakhcrorewasdisbursed.

From the Front Page

WonderWoman

1984hits apandemic highin cinema,streamingTHESTORYOFamusicteacherseeking his life’s purpose tookin$7.6millionintheaters,Dis-neysaid.Itdidnotdisclosehowmanypeoplewatched Soul viastreaming.WarnerBros.hasannounced

the same hybrid release strat-egyfor its17 theatricalmoviesin 2021, sparking a backlashfrom some top Hollywooddirectorsandcinemaoperators,who hope for a rebound afterCovid-19vaccinationsincrease.Through Sunday, 2020

domestic box office receiptstotaled$2.3billion,down80%fromayearearlier,accordingtoComscore. —Reuters

Goldheads for7-weekhigh asTrump signs

stimulusOVER2020ASawhole,goldhasbenefited froma steadyweak-ening of theUS currency sinceit peaked in March, as well asfromunprecedentedfiscal andmonetarystimulus.Spot gold rose as much as

0.7% to $1,896.70 an ounce,andtradedat$1,894.02inSin-gapore.Thatwouldbethehigh-est close sinceNovember6.Sil-ver for immediate deliveryrallied as much as 3.6% to$26.7601anounce.The BloombergDollar Spot

Indexfellasmuchas0.2%.

Farmers’stir:Govt cautiousonagenda for talksFARMER UNIONS SAID theywould respond to the govern-ment’s offer but did not hidetheirdisappointmentwith thegovernment’s “vague andunspecific language”, which,accordingtothem,“indicateditsunwillingnesstodiscussthefullagenda items proposed by the

farmers”.“LetterofGoIindicatesthat it is being clever withwords…this exposes double-speakof the government,”saidAllIndiaKisanSangharshCoor-dinationCommittee(AIKSCC),aconstituent of SamyuktaKisanMorcha,theumbrellabodythatorganised the month-longprotest bytens of thousandsoffarmers at thenational capitalborders,saidinastatement.Agarwal also informed the

farmerleadersthatthegovern-ment is also ready to discussissues related to the“Commis-sion for the Air QualityMan-agement inNCRandAdjoiningAreasOrdinance,2020”andthedraft“ElectricityAmendmentBill,2020”.The farmer unions have

demandedfarmersbekeptout-side the recentlypromulgatedOrdinance on air pollution,under which up to Rs 1 crorepenalty and 5-year imprison-ment is proposed for stubbleburning.The otherdemand ofthe farmers is to continue thecurrent systemof free electric-ity for agriculture as providedbysome states,rather than the

transfer of subsidy throughDBT as proposed in the draftElectricityAmendmentBill.The farmer unions under

the bannerof SamyuktaKisanMorcha(UnitedFarmers’Front)on Saturday had proposed tohold thenext roundof talksonTuesday.Prime Minister Narendra

Modi on Friday asserted thatthe new pieces of legislationwould unshackle Indian agri-cultureandenable‘BrandIndia’to establish itself in the globalagricultural markets. He alsoslammed the Opposition forspreading “lies and myths,”while the new lawswould onlygivemore alternatives for thefarmerstosell theirproduce.Morethanonelakhfarmers

have been protesting at thenationalcapitalbordersforoveramonth demanding repeal ofthreefarmlaws.Theyfearman-dis runbyAgriculture ProduceMarket Committees (APMCs)will be closed andMSPsystemwill be abolished in the longrun.Modiandotherseniormin-isters had assured anumberoftimes that theyareprepared to

givewritten assurance on con-tinuationofbothsystems.

Primarymarkets:Record`1.77Lcr raised in2020SIDDHARTHAKHEMKA,HEAD(retail research),Motilal OswalFinancial Services, observedthat with larger companiesbeing fairlyvalued and strongliquidity in the market,investors have shownan inter-est in mid-cap and small-capstocks.“The appetite for newer

securities has also increasedand several companies havetappedthemarketstoraisecap-ital at a good valuation,”Khemkasaid.Typically, the sentiment in

the primarymarkets has beenbuoyed by a bull rally andincreased liquidity, helpingbusinesses to command a bet-ter valuation for their busi-nesses.

DPIIT sends PLIproposal forLEDs, ACsTHEDEPARTMENTFORPromotionofIndustryandInternalTrade(DPIIT)hassentaproposalforprovidingincentivestoACsandLEDlightsunderthePLI schemetotheexpenditurefinancecommitteeforappproval,anofficialhassaid.InNovember,theUnionCabinethadapproved`6,238croreoutlayforthesetwosectors,airconditionersandLEDlights,undertheproductionlinkedincentive(PLI)scheme,whichaimsatmakingIndianmanufacturers'competitiveglobally.

Over4.23crITRsforfiscal2019-20filedtillDec27OVER4.23CROREtaxpayershavefiledtheirIncomeTaxReturnsforAssessmentYear2020-21(fiscalyear2019-20)tillDecember27,theIncomeTaxdepartmentsaidonMonday. "Morethan4.23croreIncomeTaxReturnsforAY2020-21havealreadybeenfiledtill27thofDecember,2020.Haveyoufiledyours?Ifnotfiledasyet,don'twait.Fileyour#ITRforAY2020-21TODAY!,"theIncomeTaxdepartmenttweeted.

FASTagapptoprovidebalancestatus tousersTHENATIONALHIGHWAYSAuthorityofIndia(NHAI)onMondaysaidithasupdatedtheFASTagapptoaddanewfeaturetoprovidebalancestatustousers."WithFASTagbecomingmandatoryontollplazasfrom1stJanuary2021andtoensureitssmoothimplementation,NHAIhasupdateditsMobileApp?MyFASTagApp'withanewfeatureto?CheckBalanceStatus'bysimplyenteringthevehiclenumber,"NHAIsaidinastatement.

Maritimepiracymajorcauseofconcern:MUICONCERNEDATRISINGincidents of piracyduringtheCovid-19pandemic,maritimebodyMUI onMondaysaid it hasbecomeamajor cause ofworry forover two lakhIndian seafarers.TheMaritimeUnionof India(MUI), India's oldestunionofmerchantnavyofficers,said there isaround26%rise inmaritimepiracydue tothe pandemic.

WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

Tesla set to drive on Indian roads in 2021GADKARI ADDED THAT indue course India would bethe “number onemanufac-turer” of electric vehicleslike cars,bikes, trucks, trac-tors and constructionmachinerythat runonelec-tricity.He further said a lot of

small companies havestarted manufacturingelectric scooters and bikesin factories inUttarPradeshandotherpartsof thecoun-try.Andthat there isalreadya lot of research going on toindigenously develop analternative to lithium-ionbatteries since mostlithium-ion batteries areimported fromChina.“There are some prob-

lemsrelated to lithium-ion.Argentina has got hugereservesof lithium-ion.OurIndian players are also try-ing to get lithium-ion theworld over. But this is also

true that the Chinese havealready picked up stakes inmajority of the lithium-ionmines,” he said adding thatIndian researchers werenow trying to invent a bet-ter alternative to lithium-ion batteries.“Take for example Isro

sending satellite, using adifferent type of batteries.Research isgoingonandwewill get the solution forthat. Sodium ion batteriesare also in the process ofbeingmade.The research is in the

final stages.I amverymuchconfident about our IITsandengineeringgraduates.In this fieldwewill get suc-cess.Thesodiumionbatter-ies are very cheap”.Speaking about the

developing ecosystem forEVs,Gadkari said research isonto inventaluminium-ionbatteries also and he has

already inaugurated heavyconstruction machinerythat run on electricity.“The important thing is

already there is a lot of saleof the electric buses, like inMumbai and Pune, Nagpuretc. They are there in air-ports also.“Even electric tractor is

now in the process of beingmanufactured. One of theleadingcompanieswants tolaunch electric truck. Just20daysago I launcheda JCBonCNG.Soa lotof change isgoing on and we are 100%certain that it is very costeffective, import-substi-tute, pollution-free andindigenous. We havealready in the process ofmaking (vehicle) scrappingpolicy.With the scrappingpolicy, I am confident thatIndia will be the numberone manufacturing hub intheworld,”he said.

Contract farmingwon’t lead tofarmers losing land:Gadkari

Quick

View

❝ ❝

FIGHTINGMONEYLAUNDERINGSuresh Prabhu, India's Sherpa to G20 and G7

India is at the forefront of fightingmoney

laundering. It is possible to stop terrorism by

stopingmoney laundering... there is a direct link

betweenmoney laundering and terrorism.

False narrativeshurting farmers’interests,saysNitiAayog’svicechairmanKumarBIJAY KUMAR SINGHNew Delhi, December 28

FALSE NARRATIVES ABOUTthe new farm laws are doingsignificantharmto the inter-est of farmers as well as theeconomy in general, NitiAayog vice chairman RajivKumar said on Monday andexpressed his disappoint-ment at some economistschanging their stance on thenew legislations.As farmers continue their

protests demanding repeal-ing of the three new laws,Kumar also emphasised thatcontinued negotiations withprotesting farmers is ofcourse theway forward."Any argument that these

measures (the Centre's newfarm laws)will open the farm-ers for exploitation by largecorporates is completely falsebecause the government hasassured Minimum SupportPrice (MSP) to all the farmersonarangeofcrops,"hetoldPTIinan interview. —PTI

FARM BILLS

The government isalso considering aproposal to allowethanol productionfrom surplus rice

Govt to lift ban ononionexports from January1FE BUREAUNew Delhi, December 28

THE GOVERNMENT ONMonday notified its decisionto lift a ban on onion exportsfrom January 1, as domesticsupplies improvedwith freshcrop arrivals and pricesremained steady.The move comes as a new

yeargift for farmers,whohadcalled the ban “arbitrary”. Italso comes at a time whenprotests against the Centre’sfarmbills continueunabated.The government had

bannedonionexports inSep-tember to contain a spike indomestic prices.The surge in prices was

caused by amassive destruc-tionof crops in states,includ-ing Karnataka, MadhyaPradesh and Gujarat, follow-ing heavy monsoon down-pours.Onion prices have since

eased.InDelhi,thewholesaleprices have dropped by 25%since the banwas imposed to`1,425 per quintal on Mon-day, according to the dataavailable with the consumeraffairsministry.While the ban was eased

for high-end varieties andexports of 10,000 tonne ofBengaluru rose and Krisnpu-ram onion varieties wereallowed in October, restric-tions on the exports of com-mon varieties still remained.With the latest notifications,this curb is set to be liftedfrom January1.Accordingtoanotification

by the directorate general offoreign trade onMonday, the

“export of all varieties ofonions”has beenmade“free”from January1,2021.Analyst had criticised the

Centre’s move, saying pro-ducerswere short-changedtoprotect consumers, whichdoesn’t help the country’slong-term trade interest.Periodic curbs on items

ranging from rice and wheatto onion and cotton, espe-cially during the UPA years,had stoked uncertainties,shiftedbuyers tocompetitorsanddented India’s image as areliable supplier.However, in recent years

under the NDA, such policyrestrictions on exports havebeen curtailed. Nevertheless,this governmenthas at timesresorted to such restrictions.Export curbs include the

imposition of minimumexport price, quantitativelimit on shipment, exportdutyand an outright ban.Around 40% of the onion

crop isproduced in thekharifseason,which are not usuallystored.

PM launches India’s first driverlesstrain onDelhiMetro’smagenta lineFE BUREAUNew Delhi, December 28

THE DELHI METRO onMon-day achieved another mile-stone in the modern urbantransit,withthe inaugurationofIndia’s firstdriver-less trainoperations on the Metro’sMagenta Line by PrimeMin-isterNarendraModi.“With the achievement of

Metro rail without a driver,our country has joined theselect countries of the worldwhere such facilities areavailable,”Modi said.The national common

mobility card was alsoexpanded to the AirportExpress Line of Delhi Metro.This single cardwill give inte-grated access to the com-muters wherever they travel,whichever public transportthey take.Highlighting the ‘Make in

India’ component of themetro rail development pol-icy, Modi said that an all-round strategy had beenadopted by the governmentwithanemphasisonpromot-ing local standards, use ofmoderntechnology,reducingcosts and giving moreemployment. “Standardisa-tion of rolling stock hasreduced the cost of everycoach from `12 crore to `8crore now. Today, four bigcompanies are manufactur-ing metro coaches in thecountry and dozens of com-panies are engaged in themanufacture of metro com-ponents. This is helping‘Make in India’ as well as thecampaign for self-reliantIndia,”Modi pointed out.

Expansion of the metrorail operations and work ondifferent types of metro railin Indiahaspickeduppace inrecent years.While in 2014,only 5 cities had ametro rail,this transport system is nowavailable in 18 cities and isexpected to reach more than25 cities by 2025. In 2014,only 248 km of metro lineswereoperational in thecoun-try which has now grown tomore than 700 km. Govern-mentplans to increase this to

1,700 kmby2025.Metro operations are also

being diversified with theRegionalRapidTransitSystembetween Delhi and Meerut,MetroLite version in citieswherepassengernumbers areless andMetroNeoservices incities where the ridership isless. The other innovationbeing studied is watermetroforcitieswithlargewaterbod-ies which will provide last-mile connectivity to the peo-plenear the islands.

