Business News at 10:00 am on 22nd April, 2024

Let’s begin with the major update, Nearly 35 years after a mysterious fire destroyed its facilities at the 51-acre campus at Mohali in Punjab, Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) is fighting back to extinguish old memories and earn its place in the sun. That’s courtesy a generous Rs 10,000 crore modernisation plan drawn up by the ministry of electronics and IT (Meity), which wants India’s original semiconductor fabrication unit to not only continue its operations in the 180 nanometer (nm) technology fab, but upgrade to 28 nm. It’s an irony that SCL first started manufacturing in 1984, three years before Taiwan’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which eventually became a global chip leader, set up shop. Moving on, With Vietnam’s VinFast having confirmed an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in India, and Tesla expected to follow suit in the months to come, the EV job market is expected to get a boost. Sumit Kumar, chief strategy officer, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, told FE that the Indian EV market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 49% from 2022 to 2030, creating significant job openings. These millions of job roles, however, aren’t with Tesla and VinFast, but more in the upstream and downstream of electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler companies. Despite subsidy cuts and regulatory shifts, EV sales in India grew 41% in FY24, when total EV registrations surpassed 1.6 million, up from 1.1 million in FY23. In other news, As volatility in markets likely to be high because of geopolitical tensions, investors with lumpsum should consider systematic transfer plans (STPs) in mutual funds for higher returns. They can stagger investments from a debt-oriented scheme like a liquid fund to an equity fund with the same fund house. Such a strategy will enable a disciplined and planned transfer of a fixed amount between two mutual fund schemes and can help to mitigate the impact of any market volatility. As the money is automatically adjusted between the selected funds, investors can de-risk the market timing and benefit from the power of compounding. In fact, STPs help in averaging out the investment purchase price and are extremely beneficial in volatile periods. Meanwhile, India’s import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) rose in volume term by 17.5% on year to 30,917 mmscm (million standard cubic meter) in the financial year 2023-24 due to increased consumption, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell showed. The rise in consumption by 11.1% on year in FY24 to 66,634 mmscm was driven by use of gas by the fertilizer, power, and city gas distribution sectors. Even as the import volume reported such increase, the country’s gas import bill fell significantly by 22% to $13.3 billion in FY24 from $17.1 billion in FY23, as prices fell. While the fertilizer sector contributed to 32% of the total consumption, CGD entities accounted for 19% of the total natural gas consumption. Up next, The Centre may disinvest minority stakes in five public sector banks (PSBs) if they fail to comply with the minimum public shareholding (MPS) norm by raising fresh capital from the market in a year, official sources told FE. According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rules, a company is required to have an MPS of 25% within three years after listing. The government last set a deadline of August 2024 for these five PSBs – Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, UCO Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank – to meet the MPS norm. The government may once again extend the timeline for these banks by another year to meet MPS, sources said. Moving ahead, In FY24, the domestic IT sector led by behemoths such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro, encountered a confluence of challenges and strategic pivots. Notably, the sector faced a collective headcount reduction, a downturn in the US revenue, a fluctuating performance in the BFSI sector and a paradox of rising deal wins not translating into equivalent revenue growth. This complex scenario unfolded alongside proactive strides into artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI), areas that both promise future gains but are currently shadowed by a cautious market outlook. Throughout FY24, Infosys, TCS, and Wipro collectively saw workforce reduction of 63,759 employees, marking a significant pivot from the hiring frenzy that characterized the post-pandemic period. Lastly, let’s take a look at stocks to watch today. GIFT Nifty traded up by 92.50 or 0.42% at 22,203.60 indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Monday. Previously, on Friday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended up by 151.15 points or 0.69% to settle at 22,147, while the BSE soared 599.34 points or 0.83% to 73,088.33. Here’s a look at the key stocks to watch in trade — HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Wipro, Jio Financial, Laurus Labs, NTPC, IREDA, Hatsun Agro. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said, quote, Despite global weakness, Indian markets staged a strong recovery driven by large-cap stocks, buoyed by the expectation of limited prospects of escalation following Israel’s actions against Iran, unquote.