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03/06/2024

The RBI is increasing provisioning requirements for banks lending to infrastructure projects. The increase could mean bad news for Indian banks as they are already struggling with liquidity issues. With India planning massive infrastructure spending in the coming years, how is the mandate going to play out?

Read this report by Pushpita Dey:

The RBI recently mandated that banks allocate a provision of 5% of the loan amount given out for an infrastructure project during the construction phase.

29/05/2024

Startups are testing autonomous driving tech on Indian streets. While the technology is not exactly meant for the Indian market, can these companies create export-ready autonomous solutions?

Read this report by Jessica Jani to find out.

India’s chaotic roads make for a rich practice ground to collect data and build self-driving systems that are more reliable and low-cost

27/05/2024

In a few years, Padel has transformed from a little-known sport to a popular one in India. Padel courts are popping up everywhere with its easy learning curve and social appeal. It has attracted over a million players who have tried the sport in India, with over 2,000-3,000 regular players, chiefly in Mumbai and Bengaluru. What is driving the interest in the sport in India? Read our story via the link in our bio.

21/05/2024

Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have been battling RBI's consecutive blows of regulations and guidelines. While a handful of them have grown to the size of mini banks, others are feeling the pinch of regulatory restrictions, high cost of funds and increasing competition from banks.

Pushpita Piku Dey writes.

Read below

While a handful of them have grown to the size of mini banks, others are feeling the pinch of regulatory restrictions, high cost of funds and increasing competition from banks.

14/05/2024

In early days of the , advertising and were almost exclusively consumer-centric. Now you can increasingly spot B2B companies like JSW Paints, BKT Tires, Astral Pipes, etc. on jerseys, pants, caps or helmets.

Venkat Ananth writes.

Every IPL franchise today sports a B2B brand, a departure from the early days when advertising and sponsorship were almost exclusively consumer-centric.

13/05/2024

JSW MG Motor India Pvt Ltd (J-MG), the joint venture between and China’s marks the steel-to-power giant’s foray into the automotive industry with a focus on new-energy vehicles.

The venture could be a win-win for both parties. Its success, however, hinges on some key factors. Challenges in the partnership and sharing of leadership, cultural differences, geopolitical shifts, and consumer preferences could make or break the new entity.

Jessica Jani reports. Read below👇

Announcing the launch in March, Sajjan Jindal, chairman of the JSW Group, said that he dreams of creating a new-energy vehicle (NEV) ‘Maruti movement’ with MG

10/05/2024

For banks, increased digitisation comes with the need for robust investments in building tech infrastructure that can support the push towards . Can shore up the funds without charging customers?

Read this story by Pushpita Dey:

On average, enhancing digital banking and reinforcing tech infrastructure to handle rapidly rising volumes of transactions will cost banks 8-10% of their operating expenses.

08/05/2024

In 2015, the Narendra Modi government, which wanted to boost manufacturing through its Make in India scheme, set up the Skill India Mission with a target to train 500 million people by 2022 in multiple vocations.

Two years past the deadline, there are neither enough skilled workers nor enough jobs going around. To top it, worker migration from farms to factories has reversed after the pandemic.

While technological advancement is a challenge in employment, India is still a long way from automation completely taking over. What India’s workforce currently lacks is enough skills for existing jobs. Have the government’s skilling programmes been able to meet the gap?

Read this story by Kamalika Ghosh to know more.

Vocational courses have neither the appeal nor enough potential to provide gainful employment to India’s teeming workforce.

28/04/2024

The Core Report helps you keep you up with global business news. Tune in to listen to episodes from last week.

20/04/2024

Here’s a lowdown of key numbers discussed on The Core Report this week. For more in-depth understanding, please click on the link in the bio.

13/04/2024

This past week, we’ve had guest speakers talk about everything from the price of chicken to passenger air traffic this summer and more. Here’s a glimpse of what they spoke about; to listen to their inputs in greater detail, please click on the link in the bio.

10/04/2024

Cogo Eco-Tech, a waste management company, runs one of its plants in Gangoh, a small, nondescript town in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. The technology solution devised by Cogo Eco-Tech converts solid, unsegregated municipal waste into charcoal. Since it started operating in August 2022 the plant has processed around 25,000 tonnes of waste to produce 6,000 tonnes of charcoal.

While this is a small amount, if successful, Cogo's plant could address this pressing challenge of waste management in India which generates about 62 million tonnes of solid waste each year.

Read this story by Anup Semwal.

A plant in Gangoh town of Saharanpur is quietly converting solid municipal waste into fuel.

09/04/2024

The victims of new store openings of quick service restaurant chains are none other than… their own older stores. In the race to deliver faster, fast food chains are opening new outlets in the same territories in metros, risking cannibalising their older stores’ business, also known as store splitting.

Same-store sales growth (SSSG) decelerated for most fast food chains in the third quarter of FY24. Yet revenue growth remained positive. The decline in SSSG may indicate weak demand for an existing chain. That’s not stopped them, however, from opening more stores as it boosts the topline.

Read this story by Anjali Palod to know if this growth hack is sustainable in the longer run.

Quick service restaurants are opening new stores in the same territories to deliver faster, but the slowdown in demand is testing their fundamentals.

06/04/2024

Set the right tone for your meetings with The Core Report, India’s most reputed business news podcast.

To subscribe, please click on the link in the bio.

03/04/2024

In part two of our deep dive into Tata vs Hyundai: Both companies are trying to capture the rising EV market in India. With Maruti Suzuki establishing itself as a hybrid leader, the second spot is up for grabs. While Tata Motors has been able to establish itself as a market leader in electric vehicles in India, Hyundai Motors India is likely to catch up soon.

Jessica Jani reports.

