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ANUPAMCHATTERJEENewDelhi, July 17

SOLAR AND WIND powerplants inAndhraPradesh,withaggregate capacity of 8,000megawatt (MW),have claimedthat their under-recoveryowingtoinadequatetariffpay-ments by the state discomshave reached a staggering`5,000crore.Whathascausedthecrisisis

thestategovernment’sdecisionto retrospectively amend thepower purchase pacts, citingmalpractices.AsperAndhraPradeshHigh

Court’sSeptember2019order,thestate-ownedpowerdistrib-ution companies (discoms) arepaying these plants at a provi-sional rate of `2.43/unit,against the `4.84/unit tariffapproved by the state powerregulatorearlierunderthepre-vious state government, lead-ingtothefinancialstressoftherenewablepowerproducers.Toaddtotheirwoes,thestategov-ernment is amending its solar

andwindpowerpolicies,effec-tivelywithdrawing the incen-tives which were offered totheseplants earlier topromoterenewableenergyinthestate.Suspending older provi-

sions,thestategovernmenthasaskedtheelectricityregulatortolevytransmissionanddistribu-tionchargesforwheelingpowerforwindandsolarplantswhichsells electricity directly toindustrial consumers throughthe open access mechanism.Thiscanraisepowercostsbyasmuch as `5/unit (`3/unitwheeling charges, `1.5/unitcross subsidy charges and

`0.5/unitdistributioncharges),rendering these sources unvi-ableforopenaccessconsumersresulting in these projects los-ingcustomers.The state government,

againsttheadviceoftheUnionpowerministry,had formed acommittee to revise “abnor-mally pricedwind and solar”power purchase agreements(PPAs),sayingtheremighthavebeen linked with “malafideintentions” and could have“resultedinunjustifiedburdenontheconsumersofthestate”.

ContinuedonPage2

IN THE RED REDX PLAN

FE BUREAUNewDelhi, July 17

IN WHAT CAN be seen as anembarrassment for the Tele-com Regulatory Authority ofIndia (Trai), the Telecom Dis-putesSettlementandAppellateTribunal (TDSAT) on Fridaystayedtheformer’sdirectivetoVodafone Idea towithhold itsRedXplan,which promises 4Gnetworkonaprioritybasistoitscertainpremiumcustomers.Although it is an interim

stayordergrantedontheprin-cipleofnatural justiceandTraihasbeenallowedtoconductitsinquiry into the plan and passitsfinalorder,Itisneverthelessa partial victory forVodafoneIdea as it can carryonwith theplanandon-board subscriberstill then.ForTrai, it is a setbacksince the tribunal has directedit tofirstgiveVodafoneIdeaanopportunitytoexplainitsposi-tion on the plan,and observedthat theregulatorhadfailed toestablish why the tariff planneededtobesuspendedtocon-ductan inquiry.

Earlier thisweek,VodafoneIdea had moved the TDSATchallenging Trai’s directiveasking the company towith-hold the plan till thematter isexamined.

ContinuedonPage2

SUMITJHANewDelhi, July 17

NON-RESIDENTINDIANCIT-IZENS are liable to pay tax inIndia only on India income,but they may still not becompletely impervious tobeing asked to pay tax in thecountry on their globalincome, if they had, at somepoint,filed tax return in Indiaas a resident. This is anintriguing prospect for acountrywithanexceptionally

diverse diaspora, including agalaxy of billionaire corpo-rate honchos.The IncomeTaxAppellate

Tribunal (ITAT) in Mumbaihas recently affirmed anorder issued by the relevantcommissioner-appeal,askingan81-yearoldwoman,claim-ing to be a US resident post-FY06, to pay tax in Indiaon `196.5 crore purportedlyheld by her in the financialyear 2005-06 in a now-dis-banded Swiss bank account

(HSBC Private Bank (Suisse)SA, Geneva), which sherefuses to own.

The individual — oneRenu T Tharani — had filedincome-tax return in India in

2006 for the relevant assess-ment year as ‘resident’,reporting an income of `1.7lakh,whichwasbelowthe taxliability threshold.The income tax depart-

ment opened a reassessmentproceeding in 2014 after itstumbled upon the Swissbank account.The taxpayer in her

defence argued against thevalidity of the reassessmentprocess and whether theassesseewas indeedthebene-

ficiary of the Swiss bankaccount in thenameofa fam-ilyTrust.The tribunal held that

the assesse’s conduct wasakin to ‘running with thehare and hunting with thehounds’ as she had declinedto sign a ‘consent waiver’ soas to enable the income taxdepartment to obtain all thenecessary details from theSwiss bank.

ContinuedonPage2

MONEY ORDER

ANKURMISHRAMumbai, July 17

ALTICO CAPITAL ON Fridayfiled an application with theReserve Bank of India (RBI) totransfer the ownership toHongKong-based SSGCapitalfrom existing investors —Clearwater Capital Partners,Varde Partners andAbuDhabiInvestmentCouncil (ADIC).LenderstoAlticoCapitalhad

earliervoted in the favourof aresolution plan submitted byspecial situations fund SSGCapital,which offered `2,754crore for theNBFC,against thetotaldebtof`4,300crore.Addi-tionally, `354 crore has beenpromised in the formof secu-rity receipts,as per the resolu-tionplan.Thechangeinowner-ship will pave the way for thefirst NBFC resolution underJune7,2019,circularofRBI.Although the deal was

closed inMarch,employees ofAlticoCapitalhadsubsequentlyraised issues about SSG Capi-tal’s proposed takeover of thecompany to the regulator. FEhas learned that employees ofthe company had raised con-cerns toRBI aboutwindingupof Altico Capital by the newowner.Accordingtosources,allthe concerns of the employeeshavebeenaddressed.

ContinuedonPage2

● RESOLUTION ROAD

Altico Capfiles forownershipchange

Special Feature

Thisweek three of theworld’s most prominentcarmakers unveiled theirelectric/electrified cars,includingVolkswagenID.3, NissanAriya electric,andMaserati Ghibli hybrid■Motobahn, P13

And the carworld is finallygoing electric…

IN THE NEWSForex reserveshit record highINDIA'S FOREXRESERVESroseby$3.1billion as onJuly10 compared to theweekbefore to hit a recordhighof$516.36billion, according tothe latest dataput out by theRBI, reports fe Bureau inMumbai. Foreign currencyassets, a key component ofreserves, roseby$2.372billion to $475.635billion.

Fraudulent IGSTclaimsof`1,875 crASMANYAS 1,377 export-ers have fraudulently claim-ed IGST refund amountingto `1,875 crore, sources inthe indirect tax departmentsaid, reports fe Bureau inNewDelhi. They added thatthere are at least 10 ‘starexporters’ among thesewho have illegally availed of`28.9 crore in refunds.“These exporters have beenfound untraceable at theirprinciple place of business,”a tax official said.

Yes Bank FPOsubscribed 95%YES BANKHASmanaged toraise `14,267 crore throughits follow-on public offer,implying 95% subscriptionof the issue size of `15,000crore, reports fe Bureau inMumbai. The issue hasachieved its minimumrequired subscription of90% of its total size to sailthrough, the lender said.

Regulator free toconduct inquiry butcan’t block tariff plan

RURALJOB SCHEME

SURYASARATHI RAYNew Delhi, July 17

ASTHE CENTRE fast-trackedreleaseoffundsundertheruraljobs scheme to provide timelyincomesupporttothepeopleinvillages, including migrantworkers who have returnedfrom cities in large numbers,manycash-strappedstateshaveused the funds to employ thebeneficiariesinworksinvolvinglesseruse ofmaterials,accord-ingtodatagatheredbyFE.In normal times, of every

`10 spent underMG-NREGS,`6-7 goes to the workers aswages and the balance `3-4 isused for purchase of buildingmaterials.However, thewage-materialsratiohasturnedouttobe skewedmuchmore towardsthewagessideinthecurrentfis-cal; in a number of states, theratio has become8:2 orhigherandsomestates likeAssamandHaryana have used 95% ormoreof the scheme’s funds forpaymentofwages.An obvious fallout of the

states’strategy is that theMG-NREGSworkcarriedoutduringtheCovid periodmaynot havecreated much durable assets,butaccordingtoobservers,sincethe expediencydemandeduseofthefundsforwagepayments,the states cannotbe faulted foradopting the line. The highershareofspendingonwagesalso

shows the poor health of thestate finances; under the rules,theyhave to beara third of theexpenditure on material andskilled labour,while theCentrebearstheentirecostofwagesfortheunskilledlabour.

ContinuedonPage2

CHANGE OFGUARD

COVIDVACCINE

Higher open accesscharges to doublesolar/wind powercost to largeconsumers

QuickPicks

Reply to USTR: India defends‘Google tax’, rollback unlikely

INDIAHAS opposed a US probe into its digitalservices tax, firmly asserting that its equalisationlevy, or the so-called 'Google tax', is "non-discriminatory", reports fe Bureau inNewDelhi.

In its reply to the office of the USTrade Representative, NewDelhi added that it has only prospective application anddoesn't specifically targetAmerican companies. PAGE 2

I-T refunds of `71,229 croreissued to 21.24 lakh taxpayers

THECENTRALBoard ofDirectTaxes has issuedrefundsworth `71,229 crore inmore than 21.24lakh cases duringApril 8-July 11, reports fe BureauinNewDelhi. “Income-tax refunds amounting

to `24,603 crore havebeen issued in 19.79 lakh cases totaxpayers and corporate tax refunds amounting to `46,626crore in 1.45 lakh cases duringCovid,” the government said.

NATION, P12INSURANCE MEASURE

INTERNATIONAL, P8

SENSEX: 37,020.14 ▲ 548.46 NIFTY: 10,901.70 ▲ 161.75 NIKKEI 225: 22,696.42 ▼ 73.94 HANG SENG: 25,089.17 ▲ 118.48 `/$: 75.02 ▲ 0.17 `/€: 85.51 ▲ 0.26 BRENT: $43.04 ▼ $0.33 GOLD: `48,844 ▼ `233

NEW DELHI, SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020

India in talks to storecrude in US strategicpetroleum reserves

IT’SADEAL

Apple to gain a newChinese iPhonemakerduring a tradewar

OPINION, P6RAJARSHI GHOSH EDITORIAL

Makebasic incomesupport part cash,parttied-spendingvoucher

Covidvaccine talk needscautious optimism,many uncertainties stillneed to be resolved

VOL. XLVI NO. 119, 18 PAGES, `10.00 (PATNA `9.00, RAIPUR `10.00) PUBL I SHED FROM : AHMEDABAD, B ENGALURU , CHAND IGARH , CHENNA I , HYDERABAD, KOCH I , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBA I , N EW DELH I , PUNE

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

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LENDERSWORRIED

SHRITAMABOSEMumbai, July 17

THE BOUNCE RATE on auto-debit transactions on theNational Automated ClearingHouse (NACH) platform shotup to 45% in June against thesix-month range of 31-38%.The value of the transactionsthat ‘bounced’ was `26,850croreor38%ofthetotalman-dates, data released by theNational Payments Corpora-tion of India (NPCI) shows.Most of these transactions areEMIpayments,insurancepre-miumdebitsorSIPmandates.Industry players attribute

the jump in the bounce rate toborrowers’ reduced ability to

make repayments, elongatedcash-flow cycles, an increasedpropensity to save and confu-sion regarding the availabilityoftheloanmoratorium.Bethatas itmay, the surge in bouncerates is cause for concern asbounces are typically co-related to slippages or loansturningbad.AseemDhru,MDandCEO,

SBFC Finance, told FE thebounce rates had been risingeven before the emergence ofCovid-19, but what the newdatasuggests—thatnearlyonein two requests are being dis-honouredforwantofsufficientfunds—iscauseforworry.

