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Jio-FB: The Supply Chain
businesstoday.in Game Changer Redefined
OC
May 17, 2020 `100
Clashing Tiger, Fuming Dragon
The Modi GovernMenT TiGhTens iTs Grip on invesTMenTs FroM
China, siGnallinG an adversarial eConoMiC relaTionship
ThaT will require deFT ManoeuvrinG To sTay ahead
From the Editor
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F
Executive Editor: anand adhikari
ear feeds on fear. There’s no greater fear in world economies today than Deputy Editors: ajita Shashidhar,
Naveen Kumar (Money Today)
China, as countries grapple with the fallout of the pandemic that origi-
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nated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Was coronavirus a bio-weapon? Was Senior Editor: anup Jayaram
it allowed to spread intentionally? Was it meant to destruct the world’s biggest correspondents
economies so that China could gain? Is China taking advantage of the global stock Senior Editors: p.B. Jayakumar, Nevin John,
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market crash to shore up equity in strategic firms? Those are just some of the ques- Dipak Mondal, Manu Kaushik, Sumant Banerji
tions leaders the world over are struggling to answer. Associate Editor: Nidhi Singal,
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Most have already made precautionary moves to block any misadventure.
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triggered a notification to stock exchage regulator SEBI for surpassing 1 per cent
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panies, HDFC – which also owns the largest private bank HDFC Bank – it natu- Assistant Art Director: Raj Verma
rally set alarm bells ringing from SEBI, right up to the Ministry of Finance. PBoC production
already owned 0.8 per cent of HDFC. As HDFC’s stock value crashed 32 per cent, Chief of Production: Harish aggarwal
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it had only acquired an additional 0.2 per cent, a move that would be considered Associate Chief Coordinator: Rajesh Verma
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ground. Yet, this is just the beginning. Regulatory and a possible consumer back-
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May 17, 2020 Cover by NilaNjaN das
Volume 29, Number 10
No Exemption
from Pain
Pg. 30
Hunt for Magic
Potion
Pg. 36
Reinvention
Time
Pg. 42
Survival of the
Fittest
Pg. 48
The Not So
Happy Face of IT
Pg. 52
The Booby Trap
Pg. 56
Funding Disaster
Relief
Pg. 62
Uphill Battle
Pg. 66
Interview/
Nitin Gadkari,
Union Minister for
Road Transport
and Highways
Pg. 72
illustration by raj verMa
18
As INdIA tIGhteNs FdI Norms, ChINese FIrms ANd INvestmeNts mAy FACe
reGulAtory ANd CoNsumer bACklAsh. the FrICtIoN betweeN AsIAN
GIANts Could be the beGINNING oF AN AdversArIAl ChAPter IN trAde
4 Business Today 17 May 2020
14
Corporate
The Game Changer
With both sides tight-lipped,
the nuts and bolts of jio-
Facebook tie-up remain
shrouded in mystery
6
The Point
A Full-blown Crisis
Mark Zuckerberg,
The devastating impact of corona- Ceo, Facebook
virus on the economy is becoming
increasingly clear. Here is what
high-frequency data show
8
Mukesh ambani, 78
New Investments CMd, Ril
Slip in FY20
FY20 ended with new Network
investments of `11.9 lakh crore;
this is much lower than the Aditya Puri’s
`13.1 lakh crore in FY19 Second Innings
HdFC Bank’s Aditya Puri,
74 who is known for skillfully
optimising time, has
“enjoyable plans” for his
10 Management retirement life
No Full Stops
Food Subsidy Falls; How india inc’s business
Bad News for FCI continuity plans are being
The Centre’s food subsidy bill overhauled to tide over
falls 10 per cent in FY20 the coronavirus crisis
businesstoday.in
sTaY CoNNeCTed WiTH us oN
www.facebook.com/BusinessToday@BT_india
82
An Feature
Best Advice I Ever Got
From time to time, you will see pages titled “An Impact
Feature” or “Advertorial” in Business Today. This is no
“You are the custodian
different from an advertisement and the magazine’s editorial of the culture of the
staff is not involved in its creation in any way. organisation”
Ramesh iyer
17 May 2020 Business Today 5
peTrol,
DieSel
DemanD
SlumpS
î India's fuel
consumption slumped
over 66 per cent year-
on-year in April (till the
A FULL-BLOWN
10th of the month)
î Petrol sales fell 16.37
per cent to 2.16 million
tonnes in March; ATF
sales down 30 per cent
CRISIS
The devastating impact of
coronavirus on the economy is
becoming increasingly clear. Here ConSumpTion
(Million metric tonnes)
is what high-frequency data shows
8
By Shivani Sharma 7
Graphics by Tanmoy Chakraborty High
6 Speed
Diesel
5
4
Petrol
3
CoronaviruS
2
1 ATF
BiTeS: 0
unemploymenT
19-Apr 20-Mar
raTe TopS 26%
î The labour participation rate fell
to an all-time low of 35.4 per cent
in week ended April 19
î The employment rate also fell
to an all-time low of 27.7 per cent
during the week foreign
î Labour participation during
March was 41.9 per cent. It was
Tourist
42.6 per cent in February and 42.7 arrivals
per cent in March 2019.
Growth Hits
50 record low
Labour Participation Rate
Y-o-Y % change
40 25
Employment Rate 20
30
15
20 10
5
Unemployment Rate
10 0
-10
0
7-Apr Week 19-Apr 15
2019 ended 2020 Feb 2015 Feb 2020
6 Source: Labour Ministry Source: Tourism Ministry
Bank CreDiT
GrowTH
fallS To 6.14%
îYear-on-year (y-o-y)
growth in bank credit
decelerated to 6.1% in
FY20 from 13.3% in FY19
îDeposit accretion
growth moderated to
7.9 per cent from 10 per
cent in FY19
îOutstanding bank
credit stood at `103.7
lakh crore on March 27.
