Asia's richest man gets $1.5 billion from Saudi Arabia for his tech war chest

[Protest_again]

I think you're right on major parts and I am interested in exploring this further.

I agree that fraudulent accounting and crony capitalism have eroded confidence in brand India. Honestly, I think it was well deserved. Far too many of these iconic Indian companies(Singh brothers, Essar, etc) were running shams. Accounting sector had no regulator (they had self-regulation), the banks were evergreening loans, losses were socialized, profits were privatized.

Now, there is an accounting regulator, but we don't know how effective it will be. Certainly accounting firms have been made to pay a steep price for their indiscretions, so I think general accounting quality would have improved. Secondly, now that there is limited to no instructions to PSU banks to keep evergreening loans, a lot of companies have gone under IBC. That, in my opinion, has been a crowning achievement of this Government.

However, that means that the corporate sector that thrived on debt over the last decade will take another decade to recover before they invest again and many will not survive.

Demonetization and ensuing economic malaise have led to stagnation but that is in the 'real economy' so to speak, not in the digital economy. If anything, they have gotten a boost with demonetization and GST. So ideally, the other tech companies and startups should still be lining up investors, but that has not happened.


There's many factors to explore on two things -
1. India is hitting far below its potential in getting global IB to fund Indian companies
2. Indian economy is going to go back to its average of 5 to 6% growth next year onwards. What are the factors that are preventing it from growing at 8%

India has been tightening regulations regarding bad loan scenario. The growth rate we observed before was based on exorbitant loans extend to capitalists for growth. That led to somewhat fake growth (based on loan over loan) till the reality caught up and growth faltered by the middle of UPA-2 term. Now the loans are mainly extended to small and medium enterprises than to crony capitalists. Also our construction sector was key growth driver before because of the flow of illegal money into that sector. That was hindered by RERA Act.

There were several policy measures that present government took (including demonitisation) for formalization of economy that no other govt has ever done before. We are in correction because we are laying foundation for future real growth. We Indians just need to be patient.

How India Is Moving Toward a Digital-First Economy

I suggest you to read the above article from HBR and see why the demonitisation was needed.

 

[Robbie]

India has been tightening regulations regarding bad loan scenario. The growth rate we observed before was based exorbitant loans extend to capitalists for growth. That led to somewhat fake growth till the reality caught up and growth faltered by the middle of UPA-2 term. Now the loans are mainly extended to small and medium enterprises than to crony capitalists. Also our construction sector was key growth driver before because of the flow of illegal money into that sector. That was hindered by RERA Act.

There were several policy measures that present government took (including demonitisation) for formalization of economy that no other govt has ever done before. We are in correction because we are laying foundation for future real growth. We Indians just need to be patient.

I agree on major points that India has been tightening regulations.
I also have criticisms - much like how India had the Congress culture of forcing banks to give loans to large companies, BJP in its loan melas is forcing banks to give loans to SMEs. There are some analysts who are already saying that the results will be no different from what Congress achieved - these loans will become bad in due time.

Secondly, demonetization was an unmitigated disaster that shot the wheels off a running car. Regardless, the deed is done and there is no point harking to it. The question is what should be policy prescriptions now to return to high growth rates.

I have an issue with new policies of raising import duties across the board without a sunset date. Just increasing protection leads to no gains as it shields Indian companies from competition. Most successful economies have sunset dates for protections to end so that domestic manufacturers don't take the consumers for a ride - as they did before 1991.

 

[Protest_again]

I agree on major points that India has been tightening regulations.
I also have criticisms - much like how India had the Congress culture of forcing banks to give loans to large companies, BJP in its loan melas is forcing banks to give loans to SMEs. There are some analysts who are already saying that the results will be no different from what Congress achieved - these loans will become bad in due time.

Secondly, demonetization was an unmitigated disaster that shot the wheels off a running car. Regardless, the deed is done and there is no point harking to it. The question is what should be policy prescriptions now to return to high growth rates.