PRIME MINISTER NAREN-DRA Modi on Mondayflaggedoff the100thrunofKisan Rail from Sangola inMaharashtra toShalimarinWest Bengal in avideo con-ferenceevent.Railwayshavelaunched these Kisan Railstoprovidemobile cold stor-agetotransportperishableslike fruits,vegetables,milk,fish,amongothers.“The Kisan Rail project

notonlyshowsthecommit-ment of the government toserve the farmers but alsoservesasaproofofhowfastour farmers are ready fornewpossibilities,“Modisaid,in a veiled reference to theOpposition’s criticism ofignoring thewell-being offarmers.Healsopointedoutthatfarmerproducerorgan-isations and women self-helpgroupsarealsogettingpriorityinagri-businessandagri-infrastructure.“Recentreformswilllead

to expansion of agri busi-

ness and these groupswillbe thebiggestbeneficiaries.Private investment in agri-culturewillsupportthegov-ernment's effort to helpthesegroups,”Modisaid.Since the government is

drivingtheKisanRailserviceas a major step towardsincreasing the income offarmers,nominimumquan-tityhas been fixed to trans-port through Kisan Rail sothat even the smallest pro-duce can reach the bigmar-ketsproperlyata lowprice.Kisan Rail and Krishi

Udaan (agriculture flights)have made it possible forfarmers to sell their cropsin other states. Perishablerail cargo centres arebeingconstructed in the vicinityof railway stations wherefarmerscanstoretheirpro-duceandexperiences fromother countries and newtechnology are beingincorporated into Indianagriculture.— FEBUREAU

Modi flags off 100th Kisan Rail

Centre releases 9th instalmentof GST compensation paymentFE BUREAUNewDelhi, December 28

THE CENTRAL GOVERN-MENT has released the ninthinstalment of `6,000 croreGSTcompensationpaymenttothestates.Thestatesandunionterritories have so far received`54,000croreofthe`1.1lakhcrore to be disbursed by theCentre this fiscal.The central government

borrowsthefundsunderaspe-cialwindowandpasses itontostates in back-to-back loanarrangement.Theinterestratefor the latest loan instalmentwas 5.15%while the averageratefortheentireborrowingsofar is at 4.74%, the govern-ment said.While 23 states have been

allotted `5,516.6 crore in thisround of weekly instalment,theremainingmoney(`483.4crore) has been released to the3 union territories with leg-islative assembly (Delhi,Jammu & Kashmir &Puducherry) which aremem-bersof theGSTCouncil.“The remaining 5 states,

Arunachal Pradesh,Manipur,Mizoram, Nagaland andSikkim do not have a gap inrevenue on account of GSTimplementation,” the govern-ment said.AlthoughGSTregimehas a

mechanism of compensationcess fund,which ismade up ofcess proceeds, to be used forcompensating states in case ofshortfall belowtheirprotectedrevenueeachyear.Thisguaran-tee of revenue protection isbaked into the law and thestatesareentitledtoa14%y-o-ygrowthintheirGSTrevenue.However,sincelastyear,the

compensation cess fund hasprovedtobeinadequateforthepurpose.The central govern-mentproposedthisyearthatitwouldpaystatesthroughmar-ketborrowingbutmanystatesdidn’tagreewiththe`1.1lakhcroreestimatedshortfall.The Centre insisted that it

wouldonlypayto the extent ofshortfallduetoGSTimplemen-tation issueandnot`1.85 lakhcrore which is the revenuedeficit that includes the pan-demic-inducedslowdown.Afterinitiallogjam,allthestateseven-tually came on boardwith theborrowingscheme.In addition to providing

fundsthroughthespecialbor-rowing window to meet theshortfall inrevenueonaccountof GST implementation, thecentral government has alsogranted additional borrowingpermission equivalent to0.50%ofGrossStatesDomes-ticProduct(GSDP)tothestateschoosingoption-ItomeetGSTcompensationshortfalltohelpthem inmobilising additionalfinancial resources.“All the states have been

given their preference foroption-I.Permissionforborrow-ing the entire additionalamount of `1,06,830 crore(0.50 % of GSDP) has beengranted to28 states under thisprovision,”thegovernmentsaid.

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIANewDelhi, December 28

AGRICULTURE MINISTERNARENDRA Singh Tomar onMondaysaida"wallof lies"hasbeen spread in a "plannedmanner" among farmersagainst thenewfarmlaws,butitwillnotlastlongandprotest-ing peasantswill soon realisethe truth.Theminister reiterated he

remains hopeful to find anearly solution to end theimpasse.It's beenoveramonthnow

that thousands of farmers,especially from Punjab,Haryana and parts of UttarPradesh,are camping at Delhiborders seeking repeal of thethree farmlaws.They have threatened to

intensify their stir in the com-ing days if their demands arenot fulfilled.Sofar,fiveroundsofformal

talks held between the Centreand 40 protesting farmerunionsremainedinconclusive.After repeated requests from

the Centre to resume the dis-cussion to end the stalemate,theunionshavegivenDecem-ber29fortalks.The government, in

response, has written to theunions inviting them for talksonDecember30."Soon, some way out will

emerge and we will reachtowardsthesolution.Everyoneknows that the wall of lies isnever strong. Truth is truth.There is going to be a timewhen peoplewill start accept-ing the truth," Tomar saidaddressing a virtual eventorganisedbyConfederationofNGOsofRural India (CNRI).

‘Wall of lies’ to fall soon;hopeful of early solutionto impasses, saysTomar

Unionminister Nitin Gadkari

AgricultureministerNarendra SinghTomar

Pune

COMPANIES 3FINANCIALEXPRESSWWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2020

Residential demandup,Gujarat realestate sectoron road to recoveryFE BUREAUAhmedabad, December 28

THE REAL-ESTATE SECTORinGujarat isgraduallyrecover-ing from the effects of theCovid-19 pandemic as inven-tory in the residential sectorhas started exhausting fast inwake of fresh demand fromreal buyers orendusers.Real-estate developers

were facing trouble selling in-ventory of over 70,000 resi-dential units across sixmajorcities — Ahmedabad, Surat,Vadodara, Rajkot,Gandhina-garandBhavnagar—after theCovid-19outbreakandsubse-quent lockdown, Ajay Patel,president of Gujarat Instituteof Housing and Estate Devel-opers (GIHED),said.