ContinuedonPage2

SUMITKHANNAAhmedabad, July 17

ZYDUSCADILAPLANStocom-plete late-stage trials for itsnovel coronavirusvaccine can-didate by February or Marchand could produce up to 100milliondosesayearinitiallyifitis successful, the companychairmansaidonFriday.Cadila’s vaccine candidate,

known as ZyCov-D, is one ofdozens being developedaround theworld to fight thecoronaviruspandemic.“We are looking at about

seven or a little more than

sevenmonths for the vaccine,providedthedataisencourag-ingandthevaccineisproventobe effective during the trials,”

chairman Pankaj Patel toldReuters inan interview.

ContinuedonPage2

Material benefit■ So far this fiscal, stateshave released `39,230 crunder MG-NREGS; this isroughly 60% of amountspent in the whole of FY20

■ The Centre’s budget forrural jobs scheme this yearis `1,01,500 cr, up 50%over FY20 outlay

MG-NREGS expenses till July 17this year (% total)

MaterialsWages

96

94.8

88.6

83.3

79.5

77

73.7

3.7

3.2

10.3

13.5

17.8

20

24.8

Assam

Haryana

Odisha

Maharashtra

Chhattisgarh

Gujarat

Punjab

(Balance amounts spent foradministrative/logistical expenses)Source: Rural development ministry

Fury ofpandemic provides context forrebirth and reformof the UN: ModiTHEFURYOF theCovid-19pandemicprovidesthecon-text for the “rebirth andreform” of the UnitedNations, Prime MinisterNarendraModi said on Fri-day,reportsPTI.Addressing the high-

level segment of the UNEconomic and Social Coun-cilsession via a video link,Modisaidthe75thAnniver-sary of the founding of theUN is an opportunity toassess its roleandrelevancein today’sworld. PAGE2

Bounce rates onauto-debits shootup to 45% in June

MARCH2016Andhrapower regulatorfixes renewableenergytariffat`4.84/unit,PPAsigned

DEC2017Lowest renewabletariffof`2.43/unitdiscovered forwindproject inGujarat

JULY2019NewstategovernmentunderYSJaganmohanReddyformspanel toreviewwind/solarPPAs

SEPT2019AmravatiHCtellsstatetopayplantslower interimtariffof`2.43/unit

NOV2019Statestarts tighteningrenewableenergynorms,withdrawsearlier incentives

APR2020Stateholds renewableenergypaymentscitingcoronavirusforcemajeure

Whoseundoing?

Andhra solar units face`5k-cr under-recovery

NRI asked to pay tax on Swiss bank account she denies owning

Cadila aims to complete trial byMarch

ILLUSTRATION:ROHNITPHORE

Traicouldnotestablishwhysuspensionofplan

wasrequiredtoconducttheexaminationoftariff

Traicouldnotestablish thatVodafone Ideahad

violatedanyoftheexistingtariffdirectives

SinceVodafoneIdeahaschangedthe

plan fromhigherspeedtopriority4Gnetwork,the issueofspeed isnotthereanymore

WhyTDSATstayedTrai'sdirective

TDSAT sets asideTrai order onVodafone Idea

Cash-strapped statescutmaterials spendto boost relief to poorPRESSTRUSTOF INDIANewDelhi, July 17

THE COUNTRY'S RICHESTwomanRoshniNadarMalho-tra onFridaybecame the firstwoman to head a listedIndian IT company as shetook over as the chairpersonof$8.9-billionHCLTechnolo-gies from her father and bil-lionaire ShivNadar.

Roshni,alsoatrainedclas-sical musician, came on theboard of HCLTechnologies in2013 andwas the vice chair-person. She will continue asCEO of HCL Corporation, theholding company for all thegroupentities.ShivNadar,however,would

continue to be themanaging

director of the companywithdesignationasachiefStrategyofficer, the company said in astatement.HCL Technologies CEO

C Vijayakumar said this waspart of the company’s succes-sionplanningexercise.

ContinuedonPage2

ShivNadar andRoshniNadarMalhotra

ShivNadar steps down,Roshni newHCLchief

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Volume (m) Value (` cr) Volume (m) Value (` cr) (In %)2020

77.73

78.93

79.13

66.71

64.00

78.89

73,316

73,277

75,952

55,805

50,767

70,492

18,212

18,264

20,929

20,454

15,367

26,850

24.13

24.83

26.75

25.34

23.29

35.79

Data for recurring debit transactions on NACH Source: NPCI

Presentation Returns Bounce rate

31.0

31.5

33.8

38.0

36.4

45.4

ALLGUNS BLAZINGDefenceminister Rajnath Singh poses for a photowith troopswho took part in paradropping and othermilitary exercises, in Leh, Ladakh, on Friday

New Delhi

EconomySATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020

FINANCIALEXPRESS2

● REPLYTO USTR

FE BUREAUNewDelhi, July 17

INDIA HAS OPPOSED a USprobe into its digital servicestax, firmly asserting that itsequalisation levy, or the so-called‘Google tax’,is“non-dis-criminatory”,hasonlyprospec-tive application and doesn’tspecifically target Americancompanies. New Delhi’sstaunch defence of the levysuggests it’s unlikely to roll itbackanytimesoon.In its reply to the the office

oftheUSTradeRepresentative(USTR),whichhaslaunchedtheinvestigation into the digitalservices tax of India and nineothers, including the EU andthe UK, New Delhi says: “Farfrom targeting any US com-pany or companies, the pur-pose of the equalisation levy isto ensuregreatercompetitive-ness, fairness, reasonablenessandexercise the abilityof gov-ernments to tax businessesthathaveaclosenexuswiththeIndian market through theirdigital operations.” The levycan’tbesaidtohave“extra-ter-ritorial”application,it says.As reportedbyFEon June3

onIndia’slikelyreply,NewDelhihasalsohighlightedthatthelevyiswellwithinits“commitmentsunder the WTO and interna-tional taxation agreements”.However,NewDelhi“iswillingto

engageinfurtherdiscussionstoclarifyanyquestionsorconcernsthat the governmentof theUSmayhave”,itsays.Announcing its decision to

launch the investigation inJune,theofficeoftheUSTRhadsaid NewDelhi slapped a 2%DST (digital services tax) fromApril1.“Thetaxappliesonlytonon-resident companies, andcovers online sales of goodsand services, or aimed at,per-sons in India.The tax appliesonlytocompanieswithannualrevenues in excess of approxi-mately `20million (approxi-mately$2,67,000),”it said.Stressingthatthelevydoes

not discriminate against non-resident e-commerce opera-tors, India says: “The underly-ing policy objective andapplicationofIndia’sequalisa-tionlevy,is toensurethatneu-tral and equitable taxation isapplicable to e-commerceoperators that are resident inIndia or have a physical pres-enceinIndiaandthosethatarenot resident in India.” “Thepurpose is to ensure a level-playing fieldwith regard to e-commerce activities under-taken in India.This, in fact, isthe very antithesis of theunderlying apprehensionslisted out in the USTR’s S.301DSTInitiation.”New Delhi says it “notes

with regret” the initiation oftheprobe,launchedunder the

Section301oftheTradeActof1974. This law authorisesauthorities to initiate action,including punitive tariffs, inresponsetoaforeigncountry’sactionthatisdeemedunfairordiscriminatory and curbsAmerican trade.The latest impost was

introduced in the FinanceAct2020bywideningthescopeoftheequalisationlevytoincludee-commerceplayersandinter-mediaries. It’s a sort of digitaltax on non-resident e-com-merce operators at 2%on therevenuetheygenerateinIndiafrom e-commerce supply orservices. This levy has to bedeposited by the e-commerceoperator and not by the buyerof thegoodsorservice.Earlier,theequalisationlevy

(at6%)wasintroducedin2016and slapped on the revenuesgeneratedonbusiness-to-busi-nessdigitaladvertisementsandallied services of the residentservice provider. The levy isdesigned to nullify the advan-tage of foreign e-commercefirms sans a physical presenceinIndiaoverlocal competitors.The 2016 levy had impactedcompanies like Google andFacebook,amongothers.While the precise scope of

the 2% levy is still beingdebated, some analysts havesaidanIndianresidentpurchas-inggoodsfromtheAmazon(US)orAlibabaorevenatransactionbetween the Amazon US andAmazonIndia,too,couldtriggerthis levy,as the latterwould betreatedasaresident.NewDelhi says the concept

oftheequalisationlevyinIndiaemergedasaresultofthedelib-erations of theOECDBaseEro-sion & Profit Shifting (BEPS)Project,whichcrystallizedintheReportonAction1ofBEPSPro-

ject.ThisreportwasacceptedbyIndiaandothermembersoftheOECD, thereby representing abroad consensus view on theissuesdiscussedinthereport.Itformedthebasisofthedetailedconsultations byaCommitteeon Taxation of E-Commerceconstituted by the Indian gov-ernment,whichhadsubmitteditsreportinFebruary2016.Thiscommittee analysed in detailthe BEPS report on Action 1,whichhadhighlightedtheneedformodifyingexistinginterna-tional taxation rules, and laidoutthreeoptionsfortheconsid-erationofcountries,that is,(a)anewnexusbasedonsignificanteconomic presence, (b) awith-holding tax ondigital transac-tions,and(c)equalisationlevy.However,theBEPSreportdid

not recommend any specificoption,recognizing thatmoreworkmayberequiredintheareaof attributionofprofits.Never-theless,itnotedthat:“Countriescould,however,introduceanyofthese three options in theirdomestic laws as additionalsafeguards against BEPS,pro-vided they respect existingtreaty obligations, or in theirbilateraltaxtreaties.”The Indian government

panelaccordinglyanalysedeachofthethreeoptionspresentedbythe BEPS Report and recom-mended the application of theequalisation levy on specifieddigitalservices.InastatementinJune,USTRRobertLighthizerhadsaid:“President(Donald)Trumpis concerned thatmany of ourtradingpartnersareadoptingtaxschemesdesignedtounfairlytar-getourcompanies.”ApartfromIndia,theothers

thatarebeing investigatedarethe EU, the UK,Austria,Brazil,theCzechRepublic,Indonesia,Italy,SpainandTurkey.

‘Equalisationlevytargetsnon-Indiane-commercecompanies’RISHI RANJAN KALANewDelhi, July 17

WASHINGTON-BASEDINFORMATION TechnologyIndustry Council (ITI),whichrepresents tech firms likeGoogle, Microsoft, Amazon,Facebook, Apple and SoftBank, has claimed that thedigital services tax (DST)imposedby India targets only“non-Indian e-commercecompanies”.In a detailed legal analysis

on DSTs submitted to theUnitedStatesTradeRepresen-tative (USTR), the global techtrade association said that thetax imposed by India has thewidest ramifications com-pared to the nine other coun-tries as it applies to sale of allgoods or services by digitalbusinessestopersonsusinganIndian IPaddress.“Unlike otherDSTs, India’s

newtaxapplieswithrespecttoonline sale of both goods andservices and it solely targetsnon-Indian e-commercecompanies,” ITI’s senior direc-tor (policy, trade & tax) SamRizzo said in the legal analysistoUSTRRobertLighthizer.The issue relates to US ini-

tiating investigation againstIndiaandnineothercountriesfor imposing or consideringDSTs with potential to hurtAmerican firms. Indiawidenedthescopeofequalisa-tion levy to includee-commerceplayersandinter-mediaries. It’s a sort of digitaltax on non-resident e-com-merce operators at 2%on therevenuetheygenerate inIndiafrom e-commerce supplyorservices.This levy has to be

deposited by the e-commerceoperator and not by the buyerof thegoodsorservice.

