Adani is giving jitters to South Indian cement firms
India’s richest man, Gautam Adani, created quite a stir in May this year when he decided to enter the cement business with the acquisition of Holcim AG’s operations—Ambuja Cements and ACC Ltd. In one stroke, it became the second largest cement producer in the country but Adani wasn’t done yet. Close on the heels of the deal, he announced his intention to become the No.1 and did not rule out more acquisitions. N. Madhavan reported on how Adani’s entry is making companies in the highly fragmented southern market nervous. Read More
You might also like
Why IT attrition is high despite a risk of recession
Silver shines on fresh demand outlook, but gold glitters brighter
Textile companies on long road to recovery
Next CEO must understand Ujjivan objectives: Ghosh
Is natural farming the future of food?
Fresh off the fields, Sayantan Bera narrated the story on how early adopters of natural farming, based on new age soil microbiology, have seen higher yields and low cultivation costs. It has enthused small and marginal farmers who spend significantly on chemical inputs. At the same time, this method has more than piqued the interest of the government as it could provide a way to keep fertilizer subsidy in check. Sounds like a win-win? Well, scientific validation is still awaited. Read More
When the 100cc motorbike rides into a downturn
There is something peculiar about today’s domestic automobile industry. While super luxury cars and SUVs are flying off the shelves, the bread and butter commuter motorcycles, which represents the other end of the spectrum, is battling a protracted slowdown. Symbolic of the economy’s K shaped recovery in the post pandemic era, low demand for motorcycles has significant consequences. For this piece, Alisha Sachdev travelled to the hinterland to understand what it means to own a motorcycle, how it changes lives, and why consumers are not lapping them up as they did in the past. Read More
At Mercedes India, a financing mess
Bad loans and rising non performing assets (NPAs) hit Daimler Financial Services that finances dealers and customers of Mercedes Benz India. In this report, Shayan Ghosh investigated how top officials at the firm were hand in glove with errant dealers. By assessing internal documents and speaking to a number of insiders, Ghosh established numerous transgressions, including a refusal to take prompt action against defaulters and ever-greening of loans. As a result, the company’s net NPA ratio shot up to 17.5% in fiscal 2021. Read More
Byju Raveendran’s moment of reckoning
Besieged by internal business challenges and a potential valuation squeeze, 2022 was not a memorable year for Byju Raveendran. In this exhaustive piece, Ranjani Raghavan chronicled the many issues that plague edtech firm Byju’s—from the lack of a dedicated chief financial officer to mounting losses at one of its many acquisitions, Whitehat Jr. The latter is a major drain on the company’s finances and has led to even investors asking tough questions. A couple of months after the story was published, Byju’s raised $250 million in fresh funding. But, it is also laying off employees to put its house in order. Read More
New poaching war @coaching city
With the shadow of the pandemic receding, Kota, the epicentre of India’s coaching industry, is buzzing again. Devina Sengupta camped in the city for many days to chronicle a tectonic shift in the landscape of the city—the older centres are facing tough competition from new ed-tech firms like Unacademy. Resisting the charge is Allen, the biggest player in the market. It is fighting a battle on two fronts—retaining teachers (with astronomical salaries) and acquiring students (with deep discounts). Allen, meanwhile, has learnt new tricks of the trade, like offering Esops (employee stock ownership plans) to teachers. Read More
The curious case of SBM Bank’s growth
It is barely four years old but the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) has become a darling of fintechs—it powers nearly four dozen firms and their products. In this widely read piece, Arti Singh reported on how SBM created a market by being less fussy with startup founders. The bank takes much less time to onboard partners unlike the big banks that are known to sit on the files for weeks on end. However, the good times may be over soon. Stricter regulations for fintechs, going ahead, may force SBM to let go of some of the aggression. Read More
The little-known fund house disrupting India’s MFs
In the ever expanding world of mutual funds, a little known fund house, Quant Mutual Fund, has beaten the Goliaths of the industry by topping various categories in 2020 and 2021. Neil Borate wrote on how Quant’s riskier philosophy of buy-and-sell trading also flies in the face of the usual tenet of bottom-up research and a buy-and-hold approach of the industry at large. Quant’s investors, however, aren’t complaining. Its enduring success is now drawing attention and is a challenge of sorts to the industry. Read More