Banks raised deposits of
`9.97 lakh crore in FY20
as against `11.4 lakh
crore in the previous
financial year
Bank Credit
21.35
Growth (%)
17.84
13.39
13.53
13.72
10.69
9.54
9.38
7.8
6.1
FY 11
FY 12
FY 13
FY 14
FY 15
FY 16
FY 17
FY 18
FY 19
FY 20
Source:
RBI
wholesale
prices of
essential
Commodities
rise Sharply
4.82
4.52
riCe wHeaT SuGar milk
9.02
7.03
2.75
30.96
2.55
6.18
5.27
2.53
3.36
4.2
0.02
4.94
1.61
-0.59
2.22
-11.12
-11.93
-2.84
Wholesale Prices
of Essential
Commodities (%)
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
FY20
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
FY20
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
FY20
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
FY20
Source:
Mospi
17 May 2020 Business Today 7
The Point
Borrowings aggregate state
By states Borrowing calenDar (`Cr)
rise sharply 16,269
april
26,100
april
as economy 2019 2020
shuts Down 9,800
4,900
13,900
11,100
îWith revenue falling, states are likely 3,503
to borrow `55,225 crore in April, against 4,125
`34,472 crore in April last year, a spike
of 60 per cent
î The RBI has accounted for a 15 per 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
cent year-on-year rise in aggregate week week week week week week week week
borrowings by states to `1,27,205 crore
in the first quarter of this year
Source: RBI
New INvestmeNts sharp slowdowN
slIp IN FY20 IN project
îFY20 ended with new investments of `11.9
lakh crore; this is much lower than the `13.1
lakh crore in FY19
completIoNs too
îProjects worth `76,400 crore were
îSeptember and December quarters saw an completed in quarter ended March 31, 2020;
improvement but new investments shrunk `4 lakh crore worth of completions were
again in the March quarter, probably due to the scheduled for the quarter
shutdown
îThe completions during FY20, at `4.1 lakh
îOf the 431 new projects announced during crore, were 37 per cent lower than the `6.5
the March quarter, 44 were in the power sector lakh crore in FY19
new projects announceD projects completeD
10 3
(`lakh crore) (`lakh crore)
8 2.5
2
6
1.5
4
1
2 0.5
0 0
Mar 2010 Quarter ended Mar 2020 Mar 2010 Quarter ended Mar 2020
2,000 1,000
No of projects No of projects
1,500 750
1,000 500
500 250
0 0
Mar 2010 Quarter ended Mar 2020 Mar 2010 Quarter ended Mar 2020
Source: CMIE Source: CMIE
8 Business Today 17 May 2020
The Point
Direct Benefit
Food SubSidy transfers fall
FallS; bad 23% in fY20
NewS For FCi
îThe Centre’s direct benefit transfers
(cash and kind) fell to `2.53 lakh crore in
FY20 from `3.3 lakh crore in FY19
îThe Centre’s food subsidy bill
falls 10 per cent in FY20 îThis is partly due to reduction in
transfers under key schemes such as
îThis means — just as in previous few MGNREGA and Pradhan Mantri Awas
years — the Centre is transferring a Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G)
major part of this burden to FCI
îFCI debt has been ballooning; it rose
to `2.65 lakh crore in March 2019, up
from `91,409 crore in March 2014
Fy19 Fy20 % yoy growTh
-10.6 20 31.4 31.4
2,63,000
2,59,900
1,68,700
Direct Benefit transfers to
1,50,800
major schemes in fY20
PDS food 65,140
79,900
Fertiliser 46,148
66,600
MgNrEgA 29,889
32,300
24,600
PMAy gramin 13,214
(in `Crore)
LPg-Pahal 9,624
NSAP 7,225
Food Fertiliser Petroleum Total
subsidy subsidy subsidy
Source: India Budget, CGA, Emkay Research
Fy19 Fy20
3.3
` ` 2.53
lakh lakh
crore crore
CASh KiND CASh KiND
2.14 1.16 1.35 1.18
Source: DBTBHARAT.GOV.IN
10 Business Today 17 May 2020FOCUS
GIFTING
RR GIFTING: HALLMARK OF
TECHNOLOGY, QUALITY AND RANGE
is value for money and a smart way to lock and unlock!
Mr Mukul Vashisht, is the first-generation Could you share about your premium leather
young entrepreneur in his family. An avid products?
adventure sports person, he has given vent The premium leather gift items, is a niche segment
to his creative persona by starting a fledgling of RR Gifting that caters to the high-end clientele.
business of designing and developing gift The gift products are designed indigenously by us or
customised as per the customer’s specifications. With
products in 2007, which has made a experience, we now confidently give suggestions to
credible name for itself in the corporate customers and mostly they are appreciated resulting
world. Passionate about his business, in repeat customers, whose numbers are growing.
he believes that the ‘gifting’ industry Also, technology has advanced tremendously enabling
has great potential and this motivates us to explore different design options, saving time
him to explore wider to come up with and money, improving quality and service. View our
exclusive range of leather gift such as notebook covers,
unique gifting products. He talks card holders, passport holder, chequebook and pass
about RR Gifting, its journey and book holder, wallets and much more on our website
future innovative gift items. www.rrgifting.in.
Mukul Vashisht-PROPRIETOR Are you eyeing the international market?
Definitely. We have consolidated our market in India in
What made you choose developing gifts as a The gift choices vary from company to company and metro cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad,
business option? so the product portfolio is very diverse in a way. But, Chennai, Kanpur, Goa etc., and are still expanding, so
I was very sure of setting up my own business yes, we have a dedicated team of 30 staff including now going global is on the cards. Probably in another
enterprise and that too which had a creative aspect designers, product developers, website developers two years we should be exporting RR gift products
to it as I am a connoisseur of innovative products and data controllers, who give strength to our to foreign countries. Some of our prestigious clients
having an artistic value to it, besides utility. So, the objective. Since we have a full-fledged manpower include leading brands such as Art Housing Finance,
gift developing business appealed to me. As it was back-up with expertise in different departments Apollo Spectra, Abbot, Bosch and Lomb, CPA Global,
not my family business, I started from scratch and such as packaging and delivery as well, we have an KIA Motors, Swatch, Subros, Titan, YKK India and
what followed was gathering extensive information edge in ensuring quality product and timely delivery Central Ministries of Defence, Commerce, Electronics,
about the business and hardwork. The rest as you say irrespective of the size of the order. Shifting from the etc. As we have ambitious expansion plans, we are
is history and destiny. I truly enjoy this business as its present rented premises to company-owned property looking for investors and welcoming them to grow
of my liking and am passionate about it. is definitely there in the pipeline, which we see as an together.
What does RR stand for? asset. The world in is the grip of the Covid -19
My business is named after my father’s elder brother What is the latest product that RR has developed pandemic. How is RR Gifting helping battle it?
