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GST can be a tool to India needs an Oyo furloughs thousands Dorsey pledges
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AS CORONA INFECTIONS CROSS 5,000

SELL-OFF STORM

Lockdown won’t go fully: PM ● DISTANCING NOT SOCIALLY POSSIBLE

Rupee hits record low
as sentiment worsens
PM consults parties; SC directs free test `/$ (intra-day)
final decision on at private labs 75.6
April 11 after talk IN A BIG relief to the com- 75.81
with CMs mon people, the Supreme 75.8
Court on Wednesday
directed that private labs 76.0
MANOJ CG should conduct coron- 76.34
New Delhi, April 8 avirus tests free of cost,
reports PTI. Private labs 76.2
A WEEK AFTER he told chief are at present allowed to
ministers to formulate a com- charge `4,500 for screen- Inverted scale Prev close: 75.63
76.4
mon but staggered exit strat- ingandconfirmationtests Open Close
egy to lift the 21-day lock- for Covid-19. ■ Page 2
down across the country, FE BUREAU Sensex
Prime Minister Narendra Trump considers Mumbai, April 8 Intra-day, April 8
Modi on Wednesday gave the 32,000
first clear signal that some ‘hold’ on funding STOCKS, BONDS AND 31,200
Prev close: 30,067.21

restrictions are likely to con- for WHO the currency all sold off 29,893.96
tinue post-April 14. on Wednesday with the 30,400
In a video conference with People show their Aadhaar cards as they wait to receive free ration being distributed by the Delhi government, at a school PRESIDENT DONALD sentiment worsening as 29,600 29,701.92
floor leaders of various politi- in Delhi on Wednesday. (Right) A shelter has been set up at a Thane stadium for relocating migrants and homeless TRUMPsaidhe’sconsider- the coronavirus pan-
cal parties on Wednesday, he ing putting a “hold” on US demic spread further. 28,800
said the government’s priority funding fortheWHO after The rupee crashed 70 28,000
is to save each and every life.
He said the feedback from dis-
COVID-19 UPDATE Infections not fully captured, Has ‘community theagency“blewit”byfail-
ing to sound the alarm
paise to hit a record lowof
76.34 to the dollar on
Open Close

tricts, opinion of experts and 5,274 need to broaden test criterion transmission’ sooner about the coron- demand for the green- 10-yr bond yield (%)
Intra-day, April 8
experience of other countries TOTAL CASES avirus, reports Agencies. back. The benchmark
all showed that a lockdown is FE BUREAU begun or not? However,WHOdeniedthat yieldsoaredtothehighest
6.49

149
Prev close: 6.415
perhaps the only way to check New Delhi, April 8 Understated infections? it was “China-centric” and levels in almost eight 6.441
6.46
the spread of Covid-19 and (States where high death rates FE BUREAU said this was not the time weeks ahead of the Cen-
DEATHS SO FAR 485 NEWCASES suggest infection numbers are
save lives. WITH JUST 4% of those being New Delhi, April 8 to cut funding. ■ Page 8 tre’s borrowing plan for 6.43
not being fully captured)
With 485 fresh cases of tested forthe coronavirus test- 2020-21 and have now
6.402
Covid-19 and 25 more deaths statement, Modi emphasised ing positive, compared to 18- Confirmed Death Fatality THE GOVERNMENT HAS WTO: ‘Ugly’ trade risen 30 bps in the three 6.40
across the country in the last that several state govern- 20%intheUSandcountriesin cases rate (%) denied that ‘community sessionstoWednesday.On
24 hours,the number of cases ments, district administra- Europe, one view is that India transmission’ is taking place numbers likely Tuesday,severalstateshad 6.37
India 5,345 162 3.0 Open Close
has now gone up to 5,274 tions and experts had pressed seems to be less affected.News and, indeed, the purpose of GLOBAL TRADE GROW- opted not to borrow as
(411 recovered),and the death for extension of the lockdown. from Maharashtra may, how- Madhya Pradesh 290 21 7.2 the lockdown was to ensure TH is expected to plum- buyers demand high FPI flows ($ mn)
toll is 149. ever,bust that myth. this didn’t happen. met by up to a third in yields. Meanwhile, equi- 2,000
According to a government Continued on Page 2 The report by the state’s
Maharashtra 1,018 64 6.3
Based on data from the 2020 due to coronavirus, ties rose in early trade as 259 Equity
public health department, Maharashtra government’s theWTO saidWednesday, Tuesday’s relief rally con- Debt
Gujarat 179 16 8.9 1,000
UP seals hotspots in 15 districts, however, points out that 76%
of those who tested positive Punjab 99 8 9.1
health department, website
covidindia.org has said
warning that the num-
bers would be “ugly”,
tinuedbutgaveupalltheir
gains. Foreign investors,
"
134
0
including in Noida, Ghaziabad were ‘asymptomatic’, that is,
they didn’t show any sign of since it is also possible that
“Maharashtra data confirms
community transmission”.
reports AFP. WTO chief
Roberto Azevedo warned
whohavebeenbigsellers-
— pulling out $6 billion -1,000 28 -151
MAULSHREE SETH trictswheremorethansixcases being infected. those who have an infection Based on the number of peo- the downturn “may well in the January-March
Lucknow, April 8 have been reported, including Right now, testing is being may not necessarily show the ple who have travelled versus be the deepest economic period,arenownibblingat -2,000
Agra,Lucknow,Ghaziabad,Gau- done on people who exhibit symptoms immediately— the those who have not, the web- recession or downturn of stocks,data shows. Feb 3, 2020 Apr 7
THE UTTAR PRADESHgovern- tam Budh Nagar (which inclu- signs of corona infection, but incubation period for the site says that “no growth in our lifetimes”. ■ Page 8
mentonWednesdaydecidedto des Noida and Greater Noida), the Maharashtra report sug- virus is up to 14 days — and it travellers in the past 11 days
seal coronavirus “hotspots” in KanpurNagar,Varanasi,Sitapur, gests that if testing is is not clear if the health vs more than 5x growth in Delhi, Mumbai,
15 districts until April 15 as
part ofa“clustercontainment”
Shamli, Meerut, Bulandshahr,
Saharanpur,Bareilly,Firozabad,
extended to people who don’t
have anysymptoms,the infec-
authorities are tracking them
for the entire duration.
non-travelers” suggests there
is community transmission. J&K, Ladakh make LIQUIDITY SUPPORT
exercise, where only medical
services and home delivery
would be allowed.While entire
Basti and Maharajganj.
Speaking to The Indian
Express, chief secretary RK
tions rates could rise.
By how much is not clear Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2
face mask must
AUTHORITIES IN DELHI,
`18k-cr tax refunds
districts will not face such
stringent lockdown measures,
movement of people will be
Tiwari said,“We have decided
to seal hotspots in 15 districts
of the state. Rest of the places
In Wuhan, restrictions are being lifted after 70
to 75 days following restoration of normalcy. If
Mumbai,J&K and Ladakh
have made it mandatory
for people to wear face
to be released soon
completely curbed in these would continuewith the usual we are also cautious, the situation will improve. masks when stepping FE BUREAU goods and services tax and the
hotspots, and no entry of out- lockdown exercise.” outdoors to combat the New Delhi, April 8 customs duty would benefit
siders will be allowed. —UDDHAV THACKERAY, MAHARASHTRA CHIEF MINISTER coronavirus spread. about1lakhentities,including
These hotspots are in dis- Continued on Page 2 TO GIVE LIQUIDITY support MSMEs,whicharehitthemost
to businesses and individuals by the pandemic.
impactedbytheCovid-19pan- Large corporate houses
Special Feature
● GRAIN PACKAGING COUNTERING CRISIS demic, the government on
Wednesday said that it would
with much higher refund
claims will not benefit much
Plastic bags Govt mulls increase in export issue `18,000 crore of pend- from the decision on direct tax
How voice AI apps can be a ing refunds related to both the refunds,due to the cap.
to make up directandindirecttaxestotax- Despite the decline in tax
lifesaver in times of Covid-19
Voice AI apps can help in for jute benefits for garment sector payers of all categories,imme-
diately. The direct-tax-related
refunds would be limited to a
revenue growth in recent
months, the government has
been liberal in release of direct
prevention, detection BANIKINKAR PATTANAYAK made,”saidthesource.Thiswill maximumof`5lakh/taxpayer tax refunds.
and treatment of hundreds
of patients at the same
shortage New Delhi, April 8 HELPING HAND

Govt may raise RoSCTL
also be in sync with the
exporters’demandthatcertain
andwould coverabout 14 lakh
taxpayers.Pending refunds for Continued on Page 2
benefit by 2-4 ppt from the
time, thus helping mitigate FE BUREAU THE GOVERNMENTIS consid- current 4-6% of FoB embedded taxes are currently
the shortage of doctors in New Delhi, April 8 ering a proposal to offer higher value of exports not reimbursed under the
the country incentives to garment and

It mulls speedy tax
RoSCTL,andthatexportsmust Govt mulls deferring some taxes
■ eFE, P9 THE CENTRE IS learnt to have made-up exporters under a be zero-rated, in accordance
soundedoutallstatestoimme- scheme that is meant to reim-
refunds for labour-intensive
sectors, including garments with global best practices. to aid companies salvage growth
diately place orders for plastic bursethemforvariousstateand The garments sector has THE GOVERNMENTPLANS across critically-affected
bags for packaging of grains,as centralgovernmentimposts,as
Garments sector hit hard by been hit hard due to a massive to defer some taxes and sectors such as tourism and
wheat procurement will start it mulls ways to soften the cancellation of orders and cancellation of export orders offer incentives to support hospitality as well as small
QuickPicks from April 15 and a record 40- Covid-19 blows to keyemploy-
exodus of migrant labourers
and an exodus of migrant small businesses reeling industries, the people said,
41 million tonne procurement ment-intensive industries. labourersinsomestates.Expor- from the three-week lock- asking not to be identified
TVS Motor among prospective target has been set by all states The government may raise tersinthecountry’slargestgar- down to curb the spread of as the discussions are pri-
bidders for UK bike maker combinedforthisyear.
Thetextileministryhadear-
the incentive level by 2-4 per-
centage points under the
ment hub in Tirupur,which is
estimated to have shipped out
coronavirus,people familiar
with the mattersaid,reports
vate. The package will be
bigger than a $22.6-billion
TVS Motor is among prospective bidders consider- lier expressed concerns over Rebate of State and Central apparelworth`26,000crorein Bloomberg. support announced last
ing making an offer for UK's Norton Motorcycles, likely shortage of jute bags for Taxes & Levies (RoSCTL) FY20,have alreadywarned of a The plan also includes month,they said.
which went into administration in January, people grains,given the increased pro- scheme from the current 4- on the types of garments, a 50-60% slide in FY21. releasing dues owed by the
with knowledge of the matter said, reports curement and the fact that 6% of the freight-on-board source told FE.“Afinal decision government to businesses Detailed report on Page 2
Bloomberg. TVS has approached Norton’s administrators Covid-19 lockdown has affect- valueofshipments,depending on this issue will soon be Continued on Page 2
about a potential deal, according to the people, who asked ed the working of jute mills in
not to be identified. TVS hasn’t made a final decision. PAGE 4 West Bengal.The current avail-
ability of jute bags is enough to
OUT-OF-THE-BOX IDEAS
`7,825 crore transferred to Jan start the purchases by states,
whilepreparationsarecontinu-
Dhan a/cs of 15.56 cr women
The rural development ministry has transferred
ing to procure both jute and
plastic bags in adequate quan-
tity,anofficialfromthefoodand
Hacking an innovative solution to coronavirus crisis
around `7,825 crore till April 7 to 15.65 crore consumeraffairs ministrysaid. ISHAAN GERA based health company, has Indiangovernmentalongwith
women Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana The textiles ministry on New Delhi, April 8 made a CPAP device to help Garage48, organised a
accounts, according to official sources, Tuesdayincreased the limitfor patients with breathing prob- hackathon of its own from
reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. There are around 20.4 crore high-density polyethylene or WHILE THE INDIAN corpo- lems, which comes at one- April 3-5.And,the results have
women Jan Dhan account holders at present. PAGE 3 polypropylene (HDPP/PP) to ratesare doing theirbit bycon- fourth the cost of a ventilator. been commendable.
2.62lakhbalesfromtheearlier tributing money and equip- Such ideas have already Livestreamed on Facebook,
Grofers to hire 5,000 in two 1.80 lakh bales to facilitate its
immediate purchase by gov-
ment to lead the fight against
coronavirus, the real push has
gained currency with state
governments, but last week
the event got entries from
2,000 teams. The top-10
weeks to ramp up capacity ernment agencies involved in come from start-ups and the central government threw teams,decided on Mondayin a
ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE

