Diverse Success of Indian Equities

India is a diverse country in many ways and perhaps one such arena is the age of successful companies in the country. On one hand, India boasts the third largest startup ecosystem with an increasing number of unicorns, and on the other hand, the listed companies are breaking their own record when the Indian equity market enters the top five clubs.

For the first time, India’s equity market has entered the top five clubs in the world in terms of market capitalization. The country’s total market cap stands at $3.21 trillion, ahead of some of the most loved markets of the world, namely, the UK ($3.19 trillion), Saudi Arabia ($3.18 trillion), and Canada ($3.18 trillion). At the start of this year, the UK and France were ranked fifth and sixth with a market capitalization of $3.7 trillion and $3.5 trillion, respectively.

The tumultuous situation around the globe, in the background of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, has overturned the ranking of market capitalisation. The dent, perhaps, has been borne massively by European Nations. Case in point, Germany, which was formerly one of the top five markets, is now ranked tenth. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has climbed three places from 10th to 7th. The country, especially its largest firm Aramco, will benefit from a jump in oil prices this year.

The recovery of Indian markets over the last few days could be a reflection of the positive wave seen after election results, in addition to the ongoing peace talks regarding the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Further, now in India the long-term capital gains on listed equity shares, units etc. are liable to a maximum surcharge of 15 per cent, while the other long term capital gains are subjected to a graded surcharge which goes up to 37 per cent. There is a cap on the surcharge on long term capital gains arising on transfer of any type of assets at 15 per cent. These steps will give a boost to the startup community for sure.

Today India has the third-largest number of Unicorns in the world. More than 10 thousand start-ups have been registered in the last 6 months. Recent exponential growth in the number of unicorns in India is not only backing innovative solutions but also large scale deployments.

India has become a hotbed of start-ups including some of the difficult domains like defence. India has also deregulated many sectors like Drones, Space, Geo-spatial mapping and made major reforms in the outdated telecom regulations related to IT sector and BPO. The spirit of Entrepreneurship is high and shining bright in the times of Atmanirbhar Bharat. This strengthening of Indian Equity market’s standing in the global ranking bodes well for these wealth creators.

Advanced Fuels to Fuel Advancement

The 21st century India has rightly adopted an agile approach for its growth and a lot of focus has been on transforming the way the economy creates value. Last few years have gone into laying foundations for new avenues and Smart solutions, especially ones that are helping to save environment, that too exponentially.

The auto-industry is brewing with many such solutions and many of them have already hit the ground. The use of Alternative Fuels are also being looked upon with keen endorsement. From electricity run cars and propane vehicles to natural gas-powered buses and trucks running on bio-diesel, the use of alternative fuels is becoming a craze like never before. Unlike conventional energy sources, alternative fuels have various sources to be harnessed for varied purposes. Also, in a country where we need millions of new jobs every year, renewable energy creates new jobs opportunities also.

Alternative fuels are non-conventional and advanced fuels, which can be used in place of existing fossil fuels like petroleum products, coal, natural gas and others. They are being highly preferred over conventional fuels because of their obvious advantages like relatively low cost, environmental and emission benefits, domestic availability, employment generation, storage benefit etc. Bio-diesel, bio-alcohol like methanol, ethanol, butane, refuse or waste-derived fuel, chemically stored electricity like batteries and fuel cells, hydrogen, non-fossil methane, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil, propane and other biomass sources are some of the alternative fuels, being used worldwide. Alternative fuels are often low-cost and they also produce less waste and particulate matter, carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and sulphur dioxide.

The world’s most advanced technology – developed Green Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) Toyota Mirai was also very recently launched in the country. It is an important initiative which will promote clean energy and environmental protection by reducing dependence on fossil fuels, thereby making India ‘Energy Self-reliant’ by 2047. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), powered by Hydrogen is one of the best Zero Emission solutions, which is completely environment friendly with no tailpipe emissions other than water.

The government is said to be working plans to shift public transportation to 100% clean energy sources. It has been stated that the automobile companies will start manufacturing flex-fuel variants within six months and that most vehicles in India will soon run on 100% ethanol. Though the most commonly used flex-fuels use 85% petrol and 15% ethanol presently, the upside of ethanol-based fuels is that the ratio of ethanol to petrol can be adjusted to any combination. It is also important to mention that unlike CNG cars, flex-fuel requires minimal modifications to the fuel system and engine to effectively use the fuel. Therefore, flex-fuel compatibility has to be factory-engineered and cannot be fitted or modified in the after-market. India has permitted ethanol production from B-heavy molasses, C-heavy molasses, grains unfit for human consumption, sugarcane juice, sugar, sugar syrup, surplus rice and maize, so that they don’t cause food shortage. Contrary to the popular notion with regard to an aversion to changes, Bihar became the first state in the country to have its own ethanol policy. Ethanol Production Promotion Policy, 2021 of the state permits ethanol production in Bihar from all feed stocks allowed by National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, and also by National Biofuel Co-ordination Committee.