Mr Raja Rajendra (Tauji), whom I consider to be my and how popular do you envisage it to be? RR Gifting considers its bounded duty in contributing
mentor. He has also supported me financially when I Today, life is on the fast track with technology taking towards social cause. Under CSR initiative, we provide
wanted to self-start the business. I abide by his golden the front seat driving our daily lives at the click free of cost at least 10 sets of whatever products
words of What to produce? How to produce? For whom of a button. RR Gifting has developed in-house, a developed for any company for distribution to the
to produce? which has helped me tremendously to smart digital lock which can be configured to one’s needy. So now, we are developing Corona safety kits
remain focused, be proactive, be rational, as well as mobile and can be easily operated doing away with at a nominal cost of Rs 1000 plus GST depending on
anticipate market demand. cumbersome keys, the reason that will make it popular. the requirement. With every order 10 kits are given as
What is trending in the corporate gifting world It is scheduled to be launched close to Independence complimentary by RR Gifting as a gesture of solidarity
and how does RR Gifting meet the demand? Day i.e., 15th August, this year. The futuristic product in the battle against Corona pandemic.
R. R Solution Corporate Gifts & Novelties
D- 24/396, Chattarpur hills, New Delhi - 110074 www.rrgifting.in
rrsolution0@gmail.com Mukul Vashisht 9818867921, 8527399075The Point
Cargo traffiC at india's
major ports up 1.4% during
apr 2019-feb 2020
îCargo traffic at India’s îTraffic of îIron ore rose 36 îCoal plunged 10.8
major ports grew 1.4 petroleum, oil & per cent to 50 million per cent, fertiliser
per cent to 643 million lubricants rose 2.7 tonnes and container raw material (dry) 0.3
tonnes during April per cent to 216.9 increased 2.1 per cent per cent and other
2019-February 2020 million tonnes to 134.8 million tonnes goods 5.6 per cent
petroleum,oil
total traffiC & lubriCants Coal sugar
FY16 4.2 4.5 10.4 -19.4
FY17 6.7 7.6 -5.2 38
FY18 4.9 7.7 2.4 -7.4
FY19 2.8 2.1 6.2 -8.7
FY20* 1.4 2.7 -10.8 41.2
iron ore edible oil foodgrains
FY16 -21.5 23.5 -33.6
FY17 187.7 -12.7 86.6
FY18 16 16.7 -29.9
FY19 -14.1 -6.4 -77.2
FY20* 35.96 0.5 41.1
*Till February; Source: Ministry of Shipping
gold Quantity (tonnes) Value ($mn)
imports
53,830
890.3
942.7
820.8
776.9
776.3
775.4
690.5
î FY20 gold imports
34,462
33,648
32,897
28,705
31,768
are estimated at 559.6
559.6
27,000
27,515
tonnes. In FY 19, the
figure was 775.4 tonnes
î This is the lowest
since FY13
î The March 2020
quarter is expected to
be no different, with
estimated demand
of only 120 tonnes
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
FY20
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
FY20
amid the nationwide
lockdown
Source : Commerce ministry
12 Business Today 17 May 2020produCtion of Consumer
durables (april – feb)
APR-FEB FY19 APR-FEB FY20 NO. OF uNiTS ('000) % GROwTh
Air- conditioners 2,475 18
2,923
Telephones
& mobile
54,902 17
64,163
instruments
1,974 10
Electric cooking 2,175
appliances
22,442 4.4
Fans 23,429
Refrigerators 12,385 -1
12,274
washing
& laundry 5,929 -5
Machines 5,634
4,52,288 -13
incandescent 3,94,526
lamps
1,36,589 -20
Fluorescent 1,08,958
tubes & CFLs
3,055 -35
TV Sets 1,983
Electric filament 482 -45
type lamps 267 Source : CARE Ratings
The Big nifty 50 s&p bse sensex
STock
7.8
7.7
3.8
3.6
4.1
3.5
0.9
0.9
1.5
1.7
1.5
1.7
1.1
1.1
MarkeT
-1.1
-0.4
-0.8
-0.9
-1.7
-1.3
craSh
-4.9
-5.7
-6
-6.4
Returns (%) Returns (%)
îPanic selling due to
19.4 -23.2
-23.1
Covid-19 pandemic
shaved off 23 per cent
29.5
29.3
28.5
28.4
28.3
26.6
26.4
26.4
28.1
26.3
27.4
27.4
27.3
27.2
25.5
24.5
market cap of top 50
29
29
29
29
23.2
28
27
26
companies listed on
17.8
the National Stock
Exchange within a
single month P/E (Times) P/E (Times)
îThis was the largest
loss in a single month
Mar-19
Apr-19
May-19
Jun-19
Jul-19
Aug-19
Sep-19
Oct-19
Nov-19
Dec-19
Jan-20
Feb-20
Mar-20
Mar-19
Apr-19
May-19
Jun-19
Jul-19
Aug-19
Sep-19
Oct-19
Nov-19
Dec-19
Jan-20
Feb-20
Mar-20
since the global
liquidity crisis of 2008.
17 May 2020 Business Today 13The Game
Changer
With both sides
tight-lipped, the
nuts and bolts of
Jio-Facebook tie-up
remain shrouded
in mystery
By manu kaushik
M
onths before Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani,
announced that Facebook would buy CMD, RIL
a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms
— the holding company of its digital
businesses — for `43,574-crore, both PhotograPh by bandeeP singh
companies were at loggerheads. In
January last year, at the 9th Vibrant Gujarat Summit,
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), tails are still being worked upon.
advocated protecting India’s data from global corpora- Facebook’s investment could bring RIL’s debt down at a
tions. In September, Facebook’s Global Affairs VP, Nicho- time when cash conservation has become critical for lever-
las Clegg, countered that asking India to allow free flow of aged entities. As per Hong Kong-based CLSA, RIL’s consoli-
data across borders. dated net debt and other liabilities were `2.35 lakh crore in
Seven months later, Ambani has joined hands with 2019/20, down marginally from `2.40 lakh crore in 2018/19.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to collaborate on the vast data “Cash infusion from this deal and closure of `7,000 crore
both collect in their ventures. So, what could have prompt- stake sale to BP in the oil marketing JV should mean cash
ed both billionaires to come together? infusion of over `50,000 crore and bring down net debt,”
Analysts call it a “marriage of convenience” – where says a CLSA report. Even as the modalities of the deal are
each partner brings something to the table that the other being thrashed out, the industry stays circumspect about
lacks. With both sides tight-lipped about the deal, the nuts how things will move forward from here on.