Says the purposeof levy is to ensureneutral andequitable taxationis applicable toe-commerceoperators

From the Front Page

Auto-debit:Bounce rateson transactionsshoot up to45% in June“EVENTHOUGHmostborrow-ersarepayingwhencashflowscomebackorthroughalterna-tive arrangements,as a lenderyouknowthatwhenbouncingstarts,slippingalwaysfollows,"Dhru said. The degree of co-relationbetweenbounces andslippages varies for differentlenders. "But by now, mostlenderswouldknowwhattheyare looking at, whether theydisclose itornot,"headded.Atopexecutivewitha large

public-sector bank said thebounce rates may have beenhigher because ofmiscalcula-tions by customerswhile pro-vidingstandinginstructionstotheir lenders onautodebit.Yethedidnotruleoutthepossibil-ity of stretched householdfinancesbeinga factor."Itmayalso be due to financial stress,which customers could notplan,suchassalarydelaysorjobcuts. Besides, there was aschemeofchangeinthesecondlegofmoratoriumbybanks,"headded, referring to the phe-nomenon of some lendersswitchingtotheopt-inmodeofoffering themoratoriumfromtheopt-outmodeearlier.Several banks and non-

bank lenders have said thattheyhave seenadecline in theshare of customers availing ofthemoratorium in its secondleg, starting June. There is aviewthatbyJune,somelendersmay have failed to convey totheir borrowers that theiraccount is no more undermoratorium.As a result,debitrequestsmayhave beenmadetoborrowerswhowerenotpre-paredwith sufficient funds intheiraccounts.Thistiesinwiththe number of auto-debitrequestsmadeinJune--nearly79million --which is close tothepre-Covidlevelsandhigherthan the 64-68million rangeseenduringApril andMay.While the bounce rate

ranges between 30-70%, fin-

techs, whose loans have asmaller ticket size, reportbounces between 50% and70%. In themid-market andmass-affluent segments,which have a relatively higherticket size, the incidence ofbounces is lower— anywherebetween30-45%.Abhishek Agarwal, co-

founder & CEO, CreditVidya,saidthatthebounceratesareanindicationofborrowers'reducedability topayand loan losses intheretailsegmentaresettorisemassively fromtheirpre-Covidlevels."Withthesecondwaveoflockdownscomingin,Iamfairlyconfident that prior toCovid ifwe were estimating x% loss,nowwe could see two to threetimesthat,"hesaid.This could pan out by the

December quarter as tillAugust 31, the asset qualitypain will be masked by themoratorium, Agarwal said.Thereafter, accounts whichremain indefault through thethreemonthstoNovemberwillhave to be classified as non-performing, unless there is afresh dispensation from theReserveBankof India.The increased incidence of

bouncingitselfhasimplicationsfor recoverability.Till twoyearsago, bounce rates stood ataround 18-19%. Since thebeginning of 2020, they havecomeinhigherthan31%everymonth.The current collectioninfrastructurethatmostlendershave is geared for an around18%bouncerate.Ifover40%ofalendinginstitution'sloanbookwere to continue seeingdelaysin payments, itwoulddent theefficiency of recovery agentsand the collection infrastruc-ture. "The more the value ofbounces,themoretheslippages.They don't increase in arith-metic proportion, but in aslightly geometrical propor-tion,"Dhrusaid.

Covid vaccine:Cadila aims tocomplete trialbyMarch"WE ARE ALSO open to dis-cussing partnerships with

pharma companies in variousgeographies,but it is a bit pre-mature right now,andwewillbedoingsoat theendofPhase1and2trials,"he said.Early-stage Phase 1 and 2

human trials are likely to beconcluded in the next threemonths,he said.—REUTERS .

Rural jobscheme: Statescutmaterialsspend to boostrelief to poorIN LABOUR-SUPPLIER statessuch as Bihar, ChhattisgarhandUttarPradesh,wageshaveconstituted 57.28%,79.47%and 67.71%, respectively, ofthe total spending under thepopularschemesofarthisyear.In Telengana, the percentagestoodat88%now.However,inKerala, which is a labour-absorbing state,wages consti-tute just 58% of the totalamountspent."It seems that most of the

works created under MG-NREGShavebeenofnon-assetcreating variety. The schemehas been liberally used by thestategovernmentsasanalter-native to direct benefit trans-fer (DBT) to provide a kind ofsocial security to the rural

poor," said labour economistandXLRI professor KR ShyamSundar. "ThehigherthespendonMG-NREGS, the lesserwillbe reversemigration.Itmeansurban employment is shrink-ing.Itisalsoanindicatorof theslackeningoftheurbanlabourmarket,"headded.

Resolutionroad:Altico Capfiles forownershipchangeFE HAS also learned that RBIhas advised a leading privatebank to pay back `210 croreto the UAE-headquarteredMashreq Bank in the matterrelatedtoAlticoCapital.Alticohad complained to the RBIthat theprivatebankhadvio-lated regulations by debitingfunds intendedforrepaymenttoMashreqBank.Thesaidpri-vatebanknettedoff the`210crore held by Altico in thebank's fixed deposits againstoutstandingtermloanswhichtherealestate financingcom-pany owed to the lender.Theprivate bank acted as a pri-mary dealer forAltico Capitalin an external commercialborrowingdealwithMashreqBank,aspersources.The`210

crore received as part of thatfinancing deal was held withprivate lender in the formofafixeddeposit.Altico Capital was faced

with a liquidity crunch in2019. It defaulted on a `19-crore external commercialborrowing (ECB) repaymentto Mashreq Bank in Septem-ber 2019,which led to a fewlenders recalling loans.Later,lenders formed a committeeto execute a resolution planunder the RBI's June 7 circu-lar by signing an inter-credi-tor agreement (ICA). AlticoCapital owed over `4,300crore to 27 lenders led byState Bank of India, Bank ofBaroda,UTIMF and RelianceMF,among others.

TDSAT sets asideTrai order onVodafone IdeaAccording to legal experts theinterim stay granted toVoda-fone Idea's planwill not applyto Bharti Airtel, which alsocame out with a similar planwhich was stopped by Trai.Bharti Airtel, which did notmoveTDSATagainst theregu-lator'sdirective,needstodothesametoget similarrelief."Thereisnolackofpowerin

the Authority to review andmodifyatariffforanytelecom-

munication service from timeto time. The objection of theappellant is against keepingthereviewproceedingpendingandstill issuingamodificationas an interim arrangementwithoutevenaprimafaciesat-isfactionthattheAuthorityhasfound a case of non-compli-ance of any of the directivesissuedearlier,"TDSATsaid.Thetribunalsaid,"Thedirec-

tionforsuspensionoftheRedXplan which, understandably,wouldapplyonlytotheexistingrevised plan, lacks even primafaciereasons.Theonlyjustifica-tion that suspension wouldfacilitatedetailedexaminationbyTrai is found to bedevoid ofanymerits.Duringsubmissionsalso ithasnotbeenshownthatfordetailedexaminationbyTraiit isnecessarytowithhold/sus-pend theVodafoneRedXofferforthwith"

NRI asked topay tax onSwiss bankaccount shedenies owningTHE TRIBUNAL ALSO notedthat the Swiss account wasclosed soonafter the informa-tion of account holdersreached the government ofIndia.Theassetsoftheaccountwere transferred to a CaymanIsland-basedinvestmentcom-pany in-charge of running thefamily.However,thiscompanywasalso liquidatedandstruckoff from the records, the tri-bunal observed. "..if Caymanislands is known for anythingrelevant, it is known for anatmosphere conducive tohid-ing unaccounted wealth andmoney laundering," the ITATobserved.While the trust stood ter-

minated and nothing wasknown about it, the assesseeclaimed that she was only abeneficiary of the Trust buthad no information how thecompany running the Trustcame to acquire nearly $4crore."It is also inconceivablethat a `200-crore beneficiaryin a trustwill not knowabout

whohassettledthattrust.Sim-ilarly,while dealingwith Cay-man Island entities, living indenialaboutbeneficialowner-ships, and confining to legalownerships, is preposterous,"the tribunalordersaid.Further, the tribunal said

that theaccount informationin HSBC clearly showed thatthe assessee was a beneficialowner. Moreover, it arguedthatnoreasonablepersoncanaccept the explanation of theassessee as she is not a publicpersonality like MotherTeresa that some unknownperson will settle a trust togive her$4 crore.The HSBC account infor-

mationwasreceivedbyseveralgovernments,includingIndia,the US, the UK, Canada andAustralia, after a whistle-blower, an employee of HSBCPrivate Bank (Suisse) SA,Geneva,walkedoutwithinfor-mation on thousands ofaccounts in 2006, involvingwealthhiddenfromtaxmen.Ved Jain, counsel for Tha-

rani, iterated that since theassessee is admittedlya non-resident and in as much asthe impugned assessmentwasmade accordingly, itwasnot all required of her to dis-close her foreign bankaccounts, even if any. Speak-ing to FE, he expressed con-fidence that the ITAT orderwill be overruled by the highcourt, the next forum ofappeal. An NRI is notrequired to prove source ofincome arising outside ofIndia to the Indian taxauthorities, Jain noted.

"This decision reinforcesan important principle thatconduct of the taxpayer andcooperationwith the author-ities, seen with overall cir-cumstances play an impor-tant role in appellateauthorities/courts decidingany issue. In cases involvingdeposits in Swiss Bankaccount orTaxhaven compa-nies,where the general per-ception is alreadyagainst thetaxpayerof having anyunde-clared income,it is importanttodemonstrate fromconductof the taxpayers that neces-sarycooperation ismade and

all the facts are properly dis-closed to the authorities,"Shailesh Kumar, partner atNangia&Co LLP,said.He added that the tribunal

hasalsoclarifiedthatthisjudg-menthasnot laiddownaprin-ciple thatwhenevername of ataxpayerappears inan incrim-inatingmaterial (suchasHSBCleaks),itdoesnotautomaticallymeans that the taxpayer hasunaccounted or illegalmoney.Itisonlytheconductofthetax-payer, facts and surroundingcircumstances of each case,based on which a decisionwouldneedtobetaken.

Govt plansauction of 5-6mineral blocksTHEGOVERNMENTplanstoauctionfivetosixmineralblocks,includingironoreandbauxitemines,inMadhyaPradeshoverthenext threemonths,accordingtoanofficial.Of the11blocksthatwereputonsalebythestaterecently,thereweretakers foronlyfiveblocksandsixminesreceivednointerest frombidders.

