Business Today 17-May-20

Fear feeds on fear. There’s no greater fear in world economies today than China, as countries grapple with the fallout of the pandemic that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Was coronavirus a bio-weapon? Was it allowed to spread intentionally? Was it meant to destruct the world’s biggest economies so that China could gain? Is China taking advantage of the global stock market crash to shore up equity in strategic firms? Those are just some of the questions leaders the world over are struggling to answer. Most have already made precautionary moves to block any misadventure. Late March, the European Union (EU) was the first to flag to member states that healthcare equipment firms and research establishments may be takeover targets via the FDI route, asking them to set…

CORONAVIRUS BITES: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE TOPS 26% The labour participation rate fell to an all-time low of 35.4 per cent in week ended April 19 The employment rate also fell to an all-time low of 27.7 per cent during the week Labour participation during March was 41.9 per cent. It was 42.6 per cent in February and 42.7 per cent in March 2019. PETROL, DIESEL DEMAND SLUMPS India’s fuel consumption slumped over 66 per cent year-on-year in April (till the 10th of the month) Petrol sales fell 16.37 per cent to 2.16 million tonnes in March; ATF sales down 30 per cent Foreign Tourist Arrivals Growth Hits Record low Source: Tourism Ministry BANK CREDIT GROWTH FALLS TO 6.14% Year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in bank credit decelerated to 6.1% in FY20 from 13.3%…

What made you choose developing gifts as a business option? I was very sure of setting up my own business enterprise and that too which had a creative aspect to it as I am a connoisseur of innovative products having an artistic value to it, besides utility. So, the gift developing business appealed to me. As it was not my family business, I started from scratch and what followed was gathering extensive information about the business and hardwork. The rest as you say is history and destiny. I truly enjoy this business as its of my liking and am passionate about it. What does RR stand for? My business is named after my father’s elder brother Mr Raja Rajendra (Tauji), whom I consider to be my mentor. He has also…

Months before Reliance Industries announced that Facebook would buy a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms — the holding company of its digital businesses — for ₹43,574-crore, both companies were at loggerheads. In January last year, at the 9th Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), advocated protecting India’s data from global corporations. In September, Facebook’s Global Affairs VP, Nicholas Clegg, countered that asking India to allow free flow of data across borders. Seven months later, Ambani has joined hands with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to collaborate on the vast data both collect in their ventures. So, what could have prompted both billionaires to come together? Analysts call it a “marriage of convenience” – where each partner brings something to the table that the other lacks. With…

February 2018: Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp beta-launches its payments service WhatsApp Pay July 2018: Mukesh Ambani forays into new commerce; calls it RIL’s next biggest growth engine August 2019: At RIL’s 42nd AGM, Ambani says he intents to register 30 million kirana stores December 2019: Jio Platforms reportedly does a soft launch of grocery platform JioMart in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan February 2020: WhatsApp gets NPCI approval to roll out its payments service April 2020: Jio Platforms receive ₹43,574-crore funding from Facebook for 9.99 per cent stake; WhatsApp and Jio Platforms sign deal to grow RIL’s new commerce business…

Jio Platforms gets valued among the top five listed companies in India by market cap. Ambani is now Asia’s richest While WhatsApp brings scale and reach of 400-mn users, RIL offers a vast database of wireless users, and understanding of the local market For RIL, the deal is crucial as major businesses – petrochemicals and oil refinery – are under pressure due to the Covid-19 outbreak WhatsApp will be a super app for payments and enable users to transact with local kiranas…