procurement in sufficient young entrepreneurs who are up a new challenge to the Facebook Live event, show-
ONLINE GROCERY PLATFORM Grofers is looking at quantity. The Centre may fur- figuringoutinnovativewaysto start-up community. Taking cased products ranging from
hiring 5,000 employees to ramp up its capacity to ther relax the norm for more fight the virus. For instance, inspirationfromEstonia’ssuc- apps to robots to address a
meet the spike in orders, reports PTI. It has also use of plastic bags once pro- Garuda,aChennai-basedstart- cess at organising “Hack the range of issues that Covid-19
partnered with resident welfare associations of curement starts,sources said. up,hasbeenusing its dronesto Crisis” event in association efforts would need to tackle.
over 100 societies across metros to make essentials available disinfect areas around a hospi- with Garage48, which
to a larger number of people amid the lockdown. PAGE 5 Continued on Page 2 tal. VAPcare, a Bengaluru- attracted 1,300 teams, the Continued on Page 2
 2 FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Economy
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020
Quick
View
Covid combat:
‘Larger force’
to be created
ASSERTINGTHAT India
faces a significantlyhigher
threat from the Covid-19
pandemic,the government
has decided to create a
“largerforce”to replace
frontlineworkers engaged
invariousworks to tackle
the pandemic and its
exponentialincrease.These
workerswill be provided
necessarytrainingonline.
Assocham:Economy
needs$300billion
ASSOCHAMHASwritten to
financeministerNirmala
Sitharaman,seeking a
stimulus package of at least
$200-300 billionto help
the economytide overthe
current crisis.Of the
corpus,$50-100-billion
cash needs to be infused
into thesystem in the next
three months to arrest the
loss of jobsand compensate
forloss of income,it said.
UP suspends MLA
funds for a year
THE UTTAR Pradesh
Cabinet onWednesday
approved an ordinance
suspending the MLAs’
fund for a year.The move
will help the state garner
`1,500 crore for the Covid-
19 fund.Salaries of MLAs
and ministerswill also be
cut by30%.
As corona
infections cross
5,000:
Lockdown
won’t go fully,
says PM
He,however,saidhewouldhold
another round of discussion
with the chief ministers on
April 11 before taking a final
decision.
Thiswashisfirstinteraction
with leaders of political parties
after announcing the 21-day
lockdown on March 24.
“ThePrimeMinisterunder-
lined that the situation in the
country is akin to a ‘social
emergency’. The country has
been forced to take tough deci-
sions, and must continue to
remainvigilant,”thestatement
quoted him as saying.
According to sources, Modi
underlined that he had not
comeacrossanyopinionwhich
suggests that lifting the lock-
down at this juncture is“advis-
able”.Theviewthatisemerging
so far,he said,is that lifting the
lockdown is not going to be
“simple” and the norms for
ensuring social distancing will
have to be enforced strictly.
“Kareeb kareeb mood yeh
ban raha hain ki ek dam se lock-
downuthanatosambhavnahin
hoga (The mood more or less is
that it won’t be possible to lift
the lockdown in one go),”
sources quoted him as saying.
The video conference,
which lasted over four hours,
was attended by leaders of 16
parties.The Secretaries of vari-
ous departments, including
Home,HealthandRuralDevel-
opment Ministries, gave a
detailed presentation on the
steps taken bythe government
to dealwith the situation.
Sources said the leaders,
cutting across party lines,
including Congress’s Ghulam
Nabi Azad, urged the govern-
menttoannouncemorefinan-
cial relief to help vulnerable
sections,ramp up testing, pro-
videadequatepersonalprotec-
tion equipment to doctors and
health workers,release various
dues of the states and liberally
assistthemfinanciallyinmeet-
ing the challenge.
In his reply, Modi admitted
that the country is facing seri-
ous economic challenges and
asserted that the government
is committed to overcoming
them.
Sources said Modi likened
● ‘PHILANTHROPY NEEDED’
Govt mulls deferring some taxes
SC directs free corona to help small firms salvage growth
tests at private labs
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, April 8
IN A BIG relief to the common
people, the Supreme Court on
Wednesday directed that pri-
vate labs should conduct coro-
navirus tests free of cost,
observing that they need to be
philanthropic in the hour of
national crisis.
Private labs are at present
allowed to charge `4,500 for
screening and confirmation
tests for Covid-19.
The top court in its interim
order said the Centre should
immediately issue directions
for carrying out free Covid-19
tests in NABL-accredited labs
or any agencies approved by
theWorldHealthOrganization
(WHO) orthe Indian Council of
Medical Research(ICMR). It
took note of the Centre’s sub-
mission that government lab-
oratories are conducting these
tests free of cost.
A bench of Justices Ashok
Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat
gave the directions on a PIL
filed by advocate Shashank
Deo Sudhi,seeking a direction
to the Centre and authorities
to provide free of cost testing
facility for Covid-19 to all citi-
zens in the country.
In another coronavirus-
relatedmatter,thesamebench
observed that doctors and
medical staff are the “first line
of defence of the country” in
the battle against Covid-19
pandemic, and directed the
Centretoensurethatappropri-
the situation with the Emer-
gency. In such a situation, he
said, the government would
have to take “apratyashit”
(unexpected) and “stern” deci-
sions.
Some leaders like Shiv
Sena's Sanjay Raut suggested a
graded response, saying that
restrictionscanbeeasedindis-
tricts which have not recorded
any positive cases so far.
Azad told reporters that the
Congress would support any
decision taken by the central
government(on the lockdown)
in consultation with the state
governments.
Modi told the leaders that
bigchangesintheworkculture
and working style of the coun-
try would be needed. Speaking
about how the world’s “view-
point”changedafterWorldWar
II, he said the world would
change post-Covid-19 too.
According to the govern-
ment statement, Modi noted
thatthecountryhadwitnessed
“constructive and positive pol-
itics” through the coming
togetherofallsectionsofpolity
to present a united front in the
battle against the pandemic.
“ThePrimeMinisterunder-
lined the impact of the emerg-
ing situation, as witnessed in
the resource constraints. Yet,
India has been among the few
nations to control the pace of
spread of the virus till now. He
also warned that the situation
keeps changing continuously
andoneneedstomaintainvigil
atalltimes,”thestatementsaid.
Infections not
fullycaptured,
need to broaden
test criterion
Another fact that suggests the
infectiondataisnotbeingfully
captured is the high fatality
rates in some states.
While fatality rates are
influenced by local factors
such as the presence of age- or
disease-profile of citizens,ide-
ally the fatality rate should be
somewhat close to the coun-
try’saverage ortheglobalaver-
age.In India,the fatalityrate is
3% with 162 deaths of the
5,345 people who were
infected. This ratio, however,
rises to 8.9% in the case of
Gujarat, 9.1% for Punjab,
7.2% for Madhya Pradesh and
6.3%forMaharashtra.Itisthis
type of analysis that, for
instance, led to the govern-
ment considering some areas
ate personal protective equip-
ment(PPE)andpropersecurity
are made available to them.
Doctorsandhealthcarepro-
fessionals are “warriors” in the
fight against coronavirus and
have to be protected, it said, as
the Centre assured the court it
is doing its best by providing
them PPE and other facilities.
Atthemeetingoffloorlead-
ersofpoliticalpartiesinParlia-
ment convened by Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi, several
opposition leaders also raised
the issue of shortage of PPE for
doctors and health workers.
India has recorded a sharp
spike in coronavirus cases tak-
ing the total tally on Wednes-
day to over 5,500 with at least
172 deaths.
“We find prima facie sub-
stanceinthesubmissionofpeti-
tioner that at this time of
national calamity permitting
privatelabstocharge`4,500for
screeningandconfirmationtest
of Covid-19 may not be within
in Gujarat as coronavirus
hotspots some days ago.
Has
‘community
transmission’
begun ornot?
When a person who has not
travelled but got the disease
from someone who had trav-
elled and was infected, that is
called‘local transmission’.
But if there is extensive map-
pingofwhomapersonmetand
whom they, in turn, met and
that still doesn’t show anyone
who has travelled,that is called
‘communitytransmission’.Itis
notclearifthemappingofcon-
tactswasasrigorousinthecase
of Maharashtra – so as to come
to a firm conclusion – but the
fact that lockdowns are going
to be extended suggests the
authorities are worried.
UP seals
hotspots in 15
districts,
including in
Noida,
Ghaziabad
Tiwari added: “Hotspots are
places from where a cluster of
coronavirus cases have been
reported.Theseplaceswouldbe
sealed and only medical ser-
vices and home deliverywould
be allowed.”
Additional chief secretary
Awanish Awasthi said these
hotspots would be sealed until
the morning of April 15. The
most hotspots are in Agra (22),
followed by Ghaziabad (13),
Gautam Budh Nagar (12), and
Lucknow (12).
“In these hotspots, there
would be no relaxation but
there is no need to panic as
medical services and civil sup-
plies would be delivered to the
doorstep. Other areas would
remainastheywereduringthe
lockdown,” said Awasthi. He
said that in sealed areas, not
just grocery stores, but even
banks would be closed until
April 15.
Despite the administration
urgingpeoplenottopanic,long
queues had formed outside
grocery stores in areas such as
Noida, Greater Noida, and
Ghaziabad as people
attempted to stock up on
meansofalargepartofpopula-
tion of this country and no per-
son be deprived to undergo the
Covid-19 test due to non-pay-
ment of capped amount of
`4500,” the apex court said.
At the dailyhealth ministry
media briefing, head of epi-
demiologyand communicable
diseases at ICMR Raman R
Gangakhedkar said 1,21,271
tests for Covid-19 have been
done in the country so far.
Outofthis,13,345testswere
conducted onTuesdayofwhich
2,267testsweredoneinprivate
labs.He said 139 labs underthe
ICMR network are currently
functional and 65 private have
been given approval.
The two judges,who heard
the matter on video confer-
encing, said private hospitals
including laboratories have
an important role to play in
containing the scale of pan-
demic by extending philan-
thropic services in the hour of
national crisis.
From the Front Page
essential supplies.
Sharing details of the seal-
ing exercise, Director General
of Police Hitesh Chandra
Awasthi said,“These are clus-
ters where there is a history of
positivecasesandapotentialof
spread.After the sealing exer-
cise,firstanextensive sanitisa-
tion drive would be conducted
through fire services in these
areas.
“Whileallthecivilianpasses
would be cancelled for these
sealed regions, civil supplies
wouldbegivenatthedoorstep.
All the commuting in these
areaswouldbestoppedlikeitis
done during a normal curfew.
There would be barricading
and these areas would be
turned into zero traffic zones,”
he said.
Additional Chief Secretary
Awasthi said emergency vehi-
cles and, if needed, drones
would be used to monitor the
areas, and no outsiders would
be allowed in.
Hesaidthegovernmenthas
also made wearing of masks
compulsory for everyone, and
action would be taken against
those who step out without
their face covered.
So far, 343 cases have been
reported in the state, which
includes 187 related to last
month’s Tablighi Jamaat gath-
ering in Delhi’s Nizamuddin
West.
Govt mulls
increase in
export benefits
for garment
sector
Since 80% of the garment
exportersareMSMEs,withvery
limited resources, the sector is
reeling under an unprece-
dented liquiditycrisis.
Many units will have to be
shut, leading to massive job
losses,if the government does-
n’t step in swiftly with some
succour, exporters say. In such
a scenario, global orders will
increasingly go to new com-
petitors like Vietnam, Cambo-
dia, Bangladesh and Poland,
etc,theywarn.
The Cabinet has already
approved the extension of the
RoSCTL for garment and
made-up exports beyond
March31untilaproposed,and
more WTO-compatible,
scheme -- Remission of Duties
and Taxes on Exported Prod-
ucts (RoDTEP) — is imple-
VRISHTI BENIWAL
New Delhi, April 8
THE GOVERNMENT PLANS
to defer some taxes and offer
incentives to support small
businesses reeling from the
three-week lockdown to curb
the spread of coronavirus,
people familiar with the
matter said.
The plan also includes
releasingduesowedbythegov-
ernment to businesses across
critically-affected sectors such
as tourism and hospitality as
well as small industries, the
people said, asking not to be
identified as the discussions
are private.The packagewill be
‘Opt out’ choice: Fasal Bima enrolment to fall 25%
PRABHUDATTA MISHRA
New Delhi, April 8
THE GOVERNMENTIS expect-
ing only a 25% drop in enrol-
ment under the Pradhan
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
(PMFBY) in the next crop year
even after the scheme was
made voluntary by providing a
choicetoabout60%offarmers
enrolled everyyearto‘opt out’.
A lower-than-anticipated
fall in expected coverage will
help insurance companies roll
out their plans when the bids
for premium will be invited
after the lockdown.
The ratio of loanee and non-
loanee farmers under PMFBY
last year was 6:4,and there will
be no fall in enrolment of non-
loanee farmers under both
mented. However, in case, the
new scheme is implemented
laterthis fiscal,the higherben-
efits under the RoSCTL will
likelycontinue.
As such, the pandemic has
only accentuated a slowdown
in the outbound shipments of
textilesandgarments,which,in
turn,aideda1.5%year-on-year
contraction in overall exports
to$293billionintheApril-Feb-
ruary period. The fall in gar-
ments exports would be
sharper in March, as the pan-
demic spread and led to the
lockdown.
Garment exports have wit-
nessed a roller-coaster ride in
recent years, despite the
announcement of a `6,000-
crore package in 2016, as the
labour-intensive sectorwas hit
bydemonetisationandtheGST
in quick succession. In the
April-Januaryperiodofthisfis-
cal,whileexportsofcottongar-
ments rose just 4.4% year-on-
year,thoseofman-madefibres
dropped by3.9%.
Grain packaging:
Plastic bags to
make up for
jute shortage
The textile ministry, which
enforcesimplementationofthe
Jute Packaging Materials Act
under which all foodgrains in
bulk are mandated to be pack-
aged in jute bags,usually issues
relaxations for use of plastic
bags up to a certain quantity
depending upon availability of
jute.The lockdown has affected
the working in the jute mills,
mainly located in West Bengal,
thereby disrupting the produc-
tion of jute bags.Millers are not
in a position to cater to the
requirements of the procure-
ment agencies.
“Evenifthereisanextension
of lockdown beyond April 14,
procurement will start in all
states from April 14 while
Haryana has made elaborate
arrangement to start it from
April 20,” a government official
said.Sincetheprocurementtar-
get is much higher both for
wheat and rabi rice, this has
resulted in higher demand for
jute bags.
While the cost of jute bag is
60% more than plastic bag,the
use of jute bag is preferred in
paddytopreventdiscolouration
of the grain,officials said.Even
incaseofwheat,plasticbagsare
used to store fora maximum of
one year as its quality gets
The plan also includes
releasing dues owed by
the govt to businesses
across critically-affected
sectors such as tourism
and hospitality as well
as small industries
bigger than the $22.6-billion
support announced last
month,they said.
A finance ministry spoke-
sperson couldn’t be immedi-
ately reached for a comment.
The three-week shutdown
due to end on April 14 has
brought non-essential con-
PMFBY and the weather-based
crop insurance plan, a govern-
ment official said.Even if there
isadropamongloaneefarmers,
atleasttwo-thirdswhoenrolled
in this crop year (July-June) will
not opt out. Overall, there may
be 20-25% lower coverage
while the earlier estimate was a
50% drop,the officialadded.
However,expertsandprivate
sectorinsurerssaidtheremaybe
only around a 10% fall as most
farmersareunawareofthenew
clause.“Bydefault,thebankswill
ensure all loanee farmers are
covered unless farmers them-
selves inform in writing to‘opt
out’of it.There is no‘opt in’pro-
vision for loanee farmers to
enrol for PMFBY,”an insurance
companyofficial said.
Sincethenextseasonwillbe
affectedifkeptinthatpackaged
material beyond ayear,officials
said. Still, the government has
allowedtheuseofplasticbagsas
an interim measure to ensure
smooth procurement, the offi-
cials said.
According to the govern-
ment,wheat production is esti-
mated at 106.21 million tonne
for 2019-20 crop year (July-
June),up by 2.5% from an year
earlier. The current procure-
ment target is over38% of pro-
duction while last year’s actual
procurement (34.13 million
tonne)was 33% of the output.
UttarPradeshhassetatarget
to procure 5.5 million tonne in
2020-21.Lastyear,theprocure-
ment was 3.8 million tonne
even after extending the pur-
chase programme by 10 days
from normal two and half
months.However,duetoimpact
of Covid-19, state officials are
hopefulofmeetingthetargetas
farmers would prefer to sell to
the government to get the ben-
efit of the minimum support
price (MSP), which is Rs
1,925/quintal.Thereisaspecu-
lationthatmandipricesmaybe
lower than MSP due to lower
tradingactivitiesoncoronavirus
fear,officialssaid.
Usually the official procure-
ment starts a few days before
April 1,when normal rabi mar-
ketingseasonbegins,asthecrop
arrivesearlyinMadhyaPradesh
and Gujarat.This year also, the
plan was to start the purchase
from around March 22 in these
two states. But everywhere the
procurement was postponed
aftertheannouncementoflock-
down.
Apart from wheat, there is
also pressure on the Centre to
procure rabi paddy, the target
for which was 41.6 million
tonne (in terms of rice) from
kharif and about 7 million
tonne from rabi season.The FCI
hasalreadybought39.4million
tonne of rice as on March 31.
There is an expectation of
another 8-9 million tonne pro-
curementfromrabiseasontak-
ing the total procurement to
over 48 million tonne against
last year’s record 44.4 million
tonne,officials said.
Liquidity
support: `18k- Hacking an
cr tax refunds to innovative
be released soon solution to
had issued nearly 23% more coronavirus
The income-tax department
refunds till November 2019,
crisis
WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
US BUYS COVID DRUG
❝
Donald Trump, US President
I bought millions of doses (of hydroxychloroquine).
More than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister
Modi, a lot of it (hydroxychloroquine) comes
out of India. I asked him if he would release it.
He was great. He was really good.
sumption in the country to a
standstill, which has severely
impacted cash flows of the so-
called micro-, small- and
medium-sized enterprises. It
has also resulted in job losses
and pay cuts.
“The main focus should be
in ensuring that the MSME
jobs are saved,” said Kunal
Kundu, India economist with
Societe Generale GSC.“India’s
already surging jobless rate
and International Labour
Organisation’s estimate that
400 million workers in the
informal sector are at risk of
falling deeperinto povertyis a
stark reminder of what a
package should be focusing
the first one after guidelines
were changed and the enrol-
ment may start next month,
there is little time left to make
farmers aware for the kharif
crop, Skymet CEO Yogesh Patil
said.The private weather fore-
casterisengagedincropcutting
experiment,whichistheprocess
to determine the yield of crops,
by using satellite images and
weather stations set up across
the country.
Therewere about 5.38 crore
compared with the corre-
sponding period a year ago.
This amounted to `1.46
lakh crore for 2.1 crore cases,
compared with 1.75 crore
cases in the year ago period.
However, GST-related
refunds, despite the govern-
ment’s repeated commit-
ments to speed them up, have
often been hit by technical
glitches. The delays in GST
refundswere morevisiblewith
state governments.
Refunds under GST have
been marred with technical
issues with the GST Network
and its interface with the Cus-
toms department, which has
impacted exporters more. For
instance, the official data till
September1,2019 shows that
justover75%or`82,000crore
refund claims had been sanc-
tioned.Further,while the Cen-
tre had given out `47,000
crore or nearly 90% of the
refunds forwhich applications
hadbeenfiled,thenumberwas
justover60%or`35,000crore
for states.
MS Mani, partner, Deloitte
India, said: “In a situation
where businesses are making
plans of dealing with cash
crunch situations on resump-
tion of operations, enabling
GST refunds on a war footing
would assist businesses and
energise them.”
Ritesh Kanodia, partner,
Dhruva Advisors, said: "The
directionsforgrantofimmedi-
ateGSTandCustomsrefundisa
verypositivemoveconsidering
theliquiditycrisesarisingoutof
theCovid-19situation.Wehave
seen that such refunds in the
past have been consistently
delayed either because of a
technical or a procedural
nuance which has led to diffi-
culties specifically for MSME
sectorand has also led to litiga-
tion across India on multiple
issues,with no standardisation
on the orders being issued on
thepointsofdispute.Itappears
that only refunds processed
finally until now will be
released.Itishoweverexpected
atthisstagethattheauthorities
provisionally issue all refund
claims filed and technical or
procedural issues are taken up
as a post facto exercise."
❝
on,” he said.
While data show govern-
ment departments and state-
run companies owe more than
`10,000 crore in dues to
micro- and small-enterprises,
industry groups such as the
Associated Chambers of Com-
merce and Industry of India
have asked the authorities to
provide a stimulus as big as
$300 billion to lessen the blow
dealt by the virus.
The package is likely to be
announced byearlynextweek
after finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman concludes
discussions with various
stakeholders, the people said.
—BLOOMBERG
enrolments under PMFBY and
about 0.31 crore under the
Weather-Based Crop Insurance
Scheme during both kharif and
rabiseasonsof2019-20.Intotal
enrolments under both, the
ratio of loanee and non-loanee
farmers was 62:38. In WBCIS,
loaneefarmersconstitute77%.
Aimedataddressingthekey
challenges in PMFBY imple-
mentation and making it more
pragmatic,the Centre in Febru-
ary made enrolment of loanee
farmers voluntary, while put-
ting ceilings of 30% and 25%
on premiums against sum
insured for its subsidy to be
available for non-irrigated and
irrigatedareas,respectively,and
extending the contract period
for insurers to 3 years from 1
year,effective kharif 2020.
For instance, Big Bang Boom
Solutions created a remotely
operable ventilator system,
which can be built from
consumer durable
components. The team said
they wish to create an
inexpensive DIY kit that
could be set-up in primary
healthcare centres across the
country with little oversight.
Another start-up, Team 132,
had developed a UV
disinfectant robot, which
could be used autonomously
to disinfect surfaces using UV
light. The competition also
showcased a hardware
company called Vincence,
which has created a `27,000
device to monitor vitals like
oxygen levels, pulse rate and
provides a hospital
management portal. Yet
another start-up, Team 118,
had developed a device which
could be linked to a computer
to analyse shortness of
breath, a symptom of Covid-
19.
The app developers also
had some interesting
solutions. R-TNT had
developed a test
management centre, which
could handle the supply
chain for testing facilities
right from consumer
requests to placing orders for
testing kits. Researchers from
Microsoft,
Stanford
Brown
developed
and
a
labelling app wherein
unemployed can earn money
assigning labels for products
to be categorised online.
Another team developed an
AI doctor which can assess
patients and then connect
them with services like a
doctors and radiologists.
Although the government
is yet to announce
distribution of prize money,
these start-ups will go on to
compete at the global “Hack
the Crisis” event, which is to
start on April 9 for a
$130,000 prize.
Hackathons have been
used regularly by companies
and governments to
crowdsource solutions. NITI
Aayog each year organises
hackathons, so it was not
surprising to see the
government organise a
hackathon to combat the
coronavirus crisis.
But the government will
have to do more than just
award start-ups for their
innovation, it also needs to
make sure that these ideas
get implemented on the
ground.
WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

FINANCIAL EXPRESS ECONOMY 3

● UN REPORT `7,825 crore Ministries told to cut Q1 spend by up to 40%

About 400m workers in

transferred to Departments which will
FE BUREAU have to contain expenditure at
Jan Dhan a/cs of New Delhi, April 8 20% of BE in Q1FY21 include
15.65 cr women fertilisers, posts, pension, de-

India may sink into poverty

Worldwide, two
billion people work
in the informal
sector and are
particularly at risk,
the report said
YOSHITA SINGH
United Nations, April 8
ABOUT 400 MILLION people
working in the informal econ-
omyinIndiaareatriskoffalling
deeper into poverty due to the
coronavirus crisis which is hav-
ing‘catastrophicconsequences’,
and is expected towipe out 195
millionfull-timejobsor6.7%of
working hours globally in the
second quarter of this year, the
UN's labourbodyhaswarned.
The International Labour
Organization (ILO) in its report
titled'ILO Monitor2nd edition:
Covid-19andtheworldofwork',
describes coronavirus pan-
demic as‘the worst global crisis
sinceWorldWarII’.
"Workers and businesses are
facing catastrophe,in both de-
veloped and developing
economies.Wehavetomovefast,
decisively, and together. The
right, urgent, measures, could
make the difference between
survivalandcollapse," ILOdirec-
tor-general Guy Ryder said on
Tuesday.
Worldwide,two billion peo-
ple work in the informal sector
(mostly in emerging and devel-
oping economies) and are par-
ticularly at risk,the report said,
adding that the Covid-19 crisis
is already affecting tens of mil-
lions of informalworkers.
"In India,Nigeria and Brazil,
thenumberofworkersinthein-
formaleconomyaffectedbythe
lockdown and other contain-
ment measures is substantial,"
ILO said.
"In India,with a share of al-
most 90% of people working
in the informal economy,
about 400 million workers in
the informal economy are at
risk of falling deeper into
poverty during the crisis. Cur-
rent lockdown measures in In-
dia, which are at the high end
of the University of Oxford's
Covid-19 Government Re-
sponse Stringency Index,have
impacted theseworkers signif-
icantly, forcing many of them
to return to rural areas,"it said.
The report said the disrup-
tion to the world's economies
caused by the Covid-19 pan-
demic is expected to wipe out
6.7%ofworkinghoursglobally
in the second quarter of this
year – the equivalent of 195
million jobsworldwide.
"This is the greatest test for
international cooperation in
morethan75years.Ifonecoun-
tryfails,thenweallfail.Wemust
find solutions that help all seg-
mentsofourglobalsociety,par-
ticularly those that are most
vulnerable or least able to help
themselves,"said Ryder.
"The choices we make today
will directly affect the way this
crisis unfolds and so the lives of
billionsofpeople.Withtheright
measures we can limit its im-
pact and the scars it leaves.We
mustaimtobuildbackbetterso
that our new systems are safer,
fairer and more sustainable
thanthosethatallowedthiscri-
sis to happen,"he said.
Large reductions are fore-
seen in the Arab States (8.1%,
equivalentto5millionfull-time
workers), Europe (7.8%, or 12
million full-time workers) and
Asia and the Pacific (7.2%,125
million full-time workers), it
said.
Huge losses are expected
across different income groups
but especially in upper-middle
income countries (7.0%, 100
million full-time workers), far
exceeding the effects of the
2008-9 financial crisis, the re-
portwarned.
"The Covid-19 pandemic is
having a catastrophic effect on
working hours and earnings,
globally,"it said.
Theagencysaidsectorsmost
at risk include accommodation
and food services,manufactur-
ing,retail,and business and ad-
ministrative activities.
The eventual increase in
global unemployment during
2020 will depend substantially
on future developments and
policymeasures.There is a high
risk that the end-of-year figure
willbesignificantlyhigherthan
the initial ILO projection of 25
million,it said.
More than four out of five
people (81%) in the global
workforce of 3.3 billion are cur-
rently affected by full or partial
workplace closures,it said.
Accordingtothereport,1.25
billionworkers are employed in
thesectorsidentifiedasbeingat
high risk of ‘drastic and devas-
tating’ increases in layoffs and
reductions in wages and work-
inghours.Manyareinlow-paid,
low-skilledjobs,whereasudden
loss of income is devastating.
Looked at regionally, the
proportion of workers in these
"at risk" sectors varies from
43% in the Americas to 26%
in Africa. Some regions,partic-
ularlyAfrica,have higher levels
ofinformality,whichcombined
with a lack of social protection,
high population density and
weak capacity, pose severe
health and economic chal-
lenges forgovernments,the re-
port cautions. —PTI
THE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
ministryhastransferredaround
`7,825 crore (till April 7) to
15.65 crore women who have
accounts under the Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY), according to official
sources.There are around 20.4
crore women Jan Dhan account
holders at present.
In view of the Covid-19 epi-
demic,financeministerNirmala
Sitharaman,had on March 26,
said that under the Pradhan
Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana
package,all women PMJDY ac-
count holders would be given a
monthly ex-gratia payment of
`500 for three months starting
fromApril.
Thepro-poorplanwouldcost
the exchequer around `10,200
crore a month (`30,600 crore
forthreemonths).ThePMJDYac-
counts are with various public
and private sector banks and re-
gional rural banks.Secretary in
the ministry of rural develop-
ment Rajesh Bhushan, had on
March 31,wrote to all chief sec-
retaries inthe statesstating that
the ex-gratia amount would be
provided for by the department
of rural development,through
centralnationalbank(SBI)which
will further transmit funds to
other participating banks.
Money transfer in Jan Dhan ac-
counts started fromApril 2. The
fundssotransferredtothebanks
mustbecreditedtotheaccounts
of beneficiaries immediately on
receipt of funds forthe purpose,
hesaid. —FE BUREAU
INWHATCOULD bebeginning
of rationalisation of expendi-
ture in view of the dwindling
tax revenues in the aftermath
of outbreak of Covid-19, the
Centre on Wednesday asked
many ministries and depart-
ments to scale down their
Q1FY21 expenditure plans by
at least 5-10 percentage points
(pps) (20-40%) from the busi-
nessasusuallevelof25%ofthe
full-year spending.
It could not be immediately
estimated what would be the
quantum of reduction in ex-
penditure in Q1FY21 because
of the rationalisation mea-
sures.The total Budget expen-
diturewas estimated (BE) to be
`30.4 lakh crore in FY21.
In the business-as-usual
scenario, the departments are
allowed to spend about 25% of
their respective BEs in Q1 sub-
DoT relaxes radiation norms for
mobile tower installation, upgrade
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, April 8
THE GOVERNMENT ON
Wednesday relaxed radiation
norms for installation of new
mobile towers and upgrada-
tion forexisting cell sites in the
wake of crisis triggered by
coronavirus pandemic. The
Department ofTelecom has al-
lowed service providers to self
certify compliance in 30 days
after commissioning of new
mobile towers or upgrading
existing units.
"In case of new BTS,the due
date of submission of self-cer-
ject to quarterly and monthly
plans approved by the finance
ministry. Some departments
were even allowed to spend
more than 25% in a quarter
subject to prior approvals.
Departments which will
have to restrict the overall ex-
penditure within 15% of BE
include commerce, industry,
telecom, defence (civil), hous-
ing & urban affairs, school &
higher education, water re-
sources, drinking water,
labour, MSME and skill devel-
opment. The monthly expen-
diture of these departments
have been capped at 5% of BE.
tificateshallbe30daysafterthe
dateofcommissioningofBTS.In
case of upgradation, the due
date of submission of self-cer-
tificate shall be 30 days," DoT
saidinalettertotelecomopera-
tors.
Telecos are required to sub-
mit a self-certificate before
commissioning of new mobile
towers for which their repre-
sentatives have to make field-
visits and conduct outdoor
surveys forradiation measure-
ments, panoramic pho-
tographs etc. Industry body
COAI has written to the DoT
for relaxation of norms as it is
fence services (revenue,capital
& pension), financial services,
revenue,roads and petroleum.
Transfers to union territories
such as Delhi and J&Kwill also
face a similarcut.The monthly
expenditure under these
heads will be capped at 8% of
BE in April and 6% each in
May and June.
However, the finance
ministry has spared some of
the key ministries from ex-
penditure compression mea-
sure which are crucial in the
fight against coronavirus
such as health, agriculture,
food, consumer affairs, rural
development, railways and
textiles. Similarly expendi-
tures towards interest pay-
ments and transfers to states
will be unaffected, the fi-
nance ministry’s office
memorandum noted.
not practical for their employ-
ees to visit mobile tower sites
for radiation survey and
broadband measurements due
to the ongoing lockdown.
"We assure you that, our
memberTSPswillconductfresh
EMF (radiation) survey, broad-
band measurements and regu-
larise the sites by submitting
self-certificatesthroughTarang
SancharPortalforallsuchsites/
BTSinstalledanddeployeddur-
ingthisperiodofCovid-19out-
break and lockdown/curfew at
various places,"COAI DG Rajan
S Mathews said in the letter
dated March 26 to the DoT.