BIS:‘Knowyourproduct’initiativetohelpMSMEsASANINITIATIVEtosupportandpromoteMicro,Small&MediumEnterprises (MSMEs),BIScommencedseriesofprogrammesunder‘Knowyourproduct’to facilitateunderstandingof theIndianStandardsbeingfollowedbytheenterprises foroperatingtheBIScertification(popularlyknownas theISI-MarkScheme).

PSBssanction`19,668crloansto71MSMEhubsTHEFINANCEministryonFridaysaidpublic sectorbankshavesanctioned`19,668.87crore to71MSMEhubsacross thecountryunderthe`3-lakhcroreEmergencyCreditLineGuaranteeScheme(ECLGS).Disbursement intheseclusters stoodat`12,871.50croreasofJuly15toentitiesbelonging toMSMEsector,hithardbytheCovid-19crisis.

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India defends‘Googletax’, rollbackunlikely

Andhra solar units face`5k-cr under-recoveryALTHOUGH THE AP HighCourt had struck down thestate government order onrenegotiating PPAs, it hadasked the state electricityregulator APERC to decideon thematter and directedthe discoms to pay reducedprices in the interimperiod.Renewable energy pro-

ducers believe that the statepower regulator and theAmaravatiHighCourtwouldultimatelymandate payingfull tariff to the state's dis-

coms,andclearingsuchhugepayment immediately willnot be possible for the statecausing further delay inclearing the outstanding

bills. “We would thereforerequest that under the dis-com liquiditypackage,thereshould be a separate carveout ofmoney to the tune of`5,000croreforAPdiscoms,so that such amount can beimmediately paid to renew-able energygenerators oncethecourtordersareissuedonthesependingpetitions,"thenationalsolarenergyfedera-tion of India said in a recentletterwrittentoUnionpowerministerRKSingh.

❝❝ ❝❝

SAARC-COVID FUNDNarendra Modi, Prime Minister

...In our joint fight against Covid,we have extendedmedical and other assistance to over 150countries.We also helped create a Saarc Covidemergency fund in our neighbourhood.

Monsoon rainfall(June 1-July 17)

Kharif sowing*% Change (against year-ago)

(% change from LPA)

East/North-east

North-west

Central India

South peninsula

All India

11

14

17

8

-17

Source: IMDSource: agriculture ministry *As of July 17

18.6

32.4

40.7

12.2

17.3

0.9

21.2

Paddy

Pulses

Oilseeds

Coarse cereals

Cotton

Sugarcane

Total

Current cropKharif sowing up 21% y-o-yProgressive sowing under all the kharif crops has covered65% of the season's normal area till Friday.While paddyacreage is higher inmajor growing states like UttarPradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Haryana, TelanganaandAndhra Pradesh, it is down in Punjabwhile plantingwillpick up inWest Bengal from June-end. The sowing gapagainst the year-ago level has reduced thisweek, from thelevel in previousweek in the case ofmost of the crops.

FE BUREAU

FORMERHCLTechnolo-gies CEO Vineet Nayarsaid: “I am sure HCLwillfly high under Roshniwho leadswith purpose,passionandpride.Excit-ing timesahead”.Roshni married

ShikharMalhotra,vice-chairmanofHCLHealth-care, in 2010, and thecouple has two sons --Armaanand Jahaan.According to the lat-

est Hurun Rich List,Roshni is India's richestwomanwithanetworthof `36,800 crore. In2019, she ranked 54thon the Forbes World's100 Most PowerfulWomen list.

HCL’s newchief is firstwoman tolead listedITcompanyin India

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIANewYork, July 17

ASSERTING THAT ONLYreformedmultilateralism canmeet the aspirations ofhumanity, Prime MinisterNarendra ModionFridaysaidtheUnited Nationswas originallyborn from thefuries of the Sec-ond World Warand the fury ofthe Covid-19pandemic pro-vides the contextfor its“rebirthandreform.”Addressing the high-level

segment of the UN Economicand Social Council (ECOSOC)session via a video link,Modisaid the 75th Anniversary ofthe founding of the UN is anopportunity to assess its role

andrelevanceintoday'sworld.Noting that a lot has

changedsinceitsformation,hesaid the UN now bringstogether 193 member coun-tries and alongwith itsmem-bership,theexpectationsfrom

the organisationhavealsogrown.At the same

time,multilateral-ismisfacingmanychallenges,he saidin the address —hisfirstsinceIndiawas overwhelm-ingly elected as anon-permanent

memberof the powerful Secu-rityCouncil lastmonth.“Indiafirmlybelieves that thepath toachieve sustainable peace andprosperity is throughmultilat-eralism...However,multilateral-ismneedstorepresentthereal-ityofthecontemporaryworld.”

Pandemic furyprovidescontext forUN reform:Modi

“Only reformedmultilateralismwith a reformedUnited Nations atits centre canmeetthe aspirations of

humanity.”

New Delhi

ECONOMY 3FINANCIALEXPRESSWWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020

FY21 capex targetwillbemet, says RailwaysFE BUREAUNewDelhi, July 17

THERAILWAYSISconfidentofmeeting the `1.6 lakh crorecapital expenditure target for2020-21,RailwayBoardchair-manVKYadav said on Friday.The transporterwill expeditemodernisation processthrough private train opera-tions and envisage invest-ments,including fromthepri-vatesector,tothetuneof`30.6lakh crore over the next fiveyearsonpepupinfrastructure.The Railways managed to

achieve 90% of the FY20capex goal of `1.6 lakh crore.Notwithstanding the sub-dued economic activity andinvestor sentiments,Yadav isoptimistic of “significantlyimproving on the last year’sperformance”.The Railways intends to

spendon infrastructure devel-opmentwith a strong focus onimplementationof supercriti-cal projects.Currently,theRail-waysfacechallengeofover-con-

gested networkswith 96% oftrafficmovingonaround51%routekmofRailwaysnetwork.These are projects requir-

ing urgent expansion basedon traffic density, type ofcommodity moved, impor-tance of route from strategicconsiderations, among oth-ers. Railways have identified58 super critical projects for

completion by December2021. Despite challengesposed by Covid outbreak, theRailways have completed 16of these projects of 592 kmlength costing `6,258 croreup to March 2020 and arelooking to complete 43moreprojects of 1,587 km with acost of `8,500 crore by thesame timeline.

'Railwaysgenerated1.6 lakhmandaysofwork in 4weeks’THE RAILWAYS has spentmore than`608 crore andgen-eratedoverone lakhmandaysofwork in rural areasunderthe Garib Kalyan RojgarAbhiyaan in just fourweeks of itslaunch,a seniorofficial of thenational transporter saidonFriday. Inaugurated byPrimeMinisterNarendraModi onJune20,theGaribKalyanRojgarAbhiyaanisinoperationin116identifieddistrictsofsixstates—UttarPradesh,Bihar,Rajasthan,MadhyaPradesh,OdishaandJharkhand.“Inthelast fourweeks,wehave alreadygenerated1,61,251man-daysandspent`608.87crore.Thisisveryencouragingandwewill continuetosupport thework,RailwayBoardchair-manVKYadavtoldanonlinepressbriefing. —PTI

1,377 exporters fraudulently claimedIGSTrefund amounting to`1,875 crFE BUREAUNewDelhi, July 17

AS MANYAS 1,377 exportershavefraudulentlyclaimedIGSTrefund amounting to `1,875crore,sourcesintheindirecttaxdepartment said. They addedthat there are at least 10 ‘starexporters’ among these whohave illegally availed of `28.9croreinrefunds.“These exporters havebeen

founduntraceableattheirprin-ciple place of business,” a taxofficial said. StarExportHouseexporters are certified by thegovernment on the basis ofexport performance (`15croreto`5,000croreFOB in thecur-rentandthreeprecedingyears).Theyare extended certainben-efits including customs clear-ance on self-certificationbasis

andexemptionfromfurnishingbank guarantee under certainschemes. Sources said that7,516 exporters have beenputon the‘risky’exporter list as ondate. Out of these, 2,830exporters are being currentlydenied IGSTrefund anddraw-backfacilityworth`1,363crore.Further, adverse reports havebeen received in respect of2,197riskyexporters.Exporters are identified as

‘risky’onthebasisofspecificriskindicators based on Customs,GST,IncomeTaxandDGFTdata.TheidentifiedriskyexportersaresharedwiththeCGSTformations

forphysicalandfinancialverifi-cation in termsof the standardoperatingprocedure (SOP) laiddownbytheGSTpolicywing.Further,afterreceivingposi-

tive reports from field forma-tions on 695 exporters, theDirectorateGeneral ofAnalysisand Risk Management(DGARM), in its supply chainanalysis, found that their sup-pliers had availed ineligiblecredit. In 461 of these cases,IGST refund and drawbackamounting to `273 crore isundersuspension,sourcessaid.Earlier in theyear, the gov-

ernment had found that insomeinstancesanexporterwithover `50 crore of exports ofreadymadegarmentshastakenrefund of `3.9 crorewhile theentity’s total GST payment incashwasamere`1,650.

Tomarasks farmers to registerunderPMFBYbefore last datePRESSTRUSTOF INDIANewDelhi, July 17

AGRICULTURE MINISTERNARENDRA Singh Tomar onFriday asked farmers to come

forward to register under thecropinsuranceschemePMFBYbefore the last date and get aprotectionagainstkharif2020crop loss due to unforeseennatural calamities.

Tomarsaid the enrolmentof farmers under the Prad-han Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY) for theongo-ing Kharif-2020 season isgoing on in full swing across

the country and urged morefarmers to take benefit ofthe scheme.The cut-off date for the

ongoing Kharif 2020 seasonin fewstates andunion terri-

tories may end by July 31,2020. The Centre has madeenrolment free for all thefarmerswhoonlyneed topaya premium amount now,he added.

There are at least 10 ‘starexporters’ among thesewho have illegally availedof `28.9 crore in refunds

New Delhi

SAJAN C KUMARChennai, July 17

BUOYEDBYTHEencouragingdemandforitsvehicles,SouthKoreancarmajorHyundaihasstartedaddingtoitsworkforcetorampupproductionatitsIndiafacility.Thecompany,whichhasamanufactur-

ingplantinChennai,islookingtohireabout1,600 to 1,800 apprentice to meet thedemandsofexistingaswellas futureprod-ucts,becomingoneofthefewcompaniestogo for recruitment in the times of Covid-triggeredeconomicadversities.A Hyundai Motor India (HMIL)

spokespersontoldFEthatthecompanylastweek started theprocess tohire people foritsIrungattukottaiplants.Theselectedoneswill be undergoing training at classroomsandonthe job.Accordingtothespokesper-son, the company usually hires around3,000apprentice,but because of the lock-down,a large sectionof themwentback totheir hometowns. Though the companycould bring some of them back when itresumed operations by deploying trans-portation,somestillhavenotresumedwork.