“However, since October,thescenariostartedtochange.Over the last two-and-a-halfmonths, almost 40,000 unitshave been sold in these cities.As a result of it real-estate de-

velopershavestartedregister-ing newprojectswith GujaratRealEstateRegulationAuthor-ity (RERA),”he said.As new inventorywould be

costlier than the current in-ventoryduetoincreasingratesofsteelandcement,manypeo-ple are purchasing residentialproperties.Another reason forthe fresh demand of residen-tial properties, especially af-fordable flats, is the reducedrateofhousing loans,he said.Apart from residential

units, there has been good de-

mand for plot schemes in thestate. As a result of the pan-demic,manypeopleareprefer-ring to stayon the outskirts ofthecities inopenspaceinsteadof smaller flats,he said.Unlike residential units

and plots, demand for com-mercial properties includingthat of offices and shops havebeen stagnant.There has been an increase

in newproject applications inOctober and November thisyearcomparedto2019duringthe same period,RERAchair-manAmarjitSinghsaid.“SinceApril, there has been negativegrowth in project applicationstill September2020.However,in themonth of October,150new projects were registeredwithRERA,whichis7%higherthanOctober2019.InNovem-beralso,123newprojects reg-isteredcomparedto117inlast

November.Projectinvestmentsduring the two months havealsogoneupfrom`5,790croreto `6,521 crore in the corre-sponding period. It is a goodsign forthe sector,”he said.At present end users are

buying residential propertiesand investors have not re-en-tered yet according to real-es-tate developers. If the stategovernment considers reduc-ing stamp duty, especially inthe affordable housing seg-ment,thesectorwouldfurtherget further push in this chal-lenging period, said a real-es-tatedeveloper.It would not only encour-

age people to register theirproperty at market rate in-stead of Jantri rates, but alsocondense the difference be-tweenthe twoprevailingratesand bring transparency in thesector,he said.

Place : MumbaiDate : 28.12.2020

Regd Office : 4 & 5, Near Advani Oeirlicion, LBS Marg, Bhandup (West) , Mumbai 400078; Phone No : 022-25968006, 25964268. Email: [email protected]: www.mayurfloorings.com

CIN L99999MH1992PLC064993

Notice is hereby given that the following Share Certificates issued by the company are stated to have been lost or misplaced or stolen and I, the registered holder thereof have applied to the company for the issue of DuplicateCertificates. FaceValue ofRs 10 each.

For Mayur Floorings LimitedSd/-

Akshita SundrawatAuthorised Signatory/Director

DIN: 08285675

Notice of Loss of Share Certificate

Sr.No.

FOLIONO

CERT NOFROM

DIST NOFROM

NO OFSHARES

DIST NOTO

59 000001 0037532 0037532 3732901 3733000 100 Mahavir N Sundrawat







66 M01181 0021042 0021046 2083901 2084400 500 Mahavir N Sundrawat





579240





























































CERT NOTO

NAME OF REGHOLDER

Mayur Floorings Limited

Sr.No.

FOLIONO

CERT NOFROM

DIST NOFROM

NO OFSHARES

DIST NOTO

1 000002 0007545 0007585 734201 738300 4100 Padma Sundrawat

3 000002 0007589 0007589 738601 738700 100 Padma Sundrawat

2 000002 0007587 0007587 738401 738500 100 Padma Sundrawat

4 000002 0007591 0007591 738801 738900 100 Padma Sundrawat

5 000002 0007593 0007593 739001 739100 100 Padma Sundrawat

6 000002 0007595 0007595 739201 739300 100 Padma Sundrawat

8 000002 0007599 0007599 739601 739700 100 Padma Sundrawat

9 000002 0007601 0007601 739801 739900 100 Padma Sundrawat

10 000002 0007603 0007603 740001 740100 100 Padma Sundrawat

11 000002 0007605 0007605 740201 740300 100 Padma Sundrawat

12 000002 0007607 0007607 740401 740500 100 Padma Sundrawat

7 000002 0007597 0007597 739401 739500 100 Padma Sundrawat

13 000002 0007609 0007609 740601 740700 100 Padma Sundrawat

14 000002 0007611 0007611 740801 740900 100 Padma Sundrawat

19 000002 0007621 0007621 741801 741900 100 Padma Sundrawat

21 000002 0007625 0007664 742201 746200 4000 Padma Sundrawat

23 000002 0050914 0050914 5071101 5071200 100 Padma Sundrawat

22 000002 0021614 0021629 2141101 2142700 1600 Padma Sundrawat

16 000002 0007615 0007615 741201 741300 100 Padma Sundrawat

17 000002 0007617 0007617 741401 741500 100 Padma Sundrawat

11700

15 000002 0007613 0007613 741001 741100 100 Padma Sundrawat

20 000002 0007623 0007623 742001 742100 100 Padma Sundrawat

18 000002 0007619 0007619 741601 741700 100 Padma Sundrawat

CERT NOTO

NAME OF REGHOLDER

10 M01026 0016825 0016864 1662201 1666200 4000 Mayur Sundrawat

120000












Sr.No.

FOLIONO

CERT NOFROM

DIST NOFROM

NO OFSHARES

DIST NOTO

CERT NOTO

NAME OF REGHOLDER

5 M01161 0009865 0009904 966201 970200 4000 Mayank Sundrawat


















155700






Sr.No.

FOLIONO

CERT NOFROM

DIST NOFROM

NO OFSHARES

DIST NOTO

CERT NOTO

NAME OF REGHOLDER

The public is hereby warned against purchasing or dealing in any way, with the above Share Certificates. Any person(s) who has/have any claim(s) in respect of the said Share Certificates should lodge such claim(s) with the

Company at its registered office at the address 4/5 Munama Compound, Nr Ocirlicon Bhandup West, Mumbai 400078 within 15 days of publication of this notice, after which no claim will be entertained and the Company will

proceed to issue duplicateShareCertificates.

Total shares Total shares

Total shares

Total shares

Anyone interested for an outright purchase of

the propertymaycontactMr.OscarFernandes

(Mobile No.- 9833263519) between 2 p.m.

to 4 p.m. within a period of 45 days from the

date of publication of this notice.

Net PlotArea - 2214Sq.Mtrs.

PlotArea - 2480Sq.Mtrs

A Housing Society situated near Western

ExpressHighway and close to domestic and

international airports, close to Andheri (East)

and Vile Parle (East) Stations and situated

near upcoming metro station has decided to

consider the outright sale of its property

subject to receipt of suitable offers. The

details of the property are as under :-

Total Carpet Area of existing flats of

members - 25057Sq. Ft.