Three companies to export Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company Limited

registered & Corporate Office : 10th Floor, Motilal Oswal Tower, Rahimtullah Sayani Road,
in bulk hydroxychloroquine Opposite Parel ST Depot, Prabhadevi, Mumbai - 400 025
l Toll Free No.: +91 8108622222, +91 22 40548002 l Email : mfservice@motilaloswal.com

made in Gujarat units

l CIN No.: U67120MH2008PLC188186
l Website: www.motilaloswalmf.com and www.mostshares.com

Notice cum Addendum to the Statement of Additional Information (SAI),

FE BUREAU
Ahmedabad, April 8
MALARIA DRUG HYDROXY-
CHLOROQUINE, which is in
greatdemandfortreatingCovid-
19,is set to be exported in large
quantity from Gujarat-based
manufacturing facilities of at
leastthreecompaniestovarious
countries,includingtheUS.
“Zydus Cadila, Mangalam
DrugsandVitalLaboratoriesare
the three companies which are
making important raw materi-
als for the anti-malaria drug.
These companies have aug-
mentedproductionofhydroxy-
chloroquinetomeettheincreas-
ing demand. Zydus is a
Gujarat-based company.Other
two are registered in Mumbai,
but have manufacturing facili-
tiesinthestate,”saidaseniorof-
ficial with the Gujarat drug and
food department.
Gujarat chief ministerVijay
Rupani said three companies
having manufacturing facilities
inthestatewouldexporttheanti-
malariadrugtotheUSafterkeep-
ing 1 crore hydroxychloroquine
tabletsasideforlocalpatients.He
saidUSPresidentDonaldTrump
hasaskedforthedrugfromIndia
and now that the Centre has
givennodforexport,Gujaratwill
be able to export hydroxychloro-
quineinlargequantity.
When contacted,state drug
and food commissioner HG
Koshia said these three compa-
niesaremanufacturingbasicraw
materials for the drug at their
Gujarat facilities.They have raw
materials formanufacturing 12
crore hydroxychloroquine
tabletsatpresentandhavestock
of19lakhtabletswhichwouldbe
purchasedbythegovernmentto
curedomesticpatients.
Meanwhile,a senior official
at Zydus Cadila confirmed that
the companyis in the process of
manufacturingthedruginlarge
quantity.“Wearealreadyexport-
ing the drug in different coun-
tries.Zydus is not only making
rawmaterials,but formulations
aswell.Itwouldbeawin-winsit-
uation forthe company,” the of-
ficial said.With more than one
third of the manufacturing ca-
pacity of the country, Zydus is
the largest maker and exporter
of hydroxychloroquine in India.
“Lastyear,2.4 crore hydroxy-
chloroquine tablets were sold in
the domestic market.India has
manufacturing capacity of 10
crore tablets per month.Hence,
therewouldn’tbeanyproblemto
export the drug to corona-af-
fected countries, including the
US. Value-wise, exports of hy-
droxychloroquine API and for-
mulations were $14.21 million
and$37.46million,respectively,”
saidViranchi Shah,chairman of
theGujaratchapteroftheIndian
DrugManufacturersAssociation.
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Scheme Information Document (SID) and Key Information Memorandum (KIM) of the
Schemes of Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund (MOMF)
Completion of tenure of Director on the Board of Motilal Oswal Trustee Company Limited
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to completion of the tenure as prescribed under SEBI Circular
No. SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/CIR/P/2017/125 dated November 30, 2017 read with SEBI Circular No. SEBI/
HO/IMD/DF2/CIR/P/2018/19 dated February 7, 2018 on enhancing fund governance for Mutual Funds;
Mr. Sunil Goyal ceases to be an Independent Director on the Board of Motilal Oswal Trustee Company
Limited with effect from closure of business hours of April 07, 2020.
Accordingly, all the reference to Mr. Sunil Goyal in the SAI of MOMF shall stand deleted.
This addendum forms an integral part of the SAI of MOMF as amended from time to time. All other contents
of the SAI shall remain unchanged.
Designated as Co-Fund Manager
Mr. Niket Shah, Vice President - Associate Fund Manager of the scheme, Motilal Oswal Midcap 30
Fund (MOF30) has been designated as the Co-Fund Manager of the Scheme, MOF30 with effect from
April 09, 2020. Pursuant to his appointment, the fund management structure of the scheme, MOF30 shall
constitute as follows:
Fund Manager: Mr. Akash Singhania
Co-Fund Manager: Mr. Niket Shah
This notice cum addendum forms an integral part of the SID and KIM of the scheme, MOF30. All other
contents remain unchanged.
For Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company Limited
(Investment Manager for Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund)
Sd/-
Place : Mumbai Aashish P Somaiyaa
Date : April 08, 2020 Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
MuTuAL FuND INvESTMENTS ArE SuBjECT TO MArKET rISKS,
(A Govt. of India Undertaking) rEAD ALL SChEME rELATED DOCuMENTS CArEFuLLy.
NAVARANGPURA BRANCH: ANAAR COMPLEX, GROUND FLOOR, DRIVE IN ROADN, NEAR VIJAY CROSS ROAD,
NAVRANGPURA, AHMEDABAD – 380 009. Tel No. 079 - 2644 8784, Email: bm0872@andhrabank.co.in
NOTICE UNDER SECTION 13(2) OF ACT 54 OF 2002 FOR ENFORCEMENT OF SECURITY INTEREST
Demand Notice
From: Date : 02-03-2019
Abdul Aleem, Authorized Officer, ANDHRA BANK under Act 54 of 2002, Navrangpura Branch
Unit Address: M/s AVANI ENTERPRISE (Proprietorship Firm), Reg. Office Add :- 319, Platinum Plaza, Opp IOC Petrol Pump, Bodekdev,
Ahmedabad- 380054
Borrower Address: Mr. Dipti Trivedi, (proprietor), Resd. Add :- 25, Vrundavan Duplex, Opp High Way mall, Chandkheda, Ahmedabad.
Gujarat -382424
Guarantor Address: Mr. Arvind Kumar Trivedi ( Mortgager & Guarantor) Resd. Add :- 25, Vrundavan Duplex, Opp High Way mall,
Chandkheda, Ahmedabad. Gujarat -382424.
Sir/Madam,
Please take notice that you have availed the following credit facilities from the Bank:
Outstanding Classification of
Facility Limits During Rate of Interest
as on 02.03.2020 outstanding amount
SOD Rs. 10.10. Rs. 50,85,535.50 At the time of At present: Principal: Interest:
087231100000 49,00,000/- 2017 sanction:
867
10.95 % 10.85% 49,13,232.50 172303.00
Against Hypothecation of stocks of raw materials and Finished Good and Mortgage of the properties detailed here under:-
1. All that piece and parcel of the property belongs to Mr. Arvind Kumar Trivedi. Flat No. A/07, 7th Floor, measuring 138 sq. yards i.e
115.38 sq. mtrs along with undivided share of land being 31.30 sq. mtrs in LORD NEST of Lords Properties situated at Non
Agriculture survey number 608, hissa no 1, measuring 2684 sq. mtrs. Out of which land measuring 1878 sq. mts was allotted T.P
No. 22, F.P No. 146, situated, lying and being at Mouje- chandkheda, Tal- Sabarmati in the registration district of Ahmedabad and
sub district Vadaj. Bounded By :- East: Margin space than after TP Road, West : Staircase then Flat No. D/07, North : Margin space
than after TP Road, South : Flat No. F/07
2. All that piece and parcel of the property belongs to Mr. Arvind Kumar Trivedi : Flat No. E/501, 5th Floor measuring 134 Sq.yrards
i.e 112.04 sq. mtrs along with undivided share of land in RUDRA GREEN of M/s Kanhai Procon pvt ltd situated on the land of survey
no. 120/2, T.P No. 60, FP No. 17/1, situated, lying and being at Mouje Narol, Tal. City in the registration district of Ahmedabad and
sub district Narol (5). Bounded By :- East : Lift & Passage, West : Society Common Road, North : Flat No. E/502, South : Block No F
As you have defaulted in repayment of the Principal loan/facility and/or instalments/interest or both, and/or the account has remained
out of order for a period exceeding RBI norms, your account has been classified as NPA on 28.02.2020 and all of you are jointly and
severally liable to pay Rs. 50,85,535 (Rupees Fifty lakh Eighty Five thousand Five hundred Thirty Five and Fifty Only) as on 29.02.2020
with subsequent interest as per the agreement(s).
You are hereby called upon to pay the said outstanding amount together with up-to-date interest within 60 days from the date of receipt
of this notice, failing which, the bank shall be constrained to take any one or more of the following measures against the properties
hypothecated/Mortgaged to the Bank detailed above, to recover the amount, without the intervention of the court, as provided under the
Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security interest Act (54 of 2002) i.e.
1. Take possession of the secured assets of the borrower including the right to transfer by the way of lease, assignment or sale for realizing
the secured asset/s;
2. Takeover the management of the secured asset/s of the borrower including the right to transfer by the way of lease, assignment or sale
and realize the secured asset/s;
3. Appoint any person (hereafter referred to as the manager) to manage the secured asset/s the possession of which has been taken over
by the secured creditor.
4. Require at any time, by notice in writing any person who has acquired any of the secured assets from the Borrower and from whom any
money is due or may become due to the Borrower, to pay the Bank, so much of the money as is sufficient to pay the secured debt.
Please take notice that after receipt of this notice, you shall not transfer by the way of sale, lease or otherwise any of the secured assets
referred to in the notice, without prior written consent of the Bank.
The charges, expenses incurred for taking the aforesaid actions shall be met out of the sale proceeds and if the sale proceeds are found
insufficient to satisfy the entire amount due to the Bank, for the balance amount appropriate legal action as provided in the SARFAESI Act
54 of 2002 or any other Act as deemed necessary will be taken against you, holding all of you jointly and severally liable to all costs and
consequences thereof.
It may be noted that under the provisions of the section 13(8) of the Act, right of redemption is available to you, by paying the dues of the
Bank together with all costs, charges and expenses incurred by the Bank, at any time, before the date of publication of notice, for public
auction or inviting quotations or tender from public or private treaty for transfer by way of lease, assignment or sale of the secured
assets.
This notice is issued without prejudice to the rights of the Bank available under any other law.