I have an issue with new policies of raising import duties across the board without a sunset date. Just increasing protection leads to no gains as it shields Indian companies from competition. Most successful economies have sunset dates for protections to end so that domestic manufacturers don't take the consumers for a ride - as they did before 1991.

Please read the link I updated to my previous post about demonitisation. That will open your eyes. Please be patient while reading it.

 

[Robbie]

Please read the link I updated to my previous post about demonitisation. That will open your eyes. Please be patient while reading it.

I have read the article before. It's not the benefits of demonetization that are a problem.

It's the cost that small and very small businesses actually paid that is a problem. They shut shop because they could not manage liquidity. The problem is that they employed people in the millions and that has dramatically increased unemployment.

Once the cycle is broken, it is difficult for these people to set up shop again and indeed, years after demonetization, even today a large number of people have not re-started their businesses.

India needed to go digital, but a sledgehammer was used instead of a scalpel. Somebody did pay the price - those at the bottom of the food chain.

Regardless, it's done. Continuing to discuss merits or demerits will not lead us anywhere.

 

[Soumitra]

I have read the article before. It's not the benefits of demonetization that are a problem.

It's the cost that small and very small businesses actually paid that is a problem. They shut shop because they could not manage liquidity. The problem is that they employed people in the millions and that has dramatically increased unemployment.

Once the cycle is broken, it is difficult for these people to set up shop again and indeed, years after demonetization, even today a large number of people have not re-started their businesses.

India needed to go digital, but a sledgehammer was used instead of a scalpel. Somebody did pay the price - those at the bottom of the food chain.

Regardless, it's done. Continuing to discuss merits or demerits will not lead us anywhere.

Within weeks of Demo I saw everyone from a roadside nariyal wallah to a small pan shop owner starting to use Paytm. It was like an electric jolt to start the heart. Sure there were problems but the body recovered

 

[925boy]

He's making a hell lot of money by CONNING investors.

OR........him "fundraising" is really "borrowing cuz you're broke"....so i suspect these equity sell offs to foreigners will bite Ambani in the future. Prices and things are down in India now, so that tells me that buyer wins, not seller. AMbani is seller here..smfh. I hope he doesnt own 90% of INdia's tech communication industry.

 

[kris]

Only a matter of time before India builds some formidable tech giants. Really surprised it hasn't done so already.

Finance issues

 

[Protest_again]

I have read the article before. It's not the benefits of demonetization that are a problem.

It's the cost that small and very small businesses actually paid that is a problem. They shut shop because they could not manage liquidity. The problem is that they employed people in the millions and that has dramatically increased unemployment.

Once the cycle is broken, it is difficult for these people to set up shop again and indeed, years after demonetization, even today a large number of people have not re-started their businesses.

India needed to go digital, but a sledgehammer was used instead of a scalpel. Somebody did pay the price - those at the bottom of the food chain.

Regardless, it's done. Continuing to discuss merits or demerits will not lead us anywhere.

Are you based in India? I am in the business with my own successful chain. I have been using digital wallets since demonitisation and life has become so much easy after the initial 3 months. I today pay all my utility bills, credit bills, loans and do bank transfers, book travel tkts and movie tkts all online. I greatly credit demonitisation for creating such an ecosystem otherwise would have been limited to few urban elites/educated. India is going through digital transformation as the article mentioned it was a shock that was needed. Also people who express worry that demonitisation affected the livelihood of small business owners are not small business owners themselves. Because all have greatly benefited with Mudra loans linked to their Jan Dhan accounts since then. I would think China virus affected these businesses more than demonitisation ever did.

 

[xeuss]

India has been in the top 10 FDI receiving countries for past 4 years. Tell me which other big companies have the foreign investors invested all these years that are safe bet. Jio for all its success is only 4 year old company. Don't fall for his narrative, he's just anti-modi and would even twist facts to prove it. JIO is just great an opportunity for anyone to miss out on, that's all.

Of course I am anti-Modi. I do not need to twist facts to buttress my case. As time goes by, his failures are more than apparent.