Dated this 29th day of December, 2020.

NOTICE

AVAILABLE International

Couriers Worldwide

Services (DHL) USA,

Dubai, Japan, China,

New Zealand. For

Details Call 7045601444,

22703881. Pickup Fort.

0070721525-1

COURIER

SERVICES

CLASSIFIEDS

''IMPORTANT''

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 newspapersor Publications. We thereforerecommend that readers makenecessary inquiries beforesending any monies orentering into any agreementswith advertisers or otherwiseacting on an advertisement inany manner whatsoever.

I, We M/s Harijan Sewa SanghTr a v e l A g e n c y, h o l d i n g aReg is t ra t i on Cer t ifica te No .4151/BOM/PER/300/2/3/4/6564/2004, under the Emigration Act.1983 for export of manpower hadclosed down our business witheffect from 08/05/2007. In the event,if there is any complaint/claimagainst me/us the same may ber e f e r r e d w i t h i n 3 0 d a y s o fpublication of this notice. Copies ofthe complaint may also be sent toProtector General of Emigrants,Min is t ry o f Externa l Affa i rs ,Akbar Bhawan, Satya Marg,Chanakyapuri, NewDelhi- 110021.

NOTICE

W/o Late Shri Chandan Bihari Lal Raja(Ex-Proprietor)

Address : Raja House 61,Waroda Road,

Bandra (W) Mumbai - 400050

Sd/-Mrs. Rajni Chandan Raja

Station: Mumbai / Date: 29-12-2020

Covid vaccine:2-day dry runbegins inAssam

A TWO-DAY dry run for theCovid-19 vaccination pro-grammebegan inNalbari andSonitpurdistricts ofAssam,onMonday,healthdepartmentof-ficialssaid.Fivehospitalsineachdistricthavebeenchosenfortheexercise,officialssaid.Manage-mentofpossibleadverseeventsaftervaccinationandchecksoncold storage and transportarrangements are parts of thedry run, Nalbari CMHO DrNaliniBarmansaid. —PTI

As new inventorywould

be costlier than the

current inventory due to

increasing rates of steel

and cement, many people

are purchasing residential

properties, saidAjay

Patel, president of Gujarat

Institute of Housing and

Estate Developers

Pune

Tips Industries andFacebook ink globallicensing dealMUSICRECORDLABELTips IndustriesonMondayannouncedaglobaldealwithsocialmediagiantFacebooktolicenseitsmusicforvideosandothersocialexperi-encesacrossFacebookandInstagram.“Ithas been a big and significant year forTips music, as the company signsanother global deal with the biggestsocialmediaplatformintheworldFace-book to license itsmusic forvideos andothersocialexperiencesacrossFacebookandInstagram,”TipsIndustriessaid.

FlipkartWholesaleapplogs75%jumpincustomerbaseFLIPKARTWHOLESALEAPP,whichcurrentlyoffersfashionproductstoretailersin23cities,witnessed75%month-on-monthgrowthincustomerbasesinceitslaunchinSeptember,accordingtothecompany.Encouragingtrendshaveemergedfromretailersinsmalltownswhohaveoptedfore-commerceasapreferredmodetodobusinessatease,thecompanysaid.

HeroElectrictiesupwithstart-upeBikeGOHEROELECTRICONMondaysaid ithas tiedupwithe-mobilitystart-upeBikeGOtosupplyover1,000bikes totransformlastmiledeliveries.eBikeGowillprocure theseHeroElectricbikes throughthenextfinancialyearwith the firstbatchof120alreadydelivered to the startup,thecompanysaid.

TataPowerinaugurates5kWbiogasplantinBiharTPRENEWABLEMICROGRID,awholly-ownedarmofTataPower,onMondayannouncedinauguratinga5kWbio-gasplantinMuzaffarpur,Bihar.Theplantconsumescowdungwhichisprocuredfromnearbyvillagesandthenprocessedthroughabio-digestertogeneratemethanegas,TPRMGsaid.

Agri-techstart-upAqgromalinraises`2crAGRI-TECHSTART-UPAQGROMALINonMondaysaidithasraised`2crorefromangelinvestorsparticipatingfro-mtheWestAsia.Thefirmaimstoutilisethecapital insettingup500micro-farmsinthestatesofTamilNadu,Telangana,andAndhraPradesh,itsaid.Aqgromalinsupplementstheincomeofsmall landholdingfarmersthroughreadytoimplementmicro-farms.

NTPCdeclaresDulangaminecommerciallyoperationalSTATE-OWNEDPOWERGIANTNTPConMondaysaiditsDulangacoalmineiscommerciallyoperationalfromOctober1,2020.“...Basedonachievementofapprovednormsanddueapproval;DulangaCoalMine(inOdisha)ofNTPC,havinganultimatepeakratedannualcapacityof7MTPA,isdeclaredcommer-cialoperationfromOctober1,2020,aBSEfilingsaid.

LupinlaunchesgenericdrugintheUSmarketDRUGFIRMLUPINonMondaysaidithaslaunchedMeloxicamcapsules,usedfortreatingosteoarthritis(OA)pain,intheUSmarket.ThefirmhaslaunchedtheproductafterhavingalreadyreceivedapprovalfromtheUSFoodandDrugAdministration,Lupinsaid.

EPLgetsAssociationofPlasticRecyclers’recognitionSPECIALTYPACKAGINGCOMPANYEPL,formerly EsselPropack, hasreceiv-edglobalrecognitionfromtheAssocia-tionofPlasticRecyclers(APR),US,foritsPlatinatubewithanHDPEclosure.EPL’sPlatinaisthefirstfullycompletelyrecy-clabletube,includingshoulderandcap,tohaveanintegratedshoulderInnerBarrierLiner(IBL),whichisalsorecycla-bleinHDPErecyclestream.Platinacanberecycledintoplasticstream.

VoltUppartnerswithHPCLforbatteryswappingcentresELECTRICTWO-ANDthree-wheelerbatteryswappingsolutionsstart-upVoltUponMondaysaidithaspartneredwithHindustanPetroleumCorporationLtd(HPCL)foropeningbatteryswappingcentres.

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CompaniesFINANCIALEXPRESS4 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2020

❝ ❝

SAFETYAND EFFICACYAdar Poonawalla, COO, Serum Institute of India

All thedatahasbeensubmitted in Indiaand theUK.We

must respect theprocessofthe regulators,whoare

evaluatingdataanddocumentation.Nobodywants to

compromiseon thesafetyandefficacy. SII,Oxfordand

AstraZenecawant toadhere to thehighest levels.


TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDERS expectthe government to take immediate stepstoresolvetheissuesofthesectorwhichhasplayed the role of anenabler forotherkeyindustryverticalsandsupported30-35%ofGDPduring theCovid-19 crisis, indus-trybodyCOAIsaid.COAIdirectorgeneralLtGenSPKochhar

told PTI that the telecom sector needs tomake huge investment in infrastructureandneedsregulatorysupport,reviewoftheadjusted gross revenue (AGR) definition,GST exemption on AGR dues, promisesmadeinNationalDigitalCommunicationsPolicy2018foreaseofdoingbusinessetc.“Telecom is not a vertical industry in

itself; rather it is an enabler of horizontalgrowth across industries, be it manufac-turing, e-commerce, health care, educa-tion and so on.Thus, the concerns affect-ing the telecom industry become theconcerns of these industries, and so theissues of telecomneed to be addressed asan issue affecting the overall economyofthecountry,soitshouldbegivenpriority,”Kochharsaid.He said that the transformation that

was seen in 2020 after the pandemic hasfurther proved how telecom acts as agrowthcatalyst inadigital society.“Telecom has enabled 30-35%of the

GDPintheCovid-19lockdown,otherthanthepresent6%direct contribution to theGDP.This is significant considering thefactthatoverall,54percentofIndia’sGDPcomes from the services sector,”Kochharsaid.The sector narrowly escaped financial

collapsefollowingtheapexcourtuphold-ingthegovernment’smethodtocalculaterevenuesharewithtelecomoperators.Theruling burdened telecom operatorswithtotalduesofaround`1.47 lakhcrore.“Some of the top challenges faced by

ourmemberTSPs today are those relatedtoAGR issues, spectrumpricing,Right ofWay(RoW) rules,andcell towerradiation.COAI has been pressing the governmentandTraion these,”Kochharsaid.The successful bidders in the upcom-

ingauctionofspectrumworth`3.92lakhcrorewillalsoneedtopay3%AGRonrev-enue.The telecom sector has demandedthe government to review the definitionofAGRtomakebusiness sustainable.

TheCOAIDGsaidthatthegovernmentshould exempt the levyof GSTon licencefees,spectrumusagechargesandpaymentofspectrumacquiredinauctions.Kochharsaid that the industry has accumulatedunutilised input tax of about `35,000crore.This should be refunded immedi-atelytoenhancecashflowsoftheindustry.“To ensure continuity in service and

meet SLA (service level agreement), tele-comprovidersneedtopreparetheirinfra-structure.Networkcongestion,mainlydueto dearth of cell towers, has been deeplyimpactingtheservicesacrossIndia.Muchinvestment and regulatory support areneeded to address these challenges,”Kochhar said.He said that there is a needfor identification of a clear roadmap foravailabilityof spectrum.“Spectrum harmonisation plans

shouldbeput inplacebythegovernmentinconsultationwithTSPs(telecomserviceproviders & OEMs (original equipmentmakers) to support full range of futuretechnologiesincludingM2Mandinternetof things services,”Kochharsaid.

Telcosexpect immediatestepsfromgovt forresolution:COAI

● INDUSTRYWOES &AGR DEFINITION

GEETANAIRPune, December 28

SERUM INSTITUTE OF India (SII), theworld’s largestvaccinemanufacturer,willbe ready with 300 million doses of theCovishieldOxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19vaccine by July 2021. Adar Poonawalla,COO,SII,said theyhave a stockpile of 40-50 million doses already and more arebeing produced every week. Onceapprovals come in a few days, it will bedown to the government to decide howmuchtheycantakeandhowfast theycantake it,Poonawalla said.“Wewillbereaching300 milliondoses

byJuly2021,”Poonawallasaid.“Inthefirstone or twomonths the offtakewould beslow.Oncethelogisticsworksoutwell,theroll-outwecanexpect in January2021.”Speaking on the approval for the Cov-

ishieldvaccine,Poonawallasaid,therewillbe good news from the UK very soon.Emergencyuse licensure should come inend of December or early January andsimultaneously we hope to get that inIndiatoo,Poonawallasaid.“Allthedatahasbeen submitted in India and the UK.Wemustrespecttheprocessoftheregulators,who are evaluatingdata anddocumenta-tion.Nobodywantstocompromiseonthesafety and efficacy. SII, Oxford andAstraZenecawanttoadheretothehighestlevels.”Therewas no concern of anykind and

enoughtimehadtobegivenastheregula-torsreviewthedatafromtheglobalmulti-centric trials,headded.SII will bemanufacturing around 60

milliondosesamonthfromthetwoplantsinPune.ThethirdplantwillbereadybytheendofMarch2021andwill takemonthlycapacityto100milliondoses,Poonawallasaid.Initially,Indiawill haveapriorityforthe doses and therewill be plenty of vac-cinesforIndiaandotherCOVAXcountries,he said.There could be a shortage in thefirstsixmonthsof2021,butitwilleasebyAugust or September 2021 as other vac-cinemanufacturerswill start supplying,Poonawalla said.Around50%ofSII stockwouldbegoing toCOVAXcountries.Apart from the Oxford-AstraZeneca

andNovavax vaccines,SII is alsoworkingontwoof itsownCovid-19vaccinecandi-dates.“OurvaccineistobelaunchedinJan-uary2022.WearestaringatPhase-I trialsinUKwithCodagenix.ThereisanotheroneRBDvaccinewith SpyBiotechwhich is inPhase II trials,”Poonawalla said.SII onMonday launched India’s first

indigenously developed pneumococcalvaccine called Pneumosil, that has beendeveloped through a decade-long collab-orationwith PATH and Bill andMelindaGates Foundation and is tailor-made forIndia.DrRajeevDhere, chief scientist at SII,

said the newPneumosil vaccine has a lotofimportanceforkidsandinfantsasthereisnoCovid-19vaccinemadeanywhere intheworld for kids. Pneumonia is an out-come of the viral infection and aswe donot have anyCovid-19 vaccine for infantpopulation so it becomes all the moreimportant to protect children from thissecondary infection,he said.Vaccinatingchildrenwith this Pneumococcal vaccinewill help avoid secondary complicationslike pneumonia and it ismore relevant inthecurrentcircumstances,DrDheresaid.Threeshotsof thevaccinewouldgivekidsprotection.Poonawallasaidtheministryofhealth

andfamilywelfarehasfloatedatenderforthe Pnumococcal vaccine. “We hope tohavecoverageof70-80%overnexttwotothree years and bringing downmortalitydramatically.Thevaccineisroughlyathalfthe price of some imported vaccines andwillcost $10intheprivatemarketand $3inthegovernmenttenders,”hesaid.Thereare around one lakh deaths every year inIndiabecauseofpneumonia.Withhighcov-erage, the country could avert 60,000 to70,000deaths,hesaid.Withthislaunch,SIIhas become theonlyworld’s third supplierofpneumococcalconjugatevaccines.