“To fill that gap andmeet the demand forworkers forourupcomingproduct portfo-lio,weneedmorepeopleandsotherecruit-ment,”thespokespersonadded.Hyundaihadnotlaidoffstafforresorted

to salary cuts as the company is steadilyrampingupproductionbothforexportsanddomestic sales.On the contrary,it recentlyannouncedpromotions for its technicians(theblue-collarworkmenintheshopfloors).It is also in theprocess of firmingupplansforthejunior,middleandsenior-levelexec-

utivecadres.Hyundai recently said as demand has

beenpickingupinIndiaforitsvehicles,it isplanningtostartathirdshiftat itsChennaiplant.Thecompanysaidithasclocked75%salesinJune2020againstJune2019andbythe endof July, it is hoping to clock almost90%sales.HMILdirector-sales,marketingandser-

viceTarunGarg said the consumer senti-ment has improvedwith reopeningof thesales network.With demand for various

models, especially the recently launchednewCretawhichreceivedover45,000book-ingssinceitlaunch,thecompanyiswitness-ingpositivesignsintheindustry.Gargalso said the localisation levels are

veryhigh and the dependence on compo-nentsfromChinaisverylow.Thecompany'ssupplychain is readytomeet thedemandforincreasedcomponentsasthethird-shiftproductionisgoingtostartsoon.Stressing that theCovid-19pandemic

has not impacted plans of the company'supcoming launches,Garg said in the lastsevenmonths,HMIL launched fourprod-ucts—Aura,a sub-compact sedan in Janu-ary,newCreta inMarch,newVerna inMay,and nowTuscon,which is priced around`22.30lakhpan-India.Garg furthersaid the industryhasbeen

showing resilience and theonlyworrywasthatthefreshlockdownannouncedbysev-eralstategovernments inthelastoneweekmayimpactdemandmarginally.Hesaidthedemand is from across the geography,including tier-II and IIImarkets andas farsegment.There aredemand forentry-levelhatchbacks,as peoplenowpreferpersonal

IKEA India closesoutlet in HyderabadtemporarilyIKEA INDIA (PART of the IngkaGroup)will be temporarily closing itsoutlet here from Saturday to imple-ment additional safetymeasures inview of the current Covid-19 pan-demic, the Swedish furniture makersaid onFriday.

HathwayCableQ1netprofitat`66croreHATHWAYCABLE&DatacomonFridayreportedaconsolidatednetprofitof`66.06crore forthe firstquarterended June30.The firmhadpostedanet lossof`9.38crore inApril-Juneayearago,HathwayCablesaid inaBSE filing.

BawaisSAPpresident&MD,IndiansubcontinentTECHMAJORSAPonFridaysaid ithas appointedKulmeetBawaaspresident andMDforSAPIndiansubcontinent,effective July20.

Olaconvertsfumigationcentres intosafetyzonesCABAGGREGATOROLA hasconverted its fumigationcentres intosafetyzones tohelpdrivers takecareofall the safetyprerequisites fortheirridesamid theCovid-19pandemic.Thecompanyhasannounced`500crorecommitment towardsvarioussafetyinitiatives,andplans to setupover500fumigationcentresacrossthecountryunderits'RideSafe India'initiative inviewof thepandemic,thecompanysaid.

OrientElectricentershygieneproductsbizCKBIRLAGROUPOrientElectrichasannounceditsentryintothehygieneproductssegmentwiththe launchofUVSanitech,abox-shapedsanitisationchamberthatusesultraviolet light tokillvirusesincludingcoronavirusonthesurfacesofeverydayobjectsandgroceries. It ismanufacturingthesanitisationboxin-houseat itsFaridabadplantandplansto introducemoreproducts inthiscategoryinthenearfuture.

McDonald’s introducestake-outservice‘OntheGo’MCDONALD’SRESTAURANTSHASintroduced‘OntheGo’take-outserviceontheirMcDeliveryappthatenablescontactlessorderingandcollectionoftheorderfromyourvehicle.

PayUpartnersShiprocketSocial,QuickeSellingPAYUHASPARTNEREDwithe-commerceplatforms,ShiprocketSocialandQuickeSellingtoenabletheirover15,000merchants todigitise transactions.Merchantpartners will alsobeable toavailotherinfrastructural supportofferedbyPayU.This includesfeaturessuchassame-daysettlements tomanagecashflows,accept internationalpayments.

GaanatiesupwithpodcasthostingmajorLibsynMUSICSTREAMINGAPPGaanaonFridaysaid ithaspartneredwithglobalpodcasthostingmajor,LiberatedSyndicationforcontentsharing.GaanaCEOPrashanAgarwalsaid,"AtGaana,wehavebeeninvestingsteadilyinthisspacewithourPodcastOriginalsandhavenowtakenitupanotchwithourpartnershipwithLibsynthatwouldengageouraudiencewithworld-classpodcastingcontent fromaroundtheworld."

MPLtiesupwithCricketIreland,ITWConsultingESPORTSANDMOBILEgamingplatformMobile PremierLeaguehaspartneredwithCricket Ireland andITWConsulting to sponsor the IrishMen's team jerseys for theupcomingOne-Day International Seriesagainst Englandbeginning July30.

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CompaniesFINANCIALEXPRESS4 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020

❝❝ ❝❝

COVID &COSTSVarun Berry, managing director, Britannia Industries

The quarter posed an uphill task for the economy...On the cost front, wewitnessedmoderate inflationin prices of key rawmaterials and expect them tobe stable going forward, given the positive outlookonmonsoon and harvest.

● SURGE IN DEMAND

Hyundai tohire1,800toboostproduction

FE BUREAUMumbai, July 17

KRAHEJACORP,theownerofsomeofthemarqueecommercialrealestatepropertieslikeMindspace,TheSquare,Commerzone,and Inorbit mall,will be raising `4,500crore through REIT (Real Estate Invest-mentTrust),anofferdocumentfiledbythecompany with Sebi (Securities andExchangeBoardof India)onFridaystated.The REIT will have 29.5 million sq ft ofcommercial space as part of the portfoliospread acrossMumbai,Pune,HyderabadandChennai.Theofferconsists of a fresh issuanceof

up to `1,000 crore of units byMindspaceREITandanofferforsaleofaggregatingupto`3,500 crore.The proceeds of the issuewill be primarilyutilised forpartial or fullpre-payment or scheduled repayment ofcertain debt facilities of the asset SPVs

availed frombanks/financial institutionsincluding any accrued interest and anyapplicablepenalties/premium.Of the29.5millionsq.ft.of commercial

assets thatwill be part of theMindspaceREIT portfolio, 23 million sq ft are com-pleted and rent yielding, the area that isunderconstruction is 2.8million sq ft andfuturedevelopmentareawillbetothetuneof 3.6million sq ft.The portfolio has five

integratedbusinessparksandfiveindepen-dentoffices,theofferdocumentstated.FE reported on July17 thatMindspace

REITwill be raising `3,000-`4,000 crorethroughREITandwillbefilingtheofferdoc-umentwithSEBIwithinthisweek.MindspaceREITwillbethesecondpub-

licly tradedREITafterEmbassyandBlack-stone raisedover`4,700crore throughanIPOinApril2019.

MindspaceREIT files offerdocument for IPO

FE BUREAUHyderabad, July 17

THE US FOOD andDrugAdministration(FDA) said that it will resume itsonsite inspections of regulated facilitiesnext week after four months ofsuspended activities because of thenovelcoronaviruspandemic.TheFDAhadpreviouslyannouncedon

March 10 that routine domestic inspec-tionswould be put on hold to protect thehealth of its inspectors. The regulatorybody said that it would be running itsoperations following theguidance issuedbytheUSCenters forDiseaseControl andPrevention(CDC)andtheWhiteHouseforOpeningUpAmericaAgain.“The FDA will resume prioritised

domesticmanufacturing inspections theweek of July20 after a four-monthmora-torium onmost on-site walkthroughs,’’FDAcommissionerStephenHahnsaidinastatement.“Resumingprioritiseddomes-tic inspections will depend on the dataabout thevirus’trajectory in a given stateand locality and the rules and guidelinesthatareputinplacebystateandlocalgov-ernments,’’Hahnsaid.“Inordertomovetothe next phase,we must see downwardtrends in newcases of Covid-19 and hos-pitalisations inagivenarea.”TheFDAhasdevelopedaratingsystem

to determinewhen andwhere domesticinspections can be conducted safely.Thethree-part rating system will indicatewhether to conduct onlymission-critical

inspections, conduct all inspectionswithsafeguards to protect staff that have self-identified as being part of a vulnerablepopulation,or resume all normal regula-toryactivities inagivengeographicarea.Incidentally,Indianpharmafirmshad

askedtheFDAtoconsideralternativemea-sures to inspect facilities, arguing that aban onmost inspections hindered theirabilitytodistributekeydrugs.Reportssaythat inmid-April, Indian pharmaceuticalfirms had requested the FDA to conduct“desk reviews”or virtual facility inspec-tions during the pandemic in order toensure the continuous supply of much-neededdrugs in theUS.“Themembers of Indian Pharmaceu-

tical Alliance (IPA) had asked for virtualreviews of facilities that are new and areslated to produce a new class of drugs orhave completed a corrective action plan

followingapreviousinspectionfailure,’’amember of IPA said. IPA had alsorequested the FDA to consider recognis-ing inspectionsbyforeignregulatorsandtemporarilywaiving on-site inspectionsbased on past inspection history and thecritical nature of products, such as drugshortages or products that do not cur-rentlyhavegenericalternatives.However,there is no confirmation from the regu-lating agency for conducting virtualinspections as ondate.

USFDAto restart onsite checks fromnextweek

PRESS TRUSTOF INDIANewDelhi, July 17

BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES ON Fridayreportedovertwofold increase inconsol-idated profit at `542.68 crore for theJune quarter, on the account of higherincome. Its profit was `248.64 crore intheyear-agoperiod.Total income during the period under

review stood at `3,514.35 crore, up26.97%,as against `2,767.8 crore in theyear-agoquarter,BritanniaIndustriessaidina regulatoryfiling.BritanniaIndustriesmanagingdirector

Varun Berry said: “The quarter posed anuphilltaskfortheeconomyinwakeofCovid-19and caused significant disruptionsdueto lockdowns imposed tocurtail its spread.Factories, depots, transport and vendorsacrossthesupplychainwereimpacted.”As soon as the lockdownwas eased,he

saidthecompanyfocusedongettingdistri-butionback to thepre-Covid-19 levels andincreasingitsruralandhinterlandreach.“Onthecostfront,wewitnessedmoder-

ateinflationinthepricesofkeyrawmateri-

als andexpect theprices to be stable goingforwardgiventhepositiveoutlookonmon-soonandharvest,”hesaid.Berry stated that given the dynamic

nature of the pandemic and associateduncertainty, the company was quick toresorttocostefficienciesthroughextractionof supply chain efficiencies, reduction inwastagesandfixedcostsleverage.“Wealsorationalisedmediaspendscon-

sidering the constraints of inventories duetohighermarket demand,”he said,addingthatthecompanyisdiligentlystudyingtheimpactofCovid-19onshort-termandlong-termchangesinconsumerpreferences,dis-tributionmodelsandareconfidentofover-comingchallengeswithagility.