Read the full story below 👇

Read part one on our website

While Hyundai has held the number 2 position in the Indian auto sector for over two decades, Tata Motors catapulted to it by completely reinventing itself.

02/04/2024

On The Core Report, we dive deeper into top headlines from the financial world. Swipe to see what’s in store for Episode #258 and listen to its entirety from the link in our bio.

02/04/2024

After Maruti, Hyundai emerged as the most popular choice despite the presence of homegrown Tata Motors. Now competing for the number two spot, how did the story of Tata Motors and Hyundai unfold in India?

Read the first part of our two-part series to know.

By Jessica Jani

While Hyundai has held the number 2 position in the Indian auto sector for over two decades, Tata Motors catapulted to it by completely reinventing itself.

01/04/2024

The primary aim behind payment banks was to cater to the underbanked population but the model faced stiff competition from various other financial products, especially UPI. As a result, it became increasingly challenging for Indian payment banks to expand their operations significantly and generate substantial profits.

Pushpita Dey writes why payment banks failed to boost financial inclusion in India.

Read here 👇

The primary aim behind payment banks was to cater to the underbanked population but the model faced stiff competition from various other financial products, especially UPI.

28/03/2024

In 2019, when UK-based arthouse cinema streaming company MUBI came to India, it was hailed as the answer to cinephiles’ prayers. A lot has changed since. For one, its Indian catalogue is vastly reduced to just 31 films, with only three of them made in the 2010s.

Instead, MUBI India’s focus seems to have shifted from being a home for both Indian and world cinema to being a platform for Indian cinema lovers to discover award-winning foreign films instead.

Soumya Gupta writes.

Read here:

Despite global indie cred and a high-profile partnership with PVR-INOX, MUBI is still not the Indian filmmaker's partner of choice. What’s going wrong?

28/03/2024

Today marks our first birthday, and what a journey it has been! Reflecting on the past year fills us with gratitude for each and every one of you who have joined us on this adventure.
From riveting conversations to sharing key insights, here are some highlights that have made this past year truly special.

Thank you for your unwavering support—it’s your love and encouragement that fuels what we do. Here’s to many more incredible years ahead!

27/03/2024

In the past year, promoters of 3 companies, BGR Energy Varanium Cloud And Ultracab, hid information from shareholders while they quietly sold their shares. Companies hiding material information is not uncommon and often causes investors financial loss.
Beat The Street write:

Promoters of three companies, BGR Energy Varanium Cloud And Ultracab, hid information from shareholders while they quietly sold their shares.

24/03/2024

Decode the week that was with important statistics mentioned and discussed. For more in-depth discussions, please join us from the link in the bio.

21/03/2024

About 15 million fewer people streamed music monthly in 2023 than the year before, EY found, and just 4% of the user base paid to stream music. Yet, this relatively tiny universe of paying music subscribers is now 7 million strong, up 55% YoY. There may be more scope for growth: music labels and streaming companies are slowly pushing more Indian users to pay for music.

Soumya Gupta writes.

Read here:

India’s music labels are fighting for growth. What will it take to fast-track it?

20/03/2024

In October 2022, the RBI mandated Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) to increase their net owned funds to Rs 200 crore by March 2024 and Rs 300 crore by March 2025, creating trouble for the industry.

In such a situation, dealing in retail loans could solve working capital issues faced by ARCs, as retail loans allow cash-based transactions, which is not the case with corporate loans.

Read this story by Pushpin Dey for more:

In October 2022, the RBI mandated ARCs to increase their net owned funds to Rs 200 crore by March 2024 and Rs 300 crore by March 2025, creating trouble for the industry.

19/03/2024

Owners of older models like the Mahindra e20 have been repairing their battery packs at third-party workshops for a fraction of the cost it would take to replace them. Replacing individual cells that have degraded could increase the life and range of the battery. The question is, will this still be possible in the next ten years?

Globally, there is a growing concern about being made nearly impossible to repair. Tesla’s structural battery packs are made in a way that they are a part of the car, making it very hard to remove or repair them. Plus, third-party mechanics (who dominate the repair space) don’t have access to design or diagnostic data from manufacturers.

This will not only increase costs for users but also contradict the fundamental purpose of EVs being sustainable.

Read more in this report by Jessica Jani 👇

While early adopters are known to have repaired EV batteries at third-party workshops for a fraction of the cost, new users may find it harder to do so.

18/03/2024

If you've ever ended up in a tight spot following Google Maps directions, you're not alone. Maps has often failed to accurately guide drivers. Why does this happen and what goes on behind the scenes?

Anup Semwal writes.

Read here:

Not all routes are created equal.

16/03/2024

Explore The Core Report (episodes 241-245):
- Wall Street’s Breather On Friday Could Extend To Dalal Street Today
- Markets Shift Worldwide, India Could Stay Weak
- Markets Are Weak In The Middle
- Markets Plunge On Overall Shakiness
- Stockmarkets Recover, More Experts Advising Caution On Midcaps

Head to the link in bio to tune in

13/03/2024

A brand, by definition, sells to its customers through its own website, app, or brand-exclusive store. But look through your own purchase history: how many D2C brands did you buy from directly over the past year?
Anjali Palod writes why the D2C industry barely exists in India. What’s more, some may have never intended to build one.
Read:

Most of India’s much-hyped direct-to-consumer industry comprising fancy food, creams, and clothes is hardly direct.

12/03/2024

The Tata chip fab coming up in Assam’s Morigaon district has given the locals hope of securing jobs after the now-defunct Nagaon Paper Mill rendered many jobless.
Anirban Roy writes about the story behind the setting up of the semiconductor plant.

Read:

The northeast Indian state will house the region’s first indigenous semiconductor facility. But the project isn’t without challenges.

10/03/2024

Supercharge your day by tuning into The Core Report, India’s most reputed business news podcast, during your morning commute.

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