Protecting Rights of Digi-Consumer

The definition of consumerism has changed as the world scouts through technological leaps, digital deliveries, virtual reality, booming entrepreneurship and compound collaborations. All these undertakings have opened gates to many new facets of consumerism, presenting both opportunities and alarms. In 2021, retail e-commerce sales amounted to approx. 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide, thanks to the pandemic-induced digital activities around the globe. This figure could reach about 7.4 trillion dollars by 2025. While non-physical buying like e-commerce, social media shops, stocks & insurance, tickets & bookings, infotainment subscriptions, e-property dealings etc. grows outrageously, the absence of centralised prescribed rights of the digital buyers & consumers is adding to the backlog of cases and issues which may jeopardise global future endeavours.

The requirements are not just regarding not just the grievance reddressal of the e-buyer(s) but also their data protection and digital security. One could refer to the ‘Right to be forgotten’ on these lines, which empowers individuals to ask organisations to delete their personal data. The concept has been discussed and put into practice in several jurisdictions, including Argentina, the European Union (EU), and the Philippines. The European Court of Justice, in fact, legally solidified the “right to be forgotten” as a human right when the court ruled against Google in the ‘Costeja’ case in May 2014. Such a right can be a good point to start with for India too, which however, has much more complex systems, restrained resources and a flood of data breach cases waiting for just a proper redressal system to be in place.

The recent release of the detailed guidelines by RBI are an effort worth appreciating. The guidelines aim to strengthen India’s digital payments structure and improve security, control and compliance among banks, gateways, wallets and other non-banking entities that are contributing for India to meet its goal of going cashless. The new rules come at a time when India’s payments ecosystem is also vulnerable to frauds and cyber breaches.

RBI’s efforts for consumer protection had begun in 1995 with the setting up of the Complaints Redressal Cell. Later, three Ombudsman schemes of RBI namely the Banking Ombudsman Scheme (2006), the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (2018) and Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (2019) were launched. These three were merged to launch a more systematic and centralised scheme i.e. the Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) in November 2021. Some other steps by RBI include launch Complaint Management System (2019) and formulation of the Charter of Customer Rights, etc.

When it comes to traditional buying also, India has taken various measures to safeguard the consumer rights of the citizens. At top of this, is the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 that provides for the establishment of three-tier quasi-judicial machinery, called Consumer Commissions, to provide simple and speedy redressal of consumer disputes. Further, provisions have been made for e-filing and e-payment, video conferencing based hearing, court-monitored mediation, etc. to facilitate early disposal of cases. The Act also lays down provisions for E-Commerce Rules, 2020 and Direct Selling Rules, 2021. As per the latest data available, there are 632 Consumer Commissions operational in the country. 2,83,889 cases were disposed of from 2019 to 2021. As for the enhancement of consumer grievance redressal mechanism, the Department of Consumer Affairs has expanded “E-Daakhil” facility across 11 more states/UTs in the last one year (facility available now in total 23 states/UTs). Helpline number of the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal ( i.e. 155260) has also been added to the NCH portal for filing grievances relating to financial cyber frauds.

Economy, Collaboration and Diplomacy in Space Sector

Space Technology, over the years, has seen tremendous growth in multitude than originally envisaged. According to ISRO, many Non-Government-Private-Entities (NGPEs) in India have started engaging in space activities that are contributing to the growth trajectory with huge commercial potential. ‘Space Economy, Space Collaboration and Space Diplomacy’ are going to be the founding stone of the foreseeable future of the world economy and technology. Referring to the space economy while inaugurating North India’s first-ever space centre in Jammu, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh mentioned that India is already receiving revenue worth millions of Euros and US Dollars through the launching of foreign satellites.

The Global Space Sector is thriving. Over 65 countries have operated at least one satellite. Political and economic capital being invested in the space environment by governments and commercial entities is at record levels. Global Space Economy comprises the space industry’s core activities in-space manufacturing and in satellite operations, including others. The growing public-private factors contribute to the Space economy by providing space-related outputs, space derived products and services and the scientific knowledge arising from space research. The main segments of the space economy include manufacturing, services from satellite operators and consumer services.