Britannia Industries Q1 profitjumps over twofold to `543 cr

INDU BHANNewDelhi, July 17

FORTIS HEALTHCARE (FHL) on FridaymovedtheSupremeCourtseekingpermis-sion to allow Malaysia’s IHH HealthcareBerhad,whichhadinJuly2018acquiredthehospitalchainfor`4,000crore,togoaheadwithitsstalledopenoffer.FHLwantsvacation of the apex court’s

December14,2018,orderthatputonholdthesaleofcontrollingstake(31%)inFHLtotheMalaysianfirmonacontemptpleafiledby JapanesepharmamajorDaiichi Sankyoagainst theformerpromotersof thehospi-talchain--MalvinderandShivinderSingh.TheSCorderformaintainingstatusquo

till furtherordersmeant that IHHHealth-carehad towait andcan't goaheadwith itsopen offerwhichwas scheduled to com-mencefromDecember18,2018.Seekingmodificationof theDecember

order,FHLinafreshpleastated“iftheopenoffer is allowed to be proceededwith, nomonies will be transferred to the Singhbrothersorthejudgmentdebtors”.Itfurthersaid“FortisHealthcareHolding

(FHHL),an entity controlled by the Singhbrothers,holdsonly0.15%oftheapplicant’s(FHL) shares.Therefore, if the openoffer isallowedtobeproceededwith,insignificant

sumswillbepaidtoFHHL(theholdingcom-panyofFHL)”,andalsothesumcanbedulyprotected by the SC.Besides,“substantialmonieswillbepaidtothepublicsharehold-ersoftheapplicant”,theapplicationstated.FHLalso told the SC that its status quo

orderwasimpactingtheinterestsofvariouspublic shareholderswho stand to benefitfromtheopenofferbyNorthernTKVenture(NTK)ofFHL’sshares.IHHisalsoanindirect100%parent entityofNTK.OnFriday,thematterwas adjourned for twoweeks afteroneofthetwojudgesontheBenchrecusedfromthecase.Sebi has also urged the SC to allowthe

acquirer,NorthernTKVenture,MalaysianhealthcaremajorIHH,andParkwayPantai,toproceedwithanopenoffertoacquireupto19.70lakhshares (26%oftheexpandedvotingsharecapital)ofFHL.

Godrej leases out 2-lakh sq ft officespace toAPMoller-Maersk inMumbai

Fortis seeksvacation of SCorderblocking stake sale toMalaysia’s IHHHealthcare

PRESS TRUSTOF INDIANewDelhi, July 17

IT FIRM HCL Technologies on Fridayposted 31.7% rise in consolidated netprofit in June 2020 quarter at `2,925crore, and said it expects to see a positivegrowth trajectory in the coming quartersonthebackof strongdealpipeline.The Noida-based company also

announced that its founder, Shiv Nadarhas stepped down from the chairman'sposition,and his daughter,Roshni NadarMalhotrawill succeed him as the Chair-personof theBoard.ShivNadarwouldcontinuetobeMDof

the company with designation as chiefstrategyofficer,HCLTechsaid.HCLTech,whichhadpostedanetprofit

of `2,220 crore in the April-June 2019quarter(asperUSGAAP),willnotofferanysalaryincrements to its staff this fiscal.Revenuegrew8.6%to`17,841crorein

the quarter under review from `16,425croreinthecorrespondingquarterlastyear.Onasequentialbasis,thetoplinewaslowerby4%from`18,590croreinMarch2020.Inconstantcurrencyterms,HCLTech's

revenue in June 2020 quarter grew 1%

year-on-year.“We started theyear in themiddle of a

global health crisis and I had said weexpect Q1 to be soft and it played out asanticipated...Not all of this dip is attrib-uted to Covid-19, some of this reductionwas due to offshoring of large deals envi-sioned in the previous year.HCLhas exe-cutedthelastquarteronalmostalldimen-sions,” HCL Tech president and CEO CVijayakumarsaid.The companysigned11netnewtrans-

formational dealswithnewbookings total

contractvaluebeinghighercomparedtothesamequarter last year,and renewalswerealsorobustduringthequarter,headded.HCL Tech expects its revenue to

increasequarter-on-quarterbyanaverageof 1.5-2.5% in constant currency for thenext threequarters.Vijayakumar added that he believes

thatthe“worstisbehind”andthat“thereisapositivegrowthtrajectoryfromnowon”.

“And that's what has given us confi-dencetoprovideaguidanceof1.5to2.5%averagequarterlygrowthonaconstantcur-rencybasis,”he said.Vijayakumar said lifesciences and the tech sectorare two areas,wherethefirmcontinuestoseegrowth.“The next set of sectorswill be finan-

cialservices,andsomeamountoftelecomsegmentwould be the next set and thenmanufacturing and consumer packagedgoods (CPG)retailwillbethethird.I thinkthe demand recovery will be in thatsequence,”he said.

Asked about the suspension of H1-BvisasbytheUS,Vijayakumarsaidthemovewas“unfortunate”butwill haveminimalimpact on the IT services major in theshort term as it has been investing inrampingup localhiring in that country.

Bharat Biotechbegins Covaxin trialsHUMANCLINICAL TRIAL of BharatBiotech’s coronavirus vaccine,Cov-axin,beganatRohtak’sPostGraduateInstituteofMedicalSciences(PGIMS)on Friday,Haryana healthministerAnilVij tweeted.“Threesubjectswereenrolled today.All have tolerated thevaccine very well. There were noadverseeffects,’’Vijsaidinatweet.BharatBiotechgot thedrug regu-

lator’sapprovaltostartclinicaltrialsofits coronavaccine recently.PGIMS isoneofthe12institutesthathavebeenchosenforthe1,125-participanttrialofthevaccinecandidate,jointlydevel-oped byBharat Biotech and IndianCouncil ofMedical Research’s Nati-onal InstituteofVirologyinPune.

FE BUREAU

HCLTechprofit jumps32%to`2,925cr

NewDelhi, July 17

ATOTALOF 19.84 lakh passengers trav-elleddomesticallyin Junethisyear,whichis83.5%lowerthanthefiguresofthecor-respondingperiodlastyear,theDGCAsaidonFriday.Moreover,theoccupancyrateorload factorforfiveoutof sixmajor Indianairlines was between 50% and 60% inJune2020,it said.“Thepassengerloadfactorinthemonth

ofJune2020hasshownasharpdeclinedueto limited air operations because of theCovid-19 outbreak,”theDirectorateGen-eralofCivilAviation(DGCA)said.

The occupancy rate in SpiceJet was68%in June thisyear.However,theoccu-pancy rate for other major airlines —IndiGo,GoAir,Vistara,AirAsia India andAir India— in themonth of June stood at60.7%,57.9%,56.6%,56.5%and56.5%,respectively,aspertheDGCA.India resumed domestic passenger

flightsonMay25afteragapoftwomonthsamidthecoronaviruspandemic. —PTI

FE BUREAUMumbai, July 17

GODREJ FUND MANAGEMENT, the realestate private equity arm of the GodrejGroup,onFridayannouncedithasleasedanoffice space of 2 lakh sq ft to APMoller-Maersk’sbusinessunits.The office space has been leased at

GodrejTwo,a commercial office located inVikhroli,Mumbai.GodrejFundManagement (GFM)man-

ages$1billionworthof capital across fourfunds and Godrej Two is the first of thedevelopment assets underGFM’sGBTC Iprogramme.It is jointlyownedwithGodrejProperties.GodrejTwoisaGrade‘A+’officedevelopmentandispartofthelargermixedusedevelopment‘TheTrees’,whichisamixof commercial,hospitality,retail and resi-

dentialofferings.ThelargerdevelopmentisalreadyhometotheglobalheadquartersoftheGodrejGroupandothermarqueefirms.GodrejFundManagementMDandCEO

KaranBolaria said:“Wearepleased towel-comeAPMoller-MaerskasourfirstpartnersinGodrejTwoand look forward to furtherstrengthening this partnership across ouroffice portfolio.We are confident that ourproduct is future-ready and caters to theever-changingneedsofmultinational cor-porationsoperatinginIndia.”APMoller–MaerskisaDenmark-headq-

uarteredintegratedcontainerlogisticsfirmthatisbringingitssevenbusinessunitsfro-m four different locations under GodrejTwo.This is the largest co-locationprojectthatMaerskhasundertakeninIndia.JLLwasthe exclusive transaction adviser andhasalsobeenappointedastheprojectmanager.

HCLTech president & CEOCVijayakumar

The proceeds of the issuewill beprimarily utilised for partial orfull pre-payment or scheduled

repayment of certain debt facilitiesof the asset SPVs availed frombanks/financial institutions,

including any accrued interest andany applicable penalties/premium

DGCA: Number ofdomestic flyersin June declines84%y-o-y

New Delhi

5FINANCIALEXPRESSWWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020

Form No. INC-26[Pursuant to rule 30 the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014]

Advertisement to be published in the newspaper for change of registered office of thecompany from one state to another

Before the Central Government, Western Region, MumbaiEverest 5th Floor, 100 Marine Drive, Mumbai - 400002

In the matter of sub-section (4) of Section 13 of Companies Act, 2013 and clause (a) ofsub-rule (5) of rule 30 of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014

ANDIn the matter of MAXIUS VENTURES PRIVATE LIMITED

(CIN : U45206MH2003PTC211586), having its Registered Office atB 302, Om Samrudhi SOC. Gandhari Road, Aadharwadi, Kalyan, Mumbai,

Maharashtra 421301,-----------------------Petitioner Company

Notice is hereby given to the General Public that the company proposes to makeapplication to the Central Government under section 13 of the Companies Act, 2013seeking confirmation of alteration of the Memorandum of Association of the Company interms of the special resolution passed at the Extra ordinary general meeting held on13th July, 2020 to enable the company to change its Registered Office from “State ofMaharashtra” to “State of Madhya Pradesh”.Any person whose interest is likely to be affected by the proposed change of theregistered office of the company may deliver either on the MCA-21 portal (www.mca.gov.in) by filing investor complaint form or cause to be delivered or send by registeredpost of his/her objections supported by an affidavit stating the nature of his/her interestand grounds of opposition to the Regional Director, Everest 5TH Floor 100 Marine DriveMumbai - 400002, within fourteen days of the date of publication of this notice with acopy to the applicant company at its registered office at the address mentioned above:

For and on behalf of the ApplicantMAXIUS VENTURES PRIVATE LIMITED

Deepak Singh BisenDate: 17.07.2020 DirectorPlace: Kalyan (Mumbai) DIN: 08066701

XTGlobal Infotech Limited(Formerly known as Frontier Informatics Limited)

CIN:L72200TG1986PLC006644Regd Office. Plot No. 31P & 32, 3rd Floor,Tower-A,Ramky Selenium, Financial District,

Nanakramguda,Hyderabad – 500 032.E-mail : company.secretary@xtglobal.com,

Tel: +91 040- 23007456Website: www.fitlindia.com

NOTICENotice is hereby given pursuant toRegulation 47 read with Regulation29 and 33 of SEBI (Listing Obligationsand Disclosure Requirements)Regulations, 2015 that a meeting ofthe Board of Directors of XTGlobalInfotech Limited (Formerly known asFrontier Informatics Limited) isscheduled to be held on Thursday,23rd day of July, 2020 at 05:00 PMto consider and approve interalia theunaudited financial results for thequarter ended 30th June, 2020 andany other matter as permitted bythe Chair.The details will be available atwww.bseindia.com where theCompany’s shares are listed andthe company’s websitewww.fitlindia.com.

By Order of the Board ofXTGlobal Infotech Limited

Sd/-Shikha Gangrade

CompanySecretaryDate : 15-07-2020Place : Hyderabad

L.G. BALAKRISHNAN

& BROS LIMITED6/16/13, Krishnarayapuram Road,Ganapathy, Coimbatore - 641 006.