Serum Institute ofIndia tomake 300mvaccine doses by July


ADANI INTERNATIONAL CONTAINERTerminal (AICTPL) on Monday said itsmaiden $300million bond issuancewit-nessed10timesoversubscription.

AICTPL,a JVbetweenAdani Ports andSpecial Economic Zone (APSEZ) andTer-minal Investment Ltd (TIL), is a containerterminaloperatingcompanybasedoutofMundra, having an annual capacity ofhandling over 3.1million TEUs (twentyfootequivalentunits).“AICTPLsettledits first$300mnpub-

licUSDbond issuanceon21stDecember2020.The issuewitnessed large partici-pation from marquee real moneyinvestors with interests coming fromaround 220 accounts leading to approx.10timesoversubscription.Theissueof10Yearswaspricedatpar toyield3%whichis also the lowest couponachievedbyanycorporateIndianissuerinthelast5years,”the companysaid in a statement.

It said investorswere attracted by itsstrong shareholders, APSEZ & TiL, andtheir combined business strengthsembedded in the company,backedbythecreditqualityoftheissuancesupportedby

investmentgraderatingaffirmationbyallthree international ratingagencies.

The issuance is in line with AdaniGroup'sphilosophytotapthecapitalmar-kettore-engineerthecapitalstructureforassetsandfinancethemwithdebtextend-ing forthe lifeof theproject.

Barclays,Citigroup,DBSBank,MUFG,andStandardCharteredwereglobalcoor-dinators, book-runners, and lead man-agers.

Karan Adani, CEO and Whole TimeDirectorofAPSEZ said,“The issuance is inline to the group's capital managementphilosophy of re-engineering the capitalstructure andextendingdebtmaturity inline to the life of asset.Our relationshipwithTILisveryimportant tousandholdsthekeytoourstrategyformakingMundracontainer hub for the region andAICTPLasourflagship terminal.”

Successful issuancedemonstratestheappreciation and acceptance of level ofcorporate governance at the private JVlevel, he said adding, the first noteissuancebyanyportvertical jointventurecompanyalso paves thewayand sets thebenchmark for other JVs and subsidiarycompaniesof thegrouptotapthecapitalmarket.

Business as usual for Indian IT,pharmacompanies post-Brexit, say industryveterans

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIABengaluru, December 28

THE FOUNDER OF theMaini Group,DrSudarshanKumarMaini,whoencouragedhis son Chetan Maini to commercialiseIndia's first electric carReva,has died,hisfamilysources saidonMonday.According to familymembers,Maini

died in Bengaluru at his residence onDecember26afterprolongedillnessattheageof87.He is survived by wife Reva and three

sons,Chetan,GautamandSandeep.HailingfromPunjab,Mainiestablished

theMainiGroup in1973.Under his stewardship, the firm grew

to a multi-unit group of six companieswithover1,500employeesspreadover14locations.HeencouragedhissonChetantocom-

mercialiseIndia'sfirstelectricvehicleRevacar,namedafterhiswife.Mainihaddonehisdegree inmechan-

ical engineering from the Banaras HinduUniversity.Hehad studied industrial administra-

tion in theUnitedKingdom.Forsixyearsfrom1967hewasthegen-

eralproductionmanagerforMICO-Boschin Bengaluru and later launched his owncompanyMainiGroup.Mourninghisdeath,BioconchiefKiran

Mazumdar Shaw tweeted, "CelebratedIndustrydoyen and founderof theMainiGroup SudarshanMaini passed away on26thDecemberafteraprolonged illness.Hewillberememberedasapioneering

entrepreneur who supported his sonChetan to commercialise Indias first EVReva,hiswifesname.Mayhis soulRIP."

Adani InternationalContainerTerminal’s$bond issuanceoversubscribed10 times


NETOFFICE SPACE leasing fell 44%year-on-yearduring2020 to25.82million sq ftacross seven major cities as corporatesdeferredtheirexpansionplansandadopted'work from home' policy for employeesbecauseoftheCOVID-19pandemic,accord-ingtoareportbyJLLIndia.

Net leasingofofficespacestoodat46.5million sq ft in 2019across seven cities—Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata,Hyderabad,PuneandBengaluru.The consultant, however, noted that

officespacedemandrose52%duringOcto-ber-Decemberperiodof2020 to8.27mil-lionsq ft from5.43millionsq ft in thepre-viousquarter.During January-March,net absorption

of office space stood at 8.8 million sq ft,whichplunged to3.32million sq ft during

the secondquarterof this calendaryearonaccountofthenationwidelockdowntocurbcoronaviruspandemic.“Theyear2019 sawhistoric highswith

net absorption crossing46million sq ft.In2020,netabsorptiondippedby44%whencomparedto2019.“However,a comparison to the average

annualnetabsorptionlevelsbetween2016

and 2018 elucidates amore realistic andthus resilient nature of the Indian officemarket,”saidRameshNair,CEOandCountryHead,JLLIndia.Ledbythe southernmarkets ofHyder-

abad,Chennai andBengaluru,net absorp-tionlevelsin2020reached81%ofwhatwasobserved between 2016 and 2018, headded.“Theoffice real estatemarketwasmost

impactedas lockdownmeasuresdisruptedthewaywework.Corporates had to adoptwork fromhome as an alternative,whichbroughtinitswake,anewsetofpossibilitiesandchallenges,”JLLsaid.“Perceptions around the scale and

potential of remoteworking changed.Ear-lier,theviewwas that remoteworking as aconcept would not work in India. Thischangedwith the remoteworking experi-ment proving to be fairly successful for amajorityoftheorganisations,”itadded.

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIABengaluru, December 28

THE UNITED KINGDOM leaving the sin-gleEuropeanUnionmarketwouldhavenoadverse impact on India's informationtechnology and pharmaceutical compa-nies and itwould be business as usual forthempost-Brexit, say key industryveter-ans.

There won't be anymaterial impactbecause the U.K. already has a goodVisa

regime for Indian techies, former ChiefFinancial Officer of Infosys,VBalakrish-nan,toldPTIonMonday.

“So also Europe. So,we don't thinkthat is going to drastically change post-Brexit”,thepartnerandchairmanofExfin-ityVenturePartners said.