CHIEF MANAGER & AUTHORIZED OFFICER, ANDHRA BANK

 4 FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Companies
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020
Quick
View
Fidelity sells Tata
Comm shares worth
over `185 crore
FUND MANAGER Fidelityon
Wednesdayoffloaded more than 78
lakhsharesworth over`185 crore of
Tata Communications through open
market transactions.As perthe bulk
deal data on NSE,a total of 78.94 lakh
shareswere sold byFidelityInvestment
Trust.Shareswere soldat an average
price of `235.01 apiece,takingthe
total dealvalue to `185.52 crore.
Through separate transactions,East
BridgeCapital MasterFund I and
Universityof Notre Dame DU LAC
picked up 44 lakh and over15 lakh
shares inTata Communications,
respectively.Shareswere purchased at a
price of `235pershare,with the total
dealvalue standing at `138.69 crore.
Zupee raises $8 m from
Matrix Partners,others
SKILL-BASEDGAMING company
Zupee onWednesdaysaid it has raised
$8 millionin fundingled byMatrix
Partners India.The start-up,founded
byDilsherSingh Malhi and Siddhant
Saurabh,also sawparticipationfrom
Falcon Edge Capital,WestCap Group,
OriosVenture Partners and Zupee’s
earlystage investorSmile Group in the
seriesAround,a statementsaid.The
capitalraised from this roundwill be
used to invest deeperin technology,
staff and marketing,it added.Zupee
runs live quiz tournaments on its app
inwhich users competewith friends
and otherplayers forprizes.The app has
more than2,000 live quiz tournaments
covering over100 topics ranging from
films,Sports,mathematics,spelling
and others.
TVSMotorarmdistributes
facemasks,foodpackets
TVS MOTOR CompanyonWednesday
said that itwill continue its
commitment to stand unitedwith the
government in its sustainedefforts to
overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.
Srinivasan ServicesTrust (SST),the
socialarm ofTVS MotorCompany,has
distributed almost8 lakh face masks
andaround 2 lakh food packets till date
to the essential careworkers in the
vicinity,from policepersonnel and
municipalstaff to healthcareworkers
and migrantworkers across its plants.
Adani Gas reduces
prices of PNG,CNG
ADANI GAS has reduced the selling
prices of piped natural gas (PNG) by`1
perstandard cubic metre (scm) forallits
domestic consumers in Gujarat,
Haryana and UttarPradesh.The
applicable rateswill nowbe `29.1/scm
in Gujarat,`29.8/scm in Haryana and
`26.8 in UttarPradesh.Adani Group’s
citygas distribution unithas also
reducedthe prices of compressed
natural gas (CNG) by`2.3 in
Ahmedabad andVadodara areas to
`52.6/kg.In Faridabad in Haryana,the
reduction is `2.8 to `48/kg.
IndiGo suspends overseas
flights tillApril 30
AMID THE nationwide lockdown
implemented to contain the spread of
novel coronavirus in India,budget
carrier IndiGo said on Wednesday it is
suspending its international flights
till April 30.Air India has already
suspended domestic and
international flights till April 30.
Covid:EssarFoundation
toprovide1.25mmeals
ESSAR FOUNDATION,the
philanthropic arm of Essar Group,on
Wednesday said it will provide 1.25
million meals to communities
affected by the Covid-19 outbreak
and over 1 lakh medical supplies to
frontliners combating the pandemic.
McD’s starts deliveryfrom
8 Delhi-NCRrestaurants
QUICK SERVICE restaurant chain
McDonald’s India on Wednesday said
it has re-started delivery services
from eight restaurants in the Delhi-
NCR from Wednesday.The move
comes after the government’s
notification categorising food
delivery as one of the essential
services during the lockdown period.
● PROSPECTIVE BIDDER
TVS Motor mulls making offer
for UK’s Norton Motorcycles
SIDDHARTH PHILIP, MANUEL BAIGORRI
& GILES TURNER
London/Hong Kong, April 8
TVS MOTOR CO is among prospective
bidders considering making an offer for
Norton Motorcycles of the UK,whichwent
into administration in January, people
with knowledge of the matter said.
TVS has approached Norton’sadminis-
trators about a potential deal,according to
the people,who asked not to be identified
because the information is private. The
British firm is being overseen byBDO LLP.
Norton,which made its first motorcy-
cle in the 1902,has changed hands multi-
ple times over the years. Its most recent
owner was entrepreneur Stuart Garner,
who tried torevive the brandwith modern
versions of its Commando and Dominator
models.
Garner is being investigated by the
UK’s Pensions Regulator over actions
taken when he was trustee of three pen-
JSW Steel prepares for life after lockdown
FE BUREAU
Mumbai, April 8
JSW STEEL IS preparing to restart opera-
tionsatallitslocationsoncethelockdownis
lifted.The company reported 3.97 million
tonneofcrudesteelproductionforthethree
monthsofJanuary-March2020,whichwas
lowerby5%onayear-on-yearbasis.Forthe
full year ended March 31, 2020, the com-
panyrecorded production of 16.06 million
tonne,down4%y-o-y.Thecompany’scrude
steelproductionduringJanuaryandFebru-
ary2020 in aggregatewas higherthan that
of the previous year by 1%.The steelmaker
achieved 97.3% of the revised production
guidance of 16.50 milliontonne forFY20.
The lockdown has impacted operations
of the steel maker,which has scaled back
capacitiesdue to the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Theslowdownineconomicactivitydue
to unanticipated breakout of pandemic
COVID19andconsequentnationwidelock-
down in the laterpart of March 2020 led to
Wibmo: Grocery, daily essentials keep
online shopping going during lockdown
SAJAN C KUMAR
Chennai, April 8
THE LOCKDOWN REGIME has changed
the behavioural pattern of online users.
Overall online purchases continue to see a
dipof16%withmanyservicessuchastravel
coming to a standstill. Consumers leaned
into online bill payments with over 70%
transactions in that category.During lock-
down,whileonlinebillpaymentsincreased,
food and beverage deliveryapps and finan-
cial services took the biggest hit.Categories
such as gaming and entertainment stayed
steadyforthemostpart.Inanutshell,online
shopping witnessed consistency primarily
driven by grocery and daily essentials,
according to insights into consumer shop-
pingbehaviourpreparedbyWibmoInc,the
largest processor of e-commerce authenti-
cation.
Though online shopping fell byawhop-
ping 30% on March 22, on the day of the
Janata Curfew, Indian consumers returned
online the following weeks, however gain-
ing only 50% of that, as they were cooling
theirheels owingto the lockdown.
According to Wibmo, RuPay spending
Spend pattern: Pre-lockdown vs during lockdown
1.0 Web Services 0.3
3.0 Others 0.5
9.0 Travel 0.7
12.0 Games & Entertainment 9.4
(%) 10.0 Shopping 12.2
6.0 F&B 2.3
4.0 Finance , Insurance 2.3
& Business Services
55.0 Utilities 72.5
● INTERVIEW: RAGHUPATI SINGHANIA, Chairman & MD, JK Tyre & Industries
‘Liquidity is the biggest challenge in present scenario’
JKTyre & Industries is managing liquidity by
focussing on timely collection of receivables,
speakingtovendorsforreschedulingthepay-
ments, and conserving cash to combat the
uncertainsituation,RaghupatiSinghania,
chairmanandmanagingdirectorofthecom-
pany,tellsVikasSrivastavainaninterview.
Edited excerpts:
WithcompletelockdowninIndia,whatis
the situation of your manufacturing
plants in India and Mexico as far as pro-
ductionisconcerned?
We all are facedwith an unprecedented sit-
uation currently,where the entire nation is
under lockdown mode.Despite severe dis-
ruptions,we are taking all necessary mea-
surestoensurethatourcolleaguesstaysafe
A purchase of Norton would allow
TVS to branch out into more
premium models from its current
line-up of two-wheelers used by
commuters
a sharp fall in production across plant loca-
tions,” the companysaid.
Fitch Ratings last week said that it sees
risks toJSWSteel’s abilitytodeleverage and
generate positive free cash flow (FCF) from
weak industryconditions,an increase in its
planned capex, or inability to stabilise and
improve performance at acquired assets.
The rating firm estimates that total gross
debt to Ebitda will remain above 4x until
FY21 and FCF negative until FY22, before
improving.The new fiscal year is expected
be a tough year for steelmakers around the
world.Thebroadmacroeconomicweakness
spreading in the wake of the pandemic is
slowly climbed back to about 98% of nor-
mal volumes but continued to fluctuate
between 87% to 98%,reflecting both cau-
tion and apprehension during uncertain
times.On the other hand,Visa and Master-
cardpurchaseswerebackuptoonly86%of
their normal volumes and swung between
70-86%,probably due to reduction in dis-
cretionaryspend.
Astheweekprogressed,RuPaysawafur-
therriseof10%,asopposedtoVisaandMas-
tercard purchases. During this same time,
average ticket size dropped by25% as con-
sumers focused on necessities.
“Weprocessover2.2billiontransactions
annuallygiving us unique insight into con-
sumer behaviour and spend patterns.The
shift in online purchases was inevitable as
our consumers stay at home during this
tough period,” said company CEO Govind
Setlur.“Thisphaseinourhistorywillbringa
significant shift toward online shopping
with newproducts and services and as con-
sumersstartpreferringtheconvenience.We
atWibmocontinueouroperationsasusual,
since now,more than ever,our services are
critical to meeting our consumers’ daily
needs,” he said.
(%)
and business continuity is maintained.
Undertherightguidanceofthegovernment
bodies,we have halted production at all our
manufacturingfacilitiesinIndia,andwewill
soon be taking necessaryactions across our
Mexico plants aswell.
The auto industry was already reeling
under severe economic slowdown.Tyres
being a major component in the auto
industry, how has Covid-19 further
impacted the tyre industry and compa-
nieslikeyours?Howdoyouplantogetout
ofthissituation?
The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly
impacted the economies and businesses
across the world.The domestic automotive
industry,whichwasalreadypassingthrough
sion programmes that invested in Norton,
the Guardian newspaper reported in
March. Lawyers representing Garner
couldn’t immediatelybe reached forcom-
ment by Bloomberg News.
Shares of TVS have fallen 40% in
Mumbai trading thisyear,giving the com-
pany a market value of about $1.7 billion.
A purchase of Norton would allow TVS to
branch out into more premium models
from its current line-up of two-wheelers
used by commuters.
TVS sells the Ntorq scooter, Apache
motorcycle and King three-wheeler auto-
rickshaw. Any deal will add to the $18.9
billion of acquisitions announced by
Indian companies this year,up 55% from
thesameperiodin2019,accordingtodata
compiled by Bloomberg.
Deliberations are ongoing, and TVS
hasn’t made a final decision onwhetherto
formally bid for Norton, the people said.
RepresentativesforTVSandBDOdeclined
to comment. BLOOMBERG
driving down demand for steel in core
industrieslikemanufacturing,automotive,
construction, and oil & gas exploration,
according to Moody’s InvestorService.
Analysts also believe that increasing
number of confirmed Covid-19 cases have
the potential to halt the rally seen in the
domesticsteelpricessinceNovember2019.
Aftertouchingalowof`32,250permillion
tonne in the first week of November 2019,
domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices have
been on the rise and are ruling at around
`37,000 per million tonne, implying an
increase of 15% in the last three months,
according to a note from ICRA in early
March.Domestic steel prices are currently
trading at a discount of 7% to landed cost
from China and at a discount of 3% to
landed cost from Japan.Jayanta Roy,group
head (corporate sector ratings), ICRA, said
estimates are that the domestic steel con-
sumption growth will remain between 4%
to5%inFY21,againsttheNovember2019
forecastof 6.5%.
Retailers, wholesalers come up with
strategies for swift delivery of essentials
ASMITA DEY
New Delhi, April 8
AS THE ACUTE shortage of labourers and
poor availability of transport on the
ground will take considerable time to get
back to normal, offline and online retail-
ers and wholesalers have come up with
strategies to enable swift deliveries of
essentials to consumers.
DMart, which runs over 200 stores
across the country,has launched‘store on
wheels’ — a service that will facilitate
DMart trucks carrying essential grocery
items to be parked in residential societies
for three hours. The retailer did not com-
ment on whether the delivery personnel
moving the trucks are facing resistance
from local authorities.
Arvind Mediratta, MD and CEO at
Metro Cash & Carry,told FE that the com-
panyhas been deploying its own trucks to
pick up goods from severalwarehouses.To
help kiranas order online and allow them
access to stocks, the company has also
launched its e-commerce app. The deliv-
eryto the business customers is taken care
of by the company, Mediratta said. Avail-
ability of products like Nestle Maggie and
toiletries by HUL is low, thereby making
way for local brands.“Customers are keen
on getting the product rather than being
conscious about their brand affinity,”
Mediratta said.
Devendra Chawla, MD at Spencer’s
RetailandCEO,Nature’sBasket,toldFEthe
company has stitched partnerships with
Uber, Swiggy and Rapido to enable last-
mile delivery to customers.The retailer is
also reaching out to various resident wel-
challenging times due to unprecedented
demand woes, is expected to be further
impacted, thereby pushing recovery time-
lines.Tyreisacriticalalliedindustryandthe
salesandprofitabilitywillbeaffected.Weare
working on our medium-term plans cur-
WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
‘KIRANAS’ REMAIN KING
❝
Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder and CEO, Grofers
Kiranas are (rightfully) king as they provide customised
service at a very local level and constitute 95% of Indian
grocery retail... Online grocery is only about 0.2% of the
overall retail market. I think at the end of this crisis we will
probably reach 0.5%, but that is still an insignificant share
Analysts anticipate severe
hit to affordable housing
segment due to Covid-19
RISHI RANJAN KALA
New Delhi, April 8
EVEN AS ECONOMIC implications of the
Covid-19 pandemic are still unfolding,
analysts in the real estate sectoranticipate
a bleak scenario,particularly in affordable
housing (units for up to `40 lakh), as the
resultantslowdownwillcripplethespend-
ing capacityof the targeted income group,
thereby leading to a decline in sales.
The impact of Covid-19 on affordable
housing has larger ramifications for the
realestateindustry,asbesidescommercial
realty,itisoneofthefewsegmentsthatwas
showing an upward trend in terms of sales
in the last few quarters.
Anarock chairman Anuj Puri said that
as much as 40% of the new supply added
across top 7 cities in past few years was in
the affordable segment.Resultantly,there
is a huge under-construction supply of
about 6.1 lakh units in this segment.
“Thissegmentwillbeseverelyimpacted
byCovid-19outbreak.Thetargetaudience
typically have limited income and unem-
ployment fears currently loom large.This
could result in deferred propertypurchase
decisionsin2020andultimatelyderailthe
segments’growth momentum.Asaresult,
unsold affordable stock can rise by 1-2%
on a y-o-ybasis,”Puri fears.
JLL India in a report released on Tues-
day explained that owing to the economic
slowdown as a result of the current situa-
Affordable housing scenario
Unsold housing units
Delhi* 64,430
Mumbai** 68,970
Pune 46,630
Kolkata 27,040
Bengaluru 14,800
Chennai 9,220
Hyderabad 3,370
All India: 2.34 lakh units
as of Jan-Mar 2020 (36% of total
unsold stock)
*Delhi includes the National Capital Region; **Mumbai includes the Mumbai Metropolitan Region
Source: Anarock Property Consultants
fare associations (RWA) as part of the
effort. While during the first half of the
lockdown, customers were primarily
stocking up staples,currently,demand for
products like shampoos,detergents,pizza
bases and breads and more vegetables are
also on the rise.
Mohit Sardana, COO, food delivery at
Zomato, said the firm has an estimated
reach of 50 lakh households with Zomato
Market, the company’s grocery service
that is live across more than 80 cities.
Ashish Kumar, co-founder at
near.store,a Mumbai-based online aggre-
gatorofneighbourhoodstores,saidyogurt
brand Epigamia has started delivering in
housingsocietieslistedwiththecompany.
The orders are placed by individuals at
societies and the delivery is done by
Epigamia the next day.
Grofers in a statement on Wednesday
said it has introduced ‘Society Group
Orders’, a service through which it has
partnered with RWAs of 100 societies
across leading metros to make essentials
availabletomorecustomers.Thecompany
rently to ensure minimum impact on the
business.Liquidity is the biggest challenge
today.We are managing liquidity through
different ways.Firstly,by focusing on early
and timely collection of receivables. Sec-
ondly,weareseekingsomeadditionalcredit
lines from our bankers and the RBI’s latest
liquidity infusion will help.Thirdly,we are
speakingtoourvendorsforreschedulingthe
paymentsandconservecashtocombatthis
uncertainsituation.
Many companies in the auto sector have
already started working on cutting their
allied workforce.What kind of workforce
reduction can we see in the coming
monthsatJKTyreandthetyreindustry,as
the overall demand and economic turn-
❝
tion, consumer confidence has also taken
a hit, which is having a direct implication
on home buying decisions.
Itpointedoutthatoverallhousingsales,
includingtheaffordablesegment,fell29%
y-o-yto 27,451 units in Q1 2020 calendar
year (CY) across the top seven markets,
which is the second largest dip in the last
fiveyears.Thisisbecausehomebuyershave
deferred their purchase decisions in light
of the impending crisis.
In spite of several measures being
announced by the government and the
centralbanktomitigatetheadverseeffects
of Covid-19, the revival of the residential
sector primarily hinges on the intensity,
spread and duration of the global pan-
demic.
Savills India chief executive officer
Anurag Mathursaid residential real estate
is likely to see a further slowdown in the
coming months given that attendant
activitiesareatastandstill.Withconstruc-
tionalreadycomingtoagrindinghalt,pro-
jectcompletionsareslatedtobepostponed
and if this situation prolongs, the deploy-
ment of funds including the AIF will
remain on hold.
“Housing sales may see a sharp dip for
atleastthenextonequarterasconsumers’
biggest priority currently is health, safety
and income preservation.Even if the situ-
ationsettlesdownquickly,itmaytaketime
for homebuyers to come back to the mar-
ket,”he added.
Under-construction housing units
1,87,000
1,72,000
1,31,000
55,300
32,300
19,500
11,000
All India: 6.1 Lakh Units
as of Jan-Mar 2020 (39% of total under-
construction units)
plans to expand the tie-up to other cities
soon.
Karthik Venkateswaran, co-founder
and CEO at B2B start-up Jumbotail, said
thecompanyispickingupstocksfromdis-
tributors of FMCG companies and deliv-
ering them to kirana stores.
Samarth Agarwal, founder and CEO at
MaxWholesale, said to retain staff, the
firm has introduced a bonus scheme for
operations staff wherein they will get a
50% additional pay in April.While FMCG
companies are still“struggling”with sup-
plies and the companyis having difficulty
in maintaining stock of packaged foods,
the situation is manageable so faras more
suppliers have started operations, albeit
partially. There is a surge in consumer
demandforcookingoil,dal,spices,riceand
atta,Agarwal said.
Domestic brand Nobel Hygiene that
makesdiapersandsanitarypadshasmade
an arrangement wherein regular cus-
tomers can collect their orders from
nearby distributors. “There is a minor
improvementonthesupplychainsideand
stock is trickling onto chemists’ shelves,”
vice-president Kartik Johari told FE.
Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO at Retailers
Association of India, said collaboration
amonggovernment officials,supplychain
companies,offlineandonlineplayershave
helped in ensuring supply of essentials to
consumers.About 20,000 staff from non-
food stores have been deployed in food
storesso farand the numberis expected to
improve going ahead.Local employers are
getting back to work and staff attendance
has risen to nearly70% from 25% earlier,
Rajagopalan said.
aroundmaytakeatleastayear?
Asanorganisation,wearecommittedtoour
stakeholders,beittheemployees,dealersor
channelpartners.Wearetakingthis oppor-
tunitytorightsizetheorganisationandwill
take necessarysteps in due course.
Cost cutting is the most likely alternative
in such emergencies; which are the seg-
mentswhereyouarelikelytocuttheover-
headsinthecurrentsituation?Whatisthe
inventorysituation atpresentin termsof
numberofdays?
We are revisiting all cost centres and work-
ingoutpossiblesavings.Nodoubt,invento-
ries have gone up due to lockdown, but we
areworkingtowardsitsreductiongoingfor-
ward.
WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
FINANCIAL EXPRESS
● INDIA EXCLUDED
Oyo furloughs thousands
in setback for SoftBank
The startup has more than
$1 bn of cash in the bank
and is exploring options to
remain viable over at least
the next 36 months
SARITHA RAI
Bangalore, April 8
OYO HOTELS & Homes, the Indian bud-
get lodgings service backed by SoftBank
Group,is placing thousandsof its employ-
ees globally on indefinite furlough as it
tries to survive through the coronavirus
pandemic, according to people familiar
with the matter.
Oyosaidinastatementit’sfurloughing
employees in countries excluding India
without specifying numbers, adding that
it’s not considering job cuts at this time.
Thestartup,oneofthelargestinSoftBank’s
portfolio,has more than $1 billion of cash
in the bank and is exploring options to
remain viable over at least the next 36
months,oneofthepeoplesaid.Ithasn’tyet
determinedtheprecisenumberofworkers
to be furloughed because it is sorting
through local labour laws in various coun-
tries,saidtheperson,whodidn’twanttobe
named disclosing internal discussions.
Oyo’smove—tantamounttogoinginto
hibernation — is the latest setback for
MasayoshiSon’sSoftBank,whoseportfolio
has been buffeted by WeWork’s infamous
implosion and volatile share prices at once
high-flying Slack Technologies and Uber
Technologies.The billionaire has called for
greater financial discipline among the
COAI asks PSUs to pay
`20,000-crore dues
to telecom vendors
KIRAN RATHEE
New Delhi, April 8
TELECOM INDUSTRY BODY COAI has
sought earliest release of around `20,000
crore outstanding dues to vendors like
Nokia, Sterlite, ZTE, Ericsson etc. as these
companies are facing serious constraints
in terms of cash flows due to slowing eco-
nomic activities in the current situation.
The dues are owed by state-run com-
panies, including BSNL and MTNL, and
despite non-payment of their huge pend-
ing dues, the vendors have been support-
ing various public sector units (PSUs) in
delivering uninterrupted services, the
association said.
“The situation has become highly crit-
ical nowwith total outstanding dues from
these PSUs amounting to approximately
`20,000 crore which is pending since
long. This is adding to critical financial
woes to our member companies who are
facing serious constraints in terms of cash
flows,”COAI directorgeneral Rajan Math-
ews said in a letterdatedApril 8 to telecom
secretaryAnshu Prakash.
COAI represents telecom and network
equipment manufacturers, e-commerce,
digitalcontentandtechnologypartnerslike
Nokia,Huawei,Ericsson,ZTE,Sterlite,Indus,
Cisco,Qualcomm,Apple,Facebook,Google,
Amazonetc.asitsmembers.Thecoremem-
bers are telecom operators like Vodafone
Idea,BhartiAirtel and Relinace Jio.
Andhra’s MedTech zone
making cheaper kits
for testing Covid-19
FE BUREAU
Hyderabad, April 8
AS PARTOFtheMakeinIndiaprogramme,
the Andhra Pradesh government has
launchednewCovid-19testingkitsmanu-
factured in the Andhra Pradesh MedTech
Zone(AMTZ),amedicalequipmentmanu-
facturing zone inVisakhapatnam.
The Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) has approved the kits to
be manufactured atAMTZwhile the Drug
ControllerGeneralofIndia(DCGI)granted
exemptionfromallmanufacturingnorms
forventilators inviewof the current crisis.
According to Mekapati Goutham
Reddy, minister of industries, about 20
tests can be performedwith each kit and it
costs `1,200 for the government as
opposed to the existing kit worth `4,500,
and the result can be seen in 50 minutes.
The AMTZ has started making 2,000
testing kits perdayand itwill be supplying
the kits to the entire country.The capacity
will be increased to 25,000 per day.
Further, AMTZ will start producing
3,000ventilators and graduallyscale it up
to 6,000 permonth from May,2020.Hin-
dustan Lifecare (HLL) will assist in the
assembly of ventilators.
TheCentrehasalreadyplacedanorderfor
3,500ventilatorsandassemblingoftheunits
will start from April 15,2020. For this,six
companies have been selected in phase–1.
Medicalequipmentmanufacturingisacrit-
ical area that requires about 700 to 2,000
parts,mostofwhichhavetobeimportedfrom
differentinternationalsources.
founders in his portfolio,spurring job cuts
at outfits such as Zume Pizza and shut-
downs of startups including Brandless.
Son has been a keen supporter of Oyo
founder Ritesh Agarwal, helping fund the
hotel company’s fast international expan-
sion.Oyohadbeengrowingatarapidclipbut,
aswithothertravelbusinesses,theoutbreak
of Covid-19 worldwide has side-swiped the
company.Itsreputationalsohassuffereddue
to customer complaints about bad experi-
ences along with grievances about poor or
unfair treatment from several of the more
than20,000hotelownersinitschain.
Furloughing employees is just one of a
series of actions to be taken by Oyo,which
includemanagementpaycutsandafreeze
on marketing spending. Agarwal will
forego his entire salary for 2020. In Janu-
ary,even before coronavirus reached pan-
demic proportions, Oyo had already fired
thousands of employees and cut mini-
mum guarantee agreements with hotel
partners in an effort to stanch cash bleed.
Six-year-old Oyo increased revenue to
$951 million for fiscal year 2019, from
$211 million the previous year. Losses
COAI said in the current situation
regarding the outbreak and spread of
Covid-19 pandemic across the country,its
members are playing critical role in
addressing the challenges being faced by
individuals, corporates, emergency and
utility services etc.“However,the business
continuity of these players has been
severelyimpacted on account of thewide-
spread of this disease across the globe and
therestrictionsimposedbygovernmentto
combatthesituation,”theassociationsaid.
COAI further said the huge scale of
delays and breach of contract commit-
ments by PSUs is highly detrimental to
global business sentiments towards India.
“At a timewhen government of India is
doing its utmost through Prime Minister
and finance minister’s efforts to attract
foreign investment in the country, such
issues give a negative signal to global
investors on the risks on investing in India
and to enter into contracts with govern-
ment entities,”it added.
Firms make a beeline for co-branded credit cards
SHRITAMA BOSE
Mumbai, April 8
THE GOING HAS neverbeen this good for
bargain hunters. There was a time when
banks offered credit cards that gave a reg-
ular discount every time the consumer
swiped the card at a petrol station or trav-
elled by their favourite airline.But as con-
sumers increase spends via electronic
commerceplatforms,there’sashiftinhow
card issuers and payment gateways offer
them benefits. Simply put, the more the
consumer spends the more these inter-
mediaries understand them and that
helps tailor products and services.
What’s also helping credit card usage
in India is a significant increase in accep-
tance since demonetisation in November
2016. To serve the fickle millennial cus-
tomer,cards issuers are rushing to partner
with the platforms like Zomato, Flipkart
and MakeMyTrip that offer even more
than bells & whistles.
In the last couple of months, Zomato,
Flipkart and IndiGo have launched co-
branded cards with leading private banks
like RBL Bank,Axis Bank and HDFC Bank
offering a host of benefits, cashbacks and
easyEMIs.Industryexperts saythat in the
last few years, the companies have been
approaching banks by floating requests-
for-proposal (RFPs) to launch co-branded
cards.Even Google has floated an RFPfora
co-branded card and is in talks with
prospective partners,FE has learnt.
This is in contrast to the older model
where banks would have to line up to col-
laborate with premium brands such as Jet
Airways orVistara.RajeevKumarK,senior
climbed to $335 million, or 35% of rev-
enue, from $53 million as the startup
expanded into China and other new mar-
kets.India accounts forabout 40% of rev-
enue currently but there could be no cor-
relation between pre- and post-Covid 19
sales figures, said the person, who was
privy to discussions.
Oyo, founded by 26-year-old Agarwal,
began in India as a way to reserve budget
accommodationsonlinewithreliablequal-
ity.WiththebackingofSoftBank,thecom-
pany expanded internationally and was
aiming to become the biggest hotel chain
intheworldbyroomcountbeforethecoro-
navirusoutbreak.Itsaggressiveexpansion
has proven controversial after another
SoftBank portfolio company, WeWork,
crashed after attempting to go public.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund has so far
invested about $1.5 billion in Oyo. The
companyalsocountsAirbnb,SequoiaCap-
ital and Lightspeed Venture Partners as
backers. It promoted its real estate busi-
ness chief, Rohit Kapoor, to CEO for India
and South Asia in December to shake up
the business. —BLOOMBERG
Covid-19 to hit CV industry hard,
near-term outlook negative: Icra
FE BUREAU
Chennai, April 8
NEAR-TERM OUTLOOK for the commer-
cial vehicle (CV) industry weighed down
significantlybythe coronavirus outbreak.
The volumes likely to contract further
between 8-10% in FY2021, said an Icra
note on Wednesday.
With cash flows of fleet operators also
under pressure, replacement demand for
new trucks is likely to remain muted till
any meaningful pick-up in the economy
and infrastructure projects fructify. An
improvement in economic environment
and resolution of liquidity constraints
remain critical for a sustained revival in
the industry,the note pointed out.
Icracontinuestomaintainanegativeout-
look for the CVsegment over the near-term,
giventheslowingeconomicgrowth,current
overcapacityin the CVecosystem and not so
benign financing environment,with chal-
lenges further aggravated by the recent and
rapidspreadofnovelcoronavirusinIndia.
The demand headwinds are expected
to continue over the near-term given the
macroeconomic challenges in view of the
recent pandemic outbreak coupled with
weakening financial profile of fleet opera-
tors and significant price hikes because of
transition to BS-VI emission norms. This
would exert pressure on earnings and
overall credit profile of CV OEMs, which
have witnessed sharp earnings contrac-
tion over the past three-four quarters.
Shamsher Dewan,vice-president, Icra,
In the last couple of months, Zomato, Flipkart and IndiGo have launched
co-branded cards with leading private banks like RBL Bank, Axis Bank and
HDFC Bank, offering a host of benefits, cashbacks and easy EMIs
vice-president, market development,
South Asia, Mastercard, says that the year
2018 alone saw 15 RFPs for co-branded
cards being floated by companies.“There
is huge potential for this market because
brands are themselves quite keen to
launch these cards now,” he said, adding
that such schemes help companies retain
customers better.
For instance, the Flipkart credit card
offered by Axis Bank offers 5% cash back
on all transactions, no-cost EMIs, airport
loungeaccessandupfrontdiscountstothe
card holder. Zomato’s card offers cred-
Grofers to hire 5,000
people over two weeks
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, April 8
ONLINE GROCERYPLATFORM Grofers is
lookingathiring5,000employeestoramp
up its capacity to meet the spike in orders
amid the nationwide lockdown.
The company has also partnered with
resident welfare associations (RWAs) of
over 100 societies across metros to make
essentials available to a larger number of
peopleamidthe21-daylockdownimposed
to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Outlining the steps taken by the com-
pany over the last three weeks, its co-
founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa said
the Grofers app is seeing over 1.5 million
people trying to order daily.
“Everyday our app is seeing over 1.5
million people trying to order. Given the
constraints on how many people we can
caterto,we are onlyable to serve 1 out of 8
customers today...(we) are working on
adding more capacity to make this work
for more people,” he said in the company
blog dated April 7.
E-commerce companies have strug-
gledtodeliverordersafterthe21-daylock-
down was imposed on March 24.
Even though the government allowed
deliveryof essential goods including food,
pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
through e-commerce platforms, players
faced hiccups initially.
The surge in orders also disrupted
operations for these companies. Players
have now started resuming operations
across various cities, clearing pending
orders before accepting new ones.
“...we have resumed operations in 24
cities and our warehouses are working at
70% strength...An additional 2,000 peo-
plewere hired from industrieswhichwere
deeplyimpacted bythe current crisis such
astextile,manufacturing,andservicesand
said:“Inparticular,theM&HCV(truck)seg-
menthasbeensignificantlyimpactedover
the pastyear,withvolumes contracting by
asharp42%inYTDFY2020.Excesscapac-
ity created in the system post revision of
axle load norms in July 2018 and faster
turnaround of vehicle post GST imple-
mentation,coupled with slowdown in the
economy and infrastructure projects and
theresultantlowerfreightavailabilitycon-
tinue to weigh on the demand prospects.”
“Furthermore,therapidspreadofcoro-
navirus and the lockdown imposed in the
country has had a significant impact on
goods movement and freight availability
over recent weeks and may continue over
thenear-term.Accordingly,theoutlookfor
the next fiscal, especially the first half,
remains weak given the macroeconomic
headwinds in view of recent pandemic
outbreak coupled with significant price
hikes because of transition to the new
emission norms.Anyrecoveryin the latter
its/points on online and offline purchases
asalso complimentarymembership tothe
app’s Gold service. Such offers are good
draws for bargain hunters.
While co-branded cards todayaccount
for only between 5-10% of the overall
credit card market in terms of both cards
outstanding and spends,theirshare could
go up to 15-20% over the next five years,
saysSanjeevMoghe,EVPandheadofcards
andpayments,AxisBank.What’smore,the
5.6 crore credit cards outstanding at the
end of January are understood to be held
by only between 3-3.5 crore individuals
COMPANIES
would have otherwise faced income
losses,”Dhindsa said.
He added that the company now plans
tohire5,000moreoverthenexttwoweeks.
Grofers’ rival, bigbasket had last week
said it is looking at hiring 10,000 people
for its warehouses and last-mile delivery.
Dhindsa said overthe last threeweeks,
the company has delivered essential gro-
ceriestooveronemillionhouseholdsin22
cities. He pointed out that organised gro-
cery in India is really small.
“Kiranasare(rightfully)kingastheypro-
vide customised service at averylocal level
and constitute 95% of Indian grocery
retail...Onlinegroceryisonlyabout0.2%of
theoverallretailmarket.Ithinkattheendof
this crisis we will probably reach 0.5%,but
that is still an insignificant share,”he said.
In a separate announcement on
Wednesday, Grofers said under its part-
nership with RWAs, society group orders
will receive priority slots on its Grofers
platform versus other areas of the city.
Once it receives the order, Grofers will
bundle the order area wise and deliver
within 2-3 days.The companyis also abid-
ing by the rules and ensuring the mainte-
nance of properhygiene and sanitation in
its facilities and vehicles.
The company has also collaborated with
MyGate,asecurityandcommunitymanage-
mentsolution,toensurezero-touchdeliver-
iesviathelatter’sLeaveAtGatefeature.
half hinges on pick-up in construction
activity. However, despite some channel
inventory filling measures of OEMs,
M&HCV(truck) sales are expected to close
the upcoming fiscal with further decline
of 12-14% during FY2021e,”he added.
As for the LCV (truck) segment, the
same started facing headwinds from the
macroeconomic and consumption slow-
downsincethebeginningofFY2020.Cou-
pledwithsubdueddemandfromruraland
allied sectors and tight financing environ-
ment, besides inventory correction by
OEMs, wholesale dispatches of LCV
(trucks) contracted by 13% during YTD
FY2020. Despite the rural demand senti-
ment witnessing an uptick in recent
months, supported by expectations of a
healthy rabi output, Icra expects the
Covid-19 outbreak and the associated
lockdown and restricted movement of
goods to have a bearing on the segment
over the near term.
and that means there is quite some room
for growth.
Another shift is in the process of
issuance. Given that the consumer and
digitalcompaniesaresittingonenormous
amounts of data about consumers and
have various tools to assess creditworthi-
ness of consumers, issuers have been
offering instant issuance without any
paperwork. Partners of Uber say that the
online cab aggregator prices rides on the
basisofthepick-upordroplocation,which
helps it assess the financial bandwidth of
the consumer.Rides are priced differently
for different consumers as a result. The
digital card sits on the consumer’s phone
and it is good to go.In fact,cards issued by
app-based companies often sit in the
application and go live before the physical
card reaches them.
Banks are seeing a good opportunity
here because co-branded cards,especially
those launched by digital players, help
themexpand theircard userbase ina cost-
effective manner.
Moghe of Axis Bank said, “Also, the
data from the various digital and e-com-
merce platforms enable us to underwrite
as well as reach out to the customer at a
pretty low cost. The co-branded card
proposition is awin -win forall — the cus-
tomer, the partner and the bank.A credit
card expands the size of the customer’s
wallet and a co-branded card comes with
more value in the form of points on that
particular platform and so it is also a loy-
alty mechanism.”
Thecompanybenefitsas theconsumer
spends more with the co-branded cards
value proposition.
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020
5
Street Signs
Aurobindo Pharma
Scrip slides after reports 1.63%
that the company faces
class action suit in the US
476
438.25
427.60 425.15
Open Close
VA Tech Wabag
Stock hits upper circuit as 5.00%
the firm secures `90-crore
Bahrain sewage plant deal
81.90 81.90
81
79.55
Open Close
Adani Green Energy
Stock gains on receiving 18.45%
`3,707 cr for forming JV
with French firm TOTAL
166.95
166.50
166.80
163.10
Open Close
IndusInd Bank
Shares advance as UBS 3.83%
Principal Capital Asia
buys 0.77% stake
441.65
398.75
385.90
362.20
Open Close
Quick
View
Maruti cuts
production by 32%
THE COUNTRY’S largest carmaker
Maruti Suzuki India has decreased
production by32.05% in March,
according to a regulatoryfiling bythe
company.The companyproduced a
total of 92,540 units in March as
against 1,36,201 units in theyear-ago
month,the auto majorsaid.Passenger
vehicle production last month stood
at 91,602 units as against 1,35,236
units in March 2019,a dip of 32.26%,
it added.Production of mini and
compact segment cars,includingAlto,
S-PressoWagonR,Celerio,Ignis,Swift,
Baleno and Dzire stood at 67,708
units as against 98,602 units in March
lastyear,down 31.33%.Production of
utilityvehicles such asVitara Brezza,
Ertiga and S-Cross,however,declined
by14.19% to 15,203 units as
compared to 17,719 units ayearago.
Airtel may see 13%
growth in consolidated
revenue by FY22: CLSA
TELECOM OPERATOR BhartiAirtel is
expected to witness a 13% annual
growth in consolidated revenue,and
26% growth in EBITDAby financial
year 2022,mainly driven by tariff
hikes,according to CLSA.Bharti
Airtel’s mobile traffic has surged for
its 283 million subscribers,even
though with the majorityof 4G
subscribers on plans offering 1-3 GB
data daily and unlimited calling,there
will be limited upside,a CLSAnote
said.“However,we still forecast a
13/26% revenue/EBITDA(Earnings
before InterestTax Depreciation and
Amotisation) CAGR for BhartiAirtel
byFY22 led bytariff hikes and 4G
upgrades,”it said.
Hyundai integrates
entire sales network with
online sales platform
HYUNDAI MOTOR India (HMIL) on
Wednesday said it has integrated its
entire sales network of over 500
dealerships across the countrywith
its recently introduced online sales
platform.The company’s online sales
platform — Click to Buy — offers an
end-to-end retail experience to its
customers.Hyundai had launched a
pilot phase of the initiative with few
dealers of Delhi-NCR in January2020.
 6 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