I agree on major points that India has been tightening regulations.
I also have criticisms - much like how India had the Congress culture of forcing banks to give loans to large companies, BJP in its loan melas is forcing banks to give loans to SMEs. There are some analysts who are already saying that the results will be no different from what Congress achieved - these loans will become bad in due time.

Secondly, demonetization was an unmitigated disaster that shot the wheels off a running car. Regardless, the deed is done and there is no point harking to it. The question is what should be policy prescriptions now to return to high growth rates.

I have an issue with new policies of raising import duties across the board without a sunset date. Just increasing protection leads to no gains as it shields Indian companies from competition. Most successful economies have sunset dates for protections to end so that domestic manufacturers don't take the consumers for a ride - as they did before 1991.

There is also another important point to note. India is a large market and every company looking for international growth cannot ignore India. These investments are a necessity and not necessarily a testament to a booming stable economy where investments grow and returns are guaranteed.

I don't have data handy, but you should also study the cycle of foreign investments related to election cycles. After an election is completed, year 1 sees little new investment as investors are gauging the policies of the government. Year 2-4 is where most of the investment peaks, and year 5 is where the foreign investment again drops to a standstill as investors await a fresh election (and economic policies). The demonetization and GST actions (blunders?) of this government happened during year 2-3. This sapped a lot of foreign interest in investing in India.

So would you tell UNCTAD that it got it wrong when it comes to their figures about FDI into India? Because India has been top 10 FDI receivers per them all the years since the demonetization. Obviously they didn't consult you for official figures. UNCTAD is not dependent on Indian data by the way.

We're talking about something else. There will always be FDI in India, in the range that you mention. US and China will always be the top 2 destinations for FDI, for the foreseeable future. That is not what is being disputed or discussed.

 

[Ahmad Saleem]

He has done an extraordinary job with Jio.

To me mukesh looks like a greedy businessman just like jeff bezos. I personally like ratan tata he has a heart of gold

 

[xeuss]

To me mukesh looks like a greedy businessman just like jeff bezos. I personally like ratan tata he has a heart of gold

Cyrus Mistry would beg to disagree

 

[jamahir]

Not to take away from Ambani's and Jio's achievements, but these fall under what is called "safe investments".

Of course they are safe investments. Why can't Ambani invest or invite investment into building a microprocessor and memory manufacturing plant in India and also setting up an Indian SpaceX ( whatever happened to Ambani Aerospace ) ? Risky ?

@Soumitra, your hero, Ambani.

To me mukesh looks like a greedy businessman just like jeff bezos. I personally like ratan tata he has a heart of gold

Bezos is ambitious. I refer to his Blue Origin company.

 

[Soumitra]

@Soumitra, your hero, Ambani.

yes who earned billions of dollars in just one month in middle of the biggest pandemic the world has seen.

He will use these to give thousands of people jobs.

Like I always say - Capitalism is good, Money is god

 

[jamahir]

yes who earned billions of dollars in just one month in middle of the biggest pandemic the world has seen.

Yet he didn't have the heart to spend some of this substantial money for sponsoring medical treatments of critical patients who didn't have the money being extracted by hospitals.

Yet he didn't spend these billions on arranging food and medicine to the migrant laborers who were chaotically returning to their native places via the railway ministry's shoddily arranged trains.

 

[Soumitra]

Yet he didn't have the heart to spend some of this substantial money for sponsoring medical treatments of critical patients who didn't have the money being extracted by hospitals.

Yet he didn't spend these billions on arranging food and medicine to the migrant laborers who were chaotically returning to their native places via the railway ministry's shoddily arranged trains.

Boo Hoo.

Crying fake socialist tears.

Why don't you give all your money for this?

Or I have an even better Idea. Lets close JNU. The govt subsidised those freeloaders for crores of rupees an year. Lets divert that to arrange food and medicine to migrant labourers.

The JNU campus is in heart of Delhi - hundreds of acres of prime real estate. I think we can sell that land and earn thousands of crores. Again we can use it for the migrant workers