Roots & Fruits of India’s mathematics

‘Time’ measures the amount, quality and extent of evolution, but time itself cannot get measured without Mathematics. Unlike ‘Time’, which is a man-made concept to believe that nature indeed changes, ‘Mathematics’ is far natural and older. “Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe” Galileo Galilei had once said, perhaps because of just how subtly it fits in with human existence. So much so that in the 21st century, where technological way of life is reshaping the world faster than ever before, DATA becomes paramount, a cardinal asset, which is fundamentally, a super-advanced version of Mathematics. Current developments in the domains of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Automation, super-computing, etc. are a proof of how Mathematics has evolved over ‘time’. It is only Mathematics that gives hope to mankind that even the hitherto science fiction concepts like teleportation and time travel may actually be possible someday.

In the 88th edition of his monthly radio program ‘Mann ki Baat’, PM Modi spoke in lengths on how significant Mathematics is and has always been for the country and how much has the Indian subcontinent been able to give to the World as far as logical research and conceptual inventions and fundamentals are concerned. “During ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’, some students said that they are afraid of maths in the exam… Friends, Mathematics is such a subject about which we Indians should be most comfortable. After all, the people of India have given the most research and contribution to the whole world regarding mathematics,” shared PM Modi. He then went on to mention bits about India’s pioneership in introducing the number zero (recorded use recently discovered to be made as early as the 3rd or 4th century), the concept of infinity, binary number system, Vedic Maths, contribution of great mathematicians like Acharya Pingala, Aryabhatta, Ramanujan and ancient Indian sages.

The decimal system being employed worldwide was also first seen in India. Indian scriptures, largely ‘Vedas’ and other ancient manuscripts have acted as recorded proof of many such concepts and logical fundamentals. The ancient Indian subcontinent was leaping with mathematically enlightened culture that was flourishing at a time when Europe was still stuck in the dark ages. Apart from the perhaps greatest ever discovery of ‘Zero’, Indian mathematicians have made exceptional contributions to the study of trigonometry, algebra, arithmetic and negative numbers, etc. The key concept of Vedantic teachings, ‘Brahmn’, the one which pervades and manifests entire creation, is translated loosely in Arabic as Al-Zabr (The most powerful). The method of assuming its (Brahmn’s) existence to reaching a stage where it can be realised experientially, is developed as the fundamental method of working of algebra as we know it today. The world awaits to learn these and many more such fundamental developments from India of past and future.

Unlocking potentials of mutual benefits

“I don’t think the things have ever been strong or as good between India and UK as they are now,” said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his two-day maiden visit as PM to India. What remained highlight of British PM’s visit to India was New Delhi’s and London’s major push towards the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement. This FTA has the potential to double out trade and investment by the end of the decade. The third round of talks begin next week,and negotiators seems to have been given a target to it done by Diwali.

India and the United Kingdoms enjoy a long and historical relationship which was elevated to a comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the India-UK virtual summit in 2021. India’s multi-faceted bilateral relations with UK witnessed a significant stride in the recent past and now the two vibrant democracies are set to give major push to its elevated trade ties with the finalization of the FTA. The agreement will expand India-UK cooperation in different sectors ranging tourism, technology, startups, education, climate change among others. Expected results on both sides are of creating jobs, increasing wages and driving innovations. This will also contribute in integrating value chains and help augment mutual efforts to strengthen the resilience of supply chains. The finalization of ambitious trade deal will also give major boost to Indian exports in labour intensive sectors like Leather, Textile, Jewellery and processed Agri-products. With UK currently as India’s 17th largest trading partner, the total trade between India and UK stood at USD12.5 billion FY 2021-22 (April-Dec).

From describing India-UK ties as ‘beacon in stormy seas’ to describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Britain’s ‘khaas-dost’, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spelt out a better understanding between two vibrant democratic countries. The signing of the India-UK FTA will usher in a new age of cooperation and open the way for huge trade and investment opportunities for UK and Indian companies.

Government Bonds in Retail Portfolio

Equities and Bonds are two of the most traded asset classes and are often combined together as part of a well-diversified portfolio. When buying equity in a company, the investor becomes a shareholder and can participate in the distribution of profits. When buying a bond, the investor becomes a creditor to the issuer and is entitled to a fixed interest along with the ultimate repayment of the principal. Equity gives high returns mainly because of the risk involved in it. Whereas bonds provide low but fixed returns with lesser or zero risk to the capital. In the current situation where the equity markets have become very volatile, investors are looking to diversify their portfolios with a good combination of equity and debt.

Government bonds with long-term maturities are finding takers who are looking for safe debt instruments that are liquid and more tax efficient. Sovereign papers that mature 25 to 40 years from now would fetch them returns of 7.25-7.35 per cent annually. Currently, 10 years fixed deposit with the State Bank of India gives returns of up to 5.5 per cent. After 10 years, investors face reinvestment risks due to uncertainty over the interest rates then. Similarly, post office deposits offer an annual return of 6.7 per cent but have a tenure of five years. Debt mutual funds offer indexation benefits if the investment is held for more than three years, but there are very few schemes that invest with a maturity period of more than 10 years. In all these cases, Government of India bonds appear to be a good option for long term debt investment.

On November 12, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Retail Direct Scheme. The scheme provides investors with an opportunity to invest in government securities in the primary and secondary markets in a safe and hassle-free manner. Government securities under the scheme include Government of India Treasury Bills (T-Bills), Government of India Dated Securities (Dated G-Secs), State Development Loans (SDLs), and Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs). The Retail Direct scheme offers retail investors the opportunity to buy securities directly and free of charge. These securities can be purchased on the Reserve Bank of India’s Retail Direct Platform with a minimum capitalization of Rs 10,000. There is no upper limit. Investors can buy these securities without the aid of brokers. This is a major development for retail investors and direct investment in long tenor government bonds has become real possibility for this group.