and bolts of the tie-up are shrouded in mystery. Analysts While announcing the partnership, RIL said its “focus
believe barring the investment announcement, most de- will be India’s 60 million micro, small and medium busi-
14 Business Today 17 May 2020The February 2018: Face-
book-owned messaging
Making platform WhatsApp beta-
of the launches its payments
Deal service WhatsApp Pay
July 2018: Mukesh Am-
bani forays into new com-
merce; calls it RIL’s next
biggest growth engine
August 2019: At RIL’s
42nd AGM, Ambani says
he intents to register 30
million kirana stores
December 2019: Jio
Platforms reportedly
does a soft launch of
grocery platform JioMart
in Navi Mumbai, Thane
and Kalyan
February 2020: What-
sApp gets NPCI approval
to roll out its payments
service
April 2020: Jio Platforms
receive `43,574-crore
funding from Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg, for 9.99 per cent stake;
CEO, Facebook WhatsApp and Jio Plat-
forms sign deal to grow
RIL’s new commerce
business
nesses, 120 million farmers, 30 million small merchants buying 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms. A part of the
and millions of small and medium enterprises in the infor- proceeds (`15,000 crore) will be retained in the company
mal sector, in addition to empowering people seeking vari- and the rest (over `28,000 crore) will be used to redeem
ous digital services.” It’s unclear how far RIL has come in OCPS (optionally convertible preference shares) of RIL. A
connecting these small merchants and businesses with its separate partnership has been signed between Facebook-
new commerce platform. owned WhatsApp, Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms to
Last December, Jio Platforms reportedly did a soft grow RIL’s new commerce business using WhatsApp.
launch of grocery platform JioMart in Navi Mumbai, Thane This investment fits in with Ambani’s new commerce
and Kalyan. Hence, it’s safe to assume RIL’s new commerce project launched two years ago at RIL’s 41st AGM. What
journey has just begun, and it will have to tread a long way exactly is new commerce? One of the biggest pieces of Reli-
before potential benefits can be realised. ance Retail’s new commerce project is JioMart, which plans
Nevertheless, Ambani stunned the world by clinching to join hands with millions of kirana stores across India,
the deal in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak. He not and bring them on its platform. By integrating offline kira-
only pulled off the largest FDI in India’s tech sector, but also nas with WhatsApp, local retailers can have a wider reach
became Asia’s richest person. and greater display on Jio’s platform.
Jio Platforms, the RIL subsidiary in which Facebook has “New commerce is going to be our e-commerce of-
invested, saw its enterprise value soar to `4.62 lakh crore. fering. We will enable kiranas to become full-fledged
Last December, brokerage Axis Capital estimated that Jio’s e-commerce companies. Customers would go to their
enterprise value will touch `4.64 lakh crore in 2023/24. Jio WhatsApp and access JioMart where they can find the ki-
Platforms is a larger entity that houses all digital ventures ranas. The idea is to digitise the whole supply chain that’s
of RIL – the Jio suite of apps, digital investments (KAI-OS, informal right now,” says a RIL source.
Haptik) and big data, AI and IoT capabilities. Jio remains In the long term, the plan is to cover more segments un-
the crown jewel in the bouquet of those investments. der new commerce. The expansion of JioMart vertical, (in-
The deal is divided into two parts. First, Facebook is tegrated) payments system of WhatsApp, credit facilities
17 May 2020 Business Today 15Corporate – Jio-FB
What What
Size of facebook iS facebook iS What ril iS What ril iS
the deal bringing getting bringing getting
`43,574 400 388 30 `4.62
crore Million Million Million lakh crore
For 9.9 per cent stake WhatsApp Number of Jio Kirana stores Enterprise value of RIL's
in Jio Platforms users subs whose data subsidiary Jio Platforms
FB can monetise after FB investment
and other services would enable RIL to chal- gains all hold in India. India is home to some of
lenge e-commerce players like Amazon and the Way Facebook’s most thriving communities
Flipkart. “This will help RIL create a strong on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
rival to online e-commerce giants like Ama- In the fourth quarter of 2019, the family of
zon and strengthen its leadership in Indian Jio Platforms gets valued Facebook apps saw 2.89 billion monthly us-
retail,” says an Axis Capital report. among the top five listed ers globally, up 9 per cent over the same pe-
The timing of the deal is great as RIL’s oil companies in India by riod last year. As one of the largest consumer
market cap. Ambani is now
refining and petrochemicals revenues have Asia's richest
economies outside the US, India has been at
taken a hit. The historic fall in crude prices the forefront of Facebook’s target markets.
has upended fundamentals of RIL’s oil and While WhatsApp brings Since China is closed for foreign entities,
gas business. The mega-deal with Saudi scale and reach of 400-mn penetrating deeper into the Indian market
Aramco last year also risks being called off users, RIL offers a vast becomes more important. RIL’s under-
after government reportedly asked a court database of wireless users, standing of the domestic market, particular-
and understanding of the
to restrain the $15-billion deal. “While ly the regulatory side, could bring Facebook
local market
the Saudi Aramco due diligence is ongo- closer to Indians.
ing, clearly with Covid-19 disruptions, the For RIL, the deal is crucial Facebook has a chequered history in
transaction would likely get pushed out. as major businesses India. In 2016, it suffered a big setback over
The key investor concern is whether the – petrochemicals and the backlash from net-neutrality activists
collapse in crude would lead to deal cancel- oil refinery – are under over its Free Basics programme. What-
pressure due to the
lation,” says a J.P. Morgan report. sApp also struggled to make headway in
Covid-19 outbreak
There are two clear upsides for Facebook. the Indian payments market. Despite beta-
First, it can monetise Jio’s subscriber data. WhatsApp will be a super
launching payments service WhatsApp
Though there are rising concerns over users’ app for payments and Pay in February 2018, it got approval from
data privacy and squeezing of online adver- enable users to transact NPCI (National Payments Corporation
tising, India is yet to finalise the personal with local kiranas of India) for roll out just two months ago.