Opinion
DISEASE AND BIGOTRY

❝
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee
Some people are indulging in communal politics over
the Nizamuddin event. A pandemic or a disease
doesn't attack you on the basis of your religion or
❝
caste. I urge everybody not to communalise the crisis
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

Phased exit good, THROUGH LOANS AND DEFERMENT OF PAYMENT OF GST INSTALMENTS, THE GOVERNMENT CAN
● DEUS EX MACHINA

extending lockdown better PROVIDE ATARGETED, SYSTEMS-DRIVEN, QUICK, SELF-CORRECTING STIMULUS TO BUSINESSES

Fiscal stimulus through

To formalise an exit strategy, the government should
analyse how the lockdown impacted transmission

A the GST system

LL 11 OF the expert groups formed by the government to recommend
exit strategies from the 21-day lockdown reportedly agree that the exit
has to be a phased one.University of Cambridge researchers’modelling
of Covid-19 spread,which takes into account India’s age and dominant
socialcontactstructures,findsthattheongoinglockdownwillpushdowndailycases

T
only temporarily. Ending the lockdown on April 14 would mean a resurgence in a
matter of days. The study bats for either a 49-day total lockdown or a phased HESE ARE EXTRAORDI- 8.65% last year) along the lines it has
approach,with three lockdowns (21 days,28 days,and 18 days) with 5-day gaps in NARILY difficult times for recently done for small savings.
between to push down infections to a levelwhere contact tracing and quarantining all—individuals, and busi- The GST loans, if taken by 70% of
ofinfectedindividualscanproveeffective.WhilebothalternativesintheCambridge
study assume countrywide lockdowns, as per a report in The Economic Times, the
nesses. The government
has announced a `1.7 lakh
PRADIP GST-registered businesses, would
result in extending the fiscal deficit,
Centre is considering a division of districts into green,amber,and red zones—core crore stimulus which, excluding pre- P SHAH but this amount would come back to
economic activity is to be allowed in the green zone,with strict social distancing, committed expenditure on direct ben- Chairman, IndAsia Fund Advisors Pvt Ltd
the government in two years’ time. To
while only some activity is allowed in the amber zone, and red zone areas remain efit transfers to farmers and MGN- Views are personal further protect society from the infla-
underanextendedlockdown.Certainstateshavebattedforextendingthelockdown, REGA, indicated an additional tionary effect of the fiscal stimulus,
andtheCentreislikelytotakeadecisionbynextweek,whentheeffectofthecurrent expenditure of about `1 lakh crore, or especially on food items, the govern-
lockdown in reducing the spread is clearer. less than 0.5% of GDP.To avoid the risk revival of large job-creators like con- monthly payments, to be paid back ment must be ready with supply-side
Many experts have argued that the hit to livelihoods because of the lockdown— of structural damage to the economy, struction, automotive, tourism, and with interest at 12% per annum in measures of the kind it initiated in its
moreso,ifitisextended—couldthreatenthelivesofmanymorepeoplethanthevirus it is desirable to have a strongerstimu- logistics businesses. nine corresponding instalments,start- first year. The unsecured loans thus
itself.But,if government support to the economicallyvulnerable—deliveryof food- lus rather than a modest one to help In addition,the government should ing two years later. (The process of fil- delivered, fast, and without form-fill-
grains by the PDS network, along with income support and other proposed mea- stressed businesses, and individuals, implement with urgency a package of ing returns would continue, but the ing and bank approval processes,being
tide over the current economic situa- measures amounting to about 5% of returns tweaked to allowbusinesses to unsecured,will leave security cover for
sures—isdoneright,thehittolivelihoodsshouldproveasecondaryconcern(albeitstill
tion, and progress toward recovery. GDP(as estimated for2021 bythe bud- retain as loan the GST payable to the businesses to borrow from banks, and
importantinthelongrun).Agovernmentreleasesaysthat,inthe14dayssinceMarch
Germany has proposed a package of get) to provide targeted liquidity sup- government—everything can be sys- facilitate recovery of the businesses.
24, FCI has moved 1.44 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains per day, against the pre- 10% of GDP, as has USA; Britain has port forbusinessesina systems-driven, tem-driven.) In addition to this fis-
lockdown daily average of 0.8 lakh metric tonnes. Now, the local government, PDS proposed 15% of GDP,Australia 9.7%, administratively-easy,andfairandequi- Defer GST April cal stimulus, the central
officials, and the ration shops must ensure that no beneficiary is missed.A phased and Denmark 13%. table way that returns the amount of instalment: The gov- government should ease
exitstrategywouldseemagoodoptionatthemoment,butthegovernmentneedsto Unsecured loans,
There are 1.2 crore GST payers in stimulusbacktothegovernmentintwo ernment should extend the onerous burden of
keepinmindthatenforcingsocialdistancing,especiallyintheMSMEs,wouldbedif- the country. The tax-GDP ratio of the years.Followingaresuggestionsforthis: the due date for pay- delivered without compliance deadlines—
ficult.AreportbyCNBCsaysthegovernmentmaybeconsideringgrantingreopening country (after including the Centre GST clawback loans: All entities ment of the GST collec- bureaucratic boiler inspection, boiler
permission to only those factories in the green/amber areas that can arrange for and states’tax revenue)was 17-17.5% that have paid GST can opt-in and tions of March 2020, delays, will leave licence, company law fil-
accommodationofworkerswithinpremises,ensuringhygiene,sanitation,andmed- till FY19. It is estimated that indirect accept, through the same GST system payable by April 24, ings, etc—by directing
ical care.This will,without doubt, drive up costs for companies, but is the pain that taxes, which hurt the poor more and theyuseforfilingreturns,anofferfrom 2020, by three months.
security cover for state governments, and
everyone, from individuals to corporates,will have to take on, especially if further are therefore regressive, account for the government for a temporary loan Government to businesses to the central ministries to
researchshowsthat,intheabsenceofeffectivepharmacologicalinterventions,dras- 65% of the country’s overall tax rev- (which would be an unsecured senior immediately release borrow from extend deadlines this
ticnon-pharmacologicalonessuchaslockdownsaretheonlywayout.Evenasanexit enue,while direct taxes (corporate tax loan, with full prepayment rights for payments: Government banks, facilitating year by at least three
strategy is formalised, the government’s top priority has to be avoiding a scenario and income tax) account foronlyabout theborrower,otherstandard,fairterms agencies/departments months as businesses
35% of the tax revenues. A quick, and conditions being spelt out, and to should immediately
economic recovery need to concentrate on
wherethecountry’shealthcaresystemiscompletelyoverwhelmed.GiventheCenter
for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy imagines a demand of 4.75 lakh beds impactful, and equitable way to stim- be accepted bythe business on the net) release all certified bills survival and revival,
withjust0.5%ofthepopulationinfected—forperspective,governmenthospitalbeds ulate the economyis through the indi- in the amount of the last six-months’ duetovendorswithinthe instead of scrambling for
inthecountrytotaljustover7lakh—thegovernmentwillhavetowalkatightropeon rect tax system. (September2019-February2020)GST next 10 days. onerous compliances,all ofwhich have
Even before the coronavirus pan- monthlypayments.Thiswouldbedone RBI to buygovernment paper:To intimidating punishments.
theexitdecision.Thevirushasa5-14dayincubationperiod,sotheeffectsofthelock-
demicarrivedinIndia,the problem the by giving credit into those companies’ enable the central government to pro- There will still be some individuals
downwillbecomeclearonlyintheweekafteritends.Itwouldbeprematuretotakea
country was facing was paucity of accounts, to be paid back with 12% videthefiscalstimulusoutlinedabove, left out—those without Jan Dhan
call on an exit strategybefore the government has this analysis in its hands. demand. The government should annual interest in two equal annual RBI should be prepared to buy govern- accounts, or Aadhaar cards, and small
reduce GSTrates from 28% to 18% on instalments starting at the end of the ment bonds of three years’ maturity. businesses that are not GST-regis-

Hacking corona with tech cement/bricks/tiles and automobiles,

and from 18% to 12% forhotels,along
with allowing input tax credit on fuel.
first year one. (Only those businesses
willavailofitwhichcannotgetcheaper
loans from other sources.)
The US Fed is purchasing unlimited
amounts of treasuries, the European
Central Bank recently announced a
tered, but which also need financial
support for revival and recovery. The
direct benefit transfers already initi-
Hackathons a good start, govt must work to adapt solutions The 5% GST on under-construction GST revival loans: All GST payers, €750bnbond-buyingscheme.To bring ated bythe government as support for
residencesshouldbescrapped,orinput unless they opt-out,would be entitled downexpectationsofinterestrates,the vulnerable households, and the GST

T
tax credit given for such activity. The to retain as a temporary loan from the government should announce its loans and adjustments can help alle-
ECHNOLOGYWILLUNDOUBTEDLYbecrucialinthefightagainstCovid-
reduction in GST incidence can help government (similar in terms as the intention to lowerthe EPFinterest rate viate, to some extent, the inevitable
19.India,thus,needs to quickly identifyworkable solutions from among improve demand and, thereby, in the GSTclawback loans) the next nine GST by 1% (from the unconscionable economic distress.
those proposed by tech companies, and aspiring techpreneurs. Given
hackathons are a ready tool to do this,the government did well to organ-
iseatwo-dayhackathononApril3-5.Anestimated2,000teamsparticipatedinthis.
The winning teams include Big Bang Boom, which designed a remotely operable
ventilatorsystem built from consumerdurable components.The team aims to cre- COVID-19 FALLOUT LETTERS TO

Challenges for the financial system

ate an inexpensive DIYkitthat couldbe set up in primaryhealthcare centres (PHCs)
across the countrywith little oversight.Another startup,Team 132,had developed THE EDITOR
a UV disinfectant robot that can autonomously disinfect surfaces using UV light.A
hardware company,Vincence,showcased a `27,000 device to monitor oxygen lev- Export of hydroxy-
elsandpulserate.Anotherteam,118,haddevelopedadevicethatcouldbelinkedto
a computer to analyse shortness of breath, a symptom of Covid-19 disease.App
Increased borrowing by the government MADAN chloroquine
developers also had some interesting solutions. R-TNT’s test management centre
handles supply-chain functions for testing facilities, from consumer requests to
will lead to more spending, ultimately
translating into higher inflation
SABNAVIS US president Donald Trump could
have made a request for the
Chief Economist, CARE Ratings Views are personal
placing orders for testing kits. Researchers from Microsoft, Brown, and Stanford supply of hydroxychloroquine
developedalabellingapp,whereintheunemployedcanearnmoneyassigninglabels (HCQ ) from India. Instead, he
for products to be categorised online.Another team developed an AI platform that INTHESE UNCERTAINtimes,thebank- bers. Thus, there is reason to believe manifestinlowornegative profitsand, issued a threat of ‘retaliation’ in
ing sectorneeds careful tracking.Seem- that NPAs may increase once again therefore,taxpayments.Third,thegov- case India did not supply the anti-
assess patients’medical needs,and connects them to doctors and radiologists.
ingly, banks are virtually exempt from afterthisexercise,andtheMarchnum- ernment has drastically cut the small malarial drug. Indians are not
India has conducted many hackathons before, but these have been marked by
thelockdown,andareoperationalascus- bers, based on the new recognition savings rate, which logically makes against giving HCQ capsules to
limitedadaptabilityofthesolutionsdeveloped.Someideashaveremainedonpaper, tomerscontinuetomakebankingtrans- norms,mightunderstatethesituation. them less attractive.Now,the NSSFhas the US, or any country in this time
partly because government agencies have not been able to develop further on the actions.Almostallpoliciesimplemented RBI’s latest FSR has highlighted that been an important source of funding of the coronavirus pandemic, but
skeletalsolutionsprovidedbydevelopers—skeletal,becauseitisnotalwayspossible to aid relief operations involve banks, incremental NPAs have actually come for the government, and in FY20 and felt strongly about being forced to
forthegovernmentto revealthe criticalinformationnecessaryforanytechnology- makingthemthenucleusofthewelfare down,and most of the stockwas due to FY21, have been placed at `2.4 lakh capitulate to the demand of a
based solution to achieve full functionality in the informal talent engagement of a package.Yet,thisonusmakesthemmore recognition of past assets, not new crore. In case this reservoir dips,which global bully. Trump’s bullying
hackathon.However,thesearenotinsurmountablehurdles.Thegovernmentneeds vulnerable than anyotherentity. ones.This matrix will change. will happen when incremental inflows tactics when his country was
tokeepEstonia’sexampleinmind—thecountry’sMarch13-15hackathonsawsolu- The issue of moratorium on loan Banks are tasked with enhancing slow down, the government, per force, struggling to grapple with the
tions like Koroonakaart.ee, a map displaying information about the spread of the repaymentsiscrucial.Whiletheideaisto flowof credit to the commercial sector, will have to borrow from the market, pandemic did not go down well
virus,SUVE,a chatbot answering queries related to the disease,and Vaab.ee,which make it easier for firms to service debts andloweringinterestrates.RBIhascre- and the gross borrowing programme with us. When his country was at
willhelpconnectvolunteerswithamedicalbackgroundtothecountry’shealthcare duringtheshutdown,andtoenableindi- ated an enabling environment forthis, will be exceeded. the mercy of Covid-19, Trump
response teams.The winners included Zelos,which will connect at-risk people,like vidualstostillmakerepaymentsdespite andwillexpectbankstomatchtherepo This is where the conundrum spoke as if India were at his mercy.
the elderly living alone,with volunteers who can help them by running errands for layoffs or salary cuts, banks will face a rate cut with lower MCLR. The small arises. Banks and FIs are large sub- It is strange that the pandemic has
them while maintaining social distancing .The Estonian government, apart from problem of choosing which accounts to savings rates have been cut quite dras- scribers to government bonds,and for not altered his overweening
giving cash rewards to the winners, has been on the frontfoot on committing and consider for the moratorium. Since the tically,nudging banks to lower deposit an enlarged programme to be success- behaviour. Buckling under US
generating support to these tech-solutions. More so, since the disease’s exponen- clause allows deferment,and not waiv- rates too. This may be expected to fol- ful, sufficient funds will be needed. pressure, India revoked the ban on
tial growth curve allows onlya shortwindow in which to act. ing,ofpayments,itisimportanttothink low,with banks lowering their lending Today, liquidity is high due to low off- exporting the drug. India justified
Indeed, states must also engage with such solution-providers—Tamil Nadu has carefully before opting for the morato- rates, though not to the extent of the take in credit. In FY21, there will be the export citing adequate stock
rium.Borrowers may have an incentive reductioninsmallsavingsrate,andwill opposing forces. Bank credit will be of the tablets to meet domestic
hired Garuda, a Chennai-based start-up, for sanitisation of hospitals etc through
to deliberately delay payments,which also be short of the repo rate change. growing at a faster rate as banks needs and Indian pharmaceutical
drones.While Odisha and Uttar Pradesh have evinced interest in its services, states
can increase the bandwidth of banks There is, however, a possibility of rework the working capital limits of companies’ ramping up of HCQ
need to keep theirearto the ground on tech-based solutions to fight Covid-19. once the moratorium lifts. deposits being impacted by multiple borrowers. Also, those in distress will production. No doubt, countries
Relatedly,therecanbeextensionsof factors.First,householdincomeswould require funding, making the growth must pull together in the face of a
the moratorium if the shutdown gets be lower due to layoffs and pay cuts by rate much higher than that in FY20. global crisis, but one is at a loss to

Social,NoDistancing extended.Further,evenafterthemora-
toriumends,theprobabilityofborrow-
ers defaulting will be high—a major
several companies. Certain state gov-
ernmentshavealsoannouncedpaycuts
for their employees,which will reduce
The government will be borrowing
more forthe reasons stated above.And,
finally, growth in deposits would slow
understand Trump’s open threat of
retaliation. What should have
been voluntarily done on
Instances where social distancing is observed in the worry for banks. Post the NPA crisis, overall consumption, and ability to down.In this eventuality,it will be like humanitarian grounds was made
breach abound in the country banks have focused more on extending save.With food inflation alreadyshow- FY19 again,where there has to be sub- to look like a ransom. US president
loans to the retail segment as well as to ingsignsofincreasing,theincremental stantial RBI intervention. RBI has Donald Trump and prime minister

T
SMEs,with strong nudging by the gov- flow of deposits could be impacted. already opened its armoury through Narendra Modi are proponents of
HE ROLE OF social distancing,and quarantining of high-risk individuals ernment. These two segments are Second,lowering of deposits rates LTROs at a time when there was sur- “America First” and “India First”
instanchingthespreadofCovid-19can’tbeunderscoredenough.Andyet, expectedtowitnesssignificantincrease will incentivise households to ven- plus liquidity to quell interest rates. theories respectively. Trump’s
even as community infection is being suspected in some parts of India, in NPAs in the current crisis, as larger ture into the capital market, which This time, it will have to support gov- threat of retaliation exposed the
sectionsofthepublicdon’tseemtohaveunderstoodhowthisistobeprac- companies are betterinsulated against has attractive valuations given the ernment borrowing (states, too, will hollowness of the “bromance”
tised.InBihar,IndianExpressreports,manymigrantlabourerswhohadreturnedto the ongoing economic slowdown. decline by over 30% in the last fort- probably borrow more in the market). between him and Narendra Modi.
theirvillagesfromstateswithhighCovid-19numbersweremissingfromthequar- Also, the first package the govern- night or so. While the more suave All this means that there will be too The Trump we saw at the time of
antinefacilitieswheretheyweresupposedtostayfor14days—somewereoutwork- mentannouncedincreasedthethresh- might go for equity, mutual funds much money spent, leading to higher issuing the warning in the White
ing in the fields. Bear in mind, only a very few of the returning migrants could be old fordefault bycompanies underIBC look relatively more attractive, and inflation in the medium term. House was not the same Trump we
accommodated in the temporary government facilities,the rest had been asked to from `1 lakh to `1 crore to prevent the safe, under these conditions. This will have a bearing on future saw in Ahmedabad two months
quarantinethemselvesathome,makingmonitoringevenmoredifficult.Thispaper triggering of insolvency proceedings It must be pointed out that the gov- monetarypolicydecisions as the com- ago. The essential drug is hailed as
carried a picture ofwomen inAssam lined upwithin a fewinches of each otherout- against MSMEs. For banks, this means ernment,too,islikelytooptinforalarge fort of low CPI inflation will be a thing a miracle cure, a game changer,
greatermonitoringwork,reworkingthe borrowingprogramme,whichmightgo of the past. This happened post the and sanjeevani. But, the efficacy
side a bank branch to withdraw money from their Jan Dhan accounts.
asset classification and provisioning beyond `7.8 lakh crore.This is forthree financial crisis in 2008, and will be of HCQ in the mass treatment of
Itwouldbeeasytoblametheworkersforrefusingtoadheretoinstructionsofthe
norms,as well as capital adequacy. reasons. First, the welfare package of repeatedwith greatermomentum this Covid-19 has not yet been
authorities,but it is also true that the messaging on the importance of quarantining These measures definitely favour `1.7 lakh crore will be equivalent to time. This will be one of the biggest clinically proven. As of now, we are
and social distancing has gaps that are undermining the efforts.Theworking class’s borrowers. But, banks run the risk of 0.75% of GDP.Second,it is certain that costs of the pandemic to India, which not quite sure if HCQ holds the
innate immunity against the virus, and other such misconceptions have not been disruption to their books as they tax collections will be lower this year may not get reflected in the GDP answer to the grave bio-threat the
addressed.The report on the Bihar situation also seems to suggest virtually absent rework all their policies and numbers duetotheshutdown,andtheslowdown growth number(UN believes India and world is now facing.
monitoring.TheAssamexampleshowstheneedtoensuredoor-stepdelivery,inthis for the first three months, and take that will follow. GST collections will be China will be the outliers). And, the — G David Milton, Maruthancode
case,perhapstheneedtoreviveandprepthebankingcorrespondentsnetwork.Unless reverse action post the extension, lower due to consumption being banking sectorwill have to be prepared
thegovernmentgetsitrightatitsend,itwillbehardtogetpeopletodotherightthing. whichwill throwup a fresh set of num- affected, while corporate distress will for an NPA replay. ●Write to us at feletters@expressindia.com