Evolution of EV Ecosystem in India

NITI Aayog released the Battery Swapping Policy to bring greater efficiency in the EV Ecosystem. The idea was indicated in the Budget 2022 where considering the constraint of space in urban areas for setting up charging stations at scale, central government had promised to roll out a battery swapping policy and formulation of inter-operability standards to come up the sector’s efficiency. The move will also encourage the private sector to develop sustainable and innovative business models for ‘Battery or Energy as a Service’. Under the plan, Data Centres and Energy Storage Systems including dense charging infrastructure and grid-scale battery systems will be included in the harmonized list of infrastructure. This will facilitate credit availability for digital infrastructure and clean energy storage.

Earlier, July 2019 had witnessed a whopping Tax boost for EVs as the central government slashed down the GST rate on electric vehicles (EVs) from 12% to 5%. In the same year, the government also mandated green license plates for battery-operated vehicles. In its efforts to further promote use of EVs, centre also issued notifications to state govts to exempt permit and minimise road tax for EVs in 2021. This was followed by another unprecedented development where a PLI scheme was approved for manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC), a move to reduce the prices of batteries in the country, and ultimately bringing down total cost of production of Electric Vehicles. The scheme worth Rs 26,000 crore was announced to boost the production of electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel vehicles in the country and it was estimated that the scheme will create as many as 7.5 lakh jobs for the auto sector. The collective efforts of all the stakeholders have resulted in a significant increase in the number of electric vehicles in the country. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the number of electric vehicles registered in 2018 in the country as per the e-Vahan portal was 1,31,554. The number rose to 1,61,314 in 2019. Cumulatively, as of July 2021, there were a total of 5,17,322 registered electric vehicles in the country.

Besides, India is also all ready to work on solutions and provide the world with innovative initiatives & vital alternatives. Earlier, India had joined hands with Israel’s start-up company Phinergy to set up a factory in India to manufacture aluminium-air batteries for electric vehicles and stationary applications. Lithium-ion batteries are in widespread use for electric vehicles and various gadgets globally. Finding and switching to an alternative becomes imperative because unlike Aluminium, lithium’s availability is scaringly finite on Earth. In the case of e-vehicles, aluminium-air batteries are also expected to offer a much greater range of 400 km or more per battery compared to lithium-ion batteries which currently offer a range of 150-200 kilometres per full charge. However, use of Aluminium batteries would also require the setting up of battery swapping stations as these cannot be recharged like lithium-ion batteries. The new battery swapping policy rolled out by the centre may provide solution for this problem as well.

Electronic Vehicles (EVs) are being endorsed as the future of transportation sector as the near total reliance on fossil fuels for automobiles is wringing a huge cost out of the environment. To decarbonize the transport sector, a major contributor of CO2 emissions), transition to clean mobility has become essential, which the government has already started to ensure through more and more endorsement and induction of Electric Vehicles. Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations have also expanded by two-and-a-half times across nine megacities, in the last four-five months only. Each of these 9 major cities have a population of over 4 million. As many as 1.8 lakh electric vehicles were sold in the country during this period.

Tale of Indian UniqueCORNS

The new India is rapidly snowballing into a unicorn hub. Year 2021 proved to be a blockbuster year for startup funding as the country saw creation of 42 unicorns, a three times jump from 11 new unicorns in 2020 and nine in the previous year. More than $10 billion were raised by Indian startups in Q3 CY21 ( approx. 41% increase) driven largely by three sectors: FinTech, EdTech and SaaS. This was the first time that funding into privately-held Indian start-ups crossed $10 billion in a single quarter (Q3 CY21) across approximately 350 deals. What is most surprising on top of this is the fact that entrepreneurs, the government and the likes have started transitioning from the age of Unicorn to the age of Decacorn already. Every move and strategy of all the stakeholders involved, is now swirling around the same as India emerges as the third largest ecosystem for start-ups globally – after the US and China. As of January 2022, 46 companies globally have attained the decacorn status. India has four startups namely Flipkart, BYJU’s, Paytm and Swiggy – that have achieved this status.

A recent report named ‘Tech Unicorns Market landscape Report IV’ by venture growth investor – Iron Pillar, predicted that India will have more than 250 Unicorns by the year 2025. The report also highlights that the Unicorns in India include 58 global cloud companies, 59 B2C companies and 13 B2B companies. Indian companies are building cloud products for the world and are proving to be capital-efficient, as they have attained unicorn status with 42% less capital as compared to business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses. Iron Pillar expects more Indian companies to expand outside the subcontinent over the coming years and focus on the Middle East & Southeast Asian regions. The public listing of 12 unicorns is another indicator of the increasing maturity of the Indian tech ecosystem.

In January 2022, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had expressed hope that the startup community of India should nurture 75 more unicorns in 2022. His optimism was based on the massive funding the Indian startups were getting. Certain factors have led to such a rapid growth of Unicorns across the country. During the peak of the pandemic, Indian Entrepreneurs encashed the opportunity to not only contribute to the economy but also to contribute toward Covid-19 relief efforts. “It is raining Unicorns” has been the motto of the year 2021 with 44 unicorns joining the star status. The contributing factors for fueling such growth include – a thriving digital payments ecosystem, a large smartphone user base, digital-first business models, attractive government schemes and policies, and investors’ interest in India. Today, 1 out of 10 unicorns globally have been born in India. Overall, 2021 experienced an exceptional boom in this sector. Soonicorns too are waiting in line to contribute to the shining startup ecosystem of India.