NOTICE

For L.G.BALAKRISHNAN & BROS LTD

M. LAKSHMI KANTH JOSHIG.M. (Legal) & Company Secretary

Coimbatore16.07.2020

Pursuant to Regulation 29 read withRegulation 47 of the Securities andExchange Board of India (Listingo b l i g a t i o n s a n d D i s c l o s u r eRequirements) Regulations, 2015,Notice is hereby given that a meeting ofthe Board of Directors of the Company isscheduled to be held on Thursday, the

th30 July, 2020 to inter alia and approvethe Audited Standalone and ConsolidatedFinancial Results of the Company for the

thquarter ended 30 June 2020.The said Notice may be accessed on theCompany's website at www.lgb.co.in andmay also be accessed on the stockexchange websites at www.bseindia.comand www.nseindia.com.

CIN: L29191TZ1956PLC000257

Ph:.0422 2532325 Fax: 0422 2532333Email id:info@lgb.co.inWebsite: www.lgb.co.in

NOTICENotice is hereby given that pursuant to Regulation 29 (1) (a) read with 47of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulation2015, a Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled tobe held on Monday, the 27th July, 2020 at Registered Office of the Companyat 12:15 pm, inter-alia to consider, review and adopt Audited FinancialStatements along with Auditor’s Report for the Fourth Quarter and yearended 31st March, 2020, to recommend dividend ,if any and Un-auditedFinancial Statements for the First quarter/three months ended 30th June,2020 with other agenda’s to the business.Pursuant to Regulation 47(2) of SEBI (LODR), the said Notice may beaccessed on the Company’s website at www.spsl.com and may also beaccessed on the website of the Stock Exchange at www.bseindia.com.

SHREE PRECOATED STEELS LIMITEDCIN: L70109MH2007PLC174206

Regd. Off.: 1, Ground Floor, Citi Mall, New Link Road, Andheri (West)Mumbai – 400 053

By order of the BoardFor Shree Precoated Steels Ltd.

Sd/-Harsh L. Mehta

Managing DirectorPlace: MumbaiDate: 18th July 2020

Notice is hereby given in compliance with Regulation 47(1) (a) of the SEBI (ListingObligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, that a meeting of theBoard of Directors of the Company will be held on Friday, 24th July 2020, to considerinter alia and to take on record, the Un-Audited Standalone & Consolidated FinancialResults for the quarter ended 30th June 2020.

The aforesaid information is also available on the Company’s website www.jsw.in andalso on the websites of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited and BSE Limitedat www.nseindia.com and www.bseindia.com respectively.

NOTICE

For JSW Steel LimitedSd/-

Lancy VargheseCompany Secretary

Place : MumbaiDate : 17.07.2020

CORPORATE IDENTIFICATION NO. (CIN) : L27102MH1994PLC152925Regd. Office: JSW Centre, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (E), Mumbai - 400 051

Tel.: 022-4286 1000 Fax: 022-4286 3000 Email: jswsl.investor@jsw.inWebsite: www.jsw.in

Steel Limited

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that 25th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Company will be heldonWednesday, the12th August, 2020 at 03:00PM throughVideo Conferencing (VC)/ Other AudioVisual Means (OAVM) in compliance with all the applicable provisions of the Companies Act,2013 (Act) and the Rules made thereunder and the Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI)(Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 read with circular Nos.14/2020 dated April 08, 2020, 17/2020 dated April 13, 2020 and 20/2020 dated May 05, 2020 totransact the businesses set out in the notice calling the AGM. Members participating throughVC/OAVM will be counted for the purpose of ascertaining the quorum under Section 103 ofthe Act.In line with the aforesaid circulars and as intimated earlier via newspaper publication dated30th June, 2020, the Notice calling the AGM is being sent to those shareholders, whose emailaddresses are registered with the Company/Depository. it is requested to the shareholderswho have not yet registered their email addresses, to register their e-mail IDs temporarily inrespect of shares held in dematerialised form, with the Depository through their DepositoryParticipant(s) and in respect of shares held in physical form through an e-mail to the Registrarand Share Transfer Agent (RTA) of the Company, , KFin Technologies Pvt. Ltd., SeleniumTower B,Plot number 31 & 32, Financial District Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500 032, Tel:+91 040 67161524,email: einward.ris@kfintech.com or to the Company at secretarial@tcil.com.The Notice calling the AGM will also be made available on the website of the Company atwww.tcil.com, Stock Exchanges at www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.com and on CentralDepository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) website at www.evotingindia.com.The Company is providing remote e-voting to all the shareholders to cast their votes on allresolutions set out in the notice of the AGM as well as through e-voting system during theAGM through the platform of CDSL. The Shareholders whose email addresses are not registeredwith the depositories/Company for obtaining login credentials for e-voting for the resolutionsproposed in the notice calling the AGM, are requested to email to the company on secretarial@tcil.com. The detailed procedure for remote e-voting is provided in the Notice.Members are requested to update bank accountmandate for receipt of dividend directly in theirbank account through their Depository Participant(s) in respect of shares held in dematerialisedform and in respect of shares held in physical form to the RTA by providing request letteralongwith Cancelled cheque.

For Transport Corporation of India Ltd.

Place: Gurugram Archana PandeyDate: 17h July, 2020 Company Secretary & Compliance Officer

Transport Corporation of India Ltd.CIN: L70109TG1995PLC019116

Regd. Office : Flat Nos. 306 & 307, 3rd Floor, 1-8-271, to 273, AshokaBhoopal Chambers, S.P. Road Secunderabad - 500 003, Telangana

Corp. Office : TCI House, 69 Institutional Area, Sector-32, Gurugram -122 001, HaryanaTel: +91 124 2381603-07, E-mail : secretarial@tcil.com,Website:www.tcil.com

New Delhi

SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020

FINANCIALEXPRESS6 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

❝ ❝

INSPIRINGTEXTPrimeminister Narendra Modi

TheTirukkural is extremely inspiring. It is a treasureofrich thoughts, noble ideals andgreatmotivation.Thewordsof respectedThiruvalluvar have thepower tospreadhopeandbrightness

T HERE IS AN opinionamong many policymak-ers that Universal BasicIncome (UBI) should be asupplement to,orreplace-ment of, all social safety nets. Theglobal economiccontraction inducedby Covid-19 has prompted thisthought in India and elsewhere.Sup-porters of basic income often believean unconditional safety net can helppeopleoutofpoverty,bygiving themthe time to apply for jobs or learnessential new skills. This is seen asincreasingly important in the age ofautomation, which contributes tounemployment. With the coron-avirus pandemic exacerbating theweaker sections' financial struggles,the Spanishgovernmenthas decidedto implement what it is calling anationalminimumincome,ensuringthat people in around 1million low-incomehouseholdsget roughly$500amonth in income.The plan aims toreach 2.3 million people, and isexpected to cost the governmentabout 3 billion euros ayear.ThespreadofCovid-19has funda-

mentallyshakeneconomies,andpeo-plearebeginningtoquestionexistingeconomicmodels:Thispandemichashighlightedtheexisting levelsofbothinjustice and inequality worldwide,whichcontinue to increase.Covidhasled to lockdown of many economies,national and local, to a contraction indemand and increasing unemploy-mentandsalary-cuts.So,bolderstepsareneeded,notonlytoprotectpeoplefrom such catastrophe but also toavoid continued recession.With demand contraction, con-

tract labour,many people who workin the informal sectoraswell as someformal sector employees arewithoutjobs.This treatmentof labourvitiatesthe social contract between businessand labour whose interests are not

separate but aligned. In such a situa-tion would a food safety net, as isbeing used by India,help? It is a puregrant of five kg of cereals and one kgof lentils per family per month foreight months in 2020. Withoutdoubt, this direct, in-kind transfer offood is useful,but the leakages in thesystem need to bechecked to eliminateany slips betweenimplementation andintent. Would UBI bebetter? We will try tofind out here.A UBI promotes

equality and provides abackstop for those wholose jobs or fail to getone.It could remain as asafety net, but not as analternative to employ-ment generation. Jobsremain the backbone ofa healthy economy, andour focus should be ondeepening and widen-ing the labour market.Moreover,formostpeo-ple, work is an impor-tant part of life andmoney without effortwould erode their self-esteem. Insuch a situation, the MGNREGAcouldproveagoodavailable solution.The MGNREGA—guaranteeing

100 days of work each year to ruralIndians—is the largest social protec-tion programme in the world, in

terms of the number of householdscovered. Since 2006, it has beenexpanded to cover all districts inIndia, providing work to 60 millionrural households and 12 crorework-ers, @ two workers per householdtoday.But there isunevenness inout-comesacross thecountry.MGNREGA

implementationdependsonthesupplyofwork, rather than thedemand for it. Supply isdetermined by differ-ences in state capacityand intention, and localpower relations.Improving employmentoutcomes requiresunderstanding thedemand-driven aspectsof MGNREGA through afocus on local-focussedstudiesandfunding,andtracking of outcomes.Even so, MGNREGA

guarantees just 100days of work,which canbe extended to 150daysin times like these.Round-the-year, unin-terrupted jobs are noteasily available in Covid

times. Consumption demandremainsa constraint.Peoplehavenotbeen able to step out and buy; eventhough restrictions are being gradu-ally lifted, the uncertainty overfuture income is holding themback.Because of this, as also other com-

pelling reasons, industry has beenhesitant to borrow and spend. Insuch a situation,what can provide asafety net as well as encourage peo-ple to spend and revive demand?A need-based basic income that

can either supplement MGNREGA’s100-150daysof guaranteedwork,orsupport for365days to thosewhodonot have any job,would perhaps be abetteroption.This couldbe followingHughes theory of modest basicincome@minimumwage per adultper household, totalling about`6,000peradultpermonth.It is only$160 per household, assuming 2adults in a household are benefitted,compared to $500 that Spain’s giv-ing. But, would it really encouragepeople to spend?With direct transfer of food, UBI

may not be needed. But, when thefood support is replaced by incomesupport, it would lead to spendingand boost demand aswell as providethe needed safety net.But it maynotensure 100% spending and inducepeople to spend some and save someoutof fearofanuncertain future.Thisis the famousparadoxof thrift,whichleads to reducedboostingofdemand.In suchasituation,basic incomesup-port in the form of spending vouch-ers would not only take care of theeconomybut also give a thrust to theKeynesian multiplier.Assuming twoadultsperfamily,andonegets`6000in cash and the other gets vouchersworth`6,000dividedproportionallyamong food and other essentialexpenditure like medicine, health-care and education, themoney flow-ing back to the economy would bemuch higher than a plain UBI, asvouchers have to be spent and someof the cash would be spent on itemsnot covered by the voucher, giving ahuge push to the Keynesian multi-plierandrevivingaggregatedemand.