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WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
FINANCIAL EXPRESS
AJAY
CHHIBBER
Distinguished visiting scholar, Institute of International
Economic Policy, George Washington University, USA
Views are personal
India needs
an economic
package for
revival
India needs an economic package of 5% of GDP. To
avoid a financial crisis, it may need to go to the IMF
A
S INDIA LOOKS at options
to come out of the lock-
down—even in a staggered
manner—it will need a
huge package of fiscal and
financial support to stabilise and revive
the economy. Many people argue that
India does not have the fiscal space for
such a support package—since it is
already running large deficits. But,
India runs a bigger risk to its economy
and livelihoods if it does not find ways
to finance recovery and a major finan-
cial crisis as NPA’s double under this
slowdown. The upcoming IMF-World
Bank virtual spring meeting may be the
place to nail it down. India is facing a
T Little relief
HE WORLD IS shut down to
avoid a catastrophe. This has
caused enormous damage to
economies leading to a loss of
livelihood.Governmentsacross
the globe are struggling to respond appro-
priatelytothiscrisis.IMFchiefhassaidthat
the world economy has entered a recession
worse than that of 2009.
For the Indian economy, the pandemic
has come at the worst of times.The econ-
omy,in anycase,was slowing down forsev-
eral quarters owing to a demand shortfall,
this supplyshock is,thus,a huge blow.
To flatten the curve and save lives,India
too has gone into a 21-day lockdown. It is
perhaps the right decision, but, the total
shutdownhasupendedthelivesofmillions
of inter-state migrantworkers.
Framinganappropriatepolicyresponse
isadauntingtask.But,thereisnogoingback,
andwe have to face the challenge byresort-
ingto‘whateverittakes’approach.Fiscaland
monetary policies have to rise to the occa-
sion.The policy makers may not have the
luxuryofresortingtoacalibratedapproach.
RBI has recognised that ‘central banks
and governments are inwarmode’.Experts
highlightthatfiscalpolicywillhaveabigger
roletoplayaspublicexpenditureisrequired
to save lives. Even if the pandemic is con-
tained, the government will have to spend
huge amounts to avert a humanitarian and
an economic crisis.
Sensing urgency, RBI advanced the
meeting of the MPC by a week. The
● COVID CRISIS
massive crisis—as big as the one that it
faced in 1991—but, of course, of a very
different nature.That was a classic bal-
ance of payments crisis.With IMF sup-
port,an exchange rate devaluation and
major structural reforms, which liber-
alised the economy, India was able to
get out of it. This crisis is no doubt dif-
ferent—there is no balance of payments
problem—if anything,the external bal-
ance may be in surplus.India is holding
vast reserves—close to $470 billion
despite having used some in the past
month to stabilise the rupee as FPI’s
pulled over $15 billion from Indian
markets. But, the forced economic
shutdown may end up creating an
India needs to do more on the economy front if it is to save
itself from a humanitarian and an economic crisis
EMMANUEL THOMAS &
LEKHA CHAKRABORTY
Thomas is asst professor, St Thomas’ College (Autonomous),
Thrissur & Chakraborty is Professor, NIPFP. Views are personal
announcedmonetarypolicyhaspaidatten-
tion to ensuring liquidity,reducing the cost
ofloans,encouragingtransmissionandreg-
ulatory easing. Reduction of repo rate by
75bps will ease the cost of funds.With this,
the key rate has hit 4.4%,which is close to
zero, given the inflation target of 4%. RBI
hasingeniouslywidenedtheMonetaryPol-
icy Rate Corridor to 65bps from the earlier
50bps.This is expected to nudge banks to
lendmore,asparkingoffundsbecomesless
attractive.Amoratoriumontermloansand
workingcapitalloansfor3-monthswillpro-
viderelieftoborrowers.Similarly,deferment
ofimplementationofNSFRandlasttranche
of capital conservation buffer are expected
toprovidesomerelief.Thesequential“Oper-
ationTwist”strategyofRBIpriortotheMPC
internal jobs and financial crisis which,
if not addressed,may relegate the econ-
omy to a prolonged slump.
How to finance such a package given
India’s fiscal weaknesses is the ques-
tion? The fiscal deficit in India was
already expected to be close to 4.5% of
GDP—counting in the off-budget bor-
rowing by PSU’s. With the economy
now expected to drop to a growth of
around 2% of GDP, revenue intake will
crash by at least 3% of GDP factoring in
lower tax revenues and disinvestment
receipts. Lower oil prices will provide
India with a windfall of around 1-1.5%
of GDP depending on how long the
windfall lasts. Assuming the govern-
ment keeps most of this windfall and
does not allow it to pass-through to
consumers, this will mean the fiscal
deficit would rise by around 2% of GDP.
The support already provided by the
government—increased health expen-
diture plus the PM’s Gareeb Kalyan
Scheme—amounts to, at best, around
1% of GDP,and much of this is likely to
be financed by re-programming exist-
ing expenditures.A third support pack-
age of 5% of GDP—4% of GDP for the
central government, and an additional
1% of GDP to state governments on top
of the payments of their pending GST
dues—would be needed now to stabilise
the economic system and set the stage
for a recovery.
Industry surveys indicate that
between FY20 and FY21 year-on-year
(y-o-y), output in major sectors such as
auto, oil and gas, metals and mining,
freight and logistics, construction and
textiles is expected to be at least 15-
20%,and in aviation,tourism and hos-
pitality could be as high as 30%.Sectors
such as agriculture, pharma, and tele-
com could see small increases. These
declines will then have huge implica-
tions for the financial system with
NPA’s rising by 8-9% of GDP—close to
double of what they are today. About
40-60 million workers are estimated to
have lost jobs in this lockdown.
The new package must comprise at
least five elements:
■ Loan waivers for much of the
MSME companies—certainly for the
micro and small companies and
increases in Mudra loans.
■ Restructuring of loans to the
medium and corporate sector—espe-
cially in sectors heavily damaged by the
down-turn to help restart operations
meetinghas also helped.
OnMarch26,theFMannouncedapack-
ageworth`1.7lakhcrore,aimedatguaran-
teeing access to food and cash for the poor
andvulnerablesections.But,acloserexam-
inationraisesdoubtsaboutthequantumof
relief involved.
Forinstance,itwouldhavebeenbetterif
thehealthinsurancecoveragewasextended
to the private sector as well.Similarly,addi-
tional payments need to be released to the
healthworkersinsteadofjustcoveringrisks.
A critical component of the package is
thefreeprovisionofanequalamountofeli-
giblequantityofcerealsandpulsesforthree
months.Consideringthequantumofbuffer
stocks and the cost of storage it is an easy
decision. Frontloading of the PM-Kisan
ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE
and survive in the downturn.
■ Recapitalisation of the banking
system—at least a partial recap with a
combination of new capital and recap
bonds.
■ Further income support to work-
ers displaced during the lockdown—a
cash transfer scheme for returning
workers of around `3,000 to get them
restarted could be considered.
■ Support to selected strategic sec-
tors with special credit support—like is
being proposed in most major
economies. Such a plan must dovetail
with a broader revisioning of India’s
trade and industrial policy to propel
Make in India.
Financing such a large package
would mean that the combined PSBR
would rise from 9% of GDP to over
14%. India cannot finance such a large
deficit internally.RBI may be sitting on
large reserves, but it cannot take on
substantial government liabilities
without affecting its balance-sheet
adversely. It has just reached an agree-
ment with the US Fed for a much
needed swap facility, and should not
jeopardise its market standing.Domes-
tic borrowing is out of the question in
such a market when the private sector
needs funding, and FPI’s are fleeing
emerging markets.
TheWorld Bank has alreadysignalled
additional fiscal support of $1 billion.
This could be doubled.The Asian Devel-
opment Bank mayalso bewilling to pro-
vide a $1 billion of support.India has not
tapped the IMF since the 1991 crisis.Its
quota at the IMF—roughly $5.8 billion
could be tapped. The Fund allows any
country 145% of its quota on request—
so India could get $8 billion from this
source.While India does not have a clas-
sic balance of payments crisis this time,
lack of adequate action could easilyturn
into a major financial crisis for a finan-
cial system struggling to deal with a
huge balance-sheet problem.Astabilisa-
tion programme is needed—but one
which finances largerfiscal deficits—not
the traditional IMF programmes which
try and cut deficits. India must raise
around $12 billion—close to 4-5% of
our current GDP—to stabilise the econ-
omy and help shape a recovery.
Without a bold package,India could
be staring at a financial abyss. India
may not get a V-shape recovery, but
must, at least, ensure a “Nike -whoosh”
recovery.Yes,we can.
transfer by about four months is another
component. It involves an expenditure of
`17,500croreoutofthebudgeted`75,000
crore for the year. The FM has also raised
wages underMGNREGAby`20.But it is an
annual exercise and wages were raised in
March2019too.Ofcourse,thequantumof
increase is more this time.But,the problem
isthattherealisationoftheannouncedgain
of `2,000 per worker per year will happen
overa period of one longyear,and assumes
that eachworkerwill get 100 days ofwork.
Ex-gratia payments to women account
holdersPMJDY,poorwidows,seniorcitizens
and physically challenged persons are wel-
come steps,including free gas cylinders for
Ujjwala beneficiaries.These three compo-
nents are expected to cost the government
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020
OPINION 7
● THE ROAD TO 5G
Call for a
better future
V SRIDHAR &
HEIKKI HÄMMÄINEN
Sridhar is professor, IIIT, Bengaluru & Hämmäinen is
professor, Aalto University, Finland. Views are personal
India needs to adopt better strategies to
reap the benefits from 5G growth
T
HE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has transformed the
wayweworkandlive.Withsocialdistancingbeing
the norm, dependence on telecom and internet
infrastructure has become a necessity. It is an
opportune time for policymakers,regulators and
service providers to lead massive deployment of 5G.While
conspiracytheoriesaboundregarding5Gtechnologieshelp-
ingtransmitcoronavirus,itistimetodispelmythsabout5G!
Apart from the popular views about 5G providing high
speed data transfers,5G is more about bringing a paradigm
shift in connectivity. In a recent report, McKinsey Global
Institute (MGI) has estimated an increase in global GDP by
about $2 trillion through the use of 5G in keysectors such as
healthcare,retail,mobilityandmanufacturing.Deployment
of5Gisnotonlytheresponsibilityoftelcosandmobileoper-
ators.All stakeholders need to work together to solve inter-
operabilityproblemsinITsystems,data,andconnectivityso
that integrated solutions for each domain can be deployed.
DuetorapiddigitisationIndiaholdsthepotentialtoreap
maximal benefit from deploying 5G.In fact,the MGI report
addresses the potential of 5G separatelyforIndia and China
alongwith othercountries,indicating therebythe huge eco-
nomic benefits that accrue to these countries.MGI predicts
that India will benefit by about $0.2-0.3 trillion when the
unconnected population comes online.
The 5G deployments require systemic thinking about
varioususecasesincludingintegratedcommandcentresfor
fleet management,AI-enabled predictive healthcare,auto-
matedguidedvehiclesinmanufacturing,personalisedretail
store experience,continuous monitoring and effective util-
isation of energy, stringent
measurement and proactive
Proactive, industry- management of pollution lev-
friendly policy is els, to name a few. The deploy-
ment needs a carefully orches-
the need of the tratedcoordinationofdifferent
hour for India to entities and integration of sys-
attain the true tems.This also requires invest-
benefits of 5G ment bydifferent stakeholders
in the 5G ecosystem.
An example of such systems
usingacooperativemodelinvolvingtownmunicipalities,con-
nectivity providers and domain service providers are being
tested in the smart cityof Espoo in Finland.In a project called
NeutralHostPilot(NHP),thecityisconsideringanalternative
waytothe traditional uncoordinated jungleof mobileopera-
torantennas.Insteadoftelcosconstructing5Gsmallcellsand
smart 5G light poles along streets, the city is planning to
deploy shared 5G base stations.This Neutral Host having its
ownlocalspectrumlicense(e.g.26GHz)providesthe5Gfacil-
ityfornational telcos,who run theirservices asvirtual opera-
tors.This trend likely affects the national mobile ecosystem
and speeds up local innovation in IoT connectivity.The pro-
ject also envisions a shared data platform wherein the data
collected by IoT devices and sensors is collated and shared
usingastandardinterfacefordevelopmentofapplicationsby
local ecosystem partners.
The5Gsystemsalsomustcomplywithvariedregulations
including data privacy and protection, cyber security laws,
telecom interconnection agreements.It is time that regula-
tors and policymakers look at 5G deployment as a system
that has cascading benefits. This requires putting in place
newformsofselfandco-regulationinsteadofthecommand-
and-control regime; liberalised scarce resource policies
including spectrum sharing across private and public enti-
ties; enabling future technologies such as Wi-Fi 6 by releas-
ing spectrum in 6 GHz for unlicensed use; releasing 26 and
60GHzmillimetrewavespectrumformicrocellularcoverage
indenseurbanareas;mandatingopenstandardsfordataand
connectivity; pooling investment for co-working and value
creation by different entities; enabling non-discriminatory
accesstoinfrastructureandservices;andrevampingthetra-
ditional multi-licensing model to a simplified possibly dual
infrastructure and service based licensing.
India, with its overstressed physical infrastructure, and
theassociatedinefficienciescanbenefithugelyfromdeploy-
ment of integrated 5G digital infrastructure. Proactive
industry friendly policy is the need of the hour for India to
attain the true benefits of 5G.
Given thewarlike situation,the govern-
mentwillhavetokeepitsconcernsaboutthe
magnitude of debt and deficit engrained in
the FRBMAct on the back burner.The chal-
lenge will be to flatten both the pandemic
curve and the recession curve.But,thatwill
requirelotsofimaginationandinnovation,
includingforfinancingthedeficits.Thiscan
include ‘Corona Bonds’ and exceptional
Money Financing of Fiscal Programme
(MFFP).MFFPisasignificantcomponentof
“helicopter money”discourse.The meticu-
lous details of MFFP, both conceptual and
empirical,areprovidedinapapertitledHeli-
copter Money: A Preliminary Appraisal by
SamiskhaAggarwalandLekhaChakraborty
(2019UniversityofMunichpaper).Thespe-
cificdetailsoffiscalseigniorageisdiscussed
about `46,000crore. inNIPFPpaper2015,especiallywithrespect
An interesting fact is that about 40% of to the optimal threshold of seigniorage for
the announced amount is on account of its inflationarypotential.
BuildingandConstructionWorkersWelfare We suggest the following three fiscal-
Fund and District Mineral Fund (DMF). monetarypolicysteps:
According to the FM,the former is a corpus One,frontloading of public expenditure
ofabout`31,000crorewithabout3.5crore throughaneffectivemethodoffiscalpolicy
registered workers. Similarly, the DMF has response to strengthen the public health
about`35,000crore,whichistobeusedfor infrastructure and services
fighting the Covid-19 menace.The raising Two, tackle “macroeconomic crisis”, by
ofthelimitofcollateral-freelendingtoSHGs designingamassiveuniversalbasicincome
is expected to benefit seven crore house- transfer through “MFFP”. This will be the
holds.However,thisdoesnotentailanyaddi- most plausible fiscal-monetary together-
tional burden. Government paying the ness one can expect
employer’s and employee’s share to EPF,in Three, government as the“employer of
establishmentswhichemploylessthan100 lastresort”withsubstantialupwardrevision
workers is expected to grant the workers in the wages is the effective post-Covid-19
relief forthe time being. policystrategyforeconomicrecovery.
 8 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

International
TURNING POINT

❝
Vladimir Putin, Russian president
For most, being constantly confined by four walls is
the definition of dreary and nauseating. But there is
no choice now. Self-isolation is a test that we must
withstand. Achieving the turning point in our fight
❝
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 against the infection depends on our discipline...

● CORONA CRISIS World trade may drop a Twitter’s Dorsey

Trump says‘China-centric’ third in worst case: WTO
pledges largest
donation, of a
WHO‘blew it’on coronavirus BLOOMBERG
Geneva, April 8

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC could

US sees highest one-day
death toll from Covid-19,
with 1,858 people
succumbing to the disease
REUTERS
Washington, April 8
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump sharply
criticised the World Health Organization
on Tuesday, accusing it of being too
focused on China and issuing bad advice
during the new coronavirus outbreak and
saying he would put a hold on US funding
for the agency.
Meanwhile,the US suffered its highest
dailydeath toll from coronavirus onTues-
day,with 1,858 people succumbing to the
disease, according to the latest data from
Johns Hopkins University.
The new peak in deaths was propelled
by NewYork City,which remains the most
stricken part of the country and which
recorded 806 fatalities on Tuesday. The
city has now recorded more than 4,000
deaths from the novel virus.
“TheWHOreallyblewit,”Trumpsaidin
a Twitter post.
“Forsomereason,fundedlargelybythe
United States, yet very China centric. We
willbe givingthata goodlook.Fortunately
I rejected their advice on keeping our bor-
ders open to China early on.Why did they
give us such a faulty recommendation?”
Trump repeated the accusations
against the UN health organisation at a
White House news briefing later on Tues-
day.“They called it wrong. They really —
they missed the call,” the president said.
“And we’re going to put a hold on money
spenttotheWHOWe’regoingtoputavery
powerfulholdonitandwe’regoingto see.”
United Nations spokesman Stephane
DujarricrejectedthecriticismoftheWHO,
which is led by Director-General Tedros
MAPPING THE VIRUS
Global cases
1.5 million
Deaths
83,500
Trump team prepares plans to
reopen economy that depend
on testing
Wuhan sees mass exodus after
China eases lockdown
Tesla will reduce employees’
salaries as much as 30% starting
from Monday
US recession model at 100%
confirms downturn is here
Boris Johnson is stable,
responding to treatment
Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“For the Secretary-General (Antonio
Guterres), it is clear that WHO, under the
leadership of Dr.Tedros,has done tremen-
dous work on Covid, in supporting coun-
tries with millions of pieces of equipment
being shipped out, on helping countries
with training, on providing global guide-
lines— WHO is showing the strength of
the international health system,” he
told reporters.
Dujarric added that the WHO had also
recently done “tremendous work” in
Democrats want $250 billion in small business aid,
with $125 billion channeled through community-
based financial institutions that serve farmers, family,
women, minority and veteran-owned cos, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader
Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.
Iran reported 1,997 new cases on Wednesday, down
from 2,089, taking the total number of cases to 64,586.
Total fatalities rose to 3,993 after the country reported
121 more deaths.
Spain’s daily coronavirus death toll and the number of
confirmed cases increased by the most in four days
on Wednesday in Europe’s most-extensive outbreak
of the disease.
France will be able to look into ending its confinement
only when intensive-care units won’t be saturated and
other control measures are operational, the scientific
committee that advises the government said in a note,
cited by Agence France-Presse.
WHO said lifting lockdowns may be premature. “To
think we’re close to an endpoint would be
dangerous,” Hans Kluge, the World Health
Organization’s regional director for Europe, said on
Wednesday.
Russia reported 1,175 new cases overnight, a 16%
increase, bringing the total number of infected to
8,672. The country reported five more fatalities, taking
its total to 63.
Angela Merkel’s Cabinet approves tighter rules on
takeovers -- which apply tobids from outside the
European Union
putting its staff on the frontlines to suc-
cessfullyfightEbola,aninfectiousandoften
fataldisease,intheDemocraticRepublicof
Congo. Republican Senator Lindsey Gra-
ham, a close ally of Trump, vowed there
would not be any funding for the WHO in
the next Senate appropriations bill.
“I’m in charge of the appropriations
subcommittee. I’m not going to support
funding the WHO under its current lead-
ership. They’ve been deceptive, they’ve
been slow and they’ve been Chinese apol-
ogists,”Graham said in an interview.
cause a deeper collapse of international
trade flows than at any point in the post-
warera,theWorldTradeOrganizationsaid.
The Geneva-based trade body pre-
sented two possible scenarios for global
trade in the years to come in a report pub-
lished Wednesday, noting that the
unprecedented nature of the health crisis
could result in a wide range of outcomes.
Inan optimisticscenario,theWTO said
globalmerchandisetradecouldfall13%in
2020 and rebound 21% in 2021 — com-
pared with a 0.1% contraction in 2019.In
the optimistic scenario, gross domestic
product could contract by 2.5% in 2020
and grow by7.4% in 2021.
In a pessimistic case, the volume of
globalgoodstradecoulddropbyasmuchas
32%thisyearwiththepossibilityofa24%
increase next year. In this situation,world
GDP could shrink by as much as 8.8% in
2020 and expand by5.9% in 2021.
If the optimistic scenario is achieved,
the WTO projection will rival the modern
peacetime record,which was set in 2009,
when world merchandise trade volume
declined about 12% and global GDP con-
tracted 2%. If the pessimistic scenario
comes to fruition,it could be the most pre-
cipitousdropinglobalcommercesincethe
Great Depression.
“These numbers are ugly — there is no
getting around that,” said WTO director-
Masked crowds flock to Wuhan’s
streets, trains as lockdown ends
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wuhan, April 8
AMID STREETS NEWLYbustlingwithcars
and pedestrians, Wang Chun celebrated
the lifting of a virus lockdown on her
hometown of Wuhan on Wednesday with
FUTURE TENSE
billion dollars,
for virus fight
BLOOMBERG
April 8
JACK DORSEY PLEDGED $1 billion of his
stake in Square, the payments firm he co-
founded, to coronavirus relief efforts, the
largest pandemic-related donationyet.
“I hope this inspires others to do some-
■ In an optimistic scenario, the thing similar,”
WTO said global merchandise Dorsey said Tues-
trade could fall 13% in 2020 day in a tweet.“Life
is too short, so let’s
■ In a pessimistic case, the
do everything we
volume of global goods trade
could drop by as much as 32%
can today to help
people now.”
■ ”These numbers are ugly —
It will likely
there is no getting around that,” take several quar-
says WTO chief Roberto Azevedo ters or even years
to complete the
transfer,according
general Roberto Azevedo in a statement. to a Square
“But a rapid,vigorous rebound is possible. spokesperson.The proceeds from the ini-
Decisions taken now will determine the tial sales will fund coronavirus relief
future shape of the recovery and global efforts.So far,$100,000has been donated
growth prospects.” to America’s Food Fund to “help fund
The forecasts underscore the fact that meals to people impacted by COVID,”
theworldiswitnessingauniquehealthand according to a publicly available spread-
economiccrisis,thelikesofwhichhavenot sheet Dorsey linked to in his tweet.
been seen in at least a generation.World- “After we disarm this pandemic, the
wide, more than 80,000 people have died focuswillshifttogirl’shealthandeducation,
from Covid-19 and the number of global andUBI,” Dorseysaidinthetweet,referring
infections will soon top 1.5 million. to universal basic income.

Quick Shareholder sues Zoom a dance outdoors after two and a half
months largely cooped up at home.