At present India accounts for only about 2% of the space economy. With policy interventions in the right direction and public-private partnerships in the Indian space sector, India can capture a larger share of the global space economy. The budget allocation to these sectors is growing year after year. This year, the Department of Space has been allocated a whopping Rs 13,700 crores in the annual budget, Rs 7,456.60 crores of which is earmarked for capital expenditure. ISRO is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 219.14 crores from various launch activities in the year 2022-23, under its commercial wing NewSpaxe India Limited (NSIL). According to Budget, the Department of Space, between the years 2022 and 2023, plan to transfer 30 technologies for social, commercial ad other objectives.

A look at the numbers suggests that startups in the space sector have crossed a total number of 100, of which 47 were established in 2021. In 2019, only 11 new startups were added to the sector. According to the Economic Survey Report – 2022, as many as 47 new start-ups entered the Indian space sector in 2021, taking the tally to 101. More than 50 start-ups are working in the space sector and about 10 of them have funding of over Rs 50 crore or more, individually.

The government recently updated the SpaceCom and SpaceRS policies, liberalising the traditional satellite communication and remote sensing sectors. Under various space tech initiatives, the independent nodal agency IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre) has received close to 40 proposals from large industries, MSMEs, Startups. These proposals will be responsible for covering a broad range of activities including – launch vehicle and satellite manufacturing, Earth Observation Application, communications etc. Last year, Agnikul and Skyroot, two space-based startups signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with ISRO with the view to access facilities and expertise in developing and testing Space Launch Vehicle subsystems and systems.

These examples indicate the intervention of private players in the space sector and hence, the far-reaching reforms in the space sector are aimed at boosting private sector participation in the entire range of space activities. This spur in economic activities is surely going to open doors for collaboration and eventually evolve into critical tool for diplomacy – space diplomacy.

Superpowering through Care, Culture and Heritage

For human civilisation, what could lie beyond the currently unfolding 5th Industrial Revolution? Culture, and economics of Culture, are surely going to be at the core of these discussions. As India is rapidly evolving its innovation, adaptation and large scale implementation capabilities, it surely is in the spotlight as a potential steward and guide to the rest of the world due to its rich cultural heritage. India’s soft power comes out of its moral, ethical and cultural values.

It was India’s moral authority that inspired it to give shelter to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in 1959. India’s principled boycott of South Africa for its racist Apartheid policies, which Gandhi had started in late 19th century, won it respect from post-colonial states across Africa and rest of the world. In 1971, when India, despite overwhelming opposition from America and the UN, intervened in East Pakistan, which resulted in the formation of the independent state of Bangladesh, this urge came out of its moral and spiritual authority only, which it espoused and nurtured for thousands of years.

Observance of International Day of Yoga is the latest feather in India’s hat, thanks to the persistent efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre. This celebration has not only boosted Yoga’s popularity over the years, but also expanded its geographical presence by inspiring its adoption across the length and breadth of the world. Last week, Argentinian federal police decided to effectively use the techniques of Yoga for stress management of its personnel. Yoga is truly considered to be India’s greatest modern gift to the world. The Ministry of Ayush has also been striding forth to establish yoga’s curative and calming impacts and trying to integrate it with diverse disciplines in order to promote psycho-physiological well-being of the people across the globe.

When Natalie Di Luccio, an Italian-Canadian classical-crossover singer from Toronto sings Bollywood hit songs- ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ and ‘Pehla Nasha’, Luo Ping- a Chinese TV reality show Super Idol 13’s contestant sings ‘Tujh main rab dikhta hai’, a US school chorus decides to sing a superhit Tamil song ‘Balleilakka Balleilakka’ from the hit movie ‘Sivaji’ at a yearly event, Ary- a Canadian girl sings ‘Kolaveri’ sung by Tamil superstar Dhanush, a Turkish boy sings the famous ‘Awara Hoon’ song from Raj Kapoor’s movie in a reality show and when Dubai appoints Shahrukh Khan as its ambassador — they are not just an aberration or eccentricity, but adequately exemplify how India’s ever rising soft power, amply bolstered by rich and age old moral, spiritual and cultural value system, is being embraced all across the globe.

Much before Yoga, Ayurveda, Bollywood and others became a craze almost across the globe, Indian spirituality had reached several countries. Buddhism spread in various countries like Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, China, Japan, Thailand, Mongolia and other Southeast Asian and Central Asian countries more than two thousand years earlier. India’s universities continue to attract even today a large number of students from especially developing countries. Indian food is also equally popular around the world. India has an excellent track record of leveraging its culture, spiritual, educational, political values and distinct foreign policy for national objectives while taking care of the entire world with the ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.