data protection law. Without such a law, Meanwhile, others like Google Pay, Ama-
Facebook can reportedly leverage Jio users’ data without zon Pay, and PhonePe have taken a lead. With the integra-
any regulatory restrictions. tion of WhatsApp Pay and JioMart on a large scale, Face-
“Facebook is largely dependent on ad revenues. Mon- book could bridge some of that gap.
etising WhatsApp has been tough for them. With this tie- An RIL-Facebook partnership was in the works for a
up, they would have greater access to the digital life of an while, but the coronavirus havoc accelerated its closure.
additional 388 million users. The privacy concern stems How? With the coronavirus onset, hyperlocal retail has
from there. Facebook’s history has been marred with con- become extremely popular. “The key expectation from in-
troversies and instances of how data was used by market- vestors is if WhatsApp becomes the new all-in Super App
ers for political campaigning. With this, they would fur- and allows for Jio and [Reliance] Retail to foray into various
ther monopolise the market to attract more advertisers. commerce initiatives leveraging WhatsApp as the Super
Everything boils down to ads,” says Neil Shah, VP (Re- App,” says the JP Morgan report.
search) at Counterpoint Research.
With RIL on its side, Facebook can gain a deeper foot- @manukaushik
16 Business Today 17 May 2020FOCUS
STOCK MARKET
CAUTION !!! INDIAN STOCK MARKET 2020
AGAIN STARTED FACING A BIG CRASH. VERY
SOON NIFTY WILL HIT MINIMUM 5000 LEVEL.
Caution !!! Indian stock market 2020 again started facing a big crash.
Very soon Nifty will hit minimum 5000 level in the upcoming days.
LAKSHMI NARAYANAN SUNDARAM
Research Analyst (SEBI Certified)
T
his crash is going to be one of the biggest
crash registered in the history of Indian
stock market. We can see a sharp fall would be similar to the previous crash, that our get affected badly. So investors and Traders of
in this crash. In this crash Nifty will fall up to Indian stock market got corrected nearly 40% our Indian stock market must be careful to deal
46% from the recent level. It is going to be the from life high in the month of March 2020. with this Crash said by RESEARCH ANALYST Mr.
second consecutive crash in the year 2020 which During the fall investors and Traders Wealth will LAKSHMI NARAYANAN SUNDARAM.cover story
fdi policy
CHECK
ON THE
DRAGON
18 Business Today 17 May 2020It
all started with a seemingly innocuous
transaction on April 12 when state-owned Peo-
ple’s Bank of China (PBoC) bought an addition-
al 0.2 per cent stake in HDFC Ltd., India’s larg-
As India tightens FDI norms, est housing finance company. Added to PBoC’s
Chinese firms and investments existing 0.8 per cent stake, this took the Chi-
may face regulatory and consumer nese bank’s equity past 1 per cent — triggering
a notification to stock exchange regulator, the
backlash. The friction between Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
Asian giants could be the beginning A registered foreign institutional investor
of an adversarial chapter in trade (FII) buying a stake in HDFC is perfectly legal.
It was also a smart bargain. Stock markets in
By sumant Banerji, rukmini rao the world had been topsy-turvy and till that day
and niti kiran HDFC Ltd. had seen 32 per cent erosion in mar-
illustration By raj verma
ket cap since the market crash triggered by the
spread of coronavirus.
17 May 2020 Business Today 19cover story
fdi policy The Maze $1.81
Of Chinese bIllION
chinese investment
Inflows over the last five years
Yet, the transaction rang alarm Into India… 494.75
2014-15
bells at Sebi coming, as it did, amid al-
350.22
$2.34
legations of Chinese firms exploiting 2017-18
market crash to corner stakes in stra- 461.4
2015-16
tegic firms of vulnerable economies. bIllION
The market regulator played safe and china investment 277.25
into India is just 2016-17 229.01
promptly shot off a missive to the fi- 2018-19
nance ministry seeking guidance. 0.5%
of total FDI in two All figures in $ million; All figures are FDI
It asked if such transactions needed decades equity inflows from China
special attention.
In Delhi, its chain reaction contin-
ues to unravel till this day. Taking note
of the threat posed by Chinese firms
to companies in India that may be
vulnerable due to economic stagna-
1 China is 18th Largest
tion because of coronavirus, on April
FDI Contributor
Mauritius
(Apr 2000-Dec 2019)
17, the commerce ministry’s Depart- $141.9
ment for Promotion of Industry and billion
Internal Trade (DPIIT) amended for-
eign direct investment (FDI) guide-
lines to apply curbs on investments 2 3 4 5 6
from China. Aimed at preventing any
opportunistic takeover from across Singapore Japan netherlands USA UK
the border, any fresh FDI from China $94.65 $33.1 $30.9 $28.35 $27.94
now requires a specific nod from the billion billion billion billion billion
government.
Taking a cue, Sebi wrote to custo-
dians the very next day, seeking de-
tails of foreign portfolio investments 7 8 9 10 18
(FPIs) from China, Hong Kong and
11 other Asian countries. While there Germany Cyprus France UAE China
are no restrictions on Chinese FPIs $12.07 $10.10 $7.10 $6.91 $2.34
billion billion billion billion billion
investing in Indian companies yet,
Sebi specifically wants custodians to Source: DIPP
determine the level of control these
investors exercise.
Even though investments – FDI,
FII or FPI – from China have not been $4.2 $8
bIllION bIllION
blocked yet, this has not gone down
that’s because much of Amount china claims it
well with China. The Chinese Em- the chinese investment has invested in
bassy in Delhi, in an angry response, comes via singapore India till
demanded that India revise the policy, (above) and Hong Kong December 2019
calling it ‘discriminatory’ and in ‘vio-
lation of WTO’ rules.
“The impact of the policy on
Chinese investors is clear. The addi- $3.9 $26
bIllION bIllION
tional barriers set by the Indian side
estimated investment by total investment by
for investors from specific countries chinese firms in china in India, including
violate the WTO’s principle of non- India’s start-up economy ongoing and planned
discrimination, and goes against the in 2019 ones, as estimated by
Brookings
general trend of liberalisation and
facilitation of trade and investment.
