Impatient: Alibaba is keen to up its India play and is looking at various routes to get there. It already has a tie-up and investment in payment wallet PayTM, which has e-commerce aspirations and also has its own running B2B business. Now it looks like there’s some consolidation in the works. There is buzz that Alibaba is in talks with the Tata group for an online shopping tie-up. And also that it could choose to go the Amazon way and set up shop in India on its own. At the same time, it may also take over PayTm’s fledgling e-commerce venture and run it directly. Alibaba also has a stake in Snapdeal, one of the big 3 in e-commerce. No matter which route it eventually takes, it’s clear that the Chinese e-commerce giant is digging its roots deep in India and is in a hurry to establish its presence in this highly competitive, rather crowded business. It’s well placed to do so. In 2015, Indian e-commerce companies sold a combined $16 billion of goods online, slightly more than what Alibaba sold in a single day during a popular sale, and about a sixth of its annual sales.
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Cementing ties: When Lafarge and Holcim proposed to merge and create the world’s biggest cement company, it caught the attention of anti-trust regulators everywhere. It won approval from the regulators in US and EU, but India hasn’t been as easy. To meet Competition Commission of India requirements, Lafargewill start selling bulk of its India business for 100 billion rupees this week.
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Mallya: The relentless publicity and the combined onslaught of government agencies may have hit their mark. Vijay Mallya is reviewing his assets to work out a sweeter repayment deal with banks. He also plans to settle dues of the erstwhile employees of the airline. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate, the government’s white crime fighter, has ordered Mallya to return to India by April 2, in connection with a money laundering case. Mallya’s holding in the two liquor companies is worth slightly less than the money he owes, not to mention his real estate and other assets, all of which are fair game because the loans are covered by a personal guarantee.
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Small savings: The government has cut its so-called small savings interest rate, or the rate it pays on public pension funds (PPF) and other government savings plans. A cut in this rate is wrought with political pressures and public opinion, as most of the investors in these funds are smaller investors. These plans return more than 7 percent after the cut, still higher than the 6 odd percent that bank savings accounts pay. This might be the government’s way of signaling lower interest rates overall, especially to the RBI which is reviewing its rate policy in two weeks.
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Essar Oil: It has debt of $3.6 billion and a valuation of $5.6 billion. The Ruias, who own Essar are looking to sell 74 percent of the company (the maximum allowed) to repay some of the debt. Russian Rosneft may buy 49 percent (again the maximum that a single foreign company can hold) and the rest will be sold to oil trading companies and other investors. After the sale, at least 40 percent of the debt will be wiped off.
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Also looking for investors is IDBI Bank. The government may start off its stake sale in banks with this one. Leading the race are the International Finance Corp, the CDC group and TPG Capital. IDBI Bank and Axis Bank were created by government-owned lending institutions, and the government has all but exited from Axis Bank (formerly called UTI Bank) and hopes to do the same with IDBI.
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Cover Image: A 19-day strike by Indian jewelers was called off even though the government hasn’t withdrawn the 1 percent excise duty that they were protesting against. The strike has cost them 180 billion rupees and the government about 20 billion.