● FIGHTING DEPRIVATIONINSTEADOFMAKING ITUNIVERSAL, MAKE ITAN INCOME SUPPLEMENTFORMGNREGA-COVERED

HOUSEHOLDS, ORASUPPORTTO PLUGTHE LACKOFROUND-THE-YEAR EMPLOYMENT

RAJARSHIGHOSH

Head, economic affairs andpolicy,IndianChamber ofCommerce

Viewsare personal

CLARAFERREIRAMARQUES

Bloomberg

MOSCOWRESEARCHERSSAYoneofthecountry’spotentialcoronavirusvac-cineshasbeenprovensafeinsmall-scalehumantrials,andisreadyforwidertests.It shouldbe amodestwin fora countrythat has sought foryears to restore itsSoviet-era reputation for cutting-edgescience,andforpresidentVladimirPutin.Yet,onThursday,Britain,theUSand

CanadaaccusedRussiaofhackinginter-nationalresearchcentresthataretryingtodevelopavaccine.TheKremlindeniesany involvement,while theheadof thecountry’s sovereignwealth fund calledtheallegationsanattempttotarnishtheRussianresearcheffort.It’sstillanaccu-sationthatjeopardizesahoped-forinoc-ulation boost for prestige.Old-schoolvaccine diplomacymight help.Even inthedepthsoftheColdWar,SovietandUSdoctorscollaboratedtobattlepolio,andlatersmallpox.Russiaisalsonottheonlynationdes-

perate to arrive at a solution fast and,preferably,first.Yetthepressurethereisacute. Putin needs to lift his flaggingpopularity,despite aplebiscite that thismonthoverwhelminglyapproved con-stitutionalchangesthatcouldkeephiminpoweruntil 2036.ThenecessityhasonlyincreasedwithmassprotestsintheFarEasterncityofKhabarovsk,afterthearrestofthelocalgovernorlastweek.The Covid-19 outbreak has been

intense inRussia,whichhas the fourth-highest numberof cases globally.Mor-talityrateshavebeenremarkablylow,butnewcases are still coming inat a rate ofwell over6,000aday.The economyhastakenahit.Yetthevaccinepushisjustasmuch aboutwinningback a status tar-nished byyears of underinvestment,adramaticbraindrain,andallegationslastyearof plagiarismandotherunethicalpractices that prompted hundreds ofacademicarticlestoberetracted.Evenbeforecoronavirus,innovation

andsciencewerepillarsof the$400bil-liondevelopmentplanPutinhopeswillform his legacy. Unfortunately, time

pressure and flag-wavingdon’t alwaysproducethebestresults.For now,whatwe knowof Russia’s

vaccineeffort is encouraging.SechenovUniversityistestingavaccinedevelopedbytheGamaleyaInstituteofEpidemiol-ogyandMicrobiology inMoscow,andpreparingtodischargeitslastvolunteersafter the initial phase of the trial. Ittrackedanimmuneresponseandfoundthe prototype to be safe.Themilitary,which conducted a parallel trial, hasmadesimilarcomments,andreleaseditsownvolunteers.Russia is not as far along as

AstraZeneca Plc and the University ofOxford or Chineseresearchers, but it hasover a dozen promisingvaccine candidates, andGamaleya’s is among thefront-runners,alongwithprototypes developedbythe Vector Institute inSiberia,formerlythecen-teroftheSovietbiologicalweaponsresearch.Thereisstillplentywe

won’tknow,though.DatafromthefirstphaseoftheGamaleya trial is notyetpublic andmore testingwill be required. The third and finalphase,which tests thevaccine’s actualeffectivenesswithalargercohort,wouldnormallytakesixmonthstoayear.Itisn’teven clearwhetherRussia,no longer amajorvaccineexporter,canmanufactureenough.Yetthishasn’ttemperedenthu-siasm in state-run media or acts ofbravurasuchasresearchersatGamaleyawho voluntarily injected themselveswith the untested prototype.Practicessuch as state-owned Sberbank PJSCrecruitingvolunteers for theGamaleyatrial among its own employees byappealingtotheirpatriotism,arenolessworrying. Or shortcuts elsewhere, aswithavagueMoscowstudythatencour-aged doctors to test the anti-malaria

drughydroxychloroquine.Thehackingallegationsmakeitallworse.IfRussiaistoreapthediplomaticand

political benefits of ahome-grownvac-cine, it needs suchavictoryto be credi-ble,athomeandabroad.Followinginter-nationalnormsandcollaboratingwouldbe a start. Indeed, Putin may have nochoice—large-scaletrialsmayhavetobecarriedoutincountrieswheretheinfec-tionrateishigher.It still won’t come naturally to a

nationalist Putin administration thathas long struggled to reconcile aspira-tionsforscientificglorywithadetermi-nation to tighten control.TheKremlin

has sought to oversee con-tacts with foreignresearchers and a numberofacademicswithoverseaslinks have been accused oftreason. Other govern-ments will now be extrawary too. Yet history sug-gestsitcanbedonesuccess-fully,withtheUnitedStatesand others.PeterHotez oftheBaylorCollegeofMedi-cine,who served as scienceenvoyunderUS presidentBarack Obama and haswritten extensivelyon the

issue,pointsparticularlytothecoopera-tionbetweenUSdoctorAlbertSabinandSovietvirologistMikhail Chumakovontheoral poliovaccine in the late1950s.Relations thenhad thaweda little afterthe death of Josef Stalin,but theywerestill tenseandcompetitive:Sputnikwaslaunched in1957.Bothsideswanted tostealtechnologicalsecrets.Even so a fewyears later, therewas

collaborationagainwhenSovietscien-tists pioneered a freeze-drying tech-nique forthe smallpoxvaccine.Unfor-tunately, today, the environmentmaybe too toxic.

This columndoesnotnecessarilyreflect theopinionofthe editorial

boardorBloombergLPand its owners

Covid-19 and itsafter-effectsData collated so far indicate thatpatients recovered fromCovid-19suffer from its after-effects and showCovid-19 as a debilitating disease. Itis too early to tell how severe theafter-effects are and how long theylinger or last. But discharge fromhospital cannot be equatedwith therestoration of full health for allrecovered patients.Testingnegative after the infection does notmean full healing and return to pre-infection normalcy for everyone.The quality of life becomesworsethan before they got sick.The likelycontribution of residual symptomsto long-termor chronic disabilities isone area epidemiologists arestudying to gain a betterunderstanding.The correlationbetween themorbidities andmedical complications before andafter Covid-19 toomerits study.Fatigue,muscle pain, difficult orlaboured breathing, fogginess andlack of concentration are found topersist in some recoveredCovid-19patients. Some recovered patientsfeel discomfortwhen they performphysical activities like climbingstairs and lifting objects; some evenfind it hard to chew and swallowfood and speak abovewhispers,probably due tomedicalinterventions including intubation.Themulti-organ effect ofCovid-19 isnowclinically proven.The after-effects can be diverse andvaryconsiderably fromperson to person.Covid-19 is essentially a severeacute respiratory disease; itdamages and scars the lungs. Noless serious or significant arementalhealth issues faced by therecovered patients.The after-effectswhich are nowbeing establishedstress the need for continued careand treatment ofCovid-19survivors.Their bearing on theproductivity of the recoveredpatients, family incomes andeconomiesmust pale intoinsignificance beside the fact thatthey survived the disease.—GDavid Milton, Maruthancode

If Russia is to reap thediplomatic and political benefitsof a home-grownvaccine, itneeds such a victory to becredible, at home and abroad

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR

Putinmay have nochoice but followinternational

norms—large-scaletrials may have tobe carried out in

countrieswhere theinfection rate is

higher

Getting basic income supportto deliver optimally

Cheating in the Covidvaccine race?

To get basicincome support topush demand, thegovt could think ofgiving part of it astied-spending

vouchers, say, forfood, healthcare,education, etc. Thecash part can also

be used bybeneficiaries forspending that isnot covered by the

vouchers

Vaccine talk needs‘cautious optimism’

Covid vaccine progress so far is encouraging,but thereare still toomanyuncertainties that need too be resolved

Datamarket in the offing

Meat&MethaneMethane emissions have risen drastically, livestock

farming and fossil fuels are to blame

N EWSOFMODERNAINC’SCovid-19vaccinecandidateinducingcreationofSARSCoV-2neutralisingantibodiesinalltrialparticipants—analysisofPhase1clinicaltrialfindingspublishedintheNewEnglandJournalofMed-icine shows that thevaccine is also relatively safe—has sparked somedegreeofeuphoria.ReportsinTheGuardianhavealsotalkedaboutencouragingresults(thoughunconfirmedsofar)fromthephaseoneclinicaltrialsoftheOxfordUniversity’svaccinecandidate.Indeed,thegeneraldirectionofprogressonvaccinecandidateshasbeenencouraging so far.Even so,theglobal communitywoulddowell to temper itsexpectations.ItisimportanttokeepinmindMerckCEOKennethFrazier’ssagewordsonhype (even ifunintentional) aroundasuccessfulvaccine,especiallyone touted tobecomeavailableinthenearterm,beinga“greatdisservice”tothepublic.Frazier,inaninterviewwithaHarvardBusinessSchoolprofessor,statedthattherearemanyscien-tific and logistical obstacles that avaccine candidatemust overcome toprove suc-cessful.He shouldknow,havingbeenat thehelmof a companythat has developedmanysuccessfulvaccines,includingoneofthefewapprovedagainstEbola.Tobesure,theurgencyinthepresentinstanceisineluctable,andwithinfrastructuresupportingR&Dhavingevolvedrapidlyoverthepastfewyears,itislikelythatcertainaspectsoftri-alsnowdon’tdemandtheamountoftimetheydidearlier.However,thereisalsoaneedtounderstandthatvaccinecandidatesmayfacemanylimitations.Studies fromChina,Germanyand theUKshowthat the antibodies Covid-19

patientsdevelopagainstSARSCoV-2couldbeshort-lived; indeed,anongoing ICMRstudyreportsthatnearly25%ofthesamplesofplasmafromrecoveredpatientsdid-n’thaveanyantibodies.Apartfromtheimplicationsforplasmadonationsforconva-lescent plasma therapy,this also could be an indication that developing long-termimmunity,whetherbecauseof infectionorvaccine-induced,couldbedifficult,evenwithT-lymphocytes(onepartofimmunesystemmemory)inplay.Ifvaccinetrialsandotherresearcheventuallyshowthis,aone-shot-and-donevaccinewouldbeunlikely,too.And,with rapidmutations—66,000genomic sequenceshavebeen reported sofar—vaccinedevelopment,boosters included,will be a complicated affair.There areotherpotential limitations also,whichneed tobe studied overa longer time-framethanwhat all the‘fast-trackvaccine’talkhas focussedon.For instance,even thoughadenovirusvectorvaccines (involvingweakenedviralvectors that act as a carrier forpathogengenesencodingforthelatter’sproteins,whichtheninducethebodytocre-atecorrespondingantibodies)arebelievedtohavecertainadvantagesoverothervac-cines—includingDNAvaccines onwhich these arebased—experts arewatching if itwillalsomeanifsuchvaccinesarelesseffective.Neutralisingantibodiesagainsthumanadenoviruses are common—more so inAfricannations than inAsian orEuropeanones—andthereisaneedtoseehoweffectivevaccineslikeCanSinoBiologics’scandi-dateandJohnson&Johnson’scandidatefareeventually.Indeed,assomeimmunolo-gistshaveopined,eventhesiteoftheadministrationofsuchvaccinescoulddeterminewhetherantibodiesagainstthevectorareactivatedandrenderthevaccineineffective.Vaccine talkperhapsneeds tobring inabalancebetweenoptimismandcaution.

There are toomanyuncertainties right nowto be talking of launch in amatterofmonths—or,for thatmatter,even anear-termdeadline.There is also aneed to fuelresearchonotherpharmacologicalinterventions—suchasantiviralmolecules,mon-oclonalantibodies(newresearchfindingsthatestablishthegeneticbackboneofanti-bodies that target thevirus’s spike protein,the IGHV3-53gene),newan