20 Business Today 17 May 2020Equity China Not Among Top
8,27,258
7,82,031
10 FPI Investors
debt
41,853
3,374
Hybrid
Total
Asset Under Custody (` crore)
4,00,834
3,28,853
69,714
2,268
2,48,653
2,83,487
2,30,497
1,39,593
1,79,857
34,718
2,27,831
50,265
82,070
6,168
1,20,915
116
1,17,951
375
93,544
92,769
87,999
62,995
2,408
16,298
76,274
82,827
22,964
19,785
13,933
42,149
65,144
65,116
5,413
51,211
555
196
132
46
0
3
USA Mauritius luxem- Singapore United ireland Canada Japan norway nether- other
bourg Kingdom lands
Source: NSDL; FPI AUC data country-wise (top 10 countries) by March 2020
What Tighter FdI Norms Mean
Greater scrutiny Investors look- Companies with Start-ups like Throttling Impacts foreign
of companies ing to exit existing Chi- Paytm, big- investments entities with
from China from compa- nese inves- basket, with from China is subsidiaries
looking to in- nies will tors may find big Chinese another blow in india that
vest directly face greater it difficult to holdings, will to overall are looking at
in india due diligence raise fresh find it tough start-up fund- raising funds
funds to raise funds ing in india offshore
More importantly, they do not conform to the consensus is widely expected to follow DPIIT), even Chinese con-
of G20 leaders and trade ministers to realise a free, fair, sumer firms such as MG Motors, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Oppo
non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable and Vivo are bracing for a possible consumer backlash
trade and investment environment, and to keep our mar- when the lockdown is lifted. Greater scrutiny of Chi-
kets open,” said Chinese embassy spokesperson counsel- nese investments will have far-reaching consequences
lor Ji Rong. “Companies make choices based on market including, but not restricted to, the Indian start-up eco-
principles. We hope India would revise relevant discrimi- system that is flush with capital from across the border.
natory practices, treat investments from different coun- Chinese investors pumped in an estimated $4 billion
tries equally, and foster an open, fair and equitable busi- into Indian startups in 2019 alone. And as India actively
ness environment.” woos investments from firms looking for alternatives
India remains unmoved and combative. “It does not to China, it will have to combat the fuming dragon more
violate any WTO guideline in any way. We are well within often.
our rights to formulate or tweak any policy. Just to be “China’s FDI in India remains quite small, so the re-
clear, we are not blocking any investment, only making cent restrictions are not going to materially change the
sure that the intent behind it is positive. What is wrong picture. The purpose is to prevent Chinese state-owned
with that?” says a senior commerce ministry official. companies from opportunistically buying stock of In-
Shots fired, the die has been cast. But this may be dian companies that are currently facing a downturn in
just the beginning of an adversarial relationship with their stock price,” says geo-strategist Brahma Chellaney.
China that will require deft economic and geopolitical With global recession staring in the face, the friction
manoeuvring. While regulators tighten the noose (Sebi between the two Asian economic giants is only expected
17 May 2020 Business Today 21cover story
fdi policy
“India is going to win on its merit and
does not need China to fail for it to
succeed. The cost-quality balance of
to increase. engineering products coming out of
India is superior to that of China. That
Opportunistic Raids on Firms? is why Triumph and KTM have allied
The pandemic is set to push the world with us while a company like BMW has
economy into its worst recession allied with TVS"
since the 1930s Great Depression. Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto Ltd
While the world economy is projected
to shrink at least 3 per cent in 2020,
the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) believes India’s economy will
grow 1.9 per cent. The impact of the
slowdown on companies would be
dramatic. So, many could lose value in “We need to be extremely watchful
stock markets, making them vulnera- of Chinese moves, including its
ble to takeovers. Since China, besides investment instruments, and its
India, is the only other large economy presence in ASEAN countries”
expected to grow its GDP in FY21, it
is feared that state-owned Chinese Abhyuday Jindal, MD, Jindal Stainless
firms may make opportunistic pur-
chases here. “We need to be extremely
watchful of Chinese moves, including
its investment instruments, and its
presence in ASEAN countries,” says
Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director,
Jindal Stainless, India’s largest stain- “China has spoken with its actions.
less steel company. History will give its objective and
impartial verdict. No one could
But is it Realistic? discredit or distort these facts or
China does not figure among the Top truths. To defeat the virus, mankind
10 FDI or Top 10 FPI investors in In- needs to choose confidence over
dia. Official FDI figures would show panic, unity over division,
at first glance that the DPIIT curbs cooperation over scapegoating”
appear to be a case of much ado about
nothing. Between 2000 and 2019, Sun Weidong, Chinese Ambassador to India
Chinese FDI into India barely added
up to $2.3 billion, Commerce Min-
ister Piyush Goyal told Parliament.
That is barely half a per cent of all
FDI during the period. The Chinese
government inflates this to $8 billion
but even that is under 2 per cent of total FDI. lion during this period. Even the Centre is grappling with
However, these numbers do not give the full picture. exact China-specific FDI via these routes. Jidesh Kumar,
The Centre is worried because these benign numbers Managing Partner , King Stubb & Kasiva, an M&A fo-
could be misleading. A significant chunk of Chinese cused law firm, says, “Usually, investments in India from
investments come through destinations such as Hong border states will be structured by creating SPVs in Hong
Kong and Singapore. India’s largest smartphone manu- Kong, Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands or other ju-
facturer, Xiaomi, for example, has routed its `3,500 crore risdictions to avail tax-treaty benefits under the respec-
investment in India through its subsidiary in Singapore. tive double taxation avoidance agreements (executed by
Overall FDI from Singapore has been $94.6 billion in the India with these countries).” The biggest Chinese invest-
last two decades, accounting for 20 per cent of all FDI ments have come in the technology sector. Players like
into India. This makes Singapore the 2nd-largest source Tencent and Alibaba invested in Indian tech start-ups
of FDI into India. Hong Kong pumped in another $4.2 bil- such as Udaan, Delhivery, Swiggy and BigBasket in 2019.