View
“I’m so happyWuhan has defeated the

over privacy standards

Sanders suspends
US presidential bid
JOE BIDEN BECAMEthe Democrats’de
facto presidential nominee to face
DonaldTrump in November,after
Bernie Sanders ended his presidential
run onWednesday.Bidenwill nowhave
to find awayto take onTrump in the
shadowof the coronavirus pandemic,
which has made in-person
campaigningimpossible and has
grabbed the public’s attention away
from the 2020race.
McDonald’s sales fall 3%,
forecast withdrawn
MCDONALD’S SAID FIRST-quarter
comparable sales declined3.4%,as the
world’s largest burgerchain had to
shutterstores and stickto deliveryor
take-out due to the coronavirus
outbreak across the globe.Analysts had
expected same-store sales to drop
0.91% forthe quarterended March 31,
according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
REUTERS
April 8
ZOOM VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS was
slappedwith a class action suit byone of its
shareholders on Tuesday, accusing the
video-conferencing app of overstating its
privacystandardsandfailingtodisclosethat
its servicewas not end-to-end encrypted.
Shareholder Michael Drieu claimed in
a court filing that a string of recent media
reports highlighting the privacy flaws in
Zoom’s application have led to the com-
pany’s stock,which had rallied for several
days in the beginning of theyear,to plum-
met. The company’s shares closed down
about 7.5% at $113.75 on Tuesday.They
have lost nearly a third of their market
value since touching record highs in
late-March.
Zoom chief executive officer Eric Yuan
last week apologized to users, saying the
company had fallen short of the commu-
nity's privacy and security expectations,
and was taking steps to fix the issues.
Zoom has been trying to plug security
issues,as it signs up millions of new users
from across theworld as people are forced
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan
to work from home after lockdowns were
enforced to slow the spread of the coron-
avirus. However, the company is facing a
backlash from users worried about the
lack of end-to-end encryption of meeting
sessionsand“zoombombing”,whereunin-
vited guests crash into meetings.
Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX
recentlybanned its employees from using
Zoom,citing“significantprivacyandsecu-
rity concerns,”while Taiwan’s cabinet has
told government agencies to stop using
the app.
virus,”Wang said after recording a K-Pop-
inspired duetwith a malepartnerforpost-
ing on the internet. Neither of them wore
face masks,at least fora brieffewminutes.
After she put on the mask again,Wang
confrontedthequestion manyofthe city’s
11 million residents are asking them-
selves: When will they be going back
to work?
“That’s a very good question,” Wang
responded with a giggle.
Wuhan ended its 76-day lockdown
Wednesday morning, allowing residents
to again travel in and out of the city with-
out special authorization through the use
of a mandatory smartphone app powered
bya mix of data-tracking and government
surveillance showing theyare healthyand
have not been in recent contact with any-
one confirmed to have the virus.
Long lines formed at the airport and
train and bus stations as thousands
streamed out of the city to return to their
homes and jobs elsewhere.Yellowbarriers
that had blocked off some streets were
gone, although the gates to residential
compounds remained guarded.
After more than two months indoors,
Wuhan resident Tong Zhengkun was one
of millions of enjoying a renewed sense
of freedom.
“Being indoors for so long drove me
A medical worker from China's Jilin Province, in red, embraces a colleague as she
prepares to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport
crazy,” an emotional Tong said as he
watched a celebratory midnight light dis-
play from a bridge across the broad
Yangtze River flowing through the city,
wherethecoronavirusoutbreakbeganlate
lastyear.Tongsaidhisapartment complex
was shut down afterresidentswere found
to have contracted the coronavirus.
Neighbourhoodworkersdelivered gro-
ceries to his door.
Such measures won’t be entirely aban-
doned following the end of Wuhan’s clo-
sure, which began on Jan. 23 as the virus
raged through the city and overwhelmed
hospitals.Schoolsarestillclosed,peopleare
still checked for fevers when they enter
buildings,and masks are strongly encour-
aged.Cityleaderssaytheywanttosimulta-
neously bring back social and commercial
AP
life while avoiding a second wave of infec-
tions.The economic costs of the outbreak
in Wuhan and across China have yet to be
calculated but are expected to be severe.
Estimates of job losses range into the tens
of millions,with the government offering
aid to small and medium size businesses
that furnish the most employment.
The ability to travel again is a huge
relief, however, and about 65,000 people
were expected to depart Wednesday by
plane and train.It didn’t take long fortraf-
fic to begin moving swiftly through
reopened bridges, tunnels and highway
toll booths. Nearly 1,000 vehicles went
through a toll booth at Wuhan’s border
between midnight — when barricades
were lifted — and 7 a.m.,according to Yan
Xiangsheng,a district police chief.

VW mulls options for

$3.6 billion dividend
VOLKSWAGEN IS CONSIDERING
whether to pay out a record $3.6
billion dividend as planned, or use
at least part of it to shore up its
finances for what is shaping up to be
the biggest economic crisis since
World War II. Investors are entitled
to the dividend and would be
disappointed if it was delayed, cut or
suspended, CFO Frank Witter said in
an video message to staff.
Wuhan wet markets are coming back to life
CARS LINED UP this week at the main
entrance to the Baishazhou wet market,
one of the biggest in Wuhan, which is
buzzing again.
The Chinese city where the coron-
avirus first emerged has stirred back to
life following a lockdown lasting
for months.
A sign hovers overhead: “No slaugh-
tering and selling live animals.”
Baishazhou and other wet markets
areatthecentre ofanintensifyingglobal
debate about whether they should be
allowed to operate,as another market in
Wuhan was one of the first places where
the virus was detected. US officials, in
particular, are ramping up pressure to
shut them down. —BLOOMBERG
China probes property
tycoon critical of Xi
THE CHINESE COMMUNIST Party said
on Tuesday that it was investigating an
outspoken property tycoon who accused
China’s top leader,Xi Jinping, of having
mishandled the coronavirus outbreak.
Partyofficialssaidtheman,RenZhiqiang,
wassuspectedof“seriousviolationsofdis-
cipline andlaw”. —NYT
Doctors take the first flights out amid chaos
THE CROWD OUTSIDE Wuhan’sTianhe
International Airport on Wednesday
morningpushedforwardasanxietygrew
over catching the first to depart since
January 23.
Among those catching flights out
were a group of doctors and nurses from
northeastern Jilin province, who had
traveledtotheembattledcitytoshoreup
the local health-care system,part of the
tens of thousands of medical workers
from around the country that were sent
in to help.
Clad in matching red tracksuits, the
Jilin medical workers entered to music
blasted over the airport’s sound system
andweregivenbouquetsofflowersbyair-
port staff. —BLOOMBERG

SELECTIONS FROM
makesenseoftheannouncement,onMarch LEADERS Rosneft’s own shares (worth more than strategic support for all areas of our [rela-
28th,thatithassoldallitsVenezuelanassets ROSNEFT’S SLEIGHT OF HAND $4bn),thusreducingtheirstaketojustover tionship],”tweeted Maduro.
toanunnamedRussiangovernmententity. 40%.The deal gives echin ever tighter con- These shenanigans come at a turbulent
For years the Kremlin has propped up
Venezuela’s dictatorship, first under Hugo
Chávez, then under his protégé, Nicolás
Why Putin’s favourite oil trol of the firm. Minority shareholders,
including bp and Qatar’s sovereign-wealth
fund,whicheachholdjustunder20%,have
time in the oil markets.The price of crude
hasfallenbyhalfinthepastmonth,ascovid-
19 has crushed demand and Saudi Arabia

firm dumped its

Maduro.Russiahassuppliedloans,weapons yet to comment. has opened its taps to punish Russia for
and,lately,mercenaries to keep the regime The main aim of the deal,it seems,is to refusingtoextendanopecdealto curbpro-
ROSNEFT IS RESPONSIBLE for 40% of inpower,largelytoannoytheUnitedStates. help Rosneft escape the consequences of duction.TheKremlinwouldlikecheapoilto