“Earlier also,onVisa, they had to dealwith theU.andEuropeseparately”.Biotechmajor Bioconexecutivechair-

person of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw saidIndian Pharma is a key player in the UK

market.“I believe that post-Brexit, India has

anopportunity to strengthen its bilateraltrade in several key areas, pharma beingoneof them”,Mazumdar-ShawtoldPTI.

Shesaid(theU.K.'s)MHRA(Medicinesand Healthcare products RegulatoryAgency) and (India's) CDSCO (CentralDrugs Standard Control Organisation)have a strong partnership opportunity tobuild a reciprocal regulatory recognitionmodel throughclosecooperation.


WITH STEADY MONTH-ON-MONTHrecoverycontinuinginNovemberandfes-tiveshoppingbringingsomerespitetotheretail industry, retailers are looking for-ward to 2021 with cautious optimism,accordingtoRAI. RetailersAssociationofIndia(RAI) inits10th'RetailBusinessSur-vey' said sales in November 2020 were13%shortonayear-on-year(y-o-y)basis.Last month, consumer durables and

electronics categorycontinued to recoverwitha12%increaseinsalesoverthesamemonth last year,while food and grocerycategory has indicated growth at 5%, itadded.Apparel and clothing segment isstill reelingunderpressurewith a declineof 12 per cent against the pre-pandemicsales,RAI said.Commentingonthefindings,RAICEO

KumarRajagopalan said,“While the fes-tiveand themutedweddingseasonaidedsome recovery for certain segments, thelack of inbound travel of non-residentIndiansduringthewinterhashadanega-tive impactonsales”.

SKMaini ofMainiGroup,promoterof India’s first e-carReva,dies at 87

Retailers looking at2021with cautiousoptimism: RAI

Work fromhome hits office demand; net leasingof office space drops 44% in 2020: Report


COMMERCIALVEHICLE SALES in Indiacould take longer to recover thanexpecteddespiteimprovingmacro-economicindica-tors, according to India Ratings andResearch(Ind-Ra).Thelightcommercialvehicles(LCVs)seg-

menthasstartedtorecoveras theyprovidelast mile connectivity and because ofincreased e-commerce activities butmedium and heavy commercial vehicle(MHCV) sales areunlikelyto recoverbeforethefourthquarterof2021-22,itsaid.TheratingsagencyreiteratedthatMHCV

sales coulddeclineby35-45percentyear-on-year inFY21,though thedecline inLCVsalesislikelytobecontainedwithin20-25%."In FY22, the industry could see sales

growthindoubledigits,especiallyduetothelowbase of FY20-FY21," it said in a state-

ment.Stating that there is excess systemcapacityandreducedlowerfleetutilisation,Ind-Ra saidduringApril-September2020,CVsalesvolumesdeclined56%y-o-y,withasteeperdeclineof76%recordedinMHCVs.CitingFederationofAutomobileDealers

Associations (FADA) data, it said that CVretail sales grewsequentially inNovember2020(up13%fromOctober).However,it remainsfarbehindtheaver-

agemonthly sales recordedduring FY19-FY20.SalesvolumeinNovemberwasdown31percenty-o-y."TheMHCVsub-segment,whichwasalreadygrapplingwiththeexcesscapacitycreated in the systempost imple-mentationoftherevisedaxleloadnormsinJuly2018andpeak sales achievedduringFY18-FY19,suffered significantlywith theonset of COVID-19as economic activitiesreachedanall-time lowcoupledwithcapexdeferrals across sectors,"the ratingsagencysaid.

CVsales in Indiamay take longerto recover thanexpected: Ind-Ra

SII will be manufacturing around

60 million doses a month from the

two plants in Pune. The third plant

will be ready by the end of March

2021 andwill take monthly

capacity to 100 million doses,

Poonawalla said

COAI director general said that the

transformation that was seen in

2020 after the pandemic has

further proved how telecom acts

as a growth catalyst in a digital

society

Pune

FE BUREAU

NewDelhi, December 28

SOLARANDWINDpowerplantdevelopers inAndhra Pradeshhave sought theCentre’s inter-ventiontocleartheoutstandingdues of around `3,000 croreowed to thembythe state-runpowerdistribution companies(discoms).Although the Andhra

Pradesh High Court had di-rected thediscomstopaythesepower plants at a provisionalrateof`2.43/unit—againstthe`4.84/unit tariff theywere re-ceivingearlier—tillthedisputesareresolved,renewablegenera-tion companies have com-plainedthattheyhavenotbeenreceiving payments regularlyevenatthereducedrates.Over-due— receivables pending formore than 60 days — has in-creased 30% since April to`2,921croreatOctober-end.As much as 8,000

megawatts(MW)renewableen-ergycapacitieswhichhavebeenhit bythe state’s decision to re-vise power purchase agree-ments(PPAs)andpowercompa-nies are seeking compensationagainst lower tariffs paid tothem,andhavepegged theun-der-recoveries at around`5,000crore.TheHighCourt had struck

downthestategovernmentor-deron renegotiatingPPAs,andinstructed discoms to powerplants at an interim reducedratetillthelegaldisputesarere-solved.Someof the generatorshavenot beenpaid sinceApril,industry body National SolarEnergy Federation of India(NSEFI)said.UndertheCentre’s`1.2lakh

crore liquidityinfusionschemeto clear the outstanding duesowed to power producers,Andhra Pradesh has been ap-proved`6,600crore,andhasre-ceived`3,300 crore accordingto the design of the schemewheredisbursalsaretobemadeintwoequaltranches.ThestategovernmenthadrequestedPFCand REC to disburse an addi-tionalamountofloanunderthefirst tranche itself to clear theduesofrenewableenergyfirms.In a recent letterwritten to

UnionpowerministerRKSingh,NSEFIsaidthat“werequestyou

to intervene in the matter sothat immediate disbursementismade byPFC/REC to renew-able energygenerators havingPPAswithAPdiscoms”.“Even though this interim

tariff provides a slight relief tothe project developers, it is notenoughtoservicedebtandnotreceiving this interim tariff ontime is jeopardising interna-tionalandalsodomesticinvest-ments,”NSEFI’sletter,reviewedbyFE,added.The state government,

against theadviceof thepowerministry, had formed a com-mittee to revise “abnormallypricedwind and solar”PPAs inJuly2019,saying theremighthave been linked with “malafideintentions”andcouldhave“resultedintheunjustifiedbur-den on the consumers of thestate”.

ECONOMY 5FINANCIALEXPRESS

WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2020

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