22 Business Today 17 May 2020Companies With Significant Investments From China
Company FPI Investor % Share Company* FDI Indian Firm
Avanti Feeds Thai Union Asia Invst. Holding 8.77 tsingshan $ 3 bn Chromeni
Holding Steel
Kingfa sc. & tech. (India) Hongkong Victory Invst. Co. 6.32
Xinxing $ 1.25 bn Xindia Steels
HSBC Pooled Investment Fund - Group
Glenmark Pharma 3.29
HSBC Pooled Asia PAC
Vivo, Oppo,
BBK $ 1.1 bn Realme, One
Kiri Industries Moving Limited 2.08 electronics Plus, IQOO
Gandhi special tubes Pinebridge India Equity Fund 1.25
Fosun $ 1.09 bn Gland Pharma
HDFc Ltd People's Bank of China 1.01
Haier $ 528 mn Haier Appliances
Group India
Holdings based on information with CMIE's Prowess database;
BSE-listed companies covered; FPIs from both Hong Kong & Xiaomi $ 504 mn Xiaomi India
China (as per Sebi)
* These are announced investments
Biggest Start-ups Involving
Chinese Investors
Company
Amount*
Investors
PayTM Ola OYO Rooms Snapdeal BYJU’S
$3.53 $3.28 $3.2 $1.8 $1.47
BIllIOn BIllIOn BIllIOn BIllIOn BIllIOn
Ant Financial, Tencent, Didi Didi, Huazhuhui, Alibaba Group, Tencent, General
Alibaba, Alibaba Chuxing, China- SoftBank Vision Blackrock, Nexus Atlantic, Aarin
Group, Softbank Eurasia Economic Fund, Airbnb, Venture Partners, Capital, CPP
Vision Fund, Cooperation A91 Partners Temasek, Foxconn Investment
T. Rowe Price, Gojek Fund, Mirae Asset, and others Electronics and Board, Prosus
and others SoftBank Group others and others
and others
*Total funding; Source: Tracxn
The non-tech FDI is sparse. and reasonable.”
Even so, just looking at the size of the FDI would be But the threat is limited here as well. Besides HDFC
missing the woods for the trees. The other concern which Ltd, there are only five other companies that have re-
prompted the government to put these investments un- ceived significant FPI investments from China or Hong
der the scanner is Chinese firms using lower valuations Kong. Of these, Hong Kong-based Thai Union Asia In-
to strike lucrative deals via the FPI route. “The revision vestment Holding Ltd has the largest stake – 8.77 per
of FDI policy is useful for indigenous entrepreneurs and cent — in shrimp exporting firm Avanti Feeds, while
businesses. It will give a reprieve to businesses that are HSBC Pooled Investment Fund has a 3.29 per cent stake
financially fragile on account of the great lockdown,” in pharma major Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Hong
says Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner, Cyril Amarchand Kong Victory Investment Co has a 6.32 per cent stake in
Mangaldas. “This could ensure that the valuations at Kingfa Science and Technology (See Companies With Sig-
which Indian businesses receive investments are fair nificant Investment From China)
17 May 2020 Business Today 23cover story India in Sync
fdi policy With World
AuStRAlIA: Tightened rules
on foreign takeovers fearing
strategic assets could be sold
cheaply due to the coronavirus
While it is purportedly aimed at preventing take- crisis. Has mandated scrutiny
overs, the impact of the change in guidelines could be of every single deal regardless
widespread. According to law firm Shardul Amarchand of value
Mangaldas, the changes would impact existing Chinese
firms looking to invest more capital, investments from ItAly: It expanded the Golden
Powers Law, meant to restrict
China for greenfield projects as also foreign entities
foreign investments in sensitive
with subsidiaries in India looking to raise capital from areas, to include a large num-
overseas. ber of other sectors. Curbed
India is not alone in trying to protect its companies foreign takeovers in a range
from a potential Chinese invasion either. Many European of sectors
countries, including Italy, Spain, Germany and France,
besides Australia, have recently put similar curbs on op- GeRmAny: Europe’s biggest
economy approved measures
portunistic investments from China (See India in Sync which applied to takeover bids
with the World). from the United States
“Hostile takeovers are not a country-specific risk and and enterprises outside the
can happen from anywhere in this time of crisis when European Union
valuations of companies are down. We need to take
precautions from everywhere. China carries a higher SpAIn: Issued Royal Decree
suspending the regime on FDI
risk because of its political setup which is considered deregulation indefinitely. It ne-
to be non-transparent,” says Gopal Krishna Agarwal, cessitates prior government ap-
National Spokesperson (Economic Affairs), Bharatiya proval for investors outside EU
Janata Party. “India cannot have the luxury of not hav- looking at acquiring more than
ing discretion. The financial position will be very criti- 10 per cent in a local company
cal in the immediate aftermath of Covid and we should
CAnAdA: Tightened foreign
not be in a position where we expose our vulnerabilities
investment rules, scrutinising
to China,” says Harsh Pant, Director, Studies and Head, investments in companies re-
Strategic Studies Program, Observer Research Founda- lated to public health or critical
tion. “China has exposed itself with this crisis and shown supply chains, and investments
its aggressiveness. The world, with India included in it, is by state-owned companies
or investors with close ties to
wary of it.”
foreign governments
At the same time, too much regulation could also
prove to be counter-productive. As a growing economy, euRopeAn unIon: Was among
India needs investments in infrastructure and labour the first to tighten foreign in-
intensive sectors and with the world economy headed vestment rules. The aim was to
towards a recession, China could be one of the few major discourage “bargain hunting”
by China.
economies bucking the trend and willing to spend. “Chi-
na’s cumulative investments in India are far more than
uK: The UK government screens
the total investments of India’s other bordering coun- acquisitions in military, dual-
tries. Our investments have driven the development of use, computing hardware and
India’s industries such as mobile phone, household elec- quantum technology sectors
trical appliances, infrastructure and automobile, creat-
ing a large number of jobs in India, and promoting mutu- uSA: The Committee on Foreign
ally beneficial and win-win cooperation,” Ji Rong argues. Investments in the US is now
playing an active role in
“Where companies choose to invest and operate depends screening potential takeovers
on the country’s economic fundamentals and business on national security grounds
environment. Facing the economic downturn caused
by Covid-19, countries should work together to create a JApAn: $2.2 billion fund to help
favourable investment environment to speed up the re- Japanese companies shift pro-
sumption of companies’ production and operation.” duction out of China
Agarwal of the BJP agrees, adding India need not fol- Map not to scale
low the path taken by others but chart its own course, as
its reality is different. “We need not get entangled in any
24 Business Today 17 May 2020“The revision of FDI policy is
useful for indigenous entrepreneurs
and businesses. It will give a reprieve
to businesses that are financially use 'Swadeshi' and buy local products
in order to give impetus to local pro-
fragile on account of the
duce and generate employment in the
great lockdown”
country," Prime Minister Narendra
Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner, Modi said in December 2019 in his reg-
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas ular radio programme Mann ki Baat.