Russia’soiloutput,butitismuchmorethan
just another oil firm. A large chunk of its
shares are owned by the Russian state. Its
boss,Igor Sechin,is one of Vladimir Putin’s
closest henchmen.A former spook,like the
Russian president, he has been at the big
man’ssidesincethe1990s.In2004-06Ros-
neft gobbled up the remains ofYukos,Rus-
sia’s largest private oil firm,which was dis-
membered after its boss challenged Putin.
Since then Rosneft has been both a tool of
Kremlin power and a driver of policy in its
own right.Bearthis in mindwhen trying to
America, like many democracies, does not
recognise the election-stealing Maduro as
Venezuela’s president, and has slapped
severesanctionsonhiscountry.Lastweekit
unsealed indictments of Maduro and his
cronies for alleged drug-trafficking.Sechin
calculatesthat,ifAmericasupportsdemoc-
racies in Russia’s backyard, Russia should
support despotsinAmerica’s.
Rosneft’sroleinallthishasbeentoprac-
tisebare-knucklepetropolitics.Ithastraded
Venezuelan oil to help Maduro get around
American sanctions. Rosneft lent his gov-
Venezuelan assets
Russian taxpayers are left holding the can
ernment $6.5 billion in 2014-18, to be
repaidinoil.Attheendoflastyearitwasstill
owed at least $800 million,though the fig-
ures are murky.Thanks to a low oil price,
sanctions and the Maduro regime’s spec-
tacular corruption and ineptitude,
Venezuela is in no position to repay all its
debts.But this is not too much of a problem
for Rosneft,since it can dump its Venezue-
lan assetson to Russian taxpayers.
They will no doubt be delighted to hear
that they have paid for this with 9.6% of
doing businesswith a pariah.Overthe past
two months America has penalised the
company’s trading arms for handling
Venezuelan oil.These sanctions are global
in scope and affect its customers, too.
SinochemInternational,thetradingarmof
aChinesestate-ownedrefinery,hasrejected
Rosneft’s oil.The Kremlin’s solution is to
distance Rosneft from Venezuela while
reassuringtheVenezuelankleptocracythat
it still has Russia’s backing.“I received a
message from brother president Vladimir
Putin who ratified his comprehensive
driveAmericanshaleproducers,whosecosts
are higher, out of business.This is a risky
game.Russia has alienated the Saudis,who
mightdrawclosertoAmericaasaresult.Ros-
neftcansurviveoilat$25abarrel.Butunder
RussianlawtheroyaltiesitpaystotheRuss-
ianstatefallsharplyastheoilpriceslides.As
covid-19 spreads in Russia,Putin will have
to draw on the country’s reserves to help
ordinary people cope. Sechin’s sleight of
hand has solved a problem for Rosneft,but
not forRussia.
©The Economist NewspaperLimited
 9 FINANCIAL EXPRESS
eFE
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020
● COMBATING COVID-19
How voice AI apps can be a lifesaver today
Voice AI apps can help in
prevention, detection and
treatment of hundreds of
patients at the same time,
thus helping mitigate the
shortage of doctors
BV MAHALAKSHMI
ANTICIPATING HUGE PRESSURE on
healthcare systems during the current
Covid-19 pandemic along with growing
needforhealthcareinformation,healthtech
companieshavedecidedtostayaheadofthe
curveintermsofunderstandingthepoten-
tial risk as well as providing authentic and
validated information.A recent Forbes
report has said that voice-driven artificial
intelligence(voiceAI)canhelpcurethetime
shortageonbothendsofthespectrum.With
increased usage and aggregation of health
data,therecouldbealargershareofdecision
makingbasedonAItoensureamorerobust
healthcare system in the country.
“VoiceAIwill be a transformational tool
inhealthcareaccess.Knowledgeinterpreta-
tion and insightswould be enabled bydigi-
tal in healthcare.Voicewill put the use ofAI
on steroids,’’says Sangita Reddy,joint MD,
ApolloHospitalsGroupandpresident,Ficci.
ApolloHospitalshascreatedanAI-powered
BOTthatassessesanindividual’sriskofcon-
● CROWD CONTROL
Eye in the sky
Police forces in
Maharashtra, Assam deploy
drones for surveillance
during lockdown
FE BUREAU
AFTER THE BIG cities, law enforcement
agencies in Maharashtra and Assam are
making judicious use of drone technology
to enforce lockdown throughout their
respective cities and mitigate the spread of
Covid-19.PoliceforcesinSangli(Maharash-
tra) and Guwahati, Assam have deployed
drones,providedbyhomegrownunmanned
aerialvehicle(UAV)makerideaForge,forsur-
veillance of public spaces.
The drones provide real-time intelli-
gence to thecommandandcontrol centre,
localpatrolvansandgroundforces.Incase
any anomalies are observed, the vans or
groundforcesareimmediatelydispatched
to the incident sites and citizens are urged
to follow lockdown orders and maintain
social distancing. The drones also reduce
response times which is particularly use-
ful in times like these.They are also prov-
ingtobebeneficialinpreventingtheft and
unlawful activities.
A senior policeman from Sangli said,
“Thesedronesarehelpingusmonitorpub-
lic spaces and building terraces more
effectively. We are also able to optimise
resource deployment in areas which are
not covered by CCTV cameras and those
with narrow bylanes. Drones also help us
in ensuring that there is ample social dis-
tancingbetweenthecrowdsqueuingupin
front of pharmacies and grocery stores.”
Similarly,an official fromAssam Police
mentioned, “We are flying the drones
twice in the morning and twice in the
evening. We fly for a radius of 2-3 km
which covers most of the hotspots. So,we
are taking a lot less time and manpowerto
conduct surveillance operations, not to
mention that the drones are helping us
ensurethesafetyofourpersonnel.Regular
dronesurveillanceisalsoactingasastrong
deterrent against irregular movement.”
ideaForge CEO,Ankit Mehta said,“Our
drones are force multipliers as theyenable
authorities to cover a larger area with the
same manpower. We are committed to
saving lives and are glad that our drones
are empowering authorities to drive the
message of social distancing.”
Sangita Reddy, Joint MD, Apollo
Hospitals Group
Gaurav Gupta, co-founder,
Navia Life Care
tracting coronavirus.“We believe that this
will enable data based decision making in
today’s fast-changing healthcare environ-
ment. This AI-powered BOT is unique,
because it combines the expertise of our
Apollo doctors as well as leverages Apollo
Hospitals data, along with critical global
sourcesofhealthinformationsuchasWHO.”
For patients, interactive voice apps can
inform and teach better than the current
Gadgets
● NOISE-FREE HEADPHONES
These headphones are
built to communicate
They come loaded with
features and offer good
noise cancelling, sound
and call quality
SUDHIR CHOWDHARY
HEADPHONES ARE INCREASINGLY
being used during the ongoing forced
home stay of an overwhelming majority.
Noise-free headphones not only make
things quieter around us but also help us
tohearaudiobetter,whethermusic,phone
callsorsoundfrommoviesorTVshows.We
take a look at some perfect pairs:
Lumiford LongDrive HD90
Headphones (`1,500)
● REMOTE WORKING
Backups are a job worth doing
Five simple tips that will
help you keep your work
and home data safe
SUDHIR CHOWDHARY
WITH SO MANY of us are working from
homebecauseoftheCovid-19pandemic,
we can’t rely on IT to do it all for us, or to
show up at our desks with a smile and a
USBdrivefilledwithallthosepreciousfiles
fromaeonsago.Insuchascenario,itiscrit-
ical to have a secure backup of our data—
both organisational orpersonal.The good
news is that backup isn’t that hard to do
right—the hardest part is just getting
round to doing it properly. Paul Ducklin,
principalresearchscientistatUK-basedIT
security firm Sophos outlines five simple
tips that will help you to keep your work
and home data safe:
systemofhandouts,pamphletsandself-dri-
venresearchandfordoctors,voiceappscan
improve on old dictation systems, take
direction to complete tasks like recording
notes and ease complexbilling processes.
For instance, Navia Life Care, a health-
techstartupisbuildingpatientengagement
platformsformedicalproviders,focusingon
aspects of compliance, monitoring and
communication. It also provides voice-
based virtual assistant for healthcare
providers.GauravGupta,co-founder,Navia
This wireless headset has impressive
HD audio qualitywith Dual 5W powerful
drivers.Thewell-balancedHDsoundengi-
neering ensures no particular frequency
createsfatigueduringlistening.Itdelivers
a well-balanced sound range with deep
lows with its unique Dual Bass Dynamic
Diaphragms, clear mids and distort free
high frequency. This handy, sturdy and
lightweight V4.2 wireless speaker can be
yourideal sound companion.
SonyWH-1000XM2 (`21,994)
It is a good-sounding, comfortable
wireless headphone with effective noise
cancelling feature performing a good job
atblockingoutpersistentambientsound.
There’salsoasurroundsoundmodewhich
letsyou simulatetheeffectofaudiobeing
played within an arena, concert hall, etc.
Also, call quality through the built-in
microphone is good, and noise
cancellation is disabled tem-
porarilywhileyou’re on a call.
Bose Noise Cancelling
Headphones 700
(`34,500)
Bose Headphones
700 features an
advanced four-
microphone sys-
tem that picks up
and isolates your
voice while can-
celling the noise
Make it a regular practice
In the early days of PCs,the main rea-
son people made backups was because of
the sheer unreliability of hardware and
software.Fast forward to 2020; we face a
clear and present danger from data loss
due to malware, notably ransomware.A
regular and reliable backup process will
protect you from unexpected data loss of
anysort,includingcases–asmanypeople
will have experienced when coronavirus
lockdowns started and they couldn’t get
backintotheoffice–whereyourdataisn’t
lost,butyou can’t get at it anyway.
Don’t leave backups online
Youneedtoassume,ifyourbackupsare
accessible online,that the crookswill find
themandwipethemout(orstealthemand
thenwipethemout)aspartoftheirattack.
So, think of live snapshots and real-time
backupsthatyoukeeponlineassecondary
copies, and make sure you also keep true
backup copies offline.Whether you’re at
home or at work, you can often do that
Life Care, says,“Voice AI is currently being
used to create digital health records for
patients.OnourNaviEMRplatform,doctors
areabletodictatepatientmedicalrecordsto
their phones, tablets or computers where
oursystemisabletocapturemedicallyrele-
vantterminology,contextualiseintoappro-
priatecomponentssuchasdiagnosis,symp-
toms,medications,investigations,etc.,and
create a digital record. Further, our system
learns from the doctor’s behaviour and
starts suggesting commonly spoken/writ-
around you. It is very comfortable, has
excellent noise cancelling andwork really
wellasaheadsetformakingcalls.Playback
and volume controls on this Bose device
areimplementedthroughtouch,withthe
forward part of the right earcup sensitive
to gestures and taps.The ability of these
headphonestocreatesilenceinotherwise
noisy environments is noteworthy.
Whetheryou are listening at lowvolumes
or really want to turn it up, your music
sounds just as it should.
Plantronics SHR2083-01
Headphones (`14,462)
The binaural SHR2083-01 Cir-
cumaural Headset from Plantronics
delivers clear communication.With
its bidirectional noise-cancelling
microphone,it is ideal for extremely
loud environments from crowded
grocery markets to airport termi-
nals.This headset radically cuts
externalnoiseanddistractions,
allowing sharper focus on the
call and discerning weaker
sounds. Sound reproduction is
simply by unplugging backup devices or
explicitly logging out from cloud backup
accounts.Add two-factor authentication
toyourcloud backup accounts.
Don’t make backups that everyone
can read
A removable drive stored in a safe-
deposit box at your bank is an excellent
WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
NEED OF THE HOUR
❝
UB Pravin Rao, COO, Infosys & chairman, Nasscom
These are challenging times for the Indian IT industry,
as we deal with an unprecedented situation. Our
industry, more than ever, needs a focused approach
towards building resilience & upskilling its workforce.
ten data points, for the doctor to simply
select from.’’
VikramThaploo,CEO,TelehealthApollo
Hospitals,saysAIhasbeenshowntobevery
effective in predicting and diagnosing dis-
eases.It also helps reduce the rate of misdi-
agnosis and medical errors, which are
responsible for more than 5 million deaths
inthecountryannually.Voice-basedAIapps
canbeusedtoschedulesamedayvideocon-
sults with healthcare professionals and
coordinatethedeliveryofprescriptionmed-
ication to patients who are financially and
geographically compromised. “AI algo-
rithms can also be trained to read medical
recordsandrecommendtreatmentoptions
thatarespecifictothepatient'sneedsalong
with information on its availability. We
should build a platform that leverages the
power of AI to check if the patient profile
meetsthecriteriaforaclinicaltrial.Telemed-
ical apps can be trained on large databases
ofmedicalconditionsandsymptomstosug-
gestwhatailmentapatienthasbasedonthe
information theysupplythe bot,” he adds.
AI has already proved to be a lifesaver in
caseofhigh-riskpregnancies.“Deployment
of robotic process automation (RPA) solu-
tions combinedwithAIandMLalgorithms,
helpsdoctorsidentifythepatient’s riskfac-
tors in minimal time and assign the case to
therelevantspecialist;thereby,reducingthe
cycle-time by 95%.This makes it easier to
ensuretimelypregnancyriskevaluationand
treatment,”says Manish Bharti, president,
UiPath,India and SAARC.
excellent.
Philips In-earANC Neckband
(`11,990)
Philips in-ear wireless ANC neckband
(TAPN505BK) comes packed with
advanced technology, such as four noise
sensors that actively cancel 95% of back-
ground noise,13mm drivers for detailed,
balancedsound.Itgivesupto14hoursplay
time (10 hours with active noise cancel-
ing).The lightweight neckband makes it
easy to keep these headphones close.
There’salsoLine-incableportforwiredlis-
tening,built-inmicwithechocancellation
for clear audio,plus rapid charge; you can
charge forfive minutes and get two hours
play.A single charge takes 1.5 hours, and
gives 14 hours of playtime.
waytoprotectyourmostvitalbackups,but
that’suselessifyou’reincoronaviruslock-
down.Fortunately,there’s an reliable way
to protectyouroffsite data,whetherit’s in
the cloud or on a removable device, and
that’s to encrypt it before it leaves your
own laptop or network.To help you out,
Windows has BitLocker, Macs have File-
Vault,andLinuxhasLUKSandcryptsetup,
whichcanbeusedtocreateencrypteddri-
ves andpartitions.
Don’t neglect the“restore”part
You haven’t reallybacked anything up
unless you can restore it.Treat restoring
backupslikeafiredrill:youaregoingdown
thefireescape,outintothestreetandget-
ting clear of the building when there isn’t
an actual fire so that if the real thing ever
happens,you aren’t fighting against both
fear and unfamiliarity at the same time.
Testyourself:workouthowlongittakesto
get the backup ready for restoring, how
longittakestoextracteverything,andhow
reliably and quicklyyou can restore just a
single file without restoring everything
else,whichyou might notwant.
Don’t put it off until tomorrow
Theonlybackupyouwilleverregret…is
the oneyou didn’t make.
❝
● DOCTOR ON CALL
Telemedicine
in demand
Mainstreaming telehealth
to tackle a public health
crisis
Vikram Thaploo
WITH HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS across the
world overwhelmed by the sheer scale of
the Covid-19 pandemic, conventional
healthcare is finding it hard to address the
crisis. Shortage of doctors, hospital beds,
ventilators and protective equipment has
crippled the healthcare response to per-
haps the most serious global disease out-
break to hit theworld afterthe Spanish flu
of 1918. Even countries like the UK, US,
Italy and Spain known for robust health-
care infrastructures are finding it hard to
grapple with the disease. In India, where
healthcare systems are already overbur-
dened,alarge outbreakthreatenstospella
disasterlikenoother.Itisimportantthere-
fore to act timely to leverage the use of
alternative processes like telehealth and
turnthemfromstop-gaparrangementsto
mainstream interventions.
The demand for telemedicine has
alreadysurgedgloballyas mosthealthcare
providers open the video consultation
route to treatment. In India, the govern-
ment acted timely to issue for the first
time guidelines forhealthcare practition-
ersgivingconsultationsthroughtelemed-
icine. This has boosted the sphere by giv-
ing it statutory protection and removing
ambiguitiesandlackofclarityontheissue.
At Apollo Healthcare,we have witnessed a
100% jump in demand for tele consulta-
tion over the past month. The Covid-19
pandemic will go down in history as a
turning point in the journey of telemedi-
cine, given the fact that it is the first time
that the use of telemedicine is being co-
opted on a large scale to address a public
health crisis.Telehealth will act as a major
cog in the wheel of effective corona virus
management and containment.
Treating the home quarantined
With scarce resources making it
impossible to test and treat all patients in
the hospital settings, finding alternative
ways to isolate and monitor a large num-
ber of patients is required. Across the
world, most infected people with mild to
moderate symptoms have been asked to
self quarantine themselves at homewhile
hospitals are taking in only the seriously
ill patients needing artificial respiratory
support.ThisiswhereIndia needs to lever-
age telehealth services in a major way in
monitoring and advising such people.
The governments in partnership with
private players must actively encourage
people to seek consultations through the
telehealth services. Taking the telemedi-
cine route will help in filtering and short
listing the most seriouspatientswho need
hospitalization. Doctors can check the
symptoms in patients through tele-con-
ferencing,advice them about medication,
precautions as well as tests required and
refer them to a healthcare facility in case
theirsymptoms aggravate.Arrangements
must also be made for pathologists to be
able to collect samples from home.
Addressing other health issues
remotely
At a timewhen all healthcare resources
have been consumed in addressing the
corona virus threat, a large number of
patients with other health conditions, be
it chronic diseases or acute conditions
requiring medical help are at loss. It is
important therefore that telehealth facil-
ities are used effectivelyto ensure contin-
uum of care to people with existing ill-
nesses.This will also mitigate their risk of
contracting the dreaded infection while
travelling to clinics and hospitals.
Telemedicine providers and hospitals
must make specialists in different
domains available to patients through
telemedicineservices.Thiswillensurethat
patients with other health conditions
requiringmedicalsupportarenotignored.
The writer is CEO,Apollo Tele Health
 10 FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Markets
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020
Money Matters
G-SEC
The benchmark yield 0.026%
rose due to selling
pressure
6.380 6.441
Mar 23 Apr 8
`/$
The rupee depreciated 0.94%
on global cues
75.63
76.29
Inverted scale
Mar 23 Apr 8
=/$
C that the government may announce fur-
The euro fell against 0.18%
the US dollar
1.0872
1.0726
Mar 23 Apr 8
Quick
View
HDFC Bank’s mobile
ATMs in Mum, Noida
HDFC BANK on Wednesday deployed
mobile ATMs in Mumbai and Noida
to help customers during the
ongoing lockdown.These ATMs will
be open in each location for a specific
period.During this period,the ATMs
will cover 3-5 stops in a day between
10 am and 5 pm The bank said it
plans to extend the service to the rest
of the country shortly.The locations
for deployment are being identified
in consultation with local municipal
authorities.
Bank of Maha launches
special credit facilities
BANK OF Maharashtra on Wednesday
said it has launched credit facilities
for its existing corporates,retail and
agriculture sector borrowers to tide
over their funding mismatches amid
coronavirus outbreak.For existing
home loan borrowers,the lender is
providing personal loans for all
standard housing loan accounts,
where security charge is completed
and repayment started.
BhartiAXA Life appoints
Parag Raja as MD&CEO
BHARTI AXA Life Insurance on
Wednesday announced the
appointment of Parag Raja as MD &
CEO.The appointment will be subject
to the requisite approval from the
Irdai,Bharti AXA Life Insurance said.
● INTERVIEW: NITIN CHUGH, MD & CEO, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
‘We have to be better prepared for post-Covid-19 scenario’
THE COVID-19 CRISIS is a good opportu-
nity for businesses to plan for the future,as
a lot of business models and customer
behaviour are expected to change in the
post-crisis scenario,says Nitin Chugh,MD
and CEO,Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.In an
interview with Hariprasad Radhakrish-
nan,Chugh said that the bank has adopted
an opt-out repayment moratorium policy
for its microbanking customers as they
would need it the most.Excerpts:
How do you think the lockdown would
affect the asset quality of your microfi-
nancebook?Whathasbeentheimpacton
yourruralborrowers?
Borrowers have been affected every-
where,andnotjusttheruralborrowers.How-
ever,in our case,most of our borrowers run
theirownbusinesses,whileaverysmallpro-
portionofborrowersaredependentontheir
dailyearnings.As andwhen the lockdown is
over,thebusinessesshouldbeabletogetback
on track faster than people who are depen-
dentondailywages.Itishardtosayhowthey
are going to be impacted.Considering that
we have had a well-run book all this time,I
thinkwewillbebetteroffandwell-prepared.
Haveyourrepayments been affected?
We had to stop our microfinance repay-
● THIRD-WORST PERFORMER IN ASIA
Rupee loses 70 paise to close
at a record low of 76.34
Heavy dollar-buying by
banks and expectation of
bigger stimulus package
put pressure on rupee
FE BUREAU
Mumbai, April 8
THE RUPEE ON Wednesday fell by 70
paise to close at a record low of 76.34
against the dollar. Currency dealers say
heavy dollar-buying by custodian banks
and negative sentiment on the domestic
currencyin the wake of increasing Covid-
19 cases in the country that could lead to
the extension of the lockdown put pres-
sure on the rupee.
Dealers also indicated that there is a
widespread expectation in the market
ther stimulus measures which could be
larger in quantum compared to the mea-
sures announced earlier and the subse-
quent possibility of the fiscal deficit get-
ting hit by a wide margin is also weighing
on the domestic currency.
The dollar index, which tracks the
strength of the US dollar against a basket
of US trade partners’currencieswas trad-
ing around 100.11 on Wednesday
evening, having come down from the
highs of 102.82 seen on March 20.
Abhishek Goenka, CEO at IFA Global,
told FE that therewas huge dollar-buying
Spooked by new Covid
cases,markets end in red
FE BUREAU
Mumbai, April 8
AFTER POSTING ITS single biggest day
gainonTuesday,Indianequitiesloststeam
onWednesday,asnewCovid-19casescon-
tinued to be reported.The 30-share index
Sensex was down by 0.58%, or 173.25
points,to close at 29,893.96.
Broader Nifty50 was down by 43.45
points, or 0.49%, to close at 8,748.75.
Global tally of the infections has crossed
14 lakh,with over82,000 deaths.While in
India, the number of cases crossed 5,000
with 150 deaths.
Siddhartha Khemka, head-retail
research,MotilalOswalFinancialServices,
said: “Investors are worried that the lock-
down in the country could be extended
further, considering rising cases in cities
like Mumbai,Delhi and otherstates.Thus,
marketwould continue to remainvolatile
with swing on eitherside as itwould track
global markets along with the trend in
coronavirus cases. For markets to sustain
an uptrend, more positive news on the
virus containment as well as lifting of
lockdown is needed.”
The Nifty50 crossed 9,000 points
intraday but gave up its gains towards the
second half of the session. The F&O vol-
umes on NSE on Wednesday stood at
`11.62lakhcroreandthecashmarketvol-
ume stood at `57,593 crore as opposed to
the 6-month average of `14.65 lakh crore
in F&O market and `39,134 crore in the
cash market. The market will be closely
looking at how the businesses will align
themselves after the Covid-19 pandemic
is contained and howtheywould reinvent
themselves in the long-run.Companies,in
ments a day before the lockdown was
announced. On March 23 itself, our field
operationswerestopped.Thereisaverysmall
proportionthatcomesthroughdigitalrepay-
ments.For all practical purposes,on micro-
banking,therearenorepaymentsrightnow.
Inanycase,theloansareundermoratorium.
HowisUjjivanrollingoutthemoratorium
toitsborrowers?
ForMarch,most payments had already
come.TherecoveryisdueforAprilandMay,
and for those who have not repaid in
March. For microbanking, we have
extended it for everybody as they would
need it the most. For all the other busi-
`/$ (Inverted scale)
67.30
72.91
76.34
69.80
72.30
74.80
77.30
Oct 1, 2018 Apr 8, 2020
by custodian banks that cater to foreign
portfolio investors on Wednesday.“The
dollar-buying by custodian banks could
be because of the some capital market
outflows or due to some ECB hedges. At
the same time,we feel that RBI is unlikely
to have intervened in the currency mar-
kets on Wednesday. Both these factors
combined have put pressure on the
rupee,”Goenka said.
The rupee lost 6.5% so far in 2020,
making it the third worst performer in
Asia after the Indonesian rupiah and the
Thai baht. Foreign portfolio investors
(FPIs) have pulled out over $17 billion
from the Indian capital markets since the
beginning of March.Meanwhile,crude oil
prices have also rebounded from the lows
seen a fewweeks back.Brent crude which
was trading at as low as $21.65 per barrel
Nifty50
9,180
Intra-day, Apr 8
9,030
8,748.75
8,880
8,730
8,688.9
8,580
Open Close
orderto ensure thattheirbusinessesfunc-
tion smoothly, will have to maintain liq-
uidity on its balance sheet.
FPIs remained net buyers in the Indian
equitymarkets onWednesdayand bought
equities worth $254.5 million. Domestic
institutional investors,on the otherhand,
sold equities worth $230.2 million. FPIs
have, so far, in April sold equities worth
$660 million. The biggest gainers on
Nifty50wereVedanta,Sun Pharma,Cipla,
NTPC and Bharti Infratel, which were up
by5.4%,4.8%,4.61%.4.60% and4.26%,
respectively.The biggest loserswere Shree
Cement, TCS, Titan, Hindalco and ICICI
Bank,downby3.8%,3.79%,3.74%,2.6%
and 2.59%,respectively.
According to Deven Choksey, MD,
KRChokseyInvestmentManagers,theral-
liesthatthemarketiswitnessingismainly
due to short-covering in derivatives.“The
banking stocks on Wednesday rallied ear-
lier in the day due to short-covering,” he
said.NiftyBankendedthe day0.6%lower.
nesses,theofferisforall,butthecustomers
havetomakearequest.Wearereachingout
to customers, and some of them are con-
tacting us. We are taking these requests
fromcustomerswhoareinneed,andmake
the changes in the system.Formicrobank-
ing, it is opt-out, but all other customers
have to opt-in for the moratorium.
What is the bank’s strategyto handle the
crisis?
Our strategyis to ensure thewell-being
of our employees and customers at this
time.We have put in a set of empowered
teams in place.We are making a lot of out-
reach to our customers,offering them free
doctorconsultationsnearlytwoweeksago.
Our senior management and HR team are
checkingonouremployees’well-being.Our
branches are operational with very limited
staff.Businesscontinuityplanisfunctional
andATMsareworking.Wearealsointouch
with the deposit side of our customers.We
encourage our customers to use digital
channels.This time is a good opportunity
forus to plan fora differentwayof running
ourbusinessesinthefuture,becausealotof
thingswillchangeafterthis.Wewillseealot
of changes in business models and cus-
tomer behaviour.We have to be better pre-
pared forthe post-crisis scenario.
during the end of March has rebounded
significantly over the last few days. After
surging 3.4% in intra-day trade on
Wednesday,Brent crude pared much of its
gains and was trading at $32.02 per bar-
rel,up 0.5%.
Rahul Gupta, head of research-cur-
rencyat EmkayGlobal Financial Services,
said he expects the rupee to depreciate to
77.20 levels.
“There are reports stating that further
stimulus measures are likely to be
announced by the government.The mar-
ket is expecting this stimulus package to
be about `2-3 lakh crore. If that comes,
the fiscal deficit is definitelygoing to take
a hit.Theseworries are showing up on the
domestic currencytaking it to an all-time
closing low. Crude oil prices have also
rebounded recently,”Gupta said.
RBI declines
additional
provisioning
relief to banks
ANKUR MISHRA
Mumbai, April 8
THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) has
refused to grant 20% additional provi-
sioning relief to banks for the unresolved
cases as per the June 7, 2019 circular of
RBI,sources close to development told FE.
Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) had
earlier approached RBI for the deferral of
additional provisioning till June quarter.
The regulator has made clear that all the
measures announced by it were strictly to
provide Covid-19 relief,the source added.
Banks are facing provisioning pressure of
at least `25,000-30,000 crore in the
March quarter as most of the cases where
inter-creditor agreements (ICA) were
signed remain unresolved.
According to the June 7, 2019 circular
of RBI,banks will have to make additional
20% provisioning forthe caseswhere res-
olution could not be reached overa period
of 210 days, after signing the inter-credi-
tor agreement. State Bank of India alone
may have to provision around `13,000
crore for unresolved cases,as per sources.
“Banks can still make individual repre-
sentation to RBI for provisioning. How-
ever, the IBA will not pursue this matter
further,”a seniorbankertold FE.The relax-
ation in additional provisioning was one
of the five requests IBA had submitted to
the regulator on March 20.
“It is a huge disappointment from RBI
to overlook demand on provisioning
relief,”anotherbankerwho did notwish to
be named told FE.
When do you expect disbursements to
pickup?
It is too earlyto sayright now.If I have to
givetop-uploanstomyrepeatcustomers,it
wouldnotrequireaface-to-faceinteraction,
and a phone interaction may be good
enough.Maybe,theycan be restored faster.
If it is a new customer,a face-to-face inter-
actionwillberequired.Afieldvisitisrequired
forloanagainstpropertyorabusinessloan,
which is not happening anytime soon.We
will see how it plays out. Our level of pre-
parednesswill continue to be high.
Doyouthinktherecouldbeissuesaround
deposit stability in small finance banks
duetothecrisis?
I don’t want to generalise, but small
finance banks are as secure, stable and
trustworthyasanyothercategoryofbanks.
If at all,we have seen these worries playing
out in some of the larger private sector
banks and,once in a while,in public sector
banks also. Now, the RBI governor has
assured that people should not have to
worry about their deposits in any of these
banks.Smallfinancebanksarefarmorereg-
ulatedthanuniversalbanks.Ujjivanhasthe
highestcapitaladequacyratioof28.3%.We
arestrongintermsofportfolioquality,gov-
ernance and management.
WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
MOBILE ATMs
❝
S Sampathkumar, group head-liability products, HDFC Bank
During this difficult time, we want to do our part to help
everyone #Stay Home and #Stay Safe. Our Mobile ATM
facilities will help our customers and the general public get
access to easy cash withdrawal and other facilities as we
stand together to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Bond investors to test yield
comfort in first auction
REUTERS
Mumbai, April 8
INDIANBONDMARKETSaresettodemand
punishing highyields at the Union govern-
ment’s first auction of the fiscal year on
Thursdayastheytestboththegovernment’s
ability to pay as well as the central bank’s
intent to cap interest rates.
Thefirstauction fortheyearthatbegins
in April occurs against the backdrop of ris-
ingmarketyieldsasdomesticinvestorsfret
over illiquiditywrought by the coronavirus
pandemicandheavyborrowingbythegov-
ernment.
Yields on 10-year bonds have climbed
nearly 50 basis points, to around 6.44%,
since late March,when the RBI delivered a
bigger-than-hoped 75 bps rate cut and
infused large amounts of cash into the sys-
tem.Thebenchmarkshort-termpolicyrate
is at 4.4%.
Whiletraderswouldnotrevealtheexact
pricestheywouldpayfor10-year,2-yearand
40-yearbondsatThursday’sauction,several
said theywould likelybid at current market
yields. “There is still need for RBI to
announce more measures to support mar-
ketliquidityandtomaintaineasierfinancial
conditions,inordertoaccommodate10tril-
lion rupees of excess borrowing by centre
and state governments,” said A Prasanna,
economistatICICISecuritiesPrimaryDeal-
ership. The government is set to borrow
`4.88 trillion ($63.9 billion),or about 63%
of its full-year target, for the April to Sep-
temberperiod,withitsfirst`190billionsale
scheduledforThursday.
Traders say that unless the central bank
is willing to offer such high yields, under-
writerstotheauctionwouldbeforcedtobuy
somebondsforthefirsttimesinceSeptem-
IDBI Bank plans to raise
`7,500 cr via rupee bond
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, April 8
PRIVATE SECTOR LENDER IDBI Bank on
Wednesday said it has targeted to raise up
to `7,500 crore throughrupee bond in the
current fiscal year.
The Board of Directors, at its meeting
held on Wednesday, has approved the
rupee bond borrowing limit of `7,500
crore for FY21 to be borrowed in one or
more tranches,IDBI Bank said in a regula-
tory filing. The borrowing programme
comprises additional Tier-1 bonds up to
`3,000 crore, Basel-III Tier-2 bonds up to
`3,500 crore and senior/ infrastructure
BoB launches Covid-19 personal
loans for existing customers
BANK OF BARODA (BoB) on Wednesday
announced that it will extend a Covid-19-
related personal loan product for existing
retail loan customers,including home and
autoloancustomersandloansagainstprop-
erty(LAP) borrowers.
Customers may avail of this product till
September30totideoveranyliquiditymis-
matchcausedbythenationwidelockdown.
“The customers may approach their exist-
ingbranchestoavailthispersonalloanupto
amaximumlimitof`5lakhinahassle-free
manner,” the public sectorlendersaid.
The interest rate of the Covid-19 per-
sonal loanswill be linked to the repo-linked
ANALYST CORNER
PNB Housing Fin: Maintain
‘neutral’with TP of `190
MOTILAL OSWAL INSTITUTIONAL
EQUITIES
PNB HOUSING Finance (PNBHF)
disclosed some key details of the
quarter gone by in an exchange
release. The company ended the fiscal
year with AUM of ~`840 bn (-3% q-o-
q/-1% y-o-y). According to our
calculations, disbursements during the
quarter would have been `35-40 bn
(down 50-60% y-o-y).
In our view, disbursements are likely
to be muted due to lower incremental
demand post Covid-19, scale-back in
corporate lending and high leverage.
The company raised deposits of `92
bn in FY20 (~`15 bn in Q4FY20), note
that the share of deposits stood at
19% of total borrowings in M9FY20
(+200bp q-o-q). On an incremental
basis, PNBHF is able to raise 1-3 year
retail deposits at 7.5-7.6% (down 30-
40bp over the past six months).
Note that as of FY19, 82% of
deposits were retail, thus adding to
the granularity of the deposit portfolio.
The company ended the year with `76
bn of liquidity on the balance sheet
(ex-SLR investments). In addition, it has
`40 bn of undrawn lines from banks
outstanding. Note that this was after
❝
The first auction for the year that
begins in April occurs against the
backdrop of rising market yields as
domestic investors fret over
illiquidity wrought by the
coronavirus pandemic and heavy
borrowing by the government
ber.“Thisauctionwillbedifficult.Thereisno
demand at these levels in government
bonds going by the volume,” said Murthy
Nagarajan, head of fixed income at Tata
Asset Management.
Trading volumes in recent weeks have
been around a tenth of the average,accord-
ing to clearing house data, and the high
volatility has prompted the RBI to halve
trading hours. RBI has in the past aggres-
sivelyboughtbondsviaopenmarketopera-
tions to ease pressure on yields, spurring
hopes forsimilarsupport this time.
Still,at an auction of state development
loans (SDL) on Tuesday,19 states managed
to raise only 325.6 billion rupees against a
planned375billion,andyieldssurgedacross
the board with the Kerala government
agreeingtopay8.96%onits15-yearpaper.
“Between the last and current auction,
yield on 10-year SDLs have increased by
more than 50 bps,” said Sameer Narang,
chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
A calendar outlining the RBI’s plans for
open market operations would help give
markets some clarity and thus ease yields,
he said.Participants are hopeful the central
bankwill provide support not onlythrough
secondarymarketpurchases,butalsoinpri-
mary auctions which are permitted under
extraordinary circumstances, DBS Bank
economists said in a note.
bonds up to `1,000 crore bywayof private
placement during 2020-21.
Separately, it said that the board of
directors has also approved the proposal
to sell bank's stake of up to 27% in its life
insurance joint venture IFLI.
“The Board of Directors, at its meet-
ing... has approved in principle the pro-
posal to sell IDBI Bank’s stake in IDBI Fed-
eral Life Insurance Company (IFLI) to the
extent of 23-27%,”the bank said.IFLI is a
three way joint venture between IDBI
Bank (48%), Federal Bank (26%) and
Europe’s insurance major Ageas (26%).
StockofIDBIBankclosedat`19.85apiece
on the BSE,down 1% from previous close.
lending rate – Baroda repo-linked lending
rate,plusstrategicpremium,plus2.75%per
annum,with monthly rest, the bank said.
Theminimumborrowinglimitforthefacil-
ityis `25,000.
Auto loans,LAPand allvariants of home
loanscustomerswhohavebankedwithBoB
foratleastsixmonthsareeligibletoavailthis
facility.Additional eligibility requirements
are that theirloans must be fullydisbursed,
with moratorium periods completed and
minimumthree months’instalmentspaid,
and their account must never have slipped
in the SMA-1 categoryuntil February29.
–FE BUREAU
net borrowing repayment of `25 bn
during the quarter. Loan spread is
expected to be within the guided
range of 2.1-2.15% for the year.
PNBHF entered into an agreement
for a $75-mn ECB from Japan
International Cooperation Agency
with $25 mn co-financing from
Citibank. The loan is for a five-year
tenure and for providing affordable
housing finance to low-income
households. The past 4-6 quarters
have been tough for PNBHF on both
liability and asset sides.
The company has not been able to
raise adequate money from capital
markets and relied largely on bank
loans and securitization for incremental
debt capital. High securitisation
volumes have also boosted earnings in
FY20 due to upfront income
recognition under Ind-AS. On the asset
side, the company has witnessed
slowing growth and an increase in the
GNPL ratio (up 100bp to 1.45%).
Recovery of stressed corporate
accounts would now be delayed due
to the impact of Covid-19 on the real
estate sector. PNBHF is likely to deliver
high-single-digit AUM CAGR with RoE
of 12-14%. Maintain 'neutral' with a TP
of `190 (0.3x FY22E BVPS).