Weekly News Roundup at 10:00 am on 2nd December 2023

Let’s begin withe the news that made headlines this week. Tata Technologies, a subsidiary of Tata Motors, marked a significant milestone on November 30, as it debuted on the market at a remarkable 140% premium to its issue price of Rs 500. The stock opened at Rs 1,200 on the NSE and ₹1,199.95 on the BSE, and made an intraday high of Rs 1400, almost 180% up. The shares of Tata Technologies listed with a market capitalization of Rs 56,000 crores, more than Tata Elxi, which is valued at Rs 52,000 crores. Industry analysts attribute Tata Tech’s exceptional debut to its robust subscription numbers, solid financial performance, strong parentage within the Tata Group, and optimistic growth prospects in the engineering services sector.

In some more IPO news, Gandhar Oil Refinery shares listed at 76.33 % premium over IPO price on bourses on November 30. The share debuted at Rs 298 on the NSE and Rs 295.40 on the BSE, surpassing the issue price of Rs 169. The investors have made a profit of Rs 129 per share as the scrip gave more than 76% return to investors on the listing.” Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth at Swastika Investmart said that the IPO was subscribed 64.05 times, which is significantly higher than expected. She said that this strong response from investors could have been due to multiple factors, including the company’s strong track record of growth and profitability and its strong distribution network.

Meanwhile, India’s gross domestic product beat all estimates by a wide margin to grow at 7.6% in real terms in the September quarter, with a big – and unexpectedly solid – push from manufacturing and investment segments that have been weak spots in the country’s economic landscape for long. Manufacturing grew an encouraging 13.9% in Q2FY24, though on a weak base, thanks to a sharp sequential pick-up from 4.7% in the June quarter. The headline GDP number, way higher than the Reserve Bank of India projection of 6.5% — even the most optimistic forecasts hovered around 7% —got backing from government consumption spending, while private consumption, the largest part of the GDP, was muted at 3.1%.

On to economy. Two months into paddy procurement for the kharif season 2023-24, the Food Corporation of India and state agencies have purchased nearly 30 million tonnes under the minimum support price operations, marking a 6% decline compared to the previous year. According to the food ministry, 32.66 MT of paddy has arrived in the mandis across key rice producing states. The officials said kharif paddy purchase target of 77.4 MT this season will be met and attributed the decline to delayed harvesting in states like Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, caused by replanting due to floods in July and assembly elections. Major contributors to paddy procurement include Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Tamil Nadu.

Moving on. Ola Cabs has announced that it is revamping its digital payments experience, where users will be able to use UPI to pay the driver directly through the Ola app. The feature will launch in Bengaluru by the end of this week and is expected to be rolled out pan-India over the course of December, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said on Thursday. Aggarwal on platform X shared, quote, “You’ll be able to use UPI to pay the driver directly through the Ola app just like UPI is used daily. Driver app will show a QR if you want to scan. More than 2 million drivers on Ola will join the likes of millions of UPI merchants overnight. Going live end of next week in Bengaluru and end of December nationally,” unquote.

Next up, industry. The number of 5G subscribers in India is expected to touch 130 million by the end of 2023, compared to the 10 million recorded at the close of 2022, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report for November 2023. Fast-growing 5G network across cities, affordable service plans, and the growing availability of 5G smartphones has increased 5G penetration in the country, the report said. According to telecom operators Jio and Airtel, the number of 5G users crossed the 125-million mark last month. With this, India now ranks among the top three 5G-enabled nations. The services are available in more than 8,000 towns and 20,000 villages at present, with over 385,000 5G base transceiver stations.

Lastly, Global fintech player MODIFI is aiming to increase its small and medium-sized enterprises cross border finance book to $4.5 billion in next five years, from $2 billion currently, co-founder and CEO Nelson Holzner told FE. He said, quote, “I think we can triple the business in next five years, or even faster. Obviously situations like Covid-19 can derail plans but we would like to triple the business to $4.5 billion,” unquote. The Amsterdam headquartered fintech provides digital financing options to SMEs for cross-border payments.