In search of the average Indian woman
According to the National Family Health Survey, an average Indian woman is married; lives in a village; is under 30 years of age; attended school for 8-9 years; is likely to belong to the other backward community (OBC) and unemployed. But does she have a face? Tauseef Shahidi scrolled through hundreds of profiles before he travelled to meet Suneeta Devi in Kantewa village of Rajasthan. Her story is the story of every rural Indian woman—of unrealised dreams and unfulfilled aspirations. It is also one of hope. Devi, who has a 4-year-old daughter, is comfortable with her marrying outside her caste when she grows up. Read More
A look inside one of the most unsafe workplaces
The construction sector is one of the largest employer of unorganized workforce in the country but it is also one of the most unsafe. After four workers died at a construction site in Noida, Sumant Banerji investigated the abysmal safety standards and blatant flouting of laws in the industry. The sector is structured with thousands of sub contractors that ensure safety always takes a back seat. The wafer- thin margins of the contractors do not give them scope to invest in safety either. The big fish at the top always gets away. Read More
What nobody tells you when you are buying a house
It is a story that is relatable to most new home buyers, or even those living on rent. Most of us consider the price, location or developer while buying or renting property. But resident welfare associations (RWAs), with their politics and idiosyncrasies, can shape one’s experience of living in an apartment complex. Rich with anecdotes, writer Madhurima Nandy highlighted how many RWAs have failed in maintenance of apartment complexes leading to a fall in their prices. On many occasions, they overstep their brief, betraying prejudice against single men and women as also pet owners, resulting in unreasonable and stringent restrictions. Read More
Small town India is where Bollywood goes to die
Bollywood is fast losing appeal with its most loyal fanbase—the youth in north India’s small towns. As the spate of flops suggests, this is turning into a major problem. Lata Jha travelled to several small towns to speak to young film watchers. In this article, she narrated the story of how the Gen Z now sees greater appeal and aspirational value in Hollywood action and superhero flicks. Also, the grand spectacle of dubbed versions of south Indian movies. Besides, there is a growing weariness with Bollywood’s penchant at social messaging, be it on homosexuality or live-in relationships. Read More
The true story of a fake network
Shell companies for financial frauds and tax evasion is a recurring theme for the government. And, in this investigative piece, Tauseef Shahidi narrated the inside story of a Gurgaon-based Chinese firm, Jilian Consultants. Using a pattern of dummy directors as fronts, Jilian created over two dozen companies that are being investigated by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office. These companies are suspected of being involved in loan app frauds, crypto investment scams, fake job offers, and even dating scams. Shahidi gave a ringside view of how investigators are tightening the noose around the culprits. Read More
The mystery of Indian trade’s missing billions
There is a gaping $10 billion hole in India’s trade with China—a mismatch between what China claims to have exported versus what India says it has received at the ports. Sumant Banerji’s investigation found unscrupulous importers resort to under-invoicing to evade taxes. Taxmen are aware of it, and multiple government departments are investigating the fraud. But the story also narrated how lack of coordination between the departments, and the lack of resources, is hampering the process. A cat and mouse game is being played in the shadows, one where the tax authorities have met with little success. Read More
Sandeep Kapoor’s art of returns on patronage
In a bizarre development in June, venture capital (VC) firm Sequoia Capital, cautioned its portfolio companies against doing business with Algo Legal, a law firm run by its former counsel Sandeep Kapoor. It quickly graduated into a bitter legal slugfest. In this piece, Varun Sood went beyond the news to unearth a litany of conflict of interest concerns throughout Kapoor’s tenure at the firm. He also raised questions on Sequoia’s vigilance, or the lack of it, against potential abuse of power. Read More
Elsewhere in Mint
In Opinion, Pradeep S. Mehta argues that courts should consider economic impact of verdicts. Himanshu tells why we have been unable to double the income of farmers. Pankaj Mishra says 2022 was the year of the Left's global revival.