A call to buy made in India goods
from none other than the prime min-
ister himself is bound to sway con-
sumer mindset, given his popularity.
The bad press China has been receiv-
“MG is a quintessential British ing across the globe, with criticism of
brand where ownership happens its handling of the pandemic, can only
to be Chinese. But if you look at it add to that. “The pandemic has un-
leashed strong feelings about China
rationally, we are no different from a
globally. They are now facing strong
Honda, Toyota or a Ford with strong
headwinds across the world and In-
local manufacturing supported by a
dia is no exception,” says Chellaney.
large set of global suppliers”
Praveen Khandelwal, National Sec-
Rajeev Chaba, President and MD, MG Motor retary General, Confederation of All
India Traders, says, “Even before the
lockdown, consumers had started to
show their dislike for Chinese goods
and would not buy them even if avail-
able cheap. This is the best time to
put an end to import of non-essential
goods like toys from China.”
"I thank the Govt. for taking note of “The cost quality balance of engi-
my warning and amending the FDI neering products coming out of India
norms to make it mandatory for Govt. is superior to that of China. That is
approval in some specific cases" why Triumph and KTM have allied
with us while a company like BMW
Rahul Gandhi has allied with TVS. India is going to
win on its merit and does not need
China to fail for it to succeed. But In-
dian industry needs its government to
support it,” says Rajiv Bajaj, Managing
Director of Bajaj Auto.
At the other end of the spectrum
are social media apps backed by Chi-
global warfare and we just need to protect our domestic nese companies which, apart from being popular, are
interests. Others should not use our shoulders to fire at turning into a nightmare for the government in control-
China,” he says. “We should also be a bit cautious when ling fake news. Apps like Helo, SHAREit, TikTok and
dealing with FDI because while we have abundance of Vigo have penetrated deep into Tier II-III towns and have
labour and raw materials, we are short of capital. So, we a huge rural user base with unregulated content. TikTok
also need investments. China is the world’s second-larg- had in 2019 run into trouble when the Madras High Court
est economy and has the capital. So, it would not be pru- banned it for increased crime and inappropriate content.
dent to restrict investments entirely. We need a balance.” The ban was later lifted.
Though not a Chinese company, the latest platform
Bracing up for Consumer Backlash to get into trouble is video-calling app Zoom, which
“As we are going to mark the 75th anniversary of Inde- has emerged as an alternative business calling app dur-
pendence in 2022, I urge all the youth of this country to ing the Covid crisis. Among the other shareholders
17 May 2020 Business Today 25China Stranglehold on India's 2018
Smartphone Market (in %) 2019
28.3
Xiaomi
28.6
22.6
Samsung
20.3
10.1
Vivo 15.6 Source: IDC Quarterly
7.2 Mobile Phone Tracker,
OPPO February 2020
10.7
3.2
Realme
10.6
Others 28.6
14.2
of Zoom, founded by Chinese-American Eric Yuan, is terests who want to amplify such kind of negative views.
Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka Shing, founder of the There are some noises but at the end of the day people are
Hutchison Whampoa empire. The Ministry of Home smart. We as Indians basically want a good value propo-
Affairs issued an advisory against using Zoom after se- sition. So, let the best products and services prevail and
curity concerns were raised with the company housing let politicians play politics and business guys focus on do-
its data centre in China, among the 17 data centres it has ing business,” says Rajeev Chaba, President and Manag-
around the world. Sameer Raje, Head of India, Zoom ing Director, MG Motor. “MG is a quintessential British
Video Communications, says the company takes privacy brand where ownership happens to be Chinese. Our top
seriously. “Many large global institutions have done ex- management is 100 per cent Indian and we have invested
haustive security reviews of our user, network and data `3,000-4000 crore in India. We are no different from a
centre layers and continue to use Zoom for most or all Honda, Toyota or a Ford with strong local manufacturing
of their unified communications needs,” says Raje. He that is supported by a large set of global suppliers.”
says Zoom is in talks with the MHA and is focused on Smartphone companies from China that have made
providing information they need to make informed deci- even deeper inroads in the market — Xiaomi, Vivo and
sions on policies. Oppo are among the top 5 — also say they are as Indian
There is strong sentiment on social media as well. The a company as any except for the ownership. “Covid-19
day the PBoC raised its stake in HDFC Ltd, the bank was has had a worldwide impact and any region-focused bias
trolled on microblogging site Twitter with people liken- would be deemed unnatural. Our focus and priority re-
ing this to an attack by China on India’s banking system. mains on supporting all customers and minimising dis-
Similarly, hashtags like #BoycottChina regularly ruption. Given our global footprint, we feel we are in a
trend on Twitter in India and some political outfits have position to handle this well,” says Rahul Agarwal, CEO
also latched on to this. The Swadeshi Jagaran Manch and Managing Director, Lenovo India. Xiaomi says 99
(SJM), an organisation that promotes indigenous goods per cent of its smartphones, as well as smart TVs and
and has close ties with the government and the RSS, has powerbanks, are made locally and 65 per cent of the value
from time to time exhorted consumers to shun Chinese of each phone is sourced from within India.
goods. “After #ChineseVirus, the world has started real- “Not just this, we have been able to generate employ-
ising the reality of China beyond cheap goods. This is the ment for over 50,000 people in India across our part-
time for the globe to unite and practice complete boycott ners,” says a Xiaomi India spokesperson. “We boast of a
of Chinese goods and capital,” Ashwani Mahajan, the Na- completely local leadership. We might be headquartered
tional Co-convener of SJM, tweeted on April 21. He has in China but Xiaomi India operates exactly like a local
more than 31,000 followers. company and we hope our users can see that.”
This is not the first time a campaign to boycott goods An online survey conducted between late March and
from China has gained currency in India. But the earlier early April by Takshashila Institution, a Bangalore-based
ones have had negligible impact on business in the past. think tank, highlights the negative perception for China
Chinese firms are hoping it will be the same this time as among Indians. With a sample size of nearly 1,300 re-
well. “During such crises, there are always some vested in- spondents, a majority 1,156 from India, it found that two-
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